You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon, and I've also activated a (date-to-date) subscription model on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Ralts' evolution had put Luther in an excellent mood. After dinner, back in the hotel room, he was still excitedly observing Kirlia.
Due to training, everyone seemed to have a bigger appetite than usual today.
Even Espurr, who normally ate very little, had twice her usual portion today. The usually slow and dainty-eating Chansey had gobbled down her food like a hungry beast.
As for Marill, Luther had never seen her with a bad appetite.
The items Luther had ordered in Lumiose City were delivered to the hotel today, and he took out the Sweet Cheri Berry jam.
Cynthia had mentioned during their time at the Moonring Mall that mixing this jam with water made for a delicious juice. Seeing everyone stuffed full, Luther sniffed the sweet-and-sour jam and decided to give it a try.
He scooped out a large spoonful of jam, placing a little into each empty cup, then added warm water and patiently stirred. The rich, sweet-and-sour scent, once diluted, gave off a light, refreshing fragrance.
Kirlia sat beside Luther, curiously watching him stir the mixture in the cup.
Luther handed a cup of the light red juice to Kirlia.
Kirlia sniffed it, her eyes sparkling. She picked up the cup, sipped it gently, and then gulped it down in a few big swigs.
"Looks like this really suits your tastes."
Luther handed out the rest of the juice. Just as Cynthia said, Pokémon with a sweet tooth couldn't resist the flavor of the jam. Luther hesitated for a moment, then took a sip himself.
The taste was close to orange juice but with a hint of pear's sweetness. Since Cynthia had said it was safe for humans too, Luther simply brewed himself another cup and drank it happily.
When Mai opened the door, the entire room was filled with a sweet and tangy aroma. Pachirisu sniffed the air and bounced over to Chansey. Chansey had always taken great care of them, always saving a little food for them.
Sure enough, Chansey tilted her cup slightly, letting Pachirisu sip from it.
Pachirisu took a delighted gulp and happily called Eevee over to try it too.
But Eevee didn't go over. She was watching Kirlia beside her, and after a moment of thought, realized that her teammate Ralts had already evolved. He was now circling around Kirlia, looking at her with great interest.
Mai, on the other hand, had a much more direct reaction. Her usual favorite cuddle buddy was Chansey, but this new presence, Kirlia, had immediately caught her eye. She was now hugging Kirlia tightly, rubbing her cheek against Kirlia's face.
"I bought some really nice grooming products last time at the Moonring Mall. Let me try them out!"
There was no room for refusal, as Mai had already taken out the grooming kit from her package and laid it out on the bed, it was quite the setup.
"Come, Kirlia! Let's take a bath together. I'll help you freshen up!"
Kirlia was still hesitating, but Mai was already pushing her toward the bathroom.
As if remembering something, Mai turned back to grab a change of clothes and then closed the bathroom door.
Luther continued sipping his juice, but out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed that Slowpoke had been staring at him.
"Do you want some?"
No response… maybe he had misunderstood.
Just as Luther was about to finish his cup, Slowpoke lightly nodded.
Luther sighed. "Slowpoke, you weren't this slow when you were looking at those lewd posters in the Moonring Mall…"
He brewed a cup and handed it to Slowpoke. As Luther looked around the room, he suddenly felt like something was missing.
"Mai, where's your Corsola?"
Mai had just turned on the shower in the bathroom. Hearing Luther's voice, she turned off the water and stuck her head out.
"What did you say just now?"
Luther turned away. He was already used to this sort of situation and didn't find it strange anymore. There wasn't much point in reminding her, so he decided to drop the question.
"Corsola, is she in the bathroom?"
"Oh, a Corsola baby was born at the Day Care today. It wouldn't eat or drink, and it seemed really down. No matter how much they tried to cheer it up, it stayed listless. But once I let Corsola out, the baby suddenly got very attached to her, following her everywhere. There was no helping it, so Corsola's staying over there tonight. Otherwise, the night-shift breeder would have a hard time."
Mai ducked her head back in, and the sound of running water resumed.
Upon hearing Mai mention hatching, Luther turned to look at the Pokémon egg on the bedside table. He walked over, sat down, and picked it up.
Various patterns covered the egg, with mostly brown and tan stripes.
Luther pressed his ear against the egg, trying to hear any movement from inside, but nothing could be heard.
According to what Mai had said, accelerating the hatching process was basically not viable, so the only option was to carefully care for the egg using conventional methods.
"Chansey, come here for a moment."
Luther gently took the egg from Chansey's pouch and placed the Pokémon egg inside. But he immediately noticed, it was too small. It felt like the egg had been swallowed up by Chansey's pouch.
Chansey seemed to understand what Luther was thinking. She struck a boxing pose, then carefully lifted the egg out of her pouch and held it up…
Luther got the message, Chansey was saying that taking the egg out for training every day and handing it to Luther, only to return it afterward, was too much of a hassle.
"Then I'll hatch it! It's just a Pokémon egg, right?"
Mai's laughter and Kirlia's embarrassed cries echoed from the bathroom.
"Don't move, don't move, this spot doesn't have enough body wash… See? Whoa, it's so slippery… Don't run, let me rub that spot a bit more. Luther rubs my Eevee every day, it's totally normal… See? That's better. Don't move. The body wash needs to be applied evenly, then you'll smell nice and fresh."
"Just think, if Luther smells you and wants to cuddle up to you, wouldn't that be great… Oh! That worked well. Now let big sis check how your body's developed after evolution~"
Luther facepalmed. It was true that he had a habit of petting Eevee, after all, Eevee's big, fluffy tail swaying in front of him was very tempting.
He used to pet dogs and cats too, especially their tails.
Of course, that was always risky. For one, dogs might not appreciate you grabbing their fan-like tails. And as for big cats… well, you'd be lucky to even touch their tail before your hand got bitten.
Eevee was different. As long as Luther wanted to pet her, she'd slap her tail into his hands and let him go at it.
She really did smell nice, who knew how many luxurious shampoos and grooming products Mai had used... When the two of them finally came out, even Marill stopped mid-bite with a cookie still in her mouth.
The cookie didn't even taste good anymore.
Kirlia raised a hand to her nose and took a deep sniff. Luther felt it was unnecessary, at this point, the whole room reeked of body wash.
"Smells good, doesn't it?" Mai was clearly fishing for a compliment.
Luther picked up Kirlia and hugged her, the subtle fragrance grew even stronger.
"Honestly, I prefer a light, faint scent. This is a bit much."
"No problem! I guarantee you'll be satisfied tomorrow!"
Luther smacked his forehead. So this was what Mai was planning, looks like Kirlia would be enjoying another of Mai's spa treatments tomorrow.
Glancing at the Pokémon egg Luther had set aside, Mai, while drying her hair, asked curiously, "I wonder what kind of Pokémon it'll be. Some professors say you can identify the species based on the shell's pattern, color, and shape… but there've been plenty of cases where the hatchling completely contradicted their predictions."
"I'm curious too. This is actually my first time raising a Pokémon egg, it's kind of exciting."
(End of Chapter)
PS-"For every 200 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-04)!"