Day 34 since returning to the Orange Archipelago. Light rain.
Reiji had spent the entire night at the police station.
Not because anyone was keeping him there.
Quite the opposite.
Officer Jenny and the International Police investigator had tried threats, persuasion, and increasingly obvious hints that he was free to leave whenever he pleased. Reiji ignored all of them and made himself comfortable.
They had invited him in, hypnotized him without proper cause, and only decided they wanted him gone after discovering something they were suddenly afraid to know. If they thought he was going to smile, thank them for the hospitality, and walk away empty-handed, they had badly misjudged him.
As for threatening to expose his supposed undercover identity, that was useless. The identity was fake in the first place, and the two officers were far more frightened of accidentally compromising a real League operation than Reiji was of having the lie investigated.
So he stayed.
By morning, he had even managed to bully Officer Jenny into finding him a television.
"Today marks the Orange League semifinals!" the commentator announced from Pummelo Stadium. "And joining us as a special guest is the Champion of Kanto himself—Lance!"
The stadium erupted as Lance appeared.
"Champion! Champion!"
"Lance! Lance!"
Reiji sat back with a bowl of peanuts and watched from the interview room.
The semifinalists were Rudy, Danny, Sabrina, and Drake, all four of whom had already shown multiple Elite Four-tier Pokémon during the tournament. The first match would be Rudy against Danny, followed by Sabrina against Drake.
Reiji had just settled in for what promised to be a good day of battles when the interview-room door opened.
A familiar old man stepped inside.
"Rai. Good, you're fine." Cissy's grandfather looked him over once and visibly relaxed. "Come on. We're going home."
Officer Jenny stood behind him. The International Police investigator was nowhere to be seen.
Earlier that morning, Cissy's grandfather had handed over evidence proving that the murdered Kanto family had been working with Team Rocket.
The investigator had no idea how the old man had obtained the documents, but that was no longer the important part. Team Rocket was one of the League's greatest enemies, and clear evidence that an established family had secretly joined them completely changed the political value of the murder investigation.
Nobody in the League was eager to make martyrs out of Team Rocket infiltrators.
More importantly, the officials who had been shouting loudest for the killers to be found now had a different problem. Once the victims were exposed as Rocket collaborators, anyone pushing too aggressively on their behalf risked attracting suspicion themselves.
The evidence had turned the entire situation around.
The investigator had expected that to end the matter. Once Cissy's grandfather arrived, surely the stubborn kid would finally leave the station and everyone could quietly forget the last twenty-four hours.
Reiji did not move.
The old man gave him a suspicious look. "What? You don't want to go home?"
"They tell me to come, so I come. Then they decide I can leave, so I'm supposed to leave?" Reiji gestured around the room. "They even used Hypno to interrogate me. If I walk out now as though nothing happened, I look like an idiot."
Cissy's grandfather slowly turned toward Officer Jenny.
"They hypnotized you?"
Jenny hesitated.
The League drilled honesty and responsibility into every Officer Jenny wearing the uniform, which made lying rather difficult when the victim was sitting three steps away.
"Yes."
The old man's face darkened.
Hypnotic interrogation was not something the League casually used on ordinary civilian Trainers. It was generally reserved for enemy agents, spies, and criminals involved in particularly serious cases. Using it during what had supposedly been a voluntary interview was far beyond what Reiji should have been expected to tolerate.
"Who ordered it?"
Jenny did not hesitate nearly as long this time.
"The International Police investigator."
Cissy's grandfather slammed a hand against his cane.
"Rai, stay here."
He marched out of the room looking furious.
Reiji watched him leave and smiled.
The old man had understood immediately.
Reiji himself could complain all he wanted, but he was still a young Trainer demanding compensation from the League. Cissy's grandfather was different. He was the elder of one of the League-aligned Orange Archipelago Gyms, and his family had just voluntarily handed over evidence exposing Team Rocket infiltration.
If anyone could make this embarrassing, it was him.
Apparently, the old fox had reached exactly the same conclusion.
The situation escalated remarkably quickly.
Cissy's grandfather stormed through the station demanding an explanation, loudly reminding anyone who would listen that Mikan Gym had supported the League only to have one of its Trainers dragged away and illegally hypnotized.
Drake arrived before his semifinal had even begun. Once he heard that an old friend's family was being treated this way, he had very little interest in keeping the dispute quiet.
Then Lance showed up.
Charles Goodshow arrived with him.
By that point, what had started as an improper interrogation had become a problem involving a Champion, the Orange League's senior leadership, an important local Gym, and enough witnesses to make quietly burying the matter impossible.
The International Police investigator was called back and found himself standing at the center of the mess.
Lance knew him personally. They had worked together on criminal investigations before, and Lance had always considered him an upright, competent officer.
That only made the mistake harder to excuse.
"You've been doing this too long to make a mistake like that," Lance told him.
The investigator sighed. "I pushed too hard because of the case. The decision was mine, and I'll accept whatever disciplinary action follows."
He took the blame cleanly, including the parts Officer Jenny had participated in.
There was little point dragging her down with him. Lance's presence gave the investigator some protection, Jenny could walk away without having her career damaged, and the scandal could still be contained. Given how badly the situation had turned against them, that was about as good an outcome as either officer could hope for.
Lance nodded. "All right. You can go for now."
The investigator had barely taken a step when Cissy's grandfather grabbed his leg.
"He can't leave!"
Everyone stopped.
The old man clung to the investigator's coat and launched into the performance of his life.
"My son is missing, my grandson is lying in a hospital bed, and my daughter-in-law and granddaughter are left alone! Now even the young Trainer protecting our Gym gets dragged into a police station and hypnotized! Is this what happens when an old man has nobody left to defend him?"
The investigator stared down at him in disbelief.
Reiji, listening through the partly open interview-room door, had to respect the commitment.
Cissy's grandfather had assembled the perfect victim story in seconds. A missing son, an injured grandson, vulnerable women at home, a loyal Gym wrongfully targeted by authorities, and one elderly grandfather trying to hold everything together.
"He has to apologize!" the old man continued. "A man can swallow many things, but not this. We deserve an explanation!"
Lance rubbed his forehead.
"All right. He'll apologize, and I promise the disciplinary result will be something Mikan Gym can accept. We can discuss the rest privately. Would that be enough for now?"
The old man immediately released the investigator.
"Fine."
The speed of the recovery told everyone nearby exactly how much of the scene had been theater.
Lance gave the investigator a small look.
He understood.
The man turned back to Cissy's grandfather and bowed deeply.
"Sir, I'm sorry. I exceeded my authority and caused your family to be wrongly implicated. I accept responsibility."
Cissy's grandfather's mustache twitched.
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to my grandson."
The investigator followed his gaze toward the interview room.
The door had just quietly closed.
Of course the brat had been listening.
The investigator no longer cared.
He had dealt with criminals, nobles, League officials, and every variety of difficult witness during his career. Bowing to one infuriating young Trainer was a small price for escaping the political mess he had created.
He entered the interview room without closing the door and bowed ninety degrees.
"Reiji, I apologize. I had no justification for using Hypno during your interview. The responsibility is mine."
Reiji continued watching the television for a moment before giving a quiet grunt of acknowledgment.
That was enough.
The investigator straightened, nodded once to Lance and the others, and left the station to put some distance between himself and the entire disaster.
There was one thing he did not mention.
Reiji's supposed undercover assignment.
Lance almost certainly had enough authority to investigate such a claim, but that was precisely why the investigator decided to keep his mouth shut. What if Lance had authorized the operation? What if he already knew about it?
The way Lance had handled Reiji's situation certainly gave the investigator no reason to start asking dangerous questions.
Some secrets were healthier left alone.
Once the crowd dispersed, Lance took Cissy's grandfather into a private room to discuss compensation.
The murder investigation had effectively lost its importance the moment the Team Rocket evidence surfaced. What mattered now was repairing the damage done to Mikan Gym before a loyal Orange Archipelago Gym decided the League was more trouble than it was worth.
Lance knew he would have to offer something substantial enough to satisfy both foxes.
The old one had made a point of repeatedly calling Reiji his grandson in front of everyone. The implication was obvious: whatever compensation Reiji was owed, Cissy's grandfather intended to negotiate on his behalf.
Lucky kid.
Since Reiji had been taken into custody, Lance had received an absurd number of calls from senior Trainers asking what had happened to him. Even Pryce, who normally spoke to Lance as though every conversation were an inconvenience, had contacted him.
Reiji had somehow built an impressive network of older Trainers willing to speak up for him.
Lance was almost jealous.
A young Trainer with that many respected people standing behind him was difficult to dismiss as suspicious. Either Reiji was fundamentally trustworthy, or an astonishing number of experienced Trainers had all lost their judgment at once.
Lance knew which explanation he preferred.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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