Chapter 0703: Conquering the Hoenn Frontier!(Two-in-One)

August 30th, Monday.

It had been a day since Natsume and Rayquaza returned from space.

After collecting the bonus from the Hoenn adventure, Natsume officially began his Hoenn Region vacation.

First stop: Lilycove City, serving as a Judge for the glamorous contest, the Wallace Cup.

That day, the host of the Wallace Cup was Wallace’s niece, Lisia.

Lisia, with high green ponytail, wore a cropped formal dress—she was a Glamorous Contests idol, even boasting her own theme song

Under the bright lights, Lisia held a microphone, her partner Altaria twirling in the sky above, and she beamed an energetic smile:

“Everyone! Welcome to the Wallace Cup!”

Instantly, cheers filled the auditorium.

“You have a niece?” Natsume, seated at the Judges’ Panel, looked at Wallace in surprise.

Wallace laced his fingers, smiled helplessly, and said, “My sister married early. Lisia is passionate about Glamorous Contests, and with her follower base in the Hoenn Region, she was invited to host.”

“That kid’s adorable!” Ruby had stars in his eyes, focused on the stage.

A dark aura drifted from Sapphire’s forehead: “……”

Natsume and Wallace both twitched.

Ruby, danger!!

Sapphire grabbed Ruby by the ear and dragged him out of the Judges’ Panel and backstage, with Ruby protesting faintly:

“I meant Altaria! She’s called Ali; I even named her myself…”

Wallace coughed softly, maintained his elegant smile, and asked:

“Natsume-sensei, for the Judge Exhibition round, which partner will you send?”

Natsume spun a Love Ball on his fingertip, then snapped it in his grip.

“Meloetta will do,” Natsume smiled. “It’s her specialty.”

Ten minutes later, the Judge Exhibition round.

Meloetta floated in the air, tiny hands resting gently on her chest, baby-blue eyes closed as she sang into the microphone.

Tangible music notes wove golden beams, blossoming illusions of green groves, streams, and golden apples.

Host Lisia stared in awe at the levitating Meloetta.

Altaria’s song was good, but even it couldn’t compare to Meloetta.

The hall was silent.

Not until Meloetta bowed in thanks did the crowd erupt!

“That was incredible!”

“Natsume-sensei, become a Pokémon Contests idol!”

“I still remember last Wallace Cup, Natsume-sensei brought Sylveon—this time it’s Meloetta—Sylveon will get jealous!”

There were rumors in town that Natsume-sensei excelled at the Coordination domain as well.

Now the audience witnessed it firsthand and were stunned by Meloetta’s song.

After today’s Wallace Cup, Natsume stayed in Lilycove City.

That night.

Cynthia arrived in Hoenn Region, and together with Natsume visited Lilycove City’s art exhibition.

“After natural disaster, all kinds of cultural activities gradually recover,”

Natsume walked the tranquil, luminous corridors, saying softly, “The Wallace Cup was even brought forward to help ease the heavy atmosphere.”

Cynthia, arm in arm with Natsume, gazed at the framed paintings. Her profile was elegant as she murmured:

“The legendary Pokémon from the Ancient Pokémon era... every time they awaken, disaster falls upon humankind.”

Natsume glanced at an oil painting: a smoking, erupting Mt. Chimney. He replied,

“But without Groudon and Kyogre, Hoenn Region’s energy wouldn’t be abundant. Perhaps calamity has its blessings.”

Cynthia nodded lightly and turned to Natsume: “I got your gift.”

“What gift?” Natsume was blank.

“The return present from last year’s Tanabata Festival,” Cynthia smiled.

The two walked hand-in-hand through the quiet art gallery.

“Oh… Garchomp’s Draco Meteor, nearly started a forest fire, didn’t it.” Natsume said.

“Garchomp’s proficiency isn’t that unreliable,” Cynthia said helplessly.

“Speaking of, today’s Monday, right?”

“Lucian took annual leave, so I asked Granny Bertha to swap shifts.”

“How many days off do you have?”

“Three.”

“Then I suggest we visit the Battle Frontier.”

Natsume said, “I plan to collect all the Frontier Symbols in these three days.”

“What do you want Frontier Symbols for?” Cynthia asked curiously.

“I don’t care for prizes, but I want my little ones to earn some Frontier badges!” Natsume said with resolve.

Cynthia folded her arms and grinned: “No problem. The Frontier’s architecture is unique anyway, and besides the challenge, we can sightsee.”

As Sinnoh Champion, she often visited Battle Facilities in her downtime—like the Battle Castle in Unova and Kalos.

“Gengar~” Gengar floated behind Natsume, giggling with a hand over his mouth.

All right!

Time to collect more of those sparkly shiny metal badges~!

……

The next day.

Hoenn Region, Battle Frontier.

Scott was a chubby man, fond of Alolan shirts and sunglasses.

It was Scott who bought the Frontier and transformed it into Hoenn’s battle facility mecca.

Ash once dominated the Battle Frontier, also thanks to Scott’s invitation.

On a breezy, sunny day, Scott lay on a beach chair watching the sea when he got the news—nearly losing his sunglasses in shock.

“N-Natsume’s coming to the Frontier!?” Scott choked out.

At the Battle Arena summit, Greta remarked with a cucumber-cool sigh: “He is, after all—Natsume-sensei, the Baby Cup Slayer.”

“My advice,” said Battle Factory Head Noland, “is to just hand over the Frontier Symbols to Natsume-sensei and spare the Frontier from demolition.”

Symbols are like badges; there are seven in the Frontier, and collecting all seven earns the Pokémon some serious fashion cred.

Also, challenger points during the battles let you exchange for rare items.

A bead of cold sweat crept down Scott’s forehead.

Natsume isn’t here to challenge.

He’s here to go shopping!

“Don’t panic!” Scott tried to steady everyone. “We have Pyramid King Brandon. With Brandon’s Regi trio, maybe he can halt Natsume’s steps!”

“Mr. Brandon,” Greta said cautiously, “is still in Snowpoint City restoring the Temple…”

“Hasn’t he been there almost half a year by now!?”

“I heard from Mr. Brandon this is the third, or maybe fourth time…”

“What about Mr. Spenser’s Battle Palace? In the Battle Palace, Trainers can’t issue commands—Pokémon fight with their own instincts. That man takes pride in command skills. They should be useless here!”

Spenser was an elderly, white-bearded man, his arms marred by Blue Orb’s energy, leaning on a staff.

“I’ll do what I can,” Spenser rasped.

The key is—I heard Natsume’s Pokémon have challenged Gyms by themselves.

Which fits perfectly for the Battle Palace’s mechanism…

Amidst the tense, battle-ready Frontier—

Natsume officially arrived.

Unlike the anime, the facilities are all in Hoenn Region, so no need to travel back and forth between Kanto and Hoenn.

The first gate was Battle Tower, requiring seven consecutive 6v6 wins without using healing items during the climb.

Architecturally, the Battle Tower’s glass gleamed in the sunlight.

Scott, Greta, Spenser, and other Frontier Brains gathered below, discussing:

“What Pokémon do you think Natsume-sensei will use?”

“Arcanine, probably—he has Morning Sun recovery built in.”

“Hm… By the way, did you set any restrictions on mythicals or legendary Pokémon?”

A beat of awkward silence.

Then, all their faces changed at once.

This is bad—big trouble!

On the seventh floor of Battle Tower, Natsume commanded, “Latias, Recover!!”

“Latias~” Latias, Soul Dew hanging from her snowy neck, red feathers reflecting sunlight, was surrounded by a gentle white halo.

The acting summit could only despair—after painstakingly whittling down HP with five Pokémon, it looked like Latias healed up instantly!

It’s one thing to wreck rookies, but you’re using legendary Pokémon against rookies!?

Truly, you are the Divine Beast Man, Natsume-sensei!

“I—I give up…” The acting summit collapsed in defeat.

As the regular Battle Tower chief Anabel was missing, Natsume defeated the acting summit and earned the “Ability Symbol.”

Gazing at the sparkling metal Symbol, Natsume nodded slightly.

By age, Latias was still a rookie.

Using Latias to challenge the Battle Frontier—truly reasonable!

Outside the Battle Tower.

“That was only half an hour? And the Battle Tower’s already conquered!?” Scott was thunderstruck.

“There’s just no stopping Natsume-sensei…” Greta grinned awkwardly.

“Mr. Spenser!” Scott called, “Please hurry back to the Battle Palace, prepare the next event!”

“No need.”

Spencer looked completely serene, a man at peace.

“I just received word: while Natsume-sensei was challenging the Battle Tower, he sent Gengar with Tyranitar to tackle the Battle Palace.”

The crowd was dumbfounded.

Raising their eyes to the Battle Palace, they saw a sandstorm raging in the distance, the ground quaking as Earthquake’s rumbles shook the air!

Battle Palace.

"I just got word. While Natsume-sensei was challenging the Battle Tower, he already sent Gengar—along with Tyranitar—to take on the Battle Palace-style ruins."

The entire group stared blankly.

They looked up in the direction of the Battle Palace-style ruins, only to see sand flying, a storm of yellow dust, and the distant, rumbling roar of an Earthquake!

Battle Palace-style ruins.

Tyranitar threw back his head and roared, whirling up violent sandstorms, and in an instant, the trembling ground swallowed up a massive Camerupt, large as a mountain!

"Gengar~" Gengar stood at the command position, grinning widely at the ashen-faced acting summit.

“Spirits Symbol,” get☆daze!

When the news broke that the Battle Palace-style ruins had also fallen—

Scott took off his sunglasses, buried his face in both hands, and rubbed his cheeks.

"Field repair costs can’t be charged to the challengers," Greta whispered softly. "Otherwise it’ll ruin our reputation~"

"I know," Scott sighed, "all we can do now is pin our hopes on the upcoming Rental Battle round—"

"Mr. Noland, I’m counting on you. If you can somehow keep his points lower, I’ll raise your salary!"

Noland was a powerfully built man wearing a red beret and a high-collared white trench coat.

"Trying to stop that man with the Battle Factory, huh."

Noland pressed down his beret, muttering:

"All we can do is hope that, when it comes to the random rental round, Natsume-sensei gets unlucky and doesn't draw the right Pokémon..."