Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 399 Actually, you've already been recognized.

"I returned it to them hundreds of years ago; it was never my power after all."

The guardian Dragonite said casually.

"Great!"

Natsume clicked his tongue and nodded.

Being able to take things on and let them go—these are simple words, yet few people can truly do them.

He could imagine that during the time the God of Life and Destruction entered his body, the Guardian Dragonite's strength must have increased dramatically, reaching a terrifying level.

But this power, the other party can simply give it up.

"Those two stone slabs are the medium that bears life and destruction."

"After I relinquished my priesthood, the stone tablet was given to me as a token of gratitude."

"And I also discovered that the stone slab, seemingly imbued with some divine power from my long-term use of it."

"The cave wonder you mentioned, and the extra training bonus for Pokémon, should be caused by the stone slab I buried there."

The guardian Dragonite seemed to be deep in thought.

"Senior, you're saying that those stone tablets weren't activated by Xerneas and Iphiel's blessing, but rather became imbued with divine power because of your long-term use?"

Natsume discovered the blind spot.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" The guardian Dragonite looked at Natsume strangely.

"nothing."

Natsume's lips twitched slightly.

The ability to mobilize divine power can perhaps be attributed to the unparalleled control of power by the Guardian Dragonite.

But activating the stone tablet, giving it divine effects, etc.
“I think you’ve actually been accepted, senior.” After a moment of silence, Natsume finally voiced his guess.

If Xerneas and Iffertar hadn't survived, they might be next.
"I know, but neither I nor my trainer are pursuing this!"

The guardian Dragonite shook its head.

"I don't need ready-made power; I want to be like those guys!"

As it spoke, it suddenly turned around and looked in the direction of Silver Mountain.

"Was that guy who secretly punished the evil Pokémon the same trainer you were?"

Natsume approached the guardian Dragonite from behind and tentatively asked.

"You've said too much."

The guardian Dragonite shook its head to itself, then pulled out a stone slab from behind it.

The stone slab was entirely black, with two scarlet lines that intersected to form a large "X" shape.

"The Alliance has been eyeing this stone slab for a while, so I dug it out of its burial place a few days ago."

"Here you go, it'll save me the trouble."

Natsume reached out and, in a daze, took the stone tablet handed to him by the guardian Dragonite.

[Ding! The God of Destruction, the Iphilthar Tablet, has been discovered!]

The system's mechanical voice sounded, and Natsume held the stone slab in his hand, examining it repeatedly.

"Senior, why is there no blank space on the top of this stone slab?" Natsume asked, voicing his doubts.

The stone tablet is only a place to temporarily store deities when they are newly created or when a deity's divine beast encounters a problem.

There will be a vacancy for a clergy member.

Just like the stone tablet that suddenly appeared on Loletton.

The black, oil-like heart-shaped crystal merged with Lollerton, and correspondingly, a heart-shaped gap was forever added to the stone slab.

“There was a vacancy at first, but it gradually disappeared after I kept it with me for a while.”

The guardian Dragonite waved its hand, not caring about any of this.

"Is that so?" Natsume's lips twitched slightly.

Even Xerneas and Iphierta himself might not be able to do something like this, right?
“Take the Slab of Life with you; I don’t want people always eyeing it.”

The guardian Dragonite yawned, patted the head of the giant Dragonite, and turned back to its nest in the square monument.

Its lazy voice rang out:

"Call me when you need to get the Dragon Cloak."

Natsume silently bowed to the square monument, recalled the Great Dragonite into its Poké Ball, and with a flash, returned to the cave.

Why aren't you turning on the lights?

It was pitch black, but when Natsume turned on his flashlight, it was as bright as day.

"You walked so fast without leaving a flashlight." Du's lips twitched slightly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the stone slab in Natsume's hand.

"This isn't your so-called new form."

"Lolerton".

“Yes, the transformation item of Loletton?” Wataru nodded.

“This is the tool for transforming this tree,” Natsume said, raising the stone slab in his hand.

The telekinetic energy emitted a golden light, lifting the stone slab as it slowly approached.

As the destructive stone slab approached, the large tree embedded in the cliff face burst forth with a dazzling light.

The two forces clashed, and the tree began to wither rapidly.

"Wait a minute, this tree is going to wither!" Shaka said anxiously.

"Don't panic."

With a slight thought, the Life Stone Slab moved closer and closer to the tree, until finally, it was like a red-hot branding iron, imprinted on the tree, and a large amount of black energy emerged.

Under the tense gaze of the group, the tree withered and died completely.

Natsume retrieved the stone slab.

Zhu Lan was taken aback and went forward to check.

"Dead." She turned around and glared at Natsume.

“Mr. Natsume, you killed this tree. And then what?” Shaka was speechless.

"Then you can leave."

Natsume flipped the stone slab over. On the back of the slab, there was a completely different white background, with green veins gathering at the very end, forming a large "Y".

Life and destruction are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. These two stone slabs can be combined, a concept that the guardian Dragonite came up with when it was bored.

At the same time, the other party also told Natsume that this was the only way to take the Life Stone.

"this?"

Zhu Lan suddenly leaned closer and looked at the stone slab in Natsume's hand.

"X, Y? Is this related to the mythology of the Carlos region?"

“It’s related to Sunshine Academy in the Unova region.” Natsume yawned and explained simply:

"The tree itself is not important; what is important is this Y-shaped stone slab."

As expected, as Natsume led the stone slab out of the cave, the small white flowers near the outside of the cave visibly began to wither.

"After this competition, I will think about it carefully and try to acquire that piece of land. I will give you an address and you can send the Pokémon you need to train directly here."

Humming a song, Natsume was about to go find the Guardian Dragonite when he spotted a large group of people walking towards them.

The newcomer was dressed in a long robe, and his long purple hair was very eye-catching in the sunlight.

The elderly man with a receding hairline, who was leading the group, stopped Natsume and his companions. He was none other than Kurogane's grandfather, Kuroki Kirito.

"Have you just finished looking at the cave? How was it?"

Kuroki greeted him with a smile and in a friendly manner, as if unaware of what had happened earlier.

"Excellent, absolutely excellent."

Natsume was in a great mood and casually picked up a green wig and put it on Kuroki Kirito.

"Pfft!" Zhu Lan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Kuroki's expression stiffened slightly, his usual smile seemed to be frozen for a moment, then slowly melted away, but a faint shadow of gloom flashed deep in his eyes.

With a calm and even slightly helpless air, he removed the garish green wig from his head and lightly dusted off any non-existent dust.

"I'm too old to carry these trendy gadgets."

Kuroki turned to Takenori and Natsume, his smile switching seamlessly, naturally leaving Natsume aside:
"Miss Zhulan, Mr. Xia Ka, you must be tired from the expedition. This cave path is difficult to navigate, did you both have a smooth journey?"

"Hmph." Shaka snorted coldly.

That shameless old man acts like nothing happened at noon today.

This is exactly how he looked when we first discussed the contract!
"Smoothly, of course it went smoothly."

As Natsume spoke, he took out a green wig and put it on the other person's head.

"Mr. Natsume looks quite energetic," Kuroki Kirito said, turning his head as if he had just remembered Natsume, his tone carrying the concern of an elder.
"Young people are full of energy. But you know, an expedition isn't a race; you have to observe carefully to see the real thing. The things in the cave can't withstand being handled carelessly."

He expressionlessly removed his wig again, then immediately turned to Zhu Lan and Xia Ka, leaning slightly to form a private conversation circle:
"The value of this cave lies in its historical significance. It's not something you can see through at a glance. It requires experience, and even more so, the trust of the locals."

As Kuroki Kirito spoke, he glanced at Natsume.

The latter didn't care at all and took out dozens of green wigs, making Kuroki's eyelids twitch.

"Uh, that won't be necessary, Mr. Kuroki, we're leaving now."

Zhu Lan shook her head.

The things inside that could be used to raise Dragon-type Pokémon have already fallen into Natsume's hands, so this cave is no longer of any value.

"Wait a minute, Miss Zhu Lan, you're not the only ones watching this place. If we don't finalize things quickly, the price won't be as reasonable as mine!"

Kuroki stopped the other party.

“Your lineage doesn’t represent anything,” Shaka sneered.

"That's not right. We may not represent anything, but we can take the lead!"

“Other private individuals offered such high prices, but I didn’t approach them. Instead, I prioritized the alliance!”

Natsume yawned and turned to walk towards the den of the guardian Dragonite.

"Wait a minute, I have some questions to ask!" Zhu Lan chased after her, with Xia Ka close behind.

"You guys...you've thought this through. If you leave today, given the market conditions, the price could increase more than tenfold!"

Seeing that Zhu Lan and Xia Ka were ignoring him, Kuroki Kirito suddenly shouted.

As expected, Natsume stopped in his tracks.

Seeing the other person turn around, Kuroki Kirito sneered inwardly.

He's just a greenhorn after all!
"Too little, it should be twenty times more!" Natsume gave a thumbs up.

Kuroki's face stiffened.

"No, it has to be at least a hundred times more."

Shaka looked encouraging and followed Natsume's steps, giving a second thumbs up.

"puff!"

Zhu Lan covered her mouth tightly, trying not to laugh out loud.

"Pfft hahaha!"

Her attempt to smirk failed, and Zhu Lan couldn't help but wave her hand.

"I'm sorry, Elder, I don't usually smile."

"You...you!?" Kuroki Kirito's chest heaved, and the kind smile on his face finally crumbled.

He didn't understand why these two people had suddenly lost interest in the cave.
"I'm the one responsible for greeting guests. Are you treating me like I'm invisible?"

Wataru suddenly appeared, blocking Kuroki Kirito's view. He looked coldly at the group of old men in front of him.

"In that case, it must be Young Master Du who guides you properly!"

Kuroki gritted his teeth, turned and left.

Meanwhile, Natsume, along with Takeran and Natsuka, went straight to the outside of the square monument.

"Why did you bring us here?"

Zhu Lan's gaze immediately fell on the square tablet.

Her intuition told her that this thing must be very old!

"This seems to be the place."

Shaka glanced discreetly inside the square tablet, his expression changing slightly.

"Here you go." Natsume handed each of Takeran and Shaka a work jacket.

"What is this for?"

Zhu Lan gently stroked the fabric with her fingers and found that it was very similar to the clothes she often wore when she was doing archaeology.

"Help me with some chores," Natsume said, handing two shovels to Takeran and Shaka.

"Are you so outgoing?" Zhu Lan asked silently, holding the shovel in her hand.

She was still a little puzzled; why did the shovel feel so familiar to her?
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Shaka asked curiously, holding a shovel that was disproportionately large for his size.

"Dig up the grave," Natsume said bluntly.

"Natsume-kun, come visit our Dragon Village sometime! We get along really well, hahaha!"

Shaka leaped onto the Salamence, leaving behind a hearty laugh, but his figure vanished in an instant.

"Mr. Natsume, I... we get along very well too. Come visit Sinnoh sometime, hahaha!"

Following Shaka's words, Cynthia jumped onto Garchomp and soared into the sky, leaving behind only her clumsy laughter echoing in the air.

Natsume: "."

(End of this chapter)