Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 101: Chapter 101

"Glameow, trust me. The smell is completely gone."

Mike called toward Glameow, who was walking far ahead and keeping a considerable distance between them.

Glameow stopped and glanced back.

A breeze carried the unmistakable scent of medicinal oil toward her nose.

Without the slightest hesitation, she turned around and continued walking.

"..."

Mike sighed miserably.

This was all Cynthia’s fault!

Because of her, Glameow had been ignoring him all day!

"Gar?"

[Is that Oreburgh City over there?]

Gengar stopped and looked toward the clearly visible cluster of buildings in the distance.

Mike stood on the road and gazed ahead before nodding.

"That’s right. That’s Oreburgh City."

"I heard Oreburgh has a famous coal mine where people can dig up valuable stones. If we have time, let’s go take a look."

Gengar immediately pulled out the Oval Stone he had "borrowed" from some unknown Geodude and looked toward Mike.

Mike nodded.

"Maybe there’ll be other stones too."

Gengar’s eyes lit up.

He grabbed Mike by the hand and hurried toward Oreburgh City.

At the city entrance, Mike raised his camera and took a picture before walking inside.

The surrounding architecture had a distinctly industrial feel. Several enormous smokestacks stood in the distance, continuously releasing white smoke into the sky.

Plenty of Trainers moved through the streets as well.

’Roark’s Gym is in Oreburgh, isn’t it?’

A Rock-type Gym Leader.

The classic first-Gym Rock-type experience.

If he had time later, Mike could try challenging the Gym and see whether he could walk away with a Badge.

He first found somewhere to eat, then sent Cynthia a message to tell her that he had arrived in Oreburgh City.

Cynthia told him to head directly to the Oreburgh Gym.

Following the navigation on his phone, Mike soon arrived outside the Gym. The automatic doors slid open, and he walked inside.

At the reception desk, a staff member immediately greeted him.

"Hello, Trainer. Are you here to challenge the Gym?"

"I do plan to, but I have something else to take care of first. Are Professor Rowan and the others here? I wanted to—"

"They’re this way."

Before Mike could finish, Cynthia’s voice came from nearby.

He turned and saw her standing beside a staircase.

Mike gave the receptionist an apologetic nod before walking over and following Cynthia upstairs.

"The Oreburgh Gym is the most suitable place for what we need right now, so I asked Gym Leader Roark yesterday if we could borrow part of the facility," Cynthia explained as they walked.

Considering that Stantler might need to participate in their experiments, the wide, secure spaces inside the Gym really were ideal.

Mike entered one of the rooms and found Professor Rowan speaking with another elderly man in a white lab coat.

Photographs of the ancient ruins were being projected across one wall.

"I had someone bring the projector over yesterday," Cynthia explained. "For this kind of work, having one makes things much easier."

Mike couldn’t help nodding.

As expected of Sinnoh’s Champion, she got things done fast.

"Professor."

Cynthia called softly, interrupting the two professors’ intense discussion.

They looked up and saw her standing beside Mike.

Professor Rowan laughed, walked over, and patted Mike on the shoulder.

"You did well."

Then he turned toward the other professor.

"Samuel, this is Mike."

Professor Oak looked at the black-haired, dark-eyed young man standing between Rowan and Cynthia.

After examining his handsome, masculine features, he nodded approvingly.

"Not bad. You’ve got a few traces of my youthful charm."

Professor Rowan: "..."

Cynthia: "..."

Mike: "..."

’Professor Oak is this narcissistic in private?’

"Hello, Professor Oak. My name is Mike."

Mike gave a slight bow and greeted him politely.

He was genuinely excited.

Professor Oak was one of the most famous Pokémon Professors in the entire world.

The Pokédex he had personally helped develop had assisted countless Trainers.

"Hahaha! Hello. I’m Samuel Oak. We already met over video last night, but you look even more energetic in person."

Professor Oak laughed warmly.

"Since everyone is here, let’s begin our discussion," Professor Rowan said.

Mike and Cynthia nodded and pulled out chairs.

Gengar also popped out of Mike’s shadow and sat down in one.

Mike: "..."

"What are you doing out here?" he whispered.

Gengar blinked.

He jumped down from the chair and prepared to return to Mike’s shadow.

"No, no, it’s fine," Professor Oak said with a wave of his hand.

"This is your partner, isn’t it?"

He smiled.

"One of my old friends has a Gengar too."

’One of Professor Oak’s old friends... Agatha?’

’According to the rumors...’

Mike’s thoughts had just begun wandering when Professor Rowan’s voice dragged him back.

"Samuel and I discussed this earlier today. We agree that the theory you and Cynthia proposed is reasonable."

"For now, we can refer to these vanished forms as Hisuian forms."

Professor Rowan continued, "However, we still know far too little about these Pokémon."

"Mike, if you’re willing, could you explain everything you know about Hisuian Pokémon?"

Mike nodded and was about to stand when Professor Rowan told him to remain seated.

He handed Mike the projector remote.

Mike began going through the photographs of the Hisuian Pokémon one by one.

"I believe Hisuian forms may have been the predecessors of the ordinary Pokémon we see today. Environmental conditions may have caused..."

After some time, Mike finished his explanation.

"That’s everything I currently understand about Hisuian forms."

Professor Rowan and Professor Oak both nodded.

"Your analysis actually makes a great deal of sense," Rowan said.

"I went through several ancient records yesterday and found that the Hisui era can roughly be divided into two periods: early Hisui and late Hisui."

"According to the records, people once crossed the sea and settled in Hisui, where they began establishing villages and raising families. That period is now referred to as early Hisui."

"Much later, two additional groups crossed the sea and settled in the region. They established two separate organizations and gradually began developing Hisui. That period became known as late Hisui."

Professor Rowan paused before continuing.

"Ancient texts describe early Hisui as bitterly cold, with temperatures remaining low throughout most of the year. Because of that, snow-covered mountains were widespread."

"However, after the beginning of late Hisui, some event in the Hoenn region caused global temperatures to gradually rise, along with sea levels."

"Hisui’s climate became progressively warmer, and not long after that warming began, the Hisui region was officially renamed Sinnoh."

Professor Oak nodded.

"So it’s entirely possible that whatever happened in Hoenn caused Hisui’s climate to warm."

"To survive the changing environment, Hisuian Pokémon may have gradually changed as well, eventually becoming the forms we commonly see today."

Professor Oak had studied Alolan forms before, especially since his older brother conducted research in Alola.

"Back to the main subject," Professor Oak said. "Mike, explain Stantler’s evolution in detail."

"Of course."

Mike straightened.

"From what I understand, Stantler’s evolution appears to be independent of environmental conditions because it belongs to a special form of evolution."

"Once Stantler learns its species-specific move, Psyshield Bash, it needs to use Psyshield Bash twenty times in Agile Style. After that, it can evolve into Wyrdeer."

"The surviving record says twenty times, but the exact number could theoretically be slightly higher or lower."

Mike continued, "That isn’t the most important issue right now, though."

"The main problem is figuring out how to make modern Stantler relearn Psyshield Bash."

He stood, changed the projected image to the mural depicting Wyrdeer, and looked toward two of the greatest authorities in Pokémon research.

"Professor Rowan, Professor Oak, have either of you ever encountered a Stantler capable of using this move?"

Both professors thought for a moment before shaking their heads.

Professor Oak answered first.

"I led the team that developed the Pokédex. The moves every known Pokémon can learn are recorded in its database."

"Up to this point, I’ve never heard of a move called Psyshield Bash."

"What type do you believe Psyshield Bash is?" Professor Oak asked.

Mike knew the answer, but he couldn’t simply announce it in front of Professor Rowan and Professor Oak without explaining how he had reached that conclusion.

Both were leading authorities in Pokémon research.

What they valued wasn’t merely the answer.

They cared about the reasoning.

"What do the three of you think?" Mike asked. "Professor Rowan, Professor Oak, Cynthia?"

Cynthia recalled what she knew about Stantler before answering.

"I would initially guess Normal-type."

She opened the Pokédex and brought up Stantler’s entry.

"Based on the name, Psyshield Bash is most likely some kind of charging attack."

"Among charging moves, Normal-type attacks make up a large portion—Quick Attack, Tackle, Take Down, Double-Edge, and so on."

"Stantler itself is also a Normal-type Pokémon, so I would personally lean toward Normal."

"Cynthia’s reasoning is sound," Professor Rowan agreed.

Professor Oak narrowed his eyes and remained deep in thought.

"I personally lean toward Psychic-type," Mike said.

All three immediately looked at him.

Mike scratched his head.

Having two Professors and a Champion stare directly at him like that was genuinely nerve-racking.

"There’s no need to be nervous," Professor Rowan said reassuringly. "This is an academic discussion. The entire point is for everyone to offer their own interpretation."

"Explain why you believe it’s Psychic-type."

Mike nodded, organized his thoughts, and borrowed Cynthia’s Pokédex.

"My idea comes from Stantler’s Pokédex information."

"Look here. It says Stantler can emit psychic energy from its antlers to confuse opponents. When large herds gather, their combined psychic power can even distort the space around them and create illusions so convincing that humans and Pokémon become trapped inside and lose their way."

Mike then asked Gengar to find the video he had recorded of the Stantler herd using their psychic powers together.

They played it through the projector.

"Look. This was an experiment I conducted on myself."

"I was completely fine at first. But the moment the Stantler herd began releasing their power, I immediately lost consciousness and collapsed."

On-screen, Mike’s eyes rolled back before he dropped flat onto the ground.

What followed was footage of Gengar and Beedrill conducting some extremely aggressive "disciplinary education."

"This proves that although Stantler is classified as Normal-type, its most effective methods of both offense and defense rely heavily on psychic power."

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