If only Nathan drank the poisoned drink, she could finally leave this annoying place that she didn't like at all.
"Haha, who would've thought the genius Trainer isn't very good at table tennis either?"
Captain Burks chuckled as he spoke.
They had been playing for over an hour now, and Nathan hadn't pocketed more than twenty balls — and even those were pure luck, like a blind cat running into a dead mouse.
You could say Nathan was a total rookie.
Occasionally, Captain Burks would even create obvious scoring opportunities for him.
But even when a shot was practically handed to him, Nathan still managed to mess it up.
"No helping it, I usually don't play this kind of stuff,"
Nathan shrugged. Being teased by Captain Burks didn't bother him at all.
After all, with his level of skill, let alone Captain Burks — probably anyone off the street would be better than him.
Captain Burks thought about it and figured that made sense.
He'd heard this genius Trainer spent almost all his time with his Pokémon, so it was only natural he wasn't good at table tennis.
"Come on, I'll take you for a drink. I brought some really good liquor myself,"
Captain Burks said, throwing an arm around Nathan's shoulder and dragging him toward his room.
That glass of milk, from warm to cold, remained untouched the whole time. Nathan never took a single sip.
—
The next morning, after sobering up, Nathan rubbed his aching head.
He remembered that after going to Captain Burks's room last night, the two of them drank until late at night.
He didn't even remember how it all ended.
Stepping out onto the deck and seeing the sun hanging high in the sky, Nathan realized he had slept way too long.
"Hmm... I feel like I've forgotten something?"
Nathan rubbed his throbbing head, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't recall what he had forgotten.
"Whatever. With such nice weather, getting a bit of sun doesn't sound bad."
Since he couldn't remember, Nathan decided not to stress about it. After all, if it were something important, he definitely wouldn't have forgotten it.
At that moment, Mary stood in a corner of the deck, glaring at Nathan with a look of deep frustration.
She was almost out of poison — and still hadn't managed to get any of it into Nathan's mouth.
At this point, she was starting to strongly suspect that Nathan already knew why she was on this ship.
Otherwise, how could he have avoided eating or drinking anything Mary gave him?
She had already been on the ship for two full days and nights. The ship was nearly at its destination, and her plan had yet to succeed.
This made Mary want to give up. Nathan was just too damn hard to deal with!
But thinking of the organization's orders, Mary had no choice but to keep trying to find an opportunity.
…
"Haha! Nathan, you're finally awake! You really can't hold your liquor. Next time I try to drink with you, I'm going to have to carry you!"
Captain Burks, busy working on deck, laughed when he saw Nathan emerge from the ship's cabin.
He hadn't even drunk that much himself last night, but Nathan had passed out like a dead man.
"No, no, no! I'm done with drinking!"
Nathan immediately waved him off. If he drank like that again, he really might cough up blood.
His head was still pounding painfully — clearly, alcohol wasn't for him.
Training Pokémon — now that was his thing.
Releasing his Frosmoth, Nathan scooped it up into his arms.
"Ooh~"
Feeling its cool, soft body, Nathan felt like he was in heaven.
The headache even seemed to ease up a bit from its soothing, icy touch.
"Nathan, we'll reach our destination around ten tonight. Are you going to be okay like this?"
Captain Burks asked, a little worried as he looked at Nathan, who still seemed out of it.
Ever since Nathan got up, he had been lying on a deck chair for three or four hours, just cuddling his Pokémon and looking miserable.
"No worries. It won't affect anything. Even drunk, I can still win my matches.
Besides, the competition won't start right away when we arrive, right?"
Nathan lowered the Frosmoth that was covering his face and spoke.
They had traveled so far — no way the organizers would just throw them straight into matches. They'd definitely have some time to prepare.
After saying that, Nathan pulled his Frosmoth back up to cover his face and continued his lazing.
He stayed like that until the sky began to darken, and only then did Nathan finally sit up.
"I'm never drinking that much again,"
he said, wincing at his still-aching head.
After eating a light meal, Nathan returned to his room to rest. Soon after, the ship arrived at its destination:
a cluster of islands.
Once they entered the archipelago, and after confirming their identities, a guiding vessel led their fleet to a small island at the edge of the cluster.
"You can move around freely on this island. When the competition begins, someone will come notify you,"
said one of the officials from the guide boat before turning around and leaving.
Nathan looked at the island before him, feeling thrilled — it was basically a vacation spot!
They were near the equator, with pleasantly warm temperatures.
The island itself was filled with tropical flora, and every now and then, curious Pokémon could be seen peeking at them from the trees.
Though the competition was set here, in reality, few humans had ever come to these islands before.
Soon, Nathan received a map from the competition officials.
The archipelago had nearly a hundred islands, and all participating countries had been distributed among them.
The map even indicated which islands housed which country's representatives.
Captain Burks quickly led their group in setting up camp.
Although life aboard the ship had been comfortable, nothing beat the stability of sleeping on solid land.
"Alright, Nathan — your tent is right in the center of all the others. The one next to you is Evelyn's,"
Captain Burks said, pointing to a section of tents.
Nathan glanced at the layout and couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in his heart.
His and Evelyn's tents were spaced apart from the rest, looking almost like two main tents.
The others were arranged neatly around them, clearly meant to provide protection.
Despite Captain Burks's usual rough-and-tumble demeanor, he was actually quite thoughtful when it came to important details.
"Looks like I'll get to enjoy the feeling of being a king for a few days,"
Nathan joked.
Captain Burks laughed heartily at that, though Nathan wasn't entirely wrong.
On this island, they were all centered around him — Nathan really was like a little king.
Just one with terrible alcohol tolerance.
Since it was already late, everyone turned in after the camp was set up.
—
The next morning, Nathan was back to full health, the hangover headache completely gone, and the weather was as beautiful as ever.
"Whew~ I never realized how nice it feels to not have a headache,"
he sighed after stepping out of his tent.
Meanwhile, in a nearby tent hidden in a corner, Mary was staring daggers at him.
She had spent the entire previous day without finding a single opportunity to act — and now she was truly getting anxious.
If this dragged on, it might disrupt the organization's entire plan.
Eliminating Nathan was only one part of it; the bigger objective was taking out other competitors in the World Tournament.
If she couldn't get rid of Nathan first, then even if they made a move later, they'd have to think twice — he was simply too strong, especially with those powerful Pokémon of his.
Time was running out, and Mary was genuinely starting to panic.
—
"Come get your supplies!"
Just as Nathan had gotten up, a shout came from the beach.
Curious, he walked over and saw a ship docked on the shore.
Captain Burks and a few others were unloading it.
"Captain Burks, what's all this?"
Nathan asked.
"Oh, just some living supplies provided by the World Tournament officials. It's all distributed evenly.
Combined with the resources we brought ourselves, it should be enough,"
Captain Burks replied.
Mary, who had followed behind Nathan, perked up when she heard that.
If you won't eat or drink anything I give you, then I'll just make sure everyone eats it together!
After all, these were official tournament supplies — even if someone were to investigate, the blame wouldn't fall on her.
"I'll help out,"
Mary offered, trying to approach the boxes.
Captain Burks quickly stopped her.
"How could we let a woman do such heavy lifting? We've got it."
Mary was instantly fuming.
I'm not trying to help you idiots carry things — I'm trying to poison you!
If Nathan had eaten what I gave him in the first place, I wouldn't have to do this!
But since Captain Burks had already refused, insisting any further would seem suspicious, so Mary could only wait for another opportunity.
After the supplies were offloaded, the officials' ship departed.
Mary, still determined, stayed behind to help sort through the materials.
(End of Chapter)