Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 130: Chapter 130

”Yeah, yeah, I get it. Nidoking are the most devoted simp in the world.”

While Nidoking wasn’t paying attention, Mike reached over and gave him a quick pat on the arm.

Nidoking immediately turned and gave him a look of pure disgust.

Mike only grinned.

”All right, I’ll stop getting in the way of your quality time with your sweetheart. I’m going to get some rest, but don’t forget what you promised me. Once she’s feeling better, you still owe me those photos.”

Nidoking waved impatiently, making it clear that he remembered.

Mike stood and started back toward the blanket Gengar had laid out, but before sitting down, he glanced over his shoulder and added.

”And seriously, remember what I told you. She’s still weak, so don’t even think about trying for Eggs until she’s completely recovered. Show some restraint.”

Nidoking fell silent.

Then his eye twitched.

”Nidoking!”

[Do I LOOK like that kind of Pokémon to you?!]

”Who knows?”

Mike caught the anger building on Nidoking’s face, blinked innocently, and immediately turned toward Snivy, who was sitting in the tree nearby.

He gave her a small signal.

Snivy understood and nodded.

With that settled, Mike stretched out on the blanket.

He had spent far too long chasing Nidoking and Nidoran♀ through the forest earlier, and now that the excitement had worn off, exhaustion had finally caught up with him.

The steady buzz of cicadas filled the surrounding woods as Mike closed his eyes and gradually drifted to sleep.

Beedrill watched him settle down, then silently emerged from the foliage overhead and disappeared deeper into the forest.

Not long afterward, the endless chorus of cicadas began thinning noticeably.

Snivy, meanwhile, moved to the tree Nidoking was resting beneath and looked down at the weakened Nidoran♀ curled in his arms.

Gengar soon floated over with his bamboo staff in hand.

He exchanged a glance with Snivy, gave her a small nod, then turned toward Nidoking.

”Gar—”

[Want to go get some honey? I found some really good stuff.]

”Nido—”

[No. I’m staying with Nidoran♀.]

Gengar’s shoulders sagged theatrically.

”Gar—”

[All right. I only thought about it because she looked miserable when Mike gave her that medicine earlier. I figured if you had some honey to mix with it next time, it wouldn’t taste so bad.]

Nidoking looked up.

Gengar was wearing such a regretful expression that, for once, he almost looked genuinely thoughtful.

Nidoking remembered Mike mixing a little honey into Nidoran♀’s medicine earlier.

That part was true.

But leaving Nidoran♀ behind...

”Sni~”

[It’s okay. I can stay with her while you’re gone.]

Snivy’s gentle voice came from above.

Nidoking raised his head and saw her sitting on the branch with her legs swinging lightly beneath her.

He hesitated for a while before finally leaning down and whispering a few words into Nidoran♀’s ear.

Only then did he carefully set her on the ground.

Snivy descended with Vine Whip and approached the frightened, still-weakened Nidoran♀.

She extended one vine and gently touched her forehead.

”Nido?”

Nidoran♀ looked up at her in confusion.

Snivy simply gave her a warm smile.

”Sni~”

Beedrill returned not long afterward, and Snivy immediately caught his attention with Vine Whip.

After explaining what she wanted, she had him use String Shot to weave a soft hammock between two branches.

Once it was finished, Snivy gently lifted Nidoran♀ with her vines and placed her inside before climbing in beside her.

She then used Vine Whip to rock the hammock slowly back and forth while talking quietly with the smaller Pokémon.

”Sni.”

The combination of Snivy’s calm voice, the gentle movement of the hammock, and her naturally patient temperament worked almost immediately.

Nidoran♀ gradually stopped looking frightened, and before long, the two were getting along remarkably well.

...

Meanwhile, Gengar had led Nidoking deep into a stretch of forest claimed by a colony of wild Beedrill.

After whispering a few final instructions into Nidoking’s ear, Gengar quietly disappeared into the undergrowth.

Nidoking remained where he was, his heavy tail tapping lightly against the ground as he stared ahead and waited for the signal.

Several minutes passed.

Then the bushes exploded.

Gengar shot out from between them at full speed.

Behind him came an enormous swarm of furious wild Beedrill.

Gengar’s face changed instantly.

”(ﾟДﾟ*)”

’OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF THEM?!’

He looked toward Nidoking, who was still standing obediently where they had agreed, and his eyes darted from side to side.

Then Gengar made a decision.

”Gar—!”

[NIDOKING, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO MADE ME STEAL THEIR HONEY!]

Nidoking: ”???”

The wild Beedrill heard him.

The swarm immediately split in two.

Half continued chasing Gengar.

The other half turned directly toward Nidoking!

Nidoking: ”???”

”NIDOKING!”

[GENGAR, YOU BASTARD! THAT WASN’T THE PLAN—OW!]

A stinger apparently found its mark.

Nidoking spun around and ran for his life.

Gengar, meanwhile, fled toward the nearby stream.

The moment he reached the bank, he dove headfirst into the water and disappeared beneath the surface, holding his breath as he sank out of reach.

The wild Beedrill circled above the stream for a while, but there was very little they could do to a Ghost hiding underwater.

Eventually, they gave up.

Unfortunately for Nidoking, that meant they were free to go after Gengar’s alleged accomplice instead.

Nidoking quickly discovered that he was not going to outrun a swarm of Beedrill.

Realizing that escape was hopeless, he planted his feet, spun around, and unleashed a blast of Flamethrower.

Fire swept through the air.

Several wild Beedrill dropped to the ground unconscious.

”NIDOKINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!”

His furious roar shook the forest.

...

Back at the campsite, Mike smacked his lips in his sleep and rolled over, casually pulling Glameow into his arms.

Glameow, who had been lying beside him and playing with her Soothe Bell, froze.

Her eyes slowly widened.

’...Excuse me?’

Nidoran♀ also heard Nidoking’s distant roar.

She immediately looked toward Snivy in concern.

Snivy gently comforted her before glancing toward Beedrill.

Beedrill let out what could only be described as a long-suffering silence.

Then he emerged from the leaves and flew toward the source of the commotion.

Once Snivy reassured her that everything would be fine, Nidoran♀ slowly relaxed and pressed herself against Snivy again.

There was something comforting about her scent.

To Nidoran♀, Snivy smelled warm and familiar, almost like the feeling she remembered from being close to her mother when she was very young.

That was why she kept leaning against her.

Snivy, however, had not expected this development at all.

Mike had only asked her to help calm Nidoran♀ so she could recover more quickly, yet somehow the little Pokémon had decided that Snivy was the safest place in the entire forest.

’What am I supposed to do now?’

Snivy hesitated.

Should she gently push her away?

She looked down at the soft, timid Nidoran♀ nestled against her side.

After a moment, Snivy sighed inwardly.

’Fine.’

She could stay.

...

It wasn’t long before Gengar came strolling back through the air with his bamboo staff resting over one shoulder, looking far too pleased with himself.

Nidoking followed behind him.

Unlike Gengar, Nidoking looked as though he had just lost a fistfight with an entire hornet nest.

His face was swollen in several places, and he was clearly furious.

Beedrill flew over both of them and quietly disappeared back into the leaves above the campsite.

Nidoking dropped heavily beneath a tree.

If he had been confident he could beat Gengar, he would have flattened the Ghost right then and there.

What kind of Pokémon betrayed his own partner that badly?

The agreement had been simple: Gengar would lure the wild Beedrill away while Nidoking slipped in and took some honey.

Instead, Gengar stole the honey himself and redirected half the swarm straight toward Nidoking.

’That rotten Bastard!’

Gengar floated in front of him with a grin.

Nidoking gave him one look, then deliberately turned his entire body in the opposite direction.

Gengar stared at his back.

After a moment, he reluctantly pulled out his haul.

One jar.

Then another.

And another.

By the time he was finished, seven jars of honey sat on the ground.

Gengar looked genuinely pained!

”Gar—”

[I got these for you. Seven jars. You can have all of them.]

Nidoking slowly turned around.

He looked at Gengar.

Then at the seven jars.

”Nido?”

[All of them?]

Gengar slapped his chest and nodded generously.

Nidoking hesitated before gathering the jars into his arms.

Then he looked at Gengar again.

After thinking for a moment, he took one jar from the pile and offered it back.

”Nido.”

[You worked hard too. Take this one.]

Gengar’s eyes immediately filled with theatrical tears.

He threw himself onto Nidoking’s tail and began wailing.

”Gaaaar—!”

[NIDOKING, YOU’RE THE BEST! I SWEAR, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, YOU’RE MY BESTO FRIENDO!]

Nidoking looked disgusted.

He flicked his tail and launched Gengar through the air.

Gengar flipped several times before effortlessly stabilizing himself.

He caught the honey Nidoking had offered him, hugged the jar to his chest, and broke into another enormous grin.

Snivy had been watching from the hammock.

She exchanged a glance with Gengar.

For a moment, she wondered whether he had genuinely decided to be generous for once.

Then she saw the barely concealed smirk on his face.

Snivy immediately understood.

There was absolutely no chance Gengar had stolen only seven jars!

...

Nidoking carefully stored away the honey and approached the hammock.

He reached toward Nidoran♀.

Nidoran♀ immediately resisted and pressed herself more firmly against Snivy.

Nidoking froze.

’Wait.’

’I was gone for ONE honey run.’

’How did my girl stop wanting me already?!’

He stared at Nidoran♀ in disbelief, completely petrified by the betrayal.