Pokémon: Who told him to come out of Pallet Town!

Chapter 680 He cheated, these are three groundhogs!

Dakdo stood there stunned, seemingly unable to process the sudden turn of events.

This three-legged hamster is of a very high level, Darko can tell.

But... but this shouldn't be the ending!

Outside the stadium, all was quiet.

All the cheers, the applause, the reporters' hands holding cameras, and the narrators' images were all captured in a single frame.

It was as if, in that instant, time had been paused.

"Isn't that the gnome from Natsume's Book of Friends?"

In the audience, Meow Meow couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't know, but I think our focus can shift back to the brat from Dakdo!"

"Yeah, yeah, a legendary Pokémon even stronger than the one Darkrai has! We'll steal it and present it to the boss!"

"What are you talking about, meow?"

Meow Meow turned around and looked at the two of them as if they were idiots: "This is obviously related to Natsume. Natsume is now a high-ranking officer of our Team Rocket. This is originally our Team Rocket's property."

Meow sharpened its claws, as if it were proud of itself.

"It seems so...wait!"

Musashi and Kojiro nodded in agreement, and the next second their pupils dilated sharply as Natsume's voice echoed in their minds.

"Your boss Banmu contacted me before, saying that your mission was coming to an end."

In the stands, Natsume told the trio what Itagi had asked him to convey a few days earlier.

Although I don't know what the trio's so-called mission is.

This must be what Giovanni told the three of them when they separated during the Killer Bee incident.

Natsume took it as just something to fool the trio and didn't inquire further.

Returning our attention to the arena, Darko was slow to send out his next Pokémon, and the audience was beginning to grow dissatisfied.

Those who had bet on Darkrope to win, in particular, began to cheer and boo frequently: "Go, Darkrope! Send out an even stronger legendary Pokémon!"

The frenzied shouts almost drowned him out, and countless flashes of light kept clicking.

"I...

""

Darko held the red and white ball containing Magikarp in his hand, his body trembling slightly.

His goal is to assemble a team composed entirely of legendary Pokémon.

Where would they go to catch any other Pokémon?

Both Magikarp were registered to comply with the tournament's rule of having at least six Pokémon.

And... he can't lose, he has to challenge Zhu Lan!

win!

There must be a way to win!

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the three-headed mole not far away, and as if grasping at a lifeline, he raised his hand to the referee.

"Referee, he cheated! Three Earthshatters in one go! That must be three Gophers, not three Gophers!"

"He sent out three gophers at once; he broke the rules!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Many viewers who initially found it unbelievable suddenly "realized" it after Dakto's reminder.

"Yeah! Three consecutive earthquakes! This is outrageous!"

"I knew it! How could such a thing happen! It was cheating!"

"They're definitely three gophers! How despicable!"

"A thorough investigation is required! Disqualification from the competition is warranted!"

The rhythm was instantly picked up.

Questions and condemnations arose one after another.

The referee was stunned; he had never encountered a situation like this before.

The rules do prohibit impersonating Pokémon, but how do you determine if a "Dugtrio" is actually three "Dugtrio" in disguise?

This was beyond his judgment.

He could only look helplessly at the podium and at the chief referee of the event, Champion Zhu Lan.

Soon, thanks to the efforts of the on-site staff, the noisy venue gradually quieted down.

All eyes were on Cynthia, eager to see how the Sinnoh champion would adjudicate this bizarre controversy.

Zhu Lan stood up, her eyes sweeping across the area, her brows furrowing slightly.

She was actually filled with helplessness and complaints:

Natsume always manages to create some inexplicable situations whenever his Pokémon appears, and this Dugtrio is clearly not something that can be judged by common sense.

But as the champion, she can't act on her feelings.

Just as she was about to speak and subtly pass the buck to Natsume, who knew the situation better, someone in the audience suddenly stood up.

He was a middle-aged man wearing a well-tailored, silver-white researcher's uniform, with a badge on his chest symbolizing "academic authority".

Keen-eyed people recognized that these were the outfits of the famous "Pokémon Energy Research Institute" in the Sinnoh region, and that this group is well known to have long been supported by the great philanthropist Mr. Sun.

The researcher adjusted his glasses, spoke in a loud voice, and produced a microphone from somewhere, saying with an air of academic rigor, "Champion, esteemed audience! As a professional Pokémon energy researcher, I believe Darkrod's questions are entirely valid!"

He began quoting extensively, speaking at length: "According to several authoritative papers, such as the 'Pokémon Energy Release Uniformity Criteria' and the 'Study on the Threshold of Continuous Skill Release,' high-level Ground-type moves like 'Ground Smash' place extremely high demands on a Pokémon's energy control and physical endurance!"

"At the same time, I'd like to reveal some of the latest research progress from our institute: Earth Shatter, Protect, Doomsday Song, Fate Link... these kinds of moves that were previously difficult to find energy flow diagrams for, our institute has cracked them!"

"As we all know, these kinds of techniques are used very infrequently because, according to our latest developments, they are related to soul energy!"

The researcher's words were forceful and resounding.

Even Natsume nodded strangely after hearing this.

It seems that's really the case; the little groundhog's soul energy... can even create earth fissures in the air and in the reverse world.

The researcher then changed his tone: "That's even more impossible. Releasing it three times in a row, with almost no interval, far exceeds the theoretical limit of a single gopher! This is more in line with the characteristics of three independent individuals attacking in concert!"

His analysis sounded logical and clear, instantly winning over a large number of viewers who were already skeptical.

"Look! That's what the researchers are saying!"

"It was definitely cheating!"

"They must be severely punished!" A glimmer of hope rekindled on Dakdo's face as he looked gratefully at the researcher.

The researcher's gaze, almost imperceptibly, drifted towards a certain direction in the VIP section, where Chi Ri was nodding slightly, his eyes deep, seemingly quite interested in this "academic debate."

After listening to the researcher's analysis, Zhu Lan still slowly shook her head.

Her judgment was based on a more mysterious "aura" and intuition. The feeling this three-legged hamster gave her was strange, but it was indeed a complete and unified consciousness, rather than three independent individuals pieced together.

But she couldn't explain this using scientific theories.