Chapter 145. Giovanni's Courtyard
"Our Badges—what do we do about them?"
Inside the Viridian City Pokémon Center, Ash waved his hand and looked to Natsume.
"Go get two from Gary. He just happens to have ten."
Before Natsume finished, Gary clutched his Badge case.
"Hey, hey, hey, my Badges are already bound to my Trainer ID with the League. They'd be useless if you took them."
He said that as he carefully put the case away.
"So weird. I passed by the Viridian Gym, and it was closed again."
Brock, Misty, and Honora came in carrying a mountain of stuff.
Since their next stop was Pallet Town, they couldn't go back empty-handed; they planned to buy gifts for Aunt Delia.
"Yeah, and there were tons of people going in and out, and it smelled awful inside," Misty said, setting her things down and fanning the air in disgust.
"Right, Ash, Honora and I bought two pretty outfits for your mom. When are we heading back to Pallet Town?"
Misty raised the gorgeous gift bag in her hand.
"Let's not talk about going home yet. I still don't have my Badge lined up."
Ash hugged his head and slumped over the table, dejected.
Nobody could beat the Viridian Gym Leader at all.
"Hey, twerp?"
Jessie's buzzing voice cut in.
"Your Badge."
James's buzzing voice followed.
At the same time, an Earth Badge clinked onto the table.
Everyone turned to see Team Rocket's trio.
Only, Jessie and James had thick bandages wrapped around their heads, and Meowth's backside was bandaged too.
"Did somebody beat you up?"
Misty eyed the three curiously.
"Let's put that aside for now."
The trio glared at Natsume, who had already picked up the Badge.
"Natsume, the Boss wants to see you, meow!"
Meowth said it while handing Natsume an invitation.
Natsume flipped it open, glanced through it, and a gleam flashed in his eyes.
He sensed Giovanni's ill intent, but he had no choice but to go.
"Natsume, what if it's a trap?" Ash grabbed his sleeve.
"No worries. If it's a trap, I'll blow it up first."
The trio all flinched, shivering on the spot.
"Natsume, sir, this way, please."
A figure stepped out from behind Team Rocket.
It was Archer, the man they had briefly met back in Celadon City.
Natsume tossed the others a reassuring look and followed Archer out.
"Do you still have more Badges?"
Ash looked at Jessie, James, and Meowth with interest.
"Ahem, but of course."
"We're in the Boss's good graces. For the next two months, we're the acting Gym Leaders of the Viridian Gym!"
Jessie coughed twice, almost letting something slip.
"Good. Then I challenge you!"
Ash drew a Poké Ball.
"No way—unless you put Pikachu up as your stake!" James seized the chance and pointed at Pikachu.
"Then I'm not battling."
Ash hugged Pikachu and turned to leave.
"Refusing a legitimate challenge from a Trainer—we can file a complaint against you."
Honora's cool voice floated out.
The trio froze.
Normally, they wouldn't care, but then they remembered the Boss's dark scowl yesterday—
"W-wait! We accept your challenge, meow!"
Meowth rushed to stop Ash.
Clearly, they didn't want to make any more trouble.
Natsume followed Archer to a private helicopter.
"Ah!"
The pilot was flung out by Natsume's telekinesis.
Natsume swept the entire craft again and again with psychic probing.
"Natsume, sir, what are you doing?" Archer grinned without smiling.
"I'm afraid you'll pull something," Natsume said as he slid into the pilot's seat.
Archer blinked, then hurried up after him.
A while later, the chopper lifted off.
Mid-air, it hovered for a long time without moving on.
"What's wrong?" Archer craned his neck.
"How do you fly this thing?" Natsume pawed at the console, pressing who-knows-what.
"What?"
Archer was stunned.
"Natsume, sir, you're joking. If you couldn't fly, how did you lift off and get us hovering here?"
He thought Natsume was kidding.
"I don't know. I just pressed two buttons."
Natsume pointed at the dense forest of controls.
"Hurry up and give me the manual. I learn fast. This one should be the launch assist."
He said it and pressed a button.
Next second, both of them were fired out with parachutes.
"Bang!"
The helicopter crashed, a fierce flare of fire blossoming with a boom.
Archer: "…"
Up in the air, two parachutes drifted slowly down.
The wind whooshed by; Archer turned and stared at Natsume.
"I think the pictogram on that button was poorly designed. They should've drawn a little person instead of a helicopter for 'eject.'"
Natsume sounded perfectly serious.
He had thought it was aircraft launch assist, not pilot ejection.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
The communicator clipped to Archer's ear chimed; someone was calling.
"Why is it taking so long?"
Giovanni's voice came through.
"Uh… we lost a helicopter."
Archer hesitated.
On the other end, Giovanni went silent in confusion.
After many twists and turns, the two arrived at a private estate.
"Shoo, shoo—no begg— Lord Archer, what happened to you?!"
The gate guard went wide-eyed with shock.
The filthy, ragged man who looked like a beggar was actually Giovanni's right-hand man—Archer!
"Pffft—"
Archer spat out the rotten leaf in his mouth and, teeth clenched, glared at the oh-so-idle Natsume.
"Well then, Mr. Natsume, this is very safe, isn't it? We can go in now, right?"
All the way here, Natsume had acted like someone with a persecution complex.
When their parachutes came down, the chauffeur sent to fetch them was flung out by Natsume, who then took the wheel himself.
Archer did not dare compliment his driving.
They fell into the ditch three times, hit two trees, totaled four cars, and took one detour.
Natsume had telekinesis, so none of it affected him; not a drop of mud stained his clothes.
How did you ever get a driver's license?
Archer wanted to ask.
"Driver's license? I don't have one."
A rumble sounded from behind.
Realizing his thoughts had been read, Archer immediately stopped thinking and turned with a stern face.
The moment he turned, his expression froze.
At some point, Natsume had climbed into the cab of a big tanker truck.
The whole vehicle was a bit old, with a pair of gold inverted-triangle "eyes" on the grille.
Hands on the wheel, Natsume shouted to the guards:
"Open up! Hurry and open the gate!"
The guards blankly swung the gates wide.
"Rumble—rumble—rumble—"
Natsume stomped the accelerator and smashed through a section of the side wall, barreling straight into the courtyard.
"Archer, you finally—"
Giovanni stepped out the door and saw a massive truck grinding over bricks and charging right at him.
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