Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Chapter 159

Once he finished eating, the man wiped his mouth neatly with a napkin, then smiled and extended his hand across the table.

"Mike, it’s good to finally meet you properly. My name is Manryo."

’Manryo?’

Mike paused.

If he remembered correctly, the word carried an extremely prosperous, wealthy connotation in Japanese.

’Of course it does.’

Even his real name sounded rich.

Very Pokémon like.

Mike reached across and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Gholdengo Bro."

Manryo: "..."

Mike continued cheerfully.

"Really, it’s good to finally meet you, Gholdengo Bro."

Manryo sighed.

"Fine. Call me whatever you want."

Mike grinned.

Once everyone had finished eating, Gengar raised his pudgy hand.

"Gar—"

A server approached.

Gengar immediately brought out his savings jar and began counting coins.

Manryo saw what he was doing and was about to offer to pay instead, but Mike stopped him.

"It’s fine. Let Gengar do it."

Manryo looked at him questioningly.

Mike reached over and pinched Gengar’s round cheek.

"This is what he saves his money for. Right?"

Gengar nodded happily before stretching out his tongue and licking Mike’s face.

Mike recoiled.

"You taste like an entire sandwich! Stop licking me!"

Gengar rolled his tongue back into his mouth.

A Toxic Orb was sitting on it.

Mike stared.

"Wait."

He slowly pointed.

"Were you chewing a Toxic Orb just now?"

Gengar casually burped and nodded.

Mike’s expression changed.

"Oh no."

Gengar: ?! Σ(°∀°ﾉ)ﾉ

Mike had barely begun foaming at the mouth when Snivy shoved a Pecha Berry into it with the efficiency of a trained emergency responder.

Manryo sat frozen in his chair.

’What just happened?’ ℯℯ𝘭.

’Did he get poisoned?’

Then he looked toward Snivy.

’And why was her reaction THAT fast?’

’He had barely started foaming before the Pecha Berry was already in his mouth!’

Once he recovered, Mike wiped the bubbles from the corner of his lips and looked toward Manryo as though absolutely nothing unusual had happened.

"So, ready to go?"

Manryo pointed hesitantly toward Mike’s mouth.

"You..."

Mike waved dismissively.

"Nothing serious. Barely worth mentioning."

Manryo fell silent.

He had always known that Mike’s relationship with his Pokémon was unusual.

Watching it firsthand was an entirely different experience.

Eventually, Manryo stood.

"In that case, let’s go."

Mike nodded, and the group began walking out of Floaroma Town.

Manryo looked around as they traveled.

"Floaroma really is beautiful. Almost every home has flowers planted by the entrance, on the balconies, even across the rooftops. The whole town smells like them."

"Flowers are what Floaroma is famous for."

Mike pointed toward the route leading back in the direction of Oreburgh.

"There are several enormous flower fields not far outside town along that road. Those are even prettier."

He was referring to the fields Melodi cared for.

"The ones from your video?" Manryo asked.

"Yep."

"They really did look incredible. I’d like to see them in person."

"I can take you there sometime if you’re not busy."

"That works for me."

When they passed the Gracidea field, Manryo slowed.

"They still haven’t bloomed?"

"No."

Mike looked over the countless unopened buds.

"I’m probably not going to see them bloom on this visit."

"That’s unfortunate."

"Life comes with plenty of missed chances."

Mike shrugged.

"If we didn’t see them this time, maybe it just means the next visit will be more memorable."

Manryo looked toward Mike’s back and smiled faintly.

’That really does sound like him.’

Following the directions the elderly woman had given him, Mike eventually reached the harbor.

He gave her name to the staff, who immediately led them toward the vessel waiting for him.

Then Mike stopped.

A massive luxury yacht stood before them, easily three or four stories tall.

His eyelid twitched.

’Grandma.’

’THIS is the "not very big" boat you told me about?’

Manryo studied the vessel with an experienced eye.

"This yacht is pretty decent."

Mike slowly looked toward him.

Manryo added casually, "A little worse than mine."

Mike: "..."

’Damn rich guy!’

Again.

"Mr. Mike, this way, please."

A crew member came down from the yacht and invited them aboard.

Mike sighed internally.

Well, they were already here.

He might as well enjoy it.

The yacht came fully staffed, so Mike didn’t need to know anything about sailing.

He only had to tell the crew where he wanted to go and what sort of area he was looking for.

Gengar stood at the bow of the deck with both arms spread wide, eyes closed as he enjoyed the ocean breeze.

"Gar~"

[Now THIS is living~]

Mike kicked him lightly in the backside.

"You’re in my way."

Gengar turned around and looked at the enormous amount of empty deck surrounding them.

Then he made a face at Mike, rubbed his rear, and floated somewhere else.

Mike took Gengar’s former position at the railing and quietly enjoyed the sea breeze.

Manryo approached with a glass of champagne in hand and stood beside him.

"First time going out to sea?"

"Yep."

Mike nodded.

"First time on a yacht this expensive too."

"Like it?"

"Not bad."

"I can give you one."

Mike: "..."

"No thanks. When would I ever use it?"

He shook his head.

"More importantly, where did you get the champagne?"

"The crew normally keeps drinks ready."

Manryo pointed.

"There. Want some?"

Mike followed his finger and noticed a crew member standing beside an opened bottle.

He shook his head.

"You planning to dive with me later?"

"Sure. It’s been a while since I went diving."

"What about your equipment? The gear you sent me probably isn’t your size."

"It’s up there."

Mike looked upward.

A helicopter had appeared from the distance at some point without him noticing.

A package was lowered from it onto the yacht.

Mike stared.

’Damn rich guy!’

For the third time that morning.

Eventually, the yacht slowed near a broad island surrounded by clear water.

One of the crew members approached.

"Mr. Mike, Mr. Manryo, if you intend to dive, this is one of the best areas nearby. The island gives us a safe base of operations, the surrounding waters are open, and there’s a high diversity of Pokémon species."

Clearly, the crew already knew the purpose of their trip.

"While you’re underwater, we can anchor the yacht closer to the island and prepare lunch ashore. We’ll also maintain rescue support throughout the dive, so you won’t need to worry about emergencies."

Mike nodded appreciatively.

Professional crews really were convenient.

"We also have several staff members with extensive diving experience. If you’d prefer a guide, one of us can accompany you underwater."

The crew member waited for his decision.

Mike considered it briefly, then shook his head.

"No, that’s all right. We’ll explore on our own."

"Understood."

Once the yacht anchored near the island, Mike and the others went ashore.

Standing on the beach and looking out over the seemingly endless ocean, Mike briefly found himself wishing he had a Water-type affinity.

If marine Pokémon naturally trusted him, underwater photography would become dramatically easier, and he could explore without constantly worrying that something might decide he looked edible.

Unfortunately, the system had no mercy.

Mike shook his head and began changing into his diving gear.

Manryo watched him for a moment, then quietly took out his phone, snapped a photograph, and posted it in the fan group.

[Gholdengo Is Number One: A wonderful morning begins with helping our deadbeat uploader gather underwater footage.]

Replies appeared almost instantly.

[Propht: ???]

[Propht: WHAT?! You actually met the deadbeat IRL?!]

[Juice Bro: WHAT?! Gholdengo Is Number One and the deadbeat are together?!]

[Mad Silence: WHAT?! Mike sold himself to Gholdengo Is Number One?!]

[Professor Purple: WHAT?! Gholdengo Is Number One owns Mike now?!]

[Gholdengo Is Number One: ...]

A mischievous smile slowly appeared on Manryo’s face.

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Looks like collecting enough footage may take us several months.]

[Akabara: ???]

[Akabara: YOU MONSTER.]

[Juice Bro: No... Please... anything but that...]

Satisfied with the chaos he had created, Manryo locked his phone and began putting on his own diving equipment.

Once Mike finished gearing up, he turned around and noticed that a Gardevoir wearing diving equipment had somehow appeared beside Manryo.

"Gardevoir?"

Mike blinked.

"She’s one of my partners."

Manryo pushed his breathing mask up for the moment.

"If anything goes wrong underwater, Gardevoir can use Teleport to get us out immediately."

Then he gave Mike a thumbs-up and smiled.

"Just insurance."

Mike considered it.

That actually made an enormous amount of sense.

He turned toward Gardevoir.

"We’ll be counting on you, then."

"Garde~"

Gardevoir smiled gently.

Mike lowered his breathing mask into place and raised a thumb toward Manryo.

Manryo returned the gesture.

Mike entered the water first with Gengar and Snivy.

Manryo and Gardevoir followed immediately behind.

Together, the two Trainers and three Pokémon began descending toward deeper water.

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Gholdengo is an oc and yes he is chinese dude, i just localize his name etc.