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When Luther returned to the Gym, he almost thought the backyard was on fire.
There was a horrible burnt smell in the air, mixed with a faint aroma of cooked meat. The combination was truly indescribable.
Holding a Pokémon Egg and covering his nose, Luther walked into Gardenia's break room, only to see her frantically scrubbing a frying pan. On a plate beside her lay a pitch-black, unidentifiable object.
"What did you cook? A special offering to some ancient god?"
Luther's words gave Gardenia a fright. When she turned around and saw Luther, she immediately grabbed the charred object and dumped it into the trash can.
"I had no choice, I didn't want to order takeout, so I tried to cook myself… This was my second failed attempt."
That didn't make sense. At worst, pan-frying meat could be a bit overcooked, but how did she manage to burn both sides to a crisp? It was truly bizarre.
Gardenia's hopeful eyes left Luther unable to refuse. He handed her the Pokémon Egg, and using the leftover scraps from her cooking attempt, he quickly whipped up a simple lunch for her.
Sitting down and wolfing it down, Gardenia looked curiously at Luther's Pokémon Egg.
"You went to Lumiose City just for that Egg? Oh, and your hand looks injured too, must've been tough to get it. What kind of Pokémon Egg is it?"
Luther just smiled and said he'd hurt himself accidentally. He didn't want to bring up the whole ordeal with that ragtag group.
As for the Pokémon Egg, he was genuinely curious what would hatch from it.
"By the way, has anyone in the academic world ever said that carrying a Pokémon Egg around speeds up its hatching process?"
Gardenia froze mid-bite, looking at Luther like he was a fool.
"What kind of bizarre idea is that? Did someone actually suggest it?"
"Well… someone did mention it to me."
"That's absolutely ridiculous! To hatch a Pokémon Egg, you obviously need the proper temperature, a safe environment, and attentive care. Carrying it around everywhere just increases the risk of something going wrong! If you can hatch it normally, why add unnecessary risk?"
"Whoever told you that must've wanted you to fail," Gardenia said indignantly. "Jealous people like that aren't worth your time."
Luther awkwardly scratched his nose. He couldn't exactly say that most egg-hatchers actually do it this way…
He'd asked Mai, who knew what she was doing, about it on the plane. She had carefully explained the steps and precautions of hatching an egg, but said nothing about speeding up the process. Now that he thought about it, she'd probably been sparing his feelings.
After finishing her meal with satisfaction, Gardenia let out a contented sigh.
"If only I hadn't tasted your cooking back then… After you left, eating fish cakes felt like chewing wax. I tried using the recipe myself, ruined two pans and several sets of ingredients."
'Recipes, huh…' Luther understood. They might give you the steps, but the most important part, controlling the heat, was usually just brushed over.
"I can teach you how to cook."
Gardenia excitedly leaned toward Luther, then paused and asked, "There's definitely a catch, right? Go ahead, what's the condition?"
"Let's talk after the Gym closes today."
Seeing Luther acting all mysterious, Gardenia decided not to press further. It just so happened that it was time to open the Gym for the afternoon. She picked up her Poké Balls and headed out.
Before leaving, she tossed the keys that Luther had returned after going to Lumiose City back to him.
When Luther returned to the yard, he saw Basil, wearing a straw hat, standing on tiptoes outside the fence, peeking inside. When Basil spotted him, he waved energetically.
It was obvious Basil had built up some confidence. In the past, it would've been nearly impossible to get him to initiate a greeting.
"I heard that among rookie Pokémon Trainers in Hearthome City, you're quite famous now."
As expected, teasing him brought immediate results. With just one sentence, Basil reverted to his usual flustered self, either apologizing or blushing so hard he couldn't get a word out.
"How many wins so far?"
Basil tilted his head up, thought for a bit, and hesitantly replied, "Around thirteen consecutive victories… Miltank and Wigglytuff are really strong."
Wigglytuff?
Luther was surprised when Basil released his Wigglytuff.
"You have a Moon Stone?"
Basil nodded. "It's the only thing my parents left me. I didn't want to use it before, I was afraid Jigglypuff wouldn't listen to me after evolving. But now I don't worry about that anymore. Even I was shocked during the evolution. Her body isn't as round as before, but she feels so soft and cuddly now."
As he spoke, Wigglytuff walked a few steps toward Luther, seemingly inviting him to experience the softness for himself.
Luther couldn't refuse Gardenia's hospitality, so he crouched down and gave Wigglytuff a pat... It was nice, but Luther still felt his own Chansey was more pleasant to the touch. Plus, when he rubbed Chansey's little ears, she'd actually enjoy it and react.
"Can you teach me more battle techniques?" Basil asked eagerly. "If I train just a bit more, I can keep up my winning streak. I've already beaten the kids who used to bully me, I don't want to lose again! Last time, you told me to focus on adapting my moves based on the battle situation instead of changing attacks on a whim. I had Miltank train really hard on Rollout. It's been super effective. Can you take a look at Wigglytuff too?"
Luther didn't look at Wigglytuff, he frowned at Basil's words.
"Can I see your Miltank use Rollout again?" Luther thought for a moment. "I'll find an opponent for you… how about Espurr?"
The moment Espurr appeared, Basil couldn't take his eyes off it. This floating Pokémon gave people a strong urge to reach out and touch it.
"Is that a Pokémon from outside the Sinnoh region?"
"Yeah, it's an Espurr from the Kalos region, Psychic type. Alright, Basil, have your Miltank use Rollout with the goal of hitting Espurr."
Miltank's upright body immediately shifted to all fours, and in the next second, it became a massive rolling tank of muscle charging straight toward Espurr.
Luther instructed Espurr to stay on the ground and not use Psychic-type moves to interfere.
Under these conditions, Espurr easily sidestepped the charging Miltank at the last moment. That was enough for Luther to see the problem.
Following Basil's commands, Miltank kept using Rollout repeatedly. Yet every time, Espurr dodged it just in time, without needing to float or use its abilities.
A slightly tired Miltank glanced at Basil in confusion, while Luther sighed.
"It's too obvious. Every time your Miltank starts Rollout, she first drops to all fours and then curls into a ball. That telegraphs the attack too clearly."
Basil hadn't expected the continuous Rollout strategy, so effective in his rookie battles, to be critiqued like this. He looked a little deflated.
"Remember how I told you that your move execution should be as hidden as possible?"
Basil thought back and realized, yes, Luther had said that.
"But... Rollout is such a clear move. No matter how you do it, there's always that charging phase. How can it not be obvious?"
Luther smiled and patted Miltank's head. "Oh, I have the answer, but I won't tell you."
Basil lowered his head, disappointed.
"But you can try to figure it out yourself. Stay behind after the Gym closes later and see if you can find the answer. For now, let's get back to the basics, time for more Pokémon knowledge training."
Time flew by during the lesson. When the bell signaling the Gym's closing rang, Luther realized that Gardenia had been squatting beside him, resting her chin in her hands and curiously watching him and Basil the whole time.
"Alright, you can tell me now. The Gym staff have gone home for dinner. I hope your request isn't too much."
Luther stood up and glanced over at Gardenia's array of Grass-type Pokémon.
"Gardenia, which one of your Pokémon is the strongest?"
"The strongest?" Gardenia blinked, then closed her eyes and calmly thought for a while. "If you ask like that, I'm not sure how to answer…"
"In terms of tactical flexibility, it would be Abomasnow. Even though it's naturally countered by Fire types, if I use its ability right, it's really tricky."
"For ending battles quickly, definitely Breloom. Its burst power is insane, many Trainers can't handle its continuous offense."
After thinking for a while, Gardenia pointed to the Exeggutor dazing off in a corner of the courtyard.
"If I had to pick one, I'd say that one. Its type coverage and training level are probably the highest."
Luther looked at Exeggutor, who was facing a wall like it was deep in some self-imposed exile, and said, "Alright, then it'll be him."
Facing Gardenia, Luther solemnly made his request: "Gardenia, my request is simple, no holding back. I want to battle your strongest team at full strength."
It was rare to see Luther wear such an expression. Was this really the same somewhat lazy guy she'd known?
"You're challenging the Gym?"
"No," Luther replied, "I just want to understand… the true strength of a Gym Leader. And also, how far I can really go. Only by challenging stronger opponents can I find out where I'm still lacking."
Gardenia laughed. "So, you're using me as a punching bag?"
"I think I'm more likely to be the punching bag…"
"Well, alright. But remember, you promised to teach me how to cook."
With Gardenia's agreement, Luther brought Basil to the Gym's battle arena.
The lights, which had previously been turned off, came back on, and the battlefield rose into place.
"As you wish, I'll go all out. Get ready for battle, Exeggutor!"
Gardenia's Exeggutor took the field with its usual gloomy expression.
While Basil was trying to recall Exeggutor's information, something hard tapped her forehead. Luther handed her his Pokédex.
"You can use this for now. Don't forget, this battle holds the answer you're looking for."
Luther sent out the same Pokémon as before: Espurr.
"It has enough psychic energy to blow everything within 100 meters away, but it can't control it well. In order to prevent the powerful energy from leaking, it covers the organs that release power with its ears."
Basil gasped softly in surprise just as the Pokédex's voice echoed from behind Luther.
Gardenia's eyes lit up when she saw Espurr. "So, besides getting a Pokémon egg in Lumiose City, you also caught this little cutie, huh?"
"You can take a good look after the battle."
"Deal!" Gardenia grinned at Luther. "Since I'm going all out and you want to understand your own and your Pokémon's weaknesses, it's better if you take the first move."
Luther hesitated for a moment and then gave the command: "Espurr, use Psyshock."
This was Espurr's best move. Luther had seen her use it with barely any noticeable action before, launching attacks with great subtlety.
"Light Screen," Gardenia countered swiftly.
Though she couldn't see any movement from Espurr, the Light Screen was enough to protect Exeggutor from the attack.
However, Exeggutor let out a muffled grunt and squinted at the floating Espurr nearby.
Gardenia blinked. She wasn't fully familiar with Espurr's data, but it had managed to deal direct damage even with the Light Screen up.
An ability that ignores Reflect, Light Screen, Safeguard, Mist, Substitute, and Aurora Veil?
In that case...
"Exeggutor, Psychic!"
"We'll use Psychic too!"
Two invisible forces collided mid-air, stirring up a whirlwind and sending dust from the Grass-type battlefield flying to the sides.
It was a pure psychic power showdown, with both sides locked in a standoff.
Espurr squinted, struggling. She felt an overwhelming pressure, like waves crashing toward her one after another. Her own psychic energy was being forced back, unable to reach her opponent to push back…
Luther could already tell that Espurr was in trouble. In a clash of psychic force, breaking off suddenly risked taking a direct hit, but continuing like this was equally dangerous.
"Espurr, disengage your Psychic!"
Luther's command had Espurr cut off the psychic confrontation and retreat quickly. Even so, Exeggutor's Psychic still managed to land a hit.
Without a single command from Gardenia, Exeggutor immediately closed the distance between itself and the retreating Espurr with shocking speed.
Even Luther was stunned by Exeggutor's reaction and hesitated before shouting: "Espurr, face it head-on and use Dark Pulse!"
But it was already too late.
Exeggutor was right in front of Espurr. She staggered, a black energy began forming rapidly in front of her.
"Headbutt!"
They were too close. Exeggutor's Headbutt struck just as Espurr was about to release Dark Pulse. The attack shattered the move, and black energy leaked outward.
Not only did Exeggutor take damage from the unstable Dark Pulse, Espurr couldn't avoid the backlash either.
The heavy Headbutt slammed into Espurr, sending her small body flying, skidding across the field until she landed beside Luther.
Basil stared in disbelief.
What just happened with Exeggutor?
It moved on its own, adjusting its position based on the flow of battle without its Trainer giving any orders?
Was Gardenia following Exeggutor's lead and adjusting her commands accordingly?
Or... was this Gardenia's usual battle strategy?
And Basil still didn't understand why Luther had Espurr disengage from the equal psychic struggle. Didn't the Pokédex say Espurr's psychic power was very strong?
Luther picked up Espurr. She covered her face apologetically.
"It's not your fault," he said softly. "I was the one who reacted too slowly. The moment Exeggutor closed in, I should have had you fire off Dark Pulse immediately, instead of letting you hesitate and think about your next move."
Luther sighed. So this is the true strength of a Gym Leader...
It was just like the Champion-level battles he'd seen. The Pokémon they trained had an incredible ability to adapt on the fly, sensing opportunities to seize control and win the match.
And their Trainers could instantly read their Pokémon's intentions and choose the perfect move in each scenario.
At this level, the outcome of a match came down to every moment of feinting, every split-second opportunity.
A single unnecessary movement, a brief lapse in judgment by the Trainer, either could shift the battle dramatically or even cost the win outright.
(End of Chapter)