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Luther is a person who lacks love as he was the second child, and his middling family status means he doesn't receive much affection from his parents.
The eldest brother takes all the family's expectations, the younger brother takes all the family's love, and compared to them, Luther seems like an extra.
As the second generation to enter city life, his parents still adhere to the prevailing method of stick-and-rod discipline, seemingly very convinced that beating produces filial children.
Luther's self-esteem was largely eroded by his parents' repeated scoldings and beatings, as well as constant comparisons to his older brother, the smart kid next door, and the outstanding students in his class.
Luther's conclusion about his parents is that they gave him the most important thing— life but they extinguished his most important Confidence from a young age.
Luther doesn't hate his parents; how could he harbor hatred toward those who gave him life… he just really wants to hear his parents praise him, to understand his heart, scarred and battered from childhood to adulthood by their lashings, feeling that he's done well enough, but where is the reward that belongs to him?
Holding Jumpluff, Luther suddenly feels his eyes grow warm; he can understand Jumpluff's panic— those who climb out of the depths are all afraid that the straw they're grasping might suddenly snap.
Luther really wants to say something to comfort Jumpluff, but his mouth is too clumsy; when it comes to consoling others, he only knows a few repetitive phrases—having lacked love in the past, he doesn't know how to love others, and now even sharing his gentleness with his Pokémon feels exhausting, with a thousand words stuck in his throat.
Chatting with Mai, Luther appears very calm, adopting the demeanor of treating an old classmate and friend.
But with his most important Pokémon, Luther doesn't know how to speak, only able to gently hold Jumpluff, hoping she can understand his thoughts.
It's really a very stupid method.
Jumpluff stops struggling; her current position is very close to Luther's face, and she can easily feel the warm breath on Luther's cheeks.
Misdreavus hides the mischievous smile usually brimming on her face, floats in front of Jumpluff, remains silent for a moment, and then softly says something to Jumpluff.
Jumpluff's small eyes suddenly widen; her gaze toward Misdreavus even seems evasive— Misdreavus's words make her feel like she's done something wrong again.
"Hmph." Jumpluff glances at Luther's face, then at Misdreavus floating in front of her, takes a deep breath, and suddenly breaks free from Luther's arms.
Still in midair, Jumpluff kicks the button on her own Poké Ball, and a red light abruptly pulls her back inside. Luther stares blankly as this happens, while Mai, eating pancakes and watching Luther manage his harem, is also stunned.
"What did you say to Jumpluff?" Luther, bewildered, looks at Misdreavus; the conflict between Jumpluff and Misdreavus seems to have been resolved by Misdreavus's initiative.
Misdreavus slightly bowed, then straightened up, bowed again, repeating this motion.
Mai is the first to understand what Misdreavus is trying to express: "You apologized to Jumpluff?"
Misdreavus smiles, circling around Mai, nodding repeatedly.
This conflict arose from an accumulation of various trivial matters, ignited by a prank-like action from Misdreavus, but it dragged up Jumpluff's lost past.
During the listening process, Misdreavus reads a shared guilt on Luther's face; she suddenly recalls her own castle, that sea of flowers…
In that castle, her master, holding a book, told her and Chansey that when dealing with others, one must pay attention to distance— distance is very important.
Unless you're certain you've reached a point of complete openness and intimacy with the other party, you should always maintain enough distance to keep everyone comfortable.
This distance is very hard to grasp, often requiring constant adjustment and testing, and once that testing phase passes, distance becomes a thin sheet of paper, something unspoken yet understood.
Her master scratched her body, warning Misdreavus, "Joking should be moderate; even with companions, it's easy for misunderstandings to arise."
Back then, as a Misdreavus, Misdreavus couldn't comprehend her master's profound words; she simply took her master's warnings as care for her.
It wasn't until she wandered alone in this world, clashing with other Pokémon everywhere, that Misdreavus realized she had left that castle with no place left to tolerate her mischief.
Luther's appearance happened to give Misdreavus the environment she missed most— unrestrained mischief, pranks, treating her rivalry with Jumpluff like the pretend games she once played with Chansey.
Just now, the tears swirling in Luther's eyes woke Misdreavus up; the words her master spoke in the castle became clear again.
Warnings like these, it seems, only truly sink in after one has experienced and been hurt by them.
The referee had been looking for a chance to tell Luther that while the match time isn't limited, there's no rule saying the time to switch Pokémon isn't restricted.
Rorak stops Referee's action; he patiently watches this little drama unfold— though he doesn't know the cause, he sees Luther's handling of it and the outcome.
It's a very stiff approach, but it also shows Luther's effort; for a Rookie Pokémon Trainer, Luther's actions leave Rorak quite satisfied.
"Can we continue?" Rorak asks.
Luther wipes his eyes with the corner of his sleeve and says, "Sorry for making a fool of myself."
"Though I don't know exactly what happened, for your Misdreavus to cause a conflict with that Jumpluff, she's probably not simple, huh?" Rorak says, "I'm looking forward to it— fight with all your strength; I really want to know how strong your Strength is."
Misdreavus floats into the battle arena, while Graveler, who had been waiting, stands ready; he senses something unusual about this Misdreavus from his master Rorak's words.
With a wave of the Referee's flag, the second round of the Gym battle officially begins.
Due to the Pokémon switch, the First Move goes to Rorak's side; Graveler starts aggressively, the massive stones surrounding him activated and launched— Stone Edge strikes in an instant.
Such incredible speed, from initiating the Move to executing it seamlessly; just from this one Move, Luther can guess how powerful the Strength of Rorak's unrevealed Pokémon must be.
This is a great chance to test Misdreavus's Strength to its limits— Luther's blood boils with excitement.
"Counter with Shadow Ball."
Luther decides to start with a same-type Move, allowing him to better and more directly gauge the Strength difference between Misdreavus and a Pokémon raised by a Pokémon League Gym Leader.
Stone Edge crashes entirely onto Misdreavus's body; Misdreavus doesn't flinch— despite taking damage, she remains steadfast, carrying out Luther's command unwaveringly.
The moment Shadow Ball is fired, Graveler begins rolling around the arena.
This is Graveler's most efficient movement method, like an unstoppable tire; Graveler navigates the uneven Rock-Type terrain with ease, shifting positions fluidly.
Rorak is very pleased with Graveler's rule-free movement, making Graveler's actions unpredictable; he's certain Misdreavus can only compensate for Accuracy with quantity.
While rolling, Graveler somehow still manages to unleash Stone Edge; watching countless diamond-shaped stones rain from the sky, Misdreavus doesn't dodge, using Psychic to crush the stones falling near her in all directions.
Rorak is impressed by the decisiveness of Luther's command; if she had tried to dodge in that situation, she'd have easily been overwhelmed by the sheer number of stones, and escaping would still mean taking damage.
"Track Graveler's Movement."
Misdreavus's eyes lock onto Graveler rolling across the field, calmly staying in place, completely unguarded against any Move Graveler might suddenly unleash.
In an instant, Misdreavus's stationary body vanishes, leaving only what seems like an impossibly stretched afterimage in the field of vision; Rorak's mouth opens slightly, hardly believing Misdreavus could possess such terrifying speed.
"Use Thunder Punch above yourself."
Rorak reacted quickly, giving the still-rolling Graveler a heads-up.
"Shadow Ball."
Graveler, having shifted into position to unleash Thunder Punch, finally notices a purple shadow in his vision, followed by a palm-sized black orb hurtling toward him.
The collision is fierce; the top-down attack sends Graveler crashing into the ground from the Shadow Ball, leaving a Graveler-shaped crater in the arena.
Rorak stares in shock at Graveler's battered, exhausted form; his Battle Experience tells him Graveler should have lost his fighting Ability from that hit, and the fact he's still struggling to stand is purely due to his Ability, Sturdy.
Having blocked a one-hit KO, Graveler is dizzy; the harsh collision with the ground is secondary—the overwhelming power of Shadow Ball has his entire body trembling, and his gaze toward Misdreavus is filled with nothing but fear.
Rorak feels like he's seen a ghost, a living, breathing ghost.
Damn it, that guy named Tobias with his Darkrai swept through his Gym in one move, and he didn't think much of it… but since when can a Rookie Trainer be this strong?
He'd just said taming powerful Pokémon is a skill, but he genuinely didn't expect Luther's skill to be so immense that he could have two Pokémon like this.
Jumpluff's displayed Strength made Rorak think Graveler could handle it, but now it seems like a pipe dream.
None of his Pokémon could hope to gain the upper hand against this Misdreavus; it's simply unfathomable—both Luther and Misdreavus are.
A Pokémon Trainer who can make Misdreavus genuinely submit, a Misdreavus so powerful it shocks Rorak— first Ash and Paul, then Tobias, and now these standout Pokémon Trainers are showing up in Sinnoh one after another.
Is the sky over Sinnoh about to change again?
The reaction from the stands is far more exaggerated than Rorak's; this group obsessed with trading never even considered trading for Misdreavus… because Misdreavus is just too ridiculously strong.
At the Pokémon Center, during Luther and Mai's fishing expeditions, Misdreavus's battle record was undefeated; her overwhelming combat prowess left no one daring to covet her.
But in their eyes, Luther's strength was only relative to them—Gym Leaders were far beyond what Luther could handle.
Seeing Graveler's pitiful state, their worldview is on the verge of collapse.
We're all Rookie Pokémon Trainers— how do you have such amazing Pokémon!
What happened to the rule that Pokémon stronger than their trainer won't obey commands?
(End of Chapter)