Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 417: The Round of 64 Begins

Over the next few days, Natsume reviewed the Alliance's database of all the legendary Pokémon that had appeared in various regions over the years.

Ultimately, Natsume concluded that there was absolutely no pattern.

"Natsume-nii, were you under a lot of pressure during today's competition?"

At the Pokémon Center, as Ash's voice rang out, the people around him all stared at Natsume.

"Yes, Mr. Natsume, you are still researching every night."

Ever since she was forced to share a room with Xia, she's been keeping an eye on Natsume for days.

Every time Jiaozi sneaks open the door in the middle of the night, she is embarrassed to find that Natsume is still awake.

"nothing."

Natsume stretched.

"Xiao Zhi, do you still have the phone I gave you last time?"

Natsume suddenly asked.

"Is this it?" Xiaozhi held up the heavy, plate-like phone that Natsume had given him.

"Yes, this is it. If you encounter any legendary Pokémon, mythical Pokémon, or special Pokémon in the future, you can contact me."

Natsume sighed, realizing that it was far too difficult to encounter divine beasts on his own.

After thinking about it, I guess in the end I'll have to let Ash trigger it.

"Oh, so I encountered the legend later. Wait, Natsume-nii, why did I contact you?"

Xiao Zhi suddenly realized what was going on.

"After the Silver Conference, I need to deal with some issues at the academy."

Natsume made up an excuse on the spot.

"Okay." Ash nodded dejectedly.

"Pikachu." Pikachu reluctantly jumped onto Natsume's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek.

"Don't worry, even though I'm not here, you'll feel like I'm always with you."

Natsume patted Ash and Pikachu's heads and smiled sincerely.

"Yes?"

For some reason, Ash felt a chill run down his spine. He exchanged a glance with Pikachu on his shoulder, and both of them saw the ominous feeling in each other's eyes.

"Don't worry, Ash. Even though Natsume can't travel with you anymore, I'm going back to Cerulean Gym."

Xiaoxia leaned closer and grinned mischievously.

"Oh."

"What's your attitude?"

"Of course I'm very sad!"

“Not at all!”

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about these things on the eve of the competition," Xiao Gang quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Look, the competition venue is just ahead. What's this?"

Xiao Gang's voice suddenly paused.

Looking in the direction of the venue, everyone could see a huge "Crossing" sign from a great distance.

A perfect 1:1 replica, with a huge red carpet behind the standee serving as "Du's" cape.

Beneath the sign, countless spectators were taking photos and checking in.

"Wow, what a stylish color scheme."

As Natsume approached, he noticed that the organizers had dressed Watanabe in bright red and purple outfits to make the standees more vibrant.

The standee also prominently features Lance wearing the Mega Key Stone on his chest.

Even the base pattern of the entire standee is a blurred and enlarged version of the Super Evolution Key Stone.

"No cutting in line! No cutting in line!"

The crowd immediately started shouting.

Natsume looked back and saw that many people had spontaneously lined up to take photos with the standee.

"My goodness, it seems like Mr. Watari has the support of the people so much!"

Xiaoxia approached and whispered.

"Nonsense, of the three representatives from Chengdu, he's the only one who's practically a Chengdu native—hmm!"

"Hahaha, Mr. Natsume, let's go into the competition area."

Seeing the unfriendly looks from those around her, Jiaozi quickly covered Natsume's mouth.

"No, no, no, I'm here to give everyone a treat."

As Natsume spoke, he took out a Mega Evolution Key Stone.

Immediately, the crowd stirred.

Chengdu's top leadership has been promoting the concept of "super evolution" very vigorously.

Even though they were all spectators, they immediately recognized what Natsume was holding. "A Mega Evolution Key Stone!"

"Is it the same as the one on Mr. Watari's chest?"

Natsume raised the shimmering crystal in his hand, and everyone's eyes followed his hand.

Finally, Natsume casually tucked the Mega Evolution Key Stone into the crotch of the standee.

Without explaining how to obtain it, Natsume turned and left.

The Silver Tournament, the scene of the round of 64.

The audience was bustling with noise, and a woman looked around excitedly.

"Don't worry, don't worry, Ash and the others will definitely be fine."

Beside him, Professor Oak held a cup of hot tea and said in a Buddhist-like manner.

"Please welcome the 64 contestants to the stage!"

A familiar voice rang out in the sky. Natsume looked up and found it was an old acquaintance again.

"Natsume-nii, is that Narutosuke?"

Ash pointed to the sky in surprise.

Natsume was slightly stunned.

The job of hosting and narrating the Silver Conference is much more difficult to get than that of the Quartz Conference.

"Let's go, Ash, you need to go over there."

Natsume pointed out a path to Ash.

"Huh, why?" Ash noticed that Natsume was walking in the opposite direction from him.

"Idiot, the top 64 in the Silver Tournament are divided into groups."

Xiao Mao's voice suddenly rang out; he said:

"Natsume-kun is in Group A, I'm in Group C, and you're in Group C too?"

Xiao Mao stared at the large screen in the sky, his brow furrowed.

Whether it was intentional or not, Du, N, and Ye Yue, who represent the Chengdu area, were all placed in different groups.

"Doesn't that mean one of us will definitely be eliminated?"

Xiao Zhi realized this too late.

"Don't worry, the second place winner can play in the revival round and eventually enter the top 8."

Natsume's voice rang out from afar.

"Resurrection matches? I've seen that a lot in the games you used to play, Xiao Mao. Are you really good at this?"

"Are you mocking me?"

Group A preparation area.

A Pikachu with its hair parted vertically down the middle occupied several seats, its little legs twitching and snot bubbles coming out of its nose.

Natsume slowly and deliberately wiped his precious ball.

After these days of constant battles in the Enchanted Forest and the Lake of Life, the Pokémon under his command have undergone a qualitative improvement.

Apart from Diglett being only LV48 and Dragonite being LV74, the rest of the Pokémon were all precisely at LV60.

Natsume had reason to suspect that the middle-part hairstyle was merely a means to complete the mission and precisely control the points.

"Mr. Natsume, please guide me in the upcoming matches!"

A cheerful voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Natsume turned around and saw that it was Ye Yue.

Behind him were Watari and N.

Du looked down at his phone, his expression troubled.

N stared intently at Natsume.

Several days ago, he delivered the reagents, went to Natsume to hand them over, and then he remembered nothing.

When he woke up, he found that it was already three days later.

"You're in Group A too?" Natsume asked, looking at Ye Yue who was walking towards him.

"Yes, Mr. Watari said you are very powerful!"

After hearing this, Natsume shook his head with some regret:

"If you had come a year earlier, the championship might have been yours."

"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Natsume, but I will not give up!"

Watching the other person leave, Natsume stood up.

In the original storyline, Ye Yue possessed the ability to win the championship.

But this year, everything's gone awry!

(End of this chapter)