Time passed without notice, and it was already ten in the morning. Natsui's group remained in the restaurant, waiting for the expert Officer Jenny had mentioned.
Sitting by the window, through the glass, Natsui saw a female TV reporter doing a live broadcast in front of a camera outside the Pokémon Center.
He heard her say, "…Continuing with our earlier report, we are now deep within Greenfield. In this place, which has always been known for its lush greenery and peace, an unprecedented and strange event has occurred. The source of this event has been confirmed to be the residence of the renowned Johto region professor—Professor Spencer Hale. At present, the details are still unclear… We are waiting here for the arrival of experts, hoping they can…"
The news broadcast had a delay of only a few seconds. Before the female reporter had even finished speaking, Natsui had already seen the report on the restaurant's TV.
Now, the entire Johto region probably knows about this. And any new development here will be transmitted by the reporters to the countless viewers in front of their TVs.
After waiting in the restaurant for another ten minutes or so and drinking a few cups of coffee, perhaps out of sheer boredom, Lisa suddenly walked up to Natsui.
"Hey, I heard from that little girl over there that your Pokémon are very strong. Since we're just waiting around anyway, do you want to have a battle with me?"
Hearing there was a battle, Ash immediately perked up. He left his seat and also ran up to Natsui, his eyes shining as he looked at him. "Big Brother Natsui! To be honest, I've always wanted to have another battle with you. Hehe, after coming to Johto, I've also caught a lot of reliable partners. I was just hoping to show them to you."
Looking at the two confident individuals, Natsui stood up and stretched widely.
"No problem. Waiting like this is indeed a bit boring. Let's have a battle then. But since you both want to battle me, I don't know who to accept first. How about this: since there are so many of us here today, why don't we have a three-on-three battle?"
"Three-on-three?"
Natsui nodded. "Aren't there exactly six of us right now? Let's just split into two teams and have a fun free-for-all."
"Yeah, yeah!" Misty was the first to agree, chirping, "I want to be on the same team as Natsui."
Hearing about a free-for-all, Ash and the others all became interested. To be honest, they had done 1v1 and 2v2 battles, but never a 3v3.
Just then, Brock, who had somehow regained his spirits, seemed to want to get back at Natsui for his earlier teasing. He ran up to the group and said with a supportive look, "In that case, I'll be on the same team as Ash."
Perhaps seeing that everyone was very interested, Erika felt it would be rude to refuse. After a moment's hesitation, she joined Natsui's team.
And the remaining Lisa naturally joined Ash's team.
After forming the teams, the group left the Pokémon Center and went to the open-air battlefield behind it, each standing in their respective trainer's boxes.
To Natsui's left was Misty, and to his right was Erika. Opposite them, Ash stood in the middle, with Brock and Lisa on either side of him.
Except for Natsui and Erika, everyone else was rubbing their hands together, extremely excited for the upcoming battle.
And as for Erika, she was originally the dignified type and normally wouldn't participate in such a battle. But at this moment, being with these people, her mindset had unknowingly become more lively.
Noticing this change in herself, Erika couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Well… forget it. I'll just consider it as relaxing.
On the other side, Ash was rubbing his hands together and said excitedly, "Big Brother Natsui, what are the rules for this match?"
Natsui thought for a moment. "Each of us will send out two Pokémon, for a total of six Pokémon per team on the field at the same time. Whichever side still has Pokémon standing at the end wins."
"I get it!"
Just then, Misty reminded him in a low voice from the side, "Be careful, Natsui. Ms. Lisa is really strong. When she battled Ash before, they even went to a tie-breaker with their sixth Pokémon. In the end, Ash only won by a fluke."
Oh? An even match with Ash?
Natsui nodded and then gave Misty a smile.
"It's fine. Even if the opponents are strong, we're not weak either."
Seeing that there were no more questions, Natsui signaled for the match to begin, and both sides released their Pokémon at the same time.
Natsui sent out Larvitar and Dragonair. Erika sent out her Leafeon and Tangela.
As for Misty, she had originally wanted to send out her Starmie and Poliwag. But she had just released Starmie, and before she could take out the second Poké Ball, with a flash of blue light, Psyduck had come out on its own, uncommanded.
Looking at the dazed Psyduck, who still hadn't figured out the situation, Misty held her forehead, speechless.
"You idiot! Why did you sneak out on your own again!?"
She had wanted to recall Psyduck, but by a stroke of bad luck, it had hidden behind a few other Pokémon. After two more failed attempts to capture it, Misty, fuming, simply gave up and, in a fit of frustration, sent it into battle.
Looking at the other side.
Brock sent out his Onix and his Golbat. And Lisa sent out her Aipom and a Quagsire.
As for Ash, he sent out Pikachu and a Noctowl of a very unusual color.
This Noctowl was clearly a shiny Pokémon.
An ordinary Noctowl was brownish-brown, but this shiny Noctowl of Ash's was golden.
At that moment, under the sunlight, the shiny Noctowl's feathers shone with a golden luster, looking very dazzling.
It had to be said, Natsui was truly a bit envious.
To think that even Ash had caught a shiny Pokémon, but he himself had been traveling for so long and had yet to encounter a single one.
Sigh, it can't be helped. After all, shiny Pokémon are something you can only hope to encounter by chance.
However, the size of Ash's Noctowl was slightly smaller than an ordinary one. But having seen the anime, Natsui knew that, in contrast, its mind was very sharp.
Just then, Erika, beside him, pointed to her Leafeon and thanked Natsui. "Look, it's thanks to the Leaf Stone you gave me back then that my Eevee was able to evolve into Leafeon."
The Leaf Stone Erika was talking about was the prize Natsui had won from the Eevee brothers when he passed through Stone Town.
Originally, the Leaf Stone had been thrown to the bottom of his backpack. It was only later, when he met Erika in the wild, that he gave it to her. He had already forgotten about this matter, and it was only now that she mentioned it that he remembered.
"Don't worry about it," Natsui smiled. "It's called putting things to good use. It was useless in my hands anyway. I'm glad it could help you."
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