Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Chapter 143

At lunchtime, Mike temporarily abandoned Poffin development and prepared a full meal for everyone.

Forsythia leaned back in her chair afterward, still digesting, and let out a small burp.

"You said you were a good cook, but this is way beyond what I expected."

Mike set his chopsticks down.

"Glad you liked it."

Forsythia’s attention shifted toward Glameow.

Mike was carefully shredding meat into small pieces, removing every bone from a portion of fish, and arranging everything neatly on a plate before placing it in front of her.

Watching the entire process finally made something click.

"I think I understand why your Pokémon are all in such good condition."

Mike looked up curiously.

Forsythia gestured toward Glameow.

"You pay attention to them. Really closely."

"Of course."

Mike nodded as though there were nothing unusual about it.

After lunch, his attention drifted toward the Berry orchard outside.

"Are the trees simply not in season yet? A lot of them don’t seem to have any fruit."

Forsythia shook her head.

"No. We were robbed recently."

"Robbed?"

"A group calling themselves Team Rocket stole a huge number of Berries. Roserade and several traveling Trainers eventually helped recover them, but afterward most of what came back was either sold or turned into Poffins, so the orchard still looks rather bare."

Mike had to suppress a laugh.

’So Team Rocket and Ash’s group caused trouble here too?’

Ever since Mike had encountered Ash and the others back in Jubilife City, it felt as though every new place he reached came with another story about something they had already done.

Forsythia looked toward the sink, where Snivy and Gengar were washing dishes while Roserade helped beside them.

"I noticed Snivy seemed very interested while I was demonstrating the Poffin recipe this morning. Why not let her try making some this afternoon?"

Mike glanced over.

"Pokémon can make Poffins too?"

"Of course. In some ways, Pokémon may understand other Pokémon’s tastes even better than humans do."

Mike turned toward Snivy, who had looked back after hearing them.

"How about it? Want to try?"

A spark of interest appeared in Snivy’s eyes.

She nodded.

"Sni~"

Gengar immediately raised his hand.

"Gar!"

[ME TOO!]

Forsythia laughed.

"Gengar can try too."

And so the afternoon turned into Mike teaching Snivy and Gengar how to make Poffins.

Snivy stood beside the stove and used Vine Whip to control the chopsticks, stirring the mixture with careful, precise movements.

Gengar worked at a separate station nearby.

Under Mike’s supervision, he had already completed his first proper batch, and now he was supposed to practice making one entirely by himself.

Gengar thought back to the mixed Berry combination Mike had used earlier.

Then he had an idea.

He reached into his personal stash, pulled out one of his treasured mushrooms, and tossed it into the mixture.

Heat.

Stir.

Pour.

Set.

Once the Poffin had solidified, Gengar picked one up and popped it into his mouth.

(๑>؂<๑)

’GENIUS.’

’ABSOLUTE GENIUS!’

It tasted incredible!

Naturally, the first Pokémon he approached was his brother.

Beedrill tried one and apparently gave sufficiently glowing feedback that Gengar became even more confident.

He looked toward Glameow next, only to find that she had already eaten her fill and was asleep on a nearby chair.

That left Mike.

Gengar proudly floated over with his homemade Poffins and held one out.

Mike examined the oddly mixed color.

"You made another batch by yourself?"

Gengar nodded enthusiastically, licked his lips, and raised both thumbs to make it perfectly clear that the result was delicious.

"All right."

Mike accepted one.

"Let’s see what Master Gengar has invented."

He tossed it into his mouth and chewed.

His eyebrows rose.

"That’s actually pretty interesting. It starts spicy, but there’s this deeper, almost savory richness underneath."

Mike swallowed and considered the lingering sensation on his tongue.

"Not bad at all. You even managed to give it this weird tingling feeling."

He looked toward Gengar with genuine curiosity.

"How did you make it? What ingredients did you use? I want to try reproducing this."

The moment Mike mentioned the tingling sensation, Gengar’s expression went dark.

Which, admittedly, was difficult to notice on a Gengar.

He discreetly pulled out the bag of mushrooms he had used and checked it.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

’OH CRAP.’

’I GRABBED THE WRONG MUSHROOMS.’

(๑;꒪ꈊ꒪;๑)

Those weren’t the ordinary mushrooms.

They were poisonous!

Mike noticed the mushrooms in Gengar’s hand.

"Oh, you added mushrooms? That explains the savory part."

Then he squinted.

"Wait... Gengar, why do you have three heads?"

He stared at what now appeared to be a three-headed, six-armed Gengar.

"What are you supposed to be, some kind of three-headed dragon?"

Gengar’s eyes bulged.

Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ

’HE’S HALLUCINATING!’

At that moment, a clear, resonant cry like that of a great stag suddenly rang through Mike’s mind.

The distorted image in front of him snapped back into focus.

Mike blinked.

’What was that?’

A system notification appeared.

{Wyrdeer protected your mind from mental interference.}

Mike stared at the message.

’So that mushroom was messing with my head?’

He slowly turned toward Gengar.

"Gengar... you didn’t feed me something poisonous again, did you?"

Then a cluster of bubbles escaped his mouth.

Mike looked at them with fascinated surprise.

"Oh, wow. I’m doing the bubble thing again—"

He collapsed.

Snivy happened to turn around at exactly that moment.

And her scream echoed through the kitchen.

"SNIIIIII!"

[WHAT DID YOU FEED HIM THIS TIME, YOU IDIOT?!]

Gengar immediately panicked.

"Gar—!"

[I GRABBED THE WRONG MUSHROOM! I MEANT TO USE THE NORMAL ONES!]

"SNI!"

[PECHA BERRY! GET A PECHA BERRY, NOW!]

"BEE!"

[COMING!]

By the time Forsythia and Roserade hurried back after hearing the commotion, Mike had already regained consciousness and was pushing himself off the floor.

Forsythia rushed over.

"Are you all right?"

Mike nodded.

"I’m fine."

She stared at him.

"But... you’re still blowing bubbles."

Mike took a tissue, wiped the bubbles from his mouth, brushed the dust from his clothes, and stood with remarkable composure.

"It’s already passed."

He straightened his shirt.

"Trust me... I’ve been through worse."

Forsythia: "..."

She slowly exchanged a look with Roserade.

Apparently Mike was much tougher than he looked.

Getting poisoned badly enough to hallucinate and collapse was merely "something he’d been through before."

Forsythia then noticed Gengar outside.

More specifically, she noticed the giant String Shot cocoon hanging from a tree, with only Gengar’s round purple face sticking out.

She hesitated.

"Um... what happened to Gengar?"

"Oh, nothing."

Mike’s expression remained completely blank.

"He said the kitchen was too hot and wanted some fresh air, so we helped him cool off outside."

Forsythia looked at the suspended cocoon.

"Does getting some fresh air normally involve being wrapped in silk and hung from a tree?"

"He likes it that way."

"Oh."

Forsythia nodded slowly.

Since Mike appeared completely recovered, she decided there was no reason to interfere and returned to her work with Roserade and Lotad.

As she passed beneath the tree, however, she looked up at Gengar’s lonely face and felt a little sorry for him.

Forsythia pulled out a Poffin.

"Here. Want one?"

Gengar opened his mouth.

Forsythia stared.

His mouth was already stuffed with Poffins.

She fell silent.

"...Oh. You already have some."

Gengar continued chewing and gave her a cheerful grin.

A strong gust of wind swept across the orchard.

The suspended cocoon swung hard from side to side.

Forsythia watched it sway.

"Well... enjoy the fresh air. I’m going back to picking Berries."

"Gar—"

[Bye.]

Whoooosh—

Another gust of wind passed through the trees, and Gengar’s cocoon began swinging all over again.