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After all the noise and excitement, dusk finally settled in.
The trainees who were reluctant to part with Luther's Pokémon had no choice but to say goodbye to Luther and Candice one by one.
Seeing how late it had gotten, Candice took the chance to invite Luther to stay for dinner.
As usual, Delibird helped with the cooking while Chansey watched from the side. This time, however, Chansey kept asking Delibird questions and nodding thoughtfully, apparently learning quite a bit.
The food Mai prepared for the Pokémon was finally ready. Because of the intense battles earlier, most of the dishes had been mixed with Berry powder that helped restore mental energy.
All the Pokémon ate happily, except for Marill, who frowned.
Her feeding bowl was piled high like a mountain, so full that even a small touch sent the food sliding down the sides.
Normally, Luther and Mai would portion her meals carefully, sometimes giving her a little extra treat.
But tonight's "extra meal" was clearly too much. Bags of snacks had been torn open and placed beside her, and Mai was smiling sweetly, gesturing for Marill to eat more.
Something's wrong… When things are too good, there's always a catch.
Marill took a step forward, opened her mouth wide, and buried her head into the bowl, shoveling food into her mouth with both paws.
'Whatever. Eat first, think later.'
"Thanks for your hard work this afternoon, Marill," Mai said, reaching out to scratch Marill's head.
Marill wagged her tail, signaling that it was no big deal.
Mai gently squeezed Marill's tail and laughed. "Well, thanks to you, Luther's dream is one step closer, and so is mine."
Just then, Chikorita tugged on Mai's pant leg, and Espurr beside her looked at Mai anxiously.
"What's wrong?" Mai asked, puzzled, as she followed the direction Chikorita pointed.
The moment Mai walked away, Darkrai emerged, quickly scarfing down the food Mai had prepared for him before floating over to Marill, who was still eating furiously.
The question swirling in Darkrai's mind hadn't left him since the battle, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He decided to ask Marill directly.
He really wanted to know: in that situation, how exactly had Marill defeated Spheal?
Marill, still eating, didn't even lift her head and replied offhandedly,
"I don't know."
Darkrai froze. How could she not know?
That moment had been the key to Marill's comeback, a surge of incredible power. If she just reflected carefully, she should've been able to find some clue.
But Marill wasn't brushing him off. Holding her feeding bowl, she turned around and thought seriously about it, making sure she hadn't answered wrong.
After a while, she wiped her mouth and said uncertainly,
"If I really had to say… maybe it was because I suddenly remembered when I was still an Azurill, and Luther used to hold me all the time. Does that count?"
Darkrai fell silent. To him, that wasn't an answer at all, but he could tell Marill wasn't lying. Slowly, he slipped back into the shadows.
Marill, however, grabbed him by the arm, piled some snacks in front of him, and gestured for him to eat as well. Mai had said tonight they could eat as much as they wanted.
Darkrai wanted to refuse, but he couldn't figure Marill out. Last time he pretended to eat, she punched him. If he didn't eat this time, she might punch him again.
Luther was right, if they were going to work together, he'd have to blend into the team for now.
Besides, the more time he spent with Luther and the others, the more things he didn't understand. He still needed to find his answers among them…
Darkrai sighed and shared the bag of chips with Marill. This time, she didn't jump up with her fists raised.
Meanwhile, Mai returned to where she'd left her backpack, and it took her a moment to realize why Chikorita and Espurr were so frantic.
Milcery was gone!
Panicked, Mai began searching everywhere, sweat forming on her forehead as Chikorita and Espurr called Milcery's name, hoping for a response. But after searching for a long time, they found nothing.
The sound startled Luther and Candice, who were carrying plates of food to the table, and even Delibird and Chansey, both wearing aprons, poked their heads out of the kitchen.
Once they learned what had happened, everyone sprang into action, spreading out to search the entire Gym.
Snowpoint Gym was huge, and Milcery was tiny, so every Pokémon searched carefully, checking every nook and cranny.
"How's it going?"
Luther anxiously watched as Houndoom sniffed around the floor. But Houndoom could only shake his head helplessly.
From what he could tell, Milcery's scent had been nearby just a few minutes ago, but then it vanished completely.
Candice's Ninetales led Spheal and the others to circle the Gym twice, while Swinub crawled into the tight corners to check, but they still came up empty-handed.
Espurr and Chikorita, who had been looking after Milcery, were on the verge of tears. Luther quickly held them back and tried to calm them down.
The Pokémon returned to the dining hall, their heads hanging low after the fruitless search.
Seeing how restless Luther and Mai were, Candice grabbed a large jug of milk sitting nearby and poured them each a glass.
"Here, have something to drink and rest for a bit. Then we'll keep looking. Milcery's so small, she couldn't have gone far. Maybe the Pokémon just missed her earlier. If we search again carefully, I'm sure we'll find her."
Luther looked at Mai, whose face was dark with worry, and handed her his glass.
Mai took a deep breath, slapped her own cheeks to wake herself up, and downed the milk in one gulp.
Luther picked up his glass to drink, but then noticed Mai's expression suddenly freeze in a rather… complicated way.
She set the cup down on the table, and both Luther and Candice leaned closer, there was something strange inside the glass.
A wet, sticky little figure suddenly climbed out of the milk cup.
All the Pokémon stared, mouths wide open, uncertain whether to laugh or cry.
Luther covered his forehead with one hand, completely defeated by Milcery's antics.
Apparently, the rich aroma of the milk had been too tempting for her. When Candice had set aside the bucket of milk meant for dinner, Milcery had snuck over, pushed the lid open, and climbed right in.
Judging by her sleepy, dazed expression, she'd probably played around, drunk her fill, and then decided to take a nap.
No wonder no one could find her, buried inside a bucket of milk, no amount of calling would wake her, and even Houndoom's sharp nose couldn't detect her once she'd masked herself in the scent of milk.
Completely oblivious to the commotion she'd caused, Milcery blinked at the sight of everyone staring at her, then cheerfully dove into Espurr's arms, soaking her in milk.
Espurr didn't mind at all; she was just relieved Milcery was safe.
Chikorita, on the other hand, caught Milcery with her Vine Whip, intending to give her a stern lecture. But when Milcery raised her tiny arms and smiled up at her… Chikorita found she couldn't say a word.
"Forget it, it wasn't on purpose. Just remind her next time."
Luther patted Chikorita on the back and stood up, signaling to everyone to resume their dinner.
Though Chikorita didn't scold Milcery, she made her release her own scent so she could be tracked more easily in the future.
Luther knew Chikorita was just worried and didn't stop her.
Still, that sweet scent really was quite appetizing.
As the Pokémon, finally relieved, returned to their feeding bowls, their appetites suddenly surged.
*(End of Chapter)*