Day 41 of the Johto journey. Light rain.
Rain woke Reiji a little after six.
He had been too tired to pitch the tent the night before, so he had slept under a tree in a sleeping bag. That choice caught up with him the moment the drizzle worked through the branches and started tapping his face.
Today, he was leaving the lake.
Zapdos's transformation was finished, and the result was far beyond anything he had expect. Reiji had thought it might take a year of treatment before Zapdos could stop relying on the lake. Instead, everything had changed in a little over twenty days.
The last two nights had done most of the work. Between the wild Zapdos, Raikou, and the surge of Legendary Pokémon electricity, his Zapdos had been pushed through the final stage all at once.
Now came the part he could actually control.
Zapdos still needed proper training. Accuracy, moves, abilities, battlefield awareness—all the things it had missed while sleeping through most of its early growth had to be filled in as soon as possible.
And time was not on his side.
Ash still had Johto and Hoenn ahead of him before Sinnoh. That was only one or two years away. By then, Reiji needed his main team at Elite Four tier if he wanted them to survive against the monsters waiting in Sinnoh.
That meant more than ten Pokémon had to reach that level.
Then there were the Pokémon tied to his other identity. They needed to grow too, because the future was only getting more dangerous.
The thought made Reiji tired before the day had even started. He had finally crossed the Elite Four threshold, and instead of relief, all he got was a bigger mountain to climb.
So much for taking it easy.
After a quick wash, he released the Pokémon in groups and fed them breakfast under the trees. Once everyone had eaten, he put on his raincoat, brought out Pelipper, and flew toward Blackthorn City.
In Blackthorn, Reiji changed his face before entering town. He kept a low profile, found a café, ordered a random glass of juice, and opened his laptop.
He didn't touch the drink.
He was here to search for one thing: Muramasa's dojo.
Reiji remembered that episode well. Shingo's family ran a dojo, and Muramasa's Scizor was famous as The Crimson Streak. A Trainer who had won that many tournaments wouldn't be hard to find.
Sure enough, searching "The Crimson Streak" brought up plenty of results.
He skimmed through them until he found an old announcement for an exhibition match in Azalea Town. Master Muramasa would be accepting open challenges, and participants would receive small gifts.
That was the trail.
The page introduced Muramasa as a powerful Trainer with several championship wins, then explained that he had opened a dojo to pass his experience on to younger Trainers. The goal sounded noble enough: help new Trainers grow until they could one day win major tournaments around the world.
The exhibition match was also advertising.
Fair enough. Running a dojo cost money.
The page listed the dojo's address and phone number. It was near a village at the foot of Union Cave, outside Azalea Town. The mountain there had been hollowed out by Pokémon over time, leaving tunnels that connected the Ruins of Alph and Azalea. That was why people called it Union Cave.
The problem was the date.
The announcement was more than half a year old. The exhibition match was long over. Whether Shingo would still be home was anyone's guess.
Still, Reiji had the address.
He opened his map and checked the route. Azalea Town sat far to the south. Blackthorn was in the northeast.
By car, that meant two days and two nights.
By air, if he pushed hard, he could arrive by evening.
The choice was obvious.
Reiji shut the laptop, left some coins on the table, and walked out without touching the juice. Once he was outside the city, he checked his direction, released Pidgeot, and took off.
Pidgeot handled the morning flight. Pelipper would take the afternoon. Switching between them would keep the strain low, and carrying Reiji doubled as light weight training.
Not that either bird struggled anymore.
After all the gravity-field work they had done, flying with one person on their back was nothing. Compared with spending whole days under gravity, this was practically a break.
Pidgeot climbed to two or three thousand meters. From that height, people on the ground were impossible to make out, and the clouds helped hide them.
The only downside was the cold.
Reiji pulled his clothes tighter and let Pidgeot carry him south.
He didn't visit Blackthorn Gym.
He didn't go to the Dragon's Den either.
Yes, Dratini came from the Dragon Clan's Dragon's Den. Yes, he had met Lance a few times. But trying to use that as a connection would be ridiculous.
Lance should already be Champion now.
Reiji was still just a Trainer passing through.
He could think about approaching people like that after he had the strength to stand in front of them properly.
As for Poliwrath, Gyarados, and Kingler back in Mahogany Town, he left them alone too. They were training under Pryce, and interrupting them would defeat the point.
Electivire's arrival also filled the gap Poliwrath had left in his active lineup.
Hopefully, the next time he saw Poliwrath, it would surprise him.
There was no point worrying over it now. Under Reiji's own training, Poliwrath had already reached a wall. Pryce might be exactly what it needed.
With nothing to do on Pidgeot's back, Reiji let his thoughts wander until noon.
They landed for lunch, still not even halfway to Azalea.
After eating, he switched to Pelipper and continued south. The route would take them past Violet City and Cherrygrove City. Once they cleared Cherrygrove, Azalea Town wouldn't be much farther.
The sky dimmed slowly.
By the time the sun disappeared and night settled over Johto, Reiji finally reached Azalea Town.
Azalea had a Gym, led by Bugsy, a Bug-type specialist. The Badge here was the Hive Badge.
It also had a Pokémon Center, but Reiji avoided it. Instead, he found a small hotel that didn't ask for ID and checked in there.
He had no interest in leaving a record for Team Rocket to follow.
Azalea was also known for Slowpoke Well. Many Slowpoke lived there, and the League protected it as both a habitat and tourist spot. Slowpoke tails fetched high prices on the black market, so poachers were always a problem.
The tails grew back, but that didn't make cutting them off legal. The League treated it as a crime, and security around the well was strict.
Reiji didn't go there.
He had flown all day. At this point, all he wanted was a hot shower and sleep.
Tomorrow, he would head for Union Cave and look for Muramasa's dojo. If everything went well, he would get the Float Stone training method for Scyther and recreate The Crimson Streak.
The Pokémon ate dinner in the room. Reiji ate something simple as well, then reminded Lokoko to be careful if she went out to play.
After that, he climbed into bed with Umbreon in his arms and slept.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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