Chapter 789 - 789 - The Sea God

Day 19 since leaving the Orange Archipelago. Storm.

Thunder rolled across the distant horizon as rain swept over Ascorbia Island. A sudden flash of lightning split the dark sky, turning the harbor white for an instant before everything vanished back into gray.

Riku's brother's cargo ship sat at its berth while dockworkers moved between the pier and the deck in raincoats, unloading one shipment and replacing it with another. Wooden crates thudded against the deck beneath the steady roar of the storm.

The captain stood beneath an overhang in a black waterproof coat, watching the miserable weather with an expression to match.

Going after Reiji had been a disaster from beginning to end.

He never imagined the kid would have such a close connection to the ruler of that deserted island, and the mistake had cost him dearly. Two Elite Four-tier Pokémon he had spent more than a decade raising were gone, along with the first and second mates he had personally recruited.

He kicked the railing hard enough to send a nearby seabird fleeing into the rain.

The worst part was that he'd known better.

His captain had told him not to go after Reiji, but after the humiliation at the tournament, simply walking away had been impossible to swallow. Now he had lost far more than his pride, and with his own strength crippled, any thought of trying again was out of the question.

He still had two Elite Four-tier Pokémon left, at least. Both were strong and had room to grow, and once he returned to Trovitopolis, he planned to pour everything he had into rebuilding the rest of his team.

First, though, he had to face the Black Ship captain.

That was the part he was truly dreading.

Riku's brother lit a cigarette and stood there until it burned down to the filter. By then, unloading was nearly finished and the new cargo was almost aboard. He tossed the cigarette into the rain, opened an umbrella, and started toward his cabin.

The ship would be leaving soon whether he liked it or not. Its route and schedule had already been set, and he didn't have the authority to delay it simply because he wasn't ready to go home.

At this point, there were only two realistic outcomes. Either the Black Ship captain let him keep running the cargo route, in which case he would need to replace both of his dead officers, or he would lose command entirely and be sent back to the main Black Ship in disgrace.

Neither sounded appealing.

Still, everything he had came from the captain in the first place. Unless something changed before he reached Trovitopolis, he would have to accept whatever decision was waiting for him.

What he didn't know was that returning to Trovitopolis had already become the least of his problems.

After the Orange League tournament ended, the League had begun a sweeping investigation across the archipelago. Investigators had been brought in from other regions, while local Gym Leaders were recruited to help navigate an area full of hidden routes, isolated islands, and local dealings outsiders knew nothing about.

The cargo ship had already attracted their attention.

As it finally pulled away from Ascorbia's harbor, a young man slipped aboard with the departing crew. A bandanna covered his red hair, a dark cloth hid most of his face, and he moved through the workers without drawing a second glance.

Reiji would have recognized him immediately.

It was Danny, the Navel Gym Leader.

By the time the harbor disappeared behind the ship, Danny had already vanished below deck.

He wasn't the only uninvited guest aboard.

Two people dressed as sailors were crouched behind a stack of cargo in a dim corner of the deck. Their uniforms were worn and stained enough to pass at a glance, and judging by how naturally they moved among the crew, neither was new to sneaking into places they didn't belong.

"Our mole says the captain left the ship for a while during the last trip," the man whispered. "The first mate and second mate left with him too."

The woman nodded.

"Except the captain came back alone. If those two still haven't shown up, they're probably dead."

"So what now? If he lost both of them and got his own team wrecked too, is he even worth recruiting anymore?"

She stared at him as though he'd just asked the dumbest question imaginable.

"That's exactly why now is the best time. He's weakened, isolated, and probably desperate. Matori authorized us to offer a pseudo-Legendary. You really think he's going to turn that down?"

"A pseudo-Legendary..." The man grimaced. "We don't even have one ourselves, and we're handing one to some outsider?"

"If you were as strong as he was at the Orange League, maybe Matori would hand you one too."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

He peeked toward the open deck.

"We wait until we're farther from shore, then approach him. But I want an exit ready before we say anything."

"We go underwater. Once night sets in, nobody's finding us in the middle of the ocean."

Before the man could answer, a sailor shouted down from above.

"You two! What are you standing around for? Get over here and secure the cargo! Cover everything before the storm gets worse!"

"Coming!"

The pair hurried to their feet. The man's cap slipped sideways in the process, exposing a few strands of green hair, while the woman's long orange-blond hair caught the dim deck lights as she adjusted her uniform.

Their disguises were good.

Their hair was considerably less subtle.

The two were Team Rocket agents assigned to recruit promising Trainers from the Orange League, with the strongest competitors receiving special attention. For now, though, they hurried back into character and disappeared among the sailors before anyone started asking why they had been hiding behind the cargo.

Far ahead of the ship, the storm had become something else entirely.

A massive storm system churned over the ocean, its clouds twisting into a dark wall around an enormous eye. Rain and wind hid everything beneath it behind curtains of water.

Deep below the surface, a submarine moved silently through the darkness.

Inside the control room, instruments flickered across the consoles while a technician leaned toward one of the displays. The readings on the screen kept shifting, but whatever he was watching had clearly been found.

"Admin Amber, we've got it. The Sea God's trail is inside the storm ahead."

The young man in the command chair smiled.

He wore a dark blue vest and matching pants, while a blue bandanna bearing Team Aqua's symbol covered his shaved head. He barely needed to look at the screen before giving his answer.

"Full speed ahead."

The submarine accelerated toward the storm's eye.

By evening, the cargo ship was well into its return journey. It had already passed Navel Island and was entering the waters around the Seven Grapefruit Islands, bringing it close to the edge of the massive storm system ahead.

The sea had grown rough enough to send the ship pitching between waves, its hull groaning each time another swell struck.

Danny had changed into a sailor's uniform by then. The clothes smelled of sweat and had enough wear to make the disguise convincing, especially after he had spent hours on deck helping secure crates and cover them against the rain.

That work had also given him an excuse to inspect everything in plain sight.

Nothing on the upper decks looked illegal.

So Danny went lower.

He moved through the ship one level at a time, acting as though he belonged there until he reached the deeper cargo holds. What he found there wiped away any lingering doubt about why the League had sent him.

Wild Pokémon were packed into cramped metal cages in a dark, damp section of the hold. Some barely moved, while others watched him with frightened eyes and gave weak cries whenever he passed.

The refrigerated storage was worse. Pokémon meat and butchered remains filled the cold rooms, accompanied by the sharp smell of blood and preservation chemicals. Nearby crates contained contraband medicine, illegal explosives, rare metals, and artifacts that had no business being transported through an ordinary commercial route.

Then Danny found the human cargo.

Women and children were being held behind bars deeper inside the ship.

For several seconds, he simply stood there.

Anger hit him hard enough that his first instinct was to open the cages and start fighting his way through the crew immediately. The people in front of him looked exhausted and terrified, and leaving them locked up even one minute longer felt unbearable.

But charging in alone would accomplish nothing.

According to the intelligence he'd been given, the captain was an Elite Four-tier Trainer, and both senior officers were supposed to be at the same level. If Danny exposed himself here and the information was even partly accurate, he could be overwhelmed before getting anyone off the ship.

He forced himself to stay calm and took out his satellite phone.

Danny documented everything he had found and sent the report to his superiors, then waited in the darkness for a response.

The answer arrived soon afterward.

Hold position. Continue surveillance.

The League had another reason for waiting. The cargo ship was sailing too close to the storm's eye, and cornering the crew here could make them desperate enough to steer straight into it and destroy both themselves and the evidence aboard.

Instead, the League intended to let the ship clear the Seven Grapefruit Islands and intercept it closer to Moro Island. By then, they could surround it properly and catch the crew with the contraband still aboard.

Danny hated the decision, but he understood it.

He looked once more toward the cages, then slipped back into the shadows and lowered his presence as much as possible. If the League's plan worked, his job was to stay hidden until the trap closed and help take the ship from the inside.

Human trafficking existing in the Orange Archipelago wasn't difficult to believe. The region had countless isolated islands, uneven development, weak oversight in remote areas, and enough pirates and criminal groups moving through its waters to make people disappear without attracting immediate attention.

Even large islands such as Fairchild remained almost entirely undeveloped.

Cissy's cousin had once looked down on the archipelago as some insignificant backwater. Reiji had taken offense at the attitude, but nights like this made the insult harder to dismiss completely.

Danny switched off his flashlight and moved away from the cages.

Darkness swallowed the lower hold again, leaving the prisoners and contraband hidden exactly where they had been before.

For now, all he could do was wait for the League to strike.

[End of chapter]

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