The weather was decent today. No scorching sun in the morning, just a cool sea breeze.
Last night they were chased like dogs by Krabby and nearly peed themselves in terror when Rhydon showed up. The whole day had been filled with fear.
But after a good night's rest, everyone had recovered. As long as they avoided the center of the island, there wasn't much to worry about.
After all, even Pidgeot hadn't gone all out on them last time. Clearly, it didn't care about the few weaklings lingering at the island's edge. As long as they didn't trespass into the territories of Pidgeot or Rhydon, they wouldn't be attacked.
Still, yesterday wasn't entirely fruitless. At the very least, he discovered the location of the island.
Orange Archipelago — Fairchild Island.
Due to the presence of two powerful guardians, the island remained uninhabited.
No wonder he hadn't seen a single ship in all this time. Logically, an uninhabited island located at the center of the archipelago should've made an ideal transit hub. The sea route should've been busy.
But the absence of any ships proved something—there were no established sea routes passing through here. No vessel dared approach, likely due to the threat of being attacked by the island's ruler, Pidgeot.
Even with sailors who trained Pokémon onboard, regular Gym Leader-tier Pokémon wouldn't stand a chance guarding this place. It would take Elite Four-tier strength at minimum to defend such a resource-rich island.
Both the Pidgeot and Rhydon leading their respective groups were at least Elite Four-tier Pokémon. As for the others in their flocks or herds—whether they also reached that level was unknown.
In other words, this island had at least two Elite Four-tier Pokémon. And when faced with that kind of power, most people wouldn't stand a chance.
Back in his previous life, he'd seen island maps of the Orange Archipelago on the Pokédex. The treehouse was located in the southwest of the island. The three nearest inhabited islands were:
Kinnow Island — to the southeast. A large city with a harbor that could accommodate cruise ships. In the anime, there was even a cruise ship that performed Pokémon plays.Shamouti Island — to the northeast, located near the islands of the three legendary birds: Fire Island, Ice Island, and Lightning Island. These appeared in the Lugia movie.
Pinkan Island — to the southwest. The homeland of pink Pokémon. It was shown in the anime as a nature preserve.
These three were the closest islands. Now that he had a direction, things would be much easier…
Though Shamouti Island could be ruled out—it was home to the three legendary birds. If he had bad luck and they were angry when he arrived…game over.
Pinkan Island was also off the table. As a protected nature reserve, it was patrolled by Officer Jenny and rangers. Normal people weren't allowed ashore.
As an unregistered Trainer, going there would be like walking into a trap. How would he explain his origins?
Amnesia? Shipwreck? Then amnesia again?
Having no identity was a major drawback. Officer Jenny would see him as a poacher and toss him in jail.
So, Pinkan Island was also a no-go.
That left Kinnow Island, which now seemed like the best choice. With a harbor and frequent cruise traffic, it was likely a tourist destination—plenty of people coming and going, perfect for a fugitive Trainer to blend in.
Until he secured legal Trainer status, he had to avoid public exposure. If Officer Jenny questioned him, he'd have no answers.
Aside from Kinnow Island, there were also other options:
Mandarin Island South — directly south of his location, the largest island in the Orange Archipelago.
Sunburst Island — to the west, where the Crystal Onix was found. This island had appeared in the anime and was known for its glassblowing artisans, but it had no Pokémon Center—hardly ideal.
Mandarin Island North — also to the west, featured in an episode where Team Rocket used Drowzee and a radio tower to control local Pokémon.
All of these were farther than Kinnow Island. Unless he had the ability to travel long distances over water, Kinnow remained the best option.
For long-distance sea travel, Flying-type Pokémon were ideal. He could reach Kinnow Island in a day. Water-types would be slower.
Among Flying-types capable of carrying him across the sea, his options were:
Pidgeot, Fearow, and Pelipper.
These were the only final-stage evolutions available on the island that could carry a human.
Pidgey, Spearow, and Wingull hadn't evolved—lacked the stamina and power for the trip.
As for Butterfree or Beedrill, those Bug-types had poor stamina. Okay for emergencies, but not suitable for sea crossings.
Among Water-types, a few species were capable of carrying a person:
Tentacruel, Gyarados, Lapras, Sharpedo, and Wailord.
Those were the final-stage Water-types he might encounter that could get him off the island.
The easiest to catch among these were Tentacruel, Gyarados, and the pre-evolution of Sharpedo.
In short, he had several viable options—Pidgeot, Fearow, Pelipper, Tentacruel, and others.
But right now, the most accessible was the Wingull that came by every day to mooch food.
Pidgey and Spearow were also easy to find and raise into their final forms for transportation. But since he already had a friendly Wingull visiting, there was no need to tame another.
All he had to do was capture that Wingull, raise it into a Pelipper, and he'd have a ride off the island.
The problem was, he couldn't see Wingull's proficiency panel. He didn't know when it would evolve, whether it had the ability Hydration, or whether it could become the weather setter he needed.
He hadn't even caught it yet.
They'd only spent two days together—eating, training, and working side by side.
He was unsure: should he catch it now or raise its affection first?
He didn't want to scare it off with a failed capture. That would throw off his whole escape plan.
There was also a third option besides riding Flying- or Water-types: building a raft and having Water-types pull it.
But that would be too slow—just a last resort.
His first choice was still Flying-types, then Water-types. The raft idea was the backup of backups.
"Ugh, I'm overthinking again," Reiji muttered while doing morning stretches. He realized escaping the island wasn't that hard, but he'd been obsessing about it all morning.
He didn't even notice Poliwag jogging, Krabby lifting its pincers, or Butterfree practicing telekinesis—he was lost in thought.
Poliwag eventually snapped him out of it, reminding him it was time for breakfast.
"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag grunted, frying pan in mouth—his food bowl.
"Crap! I forgot about breakfast!" Reiji said, startled. "Don't worry! Sit tight, food's coming up!"
He quickly grabbed a dozen fish from the water barrel—half boiled, half grilled—and served them up in no time.
He called his three Pokémon to eat. As expected, Wingull also arrived right on time.
"Wooooh," Wingull landed square on the table, no shame at all—clearly here for food.
Good thing Reiji had planned ahead and made extra fish soup just for it.
Watching Wingull happily eat with the others, he made up his mind:
Tomorrow morning, he'd fetch some honey to boost its affection.
He'd also try asking Wingull if it wanted to join them and become their fourth teammate.
But that would be for tomorrow. He'd know by then whether Wingull had the potential and ability to be a weather setter.
After breakfast, it was back to training.
Poliwag resumed jogging for stamina.
Krabby continued pincer-lifting exercises. Its claws were its greatest weapon—unlocking their potential was key.
Butterfree focused entirely on telekinesis. Reiji even added a twist—he poured water into the food bowl and challenged Butterfree to lift it with psychic power without spilling.
"Muuiii…" Butterfree stared blankly at the bowl.
Adding water? That was so cruel… She was just a butterfly!
But Reiji had a reason. It strengthened both the power and control of telekinesis.
Without access to advanced techniques, this was their best method for Confusion training.
Afternoon came and went.
He caught nothing fishing again—probably because the Krabby invasion had scared off all the fish.
He gave up and gathered some seaweed instead.
After cooking dinner, he sent Butterfree to call the others back from their Water Gun training.
Once again, they dipped into the food reserves. If they kept this up, they'd run out soon—time to hunt some crabs tomorrow.
Those little punks were everywhere, always trying to pinch him.
They deserved to be eaten.
While the Pokémon ate, Reiji pulled up Poliwag's proficiency panel for review:
[Poliwag]
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Potential: 34.11%
Level: 18.93%
Abilities: Damp (1.13%) / Hidden: Swift Swim (3.13%)
Moves:
Refresh (4.11%)
Double Slap (9.12%)
Water Gun (13.54%)
Bubble Beam (1.21%)
Poliwag was almost level 19—just one step closer to 25.
Double Slap had reached 9%, thanks to all the Pokémon it slapped while covering their retreat.
Water Gun also improved through training, now at 13%.
The level-up had taught it a new Water-type move: Bubble Beam.
It seemed like an upgraded version of Bubble, with 25 more power.
Bubble wasn't really worth training, but Bubble Beam definitely was. It'd be a waste not to.
He closed Poliwag's panel and checked Butterfree's next:
[Butterfree]
Type: Bug/Flying
Gender: Female
Potential: 69.96%
Level: 16.86%
Abilities: Compound Eyes (4.21%) / Hidden: Tinted Lens (0.21%)
Moves:
Confusion (8.14%)
String Shot (6.15%)
Gust (5.13%)
Bug Bite (1.29%)
Supersonic (2.11%)
Poison Powder (5.13%)
Stun Spore (8.22%)
Sleep Powder (7.35%)
Psybeam (2.11%)
Butterfree had leveled up a lot—almost level 17.
Compound Eyes had shot up by 3%. During the Krabby chase, she'd had to scout paths and defend constantly, forcing her to stay hyper-aware of the surroundings.
Vision was essential—so the increase made perfect sense.
Confusion was now at 8%. She was working hard.
String Shot had gone up from all the times she used it to hinder Krabby.
Gust rose by 4%—knocking Krabby back again and again must've been exhausting.
Supersonic, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder also increased as she used them for crowd control.
Lastly, she'd learned a new Psychic move: Psybeam (Power 65), with a chance to confuse.
Given her foundation with Confusion, it made sense.
This Butterfree really was something else—high potential, hidden ability, and even an inherited move. The more he saw, the more he liked her.
She was his first high-potential Pokémon, unlocked entirely through grinding—he had to keep going strong.
Next, he opened Krabby's panel:
[Krabby]
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Potential: 56.5%
Level: 11.76%
Abilities: Hyper Cutter (4.22%) / Hidden: Sheer Force (0.53%)
Moves:
Hammer Arm (0.22%)
Leer (0.43%)
Water Gun (7.85%)
Harden (6.14%)
Metal Claw (0.84%)
Dig (4.54%)
Krabby was almost level 12. Thanks to ample food and the Beedrill honey, his Pokémon were leveling quickly.
Hyper Cutter hit 4%—with all the digging and rock hauling Krabby had done, that was no surprise.
Water Gun had gone up too.
Dig reached 4%. Most of the holes in the grass field had been filled by Krabby—hardworking little guy.
He closed the panel. Dinner was nearly over, and it was time to send everyone to bed.
No overtime tonight. No more holes to fill. The Pokémon were worn out.
Time for some early rest—they'd need it for tomorrow's honey heist.
"Clap clap clap!" Reiji got their attention.
"Dinner's done! Let's get some rest. Wingull—see you tomorrow!"
"Wooooh." Wingull noticed the fatigue in the others' eyes, nodded, and flew off.
They'd be leaving the island soon.
But who knows what waited out there?
Would it really be worth it?
Nine-to-five jobs? Endless grind?
Maybe fishing on an island wasn't so bad after all…
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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