At noon, Reiji packed up his own lunch and boxed meals for the Pokémon as well. He rode Pelipper back to the lakeside cabin to check whether the little ones were settling in.
He hadn't even been on the ground for long before Butterfree flew straight over, pointed at the lake, and cried out in a panic. "Free! Free!"
"What happened, Butterfree?" Reiji couldn't make sense of it, so he had Darkrai come out to interpret.
"It says there are Tentacruel in the lake," Darkrai translated immediately.
"Darkrai, go check whether it's the same Tentacruel," Reiji said. If that whole group had come back, he wanted to know.
A shadow slipped away from his feet and skimmed across the water. It returned not long after with a firm answer.
"Yes. They're back," Darkrai reported from within his shadow.
"Then there's probably an underground stream at the bottom—one that connects to the sea," Reiji said, not particularly bothered. "They must've followed it in."
It was annoying, but manageable. He could have Poliwhirl and the others smack the Tentacruel group into behaving, catch the leaders again, then seal every outlet with rocks so they couldn't slip back in.
Lunch came first. He set the food down, portioned meals out for the Pokémon staying behind, and everyone ate together under the eaves.
Afterward, while the others rested, he took Poliwhirl, Kingler, and Darkrai to the lakeside and laid out the plan. "Poliwhirl, your main target is the Tentacruel leader. The Tentacool don't matter—scare them off. Watch where they run, then drag rocks over and plug that exit."
"Poli!" Poliwhirl flexed an arm like it was nothing, then splashed into the water. Kingler followed right after.
"Darkrai, hit the Tentacruel leader with Dark Void. Once it's out, drag it up and I'll catch it."
"Understood," Darkrai said. Putting an ordinary Pokémon to sleep was effortless for it.
Reiji didn't have to wait long. Bubbles broke the surface, and Kingler surfaced with Darkrai—two Tentacruel in tow. Reiji tossed out Poké Balls one after another and secured them both.
Kingler went back under. Reiji glanced at Darkrai, and Darkrai translated again at the right moment. "We found the entrance to an underground stream. They're moving rocks to seal it."
"Good. Keep searching," Reiji said. "Anyplace with a current down there could be another outlet. Check whether anything else slipped in this morning, too—if it's in the lake, bring it out."
He checked the Tentacruel's panel and confirmed it was the same bunch from earlier, which meant the stream was doing the smuggling. He wanted every opening found and blocked.
Poliwhirl and Kingler hauled rocks around the lakebed, sealing one outlet after another. While they were down there, they also chased out a few wild Water-types that had sneaked in sometime that morning—until the lake finally went still again, with no more signs of anything hiding below.
Only then did Reiji recall the team, remind Butterfree to keep an eye on the little ones and make sure they still trained, and ride Pelipper back to the gym.
With the lake's layout still unclear, he wasn't confident he'd found every outlet. He decided he'd check again in a couple of days. Once he was sure nothing else could wander in, he'd let the goofballs back into the lake to swim.
This time, he had Pelipper fly out over the sea. He released the Tentacruel and the other wild Water-types above open water, then returned to land and dropped down at the gym entrance.
The Tentacruel still tried to spit poison up at him, furious about being chased off again. From the air, they couldn't reach a thing. Reiji couldn't help wondering what they'd do once they realised their "shortcut home" was gone.
Inside the gym, Senta was actually training with his Squirtle. Whatever had gotten into him, he was taking it seriously for once and barely slacking off.
Reiji didn't expect the attitude to last. Most kids burned hot for a day, then drifted right back to lazy habits. Still, effort was effort.
He headed to the pool, released Poliwhirl and the others, and started the afternoon training routine. He'd just taken out a book to read when—
Bang!
Someone kicked the door. A challenger, and a loud one at that, barged in and demanded to see him by name.
"So the Mikan Gym's got some 'amazing' acting Gym Leader now?" the boy said.
Reiji looked him over. "You need something?"
"You're the one they're talking about?" The boy sized him up, unimpressed. "Fine. I'm challenging you."
"Target practice or a battle?" Reiji asked.
"A battle, obviously. Target practice isn't a real fight—that's for girls. We're trainers. We travel to battle!"
"Alright," Reiji said, keeping it simple. "Send your Pokémon out."
He was going to use Kingler. Poliwhirl had already battled yesterday, and he didn't want to interrupt Poliwhirl and Scyther's sparring.
"Kingler, you're up."
"King! King!" Kingler stopped coaching Squirtle and lumbered onto the field, claws raised.
"Kingler?" The boy scoffed. "It's just a bit bigger, with bigger claws. Doesn't look special."
"In that case—Meganium, go!"
He threw out a Johto grass starter.
Senta stepped into the middle as the referee. "Challenger, get ready. This gym battle is three-on-three. The acting Gym Leader can't switch Pokémon. The challenger's first Pokémon is Meganium, and the challenger moves first. Battle start!"
Senta watched with wide eyes. Yesterday, he'd have rooted for Reiji to lose out of spite. Today, he couldn't picture Reiji losing at all.
"Meganium, Razor Leaf!" the boy shouted.
"Kingler, raise your claws—Iron Defense," Reiji said.
A metallic sheen washed over Kingler's shell. It tucked its limbs in and braced its massive claws in front like a shield. The blades of leaves struck and scattered, doing nothing.
"What?!" The boy stared, like his eyes had to be lying.
"Don't stop," Reiji said. "Iron Defense again."
"King!" Kingler reinforced its shell once more, and Meganium's attacks looked even more hopeless.
"I can't keep hitting it like this… Meganium, Leech Seed!" the boy snapped, switching tactics.
A brown seed landed on Kingler, sprouted instantly, and vines wrapped around its body.
"Use your small claw—cut it off," Reiji ordered.
Kingler's big claws were bound, but the smaller pincer moved freely. A few sharp snips, and the vines fell away.
"Meganium—Solar Beam!"
Reiji's eyes narrowed. The petals under Meganium's neck were already glowing—it had been charging for a while, waiting for Leech Seed to pin Kingler down for a guaranteed hit.
It didn't get the chance.
The moment Solar Beam fired, Kingler burst into motion with Agility, sprinting clear of the charged blast.
"Close in—Hammer Arm!" Reiji said. Kingler didn't have a clean super-effective answer here, so he went with raw power.
Meganium's Solar Beam left it exposed for a beat. Kingler surged forward, lifted a massive claw, and slammed it down hard, smashing Meganium onto the metal floor.
Then it kept coming.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Meganium didn't get back up. It lay sprawled on the field, knocked clean out.
"Meganium…!" The boy's face twisted. Too late, he realised he should've used Giga Drain instead of gambling everything on Solar Beam.
Senta called out, "Challenger, send out your second Pokémon!"
The boy recalled Meganium and steadied himself. "You really are strong. The trainers at the Pokémon Center weren't exaggerating."
"Go—Electabuzz!"
Electabuzz hit the field, and the boy doubled down on type advantage.
"Electabuzz…" Reiji blinked. The name dragged Kinnow Island back up in his mind. There had been Electabuzz everywhere, and things only got wilder right before they left.
Kingler could still fight this. It had stacked up its defence already, but its speed had dropped from Hammer Arm. If it wanted to keep up, it would need to build momentum again.
[Kingler]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 71%]
[Level: 42.56%]
[Ability: Hyper Cutter/37.22%][Hidden Ability: Sheer Force/26.53%]
[Moves: (Hammer Arm/27.22%) (Water Gun/40.35%) (Metal Claw/25.34%) (Dig/35.54%) (Mud Shot/39.24%) (Rain Dance/6.04%) (Agility/41.15%) (Crabhammer/33.55%) (Protect/39.44%) (Iron Defense/31.64%) (Amnesia/25.18%) (Swords Dance/22.25%)]
Its potential hadn't changed much, but its level had jumped by eight. Kingler had crossed into the Advanced tier, and that put Reiji there as well.
Hyper Cutter was up 9%. That ability only mattered when something tried to lower Kingler's Attack, so it wasn't a trigger it saw every day.
Sheer Force, on the other hand, had climbed by 18%. It still only triggered off Mud Shot and Metal Claw, but when it did, the effect was obvious.
The move gains were just as noticeable.
Hammer Arm was up 12%. Kingler used that one whenever it got to swing those big claws.
Water Gun was up 15%. With how often it coached the younger Pokémon, it had fired more Water Guns than Reiji cared to count.
Metal Claw was up 9%. Kingler didn't use it much outside of trying to proc Sheer Force.
Dig was up 13%. Between training and everyday digging, it had plenty of practice.
Mud Shot was up 17%. It used it in battles, in target practice, even when teaching the little snail—no wonder it rose quickly.
Rain Dance only rose by 2%. That wasn't a focus yet.
Agility was up 11%, and it was still Kingler's most polished move. It ran with Agility every morning—so often that once it started moving, the acceleration came naturally.
Crabhammer jumped by 22%. That was its strongest stab move by far.
As for Hydro Pump… Kingler's special attack was nothing to brag about. Even if it learned Hydro Pump, it likely wouldn't hit harder than Crabhammer.
Protect rose by 20%. Kingler had taken plenty of beatings; half the time it was the kids' moving target.
Iron Defense climbed by 24%. Whenever it couldn't safely counter, it reinforced its shell and waited out the damage.
Amnesia rose by 21%. Kingler hated using it—afterwards, it acted like something important had been wiped clean, and it got irritable.
Swords Dance climbed by 19%. Reiji had been pushing Kingler to blend it into movement, because battles didn't always give you time to stand still and buff.
That was everything that had changed. Next, Kingler needed to stabilise what it already had and start filling in coverage.
High Horsepower, Stomping Tantrum for utility, and moves like X-Scissor were all on the list.
With those in hand, even against Grass- and Electric-types that naturally checked it, Kingler would at least have tools to fight back.
Otherwise, it ended up like today—facing Meganium with nothing super-effective to swing. Awkward.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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