Chapter 132: Chapter 132
"Open your mouth for me. I want to get a shot of the inside."
Mike gently pried Nidoking’s jaws apart and brought the camera close, carefully photographing the structure of its mouth from several angles before moving on to the large horn protruding from its forehead.
"By the way, can your horn actually spray venom?" he asked curiously.
Although Nidoking’s broad frame and reptilian appearance made it look like some miniature kaiju, the species was not particularly tall by Pokémon standards.
In fact, most upright Pokémon were considerably shorter than they appeared at first glance.
According to the Pokédex, the average Nidoking stood only around 1.4 meters tall.
Machamp was another good example; the species always seemed enormous in animated footage and promotional material, yet its listed average height was only around 1.6 meters.
The obvious explanation was individual variation.
The Nidoking in front of Mike certainly wasn’t only 1.4 meters tall.
He had measured it earlier and found that this particular individual was close to 1.7 meters, making him noticeably larger than average.
"Nido."
Nidoking shook his head.
[Not anymore.]
After evolving into Nidoking, he no longer relied on spraying venom from the horn on his forehead.
He had learned far too many other ways to fight for that to remain particularly important.
"I see."
Mike moved the camera closer to the horn and carefully recorded its texture and shape.
Once he had enough footage, he lowered the camera and tapped Nidoking’s hide with his knuckles.
The skin was incredibly tough, almost like knocking against stone.
"Next, I need you to cooperate with a few simple tests. That okay?"
Nidoking nodded.
Mike walked toward a large rock nearby and pointed at it.
"When I give the signal, attack that rock. For the first test, don’t use any moves or elemental energy. Just hit it with your fist."
Nidoking stepped into position.
Mike moved off to one side, adjusted the camera angle until the entire body was in frame, then raised one hand.
"Ready... and go."
Nidoking raised one of his three-clawed forelimbs, curled it tightly into a fist, and drove it into the rock with brute force.
BOOM!
Half the stone shattered beneath the blow.
Mike drew in a sharp breath.
’Yeah... if that connected with me, I wouldn’t be walking it off.’
He lowered the camera slightly.
"How did that feel?"
Nidoking flexed his claws and shook his head.
"Nido."
[Weak. Didn’t put much force into it.]
Mike stared at the broken rock for a moment.
’That was the weak version?’
He decided not to dwell on it.
"All right. Next test: use the horn."
Nidoking backed away several meters, lowered his head, and charged.
His forehead horn struck the remaining stone head-on.
The entire rock exploded apart.
Mike stared at the scattered fragments.
"That horn is ridiculously hard..."
He approached and cautiously reached out to feel the surface.
A sudden sting ran through his fingertip.
Mike jerked his hand back and discovered a thin line of blood where the horn had sliced his skin.
Fortunately—
’Good. Fine. Great.’
’At least he said the horn doesn’t spray venom anymore.’
Mike wiped away the blood and moved toward another rock.
"Next, use your tail."
The moment the words left his mouth, a strange wave of dizziness washed over him.
Mike frowned.
"Low blood sugar? That doesn’t make sense. I ate breakfast..."
Across the clearing, Snivy was sitting beside Nidoran♀ when she suddenly noticed bubbles beginning to gather around Mike’s lips.
Her eyes widened.
’How did you manage to poison yourself?!’
She immediately called for Gengar, grabbed a Pecha Berry, and rushed toward Mike.
Mike was just about to give the next command when he opened his mouth and a stream of bubbles drifted out instead.
He stared at them.
"Huh."
Another bubble floated past his face.
"Why can I use Bubble Beam again?"
Then his legs gave out.
Two Vine Whips caught him before he hit the ground, and Snivy promptly shoved a Pecha Berry into his mouth.
The juice ran down his throat, and within moments, the poison began to clear.
Mike slowly sat up, looking completely baffled.
"How did I even get poisoned?"
He hadn’t eaten anything strange.
He hadn’t touched any poisonous mushrooms.
Then his eyes fell on the cut across his finger.
Mike slowly looked toward Nidoking.
"You said your horn doesn’t spray venom anymore."
Nidoking looked completely innocent.
"Nido..."
[I said it doesn’t spray venom. I never said the horn itself wasn’t poisonous.]
Mike: "..."
That was annoyingly fair.
After sitting still for a while and confirming that he wasn’t going to collapse again, Mike got back to his feet.
"Fine. That one’s on me. Let’s keep going."
Nidoking nodded.
Under Mike’s direction, he turned toward another large rock and whipped his heavy tail sideways.
The impact sounded like a hammer striking concrete.
Fragments burst outward, and when the dust settled, the rock in front of Nidoking had been completely shattered.
Even the ground beneath it had been gouged into a shallow crater.
Mike lowered the camera in amazement.
"So the horn and tail are both extremely dangerous, but the tail might actually be the nastier one."
He approached carefully and ran his palm along the thick base of Nidoking’s tail.
The texture reminded him vaguely of the tail of a Komodo dragon he had once touched in his previous life—dense, muscular, and far heavier than it looked.
Once Mike had recorded several more poses and a handful of moves, he finally lowered the camera.
"All done. Thanks for putting up with me."
Nidoking waved one claw as though it was no trouble.
Mike then carried the camera over to Nidoran♀ and crouched beside her.
"Your turn. Think you can help me with a few shots too?"
Nidoran♀ gave him a shy little smile and nodded.
"Nido~"
"Thank you."
Mike gently picked her up and scratched beneath her chin.
He deliberately ignored the murderous stare coming from Nidoking.
After carrying Nidoran♀ to a clear patch of ground, Mike set her down and began filming.
Most of her body was a soft blue, with darker blue markings scattered across her coat, while her oversized white front teeth made her look far more adorable than dangerous.
Gengar handed Mike a Berry.
Mike offered it to Nidoran♀, who happily took it and began nibbling away while he photographed her from several angles.
Afterward, he asked her to secrete a tiny drop of venom from the small horn on top of her head so he could record that as well.
The entire session went quickly.
When Mike finished, he carried Nidoran♀ back and placed her in Nidoking’s arms.
"There. Your girlfriend is safely returned, you overprotective creep."
Nidoking lifted Nidoran♀ onto his shoulder, then looked at Mike.
His tail lashed out behind him.
Crack!
A nearby tree snapped in half.
Mike narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, so that’s how we’re playing this?"
He folded his arms.
"Fine. If you’re that annoyed with me, don’t eat the lunch I cook later."
Nidoking blinked.
The threatening expression on his face immediately became much less convincing.
"Nido."
[I was joking. Just joking. You really take everything so personally!]
Mike rolled his eyes and walked away to prepare lunch.
...
After the meal, Gengar and the others began packing the campsite while Mike sat nearby calibrating the drone.
Once everything was ready, Mike stood and looked toward Nidoking.
"We’re heading to Floaroma Town, and you two are going toward Eterna Forest. Our routes overlap for a while, so why don’t we travel together until they split?"
Nidoking considered the suggestion and nodded.
He saw absolutely no reason to turn down free meals.
And so Mike and his Pokémon fell into step behind Nidoking and Nidoran♀.
Nidoking needed to teach the younger Nidoran♀ how to survive in the wild, while Mike wanted footage of how the pair lived and traveled outside human settlements.
Their goals happened to fit together perfectly.
Most of the time, Mike kept the drone following the two Pokémon from a respectful distance, and unless something important happened, the two groups barely interacted.
That was exactly what The Wide World of Pokémon was supposed to be about.
The point wasn’t simply to show people attractive shots of Pokémon.
Mike wanted viewers to understand how different species actually lived—their habits, relationships, instincts, diets, territories, and the countless little behaviors most humans would never notice.
Every so often, however, something else would catch Mike’s attention and send him wandering away from the group with his camera.
Whenever that happened, Gengar took over the drone, while Snivy and Beedrill followed Mike to make sure he didn’t get himself killed chasing some particularly interesting wild Pokémon.
Several days passed that way.
Then, one afternoon, Nidoking suddenly stopped.
He seemed to sense something ahead and turned toward the bushes just as Mike crawled out of them, covered in burrs and wearing an expression of absolute betrayal.
"That damn Abra was messing with me!"
Mike angrily picked several burrs from his clothes.
He had spotted an Abra a short while earlier and tried sneaking close enough to photograph it before it noticed him.
Abra had simply used Teleport and disappeared.
Mike had given up and started walking back.
Then Abra teleported right back beside him.
The moment Mike tried approaching again, it vanished.
When he gave up, it returned.
This happened several times until Mike finally abandoned the entire attempt.
At that point, Abra had simply floated nearby and laughed at him.
Mike was still muttering under his breath when he noticed that Nidoking and Nidoran♀ had stopped walking.
He glanced toward the northern route ahead, and his expression softened.
"This is where we split up?"
Nidoking nodded.
Mike walked over and gave him a pat on the shoulder before gently pinching Nidoran♀’s cheek.
"Go on, then. Eterna Forest might be exactly the kind of place you’re looking for."
Then another thought occurred to him.
"Actually, wait."
Mike called Gengar over and had him pull out the large sheet of drawing paper they had been keeping for something special.
Gengar spread it across the ground in front of Nidoking and Nidoran♀.
Mike smiled.
"We’re friends now, right?"
Both Pokémon nodded.
"Then leave something behind for me."
He pointed toward the paper.
"When our journey is finally over, I’m planning to go back and visit every Pokémon that left a mark on this sheet."
Mike’s smile became warmer.
"That includes you two."
Nidoking looked at him for a moment before placing one claw firmly against the paper.
Then, apparently deciding one mark wasn’t enough, he added an imprint from his foot and another from his tail.
Nidoran♀ pressed her own tiny paw print beside Nidoking’s much larger footprint.
Mike carefully rolled up the paper and handed it back to Gengar for safekeeping.
Then he stood up.
"Take care of her, okay? Feed her properly and keep an eye on her health."
He pointed sternly at Nidoking.
"And for the next month, I mean it—don’t even think about trying for Eggs until she’s completely recovered."
Nidoking immediately turned his back and started walking.
’What kind of Pokémon does this guy think I am?’
’Do I really look like I spend every waking moment thinking about Eggs?’
Mike’s voice came from behind him.
"With you? Who knows what kind of stupid thing you’d try."
Nidoking stopped.
His eye twitched.
He spun around and unleashed Flamethrower directly toward Mike.
Beedrill intercepted instantly.
One shining stinger cut through the attack and split the flames apart before they could reach Mike.
Mike put both hands against his cheeks and adopted an exaggeratedly frightened expression.
"Oooh, scary. Someone’s embarrassed because I called him out."
Nidoking clenched both fists.
He was dangerously close to turning around and settling this with his own hands.
Mike immediately grabbed Gengar and held him in front of his chest like a shield.
Gengar: "?"
Then his eyes widened.
Σ(°∀°)ﾉ
’ME?!’
Mike cleared his throat.
"Anyway, get moving. Once we leave Floaroma Town, we’ll be passing through Eterna Forest on our way to Eterna City, so we’ll come looking for you if you decide to stay there."
He paused, then added more lightly, "And if we can’t find you, then I guess our paths simply weren’t meant to cross again. Either way, once our entire journey is finished, we’ll make one last trip back to look for everyone."
Nidoking’s triangular eyes narrowed slightly.
The anger slowly faded from his expression.
He lifted one claw and waved.
"Nido."
[We’ll be waiting in Eterna Forest, you furry freak. Safe Travel.]
Mike froze.
"...What did you just call me?"
His temper ignited immediately.
"Hey! Get back here! If you’ve got the nerve to say that, then fight me yourself!"
Nidoking stopped and turned around.
Mike had already sprinted an absurd distance down the road.
Nidoking stared.
Then he bared his fangs in a grin and continued north with Nidoran♀.
Eterna Forest.
They were coming!
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