The Dynamax Tentacruel stood still in deep thought, the massive red-glowing organ atop its head flashing in the night, guiding Natsume toward it.
After a while, it gave up thinking.
In this sea, it could not sense a single coral reef. Clearly, the wicked humans had already destroyed everything—reality was even worse than what its underlings had described.
Enough. It would punish these humans first.
The giant Tentacruel turned around, and suddenly, the moon in the sky became three.
In Porta Vista, countless people stepped outside their homes. Officer Jenny looked up, her face turning pale as she saw the *three moons*.
Those weren't moons at all—they were two enormous eyes. A monster!
"What's going on?"
At the Pokémon Center, Ash and his friends heard the commotion and stepped out.
"Is that… a Pokémon?" Brock said in shock.
Having already witnessed the massive Dragonite, they didn't mistake this towering figure for a monster.
Misty frowned tightly, the Horsea in her arms growing restless.
She pulled out her Pokédex and aimed it at the giant Tentacruel, but the night was too dark for it to scan.
"I'll do it. Natsume said my Pokédex has night-vision."
Ash took out his Pokédex, aimed it through the city's skyline toward the faint silhouette lit like twin moons.
**Tentacruel, the evolved form of Tentacool. It can control up to 80 tentacles at will.**
"Tentacruel!" Brock suddenly recalled the picture Horsea had drawn.
"Could it really be like Natsume said? The giant Tentacruel is here to attack the city?" Misty froze. She still didn't want to believe it. In her heart, Water-type Pokémon were always kind and cute.
"No—it must be because of Granny Nastina's construction project. We have to stop it!" Brock urged, but realized he was the only one still standing there.
Ash and Misty had already taken off running.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Meanwhile, on a beach far from the docks—this stretch was a steep cliff without a harbor.
The giant Tentacruel was searching for a place to come ashore.
At last, it found a good spot. As it moved, the entire sea began to roar.
*You destroyed my home. I'll destroy yours. That's only fair.*
Just as it prepared to land, a loud shout rang out nearby.
"Activate Battle Arena!"
From the darkness, an invisible barrier fell from the heavens, enclosing both the giant Tentacruel and Natsume.
At the same time, stirring battle music echoed in the air.
The giant Tentacruel froze. It saw a *fellow* of its kind riding on a Gengar, then felt some strange force restrain it.
> Opponent holds *Divine Authority*. > Current mode: **Raid Battle** — multiple Pokémon may be on the field simultaneously.> No allied Pokémon possess *Divine Authority*. Tentacruel's *Divine Authority* will apply.
**Eternamax Tentacruel, Lv.69**
"Go, Gengar! Great Ball Rotom!"
Seeing Natsume send out two Pokémon, the Tentacruel suddenly realized the truth—this was a human, cloaked in the skin of its own kind!
Furious, it prepared to strike, but a blue beam of light shot into it first.
> Gaint Ball Rotom used *Rob the Rich, Aid the Poor* on Gengar> Gengar has Gigantamaxed!
The move landed, and Natsume let out a breath of relief.
Against a Pokémon wielding Divine Authority, Rotom's other three moves were useless.
Unless his Rotom gained divinity itself.
*Bzzt—* A flash of blue light appeared, and the giant Tentacruel was forced into battle.
The instant it appeared, a massive gaping mouth unleashed countless phantoms.
"Max Phantasm!"
> Max Phantasm hit Tentacruel!> Due to Divine Authority, Tentacruel's damage taken was reduced by 10%.
The system's mechanical voice rang out, making Natsume pause.
He remembered the giant Dragonite had taken 50% less damage!
Could it be the Eternatus shard the Tentacruel had swallowed was smaller?
His suspicion was soon confirmed by the follow-up message.
Despite Tentacruel's strong special defense, Gengar's high level and its exclusive Gigantamax move had carved away more than half of its HP in a single strike.
> Because of the Divine Authority effect, Tentacruel's HP recovered by 5%.
The HP bar above its head rose slightly.
Seeing this, Natsume was overjoyed.
*There's hope!*
This Gigantamax Tentacruel was far weaker than the Gigantamax Dragonite, nowhere near as despair-inducing as before.
Struck by a sudden blow, Tentacruel was enraged.
Energy surged in its mouth, and a massive torrent of water shot toward Gengar.
> Tentacruel's Hydro Pump hit Gengar!
Natsume looked up at Gengar's HP—less than one-third had been lost.
*There's definitely hope!*
Gengar's Gigantamax form wore off, but it didn't matter.
"Gaint Ball Rotom!"
*Roto!*
A flash of blue light appeared, and a Gigantamax Gengar, with its gaping mouth like a giant gate of hell, materialized once more.
*Boom!*
Max Spectral Phantom struck, instantly emptying Tentacruel's HP bar.
> Because of the Divine Authority effect, Gigantamax Tentacruel stood back up!
Natsume's eyes lit up as the emptied HP bar refilled slightly.
Unlike Dragonite, whose second HP bar was essentially a cheat, Tentacruel's second bar only restored 10% of its health.
Sure enough, the Dynamax Shard it swallowed was far smaller than the one Dragonite had consumed.
Naturally, the effects were not the same.
"Wow! Natsume's going to win—he's amazing!"
On a rooftop, Ash and the others were closely watching the battle, joined by Officer Jenny and several officers.
"Feels like we're completely unnecessary here." Officer Jenny looked a little embarrassed.
"How could that be? Officer Jenny, being able to stand by your side and witness this great battle is never unnecessary."
By her side, Growlithe stared at Brock as if facing a grave threat.
"Misty, what's wrong?" Ash noticed her uneasy expression.
"I just feel like… we already destroyed their habitat, and now we're beating up their leader. Isn't that a bit wrong?" Misty scratched her head, looking embarrassed.
"Of course, since it's threatening the city's safety, we definitely need to stop it."
"But Granny Nastina is gone now, and her plan has been scrapped. We should try to clear up the misunderstanding."
"In this situation, though, we can't really interfere, right?" Ash tried to reassure her:
"Don't worry, Natsume's got this."
Inside the battlefield, Natsume's breathing was a little heavy.
Legendary Pokémon possessed Divine Authority, but usually only the strongest of their kind truly held it.
After arriving in this world, Natsume had learned this from the system, and ever since, he had wanted to study Divine Authority himself.
But since he hadn't yet figured out how to extract it, he set aside that idea—not because he couldn't find a Legendary with it, of course.
Now, he finally saw a chance to study Divine Authority.
Capture this Tentacruel, then find a way to extract the shard.
After all, Tentacruel wasn't the true owner of the Divine Authority, only a user of a shard. Removing it would simply return it to its normal state.
With that in mind, Natsume pulled out a Heavy Ball.
Even though Pokémon in the Battle Arena couldn't be caught while in abnormal states—
Games are games. Reality's different.
All he had to do was knock it out in the next turn, cancel the Battle Arena, then throw the ball.
But Tentacruel didn't move. It just stood there in the sea, dazed, seemingly intimidated by the Gigantamax Gengar.
> Tentacool has joined the battle!> Tentacool has joined the battle!> Suddenly, a string of announcements rang out. Natsume froze, then saw countless red lights glowing across the sea.
???
"System! Isn't this a raud battle? Why can it call for reinforcements?!" Natsume protested.
> Yes, this battle is a raid battle.
The system's voice rang out, and Natsume finally realized—Battle Arenas in raid battles allowed multiple Pokémon on the field at once.
But it had never said that only Trainers could send out multiple Pokémon.
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.