Ash caught sight of Darkrai out of the corner of his eye. Before it could sink back into the shadows, he quickly pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.
The Pokédex's voice startled Brock, who was busy preparing dinner, and Dawn, who was helping Mai distribute Pokémon food. Both stood up in shock.
"Don't be nervous... that's my Darkrai, not a wild one," Luther said, glancing back once before continuing to stir the soup pot with his ladle. "Darkrai, come out and say hello to Ash and the others."
Darkrai revealed half of its body from the shadows and moved to stand in front of Ash.
Excited to see a legendary Pokémon up close, Ash squatted down and locked eyes with Darkrai. Dawn put the food aside and came over, too.
"Come to think of it, this Darkrai actually has a bit of a connection with you guys."
Ash didn't quite understand what Luther meant.
"Didn't you run into a Darkrai near Canalave City?"
Brock was the first to recall it. "You mean the Darkrai that was summoned by Team Rocket's machine? You were in Canalave City, too?"
"No, no, no. I was on my way to Snowpoint City. For some complicated reason, Darkrai was injured, so I had the chance to capture him. You could say there's a karmic connection between us."
Dawn reached out curiously and touched Darkrai's head. "Ah, if only Ash had been a bit smarter back then and thrown a Poké Ball."
Pikachu, who was playing around with Milcery on his back, nodded in agreement.
Piplup was still chasing Marill. For the first time, Marill realized how irritating it was to have someone stick to her so persistently. Just as she was about to knock Piplup away with a punch, Mai shook the feeding bowl with Marill's name on it as a warning.
Mai's expression was very gentle, but the meaning behind it was rather terrifying.
"Half."
Marill sighed and withdrew her Ice Punch. She called out to Espurr. Espurr climbed onto Marill's head and helped her block her ears with its paws. Finally, Marill felt a bit better.
At last, it was time to eat. Marill let out a sigh of relief. Once she finished eating, she wouldn't have to worry about threats anymore.
Piplup was also finally ready for mealtime. During meals, no one could run around, so it was the best time to build relationships.
Piplup held his feeding bowl and dashed over to Marill, but then he froze, his mind going blank.
Ash and the others were also stunned.
The other Pokémon had portions roughly matching the capacity of their feeding bowls. Marill was the exception; Mai tore open a brand-new bag of Pokémon food.
And that wasn't the end of it. She kept opening bags, three in total, before finally sitting down next to Luther. She gestured for Ash and the others to eat while the food was still hot.
"Th-this is all for Marill? Did you starve her for days or something?" Dawn gaped.
Luther and Mai didn't think much of it. After serving Brock and Ash, they answered in unison, "Her appetite has always been like this."
Very soon, they would understand what "always" really meant.
Marill plunged headfirst into an open bag of Pokémon food and devoured it upside down. Finding that position uncomfortable, she smashed open another bag with a punch. She lifted it up, aimed the torn opening at her mouth, and gulped it down.
Ash's Pokémon stared at the scene in utter disbelief, while Luther and Mai's Pokémon kept their heads down and ate their meals.
"Is it really that strange? We're used to it," Kirlia said, chewing her food as she spoke to Pikachu and the others.
"I've only ever seen Snorlax eat like this…"
Despite his experience, Pikachu had no idea how to describe the spectacle unfolding before him.
Darkrai was observing Piplup. He really wanted to know if Piplup still felt that "love at first sight" after clinging so relentlessly to Marill.
Clutching his feeding bowl, Piplup slowly backed away.
What exactly was this feeling of shattered illusion?
Where had that cute Marill gone? Now, all he could see was a ferocious monster voraciously eating.
Even worse, after wiping out three bags of food, the monster still wasn't satisfied. It actually went over to Wurmple. Wurmple even handed over her own food!
'That's a bully, isn't it?!'
'Give me back that gentle, adorable Marill!'
If Darkrai knew the inner drama playing out in Piplup's head right now, he would definitely punch him in the face; after all, this was the first truly "official" interaction between him and Marill.
She could go berserk over a single bite of snacks. Darkrai didn't believe Marill was ever "gentle and cute." "Savage" felt much more appropriate.
After finishing Wurmple's food, Marill was still a little unsatisfied. Under Dawn's watchful gaze, she walked over to Piplup.
Luther almost spat out his food. Did she have no shame? She was actually putting on a coy, bashful act to trick Piplup. Luther felt like he was about to vomit up the delicious meal he'd just eaten.
Piplup hugged his feeding bowl and bolted away at top speed. Only after hiding behind Pikachu did he finally feel a sense of safety.
Piplup stretched out a hand and shouted at Marill, "Don't come any closer!" Seeing that Piplup wasn't falling for it, Marill lost interest and simply went off to Chansey to share some nutrient eggs instead.
"To be honest, I have a Snorlax, too, but he only eats a lot after he wakes up. He's asleep most of the time, so he's actually pretty economical when it comes to food..."
Ash gave Luther a thumbs-up. That's true love, still raising her even though she eats so much.
In truth, Luther was also troubled by how to evaluate Marill's appetite.
When there was plenty of food, she'd eat with all her might, as if she could never be full. But when traveling in the wild with limited supplies, eating just a little posed no problems.
A Schrödinger's stomach?
Pikachu looked at Wurmple, who was lying motionless in her feeding bowl after eating her fill. Curious, Pikachu walked over and poked Wurmple with a finger. He found that she had fallen asleep in the bowl.
"I already told you not to treat the feeding bowl as a place to sleep! You never listen..."
Mai picked up the bowl and carried it into the tent so that Wurmple could rest properly.
She had been practicing with Milcery every day recently and had accumulated quite a bit of fatigue. More often than not, she would collapse and go straight to sleep after dinner.
By contrast, Milcery was overflowing with vitality; her energy bar was always maxed out. No matter how much she played, she never got tired. Late at night, she would often climb out of the tent and play with the Pokémon on night watch.
The Darkrai on night duty had already been pestered by Milcery, who kept sneaking out after Luther fell asleep.
For several nights in a row, once Milcery slipped out, she would follow the aura and stand right on top of the shadows where Darkrai lurked.
She had Darkrai figured out completely: if Darkrai didn't come out to play with her, she simply wouldn't go back to sleep.
Unable to just ignore her, Darkrai had no choice but to humor Milcery, playing with her until she was utterly exhausted so she would finally go back and rest.
Darkrai had his grievances but nowhere to vent them. He wanted to explain to Luther that Milcery had been sneaking out every night behind his back, but his meaning never came across properly. Instead, Luther misunderstood and thought Darkrai wanted to personally take care of Milcery.
This made Espurr very unhappy for a while. Fortunately, at least Espurr could be reasoned with…
From then on, Milcery could no longer sneak out. Espurr would pretend to be asleep, and once Milcery quietly got up, a single yawn was enough to completely shut down her mischief.
(End of Chapter)
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