The sky was clear and bright, and under the shade of a large tree, the group was taking a break.
On Ash's shoulders sat two Pikachu—one on the left, the other on the right.
At this mont, he was looking at Natsu with a curious expression.
"Natsu, are you modifying Pokéballs?"
Seeing the pile of destroyed red-and-white Pokéballs around Natsu, Ash couldn't help but wonder.
Since leaving Pewter City yesterday, Natsu had been carrying around a bunch of wires and tools he didn't even know the na of, frantically dismantling Pokéballs.
In just a couple of days, probably over a hundred Pokéballs had t their demise.
"Yes, I'm engraving this chip and the circuitry into them," Natsu said without looking up.
"Why do you need to put sothing like that inside?"
A small orange head popped over curiously.
"Because it looks cool," Natsu replied, still not turning his head.
Misty muttered, "…"
"What a waste."
With that, Misty turned and went to help Brock, who was busy cooking.
*Bang!*
A faint explosion sounded, and another Pokéball in Natsu's hands was destroyed.
Staring blankly at the ruined Pokéball, Natsu seed a bit lost in thought.
**Recording complete. Would you like to summarize the failures?**
From the side, the voice of Rotom Phone spoke diligently.
"I'll save it for now," Natsu said, his eyes fixed on the ruined Pokéball.
Hmm… Embedding Rotom into a Pokéball seed theoretically simple, but in practice, it was much harder than expected.
First, a Pokéball only had very simple circuitry, and the circuit occupied a very small area.
Rotom simply couldn't integrate.
What Natsu needed to do now was implant circuitry into the Pokéball and add a chip large enough to accommodate Rotom's main body.
The chip had been taken from the electric toy Rotom he had worked on before.
That toy was roughly the size of a Pokéball, and if the circuitry was done correctly, it could be used directly.
The slightly tricky part was expanding the original circuitry of the Pokéball to connect with the chip while maximizing performance.
*It's definitely because I don't have a proper lab*, Natsu thought, mulling it over. He felt the issue wasn't with his own skills—after all, the theory was straightforward to him.
He had already used up the S-rank scratch card, and unsurprisingly, the worst guaranteed prize had appeared—a Master Ball.
Natsu didn't dare experint with the Master Ball, so he had to practice on ordinary red-and-white Pokéballs first, then move on to slightly more advanced Great Balls and Ultra Balls, saving the Master Ball for last.
But he was stuck at the very first step.
*Pika hi hi!*
A laugh ca from the side.
Natsu glanced over, then grabbed a small chair and began wrapping it with wires.
*Pika!?*
"Ash, doesn't your Pikachu already have the *Electric-Attribute Enhancent chair*?"
Ash wanted to say the chair's full na, but the technical term was too cumberso, so he followed Natsu's lead and shortened it to *enhancent chair*.
"That was the first tier of the enhancent chair. Your Pikachu has fully adapted to it. I'm making the second tier now—there will be ten in total."
*Pika!?*
Midchu wobbled on Ash's shoulder, looking rather unlucky.
*Pikachu!*
Pikachu touched his middle part, offering comfort.
"Is that so…"
Ash scratched his head.
Since the day before yesterday, Natsu had asked Ash to bring Midchu along whenever he trained his own Pikachu. They took turns battling, even ate the sa als, all in the na of maintaining "relative variables."
After spending these days together, Ash realized that Natsu's Pikachu seed different from his own.
Midchu even knew a Grass-type move called **Grass Knot**!
When Ash discovered this, he was amazed and begged Natsu to teach his own Pikachu as well—but was rcilessly refused.
There was nothing he could do; Natsu himself had only ever received one Teaching Machine.
Ash decided to save the question for another ti.
"All right, everyone, let's eat!"
Misty called to them.
"After we eat, we'll set off. We should reach Mt. Moon by tonight," Brock encouraged.
At dusk, they arrived at Mt. Moon.
"Faster than I expected—it's still just evening," Natsu noted.
In front of the four of them was a barren hill, pockmarked like the surface of the moon.
"Huh? Why does it look the sa as in the dayti?"
Misty looked at Mt. Moon in surprise.
Everywhere on the mountain were various instrunts and Flying-type Pokémon, moving unknown objects.
The whole area was bathed in searchlight beams, bright as day.
"Ah! Looks like there's so kind of research project here. Roads are closed off, and they've set up a periter with the staff over there," Ash said, approaching with a discouraged look.
"Follow ," Natsu waved to the three and walked toward several staff mbers nearby.
"I'm Natsu, a researcher from Professor Oak's lab," he introduced, showing his credentials.
"Natsu-senpai!"
So of the staff recognized him.
"Oh? It's you guys?"
Natsu had a faint mory of the few people in front of him—they were researchers from the Pewter City Science Academy.
"What are you doing here?"
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go inside. Are you Natsu-senpai's friends? Please co in as well!"
Two researchers ushered them inside.
"By the way, you still haven't answered Natsu's question," Brock remarked as they walked.
With about ten minutes left to Mt. Moon, he curiously looked at the two researchers. He had dealt with the Pewter City Science Academy several tis before.
"Don't even ntion it. Sothing happened with the League, and suddenly they mobilized personnel and surrounded Mt. Moon. Our researchers from Pewter City, being closest, were all called in," one explained.
"Yes, and I heard a Champion-class Trainer also ca. No one knows what the ergency is," the other added.
The researchers spoke formally, but Ash only caught the words *Champion-class Trainer*.
"Natsu, what's a Champion-class Trainer?" Ash asked, looking at Natsu curiously.
Natsu, who was busy tinkering with a Pokéball, finally looked up.
"In a region, the strongest trainers recognized by the League are called Champions. For example, the Kanto region has four Champions."
"The Elite Four!"
Ash's eyes lit up. "All right! I'm going to challenge the Champion-class Trainer at Mt. Moon!"
*Pika!*
Pikachu, beside him, bristled with excitent.
On Ash's other shoulder, Midchu with a runny nose suddenly woke up.
*Pika~*
Midchu was exasperated. He had finally mastered *standing-sleeping*, only to be constantly disturbed by the chaos around him.
And the trainer Natsu had him follow—Ash—was a total battle maniac.
In just three days, Ash had battled almost every trainer they encountered along the way.
Even with another Pikachu sharing the load, Midchu had fought in nearly a dozen battles.
The worst part was that this kid loved to give ridiculous orders!
Like telling him to use Thunderbolt against a Geodude, even though he didn't know the move.
Now he wanted to challenge the Elite Four.
He couldn't win. There was no way he could win.
Midchu had already decided: if Ash told him to battle the Elite Four, he'd simply lie down and go to sleep.
You can read more (around 50 free chapters) of Natsu's adventure ad-free here[sravenarchives/book/pokemon-who-let-him-leave-pallet-town]. Bulk uploads is a ss here, so updates here might be irregular.
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