The sky was clear and bright, and under the shade of a large tree, the group was taking a break.
On Ash's shoulders sat two Pikachu—one on the left, the other on the right.
At this moment, he was looking at Natsume with a curious expression.
"Natsume, are you modifying Pokéballs?"
Seeing the pile of destroyed red-and-white Pokéballs around Natsume, Ash couldn't help but wonder.
Since leaving Pewter City yesterday, Natsume had been carrying around a bunch of wires and tools he didn't even know the name of, frantically dismantling Pokéballs.
In just a couple of days, probably over a hundred Pokéballs had met their demise.
"Yes, I'm engraving this chip and the circuitry into them," Natsume said without looking up.
"Why do you need to put something like that inside?"
A small orange head popped over curiously.
"Because it looks cool," Natsume replied, still not turning his head.
Misty muttered, "…"
"What a waste."
With that, Misty turned and went to help Brock, who was busy cooking.
*Bang!*
A faint explosion sounded, and another Pokéball in Natsume's hands was destroyed.
Staring blankly at the ruined Pokéball, Natsume seemed a bit lost in thought.
**Recording complete. Would you like to summarize the failures?**
From the side, the voice of Rotom Phone spoke diligently.
"I'll save it for now," Natsume said, his eyes fixed on the ruined Pokéball.
Hmm… Embedding Rotom into a Pokéball seemed theoretically simple, but in practice, it was much harder than expected.
First, a Pokéball only had very simple circuitry, and the circuit occupied a very small area.
Rotom simply couldn't integrate.
What Natsume needed to do now was implant circuitry into the Pokéball and add a chip large enough to accommodate Rotom's main body.
The chip had been taken from the electric toy Rotom he had worked on before.
That toy was roughly the size of a Pokéball, and if the circuitry was done correctly, it could be used directly.
The slightly tricky part was expanding the original circuitry of the Pokéball to connect with the chip while maximizing performance.
*It's definitely because I don't have a proper lab*, Natsume thought, mulling it over. He felt the issue wasn't with his own skills—after all, the theory was straightforward to him.
He had already used up the S-rank scratch card, and unsurprisingly, the worst guaranteed prize had appeared—a Master Ball.
Natsume didn't dare experiment with the Master Ball, so he had to practice on ordinary red-and-white Pokéballs first, then move on to slightly more advanced Great Balls and Ultra Balls, saving the Master Ball for last.
But he was stuck at the very first step.
*Pika hi hi!*
A laugh came from the side.
Natsume glanced over, then grabbed a small chair and began wrapping it with wires.
*Pika!?*
"Ash, doesn't your Pikachu already have the *Electric-Attribute Enhancement chair*?"
Ash wanted to say the chair's full name, but the technical term was too cumbersome, so he followed Natsume's lead and shortened it to *enhancement chair*.
"That was the first tier of the enhancement chair. Your Pikachu has fully adapted to it. I'm making the second tier now—there will be ten in total."
*Pika!?*
Midchu wobbled on Ash's shoulder, looking rather unlucky.
*Pikachu!*
Pikachu touched his middle part, offering comfort.
"Is that so…"
Ash scratched his head.
Since the day before yesterday, Natsume had asked Ash to bring Midchu along whenever he trained his own Pikachu. They took turns battling, even ate the same meals, all in the name of maintaining "relative variables."
After spending these days together, Ash realized that Natsume's Pikachu seemed different from his own.
Midchu even knew a Grass-type move called **Grass Knot**!
When Ash discovered this, he was amazed and begged Natsume to teach his own Pikachu as well—but was mercilessly refused.
There was nothing he could do; Natsume himself had only ever received one Teaching Machine.
Ash decided to save the question for another time.
"All right, everyone, let's eat!"
Misty called to them.
"After we eat, we'll set off. We should reach Mt. Moon by tonight," Brock encouraged.
At dusk, they arrived at Mt. Moon.
"Faster than I expected—it's still just evening," Natsume noted.
In front of the four of them was a barren hill, pockmarked like the surface of the moon.
"Huh? Why does it look the same as in the daytime?"
Misty looked at Mt. Moon in surprise.
Everywhere on the mountain were various instruments and Flying-type Pokémon, moving unknown objects.
The whole area was bathed in searchlight beams, bright as day.
"Ah! Looks like there's some kind of research project here. Roads are closed off, and they've set up a perimeter with the staff over there," Ash said, approaching with a discouraged look.
"Follow me," Natsume waved to the three and walked toward several staff members nearby.
"I'm Natsume, a researcher from Professor Oak's lab," he introduced, showing his credentials.
"Natsume-senpai!"
Some of the staff recognized him.
"Oh? It's you guys?"
Natsume had a faint memory of the few people in front of him—they were researchers from the Pewter City Science Academy.
"What are you doing here?"
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go inside. Are you Natsume-senpai's friends? Please come in as well!"
Two researchers ushered them inside.
"By the way, you still haven't answered Natsume's question," Brock remarked as they walked.
With about ten minutes left to Mt. Moon, he curiously looked at the two researchers. He had dealt with the Pewter City Science Academy several times before.
"Don't even mention it. Something happened with the League, and suddenly they mobilized personnel and surrounded Mt. Moon. Our researchers from Pewter City, being closest, were all called in," one explained.
"Yes, and I heard a Champion-class Trainer also came. No one knows what the emergency is," the other added.
The researchers spoke formally, but Ash only caught the words *Champion-class Trainer*.
"Natsume, what's a Champion-class Trainer?" Ash asked, looking at Natsume curiously.
Natsume, who was busy tinkering with a Pokéball, finally looked up.
"In a region, the strongest trainers recognized by the League are called Champions. For example, the Kanto region has four Champions."
"The Elite Four!"
Ash's eyes lit up. "All right! I'm going to challenge the Champion-class Trainer at Mt. Moon!"
*Pika!*
Pikachu, beside him, bristled with excitement.
On Ash's other shoulder, Midchu with a runny nose suddenly woke up.
*Pika~*
Midchu was exasperated. He had finally mastered *standing-sleeping*, only to be constantly disturbed by the chaos around him.
And the trainer Natsume had him follow—Ash—was a total battle maniac.
In just three days, Ash had battled almost every trainer they encountered along the way.
Even with another Pikachu sharing the load, Midchu had fought in nearly a dozen battles.
The worst part was that this kid loved to give ridiculous orders!
Like telling him to use Thunderbolt against a Geodude, even though he didn't know the move.
Now he wanted to challenge the Elite Four.
He couldn't win. There was no way he could win.
Midchu had already decided: if Ash told him to battle the Elite Four, he'd simply lie down and go to sleep.
You can read more (around 50+ free chapters) of Natsume's adventure ad-free at [https ://ravenarchives .com/book/pokemon-who-let-him-leave-pallet-town]. Bulk uploads is a mess here, so updates here might be irregular.