Pokemon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!?

Chapter 137: Blaine

Chapter 137: – Blaine

"So, Natsume, have you finished raising your Crystal Onix?"

In the hot spring, Ash looked at Natsume with curiosity.

Brock glanced over as well.

"How do you know?" Natsume asked, just as Midchu, still blissfully asleep under a blanket, fell into the water.

Pika!

Midchu flailed for a moment before Ash pulled it out.

"This place is for people!"

An exasperated voice shouted. Turning around, they saw the blond elder.

He was the owner of the struggling hot spring inn, named Walter.

In the hot spring, a Magmar was sweating profusely, nearly turning the entire pool red.

By the spring, a Diglett was nibbling at the reddish soil, while Squirtle and Midchu watched in fascination.

Gengar

Gastly

Nearby, a Gastly was giving a Gengar a shoulder massage, both continuously using Poison Gas!

Cough, cough, cough! Walter looked at the Gengar in surprise and, braving the smoke, approached.

"You're disturbing the other guests!" Wearing sunglasses that hid his face, his tone still carried anger.

"But Grandpa Walter, it's just us here," Ash waved dismissively.

The elder had it rough—he built the inn halfway up the mountain, and most tourists went to the lodges at the base.

"Fine, whatever," Walter muttered, clearly defeated.

After a moment, he suddenly looked up at Natsume.

"What are you doing here?" he asked warily.

"Looking for Blaine. Do you know where he is?" Natsume asked knowingly.

"Blaine is dead," the elder said without hesitation.

"That's good," Natsume replied.

He then produced a device resembling a Drill Burrow from somewhere.

Placing it down, the claw dug into a nearby rock and began drilling into the ground by the hot spring.

Within seconds, a large amount of steam began rising from the hole.

"What are you doing? There's magma down there!"

Blaine, startled, removed his sunglasses, mustache, and blond hair, revealing his true appearance.

"Here's the badge. Now get out!"

He tossed a fiery red badge, which Natsume caught steadily.

"Grandpa, so you are Blaine!" Ash exclaimed in delight, receiving another badge in return.

"You leave too," Blaine said, reaching to stop Natsume's device.

"What? I want to challenge you properly and earn the badge!" Ash blushed.

Misty had already teased him all the way, and a free badge would be too much.

"Don't move. The volcano might erupt any second," Natsume's calm voice warned, freezing Blaine's hand in mid-air.

"Hmph, you think I'm stupid? Moving the volcano will make it erupt?"

Blaine huffed and glared but stopped his action.

"What does this thing do?" Blaine asked, still wary.

"Look at that Diglett of mine," Natsume said, pointing to the Diglett eagerly eating the volcanic soil.

Nearby, Pikachu and Midchu each held a plate of berries, watching intently.

"Diglett eats soil. So what?" Blaine didn't see anything strange.

Digg The Diglett noticed Blaine's gaze, holding a Sweet Berry on its head, and walked over to him.

"Ah, thank you," Blaine said, taking the berry. He thought to himself that at least this Diglett didn't inherit Natsume's personality.

The next second, three scratch marks appeared on Blaine's face.

Eek! the little Diglett angrily snatched the berry back.

Blaine didn't get mad; instead, he nodded knowingly, as if he had expected it.

"This Diglett of mine likes sour, sweet, and spicy flavors," Natsume's voice explained.

"I know," Blaine nodded, still unsure how this related to the volcano.

"But it didn't eat the sour berry," Natsume pointed out.

The Diglett mixed a sweet berry and a spicy berry into the volcanic soil and happily swallowed it in one bite.

"This shows the volcanic soil here is very acidic—extremely acidic," Natsume said.

"Nonsense, volcanic soil is naturally acidic," Blaine protested, crouching down and scraping some soil into his mouth.

The instant it touched his tongue, a sharp, sour flavor sent a shiver through him.

This level of acidity isn't right.

Dudu

Natsume's device stopped, releasing a huge amount of steam.

"Let's see," Natsume said, pulling the screen toward him.

"Hm, acidic magma. An eruption could be quite severe, though this might just be a small vent."

"Not your fault at all!" Blaine grabbed Natsume by the collar, shaking him back and forth.

"Don't worry. Soil analysis is just a simple auxiliary measure. It could be a major eruption instead of a small vent," Natsume calmly said.

Blaine wanted to punch him but decades of restraint held him back.

Bang! Natsume's head took a punch.

Natsume clutched his head. Before he could react, Blaine turned away.

"I'm old. You handle this, or I won't register your badges," Blaine said, looking every bit the grumpy elder.

"What does not registering badges mean?" Ash climbed out of the hot spring.

"To prevent forgery, badges given by gym leaders are registered with the League and checked during tournaments," Brock explained.

"Forgery?"

"What are you looking at?" Natsume turned Ash's head toward Blaine.

"By the way, Grandpa Blaine, I want to challenge you!" Ash exclaimed, remembering his original goal.

"No, you need to deal with this first," Blaine shook his head.

"It's probably just a small vent, not a major eruption," Natsume said.

"I noticed the volcanic survey team left years ago," he added.

"Which means there shouldn't be any major eruptions here for decades."

"The small vent should be around halfway up the mountain," Natsume paused.

"Not too serious—at worst, it could burn your inn."

"Not too serious?!" Blaine clenched his fists but decades of restraint kept him calm.

Bang! A bump appeared on Natsume's head.

He didn't resist with psychic power; Blaine had always treated him well. Thirteen gym explosions, cleaning up after volcanoes—he owed him a lot.

"Hmph, I don't care. If my inn doesn't survive, you can keep the Cinnabar Badge as a souvenir!" Blaine said, trying to leave—but his arm wouldn't budge.

Looking back, Ash was holding onto him.

"Grandpa Blaine, please! Battle me!"

Pika!

Pikachu and Ash looked at him with pleading eyes.

Blaine's expression turned strange.

Weird… why does my arm feel like it's not mine?

"Actually, this isn't entirely bad," Natsume said.

"If the lava is just a small surface vent, the resulting volcanic mud could earn you a fortune."

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.