Chapter 126:The Story of Annihilape and the Arrival of Pokémon Contests!

"I'm definitely interested."

Natsume patted the Vaporeon that had approached him.

Natsume had a strong Eevee scent about him, which easily attracted the curiosity of Eevee-type Pokémon.

"Actually, I plan to visit the Cloudtop Secret Realm right after finishing the first round of evaluations today."

Onami had a look of "I knew it" on her face. "Then I can have the Lady Owner introduce you to it."

"Cottonee."

While Natsume and Onami were chatting, a group of Cottonee floated over, carrying Natsume's lunch on their heads.

Natsume reached out and took the food from their heads, placing it on the table.

"Thank you, great job, Cottonee."

"Cottonee."

The Cottonee beamed with happiness at the compliment.

Dragonite walked over, grabbed a handful of food from the plate, and popped it into its mouth.

"Dragonite."

Dragonite's eyes lit up slightly.

Delicious!

Dragonite looked at the food on the plate with a bit of a dilemma, then glanced at Natsume.

Dragonite felt that it could finish all of that food by itself.

Natsume could tell what Dragonite was thinking from its expression.

"Is it good, Dragonite?"

Dragonite nodded eagerly.

Natsume smiled and said, "In that case, I’ll order you a set meal."

"Dragonite."

Natsume patted Dragonite's belly and then turned to the nearby Cottonee. "I'll need you to run another errand."

"Cottonee~"

Cottonee nodded and floated off toward the kitchen.

Watching the Cottonee floating around in the courtyard, no matter how bad your mood was today, you could always find some healing.

Before long, the Lady Owner of the restaurant walked over to Natsume and the others.

"Natsume, the gym leader, what do you think of our place?"

Natsume nodded and replied, "It's great."

"Both the taste of the ingredients and the atmosphere in the restaurant are wonderful."

"I think I'll be coming here often in the future."

The Lady Owner smiled and said, "Getting the recognition of Natsume, the gym leader, means I must be doing quite well here."

Natsume looked at the Lady Owner with curiosity. "Do you know me?"

Natsume had never introduced himself to her, but it sounded like she was already well aware of who he was.

The Lady Owner replied, "Although it’s my first time meeting you, I don’t think anyone in Hokkaido wouldn’t know Natsume, the gym leader."

Unbeknownst to Natsume, he had already become quite a well-known figure.

The Lady Owner looked at Natsume and said, "Just now, Onami's younger sister mentioned that you want to go to the Cloudtop Secret Realm, right?"

Natsume nodded, "Yes."

"If you find a suitable Pokémon, I’d like to take them to my farm."

Hearing Natsume say this, the Lady Owner showed a hint of hesitation. "If it’s Natsume, the gym leader, I think there’s a Pokémon that would be perfect for your gym."

Natsume's farm gym is a regional-level gym, and there are only eight in the entire Eastern Region.

It was clear that the Lady Owner understood the situation of Natsume's gym.

Natsume asked curiously, "Are you talking about a Fighting-type Pokémon?"

"Yes."

The Lady Owner nodded. "Because it seems that Natsume, the gym leader's gym, intends to focus on Fighting types."

"That’s why I think it would be a great fit for you."

Natsume became interested. "What species is that Pokémon?"

The Lady Owner took a deep breath. "It's Annihilape."

"A Fighting and Ghost-type Pokémon, the evolution of Primeape."

The combination of Fighting and Ghost types is quite rare.

"However, that child is very aggressive, and most people can’t even approach it."

"I’ve only seen it a few times when I was delivering food to my husband."

Natsume asked curiously, "What crime did its Trainer commit?"

The Lady Owner shook her head slightly. "Its Trainer didn’t commit a crime."

"No crime?"

Natsume asked, confused. "Then why was it locked up?"

"For murder."

The Lady Owner sighed as she spoke.

"That was the story before Annihilape evolved."

"At that time, it was still a Primeape."

"Its previous Trainer was also a Trainer."

"That Trainer was very lucky to find a Rock-type treasure—Hard Stone—in the secret realm."

"But someone affiliated with Future Technology claimed that the Trainer stole this treasure from him."

"Later, investigators got involved."

"The investigation concluded that the treasure was indeed discovered by the Future Technology employee first."

The Lady Owner's voice wasn’t loud, but those around could hear.

The formerly lively courtyard had quieted down without anyone noticing.

"What happened next?"

An impatient customer couldn’t help but ask.

"What happened after that?"

The Lady Owner replied, "That Trainer, of course, was not satisfied with the judgment, so he appealed."

"However, unfortunately, during the investigation, that Trainer suffered a raid from wild Pokémon."

"He tragically lost his life in the raid."

A wave of shock swept through the crowd.

"Wait, he died?"

"Isn't that a bit too coincidental?!"

Another male customer suddenly said, "Lady Owner, you’re not talking about the ghost Pokémon attack that happened three years ago at the Future Technology building in Sakura City, are you?"

"What? What happened?"

The surrounding customers quickly turned to the man who spoke.

He explained, "I don’t know the details very clearly."

"I just know there was a Ghost-type Pokémon that infiltrated the Future Technology branch in Sakura City."

"That Ghost-type Pokémon killed several high-ranking executives at the branch."

"I heard that it was only after the Takekawa gym leader intervened that the Ghost-type Pokémon was captured."

The Lady Owner glanced at the speaking man and said, "That's the case."

"However, the difference is that it was still a Primeape when it happened."

"It evolved into Annihilape during the battle."

Hearing this, the customers began discussing among themselves.

They were debating whether there was an issue with the official investigation results or if there were other underlying circumstances.

After all, this case initially involved a treasure that could change the lives of Trainers and Pokémon!

Natsume looked at the Lady Owner and said, "So you’re saying that there were issues with the investigation, which led to the Primeape's retaliation?"

The Lady Owner shook her head slightly. "I've heard from my husband that the reports from the investigators should be true."

"As for why Annihilape retaliated, it may have just been a simple need to vent its anger."

"After all, it is a Pokémon like Primeape."

The Lady Owner sighed. "Everyone knows that Primeape doesn't have a great reputation."

"Many people believe that whenever a case involves a Primeape, it must be the Primeape's fault."

Natsume had already witnessed just how bad the temperament of a Primeape could be.

So, he could understand this statement.

"However..."

The Lady Owner paused for a moment before continuing, "While that's what they say, these are just the conclusions given by the investigators."

"The true nature of the events, I think, only Annihilape and its original Trainer, along with the deceased executives from Future Technology, would know."

As Natsume heard this, he began to think.

He was now very interested in that Annihilape!

"Can I ask how to find that Annihilape after entering the secret realm?"

The Lady Owner replied, "My husband is on duty inside this month; his name is Tomohira. Just look for him when you go."

"He'll tell you where that Annihilape is."

At that moment, another customer walked in.

The Lady Owner stood up and said, "I need to get back to work; enjoy your meal~"

"I understand, thank you."

After the Lady Owner left, Onami looked at Natsume and said, "You seem really interested in that Annihilape."

Natsume admitted, "I don't know what the truth of the matter is, but a Pokémon that fights for its Trainer should not be trapped in a secret realm prison."

Onami smiled slightly, "Then I wish you good luck."

Onami glanced at her watch and said, "Oh no, it's already this time!"

"Natsume, the gym leader, do your best in the upcoming Pokémon Contests too."

"By the way, I’m one of the judges today."

"I'm not going to go easy on you."

After saying that, Onami packed her things. "I’ll head to the venue now."

Natsume also checked the time.

There was still more than half an hour before the main event.

"See you later."

In the courtyard,

Dragonite was sitting in the shade of a tree.

The meals prepared by the Cottonee were all placed on Dragonite.

Dragonite happily enjoyed the afternoon sun and the delicious food.

Gardevoir sat beside Natsume, sharing a meal with him.

The Lopunny were curious about the kitchen.

They were following the Cottonee for a tour.

Feebas was warming up in the pond.

Feebas was looking forward to the upcoming match.

The sunlight was just right, the breeze was gentle, everything was lovely, and beauty was not wasted.

In this world, darkness does exist.

But the reason we strive to become better and stronger is to keep that darkness away from everything around us.

At 1 PM, in the arena at the center of Cloudtop City.

Most of the tourists outside had already entered.

Natsume arrived a bit early to check the scene.

"Mr. Natsume, please come this way."

A staff member led Natsume to the contestant lounge area.

"Mr. Natsume, please wait here."

The staff member explained, "I will come to remind you before it’s your turn to go on stage."

Natsume politely said, "Thank you very much."

"No problem."

The staff member smiled slightly and then turned to leave.

As the staff member walked away from Natsume, their serious expression suddenly changed.

They excitedly thought, "Yes! I successfully attended to Natsume, the gym leader! I need to post this on LINE right away!"

The once noisy lounge area fell silent as Natsume entered.

All eyes turned to Natsume, filled with surprise and astonishment.

Someone mustered the courage to step forward and asked, "Natsume, the gym leader, can I ask why you want to participate in the Pokémon Contests in Cloudtop City?"

This was a girl.

Natsume looked at her and said, "I attended a Pokémon Contest match with my Feebas once."

"Feebas envies everyone who can showcase themselves on stage, so I wanted to bring it here to compete with everyone in person."

"I see."

She replied with a hint of excitement, "But we won't give up."

"I'm quite confident about the dazzling matches."

Someone next to her added, "So are we!"

Natsume smiled at everyone and said, "I'm looking forward to everyone’s spectacular display."

"Let’s do our best together."

The lounge area had a large one-way glass window.

From there, they could see the entire venue.

At that moment, the lights in the match venue suddenly went out.

"Good afternoon to Trainers, Coordinators, gentlemen, and ladies from all over!"

In the center of the stage, the lights illuminated.

A host in a blue dress smiled and said, "The first round of the Pokémon Contests in the Cloudtop division is about to begin."

"The first six coordinating Trainers who pass this round will proceed to the second round of the coordinating battle."

"Winning a match will earn you a gorgeous satin."

"The first person to collect five gorgeous satins will qualify for the Hokkaido Pokémon Contests."

After introducing the rules, the host continued, "Now, let’s welcome the glamorous judges of this Sakura convention."

"First, from the Cloudtop City Coordinating Trainer Association, we have Kaichou, Shunken."

"The writer of glamorous stage scripts, Ms. Ayame."

"The champion of the Hokkaido Pokémon Contests: Miss Onami."

Onami smiled and waved to the audience below.

The venue erupted with enthusiastic cheers.

Natsume looked at Onami's popularity and remarked, “She’s really popular.”

A contestant next to Natsume gazed enviously at Onami and said, “Miss Onami is known as the Water Fairy.”

“My dream is to become a coordinating Trainer like Miss Onami.”

Another person chimed in, “Whether it’s her looks or her personal strength, Miss Onami is at the top among coordinating Trainers, and she has plenty of admirers.”

At this point, the first contestant had already taken the stage.

This contestant was a coordinating Trainer who used Water-type Pokémon.

Her performance was quite impressive.

However, Onami, who was simply sitting there and doing nothing, seemed to draw more attention than the performance on stage.

That is the charm of a top-tier coordinating Trainer.

The first round of evaluations proceeded quickly.

One by one, contestants showcased their spectacular displays with their Pokémon on stage.

"Mr. Natsume, it’s almost time for you to take the stage."

A staff member walked into the lounge to remind Natsume.

Natsume followed him to the waiting area.

On stage, the host energetically announced, “Next up is a very special Trainer.”

“Although this is his first time participating in Pokémon Contests, I believe he will leave everyone with an unforgettable memory.”

“He is Natsume, the gym leader from Takamagahara Farm in Morimachi.”

Hearing the host's announcement, the audience erupted in surprise.

Although everyone here loved Pokémon Contests, they definitely knew who Natsume was.

Some questioned, “Is it really true that Natsume the gym leader is here?”

Some were excited, “I wonder who Natsume's partner Pokémon will be. I hope it’s Gardevoir! Or Lopunny would be great too!”

Others curiously discussed with those nearby, “Why is Natsume the gym leader participating in the Pokémon Contests?”

Amidst the chatter, Natsume slowly walked onto the battle arena holding his Feebas's Poké Ball.

As he stepped onto the stage, the venue gradually fell silent.

This was the audience’s way of showing respect for the stage.

In the judge's area, Onami looked at Natsume with anticipation, thinking to herself: Let me see what kind of spectacular display this will be.

Natsume threw the Poké Ball into the air.

"Come on out, Feebas."

The Poké Ball opened, and a red beam shot into the sky.

Feebas leaped into the air, and at the same time, a murky water ball rapidly expanded under Feebas's breath.

This was Muddy Water.

The water ball formed by Muddy Water floated in the air like a pond.

Feebas’s body was enveloped in the Muddy Water, resembling a Pokémon egg.

This was its debut.

"This is Muddy Water, right?"

Judge Shunken exclaimed, “Truly worthy of being the Pokémon of Natsume, the gym leader; the control over the move is truly impressive.”

"By the way, how can a pond formed by Muddy Water float in the air?"

Judge Ayame questioned, "Is this also a move of Feebas?"

Onami shook her head slightly. "This should be the result of Natsume, the gym leader's inner focus."

"Many Trainers use devices inside the Poké Ball to spray petals or smoke to enhance the splendor of their Pokémon's entrance."

"Natsume's approach is similar to this method."

"The difference is that ordinary participants rely on technology, while Natsume, the gym leader, relies on his own psychic ability."