Chapter 66
"I’ll buy you something to eat later," Mike said softly as he looked at Glameow lying in his arms.
Glameow gave a small nod.
She didn’t like noodles, especially bland ones.
While scratching beneath Glameow’s chin, Mike watched Marill washing the dishes.
He turned toward Gengar, motioned for him to come closer, and whispered a few words into his ear.
"What do you think?"
"Gar—"
[I support it!]
Mike nodded.
Once Marill finished washing the dishes, he asked, "Marill, can I come back for dinner tonight?"
"Marill!"
[Of course!]
Marill hurried over and nodded enthusiastically.
Mike smiled.
"Then how about I cook dinner for you tonight?"
Marill shook her head.
"Listen to me first."
Mike interrupted before she could speak.
"We’re friends, right?"
Marill nodded.
"You already cooked for us, so as your friend, I should cook for you too."
"Unless... you don’t really consider us your friends yet?"
Mike delivered the finishing blow.
The innocent Marill frantically shook her head.
"Marill!"
[That’s not true!]
Seeing her become so anxious that she was nearly in tears, Snivy shook her head from the side.
"Then as your friend, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to cook for you tonight, isn’t it?"
Marill felt that something about his words wasn’t quite right, but her little head couldn’t figure out what it was, so she nodded in confusion.
"Then it’s settled. I’ll cook dinner for you tonight."
Mike bent down and held out his palm.
Marill happily jumped up and gave him a high five.
...
After lunch, Mike followed Joy to film the public-awareness video.
Marill escorted them to the gate and waved goodbye.
Looking at Marill standing there, Mike thought for a moment before asking, "Marill, would you like to come with us?"
"Marill?"
She tilted her head and looked at him curiously.
"You know, the sun is really strong, filming is exhausting, and I’ll be standing outside for a long time. I’ll get thirsty easily, but Gengar and Snivy refuse to buy water for me, so I need an assistant who can help me."
Gengar: "????!"
Σ(゚∀゚ノ)ノ
’What are you talking about?! When have I ever refused to buy you water?!’
Unlike the dumbfounded Gengar, Snivy quietly extended a vine behind Mike’s back and whipped him where no one else could see.
"Ah..."
Mike couldn’t stop himself from crying out.
"What’s wrong?" Joy asked curiously.
Mike’s face turned red as he shook his head.
"Nothing. A mosquito bit me."
Beedrill, who was flying above Mike, watched what Snivy had done before glancing at the stingers on his own arms.
’The next time he says something bad about me, can I stab him too?’
A purple gleam flashed across the stingers beneath the sunlight.
Glameow sat on the ground with one paw covering her little mouth, looking extremely adorable.
"Marill..."
[Then wait for me...]
Marill turned and ran back inside the house.
Mike looked back at Snivy through gritted teeth, only to find her giving him a gentle smile.
"Sni~"
Her voice was soft, sweet, and filled with grievance.
’That’s going too far!’
Mike cried out inwardly when he saw her expression.
"Marill."
Mike turned at the sound of her voice and found Marill wearing her small shoulder bag while struggling to close the iron gate.
Gengar immediately floated over and helped her shut it.
Marill carefully placed the key inside her bag, walked up to Mike, and called out.
"Marill."
Mike nodded, then walked over to Glameow and crouched down to pick her up.
Glameow lightly jumped onto his shoulder, used him as a stepping stone, and continued walking ahead.
Mike: "..."
He had assumed Glameow wouldn’t reject him in front of Joy and Marill.
Clearly, he had greatly overestimated himself.
Mike stood expressionlessly and ignored Joy, who was struggling not to laugh.
"Joy, let’s go."
"All right, we’ll head over now—pfft, cough. We should get going."
Joy quickly forced her expression back to normal.
Mike first bought Glameow some food. After she finished eating, he followed Joy to the filming location.
"This is the script. Take a look and see whether there are any problems."
Joy handed him a document.
Mike accepted it and began reading.
He didn’t have many lines.
The main scene involved Joy explaining safety information when Mike and Gengar happened to pass through the shot.
Joy would stop him, ask who he was, then naturally invite him to explain how Trainers should avoid and respond to Bug-type Pokémon in the wilderness.
Mike had already covered the same information in The Wide World of Pokémon.
This was simply another chance to explain it.
He nodded to show that he had no problems with the script.
Joy began arranging the crew for filming.
...
"Hello, everyone. I’m Officer Jenny from Jubilife City. As you all know, a program called The Wide World of Pokémon has recently become very popular online. Besides being informative and entertaining, it also contains many points that Trainers should pay close attention to..."
Joy stood beside a police motorcycle and began explaining.
An investigator motioned toward Mike.
Mike quickly grabbed Gengar, who was still holding his bamboo staff and telling Marill a story, then pretended to walk past the set with him.
"Excuse me, Trainer. Yes, you."
Joy nodded toward Mike, who pointed at himself.
"May I ask you a few questions?"
Mike nodded.
"Of course."
"May I ask your name?"
"Mike. My name is Mike, and this is my partner, Gengar."
Mike grabbed Gengar by the tail and pulled him away from the cameraman’s equipment, which he had been poking with his bamboo staff, then smiled toward the camera.
"Gar—"
Gengar stuck out his tongue at the lens.
Without changing his expression, Mike grabbed a handful of Gengar’s backside and twisted hard.
Gengar: ( ゚́ж゚`)!!!
"What?! Mike? Are you the creator of The Wide World of Pokémon and Professor Rowan’s assistant, Assistant Mike?"
Joy exclaimed in surprise.
Watching Joy’s painfully awkward acting, Mike felt so embarrassed that his toes nearly dug out an entire apartment beneath the ground!
Still wearing his usual smile, he nodded and looked toward the camera.
"If... there isn’t another person with the same name, then I suppose that would be me."
"May I ask why you created The Wide World of Pokémon?"
"Well... there are three reasons. First, I love..."
Mike shoved Gengar down when he tried to squeeze into the shot.
"Second, I believe we should..."
Mike knocked Gengar out of frame with his backside when he pushed his way back in.
"Finally, I think..."
After Gengar licked his face, Mike looked into the camera.
"Sorry. Gengar seems very curious about filming. Please give me a moment."
He turned toward Gengar, who kept trying to steal the spotlight, and quietly pointed toward Marill waiting beneath a shaded canopy.
"Why don’t you stay with Marill and continue telling her stories?"
"Gar—"
[Their camera looks different from ours.]
"Don’t you want to tell her about all the times you protected me, Beedrill, and the others on our journey?"
"The heroic adventures of the mighty Gengar who defeated the bad guys?"
Gengar: "!!!"
Without looking back, Gengar hugged his bamboo staff and flew straight toward Marill.
Since filming had already gone on for some time, Joy decided to give everyone a short break after Gengar left.
Mike had assumed Marill would bring him some water, only to find her sitting beneath the canopy with Gengar, happily listening to his stories without the slightest intention of coming over.
Gengar was enthusiastically describing his adventures, waving both his arms and legs.
Marill clapped for him from time to time.
Mike looked in another direction.
Glameow was napping beneath a tree.
Snivy sat on one of its branches, while Beedrill remained hidden among the leaves.
Snivy wasn’t a particularly talkative Pokémon. Her gaze had remained on Mike the entire time.
When she noticed him looking at her, she gave him a gentle smile, extended a vine, picked up a bottle of water, and handed it to him.
’Snivy! You really are the only one who treats me well!’
Mike was moved almost to tears!
Beedrill was also a quiet Pokémon—probably.
He simply remained hidden behind the leaves, silently sharpening his two stingers against each other.
After the break, Joy asked everyone to resume filming.
"I think..."
Mike had barely begun speaking when an Aipom wearing a baseball cap dropped from above and leaned close to inspect the camera.
’This Aipom...’
Mike turned and saw a group running toward them from the distance.
"Aipom!" the boy at the front shouted.
"Give me back my hat!"
Mike stared at the familiar face and the familiar yellow mouse beside him.
’Well, would you look at that?’
’We actually ran into him?’
Mike narrowed his eyes in surprise.
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