The smoke inside the pool slowly thinned, revealing the two Pokémon at the bottom.
Electivire had smashed through one of the steel walls. The explosion had torn through the rest, leaving the whole pool scarred and broken.
Bits of black stone clattered down from Rhydon's body as it tried to get up. Its Rock Armor came apart in chunks, and its body was scorched all over, but it did not look badly hurt. It managed to rise halfway—then dropped back down.
"Don't push it, Rhydon."
Reiji had Pelipper carry him down into the pool. He crouched beside Rhydon, kept his voice low, and recalled it into its Poké Ball.
Rhydon definitely needed the Pokémon Center, but its limbs still moved. That was a good sign. In a hit like that, arms took the first punishment. If Rhydon could still move them, the damage probably had not gone deep. The Rock Armor and its tough hide had absorbed most of the impact.
Stubborn lump. It had made itself look this miserable rather than back down. After this, maybe it would finally lower itself enough to learn Protect.
On the other side, Ejiro recalled Electivire as well, then walked over.
"You're still as strong as ever," Ejiro said, smiling as he held out a hand. "Even my ace Electivire lost."
"You were strong too," Reiji said. The smile in his voice faded into a sigh. "Rhydon's in rough shape. It probably won't be fighting again for the rest of the tournament."
Ejiro caught the change in tone at once.
As for Rhydon being "in rough shape," that was just basic courtesy. Reiji was not going to tell him his ace had barely done any lasting damage. Saying Rhydon had been badly hurt gave Ejiro some face. At least that way, Electivire had taken one Pokémon out with it instead of going down for nothing.
"Electivire is unable to battle! Winner of the ice field group-stage match: Reiji!"
The arena erupted.
"He won! Reiji wins! Rhydon wins! A champion really is a champion! Let's see how far Reiji can fight his way through the Orange League!"
Pelipper lifted Reiji out of the pool. The moment he landed, Cissy rushed at him and threw her arms around him.
"Rai! You won! You won!"
"Hey, hey," Reiji muttered. "There are cameras everywhere. Let go already."
The cameraman was already closing in for a tight shot. Reiji wanted to disappear on the spot.
"Ah—"
Cissy opened her eyes, saw the camera, then saw tens of thousands of people staring at her. She was still hugging Reiji.
Her face went red in an instant. She let go and bolted toward the players' tunnel.
At the Pokémon Center, Cissy's mother saw the whole thing on television and smiled to herself. Then she headed for the hospital room, eager to tell the old man the good news. Ever since Senta had been injured and fallen unconscious, they had needed something like this.
Outside the venue, Tania saw it too on one of the public screens.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her clothes.
She knew then that her chance was gone.
Far away at the castle hotel on Murcott Island, Saya quietly turned off the television.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on the flashlight beside the screen. It brought back the night they had broken into the haunted castle together.
A soft sigh was the only sound in the room.
By the time it faded, she had already stepped out onto the balcony.
From now on, they were just people passing through each other's lives.
At Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town, Daisy and Inspector Nurse Joy had also seen it.
Inspector Nurse Joy immediately rounded on Daisy. "Why are you still watching that jerk's match? He threw up wine all over me."
Daisy sighed and changed the channel to another group-stage match.
Her poor friend still had no idea. The person she had been looking for had been right in front of her, and now someone else had reached him first.
Back at the ice field on Pummelo Island, Reiji's match was over, but the crowd had not moved on. People were still talking about that last clash.
"That's a champion for you. And that still wasn't his full strength, right? He has a bunch of Pokémon he hasn't even used."
"I watched his Indigo Plateau Conference final. His strongest one, Poliwhirl, still hasn't appeared. It might have evolved into Poliwrath by now. I wonder how strong it is."
"So far, he's only shown Rhydon. No Poliwhirl, no other core team members. Honestly, Rhydon alone might be enough to get him into the knockout stage."
"I remember his other main Pokémon too. Rain-setting Pelipper, that silent Scyther, the fireproof Forretress, the giant-clawed Kingler, that huge Gyarados. Every single one of them was strong, and he's only shown Rhydon so far."
The next match had already begun, but plenty of spectators barely paid attention. They were still stuck on what they had just seen.
Ejiro returned to the private viewing room his family had reserved. His elder brother was waiting inside.
"Brother," Ejiro said, lowering his head. He did not dare look at Taro's face. "I lost."
Only the two of them were in the room. Their youngest brother was still with Shun.
"It doesn't matter," Taro said. "I've seen his limit now. You also took out his Rhydon, so he won't be able to use it again. You weren't completely useless after all, little brother."
Taro did not scold him, but every word landed worse than a scolding. There was no warmth in it at all. Ejiro had not been treated like family. He had been used as a stepping stone to test Reiji.
After leaving those words behind, Taro walked out.
The door closed behind him.
Ejiro's fists clenched.
His brother's paranoia was getting worse. He guarded against them like they were thieves. They were his own brothers, and he still treated them that way.
Keeping Ejiro away from Shun was bad enough. Taro was afraid Ejiro might find a powerful backer and use an Elite Four member to keep him in check, maybe even threaten his claim to the family business.
Yet Taro had no problem letting their youngest brother stay near Shun, because he did not see him as a threat. Their youngest brother was timid, stupid, and only brave enough to bully ordinary people.
Ejiro was the only one Taro watched so closely.
He hated it.
They had grown up with the same education, the same training, the same family inheritance. So why was he only ever the spare?
As long as Taro was fine, the entire family stood behind him.
Ejiro had never lacked resources, but inside the family, no one cared about him. He was an extra. A backup. A shadow at the edge of the room.
He hated it.
Outside the group-stage venues, Reiji's acquaintances had seen the match on the big screens too.
"So that was Boss making all that noise."
Tai had just left his own venue with his sister when the ground shook. He turned toward the big screen just in time to see Rhydon and Electivire's final collision.
"Boss is even stronger than before," Tai murmured. Then he looked at his sister with a gentle smile. "Guess I can't fall behind either."
"Why are you grinning like that?" his sister said. "Come on, hurry up. It's almost time to eat. If we don't grab seats now, all the good food will be gone."
"Fine, fine. I'm coming."
In another group-stage waiting room, Travis and Gulzar watched the broadcast distort into static as the tremor reached them. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"Good grief," Travis said at last. "Rai's almost Elite Four-tier, isn't he? That pressure is insane."
"Amazing," Gulzar said quietly.
He stared at the screen, pride rising in his chest with nowhere to go.
That was their boss.
The stronger Reiji became, the stronger Spider became. Travis had already told him in private that this tournament ran deep. One day, they might even be able to clean their records and enter the League openly.
Gulzar was looking forward to that day.
Rudy and his sister were watching too.
"Not bad," Rudy said. "But if that's all he has, it won't be enough from here on out."
He sighed because Reiji still had not crossed that final line.
Then again, neither had he.
"Brother, I'm going to play with Amber," his sister said. "Don't call me for lunch. I'll eat over there."
"Be careful."
Rudy watched her go, helpless but amused. He had no idea what had happened over the past few days, but she had suddenly made friends with Blaine's granddaughter and another girl named Komai. The three little girls had become inseparable.
Maybe children their age just found things to talk about.
At a café, Danny from Navel Gym finished watching Reiji's match and murmured to himself, "If that's all you've got, kid, it's still not enough."
In a waiting room at the main arena, Drake had also been paying attention.
Reiji came from that lunatic's Gym, and the lunatic himself had asked Drake to look after the boy. Now, it seemed that would not be necessary.
As long as Reiji did not run into him, reaching the top eight would be easy.
The Elite Four selection would not happen immediately after this anyway, and it would not be a real public battle—at least not on the surface.
The real fight would happen in private first. Once the winner was decided, the official selection match would just be for show. If they fought for real in front of everyone, they would expose too much, and the underground organizations would be thrilled.
The League was not that stupid.
Shingo was in a waiting room too. After watching Reiji's match, he muttered under his breath, "That guy is ridiculous. He didn't have Rock Armor when he fought me. He wasn't even going all out against Scizor."
That constant heat would be a nightmare for Scizor.
Shingo could only hope his father's training method worked. Otherwise, the moment Scizor ran into a powerful Fire-type, it would have no way to fight back.
Ash and Gary had watched Reiji's match too.
Feeling the ground shake from a battle in another field, Gary clenched his jaw and tightened both hands into fists.
"He's even stronger than he was at the Indigo Plateau Conference," Gary said quietly. "Can I still catch up?"
Then he turned to Ash, the boy who had beaten him, and his expression sharpened.
"Ash. Keep winning, and you're going to run into him."
"Don't worry, Gary," Ash said. "I'll beat him."
"Don't get full of yourself. Last time didn't count. I just had bad luck."
"Gary, that's cheating!"
"Hmph."
Sabrina had tested Reiji before, so Rhydon's performance did not surprise her.
Reiji was not her target either. She had other things to do.
Still, if she did run into him, she would not mind testing him properly. He had caught Giovanni's interest again and again, and Giovanni had failed to get what he wanted from him more than once.
Sabrina wanted to know what kind of Trainer could do that.
Some of the older Trainers were watching too, including Blaine.
The moment he saw Rock Armor active in a real match again, he was delighted. He was already telling anyone nearby, "That's my student. Pretty good, isn't he?"
Luana, the Gym Leader of Kumquat Gym, also watched Reiji step close to that final threshold.
It reminded her of their battle.
If she had known back then that he had this much potential, she would have tied him to her Gym from the start.
Was she regretting it?
Of course not.
And even if she was, she would never admit it.
For people at her level, pride and face mattered more than almost anything. Getting them to bow their heads was impossible.
Unless…
After leaving the ice field venue, Reiji and Cissy went straight to the Pokémon Center. He handed Ludicolo, Ninetales, and Rhydon over to Nurse Joy, then rushed with Cissy to the water field.
They arrived just as the announcement called Cissy onto the field.
Reiji followed her in like before and stayed at her side.
He sat behind her, listening to splashes burst across the pool and the two Trainers trade commands.
The battle ended quickly, but Cissy still had to work for it. Her opponent was an unknown Trainer with no real reputation, yet he had hidden his strength well enough to catch her off guard.
Still, it was only a scare. Cissy advanced safely.
The moment it was over, she ran down from the platform and hugged Reiji again, too happy to stop herself.
Only after someone reminded her did she remember they were live on television.
She let go at once, blushing hard and ready to flee.
"Where are you going?" Reiji said. "Ash is already entering the field. Go explain Senta's situation to the referee first. At least make sure he gets a placement."
"Oh. Right. I almost forgot."
Cissy could only walk to the side of the battlefield with her face still red and explain Senta's situation to the referee.
The referee had handled withdrawals before. After Ash entered the field, he contacted the commentator through the radio. Once the situation was confirmed, he announced Ash's win.
"The water field group-stage match is over! Winner: Ash!"
"What?" Ash stared at the referee. "I advanced without battling?"
He was confused. So were his friends. So was the crowd.
The commentator soon explained that the other contestant had been unable to attend the group-stage match due to circumstances beyond his control. A family member had come in his place to report the situation and concede.
After hearing that, Ash looked toward Cissy, who was already turning to leave. He hurried around the field and caught up to her.
"Gym Leader Cissy, wait! Why didn't Senta come?"
"I'm sorry," Cissy said, turning back. "My little brother is sick and in the hospital. He couldn't compete."
"Did something happen?" Misty asked, picking up on the strange wording at once.
"He ran into bad people while he was out in town."
"Can you tell us where he is?" Ash asked. "I want to see him."
Senta's absence left him disappointed. They were friends, rivals, and opponents who were supposed to meet on the field. Of course he wanted to check on the guy he was always arguing with.
"He's at the Pokémon Center," Cissy said.
She told the four of them where Senta was staying, then left.
Reiji waved goodbye to Ash's group. They smiled and waved back, and he disappeared into the players' tunnel with Cissy.
After that, Reiji and Cissy went to lunch. Then they packed food for Cissy's mother and grandfather at the Pokémon Center, which brought the day close to an early end.
When they delivered the food, Reiji picked up his three Pokémon as well.
Ninetales still needed rest after exhausting its psychic power. Rhydon's hide was thick enough that a few days off would do. Ludicolo's poison had been completely cleared.
After leaving the Pokémon Center, the rest of the day belonged to Reiji and Cissy.
Two people alone in a room at the players' village—what else were they supposed to do?
Obviously, they made the most of it.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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