Chapter 150

Chapter 150: Chapter 150

Most of the viewers who joined the call-in session used their chance to ask Cynthia and Lucian about battling, or Professor Oak and Professor Rowan about raising and training Pokémon.

A smaller but surprisingly persistent group ignored the academic opportunity entirely and used their turn to demand new videos from Mike.

Mike sat off to the side chewing the walnut pieces Gengar had prepared for him and finally protested, "Stop rushing me! I’m planning to film Water-type Pokémon next, all right? The research project ate up a ton of my time."

He swallowed another piece before adding, "Besides, if I’m filming Water types, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll have to get into the water myself. I don’t even have proper underwater equipment yet, so obviously I need time to figure out how I’m going to shoot everything."

[Snivy, stop fanning him! You’re spoiling that shameless—]

Mike removed the caller before they could finish.

He began looking for the next person in line, only to notice Gholdengo Is Number One among the applicants.

Curious why his biggest supporter wanted to join the stream directly, Mike accepted the call.

The familiar image of a man sitting inside a helicopter appeared on screen.

After politely greeting the Professors, Cynthia, and Lucian, Gholdengo Is Number One turned toward Mike.

"You’re still in Floaroma Town, right?"

Mike nodded.

"Good. Diving gear and underwater photography equipment will be delivered to you tomorrow."

And with that, he ended the call.

Mike stared at the empty panel.

"...What?"

That was Gholdengo Is Number One for you: very few words, extremely efficient, and apparently willing to solve problems with money before Mike had finished using them as excuses.

"Thanks, I guess..." Mike muttered weakly.

He had been hoping the lack of equipment would buy him at least a little more time before anyone started demanding the Water-type episode.

...

Elsewhere, after leaving the call, Gholdengo Is Number One turned toward the butler seated nearby and gave several instructions.

The butler nodded immediately, pulled out his phone, and began making arrangements.

...

Mike accepted the next viewer and returned to stroking Glameow.

As Trainer after Trainer eagerly asked Cynthia and Lucian questions about battling, Mike found himself quietly impressed.

For most ordinary Trainers, getting the chance to directly ask a Champion or Elite Four member for advice was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it made sense that people were squeezing every bit of value they could from the livestream.

Eventually, though, Mike’s stomach began protesting loudly enough that even academic curiosity could no longer compete.

After another caller finished, he looked toward the camera.

"All right, everyone. It’s getting late, and everybody here still has their own work to deal with, so I’m going to stop bothering them."

Mike smiled and waved.

"Thanks for joining us. I’ll see you in the next video. Bye, everyone."

After saying goodbye to the Professors, Cynthia, and Lucian, he ended the stream.

The instant the broadcast disappeared, Mike stood up.

"Gengar, hurry! We’re going back to town to eat."

He scooped Glameow into his arms and immediately started running toward Floaroma.

Behind him, Gengar frantically tried to pack the equipment while chasing after him.

"Gar—!"

[WAIT FOR ME!]

...

After the livestream ended, Grandma gently stroked Growlithe’s head and smiled.

"See? I told you Mike was impressive."

"Arf—"

[Mike and Gengar were already impressive to begin with!]

Grandma laughed.

"You little thing. Go play—cough, cough..."

Growlithe grabbed the flying disc Mike had mailed home and happily ran into the yard.

Dragonite remained nearby, silently watching over Grandma.

...

Back in Floaroma Town, Mike had already taken Gengar and the others out for an enormous meal.

By the time they finished, he was sprawled lazily in his chair with a toothpick between his lips, one hand rubbing his painfully full stomach.

"I’m stuffed. I thought I was going to starve to death before we got here."

"Gar—"

Gengar yawned while leaning back.

[Livestreaming is exhausting...]

A moment later, he looked toward Mike.

"Gar?"

[Where are we going now?]

Mike hesitated.

The coast was one possibility, but there wasn’t much point heading there immediately.

The underwater equipment wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow, and he wasn’t particularly eager to start the Water-type project without it.

While he was thinking, the distant rumble of another train echoed overhead.

Mike looked up at the elevated railway.

His eyes brightened.

"How about we ride the sky train?"

Gengar followed his gaze, and his red eyes lit up immediately.

"Gar!"

[YES!]

Mike turned toward the others.

"What do you think?"

"Sni~"

Beedrill nodded quietly.

"Meow~"

"Then it’s settled."

Mike stood, paid the bill through his phone, and led everyone toward the station.

Once they arrived, he studied the route signs.

"So which direction? Back toward Jubilife City, or onward to Eterna City?"

Gengar and the others exchanged blank looks.

None of them cared.

Mike thought about it.

"We’re planning to walk toward Eterna City eventually anyway, so let’s take the train back to Jubilife instead. We can enjoy the ride without skipping part of the route we wanted to explore on foot."

He started toward the ticket counter, but Gengar hurried ahead of him and proudly pulled out his own collection of coins.

"Gar!"

[I’M BUYING! I HAVE MONEY! I’LL TREAT EVERYONE TO THE BIG TRAIN!]

Mike stopped and smiled at the delighted expression on Gengar’s face.

"All right. You can pay this time."

He reached over and pinched Gengar’s round cheeks.

Gengar beamed and floated toward the ticket booth with his savings jar in his arms.

He counted the members of the group.

Five.

Then he held up his hand toward the attendant.

"Gar~"

[Five tickets!]

The attendant understood what he wanted, but first glanced toward Mike, who was standing behind him with Glameow in his arms.

Mike nodded to confirm.

The attendant smiled.

"Glameow and Snivy are small enough that they don’t require separate tickets, so you only need three."

Gengar blinked.

He folded down his thumb and little finger, leaving three fingers raised.

"Gar~"

[Three, then!]

"That’ll be 120."

The attendant tore off the tickets and handed them over.

Gengar carefully opened his savings jar, counted out a large pile of coins, and passed them across the counter.

"Enjoy your trip."

The attendant accepted the payment with a welcoming smile.

Gengar proudly floated back and handed tickets to Mike and Beedrill.

"Thanks, Gengar."

Gengar puffed out his chest.

"Gar~"

[It’s nothing. I’ve got money~]

At last, he had found a chance to spend some of his savings.

He looked ridiculously pleased with himself.

When they reached the boarding gate, however, a member of the train staff stopped him.

"I’m sorry, but dangerous items aren’t allowed onboard."

She pointed at the thin bamboo staff in Gengar’s hand.

Gengar stared at the staff.

Then he floated off to the side, shoved it into his belly, and came back empty-handed.

"Gar?"

The attendant paused for a moment, then smiled professionally.

"That’s fine. Welcome aboard. This train will be departing for Jubilife City shortly, so please take your seats as soon as possible."

Mike nodded and led everyone into the carriage.

"Gar—"

Gengar’s voice filled with wonder the moment they entered.

Mike found their seats and settled down with Snivy beside him and Glameow in his lap. Gengar and Beedrill sat across from them.

Gengar immediately pressed himself against the transparent window.

His eyes widened.

He pointed outside before turning toward Mike.

"Gar... Gar..."

[We’re... in the sky...]

"Well, yeah. It’s a sky train."

Mike smiled.

"The tracks are elevated."

The train began to move, and the scenery below started sliding past faster and faster.

Gengar pressed his entire round face against the window until his cheeks flattened against the glass.

His eyes remained glued to the rapidly changing landscape outside.

Mike laughed.

"Is this your first time on a train?"

Gengar peeled his face away from the window and nodded.

"Gar—"

[Before this, I always walked with you.]

Mike paused.

That was true.

Come to think of it, this was his first proper train journey too.

Ever since leaving home, they had walked almost everywhere.

The only real transportation he had used during the journey had been Officer Jenny’s motorcycle.

He looked toward the others.

"First time for you guys too?"

All three nodded.

Mike smiled.

"Then next time, we’ll try a ship. And after that, an airplane."

"Gar!"

[YEAH!]

Gengar immediately returned to the window.

Snivy leaned closer to the glass as well, quietly watching the scenery below.

Glameow climbed out of Mike’s arms, crossed the small table, and sat neatly beside the window.

Even Beedrill eventually rested his head on top of Gengar’s and stared outside with the same fascinated attention.

Mike watched the four of them for a moment and smiled.

Then he quietly took out his camera and captured several photographs.

After putting the camera away, he left them to enjoy the scenery and turned his attention elsewhere.

There was something else he had been waiting to check.

The system settlement from the livestream.

Mike opened the panel.

The final audience had reached an astonishing one million viewers.

Once converted through the system’s formula, that single broadcast had earned him 20,000 Viewership Points.

Mike stared.

’That’s ridiculous.’

One livestream had made him rich.

He watched the cold viewer statistics transform into the wonderfully useful currency of the system shop, and an uncontrollable grin spread across his face.

Mike pulled out his phone next and opened his profile.

His follower count was still climbing rapidly, while older videos were receiving waves of new views.

’Livestreaming really is insane for growth.’

Unfortunately, he doubted he could reproduce today’s success easily.

The stream had featured Professor Oak, Professor Rowan, Professor Kukui, Cynthia, and Lucian all at once.

Gathering that many globally famous figures into a single broadcast was not exactly something he could do every week.

Still...

Mike rubbed his chin.

’Maybe I shouldn’t only photograph Pokémon.’

There were plenty of famous people whose appearances alone could generate enormous attention.

Elesa and Nessa were internationally known models.

Cynthia and Diantha were famous Champions, with Diantha being a major actress on top of that.

If Mike could arrange proper photo shoots with people like them, the views would probably be enormous.

And if he could somehow convince them to act in one of Gengar’s movies...

Mike’s imagination started running.

Then he quickly stopped himself.

’Nope.’

’Dangerous thoughts!’

He shook his head and reopened the Viewership Point Shop.

"With this many points... I should buy something."

He began browsing.

"Toxic Orbs... I should probably get two more. Gengar and Beedrill already finished the last ones."

Mike continued scrolling.

"Snivy’s probably almost finished absorbing the Leaf Stone’s energy too, so maybe another one of those..."

Then something caught his attention.

"Miracle Seed?"

He opened the listing.

"That should work for Snivy too."

He thought for half a second.

"Whatever. I’m buying it."

Then he moved on to Glameow.

"Shell Bell would fit her pretty well, especially as something to play with, but she already has the Soothe Bell. Wearing both would probably be awkward."

Mike imagined Glameow walking around with bells hanging everywhere.

"What am I supposed to do, tie the Shell Bell to her tail?"

He continued scrolling.

Then stopped.

"Destiny Knot?"

Mike looked at the image.

The shop displayed it as a long red cord wound into a loose ball.

His eyes slowly brightened.

’Cats play with balls of string all the time.’

He could already imagine Glameow pretending she had absolutely no interest in the thing, only to eventually lose control and start batting at it with her pink paws.

Mike shuddered from the sheer cuteness of the mental image.

"Sold!"

He bought it immediately.

For the moment, however, he left everything inside the system inventory.

Gengar and the others were still completely absorbed in the view outside, and Mike didn’t want to interrupt them.

Instead, he pulled out his phone and opened the fan group.

Few pleasures compared with silently watching other people argue in a group chat without announcing your presence.