Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 120: Chapter 120

Everyone immediately gathered around the newly evolved Wyrdeer, surrounding the first member of its species to appear in the modern world as they studied a Pokémon none of them had ever seen alive before.

"So this is what Wyrdeer actually looks like," Professor Kukui said, staring at the thick coat covering its entire body with open fascination.

He reached out and ran a hand through the dense fur before continuing, "No wonder Mike said many Pokémon from ancient Hisui would struggle to adapt to modern Sinnoh. With fur this heavy, Wyrdeer probably feels most comfortable somewhere genuinely cold."

"Exactly." Mike nodded. "If we’re talking about Sinnoh, the Mount Coronet range is probably the most suitable environment for them."

Professor Oak was examining Wyrdeer from another angle when another question occurred to him.

"What about its typing? Is it still purely Normal-type?"

"I’d be surprised if it didn’t have a Psychic typing now," Cynthia said from nearby. "Even without deliberately sensing it, I can feel an enormous amount of psychic power inside its body."

"More precisely, Wyrdeer is Normal/Psychic," Mike explained.

"Normal and Psychic. Got it."

Professor Oak immediately wrote it down.

Professor Rowan looked over the newly evolved Pokémon for a moment before suggesting, "Why don’t we give it a full physical examination first? This is the first living Wyrdeer anyone in the modern era has seen."

Professor Oak and Professor Kukui both nodded immediately.

The three professors were already preparing to lead Wyrdeer away when Mike hurriedly stopped them.

"Hey, hey, hold on. There are still two Stantler that haven’t evolved yet. Are we just forgetting about them now?"

His reminder brought everyone back to reality.

"Oh, right. There are still two more."

"I nearly forgot about them! Seeing an entirely new Pokémon got me carried away."

"Hahaha, discovering a new Pokémon really does make it easy to lose yourself in the moment. In fact, I suddenly feel inspired to compose a poem about—"

"That’s enough, Samuel. We still have tests to finish."

Professor Rowan cut Professor Oak off without mercy.

Professor Oak: "..."

After a brief pause, he cleared his throat.

"Right. We’ll finish the evolution trials first and study them properly afterward."

Mike turned toward the remaining two Stantler that had mastered Psyshield Bash.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Lucian.

"Lucian, you’ve put a huge amount of work into this project. Want to handle this one?"

He gestured toward one of the Stantler.

"It would also let us test whether a Trainer actually needs to ride the Stantler while it uses Psyshield Bash in Agile Style."

Lucian hesitated briefly, then nodded.

"I’d like to try."

He stepped forward and approached one of the Stantler, gently resting a hand against its neck while quietly soothing it.

Unlike the sigma Stantler before the first evolution attempt, this one no longer seemed particularly nervous.

If anything, Lucian could feel anticipation coming from it!

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"Go ahead. Don’t worry. Bronzong and the others will be here to help you."

Stantler nodded.

It first circulated its psychic energy through its body, reacquainting itself with the feeling of Agile Style, then began using Psyshield Bash in front of everyone.

Its body repeatedly raced through the forest as Barrier formed, dissolved into psychic energy, and wrapped around it before each charge.

Every time Stantler completed another use, Professor Rowan quietly announced the number and marked it down.

The count steadily climbed.

When the twentieth Psyshield Bash was completed, Stantler suddenly collapsed to its knees as the newly awakened psychic energy in its body began surging out of control.

Its limbs trembled painfully and Lucian moved immediately.

"Bronzong."

Bronzong came to his side, and together they began guiding the chaotic psychic power through Stantler’s body.

After several tense moments, its breathing gradually steadied.

Then blue-white light erupted around it.

Everyone watched as the second Stantler evolved into Wyrdeer.

Professor Rowan studied the newly evolved Pokémon, then looked down at the notes in his hand.

"That confirms one thing. As long as Stantler uses Psyshield Bash in Agile Style, evolution can occur. There doesn’t need to be a rider on its back."

He turned toward Mike.

"How do you want to test the final one?"

Mike had already been thinking about that.

"For the last Stantler, I want to test whether the twenty uses need to happen consecutively."

Professor Oak immediately understood.

"You want to determine whether evolution depends on the total number of Psyshield Bash uses in Agile Style rather than using all twenty in one continuous session?"

"Exactly."

Mike nodded.

"And if everyone agrees, I’d also like to mix several actual battles into those twenty uses."

The three Pokémon professors discussed the idea among themselves before agreeing.

"That would be better," Professor Rowan said. "It gives us stronger data, and when we eventually publish the research, we’ll be able to describe the evolution conditions much more precisely."

With everyone in agreement, Mike turned toward the tan-skinned Alolan professor standing nearby with his lab coat still hanging open.

"Professor Kukui, want to handle the final one?"

Kukui blinked.

"Me?"

His excitement was obvious despite the way he tried to restrain it.

"Wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate?"

"You and Lucian did most of the actual work over these past several days," Mike said. "You watched them constantly, taught them their moves, and guided almost every stage of the training."

He glanced toward Professor Rowan, Professor Oak, and Cynthia with a grin.

"As for Professor Rowan, Professor Oak, and Champion Cynthia... they can wait until the other Stantler learn Psyshield Bash and—"

"Get out of here."

Professor Oak punched Mike lightly on the shoulder.

"All I care about is the result. Besides, do you think I can’t tell who put the most work into this?"

Mike laughed.

The leading Pokémon professors in this world were surprisingly approachable.

Despite their accomplishments and status, they were easy to talk to and rarely acted superior.

That was precisely why Mike felt comfortable joking with them like this.

Once the decision was made, Professor Kukui walked toward the third Stantler.

Like Mike and Lucian before him, he first spent some time calming the Pokémon and making sure it was mentally prepared. Only then did he have it begin using Psyshield Bash in Agile Style.

This trial was much easier on the Stantler.

Instead of forcing it to use Psyshield Bash twenty times in rapid succession, they let it perform several uses before taking a proper break.

For the combat portion of the test, Cynthia commanded Garchomp while Professor Kukui directed Stantler.

Garchomp did not attack.

She simply defended against each charge, allowing Stantler to use Psyshield Bash naturally in a battle situation without putting it in any real danger.

More than an hour passed before the twentieth use was finally completed.

Everyone’s attention immediately locked onto the last Stantler.

Even the female Stantler lying nearby was staring at it expectantly.

After seeing the marked sigma stag truly evolve into Wyrdeer, she had been unable to contain her excitement.

The human had not lied to her after all.

The final Stantler’s reaction came more slowly than the other two, and the pain also appeared somewhat milder. Even so, the same dormant psychic energy eventually awakened inside its body.

Fortunately, Lucian—the Psychic specialist of Sinnoh’s Elite Four—was right there.

With Bronzong’s assistance, he helped the Stantler stabilize the newly awakened power, and before long, blue-white light surrounded its body.

The third Wyrdeer appeared.

Mike clenched his fist in excitement.

"Our theory was right!"

In a video game, the distinction might have seemed trivial.

In the real world, however, successfully restoring Stantler’s lost evolutionary path was a historic event.

These were not fossil Pokémon that had physically vanished from the world and needed to be reconstructed from ancient remains.

Stantler had never disappeared.

They had simply forgotten how to evolve.

And if Stantler could recover an evolutionary path that had been lost over generations, then perhaps other Pokémon could recover forms or evolutions that had disappeared from the modern world as well.

Professor Rowan studied the three sets of records carefully.

"These trials are enough to establish the evolution condition with a reasonable degree of confidence."

He tapped the page.

"Stantler must use Psyshield Bash twenty times in Agile Style. It does not need to perform all twenty consecutively, and the uses can occur in ordinary training or during battle."

He looked toward everyone.

"Twenty uses. No more and no less."

Professor Oak finally allowed himself to give Mike a firm slap on the shoulder.

"Excellent work, Mike!"

The successful evolution of three separate Stantler ruled out the possibility that the first one had simply been an unusual individual.

They now had practical evidence that Stantler as a species still retained the potential to evolve into Wyrdeer.

More importantly, the Pokédex—unchanged for a very long time—would soon gain an entirely new entry.

The existence of Wyrdeer also provided direct support for the historical reality of Hisuian Pokémon and the ancient myths associated with them.

From this point onward, Sinnoh’s geology, ecology, and historical records would likely receive renewed attention as researchers searched for other traces of species and forms once thought lost.

Everyone present was exhilarated.

With the exception of Lucian, nearly all of them were involved in some form of Pokémon research.

As for Mike...

Mike personally felt that he counted too.

"Now that the evolution trials are finished, we can finally examine these three Wyrdeer properly."

Professor Oak wasted no time.

He hurried over to the marked sigma stag and began running his hands through its fur.

"The coat is exceptionally dense, and this white beard is clearly suited for retaining heat. The black orbs on the antlers also appear to be connected to the generation or amplification of psychic power."

Professor Oak’s reputation as one of the foremost Pokémon researchers in the world was well deserved.

After only a few moments of observation, he had already identified several of Wyrdeer’s defining traits.

Professor Rowan moved beside him and examined the antlers.

"The entire body is also more robust than Stantler’s. The antlers in particular are larger and more impressive, though I doubt they’re merely decorative."

He studied their shape.

"I suspect Wyrdeer relies heavily on those antlers in combat. Given the psychic power concentrated there, its fighting style may also lean far more heavily toward psychic attacks than Stantler’s does."

Professor Kukui patted Wyrdeer lightly on the flank.

"Wyrdeer, could you try using a psychic attack on that rock?"

The marked Wyrdeer nodded.

The two black orbs in its antlers began emitting an eerie glow.

A moment later, psychic force condensed into a visible wave and shot forward.

The attack slammed into the rock.

"Psyshock?"

Professor Kukui’s eyes immediately sharpened.

"That was a special attack, and the power was considerable. Wyrdeer’s Special Attack must be fairly high."

As a professor whose research specialized heavily in Pokémon moves, Kukui had an exceptional eye for this sort of thing.

Then another question occurred to him.

"By the way, what category does Psyshield Bash fall under? Physical or special?"

He turned toward Mike.

Mike knew the answer, of course.

Unfortunately, he could hardly announce it without explanation.

"I’m not completely certain, but I would lean toward physical."

Professor Kukui looked interested.

"Why?"

Cynthia and Lucian turned their attention toward Mike as well.

Mike explained, "The way Stantler uses Psyshield Bash gives us a strong clue. It’s a contact move where the user physically crashes into the target while protected by the barrier."

He gestured toward Wyrdeer.

"Most charging and collision-based contact moves are physical attacks, so I think Psyshield Bash probably follows the same pattern."

Professor Kukui nodded.

"That was my assumption too."

Then his eyes brightened.

"If that’s correct, Wyrdeer may have strong offensive potential on both sides."

To test the idea, he asked Wyrdeer to use Zen Headbutt as well.

After observing the result, Kukui became even more enthusiastic.

"Exactly. Wyrdeer looks like a genuine mixed attacker."

Mike watched the researchers work for a while before noticing Glameow repeatedly yawning nearby.

He bent down and scooped her into his arms, allowing her to settle comfortably against his chest.

Still holding Glameow, Mike walked over to Gary.

"How did the filming go? Did you get the entire evolution process?"

Gary nodded.

"Everything. We started recording during the preparations and didn’t stop."

He handed Mike the tablet.

Mike reviewed several sections of footage, confirmed that the drone had captured everything cleanly, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Good work. You can bring the drone back now."

"Yes."

Gary obediently recalled the drone.

Mike studied the handsome young man for a moment and nodded to himself.

Gary was surprisingly polite.

At the very least, he wasn’t one of those teenage Trainers who seemed to think looking down their nose at everyone was a personality.

Like a certain rival from Unova.

Mike’s attention shifted toward the Umbreon beside Gary.

Among Eevee’s evolutions, Umbreon was definitely one of the best-looking.

Still...

Mike looked down at the Pokémon sleeping in his arms.

’My Glameow is adorable too!’

He sat on a nearby chair, cradling Glameow with one arm while gently stroking her with the other so she could sleep comfortably.

Snivy came over and sat beside him with the camera.

"Sni—"

"Thanks for all the work today."

Mike reached over and stroked Snivy’s head.

Snivy gave him a beautiful little smile.

Gengar floated over next and sat on Mike’s other side, using his thin bamboo staff to lazily draw circles in the dirt.

Mike lowered his voice and chatted with him.

"You guys worked hard too. We’ll probably leave Oreburgh in a few days and continue traveling."

Gengar turned toward him with his familiar grin.

"Gar—"

[I want roast chicken!]

Mike stared at him for several seconds before silently laughing.

This fat bastard never answered the question he was actually asked.

"Fine. I’ll make you roast chicken later."

Mike glanced toward Beedrill.

"You and Beedrill can go buy the ingredients first. Get a little extra this time. There are a lot of people here, and..."

He looked meaningfully at Gengar’s belly.

"...someone has a pretty big appetite."

Gengar launched himself into the air like a missile.

He grabbed Mike’s phone, slapped his chest confidently, then rushed out of the forest with Beedrill in tow.

Glameow’s tail remained curled around Mike’s wrist, a quiet purr vibrating against his chest.

Snivy sat beside him, apparently lost in thought.

Mike looked at her for a moment and he made a decision.

Once they reached Crown City, their next destination would be the coast.

He wanted to take Snivy to see the ocean.

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