Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 477 Natsume VS Alice

"It's not convenient to fight here at the City Hall."

Natsume stood up and said to Alice, whose eyes were sparkling, "Let's go to the public battle area in the park."

"Yay!" Alice cheered, and skipped and jumped outside with the dragon-headed gopher in her arms.

Jiaozi silently followed behind Natsume, glancing at the energetic little guy in front of her, and then at Natsume.

After thinking about it, she followed.

The battle zone in Shuanglong City Park is spacious and bright, surrounded by green trees.

When Natsume and Alice stood at opposite ends of the field, passersby who were strolling or exercising nearby were immediately drawn to them.

In Twin Dragons City, the power and ferocity of Dragon-type Pokémon seem to be ingrained in the city's very being, and people have a natural passion for Pokémon battles.

"Huh? Isn't that Alice from Dragon Village?"

"Yes, yes, yes! That's her! She just won the Shuanglong City Tournament last month!"

"Wow, the champion! Who was her opponent? They look a bit unfamiliar..."

The crowd was buzzing.

What is the Twin Dragons Tournament?
Natsume turned his head to look at Jiaozi, who immediately understood and explained in a low voice:

"The Shuanglong City Youth Trainers Cup was held when I first arrived, and the winner was Alice."

Natsume nodded knowingly, then turned his gaze back to the other side of the field.

Alice was already in position, her little face flushed with excitement. She raised the Poké Ball high in her hand: "Excadrill, get ready for battle!"

"Roar!" The dragon-headed ground squirrel landed steadily, its thick claws scraping together, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound, its fighting spirit soaring.

Its gaze was sharp as a knife, fixed intently on Natsume.

"Mr. Natsume, do you have any powerful Dragon-type Pokémon?"

Natsume paused, his fingers touching the red and white balls containing the little ground squirrels.

"Why a Dragon-type Pokémon?" Natsume looked at the other person strangely.

"Because I'm going to battle against a powerful Dragon-type Pokémon!"

"Mr. Natsume, do you have one?"

After saying that, Alice looked at the other person with a hopeful expression.

“Okay.” Natsume calmly tossed the Poké Ball.

"Go, Dragonite!"

A flash of golden light, and a large, fast dragon wearing a bib and with one half of its wings black, descended like a small mountain falling from the sky.

The mere vibration from the landing caused a slight tingling sensation in the feet of nearby spectators.

"It's a huge Dragonite, it looks so powerful!" Alice's eyes lit up, her gaze instantly fixed on the giant Dragonite.

"Dragon-headed groundhog, use the straight-pump drill!"

She waved her little hand vigorously, her face flushed red with excitement.

"Roar—" Excadrill roared, transforming into a high-speed spinning silver drill that tore through the air and shot straight at the massive belly of the Great Jaggi with unstoppable momentum.

At this moment, the giant Dragonite did not immediately enter battle mode after landing.

The enormous golden dragon's eyes seemed somewhat bewildered. It first looked around curiously, its gaze sweeping over the surrounding crowd, and even tilted its head as if trying to identify the blurry figures.

"Awooo?"

Finally, the Great Dragonite's gaze settled on Natsume, seemingly not understanding why the other had called it out.

Alice was taken aback.

The Dragonite didn't seem to care much about the deadly drill that came hurtling towards it with a piercing shriek.

boom--! ! !
A dull, loud bang!
The high-speed rotating drill slammed into the large dragon's belly, which was covered with thick fat.

Although he had undergone a period of intense dieting over the past two weeks, the nutrients provided by Ho-Oh had clearly not been fully utilized.

Visibly, the dragon-headed ground squirrel was deeply sunken into the belly of the giant dinosaur.

When the depression reached a certain point, the dragon-headed groundhog felt as if an insurmountable mountain was blocking its way.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying force rebounded, forcibly interrupting the high-speed rotation.

"Ugh——!"

The dragon-headed ground squirrel let out a painful groan and was violently flung away, tumbling and rolling to the ground in a sorry state, its claws trembling violently, and even the tip of its drill showing obvious wear.

It looked up in horror at the enormous creature that remained motionless, as if it had only been pricked by a small pebble. The vast difference in strength instantly brought it back to its senses.

Excadrill suddenly turned around and looked at its trainer, Alice, its eyes filled with shock, disbelief, and a hint of barely perceptible fear.

However, Alice was completely immersed in her desire for victory and her passion for the battle. Her face was still flushed with excitement, and she didn't notice the strong warning signal in her partner's eyes.

She only saw the dragon-headed gopher being bounced away, but she didn't understand what that meant.

"Dragon Head Groundhog! Don't give up!"

Alice's voice was full of encouragement.

"Dig tunnels! Attack it from underground! We're sure to find an opportunity!"

“Roar.”

Looking at Alice's expectant yet unwavering gaze, the dragon-headed mole struggled internally for a moment.

It let out a low growl, suppressing the horror, humiliation, and recognition of the enormous gap in its heart, and roared again, frantically digging at the ground with its claws, instantly creating a hole that disappeared.

The spectators on the sidelines held their breath.

Perhaps digging tactics could work?

The giant dragon was still hovering, but its attention had clearly been drawn to something else.

Perhaps it's a Bobo leaping on a distant treetop?

Its enormous head turned slightly in that direction, its golden pupils filled with curiosity, seemingly having completely forgotten the battle beneath its feet.

After a few seconds.

The giant dragon's massive claws seemed to simply feel that the ground was a bit uncomfortable, or perhaps it just wanted to change its stance, and it lifted them up very casually.

Then, he lightly stomped on the seemingly normal ground in front of him.

Boom-! ! !
No energy, no skill.

Only pure, terrifying physical force.

Boom! The earth trembled violently, spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly, and boulders shot into the sky like fountains, instantly forming a huge crater several meters in diameter.

At the bottom of the deep pit, the dragon-headed groundhog was violently shaken out of the ground by this irresistible force of shock.

It was as if it had been struck hard by an invisible giant hand, its body curled up, swept up by the violent force, and slammed against the rock wall at the edge of the deep pit.

"Whoa-!"

The dragon-headed ground squirrel let out a shrill scream, smashed its way into the rock wall, created a shallow crater, slid down, and collapsed, completely losing consciousness.

The whole process was so fast that it took no time to react.

From the moment Excadrill burrowed underground, to the moment Dragonite stomped its foot, and then to the moment Excadrill was defeated and sent flying, it all took only two or three seconds.

There was no fierce fighting, no deliberate attack.

There was only one ineffective charge and one "earthquake" that ended the battle in an instant despite being done half-heartedly.

An absolute, despairing crushing defeat.

A slight silence fell over the crowd on the sidelines.

"Wow, who would have thought this Dragonite could cause an earthquake?"

"That's not necessarily true, just do more research."

Everyone was talking about it.

Natsume touched his nose silently.

No, it wasn't an earthquake. After following the Guardian Dragonite for half a year, Natsume discovered that the returned Dragonite's attribute energy was constantly being converted into physical strength.

She doesn't have any skills whatsoever, let alone something as troublesome as an earthquake; it's just a simple stomp of her foot.

"Dragon Head Mole is unable to fight. The winner of this competition is—Mr. Natsume!"

The referee, a proud young man, announced the result of the match.

Alice froze on the spot, her face as white as paper.

Her earlier excitement and confidence were shattered, leaving only a profound sense of bewilderment in her eyes, and a large Dragonite standing on the opposite side of the field, intently staring at an ant nest by the roadside.
Her proud partner, despite her all-out attack, couldn't even attract the attention of the enemy.
Glistening tears welled up in her large, amber eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks.

"You have to be serious when you're fighting."

Natsume patted the belly of the giant dragon.

"Awooo?" Who's fighting?
The giant dragon stood up, patted its chest, and looked around, seemingly ready to rush in and help at any moment.

Natsume: "."

"Stab~"

Natsume recalled his Dragonite, walked to the edge of the pit, and looked down at the unconscious Excadrill and the small figure who was trying hard not to cry, but whose shoulders were trembling slightly.

He crouched down, his voice much softer than before, still calm, but carrying a sense of scrutiny and consideration:
"Your command was too reckless, kid."

Alice looked up abruptly, tears finally streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Natsume looked at her, his gaze sweeping over the unconscious Dragon Head Mole at the bottom of the pit, and slowly said:

"When there is a huge disparity in strength, a head-on confrontation is the worst option."

Natsume's tone was more like that of an instructor.
"Your Podrick is fast and agile, why not try to take advantage of those?"

"For example, could you first disrupt the opponent's judgment with high-speed movement, or affect their vision by throwing sand?"

"Digging a hole may be unexpected, but in the face of absolute power, especially when the opponent's Pokémon has the Earthquake move, trapping yourself underground is tantamount to suicide."

Alice sobbed, wiping away her tears haphazardly with her little hands:

"So, this is how we can win?"

"No, we'll lose more slowly."

"."

Alice took Natsume's words to heart.

She was only thinking about attacking, attacking, attacking, and didn't consider any other tactics. As Grandma said, the most important thing for a trainer is a calm mind.

“A prodigy.” Natsume gestured to the side.

"Hmm." Jiaozi immediately understood, lightly jumped down into the deep pit, and squatted down next to the unconscious Dragon Head Ground Rat.

Her movements were gentle and professional as she quickly examined the dragon-headed gopher's injuries and took out a large amount of medicine.

"Fortunately, it's mainly hard injuries and exhaustion caused by the impact. There are some bruises on the claws, but no fractures."

She spoke as she treated the dragon-headed gopher.

"Is it alright?" Alice, no longer able to cry, anxiously peered down into the pit, her voice thick with a nasal tone.

"Just take a rest."

Jiaozi looked up at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Your Dragon Head Gopher is very resilient and has great potential."

As she spoke, Jiaozi glanced slightly in Natsume's direction and tentatively asked:

"Alice, do you want to become stronger?"

Watching Jiao Zi skillfully treat her injuries, Alice's tense face relaxed slightly. However, upon hearing his words, Alice's expression turned serious again.

"Yes!" came the resounding reply.

"Take it."

Natsume suddenly approached, took out a brand new Poké Ball with the Great Ball logo from his pocket, and handed it to Iris, who was lying on the edge of the pit.

Alice took the Poké Ball, which looked very high-end, in a daze.

"You have a strong combat instinct, but you lack experience and need systematic learning and guidance."

Natsume's gaze swept over the ordinary red and white ball in her hand, which looked like it had been used for a long time and was somewhat worn. His words carried an invitation:
"Have you ever been to school?"

Alice gripped the brand-new Advanced Ball tightly, then looked down at the Dragon Head Grub at the bottom of the pit, whose breathing was gradually stabilizing under the healing fluctuations, and then at the powerful older brother in front of her who seemed willing to teach her.

She sniffed hard, holding back her tears: "No, it was all taught to me by my mother-in-law."

"Oh, I've started a college. How about I waive your tuition?"

Natsume smiled and handed the other person a business card.

"Sunshine Academy"

Alice stared blankly at the small card in her hand.

(End of this chapter)