Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 539 Adek's Experience
What are you doing here!?

Natsume's astonished voice echoed in the dimly lit cabin, but the only response he received was the continuous, rhythmic, loud snoring from inside the cage.

"Ouch?"

Even the usually dull-witted Dragonite was drawn to this strange sight. It tilted its huge head curiously, blinked its golden eyes, and peered into the cage, making questioning gurgling sounds in its throat.

Adek in the cage was still fast asleep, showing no signs of waking up, and even unconsciously scratched his stomach.

Natsume's face darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily a few times.

Left with no other choice, he raised his hand and let his middle-parted hair fall out.

"Pickup?"

A red light flashed, and a petite figure with a middle parting appeared at the edge of the cage.

It blinked its big, dark eyes in confusion, then its sensitive little nose twitched twice, and it immediately caught the subtle scent emanating from the "stinky person" next to it, who seemed to have not bathed for many days.

"Pikachu!" It immediately covered its nose with its two little paws in disgust and looked at Natsume with a resistant expression.

“Wake him up.” Natsume said succinctly, gesturing with his chin toward Adek.

"Pikachu..." The man with the middle parting muttered reluctantly, but still slowly approached the fast-sleeping Adek.

It stared at the sleeping face for a few seconds, then pulled its tail up in front of it.

A silvery-white metallic luster began to shimmer and gather at the tip of the tail.

"Hmm?" Natsume snorted softly, raised an eyebrow slightly, and gave him a warning look.

“Pikachu…” The middle-parted head looked like a deflated balloon, and the light on its tail quickly dissipated.

It sighed resignedly, and finally just stretched out its little paw and very lightly, tentatively, touched Adek's forehead.

"Boom~"

A soft, crisp sound, like a bubble bursting.

Visibly, Adek's snot bubbles, which grew larger and smaller with each snore, burst at the tip of his nose.

"Well?"

He let out a muffled murmur, his eyelids twitched a few times with difficulty, and finally he opened his eyes a crack, his gaze unfocused and vacant.

He subconsciously supported his body with his arms, sat up halfway, and looked around blankly, clearly not understanding the situation yet.

Seeing that Adek was finally showing signs of waking up, Natsume stepped forward, about to ask him a question.

But then Aldek yawned very naturally and very quickly, his mouth so wide that an egg could fit in it, and then his body went limp and he fell straight back onto the mat with a thud.

“HuhuZzzzz”

The louder snoring started almost instantly!
Natsume: "."

He looked expressionlessly at the man with the middle parting.

"Middle parting!" Natsume's voice deepened, carrying an unquestionable command.

"Pickup!"

The tail that was parted in the middle and left up turned metallic in an instant.

"boom!"

A muffled thud, accompanied by—

"Aaaaaah!!!"

A piercing scream, instantly shattering all the previous snoring, suddenly erupted.

Adek sprang up from the mat like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, clutching his cheek tightly with both hands, hopping around in pain.

As he looked tearfully toward the source of the attack, Natsume could clearly see a freshly made, crystal-clear iron tail mark branded on the weathered face of the other man.

It was even slightly red and emitting smoke.

"Natsume!? It's you!"

Aldak finally regained full consciousness, pointing at Natsume with a horrified expression as if he had seen a ghost, his voice distorted.

"How will you be here?!"

Natsume was speechless and could only watch him silently.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" He spread his hands, his tone full of helplessness.

However, he found that Adek's attention seemed completely unfocused.

The other person, clutching their still throbbing face and touching their chin with their other hand, their eyes darting around, suddenly slapped their thigh, revealing a look of sudden realization:

"Oh! I get it! It's you! You must be the one who dragged me to this godforsaken place, right? Tell me, has the title of champion corrupted and degraded you?!"

Natsume completely gave up trying to understand the former champion's peculiar thought process.

He didn't bother to explain and directly commanded the giant Dragonite beside him: "Take down the cage."

Dragonite let out a low growl, and its sharp claws easily tore open the specially made metal bars as if tearing a piece of paper.

While cautiously looking towards the hatch, Natsume succinctly explained, "Look carefully, this is Team Magma's underwater base in the Hoenn region."

"I didn't capture you; I rescued you from their cage."

"Now it's your turn to explain how you got here and were locked up by them?"

At this moment, Natsume was indeed somewhat uninterested.

He had been full of anticipation, thinking that this heavily guarded secret cage contained a key Pokémon or item related to Team Rainbow Rocket. But when he lifted the black cloth, he found Alder sleeping soundly. The contrast was far too great.

However, the fact that a regional champion was quietly imprisoned here by the Fire Rock team is itself quite unusual.

How did Aldak fall into enemy hands?
This piqued Natsume's curiosity.

Upon hearing Natsume's explanation, Adek's playful expression froze instantly, replaced by genuine astonishment.

He looked around at the cold metal walls and the furnishings that were clearly in the style of an evil organization, his eyes widening.

"Team Magma?! The Hoenn region?!" His shocked voice almost lifted the roof off.

"How did I end up on the other side of the ocean?! I should be in Flying Cloud City in Unova!"

Seeing the other party's huge and genuine reaction, Natsume frowned slightly:

"You mean you had no idea you were in the Hoenn region?" He thought Alder had come to the Hoenn region specifically to track down Team Magma, but had unfortunately been captured.

"Of course I don't know!" Adek waved his arms excitedly.

"I remember that godforsaken place. When I went in, all I saw were big men in red uniforms."

"Then, well, I think I felt a pain in the back of my head, and when I woke up I was in this cage, and I was still really sleepy."

He tried to recall, and finally reverted to his signature shrug, indicating that the process was simple, brutal, and sudden.

"Which godforsaken place? Be more specific." Natsume caught the key information.

“An underground warehouse of the Peace Dove Company.” Adek’s tone became slightly more serious as he rubbed the back of his head, which was still throbbing.

“I found some clues. After saying goodbye to you at Feiyun City Airport that day, I secretly sneaked into a branch warehouse of Peace Dove Company.”

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts:

“At the deepest part of that warehouse, I saw a very strange black stone with patterns I had never seen before carved on it.”

"I was just curious, so I reached out and touched it." His expression became somewhat subtle:
"Then...then it was like triggering some mechanism. A bright light flashed before my eyes, and I saw a group of Team Magma members surrounding me with menacing looks. And then, well, like I just said, it was so sudden! I didn't even bring a single Pokémon with me; they were all at the Pokémon Center in Castelia City!"

Upon hearing this, Natsume's gaze sharpened, and he instantly understood the whole story.

Team Rainbow Rocket.

They also left behind a secret device with spatial teleportation capabilities at the Peace Dove Company in the Unova region.

Alder accidentally triggered it, and the destination he was teleported to was none other than Team Magma's underwater base.

This place is indeed inextricably linked to Team Rainbow Rocket.

Natsume's spirits immediately lifted, his initial disappointment vanished, and a renewed sense of inquiry rekindled in his eyes.

"Do you remember the exact location where you first appeared at Team Magma's base, the place where they captured you?"

Natsume pressed for details, eager to find the teleportation anchor located inside Team Magma.

"of course I remember!"

Adek stood up unsteadily, trying to project a reliable image, but his steps were noticeably unsteady.

After watching him get up, Natsume subconsciously glanced at the empty cage behind him—there was no trace of food or water inside except for that tattered mat.

"Judging from your description, you've been detained for several days now, haven't you?"

Natsume looked Adek up and down suspiciously, noticing his dry lips and slightly pale face.

"They didn't give you any food or water? How about I find you something to replenish your energy?"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, kid!"

Upon hearing this, Adek immediately pounded his chest vigorously, making a loud thumping sound, trying to demonstrate that he was still in good physical condition.

"I'm in great shape! Going without food or water for a few days is no problem!" Adek declared confidently.

Natsume looked at him with some skepticism, but finally nodded, took out a bottle of energy milk from his backpack and tossed it over: "Drink it as you walk. Great Dragonite, let's go."

He patted Dragonite's soft, warm belly.

"Ow~"

The big dragon obediently responded, bent down, carefully picked up the middle-parted hair that Natsume was diligently wiping the tip of its tail with a corner of Natsume's trouser leg that had been lifted up, and gently placed it on its broad and comfortable head.

Natsume turned around, gesturing for Adek to follow, and prepared to venture deeper into the base.

however--

Natsume hadn't even taken three steps.

"boom!"

A dull thud came from behind.

The milk slipped from his hand and fell, the white liquid spilling all over the ground, spreading to Natsume's feet and soaking the soles of his shoes.

Look back.

Adek himself, as if all his strength had been drained, rolled his eyes and fell straight forward, completely unconscious, clearly having exhausted himself to the limit.

Natsume: "."

He stood silently in place, looking at the unconscious former champion on the ground, then at the puddle of wasted milk, and finally raised his hand to rub his temples.

At that moment, he suddenly felt with profound clarity how effortless, efficient, and reliable it had been to work with Giovanni of the Rockets in the Kanto region of Johto.

(End of this chapter)