Vermilion Gym.
"Damn it!"
Lt. Surge slammed his fist into the ground, looking completely shattered in spirit.
"That Pikachu… how could it be? How could it be stronger than Raichu's Thunderbolt!?"
In his mind, the image of a boy with a Pikachu on his shoulder flashed by.
As the Gym Leader who specialized in Electric-types, as Raichu's Trainer, he had actually lost to a boy with just a Pikachu.
"It wasn't just Thunderbolt. That Iron Tail of his was way too strange too, boss."
"Yeah, if we'd known you were gonna lose, we wouldn't have gone through the whole taunt routine. Now it's just extra embarrassing…"
The one who spoke quickly shut up when Surge glared daggers at him.
Bang bang bang!
A knock came from outside.
"Damn it…" Surge clenched his fists.
"I need to vent. Open the door!"
Soon, Ash stood before him again.
But this time, he'd taken off his cap and was wearing an oversized lab coat. Pikachu, standing on his shoulder, had his fur parted neatly down the middle.
Lt. Surge: ???
"I'm Challenger Natsume! Duel me!" Ash said, pinching Pikachu's scruff to hold the act together.
"You little brat, you think I'm an idiot!?" Surge's face turned red as he cursed.
"I told you this wouldn't work, Ash." Misty walked in behind him, smirking at the chaos.
"Why don't we just wait for Natsume to show up here?" Brock suggested.
"Aw, but Brock, if you played Natsume, no one would see through it! You're tall enough," Ash sighed in disappointment.
Brock: "…"
This wasn't a height issue at all.
"Hey, kid! Your Pikachu is seriously strong. How about we battle again?"
Lt. Surge's fighting spirit flared as he looked at Ash.
"Forget it. Let's just go find Natsume." Ash waved his hand, refusing flat out.
Lt. Surge: "…"
He was furious, but had no words—after all, Ash had beaten him in his strongest field.
"No need, I'm here!"
From outside the Gym, Natsume's voice rang out.
As Surge turned, his teeth grinding, a fair-skinned young man stepped through the doorway.
"So you're this Natsume they were talking about, huh? Let's see what's so special about you!"
Lt. Surge glared at him.
"Brock, lend me your Onix."
"Huh!?"
Before Brock could react, Onix had already been sent out by Natsume.
ROAR—! The king immune to electricity made his entrance.
Lt. Surge: "…"
What kind of cursed day was this!?
Natsume shook his head slightly.
Surge didn't know it, but if he hadn't used Onix, Pikachu's Lightning Rod ability would have made things even worse for him.
Not to mention the rest of Natsume's team.
As expected, just a few rounds later, Lt. Surge fell in defeat.
He dropped to his hands and knees, looking completely broken.
"Boss, we figured you might lose, so this time we didn't taunt him!" one of his lackeys tried to brag.
Surge shot him another death glare. The lackey pouted, turned around, and went to fetch the badge for Natsume.
Meanwhile, Natsume examined the badge in his hand—the orange Thunder Badge.
That made three badges. He was almost halfway there.
"This guy was totally weird. He even mocked my Pikachu earlier," Ash said mercilessly as the group left Vermilion Gym.
By the time they returned to the Pokémon Center, evening had already fallen.
"I really, really want to go on the St. Anne!" Misty held her cheeks, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the poster hanging in the Pokémon Center.
"Hey, hey, hey… is she okay? She's been like this since after lunch."
Ash pointed at Misty, utterly confused about what was so great about the St. Anne.
Wasn't it just a ship?
"They say this year on the St. Anne, there'll be a banquet for Trainers. Lots of powerful Trainers will be there."
"Powerful Trainers!" Ash's eyes lit up.
And just like that, another figure joined Misty under the poster, staring at it longingly.
"Everyone, look at me."
Suddenly, Giselle spoke up. As she did, she shook a few elegant tickets in her hand.
"No way…"
"No way…"
Misty and Ash's eyes shone as they instantly appeared in front of her.
"My father came traveling here. The organizers gave him a bunch of tickets."
With that, Giselle began handing out tickets to everyone.
"Thank you!" the three of them chorused.
When she got to the last of them, only one pair ticket remained in her hand.
"Oh dear, Mr. Natsume, we only have one double ticket left."
"Huh? Tickets?" Natsume lifted his head from tinkering with a Great Ball.
He looked over at Giselle, who avoided his gaze nervously, steam practically rising from her head.
"The St. Anne," she whispered.
"Ohhh." Natsume realized, then casually pulled a handful of tickets out of his pocket.
"I've got plenty of those."
"Huh!?" Ash and the others were dumbfounded.
"These… these are all real!" Misty examined them carefully. Every one of the dozen tickets was authentic.
And judging by the print dates, Natsume had gotten them on the very first day.
"Natsume, how did you even get these!?" Ash asked in awe.
Natsume scratched his head.
Truth was, Wilfred had sent him a batch of family butler uniforms recently, and he'd found them stuffed in one of the pockets.
Not long ago, Wilfred had also contacted him, explaining everything.
He'd made a huge donation to Team Rocket, and Giovanni had prepared a villain show just for James.
The fifty billion pokedollars wasn't only to ask Natsume to keep an eye on James—it was also the performance fee for the show.
Wilfred had even laid out the plan.
The villain show would be staged aboard the St. Anne under Giovanni's name. Most of the attendees were just plants.
At the event, Giovanni would assign Jessie, James, and Meowth the mission of stealing every Trainer's Pokémon on board.
Wilfred had learned James hadn't achieved much lately and, deciding on his own, believed his son had lost confidence and was headed for ruin.
After Natsume even showed him a few snapshots of James in his crossdressing outfits, Wilfred became even more convinced.
So he made the donation, hoping Giovanni would set things up to restore James's confidence.
Natsume pocketed the Great Ball. After all, when someone gives you that much, you can't really refuse.
Now he needed to think carefully.
What role should he play to help James successfully regain his confidence"
With a fifty-billion performance fee on the line, Natsume figured he ought to at least let James experience what it felt like to be the protagonist of a power fantasy.
Meanwhile, Giselle lowered her head in frustration.
Damn it. She had gone out of her way to buy up all the available tickets, only for Natsume to casually pull out ones from the very first batch!
Could they have been given to him by papa?
Giselle froze. It did seem like only someone at her father's level could receive tickets directly from the organizers on day one.
"Damn it…" Giselle stormed off to a corner and contacted Reginald.
That evening, Reginald was already daydreaming about a bright future.
Then, his beloved daughter's call came through, making him even happier.
After all, it was thanks to her that they'd gotten connected with Natsume.
But to his complete confusion, Reginald ended up getting scolded harshly by his daughter for no apparent reason.
You can read more (around 80+ free chapters) of Natsume's adventure ad-free at [https ://ravenarchives .com/book/pokemon-who-let-him-leave-pallet-town]. Bulk uploads is a mess here, so updates here might be irregular.