At the same time, far away in the Orange Archipelago, someone at Mikan Gym on Mikan Island was watching the Indigo Plateau Conference live.
Senta had been looking forward to this tournament for ages. He had even prepared four televisions, just so he wouldn't miss any of Reiji's group-stage battles.
He finally caught Reiji's match in the Grass Field preliminaries, and when he saw Forretress's dirty tactics in action, he jumped around in excitement like he had won the battle himself.
"Rai-nii won! Rai-nii won!"
"You getting cocky now?" Cissy snapped. "He won, not you. Why are you acting like you're the one who battled?"
Cissy was not impressed with her little brother. It was someone else's victory, so what was Senta so proud of? Skip one beating and he started acting up again. Had he even finished copying out the homework from last time?
"Heh, I'm just happy." Senta scratched his head awkwardly, then slipped away with Wartortle. If he stayed any longer, his sister was definitely going to take her mood out on him, and he had no intention of becoming her punching bag.
After leaving Cissy, Senta found his grandfather fishing in the hills behind the Gym and told him about the match.
"Oh? That boy won?" Cissy's grandfather didn't sound surprised. With Reiji's strength, there was no way he would lose in the first round.
In fact, the old man felt Reiji should reach the knockout rounds without much trouble. Given the level of the Indigo Plateau Conference, he might even have a shot at the championship.
"And you're still standing here?" Cissy's grandfather glanced at his cheerful grandson. "When I was your age, I was already a champion. Go train. Keep slacking off and your dad will tan your hide."
"Heh, okay, Grandpa. I'm going."
Senta hadn't seen his father for years, and since the man had suddenly come home, he still felt a little unfamiliar. But after getting his backside whipped a few times, Senta knew the father he remembered had returned. Not unfamiliar at all. If anyone dared say otherwise, he would argue with them on the spot.
After Senta left, a sturdy middle-aged man who looked seventy or eighty percent like Cissy's grandfather walked over. He took out a fishing rod of his own and cast it into the lake. A Slowking stood beside him as well.
Cissy's grandfather had a Champion-tier Slowking. His son also had a Slowking. Cissy and Senta both had Slowpoke, and they would probably evolve into Slowking one day too. It really was a family line of Slowking. People might leave, but the Slowkings stayed.
"Old man, I heard from Senta that this boy is someone you've taken a liking to?" the middle-aged man asked.
He hadn't come home in years, mostly because he had nothing to say to his father.
If the old man hadn't raised him so harshly, so desperate to force his son into greatness that he nearly ruined him in the process, he would never have run away from home.
He had come back three times before. The first time, he had left his eldest daughter Cissy behind. The second time, he had left his son Senta behind. The third time, he had brought his wife back to meet the old man, then taken his wife and children away again and lived outside for a long time.
"When my own family won't help me, this old man has no choice but to count on outsiders." Cissy's grandfather sighed deliberately. He didn't want his son to leave again. He wanted him to stay and inherit the family business. But his son was grown now, with a life of his own. No amount of talking would change that.
"Don't play that game with me. I'm your son, remember?" The middle-aged man didn't fall for it. This old man had always been full of tricks. He had suffered plenty under him as a child.
Thanks to that strict upbringing, he had gained real strength and become an Elite Four-tier Trainer. But that had never been the life he wanted. The life he wanted was one he chose for himself.
"Hah. You little brat." Cissy's grandfather dropped the act and said seriously, "That boy caught Darkrai. He's an orphan too, which makes him very suitable to bring into the family as a son-in-law."
"An orphan? And he caught Darkrai? Is he reliable?" The middle-aged man was startled. Darkrai was a Mythical Pokémon. There was no way he could treat that lightly.
If this hadn't involved his precious daughter's future, he wouldn't have bothered sitting down to talk with the old man at all. In his memory, his father was a stubborn relic who couldn't be reasoned with.
"More reliable than you," Cissy's grandfather said flatly.
"Cough." The middle-aged man choked on that. He knew the old man had once placed great hopes on him, and he also knew leaving home without a word had been wrong. Even so, if he had the chance to choose again, he would still choose the life he wanted.
"I won't object for now. But I need to meet that young man before I decide. She is my precious daughter, after all."
"Tch. You left your daughter behind for years and made this old man raise her from childhood, and now you have the face to call her precious?" Cissy's grandfather jabbed at him again without changing expression. He was clearly still angry about his son running away from home.
"Come on, old man. It's been so many years. Can't you let it go?" The middle-aged man sighed helplessly. He didn't want to dig up the past. He knew he had been wrong back then, but after all this time, why was his father still stuck on it?
Cissy's grandfather sighed too. "Yes, it has been years. The old fellow at Navel Gym doesn't have to worry about his family the way I do. His grandson Danny is in his prime and has plenty of strength."
"I heard Luana's son at Kumquat Gym awakened psychic powers. That old man must be laughing in his sleep."
"And then there's the grandson of the old fellow from Trovita Gym. What was his name again? Rudy. Not long ago, he led a team into a new Team Rocket base. Brave, sharp, and decisive. Now he's facing off against the Black Ship and Team Rocket across the water, turning Mandarin Island South into a three-way standoff."
"And our family?" The old man sighed again. "Cissy is still a little short. Senta has only just started, and the boy only wants to play. If I raise him the same way I raised you, I'll just create another you."
"I'm tired. If the younger generation can't carry the Gym, I'll apply to the League to have it shut down. The Orange Archipelago only has four Gym slots. Plenty of people are waiting for one of us to weaken so they can pounce and tear the place apart."
"I understand, old man." The middle-aged man sighed as well. He could hear how hard things had been for his father. He also knew the old man was deliberately playing for sympathy, but even so, he still didn't want to inherit the Gym.
Even if that meant letting the Gym his father had spent his whole life building disappear...
He couldn't say that out loud. In the end, he chose to dodge it and smiled instead. "Old man, the citrus business isn't bad either. I heard citrus sells very well in Kanto."
Cissy's grandfather said nothing. He understood his son's answer. It was the same as always. He had been disappointed so many times that he was almost used to it.
"I'll stay a few more days," the middle-aged man said when the old man didn't answer. "I'll take the chance to see how strong that boy really is, and whether he's good enough for my precious daughter."
He put down his fishing rod and stood. "I'll wait for him to come back."
If Reiji knew he was about to meet the family, he would refuse to come back even if someone beat him to death. As for whether Cissy herself wanted any of this, that apparently wasn't part of the old man's calculations.
That was how arranged family marriages worked. Nobody really had much freedom in it. After marriage, both sides could live their own lives anyway. What the families wanted was resources, influence, and a stronger position.
The young people's opinions barely mattered. If Cissy didn't want it, they could arrange for Reiji to save her from danger. If one rescue wasn't enough, they could arrange a few more. Kids these days were simple. Let them go through enough dramatic moments together and sooner or later they would start looking at each other differently.
If Reiji knew he not only had to meet the family, but that the old man was shameless enough to write a whole script for him—with the entire Gym as the dowry—he would only have one thing to say.
Was the old man insane?
A top-grade Water Stone was nothing compared to a Gym. That old geezer was dangerous. Throwing in his granddaughter still wasn't enough; he even wanted to add the entire Gym as a dowry. Completely insane.
If Reiji ever gave in to that kind of temptation, no one could really blame him.
The bait was simply too good.
...
Reiji, who was still eating lunch in the main cafeteria of the competitors' village, had no idea that some scheming old geezer was preparing a very tempting trap for him.
While eating, he opened little Eevee's panel. Eevee had performed well today. From now on, it could train with the others. After getting past the knot in her heart, it was willing to return to the battlefield again. That alone was worth being happy about.
[Eevee]
[Type: Normal]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 54%]
[Level: 28.93%]
[Ability: Adaptability/16.23%][Hidden Ability: Anticipation/17.13%]
Normal-type moves: [(Protect/15.34%) (Tackle/25.53%) (Helping Hand/13.34%) (Growl/26.23%) (Roar/15.67%) (Tail Whip/15.33%) (Quick Attack/16.62%) (Swift/17.71%)]
Dark-type moves: [(Bite/24.14%) (Dark Pulse/32.82%)]
Psychic-type moves: [(Rest/24.27%) (Future Sight/16.21%)]
Ground-type: (Sand Attack/8.47%)
He hadn't checked little Eevee's panel for more than ten days. Her potential was the same as before, but her level had risen by two. Not bad.
Unfortunately, her friendship still wasn't high enough for evolution. He had no idea when he and Eevee would finally build enough of it.
Adaptability was an ability that strengthened stab moves. Instead of the usual 1.5x boost, it becomes 2x.
Once Eevee evolved into Umbreon, both Adaptability and Anticipation would be gone. Still, it had inherited her mother Absol's danger sense, making her extremely sharp toward danger.
After it evolved, it would have Synchronize, Inner Focus, and that instinctive danger sense. Three traits in total. That was already very good.
There wasn't much to look at in the rest of her moves. They were still the same moves as before, and the proficiency gains weren't huge. The only new Ground-type move was Sand Attack, the one it had used against Kameda.
Reiji was very satisfied with this Eevee. Kameda had already handled her early training for him, so Reiji could start advanced training right away.
Not yet, though. He would wait until evolution. There wasn't much worth training at the moment beyond sharpening her move accuracy and building stamina through running.
...
After closing Eevee's panel and finishing lunch, Reiji returned to the lakeside from yesterday. He released A.J.'s Graveler and had Forretress and Accelgor continue learning their new moves.
He had no idea what A.J. was off doing after leaving Graveler with him. Maybe he had gone to watch the matches.
Reiji was happy enough with the quiet. He lay back on the grass with little Eevee and enjoyed the relaxed afternoon.
There was no point watching the other competitors right now. In the group stage, nobody would show their real hand anyway. The proper expert matches would only begin once the group stage ended. That would be the time to watch carefully and figure out what his opponents could really do.
Still, he had to transfer the other little ones over tomorrow and introduce everyone to each other. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
So Reiji spent the whole afternoon lying on the grass with little Eevee. Aside from Accelgor and Forretress, he let the rest of his Pokémon relax. Training hard right now wouldn't do much. Resting properly was more important.
Hanhan and the others did take the chance to relax together on the grass.
Poliwhirl, Scyther, and a few of the others only lowered their training intensity. They didn't stop entirely.
Seeing how fired up those battle maniacs were, Reiji didn't stop them. He wasn't going to kill their motivation.
If they wanted to train, then they could train. In a couple of days, once the knockout rounds began, that would no longer be allowed. They would need to stay in peak condition.
He lay on the grass and let his thoughts drift. By the time the setting sun reached the horizon, Reiji recalled his Pokémon and headed to the main cafeteria with Poliwhirl. He planned to eat dinner, then return to the competitors' village to rest.
After a full afternoon of practice, his Forretress had finally learned Defense Curl. A happy occasion indeed. This Forretress had pretty good talent after all.
[Forretress (shiny)]
[Type: Bug + Steel]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 72%]
[Level: 46.12%]
[Ability: Sturdy/34.12%][Hidden Ability: Overcoat/27.22%]
[Moves]
Bug-type: [(Bug Bite/39.82%) (Pin Missile/20.11%)]
Steel-type: [(Iron Defense/44.41%) (Gyro Ball/18.12%) (Autotomize/36.64%) (Heavy Slam/7.52%) (Iron Head/17.44%)]
Normal-type: [(Tackle/20.14%) (Take Down/12.55%) (Double-Edge/7.94%) (Protect/30.22%) (Rapid Spin/25.74%) (Self-Destruct/13.41%) (Explosion/21.38%) (Endure/36.32%) (Body Slam/30.62%) (Sleep Talk/32.12%) (Defense Curl/2.62%)]
Other: [(Rest/41.44%) (Rollout/11.54%) (Spikes/15.35%) (Toxic Spikes/16.72%) (Counter/14.44%) (Rain Dance/5.12%) (Magnet Rise/8.38%)]
He hadn't checked Forretress's panel for more than half a month. Its level had risen by two, reaching level 46.
Its abilities were the same as before. Sturdy wasn't very useful for Forretress most of the time.
Unless it ran into a Legendary Pokémon, Sturdy would not matter much. Against an opponent at the same level, Forretress wasn't getting knocked out in one hit anyway. As long as Forretress took any attack while at full HP, Sturdy would be used up, which made the ability feel pretty awkward.
Sturdy allowed a Pokémon at full HP to survive a fatal attack with at least 1 HP.
In other words, since Forretress no longer feared Fire the way it normally would, opponents at the same level could not one-shot it. The moment it took a hit, Sturdy would break. Most of the time, that made the ability lose value.
But against a Legendary Pokémon, or an opponent much stronger than Forretress, Sturdy could become a killer trump card.
A full-health Forretress could survive one attack from a Legendary, then send the damage back with Counter. After that, it would probably be done.
With only 1 HP left, Forretress would not be good for much. One more hit and it would be finished.
Then there was its hidden ability, Overcoat. This ability made it immune to powder and spore moves, such as Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Poison Powder. It was a pretty useful trait. Powder moves could be annoying, so having an ability that shut them down was never a bad thing.
As for Forretress's moves, the only new one was Defense Curl. Reiji didn't plan to have it learn anything else for now. He would let Forretress rest for a few days and save its strength for the knockout rounds.
Stealth Rock could wait until after the tournament. As for the other moves Accelgor hadn't learned yet, those would also have to wait.
Reiji closed Forretress's proficiency panel. After dinner, he returned to his private room alone and fed Toxicroak and the others.
A.J. hadn't shown up at dinner either. Reiji had no idea whose match he had gone to watch. When A.J. finally came back that night, Reiji returned Graveler to him and said he no longer needed it. Forretress had already learned Defense Curl.
After returning Graveler, Reiji lay on the bed with little Eevee in his arms and looked at the bright moonlight outside the window.
That moonlight was the key to Eevee's evolution.
Unfortunately, tonight wasn't a full moon.
He would need to let Eevee spend more time under the moon from now on. Otherwise, it might never realize that moonlight could help her evolve into Umbreon.
[End of chapter]
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