Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 233 Zapdos Hatching

The group rested for one night on Citrus Island.

Early in the morning, Natsume called.

"Ah—I can't wait to go back to Pallet Town with you guys!"

As soon as Natsume answered the phone, he heard Ken's excited voice.

Natsume glanced around and spotted Ken sitting at the dining table, enjoying his meal.

Yes, Not Bad.

Natsume nodded slightly. Thanks to his intervention, the progress of things at the foot of Mount Tsukigami had greatly accelerated.

The damp and sweltering underground made it difficult for the two elderly people to explore, which is why they needed energetic young people like this!

"Um, Natsume-nii, is there something you need?"

Xiao Zhi chewed on the fried noodles, his muffled voice ringing out.

"When you come back, please go to an island and pick up Zapdos for me."

"Zapdos?"

Xiao Jian suddenly perked up his ears.

"Oh, no problem."

Ash nodded, recalling the Moltres corpse and Zapdos egg that Lugia had taken away.

Judging by the time, the day I agreed to meet with Lugia is almost here.

"Oh, by the way, Aunt Hanako came back a few days ago."

The video continued uninterrupted in the background, with Natsume and Satoshi chatting casually.

"Really? Mom didn't tell me!"

Xiao Zhi was stunned, and somewhat angry.

"Hmm, maybe he's planning to surprise you when you get home?"

Thinking of the large bags and packages Hanako brought when she returned, Natsume's expression turned strange.

"By the way, Xiaogang is staying at your house now."

"Xiao Gang!?" Xiao Zhi and Xiao Xia exclaimed in unison:
"Didn't he stay with Dr. Nemu?"

Seeing how excited Xiaozhi and Xiaoxia were, Xiaojian put down his chopsticks and also cast a curious glance.

This man named Xiaogang was someone Xiaoxia and Xiaozhi often mentioned.

The other party was the Gym Leader of Pewter City, and had traveled with Ash and his friends throughout the Kanto region.

Natsume seemed to have thought of something, and then spoke:

"To be precise, Xiaogang returned to your home earlier than your mother."

"Huh?" Ash was confused and couldn't understand what Natsume was saying for a moment.

"When Aunt Hanako got home, she thought it was you guys coming back."

As Natsume spoke, he took out his phone, which displayed a picture.

He was a man with long hair and a stubble beard, looking like a homeless person, but you could vaguely make out Xiao Gang's features.

He squatted under the eaves of Xiaozhi's house, with a small boiler in front of him and a fire burning brightly underneath.

"Uh, what's wrong with him?" Xiao Jian's lips twitched slightly.

"I don't know, Xiao Gang won't talk about it, but I think he was dumped."

Natsume guessed.

After being relentlessly attacked by the second AI, the behavior of the first AI was extremely similar to that of Xiao Gang.

For a while, all the computing power was mobilized to conduct a frantic analysis of those three sentences "I hate you" based on the timing and tone of the speech.

Persistence pays off, and finally, the No. 1 AI came to the perfect conclusion—it was disliked.

As a result, the first AI completely gave up on itself.

Recently, he's been delirious, constantly complaining about needing windshield washer fluid, turning into a motorcyclist, and plunging into the river.
Natsume stroked his chin, wondering when he could invite Kogoro to the research institute so that he could have a chat with another patient, Number One.
"Alright, Natsume-nii, let's go!"

While they were pondering, Ash and the others had already put down their bowls and chopsticks.

"I've sent you the location, don't turn off the video."

Ash walked to the dock, but instead of calling for a boat, he released Lapras.

Although he knew that renting a boat would be faster, it was still better to keep beings like Lugia out of human sight as little as possible.

"Mr. Natsume, you also caught a Zapdos. Why didn't you release it during the last poaching incident?"

"Riding the dragon," Xiao Jian asked curiously.

“That egg is Zapdos,” Misty replied.

"Egg?"

Xiao Jian suddenly remembered that Natsume had thrown out an egg while dealing with the three legendary birds.

However, his attention was focused on Natsume Mewtwo and the two legendary birds at that moment.

The commotion on Xiaozhi's side was too far away to be easily observed.

Soon, as the dragon rode along, a small island began to appear in front of them.

The island is small, about the size of a playground, with only a few scattered coconut trees.

Before even reaching the shore, the group spotted a bright light in the center of the island. "That's..."

Xiaoxia and Xiaojian were so shocked by the sight of the flaming corpse of the firebird that they stood frozen in place, at a loss for what to do.

"Go, Ash."

Natsume's voice rang out softly.

"Firebird"

Looking at the large crater still glowing with fire, Xiao Zhi's expression was complicated.

As the group slowly approached, they finally saw the full view of the pit.

The surrounding sand was crystal clear, like glass, and ash occasionally drifted out, falling like black snow onto everyone's shoulders.

The molten bird was burned to ashes.

The skeleton remained in a prone position, its jagged spine bent into an arch, and its charred wing bones spread out for more than five meters, resembling some kind of ancient sacrificial totem.

Bright, scorching flames continuously surged from the gaps in his bones, forming vortexes in his empty chest cavity.

The dark red egg hung in the center of the flame, its surface covered with flowing, golden feather-like patterns.

"What's going on?"

Xiao Jian stood there, stunned and somewhat at a loss.

"Yeah, wasn't Moltres taken away by Lugia? Why?"

Xiaoxia wanted to say something, but in the end she kept quiet.

What everyone saw was the two sacred birds reconciling and leaving, with Lugia taking the badly injured Moltres with him.

They had no idea what was happening on the small island not far from the eye of the storm.

"Is such that."

Ash sat on the sand to the side, took off his hat for the first time, handed it to Pikachu, and began to tell his story.

Everyone listened in silence.

Natsume's gaze lingered on the Zapdos egg for a long time.

In addition to the golden feather pattern on the eggshell, there is another golden feather pattern, shaped like a lightning bolt.

Elsewhere, an ice-blue feather pattern, symmetrical to the golden lightning pattern, appears on the other side, like countless ice crystals piled up.

Zapdos and Articuno.
Natsume silently focused his gaze on the skeleton of the firebird.

There, two distinct feathers remained unchanged amidst the flames.

Clearly, Zapdos and Articuno knew this place, and the fact that it remained undisturbed was thanks in no small part to Lugia's protection.

They even shared a trace of their divine origin as a blessing.

"Damn it, if only I could have stopped that guy sooner!"

As Xiao Zhi spoke, he became emotional and clenched his fists.

Xiaoxia and Xiaojian lowered their heads, their hearts heavy.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from Ash's body and disappeared into Zapdos' eggshell.

Everyone was lost in their grief and didn't notice.

But Natsume could see clearly that a tiny red dot had appeared on the Zapdos's eggshell.

"This"

In an instant, as if reaching a critical point, the eggshell suddenly emitted a soft sound of shattering glass.

The sunlight seeping through the cracks looked like liquid sunlight.

The scorched earth around them began to tremble, and the flames on the skeletons suddenly turned white, retreating back into the eggshell like a receding tide.

As the last flame disappeared into the crack, everyone seemed to hear the sound of a morning star falling to earth.

"Kacha——"

A hole appeared on the top of the eggshell, and a yellow beak broke through first, revealing a proud bird's head.

Natsume raised an eyebrow slightly, and Zapdos's eyes seemed different than before.

It was as blue as ice, exuding a chilling aura.

It was like a thunderbolt, flashing with lightning.

Inside the eggshell, one can vaguely see countless flames forming wings, clustered together like a bucket of lava.

Everyone watched this scene with tension.

However, after Zapdos poked its head out of the egg, it ran out of strength.

“Gana—”

It was unwilling to accept this and roared to the sky.

"Kacha!"

"Kacha——"

With all its might, it finally kicked its two legs out of the egg!

Bearing the legacy of Moltres, the two legendary birds, storms and ocean currents, and the blessings of humanity and bonds.

Zapdos—it's been reborn!

(End of this chapter)