Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 371 Small Stake
“Keep walking along the river, and the power station will be located at the bottom of the reservoir.”

Xiao Gang held the map and muttered to himself.

"That's strange, why is this whole area behind the reservoir empty?" Xiaoxia asked curiously.
"I don't know. On the map of Shining King, there's a big X behind the reservoir. It seems like we can't go in there?"

As Ash spoke, he also took out his Pokédex and started looking through it.

As can be clearly seen on the map, the reservoir covers a very large area, bordered by a power station to the south and Yanmo City to the east.

The west side indicates the location of Natsume and his companions, marked with many roads.

The only area not marked on either the official League map or the map of Shining King's treasure is the northern region where the reservoir and the forest meet.

"They are probably some of the more important bases."

Natsume glanced at it casually.

Many buildings on the Quartz Plateau are not marked on the map, and the same is true for Mt. Shirogane.

Perhaps the Alliance has something to do with that area next to the reservoir?
"An important base, could it be that there are some powerful Pokémon there?" Ash's eyes lit up.

"No, no, I think it's more likely to be a prison or something, in this desolate place, and with a powerful Dragon-type Gym Leader next door, that makes more sense!" Xiaoxia shook her head.

"No matter where it is, I must go and see it!"

Ash took the lead and released Totodile.

"We'll take the waterway, little saw-alligator!"

Ash tied himself and Totodile together with a rope, jumped into the lake, and floated downstream.

"Hey, hey, hey, this is dangerous!"

Xiao Gang shouted.

As soon as he finished speaking, Ash was lifted up by a huge figure.

"Ok?"

Finding himself in the sky, Ash turned around in a daze and exchanged a glance with Totodile.

"Vani?"

Both of them looked down at the same time and found themselves standing on a giant Gyarados.

"Gyarados!?"

Xiaoxia and Xiaogang were surprised.

Gyarados, level 60

"They've been trained very well."

Natsume appeared behind the Gyarados and tapped its scales, which rang out with a clanging sound.

This Gyarados is almost as good as the one carefully prepared for Kojiro, and its talent is even better.

"Hoho?"

This Gyarados stood motionless in the river, letting the water wash over it.

"Does this Gyarados have a trainer?" Ash jumped down, holding Totodile.

"Are you guys okay?"

A beautiful young woman with a cold expression ran over from the shore.

She has blue eyes and blue hair, tied in a neat ponytail, and wears a dark blue bodysuit with a golden dragon ball necklace hanging on her chest.

"Is that the Gyarados trainer?" Ash asked curiously, looking towards the shore.

He didn't know why, but even though he had never met her before, she seemed somewhat familiar.

When Gyarados saw the girl on the shore, it turned slightly and swam towards her, bringing Natsume and Ash back to shore with it.

"I'm sorry, it seems my Gyarados has caused you trouble." The girl said coldly as she recalled Gyarados.

“It’s normal. Nobody would expect someone to swim in this narrow river,” Xiaoxia said, waving her hand as she walked over.

The girl was taken aback, then nodded silently.

The other person seemed to have a rather aloof personality, and everyone unconsciously turned their attention to Xiao Gang.

"Why are you looking at me?" Xiao Gang asked, puzzled.

"Didn't I say that I like gentle older sisters?" Xiao Gang whispered.

What is your relationship with Watari?

Natsume stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the small cape on the girl's back.

This is the same small cape worn by Watari.

“Du is my cousin.” The girl unconsciously looked away, her face flushing.

"You're Mr. Wataru's cousin! No wonder you look familiar!" Ash exclaimed. "Oh, and who are you?" Natsume asked curiously.

"You can call me Xiao Zhuang." The girl nodded blankly.

"Xiaozhuang.Du's cousin, she should also be using Dragon-type Pokémon," Jiaozi subconsciously began searching.

"Mr. Natsume!"

As if she had discovered something, Jiaozi took out her phone to show Natsume.

"I know that a lot of information about the Yanmo City Dojo is questionable."

Natsume waved his hand.

The gym leader here may have a special identity, as there is no information about him on the League's official website.

"By the way, what are you doing around here?"

Xiao Zhuang's gaze suddenly sharpened as she scrutinized everyone.

If Gyarados hadn't stopped him, Ash would have headed towards the reservoir.
"We're going to the power plant!" Ash blurted out.

"The power plant? It's been sealed off. I heard they detected a special magnetic field that could affect Pokémon, and the League has now cordoned off the area for investigation."

"So fast?" Natsume was taken aback; it was completely unexpected.

Given the league's usual practices, something that isn't particularly urgent shouldn't take a week to report, a week to review, and a week to approve.
It's only been a little over a week since he discovered someone uploading videos of the red Gyarados online.

"Where's that red Gyarados? Miss Xiaozhuang, if you're a local from Yanmo City, have you seen it?"

Xiao Zhi was extremely curious.

"He's already been captured by Adu." Xiao Zhuang said sparingly.

"Okay." Ash was immediately disappointed.

"Miss Xiaozhuang, what are you doing here? Are you training your Gyarados?"

"I'm here to find my Dratini."

Xiaoxia and the others chatted with Xiaozhuang, while Xiaozhi came to Natsume's side with some disappointment:

"What should we do, Natsume-nii? It seems like we have no choice but to go directly to Enmo City."

"You guys go ahead, I'm planning to go check it out." Natsume got up and continued walking towards the power plant.

The red Gyarados was captured by Lance.

However, the alliance is still conducting an investigation.

This shows that the most important creature in that body of water is not the red Gyarados.

Natsume walked along the riverbank, golden psychic energy clinging to the soles of his feet. With each step, it was as if the earth had shrunk to an inch, allowing him to walk more than ten meters in an instant.

Soon, Natsume arrived at the end of the river, below the reservoir.

About a kilometer from the power plant, the road was blocked off and guarded by police officers.

"Stop idlers!"

The leader blocked Natsume's way.

"May I go in?" Natsume handed over his researcher's badge.

"Sorry, no, that won't work." The officer shook his head slightly.

"How about this?" Natsume showed his doctoral review materials.

The police officer was stunned:
"Wait a moment, let me ask."

After the phone call ended, he shook his head regretfully and said:
"I'm sorry, Mr. Natsume, but no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter this time."

Ouch?
Natsume was immediately surprised.

This is the first time I've encountered a situation where being a prospective PhD student doesn't work.

Back in Tsukimiyama, he was able to go straight in.

"OK then"

Natsume left with regret, and the police officer stared intently at him until Natsume's figure disappeared into the woods.

After Natsume left, a middle-aged man carrying a ladder, wearing a safety helmet and dirty work clothes appeared in the police officer's line of sight.

"It's extremely urgent! It's extremely urgent! Fix something! Fix something!" the middle-aged man shouted.

"Wait a minute, show me your ID!" The officer stopped the man.

"Okay, Mr. Sakagi, a first-class maintenance worker, please come in!" The officer let him in.

(End of this chapter)