In the restaurant, Luther and Dakota chatted for quite a while, mainly exchanging training experiences.
Dakota had extensive experience in developing a Pokémon's offensive power and speed, while Luther happened to possess valuable knowledge about training defense and endurance.
In the end, both of them obtained exactly what they were looking for.
Dakota didn't bring up today's battle. He planned to review it thoroughly on his own later, so he soon got up and left.
Perhaps because he was in a particularly good mood after winning the match, Luther's appetite was excellent today. He devoured several servings of seafood fried rice and still felt like he had room for dessert.
Azumarill was currently making rounds from table to table.
After evolving, she no longer needed anyone to serve food to her. Her new height allowed her to reach every table in the restaurant.
She had once been a menace while staying in one place.
Now she was a menace everywhere.
The restaurant staff could only scramble behind Azumarill, hurriedly replenishing the dishes she emptied along the way.
Gardevoir and Espurr, on the other hand, ate much more elegantly.
All they had to do was beckon toward the food on nearby tables, and plates would float over through psychic power.
This made life easy for Jumpluff and the others. Following Gardevoir around meant they didn't even need to lift a finger.
While pondering what dessert to order, Luther caught sight of a young man sitting quietly in a corner, eating with his head lowered.
He wasn't particularly noticeable, but Luther paused for a moment before picking up his tray and walking over.
Sensing someone approach, the boy slowly raised his head from his meal.
The moment he saw Luther, his body visibly trembled.
"Is this seat taken?" Luther asked, pointing to the chair across from him.
The boy shook his head.
Luther sat down with his dessert and studied him curiously.
"Thank you for cheering me on. But I'm curious, why did you run away whenever you saw me before?"
This wasn't the first or second time it had happened, so Luther remembered him. He had a feeling they had met somewhere before.
"Do you remember who I am?" the boy asked in return.
Luther thought for a moment.
He vaguely recalled battling him, but he couldn't remember any details.
"The Ranking Tournament. We were in the same group. You can call me Lian."
Seeing that Luther couldn't even remember his name, the boy gave a brief introduction.
Suddenly, Luther remembered.
This was the Trainer whose Pokémon had been utterly crushed by Marill using only three moves. In the end, he hadn't qualified for the next stage either.
The Ranking Tournament had been incredibly long, and the Main Tournament had lasted for quite some time as well. As a result, Luther had begun to forget some of the more ordinary matches he had fought along the way.
"I've seen this happen before," Lian said.
"The person who defeats you doesn't even remember your name."
"So I figured it was better to just quietly cheer for you."
Luther felt a little embarrassed.
Among all the Trainers who had become stepping stones on his path forward, there was no way he could remember every single one.
Just as if someone asked Dakota to name all the opponents from his preliminary group, he probably wouldn't be able to answer either.
But Lian was one of his supporters, and that made Luther feel somewhat guilty.
"Thank you for supporting me," Luther said sincerely.
Lian showed no particular reaction.
He simply looked at Luther calmly.
"To be honest, my reason for supporting you is rather shameless."
"It's just unwillingness to accept defeat."
Not understanding what he meant, Luther set down his spoon.
As he continued eating, Lian explained:
"In a single tournament, a thousand Pokémon Trainers fight with everything they have to prove themselves."
"Only a handful of people can make it to the Main Tournament."
"And only two can reach the finals."
"What can people like us, who were defeated, do besides support the winners?"
"We're the steps beneath your feet as you climb higher."
"If you can go farther and higher, then at least we can comfort ourselves by saying that our failure was simply bad luck."
After saying that, Lian left.
Luther finished his dessert, but remained seated, quietly pondering those words.
"Does Ash have supporters like that too?" Luther chuckled.
It was the first time he had encountered such a peculiar way of thinking.
The people beneath his feet looked up at him, treating their support for his victories as a form of consolation for themselves.
If a person's mentality wasn't strong enough to face their own shortcomings, they would never improve.
At the time, Luther had wanted to blurt out a lecture and reprimand Lian.
Yet, for some reason, the words never left his mouth.
Exhausted, Luther returned to the Contestant Village.
The moment he touched the bed, he fell into a deep sleep.
Mai stepped out to peel a few pears, intending to share them with Luther. But by the time she returned to the room, Luther was already fast asleep, hugging Espurr and Jumpluff.
The high-intensity battle earlier that day had left all of the Pokémon who participated utterly exhausted.
Azumarill was sprawled across the floor like a giant blue water balloon, still clutching a half-eaten milk biscuit in her hand.
Even Darkrai hadn't noticed Mai entering the room.
Normally, Darkrai had the sharpest perception among all of them, but now he was sleeping beside Luther's bedside table. At some point while turning over, he had ended up using Chansey as a pillow.
If Gengar suddenly appeared right now, Darkrai probably wouldn't even react.
There weren't many places available for Gardevoir to sleep, so she had squeezed onto Luther's bed.
The two were sleeping back-to-back.
Out on the balcony, Pupitar was gesturing to Dusknoir, asking him to carry him downstairs. He was worried that hopping around would wake Luther and the others.
After spending the day running around and playing wildly with Chikorita, Milcery returned to the room and, for once, didn't cause any trouble.
She quietly let Corsola wash her face, then touched Azumarill's cool body before curling up beside her and falling asleep.
Chikorita copied her actions exactly.
Mai could only put the pears away in the refrigerator.
Originally, she had wanted to continue the conversation that had been interrupted earlier that day.
But as she looked at Luther's sleeping face, her emotions gradually settled.
Since Luther had intentionally avoided discussing the subject at the time, then he must have had his own reasons.
Resting her chin on her hand, Mai gazed at him.
"Then I'll wait a little longer."
Luther slept like the dead.
When he finally woke up, however, he was completely bewildered.
Although he had no idea how Gardevoir had ended up sleeping beside him, that wasn't the biggest issue.
Holding his head, Luther carefully lifted Mai's arm off his neck.
Why was Mai sleeping in this bed too?
Houndoom sat nearby, wagging his tail while staring directly at Luther, as if saying:
"You're finally awake."
"Explain what happened here," Luther whispered.
Houndoom hesitated, then nudged Eevee, who was drinking milk nearby, and said something.
Afterward, Houndoom yawned and lay down on the floor.
Eevee walked over to him, looked around cautiously, then lay down as well before slowly snuggling into Houndoom's embrace.
"Enough, enough, stop!"
Seeing Eevee wearing a bashful smile, Luther immediately cut off the performance.
Eevee had even copied Mai's expression perfectly.
That level of facial control.
That acting ability.
Who on earth had taught her that?
Just as Luther was about to get out of bed, the door suddenly opened.
Earlier that morning, Houndoom had gone out for a walk.
When he came back, he hadn't bothered to close the door.
"Luther, someone's looking for you and Mai. I heard they're from Mai's family—"
Brock walked into the room, assuming Luther was already awake because the door was open.
Then he saw the scene inside.
The rest of his sentence never came out.
It was as if he'd been burned by fire.
He immediately retreated at top speed.
"I delivered the message! Just pretend I was never here!"
Houndoom froze for a moment.
Then he quietly lay down on the floor, his tail wagging furiously.
After holding it in for a long while, Luther looked at the now-awake Mai and decided to focus on the most important issue.
"Next time..."
"Remember to close the door."
Luther gave Houndoom a serious warning.
(End of Chapter)
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