Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Squirtle, we’ve got this too. Hit the disc!” Ash looked to Senta and nodded, letting him know he was ready.

”Watch carefully. Don’t miss.” Senta pressed the remote again, and another disc shot from the launcher.

Squirtle had already taken aim. Its Water Gun struck the disc cleanly.

”Yes! Nice one, Squirtle!” Ash jumped up and high-fived Squirtle in celebration.

”Don’t get full of yourself. It’s going to get harder now.” Senta hated how pleased Ash looked. What was he acting so proud for?

”Senta, less talking. Launch the next set.” Reiji had Poliwrath get ready, then turned to Ash. ”Ash, the difficulty goes up from here. Stay sharp.”

”Don’t worry. We’re not losing.” Ash rubbed his nose, full of confidence.

Misty sighed. ”He’s going to lose.”

She knew Ash too well. Once he got cocky, things usually fell apart right after.

Three discs fired out in quick succession.

Poliwrath locked onto them immediately and fired three sharp bursts of Water Gun, shattering all three in midair.

”That was awesome.” Ash took a breath, then looked at Squirtle. ”We can do it too. Ready, Squirtle?”

If this had been a normal battle, he might not be able to beat Reiji. But accuracy? That was one of Squirtle’s strengths.

Another three discs flew out.

Squirtle read their paths, fired three Water Guns in a row, and hit all three.

”Squirtle!” it called proudly.

”We got them again!” Ash turned toward Senta, practically glowing. This kid had looked down on him earlier. Well, this was what he could do.

Senta turned his head away, refusing to look at him. The match had only just started. Ash wouldn’t be smiling for long.

”Your Squirtle is good, Ash,” Reiji said, not stingy with praise. Then he added, ”Next is a single disc. This one is about speed.”

”We won’t lose!”

”Squirtle!”

The launcher fired.

Poliwrath caught Reiji’s glance and waited just long enough for Squirtle to attack first. Only then did it fire.

Both Water Guns struck the disc at the same time and broke it apart.

”See? That wasn’t hard.” Ash was floating now. He had won three rounds in a row against the Champion’s Poliwrath. Even evolved, Poliwrath didn’t seem that impossible.

Reiji only smiled.

Senta was trying not to laugh.

He reached into his pocket and took out two strips of black cloth. The fifth stage was the blindfolded moving-target test.

Back when Reiji had been guarding the Gym, no challenger had passed this stage. He had added it himself because he didn’t want to deal with the surfing round.

”What’s this?” Ash asked, holding the cloth.

When he saw Reiji tie one over Poliwrath’s eyes, he copied him and covered Squirtle’s eyes too.

”This is the final stage,” Reiji said. ”Blindfolded moving targets. Hit three discs, and you pass.”

”Oh, that’s how it works.” Ash looked at Squirtle.

Squirtle was clearly under pressure now, but it still answered him with a determined cry.

Three discs shot into the air.

Poliwrath had already sensed them. It fired calmly, breaking all three as if it could see them.

”That’s amazing,” Misty said. She teased Ash all the time, but she was still worried for him. ”It can hit them even blindfolded?”

”It is impressive,” Tracey said, watching closely. ”How is Poliwrath doing that? It can’t see the discs. Is it locating them by sound?”

”Squirtle, here they come!”

”Squirtle!”

The launcher fired again.

Squirtle’s ears twitched under the blindfold, and it fired toward the sound.

Without sight, though, its accuracy dropped hard. The first two Water Guns skimmed past the discs. The last one clipped the edge of a disc and knocked it down, where it shattered on the ground instead of breaking in midair.

”What? We missed?” Ash stared at the fallen disc.

He had lost?

It happened so suddenly that he could barely process it.

”Senta, five discs,” Reiji said.

Ash was shaken, so Reiji decided to push a little harder. Better for him to understand the gap now and grow from it.

Five discs flew out, one after another.

Poliwrath fired in quick succession and burst every disc in the air.

Reiji nodded to himself. Poliwrath hadn’t practiced accuracy in a while, but it had already been able to handle four discs before. He had guessed five would be its limit, and it had performed well.

”Five?” Ash froze.

Squirtle hadn’t hit even one properly, and Poliwrath had taken out five blindfolded. How were they supposed to compete with that?

Squirtle pulled down the blindfold and saw it too. Sweat rolled down its face as it looked back at Ash, clearly embarrassed. This was beyond it.

”Rai-nii, how did Poliwrath do that?”

”Practice,” Reiji said with a smile.

He wasn’t about to explain moisture sensing. Not even to Ash.

”I don’t think practice alone explains that,” Tracey murmured. ”That Poliwrath must have some kind of sensing ability. It can track the discs without seeing them.”

As a Pokémon Watcher, Tracey naturally tried to analyze the mechanics behind it. At first, he had thought Poliwrath was using sound, but five discs was too much. A Pokémon with incredible hearing might manage it, but this was a heavily built Poliwrath, not some sharp-eared specialist.

”A sensing ability?” Misty asked quickly. ”What kind?”

”Psychic power, for example,” Tracey said. ”A Pokémon using psychic senses could track the discs even with its eyes covered.”

”That Poliwrath can use psychic power?” Misty looked at Poliwrath in surprise.

If that was true, it had never shown anything like it during the Indigo Plateau Conference. Reiji had hidden it far too well.

”Poliwrath can learn moves like Hypnosis and Psychic,” Tracey said, ”but for a non-Psychic-type Pokémon, learning Psychic-type moves is extremely difficult. I’ve never actually seen one do it.”

He swallowed quietly.

Now he understood what being the Indigo Plateau Conference Champion really meant. The gap between Ash and Reiji was bigger than he had thought.

”So Ash can’t beat him?” Misty looked over at Ash, who had lost all the confidence from earlier.

”It’s not impossible,” Tracey said. ”He could come back when Reiji isn’t guarding the Gym. Or he could catch a Water-type that can use psychic power, train its sensing ability, and challenge again.”

”That might be the best option for now.”

Misty went over and pulled the dispirited Ash aside, explaining why he had lost. The moment Ash understood the reason, his energy came back.

”So that’s it.” Ash clenched his fist, his eyes bright again. ”I get it now. I’ll beat Rai-nii next time!”

Ash had only been lost because he didn’t understand how he had lost. Now that he had a target, his fighting spirit came right back. That was Ash: never down for long, never willing to quit.

Reiji had no idea what Misty had said to him. One moment Ash looked wilted, and the next he was fired up again, even declaring that he would come back to challenge the Gym. Reiji could only stare, not sure what had lit the fire this time.

”Rai-nii, the blindfolded moving-target test looks amazing every time I see it,” Senta said.

He had mocked Ash pretty hard earlier, finally getting his payback. That was probably why Ash had looked so crushed.

”Train your Pokémon properly, and you’ll be able to do it too.”

Reiji said goodbye to Cissy and Senta and left the Gym. Outside, Ash’s group was already preparing to leave.

”Ash, you’re leaving?” Reiji asked.

This was the first time he had seen Ash give up on a Gym challenge for the moment. Ash was usually stubborn enough to bite down on a Gym until he cleared it. Reiji had expected him to find somewhere nearby to train and challenge again.

”Rai-nii, I realized I still need more training with my Pokémon,” Ash said, his eyes steady. ”I’m going to challenge the other Gyms first, then come back to Mikan Gym while you’re here. Next time, I won’t lose.”

”Good. That’s the spirit.” Reiji smiled. ”I believe you can beat me.”

After encouraging Ash, he said goodbye to the three of them, mounted Pelipper, and flew back to the lakeside cabin.

Good thing this Gym battle was target shooting, not a normal fight. Ash had a way of winning battles he should have lost on paper, and Reiji had no interest in testing that luck head-on.

”That Poliwrath really is impressive,” Tracey said as he watched Reiji leave. ”Raising a common Pokémon that far…”

Poliwrath was a common Pokémon. That was what made it so impressive. After looking up Reiji’s team, Tracey realized most of the Pokémon he had used to win the Indigo Plateau Conference weren’t rare at all. Reiji had taken ordinary species and raised them to a level where they could win a championship. That said far more about him as a Trainer than a team full of rare Pokémon ever could.

”Tracey, about that idea you mentioned…” Ash scratched his head. ”I know what I need now, but where do I even start? What should I catch?”

If Ash wanted another shot at Mikan Gym while Reiji was guarding it, he needed a Water-type that could also use psychic senses. Without that Badge, he couldn’t enter the Orange Archipelago tournament.

”That part isn’t too hard,” Tracey said. ”There aren’t many common Pokémon that fit both. Around the Orange Archipelago, your best options are Slowpoke, Slowbro, Starmie, and Slowking.”

He opened his sketchbook and showed Ash the drawings.

”All right!” Ash’s confidence came back at once. ”Then I’ll catch one of them and come back to challenge Mikan Gym again!”

With a new goal in mind, Ash set off for the next Gym.

Reiji had no idea that his little joke had already nudged Ash’s Orange Archipelago journey onto a different path.

After losing at Mikan Gym, Ash had decided to catch a Water-type with psychic abilities before coming back for another challenge. He was already on the road again, heading toward the other Gyms.

Before long, he would catch a Pokémon he had never caught in the original story.

One small change today would lead to a different result later.

…

Reiji returned to the lakeside cabin without knowing what Ash had decided. Mewtwo still wasn’t there, and he couldn’t keep waiting, so he wrote another note.

He explained that he would be away for a while. The storage room had enough Pokéblocks to feed the twenty-five cloned Pokémon for two months. At forty thousand Pokédollars a day, he had left about 2.4 million worth of food behind.

If Mewtwo stayed at the cabin, it could handle the food distribution by type. Reiji also asked it to keep the cloned Pokémon from wandering too far, stop them from fighting over food, and let the stronger ones help maintain order.

If Mewtwo wasn’t around, Farfetch’d would come by regularly to feed them instead. Reiji had already explained the arrangement to it. Farfetch’d had reached Advanced tier now. It probably couldn’t beat the three starter Pokémon together, but one-on-one, it could hold its own. If something really went wrong, it could go to the Gym for help.

Reiji’s own Pokémon would be staying at Mikan Gym. If the cabin needed support, Butterfree and the rest of the Pokémon could come over. Taking down the three starters shouldn’t be a problem for them.

After leaving instructions for Butterfree and the others, Reiji recalled his Pokémon and paused in the entryway.

The group photo from the Indigo Plateau Conference was still there.

Most of his souvenirs from the Conference were displayed in the cabin: the eight Badges in their case, the photo of him with his Pokémon, everything except the Champion trophy.

Since he was leaving today, he closed the Badge case. It was probably the most valuable thing in the cabin, but he wasn’t worried about thieves. With so many Pokémon living nearby, anyone trying to steal it would have to make it this far first.

He locked the door and looked out at the cloned Pokémon playing by the lake, in the water, and across the grass. They were completely carefree.

Reiji waved to them, then climbed onto Pelipper and left the cabin.

He hadn’t told the cloned Pokémon he was leaving. Even if he had, they might not have understood. Mewtwo could explain it for him later.

He headed back toward the Gym. He still needed to leave his Pokémon there.

As they passed over the orchard, Reiji had Pelipper call for Farfetch’d. Pelipper landed among the citrus trees, and Reiji gave Farfetch’d a few final reminders.

”Farfetch’d, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone this time. I’ll come back as soon as I finish what I need to do. You and Butterfree look after everyone, okay?”

”Far.” Farfetch’d nodded seriously, then glanced back at Riolu.

Riolu was still lying under a tree with its eyes closed, clearly pretending to be asleep.

”Far.”

Just as Reiji was about to leave, Farfetch’d decided to try one last time. It tugged Reiji by the hand and led him toward Riolu, calling as they went.

”Far, far.”

”Lu…”

Riolu opened its eyes with a helpless look. Its fake sleep had been exposed, and now Reiji was standing right in front of it.

Farfetch’d pointed its leek at Riolu, then at Reiji, calling insistently.

”Farfetch’d…” Reiji looked between them, surprised. ”Are you saying Riolu wants to come with me?”

How did Farfetch’d talk it into that?

Riolu’s Poké Ball was still with him. Now he just needed to figure out whether Farfetch’d had misunderstood, or whether Riolu really wanted to go.

[Riolu]

[Type: Fighting]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 46.46%]

[Level: 34.22%]

[Ability: Inner Focus/46.18%]

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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