Outside, atop a large tree, the trio huddled under raincoats.
owth: "owth, the Pokémon Center… looks like there are a lot of injured Pokémon, ow."
Jas: "Yeah, owth… wait a sec, those twerps are there too!"
Jessie: "What about Natsu? Is that researcher inside the Pokémon Center?"
Natsu: "I'd say he's not."
"That's good, ow. If he's not around, then we can relax—"
owth's voice trailed off, and the three stiffly turned their heads.
"Hi!" Natsu stood holding an umbrella, perched atop a Pokéball Rotom, floating in midair.
"Why do you always show up like a ghost?!" The trio panicked, tumbling straight out of the tree.
Natsu guided Rotom down and stopped in front of them.
Team Rocket tensed, about to grab their Pokéballs.
"Want to boost your performance?" Natsu asked, producing a tray holding dozens of Pokéballs.
"I can give you all of these."
"Empty?" Jas eyed him warily.
"Let check, ow." owth pulled out a scanner and swept it over the tray.
"They all have Pokémon inside, ow!" His face lit up with excitent.
"Wait—what's your purpose here?" Jessie and Jas grew even more suspicious.
"I'll explain."
A voice ca from behind them. Turning around, they saw a girl with a doll-like face, holding an umbrella.
"Another twerp."
Jas instinctively stepped back. For so reason, sothing about Giselle's presence felt oddly familiar.
"Here's the situation." Giselle cleared her throat, seizing the chance to show off her ability to summarize in front of Natsu.
After her explanation, Team Rocket nodded thoughtfully.
"Too much, ow. Even I, owth, can't stand scum like that!"
"Yeah, thinking about it, those Pokémon would be better off in Team Rocket's care!"
Jas solemnly accepted the tray from Natsu.
In the next instant, the trio's eyes blazed with excitent.
"Finally… finally, ow!"
"Our first real score!"
"It's been way too hard!"
The three clutched each other, crying with joy.
"Mr. Natsu…" Giselle tugged at his sleeve, as if she had sothing to say.
"Go ahead." Natsu looked at her.
"Shouldn't we release the Pokémon instead? Selling them to Team Rocket doesn't feel right… they're tied up in shady dealings."
Giselle spoke hesitantly.
The very first book Natsu had given her emphasized that Pokémon researchers must always hold to their principles.
But now she was beginning to realize that Natsu's principles seed… flexible.
"But if we release them, loyal Pokémon like that Charmander might just run back to their scummy trainer."
"And if that happens, how would you solve it?"
Seeing her reaction, Natsu nodded inwardly, then tossed the question back at her.
Giselle's small face twisted in conflict. After hesitating a mont, she walked up to Team Rocket.
"I'll buy these Pokémon."
She pulled out a black card marked with a Master Ball symbol and handed it to them.
"Hold it, ow." owth pulled out a special register.
"It only counts as our performance if it goes through Team Rocket's account, ow."
A swipe of the card, a handover of Pokéballs.
"You gave too much, ow."
"Why'd you say that out loud, owth?!" Jessie's fist ca down on owth's head.
"But she really did give too much—if the numbers don't add up, Boss Giovanni will ask questions, ow!" owth held up the register.
"Whoa, she gave us an extra million." Jas stroked his chin, putting on an exaggerated look of surprise.
Not that anyone could see it clearly in the dark, rainy night.
"The extra money is for you to deal with the person I ntioned earlier." Giselle lifted her chin, looking at Team Rocket.
"As Team Rocket, I assu you're good at that sort of thing?"
"No problem!"
"I'm furious just thinking about it, ow. I've been wanting to smack him around!"
"Hahaha, money's rolling in!"
The trio, fired up, dashed off in the direction Giselle had pointed.
"Mr. Natsu, how was my handling of things?"
Giselle turned back, looking at him expectantly.
Instead of answering, Natsu spoke of the Team Rocket trio.
"Do you know why I dared to sell those Pokémon to them?"
"Why?" Giselle asked curiously.
"Because Team Rocket has a lot of legitimate businesses too—pet shops and such."
Giselle nodded. Compared to being abandoned, ending up in a pet shop wasn't bad. People who bought Pokémon there would usually be prepared to care for them, not discard them easily. At least better than winding up with that scum.
"But how can you be sure the Pokémon in their hands will go to Team Rocket's legitimate businesses?"
"The blue-haired one, Jas—he's the son of one of Team Rocket's major shareholders."
Natsu continued:
"The red-haired one, Jessie—she's the daughter of Giovanni's mother's close friend."
Not only that—Jessie's mother co-founded Team Rocket alongside Giovanni's mother. Jessie was essentially the daughter of a Team Rocket founder.
But her mother vanished while pursuing w, and Giovanni's mother wasted away in grief.
Though their original goal in creating Team Rocket had been nothing more than making money, under Giovanni—who thrived in both the black and white worlds—Team Rocket had grown into a true, cross-regional powerhouse.
At Natsu's words, Giselle's eyes trembled.
She understood well enough the kind of status those two held in Giovanni's eyes.
"Giovanni would never let people like them get near Team Rocket's true dark industries."
Natsu gazed thoughtfully in the direction Team Rocket had gone.
Because of Jessie and Jas's special identities, Giovanni could never treat them like ordinary mbers.
So he wove them a *dark villain's dream*.
The worst of Team Rocket's darkness they'd ever touch was stealing others' Pokémon and selling them.
In a sense, the trio were Team Rocket's mascots—even to the point where their direct superior was Giovanni himself.
"So any Pokémon sold to them will end up in Team Rocket's legitimate businesses. Understand now?"
As Natsu finished, he felt a resentful gaze on him.
"Then why didn't you say that earlier?" Giselle lifted the tray in her hands, her aning clear.
"I'll transmit them back to Professor Oak's lab."
Natsu patted her head.
By now, after observing Giselle's actions and behavior, he had developed a much better impression of her.
But still—so troubleso…
"Contact Professor Oak. I'll go find Ash and the others."
With that, Natsu handed her his phone.
"Okay!"
Giselle's eyes lit up—was this her chance to et the master?
Natsu had acknowledged her again!
"Rotom, let's go!"
With that, Natsu directed Pokéball Rotom to fly toward Route 24, where Charmander was.
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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