Chapter 214

Chapter 214: Chapter 214

Mike shook his head and pulled his thoughts back together.

He already had so many missions piled up that one more hardly mattered.

Who knew? Maybe he really would get another chance to travel back to the Hisui era someday.

Professor Oak had crossed through time when he was young and met Ash, hadn’t he?

If something similar happened to Mike, perhaps he would finally have a chance to photograph Enamorus himself.

Considering he still hadn’t completed a single one of his missions, Mike had long since stopped worrying about how many more the system decided to throw at him.

While he and Cynthia were still talking, a middle-aged man approached them.

"Champion Cynthia, Assistant Mike."

He called out to them before he had even reached their seats.

Mike and Cynthia turned toward the voice and immediately recognized Professor Sycamore, the man who—rather infamously—had somehow acquired a reputation for "academic fraud."

Sycamore was a tall, slender middle-aged man with short, tousled black hair that curled slightly outward, fine stubble along both sides of his face, and pale gray eyes.

Beneath his loose white lab coat, he wore a dark purple collared shirt with dark trousers, brown casual shoes, and a thin yellow belt at his waist.

"Professor Sycamore?" Cynthia greeted him.

Sycamore nodded and walked over. "Hello. I hope I’m not interrupting anything."

"Not at all. Did you need something?" Cynthia asked.

Sycamore glanced toward Mike. "It’s like this. Some time ago, we discovered a completely new Mega Stone in the Kalos region, but we’re still trying to determine which Pokémon it belongs to."

"I heard from Professor Rowan that Assistant Mike is also very interested in Mega Evolution, so I sent him an email. I never received a reply, though, so..."

Mike immediately understood.

Sycamore had probably assumed he simply hadn’t seen the email and had come over to remind him personally.

Now that the man himself had brought it up, pretending he had never seen it was obviously no longer an option.

"I did see it," Mike admitted. "Your analysis was very convincing, Professor Sycamore. I also think it’s an entirely new Mega Stone. It’s just that I’ve been working with Professor Oak and the others lately, and we’ve been busy from morning until night. I ended up forgetting about the Mega Stone."

Mike paused before adding apologetically, "You know how exhausting research can be. Sorry about that."

Cynthia gave Mike a sidelong glance.

Since when had he been busy from morning until night?

Hadn’t he spent most of the time slacking off, just like she had?

"Haha, I understand," Sycamore replied with a laugh. "The whole world has its eyes on Sinnoh right now, waiting to see what new discoveries come out of the region. Plenty of Pokémon Professors have already traveled here in person. I even heard Professor Birch has made a new discovery of his own."

"If my own specialty weren’t Mega Evolution—and if we hadn’t just discovered a new Mega Stone—I might have come to Sinnoh myself to study and learn from what’s happening here."

Mike studied Professor Sycamore.

No matter how he looked at the man, Sycamore really didn’t seem like someone who would falsify academic research.

Sycamore was articulate and personable, and apparently quite a few Trainers had successfully achieved Mega Evolution under his guidance.

On top of that, he was a handsome middle-aged guy.

Well, whatever.

The Pokémon games had pulled plenty of bizarre nonsense later on anyway.

"I was wondering whether you have any interest in Mega Evolution, Assistant Mike?" Sycamore asked.

"Mega Evolution?"

Mike blinked.

"Yes." Sycamore nodded. "From what I’ve observed, you have both a Gengar and a Beedrill, correct? Both are Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution."

Mike’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Professor Sycamore, do you have their Mega Stones?"

"Uh... well... not at the moment..."

Mike stared at him.

"..."

"If you need them, though, our research institute can keep an eye out for you," Sycamore quickly continued.

"As you know, Mega Stones themselves are extremely rare. Even if you obtain one, you still need a compatible Key Stone, and then the Trainer and Pokémon must establish the connection between the Mega Stone and Key Stone through their bond before Mega Evolution can occur."

"For a Trainer, that’s an enormous hurdle. Quite a few people end up stuck at that final step and never manage to achieve Mega Evolution."

"In that case, I’ll have to trouble you, Professor Sycamore," Mike said.

"Certainly. I’ll keep an eye out for both a Beedrillite and a Gengarite. If I hear anything, I’ll contact you."

Sycamore nodded and was about to leave when Cynthia stopped him.

"Professor Sycamore."

He turned back. "Is there something else, Champion Cynthia?"

"Does your research institute happen to have any spare Key Stones?"

"Key Stones? We do. Do you need one?"

Cynthia shook her head and looked toward Mike instead.

"Doesn’t Steven already have a Beedrillite?"

Mike froze for a moment before suddenly remembering.

That’s right.

Steven had already offered him one.

Mike immediately turned back to Sycamore. "Professor, would it be possible for me to— Of course, I can pay for it."

Listening to the exchange, Sycamore quickly understood what they meant.

"So Mr. Steven already has a Beedrillite. In that case, once I return to Kalos, I can have a Key Stone sent to you. How does that sound?"

"Thank you very much."

"It’s nothing. No need to be so formal."

Sycamore waved it off as though it were hardly worth mentioning.

"In that case, I should head back to where I’m staying and continue studying that Mega Stone."

Mike suddenly remembered something. "Professor Sycamore, did you bring the Mega Stone with you?"

"Of course." Sycamore nodded. "I actually brought it along because I thought you might notice something. I just didn’t expect you to be so busy, Assistant Mike."

Mike hesitated briefly.

"Could I take a look?"

"No problem."

Sycamore reached into his pocket, took out a small box, and handed it to him.

Mike opened it.

Nestled inside was the Mega Stone.

{Staraptorite: ...}

Mike carefully picked up the stone and examined it for a moment before looking up.

"Professor Sycamore, if you have some time, would you come out into the wild with me?"

Sycamore stared at him for a second. Something about the unusually bright look in Mike’s eyes caught his attention, and after a moment he nodded.

"All right."

Mike stood and turned toward Cynthia.

"Want to come too?"

Cynthia gave a small nod.

...

The three of them soon left Celestic Town and headed into the wilderness.

They eventually stopped on a hillside, where Mike stood silently watching a flock of Starly and Staraptor circling through the distant sky.

"Assistant Mike, what exactly did we come here to do?" Sycamore asked as he surveyed the surroundings.

"This seems to be a habitat for Flying-type Pokémon."

"I have a hunch that this Mega Stone is connected to a Flying-type Pokémon."

Sycamore looked completely baffled.

He glanced toward Cynthia, but although a flicker of suspicion passed through her eyes, nothing showed on her face.

From Cynthia’s perspective, Mike possessed an unusually deep understanding of Pokémon.

Even his knowledge of Mega Evolution seemed surprisingly extensive.

Mike looked toward a Staraptor perched in a tree, calmly grooming its feathers, and smiled.

"Staraptor, could you help me with something?"

The Staraptor stopped preening and turned toward him.

It seemed to sense the friendliness coming from Mike, but it didn’t make a sound.

Mike extended his arm.

With a flap of its wings, Staraptor launched itself from the branch and flew straight toward him, settling neatly onto his forearm.

Mike’s arm immediately sank.

’Heavy...’

It felt as though someone had dropped a massive rock onto his arm.

Mike silently regretted trying to look cool.

His arm was going numb!

He kept his expression perfectly calm, but sweat was already running down his forehead.

Professor Sycamore stared in disbelief.

Wild Staraptor were notoriously aggressive, yet this one had simply landed obediently on Mike’s arm?

A trace of surprise also passed through Cynthia’s eyes.

She knew Mike was unusually popular with Bug-type Pokémon, but she hadn’t expected Flying types to like him this much too.

’Does Mike have some kind of special ability?’