Chapter 8
After Officer Jenny rode away on her motorcycle, Mike and Gengar sat on the blanket and started eating the travel food Gengar had packed.
Mike took a bite of bread, then glanced at Weedle beside him. He tore off a small piece, placed it in his palm, and held it out.
Weedle sniffed the bread before turning his head away.
"Wee—"
[That doesn’t taste good.]
"You don’t like bread? Then what do you want?"
Weedle raised his head and pointed toward the leaves above them.
"Wee—"
[Leaves.]
"Leaves?"
That made sense. Weedle was basically a caterpillar, after all.
Mike looked up at the tree.
’That’s pretty high...’
"Gar?"
[Want me to pick some?]
Mike suddenly remembered getting a leaf-related item from his ten-pull earlier that afternoon.
He opened the system inventory.
{Miracle Leaves: A favorite food among young Bug-type Pokémon. They have an amazing flavor and can improve the strength, sharpness, and stickiness of silk. If the silk is poisonous, its poison will also become stronger.}
After reading the description, Mike figured Weedle would probably love them.
He tried taking one out.
Nothing appeared.
Mike stared at his empty hands.
"Where are my leaves? Did you eat them too?!"
He searched around for a moment before seriously wondering if the system had swallowed his reward.
{They are inside your backpack.}
"Oh."
Mike returned to the tent and opened his backpack.
The bag had been nearly empty after he took out his camera equipment, but now it was packed full of leaves.
Each one was about the size of his palm, with bright purple veins running across the surface.
"Can I keep some outside and put the rest back into storage?"
A white light flashed, and the backpack suddenly became much lighter.
{900 Miracle Leaves have been returned to storage.}
"Thanks."
Mike carried the bag back outside and sat on the blanket again. Gengar was already floating through the branches, looking for fresh leaves.
"You can stop! I found some!"
Gengar looked down at him and scratched his huge backside in confusion.
’When did he pick those?’
He did not understand, but he still floated down and sat beside Weedle.
Weedle stared eagerly at the bag.
Mike pulled out a Miracle Leaf and placed it in front of him.
"Try this. If you don’t like it, Gengar and I will find something else."
Gengar stared at the backpack.
’Were those leaves always in there?’
While Mike was focused on Weedle, Gengar suddenly lunged forward and shoved his head into the bag.
It really was full of leaves!
Gengar froze.
’There really are leaves?’
’Did I seriously forget?’
"Stop looking. Grandma packed them for us just in case."
"Gar—"
[Oh.]
Weedle took one bite.
His tiny eyes immediately lit up.
Mike smiled and placed the whole backpack in front of him.
"There are plenty inside. Eat until you’re full, then tell me when you’re done."
"Wee—"
[Okay!]
’I knew traveling with Mike was the right choice!’
’I’ve never eaten leaves this good before!’
While Weedle happily buried himself in dinner, Mike and Gengar continued eating their dry food.
Then Mike remembered that he could finally use his Viewership Points, so he opened the Viewership Point Shop.
Most of the items looked like things from the games: Evolution Stones, held items, Potions, medicine, and regular camping supplies.
There were also several TMs and a few locked items he could not see yet.
Mike casually checked the prices.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
He suddenly choked on his sandwich and started coughing hard.
Gengar panicked, grabbed a bottle of water, forced Mike’s mouth open, shoved the bottle in, and poured the entire thing down his throat.
"Gllrrrgh—!"
Mike desperately slapped Gengar’s arm, but Gengar refused to stop until the bottle was empty.
Once Mike could finally breathe again, he glared at him.
"Were you trying to save me or finish the job?! The sandwich almost killed me, and then you tried to drown me!"
"Gar—"
[You were choking! Besides, you used to do the same thing to me. You even used a huge bucket!]
Gengar looked completely innocent.
Mike narrowed his eyes.
That fat little menace really thought Mike could not see the smug look in his eyes!
He had been waiting for revenge.
"You soaked the blanket. You’re washing it later."
"Gar—"
[Okay.]
Weedle had already reached his twelfth leaf.
Mike returned his attention to the shop and immediately started cursing whoever had made the prices.
"You might as well rob me! Eighteen hundred Viewership Points for one Fire Stone?! Do you know how many views that takes?"
"That’s one hundred and eighty thousand views! And I only have..." Mike checked his balance. "Four thousand five hundred and eleven points!"
"And what is this? Eight hundred for a Big Root? Eighteen thousand for a Toxic TM?"
"Were you so broke in your last life that you decided to rob people in this one?"
The system gave no response.
After complaining for several minutes, Mike finally closed the panel.
Out of sight, out of mind.
...
After dinner, Gengar took the wet blanket to wash while Mike sat inside the tent with Weedle and called Grandma.
"How did you two leave without taking the food I prepared?" Grandma asked.
She was sitting on the wooden floor with Growlithe curled up in her lap. The puppy stared curiously at Mike through the screen.
"Gengar forgot it."
Mike shook his head and explained what had happened.
By the time he finished, Grandma was laughing.
"Then you’ll have to buy more food in Twinleaf Town tomorrow."
Mike nodded, then lifted Weedle in front of the camera.
Weedle: ???
"Grandma, look! This is the new friend Gengar and I met today."
"Oh, a Weedle!" Grandma smiled warmly. "How cute. He looks strong and healthy too."
Mike introduced them properly, and Weedle greeted her.
Gengar returned after washing the blanket and joined the call for a while.
When Mike was about to hang up, Growlithe tilted his head.
"Growl?"
[When are you coming home?]
Mike paused, then smiled.
"Soon. Gengar and I will come back and play with you. Until then, listen to Grandma and be a good boy, okay?"
"Growl!"
[I will!]
Growlithe’s tail started wagging happily.
After ending the call, Mike opened Pokétube and checked the video he had uploaded the day before.
It had already reached sixty-eight thousand views.
No wonder he had gained another 680 Viewership Points!
He looked through the comments and found that many viewers wanted more videos of him playing and interacting with Pokémon.
His videos had a warm and peaceful feeling, which seemed to be attracting more and more people.
Several viewers were also asking him to start livestreaming.
Mike grinned.
’Me? Livestreaming? No chance.’
He scrolled past the comment.
Then he stopped.
After thinking about it for a moment, he scrolled back up and started typing.
[I’ve officially started traveling and filming new material! From now on, I’ll show you even more wild Pokémon, so look forward to it. As for livestreaming... sadly, I’m broke and can’t afford the equipment. Maybe I’ll try it when I have enough money—or when some kind person decides to sponsor me.]
Mike posted the reply and closed Pokétube.
He was getting ready to sleep when another notification appeared.
A follower had sent him a private message.
[Gholdengo Is Number One: Would you livestream if you had the equipment?]
[Gengar Stole My Drumstick: Outdoor livestreaming is expensive. Let me save some money first.]
[Gholdengo Is Number One: Send me your location and phone number. It’ll arrive tomorrow.]
Mike stared at the screen.
’What?’
’There really is a kind person out there?’
He hesitantly sent his location near Twinleaf Town and his phone number.
Then he added another message.
[Equipment for outdoor livestreaming can be really expensive.]
[Gholdengo Is Number One: You’re in Sinnoh? Don’t worry about the price. Just wait for it tomorrow. I’ll be looking forward to your livestream.]
The account immediately went offline.
Mike scratched his head.
’Are they messing with me?’
He decided not to worry about it.
He would know tomorrow whether the offer was real.
"Gar—"
[I lit the campfire.]
"All right. Are you sleeping outside, or are you coming into the tent with me?"
"Gar—"
[Outside.]
Mike looked into Gengar’s eyes and smiled. Then he reached out and gently pulled his cheeks.
"Thanks, Gengar."
"Gar—"
[Hehe.]
Gengar turned off the lamp, then picked up Weedle—who was still chewing on leaves—along with the backpack holding the rest of his food.
Tired from his first full day of traveling, Mike quickly fell asleep.
Outside the tent, Gengar sat on a tree branch with Weedle beside him.
His eyes were closed, but he never let himself fall into a deep sleep.
...
In the middle of the night, a Trainer slowly walked along the road while listening to a horror story through his headphones.
"Ghosts aren’t real. Even if one appeared, Lopunny and I would send it flying!"
The moment he finished speaking, he noticed a strange blue-purple flame burning beside the road.
A cold chill ran down his back.
Then a pair of glowing red eyes opened in the tree above it.
Soft chewing noises followed.
In the quiet night, the sound was horribly clear, almost like claws scratching across a chalkboard.
The chewing became faster and faster.
To the frightened Trainer, it sounded as though something was coming closer.
He shivered.
Then he turned and ran for his life.
"AAAAH! A GHOST! TWINLEAF TOWN IS HAUNTED!"
Gengar and Weedle looked at each other from the tree branch.
"Gar?"
[Ghost? Is he talking about me?]
Weedle kept chewing.
"Wee—"
[No idea.]