Chapter 787 - 787 - Another Heavy Hitter

The pink scale in Reiji's hand was the Prism Scale Cissy had given him, one shed from Milotic. Fine patterns ran across its surface beneath the soft light, and although it wasn't an especially high-grade item, it still reached Advanced tier.

Reiji looked at Yuzuki and tried to make his smile a little less intimidating.

"So it's a Feebas. I've got a Prism Scale here. It can help Feebas evolve, and it's supposed to bring good luck too. Do you want it?"

Yuzuki looked toward her father first. Only after Kazuma gave her an encouraging nod did she answer in a tiny voice.

"I... I do."

She carefully accepted both the Poké Ball and Prism Scale, her hands trembling despite how gently Reiji offered them.

The girl was clearly far too nervous to be thinking about whether she actually liked the gift, but Reiji didn't mind. She would understand what the Prism Scale meant eventually. For now, he ruffled her already messy hair and moved on to why he had come over.

"Yuzuki, why don't you go play for a bit? Rai-nii needs to talk to your dad."

"Okay."

Yuzuki nodded and let her mother lead her back toward the bed, although she continued sneaking glances at the adults from across the room.

"Come on. We can talk while we eat. Have her join us too."

Reiji headed toward the small dining table on the balcony. Uncle had brought back enough food for everyone, and the dishes were still warm when Kazuma called his ex wife over and sat opposite Reiji with her.

Neither of them looked particularly relaxed.

"Kazuma, you're wanted now, but your wife and daughter weren't involved in what happened."

Kazuma opened his mouth, but Reiji raised a hand before he could interrupt.

"Someone will be coming to pick us up soon. Your wife and daughter will be staying with people I trust."

"People you trust?" Kazuma asked, immediately tense again.

"Relax and let me finish."

Reiji lit a cigarette and took a slow drag before continuing.

"You're going to do something for me next. I assume you already know what kind of work I'm talking about."

"I know."

Kazuma nodded without hesitation. Whatever choices he might once have had were gone now, and he understood that perfectly well.

"Good. Once the job is finished, the four of you can leave the Orange Archipelago and start over somewhere else. Your wife and daughter will need new names. You can decide the details yourselves."

Reiji tapped some ash from his cigarette before explaining the rest of the arrangement.

"Your daughter will be staying at Cinnabar Gym. Your wife is going to work at the hot spring inn nearby and learn how the place operates."

Kazuma stared at him.

"Boss... that's it?"

"What else were you expecting?"

The genuine surprise on Kazuma's face left Reiji completely baffled. He had apparently spent all this time imagining much worse conditions for his family, including possibilities Reiji would have punched him for even suggesting out loud.

Kazuma shot to his feet so quickly that his chair toppled over behind him. He pulled his ex wife up with him, and the two bowed deeply across the table.

"Thank you, Boss. For everything you've done for us."

"If you want to thank me, then do your job properly and remember what you promised."

As Kazuma and his ex wife sat down again, Reiji finally noticed the scar running across her face. He hadn't paid much attention to it the previous night, probably because makeup had concealed most of the damage.

That actually solved one problem for him. There was little point putting her through plastic surgery just to change her appearance. A different hairstyle and makeup would already make her difficult to recognize, while the scar itself would draw attention away from the face people remembered.

"There's one more thing. New names won't be enough. Your backgrounds have to change too, and Yuzuki can't keep calling you Dad in public. You understand why."

Kazuma nodded slowly.

"We'll be ordinary people who moved in from somewhere remote. As for Yuzuki's new name..."

His ex wife finally spoke up.

"What about Mio?"

Kazuma looked at her for a moment before nodding.

"Mio. All right."

The two squeezed each other's hands beneath the table. Whatever doubts she had carried before were gone now. Her family had already dictated the course of her life once, and submitting to them had brought nothing but misery. This time, she had chosen to leave with Kazuma and start over on her own terms.

Kazuma frowned as he considered the other half of the problem.

"If she can't call me Dad anymore, then she can call me..."

"Uncle Kazuma," Reiji supplied without thinking.

He nearly choked on his water the moment the words left his mouth.

Kazuma, however, seemed delighted with the idea.

"Right. Uncle Kazuma works."

"Fine. Then eat. We need to leave soon, and the people picking us up should be almost here."

Reiji had barely lifted his chopsticks when his phone rang. Naoki's name appeared on the screen, which meant the yacht had arrived.

"The boat's here. Eat quickly and get ready. I'll wait outside. Leave the hotel the same way you came in last night."

He answered the phone as he walked out, abandoning dinner before taking more than a bite.

Kazuma, his ex wife, and Uncle exchanged a look after the door closed. A second later, all three grabbed their bowls and started eating as quickly as they could.

Yuzuki had no reason to rush. She still had snacks and simply watched the adults with wide eyes, clearly unsure why everyone had suddenly started inhaling their dinner.

Her mother never asked what had happened to the little boy from the mansion.

Kazuma noticed, but he didn't bring it up. The entire situation had begun with mistakes and coercion long before last night, and neither of them seemed willing to dig into that part of it now.

Once the adults finished eating, they packed what little they had brought with them. Kazuma lifted Yuzuki into his arms while her mother followed close behind, and Golbat carried them down through the window one at a time into the alley below. Uncle left through the front desk instead so he could formally check out.

The hotel sat near the edge of the city in a district that was already quiet and somewhat rough even during the day. By evening, there were barely any pedestrians around, leaving the narrow streets dim beneath the old streetlights.

Reiji was waiting at the mouth of the alley in his black protective gear, hands tucked into his pockets.

Once everyone was together, the five of them moved through the maze of backstreets while Gengar guided them around busier roads. The damp pavement smelled faintly of earth, and aside from the occasional bark in the distance, they crossed the district without drawing attention.

Their destination was an empty stretch of shoreline outside the city.

Reiji had already sent Pelipper ahead to locate Naoki's yacht, while Naoki had been instructed to keep the vessel's lights on so it would be easy to distinguish from anything else offshore.

Pelipper returned before long with confirmation.

On the first trip, it carried Yuzuki and her mother out toward the yacht. It then came back for Reiji and Kazuma, with Reiji riding on its back while its claws carried Kazuma beneath it. Golbat handled Uncle separately.

By the time they reached the yacht, Naoki was already waiting on deck in dark clothing of his own.

"Boss, anyone else coming?"

"No. Head back to Mandarin Island North."

Reiji lowered his hood and brushed the moisture from his sleeves. Only then did he realize a light rain had started during the flight.

The sky above them had turned completely black beneath thick clouds, hiding both the moon and stars. Combined with the damp wind coming across the water, it looked as though the weather report might have been right after all.

"Got it. I'll get us moving."

Naoki didn't ask who the passengers were. If Reiji wanted him to know, he would explain eventually.

Once the yacht was set to automatic navigation, Kazuma approached the controls and offered to take over.

"I can keep watch if you want to rest."

Naoki turned at the sound of his voice. Something about the accent seemed familiar enough to make him look twice.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Kazuma. The woman and girl over there are my family, and the old man is my uncle."

Kazuma rested one hand against the cabin wall while Naoki studied him under the yacht's yellow lights.

Then Naoki's eyes narrowed.

"Wait. Kazuma? You're that Kazuma? The Street Dragon?"

Kazuma blinked.

"You know me?"

Naoki stared at him for another second before his face completely changed.

"Holy shit, it really is you. What happened? You look completely different."

Kazuma instinctively rubbed his face.

"Have I really changed that much?"

"Changed? Your daughter looks like she should be your granddaughter."

Their voices had carried far enough to catch Reiji's attention. He leaned against the cabin doorway with his arms folded and grinned.

"See? I told you. First time I saw them together, I thought the same thing."

Naoki nodded immediately.

"Seriously. They don't look like father and daughter at all."

Kazuma looked increasingly offended by the unanimous verdict.

Naoki kept staring at Kazuma as old memories finally fell into place.

"I met this guy at a street battle years ago. I was seventeen or eighteen, so it must've been seven or eight years back."

His expression turned rueful as he remembered exactly which battle it had been.

"Kazuma was already pretty famous around Trovitopolis. The bastard used an Elite Four-tier Gyarados against me, and my Golem got beaten so badly it took half a month to recover."

The memory brought a brief smile to his face, followed by something quieter. Golem had been Naoki's first Pokémon, and it had been gone for years now.

"After that, Kazuma disappeared from the street-battle scene. I heard he'd quit competing and gotten a regular job. People thought he was an idiot. Imagine having an Elite Four-tier Gyarados and deciding to work for a living instead."

Naoki shook his head at how differently he saw things now.

"Then I went underground, started the Rock Gang, and... well, Boss already knows the rest."

"So you two actually knew each other."

Reiji looked between them with mild surprise. They had only crossed paths once, yet the encounter had stuck with Naoki for nearly a decade.

For a moment, Reiji found himself thinking about how strange that was. He had met countless people in this world, but nobody from his old life could ever unexpectedly reappear like this. Even some random acquaintance from driving school was beyond his reach now.

There was always a price for starting over somewhere completely new.

Kazuma cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed by how much attention his appearance was receiving.

"Just so we're clear, I'm only thirty-eight. I married late. I really don't look that old, do I?"

Reiji laughed.

"Nobody cares. You finally ran into someone you know, so catch up. I'm going to get some sleep."

Nearby, Umbreon had already wandered over to Yuzuki and was happily playing with her. The fluffy Pokémon had taken almost no time at all to win the girl over, and her laughter carried softly through the cabin.

Reiji decided to leave them to it.

He would probably be awake most of the night once they reached Mandarin Island North, and Naoki could handle the trip without him. Having subordinates really did make life easier. It was no mystery why anyone with enough power eventually ended up building an organization around themselves.

The yacht was also much larger than he had expected. There were ten sleeping cabins alone, which made sense once he remembered that Naoki had been told to find something where twenty people could actually stay overnight, not merely a boat licensed to carry twenty passengers.

Reiji disappeared into one of the cabins, leaving Naoki and Kazuma alone near the controls.

Kazuma watched him go before scratching the back of his head and giving Naoki an apologetic smile.

"I'll be honest, I don't remember you at all. Kind of embarrassing that you still remember me."

"Of course I remember you. If I'd been the one who beat the hell out of you, then you'd be the one remembering me."

Kazuma laughed for the first time since coming aboard and held out his hand.

"Fair enough. Let's start over. I'm Kazuma."

"Naoki. Good to meet you properly."

Naoki shook his hand without hesitation. Anyone Reiji brought back was likely to become an ally sooner or later, and making the effort now cost him nothing.

Besides, Kazuma had already been an Elite Four-tier Trainer seven or eight years ago. Naoki was curious how much stronger he had become since then.

"So how strong are you now? How many Elite Four-tier Pokémon do you have?"

Kazuma's expression immediately became awkward.

"That's... a long story."

The truth was far less impressive than Naoki expected.

After Yuzuki came into his life, Kazuma's priorities had changed completely. Training gradually fell by the wayside, and even now Gyarados remained his only Elite Four-tier Pokémon because nearly every spare Pokédollar he earned had been set aside for his daughter instead of his team.

Ludicolo and Sharpedo were the only other Pokémon he had raised seriously in his earlier years. Both had been practical choices for someone without much money. Ludicolo could live comfortably with water and sunlight, while Sharpedo could simply return to the sea and hunt for itself.

For most of Kazuma's long career as a Trainer, those three had been his entire team.

That changed after he joined Riku's brother aboard the cargo ship. His captain had given him several Pokémon to strengthen his roster, including Slowpoke, Psyduck, and Swampert. Kazuma kept Swampert for himself and gave the other two to Yuzuki.

Even then, his spending habits never changed. Almost everything he earned went into savings for his daughter's future.

Naoki studied him for a moment before giving up on the strength question.

"Looking at you now, I'm guessing the last few years weren't exactly kind. What happened?"

If they were going to be fighting alongside each other, knowing something about Kazuma's situation would eventually matter.

Kazuma glanced toward the cabin Reiji had entered.

"It's complicated. Why don't you tell me something first? What kind of Trainer is our Boss?"

Naoki immediately caught what he was doing.

"Boss? He's a good guy. Just remember that following him is the right choice and don't worry about the rest."

The slight grin on his face made it obvious that Kazuma wasn't getting anything else for free.

Kazuma laughed awkwardly but didn't push.

It was the first time since finding his family safe that he had laughed about something unrelated to them. Ever since boarding the yacht, the unknown destination, unfamiliar people, and uncertainty surrounding Reiji's plans had left him on edge.

Running into someone from his past changed that more than he expected.

Naoki looked healthy, confident, and perfectly comfortable working under Reiji. That alone made Kazuma feel a little less like he had handed his family over to some bloodthirsty monster.

For the first time since everything fell apart, he found himself cautiously looking forward instead of backward.

Wherever Yuzuki and her mother ended up would be home. As long as the three of them could stay alive and together, Kazuma no longer needed anything more.

[End of chapter]

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