Chapter 115. The Pokémon That Don't Want to Battle
"Woooo—woooo—"
In the parking lot, countless wails rose up.
"Car thief, stop right there!"
Toichi charged at the front, with a whole crowd of Machoke, Machamp, and workers behind him, shovels and spades in hand, encircling the entire lot.
"Mr. Natsume, Ash, Gary—what are you doing here?"
He didn't spot the car thief, but Toichi did see three familiar faces.
"Gary's sports car was stolen, so we came to check it out."
Natsume's face didn't so much as twitch.
Gary turned his head and squinted at Natsume.
"Is that so?
If a car went missing in my parking lot, that really is my fault."
A hint of remorse crossed Toichi's face.
"Ah, it's fine, Mr. Toichi.
I've got a tracker, so I'll find it soon.
I'll head out first."
Gary said this and pushed Natsume along with him.
"Mr. Toichi, see you."
Ash waved goodbye.
"Alright—remember to come to the base of the dam at ten today to take part in the Diglett-driving operation meeting!"
From far off, Toichi's voice carried over.
"Good thing we didn't cause a huge mess this time."
Once they'd gone a ways, Gary's teeth were still chattering.
He didn't dare imagine what they'd do if all those heavy trucks stood up.
"Good thing the fog there was already very thin.
It only made the big rigs turn on their lights."
Ash also let out a breath of relief.
He pressed a hand to his chest—his heart was pounding.
"Even if those heavy trucks did stand up, they wouldn't necessarily attack people.
Your supercar was pretty stable."
Natsume's voice carried a trace of regret.
Something like suspected Divinity had appeared on Rotom, and just like with center-parted at the beginning, Natsume couldn't detect its exact effect.
He'd even hoped that, with a huge number of car-bots, he might "see the leopard through a tube" and glean something.
But the moment they reached the parking lot—
All that met them was a chorus of horns in unintelligible Cybertronian accents.
A pity, truly a pity!
Seeing the disappointed look on Natsume's face, Gary's eyelid twitched.
"Natsume-bro, you feel just like the evil scientist from Pokémon Mobile Unit."
Gary blurted it out.
"Huh?
You're still watching that?"
Ash leaned over.
"You don't get it—Season Five, the new Season Five!"
Gary's face flushed red as he muttered about passion and nostalgia.
When the three of them got back to the workshop, the black fog had basically dissipated, and the sports cars that had been dancing earlier had come to a halt.
"Clang!"
The car-bot lost power and toppled to the ground.
Gary turned and stared straight at Natsume.
"Rotom."
Natsume summoned Rotom.
After a brief rest, Rotom's condition was clearly much better.
Natsume shot it a look.
Rotom understood and dove into the powerless car-bot.
Accompanied by a series of tooth-aching screeches, the car-bot began to transform and returned to being a sports car.
"Alright, Gary, at least it still works, right?"
Ash patted him on the shoulder.
Back in car form, Rotom carried out a huge chip and dropped it into Natsume's hand.
"It's getting late.
Let's go take a look at the dam."
Natsume put the chip into a box and carefully stowed it away.
Behind them, Gary was already trying to start the car, but no matter how he turned the key, nothing happened.
"Natsume-bro, why won't it start?"
Gary looked up, baffled, at Natsume.
Not only would it not start, but the key slot also felt really loose.
"Here."
Natsume handed him a Z-shaped rod.
"What's this?"
Gary was utterly lost.
"A crank handle for a tractor," Natsume said without looking back.
"And why are you giving me that?"
A bad feeling rose in Gary's heart.
Professor Oak often sent him to haul things for the lab, so Gary was very familiar with this thing.
What Natsume gave him looked like it had been dug out of the workshop's scrap bin.
"This?
To save space, I modified some of the original wiring."
Natsume paused.
"There's a new hole under the steering wheel.
Just stick it in and twist."
He couldn't help it.
Back then, he'd even added auto-drive to Gary's car, and there were lots of circuits in the steering wheel.
But that turned out to be pretty useless and just wasted space.
Gary: "…"
His "lover" seemed to have turned into a "farm girl."
After a round of fiddling, they arrived at the base of the dam.
Plenty of Trainers had already gathered here.
"Mr. Natsume!"
In the crowd, Honora waved to Natsume and the others.
As they drew near, they saw Toichi standing on a small dirt mound in the distance, bullhorn in hand, loudly announcing:
"Trainers, as for why I called you here today, I'm sure—ah!"
A big pit suddenly opened under Toichi's feet.
Losing his balance, he fell flat on the ground.
"Mr. Toichi, are you alright?"
Ash went up and helped him up.
"Blasted Diglett—there they are!"
Toichi pointed angrily at a nearby open patch.
Everyone looked over.
The once-flat ground was slowly bulging up.
"Digle, Diglett Diglett—"
A noisy chorus rose as one Diglett after another poked their heads out.
"Diglett, one of my favorite Pokémon.
Diglett, one of my favorite Pokémon."
"Ash, why'd you switch it back again?"
Misty clapped her hands over her ears, at the end of her rope.
"It wasn't him.
It was Gary."
Brock pointed at Gary, who was flustered, trying to hide his Pokédex with nowhere to put it.
"Oh—didn't expect you to have such taste like me, Gary!"
Ash gave him a thumbs-up.
Gary's face burned red.
After mashing buttons in a panic, he finally muted the Pokédex.
"Who has taste like you?
I just tapped the wrong thing and didn't know how to change it back…"
As he was talking, Gary noticed lots of Trainers looking this way and immediately shut his mouth.
"Ahem.
Everyone, our task is to drive away the Diglett.
Go, Wartortle!"
Gary threw a ball, trying to divert attention.
"Gary, Gary, let's go!"
Somehow his cheer squad had appeared behind him.
The Poké Ball hit the ground in a flash of red, but Wartortle didn't appear.
"What's going on?"
Gary was dumbfounded.
"Go, Pidgeot!"
"Go, Raticate!"
Quite a few Trainers around them threw balls too, but just like Gary, not a single Pokémon came out.
"Diglett—bigu!"
A Diglett nudged Gary's Poké Ball up and brought it to him, as if returning it.
"This is…"
Gary blinked.
"Natsume-bro, what's with everyone's Pokémon?"
Ash looked astonished, taking his hand off the Poké Ball at his waist.
"Yeah, my Wartortle won't come out."
Gary turned to Natsume as well.
"That's because the bond between you isn't enough.
Here."
Natsume handed Gary a small slip of paper.
"Read this aloud and Wartortle will come out."
"Oh, it's a poem."
Gary glanced at it and instantly understood.
Professor Oak loved poetry.
By osmosis, Gary knew a bit too.
He lifted the Poké Ball to his lips and kissed it, then began a heartfelt recitation.
"Wartortle—my lover, my dearest partner, through years of wind and snow…"
"Clack."
Misty facepalmed.
"Isn't he Professor Oak's grandson?
How is he just like Ash—whatever Natsume says, he believes?"
Misty couldn't help complaining.
"Maybe Natsume's the kids' king of Pallet Town?"
Brock ventured.
"Zzziip—"
A red light flashed from Gary's belt.
A Pokémon much like Squirtle appeared, with cloud-like swirls on its head and tail.
"It's Squirtle's evolved form, Wartortle."
Ash's eyes lit up as he raised his Pokédex.
"Natsume-bro, it really came out."
Gary was thrilled.
"Warto—!"
That's sickly sweet!
Wartortle roared.
Seeing that Gary wanted to keep reading, it couldn't take it anymore.
It leapt up and smacked him with its tail.
Snatching the paper from Gary's hand, Wartortle flung it to the ground and stomped on it hard twice.
Then it turned and hugged one of Natsume's legs.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Wartortle bonked with its head.
After dealing Natsume a "painful blow," Wartortle pressed the Poké Ball and returned inside.
"Huh?
Why still unwilling to battle?"
Gary covered his face, a little dazed.
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