Day 8 on the way to Johto. Light rain.
Reiji woke before dawn, while the sky was only just beginning to pale.
He had to get off this ship. Waiting until full daylight would only make it harder to disappear.
He splashed some water on his face in the bathroom and did not bother changing out of the clothes that reeked of smoke and alcohol. When he reached the railing, the sky was still dim, and the low clouds and thin rain made morning come later than usual.
He released Pidgeot and took off straight from the side of the ship. After checking the direction with his compass, he flew toward land.
The moment he left, a middle-aged man in the captain's room raised a pair of binoculars and watched him go. Reiji had still been found.
"Follow him. Take him once he reaches land," the man said, lowering the binoculars. "Alive."
Alive, of course.
He wanted to know what secret the boss was so interested in. Was it the Pokémon that had sensed the ambush? If so, he was very curious what kind of Pokémon it was.
Reiji had not been flying for long before he spotted the two pursuers behind him. He had no idea when they had picked him up again, or whether the terrifying man in the jacket was following too. They were too far away to judge clearly, so all he could do was keep flying.
With Pidgeot pushing its speed, land came into view after a little over an hour. The moment Reiji saw the shoreline, he dove straight into the forest. If the two men were going to chase him, he might as well set a trap and see what they had.
Once inside the trees, he recalled Pidgeot, fed it, and let it rest. Then he released Poliwrath and Scyther. Both were explosive, close-range attackers, perfect for testing the two pursuers.
The two men landed on the beach with their Flying-type Pokémon and entered the forest carefully.
A sharp rush of air cut through the trees.
"Careful! Ambush!"
The two men reacted at once, turning back-to-back while four Pokémon moved in around them. Each one used Protect, covering the Trainers from every side.
Scyther's four afterimages struck from four directions, its scythes slamming into the barriers without leaving a mark. Those Protects were clearly quasi–Elite Four tier.
Poliwrath did not attack from the front. It had already seen how the four Pokémon were positioned. It dropped from the tree above them, Waterfall exploding under its feet. The branch beneath it shattered with a crack, and Poliwrath landed in the center of the four barriers, going straight for the Trainers.
"Above!"
They heard it too late. The Pokémon dropped Protect and shoved their Trainers away, taking Poliwrath's blow in their place.
The ground shook.
Poliwrath's fist smashed down from above. The blast wave tore through the trees around them, sending trunks crashing to the ground. The two men and their four Pokémon were thrown outward, and one Pokémon was left unconscious at the center of the crater.
"Typhlosion!" One of the men saw blood at the corner of Typhlosion's mouth and went red with anger. He glared into the forest, where Reiji stood with Poliwrath and Scyther already back at his side.
Typhlosion had taken a full-power Waterfall with no Protect, in a matchup that was already x2 against it. Add Poliwrath's held item, STAB, and level 59 strength, and the result was obvious. Even a quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon was not walking that off.
"He's stronger than we thought. We got careless." The other man gritted his teeth and looked at his Ursaring. Its hands and feet were injured and bleeding badly. It was already half-crippled.
Ursaring had only been grazed while protecting him, yet the damage was this bad. And the boss wanted them to take the kid alive? At this rate, they were the ones who were going to be taken alive.
"Just the two of you?" Reiji looked at them as if they were already dead. As long as the man in the jacket was not here, he could kill as many small fry as they sent.
"Don't get cocky, you bastard!"
The two men roared and threw out several Poké Balls.
Reiji did the same, releasing Accelgor, Rhydon, and Gyarados.
The enemy sent out Scyther, Tentacruel, Pinsir, Kingler, plus their quasi–Elite Four-tier Houndoom and Weavile. Their two Flying mounts stayed out of the fight.
Ten Pokémon total against Reiji's five. But two of their quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon, Typhlosion and Ursaring, had already been removed from play.
If these two were only quasi–Elite Four-tier Trainers, this was simple.
Five against six. Reiji had the advantage.
"Damn it. What do we do? We're surrounded." The two men stood back-to-back, watching Poliwrath, Scyther, Rhydon, Gyarados, and Accelgor close in.
They had more Pokémon. So why were they the ones surrounded? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Worse, they knew those three: Poliwrath, Rhydon, and Gyarados. They had studied Reiji's Indigo Plateau Conference matches and knew exactly how terrifying those Pokémon were.
"Hold on. The boss is almost here."
"Then I'll finish this quickly. Gyarados, Hyper Beam."
Reiji stepped back and left the fight to his Pokémon.
"Gyaa!" Gyarados lashed its tail and fired a full-power Hyper Beam. It took two Pokémon using Protect together to stop it.
"Damn it. That Gyarados can fire Hyper Beam more than once. It used three in a row during the tournament. Houndoom, Pinsir, Protect together!"
Houndoom and Pinsir rushed in front of their Trainer and used Protect together to block the blast.
On the other side, Rhydon was already breathing hard as it advanced. Ursaring, barely hanging on, took the last edge of the Hyper Beam before Rhydon emerged from the smoke, grabbed it by the neck, and threw it straight at the two Trainers.
"Weavile, catch Ursaring!"
Weavile caught Ursaring, and the black-clothed man immediately recalled it. He was about to order Weavile forward when a low buzz reached his ears.
Scyther was already there. It moved frighteningly fast, its blades flashing toward the Trainer. Pinsir caught the strike between its horns, barely stopping the attack.
But an Advanced-tier Pinsir could not hold back a level 55 Scyther. Scyther knocked it away with one swing. Kingler rushed in next, catching Scyther's blade in its claw and finally slowing it down.
"Poli." Poliwrath seized the opening and drove a Mega Punch at Kingler. It was a Kingler, yes, but it was not Reiji's little buddy. Poliwrath had no reason to hold back.
The man did not dare underestimate Poliwrath's burst power. He sent Weavile, another Pokémon at the same level, to stop it. Even then, Weavile could not keep up with Poliwrath's relentless attacks and was forced back again and again.
"Gyarados, Hyper Beam."
With Gyarados firing again, Houndoom leapt over to take pressure off Weavile and keep Poliwrath busy. Weavile was ordered back to use Protect.
That left Rhydon free.
"Rhydon, Drill Run."
"Rhy!" Rhydon spun into a living drill and charged toward the weak point behind the two men. Pinsir, only just recovering, was forced to block with the horns on its head.
Rhydon punched straight through the horns. Pinsir was launched backward and fainted on impact, while the drill kept tearing toward the Trainers.
"This is bad! Houndoom's tied up. Tentacruel, stop it!"
The black-clothed man screamed and scrambled backward. Rhydon's charge was terrifying.
"I can't hold much longer!" the other man yelled.
Weavile and Scyther had barely managed to block Hyper Beam with Protect, but then Gyarados's tail came sweeping in. Kingler was knocked away and slammed into a tree, fainting on the spot.
Kingler had been holding Scyther back. Now it was down, leaving only Weavile and Scyther against Reiji's Gyarados and Scyther. There was no way to stop both.
On the other side, Tentacruel could not stop Rhydon. Houndoom could not hold Poliwrath either; it was at a type disadvantage, and Poliwrath knew exactly how to handle a big black dog.
Tentacruel was knocked over. Even Protect could not stop Drill Run. Rhydon crashed straight into one of the men and finished him.
The other man had Weavile and Scyther tied up in front of him when a golden flash crossed his vision.
Fast.
That was the only thought he had before Accelgor slammed into him, hurling him into a tree and knocking him unconscious.
A hit like that would leave internal damage at minimum. If he did not get treatment soon, he was dead. It had been a Quick Attack from an Advanced-tier Pokémon, and Accelgor was fast even by that standard.
In the blink of an eye, both men were down—one dead, one badly injured. Their Pokémon lay scattered across the ground. Accelgor collected them into Poké Balls and tossed them to Reiji, along with the two Flying-type Pokémon.
Ten Pokémon in total. Four quasi–Elite Four tier, six Advanced tier.
"Gen, gen." Gengar saw Reiji about to loot the bodies and warned him to look up.
Reiji stopped. The man in the jacket was overhead, looking down at the ruined battlefield: fallen and burning trees, smoking craters, and his two silent subordinates.
"Good," the man said coldly. "Very good."
"Everyone back."
Reiji only had time to grab the ten captured Pokémon. He did not get to loot anything else. He recalled the rest of his team, leaving only Poliwrath and Scyther at his side.
"Fera!" The Feraligatr that emerged fixed its eyes on Reiji at once, sensing its Trainer's fury.
"Poliwrath, full power. Everything you've got." Reiji felt the pressure rolling off that Feraligatr and instinctively took two steps back.
That thing was absolutely Elite Four tier.
But since only the man had followed, and he had only brought one Elite Four-tier Pokémon, Reiji was not as afraid as before. He wanted to see Poliwrath's limit.
Back when Poliwrath was still Poliwhirl, its full burst had taken one of Blaine's Rhydon's arms. Now it had evolved, grown stronger, and reached quasi–Elite Four tier. How far could it go?
"You've got guts, kid." The man in the jacket saw that Reiji was not running. Then he saw Poliwrath drawing in a deep breath. Belly Drum. Its fist was also tightening, charging another move.
Focus Punch, probably.
But Poliwrath was not Elite Four tier. The man knew the gap between Elite Four tier and everything below it. No matter how hard the kid tried, this was pointless.
"Feraligatr, Dragon Claw. Tear it apart."
"Gatr!" Feraligatr roared at Reiji and Poliwrath. It lowered onto all fours to build speed, pale green dragon claws forming around its arms as it charged.
"We're moving back." Reiji retreated quickly with Scyther and ducked behind a thick tree, Poliwrath's Poké Ball ready in his hand. If things went wrong, he would recall it and run.
Poliwrath finished charging.
Belly Drum. Focus Punch.
Its eyes locked on Feraligatr's pale green Dragon Claw. Instead of retreating, it charged straight at it.
The two attacks collided.
The trees on Reiji's side snapped one after another. Scyther used Protect to shield him from the shock wave. The man in the jacket was ready too; a Protect appeared in front of him, though Reiji did not see which Pokémon used it.
A mushroom cloud rose from the center of the blast. The shock wave tore outward, and even Scyther's Protect could not hold. Reiji and Scyther were thrown backward together.
Trees at the center of the explosion were ripped out by the roots. One massive trunk flew straight toward the man in the jacket, forcing him to release another Pokémon to block it.
The shock wave kept spreading, knocking trees down all the way toward the beach before it finally died out. At the center of the blast was a massive crater nearly 100 meters across. Flying-type Pokémon across the surrounding area scattered into the sky, and every wild Pokémon nearby fled from the Elite Four-tier battlefield.
Reiji forced himself up despite the pain from slamming into a tree. With Scyther beside him, he hurried over to check.
Two Pokémon lay near the edge of the crater. Poliwrath was unconscious. Feraligatr, on the other side, was struggling to stand.
Still not enough, huh?
The gap between quasi–Elite Four tier and Elite Four tier was too large. Even Poliwrath's full burst could not take Feraligatr down.
"You little bastard. Feraligatr!" The man in the jacket had been blasted into the sea. When he returned and saw Feraligatr writhing in pain, he rushed over and sprayed it with painkiller.
Feraligatr was his starter. Its strength went without saying; it stood in a class of its own. Yet now it was on the ground, struggling in pain. The wound on its arm was so deep that bone was visible. It would need at least half a year before it could move that arm properly again.
Before recalling Poliwrath, Reiji fed it some Pokéblocks. He could not see a single wound on its body, not even scorch marks. That was thanks to Protect and the water sphere shielding it.
Feraligatr's arm had been torn open, muscle and bone damaged. Its chest was even worse, the skin blasted apart until barely any clean flesh remained. No wonder it was thrashing in pain.
So this was the final version of Poliwrath's full-power burst.
A forbidden technique among forbidden techniques.
If Poliwrath had not kept Protect ready, this would have been a joint attack that hurt both sides almost equally.
For the final burst, Focus Punch had a base power of 150. Waterfall had a base power of 80. Then came stab at 1.5x, Belly Drum's +6 Attack boost, and the Fighting Gem boost at 1.3x…
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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