"Stop it! Do you really want to be trapped here forever?" the doll finally spoke.
Certain she had the upper hand, she stretched out her hand:
"Give it back to me."
*Bang!*
Without hesitation, the doll's head was flattened again.
*Pat-pat-pat!* came the sound of repeated smacks.
After a long while of hammering, the doll finally restored her head to normal.
Looking up, she saw that Natsume had already stitched a crooked little smile onto the Sabrina figurine.
"See, this is what a smile looks like—heheheh-ha!"
"Ahahahaha—!" Outside, Sabrina suddenly burst into laughter. Beside her, Seth Kenshin froze, then revealed a faint look of relief.
He could feel it—Natsume seemed to have entered Sabrina's inner realm. He didn't know what exactly he was doing, but it was working!
"It's hideous! Give it back to me!" the doll stomped her foot inside the inner realm.
*Bang!*
The doll smacked her head again.
"See, this is what crying looks like—heheheh-ha!"
Natsume displayed the figurine, still with that twisted crooked smile.
"Even uglier! Give it back!" the doll shouted, furious.
*Bang!*
The doll smacked her head again.
"See, this is what blushing looks like—heheheh-ha!"
"See, this is what pain looks like—heheheh-ha!"
"I've had enough of you!" The doll couldn't stand it anymore. No matter what emotion he sewed on, they all came out as hideous grins.
Outside, Sabrina's laughter was uncontrollable. At first, Seth Kenshin had been thrilled—but now he was terrified.
*What on earth is happening?*
"You'll never leave this place again, not for the rest of your life!" the doll threatened.
*Bang!* Natsume's fist came down.
The doll was flattened from head to toe.
"Ahhhhhh—!" The sound of frantic pounding rang out, mixed with Natsume's calm, gentle voice:
"You know, before I came here, I read quite a few psychology books. I came to a method that's not well-documented, but works in most cases."
The doll froze mid-head smack, a bad premonition filling her chest.
Natsume leaned closer, wearing a kindly smile:
"Just hit them. If once isn't enough, hit twice. If twice isn't enough, hit three times. As long as you keep hitting, it'll work."
The doll shuddered.
At that moment, she realized—compared to Natsume, she was the one who didn't want to stay here.
"The younger the child, the better the *Personality Correction Fist* works."
Her body began to tremble violently.
"Alright, the rest of the expressions—you stitch them yourself." Natsume patted the doll's head in reassurance.
The doll froze, staring at him.
"Me?" A trace of confusion appeared on her face.
"Will Sabrina really like the emotions from her childhood?" the doll muttered.
"Don't worry. Didn't Sabrina stitch plenty of expressions onto you herself? Try it." Natsume encouraged her.
As a child, Sabrina had been withdrawn, indecisive, perhaps from lacking her parents' company and guidance.
"But…" the doll hesitated.
"If you won't, I will." Natsume reached out.
"No! I'll do it, I'll do it!" Terrified of Natsume's hideous sense of aesthetics, the doll panicked.
She quickly turned around and clumsily picked up a needle and thread.
She had hesitated for many years, but now she was finally taking action—
Even if it was under someone's pressure.
In the outer realm, an organ-like structure took form, sensing reality.
In the inner realm, she and her psychic power fully merged, feeling everything more deeply.
In the core realm, psychic power must merge with the world.
This was the core connection Natsume had concluded between the three realms.
Sabrina had encountered a problem at the core realm stage.
Her psychic power hadn't successfully merged with the world but had instead gotten stuck in between.
This was what Seth Kenshin meant when he said Sabrina was trapped within her own core realm.
There were many causes for being trapped, not something that could be generalized. Sabrina's case was among the more complex.
Watching the doll busily working with her head lowered, Natsume narrowed his eyes.
Helping Sabrina wasn't only about completing a system task—it also carried his personal motive.
If he reached the core realm stage one day and ran into trouble, Sabrina could come help him.
"Um… does this look good?" The doll reluctantly held up the Sabrina figurine for Natsume to see.
Here, he was the only outsider who could give feedback.
Natsume glanced over and saw that the doll had sewn on a sad expression.
The stitching was delicate, seamlessly fusing thread with cloth.
Three-toned embroidery thread shimmered into crystal-like teardrops, while curved lines at the cheekbones formed rippling tears half-spilled.
"Hideous. Honestly, my heheheh-ha was better."
Natsume shook his head.
"Then it must look fine," the doll sighed in relief.
Sometimes, even a bad example could be useful—if someone with terrible taste thought it was ugly, then it was probably alright.
With Natsume's *authoritative* approval, the doll worked even harder.
Soon, expressions of crying, sorrow, bitterness, pain, melancholy, joy—
All sorts of emotions were stitched onto the Sabrina figurine's face, appearing and vanishing in turn.
Natsume silently observed from the side.
He noticed that with each expression sewn, the figurine's features grew closer to Sabrina's own.
Eventually, the doll's round face was gone, replaced by Sabrina's contours.
From a distance, the doll now resembled a *chibi* version of Sabrina.
Strange… why hadn't the system marked the task as complete?
Natsume looked around, fixing his gaze on the chibi Sabrina.
*Maybe the Personality Correction Fist hadn't been strong enough?*
The chibi Sabrina shuddered and glanced at Natsume in fear.
The next moment, the world spun.
Before him appeared Sabrina's cold face.
"Huh? I'm out?" Natsume's tone even carried a trace of reluctance.
Sabrina was silent for a moment before looking at him and saying:
"You really are a strange person."
"You can talk like a human now?" Natsume was startled.
Though her face still carried little expression and her tone was faint,
Natsume could clearly sense the *human* quality about her.
Before, Sabrina had felt to him like laboratory equipment.
No—that wasn't right. At least equipment made sounds.
If it blew up, Professor Oak could improvise a comedy routine about it.
Sabrina wasn't like that at all—she wouldn't flinch even if slapped across the face.
*Ugh!*
Outside, Dragonite staggered back, having scared off all the reporters.
Only then did Natsume realize—he had been inside Sabrina's core realm for a long time, but barely any time had passed outside.
"Mr. Natsume!" Not far away, Seth Kenshin was in tears.
"Mr. Natsume, you're practically Sabrina's second parent!" Blubbering, he moved in for a hug.
"Then… how about letting her acknowledge me as her godfather?" Natsume suggested cautiously.
"…"
The air went silent for a moment. Seth Kenshin's outstretched hand froze in midair.
"Hmm, not really the right age for that."
Seth Kenshin paused, then continued:
"But Mr. Natsume, if you ever have any requests in the future, I'll make sure they're fulfilled!"
He looked at Natsume with sincere eyes.
"Ten billion," Natsume replied without hesitation.
"…"
*Are you really that desperate for money?* Seth Kenshin wanted to ask.
Natsume had only been joking and didn't elaborate. Instead, his eyes began scanning the room.
After all, his task wasn't complete yet.
*Strange—where had that doll gone?*
You can read more (around 100+ 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.