Day 4 of the trip to Kanto: clear skies.
Reiji was up early. Ash was still dead asleep, and neither Reiji nor Delia tried to wake him. Delia didn't look worried in the slightest, like she trusted her son to somehow stumble into the right outcome no matter what.
Reiji ate the breakfast Delia made, Poliwhirl ate too, and then he took Poliwhirl out for a morning run.
When he got tired, he rested in the shade, released his other Pokémon to eat, then went back to jogging along Pallet Town's little paths.
By the time he returned, it was already past nine. Ash was still asleep. Gary, meanwhile, had clearly already gotten his starter Pokémon and had come straight over—exactly like the Gary Reiji remembered.
Gary wore the same outfit as yesterday, but today he rolled up in a flashy sports car—actually two of them—each packed with girls who looked like they'd come specifically to cheer him on.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Gary leaned on the horn on purpose, trying to blast Ash awake. Then he stepped out, spotted Reiji sitting near the door drinking water, and immediately pointed at him.
"I got my starter Pokémon! Battle me—be my first defeated opponent!"
"Gary?" Ash shouted as he burst out of his room, still in pajamas. "Why are you here so early?!"
Gary looked him up and down like he'd found comedy gold. "Ash, you're late on the most important day. As my rival, you've already lost from the start."
Ash ignored the laughing and zeroed in on what mattered. "So you already got your starter Pokémon… which one did you pick?"
Gary rolled a Poké Ball across his fingers. "It's in here. I'll use it to beat him and make him my first win. Come out—Squirtle!"
Squirtle popped out, landing with a confident little hop.
"Whoa! Squirtle!" Ash bounced in place, eyes shining, and nearly lunged forward to hug it—until Gary stopped him with an arm.
"Ash," Gary said, smiling like he'd been waiting for this moment, "this Squirtle is my starter Pokémon. Yours is still back at the lab."
"Gary! Gary! You're the best!"
"Gary, go! Gary, go!"
His cheer squad kicked into full volume behind him.
Ash's face twisted with frustration. He turned toward Reiji and shouted, "Rai-nii! Don't lose! Wait for me to come back!"
Reiji didn't even know how to respond to that. He just lifted a hand in a calm little wave, telling Ash not to worry.
Ash huffed and sprinted toward Professor Oak's Laboratory—on his way to meet Pikachu the hard way.
With Ash gone, Gary turned back to Reiji, enthusiasm still blazing. "Trainer from the Orange Archipelago—send out your Pokémon and fight me!"
"Gary! Gary! You're the best!"
"Gary, go! Gary, go!"
"Alright," Reiji said, glancing at Poliwhirl. "Poliwhirl, use Mud Shot."
"Pwo!" Poliwhirl straightened up immediately, already catching the tone in Reiji's voice.
Gary clicked his tongue. Reiji's relaxed expression read like disrespect. "So you're looking down on me."
"You're up first," Reiji said, waving him on.
Gary took the opening without hesitation. "Don't regret it. Squirtle—Water Gun!"
"Squirtle!" A sharp stream of water snapped forward.
Poliwhirl fired back—three bursts of Mud Shot in quick succession. Two of them collided with the Water Gun streams and broke them apart. The third splattered hard against Squirtle's shell, knocking it clean over.
"Your Water Gun aim is solid," Reiji said. "You've been taking good care of Squirtle."
Gary's eyes narrowed. "Tch. So you noticed."
He had. Gary clearly hadn't just picked Squirtle this morning—he'd trained it in advance specifically to get ahead of Ash.
"Squirtle," Gary said, adjusting fast, "if Water Gun won't cut it, use Withdraw—then Rapid Spin and rush in!"
Reiji didn't need to see more. "Poliwhirl—Pound."
Squirtle tucked in and spun forward like a rolling drill.
Poliwhirl waited until it was right in front of it, then swung a flat, brutal slap. Squirtle flew, bounced once, and when it finally stopped moving, its eyes had turned into spirals.
The cheer squad froze.
"W-what… Gary lost?"
"How could Gary lose?!"
Their earlier excitement drained out like someone pulled a plug.
Gary stood stiff for a moment, then forced his pride back into place. "You're strong, sure—but I only just got Squirtle today. You said you're entering the Indigo Plateau Conference, right? I'll win it back there."
He climbed into his sports car, flicked a casual goodbye, and drove off with his cheer squad.
Poliwhirl watched the car disappear, still looking confused. It didn't understand where that confidence came from.
"It's fine," Reiji said, patting Poliwhirl's head. "Don't waste energy arguing with a kid."
Gary wasn't Reiji's real target anyway. Reiji's target was the guy who showed up with legendaries—and Reiji planned to beat him using ordinary Pokémon.
Gary had talent and a good tactical foundation. He just needed time.
Ash was different. Ash and Gary were both battle types, but Ash grew by crashing into fights, learning on the fly, and forcing himself and his Pokémon to sync up through pure stubbornness. He was still an idiot, but he was an idiot with momentum.
"Rai, you really are impressive," Delia said, having watched the whole battle. "You won so quickly—and you didn't even look like you were trying."
"Gary just got his Pokémon today," Reiji said with a modest smile. "He's still getting used to it. I only won because of that."
"Oh, come on," Delia said, amused. "You're humble, aren't you?"
She headed back inside to finish packing Ash's travel supplies.
Reiji sat there thinking, and one thought kept circling back: parents in this world were bold. They really just let kids walk out the door and travel. Didn't anyone worry about bandits?
At least Gary had drivers—if they doubled as bodyguards, they were probably strong. Ash… Ash was the kind of kid who stumbled into miracles. If anything happened, some legendary Pokémon would probably revive him out of sheer narrative tradition. And not long after leaving home, he'd end up traveling with two Gym Leaders as well. His "escort lineup" wasn't weaker than Gary's at all.
Before long, Ash came back. He didn't have a Poké Ball in hand—he had Pikachu.
Pikachu also had scorch marks on its fur, and Ash looked like he'd just survived a small explosion.
"So it finally happened," Reiji said, smiling. "Electrocuted on day one. Your durability is something else."
"Ahem!" Ash tried to stand tall anyway. "Pikachu, this is the Trainer I told you about—he's really strong!"
"Pika…" Pikachu hugged Ash's leg and peeked at Reiji like it was staring at a predator wearing a friendly face.
Delia came outside at the noise and immediately spotted Ash's condition. "Ash, you're back…"
"Hey—where's Gary?" Ash asked, still catching his breath.
"Gary lost to Rai and left," Delia said, holding up a green backpack. It looked like Ash's travel pack.
"What? Gary lost?" Ash stared at Reiji, stunned. He and Gary had been trading wins and losses forever. Gary losing just didn't fit the picture in his head.
"Gary just became a Trainer," Reiji said. "He's not comfortable with his Pokémon yet. Once you two catch up, it won't be so one-sided."
Then Ash snapped right back into battle mode and pointed at Reiji. "Then I'm challenging you! If Gary lost, I have to win!"
"Alright," Reiji said. "Poliwhirl, go."
Ash opened his mouth to call for an Electric-type move—then realized Pikachu was gone.
Pikachu was hiding behind Delia with its back turned, flat-out refusing to look at him.
"Pikachu! Battle!" Ash lunged. "Stop hiding and come fight!"
Ash chased. Pikachu dodged. Pikachu ran. Ash chased again. They looped around Delia in a ridiculous circle until Delia grabbed Ash by the collar and Pikachu by the scruff and lifted them both like a fed-up referee.
"Enough," Delia said. "Ash, stop. Pikachu doesn't want to battle, so don't force it."
She carried them inside and shoved Ash toward the stairs. "Go change. Gary already left—how far behind do you want to be?"
The moment Gary was mentioned, Ash stopped struggling. He sprinted upstairs, changed fast, and came back down with the green backpack strapped on. He also had insulated gloves on his hands—and Pikachu was tied with a rope like Ash was transporting a very small, very angry balloon.
Reiji got up as well. He was heading out too—but not in the same direction.
"Rai-nii," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed, "we didn't get to battle. Once I really win Pikachu over, we'll battle properly!"
"It's fine," Reiji said. "If you're entering the Indigo Plateau Conference, we'll meet there eventually. We'll have plenty of chances."
Ash paused, then blinked. "Wait—Rai-nii, you're not coming with me?"
"You're taking the Viridian Forest route, right? Toward the Viridian Gym?" Reiji knew Ash's early route by heart. Ash would end up skipping the Viridian Gym at first anyway, then head toward Pewter Gym to challenge Brock. And the route through Viridian Forest was where Ash would see Ho-Oh.
Ignoring Ho-Oh for a second, Reiji still wouldn't choose that path. The Viridian Gym was Team Rocket territory. Cinnabar Gym was League territory. He wasn't going anywhere near Giovanni's Gym unless he'd lost his mind.
Blaine's Cinnabar Lab had ties to Team Rocket too, sure, but that smelled more like "shady funding" than "Team Rocket crushing random challengers." Challenging the Viridian Gym right now could easily mean running into Mewtwo—getting flattened before the battle even began.
Reiji had already written the Viridian Gym out of his badge plan. Out of the eight badges he needed, the Viridian Badge wasn't one he planned to collect. Even if someone tried to hand it to him for free, he wouldn't take it.
"No," Reiji said. "I'm going to check out Cinnabar Island. I'm starting my Gym challenge at Cinnabar Gym."
Ash looked disappointed, then forced a grin. "Then… I guess we split up here."
He waved goodbye and set off down the road, Pikachu trailing behind him with the rope bouncing like a leash.
"See you, Ash," Reiji said. "Bye, Delia."
He headed off in the same direction he'd come from yesterday.
Then, once he was out of sight, Reiji released Pelipper, circled wide around Pallet Town, and slipped into Viridian Forest—waiting on the route Ash had to take.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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