Chapter 194: This USB Packs a Punch
"It should be able to control that black substance to form fog, so give me a little of it. My brain's been getting duller these past few days."
The Central AI's voice sounded, and a pale, exhausted ghost-face popped up on its screen.
"Rotom, can you do it?" Natsume looked up, eyes full of hope, at Rotom.
"Roto!"
Rotom stepped forward and pressed a finger to the Central AI's massive chassis. A faint black fog rose from the black veining, followed along the grooves, flowed to Rotom's fingertip, and was finally absorbed entirely by the machine.
"Ah~" A blissful moan rang out, and a blushing bean-face appeared on the screen.
Why are you moaning? Natsume gave the Central AI a puzzled look.
"Ahem, I feel great now."
"Alright, Rotom, let's go outside and test it." Natsume beckoned to Rotom and headed out.
In the backyard, Natsume had already laid out all kinds of testing gear. After a round of measurements, Natsume's brows knit tight.
"Snap!"
An arm flew high into the air, then thudded down in front of Natsume. Ahead, Dragonite cocked its head at car-form Rotom standing there. Why did your arm fall off?
Dragonite, incensed, grabbed Rotom's intact other hand and thumped its own chest, ready to avenge it.
"Crack—"
With one careless tug, car-form Rotom's other arm came off as well, and it wobbled and toppled to the ground.
"Uu? Who ambushed you!?" Dragonite tossed aside the severed arm, face turning ferocious, its two bell-like eyes darting everywhere with murderous intent.
Not far away, Natsume watched the whole scene in silence. Good news: movement is smooth. Bad news: the black fog only lets Rotom perfectly pilot the body, but it doesn't improve the car's materials at all. Against stronger Pokémon, this thing is just a car that can stand up. Taking it apart is no different from stripping a car.
Also, Rotom's humanoid mode lets its battle technique shine more, but the original design—like a racer's native lightness and drag-reduction—gets completely thrown away.
"Sigh… looks like I really do have to design a motorcycle myself," Natsume felt a headache coming on. Store-bought motorcycles—not to mention that you can't find a dual-mode circuit set for transforming—don't have the material structure needed for real Pokémon battles.
"What kind of motorcycle do you think I should design?" Back beside the Central AI, Natsume casually plugged a USB drive into it.
"Szzzt—"
A tooth-aching surge of current crackled, the screen glitched into a shower of artifacts, then returned to normal after a moment. The USB drive contained a computer virus. Once the Central AI became sentient, it seemed to pick up a personal hobby. For example, Natsume had recently noticed something: the Central AI liked to download virus programs into itself and, right when they were about to flourish, annihilate them at lightning speed!
Maybe it's a bit like an immune response in a human body? Or maybe it enjoys the rush that comes right after recovering from a heavy sickness? Staring at the silent machine, Natsume's expression turned odd. He didn't get this hobby, but he respected it.
"This USB packs a punch!" After a long pause, the Central AI's voice rang out, firm and resonant, and a sunglasses-and-cigarette bean-face appeared on the screen.
Natsume: "..."
"What did you just say?" the Central AI asked, puzzled.
"What kind of motorcycle do you think I should build?" Natsume spoke unhurriedly.
"A motorcycle," the Central AI answered instantly. "Based on your collected data: materials are substandard. For a self-designed vehicle, you'll have to purchase high-strength, highly durable materials. A motorcycle's small size keeps costs low. Based on your needs: you must pre-embed a dual-mode circuit from the design stage. A motorcycle's simple structure lowers difficulty. Based on battle requirements: a motorcycle's small size satisfies agility and nimbleness."
"What if I want a heavy hundred-ton bruiser?" Natsume countered.
"It can Dynamax. A motorcycle is small, so the energy needed for Dynamax is low. A single Rotom working with one Porygon would be enough to maintain control."
The Central AI's responses came fast. Natsume nodded with approval. Once it became sentient, this Central AI turned out surprisingly good. Natsume felt like he suddenly had a senior research advisory board.
"What do you think of this design?" Imitating Miraidon's appearance, Natsume sketched it out with telekinesis.
In the room, a camera swiveled sharply toward them. The next second, the bean-face vanished from the small screen, replaced by the 3D model of Natsume's motorcycle in Miraidon's style. Many spots, large and small, were all flagged in red.
"The exterior considers only aerodynamic drag. These are the unreasonable elements and the places that can be optimized. For internal components, it's recommended to partner with relevant companies in the industry, with the client providing higher-grade raw materials."
In a few quick strokes, the Central AI even generated the contract.
"Mm… pick some manufacturers with solid tech and good reputations, and we'll try them out?" Seeing such ridiculous efficiency, Natsume was speechless. No—he couldn't wait to have his own laboratory and a sentient Central AI!
"But about the materials—what do you think would be best?" Natsume suddenly remembered something. He'd thought a lot about that question. The best would be anything tied to a Legendary or Mythical. Unfortunately, he couldn't get his hands on that stuff right now. As for what you can buy with money, he hadn't found many suitable options either.
"The laboratory's building materials," the Central AI didn't hesitate.
Natsume blinked. True—he didn't even know what the lab's construction materials were. He only knew that after all his years at Professor Oak's Laboratory, the lab was the one place that never got renovated! Thinking about it that way, the quality really was absurdly high.
Natsume fell into thought. Perfect—when his doctoral qualification came through and the League built his institute, he'd have them expand the planned laboratory. Then he'd pry off a bit… and later settle the account with the Team Rocket trio. Great—plan complete!
"Alright, Rotom, we're going to patrol the mountains!" Natsume waved, and Rotom extracted its chip from the nearly scrapped chassis. At the same time, Porygon was squeezed out of the chip and emerged outside.
"Bzzt—"
Red light flashed, and Porygon was drawn into a Poké Ball and returned to its original place. Natsume left the lab and headed straight for the distant snowy mountains. Since the motorcycle Rotom research still needed time, he would first solve the Poké Ball Rotom problem.
For example, he could go look for Mewtwo and see if he could persuade it a bit. Natsume remembered that after their last encounter, Mewtwo had said it was taking the cloned Pokémon to live beyond the mountains of snow…
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