Pokémon: Who told him to come out of Pallet Town!

Chapter 17: Conversation with Wu Neng, S-Rank Project Completed

[Ding! Today's battle data collected successfully. You have received 1 scratch card.]

With a thought, Natsume produced a scratch card with red and white balls printed on it in his hand.

"System, why isn't it a Super Ball?"

[The combat data collection mission will reward you with scratch cards of random quality.]

"Fine..." Natsume casually tossed the red and white scratch card back into the system space.

It's best to accumulate more of these lowest-quality scratch cards and scratch them all together later.

"Rotom, open the map."

"Tuo—"

The Rotom phone floated in front of Natsume, displaying a detailed map of Nibi City.

After observing for a moment, Natsume tapped on the map and followed the navigation directly there.

To prevent him from getting lost from Ash at any time, he stuck miniature locators on Ash's clothes.

Soon, following Rotom's navigation, Natsume found Ash and his friends.

It is a small power plant house located by a river in the suburbs.

When Natsume arrived, there were already faint flashes of lightning in the generator room.

Near the river, on the side of the power plant, there is an enormous roller.

It is currently the dry season, and there is not enough water flow in the river to power the rollers.

Ash stood on the roller, which was only two steps high, and pedaled it like he was riding a bicycle, making the roller fly.

Looking at Ash, whose size was so different from the size of the roller, Natsume's lips twitched slightly.

He truly deserves to be called the new Superman.

At the doorway, Xiaoxia held her backpack in front of her, seemingly afraid of the occasional flashes of lightning that emanated from inside.

"The lightning will be even bigger later."

As Natsume walked by, he didn't forget to offer a reminder.

"Huh? Do you mean I should leave right away?"

"No, you can also choose to stand behind a reliable man, like Xiaozhi."

Natsume shrugged.

What are you trying to say?!

Xiaoxia blushed slightly, grabbed her bag, and ran back.

"Crunch~"

Natsume pushed open the door and entered; the wooden door of the small house creaked.

Inside, Pikachu sat upright on a stool, with an electric wire extending from a generator attached to each of its cheek pouches, which store electricity.

"Natsume, you've arrived."

Wu Neng seemed completely unsurprised by Natsume's arrival, and said without turning his head.

"I'm curious, where did you learn about this method?"

Natsume squinted at the values ​​on the generator screen. It was Pikachu's average current tolerance limit, which meant that Wu Neng wasn't messing around.

"Sigh, when I was a gym trainer... I was also a Pokémon breeder at the same time. The Pewter City Gym also had Pokémon breeding services."

Wu Neng's tone was tinged with melancholy as he began to reminisce:

"I discovered this method by accident. By passing a specific electric current through the body, the moves made by Electric-type Pokémon can be greatly enhanced."

"Some talented Electric-type Pokémon can even be boosted more than three times!"

Wu Neng emphasized his words, and Natsume, who was standing next to him, was also somewhat surprised.

three times!

Pikachu's base stats are generally low, but if its moves were tripled, its attack power would rival that of legendary Pokémon!

No wonder alpacas use stone slabs to block Pikachu's 100,000 volts.

If, under these circumstances, you could still provide a light bulb... tsk tsk tsk.

This was the first time Natsume had heard this statement definitively. He quickly suppressed his wandering thoughts and continued to ask Asahi Takenori:

"and then?"

"Then..." Wu Neng suddenly became dejected, "I promoted this method to the trainers who came to my breeding center to foster Electric-type Pokémon..."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Natsume said, then paused, taken aback.

No, if this were a good thing, everyone would already know about it.

"But the good times didn't last long..." Wu Neng's voice suddenly choked up.

"These Pokémon with electrical attributes, which have been enhanced by electricity, will suddenly drop in level after a period of time, and many trainers will abandon them as a result."

"...I am guilty, I am unworthy to be the Pewter City Gym Leader..."

Natsume: "???"

Upon hearing Wu Neng's words, Natsume was momentarily stunned, but then quickly came to his senses.

So, in the original storyline, Pikachu's level was reset every time he moved to a new region? Is this all your fault?!

"Then why did you give it to Ash's Pikachu?"

Natsume posed a profound question.

Wu Neng, who was quietly sobbing, stiffened. After a long while, he wiped away his tears and looked at Natsume:

"Through spending these past few days together, I've also discovered that this child has a very deep bond with Pikachu. He's definitely not the kind of person who would abandon his Pokémon!"

Upon hearing this, Natsume was taken aback. Following Takenori's gaze, he looked out the window at Satoshi.

At that moment, Ash was completely unaware, simply pedaling his wheels on his own.

"Um......"

Natsume remained silent, based on his understanding of Satoshi.

Even if Wu could tell Xiao Zhi the truth, the other would just laugh and say, "What's the big deal? We'll just get stronger, right, Pikachu!"

Ash never measures the bond between himself and his Pokémon based on strength or weakness.

But this isn't good either; I don't know if I have a way to resolve this aftereffect.

"Go for it, Pikachu!"

Outside, Xiao Zhi's passionate voice could be heard.

"Pikachu!"

Inside, Pikachu's face showed a hint of forbearance.

"Pikachu is about to reach its limit, let's go outside."

Wu Neng suggested.

Natsume nodded silently.

He was actually somewhat unhappy with Wu Neng's unauthorized decision-making.

If we had told him in advance, he might have had a way to solve the side effects of these problems, and, well, he might even be able to publish a paper on the side.

The moment he stepped out of the wooden house, a bolt of lightning shot into the sky, and the system's voice followed in Natsume's mind:

[Ding! S-rank project – Deciphering Ash's Pikachu – has been completed. Rewards have been issued, and subsequent projects have been announced.]

[The S-level project – "Creating an Electrical Enhancement Training System Without Side Effects" – has been distributed!]

There was a new scratch-off lottery ticket with a Masterball design in my backpack, and another S-level project had arrived.

Natsume raised his eyebrows slightly.

But soon, he felt a numbness in his body.

"mound--"

The lightning behind them intensified, and the roof of the entire wooden house was blown off.

The surrounding area was silent, except for the crackling sound of lightning shooting into the sky.

After a long while, the electric light gradually dimmed.

"Huh? Is it over?"

Behind Ash, Misty, holding up a shield, cautiously peeked out and looked around.

Xiaoxia was startled when she saw this.

The entire wooden house was charred, and the surrounding pebbles were completely black.

At the entrance of the wooden house stood two figures in black—Natsume and Takenori—who simultaneously exhaled a puff of black smoke from their mouths.

"Pikachu!"

A yellow figure darted out of the wooden house.

"Pikachu!"

Ash was facing the cabin, and the area in front of him was completely blackened by the electricity, but he acted as if nothing had happened, taking three steps at a time to pick up Pikachu.

"Satoshi, let me check."

Nearby, Natsume, with a dark expression on his face, came to Ash's side.

"Okay, Natsume-nii, you can check it."

Ash lifted Pikachu and aimed it at Natsume.

Rotom flew over on his own and aimed at Pikachu.

After scanning for a while, Natsume stroked his chin, a knowing look appearing in his eyes.

Pikachu's Attack and Special Attack stats, based on its base stats, have been doubled.

Base stats increased!

This means that Pikachu didn't just receive a boost to both attack stats once, but that in every subsequent level up, Pikachu's attack stats increased more than those of other Pikachu.

If a Ball-type Devil Fruit were to appear at this moment, doubling both Special Attack and Attack stats... Mewtwo would have to activate its shield after being hit by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

"Natsume-nii, how's Pikachu?"

Seeing Natsume remain silent, Satoshi panicked.

"No, Pikachu is in good condition."

"I was so scared! I thought something had happened to Pikachu."

Xiao Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately regained his previous energetic demeanor:

"Alright, without further ado, I'll challenge the Pewter City Gym now!"

"Wait a moment!"

Wu called out to Xiao Zhi.

"It's getting late, the Pewter City Gym is already closed."

"Yeah, Ash, we're all covered in dust and dirt, so it would be better to go back and rest for a bit."

Not far away, Xiaoxia walked over with her bag on her back and also made the suggestion.

"Let's go back to the Pokémon Center to rest first."

Natsume made the final decision.