Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 608 Return
"came back?"

Natsume was somewhat surprised.

He turned around and glanced at the stone behind him, which was covered with dense carvings.

There are 52 questions in total.

It took about two months.

Except for the first month, when managing and maintaining the underground factory required some effort, Natsume was mostly quite relaxed.

Even now, the current "Reverse World Yew Tree" should be called a researcher at the Natsume Research Institute's Reverse World Branch - Yew Tree.

After the other party became capable of handling things on their own, Natsume became even more bored.

"Quickly, quickly, take me to them."

Natsume stood up excitedly; he couldn't wait to return to the real world.

I wonder how things are over there?

He picked up the scattered papers and gave instructions to the Reversed World Yew before riding onto Loletta.

The engine emitted a deep, powerful hum, lifting him into the air and transforming him into a streak of light as he sped towards the village entrance.

……

Village entrance.

Dr. Yew and her research team stood there blankly, their faces etched with exhaustion, weariness, and profound confusion.

After overcoming numerous hardships, they finally found their way back to the beginning of this strange world, returning with the hope of reuniting with their companions and finding their way home.

However, what they saw before them made everyone's hearts sink.

Yew, holding the sleeping boy with his middle-parted hair, walked into the village with an incredulous look on his face.

desolate.

A deathly desolation.

Compared to the village they left behind, which, though isolated, still showed signs of human activity, the town of Greenery before them seemed to have been completely abandoned in just two months.

The streets were deserted, cold and deathly silent.

The ghost-type Pokémon that used to occasionally drift in the corners, with their semi-transparent bodies, had completely disappeared. The doors and windows of the house were tightly closed, and many were even covered with faint, stagnant gray-white spiderwebs.

An indescribable sense of desolation, as if everything was frozen in time, permeated the air.

There was no smoke from cooking fires, no lights, not a trace of life.

“Doctor.” A young researcher’s voice trembled as he instinctively moved closer to Dr. Yew.

"Has this place been attacked? Or...has something terrible happened?"

This desolation exudes an ominous aura, sending chills down one's spine.

Even the Pokémon Center, which was once the village's only stable source of light and a gathering place and was managed by a mysterious being who looked just like Nurse Joy, was now locked up and the windows were pitch black.

"Don't talk nonsense, Danyu is perfectly fine." Dr. Yew shook her head vigorously, forcing herself to calm down, but her clenched fists betrayed her inner unease.

I hope nothing bad will happen to Natsume.

The yew tree looked up at a distant mountain peak.

The enemy's lair is located on that mountain peak.

However, Natsume seemed to care a lot about that cave. When he stayed there, he wouldn't let anyone enter the depths of the cave.

The agreed meeting place is now just going to the village entrance to find Danyu.

Just as a sense of oppressive panic was about to spread throughout the team—

A deep and distinctive engine roar came from the horizon.

A small black dot was flying toward the village entrance at an extremely fast speed, rapidly growing larger.

"What is that?!" a researcher exclaimed.

Soon, they could see the object clearly—a peculiar vehicle with a sleek design, a deep, dark purple body, and a surface that seemed to have liquid energy constantly flowing around it.

It exudes an energy fluctuation that is of the same origin as this world, yet more refined and powerful, and floats in the air with an elegant posture that defies common sense.

"Is that Rotom? No, I've never seen this form before!"

The researcher's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but marvel.

The vehicle slowly descended, and riding on it was none other than Natsume, whom they knew well, wearing a small green cloak.

Natsume jumped off Loletton, her gaze sweeping over Dr. Yew and the group of researchers behind her who were clearly haggard and disheveled, their clothes torn, and their eyes filled with the exhaustion of someone who had just survived a disaster.

"It seems your journey has been quite arduous."

Natsume's voice came through, still calm.

Dr. Yew rushed forward, not bothering with pleasantries, and anxiously pointed around: "Natsume! What, what's going on with this village? Were all those villagers taken by you?"

Natsume's lips twitched. How could he be so cruel?

He naturally wouldn't reveal the passage inside the cave leading to the Padiya region, or the resulting "nationwide voluntary factory entry" craze.

"I don't know why, they all moved away. Maybe they're afraid of me being a disaster."

He brushed it off casually, handing over the stack of papers filled with speculations.

"Lollerton is fixed."

"Perfect timing. These are some preliminary speculations I've made about the composition of matter and energy in this world, based on my observations over this period. They might be helpful to your research."

Sure enough, upon hearing "energy composition" and "preliminary speculation," Dr. Yew and his research team's attention was instantly diverted.

They took the papers, which gleamed with an oily green sheen, as if they had found a treasure. After only a few quick glances, they were completely captivated by the bold and insightful conjectures and formulas on them.

"My God, we've been here for two or three years and still haven't figured it out!"

They temporarily forgot to question the desolate state of the village.

Just as they were engrossed in watching, Natsume suddenly asked:
"Is your journey to find Giratina going well?"

Although the group of Yew Tree and his companions looked rather down on their luck and didn't seem to have succeeded, Natsume couldn't help but ask them.

Upon hearing this, Yew put down the paper in her hand, frowned, and slowly said:
"The legendary tree that reverses the world does indeed exist, however..."

"However, we did not see Giratina."

As Yew spoke, she shook her head.

"Is the other party unwilling, or...?" Natsume raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at the middle-parted hair who was sleeping soundly in the arms of the yew tree.

"No, it was us who, after coming into contact with that giant tree, inexplicably returned to the place where we left the island."

"One of the researchers interjected."

"You came back out of nowhere?"

Natsume stroked his chin, pondering the matter in his mind.

Legend has it that the giant tree in the reversed world truly exists. Touching it brings you back, suggesting it has teleportation capabilities.
Giratina lives up there, so does he rely on that thing to replenish the energy of these villagers and everything in the Reverse World?

"correct."

As if he had thought of something, Dr. Yew took out a branch.

"This is a small piece that we broke off from that legendary tree."

"is it?"

Natsume's eyes lit up, and he accepted it with delight.

However, after only a few glances, Natsume frowned.

"You can't tell, can you? We can't tell either. It looks just like ordinary wood," the yew shrugged.

"Um"

Natsume replied sporadically.

His silence wasn't because he didn't see anything; on the contrary, he was very familiar with the branch.

This thing is exactly the same as the four pieces of wood I carved into the mask!
"Alright, let's put our journey through the reversed world on hold for now."

Natsume calmly put away the branch, then spoke again, revealing the most crucial information:
"Get ready."

"We can return to the real world now."

"what?!"

"Really?!"

The researchers looked up instantly, their eyes blazing with unbelievable elation.

Natsume didn't explain much, he just patted Loletton beside him.

The engine of the Lollerton roared even deeper, and the car body shone with a bright purple light, as if in response.

He took out a fragment of a Giratina stone tablet that exuded a strong ghostly aura and embedded it into the conversion box that Loreton had specially modified.

Om-!
The powerful energy was instantly activated, and the space around Loletton began to distort and blur, with black mist enveloping everyone.

"Hurry up." Natsume stepped onto Loletta first.

Dr. Yew and the researchers suppressed their excitement, supporting each other as they quickly approached. In a powerful spatial pull, everyone's figures were completely swallowed up by the dark purple rift.

……

(End of this chapter)