Day 24 back in the Orange Archipelago. Overcast.
The Orange League tournament had reached its fifth day. After four days of preliminaries, the group stage was finally here.
There would be four group-stage matches in total, one per day, each on a different field. The format was three-on-three.
Reiji woke up that morning and yawned so hard his jaw almost cracked. He had spent the past few nights walking around with Cissy, and anyone who had ever been dragged into a long shopping trip with a girl would understand. Anyone who had not could count themselves lucky.
His days had gone to helping his Pokémon adjust to their held items. His nights had gone to keeping Cissy company. The schedule was full, the matches themselves had been easy, and somehow he still felt exhausted.
Today's matches would be decided by draw. The draw hall was outside the Trainers' Village, with the field and opponent both assigned at random.
Knock, knock, knock.
Cissy knocked on their door first thing in the morning. That explained the yawn. Reiji had not slept nearly enough.
He and Senta washed up quickly, then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast before the draw. Some contestants had already drawn early slots and gone straight to their matches.
"It's finally the group stage." Senta stared at the live broadcast on the cafeteria's big screen, looking more relieved than excited.
His father had drilled him hard over the last few days. Senta finally scraped together five badges on the third day of preliminaries.
Five, not four.
Cissy's father had decided the preliminaries were good practice, so Senta had been forced through one extra match. A little more real battle experience before the group stage would not hurt him.
"Rai, we'll draw together," Cissy said. "Mom and Dad still need to keep an eye on Senta. If our match times don't overlap, you two come watch mine after yours. I'll go watch yours once I'm done too."
"Sure. Depends on the schedule."
The three of them finished breakfast and went to the draw hall.
The four fields were still the Grass Field, Ice Field, Water Field, and Rock Field.
They each pressed the draw button in turn. Two Rock Field slots and one Grass Field slot appeared on the screen.
"Yes!" Senta brightened at once. "Rai-nii and I both got the Rock Field. Rai-nii goes first."
Reiji's match was a little after nine, just over an hour away. Senta's was after ten.
Cissy had drawn the Grass Field, also a little after nine. If she finished quickly, she would still make it back in time for Senta's match.
"What are you grinning about?" Cissy saw Senta getting smug and knocked him on the head before he could enjoy it too much.
"All right, we split up here."
Reiji turned to leave with Umbreon. Cissy and Senta followed him out of the draw hall.
Cissy's parents were waiting outside.
"How did it go?" her mother asked.
"Rock Field, after ten," Senta said proudly.
"Then we'll go to—"
"No. Grass Field first," Cissy said, cutting off her father before he could finish. She grabbed Senta and dragged him away.
Senta's face collapsed. "Why does this always happen to me?"
His parents had no choice but to follow Cissy to the Grass Field. They could watch her match first, then hurry back for Senta's.
Reiji covered his mouth to hide a laugh as the four of them left, then headed for the Rock Field on his own.
By the time he arrived, there was only a little over half an hour before his match. He waited in the lounge, watching the four large screens on the wall cycle through live feeds from the different fields.
Then the broadcast called his name.
"Contestant Reiji, please enter the field. Contestant Reiji, please enter the field."
Reiji left the lounge and walked down the contestant tunnel. The moment he stepped onto the Rock Field, the stands exploded.
"Reiji! Reiji! Reiji!"
The host's voice rose over the noise. "Contestant Reiji is getting quite the welcome! After winning the Indigo Plateau Conference just a few months ago, can he take the Orange League tournament as well? We'll find out soon enough!"
Reiji raised one hand and waved to the crowd as he made his way to the platform.
Then he saw his opponent and stopped.
A chubby kid stood on the opposite platform.
Worse, a chubby kid he knew.
"Hey," he said, raising a hand in greeting.
Judging by his face, he had not asked for this matchup either.
"Of course it's you, Bunta." Reiji sighed. He had only glanced at the tiny headshot during the draw and had not looked closely enough. Now he recognized the boy from Kinnow Island, the one who often hung around Shun.
"I didn't want this either," Bunta said, spreading his hands helplessly. The draw had picked Reiji. What was he supposed to do about it?
"This group-stage match will be held on the Rock Field. Each side may use three Pokémon. Contestants, send out your first Pokémon!"
Two Poké Balls opened at once.
Kingler hit the field first, snapping its massive claw with a sharp clack.
Across from it, Ludicolo landed with a cheerful cry, then crooked a finger at Kingler like it had been waiting for this. Kingler had bullied it plenty before. Ludicolo remembered.
"Kingler against Ludicolo!" the host called. "Bunta is in a bad spot right from the start. Can he fight his way out of it?"
Bunta's round face fell the moment he saw Ludicolo. A Water type into a Grass type. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
"You can still surrender," Reiji said, smiling.
He knew Bunta's team, so he had opened with Ludicolo on purpose. There was not much mystery to this match.
"No way. Shun would laugh at me forever." Bunta looked like he wanted to cry, but he still gave the command. "Kingler, Bubble Beam!"
"Ludicolo, Solar Beam."
Bunta's eyes widened. "Right away? Who opens with Solar Beam? Aren't we supposed to test each other first?"
"Kingler, Dig!"
Kingler punched into the ground.
Solar Beam struck almost immediately after.
The blast smashed into the Rock Field hard enough to shake the platform. Kingler had made it underground, but the force still tore through the field and rattled everything beneath it.
A few seconds later, a huge claw broke through the surface. Kingler dragged itself out, dirt and broken stone sliding off its shell.
Ludicolo was already waiting.
Its arms swept forward, sending a storm of sharp leaves across the field.
Kingler threw up Protect and weathered the Razor Leaf behind the barrier. The leaves scattered, but before Kingler could move again, small brown seeds landed across its shell.
Bunta's expression changed at once. "Kingler, it's Leech Seed! Cut the vines off!"
Vines burst from the seeds and wrapped around Kingler. Its giant claw was already trapped, and that claw was never built for careful work anyway. It tried to snip the vines away with its smaller claw, but the movement was painfully slow.
Then the field lit up again.
Another Solar Beam tore across the Rock Field and swallowed Kingler whole.
"No way…" Bunta stared into the white light, his face going pale. "How is it that fast? Doesn't Solar Beam need time to charge?"
When the light faded, Kingler was on its back, smoke rising from its mouth. It was out cold.
"Kingler is unable to battle. Red contestant, recall Kingler and send out your second Pokémon."
Bunta recalled Kingler with a heavy face. He had known this would be hard. He had not expected the first Pokémon to drop that fast.
"Go, Lombre!"
The next Poké Ball opened, and Lombre appeared on the field.
Reiji blinked.
Lombre. Ludicolo's pre-evolution.
He recalled Ludicolo without hesitation and sent out Farfetch'd.
"Far! Farfetch'd!"
Bunta's shoulders sagged. "Do you really have to counterpick me that hard?"
"You can still surrender," Reiji reminded him.
Bunta answered by recalling Lombre.
"Go, Quagsire!"
Reiji almost laughed.
So that was why Bunta had sent out Lombre. His last Pokémon was Quagsire. If he had left Ludicolo in, Quagsire would have been deleted even faster.
"Farfetch'd, Leaf Blade."
Farfetch'd gripped its leek, green light sliding along the stalk as it dove toward Quagsire.
"Quagsire, Stealth Rock!"
Quagsire opened its mouth and spat out broken stone fragments. The rocks hung in the air above it, right in Farfetch'd's path.
"Air Cutter. Clear a path."
Farfetch'd pulled out of the dive and beat its wings hard. Blades of compressed air sliced through the floating stones, opening a gap.
Quagsire immediately spat out more rocks, filling the space again.
Reiji clicked his tongue. "Forget it. Leaf Blade straight through."
Farfetch'd rose higher, then dove again.
This time it did not bother avoiding the stones. Its glowing leek cut through the Stealth Rock fragments one after another, scattering broken pieces across the field as it forced its way down.
Bunta stared in disbelief. "Quagsire, Protect!"
The Leaf Blade struck the barrier instead of Quagsire. Farfetch'd pulled back and swung again, but Protect had bought just enough time.
"Dig!"
Quagsire dropped underground.
Farfetch'd took to the air and hammered the ground with Swift, firing star after star into the field. Anything that could shake the earth went down. If Quagsire wanted to hide underground, Farfetch'd would make the underground miserable.
It worked.
Quagsire soon popped back out, only for Farfetch'd to dive again with Leaf Blade.
Then Quagsire vanished underground again.
Farfetch'd hovered over the hole and fired Swift straight down after it.
A little later, Quagsire crawled out again.
Still fine.
Bunta finally breathed. If he could stall, he could at least make this look decent.
Reiji had no interest in letting the match turn into a digging contest.
Quagsire was better at Dig than he had expected. Farfetch'd could keep chasing it, but that would drag the fight out, and this was not the time to win through patience.
He recalled Farfetch'd and threw out Rhydon.
For Bunta to force Rhydon out, he had definitely grown. Reiji had to give him that much.
Then Rhydon landed, and Bunta's smile died.
The pressure was completely different.
Rhydon fired Rock Wrecker blasts across the field. Quagsire managed to block a few with Protect, but there was no way it could keep that up forever. It used Dig again and disappeared underground.
Rhydon did not chase.
It simply lifted one foot and stomped.
Boom.
The field jumped.
Another stomp.
Boom.
The Rock Field buckled under the force. The tremor went straight into the tunnels below, and Quagsire burst back out almost immediately, tongue lolling, eyes rolled up.
If it had stayed down there any longer, the collapsing stone might have buried it alive.
Lombre was the only one Bunta had left.
Against Rhydon, it had no room to do anything. One Rock Wrecker was enough to knock it out.
"The Rock Field group-stage match is over! Winner: Contestant Reiji!"
The referee raised the green flag.
The stands burst into cheers again as Reiji left the field. He waited near the Rock Field entrance for a while before Cissy's family finally hurried over.
Senta came running the moment he saw them, still catching his breath, eyes shining like his own match had already started.
"Rai-nii, Sis won, you won, and now it's my turn. You're cheering for me, right?"
Before Reiji could answer, the broadcast called Senta's name.
"That's me!" Senta spun toward the tunnel, then pointed back at them as he ran. "Don't forget. I want actual cheering!"
Reiji and the others followed him in instead of fighting through the packed stands. Watching from the tunnel entrance was good enough.
Reiji glanced at Cissy. "Congrats on advancing."
Cissy gave him a look. "You remembered. Smart."
If he had forgotten, she absolutely would have found a reason to make trouble later.
Then she folded her arms, eyes drifting back toward the field. "Though I'm not sure you deserve congratulations for bullying the kid with Rhydon."
Reiji rubbed the back of his head. "That Quagsire was annoying, okay? It kept ducking underground every time Farfetch'd got close."
"So you brought out Rhydon."
"It worked."
"That's not a defense."
"It's a very good defense. The match ended, didn't it?"
Cissy snorted, but she was smiling.
They traded a few more words, then stopped near the mouth of the contestant tunnel.
Senta was already on his platform. His opponent was a stranger none of them recognized.
The match started, and it was immediately clear this would not be a free win. Senta sent out Blastoise, Poliwrath, and Slowking one after another, but his opponent was an Advanced Trainer too. Every exchange was close, every advantage hard-earned.
Senta struggled for that win.
In the end, Slowking held the field.
His opponent's last Pokémon went down, and Senta stood there for a second as if he needed the referee's call to prove it had really happened.
He had won.
The moment he spotted Reiji and the others at the tunnel entrance, he recalled Slowking and ran over, too excited to stand still.
"I won, Rai-nii! I really won!"
He shared the joy with Reiji first, then turned toward his parents.
"Senta, you did well," Cissy's father said. "That's my son."
Praise from him was rare.
It was also obviously forced. The match had been good, but not so good that he would normally say something like that. Cissy's mother had elbowed him in the side, and he had finally remembered he was supposed to encourage his son.
Reiji noticed.
Cissy noticed.
Senta did not notice a thing. He just looked happy.
To save Cissy's father from having to force out another line, Reiji and Cissy quickly moved things along.
"Senta, congratulations. We should celebrate."
"Good idea," Cissy's mother said, smiling at once. "No eating out. I'll cook."
She took Senta's hand. "What do you want?"
"I want…" Senta immediately named several dishes, all of them his usual favorites.
"Then we should buy a few things we like too," Reiji said, smiling at Cissy.
He and Cissy had already made things clear between them. If he was going to be part of this family, he might as well start now.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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