Pokémon: Who told him to come out of Pallet Town!

Chapter 19: I Want to Be the Principal!

"Skin!!!!!"

Pewter City, Pokémon Center, backyard.

Every now and then, Pikachu's agonizing screams could be heard, drawing strange looks from passersby who wondered if some scumbag trainer was abusing Pokémon inside.

"Um, Mr. Natsume, is your Pikachu really alright like this?"

Miss Joey walked by carrying a tray, glancing with some concern at the backyard.

At the far end of the backyard, near the wall of the Pokémon Center, a Pikachu was bound handcuffed to a chair covered in electrical wires.

Amidst the tangled mess of wires, a thin wire extends, connecting to a special ammeter, leading towards the Pokémon Center and plugging into a socket.

Clearly, those piercing screams came from this Pikachu.

"Mr. Natsume, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Miss Joey approached and said with a heavy heart.

"Skin--"

Whether intentionally or not, the man with the middle parting shouted even louder.

Natsume reluctantly took off his sunglasses, put down his newspaper, and walked towards his "painful" middle-parted-hair opponent.

"Bang!"

Natsume tapped on the middle-parted hair, and the current spread through his body, making his hair stand on end. "Stop pretending, this level of current can't even hurt me."

The pained expression on his face, with his middle parting, vanished completely, replaced by a guilty look of being exposed.

"Pikachu, Pikachu..."

"From now on, you will need to follow my plan for daily electrical stimulation training. The intensity will gradually increase. This will only benefit you and will not do you any harm. You will see in a month."

Natsume looked at the chair under the man with the middle parting and stroked his chin.

Well... with limited materials, he could only manage to rub the rocket chair to this extent by hand, and the current intensity was less than one-tenth of what Pikachu experienced yesterday.

"Pee~"

With his head down, the person with the middle parting looked resigned to their fate.

It just wants to stay in the Poké Ball and sleep soundly.

Unexpectedly, the devilish voice rang out again:

"Also, from now on you'll train with Ash every day. I'll have him teach you. If you dare not go, your daily electric stimulation time will be doubled!"

"Pikachu!"

The man with the middle parting got anxious upon hearing this.

This can't be doubled! Sitting here, I feel all tingly and sleepy, but every now and then I get a jolt of electricity, making it impossible to fall asleep. It's pure torture.

"I need to mail something. Miss Joey, could you please look after this child for me?"

"Oh, okay."

Seeing the dramatic change in expression on the man with the center-parted hair, Miss Joey nodded in a daze.

Natsume walked out of the Pokémon Center and turned to walk towards the Pewter City Science Museum.

Ash has already excitedly gone to challenge Brock. Taking advantage of this break, Natsume plans to mail the Wishing Star to Professor Oak, asking him to commission Professor Magnolia to make him a Max Bracer.

It would be too much trouble for him to make it by hand; he would have to go back to Oak's lab.

Normal post offices don't know how to store wishing stars, and it's not safe either, so Natsume plans to ask the people at the Pewter City Science Museum to help him deliver them to Professor Oak.

Stepping into the Nibi City Science Museum, one is immediately struck by countless fossil skeletons. If Xiaoxia were here, she would probably be too scared to look.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

As soon as Natsume entered, he went straight upstairs, where a staff member in a white coat stopped him.

He was a young man with dry hair and a bluish chin, who seemed to neglect his appearance.

"Hello, I'm Shoko, a researcher at the Nibi City Science Museum. Only staff members are allowed on the second floor."

The young man took out his identification and introduced himself to Natsume.

"Oki Research Institute, Natsume."

Natsume also took out his ID.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the documents were presented, Shoko's eyes lit up.

"You're the researcher who proposed the Rotom-Natsume Theorem. I've read your articles; I didn't expect you to be so young!"

Shoko was surprisingly excited, and a warm expression appeared on her face.

"Yes...it's me."

Natsume scratched his head and stared intently at the young man in front of him.

Shoko felt a little uneasy under his gaze, and after shrinking back, she finally spoke:

"Mr. Natsume, what brings you here? I can help you with anything!"

Shoko patted her chest, looking like she had me covered.

"I would like to ask you to send something."

"This must be a very important research finding, right? Please come with me."

Shoko isn't stupid either. Since Natsume was able to find this place, she naturally had a general idea of ​​what the other party wanted to send.

With the green light from the glass all the way, Natsume quickly mailed out the packaged wishing star.

"Um, Mr. Natsume!"

At the entrance of the Nibi City Science Museum, Shoko called out to Natsume.

"What's up?" Natsume turned around and gave the other person a strange look. This guy had been incredibly enthusiastic from the moment he walked in, and when they were together, he always felt like the other person was holding something back.

"Well, I'm also researching Rotom, could you give me some pointers?"

As she spoke, Shoko handed a stack of documents to Natsume, looking at the pioneer on Rotom's path of innovation with hopeful eyes.

Yes, that's right, Natsume is the founder.

In particular, the Rotom-Natsume Law he proposed is the most basic Rotom fusion form rating index.

Professor Oak wouldn't be a doctoral advisor to an ordinary researcher.

"That's right. My research focuses on the optimal circuit solution for Rotom in plasma transformation when integrating high-power electrical appliances, but due to the lack of Rotom, my current research is still in the theoretical stage..."

With just one glance, Natsume knew what Shoko was thinking.

When Rotom enters different electrical appliances, it becomes the "electricity" that drives those appliances in a plasma state, thus achieving a fusion of new forms.

However, the same Rotom, when operating the same electrical appliance through different circuits, will exhibit different power values.

This was something Natsume briefly mentioned in his top-tier journal paper; I never expected that this kid would actually go and study it in more detail.

If things go as expected, there should also be papers on low-power electrical appliances, optimal circuit solutions for high-frequency electrical appliances, etc.

Seemingly realizing that the source of her paper had been discovered, Shoko blushed slightly and said:

"Mr. Natsume, you're now an idol to us mid-to-lower-level researchers! Your work has paved a vast path to success. We only need to focus on a few minor details to graduate as researchers!"

Upon hearing this, Natsume's eyes lit up.

Has he become an idol for mid- to low-level researchers?

On second thought, this is normal, since the general direction of ordinary Pokémon research papers has been almost completely researched.

Natsume's bold and decisive actions have created a huge gap in the market.

He was to create the Rotom mech, a task that involved a tremendous amount of work, especially the verification of theoretical experiments.

Can multiple Rotoms work together to control a giant mech? Will the physical and chemical properties change when ordinary materials are fused with Rotom...?

What kind of Rotom collaboration mode is the most efficient?

How should the circuit operate in cooperative mode?

A general direction can be broken down into countless smaller directions, which can be further subdivided into several smaller directions, and some of these smaller directions can be further subdivided... until finally, it is subdivided into the "Optimal Circuit Solution of Rotom in the Integration of High-Power Electrical Appliances" proposed by Glass.

Natsume conservatively estimates that he would need to come up with over a thousand topics.

He'd be exhausted if he did everything himself!

"Um, Mr. Natsume?"

Seeing that Natsume didn't speak and Shoko's excitement had subsided, he realized that he had, to some extent, plagiarized someone else's idea, and his face couldn't help but turn red.

"Your idea is excellent. In fact, Rotom can be replaced with a Pokémon that can precisely control the intensity of the electric current..."

Natsume realized what was happening and patiently explained to the glass in front of him.

He suddenly realized today that he seemed to have made use of all those mid- to low-level researchers in the entire region...

What those people lack is simply the insight of someone like Shoko; they simply can't find a clear direction.

Those junior researchers might not be able to find one, but he, as the pioneer, could. Natsume could point out a clear research direction for them.

Natsume made up his mind that he would organize an exchange meeting sometime... no, he would start a school. He wanted to be the school tyrant... oops, I mean the principal!