At the battle court…
After Reiji's match against Riku, every Trainer nearby understood one thing very clearly: he was not someone they wanted to mess with. Three minutes passed without a single challenger stepping onto the field, so Reiji left with three badges.
Now he only needed to find one more court, preferably another one where no one dared challenge the current holder. Once he picked up his fourth badge, his preliminaries would be over.
At noon, he met Cissy's family at a restaurant, and they talked through how the morning had gone.
"Rai, did you run into anyone strong?" Cissy was the last to arrive, and that was the first thing she asked.
"Yeah. Two of them, actually. Did you too?" Reiji thought of the masked man and Riku. Either one of them would have crushed most people in the preliminaries. If they had not run into him, who here was supposed to stop them?
"I ran into one in my second match," Cissy said. "Dad warned me right around then, so I stopped after my third match. I fought three times this morning. Two wins, one loss."
"Senta ran into one too," Cissy's father said after a short silence. "Someone doesn't want you Gym Trainers making it through the preliminaries." When everyone looked at him, he added, "I asked the other Gyms. Their younger Trainers ran into strong opponents too."
"Dad, who would try to block Gym Trainers from entering the tournament?" Cissy was genuinely curious. All four Gyms had been targeted. Someone clearly did not want them competing.
"You don't need to know that yet," her father said. "For now, don't sit on one court. Keep changing locations and get your matches done. They can slow you down, but they can't stop you from winning a few battles. It'll just take longer."
He did not name the people behind it. The fight behind this was not something the kids needed to touch. He would speak with the other Gyms later and decide how to deal with it.
"So. How many badges do you all have?"
"I have five," Cissy said. Since everyone was looking at her, she took out her badges, along with the two she had confiscated from Reiji and Senta.
"One," Senta muttered. His first two matches had gone well, but he had been blocked in the third, and now he only had one badge left.
"Four," Reiji said, taking out his own badges.
That ended the topic. Reiji did not mention Riku.
Whatever those people were planning, they were doing it right under the League's nose. For all he knew, this tournament was the League's bait. And as a registered League citizen, he was on the safe side.
"Whoa, Rai-nii, that's amazing. Four badges in one morning. You can already enter the group stage." Senta looked painfully jealous, then immediately got a glare from his father.
"Rai did well. Cissy did well too. That leaves you," Cissy's father said, looking at Senta. This brat was the weakest of the three, which also made him the biggest headache.
"Dad, Cissy still has my starting badge," Senta said. "And the rules say badges you get from someone else don't count, so she's still one short too."
"Hm?" Cissy's father turned to her. "Why do you have their badges?"
"They overslept and missed the opening ceremony, so I took them," Cissy said, clicking her tongue. Under her father's stare, she had no choice but to hand Senta's badge back. Reiji's stayed with her. He already had enough anyway.
"All right, enough. The food's almost here," Cissy's mother cut in before the mood could get worse. "The preliminaries last four days. There's no need to fight over something this small."
Then she pulled Cissy aside for a quiet talk. Every so often, both of them glanced back at Reiji.
The waiter brought the food over, and Cissy's father let the matter drop. He had thought Senta was the only one causing trouble. Apparently, Cissy was not much better. Taking someone else's badge was already bad enough, but taking Reiji's? What was she thinking?
He still wanted to bring Reiji into the family and eventually hand Mikan Gym over to him. Then he and his wife could go back to traveling. Staying tied to the Gym had never suited them. If these two brats annoyed Reiji into leaving, he was going to make sure they regretted it.
After lunch, Cissy and Senta were dragged back out for more preliminary matches. Reiji did not go with them. He yawned, went back to his room, and decided to sleep. He really had not rested well the night before.
Back in his room at the Trainers' Village, he released his Pokémon in batches and fed them lunch. With more than twenty Pokémon to handle, the meal took a while. Once everyone had eaten, he dropped onto the bed and slept for real, all the way until late afternoon.
As for Lokoko?
That could wait until tonight. Brock was staying in the Village too. He was not going anywhere.
…
Evening.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door around dusk. Reiji opened it half-awake and found Cissy standing outside.
"You really were asleep," Cissy said, walking in and setting dinner on the table. "I brought you food. There's a festival tonight. Want to go take a look?"
"That smells good. Where'd you get it?" Reiji headed straight to the bathroom, washed up, and came back to eat.
"The cafeteria," Cissy said, sitting down on Senta's bed while she watched him.
"Where's Senta?"
"He went to the festival with Mom and Dad. Mom told me to come check on you."
"I'll go after I eat." Reiji grinned at her with his mouth full, almost dropping rice as he talked.
Having a girlfriend was pretty nice. Someone even brought him dinner.
Back at the Indigo Plateau Conference, waking up late meant dragging himself to the cafeteria alone. Miss the mealtime, and he had to go outside and pay for something.
Of course, he was about to stop enjoying the benefits.
"Slow down," Cissy said, worried he would choke. She got up and poured him a glass of water.
After dinner, Cissy was still in the room, so Reiji did not feed his Pokémon yet. That could wait until they came back.
On the way out, Reiji glanced at the room next door. Ash and the others were staying there.
Cissy noticed right away and pulled him along. "Stop looking. They're not in. I saw them out on the street."
"On the street, huh?" Reiji let her drag him away, already thinking through how to get Brock to catch Lokoko.
The easiest way was to have Lokoko call for help through telepathy, lure Brock over, and make sure the capture happened somewhere with fewer people around.
They reached the festival street soon after. By then, the whole commercial district was packed. Lanterns hung everywhere, the street was bright with decorations, and people in all kinds of strange outfits moved through the crowd. Even a Shamouti Island-style parade had joined the festival.
They walked and ate their way down the street. Cissy bought cotton candy, and plenty of other snacks. Whenever she could not finish something, she shoved it at Reiji, then refused to let him waste it. Telling her to buy less did nothing. Her logic was pure bandit behavior, and Reiji's head was starting to hurt.
Eventually, they ran into Senta and Cissy's parents and spent some time with them. After a while, Reiji made an excuse about going to the bathroom and slipped away.
He had already spotted Ash's group earlier, and Gengar had marked their location. Now he headed straight for them.
Once he got close, he released Lokoko and had it use telepathy on Brock. Then he threw Lokoko's old Poké Ball into a corner, where it smashed against the wall.
"Help me… please help me…"
"Who said that?" Brock stopped at once and looked around. In the middle of the loud, cheerful festival, his reaction looked completely out of place.
He searched the crowd but found no one calling for help. Then the voice came again.
"Help me… please help me…"
"Who's there?" Brock muttered.
That finally got everyone else's attention.
"Brock, what are you talking about?" Ash asked.
"You've been talking to yourself for a while," Misty said.
"You didn't hear that?" Brock looked at them, unsettled. "Someone's calling for help."
"A cry for help?" Misty looked around too, but no one nearby seemed to be in trouble. Besides, the street was so loud. How had Brock heard anything?
"Help me… please help me…"
The voice came again.
Brock looked up sharply and searched the street. Then he saw something dart into a dark alley. He only caught its back for a second, but nine long tails flicked behind it before vanishing into the shadows.
"That's it. That's the one calling for help." Brock saw the strange figure disappear into the alley. A moment later, a man in black slipped in after it with a Toxicroak and a Golbat.
He did not know how he knew, but he was sure the voice belonged to that creature. Before anyone could stop him, he ran after it.
"Brock? Where are you going?" Ash shouted.
Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and chased after Brock. Ash immediately ran after Pikachu, and Misty and Tracey followed right behind them.
"Ash? Where are you going?" Delia started to follow, but Professor Oak stopped her.
"Brock is with him. He'll be fine," Professor Oak said, completely calm. "Young people need to run around a little."
Then he went right back to enjoying the festival with Delia.
Anyone foolish enough to hurt a Trainer during the tournament was basically asking the League to crush them.
…
Brock charged through the alley, chasing the flash of those tails out of the festival district and into the quieter outskirts.
"They're coming," Reiji said. He had already changed into black clothes and covered his face. He had also used perfume to hide his scent, so Pikachu would not be able to track him. "Get ready. You'll need a real wound, and you'll need to be poisoned."
"Understood. Start," Lokoko replied.
Its psychic senses had already picked up Brock. Now they only had to sell the scene.
"Hahaha! You're already poisoned. You're not getting away. Golbat, Steel Wing!"
"Please… help me…" Lokoko called to Brock through telepathy while pretending to flee.
Golbat was faster. Its wing flashed with a metallic sheen and sliced across Ninetales's thigh, opening a long, bloody gash.
A heavy bang followed. A huge capture net shot out of a launcher, spread open, and dropped over Ninetales, pinning it in place.
The poison came from Spinarak. It had bitten Lokoko earlier, but the dose was weak and would not do much. Still, Lokoko made its voice sound faint and desperate.
"Help me…"
"It's a Ninetales. Let it go!" Brock finally saw what those tails belonged to. He rushed forward, stood between Ninetales and the man in black, and sent out his Pokémon.
"Stay out of this, kid," Reiji said, forcing his voice rough. "That Ninetales can talk. A rare prize like this is coming with me." He snapped his hand forward. "Toxicroak, Golbat, take them down!"
Toxicroak knew this was all an act. It charged at Onix, took one swing from its tail, and went flying. After hitting the ground, it twitched twice and stayed down.
Golbat faced Geodude next. A few thumb-sized stones shot toward it, and it pretended to be knocked out of the air. It dropped to the ground, gave a couple of weak spasms, and stopped moving.
"Useless," Reiji growled.
He glared at Brock, recalled Toxicroak and Golbat, then turned and ran.
Brock did not chase him. His attention went straight back to Ninetales.
Lokoko kept the act perfect. It showed the bleeding wound on its thigh, along with the dark blood from the poison. Then it gave a weak little whine and collapsed.
This time, it was just a normal cry, not telepathy. Lokoko was only pretending to faint. With no lights around and only the moon overhead, no one could tell.
Brock panicked and started tearing open the capture net. Ash, Misty, and Tracey arrived just then.
"Hah… hah… Brock, what happened?" Ash asked, out of breath.
"I don't know," Brock said. "I heard someone calling for help, followed the voice, and found a man trying to capture this Ninetales."
"It's hurt badly. We need to get it to a Pokémon Center," Misty said, staring anxiously at the wound on Ninetales's thigh.
"Help me carry it," Brock said. He tried to lift Ninetales, but its tails were too long and awkward.
"Brock," Ash said, watching him struggle, "Ninetales is a Pokémon, right?"
Brock froze.
"Oh. Right. I forgot." Because he had heard a human voice, some part of him had started treating Ninetales like a person. He quickly pulled out an empty Poké Ball and threw it.
The Poké Ball opened, and red light drew Ninetales inside.
"It doesn't have a Trainer?" Misty was surprised. This Ninetales was wild. Then how had it evolved?
"We can worry about that later. Pokémon Center first." Brock was too worried about Ninetales to care about anything else. He recalled Onix and Geodude, then ran all the way to the Pokémon Center.
By the time he arrived, he was so winded he could barely speak. He leaned over, gasping for air.
He did not need to explain. Nurse Joy understood at once. She took the Poké Ball from him and hurried into the emergency room.
Nurse Joy prepared an antidote, treated the poison, cleaned the wound on Ninetales's thigh, and stitched it closed. She worked for two or three hours before finally wheeling Ninetales out.
"What happened to this Pokémon?" Nurse Joy asked Brock. "How did it get hurt this badly?"
Her eyes made the question clear. She was wondering whether Brock had mistreated it.
"Nurse Joy, I found a man in black trying to capture it," Brock said. "I rescued Ninetales and brought it here. I think he was a Pokémon hunter."
He told her what he had seen and explained that he was a Gym Leader. Only then did Nurse Joy's suspicion fade.
"I see. Ninetales is out of danger now," Nurse Joy said. "Take good care of it."
She had just turned to leave when a voice spoke behind her.
"Thank you…"
"Who said that?" Nurse Joy turned back toward Brock, wondering if he had thanked her.
But the cart was already surrounded, and she did not stop to investigate. She left the lobby with Chansey and went back to treating the next Trainer's Pokémon.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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