Day 16 of Reiji's break. Overcast.
Reiji woke to a quiet cabin and needed a moment to remember why it felt wrong.
Cissy was gone.
Slowking had taken her back to Mikan Gym the night before, and Reiji had spoken with her father while he was there. He had expected at least a few questions once he mentioned leaving on another long trip, but Cissy's father had simply listened, nodded, and told him to go.
After fifteen days of doing almost nothing except enjoying himself, it was finally time to move again.
His first destination had already been decided: Fairchild Island.
It had been a long time since he had visited the two monsters that ruled the deserted island, and he was curious whether they still remembered Rhydon and Pidgeot. Either way, he wasn't showing up empty-handed. Pokémon had little use for souvenirs, but Pokéblocks were another matter, and Reiji had more than enough stocked away to feed both groups living there.
Fairchild Island would only be the beginning. From there, he intended to wander wherever the trip took him, looking for opportunities that might help his Pokémon break through to Elite Four tier.
After breakfast, Reiji packed the last of his gear. There wasn't much: two full-body stab-resistant suits, equipment for surviving in the wild or dealing with trouble in black markets, several changes of clothes, and the usual necessities.
The real question was which Pokémon were coming.
There was no debate over Poliwrath and Electivire. They were already Elite Four tier and represented the strongest combat power he could rely on openly, so leaving either behind would be ridiculous.
Pelipper, Scizor, Kingler, and Dugtrio were all hovering around quasi–Elite Four tier and needed to come as well. The same went for Forretress, Accelgor, Gyarados, Swinub, Lucario, Umbreon, Zapdos, Pidgeot, Starmie, Blastoise, Ninetales, Dragonair, and the rest of the Pokémon he intended to push toward Elite Four tier.
If the entire purpose of the journey was to find opportunities for them to advance, leaving them at home defeated the point.
Butterfree, Farfetch'd, Tauros, Tentacruel, and Whiscash were different.
Tauros wasn't particularly useful to Reiji in battle anymore, and most of the coming trip would be spent moving between islands. There would be little need for land transport, so it could stay behind and help move supplies around the Gym.
Farfetch'd would continue looking after the orchard. Reiji trusted it to take the job seriously, while Butterfree, Tentacruel, and Whiscash could stay at Mikan Gym under Cissy's care.
Slowking and Ludicolo were staying too, though for a different reason.
When Reiji brought Cissy home the previous night, her father had heard about the trip and asked him to leave both Pokémon with the family, then take Slowking to see Cissy's grandfather before leaving.
The request made sense. Slowking had been trained using Mikan Gym's methods in the first place, and Ludicolo had originally been taken in by Cissy's grandfather. More importantly, Reiji had no idea how long Slowking would need to meditate before finally crossing the Elite Four threshold.
Cissy's grandfather might.
If Slowking could spend the next few months training beside a Champion-tier Slowking under someone who understood that development path far better than Reiji did, leaving it behind could actually get it to Elite Four tier faster.
Once everything was settled, Reiji recalled the Pokémon that were traveling with him. Umbreon took its usual place on his shoulder while Slowking waited beside him for one final stop.
At the front door, Reiji's gaze caught on the large Orange Archipelago group photo sitting on the cabinet. He stared at it for a moment, then gently turned it facedown.
"Guess I'm leaving again."
He checked every window, shut down the appliances, and left Farfetch'd an easy way into the storage room. Then he stepped outside and called toward the orchard.
"Farfetch'd!"
The Pokémon dropped from one of the citrus trees and landed beside him. One look at Reiji's backpack was enough for it to understand what was happening.
"I'll be gone for a while," Reiji said. "I don't know exactly how long, so I left enough food in storage to last about three years. If somehow that runs out and I'm still not back, go to Mikan Gym and have Cissy contact me. If nobody can reach me at all, take everyone there and stay with the Gym."
Farfetch'd stared at him.
"Far?"
Its expression quickly shifted from confusion to alarm.
Reiji realized how that had sounded. "I'm not giving you my last will. Relax."
Farfetch'd flapped its wings at him anyway, clearly unconvinced.
"I said I'm coming back." Reiji rubbed its head. "The others just need time to reach Elite Four tier, and I don't know how long that'll take."
Farfetch'd still wanted to come. Slowking relayed enough of its protest for Reiji to understand, but he shook his head.
"You've got a job here. You and Butterfree keep an eye on everyone, and please don't let the cabin burn down because somebody decided to start a fight."
That earned a reluctant quack.
"And we have video calls. When I call the Gym, I'll have someone let you know so you can come over."
That seemed to help.
Reiji turned toward the other Pokémon staying around the cabin, including the cloned Pokémon that had lived there long enough to become part of the household.
"I'm heading out. Behave yourselves while I'm gone."
Charizard gave a firm nod. Venusaur extended a vine and wrapped it lightly around Reiji's wrist, holding him there for a moment before letting go.
Reiji smiled. "Yeah. I know you two will keep things under control."
He waved one last time, placed a hand on Slowking's shoulder, and disappeared in a flash of psychic light.
Teleport brought them to the lake behind Mikan Gym, where Cissy's grandfather spent most of his retirement.
The old man sat beside the water beneath a round sun hat, fishing as usual. He looked over when Reiji and Slowking appeared.
"Well, look who finally showed up. What do you want?"
"Didn't Cissy's dad tell you?" Reiji took out Ludicolo's Poké Ball and set it beside Slowking's. "I'm leaving for a while. He told me to bring these two here first."
Cissy's grandfather had his own Slowking collect the Poké Balls. Reiji deliberately left them behind; if he ever needed either Pokémon urgently, having their Poké Balls at the Gym would make transferring them much easier.
"So where are you going?"
"No idea."
The old man stared at him.
Reiji shrugged. "I'm serious. I want to travel around and see if I can find something that helps the others reach Elite Four tier. I'll figure out the route as I go."
He did have a destination for today, but Fairchild Island was only the first stop. Beyond that, he intended to make use of everything he remembered about this world and see how many opportunities he could get his hands on.
Cissy's grandfather sighed. "Fine. Go wander around, then. Just don't disappear for years."
"I'll try."
"And when the notice for the Elite Four selection comes down, get back here immediately." The old man's tone grew more serious. "Things around the Orange Archipelago are going to get messy soon. Stay away from the worst of it. If you have to leave the islands entirely, do it."
Reiji's expression sharpened.
That was more than casual advice.
Something was moving inside the League.
"I'll keep it in mind."
The old man watched him for another second, then seemed to remember something. "You remember what happened at the police station on Pummelo Island?"
"Hard to forget."
"I got something out of the League for you."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"You've been granted one visit to a League vault. You can choose one item and take it with you."
That got his full attention.
"A League vault?"
Cissy's grandfather grinned. "Never heard of them?"
"No."
"There's a lot in there. More than you'd believe." He leaned back in his chair. "I only got inside once myself, during the old trouble in the Orange Archipelago. Had to pile up enough League contributions before they'd even consider it."
Reiji frowned. "All that because they wrongly detained me for a night?"
"Stop thinking so hard and take the compensation."
"That usually means there's something you're not telling me."
"There usually is."
The old man waved him off. "Go to League headquarters at Indigo Plateau when you have time and contact Lance. He's the one who agreed to it."
Then his smile turned considerably more dangerous.
"And make sure they send you to the right vault. The League has several. What Lance promised is access to the Champion Vault, not the Elite Four Vault."
Reiji blinked.
That changed things.
"If he suddenly decides he doesn't remember the agreement, call me." Cissy's grandfather jabbed one finger toward him. "I'll remind him. Loudly. If that brat thinks he can steal compensation from an old man with one foot in the grave, I'll go to League headquarters myself and make sure everyone in the building hears about it."
Reiji laughed. "I think I understand."
The old man was clearly enjoying himself far too much, but the opportunity was real. If the Champion Vault lived up to its name, then everything inside should be at least Champion tier.
Reiji had originally assumed the police incident might earn him an Elite Four-tier item at best. He had only spent one night in custody, and Officer Jenny hadn't exactly tortured him—unless being hypnotized counted.
Somehow, Cissy's grandfather had turned that into access to the Champion Vault.
Reiji certainly wasn't going to complain.
If there was a Champion-tier Water-type resource inside, it could solve one of his biggest problems immediately.
And the visit to Indigo Plateau offered something else.
Darkrai.
Reiji still had no proof of where Agatha was keeping the Darkrai she had captured after exploring the ruins, but only two places made much sense: League headquarters at Indigo Plateau or her Gym in Lavender Town.
If Agatha had handed Darkrai over to the League, it was probably being contained somewhere at headquarters. If she had decided to keep responsibility for it herself, Lavender Gym was the more likely answer.
Either way, getting legitimate access to League headquarters gave Reiji an excuse to look around without immediately attracting suspicion.
Agatha herself was another reason not to do anything reckless. Veteran Elite Four Trainers were monsters in their own right, and Reiji had no intention of underestimating someone who almost certainly had at least one Champion-tier Pokémon.
His trip had just gained a second destination.
"Then I'll head out," Reiji said, releasing Pelipper.
Cissy's grandfather gave him a sideways look. "You're not going to say goodbye to Cissy?"
Reiji's hand stopped halfway to Pelipper.
The old man's grin widened.
Cissy had barely been home over the past two weeks. Her grandfather wasn't stupid.
Reiji scratched the back of his head. "We already said enough yesterday."
"That so?"
"Yes."
The look he received said the old man believed exactly none of that.
Reiji climbed onto Pelipper before the conversation could get any worse. "I'm leaving."
He wasn't avoiding Cissy because he didn't want to see her. That was precisely the problem. If he went looking for her now, the goodbye would stretch on forever, neither of them would want to end it, and there was a decent chance he would still be standing outside Mikan Gym by lunchtime.
Pelipper spread its wings and carried him away before he could reconsider.
Cissy's grandfather watched until he disappeared beyond the trees, then sighed.
His granddaughter was going to wake up, find Reiji gone, and be miserable for a while.
Still, this was hardly a permanent farewell. Young Trainers left home. They traveled. They came back.
She would get used to it.
Eventually.
With Reiji gone, Cissy's grandfather finally turned his attention to the Slowking he had left behind.
He pointed toward his own Slowking. "Let's see what you can do. Hit it with your psychic power."
Reiji's Slowking hesitated only briefly. It knew exactly how powerful the older Slowking was, so there was no reason to hold back. Blue light gathered around its body before a heavy wave of psychic force slammed into its opponent.
The older Slowking barely moved.
Its psychic defenses absorbed the pressure cleanly while shielding Cissy's grandfather from the spillover. Once it had gauged the strength of the attack, it relayed the result telepathically.
Cissy's grandfather stroked his beard.
"Huh. You've gotten a lot stronger."
Stronger enough, in fact, that Elite Four tier was no longer some distant goal.
"How did that brat train you?"
Now he was curious.
He gestured toward his Slowking. "Check its meditation."
The two Slowking pressed their palms together. Psychic light enveloped them, lifting both Pokémon gently from the ground as they entered meditation.
The older Slowking quickly realized something was different.
Reiji's Slowking wasn't simply gathering psychic power faster than before. Its entire foundation had changed. The efficiency of its meditation was approaching what the older Slowking itself could manage despite already standing at Champion tier.
When the two ended their meditation, Cissy's grandfather received another telepathic report.
This time he nearly dropped his fishing rod.
"You're kidding."
He stared at Reiji's Slowking from head to toe.
The last time he had seen it properly, the Pokémon hadn't even possessed the potential he would expect from an Elite Four-tier prospect. Now its potential had reached Champion tier, and the improvement had happened in a matter of months.
His own Slowking had spent decades reaching its current point.
Reiji's had transformed almost beyond recognition in a fraction of that time.
Originally, Cissy's grandfather had expected to spend as much as a year guiding Reiji's Slowking toward Elite Four tier. With his Champion-tier Slowking meditating beside it, he had been confident they could make it eventually.
Now?
A year looked absurdly conservative.
If the younger Slowking continued training beside his own, the breakthrough might come far sooner than he had imagined.
Cissy's grandfather studied it for a while, curiosity gnawing at him. He wanted to know exactly what Reiji had done to change the Pokémon so dramatically.
But asking Slowking behind Reiji's back felt wrong.
Whatever method the kid had discovered was his own secret. If the old man really wanted to know, he could ask Reiji directly when the time was right.
Besides, he was getting too old to spend his days digging into every secret the younger generation stumbled across.
If Reiji eventually took over Mikan Gym—and, more importantly, actually became part of the family—whatever he had learned would become part of the Gym's future anyway.
That was their problem.
The thought made the old man smile.
He turned back toward the lake. "Keep training with it. Show it how you meditate."
His Slowking nodded.
That reminded him of his son's Slowking, which was approaching its own Champion-tier breakthrough. Bringing that one here as well might help all three Pokémon, and seeing his son gain another Champion-tier partner before he died would be a satisfying thing to witness.
It would also give the current Mikan Gym Leader considerably more weight inside the League.
With that settled, the old man returned to his fishing while the two Slowking resumed their meditation behind him.
The lake grew quiet again.
Elsewhere in the Orange Archipelago, things were anything but quiet.
Deep in the trees, a man who had spent far too long pretending to enjoy jungle life watched Pelipper cross the sky toward Mikan Island's coastal city.
The moment Reiji disappeared into the distance, the man pulled out a communicator.
"Bow, this is Stern. The fish finally left home."
A voice answered from the other end.
The watcher grinned.
"Time to cast the net."
Then he glanced around at the damp jungle that had been his home for far too long and muttered under his breath.
"Thank God. I can finally get out of this miserable forest and go back to living like a human being instead of eating weeds like some wild man."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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