Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 136: Chapter 136

After exchanging contact information with Mike, she called Gardevoir and the others and headed back inside the house to rest.

Mike remained outside on the blanket with the ancient book beside him.

Under the moonlight, Gengar and the others were still playing hide-and-seek throughout the flower field.

Mike watched them for a while before getting up, setting his camera to video mode, and placing it where the lens could capture most of the field.

This round, Gengar was the seeker.

He immediately plunged into the flowers with his backside sticking absurdly high in the air as he crawled through the field, using his bamboo staff to part the blossoms.

It didn’t take him long to drag Beedrill out of hiding.

A moment later, the flowers beside Mike rustled.

A gray blur shot out and Glameow darted behind him.

Mike reacted instantly.

Without asking a single question, he lifted the edge of his blanket and allowed her to crawl underneath before lowering it again.

Gengar, having successfully found Beedrill, continued searching and eventually discovered Snivy hiding behind a large rock.

That left only Glameow.

Gengar spent several minutes combing through the flower field without success.

Eventually, he floated above the blossoms and scratched his backside in confusion.

’Where did Glameow go?’

Convinced he must have overlooked somewhere obvious, he dropped back down and resumed searching, using the bamboo staff to gently push flowers aside.

Beside Mike, the raised portion of the blanket shifted.

Mike immediately reached over and patted it through the fabric.

"Stop moving."

Unfortunately, the spot he patted happened to be Glameow’s backside.

Her pupils narrowed.

A second later, sharp little teeth closed around Mike’s leg beneath the blanket.

Mike’s entire expression froze.

He very nearly screamed, but managed to swallow the sound and slowly lay back as though nothing had happened.

Gengar floated over.

He stared at Mike for an uncomfortably long time before pointing toward the obvious bump under the blanket.

"Gar?"

[What’s under there?]

Mike looked genuinely confused.

"What do you mean? There’s nobody under here except me."

Gengar narrowed his eyes.

"Gar?"

[Then why is the blanket sticking up like that?]

"My leg." Mike answered immediately.

Gengar looked down.

Both of Mike’s feet were visibly sticking out from beneath the opposite end of the blanket, lying completely flat.

Gengar’s face went blank.

"Gar?"

[Do you think I’m stupid?]

(｡・ˇ_ˇ・｡)

He used his bamboo staff to poke the sole of Mike’s exposed foot.

"Gar?"

[Your legs are right there.]

Mike fell silent.

’Damn it. Why is this fat bastard suddenly so observant?’

He quickly improvised.

"Fine, fine. I’ll tell you the truth."

Mike patted the raised blanket.

"I ate too much. That’s my stomach."

Gengar stared at Mike’s face.

He blinked once.

Then turned and floated away.

Mike quietly released the breath he had been holding and loosened his grip on the blanket.

At that exact moment, Gengar spun around.

His bamboo staff hooked beneath the edge of the blanket and sent it flying.

Underneath, Glameow was lying directly across Mike’s stomach.

Gengar and Glameow stared at each other.

"Meow."

[You found me.]

Glameow calmly licked one paw, stepped across Mike’s stomach, and jumped into the tree beside Snivy.

Gengar slowly turned toward Mike.

Mike endured his accusing stare for several seconds before giving him an awkward grin.

"Well... you caught us. Hehe."

Gengar looked deeply offended.

"Gar!"

[Why did you lie to me?!]

"What did I lie about?"

Mike immediately adopted the expression of an innocent victim.

Gengar’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He pointed the bamboo staff directly at Mike’s nose.

"GAR!"

[YOU SAID THERE WAS NOBODY UNDER THE BLANKET EXCEPT YOU!]

Mike nodded confidently.

"And I was telling the truth."

Gengar stared.

Mike pointed toward the tree.

"Glameow isn’t a person, is she?"

Gengar froze.

His mouth opened.

Then closed.

His simple little brain clearly understood that something was wrong with Mike’s argument, but assembling an actual rebuttal proved much harder.

He floated there for several seconds before finally turning away in outrage.

"Gar!"

[I’m not talking to you anymore!]

Up in the tree, Glameow stopped licking her paw.

She tilted her head.

"Meow?"

[I know he was covering for me, but why did the way he said I’m ’not a person’ somehow sound insulting?]

"Sni."

Snivy’s eyes curved with amusement.

[Because it was.]

Glameow slowly turned and stared at her.

Snivy returned the look with perfectly innocent, beautiful eyes.

After a moment, Glameow looked away and quietly resumed grooming herself.

Mike stretched out one leg and gently nudged Gengar, who was sitting on the blanket with his back turned while drawing miserable circles in the dirt.

"So you’re really not talking to me?"

Gengar scooted farther away.

Mike moved closer and nudged him again.

Gengar scooted away again.

Mike sighed dramatically.

"What a shame."

He folded his hands behind his head.

"The flowers are beautiful tonight, the whole field smells amazing, and the sky is completely clear. I even happened to remember a fantastic old adventure story about a legendary artifact called the Gracidea Codex."

Mike rolled onto his side.

"But if a certain Pokémon isn’t speaking to me anymore, I suppose I’ll just go to sleep."

He released an exaggerated sigh of regret.

Before he could close his eyes, two hands grabbed his arm and began gently massaging it.

"Gar—"

[How’s that? Comfortable? Hehe.]

Mike turned his head.

Gengar was grinning at him.

Mike struggled not to laugh.

"I thought you weren’t talking to me anymore."

Gengar immediately puffed out his chest.

"Gar!"

[I never said how long! I ignored you for one whole minute, and the minute is over!]

His confidence was absolute.

Mike shook his head helplessly and reached over to pull at Gengar’s cheeks.

"You really are unbelievable."

Then he sat up and called toward the others.

"All right! Story time. Anyone who wants to listen, come over."

He even patted the blanket beside him.

Glameow gracefully jumped down from the tree and settled beside him.

Mike instinctively reached toward her head.

Her tail immediately snapped across his wrist.

Smack.

Mike stared at the fresh red mark.

Then at Glameow.

Glameow tilted her head and looked back with innocent confusion.

Mike: "..."

’What did I do to offend Her Highness this time?’

Snivy watched the exchange from the tree, and the corner of her mouth slowly curved upward.

Mike looked up.

The moment Snivy noticed him staring, she suppressed the smile and replaced it with the gentlest, most understanding expression imaginable.

Mike stared.

’Right.’

’Snivy is enjoying this.’

Apparently, even Snivy had developed a taste for watching him suffer.

Clearly, Gengar was a terrible influence.

Having reached that completely reasonable conclusion, Mike grabbed Gengar by the tail and gave it a hard tug.

"GAR—!"

Gengar shot through the air like a balloon with the valve suddenly opened, ricocheting wildly until Beedrill intercepted him and brought him to a stop.

Once everyone had finally settled down again, Mike began telling them the story of the Gracidea Codex, an ancient magical text said to grant extraordinary power to whichever wandering hero could survive its absurd trials.

"Legend says that long ago..."

The camera continued recording from a short distance away, quietly capturing the entire scene beneath the moonlit flower field.

Later in the story, when Mike finally revealed the ridiculous sacrifice supposedly required before anyone could master the Codex, both Gengar and Beedrill visibly shuddered.

Neither of them seemed nearly as eager to become legendary heroes anymore.