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Every morning, Chansey was the busiest Pokémon in Luther's team.
She would portion out the prepared food according to each Pokémon's appetite. Then, she would make breakfast for Luther and Mai before they woke up.
When it was time, she would wake Luther and the Pokémon. As long as they washed their faces, they could sit down and eat right away.
Watching the other Pokémon enjoying their breakfast, Wurmple felt forgotten.
So much for "food and lodging included"...it really was a lie.
Luther didn't bring it up, and Wurmple didn't dare ask. She curled up in a corner, trembling.
Last night, under Marill's tyrannical pressure, Wurmple had no choice but to nod frantically. She didn't want to become someone else's meal just yet; she still wanted to live until the day she evolved.
Without any time to prepare, her "job" began.
When Milcery appeared in front of her, Wurmple instinctively looked toward Marill beside her.
"Hit her."
Marill's words made Wurmple shudder.
Just by looking at the way Luther cradled Milcery, it was obvious that this Pokémon was his favorite. If she attacked Milcery, would she even survive afterward?
Just as Wurmple was about to shake her head, Marill gave her a friendly smile.
Wurmple immediately rushed forward and used 'Tackle' on Milcery.
Under everyone's gaze, Milcery tumbled to the ground and looked at Wurmple with a confused expression on her face.
Seeing this, Espurr kicked Marill aside and grabbed Wurmple.
"Who told you to hit Milcery like that?!"
Milcery was basically a child Espurr had raised with her own hands!
Faced with Espurr's fierce expression and then glancing at Marill nearby, Wurmple felt like her brain was about to burn out.
'What was she supposed to do?'
Thinking it over, Wurmple concluded that it must have been last night's collision that caused her to miss a meal. She more or less understood the situation now.
Next time someone told her to attack, she would just use 'String Shot'. That way, no one could say she wasn't trying!
If even that didn't work, she'd miss her charge on purpose!
After finishing breakfast, Luther habitually checked on the Pokémon's condition. After one round, he suddenly noticed Wurmple curled up in the corner of a piece of deadwood.
"Chansey, you missed one."
He called out to Chansey, pointing at Wurmple.
Chansey always prepared food in fixed portions. Because Wurmple had joined so suddenly, Chansey had overlooked her.
She swiftly collected Espurr's feeding bowl and prepared a portion of basic-flavored Pokémon food for Wurmple.
Wurmple didn't dare eat. Chansey kept pushing the bowl toward Wurmple's mouth while she kept backing away until she bumped into something strange and could retreat no further. Only then did she turn her head to look.
Darkrai, already full, was staring at the little Wurmple.
Wurmple glanced at Chansey, then at Darkrai. A second later, a pair of hands pressed down on her head and shoved her entire body into the feeding bowl.
"Sorry, I didn't control my strength properly."
Darkrai's apology was icy cold and devoid of emotion.
With her entire body buried in Pokémon food, Wurmple stopped resisting and started eating.
While Wurmple ate from the feeding bowl, Marill crouched beside it, picking up the bits of food Wurmple had squeezed out earlier, not caring at all that they'd picked up dust on the ground.
When Marill noticed Darkrai looking at her, she kindly gestured for Darkrai to join her and picked up the food she'd just gathered.
Darkrai immediately slipped into the shadows without another word.
Despite having been on the team for a long time, he still couldn't understand Marill's strange way of thinking. To preserve his sanity, he decided to minimize his interactions with her.
Wurmple finally finished eating. This was probably the most satisfying meal she had had since the day she was born.
For wild Pokémon, being able to fill their stomachs every day required incredible luck. When food was available, they had to eat as much as possible and store the energy in case unexpected situations arose later.
However, eating too much wasn't good either, as was the case right now. Wurmple felt like she couldn't crawl properly anymore. She was far too full.
After packing up and preparing to set off, Mai glanced at Wurmple, who was lying motionless on the ground. She turned to ask, "Should we bring her along?"
"Bring her. Milcery didn't get much practice last night before she passed out. We still need to continue."
Espurr floated Milcery onto Luther's shoulder, and Chikorita climbed up to rest on the back of his neck as well. After checking everything over, Luther picked up Mai's backpack and gestured for her to follow.
Wurmple desperately wished that Luther and Mai would simply forget about her, then she could return to her nest.
"I heard the Pokémon in the forest say that some girls are afraid of bugs."
Wurmple felt that her chances of escaping alive were high.
"Did you eat too much and can't move?" Mai poked Wurmple with a tree branch and asked.
Seeing Mai's hesitant expression, Wurmple nodded enthusiastically.
Suddenly, a shadow from a pair of hands blocked her vision. Before she could react, she was grabbed by Mai's hand.
Wurmple was full of question marks. 'Weren't girls supposed to be afraid of bugs?'
Barehanded...grabbing?!
Imitating Luther, Mai placed Wurmple on her shoulder, picked up her things, and hurried to catch up.
The idea of being afraid of bugs simply didn't exist. Mai's family courtyard was always full of Bug-type Pokémon, and she had hatched many of them.
Catching one with her bare hands was a trivial matter.
After finding a suitable sparring partner, Luther had no intention of continuing to tangle with wild Pokémon. Darkrai released his full pressure, immediately forcing the surrounding wild Pokémon to keep their distance.
Of course, there were always a few who refused to accept it, Pokémon who felt their territory had been invaded and believed the intruders needed to be taught a lesson.
A Breloom jumped out aggressively. Before it could say anything threatening, its body was sent flying.
Marill and Espurr worked together to restrain it, pinning Breloom to the ground. Cold sweat poured down Breloom's body. It had no idea what the two Pokémon were planning to do to it.
"Go on, try attacking Breloom." Luther placed Milcery on the ground and encouraged her.
Milcery looked at Breloom, who was several times her size, hesitated for a moment, and then worked hard to release the 'Dazzling Gleam' she had somehow learned.
A halo of light enveloped Breloom. He felt a sharp pain run through his body, but it came and went quickly.
Milcery looked left, then right. She asked Espurr in her soft, milky voice, "Did it not work?"
Espurr froze for a moment, glanced at the Breloom pinned beneath her, and said viciously, "Make him scream."
The Breloom was still dazed and unable to understand what was happening.
'Scream?'
'What did that mean?'
Just as Marill raised her fist, Espurr's Psyshock slammed into Breloom.
He couldn't help but let out a howl.
"See? It worked really well!"
Espurr hopped off Breloom, hugged Milcery while praising her, then floated back onto Luther's shoulder.
From what happened last night, Luther had realized that although Milcery was interested in battling, she seemed a bit timid and afraid to face opponents head-on.
That wasn't a big problem… she just needed a little guidance.
Wurmple was meant for same-level sparring. For cross-level practice, they needed different punching bags.
Wild Pokémon like this, those who dared jump out in defiance of Darkrai's pressure, were perfect targets, and the results were very convincing.
Sure enough, after seeing Breloom's condition, Milcery suddenly gained tremendous confidence in her own strength and began chatting nonstop with Espurr about something.
This kind of deception felt entirely necessary to Luther. After all, not every Pokémon is comfortable with battle from the very beginning, confidence had to be built up gradually.
Perched on Mai's shoulder, Wurmple looked at the battered Breloom behind them and suddenly felt like she had seen this scene somewhere before…
(End of Chapter)