Chapter 155

Chapter 155: Chapter 155

Once the charcoal was ready, Mike sat beside the grill and began cooking.

Fat dripped onto the hot metal with a constant hiss, filling the beach with the smell of roasting meat.

Gengar sat nearby staring so intensely at the skewers that drool was nearly running down his chin.

Mike wiped sweat from his forehead while turning the meat.

"I think something is genuinely wrong with me."

Gengar looked toward him curiously.

"It’s noon, under the summer sun, and I actually agreed to sit beside a charcoal grill and cook for you."

Mike’s shirt was already sticking to his back.

"I’m dying here."

He looked around the mostly deserted midday beach.

"At least nobody else is here. If people saw us holding a barbecue at the hottest possible time of day, they’d definitely think we were idiots."

Gengar shrugged.

"Gar—"

[Who cares? We’re the ones who get to eat it.]

Mike stared.

"You don’t care because you aren’t the one roasting alive."

Gengar immediately smiled sweetly.

"Gar—"

[Mike’s the best. Hehe.]

Beedrill joined in.

"Bee."

[Boss Mike is the best.]

Glameow looked over from her string.

"Meow~"

[Boss, I want fish~]

Snivy smiled.

"Sni~"

[Boss is amazing~]

Mike knew exactly what they were doing.

Unfortunately, knowing didn’t make the praise any less effective.

His hands began moving slightly faster over the grill.

"Save it. You think flattery works on me?"

Then he looked toward Beedrill.

"Go see if you can catch a couple of fish. Glameow wants some."

Beedrill nodded and flew toward the water.

He ignored the surrounding Wingull and focused his red eyes on the surface below.

Then one stinger shot forward.

Two fish came up impaled across it, tails flapping wildly.

A Wingull tried to swoop in and steal one before Beedrill could return.

String Shot caught it in midair and dumped it straight into the sea.

Beedrill brought the fish back.

Gengar accepted them, laid them across a flat rock, then grabbed Beedrill’s stinger and immediately tried to use it as a knife to gut the fish!

Beedrill stared at him.

’???’

’I evolved into Beedrill and you STILL treat me like kitchen equipment?’

Mike looked over.

"All right, both of you come eat. I’ll handle the fish."

Gengar and Beedrill returned to the blanket and accepted the freshly grilled skewers Mike handed them.

Gengar shoved one straight into his mouth.

"Gar!"

His eyes closed in bliss.

"You guys eat first. I’m cleaning the fish."

Mike walked toward the water and quickly processed the catch, scoring the flesh and tossing the unwanted innards toward the circling Wingull.

Once the fish had been seasoned, he returned to the grill.

A cooked skewer suddenly appeared beside his mouth.

Mike looked over.

Gengar was eating with one hand while holding the skewer toward him with the other.

"Gar—"

[You eat too.]

Mike leaned over and took a bite.

"So you remembered I exist after all."

Gengar gave him a look.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)✧

"Gar—"

[How could I ever forget you?]

Then, as if things hadn’t already become ridiculous enough, Gengar produced several bottles of soda, opened one, took a long drink, and released a satisfied belch.

Mike stared.

"You bought Coke too?"

Gengar nodded.

"Cold?"

Another nod.

He opened a fresh bottle and handed it over.

Mike took a huge drink.

The icy carbonation hit immediately, and he let out a deeply satisfied burp.

Then he handed the rest to Snivy.

She accepted the bottle and looked at him curiously.

"Cold Coke is only perfect on the first sip," Mike explained. "After that, it’s never quite as good."

Snivy studied the bottle as though this were a serious culinary principle.

She took a sip.

Waited.

Then drank again.

"Sni?"

[It tastes good both times. Why would the second one be worse?]

"You wouldn’t understand."

Mike shook his head.

"You can finish it."

Snivy blinked, then happily accepted the responsibility.

By the time the final fish had finished cooking, Mike looked as though he had stepped directly out of a shower.

Sweat covered him from head to toe despite Gengar’s cooling presence nearby.

Without Gengar, he might genuinely have suffered heatstroke.

Of course, without Gengar, he would never have been standing beside a barbecue grill at noon in the first place.

Mike separated the flesh from Glameow’s fish, carefully removed the bones, and pushed the plate toward her.

"Wait until it cools down."

"Meow~"

Glameow answered sweetly.

He removed the bones from another half-fish for Snivy.

"Sni~"

Gengar and Beedrill required no such delicate service. Each simply grabbed half a fish and started eating directly.

Mike took another long drink of Coke, then pulled out his Rotom Phone and photographed everyone enjoying lunch.

The moment he finished taking the picture, the phone began ringing.

Professor Rowan appeared on screen.

"Good afternoon, Professor."

"Good afternoon, Mike. Are you outside?"

Rowan had clearly noticed the background.

"Yeah. I brought Snivy to the coast."

Mike turned the camera around and showed him the beach.

Professor Rowan laughed the moment he saw the grill.

"You’re having a barbecue on the beach... at noon?"

He shook his head, thoroughly amused.

"You really do have a talent for doing things nobody else would think of."

"I didn’t want to!"

Mike sounded exhausted.

"Gengar wanted barbecue."

He glanced toward the Pokémon happily eating behind him.

"Anyway, Professor, did you call for something?"

"Yes. Give me a moment."

Professor Rowan stood and began walking.

Mike could hear a great deal of noise in the background, but after Rowan moved somewhere quieter, the sound faded.

"It’s about the Academic Summit," he said.

Mike became more attentive.

"Over the past two days, Professors and researchers from several regions have started arriving in Sinnoh to study and discuss Hisui, the historical predecessor of modern Sinnoh."

"The research covers nearly everything we currently have evidence for—ancient Pokémon forms, ecology, regional distribution, history, archaeology, and human culture."

Rowan paused.

"With this many specialists gathered together, progress has been much faster than expected. Several research groups have already made promising discoveries."

"So Professor Oak, the others, and I discussed the situation earlier today."

"We’ve decided to move the Academic Summit forward."

Mike blinked.

"Move it forward?"

"Yes. We’re currently planning to hold it in Celestic Town on the twenty-third, roughly one month from now."

Mike thought for a moment.

"Do you need me to prepare anything?"

"If you have the time, I strongly recommend preparing your own presentation."

Professor Rowan’s tone became more serious.

"Make a set of slides, carefully reread the papers we’ve released recently, and organize what you want to say."

"Your discoveries have already been confirmed as significant enough to warrant a formal presentation at the summit, so you should also prepare yourself for questions afterward."

Mike listened carefully.

"You don’t need to be overly nervous. On this particular subject, you’re one of the people who understands the material best, so I doubt anyone will be able to surprise you with an impossible question."

Rowan smiled faintly.

"Just present the evidence according to your slides and explain the research naturally."

"And if you don’t know how to make the presentation, I can help you put the slides together."

"Slides, huh?"

Mike nodded.

"Got it. I’ll prepare them myself."

"Good."

Professor Rowan then asked, "You’re still staying around Floaroma Town, correct?"

"Yeah. I’m planning to remain here a little longer."

"Then just make sure you leave enough time to reach Celestic Town before the summit."

"No problem. In a few days, I’ll leave Floaroma and head north toward Eterna City, then travel from Eterna toward Celestic Town."

"That should give you more than enough time."

Rowan nodded.

"Once you finish your slides, send me a copy. I’ll review them for you."

"Thanks, Professor."

The call ended.

Mike put his phone back into his pocket.

Gengar looked toward him.

"Gar?"

[So we’re going to Celestic Town?]

"Eventually."

Mike nodded.

"But there’s no rush. We have plenty of time to get there from Floaroma, so we can stay around here for a while longer."

He extended one arm.

Several Wingull that had been resting beneath the beach umbrella fluttered down and landed along it.

Mike lifted his camera with his other hand and photographed them.

Then he looked toward the ocean.

"For now, we wait for Gholdengo Is Number One’s equipment to arrive."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Once it does, we can start figuring out how we’re going offshore."