Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Chapter 147

The livestream chat began moving faster.

"So yes, I think it’s safe to say that eventually wild Wyrdeer will begin appearing again. It probably won’t happen overnight, but the species is no longer restricted entirely to history."

Mike continued, "If you want the full evolutionary procedure—from strengthening Stantler’s psychic power, to teaching Psyshield Bash, to fulfilling the actual evolution condition—you can find all of that in the papers released by the Professors and Lucian. Anyone impatient enough can technically begin trying it themselves right now."

He laughed.

"Just don’t expect it to happen quickly. With most modern Stantler, the training process will probably take quite a while."

Mike glanced at the comments.

"I know listening to me summarize academic papers for several hours would be painfully boring, so instead, I’m going to bring Professor Rowan into the call and let everyone get a closer look at an actual Wyrdeer."

He sent the invitation.

Professor Rowan accepted almost immediately, and the livestream display split into two panels.

"Good morning, Professor Rowan."

Rowan laughed.

"Good morning—although I suppose it’s already noon."

He always seemed considerably more relaxed when speaking with Mike than when dealing with the assistants at his laboratory.

Mike smiled.

"How’s the Wyrdeer with you doing?"

"Very well. It’s been spending a suspicious amount of time courting several Stantler lately."

Mike paused.

’Good for him, I guess.’

Professor Rowan turned away from the camera and called out. A short while later, a Wyrdeer walked into view.

The moment it noticed Mike on the screen, it lowered its head and gave a quiet greeting.

"Wyr."

"Been a while."

Mike smiled at it, then handed the stream over to Rowan.

Professor Rowan began introducing Wyrdeer in detail, showing viewers its physical characteristics and explaining the preliminary Pokédex information while answering questions as they appeared.

Mike mostly stayed quiet, stroking Glameow while watching the endless flow of comments.

Several names eventually caught his attention.

[Genie_Unshackled: Mr. Mike, would you be willing to enable viewer call-ins later? There are several things I’d like to ask.]

[Valkoor123113: Mr. Mike, could you please open viewer calls afterward?]

[...]

Mike didn’t want to interrupt Rowan, so he typed a short announcement instead and pinned it.

[Viewer call-ins will open after the invited Professors and researchers finish speaking.]

Once that was done, he returned to petting Glameow.

The summer noon heat was already uncomfortable, and having a fluffy Glameow stretched across his lap made it considerably worse.

Before long, sweat had soaked through the back of Mike’s shirt even with Gengar nearby.

Snivy noticed.

Without saying anything, she picked up a broad leaf fan, stood behind him, and began gently fanning him.

Inside the fan group, the reaction was immediate.

[Stag6nant: Look at this shameless bastard making Snivy fan him!]

[jasss22: Absolutely shameless.]

...

Once Professor Rowan finished his detailed introduction to Wyrdeer, Mike took control of the stream again.

"I know a lot of you are especially interested in how Stantler should actually be trained, so rather than make you wait, let’s bring in the two people who worked most directly on that side of the project: Professor Kukui and Lucian."

Mike added both of them to the call.

After a moment of hesitation, he decided there was no reason not to invite Professor Oak and Cynthia too.

The livestream display divided into six panels.

Professor Kukui appeared first, smiling broadly at the camera.

"Alola! Professor Kukui here."

Lucian adjusted his glasses.

"I’m Lucian."

He still appeared to be at the Castelia battle venue, although fortunately the guest area contained only him and Caitlin.

Cynthia gave a small nod.

"I’m Cynthia."

Professor Oak, naturally, greeted the audience in his own unmistakable fashion.

"Hello, Trainers! Your favorite Professor Oak is here!"

Mike enlarged Kukui and Lucian’s panels since they were about to handle the next section.

Professor Kukui’s lab coat was open as usual, revealing his heavily muscled, tanned torso.

Without any ceremony, he reached off-camera and pulled a Wyrdeer into view.

Mike immediately sat straighter.

"Professor Kukui, you succeeded already?"

"I did."

Kukui proudly patted Wyrdeer.

"This one evolved after I returned to Alola. I started with quite a few Stantler, but the training process was much harder than it looks on paper, so this is currently the only one that has successfully reached Wyrdeer."

He smiled.

"However, I’ve made several improvements to the method, and Lucian and I have spent a lot of time exchanging training data. Several other Stantler are already showing signs that they’re close to rediscovering Psyshield Bash."

"Once I finish organizing the revised method into something more efficient and easier to reproduce, Lucian and I will publish it jointly."

Lucian nodded.

"Thank you for your work."

And, privately, he felt perfectly justified having his name on that paper.

After the original experiment, Lucian had been balancing League overtime with constant discussions with Kukui about improving the training method.

There was no rule saying an Elite Four member couldn’t become a Pokémon researcher as well.

Kukui continued.

"Next, Lucian and I will explain two things: how to strengthen the psychic power within Stantler, and how to combine existing moves in training so that Stantler can gradually rediscover its signature move, Psyshield Bash. We’ll also explain exactly what we mean by Agile Style."

Lucian took over first.

"I’ll begin with psychic conditioning."

He released his own Wyrdeer beside him and adjusted the camera so viewers could see it clearly.

"If you already have extensive experience training Psychic-type Pokémon, one option is to have one of your Psychic types guide Stantler directly. By allowing the two Pokémon to establish a controlled psychic link, the stronger Pokémon can help Stantler better perceive and exercise its own psychic power."

Lucian paused before continuing.

"That method assumes you already understand Psychic-type training reasonably well. If you don’t, there’s a slower but more accessible approach."

"Based on your Stantler’s physical condition, have it periodically exhaust most of its psychic reserves through structured training, then allow it to recover fully before repeating the process several days later. Over time, its total psychic capacity and control should increase noticeably."

"The second method takes longer, but it’s considerably more stable. Personally, I prefer it for ordinary Trainers because the repeated training and recovery also creates a great deal of time for Trainer and Pokémon to work together, which tends to strengthen their bond."

Lucian spoke with the confidence of someone who had spent years specializing in Psychic Pokémon.

There was, of course, a third method he deliberately left out.

A Trainer who was genuinely psychic could directly establish a psychic connection with Stantler and use their own mental energy to guide and nourish its development.

Under the right circumstances, that was faster and easier than either method Lucian had described.

Unfortunately, he had never used it.

He couldn’t.

Lucian glanced sideways toward Caitlin.

A sharp stab of envy went through him.

’Why does practically every other notable Psychic-type Gym Leader or Elite Four member have actual psychic powers except me?’

Caitlin, meanwhile, was suffering from an entirely different crisis.

She stared at Cynthia’s panel.

’I’m a Psychic-type Elite Four member too.’

’Why didn’t Cynthia ask me to help with any of this?’

Oblivious to her silent distress, Lucian continued.

"For my Wyrdeer, I primarily used the first method. As a Psychic-type Elite Four member, I have considerable experience understanding and directing Psychic Pokémon, so having them assist Stantler directly was the most efficient option available to me."

That description was almost comically modest.

Lucian possessed no psychic abilities of his own, yet his understanding of Psychic Pokémon was enough to keep him firmly established among Sinnoh’s Elite Four.

He had even defeated numerous Psychic-specialist Gym Leaders and Elite Four members through training skill alone, maintaining his reputation as one of the best Psychic Pokémon specialists in the world.

"There was also a practical reason," he added. "When Mike first pulled us into the research project, we didn’t have months to experiment with different training systems. At the time, that was the only method we knew would work reliably."

Lucian nodded toward Kukui.

Professor Kukui picked up seamlessly.

"Once Stantler has developed sufficient psychic strength, the next challenge is teaching it Psyshield Bash."

His expression became more serious.

"Before explaining the training process, there’s one important point everyone needs to understand. Modern Stantler seem to have effectively lost access to their species’ signature move.

Whether that happened because of environmental change, altered ecology, genetics, or some combination of factors is still being investigated. Professor Rowan and the others discuss several possibilities in the papers released today, so I won’t repeat all of that here."

"What matters for training is that we’re trying to help Stantler rediscover a move its ancestors once knew naturally."

Kukui brought up a diagram.

"Psyshield Bash is a physical Psychic-type contact move. Knowing that gives us somewhere to begin."

"You can combine barrier-oriented Psychic techniques such as Barrier, Light Screen, or Reflect with charging and impact moves such as Zen Headbutt. The goal is to repeatedly teach Stantler the same underlying concept: surround and reinforce its body with psychic power, then convert that protection into a physical attack."

He raised a finger.

"Most importantly, be patient."

"You’re asking a modern Stantler to learn a move that effectively disappeared from its species’ normal repertoire. That is difficult. Do not become angry because progress is slow. Encourage your Pokémon, adjust the training when necessary, and trust the process."

Kukui’s serious expression suddenly relaxed into a grin.

"And if circumstances allow, feed your Stantler something good afterward. Great food improves anyone’s mood. Who knows? Maybe one particularly happy Stantler will figure Psyshield Bash out over dessert."

Mike nodded solemnly.

Sound scientific methodology.

"As for Agile Style," Kukui continued, "that concept requires a little more explanation..."

From there, he launched into a detailed explanation of everything they had learned during the experiment, breaking the training process down into practical steps ordinary Trainers could understand.

The livestream audience listened with remarkable concentration.

Mike, on the other hand, gradually began zoning out while continuing to stroke Glameow.

His gaze drifted across the six panels on the screen.

Professor Rowan.

Professor Oak.

Professor Kukui.

Cynthia.

Lucian.

Every single person sharing the screen with him was either a major academic authority, an internationally famous researcher, or one of the strongest Trainers in the world.

It was an absurdly prestigious panel.

Then there was Mike.

He looked down at himself.

’This is supposed to be an all-star summit.’

A grin slowly crept across his face.

’So why do I feel like these five experts accidentally invited a carrot?’

The thought struck him as so ridiculous that he quietly started laughing while Kukui continued explaining Agile Style to thousands upon thousands of viewers.