Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Both Pokémon were fast attackers with base Speed over 100. The moment they clashed, they blurred across the field, slashes flashing back and forth.

Scyther had the better matchup.

Sceptile had to rely on Flying-type moves like Acrobatics and Aerial Ace to fight Scyther up close. Its strongest Grass moves were useless here.

The result was obvious. Their speed was close, but Sceptile still lost.

The reason was simple: Sceptile had not reached Advanced tier yet. It had probably just evolved and was still a little short.

Scyther, on the other hand, was already a proper Advanced-tier Pokémon. This match was never going to be close.

After winning again, A.J.’s next opponent was Sou, who had drawn the bye.

In the final match, A.J. looked at Sou as he stepped onto the field. This kid might look slow outside a battle, but his commands were solid. If A.J. wanted to win, he had to use his ace.

”Go, Sandslash!”

”Go, Pelipper!”

Sou also sent out his ace. Pelipper was his strongest Pokémon and had reached Advanced tier long ago. Against Sandslash, it wasn’t at a disadvantage at all. It also had the high ground.

A.J.’s teeth ached the moment he saw Pelipper. If he had known, he would have used Magneton. Trainers from the Orange Archipelago really did love their Water types.

The match had no suspense left. Sandslash no longer panicked around water, but that didn’t erase its x2 weakness. The two Pokémon traded Rock-type attacks and Hydro Pump, and Sandslash was the first to give out.

Getting over its fear of water only gave Sandslash more options against Water-type Pokémon. It did not make Water-type attacks hurt any less. To really blunt that weakness, it would need something like Hanhan’s rock armor or an especially thick hide.

Sou took first place and earned the first pick. A.J. came second, and Gulzar came third.

After more than two months of experience, Sou knew exactly which item was worth the most. The moment he got first pick, he took the Dragon Fang.

A.J. picked next. He had missed out on first place, but second was still good enough. Since he couldn’t get the Dragon Fang, he chose something useful and took the Hard Stone for his Graveler.

Gulzar came third. His main Pokémon were Gyarados, Pidgeot, and Sceptile. Since he had several Grass types, he picked the Miracle Seed for Sceptile.

That left Gai, Daishi, and Keith fighting for fourth, fifth, and sixth. They drew lots again and used two more matches to decide the order.

The last two battles ended quickly. Gai was the strongest of the three and chose Mystic Water. Daishi chose Charcoal. Poor Keith ended up last and took the Poison Barb, which worked out fine for his Golbat.

Once all six had chosen their items, Reiji yawned. He gave the group a few words of encouragement, said good night, and went to the room Naoki had arranged for him.

He had spent the whole day riding Pelipper and was already half-dead with sleepiness. Once he reached his room, he released his Pokémon and fed them. Then he left only Golbat and Spinarak on night watch, dropped onto the bed, and fell asleep.

Reiji slept, but the villa yard stayed lively. Aside from Naoki, the six younger Trainers were too excited to sleep after getting their items. They gathered together, still talking about the battles.

”Boss is way too generous. He shows up and gives us held items right away, and they’re all Advanced-tier.”

”Sou, haven’t you always wanted to train a Kingdra? Now that you have the Dragon Fang, you can catch a Horsea.”

”But I don’t have a Dragon Scale. How am I supposed to evolve it once it becomes Seadra?”

”Are you stupid? Gyarados has Dragon Scales. Raise Gyarados first, then use one of the scales it sheds to evolve Seadra.”

”Oh, right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Sou suddenly understood.

That reminder came from Gulzar. Since Magikarp’s evolution had used a Dragon Scale, then Gyarados should have Dragon Scales on it too.

Listening to them talk, A.J. finally relaxed. The uneasy feeling that he had walked into something shady started to fade. With a boss like this, even if he didn’t make it big, he should at least get something out of it.

He had come here to learn from an Elite Four-tier Trainer. As long as Naoki really had reached that level before, that was enough. He could also follow this group when they went stealing ore and have people watching his back.

He also needed to deal with the Omanyte as soon as possible. Before this, he had worried Reiji might take it from him, but Reiji had just thrown out more than thirty million in items without blinking. That made A.J.’s worry look ridiculous.

So Reiji probably didn’t care about his Omanyte at all. A.J. didn’t think it was worth thirty million, especially when the League had even more Omanyte in the caves at Grampa Canyon.

Now he could handle Omanyte without worrying so much. First, he would get used to this group and learn how things worked. Then he would find a chance to sell it quietly, trade it for a big batch of training resources, and push his Pokémon further. The most important thing right now was earning a place here.

What comforted him most was that he wasn’t the weakest one here. Getting second place was already good enough. There were still several people below him, and the weakest was the kid who used Flying types.

Keith had come in last and wanted to disappear into a hole, but Sou, who got along well with him, told him not to take it too hard.

Keith had started later than everyone else. Gulzar also encouraged him, saying last place wasn’t worth getting depressed over. Back when Gulzar had been captured by poachers, he had been forced to scrub floors and clean toilets on their ship.

Compared with that, losing a friendly match was nothing. After going through the pain of losing a Pokémon, Gulzar knew what real despair felt like.

That was why he, Sou, and Keith all stood firmly behind Reiji whenever anyone doubted him or questioned his place as Boss. Reiji had done too much for them. There was nothing to question, because they weren’t worth him scheming against.

For them, Reiji had basically given them a second chance as Trainers. Unless they gave up on being Trainers entirely, there was no way they could ever fully repay him.

Sou agreed with that. Keith agreed too. Another Trainer who agreed was Naoki.

”Brother Naoki, Boss is way too generous, isn’t he?” Daishi held his item, grinning so hard he barely knew what to do with himself.

”Don’t get too excited. I’m going to bed. You guys keep playing.” Naoki waved and left without explaining anything.

This was nothing. Boss could give away Elite Four-tier young Pokémon. A few held items were hardly worth mentioning.

Naoki had to admit that Reiji was good at winning people over. The moment he arrived, he made it clear that his position as leader wasn’t up for debate. At the same time, he warned anyone who had started getting ideas and pulled everyone’s loyalty back into place. It was a clean move.

Naoki, Gulzar, Sou, and Keith already trusted Reiji completely. Even if one or two others had private thoughts, Reiji’s display tonight was enough to shut them down.

Gai and Daishi had been following Naoki, and they had grown more and more unhappy with the outsiders like Gulzar. Now they had nothing to say. Reiji had shown enough strength and generosity to silence them.

It won people over and steadied the group at the same time. Boss really was Boss.

In one night, Reiji had shown everyone why he was the leader. They accepted him from the heart now. At least for the moment, no one had any second thoughts.

That was the difference between them. Naoki was still thinking about revenge and the girl he liked, while Reiji was playing on a much bigger board. Compared with that, Naoki’s worries felt tiny. The little things he cared about were not even worth Reiji’s attention.

[End of chapter]

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