Chapter 117. Ideals
That night, Gary Oak disappeared.
Natsume and Ash Ketchum quietly followed and found that he had gone to the dam.
Under the moonlight, in the valley, countless Diglett were chuff-chuffing onto the road.
They moved in rows like army ants, proceeding unhurriedly, and no one knew where they were headed.
"Ash, after the Indigo Plateau Conference, what do you want to do?"
Sitting beneath a rock, Gary suddenly spoke.
Behind him, Natsume and Ash stepped out of the shadows.
"Huh, me?"
Ash was stunned, found a clean rock, and sat down as well.
"I want, in the future, to travel every region, enter every region's Pokémon League, and become the world's number one Pokémon Master!"
It was an ideal he had voiced countless times, yet coming from Ash's mouth, it was still brimming with passion.
"Is that so…"
Gary rested his face in his hand, his eyes reflecting the Diglett marching resolutely forward.
Suddenly, he felt someone touching the Poké Ball at his waist.
It was Natsume, who pressed Wartortle's Poké Ball.
"Zzzt—"
With a flash of red light, a fast-asleep Wartortle appeared.
"Wartortle?"
Wartortle opened its eyes, and before it could react, it was flipped over, all four feet pointing skyward.
"Carry on."
Natsume sat down on the shell and looked at the two of them.
Wartortle: "?"
Gary: "…"
"I don't know what I want to do. Before, I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, and I thought winning a Championship would be cool…"
Gary's voice trailed off.
He wasn't like Ash, who loved Pokémon battles with his whole being.
"I think what Natsume said is right. Being a researcher really suits me."
Gary glanced toward the Diglett below, eyes alight.
"Huh? Gary, you're not entering the Indigo Plateau Conference?"
Ash suddenly grew dejected.
"Hahaha!"
Gary burst out laughing.
"Of course that's impossible! Yours truly is going to beat you until you're picking your teeth up off the ground!"
Regaining his former swagger, Gary stood and reached his hand out to Ash.
"Don't you go losing to some no-name rookie before you even get to me!"
"That's absolutely not happening!"
Ash stood up, refusing to back down.
In Wartortle's round pupils, the image froze on the instant Ash and Gary shook hands.
"Wartortle!"
Wartortle nodded in satisfaction.
Then it turned its head and glared fiercely at Natsume's rear.
That moment had seemed important to its Trainer, so it hadn't wanted to interrupt.
Now.
"Awooo!"
The next day, on a mountain path—
"Mr. Natsume, why have you been floating in the air?" Honora looked at Natsume curiously.
He was levitating by telekinesis, butt facing up, lying flat.
"My butt hurts," Natsume said succinctly.
"Why does your butt hurt?" Misty leaned in, curious.
"Because my telekinesis training is lacking."
"???"
Everyone was baffled.
What did a sore butt have to do with telekinesis training?
Natsume declared that it certainly did.
Last night, Wartortle used Bite.
Against a Pokémon move, telekinesis coating your clothes didn't provide that much protection.
Natsume's butt hurt all night.
"Everyone, we're here!"
Brock, who was scouting ahead, returned, waving the map in his hand.
They went up and, following Brock around left and right, a classical grand compound appeared before them.
Blue-tiled eaves reached for the noontime sky, and arched verandas hung with faded drapes.
It was a very classic Kanto-style traditional house.
"Huh? Is this a Gym?"
Ash stood outside, frozen in place.
Normally, outside a Gym, he was the first to rush in.
But the building before his eyes didn't look like a Gym at all.
"Uh… there isn't even a sign here. Did we get the wrong place and end up at someone's home?"
Misty looked to Brock.
"No mistake. That's what the map shows."
Brock rubbed his hair, a little guilty.
Because Fuchsia Gym was inconvenient to reach, he had never come here before.
"Brock is right. This is Fuchsia Gym."
Natsume floated over.
"Mr. Natsume, then why isn't there any indication at all?"
"Because you have to solve a puzzle," Natsume said.
"A puzzle?"
Everyone was puzzled.
"Fuchsia Gym was founded by a ninja lineage. They're rather elusive."
"Clang!"
Just as Natsume finished speaking, the door ahead opened by itself.
They went in and found only two corridors inside, with nothing else.
"We probably have to make it through some traps to get inside."
"Let's split into two groups," Natsume said, pointing to the right.
"I'll take this side."
"Okay, I'll go left!"
Ash charged off in high spirits.
"Boom!"
With a bang, Ash was blown into a soot-black mess, and both center-parted one and Pikachu on his shoulder were startled and fell to the ground.
"What is this!"
Ash looked down and saw a Voltorb.
On the other side, Natsume had already floated deep in.
Perhaps because he was levitating, many traps didn't trigger.
This was too boring.
Natsume touched down, wanting to see what tricks there were here.
Suddenly, a dark shape lunged at Natsume.
"Thud!"
A Venonat collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Natsume froze for a moment, his gaze drifting between the brick in his hand and the fainted Venonat.
His telekinesis activated, and the Venonat floated up into the air.
Before Natsume could examine it, an anxious call came from ahead.
"Venonat!"
At the bend, a beautiful woman emerged.
"Venonat, what happened to you?"
The newcomer was dressed as a ninja: short deep-green hair with highlights, a half face-covering mask, sleek purple-black ninja garb, sharp eyes, and talismans and gold accents at her waist—bold and valiant.
The beautiful woman glared at Natsume.
"What did you do to our Venonat? Why is it floating in the air?"
"I saw it had fallen asleep on the ground, and I was afraid it would catch a chill."
Natsume's expression didn't change.
"Is that so?"
The beauty eyed Natsume suspiciously but found nothing amiss.
There was a little bump on Venonat's head—maybe it ran too fast and knocked into something.
"I'm the Gym Leader's younger sister, Aya. Come with me."
Cradling Venonat, Aya turned and headed inward.
"I heard Fuchsia Gym requires breaking through trials?" Natsume tilted his head and asked.
"The left-hand corridor has traps. As a ninja, you need extremely keen perception."
Aya stroked the Venonat in her arms, her cold voice coming through.
"I see. Then what's with this side?"
"The right-hand corridor has no traps. For a ninja, luck is also an important factor in staying alive."
"…"
Natsume said nothing.
So there really were no traps on this side.
He had thought they were so ingenious they could evade his telekinetic probing.
Following Aya's steps, Natsume quickly arrived at an open-air courtyard.
"All right. There's one more challenger. Once he arrives, we can begin."
Outside, Honora's phone rang.
"Mr. Natsume says the right-hand corridor is safe. We can go in."
Honora reminded the two.
"Huh? Should we call Ash back?" Misty looked toward the left, only to find that Ash had already vanished.
"Uh… let's trust Ash. He's got strength to spare. Let's go inside and wait for him."
Brock nodded in deep agreement.
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