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The 9th floor was the entertainment area, essentially a space for Pokémon to relax and have fun.
Luther wandered around for a bit and found that it resembled the arcades he had seen before, except the main focus here was more on Pokémon, and games were designed for both humans and Pokémon to play together.
For example, the ball-tossing game in front of him was clearly meant to train Pokémon Trainers' aiming skills and power control.
On the other side, there was a basketball shooting game that looked just like the ones in regular arcades, but this one wasn't for humans...
After exchanging some coins, Marill looked excitedly at the machine in front of her. Alright then, you go first.
Luther inserted the coin, and the ready Marill picked up a ball and hurled it straight at the hoop.
"Hurled" was the correct word; she didn't even aim. The basketball bounced off the backboard and rebounded, a classic brick shot.
"This is an aiming game, not a strength contest," Luther reminded her.
Another ball bounced off the rim and flew off. Luther decided to shut up and let her be.
Out of thirty balls, she only made one shot, but Marill still seemed eager and urged Luther to insert more coins.
Luther picked her up and swapped her out for Ralts.
Ralts quickly understood the rules, but her way of playing was... peculiar. She used Psychic power to float the ball to the hoop and then let go...
Is this how all Psychic-types play?
Espurr squeezed in beside Ralts and expressed that she could do it too, so the two little ones teamed up and scored perfect hits with all thirty balls.
As expected, once Psychic and Ghost-types get involved, these kinds of games become kind of dull...
"Here's a shooting game to train a Pokémon's reflexes and aiming," Luther read a sign nearby and figured this one might be more fun.
It was close to noon, and the number of visitors at the Lunar Ring Mall was increasing. After waiting in line a bit, Luther read the rules.
A launcher would fire sets of flying discs. Hitting the moving discs in different spots would yield different points. There were six sets total.
Marill glanced at the other Pokémon beside her, then tugged at Luther's pant leg, signaling that she wanted to play.
Jumpluff nudged Luther as well.
"You two can take turns, perfect chance to compare accuracy."
Marill was the first to step into the playing area. The flying discs launched without any regular timing or warning, the first wave came after a suspenseful ten-second delay, surprising Marill and almost causing her to miss all of them.
She quickly fired Water Guns and barely hit two of the first discs.
The second wave caught her off guard again, this time launching faster and with three discs instead of two. She was ready for the first two and hit them accurately, but Luther saw clearly that she only grazed the third one.
Now fully focused, Marill took on the next four waves with complete concentration.
When she stepped down, the score displayed: 147 points.
Jumpluff nudged her and signaled her to watch and learn.
Marill pouted and bluntly told her, "This game looks easy but is actually hard."
But she didn't get to sulk for long… Jumpluff's score popped up on the screen and immediately placed her in the top 10 all-time leaderboard for the game.
Espurr and Ralts looked at Jumpluff with admiration as she strutted out proudly. This one's a pro!
"Here, this is a little charm for Jumpluff. Congratulations on setting a new record!" a staff member brought over a whiteboard. "Would Jumpluff leave a signature for the store?"
A signature... using her cotton puff dipped in ink would look awful.
After checking with Jumpluff, the staff smeared ink on her feet and let her stomp on the board a few times, voilà, signature left.
Her print would only be removed if someone beat her score.
Marill drooped her ears as Jumpluff chattered on endlessly about how amazing her performance was. Marill decided to pretend she didn't hear any of it.
At the staircase leading to the 10th floor, there was a huge stage surrounded by a massive crowd, piquing Luther's curiosity.
"Oh, I was just about to look for you," Cynthia said, holding a crepe and grabbing Luther. "There's a contest going on with prizes."
"What kind of contest?"
"Big Eater."
Luther widened his eyes. "I'm not exactly a big eater…"
"Not you, it's a Pokémon contest!" Cynthia facepalmed.
"Wouldn't Snorlax just destroy everyone?"
"Snorlax is banned. Look closely, none of the Pokémon signed up today are heavyweights. I remember your Marill has quite the appetite."
"The reward is choosing any one of those Pokémon eggs," Cynthia pointed at a shelf stacked with colorful Pokémon eggs in the corner of the stage.
Luther was tempted. The entry fee wasn't high, and at worst, it would just be buying Marill a hearty lunch.
He signed Marill up, and when she heard she could eat as much as she wanted, she was full of energy. Luther didn't say anything about winning. Altogether, there were 11 Pokémon contestants. The only ones that looked truly gluttonous were a Diggersby and an Ursaring, so Marill might have a shot at quietly enjoying herself.
The announcer stood on stage and explained the rules: in ten minutes, the Pokémon who eats the most Berries wins. Same as most Big Eater contests Luther had seen.
Chapter 117: Big Eater
Judging by body size, Marill was the smallest among the eleven participating Pokémon, she didn't look like she could eat much at all. So most of the attention was still focused on Ursaring and Diggersby.
As soon as the competition began, Ursaring grabbed a basket full of Berries and started pouring them straight into his mouth. The way he ate was quite a visual spectacle.
Next to him, Diggersby used her large ears to scoop up the Berries, crushed them with her ears, and then fed them into her mouth.
"I think Ursaring's done for," Luther commented.
"Pretty much. That method is fast, sure, but it fills you up too quickly, makes it hard to keep eating. Looks like his Pokémon Trainer is a newbie and didn't teach him the most important techniques," Cynthia replied. "By the way, did you give Marill any instructions?"
"Instructions? Nope. I just told her to eat to her heart's content. It's not coming out of my wallet today."
Luther always served Marill twice the portion of any other Pokémon, but even now, he still didn't know if Marill ever got full, she never asked for more or said she was done.
Every time he saw Marill gobbling down food with gusto, Luther couldn't help but feel a little guilty, as if he hadn't fed her properly.
Because of her small stature, Marill had to stand on top of the Berry basket to eat. Her eating speed couldn't match the bigger Pokémon, but the rate at which the Berries disappeared beneath her feet was downright frightening.
Luther nudged Cynthia, who was looking elsewhere. Marill had abandoned using her hands and simply dove headfirst into the basket. Her mouth moved only to spit out seeds, everything else was just swallowing.
This was the first time Luther had seen something so visually overwhelming. Marill's stomach really did seem like a bottomless pit. By the seven-minute mark, only four or five Pokémon remained on stage.
As expected, Ursaring, who had started off so boldly, was the first to bow out. No idea what his Trainer was thinking, even gave him water just now…
Diggersby's pace also began to slow. Crushing the Berries gave her an advantage early on, but she had clearly reached her limit. While her ears were still smashing Berries at the same pace, her swallowing was getting more and more difficult.
Beside them, Empoleon clutched his stomach and waved toward the audience, his Trainer understood and immediately declared forfeit.
That signaled a wave of exits from the other Pokémon. Lickilicky and Krookodile both followed suit… until only Marill and Diggersby were left in the showdown.
Hearing the constant crunching and chewing beside her, Diggersby couldn't help but glance at Marill, who was still eating. Though Marill had slowed down a bit, there wasn't the slightest hint that she planned to give up.
Diggersby watched Marill casually toss a Berry into her mouth, swish it around a bit, then spit out a clean pit. She glanced back at the Berry pulp she had painstakingly crushed, she was momentarily dazed.
On impulse, she mimicked Marill and stuffed a whole Berry directly into her mouth.
Big mistake. The sudden shift in her eating rhythm caused her stomach to lurch. A wave of nausea surged up. She resisted the urge to throw up, but the sight of those brightly colored Berries was starting to make her sick.
"Marill~ Marill~ Marill~!"
Because of her small size, everyone had assumed from the start that Marill would be one of the first to drop out. But now, seeing her maintain a steady eating pace, the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.
Marill even had the presence of mind to wave a Berry toward Luther and Cynthia. The announcer, thinking she was trying to rile up the crowd, immediately started favoring her in commentary.
Feeling more and more uncomfortable, Diggersby looked toward her Trainer, heard the cheers that weren't meant for her, and grew increasingly frustrated. In a moment of anger, she used her ears to scoop up a whole basket of Berries and dumped it into her mouth. Under her Trainer's shocked gaze, Diggersby gave one hard chew… and spat it all out.
That should have marked the end of the competition. But Marill still had no intention of leaving the stage. She kept up her routine, spitting seeds, swallowing Berries, until Luther came up and picked her up. Only then did she stop.
"As Marill's Pokémon Trainer, I'd like to ask, how much food do you go through every day to keep her full?"
The announcer's post-game interview made Luther scratch his head awkwardly. "Oh, just two small bowls of regular Pokémon food. Just a little bit, really. Not much."
The announcer looked deep into Luther's eyes for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Mr. Luther, you've got quite the sense of humor. Looks like you've helped us redefine what 'small' and 'a little bit' really mean."
With that, the announcer led Luther to a shelf nearby. Under the envious eyes of the audience, they began selecting a Pokémon egg.
Since coming to this world, Luther had only seen Pokémon eggs a few times at Mai's Day Care. Looking at this variety of unfamiliar, differently patterned eggs, how was he supposed to know which one to pick?
He touched a Pokémon egg in the center, then hesitated, glancing at the purple-patterned one on the edge. He looked conflicted.
Luther gently placed his hand on the egg and covered his forehead, hoping for some kind of inspiration or a fateful sign.
A soft touch suddenly landed on the back of his hand. A burping Marill looked at Luther, then at a brown-patterned Pokémon egg in front of her.
"You want this one?"
Marill burped again, then waved her arms in a panic, indicating that wasn't what she meant; she'd just eaten too much and needed something to lean on.
Luther didn't hesitate any longer. He picked that egg. After all, fate's a mysterious thing, who can say what it really is?
(End of Chapter)