Mikan Gym, dining room.
By the time Reiji and Cissy's grandfather came back, lunch had already been set out. Cissy's family of four was waiting in the dining room. Only the two of them had been missing.
The Pokémon had their own lunch too. The Gym handled that side of things, so the Trainers did not need to worry. Reiji simply took his seat at the table.
There were only two special little ones he had not released: Zapdos and Dragonair. He still had no plans to expose them, so he would have to feed them himself later.
"All right, everyone's here. Eat." Cissy's grandfather picked up his chopsticks and waved for everyone else to start too. "Don't just sit there staring."
Their family did not care much for stiff table manners. Even if they had once, his son had ruined that long ago.
Everyone began eating. After a few bites, Cissy's father gave a dry cough and turned serious.
"Since all three of you are here, I'll explain the rules for this Orange League tournament, and the reason it's being held."
"You should already know the basics of the preliminaries. Cissy and Senta don't have badges, so they'll enter the preliminaries with Rai. Win four matches in a row, and you advance. The preliminaries use a two-on-two format. That way, if a contestant isn't ready in the first match, they still get one more chance."
"After that come the group stage, elimination rounds, semifinals, and finals." He paused, making sure all three of them were listening, then continued. "There's one thing you need to understand. If you want to win the championship this year, you'll have to win six full six-on-six battles in a row."
"Six?" Senta's eyes widened.
Six full battles meant 36 individual matchups. He did not even have that many trained Pokémon.
"Rai-nii can probably win, right? He won the Indigo Plateau Conference too."
Reiji was the only one with enough Pokémon for something like that. Senta had counted before. Reiji had more than twenty.
"Rai, don't take this lightly." Cissy's father looked at him. "This year's tournament is going to be hard. That's the other thing I wanted to tell you. This tournament is tied to the selection of the Orange Archipelago's Elite Four. It may be the strongest Orange League tournament ever held. Only the top eight will become Elite Four reserve candidates."
"Once someone becomes a reserve candidate, they'll be allowed to enter the Elite Four selection matches soon after. That's how the Orange Archipelago's Elite Four will be chosen. In future Orange League tournaments, only the champion will be allowed to challenge the reserve candidates. If they win, they become a reserve candidate themselves, and only then can they challenge the actual Elite Four."
"The League is creating an Elite Four for the Orange Archipelago?" Cissy glanced at Reiji.
If this was about fighting for an Elite Four seat, then among the people at this Gym, only Reiji had a real shot. She and Senta were still far from that level.
No wonder her father had been training them like mad lately. This was why.
"Whether they establish an Elite Four, or even a Champion, comes later. The Champion will be chosen from among the Elite Four. That's why this tournament matters so much." Cissy's father set down that warning, then added, "After lunch, the Gym will close for the afternoon. I'm testing all three of you to see whether you're even qualified to enter."
"Dad… are Elite Four-tier Trainers entering too?" Senta suddenly realized how serious this was.
If Elite Four-tier Trainers were involved, then he was not just underqualified. He would be walking into a beating. Even Reiji would have a rough time.
"That's hard to say. You'll know when the time comes."
Cissy's father did not give them a clear answer. He did not want to crush the three of them before they had even signed up.
He glanced at Reiji one last time, then quietly returned to his meal.
No one spoke after that. Reiji kept eating the dishes in front of him while thinking about why the League wanted to establish an Elite Four in the Orange Archipelago.
In the anime from his previous life, the Orange Archipelago did not have an Elite Four. So what was the League trying to do here?
Strengthen its control over the islands?
Was this because Team Rocket had begun pushing in, while local families and Gyms were turning slippery—nominally taking League orders, but dragging their feet whenever it mattered?
And where did Mikan Gym stand?
With the League?
With Team Rocket?
Or did it fly the League's flag while quietly coasting whenever the League tried to move?
Reiji had no way of knowing. The game being played here was still above his level. What he did know, from the future, was that Team Rocket eventually succeeded.
After all, in that future, even he and the Elite Four were Team Rocket moles.
If that was not success, what was?
What a mess.
His future position was dangerous. The real question was whether he should step into this muddy water at all. He already knew his future self became Champion of the Orange Archipelago, but he could also choose not to become that Champion. No one could force him.
Unless there was a reason he had to take that seat.
Forget it. No point thinking that far ahead.
The present mattered more.
If the Orange League tournament was really a selection stage for Elite Four reserve candidates, then Reiji was in trouble. He had only one Elite Four-tier Pokémon right now, Electivire, and he had not even fully synced with it yet. Winning the whole thing looked bleak.
By the later rounds, there would definitely be Elite Four-tier battles. Even if Trainers borrowed Pokémon, some locals could probably borrow three or four Elite Four-tier Pokémon. With an Elite Four seat on the line, the islanders would go crazy.
Reiji only had one.
That was not enough.
If the tournament were next year, or the year after, he might have had a real chance. Right now, Elite Four-tier was still too soon for him.
"Rai, I just remembered something." Cissy's father suddenly spoke again. "The hot spring street development plan you suggested last time has started moving. Construction has already begun over there. Since the idea came from you, I applied for a piece of land in your name with permanent ownership, plus a hot spring development permit."
"I'll give you the documents later. I chose a plot near the outlet to the sea. Once you have both papers, you can either build your own hot spring inn or sell the land."
"Gym Leader, are there going to be many hot spring inns over there?" Reiji asked.
He was thinking about business.
In his previous life, if someone asked what business made the most money, the answer was simple: monopoly.
If there were only a few hot spring inns, he could turn his into a high-end place. Massage services and all the extras could be arranged too. But if hot spring inns were everywhere and everyone started cutting prices, then there was no point. He might as well build a regular inn for tourists.
"A hot spring development permit needs approval from several sides. Only five have been issued for now. If there's a need in the future, more may be considered."
Cissy's father still did not give a straight answer. It was vague, but Reiji understood.
"Got it. I'll think carefully about what to do with it."
Each permit was basically a goose that laid golden eggs.
Cissy's father must have some private arrangement with the others. Every permit issued meant money being split somewhere. Otherwise, if even one side refused, the permit would never pass.
And the hot springs themselves were the real gold. Once the street became popular, investors would swarm in. Keeping permits rare meant they could be sold to the highest bidder.
Once something flooded the market, it stopped being valuable.
People were the same.
As an old office worker from his previous life, Reiji knew that lesson too well. He had spent years under the threat of being "optimized" out of a job.
For now, he could open a hot spring inn and see how business went. As long as it did not lose money, that was fine. Having a little place of his own would also be useful for hosting friends who came to visit.
If he was going to open one, he should also buy the lakeside cabins, the lake itself, and the surrounding woods. Once more people moved to Mikan Island, land prices would rise.
By the time lunch ended, Reiji had drifted through several useless thoughts.
Cissy's mother went to help in the kitchen. Cissy's grandfather returned to the back hills to fish. Reiji's Slowking stayed with him as he, Cissy, Senta, and Cissy's father went to the Gym battlefield.
"Rai, these two spar all the time, so there's no need for them to fight each other again. You've been gone two months. Have a three-on-three match with them and let me see where you are now."
Cissy's father sat in the referee's seat. After explaining the rules, he looked at Cissy and Senta.
"Which one of you is first?"
"Me! Me!" Senta had rarely gotten the chance to battle Reiji, so he raised his hand immediately.
"All right. You first. Both of you take your positions. Once you're ready, send out your Pokémon together."
Reiji and Senta looked at each other, then walked to opposite sides of the field. Senta took out a Poké Ball, eager to start. Reiji took one out as well and waited for the referee's call.
"I'll referee," Cissy said, standing beside her father. Of course she would handle that part. "Three-on-three battle, start! Both sides, send out your Pokémon!"
Two Poké Balls flew out at the same time.
"Go, Blastoise!"
"Go, Lucario!"
"Kame… kame…"
Blastoise had barely appeared before it saw the tall blue jackal across from it. It immediately felt like this was going to go badly.
Not because it could not fight Lucario.
Because its Trainer was the problem.
"Lucario?" Senta stared at the scar-covered Pokémon. "Rai-nii's Riolu evolved?"
He had to admire Reiji for managing to win over this Pokémon at all. He had heard Lucario's line chose its Trainers and was very hard to tame, especially one that hated humans.
Back when Reiji had sent Riolu here, Senta had been the one to receive it. The moment he released it, he even tried touching it. Riolu had nearly attacked him right then, only for Farfetch'd to stop it and drag it off to the orchard.
"It evolved not long ago," Reiji said vaguely, giving a short awkward laugh.
In truth, he had known Senta would send out Blastoise. Senta was too easy to read. For the first match, of course he would use his first partner, the Water-type starter.
Reiji had chosen Lucario for a reason too.
Using his first-line Pokémon would be bullying. This had to be a second-line match. Zapdos from the second line could not be used. Magmar had Thunder Punch, but it was weak to Water.
That left only one usable Pokémon that could threaten Blastoise: Lucario and its Thunder Punch.
"Blastoise versus Lucario. First match, begin!" Cissy called once both sides were ready.
"Blastoise, Aura Sphere!"
"Kameh!"
Blastoise's twin cannons locked onto Lucario. A blue sphere of energy began forming at the mouth of each barrel.
"Nice. Starting with Lucario's own aura move?" Reiji thought, a little impressed despite himself.
Senta did have battle sense. Reiji had expected him to test the waters with Hydro Pump. Instead, he opened with Aura Sphere.
"Lucario, use Bone Club to knock them away. Agility, close in."
"Rrrio."
Lucario raised one paw and formed a glowing bone of aura. It spun it once, then rushed straight at Blastoise as the Aura Spheres finished forming.
Boom, boom!
Lucario read the Aura Spheres' paths, swung the aura bone, and knocked both attacks aside.
Blastoise started forming more Aura Spheres, firing one after another. Lucario kept advancing, its speed rising higher and higher with Agility. By the time it reached Blastoise, Blastoise could no longer follow its movements.
Crackle—
Blastoise still couldn't tell whether the Lucario in front of it was real, an afterimage, or a Double Team clone. Then the aura bone vanished, and lightning gathered around Lucario's fist.
Lightning gathered around Lucario's fist.
A heavy Thunder Punch struck Blastoise in the stomach and sent it flying.
"Blastoise? Blastoise!" Senta rushed over at once.
Blastoise had already fainted.
"Huh?" Reiji blinked.
That was it?
He had overestimated Senta after all.
Still a rookie.
He looked toward Cissy and her father. Both of them were shaking their heads, too embarrassed to watch.
"Doesn't your Blastoise know Dig?" Reiji asked Senta.
The moment he said it, he remembered the battlefield would not allow that. The surface was steel plating, with the swimming pool underneath.
He changed direction. "Withdraw into the shell, Iron Defense, Protect—anything like that. Shell Smash could work too."
"The best defense is offense," Cissy's father said, offering a different view.
"I agree with the idea," Reiji said, not directly arguing. "But Blastoise couldn't keep up with Lucario's speed anymore. Even if it managed to block one hit, what about the next one?"
Blastoise had only just entered Advanced tier. Its level was nowhere near Lucario's, and Lucario was already over level 50. Add the speed gap and Thunder Punch hitting for x2 damage, and Blastoise had very few options.
In that situation, the best move would have been to use Dig to hide, or use Protect first and then Dig. Once underground, Blastoise could stack its defenses before coming back out and forcing Lucario to spend more stamina. That would at least prepare the field for the next Pokémon.
With the level and speed gap, Blastoise either needed to hide underground or be recalled.
As for Earthquake, which could hit Lucario's weakness?
Lucario knew Earthquake too, so Blastoise didn't have a clean advantage there. If Blastoise tried to force a Ground-type exchange, Lucario could jump clear, punish it with Bone Club, or answer with Earthquake of its own. With Lucario holding the speed advantage, that trade was not in Blastoise's favor.
The safest choice was still recalling it. Dig carried the risk of being punished by Earthquake too.
Cissy's father thought it over and accepted Reiji's point.
If Lucario could not break through Blastoise's shell immediately, then Blastoise could use Shell Smash twice in a row and take control of the battle—if it could survive two Thunder Punches first.
He glanced at Senta, who was still worrying over Blastoise.
This idiot son of his probably could not react that fast.
If Blastoise used Withdraw too late and took the hit on its stomach instead of its tougher shell, it would not survive that x2 blow.
Senta had lost because of battle experience.
His training was enough. His Pokémon's strength was enough. What he lacked was live judgment. Next, Cissy's father would have him guard the Gym and collect real battle experience before heading to Mandarin Island for the tournament.
Reiji also had another idea: Ash's spinning Withdraw into Water Gun trick, or a water version of Counter Shield. It could interfere with Lucario's approach and buy Blastoise time to breathe.
But Senta was not Ash.
He was still a rookie with barely any real experience.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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