Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Day 3 since returning to the Orange Archipelago. Overcast.

The weather was decent today. The sun wasn’t too harsh, so Pelipper would have an easier flight, and Reiji wouldn’t get roasted along the way.

He got up early, packed his things, and prepared to say goodbye to the Rhydon leader before leaving Fairchild Island for Mandarin Island North.

Hanhan was still injured, so it only had a friendly match with one of its own kind. Even so, that was enough for the Rhydon leader to see how much it had grown. After that, Hanhan would be leaving with Reiji.

Reiji felt bad about it, but he had already promised the Rhydon leader that he would take good care of Hanhan and come back often.

The Rhydon leader accepted that promise. The big, sturdy brat standing there was proof enough.

Reiji recalled his Pokémon, climbed onto Pelipper, waved goodbye to the Rhydon leader, and took off from Fairchild Island.

As for the Pidgeot leader and the flock, they lived on top of the rocky mountain. If they didn’t come down, he wasn’t going up either. He wasn’t nearly as close to them as he was to the Rhydon herd.

Only after he flew away did the Pidgeot leader land on a tree beside the Rhydon leader. ”Pidge, Pidge.” You’re really letting your boy leave?

”Rhy. Yeah.” The Rhydon leader sat down slowly, scratched an itch on its lower back with one claw, then grabbed a huge handful of ore and stuffed it into its mouth.

It was fairly satisfied with that brat. At the very least, Hanhan had proven that following a human wasn’t so bad. The worries it had before could finally be put aside. Now it could relax, enjoy life, and keep having more children.

This grassland and all those Rhydon were its harem. Hanhan was far from its only son. It had plenty.

The son that had grown up here had already lost to Hanhan last night. The Rhydon leader believed that before long, that brat would surpass even itself.

”Pidge...” The Pidgeot leader looked into the distance, worry in her eyes. That hopeless child had still followed them in secret.

”Rhy?” The Rhydon leader saw through its old friend at once. You’re okay with that?

Pidgeotto had spent all last night hanging around the human. If the Pidgeot leader was letting it go now, that meant she had truly made up her mind.

”Pidge...” The child had grown up. The Pidgeot leader sighed and said no more. She had stopped Pidgeotto once before. This time, no matter what she said, she wouldn’t be able to hold it back.

If she kept trying, Pidgeotto might one day sneak off alone out of curiosity and fly into the world beyond the island without anyone watching over it.

If that was going to happen anyway, it was better to let it follow this human. At least the rhyhorn brat was doing well by his side.

She had still been worried before, but when that human returned to the island more than half a year later, those doubts faded. In the end, the real reason was simple: the child was grown, and she couldn’t stop it anymore.

Reiji was flying above the forest and had no idea Pidgeotto was following behind him. As he passed over a certain stretch of trees, he suddenly remembered where his first real money had come from and had Pelipper land in the forest. Pidgeotto dropped down after them.

Once he entered the woods, he searched around for a while and found a human skeleton in torn, weathered clothes. There were bite marks on the bones left by Pokémon.

Reiji stood there in silence. His journey as a Trainer had gone so smoothly in large part because of the startup money this person had left behind.

The Pokémon hunter who had set fire to the forest deserved no sympathy, but Reiji still let out a quiet sigh and released Kingler. ”Kingler, dig a hole and bury him.”

”King!” Kingler quickly dug a deep hole, dragged the skeleton inside, and covered it with soil.

With that last loose end handled, Reiji recalled Kingler and was about to ride Pelipper toward Mandarin Island North when a cry came from above.

”Pidge! Pidge!”

”Pidgeotto?” Reiji looked up at it. Why was it here? Had it sneaked out? The moment that thought hit him, his stomach tightened.

”Pidge! Pidge!” Pidgeotto landed beside him and rubbed against his hand, then pecked at the Poké Balls on his waist. Its meaning was obvious.

”You want to come with us?” Reiji understood what it was asking, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Even if Pidgeotto wanted to leave, he wasn’t sure he dared take it.

Pop.

Pidgeotto pecked open a Poké Ball and released Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl looked dazed for a moment, but when it saw Pidgeotto, sweat started forming on its forehead too. Why was this thing here? Where was Pidgeot?

”Poliwhirl, come back first.” Reiji recalled Poliwhirl, then looked up at the sea of treetops above them. There was no massive Pidgeot shadow overhead, and he finally breathed a little easier.

He tried to talk Pidgeotto into going home, but nothing worked. It refused to listen and even started rummaging through his bag. In the end, he had no choice but to take out a Poké Ball and let it go inside first.

That was his plan, anyway. If Pidgeotto had sneaked out and its mother came looking for it, he could just release it and let Pidgeot take it back. He wouldn’t lose anything.

And if its mother didn’t come after them, then he would be leaving the island with a huge prize. This was a Pidgeotto with Elite Four-tier potential.

[Pidgeotto]

[Type: Normal + Flying]

[Gender: Female]

[Potential: 66%]

[Level: 33.93%]

[Ability: Keen Eye/26.13%]

[Moves]

Normal type: [(Foresight/15.21%) (Tackle/26.53%) (Quick Attack/30.21%) (Double Team/18.44%)]

Flying type: [(Air Cutter/27.71%) (Sky Attack/25.22%) (Defog/22.14%) (Gust/24.83%) (Roost/28.48%) (Pluck/22.54%) (Tailwind/23.23%) (Wing Attack/18.82%) (Hurricane/21.62%)]

Other: [(Steel Wing/19.31%) (Sand Attack/16.91%) (Agility/22.34%)]

The last time he saw it, Pidgey had 57 potential.

Half a year later, Pidgeotto was already above level 30, and its potential had reached 66. That was a serious jump.

It still had one evolution left too. Its potential was in the same range as Hanhan’s, so breaking 70 should be no problem.

It had learned new moves as well. In the half year since they last met, it had already picked up Hurricane, a major Flying-type move, along with plenty of other Flying-type moves. Its talent in Flying-type techniques was excellent, just as expected from the child of an island ruler.

Now Pelipper could finally get a bit of relief too. He couldn’t make Pelipper handle every long-distance trip forever. That was rough on the bird.

After putting away Pidgeotto’s Poké Ball, Reiji carefully checked the area again. Pidgeot still hadn’t appeared. Only then did he ride Pelipper back above the forest. He looked around once more, confirmed there was no sign of Pidgeot, and finally let out a long breath before telling Pelipper to fly out toward the edge of the island.

They also passed the old treehouse where they had once lived. Vines and leaves had already covered it completely, turning the whole stump into a green little house.

Reiji and Pelipper looked down at it from the sky, but he had no intention of landing. The fallen giant tree was still lying by the shore, exactly where it had been before, though many of its branches had already weathered away.

Nature was terrifying in its own quiet way. The crown of the tree that had fallen into the sea had rotted, and every trace of the life he and his Pokémon had lived there was gone. The things they had used would disappear before long too. The only thing that never changed was the white trash that kept washing up on the beach.

Thinking back on it now, he did miss those days on the island. But if he had to choose again, he would still leave. There was no way he could stay there forever.

He was a bit socially anxious, but humans were still social creatures. If he lived alone for too long with no one to talk to, even his language ability would start to rot, and his mind would probably go with it.

He never wanted to go back to those days where every morning was a gamble. Besides, even fishing needed bait. If he never left the island, he wouldn’t even have fish food to throw in the water.

Mandarin Island North lay to the west, so they were flying with their backs to the sunrise. They wouldn’t see the sun come up, but they might catch the sunset if the sky cleared. At this pace, they should reach the island by night.

He wondered whether A.J. had made it to Mandarin Island North yet. He also wondered whether Naoki was there. It had been a long time since he had drunk with those guys. He actually missed it.

Pidgeot never came after them, even once they had left Fairchild Island behind. Reiji glanced back, finally relaxed for good.

Flying was boring. They only stopped once on the way, ate lunch, then set off again.

This time Pelipper didn’t fly at full speed, so they were nowhere near as fast as they had been while escaping. It spent most of the trip gliding, which at least saved a lot of stamina.

Even so, it took the whole day before Reiji could make out the shape of Mandarin Island North in the distance. When the high-rises finally came into view, he took out Team Rocket’s tracker and threw it into the sea.

The moment the tracker hit the water, it shorted out and died. Team Rocket received the lost-signal alert almost immediately, and Matori reported it to Giovanni.

”Boss, the four-man pursuit team’s last signals all disappeared near Mandarin Island North.”

”Mandarin Island North?” Giovanni sat inside a helicopter, lightly tapping one finger against the window. No one dared disturb him while he was thinking. ”This kid is hiding something. Two quasi–Elite Four-tier Trainers and two Advanced-tier Trainers still couldn’t take him down?”

”Mewtwo’s location has been locked. Capturing Mewtwo comes first. He’s probably trying to get back to Mikan Island, and once he’s there, he won’t be hard to find. We can deal with him after this. The only problem is that old man on Mikan Island...”

Giovanni could tell that Reiji was different from an ordinary tournament winner. He had to be hiding something. Otherwise, there was no way two quasi–Elite Four-tier Trainers would fail to catch him.

Those Trainers were a veteran squad that had fought their way up from the bottom. If they had fallen to one person, then Reiji was nowhere near as harmless as he had looked during the tournament.

Next time, whoever went after Reiji would need to be at least Elite Four tier. That should be enough to take the kid down.

Mandarin Island North.

Before sunset, Reiji landed at the harbor and called A.J. from a public phone.

”Hello? Who is this?”

”It’s me.”

”You’re here?”

”Come to the harbor. Sailor’s Bar.”

”Give me five minutes.”

After that, Reiji waited quietly for five minutes. A.J. soon appeared at the entrance of Sailor’s Bar, covered in dust. Reiji was leaning against a car by the street and had not gone inside.

The bar smelled like smoke and alcohol, and he didn’t feel like breathing that shit. He waved A.J. over. Naoki was the one driving. Reiji had already contacted him earlier, so Naoki had come to pick him up.

”A.J., let’s go.” Reiji waved at him, opened the door, and sat in the passenger seat.

A.J. looked at him and hesitated. The face was completely wrong. Still, he opened the back door and got in.

”Boss?” A.J. asked in a low voice. This person didn’t look like Reiji at all. Was he wearing a disguise?

”When you get the chance, buy a Ditto. And keep your real face hidden.” Reiji wiped his hand across his face, peeled off the Ditto mask, and smiled at A.J.

”Whew. You scared me. I thought I’d gotten into the wrong car.” Once A.J. saw Reiji’s real face, he finally relaxed and quietly made a mental note about getting a Ditto.

”Let me introduce you. The driver is Naoki, the one I told you about.” Reiji gestured toward Naoki.

Naoki was doing well these days. He had not only built himself up in the club, but had also pulled Sou and the others together into his own group. Now he even had a car.

”Naoki? I’ve heard a lot about you.” When A.J. realized the driver was Naoki, and that Naoki had personally come to drive Reiji, his view of Reiji became even more serious. He quickly offered Naoki a respectful greeting.

”You’ve heard of me?” Naoki sounded surprised. He had thought they were just picking up some stranger. He hadn’t expected the kid to know his name.

”Boss told me you were an Elite Four-tier Trainer, sir. He said I should learn from you.”

A.J. sounded sincere enough. He had even added ”sir.”

”Haha, that was the past. I’m just someone who lost everything and ran. No need to be that polite.” Naoki shook his head and sighed. ”I’m following Boss now because he gave me a chance to start over.”

He knew Reiji had been talking him up, but he didn’t let it go to his head. He knew exactly where he stood.

Back when he first broke through to Elite Four tier, he had been riding high. If he had kept grinding for another two or three years, two more of his Pokémon would have reached Elite Four tier too. But because of his own arrogance, he had ended up running for his life. He didn’t even dare visit the girl he liked. It was pathetic, really.

”So that’s how it is,” A.J. said.

He seemed to understand. Naoki had once reached Elite Four tier, then fallen from that level.

Even so, A.J. still didn’t dare look down on him. Naoki had reached Elite Four tier once, and that alone put him far above regular Trainers like them. Getting back there shouldn’t be impossible either.

And although Naoki sounded like he was mocking himself, there was no self-pity in his voice. That had to be because of this mysterious Boss. The same Boss who had brought A.J. in.

In other words, Naoki was part of the organization and called Reiji Boss. A.J. had also been recruited by Reiji and called him Boss.

So did that mean Reiji was the real leader?

The thought startled A.J. If the real Boss had personally recruited him, that was a big deal. The leader himself had brought him in.

A.J. didn’t look down on Reiji just because he had not reached Elite Four tier yet. He already knew he couldn’t beat him, and he had watched the Indigo Plateau Conference finals. With Reiji’s current strength, it wouldn’t be long before he reached Elite Four tier.

Reiji was also a Gym Trainer. He would almost certainly walk the League path in the future. If someone like that was gathering Trainers like them, what was he planning? A.J. didn’t dare think too deeply. He was afraid he would learn too much and get killed for it.

”A.J., do you know what I like most about you?” Reiji looked at A.J. through the rearview mirror and saw his eyes shifting around while he stayed silent.

Reiji knew A.J. was sharp enough to figure it out. Naoki followed his lead, and if even the Elite Four-tier Trainer Reiji had bragged about was calling him Boss, A.J. was bound to notice something was off.

”What is it?” A.J. tightened his grip around a Poké Ball. He felt like he had stepped onto a boat he couldn’t get off.

”You’re smart. You should know what I’m talking about.” Reiji smiled and gave him a vague answer.

”Whew...” The look in Reiji’s eyes made A.J. feel like he had been seen through completely. He put the Poké Ball down and sighed. ”Boss, my heart isn’t that strong. You’re gonna scare me to death...”

[End of chapter]

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