Chapter 20: The Ineffective Antidote

Early the next morning.

Sunlight poured down, driving away the gloom of the night.

In Aven's room, Starly's wings twitched slightly as it slowly opened its eyes.

Faced with the unfamiliar surroundings, Starly was startled and quickly scrambled up—only then did it realize it had been lying on a bed.

Its gaze shifted to the bedside, where the first thing it saw was the Petilil nestled inside a flowerpot.

Then it noticed Aven, who had fallen asleep at the desk. Starly let out a long breath of relief and plopped back down onto the bed.

Using a wing to rub its head, it recalled what had happened the previous night. Thinking back now, Aven must have arrived just in time to save it.

It raised its wing to inspect it, but didn't react much upon seeing the bandages—clearly used to being treated this way.

"Lil, lil..."

Bathed in the warm sunlight, Petilil opened its eyes.

It instinctively glanced at the bed, then quickly looked toward the desk. When it saw Aven, it relaxed.

It also spotted the now-awake Starly sitting on the bed. Joyful, it leapt out of the flowerpot.

At that moment, Aven also woke up. Seeing that Starly was awake, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed the potent medicine he had made had worked quite well.

...

In the inner city of Aspiration City.

Under the cover of night, Sir Enzo returned home with his Luxray and Mightyena.

The moment he entered, he rushed straight to the family's potion room, where all of their medicinal supplies were kept.

As he approached, the Mightyena guarding the door glanced up at the black-cloaked knight, sniffed the air, and nodded slightly.

Without delay, Enzo entered the potion room and quickly located an antidote. Grabbing it, he rushed back out.

Inside his room, he poured the antidote into Luxray's mouth and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Sir, what do we do now?"

Two black-clad knights asked in hushed tones.

Tonight's operation had been a complete disaster.

Not only did they fail to capture Petilil, but Luxray ended up poisoned, costing them a precious antidote in the process.

Enzo sighed and said helplessly, "I didn't expect that Petilil would be poisonous."

To be honest, even now he found it hard to believe.

In their understanding, Petilil had always been a valuable medicinal Pokémon—its head leaves possessed healing properties, but he had never heard of it being toxic.

And then there was that human's command style—those electric charge and discharge maneuvers not only neutralized the siege from three beasts but even forced several of them back.

It was during that window that Petilil managed to get close to Luxray and inflict the poison.

The more Enzo thought about it, the more he realized how capable that person's command skills were. It left him feeling helpless—as if his chances of capturing Petilil were now slim.

Worse still, the enemy had clearly anticipated his arrival. This meant they likely had some detection method in place, making another infiltration attempt even harder.

"Alright, you two get some rest. I'll find a way to heal Father," Enzo finally said.

The two knights exchanged glances, nodded, and left the room with Mightyena.

After they departed, Enzo looked back at Luxray.

Under the effect of the antidote, Luxray should have been okay by now.

But when he saw the lingering unhealthy purplish hue on Luxray's body, his expression froze—then instantly darkened.

The antidote hadn't worked!

"Luxray? Luxray!"

At this point, Luxray lay slumped on the ground, visibly exhausted. Enzo was utterly shocked.

Without wasting another second, he dashed out of the room and ran back toward the potion chamber.

By now, dawn had broken, and early-rising servants watched in confusion as their panicked master raced past.

"Enzo, what's going on?"

A firm but melodious voice called out.

Enzo instinctively halted and looked toward a woman not far away, dressed in a flowing purple gown.

"Sister Phyllis, Luxray's been poisoned," he said quickly before rushing off again.

Phyllis was momentarily stunned. Her beautiful eyes narrowed, and she turned to head toward Enzo's room, wanting to check on Luxray herself.

This Luxray had been carefully raised by their family—its condition was no small matter.

With their father ill, Phyllis felt it was her responsibility to rein in her reckless younger brother.

Upon arriving at the room, she found the door still open from Enzo's earlier rush.

Entering, she immediately saw the unconscious Luxray.

At the same time, Enzo returned, arms full of bottles and jars—not just more antidotes, but other medicines as well.

He placed them on the table, grabbed a second antidote, and quickly fed it to Luxray.

After drinking the second dose, Luxray's pained expression eased somewhat, and Enzo breathed a little easier while waiting for the medicine to take effect.

"What exactly happened..."

Phyllis looked at her brother, her pleasant voice laced with coldness.

Enzo had always been a little afraid of his sister. He hesitated, then mumbled, "Father's illness hasn't improved..."

"So, I wanted to find a way to cure him."

"That's why I took the family knights into the wild... hoping to find a Petilil."

"You know... the medicine made from Petilil is said to cure any illness."

Enzo spoke in a low voice. Anyone who knew him would be stunned to see him like this.

"Searching the wild for a Petilil?"

Phyllis glanced at her brother and scoffed. "Naïve."

"But Sister, Father's illness—" Enzo tried to argue, unwilling to give up.

"The city's apothecaries have already examined him. Father needs slow, steady recovery. There's no miracle cure," Phyllis said, shaking her head.

She turned to leave, but just as she stepped to the door, she heard Enzo gasp in shock.

"Why—why is Luxray still poisoned?!"

Phyllis spun around, eyes once again locked on Luxray, whose body still bore purplish spots.

Even after consuming two antidotes, Luxray's condition had only slightly improved.

The medicine seemed only to suppress the poison... not neutralize it.

(End of Chapter)