"Ahem." Reiji cleared his throat and stepped away from the acting Gym Leader's seat. Cissy was back. No reason for him to keep squatting in her place.
"No. You stay, It's not six yet. We still have half an hour."
"Kid. Your turn." Reiji hadn't even left the battlefield when Cissy called him back. He had to return to his spot and take the challenge.
The boy wouldn't play along. He didn't want to battle Reiji at all. He turned on his heel and walked off. "I'm not battling. I'll come challenge again tomorrow…"
"Next." Reiji could only wave the next challenger in.
For the last half hour, anyone who saw Cissy on the field lost interest in challenging. They only wanted to do Water Gun target practice with her. Reiji might as well have been invisible.
His record didn't sway them either. Cissy was strong too, and she was the actual Gym Leader.
Two strong trainers on the field, and one of them was a pretty Gym Leader. Nobody needed time to think about which one they wanted to watch.
Half an hour passed without a single battle. Only then did Reiji turn to Cissy and bring up payment, acting like this was their first meeting.
"Gym Leader Cissy, right? Please settle the reward for this job, and the orchard job too." He held his hand out. Whatever she did or didn't remember, he wanted his money.
"Orchard security: 20,000. Night shift: 10,000. Acting Gym Leader: 100,000." Cissy had the orchard manager's accounts. After she read the figures aloud, she reached inside her jacket and took out the cash.
"Skip the night shift. I'm getting Farfetch'd back after this." Reiji didn't want to stay here a second longer.
"Your Pokémon are trained well. I'm satisfied." Cissy watched him closely. "I want you to keep acting as Gym Leader for two more days. I'm busy both days. You won't do it?"
"No. I have other business." Reiji refused without hesitation.
"You won't?" Cissy frowned. "The orchard manager said you came here to join the Gym. You don't want that anymore?"
Reiji hesitated. He couldn't answer cleanly. The girl he'd once held down during that cruise incident was now the Gym Leader of Mikan Gym—and she was inviting him to join. He didn't have the nerve.
"Look up." Cissy closed her fingers around a Poké Ball. "Let me see your face."
Reiji had no choice. He raised his head and met her eyes. Two breaths later, he looked away again, unable to hold it.
He'd faced Team Rocket without this kind of tension. This was worse.
"Have we met somewhere before?" Cissy's suspicion sharpened as she watched him dodge her gaze.
"Gym Leader Cissy—if we've met before, where would that be?" Reiji kept his voice steady, but his heartbeat jumped hard.
"Who are you? Where are you from?" She only found him familiar. Nothing more. If she was going to remember, she needed a push.
"Call me Rai. I'm from Kinnow Island. I grew up in an orphanage." Reiji said it plainly, like it was the most boring fact in the world.
If he dodged the question, he'd look even more suspicious. And she was a Gym Leader—if she wanted to dig into his background, she could do it fast.
She'd probably find out how many times he'd wet the bed at the orphanage, too. Not that he trusted the old director to tell the truth.
"Rai… Kinnow Island…" Cissy still didn't place him. The unease didn't go away either.
She didn't ask more questions. Not here. If she wanted answers, she could pull them later.
"Here. 120,000 Pokédollars. Both job rewards." Cissy handed him the money.
Reiji reached out to take it—and Cissy's eyes caught the web between his thumb and index finger. A crescent of brown scar tissue sat there, shaped like a bite.
Everything clicked.
That mark. That night. The bastard who knocked on her door in the middle of the night, pinned her down, and insulted her.
So that was why he wouldn't look at her. Why he refused to join the Gym. Why he was so desperate to leave the moment he got paid.
He'd recognized her first, then acted like he didn't.
He could hide his expression. He couldn't hide the cold sweat in his palm.
Cissy bit her lip and watched his fingers tighten around the cash. His hands were damp, and sweat had beaded at his hairline.
Even so, she couldn't call him out—not yet. If she said it now, he'd drop the money and run, and she'd lose him.
That humiliation on the cruise ship—the night on the floor, bound up, treated like trash—she hadn't forgotten it. And he'd had the nerve to call her flat. Nobody got to say that and walk away.
"Gym Leader Cissy, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave." Reiji forced a thin smile, turned, and started for the exit.
"Wait." Cissy wasn't letting him go.
She'd just finished scolding her brother for being too vindictive, and now she was doing the same thing—only worse. It ran in the family.
"Is there something else?" Reiji turned back, smiling through a back soaked with sweat.
He couldn't stop the thought from flashing through his head: Did she recognize him already? She hadn't exploded. She was still acting normal.
"I'm satisfied with what you did today." Cissy tilted her head. "So why not try joining the Gym?"
"No. I already tried on Kumquat Island. They don't take orphans." Reiji grabbed the first excuse that came to mind.
"Mikan Gym doesn't care about that." Cissy didn't care whether he was an orphan. She cared about keeping him here.
"I have a record. I'm not even a League-certified Trainer." Reiji didn't know what she was planning, but he wasn't walking into it.
Cissy ground her teeth. When he pinned her down, he didn't act like a saint. Now he wanted to play the harmless, honest kid.
Fine. If she couldn't hook him, she'd hook what he cared about.
She'd watched his Poliwhirl. It was close to the line. Without the right evolution stone, it would stall there.
A trainer who raised a Poliwhirl that well wouldn't settle for an ordinary Water Stone. He'd want the best.
Her grandfather had something that could tempt him.
Maybe that still wouldn't be enough. She only had one clean chance to throw out bait, so she decided to stack the offer until he couldn't ignore it.
"Your Poliwhirl is about to evolve, isn't it?" Cissy asked, casual and patient.
"Yeah. Why?" Reiji didn't understand where she was going, and that made him wary.
"The Gym has high-grade Water Stones." Cissy smiled, watching for the flinch.
"I'm not interested." Reiji didn't budge. He already had money and connections. A high-grade stone wasn't enough to trap him.
Cissy kept the smile in place. "What about a perfect Water Stone?"
"A perfect Water Stone?" Reiji let out a short laugh. "You can't be serious."
Perfect-grade stones weren't something a young Gym Leader could hand out on a whim. He didn't need to think too hard about that.
Cissy didn't blink. "Do you know the regional tournament champion's prize? They can pick one of the three starter Pokémon, or take a full set of evolution stones—Fire, Water, and Leaf—high-grade. Second and third place only get to choose one high-grade stone."
She leaned in, sweet as sugar. "Now there's a chance to get a perfect Water Stone. Are you still saying no?"
"She's aiming malice at you," Darkrai warned inside Reiji's mind.
Reiji lowered his head and covered his mouth with one hand, barely moving his lips. "I know."
He did know. Whatever Cissy wanted, it wasn't friendly. She might have already guessed who he was.
But a perfect Water Stone…
High-grade stones could be bought. Perfect-grade stones didn't show up on the market. They sat in family vaults, or in the League's own storage.
His long-term plan was the League. Do enough for them, earn the right to pick an item from their vault, and take a perfect Water Stone when the chance finally came.
That road took time—maybe years. He might need to reach Elite Four tier first before anyone even let him near the vault.
Poliwhirl would be forced to wait while he climbed. Reiji didn't like that.
If he could get a perfect Water Stone here, Poliwhirl wouldn't have to stall. With the second evolution done right, it could punch through its ceiling and reach Elite Four potential.
The offer was obviously a trap. The problem was that it hit exactly where he couldn't pretend it didn't matter.
"A stone like that is too valuable." Reiji shook his head. "I don't think you can decide this by yourself."
"Come with me." Cissy turned and walked, confident now. He was hesitating—and that was enough.
Reiji followed her behind the Gym and up toward the back hill. Wooden cabins sat scattered among the trees, and a number of elderly locals lived there. Cissy led him to the lake, where an old man sat fishing in light clothing. A Slowking sat nearby with its eyes closed, still as a rock, like it was meditating.
"Grandpa, I need a perfect Water Stone." Cissy walked straight up to him.
"Cissy, what do you need an evolution stone for?" The old man smiled at her, then kept glancing at Reiji, trying to figure out who he was.
Cissy didn't mention the ship incident. She only told her grandfather this trainer was talented, someone she wanted to bring into the Gym, and she wanted to give him a reason to stay.
"So that's it." The old man reached into his bag and took out a square jade box, placing it in her hands. "Here."
"Thanks, Grandpa." Cissy returned to Reiji and opened the box.
Soft silk lined the inside. A clear, water-blue stone rested on it, bright and glassy.
"Can I touch it?" Reiji asked. He needed to check the purity for himself.
"Go ahead." Cissy didn't know why that mattered, but she allowed it.
Reiji reached in and laid his fingers on the stone, and the moment he did, he understood what he was holding.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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