Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 124: Chapter 124

That night, after taking a shower, Mike sprawled lazily across the bed and scrolled through his phone.

Gengar floated onto the mattress and fixed him with an unblinking stare from those crimson eyes, but Mike merely rolled onto his side, scratched his ass and continued scrolling as though he hadn’t noticed it.

Gengar’s expression slowly tightened.

(｡・ˇ_ˇ・｡)

When Mike rolled over again, Gengar simply drifted around to the other side and resumed staring directly into his face.

Only then did Mike finally lower his phone and look at him.

"What?"

"Gar—"

[Tell me a story!]

"I’m sleepy," Mike replied.

Gengar narrowed his eyes, and a burst of psychic power immediately pulled the phone out of Mike’s hand.

Mike stared at him in confusion.

"???"

Without saying anything else, Gengar calmly turned off the screen, placed the phone to one side, then pointed firmly at Mike.

"Gar!"

[If you’re sleepy, then sleep!]

Mike: "..."

"How about I look at my phone for a little longer and then go to sleep?"

Gengar shook his head without hesitation.

"Gar—"

[We have to get up early tomorrow.]

Mike stared at the phone clutched securely in Gengar’s hands and sighed.

Since there was clearly no chance of getting it back without starting another fight, he finally sat up.

"Fine. I’ll tell you a story first, and then we sleep. Deal?"

Gengar’s eyes lit up immediately.

He hurriedly sat down on the bed and looked at Mike with obvious anticipation, while Beedrill flew over as well.

Snivy remained seated in the hammock woven from String Shot, quietly turning her attention toward Mike.

Glameow, who had been entertaining herself with a Poké-tail toy, swatted it aside with one paw before getting to her feet and padding over.

Once Mike crossed his legs, Glameow lightly jumped into his lap and settled down comfortably, the Soothe Bell around her neck chiming softly with each movement.

Mike looked around at his audience.

"So, what kind of story should I tell tonight...?"

Gengar immediately raised one hand.

"Gar—"

[A great warrior!]

"Another hero story?"

Gengar nodded with complete seriousness.

Mike turned toward Beedrill, Snivy, and the others, and when they all agreed as well, he settled back against the headboard.

"All right. Then tonight I’ll tell you about an old wandering knight who crossed kingdoms, fought monsters, and became famous for a legendary fighting style said to strike with the force of a dragon."

With Glameow curled comfortably in his lap, Mike began telling the story of a battle-hardened knight who wandered from one troubled land to another, taking on warlords, bandits, and monsters wherever he went.

Gengar listened with particular enthusiasm whenever the hero smashed through an enemy line or sent some enormous beast flying, while Beedrill remained quietly attentive beside him.

...

"It’s getting late. We’ll continue the rest another time," he said, looking around at his Pokémon.

"Time for bed."

Gengar obediently nodded, floated over to the door, and switched off the light.

He then returned to the corner with Beedrill, where the two hung upside down together while Gengar began whispering his own heavily modified version of the story he had just heard.

Knowing Gengar, Mike suspected the knight would probably end up fighting three dragons, discovering buried treasure, becoming a king and buying food somewhere along the way.

Once the lights were off, Glameow jumped down from Mike’s lap and padded toward the corner of the room.

Mike watched her go, shook his head with a faint smile, and lay back on the bed.

He pulled the blanket over himself but deliberately left an opening along one side, making sure there was enough room for Glameow to crawl in later.

"Good night, everyone."

"Gar—"

"..."

"Sni~"

"Meow."

...

Mike slept until he naturally woke the following morning.

When he sat up, he discovered Glameow’s spring-shaped tail wrapped tightly around one of his arms.

With his free hand, he gently stroked her head without disturbing her.

Gengar noticed that Mike was awake and floated out from the corner.

After calling out once, he left the room to buy breakfast.

Since Glameow was still asleep, Mike picked up his phone to pass the time.

The moment he unlocked it, an avalanche of notifications appeared.

He hurriedly muted the sound before the constant alerts woke Glameow, but even with the phone silenced, the endless vibration against his palm made it obvious just how many messages had accumulated.

Mike opened his fan group.

[999+ messages.]

He stared at the number.

He had only ignored the group for a few days, yet the message history had already grown into thousands.

’Do these people actually live in this chat?’

Mike skimmed through the recent messages and quickly discovered that nearly everyone who had tagged him was demanding another upload.

Thinking about it carefully, he realized they had a point.

Ever since the third episode of The Wide World of Pokémon went up, he hadn’t released anything new.

He backed out of the group and checked his private messages.

Gholdengo Is Number One, his biggest supporter and current number-one donor, had already sent him several messages.

[Gholdengo Is Number One: What are you doing?]

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Where’s the video?]

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Nothing happened to you, right?]

[Gholdengo Is Number One: ???]

Faced with the man currently occupying the number-one spot among his supporters, Mike rested the phone on his leg and typed with one hand.

[Mike: I’m fine, I’m fine.]

[Mike: I already used up all the footage I had. I’ve been staying in the city lately, so I haven’t had anything new to upload.]

[Mike: Don’t worry. I’m setting out again today.]

The reply came almost immediately.

[Gholdengo Is Number One: All right.]

Not even a minute later, another flood of tags appeared in the group chat.

Mike sighed and opened it again.

Apparently, Gholdengo Is Number One had already made an announcement on his behalf.

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Mike said he’s leaving today, so there should be new videos soon.]

[Abyss_123: So this guy has just been sitting around in the city this whole time? He hasn’t even made that much money yet and he’s already slacking off? @GengarStopStealingMyDrumstick]

[Mad Silence: He’s only leaving now? Hasn’t he been in Oreburgh City for almost two weeks?]

[StonedOranguru: Thirteen days. I’ve been counting.]

Mike stared helplessly at the screen.

’Who keeps track of someone else’s itinerary that precisely?’

[Juice Bro: Explain yourself. What have you been doing all this time? No footage, no videos, nothing! @Mike]

Mike immediately began typing.

[Mike: I’m innocent! Arceus as my witness, I’ve been framed!]

[Mike: I stayed in Oreburgh because I was involved in an extremely important research project. That’s why I didn’t have time to go out and film.]

[Indomet: You? Research? You’re a photographer! What were you researching, new ways to eat?]

[Mike: That’s a Slander! Absolute slander! I’ll sue you!]

[Juice Bro: Then tell us what the research was.]

[Mike: I can’t reveal it yet, but you’ll probably find out very soon. If you don’t believe me, ask Lucian. He was doing the research with me. @ReallyDontWantOvertime]

[NihilNeko: ??? Wait, Overtime Bro is ELITE FOUR LUCIAN?!]

[Mad Silence: ??? Overtime Bro is ELITE FOUR LUCIAN?!]

[Professor Purple: ??? Overtime Bro is ELITE FOUR LUCIAN?!]

The same reaction rapidly filled the group.

Then Lucian finally appeared.

[ReallyDontWantOvertime: ...Hello, everyone.]

[ReallyDontWantOvertime: Mike is telling the truth. I’ve been working on the research with him these past several days, along with Professor Oak, Professor Rowan, and the others.]

[ReallyDontWantOvertime: As for what the project involves, you should find out soon. We simply can’t make the details public yet.]

[BlackGrave: Holy shit—he really IS Elite Four Lucian! How does that useless deadbeat uploader even qualify to work on research with Professor Oak and the others?!]

[Juice Bro: Wait. Did nobody notice the important part? Lucian said MIKE was leading them. LEADING THEM!]

[Mad Silence: Hold on... Are you telling me my favorite streamer is secretly some famous Pokémon Professor?! The more I think about it, the more suspicious this gets.]

[Respect_Darkrai: ...No way, right?]

Mike watched their theories become more absurd by the second and finally stepped in before they somehow convinced themselves he was the reincarnation of some legendary ancient scholar.

[Mike: Stop inventing nonsense. It was just research involving a certain Pokémon. How did you people already get all the way to secret identities and reincarnation?]

[Mike: I’m done arguing with you lunatics. I’m heading back out on the road. Wait for the next upload.]

Mike closed the chat and was about to put down his phone when he felt the tail around his wrist tighten.

He turned his head and found himself staring into a pair of large, brilliant crystal-blue eyes.

"Meow~"

Glameow yawned, loosened her tail from his arm, and slowly stood.

She stepped over him with the sleepy dignity of a princess before lightly jumping down from the bed and heading toward the bathroom.

Mike watched her go for a moment, then got up and followed her to wash.

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