Pokémon: Above the Top

"WE'RE HERE! Up ahead is Pastoria City," Kyle stood at the bow of the boat, looking toward the distant shoreline and shouted loudly.

Thud~ Thud~ Thud~

Mark, holding Manaphy, ran quickly onto the deck. Following the direction Kyle pointed, he soon spotted the faint outline of Pastoria City.

"Manaphy, you've never been to a human city before, so you probably don't know how much fun it is! You better behave, or aniki won't take you."

Mark "gently" coaxed Manaphy, who blinked its confused eyes and obediently nodded.

Joseph and Sato arrived on the deck at that moment. Hearing what Mark said, both of them frowned.

"We're going to Pastoria City to run a full check-up on Manaphy. Don't forget, someone is still hiding in the dark, eyeing Manaphy," Sato stated bluntly.

"…Right," Mark was stunned, then silently nodded and said no more.

"Mana?"

Manaphy was highly sensitive to the emotions around it. Sensing Mark's disappointment, it suddenly felt down as well.

"Oh~ it's nothing, just daydreaming. Come on, have some Sweet Milk!" Mark snapped out of it and instinctively began comforting Manaphy. His experienced reaction was worlds apart from how he'd acted in the beginning.

Joseph glanced at Sato and gave a slight shake of his head. When it came to Manaphy, the two of them were better off staying out of it.

Hadn't they noticed Manaphy was paying less and less attention to them?

Sato couldn't be bothered to say anything else. He turned and went back into the cabin to start packing.

More than half an hour later, the sailboat finally docked, and all five of them disembarked, slowly walking into Pastoria City.

---

Pastoria City was completely different from typical cities. Its sprawling and winding layout resembled a lightning bolt, forcibly embedded into the wetlands of the great plain.

There was no clear city center. The twisting geography had pushed the city into a modular layout.

The port happened to be located at the center of this narrow, elongated city. On the left were mostly residential areas, while the right side was filled with office buildings, commercial streets, and the like.

As a result, the important Pokémon Center and the Pastoria Gym were both built slightly to the right of the city's busiest area.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, and after much coaxing from Mark, Manaphy reluctantly climbed into the backpack, agreeing to endure the hardship of being separated from Mark's arms for just a short while.

Sato watched from the side, wincing a little. His own "queen's exclusive throne" had been so heartlessly rejected by Manaphy.

Good thing it hadn't clung to him instead, or else Sato would've had to teach it the true meaning of the "The Five Rules for Not Starting Drama™"!

"Let's go, let's go, move out!" Mark took the lead and started walking, only to be yanked back by Joseph.

"You probably forgot… you have no sense of direction." Joseph grinned, making Mark so annoyed he wanted to draw circles and curse him.

Curled up in the darkness of the backpack, Manaphy tried its best to sense Mark on the outside.

Its two blue "gems" behind the ribbon gave a faint shimmer. It wasn't quite sure just how much Mark's emotions had changed earlier.

To prevent Manaphy from bursting into tears along the way and attracting attention, the group hurried toward the Pokémon Center, paying no mind to anything else on the road.

"…Feels like we're doing something shady," Mark muttered under his breath. Seeing that no one responded, he could only pout in silence.

Unbeknownst to Mark, Manaphy was wide-eyed in the backpack, secretly finding amusement in his ever-changing emotions.

However, as Sato and the others passed by an unremarkable convenience store, a Luxray lying under the counter suddenly sat up.

"Hmm…? Target spotted!" the store owner glanced in the direction Sato's group had left, whispered the words, then turned and walked deeper into the store.

"Lux~"

The Luxray didn't give Sato's group a second look. Once the store owner disappeared, it lazily lay back down and closed its eyes to nap.

Sato faintly sensed something watching them, but when he turned back to look, there was nothing to be found.

The gaze of a curious passerby and that of hidden surveillance were completely different; Sato's sharp senses could easily distinguish between the two.

But with the street packed with people, even sending out Gengar yielded nothing.

Sato retracted his gaze and continued walking, while subtly instructing Gengar to transfer itself into Mark's shadow.

He trusted his instincts, so precautions had to be set in advance. He wasn't the primary target, so he didn't need Gengar's protection as much.

Besides, Ralts had been doing better lately, staying awake for longer periods. With it around, that was good enough.

---

The five of them arrived at the Pokémon Center, but they didn't immediately bring out Manaphy. Instead, they first checked into a room, and then Sato went alone to contact Nurse Joy.

Officially speaking, the Joy family still owed Sato a Tyranitar Mega Stone. Although Sato had gradually stopped reaching out to them over the years…

The Joy family, on the other hand, had become increasingly eager to repair their relationship with him, doing their best to meet his requests.

Why? Because of strength.

Though it looked like Sato had been quietly staying at the Shadownight Gym for the past three years, in truth, he'd accomplished quite a lot.

On the very day he earned the "Eight Johto Gym" spot, Lilian Joy had proactively reached out to him, hinting that he could now claim the Mega Stone.

All Sato had to do was ask, and Haruka would have made it happen… but Sato refused.

At the same time, he realized something else: Lance's Clan had been sneakily keeping quiet about the fact that he had already received Tyranitar's Mega Stone from them.

Their goal was simple. By keeping the Joy family in the dark, they let them keep thinking they still had leverage over Sato. The longer they remained fooled, the worse their relationship with Sato would become.

The key point was that Sato had no reason to blame the Dragon Clan. First, he had never explicitly told them how the Joy family had played him.

Second, under the guise of mutual benefit, helping him conceal the Mega Stone actually seemed like they were protecting his strength.

…But if anyone thought the Dragon Clan didn't have the means to learn about the deal themselves, Sato wouldn't believe it in a million years.

Conversely, if they hadn't deliberately hidden this transaction, the Joy family would never still be clueless about it.

That's why, for any long-lasting major power, its leaders were never fools. Most were absurdly sharp, and if you weren't careful, they'd scam you… and you'd still thank them for it.

So, Sato put on his best performance, acting surprised as he "revealed" his deal with the Dragon Clan. The result? A flurry of panic on the Joy family's end.

And because of that, the one stuck in the middle -Sato- suddenly held all the leverage.

You all want to invest in me, huh? Fine… let's see who's willing to give more $_$

So when Sato called Nurse Joy to his room, saying there was an important matter to discuss, the Joy stationed in Pastoria City hesitated only briefly before shyly agreeing.

"Oh, and bring Chansey with you."

"Bring Chansey too?" Nurse Joy covered her mouth in shock, staring at Sato with disbelief.