Chapter 150. Ancient Pokémon
"This stretch is forest."
"Snowmelt from over there runs down, forming a small river, and at the end there's a wetland."
Natsume briefed Honora on the terrain around the snowcapped mountain, as well as the wild Pokémon populations Professor Oak's Laboratory had released in the vicinity.
"Got it, Natsume."
Honora carried a large case on her back, sweating buckets, a small notebook in hand as she scribbled rapidly.
"Alright, that's about it."
"We can head back."
Natsume checked things over.
The avalanche on the mountain had been stopped in time by Mewtwo, with negligible losses and no Pokémon injured.
The two started back, but off to one side of the woods, they heard the clanging sounds of excavation.
Frowning, Natsume went to look, and found a crew in dark brown uniforms using heavy machinery to cut into the banks on both sides of the creek.
"Natsume."
Honora looked back at him, wanting to know how to handle a situation like this.
"As a rule, without a permit from the Pokémon League, this counts as illegal mining."
"Should we go up and confirm, then?"
Honora blinked, only to see Natsume take out his phone and record for ten minutes.
Close-ups of some faces and the machinery models were all captured.
"Once you find something, you preserve the evidence first."
"Then, if it's safe, you go confirm."
Natsume stood up as he spoke.
"And if it's not safe?"
Honora asked, nervous.
"Open the case."
Natsume pointed to the black case on Honora's back.
Honora froze.
She'd never actually known what the big case was for.
She had assumed it was some kind of necessity, but they had nearly finished the whole route and Natsume had never once told her to use it.
"So it was for dealing with special situations…"
Honora opened the black case, and her face went stiff.
She reached in and pulled out an RPG launcher.
"Natsume, this isn't really appropriate, is it?"
A bit dazed, Honora hefted the tube onto her shoulder.
"It's perfectly appropriate."
"That's the ammo."
Natsume pointed at the corner of the case as he spoke.
Only then did Honora notice three red-and-white spheres in the corner.
"These used to be Professor Oak's Pokémon, specifically for special situations."
As he spoke, Natsume took out the three Poké Balls.
Delia, Bill, and he himself had each spent a considerable period doing patrol duties for the Laboratory.
Passing them to Honora now could be called a kind of succession.
"But for now, the Pokémon have been taken by Professor Oak."
"These three ball-shaped shells are my custom load."
"They're packed full of Pokémon aphrodisiac."
With that, Natsume felt around in the case, took out a small blue spray, and introduced it.
"This is—uh—Calming Spray."
"If you spray your own Pokémon, it won't be affected by the aphrodisiac for a while."
"When you make your move, you can even shout, 'Go, Eevee, use Attract,' so the other side thinks their Pokémon got hit by a move."
"Once their Pokémon are affected and have no ability to fight back, you can easily deal with the lawbreakers."
"Understood?"
Natsume looked at Honora.
He explained down to the last detail.
There was no helping it.
The Laboratory housed its share of rare Pokémon, and there would always be short-sighted Pokémon hunters eyeing the place.
Natsume felt the Pokémon Professor Oak had given him might not solve every problem, so over the years he had tinkered up quite a few gadgets.
Like this custom RPG launcher.
"Oh…"
Honora nodded in a daze.
Fortunately, this time they didn't need to resort to any special measures.
After a brief conversation with the excavation team, they discovered the crew did hold a League-issued permit.
"Ah, you're Natsume from Professor Oak's Laboratory?"
"So sorry we didn't notify you in advance."
"Our mistake."
A neat, clean-featured girl about Honora's age kept apologizing to the two of them.
"How should I address you?"
Natsume suddenly felt the group before him looked familiar.
"Ah, I'm Eve."
The clean-featured girl answered a bit shyly.
"Eve?"
The name sounded very familiar to Natsume, as if he had seen it somewhere.
He stared straight at the clean-featured girl.
She wore an ivory, high-collared expedition outfit, with layered leather tool pouches at her waist holding a magnifying glass and rubbing tools.
Stared at like that, her cheeks flushed, but Natsume still couldn't place it.
"Ahem."
"Alright, if there's nothing else, let's head back to the Laboratory."
Honora, the big black case on her back, moved to stand between the two.
"Dr. Eve, we found what the avalanche shook loose earlier!"
Two team members in hardhats came trotting over, carrying a golden spoon.
"Mm, let me see."
Delighted, Eve walked toward the pair.
"Dr. Eve!"
Honora stared at Eve in shock.
She looked about the same age as herself.
"I remember now."
Natsume clapped his hands.
He finally knew why the name "Eve" felt so familiar.
During his years studying in Pallet Town, Natsume had considered hunting down those ancient Pokémon.
After all, those ancient Pokémon were near Pallet Town, and they would certainly come with research topics.
Back then, Natsume had read quite a few papers on ancient Pokémon research.
"Miss Eve should hold a doctorate in ancient linguistics," Natsume explained to Honora.
He had read more in the area of ancient languages, mostly papers published by elderly professors at universities.
But the second author on those papers was almost always someone named Eve.
Eve carefully placed the golden spoon into a clear glass jar, then carried it into a nearby makeshift tent.
Curious, Natsume led Honora after her.
"Natsume, Miss Eve is amazing…"
Honora lowered her head, a bit crestfallen.
Natsume had praised her as being suited to be a researcher, yet someone her age was already a doctor.
"Her situation is rather special."
"Ancient texts are an extremely niche field."
"Year after year, there are zero applicants."
"A dozen senior professors clutch their books with no one to teach."
Natsume lowered his voice.
That Eve could obtain a doctorate so early, besides personal talent, likely had a lot to do with being the sole disciple of a dozen senior professors.
Honora nodded, half understanding.
Eve raised a magnifying glass and examined the lettering on the golden spoon with care.
"What a pity."
"I can't make it out."
"We'd need specialized instruments."
The characters on the spoon were far too small.
Eve looked a little down.
After a moment, she looked to Natsume with bright hope.
"Natsume, could we borrow the instruments at Professor Oak's Laboratory?"
"Professor Oak put a lock on them."
"I can't open it."
"We'll have to wait three or four days."
Natsume shook his head.
"I see…"
Eve pursed her lips, as if mulling things over.
"However, I can read the writing on this."
Natsume's voice followed.
"You can?"
Eve looked at him in surprise, and then saw a faint blue light in Natsume's eyes.
"A Psychic…"
"Then I'll trouble you, Natsume."
"Just copy it onto this sheet."
Delighted, Eve pulled paper and pen from her pocket and handed them to Natsume.
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