Chapter 77
Mike stared at Lucian’s message for a moment before replying.
[Mike: It’s already prepared. I’ll upload it tonight.]
[I Really Don’t Want Overtime: Thanks for your hard work. Is this episode about Bug types again?]
[Mike: ...]
[I Really Don’t Want Overtime: I look forward to seeing it.]
Mike stared at the message, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Something about this conversation didn’t seem quite right.
While Mike had been chatting with Lucian, the list of contestants advancing to the second round had already been announced.
Mike had ranked first, while Ash, Dawn, Zoey, and Jessie had all advanced as well.
Sensing a sudden wave of hostility, Mike raised his head and spotted Jessie hiding in a corner, biting the edge of her dress while glaring at him.
He checked the matchups and discovered that he had been paired against her for the Contest Battle.
Mike put away his phone and looked at Jessie.
"I look forward to our match."
"Don’t get too full of yourself! I’ll defeat you and win this Pokémon Contest!"
Jessie straightened and pointed dramatically at Mike.
Looking at her disguise, Mike honestly felt Team Rocket’s costumes were extremely easy to see through.
Why did nobody in the Pokémon world ever recognize them?
As for why Jessie was participating here and had apparently once finished as the runner-up in a Pokémon Contest...
It had happened too long ago. Mike couldn’t remember.
Whatever.
All he needed to know was that she wasn’t exactly a good person.
Team Rocket probably caused plenty of trouble wherever they went.
They were incredibly skilled with their hands, good cooks, and James in particular came from a wealthy family...
So why were they so obsessed with catching one Pikachu?
Mike even remembered Team Rocket building giant robots by hand, though Pikachu and the others destroyed them every single time.
While he was still thinking, the announcer called the names of Mike and "Jessilina."
Mike stood and looked at Beedrill, who was behind him chewing on the Toxic Orb.
He patted Beedrill’s head.
"Let’s go, Sir Knight."
Beedrill spat out the Toxic Orb and hid it somewhere on his body.
Mike stared curiously at him.
Where exactly was Beedrill keeping that thing?
Mike entered the stage with Beedrill and nearly slipped.
Ash and the others were sitting in the audience, staring at Beedrill perched on Mike’s shoulder with one long stinger in his hand that resembled a spear.
"Gar!"
Gengar let out a strange cheer and waved at Beedrill.
[Good luck lil broo!]
He only gave Mike a thumbs-up to show his support.
Mike clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to leave the stage and challenge Gengar to a wrestling match!
Snivy and Marill beside him looked far more normal, especially Snivy.
The rules of a Contest Battle revolved around reducing the opponent’s points through a Pokémon battle.
Dodging an attack and forcing the opponent to make a mistake would reduce their points.
Landing a beautiful move or knocking the opponent down would also lower their score.
The Contest Battle officially began!
Mike looked at Jessie across the field, flicked his wrist, and threw Beedrill’s Poké Ball.
Jessie sent out Carnivine—James’s Carnivine.
"Carnivine, let’s go! Use Bite!"
Carnivine flew toward Beedrill with its enormous mouth wide open.
Mike calmly gave his command.
"Move higher."
Carnivine’s jaws snapped shut on empty air.
Beedrill spun in midair and lightly stabbed Carnivine in the back with the long stinger he was holding.
Carnivine winced in pain and became irritated.
Beedrill was moving incredibly fast.
He circled through the air several times.
Mike’s gaze sharpened.
"Fury Cutter."
Beedrill instantly appeared behind Carnivine and brought the spear-like stinger down hard, sending Carnivine flying into the air.
He caught up immediately.
Cold and composed, Beedrill swung both stingers with almost leisurely precision, each strike flashing through the air before Carnivine could react.
One Fury Cutter followed another, and the move’s power continued to rise.
Carnivine was helpless beneath Beedrill’s relentless assault. Jessie’s points kept falling until they reached zero.
Beedrill calmly withdrew his stingers and returned to Mike’s side.
The two bowed together.
...
After returning to the waiting room, Mike looked at Jessie and wondered whether he should say something to comfort her.
She spoke first.
"Don’t get too proud! I’ll definitely win the next Pokémon Contest!"
Mike: "..."
He took out his phone and opened the contest livestream just in time to see Beedrill cleanly defeat Carnivine.
[Mat_tokki]: Honestly, Mike only needs to stand there. Beedrill is the one doing all the work.]
[Purple Scholar]: Now that you mention it, Beedrill really is the one attacking.]
[Crazy Silence]: Beedrill looks so cool. Can that human move out of the way?]
Mike: "???"
[NoFearRuler]: The deadbeat uploader dares to show his face?!]
As more and more people appeared to condemn him, Mike immediately closed the livestream and looked at the screen instead.
Zoey was currently battling Ash.
Unfortunately, Ash’s usual fighting style wasn’t particularly suited for Pokémon Contests, and he eventually lost to Zoey.
Dawn, however, advanced.
In his next match, Mike faced an unfamiliar contestant.
Beedrill’s cool fighting style quickly reduced the opponent’s points to zero.
Meanwhile, Zoey’s Glameow was battling on the other side of the bracket.
Its movements were extremely elegant.
Thanks to the layout of the field, Glameow looked remarkably agile, and watching it gave Mike an idea.
Could Beedrill also follow this kind of elegant style?
Mike stared at the screen and fell into thought, his mind gradually wandering.
Zoey’s Pokémon was also a Glameow.
Mike watched the Glameow on the battlefield, then took a moment to look back at his own Glameow in the audience.
She was sitting beside Snivy with her slender neck stretched forward, watching the Glameow on the field.
Then she turned toward Mike.
Her large eyes blinked.
She raised one paw, licked it, and gave Mike an adorable wink.
"Meow~"
Mike held his breath as his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
Glameow...
Glameow had just acted cute for him!
’I knew it! Entering this Pokémon Contest was absolutely the right decision!’
Mike screamed wildly inside his head.
Sorry, Zoey’s Glameow was adorable too, but his own Glameow was obviously the cutest!
Although his thoughts were in chaos, Mike didn’t lose focus and continued watching the battle.
Zoey’s Glameow leaped high into the air and gracefully spun through three rotations.
Its tail turned to steel before whipping toward Beedrill.
The movement was extremely beautiful.
Beedrill’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
He continued wearing the same cold, aloof expression that practically declared himself the greatest Pokémon alive.
Even the announcer praised his composure in the face of danger.
Just before Iron Tail struck him, Mike spoke.
"Fury Cutter."
Beedrill raised one stinger horizontally and blocked Iron Tail.
His head didn’t move at all as he calmly faced the attack directly.
Glameow’s elegant Iron Tail was stopped by Beedrill’s cool response, causing both contestants to lose a small number of points.
Glameow pushed harder, trying to break through Beedrill’s defense.
When that failed, it used its spring-shaped tail to launch itself upward and performed an elegant backflip in midair.
Mike could see everything clearly from the stage.
At the exact moment Glameow flipped backward, Beedrill swung both stingers and knocked it away.
Glameow recovered gracefully and landed on its feet.
"Glameow, use Fury Swipes!" Zoey shouted.
Glameow struck an elegant pose before rushing toward Beedrill.
"Fury Cutter!"
Beedrill didn’t attack Glameow directly.
Instead, every swing of Fury Cutter met one of Glameow’s claws, blocking the entire barrage of Fury Swipes.
The exchange appeared evenly matched, but Zoey and Glameow’s points continued to decrease.
Inside the contestants’ waiting room, Dawn stared at Mike and Beedrill on the screen and cried out in shock.
"That’s terrifying... Mr. Mike is using Glameow’s own attacks to make Beedrill look even more impressive."
"Glameow, Shadow Claw!"
Glameow stepped onto Beedrill’s stinger and used it to leap into the air.
Shadows surrounded its front paw, transforming it into an enormous claw that slashed toward Beedrill.
"Beedrill, X-Scissor!"
Beedrill hovered calmly in the air.
He drew back his stingers, placed them against his body, and gently blew across them.
Looking cool was a lifelong commitment.
The timer on the screen reached zero.
Mike and Beedrill had won the final match.
"Good match."
Mike pressed his palms together and bowed slightly toward Zoey.
"Bee."
[Good match.]
Beedrill also lowered his stingers and dipped his head.
"You’re really strong. How many Ribbons have you won?" Zoey asked curiously as she recalled Glameow.
There was nothing shameful about acknowledging defeat.
As Dawn’s rival in Pokémon Contests, Zoey understood that winning and losing were both perfectly normal.
"This is my first."
Zoey froze.
Mike smiled and nodded.
"Your first?!"
Throughout the entire battle, Mike had used her own attacks to reduce her points.
He hadn’t even launched a direct attack at the beginning, yet his control over the pace had been nearly perfect.
How could someone like that be entering a Pokémon Contest for the first time?
Zoey felt as though her world had collapsed.
Seeing Gengar rush toward him, Mike smiled and opened his arms.
’Come on.’
’Since I won, I’ll generously forget what happened earlier and ignore that ridiculous outfit long enough to hug you once.’
Gengar stopped in front of Mike and pointed at Beedrill.
"Gar!"
[Why didn’t you let me compete when it looked so cool? My swordsmanship is even better!]
Mike: "..."
Gengar glared at him angrily.
"I wanted to use you too, but you can’t blame me for this."
Gengar nodded.
"The main character of our movie is a wandering hero, right?"
Gengar nodded again.
"Exactly. You know what your little brother is like. He pretends to be aloof, but deep down, he really wants everyone to see how cool he is."
"If I don’t give him something to do now, what happens when we start filming and he tries to steal the lead role from you?"
Gengar: "!!!"
"Gar!"
Gengar crossed his arms firmly.
[No! The main role belongs to me!]
"That’s why we need to give your little brother opportunities like this. We obviously have to let him perform now, so that later we’ll have a reason to..."
Gengar’s eyes widened in realization.
’So Lil Bro is already preparing to steal the main role!’
"Shh..."
Mike placed a finger in front of his lips.
Gengar hurriedly nodded and covered his mouth.
After dealing with Gengar, Mike brought everyone to the awards stage.
He accepted the commemorative Ribbon from the announcer with both hands and thanked her.
Mr. Contesta smiled at Mike.
"I must say, your Beedrill is the most impressive Beedrill I have ever seen. He remained calm and composed no matter which opponent he faced, and his control over his moves was excellent."
"I look forward to seeing your future performances."
Mr. Contesta looked at Beedrill’s expressionless face and asked, "By the way, is your Beedrill always this aloof?"
"No, he—"
Mike had barely begun explaining when Beedrill nodded.
...
After the Pokémon Contest ended, Ash and the others prepared to leave for Oreburgh City.
They spoke with Mike outside the Contest venue.
"Mr. Mike, I definitely won’t lose at the next Pokémon Contest!" Dawn declared, encouraging herself.
"Do your best. I might not enter the next Contest, but I’ll cheer for you through my phone."
Dawn froze.
"Huh? You aren’t entering the next Pokémon Contest?"
Mike smiled.
"I entered this one because it happened to be held in Jubilife City while I was here. I might not be wherever the next Contest is held."
He raised the camera in his hand.
"Did you forget? I’m a photographer afterall."
"All right. Then I’ll work hard too."
"See you at the next Pokémon Contest!"
"See you next time."
"Yeah, see you next time."
Ash and the others said goodbye to Mike.
"I’ll see whether I can photograph them."
And perhaps convince them to appear in his movie while he was at it.
"Then we’ll see you again," Ash said as the group waved and turned away.
"See you."
After watching them leave, Mike turned and headed toward Nicole’s house.
He had promised to go there with Officer Jenny today and try the noodles Nicole and Marill made together.
"Gengar, who prepared the outfit you wore while cheering today?"
"Gar—"
[Nicole. What do you think? Doesn’t it look great?]
"Don’t wear it again."
Gengar: "..."
Mike stopped and stared speechlessly at Team Rocket, who had suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Since you asked so sincerely, we’ll graciously answer you!"
The three strangely dressed figures struck dramatic poses.
Mike stared at them in silence.
He hadn’t even asked them anything!
Why had they suddenly started introducing themselves?
Mike shook his head.
"Gengar, send them flying with Dark Pulse."
Gengar nodded, and Dark-type energy poured forward.
Boom!
Team Rocket was blasted into the sky before they could react.
"What’s wrong with you?! We hadn’t finished introducing ourselves!"
"Interrupting people is a terrible habit!"
"That’s right, meow!"
"Wobbuffet!"
Mike raised one hand above his eyes and watched Team Rocket disappear into the sky.
A cheerful sound effect played inside his head.
[Ding~ Classic scene successfully witnessed.’]