Chapter 83
Since Mike would be staying in Jubilife City for another week or so, he planned to use up all the ingredients Gengar had bought over the next few days to avoid wasting them.
That was why he usually went to Nicole’s yard to cook dinner.
At the moment, he was standing in the yard and greeting Nicole and Marill, who were busy cleaning the house.
Nicole walked over with Marill, and Mike looked over the house.
"You’ve cleaned it up nicely."
Nicole smiled and nodded before asking, "What are we having tonight?"
"A couple of simple dishes and some stir-fried seasonal vegetables."
"Marill!"
Marill cheered from beside her.
Mike planned to make something light tonight.
Marill now looked forward to Mike coming over to cook every day, since it meant she could eat something delicious.
Of course, the most important part was being able to eat with Nicole.
"You’ll find out when it’s ready. Go play. I’ll call you when I’m done."
"Marill~"
Marill nodded, then happily ran toward the open part of the yard and called Gengar over to play.
"Do you want to join them?" Mike asked the invisible Pokémon on his shoulder. "You can play with Gengar and the others."
Nicole saw Mike speaking to his shoulder.
A moment later, a small pink Pokémon appeared there.
That was...
Nicole’s eyes widened.
Mew!
The moment Mew appeared, it floated over to Marill and Gengar, gesturing for them to let it join their game.
Gengar didn’t refuse. He invited Mew to play with them.
Of course, a game like this was ridiculously easy for a Legendary Pokémon like Mew.
"Gar—"
Gengar floated over and told Mew that it wasn’t supposed to play that way.
Then he demonstrated the proper way to throw the beanbag!
Mew’s eyes lit up in understanding. Once it grasped the rules, it happily joined the game.
Whenever it hit Marill with the beanbag, it covered its mouth and giggled.
Nicole helped Mike prepare the food while cautiously watching Mew play with Gengar and Marill.
"Um... that really is Mew, isn’t it?"
Mike nodded.
"It’s a strange story. Mew transformed into a human and attended classes at Jubilife Trainers’ School. I discovered it, so I invited it to come back and have dinner with us."
"Mew likes going to school?" Nicole asked curiously.
"Probably. Or maybe it simply thought the school looked interesting."
Mike shrugged. Mew had probably only gone there because it seemed like fun.
Nicole nodded thoughtfully.
Mike remembered what had happened at the school earlier.
He recalled that Mew had always been incredibly mischievous in the movies as well.
It had once fought Mewtwo after Mewtwo healed Ash and several Pokémon that had been injured by Pikachu.
After Ash intervened, Mew eventually left together with Mewtwo.
Its second major appearance had been in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, where it served as the guardian of the Tree of Beginning.
When a crisis threatened the tree, Lucario sacrificed his life to stabilize it.
Mew hadn’t appeared for a long time after that.
Later, it was often seen wandering all over the world, leading fans to jokingly call it a little drifter.
Perhaps the system’s description had been accurate.
Once the crisis at the Tree of Beginning was resolved, Mew hid the tree and began roaming the world.
Mike poured the final dish out of the wok and raised his voice.
"Dinner’s ready!"
Gengar immediately floated over and set the table.
Mew hovered in the air, blinking as it watched everyone and their Pokémon take their seats.
"You can sit there, Mew."
Mike brought over a small chair for it.
At everyone’s invitation, Mew sat down and joined them for dinner.
It tried to imitate the humans and eat with chopsticks!
[Here, try this. I love it.]
Gengar placed some food in Mew’s bowl.
Mew stared curiously at the chopsticks resting across the bowl. It tried picking them up, but quickly discovered that it didn’t know how to use them.
After watching Mike for a moment and learning how his hands moved, Mew transformed into an exact copy of him and began eating with the chopsticks.
"...Mew, can we discuss something?"
The ’Mew Mike’ tilted his head curiously.
"Could you not transform into me? It feels really strange watching myself sit across the table and eat."
Mew blinked before transforming back into its original form.
"You don’t have to use chopsticks. You can eat with your hands."
Mew immediately picked up a chicken leg with its tiny paws and began nibbling on it.
"Mew~"
[Delicious!]
...
After dinner, Gengar and Beedrill began playing together as Mew watched them curiously from nearby.
"Mew?"
[Is this another beanbag game?]
"Gar—"
[That’s right. Want to play too?]
Gengar generously invited Mew to join.
Mew didn’t need to be asked twice and floated over.
Gengar used Shadow Ball, so Mew copied him and created a Shadow Ball of its own.
The two of them threw their attacks at Beedrill together!
Caught between attacks from both sides, Beedrill remained perfectly calm. He pointed one stinger in each direction and thrust them forward.
"Gar, gar, gar!"
Gengar threw his Shadow Balls faster and faster, while Beedrill’s stingers moved just as quickly.
Mew formed a meteor-like mass of psychic energy and casually threw that into the game as well.
Soon, Gengar and Mew were bombarding Beedrill from both sides with Shadow Balls and psychic projectiles.
Mike watched them for a moment and was about to tell them to calm down when he noticed Snivy’s vines joining in from behind them.
"Will all of you stop?!"
Mike saw Beedrill fearlessly charging toward an enormous Shadow Ball and hurriedly shouted again.
"Stop right now!"
Hearing him, Mew wrapped the Shadow Ball in psychic energy and hurled it high into the sky.
Beedrill shot past Mew and continued charging after it.
Mew froze for a moment, then covered its mouth and spun through the air.
Its body transformed into another Beedrill, and it followed him toward the Shadow Ball.
Boom!
A brilliant explosion bloomed in the sky like fireworks.
Before Mike could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the two Beedrill swinging their stingers and sparring in midair!
The two of them—even with one being a much smaller copy—moved with remarkable agility, looking like two children happily roughhousing.
Only when the night grew late did they finally stop.
Mew changed back into its original form and hovered nearby, covering its mouth as it giggled at everyone.
"That’s enough for today."
Mike rubbed his aching waist.
Mew nodded happily.
"Mew~"
[That was fun~]
"If you had fun, come sit down and rest for a while."
Mike patted the place beside him.
Mew didn’t sit there. Instead, it settled on his shoulder.
"Mew, is it all right for you to stay away from the Tree of Beginning for this long?"
Mike vaguely remembered hearing that Mew couldn’t leave the tree for extended periods.
Although Mew didn’t know how Mike knew about the Tree of Beginning, it still answered honestly.
"Mew~"
[It’s fine. I already hid the Tree of Beginning~]
"You hid it?"
Mike was surprised.
The Tree of Beginning was enormous. How could Mew possibly hide something that large?
Seeing his confused expression, Mew covered its mouth and giggled before pointing toward Gengar.
"Mew."
[Staying there was boring!]
Mike laughed, then glanced toward Glameow, who was playing with her Soothe Bell nearby.
"When are you planning to leave?"
Mew looked at Gengar, who was sitting beside them and eating snacks, then laughed softly.
"Mew~"
[I want to play with Gengar and Marill.]
It paused before pointing at Mike.
[And you too.]
’So it doesn’t plan to leave for now?’
Mike rubbed his chin.
"I still need to stay in Jubilife City for several days. How about I ask Gengar to play with you while we’re here?"
Mew nodded happily.
Mike gave a quiet hum, then picked up the camera beside him.
"I’m a photographer. The purpose of my journey is to photograph all kinds of Pokémon. Would you like to see the Pokémon I’ve photographed?"
Mew immediately showed great interest.
Mike turned on the camera and let it look through the pictures he had taken.
After viewing them, Mew blinked and transformed into a Charizard.
"Mew?"
[Do you want to photograph me?]
Mike smiled and shook his head.
"That wouldn’t work."
Mew changed back into its original form and looked at him curiously.
"When I travel, I want to photograph Pokémon as they really are, not Pokémon you’ve transformed into."
Mew tilted its head, seeming to understand only part of his explanation.
"But I can still take a picture of the real you. Why don’t you strike your favorite pose?"
Mew didn’t hesitate.
It floated in the air, leaned its upper body slightly backward, and covered its mouth with one paw as it laughed.
Its long tail curled over the top of its head.
Mike pressed the shutter and captured Mew’s most familiar pose.
He showed it to Mew.
After seeing the picture, Mew happily flew several circles around Mike before covering its mouth and laughing again.
Watching the friendly little Pokémon, Mike couldn’t help laughing with it.
The real Mew was even more adorable than he had imagined, especially since it seemed to love smiling.
Once Mew settled on his shoulder again, Mike asked, "Have you ever been to Crown City?"
’Crown City?’
Mew tilted its head, then shook it.
With a lifespan as long as Mew’s, why would it bother remembering the names of every city it had passed?
The rise and fall of an entire city might be no more than a passing moment to it.
"Mew?"
[Why are you going to Crown City?]
"I’m planning to look for the three Legendary Beasts," Mike explained. "It’s said that all three once appeared there."
Mew thought for a moment, apparently trying to remember what the three Legendary Beasts looked like.
"Suicune, Raikou, and Entei," Mike said. "I’ve already photographed Suicune. I still need Entei and Raikou."
The moment Mew heard that, its body transformed.
A majestic, imposing Entei appeared before Mike!
"Roaaar!"
Entei let out a powerful roar, then looked expectantly at Mike and waited for praise.
When Mike didn’t react, Mew transformed again, this time becoming Raikou.
"Do you remember what I said earlier, Mew? I want to photograph the real Pokémon, not ones you’ve transformed into."
Mike raised an eyebrow.
"Besides, the three I’m looking for are all Shiny!"
Mew changed back into its original form and looked slightly disappointed that it hadn’t been able to help him.
Looking at Mew, who could freely transform into other Pokémon, Mike suddenly thought of something.
"Mew, can you transform into Rayquaza?"
Mew blinked.
A moment later, a huge green figure appeared in the yard.
"Roaaar!"
The nearby wild Pokémon immediately scattered in every direction.
"All right, that’s enough..."
Mike looked at the green Legendary Pokémon with a helpless smile and waved for Mew to change back.
"I meant acting."
Mew blinked in confusion.
Mike took out his phone, quickly found a movie starring a Pokémon, and held it in front of Mew.
"Look. Something like this."
Mew accepted the phone and began watching.
"You can transform into all kinds of Pokémon, right? Would you like to act in a movie?"
Mike explained his idea.
"I think you’d have a lot of fun."
The longer Mew listened, the brighter its eyes became.
"Mew!"
[I want to play!]
Mew wanted to act in a movie!
"Mew~"
[I want to Act~]
Seeing it agree, Mike remembered something else and lowered his voice.
"You probably shouldn’t appear in your real form, though. Would that be all right?"
Mew covered its mouth, laughed continuously, and nodded.
"Mew~"
[That’s fine~]
Mike hadn’t expected Mew to be so easy to convince.
But after thinking about it, he roughly understood why.
For Mew, having fun was probably more important than anything else.
Other concerns simply weren’t worth thinking about.
That was also why it often followed people while invisible, observing them from close by.
To Mew, doing so was interesting.
Having fun was what Mew loved most.
Mike exchanged a glance with Gengar and found him grinning too.
Gengar had probably realized that he was finally going to play the great hero he had always dreamed of becoming!
Nicole listened to Mike’s proposal from nearby and fell into thought.
Having Mew act in a movie... that was certainly an interesting idea.
Or perhaps the better word was... Extravagant.
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