Reiji stopped at the Pokémon Center before leaving Mikan Island.
Pelipper waited beside him while he used one of the video phones. Fairchild Island was his next destination, and going there without Rhydon would defeat half the purpose. The two rulers of that island knew Rhydon and Pidgeot; showing up without either of them was a good way to get chased off before he could accomplish anything.
The call connected after a few rings, and Elisia appeared on the screen.
"Rai? What's up?"
"I need Rhydon back for a few days. I'm taking it to visit its old home, then I'll send it back once I'm done. That won't interfere with its training, will it?"
"Not at all."
Elisia immediately called Blaine at the Cinnabar Research Institute. Rhydon was brought in from the training grounds, recalled, and transferred first to Cinnabar Gym, then through the Pokémon Center's transfer system to Reiji.
A notification flashed beneath the screen.
"Got it. Thanks, Elisia."
He was about to end the call when she stopped him.
"Don't you want to talk to Amber?"
Reiji smiled despite himself. "Would I be interrupting her training?"
Agatha had a reputation for being brutal with her students, and Reiji had no desire to get Amber punished because she spent half an hour chatting instead of training.
Elisia asked one of the Gym attendants where Amber and Komai were. The woman thought for a moment before admitting she hadn't seen either of them.
Elisia sighed. That probably meant they weren't at the Gym at all. Blaine's Arcanine was usually with Amber, so safety wasn't the problem. Amber had simply always been too fond of wandering off, and having Komai around had apparently made that habit worse.
"Sorry, Rai. She's not here. Those two have vanished again."
Reiji laughed. "No problem. I'll catch her another time."
After saying goodbye, he tucked Rhydon's Poké Ball into his bag and left the Pokémon Center.
Outside, the weather was warm and bright. Reiji whistled, and Pelipper came gliding over before settling beside him. He climbed onto its back, gave its neck a pat, and they took off toward the coast.
Once they were in the air, Reiji unfolded a map of the Orange Archipelago.
The route from Mikan Island to Fairchild Island was almost straight west, cutting between Mandarin Island North and Sunburst Island. Blastoise could make the trip, but at its pace they would probably spend two days on the water. Pelipper could get him there before nightfall.
There was another reason to stay in the air. A black ship was known to operate around the waters between Mikan Island, Mandarin Island North, and Sunburst Island, usually after dark when the people aboard could work without worrying too much about witnesses.
During the day, those same waters were busy with ordinary passenger ships and cargo traffic. Flying straight through was safer, and if Pelipper needed a break, Reiji could always stop on some deserted island for lunch before continuing.
He folded the map away. At this pace, they should reach Fairchild Island by evening.
What Reiji didn't know was that he had already picked up company.
Far behind him, a large cargo ship cut steadily through the open sea.
Inside the bridge, Riku's sworn brother stood over a chart table with a communicator in one hand. As the Black Ship's second-in-command, he had brought several trusted men with him for this operation. Two red markers moved across the display in front of him, one traveling quickly through the air while the other followed much farther behind over the water.
The first signal belonged to a Wingull.
It looked no different from the countless wild Wingull scattered across the Orange Archipelago, which was exactly why the tracker had chosen it. The little Pokémon stayed far behind Pelipper, sometimes flying under its own power and sometimes gliding on the wind, disappearing easily among other Wingull whenever any passed nearby.
The second signal belonged to the Water-type Pokémon carrying the tracker himself farther back.
Nobody wanted to get too close. Reiji was already known as a Trainer with Elite Four-tier Pokémon, and the people following him had no intention of finding out how sharp his senses were. Their job was only to keep his position updated until the ambush was ready.
The first mate leaned over the chart. "Where do you think he's headed?"
The second mate traced the route with one finger. "If he keeps going between Mandarin Island North and Sunburst Island, he could be heading toward Fairchild Island, Kinnow Island, maybe even Navel Island."
"Not Navel." Riku's brother shook his head. "He's from Kinnow Island. Most likely he's heading home."
That assumption gave them a useful interception zone.
The first mate tapped the waters around Fairchild Island. "Then we hit him here. It's deserted."
The second mate frowned. "Fairchild has two Elite Four-tier rulers. If a fight gets loud enough, they might come after us."
"We stay offshore until he arrives," Riku's brother said. "If the island's rulers interfere, you two keep them occupied. I'll deal with Reiji."
The first mate studied the information they had gathered. "According to our intel, his only Elite Four-tier Pokémon are Poliwrath and Electivire. Electivire is manageable if we bring the right matchups, but Poliwrath is the problem. I'd rather have two Pokémon at the same tier on it."
"I already planned for that."
Between the three of them, they had five Elite Four-tier Pokémon. Riku's brother alone controlled three, and as far as he was concerned, that was more than enough to kill one Trainer in an isolated stretch of ocean.
The first mate looked back at the chart. "Our ship isn't even on his route."
"That's why this works." Riku's brother tapped their current position. "The ship keeps following its scheduled course. We fly ahead, intercept him around Fairchild Island, finish this quickly, then return. Anyone checking the ship's route afterward sees nothing unusual."
The second mate nodded. "And we shouldn't land on Fairchild itself until we have to. Trainers who explored the island said the wild Pidgeot are basically the ruler's eyes. Put humans ashore and it'll know almost immediately."
"Then we wait outside the island."
Riku's brother straightened. He had no interest in dragging this out. He had been waiting for another chance at Reiji for a long time, and after everything that had happened between them, a fair battle was the last thing on his mind.
He wanted Reiji dead.
"Five Elite Four-tier Pokémon against two," he said. "Even if something goes wrong, my three are enough to bury him out there."
His confidence wasn't entirely arrogance. He and his men were used to fighting without referees, rules, or anyone nearby to stop them. In their eyes, League Gym Trainers spent too much time in controlled battles and not enough time learning what happened when the other side was genuinely trying to kill them.
He pocketed the communicator and headed for the deck.
Before leaving the bridge, Riku's brother nodded to the third mate. "Keep the ship on course."
The third mate took over without question.
Riku's brother, the first mate, and the second mate released their Flying-type Pokémon and took off from the cargo ship, heading northwest toward the waters around Fairchild Island.
Their vessel was currently southeast of the main Orange Archipelago, near Golden Island. Its official route would carry it north toward the Seven Grapefruit Islands and Navel Island, nowhere near the path Reiji was taking.
That was exactly what they wanted. By the time anyone realized something had happened, the cargo ship would have an alibi waiting for them.
Back at Mikan Gym, lunchtime arrived without Cissy.
Her father checked the clock again. Morning training had already come and gone, and after spending the better part of two weeks doing whatever she pleased, she was supposed to be getting back into her normal routine.
"She's still asleep?" he muttered over lunch. "She's had fifteen days to relax."
Senta pushed his chair back. "I'll get her."
He went upstairs and knocked on his sister's door.
"Cissy. Get up."
Nothing.
Senta knocked again, waited a little longer, then tried the handle. The door opened without resistance.
At first glance, the bed looked occupied. There was a very convincing lump beneath the blanket, enough that Senta walked over without suspicion and yanked it back.
A Psyduck plush rolled onto the floor.
Senta stared at it for a moment before his yell tore through the Gym.
"CISSY'S GONE!"
Her father was out of his chair almost immediately, with Cissy's mother only a few steps behind him. The bed was empty, the Psyduck plush lay on the floor, and after a quick look around the room, another missing item became obvious.
Cissy's pink backpack was gone too.
Her mother's expression tightened. "She ran away again?"
"Don't panic." Cissy's father forced himself to think. "She wouldn't just leave for no reason."
Senta frowned. "But Rai-nii's still around. Where would she even go?"
His parents looked at each other.
That was probably the answer.
Cissy's father pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Reiji."
High above the ocean, Reiji felt his satellite phone vibrate against his chest. He took it out, saw the caller, and frowned before answering.
"Hey. Something wrong?"
"Rai, Cissy's missing. Her backpack is gone too. We think she left the Gym. Have you seen her?"
Reiji went quiet for a second.
"What?"
His first thought was that she had gone looking for him. His second was that the idea was ridiculous. He was already somewhere over open ocean with nothing but water in every direction. Even if Cissy knew where he was headed, finding one person moving through the Orange Archipelago would be almost impossible.
Unless she knew exactly where he was.
Reiji pulled his backpack around and began checking it.
A tracker couldn't be hidden inside the spatial compartment because the bag would block its signal, while anything obvious on the outside would be found too quickly. That left the smaller external pockets.
After a few seconds, his fingers touched something hard.
Reiji pulled out a tiny black device. A red light blinked back at him.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Cissy had planted a tracker on his bag.
Reiji had no idea when she had managed it, but he had to admit the placement was clever. Even if Gengar swallowed the backpack and cut off the signal for a while, Reiji would eventually take it back out once he stopped somewhere.
Which meant Cissy could find him again.
The phone was still against his ear.
"Rai?" Cissy's father asked. "Did you find her?"
"No, but I think I know what she's doing." Reiji looked back across the endless ocean behind him. "She hid a tracker on me."
There was a brief silence.
"She what?"
"I'm guessing she's following me. I'm in the air right now, and there's nobody around, so she hasn't caught up yet. If I see her, I'll call you immediately."
Cissy's mother took the phone. "Where are you? I'll come out there."
Reiji winced. That was the last thing he needed.
"I'm somewhere over the ocean. I picked a rough direction and haven't been keeping track of the exact coordinates."
That was a lie, but a useful one. The last thing he wanted was Cissy's mother trying to chase them across open water.
"Don't worry. If Cissy really is following this tracker, she'll come to me. Once she does, I'll send her straight home."
He wasn't particularly worried about Cissy being helpless. She was a Trainer, she knew the islands, and if she had planned this far ahead, she probably had a safe way to travel.
Her father took the phone back. "All right. The moment you find her, call me with your location. I'll have Slowking Teleport over and bring her back."
"Got it."
Reiji ended the call and slipped the tracker into the zipped pocket of his jacket. He definitely wasn't throwing it away now. If Cissy was using it to follow him, losing the signal would turn an annoying situation into a genuine problem.
Fairchild Island was still his destination, so the simplest solution was to keep going and wait for her there. Once she arrived, he could call Mikan Gym and have Slowking come pick her up.
Reiji rubbed his forehead. He really should have seen this coming.
He had skipped the morning goodbye because he knew Cissy would make leaving difficult. Apparently, she had solved that problem by refusing to let him leave without her.
"Troublesome girl…"
He gave Pelipper a reassuring pat. "Keep going. Fairchild Island."
Pelipper held its course toward the horizon.
Reiji expected to reach the island around sunset. Cissy had no Flying-type Pokémon of her own, so if she was following him, she was probably relying on Slowking's Teleport and waiting for the tracker to stop moving before making her jump.
That, at least, made sense.
What Reiji still hadn't noticed were the other people tracking the same signal from much farther away.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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