Chapter 786 - 786 - Starting over

Day 18 since leaving the Orange Archipelago. Overcast.

A few weak rays of sunlight filtered through the heavy clouds by the time Reiji finally woke around noon. The movement of the mattress disturbed Umbreon beside him, and it lazily stretched out from its curled position before opening one sleepy eye.

After confirming that Reiji was awake, Umbreon rolled onto its back, exposed its belly, and promptly went back to sleep.

Reiji rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes and dragged himself out of bed. His head still felt a little foggy, but a splash of cold water at the sink cleared that up quickly enough.

Once he had washed up, he prepared lunch and released the Pokémon staying with him. The room immediately came alive as they gathered around their bowls, each filled with the food prepared specifically for them. By the time everyone finished eating, several of them were sprawled around looking thoroughly satisfied.

Reiji checked the time, straightened his clothes, and walked next door.

The neighboring room had been registered under Uncle's identity. Kazuma was now the primary suspect in a multiple homicide and couldn't exactly check into a hotel under his own name, while his ex wife was officially missing and Yuzuki was obviously too young to rent a room herself. That left Uncle as the only person who could handle the registration without immediately drawing attention.

The door opened after Reiji knocked, revealing Uncle's tired face.

"Reiji. Kazuma and the others are still asleep."

Uncle turned as though he intended to wake them, but Reiji stopped him with a wave.

"Don't bother. Let them sleep. We can talk after they wake up."

Uncle looked relieved.

Kazuma had pulled him aside the previous night and warned him very seriously not to pick a fight with Reiji, no matter what happened. After everything Uncle had already witnessed, he hadn't needed much convincing.

Reiji returned to his room, took out his phone, and called Naoki.

The connection went through almost immediately.

"Boss? What's up?"

"Get everyone together tonight. I also need you to rent a yacht big enough for about twenty people to sleep aboard. Don't rent it on Mandarin Island North, and don't use your real identity."

Naoki had been with Spider long enough that Reiji trusted him to handle something like this without creating unnecessary trouble.

"Got it. What's the yacht for, though? Can you tell me?"

"Bring it to the waters outside Trovitopolis. Don't enter the harbor. Find somewhere quiet offshore and wait there."

Taking Kazuma and his family aboard a passenger ship would be asking for trouble now that Kazuma's face was being circulated as a wanted criminal. A privately rented yacht gave them a much cleaner way out.

"Trovitopolis?" Naoki repeated, suddenly much more interested.

The city carried plenty of history for him, and the location alone was enough to make him wonder whether Reiji was planning something larger there.

"We'll talk when we meet. Not over the phone."

"All right, Boss."

Naoki ended the call and immediately began contacting the scattered Spider members. He sent out the agreed gathering message to everyone, including Tai, who was still undercover.

Most of them hadn't gone far since the last meeting anyway. There had been so much to process that many had stayed around the villa, with the occasional trip into town for battles or short expeditions to nearby islands. Given their current positions, one afternoon was more than enough time for everyone to return.

Once the messages were sent, Naoki released Ditto and had it form the familiar face mask. With his appearance changed, he climbed through the window, mounted Flygon, and headed toward Tangelo Island.

A larger port gave him far more options for renting a yacht without attracting attention. He paid the deposit and rental fee in cash, completed the paperwork under his disguise, checked the vessel's equipment, then took it out of the harbor himself.

Tangelo Island wasn't particularly far from Trovitopolis. The route took him past Valencia Island and toward Trovita Island, with Trovitopolis lying nearby.

Back at the hotel, Reiji put his phone away and released Swampert and Magnezone.

Swampert landed heavily on the floor while Magnezone floated beside it, the quiet hum of its magnetic field filling the room. Both had received treatment after the previous night's fighting, and Reiji wanted to make sure nothing had worsened while they rested.

He checked Swampert first, carefully inspecting the injuries that had already begun to scab over. Pokémon really did recover absurdly fast compared with humans. Magnezone was in similarly good condition, responding with a faint electrical buzz while Reiji examined its metal body.

Gyarados was the only one he didn't release. The hotel room was nowhere near large enough, and if Swampert and Magnezone had recovered this well, the much tougher Gyarados was unlikely to be suffering from anything serious.

Satisfied, Reiji recalled both Pokémon and switched on the television.

The moment he changed to a local channel, Kazuma's face appeared across the screen. Whoever had taken the photograph had somehow caught him looking especially grim, which was almost impressive considering what the news was about to say.

The broadcast cut to Officer Jenny.

"Attention, Trainers. A League-wide wanted notice has been issued for Kazuma, and it has been assigned the highest threat classification. Due to the danger posed by the suspect, weaker Trainers are strongly advised not to attempt a capture. Only Elite Four-tier Trainers are eligible to accept the bounty."

Reiji wasn't surprised.

After what Kazuma had done, anything below the League's highest classification would have been strange. Fortunately, the League had much bigger problems to deal with than hunting a single murderer. The safe full of criminal records recovered from the mansion was going to keep plenty of people busy.

As long as Kazuma didn't have the spectacular bad luck to run directly into an Elite Four-tier Trainer willing to collect the bounty, he wasn't likely to be captured anytime soon.

Reiji flipped through several more channels. One showed a Pokémon battle, while another had an expert giving a long lecture about Pokémon behavior and Abilities. Neither held his attention for more than a minute.

Then the Orange Archipelago weather report appeared.

"Recent atmospheric monitoring shows cumulonimbus clouds developing over the Orange Archipelago. Thunderstorms are expected across parts of the region in the coming days."

Reiji glanced toward the window.

The heavy clouds from that morning had already thinned, and patches of bright sunlight were breaking through outside. It didn't exactly look like thunderstorm weather from here, but he wasn't going to argue with the forecast.

He switched off the television and decided to use the quiet afternoon for training.

Poliwrath and several of the others were released for meditation practice inside the room. More physical training would have to wait until they had enough space, but simple exercises like this could continue anywhere, just as they had at the lakeside cabin.

Once the Pokémon settled down, Reiji opened the curtains and sat at the desk. Sunlight fell across his notebook as he tapped a pen against the table and turned his thoughts toward the problem he had been putting off since last night.

What exactly was he supposed to do with Kazuma and his family?

Kazuma himself was the easy part.

A wanted murderer obviously couldn't continue living openly under his old identity. He would need a new name and a life that kept him well away from League attention, but arranging that wasn't especially difficult for Reiji.

The mother and daughter were more troublesome.

Once the League began digging through Kazuma's history, investigators would inevitably examine everyone close to him. His ex-wife was already considered missing, which gave them some room to work, but simply returning to an ordinary life under her original appearance and identity would still be risky.

Changing their names was the obvious first step. A more extreme option would be plastic surgery, although Reiji doubted they needed to go that far. A new hairstyle, different clothes, and some makeup would already make Kazuma's ex wife far less recognizable to anyone who only knew her from records or photographs.

In hindsight, arranging fake deaths for all three of them would have made everything much cleaner.

The problem was that Reiji had never expected the situation to develop this way. His original plan had been to use Kazuma for information, reunite him with his family if possible, then let the three of them disappear wherever they wanted.

Kazuma's performance at the mansion had changed his mind.

Reiji had discovered that the man had a surprisingly strong talent for dirty work. Given the right direction, Kazuma could become genuinely useful to Spider, and letting his wife and daughter disappear somewhere Reiji couldn't monitor them suddenly seemed like a poor idea.

That meant they needed somewhere safe, useful, and close enough for Reiji to keep an eye on them.

He flipped through his notebook for a while without finding anything that satisfied him. Then he reached the page containing his investment records for the hot spring inn.

Reiji stopped.

The inn still needed a manager.

Kazuma's ex wife could fill that role.

It didn't matter if she had no experience yet. She could work there as a trainee first, learn how the place operated, and gradually take on more responsibility. She would have a legitimate job, enough income to support Yuzuki, and most importantly, she would be working on Reiji's property where he always knew where to find her.

The more he considered it, the better the arrangement sounded.

Before taking them to Cinnabar Gym, he could give both mother and daughter new names and change their appearance enough to avoid casual recognition. Yuzuki could stay around the Gym itself, where Amber and Komai were close to her age. Three girls around seven or eight years old would probably get along easily enough.

Kazuma's ex wife could work at the hot spring inn below Cinnabar Gym, starting as a trainee and learning the business from the ground up. By the time she understood the operation well enough, promoting her to manager would be straightforward.

Reiji finally wrote the plan down.

That settled it.

He would explain everything when he had the chance, although "explain" was probably generous. Kazuma and his family weren't exactly in a position to negotiate with him.

With that problem solved, Reiji moved on to several other matters and lost track of time while working through his notes. The room stayed quiet apart from the occasional turn of a page and the soft sounds of the Pokémon meditating nearby.

A knock eventually pulled him out of his thoughts.

Reiji looked toward the window and realized the sun was already setting, painting the sky orange near the horizon. He had apparently spent most of the afternoon sitting at the desk.

When he opened the door, Uncle was waiting outside.

"Reiji, Kazuma and the others are awake. I went out and bought dinner. Would you like to eat with us?"

"Sure. I'll be there in a minute."

Reiji returned to the room, recalled Poliwrath and the others, cleaned up the things scattered across the desk, then headed next door.

Kazuma rose almost immediately when he entered. His movements were noticeably tense, while his ex wife and Yuzuki stood slightly behind him and watched Reiji with obvious unease.

They had already met him the previous night, but that hadn't exactly been under circumstances that inspired trust.

Kazuma kept hold of his family's hands as he spoke.

"Boss, Uncle said you came by around noon?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk about a few things, but it wasn't urgent."

Reiji gave the two behind him a small nod, then reached down and lightly patted Yuzuki's hair.

The girl went completely rigid.

Kazuma immediately tried to reassure her.

"It's okay. He's the Trainer who saved us. Go ahead and call him Uncle Rai."

Kazuma had already explained Reiji's role to both of them before he arrived, but even his own voice carried a little tension. After everything that had happened, none of them were under any illusion about how dangerous Reiji could be.

Yuzuki slowly looked up at him.

"Uncle Rai..."

Reiji's mouth twitched.

He was fifteen.

There was absolutely no reason for an eight-year-old to be calling him uncle.

"Uncle makes me sound old. Call me Rai-nii."

Yuzuki hesitated, tightened her grip on Kazuma's clothes, then tried again in a much smaller voice.

"Rai-nii..."

"See? Much better."

Reiji laughed, and some of the tension in the room finally eased. He crouched so he wasn't towering over her and gave the girl a closer look.

It was their first proper introduction, and he hadn't prepared anything for her.

"I didn't bring you a gift this time. Tell me what you want and I'll make it up to you."

Yuzuki stared back with wide, uncertain eyes. Her white dress was decorated with small blue flowers, and her hair was still slightly messy from sleep. She was clearly curious about him, but nowhere near comfortable enough to say what she wanted.

Kazuma reacted faster than she did.

"Boss, she's a kid. You don't need to give her anything."

He knew exactly how dangerous Reiji could be and was terrified that Yuzuki might say something wrong while accepting the offer. Being indebted to someone like Reiji was not something Kazuma wanted his daughter doing casually.

Before anyone could continue, a Poké Ball slipped free and rolled across the floor.

Reiji ignored Kazuma's protest, bent down, and picked it up. A Feebas was visible inside, most likely Yuzuki's Pokémon.

That gave him an idea.

He reached into his bag, searched around for a moment, and pulled out a pink scale.

[End of chapter]

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