Chapter 133: Chapter 133
Mike eventually stopped running and looked back.
Nidoking and Nidoran♀ were already disappearing along the northern route.
He watched them for a little while before turning toward Gengar, Snivy, Beedrill, and Glameow, who had caught up with him.
"Well."
Mike adjusted the camera hanging from his neck.
"Time for us to keep moving too."
After parting ways with the pair, Mike spent another full day on the road with his team before finally reaching the outskirts of Floaroma Town.
He stopped on a dirt path and stared at the landscape ahead.
Color spread across the horizon in every direction.
Mike’s eyes widened.
"Whoa..."
Fields of flowers stretched as far as he could see, countless blossoms of every imaginable color rippling gently beneath the wind.
"So this is Floaroma Town..."
Mike slowly breathed in.
The air was saturated with floral fragrance.
Sweet.
Fresh.
Almost overwhelming.
Then—
"Pfffft—"
Mike’s face went blank as he stopped breathing.
Slowly, he turned his head.
"Gengar."
Gengar was already moving.
"You bastard! GET BACK HERE!"
Gengar shot down the road laughing.
"You think you can outrun me?! Snivy, grab him!"
The bright afternoon sun shone over the flower fields as Snivy stood on a nearby fence and watched Mike and Gengar chase each other down the path.
She sighed.
Beedrill hovered silently overhead, staring toward the endless sea of flowers as though lost in thought.
Glameow, meanwhile, slipped straight through the fence and disappeared into the blossoms.
Mike eventually tackled Gengar into the grass.
What followed could generously be described as a wrestling match.
Travelers passing along the road saw a human and a Gengar rolling around in the dirt and simply laughed as they continued past.
Once the number of onlookers became impossible to ignore, Snivy finally intervened.
Two Vine Whips shot out and separated them.
Under Snivy’s flat, unimpressed stare, Mike and Gengar immediately stopped fighting and behaved as though they had never had a disagreement in their lives.
Mike brushed himself off and finally looked around properly.
Only then did he realize that somewhere during the chase, they had wandered all the way into the middle of the flower fields.
’No wonder they call it Floaroma Town.’
Mike had seen the place before in animated footage from his previous life and had always thought it looked beautiful.
Reality made those old images seem inadequate.
Sinnoh already possessed an extraordinary natural environment, but here, with enormous flower fields spreading across the landscape in every direction, the scenery bordered on unreal.
Then Mike noticed something missing.
"Huh?"
He looked around.
"Where’s Glameow?"
"Meow?"
A small catlike head suddenly rose from the flowers.
Mike turned.
Glameow was staring at him from the middle of the field, her oversized ears poking above the blossoms.
Her eyes matched the blue flowers in front of her so perfectly that for a moment she looked like part of the scenery itself.
A butterfly fluttered past her face... and Glameow’s instincts took over.
One paw flashed out as she caught the butterfly.
Then stuffed it into her mouth.
Only after doing so did she seem to remember that Mike was watching.
Her eyes widened.
Her paw immediately covered her mouth.
Mike burst out laughing.
"Wait, Glameow! Don’t move."
He raised the camera.
"Stay exactly like that. I want a picture."
Glameow tilted her head.
Still covering her mouth with one paw, she looked directly toward the lens with such an innocent expression that nobody seeing the picture later would ever guess what she had just done.
Mike pressed the shutter.
At that exact moment, Gengar launched himself into the flower field and grabbed Beedrill by one leg, dragging the startled Pokémon downward into the frame.
Snivy remained perched on the fence and gave the camera a sweet smile.
Click.
The resulting photograph captured all four perfectly in their own way: Gengar wearing a ridiculous grin, Glameow looking impossibly cute, Snivy smiling gracefully, and Beedrill looking utterly blindsided by being dragged into the shot.
Mike lowered the camera and looked at the image.
A broad smile spread across his face.
"Our fourth town."
He looked toward the flower fields ahead.
"We made it."
Gengar immediately threw both hands into the air.
"Gar!"
[YEAH!]
...
Floaroma Town was still some distance ahead, but Mike had already been thoroughly captivated by the vast flower fields surrounding its outskirts.
Rather than rush into town before nightfall, he decided to spend the evening nearby and continue the rest of the way the following morning.
He and his Pokémon followed the path deeper between the fields until a solitary house gradually came into view.
"Huh. Someone actually lives all the way out here."
Mike sounded genuinely surprised.
Gengar tugged lightly at the hem of his shirt.
"Gar—"
Then he pointed off to one side.
Mike followed the gesture and saw a woman with pink hair kneeling beside a freshly planted flower bed, watering the soil with a small watering can.
Standing beside her was an elegant green-and-white Pokémon whose body resembled a flowing gown.
’Gardevoir?’
"Meow?"
Glameow emerged from the flowers and padded back to Mike, apparently wondering why he had suddenly stopped.
Her voice caught Gardevoir’s attention.
The Psychic-type turned toward them, tilting her head slightly.
"Garde?"
The woman heard her Pokémon and looked up as well. She seemed briefly startled when she noticed Mike and his group standing nearby.
Mike bent down, picked Glameow up, and offered the woman a polite greeting.
"Hello."
She quickly recovered from her surprise.
"Hello."
Still holding Glameow, Mike approached without coming too close and introduced himself.
"My name’s Mike. I’m traveling toward Floaroma Town, but the flower fields here were so beautiful that I got distracted and wandered farther in than I intended. Sorry if we’ve accidentally come onto your property."
Gengar bowed alongside him.
"Gar—"
[Sorry about that.]
The woman looked from the apologetic Mike to the Glameow resting comfortably in his arms, then toward Gengar, Snivy, and Beedrill nearby.
Once she realized none of them meant any harm, her expression softened into a smile.
"It’s fine. I’m actually happy you like the flowers."
Mike blinked and glanced back over his shoulder.
The enormous field rippled beneath the wind, waves of color flowing through the blossoms almost like water across the surface of a sea.
"You mean... you planted all of these?"
"Not by myself."
The pink-haired woman gently rested a hand against Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir and the others helped me."
"Garde~"
Gardevoir closed her eyes contentedly beneath the touch.
"That’s incredible," Mike said, and this time the admiration in his voice was completely genuine.
"Thank you."
The woman inclined her head slightly.
"Meow."
She looked down when Glameow spoke and found the cat Pokémon watching her with those brilliant crystal-blue eyes.
Mike smiled.
"Glameow says she likes your flowers."
"Really?"
The compliment seemed to please the woman far more than Mike had expected.
"I’m glad you like them, Glameow."
She then turned her attention back to Mike.
"Where did you travel from?"
"Oreburgh City."
"Oreburgh?"
Her eyebrows rose.
"That’s quite a long way from here. And the Floaroma Pokémon Contest has already ended, hasn’t it?"
Mike shook his head and lifted the camera hanging around his neck.
"I’m a photographer. The main reason I travel is to photograph whatever catches my attention—the places I visit, the Pokémon I meet, and the people and moments I think are worth remembering."
He smiled.
"As for Contests, I’ll participate if the opportunity feels right. I’m not planning my whole journey around them."
"Oh!"
The woman’s eyes widened with sudden interest.
"You’re a photographer? Would you mind taking a picture of me and my Pokémon?"
"I’d love to."
Mike answered without hesitation.
By now, he had finally remembered who she was.
This flower field had appeared in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.
On Ash’s journey toward Floaroma Town, this was where he and his friends had first encountered Pokémon Hunter J.
And the woman standing in front of Mike was the Trainer whose Gardevoir had been targeted.
Hunter J’s Ariados had bound her with String Shot before J petrified Gardevoir and stole it away.
If Mike hadn’t liked the Sinnoh portion of the anime enough to watch it several times in his previous life, there was no chance he would have remembered such a minor character so clearly.
"Thank you. I’m Melodi," the woman said as she introduced herself. "And this is Gardevoir."
Mike introduced Gengar, Snivy, Beedrill, and Glameow in return.
Melodi then called out the rest of her Pokémon, and Mike was pleasantly surprised when he realized she had what was essentially an entire evolutionary family.
There was Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, and Gallade, with no other species among them.
Mike spent a good while photographing Melodi and her Pokémon throughout the flower field, trying several different arrangements and angles before transferring the finished pictures directly to her phone.
"Thank you so much!"
Melodi scrolled through the photographs with obvious delight.
Mike’s skill was clear enough that nearly every picture seemed to capture exactly the kind of moment she would have wanted to preserve.
She thanked him again before glancing toward the darkening sky.
"It’s getting late. If you’re not in a hurry, why don’t you stay for dinner before continuing on?"
Mike hesitated and looked toward Glameow, who had already returned to the flowers and was happily stalking through the blossoms as though playing hide-and-seek with herself.
Eventually, he nodded.
"If you don’t mind having us, I’d be happy to stay. But let me handle dinner."
Melodi looked at him in surprise.
"You cook too?"
Mike grinned.
"You can usually tell whether someone knows how to cook by looking at how well-fed their Pokémon are."
Melodi glanced toward the enormous purple Gengar.
Then toward the unusually large Beedrill.
That was a surprisingly convincing argument.
"In that case, I’ll help you."
She didn’t insist on taking over. Her own cooking was perfectly edible, but not much more than that, and Mike sounded confident enough that she was quite willing to surrender the kitchen.
Once inside, Mike worked comfortably with whatever ingredients and equipment were available.
Unfortunately, Melodi didn’t own the kind of heavy wok he normally used, which meant several of Gengar and the others’ favorite dishes were out of the question, but he still managed to prepare enough food to fill the entire table for two people and a small crowd of Pokémon.
Melodi stared at the spread in amazement.
"Wow. I didn’t expect you to be this good."
"I do all right."
Mike grinned and clapped his hands.
"Come on. Let’s eat."
Melodi picked up a piece of tempura and took a bite. Her eyes immediately narrowed in delight.
"That’s delicious!"
After that, conversation temporarily became much less important than eating.
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