Once Cissy and Tania had introduced themselves, the two girls started talking on their own. Reiji quietly removed himself from that battlefield and looked around.
It really was lively.
Ash and Gary were already taking shots at each other. Misty had joined Cissy and Tania. The adults had split into their own circles too—Blaine, Professor Oak, Ash's mother, Luana, Cissy's mother, and Amber's mother.
The four women laughed so hard now and then that they nearly doubled over, pointing toward the younger crowd as they talked. Most of it was probably about their children.
At some point, the conversation turned to how much Ash and Travis looked alike. Everyone stared, surprised, then made the two boys stand together for a proper comparison.
They really did look alike.
If they had not come from different mothers, people might have mistaken them for twins.
Once the women moved on to another topic, Cissy's father finally escaped. The men retreated to a corner by the wall, lit their cigarettes, and caught up. Professor Oak's arrival had done him a huge favor.
Brock came over to talk to Reiji too, mostly about what he had been doing lately. That was how Reiji learned Brock had been on Valencia Island, basically looking after Professor Ivy and her students. From what he had heard, Professor Ivy was famously hopeless at keeping things tidy.
While he chatted with Brock, Lokoko signaled him more than once from the shadows. Reiji ignored every hint and told her to hold it in.
Not now.
Later.
Just then, another car arrived. Three women stepped out, spotted Misty, and rushed over with excited cries. One squeezed her face, another checked her arms, and the third fussed over her like they were trying to see whether their baby sister had gotten thinner.
"Are you done yet?" Misty looked helplessly at her sisters. "Why are you even here?"
This was humiliating in front of people her own age.
"Relax," Daisy said, smiling at Cissy and Tania. "Misty's our baby sister. She hasn't caused you any trouble, has she?"
Then she introduced the three of them properly.
"We're the Sensational Sisters from Cerulean Gym. We were invited to perform here."
Beep, beep.
Another car pulled up.
Several kids got out. Most of the people here knew them, especially the Gym Trainers. The adults had already warned their younger generation to remember a certain Trainer and build ties with him if they had the chance.
"Shun? Finally here." Reiji saw Shun get out of the car.
Shun looked over too. Reiji gave him a small nod and said nothing.
Shun did not come over. There were too many people here, and walking straight up would be awkward. They could catch up later.
The huge, muscular man who stepped out after him drew everyone's attention. He gave the younger crowd a quick glance, then went straight toward Professor Oak.
Compared with the Trainers from the Orange Archipelago, he was much more familiar with Professor Oak from Kanto.
"Bruno, you're here too?" Professor Oak asked.
"Just arrived. I brought my disciple to compete."
As the adults started talking, Drake stepped in to receive Elite Four member Bruno, Professor Oak, Blaine, and the others, then introduced them to Cissy's father and the older Gym crowd.
Meanwhile, the boys who had arrived with Shun also recognized Reiji.
"Hey, that's him," one of them whispered. "These people are all huge. Does he know all of them?"
"Quiet," Taro said.
He looked at the Trainers around Reiji. Gym Leaders, Gym heirs, Gym Trainers—people they could not casually approach even if they wanted to. The orphan they had once looked down on now had connections they could only stare up at.
Luckily, they still had Shun.
As long as they stayed close to Shun, they had a thick enough leg to hug. Their family had paid a heavy price to help Shun's Electabuzz evolve, all so they could follow him here and enter the Orange League tournament together.
As for the once-arrogant little pay-to-win brat, he did not even dare look Reiji's way. He was afraid Reiji might notice him.
With the adults moving into the village, the younger Trainers had to follow. Too many people had gathered at the entrance, and they were blocking other competitors from checking in.
Drake decided to host everyone inside the village. The adults, the juniors they had brought, all of them. With a crowd this big, everyone could probably find someone they wanted to talk to.
Reiji and the others had originally planned to go out for dinner, but since everyone was together, Drake simply arranged an outdoor gathering inside the village instead. They had just turned back when another horn sounded from the entrance.
Beep, beep—
A car stopped outside the athletes' village.
A girl with long, straight black hair stepped out. Beside her was a middle-aged man who looked like he was one bad word away from a heart attack, terrified she might lose control right there.
"Sabrina?" Reiji nearly bit his tongue. "Why is she here?"
This crazy woman had cornered him back in Celebi's forest. Should he pretend he did not recognize her?
"Her psychic power is strong," Travis said.
He had calmed down from earlier, but the moment Sabrina appeared, he felt the pressure around her. It was intense—about as strong as his mother's Pokémon, though not as strong as his grandfather.
"Interesting." Sabrina swept her gaze over the crowd at the village entrance.
A lot of familiar faces were here. If she could take out the younger generation in one move, Team Rocket would not have to skulk around the Orange Archipelago anymore.
Unfortunately, that was only a thought.
Some people here were strong, and even she was not confident she could deal with all of them. Her gaze lingered a little longer on Reiji, Ash, Gary, Danny, Travis, Shun, Tania, and Amber.
Reiji and Danny were already marked as dangerous by Team Rocket. Their intelligence said both of them were strong enough to require caution.
Ash, Gary, Shun, and Tania were people Team Rocket had been told to watch, nothing more. The relationships behind them were complicated. Team Rocket did not want to touch them unless it had to. Provoking the League over them would be more trouble than it was worth.
Travis and Amber were different.
Those two interested Sabrina personally.
She could sense psychic power from Travis. Amber had something special too, though Sabrina could not quite put a name to it.
Amber was also off-limits. Agatha had already accepted her as a disciple, and even Team Rocket had no desire to anger Agatha.
Travis was easier.
Sabrina knew he had been kidnapped before and had almost ended up in Team Rocket. With the right push, she might be able to nudge him toward them again through psychic influence.
She would not dare control him outright. His grandfather was also a Psychic, and a powerful one. Anything too obvious would be noticed. A little influence, though, paired with the right woman in the right place, might be enough.
Drake had come out to call Danny, Rudy, Reiji, Cissy, and the others inside. When he saw quiet, expressionless Sabrina and the middle-aged man beside her, he walked over and invited them too.
"The former Gym Leader of Saffron Gym, and the current Gym Leader, Sabrina. The kitchen is preparing food now. You're welcome to join everyone for dinner."
"No—" Sabrina started to refuse.
Then the word dinner reached her, and her eyes drifted back to Travis.
This might be a chance to get closer to him.
"Who else is going?"
"Everyone," Drake said, glancing back at the crowd. "Most of them are juniors brought by the adults. Some from the Orange Archipelago, some from Kanto."
"Fine. Father, let's go."
Sabrina walked ahead without looking at Reiji's group. She did not need to. With her psychic senses, every little movement they made was clear to her.
As for why she did not approach Reiji or Danny?
There was no need.
Both of them were already on Team Rocket's elimination list. If Team Rocket wanted to sink its claws into the Orange Archipelago, people like them would have to be removed. Just not now. Making a move during the tournament would be slapping the League in the face, and Team Rocket could not afford that.
Only after Sabrina and her father entered the village did the tense air finally loosen.
Everyone seemed to exhale at the same time.
"Wow, she's scary," Amber whispered from Reiji's arms.
Even a little troublemaker like her had not dared make a sound just now.
"Yeah. Really scary," Ash said, letting out a long breath.
He knew exactly how terrifying Sabrina could be. She had shrunk him, trapped him in a toy town, and turned him into a doll. He still had nightmares about it sometimes.
Even Brock, who usually lost all sense the moment a pretty woman appeared, had not dared move toward Sabrina. He only sighed and said, "I didn't think she'd come too…"
"All right, everyone, let's go in," Reiji called.
He carried Amber into the village and quickly found her mother. Better to hand the child back to her actual parent.
"Rai, thanks for taking care of her," Elisia said as she took Amber from him.
Amber was yawning. She was probably tired from the boat ride. Elisia laid her down on a blanket spread over the grass, coaxed her to sleep, then looked at Arcanine.
"Arcanine, watch Amber for me, all right?"
"Ruff." Arcanine gave a low bark, then lay down beside Amber and closed its eyes as if dozing.
Once Amber was asleep, Reiji left her alone and returned to the younger crowd. He quietly pulled out two bottles of alcohol. If Brock was here, of course they had to drink a little.
"Gym Leader Danny, you drink too, right?" Reiji poured Danny a glass.
Danny was the oldest among them. No way he did not drink.
"Uh…" Danny took the cup and glanced at the others. "Aren't you guys a little young for this?"
"Only if someone tells on us." Reiji laughed, threw an arm around Brock's shoulders, and gave him a friendly shake. "Right, Brock?"
"Haha…" Brock was already blushing so hard even his tan could not hide it. He just held his cup and grinned like an idiot.
"Rudy?" Reiji poured another cup. "You in?"
He only offered drinks to the ones around his age or older. Travis, Gulzar, and the other little kids were eleven or twelve. Forget it. Giving them alcohol would just be stupid.
"Sure. A little," Rudy said.
It was his first time drinking, but the older ones had all taken a cup. If he backed out now, it would make him look timid, and Rudy cared too much about appearances to let that happen.
The adults were too busy with their own drinking to notice anyway. A gathering like this did not happen often, so they were making the most of it. The one drinking the hardest was Sabrina's father.
Living with Sabrina clearly had not been easy on him. He spent every day worried she might snap.
From Reiji's point of view, though, Sabrina herself was not really unstable. The problem was simpler than that. Adults liked to think children should follow the path laid out for them. When the child refused, they called it rebellion. When that child happened to have terrifying psychic power, they called it losing control.
Sabrina did not need endless scolding. She needed someone strong enough to make her sit down and listen.
Giovanni could do that.
Anyone stronger than her could.
The girls had gathered off to the side and had no interest in what the boys were doing, which suited Reiji just fine. That meant they could drink in peace.
Before long, Reiji noticed the three rich brothers from Kinnow Island. Taro, the eldest, came over with a cup.
"You really embarrassed me back then, you know," Taro said, smiling as he raised his drink.
He sounded relaxed about it now.
Maybe he had been furious at the time. Maybe he still was. But things were different now, and he knew it. Bringing up the old match with a smile was fine. Pushing it any further would only make him look petty, and Reiji might not even bother answering.
"Sorry about that." Reiji laughed awkwardly. "I overslept."
Both of them knew that was nonsense.
But Taro had come over with a smile, so Reiji gave him one back. That was how he handled people. Polite, friendly, easygoing—right up until the moment they needed to die.
"Then don't oversleep this time," Taro said. "I really do want a proper match with you."
"Sure. I'll try to stay awake."
They clinked cups. Taro finished his drink and left.
He knew this was not his circle.
He and his brothers had only come because they were following Shun into the tournament. Being allowed to sit and eat with this group was already more than enough. Most of the people here had Champions, Elite Four members, or official Gyms behind them. Their little club meant nothing in that kind of company.
On Kinnow Island, they could act important.
Off that island, nobody cared.
Out here, what mattered was who stood behind you, and whether you had enough sense to know when to speak and when to shut up.
Connections and social awareness. You needed both.
As the drinks kept going, Reiji, Brock, Danny, and Rudy gradually drifted away from the main crowd. They found another patch of grass, started a small fire, and set up a barbecue. The younger kids and the girls were not drinking, so most of them only came over for a while before getting bored and wandering off.
That also gave Reiji a chance to talk to people he could not speak with openly before, especially Gulzar and Shun.
He only exchanged a few words with Gulzar. Travis had brought him over; otherwise, Gulzar would not have dared come by himself. On the surface, he and Reiji had no connection at all. Their real tie was something that had to stay in the dark.
Shun was different.
Officially, Reiji and Shun were brothers. Their household registrations were under the same old man. Reiji did not care about that bond personally, but on paper, he was still one of the old man's adopted orphans. That made Shun his younger brother whether he liked it or not.
And that was not a bad connection to have.
Shun was Bruno's disciple. Aside from Reiji's position as a Mikan Gym Trainer, that was one of the strongest ties he could show in public.
When people introduced him, they could add one more line: Reiji was Shun's older brother, and Shun was Bruno's student.
That alone changed how people looked at him.
Reiji had no problem using that. Pride was for children. Adults climbed with whatever they could reach.
A conscience was worth a few hundred million. Throw it away, and you could make even more.
If he wanted to rise inside the League, of course he would use this connection. So when he explained Shun's background to the other three, Brock, Danny, and Rudy were all visibly surprised. None of them had expected Reiji to have that kind of backing.
Before that, they had been drinking with him because he was strong. Brock already knew him, but Danny and Rudy had mostly been testing the waters.
After all, the three of them were Gym Leaders. Reiji was only a Gym apprentice. His strength was enough to earn him a seat with them, but his status was still lower.
Now, that gap had shrunk.
Shun's title did not belong to Reiji, but the relationship was real. Having an Elite Four member's disciple as a younger brother was enough to put him properly at the table. Danny and Rudy were no longer treating him as someone worth knowing casually. They were treating him as someone worth building a real connection with.
The League's plan was not exactly subtle, either. The Orange Archipelago Gyms already knew some of what was happening behind the scenes.
Shun was Bruno's disciple. That made him the obvious future Elite Four member for the Orange Archipelago. That seat was almost certainly already his.
The other seats were the ones everyone else would have to fight over.
Even if Reiji never claimed one himself, even if he only ended up as an Elite Four reserve, his strength would still be serious.
More importantly, he had a future Elite Four member for a brother.
Once Danny and Rudy understood that, they warmed up fast. The drinks flowed more easily, the conversation opened up, and every one of them suddenly became much better at making friends.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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