Chapter 50. Foggy Island
The colossal Dragonite set Natsume and Meowth down on the island and then vanished, not worried in the slightest that the two of them might run away.
Of course, Natsume had no intention of taking the opportunity to bolt.
Judging by the time they had spent together, this colossal Dragonite seemed to bear no malice, and instead looked like it had something to ask for.
"What fresh air, Meow!"
Overhead, Meowth couldn't help leaping down.
Taking in the scene before it, it felt clear-headed and refreshed.
"Grr—"
Not far away, the voice of the colossal Dragonite drifted over, faint and distant.
"She's calling us over, Meow," Meowth interpreted.
"Let's go."
Natsume pulled out his Rotom Phone for a glance.
It was already the second day.
As he walked, Natsume took in this place that felt like a primordial forest.
Morning fog, like liquid silk, lay against the skin, and water-laden footsteps were swallowed by moss.
Branching crowns of towering trees pierced the veil of mist, and dewy spiderwebs trembled.
Ten meters away over a puddle, Lombre floated in silence.
Unknown totemic etchings surfaced on the faces of rotting stumps, and in the distance, Misdreavus's chime twined through the shadows like quantum entanglement.
The signal bars on Natsume's phone were stuck on a phantom second bar.
"Why don't we make a run for it while we can?" Meowth suddenly whispered.
"No. There are pheromones in her saliva. If you don't obey her, you could run to the ends of the earth and she'd still find you."
Hearing Natsume's words, Meowth started in fright.
"R-really, Meow?"
"You could try peeing on the top of your own head. Maybe that would cover up her saliva."
Natsume pointed at the coin on Meowth's forehead.
"You're tricking me, right, Meow?"
As they walked, Meowth felt the surroundings grow even more desolate.
Scared, it tugged at Natsume's sleeve.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm being serious here. This is a prime chance to run, Meow."
Natsume said nothing and released Rotom and Gengar—both unable to battle—from their Poké Balls.
Two Revives and two Hyper Potions were tossed into Meowth's hands.
"Heal them."
"What about you, Meow?" Meowth asked, puzzled.
"This place feels ancient. It looks very research-worthy."
Saying so, Natsume held up his phone and started snapping photos of who-knew-what in the area.
"Why should I have to work for you? Only Boss Giovanni has the right to order me around, Meow!"
Unconvinced, Meowth flung the medicine Natsume had handed it onto the ground.
"We don't have much fighting power between the two of us. If we run into trouble, we can only force you onto the field."
Meowth's neck shrank back.
"And without Rotom, there's no Teleport. Even if we want to leave, we can't."
Natsume's voice drifted from afar.
Meowth picked the medicine back up and honestly treated the two Pokémon.
Before long, Great Ball Rotom and Gengar both regained consciousness.
"That scared me half to death, Meow!"
Meowth wiped the phantom sweat from its brow.
For those few hours, Natsume hadn't been around.
It had been just Meowth and two Pokémon who were unable to battle.
The loneliness unique to deep mountain forests, plus the occasional creepy cries from all around, kept its nerves taut.
"Didn't expect it—you're pretty timid. Didn't I give you something for self-defense?"
The grass rustled, and Natsume walked out.
"What good is a brick, Meow? Am I supposed to knock myself out with it?"
Meowth flared up and hurled the brick Natsume had given it before leaving.
Natsume caught it steadily.
"Come to think of it, you don't seem like a normal Meowth. You don't have much battle ability."
"I'm a brainy type, Meow. The muscle work obviously goes to those two underlings!"
"Underlings?"
Natsume looked at Meowth, puzzled.
"Of course—Jessie and James are my underlings, Meow. I'm the one Boss Giovanni values most."
"I recorded that," Natsume said, slipping his phone away.
Meowth's face went stiff.
"You're awake?"
Natsume looked past Meowth at Gengar and Great Ball Rotom.
"Gengaa!"
"Roto!"
The two Pokémon nodded to Natsume, though they still sounded short on energy.
"Rotom, Heal Ball."
Natsume pointed at Gengar.
In a moment, a nearly fully recovered Gengar stood before them.
"Gengaa!"
Like showing off its muscles, Gengar struck a pose, voice full and strong.
"Rotom, get some proper rest."
Natsume spoke and returned Rotom.
"Gengar, use your psychic power to carry us to that peak."
Natsume pointed in the direction the colossal Dragonite had indicated earlier and handed Gengar a long, rolled strip made from shredded Tamato Berry mixed with dried Black Sludge.
"Gengaa?"
Gengar looked at what Natsume handed over, at a loss.
After two seconds of thought, it tried to toss it straight into its mouth, but Natsume stopped it.
Click—
Natsume produced a lighter from who-knew-where and lit it.
Self-taught, Gengar tried a draw.
"Fwoosh—"
Gengar's round, red eyes suddenly went wide, as if it had discovered a new world.
"Gengaa!"
Gengar stuck out a chubby little thumb at Natsume, and its eyes suddenly gleamed blue.
"Hey, hey—shouldn't the next step be using Teleport to get out of here?" Meowth panicked.
But it had no room to resist.
Its body was suffused with a blue light.
The three of them flew into the sky toward the mountaintop.
"I don't want to go, Meow—put me down!"
Meowth clawed and flailed.
"Gengar, set Meowth down right between that arguing Nidoking and Nidoqueen."
"I want to go! I can serve as interpreter!"
Meowth wrapped itself around Natsume's head.
Soon, the group could see the full silhouette of that enormous mountain range.
The range stood tall—at a glance, over a thousand meters.
The colossal Dragonite stood at mid-slope.
From afar, it looked like a huge temple had been built on the mountainside.
They touched down, and Natsume looked around.
The trees here had long since been yanked out by the colossal Dragonite, and the ground had even been covered with gravel.
Of course, to Natsume and Meowth, all of these were boulders.
"Gengar, I'll keep relying on you."
As he spoke, Natsume handed it another one.
This time, he didn't need to light it.
Gengar deftly lit it with Will-O-Wisp, took a deep drag—Fwoosh!
After blowing out a puff of smoke, Gengar was raring to go.
Very soon, the three arrived before the colossal Dragonite.
She sat upright on the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye, Natsume noticed a super-large cavern behind the colossal Dragonite that looked like her dwelling.
"Graa—"
The colossal Dragonite nodded to Natsume.
"She's telling us to go in, Meow," Meowth translated.
"Gruu—"
"She says there's something important she needs your help with, Meow," Meowth continued.
Natsume's gaze sank.
As expected, he'd guessed right.
Which was just as well.
A newly issued S-class project from the system might make progress here, and it just so happened he'd wasted a Master Ball.
Besides, Natsume was very curious why this colossal Dragonite could maintain Eternamax and even possessed a kind of divinity.
"Gengaa!"
Gengar suddenly tugged at Natsume.
Looking back, Gengar held up two fingers to its mouth, asking if there was more of that stuff.
"Mm. I've got the raw materials. Make it yourself."
Saying that, Natsume set down a pile of dried Tamato Berries and dried Black Sludge, along with some weighing paper for experiments.
"Gengaa!"
Gengar was overjoyed.
Dried Tamato Berries, mixed with dried Black Sludge and burned, released a very distinctive, pungent scent.
Natsume had named the stuff "Spicy Sludge."
Some Poison-type Pokémon were very fond of these smells—discoveries Natsume had made by accident.
With that, Natsume turned and, following the colossal Dragonite's heavy footsteps, entered the cave.
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