Day 16 of the Johto journey. Cloudy.
Reiji woke in his room at Mahogany Gym and found Pryce already outside, doing morning exercises with Piloswine.
He didn't disturb them. They had been apart for 40 years; let them have their time. Reiji picked another patch of grass, released Poliwrath, and started jogging beside it.
They had only been running for half an hour when Sheila came over with a steaming breakfast tray.
"That's enough for now," she called. "Come have your porridge before you keep training."
Reiji and Pryce both stopped and sat down in the pavilion for breakfast.
"Rai," Pryce asked, "have you thought it over?"
He meant what they had discussed the night before: whether Reiji would leave any Pokémon here for training.
"I have. Poliwrath, Gyarados, and Kingler will stay here."
Reiji had made up his mind. A chance to learn from an Ice-type Elite Four-level Trainer didn't come around every day. If Pryce was willing to teach, Reiji would be a fool not to take advantage of it.
That still left him with Pelipper, Starmie, Slowpoke, Swampert, and the rest of his Water types.
Pelipper was for escape.
Starmie was for gravity training.
Slowpoke was with Cissy's father.
As for Swampert…
Unfortunately, Swampert couldn't be involved. Even if it could learn Pryce's technique, Reiji wouldn't be able to use it openly. Rock Armor and Ice Armor were signature techniques tied to famous Trainers. The moment Spider used either one, anyone paying attention could connect the dots.
So Swampert would have to sit this one out.
After breakfast, Reiji followed Sheila to the transfer room and had Kingler sent over from Mikan Gym. Then they returned to the back courtyard, where Pryce was waiting.
Reiji released Poliwrath, Gyarados, and Kingler.
"You three are staying here for training," he said. "Listen to Pryce, work hard, and don't cause trouble."
Then his tone sharpened.
"When I come back, if any of you are still standing in the same place, no Pokéblocks for a month. You'll eat separately from everyone else, and you'll handle all the dirty, tiring work for a month too."
He wasn't worried about Poliwrath or Kingler. Poliwrath knew exactly what it should be doing, and Kingler had Poliwrath watching over it. Besides, Kingler had always wanted to catch up to Poliwrath, so it wasn't likely to slack off.
Gyarados was the problem.
Luckily, Poliwrath was staying too. Gyarados feared Poliwrath and Rhydon the most. As long as one of them was here, it wouldn't get too wild.
"Poli!" Poliwrath flexed an arm, telling Reiji not to worry. It would train properly under Pryce.
"Kiki!" Kingler raised its huge claw as well, promising it could do the same.
"Gyaa…" Gyarados let out a weak, reluctant cry. It sounded sad to be left behind, but Reiji knew better. It was probably already dreaming about all the freedom it would have once he left.
"Poli." Poliwrath slowly clenched its fist.
Gyarados was getting cocky already. Did it think it could do whatever it wanted without Reiji here? Reiji might not understand Pokémon speech, but Poliwrath certainly did.
"Gyaa—no, no, no!" The moment Gyarados saw Poliwrath's fist, it ducked behind Reiji's much smaller body and whined pitifully.
"All right, enough. Get along, you three." Reiji smiled helplessly and patted Gyarados on the snout. "Poliwrath is the big brother here. Watch the others and don't let them get into trouble."
He knew exactly what Gyarados was afraid of.
But between trusting Gyarados and trusting Poliwrath, there was no contest. Poliwrath came first. Reiji trusted it to make the right call.
"They're very well behaved," Pryce said, watching the exchange with a faint smile. "That means your bond with them is strong."
Before Piloswine came back, Pryce never would have said that. He had spent 40 years resenting the idea of bonds between people and Pokémon, refusing to trust affection because he believed Piloswine had abandoned him.
But Piloswine had returned with the herb.
That changed everything.
The bond had been real. Piloswine had never betrayed him. And now Pryce could believe in Pokémon again.
"They like messing around, that's all." Reiji scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "I'll be troubling you with them from here on."
This wasn't his first time leaving Pokémon at a Gym, so he wasn't as awkward about it as he might have been before. If he missed them, he could always ask Pryce to transfer them back for a while. He had already written down Sheila's number.
"I'll take good care of them," Pryce said with a relaxed wave.
Three Pokémon below Elite Four tier were nothing he couldn't handle.
"Then I'll head out. I still need to visit the lake with the crystal."
With the Pokémon handed over and the last reminders given, Reiji prepared to leave.
"I'll walk you out," Pryce said. "The lake isn't far from here. It's a League protected area, but with your identity, the wardens shouldn't give you trouble."
He looked to Sheila, then walked Reiji toward the entrance while explaining the local situation.
"Rai, I packed you lunch." Sheila came after them with a bento box she had prepared earlier. At the door, she placed it in his hands. "Eat it on the road."
"Thank you, Sheila. I will." Reiji didn't refuse. He accepted the lunchbox and waved goodbye with a smile. "Pryce, Sheila, I'll see you later."
He left Mahogany Town on foot.
His team was now missing Poliwrath and Gyarados. Kingler didn't really count, since it hadn't been traveling with him lately anyway.
Once he was out of town, Reiji took out the map Blaine had given him, checked his direction with a compass, released Pidgeot, and flew toward the lake with the crystal.
He wasn't far from it now. The lake lay in the forest north of Route 44. At a normal pace, Pidgeot would reach it in a little over an hour. If it pushed its speed, half an hour would be enough.
Flying over the forest again brought back memories of being shot down by Vicious. That little disaster had left him with a bit of a shadow.
Fortunately, nothing happened after more than ten minutes in the air, and Reiji gradually relaxed. No ambush this time. Probably.
After a little over half an hour, he spotted a lake below and had Pidgeot land. He released Starmie and sent it underwater to look for a glowing crystal. If there wasn't one at the bottom, this wasn't the right lake.
Starmie returned after a quick sweep and shook itself to say it hadn't found anything.
Reiji recalled it, climbed back onto Pidgeot, and moved on.
Before long, they found another lake. Again, he landed. Again, he sent Starmie down. Again, no glowing crystal.
So he took off again and searched from above.
The map only marked the general area. It didn't point out the exact lake. That meant he had to check them one by one.
He searched from morning until noon, checking six or seven lakes before he finally saw one with Electric-type Pokémon soaking in the water. There was also a cabin and a small boat by the shore.
This should be the place.
But as soon as he told Pidgeot to descend, someone came running over from the lakeside.
"I'm Krystal, the forest warden for this area," the girl said. "Who are you, and why are you here?"
"I'm a Trainer. I heard there was a lake here that could heal Electric-type Pokémon, so I came to treat mine."
As he spoke, Reiji released Starmie into the water to check below. He really hoped this was the right lake. He was tired of flying around under the sun.
Only then did he get a proper look at Krystal. She had short blue hair, a red headband tied across her forehead, and brown work clothes. She didn't look much older than him. Coming out here alone took some nerve.
"How did you know this lake can heal Electric-type Pokémon?" Krystal asked, startled.
If the secret of the lake had spread outside, that would be a problem.
"Leader Pryce told me."
Reiji brought out Pryce's name before this turned into a headache. It wasn't a huge issue, but this was a League protected area. If she contacted Officer Jenny, things would get annoying fast.
"Pryce told you?" Krystal visibly relaxed. Mahogany Town wasn't far, so she had obviously heard of him. "All right. You may treat your Pokémon here, but don't harm the Electric types living around the lake, and don't tell anyone about this place. Once your Pokémon are healed, please leave as soon as you can."
As long as Reiji wasn't here to steal the crystal, she had no reason to stop a Trainer from healing Pokémon.
"Do you live here all the time?" Reiji asked, glancing at the cabin and the boat. They looked like they were meant for long-term use.
"We rotate every three months. I only arrived recently."
Krystal's cheeks turned faintly red. She might end up sharing this area with Reiji for a while, and being alone in the forest with a boy she had just met clearly made her uncomfortable.
"I see. Once I set up my tent, do you want to have lunch together?"
Reiji smiled as he made the offer. Shared food made people easier to talk to. If he could earn a little trust now, everything afterward would go more smoothly. She would fill in half the blanks herself, and he wouldn't have to explain every little thing.
"Lunch?" Krystal's blush deepened.
A strange boy had just arrived, and now he was inviting her to eat with him. Wasn't that moving a little too fast?
"S-sorry. I can't."
She dropped the refusal and hurried away, followed by a Flaaffy.
"That was strange." Reiji watched her run off, not quite understanding what had happened.
Then Starmie returned, and he dropped the thought.
"Starmie." It nodded. It had found a glowing crystal below, though it hadn't dared get too close. Electric-type Pokémon were guarding it.
"Come back."
Reiji recalled Starmie, then released Accelgor, Rhydon, Pelipper, Lucario, and Umbreon to help set up camp.
He released Zapdos as well, carried it over, and gently set it in the lake.
"How does it feel?"
"Zap… zap…" Zapdos floated on the water like a duck, calm and comfortable.
Lokoko stood beside Reiji, invisible to Krystal. "It says its body feels itchy and tingly, but comfortable. It feels awake, refreshed… almost like it just ate a full meal."
"Magneton, what about you?"
Reiji released Magneton too. It sank into the lake, then floated back up and called to him.
"Mag."
"It says the lake water contains electricity and can restore stamina," Lokoko translated.
"That's one of the lake's effects," Reiji said. "It restores Electric-type Pokémon's stamina. Healing them is the other one."
He remembered the anime. Both Pikachu and Zapdos had recovered in this lake.
But if Zapdos was going to adapt to electricity here—absorbing it, storing it, and releasing it safely—that would take time. There was no telling how long they would need to stay.
That alone gave him a headache.
For now, he let Zapdos and Magneton soak in the lake while he finished setting up the tent. Training Zapdos could wait until camp was ready.
The treatment would focus on three things: absorbing electricity, storing it, and releasing it. Once Zapdos's body could handle current and control it properly, the treatment would be complete.
The real issue was storage and release.
Right now, releasing electricity hurt Zapdos. Storing electricity hurt it too.
If those two problems were solved, absorption would be the easy part. A body could only absorb as much electricity as it could hold, and it could only release as much as it could safely output. Everything came back to storage capacity and tolerance.
Once Zapdos could channel natural lightning without damage, Reiji would finally be able to stop worrying about electrical backlash.
He hadn't forgotten what Blaine had said. A young Zapdos could only tolerate a limited voltage. It was already a bird that carried electricity, which made flying through storms dangerous. One natural lightning strike could kill it.
His Zapdos wouldn't be an exception just because it was transforming.
It had to adapt before it could fly freely. Otherwise, one unlucky bolt from the sky would be the end of it.
Until the treatment was finished, Zapdos had to avoid charged flight. Better yet, it shouldn't fly at all.
Reiji picked the largest open patch by the lake and set up his tent. Then he released all his Pokémon for lunch and ate the bento Sheila had packed for him. It was good. A woman with 40 or 50 years of cooking experience was not to be underestimated.
After lunch, gravity training continued. Poliwrath and the others weren't here, but there was nothing he could do about that.
His public team trained under Starmie's gravity field.
The Pokémon tied to his Spider identity trained under Magneton's gravity field, farther off in the forest.
Even Umbreon, now evolved, was thrown into illusion training. As one of his third-line main fighters, it didn't get to slack off.
Lokoko had already placed Krystal under an illusion. If Krystal happened to see something she shouldn't—Toxicroak or the others, for example—she would mistake them for different Pokémon. Magneton and Zapdos were covered the same way. Even if she looked over, nothing would seem wrong.
Reiji still had several problems he needed to handle.
Dratini was the easy one. It stayed by his side, shed every day, and only needed regular measurements of its length and weight. He just had to record the data and play with it now and then to build affection.
Dratini wasn't the problem.
Carvanha was close to evolving.
He had originally caught it as a water transport option, or maybe as an underwater ambusher or assassin. It was never meant to be one of his main battlers.
The trouble was that he had a Mega Stone for it.
That made things complicated.
He couldn't treat the silly fish like a tool anymore. He had to put real affection into raising it too, and that meant training its move proficiency properly.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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