After the minor incident with the Mankey attack, the group arrived in Celedon City.
Their first stop was the city center.
Skyscrapers surrounded them, countless glass curtain walls reflecting rainbow light. Neon billboards flashed, and a holographic projection of Pikachu danced across a department store's outer wall.
"Wow—" Ash gasped, looking up at the sky.
A flock of Pidgeot soared between the skyscrapers, the sound of their wings drowned out by the bustling city noise.
The city was like a monument of crystal prisms, scattering sunlight into countless rays of brilliance, showering every corner of the steel forest.
"Celedon City really deserves to be called one of the biggest cities in Kanto!" Brock exclaimed.
Even though he had been here several times before, each time he entered, he couldn't help but marvel.
"Ugh, you two, don't act like country bumpkins!" Misty's voice came from behind.
The three turned around to see Misty, who had changed outfits without them noticing. She held Giselle's arm, the two of them looking like stylish city girls.
"Uh, Misty, don't you think that outfit looks kind of ugly?" Ash frowned, unable to find the right word to describe it.
"Shut up!"
Wham! Misty pulled her fist back.
"Ash, what you should say is that Misty doesn't suit a mature style of clothing," Brock reminded him.
"Natsume, want to go shopping with me?" Giselle leaned closer.
"No money."
"I do!" Giselle raised a card excitedly.
"No time." Natsume lifted the Ultra Ball in his hand.
Under the rainbow glow around them, the Ultra Ball gleamed like a piece of obsidian.
"I'm heading to the Pokémon Center first." As Natsume spoke, the Rotom Phone used Teleport to take him away.
Years earlier, Natsume had traveled through every Pokémon Center in Kanto.
Almost every one, as long as the distance wasn't too far, the Rotom Phone could teleport him there instantly.
"Don't be sad, Giselle. I'll shop with you!" Misty said, hugging her arm.
...
At Celedon City's Pokémon Center, in front of a communications device—
"Huh? Natsume, do you have something important to ask me?"
Before Natsume could speak, Delia cut in first.
"Aunt Delia, you're really amazing." Natsume gave her a thumbs-up.
"Hahaha, well, if it wasn't something important, you'd usually just contact me through Rotom Phone," Delia laughed.
"That's right. I have something I need you to run through the research lab's supercomputer."
As he spoke, Natsume plugged a USB drive into the communication device.
Moments later, Delia received the data Natsume sent.
"Oh, you could have just sent this straight to me by laptop." She skimmed through it casually.
"No, the file's too big." Natsume's expression turned serious.
Delia froze, a bad feeling creeping up inside her.
Sure enough, after the first file arrived, her computer began spinning endlessly, stuck processing.
The second file still hadn't finished transferring.
"Natsume, what's in the second file?" Delia asked curiously.
"Of course, it's a tutorial. I thought you might not be too familiar with this stuff, Aunt Delia."
"Oh, true. It's been a while since I really studied anything—my brain does feel rusty these past few years."
Seeing that Natsume wasn't pulling some crazy stunt but had instead thoughtfully sent a tutorial, Delia finally sighed in relief.
"By the way, where's Ash?"
Delia looked around but didn't see him or his friends behind Natsume.
"Ash went shopping," Natsume replied.
"With girls?!" Delia's eyes sparkled.
"Of course. I can even show you a live feed."
Natsume tapped an app on his Rotom Phone.
Soon, the screen displayed Ash's face—shown through Brock's perspective.
Yes, the tracking devices Natsume had stuck on them also had livestream functions, powered purely by solar energy.
Normally, he used them for researching migratory Pokémon populations.
But in his eyes, travel and migration were more or less the same.
"Wow, Ash is surrounded by so many girls!" Aunt Delia exclaimed in surprise.
"Huh?" Natsume looked over as well.
Ash seemed to be in a perfume shop, encircled by a group of older girls, looking quite popular.
But soon, his true nature was revealed.
"Perfume is just something women without charm use."
Ash said it with a straight face.
The next second—"Sir, please leave!"
*Bang!*
From Brock's perspective, Ash was carried out by several of the women and tossed outside, the store door shutting tightly behind him.
Delia: "…"
"Natsume, do you think our family line is going to end with him?" Delia muttered bleakly.
"Don't worry, Auntie. I'll teach Ash how to deal with people properly!" Natsume said seriously.
Delia: "…"
That would be even worse.
"Ah, tell me, um, do you think Ash will ever have a girl who likes him?"
Delia quickly changed the subject, afraid Natsume really would become Ash's life mentor.
"Well…" Natsume fell silent.
On the other end, Delia sighed in relief, glad her distraction worked.
"If you're worried, Auntie, take a look at this!"
Natsume sent over another file.
It was a full ten gigabytes, but it still transferred quickly, leaving Delia stunned.
She glanced at the second file still stuck loading and swallowed nervously.
"Auntie Delia, open it."
"Oh? Summer Camp?"
It was a video file, named by **Natsume: Professor Oak's Research Lab – 4th Summer Camp**.
"The fourth summer camp… Ash joined that one. Wait, you were the supervisor, Natsume?!"
Delia was surprised. No wonder after that year, Ash kept running off to Oak's lab whenever he had free time.
"Is this the video you filmed at summer camp?" Seeing the tiny, chibi-like Ash on screen, Delia couldn't help but smile in nostalgia.
But soon, something felt off.
The camera started focusing repeatedly on Ash and another girl.
She had light golden-brown hair, slightly curled at the ends, with large teal eyes full of liveliness.
In many clips, she wore a light pink beret, a pink-and-black sleeveless dress with a white ribbon belt, black shorts, and brown boots.
The video froze at the final scene: Ash crouching down, bandaging the girl's injury.
From the angle, it was clear Natsume had been hiding up in a tree filming secretly.
"Ah~" Delia covered her face, feeling embarrassed just watching it.
"Her name is Serena, from Vaniville Town in the Kalos region. She likes sweets and fashion. Auntie, you could send her some Kanto specialties, like Viridian Forest honey pancakes or Vermilion City's Magikarp sugar candies."
Natsume rattled off information like a rapid-fire combo, leaving Delia stunned.
"Natsume, why are you even investigating her?" Delia said, half laughing, half crying.
Natsume ignored the question, seriously stretching out his hand.
"Auntie Delia, if you settle this engagement, remember to give me a big envelope full of cash."
Delia: "…"
After some small talk, the call ended.
At Oak's lab, Delia sat blankly at her desk, replaying the video compilation again and again.
"Oh dear, the more I watch, the more I want to see!" Her face glowed with motherly warmth.
When Professor Oak returned and she had some free time, maybe she should travel to the Kalos region?
The thought suddenly struck her.
*Beep, beep!* Suddenly, her computer issued a warning.
Delia froze and closed the video, only to find an **Insufficient Memory** warning pop up on her desktop.
"How can the memory be full?" she muttered in confusion, then noticed that the second file Natsume had sent had finally finished downloading.
Over a hundred tutorial videos, each starting at ten gigabytes or more.
Frowning, Delia opened the first video.
**Professor Natsume's Class Begins!**
"…"
**The Meaning of Scientific Research.**
"…"
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.