Chapter 67. Official Assistant
For the past two days, Natsume had paused the fifth-gradient Revelry Chair regimen for center-parted.
Because center-parted needed to be strapped to other instruments.
"There's nothing.
Why is there nothing at all?"
At the Pokémon Center, Natsume's eyes were ringed with dark circles.
Refusing to give up, and with Nurse Joy's permission, he borrowed all kinds of equipment and ran seven or eight full-body examinations on center-parted.
Blood tests and internal imaging aside, the cheek electric sacs, whole-body electrical impedance maps, and even emotional discharge spectra all came back normal.
But Natsume knew perfectly well that center-parted could not be normal.
Even if he tossed center-parted into a pile of Thunder Stones, nothing happened, and it still wouldn't evolve into Raichu.
That meant something must have happened to it.
Yet Natsume could not detect that change.
Strictly speaking, with current human technology, it was difficult to detect.
Official research into the "Divinity" was still too little—virtually nonexistent.
Maybe some folk experts might know something.
"Hold on—where are your balls?" Natsume suddenly blurted.
"Pi!?"
The bubble at center-parted's nose popped, as if thinking Natsume had discovered something important.
It lifted one hind leg and glanced between its thighs—nothing there.
Oh, that's nothing—small potatoes.
Center-parted yawned and flopped back to sleep.
Having finally found an anomaly, Natsume fussed over it for another half afternoon.
However, he still discovered nothing, beyond confirming that center-parted had lost the ability to reproduce.
"Snooore~"
From the nearby instrument came center-parted's soft snoring.
Natsume shook his head, grabbed it, and set it onto the sixth-gradient Revelry Chair.
By now, center-parted's electrical-current enhancement training no longer even required restraints.
Nothing could keep center-parted from drifting off—sudden jolts of current included.
"You really have it easy."
Natsume patted center-parted's head; current passed along, and his hair stood on end.
He had already wasted two days.
Drag this out any further and he probably still wouldn't find anything.
Natsume speculated that the divine-office shard had completely fused with center-parted's body, and that fusion required time.
He decided to keep observing during daily life from here on out.
"Dragonite, come on out!"
Natsume tossed a Poké Ball.
A hulking Dragonite with one wing bigger than the other and a fierce face appeared.
Natsume pointed at center-parted's chair.
Dragonite understood, hoisted the Revelry Chair over its head, brought its two antennae into contact with the overhead cables, and began generating electricity.
This had taken Natsume several days to teach it—an ordinary Dragonite would have understood with a single command.
"Let's go," Natsume said, motioning for Dragonite to head out of the back yard.
At the Pokémon Center in Amp City, countless workers and Machop and Machoke bustled back and forth.
With Pokémon helping, efficiency really was much higher.
The front hall that center-parted had wrecked had only been under reconstruction for two or three days, yet it already had its basic shape.
"Ash, go pick up your luggage, then let's get moving again!"
Natsume reached the theme park and found Ash looking for battles everywhere.
Off to the side of the battlefield stood Misty and Brock, and unexpectedly, Honora was there, too.
"You're not at the Pokémon Center writing your research report?"
Natsume stared at her in surprise.
"I already submitted it!"
Honora beamed.
"Great.
In that case, this is where we say goodbye."
Natsume looked around the theme park.
The scenery was beautiful—perfect for partings.
"Natsume, what silly thing are you saying?"
Ash looked at him, puzzled.
"Yeah!
Honora's so nice, and you're trying to drive her away!"
Misty hugged Honora's arm.
Clearly, over their time together (shopping, shopping, and more shopping), the two had become thick as thieves.
"Right, Natsume, didn't you say that if Honora's paper got accepted by a top-tier journal, she could stay?"
Brock chimed in.
Natsume nodded.
He had indeed said that.
But he also knew the project he'd given Honora had an upper bound of, at most, a second-tier journal.
Who knew Honora would smile sweetly, thrust her phone at his face, and display an email.
"Dear research staff member, hello.
Congratulations—your article 'The Effects of Evolutionary Intent on Actual Evolution Levels' has passed the First Editorial Team review of the Tokiwa Biopharmaceutical Science Report.
If you agree to authorize publication, please contact Gold Editor 'Tokiwa First Loyalty.'"
Natsume's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Tokiwa Biopharmaceutical Science Report really was a top-tier journal.
After a long beat, Natsume recovered.
This journal seemed to be one established jointly by Richmont's pharmaceutical research team and the Pokémon League.
What's more, the second Honora sent her submission, she immediately received a several-hundred-character acknowledgment.
"…They weren't even pretending anymore."
Natsume was speechless.
All he could say was: being rich is great.
"Natsume, please take care of me from now on!"
Honora said, moving in for a hug.
"Uff—"
She bumped into a soft belly.
"Uu—"
She looked up.
It was Dragonite, holding up a chair.
"My, what a cute child.
I'll share child-rearing duties with Mr. Natsume," Honora said, rubbing the big Dragonite's belly in passing.
She was so happy right now that everything looked wonderful.
"Uu—"
Dragonite froze, its fierce face stuck in place as it stood there, dumbfounded.
Its master had only told it to lift the boss and regulate the discharge frequency.
This was now beyond its processing capacity.
Not far away, Natsume yawned.
This Dragonite had big problems—physical issues were the least of them.
Not long ago, Natsume discovered that Dragonite's command of moves was very unskilled.
He might as well use center-parted's current-control training to help it regulate its own power.
The next day.
"Alright, let's head to Saffron City to challenge the Psychic-type Gym!"
On the road, Ash was beside himself with excitement.
He would soon be a rising star with more than half his Badges.
"Ash, don't get excited too soon.
Saffron City's Gym Leader, Sabrina, is a human who has psychic powers and can converse with Pokémon."
Honora explained from the side.
"Honora, are you cosplaying Natsume?"
Ash nodded, then pointed at Honora's outfit.
"It looks just like what Natsume wears."
"Ah—this."
Honora's face flushed red as she stammered, "As an assistant, of course I need to learn every aspect of Mr. Natsume."
She had spent the past month observing Natsume's sense of style and had custom female versions made to order.
Each day, whatever Natsume wore, she wore the corresponding piece.
Hmm…
I wonder what Natsume's taste in underwear is like…
Honora tilted her head to the sky, lost in thought.
Behind her, Natsume, head down tinkering with an Ultra Ball, suddenly felt a chill on his backside.
He looked up blankly but found nothing.
"Everyone, the nearby town is holding a summer festival!"
Not far away, Misty ran back, brimming with excitement.
"A summer festival—come to think of it, I've only ever seen those on TV!"
Ash was thrilled.
"Natsume, can we go?" he turned and asked.
"Sure—ha~"
Natsume yawned.
He had spent the last few days with no sleep running tests on center-parted, exhausting both mind and body.
He could take two days at the summer festival to rest up properly.
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