When Natsume arrived at the rest area, he was stunned.
The summit of Mt. Moon was completely filled with injured Clefairy.
As he walked through, he saw several researchers rushing around, overwhelmed with work.
Natsume stopped in his tracks, his mind flashing back to the night before.
There had been some commotion outside—but at the time, he'd been focused on circuit inscription, a crucial moment he couldn't afford to be distracted during, so he hadn't paid it much attention.
"That's right... In the original storyline, Team Rocket came here to steal the Moon Stone."
Only now did Natsume connect the dots. These injured Clefairy must've been caught in Team Rocket's raid last night.
"Let me help."
Suppressing his desire to find someone to battle, Natsume stopped a staff member who was carrying an injured Clefairy.
"Please don't get in the way," the researcher said sharply.
"I can help," Natsume replied, showing his Trainer ID.
The man paused, then quickly handed over the Clefairy.
"Alright, I'll leave this section to you. I'm going to search for the ones still hiding."
Natsume took the Clefairy into his arms. It was unconscious, its body covered in bruises—likely one of the more seriously injured ones, possibly from a bad fall.
"Rotom—Poké Ball Form!"
He tossed a custom Poké Ball into the air. A yellow spark of light fused with it.
"Use Healing Ball on this Clefairy!"
Natsume had named three of his [???] skills: Curse Ball, Healing Ball, and Extinction Ball.
As he spoke, a beam of green light shot from Rotom's core, enveloping the Clefairy.
Fwoosh!
Just like catching a Pokémon, the green light absorbed the Clefairy into Rotom's Poké Ball body.
The red-and-white fragments reassembled, now glowing faintly with a soft green hue.
Moments later, the Clefairy was released in a beam of green light.
"Clef?"
Clefairy blinked awake, now conscious. It curiously observed the floating Poké Ball-shaped Rotom.
"Let's see how this ability performs in real life," Natsume muttered excitedly, crouching down and pulling out his notebook to take detailed notes.
After all, the biggest reason he wanted to battle was to test how these god-tier game mechanics would work in the real world.
Reality isn't a game—and his Rules Battle Arena could only be used once per day.
Driven by both scientific curiosity and practical interest, Natsume recorded everything meticulously.
"Hmm, the healing effect... definitely exceeds the supposed 50% threshold."
Raising his eyebrows, Natsume pointed to the nearby injured Clefairy scattered across the ground.
"Rotom, use Healing Ball on the rest of them—one by one."
One green beam after another shot out as more Clefairy were absorbed and then released.
Soon, nearly a dozen Clefairy of various sizes stood behind Natsume, fully recovered.
"Seems like... in real life, the lower the level, the easier the healing?"
Based on their levels, injuries, and recovery rates, Natsume arrived at a preliminary conclusion.
"Clef... Clefairy, Clef-clef!"
Without him noticing, the rescued Clefairy had begun circling around him, dancing in a strange pattern.
More precisely, they were dancing around the floating Poké Ball-shaped Rotom, as if performing a ritual.
"Huh? What are you all doing?" Natsume asked, puzzled.
He knew that Clefairy performed rituals—but only at night, and only under a full moon.
"I think these Clefairy believe your peculiar Pokémon is the Moon God."
A bright voice called out from behind him.
Turning around, Natsume saw a man dressed in a red combat cloak, with a fiery mane of red hair. Behind him stood a very familiar, heavyset Dragonite.
"Oh—you're... you're that guy!" Natsume exclaimed in realization.
"Yes, that's me," the man nodded with a smile.
"The Flying-type Elite Four member, Lance!"
Natsume blurted out.
Lance: "…"
"Natsume, he's the Dragon-type Elite Four member," Ash's voice chimed in.
Behind him, Brock and Misty appeared one after the other, each cradling a Clefairy—evidently also part of the rescue effort.
"Oh—my bad! It just slipped out. I'm Natsume," he introduced himself with a nod toward Lance.
He couldn't help it. Before transmigrating, he had worked as a Pokémon content creator.
As the internet's biggest Dragon-type fanboy, Natsume had gotten used to calling Lance by all his nicknames.
"…Who messes up my type specialty that casually?"
Lance was clearly skeptical as he narrowed his eyes at Natsume, memorizing his face.
"Mr. Lance, once we finish helping these Clefairy, may I challenge you to a battle?"
Ash, applying spray medicine to his Clefairy's injuries, looked up at Lance eagerly.
"Hmm…"
Lance hesitated. Normally, he didn't mind giving newcomers a chance to learn.
In fact, when traveling, he'd purposely carry a few low-level Pokémon just for teaching.
But this time was different. He was on official business from the Pokémon League—a serious mission requiring his full strength.
Which meant nearly all the Pokémon on him were his ace team.
Ash would be crushed.
Hoping to save Ash's fighting spirit, Lance pointed at the floating Rotom beside Natsume to shift the topic.
"Aren't you all curious about that mysterious Pokémon? Natsume, why don't you tell us more about it?"
Misty and Brock turned their attention to the Poké Ball-shaped Rotom.
Ash, however, kept staring straight at Lance.
Lance rubbed his forehead—headache incoming.
Just then, a sudden shift occurred.
"Clefairy! Clefairy! Clef... Clefairy!"
The Clefairy's chanting grew louder. More and more of them began gathering around Natsume.
They formed a perfect circle, bouncing and dancing in unison—as if performing a sacred ritual.
"Whoa! Even the hiding Clefairy are coming out!" Ash said with delight.
Earlier, Lance had tasked them with locating the hidden, injured Clefairy.
After last night's incident, the Clefairy had become very skittish and hard to find.
Yet now, they were voluntarily emerging and converging.
"Looks like Mr. Lance was right—these Clefairy really do think Natsume's Rotom is the Moon God."
Brock said with awe.
Rotom…
Lance's ears perked up at that name.
But to his knowledge, Rotom doesn't have a Poké Ball form… Wait—this guy's name is Natsume?!
"Why would they think Rotom is the Moon God…?"
Surely, it wasn't just because it healed them, right?
Natsume stroked his chin. His curiosity was piqued. He loved analyzing bizarre phenomena.
"No time for that now—Rotom! Use Healing Ball on the rest of the injured Clefairy!"
With a sweeping motion of his arm, beams of green light burst forth again—dozens in number.
(End of Chapter)