"Leader Blaine, and this little girl is...?" The captain finally asked. He had been eyeing Amber for a while now, curious about the child Blaine had kept tucked in his arms the whole time.
"My granddaughter," Blaine said without missing a beat. "She got bored of staying on Cinnabar Island, so I brought her out for a little trip."
"I see, I see. What a pretty little girl," the captain said with a smile. "I didn't bring a gift for her, but I do have this Mystic Water. Let it be a little welcome present from your uncle."
He took out a teardrop-shaped Gem. Blue liquid flowed inside it like moving water. Before Amber could even process what was happening, he had already slipped the cord over her head and hung it around her neck.
"Oh, now that's too much. We only came to attend the party. How could we take something from you?" Blaine said, though his eyes had already sized it up at a glance. This was a quasi–Elite Four-tier Mystic Water.
At the lower levels, Pokémon items were everywhere. Beginner-tier and Elite-tier gear were common enough, and even Advanced-tier items, while still valuable, could be bought with money. Quasi–Elite Four-tier items were about the limit of what money could still reliably get you. Elite Four-tier items were a different story. Those were like top-grade evolution stones—things people named a price for, but almost never actually sold.
The captain did not care. "Just a little toy for a child. We should stay in touch more often."
He could tell Amber was still young, but his own son was only fourteen or fifteen. That was no real problem. If the boy could tie himself to Blaine's side, that alone would be worth it.
Blaine chuckled and played along. "You're right. We should."
Since the man wanted to give it away, Blaine saw no reason to refuse. Both men smiled, both perfectly satisfied with the exchange.
"Itsuki, why are you still standing here? The battles are about to start," the creep called out as he came over to drag Itsuki away, paying no attention at all to the elders still present.
"This one's the first mate's son," the captain said with a laugh after his boy was pulled off. "Always in a rush, always loud."
Then he added that the other boy was the son of his oldest friend. Their sons had grown up together, just as he and the first mate had once grown up together. They had been brothers at sea for more than twenty years.
Blaine nodded like he cared and gave the creep a lazy compliment. "Solid build. Seems like a fine young man."
The captain laughed even harder. "Those two have been inseparable since they were kids. Same as me and the first mate back in the day."
Then he looked around again. "By the way, Leader Blaine, where's the boy you brought with you? I haven't seen him yet. The young ones should get to know each other, especially with the matches starting."
Blaine coughed. "He has diarrhea. Didn't make it."
There was no way he could answer that honestly. If he introduced Reiji now, he would be slapping his own face in public. Better to pretend they were strangers and spare himself the pain.
"What a shame," the captain said. "Then let's go watch the matches."
He did not press the issue. The one he really wanted to know was Blaine. The kid Blaine brought along only mattered later, once he grew up and built enough strength for those connections to mean something.
If they missed this chance, there would always be another. Ships on this route came and went all the time.
After the captain walked off, Amber leaned up and whispered in Blaine's ear, "Grandpa Blaine, Rai-nii is right over there."
"Amber, Grandpa's helping Rai," Blaine whispered back. "Whatever you do, don't expose me, or they'll see right through Grandpa."
That was about seventy percent true and thirty percent nonsense, but Amber could not tell the difference.
The truth was, Blaine had no idea why Reiji had kept quiet about knowing the captain's son. If the boy hadn't said anything, then he clearly had his own plan. Blaine didn't know what it was, but he could always ask later.
What mattered now was that he absolutely could not acknowledge him here. Forget the issue of face for a second—once they recognized each other, the act was over.
What if he ruined Reiji's plan?
So no, they definitely could not recognize each other. Definitely not. And this had absolutely nothing to do with Blaine wanting to save face. Absolutely nothing.
He was a League Gym Leader, after all. There was no way he would joke around with his own reputation over something that petty.
Please believe him.
After successfully fooling Amber, Blaine carried her off to the audience seats and sat down beside the captain to watch the Advanced-tier matches together.
Then it happened.
"Trainer Rai! Trainer Rai, where are you? Please come to the field at once and send out your Pokémon."
When Reiji heard his name called, he froze, still halfway through digesting. Then he let out one enormous burp and almost choked on it.
The reason he was so lost was simple: he had never signed up. Which meant Blaine had done it for him. Reiji had honestly assumed he could spend the whole night eating and doing nothing else. He looked up toward the seats where Blaine was sitting, his expression full of helpless accusation.
Why didn't you say so earlier?
The instant Blaine saw him looking over, he turned his head away and refused to make eye contact. Who was that? He didn't know him. Had no interest in knowing him either.
Amber, who knew exactly what was going on, buried herself in Blaine's arms and giggled to herself.
"Trainer Rai, the battle is starting. Please come to the field and send out your Pokémon," the referee called again, dark lines practically hanging off his face as he watched Reiji still sitting there, burping in his chair. He had seen all kinds of Trainers before. This one was new.
"Can I forfeit?" Reiji asked.
He had eaten too much. When he turned and looked at his Pokémon, he found every last one of them sprawled out and overstuffed, too full to move. He spread his hands and surrendered on the spot.
"Yes," the referee said immediately. He had already had enough of Reiji's attitude and declared his opponent the winner without hesitation before moving on to the next match.
"Look at him," the creep said with a laugh to Itsuki. "That's the sailor you wanted to recruit?"
Reiji was still slumped in his chair, rubbing his round belly. Just looking at him made the whole thing worse.
Itsuki could only sigh. He had invited Reiji because his battle sense looked good. Who could have guessed he was this kind of Trainer? Itsuki certainly hadn't. And thanks to that little stunt, his father had just lectured him all over again.
He didn't even dare look at the captain now. When he finally risked a glance, he got glared at and had to look away again.
It was his own fault for handing out invitations too freely. All he could do now was take the consequences.
Reiji ignored the laughter and the looks of contempt all around him. The moment the referee declared him out, he relaxed.
Good. No fight.
He didn't care about the prize anyway, and even if he did, there was no guarantee he would win it. No reason to go all out for something like this.
The reward this time was an Advanced-tier item. Water, Grass, Electric, Ground—whatever type you wanted, you could choose one. Worth close to five million Pokédollars.
But he wasn't short on money. He had no need to fight for it.
The format was a simple one-on-one elimination bracket. Win and advance. Lose and you're done. Whoever survived to the end took the prize.
In a format like that, there was no telling who would come out on top. Reiji didn't like his odds enough to bother.
The matches ran for a little over two hours. In the end, the creep took the championship.
Rigged? Reiji didn't even have to think about it. If someone told him there was no fixing involved, he wouldn't believe it for a second.
The final battle had been Itsuki against the creep, and Itsuki conveniently lost to the first mate's son.
The weirder part was the creep's team. Every one of his Pokémon had a dragon theme.
The team he used tonight was Kingdra, Flygon, Charizard, Gyarados, Ampharos, and Rhydon.
Out of those six, only two were actual Dragon-types. The other four were fake dragons at best—dragon-flavored, maybe, but that was about it.
When the tournament ended, Reiji had rested enough. He recalled Poliwhirl and the others, and Darkrai returned after gathering its information. Reiji was just about to leave with the dispersing crowd when someone blocked his path.
"Where do you think you're going? Our young master says you stuffed yourself all night and didn't even fight. He wants you to pay for the food."
"Which young master?" Reiji asked first. The invitation clearly said food and drinks were free, so was this idiot betting on him being illiterate?
"O-of course it was—"
"Me."
The creep walked over himself, clearly too impatient to let the lackey handle it. Chin high, nostrils flared, he looked down at Reiji like he was beneath him.
The moment Reiji saw who it was, he didn't even bother pretending to care. He took out the invitation, tossed it over, and muttered, "You psycho."
"You—" The lackey immediately tried to jump in, but the creep lifted a hand and stopped him.
The lackey leaned closer, confused. "Young master, he just—"
"I heard him," the creep snapped, then pulled the lackey in and whispered in his ear, "Find people. Kill him. Bring me his little sister too."
"Understood, young master."
The lackey's eyes lit up at once. He glanced back and signaled to the men behind him, then left the ballroom to follow Reiji.
"They're coming," Darkrai said from within Reiji's shadow. "They mean to kill you. I can feel it in them."
Reiji gave a cold little laugh. "Then let's have some fun."
He left the ballroom, but instead of heading back to the top-floor ocean-view suite, he slipped down into the middle and lower sections of the ship, planning to drag the clowns through a few pointless laps.
What he didn't know was that Blaine had been waiting outside the ballroom. After waiting and waiting with no sign of him, Blaine left a maid there to keep watch and headed back first.
Amber had already worn herself out playing all day. She had fallen asleep before the matches even finished, and Blaine needed to get her back to bed.
As for Reiji, that brat didn't need worrying over. Not with his strength, and definitely not with that head on his shoulders. Blaine had never really seen him as an ordinary teenager anyway.
Anyone bold enough to steal from Team Rocket, track down Ho-Oh, and bargain for Amber's resurrection was not simple.
He had never underestimated the boy.
Though sometimes, the way Reiji acted really did make him look like a child.
Then again, Blaine was old. To a fossil like him, ten-year-olds, twenty-year-olds, and thirty-year-olds all looked young.
By the time Reiji reached the middle decks, he had already shaken the lackeys. Then he rode Pelipper back to the top-floor suite, opened the window, and slipped quietly inside.
Once he was back in the room, he let Toxicroak and the others out for dinner. After they finished eating, he sent Darkrai out again to dig up every detail on those people. Then he threw himself onto the bed and went straight to sleep, leaving the Pokémon to get some rest too.
...
It was well past midnight when Reiji woke again. He had slept enough, recovered enough, and was still full. Two dinners in one night had been too much. None of it had even finished digesting yet.
Spinarak was awake in the corner. Ditto and Pelipper were awake on the bed. Darkrai and Gengar stirred inside the shadows.
"Time to move."
Reiji got up, packed his things, and splashed water on his face in the bathroom. Then Ditto leaped onto his face, and in an instant he became a stranger even he didn't recognize.
He zipped himself into a black stab-proof suit, pulled up the hood, slung on his backpack, and let Spinarak crawl onto his shoulder.
Then he returned to the bedside, where the yellow lamp still glowed faintly, took out a sheet of paper, and wrote a few lines on it.
After finishing the note, he folded it in half so the writing stayed hidden inside, then handed it to Darkrai. "Did you get everything?"
"I found the human's room, his guards, and everyone around him. I've marked them all. I can find them anytime."
Darkrai rose from the darkness, and from the killing intent in Reiji's mind, it was obvious what came next.
"Take this next door and leave it on the bedside table. Be careful. That old man's Elite Four level."
He handed the folded paper over and watched Darkrai sink into the shadows with it.
Then he opened the glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. At the horizon, sea and sky had started to pale. Dawn wasn't far off.
A few breaths later, Darkrai returned and slipped back into his shadow.
"They were sleeping soundly. I left the note beneath the bedside lamp."
"Goodbye, Amber..." Reiji murmured as he closed the balcony door softly and looked once toward the neighboring suite.
Then he had Spinarak lower him down to the balcony two floors below, climbed onto Pelipper, and flew off.
They landed on the middle deck and went straight to the bar one level beneath it. Darkrai's voice sounded again in his ear.
"There are three people in that bar who know about Amber and us. Some others are still asleep in their rooms. The rest are with that human."
"Darkrai, put them under and make them wander onto the deck like they need to piss."
Reiji leaned against the bar entrance, spotted his targets, then turned and headed out to wait on the deck.
Half a minute later, the three men came staggering toward him, swaying like drunks.
"Spinarak, Toxic them and loot the bags. Gengar, grab the valuables."
The moment he saw them, he gave the order.
It didn't take long.
The three men were dealt with, and everything on them—their Pokémon, their personal belongings, anything worth taking—was stripped clean and packed into the bag Gengar pulled out of its mouth.
"Keh-heh-heh."
Gengar had discovered that it liked this life. It was getting faster and faster at looting bodies, and the sound of its laugh had never been so cheerful.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh, keh-heh-heh-heh..."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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