Chapter 96
Early the next morning, Mike was awakened by the cries of Starly.
When he opened his eyes, he found two of them perched on a branch overhead, lowering their heads and studying him curiously.
The moment Mike woke, Glameow crawled out of his arms
She planted both of her front paws against his chest, pressed down firmly, and stretched, her entire coat fluffing up from how good it felt.
Snivy was nearby preparing a simple breakfast, while Gengar and Beedrill were busy with their morning training.
Calling it training might have been generous.
They were fencing.
"Gar—"
[Little Bro, get ready. I’ve practiced this strike for a long time.]
Gengar tightened his grip on the thin bamboo staff, his purple face unusually solemn.
Beedrill aimed both stingers at him and watched warily.
When Mike noticed Gengar quietly reaching one hand behind his back, he immediately knew the fat little bastard was preparing another cheap trick.
"Gar!"
[Take this!]
Beedrill thrust his stingers forward to block Gengar’s attack.
The instant he committed to the defense, Gengar flipped gracefully through the air and swung the object hidden in his other hand straight at him.
Beedrill: "???"
Smack!
The Oval Stone struck Beedrill squarely on the head!
The impact sent it bouncing high into the air before it dropped neatly back into Gengar’s hand.
Beedrill collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head between his stingers as his body trembled.
Gengar hid the hand holding the stone behind his back again.
With the other, he elegantly twirled his bamboo staff through the air and blew across its tip.
"Gar—"
[Victory! A flawless triumph for the great Gengar!]
Mike sighed helplessly.
That fat bastard certainly knew how to use every dirty trick he’d ever seen.
After breakfast, Mike applied medicine to Beedrill’s injury.
Looking at the swollen bump on Beedrill’s head, he rubbed ointment over it and said, "When you were a Weedle, you were constantly getting tricked. Now you’ve evolved all the way into Beedrill.... how are you still this easy to fool?"
Beedrill: "..."
How was he supposed to know that Gengar would pull out a hidden weapon in the middle of a swordsmanship match?!
Once he finished treating Beedrill, Mike looked at the aggrieved Pokémon and spoke earnestly.
"Remember what I told you when we first started training. On the battlefield, never completely trust anything your opponent says. Otherwise, Gengar could sell you off, and you’d still be helping him count the money."
"Gar!"
[That’s a slander! I’m not that kind of Pokémon!]
(.・ˇ_ˇ・.)
...
After breakfast, Mike sat on a chair while Gengar and the others packed their belongings.
He took out his phone and sent a message to the senior who had contacted him the previous night.
[Mike: Will you be coming today? Should I wait for you here?]
[Really Want Ice Cream: I’m already on my way. You can continue traveling. I’ll contact you once I reach the area.]
[Mike: All right.]
Mike didn’t know how the historian planned to reach him, but judging from her tone, she was probably riding a Pokémon.
In that case, he could set out first.
Once everything had been packed, Mike continued his journey.
Following the main road, he soon reached the entrance to another forest.
He glanced inside and was about to keep walking when he felt his foot land on something.
Mike stopped.
Under the confused gazes of Gengar and the others, he moved his shoe aside and found a small orb pressed into the mud.
He bent down, picked it up, wiped away the dirt, blew across its surface, and held it beneath the sunlight.
It gleamed brilliantly.
"You can actually find something like this lying around?"
Mike smiled as he examined the golden sphere.
"Gar?"
[What’s that?]
"A Nugget. You can sell it, and apparently it’s worth quite a lot of money."
Mike handed the Nugget to Gengar for safekeeping.
"I’ve heard stepping in dog shit brings good luck. Maybe I stepped in some this morning without noticing."
Gengar carefully put the Nugget away, then solemnly surveyed the surrounding area for more treasure.
"All right, let’s keep going."
Mike walked into the forest.
Strangely enough, his luck seemed exceptionally good that day.
During that short stretch of travel alone, he found two Nuggets, three Pearls, and a Star Piece.
"No, something’s definitely wrong with my luck today..."
Mike picked up the Star Piece with a grave expression.
He had found valuable items before, but never this many in such a short time.
Something was wrong!
Mike carefully examined the surrounding forest and realized that it was unnaturally quiet.
"Gengar, be careful. It’s far too quiet around here."
He lowered his voice to warn the Pokémon.
A forest should never be this silent.
Usually, a place this quiet was either the territory of an entire Pokémon colony or home to something terrifying enough to frighten every other Pokémon away.
Gengar and the others immediately began watching their surroundings.
As they stood on guard, rustling came from the bushes.
Several deerlike Pokémon emerged.
(A friendly reminder: if you ever encounter them in the wild, don’t stare at their antlers, or you may lose consciousness.)
The Pokémon were large and muscular, with brown bodies and short tails ending in round tufts.
Each had cheeklike markings on its face and a pair of enormous antlers shaped like curved rings.
A black orb sat in the center of each antler.
"Stantler?!"
Mike stared at the antlers for only a couple of seconds before dizziness overwhelmed him.
His vision spun, and he nearly lost consciousness.
He immediately shut his eyes.
"Gengar, everyone, close your eyes! Don’t let their illusions confuse you. Use your moves to drive them away!"
After forcing himself to recover, Mike shouted the warning.
Every Pokémon closed their eyes.
Gengar gathered Dark-type energy between his hands and unleashed Dark Pulse toward the herd.
Snivy leaped into a tree as brilliant green Grass-type energy gathered around her body.
Countless leaves rose around her and formed a massive tornado.
She opened her eyes for only an instant and sent Leaf Storm crashing into the Stantler.
Snivy’s presence immediately surged.
Thanks to Contrary, her Special Attack rose sharply.
The Stantler herd was swallowed by Dark Pulse and Leaf Storm, their cries of pain echoing through the forest.
Beedrill opened his eyes as well and repeatedly carved glowing crosses through the air with X-Scissor, charging into the herd.
Under the relentless assault of the three Pokémon, many Stantler collapsed unconscious. The rest fled in panic.
Only after Mike sensed that the battle had ended did he open his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Glameow crouched protectively at his feet.
Her body was lowered, her fur stood completely on end, and she was ready to fight anything that came near him.
Mike smiled and bent down to lift her into his arms.
Glameow looked up at him, then retracted her claws and allowed her fur to settle.
"Thank you for guarding me, Lady Glameow."
Mike gently stroked her head.
Glameow turned her face away and let out a soft cry.
Mike smiled and shook his head before looking around.
The fight was over.
More than a dozen Stantler lay unconscious on the ground.
"So it was a Stantler herd. No wonder this forest was so quiet."
Stantler were social Pokémon, much like Beedrill.
A lone Stantler wasn’t particularly worrying because its direct combat ability wasn’t especially impressive.
An entire herd was a different matter.
Their antlers could release psychic energy that distorted the space around them.
Anyone who stared at those antlers—human or Pokémon—could become trapped in the illusion, lose consciousness, and be left entirely at their mercy.
Ash and Pikachu had once been fooled by a herd of Stantler too.
’Ash... a forest... Stantler...’
Mike suddenly froze.
’Wait. Could this be the Forest of Illusion?’
Without saying anything, he took out his Rotom Phone and checked his location.
The forest was indeed called the Forest of Illusion.
It was the same place where Ash had once fallen under the Stantler herd’s spell.
"That explains it."
Still carrying Glameow, Mike approached the unconscious Stantler to observe them up close.
Then his foot landed on something again.
’No way. Again?’
Mike looked down.
This time, it was only a small black bead, not another expensive treasure.
He bent down and examined it.
{Stantler Bead: A black orb shed from a Stantler’s antler. Once ground into powder, it can be used medicinally and is highly effective for treating insomnia.}
"Medicine?"
Mike narrowed his eyes, then looked at the unconscious Stantler scattered around them.
He called Gengar and Beedrill over and whispered a few words into their ears.
Gengar nodded eagerly with a mischievous expression, then led Beedrill toward the herd.
"Gar... hehehehehe—"
Gengar laughed like a villain.
At that moment, Mike’s phone began ringing.
He answered, and a cool voice that somehow sounded both familiar and unfamiliar came through.
"Hello, Assistant Mike. I’ve reached the general area. Where are you?"
"The Forest of Illusion. Do you know where that is?"
"The Forest of Illusion? Understood. I’ll come over now."
Cries of pain erupted from the Stantler nearby.
Mike turned and found Gengar pinning one Stantler down by the neck while Beedrill used a stinger to pry the black bead from its antler.
’Hold on! You’re only removing a bead! Why do the two of you look like you’re slaughtering a turkey for New Year’s?!’
’And Beedrill, if your aim is that bad, could you stop torturing it? You’ve already stabbed its face until it’s swollen!’
"Assistant Mike, did something happen over there?" the woman on the phone asked.
"Yes, but it’s already been dealt with."
Mike watched the troublesome pair harvesting the beads and couldn’t stop himself from shouting, "Be gentler! Anyone who didn’t know better would think we were robbing them!"
Only after speaking did he realize the call had somehow ended.
Mike slipped the phone back into his pocket and continued watching Gengar and Beedrill remove the beads while stroking Glameow in his arms.
Suddenly, Gengar and Beedrill rushed back to Mike’s side.
Beedrill hovered high in the air, staring upward without expression.
Gengar floated beside Mike with a Shadow Ball clenched in one hand.
Green leaves swirled around Snivy.
Glameow’s fur stood on end again in Mike’s arms.
A terrifying presence descended from the sky.
Garchomp landed heavily on the ground, releasing an oppressive aura that swept through the forest.
The nearby Stantler flattened themselves against the earth, trembling and unable to move.
Beedrill’s stingers began to shake.
The Garchomp before him was far more powerful than the Salamence he had once faced.
Even Gengar’s breathing became unsteady.
A woman leaped down from Garchomp’s back.
Her high heels landed firmly on the dirt.
The moment Mike saw that impossibly familiar face, his pupils contracted.
So the mythological historian Professor Rowan had mentioned... was Sinnoh’s current Champion, Cynthia?
Mike finally remembered that besides being Champion, Cynthia was also an accomplished researcher of mythology and ancient history.
She had even studied under Professor Rowan for a considerable period.
No wonder Professor Rowan had been so certain that she could find him.
So this was the mythological historian he had contacted!