Reiji's second day at the Gym started under a cloudy sky.
He'd gone to bed early, but he still woke before dawn and couldn't fall back asleep. A glance at his watch showed a little after six—more than two hours until his nine o'clock shift.
The moment he got up, he woke the Pokémon as well. Nobody managed to stay asleep after that, and Poliwhirl and the others went out for an early run while he sorted breakfast.
When the food was ready, he called them back in and ate with them outside. Reiji sat on the bench by the cabin wall, looking out over the lake, while the Pokémon crouched under the eaves and ate beside him.
As the sun rose, the lake changed by the minute. Light filtered through the treetops and spilled across the water until the surface shone green and gold, rippling softly in the breeze.
The lake mirrored the blue sky, framed by thick, lively vegetation. Each gust wrinkled the reflection and pulled the whole place fully awake.
Reiji let out a low whistle. "This view is something else."
Back home, a place like this would've been a top-tier tourist spot. Here, it sat in the countryside like it was nothing, and the world looked better cared for because of it.
A cabin, a lake, wide grassland, and forest—perfect for Pokémon to play, train, and camp by the water. It also meant he didn't need to drag Croagunk and the others to the Gym; they could train here on their own, and he'd come back at lunch.
After breakfast, he brought Poliwhirl and Kingler down to the shore to see how deep the lake ran.
"Poliwhirl, Kingler—check the water. See what Water-types are living in there."
Poliwhirl dove in with a splash. Kingler followed more steadily, sinking toward the bottom.
Reiji stayed on the bank and watched the surface. If the lake didn't have anything too dangerous, he planned to clear it out and use it as a private training pool.
Wild Pokémon from the forest could still come drink, but he wasn't keeping other Water-types in the lake itself. He'd rented the place; the lake counted as his and his team's territory now.
Not long after they went in, bubbles erupted near the middle of the lake. The water clouded as something churned below.
Poliwhirl popped up first and immediately fired a Mud Shot at the bubbling spot.
The mud hit—and huge shapes surged up in response. A massive blue head broke the surface, followed by several others, and dozens of smaller jellyfish rose with them.
"Tentacruel… and that's a whole swarm of Tentacool." Reiji raised his voice. "Poliwhirl, pull them in!"
He turned to the Pokémon behind him. "Everyone else, back off and hide. Don't stand right here—if you do, they won't dare come ashore. Let Poliwhirl lure them onto the grass, then we hit them."
Butterfree led the smaller Pokémon back toward the cabin. Reiji stayed near the shore with Scyther and Rhyhorn, while Gengar and Darkrai waited in the shadows.
Kingler climbed out first, water dripping from its claws. Poliwhirl stayed in the lake, dragging the attention of the lead Tentacruel and keeping it angry.
Once Kingler reached the bank, Poliwhirl began retreating toward shore while striking back, making sure the leader stayed focused on it.
Butterfree returned to the shoreline after settling the non-combatants, hovering close because Reiji needed its Sleep Powder.
Reiji and the others backed away to leave a wide strip of grass open. The plan was simple: let the Tentacruel group come up, block their retreat, have Butterfree put them all to sleep, then capture them cleanly.
Poliwhirl reached the shore—but the moment the Tentacruel saw Reiji, Scyther, and the rest waiting, it stopped. The leader dipped under the surface, and the whole group vanished into the lake again.
Reiji clicked his tongue and sent Poliwhirl and Kingler back in to harass them in turns, the same way he'd once baited out that Crystal Onix. He kept at it until they finally took the hook.
Kingler went down first and stirred up the bottom hard enough to make the lake roil, but even that didn't bring them out.
Poliwhirl took the next run. Back and forth they went—four or five rounds—until the group finally snapped and surged onto land together.
Three Tentacruel hauled themselves up, with twenty or thirty Tentacool following in a messy wave.
Scyther, Rhyhorn, Poliwhirl, and Kingler lined up along the shore and cut off the path back to the lake.
The Tentacruel hesitated, boxed in. That was when Butterfree drifted over their heads and shook a glittering powder from its wings.
The Tentacruel looked up for half a heartbeat—then the whole group sagged and collapsed into sleep as the powder hit their systems.
Reiji went back inside, grabbed a stack of empty Poké Balls, and returned to the grass. One by one, he captured every sleeping jellyfish until the ground lay clear again.
After that, he checked their panels while he picked up the balls. The leader Tentacruel sat at level 41, but all three Tentacruel had disappointing potential. The leader only reached 43, and the other two hovered around 39–40.
He checked the Tentacool next. Most looked ordinary, but one stood out.
[Tentacool]
[Type: Water/Poison][Gender: Female][Potential: 52%][Level: 11.12%][Ability: Clear Body/5.53%][Hidden Ability: Rain Dish/7.13%][Moves: (Knock Off/3.21%) (Rapid Spin/3.31%) (Haze/4.11%) (Aurora Beam/5.14%) (Poison Sting/5.71%) (Water Gun/8.22%) (Acid/5.16%) (Wrap/4.44%) (Supersonic/6.02%)]
This one actually had room to grow. With 52 potential, it could reach Elite Four tier if raised properly, and Aurora Beam suggested decent Ice aptitude as well.
Rain Dish also fit his rain team neatly. Renting a cabin had turned into a surprisingly good catch.
He decided to keep this Tentacool and release the rest back to the sea later.
As for the kitchen lady's request, this still wasn't suitable. If he was gifting a Water-type to a beginner, it shouldn't be a Poison-type like Tentacool.
"Poliwhirl, Kingler—go back in and check the lake again. Drive anything else up."
They slipped into the water, but Reiji watched for a moment and realised the sweep would take too long with just the two of them. He looked down at his shadow.
"Darkrai, use Dark Void and help them. Let's finish this quickly—I've got work."
"Got it," Darkrai replied, sliding away through the shade. Gengar followed along, eager to poke around the lake bottom as long as it didn't cause trouble.
From there, the jobs split cleanly: Poliwhirl and Kingler flushed out wild Water-types, Darkrai put them to sleep, and the fliers—Scyther, Butterfree, and Pelipper—carried the sleeping Pokémon onto shore.
Reiji waited on the bank and captured whatever they brought up. Most of it was normal lake stock: Shellder, Krabby, Goldeen, Seaking, Staryu, Magikarp, and more of the same.
After more than an hour, they'd pulled every Water-type out of the lake proper. Reiji left the shoreline residents alone—amphibious Pokémon like Poliwag and Lotad could keep living near the water without issue.
Krabby counted as amphibious too, but he didn't tolerate bullies that fought for territory. Gentle wild Pokémon could stay; Krabby that liked to seize ground had to go.
By the end, he'd captured forty or fifty wild Water-types. None of the Shellder met his standards—he wanted a high-potential Shellder for Slowpoke's evolution later—so these would be released.
One Krabby did show decent potential at 48. If the kitchen lady really needed a Pokémon, a Krabby like that could work. Staryu and Shellder were also options, depending on what she wanted.
With the Tentacruel group and the other captures packed away, Reiji chose who stayed at the cabin.
He left nine Pokémon behind: Rhyhorn, Shelmet, Butterfree, Slowpoke, Croagunk, Golbat, Ditto, Spinarak, and Farfetch'd. He put Butterfree, Spinarak, Farfetch'd, and Slowpoke in charge of keeping the others steady.
The remaining thirteen stayed with him for easier care, and he kept Gengar on hand as well. Leaving that glutton alone in the cabin still felt like tempting fate.
"Butterfree, Spinarak, Slowpoke—these little ones are on you. I'll be back for lunch. Keep them fed, keep them safe."
Butterfree drifted closer and rubbed its cheek against his face, reluctant to see him go. It wanted the open air and the smell of flowers; being shut in a Poké Ball didn't suit it anymore.
Reiji pointed at the Rhyhorn already chewing through grass like it owned the world. "And watch Hanhan. If it wants to charge trees, keep it near the forest edge. Don't let it wander off and smash something important."
Butterfree nodded, then glanced at Hanhan with the tired look of someone who already knew they were babysitting trouble.
"And don't slack off either," Reiji added, ruffling Butterfree's head. "Keep up the psychic training."
Butterfree's compound eyes narrowed in protest.
Reiji sighed and gave in. "Fine. If you want to steal honey, take Spinarak and Farfetch'd with you."
He'd pushed the psychic training for one reason: if Butterfree ever got caught alone, it needed something it could rely on besides wings.
Even if it didn't train much, he'd still protect it. Butterfree wasn't just a Pokémon—it was family.
After saying goodbye, Reiji climbed onto Pelipper and flew back toward Mikan Gym. The flight took only a few minutes, and he spotted orchard workers harvesting citrus below.
The cabin sat close enough that commuting would be easy from now on.
When he arrived, Cissy and Senta were already there, along with a young man in formal clothes. Everyone had finished breakfast; Reiji had timed it tight and nearly hit nine on the dot.
"Rai, you were almost late. Breakfast is already cold," Cissy said.
"Sorry, Gym Leader Cissy," Reiji replied. "I just moved in, so the morning got messy."
"Go grab your food from the kitchen," Cissy said. "The orchard work will take a few more days, so you're still filling in until then."
The suited young man spoke up, voice clipped. "Cissy, this is the acting Gym Leader you brought in?"
He looked Reiji over—black shirt, shorts—and the disdain didn't even try to hide behind politeness.
"We're leaving," Cissy said, and didn't bother explaining a thing. She didn't like Reiji, and she didn't like that relative either.
They walked out together.
Reiji watched them go, baffled by the hostility. Anyone could see the man had taken one look at him and decided he was the enemy.
"Senta," Reiji said, turning back. "Who was that?"
Senta blinked. "Him?"
Reiji smacked the boy lightly on the head. "Who else?"
"Oh. Him." Senta straightened up and explained quickly. "He's a distant relative from my great-grandfather's brother's side. He's handled the citrus sales for a while—so he's basically my older cousin."
Reiji froze for a second. "You're joking."
Now the attitude made sense—and it made everything feel absurdly melodramatic.
This was the Pokémon world, not some soap-opera script. He wasn't getting dragged into a "childhood friend versus newcomer" mess.
He exhaled hard and shook his head. No romance plot, no rival drama—just training, work, and fishing when he had time.
If anything, Reiji hated the idea of becoming that kind of desperate hanger-on more than anything else.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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