Chapter 185
Mike stayed on the call with Grandma and Growlithe for a while longer.
Then a familiar voice came from somewhere in the distance.
"Gar—"
[I heard Grandma! Is that Grandma?]
Gengar floated out of the bushes and came straight toward Mike.
Mike handed him the phone.
Gengar hugged it to his chest, sat down beside Mike, and immediately began having what seemed to be a very serious private conversation with Grandma and Growlithe.
Mike had no idea whether Grandma could truly understand Gengar, but every time Gengar spoke, she answered with something that somehow fit perfectly.
It made Mike genuinely wonder whether Grandma had secretly learned how to understand Pokémon.
While Gengar chatted happily, Mike reached over and plucked a few leaves caught on his body.
Then he folded both hands behind his head and returned his gaze to the sky.
Hatenna lay down beside him.
After a while, she carefully shifted herself a little closer.
From the tree above, Snivy watched the entire scene.
Then she glanced toward Glameow, who was lying on the blanket and grooming her fur.
Glameow noticed.
"Meow?"
[What?]
"Sni?"
[You’re not going over there?]
"Meow."
[If he likes it, it’s fine.]
Snivy’s eyes slowly shifted as she thought about that answer, but she didn’t say anything more.
...
Mike continued staring at the sky.
"Hatenna, are the clouds where you come from like these?"
Hatenna froze.
She turned her head, hidden eyes studying Mike’s profile with obvious confusion.
’How does he know I like looking at clouds?’
Mike continued casually.
"This meadow isn’t huge, but it should still be big enough for you to run around properly, right?"
"Haten~"
Hatenna’s voice became soft and nostalgic.
[The sky back home is really beautiful. There are white clouds too, and they’re always changing shape. Every time I’m still looking at one, it changes before I’ve had enough...]
She looked upward.
[But the clouds here are beautiful too. They look like cotton candy. Especially now—the sky and clouds are really pretty.]
Mike smiled after hearing that.
"How about I sing you a song?"
"Haten?"
Mike didn’t reach for his melodica.
Instead, he remained lying in the grass with both hands behind his head and began singing softly.
"Little cloud drifting through the sky, slowly passing by...
Won’t you stop and rest awhile, and stay with us nearby..."
The clearing gradually became quiet as his voice carried through the afternoon.
Hatenna suddenly remembered her life back in Paldea.
She remembered running around with her friends, playing until they were exhausted, then collapsing onto the grass together and staring up at the sky while counting the clouds floating overhead.
Tears slowly gathered beneath her fringe and slipped down her cheeks.
She didn’t know what had happened to the friends who had been captured with her.
She didn’t know whether she would ever see home again.
Gengar gradually stopped talking as well, and he and Grandma quietly listened to Mike sing.
Snivy leaned against the tree trunk, gently swinging her legs.
Beedrill closed his eyes.
Glameow remained still on the blanket, watching Mike without making a sound.
Nidoking lifted Nidoran♀ onto his shoulder and sat down nearby, casually eating the Berries he had "borrowed."
When the song came to an end, Mike looked toward Hatenna beside him and smiled.
"Next time we get the chance, I’ll take you somewhere else to see the clouds too. The clouds over the ocean are beautiful."
...
Nidoking was surprisingly good at making a home.
That was the thought that came to Mike almost immediately after he woke up.
The cave was kept remarkably clean, and Nidoking had even collected little decorations of his own—plush toys, glass bottles, unusually shaped stones, and whatever else had caught his interest over time.
After Mike added a few lamps, the place felt even more like an actual home rather than a wild Pokémon’s den.
If he didn’t still have the Academic Summit to attend, Mike honestly might have stayed several more days.
He hadn’t explored even half of Eterna Forest yet, and sleeping here was almost as comfortable as sleeping at home.
Unlike ordinary camping in the wilderness, where daylight usually forced him awake at sunrise, he could sleep here until the sun was already high without worrying about danger.
Mike stepped out of the tent, stretched, and walked toward the mouth of the cave.
Outside, Beedrill, Gengar, and Nidoking were in the middle of what appeared to be an extremely one-sided game of dodgeball.
Mike took one look at Nidoking’s bruised and swollen face as he clumsily tried to avoid another incoming attack and shook his head.
What had possessed Nidoking to think he could beat those two at this kind of game?
Gengar and Beedrill had practically grown up as a pair of little monsters.
Sure enough, another Shadow Ball exploded against Nidoking.
Tears immediately welled in his eyes.
"Haten~"
[Good morning~]
Hatenna bounced over to greet Mike.
Mike crouched and gently rubbed her head.
"You should be saying good afternoon."
He had checked the time before coming out.
It was already past noon.
"Gengar, stop playing. Time to get lunch ready."
Gengar answered, casually tossed the Shadow Ball still in his hand toward Beedrill, and floated away.
Beedrill flicked one stinger forward and pierced straight through the attack, dispersing it before returning to his usual calm expression.
Gengar began setting out the tables and chairs, while Snivy jumped down from the tree and went to wash the ingredients.
Mike took Hatenna with him to wash up.
...
After lunch, Mike remained seated at the table for a while.
Gengar was happily chewing snacks nearby when Mike looked over and said, "How about we leave tomorrow?"
Gengar nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Gar—"
[I’ll follow you.]
Mike looked toward Snivy, Beedrill, and Glameow as well.
They all agreed.
With the decision made, Mike picked up his camera and headed deeper into Eterna Forest to gather more footage while he still had the chance.
...
Later that afternoon, Mike found himself looking upward.
Glameow was moving effortlessly through the branches above him, hopping from tree to tree with all the grace she had always possessed.
Mike couldn’t help wondering how she was somehow becoming heavier and heavier without looking any larger.
Her speed hadn’t decreased in the slightest either.
"Meow?"
Noticing him staring, Glameow lowered her head and looked down at Mike.
Her little head tilted to one side, crystal-blue eyes filled with confusion.
"Nothing. I was just thinking you’re really cute."
Mike raised his camera and captured the expression.
"Meow."
[There’s a young Kangaskhan.]
Glameow lifted her paw and pointed toward another part of the forest.
Mike paused.
"A young Kangaskhan?"
Glameow looked toward Snivy.
Snivy nodded.
"Sni~"
[There’s no mother with her.]
"Let’s go take a look."
Before Mike had even finished speaking, Glameow jumped lightly down from the tree and moved ahead to lead the way.
Mike eventually crouched behind a thicket and found the young Kangaskhan struggling to climb a Berry tree.
He lowered his voice.
"Why is there a young Kangaskhan all by itself? Where’s its mother?"
"Gar—"
[No idea.]
Mike raised his camera.
"Let’s film first. Beedrill, could you check the surrounding area and see if there’s an adult Kangaskhan nearby?"
Beedrill nodded and flew upward, quickly disappearing above the trees.
Mike remained hidden in the undergrowth and continued recording the young Kangaskhan.
After a while, Beedrill returned and shook his head.
Mike acknowledged him with a small nod, and Beedrill immediately concealed himself among the leaves again.
What none of them noticed was that, behind Mike, another pair of eyes was watching from the shelter of a tree.
The young Kangaskhan eventually managed to haul herself all the way into the Berry tree.
Exhausted by the climb but clearly delighted by the reward, she sat among the branches and began eating eagerly.
While she was distracted, Mike quietly opened the Pokédex entry.
[Kangaskhan (Young)]
[Type: Normal]
[Sex: Female]
[...]
[Description: A young Kangaskhan that has grown old enough to leave its mother. Its mother drives it away so that it can learn to survive independently in the wild. Once it eventually gives birth to a baby of its own, it will fully take on the role of an adult Kangaskhan.]
Mike immediately understood.
So this Kangaskhan had already reached the age when her mother had forced her to leave.
Kangaskhan were Pokémon famous for their powerful maternal instincts.
Much of their lives revolved around raising their young, and the pouch on the front of their bodies existed specifically to shelter and care for their babies.
But the baby in that pouch would eventually grow.
Once a young Kangaskhan became old enough to survive independently, its mother would drive it away and return to living her own life, while the young one was forced to begin learning how to survive on its own.
Mike lowered the Pokédex slightly.
"I wonder how her mother is doing. It would’ve been great if I could film both of them."
He sighed in disappointment.
A scene of the mother and daughter separating would have been excellent material.
Just then, the bushes nearby began rustling.
A faint hiss followed.
Beedrill’s crimson eyes appeared between the leaves overhead and locked onto the undergrowth.
Glameow’s fur immediately stood on end as she hissed toward the sound, while Gengar moved to Mike’s side with a suddenly cold expression.
Snivy’s Vine Whips slowly extended from either side of her neck.
The young Kangaskhan, completely unaware of the danger below, continued happily eating Berries in the tree.
Then an Arbok burst from the bushes.
It immediately began climbing the trunk, spitting a glob of corrosive purple liquid toward the young Kangaskhan as it ascended.
The young Kangaskhan looked down in alarm.
Startled badly enough to lose her footing, she fell from the tree, accidentally avoiding the Acid Spray at the same time.
The corroded branch above her snapped and fell, striking her on the head.
Mike’s eyes narrowed.
"Gengar—"
He stopped halfway through the command.
When he turned around, he finally noticed the large figure standing beneath a tree behind him.
Gengar already had Dark Pulse ready in one hand, while Beedrill had flown out of hiding and leveled both stingers at the stranger.
Mike stared.
"This is..."
His eyes widened.
"Kangaskhan?"
The adult Kangaskhan stood silently beneath the tree, watching him.
Mike’s gaze dropped to the pouch on her stomach.
It was empty.
He lowered his voice.
"Are you that young Kangaskhan’s mother?"
Kangaskhan nodded.
Then she shook her head slightly, as though correcting part of his assumption.
"Kanga..."
Her voice was deliberately quiet.
Mike glanced toward the fleeing youngster.
"You mean... you want her to handle this herself?"
Kangaskhan nodded.
Her eyes never left her daughter.
Mike could see the pain in them.
Every instinct in that mother wanted to rush forward and protect her child, yet the very same maternal love forced her to remain where she was.
Only then did Mike understand why Beedrill hadn’t found her earlier.
She had never left.
She had been following her daughter the entire time.
Mike sighed softly.
"I understand."
This was something the young Kangaskhan had to face if she was going to learn how to survive alone.
Unless her daughter’s life was truly in danger, the mother had no intention of interfering.
If Mike was right, she had probably been quietly following ever since the moment she drove her daughter away.
Kangaskhan really were Pokémon overflowing with maternal love.
There were even stories of Kangaskhan finding abandoned human children and raising them as their own, sometimes devoting themselves so completely to those children that they never produced another Egg during that time.
Mike shook away the thought, crouched back behind the bushes, and trained his camera on the young Kangaskhan and Arbok.
With her mother nearby, he knew she wouldn’t be allowed to die.
Getting hurt, however, was something she would have to endure.
Up in the tree, Glameow looked toward the adult Kangaskhan.
When she saw the tears in the mother’s eyes, she fell silent.
Mike couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
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