"You're awake, kid," Reiji said.
The fear on Keith's face told him everything. The boy had clearly misunderstood something. Who knew what kind of scene he'd imagined to scare himself this badly.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Keith twisted desperately, begging Reiji not to kill him.
"Relax. I'm not killing you. I'll hand you over to Officer Jenny," Reiji said with a faint smile. The kid could let Officer Jenny deal with him. Reiji wasn't some killing maniac.
When Keith heard he wouldn't die, only be handed to Officer Jenny, his expression froze. He relaxed for a second, then gave a bitter smile.
Even if he survived, his life wouldn't be easy once Officer Jenny got him. First, he couldn't return the stolen goods, so his sentence would definitely get longer. Worse, he'd be separated from Farfetch'd and the others.
Report Reiji? Say the stolen goods were all with him?
Don't be stupid. This man had killed the four poachers without blinking. Keith couldn't even beat those four. If someone like this wanted him dead, it would be effortless.
If he insisted the stolen goods were already gone, he could still live through juvenile detention. At worst, he'd be locked up until adulthood.
If he reported Reiji, he might get reincarnated early. By the time he got out of prison, his next life might already be ten years old.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
"Spinarak, tear off the web over his mouth," Reiji said.
Keith seemed worked up, and Reiji wanted to hear what he had to say.
"Please, I've had no parents since I was little. It's always just been me and Farfetch'd. I'll do anything you want, so please don't separate me from Farfetch'd…"
"An orphan? No wonder you steal," Reiji said, shaking his head. He knew life was hard for orphans. He had started out stealing too, so he had no right to act righteous.
To be fair, most of what he stole had been black-market goods. Underground goods, basically. He had never really stolen from normal people in broad daylight.
If helping Amber grab a few pieces of children's clothing and stealing some snacks counted, then never mind.
"Farfetch'd…" Keith knew the emotional appeal had failed the moment Reiji laughed. Looked like juvenile prison was waiting for him.
"Kid, can you kill someone?" Reiji asked, rubbing his chin. Since the boy was an orphan and already blacklisted at the police station, he wanted to see whether he was worth pulling up. Even as a tool, he might have some use.
"Kill someone?" Keith froze. He was just a thief. Did this really have to jump all the way to murder?
"That's right. Petty theft only leaves a record. It makes you a bad Trainer at most. But once you kill someone, you become a wanted criminal under the League."
Reiji smiled, and it wasn't a kind smile. No wonder the Rainbow Wing had turned black when he touched it. Ho-Oh hadn't misjudged him at all.
He really was a bad person.
Keith swallowed hard. He already had a sense of what might happen next. Growing up as a petty thief on the streets had taught him plenty of unspoken rules.
"They aren't dead yet. Poliwhirl, bring them here," Reiji said, then lightly tapped the ground with his foot.
He was preparing Darkrai's hypnosis. Having Poliwhirl bring anyone over was only for Keith's benefit.
Darkrai understood at once. It slipped behind Keith and released Dark Void, forcing him under sleep and making him "wake up" inside a dream.
The lake was still there. The campfire was still there. Reiji was still there.
Only now, the webbing around Keith had been removed. A dagger sat in his hand, and the poacher boss lay bound in front of him.
"Kill him, and I won't drag you to the police station. You can stay with Farfetch'd forever. I can also help you become stronger—a powerful Trainer. People will praise you. You can have what you want. No more stealing. No more living like a rat in the streets, hated wherever you go."
"I… I…"
Keith gripped the dagger, his whole arm shaking. He heard the temptation in Reiji's words, but he still didn't want to kill. He didn't want to kill anyone.
"What? Can't do it? He bullied you, hit you, cursed at you, took Farfetch'd from you, and sent you out as bait. Are you fine with that? If you were stronger than him, would he have dared to treat you that way?"
"I… I…"
Keith stared at the poacher boss, the same man who had beaten him, ordered him around, made him scrub floors and clean toilets, then sent him out as cannon fodder. Now that man was lying on the ground, begging him for mercy, eyes wide with fear.
Keith suddenly understood.
This was power.
He hadn't been able to beat the poacher boss, so the boss had bullied him however he wanted. The poacher boss couldn't beat this Trainer, so now he was tied up in front of Keith, pleading for his life.
That was power.
If he didn't want to be bullied, he needed strength. Enough strength that no one would dare touch him again.
He didn't want to keep running.
When he was little, he was bullied at the orphanage, so he left.
After he grew up and stole things, the older kids pushed him around, so he left that city too.
He stole from place to place and got chased like a dog. Several times, he had almost been bitten.
Here, he stole again and got caught by these poachers, then became their tool to order around.
He wanted strength.
He didn't want to be someone else's disposable pawn anymore.
After taking a deep breath, Keith looked at Reiji. The dagger in his hand stopped shaking.
"I don't want to be separated from Farfetch'd."
"Done. Easy," Reiji said with a snap of his fingers.
He agreed without hesitation. That had never been the hard part. He only wanted to see the boy's resolve. If Keith couldn't even do this much, then going with Officer Jenny was probably better.
"I want to get stronger too. Strong enough that no one can bully me again," Keith shouted, every word sharp.
"Easy. Done," Reiji said with a smile.
A goal was good. Boys his age were easy to influence. What Reiji feared most was someone with no drive and no idea what he wanted.
They were all being used by someone in the end, but Keith's previous boss had only treated him as disposable. With Reiji, at least Keith could become someone useful enough to survive.
Not that Reiji could promise him the world. He had limits too. He was still only a hired blade himself, nowhere near powerful enough to sit at the table. The most he could offer Keith was a path upward, and even that was better than being thrown away.
Shlk—
Once Reiji agreed, Keith stopped hesitating and drove the dagger down at the poacher boss who had tormented him. Blood splashed, and Keith jolted awake from the dream.
"Go wash up by the lake," Reiji said.
Keith was sitting on the ground, freed from the webbing but still trembling. A dagger lay near his feet—the same one taken from the poachers. His body, the blade, and the ground were all smeared with a large splash of tomato sauce.
Reiji's Pokémon all saw the setup and immediately understood their Trainer's twisted sense of humor.
They knew him too well.
"Where… where is he?" Keith's blank eyes slowly focused. He looked around but couldn't find the poacher boss anywhere, only the "blood" on his hands.
"Buried, of course. Want to see him?" Reiji's mouth curved slightly. He gave Poliwhirl a look, signaling it to throw Keith into the lake before the boy came fully back to himself and noticed the smell of tomato sauce.
"Poli."
Poliwhirl understood. It grabbed Keith and tossed him into the lake. By the time Keith climbed back out, the tomato sauce on the ground had already been washed away with Water Gun.
When Keith came ashore, he saw three Poké Balls arranged neatly in front of him.
His three Pokémon.
All of them were here.
He rushed over and opened the Poké Balls, reuniting with Farfetch'd, Meowth, and Kecleon. All three were useful partners for stealing.
"Come sit. Dry your clothes by the fire before you put them back on. Eat something too," Reiji said, pointing to a stone across the campfire.
Keith brought his three Pokémon over, took off his clothes, and spread them over his lap to dry.
Then he picked up the food Reiji had prepared. Four portions total. One for him, three for his Pokémon.
"First, I won't hand you over to Officer Jenny. Second, I won't separate you from Farfetch'd. Third, I'll help you get stronger. The first two are done. The third will take time. Do you understand what you should do now?"
"I understand. I'll do whatever you say, Boss," Keith said, nodding before swallowing a huge mouthful of instant noodles.
"Good. Then tell me what kind of Pokémon you like. What do you want to catch? What kind of Trainer do you want to become?"
"Me?" Keith froze.
No one had ever asked him something like that before. What kind of Pokémon did he like? He had never told anyone.
"Who else? If you don't catch Pokémon, how are you going to get stronger?" Reiji spread his hands. "Don't tell me you thought getting stronger was easy."
"No, no," Keith quickly denied it.
If getting stronger were that easy, he wouldn't have spent years crawling around at the bottom, still weak as ever.
After a moment, he started talking about what he wanted.
"I want freedom. After I left the orphanage, I found out the freedom outside wasn't the freedom I wanted. Then I left the city, and that still wasn't the freedom I wanted."
"I saw birds in the sky. They had wings. They could fly wherever they wanted. That looked like real freedom."
"After that, I started liking Flying-type Pokémon. That's why I caught Farfetch'd. Later, I caught a Pidgey too, but it died in battle. I never caught another Flying-type after that. I was the one who took Pidgey's freedom away."
"That's not bad. You should look for freedom together with Flying-type Pokémon. What happened wasn't your fault," Reiji said.
He hadn't expected this pickpocket kid to want freedom. Simple, but also difficult.
If Keith only wanted the freedom to laze around, that was easy. Reiji could lie down and slowly get stronger too. Sooner or later, he could grind his way to Elite Four tier.
But freedom like a bird's? Flying wherever he wanted, bound by nothing?
That was much harder.
"Is that so?" Keith stared at him in disbelief. He hadn't expected freedom to be explained that way. Don't trick him just because he hadn't studied much.
"Think about it. Pidgey has Spearow as a natural enemy. Pidgeotto has Fearow. They don't fly without danger. They can be hunted. They can even be eaten."
"If you catch a weak Pidgey and help it grow stronger, then you're helping it gain freedom. It won't have to fear predators anymore. Then Pidgey can help you gain freedom too. You'll fly together, wherever you want to go."
"That…" Keith understood the words, but they sounded almost too good to be true. He couldn't find a way to argue.
"Freedom is right there, kid. Reach out, and you can grab it."
Reiji lay back down on the moisture-proof mat and reached toward the sky. Then he smiled, folded his hands behind his head, and quietly watched the stars.
There were Pokémon in outer space too.
"Freedom is right there?"
Keith looked up with him.
No stranger had ever talked to him like this before. Maybe this kind of freedom wasn't wrong.
Maybe this time would be different.
Freedom.
Freedom, huh…
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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