"Come with me," Blaine said.
The jokes were gone. The riddle games were gone. He stood, led Reiji to the outdoor hot spring by the lodge's side door, and pressed a hidden switch. A passage opened, sloping down into darkness.
Blaine didn't bother to explain. He glanced back once, then stepped into the tunnel like he already knew Reiji would follow.
Reiji hesitated for a heartbeat, then went in.
Heat hit him in the face the moment he crossed the threshold—thick, dry, and almost aggressive. If he had to guess, the tunnel led straight into the volcano itself.
As soon as he stepped inside, the stone door behind him slammed shut. Not a thread of light made it through. A second later, torches flared along the walls, and Blaine waited ahead.
Reiji followed him deeper. After a few minutes, the passage opened into a wide stone chamber with nothing but a stone table and a few stone stools.
Another stone door stood at the chamber's entrance. Blaine stepped in, waited for Reiji to enter, then sealed it again.
"Alright, kid. Talk," Blaine said, sitting down. "What happened?"
Reiji ran his hand over the stool before sitting. The stone held warmth—not because anyone had been there recently, but because the volcano's heat bled into everything down here.
He sat, looked Blaine in the eye, and got to the point. "Gym Leader Blaine… the Mewtwo project failed."
"What?" Blaine shot to his feet. "Then Fuji—"
He stopped before the question could finish.
Years ago, Dr. Fuji had asked him to join the Mewtwo research—specifically, to study Mew's genes. Blaine had refused after hearing the plan. Their philosophies didn't match, and if they worked together, it would turn into a fight sooner or later. He'd kept his hands clean and stayed out of Team Rocket's project entirely.
He hadn't seen Fuji in years. The first news he got—after all that time—being "failure" hit like a punch.
Then Blaine's expression changed.
"No… something's off."
If Fuji's project collapsed, Fuji would be the one calling him. Fuji would want to argue theories, compare notes, salvage what could be salvaged. He wouldn't send a stranger.
And if this really was a message entrusted by a desperate friend, why did this boy need Blaine to explain who Fuji was in the first place? Why would he waste time on small talk and old memories before dropping a bomb like this?
It didn't fit.
So what was Reiji, then?
A scout from Team Rocket? A probe from the League? Someone here to test Blaine and see what he knew?
Blaine's sleeve shifted.
A Poké Ball dropped into his hand.
Thump.
"Magmar," Blaine barked. "Hold them."
Magmar appeared instantly and grabbed Reiji and Scyther by the neck—one in each hand—lifting them like they weighed nothing.
Scyther jerked, blades twitching, ready to swing.
"Scyther. Don't," Reiji said sharply.
Scyther froze, barely holding itself back.
Reiji looked past Magmar to Blaine, who had stepped out of the chamber and watched from the doorway. "How did you figure it out?"
"You don't act like someone delivering a message," Blaine said. "And you don't act like Fuji either. You're too cautious. Too polished. You don't move like a panicked kid running an errand—you move like someone trained."
Blaine's voice hardened. "So talk. Are you League, or Team Rocket? You came all the way here to poke at an old man who's been hiding on Cinnabar Island and minding his own business."
"You've got it wrong," Reiji said, forcing a tight smile. That single line—Mewtwo project failed—had been a test. He wanted to see whether Blaine was involved. He didn't expect Blaine to explode like this and nearly flip the table on him.
If Blaine were truly inside the project, his first reaction wouldn't be "who sent you." It would be Fuji. Is he alive? Where is he?
Blaine was suspicious now, so of course he wasn't asking about Fuji. He was asking about Reiji. That didn't make him part of Team Rocket. It made him a wary old man with too many reasons to be careful.
"Wrong?" Blaine snapped. "Then how do you even know about Mewtwo? That's Team Rocket's top-secret project."
Blaine's mind started running ahead again. "Unless the League caught on, locked onto Fuji, then traced the line to me… to the Cinnabar Lab…"
Reiji let out a long breath through his nose. "Old man, can you stop writing fanfiction in your head? I'm not League, and I'm not Team Rocket."
Blaine laughed once, cold. "Sure. Then what are you? If you can't explain yourself, I'll have Magmar cremate you right here."
Reiji tilted his head toward Magmar's grip. "Can you tell it to loosen up first?"
Magmar's body heat rolled off it like a furnace. Reiji's shirt clung to his back with sweat, and even breathing took work with a hand around his throat.
Blaine flicked his fingers. "Magmar. Loosen it."
Magmar eased its grip just enough for Reiji to speak comfortably.
Reiji rubbed his neck once, then stopped dodging. "Gym Leader Blaine… I brought Amber back."
Blaine blinked. "Who?"
"I revived Dr. Fuji's daughter," Reiji said. "Amber."
Silence.
Then Blaine's face tightened as the meaning caught up.
"That's impossible," he said, voice low. "Amber died. Fuji joined that project to—"
He cut himself off, eyes locked on Reiji.
Reiji couldn't have known the Mewtwo project existed. He couldn't have known Fuji's real motive. Unless he was telling the truth.
"Fuji," Blaine said, jaw clenched. "Where is he?"
"I don't know," Reiji admitted. "Maybe on New Island. But Mewtwo went out of control. New Island… got blown apart."
Blaine's mouth moved like he wanted to deny it, but the words didn't come.
Then he snapped his head up. "Wait. You said you revived Amber. Not Fuji."
Reiji nodded. "Right."
Blaine shook his head hard. "No. Absolutely not."
Fuji had Team Rocket money, Mew's genes, and a whole lab full of top minds. If they couldn't do it, what was this kid? A nobody with a miracle in his pocket?
Reiji didn't argue. He just lifted his chin slightly. "Want to see her?"
Blaine froze.
If Reiji was lying, it would take seconds to expose. A lie this easy to crush was pointless—unless Reiji actually had Amber.
Reiji looked toward the ceiling, then into the shadows. "I already had Pelipper bring her over."
Blaine didn't answer. His breathing turned rough, and he braced one hand against the stone wall like the chamber had tilted under him.
Hope and "impossible" tangled together in his chest until neither could breathe properly.
Amber's death had carved a permanent wound into him. Into Fuji even more. They'd both been caught flat-footed by it. Neither of them had ever truly accepted it.
Blaine stared at Reiji, searching his eyes for the telltale flicker of a liar.
He didn't find it.
Reiji held the stare without flinching until Blaine looked away first.
"Fine," Blaine said, voice harsh. "We're going back up. If you're lying, I'll hang you over the crater until you dry out like jerky."
Reiji's skin crawled. "Old man, that's not a normal threat."
With Magmar looming behind them, Reiji followed Blaine back through the tunnel. He didn't like being watched by a walking furnace, and he liked Blaine's "jerky" comment even less.
At the exit, Blaine hit the mechanism again. The stone door rolled aside, and sunlight poured in.
High above, a silhouette circled in the sky.
"Pelipper! Down here!" Reiji called.
Poliwhirl dropped first, letting go of Pelipper's talons and landing with a soft thud.
Pelipper descended more slowly, opened its beak, and let Amber climb out.
Blaine stared at the small figure stepping down, and something in his throat caught. She looked too much like the child from years ago.
His lips trembled. His hands shook. His whole body shook.
But he still couldn't force himself to say her name.
Amber looked at him, hesitant. He was older—so much older—and for a moment she didn't dare to believe it.
Then Reiji blinked at her, just once.
Amber swallowed and stepped forward. "Grandpa Blaine… you don't remember me?"
Blaine's eyes went wide. "A-Amber… is it really you?"
Her voice wasn't exactly the same, but the way she said "Grandpa" hit a place that never healed.
"Grandpa Blaine," Amber said again. "It's me."
Tears finally spilled from Blaine's eyes.
Amber took another step, then another, and wrapped her arms around him.
Blaine dropped to his knees and hugged her tight, voice breaking. "Say it again. Please. Let me hear it again."
"Grandpa Blaine," Amber said quickly, over and over. "Grandpa Blaine. Grandpa. Grandpa…"
"Yes," Blaine choked out. "I'm here. I'm right here. I missed you so much."
He held her like she might vanish if he loosened his grip.
Reiji stood to the side and kept his own eyes dry by force. He understood the desperation too well. He'd lost his old life, got thrown into this world, and everyone expected him to fight and climb and win like that was some kind of gift.
All he'd ever wanted was an ordinary life.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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