Chapter 225

Chapter 225: Chapter 225

Gardenia stared speechlessly at Mike sitting across from Dragonite.

"This Dragonite..." She pointed uncertainly toward the large Pokémon.

Mike immediately patted Dragonite’s belly.

Boing, boing.

"Dragonite is basically one of my family, so don’t worry. There’s no hostility here. Grandma just asked Dragonite to bring me a few things."

Mike withdrew his hand with a satisfied smile.

As expected, Dragonite’s belly was still as wonderfully soft and springy as ever.

Officer Jenny visibly relaxed.

She took out her radio and spoke into it.

"Threat cleared. Repeat, threat cleared. This Dragonite isn’t wild and poses no danger. Dragonite only came here to deliver something."

Dragonite looked between Gardenia and Officer Jenny and decided, for the sake of Mike’s dignity in front of outsiders, not to retaliate for the belly-patting incident.

Gardenia boldly approached and, after Mike invited her over, sat down at the table.

Officer Jenny hesitated for a moment before joining them.

Mike opened one of Grandma’s jars of dried fruit and offered some around.

"Thanks."

Gardenia accepted a piece and took a bite.

She chewed.

Then looked down at the dried fruit in her hand.

Then took another bite.

She hadn’t expected it to taste this good!

Her gaze slowly shifted toward the jar Mike was holding.

Mike immediately hugged the jar closer to his chest.

Gardenia: "..."

’What kind of reaction is that?! Do I look like someone who would steal your dried fruit?!’

She swallowed what was in her mouth, then stared regretfully at the jar in Mike’s arms.

Mike promptly handed all the remaining dried fruit over to Gengar for safekeeping.

Gardenia withdrew her gaze with considerable reluctance and asked, "So why did you come back to Eterna City? Weren’t you supposed to be attending an academic summit in Celestic Town?"

Mike casually wiped his hand against Arcanine’s fur where the large Pokémon was lying beside Officer Jenny’s feet.

"The summit’s over."

Then he took out his newly issued professor identification card and held it up with a grin.

"Easy."

Gardenia and Officer Jenny both stared at the card.

Then froze.

A Pokémon Professor?!

At his age?!

Plenty of people in this world were casually addressed as "Doctor" or "Professor," much like Bill, but receiving formal recognition from the academic community as an actual Pokémon Professor was another matter entirely.

There simply weren’t many people who truly held that title.

And Mike was barely in his twenties.

"Wow..." Gardenia murmured. "That’s amazing."

"Congratulations," Officer Jenny added sincerely.

"The reason I came back to Eterna City is that I’m planning to head into the Mount Coronet range from here," Mike explained. "I’ll probably leave tomorrow once I’ve finished buying supplies. I’ve already been delayed long enough, so it’s about time I got moving again."

Gardenia fell silent.

Why did Mike make attending an academic summit sound like an annoying interruption to his vacation?

"I see." She nodded. "In that case, is there anything you need help with?"

Mike was about to decline when he remembered the Beedrillite Steven had just sent him.

His eyes shifted.

"As a matter of fact, there actually is something I’d like your help with."

Gardenia looked interested.

"What do you need? Just say the word. I’ll help however I can."

"I want you to battle me."

"A battle?"

Gardenia looked at him strangely.

"Didn’t we already battle? You even took the Gym Badge."

Mike grinned and pointed toward Beedrill.

"Steven just had Beedrill’s Mega Stone delivered to me. I’d like you to battle us so I can test Mega Evolution."

"I’ve never actually Mega Evolved a Pokémon before, so I want to see whether I can succeed on the first attempt. If something goes wrong, I can figure out what the problem is and fix it."

Gardenia looked toward Beedrill and noticed the Mega Stone now secured around his abdominal stinger.

"Oh, I see."

She thought for a moment, then thumped a fist against her chest.

"Sure. Leave it to me!"

"Thank you."

"Do you want to go now, or do you need time to prepare?"

"Now’s fine."

Mike stood.

"By the time we finish, it’ll probably be about time for dinner anyway."

Gardenia nodded and rose from her chair.

"Then let’s go."

Mike looked toward Dragonite.

"Want to come and watch?"

Dragonite patted their broad belly and nodded.

Officer Jenny blinked.

Then, adhering firmly to the principle that any opportunity to slack off should be seized, she followed Mike out of the café.

She turned to the officers waiting nearby.

"I’m accompanying Professor Mike and Gym Leader Gardenia to handle something. You can all return to your duties. I’ll keep watch here."

Her subordinates nodded and dispersed.

Mike glanced at Officer Jenny dusting off her hands after successfully escaping work.

A strange thought suddenly occurred to him.

Was there something about Sinnoh itself?

Why did everyone here seem obsessed with slacking off?

Of course, some people desperately wanted to slack off but were simply incapable of doing so.

As for who those unfortunate souls might be...

Well, opinions differed.

...

At that exact moment, Lucian had just stepped out of the shower and was sitting while Alakazam held a hair dryer behind him.

"Achoo!"

Lucian suddenly sneezed.

"Alakazam?"

Alakazam looked at him questioningly, wondering whether he was catching a cold.

Lucian rubbed his nose and shook his head.

"Probably someone thinking about me. Whatever. I finally have time off, so I’m going to sleep."

Alakazam nodded, switched off the hair dryer, placed it on the table, then floated into a corner and settled cross-legged in midair to meditate.

Lucian climbed into his familiar bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly.

...

Eterna Gym.

Dragonite stood beside the battlefield, watching Mike without blinking.

"Do you want me to use my full strength?" Gardenia asked.

Mike nodded.

"Please."

"No problem! Then let’s have a straightforward, full-power battle!"

Gardenia swung one arm and threw a Poké Ball.

A flash of red light erupted.

Breloom appeared on the field.

"Bre!"

Breloom gave a short, sharp cry, lowered their stance, and tensed both arms.

’Another one of Gardenia’s Pokémon?’

Mike wasn’t sure whether this Breloom was her true ace or whether that position still belonged to Roserade.

He shook away the irrelevant thought and looked toward Beedrill.

Beedrill calmly nodded before flying onto the battlefield.

He raised both lance-like stingers and pointed them directly toward Breloom, his expression utterly emotionless.

Breloom stared into Beedrill’s crimson eyes and immediately felt as though a merciless assassin had locked onto them.

Breloom’s expression became wary.

The referee raised a flag.

"Begin!"

Gardenia moved first.

"Breloom, Mach Punch!"

Breloom sprang forward in an instant and appeared directly in front of Beedrill.

A fist slammed into his face and sent him flying backward.

Beedrill steadied himself in midair, shook his head, and scraped his lance-like stingers together.

Mike drew a deep breath.

He reached up and gripped the protective amulet hanging against his chest.

He had no idea exactly how he was supposed to activate a Key Stone.

So instead, he simply poured everything he wanted to convey into it.

"Beedrill! Put your determination to protect me into those twin lances—and pierce straight through the enemy before us.. MEGA EVOLVE!"

Mike roared the words.

Beedrill shot high into the air.

His wings beat so rapidly that they became invisible, releasing a piercing, high-pitched buzz.

"BZZZZT!!!"

The amulet against Mike’s chest erupted with dazzling light.

At the same time, Beedrillite blazed from Beedrill’s tail.

The two lights resonated.

As they connected, a terrifying surge of power burst outward, whipping across the battlefield in a violent shockwave.

The force tore through the surrounding arena, pulverizing loose fragments of stone into dust while Beedrill’s silhouette began changing inside the light.

Gardenia was forced a step backward.

She turned her face away and raised an arm to shield her forehead as she stared at Beedrill in disbelief.

"THIS is what you call Mega Evolution?!"

Breloom hurried in front of Gardenia to shield her from the raging energy, staring up at the transforming Beedrill with obvious horror.

’What am I supposed to do against THAT?!’

Inside the light, Beedrill’s overwhelming desire to protect Mike transformed into an endless stream of power that surged through his body.

Then his lance-like arms crossed through the air.

A brilliant X-shaped slash tore through the surrounding light.

The glow split apart.

A sleek, cold, intimidating figure emerged.

[Mega Beedrill.]

Four vicious lance-like stingers pointed toward Breloom.

His abdomen had become more sharply tapered, while the stinger at the end had grown longer and far more lethal.

Even his eyes seemed colder and sharper than before.

’Wait, that’s really cool?’

Gengar stopped halfway through stuffing dried fruit into his mouth.

He stared up at Mega Beedrill, completely dumbfounded.

Snivy tilted her head, apparently thinking about something.

Glameow yawned, then glanced toward Big Sis Snivy before calmly returning her attention to Mike on the battlefield.

Hatenna stared at Mega Beedrill with sparkling eyes, seemingly imagining what she might look like someday when she became powerful enough to battle like that herself.

Rotom immediately snapped several pictures of Mega Beedrill and uploaded one directly to the fan group.

"Upload complete, roto!"

Dragonite stood with arms crossed, watching Mega Beedrill silently.

Mike, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more satisfied.

His Beedrill had already been larger and more powerfully built than an ordinary member of his species.

After Mega Evolution, he had become noticeably taller and more streamlined than an ordinary Mega Beedrill as well, giving him the imposing presence of a seasoned warrior.

There was only one problem.

Mike could clearly feel his stamina draining at an alarming rate.

’Damn it... Why does Mega Evolution use so much of my energy?!’

Gardenia stared silently at the cold, imposing Mega Beedrill in the air.

"Didn’t you say..." She pointed accusingly toward him. "Didn’t you say this was your first time using Mega Evolution?"

Mike blinked innocently.

"Yeah. Maybe Beedrill and I already had such a strong bond that we succeeded on the first try."

"But... you... he... I..."

Gardenia pointed back and forth between Mike and Mega Beedrill, unable to form a complete sentence.

Who caused this kind of commotion during Mega Evolution?!

Was this even a normal Mega Evolution?!

"Gardenia, come on! Let’s test Mega Beedrill’s strength!"

Mike released the amulet and pointed dramatically across the battlefield.

"Come at us with everything you’ve got!"

"Damn it! Don’t underestimate me!"

Gardenia jabbed a finger forward.

"Breloom, let’s attack head-on! Use Rock Slide!"

Breloom slammed both fists into the ground.

The floor shattered.

Then Breloom kicked several enormous chunks of broken stone straight toward Beedrill.

Mike stared.

’You call THAT Rock Slide?’

’Are you sure that isn’t Earth Power?!’

"Beedrill, go! Pierce through everything in your way! Use Poison Jab!"

Mike’s pointing hand snapped into a fist.

Mega Beedrill’s eyes narrowed.

His body flickered.

He slipped effortlessly between the incoming rocks and appeared directly in front of Breloom almost instantaneously.

Breloom: "???"

Mega Beedrill’s stat distribution was practically the ideal high-speed glass cannon—absurdly fast, devastatingly powerful, and with almost no obvious weakness except his fragile defenses.

He stared at the stunned Breloom without hesitation.

Two knight-like lances drove forward.

"BRE...!"

Breloom screamed as the blow sent them flying backward.

They crashed to the ground directly in front of Gardenia and lost consciousness.

One attack.

That was all it took.

Simple and direct.

Gardenia: "..."

She silently recalled Breloom and then looked at Mike with considerable hostility.

"So you specifically came back to bully me, didn’t you?"

Mike scratched his head awkwardly.

"Of course not..."

Mega Beedrill’s transformation ended, returning him to normal.

"I literally received the Mega Stone today. I just happened to see you and thought you could help me test it."

Mike hesitated.

"Who knew you’d be so... easy to knock out..."

Gardenia: "..."

’So this is somehow MY fault now?’

’If I hadn’t gone looking for him, none of this would’ve happened?!’

Gardenia pointed accusingly toward him.

"You... I... Forget it! I’m never battling you again!"

She threw her hands up.

"Beedrill already has a type advantage against most of my team. After Mega Evolution, what am I even supposed to do?!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Mike pressed his palms together.

"How about I make it up to you by treating you to dinner tonight? I’ll cook personally."

A smile instantly returned to Gardenia’s face.

"Then I want..."