Reiji did not enter Union Cave. It was already dark, and crawling through a cave at night sounded like a terrible idea.
After putting some distance between himself and the dojo, he released Pidgeot, checked his direction, then climbed onto its back and headed for Azalea Town. From there, he would take a ship back to the Orange Archipelago.
The route was still the coastal line. It would depart from Azalea Town, make a short stop at New Bark Town, then continue to Cinnabar Island. From there, he would transfer to another passenger ship heading south to the Sevii Islands, then finally reach Kumquat Island before returning to Mikan Island. The full trip would take over ten days.
As Reiji thought about the trip back, Pidgeot crossed a mountain ridge and flew over a stretch of forest. Below, the treetops trembled slightly, and a bird's head poked out.
Another Pidgeot.
It looked up and spotted both the Pidgeot in the sky and the human riding it.
"Kree! Kraa!" it called at once, warning its Trainer that someone had flown overhead.
A girl standing among the branches raised her binoculars and spotted Reiji in the sky. He was still wearing the same clothes from that morning, still masked, his face hidden. Once she confirmed it was him, she hurried onto her Pidgeot and gave chase.
Reiji took a little over half an hour to reach Azalea Town. He had noticed the person following him long ago. With tailing that sloppy, missing it would have been harder than spotting it.
What he did not understand was why the girl was following him, or what she wanted.
Pidgeot landed at the entrance to Azalea Town. Reiji did not go in right away. Instead, he stayed where he was and waited for the girl to land, curious to see what she was after.
"Why are you following me?" he asked, leaning against a utility pole as the girl descended on her Pidgeot.
"Who's following you? I'm going back to Azalea Town too." The girl curled her lip.
If not for what Reiji had said earlier, she would not have bothered looking for him at all. Had anyone ever told this guy how annoying he was when he talked?
Reiji glanced at her, then turned and entered Azalea Town.
He did not stop in town. Instead, he headed into a dim alley near a bar. When he saw a drunk passed out there, he sent Gengar over to loot the guy. Once Gengar found an ID card, Reiji took it and went to Azalea Harbor to buy a ticket to Cinnabar Island.
The girl watched him and copied him almost step for step. She went to the bar's changing room, stole an ID card, followed Reiji to the harbor, bought the same route, and boarded the same passenger ship.
She had a Ditto that could disguise her face too. She had enemies looking for her, after all, so she knew at least the basics of hiding herself.
When Reiji boarded the ship, he ran into those enemies.
"Have you seen this girl?" A man in a black suit stopped him before he could board and showed him a photo. "She has a Skarmory with her. She's been seen around Azalea Town a lot these past few days."
The inspection was not very thorough. Reiji was male, and the black suits were looking for a girl.
"Haven't seen her." Reiji looked at the photo. It showed a smiling short-haired girl with a fierce-looking Skarmory beside her. She really did look like the girl he had met that morning.
But it had nothing to do with him, so of course he was not going to admit anything. That would only bring trouble.
"Take this picture. If you see her, bring us information. Our boss will reward you well." The black suit handed Reiji a portrait, then let him pass.
Reiji stepped onto the deck.
The black suits moved on to question the next passenger. Reiji stood by the railing and looked toward the girl, who had retreated for the moment. He shook his head helplessly, then went into the cabin to find his room and rest.
Those black suits looked like gang members, and not just any gang. They had to be a powerful local group. Otherwise, they would not dare openly question League citizens at the harbor and search for a girl before passengers boarded. Without connections at the port, or at least some serious influence, they could not pull something like this off.
Still, none of that had anything to do with him. He only wanted to get back to the Orange Archipelago as soon as possible.
But once he lay down, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He felt like he had forgotten something important, but for a while, he could not remember what.
He took out the recorder and listened to the instructions left by his future self. Only then did it click.
He was supposed to bring back a revenge-driven girl from Johto. Keith's future wife.
To be with the girl he liked, Keith the simp would go through hell with her. They would nearly die, but in the end, they would get their revenge and return to the Orange Archipelago to get married.
So that was what he had forgotten.
A revenge girl. Her family's tradition involved training birds. His future self had not said what kind of bird. If Skarmory counted as a bird, then wasn't it her?
"Seriously?" Reiji took out the portrait again.
Was this Keith's future wife? She was pretty, at least. But if Reiji ignored her completely and she ended up getting caught by the black suits, would Keith's future wife just disappear?
"Tch. Forget it. She's not my wife. Let fate decide." Reiji tossed the portrait aside.
He was barely keeping himself safe. Why would he start worrying about someone else's wife?
And Keith was a weakling anyway. Worse, he was a simp. He had nearly died in that future revenge battle and wasted all of Reiji's effort without producing anything useful for him. Reiji had half a mind to strangle him. Wife? Please.
The boss was still single. His underlings did not deserve wives. If they had any, he should break them up. Simps deserved bad endings. Reiji hated simps.
He lay there for a while, then released his Pokémon for dinner.
For the next stretch of life aboard the ship, he would basically go nowhere except the training room and his cabin. His entire focus would be on training his Pokémon.
Scyther's evolution could also be put on the schedule now. Scyther had already built up more than enough. All that remained was gathering the materials.
[Scyther]
[Type: Bug + Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 55.02%]
[Level: 54.99%]
[Ability: Swarm/48.23%][Hidden Ability: Steadfast/44.33%]
Scyther had reached its current level limit a month ago. Back then, Reiji had seen Zapdos's treatment finally showing results, so he planned to solve Scyther's evolution first and let Zapdos continue changing slowly afterward.
Who could have guessed things would go off course? Team Rocket had captured Zapdos, and in the end, by sheer accident, Reiji had solved his own Zapdos's physical problem too. That delay had stretched on far longer than planned.
At least the result was good. Zapdos's problem was fixed, and he now had the recipe for Scyther's evolution item. What he needed next were the raw materials.
Metal powder. He had plenty, and it was Elite Four-tier. An entire oil drum full. That already took care of the most important step.
Float Stone still had to be bought, but it was cheap and common. Easy to get. The ship should have some for sale.
Damp Rock was a problem. He had the item, but not an Elite Four-tier Damp Rock. That was the biggest issue. Hopefully, the ship had one.
Occa Berry also had to be bought, but it was cheap and common too. Its effect was to reduce the damage from a Fire-type move, and its flavor leaned spicy.
Honey and Occa Berry were both seasonings for the later diet. They were not necessary during evolution. For now, he only needed to collect the first three materials. The hardest one was still an Elite Four-tier Damp Rock. Hopefully, the ship had one.
After dinner, Reiji recalled his Pokémon and lay in bed, calculating the resources needed for Scyther's evolution until sleep finally pulled him under.
He hoped he could gather everything before reaching the Orange Archipelago.
What the sleeping Reiji did not know was that once the black suits left the ship and the passenger vessel pulled away from the harbor, the girl quietly boarded on a Flying-type Pokémon.
She was hiding somewhere on the ship now.
For the next few days, she would be searching for Reiji.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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