Tokiko left the arena without looking back.
Ash watched her go and turned the name over in his head. Varenza. He'd file that away properly after the conference. The idea of acquiring unplanned fiancées through political arrangements was exactly the kind of thing he needed to get ahead of before it became a problem.
He recalled Ninetales and headed for the tunnel.
And I still have no idea who Kami is.
...
The quarterfinal matches continued through the afternoon. Ash watched from the stands when he wasn't preparing, tracking the other brackets with half his attention. The Silver Conference field was genuinely strong this year.
Then the Johto Alliance called a press conference.
...
The Alliance's conference room, somewhere behind the Silver Conference venue's administrative wing, had been working on this for days. Alliance President Emadi sat at the head of the table with his senior executives arranged on either side, and the decision had already been made before anyone sat down.
"Idaho's right," Emadi said, looking at the application in his hand. "The Rowan family has been increasingly unstable. Weakening them through this process serves the Alliance's interests, and refusing Ash Ketchum's challenge application at this stage would create more problems than it solves."
Idaho, patriarch of the Aoyama family, nodded. His family had been sitting on the video Ash had given them for weeks, waiting for the right moment. "Agreed. The Alliance needs to be seen acting decisively. Releasing the footage alongside the announcement handles two problems at once."
The third voice at the table, Satoshi of the neutral Mori family, folded his hands. "The Rowan family's failure to appear during the Whirl Islands incident has already cost them public support. Once the footage is out, there's no recovering from it." He paused. "I'm aware this benefits Kanto. But the alternative is being seen as shielding Silver Rowan, which benefits nobody."
"Pass the application," Emadi said. "Schedule the press conference for this afternoon."
The secretary gathered her materials.
Idaho stopped her at the door and pressed a USB drive into her hand. "Broadcast this at the conference. It's no use to us anymore."
...
The press conference hit every screen connected to the Silver Conference network simultaneously.
Emadi's secretary read the statement confirming Ash Ketchum's challenge application against Johto's endorsement champion Silver Rowan. Then the footage played.
The arena. The Whirl Islands. Silver Rowan's Pokémon, his face, his decision not to intervene. Clear and unambiguous.
The reaction was immediate.
"I can't believe it."
"And people were defending him."
"He's supposed to represent Johto and he just watched."
"He's not fit to hold that title."
Silver Rowan's fan following, which had been substantial, began to dissolve in real time across every platform that carried the conference feed.
...
At his hotel, Silver Rowan was putting his fist through a wall-mounted shelf when the third thing broke.
"Those old men," he said, breathing hard. "They actually did it."
...
At the Rowan family station on the conference outskirts, Nanye Ou set down his tea and watched his son pace.
"Dad," Silver Rowan's father said, voice tight, "our reputation in Chengdu is gone. Even if he wins the challenge, it won't matter."
"It will matter less than you think," Nanye Ou said. "The Alliance wanted our resources and used the boy as a tool to get them. But tools work both ways." He refilled his cup. "We show weakness after the conference. We endure. In a few years, when the attention has moved elsewhere, we rebuild quietly."
"And the Rockets?"
"We sever the connection cleanly when they become a liability, then make sure we're standing next to the people who bring them down." Nanye Ou's expression didn't change. "When the Rockets fall, every family that helped expose them becomes a hero. We position ourselves there."
Silver Rowan's father stared at his own father for a long moment. "You planned for this."
"I planned for something like this," Nanye Ou said. "Planning for the exact scenario is impossible. Planning for the shape of scenarios is not."
...
Ash watched the press conference on his phone from his hotel room, Sabrina beside him reading the reactions scrolling across the screen.
"They used you," she said.
"Obviously." Ash set the phone down. "They want Rowan weakened. I'm the mechanism. They get to look impartial, I get what I wanted anyway, and the footage handles their PR problem at the same time."
"Does it bother you?"
"No." He leaned back. "I was going to win the conference and challenge Rowan regardless. The Alliance just made it official faster."
Sabrina considered this. "So what do you actually want to do about them?"
Ash was quiet for a moment.
"After this conference," he said, "the Chengdu Alliance is going to discover that using people without their awareness is considerably more expensive than asking them properly."
Sabrina nodded slowly. "I'll look forward to seeing that."
His phone buzzed.
An unknown number, Johto area code. He picked up.
"Ash?" The voice was soft, measured, with a warmth underneath it that was unmistakable even after months of silence.
"Lorelei," he said.
"Are you alright? I saw the news."
"Fine. They can't reach me." He paused. "How are you?"
"I'm on a break," she said. "It's been quiet." A pause, slightly longer than the previous one. "You haven't called."
"Neither have you," Ash said.
A small sound on the other end that might have been a laugh. "Fair."