Day 18 at the Gym. Clear skies.
Morning came fast. It was Reiji's eighteenth day at the Gym, and also the day he was leaving. He waited at the harbour to board, with Sou beside him. Only Senta and Senta's driver came to see them off.
Cissy's grandpa was old, and he wasn't close with Reiji. He was never going to show up for this.
As for Gym Leader Cissy… she'd love nothing more than to tear him apart. Their relationship was strictly professional, so she had even less reason to come.
Any Pokémon Reiji wasn't taking with him were left under Senta's care and kept at the Gym.
It was all the same to the Gym anyway. One more mouth to feed or two more, it all came from the same rations. The Water-types stayed in Mikan Gym's pools, and Pokémon like Butterfree lived inside the Gym's man-made habitat.
That habitat wasn't just for Butterfree's group. Cissy's Pokémon lived there. Senta's did too. So did the young man's cousin's. When a Gym had too many Pokémon, you couldn't keep them all on your belt. You had to rotate them into a proper environment—like the ranch behind Professor Oak's lab, where Ash and Gary kept most of the Pokémon they'd caught. Mikan Gym had the same setup.
Sou coming with him was already a big step. Sou's parents had agreed, even though it was his first time travelling far from home. They'd been against it at first, but the moment they heard he'd be going with Reiji, they caved.
"Acting Gym Leader" carried weight. Sou's parents trusted that title blindly and handed their son over, assuming Reiji was taking him out into the wider world.
They weren't wrong, exactly. Sou would be staying on Mandarin Island North to study under Naoki. Right now, Sou was still too green to travel alone. He needed time to sharpen himself first.
"Rai-nii! I'll watch you on TV!" Senta called from below, waving hard. "You have to win the championship, Rai-nii!"
Reiji and Sou leaned over the rail and waved back. After spending so much time together, Reiji had to admit it—Senta wasn't a bad kid. Just too mischievous for his own good.
"You'd better keep training," Sou shouted down, grinning. "Don't let me leave you behind!"
Reiji didn't say anything. He just watched the harbour shrink into the distance.
He had no idea how things would go later. If Senta really did end up as his brother-in-law someday, then sure—helping out a little wouldn't be a problem.
The catch was "if."
With how things stood now, that hope was basically nonexistent. How was he supposed to "pursue" a girl who hated him so much she wanted to rip him apart? Just imagining it gave him a headache.
Forget it. He didn't need a wife. He only needed a top-grade Water Stone.
Still, Sou and Senta had become real friends over these days. That was how it went when you were young—simple, honest, uncomplicated. If they stayed friends after they grew up, then it would mean something.
Once Senta disappeared from view, Reiji and Sou sat under the deck umbrella and watched the sea roll by. Reiji ordered two drinks and let the scenery do the rest.
It was a short trip. Mikan Island wasn't far from Mandarin Island North. The ship would dock that afternoon.
"Relax," Reiji said when he noticed Sou sitting stiff as a board. He slid the juice across the table. "We'll be there soon."
He didn't laugh at him. Everyone looked like this the first time they left home. Reiji had been the same in his previous life. You only got used to it by living through it.
"Rai-nii… thanks," Sou said.
He wasn't just thanking him for the juice. Reiji had bought the ticket. Reiji had shown him the first steps. Without Reiji, Sou would still be in that fishing village, and he'd probably die a fisherman.
"You can thank me by becoming strong," Reiji said. "Right now, you can't help me."
Sou didn't catch the meaning behind it. He was too straightforward for that.
"I will," Sou said, nodding with a serious look as Mikan Island drifted farther away.
Reiji followed his gaze back to the harbour. Senta was gone, and so was the island he'd lived on for more than half a month. He was leaving Butterfree's group behind too.
This time, he wouldn't be back for a while.
He was taking Pelipper, Poliwhirl, Kingler, Rhyhorn, Scyther, Shelmet, and Zapdos.
He was also taking his "masked" Pokémon—plus Croagunk, Golbat, Mudkip, Magikarp, Gengar, Darkrai, Ditto, and Spinarak. Every single one of the masked Pokémon was coming with him.
That left Butterfree, Slowpoke, Staryu, Karrablast, Wishiwashi, Farfetch'd, Tentacool, Barboach, and one stubborn Magikarp staying at Mikan Gym.
He was travelling with fifteen Pokémon in total, which was manageable. The ones like Pelipper were public-facing. Those were the Pokémon he'd use in the tournament.
Croagunk's group was different. He wasn't exposing them to Cissy. That meant he had to keep them with him and look after them personally.
If Butterfree's group ever needed him, Senta could always send them over. The Gym had a landline, video calls, and a transfer machine that could route Pokémon through a Pokémon Center.
Still, with his core team by his side, he probably wouldn't need that often. Without him, Butterfree's group would have to take care of themselves. If he missed them, he could call.
They'd lived on their own at the cabin for a long time already. They could handle it. And with Senta and Cissy around, nothing should happen to them.
As long as Cissy didn't take her anger out on Pokémon.
Reiji pushed the thought aside and focused on why he was leaving.
Call it Cissy's "task" if he wanted. The goal was the same—win the Indigo Plateau Conference.
The league format would almost certainly end in six-on-six battles. Reiji's problem was simple: he only had five he could truly field. Shelmet still wasn't ready, and Zapdos was out of the question.
That meant he had to fight his way through a League-backed field with five Advanced-tier Pokémon and still take the title.
It was a steep climb.
People raised a second squad for a reason. When injuries happened, you needed replacements. If you couldn't even fill a full team of six, you didn't get to talk about "bench options."
Tournament matches came fast, one after another. If Poliwhirl's group got injured mid-run, the finals could turn into a three- or four-Pokémon fight.
Three against six, with equal levels, was brutal. If the other trainer's command was sharp, you simply didn't have enough pieces on the board.
And Reiji's second squad—the masked team—couldn't be used.
He couldn't show his hidden main force. So the burden stayed on Poliwhirl and the rest.
All he could do was take them as far as they could go. If they didn't win, they'd still have given everything. There was always next year.
He wasn't the kind of person who couldn't accept a loss.
While he was thinking, he noticed something else.
Zapdos had finally moved past its premature stage and entered childhood.
[Zapdos]
[Type: Electric/Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 59.98%]
[Level: 5.11%]
[Ability: Pressure/0.53%] [Hidden Ability: Static/0.53%]
[Moves: (Peck/2.21%)(Thunder Wave/1.61%)(Thunder Shock/0.93%)]
At last, it could stop being "the premature one." In another half a month, it would be ready to train and start real growth.
The biggest change after leaving that stage was its potential. It had actually climbed—almost brushing the Elite Four threshold.
Good.
That looked right. That looked like a legendary Pokémon.
If it hadn't been born early, Zapdos would have been a clean Elite Four-tier prospect from the start. Instead, twenty days of premature growth had dragged it down into quasi–Elite Four territory.
Now it had recovered a little, but that final barrier was always the hardest one. Gengar had eaten tens of millions worth of Gems just to push up against that line. Reiji didn't even want to imagine how much Zapdos would cost.
Whatever it took, he'd spend it. He never held back on Poliwhirl, and he wasn't about to raise a Zapdos poorly.
He had experience being a Pokémon "dad." If he still managed to ruin it, he'd be a laughingstock.
Getting Zapdos in the first place… he really did have to thank those poachers—
Wait.
He killed those poachers.
And they still left him a fat "startup fund" after he became a trainer.
Fine, then. No guilt. He wasn't a good person anyway.
The other good news was Mudkip.
[Mudkip]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 56%]
[Level: 15.87%]
[Ability: …]
Mudkip was right on the edge of evolution. It evolved at level 16, so it would happen today or tomorrow.
Once it became Marshtomp, it would leave childhood and enter its growth stage. Not long after that, a level 36 Marshtomp would become Swampert.
Starters evolved fast. Early on, they barely hit real bottlenecks at all. That was why the League's starters were so coveted—fast evolution, fast growth.
Mudkip had hatched on Rind Island. It felt like yesterday, and now it was already about to evolve.
He only needed to prepare one or two Ground Gems. After evolution, Mudkip would gain the Ground type.
Why not feed it more?
Because most Pokémon couldn't digest that much. Not every Pokémon was like Gengar with its absurd growth curve, or Hanhan with its "eat rocks" talent.
Even Magikarp's earlier breakthrough had pushed the limit. Stuffing four or five Gems down its throat had been all it could handle, and it had still spat some up. Gyarados hadn't fully absorbed everything.
There was no need to rush. One or two Gems now, and slow absorption later, was safer.
Reiji put the Poké Ball away again. Once they got off the ship, he'd handle Mudkip's evolution prep first. Mudkip couldn't be shown in public, so he'd remove the Everstone in private.
His main team didn't have that problem. Their Poké Balls hung on his belt, and Poliwhirl was out beside him. Gengar and Darkrai stayed inside his shadow.
Those three could protect him at any moment. They were his last line, and strangers didn't get close easily when that line was in place.
Sou did the same thing. He kept Pelipper out too.
Sou's haul lately had been solid. After hauling up Kabuto, he'd also caught Tentacool and Remoraid.
Remoraid could evolve into Octillery—a red octopus Pokémon. It could also pair with Mantyke and evolve into Mantine, that huge wing-shaped fish Pokémon.
That kind of "paired evolution" was interesting. If methods like that existed, maybe the logic behind how Reiji boosted Gengar's potential could apply elsewhere too.
And Mantine could have Swift Swim, which made it a natural fit for rain teams.
If Reiji ever had the money to raise a Champion-tier Mantine, he'd absolutely want one. The problem was the price tag. He'd need to rob an entire black ship to afford it.
Maybe later.
Right now, Sou already had a full Water-type squad. The only thing he lacked was starting capital, and Kabuto solved that deadlock in one move.
Reiji couldn't help being impressed by Sou's luck.
If Sou hadn't kept showing up and grinding, Reiji might never have paid attention to him. Reiji helped because he didn't want Sou turning into a poacher—and now Sou was here, leaving with him.
Luck was part of it.
Reiji couldn't help feeling a little jealous. If he'd had luck like this at the start—plus someone to guide him—he wouldn't have ended up stranded on an island, forced into more than a month of survival.
Still, that disaster had given him his first partners. Poliwhirl and the others.
He glanced down and smiled. "Poliwhirl…"
"Poli?" Poliwhirl tilted its head. Reiji called it like that all the time, and it never knew what he meant.
"Nothing," Reiji said. "You've been studying for weeks. I'm taking you to relax a little."
He finished the last of his juice, let Poliwhirl drink too, and stood up to head toward the ship's battle area.
After half a month of learning, Poliwhirl's group had mastered their new moves. They didn't need to stay tense every second. Rest mattered too.
"Rai-nii," Sou called quickly, jumping up when he saw Reiji leaving.
Reiji stopped and waved him over. "Almost forgot you. Come on. I'll show you the battle courts. If we get lucky, you can even fight a match."
He led Sou toward the middle of the ship, where several open-air battle arenas sat surrounded by stands. He hadn't even reached them yet and the crowd's roar was already rolling over the deck.
"This is…" Sou breathed, wide-eyed.
"This is why people love Pokémon battles," Reiji said.
They stopped at the railing and looked down at the fight below.
On one side was Gyarados.
On the other was Swampert.
The crowd kept chanting both names in waves.
With Reiji's eye, it was obvious. Both Pokémon were seasoned Advanced-tier veterans.
He hadn't expected this from a random boat ride. The crowd's energy even made him want to cheer.
Reiji nudged Sou with his elbow. "So?"
Sou couldn't form a sentence. "Th-this…"
He was too stunned to speak.
"You'll get used to it," Reiji said. "You'll see battles like this all the time."
Then he leaned in, lowering his voice. "Want to go down there and fight one?"
Sou looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Just like you battled Senta. This is your first step off Mikan Island," Reiji said. "The next hardships won't be easier than this."
Sou swallowed. Standing in front of that many people already made him shake. Battling in front of them sounded impossible.
Still, he forced a breath into his lungs.
"I… I want to try," he said.
"Good," Reiji said. He clapped Sou on the shoulder. "Go. And remember—if you lose, it doesn't matter. You win it back next time."
Sou nodded again, and the fear in his eyes didn't fully disappear.
But he moved.
And that was the point.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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