Chapter 0831: The Sword and Shield King of Imprison(Two-in-One)

May 6, Friday.

At Undella Town in early summer, the tide rolled high and low, foamy white waves shimmering on the shore.

As one of Unova’s most renowned luxury resorts, Undella Town and its golden, powdery beaches attracted visitors from all over the world.

After the ranked matches wrapped up, Natsume and Cynthia accepted an invitation to visit Caitlin's villa in Undella Town.

It was a classic summer vacation scene beneath a warm sun: a Tyranitar sat under a beach umbrella, happily piling up sand.

Meloetta, oversized sunglasses perched on her nose, lounged on a chair barely big enough for her, gently sipping an iced fruit drink. She dropped her shades with a grin:

“Meloetta” (So good!)

Behind the beach, atop a white-walled estate, Natsume leaned on the marble balcony of Caitlin’s villa, gazing out at the ocean as he remarked,

“This beach is private property too… Caitlin is seriously loaded.”

Even with his own net worth in the tens of millions, Natsume—who’d built everything from scratch and wrestled with debt in his early days—couldn’t help but be impressed.

Cynthia wore a pale blue sleeveless blouse with crisp black wide-leg pants, her dark golden hair gleaming, gold bangs covering her eyes as she smiled,

“If you’d like, I could buy you a beach, too.”

“Huh?” Natsume blinked and turned to look at her.

Cynthia rested her hand on her chin, smiling, and shrugged her snowy shoulders ever so slightly.

“I mean it.”

Natsume was genuinely moved.

Cuteness only distracts Trainers and slows down their Poké Ball throws—but a rich patron? They never hurt!

The balcony led into a living room, simply and elegantly decorated, soft white curtains drifting in and out with the breeze. A beautiful tea set sat atop the coffee table, with shelves of fancy desserts displayed on a silver rack.

“Victini~” Victini sprawled on the tea table in front of Caitlin, wolfing down the little desserts with pure joy.

Caitlin, white hat tilted, sat with perfect posture. She let her gaze drift from the pair on the balcony to Victini at the table.

“Is it really that good?” she asked.

“Victini?” Victini glanced up at Caitlin in confusion, then nodded energetically and offered her a macaron. “Victini!”

Eyes widening in surprise, Caitlin gracefully accepted the strawberry cake in both hands, and murmured, “Thank you…”

She took a tiny bite—then froze. In a flash, she wolfed down the rest, quickly wiping her lips with a napkin to hide her blushing cheeks.

She didn’t want to admit it... but, wow, Natsume’s cakes were truly delicious…

While Natsume and Cynthia took in the seaside views, Caitlin and Victini shared cakes together, piece by piece.

Sylveon, led by Butler Darach, toured Caitlin’s Pokémon walk-in closet.

“Sylveon…” Sylveon padded along a line of dazzling dresses, clearly a bit shy.

“And here is Lady Caitlin’s Gothitelle’s evening gown, this is her formal regalia, her ballroom dress…” Darach gestured with a white gloved hand. “This is her custom magician’s hat for Porygon, and the bow for Musharna…”

Sylveon stared at the bow, mesmerized: “Sylveon…”

So beautiful… But you can just tell it cost a fortune… I should help him save money…

Still remembering the hardships of the early years, Sylveon shook her head, strutted proudly, and moved on: “Sylveon! o(′^｀)o”

Not impressed—next!

Darach discreetly took note, planning to give Natsume a list of bows and recommend a few renowned Pokémon style designers.

“Gengar~” Gengar floated lazily in the outdoor pool, wearing floral sunglasses and a Psyduck swim ring, baring his teeth in a goofy grin.

By the pool, a creamy-skinned, serpentine Milotic undulated gracefully before the shower spray, making the water shimmer in a rainbow. In the Calm Mind room, Lucario and Blastoise meditated in peace. Out in the garden, Gallade and Rotom (in Mow Form) were bickering, while Garchomp, sweating bullets, had Togepi riding on his head.

“Togepi~(^▽^ )” Togepi held up a mobile phone, video-calling Mew.

“Look, my big dinosaur!”

“Mew~” Mew giggled, covering her mouth. That’s totally just Garchomp.

“Garchomp…” Garchomp was sweating buckets, face tangled with regret.

Why am I stuck on babysitting duty today…? This is so not my aesthetic!

Arcanine raced after Butterfree in the garden, barking a cheerful “Arcanine!” at a shadow under the trees.

Good morning, Senior!

From the shadow, a bleary-eyed Darkrai emerged, waving a lazy hand.

Don’t get cocky, kid. Give it a few more years and you won’t know who’s calling who “Senior”...

High above in the clear blue sky, Latias and Cynthia’s Togekiss jetted along in a race, drawing twin trails of white cloud.

Back in the living room, Natsume and Cynthia returned to find Caitlin munching cake.

“You finished it all?” Cynthia blinked in surprise.

Caitlin flushed, mumbling, “Mmm.”

She might have lost that battle…but, thank goodness, Natsume’s pastries were amazing!

“I’ll run to the kitchen,” Natsume said. “Anyone want Castelia Ice Cream?—the imitation version.”

“Me.” Cynthia grinned. “I’ll take the Triple Scoop.”

“I’ll have what Cynthia’s having,” Caitlin added softly.

Iris came rushing in from the front hall, sweat beading on her dark forehead, and shouted with bright energy,

“Me and Axew want some too!!”

Iris’s Axew had already evolved into Fraxure, and before long, it’d be a fully grown Haxorus.

By then, she’d make a solid showing in the World Tournament herself.

Soon, Natsume brought out bowls of ice cream for everyone. Cynthia and Caitlin shared the long sofa; Iris sat on a side chair, feet swinging, eyes fixed on her treat. Natsume took the other end.

“What’s your ranking now?” Cynthia asked.

“Twenty-seventh. Just a couple more rounds, and I’ll break into the top sixteen,” Natsume replied.

“Senior Blue Oak is already gunning for the Eight Masters!” Iris managed, mouth full of ice cream.

“That guy is a real grind king. When he was prepping to take over the Viridian Gym, he didn’t eat or sleep for two months—just built an entirely new team from scratch.” Natsume laughed.

“I should get ready too,” Cynthia mused. “After traveling to Alola with you, I actually became really interested in Kommo-o over there…”

“You want to catch a Kommo-o, Miss Cynthia?” Iris’s eyes sparkled, “That’s a super cute Dragon-type too!”

Maybe we have… slightly different ideas about what’s cute. And about Kommo-o.

“It’s not impossible.” Cynthia smiled faintly.

“That Sirfetch’d—”

Caitlin suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Sirfetch’d?” In the sunbeam near the wall, Sirfetch’d perked up and glanced over, startled.

The room fell silent. Caitlin looked calm, expression unreadable, as she spoke slowly,

“That Sirfetch’d… I think its dreams may have been ‘Imprisoned’.”

Natsume was completely caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just a hunch.” Caitlin replied. “Sirfetch’d’s dreams have been altered somehow—its memories or personality may have changed because of it.”

Cynthia frowned. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before…”

“Can you explain a bit more?” Natsume asked.

“It’s tough to explain… Basically, if certain stress conditions are met, the subconscious ‘Imprison’ could destabilize,” Caitlin explained.

Sirfetch’d, Imprisoned?

Natsume was stunned.

Could it really be, like the Rusted Sword or Rusted Shield, Sirfetch’d was under the effect of ‘Imprison’?

Or maybe, my gut feeling from the start—about Sirfetch’d’s amazing fortune—was right all along!

The Power of One and the Aura of Ripple had no effect on the “dream energy” discovered in Unova, and Natsume didn’t have Psychic powers, so he finally asked,

“Caitlin, can you help Sirfetch’d break the Imprison?”

Caitlin shook her head, answering softly, “Right now, it’s got Champion-level strength. With just me and Musharna, we wouldn’t be much help.”

“But…” Caitlin’s eyes flickered, “sometimes, keeping the Imprison isn’t a bad thing… forcibly unlocking dreams can have unpredictable consequences.”

Natsume and Sirfetch’d exchanged a glance.

“Sirfetch’d… (o_o)” Sirfetch’d looked totally clueless.

My sleep is just fine every night—what are you guys talking about, quack?

“I’ll remember this.” Natsume said sincerely. “Thank you, Caitlin.”

Caitlin offered a faint smile. “It was nothing.”

Natsume had always felt he and Sirfetch’d were alike.

Both wanted to slack off and avoid work, just chilling and flying under the radar.

But, somehow, he’d become a Battle Legend, squaring up with legendary Pokémon.

And Sirfetch’d… would definitely have his own legendary moment one day too.

Natsume believed that deeply.

Just like he believed in the bond they shared.

Strong enough that he and Sirfetch’d could act as one—facing battles side by side.

After the vacation in Undella Town, Cynthia had to return to the Sinnoh League. After all, she’d been away for some time.

Though it was hard to part, Natsume saw Cynthia off properly, promising they’d play “Pokémon: Battle” together online that night.

Before he left, Butler Darach waved Natsume over privately and handed him a thick notebook.

“What’s this?” Natsume asked, curious.

“These are the pieces Sylveon liked best while touring Lady Caitlin’s walk-in closet,” Darach replied. “Didn’t want to forget any.”

“There’s this many?” Natsume flipped through the pages in surprise.

“That’s because Lady Caitlin’s closet… is exceedingly large,” Darach replied earnestly.

Natsume slapped his forehead.

He’d honestly never thought about buying his Pokémon little dresses or accessories.

Gengar and Blastoise probably didn’t care, but Sylveon was a girl, and like Serena’s Sylveon, she loved bows.

“Thanks a bunch.”

Natsume said seriously, “I’ll get in touch with Fantina and Valerie—the best designers around—and buy cute bows for Sylveon!”

“I’m sure Sylveon will be thrilled with a gift,” Darach smiled. “Just like people, Pokémon need surprises too.”

That very afternoon, Natsume contacted Fantina to discuss bow designs.

“How about something sparkly and purple?” Fantina smiled. “It’s so elegant and noble—perfect for Sylveon.”

Purple was also Natsume-sensei’s favorite color; his phone case, Pokédex, and everything had purple accents.

As everyone knew, Cynthia's Champion’s colors were black and gold, Steven’s were steel silver, Red’s were fire red, and Blue Oak’s were leaf green…

As a Champion, Natsume-sensei's signature color wavered somewhere between black-gold and purple.

“Purple it is,” Natsume decided.

Fantina specialized in purple; next he’d have Valerie make a set of “pink” bows, to make Sylveon look even cuter!

Both would be shipped to the Unova Region.

After ranked matches, Natsume stayed in Unova for another important reason.

There was one Trainer he wanted to see.

He wanted to visit an old friend—

The King of Team Plasma: N.