Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

At the same time, far away in the Orange Archipelago, at Mikan Gym.

Today was the day Cissy would run away from home.

She had lunch with her family like nothing was wrong. In the afternoon, she would board a ship and leave Mikan Gym. By the time her family noticed she was gone, it would be breakfast tomorrow, and she would already be far away.

She left a letter behind. In it, she wrote that she was going out to collect badges so she could enter the Orange Archipelago Tournament.

That was only to buy time. Once her family realized she had no intention of entering the tournament, she would already be on a cargo ship bound for Kanto. After that, she would head for Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and wherever else she needed to go.

She planned to stay away for years if she had to. At the very least, she would not come back until the marriage talk died down.

Cissy had prepared for this for a long time. She had traveled before, so she knew what life on the road was like. She had also spent the past few days bullying Senta a few extra times, talking more with her parents, and fishing with her grandfather.

At lunch, the whole family sat together and watched Reiji’s final match. Senta was still the loudest one in the room.

”It’s the finals! Rai-nii made it to the finals! That Reggie is strong too. Can Poliwhirl beat Garchomp?”

”That jerk,” Cissy muttered under her breath.

Seeing Reiji in the finals made one thing painfully clear. Back when they battled, he had definitely been holding back.

She had not expected him to be this strong. He had actually fooled her. The Pokémon he left at the Gym were strong too, and they were all good Pokémon. So why was he so irritating?

She had only been joking when she said he could get a prize if he won the championship. He was not actually supposed to win it. She did not even have the authority to hand out a top-grade Water Stone.

”That guy?” Her older cousin was watching the match too. After listening to Senta explain, he realized this was the Indigo Plateau Conference final. Apparently, one of the Gym’s trainees was about to win the whole thing.

Who could have guessed that the little trainee who had once come to make peace with him had been hiding this much strength?

With the power Reiji had shown, he could barely fight him now. Give Reiji a little more time, and catching up to him was not impossible.

Then her cousin glanced at Cissy, who clearly had her mind somewhere else.

As long as she got on his ship, he would move fast. He could not let the situation drag on. Once the deed was done, Cissy would not be able to escape him. Mikan Gym would be his too, and when Team Rocket expanded deeper into the Orange Archipelago, he would become one of the people with real power.

A beautiful woman at his side, a Gym under his control, and men working under him. Who would dare look down on him then?

”Dad, that move…”

”I saw it.” Cissy’s grandfather had already thought of Blaine from Cinnabar Island the moment he saw the rock armor. His son did not need to remind him. He and that old turtle had crossed paths when they were younger.

He had not expected Reiji to learn Blaine’s signature technique.

Was that old turtle trying to poach him?

Judging by Reiji’s performance, it was possible. A shame, though. Their types did not match.

At the same time, in a small fishing village by the sea on Mikan Island, Sou had returned home after two months away.

He had spent those two months training at the club, and he had become a lot steadier. At the very least, he had learned to read the room. He was not as clueless about life as before.

His dark, sun-browned face still made him look simple and harmless, though. It was the perfect disguise. Anyone who did not know him would be fooled by it.

Coming back to the fishing village like this counted as a proper homecoming. Everyone had heard that Sou had found work in the big city on Mandarin Island North, and not just any work, but Trainer work. Plenty of people were jealous.

A Trainer.

For people like them, life itself was hard enough. Most families could only afford one or two Pokémon as pets. Becoming a real Trainer was not something they dared dream about.

The League’s fishing ban was no joke either. Once the closed season began, fishermen like them earned nothing from the sea. At most, they could raise fish near the coast and ship them to the city to sell.

Sou’s family was doing better than most now. He had bought his parents plenty of things, from food and clothes to daily supplies, and he had given them money for the household too. Hearing them praise him for growing up and making something of himself, he grinned so wide he could barely close his mouth. The whole family had lunch together happily.

Since Sou had become a Trainer, the family’s life had improved. They had even started watching the Indigo Plateau Conference on TV.

Then Sou saw Reiji in the finals.

His chopsticks paused, and he stared at the screen for a long moment.

His mother nudged his arm, and only then did he snap back to himself. Without letting anything show, he turned his attention back to the TV and watched Reiji’s match.

The battle between Reiji and Reggie was full of powerful moves and bright flashes of energy. Sou could barely follow it. All he could think was that he really was strong.

He had heard that whoever won the finals would become champion. He knew what a champion was. The club held small tournaments too, and he had not even made the top sixteen there. To him, even a club champion was impressive.

Reiji was fighting for the championship of a regional tournament. That had to be far greater than any small club title.

Reiji had told him not to talk about their connection, so Sou would not tell his parents that the Trainer on TV was the one who had opened the door for him. He would not tell anyone.

It was better that way. His parents would only worry.

After spending time with Naoki and the others, Sou was not completely naive anymore. He had gone out with Naoki to earn extra money a few times, and he knew those people were not kind men.

They looked after him because of Reiji. Without that, why would they care about him at all?

One time, when Daishi got drunk, Sou heard him talk about Naoki’s past. Only then did Sou learn what Naoki used to do.

For a small fisherman like him, that world was almost impossible to imagine. That was why he remembered every word Reiji had told him. Reiji had led him into the Trainer world, and Sou knew exactly where he stood.

The life he had now came from one word from Reiji. Even Naoki’s help and guidance came from that same word. Sou would never forget that.

Following him was the right choice.

As for the ten million?

After learning more of the hidden rules from Naoki, Sou realized ten million really was not that much. In the black market, that was barely enough to buy one good Pokémon.

Trading ten million for Naoki’s favor had been more than worth it. In just two months at the club, with Naoki’s help, he had almost reached coach level. Right now, he was already a senior sparring partner.

If anything happened, Naoki could help him handle it. Sou would not waste that favor on something small. He had spent ten million. Of course he had to save it for when it really mattered.

Recently, another younger kid had arrived. Naoki handed him over to Sou and told Sou to show him around first. If there was anything they did not understand, they could ask Naoki.

Sou had talked with that kid, Keith. Keith had met Reiji in Kanto, and from their conversations, Sou realized Reiji was working on something big.

Only Naoki knew what it was. He never told the rest of them. Whenever Reiji came up, Naoki kept his mouth shut and only told them to train their Pokémon properly. If they followed Reiji in the future, they would live well.

Sou believed him.

So did the younger kid beside him.

Sou had no idea where Reiji kept finding kids like this. He really was a mysterious Trainer.

At the same time, far to the southeast of the Orange Archipelago, on Murcott Island.

This bug-catching town relied on its wild Pokémon to draw business, but for most of the year, there were not many tourists. Even after the Bug-Catching Contest was expanded to twice a year, the town still stayed quiet most of the time.

That changed after Saya opened her haunted castle hotel.

Tourists who wanted to experience the haunted-house theme kept coming, and the whole town came back to life.

Saya was now a local celebrity. She no longer had to handle every part of the hotel herself. After getting through the hardest early stage, she hired many townspeople to help run it, and her life became much easier.

That afternoon, she went to visit her grandmother, who was knitting at home. The moment she entered, her grandmother called out, ”Saya, come here. That boy you like is about to win.”

”Grandma, what are you talking about?” Saya’s face turned red at once, but she still came over and looked at the TV.

In truth, she had noticed Reiji in the tournament several days ago and had been quietly cheering for him. It had been three or four months since they last parted.

Thanks to his strange but clever ideas, the haunted hotel’s business had only gotten better. Trainers came and went constantly. Once she had more free time, she sometimes asked around for news about him.

After getting close to Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, she finally learned where he had gone. The last news she heard was that he had joined Mikan Gym.

Then, while watching TV recently, she happened to see the Indigo Plateau Conference broadcast and spotted him again.

”Saya, at his age, he’s already stronger than your grandfather was back then,” her grandmother said, watching Reiji on the screen. At first, she had thought he was just an ordinary Trainer.

Now, he clearly had something to him. Otherwise, he would never have reached the finals of the Indigo Plateau Conference.

To many strong Trainers, the Indigo Plateau Conference was still a tournament for youngsters. But in the hearts of many children, its champion was a very powerful Trainer.

”Who cares about him?” Saya said, though her eyes stayed on the screen.

She was already planning to look for him. She wondered if he would be surprised when he saw her again.

But she still had work to do. Her haunted hotel had become a success, and several cities wanted to copy the idea to attract tourists. She was also considering opening branches. For now, she was choosing locations and would have to visit several cities.

Once the branch plans were settled, she could go find him.

At the same time, outside the Indigo Plateau Conference, Giovanni had arrived.

He did not go to the stadium to watch the match. Instead, he watched it on television in a hotel room, with Sabrina and Matori beside him.

”Sabrina, can you sense the Dark-type Pokémon on him?”

”Boss, that presence is gone. The dark Pokémon isn’t with him.” Sabrina had followed Reiji for several days and checked repeatedly while he slept. Darkrai’s aura had vanished.

”Gone?” Giovanni tapped the armrest of his chair. He had come personally to make sure nothing went wrong, only to find Darkrai missing.

”I followed him for days. I’m sure it isn’t with him. Should we grab him and ask?” Sabrina had never failed in front of Giovanni before. This mistake irritated her. She wanted to know where Reiji had hidden Darkrai.

As for why Reiji had not noticed Sabrina following him for so long, that was simple.

He was only a normal person. Darkrai was gone, Gengar was asleep, and Butterfree and the others needed rest. No one kept psychic senses open all day for no reason. So he never noticed Sabrina’s psychic tracking.

”No need. If this boy wins the championship, the League will definitely put him on its list. This isn’t the time to openly clash with them.”

”Yes, Boss.” Since Giovanni did not want to pursue it, Sabrina stayed quiet.

”I heard he got a Dratini from the Joy family. Interesting.” Giovanni swirled the wine in his glass, his eyes unreadable.

”Boss,” Matori said, ”based on the helicopter’s black box footage, he should be the Trainer who rescued that Nurse Joy. The Gyarados matches, and so do his height and build. The prisoners also said they saw Gyarados attack before the helicopter crashed. That matches Vicious’s account.”

”Good.” Giovanni snapped his fingers and stood. ”Matori, we’ve found traces of Mewtwo. Vicious has a Tyranitar, doesn’t he? Have him come with me to capture Mewtwo. Don’t tell him the details yet.”

Then he added, ”Leave this boy to someone else. Don’t make a move at the Indigo Plateau. And remember to ask where that dark Pokémon went.”

”Yes, Boss.”

Matori followed Giovanni onto the helicopter and left the Indigo Plateau Conference. She immediately began writing on her tablet. The finals were almost over, and the Conference would end tomorrow. She needed to arrange this quickly.

Giovanni had said not to act at the Indigo Plateau. That meant they had to move when Reiji was on his way back. It also had to be quiet. The best place was over international waters.

That made things simple.

A Team Rocket-controlled airline was one of the sponsors for this Indigo Plateau Conference. They could have the airline sponsor seven-day round-trip tickets for the top three finishers to any region they wanted.

Once the top three received the tickets, they would most likely fly home. And if Reiji boarded a Team Rocket plane, they could act once it reached international waters. At ten thousand meters in the air, he would have nowhere to run.

Matori sent out the order. Whatever region Reiji chose, she would assign people heading that way to handle the job. They would quietly take him on the plane and hold him for Giovanni’s questioning.

As for why Giovanni had come all this way but did not deal with Reiji himself?

Giovanni, the man called the Ground-type Emperor, taking action personally?

That would be giving Reiji far too much credit. Even if Reiji won this youth tournament, Giovanni would only see it as children playing.

Giovanni had Champion-tier strength. He had no interest in moving against a child himself. If that child still had Darkrai, that would be different, but Darkrai was nowhere to be found.

And now they had found traces of Mewtwo.

Compared to Latias and Darkrai, Giovanni wanted Mewtwo more. Darkrai was only an appetizer. Mewtwo was the real prize.

A strong Trainer only conquered stronger Pokémon.

Mewtwo had been created with the resources he poured into it. It could only belong to him.

[End of chapter]

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