Day 8 back in the Orange Archipelago. Overcast.
Reiji woke up in the lakeside cabin, still half-asleep, and reached beside him out of habit. His hand found nothing. Only then did he open his eyes, get dressed, and head downstairs.
Cissy was already in the kitchen, making breakfast.
"You're up." She looked back when she heard him, then carried the finished rice porridge to the table. Breakfast was simple: white porridge and a few vegetables.
"Just woke up." Reiji sat down at the table, glanced at the food, then looked at her again. "Why aren't you wearing pants?"
Cissy was wearing one of his T-shirts. It hung long on her, and below it were only her bare white legs.
"I am wearing pants. The shirt's just covering them." She lifted the hem, revealing a pair of tiny shorts underneath.
Reiji stared for a second, then gave up. Those shorts were barely more than decoration. They were shorter than his boxers.
"Hurry up and change back into your own clothes. If you forget and your family sees you like that, we're done." Reiji picked up his bowl and started drinking the porridge, eating the plain vegetables with it.
"Okay. Wait for me." Cissy looked down at the shirt covering her thighs, noticed he had glanced at her legs more than once, and secretly smiled. Then she ran upstairs, changed clothes, and came back down for breakfast.
"There's 100 million in here." Reiji took out a bank card and slid it toward her. "It's the reward from saving a rich kid. Use it for the hot spring inn first."
The clean money in that card was the reward from saving Tommy. Only clean money could go into building the hot spring inn. There was no way he would use an anonymous card for something that needed paperwork.
"Oh? Look at you." Cissy smiled teasingly. "You're richer than you look."
Yesterday's date had been paid for by her, so she had assumed Reiji was tight on money. With so many Pokémon to feed, who wouldn't be? Then they had barely made things official, and suddenly he was handing over 100 million like he had been hiding a vault somewhere.
He had almost fooled her.
Still, that kind of cash flow was not something ordinary people could casually pull out. Reiji was an orphan, and even Cissy didn't have that much sitting around. If she asked herself honestly, she couldn't take out that kind of money either.
"I got lucky. While I was traveling in Kanto, I ran into a wild little rich kid who had gotten lost in the woods. His family had posted a 100-million reward, and I just happened to find him and take him to the Pokémon Center." Seeing Cissy staring at the card, Reiji patiently explained.
"You're way too lucky," Cissy said, staring at the card. "That's 100 million."
Her mind immediately went to clothes, bags, and all the things she normally had to think twice about buying. She tried not to look too excited, but the number was hard to ignore.
"One hundred million sounds like a lot, but it won't go far." Reiji had been worrying about the inn since yesterday, after going through the design plans.
The building in the plan had three floors and a total floor area of about 1,000 square meters. Each floor took up a little over 300 square meters, with the rest of the plot left for the walls, the front yard, the back yard, and the outdoor hot spring.
Once construction, interior work, fixtures, and all the finishing touches were counted, the estimate came to at least 200 million.
At least the land itself was free, and the hot spring water didn't cost anything either. The land also came with permanent ownership. Without those advantages, the whole project could easily have climbed to four or five hundred million.
And that was only the upfront cost. Once the place opened, upkeep and operations would probably eat another fifty million a year. If the inn failed to make money, he really would end up crying in the bathroom.
"Dad said the hot spring street has been getting a lot of publicity lately. They've even sent flyers to the nearby islands, so there should be plenty of visitors." Cissy didn't know much about business. Her grandfather used to handle the family finances, and now her mother did.
"Hope so. Use this 100 million first. If it's not enough, I'll figure something out." This was Reiji's first real business, so he might as well treat it as a trial run.
He had poured so much money into his Pokémon already. Spending some on himself for once didn't feel that unreasonable.
He had traveled all over with his team, eaten his share of hardship, and survived enough trouble. Settling down somewhere comfortable didn't sound so bad. The inn would be right by the sea, and the backyard would be the kind of fishing spot fishermen dreamed about.
Fishing by the ocean, good food whenever he wanted, hot springs, massages.
In practical terms, it was only the price of saving Tommy twice, stealing Riku's backpack twice, or wiping out one gang.
Not bad at all.
Once the inn was finished, he could bring the Pokémon too. Hot springs, massages, food—everyone could enjoy it together.
"I should go." Cissy finished breakfast, took the bank card, and picked up her bag. "I'll come by again when I have time."
She didn't really want to leave. Being with Reiji made her happy. Maybe this was what her mother meant when she talked about falling in love.
But she still had things to do. She had to watch the Gym, prepare for the tournament, and hand the card over to her father. She had already spent two days here, including two nights away from home. If she stayed any longer, her mother was definitely going to start asking questions.
"I'll walk you out." Reiji stood and followed her to the door.
Neither of them wanted to say goodbye. Reiji meant it too. Once Cissy left, there would be no one to share the bed and no one to cook for him. He still had no interest in marriage, but that didn't mean he had no interest in women. He was starting to enjoy this kind of life.
Hopefully, things would only get better from here.
"Bye, Rai." Slowking lifted Cissy into the air with psychic power, and she waved down at him.
"Bye." Reiji waved back.
He didn't kiss her goodbye. Too many Pokémon were watching, and he still had some shame left.
After Cissy flew off, Reiji went back inside, grabbed his bag, and started handing out Pokéblocks. The leftover porridge went to Umbreon and the smaller Pokémon.
The Pokémon hiding in the woods came out one after another. They had been putting up with a lot these past few days. It would be better if they didn't have to hide at all, but now still wasn't the time to tell Cissy everything. For the moment, he could only let them bear with it.
While everyone ate, Reiji sat on the swing and took out his notebook to check his remaining funds.
Food, travel, lodging, and the Johto trip had all added up. Renting training rooms on the ship alone had cost plenty. Altogether, those daily expenses came to 2.4 million.
The fifty small Pokémon cabins had cost 12 million. Hiring Sou's family to fish had cost 4 million. The two Magnemite had cost 1 million. Evolving Magneton had run up 600,000 in electricity. The magnetic armor had cost 20 million. Ten Float Stones for Scyther's evolution had cost 5 million. Honey, Occa Berries, and other food, including supplies for Butterfree, added another 500,000.
Then there was the 100 million in clean money he had just given Cissy.
And last night, before coming back, they had bought the lakeside cabin property: the cabin, the lake, and the surrounding woods. More than 10,000 square meters in total, about the size of two football fields put together. That had cost 58 million.
Good thing he bought it when he did. The damn price had already gone up.
Before, no one cared about a wild patch of forest out in the middle of nowhere. The listing had only been 40 million. But now the hot spring street was going up on the south side of the island, and even the cabin land had been pulled up with it.
Mikan Island's only city was on the east side. Mikan Gym was southeast. The hot spring street was directly south. His cabin sat in the woods between the city and the Gym.
The closest major landmark was the drainage channel dug during the volcanic eruption. Since that put the cabin close to the future hot spring street, the land price had jumped.
The property also bordered Cissy's family orchard. Past the orchard was the Gym's back mountain, and beyond that were Mikan Gym and the sea. Reiji flew over that route every day.
On the other side of the cabin was the bare volcano. The forest grew around the crater, so the cabin was basically at the foot of the volcano.
Buying the land and starting the inn had already burned through a frightening amount of money. He had thought he was comfortable, but once he started spending, the money disappeared fast.
Leaving aside the 100 million in clean money, his recent spending alone came to 103.5 million.
Previous balance: 24,670,000
After adding the Lightning Gang's remaining 34 million in cash, his cash balance was: 58,670,000
Anonymous bank card balance: 198,000,000
Since he didn't have enough cash on hand, he had sent Gengar to deliver the anonymous bank card to Naoki last night. Naoki would withdraw the odd amount from the card—98 million. After the 8-million handling fee, Reiji would receive 90 million in cash.
The amount was too large, and it had to be withdrawn as cash, so Naoki had no choice but to use black-market channels. That was why the fee was so high.
There was also the Elite Four-tier Magnezone he had sold. Naoki said it went for 90 million. Add Tai's 100 million, and that made 190 million total. All of it had gone into buying resources for Slowking's combined-evolution training.
Naoki would bring the cash and resources over today. A reliable subordinate really did make life easier. Once Naoki arrived, Reiji could settle the remaining payment for the land.
After that, he would have:
Cash balance: 45,170,000
Anonymous bank card balance: 100 million
Real-name bank card balance: zero
That amount of cash wouldn't keep the hot spring inn going for long. He would need to withdraw more when he had time.
He didn't have much cash left, but he still had plenty of valuable items. He had never counted them all properly. If he needed money, he could sell some. Once the inn was built and paying for itself, things would ease up.
He had thought about taking out a loan, but the moment interest came into it, he lost all motivation. He hadn't wanted a mortgage in his past life. Was he really going to spend this life paying one too?
If he had cash, he would use cash. It wasn't like he couldn't afford it.
For now, he was waiting on the resources Naoki had bought: 100 million in Psychic-type resources, 50 million in Water-type resources, and 40 million in Ice-type resources.
All of it was for Slowpoke and Shellder. Together with the resources already in his bag, it should be enough to push Slowking's potential to Champion tier.
As long as he was willing to spend, both his business and his safety would grow stronger. Once the Pokémon matured, they would protect far more money than he had invested in them.
The hot spring inn was only the first step. That would be his place to relax. The lakeside cabin was large enough to serve as his training base. Later, he still wanted to build a Rotom factory. That alone might cost tens of billions.
Still a long way to go.
Reiji closed the notebook, stood from the swing, and looked toward the Pokémon training nearby. It was time to see whose bad-matchup sparring was scheduled for today. He joined them.
They trained until noon. Reiji went back inside, showered, and cooked lunch. Cissy didn't come by, but Naoki did, arriving from the sky on Flygon.
"Boss, I brought everything." Naoki landed with two backpacks, one for the cash and one for Slowking's evolution resources.
"Good timing. Lunch is ready. Come eat." Reiji waved him inside.
They sat at the table, and Reiji brought out two cold beers. A couple drinks at lunch sounded perfect.
"Boss, here's the card." Naoki placed the anonymous bank card on the table and set the backpacks down.
Gengar had delivered the card last night. Naoki had gone out to handle it immediately, met Tai before dawn, finished everything, slept for a short while at the villa in the morning, and brought the goods here by noon.
"Eat first." Reiji noticed the exhaustion in Naoki's eyes and the yawn he was trying to hide. "You barely slept, right? Take a nap here after lunch if you want."
"No need, Boss. I'll leave after eating. The tournament is coming up, and everyone's preparing. We're busy too. Lots of sparring requests right now, and the rich clients are paying well."
"All right, I won't get in the way of your money." Reiji raised his beer. "Hope business keeps booming."
Naoki raised his bottle too. They clinked beers and started eating.
They talked briefly over lunch. Once they finished, Naoki waved goodbye, climbed onto Flygon, and flew toward Mandarin Island North.
After watching him leave, Reiji sent the Pokémon who had finished lunch back to training. Then he cleaned the kitchen and called Slowking inside.
Together, they went to the second-floor storage room, the one with no windows.
Inside, Reiji emptied the backpacks. Naoki had brought 190 million worth of resources. Reiji added the leftover Psychic-, Water-, and Ice-type items from his own bag, another 30 million or so. More than 200 million in resources ended up piled on the floor.
"Dugtrio, Magnezone, and Weezing have all finished raising their potential. Slowking, you're next."
"Yaa. What do I need to do?" Slowking's eyes glowed blue as it spoke through telepathy.
"Have the Shellder on your head let go, then bite you again. Keep evolving and devolving until these resources are used up." Reiji pointed to the three piles.
The Psychic and Water resources were for Slowpoke. The Ice resources were for Shellder.
"No problem. I can influence Shellder." Slowking answered through telepathy, then began communicating with the Shellder on its head.
Reiji didn't know what Slowking said, but a few breaths later, Shellder let go. Slowking reverted back into Slowpoke.
"Slowpoke, Shellder, put these in your mouths first, then evolve and absorb as much as you can. If biting the tail works better, bite the tail. As long as it triggers evolution, that's enough." Reiji pointed out the Ice Gems and explained them to Shellder.
"Shel! Shel!" Shellder stuck out its big pink tongue and stared at the little mountain of Gems in disbelief. The pile was taller than it was, and there were several Never-Melt Ice items mixed in.
"They're all yours." Reiji smiled and stroked Shellder, then turned to Slowpoke. "Slowpoke, start with the Psychic-type items. After that, you and Shellder can work through the Water-type items together."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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