Almost a month had passed since Luther received the Pokémon egg. There hadn't been the slightest movement, yet it had suddenly hatched. This truly caught Luther off guard.
On the way back to his room, he considered countless possibilities.
Although he had read in several articles that the color of an eggshell had no direct connection to the Pokémon that would hatch from it, he still hoped the egg would hatch into a Tropius.
He genuinely hadn't managed to catch a suitable flying Pokémon yet.
It almost felt like a law of nature: whatever Luther really wanted, he simply couldn't obtain it.
Pushing open the door to his room, he saw a small, dark green Pokémon with a horn on its head being teased by Corsola and Eevee.
Eevee brushed the little Pokémon's face with her tail, and it retreated helplessly, only to be blocked by Corsola.
Hearing the door open, Mai, who had been lying on the bed, quickly waved at Luther.
Ash, who followed behind, suddenly felt a strong sense of nostalgia. There was no special reason; he had hatched a Larvitar before.
Under Luther's stunned gaze, Mai picked up the Larvitar.
Wait a second. Something's off. How heavy is a Larvitar supposed to be again?
"Here, Larvitar. This is your master. Hurry and get to know him."
Mai stuffed Larvitar into Luther's arms. Luther took it blankly and realized something odd; it didn't feel much heavier than Marill.
Larvitar sniffed Luther, trying to familiarize itself with his scent, while Luther was lost in thought. Larvitar's horn poked Luther lightly under the chin, snapping him back to reality.
'Whatever. Even Tropius and Wailmer hatch from small eggs, and they're tiny at first, only to grow into massive creatures shortly afterward.'
'Let the professors handle and explain Pokémon science. A Pokémon Trainer doesn't need to understand every detail.'
'A future Tyranitar...a future pseudo-legendary!'
With a new team member, everyone naturally had to come out and get acquainted. But before Luther could take out his Poké Ball, Ash's Riolu jumped over.
Compared to when it first hatched, Riolu had grown quite a bit. Now, it was a head taller than Larvitar. It circled Larvitar like an older brother inspecting a little sibling.
After observing it for a while, it was clear to everyone that Ash's Riolu was extremely lively and full of energy. Now, Luther was curious: What kind of personality would his Larvitar have?
The interaction between the two newborn Pokémon was amusing. Larvitar tried to show affection, but Riolu dodged it and kept circling around.
Larvitar lowered its head as if thinking about something. The next second, it pounced toward Mai's feet. Luther immediately covered his face. But then, remembering something, Larvitar quickly trotted back toward Luther.
Since the first person it had seen after hatching was Mai, it hadn't fully corrected that impression yet. It seemed that Luther would need to spend some time building their bond.
One by one, the Pokémon appeared. Luther carefully observed Larvitar's expressions, trying to determine who would be the best nanny.
Espurr was already taking care of Milcery and had to stop Chikorita whenever she got overly excited. Adding Larvitar to her responsibilities would be quite challenging.
When Larvitar saw Jumpluff, it asked for a hug, sending Jumpluff into ecstatic delight for quite a while.
However, when she realized that Larvitar acted the same way toward Mismagius and Houndoom, she understood that it was simply Larvitar's way of integrating into the group, not something exclusive to her.
Larvitar stared at Chansey for a long time. This round creature, whose belly and Nutrient Egg were all one could see at first, left Larvitar in awe.
Darkrai only revealed half of his body from the shadows. He met Larvitar's gaze at eye level and gave a nod of approval. This made Larvitar extremely excited.
Although it had just been born, it could already faintly sense the powerful aura emanating from Darkrai and the other Pokémon. Darkrai undoubtedly had the strongest aura of all of them. Being acknowledged by a senior member of the team made Larvitar eager to show Darkrai its abilities again.
However, by the time Larvitar pounced forward, Darkrai had retreated into the shadows.
Truthfully, Darkrai's earlier words were merely polite courtesy; after spending so much time with Luther, he had picked up that habit.
Besides, it was genuinely difficult to judge the Pokémon Luther raised.
Tiny ones like Marill and Espurr didn't look like strong battlers at first, but when they fought, they were practically monsters. This completely overturned Darkrai's understanding.
Luther wanted to help Larvitar up after it fell, but Espurr had already walked over.
Using her psychic powers, she gently lifted Larvitar to its feet before turning around to tidy up Milcery's sugar decorations.
By now, Milcery had collected seven different sugar ornaments. Every time they went to the Cake Shop to buy desserts for Mai, Milcery would stare longingly at the display counter, then look at Luther with hopeful eyes.
Each time, Luther told himself and Milcery that this would be the last one.
And yet, every single time, he failed to restrain himself.
Milcery often played toss-and-catch with her sugar decorations with Chikorita and Beautifly. That was exactly what they were doing now.
While everyone else was gathered around Larvitar, the three of them were busy with their own game.
Larvitar glanced toward the corner where Marill held a pear in her left hand and an apple in her right, eating both at the same time in an intimidating manner. Larvitar had absolutely no intention of going over to greet her.
Marill swallowed a mouthful of fruit and casually said, "Welcome, rookie."
Larvitar wanted to respond, but, seeing how enthusiastically Marill was eating, he decided not to.
After hesitating for a moment, he followed Espurr. Just as he had with Jumpluff earlier, he comfortably rubbed his cheek against Espurr's.
While being affectionately nuzzled, Espurr continued tidying up the sugar decorations with impressive skill.
Luther let out a sigh. At first, he thought Larvitar liked Jumpluff the most. Then, he thought it might be Darkrai. After Larvitar stared at Chansey for so long, Luther thought that Chansey had secured the role.
Ultimately, though, Larvitar was drawn to Espurr.
Watching Larvitar follow Espurr closely, step by step, clearly intending to join Milcery and the others in their game, Luther could only let him be.
Having Espurr take care of three at once should be manageable, right?
"The Pokédex says Larvitar has a huge appetite in order to evolve. Luther, you should pay attention to that," Mao reminded him after glancing at her Pokédex.
"I know, I know. When I was raising Larvitar, I had to find suitable food for him every single day, or even delicious soil."
Luther shot Ash a look. "Couldn't you just bring your Larvitar back? Tyranitar's mom doesn't object to him going with you.
'Delicious soil?'
'What kind of soil counted as delicious? That was completely outside of Luther's area of expertise.'
Inside the room, both Luther's and Etorre's phones vibrated at the same time.
After checking the message, Luther saw that his opponent for tomorrow had already been decided.
As long as he wasn't matched against Etorre, Ash, or Dakota, that was the best outcome.
Etorre and Ash confirmed their matchups as well. Once again, everyone was lucky enough to avoid facing one another this round.
(End of Chapter)
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