Chapter 121
Gengar returned surprisingly quick with the ingredients.
Mike gently pinched one of Glameow’s ears, her sleepy crystal-blue eyes slowly opened and looked up at him.
"Glameow, it’s time to start cooking."
His voice was gentle.
It took Glameow a moment to fully wake up before she finally nodded.
Mike lowered her to the ground, stood, and headed over to the ingredients with Snivy to begin preparing dinner.
Still half asleep, Glameow swayed after them.
Mike reached the pile of groceries and stopped to inspect everything Gengar had bought.
Something bumped into his leg.
He looked back.
Glameow was sitting on the ground, visibly dazed, her eyes stared up at him in confusion.
"Meow~"
[Why did you stop?]
Her voice was soft and lazy, still thick with sleep.
Mike stared at her for a moment before bending down and picking her up.
He placed Glameow on the temporary table they had set up nearby.
"Stay here and rest for a while. I’ll be cooking right next to you, okay?"
Glameow blinked.
Then she tucked her head between her paws, closed her eyes, and immediately went back to sleep.
Mike smiled.
He picked up a large vegetable leaf and gently laid it over her body like a blanket.
Professor Rowan and the others were still busy with the Wyrdeer, so Mike had no reason to worry about the research.
He focused entirely on dinner.
First, he coated the roast chicken Gengar had requested with his special seasoning and left it to marinate.
Then he began preparing the rest of the ingredients.
...
By the time dinner was nearly complete, Mike opened the rough temporary oven they had built.
Strange flames flickered inside.
He carefully pulled out the roasted chicken, tore off one of the thighs while it was still piping hot, and called out, "Gengar."
Gengar immediately floated over with his bamboo staff.
Mike held out the chicken leg, Gengar looked at him in confusion.
"Gar?"
Mike grinned.
"Where I come from, when someone finishes cooking, the kids are allowed to taste the food first."
Gengar’s eyes brightened.
He accepted the chicken leg, took a large bite, and immediately closed his eyes in bliss.
Mike gave the other leg to Beedrill while Snivy received one of the wings.
As for the remaining chicken, Mike carefully shredded the meat into small pieces and arranged it on a plate for Glameow.
By the time everyone had received their share, the only things left from the entire bird were the neck and carcass.
Mike sat among his Pokémon, gnawing contentedly on the leftover bones while the soup for that evening simmered nearby.
Not far away, the professors were still enthusiastically discussing Wyrdeer.
The setting sun painted the entire sky red.
Mike looked around at the scene and smiled.
’This kind of life... isn’t bad.’
Gengar was licking grease from his fingers.
Mike laughed and tossed the chicken carcass toward him.
"Don’t worry. There’s plenty more food coming."
He stood, checked the soup, then clapped his hands.
"Everyone, dinner’s ready. Let’s eat first and give the Wyrdeer a chance to rest too."
Under Mike’s urging, everyone finally abandoned their research long enough to gather around the table.
Mike first prepared the meals for the Wyrdeer and Stantler, making sure they were properly fed, then returned to his own seat.
"You all worked hard today."
He smiled and clapped his hands again.
"So tonight, we’re eating well."
Gary stared at the enormous spread in front of him with visible surprise.
’Assistant Mike can cook too?’
The moment Mike announced that they could begin, everyone picked up their utensils.
Before long, the table was filled with enthusiastic exclamations of—
"Delicious!"
"So good!"
Mike noticed Glameow finally lift her head away from her plate and immediately knew she was full, so he stopped offering her more food.
He looked around.
Most of the others had leaned back in their chairs, too satisfied to move.
"Well, since everyone’s finished, I’ll leave washing the dishes to you."
Mike smiled shamelessly.
Lucian snapped his fingers.
Bronzong and his other Pokémon immediately gathered the plates, pots, and utensils with psychic power and carried them toward the nearby stream to wash.
A full stomach made anyone sleepy.
For a cat, it was practically inevitable!
Glameow curled up in Mike’s arms and let out a tiny burp.
She immediately raised her head and looked at him.
When she realized Mike wasn’t watching her, she quickly lowered her face again, closed her eyes, and pretended nothing had happened.
The corner of Mike’s mouth lifted.
While he sat there holding Glameow and letting dinner settle, the three Pokémon professors approached together.
Professor Oak handed him a sheet of paper.
Mike took it and looked down.
The information written there made him freeze.
Wyrdeer
HP: 103
Attack: 105
Defense: 72
Special Attack: 105
Special Defense: 75
Speed: 65
Total Base Stats: 525
Professor Oak looked at him.
"These are the values we arrived at after analyzing the three individuals. What do you think?"
Mike: "..."
Mike looked down at the page again.
Then back up.
Then down again.
’What?’
’It hasn’t even been an entire afternoon!’
’You already calculated Wyrdeer’s base stats?!’
Worse, the numbers were completely correct!
Mike stared at the three professors with renewed respect.
They really were among the foremost authorities in the Pokémon world.
In less than an afternoon, they had managed to derive Wyrdeer’s statistical profile with frightening accuracy.
It was almost a shame Mike had been cooking instead of listening to how they had done it.
"When it comes to this sort of research, you three are the best," Mike said. "If these are the results you arrived at, I don’t have much reason to doubt them."
Professor Oak nodded.
"The basic statistics are more or less settled. We can refine the Pokédex entry later."
His expression became more thoughtful.
"The more immediate question is what we do with these three Wyrdeer and the remaining Stantler."
"Do we take them all back to the research facilities?"
"Or do we use this opportunity to return some of them to the wild?"
Professor Rowan did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward Mike.
"What do you think?"
Mike hesitated, then turned toward Lucian.
"Lucian, do you want to take the marked (the sigma) Wyrdeer with you?"
Lucian looked genuinely surprised.
"Me?"
"Wyrdeer is Psychic-type now," Mike said. "You’re Sinnoh’s Psychic specialist, so it would hardly be strange for you to train one."
Mike smiled slightly.
"And unless I’m remembering wrong, you’ve always paid more attention to that marked Stantler than the others."
Lucian did not deny it.
"My thought is that if you want him, you should take him."
Mike continued, "Then, when the right major competition or public event comes along, you can let Wyrdeer appear in front of the entire League—or even an international audience."
"That would give us the perfect opportunity to officially reveal Wyrdeer while the discovery is still fresh."
"We could publish the Pokédex information, its evolution method, and Psyshield Bash at the same time."
Lucian was clearly tempted.
How could he not be?
He was the Psychic-type member of Sinnoh’s Elite Four, and the Pokémon in front of him was not only a Psychic type but also the first modern Wyrdeer—and one he had personally spent days training.
It would have been stranger if he felt nothing.
After a moment, Lucian nodded seriously.
"All right."
"I’ll take him."
He looked toward the marked Wyrdeer.
"I’ll train him properly."
Everyone nodded.
Mike then turned toward Professor Kukui.
"Professor Kukui—"
"It’s all right."
Kukui interrupted with a smile.
"I already know the evolution method. Once I return to Alola, I can train several Stantler myself."
He folded his arms.
"To be honest, I’d rather raise one from the beginning with my own hands."
Mike nodded and turned toward Cynthia.
She shook her head immediately.
"I don’t need one."
Professor Oak waved as well.
"I’ll pass too. Wyrdeer was rediscovered here in Sinnoh, so Rowan should be the one to continue the primary Pokédex research."
"All right."
Professor Rowan nodded.
He would take the second Wyrdeer back to his laboratory.
"That one is noticeably weaker than the other two," Rowan explained. "Keeping him at the research facility may actually be better."
He looked toward the remaining Stantler.
"At present, evolving Stantler is still far too difficult. Psyshield Bash itself is extremely hard to relearn, and very few Trainers or researchers will have the resources necessary to reproduce what we did here."
"So I plan to take this Wyrdeer back to the laboratory and breed him with Stantler."
Professor Rowan adjusted his thoughts before continuing.
"If Wyrdeer becomes the parent, there’s a possibility that his offspring may inherit a stronger natural affinity for Psyshield Bash. Perhaps Stantler born from those Eggs will find the move easier to learn."
Mike looked at him in surprise.
That possibility had never occurred to him.
In his mind, once Wyrdeer returned, it had felt inevitable that the species would begin appearing all over the world before long.
But Professor Rowan was right.
The evolution requirement was still extremely demanding.
Learning Psyshield Bash alone would be beyond the ability of most Stantler.
Using breeding to gradually increase the number of Stantler born with the potential to inherit or more easily rediscover the move was an excellent idea.
Two Wyrdeer now had destinations.
Only one remained.
Mike looked toward Stantler One—the second Stantler to evolve.
"As for the last Wyrdeer, I want him to return to the wild with his herd."
He gestured toward the remaining Stantler nearby.
"The other two are already close to learning Psyshield Bash, so their evolution should only be a matter of time."
"If we round things up a little, that effectively gives the wild herd three Wyrdeer."
"With Wyrdeer leading them, Stantler should have a much better chance of surviving in the wild, and over time, those restored genes can begin spreading naturally outward from Sinnoh."
Professor Rowan nodded.
"I have no objection."
"This project began with you," Professor Oak added. "It’s fitting that you decide how it ends."
Mike smiled.
He walked toward Stantler One, now Wyrdeer, and stopped in front of him.
"Congratulations."
Mike rested a hand against his neck.
"You successfully became Wyrdeer."
"After evolving, you should be able to feel some of what your bloodline had forgotten."
Wyrdeer nodded.
Mike looked toward the three Stantler nearby.
"From here on, I want you to take them back into the wild."
"Can you do that?"
Wyrdeer followed his gaze toward the herd.
Then he nodded again.
"Wyr—"
[I’ll protect them.]
Mike smiled.
"Head toward Mount Coronet."
"The climate there is cold, and your body should be far better suited to that environment than the lowlands."
He gently stroked Wyrdeer’s head.
"The other Stantler should know where Mount Coronet is. You can call them together, right?"
Wyrdeer lowered his head slightly.
Then he raised it high.
The black orbs in his antlers began glowing.
Waves of psychic energy spread outward in broad pulses, traveling through the forest like an invisible signal.