Chapter 114: The Unremarkable Powerhouse

Nurse Joy's face showed a conflicted expression. She had no real solution to offer—after all, this was the first time she'd encountered a situation like this.

"Why don't you play with her a little longer?" she suggested hesitantly. "Maybe she's only interested in you for now, and it'll pass soon enough."

After all, this wouldn't be the first time a Mawile just wanted a temporary playmate.

She looked at Maki with hopeful eyes, making it difficult for him to refuse.

"Well… alright."

Hearing Maki agree, Nurse Joy smiled brightly and quickly instructed, "I'll leave this to you, then. There are a lot of injured Pokémon in the Pokémon Center that need my attention. I'll check back later."

"Chansey—!"

Before Maki could respond, she swiftly made her exit, practically dragging her Chansey along with her.

Watching Nurse Joy's quick retreat, Maki couldn't shake the feeling that he had just been roped into a thankless task.

He understood Nurse Joy's workload—although the Pokémon Center had plenty of staff, she was still responsible for the most critical cases, leaving her with little time for distractions like this. Focusing on a Pokémon that had almost fully recovered wasn't practical when others needed urgent care.

Still, understanding it didn't make it any less frustrating. Was this really his fate? He, Maki—son of Giovanni, heir to Team Rocket, future top undercover agent within the Pokémon League—reduced to babysitting duty?

Where was the justice in that?

"Maw!"

The Mawile nestled in Maki's arms shifted slightly, its small eyes staring up at him. Upon noticing his gaze, it flashed an innocent, sweet smile.

Too cute!

Was this why it was called the Deceiver Pokémon? It had already figured out Maki's weakness in such a short time—using its adorable looks to break through his defenses!

Was Maki really so easily swayed?

Absolutely.

As he looked at the Mawile snuggled in his arms, a wave of calm washed over him. There was something therapeutic about having such an adorable Pokémon around. Yes, cute Pokémon were the best!

Between being cool and being cute, Maki would always choose the latter.

Fine, whatever. His original plan was just to take a bath and relax—this wasn't much different.

As the saying goes, life is like a battle: if you can't resist, you might as well enjoy it.

If it were a Raticate or something, Maki would never accept this situation. But this? This was a matter of aesthetics. Adorable Pokémon would always be more popular.

"Might as well let the others out to keep you company."

With that, Maki released his Charmeleon and Cottonee. The room wasn't particularly large, but it was spacious enough for them all to fit comfortably.

"Cotton? Cotton!"

The moment Cottonee emerged, she noticed Mawile in Maki's arms and immediately puffed up in protest.

That was her spot!

Although she often resisted Maki's tendency to cuddle her—whether through verbal protests or by flying away when he got too persistent—that spot was still hers!

"Cotton!"

Cottonee hovered beside Maki, voicing her strong objections, making it clear that Mawile had invaded her territory.

"Mawile~"

Mawile glanced at Cottonee's indignant face and promptly ignored her, even burrowing further into Maki's arms as if to make a point.

Charmeleon, meanwhile, simply watched from the side, clearly enjoying the show. While he secretly envied Cottonee's ability to be carried, he had long accepted that his size made that impossible. It was a simple fact of life.

Resigned to his fate, Charmeleon shook his head like a sage who had seen it all, finding humor in the petty squabble.

"Silly little kids," he thought to himself, amused.

"Cotton!"

Determined not to be outdone, Cottonee tried to squeeze into the space between Maki and Mawile, attempting to nudge the latter away with her body.

Good idea in theory—but she underestimated Mawile's resilience.

The moment she attempted to push in, Mawile's large mouth casually swatted her aside. The fact that it didn't outright chomp down on her was already a sign of restraint—for Maki's sake, no doubt.

"You always act like you don't want to be held when I try, though?" Maki asked, giving Cottonee a bemused look.

"Cotton!"

[That's completely different!]

"Ah, I get it now. You're just a tsundere, huh?" Maki nodded knowingly. "You act like you hate it, but you secretly enjoy it."

"Cotton!" [I am NOT a tsundere!]

"You know, tsundere characters aren't popular anymore. That personality type is out of style."

As he said that, a thought crossed his mind: Did Cottonee qualify as a "white-haired, red-eyed" character? Her eyes were more orange than red, but it was close enough.

In his previous life, that character trope had been his weakness.

Hmm, too bad—Cottonee was close, but not quite there. She had the white fluff, but her eyes weren't quite red enough.

"Oh well, let's just adjust your position for now." With that, Maki picked up Cottonee and gently placed her on his head.

"You'd make a pretty good winter hat."

Even though it wasn't quite the season for it yet, Maki was already thinking ahead.

Cottonee flapped her tiny leaves in mild annoyance, expressing her dissatisfaction at being "promoted" to a higher position.

"Alright, that's enough. I'm going to take a nap." He patted Cottonee lightly, signaling her to settle down, then leaned back onto the bed.

The bed was clearly designed for Pokémon rather than humans, so Maki had to let his legs dangle over the edge while his upper body rested on the mattress.

Still… at least the bed held up. Quality craftsmanship.

Mawile, still not fully recovered, had been running on excitement earlier, but now that the energy had worn off, drowsiness took over.

Charmeleon, seeing Maki lie down, lazily walked over and curled up at his feet.

Cottonee, though initially restless, eventually calmed down. She lay atop Maki's head, lost in thought until she too drifted off to sleep.

It was unclear how much time had passed when Maki stirred awake, his consciousness pulled back by the sound of the door opening.

Moving carefully, he peered up to see Nurse Joy and her Chansey stepping inside.

He had been careful not to wake Mawile, but he had completely forgotten about the Pokémon on his head.

As soon as he sat up, Cottonee, losing her support, tumbled down and performed an unintentional acrobatic roll before landing with a startled squeak.

"Cotton!" Cottonee grumbled in dissatisfaction. Maki quickly gestured for her to be quiet, pointing to the sleeping Mawile nearby.

Puffing up her cheeks in protest, Cottonee ultimately said nothing more. Instead, she obediently flew onto Maki's head and settled down.

In that brief moment, Cottonee had an epiphany—compared to being cradled in Maki's arms, this was the perfect spot to slack off!

When Maki held her, she constantly worried whether his large hands would end up rubbing her bald. But perched on his head, she had no such concerns. Plus, she could still feel his warmth and presence. Could there be a better place than this?

Of course, that didn't mean she was giving up her rightful spot in Maki's arms. After all, from Cottonee's perspective, that Mawile could never become Maki's Pokémon—there was simply no comparison!

After recalling the still-sleeping Charmeleon into its Poké Ball, Maki turned toward Nurse Joy.

Nurse Joy appeared to be somewhat distracted, seemingly unaware that she had even woken Maki up.

"Nurse Joy."

Maki waved a hand in front of her, snapping her out of her daze.

"Ah? Oh! Mr. Maki, let's step outside to talk," Nurse Joy said, noticing the still-resting Mawile.

Maki nodded and followed her out.

"Nurse Joy, since Mawile is fine now, I'll be on my way," Maki said with a yawn, still looking tired. Since the situation with Mawile was resolved, he intended to get back to resting.

"Wait a moment. I have to trouble you again regarding Mawile."

Just as Maki was about to leave, Nurse Joy stopped him.

"Is there something else?" Maki frowned. He had already gone out of his way to bring Mawile here and care for her—wasn't that enough? Was she really asking him to do even more?

Sensing Maki's reluctance, Nurse Joy quickly pulled a document from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Here… this is the information on Mawile from the Breeder Association. Please take good care of her from now on."

"Huh?"

Maki was stunned. He had no idea what she meant but still took the paperwork, bewildered.

"According to the League's decision, if you have no objections, Mawile will be entrusted to you," Nurse Joy said with a smile.

Honestly, even she hadn't expected the League to make such a decision. After all, Mawile wasn't exactly an inexpensive Pokémon.

"Wait, since when does the League operate this recklessly?"

Maki struggled to process what he was hearing. The League was just giving away Pokémon because they liked their trainers now? Since when were they so generous?

Even in the anime and games, when Professors handed out starter Pokémon, it was considered a personal gift, not something sanctioned by the League itself.

If the League really operated this way, they'd go bankrupt in no time.

And Nurse Joy certainly didn't have the authority to just hand over a Pokémon, which is what shocked Maki the most—why was the League suddenly being so generous? This was completely out of character for them!

Nurse Joy didn't offer much of an explanation. Instead, she simply handed him a Poké Ball.

At that moment, the sound of tiny footsteps came from behind Maki. It seemed that, amid their conversation, they had forgotten to close the door, and the noise had woken Mawile.

Upon realizing Maki was gone, the drowsy Mawile immediately climbed down from the bed. Hearing voices outside, she instinctively followed them.

"Maw?"

Letting out a yawn that matched Maki's, she drowsily waddled over and—plop—latched onto his leg before promptly dozing off again.

"This is Mawile's Poké Ball. If there are no objections, please accept it," Nurse Joy said, glancing at the Pokémon still clinging to Maki. Seeing how attached Mawile already was to him, she felt reassured that the decision had been the right one.

Maki didn't object. The League being this generous was a rare occurrence, and he was curious about the reason behind it. Besides, he had grown fond of this little Pokémon. Truth be told, Mawile had potential that most people wouldn't expect.

He figured the League's willingness to part with Mawile was likely due to her not being particularly valuable in their eyes. If she were a Dratini or a Larvitar—pseudo-legendary hatchlings—the League would never give her away so easily.

Not that he would return such a Pokémon if he ever got one. He'd rather hand it over to Team Rocket instead!

Even within Team Rocket, pseudo-legendary Pokémon were rare and highly prized.

Statistically speaking, Mawile wasn't exceptional. Her base stats are fairly average; in terms of raw numbers, they aren't particularly high.

Even with Mega Evolution, it doesn't receive an absurd stat redistribution like Mega Beedrill. However, its Ability undergoes a slight change, becoming the seemingly unremarkable "Huge Power."

The effect is straightforward—it simply doubles Mawile's Attack stat.

While the fact that certain Pokémon can undergo Mega Evolution isn't exactly common knowledge, it's not an absolute secret either. After all, the Kalos region made significant discoveries in this field long ago.

Even so, Mega Evolution remains known only to a select group of people—high-ranking members of the Pokémon League, Team Rocket executives, and a few others.

In official battles, however, the use of Mega Evolution is strictly prohibited. For example, in Elite Four battles, it is an unwritten rule that Mega Evolution is off-limits. Many believe that the time has not yet come for Mega Evolution to be publicly acknowledged.

After all, if it were officially revealed, the difficulty of obtaining Key Stones and Mega Stones would skyrocket, disrupting the interests of those in power.

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