"Why do you think he forfeited?"
"Isn't it obvious? The tournament's rigged."
"Rigged? The matches looked fine to me."
"Then explain why Reiji surrendered without even fighting."
That was all it took.
By the time Reiji left Pummelo Stadium, the crowd had already begun turning his forfeit into whatever story they wanted to hear. One person claimed he was an undercover Pokémon hunter, another swore he worked for Team Rocket, and before long Spider, Team Aqua, the Black Ship, and half the underground organizations in the region had somehow been dragged into it.
The stranger the rumor, the faster it spread.
Reiji knew nothing about any of that when he stepped outside the stadium. He looked around for Tania, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
She had probably left after all.
"So much for lunch."
He nudged a loose stone with his shoe and looked for Cissy, only to realize she had already wandered ahead. That did not worry him much; Gengar was following through the shadows, and anyone trying to cause trouble for her would have to get through an Elite Four-tier Ghost first.
Reiji was about to head for the Pokémon Center when three suspicious vendors approached him. Two were tall, one was short, and all three were buried beneath work clothes, aprons, and enough merchandise to outfit an entire concession stand.
None of them said a word.
One simply shoved a cold drink into his hands before the trio hurried back inside the stadium.
Reiji watched them go, then looked down at the cup.
"Those idiots..."
He was almost certain it had been Team Rocket's trio in disguise, although he had no idea why they had suddenly decided to buy him a drink.
He took a sip while walking and immediately discovered there was no drink inside at all. When he opened the lid, he found a folded note instead.
The message summarized the rumors that had been spreading while he was away.
Gang member. Pokémon hunter. Black Ship enforcer. Team Rocket operative. Spider murderer.
Reiji almost laughed.
Of all the nonsense people had invented, one accusation had accidentally landed on the truth. He really was connected to Spider.
Quite a bit more than connected, actually.
He folded the note and slipped it away.
This kind of smear campaign was nothing new to him. He had lived through the information-saturated chaos of his previous world, where enough repetition could make almost any accusation sound plausible and arguing against it often made things worse.
Once people decided they wanted a conspiracy, evidence stopped mattering. Half the crowd only wanted entertainment anyway, and the louder the story became, the more fun they had passing it around.
What actually mattered was how the League reacted.
If senior League officials began treating him as a genuine threat, Reiji would have a problem. Mikan Gym had influence, but nowhere near enough to shield him from a serious investigation.
On the other hand, suspicion alone was not enough to arrest someone.
Someone inside the League would have to push the matter.
By the time Reiji reached the Pokémon Center, Gengar had already returned to his shadow. Cissy, her mother, and her grandfather were all behaving normally, which told him everything he needed to know.
They did not believe the rumors.
Cissy's grandfather looked up the moment he entered and burst out laughing.
"Rai, you really went and did it. Your fans are going to tear you apart for that forfeit."
Reiji scratched his head. "What else was I supposed to do? The Pokémon I had left couldn't beat Drake. Fighting anyway would've just gotten them hurt."
"Then you made the right call." The old man stood and stretched. "You stay here with Senta. I promised an old friend I'd go fishing."
He wandered out whistling, apparently far more interested in the afternoon's fishing than the scandal spreading around the stadium.
A few years earlier, he probably would have exploded over something like this. These days, very little surprised him anymore.
He had lived long enough to know that the loudest person in the room was not automatically the one telling the truth. Rumors were cheap; when things became serious, strength and evidence mattered far more.
Cissy's mother soon stood as well.
"You two can watch television here. I'm exhausted, and I haven't slept properly in days. I'm going to get some rest."
Cissy watched her leave with a helpless look.
"Everyone's abandoning us."
"They've had a rough few days too." Reiji picked up an apple and began peeling it while the television showed the final quarterfinal of the day. "We can handle watching Senta."
Because Reiji had forfeited, the tournament schedule had moved ahead faster than expected. The fourth match had started shortly after one in the afternoon instead of waiting for the original slot.
Rudy was fighting a Trainer Reiji did not recognize.
The stranger made him work for it. Rudy was eventually forced to reveal three Elite Four-tier Pokémon before finally securing his place in the semifinals.
Cissy glanced away from the television once the match ended.
"You're hungry, right? I'll get us something from the cafeteria."
"Sure."
As she walked out, Reiji tapped his foot lightly against his own shadow.
Gengar understood.
Reiji hated being this cautious, but the timing was too sensitive to take chances. As long as Cissy was with him, he intended to make sure she stayed safe. He could protect her directly or send Gengar after her, but he only had one Elite Four-tier Ghost, which meant there was no way to cover everyone at once.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
Cissy returned with lunch, and the two ate together while the television replayed highlights from the day's matches. Afternoon faded into evening without incident.
Her grandfather eventually returned from fishing, and her mother came back after finally getting some sleep. The four of them ate dinner together while the tournament broadcast moved on to the placement matches.
Since Reiji had not appeared for his placement match, he automatically forfeited again. Tania had also left and did the same, putting her eighth and Reiji seventh.
Shun and the Trainer Rudy had eliminated played for fifth and sixth. Shun lost, leaving him sixth and Rudy's quarterfinal opponent fifth.
That settled the bottom half of the top eight.
Reiji assumed the day was finally over. Cissy's mother and grandfather were already preparing to leave, planning to let Reiji and Cissy handle the overnight watch until the tournament ended and everyone could return to Mikan Gym.
Then Officer Jenny walked into Senta's room.
She headed directly toward Reiji.
"Hello. I'm Officer Jenny from Pummelo City." She presented her identification and waited until Reiji and the others had all seen it before putting it away.
Reiji frowned. "What's this about?"
For one uncomfortable moment, he wondered whether someone had actually uncovered his past.
That seemed unlikely.
If the League truly knew what he had been doing, an Officer Jenny would not be standing here politely asking questions.
Jenny kept her tone calm, but there was no mistaking the seriousness behind it.
"During an ongoing investigation, we found reason to believe you may have information connected to a case. We'd like you to come to the station and answer some questions."
She glanced toward Cissy's grandfather before continuing.
"This is only a standard inquiry. You are not under arrest, and it shouldn't take long."
Reiji considered refusing for all of half a second.
There was no point.
"All right. I'll come with you."
He gave Cissy and her family a small nod, then followed Officer Jenny out of the Pokémon Center and into the waiting police car.
Cissy immediately tried to follow.
"Grandpa, what's going on?"
Her mother stopped her before she reached the door.
"I'd like to know that too," her grandfather muttered.
He genuinely had no idea.
He had gone fishing that afternoon, and when he returned, his Slowking was back—but his son was not.
Slowking had collapsed almost immediately, frightening him badly until Nurse Joy confirmed that the Pokémon was only suffering from severe mental exhaustion. He had tried calling his son afterward and received no answer.
Something had clearly happened.
What he could not understand was why any of it would involve Reiji. If his son had gotten himself into trouble, the police should be looking for him, not questioning an outsider from the Gym.
"I'll make some calls."
He started toward the door, but Cissy's mother stopped him.
"Dad, you can't leave. What about Senta? I'll go. I can contact my family."
That offer clearly cost her something.
The old man shook his head.
"No. I know you've put up with plenty because of that idiot son of mine, but we're not there yet."
He looked toward Senta's bed and reluctantly sat back down.
Asking his daughter-in-law's family for help would come with its own complications, and he was not ready to swallow that particular humiliation until they knew they actually needed it.
"For now, we wait."
...
At the police station, Officer Jenny initially tried to collect Reiji's Poké Balls.
There were none to collect.
Before entering, Reiji had quietly passed everything to Gengar, which had swallowed the Poké Balls and disappeared back into his shadow. When Jenny asked, Reiji simply told her he had not brought any Pokémon with him.
Since this was officially an interview rather than an arrest, she had little reason to press the issue.
Reiji was taken into a small interview room. Officer Jenny entered with him, but another man was already waiting inside.
He was middle-aged, dressed in a brown trench coat, and had a Croagunk sitting beside him.
Reiji took his seat.
The man opened a file.
"Reiji. Orphan. Raised by an adoptive grandfather. Trainer affiliated with Mikan Gym. Seventh place in the Orange League."
He read each detail slowly, clearly trying to establish control of the room before the questioning began.
Reiji simply nodded.
"That's right."
The investigator closed the file halfway.
"Do you know where the Leader of Mikan Gym is? The Trainer known as Madman?"
"No."
Reiji answered without hesitation.
It was even technically true. He had a good idea what Cissy's father had gone out to do, but he had no idea where the man was now.
The investigator studied him for a moment, then sighed.
"We're not getting anywhere like this. We'll need to borrow the station's Hypno."
Officer Jenny immediately frowned.
"That's not standard procedure. Hypno isn't supposed to be used on someone who's only here for questioning."
The investigator rubbed his forehead.
"I know. But this case is bad. An entire noble family in Kanto has been wiped out, and I've been given direct orders to get answers."
He looked toward Reiji before turning back to Jenny.
"You'll stay in the room, the recorder stays on, and I won't ask him anything unrelated to the case. That's the best I can offer."
Jenny clearly disliked it.
After a long hesitation, she picked up the radio.
"All right."
Reiji said nothing, but the conversation had already given him more information than they probably intended.
A noble family in Kanto had been wiped out.
Cissy's father was missing.
And investigators were connecting the two.
Apparently, someone had failed to clean up every trace.
The authorities probably did not dare drag Cissy or her grandfather into an aggressive interrogation. Reiji, however, was only an outside Trainer attached to the Gym.
He was the easier target.
Fortunately, hypnosis was not going to be much of a problem.
Gengar was still in his shadow.
Reiji shifted his foot slightly, giving the Ghost a warning.
A few minutes later, Hypno entered the room.
"Hyp... no..."
At Officer Jenny's instruction, it stepped in front of Reiji and began swinging the pendulum in its hand.
Reiji did not resist.
Trying to fight the hypnosis openly would only make everyone suspicious, and Gengar could break it whenever necessary.
His eyes gradually lost focus and his head lowered.
The instant his gaze fell toward the floor, two red eyes opened inside his shadow.
The hypnosis vanished.
Reiji kept his body slack and his expression empty.
The investigator repeated his first question.
"Where is the Leader of Mikan Gym?"
"I don't know."
There was no pause.
The investigator frowned, but that answer did not surprise him much. Reiji was an outsider, after all. There was every chance Cissy's father had simply never told him anything.
He tried another angle.
"Who ordered the attack on Senta? Who killed the people responsible afterward? And have you seen Cissy's grandfather's Slowking recently?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen it."
Again, the answers came immediately.
Reiji knew far more about Senta's attempted assassination than he intended to admit, especially where Team Rocket was concerned. Mentioning them would only drag him deeper into the mess.
As for Slowking, that part was completely true.
He genuinely had not seen it.
The investigator leaned back with an increasingly irritated expression.
The old records from Senta's assassination had already established that one of the attackers was connected to Team Rocket. If Reiji knew nothing about the killers, nothing about whoever silenced them, and had not seen Slowking, then there was little tying him directly to the current case.
Still, the investigator had one question left.
He leaned forward again.
"Which organization are you undercover for?"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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