News that Luther was leaving had spread within the circle of the City Gym.
He was quite a peculiar figure. When he only had one Badge, he had already been hired by Gardenia as a trainee Pokémon Trainer instructor.
Not long after he started teaching, Gardenia threw him into the role of Acting Gym Leader to handle challengers.
Even though he occasionally took time off or was absent from work, he continued his duties steadily, and Gardenia showed no intention of firing him. It seemed the two had a very good relationship.
At first, people thought there was some kind of secret between Luther and Gardenia. But Basil's appearance made many people realize their own shortcomings in basic knowledge, and they began joining the Hearthome Gym as trainee Pokémon Trainers.
It was a strange situation. They didn't like listening to the official instructors in class, but they were willing to listen to Luther.
As fellow traveling Pokémon Trainers, they initially looked down on Luther. Yet now, they found a sense of recognition in him. Luther preferred to help them discover the bond between themselves and their Pokémon, and urged them not to easily abandon their Pokémon.
He believed that the kids who came in had strong ambition. That ambition could be both good and bad. The good kind drives you to continually explore your own and your Pokémon's potential and keep progressing.
The bad kind leads you to resort to any means necessary to become someone like Evergreen.
Before learning knowledge, one must first learn how to be a decent person. To be a qualified Pokémon Trainer, you must first learn to care for the Pokémon by your side. That was the first thing Luther taught this group of kids.
Someone once admitted to Luther that their Rattata always lost battles. They knew it was wrong to abandon it, but they didn't want to keep going like that. They asked what they should do.
Luther pointed to someone who had previously sparred with him, and used that very same Rattata to defeat them right in front of the student.
It was still the same Rattata, using the same old Moves, and hadn't learned anything new. Yet the entire battle and outcome were drastically different.
If you use a Rattata to challenge Cynthia's Garchomp, then yes, the odds of winning are near zero. But when going up against opponents of a similar level, the Trainer's judgment becomes crucial.
Sometimes, losing is simply because the Pokémon trusts the Trainer's decisions too much, while the Trainer lacks the ability to read the battlefield and that leads to defeat.
Just like the Gengar Luther encountered during one of his days as Acting Gym Leader, was it weak?
Not at all. It was incredibly strong, able to hold its own even when outnumbered. But its Pokémon Trainer was absolutely terrible, not only failing to judge the battle situation but also dragging Gengar down. That made Gengar lose its temper on the spot.
If you're losing, grow together. Don't always think your Pokémon is inferior. Every Pokémon has its own strengths.
At the core, a Trainer grows stronger together with their Pokémon. There are no shortcuts to instant success, even a genius like Cynthia went through tough times raising her team from the very beginning.
Rather than saying Luther taught them basic Pokémon knowledge, it'd be more accurate to say he taught them how to live as decent human beings.
Luther viewed this process of guiding others as "setting one's heart right." If your heart isn't right, you go astray. Through observing someone like Evergreen, Luther realized how important basic education was for these children. Ever since he returned, he had basically stopped slacking off.
To avoid sounding too stiff and boring, he racked his brain to embed theoretical knowledge into actual combat practice, letting the trainee Pokémon Trainers understand through their own hands-on experience what he was trying to convey.
When it came to teaching and nurturing, Luther was a total rookie. He couldn't copy the hardcore training methods of the great masters from his past life, who with students all over the world. All he could do was fumble forward, figuring out his own way to teach.
Anxiety had always accompanied him, and he deeply felt the pressure Mai experienced when raising Pokémon.
Gardenia was the first person to acknowledge and affirm him.
"If I didn't know your identity, I would've thought you were a schoolteacher sent by the Pokémon League."
'Mr. Luther, the Pokémon League's schoolteacher?'
Among the trainee Pokémon Trainers, there was a popular rumor that Luther and Gardenia had trained their most outstanding student, Basil, who was now already a fully qualified Pokémon Trainer. Ever since Luther returned, Basil had only appeared at the Gym a few times.
Even though today was the day Luther and Mai were leaving Hearthome City, Basil still hadn't shown up.
There were many trainee Pokémon Trainers there to see Luther off. After spending more than two months together, these kids had come to view Luther as both a teacher and a friend. Most of them couldn't accept that he was leaving.
Some had, under Luther's guidance, abandoned the idea of giving up on their Pokémon or swapping them out just to pass Gym challenges.
Some had chosen to grow alongside their weaker Pokémon, and finally reached the moment when that little one evolved.
Others had shown remarkable resilience in battle, earning Gardenia's recognition and receiving their Badge.
The gifts they wanted to give Luther and Mai were varied and messy, but in the end, thinking about travel convenience, they all agreed on polishing a rare light green stone into a leaf-shaped charm with clear veins to give to Luther.
In the past, Luther never understood how those admirable teachers standing on the podium could endure such tedious daily work and keep working late into the night.
Maybe money was the more realistic answer. But as Luther rubbed the smooth, light green leaf in his hand, he felt it must be something else.
Money has no soul, but this leaf in his hand did.
"Basil didn't come, huh?" Luther said after scanning the crowd, letting out a sigh.
"She's barely been seen lately. I played near her house, and her family said she's been leaving early and coming back late. No one knows what she's up to."
"Ever since her 49-win streak was broken, it's like she lost her soul."
"If it were me, I'd be devastated too. Just one win short..."
"Didn't Mr. Luther say she cares too much about winning and losing? In battles like that, what really matters is control over the details and reflecting on your own mistakes, not just the outcome."
Luther pressed a hand down on the kid's head. "Don't pretend to be all grown-up. If Basil doesn't come, so be it. Everyone walks their own path, she'll figure it out eventually."
Mai double-checked their supplies. After confirming nothing was missing, she took out a prepared shoulder bag and placed it on Chansey, asking her to help carry some of the load.
As for Marill, who was standing nearby, insisting she could help carry food too, Mai ignored her.
'As if I'd give it to you! You're more likely to steal it!'
"A city like this can't keep someone like you around. Otherwise, I'd really want to ask if you'd stay and keep working at the Gym. With your abilities, the salary would be quite generous."
"Didn't you just ask me anyway?"
Luther held out his hand.
Gardenia grasped Luther's hand and gave it a gentle shake.
"I wouldn't feel right if I didn't ask. I needed an answer. Honestly, Hearthome has a good atmosphere and complete facilities. It's not as good as Sunyshore City, but it's great for retirement and relaxing. If you still dream of that lazy life, come back, I'll find you a nice plot of land."
Luther picked up his backpack, slung it over his shoulders, and smiled. "One step at a time. I have a goal now, but I don't plan to map out every part of my future. Sometimes, living a step-by-step life is kind of interesting, refreshing, even."
Gardenia let go of his hand with a trace of sadness. She wanted to say something more, but just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind.
Basil bent over, panting heavily.
"We thought you weren't coming. Mr. Luther is about to leave, and you're still late, how inappropriate."
Luther stopped the teasing and walked over to Basil.
Basil straightened up while clutching her chest, breathing heavily. She looked at Luther, struggling to speak for a long time, words forming but never coming out. In the end, she lowered her head.
"I'm sorry." She turned to Gardenia and bowed again as she repeated: "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" Luther asked.
Without lifting her head, Basil replied in a choked voice: "Because I didn't understand what you and Gardenia were trying to teach me."
"You both taught me the basics, trained me in battle techniques, helped me overcome my timidity, and encouraged me to face others bravely... all so I could confront my Pokémon and my true self."
"But I... I thought I was special in your eyes. I believed I had great talent, strong strength. I kept challenging others everywhere. Even when you and Gardenia warned me that winning and losing wasn't everything... I didn't listen…"
"And?" Gardenia asked.
"And… and also…" Basil broke into a sweat, unsure what she had missed.
Luther sighed. "The biggest issue is that you stopped coming to class."
"Cynthia once used someone to teach me a lesson. His name was Harold, a once-famous Pokémon Trainer. He rose in the same era as Cynthia and was considered her rival back then." Luther gestured to the DSLR camera slung around his neck. "He gave me this."
Basil and the other trainee Pokémon Trainers were stunned. They racked their brains trying to remember that name, Harold, but came up blank.
Someone considered Cynthia's rival should've been quite famous; there's no way they'd never heard of him.
Only Gardenia frowned, slowly recalling that once high-spirited young man.
"If I remember right, Harold is now a member of the Sinnoh Pokémon League stationed permanently in Kalos? It's true that his name faded from the spotlight a long time ago. The last time I heard of him, I had just become a Gym Leader. Back then, his match with Cynthia was seen as a clash between future stars."
Hearing about such an incredible past, someone curiously asked: "Then why did Harold suddenly disappear?"
Gardenia gave a helpless, bitter smile: "Because he believed he was incredibly talented, thought he could slack off on training, and go indulge in his favorite extreme sports. The more dangerous the better. He kept getting injured."
Luther had only learned the full story afterward. During the time Cynthia steadily climbed to the top of the Sinnoh Pokémon League, Harold had been "enjoying life."
The price he paid: he seriously injured his leg twice, and his hand was almost permanently disabled.
That once-promising Pokémon Trainer, full of potential and expectations, stood at a fork in the road and chose the wrong path. The same year Cynthia became Champion, he watched her raise the trophy on TV, heartbroken and full of regret, and picked up Pokémon battling again.
He trained obsessively, pushing himself and his Pokémon to test their limits, day and night, almost torturing himself.
But it was too late. He had lost three full years, three of the most precious years of his youth. It was as if all his passion and drive had been left behind in the past.
In Cynthia's own words: "Back then, he was a dazzling prodigy. But three years later, he was just a man desperately chasing the shadow of his former brilliance, trying to retrieve what he once was."
Luther could understand the feeling Harold had when driving fast down a road, the world flashing past around him.
He probably thought: if I go just a little faster, maybe I can catch my past self, even if it's just his shadow.
"To be honest, you don't have Harold's level of talent. And you've got a bit of that timid streak that's hard to hide. You should stick to something and see it through, not quit halfway."
"If you've decided to thoroughly master the fundamentals before starting your journey, then do that. If you think you're ready, then begin your travels. Winning streaks on a challenge stage are just a way to seek comfort from others; that kind of comfort will only paralyze you, make you believe you're invincible. Are you really satisfied with that illusion?"
"Besides your habit of blushing when you talk, mumbling, and always apologizing, despite all that, I really liked the old Basil. The humble, motivated Basil."
"Go find her while she's not too far gone. She's just lost her way. It's not too late to get her back."
(End of Chapter)
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