Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 602 Where did these 300-plus people come from?
"What exactly did you do to them?"

Talebagos tugged at Natsume's trouser leg, craning his neck, his beady eyes filled with the same confusion as Natsume's.
"Why do they look like they're here to launch an attack rather than cause trouble?"

The little turtle initially thought that the twelve villagers had summoned a large, living person to "capture" Natsume alive.

But its keen sense of danger failed to detect anything.

Natsume did not answer; his gaze swept over each villager like invisible tentacles.

He keenly noticed that the energy within these villagers, especially the elderly, possessed a peculiar "stale" quality.

It resembled solidified, slowly flowing gel.

The energy within the twelve "veteran employees" appeared relatively "fresh" and "active."

Very different.

Just as he was observing, a commotion suddenly broke out in front of the crowd.

Dozens of villagers emerged and stood at a safe distance, their faces a mixture of tension, wariness, and a hint of barely perceptible curiosity.

An elderly man, chosen by the crowd and encouraged by the others, swallowed hard and cautiously took a few steps forward, trying to make his voice sound respectful yet wary.
“That ‘person,’ sir?” he asked, choosing his words carefully.

"We heard that you... um... need some people to 'work' here?"

Natsume watched them silently, his expression hidden behind the green grass mask.

The old man forced himself to continue:
“We, some young people in our village are strong and willing to work.”

"I just wanted to ask if you're still hiring?"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Natsume nervously, afraid of angering him.

Work??
Natsume was stunned for a moment.

It really was for this reason?
Does the league's minimum welfare benefits work so well here?
Sure enough, if a ghost throws money at you, you suddenly stop being afraid.

His lips twitched, and he also sensed the oily green-gray-black mystery within his body that desperately needed to be filled.

After a long pause, Natsume nodded, his voice calm:
"Sure. I'll take as many as you want."

Natsume intends to accept them all.

He had a premonition that the anomaly occurring within his own body's main world would likely require a large amount of Giratina energy.

Natsume's decisive reaction surprised the villagers.

It's that simple?
No coercion? No.

Is there an incentive?
You just agreed like that?
The crowd looked at each other, half believing and half doubting.

In the end, the dozens of villagers looked at each other and decided to send a few people to test the waters first.

They selected twelve "veteran employees," including A-Zhuang, and a dozen or so other slightly bolder young people, who nervously lined up.

Natsume didn't say much and started the production line.

He watched as the twenty or thirty "new and old employees" completed the process with expressions of tragic determination, as if they were going to their execution, and received the bright green "one thousand yuan," before running away into the crowd as if granted a pardon.

"it is true"

"It really does seem different."

The sounds of conversation drifted in and out, and Natsume yawned.

After the anomaly occurred in the main world, it wasn't entirely without change.

For example, right now, Natsume feels that his telekinesis seems to be usable in the Reverse World.

Although still suppressed, he was able to move slightly away from her body, about two or three meters away.

What were the villagers' discussions, opinions, and decisions?

Natsume didn't care; all he needed was energy.

"Alright, you can all give it a try and let these twelve people teach you."

Natsume pointed at the twelve long-time employees and yawned.

"If you think you can handle it, then stay."

With that, Natsume left without looking back, heading towards another cave he had carved out in the distance.

The more people try it, the more likely more people will stay.

In the future, there will be more stable "energy sources".

However, in the afternoon, when Natsume returned to the cave to inquire about the list of new employees, a rare look of bewilderment appeared in his eyes beneath the Green Grass mask.

Outside the cave, a long queue had formed, with more than two hundred people at first glance!
That's practically the entire population of Green Green Town. "What's going on?" Natsume asked, looking at A-Zhuang, who was in charge of maintaining order.

Ah Zhuang, looking excited and proud, quickly ran over to report:

"Boss! Everyone wants to work for you! We've all signed up!"

Natsume took the list, glanced at it, and couldn't help but frown.

He pointed to the line:

"Isn't your village only a little over two hundred people?"

"Yes, boss!" Ah Zhuang nodded vigorously.

"Then why are there more than 300 people who signed up?"

Natsume looked up and scrutinized A-Zhuang.

Even though he prints money for free, we can't treat him like a sucker.

Seeing this, Ah Zhuang quickly explained:

"Many people have also signed up their children who live in other places! They said they'd start working as soon as they come back!"

Natsume: "."

Has the alliance's minimum welfare benefits already exceeded its population cap?!

He looked at the endless crowd of people with burning eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.

"strangeness."

Natsume always felt that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

In the end, he simply pointed to the cave:

"Queue up to enter the factory. The site needs to be expanded."

The telekinetic power surged again, and the little turtle at his feet floated up into the air.

"Hey, what's wrong with your telekinetic abilities—"

Before he finished speaking, Talebagos began to spin wildly, like an oversized electric drill, driven by telekinesis.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"

When the tortoise shell came into contact with the rock wall, a large amount of gravel and soil broke off and splashed all over the ground.

The cave walls were roughly widened, and a new production line was quickly set up.

By the time all this was done, it was already the next day.

That evening, Natsume let all the villagers go home.

He felt that many of these people were probably lured in by the wages.

I reckon if I go back and calm down for a night, there will be far fewer people tomorrow.

This also makes it easier for me to manage.

Ideally, Natsume would like to maintain a group of about a hundred people.

However, the next day, at the cave entrance.

Natsume looked at the larger number of people than yesterday and fell into deep thought.

The villagers below chatted excitedly, muttering things like, "It's true!", "It feels just as good as being dead!", and "My body feels even more lifeless!"

Natsume remained silent.

Although the number of people hasn't decreased, many of the newcomers are old and no longer able to move around.

The energy produced by these guys is of much lower quality than that of young adults.

"Never mind, luckily it was widened overnight."

Natsume held her forehead.

Fortunately, the principle behind his assembly line is quite simple and uncomplicated; all it takes is increasing the number of people "working" at once.

A new, massive "production" has begun.

Energy surged in like a burst dam, bringing a clear and pleasant feeling of fullness to the empty gray sphere world within Natsume's body.

The grayish gas began to rise, while the oily green gas began to sink.
This is a change that Natsume can perceive happening in his own world.

(End of this chapter)