"Brock, that voice you heard earlier…" Ash glanced at the Ninetales on the cart. "Was that actually coming from it?"
He had met Pokémon that could speak through telepathy before. Plenty of them, actually. That part was not impossible. But a Ninetales? That felt harder to believe.
Brock did not answer right away. Ninetales's eyelids were trembling. A moment later, it opened its eyes and looked straight at him.
"Can you understand me?" Brock asked quietly. "Why was that man trying to catch you?"
A voice answered inside his head.
"Thank you… for saving me."
Ninetales's mouth never moved.
Brock stiffened. "My name is Brock. What's yours? Are you using telepathy?"
Ash, Misty, and Tracey all turned toward him at once.
"Brock?" Ash said. "Who are you talking to?"
Only then did Brock realize the voice had reached him alone.
"I don't know who I am," Ninetales said. "Is this… talking? I woke up in an iron cage. I wanted to get out, but I couldn't. Then one day, I suddenly learned how to speak like humans. After I escaped, those people chased me. I called for help again and again, but no one came. Only you followed me."
Ash saw the blue glow in Ninetales's eyes and took a nervous step back. "Brock, its eyes are glowing."
"It's telepathy, Ash," Misty said. Then her gaze caught on something at Ninetales's neck. "Brock, wait. There's a tag."
Brock leaned in carefully. "Lokoko… Is that your name?"
Reiji had prepared the tag for exactly this. Brock needed to catch Ninetales, but he also needed to keep using the name Lokoko.
Lokoko had carried that name for 200 years. It had no intention of losing it now.
"Lokoko?" Ninetales tilted its head, playing the part of a frightened, confused Pokémon perfectly. "Is that what I'm called?"
For a 200-year-old fox, pretending to be innocent was almost too easy. In pure acting skill, only Pikachu could have given it a real fight.
Brock's expression softened, but there was disappointment in it too. "Then you had a Trainer?"
If it had a tag, it probably belonged to someone.
And if a Pokémon belonged to someone, Brock could not just keep it. That was how Trainers raised under the League thought. Find something that was lost, return it. No excuses.
Lokoko lowered its head. The glow in its eyes faded.
"I don't remember."
"That's all right." Brock reached out and gently stroked its fur. "We'll help you find them."
"Vuu…"
Lokoko leaned into his hand.
It had waited 200 years for that touch.
Ash waited until Brock stopped talking, then immediately leaned in. "So? What did it say?"
Brock explained the whole exchange. By the time he finished, Ash, Misty, and Tracey were staring at Ninetales with fresh amazement.
"So you really can talk?" Ash crouched near Lokoko's face, eyes bright with curiosity. "Say something to me too."
Lokoko's eyes flashed blue.
"Awoo. Back off."
Ash froze, then scratched his cheek with an awkward laugh. "Ahaha…"
Misty narrowed her eyes. "What did it say?"
"Nothing," Ash said far too quickly.
Brock sighed and stepped between them. "Ash, let it rest."
He had heard the warning too. Ninetales clearly did not like Ash shoving his face so close.
Misty covered her mouth, laughing. "Honestly, Ash. No manners at all."
"What? What are you laughing at?"
Ash still wanted a telepathic Pokémon. Badly. Ninetales had chosen Brock, though. Maybe because Brock had saved it. Maybe next time Ash just had to rescue one first.
Brock took out Ninetales's Poké Ball. "Lokoko, stay with me for now. I'll look for your Trainer, and once I find them, I'll bring you back."
"Thank you," Lokoko said.
What it wanted to say was Master.
It swallowed the word.
As for finding its Trainer? Brock could search all he wanted. That man had been in the ground for more than a century.
Lokoko touched the Poké Ball's button with its nose. Red light gathered around it, and the Poké Ball pulled it inside.
"Brock," Misty said, "aren't you even going to think about catching it? It doesn't have a Trainer here."
"It does have one," Brock said. "I'll look first. If I really can't find anyone, then… we'll see."
A Ninetales that could use telepathy was rare. Of course he wanted it.
But wanting it did not make it right. If one of his Pokémon went missing, he would want the person who found it to bring it home. So that was what he would do.
First, he would find Lokoko's Trainer.
…
While Brock and the others stayed at the Pokémon Center, Reiji got rid of the disguise.
The black clothes went straight into the river. The perfume had only been on the outfit, but he still made sure to cover himself with the smell of chili powder and pepper, enough to make it seem like he had been sneaking snacks somewhere. As long as no one caught the perfume, that was good enough. A shower would handle the rest.
Once the scent was dealt with, he quietly made his way back to Cissy's family.
Cissy's parents barely reacted when he returned. Senta did not say anything either.
Cissy, however, looked ready to bite him.
"I was in the bathroom," Reiji said, giving her the most innocent smile he could manage.
That was his story. She could believe it or not. He was not going to let her boss him around anyway.
"Rai, we're almost done for the night," Cissy's father said, rubbing at the tiredness in his face. "We'll walk around a little longer, then head back. What about you two?"
"I'm staying out a bit more," Cissy said before Reiji could answer.
Then she grabbed his arm and pulled him away.
Her parents watched them go with pleased little smiles. Their daughter was finally taking the initiative. Wonderful. Excellent. Exactly what they wanted.
That was how parents worked. If they liked you, they would try to push you together even if you barely knew each other. If they did not, then every breath you took could become a problem. No point walking into that kind of misery.
Cissy dragged Reiji around for another few hours and somehow bought even more things. By the time they headed back to the Trainers' Village, both of them were carrying bags.
On the road back, they ran into Ash's group.
"You're all still out this late?" Reiji greeted them with a smile.
Lokoko was already with Brock. Good. Its wish had been granted.
"Rai."
Lokoko's voice slipped into his mind before Brock could answer.
"Brock saw the tag and wants to help me find my Trainer. What do I do?"
Reiji's expression did not change. He kept smiling at Brock as if he had heard nothing.
"We didn't really get to enjoy the festival," Brock said, scratching his head. "Something happened, and we ended up staying at the Pokémon Center until now."
"Then go tomorrow," Reiji said. "The festival lasts until the tournament ends. Plenty of time."
He said goodbye and kept walking. He did not answer Lokoko yet.
Only after he and Cissy reached the building did he get a chance. Cissy carried her shopping upstairs to show Misty, and the two girls were soon deep in their own private conversation.
Before going into his room, Reiji spoke softly to his shadow.
"Gengar, tell Lokoko not to worry. If Brock really searches, the most he'll find is a descendant. The original Trainer has been dead for ages. In the end, Brock will still keep it. That might take years, or even decades, but it doesn't change anything."
He paused, then added, "Tell Lokoko to keep pretending it has amnesia. Only the Trainer part. It doesn't need to fake everything else. The more it pretends, the easier it is to slip up. If someone figures it out later, Lokoko can either keep acting or say the memories came back. Let it decide."
"Kekeke."
Gengar slipped out of Reiji's shadow, passed through the wall, and entered the room next door. It sank into Brock's shadow, delivered the message to Lokoko, then returned the same way.
By the time Gengar came back, Reiji had already showered. He had Gengar put Senta into deep sleep, then released his Pokémon and fed them dinner.
While they ate, he sat on the bed and went over the day in his head.
Two separate groups had tried to block him during the preliminaries.
The masked man in black was still unknown.
Riku was another problem. Reiji still did not know why he had shown up to stop him.
Tomorrow should give him answers.
If he called A.J., Shingo, and Shun's group together, he could probably work out what was going on.
Shun was basically his little brother. No one would suspect anything there.
A.J. was someone he had met during the Indigo Plateau Conference. That connection was clean too.
Shingo was from Johto, which made him even less suspicious.
If Reiji brought those four together, it would look like a normal meetup.
Keith, Gulzar, and Sou were different. Better to leave them out. The Orange League tournament was packed with people, and too many eyes were watching. Those kids would not have useful tournament information anyway.
During the tournament, every word and every move could be seen by someone who cared too much.
So he had to be careful.
Then more careful.
Then even more careful after that.
He had already warned Gulzar, Keith, A.J., and the others again and again not to acknowledge him in public. They should know better than to ruin everything over one careless moment.
They all shared the same secret now.
If one of them slipped, none of them would like what came next.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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