Ticket check, then aboard.
The crowd on deck was about the same size as last time.
Even after what had happened.
Nobody doubted Nick Ferry Lines—not their capability, not their record, not their safety. One incident wasn't enough to move the needle on a reputation like that.
The only real difference was the handful of Officer Jennys in plain clothes, doing an unconvincing impression of vacationers.
"This trip, you get to protect me." Akiyama said it on the way to their room.
Steam came off the top of Gardevoir's head.
Extremely effective.
"Want to get a battle in?" He dropped their bags and headed back out to the deck.
The ship was already underway. The water opened up ahead of them as Bedrock City shrank behind.
Battles were in full swing out on deck, all kinds of Pokémon showing off.
Gardevoir hesitated, then declined.
She wanted her strength in reserve, in case something happened.
The farther out they got, the less safe that endless flat horizon felt to her. She was not going to let anything happen to Akiyama at sea a second time.
He didn't push it. "All right, then let's go up to the top deck and—"
Gengar cut him off by planting himself in front of his face.
"Gen… gar."
He was practically vibrating, and he jabbed a finger at the Trainers and Pokémon mid-battle.
"Right, I forgot. You love this stuff."
Gengar put both hands on his hips and pulled his mouth into a flat line. Apparently offended.
"Okay, okay, you're up, you're up." Akiyama steered him toward one of the open battlefields, where a Trainer was waiting for a match.
Neither of them wasted words. They made eye contact, and that was that.
"Let's go, Roserade! Bullet Seed!"
"Gengar, Shadow Ball."
Gengar took the Bullet Seed head-on without blinking and lobbed the Shadow Ball right through it.
Boom.
Roserade's face twisted with pain.
"Roserade, Dazzling Gleam!"
"Us too. Dazzling Gleam!" Akiyama called.
Both Pokémon flooded the space with rainbow light, and it was obvious whose was brighter. When the glare faded, Gengar was still floating there without a care in the world.
Roserade was flat on the deck.
"That's a monster of a Gengar." The other Trainer recalled his Pokémon, honestly stunned.
Gengar covered his mouth and snickered at the compliment.
The progress bar dropped to 33, and golden particles only Akiyama could see drifted into Gengar's body.
The win itself didn't surprise him. He already knew how strong Gengar was—in game terms, the guy's level was through the roof.
Another Trainer nearby had wandered over.
"Mind if I try?"
Akiyama looked at Gengar. Gengar nodded.
"Sure. Let's go."
"Come on out, Arbok." A Poké Ball flew, and the big purple snake unspooled onto the field.
"Shadow Ball."
"Dodge it, then Poison Sting!"
Arbok slithered aside, trying to slip the Shadow Ball, and caught it across the last half of his tail.
He shrugged off the pain and fired a spray of needles, which Gengar drifted out of without effort.
"Sludge Bomb!"
"Gengar, Dark Pulse."
Arbok spat a reeking mass of sludge. Gengar released a wave of pitch-black energy out of his own body that blew straight through it without slowing, and slammed into Arbok.
"Shadow Ball," Akiyama said, right on top of it.
Gengar's bread and butter.
Two moves back to back. Arbok let out one long hiss and went down.
The progress bar dropped to 32.
"Me next! Me next!" A woman had clearly been waiting for her moment, and the instant Arbok was recalled she elbowed the other Trainer aside.
Gengar turned back and nodded at Akiyama. Still got plenty.
He'd barely spent any energy, and he'd absorbed a good deal.
"Then let's keep going." Akiyama had no reason to say no.
If Gengar wasn't tired, they might as well farm some levels while they were at it.
Frostvale City's Gym was the go-all-out type. Nothing like the baby Gyms behind them. He wasn't confident he could take that badge yet.
"Come out, sweetheart!" She hurled her ball.
"Naaah."
The cry sounded like it came up from the bottom of the sea, and with it, a stunning Milotic settled onto the deck.
"Milotic, Disarming Voice."
"Gengar, get in close—Hypnosis!"
Gengar pushed straight through the shimmering notes, right up into Milotic's face, and locked onto those red-and-black eyes.
Ring after ring of energy pulsed outward. The drowsiness took hold, and Milotic curled up and fell asleep.
"What?!" Her Trainer went stiff.
Akiyama smiled. "Gengar. Dream Eater."
Black energy poured out of Milotic and into Gengar.
Her face contorted, but she didn't wake.
"Again."
More energy came flooding out.
Milotic's eyes snapped open just in time to see a Shadow Claw coming.
Her cry was hauntingly beautiful, and it was the last sound she made before she hit the deck, unable to battle.
"Oh, my baby!" Her Trainer ran out and recalled her.
The progress bar dropped again, to 31.
That last cry had turned heads all across the deck.
The two Trainers who'd already lost hadn't left—they were still watching Gengar work. And more kept collecting, and losing, and staying to watch.
The bigger the crowd got, the more it drew.
With everyone marveling at him, Gengar's appetite for the fight only sharpened. Between the progress bar and the Hypnosis–Dream Eater loop, his stamina never actually dipped.
"This is insane. That Gengar doesn't get tired. How many Pokémon has it gone through now?"
"Right? I'd love to know how it was raised."
Akiyama wiped sweat off a perfectly dry forehead.
How was he raised?
Beats me. I found him.
A Clefable went flying backward off the field.
The progress bar dropped to 19.
Gengar cackled at yet another win, and it was pretty clearly directed at his opponent.
The Clefable's Trainer shook his head with a wry grin, not remotely upset about being mocked. He just thought Gengar was cute, and terrifyingly strong.
People around here had a generous tolerance for a mischievous Pokémon. It wasn't like it was somebody's kid.
"Move, move—my turn!" A boy shouldered his way out of the crowd. Choppy blue hair. Blue eyes. He stopped directly across from Akiyama.
"You—"
Akiyama took in the immaculately dressed teenager and simply stopped.
James?!
Not similar. Identical.
"Hey there. Name's Nikozo. That Gengar of yours is something else."
The little jolt in Akiyama's chest settled back down.
Coincidence?
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