When they saw Gengar again, he had completely wilted.
The moment Darkrai moved even slightly, Gengar's body twitched reflexively, as though he had developed a stress response.
Meanwhile, Aggron, Dusknoir, and Mismagius all looked utterly refreshed and satisfied.
Who knew what kind of 'heart-to-heart conversation' they had just shared with Gengar?
With Darkrai keeping things under control, Luther felt perfectly at ease.
In fact, if chatting with Gengar could improve everyone's physical and mental well-being, Luther thought it was something that should be encouraged more often.
When Aggron saw Luther leading Pupitar towards him, he immediately straightened his posture.
Judging by Mai's attitude, it was clear that Luther was destined to become his future master. During the tournament, Luther had been too busy to spend much time getting to know Aggron, but judging by the current situation, it seemed that he needed his help with something.
After hearing Luther's request, Aggron subconsciously raised his head to glance at Mai, only to realize that she was also looking at him.
That look...
Understood.
From now on, he would have to break this habit. Besides listening to Mai, he would also need to obey Luther.
Aggron patted Pupitar and gestured for him to follow him from then on.
Pupitar stood still for a moment before suddenly... His seemingly bulky body shot forward like a cannonball.
It happened so abruptly that even Luther failed to react in time.
However, Aggron's response was even faster. He lowered his head almost instantly and charged directly towards the angle from which Pupitar was approaching.
A loud ringing exploded in Luther's ears.
After the collision, Pupitar was sent flying backwards, crashing to the ground and sliding a considerable distance away.
Aggron casually raised a hand to pat his own forehead and snorted.
Although Pupitar trusted Luther's judgement, he still wanted to test Aggron's strength for himself.
The moment they exchanged blows, Pupitar and Luther realized just how terrifying this Aggron was.
According to Mai, Aggron had once saved her life when she got lost in the forest years ago. After bringing him home, she never really trained him. Instead, she provided him with good food and a comfortable life and had him guard the house and protect the family's Pokémon from ambushes by nearby wild Pokémon.
Mai had apparently run away from home nearly ten years ago.
All these years, Aggron had enjoyed the finest cuisine under the financial support of the Mai family.
Without any systematic training, he developed this astonishing level of power purely through relentless self-training.
His reaction speed, explosive power, physical strength, and defensive abilities were all incredibly impressive.
Pupitar was probably about to receive some very serious 'discipline.'
Sure enough, Aggron, who had practically retired early while living at Mai's home, clenched both fists and cracked them loudly.
After years of feeling like his body was about to rust from inactivity, he had finally found something interesting to do.
He strode over, grabbed Pupitar with one hand, and patted his own chest to signal to Luther that he shouldn't worry.
Pupitar's expression was now almost identical to Gengar's earlier when he was dragged away; aside from confusion, there was also a hint of panic.
Luther was just about to stop Aggron since he had not yet explained how he wanted the training to be conducted.
However, upon further consideration, Luther realized that Aggron's greatest asset was probably his extensive experience in physical conditioning techniques.
This aligned perfectly with Pupitar's needs.
Perhaps it would be better to let Pupitar undergo some basic, hands-on combat training first and introduce other forms of training later.
Seeing Pupitar get 'claimed' by Aggron finally allowed Espurr to breathe a sigh of relief.
Living every day in constant fear of a sucker punch from Larvitar had not exactly been easy, even though Espurr could sense it coming and block it every time.
Larvitar, however, was endlessly persistent.
He never looked for Chansey, Jumpluff, or Kirlia. Instead, he had fixated on Espurr.
For a while, Espurr had genuinely believed that Larvitar was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. But after communicating with him, she finally discovered the truth.
Larvitar thought the other Pokémon were busy training while she spent her time playing with a cat teaser toy, looking very free. Naturally, he chose her.
Espurr felt utterly wronged.
She took care of so many troublemakers every single day. Was sneaking in a little time to play with a teaser toy to relax considered slacking off too?
Luther gently stroked Espurr's fur and comforted her. At least now, the only ones she needed to watch over were Joltik and Chikorita.
As they strolled along the artificial lake, Mai... who had deliberately refrained from asking about Luther's tournament plans until now, finally felt unable to hold back any longer.
"How are you planning to deal with Barry in the next match?"
The tournament had already entered its climactic stage. Seeing Luther get closer and closer to the championship, even Mai found it hard to stay calm.
"Earlier, I checked Barry's commonly used Pokémon in the database. For now, I'm planning to use Darkrai, Azumarill, Kirlia, Espurr, Mismagius, and Houndoom."
Mai took Luther's hand and said seriously,
"Actually, Aggron and Dusknoir are pretty strong, too. If you're still worried about accumulated fatigue and injuries, you can use them."
Mai added with a flushed face at the end:
"What's mine is yours too."
Luther rubbed Mai's head and smiled.
"I know you're worried about the battles ahead, but there's no need, and I also understand your concerns. Even if I beat Barry, the next round will be a full-team battle, and I don't have many Pokémon left to rotate in..."
"But…" Luther pinched Mai's cheek lightly. "Even if I lose, I want them to be the ones standing beside me when I'm eliminated."
"I'm their Pokémon Trainer, and they're the Pokémon who've travelled this road with me. It has to be them."
Even if he won the championship, it would have to be these Pokémon.
If he relied on someone else's Pokémon, it would be unfair to his own team, who had worked so hard all this time.
Luther often mocked Ash for being inflexible and stubborn, but he himself was just as obsessed.
The same foolish obsession that made people laugh.
"But you don't need to worry too much either. Don't I still have a new combatant who hasn't fought properly yet?"
Luther decided to ease Mai's concerns.
Mai froze.
A new combatant?
Who?
"You mean Pupitar? But he hasn't won a single match since the tournament started, and he only just evolved. Are you planning to let him fight in the quarter-finals?"
That was indeed Luther's plan.
He intended to keep Houndoom in reserve.
Houndoom had the most severe stamina problem on the entire team. If Houndoom had to appear, it would mean that the battle situation had become extremely tense.
Houndoom was a trump card to be used only once. If possible, Luther wanted to save it for later.
It was not that Luther underestimated Barry. It was mainly because Barry's performance against Paul in the anime had honestly been rather mediocre.
"Pupitar lost before because he lacked proper battle experience. Even though he kept losing, he's still been accumulating combat experience with every fight."
"And Misaki once told me…"
Luther stretched lazily.
"A strong heart is something that's mostly cultivated, not something people are born with. Pokémon are the same. If you want them to grow stronger when facing stronger opponents, and to always dare to fight no matter the situation, then you have to keep throwing them into challenges."
"Right now, I'm training Pupitar's strong heart."
"And his performance definitely won't disappoint me."
(End of Chapter)
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