"Good. Since nobody wants out, train your Pokémon properly. I chose all of you for a reason. Elite Four tier is only a matter of ti. When that day cos, debts get paid in blood."
Reiji slamd his palm onto the dining table, then gave Naoki's shoulder a light pat and left the villa's living room.
"Boss." Naoki quickly got up and followed him.
So Reiji had not forgotten about helping him get revenge. Training these kids was part of that too. Naoki felt it in his chest, but he couldn't put it into words.
When Naoki stood up, the six people at the table also got to their feet and followed.
"Stop. I said you don't need to see off." Reiji raised a hand and stopped them. Once Naoki reached him, Reiji told the others to stay back and had Naoki walk with him.
Only after they stepped outside did Reiji release Pelipper. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Keep an eye on Gai."
"Boss, you an..." Naoki's eyes turned cold the mont he heard Gai's na. Anything that could threaten his revenge was sothing he would rather remove early.
"I don't an anything yet. Treat him normally. Best case, nothing happens. But if sothing does..." Reiji looked at him. "You know what to do."
"I know." Naoki nodded heavily.
He understood. Reiji had started to doubt Gai. Gai had stayed around them this whole ti and had not done anything against the group, but that didn't an he never would. He had never joined willingly in the first place. Naoki would have to watch him more closely from now on.
"With you here, I'm not worried." Reiji patted his shoulder again, climbed onto Pelipper, and headed for the harbor. He was going to take a ship back to Mikan Island.
Mandarin Island North was not far from Mikan Island. Pelipper could make the trip in one morning, but it had already flown for two straight days. There was no need to work it that hard again.
Now that he had reached Mandarin Island North, things were safer. Team Rocket shouldn't be able to find him here. Taking a ship back was fine. There was no reason to rush.
And if Team Rocket had sohow set up an ambush on this last stretch, then there was nothing to say. He would just run again.
Pelipper carried him to the outskirts near the harbor. The passenger ship would reach Mikan Island around noon, so he went to the ticket office and bought a ticket.
He had just bought the ticket and was about to board when he saw soone familiar walking through the harbor, heading toward the city. There was a lovesick puppy following beside her too.
"What are those two doing here?"
Reiji saw Cissy in a T-shirt and very short shorts, bright and lively under the sun. Beside her was Senta's older cousin, dressed formally, wearing glasses, and trying way too hard to please her.
If Senta's cousin was here to ship oranges from Mikan Island, then stopping here made sense. He sold goods along the route.
Mandarin Island North had a big city, so he could sell plenty here. From there he could head north to Pumlo Island, then Kumquat Island and Hamlin Island, and finally on to Kanto.
But Cissy being here was strange. Was she going to Kanto with him? Reiji hadn't heard Senta ntion anything. Had she run away from ho again?
The thought made him laugh. This Gym princess had a perfectly good Gym Leader position, yet she kept running off whenever she felt like it. Reiji really didn't understand how second-generation Trainers like her thought.
Still, it had nothing to do with him. He kept holding his ticket and walked toward the ship, no longer watching the two as they disappeared down the street.
On the way through the harbor, he passed so vendors selling oranges. So had bought oranges directly from a cargo ship and set up roadside stalls right there.
He also saw rchants hauling oranges away by the cartload. The cargo ship from Mikan Island was docked not far from the passenger harbor. It had not gone to the larger freight port, where the container ships were. This side was for loose cargo.
Looking at the round, full oranges on the stall, Reiji thought of the orange tree in front of his cabin and suddenly wanted to buy a few catties to eat on the ship.
But the mont he picked one up, the people around him scattered as if they were avoiding sothing dangerous. Then a heavy shove knocked him away from the fruit stall.
"Hey, old man. Ti to pay the rest. We're sailing this afternoon, and we've already waited days for you. Stop dragging it out."
"Yes, yes. Please wait a mont." The old fruit vendor took a stack of cash from his bag, carefully counted out the remaining paynt, and handed it to the two sailors collecting money. "Here, this is the rest. Please count it."
"No need." The young man in a sailor uniform took the money, felt the thickness, and left with his companion to collect from another stall.
Reiji walked back to the fruit stand and picked up the oranges again. "Old man, who were those two?"
"It's nothing. These oranges were bought wholesale from their ship. They ca to collect the rest of the paynt."
The old man was honest enough about that part, though he did not ntion that the sailors were selling goods on the side.
After all, these vendors could get oranges cheap thanks to those sailors selling privately. If they bought through proper channels, the price would be at least a third higher.
Seeing Reiji thinking, the old man started complaining. "Business is hard these days. The wholesale price of oranges goes up every year, and then there are stall fees, cleaning fees, all kinds of fees. In the end, we're barely making anything."
"Sounds rough," Reiji said.
He bought one or two catties of oranges, paid with a few coins, and left.
Before boarding, he decided to use the bathroom. The toilets on passenger ships were awful. With the ship rocking around, a man could start questioning his life choices and end up peeing on his shoes.
But as soon as he reached the bathroom and stood at a urinal, he heard familiar voices laughing and talking as they ca in. It was the sa two sailors who had collected the money.
Reiji imdiately slipped into a stall and stood on top of the toilet.
"We made good money this ti. A few hundred thousand extra on every island. That adds up over one trip."
"Working on the ship is a sweet job. I worked hard and pulled strings to get in, so keep your mouth shut."
"Co on, we're brothers. Big bro brings his little bro along to make money. My mouth is sealed. Don't worry."
"Good."
"By the way, your connections are pretty damn strong. You showed up and pushed out an old sailor right away, then took over this whole business."
"Heh, you don't know the half of it." The young sailor looked around while taking a piss. Seeing no one nearby, he lowered his voice. "The captain is my cousin. Before long, I'll be the head deckhand. He wants to get so experience first, then I'll beco his first mate."
"Damn, that's huge. I'm following you for life. Don't forget when you move up. Point wherever you want, and I'll handle it."
"Heh. You know how to talk. I'll look after you."
Reiji finally rembered who he was. This had to be the cousin Senta had left at the Gym to watch him. He hadn't recognized him at first. Two months had changed him quite a bit.
"Just tell if you need anything from now on."
"I'll let you in on sothing, but don't tell anyone."
"What is it? Big bro, I swear I won't say a word. If I leak it, knock my teeth out."
"Haha, it's not that serious. You know that beautiful Gym Leader on the ship?"
"Yeah. The Gym Leader from Mikan Gym. What about her?"
"Beautiful? Is that what you should call her? You should be calling her the captain's wife. By tonight, she'll be my sister-in-law."
"What? She's the Gym Leader of Mikan Gym. Is the captain planning to..."
"Shh." The young sailor raised a finger to his lips, then checked the bathroom again. He opened the stalls one by one to make sure no one was listening.
Reiji was almost caught. He pressed himself flat behind the door and barely avoided being seen.
Then he heard the young sailor lower his voice again. "I already got what my cousin asked to buy. We sail from Mandarin Island North this evening. Once we're out at sea, my cousin will have a candlelit dinner with Gym Leader Cissy. Tonight, he's taking her."
"But she's a Gym Leader. What if she fights back?"
"Heh. With what I have, she'll behave. Once she becos my cousin's woman, she won't be able to run."
"Heh, heh. The captain is nasty. I'm starting to like him more and more."
"Hey, watch it. Don't talk bad about my cousin. That's not nasty. That's two lovers finally getting together."
"Right, right. bro is right. Let's go. We've only got today. Miss this chance, and we have to wait another three months. We've got ti now, so let's go drink a couple more."
"Good, good. Let's drink. Last night's alcohol was weak. This ti I want sothing strong."
"Heh, heh, heh."
Their ugly laughter faded away. Only then did Reiji climb down from the toilet. He had almost been caught, and that had been close, but he had also heard sothing serious.
That man's cousin was probably Senta's older cousin. They had ntioned Gym Leader Cissy and Mikan Gym, and the ship would sail this evening.
But the timing wasn't the real problem. The problem was that the cousin planned to drug her. That made things tricky. Should Reiji save her or not?
What if they had grown up together and both wanted this? What if the drug wasn't even needed and she would go along with it anyway? Then what would he be doing?
That thought ca from too much information in his previous life. He had seen enough weird situations that almost nothing surprised him anymore.
So the question was whether he should step in, and that depended on Cissy's actual relationship with the guy. He wasn't sure. If the drug was just so couple's bedroom thing, then barging in would make him the weird one.
Better to call and ask.
Reiji left the bathroom, found a quiet corner, took out his phone, and called Mikan Gym. He specifically asked for Senta.
"Rai-nii, where did you go? Weren't you coming back by plane?"
"The plane only reached Kumquat Island. I'm taking a ship back now. Don't talk yet. I need to ask you sothing."
"Go ahead."
"Is your sister at the Gym?"
"No. She left a letter saying she was going out to collect badges. Then she secretly boarded our cousin's ship and left."
"And what's her relationship with your cousin like? Are they dating?" Reiji had no choice but to ask directly. If he was too vague, Senta wouldn't understand.
Cissy leaving in secret matched what he had guessed. Collecting badges wasn't sothing shaful, so there was no reason to sneak away unless she was trying to avoid being stopped.
"Their relationship is awful. My sister never gives him a nice face. I think she was afraid Dad wouldn't let her go, so she secretly took Cousin's ship."
"Dating? No way. He cos to see her every day, and she's sick of him. She doesn't even want to et him. If she didn't need a ship to leave, she would never have gotten on his."
"That's my Senta." Reiji laughed.
Sure enough, the annoying little brother understood Cissy best. Now Reiji knew what to do.
"Of course," Senta said proudly on the other end.
Then Reiji hung up. Senta's smug expression froze. Why had he hung up? He still had so much to say.
"So that's it. They grew up together, but there's nothing innocent about it." Reiji rubbed his chin and thought it over. In that case, the drug was very likely real.
And he could guess what kind.
The kind of drug old perverts wanted didn't really exist the way people imagined. Stuff like that usually worked by sedating soone, making them hallucinate, wiping parts of their mory, or getting them addicted.
No need to say the na. Anyone who knew, knew. So cherish your life and stay away from that stuff.
Since the man planned to drug Cissy, and Cissy had left without telling her family, her family had no idea. Running into her here was really giving Reiji trouble.
He couldn't board the ship now, and he couldn't handle this alone. He imdiately released Pelipper and headed back to the villa for help.
That was an ard cargo ship. According to Senta, his older cousin might be quasi–Elite Four tier. Reiji couldn't take down an entire ship by himself, especially with Poliwhirl and the others still injured.
What Reiji didn't know was that he had missed one key detail. Senta had ntioned their father only in passing, but that man was waiting for him back on Mikan Island.
Reiji also didn't know that Senta's older cousin was a Team Rocket mole. His goal was to take Mikan Gym and beco its Gym Leader.
Reiji rode Pelipper back and landed in the villa yard, kicking up a cloud of dust. The people resting outside all turned to look at him.
"Boss? What happened?" Naoki stepped forward and asked if sothing had co up.
"Yeah, sothing did. Everyone else, keep doing what you're doing. Naoki, co with ." Reiji let Pelipper play around in the yard, tossed the oranges to Sou and the others to share, and brought Naoki into the villa.
He needed to talk with Naoki about how to take down an ard cargo ship.
"Boss, do you need us to do sothing?" Naoki guessed right away. If Reiji could handle it alone, he would not have co back. This was also when Reiji was at his weakest, though he would never admit that.
"Yeah. Sit down. I'll explain." Reiji brought Naoki into the study, shut the door, and told him about Mikan Gym, Gym Leader Cissy, and Senta's cousin planning to drug her.
"Boss, just tell what to do." When Naoki heard they were rescuing soone and attacking an ard cargo ship, he didn't hesitate at all. This was his old line of work. If they had to hit the ship, then they hit the ship.
As for Reiji's relationship with Cissy?
That wasn't sothing he needed to ask. Reiji planned to walk the League path, so saving a Gym Leader made perfect sense. The Gyms in the Orange Archipelago were not simple, and Naoki knew that well as a local.
But Reiji had not contacted the Gym for help. He had co to them instead.
That ant there might be sothing in this for them.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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