Chương 94: Chapter 91

The domino-mask-wearing man didn't bother to lead them anywhere private. Given the topic of conversation, Sam would have wanted to talk where they wouldn't be overheard, but they were simply brought outside. With the existence of the training fields at the edge of town, the dedicated open space behind the Pokémon Center was small. It consisted of nothing more than a small length of grass surrounded by slopes that obscured it from nearby buildings.

A few trainers lingered off to the side, but none were actively practicing with their Pokémon.

"Greetings!" the man said once they found a place outside. He spun on a heel to face Sam and Redi, clapping his hands together.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you! I am Will, Ace Trainer extraordinaire and Psychic Type master!"

"Wait, you're a Psychic Type Master?" Redi asked, eyes widening. Will clicked his tongue.

"Ah, unfortunately not. See, I am a master, not yet a Master. Do you hear the difference in that lowercase 'm'?" He proceeded to make noises with his mouth, humming to emphasize a distinction between "mmm" and "MMM." There was a slight smile on his face as he did, as if he was aware of just how eccentric he was acting. His domino mask certainly didn't help him in that regard, and he was also wearing a black and maroon waistcoat that made him look like a stage performer.

"I've been traveling the world for quite some time, training and developing my team," Will said, snapping out his arms with a flourish to enter a dramatic pose.

"I may be an Ace Trainer, but I work under no commander—only the League itself! As a result, I am frequently called to assist with odd jobs here and there. You two will be the fourth set of trainers I've helped this year alone." He brought his arms back down, crossing them but resting a hand on his cheek. His eyes weren't visible—his mask obscured them with pure white fabric where openings would normally be—but his gaze was somehow just as piercing as any other elite.

"But yet," Will continued, "it seems that assisting you two will be more eventful than all my other jobs so far. You wish to, ah, blackmail the Blackthorn Clan?" Sam hated the smirk that appeared on Will's face.

"What else was I supposed to think of?" Sam grumbled.

"Their 'trials' are a sham, and they only really cared about making political connections! I want to help Redi, but they're just coasting off of their reputation. Messing with them like that was the best strategy I could—""No wonder you train the Ghost Type," Will interrupted. Sam felt his eye twitch as Will turned toward Redi.

"You," Will said.

"Tell me your desire."

"To... to have you tutor me in Teleport?" Redi asked.

"No, no!" He laughed.

"That's a given. I mean your desires concerning the Blackthorn Clan." At once, Redi's expression hardened. She met Will's discerning gaze head-on.

"I'm going to add Dragonair to my team," she declared.

"Ah, but the Blackthorn Clan is in your way. How will you achieve your desires if they block your path?" Will asked. He shifted his arms around to change which hand was resting on his cheek.

"Well, I don't care," Redi answered.

"I just need to convince them that I can train Dragonair. I don't need to play their games more than that. They might be Dragon Tamers, but I'm a Pokémon Trainer! Dragonair wants more than to be stuck here. She deserves a trainer that'll let her see the world, and that's going to be me!" She grinned, bringing a thumb up to point at her chin. Will raised an eyebrow.

"Careful. Depending on your delivery, statements like that might cause you to come across like a petulant child."

"What." Her face turned red. Sam scowled at Will.

"You can't just—""You say you want these things, and I can tell you care deeply about that Dragonair," Will said, pushing past Sam and Redi's growing reactions.

"Yet, when I hear you speak, I have to ask: what is your actual argument for your claim over that Pokémon? You wish to add a rare Dragon Type to your team, one that is already training under a proven trainer. The Blackthorn Clan will only approve such a handover if you prove yourself worthy, but what are you going to do to prove that? What overwhelming evidence will you provide to prove you are worth the investment?"

"We care about each other," Redi said, glaring at Will.

"Meaningless. Dragonair can grow to care about someone else," he said.

"My team is strong," she tried next.

"Many trainers have strong teams. Why not give Dragonair to someone stronger, then?"

"I have a small team and can give her the focus she deserves?" she offered. Will simply replied with a look that made it clear that wouldn't matter. Unable to speak, Redi clenched her hands, and her knuckles turned white. Her gaze bore into the white eyes of Will's domino mask, but then she slumped. All of the tension in her body vanished as she faced the ground.

"I... I don't have anything," Redi said, defeated.

"I don't have an argument. I don't have a way to prove myself."

"But couldn't you talk about your sponsorship with Mr. Pokémon?" Sam interrupted.

"And then, if you really want to, you could go into more detail about, um, Ursaring...?" He didn't want to say anything more specific in such a public place, but Redi just shook her head.

"Some secret evolution won't mean anything," she said.

"Tell me if I'm wrong: anyone could do it if they knew." Sam looked away. Will watched in silence, his masked expression emotionless. Redi brought her head up to stare at him. She chose to say nothing as well. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Several appraising seconds passed by. It wasn't exactly a silent conversation, it was more like the two of them were trying to gauge one another's worth.

Sam stayed quiet, too; with Nurse Joy's request, Will was primarily here for Redi, not him. It wasn't his place to speak up. Redi was his friend, but Dragonair was a Pokémon she was trying to get. Eventually, Will spoke.

"The Blackthorn Clan has never once provided a Dragon Type to a trainer outside of their clan," Will said, confirming Sam's suspicions.

"They provide assistance, yes, some of which I've obtained myself, but never a full-fledged Dragon Type. How do you plan to change that?" Redi ground her teeth together. She didn't have anything. But she never once looked away.

"I don't know," Redi said.

"We talked to Clair. We went to their Trial. We went to their Trial too early, but I don't think I could've done anything anyway with how Sam described it. I want... I want Dragonair to be happy. She's fine here, but she doesn't have enough room to grow. I know I'm supposed to be some sort of Normal Type trainer, but look at me!" She let out a self-defeating laugh.

"I'm getting all beat up over a Pokémon that's not even a Normal Type." She wiped her nose, and Sam tried to take a step closer, but Redi seemed to gather herself with a shake of her head.

"And I keep thinking I'm just selfish, too. I know I need a third Pokémon for our Gym Battle, and Dragonair showed up at the perfect time. Some part of me is telling me that I only care because I can use her, but that's not it. If I was really that desperate, I could just grab Stantler and bring him here once Porygon learns Teleport. But this isn't connected to that. I don't care about our next Gym Battle right now. I want Dragonair to be more than just one of Clair's Pokémon. I want her to be my friend."

Redi wiped her eyes with her shirt, and she glanced at Sam once her face was dry. She seemed to suddenly realize he was staring, and a blush overtook her cheeks.

"You don't know what you're doing yet, do you?" Will asked, pressing the back of his thumb to his mouth.

"You're still a novice. You're still figuring things out."

"No. I know what I'm doing. I'm trying my best," Redi said, brow furrowed.

"It's just that I didn't become a trainer with a goal bigger than making money. But that's changed. I want to be strong. I want my Pokémon to be strong. And I want all of us to be happy." She shook her head.

"Yeah, so then I guess I am still figuring out how all of this is going to work. Not all of us can have such a solid plan from the beginning, huh?" She turned to Sam and smiled, and Sam, for some reason, felt a need to look away. To him, she was giving him more credit than he deserved. At the start, all he knew was that he wanted to train the Ghost Type. It took Morty's help and a whole lot of thinking to come to the conclusion he wanted to build his team around status moves.

"I have a lot of book smarts, but not a lot of street smarts," Sam mumbled.

"You don't have to compliment me like that." Finally, Will spoke up once more. He smiled, clapping his hands.

"Ah, to be young, and to still be figuring out your teams! You're both thirteen, so growth is to be expected."

"I'm fourteen."

"I'm fifteen!" Will ignored both of them.

"Yes! As I am present to assist your Pokémon with the knowledge of teleportation, I will also assist with this as well! Providing young trainers with guidance is the core duty of members of the Pokémon League, thus, I must step in!" Will said.

"But don't worry about me. I already planned to be here—this dedication does nothing to affect my schedule, yes. But your future? Even the smallest of decisions can create a cascading effect. I know better than most just how malleable what is yet to come can be." He smiled at the two of them, and Redi sniffed, forcing herself to calm down as she met Will in the eyes.

"So you'll help us make a plan for the Blackthorn Clan?" she asked.

"I'll offer myself as a sounding board rather than any sort of conductor. You must come up with plans yourself, as my role in the Pokémon League prevents me from doing anything more. Thankfully, all Ace Trainers receive specialized training before coming into their roles, and as such, I have relevant expertise I can provide," Will answered.

"But, for now—" He flicked his wrists out to his side, and two items slipped out of his sleeves to be caught in his hands. One was a pink-tinted disc—likely the promised TM for Teleport—and the other was a thin envelope. Will walked to Sam and Redi and presented the two items with a bow.

"The disc, for Redi. The envelope, for Sam," he said. They took the items.

"I may be a trainer of the Psychic Type, but I am an Ace Trainer as well. Do not forget we are all Pokémon Trainers here. Our dedication to Pokémon is something we share." Will brought himself back up and clasped his hands behind his back. Redi stared at her reflection in the TM. Sam only watched her for a few seconds, turning back to the envelope he was given soon after. He hadn't expected to receive anything, especially not from a trainer that wasn't even here for him. So Sam opened it up.

There was a letter, of course. Printed on League-standard stationery with an official seal stamped at its top was the exact message he'd been waiting for. It finally happened.

"I've been approved," Sam said, looking up.

"I can go to the Sinjoh Ruins." Redi's eyes snapped to him. Her expression was filled with shock.

"Wait, right now?"

"According to this, I can go whenever I want, but..." He sucked in air through his teeth.

"I need to go as soon as possible. I need all the information we can get before Quilava evolves." Sam turned to Will.

"Hey, so, if you're a teleportation expert..." Will chuckled.

"My Pokémon can take you," he said, nodding his head. Sam looked back at Redi only to find she was once more staring at the ground. He wanted to stay and support his friend. He wanted to help her achieve her goals. His own plans for his team were already set. In terms of new moves and strategies, he knew exactly what he wanted to try to train and develop, but he couldn't exactly risk putting the trip off.

Quilava wasn't showing any signs of an impending evolution, but if she found herself in a position in which she needed to struggle, there was a chance that effort would see her evolve regardless. They had only so much information about how her evolution would work. Hisuian Typhlosion was a Ghost Type, and it was connected to Hisui, somehow. The Sinjoh Ruins and its connection to both Johto and Sinnoh was their best lead at finding an answer.

"Go." Redi brought her head up. She looked Sam in the eye.

"Go, Sam. I'll stay here and train my team."

"But—""Clair said the next Blackthorn Trial is in three weeks, if we even want to take it on again. And our battle against her happens when we choose. There isn't a time limit we need to follow." Sam chuckled.

"I mean, there kind of is?" Redi actually laughed.

"The end of the season is still months away! We're fine!" she said. Sam laughed as well and glanced between her and Will. He brought Quilava's Pokéball into his hand to stare at it. They'd been traveling together for a long time. Sam knew his trip to the Sinjoh Ruins would last longer than just a day.

"Ugh, just— Sam, stop being so dumb about this!" Redi yelled.

"We split up every time we enter a city! We made a promise to travel together, but that doesn't mean we always have to be in the same place! I'll figure out a way to get Dragonair, and Will will help me with Teleport! Trust me on this! I've been getting way better at being a trainer!" She grinned at him.

"And, the next time we meet, I'll have an extra Gym Badge, too! I'll head over to Violet Gym, beat up Walker, and come back stronger for our battle against Clair!" Her smile was bright, but Sam could see the corners of her mouth wavering. Even with this sudden news, she was trying to stay strong. She was just as torn up about this sudden split as he was, but she was refusing to let that hold either of them back. Sam took a deep breath in.

"Alright," he said.

"I guess I'll go."

"Just... promise to come back," Redi said. He nodded at her and held out his hand.

"I promise." But instead of grabbing his hand to shake, Redi grabbed it and pulled him into a hug. Sam returned to his Pokémon Center bedroom, gathered his stuff, and informed his team where they were about to go. A few of the wild Gastly in his shadow peeled off. They weren't too interested in being teleported somewhere else, but some others chose to stay. Tibia and Fibula would have to split as well, unfortunately. One would stay with Sam, and one would stay with Redi.

Their assignment to keep an eye over them would likely last the rest of the season, and they couldn't exactly choose to stay with one over the other. The two Gastly had a tearful goodbye, but at the end of it, they swirled around one another. When they came to a stop, they had done something to their faces that all of the progress Sam had made when it came to telling them apart was now pointless. They looked completely identical.

"I have everything I need in my backpack, and my Pokémon know what we're about to do," Sam said, returning downstairs to meet back with Redi and Will.

"Since there's no sense in putting it off, we can head out right now. Just, uh, since we're being teleported, you'll help us come back too, right? Will nodded at Sam, and a Pokéball rolled out of his sleeve to let him release a Xatu on the grass. Every time in the past when Sam had seen members of its species, those Xatu were staring at the sky. However, right now, Will's Xatu was staring directly at Sam.

"If something really bad happens, the Sinjoh Ruins are located to the north of Blackthorn City," Sam said to Redi.

"You should be able to head over if needed, or I could head south."

"That's past Mount Silver," Redi said.

"I think... It would still be worth the try," he mumbled. She silently stepped close to hand him the PokéGear. If she was staying in a city, it made more sense for Sam to have it while he was at some distant ruins. He took it, nodding to thank her, and looked back at Will. The man in the mask gestured at the green Pokémon standing by his side.

"Simply place your hand on Xatu's head when you're ready. You'll be instantaneously brought to the ruin's base camp." Hesitantly, Sam walked over to the Pokémon and raised his hand. He didn't quite place it down just yet, keeping it in the air above Xatu. Instead, for the last time in a while, he glanced over his shoulder to look at Redi.

"Later," he said.

"Later," Redi sniffed. Sam set his hand down on Xatu's head, and then, he was gone.