Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 484 Inspection Results
"Mr. Hyakuya, are you satisfied with the result?"

Natsume was taken to the company cafeteria for a meal by the receptionist.

When we were halfway through the meal, Rogers came over.

He changed into a more formal dark suit, his face radiating just the right amount of enthusiasm, as if the previous chance encounter and visit had never happened.

"Very good, the cafeteria is also quite environmentally friendly."

Natsume smiled in response, unconsciously poking at the bright green salad on his plate with his fork.

He felt like a carnivore being forcibly stuffed into a rabbit hutch.

This company's restaurant is actually vegan?
"Pickup!"

With her hair parted in the middle and her arms crossed, she sat on Natsume's head, sulking to herself.

After thinking about it, it was still furious. It crawled into Natsume's briefcase and drew a very conspicuous "X" on the cafeteria hygiene section.

Natsume glanced out of the corner of his eye at the spot near the window not far away.

Cattleya had also arrived at the cafeteria at some point and was sitting there alone.

A delicate vegetarian dessert sat before her, and she seemed to be enjoying the meal.

However, apart from the hand holding the small silver spoon, the other hand was unconsciously pressed gently against her chest, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if she was sensing something, or as if she was enduring some kind of discomfort.

Natsume immediately saw the problem.

The restless life doll inside Cattleya seemed to be compelled to remain in this particular environment because it sensed her own existence.

How can a living person be affected by having a baby?
Natsume shrugged. He simply couldn't imagine why someone's psychokinetic disorder would sprout up like leeks, no matter how many times they were cut.

Shouldn't this thing be as easy to use as wielding an arm?

As Cattleya ate her dessert in small bites, her gaze would occasionally drift toward Natsume, a mixture of curiosity and a strange sense of familiarity in her eyes.

That look in his eyes made Natsume feel a little uneasy.

Rogers' gaze lingered for a moment on the mushy salad on Natsume's plate, his smile deepening with an air of knowing-it-all composure.

"It seems our vegan philosophy is still a bit too advanced for the investigators at Baiyoumu?" He said in a relaxed tone, without any reproach, rather like a friendly banter.

He turned and walked towards the buffet table, quickly returning with a delicate bone china plate, which he gently placed in front of Natsume.

On the plate were several pieces of golden-brown fried pork chops, emitting an enticing aroma.

"Try this, our lab's latest plant-based meat substitute. We strive to make its taste and nutrition as close to the real thing as possible. Perhaps it will suit your taste better?"

Rogers' voice was gentle, and his movements were natural.

"Thank you." Natsume nodded, and calmly forked a piece of vegetarian meat and put it in his mouth.

The taste was indeed indistinguishable from the real thing, but his mind wasn't on that at all.

He noticed that Cattleya seemed to be looking over more often, and each time she looked over, her hand pressed against her chest would tighten slightly.

Rogers was incredibly perceptive; he almost immediately noticed Cattleya's subtle yet frequent shifts in gaze and her slightly unusual state.

A barely perceptible shadow crossed his deep eyes, but his smile remained flawless.

He sat down gracefully opposite Natsume, as if they were just having a casual chat.

"Speaking of which, Miss Cattleya's presence on behalf of the family to discuss the cooperation intentions for the Eye of the Sky has been a great help." Rogers' voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and his tone was sincere, as if he were simply stating a fact.

"Projects like this, involving cutting-edge technology and future strategies, desperately need partners with vision and decisiveness like yourself. It's a pity."

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone carrying a perfectly timed, casual complaint tinged with helplessness:

"Sometimes, procedural issues can actually slow things down."

“Just like this environmental review, even though our standards far exceed the alliance’s requirements, we still have to follow all the necessary procedures and cooperate with all the investigations.”

"The most crucial thing is that we had already finished, and now the Alliance has come to inspect us again at the last minute." "Investigator Hyakuya, you agree, right? It's part of our duties, I completely understand." He looked at Natsume, his smile gentle, even showing a hint of understanding as a fellow working person.

Hearing this, Cattleya frowned.

"So, you can't deliver this month?" Gadriya walked straight over with the dessert in her hand, frowning as she looked at Natsume.

"It's very difficult."

Rogers, seemingly oblivious to Cattleya's gaze, continued speaking to Natsume: "Of course, I believe Investigator Hyakuya will handle this impartially."

"I just hope the process can be completed as soon as possible, since the project timeline is very tight."

“Last time there was a similar review, it took almost a month just to check the materials, and it almost missed a critical deadline.” He sighed, his tone carrying a hint of regret for the inefficiency, as if he were just sharing a minor work-related frustration.

Natsume, who was chewing on vegetarian meat with a grim expression, merely raised his eyelids upon hearing this and looked at Rogers with a blank expression: "Huh? Is Mr. Rogers talking to me?"

Rogers' smile froze slightly, but he quickly recovered: "Hehe, it's nothing, just chatting about work. Please enjoy your meal, Investigator Baiyoumu."

He felt a surge of frustration; this guy was completely unyielding.
Cattleya, however, was not so easy to deal with.

Because she was protected by her family from a young age, and because of her own psychokinetic issues in recent years, she has been traveling and vacationing in various regions, rarely interacting with people, let alone representing her family in business negotiations.

This was the first time she had shouldered such a heavy responsibility, and she wore her emotions on her beautiful but slightly immature face without reservation.

Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the corner of the table in front of Natsume, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. Her red lips parted slightly: "You're in charge of surveillance—"

"Well?!"

Cattleya's questioning was interrupted by a sudden action.

Almost instinctively, with lightning speed, Natsume used his fork to pick up a golden and tempting vegetarian meat steak from his plate and precisely, or rather, somewhat eagerly, stuffed it into Cattleya's slightly open mouth.

The movement was so fast that the metal edge of the fork even lightly tapped against her pearly white teeth, making a crisp, soft sound.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Cattleya froze, her beautiful eyes widening instantly as she stared incredulously at Natsume, who was standing right in front of her.

She could even feel the lingering warmth of the fork's edge and the slight breeze stirred by the other person's fingertips.

"I knew Miss Cattleya would want to eat this!"

As Natsume spoke, he quickly stuffed the remaining few greasy pork patties, which were only good for the first bite, into the other person's hands.

The food was either greasy or bland, which was Natsume's assessment of this diner.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man with a middle parting, greasy lips, one hand on the table leg, looking like he was about to vomit.

Because of its voracious eating habits, by the time it feels full, it's obviously too late.

Rogers was so taken aback by this sudden and offensive scene that he froze on the spot, even forgetting to hand Cattleya water immediately.

"Suck~"

In the eerie silence, Cattleya subconsciously pursed her lips.

The few small vegetarian meat patties that had been stuffed in slid into her mouth without her even realizing it.

"Hmm," she subconsciously chewed a couple of times, and the aroma of caramel and saltiness on her tongue was surprisingly good, more to her irritable appetite than the sweet and greasy vegetarian pastries.

She chewed blankly.

"Um, are you free?"

Seeing that Natsume had quickly packed his briefcase and was preparing to flee the scene, Gadriya finally came to her senses. She swallowed the food in her mouth and looked at him.

The brief moment of close contact, the slight vibration of metal hitting teeth, and the lingering taste in her mouth made her absolutely certain.

The root cause of the restlessness within the baby inside me is this strangely behaving prosecutor in front of me.

(End of this chapter)