novelraw Chapter 129: Task Completed, Sentret Joins the Team
Chapter 129: Task Completed, Sentret Joins the Team
Chapter 129: Task Completed, Sentret Joins the Team
As if anticipated, the Diglett froze midair, unable to move.
Natsume pretended to offer a Berry, then swung a brick.
Natsume couldn't be defeated in his area of expertise.
"Mr. Natsume, what's wrong with this Diglett?" Giselle exclaimed in surprise.
Before Natsume could react, the Diglett's claws glowed again.
Fury Swipes?
Natsume froze—Diglett can do this?
Diglett? What was that?
Unexpectedly, the Diglett didn't attack them. The claw strike smashed into a nearby rock instead.
Diglett? Forget it.
A third strike followed immediately. This time, it didn't hit Natsume, nor did it shatter rocks—it smashed into a pile of Berries nearby.
Crash
The Berries tumbled into the lake like raindrops, leaving only the sour Berries behind.
The ripples settled, and the Diglett stared at the remaining Berries, stunned.
After a while, a teary-eyed Diglett turned, looking up at Natsume and Giselle, clearly upset.
Diglett? Why did you throw my Berries into the lake?
"Ah???" Natsume was momentarily dumbfounded.
"Mr. Natsume, what exactly did you hear?" Giselle asked curiously.
Natsume extended his hand toward her. Giselle hesitated, lowered her head, then quickly lifted it as the mental message reached her.
Diglett Fine, I forgive you?
Diglett Digg You really have taste—sour Berries are the best.
Diglett! Unforgivable! I'll teach you a lesson!
The Diglett's voices overlapped, and Natsume and Giselle exchanged a glance, both puzzled.
"Mr. Natsume, is it split personality?" Giselle asked.
Natsume had included sections on Pokémon psychology in her book. Some Pokémon were prone to mental disorders, especially abandoned Pokémon or certain psychic types.
The League took this seriously; to become a Pokémon doctor, one had to study Pokémon psychology in addition to medical knowledge.
"Not quite," Natsume shook his head.
This Diglett was more complicated than a simple split personality.
Its earlier actions…
"How did you get here?" Natsume's voice echoed in the Diglett's mind.
Diglett I don't know. I woke up here.
Diglett Because I have the universal sour Berry.
Diglett!!! I'm going to teach that Tauros a lesson!
Three distinct voices spoke simultaneously in Natsume's mind.
The Diglett had three personalities, none aware of the others.
Natsume drew a conclusion.
"Mr. Natsume, what are you doing?" Giselle shouted as Natsume raised the brick.
"What happens if I hit you on the head with this brick?" Natsume's telepathy projected.
Diglett! Don't hit me!
Diglett Diglett! I won't share a single sour Berry with you!
Diglett Dig Dig Diglett! Before I teach that Tauros that knocked me away, I'll teach you properly!
Three voices spoke at once.
"Huh?"
Even Giselle looked on, bewildered.
The situation with the Diglett was different from a normal split personality.
Usually, personalities alternate, but this Diglett's three personalities could all respond simultaneously to Natsume's questions.
Natsume had never seen anything like it before.
No wonder this Diglett carried an S-rank research task.
After some testing, Natsume roughly understood the situation.
Diglett, Lv.15, Ability: Sand Veil.
Sand Veil: Prevents the opponent from fleeing during battle.
This Diglett had three distinct personalities, none aware of the others' existence.
All three could react simultaneously to the outside world.
When Natsume angered it, the Diglett hurled mud three times in a row.
Many non-multi-strike moves could, in reality, be executed consecutively by trained Pokémon, but the difficulty was extremely high. Most Pokémon couldn't manage more than two consecutive uses.
"What's the principle behind this?"
Natsume's interest was piqued.
This wasn't split personality; that condition doesn't allow multiple personalities to act at once.
Suddenly, Natsume recalled the ecological order Pokémon—Zygarde.
Zygarde's forms are made up of a Core and cell-like components.
A 10% Zygarde, composed of 10% of its cells, resembles a Dobermann. A 50% form resembles a serpent, and the 100% form is the Complete Forme.
The Cores and Cells are scattered across Kalos and Alola, serving as the eyes of ecological guardianship. Only the Cores possess awareness.
As one of the few widely distributed, researchable Legendary Pokémon, Zygarde's Cores and Cells have been thoroughly studied by League scholars.
"Giselle, pull up that paper—Professor Sycamore's," Natsume said, dodging the Diglett's mud.
Giselle quickly handed over the phone.
Zygarde's collective consciousness is called a swarm consciousness, producing global order from local interactions.
In its 100% form, all cells are controlled by two Cores. Its ideology reaches an extreme—the single will Core.
League scholars consider the single will Core fragile, far less resilient than the swarm consciousness. It's static, resistant to change, unlike the dynamically adaptive swarm consciousness.
Yet the 100% form perfectly embodies the single will Core: centralized, authoritarian, deterministic—a power necessary against ecological catastrophe.
After reviewing the paper, Natsume focused on the Diglett.
It was strange; its consciousness felt like Zygarde's Cells and its Core at the same time—both swarm consciousness and single will Core.
Ding!
[S-Rank: Form with Zygarde-like Characteristics]
[Reward] Master Ball Scratch Card ×1
The system's voice rang in Natsume's mind, his expression peculiar.
His guess had been correct.
"But… you only have three personalities, while Zygarde has a hundred Cells," Natsume muttered, grabbing the rushing Diglett.
In a flash, he and Giselle appeared on the lake shore.
Diglett
Diglett diglett diglett!!!
The moment the Diglett landed, countless Digletts swarmed, looking ready to mete out punishment.
Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! The Diglett jumped, unsure of what to do.
Diglett A leading trio of Digletts stepped forward, scowling, making the smaller Diglett even more nervous.
Through Natsume's senses, all three of the Diglett's personalities were uneasy.
Actually, it wasn't that the Diglett had deliberately wandered off. Its condition—unable to notice even slapping itself—made it a miracle that it had grown this far without getting lost.
Thankfully, it had been living within a Diglett colony; if it had been alone in the wild, survival would have been much harder.
Natsume shook his head in sympathy.
Suddenly, he felt someone tugging at his pants.
"Giselle, let go," Natsume said.
"I didn't do it," Giselle lowered her head, cheeks red.
Looking down, they saw it was the Diglett.
Diglett—Diglett—Diglett—"
See you again.
The color is like the sour Berries—tasteful!
I will become the Diglett King!
All three voices rang simultaneously in Natsume's mind.
Amid countless black eyes, the Diglett snagged a Safari Ball from Natsume's waist and nudged it with its head.
Shraa~ The Diglett was captured inside the Ball.
The imposing Diglett colony froze in surprise.
Natsume thought: rare indeed, he could still be a refuge for Pokémon.
The Digletts began a heated discussion, eventually deciding that handing the Diglett to this human might be for the best.
Dugtrio! It's yours now!
The leading Dugtrio formally thanked Natsume, then turned to lead the colony to find a new home.
"I know, but there's no need to rush off," Natsume said, releasing the Diglett.
"You can continue teaching it."
The Diglett turned to look at Natsume.
"???"
"???"
"???"
This time, all three personalities were perfectly synchronized.
You can read more (around 150+ 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.