"Ash, the kid in the hat. His battling is messy, but he adapts well. He's the kind of Trainer who mostly goes with the flow."
"Ritchie, the red-haired kid. Most of his Pokémon haven't evolved, so if you run into him in the group stage, he shouldn't be much trouble."
"Gary, the brown-haired kid. He's Professor Oak's grandson, so he's one of the rookies with real potential. I don't need to explain how famous Professor Oak is. You get it."
"Assunta, the blue-haired girl, is another promising rookie. Her ace is a Rhydon, and it's strong. You'll understand if you end up facing her."
"Besides those Trainers, there are two more rookies. They're not just promising like the others. Both of them are serious favorites to win."
"One is Tania, the Lavender Gym Leader and a student of Elite Four member Agatha. Her ace is a Gengar. Honestly, I don't know why Gym Leader students even enter the Indigo League. They're just here to bully regular Trainers like us."
"The other is Bruno's student. I heard Bruno only took him in recently. His name is Shun, and his ace is a Poliwhirl. I saw that Poliwhirl yesterday. It has a nasty burst of power, so he's the type who can end a match very quickly."
Reiji coughed. Aside from Fergus, Corey, Yoshiki, Assunta, and Ritchie, almost every big name A.J. mentioned was someone he already knew. This tournament was going to be lively.
Still, Shun had become Bruno's student? That was a huge jump. Reiji remembered seeing Bruno and Shun only a few days ago, and now Shun was already being called his disciple. He could ask about it when he had time.
"Speaking of Poliwhirl, don't you have one too?" A.J. thought for a moment, then seemed to realize something. His voice dropped. "Actually… when I think about it, you have something like the ace Pokémon of every favorite, veteran, rookie, and promising Trainer here. And all of yours are strong."
"Looking at it that way, you're the real dark horse of this Indigo League. Barely anyone knows your name."
"Come on, that's not how it works," Reiji said, a little awkward under A.J.'s stare. "You're a dark horse too. Making it into the knockout rounds shouldn't be a problem for you."
He knew his own situation better than anyone. He planned to use support Pokémon for the group stage and squeeze into the knockout rounds without standing out too much. As long as he did not draw too much attention, that was enough.
A.J. gave a dry laugh. "My ace is Sandslash, and your Kingler still took it out in one shot. And Kingler isn't even your ace. For all I know, you're one of the real favorites to win."
He had fought Reiji once at Mt. Moon, so he knew exactly how strong Reiji was. Reiji had at least eight Advanced-tier Pokémon.
A.J. could not read Poliwhirl well. It had not done much in that battle and had mostly stayed back to hold the line.
Pelipper was probably a support Pokémon, but it was not something to underestimate either. It had also stayed back during that fight.
Kingler needed no explanation. It was a front-line tank with a massive shell and huge claws. Attacks barely scratched it, and one casual slam was enough to shake the ground.
Rhydon was the same. It was even tougher than Kingler, a heavy hitter with frightening burst power. Then there was Forretress, which had even better defense than Rhydon. A shiny Forretress with Fire resistance was something A.J. wanted badly himself.
Scyther had shown terrifying speed in that fight. Once those scythes came down, it cut through opponents like grass.
And then there was that huge Gyarados. It could fire Hyper Beam again and again without any the need to recharge. Every one of Reiji's Pokémon was more ridiculous than the last.
Accelgor was the only one A.J. had never seen before. His entire understanding of that Pokémon could be summed up in one word: fast. Very fast. It could leave afterimages the moment it started moving, and most Pokémon had no way to match that kind of speed.
With that many powerful Pokémon, winning the whole tournament did not sound impossible. Beating A.J. would be easy.
The only reason A.J. had asked Reiji to defeat him at the Indigo League was because of his own pathetic pride. He needed a clean way to step down. If he was weaker, then working under Reiji afterward was not shameful.
"Enough of that," Reiji said. "After lunch, let's find somewhere with some fresh air. Have your Graveler teach Forretress Defense Curl."
After lunch, Reiji left the cafeteria, and A.J. followed him out.
What Reiji did not know was that the moment he left, several people who had been watching him finally looked away. While he had been observing the other competitors, they had been observing him too.
Ash, Misty, and Brock had been whispering about him over lunch.
"Ash, you've got some really tough opponents this time," Brock said. "Especially that guy. My father already told me about him. His strength is on par with Dad's Onix. You're going to have a hard time finding a way to beat him."
"Whatever," Ash muttered. "I still don't know if he was that mystery Trainer from that night."
He sounded careless, but the pressure was definitely getting to him. He had already seen how strong Reiji was.
Whether it was the battle where Reiji gave Gary no room to fight back, or the time he helped Nurse Joy escape an Elite Four member's pursuit and even dared to attack one head-on, every incident showed how strong Reiji was right now.
Misty grinned. "Someone's acting like he doesn't care, but I bet he's nervous."
"Come on, Misty! Whose side are you on?" Ash snapped. They had been traveling together for so long, and she was still helping an outsider? That stung.
"All right, you two, stop fighting. Look where we are." Brock rubbed his forehead and quickly pushed them apart before the argument drew more attention.
With Brock stepping in, Ash and Misty finally stopped and went back to their seats.
Ash ate in silence, then glanced at Gary, who was surrounded by a group of girls. Gary looked completely calm.
Ash had read him wrong. Gary only looked relaxed. His attention had been on Reiji the entire time, from the moment Reiji entered the cafeteria.
Gary had been gathering information on Reiji for a while. He had watched almost all of Reiji's Gym challenge records. With Professor Oak as his grandfather, getting information on a rival was not hard.
After suffering two crushing losses to Reiji, Gary had already made Reiji the opponent he needed to overcome on his path as a Trainer. He did not even care about the others, including Reggie, one of the favorites to win.
Aside from Ash's group and Gary, the only other Trainers talking about Reiji were the brothers who knew him, Reggie and Paul.
"Brother, he's here," Paul said, glancing at Reiji as he left. That was the guy who had handed his brother a crushing loss. He did not know whether Reggie could beat him at the tournament.
To defeat Reiji, they had even skipped their original destination, Brandon's Battle Pyramid. They had come to the Indigo League to answer for that loss in Fuchsia City.
"I'll give everything I have to beat him," Reggie said, watching Reiji leave.
Because of one opponent, he had formed what he once would have called a ridiculous bond with his Pokémon. Even more ridiculous, he had lost to the very thing he used to look down on.
In truth, it was not that he had suddenly formed a bond with his Pokémon. It had always been there. He simply had not noticed it. He had thought his Pokémon were strong because of his training and commands.
Only after that crushing loss, and after Reiji's reminder, had he realized that he did have a bond with his Pokémon. He was the kind of person who would shout for them to hang in there and cheer them on with embarrassingly hot-blooded lines.
He hated admitting it, but it was true. The problem was that it made his image collapse in front of Paul. Was this so-called bond really that strong?
He did not believe his powerful Pokémon would lose to something as laughable as bond again. Unless Reiji beat him a second time. And that was impossible. His pseudo-legendary Gabite had already evolved. There was no way he would lose again.
After leaving the cafeteria, Reiji and A.J. found an open field near the forest. It was far from the shopping street and residential area, so almost no one came here except Trainers preparing for the tournament.
Reiji released Accelgor and Forretress. Forretress went to learn Defense Curl from A.J.'s Graveler, while Accelgor followed Pelipper to learn Rain Dance.
The rest of Reiji's Pokémon either sparred or practiced their moves, each busy with its own training.
A.J. did the same and released all of his Pokémon. Aside from his six main Pokémon, he also had a few common Pokémon for training support, such as Beedrill, Raticate, and Pidgeotto.
According to A.J., these were Pokémon he could release at any time. They had no real training value, so he fed them, but he would not spend much effort on them.
Reiji did not comment. They were not his Pokémon. A.J. had his own way of doing things, and it was not Reiji's place to interfere.
Once the training was underway, Reiji lay down on the grass, folded his hands behind his head, and watched the white clouds drift across the sky.
A.J. lay down nearby. Their Pokémon were already used to training on their own, so there was no need to hover over them. For once, the two of them could relax.
"They're passing the ceremonial flame through Indigo Stadium right now," A.J. said. "I heard it's an undying flame from Moltres. Want to go watch?"
"No." Reiji waved the idea away. In his previous life, he had seen Olympic torch relays so many times that they had become boring.
Even if this was a torch relay in the Pokémon world, he doubted it would be that interesting. It was only a bit of Moltres's flame, not Moltres itself. What was there to see?
"That's too bad. I've never seen it before," A.J. said. Since this was his first Indigo League, he did want to watch the flame pass by.
"Suit yourself. Leave Graveler here. I'll watch it for you and return it tonight." Reiji picked up a small stone and tossed it into the lake. Ripples spread across the water, like his mood. There were small disturbances, but the surface remained calm, unmoved by anything outside it.
They lay there and chatted awkwardly for more than an hour before A.J. recalled his Pokémon and left. He only left Graveler behind so it could keep teaching Forretress Defense Curl.
Reiji did not mind him leaving. The Pokémon kept training, and when Reiji got bored, he pulled out his little notebook and worked on battle plans.
Scyther's critical-hit style, Hanhan's rock-armor burst style, Gyarados's dirty tricks—he had to sort all of them out.
He needed to know exactly which tactic to use against which kind of opponent. Each Pokémon had more than one plan. Every one of them needed at least three.
He also ran mock battles in his head, going through each tactic step by step. If something felt off, or if there was room for improvement, he simulated it again. This would have been much easier if he had Darkrai's nightmare world.
Even without Darkrai, it was fine. His head was packed with Pokémon Abilities and moves from all the games he had played in his previous life. Even if he missed something, he could patch the gap later.
While Reiji was working through his plans, A.J. had already reached the torch relay route.
Just like in the anime, Ash stopped the vehicle carrying the torchbearer, determined to become a torchbearer for this Indigo League. He ran along the road toward Indigo Stadium with the torch in hand, surrounded on both sides by cheering crowds.
If nothing changed, Team Rocket's trio would show up to cause trouble. They would block Ash on the way to Indigo Stadium and try to steal the flame from him.
That was exactly why Reiji had not wanted to go. The flame would reach Indigo Stadium in the end, but Team Rocket would definitely turn the whole process into a mess. He had no interest in getting dragged into it.
Reiji trained until evening, then recalled his Pokémon and returned to the cafeteria in the competitors' village. He had called A.J. earlier, and they had agreed to meet there.
When A.J. arrived, Reiji returned Graveler to him.
After dinner, they each went back to their rooms.
Once Reiji was back, he released his Pokémon so they could eat. Poliwhirl and the others had already eaten by the lake, so there was no need to let them out again.
While Toxicroak and the others handled dinner by themselves, Reiji went into the bathroom for a shower. After washing off the day's sweat, he felt much better. By then, the sun had completely set, and it was almost time to sleep.
Tomorrow was the Indigo League opening ceremony. They had to wake up early and draw lots at eight, which would decide their first battlefield, their match order, and their first opponent.
If his first match was not tomorrow's opening round, he would still have time to transfer Butterfree and the others over. If he did get the first match, then Tauros would have to fill in for now.
[Tauros]
[Type: Normal]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 48%]
[Level: 36.21%]
[Ability: Intimidate/22.12%]
A level 36 Elite-tier Tauros was more than enough for the early group stage. It also had Intimidate, which was a useful Ability at this level of competition.
Tauros was not something to underestimate. Tauros could not evolve, but its base stat total was still 490. That was not low at all.
Forretress still had not learned Defense Curl, and Accelgor had not learned Rain Dance either. He could only see whether they managed it tomorrow or the day after.
Even if they did not, it was fine. Learning them would be best, since it would give him more options, but it was not mandatory.
Reiji closed Tauros's panel and was about to sleep when he caught sight of Ash through the window, walking outside at night.
What was that kid doing instead of sleeping? Was he too nervous?
By the lake, Ash idly kicked small stones, still thinking about the tournament tomorrow. He could not sleep.
Step. Step. Step.
He heard footsteps, turned around, and saw someone approaching. Then the person called his name.
"Ash?"
Reiji had come to the lake too and greeted him.
"Rai-nii? You can't sleep either?" Ash felt a little better at once. So he was not the only one too nervous to sleep. Everyone else was the same.
"Haha, not really. I saw you wandering around this late and came to check on you." Reiji laughed it off. Why would he be unable to sleep?
His original reason for chasing the championship was gone, and so was the pressure. He could leave Mikan Gym whenever he wanted now. There was nothing keeping him awake.
"Oh." Ash's mood dropped again. Once he realized Reiji was not sleepless too, he sat alone by the lake and kept tossing stones into the water.
"What's wrong? This doesn't seem like you." Reiji was curious. What had gotten into Ash? The kid was usually reckless and straightforward, but now he was acting hesitant and gloomy.
"It's nothing." Ash was still thinking about what Gary had said to him earlier that day.
"A real battle starts with understanding your opponent," Gary had said. "Though even if you did collect information on them, I doubt you'd win. Hahaha!"
Reiji did not know what had happened. He only patted Ash on the shoulder, then turned to head back.
"What's the point of overthinking it? Pokémon are your partners. They're working hard with you. Don't put too much weight on winning or losing. You need to understand what your partners feel. They're fighting for you. Get some sleep, or you won't wake up tomorrow."
"Understand what my partners feel?" Ash murmured.
By the time he came back to himself and opened his mouth to call out, "Rai-nii…"
Reiji was already gone. Only his back remained, fading into the night.
"Understand what my partners feel, huh?" Ash whispered the words to himself as he returned to his room.
Even sitting on the bed, he still could not sleep.
"Ash?" Brock saw him come back and sit there in a daze, so he reached out and waved a hand in front of him.
"Huh? What?" Ash snapped out of it, still a little confused.
"Go to sleep. You have a match tomorrow." Brock rubbed the sleep from his eyes. This troublesome kid still needed someone to remind him of something that important?
"It's nothing. There's just something I can't figure out." Ash shook his head, still thinking about what Reiji had said.
"What can't you figure out?" Brock asked.
"He said winning and losing aren't that important. A Trainer needs to understand what his partners feel, and his Pokémon are all fighting for him…"
"That's…" Brock paused. "There's something kind of mature about that. It feels close to how I think about raising Pokémon. Who said it? Who is he?"
Snore. Snore.
Brock was about to keep asking, only to look down and realize Ash had already collapsed onto the bed and fallen asleep.
"At least he can finally rest." Brock yawned, pulled the blanket over Ash, and climbed back into his own bed. He could ask tomorrow.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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