By the time Reiji and Cissy reached the center of Fairchild Island, night had settled over the forest. Mud and dead leaves clung to their shoes after the long walk, but the clearing around the lake looked much the same as Reiji remembered it.
The Rhydon herd was scattered across the grass, some lying beside the water while others rested beneath the trees. Across the lake, the Pidgeot flock had settled into nests along the cliffs, stone pillars, and high branches.
Several Rhydon noticed the two humans approaching, but none seemed particularly surprised. Pidgeot had returned before sunset, so word had already spread that the familiar human was back. If anything, the Pokémon seemed more interested in what Reiji had brought with him this time.
Reiji released Rhydon.
Hanhan took one look at the herd and immediately lowered its head.
The other Rhydon were far more enthusiastic. Several large adults came over and shoved Hanhan toward the rest of the group, completely ignoring its obvious reluctance. They hadn't seen it in a long time, and their leader had apparently been waiting for his idiot son to come home.
Cissy watched the whole thing in disbelief. "You know all of them?"
Reiji sat down on the grass and opened his backpack. "Pretty well."
He poured out a handful of faintly glowing minerals, followed by a much larger pile of Pokéblocks. The smell immediately drew Rhydon and Rhyhorn from around the lake, while Pidgeotto and Pidgey began descending from the trees.
Cissy looked around at the Pokémon gathering peacefully around him. "I thought the wild Pokémon here hated humans."
"They do, mostly."
"That does not explain this."
A familiar cry came from above before Reiji could answer. His Pidgeot swept down from the cliffs and circled over him impatiently, clearly asking where its share was.
Reiji laughed and pulled out a large bag of Pokéblocks prepared specifically for it. Pidgeot seized the bag in its talons and immediately took off again, heading toward the highest nest to share the food with the rest of the flock—and, more importantly, its mother.
Cissy followed it with her eyes. "Your Pidgeot really is from here?"
"Rhydon too."
That only made her more curious, so Reiji handed her something to eat while he continued distributing food to the Pokémon crowding around him.
"I ended up stranded here after a pirate attack," he explained. "Spent quite a while trying to survive on this island. After long enough, the Pokémon around here got used to me. Eventually I caught one of the Rhydon herd's youngsters and one from the Pidgeot flock."
Cissy's expression softened. "Rai… that must've been awful."
"It wasn't all bad." Once the last impatient Pokémon had collected its food, Reiji leaned back against a tree. "If I hadn't ended up here, I probably wouldn't have met half my team. Poliwrath, Pelipper, Kingler, Butterfree… a lot of them came from this island."
He rested his hands behind his head and looked up through the branches.
It had been almost a year since he arrived in this world, and somehow, in that short time, he had gone from barely surviving on Fairchild Island to building a home in the Orange Archipelago, assembling a team capable of fighting Elite Four-tier Trainers, and ending up with Cissy as his girlfriend.
Life had gone in directions he never could have predicted.
Now that he had reached Fairchild Island and found Cissy, his immediate plan was simple. He would spend a day or two here, let her enjoy herself, then have her father come pick her up. After that, he could head toward Cinnabar Island.
Cissy's grandfather had already warned him that trouble was brewing in the Orange Archipelago, and Reiji had no desire to get trapped in the middle of whatever confrontation was coming between the League and the local powers. Once the League finally moved, it would almost certainly make an example out of somebody just to force everyone still sitting on the fence to choose a side.
Better to be somewhere else when that happened.
Reiji brushed the grass from his clothes and stood. "Get some rest when you're done eating. I'm heading into the trees for a minute."
He left Umbreon with Cissy and disappeared into the forest.
Once he was far enough from the clearing, Reiji released the Pokémon associated with his other identity and fed them as well. After dinner, he assigned Golbat and Spinarak to night watch.
Spinarak spread fine strands of web throughout the surrounding woods, creating a wide alarm perimeter. Golbat climbed into the canopy and hung upside down from a branch, sending out periodic ultrasonic pulses to check the darkness around them.
Reiji wasn't about to abandon basic precautions just because two powerful wild clans lived nearby. Fairchild Island might feel familiar, but it was still wilderness, and that was exactly where getting careless could cost him.
By the time he returned to the clearing, the air had cooled considerably. There was no reason to bother with a stuffy tent, so he spread a moisture-proof mat over the grass, laid down a blanket, and settled in for the night.
Cissy finished eating and slipped down beside him. She had changed into a simple Psyduck T-shirt and shorts and wasted no time making herself comfortable, draping one leg over him while tracing idle circles against his chest.
"Rai, can I come traveling with you?"
Reiji pinched her cheek.
"Hey! Ow, ow, let go!"
"You're asking the wrong person." He released her. "It doesn't matter whether I say yes. Ask your parents."
Cissy rubbed the red mark on her cheek and glared at him. "You didn't have to do that."
"I flew all day. I'm tired. Go to sleep."
Reiji closed his eyes, and his breathing soon slowed.
Cissy remained awake beside him for a while. She knew exactly what his answer meant. Her family had already called him about her disappearance, which was why he had talked earlier about sending her father over to collect her. Everyone back home knew she had run away again, and everyone knew where she had gone.
No matter what she tried, she always seemed to run into the same problem.
If only her parents weren't home, she thought, she could simply leave with Rai without anyone stopping her.
It was childish and she knew it, but that didn't make the thought disappear. Cissy stared up at the stars until her frustration finally gave way to exhaustion and she drifted off beside him.
The man tracking them reached the edge of the central clearing sometime later.
Using their footprints and a pair of night-vision goggles, he had followed Reiji and Cissy through the forest until the lake came into view. Rhydon slept near the water, Pidgeot rested throughout the cliffs and trees, and dozens of other wild Pokémon had settled around them.
He had no intention of approaching Reiji himself. Instead, he sent Golbat forward with Raticate and Ekans. All three were well suited to moving through the forest at night, and they could scout the camp without exposing their Trainer.
What he didn't know was that Reiji had already prepared for exactly that kind of intrusion.
Spinarak's web covered a broad area around the camp, while the pressure from Poliwrath and Electivire kept most ordinary wild Pokémon well away. A random Raticate or Ekans wandering this close would already have been unusual.
Three Pokémon approaching together was worse.
Raticate and Ekans crept through the darkness until their movements snagged several of Spinarak's threads. The faint vibration traveled straight back through the web, and Spinarak immediately turned toward the disturbance.
Following the damaged strands, it soon found tracks cutting through its carefully laid network and spotted Raticate and Ekans moving directly toward Reiji's camp.
"Spina!"
Its sharp warning cry carried through the quiet forest.
Golbat woke instantly from its perch and swept the area with ultrasound. At first it detected two intruders, then picked up a third farther back.
Another Golbat.
The scout realized at the same moment that it had been detected. The answering ultrasonic pulse was far stronger than its own, and it had no desire to find out what would happen if Reiji's Golbat caught it.
It abandoned Raticate and Ekans and fled.
The other two didn't even realize they had been deserted until Spinarak came up behind them and Reiji's Golbat blocked the way forward. Before either could escape, Spinarak covered them in thick webbing and pinned them to the ground.
Spinarak raised its front legs and hissed a warning. The message required no translation: come any closer and the next encounter would end much worse.
Ekans immediately lowered its head and curled inward. Raticate was just as eager to surrender, squeaking frantically while nodding at anything Spinarak did.
Satisfied, Spinarak glanced toward Golbat. Golbat flew down and tore through the webbing with its claws, freeing the two intruders, while Spinarak gestured toward the forest.
They didn't need to be told twice. Raticate and Ekans vanished into the darkness as fast as they could run.
The tracker's Golbat reached him first, sweeping through the trees in obvious distress and circling overhead while chattering urgently. The man's stomach tightened immediately.
"Where are Raticate and Ekans?"
Golbat tried to explain, but movement in the brush cut it off. A moment later, Raticate and Ekans burst from the undergrowth and raced back to their Trainer, both chattering over each other.
The tracker understood enough.
Reiji's sentries had caught them.
"Forget it. We're leaving."
If Reiji himself had found the two Pokémon, there was no chance they would have been released so casually. That meant his night watch had handled the intrusion without waking him.
The tracker recalled Raticate and Ekans, then withdrew before anything else noticed him. His part was done. The others needed to know that approaching Reiji's camp unseen was going to be harder than expected.
Golbat returned to its perch near the camp once the intruders were gone.
It had barely settled upside down when two red eyes opened inside the shadow beneath the tree.
Gengar slowly rose from the darkness.
"Gen?"
Golbat explained what had happened: nothing serious, just a Raticate and an Ekans that had stumbled into Spinarak's web.
Gengar tilted its head.
A Raticate and an Ekans? Together?
Golbat paused.
That hadn't seemed important during the chase, but it sounded much stranger now. The two Pokémon hadn't behaved like unrelated wild Pokémon that happened to cross paths. They had entered the perimeter together, moved in the same direction, and neither had shown any hostility toward the other.
Gengar grinned.
That sounded a lot more like two Pokémon following orders.
Golbat clearly reached the same conclusion. Neither of them could detect a Trainer nearby now, so whoever had sent the scouts had probably backed away as soon as something went wrong.
That only made the situation more suspicious.
Gengar decided Reiji needed to know. Rather than wake the entire camp with a cry, it slipped through the shadows and returned to him. A moment later, telekinesis caught the blanket wrapped around Reiji and dragged him bodily toward the trees.
He woke halfway there.
"What the hell…"
Gengar floated in front of him, talking quickly.
Reiji rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Slow down. I have no idea what you're saying."
He released Lucario.
"Listen to Gengar and tell me what happened."
Lucario was just as confused to be summoned in the middle of the night, but its expression sharpened as Gengar explained. It immediately sent its Aura outward in search of anyone hiding nearby.
Nothing.
Whoever had been there was already gone.
Reiji couldn't bring Slowking into this directly without risking questions about Gengar, so he sent Gengar back into his shadow and quietly returned to Cissy's side. Her Slowking was still meditating nearby.
He tapped its shoulder.
Slowking opened its eyes, glanced first at the sleeping Cissy, then at Reiji.
"Come with me for a second."
Once they were inside the trees, Reiji nodded toward Lucario. "Tell Slowking what you found."
Lucario understood immediately and presented the discovery as its own, leaving Gengar out of the explanation entirely.
Slowking's expression changed as it listened, then it relayed the information to Reiji through telepathy.
"Lucario says two Pokémon approached the camp—a Raticate and an Ekans. They were moving together and showed no hostility toward each other. It believes they belong to a Trainer."
Reiji's remaining drowsiness disappeared.
The conclusion was reasonable. Two wild Pokémon could cross paths, but two species that normally had no reason to cooperate creeping toward the same camp together in the middle of the night was suspicious enough on its own. Add in the third Golbat that fled as soon as Reiji's sentries detected it, and coincidence stopped looking convincing.
Someone had deliberately sent Pokémon to scout him.
Reiji had no idea who was behind it or whether the real target was him or Cissy, but that distinction could wait. The important thing was making sure she wasn't caught in whatever came next.
He looked directly at Slowking. "If a fight starts, take Cissy and Teleport away immediately."
Slowking nodded.
"Once you're safe, contact the Gym Leader and tell him to come here. Make sure he knows we're on Fairchild Island."
Another firm nod.
Reiji relaxed slightly. With Cissy removed from the battlefield, he would have options. He could fight, retreat, or simply disappear if the situation became too dangerous. He had three Elite Four-tier Pokémon available, and if things somehow became completely unmanageable, the Reverse World remained an escape route.
Anyone who wanted to follow him there was welcome to try.
Reiji sent Slowking back to Cissy, then called Gengar out again and had it retrieve Golbat and Spinarak. Keeping the sentries spread through the forest no longer made sense. If the enemy was preparing an actual night attack, isolated scouts could be picked off before Reiji had time to react.
Once Golbat and Spinarak returned, he recalled them along with the other Pokémon resting nearby. Only Gengar remained concealed in his shadow, while Poliwrath, Electivire, and Umbreon stayed outside and ready.
Cissy now had only Slowking and Pikachu with her. Everything else was safely inside its Poké Ball, so there would be less confusion if the camp suddenly came under attack.
Reiji instructed Poliwrath and Electivire not to sleep. They could rest lightly or meditate, but both needed to remain alert. Gengar was told to keep its senses spread through the surrounding area.
Then Reiji returned to the blanket beside Cissy and lay down as if nothing had happened. He certainly wasn't going back to sleep.
Whoever had sent those scouts knew where he was, but they had made one mistake: now he knew they were coming too.
Fairchild Island was familiar ground, his Pokémon were awake, and Cissy already had an escape plan. Running now would only surrender those advantages and expose them while moving through the forest.
So Reiji stayed exactly where he was and waited for the enemy to make the first move.
Near the coast, Riku's sworn brother and his men finally came ashore.
The island was almost completely silent apart from the waves and the constant hum of insects. Their tracker was already waiting for them and immediately gave his report.
"Boss, he had Pokémon on night watch. Mine got too close and were spotted, but Reiji never woke up. As far as I could tell, he's still asleep."
Riku's brother wasn't concerned.
"What time is it?"
The first mate checked his watch. "A little after eleven."
"Then we wait."
Riku's brother looked toward the dark interior of Fairchild Island.
"People sleep deepest after midnight. We move when he's exhausted and completely out."
A thin smile crossed his face.
"By the time he realizes anything's wrong, it'll already be over."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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