When Natsume arrived at the rest area, he was taken aback.
The entire summit of Mt. Moon was filled with injured Clefairy. As he walked by, he saw several researchers rushing among them, busy with their work.
Natsume froze in place, his memory flashing back to last night.
It seemed there had been some commotion outside, but at the time, he had been in the middle of working on circuits and hadn't paid it much attention.
*I remember now… in the original story, Team Rocket would try to steal the Moon Stone here.*
Realizing this, Natsume understood that the injured Clefairy must be the aftermath of Team Rocket's mischief last night.
"I'll handle this."
Suppressing his desire to find a battle partner, Natsume stopped a researcher carrying an injured Clefairy.
"Please don't get in my way," the researcher said, his tone unkind.
"I can help," Natsume replied, showing his ID.
The researcher hesitated, then handed over the Clefairy, saying,
"Take this group. I'll go look for the ones that hid after getting hurt."
Natsume took the Clefairy into his arms. It was unconscious, with several bruises—one of the more severely injured ones.
"Rotom, Pokéball form!"
He tossed the custom Pokéball into the air, and a yellow flash enveloped the Clefairy.
"Use the Healing Ball on this Clefairy!"
He had named the three ??? moves as Curse Sphere, Healing Ball, and Doomspear.
A green light shot from the core of Pokéball Rotom, surrounding the Clefairy.
*Whoosh!*
Like capturing a Pokémon, the Clefairy was absorbed into Pokéball Rotom. The fragments of red-and-white ball merged, glowing with a soft green light.
Moments later, the Clefairy was released in a green glow.
"Clefairy?"
Now awake, the Clefairy looked around curiously at the floating Pokéball Rotom.
"Let's see how this move works in reality," Natsume said, crouching to take notes and carefully observing the Clefairy's condition.
Since he wanted a battle later, he was most curious about how these three game-mechanics moves would function in real life. Reality and game mechanics were different; in-game, each move could only be used once per battle area per day. Combined with the natural curiosity of researchers, Natsume recorded everything meticulously.
"Hm, the healing effect… seems to exceed the claimed 50%," he murmured, gesturing to the Clefairy lying on the ground behind him.
"Rotom, use the Healing Ball on these Clefairy in sequence."
One by one, green light beams appeared, and each Clefairy was absorbed and then released.
Soon, nearly ten Clefairy of various sizes surrounded Natsume.
"Hm, in reality, it seems lower-level Pokémon heal more easily?"
Based on their levels, injury severity, and recovery, Natsume drew a preliminary conclusion.
*Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy…*
At some point, the rescued Clefairy began circling Natsume, performing a strange dance.
More accurately, they danced around the floating Pokéball Rotom, as if performing a ritual.
"Hm? What are you doing?" Natsume asked, puzzled.
Clefairy do perform certain rituals, but only at night during a full moon.
"I think these Clefairy are treating your strange Pokémon as a Moon God," a cheerful voice said behind him.
Turning, Natsume saw a young man in a red combat coat, his bright red hair as fiery as his demeanor, and behind him, a large Dragon Pokémon Natsume recognized well.
"Oh—you're… you're that one!" Natsume exclaimed, realization dawning.
"Yes, that's me," Lance smiled and nodded.
"That's the Flying-type Ace Trainer, Lance!"
The words slipped out of Natsume's mouth.
Lance: "…?"
"Natsume, Lance is the Dragon-type Ace Trainer," Ash's voice followed immediately.
Behind him, Brock and Misty appeared, each holding a Clefairy, seemingly having participated in the rescue earlier.
"Oh, my bad—slipped out. Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Natsume," he said, nodding toward Lance.
It was inevitable; before being transported here, he had spent some time as a Pokémon content creator online. As the most devoted fan of Dragon-type Ace Trainers, saying Lance's *Flying-type* nickname came naturally to him.
"…Who would casually call him a Flying-type Ace Trainer?"
Lance didn't believe it. He studied Natsume intently, memorizing the young man's face.
"Lance, after we finish rescuing these Clefairy, may I challenge you?" Ash asked eagerly, tending to the Clefairy in his hands.
"Hmm…"
Lance looked slightly troubled. Normally, he would never withhold guidance from a newcomer challenging him. He often carried a few freshly raised low-level Pokémon during outings for such situations.
But this time was different—he was on an important mission for the League. He needed to maintain his full strength.
Almost all of Lance's Pokémon with him were his top choices. Ash would be crushed.
To prevent Ash from becoming disheartened, Lance pointed at the Pokéball Rotom floating near Natsume, trying to change the subject:
"Aren't you curious? Such a remarkable Pokémon—why not let Natsume here explain it to us?"
Misty and Brock both turned to look at Pokéball Rotom. Ash, however, kept his gaze fixed on Lance.
Lance rubbed his forehead in exasperation, but just then, something unexpected happened.
*Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy…*
The Clefairy's voices grew louder. At some point, they had begun gathering around Natsume.
The Clefairy hopped in unison around him, performing a strange, orderly dance, as if conducting a mysterious ritual.
"Ah, even the ones that hid are coming out!" Ash exclaimed, delighted.
Lance had assigned the trio to locate the injured Clefairy that had hidden during last night's chaos. But most had become very skittish, making them hard to find. Now, they were voluntarily gathering.
"Looks like Lance was right—the Clefairy are treating Natsume's Rotom as a Moon God," Brock said, a hint of awe in his voice.
*Rotom, huh…*
Lance's sharp eyes caught the keyword in Brock's words. To his knowledge, Rotom had no such form. Wait—that person's name is Natsume!
"Why are they treating Rotom as the Moon God?"
*It couldn't just be because Rotom rescued them, could it?*
Natsume stroked his chin, his curiosity driving him to think about the strange events unfolding before him.
"Never mind. Rotom, use the Healing Ball on these injured Clefairy first!"
With a wave of his hand, dozens of green light beams shot out.
You can read more (around 50+ free chapters) of Natsume's adventure ad-free here[https://ravenarchives.com/book/pokemon-who-let-him-leave-pallet-town]. Bulk uploads is a mess here, so updates here might be irregular.