If this had been half a month ago, little Absol would've definitely thought this human was out of his mind.
It, Absol, would rather starve to death than ever become a slave!
…But the strength of intelligent creatures often lies in self-reflection. And after truly fainting from hunger, some of the obsessions in Absol's heart had started to waver.
At just that moment, Sato made his enticing offer in front of Zoroark and the others.
Absol had to admit… it was tempted!
Seeing that it wasn't showing strong resistance and had instead fallen silent in thought, Sato understood that the tsundere little Absol was simply too embarrassed to respond right away.
"If you're not objecting, I'll take that as a yes. Now eat well and grow strong, alright?"
"Mature" as he was, Sato wouldn't bother arguing with a child.
As he spoke, he personally handed over a prepared portion of Pokémon food to Wigglytuff, who then gently placed it beside Absol.
With the agreement just freshly made, Absol silently observed the entire process.
Although it didn't eat immediately, it also didn't flip the bowl or retreat in defense.
Understanding the need to leave things at the right moment, Sato smiled quietly, gave a small wave to Absol, then turned and left without hesitation.
"Zoro~"
Zoroark also took the lead to say goodbye to Absol, and the other Pokémon followed, marching off in a group, leaving only Wigglytuff, Pikachu, and Ralts behind.
Wigglytuff was there, of course, to care for Absol. The other two had simply relied on their "harmless and adorable" looks to get closer to Absol than most others.
Now that the rest had left, the remaining three wouldn't trigger any renewed vigilance in Absol.
Only then did little Absol silently pick up a High-grade Pokéblock and pop it into its mouth.
"Sol~ (Delicious!)"
Chomp chomp chomp…
Seeing how tasty it looked, Ralts, feeling tempted, leaned a little closer and tried to reach into the bowl for one of the Pokéblocks…
Absol suddenly paused mid-chew. It looked at the Ralts, who was even smaller than itself, then gently nudged the bowl toward her with its head.
"Sol~"
Ralts blinked in surprise at the sight of the little Absol voluntarily offering her food, and immediately lit up with joy.
She quickly pushed the bowl back toward Absol, then gently patted its dog-like head and thumped her own chest.
"Ralts! Ralts!" 'From now on, this onee-sama has your back!'
Absol gave her a glance but said nothing. Seeing that she wasn't going to eat, it simply lowered its head and resumed eating on its own.
Ralts didn't mind in the slightest, the faint curl of her lips revealed she was still in a very good mood.
Just then, greedy little Pikachu, seeing how generous Absol was being, tried to sneak over for a bite.
But before it could get close, Pikachu suddenly realized… it couldn't move!
Its eyes darted around frantically… and then it spotted Ralts, slightly raising her right hand, her face beaming with a gentle "auntie smile" in Absol's direction.
In the next moment, Pikachu's world spun wildly, and it finally landed in a sea of green.
A few minutes later, Pikachu crawled out of the bushes, trembling, and glanced nervously at a very distant spot.
There, Ralts was still beaming as she watched little Absol eat, while Wigglytuff had vanished at some unknown point.
"Pika pi~"
Pikachu let out a pitiful cry; after all, it used to be the team's beloved mascot.
But now, Her Little Majesty had actually thrown it out without a second thought!
Pikachu felt deeply disheartened. 'Am I not cute anymore…?'
---
In the days that followed, Sato continued making regular appearances in front of Absol, but never once stepped within two meters, maintaining the sense of safety that distance provided.
Gradually, Absol began to get used to Sato occasionally showing up nearby. Sometimes it didn't even bother looking at him.
Seeing this, a faint smile began to form on Sato's face. He knew this kind of steady persistence was paying off. All that was missing now… was the right opportunity to start changing Absol's view of humans.
But as for that opportunity, Sato wasn't in any rush.
What puzzled him more was when Ralts stopped clinging to him and instead spent all her time with Absol.
That obvious "auntie smile" on Ralts's face made Sato feel a bit uneasy every time he saw it.
'Could this be… maternal instincts kicking in?'
Still, when it came to emotional bonds between Pokémon, Sato never liked to interfere.
Such matters weren't so easily categorized as right or wrong. Just like how Houndoom and Ariados never got along; neither could even remember why they started disliking each other in the first place. So why should Sato step in and meddle?
The best way to treat everyone fairly… was to let them all be. And Sato, ever the schemer, firmly believed in this principle.
---
Now that the Gym had returned to normal, and Absol's issue was steadily improving as planned; the restless Sato finally moved his trip to Celadon University up on the schedule.
But before that, on a dark and windy night, Mark came to find Sato just as he was getting ready for bed.
"I want to go on a journey too!"
Mark was still dressed in his Togepi pajamas, standing before Sato and declaring with full conviction.
Sato nodded and said, "As long as you hand off your Gym duties properly, you can go."
"H-Huh? Boss, aren't you gonna ask me where I'm going?" Mark was taken aback by how quickly Sato agreed, and suddenly got cold feet.
"Oh… Where are you going?"
"…Boss, that's so dismissive. Don't I deserve at least a little of your concern?" Mark cried out dramatically.
"Emmm… so where are you going?"
"…"
Ten seconds later, a bitter Mark finally mumbled, "The Orange Islands…"
"Hmm. With Lucario around, I don't see a problem. Let it escort you and get in some training too."
Sato nodded again, fully confident in Lucario's abilities.
"Boss… did I mishear you, or did you say that backwards?" Mark collapsed to the ground, feeling like his soul had been crushed.
"Did I…? Anyway, whenever you're ready to leave, make sure to hand things off properly to Akira."
"Boss, I feel like you're trying to get rid of me…"
"This time, you definitely misheard!"
"…"
The night wind howled as Mark trudged out of Sato's room, only to be stopped by a Gym trainee returning from late-night practice who asked with concern what had happened.
"It's nothing… I was just moved to tears by our great Gym Leader!"