Chapter 55
"Lake Verity is just ahead. Let’s keep this visit short—how does two days sound?"
Mike asked the Pokémon beside him.
Gengar and the others had no objections.
He led them to the lakeside, set up the tent, and prepared a simple dinner.
Afterward, Mike sat inside and began editing the video from the Night of Evolution.
What surprised him was that Gengar didn’t go out to bother the nearby Pokémon or raid anyone’s home that evening. He simply sat quietly beside Mike.
After editing for a while, Mike looked up at him in confusion.
"Gengar, what’s wrong today? Why aren’t you outside playing?"
Gengar shook his head without answering and continued staring at Mike.
"Are you uncomfortable here?"
Mike grew worried by his unusual behavior.
"Gar—"
[I’m fine. Don’t mind me.]
Mike was even more confused, but since Gengar said he was fine, he didn’t press the matter and returned to his work.
If Gengar still seemed uncomfortable tomorrow, they could simply leave Lake Verity early.
His condition was more important.
After finishing the edit, Mike didn’t upload the Night of Evolution video immediately.
Instead, he chose to post the Ho-Oh footage he had recorded on the road.
As the video uploaded, Mike rolled his neck.
Hearing the joints crack, he let out a satisfied groan and stood up.
"I’m done. Gengar, let’s go sit by the lake and enjoy the breeze."
Mike turned and headed toward the tent entrance.
Gengar watched him leave with Kakuna in his arms, then suddenly lunged forward.
’There’s an opening!’
Whoosh~
Gengar yanked Mike’s pants straight down!
Mike: "?!"
Glameow: "Meow!"
Snivy: "Sni?!"
Kakuna: [Wide eyes.jpg]
Gengar: "Gar?!"
[Why doesn’t he have a tail?!]
"GENGAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!"
Mike’s furious shout echoed into the sky.
Gengar hurriedly fled with Kakuna in his arms.
"Get back here! You’re dead!"
Gengar nimbly dodged Mike’s attacks while wondering why Mike didn’t have a tail.
’So he isn’t a Gengar in disguise?’
’That makes sense. If he were a Gengar, there’s no way I wouldn’t notice.’
’Darn Mike! He tricked me again!’
In the middle of fleeing from Mike, Gengar suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky with a grave expression.
Mike didn’t understand at first, but when he followed Gengar’s gaze, his scalp went numb.
A massive Salamence hovered beneath the moon, with a figure standing on its back!
The moonlight clearly revealed who it was.
Short silver-gray hair, a fitted coat, a pair of solid black goggles, and a device resembling a launcher mounted on one arm.
Pokémon Hunter J.
Mike recognized one of the most memorable villains from the Diamond and Pearl era.
And one of the most hateful.
Cyrus carried out his plans across Sinnoh in pursuit of an ideal world.
Hunter J captured Pokémon purely for money.
To her, Pokémon were nothing more than merchandise that could be discarded at any time. Her own subordinates were no different.
’Why is she at Lake Verity?’
Mike’s heart began pounding violently.
The pressure radiating from Salamence made his breathing quicken without him realizing it.
Gengar floated in front of Mike, shielding him with his body.
He handed Kakuna back for Mike to hold, then fixed his crimson eyes on Salamence above.
Salamence stared down just as coldly, constantly releasing an oppressive draconic presence.
The atmosphere froze.
"You recognize me?" Hunter J suddenly asked.
"No."
Mike shook his head.
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
"Do you expect me to believe that?"
"If you didn’t know me, would you look ready for war the moment you saw me?"
"Anyone who turned around in the middle of the night and found a Salamence staring at them would react like this."
"That’s fair."
Hunter J nodded in agreement.
"Perhaps I was a little rude. Should I apologize?"
Mike’s nerves tightened even further.
’She’s apologizing? Does she think I’m an idiot?’
"Then how about we leave each other alone?"
Mike cautiously made the suggestion.
Hunter J shrugged.
"Of course... not. I’m very interested in that Gengar of yours. Its reactions are remarkably fast."
Mike lowered his gaze.
"Gengar, watch out for the petrification beam on her arm and those goggles." He spoke quietly.
As Mike remembered, Hunter J’s goggles weren’t just for show. They contained technology capable of helping her predict a Pokémon’s movements.
Gengar didn’t answer, but a Shadow Ball already formed in his hand, ready to be thrown.
At the same time, rustling sound came from nearby.
"Let’s make a deal," Hunter J said. "Give me Gengar, and I’ll allow you to leave with your other Pokémon. How does that sound?"
"Of course... not. Gengar!"
Before Mike even finished speaking, Gengar hurled the Shadow Ball toward Salamence.
"Flamethrower!"
Salamence’s flames struck the Shadow Ball head-on, creating an explosion that temporarily blocked Hunter J’s vision.
The wind quickly scattered the smoke.
When Hunter J saw Gengar fleeing in apparent panic, she laughed and raised her right arm.
Using the calculations from her goggles, she aimed the petrification launcher slightly ahead of him and fired.
The beam struck Gengar, but instead of turning him to stone, it passed straight through his body.
Gengar dissolved into the air.
"Damn it. Double Team!"
Hunter J cursed.
"Drapion!"
Drapion burst out of the forest and charged directly at Mike, swinging its tail pincers toward him.
Before it could reach him, a blast of Dazzling Gleam struck from the side and knocked it away, sending it rolling across the ground.
"There! Flamethrower!"
Salamence breathed fire toward Gengar’s position.
Gengar threw another Shadow Ball into the flames, then used the smoke from the explosion to vanish into the darkness again.
"How troublesome. But the game is over! Ariados, String Shot."
An Ariados dropped from a tree and fired silk toward Mike’s back.
"Meow!"
Glameow leaped down from above and slammed Ariados away with Aerial Ace.
It crashed heavily to the ground.
Glameow landed with her fur standing on end, glaring at Ariados as it forced itself back up.
"A Glameow? You knew I had an ambush waiting?" Hunter J asked in confusion.
"Never mind. It doesn’t matter. The result will be the same."
"Ariados, Drapion—attack!"
Under the moonlight, Hunter J saw Mike suddenly glance to the side.
When she followed his gaze, she found several wild Pokémon gathered nearby.
Then she heard Mike speak to them.
"Please... help me."
To her astonishment, the Bug-type Pokémon actually charged toward them!
Hunter J: "???"
’What is going on?’
Mike turned back with Kakuna in his arms, glanced at Hunter J, and immediately ran without the slightest hesitation.
’There’s no way I can beat her right now.’
With the help of Bug-Type Affinity, several wild Bug Pokémon responded to Mike’s plea.
Ariados was surrounded by several wild Ariados, while Drapion was held back by Beautifly and Dustox.
Hunter J looked up at Mike’s retreating figure.
"What a nuisance. Salamence, clear away every obstacle."
Salamence repeatedly unleashed Flamethrower at the ground.
The flames struck every Bug-type Pokémon, including Hunter J’s own Ariados, leaving them unconscious across the forest floor.
Drapion was badly injured by the attack as well.
At Hunter J’s command, it continued chasing after Mike, but halfway there, its legs gave out and it crashed heavily to the ground.
Hunter J flew ahead and cut off Mike’s path.
Mike stopped and glanced behind him at the Pokémon scattered across the ground.
When he looked back, his expression had turned cold.
At the same time, he silently prayed that Snivy would come through.
"It seems you have nowhere left to run."
Hunter J smiled and raised the launcher toward Mike, carefully watching the surroundings and waiting for Gengar to appear.
"Flamethrower!"
Salamence released a torrent of flames.
Gengar was forced to jump out from Mike’s shadow to block the attack, but Hunter J had already aimed the petrification beam at Mike.
The moment Gengar appeared, she fired.
Whoosh.
The shot missed as a powerful vine wrapped around Hunter J and yanked her from Salamence’s back.
Glameow’s spring-shaped tail turned to steel and slammed into Hunter J’s arm, smashing the launcher before striking her hard enough to send her flying.
Gengar gathered a Dark Pulse in his hands and prepared to launch it into the Flamethrower.
Then he saw Kakuna suddenly leap from Mike’s arms and charge directly into the flames.
"Kakuna..."
Mike reached out, trying to pull him back.
Kakuna turned his head slightly and blinked at him before throwing himself into the attack.
’If I can’t even protect you, how can I ever become a knight who protects the weak?’
The moment Kakuna fearlessly collided with the Flamethrower, brilliant blue-white light erupted from his body.
A second later, the torrent of flames was forcibly split apart, blasting past both sides of Mike.
The blue light faded.
A massive Beedrill hovered in the air with both long stingers crossed before his chest!
His crimson eyes locked onto Salamence above, while his wings beat in a steady rhythm.
He showed no fear.
Beneath the night sky, Salamence stared at the Beedrill who refused to shrink back even before a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
Illuminated by the moon, the burns left across Beedrill’s body only made him look more like a knight from legend.
Salamence became furious.
"ROAR!"
Its thunderous bellow filled the area, and the terrifying pressure made the weaker Pokémon nearby tremble.
But Beedrill’s expression never changed.
He aimed both of his stingers directly at Salamence.
Like a knight stood firmly in the sky!