On his way back to the villa after parting with Sho, Reiji felt a tiny tap-tap on his shoulder from Spinarak. It had a scrap of brown cloth in its mouth—its way of signaling.
"We're being tailed?" Reiji asked under his breath.
"Yitoo," Spinarak nodded, then tapped his shoulder again with a foreleg to indicate that someone had stepped on its trip-threads.
"How far from the campfire? Tap once for each hundred meters," Reiji said.
"Yitoo." Tap-tap-tap-tap.
"Four hundred meters?" Reiji thought a moment, then asked, "Besides a human, any Pokémon? One tap per Pokémon."
"Yito." Tap—pause—tap-tap.
"Three? Might not all be with the stalker—could be wilds," Reiji reasoned. If the tail was strong, they'd have already struck. On paper, he looked like a trainer with only one evolved battler—Poliwhirl—while the other two out with him were unevolved, and just four Pokémon at his side. It was the perfect time to jump him.
Judging by surface strength, he was, at best, senior-class. So the tail was likely senior-class or lower; a true veteran would've hit first, not just watched.
Most likely it was the bruiser from the bar—well, the bruiser's big brother—who'd tracked him down.
The logic was simple: follow the bar codger's trail to his grandson, then from the boy to Reiji.
He didn't think it was the gold-toothed black-market boss; why would he fixate on a small fry like him?
If it was the bruiser's side, that fit. But why hadn't they moved yet? Rallying more men?
If they brought numbers, that'd be trouble—time to bail. If they came light? Who ate whom wasn't set in stone.
They wouldn't wait long; the little brother had been laid up a week already.
Turning all this over, Reiji reached the villa, set out a late snack for the three who'd done night training, showered, and collapsed on the sofa. The Pokémon bedded down around the living room.
Spinarak stayed on night watch, webbing the area a hundred meters out in all directions; if a human crossed the lines, it would alert him.
It had taken real effort to get this bit of stability. Unless he had no choice, Reiji didn't want to run again. He just wanted to live quietly and be a decent guy—why was that so hard?
He really did just want to be a good person…
…
On the other side of town, at the east-side city hospital, the shadow who'd tailed Reiji came to report.
"Big bro, I found the kid…"
"Where? How strong? Aside from Poliwhirl and Spinarak, how many Pokémon?" the bruiser, Dan, smoked in the alley behind the hospital, waiting on the briefing.
"I tailed the bar geezer, then his grandkid, and that led me to the kid. He's renting a villa on the west coast—looks loaded…
"Besides Poliwhirl and Spinarak, he's got eight more. Couldn't read their levels—didn't see him fight."
He'd only watched through binoculars from a distance. Even at night in the woods, he'd kept hundreds of meters back, catching only a flicker of firelight.
"Eight? So ten in total." Dan stiffened. Only a true senior trainer would walk around with ten on him.
"Big bro, most of them are for show. Among the eight I saw Magikarp and Wishiwashi. Trash like that. The only one worth noting was a Rhyhorn.
"Other than that it was just Butterfree, Pelipper, Krabby, Farfetch'd, Slowpoke, Magikarp, Wishiwashi…
"Even a Wishiwashi. All garbage. The Poliwhirl's the only real threat; the rest aren't worth worrying about."
"Why didn't you lead with that…?"
At first, "ten Pokémon" had spooked Dan enough to consider dropping it. Hearing Magikarp and Wishiwashi were on the roster, he exhaled and chewed the underling out for burying the lede.
If the kid caught anything and everything, then yeah—he probably wasn't all that. Just watch the Poliwhirl.
"If we're gonna move, the coastal woods are best. At night it's silent work."
"At night?" Dan asked.
"Yeah. I tailed him all day. He trains at night in the woods and only takes four with him. Perfect time."
"Hm." Dan nodded. "Did he spot you?"
"No. And even if he did, so what? There's two of us. It's one Poliwhirl—easy pickings.
"Out there he's only got four on him. We take the kid first, then wipe the four, then hit the villa and collect the rest."
"You did good. Prep tomorrow. We can even set up early in the woods and blindside him," Dan said, eyes drifting back to the ward where his brother lay groaning. The hate in his chest had hardened. He was done with "peaceful." He wanted the kid dragged in to kneel at the bedside, let his brother take the shot, and then finish him.
"Big bro, the kid's got ties to the west-side orphanage. Want me to grab a hostage?" the henchman suggested, oily.
"A hostage?" Dan considered. The orphanage had an old man who was no joke, and he knew the bar drunk. If they hurt a child, that old bull would fight them to the death.
He wasn't about to die wrestling some geezer. Still… a hostage would make the kid fold fast. He wanted him alive for his brother anyway.
"Snatch one tomorrow. Don't hurt the kid, or the old man will go berserk. It's leverage, nothing more. Once we've got the brat, we release the child. Got it?"
He laid out how to do it without provoking the director. He refused to let stupidity snowball the mess.
"Got it, big bro. That old coot's tough and super protective. He lit me up when I was little. But if, y'know…"
"If there's an 'accident,' then there's an accident." Dan shrugged. "It'd be a hassle, but as long as it can't be traced to us, it's fine."
"Understood." With that green light, the lackey relaxed. Babysitting during a fight? Not his problem.
"Good. Keep your mouth shut and you'll be rewarded. After this job, you can buy your third Fighting-type. Go sleep. Wait for my call. Snatch the kid in the afternoon, then set the ambush in the woods…"
"Big bro, it's just you and me who know. Not a third soul."
"Beat it."
He shooed the man off, then returned to the ward. Watching his brother sleep, Dan clasped the unconscious hand, eyes flashing cold.
Tomorrow he'd have revenge.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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