Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

After an emergency discussion, the League handed temporary authority over the case to Mikan Gym. The local Officer Jenny would assist, and the Gym only needed to report the final handling back to the League.

It was a show of goodwill. Whether Mikan Gym accepted it or not, the League now had a firm grip on the Gym’s scandal. From this point on, Mikan Gym would have to cooperate with whatever came next.

No matter what the investigation found, and no matter how Mikan Gym handled it, the matter would not be made public. Only Officer Jenny and a small number of people would know the details.

The two maids who knew the most had already been taken away and controlled by the Jenny family to prevent leaks. That counted as an explanation to Mikan Gym.

And if Mikan Gym refused to cooperate later?

Well, maybe the two maids would suddenly disappear. Maybe the story would ”accidentally” leak. If that happened, some temporary worker would take the blame and get fired. Simple as that.

As for the person who rescued Cissy, they still had not found out who it was.

But as long as Mikan Gym cooperated with the League’s plans, that no longer mattered much.

As for Reiji, who had supposedly flown back to the Orange Archipelago?

First, he and Cissy were not close. Why would he risk attacking an armed merchant ship for her?

Second, he could not have done it alone unless he had help.

Third, he had an alibi. Team Rocket had hidden the plane accident and kept Reiji’s movements quiet.

Because of that, the League had no idea Reiji had jumped off the plane midway. As far as they knew, he had never left the normal route.

The plane would have reached Kumquat Island that night. Today was the sixth day since the tournament ended. Even if Reiji had taken a ship from there, he would have reached Mikan Island by now. Perfectly clean. No reason to suspect him.

Even though he absolutely did it.

Please, do not suspect him.

If Officer Jenny checked the hotel records on Mandarin Island North, she would find that Reiji had stayed there. But he had used someone else’s identity and booked two rooms under it.

He would never get careless with something like that. Cissy had not exposed herself either. After almost being drugged, of course she would be more careful. When she went to the front desk for a key, she had worn a sun hat as a disguise.

The only people who saw the two of them together were Saya and Mina on the food street. But in a place that busy, everyone was a stranger. People passed each other, forgot each other’s faces, and moved on. No need to worry about that.

When Cissy’s grandfather called him over, Reiji followed without arguing. He had planned to explain everything anyway. He had done nothing wrong, so what was there to be afraid of?

Unless the old man decided to play dirty. Then Reiji could only accept his bad luck and end his second life early.

Cissy’s grandfather brought him into a hidden room. The middle-aged man followed behind and closed the door.

Only then did the old man sit down, pour himself a cup of cold tea, and ask, ”So? Nothing you want to tell us?”

”Of course. I’ll start from the plane.” Reiji sat down at the table and poured himself a cup too.

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened.

The old man cared a lot about manners. This kid was acting way too casually, even sharing the same pot of tea with him, yet the old man wasn’t angry.

Looks like Father really does think highly of him.

And maybe Father’s temper had softened with age. He would have exploded over this when he was younger.

”Take your time. There are peanuts too.” Cissy’s grandfather was now sure this brat had saved his granddaughter. He wanted the full story.

Reiji started from the flight at Indigo Plateau: Team Rocket setting up an ambush, him jumping off the plane, being chased, getting away, reaching Mandarin Island North, and trying to return to Mikan Island for protection.

That last part earned him a look from Cissy’s grandfather.

Reiji said he ”got away” from the pursuers, not that he killed them. People weren’t stupid. Better not treat them like they were.

Then he explained how he ran into Cissy and her cousin shopping on Mandarin Island North. Later, in the harbor bathroom, he overheard the cousin’s cousin—a trainee from the Gym—talking about drugging her that night. After that, he followed the ship to see if he could save her, and in the end, he brought her out.

”I feel like you skipped something,” Cissy’s grandfather said with a faint smile. ”For example, the part where you cut the air-conditioning pipe outside his bedroom.”

Reiji froze for a second. ”You know about that? Officer Jenny?”

His mind moved fast. The news said the League had taken over the case. That meant only Officer Jenny could have told him.

Damn it. Why hadn’t the fire burned away the pipe? Copper melted at over a thousand degrees, so the fire hadn’t been hot enough. That was a serious mistake.

”You catch on fast.” Cissy’s grandfather looked amused.

He also had to admit that Reiji was sharp. No wonder this brat had dared to attack an armed merchant ship. He really had guts.

”If Officer Jenny already told you that much, then she probably told you the rest too.” Reiji took the video camera from his bag and placed it in front of the old man. ”This is the evidence.”

”Evidence?” Cissy’s grandfather looked at the camera, not understanding at first.

”That’s all I can call it.” Reiji had no better answer.

From the way they talked, he could tell that both the League and Mikan Gym wanted to keep this quiet. Otherwise, Officer Jenny wouldn’t have come here first. Reiji didn’t want to ask too many questions. He couldn’t afford to get dragged in deeper.

The old man picked up the camera.

On the recording, Cissy lay unconscious on the bed, wrapped in a bath towel. Her cousin’s hand was almost on her thigh. The final shot showed him collapsing onto the bed. Then the screen went black.

”Where is that bastard?” Cissy’s grandfather set the camera down. A vein pulsed at his temple. That man had truly angered him. Touching his granddaughter meant he had chosen death.

”Father...” The middle-aged man had not seen the old man this angry since the time he refused an award and ran away from home.

Honestly, father and daughter really were alike. When things went wrong, both of them ran away from home. Definitely blood-related. Their brains worked the same way.

The middle-aged man walked over, picked up the camera, and watched the same footage. His daughter unconscious, that man’s filthy smile, that hand reaching toward her.

He threw the camera down, grabbed Reiji by the collar, and forced himself to keep his voice down. ”Where is he? I’ll pull his guts out and strangle him with them.”

”Calm down, Calm down.” Reiji didn’t know who this middle-aged man was.

Calling him uncle would make him sound old.

”Calm down,” Cissy’s grandfather said, slamming his cane against the floor. He was holding back his own anger too. ”It already happened. Getting angry now won’t change anything.”

The middle-aged man finally let go of Reiji’s collar.

Reiji finally let out a breath. ”I threw him into the sea as bait.”

”Good!”

Cissy’s grandfather shouted so suddenly that Reiji flinched. The cane struck the floor, and Reiji almost raised his arm to block, thinking the old man was about to hit him.

”Very good. You did well.” Cissy’s grandfather looked at him and quietly relaxed.

His granddaughter had really been saved by this kid.

”Kid, I approve of you,” Cissy’s father said.

He had planned to test Reiji once he came back and decide whether Mikan Gym should invest in him, then send him to win honor for the Gym in the Orange League. There was no need anymore.

Reiji had passed.

”Approve?” Reiji was confused.

Who was this man? He had assumed the middle-aged man was one of Cissy’s grandfather’s trusted people since he was allowed into this room.

”Don’t make a fuss,” Cissy’s grandfather said, tapping his son with the cane. ”Rai must be exhausted. Let him rest first. We’ll talk about your matter tomorrow. As for that useless child Cissy, she had better thank Rai properly this time.”

”It’s nothing. I’m part of the Gym too. I only did what I should have done.” Reiji scratched his head awkwardly and stepped aside when the old man started swinging his cane at his son. He didn’t want to get caught by accident.

”See that? Rai has more sense than you.” The old man jabbed him with the cane again. ”I swear, having a son like you is enough to take years off my life. Even Cissy learned your bad habits, running away whenever things get tough. If something had happened to her this time, what were you going to do?”

Reiji quietly watched the old man beat his son until he got tired.

Then he remembered there was one more thing he had not mentioned. He took the Team Rocket badge from his shirt pocket and placed it on the table.

”Also... I found this on him when I searched him.”

”What’s this?” Cissy’s grandfather looked at the badge wrapped in silk, and his pupils tightened. A lot of things suddenly made sense.

”So that’s why the Kanto relatives suddenly came sniffing around,” the old man muttered. ”Their branch split off back in my great-grandfather’s time, and now they want to act close again? They claimed it was for the orange business, but they were after the Gym all along. They wanted to drag me into Team Rocket’s mess.”

”Father, Team Rocket? Then the Kanto branch...” Cissy’s father understood too.

The most valuable thing their family had left was the Gym.

Could Reiji have faked the badge?

Please. The cost would be ridiculous. Planting one mole just to kill another mole?

Cough. With Team Rocket, maybe that wasn’t impossible.

But Reiji could prove he was clean. Plenty of people could testify for him. He had witnesses. He wasn’t worried.

”Most likely, yes. The whole family probably joined Team Rocket.” Cissy’s grandfather’s face darkened. ”Looks like both the League and Team Rocket are speeding up their push into the Orange Archipelago. We don’t have much time.”

”Father, the Jenny family already has leverage over the Gym. I’m afraid we don’t have many choices left,” Cissy’s father said with a sigh.

He had been there when Officer Jenny visited last night.

Reiji sat there, not knowing whether to sit still or stand up. He wanted to crawl into a crack in the floor.

Was this the kind of secret he was supposed to hear?

He really was afraid of knowing too much and getting silenced. Could these two please let him leave before discussing this?

He didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want to be involved in some major event either. With his current strength, he would be cannon fodder. Two slaps and he would be dead.

All he wanted was to stay low, grow stronger, and wait until he reached Elite Four tier.

”Ahem. Well... you two can keep talking. Can I go back first?”

Reiji said it as politely as he could. He truly did not want to hear any more of this, and he did not want to become cannon fodder.

Only then did the two men remember there was a third person in the room.

The mood turned awkward.

He had heard a lot of things he shouldn’t have. With the old man’s temper, should they maybe...?

”Rai, go rest first. Winning the Indigo Plateau Conference must have been tiring. Take a few days off if you need to.” Cissy’s grandfather took a blue jade box from his coat and pushed it across the table. ”This is the top-quality Water Stone from before. Take it.”

”This... wasn’t that just Cissy joking?” Reiji had never taken it seriously.

The old man had never promised it himself, and even if he had, Reiji wouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

If the old man hadn’t handed it over on his own, Reiji would have left with all his Pokémon and gone to ask Blaine for one instead. Trade, buy, whatever. He wasn’t going to waste time here forever.

”A joke? Then treat it as a joke.” Cissy’s grandfather smiled and didn’t argue.

”Then I’ll take it.” Reiji picked up the box.

Before leaving the hidden room, he glanced back. The old man did not stop him, so he closed the door and left.

”Father, why so soon?” Cissy’s father didn’t understand. He had planned to give Reiji the Evolution Stone after everything was settled.

”How could I not hurry? If I don’t give it to him now, there might not be another chance.” Cissy’s grandfather sighed and smacked his useless son with the cane again.

”What do you mean? He can’t wait a day or two?”

”Idiot. Didn’t you see it? He doesn’t want to get involved in Gym matters at all. How did I end up with such a stupid son? Did all those years away rot your brain with wine and women?”

Cissy’s grandfather hated how slow he was. He almost wanted to smack him dead with the cane.

”What? You mean he wants to leave the Gym?” Cissy’s father finally understood.

The older ginger was still sharper. Just from Reiji’s few words and the way he left, the old man had seen through his intention.

”A Trainer who saved Cissy. A Trainer who could catch Darkrai. You think he’s a normal kid? Use your head. Do you really think someone like him is still short of an Evolution Stone?”

”Right...” Cissy’s father finally caught up. ”That kid really is something. When I was his age, I was still getting scolded by you.”

Only now did he realize that Reiji had stayed calm the entire time, even in front of the two of them.

After saving Cissy, he had not asked for a reward. Even when his collar was grabbed, he only told Cissy’s father to calm down.

If he had come from a good family, that could be explained as proper upbringing. Not arrogant, not greedy, not full of himself.

But Reiji was an orphan. No family, no proper background, no parents to teach him that kind of restraint.

That left only one answer.

He didn’t care.

He didn’t care about the Gym, about staying or leaving, or even about the top-quality Water Stone. That was why he never asked for anything and walked away so calmly.

That was frightening in its own way.

What did he actually want?

”Team Rocket is probably after him because of that dark Pokémon.” Cissy’s grandfather stroked his beard. ”I didn’t expect him to escape from a plane under that kind of trap. The kid has real skill.”

”Hm? Why didn’t the Pokémon react? Was that dark Pokémon stolen?” Cissy’s father frowned.

His Slowpoke and the old man’s Slowking were nearby. If that presence was still on Reiji, they should have sensed it and warned them.

”I’m not sure. Ask him later if there’s time. As long as he’s safe, that’s enough.” Cissy’s grandfather was surprised too.

Slowking should not have been wrong. The dark aura around Reiji was gone.

Had Team Rocket really taken it?

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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