Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Chapter 246

The moment that message appeared, the livestream chat exploded.

That was CYNTHIA!

The Champion of the Sinnoh League!

For countless Trainers, Cynthia was practically an idol.

Not only was she beautiful and effortlessly cool, but her strength as a Trainer was in a league of its own.

Many people who’d stumbled upon Mike’s livestream for the first time were completely stunned.

Why was the Sinnoh Champion watching some ordinary livestream about exploring a snowy mountain?!

The longtime viewers, however, barely reacted.

They were already used to things like this.

After all, Mike’s very first livestream had featured Professor Rowan, one of the most respected authorities in Pokémon research, as a guest.

Compared to that, having the Sinnoh Champion watching his stream wasn’t particularly difficult to believe.

Besides, considering Mike’s identity and the things he’d accomplished recently, it would have been stranger if nobody important were paying attention.

And Cynthia was far from the only influential person watching.

...

At Sinnoh League headquarters, for example, Flint and Lucian were sitting together on a sofa, watching Mike’s livestream through a projector.

Flint scratched his unruly, flame-shaped hair before turning toward Lucian.

"Hey, Lucian. When do you think Mike’s going to start the next phase of his Hisuian Pokémon revival project?"

Lucian took a sip of coffee.

Having pulled yet another all-nighter, he was looking rather tired, but Flint’s question still managed to catch his attention.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in that?"

"Why wouldn’t I be interested?!"

Flint sounded downright frustrated.

He ran his fingers through his hair again, making the already unruly mess even worse.

"Think about it! There are four of us in the Sinnoh Elite Four, right? YOU managed to get yourself a Wyrdeer, Bertha has an Ursaluna, and even that guy Aaron has a Kleavor!"

He pointed at himself with an expression of utter despair.

"That leaves ME! I’m the only member of the Elite Four who doesn’t have a Hisuian Pokémon yet!"

Lucian looked at him for a moment.

"Well, that’s easy enough to fix. Why don’t you just catch a Wyrdeer yourself? Or a Kleavor? An Ursaluna would work too."

"That’s not the same!"

Flint slumped back against the sofa as though the mere suggestion had drained what little energy he had left.

"I’m a FIRE-TYPE Elite Four member, Lucian! I need a Fire-type Pokémon..."

His voice grew increasingly miserable toward the end.

Lucian shook his head.

"Well, there’s not much point complaining to me about it. It’s not like these things can just be arranged whenever we feel like it."

Flint sighed.

"Yeah... I guess you’re right."

There really wasn’t much he could do except wait and hope Mike would eventually discover a Hisuian Pokémon that suited him.

...

Flint and Lucian weren’t the only ones keeping a close eye on the livestream.

Several prominent Pokémon Professors were watching as well.

After all, Mike was currently exploring Mount Coronet, and there was always the possibility that he’d stumble across another clue relating to Hisuian Pokémon.

He might even come up with some new idea while investigating the mountain.

If that happened, the professors wanted to know about it as soon as possible.

Among those paying the closest attention were Professor Rowan, Professor Oak, and Professor Kukui.

Of course, the professors weren’t the only people interested in what Mike was doing. Several exceptionally powerful Trainers were also watching his broadcast.

...

Galar Region — Isle of Armor

"Say, isn’t this the young fellow who discovered Wyrdeer?"

Mustard was sitting on the sofa, watching Mike’s face on the television with an interested expression.

Ordinarily, he’d have spent his free time playing video games, but Sonia had taken over the television today.

Since there wasn’t much he could do about it, he’d ended up sitting beside her and watching the livestream instead.

Leon was there as well.

He’d finally managed to get a rare day off, and for once, he didn’t have any official duties demanding his attention.

Raihan, however, had wasted absolutely no time taking advantage of the situation.

The moment he’d learned that Leon was free, he’d rushed over during the night, hoping to convince his longtime rival to have a battle with him.

Unfortunately for Raihan, Leon had refused.

Now he was stuck watching a livestream instead.

"Seriously, what’s so interesting about watching this?" Raihan complained, letting out a long yawn.

"Wouldn’t it be way more fun if you just battled me?"

Leon didn’t seem particularly interested in taking him up on that suggestion.

Before Raihan could continue pestering him, Sonia spoke up.

"Leon hardly ever gets a proper day off. What’s wrong with letting him sit down and watch a livestream with me for once?"

She then turned back toward the television.

"Besides, Professor Mike’s research institute recently arranged for Professor Kukui’s institute to send us a Wyrdeer. That means our researchers finally have an opportunity to study what happens when Wyrdeer undergoes Dynamax!"

"Professor Mike?"

Mustard looked surprised.

"Hold on! That young fellow is already a Pokémon Professor?"

"That’s right, Master Mustard!" Sonia replied. "He officially received the title at the research summit not long ago. Professor Rowan and Professor Oak were the ones who personally nominated him!"

"Well, well..."

Mustard stroked his eyebrows thoughtfully as he looked toward Mike on the television again.

"In that case, this young man has quite a future ahead of him!"

Mustard knew perfectly well how difficult it was to receive official recognition as a Pokémon Professor.

There might be plenty of people whom others respectfully addressed as ’Professor,’ but that didn’t mean all of them had actually earned the formal title.

Genuine recognition required considerably more than simply being knowledgeable about Pokémon.

For someone as young as Mike to have achieved it, especially with the personal recommendation of two such respected researchers, was certainly impressive.

"And actually..." Sonia suddenly lowered her voice, looking around at the others with a hint of excitement.

"I’ve got a little inside information for you!"

The others turned toward her.

"Besides Wyrdeer, Professor Mike’s research team has already managed to bring TWO more Hisuian Pokémon back into the modern world!"

"What?!" Mustard exclaimed.

His earlier surprise was nothing compared to this.

"Another TWO?!"

Raihan immediately became interested.

"Which ones?!"

Before Sonia could answer, however, Leon gave Raihan a light smack and turned toward her with a frown.

"Hang on a minute. If that’s true, then there’s probably a reason the information hasn’t been made public yet. Doesn’t that mean Professor Mike’s team isn’t ready to announce it? You shouldn’t be sharing something like that without permission."

Sonia pressed her lips together before explaining.

"It’s fine, Leon. Professor Mike’s assistant, Oleana, has already sent me the relevant information. She’s also promised that they’ll be transferring specimens of both Pokémon to Professor Carolina’s research institute after a little while so we can study their Dynamax forms."

She looked between Leon and Raihan.

"We’ll probably need help from both of you when the time comes, so there’s no harm in letting you know a little early. Besides, their team has already finished preparing the public announcement. From what I’ve been told, it shouldn’t be much longer before they release the information officially."

Hearing that, Leon relaxed.

"Oh, I see. Well, if they’ve already agreed to share the research and are getting ready to announce it, then that’s different."

Raihan, meanwhile, had been waiting impatiently for the conversation to return to the important part.

"So, can you tell us which two Pokémon they are or not?"

"Of course! Just give me a second."

Sonia got up, retrieved her tablet, and opened the detailed information Oleana had sent her.

She then handed it to Raihan.

Raihan took the tablet and began examining the information on the screen.

"Kleavor, huh?"

He scrolled through the research notes, looking particularly interested when he reached the Pokémon’s battle information.

"Hmm... Its base stats don’t look all that special, but its signature move is pretty impressive!"

Leon leaned over to have a look.

The two Trainers examined the description of Kleavor’s signature move, Stone Axe.

"Oh, that’s definitely useful," Leon agreed, nodding as he read. "A physical attack that also sets up Stealth Rock? That’s a pretty strong combination."

A move that could damage an opponent while simultaneously creating an entry hazard offered plenty of tactical possibilities.

For experienced Trainers like Leon and Raihan, its potential applications were immediately obvious.

Raihan continued scrolling.

Then they reached the section on Ursaluna.

Leon looked at the information in surprise.

"Wait... Ursaluna is THAT powerful?"

Raihan had been examining the same description, and the more he read, the more interested he became.

Compared to Kleavor, Ursaluna was clearly beginning to appeal to him on a more personal level.

"Hey, Sonia!" he said, looking up from the tablet. "How exactly do you evolve an Ursaring into Ursaluna? I kind of want to raise one myself!"

"Sorry, but I can’t tell you that yet."

Sonia shook her head without hesitation.

"You’ll have to wait until Professor Mike’s team publishes the complete research information. Once it’s officially released, you’ll be able to find out. For now, this is all I’m allowed to show you."

"Oh, come on! We’re going to find out sooner or later anyway!"

Raihan didn’t seem particularly bothered by the restriction.

"Raihan."

Leon called his name.

Raihan glanced over, saw the look Leon was giving him, and finally abandoned the idea of pressing Sonia for more information.

"All right, all right. I’ll wait!"

Mustard, meanwhile, had returned his attention to the livestream.

He watched the young researcher on the screen for a while, then nodded thoughtfully to himself.

’The younger generation really is catching up with us old-timers.’

And judging by what he’d just heard, some of them were already accomplishing quite extraordinary things.

...

Kalos Region

Diantha was sitting beside Cynthia, watching the livestream on her friend’s phone.

She picked up a grape, popped it into her mouth, and glanced at the young man currently speaking on the screen.

"So, this is Mike? The one you were telling me about the other day?"

Cynthia nodded.

"That’s him."

"I’ve actually seen that movie he made," Diantha remarked. "It was pretty entertaining! Honestly, it’s a shame he hasn’t made any more movies since then."

As someone who worked in the film industry herself, Diantha had naturally taken an interest in Mike’s earlier work.

She continued watching for another moment before adding, "To tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking it might be nice to bring him over to Kalos and have him work under me for a while. Maybe I could—"

"Forget it."

Cynthia interrupted her before she could finish.

Diantha blinked.

Then she slowly turned toward her friend, looking rather curious.

’Well, that’s unusual...’

She knew Cynthia quite well.

They were close friends, after all, and Cynthia wasn’t normally the sort of person who became particularly invested in a man.

Yet here she was, cutting Diantha off before she’d even finished explaining what she wanted.

’Wait a minute...’

Diantha’s curiosity grew.

’Don’t tell me she’s finally interested in someone?!’

Was her famously difficult-to-impress friend finally showing signs of romantic interest?

Diantha couldn’t help wondering whether something interesting was going on.

Cynthia, however, paid no attention to the suspicious look her friend was giving her.

She simply continued watching Mike’s livestream.

As far as she was concerned, Diantha could forget about recruiting him.

There was absolutely NO way Cynthia was letting that happen!

The Sinnoh League had been relying heavily on Lucian to keep things running smoothly for quite some time.

Whenever there was work to be done, it always seemed to end up on his desk.

Then Mike had come along.

Although he wasn’t directly responsible for the League’s routine administration, he’d managed to help solve quite a few problems simply through his research, videos, and other activities.

And thanks to that, Cynthia had finally found herself with more opportunities to slip away from work!

Even Lucian had managed to relax a little.

At the very least, he didn’t complain to her quite as often as he used to.

That alone was already an excellent reason to keep Mike in Sinnoh.

And now there was Oleana, too.

According to Lucian, Mike’s assistant was currently helping coordinate reforms to the introductory courses used to train new Trainers, and the negotiations were progressing quite well.

That meant Mike and his assistant were about to help the Sinnoh League solve yet another important problem.

Cynthia could hardly believe their good fortune.

They’d essentially gotten two capable people for the price of one, and the results were proving to be even better than simply adding their individual contributions together!

A deal like that didn’t come along every day.

And now Diantha wanted to swoop in and steal Mike away?

Absolutely not!

Cynthia’s eyes narrowed slightly as she considered the possibility.

’Looks like I’ll have to be a little more careful around Diantha from now on.’

She regarded the woman sitting beside her with renewed suspicion.

’I treat you like my best friend, and you’re trying to poach one of my people?!’

And there was an even more important issue.

’If you take Mike away, who’s going to help us deal with all that work? How am I supposed to sneak off and enjoy myself?’

What was she supposed to do instead?

Spend every single day buried under paperwork like a certain Flying-type Elite Four member?

The very thought was unbearable.

’In your dreams!’

Diantha, still sitting beside her, had absolutely no idea that Cynthia was mentally defending her precious opportunities to slack off.

She was far too busy wondering whether her friend had finally developed an interest in someone.

...

Hoenn Region

At the same time, Steven and Wallace were sitting together on a sofa, watching Mike’s livestream.

Wallace studied the young man on the screen for a moment before turning toward Steven.

"So, this is the Mike you’ve been telling me about?"

"That’s right."

Steven nodded gently.

"His videos are pretty interesting. More importantly, though, he’s actually quite a capable Trainer himself."

"Oh?"

Wallace’s curiosity was immediately piqued.

He turned back toward the screen, now looking at Mike with considerably more interest.