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Not all amateur trainers or enthusiasts lack strength or experience, and not all professional trainers have a sense of duty. You have to look at people and things dialectically, not one-sidedly.
Luther kept reminding himself of this because Betty's words and actions had made him feel a certain distaste for the word "professional."
Thankfully, Mai didn't seem too affected. Judging purely by the speed at which the skewers Luther grilled disappeared, if she wasn't turning her sorrow into appetite, then she really liked his cooking.
"You keep eating just the ones with chili powder, there's no flavor in that! Try this one: extra cumin, extra black pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of honey. I'm telling you, it's amazing!"
After hearing Luther, Mai tried one, and then her hands moved even faster.
Since grilling was a lot of work, Luther brought a helper along.
Chansey, with her short little arms, was holding two skewers and helping Luther serve extra portions to the other Pokémon while braving the smoke.
Even though they had already fed the Pokémon earlier, watching them drool like that wasn't ideal. Once every Pokémon had at least one skewer, Luther finally sat down to enjoy his own portion.
Mai, after eating her fill, sat in a daze. Luther knew she was still dwelling on what had happened that afternoon.
"Want another one?"
Mai looked at the skewer Luther handed her. She was about to refuse, but after a moment's thought, she took it anyway.
After a while, Mai said softly, "I was really sick as a child. I got my Pokédex registration spot early, but because of my health, I was always stuck at home. For a long time, I just played alone at home."
"I got bored of all sorts of games, so my dad would buy me different toys. I could tell he cared, but he was so busy. I only got to see him twice a day, once in the morning when he'd say good morning before leaving, and again at night when I sat on my bed waiting for him to say good night."
Luther's pace slowed as he ate, lifting his head to look at Mai, who seemed lost in thought.
"Back then I caught colds and fevers nonstop, like I was cursed. My dad would take me to see the doctor, I'd recover, and then a short while later, I'd be sick again…"
Mai gave a bitter smile and took a bite of meat. "I don't know what games other kids were playing, but I saw people playing hide-and-seek on TV, so I asked my family to play with me. And I always won. If I wanted to win, I could."
"It was boring. Really boring. I wasn't stupid, I wanted them to really play with me, not just humor me in different ways."
"At that time, we had no Pokémon at home. My dad believed they might make my condition worse. Every Pokémon was sent away. There used to be a lot of Butterfree and Masquerain near our house, and Bellossom helped maintain the garden. But the moment my dad gave the order, they were all gone."
"I threw a big tantrum over it, but he was firm. He said it was for my own good. But did I care about whether he meant well? I just wanted someone to be with me!"
"Do you know who my first Pokémon was?"
Luther thought for a moment. "Eevee?"
Mai laughed. "Knew you'd guess wrong. It was Corsola. She flew into our house."
Flew?
'Wait, wait a minute. That's beyond the syllabus. Even if Groudon one day learned to fly, Luther could accept it, after all, it's a legendary Pokémon.'
'How Did Corsola Fly? Springboard Launch?'
"She really did fly," Mai said, recalling the memory with a bright smile. "Even though I couldn't leave the house, I was allowed to play in the courtyard. I didn't let anyone from the family follow me, I'd just squat alone on the grassy field where all the Pokémon used to play and stare off into the distance."
"Then, suddenly, I heard a bang from a nearby haystack. When I looked up, I saw an injured Fearow flying off in a panic. I ran over to check the haystack and, believe it or not, I found a Pokémon egg!"
"Because my family was always around, I couldn't take the egg back to my room, so I hid it in a storage shed near the yard. I even set an alarm so that once everyone was asleep, I could sneak the egg into my room. You have no idea, back then I was small and frail, and the Corsola egg was almost half my size! It took me all night just to stuff it into my wardrobe."
Luther pictured a younger version of Mai hugging a giant egg, sneaking step by step through the house like a tiny thief. He laughed at the image, but the laughter came with a trace of heartache.
Seeing Luther laugh made Mai smile too, full of joy.
"The price of sneaking out and not sleeping was another serious illness. I had a terrible fever and passed out. When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital. My first reaction was, how many days did I sleep?! I have to go home! The egg was still in my closet, covered in clothes, no one looking after it, it might be in danger!"
"I was so stubborn, so stubborn that not even my dad could talk me down. I made such a fuss that he ended up taking me home and hiring a doctor to look after me there."
"After getting home, I distracted the doctor, opened the wardrobe, and saw that the egg was still buried in the pile of clothes. It even felt warm. I'd never hatched a Pokémon before, but somehow I could tell the baby was doing fine."
"I took my meds on time, followed all the doctor's recommendations, and became a model patient. Then, as a reward, I asked my parents for books on Pokémon breeding. They said I had to sleep by 10 p.m., so I turned off the lights, waited until they finished checking in on me, and read under the covers with a flashlight."
"For more than two months, I went from knowing nothing to being able to put the book knowledge into practice. And around that time, Corsola hatched."
Corsola, overhearing Mai talking about her, bounced over to her feet. Mai reached out to pat her on the head and continued.
"She was one of those perfectly hatched ones, not only full of energy, but super lively. Once she accepted me as a friend, she caused chaos in my room every day. One time she got so noisy she nearly got caught by the doctor doing night rounds."
Corsola bounced around as if protesting Mai's slander.
"Oh really? Who was the one begging for midnight snacks and making me sneak into the kitchen? Who ate the afternoon tea cake and got me blamed, leading to a long scolding from the doctor? And who sprayed Water Gun on my blanket, making everyone think I wet the bed?"
Mai poked Corsola on the head with her finger. "It was you, you, and still you."
Corsola huffed and turned around, pushing the nearby Eevee, who'd been listening to the story, toward Mai.
Mai was caught off guard, her expression softening into one of deep nostalgia.
"You're right, you weren't all trouble. If you hadn't dragged me outside to the river to play, I wouldn't have met that Eevee, who back then couldn't even swim and almost drowned."
(End of Chapter)