Pewter City, Pokémon Center.
"Rest first, then head to the Gym."
"No! Go to the Gym first, then rest!"
Ash and Misty's argument echoed through the Center.
Flint groaned, holding his head in frustration.
"Hey, hey, hey, your name's Ash, right?"
Flint looked at Ash, suddenly serious.
"What's up, Flint?"
Ash paused his quarrel with Misty and turned to Flint.
"At your current level, you won't win against Brock at the Pewter City Gym. I suggest you challenge other Gyms first."
Flint looked Ash straight in the eye, speaking frankly.
"No way! Pikachu and I are totally confident!"
*Pika!*
Pikachu shouted in agreement, full of energy.
"Idiot. Pewter Gym specializes in Rock and Ground-types. Your Pokémon don't stand a chance," Misty chimed in.
Flint nodded in agreement.
"She's right. Pewter Gym isn't suitable for a rookie like you. You should try Pewter's neighbor, the Cerulean City Gym—they're the weakest."
Misty fell silent, unamused.
Ignoring her, Ash remained defiant:
"Natsume, what do you think?"
Looking for support, Ash suddenly noticed Natsume was on a call. He leaned closer and saw it was Professor Oak.
"Professor Oak! It's you."
"Ah, Ash! How's your journey going?"
"Great, but why are you at my place again?"
"Ah? Ahem… Natsume, let's get down to business."
Natsume's Rotom automatically turned its screen fully toward him.
"Professor Oak, did the paper I sent you last night get accepted?"
"Ah, that one—I've submitted it for you."
Professor Oak seemed to receive a notification and clicked on something with his mouse.
Misty and Flint noticed and curiously leaned in.
"Oh! I didn't realize—you're a Pokémon researcher after all, and so young!"
Flint was genuinely impressed.
"Natsume, what did you send?"
Misty glanced at the Rotom screen. Professor Oak's voice sounded slightly amused:
"Oh? Looks like the editor sent a response!"
After a moment, Oak set the mouse down, looked back at the camera, and a congratulatory expression appeared:
"Congratulations, Natsume! Your paper passed the preliminary review of **Cereleun City's *Special-Grade* children's journal**. It'll be published soon."
"What? That children's journal in Pewter City?"
Misty scoffed. She hadn't cared for that magazine since she was three.
To become a Pokémon Professor, five special-class papers must be published in top-tier journals. So far, Natsume only had one qualifying publication.
His paper, *On Rotom's Integration with Appliances and ITS Applications in Battles*, was accepted by the **All-Region Pokémon League Academy**, the **Pokémon Iteration Journal**, the **Viridian City Morning News**, and countless second- and third-tier journals.
Thanks to this paper, he became a disciple of Professor Oak.
Despite its *Special-Grade* title, Natsume remembered the Cereleun children's journal as a low-tier publication specializing in content for young children.
Natsume remained calm and blinked sincerely:
"Professor Oak, I put your name on my paper."
Professor Oak, who had been laughing heartily, froze, then a voice of shock came through:
*You! What! Did! You! Say!?*
"Wait, I think this paper has the potential for a top-tier journal. I'll retract it and help you revise it!"
Professor Oak scrambled as if the sky had fallen, hastily ending the call.
"Huh? What happened to Professor Oak?"
Ash asked curiously.
"Not sure, I'm not very knowledgeable in that area either," Misty scratched her head.
"Nothing serious. Professor Oak just has to start staying up late these days," Natsume said after taking a sip of water.
If Oak pulled through, Natsume would need one less paper to graduate as a Pokémon Professor—only three more would be required.
Flint, watching nearby, remained silent.
"Alright, Ash, what did you want to ask me?"
Hearing Natsume's voice, Ash snapped back to attention, looking full of determination.
"Natsume, do you think I can win at the Pewter City Gym?"
"No."
Natsume's answer was blunt and simple.
"Ah!"
Ash clutched his chest, clearly struck hard.
"Will he be okay?"
Misty glanced at Natsume, worried.
"3."
Natsume muttered a number.
"3? What does that mean?"
Misty looked confused.
"2."
"1."
"0."
"I will never give up!"
As Natsume finished the countdown, Ash sprang up as if energized, eyes shining with unyielding determination.
"Alright, talking won't help—action does! I'm heading out now!"
He grabbed his fully healed Pikachu and the two Pokéballs from the counter and sprinted toward the Pewter City Gym.
"Hey!"
Flint tried to stop him but Natsume placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Let him go. That's just Ash's nature—he won't lie down unless he falls."
"And if he does fall?"
Misty asked skeptically.
"He'll get back up and keep running," Natsume said matter-of-factly.
"With a fool like him? Hmph, I don't buy it," Misty muttered, turning her head.
Natsume shrugged and said nothing. After all, Misty had only joined the group a few days ago; her impression of Ash was just that he was kind-hearted and loved Pokémon.
Flint seemed quietly moved by Natsume's words and fell silent.
Watching Ash's figure fade into the distance, Natsume stretched lazily.
Yes, determination is admirable, but Natsume didn't think Ash had the slightest chance. Type advantages and level differences were clear, and Onix could almost completely resist Electric attacks.
He'd wait for Ash to lose, then Flint would help him train and grow stronger.
With that in mind, Natsume glanced at the slightly melancholic Flint, shrugged, and sat down.
He had no interest in the father's emotions—he just remembered he still had an unused scratch card. With daily battles now granting one, these things weren't so precious anymore.
Taking the scratch card out of the system space, Natsume paused for a moment.
The card in his hand wasn't patterned like the usual red-and-white Pokéball design.
Instead, it was blue-capped with a white base—*a Great Ball*.
Raising an eyebrow, Natsume scratched it open, revealing a small circular disc inside.
*Ding!*
**Congratulations, you've consumed a Great Ball scratch card and obtained a random Technical Machine ×1!**
Feeling the extra disc appear in the system space, Natsume didn't immediately inspect it. Instead, he asked in his mind:
"System, why does this scratch card have a different pattern?"
**Completing tasks of varying levels grants scratch cards with different designs: Pokéball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball, Master Ball.**
After hearing the explanation, Natsume nodded in understanding.
Completing a B-level research task grants a Great Ball scratch card, with the guaranteed reward being a **Great Ball**.
Completing an A-level research task grants an Ultra Ball scratch card, guaranteed reward: **Ultra Ball**.
Completing S-level or higher tasks grants a Master Ball scratch card, guaranteed reward: **Master Ball**.
Natsume's eyes brightened. Out of ten red-and-white scratch cards, he got a battle arena system—luck was clearly on his side.
It seemed the *allure* of the Gas Bomb was truly potent.
Turning his attention back to the system template, he noted that the guaranteed rewards for ABCD-level tasks were merely consolation prizes. But for S-level tasks and above, even the consolation reward was a Master Ball.
Natsume's gaze burned with excitement.
In reality, Master Balls weren't all that useful. They could catch a Pokémon with 100% success, but whether it would obey you depended on acceptance. Even if you used a Master Ball to catch a Legendary Pokémon, if it refused to acknowledge you, it wouldn't listen and would simply run off. And it might even give you a good hit on the way out.
Otherwise, with the technology the League has for producing Master Balls, Legendary Pokémon would already be captured long ago—villainous organizations wouldn't need to struggle so much.
It was important to remember that almost all villainous teams never aimed to just capture Legendaries—they wanted to control them.
"System, if I use a Master Ball to catch a Legendary in the rule-based battle arena, does that count as a capture?"
Natsume's eyes widened. He remembered that the rule-based field strictly followed the game mechanics—within the game, catching is equivalent to capturing; there's no question of acceptance.
**Under the game rules, the host can command the caught Legendary.**
Natsume pursed his lips.
So that meant even if he captured a Legendary under game rules, he could only battle with it once per day. The rest of the time, releasing it into the real world would be like letting it go entirely.
Technically, taking the Master Ball out of the system space would be the same as releasing it. After all, there were plenty of Legendaries capable of breaking Pokéballs, especially some Psychic-types.
Still, the Master Ball was extremely valuable to Natsume. It related to another theory he had about Rotom forms—a Pokéball form of Rotom.
Even without the system, he would have to find a way to acquire a Master Ball.