Chapter 74. Saffron City
Saffron City, Pokémon Center.
"Strange, why isn't there a single person on the streets?"
Ash Ketchum sat at the dining table with his arms crossed, feeling a little creeped out.
"Maybe it's because it's nighttime right now?"
Misty glanced outside.
"Even if it's night, it shouldn't be this deserted,"
Brock added.
"You all…"
Nurse Joy set a tray down in front of the group.
She hesitated for a moment, then still opened her mouth and asked, a little uncertainly:
"Are you here to challenge the Saffron Gym?"
"If you have any requests, Nurse Joy, I will definitely help!"
As always, Brock stepped forward.
"Ahaha… it's like this."
Nurse Joy looked seriously at everyone and warned:
"No matter who among you is going to challenge the Saffron Gym, my advice is to skip it and go to another city."
"Huh? But wouldn't it be fine if we used a Ghost-type Pokémon?"
Ash spoke around a mouthful of dinner.
As he spoke, he pointed at the Gastly eating nearby.
"Even with that child, it won't be enough,"
Nurse Joy shook her head pessimistically.
"And if you go to challenge the Gym and face the Gym Leader Sabrina, you yourselves might be in danger."
"Geng-ga!"
Natsume released a round, plump, purple figure.
[Gengar, Lv. 86]
Nurse Joy: "…"
She fell silent for a second, then quietly picked up the tray and went back to the rear courtyard.
Looks like the one in danger would be Sabrina.
Maybe letting this group give Sabrina a lesson would be a good thing, so she could stop having to go to the Gym to fish people out all the time.
"Chan-sey~"
Chansey followed behind, looking curiously at her Trainer.
On normal days, Nurse Joy would persuade as much as she could, so why give up halfway today?
"Why did Nurse Joy say we might be in danger?"
Misty asked curiously.
"Who cares what danger, we'll just fight our way through!"
Ash brushed it off.
"Because the Saffron Gym not only specializes in using Psychic-type Pokémon, but the Gym Leader herself is a psychic,"
Brock said.
Having been a Gym Trainer for two years, he was still familiar with the situation at other Gyms.
"A psychic…"
Ash rolled the word around.
"Natsume, do psychics give any buffs in Pokémon battles?"
At that, Natsume looked up:
"Psychics can communicate with Pokémon mind-to-mind, and even without issuing commands they can coordinate seamlessly, which is hard to guard against."
"Natsume's right, and besides that…"
Brock paused and sold a bit of a mystery.
"It's said that psychics have telekinesis, even stronger than some Psychic-type Pokémon, and can turn people into dolls!"
"Ah!"
Ash jumped, a little worried.
"What if I win, and the other side can't accept it and turns me into a doll?"
"Honestly, you're fantasizing about victory before you've even started."
Misty facepalmed.
"Don't worry, Ash."
Natsume patted Ash's shoulder and encouraged him:
"She has psychic powers, and you have super strength."
Natsume wasn't just talking big.
Because of that SSS-grade "Pallet Physique" task he had on him, he could see Ash's various "stats" anytime, anywhere.
Since the journey began, all of Ash's attributes had quintupled.
In less than three months—fivefold!
Even Mewtwo, still trying to stage a comeback, would cry.
Natsume had thought he could one day catch up to Ash.
He'd been far too naive.
Ash's stats were growing at a terrifying natural speed.
Fortunately, when the system issued tasks, it took the first time it met Ash as the "baseline."
So there wasn't a bug where the task could never be completed.
"Uh, Natsume, what's 'super strength'?"
Ash looked at him, baffled.
"Go arm-wrestle Dragonite,"
Natsume said, beckoning his Dragonite over.
"Okay? I won't lose!"
Ash looked at Dragonite with delight.
"He's messing with you again.
Are you really going to do it?"
Misty tugged Ash's ear.
Across from them, Dragonite extended an arm and gripped Ash's hand.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you serious?
You're really going to try it!"
Misty was shocked.
She'd thought Natsume was only joking.
"Natsume, won't Ash get hurt like this?"
Misty looked at Ash, worried.
But unexpectedly, Dragonite and Ash actually stalemated.
"Arrrgh!"
Ash's face flushed, turning the color of pig liver.
"Uuugh…"
Dragonite's expression turned fierce, its big round eyes looking like they might pop as it strained.
"Boom!"
Under their contest of strength, the table couldn't bear it and collapsed with a crash, and Natsume ended up with the bill.
"Huff—"
Ash panted hard.
So weird.
This Dragonite's strength would suddenly get strong and then weak.
"Uuu—"
Dragonite panted hard.
So weird.
This human's strength kept getting stronger, stronger, stronger.
Ash and Dragonite sat back-to-back, drinking water to rest.
"Very good, Ash!"
Natsume picked up the fallen cap and set it back on Ash's head.
"If Sabrina dares to use psychic power on you, then you use super strength on her."
Ash's physical ability was clearly far above where it had been in the original plotline.
Natsume felt it might be because, when they first came to Pallet Town, he had dragged Ash around day in and day out.
After a few years of training, Ash had gotten a head start on growth.
"This is awesome, Natsume!
I never imagined I had that kind of level!"
Ash looked at his own hands, a little unreal.
"Huh? That can't be real, right?"
Misty's face was full of shock.
"Unbelievable."
Brock's eyes changed when he looked at Ash.
He figured he'd have to plan Ash's meals on Dragonite rations from now on.
The next day.
Still stuck in shock, Misty kept circling Ash on the way to the Gym, looking him up and down.
"Hey, hey, hey, why do you keep staring at me like that?"
Ash felt very uncomfortable.
After thinking for a moment, Misty solemnly took out a red-and-white ball and bonked it on Ash's head.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm not a Pokémon!
Don't do the same stuff Natsume does!"
Ash yelped.
A burst of red light from the Poké Ball enveloped Ash, but nothing happened, and the ball fell to the ground.
"Sigh, so he's not…"
Misty drooped, disappointed.
"So you were hoping I was?"
Ash was not having it.
"By the way, Ash, who's your father?"
Brock walked over.
"My dad?
He went away a long time ago… why are you asking that?"
Ash said, puzzled.
"Haha, I was wondering if it's a genetics thing."
Brock's words set off a spark in Natsume's mind, and his gaze sank a little.
Huh… has Giovanni finished making Mewtwo yet?
What if we tried Ash's cells instead?
After all, Mewtwo is a Pokémon created by fusing Mew's genes with a human's.
Maybe if it were Ash's genes, Mewtwo would really manage a comeback.
Thinking that, the group arrived outside the Saffron Gym.
"Let's go, we're going in!"
Ash was excited, the fighting spirit in his eyes burning high.
"Wait!"
Behind them, a slightly heavy, middle-aged man's voice sounded.
Turning around, they saw a man in a cap and work clothes.
The brim was pulled low, and all they could see of his face was a mustache.
"Sir, what's up?"
Ash looked at the newcomer.
"You're here to challenge the Saffron Gym, aren't you?
I'm here to persuade you to give up,"
the middle-aged man said with a slight shake of the head.
"About that, someone already tried to persuade us yesterday.
We're not giving up!"
Ash said, crossing his hands and lifting them to his shoulders.
"Pika!"
Pikachu understood and high-fived him.
"Pi—"
The bubble at center-parted's nose popped, and with his dream gone, he angrily chomped Ash's index finger.
"Yow!"
Seeing that they hadn't taken his words to heart at all, the middle-aged man shook his head, disappointed.
"Fine then.
You won't give up till you hit a wall.
Go on."
His gaze deepened, and he turned to leave.
In a bit, he'd have to work hard again to fish these unlucky kids out.
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