Lying on the soft princess bed, Mawile propped her chin up with her two little hands, unable to fall asleep.
To be honest, she was quite excited before lying down.
But once she laid down, her enthusiasm quickly waned, as layer by layer, the filters broke, and her initial joy quickly dropped to seventy percent.
And when she lay sprawled out staring at the lace-edged bed canopy, thinking back to matters of battle, that seventy percent dropped to fifty.
Mawile was completely unable to sleep.
When would she be called to fight?
——Probably not long now.
Mawile understood that when her trainer's patience ran out from calling her to no avail, that would be the time she'd be forced into battle.
Perhaps she should just run away?
This thought flashed across Mawile's mind, but was immediately dismissed, after all, she didn't know where to go, and this place seemed quite dangerous.
Following her trainer around, she felt like everyone here seemed like a bad guy.
If that's the case, it's better to take the initiative rather than be passively battered!
Whether it's sooner or later, death is inevitable.
Mawile thought, unable to help but get off the bed and sneak out of her room to take a look at her trainer next door.
Unlike her single room, Lairon and Chansey seemed to be staying with the trainer, so she treaded as lightly as possible, not wanting to draw their attention.
However.
The moment she stepped into the next room and before she could take a good look at others' sleeping faces, two gazes locked onto her like searchlights.
"Gooooh..."
Lairon got up from under the bed, looking at Mawile with curiosity.
Chansey at the end of the bed also poked her head out in confusion, rubbing her eyes with her little paws, her face showing a sleepy look.
"Cheee!"
Mawile was startled, quickly covering her mouth.
Seeing Baimu on the bed slowly turning over as if waking up, she hurried back to her own room, lying motionless in bed pretending to sleep.
Several seconds later.
A figure appeared outside the room.
"What's wrong? Thirsty? Hungry?"
A calm voice came from far to near, clearly flowing into Mawile's ears, "Or just can't sleep."
She remained motionless, as if nothing had happened just now.
Then.
Footsteps moved away from her ears.
She opened a slit with her eyes and saw the lights outside were blaring, accompanied by the sounds of Lairon and Chansey calling.
The trainer said something with a smile, but it wasn't very clear.
Not long after.
The figure appeared again, and she hurriedly maintained her lying position, hearing a clicking sound not far away.
"I warmed you a cup of MooMoo Milk, added some sugar, you might like it."
The voice continued, "If you really can't sleep, feel free to wander around the house, but don't go outside. The temperature difference at night is big, it's easy to catch a cold if you're not careful."
After saying that.
The footsteps moved from near to far, along with the click of the light switch.
The world once again plunged into darkness.
It wasn't until two minutes later that Mawile turned over, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight coming in from outside the window.
She looked at the small cup of milk on the bedside table, reached out to grab it, and the warmth from her hand made its way all the way through her body.
"Chee~"
She took a small sip.
So sweet~
Might as well give it a try, the trainer doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd lose it just because you lack ability.
What she heard before might not be entirely true anyway.
Like that totally unpalatable hamburger.
——
On the next day.
After washing up, Baimu saw Chansey using a brush to clean the dust from where Lairon's metal armor connected, and went to wake Mawile up.
But just as he stepped out of the bathroom, he found her already sitting by the dining table waiting for breakfast.
He couldn't help but smile and beckon her, "It's no good not to maintain good cleaning habits, come on."
"Chee?"
Mawile tilted her head, but still hopped down from her seat and followed him into the bathroom.
Seeing Baimu take out the set of toiletries she used before, she immediately cooperated by turning around to open the big mouth on the back of her head.
She also accepted the cup of water handed by Chansey from the front, opening her mouth wide to let the latter use a little toothbrush to brush her teeth.
An unexpectedly cooperative act.
Baimu raised his eyebrows slightly, expecting to use a little more persuasion, but didn't expect Mawile to be so proactive.
Is it thanks to that MooMoo Milk from yesterday?
He pondered for a moment, feeling it might be possible. At this rate, letting it battle might not be far off, right?
If that's true, that would be wonderful.
Baimu flashed a subtle smile and quickly helped Mawile solve its personal hygiene problem.
Breakfast.
Everyone and their Pokémon have a fixed standard allocation.
Due to not being particularly financially abundant, Mawile's usual meals require additional payment to order, so its meal quality now has been reduced quite a bit compared to before.
Baimu has always been worried that it might not get used to this, even going so far as to angrily smash the dinnerware.
But whether it was last night, or this morning, it never happened.
He couldn't help but feel curious.
Although Mawile wasn't particularly difficult to talk to yesterday, it just acted very indifferent and distant, as if isolating itself. But how did it become so "normal" today?
Not normal!
His expression felt somewhat odd.
And then, as the morning training started, even stranger things happened. Before he could even invite, Mawile naturally stood beside Lairon and Chansey.
Just with slightly fluctuating eyes, not knowing what it was thinking.
Baimu and the two Pokémon were surprised, exchanging glances.
"Hmm... looks like we have a new member for our morning training, but considering everyone isn't very familiar with one another, my suggestion is to have a friendly match. How does that sound?"
As he spoke, he mainly looked at Mawile, knowing Lairon definitely wouldn't refuse.
Mawile tilted its head up, seemingly understanding Baimu was seeking its opinion, nodding without much hesitation.
"...Thanks for cooperating."
He turned around, unable to hide the look of shock on his face.
Naturally, he wasn't aware that a certain Pokémon was so determined to overcome a mental hurdle that it didn't sleep a wink the whole night, now reaching the state of indifference towards anything.
——
On the simple battleground.
The two Pokémon stood about five meters apart, gazing at each other with faces of tension and caution.
Baimu wouldn't issue any commands to them, so this match primarily depended on them to decide what to do.
Chansey stood beside the Trainer, eager to cheer but not knowing whom to cheer for—
Ultimately, decided to cheer for both.
"Lucky~lucky~"
"Ready, set."
Baimu put the whistle he bought a couple of days ago in his mouth, "Beep!"
The whistle sounded.
Lairon was the first to make a move, tilting its head back and taking a deep breath. Dust and dirt from the air quickly coalesced into clumps, turning into numerous sharp rocks in an instant.
Whizz, whizz, whizz—
Driven by the yellowish-brown glow, numerous sharp rocks shot out!
Don't be deceived by their appearance, similar to Rock Seal; their structure is vastly different. One forms by gathering dust and fragments, optimized for maximum damage upon impact.
The other is composed of underground rock blocks, sturdier, prioritizing obstructing the opponent's movement.
Just like now, Mawile decisively swung its head to block with its large jaws, which shimmered with silver light, shattering all incoming rocks into powder.
If it had been Rock Seal, even if blocked, the rocks would still obstruct the path forward.
After this probing attack, Lairon gained a rough understanding of Mawile's defensive capability, slowly retreating with the intention to fight in bursts.
However, it hadn't noticed Mawile's puzzled expression.
This... Is it finished?
Did it intentionally hold back? The rocks flew so slow, and the force was weak.
So considerate.
Mawile glanced at the retreating Lairon, casting a sidelong look at Baimu, thinking maybe it shouldn't hold back, lest the Trainer thinks it's only capable of so much.
Hmm.
All out!
Mawile clenched its small fists as a faint yellow Electric Light surrounded it, then suddenly stamped the ground with both feet, soaring forward with a boom!
Indeed, it truly soared!
Baimu's eyes widened, watching Mawile resembling a dark streak as it skimmed over Lairon's head, landing at the back of the battlefield wall, bouncing off again!
Bang!
Amidst the dull sound, the wall shook up a cloud of dust, while Mawile was already behind Lairon. As soon as Lairon realized an attack was coming from behind, Mawile delivered an abrupt punch!
A reddish-brown light exploded on Lairon's body!
Thunk!
Lairon's body flew out immediately, tumbling many times, kicking up a large dust cloud before coming to a stop, staggering as it got back up.
Baimu and Chansey stood in silence watching all this, not speaking.
No need to speak.
They watched as it landed, expressions becoming even more puzzled, occasionally glancing at Mawile with its little fist, hearts racing.