Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 173: The CawCaw Airbus Takes Off!

As for which Pokémon Natsume had sent to sub in, everyone had their guesses.

Either that Slowking who always looked like it was pondering the fate of the universe, or that Gardevoir with the barely-there presence.

And in a way, they were right.

Natsume did send out Slowking.

It's just—Slowking wasn't the one acting as Gym Leader.

"Yadon~" *2

The slow, synchronized cry echoed.

On the battlefield, the Slowking with its hands behind its back and the Slowpoke up on the command platform both let out a call at the same time.

The sight was... a little comical.

And just a bit cursed.

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A Slowpoke directing a Slowking in battle—why was this playing out like one of his nightmares?

Looking at the scene in front of him, the challenger Trainer suddenly felt an immense pressure descend.

When Natsume had first released the announcement, the Trainer had thought, "Well, since I'm here already..." and chose to go through with the challenge.

Losing wasn't a big deal anyway. Those Psychic-types were all smart as hell.

It wasn't like human Trainers being outwitted was anything new.

Losing to a high-IQ monster? Totally understandable.

Whether it was Gardevoir or Slowking, no problem.

But!

No one told him there'd be a damn Slowpoke involved!

If he lost now, he'd be nailed to the pillar of shame for life.

From then on, whenever anyone mentioned him, they'd say: "Oh, that's the guy who got wrecked by a Slowpoke."

He might even become an internet meme.

"The loser who got beaten by a Slowking... directed by a Slowpoke."

Everyone would know the Slowpoke didn't actually do anything—the outcome of the battle depended entirely on the Slowking's performance.

But that wouldn't stop people from making jokes.

As for how the Trainer himself felt about this?

Does that even matter?

The people making memes online certainly didn't care.

And why was he so sure this battle would blow up online?

Well, just look at the audience.

All those people who'd already whipped out their phones and started recording.

They were filming and typing.

There's no way they were doing that just to keep the footage for personal enjoyment.

Every video ever taken shares the same fate: it gets posted, spreads, and is seen by the masses.

No matter what kind of video it is.

"Pelipper, we absolutely cannot lose this match!"

Clenching his fists, the Trainer spoke to his partner.

High in the sky, Pelipper gave a resolute nod.

It didn't quite understand why, but if its Trainer was this serious—

Then it had to give it 120%!

Its wings flapped hard, sending a glowing blue orb into the sky.

The orb burst, and dark clouds gathered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Raindrops began to fall—slow at first, but steadily gaining force.

Under the thickening clouds, Pelipper's gaze was firm.

But Slowking... was already smiling.

Rain Dance?

I can do that too.

And not just Rain Dance—he had more tricks up his sleeve.

One hand slipped out from behind his back.

A casual wave, and a miniature sun blazed into life overhead.

The dark clouds that had blanketed the battlefield dispersed in an instant.

In their place, a scorching sun blazed down, its heat oppressive and downright hostile to Water-types.

"Squawk—!"

Pelipper's battle cry, poised to sound off with confidence, got stuck halfway in its throat.

Wait, bro... aren't you a Water-type?

How are you using that move?!

Panicking slightly, Pelipper tried to regroup.

As the lead-off Pokémon in a Rain Team, it had dealt with worse.

It had mentally prepared for this.

Its job now was to wear down the opponent's resources.

As a designated weather-setter, it wasn't built for direct combat. Instead, it had trained hard in other areas—

Like Screech, or Supersonic—annoying moves you could spam from a distance to slowly chip away at the enemy's will to live.

And when it felt like it was close to fainting? U-Turn and bail.

Leave the cleanup to its teammates.

The Trainer had the same idea.

Pelipper's new mission was to stall and burn Slowking's stamina.

Cast Rain Dance again if needed—force the opponent to waste energy fighting for weather control.

If they did? Great, more of their power down the drain.

If they didn't? Then the Rain Team setup rolled forward unchallenged.

"Pelipper, Supersonic into Rain Dance."

"And don't get caught."

The order was short and to the point. The Trainer trusted Pelipper could understand.

Now! This was the time to test all their hard work!

The greater the challenge, the more you must rise to meet it—that was the only truth a Trainer believed in!

And then—

"Yadon~"

"LUD—CO—LOOOOOO!!!"

Boom!

"Ludicolo is unable to battle!"

"Since all three of the challenger's Pokémon are unable to battle..."

"This match goes to the acting Gym Leader..."

The referee waved a small flag, announcing the result.

When it came time to say "acting Gym Leader," he glanced at the Slowpoke on the platform—its face oozing sagely wisdom—and hesitated.

In the end, he decided not to utter those three words.

In a way, it was a mercy.

The Trainer silently returned his fallen Ludicolo.

His expression had lost all emotion long ago.

More accurately, it vanished halfway through the battle—

Because he realized, at some point, that he had no path to victory.

Deep down, he'd known from the start whether he could win.

Maybe miracles existed—but not for him.

He'd never been lucky.

If he broke even on a scratchcard, that was peak fortune.

As for "Get one more bottle"—never once in his life.

Guess he just had to accept it.

The inevitable fate of being humiliated online for losing to a Slowpoke—he was ready for it.

Maybe he just wasn't cut out to be a Trainer.

But as he stared blankly, numb to it all, something flickered in the Slowpoke's eye on the command platform.

The next second, the Slowpoke that had been lying flat on the ground suddenly sprang up with the agility of a salted fish resurrecting.

Mid-air, its form twisted—and transformed into a small, shadowy fox with purple-black fur and a nasty grin.

Zorua.

Staring at the newly-revealed Zorua, the Trainer's dulled eyes sparked back to life.

Maybe... his journey as a Trainer wasn't over after all?

Sure, people might still say he lost to a Slowpoke.

But there would also be plenty of folks who'd point out the truth: that Slowpoke was a Zorua.

Hell yes!

With that in mind, the Trainer actually looked at Zorua with a hint of gratitude.

Nice. +1 Gym fan.

Watching the Trainer's expression, Zorua—no, Mew—felt quite satisfied.

Wonder what Natsume's doing right now.

If it's this time of day, he's probably just about to set off, right?

Transforming back into a Slowpoke and plopping back on the ground, Mew's thoughts began to wander—its attention drifting far away from the Gym battle.

Just like Natsume said—

There's no way this guy would obediently stay put and work at the Gym for long.

After a brief period of play, it would lose interest and start chasing after something new.

Then eventually, it'd get obsessed with the Gym again.

A never-ending cycle. Nothing could hold its focus long enough to keep it grounded.

This thing would even skip out on its actual job!

Lying on the ground, Mew glanced at Slowking, who was covering for it by handling the Gym battles.

Its psychic energy drifted out silently.

That vast mental force immediately caught Slowking's attention.

It turned back to glance at Mew, a flicker of helplessness in its eyes.

Then it turned back around and continued doing the job that should've belonged to the acting Gym Leader.

A blue glow lit up in Mew's eyes.

Its perspective shifted—becoming godlike, floating high above the farm.

Its gaze panned and zoomed, quickly locking onto Natsume and Corviknight at the farm gate, preparing for takeoff.

The moment it locked on, the view zoomed in, cutting to a dramatic close-up panning around Natsume.

"Be careful out there."

Standing beside him, Mei couldn't help but speak.

She'd already said a lot earlier.

But at a time like this, she just couldn't help but want to say more.

Maybe she was worried about Natsume. Or maybe... she just didn't want to be apart.

For a girl who had only just confirmed their relationship, even a moment of separation felt unbearable.

But Mei also understood—

If she insisted on tagging along now, she'd only be getting in the way.

Demanding he stay behind? That'd just be selfish and spoiled.

If she ever actually did something like that, she'd have to blame it on a Pokémon illusion messing with her mind!

"Okay. Got it."

He really wanted to say things like "I'll be back soon," or "Once I'm back, we'll..."

But... everyone who says that kind of stuff dies horribly, don't they?

Natsume figured it was probably better to not say things like that right now.

Otherwise it felt a little too much like tempting fate.

No need to slap on this kind of pointless buff for myself.

"Safe travels."

Mei took a couple of steps back after straightening Natsume's clothes and looked at him seriously as she spoke.

Goodbyes really don't feel great, after all.

But then again, if she thought about it carefully—Natsume should be back pretty soon.

So it probably wasn't a big deal.

...Right?

Mei wasn't too sure herself.

He was a Legendary Pokémon, after all.

That kind of existence probably deserved a little respect... right?

"Alright, Corviknight, let's get going."

Climbing onto Corviknight's back, Natsume adjusted his posture before patting the bird's neck.

At the same time, he glanced back and smiled at Mei, who was still standing where she was.

This feeling of someone seeing you off—it was kind of nice.

Like... someone was actually waiting for him to come home.

It felt good, knowing someone cared.

Natsume didn't mind it at all.

Come to think of it, this would've totally made his old middle-school self cringe.

There was a time in his peak chuunibyou phase when Natsume believed he didn't need any bonds.

That he could live just fine on his own.

That ties and emotions were just dead weight, things that held him back.

Messy baggage, hard to deal with.

But looking back now... that kind of thinking really was immature.

"Mew?"

Head tilted, Mew was debating whether it should tag along too.

But Natsume had told it to stay here and look after things...

"Got it!"

Suddenly perking up, Mew seemed to have found a solution!

It looked around cautiously, and just before the next challenger came through, it used its psychic powers to quietly mask its presence.

Don't ask how psychic powers made that possible.

Mew just felt it could do it, so it did.

With its presence hidden, Mew's form shimmered for a moment—

—and in the next second, another Mew appeared in its place.

Move: Substitute.

Normally, this technique consumes a bit of the user's stamina to create a decoy that can confuse enemies and take damage on their behalf.

Some highly skilled Pokémon could even sync with their substitutes for coordinated attacks.

But in Mew's hands, Substitute had become something more like Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Mew."

You watch the place for me.

"Yadon."

Can I say no?

"Mew."

Objection denied.

Giving its stand-in no chance to talk back, Mew's real body vanished from sight.

And the next second, a tiny Flabébé—one without a flower—sneaked its way into Natsume's pocket.

Even Natsume didn't notice that he'd gained a little stowaway.

Only the Rotom Phone, also tucked into that same pocket, realized that a "passenger" had just slipped in.

But under Mew's deadly glare, it wisely chose to keep its mouth shut.

That familiar look—it could only belong to the boss himself.

Sorry, Boss Natsume. It's not that I don't want to let you know...

It's just that Mew is way too scary.

The Rotom Phone quietly mourned in its heart.

"Caw-caw!"

With wings spread wide, the Corviknight Air Bus was ready for departure!

After its usual shout, Corviknight took off into the sky.

Last time they went to fight Ting-Lu. This time it was Chi-Yu.

Maybe next time it'd be one of the other two.

Wonder if it'd get its own turn to shine by then.

Corviknight pondered in silence.

Corviknight wants to show off too, you know.

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