Chapter 170. Agatha, Gengar Leaves the Team
"Oh, it's you, Natsume."
An elderly lady, dressed with prim, proper formality that made her seem a bit old-fashioned, looked over.
On Agatha's arm was an armband that read "Indigo League Inspector."
She also held a small notebook, half a page packed densely with notes, as if recording something.
When she spotted the Gengar by Natsume's side, she couldn't help but pause.
"It looks like Gengar's condition is quite good," Agatha said, striding over with a keen gleam in her eye.
"Gengaa!"
At the sight of Agatha, Gengar's red, triangular eyes rounded in surprise, and with a slip into shadow it popped up on Agatha's own shadow.
"Hahaha—"
Agatha chuckled as she patted Gengar's head.
Since they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Gengar was especially affectionate.
"Natsume, why are you stepping back?" Ash whispered.
"I'm so moved I'm going to give center-parted some special training," Natsume said, looking up at the sky.
"Pika!?"
Center-parted jolted, nearly dropping the booklet in its paws.
Why is it me again?
"Natsume, wait!"
Agatha suddenly spoke up, her expression turning serious.
Natsume looked back to see her bending over Gengar, nose twitching, brows knit.
"Achoo, achoo, achoo—"
After a string of sneezes, Agatha finally came to.
"This child's level seems to have risen?"
Agatha glanced at Natsume in surprise.
The higher a Pokémon's level, the harder it is to raise it further.
Especially after Level 50, the training and battle cost spikes dramatically.
Ten years ago, her Gengar had been around Lv. 70, and by this year it was only Lv. 85—no small feat as it was.
But now, in roughly three months under Natsume's care, Gengar seemed to have improved.
"Wow, as expected of Agatha—she sensed Gengar's change so precisely," Brock exclaimed.
"Of course," Natsume nodded, echoing him. "This Gengar you trained has been exceptional, and it played a pivotal role in battles against the giant Dragonite and the giant Tentacruel."
"I see."
Agatha smiled slightly.
Concerning League matters, she'd heard about the discovery of that giant Dragonite and giant Tentacruel.
If Gengar had fought such Pokémon, it must have gone through Dynamax a few times.
"Professor Oak called me especially, worried about leaving Gengar with you. Now it seems, young man, you've done very well."
Agatha smiled and patted Natsume's shoulder.
"Agatha, we'll go find our lodging first—see you!"
"Er—Agatha, I challenge you—ah!"
Before Ash could finish, Natsume dragged him off.
"Goodbye, Agatha! Bye, Gengar!"
Seeing this, the others could only wave and follow.
In no time, Natsume and company were out of sight.
Agatha watched them leave with a cheerful smile.
"Achoo, achoo, achoo!"
Suddenly she sneezed several more times.
Strange—why is there a faint pungent smell here?
As usual, Gengar sank into her shadow.
Agatha looked around but found nothing.
Pokémon Center—air quality substandard.
Rectify!
With a grand flourish, Agatha wrote exactly that in her notebook.
Elsewhere, the group reached their inn—and ran into someone unexpected.
"Mr. Natsume! Ash! We meet again!"
A familiar announcer's cadence rang out from behind.
Startled, everyone turned to see a cheerful young man, with a shy girl half-hidden behind him.
"Mr. Miles, Ms. Renee—it's you!" Misty said, delighted.
"Hahaha, what a coincidence—we were assigned to the same lodging," Miles said, scratching his head, excited.
"I was nervous at first, but thinking there'll be a few old acquaintances in the arena, I feel much better!"
"Old acquaintances?
What do you mean?" Ash blinked, then caught on.
"Oh—don't worry, Mr. Miles!
If we face off, I'll go all out!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu copied his stance, cheering with full spirit.
"Er, that's not what I meant.
Renee and I are the commentator and the broadcast director for this Indigo League," Miles hurried to explain.
"Ah?"
Everyone froze.
"Miles, weren't you two going to keep traveling—to the Johto region?" Brock recalled their campfire plans.
"And don't you need proper credentials to work the League tournament?" Misty asked, puzzled.
"That's true…"
Miles thought a moment, then gave a simple explanation.
"Here's what happened: the League's original commentator got their rear end scalded by magma while vacationing on Cinnabar Island and had to be hospitalized."
"We happened to see a notice recruiting temporary commentators, so we applied on a whim—and somehow passed the interview."
He and Renee exchanged a glance and smiled.
"Wow, beating out so many regular commentators—you two really have the knack," Honora said after checking her phone.
"There were nearly a thousand applicants for this temp gig."
"But we just came from Cinnabar Island," Ash said.
"It was perfectly calm—how does someone get scorched by magma?"
He truly couldn't picture how.
"No way the commentator was a blockhead who went up close to the lava to gawk, right?" Misty said, exasperated.
Behind them, Natsume paused.
While transporting magma on Cinnabar Island, he had, in fact, run into exactly that kind of blockhead…
"Ahem… anyway, this is a great opportunity for me," Miles said.
"It'll let me test whether my commentary can win everyone's approval."
"Please take care of us.
We're looking forward to your matches!"
With that, Miles and Renee bowed deeply to the group.
After saying goodbye to the two, everyone found their rooms and began to rest and recover.
A full day of intense mountain climbing had really drained them.
"Pika-pi—"
Center-parted was parkouring around the room, a blue speck of light chasing it madly from behind.
All it knew was, if the blue speck Natsume flicked out ever caught it, a chibi Natsume would haunt its mind for the entire day.
Then the jeep chase in its mind would turn into an item match!
"Thud!"
Timing it just right, Natsume pulled out a brick and placed it on center-parted's evasive path.
Center-parted didn't react in time and ran headfirst into it, collapsing in a faint.
The Life Doll slipped smoothly into center-parted's mindscape.
"Why not fight back?"
Natsume looked at center-parted, hating iron for not becoming steel.
Many times, avoiding a nightmare is worse than taking the nightmare down.
By now, center-parted could freely and skillfully morph into that small, milky-white wisp.
"Swing the blade!
Swing the blade at me!"
In center-parted's mindscape, a chibi Natsume drove a jeep, fist held high, charging at center-parted.
"Center-parted, don't dodge—swing the blade at me!"
The jeep roared.
Center-parted glanced down at the short little sword in its paw—not even as big as a tire.
"Pika?"
You try it!
The next second, Natsume's figure appeared right behind center-parted.
"Pika!!!"
Startled, center-parted's beady eyes bulged like a big peanut, darting back and forth between Natsume and the chibi Natsume.
How can there be two Trainers!?
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