You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Luther's route passed through a relatively crowded area; this road connected five or six nearby towns and cities, making it a major traffic hub. As a result, over the course of just one day, Luther was challenged by sixteen different Pokémon Trainers.
After Mai recorded the defeat of the sixteenth trainer on her phone, she shared a rather amusing piece of news with Luther.
'The official Pokémon League matchmaking app had been taken down.'
Apparently, the rules weren't clearly defined, which led to a wave of score farming.
Some people would stage fake battles, deliberately losing to boost another's ranking. Others privately traded points, setting a fixed price for each match outcome.
In their desire for fame and higher rankings, many talentless but wealthy individuals began dominating the leaderboard.
Of course, the Pokémon League wasn't clueless. Upon detecting irregularities, they swiftly took the app offline and launched an investigation into score manipulation. Following the League's lead, the enterprise version of the matchmaking app was also shut down.
Rumor had it that many within the League had long been unhappy with the app, believing it turned Pokémon battles into mere profit-making schemes and could mislead young Trainers. They were actively opposing any attempt to reintroduce the app, even with revisions.
It had its pros and cons. The app did make it fun to exchange points for little rewards outside of battles, but cheaters and loophole exploiters exist everywhere. Once the situation spiraled out of control, it all fell apart.
Luther felt a pang of regret for not spending the points he had earned back in Oreburgh City when he and Mai had baited cheaters. Now, those points were wasted.
That night, Luther camped in an area packed with Trainers. The route ahead led to Matsuoka City, which was near Snowpoint City and had its own Gym, attracting large numbers of travelers.
After setting up camp, Luther, fresh off a sixteen-win streak, noticed no one was coming over to challenge him. Watching the other Trainers enjoy their own matches, he quickly understood why. Most of them were looking for confidence boosts, not tough, evenly matched battles from which they could gain real battle experience.
"That's a good thing. It means you've gotten stronger," Mai said while stirring two pots of potato stew.
She had bartered dried meat with other Trainers to get the potatoes. As the weather grew colder, a hearty, filling meal became a real comfort.
Luther, however, didn't feel like he had truly grown stronger. He had crafted personalized training methods based on each Pokémon's habits, but so far only Chansey and Kirlia were showing visible results. The rest still needed more training and testing.
Through this process, Luther also realized that his battle commands had significant issues. Some of his orders failed to let his Pokémon unleash their full power or take advantage of specific situations.
For example, earlier, when facing a Piloswine stunned by 'Stun Spore', Luther chose to have Jumpluff use 'Mega Drain' as the first move.
Piloswine's opening 'Icy Wind' had dealt considerable damage and slowed Jumpluff down due to the cold. Hoping to increase error tolerance, Luther tried to help Jumpluff recover some stamina.
But in hindsight, that wasn't the optimal choice. As the battle continued, Piloswine maintained high stamina and kept pressuring Jumpluff. Luther couldn't find another suitable opportunity to use 'Mega Drain' for recovery.
It was only during the post-battle review that Luther realized his error had occurred right at the start. Once he recognized Piloswine's incredible defense, he should have committed to a drawn-out battle plan.
The window of advantage created by 'Stun Spore' would've been better used with 'Leech Seed', 'Toxic', or even a direct hit with 'Grass Knot', any of those would have been more effective than 'Mega Drain'.
The first two moves, 'Leech Seed' and Toxic, would have been perfect for widening the advantage. Even 'Grass Knot' could've dealt significant damage to the heavy-bodied Piloswine.
If it were Cynthia, she would've squeezed every last bit of advantage out of that 'Stun Spore'. Thinking of this, Luther realized he still lacked the ability to seize opportunities to the fullest. That kind of instinct came only through real battle experience and building a deeper understanding with his Pokémon.
Training hard every day wasn't enough, he needed more actual battles.
The open camping area gradually filled with Pokémon Trainers. As mealtime approached, smoke from cooking fires curled into the air. Those still battling called it a day and returned to their camps for dinner.
The potatoes had been stewed to tender perfection, soaking up the rich meat juices. Every bite was a warm, hearty delight. In cold weather like this, having a hot dish of potato stew was pure bliss.
Tonight, the Pokémon had the same dinner as Luther. Since they were nearing a city, Mai had decided to use up almost all the remaining ingredients she'd been carrying, planning to restock once they got into town.
Chikorita stared blankly at Espurr and Kirlia. She noticed that while most of the other Pokémon were happily munching straight from their feeding bowls, those two were elegantly eating spoonful by spoonful.
Kirlia, after evolving, had gained more dexterous limbs and decided to try using utensils; it turned out that they were surprisingly handy.
Espurr, on the other hand, had gradually picked up the habit by mimicking Luther and Mai's behavior, and eventually just stuck with it.
Chikorita nudged Luther, pointing with a leaf at Espurr and Kirlia. The message was clear: 'I want to do that too!'
Luther glanced at Chikorita's short little limbs, trying to imagine her using a spoon. Amused, he handed her his spoon and watched with mischief in his eyes.
Sure enough, Chikorita grabbed the spoon in her mouth, dipped it into the bowl, and tried to lift some stew. Sweating slightly, she glanced sideways at the spoonful of potatoes… only to realize she couldn't actually eat from this position.
She tried to press the spoon down with her front limbs… and went quiet. She couldn't grab it at all.
Frustrated, she looked to Espurr and Kirlia for help.
Watching more closely this time, she realized Espurr was cheating! Kirlia was genuinely gripping the spoon and eating properly, but Espurr wasn't holding it completely, when the spoon neared her mouth, it floated briefly in midair.
"Open wide, ahhh~" Luther gently fed Chikorita a spoonful of stew and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
"Every Pokémon is different," Luther explained. "Before Kirlia evolved, she just used her tiny hands to eat her food. It wasn't until after evolving that she could try eating the way we do. Espurr, being naturally gifted with psychic powers, can manipulate her utensils with her mind to do things she couldn't physically pull off."
"Now think, what's your strength?"
Luther fed Chikorita another bite, not taking the spoon back even when she tried to return it.
After chewing thoughtfully, Chikorita looked at the spoon, then at how Kirlia was holding hers. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
She wrapped her Vine Whip around the spoon and gave it a little shake. It moved with ease. As long as she mastered the distance and pressure, it would work just fine.
Carefully, she guided a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth. With each bite, her control improved, and when she finished her own portion, she eagerly tried to test her skills by aiming the spoon toward another Pokémon's bowl.
Marill stopped her in her tracks. As Chikorita extended the spoon, Marill grabbed the Vine Whip, stuck out her tongue, and licked the spoon clean.
Chikorita looked at the licked spoon with deep disgust. After a moment of contemplation, she returned it to Luther.
(End of Chapter)