Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

After the Totem Pidgeot flew off, Reiji and the Pokémon returned to the table to finish their breakfast.

As for the Rhyhorn that refused to leave, there wasn't much they could do. They let it stay.

Once they were done eating, Poliwhirl began running laps around the treehouse using Waterfal. Krabby trained by lifting its claws, and Butterfree continued working on its psychic power.

Wingull did its own thing. Reiji hadn't assigned it any specific training—it was free to choose for itself.

Spinarak was still sprawled on a branch, basking in the sun and staying alert for any crab invasions from the beach.

Meanwhile, the two dumb ones were bubbling and playing in the water bucket.

Rhyhorn didn't go anywhere or train either. After eating its fill, it flopped down beside Reiji on the grass and promptly fell asleep.

Reiji could only shake his head at the sight—there was no helping it. He turned to the poacher's backpack, hoping there might be something useful inside.

Most of it was Poké Balls—plain red-and-white ones. He dumped them all into an empty bucket. There were thirty-two empty balls, and seven that still held Pokémon.

The Pokémon inside were Golbat, Gyarados, Electabuzz, Electrode, and Magneton—these were all that remained of the poacher's team.

Reiji had previously sealed them off—blocking both the sound and the transparent casing of the balls to avoid drawing attention. Only now did he have time to inspect the skill panels for each.

Golbat was level 52, Gyarados 53, Electabuzz 51, Electrode 49, and Magneton 45…

Among them, only Electabuzz, Golbat, and Gyarados had any real potential to break into Elite Four tier. Of those three, Electabuzz and Golbat had a better chance thanks to one more evolution stage left. For Gyarados, it would depend on getting lucky.

Even the weakest of the five, Magneton, could wipe the floor with Reiji's entire current team, especially considering they were all weak to Electric-types. There was no contest.

Previously, his Sharpedo only barely managed to beat them down by attrition—facing five at once—and that was a level 34 Sharpedo.

At level 45, Magneton was on a completely different level. If it had been a straight-up fight, he wouldn't have stood a chance. If the poacher hadn't been the one to fall first, it would've ended badly for Reiji.

Fortunately, he'd struck preemptively—letting the Pidgeot flock wear them down, then hitting with Sleep and Paralysis, and finally launching a surprise attack under cover of night to finish the job unharmed.

Even with all that prep, it had still been reckless. A trainer of that caliber, even drained, wasn't someone a rookie could just take down.

It was only thanks to the Pidgeot flock that it worked at all. Without their help wearing the poacher down, landing Sleep powder and Paralysis would've been much harder—let alone securing a win.

Besides those five Pokémon, the poacher had two others that were never deployed: Slowpoke and Farfetch'd.

[Slowpoke]

Type: Water / Psychic

Gender: Female

Potential: 39%

Level: 12.13%

Ability: Oblivious (3.13%)

Hidden Ability: Regenerator (4.16%)

Moves Known: Tackle (1.21%), Growl (4.31%), Water Gun (3.11%), Yawn (6.23%), Confusion (9.14%), Rest (11.28%), Sleep Talk (7.22%), Calm Mind (7.73%)

[Farfetch'd]

Type: Normal / Flying

Gender: Male

Potential: 46%

Level: 13.33%

Ability: Keen Eye (9.25%)

Moves Known: Quick Attack (9.41%), Final Gambit (5.31%), Roost (6.19%), Sand Attack (7.12%), Peck (8.14%), Leer (11.28%), Fury Cutter (5.22%), Slash (4.51%), Retaliate (7.31%)

"…Huh?" Reiji stared at the skill panels of both Pokémon, falling into deep thought.

Level 12 and Level 13 Pokémon didn't seem like they belonged to the poacher.

Not just because of how low-leveled they were—but also because Slowpoke had a missing tail, and Farfetch'd was clearly hostile.

No—that wasn't quite right. Not hostile toward him specifically, but toward the poacher… or possibly all humans.

Through the transparent casing of the Poké Ball, he could see Farfetch'd glaring at him. The bird's eyes were filled with hatred—like it wanted to carve him up on the spot.

It was the same kind of hate Reiji once felt toward the poacher. He understood that feeling.

That was why he suspected these two Pokémon weren't originally the poacher's.

A trainer's own Pokémon wouldn't openly display that kind of hatred. Even villains didn't have Pokémon that resented them this much.

At most, disobedient Pokémon might need taming—but not with this level of malice.

Unless they weren't really his Pokémon… or they were meant to be food—

Reiji fell silent at that thought. Slowpoke's missing tail and Farfetch'd… it was all adding up.

And it wasn't a baseless suspicion.

In the anime back in his previous life, it was clearly shown—humans did eat Slowpoke tails, Farfetch'd, fish meat, even beef.

He used to think he was the only one eating Pokémon. He figured once he got back to human society, if it was banned, he'd stop.

But now, it seemed eating Pokémon was normal in this world. Maybe banned on paper, but done secretly—just like eating protected species back home.

The reality of this world was harsher than he'd imagined. These ingredients were probably being farmed on a large scale.

Realizing that, he set Farfetch'd's ball down, let out a long breath, and resumed sorting through the bag.

After emptying all the Poké Balls, he moved on to the food and bottled water. There were several large bottles of spring water, bread, honey, various meats, rice, spices, Berries—and one large leek.

When he pulled out the leek, he glanced again at the Farfetch'd inside the ball. The bird's eyes were blazing. The moment it saw the leek, its rage surged higher than before.

Reiji quietly set the leek down, confirming his suspicion: Slowpoke and Farfetch'd had been intended as food.

The leek was what was left after the poacher had eaten Farfetch'd—he just didn't like vegetables, so he left it behind.

Or maybe he meant to sell it. After all, Farfetch'd's leek was technically a weapon—a kind of held item, like Alakazam's spoon.

Slowpoke's tail could regrow. But once Farfetch'd was eaten, that was the end.

Reiji had liked Farfetch'd back in the games. He used to use it for cutting down trees—chopping away with that very leek.

He never thought the sharpest weapon would become the garnish that ended its own life.

"…Sigh." Reiji gave a soft exhale and continued unpacking the rest of the bag.

This sort of thing didn't bend to his will. He couldn't change the world. Hell, he could barely change himself. All he could do was survive…

Next came clothing—two sets. One was a raincoat. The other was a sleek black outdoor jacket and pants, plus hiking boots.

There were also accessories like a face mask and a cap…

The black outfit was actually pretty decent. Stylish and up his alley. If he wanted to wear it, though, it would need a wash first.

He'd been stuck on this deserted island for over a month, and his shorts and T-shirt had long since worn to rags—holes at the butt, splits at the crotch. He'd patched them with scraps, but they were barely holding together.

On an empty island, it was fine. But in human society, dressed like this? People would mistake him for a beggar.

He tossed the black outfit and boots into the water to soak—they'd be washed, dried, and ready to wear soon.

The poacher really was a blessing in disguise—whatever Reiji lacked, he delivered. Empty Poké Balls. New clothes.

There were also outdoor supplies: a backup tent, flashlight, watch, knife, rope, shovel, binoculars, sleeping bag, compass, cookware, lighter, and a folding table and chair…

And then there were the meds. Wound treatment, antidotes, burn heals, paralysis heals—every type you could need.

There was even insect repellent—and a map.

"…Wait, a map?" Reiji had just set it down when he did a double take. It was a map of the Orange Archipelago.

The first thing he noticed upon opening it was a bold red X marked on Fairchild Island, with a dotted line connecting to Mandarin Island.

That confirmed it—Wingull and Butterfree had been right to track those footprints.

The poacher had landed from the west. His point of origin was Mandarin Island. His destination was Fairchild Island—his target, the Totem Pidgeot's fledglings.

Reiji picked up a piece of charcoal from the fire and marked another dot—this time on Kinnow Island. That would be his next destination.

The poacher was gone—no more threats. But Reiji still wasn't headed for Mandarin Island.

There was a reason.

The poacher had spent a lot of time on Mandarin Island. He definitely had acquaintances there. If Reiji showed up now, it'd be like walking into a den of wolves.

If they recognized him as the one who took down the poacher—and figured out he'd inherited a near-Elite Four-level team—

Well, the outcome would be obvious. They'd come swarming for the spoils.

Unless he tossed every last trace of the poacher's gear into the sea, he couldn't risk going to Mandarin.

But he had no intention of giving up that gear. So Kinnow Island it was.

With his destination confirmed, Reiji put away the map and kept digging through the bag. He found several large pouches of pellets.

They didn't look like human food. Otherwise the poacher wouldn't have separated them.

He opened a pouch. A rich aroma wafted out—he couldn't say what it smelled like, but it was good. Even Rhyhorn came sniffing over.

"Hrrrumph! I want some, I want some," it snorted, sticking its massive head straight into the bag.

Seeing it so obsessed, even drooling, Reiji realized what this was—Pokémon food. There were two full bags in the pack.

Probably meant for the poacher's team. There must have been more, but they'd been used up in battle.

Too bad it wasn't Pokéblocks. Reiji felt a little disappointed. Maybe Pokéblocks hadn't been invented yet, or maybe they were too expensive for even the poacher to buy.

He poured out some food for Rhyhorn, then sealed the bag again. This was for lunch. No need to break it out now.

Rhyhorn kept pestering him after getting a taste. It was annoying.

Once he stored the Pokémon food away, Reiji went back to rummaging—but before he could find anything new, the ground beneath him started to shake.

Thump. Thump. Thump—

"Gulp… No way." Reiji froze as the tremors grew louder. Birds scattered from the forest. Trees were falling.

Something big and dangerous was approaching. Judging by the sheer force—it had to be a Rhydon.

Poliwhirl, Krabby, Wingull, and Butterfree all stopped their training and gathered around, surrounding Reiji protectively.

Even Rhyhorn stopped eating. It recognized the footsteps—its head drooped. It knew it couldn't escape. It was going to be dragged back.

But before that happened, it spotted the freshly opened Pokémon food—two big plastic sacks, as large as buckets.

"Wait—wait—wait!" Rhyhorn didn't go for the food. Instead, it ran toward the trees, shouting as it went.

"You! Did that human catch you? I'm gonna stomp him flat!" The Rhydon emerged from the treeline, roaring with fury.

"Wait, hold on, hold on—listen to me!" Rhyhorn quickly blocked the Rhydon with its horn, keeping it from tearing Reiji apart.

"Huh?" Rhydon skidded to a stop, pausing to hear it out.

"They've got honey here. Really good honey. That's why I stayed," Rhydon explained.

"…Honey?" Rhydon's eyes lit up.

Seeing its expression, Rhydon's heart sank. It had forgotten—its old man was a glutton too, even worse than it was.

"In that case, I'll squash that human first—then grab the honey," Rhydon snorted, metallic claws scraping the earth as it prepared to charge.

"Wait, wait, I'll grab it, I'll grab it!" Rhyhorn once again rammed into Rhydon's belly, holding it back with its horn.

(End of Chapter)

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