Cissy's father suddenly remembered Reiji's Pokémon from the Indigo Plateau Conference: Poliwhirl, Rhydon, Kingler, and several others. All of them had stood out in one way or another.
He had discussed it with the old man before. That Rock Armor technique was one of Gym Leader Blaine's signature moves, and Blaine's ace was a Magmar.
Now Reiji had a Magmar too. That said plenty. The kid's relationship with Blaine was clearly not simple.
Had Blaine given him a Magby he had personally raised? If so, that was no small gift.
Compared with Blaine's generosity, the Gym's Water Stone suddenly felt a little embarrassing. And he had even been planning to wait a few more days before giving it to Reiji.
If he hadn't handed the Water Stone over back then, the kid might already have gone to Kanto to ask Blaine for one instead.
A top-grade Evolution Stone was valuable, sure. But compared with a Magby raised by Blaine himself, it felt almost trivial. That Magby came with Blaine's backing—and the kid had even learned Blaine's signature technique.
If someone offered that Magby in exchange for a top-grade Water Stone, Trainers would be lining up to take the deal. An Evolution Stone was still just an item, no matter how good it was. Magmar came with a Gym Leader's reputation behind it.
Their family's inherited Pokémon line was Slowking. Should he find a Slowking for the kid too? Reiji had a Slowpoke already. Maybe if he caught another Slowpoke… would the kid even want one?
One step late, and suddenly every step after that felt late too. The kid had almost been won over by someone else. The old man had been right. They needed to invest more.
"Gym Leader, I don't have a Poké Ball that can hold Magmar. What should I do?" Reiji looked anxiously up at Magmar and kept trying to calm it down, telling it not to worry and that it would be fine.
"It's not that serious," Cissy's father said. "This Magmar only just evolved, so it can't control its body temperature yet. Give it a couple of days and it should settle down. There's also a kind of heat-resistant Poké Ball that can hold Magmar. Anyone here have one?"
He looked toward the hikers nearby. Some of them liked climbing volcanoes and carried heat-resistant balls for Fire-type Pokémon that lived around craters.
"I've got one left." A hiker tossed over a red heat-resistant ball.
The ball struck Magmar and pulled it inside. This time, it didn't burst open.
Technically, the Great Ball from before had already been capable of holding Magmar. Magmar had simply fought its way out, which made everyone assume even a Great Ball wouldn't work.
Slowking lifted the heat-resistant ball with psychic power and placed it in Reiji's hand. Reiji quickly shouted to the hiker who had helped him.
"Thanks, friend!"
The hiker laughed and waved back. It was only one Poké Ball, so he didn't make a big deal out of it. Reiji's thanks were enough.
After taking the ball, Reiji didn't open the proficiency panel right away. There was no rush. He could check it after they got back.
"The matter is settled. Everyone, clear out. Don't crowd together, or you'll put yourselves in danger." Officer Jenny stepped forward to keep order, then warned the gathered hikers, "The volcano has only just erupted and hasn't stabilized yet. Climbing it now is unsafe."
"Officer Jenny, we came because the volcano erupted," one hiker said. "Lava brings rare ores up from underground. If we go too late, they'll all be gone."
"You're all crazy," Officer Jenny muttered. There was no talking these hikers out of it, so she settled for warning them. "Be careful. If anything goes wrong, fire a signal flare immediately."
Most of them were Trainers, so they could at least protect themselves. More importantly, they were going up the mountain no matter what anyone said. The eruption had brought rare ore up from underground, and people like them weren't going to walk away from that.
Once the hikers moved out, the geologists stayed behind to monitor the crater. They would keep watch for the next few days, then climb up for proper measurements once the volcano settled down.
Officer Jenny rode back to town on her motorcycle. She still had to talk to Nurse Joy about the hot spring town proposal, then contact both families and have them send people who actually understood development deals. If this went forward, the locals and the outsiders would have to sit down and negotiate.
Cissy's father gave Reiji a few reminders, then invited him to dinner. Reiji turned him down. He was exhausted, his Pokémon still needed to eat, and some of them were waiting for him back at the cabin.
Cissy's father didn't insist. Slowking lifted him and Cissy with psychic power, and the two of them flew off toward Mikan Gym.
"What, sad to leave him?" Cissy's father teased when he noticed her looking back. "Go with him, then."
"I'm not!" Cissy turned away, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Ever since he came back, he had been finding chances to tease her, and her mother and grandfather had joined in too.
Reiji watched them leave, then climbed onto Pelipper and headed back to the lakeside cabin.
As Pelipper rose into the air, Reiji noticed several people staring after him. Some of those looks were hard to miss.
He knew exactly what they wanted.
Magmar.
A Fire-type that strong was enough to tempt any Fire-type Trainer. After what Magmar had shown, it was only natural that some people would start getting ideas.
Let them.
Anyone who came for it would just be handing him free loot.
They reached the cabin soon after. Thankfully, he always kept food stored there. When he was away and the Pokémon got hungry, the strongest ones would handle the food. If the main team was out too, Farfetch'd took over.
The citrus orchard wasn't far from the cabin. Leave through the orchard fence, walk a few kilometers, and you reached the lake. The orchard itself was far larger than the forest around the cabin.
Farfetch'd and Riolu were already back when Reiji arrived. Farfetch'd was handing out food, so Reiji called over to it.
"Farfetch'd, everyone's wiped out today. Dinner's yours."
"Fetch'd." Farfetch'd gave a calm nod.
When Reiji released the rest of the team, every Pokémon came out covered in soot and exhaustion. Farfetch'd took one look at them, called Riolu over to help, and went straight to work. Everyone had worked hard today, so it decided to make something warm and started preparing a big pot of soup.
Reiji was too tired to deal with Magmar right now. He set the heat-resistant ball on the table, then went to take a shower. The Pokémon headed to the lake to wash off.
By the time he came out, he felt a little more alive. A hot spring would have been perfect. If the hot spring town really got built, the location would work well enough. It was downstream, and a reservoir upstream could solve the water supply.
Not his problem for now. Officer Jenny and the Gym Leader could worry about that. Once the place was built, he could just go enjoy it.
Outside, Farfetch'd was running the kitchen like it had done this a hundred times. It waved its leek to direct the others. Some Pokémon washed vegetables, some held cutting boards, and Farfetch'd sliced everything with quick, clean swings, even slipping moves into the work.
Potatoes, leeks, and vegetables fell neatly into the pot. Farfetch'd hopped onto Forretress's head, took up a big spoon with its wings, and began stirring.
If Reiji had seen a duck cooking soup in his previous life, he might have thought he was hallucinating. But this was the Pokémon world. Farfetch'd could cook, Team Rocket's Meowth could knead dough, and apparently that was just something everyone had to accept.
Still, it was hard not to stare.
Before long, the soup was ready. Farfetch'd had made a huge pot, enough for almost everyone to get a bowl. Reiji took a sip. It was just a simple vegetable soup, nothing fancy.
But it was warm, and for a duck, that was already amazing.
"Farfetch'd, this is good. Where did you learn to make soup?" Reiji smiled. "You're getting really good at this."
Farfetch'd lifted its head proudly.
It was a duck that could make soup.
The praise drew a round of admiration from the nearby Pokémon, and Farfetch'd soaked it in with obvious satisfaction.
Who would have thought the duck that had almost become food on a deserted island would end up guarding the house, taking care of the younger Pokémon, and cooking dinner for everyone?
Even the cloned Pokémon got a bowl. Mewtwo had returned as well, with its own bowl floating in front of it.
"Farfetch'd, you're impressive," Mewtwo said after tasting the soup.
"Fetch'd." Farfetch'd took off its white apron, slung its leek over its shoulder, and sat beneath the eaves, watching everyone drink soup and talk.
It liked this. Everyone gathered together, eating, chatting, settling down after a long day. It would have been even better with a sunset, but the eruption had covered the sky in smoke.
"Lu." Riolu carried a bowl over and set it in front of Farfetch'd.
Farfetch'd had been looking after it lately. Riolu was not as cold or hostile as before, and it had slowly started interacting with Pokémon besides Poliwhirl.
The blue Bell around its neck had come from that human. Riolu knew he was different from the humans before. Its Aura had never sensed malice from him.
This place was warm.
The Pokémon here were kind. The cabin felt like a home, and Riolu wanted to belong here.
After spending so much time reading everyone's Aura, Riolu had started to feel that kindness coming back to it. Its own Aura felt lighter here, more alive. It was no longer as tense and frightened as it had been on the ship, always waiting for the whip, the dark room, or the next locked door.
There was nothing here that made it recoil. Not even greed. It had met plenty of humans at the orchard too, people who laughed and talked while picking citrus. Even when someone was tired or upset, those feelings passed quickly in conversation. Everyone had their own work to do, and Riolu had work too. For the first time in a long while, life felt steady.
It felt safe here. Farfetch'd looked after it and protected it when anything happened. Farfetch'd had also told Riolu that Reiji was the one who asked it to do that.
"Far." Farfetch'd glanced at Reiji, then tipped its head toward him.
Riolu understood.
"Lu." It shook its head.
It knew Reiji was kind. It just still didn't know how to face humans.
"Far. Our Trainer needs you." Farfetch'd sighed.
After the Indigo Plateau Conference, Farfetch'd knew Reiji wasn't going to stop. But no matter how hard it trained, its progress had slowed. It was already falling behind Poliwhirl and the others.
Riolu was different. Farfetch'd could feel the power inside it. A Pokémon like that shouldn't spend its life hiding in an orchard. It should stand beside their Trainer, step onto a bigger stage, and let everyone see what it could do.
Farfetch'd had already tasted that feeling once. The cheers, the encouragement, the whole stadium shouting for it—it had loved every second of it.
"Luu…"
Riolu said nothing. It lowered its head and looked at the scars on its hands. Its hands, feet, and face all carried marks from the whip.
Among the Pokémon here, only Scyther, Rhydon, Kingler, Poliwhirl, and a few others had scars. At first, Riolu had thought humans had hurt them too. Farfetch'd had told it those scars were different. Those were marks earned in battle.
Scyther, especially, treated every scar like a medal. That one was a complete battle maniac. Even Farfetch'd didn't like facing it.
Riolu's scars were not like that.
Every time it saw them, the nightmares came back. The ship. The whip. The small dark room. The endless days and nights where it thought it would never get out.
Sometimes it woke up shaking, convinced it was back there again.
"Riolu, I heard you and Farfetch'd have been staying at the orchard. Are you getting used to it?" Reiji noticed Riolu staring into the distance and reached over to rub its head. Then he patted Farfetch'd too, stroking the duck's head and neck.
"Far." Farfetch'd hopped onto Reiji's lap and settled there. It didn't get many chances like this, so it clearly planned to enjoy it.
"Lu." Riolu looked toward the lake and answered softly.
It was the first time Riolu had ever responded to Reiji.
"Not bad. You sound better already." Reiji smiled. "With Farfetch'd taking care of you, I don't have to worry as much."
He let out a quiet breath. He had always wanted a Lucario, but by the time he had the ability to raise one, the one that came to him was carrying wounds too deep to rush.
And with the kind of things he did in the underworld, taking in a Pokémon like Riolu was complicated. Riolu's Aura could read people's hearts. A Pokémon like that would never truly accept someone it saw as a bad person. For now, Reiji could only let the idea go.
He stayed under the eaves a while longer, sitting quietly with Farfetch'd, Riolu, Eevee, Poliwhirl, and the others.
When the porch light came on, Reiji finally stood.
"Farfetch'd, I'm dead tired today, so I'm going to sleep early. Take good care of Riolu, okay?"
"Far!." Farfetch'd nodded. It still wanted Riolu to go with Reiji, but Riolu was staring at the lake again, so it didn't push. It only sighed.
"Eevee, Slowpoke, Poliwhirl, bedtime." Reiji glanced at Riolu but left it alone. He called Eevee away from Pikachu, picked up Slowpoke, and headed upstairs.
"Slow…" Slowpoke yawned. It had helped today too, and its psychic power was almost drained.
"Vee!" Eevee ran over, jumped onto Reiji's shoulder, and rubbed against his cheek.
"Poli…" Poliwhirl was exhausted too. It needed sleep, especially with its evolution coming tomorrow.
Luckily, moving trees had only tired it out. It hadn't been injured. Otherwise, the evolution would have been delayed again, and Poliwhirl had already waited long enough.
[End of chapter]
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