Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 116: Chapter 116

Once Mike was satisfied that the female Stantler had successfully awakened the males’ protective instincts, he gave the marked Stantler resting beneath the tree a final pat and headed off to prepare dinner.

By the time the meal was ready, he returned with Gengar and Snivy carrying the food.

Together, they distributed the dishes among the Stantler before settling down to eat themselves.

Afterward, Mike climbed into a nearby tree, plucked a Berry from one of the branches, and made himself comfortable.

From his perch, he had a perfect view of the performance unfolding below.

Professor Kukui, who was sitting nearby and letting his dinner settle, glanced up at him.

"What is Mike planning this time?"

"Who knows?" Lucian replied without looking particularly surprised. "Half the time I have no idea what goes through that man’s head."

Kukui thought back to something he had overheard earlier.

"Actually, what were you and Mike talking about before? You made it sound like he had some sort of plan."

Lucian hesitated for a moment before deciding there was no point hiding it.

"He said he had a way to make the Stantler more motivated to master Psyshield Bash."

Kukui raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"He called it a ’honey-deer trap.’"

"A what?"

Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He found a female Stantler. The idea is to use her to stir up the males’ protective instincts and give them a genuine reason to become stronger."

Professor Kukui stared at him.

For several seconds, he said nothing at all.

Then he rubbed his nose.

"Well... I’ll give him this much. He certainly knows how to come up with methods no normal researcher would ever consider."

The idea was absurd enough that Kukui almost wanted to laugh, but the more he thought about it, the more annoyingly plausible it became!

Mike had deliberately found a female Stantler, taught her exactly what to say, and intended to use her presence to make the males train harder.

It was ridiculous and so shameless.

And somehow, there was a real chance it would work.

Up in the tree, Mike quietly chewed his Berry while listening with both ears.

Below him, the female Stantler had already begun the performance he had painstakingly coached her through.

[Female Stantler: I came here with my herd from another region.]

One of the males immediately leaned closer.

[Stantler One: Then where are the others who came with you?]

The female Stantler’s eyes instantly filled with tears.

Her acting was so natural that Mike nearly choked on his Berry.

[Female Stantler: The journey was very long. Some of them were caught by humans, while others were separated from us after wild Pokémon attacked. In the end... I was the only one left.]

Her voice trembled at exactly the right moment, and the sob caught in her throat sounded so convincing that even Mike began to wonder whether she had actually lived through something similar.

Another male stepped closer.

[Stantler Two: You don’t have to worry anymore. You can stay here with us. The humans here are pretty good to us. They feed us every day, and once we become stronger, we’ll take you back into the wild and help you look for your herd.]

Mike slowly shook his head.

These Stantler had spent nearly their entire lives in research facilities.

Most of them had barely experienced genuine wilderness survival, yet here they were promising a female that had lived in the wild for years that they would protect her.

He coughed lightly into one fist.

The female Stantler immediately picked up her cue.

[Female Stantler: But if I stay, won’t I cause trouble for all of you? I don’t need much. I can survive on grass and leaves. I’m only worried those humans might stop giving you food because there’s suddenly another mouth to feed.]

Nearby, Glameow’s expression slowly twisted.

She stared at the female Stantler below, visibly trying to understand how anyone could say something that syrupy without collapsing from embarrassment.

The four males exchanged uncertain looks.

None of them answered immediately.

They knew perfectly well where their meals came from.

Every delicious dish they had been eating for the past several days had been prepared by the same human who was almost always accompanied by Gengar.

The female Stantler noticed their hesitation.

She slowly forced herself back onto her feet, deliberately swaying as though the effort alone was painful.

[Female Stantler: It’s all right. I’ll rest for a little while and then leave. I don’t want to make things difficult for you.]

She lowered her head.

[Female Stantler: Meeting all of you was already more than I could have hoped for.]

Then she looked up through tearful eyes.

[Female Stantler: I never imagined that after wandering into this unfamiliar place alone, I would meet such kind and handsome big brothers. I’ll always remember today. I’ll remember that when I was hurt and helpless, there were several Stantler willing to care for me without asking for anything in return.]

Mike stopped chewing entirely.

He stared down at her with open admiration.

’Look at that performance.’

She had taken the helpless, innocent damsel routine and elevated it into an art form!

Forget these sheltered males. Mike had seen grown adults in his previous life fall for less convincing versions of the same act.

Glameow shuddered so hard her fur puffed up.

Her crystal-blue eyes narrowed.

’What is this?’

’Why can’t she talk normally?’

’And why is she using that voice?!’

Meanwhile, the four males watched her limp away.

Something seemed to stir inside them all at once.

They could not have explained what it was. Their hearts simply began beating faster, and before any of them consciously decided to act, all four had already risen to their feet.

They moved in front of her and blocked her path.

Stantler One stepped closest, gently nudging his forehead against hers.

[Stantler One: You don’t have to leave. As long as we keep training and learn what those humans are teaching us, they’ll continue feeding us.]

He straightened.

[Stantler One: We’ll train harder, become stronger, protect you, and then go with you to search for the rest of your herd.]

Stantler Two immediately agreed.

[Stantler Two: He’s right. If we work harder, they’ll probably give us even more food. We can share ours with you.]

The female Stantler burst into tears again.

This time, she even managed to look weak enough that her legs seemed to give out beneath her.

The four males crowded around her and gently nuzzled her body, each trying to comfort her in his own way.

Only one Stantler remained apart from the group.

The marked one.

The sigma stag.

He finally opened his eyes and looked toward the crying female, but he still made no move to join the others.

After a while, the female Stantler appeared to recover. She settled in the middle of the four males surrounding her and looked around with wide-eyed innocence.

[Female Stantler: You said you’ve been learning moves. What kind of moves?]

She tilted her head.

[Female Stantler: On my way here, I heard other Pokémon talking about our species. They said Stantler used to be much stronger than we are now. They said other Pokémon once avoided provoking us.]

The males listened carefully.

[Female Stantler: I also heard that Stantler used to be able to evolve.]

Her voice softened.

[Female Stantler: We can’t anymore, but if anyone could do it, I think big brothers as hardworking and strong as all of you surely could.]

The four males unconsciously lifted their heads a little higher.

The female Stantler continued.

[Female Stantler: If you became that strong, I could stay behind you and cheer you on. I could help take care of the herd and help everyone raise the next generation...]

She suddenly lowered her head, as though embarrassed by her own imagination.

[Female Stantler: I’m sorry. I’m thinking too far ahead.]

Then, in an even softer voice, she added,

[Female Stantler: I only started wondering how wonderful it would be if we could keep living together someday. I wouldn’t have to worry about starving. I wouldn’t have to be afraid every time something dangerous appeared. When it was cold, I could stay close to all of you for warmth, and when we were hungry, we could eat together...]

Her ears lowered shyly.

[Female Stantler: And maybe someday there would be lots of little fawns running around too...]

She finished with a delicate little huff and looked away.

The male Stantler had never encountered anything remotely like this in their lives.

All four had been raised in research facilities from a young age.

They were completely unprepared.

Their bodies grew hot, their breathing became heavier, and beneath that sudden rush of excitement, a powerful determination took root.

They wanted to become someone this female could rely on!

More than that, they wanted to become strong enough to protect their entire species.

Stantler One was the first to rise.

The female believed he could evolve.

Then he would evolve!

He drew out the psychic energy within his body, spread it over himself, and charged toward the nearest tree with all his strength.

The other males immediately followed.

Mike nearly dropped his Berry.

He twisted around and vigorously signaled toward Lucian and Professor Kukui.

Both of them understood at once.

They rushed over and began guiding the suddenly motivated Stantler through their training.

Glameow watched the males throw themselves into practice, then turned toward Mike.

She hesitated.

After a moment, she opened her mouth.

"Meow... meow~"

Mike looked at her.

"What’s wrong?"

He frowned in concern.

"Is something stuck in your throat? Did you swallow a fish bone earlier?"

He held out his arms.

"Come here. I’ll take a look."

Glameow froze.

A trace of embarrassment flashed through her eyes.

Then came the fury.

Her spring-shaped tail whipped against the branch Mike was sitting on.

Crack!

The wood snapped.

Mike’s expression changed.

"No, no, no—!"

He plummeted from the tree.

Snivy’s Vine Whip shot out just in time, catching him around the waist and lowering him safely to the ground.

When Mike looked up, Glameow had already disappeared.

He stared after her.

’What did I do?’

Still baffled, he decided to focus on something easier to understand.

He walked over to the female Stantler, crouched beside her, and placed a Berry in her mouth.

"You were incredible."

Mike stroked her neck approvingly.

"I knew I picked the right Stantler."

She chewed the Berry and gave him a smug little look.

Mike then turned toward the males training nearby.

The marked Stantler was still practicing alone, repeatedly slamming himself into a large boulder.

After watching a few attempts, Mike frowned.

"That’s wrong."

The sigma stag stopped and looked over.

"That isn’t how Psyshield Bash works."

Mike approached.

"Start by using Barrier. Put the Barrier in front of yourself first."

He gestured with both hands as he explained.

"Then use the psychic control you learned from Zen Headbutt. Instead of concentrating all that power only around your head, spread it over your entire body and pull the Barrier into that same flow of psychic energy."

"The important part is that you’re not attacking with Zen Headbutt."

Mike pointed toward the boulder.

"We only taught you Zen Headbutt because it was the easiest way to help you learn how to gather psychic power around yourself while moving."

"The real core of Psyshield Bash is the Barrier."

"You’re supposed to turn that Barrier into part of the charge itself. The actual movement can resemble Tackle, Take Down, or any other rushing attack. What matters is using the barrier as both protection and impact."

The marked Stantler listened carefully.

Then he closed his eyes.

Barrier formed in front of him.

Instead of charging immediately, he gathered psychic power around his head and slowly spread it downward, covering his neck, shoulders, torso, and legs.

The Barrier began to blend into that psychic energy.

Then he charged.

For a moment, it looked promising.

Unfortunately, the Barrier vanished just before impact.

Stantler slammed headfirst into the boulder and bounced backward.

He rolled once, pushed himself back onto his feet, shook his head, and began preparing another attempt without complaint.

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