Chapter 107. Zapdos That Won't Succumb to Sleep
After understanding the situation, the group left and began searching for the missing batch of Magnemite.
"Let's split up so we'll be more efficient."
Honora suggested this as she held onto Natsume's arm.
"All right, I'll go with center-parted—"
Ash Ketchum hadn't finished speaking when center-parted leaped from his head and, as if bewitched, bolted off into the distance.
"Hey, center-parted, what are you doing?"
The center-parted was incredibly fast, clearly trying to shake everyone off, and disappeared in a blink.
"Natsume, look at him!"
Ash pointed toward the direction center-parted had gone.
"Let it go.
It has my tracker on it."
On the Rotom Phone's map, the dot representing center-parted flashed wildly and shot far away from them in an instant.
"Honora and I will find their technicians and see if we can solve the Grimer problem.
You guys go look for the remaining Magnemite."
Natsume immediately divided up the work.
With psychokinesis, he could probe which ducts contained Grimer.
The only problem was luring the Grimer out.
Conveniently, thanks to Gengar, he happened to have a lot of Black Sludge on hand, and Grimer loved eating that stuff.
"Let's go."
Saying this, Natsume led Honora off in another direction.
Soon, Natsume made contact with the administrators, and barrel after barrel of Black Sludge was transported to the ventilation outlets outside the Power Plant.
"Gengaa!"
Gengar floated in the air, using psychokinesis to help move the Black Sludge.
Only, the look in its eyes made one feel sorrier and sorrier.
"Natsume, will this really work?"
Quite a few workers craned their necks, curious about the ventilation ducts.
At this moment, nearly every ventilation outlet in the Power Plant had a barrel of Black Sludge set beneath it.
Some workers even fanned the smell of the Black Sludge up into the ducts.
"It'll definitely work."
Natsume nodded.
The effect was even better than he had expected.
In his senses, many individual Grimer were moving outward, gathering toward the various vents.
"Griiimer~"
A voice sounded, and everyone looked toward the largest ventilation duct.
There, a Pokémon exuding a foul stench and dark purple like sludge slowly oozed out.
Below it were three more barrels of Black Sludge.
The Grimer just stared, eyes glazed.
Several workers quickly backed off.
They had just reached for their Poké Balls to start a battle when a black shadow flashed by.
"Boom!"
Black-purple light flashed in Gengar's chubby little hand.
With one Shadow Punch, the Grimer fainted on the spot.
"Gengaa, gengaa."
Just look—don't actually eat it.
A ghostly blue light appeared in its eyes as Gengar used psychokinesis to carry the Grimer to the back.
From then on, no matter which vent a Grimer crawled out of, it was knocked out by a single punch from Gengar.
In no time, the open yard in the plant had a mountain of Grimer piled up, and dozens of barrels of Black Sludge hadn't yielded a single bite for them.
It was still pretty protective of its food.
Natsume touched his nose and didn't stop Gengar.
He lowered his head to check center-parted's location.
It had practically run to the other side of the Power Plant by now, doing who knew what.
Suddenly, center-parted stopped, and the little red dot on the map went completely still.
What is it doing?
Natsume tapped the monitoring function on the tracker.
Very soon, his view switched to center-parted's perspective.
From the phone came the thump-thump of a heartbeat, showing how excited center-parted was.
The center-parted looked up, but before Natsume could make out anything, a streak of lightning shot over.
"Boom!"
The center-parted was blasted away.
The view spun wildly, then froze up in the air.
"Pikachu!"
A clamor sounded in the distance, and only then did Natsume realize the tracking device had been knocked off.
He hadn't clearly seen what Pokémon had attacked center-parted, but the other side seemed to know Electric-type moves as well.
The center-parted's voice came through, mixed with another furious bird cry that kept echoing, and Natsume was slightly taken aback.
Zapdos?
Natsume scratched his head.
Zapdos certainly liked to appear around Power Plants, but it was still hard to encounter one.
He wondered if it was a Zapdos with Divinity.
Natsume's heart gave a stir.
Up to now, he had never seen a true Legendary Pokémon with Divinity.
A Zapdos with Divinity was probably still by Lugia's side, so the odds of meeting one were low.
But there was at least some hope.
"Natsume!"
In the distance, Ash and the others came running over, with a whole group of Magnemite trailing behind them.
"Natsume, where are you going?"
Ash asked curiously as he came up.
"To find center-parted.
It may have run into some trouble."
Natsume said this, gave Gengar a nod, and headed in center-parted's direction.
Halfway there, they heard detonations like thunderclaps.
Soon, the thunder grew quieter, and then it faded out completely.
"That power is terrifying.
The center-parted won't be in trouble, right?"
Misty shrank her neck.
Everyone quickened their pace.
The center-parted and that Zapdos seemed to have been fighting while running.
Natsume and the others found a lot of signs of battle, but saw no trace of center-parted.
By a severed power line, Natsume found his tracker.
"These lines look like they were yanked apart with brute force.
It wasn't center-parted."
Brock squinted, making his deduction.
"We're doomed, we're doomed.
What if center-parted got eaten by some monster that suddenly popped out?"
Following the battle traces, everyone arrived at an abandoned area, which seemed to be an unfinished staff dormitory zone.
"There's firelight over there!"
Honora pointed at a derelict building in the distance.
They looked over.
The exterior wall was peeling, and weeds grew rampant.
A few scattered cement barrels sat outside, half merged into the soil, faintly recalling the workers' former labor.
The grass was pushed down to open a path.
Judging from the size, it clearly wasn't made by center-parted.
"We're finished…
What if center-parted was dragged off by a monster?"
Misty shuddered.
"Huh?
What's this?"
Ash bent down and picked a yellow spine out of the weeds.
"It looks like a spine, but it's so light."
Ash toyed with the unknown object in his hand.
"This should be a feather."
Natsume's voice came from behind.
"A feather?"
Ash blinked.
Which Pokémon's feathers would be like this?
"We'll know once we go in."
Saying that, Natsume took the lead.
This Zapdos was very likely an ordinary Zapdos without Divinity, and it shouldn't pose any real threat to center-parted.
Moreover, center-parted's Ability was Lightning Rod.
However, Zapdos could fly, and even without Divinity, its base stats were close to those of a pseudo-legendary.
It also had quite a few Flying-type moves.
If a level advantage was added on top, Natsume was still a little worried about center-parted.
Crackle—pop!
The firelight was way inside, and the closer they drew, the stronger the smell of something burnt became.
"Don't tell me some fire monster grabbed center-parted?"
Misty said, hiding behind Ash.
The firelight got nearer and nearer.
One last turn—
"Pika?"
The center-parted opened its eyes and, the instant it saw Natsume, its body stiffened.
In the narrow corridor, a campfire had been set up.
The flames burned steadily.
A bald chicken lay unconscious on the floor, a big lump on its head, and the ground beside it was littered with needle-like golden feathers!
"Center-parted, why are you lying on top of it?"
Ash asked, puzzled.
"Hey, hey, hey, how could you strip off its feathers like that?
So rude."
Misty put her hands on her hips.
Hearing the commotion, the bald chicken seemed to come alive.
It suddenly stretched its neck.
Its beak, long and sharp like a needle, opened as it let out a hoarse cry toward everyone:
"Screee—"
Save me.
This Pikachu is a monster!
Natsume: "…"
This was probably the most wretchedly miserable Zapdos ever.
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