Chapter 57. St. Anne
Vermilion Gym.
"Damn it!"
Gym Leader Lt. Surge slammed his fist into the floor, looking like his resolve had shattered.
"How could that Pikachu—how could it possibly be stronger than Raichu's Thunderbolt!"
In his mind, a boy with a Pikachu on his shoulder surfaced.
As a Raichu user and the Electric-type Gym Leader, he had actually lost to a boy with a Pikachu.
"It wasn't just Thunderbolt, Boss. Their Iron Tail was weird too."
"Sigh, if we'd known you were gonna lose, we shouldn't have done the taunting routine first. Now you're super embarrassed, Boss."
Lt. Surge shot the underling a withering glare.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Knocking sounded from outside the door.
"Damn it…" Lt. Surge kneaded his fist.
"I need to blow off some steam. Go open the door!"
Soon, Ash Ketchum was standing in front of him again.
Only this time, he had taken off his cap and thrown on an ill-fitting lab coat, and the Pikachu on his shoulder had even styled a center part.
Lt. Surge: "???"
"I'm challenger Natsume. Come duel me!"
Ash pinched center-parted one by the scruff of its neck.
"You—do you take me for an idiot?" Lt. Surge's face flushed red as he cursed.
"I told you this wouldn't work, Ash."
Behind him, Misty followed them in, the look on her face full of schadenfreude.
"Why don't we just wait here for Natsume to come?" Brock suggested.
"Aww, Brock, if you play Natsume with your height, he definitely won't see through it."
Ash looked disappointed.
Brock: "…"
That's not a height issue.
"Hey, your Pikachu is really strong. How about a rematch!"
Across from them, Lt. Surge stared at Ash, fighting spirit blazing.
"Sigh, let's just go find Natsume."
Ash waved him off and refused.
Lt. Surge: "…"
He was furious, but he couldn't say anything, because the other guy had beaten him at his own specialty.
"No need. I'm here!"
Natsume's voice came from outside the Gym.
Under Lt. Surge's man-eating glare, a fair-faced young man appeared at the Gym entrance.
"Good. So you're the Natsume they've been talking about. Let's see what's so special about you!"
Lt. Surge gnashed his teeth at Natsume.
"Brock, lend me Onix."
"Eh!"
Before Brock could react, Onix had already been tossed out by Natsume.
"Roar—"
The king that is completely immune to Electric-type attacks took the stage!
Lt. Surge: "…"
Why is everything today such a pain in the neck!
Seeing this, Natsume shook his head.
What Lt. Surge didn't know was that if Natsume didn't send out Onix, center-parted one's Lightning Rod Ability would have given him an even worse headache.
Not to mention Natsume's other Pokémon.
As expected, after a few rounds, Lt. Surge went down in defeat.
He slumped on his hands, looking like he was questioning his life.
"Boss, we figured you might lose, so we didn't taunt this time!"
An underling came up as if to claim credit.
Lt. Surge glared at him again, and the latter turned away pitifully to fetch a badge for Natsume.
On the other side, Natsume examined the badge in his hand—the Thunder Badge.
From now on, he had three badges in hand.
He was just about to pass the halfway point.
"This old guy's battling style is so offbeat, and he even mocked my Pikachu earlier."
Ash's heartless remark rang out, and the group left Vermilion Gym.
By the time they returned to the Pokémon Center, it was already dusk.
"I really, really want to go on the St. Anne!"
Misty cupped her cheeks, eyes shining as she gazed at the poster hanging in the Pokémon Center.
"Hey, hey—she's been like this ever since dinner. Is she okay?"
Ash pointed at Misty, unable to understand what was so great about the St. Anne.
Isn't it just a ship?
"I heard this year's St. Anne will hold a Trainers' Banquet, and lots of strong Trainers will be there."
"Strong Trainers!"
Ash's eyes lit up.
And thus, beneath the poster, another longing figure appeared.
"Everyone, look at me."
Suddenly, Honora spoke, and as she did, she flicked a few exquisite tickets in her hand.
"No way…"
"No way…"
A glint of light burst in Misty's and Ash's eyes as they blinked in front of Honora.
"My dad's here on vacation, and the organizers gave him a bunch of tickets."
With that, Honora began handing out tickets to everyone.
"Thank you!"
The three spoke in unison.
By the end, there was only one ticket left in Honora's hand.
"Oh no, Mr. Natsume, we only have one two-person ticket left."
"What ticket?"
Natsume, who was buried in tinkering with an Ultra Ball, looked up.
He glanced at Honora, who guiltily averted her gaze as steam all but rose from the top of her head.
"The St. Anne."
Natsume came to a sudden realization, then pulled out a fistful of tickets from his pocket.
I have plenty of these.
"Huh?"
Ash and the others were dumbfounded.
"Th-this—these are all real!"
After careful inspection, Misty found that all a dozen or so tickets were genuine.
And judging by the issue time, Natsume had gotten them the moment they came out.
"Natsume, how did you do that!"
Ash looked at him with worship.
Natsume scratched his head.
Mm… Ryujiro had sent over a few sets of family butler uniforms, and he'd fished these out of the pockets.
Not long ago, Ryujiro had even reached out specifically to remind him.
He'd said he donated to Team Rocket, and that Giovanni was preparing a "villain show" for James.
Aside from asking Natsume to look after James, that five billion Pokédollars was, even more, the appearance fee for that villain show.
Ryujiro had told him the rough plan.
The "villain show" would be held on the St. Anne under Giovanni's name, and the vast majority of the audience would be plants.
At that time, Giovanni would assign the Team Rocket trio a mission to steal everyone's Pokémon aboard the St. Anne.
From what Ryujiro had gathered, James hadn't had any achievements recently, and he took it upon himself to assume his son's confidence was shaken, his prospects bleak, and he was about to spiral.
Especially after Natsume showed him several photos of James in women's clothing taken along the way, which only cemented Ryujiro's thinking.
So he donated to Giovanni and asked him to help James "regain his confidence."
Natsume put the Ultra Ball away.
After all, when you take someone's money, your hands are tied.
He needed to think this through.
In what role should he appear to smoothly help James "regain his confidence."
With an appearance fee of five billion Pokédollars, Natsume had to let James experience the feeling of a power-fantasy male lead.
At the side, Honora lowered her head in dejection.
Darn it—she had gone out of her way to buy up all the tickets lately, yet Natsume's tickets were from the very first day!
Could it be that her dad gave them to Natsume?
Honora paused.
It seemed like only someone at her father's level could be gifted tickets by the organizers on day one.
"Darn it."
Fuming, Honora marched to a corner and called Mr. Fuji.
That night, Mr. Fuji was riding high, daydreaming about a bright future.
Then he received a call from his precious daughter, and his mood got even better.
After all, he was the one who had connected the line to Natsume.
And then, for no apparent reason, Mr. Fuji was thoroughly scolded by his daughter, left completely baffled.
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