Orange Archipelago, Kinnow Island.
When Shun reached the knockout rounds and faced Reiji, plenty of people on Kinnow Island were watching.
At the Orphanage, the old director saw Reiji again for the first time in ages. He had not expected it to happen through the Indigo Plateau Conference broadcast.
"Your grandson's doing well. He made it all the way to the knockouts," the old director said. He and the old drunk sat drinking tea while watching the orphanage's old black-and-white TV. Since there was only tea and no alcohol, the old drunk had already complained about it for a long time.
"Too bad he ran into that brat. Shun's going to lose." The old drunk watched the broadcast cut to the big screen during the intermission. Both teams' information was shown there, and Shun was clearly behind. His ace was Poliwrath. Without Poliwrath, it would be hard to turn the match around.
"Hey. Same old you." The old director shot him a sideways look. "You really know how to change the subject. Was I talking about the match?"
"Ahem. This isn't exactly good news either. The Orange Archipelago hasn't been peaceful lately. You know that too. Shun became Elite Four member Bruno's student right at a time like this. He's going to become the League's hand reaching into the Orange Archipelago."
"No matter how you put it, Shun is still the most impressive Trainer to come out of our orphanage." The old director sounded pleased. It felt like watching one of the children finally grow up.
"More merchants have started funding the orphanage lately, all because word spread that he became an Elite Four student. The children here have more security now. You should be happy."
"You're happy, sure. But that's my grandson." The old drunk sighed. He was worried about Shun's future. Who would have thought a trip to the Indigo Plateau Conference would drag out so many complications?
"Yesterday, the mayor invited me to dinner. He asked whether I needed anything while living out my retirement in Kinnow City. Told me not to be shy, that as long as it didn't violate League principles, he'd arrange the best of everything."
"The Electric Club came looking for me too. They heard Shun has an Electabuzz and said they could help it evolve for free. Then the Water Club wanted to invite Shun as head coach. The Fighting Club came too. I've barely had a moment to breathe these past few days."
The old drunk was never fond of tea, but it still depended on who he was drinking with and what he had to go with it.
Well, if he was drinking with an old friend, and that old friend was the snack, even bitter gall could be swallowed.
"Tch. Keep showing off, you old drunk." The old director hated it when his old friend acted smug. He had been like this when they were young too. Smug when he got married. Smug when his son was born. Smug when his son got married. Smug when he held his grandson.
For a lifelong bachelor, every single one of those had been a critical hit.
"Old friend, you do understand that free things are usually the most expensive, right?" The old drunk's face turned serious as he voiced the guess weighing on him. "We're both retired already, but even the mayor is trying to win over an old man like me. I suspect he's heard something unusual. Shun may not be just an ordinary student."
"Oh?" The old director sat up a little. "Your nose has always been sharp, old fox. What did you notice?"
He was ready to listen. If not for the old drunk, their sailor days in their youth would have ended in death more than once. Their friendship had been forged with their lives on the line.
"First, the Kanto Elite Four taking a student sends a strange signal. If they want students, Kanto has no shortage of talented young Trainers. There's no need to choose someone from a remote southern island."
"Second, did you forget that a few months ago, Lance personally hosted that large tournament the mayor held on Kinnow Island? The mayor's attitude toward the League, or toward the Dragon Clan, is clearly not simple."
The old drunk did not spell out what kind of shady deal the mayor and Lance had made. If nothing had happened behind the scenes, the Day Cares behind those clubs would not have taken such heavy losses.
"Third, you've heard the rumors that Lance is going to become Champion, right? I think the mayor has put his bet on Lance, not on Team Rocket, even with them making so much noise lately."
"All these signs make Bruno taking Shun as a student very interesting." The old drunk's mouth had gone dry from talking. He drank a cup of bitter tea, then sighed. "If Shun really is being used as the League's hand to influence the Orange Archipelago, then the mayor's signal to me is obvious. He's openly leaning toward the League."
"And those clubs with plenty of Trainers are doing the same. After the League gave them a warning last time, they've all started moving closer to the League. Bruno chose Shun for two reasons. First, Shun is a Trainer from the Orange Archipelago. Second, the League has already cleaned up Kinnow Island once."
"So what the League wants is obvious. Anyone with eyes can see it. Shun has become Bruno's representative on Kinnow Island. Those people keep contacting me because I'm Shun's only direct relative. They're trying to show goodwill to the League. The mayor included."
The old director stroked his beard. The old drunk's analysis had caught him off guard, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
"If that's true, then Shun is standing right in the middle of the storm. The whole of Kinnow Island is being tied to him. For the other islands that don't have a representative, Shun will become everyone's focus."
"Exactly. Shun is still only a child. Do you think he can escape once those old foxes start circling him?" The old drunk sighed again. "People in the city are already trying to arrange a marriage for him. Every candidate is a precious daughter from some major family. I'm afraid Shun will fall into that kind of gentle trap and never climb back out."
That was the polite way to say it. To put it bluntly, beauty was the cheapest kind of bait those people could throw at him. And these were girls those families had carefully raised for more than ten years. Who could withstand that kind of pillow talk?
"This…" The old director's mouth twitched. He suddenly wanted to slap his old friend across the face.
Damn it. They had just been talking about conspiracies, and in the blink of an eye, the old drunk was showing off again. Would he die if he went five minutes without bragging?
"Ahem. Don't look at me like that. I really am worried." The old drunk noticed his old friend's strange stare, coughed, and raised his cup for a tactical sip of tea to ease the awkwardness.
"What? Worried about which one to choose?" The old director snorted, his beard practically bristling. If this counted as a problem, then as an old single dog, he refused to sympathize.
"That's not what I mean," the old drunk said, shaking his head. His old friend had misunderstood him.
"What? One isn't enough?" The old director glared so hard his beard shook. League law allowed only one spouse. Was this old drunk trying to build a harem for his grandson?
"What are you imagining?" The old drunk knew he had to explain before the misunderstanding got worse. "I don't want Shun getting tied down through marriage. That would affect his future."
"This kind of thing has to be Shun's choice. I'm not going to decide his marriage for him. He'd hate me for the rest of my life. Once he has enough strength, he can decide for himself."
"Hah…" The old director had taken so many emotional hits that he was almost panting. He silently cursed the old drunk. Could he not speak clearly from the start? For a second, the old director had almost wanted to report him for planning bigamy.
"Think about it yourself. He's not my grandson. Let's keep watching the match. Reiji is a good kid too. You really picked up a bargain with that brat."
"Hah, forget that brat. If Officer Jenny hadn't come poking around, I wouldn't even have known that kid was listed under my name."
The old drunk was talking about the time Lance had asked Officer Jenny to make a quiet visit. Facing a crafty old man like him, she had learned nothing.
The old drunk's own background was not exactly clean. There was no way he would expose Reiji. If Reiji turned around and exposed him later, the old drunk would be in deep trouble.
Around the same time, near the Pokémon Center, Keiko used the compensation money from Ren's death to open a bigger massage shop on a sunny main street.
Keiko and Ren had both been orphans, which made them each other's only family. That was why the compensation money had gone to Keiko. They had grown up together, a little like Shun and Nana.
After Shun ruled Keiko out of the chase that killed Ren, he often brought Poliwhirl to her shop for massages. Sometimes he also introduced Nana and the other girls to help out, especially after Keiko opened the larger shop. That had helped her a lot.
Nana, along with the older girls and boys from the orphanage, had become employees at Keiko's shop. Once they became skilled workers, they earned wages. Learning Pokémon massage also gave them a trade they could rely on when they grew up.
Today, they had all gathered to watch Shun and Reiji's match.
"Whoa, Reiji-nii is so strong…"
"Shun is strong too, but he still couldn't beat Reiji-nii…"
"Do you think he'll win the championship?" Nana stared at the TV. The two most important men in her life were on the screen. One was Reiji-nii, who had improved the orphanage's living conditions. The other was Shun, who helped look after the orphanage and ran around taking care of everything.
She did not want either of them to lose, but there was no helping it when they had to face each other. Between the two, she leaned more toward Shun winning.
After Reiji left, she had grown up with Shun. They had taken care of the orphanage together and worked odd jobs to support it. They were the real childhood friends, and all those little moments had slowly brought them closer.
Now that Shun had lost, she felt bad for him. But since the winner was Reiji, it did not hurt quite as much. Reiji was a good person too.
Both of them were big brothers from the orphanage. No matter who won, she was happy.
"Reiji won. Shun was impressive too." Keiko leaned her chin on one hand at the counter and watched the familiar boys on the TV.
She knew both of them well. Back when her massage shop had still been tucked away in that small alley, their massage orders had kept her going for a long time. Without them, that tiny shop might not have survived.
"Keiko, I came to see you all."
While everyone in the massage shop was watching the TV, a bright young man walked in from outside.
"Wow, he bought so many snacks again!" A little girl heard him, turned around, and immediately hopped off her stool. She took the plastic bags from his hands. They were full of snacks, drinks, and jelly cups.
"Why did you bring so much again?" Keiko's expression was a little cool. But the children were already used to him and had started dividing the snacks, so she could not say much.
"It's nothing. Just something to make the kids happy." The young man scratched his head awkwardly.
He worked at the Water Club and had come from the same orphanage as Keiko. They had grown up together too, though in his case, it had been a one-sided crush. Now he was here to take his shot.
Back at the orphanage, Ren had somehow gotten lucky and caught an Electric-type Pokémon.
The young man had caught a Water-type Pokémon, so Ren's Electric-type had always kept him down. Because Ren kept outshining him, he had fewer chances to get close to Keiko, and he was eventually pushed out of the love triangle. Everyone understood how that went.
When he heard Ren and Keiko were already living together, he had been ready to give up. He planned to say goodbye to the Keiko he had liked for years and move on with his life.
They were adults now. He could not cling to things the way he had as a child. His first love was already someone else's partner. Better to keep the memories and leave it at that.
But then Ren, that unlucky bastard, got killed.
The good news had come so suddenly that he had not been ready for it. It was like a pie had dropped out of the sky and landed right in his lap.
The girl he had planned to leave as a memory was suddenly available again. Of course he wanted to thank the wonderful person who had gotten rid of Ren. If Ren had not died, those two would already be preparing for marriage, and he would have had to pay for their wedding gift. Just thinking about it hurt.
Now everything had changed. No wedding gift. Keiko had even become a kind of rich woman. Instead of paying someone else, he might be the one collecting gifts from others. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
This chance was too good. He was afraid someone else would get there first, so one day he took time off and set up a meeting with Keiko that looked accidental, putting himself back into her life.
After that, things were easy. He paid a few local thugs to make trouble and demand protection money. Keiko's massage shop had been in a rough area anyway, so it would not seem strange.
After he "saved" Keiko, he dealt with the thugs who could expose him. Dead men kept secrets. Then, little by little, he and Keiko became familiar again.
Worried that more thugs might come back, he suggested that Keiko move out. Once she agreed, he pretended to look for a new shop. In truth, he had already found one. He was a coach at the club, and with a few connections, finding a good location was easy.
From there, everyone knew the routine. He helped with everything. Moving the shop, moving Keiko, all of it. The two of them now lived next door to each other. Officially, it was for protection. Privately, it was also for protection. How could he steal someone's girl if he didn't live next door?
No, wait. Keiko was single now. It wasn't stealing anymore. She was a widow. That made it even better.
They had known each other since childhood. Back then, the competition had been fair and open. After he backed out, he had not caused trouble or interfered with their lives. Since he had expected to pay their wedding gift someday, he had maintained a decent relationship with them. That meant Keiko still had a good impression of him.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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