Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 120 The Lost Little Groundhog, a Zygarde-like Being
When everyone returned, Ash had already defeated Kikyo.

"These are your two light red badges."

In the evening, at the gate, Ling handed a heart-shaped badge to the two of them.

"Huh? Aren't we and Natsume-san two different people?" Ash asked in confusion.

Ling smiled slightly, then broke the heart-shaped badge in two and placed it in the palms of Natsume and Ash respectively.

She reached out and took their hands in hers.

When Ling Nu's hand left, the two broken badges were repaired and became two badges.

"Wow, that's amazing! Just like that magician who made a fortune by disappearing my coin on the street last time!"

Xiao Zhi's eyes lit up.

Ling Nu: "."

Praise as much as you can.

"He's a ninja!"

Xiaoxia grabbed Xiaozhi by the ear and dragged him away.

"Let's go to Asaka City to rest for a while."

Xiao Gang made the suggestion.

"Great, dinner is at the Pokémon Center."

As Xiao Zhi spoke, just like when he first entered the mountain road, he took the lead.

"I told you, if you're taking the mountain path, you don't need to take a detour."

Xiao Gang pulled Xiao Zhi back and continued deeper in the opposite direction.

Fuchsia City, Pokémon Center.

Upon arriving, Natsume went to the local research institute.

Unfortunately, there are no affiliated research institutes here; they are all privately owned.

Natsume looked around and found that some of the facilities here were not even as good as the Pokémon Lab.

Reluctantly, Natsume had to abandon his idea of ​​upgrading the Ultra Ball Rotom and return to the Pokémon Center.

"Natsume-kun, are you trying to study the strange black aura on Rotom's body?"

When Natsume returned, Ash handed him a glass of milk and asked curiously.

"Yes, I plan to go back to Oak's lab and try again."

Ash enlightened Natsume.

Yes, his Rotom contains a strange mist that can bring some machines to life.

Although there has been no movement for the past few days, Natsume has not noticed anything.

However, if these strange mists suddenly appear during the development of the advanced Rotom, it's not a problem.
Natsume shuddered.

If those instruments came to life and ran around, destroying the entire laboratory, Natsume couldn't imagine how huge the compensation he would face.

Even a small laboratory could cause Natsume to squander his savings from the past few months and end up in debt.

Oak Laboratory
This is Natsume's second year here.

For certain special reasons, Professor Oak, citing fire prevention, fixed the location of each instrument and even locked it, and checked it every day.

Even if the instruments came back to life, they wouldn't be able to escape.
The following day, the group bid farewell to Asakusa City.

On the road, a group of people walked at a leisurely pace, appearing quite relaxed.

According to Natsume's calculations, they acquired the gym badges quite quickly.

After collecting all eight badges, Natsume felt he could even return to Oak's lab and develop the Ultra Ball Rotom.

"Where is the next dojo?"

Ash was overjoyed. He opened his collar, revealing six gleaming badges.

"Sigh, let's slow down, otherwise the competition might still be a month or two away before we collect all the badges."

Xiaoxia stopped the excited Xiaozhi.

Ash felt a little nervous because of Gary's earlier appearance.

After all, when I only had five badges, my opponent had already collected seven.

So last night, Ash called Professor Oak's lab and asked his mother about the situation.

There are five trainers who started from Pallet Town, including Natsume.

Two of them had already given up and went home crying to their mothers.

"Hahaha, I'm in the top three in Pallet Town!"

Xiao Zhi burst into laughter.

"What? There are only five people in total?"

Xiaoxia rolled her eyes, let go of Xiaozhi's clothes, and let him run out. "Ouch!"

After taking only a few steps, Xiao Zhi tripped and fell to the ground.

"Quack quack quack!" A yellow duck emerged from Misty's Poké Ball, staring blankly at Ash.

"Bang!" Xiaoxia pulled out a brick and took the opportunity to hit him.

The three tufts of feathers on Psyduck's head trembled visibly, and a large bump appeared on its head.

Psyduck turned around and stared blankly at Misty.

"Aha, sorry Psyduck, I'll use less strength next time."

Xiaoxia apologetically raised the brick in her hand, intending to do it again.

"Caw!" Psyduck jumped up and patted the Poké Ball on Misty's waist.

"Squeak—" A flash of red light, and the gem starfish was released.

"Gah?"

Psyduck looked at the other strangely, wondering why it hadn't returned to its Poké Ball.

"boom!"

A brick fell, and Psyduck clutched its head and fainted.

"Uh, sorry," Xiaoxia said, spraying on the wound medicine and returning Psyduck and Starmie to their Poké Balls.

On the other side, Ash discovered the culprit who tripped him.

"What? A groundhog?"

Ash rubbed his bottom, looking at the groundhog that had appeared in front of him with a puzzled expression.

Like firing the first shot, as this groundhog appeared, countless groundhogs emerged from the road.

"Beep beep beep-"

The ground squirrels surrounded the group, squeaking incessantly.

"They seem to want to talk to us?"

As Xiao Gang spoke, he turned his gaze to Natsume.

Before Natsume's translation software was released, he was the most suitable person among everyone to be a translator.

Natsume's gaze was fixed on Rotom's phone.

On the phone screen, there are models and data of Xiaomao motorcycles.

Even now, Natsume is still reflecting on why the Rotom he created behaved so strangely after transforming.

Although the large Rotom is no longer usable, the small Rotom can still be leveled up to continue advancing the research on the motorcycle Rotom.

Jiaozi rested her head on Natsume's shoulder, her nose touching Natsume's ear, which turned slightly red.

She was ostensibly studying, but her eyes were fixed on Natsume's profile.

She loved Natsume most when he was deep in thought, unmoved by the outside world.

She could take advantage of the situation and not be noticed if she touched him inappropriately.

Suddenly, Jiao Zi realized that countless eyes were watching him.

"Uh, cough cough, Mr. Natsume, it seems like everyone wants to talk to you."

Jiaozi quietly lowered his head, straightened his clothes, and spoke in a serious tone.

Natsume looked up and saw that it was Ash and his friends, with many ground squirrels behind them.

A wisp of smoke rose from the side. Natsume turned his head and saw that Jiaozi's face was flushed.

Why did his assistant react so strongly again?
"Speak, what's the matter?"

After getting a general idea of ​​the situation, Natsume went to the front of the ground squirrel swarm.

A moment later, a tricorn that seemed to be the leader emerged.

"Beep beep, coo coo coo—"

The three-horned rat's voice carried a hint of anxiety.

A faint blue light appeared in Natsume's eyes, and a connection was established.

"They said that one of the little ground squirrels in the group is missing."

Natsume translated the words of the three mole rats to everyone.

[Ding! S-rank research topic – “Zygarde-like form?” has been published.]

What does this have to do with Zygarde, the god of ecological order?
Natsume looked completely bewildered.

However, judging from the timing of the release, this topic is related to the lost ground squirrel.

(End of this chapter)