The Rocket Trooper, who had roamed freely outside Pallet Town for years, couldn't make sense of it. Normally, he would just snatch what he wanted from nearby Pokémon and leave, with no resistance. Why this time did the Pokémon not only refuse to let him go, but actually fight back?
Even more confusing, the Pokémon that usually scattered at the sight of reinforcements didn't flee. Instead, they turned the gathered Rocket Troopers into a chaotic mess.
There were many things the Trooper couldn't understand, yet one thing was crystal clear.
Ignoring the screams echoing behind him, the Trooper tearing at the bag could only wish for five or six boosters on his back, hoping to escape this disastrous scene as fast as possible.
"Found you."
A cold, indifferent voice pierced the Trooper's mind. Before he could comprehend how the voice reached him, an invisible hand lifted him off the ground.
On the grass below, Kirlia, having arrived behind the Trooper, looked down at the struggling thief. Her small hands swept downward, slamming him harshly into the earth.
"Ugh!"
This time, the Trooper didn't have any snide lines to spew just a simple cry of pain.
Kirlia tugged the bag from the thief's grasp. It was now wrinkled and battered, a few minutes ago still pristine. She felt a pang of regret, wishing she had listened to Luke and snatched it back earlier.
"Ugh…"
As she fretted over the bag, the Trooper's hoarse voice sounded again from beside her. Curious, Kirlia glanced over, only to see him struggling to lift his hand, as if trying to grab something.
Feeling the Trooper's obsessive attachment, Kirlia's expression twisted in disgust.
This Trooper's mind… all he thinks about is that bag.
Unable to tolerate another second of it, she raised her small hand and sent him flying into the sky with a well-aimed Mirage Beam.
If you love stealing that much, go steal stars in the sky!
With one Rocket Trooper transformed into a shooting star, Luke's battle was drawing to a close. But "battle" was hardly the right word it was more like a one-sided crushing.
The Troopers who had "fought" Luke were just panicked resistance. Once Primarina's Icy Wind disrupted them, allowing Luke to unleash his tornado version of the Flame Vortex, their defeat was inevitable.
Luke had lost count of how many spins he had done. Dizzied but in control of his flames, he stopped the spinning motion of his arms. Having kept his eyes closed since starting, he lifted them once more, directing the Flame Vortex skyward.
When he opened his eyes, the Troopers carried aloft by the fire tornado had shrunk to tiny dots in the distance. Just as Luke was about to chuckle at the sight, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Luke! Watch out!"
Just before his head hit the ground, a soft cushion caught him. His body sank into it as if onto a pillow.
Luke twisted his head and realized he had landed on a giant bubble.
"Good, I made it… Luke, how do you feel?"
A small head peeked over the edge of the bubble. Primarina's energetic voice rang in his ears. Having just finished releasing Icy Wind, she had rushed over to check on him. Seeing him lying normally on the bubble, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
If Luke had been injured because she was a few steps too slow, Lulu would have been heartbroken for a long time.
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy… um, this bubble isn't going to pop, right?"
Before Luke could even thank her, he felt himself sink slightly further into the bubble. He twisted to look at the nearly opaque sphere, panic rising.
If he fell to the ground directly, it would only hurt his head and body a little. With his current physical strength, even landing on the back of his head wouldn't be a problem. But if the bubble burst suddenly, he would experience a few terrifying seconds of freefall.
Everyone knows that the fear of falling is far worse than the pain of hitting the ground.
"Don't worry, it won't… it shouldn't, right?"
Seeing Luke sink deeper, even confident Primarina hesitated. Though she trusted her bubble, she decided it was safer to pull Luke out.
Watching the bubble shatter into countless floating droplets under Primarina's swipe, Luke tilted his head back. The blue figure he had glimpsed hours ago, when he was knocked out by various balls, was indeed Primarina. The difference now was that he was forced to lie on her tail.
Though he worried about crushing her, thinking of Pokémon's incredible physical resilience and Primarina's joyful expression, he pushed the thought aside and focused on anything else to distract himself.
As a lifelong single, Luke felt an awkward flutter toward Primarina. Not in a weird way, since she hadn't evolved into her final form, but seeing this small sea lion gave him a tangible image of a loli-mom figure he had only imagined in the anime world.
Suppressing the bizarre feeling, he looked away and lifted his right hand, focusing on the red bracelet on his wrist. He managed to corral his scattered thoughts.
Touching the screen on the bracelet, the sci-fi virtual ring appeared again. Unlike before, the flame icon that had been at the top moved to the center and grew slightly larger.
Luke instinctively extended his left hand and clutched the flame icon.
The moment he crushed it, his transformation reversed. His altered clothing returned to normal, and the bracelet on his wrist reverted to pure white.
The power of flames… vanished.
"Luke, you're back to normal…"
Trusting Primarina, Luke hadn't dodged her view while canceling the transformation, letting her witness the entire process. Before she could say anything, a voice of urgent concern cut between them.
"Luke! Are you hurt?!"
"I'm fine, just dizzy from staying transformed too long…"
"Don't let appearances fool you! Many trainers have ignored minor injuries, only to realize too late that their humans are internally harmed!"
Without giving Luke a chance to respond, Kirlia summoned a water sphere and smashed it onto his face.
"Gulp…"
Luke wanted to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, water poured in.
"Primarina, don't just stand there! Didn't Luke pass out right after the battle yesterday? If he faints again, we won't make it to the human center in time!"
Kirlia's words struck Primarina like a hammer, awakening her from distraction. Seeing Luke struggling before her, she mimicked Kirlia, tossing droplets onto his face.
One after another, the two Pokémon's life-giving water hits rained down. Luke didn't know if his hidden injuries were healed, but he felt a figure beckoning him from the other side.