"Do you still want to keep going?" Gardenia walked over and reached out to pat Espurr on the head as she spoke.
Luther shook his head. "No need for today. I've already noticed some problems with myself… Ah! Don't pinch her ears!"
Gardenia was startled by Luther's sudden outburst and quickly pulled her hand back. Espurr's ears, which had been perked up from the rubbing, drooped again.
"Their ears are used to suppress uncontrollable psychic power..."
"What happens if you straighten them out?"
"You and I would probably take off together..."
Gardenia picked up Espurr and looked her over from all angles. "What a fascinating little creature."
While Gardenia played with Espurr, Luther turned to look at Basil.
Basil was holding the Pokédex and deep in thought. Unlike Gardenia and Luther, she couldn't quickly grasp the battle situation, so she was still mentally reviewing the scenes from earlier.
Luther didn't disturb her and instead went to Wigglytuff's side, reaching out to rub her upright ears.
The perky ears instantly flopped flat into Luther's palm at his touch.
As soon as Luther let go, Wigglytuff's ears slowly stood up again, so he touched them again... an endless loop.
Lost in thought, Basil snapped back to awareness, blankly watching Luther interacting with Wigglytuff.
"Any insights?" Luther asked with a smile.
"Yes… But I don't know how to put them into words."
Gardenia, holding Espurr, walked over. "So you kind of get it, right? No need to explain your conclusions. Go try it out in practice."
Gardenia glanced at her phone. "It's getting late. You should head back for dinner, or your family will start worrying again."
Basil bowed to Gardenia and Luther, called out to Wigglytuff, and left the Gym.
Back in the courtyard with Gardenia, Luther thought for a moment and asked, "I'm curious, when you battle challengers, how much of your full strength do you use?"
Gardenia pondered a bit. "Normally, about 20% of my battle strength is enough. My main team mostly just rests; rookie-level Pokémon are enough for most situations. If it's a strong Trainer, then I'll focus a bit more, but I'm not sure what percentage that would be."
"A Trainer with a Darkrai must've challenged the Gym, right? Did you go all out?"
"All out? Why would I?" Gardenia scratched her head. "Unless it's someone from the Pokémon League inspection team, there's no reason to give it my all. That's for those entering the League Tournament. Our job is just to assess Trainers. The passing standard is a bit vague, sure, but I've never heard of a Gym crushing someone and refusing to give a badge."
"What I mean is, if you went all out, would that Trainer named Tobias still be your match?"
Gardenia thoughtfully recalled the battle with Tobias as she casually picked up a hose to water the Exeggutor.
"If all his Pokémon were trained like that Darkrai, beating him wouldn't be too hard. You know how it is with battles, so many variables. That's all I can say."
With Tobias and Ash as reference points, Luther had a rough idea of where his own strength stood.
On the way back to the hotel, Luther held a Pokémon egg in his arms, mulling over Cynthia's advice.
"At the beginning, don't worry about move proficiency, that's something for more advanced stages. First, figure out each Pokémon's development direction and make a training plan. The goal should be to raise their overall strength."
"As for training methods, everyone does it differently, so I won't say much... but I've got to say it, even if everyone's different, yours is just plain dumb..."
Luther decided not to think about that last part for now. But Cynthia was right, it was time to determine a clear development path for each of his Pokémon.
After dinner, Luther returned to the room, just as expected, Mai hadn't come back yet.
Luther let out all his Pokémon.
Aside from Mismagius, who remained at Diantha's villa due to concerns about her obsession with the chaos of the crowd, and Musharna, who was being observed at Professor Rowan's villa, the ones still with Luther were: Ralts, Marill, Jumpluff, Chansey, and Espurr.
Mismagius would be the best pick for a special attacker, but since she wasn't around, he had to designate someone else for training.
Espurr proactively rubbed against Luther, and Jumpluff and Ralts both nodded in agreement, so that settled it. Espurr was now the team's number two special attacker.
Luther turned to look at Marill. The yawning little guy noticed everyone's gaze and instinctively took a step back.
"Back up all you want, but who else in this team can act as a physical attacker? Your Ice Beam is strong, sure, but I'm going to start training you to learn Ice Punch. You'll need to get used to hand-to-hand combat for a while."
"Of course… your training load will increase, but I'll do my best to keep you well fed."
That last sentence was more effective than anything else. Marill's eyes sparkled, and with a leap, he clung to Luther's leg in a hug, full of resolve.
"If you ever feel like you're not getting enough to eat, just let me know, I'll find a way to satisfy your appetite."
After all, Cynthia had said it too: in many cases, when Pokémon like Marill are constantly hungry no matter how much they eat, it's very likely due to the massive energy requirements for evolution. If that energy isn't stockpiled ahead of time, the evolution process can become significantly more difficult.
Marill looked up, opened his mouth wide, and let out a loud "Aaaah~~~."
Luther facepalmed. "Already?"
Thankfully, Luther had come prepared. On the way back, he'd used the leftover salary from earlier to buy a big bag of snacks. He didn't bother stopping Marill, so long as he didn't make himself sick, let him go wild.
But this time, Marill didn't eat them. Instead, he tore the snack bag open, letting the contents scatter all over the floor. Then he gathered the snacks into a pile, made a nest, and climbed right into it.
Watching Marill gleefully roll around atop the snack mountain, Luther had a strong sense of déjà vu. He was sure he'd seen this behavior somewhere before…
"Jumpluff, you're on support duty."
Luther gave one of Jumpluff's cotton puffs a gentle squeeze. Oh? The fluff was noticeably puffier than before, he'd have to ask Gardenia tomorrow if that was a good sign.
Jumpluff, of course, was perfectly happy with this assignment. After all, she'd been the one handling support when Luther first debuted, it was her old specialty.
"Chansey, I asked you before if you wanted to join in battles. Back then, you said you didn't really mind either way. Now I'm giving you a task. You can confirm again now."
Chansey placed her little hand on the egg in her pouch, gave a soft cry, and looked at Luther with determination.
"Your mission is an important one. You'll be the rhythm engine of our team."
Chansey looked at Luther in confusion, clearly, she didn't quite grasp what that role meant.
"Being a punching bag for Espurr and Marill, sparring partner, and helping Ralts with move power testing, those are just daily routines."
Luther placed both hands on Chansey's sides.
"In actual battle, when you're out there, you need to help buy others enough time to rest and recover, disrupt the opponent's strategy, and inflict some negative statuses on the Pokémon they send out."
"Your training might be harder than the others'. You may even need to learn some moves that would normally be difficult for you to master."
"In a way, you'll become the most pivotal member of our team moving forward."
(End of Chapter)
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