Chapter 116: Ideals

That night, Gary disappeared.

Natsume and Ash quietly followed him, finding him at the dam.

Under the moonlight, Diglett marched through the valley in endless lines. They moved steadily, like an army of ants. No one knew where they were headed.

"Ash, after the Indigo Plateau Conference… what do you want to do?"

Gary sat beneath a rock and suddenly asked.

Behind him, Natsume and Ash stepped out of the shadows.

"Me, huh?" Ash blinked, then sat down on a clean stone.

"I want to travel through every region, compete in every Pokémon League, and become the world's number one Pokémon Master!"

Though he had said it countless times before, the words burst out of him with the same fiery passion.

"Is that so…"

Gary rested his chin on his hand, eyes reflecting the determined Diglett below.

Suddenly, he felt someone pressing the Pokéball at his waist.

It was Natsume. He released Wartortle.

A flash of red light, and the dozing Wartortle appeared.

War-tortle? It blinked, and before it knew what happened, it was flipped over, lying belly-up.

"Go on," Natsume said, settling himself on Wartortle's shell as he looked at the two boys.

Wartortle: "???"

Gary: "..."

"I don't really know what I want to do. Before, I thought being a Pokémon Trainer and winning a championship would be cool…"

Gary's voice trailed lower.

He wasn't like Ash, who burned with love for battling.

"I think Natsume's right. Being a researcher… really does suit me."

Gary turned his gaze to the Diglett, his eyes flashing with excitement.

"Huh? Gary, you're not going to compete in the Indigo Conference anymore?" Ash's tone dropped, sounding disappointed.

"Hahaha!"

Gary burst into laughter.

"Of course not! I'm gonna crush you until you're begging for mercy!"

His usual confidence returned as he stood, reaching a hand out to Ash.

"Don't go losing to some nobody before you even get to me!"

"That'll never happen!" Ash shot back, standing up and clasping his rival's hand.

In Wartortle's round eyes, the image of Ash and Gary's handshake froze like a photo.

War-tortle! Wartortle nodded in satisfaction.

Then it turned its head, glaring murderously at Natsume's backside.

That moment had been important to its Trainer. It didn't want to interrupt.

But now.

WARTORTLE!

The next day, on the mountain road

"Natsume, why are you floating like that?" Giselle asked curiously.

He was levitating with psychic power, lying flat on his back, butt facing upward.

"My butt hurts," Natsume answered bluntly.

"Why does your butt hurt?" Misty leaned in, puzzled.

"Because my psychic training isn't strong enough."

"???"

Everyone was confused.

What did butt pain have to do with psychic training?

According to Natsume, everything.

Last night, Wartortle had used Bite.

And when it came to resisting Pokémon moves, psychic power covering only his clothes didn't provide much protection.

Natsume's butt had been sore all night.

"We're here!"

Brock, who was leading the way, returned waving the map.

Everyone followed as he guided them through twists and turns until a large, classical mansion appeared before them.

Blue-tiled eaves stretched toward the midday sky. Faded cloth hung from the arched doorway.

It was a traditional Kanto-style house.

"Huh? This is a Gym?" Ash froze outside.

Normally, he was the first to rush into a Gym.

But this building didn't look like one at all.

"There's not even a sign. Did we wander into someone's house?" Misty glanced at Brock.

"No, this is right. The map says so." Brock scratched his head, though he sounded uncertain.

He had never been to Fuchsia Gym before, since it was so remote.

"Brock's right. This is Fuchsia Gym," Natsume floated over.

"Then why isn't there any kind of sign?"

"Because it needs to be solved like a maze," Natsume explained.

"A maze?" Everyone was confused.

"Fuchsia Gym was founded by a family of ninja. They like to stay hidden."

Just then—clang!

The door swung open on its own.

Inside, there were only two passages, nothing else.

"You'll have to get through some traps to reach the main hall."

"Let's split up," Natsume said, pointing to the right.

"I'll take this path."

"Then I'll go left!" Ash charged off eagerly.

Boom!

An explosion went off. Ash was left blackened like charcoal, with Pikachu tumbling off his shoulder in shock.

"What is this?!"

He looked down to see a Voltorb.

Meanwhile, Natsume floated deeper inside.

Perhaps because he was levitating, most of the traps didn't activate.

Finding it boring, he landed, curious about what tricks were hidden here.

Suddenly, a shadow lunged at him.

Thud!

A Venonat collapsed to the ground.

Natsume blinked, glancing between the brick in his hand and the fainted Venonat.

With a flick of psychic power, he lifted it into the air.

Before he could study it further, a worried voice called out ahead.

"Venonat!"

A beautiful woman appeared from around the corner.

"Venonat, what happened to you?"

She was dressed like a ninja—short dark-green hair with streaks of color, half her face covered, clad in sleek black-and-purple attire. Charms and talismans hung at her waist, her sharp eyes giving off a commanding aura.

Her expression hardened as she looked at Natsume.

"What did you do to our Venonat? Why is it floating?"

"I saw it asleep on the ground and didn't want it catching a chill," Natsume said without changing his expression.

"Really?" She gave him a suspicious look but found nothing odd.

There was a bump on Venonat's head—maybe it had hit something while running.

"I'm Janine, the Gym Leader'daughter. Come with me."

Janine spoke as she held Venonat in her arms and turned to walk deeper inside.

"I heard Fuchsia Gym requires challengers to pass trials?" Natsume tilted his head and asked.

"The left passage is filled with traps. As a ninja, sharp perception is essential," Janine replied coldly while stroking the Venonat in her arms.

"I see. Then what about this passage?"

"The right passage has no traps. For a ninja, luck is also an important factor in survival."

"..."

Natsume fell silent.

So there weren't any traps here at all.

He had thought they were simply too clever for his psychic scan to detect.

Following Janine's lead, Natsume soon arrived at an open courtyard.

"Alright. There's one more challenger. Once he arrives, the match can begin," Janine said, then stood quietly with her eyes closed, conserving her energy.

Outside, Giselle's phone rang.

"Natsume said the right passage is safe. We can go in," Giselle reminded the others.

"Huh? Should we call Ash back?" Misty glanced toward the left, but Ash was already out of sight.

"Let's trust him. Ash has plenty of stamina and strength. We should head inside and wait," Brock agreed with a firm nod.

You can read more (around 100+ 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.