Reiji had made up his mind. His journey might end today—he was ready to join the Mikan Gym.
But it would only be temporary. If he had to stay two or three years to get the premium Water Stone the old fisherman promised, fine. If the Gym couldn't get him one, or he found a premium Water Stone somewhere else first, then the Gym would become optional.
By then, anything the Gym offered—even a premium Water Stone—would be meaningless to him.
If someone helps you when you're desperate, you remember it. If it's just a bonus on top, you stay cordial and move on.
He woke up at the Pokémon Center, fed Gengar and the others breakfast, then headed for the Gym. Poliwhirl and the rest could eat there.
He didn't fly long on Pelipper before the Gym came into view. He landed at the entrance and saw Cissy and Senta waiting. Had she been standing here the whole time just to catch him? That grudge ran deep.
If he hadn't shown up, would she have gone to the Pokémon Center to find him? Women really were a hassle.
"You again?" Senta's face tightened the moment he saw Reiji. After getting shut down by Reiji twice, the kid had no reason to be polite.
"Stop it," Cissy snapped. Worried her brother would ruin everything and drive Reiji off, she dragged him behind her, then turned back with a smile that didn't look real. "Rai. You came this morning… have you decided?"
"I have. I came to ask whether the Gym pays a salary." Reiji's mouth twitched. That smile was pure acting. She looked like she wanted to tear him apart, yet she could still keep it together.
"Of course it pays. A Gym trainee gets 280,000 Pokédollars a month. When the Gym Leader isn't here, you act in their place, evaluate new Trainers who come to challenge, and keep the Gym clean…"
"If you're an Elite-level Trainer, your pay can go up, and you'll get more League benefits…"
She didn't mention the rest. Trainees did plenty of tedious work, but she wasn't about to say that out loud.
First, his strength wasn't trainee-tier.
Second, if she tried to dump busywork on him and he walked out, she'd lose him.
Third—and most important—she wanted him inside the Gym. Once he was in, she could get even.
"Not bad," Reiji said, nodding. For a normal trainee, that was a solid deal.
And it was only the official deal. The hidden perks came after you proved your worth. She didn't bring it up, and he didn't ask.
What mattered most was still his deal with the old fisherman. Everything else was extra. Still, teasing Cissy was entertaining. She reminded him of his little niece in his old life, negotiating like her pride was on the line.
"Not bad?" Cissy's smile held, but she ground her teeth inside.
Most people couldn't even get a foot in the door. He heard the offer and called it "not bad." She wanted to explode.
Not yet. If she lost her temper now, he might turn around and leave. Then her revenge plan would die on the spot. She forced it down and kept smiling.
"Does the Gym cover food and lodging?" Reiji pictured his twelve Pokémon. If the Gym could take some of the feeding cost off his hands, all the better.
"It does. Three meals a day." Cissy kept the same pleasant tone, even as she fought the urge to swear at him.
"And benefits?" Reiji asked. "Insurance, retirement… that sort of thing."
In his last life, he'd had none of that. He'd been a freelance fisherman with no safety net. The only "benefits" he ever got were the ones he paid for himself.
It was also why he hated people who replaced pay with speeches.
"Hey, don't push it!" Senta finally snapped. Free meals, free lodging, a salary—and he was still piling on demands?
"They're standard benefits. Everyone gets them," Cissy said, pressing a hand back to keep her brother from jumping in again. If she weren't trying to keep Reiji here, she'd have torn into him already.
"Good. Then I'll join the Mikan Gym." Reiji nodded to himself. He could see how hard she was holding it in, which was exactly what he wanted.
Cissy took a slow breath and forced herself calm. "All right. For now, you'll act as Gym Leader. You'll evaluate the Trainers who come to challenge. The Gym can only issue two Badges per day…"
She led him inside and explained the rules. If anything, she'd softened them. If he lost a Badge, she could scold him properly—and dock his pay while she was at it.
"Fine." Reiji accepted without hesitation. He'd been paid 100,000 a day yesterday for acting as Gym Leader. Now it was a little over 200,000 a month. Was that a win or a loss?
Either way, he'd already done the job once. Dealing with kid challengers was easy, as long as he didn't make them cry.
Two Badges a day? Even one would be hard to pry out of his hands.
"By the way, Gym Leader Cissy," Reiji said, "once I join, can you help me apply for the League's new-Trainer certification?"
"You aren't certified yet?" Cissy blinked. With his skill, she'd assumed he'd registered long ago.
"I'm an orphan. The League won't approve my application." Reiji didn't hide it. Getting that certification was one of the reasons he'd come here.
Ei covered her mouth, startled into a laugh. "I thought you were joking."
Last night, Cissy had been too busy planning revenge to look into him. She'd intended to investigate his background after he joined, at her own pace.
"If I could get approved on my own, why would I come work for a Gym?" Reiji spread his hands. He hadn't lied—but he hadn't told the whole truth either.
"Then what about that 'misconduct record' you mentioned?" Cissy frowned. That would be a problem.
"That part was fake." Reiji gave an awkward grin. Since getting his false identity, he'd followed the rules.
Mostly. At least, nothing Officer Jenny could see.
"Oh, so you did lie to my sister," Senta said, popping out again. He grinned at Reiji. "And you still couldn't pass new-Trainer registration…"
Reiji's expression darkened. He planted a hand on the kid's head and held him down. "Kids shouldn't interrupt."
"Who are you calling a kid? I'm League-certified!" Senta flailed and punched uselessly at Reiji. "You're not even—"
"Yes, yes, you're amazing," Reiji said, and stopped there. The rest would only set him off.
"The certification can wait," Cissy said, watching the scene with a hint of amusement. "Let your Pokémon out first. We'll eat breakfast."
Reiji followed her to yesterday's battle area. At the mention of food, he released his Pokémon into the Gym pool.
He didn't release Zapdos. Counting the silly one he'd once released and then gotten back, it still came to twelve.
"Whoa… that's a lot," Senta blurted, eyes wide. "Kingler, Scyther, and… a snail Pokémon I've never seen. Butterfree, Staryu, Farfetch'd… uh, Wishiwashi? Magikarp?"
The excitement drained fast. Most of them were common. Scyther was cool, and the strange snail was interesting, but Wishiwashi and Magikarp? That didn't scream "strong" to him.
"They're partners I picked up on the road," Reiji said, introducing Poliwhirl and the others. If he ended up leaving them at the Gym, it was better that everyone recognized them.
"Come out, Squirtle," Senta said. As annoying as he found Reiji, he respected the way Reiji treated his Pokémon—especially the Water-types. He still liked Bug-types more, but Water-types were close.
"You too," Cissy said, releasing her team. "Blastoise, Seadra, Marill, Slowpoke, Staryu, Psyduck."
After seeing Reiji's lineup, she looked unimpressed.
No Spinarak. Was he hiding it, or did he think she hadn't noticed the disguise?
The more she watched him, the more the pieces lined up. The bite marks in the web between his right thumb and index finger. The black mechanical watch on his left wrist. Even his voice matched the mysterious person from the cruise.
A different face didn't mean much. She'd read a comic once about a master thief who used a Ditto to change appearances.
Back then, he'd had a kid with him—someone from Kinnow Island, probably disguised too. Both of them had been cautious, and they'd only brought out a Spinarak.
Even without anything more concrete, her guess was close enough. This had to be the same jerk who'd pinned her down, threatened her, and mocked her for being flat.
"Six Water-types?" Reiji glanced at the lineup. Only Blastoise and Seadra looked battle-ready. The rest were a mixed bag. She travelled alone with that? Bold, or reckless. Either way, it made her an easy target for robbers.
"Breakfast, everyone," Cissy said quickly. Her Pokémon were already mingling with Reiji's, and she didn't want that turning into a whole event.
At her call, a professional Pokémon breeder rolled out a cart of food from the back kitchen, all prepared for Water-types.
Cissy's team and Senta's Pokémon usually ate whatever the breeders made. Now Reiji's twelve could join in too. He didn't mind paying, but free was free.
"Leader, I prepared extra breakfast for ten more Pokémon, just like you asked," the breeder reported.
"It's fine," Cissy said. "Let me introduce you. This is a Trainer we've just taken in. He'll be acting as the Gym Leader for a while and taking challengers. From now on, ask him what he wants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"Hi," Reiji said, stepping forward to shake the woman's hand. "I joined today. Just call me Rai."
"Hello, hello," the head cook said warmly. "Call me Auntie. Tell me what you want to eat. If these little ones have preferences, tell me that too."
She wasn't trying to be anything other than what she was. She cooked—meals for people, meals for Pokémon. That was her specialty.
Incubating eggs, grooming, massages… those were different tracks. When she trained, she'd focused on Pokémon cuisine. Years later, the Gym hired her to handle food.
"Thanks, Auntie," Reiji said with an easy grin. He chatted with her for a moment and casually mentioned that if her kids ever wanted to challenge the Gym, or learn about raising Pokémon, he could help them out.
Cissy didn't hear the details. He wasn't saying it for her. This was workplace survival: stay on good terms with the people who control your meals.
He didn't want anyone getting "creative" with his food either.
Auntie laughed. "Don't be shy, Rai. Once you're in the Gym, you're family. If you need something, come to me. I'll make sure it's handled."
She rolled the cart away, still smiling.
Reiji watched her go, then looked down at his breakfast: a bowl of clear noodle soup with a fried egg. Simple, but generous.
He hadn't slipped her cash. With too many eyes in the kitchen, either you tip everyone or you tip no one. Tip only one person, and someone else starts resenting you.
She was happy for a different reason. She lived next to the woman who bought citrus from the locals. After hearing Reiji had given that neighbor a Bug-type Pokémon, she wanted him to help her son catch a Water-type too. The boy had been jealous ever since.
Reiji agreed. A Water-type was easy enough on the coast.
He'd only just arrived, and these small ties mattered. They also annoyed him. It was exactly why, in his last life, he'd run off to the mountains to fish alone and stop dealing with people.
"I didn't know you were that good at people," Cissy said, eyeing him. "You can talk easily with a girl your age, and you can talk easily with Auntie too."
Reiji coughed. "You've got it wrong. She just wants me to help her son catch a Water-type. It's nothing."
"Hmph." Cissy didn't look convinced. She trusted none of his words.
Reiji didn't argue. He played his trump card instead. "If that's how it is, maybe I should just leave."
Cissy froze. The plan was slipping, and she could see it. The jerk knew exactly what she suspected, and he still dared to threaten her with walking out.
She opened her mouth, then swallowed the words. Her fists clenched.
"Gym Leader Cissy?" Reiji prompted, a grin tucked safely behind his chopsticks. He'd dealt with workplace games before. He just hated using them on a minor.
Plenty of kids had already fallen for his routines. Even Naoki—the clingy, overeager one—had swallowed every line.
None of it had been his idea, of course. They'd forced his hand. What was he supposed to do—watch everything go wrong?
All he wanted was to get his hands on Poké Balls. That was hardly a crime.
"…Nothing," Cissy said at last.
"Right. Then I'll eat." Reiji dug into his noodles. He kept his face calm, but he was laughing inside.
"Sis?" Senta whispered. He could tell she was furious, and he wanted to get even for her.
Cissy turned that anger on him instead and stared him down. "Senta. How many times did you copy it?"
Senta's shoulders slumped. "Sis…"
"Ten more." Cissy dropped the sentence like a verdict and attacked her noodles, cheeks puffed out in irritation. Somehow, it only made her look cuter.
Reiji heard it and nearly choked. He forced himself to swallow the noodles without spraying them everywhere. The kid had no sense of timing.
After breakfast, Reiji's mood settled. Cissy brought the League certification up again. She wanted a Pokémon battle first, then she'd decide whether she'd vouch for him and sponsor his new-Trainer registration.
So it was time for another rule: never outshine the boss.
Cissy knew he was strong. He knew it too. But if he beat her outright, he'd be begging for trouble. This match had to go one way.
"Please choose your Pokémon, Gym Leader," Reiji said. While she decided, he weighed his own options. He could let her have the win, but he still didn't see himself as her subordinate.
He wasn't here because of her. His real deal was with the old fisherman in the hills. Call it cooperation if you wanted. Right now, though, he was too insignificant to sit at the table.
When would he earn that seat?
That depended on when the old fisherman handed over the premium Water Stone. If the man refused, Reiji would walk away cleanly. He wasn't burning much time either way.
Spending three years on Pummelo Island or three years on Mikan Island… it came out the same.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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