Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Chapter 217

In Celestic Town of the Sinnoh region, this year’s academic summit was being held in the exhibition hall of the research center.

Numerous research teams had already gathered inside the spacious venue, and scholars in white coats could be seen everywhere exchanging ideas and discussing their work.

"The presenters on the first day include Professor Elm, Dr. Bill, Professor Kukui, Lucian, Cynthia, and you," Professor Carolina explained as she walked beside Mike.

"We’re all packed into the first day?" Mike asked in surprise.

"The first day gets the most attention. Everyone comes in eager to see what new research has appeared this year, and naturally, everyone thinks their own results are excellent." Professor Carolina glanced at him.

"That’s why Professor Oak and Professor Rowan usually schedule the topics most likely to attract attention on the first day. It helps set the tone for the summit."

’So there’s a reason for that too...’

Mike nodded, feeling as though he’d learned something new.

As the starting time drew near, Mike followed Cynthia toward the presentation area so he could prepare for his own report.

Gengar and the others, meanwhile, found the seats Professor Oak had arranged for them and obediently settled in.

Mike’s camera hung around Gengar’s neck while his two stubby legs swung restlessly from the chair, with Hatenna sprawled comfortably across the top of his head.

Snivy sat beside him while Glameow pressed close against her.

Gengar took out the camera and, with practiced ease, started a video call with Grandma.

The moment Grandma’s kindly face appeared on the screen, Gengar broke into a huge grin and waved.

"Gaar!"

"Oh, it’s Gengar. Is the summit about to start?" Grandma asked with a smile when his round face filled the screen.

Gengar nodded, flipped the camera around to point toward the stage, then called out, "Gaar!"

[Rotom, I’m leaving the rest to you!]

"Roger! Mission guaranteed, roto—!"

As time passed, more and more people filed into the hall and took their seats.

The woman who eventually sat beside Gengar had warm orange hair and a pair of black-framed sunglasses resting on top of her head.

Sonia glanced curiously at Gengar, then looked around.

She couldn’t see his Trainer anywhere; only Snivy and the other Pokémon were sitting nearby.

"Gengar," Sonia asked as she leaned down slightly, "um... isn’t your Trainer here?"

Gengar looked up at her, noticed the sunglasses perched on her head, blinked twice, then pulled out his own pair and put them on.

"Gaar~"

[I’ve got some too~]

Sonia burst out laughing. "You’re adorable, Gengar."

Gengar grinned proudly before pointing toward the stage.

Following his finger, Sonia thought for a moment before asking, "You mean your Trainer is going to give a presentation too?"

Gengar nodded.

"Oh, I see!" Sonia nodded in understanding. "So your Trainer is a Pokémon researcher too..."

The longer she looked at the Pokémon around her, however, the more familiar the lineup seemed.

"Gengar, Beedrill, Glameow, Snivy, Rotom, Hatenna..." Sonia’s eyes suddenly widened. "Wait! Are you Mike’s Pokémon?"

Sonia was something of a fan of Mike’s.

She had watched every one of his videos, including his recent rain-team livestream, so she had a fairly good impression of his team.

The lineup in front of her matched perfectly.

At some point, Hatenna had stolen Gengar’s sunglasses and placed them on her own head.

Gengar generously let her keep them, and when Sonia asked her question, he simply nodded and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

After sitting down, Sonia looked at Glameow curled up on the chair and couldn’t resist reaching out to pet her.

"Mrrrow!"

Glameow’s fur instantly bristled as she sprang away and hissed at Sonia.

Sonia hurriedly pulled her hand back, smiling awkwardly.

"Glameow doesn’t like strangers touching her, roto~" Rotom explained.

Only then did Sonia realize her mistake.

She looked toward Glameow and quickly apologized. "Sorry, sorry! I just thought you were so cute that I couldn’t help myself."

Glameow stared at her for a moment with her eyes before shaking her head, apparently deciding not to hold it against her.

She settled back down on the chair and leaned against Gengar.

Sonia had come to the summit with Professor Magnolia.

Sonia’s own presentation was scheduled for the following day, while Professor Magnolia had wanted to attend today’s sessions and listen to the other researchers’ work.

Professor Magnolia had gone off to speak with several colleagues, leaving Sonia to sit by herself.

Seeing her alone, Gengar rummaged around, pulled out several snacks, and offered some to her.

"These are... for me?" Sonia asked in disbelief.

Gengar flashed a huge toothy grin, looking every bit like an impossibly cheerful boy.

Sonia happily accepted the snacks. "Thank you! How can a Pokémon as cute as you possibly exist in this world~?"

Her heart practically melted!

...

Elsewhere, Cynthia led Mike and Lucian into an office.

"Don’t worry. Just present what you’ve already written in your report," Professor Rowan said after noticing Mike’s nervousness, patting him on the shoulder.

Mike nodded to show he understood.

"Your report is very solid. Just present it normally," Professor Oak added. "And relax. Rowan and I are still handling the judging this year. Unless something unexpected happens, your report should definitely win an award."

Mike fell silent.

He glanced awkwardly at the other researchers in the office.

’Do you two really have to say that right in front of everyone?’

’Why does this make me sound like I’m getting special treatment?’

Dr. Bill, Professor Elm, and several others nearby were equally speechless.

"Get yourself ready," Professor Oak continued. "You should be the last presenter today. If you find this room stuffy, you can go sit outside for a while."

Mike nodded and glanced around the room. Almost everyone present was someone he recognized.

There was Dr. Bill.

Strictly speaking, Bill wasn’t actually a Pokémon Professor; he was a Pokémon researcher and inventor, best known as the creator of the Pokémon Storage System.

People simply addressed him as "Dr. Bill" out of respect.

He was also the guy who had once switched bodies with a Pokémon, and he was famously obsessed with collecting Pokémon.

Then there was Professor Sycamore, who was currently encouraging a rather youthful-looking boy.

The boy had black hair like Mike, deep-blue eyes, and a lean build.

He wore a short black jacket over a dark shirt, a distinctive blue scarf around his neck, and brown fingerless gloves.

Mike couldn’t help smiling when he saw the familiar outfit.

The slightly inexperienced-looking boy was Alain, Ash’s rival from the Kalos region.

Mike walked over, and Professor Sycamore looked mildly surprised when he noticed him.

"Assistant Mike."

"Hello, Professor Sycamore." Mike nodded politely.

"Hello, Assistant Mike. Let me introduce you. This is Alain, an assistant from my laboratory. He’ll be giving today’s presentation on our behalf."

"Nice to meet you." Mike held out his hand.

Alain froze for a moment before shyly reaching out to shake it.

"H-Hello, Assistant Mike. I’ve read all of your papers. They’re really well written."

Mike went quiet again.

’That’s some aggressive praise.’

Still, he couldn’t help wondering, ’Was Alain this shy at this age? He doesn’t look anything like the cool, aloof guy from the anime.’

"Alain’s the one presenting?" Mike asked after releasing his hand. "I thought you would be taking the stage yourself, Professor Sycamore."

"Haha, the topic isn’t especially large this time, so I decided to let Alain try presenting it. It’ll give him some experience ahead of time."

"What are you presenting on?" Mike asked curiously.

"The influence of Charmander-stage training on the two Mega Evolution paths, X and Y," Professor Sycamore replied.

"It’s not about Staraptor’s Mega Stone?!"

"Assistant Mike, identifying a single Mega Stone isn’t enough material for a presentation at a summit of this level," Sycamore explained.

Then, as though remembering something, he added, "Oh, right. Assistant Mike, this Key Stone was urgently sent over from Kalos today."

He reached inside his lab coat and took out a stone, handing it to Mike.

The Key Stone resembled a small crystal.

It was multifaceted and partially translucent, with faint rainbow-colored light flowing through its interior along with the familiar symbol of Mega Evolution.

Mike carefully accepted it.

{Key Stone: A stone containing an unknown power. It allows a Pokémon carrying the appropriate Mega Stone to undergo Mega Evolution.}

’So this is a Key Stone? It’s smaller than I imagined...’

"You can find a skilled craftsman to set the Key Stone into whatever item you prefer," Professor Sycamore explained.

"Most Key Stones are mounted into some sort of accessory or object."

"I understand. Thank you, Professor Sycamore." Mike put the Key Stone away.

"There’s no need to thank me. If you hadn’t helped, it might have taken me much longer to determine that the Mega Stone we discovered belonged to Staraptor."

Alain looked at Mike with growing curiosity.

’So Assistant Mike was the one who figured out that Mega Stone belonged to Staraptor?’

’And now that he has a Key Stone... doesn’t that mean he’s going to become a Mega Evolution user too?’

Alain quietly clenched his fist.

’Someday, I’ll become one as well.’

After chatting with several other researchers in the office, Mike eventually left the room. Compared with waiting around inside, he preferred sitting with the audience.

When he returned to his assigned seat, he found an elderly woman and a young woman nearby.

’Professor Magnolia and Sonia?’

Mike walked over, and the moment Sonia saw him approaching, she quickly stood and bowed.

"Hello, Assistant Mike!"

The unexpectedly formal greeting caught Mike off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"Hello, Sonia."

"Huh?!" Sonia stared at him in surprise. "Assistant Mike, you know who I am?"

"Of course." Mike smiled teasingly. "Who doesn’t know Galar Champion childhood friend?"

Sonia immediately flushed.

"Professor Magnolia." Mike politely greeted the older woman.

"Hello." Professor Magnolia adjusted her glasses, her gaze gentle.

Professor Carolina then approached with her cane and sat nearby.

She exchanged a nod with Mike before beginning a conversation with Professor Magnolia.

Mike settled into his own seat and pulled Glameow into his arms, gently stroking her fur. Glameow narrowed her eyes contentedly and gave a comfortable yawn.

Watching Mike freely pet the same Glameow who had nearly scratched her earlier, Sonia couldn’t hide the envy in her eyes.

Mike noticed it.

But he simply chose not to acknowledge it!

’Well? Now you understand how irresistible my Glameow is, don’t you?’

Hatenna seized the opportunity to climb onto Mike’s head and settle there.

Mike said nothing.

If she wanted to lie there, she could lie there.

Mike and Sonia chatted casually for a while, and before they knew it, the time had reached one in the afternoon.

The presentations were about to begin.

Mike swept his gaze around the hall at the countless researchers seated nearby and couldn’t help remarking, "Seeing this many professors gathered in one place really is something."

"Right? An academic summit is one of the only places where so many researchers can gather together, talk freely, and exchange their latest results." Sonia nodded, then suddenly asked, "By the way, Assistant Mike, are you interested in Dynamax?"

"Just call me Mike," he replied. "Being called ’Assistant Mike’ all the time sounds weird."

"All right, Mike."

"Dynamax, huh... yeah, I’m pretty interested."

"Really? Then maybe I could—"

Before Sonia could finish, Professor Oak and Professor Rowan walked onto the stage, cutting their conversation short.

The academic presentations officially began.

The first presenter was Professor Elm from the Johto region.

Professor Elm was an expert in Pokémon breeding and Pokémon Eggs, and Professor Rowan also regarded him as one of the foremost researchers in the field of Pokémon evolution.

His topic this time concerned Pokémon’s "secondary Egg Groups."

For example, the familiar Gardevoir belonged to both the Human-Like and Amorphous Egg Groups.

Mike listened to Professor Elm’s presentation while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

’So...’

’Does that mean a Gardevoir in the Human-Like Egg Group can actually have children with humans?!’

’And what about female Machamp? Jynx...?’

Mike’s eyes widened.

’No wonder there are descendants of humans and Pokémon in this world.’

Mike remembered that N from Unova was supposedly a child born from a Pokémon.

’And Sabrina?’

’But Sabrina was born to human parents, wasn’t she? Her psychic abilities seem to have been innate.’

’Wait... don’t tell me a large portion of humans with psychic powers were born from Psychic-type Pokémon?’

Then another question entered his head.

’If a Pokémon gives birth to a human child, does the child come out directly as a human... or does the Pokémon lay an Egg first, and then the human child hatches from it the same way a Pokémon would...?’

The more Mike thought about the details, the stranger and more fascinating the entire subject seemed.

’Would someone seriously get together with a Jynx?!’

’Hell nah!’

Even after Professor Elm finished his presentation, Mike was still lost in thought about the relationship between humans, Pokémon, and Eggs.

’Wait..’

’Maybe I should find an opportunity to research this myself someday...’