Natsu, cradling the small jar in his arms, dashed back to his room.
Door closed, he went through his routine—shower, change, incense—a seamless flow of motions.
Soon, a faint mist-like smoke filled the small room. Heart racing with excitent, Natsu pulled out the ten scratch cards.
These were the fruits of five years of hard work in Pallet Town, the culmination of his creative efforts and cooperation with the selfless Pokémon of the town, completing ten rank-worthy research projects. They were precious beyond asure.
Staring at the scratch cards marked with Pokéballs, Natsu felt his eyes sting, tears streaming uncontrollably. The mist swirled around him as he wept.
"Cough, cough… Alright, let's see what this extraordinary reward the system promised really is!"
Not greedy—ten Arceus would have been enough for him.
With perfect timing and ceremony, Natsu took a deep breath and scratched the first red-and-white Pokéball on the ticket.
Instantly, a brilliant golden light erupted, and a pleasant voice echoed in his mind:
*Ding!*
**Congratulations, you've consud a Pokéball scratch card and obtained a Pokéball ×1!**
"Huh?"
Natsu blinked at the Pokéball that appeared out of thin air.
He scratched the second scratch card.
*Ding!*
**Congratulations, you've consud a Pokéball scratch card and obtained a Pokéball ×1!**
A subtle change passed over his expression. Not believing his luck, he scratched the third ticket.
**Pokéball ×1.**
Fourth ticket.
**Pokéball ×1.**
And so it continued until the tenth ticket—all Pokéballs.
*Plop!*
A tear fell onto the pile of Pokéballs. Suddenly, Natsu felt that perhaps the bond between him and Pallet Town's Pokémon wasn't as profound as he had imagined.
Scratching the last ticket, the sa familiar voice sounded in his mind. Overwheld, Natsu felt dizzy.
*Ding!*
**Congratulations, you've consud a Pokéball scratch card and obtained a Pokémon Ga ×1!**
"The system… is this your so-called extraordinary reward?"
Darkness swept over him as he collapsed onto the bed.
The night passed quietly.
...
The next morning, Natsu awoke to Ash's worried voice.
"Nurse Joy! Natsu's awake!"
His vision blurred, but he could make out Ash rushing out while the room fell silent.
Natsu stared at the ceiling, flashes of last night's *tenfold joy* replaying in his mind.
Could it be… Natsu really had this much bad luck? Five years of effort, and all he got were ten Pokéballs! Just ten!
Even less than what he'd managed to swipe at Professor Oak's lab before setting out.
Hmm? Strange—this didn't feel like his original room.
Natsu noticed the ceiling looked slightly different.
Before he could ponder further, the door opened, and Nurse Joy, dressed in her usual attire, walked in.
Seeing the awakened Natsu, she buried her face in her hands, exasperated:
"Really, how did you manage to get gas poisoning in a Pokémon Center room?"
Just last night, the Rocket Gang attacked here, and now this morning, soone's found unconscious from gas on the second floor.
Ash and Misty approached as well.
"Yeah, Natsu, your eyes are all swollen from the smoke. Didn't you notice?"
Natsu's head was heavy and foggy, but hearing them, he finally realized—he'd gotten gas poisoning.
"Oh?"
Natsu raised an eyebrow and opened his system panel. After scrolling for a while, he finally saw a research project.
[SSS-Rank: Research Project]
[Notice] Pallet Town Superhuman Physique Research
[Subject] Natsu
Opening the project revealed Natsu's current status:
[Natsu]
[Strength] 0.05 Ash
[Intelligence] 100 Ash
[Agility] 0.05 Ash
[Electric Resistance] 0.5 Ash
[Fire Resistance] -
This project had triggered the first ti Natsu encountered Ash in Pallet Town. The units of asure were all based on Ash.
Over several years, while he made little progress, he had discovered a few things: repeated attacks from Pokémon could gradually increase resistance in various aspects, while resistances below **0.5 Ash** would slowly decline naturally.
Among the resistance list, Natsu found Poison Resistance:
**Poison Resistance:** 0.2 Ash
Huh? His Poison Resistance had dropped from **0.3 Ash** to **0.2 Ash**.
That must explain why the gas had affected him so badly last night.
Natsu had thought his bond with Pallet Town's Pokémon was strong enough to awaken so kind of unnatural power.
Clearly, it wasn't bad luck or a weak bond—it was simply the *incense* that failed!
Natsu thought to himself: *no more using Gas Bombs. Bad luck would ruin it.*
Lost in thought, Natsu didn't notice Ash covering his face.
*Pikachu!*
On Ash's shoulder, Pikachu mimicked him, covering his own face.
At this mont, Ash, just ten years old, fully understood why everyone had said he should keep an eye on Natsu. Had he not discovered it early this morning, Natsu might have accidentally keeled over.
Natsu turned to look at Pikachu perched on Ash's shoulder and nodded slightly.
It seed last night's ordeal with Team Rocket had strengthened the bond between Ash and Pikachu.
"Um…"
Under Natsu's watchful gaze, Ash suddenly turned to Misty, who looked shocked, and said:
"Misty, you saw Natsu's condition too. We might need to rest here for a day. If you're in a hurry to go to Pewter City—ah!"
Before Ash could finish, Misty grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up:
"What? You think sending away ans you don't have to compensate for my bike?"
Seeing both Natsu and Nurse Joy looking on, Misty released Ash, pouted, and snorted:
"Hmph, I have all the ti in the world to deal with you!"
"W-well then… Natsu… um, Natsu, where are you?"
Ash scratched his head, looking at the bed next to him, only to find Natsu missing.
He had been right there a second ago!
"This patient needs proper rest!"
Nurse Joy also looked concerned.
Fearing that Natsu might accidentally collapse sowhere alone, Ash dashed out frantically to search.
In Natsu's original room, he called:
"Rotom!"
A faint glow appeared as the phone's Rotom responded.
*Whoosh—*
The light flashed, and Natsu's figure appeared.
Using Rotom's teleportation, he had returned to his room to retrieve the ten Pokéballs.
Already unlucky, if he lost these ten Pokéballs too, Natsu's mood would be even worse.
"One, two… nine, hey?"
Natsu's hand froze in midair as he reached for the Pokéballs.
Strange—the tenth one was missing.
He looked left and right, but couldn't find the tenth Pokéball anywhere.
It couldn't have been stolen. Sure, Team Rocket had co by last night, but Ash and Misty had chased them off.
Even if it had been stolen, they wouldn't take just one Pokéball.
Could it be… his tenth reward wasn't a Pokéball?
A surge of hope rose in Natsu's chest.
He vaguely rembered that he hadn't heard what the tenth reward was before he had passed out.
Heart racing, Natsu opened his system backpack.
*Pokéball ×10086, Brick ×88, Custom Striped ntal ward uniform ×12, Sanitation Worker Uniform ×3, Rocket High-Rank Officer Uniform ×3, Rocket Grunt Uniform ×3.*
Aside from the items he had originally prepared, there were no new items.
Could it be… *air?*
Refusing to believe it, Natsu opened his system panel.
The mont it appeared, he froze.
On the previously neat and organized research panel, a small new module had appeared:
[Pokémon Ga Battle Arena]
[Description] During battles, you can select an arena to deploy, pulling both sides into the Pokémon Ga Battle Arena. All battle rules follow the ga chanics!
"Oh—"
Natsu narrowed his eyes.
So that ant… Natsu, the reigning champion, could potentially solo a Legendary Pokémon?
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