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

Chapter 683 Binhai Town

Natsume followed the movement trajectory of Akatsuki, constructed from the "nightmare material perspective," in the dream of the man with the middle parting, and walked unhurriedly on Suzuran Island in the real world.

He deliberately maintained a high degree of consistency with the Red Sun's route in the Reverse World, even though the other party might directly pass through buildings or tread on water in the Reverse World.

This synchronization creates a peculiar sense of absurdity.

For example, when the dream perspective shows the sun "walking" straight through a bustling commercial street, Natsume in reality can only grit his teeth and walk expressionlessly through the walls of each shop.

The customers and staff in the store were dumbfounded, thinking they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

Alternatively, when the perspective shows the sun leisurely "strolling" on the sea outside Suzuran Island, Natsume can only walk off the pier as if nothing is wrong, stepping on the waves, with his telekinesis forming an invisible support under his feet, as if he were walking on flat ground.

The most outrageous time was when, based on his perspective, he thought that Chi Ri had dived into an underwater abyss in the reversed world.

Natsume had no choice but to take a deep breath and walk directly into the sea. Relying on his powerful telekinesis, he pushed aside the seawater, forming a moving bubble, and strolled on the seabed.

After walking for a while, just when he felt he was about to leave the Lily of the Valley, the "seabed" scene in his dream suddenly changed, turning into solid land and man-made structures.

Natsume emerged from the water with a splash from an area near the coastal city, a few strands of seaweed still clinging to his head. He shook the water droplets off his hair and looked ahead somewhat blankly—at a coastal city built on a sea cliff, exuding a modern industrial atmosphere.

"Hinaka City?" Natsume paused for a moment, then realized.

"By the way, Chi Ri's hometown is Binhai City. I was wondering why I spent so much time following the underwater tunnel in the Reverse World, only to find out the final stop was right in front of his house?"

He walked onto the beach, ignoring the several citizens who were strolling along the coastal path and were speechless with astonishment when they saw him emerge from the sea with seaweed on his head and not a drop of water on his body, and quickly located his current position.

Sure enough, they had left Lily Island and arrived at the coastal city in the eastern part of the Sinnoh region.

Just then, the man with the middle parting said "Pikachu," indicating that the red sun in the dream's perspective had stopped moving.

According to the explanation given by the man with the middle parting, this means that the nightmare demon's process of collecting "horror materials" to create nightmares has failed.

It's impossible to track them anymore.

However, the destination of the Japanese man is most likely a location within the coastal city that corresponds to his current location in the real world.

"Hinkai City... if I remember correctly, is that the hometown of this Sinnoh's richest man?"

Natsume stroked his chin, and the first thing that came to mind was naturally Akari's house.

He easily found Chi Ri's parents' address from the local information—a rather respectable detached house in the new urban area of ​​Binhai City.

With a hint of curiosity, Natsume straightened his clothes.

Using telekinesis to instantly evaporate the moisture and smooth out the wrinkles, concealing most of his aura, he pretended to be a polite visitor and rang the doorbell.

The door was quickly opened, and an elderly woman, dressed neatly and with a slightly weary but eagerly expectant face, appeared in the doorway. She was Chi Ri's mother.

When she saw that the person outside the door was a complete stranger named Natsume, she was stunned for a moment, and a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

"Hello, Madam, I am a friend of Mr. Chi Ri. I was passing through Binhai City and stopped by to pay a visit."

Natsume gave a gentle and harmless smile.

When Natsume introduced himself as "Mr. Akari's friend," her face instantly lit up with an almost overwhelmedly enthusiastic smile.

"Oh my! Is this Ah Ri's friend? Please come in, please come in!"

She quickly stepped aside to let Natsume into the house, her voice carrying a long-lost liveliness.

"Come out quickly! Ah Ri's friend is here!"

The interior decoration was neat but appeared too orderly and cold, lacking a sense of life.

An elderly gentleman with a serious expression and a straight back walked out from the inner room. He pushed up his reading glasses, looked Natsume up and down, and his eyes were filled with scrutiny and a deep-seated expectation.

"Are you Ah Ri's friend?"

The old man spoke in a low voice, with a habitual, unconsciously stern tone.

But upon closer listening, one can detect a hint of caution.

"He...rarely brings friends home." Chi Ri's father straightened his clothes, turned and went into the kitchen, then came out with a teapot.

Natsume smiled gently, accepted the tea, and reiterated that he was just passing by.

Chi Ri's mother had already enthusiastically brought over some snacks and almost impatiently began asking, "Sir, what is your name?"

"How did you and Ah Ri meet? Is he... is he doing alright out there?"

"Is he particularly busy with work? We always see news about him, whether it's donating money or participating in technology forums."

Her words flowed like a floodgate, one question after another, her eyes fixed intently on Natsume, as if she wanted to extract all the truth about her son from him, to fill the gaps that the news briefings could not fill.

While responding politely, Natsume keenly sensed that the parents' understanding of their son's current situation was alarmingly poor.

What they seem to know is really just those glamorous reports on television news and in newspapers—"successful entrepreneurs," "generous philanthropists," and "the pride of Sinnoh."

As for what Chi Ri is doing, how he lives, and what troubles he has, that remains to be seen.

They knew almost nothing and only hoped to piece together the information from snippets of information given by their "friend," Natsume.

Therefore, they did not have any doubts about Natsume's identity.

Natsume chatted for a few more minutes, and in his words, one could sense the complex emotions the two elderly people felt towards their son—a mixture of pride, heartache, and a profound sense of helplessness.

Chi Ri rarely seems to go home, and even when he does, it's mostly just a formality, and he stays for a very short time.

This home is more like a "stop" where he occasionally needs to carry out business, rather than a warm harbor.

Natsume used his telekinesis to carefully sense the entire house, but found no abnormal energy fluctuations, especially no traces related to the Reverse World.

This place looks like an ordinary, somewhat dull old people's home, not the secret base of Team Galactic.

After politely bidding farewell to Akari's mother, Natsume walked out of the house with a slight frown.

Similar to the storyline in the game, Chi Ri was driven to autism by his demanding parents when he was a child.

He talked to machines every day until he encountered a Rotom hiding inside one of them.

"Good heavens, what is all this nonsense?"

Natsume walked out of Akari's parents' house, looking distressed.

He had originally hoped to fool the old folks and extract some information about the Red Sun.

As a result, Tian Gang ended up being the one tricked into revealing information by the old man and woman.