Day 7 back in the Orange Archipelago. Clear.
The sun had just climbed over the mountain when Reiji and Cissy finished breakfast. Cissy left early. She had too much to handle today, and staying at the lakeside cabin any longer would only get in the way.
She had spent the night there. As for whether anything happened, it was better not to ask. Even if someone did ask, Reiji wasn't going to answer.
After she left, Reiji had his own work waiting for him. The hot spring inn needed attention, but so did the Orange League. Ludicolo still hadn't been properly caught, and some of the Pokémon still needed time to settle into the team. That was today's job.
"Ludi… ludi…"
The moment Ludicolo came out, it froze. The place was unfamiliar, and the Pokémon around it looked like they could fold it in half if they felt like it. It crouched low to the ground and didn't dare move.
"Ludicolo, Cissy's grandfather sent you with me. You can't go back there anymore, and the Pokémon over there don't like you much anyway." Reiji smiled and held out his hand. "So how about it? Want to come with me?"
"Ludi?"
Ludicolo looked around in a panic, as if the words had finally sunk in. Its eyes went wide, and it looked ready to burst into tears.
"Drop the act," Reiji said. "If you want the others to accept you, then show them what you can do. If you want real friends, earn your place here properly. Around me, strong Pokémon get respect. You make friends by standing beside them, not by pulling pranks until everyone hates you."
"Ludi, ludi."
Ludicolo stopped pretending almost at once. It had been scared at first, sure, but it had also seen Reiji before in the back mountain, along with his Slowking. Since Reiji knew Cissy's grandfather, Ludicolo figured it probably wasn't in danger.
Even so, a new place called for caution. Acting weak made other Pokémon lower their guard, and weak-looking Pokémon were easier to ignore.
Reiji had seen straight through it, so there was no point keeping it up. Ludicolo's real personality came out at once, loud, bold, and shameless.
"Ludi, ludi!"
"It says if you want to catch it, you have to beat it first."
"Good." Reiji took two steps back and spread a hand toward his main team, both the first and second string. "Pick one."
"Ludi."
Ludicolo swept its eyes over the dozen or so Pokémon in front of it. Most of them were still eating breakfast. Seeing that, it remembered something very important.
It was hungry too.
"Ludi, ludi…"
"It says it can't fight properly on an empty stomach. It wants to eat first. Otherwise, it says the battle won't be fair," Slowking translated.
"Fine. I'll give you that." Reiji took out a box of Water-type Pokéblocks and a box of Grass-type Pokéblocks, but he didn't hand them over right away. "But if you lose, you listen to me. If you don't, there'll be punishment."
"Ludi, ludi."
Ludicolo had already smelled the Pokéblocks. At that point, Reiji could have added almost any condition and it still would have nodded.
"It agreed." Slowking floated beside him, eyes glowing faintly as it kept the telepathy going.
With Slowking here, Reiji no longer needed Lokoko to translate for him. That solved one of his more immediate problems. If Lokoko chose to leave later, it wouldn't cripple his ability to communicate with the team.
"Good. Then eat." Reiji tossed the Pokéblocks over.
Ludicolo tore open the packaging and poured the Pokéblocks straight into its mouth, swallowing them without even chewing.
"Slow down. There's more." Reiji took out five more boxes and threw them over too.
If food was enough to win Ludicolo over, then a few little tricks didn't matter. A bit of cunning was harmless, as long as it could be guided.
"Ludi." Ludicolo accepted everything without a shred of politeness. Even if it couldn't finish all of it now, it could always save the rest for later.
"It says it tastes good."
"Then eat your fill." Reiji waited while the Pokémon finished breakfast, then glanced toward the cloned Pokémon. Only sixteen of them were left now. The two he cared about most were Blastoise and Ninetales.
Those two had also wanted to leave, but for some reason, they still hadn't gone. Once Ludicolo was handled, he planned to ask them what they were waiting for.
The others had no plans to leave. Some wanted to wait here for Mewtwo. Some simply wanted a quiet life. Reiji wasn't going to stop any of them, and his own Pokémon could back him up on that.
Once breakfast was over, it was time for Ludicolo's capture battle.
Reiji had noticed during the meal that Ludicolo kept studying his team. Its gaze lingered on the smaller or weaker-looking ones, while it avoided Rhydon and the rest completely. It knew better than to waste time sizing up opponents it had no chance against.
"Ludi, ludi."
Ludicolo slapped the empty boxes off itself, raised a hand, and pointed straight at Dugtrio.
It wanted the little one.
"Dug? Dug!"
The word little set all three of Dugtrio's heads off at once. They barked angrily at Ludicolo, making it very clear that looking down on moles was a bad idea.
"Ludi, ludi."
Ludicolo waved lazily, stepped back, and crooked a finger at Dugtrio.
It knew this matchup. It had bullied this kind of Pokémon before. Ground-types hated water. As far as Ludicolo was concerned, this was the easiest target here.
"Dug-dug-dug!"
Dugtrio was furious. So Ludicolo thought it could push them around? Fine. They would drag it underground, beat lumps all over its head, and teach it that quiet Pokémon weren't free targets.
"Dugtrio, stay calm." Reiji saw Ludicolo's choice and understood the logic right away. It knew at least the basics of type matchups. Otherwise, it wouldn't have picked Dugtrio.
Unfortunately, it had picked the wrong Dugtrio.
Dugtrio was not weak. Like Magneton, it had benefited from combined evolution and had been growing at more than twice the normal speed. Its level was already higher than Ludicolo's.
[Dugtrio]
[Type: Ground]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 87.53%]
[Level: 59.01%]
[Ability: Arena Trap/32.13%][Hidden Ability: Sand Force/28.23%]
Dugtrio was almost Elite Four tier, and its growth speed was no worse than Magneton's.
Against Ludicolo, it had the level advantage. The type matchup was ugly, but Dugtrio had Reiji giving commands. Ludicolo didn't have a Trainer, and that difference was enormous.
If Reiji were commanding Ludicolo against Dugtrio at the same level, then yes, he would pick Ludicolo to win.
Water and Grass both hit Dugtrio where it hurt. With that kind of type advantage, there wouldn't be much to discuss.
"Ludicolo, start when you're ready," Reiji called.
Ludicolo opened its mouth and fired a string of water-bubble blasts.
"Dugtrio, Dig!"
Boom, boom, boom!
"Dug!"
Dugtrio vanished underground just before the blasts landed. Dirt flew, water burst across the grass, and Ludicolo's target disappeared from sight.
"Dugtrio, Sand Tomb."
The ground under Ludicolo buckled.
"Ludi? Ludi!"
Ludicolo didn't know what Sand Tomb was. One second it was standing on solid ground, and the next the earth caved in beneath it. A whirlpool of loose sand dragged it down, swallowing its legs before it could jump away.
Arena Trap locked in at the same time. Any grounded Pokémon that wasn't Ghost-type would be trapped. No switching. No running.
"Dug! Pff, pff, pff!"
Dugtrio popped up from underground. The sand pit was its work. The moment its heads broke the surface, all three mouths opened and fired Mud Shot together.
Three shots from each head. Nine blasts in total.
The mud hammered into the Sand Tomb, splattering across Ludicolo's face and eyes. Its vision vanished under wet dirt, and the more it struggled in the spinning sand, the worse it panicked.
"Dugtrio, finish it. Sludge Bomb."
Thud, thud, thud!
Purple sludge tore across the pit in a nonstop barrage. Sludge Bomb was a Poison-type move with 90 power, and Ludicolo took x2 damage from it. With all three heads firing together, Dugtrio looked less like a mole and more like three cannons mounted in one place.
Ludicolo was trapped, blinded, and poisoned. It tried to fight back, but the Sand Tomb kept dragging it off balance, and the sludge kept smashing into it before it could steady itself.
It didn't last long.
One final blast hit, and Ludicolo slumped unconscious in the sand.
"That's enough, Dugtrio." Reiji walked to the edge of the pit and looked down at Ludicolo. Once he confirmed it was out, he recalled it into a Poké Ball, then crouched and rubbed all three of Dugtrio's heads. "Nice work."
"Dug-dug-dug!"
Dugtrio bounced up and down, all three heads brimming with pride.
"I need to treat Ludicolo. Fill the pit back in and replant the grass for me." Reiji stood with a smile, returned to the eaves, and released Ludicolo again. He took out an Antidote and fed it to Ludicolo.
Dugtrio's Sludge Bomb had poison in it, but it wasn't especially nasty. A normal Antidote was enough. The poison on Ludicolo's skin only needed to be washed away, and after a bit of sunlight, it would recover just fine.
Reiji recalled Ludicolo again and carried it to the lake, releasing it into the water so the poison could dilute. Once it had soaked for a while, he would clean the sludge off properly.
"Ludi."
Ludicolo woke in the lake. The first thing it saw was Reiji washing the mud and poison off its body.
"You're awake. Hold still. I'll scrub this off, then you can dry in the sun." Reiji greeted it casually and kept cleaning.
"Ludi… ludi…"
Ludicolo's eyes brightened.
Aside from Cissy's grandfather, who had brought it back in the first place, no human had ever cared for it like this. Reiji was the second.
"What's it saying?" Reiji couldn't understand Ludicolo's mumbling, so he looked toward Slowking.
"It says you're a good person."
"Haha, a good person?" Reiji laughed. Pokémon really were simple.
He had said more than once that he preferred dealing with Pokémon over humans. Still, he knew himself well enough. He wasn't some good person. He was a shameless transmigrator who had wandered in and made himself at home.
"All right, Ludicolo. Soak for a while, then come out and sun yourself."
Reiji wiped the water off his face with his sleeve and stood. Tentacruel, Whiscash, Swampert, Starmie, Milotic, and the Water-type cloned Pokémon created by Mewtwo had all surfaced nearby.
"Everyone, Ludicolo's part of the group now. Get along with it." Then he looked back at Ludicolo. "And Ludicolo, these are your new partners."
"Ludi, ludi."
Ludicolo stood on the shore and clapped happily. Reiji was a good person, so Reiji's Pokémon had to be good Pokémon too.
At last, it had friends.
"Lagu, lagu."
Swampert surfaced first. It was about the same size as Ludicolo, and it scratched its head with a friendly grin before reaching out for a handshake.
"Krrr."
Tentacruel waved its tentacles in welcome.
"Blas."
Blastoise, acting as the representative of the Water-type cloned Pokémon still living here, also came forward to greet Ludicolo.
"Blastoise, come with me." Since Blastoise had come over on its own, Reiji decided to deal with the cloned Pokémon's situation too.
He had another thought as well. If things worked out with Blastoise, then Swampert might not be impossible to bring into the open someday either.
"Blas?"
Blastoise didn't know why Reiji had called it, but it followed him out of the water and toward the cabin.
Once they reached the eaves, Reiji looked toward Ninetales, which was lying on the terrace of the Pokémon nest, sunning itself.
"Ninetales, you come too."
Seeing Reiji call over the cloned Pokémon, Venusaur and Charizard stood as well. As the other two major figures among the clones, they walked over to see what he wanted.
"Blastoise. Ninetales." Reiji looked between them. "The Pokémon that wanted to see the outside world have already left. You two still haven't gone. What are you waiting for? I have time now, so tell me."
"Blas? Blas."
Blastoise glanced at Ninetales, then called to Reiji several times.
"They say they want to follow a Trainer too," Slowking translated. "But the two human Trainers at the Gym are too weak. They don't respect them. They were waiting for you to come back."
"Waiting for me?" Reiji looked at them. "You want me to catch you?"
He had been thinking the same thing, but he couldn't be the one to suggest it. The Pokémon had to choose for themselves. Mewtwo, that problem child, was still out there somewhere. If it found out, Reiji would have no good explanation.
"Blas."
Blastoise nodded. It couldn't beat Reiji's Pokémon, which meant Reiji was a strong Trainer. It wanted to follow someone strong.
"Awoo."
Ninetales nodded too. It also wanted to follow a strong Trainer.
"Lokoko, one of your own is here." Reiji looked toward Lokoko, who had been invisible nearby.
Cissy had been around all day yesterday, so Lokoko hadn't shown itself directly. It had spent most of the day wandering outside instead.
"Have you thought this through?" Lokoko looked at the nine tails behind Ninetales, and for a moment, it seemed to remember its own past. It wasn't going to stop another Ninetales. It only wanted to ask.
"Awoo… Why can you talk?" Ninetales stared at Lokoko in wonder.
Not only could this Ninetales turn into a human, it could even speak with humans.
"I can teach you," Lokoko said. "But your mental strength is still too weak. Learning it will be difficult."
Lokoko didn't hide that from Reiji. Teaching another Ninetales was possible. Teaching other Pokémon was another matter. Their bodies and minds were too different. Even copying the method would be difficult for them.
"Awoo."
Ninetales nodded.
That nod meant two things. It wanted to learn, and it wanted to follow a human out into the wider world.
"Then it's your choice." Lokoko nodded quietly, then gave Reiji a small nod as well.
That was permission enough.
"All right." Reiji took out two new Poké Balls. "Are you going in directly, or do you want a battle first?"
He was about to catch two fully grown Pokémon. One of them was Blastoise, a Pokémon he had wanted for a long time.
Now he just needed to see what kind of potential it had.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]