Butterfree took over guard duty from Poliwhirl and kept Croagunk company through drills until evening, when Reiji finally let the team out for dinner.
As for the two scrappers in the Pokémon Center—if they still hadn't had enough of fighting, they could skip a meal.
Once everyone ate, he recalled the team and had Butterfree carry over two Pokéblocks: a Water-type block for Poliwhirl, a Bug-type block for Scyther.
Then he leaned back against a tree. Croagunk settled beside him. Trainer and Pokémon shared the easy quiet after dinner until Shun found them.
"Reiji-nii, there you are! Have you eaten?"
Shun had asked Nurse Joy where to look, then followed the path behind the pokemon Center to the sight of Reiji watching the sunset.
"I have. You? How'd the day go?"
"I ate. Also ran more than ten matches and made a tidy hundred thousand."
He grinned, counting his earnings. Bug-type Trainers had been good business.
"Not bad. You're improving."
Reiji chuckled and looked back to the blaze of clouds.
"Reiji-nii, the town's holding a Bug-Catching Contest tomorrow. Can we stay for it? There's a prize for first place."
"Bug-Catching Contest, huh? If you want to join, join."
Travel was the point. An extra day didn't hurt.
But that sort of thing couldn't happen over and over. Travelers chased an unbound life. Teams formed for a while and made small compromises, but only so many times. Everyone had their own road to walk, and you couldn't always bend to someone else's pace.
If differences grew wide, parting did both sides good. Reiji could wait once or twice, but not too many times.
Still, Shun understood. They'd split at Kinnow Island anyway. Just a short stretch remained.
"Oh, and after the Contest there's a Bug-type exchange meet at night. Trainers swap the Bugs they caught. If someone wants to trade away a good one, I'm going to be there to see… maybe buy a sleeper with real potential."
"An exchange meet? How did I not hear about that?"
Shun's face was a row of question marks. After a long day of battles he'd only heard "Bug-Catching Contest," nothing about an exchange.
"It's on the mission board at the Pokémon Center. Go look."
Reiji waved him off.
"I'll check it now."
Shun jumped to his feet.
"Rooms are booked, by the way—thirty-four and thirty-five. I'm in thirty-five, you're in thirty-four."
"Got it!"
He called back without turning and sprinted for the Center.
It was his first time away from home. New island, strange Trainers, unfamiliar matches, odd contests—everything was new, and he ran like a horse cut free of its reins.
Reiji could only smile. The sun was dropping; time to start his own plan.
He returned Croagunk to its ball, then Butterfree. He was about to swing by the Center for Poliwhirl when Poliwhirl waddled out on its own.
"Yobo, yobo!"
It ran at him, thrilled.
"Good. We've got a job to do."
He ruffled its head and settled the bill with Nurse Joy: 10,000 Pokédollars for Poliwhirl and Scyther's treatment.
He asked where Scyther had gone. Nurse Joy said they'd left together. Reiji hadn't seen Scyther—so it had slipped away again.
He could only laugh. Scyther had a warrior's pride, yet had no trouble taking his help—then snubbed him after. It did, however, love Poliwhirl. Two losses hadn't tamed it; if anything, the bug was more fired up each time. Reiji couldn't read it and stopped trying.
They'd be on Murcott Island for one more day anyway. He'd ask again. If Scyther refused, that would be the end of it.
Sure, he wanted a cool Scyther. But he wasn't going to force it. Let fate decide.
Walking through town with Poliwhirl didn't draw a single stare; with the Contest tomorrow, Trainers like him were everywhere.
His destination was the flower shop—Saya's workplace. He'd wait for her to get off and trade his "haunted seaview castle hotel" pitch for a cooperative Ghost-type.
As for customer flow, he had that covered. The island's Bug-type resources drew Trainers in waves. The castle hotel could ride that tide—especially with a recurring Bug-Catching Contest.
The hotel wouldn't lack guests. What mattered was how to pull them in.
That was where psychology helped—reactance. If you wanted someone to do something, you told them the opposite. Used right, it was a blade advertisers loved—and it worked wonders on rebellious young Trainers.
He'd heard every trick back in his last life. Singles, simps, marriages, every audience had its own script. He'd been targeted so often he'd built up immunity. Reactance was the shortcut to traffic.
For the haunted castle hotel, you built buzz around the "ghost" and reeled them in. Add a souvenir badge for overnight guests and it was easy to dial up that young Trainer crowd.
Why the badge?
Because Trainers were wired for badges. Years of League brainwashing made "badges prove strength" a reflex buried deep—beyond rebuttal.
So—ads and badges together. Then crown it with a pretty, soft-spoken proprietor at the haunted hotel.
Checkmate.
Don't think "simps" only existed in his last life. This world had plenty.
If the castle could become a hotel, the deed was a small problem. A grandmother's will would be enough.
It all felt solid. He could persuade Saya to open the hotel—and, with her help, earn a well-behaved Gastly. Condition one: there had to be a Gastly in there. If it was some other Ghost, he'd pass.
Ghosts that hid perfectly in shadows were rare—Gengar's line, the "Shadow Pokémon," could vanish in any object's shadow, which made them exceptional at stealth.
A Gengar's body worked like a heat sink, too—its presence could drop ambient temperature by five degrees. In summer, you could treat it like walking air-con. It could even fly, almost like having Levitate.
Marshadow and Darkrai were also masters of shadow, but one was a Mythical, the other a Mythical nightmare. Both were far harder than his purple target.
With the plan sketched, Reiji headed for the flower shop with Poliwhirl. Sunset still held, the shop was open—and Saya had already spotted him.
"Mr. Reiji, what brings you here?"
Her heart sank. He was probably here for the castle again.
After the way she'd introduced the castle that afternoon, she'd thought he might give up. Yet here he was.
"Miss Saya, do you have a minute?"
He hadn't meant to interrupt her work, but since she spoke first, he pushed on.
"I do. Do you have more questions?"
Her smile stayed store-warm, giving nothing away.
"Let's talk somewhere quieter?"
He glanced down the road. A small garden with a bench sat at the end—good enough.
"Okay. Please wait a moment."
She wouldn't agree to any plan to "clean out" the castle's Ghosts. But she could at least hear him out.
A few minutes later she stepped out, apron off, still in the white dress from noon.
"Is this your Pokémon? Poliwhirl is so cute."
She bent to pat its head.
Poliwhirl brought up a white-gloved palm and batted her hand aside. Strangers didn't get to touch.
"Poliwhirl."
Reiji shot the frog a look. The well-behaved one refused a pretty girl? He barely got the chance himself.
"Yobo, yobo."
Poliwhirl disliked any hand but Reiji's on its head and made its case with fists clenched.
"Your Poliwhirl has personality."
Saya didn't mind. She drew back her hand and followed him to the little garden.
"It does. It's also my best partner."
He took the embarrassment with a smile. They found a bench with a view of the red-roofed castle.
"Beautiful…"
"What?"
Saya didn't know who he meant. Her cheeks colored—was he talking about her?
"The castle."
Reiji hadn't noticed her blush; the castle in the sunset had his eye.
The sun was pinned to the line of sea and sky, brushing the vault with a thin blush that blossomed into roseate dusk like a girl's shy smile.
"It really is."
She came here every day at this hour. The castle at sunset was worth it.
"Miss Saya, I have a way to solve the castle problem. Do you want to hear it?"
He dragged his gaze from the horizon to the girl beside him. This close to a girl—second time. The first… best left unsaid.
"What?"
She blinked. She thought he meant "clearing out" the Ghosts.
"I'll only ask once. Do you want to keep the castle?"
Reiji held her clear, dark eyes. Lashes fluttered; for a beat, the look was disarming.
"Mr. Reiji, I don't know what you mean."
After two seconds she dodged his gaze.
"Alright. Goodbye."
If she wouldn't put the cards down, neither would he. He stood to leave.
"Wait, Mr. Reiji!"
She reached out on instinct and grabbed his arm. "I want to hear your way to save the castle. Can we talk?"
"Uh?"
Reiji's eyes dropped to her hand.
"Ah!"
She followed his look and jerked back, face flushing. "Sorry, Mr. Reiji. I didn't mean—"
He only laughed and sat again. Then he laid out the haunted seaview castle hotel.
"You're saying: run it as a hotel and layer in haunted-house thrills to draw visitors?"
Saya listened, weighed feasibility, and in the end sighed.
The idea was sound. But she was just one person. Running a hotel would take dozens.
"What's wrong?"
Had he missed something?
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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