Chapter 91
Early the next morning, Mike sat in his chair eating breakfast.
Noticing that Glameow kept looking elsewhere today, he stuffed the final bite of bread into his mouth.
"Glameow, we’re about to leave. Do you want to prepare a gift for your new friend?"
Glameow turned and stared at him.
Mike raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"She’s the first Pokémon friend you made entirely on your own. I think giving her a small present before we leave would be nice."
"That way, she’ll understand how you feel."
Glameow’s beautiful eyes blinked.
After staring at Mike for a while, she jumped down from the chair and walked into the tent.
"Sni?"
[Will she come today?]
Mike looked toward the direction Leafeon usually appeared from.
"She probably will. She likes Glameow so much that once she knows we’re leaving today, she should come to see us off, right?"
"Though I suppose there’s no guarantee. That Leafeon seems very young. She probably evolved from Eevee only recently."
"But I believe she’ll come."
Snivy and the others nodded.
However, even after everyone finished breakfast and packed their belongings, Leafeon was nowhere to be seen.
’She really isn’t coming?’
Mike looked around in surprise but found no trace of her.
He glanced at Glameow, who sat on a rock staring intently at the bushes ahead. She seemed to be waiting for Leafeon to leap out as usual.
Unfortunately, a long time passed without any Pokémon appearing.
Mike had his camera hanging around his neck, while Gengar floated beside him with the backpack.
Snivy and Beedrill waited in the tree, watching Glameow together.
Looking at Glameow’s back as she sat on the rock, Mike raised his camera and took a photograph.
The sound made Glameow turn around.
When she saw that Mike and the others had already packed everything, she showed no visible reaction.
She simply stood, lightly jumped down from the rock, and walked to Mike’s feet.
"Meow."
[Let’s go.]
Mike froze.
"You don’t want to wait a little longer? What if she arrives soon?"
Without looking back, Glameow shook her head and walked past them.
[She has things she needs to do, and so do we. There’s no reason to delay our journey for her.]
Mike exchanged glances with the others, shrugged helplessly, and followed her.
Just as he turned to leave, a loud rustling came from the bushes ahead.
A familiar light-brown and green figure burst out.
Because she was moving too fast, her feet slipped as she landed, and she rolled straight toward Glameow.
Glameow extended one paw and stopped her with a look of disgust.
"Leaf—"
Leafeon climbed to her feet and looked at Mike, who had already packed everything away. She let out a relieved breath.
[Thank goodness. I made it in time.]
Glameow stared at the dirt covering Leafeon’s body, unable to conceal the disgust on her face.
The moment Leafeon saw her expression, she didn’t hesitate. She threw herself directly into the river.
"Well..."
Watching Leafeon wash herself in the water, Mike couldn’t help laughing.
’Why does this Leafeon seem so adorably clueless?’
He raised his camera and photographed her bathing in the river.
Then he removed the camera from his neck, handed it to Beedrill, and asked Gengar for the body wash.
Mike walked to the bank and clapped his hands.
"Come here. I’ll wash you properly."
Leafeon obediently swam over.
Mike covered her body in soap and scrubbed vigorously until she had turned into a foamy Leafeon.
Once she was clean, Leafeon climbed out of the river and shook her entire body wildly, spraying away all the remaining droplets.
She walked over to Glameow and leaned forward, wanting to rub their heads together.
Glameow tilted her head and allowed Leafeon to press closer.
Mike quietly stood nearby and watched the two Pokémon say goodbye.
"I was wondering whether you’d come, Leafeon."
Seeing Glameow finally push the overly affectionate Leafeon away, Mike smiled.
"If you’d arrived any later, we might already have left."
Leafeon looked at the man before her and blinked her beautiful light-brown eyes.
Although he occasionally acted like a pervert, he had generally treated her quite well.
She walked to Mike’s feet and rubbed against him too.
"Leaf—"
Leafeon pointed toward the camera hanging from Beedrill’s neck, then gestured toward the direction behind her.
"What is it?" Mike asked.
"Leaf—"
[There’s a cave over there with lots of Pokémon inside. Do you want to film them?]
Mike looked in the direction she indicated, then lowered his head.
"You’re saying there’s a cave over there?"
Leafeon nodded.
A cave in the forest?
Wouldn’t it contain Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon?
Mike carefully thought through all the Pokémon he had filmed so far and realized he had very little footage of Rock and Ground types.
Actually, "very little" was being generous.
He had almost none!
After making up his mind, Mike looked curiously at Leafeon.
"Why did you suddenly decide to take me there today?"
Leafeon gave him an adorable smile.
"Leaf~"
[Because if you go there, you won’t leave yet.]
Mike didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.
"So that’s your plan?"
He pretended to be angry and lightly nudged her with one foot.
Leafeon nimbly dodged and returned to Glameow’s side, pressing as much of her body against Glameow as possible.
Glameow raised one paw to stop her, but Leafeon was much larger, leaving her no choice but to endure the cuddling.
Perhaps because they were about to part, Glameow lowered her head and gently nudged Leafeon back for the first time.
Leafeon’s eyes widened.
’?!’
She immediately pushed her head back even harder.
"All right, that’s enough. Considering your size, are you trying to knock my Glameow across the river?" Mike complained.
Leafeon stopped immediately.
Mike shook his head and looked toward Snivy.
"Snivy, do you want to come too?"
"Sni."
[We shouldn’t miss such a rare opportunity.]
Snivy and Beedrill both nodded.
"All right, Leafeon. We’ll trouble you to lead the way."
Leafeon reluctantly moved away from Glameow, turned, and disappeared into the bushes.
Along the way, she frequently stopped and told Mike about what she had encountered the previous night.
"So after leaving us yesterday, you went to investigate that cave?" Mike asked in surprise.
"Leaf~"
[That’s right~]
"Didn’t you say you were afraid?"
"Leaf—"
[I was. That isn’t a nice place.]
As they continued, even the trees beside the path became crooked and disorderly.
Mike looked around in surprise.
This place clearly wasn’t normal.
After traveling a little farther and rounding a huge boulder, Leafeon stopped. She looked back and pointed ahead.
"There really is a cave."
Mike was somewhat astonished.
Snivy also regarded it with surprise.
The cave entrance was enormous and seemed to lead deep underground.
The interior was completely dark, and even from outside, Mike could hear Pokémon crashing into the stone walls.
"There must be quite a few Pokémon inside," he said while standing at the entrance and peering into the darkness.
Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon were said to have terrible tempers, especially Geodude.
They were stubborn, aggressive, and prone to flying into a rage and ramming anything nearby.
Mike suddenly felt a little uneasy.
’What should we do? Should we enter?’
He looked at Leafeon beside him and then back at the cave.
Mike raised one finger and scratched his lip, lightly biting his nail.
It had been a long time since he’d experienced this kind of tension.
He felt a little afraid, yet deep inside, excitement and anticipation were beginning to rise.
Had he grown braver?
The possibility of danger was strangely thrilling.
There was also an unusual sense of calm beneath it all.
’Damn. Now I finally understand why so many people want to become Trainers.’
’Traveling is really full of excitement!’
Mike probably wouldn’t have dared enter if he were alone, but Gengar and the others were with him.
"Since we’re already here, should we go inside and take a look?"
He turned toward his Pokémon.
They all nodded in agreement.
"All right. Let’s prepare first."
Mike began gathering everything they might need before entering the cave.
At the same time, he gave Leafeon a generous meal.
While she ate, Mike opened the Viewership Points Store.
{Store}
{Unextinguishable Torch: A torch that cannot be blown out. An excellent choice for illumination.}
{Price: 388 Viewership Points}
{Soothing Headlamp: A lamp designed for exploring darkness. Its gentle light will not irritate Pokémon that prefer dark environments, making it an excellent companion for quiet exploration.}
{Price: 5,888 Viewership Points}
{Pokémon Hunter J’s Glasses: Advanced technology from the Pokémon world. They can predict the next movements of relatively weak Pokémon, provide night vision, and block intense light.}
{Price: 38,888 Viewership Points}
{...}
Mike studied the long list of products.
"You’re trying to make me broke again!"
The system’s products really were expensive.
Mike checked his pitiful supply of points, gritted his teeth, and purchased the Soothing Headlamp and an Escape Rope.
Once Leafeon had eaten her fill, Mike tied the coiled Escape Rope around his waist.
"By the way, how am I supposed to use this?"
He looked at the bundle of rope in his hands and quietly asked.
{Tie one end to a tree, then hold the rope as you proceed. When you wish to leave, shout the command, and it will automatically pull you outside.}
The system seemed to hesitate before adding another line.
{It is... somewhat fast.}
Mike lowered his head and pulled at the Escape Rope.
He discovered that as he applied more force, it became thinner and extended farther.
"Items from the Pokémon world are ridiculously overpowered."
Mike shook his head, put on the headlamp, found a tree, and tied the rope securely around it.
"Wild Pokémon won’t damage it, will they?"
{System-produced items are guaranteed to be high quality. Wild Pokémon will instinctively ignore the Escape Rope.}
"Then I’m relieved."
Seeing that everyone had finished eating, Mike announced, "Prepare to set out."
Gengar was staring curiously at the rope around Mike’s waist.
He pointed at it.
"Gar?"
[Where did that come from?]
Gengar looked devastated, as though he had once again missed his chance to uncover Mike’s secret.
"What are you imagining? I took it from Grandma’s house."
Mike answered without changing his expression.
Gengar: Σ(ﾟДﾟ)
He vaguely remembered seeing rope at Grandma’s house.
Then he pointed at the headlamp on Mike’s forehead.
[Did that come from Grandma’s house too?]
"Are you coming or not?" Mike urged impatiently.
Gengar snapped out of his thoughts and nodded repeatedly.
Then he pointed at the headlamp and demanded that Mike let him wear it.
"Fine, fine. Come here and I’ll put it on you."
After securing the headlamp around Gengar’s head, Mike checked the others and found that they were ready as well.
"Do you want to ride inside the cat backpack?" he asked Glameow.
Glameow shook her head.
"All right. Remember to stay beside me."
Mike then looked toward Gengar.
"Good. Gengar, let’s set—where did you get that pickaxe?"
Gengar carried an iron pickaxe over one shoulder, a headlamp strapped around his forehead, and flashed Mike his gleaming white teeth.
Mike’s confidence immediately began to waver.
He suddenly thought of some unfortunate miner who had probably met a terrible end.
Gengar asked Mike to turn on his headlamp, then entered the cave first with the pickaxe on his shoulder.
Mike followed behind him. Glameow and Leafeon walked on either side of Mike, Snivy stayed close behind, and Beedrill guarded the rear.
The cave entrance was still fairly bright, but the deeper they traveled, the darker it became.
Gengar’s headlamp soon proved its value.
Rather than firing a harsh beam in only one direction like an ordinary headlamp, it released a soft glow in every direction, gently illuminating the surrounding area.
Mike held up his camera and looked around eagerly.
"Let’s see what adorable Pokémon we can find~"
He once again made that strange, excited sound.
Leafeon walked nervously beside Mike. As they moved deeper, she gradually shifted toward Glameow and hid behind her.
Suddenly, a round object emerged from a crack between the rocks and lunged toward them.
"Geo!"
Gengar reacted instantly and swung the iron pickaxe, sending it flying.
[What was that?! It scared me!]
Mike placed one hand above his eyes and looked toward the direction the Pokémon had been launched.
"Wow. A home-run Geodude!"