"Rai-nii… then I…" Gulzar set the knife down, his whole hand trembling. He didn't even know what to say. He never wanted to kill a fish, but for revenge, he felt like he had no other choice.
The people he wanted revenge on were the poachers—those scum. Back then, that's exactly what they did: they killed his Pokémon partner right in front of him, and then tried to force him to stain his hands with Pokémon blood.
At the time, he chose death over obedience. He refused to be like them. But after he killed the Magikarp just now, he finally understood something—he was no different.
For power. For revenge. Hurting other lives to get what he wanted. In the end, he was walking the same road as those poachers. He'd become the kind of person he hated.
He stared at the blood on his hands. For revenge, he'd turned into this. And for the first time, he realized how easy it was to end a stranger's life.
So that was it. That's how those monsters could kill like it was nothing—because it really could be that simple. Simple enough that even he could do it. It wasn't as hard as he imagined. Those "monsters" weren't as unreachable as he'd feared.
If killing a fish was like this… then killing a person would probably be like this too. It all felt the same. The blood would be the same—hot.
He used to reject the knife. Now he understood what it meant. No one forced him. From beginning to end, every step had been his choice.
Just like Reiji said—the knife was in his hand. Even that fish… it was his choice. Reiji never forced him. He chose revenge.
He could have chosen not to follow Reiji. All it would cost was giving up revenge. But he would never give up revenge. So he chose it. He chose to follow Reiji for power. He chose to let his hands be stained.
Power wasn't only for revenge. Gulzar looked at the other Magikarp still flopping on the grass. That one would live or die based on what he did next.
"Let it go. Come with me." Reiji patted Gulzar on the shoulder, then headed back to camp to grab a few things. Gulzar had made his choice—so Reiji would respond in kind.
Gulzar wanted revenge. Training step by step and waiting for his Pokémon to grow the normal way wasn't going to work anymore. In a couple of days, he'd be making a move on the poachers. Neither he nor his Pokémon had that kind of time.
He needed to power-level. The bond with his Pokémon could come later. If he wanted to become strong fast, the simplest way was to catch a strong Pokémon right away.
And the strongest "ready-made" option here was Magikarp. If Magikarp could evolve into Gyarados, Gulzar could skip the beginner stage entirely and jump straight into being an Elite-tier trainer.
As for whether he could actually catch it—and whether he could build a bond with a Gyarados—that was Gulzar's problem.
Reiji had already opened the door to the Elite Four–tier path for him. He wasn't going to chew the rice and feed it to him, too.
Whether Gulzar could become an Elite Four–tier trainer would depend on his own ability, his effort after this, and just how desperately he wanted power.
Reiji planned to give him that Magikarp with 58 potential as his starter Pokémon. It wasn't the 59-potential one he wanted anyway, so giving it away didn't matter.
As Reiji moved toward the forest, Gulzar carried the Magikarp back to the river and released it. He scrubbed the blood off his hands at the bank, then hurried after Reiji. One in front, one behind, they entered the forest.
"Poliwhirl. Scyther. Stop training and come with me." Reiji planned to have those two suppress Gyarados. For an Elite-tier Gyarados, they were enough.
"Yobo, yobo!" Poliwhirl heard Reiji call and immediately stopped its Waterfall training, then followed him into the forest.
"Scy." Scyther also halted its high-speed obstacle-dodging drills and went in after Reiji.
Gulzar didn't know what Reiji was about to do. He'd passed the earlier test, but he had no idea what came next. Still, he knew the only thing he needed to do was follow Reiji's instructions. Overthinking it wouldn't help.
He was a smart guy—clever in his own way. Otherwise, he never would've escaped from the poachers' ship. He understood what he had to do.
"Gulzar, there isn't much time for you to grow. If you want revenge, you can only do this fast. I have an opportunity here—do you want it?"
"I do, Rai-nii! For revenge, I'll do anything." The moment he heard "opportunity," Gulzar answered without hesitation, showing his resolve.
"This Pokémon is Magikarp." Reiji tossed a Poké Ball backward—it was the one holding the 58-potential Magikarp. "This Magikarp has Elite Four–level talent. As long as it can evolve, it'll be an Elite Four–level Pokémon in the future…"
"Elite Four?" The instant Gulzar heard those words, everything else went quiet. He was so shocked he stopped thinking entirely.
He stared at the Magikarp inside the Poké Ball and felt certain he'd chosen right. He'd followed the right person. He never imagined someone could casually hand over a Magikarp with Elite Four–level talent. He didn't even know how to express what he was feeling.
He thought that following Reiji would just mean getting help catching Pokémon. If he could also learn how to train Pokémon from him, that would already be more than enough. As long as Reiji was willing to teach, he would've been satisfied.
But instead, Reiji hit him with a huge surprise—one so big it left him dizzy. An Elite Four–talent Pokémon was something he'd always seen as impossible to reach. And now it was in his hands.
He didn't doubt the "Elite Four talent" claim. Even if it was exaggerated, it had to be at least quasi–Elite Four talent.
After all, he had nothing. He was dirt-poor and had no value to exploit. What would Reiji gain by lying to him?
Reiji was willing to help him. Even without this Magikarp, Gulzar would still be grateful. He already owed Reiji. Reiji owed him nothing.
And yet Reiji treated him this well. Gulzar couldn't even finish thanking him, let alone think of anything else.
To learn how to raise Pokémon from a trainer this strong—he had to seize this chance. If he missed it because he ran his mouth, that wouldn't be "having something wrong in the head." That would be having no brain at all.
His hometown was Butwal Island. His family wasn't well-off, so he could only catch Grass-type Pokémon—sunlight and water were enough to keep them going.
After traveling outside, he'd seen what reality was like. He'd lost the naive thoughts he used to have.
He wanted to make something of himself. He wanted a name. If he wanted to become a master Grass-type trainer, then he had to hold onto this trainer's knowledge.
Someone who could casually give away a Pokémon with Elite Four talent… that meant Reiji was at least an Elite Four–tier trainer. An Elite Four–tier trainer!
A big shot like that was someone you normally couldn't even meet. They'd never spare a glance for a beginner who'd just left home. Now Gulzar had a chance to learn at his side. If he let it slip away, there wouldn't be a second time. He absolutely wouldn't let go.
He treasured this opportunity so much because back in his hometown, he had a childhood friend who went traveling and returned recently.
When they reunited at the Pokémon Center, that friend's strength had skyrocketed—and he'd caught a bunch of rare Pokémon Gulzar had never even seen. They used to be evenly matched, trading pathetic wins back and forth. But by then, Gulzar couldn't beat him anymore.
Later he learned why: during that trip, his friend became a gym apprentice. Even if it was just doing chores around the gym, the opportunities were on a completely different level than staying home.
That's how his friend got so strong and left him behind—by learning in a gym.
The moment Gulzar heard that, he couldn't hold back anymore. That was why he decided to travel. And everyone knows how that ended—his luck was awful. Not long after setting out, he got captured by the poachers.
But even that wasn't entirely bad. During the time he was held, his Pokémon partners were gone… but he also met the son of the Kumquat Gym's Gym Leader. If he could rescue that boy and build a good relationship with him…
Then joining the Kumquat Gym later would be almost automatic. Gulzar had wanted to join the Kumquat Gym before, but he hadn't passed Gym Leader Luana's test. Still, with that boy's connection, slipping in as a gym apprentice shouldn't be hard.
Compared to being a gym apprentice, though, Gulzar's biggest stroke of fortune this time was meeting an Elite Four–tier trainer—this trainer right in front of him.
An Elite Four–tier trainer versus a gym apprentice… the gap wasn't even close.
If he could become this Elite Four–tier trainer's student, he'd never have to worry about the future. He had to grab this once-in-a-lifetime chance and change his destiny. Even if he couldn't become a student, he still couldn't afford to anger Reiji.
And this Elite Four–tier trainer was unbelievably generous—handing over a Magikarp with Elite Four talent just like that. Reiji was the most important benefactor Gulzar would ever meet. He couldn't let go. He had to stay close for life.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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