Day 26 back in the Orange Archipelago. Clear skies.
The third round of the group stage began.
For once, Cissy did not come knocking.
Instead, Reiji woke up to a message telling him to eat breakfast and draw his opponent without her. She had gotten up early, grabbed breakfast from the cafeteria, and taken it to the Pokémon Center for her mother and grandfather.
Reiji read the message and enjoyed the peace for about two seconds.
Out of everyone worrying over Senta, he was the only one who knew the kid was fine.
Still, the act had to continue. He fed his Pokémon breakfast in the room, went to the cafeteria for his own meal, and then stopped by the Pokémon Center before heading to the draw hall.
Cissy was still there.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him, then dimmed again almost immediately. She walked over and lowered her voice. "Didn't I tell you to go to your match first?"
"I was worried about you," Reiji said. "So I came to check."
Cissy pinched him where her mother and grandfather could not see.
Reiji kept smiling through it.
Doing this right beside her family was way more exciting than it had any right to be. Maybe that was why some people went looking for trouble even when they already had someone perfectly good at home. It was not always boredom. Sometimes people just wanted the cheap thrill of sneaking around.
And all that talk about getting tired of each other? Reiji did not buy it.
Throw someone onto a deserted island for a few years, and even a sow would start looking cute.
Do not ask how he knew.
He just wanted to fish.
"At least you still have a conscience," Cissy said, satisfied enough to let go.
She had told him to go compete first, sure. But everyone knew how that worked. Sometimes the right answer was to do the opposite. Reiji had seen enough scumbags in his past life use that trick until it turned into an art form. Against a girl like Cissy, it worked almost too well.
"Cissy," her mother said from the room, "your grandfather and I are here. Nurse Joy said Senta's condition is stable. We just don't know when he'll wake up. You two don't need to keep standing around. Go to your matches."
"Mom, I…"
Cissy wanted to argue, but the words caught in her throat.
How was she supposed to leave when Senta was still lying there?
"It's all right. Go." Her mother took her hand and squeezed it. After a few quiet words, she looked at Reiji. "Rai, I'll leave Cissy to you. Senta has already…"
Her voice broke before she could finish.
She turned away and covered her mouth, tears slipping down her face.
"I'll take care of her," Reiji said.
The smile was gone now. No teasing, no joking.
Cissy would be safe.
Kanto's side had gone after Senta because he was weak and easy to reach. Cissy was different. Anyone trying to kill her would need an Elite Four-tier Trainer to have a real chance.
Besides, she had never been the target. Cissy's father had already gone to Kanto, and once he started tearing into that family, the tournament should quiet down by itself.
With one clan about to be wiped off the board, Team Rocket would have to be insane to stir up more trouble now. Push the League too far, and the League might decide to clean house early.
"Go," Cissy's mother said, still not turning around. "Both of you."
Cissy helped her mother back into the room and got her seated. Her grandfather was resting in a chair, eyes closed, so she did not disturb him. A moment later, she slipped out with Reiji.
On the way downstairs, they passed two officers. One of them was Officer Jenny.
"Keep those two alive," she was telling the other officer. "They already survived one attempt. If they die in our custody, Mikan Gym will come down on all of us."
Reiji glanced back.
So those two were still alive.
Cissy's father had already left. Gengar had sensed two sharp bursts of psychic power and warned him. The first was Cissy's grandfather arriving. The second was Cissy's father leaving.
If Cissy's father had left that quickly, he had already questioned the two men.
Which meant they had served their purpose.
Now they were a risk.
The setup around Senta would not survive too much digging. If those two were still alive when Cissy's father returned, and someone questioned them carefully, Reiji's part in the mess might come out.
So even if the first attempt to silence them had failed, there would have to be a second.
No bodies talking. No story to pick apart.
And to be clear, the first attempt had not been him.
He had wanted them alive long enough to give Cissy's father the trail. He had planned to remove them only after Cissy's father left. Someone else had simply moved faster.
"What are you looking at?" Cissy followed his gaze.
Unfortunately, all she saw was Officer Jenny walking upstairs, and her attention landed exactly where Reiji did not need it to land.
Women noticed the strangest things.
"Nothing," Reiji said, clearing his throat.
Cissy's face said she had already misunderstood him.
Fine. Let her.
A stupid misunderstanding was better than the truth.
Then she pinched him again.
After they left the Pokémon Center, Cissy's grandfather opened his eyes.
He had not been asleep.
The old man stood and walked to the window. Down below, Reiji and Cissy were walking away together. They were still talking, and Cissy even smiled a little.
Only then did he relax.
Too much was happening at once.
He had considered leaving an Elite Four-tier Pokémon with Cissy, just in case. But with Reiji beside her, he could put that thought away.
That boy was not weak. An ordinary Elite Four-tier Trainer would not be enough to take him down.
That gave the old man some peace of mind.
He returned to his chair and sat down again, silently watching his unconscious grandson.
No one in Senta's family suspected Reiji had staged anything.
Why would they?
Reiji had saved Senta. Without him, Senta would have died yesterday. He would not be lying in bed with an IV drip, still breathing.
…
At the draw hall, Reiji and Cissy finally got their matches.
Reiji pressed the button.
A familiar face appeared on the screen.
For a second, old memories surfaced.
Kinnow Island.
The three rich-kid brothers.
This was the second brother, Ejiro.
Reiji had not expected to meet him here. It had been a while, and he was curious how much stronger Ejiro had gotten.
The field was the Ice Field.
Good. Not the Water Field.
Ejiro specialized in Electric types. On the Water Field, that would have been close to home turf for him, and beating him would have taken extra work.
Cissy drew her opponent too.
Another stranger. No surprise there. Hundreds of Trainers had made it into the group stage. Most of them were bound to be unfamiliar.
Then Cissy took out Senta's Pokédex.
She still had to draw for him.
If Senta skipped the draw, it would count as withdrawing, and he would not get a proper ranking. If she drew for him and forfeited afterward, at least his name would stay on the list. He would not reach the knockout rounds, but he would still be recorded as a group-stage contestant.
And if he woke up…
Cissy stopped herself there.
She sighed and pressed the button.
Ash's portrait appeared.
"Him," Cissy said, staring at the screen. "Lucky."
"Let's go," Reiji said.
They had already lost time that morning, and their matches were later than usual. Reiji's was after eleven. Senta's was later still, on the same field as Cissy's.
As for drawing Ash?
That was just Ash being Ash.
The guy had Legendary Pokémon watching over him. Wherever Ash went, Legendary Pokémon showed up.
Same way murders followed that little detective kid.
Reiji and Cissy went to the Ice Field first. His match came before hers, and Senta's slot came after that.
When they arrived, the current match was still going.
Two girls were on the field.
One was Amber.
The other was familiar too.
Komai.
Tai's little sister.
So they had run into each other.
Komai had almost no chance against Amber. Amber had her fully evolved Kanto starters, Fire-type Pokémon from Blaine, and Gengar and Dragonair from Agatha. Those Pokémon had all evolved too.
Komai's own team leaned Electric: Flaaffy, Pikachu, Eevee, Magnemite, Electrike, and a few others, with some Water types mixed in.
That was not enough to break through Amber's lineup.
Komai lost, just as expected.
She did not look crushed, though. Amber even went over to comfort her afterward, and the two girls seemed close already.
Good.
Tai had done his part.
Now Reiji only had to send A.J. a note through Gengar. A.J. could disguise himself, stage the chase, and push Komai right into Blaine's protection.
After that, the rest would be easy.
The next match brought out Shun.
His opponent was Jiro, another one of Kinnow Island's rich-kid brothers.
Reiji had not expected Shun to draw him.
Those three brothers used Electric types. Shun used Fighting types. For Shun, Jiro was not much of a problem.
But the match was not what caught Reiji's attention.
It was the girls around Shun.
A whole cluster of them, dressed to stand out, each one trying to outshine the others. Bright clothes, sweet voices, perfect smiles.
Trouble in human form.
So Shun had been targeted too.
If they could not take his Elite Four seat, they would aim for the future wife position instead. Those people really did know how to play the long game.
Reiji had already warned Shun about this. What Shun did from here was his own choice.
If anyone needed to worry, it was the old drunk. Not him.
The battle started.
Jiro folded fast.
Reiji had a feeling Jiro was not fighting all out, but honestly, it would not have mattered. Shun still would have won.
After losing, Jiro hurried over with a smile so eager it almost hurt to look at. He acted less like a defeated opponent and more like a follower reporting in.
"You don't need to do this," Shun said. "And you don't need to keep sucking up to me. Your family helped me evolve Electivire. I remember that. I won't forget it."
"Brother, you should've said that earlier!" Jiro relaxed instantly, his whole round face folding into a grin. "From now on, you're my big brother. Point, and I'll fight. Tell me east, I won't go west. Tell me to catch chickens, and I won't chase dogs."
"That's enough. Stop being disgusting."
Shun waved him off and headed for the contestant tunnel.
"Shun! Wait for me!"
"No, he doesn't like you. He's waiting for me!"
"Move! I'm the one he's waiting for!"
The girls had behaved while Shun was talking to Jiro. The moment he walked away, they surged after him, voices sweet enough to give someone a headache.
Shun saw them coming and immediately sped up.
He really had no interest in them.
Reiji had told him before: the prettier a woman was, the better she could lie.
And besides, the girl he liked was not one of these painted-up strangers. She was still at the orphanage, waiting for him.
He would not betray her.
Reiji's match was next. Shun had already seen the order. All he wanted now was a quiet place to watch.
Before the swarm could catch him, two chubby boys popped out from nowhere.
Jiro grabbed one side.
Bunta grabbed the other.
Together, they pulled Shun through a nearby door and saved him from the terrifying flock outside.
"Shun, are you okay?" Bunta let out a long breath. "Those girls are scary."
He used to envy Shun a little.
Not anymore.
Who could sleep peacefully with that kind of thing waiting outside?
"I'm fine." Shun looked at the two chubby boys—his left and right hands, technically—and smiled. "Come on. Rai-nii's match is about to start."
He had not wanted to accept Jiro at first.
But Jiro's family really had helped with Electivire's evolution, and his grandfather had told him to keep in touch. Shun trusted his grandfather, so after asking how far the relationship should go, he accepted Jiro.
Honestly, he still preferred Jiro back when he was arrogant and impossible to tame.
A shame, really.
…
Ice Field contestant tunnel.
Not long after Shun and the two chubby boys left, Reiji's name was called.
He brought Cissy with him into the contestant tunnel. She would wait on the bench near the edge of the field. That counted as keeping his promise to her mother.
Reiji entered from one side.
Ejiro entered from the other.
The stands erupted the moment they appeared.
Most of the noise was for Reiji.
As the group stage moved forward, weaker Trainers were being filtered out quickly. From here on, the matches would only get stronger.
"The Ice Field match is about to begin! On the red side, Ejiro from Kinnow Island. On the green side, Reiji—also from Kinnow Island. Two Trainers from the same island, facing off right here. Which one moves on?"
"Ejiro has not appeared in many major tournaments, so the crowd does not know him well yet."
"Reiji, on the other hand, needs no introduction. He entered the Indigo Plateau Conference for the first time and walked away as champion. The crowd's reaction today says enough."
"Now, let's see who claims victory!"
"Rai, good luck!"
Cissy sat behind his platform and waved.
"Yeah."
Reiji nodded.
His girlfriend had given him a buff.
Now he really could not lose.
"This group-stage match will be held on the Ice Field. Each side may use three Pokémon. Contestants, send out your first Pokémon!"
[End of chapter]
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