Chapter 184
After ending the livestream, Mike rested for a while before carefully shifting the increasingly substantial Glameow off his stomach.
He took a deep breath, got to his feet from the blanket, rolled his neck, and looked around at everyone.
"Time to make lunch. What does everybody want?"
"Gar—"
[Mushrooms!]
"Sni~"
[Noodles~]
"Bee—"
[Meat!]
"Meow~"
[Fish.]
"Nidoking!"
[Meat, meat, meat!]
"Nina~"
[I want fish.]
"Haten."
[Anything is fine with me.]
Snivy glanced toward Hatenna without saying anything.
"All right. Beedrill, you and Nidoking go catch some fish. Nidoran♀, stay near the Egg. Gengar, wash the ingredients—and remember, don’t poison anything this time. Snivy, you and Hatenna can help me."
Mike assigned everyone their jobs with the ease of someone who had done this countless times.
The moment he finished, all of the Pokémon scattered and got to work.
...
After lunch, Mike sat on the blanket Gengar had spread beneath a large tree, where the shade kept the afternoon sun away.
Gengar sat nearby drying the mushrooms he had gathered, and with the Ghost-type lingering there, even the breeze passing through the area seemed noticeably cooler.
Mike idly scrolled through his phone and realized that he seemed to have lost much of the interest he once had in staring at a screen for hours.
He lurked in the fan group for a while, quietly reading everyone’s chatter, until a notification appeared from the research project group.
Mike opened it.
[Professor Rowan: Samuel, why don’t you just come over already?]
[Professor Oak: Why?]
[Professor Rowan: Almost every well-known Professor has already arrived. Doesn’t it feel a little inappropriate for you to be the only one missing?]
[Professor Oak: You’re trying to trick me into coming over so I can share your workload, aren’t you? Senior, you used this exact trick on me decades ago.]
[Professor Rowan: ...]
Mike couldn’t help but laugh.
He really hadn’t expected Professor Oak and Professor Rowan to interact like this in private.
Then Lucian’s messages began appearing one after another.
[Lucian: More Pokémon researchers have continued arriving over the past few days. The League has already mobilized practically everyone we can spare.]
[Lucian: Professor Rowan, could you please remind them not to wander into every dangerous location they find?]
[Lucian: Professor Sycamore is still manageable because he’s at least a capable Trainer, but what exactly was Professor Birch thinking when he ran off toward a volcano?]
[Lucian: Moltres chased him for ages. Flint had to go rescue him...]
[Lucian: And Professor Oak, Samson Oak is far too energetic...]
[Lucian: Bertha is already starting to consider early retirement...]
Lucian’s messages flooded the group so quickly that Mike could practically feel the man’s mental collapse through the screen.
Reading the complaints reminded Mike of what he knew about Professor Birch.
Birch specialized in Pokémon habitats and loved personally visiting the environments he studied, but he was terrible at Pokémon battles, which was exactly why wild Pokémon had a habit of chasing him whenever he conducted fieldwork.
As for Samson Oak, Mike knew considerably less about him.
Cynthia hadn’t said anything in the group so far.
Still, Mike had a strong feeling that, just like him, she was lurking silently and watching the entire disaster unfold.
...
Lucian sat in a courtyard and stared at another message Flint had just sent him, his headache growing worse by the second.
If the problem had only been Professor Birch and a few others, things might still have been manageable.
Sinnoh had four Elite Four members, and aside from the one who needed to remain available for League duties, the other three could theoretically help.
Unfortunately, far too many researchers specializing in ecology and environmental studies had arrived at once.
Every one of them wanted to produce impressive research results before the upcoming Academic Summit, improve their academic standing, and advance their professional titles.
The moment they learned that Sinnoh had once been the Hisui region and that traces of long-lost Pokémon might still remain, they had plunged headfirst into field research.
Naturally, the Sinnoh League welcomed them.
Much of the world’s Pokémon research depended on scholars like these, and having so many respected researchers gathered in Sinnoh also boosted tourism and local prestige.
The problem was that Pokémon researchers had a particular fondness for going into places ordinary people wisely avoided.
That forced the League to send personnel to protect them.
With the Academic Summit approaching, the aftermath of Pokémon Hunter J’s activities still unresolved, and investigators continuing to trace the organization supporting those Hunters, Sinnoh’s manpower was already stretched dangerously thin.
Lucian looked at a voice message from Aaron and couldn’t even bring himself to play it.
He rubbed his temples and sighed.
"I really want to retire..."
Professor Rowan finally responded in the group.
[Professor Rowan: I understand. I’ll remind everyone to be more careful. Thank you for your hard work.]
[Lucian: Not at all. This is part of our responsibility.]
Mike stared at Lucian’s newest message and immediately laughed.
’What a hypocrite.’
A moment ago the man had practically been begging for retirement!
...
A cool breeze moved through the clearing.
Mike switched off his phone, placed it beside him, and lazily stretched out on the blanket with a yawn.
The sky was brilliantly blue, the clouds pure white, the air fresh, the breeze pleasantly cool, and the soft chime of Glameow’s Soothe Bell drifted gently through the afternoon.
Mike slowly closed his eyes.
Before long, he fell asleep.
...
He had no idea how much time passed before he woke again.
The sunlight had already moved away from the patch of grass where he lay, leaving only the cool breeze beneath the shade.
Mike loosened the arm wrapped around Glameow and looked down at her. He had no idea when she had crawled into his embrace.
Sitting up, he stretched and checked his phone.
It was already past four in the afternoon.
"That was a long nap."
Mike smiled and looked around for everyone else.
Nidoking and Gengar were nowhere to be seen.
Snivy sat on a tree branch swinging her little legs, and when she noticed Mike was awake, she greeted him with a gentle smile.
Nidoran♀ and Hatenna were running across the grass together, accompanied by several wild Pokémon that had apparently joined their game.
There was a Shinx, a Zigzagoon, a Pikachu, a Mareep, an Oddish, a Budew, and several others.
Seeing the Pikachu unexpectedly reminded Mike of the first time he had played Pokémon Emerald in his previous life.
Back then, he had assumed Pikachu must be incredibly rare and had gone out of his way to catch several before eventually discovering that the species was practically everywhere.
Still, that made sense.
Not every Pikachu was Ash’s Pikachu.
And not every Wobbuffet was Jessie’s miracle of chaos.
Beedrill remained hidden among the leaves, apparently spacing out as usual, though every so often he exchanged a few quiet words with Snivy.
Mike stood carefully so he wouldn’t disturb the still-sleeping Glameow, then walked toward Nidoran♀ and Hatenna.
He looked down at them with amusement.
"You two are pretty carefree. Especially you, Nidoran♀. Aren’t you worried someone might sneak off with your Egg?"
Nidoran♀ gave a soft cry.
"Nina."
[Because you’re nearby.]
Mike flicked her gently on the forehead.
"So if I’m here, you can just relax that much?"
Nidoran♀ smiled at him.
"And you too."
Mike gave Hatenna a tiny flick on the forehead as well.
𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"Haten~"
Hatenna didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
[Come play with us, Mike.]
Mike hesitated briefly, but eventually accepted the invitation and joined them.
...
He had no idea how long they played.
By the time Mike finally ran out of energy, he simply collapsed onto the grass and stared blankly up at the sky.
For some reason, he suddenly found himself missing Growlithe.
Back then, he and Gengar used to play with Growlithe in Grandma’s yard exactly like this.
Growlithe had so much energy that if they didn’t tire him out during the day, he would howl and make a terrible racket throughout the night, leaving everyone unable to sleep.
Mike and Gengar had once come up with what they considered a brilliant solution.
They strapped a wooden pole to Growlithe’s back, tied a cord to the end, and dangled a piece of meat from it just far enough ahead that Growlithe could never quite reach it.
Growlithe would then spend ages chasing the meat, running himself exhausted while Mike and Gengar followed behind pretending that they were trying to steal it first.
The plan worked wonderfully.
For exactly one day.
Grandma discovered what they were doing the next morning and scolded both of them thoroughly.
Mike smiled at the memory.
He wondered how that idiot was doing now.
Did Growlithe still howl at night?
Did he like the toys Mike and Gengar had bought for him before they left?
Was Grandma remembering to eat properly?
The longer Mike thought about home, the stronger the feeling became.
Eventually, he took out his phone and started a video call with Grandma.
She answered quickly.
Her familiar, kind face appeared on the screen.
"Grandma."
Mike smiled.
"There you are, sweetheart. Have you eaten yet?"
Grandma beamed at him.
"Not yet. It’s still early. I just finished playing with Hatenna and the others."
Mike was still lying in the grass.
The moment Hatenna heard her name, she bounced over and leaned close to the camera.
She studied Grandma’s smiling face on the screen, then gave a soft greeting.
"Haten~"
Grandma paused, then smiled even more warmly.
"Oh, is that Hatterene? Hello there."
"It’s not Hatterene, Grandma. She’s Hatenna."
Mike laughed.
"Oh, right, right. Look at my memory. I’m getting old."
Grandma lightly slapped the back of her own hand in mock reproach, then looked at Mike and Hatenna with smiling eyes.
"Is she your new partner?"
Mike shook his head.
"No. She’s a new friend we met."
As he said it, Hatenna turned and looked at him.
Her hidden eyes seemed to linger on his face, though Mike couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
Grandma, however, seemed to understand something from the screen.
"I watched your livestream today."
Mike immediately brightened.
"What did you think of my battling?"
Grandma didn’t answer verbally.
She simply raised one thumb.
"Hehe."
Mike grinned.
Then he glanced around the image on her side.
"Grandma, where’s Growlithe? I don’t see him."
"Growlithe? Dragonite dragged him out for training. They should be back soon."
Almost the moment Grandma finished speaking, Mike heard a familiar cry.
"Arf~!"
A goofy dog face soon pushed itself into the camera.
"Growlithe, long time no see."
Mike smiled brightly.
"Arf~!"
[Long time no see, Mike! When are you and Gengar coming home? I’m really fast now, you know! When you come back, neither of you will be able to catch me anymore! Yesterday I made a new friend too, so I’ll introduce you when you get home. And I learned a new move, so now I can protect you and Grandma, and also, also—]
Growlithe continued barking excitedly without stopping.
Mike didn’t interrupt him.
He simply listened quietly as Growlithe told him everything that had happened.
Though "told" might have been generous.
The volume was closer to shouting.
Mike eventually had to move the phone farther away to protect his ears.
Once Growlithe finally ran out of breath, Mike laughed.
"That’s amazing, Growlithe. I’m looking forward to seeing everything. We should be home around New Year, so wait for us."
"Arf?"
[New Year? How long is that?]
Growlithe sat beside Grandma and tilted his head.
"Ask Grandma and she’ll tell you. And while I’m gone, you have to listen to her properly and protect her, understand? I’ll send you presents too."
Growlithe immediately answered at full volume.
"ARF!"
A large, chubby paw smacked down on his head and abruptly cut off the bark.
"ROAR!"
[Why are you yelling?! You’re too loud.]
Then Dragonite’s round body moved into view.
"Long time no see, Dragonite."
Mike greeted him.
Dragonite gave Mike a sideways glance, his nostrils moving slightly before he finally nodded.
Mike stared.
’Now that is genuinely aloof.’
Beedrill should come over and take lessons from him.