Pryce put the call on speaker, so Reiji could hear Blaine clearly. At this hour, Blaine should still be at Cinnabar Gym.
"Old turtle. Don't tell me you've forgotten me."
"Oh? It's you. Those burns from back then still giving you trouble?"
Brutal. Blaine went straight for the sore spot. The Pokémon that had injured Pryce all those years ago had been a Magmar, though Reiji didn't know whether Blaine had been its Trainer.
Pryce's face darkened at once. "Still itching for another fight, old turtle?"
"Look at you, old popsicle. Got your bite back, do you? Fine by me. I'm always ready."
"Enough. I called about something serious." Pryce had run into Reiji by chance, and from the look of it, the boy had ties to Blaine. Which meant Pryce might get to watch the old turtle lose his composure.
"Something serious? From you? At your age? What kind of nonsense are you thinking about now?"
"Shut up, you old bastard." Pryce's face went black again. If he didn't get to the point, Blaine would keep needling him all night. "Do you know Reiji?"
"Rai?" Blaine's voice rose sharply. "He's with you?"
Pryce heard the shift in his tone and immediately knew Blaine had guessed what he wanted to do.
"Heh. That Rock Armor technique of yours is pretty good," Pryce said, grinning. "I happen to have something called Ice Armor. You don't mind if I show the boy a few things, do you?"
Making Blaine squirm was one of life's finer pleasures. Better yet, this involved tutoring Blaine's precious student. Putting his own stamp on someone else's pupil would absolutely drive the old turtle mad.
"Don't you dare. Don't mess with him. That boy is obedient and sensible. If he falls into your hands, you'll turn him into a little popsicle."
Pfft.
Reiji was drinking water and sprayed it straight out. These two old men were ridiculous.
"He's here with me, so you don't get a say," Pryce said, laughing far too happily. "Don't worry. I'll take care of him."
Then he hung up before Blaine could start cursing.
Pryce sat there grinning to himself for a while, clearly enjoying the victory. Only when he noticed Reiji looking at him did he smooth his expression back into his usual stern face and cough twice.
"Don't be nervous, young man. Blaine and I know each other. You can stay here without worrying."
"Uh… right. I get it." What else could Reiji say? He could only pretend he hadn't heard a thing.
Who would have thought these old men had this kind of relationship? Still, it didn't seem bad. If Pryce was that familiar with Blaine, he was probably someone Reiji could trust.
"That Poliwrath beside you was the one that performed so well at the Indigo Plateau Conference, wasn't it?" Pryce looked over the powerful Poliwrath with clear approval. "You raised it well."
Back when it was still a Poliwhirl, it had beaten Garchomp. That alone told Pryce the boy had talent.
Then there was that strange burst of power. A normal Pokémon had been pushed to the point where it could stand against a pseudo Legendary. The more Pryce looked at Reiji, the more he liked what he saw.
If Blaine hadn't gotten to him first, Pryce might have wanted the boy for himself. Even so, being connected to Blaine didn't mean Pryce couldn't teach him anything. It was just a bit of a shame.
"Leader Pryce…" Reiji began, unsure what Pryce was planning, only to be cut off.
"Like with Blaine, just call me Pryce. Uncle Pryce is fine too. No need to be so distant." Pryce let out a soft sigh, then pushed aside the thought he'd just had. "You brought Piloswine back to me. I still owe you for that. Now, tell me about your Poliwrath."
This was the important part. Poliwrath wasn't an Ice-type, but it did use Ice-type moves. If Pryce was willing to give advice, this could turn into something useful.
"Pryce, Poliwrath's main style is built around combination attacks," Reiji said.
"That strange burst of power?" Pryce listened to Reiji's explanation and had to admit the boy was a real oddity.
Reiji had taken the explosive force of Waterfall—the same power used to climb roaring falls—compressed it, and used it to boost punching moves. Pryce thought it over for a while before speaking again.
"If speed and explosive movement are the core of its style, Ice Armor may not fit cleanly. Covering Poliwrath in ice would slow it down."
He paused, then continued.
"But you also said that burst is hard to use more than once. Either it drains Poliwrath completely, or the backlash does too much damage. That's a serious flaw. Ice Armor could protect it, but if the armor breaks under the impact, the shards could hurt it again. The armor would have to be hard enough to withstand the explosion. If it can do that, Poliwrath wouldn't need to spend strength on Protect every time. It might be able to fire off several bursts instead of only one."
"That's fine," Reiji said. "Even one use is already enough in most fights. Not many Pokémon can take that kind of hit."
Pryce seemed troubled, and Reiji didn't want to force anything. He had brought back Piloswine partly to earn goodwill, and goodwill was the sort of thing that might matter later. Blaine had helped him. Inspector Joy had helped him. Celebi had helped him. Nobody could predict who would lend a hand at the critical moment, so doing a little more rarely hurt.
"Rai," Pryce said, looking at him seriously. "Do you trust me?"
Blaine had taught the boy. Was Pryce supposed to do nothing? If they ever met again, the old turtle would laugh himself sick.
More than that, Reiji had brought Piloswine back. He had taken away a pain Pryce had carried for most of his life. Pryce couldn't let that pass without giving something back.
"I do," Reiji answered without hesitation.
If Pryce was that close to Blaine, there was no reason not to. As long as this had nothing to do with Team Rocket, Reiji could trust him.
"Then let Poliwrath use that burst at full strength. I need to see it myself." Pryce stood and led him to the courtyard, then released his Elite Four-tier Lapras.
"Here?" Reiji glanced around the courtyard. It wasn't exactly spacious. There were wooden buildings nearby, the Gym itself not far off. If something collapsed, who was paying for it?
"Never mind. Come with me." Pryce remembered the damage Poliwhirl had caused back at the Conference, where even the venue's glass and lights had shattered. Now that it had evolved into Poliwrath, the move was probably even worse.
He led Reiji into the woods behind the Gym and stopped in a clear patch. "Here will do."
"All right. Poliwrath, full burst."
Reiji gave the order, then retreated a very long way and released another Pokémon to use Protect around him.
As for whether Poliwrath's full burst might hurt Lapras, Pryce had asked for this himself. That confidence had to mean he trusted his own Pokémon completely.
Seeing Reiji back off that far, Pryce's mouth twitched. Then he moved farther away as well and released Swinub to guard him. He had a bad feeling about this attack already.
Boom.
Once both sides were ready, Poliwrath used Belly Drum, then rushed forward with Focus Punch at 150 base power. It was a Fighting-type move, and Lapras had a x2 weakness to it.
Pryce had ordered Lapras to defend with its hardest ice. If Poliwrath could break through the ice wall, Lapras would use Protect.
But Poliwrath's attack didn't punch through.
The impact still exploded outward. A violent shockwave tore through the clearing, snapping nearby trees in half. Poliwrath's Focus Punch slammed into the ice wall, and thin cracks began spreading from the point of contact.
Crack. Crack.
As Poliwrath pulled its fist back, a pale green barrier appeared in front of it to block the backlash. Even so, the force hurled it backward into a tree, knocking it unconscious.
The cracks in the ice wall kept spreading until they covered the entire surface. A light breeze passed through the clearing, and the wall collapsed into fragments.
Pryce walked over, studied the shattered ice, and asked Lapras, "How much strength did you use?"
"Lapras," it answered through telepathy. "Seventy percent."
"Seventy percent?" Pryce looked at Poliwrath in surprise. "Not bad at all. Your Poliwrath hasn't reached Elite Four tier yet, has it?"
It hadn't been injured, though it had clearly saved strength for Protect. That meant the attack still hadn't been a true full-power burst.
Even so, this Poliwrath was impressive. Its burst had cracked an Elite Four-tier ice wall. That meant it could genuinely threaten Elite Four-tier Pokémon, something Reiji had already proven.
If the opponent was caught off guard, Poliwrath could absolutely trade with an Elite Four-tier Pokémon. At minimum, it could cripple one badly before going down itself.
Of course, if Poliwrath didn't hold back enough strength for Protect, the backlash would maim it too. The attack could hit even harder—possibly twice as hard—but whatever power it released would come back at it through the explosion, the recoil, and the shockwave.
"That's right. It's still a little short," Reiji said, scratching his head awkwardly. "I'm traveling right now to look for the chance it needs to break into Elite Four tier."
He knew Poliwrath could hit harder than this.
The problem was the backlash. If Poliwrath didn't save enough stamina for Protect, one full burst would ruin its arm. Belly Drum already took half its HP before the punch even landed.
So when he said "full power," it was usually only around sixty percent in practice. Eighty percent was already pushing it, and after spending the last bit of strength on Protect, Poliwrath would pass out anyway.
The fight against Feraligatr had probably been the most dangerous case so far. Poliwrath had gone close to eighty percent there, which was why it ended up so badly hurt while stalling Steelix afterward. Otherwise, it could have kept fighting for a while longer.
"Excellent. With that kind of strength, it would have been strange if you hadn't won the Indigo Plateau Conference." Pryce laughed and patted Reiji on the shoulder.
Now that he understood Poliwrath's limits, he knew how to arrange the training.
They cleaned up the marks left in the clearing and returned to the Gym. By then, Sheila had finished preparing dinner.
The three of them ate in the back courtyard while chatting. During the meal, Pryce brought the matter up again.
"Rai, Blaine told me you still have business here in Johto. Ice Armor takes time to learn. If you don't have that time, you can leave your Pokémon with me. What do you think?"
"I can do that. I'd feel safe leaving Poliwrath here." Reiji smiled.
He had already seen what Rock Armor could do after learning it from Blaine. He was curious what Ice Armor would be like.
If Poliwrath could wear a layer of ice armor, that would block a lot of damage. The drawback was that Ice didn't have Steel's wide range of resistances. It resisted Ice and little else; against most other types, the damage would still be neutral or worse.
"Good. Nice and decisive. When you come back for Poliwrath, I promise you'll see a very different Pokémon." Pryce was in excellent spirits and had even drunk a fair amount of alcohol.
First, Piloswine had returned, untangling a knot that had weighed on him for 40 years.
Second, he had found a promising young Trainer and intended to help that Trainer's Pokémon.
Third, he liked Reiji. Just as Blaine had said, the boy was sensible and knew how to behave. Pryce liked that.
"You also have a Gyarados, don't you? And that Kingler. Both are unusually talented." Pryce planned to go all the way. Teaching one Pokémon was teaching. Teaching a few more while he was free wouldn't hurt. "I'd like to see who's better, me or that old turtle."
He wanted Blaine to see it for himself. Which Pokémon would turn out stronger: the ones trained by Pryce, or the ones trained by that old turtle?
He had no intention of losing.
"Don't mind him, Rai," Sheila said with a laugh. "He almost never drinks this much."
She knew Pryce was drunk. His pride had gotten stirred up, and now he was arguing with Blaine in his head.
"It's fine. I'm happy for him too." Reiji almost offered to have a drink with them, then remembered he was still underage and swallowed the words. Better not ruin the good impression now. A few cups of alcohol weren't worth it.
"Come on, Rai. I'll show you to your room." Sheila smiled and stood, leaving Pryce in the courtyard to pour himself another drink.
Reiji followed her to the room. Only after she closed the door and left did he let out a breath. He asked Gengar whether she was gone, and once Gengar confirmed it, he let Lokoko out.
"We're leaving tomorrow. Pryce is an Elite Four-tier Trainer, so you'll need to stay in your Poké Ball for now."
"All right," Lokoko said with a small nod. "I can feel Lapras's psychic power. It's no weaker than mine."
Once Lokoko sensed Lapras, she had kept herself fully hidden.
"Then let's sleep." Reiji waved it off, released Umbreon, hugged it close, and lay down.
After settling Reiji in, Sheila returned to the courtyard. Pryce was still drinking. By now, he was tipsy enough to dance across the grass with Piloswine.
She only smiled helplessly and didn't interrupt him. It had been 40 years since she had last seen him this happy.
"Sheila," Pryce said when he noticed her return. "Rai asleep?"
"I gave him a room. You still don't trust me to handle that?" Sheila nodded, then asked, "Pryce, have you really thought this through?"
"For Poliwrath to make Ice Armor strong enough to resist that explosion, its Ice-type talent has to improve first. Otherwise, the armor won't be hard enough."
She looked at him closely.
"That is a piece of ancient Never-Melt Ice. You only found that tiny piece deep in the Snowy Mountains. Are you really giving it to that child?"
"I'm old. What am I saving it for?" Pryce didn't look the least bit regretful. "It's better used on a young Trainer's Pokémon. Besides, Blaine and I both think highly of him."
The more Pryce imagined Blaine's smug old face, the more annoyed he became.
Seeing an old friend find such a good young Trainer irritated him more than a blade to the ribs. Compared with that, a piece of Never-Melt Ice was nothing.
After thinking it over, Pryce had also realized something else. Reiji probably wasn't actually Blaine's disciple. The old turtle had nearly tricked him. Reiji didn't match Blaine's Fire-type style at all; if anything, his Pokémon fit Pryce's style better.
If neither of them could truly claim the boy as a disciple, then Pryce had even less reason to lose. He had to give Reiji the best and make sure the boy made him look good in front of Blaine.
"I'm not losing…"
After saying that, Pryce dropped forward onto the table and fell asleep.
Sheila was both exasperated and amused. She helped the stubborn old man up and had Piloswine carry him back inside.
Since Pryce had made up his mind, she wouldn't interfere. From here on, she only hoped he could stay this happy every day.
Maybe that wish would finally come true.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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