Meanwhile, Kumquat Gym—the Gym Professor Oak had just mentioned—was also watching Gulzar's match. He was one of their Trainers, after all.
But after the match ended, the two people watching weren't talking about Gulzar.
They were talking about Reiji.
"Luana, I remember you mentioning him before. That boy wanted to join Kumquat Gym, but you turned him down. Then he went straight to that old Slowking geezer at Mikan Gym."
"Yes. He had real strength, and his background was clean. With a little training, he could've handled things on his own. But Lance was in the Orange Archipelago at the time, and Team Rocket was starting to move. The situation was too messy. I didn't dare take him in."
Luana did regret it. She had turned away a real talent, only for Mikan Gym to pick him up instead.
"Foolish." Travis's grandfather slammed his cane down. "With what you and I can do, you were afraid we couldn't keep one boy under control? What were you thinking?"
With Team Rocket stirring up trouble, Kumquat Gym should have been adding strong people, not turning them away.
"He passed the League's background check and entered the Indigo Plateau Conference. After the tournament, should we try bringing him in?" Luana still felt it was a waste. The thought of poaching him crossed her mind.
Travis was already at the venue anyway. Once the tournament ended, she could have him make contact and invite Reiji over. It would be simple enough.
"Impossible now. After seeing that boy's performance, the old man at Mikan Gym will never let him go. We missed him. That's all there is to it."
Travis's grandfather sighed, then turned the conversation back to Gulzar. "That boy Gulzar isn't bad either. He just needs time. Maybe he'll reach that level one day. He's only short on time."
"I understand." Luana nodded.
He was only one boy. If Kumquat Gym opened its doors, plenty of boys would want to join. There was no point getting stuck on one missed chance.
"As for Gulzar," Luana said, "if we arrange a marriage, should we use someone from the branch family or the main line?"
"Gulzar has done well at the Gym, but his background is still too ordinary. If his future achievements are limited, a branch-family match is enough. If he really grows into someone impressive, then we can choose a girl of the right age from the main line and let them 'run into each other.'"
Travis's grandfather did think highly of Gulzar, but Gulzar was still young. He needed time to grow, and they had already checked his background on-site. He came from an ordinary family. Plain, simple, ordinary.
For direct descendants of their family, the lowest choice was still someone from a matching background. For a boy like Gulzar, joining Kumquat Gym was already a huge honor. Asking for a marriage with a main-line girl on top of that would be reaching too far.
In the end, it all depended on what Gulzar achieved. If he performed well, he could marry into the main line. If he was only decent, they would use a branch family. If he did poorly, then he was just another hired fighter, and there was no need to pay him much attention.
...
At Mikan Gym, Senta's family was eating lunch while watching the Indigo Plateau Conference on television.
Reiji's match was playing on the screen.
"So strong. Rai-nii's Gyarados is so strong. I have the Magikarp Rai-nii gave me too. I wonder when it'll evolve."
Senta had watched Reiji's Butterfree sweep through the match, then watched his Gyarados crush Gulzar's Gyarados.
If they weren't still eating, and if his father and grandfather weren't right there, he would have shouted in excitement already. Sadly, he couldn't. He had to hold it in.
"With how his Pokémon are performing, getting into the top three should be easy, right?" Cissy's mother said.
As she spoke, she glanced at Cissy from the corner of her eye. She had no idea whether her daughter liked the arranged marriage the family had planned.
She had already heard from her husband about the old man's plan for Cissy and the Gym's future.
Honestly, she hated arranged marriages. But if they didn't bring in a strong son-in-law, her husband's family Gym might not survive.
She was Mikan Gym's daughter-in-law. She didn't come home often and was almost an outsider, but she still had to think about the Gym.
If Cissy's marriage wasn't sacrificed, then her husband would have to stay at Mikan Gym, officially become the Gym Leader, and manage the place his father had spent his life protecting. After wandering for half their lives, maybe it was time for the two of them to settle down.
That was how her husband had explained it.
Either they stayed and ran the Gym themselves, or Cissy brought in a husband and let him run it.
Ever since that talk with Cissy's grandfather, the middle-aged man had often sat alone in silence, thinking it over.
When he was young, if he had to choose between his father and himself, he would always choose himself without hesitation.
But no matter how much he hated admitting it, his father was old now. He didn't have much time left. The Gym either had to be shut down, handed to Cissy, or taken over by him.
This time, he had to choose between himself and his precious daughter.
Would he sacrifice his daughter's happiness for his own freedom, or give up his freedom for her happiness?
He had run from responsibility for most of his life. Even his precious daughter had spent years growing up without him. As a father, he had failed her. He didn't even feel worthy of the word.
And now he was supposed to sacrifice her happiness too, just so he could keep his freedom?
He had asked himself that question over and over, and he still couldn't bring himself to say yes.
So he made his choice.
He would stop running.
He would not sacrifice his daughter's happiness.
Between his freedom and his daughter, he chose to give up his freedom. He would stay, inherit the Gym, and let the old man rest.
His father's harsh training had never made him give in. A life spent drifting outside had never made him give in either.
In the end, the guilt he felt toward his daughter did.
From the moment he chose to stay, the arranged marriage was gone. Once he took over the Gym himself, the old man would no longer force Cissy to bring in a son-in-law. He would stand behind his daughter and fight for as much freedom as he could give her.
The same went for Senta. He would personally teach the boy how to become a proper Trainer.
Back then, when he was seventeen or eighteen, the old man's brutal training had already given him a full team of six Elite Four-tier Pokémon.
In the Orange Archipelago tournament, he had crushed everyone. No one in the entire archipelago could take even one exchange from him.
He wondered what those old opponents were doing now. Had they improved? Had they gotten fat? He certainly had. He was fatter now, and his hairline had retreated too.
And Luana, the great beauty from back then—did she still look as stunning as she had years ago?
She was probably a mother now.
The thought of that pretty red-haired girl from his youth becoming someone's mother made his fingers tremble around his chopsticks.
He almost didn't dare contact her.
After all, he had liked her once.
Some selfish part of him wanted her to stay exactly as beautiful as she was in his memory.
But time had passed. Nobody escaped it.
He had gone from a young man full of fire to a balding, middle-aged man with a belly.
What a thing to think about.
Who would've guessed that Luana was Cissy's father's first love?.
Then there was Drake, the current Head Leader of the Orange Archipelago.
He remembered Drake clearly. Back then, Drake was just a little kid who kept yelling that he wanted to become the guardian of the Orange Archipelago. He dragged around a Dratini, got robbed several times, and kept following him around calling him boss.
Now that kid had made something of himself. He was apparently the Head Leader of the Orange Archipelago, and the strongest Trainer there too.
There hadn't been any title like that back then. Now, with one Dragonite, Drake had swept through the whole Orange Archipelago and become unbeatable.
Good for him. The kid had finally grown up.
He really had been away for too many years. Were all his old peers this quiet now? Or had none of them improved? Maybe it was time to visit those old friends and let them know he was back.
After winning the championship back then, he hadn't even taken the trophy before leaving without a word. That felt like a lifetime ago.
His father had nearly died of anger. He wondered what everyone else had looked like when they heard.
So many years had passed. He had already let most of it go. Now there was only life. Youth, pride, championships—those were all memories.
"Any rank is fine," Cissy's father said as he ate. Every so often, he glanced at Cissy. "The Gym needs someone who can handle work. When he comes back, I'll test him myself."
He also planned to train Cissy harder from now on.
As his daughter, Cissy couldn't be too weak. If she was, those old rivals from back then would laugh at him.
Maybe it was because of his father's harsh parenting. After raising one rebellious son like him, the old man had gone hands-off with the grandchildren. Because of that, Cissy was already fifteen, yet only her Blastoise was even decent. And even then, she was still weak.
He had already started preparing training plans for both Cissy and Senta.
He would not use his father's old methods. He didn't need his daughter to achieve anything huge. As long as she became stronger while still living happily, that was enough.
From now on, he would do everything he could as a father to make up for the childhood he had missed.
He wanted to be a less awful father.
But when Cissy heard that her father wanted to test Reiji, she only stabbed at her rice with her chopsticks. Her mind wasn't on the meal at all.
She had heard some rumors recently. On top of that, the way her parents kept looking at her was strange.
It only made her more certain of her guess.
Her grandfather and parents wanted to use her marriage to stabilize Mikan Gym.
After hearing that, she no longer cared about getting back at Reiji. Now all she could think about was how to escape Mikan Gym. Marrying a stranger she had never even met? Absolutely not. Not in a thousand years.
She was a woman of the modern age. There was no way she would let herself be poisoned by this feudal nonsense.
She wanted independence.
She wanted freedom.
She wanted to run.
Only Senta, that silly kid, had no idea what was going on at the table. He was still shouting about how amazing Rai-nii was, again and again.
No one paid him any attention.
That left him completely confused. He couldn't understand why everyone had stopped eating and watching the match, or what they were all thinking about.
...
Indigo Stadium, sub-venue.
After the match ended, Reiji left through the competitor tunnel. He had just walked out when Gulzar caught up to him, panting hard.
"Rai-nii, I caused you trouble." Gulzar bent over and apologized the moment he reached him.
"It's fine, Gulzar." Reiji didn't mind. He smiled and reminded him again, "When you're strong enough to stop Gyarados after it loses control, that's when you've truly caught it."
"Work hard. Keeping up with me won't be easy."
"I will, Rai-nii." Gulzar fought back tears.
No stranger had ever cared about him like this. Not even at Kumquat Gym had he received this kind of concern.
"Haha, why are you crying?" Reiji pulled Gulzar into a hug, pressed the boy's head against his chest, and lowered his voice. "Remember this, Gulzar. Having the power to kill doesn't mean you should use it blindly. Some people may deserve no mercy, but Pokémon don't need to pay for their Trainer's sins. Don't lose yourself."
"I've always remembered it, Rai-nii."
By the time Gulzar came back to himself, Reiji was already waving goodbye. His back grew farther and farther away.
Watching him leave, Gulzar stopped crying.
He had lost the match, but he wasn't sad at all.
Nothing made him happier than being acknowledged by the big brother he admired.
They hadn't spent much time together, but Rai-nii had changed his entire life.
He was the man Gulzar would look up to for the rest of it.
...
Reiji's turn had looked cool, but in truth, he was wiping snot off his hand.
Not his own snot.
Gulzar's.
Anyone who knew that feeling knew exactly how awful it was. Sticky. Wet. Disgusting. If someone didn't know, he couldn't help them. It was gross either way.
And this shirt was done. He needed to get back to the village and wash it immediately. Until he cleaned up, the thought of it would keep bothering him.
That was a brat's snot.
At the end of the day, Trainers like Gulzar were still children. Reiji had already chosen to live casually himself, so what right did he have to demand too much from a group of kids?
When he returned to his private room in the village, A.J. happened to be heading out. They greeted each other briefly, and A.J. left.
Reiji had no idea what A.J. was doing. He had been acting mysterious these past few days.
If Reiji knew A.J. was using the tournament to work as an information broker—and not even a first-hand one, but a second-hand broker selling the same information several times over—he would have been impressed.
That guy really never stopped making money, always scraping together more resources to raise his Pokémon.
Anyone who could reach this point through that kind of grind had real willpower.
Back in his room, Reiji showered first, then washed his clothes. After that, he let Toxicroak and the others out for lunch.
Then he picked up Gyarados's Poké Ball and opened its proficiency panel.
[Gyarados]
[Type: Water + Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 79.99%]
[Level: 42.74%]
[Ability: Intimidate/35.13%][Hidden Ability: Moxie/34.23%]
[Moves]
Water-type: [(Waterfall/25.24%) (Rain Dance/22.39%) (Aqua Tail/20.28%) (Hydro Pump/24.53%) (Surf/21.71%) (Dive/20.93%) (Whirlpool/18.61%)]
Flying-type: [(Hurricane/18.33%) (Bounce/20.79%)]
Normal-type: [(Hyper Beam/20.55%) (Take Down/27.69%) (Body Slam/22.24%) (Roar/35.37%) (Double-Edge/14.25%) (Bind/21.33%) (Splash/35.21%) (Tackle/35.31%) (Scary Face/28.72%) (Leer/30.61%) (Protect/18.42%) (Giga Impact/13.38%)]
Dragon-type: [(Outrage/18.11%) (Twister/22.01%) (Dragon Dance/28.41%) (Dragon Tail/29.22%) (Dragon Pulse/24.34%) (Dragon Rage/26.37%)]
Ground-type: [(Bulldoze/17.73%) (Earthquake/19.63%)]
Ice-type: [(Ice Fang/17.51%) (Ice Beam/28.64%)]
Electric-type: [(Thunderbolt/19.58%) (Thunder/27.87%)]
Fire-type: [(Flamethrower/27.37%) (Fire Blast/16.56%)]
Steel-type: [(Iron Head/20.95%) (Iron Tail/28.61%)]
Dark-type: [(Crunch/27.77%) (Payback/19.71%) (Dark Pulse/13.65%) (Taunt/12.15%)]
Other moves: [(Stone Edge/18.25%) (Rest/31.66%)]
He hadn't checked Gyarados's panel in more than twenty days. It had gone up two levels, putting it around the same level as Butterfree. Of course, it could take hits far better than Butterfree's fragile body.
At this level, Gyarados could fight most Advanced-tier Pokémon without fear. Against quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon, though, it was still at a disadvantage.
Reiji had already seen that during the battle against Flint's Onix. In a straight clash, his Gyarados had no advantage at all. If Onix's steel hardening had been complete, the result really could have gone either way.
In the end, Gyarados still needed more time. If it reached the fifties, it could even fight quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon properly.
Luckily, the Indigo Plateau Conference was still a tournament full of babies. Quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon were rare here. From what Reiji could tell, the only competitors who might have them were Tania and Reggie.
And himself, of course.
Then there were the championship favorites and the veterans from last year in A.J.'s information. At most, those Trainers probably had one or two quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon each. That wasn't too crazy. Reiji could still play with people at that level.
If someone had a full team of six quasi–Elite Four-tier Pokémon, he could still fight, but he would have to go all out to have a chance.
Thankfully, the gap between quasi–Elite Four tier and Advanced tier wasn't as hopeless as the gap between Elite Four tier and quasi–Elite Four tier. If you ran into a real Elite Four-tier Pokémon, there was no point fighting. You ran. That was it.
His Poliwhirl had already tested that. If it didn't work, it didn't work. Don't be stubborn. When it was time to back down, back down.
Once Gengar woke up, he would have an Elite Four-tier Pokémon too. Then there would be nothing to fear.
Other than its level, Gyarados's abilities had only gone up by a few points. Nothing special there.
Its moves were mostly the same too. The proficiencies had risen by one to a few points, but not by much, and there were no new moves.
Reiji closed Gyarados's panel and let Butterfree out. The little one had been bored inside its Poké Ball, so it was better to let it breathe.
Butterfree drifted around the room, looking here and there, touching everything it could reach.
Reiji planned to take a nap, then go to the main cafeteria for dinner. After that, he would watch some matches in the evening.
Since he was already here, even mediocre battles could still help pass the time.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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