Over on Pummelo Island, Drake was watching the tournament alongside several Elite Four members and former Gym Leaders. As the Orange Archipelago's former top Trainer, he had more than enough standing to sit among them as an equal.
"That kid's something else. I thought all that fire was just pressure at first, but every bit of it was setting up that final collision."
"And he planned all of that before the match even started. Makes you wonder how much homework he's done on the rest of us."
"You really think he's that bad?"
"If he keeps growing at this rate? Give him a few years and see how you feel."
Someone else glanced around the lounge. "Speaking of monsters, where did the Madman disappear to? Nobody's seen him for days."
"I heard his son was attacked. He's probably staying with the kid."
That shifted the conversation in another direction.
"You lot heard the rumors going around lately? That Reiji kid has picked up techniques from half the Archipelago. If nobody's careful, someone else might swoop in and claim him first."
"Keep your voice down. Drake's sitting right there, and talking trash about the Madman is a good way to get that lunatic knocking on your door."
"Oh, please. Who does he think he is? Being the Archipelago's top Trainer never meant he was stronger than everyone else."
Charles Goodshow finally tapped the table and cleared his throat before the room could get any louder.
The lounge had gradually divided itself into three loose camps.
One consisted of the Orange Archipelago's independent Elite Four-tier Trainers, most of them wealthy local figures: club owners, heads of major families, and other influential people whose children were competing in the tournament.
Another revolved around the Archipelago's four Gyms, including former Gym Leaders, representatives such as Drake, and the families and organizations already aligned with the League through the Gym system.
The last group gathered around the League's own Elite Four. Bruno and Lorelei were there, along with several other Elite Four-tier Trainers from Kanto and Johto who had come to watch the tournament.
Goodshow's role was less about enjoying the matches and more about keeping all three groups in the same room without somebody starting a fight.
The tournament itself served a similar purpose.
The League wanted to weaken the independence of the Archipelago's local power brokers and pull more of them firmly onto its side. Those fence-sitters were the real problem, especially because Goodshow knew Team Rocket had people mixed in among them. He simply did not know which ones.
If the League displayed enough strength, money, manpower, and influence, he trusted most of them to decide where their future interests lay.
Goodshow turned toward Drake.
"Still nothing from the Madman?"
Drake shook his head. "Haven't reached him."
His gaze followed Reiji until the boy disappeared into the Trainers' tunnel.
"He probably doesn't even know what people are saying about him yet," someone nearby remarked. "Rumors can ruin a person without ever laying a hand on them. If the Madman doesn't come back soon, that kid could end up in real trouble."
Drake remained unconcerned. "Nobody's touching him while I'm here."
"That's not what I mean. I'm more worried about what the kid himself might do once he realizes what's happening."
That gave Drake more to think about.
...
Tai and his younger sister were eating in the cafeteria while the tournament played on a nearby television.
Their boss had just pulled off something Tai would never have considered trying himself: sacrificing the strength of three Pokémon below Elite Four tier to neutralize one Elite Four-tier Scizor.
It was reckless.
It was also brilliant.
"Your boss is amazing," Komai said, staring at Reiji on the screen with open admiration.
Tai laughed. "Of course he is. He made the top sixteen, didn't he?"
He knew better than most how capable Reiji really was, but there was no need to tell his sister everything.
Once the tournament ended, Tai could finally start arranging what came next for her. The thought took some of the warmth out of his smile.
They did not have much time left together.
...
Far away in Mahogany Town, Pryce and Sheila had been following Reiji's matches just as closely.
Swinub's debut had been what they were waiting for most.
After only a day together, Reiji and Swinub had already managed to work surprisingly well as a team, and seeing that was enough to put Pryce at ease.
"So, Pryce," Sheila said, "you can finally stop worrying about leaving the little one with him."
Pryce laughed. "I stopped worrying. Swinub will have a better future with that boy than it would staying here with two old people."
Sheila kept watching the replay of Swinub's battle. "I wonder when he plans to let it evolve."
"There's no hurry. He already has plenty of strong Pokémon, so Swinub can evolve when it's ready."
Pryce rested a hand on the Piloswine beside him.
His own partner had finally come home after forty years apart. At this point, he wanted nothing more than to make up for the time they had lost.
Piloswine watched the young Swinub battling alongside Reiji on the television, and old memories seemed to stir. Once, it had been just as small, fighting beside a much younger Pryce.
Trainer and Pokémon.
After all those years, that bond still felt the same.
...
At Muramasa's dojo in Johto, Shingo's match had ended under very different circumstances.
One of the students looked nervously toward Muramasa.
"Muramasa, he learned your technique and used it to beat Shingo..."
"I taught it to him."
Muramasa swept a hard look over the students gathered around him. "I taught all of you too. Not one of you has managed to learn it."
That shut them up.
"Why are you still standing here? Go train."
The entire group scattered the moment his expression sharpened, rushing toward the practice yard in a cloud of dust.
Muramasa watched them go before turning back to the television. The broadcast had ended on a close-up of Reiji and Shingo smiling as they shook hands.
That was enough for him.
He switched off the television and stepped outside, still in a good mood.
Then he saw half his students already finding excuses to slack off.
The good mood did not last long.
...
On Mandarin Island North, Daishi and Naoki were watching the tournament from a villa.
"Reiji won."
Daishi spoke carefully, watching Naoki more than the television. His mood had been terrible lately, and Daishi knew exactly why.
"Reiji always wins."
Naoki lit a cigarette and stared at the next match without really seeing it. The cigarette burned almost to his fingers before he noticed, and even then the pain barely registered compared with everything else on his mind.
Daishi hesitated before bringing up the subject.
"Is this because of her? I still don't think she's that kind of person."
He did not sound convinced himself.
Naoki gave a hollow laugh and waved the subject away. Maybe he had simply imagined more between them than there had ever been.
"Should we tell Reiji?"
That got an immediate response.
"No."
Naoki turned on him. "If you call him, you and I are done. I mean it."
Reiji already had enough problems. Naoki refused to drag him into another one just because his own life was falling apart.
Whatever humiliation he was swallowing now, he would settle it himself.
He believed he could.
And if he could not, he still believed Reiji could.
Daishi agreed to leave it alone, but the promise never sat comfortably with him.
He stayed close to Naoki through the evening, watched the tournament results come in, and waited until well after midnight. Even once Naoki finally went to sleep, Daishi lay awake turning the same problem over in his head.
Eventually he gave up on sleep and stepped onto the balcony.
The sea was dark below him, but the eastern horizon was already beginning to pale.
By sunrise, he had made his decision.
He waited until the tournament broadcast announced that Reiji was entering the stadium, took out his phone, and called.
[End of chapter]
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