Day 12 at the Gym. Clear skies.
It was his twelfth day at the Gym, and the eighth day since he'd started bringing in trainers to teach Poliwhirl and the others.
Reiji arrived that morning, greeted Cissy and Senta, grabbed breakfast from the back kitchen, and carried on as usual. He let Poliwhirl and the others out, then had the trainers he'd hired continue coaching them through their new moves.
After a little over a week, Shelmet managed to learn two moves: Recover and Energy Ball. Once the beekeeper boy finished teaching Recover, he left the Gym.
Reiji brought in another trainer after that, and only then did Shelmet finally pick up Energy Ball.
That left Venoshock and Baton Pass. Shelmet could learn those from its teammates. Scyther already knew Baton Pass, and Venoshock wasn't rare either—especially among Poison-types—so finding a suitable "sparring teacher" wouldn't be hard.
Scyther learned three moves as well: Razor Wind, Close Combat, and Baton Pass. No matter what they tried, it just wouldn't learn Cross Poison, so the trainer handling the lessons didn't want to keep burning time. He took 150,000 Pokédollars and gave up on the last move.
That forced Reiji to find someone else to keep working on Scyther's final off-type move. Scyther wasn't Poison-type, so learning a Poison move was always going to be a struggle. All he could do was hope it clicked before the time ran out.
Kingler also learned three moves: High Horsepower, Stomping Tantrum, and Rock Tomb.
It still couldn't learn X-Scissor or Ice Beam. It just didn't have the knack for Ice-type moves.
After a full week, the trainer teaching Kingler threw in the towel too. Reiji had to look for a Kingler that knew both X-Scissor and Ice Beam, so it could keep tutoring his own.
Poliwhirl learned three moves as well: Focus Punch, Bulldoze, and Ice Beam. Kingler couldn't figure out Ice Beam, but Poliwhirl managed it—probably because it had some Ice-type aptitude. Ice Ball and Ice Punch gave it a foundation.
Poliwhirl still hadn't learned Belly Drum or Earthquake. The trainer teaching it eventually gave up, since Poliwhirl just couldn't grasp Belly Drum and he didn't want to waste more days.
In the end, Reiji brought in a Poliwrath to teach Poliwhirl Belly Drum and Earthquake. With Bulldoze as a base—and both being Ground-type moves—Earthquake should come faster.
The previous Poliwrath was a pity, though. It knew Belly Drum but not Earthquake, and once Poliwhirl kept failing Belly Drum, it quit rather than keep dragging things out.
Then there was Pelipper. Over the week, it only learned two moves: Hydro Pump and Hurricane. U-turn and Swallow still hadn't sunk in.
At least Sou hadn't quit. The other three teachers had already left, but Sou kept at it, stubborn as ever. Pelipper was still grinding U-turn, and since it wasn't stab, it was taking longer than usual.
Sou's persistence paid off in another way too. Because he kept showing up, Reiji helped him pick out two Water-type Pokémon—common fish from the sea, but worth raising.
One was Magikarp. Sou's family made their living fishing, so he was in the right place to get lucky. He managed to catch one with 56% potential.
The other was Carvanha—another fish, and Sou said Pelipper naturally preyed on them. That gave Pelipper an instinctive edge over the species, which made catching and raising one much easier.
Carvanha had quasi–Elite Four–level talent, with 55% potential. Sou said he sifted through more than ten thousand fish over the week before he finally picked these two fish.
He only had that kind of access because his family went out to sea all the time. Without that, he'd never get to see enough fish to find standouts.
After Sou caught them, he came to Reiji for advice on raising them. Reiji tossed him a beginner's guide to fish Pokémon care—the kind you could find in any bookstore—and told him to start there.
Then he sent Sou to Senta for Water Gun target practice. Trainer basics mattered, and Pokémon basics mattered too. If a Pokémon couldn't even hit what it aimed at, nothing else came later.
That week passed in constant study and training. Everyone was learning, and the atmosphere stayed lively. Sou's fundamentals still lagged behind Senta's, but he improved fast.
The two still sparred constantly anyway, trading clumsy wins and losses like a pair of rookies who refused to quit. It was ridiculous in the best way, and Reiji couldn't be bothered to referee their bickering.
As for him, he mostly checked everyone's progress and kept hunting down the right teachers. His mornings stayed the same—easy jogs and conditioning—while his afternoons were books and fishing, with the occasional drink. It was a comfortable routine.
Of course, not every moment was peaceful.
One day while fishing, he ran into a fellow angler—an old familiar face. It was Cissy's grandpa.
Once Reiji got used to him, the fear faded. The old man never laid a hand on him, so Reiji started talking back the way fishermen did.
"Old man," Reiji said, eyeing his own bucket of flopping catches, "skunked again today?"
Cissy's grandpa glared at the sound of fish splashing in Reiji's bucket, his moustache bristling like he'd been insulted personally.
"It's the bait," the old man snapped. "The fish just aren't biting."
Reiji laughed. "Yesterday it was the rod. Today it's the bait. Tomorrow you'll blame the hook, then the chair, then the umbrella. Next you'll tell me the sea's the problem—and after that, that there aren't any fish."
Once Reiji got past the first day's nerves, it turned into pure fisherman's joy. Nothing beat coming back loaded while the guy beside you came up empty.
To a fisherman, that was happiness.
"Hmph. What do you know?" the old man said, cheeks warming. "Back in my day—"
"Yeah, yeah," Reiji cut in. "You've told me eight hundred times. You hooked some giant bighead carp, right?"
He gave the old man a sideways look that said he believed none of it. Bighead carp didn't come up for ordinary people, no matter how much they bragged.
"Brat—don't get cocky," the old man barked. "My big fish is here!"
His rod snapped tight.
Then he hauled up… a ruined shoe.
Reiji almost burst out laughing. He swallowed it back, then smiled like he'd just solved a mystery.
"Old man, I know why you never catch anything."
"What?" the old man asked, suddenly eager. He'd been fishing with Reiji for three days straight. Ever since he found out Reiji was a real fishing nut, he showed up every day—and somehow still caught nothing.
"It's you," Reiji said, grin sweet as poison.
"Ahhh—brat!" the old man shouted, furious. "Couldn't you let an old man have one win?"
His moustache practically stood on end. He tossed the rod aside and stormed off, announcing he was done and heading home for dinner.
Reiji couldn't hold it anymore. He laughed until his sides hurt.
Over these few days, whenever fish refused to bite, Cissy's grandpa always found an excuse. Classic fisherman behaviour.
When a fisherman got skunked, he could hook everything except fish. He'd swear it wasn't his fault, then blame the gear, the weather, the tide—anything at all. Only his mouth stayed tough.
Reiji watched the old man go, checked his watch, and decided it was about time to pack up too.
After three days together, he and Cissy's grandpa weren't just fishing buddies anymore. They'd become drinking buddies too.
Three days ago, the old man spotted Reiji fishing with peanuts and a small bottle beside him. He couldn't bring himself to leave. He sat down and drank a few cups with Reiji instead.
Fishing while snacking, with a buddy beside you who also liked to drink—Cissy's grandpa looked like he'd found a kindred spirit. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that relaxed.
Only problem was the brat's mouth. Every time the old man came up empty, Reiji rubbed it in.
Reiji still remembered what happened when the roles were reversed. Three days ago, Reiji was the one who got skunked, and the old man laughed the exact same way. Reiji had been so annoyed he stopped drinking, stopped eating, and stomped off.
Now it was the old man's turn.
Once his laughter finally died down, Reiji packed away his old rod and slid it back into his bag. He looked at the day's catch, then carried the bucket to the shoreline and released everything.
This wasn't a deserted island. He didn't need to eat wild Pokémon to survive anymore. He had food, and he wasn't in any kind of crisis.
He still fished because he loved fishing. In his previous life, he'd been the same kind of obsessive angler, and that itch didn't just go away.
And there was another reason. He also wanted to see if he could hook a high-potential Water-type.
If he didn't, fine. If he did, even better. He could afford it, and he had a huge lake that still felt empty without fish.
After releasing the catch, Reiji returned to the Gym, recalled the four Pokémon still working on new moves, and said goodbye to Sou and the others.
He respected Sou's persistence. He just didn't know how long Sou could keep it up. Training was dull by nature, which was why the League encouraged new trainers to travel. Even the League understood young people couldn't sit still.
If a trainer couldn't endure the boring parts, they'd never become strong. Senta had a better background than Sou and still worked hard every day. If Sou wanted to change his life, he had no excuse not to push himself.
As for Reiji, he didn't count. He wanted to take it easy. He was a fisherman at heart, and he liked it that way.
He headed into the back kitchen and stopped short.
In the dining area were Senta and Cissy, the young man's cousin, the orchard manager, several people Reiji didn't recognise, and the old man himself—still simmering. The moment he saw Reiji, his face tightened like he'd swallowed a thorn.
Cissy walked straight over. "Did you make my grandpa mad again?"
"Gym Leader," Reiji said, barely holding his smile, "your grandpa got skunked today."
"Skunked?" Cissy repeated, confused. She wasn't a fishing nut, so she didn't know the slang.
Cissy's grandpa hadn't known it either at first. But Reiji only said it once, and when the old man looked at his empty bucket, it clicked instantly. Fisherman language didn't take long once you'd lived it.
"It means he didn't catch a single fish," Reiji added, loudly enough that nobody in the room could pretend they hadn't heard.
Cissy's grandpa's face darkened.
Reiji immediately turned on his heel. "Gym Leader, I've got something to handle. I'll head out first."
He didn't dare linger. If the old man blew up—an Elite Four–tier trainer blowing up—Reiji wasn't sure he'd survive the mood.
Cissy finally cracked. "Pfft—hahahaha! Grandpa!"
Her laugh rang through the back kitchen and dining area. Everyone waiting for dinner heard it.
Nobody else dared laugh. In their eyes, the old man was the pillar holding the place up. Only his own granddaughter could get away with it.
"Grandpa," Cissy teased, still laughing, "how did you end up fishing with him—and losing?"
"Don't mention that brat," the old man grumbled. "He's infuriating. No respect at all."
He realised Reiji had said it loudly on purpose. Even if he'd known for sure, he wasn't going to pick a fight with a teenager over a fishing joke.
Besides, he'd laughed at Reiji three days ago when Reiji came up empty. This was payback, fair and simple.
If he made a big deal out of it, he'd just be proving he couldn't take a joke, couldn't take a loss, and liked bullying kids when things didn't go his way. He wasn't about to hand people that kind of story.
In his youth, he'd been somebody. Now he was the one who called the shots at Mikan Gym. He wasn't going to lower himself over this.
"Grandpa, don't be mad," Cissy said, trying to soothe him. "Next time, I'll teach him a lesson."
"Cissy," her grandpa said flatly, "you can't beat him."
He sounded certain.
That brat wasn't as simple as he looked. There was Darkrai in his shadow—and an old ghost too. Slowking had told him as much.
"That's impossible," Cissy shot back. "Last time we battled, he lost to me. He even said he's only Elite tier. How is he supposed to beat Blastoise?"
Her Blastoise was Advanced tier. Beating an Elite-tier trainer should be easy.
"Enough," the old man said, ending it. "Bring the food. I'm starving."
There were outsiders present, and he wasn't going to say anything about Darkrai. That Pokémon was clearly the boy's secret, and secrets stayed buried.
From what he'd seen so far, the boy checked out. A clean League trainer. He followed the rules after joining the Gym and kept his head down.
He trained Pokémon on the clock, then went straight back to the cabin on the hillside after work. He didn't wander around, didn't chase trouble, didn't approach people he shouldn't—and he never tried to get close to Cissy.
Maybe he wasn't interested. Maybe he only wanted that top-grade Water Stone. Maybe he didn't dare be interested at all.
The old man's eyes flicked toward the young man's cousin, and he snorted inwardly. Reiji really was slippery. He'd defused the situation fast and never even came looking for the old man's help. Bold, and careful.
He'd keep watching.
After all, this was the young man Lugia had blessed…
…
Day 13 since joining the Gym…
Day 14 since joining the Gym…
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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