novelraw Chapter 124: In Full Swing
Chapter 124: In Full Swing
Chapter 124: In Full Swing
Natsume strolled leisurely across the grasslands.
He was already certain that the Diglett had run toward the center of the plains.
Once today's race was over, they could set off to search for it tomorrow.
However, the Diglett's exact path still needed careful observation and analysis.
The race was in full swing, and every now and then, the excited voice of Nash could be heard announcing who had been eliminated.
"Miss Giselle blocked Dragonite, but she's out too. Everyone will remember her!"
Nash's voice suddenly rang out.
Natsume looked up and caught the replay of Giselle's elimination.
"Why is the camera showing Midchu and Dragonite?" Natsume wondered.
Dragonite huffed its way to the mountaintop. The next moment, Natsume suddenly understood.
Dragonite spun around, facing the valley below, wings large and small spread wide.
Woo~
It began to glide, shooting toward the bottom of the mountain like a cannonball, closing the distance rapidly.
But once the speed reached a certain limit, the difference in wing size revealed its drawback.
The air pressure on each wing was unbalanced, and Dragonite's body began spinning uncontrollably, faster and faster.
Dragonite used Dragon Tail!
The blanket on Midchu was caught in the strong wind, pressed onto Dragonite's head like a tiny spinning top.
Midchu opened their eyes in confusion, realizing they were getting closer and closer to the ground.
A race, wasn't it? How did they turn into a guided missile?
"Rhyperior, use Protect!"
Giselle stopped and signaled the others to move ahead first.
They were there at Miss Lara's request, aiming for a good placement.
Rhyperior wasn't suited for racing, so there was little hope.
And Natsume had told her to watch Dragonite, and she followed through.
Rocks shot up from the ground, blocking Rhyperior's path.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Midchu, frightened, dozed off while Dragonite carried them forward.
A massive cloud of dust rose, and both Dragonite and Rhyperior collapsed within the arena.
"Cough, cough, are you both okay?"
Giselle quickly stepped forward with healing items.
The thrilling elimination replay ended there.
"Looks like Giselle is developing something," Natsume murmured.
The research project on multi-type moves had been handed to Giselle by Natsume.
He didn't have the energy for it himself.
Even just with this Rotom in a Pokéball, he could publish several top-tier papers.
By the time he returned to Pallet Town, he'd likely need two to three months of focused isolation.
First, he'd finish the papers, become a Pokémon Doctor, and then apply for his own advanced lab.
[Rock Guard]
[Type] Rock / Ground
[Effect] Compared to the normal Protect, its defense is weaker, but it can block multi-hit attacks.
Giselle was smart. The first skill she improved was the commonly used Protect.
She directed it toward Rock and Ground, which were easier to develop for Rhyperior.
When this paper was published, it would likely trigger a new revolution in the Contest scene.
Natsume leaned against a nearby tree, calmly watching the big screen.
"Whoa!"
He stepped on something slippery and almost fell.
Looking down, it was a Berry covered in sparse soil.
Natsume crushed the Berry with a foot, the opening smeared with dark soil.
But this wasn't ordinary soil.
He pinched some and sniffed it.
It was still the Diglett's droppings.
"Is it planting Berries?"
Natsume was puzzled.
The pile of Berries he had found earlier looked like Diglett was hoarding them.
But this single Berry looked as if it was being deliberately planted.
Natsume couldn't make sense of what the Diglett was trying to do.
The droppings were very fresh, likely left last night.
Where there were Berries, Natsume's gaze shifted toward the nearby forest.
Just as he approached, a flesh-colored figure suddenly darted out and disappeared in an instant.
"Huh?" Natsume was startled.
He saw two heads—maybe a Doduo?
The next moment, Nash's exclamation rang out.
"Oh my, a Primeape riding a Doduo just ran in!" Nash shouted.
"Why does this Doduo only have one head, and no feathers? They're so fast! Ash's hat got stolen!"
"Damn it!" Ash clutched his head.
"Ash, go for the win! I'll help you get your hat back," Misty's voice called from behind.
"Hmph, don't act like this kid can just win whenever he wants!" Dario shouted.
The remaining Doduo suddenly sped up, overtaking Ash.
"Ash, hang in there!"
Misty's voice echoed. Looking back, she saw the Primeape had been knocked away by a brick, and she had recovered Ash's hat.
Psyduck's eyes glimmered with a faint blue light as the brick flew back above its head.
Bang! The bluish brick landed on Psyduck, making it shiver before it waddled forward again.
Misty watched Psyduck's back thoughtfully.
Ah, so that's the amount of force needed.
The race course had many different terrains.
Soon, a pond appeared before them, with floating boards to step on.
Doduo and Ponyta leapt agilely across the boards to reach the grass on the far side.
Waddle waddle— Psyduck, with the brick on its head, waddled into the water and immediately splashed.
"Oh my, this Psyduck can't swim! Does its trainer even know?"
Nash's voice rang out, and Misty almost gasped.
She had only just realized Psyduck couldn't swim.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered, placing Ash's hat on her head before mounting Starmie.
"Starmie, let's save Psyduck."
It had taken quite some time to retrieve Ash's hat, and she had nearly given up on the race.
Suddenly, Misty jumped off Starmie again.
On the big screen, a Squirtle carrying Pikachu returned and rescued Psyduck.
"How sweet! But these bulky Pokémon are really tricky to manage!"
Nash's comment came just as a trainer on Rhyhorn sank into a floating board.
"Hahaha! Hahahahaha!"
On the shore, Brock laughed loudly.
"Cough, cough, what's so funny? You think your Onix can make it across?"
The trainer and Rhyhorn scrambled awkwardly out of the water, thinking Brock was mocking them.
Brock said nothing, only laughing uncontrollably.
Finally!
His Water-Resistant Onix was about to show its full potential.
"Onix, show off your swimming!"
Roar!
Onix leapt into the water, moving like a flexible sea serpent. It swam at incredible speed, even allowing Squirtle and the others to ride along.
In the blink of an eye, Onix reached the shore.
"My goodness, how was this Onix trained? Wait… why did it collapse?"
Nash froze in shock.
Brock's Onix collapsed as soon as it reached land.
"Pikachu, keep going."
Brock quietly withdrew Onix, injured from the thorns on the grass.
A Onix trained this way was no longer just weak fourfold to Grass—it was on a completely different level.
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.