Chapter 113. Everyone Out, Don't Disturb Natsume
"Where's my car?"
At the table, Gary Oak hugged a wheel and looked utterly baffled.
Ash Ketchum, Misty, and Brock seemed to guess what had happened, turned away one by one, and started a "don't laugh" challenge.
"Uh, we'll rendezvous at the dam tomorrow, and other Trainers will be there too."
Sensing the mood was off, Vince wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurried off.
Right now, in the rest area, inside a certain repair bay.
There were lots of vehicles here, and with Diglett making trouble, blowouts and the like were common.
Vince had brought in some mechanics and opened two repair shops here.
That happened to be convenient for Natsume.
"Natsume, we've stripped it down into parts, but it looks like one wheel is missing?"
The head mechanic wiped his face on a towel and reported to Natsume.
"No problem, and thanks for the work. Can I borrow this bay for the night?"
Natsume paid them.
"Of course. The boss is dealing with a Diglett problem these two days, so we're pretty free."
The mechanics took their pay, stood up, and left, giving the space to Natsume.
Natsume took out the earlier key fob and pressed a button on it.
"Where's my car?!"
In the parking area, Gary screamed, clutching his head.
At his feet lay only a lone wheel.
"Don't be upset, Gary."
Ash kept his face tightly straight.
"Hey, are you trying to laugh at me?"
Gary turned back.
"No… absolutely not!"
Ash kept that face tightly straight.
Slightly to the side, everyone behind Ash wore the same expression.
"Damn car thief, I won't let you get away!"
Gary picked up the one remaining wheel, tears streaming down his face.
Suddenly, the wheel in his hands moved on its own, broke free, and started rolling along the ground.
It rolled so fast it even threw sparks, nothing like when he normally called it.
"?"
Gary froze, then immediately reacted, and a name burst out.
"Natsume!"
Seeing the wheel roll away, Gary broke into a run and chased after it.
Before long, everyone arrived outside a pitch-black repair shop slick with oil.
Gary stood at the doorway, suspicious, and watched that wheel roll inside.
"What is this?"
Gary stepped closer and saw Natsume, bathed in blue light, floating in midair, with a whole floor of car parts beneath him.
"Sigh, I knew it."
Misty covered her face.
"Natsume's Telekinesis looks stronger again. He can control this many tools at once."
Brock looked toward the area around Natsume, where practically every auto tool there was floated in the air.
"Ah—my sweetheart!"
Gary wailed.
Hearing the commotion, Natsume opened his eyes.
Sweetheart?
After a beat, Natsume realized that was the name Gary had given his sports car.
"…"
"Natsume, what are you doing?!"
"Free customization service."
Natsume nodded seriously.
"Remember, Gary—back when you spent ten years of allowance begging me to mod it, I gave you one free customization."
As he spoke, a small booklet drifted into Gary's hands.
"Pff—ha ha! Didn't you say Natsume begged you to let him mod it?"
Ash finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Gary took the booklet.
Yes… Natsume had given him something like this.
But that Warranty Statement was completely blank.
Caught up in the moment back then, he obviously hadn't pressed Natsume for details.
Gary flipped through the booklet, and the more he read, the stranger his face looked.
"Natsume, you mean you're going to upgrade my car into an Autobot?"
Gary blinked, then asked.
"Like those bikes that transform in Pokémon Mobile Task Force?"
Gary's tone grew excited.
"Yes."
Natsume nodded in all seriousness.
Entertainment in this world ran pretty deep, and you could find counterparts to plenty of live-action shows from his previous life, but the leads were usually Pokémon.
With that answer, Gary flushed, breathing quickening, and he nearly toppled over.
"You're still watching Baby Task Force? I switched to the Pokémon Battle Conference when I was six."
Ash spoke in a low, droll voice.
Realizing there were others here, Gary's face suddenly went bright red.
"It's called Pokémon Special Task Force—"
Gary stopped mid-sentence, feeling like he was digging himself deeper.
"Wh-what do you know? You don't understand… Out, all of you out, don't disturb Natsume."
"Do your best, Natsume."
Gary popped his head back in just to cheer Natsume on, then vanished outside as well.
Although whenever Natsume looked for him it was either to take the blame or do the grunt work—never anything good—he had to admit Natsume was like a walking encyclopedia who knew everything.
Even if Natsume said he could turn something from TV into reality, Gary would believe him.
Natsume refocused on the pile of sports-car parts.
He had given them a rough scan with Psychic just now.
Because the sports car had already been converted into an electric, Natsume could skip a lot of steps.
He only needed to pull out the circuitry and implant that super chip as Rotom's main host.
"We need to make sure this chip can take over all the original functions…"
That was the most troublesome part.
The first time he retrofitted it, Gary had insisted on automation.
Back then, Natsume had implanted a relatively simple secondhand chip.
Resize it, swap it in, and that was that.
Now, the hardest part was how to transform.
Although Natsume had already sketched out a rough blueprint and practiced many times in his mindscape, actually doing it was still no small challenge.
Natsume cranked Telekinesis to full, squatted in midair without moving, and left a swarm of tools and parts whirling through the air, dazzling to the eye.
After a whole night, Natsume was soaked through with sweat.
Before him stood a giant "humanoid robot."
The doors that should have formed a chest plate had folded into a crooked pelvis, the four tires spun freely where the shoulder blades should be, the left arm had a jammed wiper embedded in it, and a leg had popped out at the crotch.
The whole frame looked like a Lego mech haphazardly slapped together by a child.
Natsume had designed it after Hot Rod's look from his previous life.
Only… the tech still wasn't mature, and some of the control-line run commands left him at a loss.
For example, he had no idea why the headlights ended up on the butt after transformation.
"Why did the exhaust pipe randomly wind up by the mouth?"
Natsume scratched his head.
The one meant to merge with the frame was the Rotom that Honora's father, Richmond, had given him.
Whether because its level was low or his circuit design had issues, when it came to this "car-bot," Rotom could only control it for half a minute before being ejected.
Maybe because it hadn't succeeded, a scan on his system still showed only an ordinary Rotom.
"Mm… looks like it needs more work. I really do need a dedicated lab."
Natsume shook his head, a little disappointed.
If Transformers had a car-bot shaped like this, it would definitely get slapped with a "curiosity" label.
He now found it even more unbelievable that Team Rocket's trio could hand-build all kinds of mecha.
"Still, considering Rotom's level also has some impact—"
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