The door to the station lounge opened not long afterward.
Cissy's grandfather emerged looking thoroughly pleased with himself, while Lance seemed equally satisfied with whatever agreement they had reached. Charles Goodshow followed behind them. He and the old man had known each other for years, so the three exchanged a few more words before parting ways.
Cissy's grandfather returned to the interview room and gave Reiji a quick wink.
Everything was settled. They could go home.
"You really went all out back there." Reiji put down his popcorn, guided the old man into a chair, and immediately started pouring him water and rubbing his shoulders. "That was quite a performance for someone your age."
He had heard everything from inside the room. Watching the old man throw dignity to the wind and make a scene on his behalf had been both impressive and a little painful.
"It's nothing." Cissy's grandfather blew across his hot water before taking a sip. "If I don't make use of this old face while I still can, what am I saving it for?"
Reiji grinned behind him. "You're terrifying, old man."
"You should be thanking me, brat. You're the one who gets to enjoy the results."
The old man was in an excellent mood. Mikan Gym had squeezed quite a bit out of the League this time, although Reiji did not ask for the details yet. Whatever Lance had offered would come up again once Cissy's father returned.
"Come on. We've kept them worried long enough."
Reiji helped him to his feet, then casually swept the snacks Officer Jenny had bought into his arms on the way out. They had been supplied to keep him entertained, which meant leaving perfectly good free food behind would have been completely against his principles.
The officers they passed suddenly found their desks extremely interesting. After the trouble these two had caused, nobody wanted to become the next person drawn into one of their schemes.
Outside, Reiji finally saw daylight again. He hailed a car, helped Cissy's grandfather inside, and gave the driver the address of the Pokémon Center.
The entire station seemed to breathe easier once their car disappeared.
In an alley across the street, a hooded figure watched them leave before quietly slipping away as well.
...
Cissy's mother was already waiting outside the Pokémon Center when they arrived. She hurried over to help the old man out of the car, but nobody discussed what had happened until they were safely inside Senta's room.
Only then did Cissy and her mother get the full story.
Reiji naturally left out the part where he had convinced two officers that he was a secret League operative. As far as everyone else was concerned, that conversation had never happened.
Cissy's eyes had been red for hours, and seeing Reiji return unharmed finally broke whatever composure she had left. She crossed the room and hugged him tightly without caring who was watching.
Cissy's grandfather smiled at the sight and headed for the door. "I'm going to rest."
In truth, he had somewhere else to be. The situation at the station had been cleaned up, which meant it was finally safe to tell his son that he could stop hiding.
Cissy's mother took the hint as well.
"I'll get lunch. None of us ate breakfast anyway."
She had been too worried about Reiji and the old man to have much appetite that morning.
Once they were alone, Reiji waited until Cissy finally let go, then smiled at her swollen eyes.
"I'm fine. Stop worrying." He glanced toward the fruit beside Senta's bed. "Actually, I want an apple. Peel one for me?"
"Okay."
Cissy wiped the corner of her eye and picked up an apple.
Reiji turned the television back to the semifinal between Rudy and Danny. He even pulled out a notebook and began writing down observations about their Pokémon, looking every bit like a diligent Trainer studying future opponents.
The notes were mostly an excuse.
Underneath the battle observations, Reiji wrote a short instruction for Gengar.
Wake Senta up.
He tapped his shoe against his shadow.
If Reiji had pieced everything together correctly, Cissy's father had already returned to Pummelo Island and was simply keeping out of sight. The police interrogation had also revealed that the Kanto family at the center of his plan had been wiped out.
That meant the plan had succeeded.
There was no longer any reason to keep Senta unconscious.
Gengar read the message and slipped through the shadows connecting Reiji's chair to the hospital bed. It briefly possessed the sleeping boy and removed the hypnosis it had placed on him weeks earlier.
Senta had actually tried to wake several times during that period, but Gengar had simply reinforced the hypnosis whenever necessary. Since it had created the condition itself, undoing it now took almost no effort.
Within moments, Gengar was back in Reiji's shadow.
Reiji crossed out the message until it was unreadable and continued pretending to take notes. When Cissy glanced over with the peeled apple in hand, he simply smiled and returned his attention to the television.
The semifinal had become a serious battle. Rudy and Danny had already sent out several Elite Four-tier Pokémon, but Rudy gradually ran out of answers and eventually lost.
Danny was through to the final.
A water ballet performance took over the stadium during the break before the second semifinal, so Reiji changed the channel to an Orange League replay while Cissy's mother returned with lunch.
The three of them ate together. Cissy's grandfather still had not returned.
Senta showed no sign of waking yet.
Reiji was not worried. After being under hypnosis that long, it might take hours for him to regain consciousness naturally. A full day would not have surprised him.
During the afternoon break, Reiji returned to his room in the competitors' village to feed his Pokémon. They had gone without a proper meal since the previous day, and he felt a little guilty as he finally set out their food.
Once everyone had eaten, he brought the injured members of the team back to the Pokémon Center so Nurse Joy could change their dressings and check their recovery.
By the time he finished, the second semifinal had begun.
Sabrina against Drake.
Sabrina's silent telepathic commands gave Drake trouble early on. Without spoken orders to read, he had a much harder time predicting her rhythm, and her Psychic team took an early lead.
Dragonite eventually changed the momentum.
As the match continued, the broadcast occasionally cut away from the field to show notable spectators. Reiji spotted Lance in the commentary area, Ash sitting with Professor Oak, and several other familiar faces scattered around the stadium.
One camera eventually found the Kumquat Gym section.
Travis was there cheering enthusiastically for Sabrina.
Reiji's mouth twitched.
He remembered enough about the future to know where that was heading. Travis would eventually become hopelessly devoted to Sabrina, which could turn him into a minor complication later.
The relationship itself was none of Reiji's business. Both families apparently approved, and if two Psychics wanted to be together, there was little reason for an outsider to interfere.
Sabrina being a Team Rocket operative was another matter.
Reiji could warn Gulzar to be careful around her when the opportunity came. Warning Travis directly would only create trouble, especially when feelings were involved, so for now Reiji intended to watch how things developed.
The broadcast returned to the battlefield.
Sabrina fought well, but Drake eventually forced his way back into the match. By the end, he had lost four Elite Four-tier Pokémon, yet still managed to defeat her and secure his place in the final.
Cissy's grandfather returned around dinner, claiming he had spent the afternoon fishing by the sea.
Whether anyone believed him was another question.
The four of them ate together in Senta's room.
Halfway through the meal, Senta's nose twitched.
After more than a week unconscious and without a proper meal, the smell coming from four dinner boxes was apparently more effective than any medical treatment.
His eyelids slowly opened.
Senta stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, then pushed himself upright. The room looked strange, the television was showing something he did not remember, and there were gaps in his memory large enough that he could not immediately figure out what had happened.
None of that seemed as important as the food.
"Mom, what are you guys eating? That smells amazing."
His mother kept eating.
"I could swear I just heard Senta." She rubbed her forehead. "I must be exhausted."
Reiji looked toward the bed and stopped chewing.
Cissy noticed his expression and followed his gaze. She froze with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth.
Her grandfather looked at both of them, turned toward the bed, and dropped his chopsticks onto the table.
Only then did Cissy's mother finally look around.
Senta was sitting upright with the IV still attached to his hand, absently scratching himself while staring at their food.
The door flew open.
Cissy's father had been watching his family from outside the room, unwilling to show himself until his father told him it was safe. The moment he saw Senta sitting up, all caution disappeared.
He rushed into the room with tears in his eyes and wrapped both arms around his son.
After everything that had happened, Senta was finally awake.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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