Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 201 The Strike Machine

Natsume's gaze darkened, and a dark blue light burst forth from his eyes!
The stone slab hummed softly, lit up with a ray of light, and then dimmed completely.

"Did you notice anything?"

Professor Oak continued, adding:

"We have done a preliminary analysis, and this stone slab looks somewhat like the stone slab in the legends of the Sinnoh region that is associated with Arceus."

"In the Alliance's records, that thing is closely related to the stone tablet and the priests, and may even be a temporary vessel for the priests."

Dr. Mulan's voice followed.

"Wait a minute, what league record?" Natsume realized the blind spot.

The speculation that the stone tablet was a vessel for divine authority was something Natsume only recently came to understand based on the information he had at hand.

"Well, the owner of Tokiwa Rocket Company and his research team provided a lot of information to the Alliance free of charge."

As Professor Oak spoke, he picked up a computer, logged into the League Resource Library, and turned to the page about clerical records.

Natsume looked over and saw that the database, which originally contained very few records, now had many more descriptions. Although it wasn't as detailed as the other modules, it still gave people a general understanding of what a priesthood was and some basic rules.

Natsume immediately realized that he had been tricked by Sakaki without any effort.

So these things were originally intended for the alliance by the other party.

"Wait, why would Sakaki hand over this information to the Alliance?" Natsume wondered.

This world's Giovanni is way too honest!

"I don't know. It seems like they're using the League's power to do something." Professor Oak thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Never mind that for now. The main reason I called you here is to see if you can glean anything from this stone slab."

“Yes, Professor Oak said you’ve stepped into the Otherworld.” Professor Magnolia also cast a glance at her.

Natsume shook his head; he couldn't see anything.

"Why do you have to see something in this thing?" Natsume asked in turn.

Sometimes, if you can't solve a problem, try addressing its root cause.

"That's how it is." Professor Oak sighed, typed on the keyboard, and quickly brought up a monitoring screen.

The surveillance footage appears to show a huge cave with machines drilling down into it.

Strangely, none of these machines were working.

Inside the cave, soil occasionally rustled down, burying the machines.

The next second, these fallen clods of soil will be moved aside by a fossil pterosaur.

It can be vaguely seen that there is a dragon inside the hole, constantly digging out the soil.

"As you can see, for some reason, the deeper we dig, the greater the chance of the machine malfunctioning. Now it's completely stopped."

Natsume nodded. No wonder he was asked to bring a Pokémon that digs holes.

"But what does this have to do with the stone slab?" Natsume asked, puzzled.

"The machine started malfunctioning after we dug out this half of the stone slab," Professor Oak said, waving his hand and pointing to the machine on the monitor.
“We can’t find any faults, and the power supply is perfectly fine, but these machines just won’t work.”

"Really? Professor Oak, have you ever considered that these machines might be trying to strike?"

Professor Oak looked at Natsume with a "you're kidding me" expression:
"Now is not the time to joke around!"

"Hmm, take me there and see, maybe there's a solution."

Natsume was certainly not joking.

With the aid of telekinesis, his observational abilities are extraordinary.

If I'm not mistaken, in those few seconds of surveillance footage, the drilling machine seemed to have moved slightly.
Soon, led by Professor Oak, Natsume walked down a winding, narrow path, as if descending into a mine, and followed the cables on the ground to the huge machine.

"Professor Oak, Professor Magnolia, what brings you here?" Lance crossed his arms and glanced back calmly.

He was slightly taken aback when he saw Natsume.

"Watari, it's been a long time." Natsume spoke first.

Behind the crossing was a huge pit, from which soil and stones were constantly being thrown out.

Wataru nodded in understanding, but his eyes were fixed on the giant Dragonite behind Natsume.

"This is the descendant of that giant Dragonite. If I'm not mistaken, it seems to be a girl?" Wataru raised an eyebrow.

"Ahem—" He coughed lightly twice.

"Woo-"

The rhythmic digging motions of the Dragonite in the huge pit behind Lance suddenly stopped. The next second, a Dragonite wearing a special helmet, its face dirty and covered in mud, poked its head out of the pit blankly.

"Woo!"

Seemingly seeing its own kind with a normal body size for the first time, the Great Dragonite's eyes lit up and it quickly stepped forward.

Caught off guard, Dragonite was grabbed by the neck and pulled out of the pit.

Dragonite looked to Wataru for help.

"."

Never mind, that doesn't seem appropriate.

Du shook his head slightly.

"Ahem, alright, alright. We're here mainly to see if we can resolve the issue of continuing the project."

Professor Oak clapped his hands, ending the farce.

On the other side, Natsume had been circling the stricken drilling rig several times, examining it closely.

"Well, did you figure out anything?"

Wataru looked at Natsume with hopeful eyes.

The current process is deep underground, and clods of soil keep falling down from above.

He's been here for days with his Dragonite, carrying soil, and he's had enough.

Natsume silently withdrew his telekinetic power.

Look what he found?
This drilling rig is almost human-like!

It's just that it's not fully human-like and is in a state of ignorance!
Is there something underground that functions similarly to the divine authority within Rotom?
Natsume was shocked.

He originally came for the stone slab, but now, he must see the Mugentana buried beneath Mount Luna!

"Come out, Rotom the Motorbike!"

Natsume recalled the Great Dragonite, and a red light appeared carrying an unidentified square-shaped object.

After a series of changes, the missing limbs of the Autobot Rotom stood up.

"Rotom, try to guide the black mist into the drill rig."

Natsume spoke up.

Since they're not humane enough, let's use some drastic measures.

"Is this the new form of Rotom he's been researching lately?" Professor Magnolia asked Professor Oak in a low voice.

"Ahem... It should just be in the experimental stage." Professor Oak replied somewhat awkwardly, looking at Rotom who was missing an arm and a leg.

After a long pause, he couldn't help but lean closer to Natsume and whispered:
"Where's your motorcycle? Why is it a block?" Professor Oak asked with a strange expression.

"Uh, things are a bit complicated." Natsume thought for a moment, then handed a small booklet to Professor Oak without explaining.

"If I'm not mistaken, this drilling rig will be a bit active later."

"But don't worry, just follow the instructions in this book, praise it, and it will continue to work."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Professor Oak looked completely bewildered.

Natsume didn't explain, but instead jumped into the huge pit behind Watanabe.

His voice, echoing through the pit, came from within:
"I'll go down and check things out first!"

Professor Oak and the others quickly looked into the pit, only to see a small hole about the size of a person at the bottom of the pit, which was more than ten meters deep. Natsume's figure had already disappeared.

"Superpowers can be used like this?" Dr. Mulan was a little surprised.

Natsume seemed to directly unleash his superpower, condensing it into the shape of a drill, and then he began to drill downwards.

"Professor Oak, don't look so gloomy, this is a good thing!"

Lance breathed a sigh of relief and recalled his Dragonite. He could finally return to the ground and rest for a while.

"I don't want to look so gloomy either," Professor Oak said, shaking his head.

No one understands Natsume better than him.

Now that Natsume has been put down, whether there is still any scientific research value left is another matter.

Hopefully, that kid will behave himself and not take everything; they still have to deliver on their promise.

(End of this chapter)