Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 254 Natsume VS Asahi

"Mr. Natsume, please keep in touch when you have time."

Out of politeness, Aso and Natsume exchanged business cards.

However, what he gave out was the business card of the Kikyo City Search and Rescue Team.

Natsume nodded slightly.

"Since Mr. Natsume is also going to participate in the Johto League, let's start with a battle at the Kikyo Gym!"

Asu waved his hand.

"Kacha——"

The roof of the entire dojo narrows towards both sides, allowing sunlight to stream into the battle arena.

"Snap—"

A red and white ball was held in Asu's hand.

"Challenger Natsume, let me reintroduce myself. I am Flynn, the Gym Leader of Violet City, and I specialize in Flying-type Pokémon!"

Asu quickly got into the zone, and as the ceiling was completely pulled open, under the blue sky and white clouds, Asu raised his arms and shouted:
"The challenge area of ​​the Kikyo City Gym is not limited to the ground, but also includes the entire sky!"

"Go on, coo coo!"

A red light flashed, and a one-legged cuckoo appeared on the battlefield.

【Gugu, LV19】

"Not limited to the ground"

Natsume thought for a moment and then took out a red and white ball.

"Go, little groundhog!"

"Beep—"

"Eek—"

"Beep—"

Three voices rang out simultaneously, and a small groundhog with constantly changing expressions appeared on the battlefield.

[Little Groundhog, LV17]

Natsume's tactical plan for the little groundhog was to be a surprise attack.

The three-hit combo greatly increases the hit rate of the instant-kill skill, Ground Crack.

However, Earth Shatter does not work on Pokémon of a higher level than itself.

Of all the Pokémon in Natsume's Book of Friends, Diglett is the one that needs to level up the most.

Natsume intends to involve the opponent in the battle as much as possible to increase their combat level.

I've saved all the magical candies I've obtained these past few days, to use later when the little groundhog's level becomes difficult to increase.

"But... it's already at level 17?"

Natsume was somewhat surprised by the little groundhog's level.

When I first captured the little ground squirrel, it was only around level 5.

During his travels in Kanto, Natsume almost never used the little ground squirrel in battles.

Although the other party liked to follow Gengar around and trained with him for a while, after Gengar left, Diglett was "requisitioned" by the middle-parted hair.

As the saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black," Natsume thought the little groundhog would just stay in the same place.

"It seems you're quite untainted by the mud."

Natsume crouched down, smiled, and patted the little groundhog's head.

"Beep-ooh—Eek-ooh—Beep-hoo—"

The little groundhog rubbed against Natsume's palm, clearly enjoying the touch.

He then bit Natsume's finger viciously.

Finally, it transformed into a black shadow and took a sour fruit from Natsume's pocket.

The crunching sound rang out, and Natsume stared blankly at the little groundhog.

"Challengers, prepare yourselves, the battle begins!"

The referee's voice rang out, and Natsume stood up, looking at Asahi on the other side.

"You want to use a Ground-type Pokémon to fight my Flying-type Pokémon?"

Asu looked at Natsume with a strange expression.

He originally thought Natsume would send out the Pikachu with the vertical parting.

The man with the middle parting ate all the food supplies at the entire rescue station at the foot of the snow-capped mountain, leaving a deep impression on Asu.

After learning that this Pikachu was bred by Natsume, I became even more curious.

“Mr. Asu, there’s no need to show mercy.”

Natsume waved his hand.

"In that case, coo coo, fly!"

With a loud shout, A Su flapped his wings and appeared in the sky in a flash.

"As I said, the battlefield this time is the entire sky."

Asu crossed his arms, shook his head slightly, and waited for Natsume to change his Pokémon.

"Air superiority—this is an advantage unique to Flying-type Pokémon!"

Asu's voice then rang out:

“Although Diglett can learn some Rock-type moves, it can’t hit you if Googgle flies high enough. You should switch to a different Pokémon,” Asu advised.

Why did Natsume send the little groundhog up there?

From the sidelines, Xiaoxia watched curiously.

“Yes, I think Natsume wants the little ground squirrel to accumulate more battle experience.” Brock nodded slightly.

"Huh? Natsume-san has this Pokémon?"

Ash stared blankly at the battlefield, behind him stood a magical Pidgeot.

"."

Each gym needs to have its own unique features, and the unique feature of Kikyo Gym is aerial combat.

Even with elemental advantage, as long as you fly high enough, the opponent's attack accuracy will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, before challenging his own gym, Asahi would always advise the challenger to prepare at least one Flying-type Pokémon.

Of course, there are also skilled trainers who can defeat themselves using Pokémon that cannot fly.

However, Pokémon like Diglett, which cannot leave the soil, are obviously not included in this category.

Asu's gaze was sharp as he stared intently at Natsume.

On the way back, he heard Ash mention that the other person was the champion of the Indigo League.

I wonder what Pokémon this champion has, and what ingenious tactics he might employ.

Asu got a little excited.

"Little groundhog, dig a burrow!"

Natsume shouted, and the little ground squirrel burrowed into the ground.

"Ok?"

Asu was taken aback and stood there awkwardly.

It seems that even Flying-type Pokémon have no way to deal with Ground-type Pokémon that burrow underground.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.

Inside the battlefield, Gugu tilted its head, staring at the dark hole in the ground.

"Pica-"

The man with the center-parted hair very tactfully pushed over a small stool.

Natsume took a step to the side, sat down on the stool, took the potato chips handed to him by the man with the middle parting, and started munching on them.

"Natsume-san, what are you doing?"

Xiao Zhi asked curiously.

"Knowledge is power." Natsume patted his head.

"Maintaining flight is very physically demanding, but the little ground squirrel is different; it can burrow underground and lie down, which is its way of resting."

As Natsume spoke, he stuffed another handful of potato chips into his mouth, looking like he was waiting for Gugu to crash.

"."

"How shameless!" Xiaoxia's lips twitched slightly.

"Hmm, but this seems to be a viable tactic as well."

Xiao Gang scratched his head.

It was feasible, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

On the other side of the battlefield, Asu's gaze was blank.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a tactic.

Suddenly, Asu's gaze darkened.

"Coo coo, air blade!"

"Cuckoo-"

The airflow converged on the wings, forming several sharp blades that struck the ground.

Where Gugu struck, a mound of earth rose up, and the little groundhog was about to emerge.

"What's going on? Didn't Natsume-nii want the little groundhog to stay underground?"

Ash exclaimed in surprise.

"Click——"

Natsume put the potato chip in his mouth, but forgot to chew it.

He stared blankly at the mound of earth, seemingly somewhat surprised.

"Beep—"

"boom--"

The air blade struck the mound, blowing away all the loose soil on the surface and revealing yet another dark hole.

"Missed it?"

Asu was somewhat stunned, staring intently at the cave entrance.

The dust that was blown up obscured their vision, and no one saw how the little groundhog dodged the attack.

Only Natsume had a strange expression on his face.

The little groundhog originally intended to come out, but another force compelled it to turn back, thus narrowly avoiding the attack.

(End of this chapter)