Reiji handled anything that belonged to Riku with extreme care. From the moment he set sail, Riku would never be able to track him down again.
Even if those sunken necklaces and jewels somehow got hauled up by some fisherman one day, what did that have to do with him? It wasn't like they'd flowed out through his hands.
If some fisherman did pull them up, they'd better not get greedy. Otherwise, they'd die horribly. If Riku ever caught a whiff of it, it would be a disaster. Reiji seriously hoped those jewels would sleep at the bottom of the sea forever, never to surface again.
As for the remaining gold and silver, he'd melt it down later and sell it by weight. No need to pretend it was "art."
What, feed Hanhan gold?
Don't joke. Letting it eat raw gold wasn't cost-effective. Selling the gold and swapping it for metal ore was way better. Raising Hanhan didn't require that kind of waste. He had to budget carefully, or he wouldn't be able to afford his own team.
As for digging wild ore…
That was his last resort. Stealing and mining was still illegal. Those wild deposits weren't "unclaimed"—the League just couldn't be bothered most of the time.
There were too many uninhabited islands, too much seabed ore. The League couldn't cover it all, but that didn't mean they'd never crack down.
If things got out of hand, they would investigate. Reiji had zero interest in ending up wanted by the League. Even if he had to buy black-market ore, he still didn't want to touch wild mining.
Once the gold and jewelry were dealt with, there were still Riku's personal odds and ends. Anything useful went into the "miscellaneous" bag—except for a few books. Those couldn't be sold.
By "miscellaneous," he meant stuff like potion sprays and food. As for self-defense weapons and the like, he dumped all of it into the sea. Those couldn't be sold either.
Even the potion sprays, status-curing medicines, and prepackaged meals were all mass-produced goods. They were high-end, sure, but moving that kind of contraband wouldn't raise suspicion. He could offload them safely.
After packing the valuables, there was still another pile of "miscellaneous"—the not-for-kids kind. Just looking at it made his eyes sting. He didn't even know if this counted as Riku's personal privacy.
Don't ask what he saw. It was just… blindingly disgusting. Rich people had their hobbies. If you knew, you knew. Say too much and it wouldn't even pass. While cleaning it up, he was cursing nonstop.
Damn it. How could someone be this twisted? It wasn't just gross—it had all been used. This was the kind of filthy that got on your hands.
He threw away the gloves he'd worn on the spot. Then he dumped every last bit of that stuff into the sea as well. The ocean already carried too much it never should've had to carry. He actually felt a little guilty toward the ocean.
But hey—don't blame him. Blame Riku. Who told him to keep that kind of garbage in his backpack? Reiji had even kept his mouth shut. He'd already done more than enough. Riku ought to hand him a "good guy" card for that.
There were also Riku's bank cards. Reiji knew there was money in them—an absurd amount—but it didn't matter. Without the password, he couldn't touch a single Pokédollar.
He hadn't found Riku's ID card in the backpack either. Looks like strong trainers had solid security habits. That money wasn't for him.
So after tossing the personal items, the bank cards followed—one by one, sailing into the sea. No matter how much was inside, he couldn't use them, and throwing them away was the cleanest solution.
As for guessing the password… forget it.
It was six digits, with only five attempts. If he had an ID card, he could at least try five educated guesses. Without one, where would he even start?
It was pure wasted time. Who even knew if the guy used a birthday code? And the moment he withdrew anything, he'd expose himself. He'd already made an insane haul—why obsess over whatever "small change" was in a bank card?
…
By the time everything was sorted, Reiji was honestly convinced the value inside Riku's backpack alone was higher than the combined value of all the other backpacks he'd looted earlier.
One man contributing the "worth" of forty people—that was what a quasi–Elite Four tier trainer's assets should look like.
The Pokémon hunters he'd taken down on Fairchild Island now looked laughable in comparison. At best, they were bargain-bin "Advanced tier" trainers.
"Budget edition?"
Sorry—those guys didn't even qualify as the budget edition. A "budget edition Advanced trainer" wouldn't be unable to scrape together even a few million.
Even Naoki—the washed-up quasi–Elite Four tier trainer—had been able to pull out over two hundred million.
If he hadn't been that poor, he wouldn't have gone after a Pidgeot's chick in the first place. Outside of his Pokémon, the only things he owned with any real value were his items.
Reiji suspected the guy hadn't been planning to sell the chick at all. He'd probably meant to raise it himself.
After all, an Elite Four tier Pidgeot's offspring—something that cool, a Flying-type like that—could easily sell for fifty million.
But no matter how you sliced it, it was all Reiji's now. This was a real windfall. Exactly how many hundreds of millions it added up to would depend on how much he could sell. Choosing to do this job had been the right call. He was genuinely rich now.
Next problem: how to move all this contraband.
He currently had three channels.
One: the drunk old man. Two: Naoki. Three: himself.
The drunk old man didn't need much explanation. Going to that old guy was the lowest-risk option—he'd dealt with him for ages. Reiji planned to let him handle the Pokémon.
It was the safest and most reliable choice, especially since some of the Pokémon were sensitive contraband—Team Rocket contraband, to be exact.
As for everything else, he planned to use Naoki's channels. Naoki had once been the Rock Gang's leader, and a quasi–Elite Four tier trainer.
Even a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Taking him in as muscle was paying off already—perfect for moving contraband.
As for Reiji personally, when he had no one under him, he'd had to take risks and sell things himself. Now that he had people, why would he step into that danger? The risk was far too high.
Once he'd settled the plan, he released Gengar again. Aside from his own backpack and Krabby's Poké Ball, he had Gengar swallow all twelve backpacks. He'd pull them out again once they reached Sunburst Island.
He kept Krabby's Poké Ball because he planned to sell it to Naoki. Even at a "friends' price," ten million was fair.
If he could prove Krabby's parents were Elite Four tier, the value would at least double—well over twenty million.
Unfortunately, he couldn't prove it. Asking Naoki for twenty million anyway would be pushing it.
Naoki was a newly recruited subordinate. Reiji planned to use him as a tool, sure, but he still needed the guy to put in work selling contraband later. He couldn't just squeeze him dry and expect loyalty. Better to sell it at a friendly price.
If Naoki recovered his strength later—or even climbed higher—Reiji would decide then. He might need a "pair of gloves" to handle certain inconvenient problems for him.
That wasn't decided yet. One step at a time.
As for that Sandshrew?
No need to sell it to Naoki. The guy was already thinking about changing his entire direction—what was the point of keeping Sandshrew around?
Honestly, Flygon and Swampert wouldn't be checked by Water-types anyway, but the future Geodude and Aggron would be. Geodude and Swampert would also be checked by Grass-types, and Sandshrew got checked by Grass-types too.
Maybe Naoki would want that advanced tier Fire Stone. But there were only a few Pokémon that evolved with a Fire Stone: Flareon, Arcanine, Ninetales… and the remaining two weren't even worth mentioning.
Going by Naoki's taste when he raised Magcargo before, he probably wouldn't like those Fire-types. That was his personal choice either way. Reiji didn't care—he wasn't going down a Fire-type path, and Fire-types were also naturally checked by his rain team.
At the end of the day, Naoki who already had Flygon, Aggron, and Geodude didn't need to catch Sandshrew. It was redundant. And Sandshrew's potential wasn't as high as Krabby's.
It was fine to trap outsiders with deals like that. No need to trap his own people. Even if Naoki was "just muscle," Reiji did see him as his subordinate.
If Naoki was only feeling nostalgic, then sure—keep a few Ground-types. But most of the wild Pokémon they'd run into going forward would still skew toward Water-, Grass-, Bug-, Poison-, and Flying-types.
Ground- and Rock-types could still be found in underground caves. If Naoki stayed devoted to those two types, Reiji had nothing to say. He wasn't going to micromanage. He'd only do the final check—what Naoki chose was Naoki's business.
If Naoki wanted to spend money at a Pokémon Day Care route or a breeder channel to get Pokémon, same deal. His choice. He had the right to choose.
Reiji lay on the balcony and let the sun bake his skin. He tossed all the planning out of his head. Watching the ocean sunset mattered more.
When dinner came around, Naoki returned with food. The two ate while they talked.
Reiji took out Krabby's Poké Ball and told Naoki the Krabby had Elite Four tier potential, asking if he wanted to buy it.
Naoki paid immediately. Reiji only asking for ten million actually moved him so much he broke down crying on the spot.
Krabby's potential was fifty-six, after all. That really did count as Elite Four tier talent.
After that, Reiji brought out Sandshrew and told Naoki this Sandshrew was slightly worse than the Krabby, but it was still a Pokémon Day Care shop's "signature treasure," basically quasi–Elite Four tier talent.
Naoki wanted to buy it too—still for ten million.
But Reiji raised a hand and stopped him. He had to spell it out clearly and make Naoki think it through.
Did Naoki really want to keep walking the path of Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-types? If it came down to Gyarados and Sandshrew, he'd lean toward Gyarados—because this was the Orange Archipelago.
Even if he were in Naoki's shoes, he'd make the same choice. Naoki was already planning to catch Geodude. If he caught Sandshrew too, their roles would overlap. More than that, Naoki already had three Ground-types: Flygon, Geodude, Swampert…
In the end, after thinking it over seriously, Naoki gave up on Sandshrew. Compared to Ground-types, going with Water-types gave a bigger advantage in the Orange Archipelago. He'd been thinking about it for a long time.
Before, he'd stayed stuck on the Rock-type road mostly because it was hard to turn a big ship around once it got moving. Now that he had a chance to change lanes, there was no need to keep marching down the same old road.
Naoki ultimately chose a Water-type core, with other types as support—so he wouldn't get hard-countered by Electric- and Grass-types.
And the real threat was Grass-types. With Ground-types on hand, Electric-types weren't that scary.
To avoid getting checked by Grass-types, Bug-, Poison-, and Flying-types all worked well—and those were easy to find in the wild. Once they reached Sunburst Island, he'd go take a walk through the forest. Maybe he'd run into a few with decent potential.
After Naoki told his leader what he was thinking and turned down the Sandshrew, he quickly picked up on just how easygoing his leader was. The man never put on airs, and he never tried to exaggerate the gap in status.
Faced with a leader that approachable, Naoki didn't dare get complacent. Anything disrespectful was completely out of the question.
As a subordinate, he understood his own ability and position clearly.
His leader treating him kindly was a matter of style—personal charm—not a reflection of Naoki's worth.
In his current state, his situation was rough. He had almost nothing. You could say he had no value at all. Being able to meet a leader who treated subordinates well and even helped him recover his strength was rare.
Looking back, he'd lived through far too much deceit and scheming. He'd never expected that people could cooperate like this.
To him, this opportunity was a precious asset—proof that on the road of growth, there could be someone willing to guide and support him like a mentor and ally.
Because of that, Naoki would treasure this relationship. He would treat it seriously, and repay his leader's trust and care through real actions.
As a subordinate, he would always be ready. Whatever the task, he had to carry out his leader's will without compromise, executing to the highest standard—meeting, or even surpassing, what his leader expected of him.
…
After dinner, Naoki said goodbye and returned to his room, still thinking about the road ahead.
Reiji watched the moon for a while. He hadn't expected that a single dinner would make Naoki hype himself up into full loyalty mode—draw himself a giant "future pie," and then eat it himself.
People were hard to read. Reiji only took him in because he had the strength to suppress him. If he hadn't been sure, he wouldn't have opened his mouth.
Reiji hadn't changed. He was still that cautious. If he wasn't confident, he didn't do it—unless he had no choice.
After watching the moon with his Pokémon for a bit, he went back inside and fell asleep. He slept until morning, and the next day arrived in a blink…
He and Naoki spent the entire day discussing Pokémon training. When it came to raising Ground- and Rock-types, Naoki knew far more than he did.
Reiji quietly memorized Naoki's experience with Ground- and Rock-type training. He could use it later on Hanhan and Swampert too.
As for Water-types, Naoki did most of the asking. Reiji answered what he knew. What he didn't know, he didn't pretend. And anything tied to secrets, he didn't say at all.
That afternoon—the twenty-first day of their northbound journey—they arrived at Valencia Island, the island with Professor Ivy's lab.
After the passenger ship docked for an hour, it set off again. This time, the destination was Sunburst Island. They'd arrive tomorrow night.
Sunburst Island would also be a one-hour stop. Then the ship would depart again, and by the next morning, it would reach the port of Mandarin Island North.
But by then, they'd already be off the ship.
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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