Luther didn't want to deal with Team Rocket. He had Marill smash the shockproof glass container with a single punch.
Pikachu, who had been cradling Milcery, gently placed the Pokémon in Marill's arms before dashing over to Ash and angrily shouting at Team Rocket.
Team Rocket had already sent out Seviper and Carnivine, although Carnivine was currently hanging onto James and biting him.
Just as Jessie was about to strike first and launch an attack, she suddenly noticed a tiny figure floating in front of Seviper.
"What kind of Pokémon is that? I've never seen it before."
James stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, "Isn't that an Espurr from the Kalos region? What's it doing here? Let's just catch it first!"
Kirlia, Mismagius, and Darkrai, three Pokémon with the most acute Psychic Power perception, suddenly sensed something.
The Psychic Power around Espurr was violently agitated. The intensity reminded Kirlia of Gardenia's Exeggutor... no, the Psychic Power Espurr was now displaying far surpassed Exeggutor's.
Darkrai reacted instantly, eager to intervene. However, Luther had forbidden him from revealing himself, so he could only slip into the shadows, attempting to approach Espurr unnoticed.
"Seviper, use Sludge Bomb!"
"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!"
Neither move hit Espurr. Instead, the projectiles were completely blocked mid-air by an invisible wall.
Meowth instinctively took a step back. "I've got a really bad feeling about this."
Jessie and James nodded in agreement without saying anything.
Espurr's ears suddenly straightened. Before Team Rocket and their Pokémon could react, they found themselves floating uncontrollably into the air.
The Psychic Power surging from Espurr created a violent gale, making it impossible for Luther, Ash, and the others to even see straight.
By the time they opened their eyes again, Team Rocket had already been reduced to a tiny black dot in the sky.
After confirming that everything was normal, Darkrai hurried out and rushed to Espurr's side, pressing her down.
Luther was just about to run over and praise Espurr for a job well done when he noticed she was holding herself back desperately.
Not even the psychic power that Darkrai poured into her could suppress the constantly surging impulse. Espurr clenched her teeth, looked up at Luther, and shook her head.
Seeing Espurr's faint glow, Luther's mouth fell open and his brain froze.
'Was this a sign of evolution?'
Upon careful consideration, Luther realized that Espurr, who had shown no signs of evolution until now, was actually the Pokémon closest to evolving.
While living at Diantha's villa, she must have gained a lot of experience working and coexisting with the other Pokémon.
She might even have trained alongside Diantha's Pokémon.
After joining the team, she took on heavy frontline responsibilities. She participated in more battles than anyone else on the team, so her experience and strength naturally reached the required level.
Kirlia and Mismagius rushed over to help Darkrai suppress Espurr's urge to evolve.
Brock and Ash stared at the scene in shock.
"Espurr seems unwilling to evolve," Brock said.
Ash had seen something like this before. Back then, his own Bulbasaur had also resisted evolving, even standing up to Venusaur to maintain its current state.
Espurr tugged at the corner of Luther's clothes and stared straight at him.
Although the glow around her body was gradually fading, Luther knew she was enduring it with great difficulty. He quickly said, "Is evolution really that bad? Meowstic is cute, too."
Espurr smiled and hugged Luther around the neck. Luther froze for a moment, then understood everything.
"Marill, take off your Everstone and let Espurr use it for now. I'll buy a new one for you later."
Marill deftly removed the Everstone tied around her neck. After Luther hung the Everstone around Espurr's neck, its mysterious power suppressed Espurr's urge to evolve. The Espurr, who had been tensing up the whole time, immediately relaxed and let out a breath of relief.
Luther stroked Espurr's back and said with a smile, "It's up to you. If you ever want to evolve, just take the Everstone off. But evolve or not, you're still pretty strong anyway."
Ash and Pikachu quietly watched the scene, as if recalling their own experience in Vermilion City.
Back then, because of Lt. Surge's Raichu, Pikachu had also fallen into self-doubt for a time, and Ash had wondered whether evolving might be the right way to gain more strength.
But Luther showed no hesitation at all. Once he understood Espurr's thoughts, he made his decision immediately. He didn't even consider combat power and strength.
After Espurr recovered, Milcery threw herself into her arms. Espurr hugged her and ran off with Pikachu to continue playing.
Having watched the whole thing without being able to help, Chikorita saw that everything had settled down, so she followed them and joined in.
This brief episode about Espurr's evolution pulled Ash into his memories and left Luther feeling emotional as well.
Perhaps because Luther always said that Espurr was small and adorable, she had gradually come to believe that this was the form he liked the most.
She mostly resisted evolving because, after evolving, Luther wouldn't be able to hold her in the palm of his hand with just one hand anymore.
After all, Espurr was the only one on the team who received this kind of treatment; he was a portable Espurr, a mini hand warmer. When it got cold, hanging her around his neck worked like half a scarf.
In any case, Luther didn't believe that evolution was the only way to become stronger. There were strange organizations in this world, such as the "No-Evolution Pokémon League," and cases in which unevolved Pokémon defeated evolved forms were common.
To Luther, respecting Espurr's wishes mattered most.
He reached out and patted Darkrai, who had been the first to perceive Espurr's condition, and praised him: "Good job."
Darkrai had long grown used to scenes like this. After every battle, he would hear Luther's praise. If he got injured, Luther would ask about him with concern.
At first, he wasn't used to it. He had never experienced such things before, and his immediate reaction was irritation.
He defined this irritation as "an incomprehensible emotion stirring within."
Not understanding it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
But as time passed, that uneasy feeling gradually lessened, and he slowly adapted to the process.
If, after a battle, Luther didn't do these things, Darkrai would feel a faint sense of unease and wonder if he had done something wrong.
Perhaps without realizing it himself, his standard for judging things had already been influenced by Luther.
In his view, as long as the feedback came from Luther, it couldn't be too far off. He had gradually come to rely on that feedback.
Even though he still didn't fully understand the meaning of the feedback and emotions, he finally felt that he was getting close to an answer.
Feeling the warmth at Luther's fingertips, Darkrai thought that, although his teammates were strange, it wasn't bad.
(End of Chapter)
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