Chapter 191. The Central AI Came to Life
Natsume looked down.
In his arms, an electronic monitor tilted up as well.
On the monitor, a big smiling yellow-bean face appeared.
"Are you the deconstructor? Or the gravity differential apparatus, or—"
Each time Natsume said a name, his eyes flicked to where that instrument was placed.
However, after reciting every device with a screen, Natsume was astonished to find that none of them were missing!
"Where did you come from!"
Natsume stared at the electronic monitor before him.
He was certain this monitor had been affected by the black fog and had come to life!
"Who am I—that's a philosophical question."
The electronic monitor wriggled free of Natsume's arms, and the smiling yellow-bean face changed into a thinking yellow-bean face with glasses.
It raised itself high, as if pondering Natsume's words.
Natsume's gaze snapped to the long mechanical cable holding it up.
Supported by that slender cable, the monitor poised in midair like a cobra lifting its head.
Following the cable, Natsume could see it winding out through a cable-management hole in the lab, destination unknown.
Not all of Professor Oak's Laboratory's equipment was housed inside the lab.
Anything needing constant ventilation and cooling was usually placed outdoors.
"You are… the central AI?"
"I am not the central AI—wait, I am the central AI!"
Seeing Natsume pick up a pair of pliers and clamp the cable, the screen hastily corrected itself.
"Then shall we continue?"
Natsume looked at it, eyes blazing, and beckoned Rotom as he walked out of the lab.
As a precaution, Natsume cut power to every device he could, and the electronic screen instantly went dark.
After carefully locking up the lab, Natsume headed to Professor Oak's Laboratory's Poké Ball storage room.
Soon, a vast room lined with custom racks, each filled with Poké Balls, came into view.
A wave of chill air hit as he stepped inside, and Natsume shivered, glancing at the racks.
The racks hugged the walls, crammed with Poké Balls, and cables sprouted beneath them, gradually converging toward the center of the room.
Natsume followed the cables straight ahead.
There stood a massive rectangular structure.
As he approached, a wave of heat washed over him.
One hundred and twenty-eight dark-gray cabinets were arrayed in a honeycomb matrix.
Each 2.2-meter-tall cabinet's surface was perforated with a fine honeycomb of cooling vents.
Beside the sprawling structure was a screen.
Natsume glanced at its temperature readout, then turned his eyes back to the machine.
Its anodized aluminum frame caught the cold white ceiling lights with a subdued metallic sheen.
Across each cabinet's face, the hot-swappable node indicators formed a flowing blue-green spectrum that complemented the amber gauges of the sealed liquid-cooling distribution units nearly 1.5 meters tall at the top—industrial aesthetics in motion.
"First time I've realized—you actually look pretty good."
"Thanks for the compliment."
The monitoring screen changed abruptly, a smiling yellow-bean face popping up.
"All right, tell me—how do we fix Rotom's problem? Don't tell me I should dismantle you and stuff you in there."
The central AI didn't answer.
The bean face vanished, and a Pokémon profile popped up instead.
"[Porygon, the Virtual Pokémon—an artificial Pokémon born within algorithmic data streams as human technology advanced.]"
"You mean, have a Porygon enter the chip first and coordinate with Rotom?"
"Yes. In theory, it's feasible."
Feasible in theory—entirely feasible.
Natsume grew excited.
How had he forgotten Porygon!
But his excitement cooled at once.
There didn't seem to be a Porygon at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"A while back, a Trainer transferred in a Porygon. It's in Warehouse No. 2."
At the same time, among the mass of cables spreading out from it in all directions, one suddenly lit up.
Natsume knew this meant it was transmitting a Poké Ball.
Much of the lab's equipment was tied into the central AI—lab recorders, the Pokémon transfer device outside, communications units, even the various monitors distributed across the grounds of Professor Oak's Laboratory—all governed by its preset routines.
"Counter 128, third row, sixth column."
The central AI's voice sounded, light flickered in Natsume's eyes, and in an instant he located the transferred Poké Ball.
With a thought, the red-and-white ball flew to him.
"A Porygon with Analytic is best suited to handle chip data flows."
"But it doesn't seem to have Analytic."
Natsume looked at the bewildered Porygon and shook his head slightly.
Analytic is a Hidden Ability.
Clearly, his luck wasn't that good.
No matter.
He only needed Porygon to cooperate a little to run a preliminary test of the theory.
In the end, he would capture a Porygon himself anyway—he could haggle over optimal Porygon builds then.
"Hello there."
Natsume crouched and greeted Porygon.
Its whole body was all clean angles.
Though it stood on level ground, it wobbled slightly like a little rubber duck afloat.
It was like a 3D-printed figure, eyes vacant, giving off a peculiar impression.
Hearing Natsume's voice, Porygon turned its head blankly.
"Here's the deal. Your Trainer enrolled you in a compute-capacity training course."
At some point—he didn't even know when—Natsume had switched into a business suit.
As he spoke, he beckoned to Rotom at his side.
Rotom understood and came over.
Thump, thump, thump!
Motorbike Rotom took slow, heavy steps as it approached.
Startled by the colossal machine it had never seen before, Porygon scooted back again and again.
Rotom crouched, its chest opening to reveal the enormous chip inside.
Bzzzt—
Porygon froze, emitting a current-like sound.
Its vacant eyes flashed with a spark as it stared fixedly at Rotom's chest.
For a Pokémon like Porygon, the best training—aside from battles—is to let it live within massive data streams.
The former cultivates combat sense; the latter can make Porygon's overall capabilities soar!
Some Porygon Trainers even donate generous sums to research labs just to let their Porygon live inside a lab's central AI for a while.
The chip Natsume had applied for might not match the central AI, but it wasn't something ordinary people could access.
For Porygon, it was fatally tempting!
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