Back on the black ship, the three men who had left the beach were still talking about what they had seen.
"So they were after a Pokémon," one of them said.
The captain gave a low hum. "A Pokémon worth making an Elite Four-tier Trainer move that carefully. That narrows it down, doesn't it? Most likely a pseudo-legendary."
"Captain, are you saying that new kid had one?"
"Maybe. Otherwise, why would someone at that level go through all this trouble?" The captain gave a faint, almost amused sigh. "Lucky kid. Unlucky too."
"Then why not just take it?"
The captain glanced at him. This was the same fool who had nearly exposed them earlier. If he hadn't been one of their own, that mouth would have gotten him thrown overboard long ago.
Still, the captain explained.
"If the Pokémon hatched under him, stealing it won't solve the problem. A young pseudo-legendary won't just follow a stranger because you beat its Trainer. If you want it to accept someone else, you have to make it choose. Or at least make it think it chose."
The other black-robed man, who had kept quiet until now, finally spoke. "Then what about Naoki?"
"Leave him alone," the captain said. "Treat him like someone passing through. That man has enough trouble on him already."
He rubbed his brow and looked toward the sea outside the window.
"And with the League about to start, things are already messy enough."
The region felt restless lately. Even for an Elite Four-tier Trainer, it was not the kind of current he wanted to get dragged into.
"Go fix the damaged corridor. Tell the passengers someone fell asleep while smoking and started a small fire. Say it's been put out and there's nothing to worry about."
"Yes, Captain."
The two men watched him leave. Once he was gone, the one with the loose mouth clicked his tongue.
"I told you that guy was suspicious. You didn't believe me. A pseudo-legendary, huh? If I'd known sooner, maybe it would've been mine."
"Yours?" the other man scoffed. "You'd have to survive them first. Two Elite Four-tier Pokémon were standing right there. You'd be dead before you got close."
"We had the captain with us."
"And you still almost blew his cover. Keep your mouth shut next time and pay attention."
…
In the woods on Mikan Island, Naoki helped Rico stumble forward in search of a doctor.
They didn't get far.
Rico had lost too much blood. His lips were white, his skin was cold, and his legs had almost no strength left. Without a Flying-type to carry them, there was no chance they would reach town.
Naoki stopped.
"Sorry," he said. "This is as far as I can get you."
He lowered Rico against a tree, then reached into his jacket with blood-smeared fingers and pulled out a cigarette pack. He lit two cigarettes, kept one for himself, and placed the other between Rico's lips.
"If you still have anything you want done, say it now. Before I go after my own revenge, I'll help you settle it."
He didn't need to say what came after that. Rico understood. Naoki's revenge was a road with no way back.
Rico tried to speak, but only a dry, broken rasp came out.
Naoki opened a bottle of water and helped him drink. Once his throat was wet enough, Rico finally forced the words out.
"Open… the Poké Balls…"
Naoki released them.
Rico knew he had used Naoki. There was no point denying it now. He was dying. Keeping his Pokémon meant nothing anymore. If handing them over counted as repayment for the help Naoki had given him these past few days, then so be it.
A selfish man like him had never imagined he would end up entrusting his Pokémon to someone else.
And not even to a close friend.
To a stranger.
A stranger who had still helped him at the end.
His life flickered through his mind in broken pieces. The brightest memory was still the day he stole that pseudo-legendary egg.
Too bad he would never see Larvitar grow up.
"Larvitar… Larvitar…"
"Lar… Lar…"
Naoki had already woken Larvitar. For the plan to keep moving, Larvitar had to be awake.
"Come here," Rico whispered. "Let me touch you."
Larvitar hurried to him.
Rico used the last of his strength to lift his hand and place it on Larvitar's head. His mouth pulled into a weak smile.
"Meeting you… was the best thing that ever happened to me."
His breathing caught.
"I can't go any farther. From now on… follow him…"
The "him" could only be Naoki.
He was the only other human here who knew about Larvitar. More importantly, he was the only one Larvitar had started to trust.
"Lar! Lar!"
Larvitar panicked. The first person it had ever seen was Rico. Rico was its family. Its only family.
And now that family was dying in front of it.
"Lar! Lar!"
It turned to Naoki, eyes full of panic, begging him to save Rico.
Naoki looked at the headscarf wrapped around Rico's thigh. It was soaked through, and the blood still hadn't stopped.
"I'm sorry, Larvitar. I can't. He's lost too much blood."
The knot had never been tied tightly enough to save him. After walking this far, it had loosened even more.
Rico was acting.
Naoki was acting too.
At this point, it was just a matter of whose acting held out longer.
"It's all right, Larvitar," Rico said, his voice fading. "Follow him from now on. All of you… follow him…"
A violent cough cut him off. When it passed, he leaned his head back and stared through the leaves at the moon.
For one brief moment, he smiled.
Then his hand slipped from Larvitar's head.
Rico stopped breathing.
"Lar… Lar…"
Larvitar stared at the hand that had fallen away. Then it grabbed Rico's arm and tugged.
No response.
It tugged again.
Still nothing.
Tears spilled down its face and wouldn't stop.
That was what Pokémon were like.
Simple. Loyal. Too simple sometimes.
They fought for their Trainers with everything they had. Even when a Trainer abandoned them, many of them still waited, still believed, still remembered.
Rustle. Rustle.
The bushes moved.
Naoki looked up.
Scizor stepped out first. Magnezone followed. Then Starmie. Behind them came the black-clad man.
Naoki's expression changed.
"Larvitar," he said quietly. "He's here."
Larvitar turned.
The moment it saw the black-clad man, its grief twisted into fury.
This was the last step.
Reiji had prepared a substitute, and Naoki knew exactly what had to happen. Larvitar needed to see the "killer" with its own eyes, then end it with its own jaws.
Leaving that hatred alone would only turn it into a thorn. Hatred could push a Pokémon to grow, but it could also rot it from the inside. If Larvitar grew up believing every human in black might be the one who killed its family, then one day, in some black-market crowd, a Tyranitar could lose control over the wrong coat.
No one wanted to deal with a rampaging Tyranitar.
Better to end it here.
Naoki understood that better than most. He was living for revenge himself. When Reiji suggested this part of the plan, Naoki agreed without even thinking about it.
The black-clad man was here.
Larvitar was furious.
Naoki sent his Pokémon forward to hold off Scizor, Magnezone, and Starmie. The fight pushed deeper into the trees, farther and farther away, until only three figures remained in the clearing.
Naoki.
Larvitar.
And the black-clad man.
"Lar!"
Larvitar threw itself forward with a raw cry. Dark energy gathered in its open jaws as it lunged for the man's throat.
"Ah! What the hell is this?!"
The moment the bite landed, the hypnosis broke.
The man grabbed at Larvitar with both hands, trying to tear it away, but Larvitar had already bitten too deep.
As for who the scapegoat was?
A wanted criminal Naoki had found on the black ship. A League fugitive with blood on his hands.
Trash with one last use.
Larvitar bit again and again.
The man's struggles weakened.
Then they stopped.
Scizor, Magnezone, and Starmie returned just in time to see the body. They played their parts too, showing anger the moment they saw the dead black-clad man.
Larvitar tried to attack them next.
Psychic power slammed it into the ground and knocked it out.
With Larvitar down, Scizor and the others began backing away as if they were trying to leave.
Rico's remaining Pokémon couldn't accept that. Furious, they rushed after them.
They didn't last three rounds.
One by one, they dropped.
Naoki's Golem and the others returned soon after. They were calm. They had been told from the start that this was an act, so none of them were fooled.
Only then did Reiji step out from the brush.
Naoki had just recalled Larvitar into a Poké Ball.
"Boss?"
"Is your Gengar awake yet?" Reiji cut him off and asked about that first.
"Still asleep," Naoki answered. Then he looked at Victreebel and Tentacruel on the ground and understood.
"Gengar," Reiji said, "take the poison sacs from Victreebel and Tentacruel."
He had to let his own Gengar handle the Poison-types. Weezing was still building up its toxins, and mixing in new poisons would only make them stronger.
Fearow, Houndoom, and Sneasel were left to Naoki's Golem. Once they confirmed the three Pokémon were dead, Golem threw them into the pit.
Rico and the scapegoat went in too.
Only after confirming both men were dead did Reiji have Gengar burn everything with Will-O-Wisp.
This secret would stay buried here forever.
"Boss, Pelipper." Naoki handed over the Poké Ball.
He had borrowed Pelipper for tonight's ending and taken up a lot of Reiji's time. For once, he didn't know what to say.
As for the death of a Pokémon hunter?
Naoki felt nothing.
He had once been a gang boss. He had seen plenty of bodies, human and Pokémon alike.
If someone chose to live underground, then life and death came down to skill. If you lost, that was on you. If Reiji had not found him back then, Naoki might have ended up the same way.
Maybe worse.
Maybe he would have walked into death himself.
That was fate.
"Come back with me," Reiji said, patting his shoulder. "Rest at my place tonight. Go back to Mandarin Island North tomorrow. The League is about to start, so work should slow down for a while. You can finally sleep properly."
"Boss, this Larvitar…"
Naoki held the Poké Ball out.
A Larvitar worth six or seven hundred million. Of course he wanted it.
But wanting it and slipping it into his pocket without a word were two different things.
Reiji didn't even look at the ball.
"You're my second-in-command, Naoki. You can't fall too far behind."
Then he turned and started walking.
Naoki's grip tightened around the Poké Ball.
"Boss," he said, voice rough, "as long as I'm alive, my life is yours."
The words had been sitting in his chest for a long time.
Reiji had helped him choose Pokémon. He had promised to help with his revenge. Now he had handed him a pseudo-legendary.
What kind of boss like that would he not follow to the end?
"I'll remember that."
Reiji stopped by a tree and took out a cigarette.
Naoki stepped forward to light it for him, but Reiji waved him off. He had already lit it himself.
He took a deep drag and looked up at the moon.
For some reason, he thought of the future Naoki, smiling while carrying guilt for years.
Reiji didn't want that ending again.
He didn't want to see the same tragedy repeat itself.
Still not bad enough, huh.
He sighed silently.
If he were truly selfish, truly rotten, the kind of person who could squeeze people dry and throw them away the moment they stopped being useful, maybe life would be easier.
Too bad.
He couldn't do it.
The education from his old world had been carved too deeply into him. From the day he started school, everything had taught him how to be a good person. How to do the right thing. How to follow the law. How to contribute to society.
Not how to become someone disgusting enough to drive others to death.
Not how to keep lowering his bottom line until nothing was left.
Not how to become greedy enough to swallow everything and call it survival.
…
They stayed in the woods until the fire burned out, then filled in the pit and returned to the cabin.
It was only a little past one in the morning.
Neither of them felt like sleeping yet, so they made a late-night meal. The Pokémon came out too. Whoever wanted to sleep could sleep. Whoever wanted food ate.
Scizor's and Electivire's disguises were removed, and both returned to their normal appearances.
Outside by the fire, Naoki cleaned the blood from Larvitar's body.
Larvitar woke not long after and caught the smell of the food Reiji was cooking.
"Larvitar?" Reiji's voice was back to normal.
Larvitar didn't react.
Good. No problem there.
As for why the dead substitute's voice had sounded different, Larvitar's little brain was about the size of a walnut. Expecting it to think that far was asking too much.
And after watching its family die, who would notice a detail like that?
Especially a newly hatched Larvitar.
"Get it some soup," Reiji said, handing Naoki a ceramic bowl.
Naoki had to do this himself. This was when the bond started forming.
"Hungry, Larvitar? Drink some soup first."
Naoki filled the bowl with mushroom soup and set it in front of Larvitar.
Larvitar didn't drink.
Everything felt like a dream. It stood there, looking around at the unfamiliar place.
"Lar… Lar…"
It called for a long time, waiting for the voice that should have answered.
No one answered.
Larvitar turned back and tugged at Naoki's clothes, asking where Rico was.
"Larvitar," Naoki said softly, "Rico is buried in that forest. He won't be coming back."
Larvitar stared at him.
So it was real.
Not a dream.
Rico was gone.
"Lar! Lar!"
Larvitar refused to believe it. It wanted to go back and dig Rico out.
Swampert stepped in and blocked the way.
Swampert could more or less guess what had happened, but none of the Pokémon involved in the plan could tell Larvitar the truth.
Better to let this end here.
Following Naoki wouldn't be bad.
There would be more good food than it could finish.
"Lar… Lar…"
Larvitar sank to the ground, crying weakly as tears fell in heavy drops.
"We'll go tomorrow," Naoki said, offering the bowl again. "Drink first. If Rico were here, he wouldn't want you starving yourself."
This time, Larvitar didn't refuse.
Maybe it had finally understood.
It was alone now.
"Who's Rico?" Reiji asked from the side, pretending not to know.
"Rico was a good friend," Naoki said without changing expression. "He was killed. Before he died, he entrusted Larvitar to me."
He spoke as if he were talking about an old friend.
As if he and Reiji had not killed him themselves.
"I see."
Reiji nodded quietly, as if he had only just learned the truth. From the corner of his eye, he saw Larvitar crying again.
To be honest, he didn't think he and Naoki had been especially cruel.
Rico had stolen the egg first. Larvitar would have ended up following someone either way. Now it had a chance to be cleaned up and raised properly. It had only changed Trainers. Painful, yes, but not the worst ending.
Only a pseudo-legendary was worth this much effort.
If it were an ordinary Pokémon, they could just catch another or buy one. A pseudo-legendary was different. Too expensive to buy, so someone had kindly "entrusted" it to them instead.
"Rico still needs a grave," Naoki said. "I'll make sure he gets one tomorrow."
That was for Larvitar.
If Larvitar missed Rico, it could come back and visit whenever it wanted.
Eventually, time would do its work.
Larvitar's life had only just begun. There would be many more things for it to remember.
Sooner or later, those memories would wash over this pain.
After the soup, Naoki brought out ore and let Larvitar eat. It had been holding back its hunger on the ship for days. Now it could finally eat as much as it wanted, though it clearly had no appetite.
"Eat, then sleep early. You take the sofa." Reiji stood and yawned. "Leave the rest. I'll clean it tomorrow."
He went back into the cabin with Umbreon.
Naoki stayed outside with Larvitar.
For a pseudo-legendary, extra patience was worth it.
When Reiji returned to his room, Lokoko appeared inside.
He lay back against the headboard and looked at her.
"What do you want to say?"
"Do humans always lie to Pokémon like this?"
"Of course not," Reiji said. "And that Pokémon hunter stole Larvitar too. You don't feel sorry for him, do you?"
"No," Lokoko said. "I've lived long enough to see what humans do when they want something. You're complicated creatures. Hard to understand."
Reiji laughed.
"There are simple humans too. You'll meet Brock soon enough."
Even if Lokoko could use illusions and speak like a human, she was still a Pokémon at heart. And Pokémon all had the same blind spots.
"I hope so."
Lokoko's body slowly faded until she disappeared.
She wanted to meet her owner's descendant and settle the last wish she had carried for two hundred years.
As for helping Reiji tonight, she had no real objection.
And feeling sympathy for a Pokémon hunter?
Don't be ridiculous.
She was a Pokémon. A two-hundred-year-old fox spirit, yes, but still a Pokémon.
Aside from her own owner, she did not truly care about humans.
Reiji was a trading partner. He gave her food and shelter, and he was helping her find her owner's descendant. In return, she helped him hold the stage when needed. She never even had to fight, so she was happy enough to stay idle.
As for what she thought of Reiji as a human?
Other than her owner, she did not acknowledge humans.
The rest meant nothing to her.
As long as they did not hurt her owner, they could do whatever they wanted.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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