Chapter 92: Born From Loneliness
After another day of high-intensity training concluded, Arthur returned to the apartment he had just rented.
Now that he had money, he no longer lived in the youth training camp dormitories.
Firstly, living alone was quieter. Secondly, and most importantly, the bathroom in the club dorms was too small and couldn't accommodate a bathtub.
Nowadays, the first thing he did upon returning home each day was to fill the bathtub with cool water, then carry Little Lapras inside, and finally turn on the special water-flow massage function unique to this luxurious bathtub.
After renting this apartment, the only piece of furniture he had replaced was this custom-made, high-end hydrotherapy massage bathtub.
Everything was done to provide a better resting environment for his Pokémon.
Afterward, he prepared several wet towels for Frogadier.
Only after taking good care of both Pokémon did he finally return to the bed in his own bedroom.
At this moment, a certain carefree onion-headed Mythical Pokémon was already deep in dreamland beside his pillow, lying face up, arms spread out wide like the character 大, managing to occupy a surprisingly large portion of the bed despite its small body.
Later, night descended.
Not long after Arthur fell asleep, Frogadier's eyes darted open; he suddenly awoke in the dead quiet of the night.
He wiped his face with a wet towel, ensuring his head and eyes remained moist.
Then, he hopped off his own soft rubber bed and tiptoed lightly into the bathroom.
At this time, Little Lapras was lying prone in the bathtub, her head resting against the bathroom wall, appearing as though she had already fallen asleep.
However, Frogadier could tell at a glance that she wasn't actually asleep.
He gently patted her neck.
As expected, Little Lapras immediately opened her eyes.
Frogadier looked at her and smiled, letting out two quiet croaks.
"Can't sleep? Is your throat still hurting?"
Most of Lapras's skills are expelled from the mouth. Little Lapras had practiced so much during the day; it was perfectly normal for her throat area to feel fatigued.
Although Arthur paid great attention to care and maintenance after each practice session, constantly providing massages and throat-soothing nutritional supplements...
After several consecutive days like this, it was inevitable that it would still hurt.
Little Lapras let out two tired 'ao ao' cries.
Even without understanding the content, one could hear the hoarseness and discomfort in her voice alone.
Frogadier pityingly stroked the side of her neck, then reached back to pull forward the circle of white foam from behind his own neck.
"Let me give you a massage. It should feel a little better."
He used the soft, scarf-like foam circle from his neck to gently massage Little Lapras's chin and throat.
At first, Little Lapras resisted slightly, but she soon眯 (mī - squinted/narrowed) her eyes and began making soft, comfortable, contented sounds.
While massaging, Frogadier also asked, "You, ah... why do you absolutely have to push yourself so hard?"
The sheer drive Little Lapras displayed in her training every day made even him, who considered himself a highly competitive big brother, feel ashamed of his own inadequacy.
Little Lapras proudly lifted her head, her answer the same as always.
"Hmph, of course, it's because I must help Grandmother fulfill her lifelong wish of unifying the five seas."
Frogadier was speechless for a moment.
When she first arrived, he still found it unbelievable. But now, after spending many days together, he had completely gotten used to it.
This little sister's chuunibyou was probably incurable.
He fully understood this point now.
Afterward, as per usual, Little Lapras began recounting her grandmother's great achievements to him again. She grew more and more excited as she spoke, to the point where Frogadier had to frequently remind her.
"Stop talking, stop talking for now. Doesn't your throat hurt anymore?"
Eventually, he could only sigh.
"You really like your grandmother, huh."
Unexpectedly, this casual remark suddenly caused Little Lapras to fall silent.
The abrupt silence even caught Frogadier somewhat off guard.
"What's wrong?"
Little Lapras leaned her head against the adjacent bathroom wall once more.
"Yeah, I really like Grandmother..."
"My mother left shortly after giving birth to me. She couldn't stand the climate of that sea region and was determined to head north to find her true family."
"When I was little, only Grandmother would accompany me, teach me skills, teach me how to use skating to move on land, tell me stories about when she was young, and also teach me many things about the human world."
"I... I really liked Grandmother so much. But she only stayed with me for a few years before she left."
"I miss her so much. I've always missed her so much..."
Little Lapras's voice grew quieter and quieter, causing Frogadier's massaging movements to unconsciously lighten considerably.
Frogadier thought for a moment, trying to offer some guidance, "Aren't those Milotic very good to you too?"
Little Lapras whispered softly, "They are very good, I know. But... it's not the same. They don't even look anything like me."
"..."
In the quiet night, at this moment, Frogadier's emotional intelligence inexplicably skyrocketed.
He suddenly understood Little Lapras's emotions.
This was an emotion he had seen before in anime created by humans.
It was called—Loneliness.
A type of loneliness where, looking all around, one couldn't find a single other individual of the same kind.
Lapras, after all, is a species with gregarious habits...
Perhaps, this loneliness was the root cause of all Little Lapras's chuunibyou tendencies and mischievous personality.
However, although Frogadier understood Little Lapras's feelings, he was unfortunately not an emotional expert from the human world.
For a moment, he didn't know how to comfort Little Lapras. He could only, over and over again, tirelessly use the foam from his neck to help massage Little Lapras's chin, alleviating her pain.
Until Little Lapras, her head leaning against the wall, gradually fell asleep, still muttering about her grandmother and dominating the five seas even in her final waking moments...
After Little Lapras was completely asleep, Frogadier tested the water temperature in the bathtub, added a bit more cool water for her, and only then did he quietly leave the bathroom, returning to his own soft bed to sleep.
The next morning, when Arthur woke up, he didn't notice anything unusual.
He just felt that Frogadier seemed perhaps a little more tired than usual.
He didn't pay too much mind to it, though.
Later, they went to the youth training camp, and the day's courses continued.
However, when afternoon arrived, Frogadier proactively proposed that he could help Little Lapras with her training.
"Eh? You want to help her with extra training?"
Arthur looked at Frogadier for confirmation.
"Gadier!" (Sound confirms affirmation)
Frogadier nodded forcefully.
Arthur thought for a moment, then agreed.
"Alright then. As it happens, there's one training exercise that requires your ability."
He immediately rented one of the training grounds within the camp base. He didn't hire a coach but instead took the Pokémon inside himself.
It was a smooth ice rink, which conveniently saved Little Lapras the effort of having to create her own ice path to skate on land as she usually did.
He first gave Frogadier an order.
"Frogadier, use Double Team!"
The next moment, Frogadier performed a backflip in the air and instantly split into seven figures.
After evolution, Frogadier hadn't only mastered new skills; his proficiency with many already mastered skills had also seen a significant boost.
Like "Double Team"—in the past, he could only create three or four clones at once, but now he could easily create six clones simultaneously.
Then, Arthur turned to Little Lapras and explained.
"This is positioning and observation/insight training prepared for you."
"Next, Frogadier will charge at you along with his clones. What you need to do is, within this field, using only the most basic water spitting, identify Frogadier's real body by breaking the clones. During this process, you must constantly keep moving and not allow him to 'ride' onto your back."
"During the training, both sides are forbidden from using any other skills. Little Lapras, your range of movement cannot leave the surface of this ice field."
"Pay attention to your movement route so you don't get surrounded by clones. Pay attention and observe the differences between Frogadier's real body and the clones."
"This will be an important enhancement to your battle awareness!"
"Alright, then, let's begin."
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BONUS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that helps the story a lot. Thank you.