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Luther couldn't remember when exactly he fell asleep.
Before dozing off, he had spent quite a while playing with Mai and the Pokémon. Eventually, drowsiness crept up on him, and he drifted off in the attic of the Research Lab.
Now that he was back at the Lab, Luther figured he might as well sleep in for once. Usually, he was up early and on the road, so it felt good to indulge himself a little.
But his cheek felt damp, something wet kept touching his face, pulling him hazily out of his dreams. Normally, it was Chansey who woke him up, so Luther immediately suspected her. But when he opened his eyes, he saw Chansey across the room tending to Milcery.
Turning his head back toward the bedside, he found Lairon with half its body leaning against the bed, tongue out, happily licking his face.
"Lairon… cut it out. Let me sleep a bit longer."
Luther, still half-asleep, gave Lairon's head a little tap.
"Ah! That hurts!"
The sharp pain jolted the sleep right out of him. Of course, Lairon's head was as hard as a rock. What was he thinking?
'So much for going back to sleep.' Sighing, Luther got up, washed up, and headed downstairs with his Pokémon in tow.
"Chansey, when did Lairon get back?"
Chansey made a gesture, and Luther sighed. "Six o'clock already? So Lairon just got in… those poor Researchers chasing him around must be exhausted."
Sure enough, when they went down to the dining hall, several Researchers were there, still in the same dusty clothes from last night, yawning as they wolfed down breakfast. When they saw Luther, they motioned for him to join them.
As Luther picked up a tray and considered what to eat, Professor Rowan entered the room and gave the overnight team the day off.
The Researchers let out a cheer, finished eating in a hurry, and patted Luther on the shoulder on their way out, it was clear that they were headed straight to bed.
"Professor Rowan," Luther said between bites, "I need a favor. Could you run a check-up on one of my Pokémon?"
"Which one?"
"Darkrai."
Professor Rowan's eyes went wide. As Luther spoke, Darkrai drifted up from beneath his feet, materializing silently beside him.
"You caught it?" Professor Rowan asked, completely dumbfounded. Even as a Pokémon Professor, he had seen only a handful of Legendary Pokémon in his life and now one was floating right in front of him.
Luther shook his head. "Not exactly. We're working together, temporarily. He was ambushed by some thugs before but it didn't last long, but I'm still worried they might've done something strange."
Getting the chance to examine a Legendary Pokémon up close was the kind of opportunity every researcher dreamed of. Professor Rowan didn't even finish his breakfast. He told a bleary-eyed Sachiko, who'd just woken up, to grab a quick bite, then whisked Darkrai straight into the lab.
Mai was clearly up much earlier than Luther. She was holding Misdreavus in her arms, with an Arcanine following behind, carrying a tray in its mouth.
Arcanine seemed to have taken things much more in stride than the Researchers. After realizing it didn't have much combat ability, it hadn't fallen into despair, it simply accepted the fact peacefully.
After all, the Research Lab's grounds were huge, and someone had to patrol them.
Even if it wasn't great at fighting, its incredible speed made it very useful.
The Misdreavus in Mai's arms was wearing a small pendant around its neck, a gift from that kid named Shiguya, given ahead of his arrival.
As Luther stroked Misdreavus's face, he smiled. "He's coming today for his evaluation. I wonder what kind of person he is. He can't possibly be worse than I was when I started, right?"
Misdreavus shook her head vigorously but then froze as she realized that shaking her head meant she thought Luther had been pretty bad…
Confused by her own logic, her eyes started to spin in circles. After giving Misdreavus another gentle squeeze, Luther curiously went to find Musharna to see what was going on.
When Luther returned yesterday, Musharna had immediately floated over and rubbed up against him affectionately, but strangely, he hadn't seen Flaaffy anywhere. Musharna was easy to find. She was on the lawn having breakfast with Marill and the others. When she saw Luther approaching, she happily drifted over to greet him.
"Hmm… where's Flaaffy?"
Following Musharna's gaze, Luther spotted her, crouched on the far side of the field, hiding behind a group of Tauros. Unbelievable. What was a sheep doing trying to blend in with a herd of bulls?
Flaaffy looked visibly nervous. When she finally came forward to face Luther, she even gave up the upright posture she'd gained after evolving, dropping onto all fours like a Mareep again.
That wasn't right. Something was seriously off.
At first, Luther thought she might just be anxious, like someone meeting their partner's parents for the first time, but it quickly became clear that wasn't the case at all.
Mai looked curiously at Luther. Was he really that scary in Flaaffy's eyes?
Luther himself was confused. They'd talked over video calls before. Why was she suddenly acting like this now?
Kirlia stepped up and tried to ask what was wrong. Flaaffy hesitated for a moment, then began communicating with her telepathically.
As their mental conversation went on, Kirlia's brow furrowed. She glanced sideways at Marill, who was eating nearby. The other Pokémon turned their attention to Marill too.
Even Luther, slow as he could sometimes be, immediately understood — Marill must have teased Flaaffy again, saying something ridiculous that she actually believed.
Luther grabbed Marill, caught hold of her springy tail, and hung her from the clothesline. Then he placed her favorite food right beneath her.
"Jumpluff, keep an eye on her. If she tries to untie herself, whack her."
Once Luther and the others had walked off with Flaaffy, Marill pleaded desperately, "Just one bite! Please, let me have one bite!"
Jumpluff floated nearby, its cotton tufts swaying, pretending not to hear a thing.
Luther didn't know exactly what Marill had said, but it had clearly scared Flaaffy pretty badly. He patiently reassured her and finally told her she could help take care of Musharna for him.
That last line worked far better than all the comforting words before it as Flaaffy instantly brightened up, overjoyed, and leapt straight into Luther's arms. Luther pushed her gently toward Musharna. "Hey, you're hugging the wrong one; it's supposed to be her."
Watching Musharna and Flaaffy nuzzling affectionately against each other, Mai suddenly felt a pang of envy. She was about to say something when Sachiko walked over, biting into a piece of bread.
"The preliminary examination's done."
"That fast?" Luther said, a little surprised.
"It's mostly thanks to the equipment," Sachiko replied. "Everything looks fine, at least physically; there are no abnormalities or unusual injuries. Of course, if you'd like a more detailed check, we can schedule one for tomorrow. How does that sound?"
Darkrai silently rose from Sachiko's shadow, then wordlessly slipped back into Luther's.
"That'd be great. I'll leave it to you."
With Luther's approval, Sachiko went off to make the arrangements for the next day's examination.
In a way, this was also a gift from Luther to the Research Lab, an invaluable chance for the researchers to observe a Legendary Pokémon up close and collect new data to fill in gaps in Pokémon studies.
Still, Luther couldn't let his guard down. Who knew what strange tricks that ragtag group might have up their sleeves, especially since this operation had been personally directed by Evergreen.
To defeat your opponent, you have to respect your opponent. When it came to Evergreen, Luther reminded himself to be cautious — cautious, and cautious again.
(End of Chapter)