Chapter 125. In Full Swing
Natsume strolled lazily across the prairie.
He had already confirmed that the little Diglett had run toward the center of the Safari Zone.
Once today's race was over, they could set out to search tomorrow.
However, the little Diglett's exact destination still needed careful inference and investigation.
The footrace was in full swing, and every so often Herald's high-energy voice boomed another elimination.
"Miss Honora blocked Dragonite, but she was eliminated as well, and everyone will remember her!"
Herald's voice suddenly rang out.
Natsume looked up and happened to catch Honora's elimination replay.
"Why are the shots on center-parted and Dragonite?" Natsume blinked.
Dragonite huff—huff—clambered to the mountaintop, and the next second Natsume understood.
Dragonite whirled, faced downhill, and spread its big and little wings.
"Wooo~"
It began to glide, cannonballing toward the foot of the mountain as the gap closed rapidly.
However, once the speed hit a certain threshold, the flaw of having one big and one small wing showed itself.
The air pressure on both sides went uneven, and Dragonite's body started spinning uncontrollably, faster and faster.
Dragonite used tooth-for-tooth!
The blanket on center-parted was pressed by the fierce wind and plastered atop Dragonite's horn, whirling like a tiny top.
The center-parted blinked in confusion and realized it was getting closer and closer to the ground.
Wasn't this a footrace?
How did it become a ground-seeking missile with me as the payload?
"Rhyperior, use Protect!"
Honora stopped in her tracks and motioned for the others to go on ahead.
They had taken Miss Lara Laramie's request to place well.
Rhyperior wasn't good at racing to begin with, so there wasn't much hope.
Besides, Mr. Natsume had told her to keep an eye on Dragonite, and she would keep her word.
Slabs of rock heaved up out of the ground, blocking in front of Rhyperior.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The center-parted was so startled it hurried to sleep, letting Dragonite carry it crashing straight on.
Thick smoke and dust billowed, and both Dragonite and Rhyperior fainted within the course.
"Cough, cough—are you okay!"
Holding a Super Potion, Honora hurried forward.
The spectacular elimination replay ended there.
"Looks like Honora has been developing."
Natsume murmured to himself.
He had tossed the multi-typing move development paper topic to Honora.
He didn't have the bandwidth.
Just this Poké Ball Rotom could spawn several first-tier journal papers on its own.
Chances were, the next time he returned to Pallet Town, he'd need to shut himself in for two or three months.
Get those papers done first, get promoted to Pokémon Professor, then apply for a top-tier lab of his own.
[Rock Protect, typing: Rock + Ground. Compared with regular Protect, it's less sturdy, but it can block multi-hit attacks.]
Honora was smart, and the first thing she chose to refine was the relatively common move Protect.
And she advanced it along adjacent lines—Rock and Ground—that were easier for Rhyperior to develop.
Once this paper comes out, the Pokémon Contest world will likely undergo a new shift.
Natsume leaned against a big tree to the side and watched the jumbo screen at his leisure.
"Yow!"
Natsume stepped on something slick and nearly slipped.
Looking down, he saw a Berry with a sparse covering of soil on top.
The Berry had been squashed under his foot, and the split showed it smeared with pitch-black "soil."
No—this wasn't soil.
Natsume rubbed a bit between his fingers and sniffed.
It was that same little Diglett's droppings.
"Is it planting a Berry?"
Natsume was a bit stumped.
The pile of Berries found earlier looked like the little Diglett was stockpiling them.
But this Berry looked like it was being planted.
Natsume couldn't make sense of what it was trying to do.
But this patch of droppings was very fresh, most likely left last night.
Where there are Berries—
Natsume's gaze shifted to the nearby forest.
Just as he approached the trees, a flesh-colored figure burst out and vanished in a streak.
"Hm?" Natsume paused.
He saw two heads.
Maybe a Doduo?
The next second, Herald's cry hit his ears.
"Good heavens, a Primeape has barged in riding a Doduo!"
Herald continued.
"Why does this Doduo only have one head, and no feathers, and they're so fast—Ash's cap just got snatched!"
"Darn it!" Ash clutched his head.
"Ash, you go win the race.
I'll get your cap back."
Misty's voice came from behind.
"Hmph, don't make it sound like the kid can take the crown just because he wants it!"
Dario's voice cut in, and the remaining Dodrio suddenly accelerated and overtook Ash.
"Ash, do your best!"
Misty's voice carried from the rear, and when she looked back she saw that Primeape had been slapped away by a brick, and she had already taken the cap back.
A ghostly blue gleam flashed in Psyduck's eyes, and the brick floated back to rest atop its head.
"Thunk!"
The bluish brick settled on its head, Psyduck shuddered all over, and—pat, pat, pat—started running again.
Misty watched Psyduck's back and fell into thought.
Hmm…
So it needs that level of force?
There were many kinds of terrain along the race route.
Soon, a pond appeared ahead of everyone.
Floating pads dotted the surface as stepping stones.
Dodrio and Ponyta were nimble and leapt across the pads to the grassy bank beyond.
"Pat, pat, pat—" A Psyduck with a brick on its head sashayed over.
It stepped into the water, and the next second it was floundering.
"Heavens, this Psyduck can't swim!
Does its Trainer know that?"
Herald's voice rang out, and Misty nearly fainted.
She had just found out too—Psyduck couldn't swim.
"Oh come on; this is ridiculous."
Misty's mouth twitched.
She popped Ash's cap onto her own head and mounted Starmie again.
"Starmie, let's go save Psyduck."
Snatching Ash's cap back had eaten up quite a bit of time, and she'd been about to forfeit.
Suddenly, Misty hopped off Starmie again.
On the big screen, a Squirtle ferrying Pikachu rolled its eyes, turned back, and scooped up Psyduck.
"Very heartwarming—but these heavier Pokémon types are going to have a hard time!"
As Herald finished, a Trainer riding a Rhydon sank with one of the pads.
"Hahahaha, hahahahahaha!"
On the bank, Brock burst out laughing.
"Ahem—what are you laughing at?
Can your Onix even make it across?"
The Trainer and the Rhydon scrambled up, thinking Brock was mocking them.
Brock said nothing, just kept laughing like crazy.
Finally, finally!
His Onix with a water-resistant coating would finally shine.
"Onix, show them your swim stroke!"
"Roooar!"
Onix dove into the water like a sleek sea serpent and began to glide, fast, even letting Squirtle and the others catch a draft.
In the blink of an eye, Onix reached the shore.
"My goodness—how was that Onix trained?
It's—why did Onix collapse?"
Herald was stunned.
Brock's Onix dropped the moment it reached land.
"Pikachu, you've got this."
Brock silently recalled his Onix, which had collapsed from scratches inflicted by grass brambles.
With that training method, an Onix like his wasn't just four-times weak to Grass anymore.
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