The cruise ship turned rowdy fast. Up in the captain's room, the captain issued a bounty: spot any of the three intruders and you'd get a reward; help capture them and you'd get even more.
He deliberately called them "intruders," not "murderers," to avoid panicking the passengers—and to rally the trainers on board to help the search.
Where were Reiji and Shun?
Not hiding at all. Both wore black T-shirts and stood openly at the bow with the other curious passengers, watching sailors sweep the decks again and again.
They knew exactly what the sailors were looking for—so acting sneaky would only look suspicious.
Reiji figured the three weren't hiding either; he just didn't know where. Time to lure them out.
As bait, of course, they'd use Shun. They'd planned it the moment they hauled the "dead" cook out of the water: Shun would draw the trio; Reiji would cover him from the shadows. Shun was the weaker target—perfect to tempt them into the open. (The "dead" man hadn't drowned: he woke as soon as he hit the water, Pelipper fished him up, they knocked him out again, and Spinarak webbed him beneath the rail. He'd live; when he woke, drool would dissolve the web over his mouth and he could call for help.)
Sailors circled the ship again and again without finding the three. The captain fumed, but there wasn't much else to do.
Seeing that, Reiji decided to give them a hand.
"Ready? Send out Poliwhirl," he told Shun, clap-ping his shoulder.
"Do we… really have to?" Shun's nerves spiked; the memory of Ren's cold eyes still chilled him.
"Yeah. We draw them out and let the sailors do the rest—otherwise we'll be chased forever," Reiji said, leading him toward a crowded spot to set the trap. "Don't tense up. I'll be nearby. And you're not the sailors' target."
Shun released Poliwhirl and followed. After a loop around the ship, they reached the biggest dance hall and bar—packed, noisy, perfect for bait.
Reiji nudged Shun forward. Shun ordered a fruit juice at the counter and sat, scanning the room, expecting Ren to leap out of the dark at any second.
Sure enough, the plan worked. Ren's trio tailed them there—but only Shun was at the bar; Reiji had vanished.
They knew it was a trap. Still, Shun sat there for half an hour, Reiji never showed, and the kid didn't leave. In the end, they had to risk it.
Shun spotted three masked figures surging toward him and hurled his glass.
"If you come any closer—I'll scream! Help! Help!"
He didn't run straight away; Poliwhirl screened him while he lobbed more glasses, yelling as he wove into the crowd. The band stopped. Every head turned. Bodies closed around him, keeping the trio from striking. Shun recalled Poliwhirl mid-scramble.
Within thirty seconds, sailors rushed in and surrounded the three. More sailors pounded toward the hall; passengers flooded for the exits. Reiji melted into the flow, grabbed Shun's wrist, and pulled him out.
"Re—"
"Shh. Move," Reiji whispered.
They slipped upstairs and watched from the balcony until they saw the trio pinned.
On the floor below, with sailors hemming them in, Ren released his Pokémon to break out—until one man stepped down and every instinct screamed danger.
"Kill my crewman and think you can run?" the newcomer said. "You won't."
The captain.
"We didn't kill anyone. This is a misunderstanding," Ren forced out, suddenly unsure why the hatred in the room was aimed at them like knives.
"Still lying?" The captain pointed. "Golduck—Confusion. Lock them."
Ren and his Manectric froze mid-motion, crushed by psychic pressure. Against a quasi-Elite captain, a fresh trainer like Ren had no chance.
"Tie them all. I'll question them myself."
Sailors whooped as they trussed the three and forced their Pokémon back into balls, then escorted them to the captain's room—Golduck padding beside its trainer, blue eyes glowing.
"Talk. Why are you on my ship? What are you after? Why did you kill my cook?"
Three questions. The first two, Ren could never answer. The third… they hadn't done. And that told him everything: Reiji had framed them. The dance-hall chaos was a setup—to drag them into the open and let the sailors swing the blade.
With their Poké Balls confiscated and no path back, Ren changed tack.
"It wasn't us. It was the two we were chasing."
"Oh? Names," the captain said flatly.
"I can't say. They stole from our club. That's why we're after them," Ren lied by omission. If the captain learned those two were valuable, they were dead men walking.
"So you were lured into the hall," the captain mused, scratching his beard. Someone was using his sailors as pawns. Did the culprits know he'd be there? Maybe not—maybe they only needed a crowd and the sailors would be enough. Either way, he wanted the bait.
"Strip them and throw them in the brig. No sleep—cold water if they nod off—until they talk. When we dock, their club can ransom them." He paused. "And find the kid who threw the glass and yelled for help."
If they caught that boy, everything would unravel.
By then, Reiji and Shun had ducked back to the same kitchen storeroom. This time, luck ran out. A sailor cracked the door, and they knocked him cold before he could shout.
They exchanged a look. The hideout was burned.
They couldn't show their faces—too many people had seen Shun in the hall. And who knew what Ren had already spilled.
So they masked up with Ditto and strolled out like nothing was wrong. Several sailors passed within arm's reach and didn't blink.
Then one stopped them. "Are you passengers?"
"We are," Reiji answered smoothly.
"Tickets?" The sailor's eyes narrowed. The captain's bulletin described two boys: one mid-teens, one barely twelve. The shapes matched.
Reiji did have a ticket—but not for this cruise. Shun had none. Reiji handed over his slip while Shun "looked" through his bag.
The sailor glanced down, frowning—wrong ticket—then crumpled to a chop to the neck.
And a group of nearby passengers saw it.
Reiji and Shun felt the room turn toward them. In that moment, they were exposed. Reiji grabbed Shun and ran—any direction with fewer people.
Sailors converged from every corridor, the ring tightening. The boys cut through passage after passage, thinking—Pelipper? Fly off? But the night ocean was pitch black, with no bearings; they could fly themselves to death and never find land. Worse, they were deep in the cabin block; they still needed several turns to reach open deck.
They rounded the last corner toward the stairs up—only to face a squad of sailors coming down. They recoiled—
—and more boots thundered in from the way they'd come.
Trapped in a corridor with sailors at both ends, Shun swallowed hard. "Reiji… there's no way out. What do we do?"
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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