Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 485 Cattleya's Invitation

"Miss Cattleya, are you free for dinner tonight?"

Rogers wore an impeccable smile and spoke in a gentle voice, as if it were just a casual social invitation.

“I’m busy,” Cattleya replied crisply, without even turning around.

Her gaze was fixed on Natsume, who was about to turn and leave, and she followed him with light steps.

"What are you going to do?" Natsume had just stepped out of the cafeteria when he suddenly felt his arm tighten.

Looking down, he saw a pair of fair, slender, yet exceptionally strong small hands gripping his sleeve like iron clamps.

Without saying a word, Gadriya pursed her full cherry lips and used her strength to drag Natsume towards the door, almost pushing and pulling him.

Her strength was unexpected; Natsume stumbled and almost lost his balance as she pulled him.

Another new Superman?
Outside, a discreetly luxurious car was already waiting quietly.

The butler stood by the car and saw his young mistress practically escorting a strange man out. A hint of undisguised surprise flashed in his eyes.

But his good professionalism allowed him to immediately regain his composure, and he stepped forward to open the back door.

"Miss, please!" The old man's voice was calm and even, but his gaze couldn't help but linger on Natsume for a moment longer.

Once they reached the car, Natsume finally broke free from Gadriya's grasp. He rubbed the slightly wrinkled fabric of his sleeves, his brows furrowing slightly.

He cut to the chase and asked, "What exactly do you want?"

His tone carried a hint of helplessness.

Instead of answering immediately, Gadriya suddenly took another step closer.

Warm breath, carrying a faint sweet aroma, gently patted Natsume's face.

She tilted her head slightly, her beautiful eyes filled with pure curiosity as she stared unblinkingly at Natsume's face, as if studying some rare Pokémon, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

"Can you come with me?" She blinked, her tone carrying an innocent naiveté and an undeniable stubbornness.

The butler stepped back calmly, took out his phone, and quickly started operating it, clearly checking information about Baiyoumu.

"No." Natsume refused decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

Although the investigation yielded no results on the surface, the suspicions surrounding Peace Dove Company grew larger and larger in his mind, like a snowball rolling downhill.

In particular, when he quickly searched on his phone, he discovered that this company had never been taken care of by the Pokémon Protection Organization of Feiyun City, and even promoted it as an honor of advanced environmental protection technology on its official website?
This is utterly blatant misrepresentation.

Even a purely charitable organization like the Pokémon Center gets nitpicked, so this honor of zero complaints is, in Natsume's eyes, the biggest vulnerability.

"Hmm," Gadriya lightly bit her full lower lip, her gaze stubbornly fixed on Natsume.

“You have to come with me.” She reached out again, trying to pull Natsume’s arm.

Natsume frowned, about to look away.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Hyakuya." The butler stepped forward at the opportune moment, bowed slightly, and stood between Cattleya and Natsume, his face showing a polite apology.
"My young lady rarely interacts with people, please forgive her."

“Miss’s way of expressing herself may be a bit direct, but what she means is…” The butler glanced at Natsume and said slowly:

"Mr. Hyakuya, are you free tonight? Miss would like to invite you to dinner."

"I haven't had a free day all day." Natsume shook his head without hesitation.

Relying solely on Rotom or Polygons might not yield much information.

However, Natsume can activate some of Rotom-2's devices. Maybe he'll find out something.

The activation device requires Rotom to enter Loleton's body in order to generate that black mist.

Moreover, since they needed to infiltrate the company, and Loletton was too big and would be easily exposed, Natsume decided to make his move at night.

Seeing Natsume's resolute refusal, Gadriya's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a hint of doubt appeared in her beautiful eyes.

"You must come with me."

Cattleya grabbed Natsume's arm.

Natsume looked at the other person strangely.

This Cattleya's personality is quite different from what I remembered.

As if he had thought of something, Natsume suddenly spoke:

"Miss Cattleya, do you know Zhu Lan?"

“Zhu Lan?” Gadriya was taken aback, not understanding why Natsume suddenly brought up this person. She frowned slightly, as if recalling something, and slowly said, “I know her. We played in an open tournament together.”

His tone was flat, carrying a clear sense of unfamiliarity and estrangement.

"I understand." Natsume nodded.

At present, Jia Deliya is probably still in the stage of just getting to know Zhu Lan and having an impression of her; the two have not yet become close friends.

In other words, Gadriya has never had her first real friend or learned how to "get along with others".

Natsume's expression was strange.

It seems that every exceptionally talented cultivator of superpowers develops some kind of quirk in their cultivation.

Of course, exceptions include prodigies like him.
Considering that Cattleya was a pitiful child, Natsume thought for a moment and tactfully handed her a book, saying:
"If you get a perfect score on your test, I'll have some free time."

With that, Natsume clapped his hands and turned to walk away.

"One hundred points?"

Cattleya looked down, a strange look on her face at the book in her hands—"Top Secret! Speedrun for the Personality Soundness Test Final Exam: The Painful Efforts of an 8th Generation Senior from Rainbow University!"

This book has no publisher; it seems the entire book was printed, even the cover, which was written crookedly in black ink.

It looks quite old, with many wrinkles, as if it has been passed down through many generations.

Beneath the books, there was a thick layer of white paper.

The butler took a look and found that there were nearly a hundred sets of test questions. He couldn't help but twitch his eye slightly.

Was that investigator a graduate of Rainbow University in the Kanto region?

That book was actually given to Natsume by a female student when he was substituting for Professor Oak.

Saying that Natsume-sensei definitely needs this knowledge is ridiculous! Who is Natsume?

Sunny and cheerful, confident and generous, with a well-rounded personality!
How could anyone possibly need something like this?
This book, which Natsume had never opened before, seems to have found someone who truly needs it this time—Cattleya.

Not far away, Natsume hailed a taxi. He planned to go to the Pokémon Center to rest temporarily and prepare for his actions that night.

From a distance, he saw Cattleya standing there in a daze through the rearview mirror.

The process of "enlightening" people is too troublesome, and Natsume is currently very busy with other matters and doesn't have the energy for it.

Either wait for Gardevoir's confidante, Zhulan, or, young lady, focus on your studies.

Before leaving, Natsume glanced discreetly at the executives of Peace Dove Company.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, Rogers' clenched fist bulged with veins as he indifferently took in everything below.

Flying City, Pokémon Center.

The familiar smell of disinfectant mixed with Pokémon food wafted towards him as Natsume stepped into the hall, a long-lost sense of disorientation instantly washing over him.

"Ah~ It's been so long since I've been here. It feels so familiar." Natsume couldn't help but stretch out, and his tense nerves seemed to relax a bit.

Since parting ways with Ash and his friends, I've rarely been to the Pokémon Center.

After skillfully applying for a temporary rest room at the self-service terminal, Natsume, having nothing else to do, spread out his design sketches in the room.

Rotom floated out of the phone and attached itself to the screen of Natsume's notebook, which was displaying a complex diagram of satellite structures.

Natsume stared at the sketch for a long time, his brows furrowing more and more.

To be fair, satellites are indeed something that falls outside his area of ​​knowledge.

The sketches he obtained were textbook-quality satellite diagrams used for standardized display in the alliance's database, dating back more than a decade.
What's even more embarrassing is that Natsume can't even see where this thing needs to be updated.

"No." Natsume rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

It seems I'll have to find a knowledgeable partner for this machine.

Just as he was about to search for information on reliable satellite companies in various regions, a video call pop-up suddenly appeared on his laptop screen.

Ash? Any new discoveries?

Natsume's eyes lit up, but when he saw the special encrypted symbol on the caller ID, his expression turned somewhat strange.

"Tsk, I've been so busy lately, I almost forgot about that."

(End of this chapter)