Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Click.

After the flash went off, the photographer said they were done and asked Reiji to wait while he developed the pictures.

He came back soon after with several group photos. If Gengar had not been asleep, its grin would have been in the shot too. That was a real shame.

”Poli…” Poliwhirl held one of the photos carefully, eyes sparkling as it showed the others.

Even Hanhan and Gyarados, who were usually rough and restless, became much more careful when they saw the photo. They were afraid of damaging it.

”Free!” Butterfree also had a copy. It showed the picture to Pelipper, Kingler, and Scyther, then spotted Dratini hiding in the back with only its little head showing. It laughed at once. ”Free, free!”

”Far!” Farfetch’d asked for a photo too and shared it with Tauros, Riolu, Staryu, Slowpoke, Magby, and the others.

Riolu looked at the group photo and saw everyone smiling. It was sitting among them, surrounded by the team, and somehow it had smiled too.

Was that really it?

It could hardly believe it.

”Far.” Farfetch’d put a wing over Riolu’s shoulder, as if telling its little brother that its expression was not bad at all. It should smile more often.

”Moo.” Tauros gave a low call. It had not expected itself to look so good in a photo and instinctively stuck out its tongue to lick the picture.

”Mag?” Magby was still completely lost. One moment, it had been somewhere else. The next, it had a new Trainer, a new group around it, a gift from that Trainer, and now a group photo for reasons it still did not understand.

But maybe that did not matter. Everyone looked happy, and that happiness pulled it in too. Magby called out brightly with the rest of them.

Years later, after Magby had evolved, it would look at this photo again and finally understand why everyone had been so happy.

”All right, everyone, come back. Time to rest.” Reiji recalled them one by one. He also put the three photos into his backpack.

When he tried to pay, the photographer waved him off at once. He did not want money. He only wanted a photo with Reiji.

Reiji did not refuse. After they took the picture, the photographer developed it and hung it on a wall labeled Indigo Plateau Champions.

The wall had more than just their photo. It was covered with pictures of Trainers and the shop owner, many of them old. Reiji even spotted Lance as a teenager near the bottom, and Lorelei when she was still a young woman.

Looking at that wall felt like watching time pass in front of him.

Maybe years from now, Shun would come here too. Other people he knew might as well. And when they did, they might see the photo of Reiji and his Pokémon.

The photographer had printed four copies of the team photo. Reiji took three, and with his permission, the last one was hung beneath the photo of him and the owner. Many Trainers had their team photos on that wall.

After giving the photo wall one last look, Reiji said goodbye to the owner and left the studio.

He did not know how to describe what he felt toward someone who collected little pieces of time like this. Maybe because he was part of that now. He could not say he liked it, exactly, but it did feel pretty nice.

Back at the Pokémon Center, Reiji called Mikan Gym.

This time, Senta picked up.

”Rai-nii! I saw you win! You were amazing!”

”It was all right. Calm down a little.” Reiji pressed a hand down, trying to get him to lower his voice. Senta’s yelling had already made everyone in the Pokémon Center look over.

”How am I supposed to calm down? You won the championship! Even my sister never won one. I’m challenging the Indigo Plateau Conference next year too, and I’m winning it!”

”Sure, sure. I’m sending some Pokémon over. Make sure you receive them. A lot of them are injured and need to recover.”

After warning Senta, Reiji started transferring his Pokémon.

First were the support Pokémon: Butterfree, Farfetch’d, Staryu, Slowpoke, and Tauros.

Then came Gyarados and Forretress. He also sent Riolu back, since he had no better option than letting it settle in at the Gym for now. Dratini went back as well.

That left him with Pelipper, Kingler, Accelgor, Scyther, Poliwhirl, Rhydon, Eevee, Zapdos, and Magby. Nine Pokémon were enough for the trip back to the Orange Archipelago.

With Toxicroak and the others under his alternate identity, he would not be afraid even if Team Rocket showed up.

If an Elite Four tier Trainer came after him, then he would run as fast as he could.

If he could not run, then he would stop running.

And if he could not beat them, he would join them.

Right now, the nine Pokémon he had on him were all ordinary enough on paper. Scyther and the others were recovering well, so he had not sent them back. Poliwhirl and Rhydon were in better shape than Gyarados and Forretress, so keeping them nearby was fine. Zapdos did not look special, and Team Rocket probably would not bother stealing it.

If anyone below Elite Four tier made a move, then they were basically bringing him free loot. He needed money anyway.

Once Gengar woke up and stepped into Elite Four tier, he would not have to fear Elite Four tier Trainers as much. At that point, they would be Elite Four tier.

So would he.

[Gengar (shiny)]

[Type: Ghost + Poison]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: ???]

[Level: 59.99%]

[Ability: Cursed Body / 33.12%]

Gengar’s transformation had gone faster than Reiji expected. It had reached 59.99 a while ago, but it still had not crossed into Elite Four tier. He had no idea when it would wake up, or whether it would only wake after breaking through.

Or maybe something else was going on.

”Forget it.” Reiji sighed and looked at the pile of Poké Balls in Senta’s hands.

”Rai-nii, I got them. I’ll let them out in a bit.”

”Good. I’ll hang up now. I’m flying back tomorrow.”

After walking around all day, Reiji was tired. He forced a smile and got ready to end the call.

”You’re coming back tomorrow? Then we’ll talk when you’re back.” Senta clearly had a lot he wanted to say, but if Reiji was returning tomorrow, it could wait.

”See you tomorrow.”

Reiji hung up and sighed again.

He had no idea where Team Rocket might pop out from, or whether he would really make it back tomorrow. Even seeing Senta again was not guaranteed.

Dragging his tired body along, he took Eevee back to his room. After a quick wash, he lay on the bed and went over tomorrow’s route.

The ticket to the Orange Archipelago only went as far as Kumquat Island. If nothing went wrong, he would still need to take a ship from there. If Team Rocket made a move at sea, he could just ride Pelipper back. That would be safer.

He pulled out his notebook. He had spent a lot of money lately, and he still had not counted the stolen goods inside Gengar’s stomach. Once he got back, he would have to find Naoki and move the goods.

Food, lodging, and travel along the way had cost 500,000.

The Kangaskhan information had cost 100,000.

A month ago, two months of supplies had cost 300,000.

A full set of Tauros gear had cost 500,000.

The first batch of ten Float Stones had cost 5,000,000.

The refined steel for Forretress’s evolution had cost 150,000.

The second batch of ten Float Stones had cost 5,000,000.

Hiring sparring partners had cost 200,000.

The third batch of ten Float Stones had cost 5,000,000.

Forretress’s evolution had used up twenty Float Stones. Rhydon had used ten more to reduce its weight, but it was still heavier than Reiji wanted. He would have to handle that after returning to the Orange Archipelago.

Total spent: 16,750,000.

Cash left: 24,670,000.

Anonymous bank card balance: 198,000,000.

Verified bank card balance: 100,000,000.

That clean one hundred million came from the missing-person notice after he found Tommy. He did not need to touch that money yet. It was better to spend the anonymous card first.

There was almost two hundred million sitting in it. If the League suddenly banned anonymous cards, that money would be gone. Spending it first was the safer choice.

And with how many things he needed to buy next, two hundred million might not even be enough.

Now he just had to wait for Gengar to wake up.

Once it did, those stolen goods in its stomach could finally be used as emergency funds.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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