Reiji was heading to the Mikan Gym that morning. His prep time was over, and today he would leave for Pummelo Island to enter the Orange League tournament.
After the Indigo Plateau Conference, the Orange League had spent three months getting everything ready. Now the tournament was finally starting.
Cissy was going too, along with her parents and Senta. Her grandfather would stay behind to watch the Gym, while the rest of them would take the boat to Pummelo Island together.
Reiji got up, packed his things, fed the Pokémon, and recalled them. He skipped breakfast at the cabin and headed straight for the Mikan Gym. They would be eating there anyway.
Naoki had already gone home. He had left a note on the table, saying they could get together for drinks after Reiji finished the Orange League.
Once everything was packed, Reiji slung on his backpack, climbed onto Pelipper, and flew toward the Mikan Gym.
He arrived before long. From above, he spotted a few people outside the Gym, small figures gathered near the entrance. When Pelipper landed, he finally got a clear look at them.
A red-and-white cap. A blue jacket. Jeans.
That dumb kid.
"Ash? What are you doing here?" Reiji asked as he landed by the entrance. The three of them had been peeking into the Gym like lost tourists.
Since today was departure day, the Gym had not planned to open. They were supposed to eat breakfast, then leave around ten. Ash really knew how to pick his timing.
"Rai-nii?" Ash lit up the moment he saw him. "Aren't you entering the tournament? Why are you still here?"
"I'm leaving for Pummelo Island today." Reiji opened the Gym doors and waved the three of them in. "You going too? Have you eaten yet?"
"We want to, but I still haven't gotten the Coral-Eye Badge," Ash said, scratching his head. "That's why we came to challenge the Gym today."
His stomach growled as soon as he finished talking. They had clearly rushed over early and skipped breakfast.
"Come in, then. Eat with us first." Reiji led them inside, then said, "The tournament has preliminaries, doesn't it? I don't have badges either, so I'll be going through those. You could just come with me."
"Oh, yeah." Ash blinked, then remembered the rule. Trainers without badges could enter the preliminaries. If they passed, they could still move on to the group stage.
"Are you serious, Ash?" Misty said from beside him. "You're already here. Get the badge. If you have one, you don't have to rely on the preliminaries. You can still try them if you want, and if you lose, the badge still gets you in."
"Right," Tracey said. "Get the badge first. Then even if the preliminaries go badly, you still have a way into the tournament."
"Yeah, good point." Ash's mind settled at once. "Then I'm getting that badge."
"The preliminaries won't be easy either," Tracey added. "You need to win four two-on-two Pokémon battles. That means eight battles total. Anyone who gets through that is going to be strong."
That only made Ash grin harder. He raised a fist, fired up on the spot. "Then it's decided! I'm getting the badge, and I'm clearing the preliminaries too!"
"Think about that after breakfast." Reiji brought them into the dining room, where Cissy's family was already seated.
"Gym Leader, this is Ash. He's Professor Oak's neighbor, and he wants to challenge the Mikan Gym. This is Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader. And this is Tracey, a Pokémon Watcher."
"Ash?" Cissy's father did not know the kid, but he certainly knew Professor Oak. If Reiji was introducing him that way on purpose, then the boy was worth treating properly. He smiled and beckoned them over. "You kids haven't eaten yet, right? Come sit down."
"Thanks, mister." Ash did not even try to be polite while his stomach was growling. He sat right beside Senta.
"You again?" Senta frowned the moment Ash sat down. "You want the Coral-Eye Badge? Then you have to beat me."
"Then I'll beat you," Ash said at once. "I'm not scared."
Ash was never scared of a battle. The more someone pushed him, the more fired up he got.
"Misty, sit here," Cissy said. She glanced at Reiji, caught him smiling at her, then immediately turned away and waved Misty over instead. She clearly did not want to deal with him.
Reiji smiled helplessly. After spending so much time together, he understood that look perfectly.
Behave. Don't give us away.
Fine. He invited Tracey to sit next to him instead and started on breakfast. The table was simple: steamed buns, millet porridge, vegetables, and a few light side dishes.
With Ash's group added in, there were eight people at the table. Cissy's grandfather was not there, and the meal quickly turned noisy.
Senta and Ash argued about Pokémon battles. Cissy and Misty talked about clothes. Reiji noticed Tracey's sketchbook and saw a drawing of Cissy inside.
The moment he saw it, Reiji looked at Tracey with a smile that needed no explanation.
Tracey's eyes practically shone. At last. Someone understood. He had finally found another man of culture.
Traveling with Ash and Misty had been torture in that regard. Ash only cared about battles, and Misty was a girl, so Tracey could not exactly start discussing beautiful women with her. He had been holding it in for ages.
After that, Reiji and Tracey lowered their voices and talked about portrait sketching. Reiji saw plenty of familiar faces in the sketchbook, but the most eye-catching one was Lorelei.
After breakfast, everyone headed to the Gym battlefield. The boat was not leaving until ten, and it was only a little past eight, so they had plenty of time to get to the port. Since Ash had come all this way, Cissy's father let him have one last Gym battle before they left.
"I'll referee," Cissy said, standing in the middle of the battlefield. "This will be a two-on-two Pokémon battle. Both Trainers, get ready."
"Huh?" Ash scratched his head. "A battle? I thought this Gym used Water Gun target shooting."
"We changed the rules for the tournament," Cissy said. "It's a battle now. Hurry up and send out your Pokémon. We still have a boat to catch."
"Oh, okay." Ash laughed awkwardly, pulled out a Poké Ball, and faced Senta.
Their eyes met.
Both Poké Balls flew.
"Go, Blastoise!"
"Go, Snorlax!"
"Snor… lax…" Snorlax came out yawning. It looked like it had just woken up, and it stared at Ash with deep resentment. He had interrupted its sleep and had not even brought food.
"Snorlax, please," Ash said, looking guilty. "Battle first. I'll buy you something good afterward."
"Lax…" Snorlax yawned again, turned to Blastoise, and lazily crooked a finger at it.
"Begin!"
"Oh, you're asking for it! Blastoise, Hydro Pump!" Senta pointed forward, determined to teach Ash a lesson.
Reiji leaned against the wall and watched without much interest. It was a kids' match. Nothing worth getting excited over.
Still, Ash had caught that Snorlax after all. Reiji could have caught it himself if he had wanted to, but feeding that bottomless stomach would have been more trouble than it was worth.
The battle went on for a while before reaching its obvious end. Blastoise lost to Snorlax.
That Snorlax had always been strong. Its real problems were laziness and appetite. Without those, Ash probably would not have caught it so easily in the first place.
Senta's second Pokémon was Hitmonlee. He clearly wanted to use a Fighting type against Snorlax, but that did not save him. Snorlax's thick fat cushioned most of the kicks and punches, and Hitmonlee could not do enough damage to bring it down.
Big, bulky Pokémon like Snorlax were a nightmare to fight. Hitmonlee could land hits, sure, but most of them just sank into all that padding.
Then Snorlax landed one Body Slam and flattened Hitmonlee out of the match.
It fell asleep right after.
"Haha! I won! Snorlax, you were awesome!" Ash had swept the Gym battle with one Pokémon and won the Coral-Eye Badge. He rushed over and threw himself onto Snorlax's belly.
Snorlax was already asleep, so it did not respond. Ash eventually recalled it, and Cissy tossed him the Coral-Eye Badge.
"Senta, time to go," Cissy said.
Senta still looked annoyed, but everyone had seen the match. He had lost. Sulking would not change that.
"Win it back at the tournament," Cissy said. "Take this as a lesson. Better here than getting careless in an actual match."
"I know..." Senta looked at Ash, who was still celebrating, then turned away with a huff and headed for the Gym entrance.
Their luggage had already been loaded into the car. They only needed to get in.
"Ash, want to ride to the port with us?" Reiji asked.
He had been about to get in himself, but Cissy's father had given him a look. Reiji understood at once.
"Sure!" Ash agreed without thinking.
He had the last Coral-Eye Badge now. Their next stop was Pummelo Island anyway, so they were all heading the same way.
"Misty, let's go." Cissy linked arms with Misty and pulled her into the car first.
Reiji, Ash, and Tracey followed.
Including the driver, nine people squeezed into the car: Cissy, Senta, Cissy's father, Cissy's mother, Reiji, Ash, Misty, and Tracey.
The ride to the port was full of chatter and laughter. By the time they arrived, it was about nine-thirty, and the boat was almost ready to leave.
Reiji boarded the passenger ship with Cissy's family. Their tickets had been bought the night before. Ash, Misty, and Tracey had only arrived today, and with the tournament so close, there were no seats left for Pummelo Island. They would have to wait for a later boat.
"Ash, your boat's two departures from now," Reiji called from the railing. "See you on Pummelo Island."
It was a little disappointing that they could not leave together, but they would only be about an hour behind.
"Okay, Rai-nii! See you on Pummelo Island!" Ash waved with his usual goofy energy.
He thought Cissy's family was really nice. They had given them breakfast and even driven them to the port. He was honestly grateful.
"Rai-nii, why are you being so nice to him?" Senta asked, confused.
As far as Senta was concerned, Reiji was supposed to be on his side. Why was he being friendly with Ash too?
"You'll understand when you're older." Reiji laughed and ruffled Senta's hair on purpose.
He was not going to explain favors and connections to a kid.
Cissy's father had the same idea. He nudged Senta and said, "There's plenty to do on the ship. Go with your sister. They have Pokémon battles too."
His wife understood him perfectly. She took Senta by the hand and led him away. He was still a child, after all. The moment he heard there was something fun to do, his attention shifted.
Cissy seemed to guess what was going on, but she did not ask. She simply followed her brother.
Soon, only Reiji and Cissy's father were left. They sat under an umbrella by the railing and each ordered a glass of juice.
Only then did Cissy's father ask, "How did you meet that boy?"
"Ash?" Reiji asked.
Cissy's father nodded.
"At the Indigo Plateau Conference," Reiji said. "I even stayed at his house once."
"Oh?" That surprised Cissy's father. If Reiji had stayed at Ash's house, they were closer than he had thought. "And Professor Oak?"
"They're close," Reiji said. "Ash only started his journey a few months ago. He got his first Pokémon from Professor Oak's Laboratory, and Professor Oak treats him like a grandson."
That was all Cissy's father needed to hear.
"All right. Go enjoy yourself," he said. "Relax while you can. The tournament starts tomorrow or the day after. Try to place well."
Professor Oak was already famous as a researcher, but anyone who knew the League world understood the more important part.
He had been a terrifying Trainer too.
Reiji finished his juice and went to find Cissy, Senta, and Cissy's mother. The three of them were watching a Pokémon battle. As soon as he arrived, Cissy asked what her father said.
Reiji gave her the plain answer: her father had asked about Ash.
Somehow, that still earned him an eye roll and a pinch on the arm.
"What was that for?" Reiji pulled his arm back at once.
He was telling the truth. He even had a witness. Was she seriously blaming him for being honest now?
"Hmph." Cissy did not explain. She turned and walked off with her mother and Senta.
"Tch." Reiji did not follow her. He went up to the second floor overlooking the battlefield, ordered another glass of juice, and lazily watched the matches below.
He sat there until early afternoon. Around one or two, Cissy brought lunch over, and the two of them ate together.
After that, there was nowhere else to go. More importantly, her parents were both on the ship, so they could not exactly sneak off and do anything interesting.
They ended up watching more battles. Now and then, they talked through the results afterward. Reiji had more experience with that than Cissy. He remembered most Pokémon abilities and had a rough idea of what moves each species usually carried.
In a real tournament, he would gather proper information ahead of time. But even off the top of his head, he could guess most of what mattered.
That was the value of being a veteran player.
After several hours of watching match after match, both of them were starting to yawn.
By then, Pummelo Island had finally come into view.
[End of chapter]
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