Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 553 Regional Protests

Natsume stepped through the new gates of Sunshine Academy, where the interior was a far cry from its previous state of ruins.

The smooth stone path stretches forward, flanked by meticulously manicured lawns and trees that, though recently planted, are already thriving.

Several modern yet classically styled teaching buildings stand amidst the buildings, their glass windows gleaming in the sunlight.

"looks good."

Natsume nodded in satisfaction, his gaze sweeping over the Pokémon rolling around on the lawn or curiously peeking their little heads out from the newly planted bushes.

Most of them are Dark-type Pokémon like Murkrow, Poliwag, and Thief, which originally inhabited this ruined area. They seem to have adapted to this new home very quickly, even considering it their territory faster than humans.

One of the Derubis even had a newly installed sprinkler hose in its mouth, trying to pull it out of the ground to play with it.

"Ah! That won't do!"

Upon seeing this, Jiaozi quickly ran over and, somewhat flustered, managed to remove the tube from Derubi's mouth. His cheeks flushed red from running and his anxiety.

She secretly glanced at Natsume and saw that he didn't seem to care about the little incident. Instead, he was looking with great interest at the head crow that was sitting elegantly on top of the new street lamp. Only then did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is a newly built battlefield, using the latest energy-absorbing materials."

Jiaozi tried her best to make her voice sound professional and calm as she guided and introduced things to Natsume, but her fingertips kept unconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes.

Natsume followed her, looking around as they went.

Training ground, dormitory building, library
The external facilities are almost all in place, and in some areas, a few school staff and researchers can be seen carrying out final debugging work.

Everything was in good order, except that Jiaozi seemed to be getting more and more nervous.

Her introductions became increasingly brief, and her pace quickened, as if she wanted to skip over certain areas.

Whenever Natsume's gaze wandered deeper into the distance, she would subconsciously try to slightly block his view with her body, or quickly point in another direction to change the subject.

"Over there...over there is a student recreation plaza, and a fruit tree planting area has been planned," Jiaozi said quickly, pointing to a small plaza not far away where paving stones were still being laid.

Natsume finally stopped and looked at her thoughtfully: "Prodigy."

"Yes, Mr. Natsume!"

Jiaozi seemed startled and immediately stood up straight, with a wisp of steam rising from his head again.

"You seem to be hiding something?" Natsume raised an eyebrow slightly and asked directly.
"Are there any major projects left unfinished in the college? I think everything else is pretty much done."

"No, no!" Jiao Zi immediately denied, her voice unconsciously rising a little, her eyes darting around.
"Everything went very smoothly! Absolutely smoothly!"

Seeing her obviously guilty but still trying to put on a brave face, Natsume found it somewhat amusing.

Without asking any further questions, he simply strode towards the back of the academy, towards the most central and largest area in the plan—the Pokémon Eco Dome.

"Wait! Mr. Natsume!" Jiaozi exclaimed, quickly jogging to catch up and trying to stop him.

"Over there... they're still doing final internal testing! It's very dusty, nothing to see!"

But Natsume had already turned the last bend, and the view before him suddenly opened up—

Then, he stopped in his tracks.

In the center of an extremely open area stood an enormous hemispherical skeleton.

It was a magnificent structure made up of countless high-strength alloy beams, and the transparent, high-strength ecological dome that covered the entire structure in the design drawings—but at this moment, not a single piece of glass had been installed!

Sunlight streamed unhindered into the giant egg, revealing that only the most basic terrain shaping and pipe laying had been completed.

Some areas are piled with mud and rocks, and the planned water system is just a series of excavated ditches. All the planned climate simulation systems, vegetation, and ecological environment are nowhere to be seen.

Only a few playful coyotes were climbing and frolicking between the steel frames. When they saw someone coming, they howled and ran away.

This is essentially a huge, bare, half-finished product with less than a third of the basic work completed.

Natsume silently observed the scene, which resembled a construction site, and finally understood why Jiaozi had been so nervous and evasive all the way.

He slowly turned his head, looked at the proud young man whose face was flushed with shame and who wished he could disappear into the ground, and calmly asked:

"explain?"

The proud girl lowered her head, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, her voice barely audible, tinged with a sob:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Natsume, our budget is insufficient."

"The budget isn't enough!?" Natsume was shocked.

Didn't they calculate this in advance? Or are the prices in United States beyond their expectations?

“Originally, it should have been enough.” Jiaozi lowered his head even further.

"The original plan was to build the ecological dome on the back mountain to reduce costs, but now..."

Jiaozi stopped abruptly at this point and said no more.

Natsume understood what she meant.

The area behind the mountain is now the territory of that Tyranitar, and Natsume has made an agreement with it not to develop that area for the time being.

"So that's it."

Natsume understood. He looked up and used his telekinesis to scan the unfinished ecological dome inside and out.

The magnificent metal frame gleamed with a cold, hard luster in the sunlight, creating a stark contrast with the desolate interior.

This core project, which was originally planned to best showcase the college's strength and characteristics, has now become the biggest unfinished project.

How about we borrow some money from Sakaki?
For example, child support for the trio.

Seeing Natsume lost in thought, Jiaozi looked somewhat disappointed, her toes gripping the ground nervously.

"Um... I contacted my dad, but he's investing in the Dynamax industry in the Kanto region, so he can't support us right now."

Jiaozi's face turned red, and she was so anxious that she was about to cry, until a pair of large hands were placed on her head.

"Don't rush, discuss things with me first in the future." Natsume's face suddenly moved closer.

"Understand?"

"Oh," Jiaozi stared blankly at Natsume.

"By the way, where is Cattleya?"

Natsume suddenly asked.

"Miss Cattleya is out." Jiaozi instantly understood what Natsume meant.

Soon, a sense of doubt welled up in her mind.

“But Mr. Natsume, can’t we ask the Alliance for help?” the proud child asked strangely.

“Yes, but not like that.” Natsume said, paused, and then fell silent.

This seems to conflict with some of Natsume's future plans.

The proud boy wisely shut his mouth.

"Let's contact her." Natsume clapped his hands.

However, Jiaozi shook his head.

"I can't get in touch with you, Mr. Natsume."

Seeing Natsume's puzzled look, Jiaozi had no choice but to patiently explain:
"Besides Odd Dragon City, Pokémon protection organizations in various places suddenly held protests. The League mobilized a large number of people to go there."

"Miss Cattleya is here to keep order for a newly crowned Unova champion who can't be found."

As Jiaozi spoke, she rolled her eyes at Natsume.

Natsume: "."

Speaking of this, Natsume slapped his forehead.

Oh no, he forgot to bring Ardek back!
Thinking of this, Natsume quickly called Daigo and asked him to tell the Hoenn League that there was a former Unova champion in Team Magma and to remember to send him back.

Seeing that Natsume had hung up the phone, Jiaozi breathed a sigh of relief and continued:
"Not only that, but the Pokémon Association, which is under Miss Cattleya's jurisdiction, is also causing trouble in Feiyun City, which she personally associates with. They also sent her an invitation, and now she's caught in the middle."

The proud young man looked wistful.

“That’s good.” Natsume nodded unusually.

Learning to say no is the first lesson in developing a healthy personality.

"Alright, let's go take a look!"

Natsume picked up the boy and vanished from the spot in an instant.

The fact that Pokémon protection organizations mobilized en masse must mean they have some purpose.

(End of this chapter)