"Strange, what are Natsume and the others doing?"
At the beach, even though it was pitch dark, Ash and his friends still waited anxiously for Natsume.
Pika-chu!
"Spit it out! Spit it out already!"
When Tentacruel returned, what they saw was a despairing Natsume.
Midchu had fallen into a deep sleep, impossible to wake.
Natsume didn't believe this was some kind of drowsiness side effect from absorbing the shard.
Because when he pulled out the little snacks Pikachu loved, he immediately opened his eyes, gobbled them up—
Then went right back to sleep.
This proved that his sleep wasn't uncontrollable narcolepsy.
But Natsume, well-versed in Pokémon knowledge, also knew Pikachu wasn't faking.
He had truly reached a strange state of sleeping whenever he wanted, waking whenever it wanted.
When he wanted to sleep, no matter how noisy it was outside, no matter how Natsume tried to rouse it, Pikachu slept soundly.
Seriously? That huge shard just gave you this ability?
"Natsume, where are you going?"
"Pokémon Center!"
Unwilling to give up, Natsume slid down Tentacruel's tentacles, grabbed Pikachu, and had Rotom teleport them away.
A shard large enough for a Pikachu to lie on and nap was enormous.
For Pikachu to absorb the whole thing without showing any changes—that in itself was abnormal.
No Dynamax form, no level increase, not even a single stat change.
Too strange.
At Porta Vista's Pokémon Center, inside a room—
The light flickered. A girl's shadow swayed.
At the desk, keys clattered as Giselle typed, a headband with the word Fight tied across her forehead.
Her eyes never left the computer screen.
In a blink, almost a month had passed. The day of her promise with Natsume was just around the corner!
She had to stay focused. She had to earn the chance to remain by Natsume's side!
A loud crash outside—she ignored it.
Sirens outside—she ignored them.
Blinding lights outside—she didn't even glance up!
She had to stay with Natsume!
Unless someone blew up the Pokémon Center itself, nothing could—
Boom!
Giselle's room suddenly split open from the ground beneath her.
"Huh?" Giselle looked down to see a massive Midchu, bursting up through the floor.
Boom! Another deafening crash.
Dynamaxed Pikachu sat dazed amid the rubble, with Giselle still perched on her chair atop his head, completely dumbfounded.
What just happened?
"Natsume..." Nurse Joy looked at him with a sharp smile.
"Uh, send the bill to my house." Natsume said, handing her a slip of paper with an address.
The moment they'd teleported to the Pokémon Center, Pikachu's size had spun out of control.
"Sigh." Nurse Joy let out a breath, refusing to take the paper.
"Forget it. You're a hero who protects the city. I'll file for League support."
"I see." Natsume quietly pocketed the slip with Professor Oak's address written on it.
"Natsume!"
From atop Pikachu's head came a familiar voice.
Natsume looked up—it was Giselle.
"Natsume, I think it's shrinking!" Giselle's voice trembled.
Natsume glanced at Midchu below her.
Its massive body was indeed slowly beginning to shrink.
What was going on?
Natsume felt something was wrong. Giant Dragonite and Giant Tentacruel never shrank in size.
Suddenly, Midchu opened its mouth. As its body shrank, black-and-red particles drifted out.
At the same time, as if being filtered, countless hazy white particles like mist began to gather at the top of its head.
"Ah!" Giselle, sitting on its head, was the first to be enveloped by the mist. She let out a huge yawn.
"I feel so sleepy..." She collapsed uncontrollably.
Natsume reached out and caught her as she fell.
"What is that..." Natsume muttered, staring fixedly at the top of Pikachu's head.
The black-and-red particles kept filtering out of its mouth as its size shrank back toward normal.
But the white mist-like particles above its head grew denser and denser.
By the end, Pikachu was like a human-shaped humidifier on overdrive. The mist spread from the Pokémon Center outward—
Through the city, the beach, the nearby sea.
"Ah... so tired." Nurse Joy rubbed her eyes. Leaning against Chansey, she collapsed as well.
Chaaansey... Chansey had already dozed off first.
"What's happening?" Natsume thought bitterly. His own eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
Clutching Giselle in his arms, he collapsed into the fog, powerless to resist.
Even in his final glance, his eyes never left Pikachu's head.
Just before losing consciousness, he saw something—
At the densest point of the white particles, something was glowing.
Like a crystal.
Pika? Pikachu looked curiously at its fallen Trainer.
All around, people had collapsed, the whole city swallowed by sleep. Even the Tentacool and Tentacruel at the shore had all flipped belly-up, floating fast asleep on the surface.
"Weren't we supposed to catch those Tentacool?"
"But my eyelids are so heavy..."
"Maybe today's a good day for sleep. Even the fish in the sea are out cold..."
Beneath the waves, Team Rocket sat inside their Magikarp-shaped machine.
But even the water couldn't block the drowsy white mist.
Soon, without pilots, the Magikarp mech slowly sank into the seabed.
Pika... ha~ Pikachu yawned.
He didn't understand why everyone suddenly wanted to sleep.
But he did understand one thing—these people didn't know how to sleep.
Pika. Pikachu shook its head at its Trainer in disappointment.
This wasn't how you slept.
With its blanket tucked under its arm, he found a soft spot on Chansey and curled up, falling asleep properly.
As for the strange mist still spilling from its head—
Pikachu couldn't care less. Wasn't sleep more important?
That night, Porta Vista was utterly silent.
The next day—
Natsume had a dream.
He dreamed he was by the sea, the salty, fishy breeze on his face.
When he woke, he found himself trapped in something.
It was Giselle, clinging to him tightly, legs locked around his head.
Memories came rushing back like a tide. Natsume jolted upright, immediately searching for Pikachu.
"Natsume, Pikachu's here."
Giselle's voice came from behind. Natsume turned to see Pikachu snoozing in Chansey's pouch.
"..."
"You're awake," Natsume said, looking at Giselle.
"Y-Yeah, just woke up a moment ago!" For some reason, Giselle was panicking again.
"Ahhh—that was the best sleep I've had in ages..." Nurse Joy's voice rang out.
"Oh no, the Pokémon Center's equipment!" Nurse Joy suddenly snapped awake. Shaking Chansey awake, the two of them rushed toward the still-intact rear wing of the Pokémon Center, panic written all over their faces.
Seeing this, Natsume's expression darkened.
Some of the equipment in the Pokémon Center was extremely expensive and needed constant monitoring with regular power shutdowns.
If something went wrong because of the stunt Pikachu pulled, even reporting it to the League probably wouldn't get him compensation.
Natsume picked up the culprit that Chansey had set on the ground.
Pika— Midchu looked at him curiously.
"Do you even realize how much trouble you've caused?" Natsume flicked his fingers at Pikachu.
Huuh— Before the flick could land, Pikachu instantly fell asleep.
That way, he wouldn't feel the pain.
Natsume: "..."
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.