Chapter 79
Before long, a woman dressed in professional office attire entered the café.
The moment she spotted Mike, she walked straight over.
"Hello, Assistant Mike."
She sat across from him and greeted him politely.
"My name is Natsuko. I’m a teacher at Jubilife Trainers’ School."
"You..."
"Assistant Mike, I came here today to ask whether you would be willing to..."
Natsuko paused briefly before continuing.
"I found the material you taught during the last exchange event very interesting. You understand Pokémon behavior extremely well, so we would like to invite you to teach several classes about Pokémon."
She accepted the coffee brought over by the waiter and thanked him before continuing.
"You can teach something similar to the content in The Wide World of Pokémon. It would be even better if you could demonstrate things up close with actual Pokémon, like you do during your livestreams."
Hearing that, Mike nodded.
If he only needed to teach them about Pokémon, he should be able to manage.
He was also curious about what students in this world usually learned at school.
Mike remembered that many schools offered classes for aspiring Trainers, but did they also offer classes for future Breeders?
With that thought, he looked at Natsuko and answered, "No problem."
They discussed the details for a while longer.
Once the payment had been settled, Natsuko stood and said goodbye.
Watching her leave, Mike couldn’t help feeling emotional.
He had thought about meeting Brock and Misty, but he had never imagined something like this would happen.
He was actually going to become a teacher.
Gengar had been busy fiddling with something during the entire conversation and hadn’t listened to a word Mike and Natsuko said.
"Jubilife Trainers’ School has invited me to teach for a week, so we’ll need to remain in Jubilife City during that time. I’ll be going to the school to teach the students."
The moment Gengar heard the word "teacher," his eyes lit up.
"Gar—"
[In that case, I suppose I’ll reluctantly agree to become their teacher!]
Gengar reached toward his chest and tugged at an imaginary necktie.
"Sorry, but they only invited me."
Gengar instantly turned to stone.
He pointed at Mike as though he had suffered a devastating blow, then slowly crumbled away in the imaginary wind.
"Still, don’t get too excited. If you cause trouble in front of the students, things won’t end well," Mike warned.
Gengar and the others had caused plenty of commotion lately because they were so mischievous.
"Don’t think I’m joking. If you misbehave, the school might throw all of us out."
Mike looked at Gengar, who had been imitating the dance movements Glameow practiced the night before, and warned him seriously.
"Are you finished with whatever you were making? We need to go to the post office."
He quickly interrupted Gengar before he could begin the next part of his dance.
Gengar stopped shaking his belly and nodded.
"Gar."
[I’m done.]
"All right. Let’s go."
Mike stood, gathered everything on the table, and headed out of the café.
Gengar put on his backpack, picked up his belongings and thin bamboo staff, then hurried after Mike on his short legs.
...
At the post office, Mike handed the staff the plush toys he had bought for Grandma, several toys for Growlithe, and the photo albums he had prepared for Grandma and Officer Jenny.
He asked them to pack everything securely.
"Gar!"
[I want to see too!]
Gengar leaned closer, apparently curious about the photographs Mike had printed and wanting to see how he looked in them.
Mike glanced at him and casually asked, "You want to look at these?"
Gengar smiled and nodded.
"Can I see what you were working on earlier?"
Gengar crossed both arms in front of his chest.
[Nope.]
"You stingy ghost. Fine, then I won’t show you either."
After the worker finished packing everything into a box, Mike paid and left the post office.
"Where do you all want to go next?" Mike asked Gengar and the others. "Do you want to walk around the shops, play, or return to the hotel?"
"Gar—"
[Let’s go play~]
Mike nodded.
"All right. Let’s go find somewhere fun."
...
While the Pokémon played, Mike lowered his head and continued preparing his lessons.
The classes would mainly be for students preparing to set out on their first journeys.
His goal was to explain the habits of Pokémon they might encounter and what they should do if they were attacked.
There would also be several outdoor practical lessons.
Mike and Snivy would lead the students into the wilderness, allowing them to interact with forest Pokémon and briefly experience what traveling outside a city was like.
After working on his lesson plan for a while, Mike took out his phone and checked how the two videos he had uploaded yesterday were performing.
He had already expected their view counts to rise, but the numbers still startled him.
Night of Evolution had reached four hundred thousand views, while the second episode of The Wide World of Pokémon had astonishingly passed one million.
’No way. Are people actually watching an hour-long educational video without skipping ahead or increasing the playback speed?’
It seemed that plenty of viewers were genuinely interested in learning more about Pokémon.
Mike even began wondering whether the system had encountered some kind of bug or whether the views had somehow been inflated.
After all, the Viewership Points produced by those numbers were no small amount to him.
Mike opened the Viewership Points Store and began searching for items he could buy as gifts for his Pokémon.
Gengar and Beedrill already had Toxic Orbs, so he didn’t need to consider them for the moment.
As for Snivy, Mike still didn’t know how well her gift was working.
Thinking of that, he looked toward Snivy and called her softly.
"Snivy."
Snivy came over and sat beside Mike, blinking her eyes curiously.
"How is that gift working? Can you use it?"
Mike reached out and stroked her head.
Snivy nodded.
"Sni~"
[I can absorb the energy inside while hugging it in my sleep.]
Her large eyes seemed even brighter than before, and her whole appearance looked slightly more vibrant.
She was simply too adorable!
"The effect is that good?"
Snivy nodded again before getting up and returning to play with the others.
Once she left, Mike turned his attention toward Glameow.
Noticing his gaze, Glameow rolled over and looked at him with her paws tucked beneath her chest.
"Is the Poké Tail Grass fun to play with?" Mike asked with a smile.
"Meow... Meow~"
[It’s... acceptable~]
Mike gave her the warm smile of a proud father before lowering his head and continuing to browse the store.
His attention soon settled on a small bell.
{Soothe Bell: A mysterious bell with a pleasant tone. A Pokémon carrying it will feel soothed and become more affectionate toward its Trainer.}
’Glameow should like this, right?’
Mike glanced at Glameow, who was thoroughly enjoying herself with the Poké Tail Grass despite pretending otherwise.
Considering her usual prideful attitude, this item seemed perfect for her.
Then Mike looked at the price and quietly sucked in a breath.
Soothe Bell: 300 Viewership Points.
"What an expensive little money pit."
After muttering a complaint, Mike pressed the purchase button.
Glameow was staring at the Poké Tail Grass, hesitating over whether she should continue rolling around with it in front of Mike, when she suddenly heard him call her.
"Glameow."
She turned toward him and saw a small silver bell in his hand.
Mike gently shook it.
Ring—
Its clear, pleasant sound made Glameow’s body tremble involuntarily. Her entire body seemed to melt into a puddle, leaving her limbs completely weak.
"Do you want it?" Mike asked with a smile.
Glameow turned her head away, but her body crawled backward against her will until she reached him.
Mike lifted the soft, boneless Glameow into his arms and fastened the Soothe Bell around her slender neck.
Then he lightly flicked it.
Ring—
This time, Glameow abandoned her usual pride and willingly leaned forward, rubbing her fluffy cheek back and forth against Mike’s palm.
"Oh, Glameow—my sunshine, my spring flower, my precious baby~"
Mike buried his face in her belly and took a deep breath.
Glameow struggled free from his arms, leaped into the air, and whipped her tail across his arm.
"Hiss..."
Glameow hadn’t struck him very hard, but the hit still made Mike suck in a sharp breath.
Seeing her standing nearby and hissing at him, Mike forced an awkward smile.
"Force of habit. It was only force of habit!"
Glameow bared her teeth before shyly running off to one side and playing with the Soothe Bell around her neck.
Mike looked at the red mark on his arm and rubbed it with a pained grimace.
This really wasn’t his fault.
What cat owner could resist petting and burying their face in their cat? It was nothing more than a natural reaction!
He had simply forgotten that Glameow wasn’t an ordinary little house cat.
Glameow rolled onto her back and repeatedly pawed at the Soothe Bell.
Her ears twitched with every chime it made.
Mike took out his camera and captured the scene.
’Glameow is so damn cute~’