Su Hao looked at Leafeon. He had originally wanted to comfort it, tell it to take things slowly, that they still had plenty of time, and that they could spend the coming days in Kartana Forest devising a sword technique that would amaze even Kartana.
But when he saw Leafeon's expression and bearing, the words that had reached his lips would not come out.
Swish—swish—swish!
After ignoring Su Hao and Leafeon, Kartana no longer sliced apart the artificial mountain. Instead, it swung the blade that was both its arm and its sword at the empty air.
At that moment, Leafeon's dark brown eyes were like magnets, fixed firmly on Kartana. It watched every movement without blinking, showing neither dejection at Kartana's disparagement nor frustration at being unable to see the trajectory of its attacks.
"..."
Su Hao opened his mouth, unsure what to say. Yet he faintly came to understand something. Through their Aura connection, Leafeon's emotions had genuinely reached him.
Come to think of it, when it came to Guts, none of the Pokémon on the team could probably match Leafeon.
It had once been an utterly ordinary Eevee. Like countless others of its kind, it had been captured by an R Institute branch and subjected to many cruel experiments. When it had been on the verge of death, it was rescued and sent to Su Hao's mother, Su Qing, for treatment. Then it met Su Hao, received further treatment, and regained the vitality of a new life.
That dark and painful past of Leafeon's could be summed up in a single sentence, but that did not erase the arduous Guts it had needed to struggle out of that hell alive.
Even after receiving Mewtwo's genetic restoration and optimization, and Uxie's blessing of wisdom, Leafeon had never considered itself