Chapter 114. We Almost Let the Motorbike Robots Rule the World
"Pikachu—"
Center-parted tugged its little blanket and trudged out of the workshop, exhausted in body and mind.
It found that its Trainer's telekinesis was getting more and more outrageous.
Controlling that many automobile parts and tools all by himself while also barking orders to Rotom.
And he could still spare the focus to give it an all-night Jeep special training on the side?
Center-parted shivered.
It had a hunch that before long, Natsume would no longer need to pull people into its mental world.
By then, Natsume alone might be able to control several Jeeps at once.
"Is that Natsume's Pikachu?"
Outside, Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum were walking in from the opposite direction.
The former had been too excited to sleep all night, dragging Ash here at dawn to show off the motorbike robot he was about to own.
"Pikachu."
Center-parted looked up at the two, then kept tugging its blanket and left.
No.
It absolutely had to complete its Divinity so that Rotom would have no healing effect on it.
Only then would the Trainer, for the sake of its health, reduce the intensity of training.
"What's up with it?"
Gary was a bit at a loss.
"Uh—Center-parted is definitely going to look for a good place to sleep," Ash declared, certain.
"Whatever the case, let's go in already.
It's gotta be super cool!"
Gary, all fired up, yanked Ash toward the workshop, just like a kid who couldn't wait to show his buddy a new toy.
"Ah—"
A pig-killing scream came from inside the workshop.
Natsume turned and saw Gary.
"Gary, Ash… why are you here?" Natsume looked at them.
"Natsume, th—this isn't right!"
Gary pointed at the ugly humanoid mechanical contraption over there… pole-dancing.
"Shh—"
Natsume raised a hand with a solemn face and pointed at the laptop in his hand, signaling for silence.
The two understood and didn't even dare breathe loudly.
Then, in Gary's line of sight, Natsume shut the computer, tucked it under his arm, and walked out of the workshop.
At the moment he stepped out, Natsume looked back and gave Gary a very serious nod.
Gary froze, then nodded back.
Three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes—time slipped by, and Natsume still hadn't returned.
After a long beat, Gary came to his senses and bolted after him.
"Natsume—pay me back for my sports car!"
Fortunately, Natsume didn't run off like he sometimes did.
Not far outside, Gary spotted Natsume walking back.
He was holding a cup of hot milk and had two pieces of bread in his mouth.
Apparently, he'd gone to the cafeteria to buy breakfast.
"Natsume, that isn't my sports car, right?"
Behind them, the creak-creak of scraping echoed.
Gary, unwilling to accept it, pressed on.
"That is your sports car."
Sticking to the facts, Natsume nodded.
Gary squatted down, utterly crushed.
He'd been a fool, truly.
Natsume's creative ability was top-tier, but he'd forgotten that Natsume's troublemaking ability was also top-tier.
"But don't worry.
The motorbike robot is ugly, but it works.
You'll just need a high-level Rotom."
Natsume said this and tore off a piece of bread to pop into his mouth.
The Rotom that Fukuyama had given him could only fuse for half a minute before getting ejected.
Natsume figured it might be a level issue, so he had Great Ball Rotom leave the Great Ball and merge into the motorbike robot.
Although the transformed motorbike robot looked very abstract, his main Rotom's fusion was unexpectedly smooth, and its movements were even quite fluid.
That proved his circuit design actually had no problem.
But then why, when these circuits were converted into a humanoid, did the appearance turn out completely different from what he expected?
Did the butt and the head have to swap positions after transforming?
Natsume fell into deep thought.
"Waaah—you don't get it.
This isn't about whether it works."
Gary wailed.
It was hideous!
"You can spray-paint it and add some fairings and paneling—harmless cosmetic mods."
"That'll make it much cooler," Natsume consoled.
"Really?"
Gary looked up, eyeing Natsume warily.
"Natsume, quick!
Something's wrong with Rotom!"
Ash came running out of the workshop, worry written on his face.
Natsume blinked, downed the milk in one go, and headed into the workshop.
Could it be that even the circuit design had failed, and that a high-level Rotom still couldn't maintain a permanent fusion?
Natsume half-expected his own Lv. 53 Rotom had been rejected and spat out again.
But once inside, he realized it wasn't that.
The whole room was billowing with a viscous haze that smelled like engine oil.
Natsume covered his nose and mouth and backed out.
"Bzzt!"
A red light flashed at his waist, and a Gengar popped out with a bounce.
"Sss—hah!"
Gengar eagerly pressed up to the black haze and took a huge sniff.
"Gen—cough cough cough!"
Gengar clutched its nose and backed into its Poké Ball with a look of disgust.
"Ash, did you sneak a drink of gasoline?" Gary edged over.
"Hey, no!
It's coming off the motorbike's head," Ash waved his hands, explaining.
Natsume looked up and saw inky black fumes pouring from the robot's head.
A black-as-oil slate was slowly taking shape.
The slate was pitch-black throughout, and in its very center was a lustrous white crystal.
The crystal looked like a heart.
As the black haze gathered, it was as if blood were being pumped into it, thumping powerfully.
What was that?
Natsume froze for a beat, and before he could scan it, the thing sank into the motorbike robot's body.
"Rotom!"
Rotom was expelled.
Natsume grabbed it with telekinesis.
"How do you feel, Rotom?"
Natsume's heart sank.
It was brief, but he had caught that fleeting glimmer of white on Rotom's body.
What was that crystal?
The system scan showed no record.
"Rotom, are you okay?"
Ash and Gary hurried over.
Gary didn't even care about his sports car anymore and quickly pulled out a Super Potion.
"Rotom?"
Rotom came to, its inverted-triangle golden eyes gleaming.
"It's fine, just tired."
Natsume exhaled in relief, returned Rotom to its Poké Ball, and let it rest.
The black haze was still spreading.
Even without Rotom as the source, in the blink of an eye it had nearly filled the entire resupply plaza.
Thankfully, it was only just getting light, so hardly anyone noticed.
"Huff!"
A faint noise came from within the thin black haze.
The three turned and saw a figure dancing in the mist.
"Natsume, I said a battle dance.
A battle dance!
Not this!"
Gary griped.
"Actually, I think it's like Natsume said.
With flashy spray paint, it'd match you pretty well, Gary," Ash added.
"What do you mean, 'flashy spray paint'?
So tacky.
I have very refined taste!"
Gary snorted.
"At the very least, it has to be bold red and royal purple to be worthy of me!"
"Natsume, why aren't you saying anything?"
Ash suddenly noticed that Natsume had been silent since just now.
Natsume's gaze was locked on that ugly figure dancing in the black haze, eyes filled with puzzlement.
"I'm thinking.
Why is it still moving after Rotom left the body?"
In an instant, the air went dead silent, leaving only the creak-creak of the motorbike robot's limbs.
Ash and Gary stared at each other, both looking like they'd seen a ghost.
Why was it still moving?
How did it move with no power?
Natsume felt like this was a philosophy problem.
Only when he saw the air pump—whose plug he had pulled—inhale some gray haze and turn into an ugly little humanoid machine with flailing hoses did he realize, belatedly.
"Don't tell me… this gray haze can bring machines to life?"
Gary, watching the air-pump robot whip its tube around, was the first to break the silence.
"I remember the parking lot outside has a lot of cars…"
Ash's voice grew smaller and smaller.
Even he realized how serious this was getting.
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