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"You don't have to go back to Sunheart City if you don't want to. We can just swing around the nearby towns and collect Badges instead, it's not a big deal."
Luther suddenly realized how that sounded and quickly corrected himself.
"But still, you'll have to go see your parents' house sooner or later," Mai said with a faint smile. "Sunheart City's a nice place, there's great food, good scenery, and the Pokémon Trainers there are pretty skilled. You could even schedule a few practice matches."
Luther was silent for a long moment before he spoke softly.
"How bad… is your relationship with your family?"
He went straight to the point.
Mai's body trembled slightly. She knew right away she couldn't hide it anymore. After all this time traveling together, she had already let too much slip without meaning to.
She wanted to keep her secrets to herself but after journeying side by side with Luther for so long, she'd started to unconsciously rely on him. Every time she opened up, even by accident, it felt like some heavy part of her heart had been lifted.
It was as if she had finally found someone willing to share the burden. Or maybe someone is willing to listen.
They'd once agreed that everyone had the right to their own secrets—things they didn't have to share, things best kept to themselves so as not to trouble the other.
But… she just couldn't help it.
Mai absently stroked Eevee's ears, looking at Luther. Her expression softened; her voice grew calm.
"I don't have any siblings. I'm an only child. My father's always placed all his hopes on me. Ever since I was little, he planned everything, down to the smallest detail. Until…"
"Until you ran away from home and scared him half to death, and only then did he finally start letting go," Luther said quietly.
He remembered the story she'd told him, that reckless escape. If luck hadn't been on her side, he probably never would've met her.
"The thing he said to me the most, growing up, was always, 'It's for your own good.'"
"When I was little, I believed it completely. I thought my father would never lie to me. I thought he was the person who loved me the most."
Mai laughed bitterly. "But he did lie to me. The first Pokémon I ever raised, he released them all. Said it was for the sake of my health."
"When I got my second team, he tried to do the same thing. If I hadn't run away, he would've."
Luther didn't interrupt. He knew Mai didn't need advice right now, just someone to listen.
"Two years ago, I was already cleared by the doctors, and I was completely recovered. I wanted to get my Pokédex and start traveling. But he told me I was too old to go on a journey now. That I should stay with him, study for a while, and prepare to take over his position."
"And yet, when I was sick," Mai said, clenching her hands in the grass, "The thing he said to me the most was, 'Once you're better, I'll let you go travel.' If he never wanted me to leave in the first place, why give me hope at all?"
"You probably don't know this, but before I left on this journey, we had a huge fight. His words are still ringing in my ears."
'You'll never be a good Pokémon Trainer, nor a competent breeder. Every tutor I've hired says the same thing. Why won't you just give up?'
Mai gave a hollow, trembling laugh, her voice breaking as she whispered, "Is he even my father?"
"Why does he have to make every decision for me? Why does he get to decide what I can and can't do? Every time I try to chase something I love, he just… crushes it!"
Eevee squirmed anxiously in her arms, trying to nuzzle her hand, to distract her, to calm her down.
Slowpoke waddled up beside her, his normally vacant eyes full of worry. Pachirisu wagged his tail furiously, hoping Mai would play with him like she usually did. Corsola started splashing herself with the 'Water Gun', putting on a silly act, desperately trying to make Mai smile again.
But the box Luther had opened couldn't be closed anymore. This was the first time Luther had ever seen Mai like this, so angry, so helpless.
He wanted to say something, anything, but didn't know where to begin.
Mai's father's love was real, but so was his need for control. He believed that controlling every detail was how he showed his care. Her frail health as a child had made him overly cautious, overly protective, and perhaps even a good father, in his own way.
But Mai had grown up. And every person capable of independent thought has the right to make their own choices.
Her father's love… had crossed the line.
That kind of "love" had long since turned into shackles and it had already wounded Mai deeply. She couldn't stand the kind of affection that felt like a cage.
Her first act of rebellion was running away from home. Mai had won that battle. Her father had "surrendered."
But his surrender had only been a temporary retreat. He hadn't realized that Mai had grown up, that she was no longer the frail, sickly little girl who needed to be held in his hands and shielded from the world.
Mai wanted to leave. She wanted to go out and chase the dream she'd had since childhood.
By that time, the other Pokédex holders her age had already set off across the world, beginning their own adventures with their Pokémon.
Only Mai was still trapped, dragged down again and again by illness, confined between home and the hospital. That unclaimed Pokédex sitting in the Sunheart City Research Lab became a constant reminder, a symbol of the freedom waiting for her beyond the city limits.
Mai had tried to talk things through, hoping to bridge the distance. But that final conversation made her realize something painful:
There was no understanding left between them at all.
"So I made a bet with him," Mai said. "If I can't earn a breeder's license within a year or, if I choose to be a Trainer instead and fail to collect eight Badges, including at least four from core Gyms, then I'll go home quietly."
She gave a bitter little smirk. "Even then, it still ended in an argument."
Luther blinked. Ended badly? Don't tell me you ran away from home again…
But he remembered that her family had transferred her some money recently. That didn't quite fit the "runaway" story.
"Luckily, I was smart," Mai continued. "I already had a few of my Pokémon with me. My father told me to go back to my room and study properly. So, with Aggron's help, I broke through the wall, smashed the garden fence, and fought off all the Pokémon my family sent after me. Then I just ran for it."
"The scene was spectacular," she added with a hint of pride. "I had quite a few Pokémon back then. Once they saw me escaping, they all wanted to come along. I told them to hold the others off so they wouldn't chase me."
Luther covered his face. So it wasn't "running away" — it was a full-blown brawl.
Hearing Mai recall the story, Corsola bounced around excitedly.
Of course, she had been the one to lead the wall demolition! The real hero of the day!
Now it all made sense, why, when he'd first met Mai, she'd been low on money and tagging along for food. Fresh out of home, she clearly hadn't adjusted to life on her own. Whatever money she'd brought had probably been spent in a blur. And then she'd run into him, someone just as broke.
"Your family didn't come looking for you?" Luther asked.
Mai seemed calmer now that she'd vented some of her frustration.
"They gave in," She said, leaning back against the tree. "My father agreed to honor the bet we made that day. But even in his messages, between every line… It's still the same tone."
She sounded exhausted.
"He and I just can't understand each other. He won't change, and neither will I. Every time we meet, we argue. I guess… time can't go back to when I was a child."
"Sunheart City is a beautiful place," she murmured. "It's just a shame that my home happens to be there."
"I just want him to see that I've grown up, that I'm not a little kid anymore, that I can make my own choices. But he doesn't seem capable of understanding that. And worse, he never even tries to."
Slowpoke and the others pressed close to Mai, their warmth softening her tired expression. She smiled faintly and reached out to stroke their heads.
Luther's Pokémon looked between him and Mai, fidgeting anxiously. Houndoom flicked his tail, lifting Milcery onto Chikorita's head, then exchanged a look with Kirlia and Jumpluff. With a sigh, he stood up.
But his legs wobbled, and the next thing he knew, he stumbled right into Luther, who was still fumbling for words. Eevee bumped into Slowpoke's legs, and after a two-second delay, Slowpoke just flopped backward.
In an instant, the two humans lost balance and fell right against each other.
Houndoom steadied himself, mumbling, "Getting old… can't hold up like I used to."
Then he remembered that Luther and Mai couldn't understand him, so he just shook off the grass stuck to his legs and clamped his jaws gently on Marill's tail, dragging the curious onlooker away from the scene.
Slowpoke scratched his head, glanced down at his own feet, then at his tail, thought for a moment… and quietly turned around.
(End of Chapter)