Chapter 162

Chapter 162: Chapter 162

When he woke again, Manryo was already sitting on the blanket nearby, idly scrolling through his phone while stroking Sylveon in his lap.

Mike stretched.

"What time is it?"

"Little after three."

Mike sat upright and checked the area.

Glameow was already sitting on a branch overhead.

"When did you come back?"

"Around two."

Mike looked at him.

"You slept for less than an hour?"

"For me, half an hour is usually enough."

Mike sighed sympathetically.

"Poor corporate slave."

He was suddenly very grateful that this life didn’t require him to work a normal job.

Manryo laughed.

"Working isn’t all bad. At least you get paid."

Then he glanced toward Glameow in the tree.

"She seems to dislike me."

"Yeah." Mike answered without hesitation.

Manryo went silent.

After several seconds, he asked, "Why? I don’t remember doing anything to her."

"It’s not about you specifically."

Mike yawned.

"Glameow doesn’t like humans getting close to her in general. Honestly, she doesn’t even let many Pokémon approach her."

He smiled proudly.

"Even I need permission before I can pick her up."

"I see."

Manryo remembered Mike briefly mentioning Glameow’s history during one of his streams.

"Because of what happened before you met her?"

"Yeah."

Mike nodded.

Manryo visibly relaxed.

"Oh, good. I thought she only hated me. So she hates everybody."

Mike slowly turned toward him.

"...Why do you sound relieved?"

"If she dislikes everyone equally, then I’m not being singled out."

Manryo shrugged.

"Stop right there."

Mike raised a hand.

"Your wording is wrong. She does not dislike everyone equally."

He puffed out his chest.

"She doesn’t dislike me!"

Manryo stared at him for several seconds.

Then sighed.

"Look at you showing off."

"Why wouldn’t I?"

Mike looked immensely proud.

After another moment, he asked, "You diving again this afternoon?"

"Of course. Why wouldn’t I?"

"All right. Let’s get ready. Different Pokémon might become active at different times of day, so hopefully we’ll find something new this afternoon."

Manryo patted Mike on the shoulder.

"Relax. We still have several days. If this area stops being useful, we can move somewhere else."

Mike looked at him.

"I thought you were going to say I could delay the video by ten days or half a month."

"Keep dreaming."

The two continued trading remarks while putting on their diving equipment.

Mike looked toward Gengar, Snivy, and Gardevoir, who were also fully prepared, gave them a thumbs-up, then entered the water first.

...

They had barely returned to the area they explored that morning when Mike spotted several Pokémon worth filming.

Clamperl and both of its evolved forms.

Huntail and Gorebyss.

Mike stopped at a safe distance and raised the camera hanging from his neck.

Something immediately struck him as strange.

’Why are Huntail and Gorebyss here?’

Under normal circumstances, weren’t they supposed to live in much deeper water?

Mike looked upward.

The surface wasn’t particularly far away.

This definitely didn’t seem like deep sea territory.

He shook off the question and focused on the Pokémon in front of him.

Huntail had a long, serpentine body with orange semicircular fins along its back and beneath its jaw, while a much larger fan-shaped fin rose from the top of its head.

Orange-ringed pale markings covered parts of its body and surrounded its eyes, and its enormous mouth was filled with sharp teeth.

Clamperl evolved into Huntail when traded while holding a Deep Sea Tooth.

Gorebyss, by contrast, resembled a slender pink eel.

It had a narrow pointed mouth, small eyelash-like markings above its eyes, and shell-like structures covering the front of its body.

A thin fin extended from the top of its head with a purple tip, while its tail carried pale stripes framed by purple fins.

Purely in terms of appearance, Mike thought Gorebyss looked far better than Huntail.

Clamperl evolved into Gorebyss when traded while holding a Deep Sea Scale.

But that only made the situation before him even stranger.

Why were both evolved forms gathered here alongside several Clamperl?

Mike patiently settled behind a rocky outcrop and began recording their behavior.

Manryo remained beside him, equally curious.

Whenever Krabby or Corphish tried to approach the Clamperl, the Huntail and Gorebyss patrolling the perimeter immediately moved in and drove them away.

The rest of the evolved Pokémon continued circling the Clamperl.

As they swam faster, the water began spiraling.

A small underwater vortex gradually formed.

Then—the Clamperl inside it began glowing brilliant white.

Mike’s eyes widened instantly.

Manryo froze beside him.

’Evolution?!’

Mike stared at the changing silhouettes in complete disbelief.

Clamperl normally required a special held item and a trade to evolve.

So why were wild Clamperl apparently evolving freely at the bottom of the sea?

Whatever the answer, Mike kept his camera perfectly steady and recorded every second.

One after another, the Clamperl completed their evolution into Huntail and Gorebyss.

As the transformations finished, several large pink pearls slipped from the discarded shells and sank into the sand, where sediment quickly began covering them.

Once every Clamperl had evolved, the surrounding Huntail and Gorebyss stopped circling.

One Gorebyss gently touched its head against the newly evolved Pokémon and released a series of ripples through the water.

Then the entire group began swimming toward deeper water.

Mike looked toward Gengar and Snivy.

They immediately understood.

After the school passed the rocky outcrop where the group was hiding, Snivy’s Vine Whips shot out and snatched the last Huntail and Gorebyss from the formation.

Gengar smoothly followed up by paralyzing both Pokémon.

The entire sequence was so practiced and efficient that Manryo and Gardevoir simply stared.

Manryo pointed toward the helpless Huntail and Gorebyss.

His muffled underwater noises clearly conveyed:

’What exactly are you doing?’

Mike handed the camera to Gengar, then picked up the immobilized Pokémon and examined them carefully.

He took full-body photographs from several angles, making sure he had clear reference images of every feature.

Once he was satisfied, he released them and gently patted both on the head.

Go home.

The newly evolved Huntail and Gorebyss exchanged one frightened look—then fled as fast as they could.

Unfortunately for Huntail, its serpentine method of swimming was far less efficient than Gorebyss’s.

Within moments, Gorebyss had left it behind.

Huntail: ’???’

’WAIT FOR ME!’

Mike watched the two vanish and nodded in satisfaction.

Then he turned and swam toward the place where the Clamperl had evolved.

Manryo followed.

When he arrived, he found Mike upside down with his face almost buried in the sediment, digging through the sand with both hands.

After several attempts, Mike scooped up a handful of sand and slowly opened his fingers.

The loose grains washed away.

A bright pink pearl remained in his palm.

Gengar: "!!!"

’TREASURE!’

He immediately pulled out his bamboo staff and began conducting a full-scale search of the seabed.

Anything hiding beneath the sand suffered accordingly.

Krabby.

Corphish.

Remoraid.

Staryu.

Gengar smacked every obstacle out of the way without discrimination!

’Nobody stands between me and treasure!’

’A great adventurer must collect every valuable thing he finds!’

Mike handed the pearl to Manryo, then pointed toward Gardevoir and gave him a thumbs-up.

Manryo didn’t entirely understand, but passed the pearl to her anyway.

The moment Gardevoir touched it, she sensed the powerful psychic energy stored inside.

Her eyes softened.

She accepted it and gave Mike a graceful underwater bow.

Mike waved it off.

No big deal.

Then he joined Gengar and Snivy in searching the sediment for more.

Wherever they passed, unfortunate Water-type Pokémon hiding beneath the sand were promptly exposed and tossed aside.

Despite the intensity of the search, they only found three additional pearls.

Four total, including the one Mike gave Gardevoir.

Mike had Gengar store the others before continuing their search for filming subjects.

Eventually, his attention settled on a school of Sharpedo and Carvanha.

Mike hid behind thick sea grass and aimed his camera toward them, following the school as they hunted.

He managed to record excellent footage.

When the hunt ended and the Sharpedo leader began gathering the Carvanha to leave, Mike exchanged another look with Gengar and Snivy.

They all understood immediately.

A moment later, the Carvanha watched in confusion as two green vines wrapped around their leader and dragged it into the vegetation.

Gengar followed up with Lick and poison, leaving Sharpedo unable to move.

The Carvanha scattered in confusion and began searching for their leader.

One swam directly into the sea grass.

Inside, it discovered a human and two Pokémon casually manipulating Sharpedo’s body.

It opened its mouth—then a beautiful green-and-white Pokémon appeared directly in front of it.

Gardevoir looked into its eyes.

The Carvanha barely had time to register her presence before losing consciousness.

Mike immediately gave Manryo a thumbs-up.

Snivy pulled the unconscious Carvanha into the vegetation.

Mike then began his close-up shoot.

Eyes.

Teeth.

Fins.

Body structure.

Every detail of both Sharpedo and Carvanha was captured clearly.

Once he finished, Mike accepted a Cheri Berry and Pecha Berry from Gengar and pushed them into Sharpedo’s mouth.

The Pokémon soon regained control of its body.

Then it saw Mike smiling directly in front of it.

Sharpedo’s teeth began trembling with rage.

This human had ambushed it.

Paralyzed it.

Poisoned it.

Handled its body however he wanted.

Examined absolutely everything.

Sharpedo had never suffered such humiliation in these waters!

It immediately summoned its Carvanha.

The entire school turned toward Mike.

Mike: ’?!!’

Then realization hit him.

’Oh.’

’I forgot Sharpedo has a VERY different temperament from Huntail and Gorebyss.’

The school charged.

Mike turned and swam for his life.

Gengar and Snivy followed immediately.

Manryo stared for half a second before understanding what was happening.

Then he grabbed Gardevoir’s hand and fled toward the surface.

His expression practically screamed:

’MIKE, YOU ABSOLUTE—’

Gengar repeatedly hurled Shadow Balls behind them.

After being caught by the first couple of attacks, the Sharpedo quickly adapted.

Every time Gengar began preparing another Shadow Ball, the school scattered, avoided the explosion, then regrouped and continued the pursuit.

Mike frantically looked toward Gardevoir and started gesturing.

His hand signals made almost no sense.

Gardevoir somehow understood anyway.

Purple light shone from her eyes and the group vanished.

Sharpedo: ’???’

The leader stopped.

’Wait.’

’WHERE DID THEY GO?!’

Its rage reached new heights!

Sharpedo blasted toward the surface with Aqua Jet, determined to find the humans who had humiliated it.

The moment it broke through the water—a Hyper Beam hit it squarely in the abdomen.

Sharpedo dropped back into the sea with a scorched belly.

Several Gyarados descended from the surface and roared furiously at it.

Only then did Sharpedo realize that it had charged straight into their territory.

Still burning with rage and now nursing an aching stomach, it retreated.

’Damn humans!’

’If I ever see you again, I’ll tear you apart!’

Sharpedo roared angrily.

A second later, an enormous Pokémon slammed into it from below.

Sharpedo was launched completely out of the water, flew high into the air, then crashed back into the sea.

The enormous Pokémon surfaced after it.

Even the Gyarados scattered rather than challenge it.

The giant creature took a breath, released a towering spray of water, then disappeared into the distance.

The Sharpedo that had sworn revenge only moments ago was now floating unconscious at the surface.