Chapter 23
After spending several nights sleeping in a tent, Mike finally had a proper bed again—and once he lay down, he slept straight through until noon.
After washing up, he took Gengar out for lunch.
Once they finished eating, Mike picked up some food from a Pokémon restaurant and headed toward the Pokémon Center.
As soon as they entered, Mike caught Gengar by one ear and pulled him back just as he was about to play a prank on a little girl.
Then he led him toward Glameow’s room.
They had barely reached the door when Mike heard Nurse Joy’s helpless voice from inside.
"It’s time for lunch. How are you supposed to recover if you won’t eat?"
"Did you secretly remove your bandages yesterday? You can’t do that. There’s a cast underneath them."
"It’s uncomfortable? Even if it is, you still can’t remove it. Eat first... You’re refusing again? You already skipped breakfast. You can’t skip lunch too."
"How about I leave the room? Chansey can stay here, and the two of you can eat lunch together. Would that be all right?"
The door opened, and Nurse Joy stepped out.
She was startled when she saw Mike and Gengar standing outside.
"You’re here?"
Mike nodded lightly.
"Thanks for taking care of her. Gengar and I came to see how Glameow is doing."
Weedle had eaten so much that he did not want to move, so Mike had returned him to his Poké Ball.
Nurse Joy stepped aside, allowing Mike and Gengar to enter.
Glameow was lying on the bed, unable to stop herself from reaching toward her heavily bandaged paw to scratch it.
Each time she tried, Chansey gently pushed her paw away.
Mike cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
The moment Glameow heard the familiar voice, her fur stood on end. She turned and stared at him warily.
"Meow!"
[You again!]
"Time to eat."
Mike placed the lunch on the table.
As usual, he had also brought a separate meal for Chansey.
Chansey looked at the staff meal in her hands, then at the food Mike had brought.
Without hesitation, she covered her staff meal with its lid.
"Chansey."
[I’ll save this and give it to a Meowth later.]
After putting it aside, Chansey accepted the lunch from Mike and gave him a sweet smile.
"Chansey~"
[Thank you~]
She sat nearby and began eating.
Mike took out Glameow’s meal and placed it on the table.
Then he turned toward her with a smile.
"Would you like me to feed you?"
Glameow immediately backed away several steps and watched him cautiously.
"Do you really have to be that afraid of me? I’m such an honest person."
Glameow simply folded her ears down and closed her eyes.
Chansey quickly finished her lunch and let out a satisfied burp.
"Chansey—"
She hurriedly covered her mouth and looked at Mike in embarrassment.
"Burp~"
Mike deliberately burped as well.
Chansey broke into a happy smile.
She then picked up Glameow’s food and began feeding her.
Glameow opened her eyes just a crack, wanting to see whether that annoying human had finally left.
Instead, she found Mike standing beside the bed, smiling at her.
When she opened her eyes fully, she discovered that Gengar had somehow moved right beside her as well.
Glameow immediately swallowed the food Chansey held in front of her.
"Thanks for taking care of her, Chansey."
Seeing that Glameow was eating properly, Mike left the room with Gengar.
...
"You’re leaving already?"
Nurse Joy was standing at the front desk when she saw them come out.
Mike nodded.
"I mainly came to make sure she was eating. I still need to visit Professor Rowan, so I won’t stay here and watch her."
He smiled.
"She probably hates seeing me right now anyway."
"All right. Take care."
Nurse Joy gave a small bow.
Mike left the Pokémon Center first.
Gengar, however, floated over to the front desk and took out the snacks he had left, offering them to Nurse Joy.
"Are these for me?"
Nurse Joy looked at him in surprise.
Holding his thin bamboo staff in one hand, Gengar nodded firmly and gave her a slightly embarrassed grin.
"Gar—"
[Thanks for working so hard~]
Nurse Joy laughed.
"It hasn’t been hard. This is my job!"
She accepted the snacks with a smile.
"But thank you, Gengar."
Gengar grinned and waved one chubby hand before floating out of the Pokémon Center.
When another visitor opened the front door, Nurse Joy could still hear Mike talking to Gengar outside.
"What were you doing?"
"Gar—"
[Why didn’t you bring Nurse Joy a gift? You only brought one for Chansey.]
"...!"
Gengar stared at Mike with a judging expression.
Mike’s eyes shifted for a moment before an approving smile appeared on his face.
"Because I knew you were here."
Gengar froze.
"Gar?"
[Me?]
"Think about it. you’re so smart, while I’m always forgetting things."
Mike sighed at his own supposed helplessness.
"That’s why I need the great Demon King Gengar to help me whenever I overlook something."
Gengar’s eyes widened.
"After all, our Gengar is incredibly clever."
Gengar’s chest began to rise proudly.
"So from now on, I’ll need the great Demon King Gengar to make up for all the things I forget."
Gengar clenched his fists.
Mike looked at him seriously.
"Can you do that?"
"Gar!"
[Leave it to me!]
Gengar nodded with complete determination.
Mike watched him floating beside him, his thoughts clearly drifting somewhere far away, and quietly let out a relieved breath.
Behind the front desk, Nurse Joy wore an amused smile.
A Trainer nearby, who was waiting for his Pokémon to finish recovering, saw her expression and became nervous.
"N-Nurse Joy... Is something wrong with them?"
Nurse Joy quickly returned to her senses and shook her head.
"No, your Pokémon have already made a full recovery. Their physical condition is excellent."
"Oh? Really?"
The Trainer relaxed and smiled proudly.
"Hehe, thank you. I put a lot of effort into raising them."
...
When Mike arrived at Professor Rowan’s laboratory, he called the professor.
Professor Rowan told him that someone would come outside to meet him.
Before long, a man wearing a researcher’s coat hurried out of the building.
He approached Mike and held out his hand.
"Hello. Are you Mr. Mike?"
Mike shook his hand.
"Just Mike is fine. Is Professor Rowan available right now?"
The researcher began leading him inside.
"He was."
Mike blinked.
’What did he mean by "was"?’
Seeing how hurried the researcher looked, Mike did not ask any more questions.
He simply quickened his pace and followed.
When they reached the office, Mike found Professor Rowan standing in front of a large electronic screen.
Worry showed clearly on his usually stern face, and his brows were drawn tightly together.
"Professor."
Mike called to him quietly.
Professor Rowan turned and, upon seeing Mike, walked over.
The two moved to the sitting area.
Professor Rowan poured Mike a cup of tea, and Mike thanked him before taking a seat.
Looking at the concern on the professor’s face, Mike asked softly, "Professor, did something happen at the laboratory?"
Professor Rowan sighed.
"The first-partner Pokémon escaped from the laboratory."
Mike was not particularly surprised.
For some reason, starter Pokémon escaping from a professor’s laboratory seemed to be a fairly common occurrence—especially in Sinnoh.
"Have you found them yet?"
Professor Rowan shook his head.
"I’ve already sent more staff members to search for them."
Then he explained the reason for his concern.
"The main problem is that those Pokémon don’t belong to this laboratory. I borrowed them from Professor Juniper in Unova so one of my assistants could study their Hidden Abilities."
"Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott?"
Professor Rowan looked at Mike in surprise.
"You know them?"
"I’ve seen them before."
Professor Rowan did not think much of it.
First-partner Pokémon were not especially rare, and they often appeared on television and online.
There was nothing unusual about Mike recognizing them.
Mike thought for a moment.
"Professor, would you like me to help search?"
Professor Rowan looked at him.
"I have a drone. Its camera is very clear, so searching from the air should be much easier than searching only on foot."
"A drone?"
Professor Rowan found Mike increasingly difficult to understand.
First, he had a Rotom Phone that had not yet entered widespread production.
Now he also owned a drone.
If Professor Rowan’s guess was correct, it was probably not a cheap model either.
"If you’re willing to help, I would be very grateful."
Mike nodded.
He removed the drone from the backpack on his back, powered it on, and connected it to his Rotom Phone with practiced movements.
Then he used the remote control to send it flying out of the laboratory.
Professor Rowan looked at the logo printed on the drone.
’Just as I thought.’