Chapter 118: Psyduck's Happy Hammer

"Let's continue!"

Koga directed Venomoth to dodge Charmander's attacks while keeping an eye on Natsume.

"Venomoth, fly higher!" Koga ordered, assuming paralysis was hindering it.

Venomoth nearly reached Rotom's height, but suddenly its body began to wobble.

"Venomoth!"

Like a falling leaf, it tumbled down.

"What?" Koga was shocked.

Even as a Venonat, this Pokémon had been trained to follow commands despite confusion, making it highly reliable. Koga, of course, was cautious about status moves.

"Use Thunderbolt consecutively!" Natsume commanded.

One bolt after another fell from the sky. Venomoth tried to dodge but had nowhere to go. Its body sparked with electricity intermittently.

Under the continuous assault, Venomoth collapsed.

"Return, Venomoth."

Koga focused all his energy on battling Ash, who immediately felt the pressure.

Natsume recalled Rotom and, having some free time, headed toward the site of the earlier explosion.

"Mr. Natsume, why did Venomoth fall mid-flight?"

Seeing Natsume leave, Giselle, carrying a sleeping Midchu, hurried to catch up.

"Do you know why moth and butterfly Pokémon with large wings usually live in forests?" Natsume asked calmly.

"Because their wings can't withstand strong winds; they need trees for cover," Giselle replied.

"And your book mentioned Mr. Bill's research: on certain islands, moths and butterfly Pokémon with damaged wings survive better," she added.

"So, Mr. Natsume, did you teach Rotom a Flying-type move?" Giselle asked in surprise.

"No, there just happened to be wind today," Natsume said, pointing to the sky.

Before they reached the site, Natsume sensed faint Psychic activity.

Moments later, Team Rocket simultaneously used Flying-type moves, soaring across the sky.

Natsume squinted at the two Pokémon behind them: Arbok and Weezing—both fully evolved.

What about the Gyarados for James? He didn't even use it. Natsume frowned, thinking James was wasting his trusted Pokémon.

"We'll be back!"

From the sky, a large sack fell from James's hands. Natsume caught it with Psychic powers, discovering over a dozen Voltorbs inside.

Team Rocket had come to restock on the Voltorbs used as traps in the Fuchsia Gym.

…Imagine what Gioviani's expression would be if Meowth and the others actually delivered this.

"Psyduck, don't embarrass yourself!"

From afar, Misty's angry shout echoed.

Approaching, they saw Misty red-faced, shouting loudly without pause. At her feet, a yellow Psyduck held its face, tilting its head in utter confusion.

"I was trying to call Starmie!" Misty muttered, covering her face.

"Don't say that! Psyduck at least delayed Arbok," Brock reassured her.

Misty was speechless. She had intended to send out Starmie, but Psyduck had appeared instead.

She couldn't believe it—Psyduck didn't even know a single Water-type move!

Misty felt like the sky had collapsed when she realized.

Regaining her composure, she saw Psyduck waddling its way, delivering itself right into Arbok's mouth.

Arbok wasted no time and began swallowing in huge bites.

Luckily, Natsume intervened midway, or Misty might never have seen Psyduck again.

"What happened?" Giselle stepped forward, worried someone was hurt.

"Nothing, thank you, Natsume," Misty said, bowing slightly in gratitude.

"You're welcome," Natsume replied, nodding. Though he didn't know why Misty was thanking him, it was better to accept it.

"Alright, now you all need to explain how you made Team Rocket fly," Natsume said, turning to them with mild surprise.

"Koga, didn't you use Psychic to lift Team Rocket?" Brock suddenly asked.

"Not me," Natsume shook his head.

Then he noticed Psyduck, with a large bite mark on its head—clearly Arbok's doing.

"It was Psyduck. Even though it's a Water-type, it can use some Psychic-type moves," Natsume explained.

"What? Really? But…"

Misty still couldn't accept that Psyduck didn't know a single Water move.

"Well, I guess this Psyduck's talents lean more toward Psychic-type," Brock offered to console her.

"Alright then," Misty said, seeing a silver lining. She decided she'd train Psyduck in the Psychic direction from now on.

"But how should I train it?" she asked, awkwardly looking at Natsume. She had read plenty of guides for Water-type Pokémon, but none applied to her Psyduck.

"Here." Natsume handed her a brick.

"Huh? What am I supposed to do with this?" Misty asked, puzzled.

"Hit it," Natsume said, smacking Psyduck's head with the brick.

"Hey! That's too much!" Misty protested.

But Psyduck, seeing the brick, wiggled its tail and raised its rear toward her instead.

Misty gripped the brick, veins bulging, nearly losing her temper.

Natsume crouched and patted Psyduck's head.

Unfortunately, her Psyduck wasn't a special Pokémon. He had examined him alongside Dragonite.

"When Psyduck's head is stimulated, it releases Psychic energy," Natsume explained.

"Training Psyduck is unique. You can't follow standard Water-type methods. The usual way is to smack its head daily, which strengthens its Psychic moves."

"Even if it doesn't gain the Psychic type itself, the moves it learns are as strong as a typical Psychic-type attack."

Misty's eyes lit up as Natsume spoke.

"Here's a related research paper," Natsume said, showing his phone to Misty.

Brock and Giselle crowded over to see.

"Oh! This was published by Mr. Bill!" Brock exclaimed.

"Wow, it even includes training cycles," Giselle nodded in approval.

"Alright, I've sent it to you," Natsume said, transferring the article to Misty's Pokédex.

The more she read, the more excited Misty became—until a sudden realization struck her.

This was Natsume.

"Are you sure a brick will work?" Misty asked skeptically.

She couldn't believe that an experiment described in a research paper would use something as crude as a brick.

"I think it's the same," Natsume nodded.

"Hmph, I knew something was off," Misty said triumphantly.

"So what's the most professional method?" she asked curiously.

Seeing her so persistent, Natsume searched online and showed her a picture.

It was a small hammer.

"Here, the most professional method is this," he said.

Misty frowned and read the technical name aloud:

"Psyduck Cranial Stress Application Hammer."

Suddenly, her eyes landed on the price in the picture.

"12,345… so many zeros!" Misty cried, holding her head in shock.

"I usually call it the Psyduck Happy Hammer, or Bill Bankruptcy Hammer," Natsume said, pausing.

"It's expensive because every Psyduck's cranial pressure is different, so each hammer has to be custom-made."

"You need to take your Psyduck to the lab for measurement, then have it crafted by specialists."

"In short, it's a complicated process, costly, and can't be mass-produced."

"Bill once thought he could make a fortune selling these, but so far only three have been sold."

"Some people found the effect wasn't much different from a brick, so he completely shut himself off at the lighthouse."

Natsume waved his hand.

"Alright, I get it," Misty said dejectedly, picking up the brick she had set on the ground.

"Psyduck, I'll find one that suits you perfectly soon," she said sincerely.

The Psyduck wiggling its tail paused and stiffly turned to look at her.

It didn't understand what she meant, but it had a bad feeling about it.

Pika-pi—

Giselle, holding Midchu, opened his eyes with a gloating expression.

Finally, he wasn't the only one being persecuted by Natsume's training plans.

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.