Axel still didn't know how much time had passed but he could tell that the time after the second punishment was higher than the first punishment. So, he patted his back for a job well done.
He could tell this for certainty cause L came over to give him some food. No water but just food. Axel knew that a human body could not survive more than 3 days without food, so he assumed that 3-5 days must have passed since the second punishment.
Unlike before, there was hope now. Since Shedinja had been doing everything that it could to protect him and save him, he must also do his part. Right now he should just focus on using his aura to bear the pain and also train his enhanced endurance while he was being tortured. He should at least get some benefit out of it.
He had now already set up a routine for himself. He would first meditate and try to manipulate the aura as much as he could. He could feel that his aura sense was getting stronger but it was still not enough to break the shackles of this room.
After that, he would spend an ample amount of time looking at his stats and the stats of his Pokemons. He could tell that the stats of Squirtle were rapidly changing. He didn't know how it got out, whether it was with Shedinja or not but seeing that its health was in a comfortable position, Axel felt relieved.
Another thing he would do to pass the time was to guess the kidnapper and how to get out of this situation and he must say that he was doing a remarkable job at that.
First of all, he didn't know if he would be killed or not. This was going to be his next question. Yet, he wanted to wait for something and give Shedinja a chance to come with a rescue team during that time.
Secondly, he had narrowed down the kidnappers to a small list. First, trainers like Cynthia, Hymer, Ryker, and Steven were eliminated. Yes, they hated him and Cynthia was on the top of the list but they would not go so far as to kidnap him and torture him like this.
Even if they did, they would have already killed him cause keeping him like this would be a liability for them. Another thing was their pride and their fear of Oak. If Oak got a wisp of it, they and their entire family and also their city would be over.
Axel had already experienced the horror of Oak before, so he knew that they would not do such a thing.
There were 3 people or groups that he was suspicious about. First was Gerad and the league.
Gerad was the type of person that would make rash decisions and he knew that. Axel had openly challenged league with so many things and he knew that league would take it lying down. So, Gerad and the league were one of his suspects and quite high on the list.
Another was the seven deadly sins. They were a criminal organization and Axel had met them twice. Once when he was kidnapped and another time when he did a mission to destroy their base. So, they could kidnap him and even torture him. They have a valid reason and a motive. They were a criminal organization.
The third and final suspect was actually Bruno Welts. Burno had been like a rival of Axel since the beginning. He didn't know where he came from or what his background really was.
Since Bruno could have multiple king-rank Pokemons at his disposal and some of them even with tier 2 king rank, then his background must not be so simple. Yet he had never heard of his guy before. It was the mystery of his background that made him make Bruno a suspect.
Those were the 3 suspects that he had in mind. He did think about Roy, the gym leader but he removed him from the list. Because Roy was a gym leader and he had a reputation to maintain. He would not do such a thing.
The final thing that he would do to pass the time was sleep. Yes, sleep was very important for him as this would help him pass a lot of time.
###
"How could you not know where that plane had gone? Don't you have a scanner to see that there are planes in the sky?", asked a man in a soldier uniform.
"Sir, the device is not working properly. I have already asked to replace it but it had not been done till now. I am sorry but I cannot give you any information about that plane right now.", said one of the scared staff.
"Sigh, I should really report you guys.", said the soldier and then left the room.
After he came out, he called someone and said, "Sir, they don't have any information. So, we don't know where Axel really is."
"Sigh, come back then. We would have to find another way now.", said the man and then cut off the phone.
###
The situation of his family was not so good. Agnes and his mom were the ones that were affected the most. They just could not imagine a life without Axel.
By now, Axel's friends and his rivals had also got the wind of his kidnapping. All of them decided to do their own investigation and help find Axel.
Venu family was doing a lot and spending a lot of manpower to search for Axel but it had been a week and a half and there was no result. They were now getting desperate.
###
Axel didn't know how much time had passed but now he should consider that something must have happened to Shedinja cause there was no notification and no rescue operation. He felt that it was now time to ask for another question.
"L, I want to ask the third question.", said Axel with a soft voice.
Just like before, the door opened with a creaking sound. L walked in but he started to talk but he didn't look very happy.
"You took a long time to call me again. I was getting very bored. What happened? Did you manage to find some sort of hope? Tell me, I am really curious.", said L.
A man did come to feed him and take him to the toilet but the man never spoke. Axel knew from the touch of that man that the man was not L. So, he could tell that L was meeting him after many days or even weeks. He didn't know the time right now.
"If I answer the question, then I would have to give you a punishment.", replied Axel with a smile.
"Haha, so you are giving me the same treatment. I like your attitude but no, I don't want any punishment. So, what is the question?"
"For how much time are you going to keep me alive?", asked Axel.
Axel had thought a lot about this question and how to ask it. If he had asked, 'Are you going to kill me?', then L could just have replied by saying 'Yes and No' and that would be the end of the question.
So, he asked it like that so that L would have given him the full picture.
"I must say, Axel, you are quite intelligent in asking the question. You keep your calm during such a situation. If there was any other person, he would have already gone insane.", said L.
"Oh, am I hearing the compliments from you?"
"Yes, you are cause you deserve it. Now, to the answer. I don't know the time that I should keep you alive. Till now I have not received any instruction to kill you till the time that I get the order, you will be left alive."
"Well, that is good to hear. Now, tell me my punishment.", said Axel.
"You know, I have been wondering for quite some time that since you don't have nails on your right foot, it doesn't match. It just looks a bit different. Then why don't I do the same to your right hand too.", said L with a smile with the same clicking sound.
Axel took a deep breath to get ready for the next punishment.
###
Shedinja's POV
Shedinja had been flying for a long time now. It had been more than a week and it had not stopped. It would try to float in the sky to reduce its stamina consumption from time to time but now even after using the new modified 'Endure', it could not move a single muscle.
The thing that made it angry was that it had not been able to see a single land since it started its journey.
Even with enough motivation and willpower, a body can only take so much. So, without it even noticing, its eyes were getting heavy, it could not even feel its body and finally it crashed into the sea.
Since it had a hollow body, it was floating in the sea for god knows how long. When it opened its eyes, it was still on the sea, floating. It seemed to have recovered some of its strength and fatigue. It could finally feel its body and its whole body was now aching. It didn't know for how much time it was asleep.
But the most disturbing fact was that it didn't know where it had floated to, so it could not say for certain that it was in moving in the same direction. So, now it could not tell where Axel's island was located.
Just when Shedinja had started to panic, the water level next to it started to rise. Shedinja got ready for battle but its body was screaming in pain. It didn't know who it really was.
The water level started to rise till it was 12 feet long and then a water-type Pokemon came into view. After seeing it, Shedinja instantly knew that it was more powerful than itself.
The Pokemon was Kingdra.
Kingdra had an arrogant face and it looked like it was not liking the vibe. Yet, it spoke very softly, like a wise grandfather to its grandson.
"Child, where do you come from and why are you trying to cross this ocean?", asked Kingdra.
Shedinja then began to tell its story of how it was on a mission to save its trainer.
Kingdra felt a bit bad after hearing it but its domain was on the sea and it would not help Shedinja on land.
"I cannot help you on land and I have my family to protect. But I can help you in the sea. I can make a guarantee that nobody would hurt you in this ocean.", said Kingdra.
"Why are you helping me so much?"
"Because, I can smell a sense of Kingdra in you and in a good way. This means that you have a good relationship with my species and I just want to repay the favor."
Shedinja had met a tribe of Kingdra and helped them with Axel but it just could not believe that this Kingdra could sense it till now. This Kingdra must be very powerful.
"Can you tell me the nearest piece of land in this ocean?, asked Shedinja.
"Yes. You can go from that direction and with your speed it would take you around a month to reach there."
Shedinja also asked the direction that it had come from and then it resumed its journey to save Axel again.