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In the few days since returning to the Research Lab, Luther hadn't really touched his phone. It had been so long since he'd seen the Pokémon he'd brought back, and with this rare bit of free time, he naturally wanted to spend it observing them and playing together.
So when he finally turned on his phone to sort through his messages, the flood of notifications almost drowned him.
The most active chat was one named "Wailing Path Fan Club."
Luther sighed, rubbing his forehead as he tapped in. When he'd first been added, the members had only been Oleander, Diantha, Cynthia, and Lance. Now Bertha had joined too.
Since yesterday had been a rest day, the chat was still buzzing past midnight, with Cynthia tagging Oleander to grind materials together.
According to what Diantha had told him privately, this was actually a good sign.
It meant Oleander had found something new to enjoy; at least she wasn't as withdrawn as before. She was slowly adjusting to her new life. Whatever lingering burdens she'd been carrying seemed to have started fading away after that incident.
As Diantha put it, all Oleander really needed to do was to give the International Police a clean slate and trust in her remaining teammates. Judging from the times she logged into the game, it seemed that's exactly what she was doing.
Then Luther checked Candice's messages, which turned out to be quite interesting.
"The Swinub's parent actually came back! But it's injured, it's being treated right now."
Attached was a photo of a Piloswine with part of its thick fur lifted, revealing small, beady eyes underneath. The stark contrast made Luther chuckle involuntarily.
"I thought something bad had happened to the leader of the Swinub herd, but it looks like it was off fighting some powerful Pokémon, probably over territory. Come to think of it, there really were strange howls echoing in the mountains a while back. That must've been them battling."
"Most of the wounds are from Ice-type attacks, but there are some odd ones mixed in, too. Looks like it was a one-versus-many fight. That Piloswine must've gone through a lot for its Swinub."
As the leader of its herd, such burdens were unavoidable. Finding a suitable place for the group to live often meant clashing with other Pokémon.
Before leaving, it had escorted the Swinub to a cave it found safe, then went off alone, probably to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
The story reminded Luther of his own encounter with Houndoom, who had also faced him alone when they first met. Since returning to the Research Lab, Houndoom had relaxed completely. It spent most of its days napping under the trees, sometimes so deeply that even Luther's approach wouldn't wake it.
It was an old Pokémon now; its energy couldn't compare to the younger ones always running around. Aside from a bit of exercise to stay active, Houndoom spent the rest of its time quietly resting.
No one would ever imagine that the same Houndoom that exuded such fierce pressure in battle could look so peaceful outside the arena.
Darkrai's follow-up examination had confirmed once and for all that he was in perfect condition. But the Researchers' excessive enthusiasm had left him very uncomfortable.
They repeated the same procedure multiple times. At first, Luther thought it was just for accuracy's sake, but then he realized what was really going on: they just wanted more chances to interact with Darkrai.
So Luther quietly turned around and left the room, leaving Darkrai to deal with their attention on his own.
Later, Luther lay in the shade beside Houndoom, gazing absentmindedly at the distant blue sky, until a shadow drifted into view.
"Darkrai, could you move? The weather's nice today. Let me space out a bit longer."
Darkrai, looking rather sulky, said nothing and simply sank back into the shadows.
Not far away, Flaaffy was leading a group of Mareep across the field toward another water source near the Lab. Musharna was draped lazily over her back, which made Flaaffy the slowest in the group.
Meanwhile, Milcery was locked in battle with Oddish. Their respective "trainers" were Chikorita and Vileplume.
Of course, Chikorita's side had two "tacticians", Espurr and Jumpluff, acting as her advisors. The fight was intense and evenly matched. Luther adjusted his posture under the tree, propped his head on one arm, and watched the scene unfold with interest.
Compared to Oddish's crisp, coordinated commands, things on Milcery's side were… chaotic, to say the least.
From the way Espurr, Jumpluff, and Chikorita were arguing with each other, it was clear they couldn't agree on a single strategy.
Oddish's Razor Leaf smacked Milcery squarely in the face, not particularly painful, but Milcery looked completely lost, having just heard three different move commands shouted at once.
Glancing back at her three "trainers," who were now on the verge of fighting among themselves, Milcery saw Oddish steadily closing in, so she leapt up, tackled Oddish's face, and… kissed it.
Luther froze.
Milcery's Sweet Kiss had worked; Oddish was completely dazed, staggering off toward the edge of the field and even turning to attack Vileplume.
As both sides descended into chaos, Milcery cheerfully bounced over and burrowed into Luther's arms.
Meanwhile, Slowpoke had finally met his match, the Psyduck living in the Research Lab's pond.
The two had been locked in a staring contest since yesterday afternoon, standing motionless for an entire day.
The Corsola who'd been watching all night couldn't take it anymore and rammed Slowpoke aside, then pushed Mai to feed him from a bowl.
If not for Corsola's interruption, those two probably would've kept staring each other down until one of them fainted from hunger.
After feeding Slowpoke, Mai sat down under the tree as well.
She looked at the unmoving shadow beneath the shade and gently pressed her hand toward it, Darkrai quietly buried his head deeper into the darkness.
"Have you decided where to go next?" Mai asked.
Houndoom had woken up by now. Seeing Milcery hugging his tail, he gave a kind, gentle smile and swayed his tail lightly to amuse her.
Luther watched the scene and smiled. "I want to go to Sunheart City."
Mai was picking grass seeds out of Eevee's fur when she heard that and froze for a moment. Houndoom, who had been playing with Milcery, also stiffened. He noticed Luther looking at him.
"It's close to Lily of the Valley Island, and there are plenty of Gyms nearby," Luther said. "But honestly, I mostly just want to see what my parents left behind."
It was only a single house, but he still wanted to visit.
Back then, Diantha hadn't followed Oleander's suggestion to investigate Luther's parents' old home in Sunheart City. All these years, that house had sat there abandoned.
The community member holding the keys had faithfully guarded them, waiting all this time for Luther to finally come and claim them.
Mai didn't respond for a long time, which puzzled Luther.
She sat there holding Eevee, staring into the distance, her expression unreadable.
"What's wrong?" Luther asked.
He remembered that Mai's family was also from Sunheart City. After traveling for more than half a year, going home for a visit should be a good thing; it would put her family at ease.
"It's nothing," Mai said with a smile, turning toward him. "Sunheart City's a nice place. Perfect, really. I'll take you around and show you the sights."
She stood up and stretched lazily. "I know that city like the back of my hand."
(End of Chapter)