Day 6, Orange Archipelago. Light rain.
Reiji woke up the next morning, washed up, and fed his Pokémon while Cissy was still sleeping in.
After everything that had happened, things should stay quiet for a while. He would finally have ti to train his Pokémon, sort through what he had gained, and start preparing them for the push toward Elite Four tier.
Breaking into Elite Four tier would not be as simple as the stages before it. From what he had read, Pokémon usually broke through in one of three ways: enough long-term buildup, a breakthrough in battle, or so kind of major shock.
The books never explained it clearly. They all used vague language and avoided saying exactly how a Pokémon was supposed to reach Elite Four tier.
The short version was: if a Pokémon had the potential, and if it had built up enough strength, then it might break through naturally, during battle, or under pressure. That was all the researchers had really observed.
Gengar matched the first type. With the Spooky Plate fragnt, it had already built up more than enough. Once it woke up, it should reach Elite Four tier. The only question was when that would happen.
But Gengar had the Spooky Plate fragnt. Was Reiji supposed to go looking for a Splash Plate fragnt next? And then more Plate fragnts after that? How was that supposed to happen? Luck didn't favor one person eighteen tis in a row.
Plate fragnts were out. He needed another way, and that was a headache. In the end, he might have to wait again. Who knew how long that would take?
After feeding his Pokémon, Reiji packed up and prepared to leave for the Gym. Only then did Cissy wake up on the couch with a yawn. The first thing she saw was Reiji closing the door behind him.
"Jerk. You didn't even wake up before going ho." Cissy grabbed her bag in a hurry, rushed into the bathroom, splashed water on her face, wiped it dry with the towel in her bag, and chased after him.
She caught up to him at the elevator. Reiji had his eyes closed inside, and Cissy was too angry to speak.
She wanted to ask why he hadn't waited for her. But the mont she thought about how shaless he could be, she got angry all over again.
She had no way to deal with him. He didn't care what she felt, and he didn't care what other people thought of him. He acted like a complete rascal, and people like that were the hardest to handle.
No matter what she did, he didn't care.
Was there really nothing he cared about?
Cissy studied him carefully. He was teasing the Eevee on his shoulder.
Then it hit her. Of course there was sothing he cared about: his Pokémon.
He treated Pokémon so well, yet treated her like this. Even if he was a good Trainer, he was still an awful man.
Damn it.
"Why are you spacing out? You slept in, then blad for not waking you up. I told you to sleep early last night." Reiji had already stepped out of the elevator and turned back to see Cissy still standing there.
Princess, please just go ho and inherit the Gym.
After reminding her, Reiji opened the door of a taxi and headed for the harbor.
"Wait for !" Cissy hurried after him, cheeks puffed out in anger. She looked kind of cute, but Reiji had no interest in appreciating it.
They got into the taxi together and went to the harbor ticket office. Reiji bought two tickets to Mikan Island, gave one to Cissy, and they boarded separately.
The trip would only take the morning. After getting on the ship, Reiji sat by the railing, ordered a cold drink, and quietly watched the sea as the passenger ship set off.
Cissy had left in a rush and hadn't eaten breakfast, so she ordered sothing after boarding. At first, she hadn't planned to get anything for Reiji. Let that jerk starve.
But then she rembered that, aside from his terrible personality, he had treated her well enough. He had saved her from her cousin too.
So why wouldn't he even look at her properly?
Was she not attractive enough? Sure, she was a little flat, but her cousin had drugged her because he wanted her that badly. Reiji, on the other hand, barely looked at her at all. It made her wonder if she was ugly.
"That jerk really does like bigger girls," Cissy muttered over breakfast.
Reiji had put on sunglasses and was quietly checking out the won on deck. He especially liked looking at the ones with fuller figures. He clearly liked pretty girls, so why didn't he look at her?
Wait.
Why did she want him to look at her?
Wasn't this exactly the kind of man she hated?
Cissy's thoughts tangled into a knot. She hated it when creeps stared at her, just like her cousin had. It made her sick.
So why did she want Reiji to notice her? Why was she mad that he was looking at other won instead?
What was wrong with her?
Cissy didn't know it yet, but this was the famous double standard. Just like so people in Reiji's previous life: with rich people, they talked about love; with poor people, they talked about money.
Reiji hated that kind of person. He had suffered from it himself in his previous life. He was sworn enemies with double standards—unless he was the one being double-standard, of course.
"Heh."
"I'm curious," Reiji said, looking at Cissy as she ate with her cheeks puffed out. She really was cute like this. "Weren't you going out to collect badges? Why sneak away? Did your grandfather refuse to let you go?"
Even the usually fierce Cissy had a softer side. Too bad she was flat. Every ti he thought of that, he sighed.
He's talking to .
Cissy froze when she heard him speak. Her heart suddenly jumped, but she couldn't let it show. She took a sip of water to calm herself and said, "My family wants to marry soone for their benefit, so I ran. I was going to hide in Kanto for a while. Then... well, you know what happened."
Pfft.
Reiji had been drinking juice and nearly sprayed it out.
So it was that kind of rich-family marriage drama. Why did he keep running into this stuff?
"Are you okay?" Cissy stared at him. Was the marriage thing really that shocking?
"I'm fine. Fine." Reiji waved quickly and shut up.
He did not want to get dragged into this ss.
When he went quiet, Cissy refused to just sit there staring all the way back to Mikan Island. She followed the topic and said, "Help . I don't want to marry soone like that."
"Princess, I'm just a small-ti Trainer working at your family's Gym. What exactly do you think I can do?"
Reiji spread his hands.
If it had been her cousin, maybe he could have helped. He had a family and resources behind him.
Reiji was alone. At most, he counted as a decent hired fighter. Asking him to take the hit for Cissy was a joke. He couldn't take it. She needed soone stronger.
He hadn't rejected her outright, but his answer left Cissy stuck.
Only then did she realize the problem. Reiji was an orphan. Her grandfather already disliked him over the fishing incident, always calling him a brat who didn't respect his elders.
With a relationship like that, Reiji really couldn't help her. Her father and grandfather were both Elite Four-tier Trainers. If Reiji tried to stand in their way, he would probably get flattened.
Once she understood that, her face turned red with embarrassnt. She had panicked and grabbed at anything nearby without thinking about whether he could actually handle it.
"Don't worry," Reiji said. "Your family runs a Gym. Anyone they arrange for you will be talented, probably at least an Elite Four-tier Trainer. Maybe he'll even be handso."
"You..." Cissy almost snapped at him for enjoying her misery, though the sunglasses made it hard to tell what expression he was making.
Then she sighed and held it in.
The marriage was the real problem. If she went back this ti, she would definitely be grounded. Sneaking out again would be impossible.
Yelling at him now wouldn't solve anything. Sotis she envied orphans like him. Alone, free, no family marriage hanging over their heads.
The rest of the trip went quiet. Cissy stayed silent, still trying to think of a way out. Reiji saw her anger fade into defeat and stopped provoking her.
He had no plans to get involved in so family marriage drama. Naoki was already a perfect warning. Sorry, Naoki. Dragging you out as the bad example again.
The girl Naoki liked would probably end up in a family marriage too. If she really wanted him, she would have run away with him long ago.
Since she hadn't, then the ending was obvious. She probably didn't like him that way. Poor Naoki had been played and still didn't realize it.
To big families, anything could beco a resource.
Even their children.
Naoki's crush was never going anywhere.
At noon, the passenger ship docked at Mikan Island. Its next stop was Pinkan Island, but that had nothing to do with Reiji and Cissy.
After they got off the ship, a Mikan Gym car was already waiting. Reiji had asked Senta to send a driver. He didn't want to ride Pelipper all the way back.
"Miss, you're finally back. Thank goodness you're all right. Your parents were very worried. Please co back with at once."
Cissy didn't react much to the driver's anxiety. She opened the passenger door with a pained look and got in. In the end, she still didn't do anything stupid and let the driver take her ho.
On the way, she had thought about asking Reiji to sneak off the ship with her, run away together, and never go back.
But Reiji wasn't that stupid. Running away with her was out of the question. He'd have to lose his mind before agreeing to sothing like that.
When she failed to convince him, Cissy was so angry she nearly ground her teeth flat. A beautiful girl had invited him to run away with her, and he had looked at her like she was crazy.
Her looks, her identity, everything that usually worked on people ant nothing to this jerk.
She had never felt so defeated in front of a man. Even if not everyone fawned over her like her cousin, they at least treated her politely.
If she had asked her cousin, he would have agreed at once and arranged everything so she wouldn't have to worry.
But she didn't want him.
Now that she had taken the initiative, she looked like an idiot in soone else's eyes. The reversal hit her hard.
Only Reiji treated her like this. He ignored her when she ca close, pushed her away when she leaned in, and even called her flat.
Was she really that bad?
Cissy spent the whole ride doubting herself, doubting life, and doubting Reiji. Her worldview felt like it was cracking.
If she had known she was dealing with a man in his thirties who had little interest in won and only loved fishing, she might have understood.
Fishern were like that. What woman could be more fun than fishing? Real fishern didn't waste ti with shallow people. Fake fishern liked won. Real fishern only had fish in their hearts.
Reiji sat in the back seat, thinking only about getting back, explaining what happened, and handing over the evidence.
If he couldn't get the top-quality Water Stone, he wouldn't stay at Mikan Gym for long. He would take back all his Pokémon and leave. He would have to give up the lakeside cabin too, no matter how much it hurt.
The Orange Archipelago still had many undeveloped areas, and most had good natural environnts. Finding a similar place wouldn't be impossible.
But he had only just settled down, and now he might have to wander again.
Where was ho, anyway?
Cissy was anxious and lost.
So was he.
This world had no place that truly belonged to him. Maybe ho was wherever his Pokémon were.
Before long, the car drove into the back courtyard of Mikan Gym. Cissy's parents, her grandfather, and Senta were all waiting there.
The mont Cissy got out, her mother rushed over and hugged her, sobbing hard.
"Mom, I'm fine. Don't cry." Cissy hugged her back helplessly.
Making her mother worry was her fault. But she really didn't want that arranged marriage.
Reiji felt awkward. The only people here he knew were Senta and Cissy's grandfather. He didn't know the middle-aged man. Why was the man looking at him? Was there sothing on his face?
"Rai-nii! Tell how you won the championship! Poliwhirl, Rhydon, Accelgor, they were all amazing. Hurry, show !" Senta was more excited to see Reiji than his own sister. He ran over, hugged Reiji, and started firing off questions.
"Senta, calm down." Reiji wanted to refuse, but he was alone here and needed whatever goodwill he could get. He could only say they would talk later.
This kid didn't even care about his own sister. He was definitely getting smacked soon.
"Senta, Rai must be exhausted after traveling so much. Ask him tomorrow." Cissy's father pulled Senta away and slapped him on the backside. "Did you finish today's training? If not, go train your Pokémon."
"Dad, I know, I know!" Seeing another slap coming, Senta ran before his father could land it. He had no idea why he was being hit again.
"Kid, co with ," Cissy's grandfather said.
After watching his son chase Senta off, the old man wanted to know how Reiji had saved his granddaughter. That was a rchant ship. This kid had so nerve.
Officer Jenny had co to see him last night and brought evidence of the cousin's cri. She also said the person who rescued Cissy was probably soone she knew. Otherwise, who would attack an ard rchant ship for her?
The thod had been clever too. If the fire had not been put out so quickly, the air-conditioning pipe might have lted, and Officer Jenny would not have figured out how Reiji did it.
Of course, that was only her guess. This involved a scandal at Mikan Gym, and the old man's anger was not sothing most people could bear.
Officer Jenny would keep investigating, but this was tied to a Gym Leader, a Kanto family, and a local Orange Islands family. The League was trying to tighten its control over the Orange Archipelago, and if this was handled badly, it would damage the League's image.
[End of chapter]
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