“Right. That’s all there is to it.” Reiji nodded lightly. He’d always been the type who wanted to lie flat and coast—did Lance really expect him to have some lofty, burning ambition?

As for the pep talk he’d given Shun that morning… that was just to hype Shun up. He couldn’t exactly teach the kid to be a lazy bum. That went against the values of the Pokémon world. Shun was supposed to aim high, work hard, and move forward.

“Why?” Lance was genuinely curious.

“Too much trouble,” Reiji answered honestly.

“Ha ha ha. I’m not scared of trouble, and you—”

“Lance, that’s not what he means.” Lorelei spoke from the balcony, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. “He’s not afraid you’re a hassle. He thinks getting certified through you will be a hassle.”

With just one glance at the villa and the pack of kids around, she immediately understood what Reiji was getting at. The whole setup screamed “trouble.”

“I can agree to your request,” Lance said, lifting his head to glance at the kids who still wanted to watch. He signaled the bodyguards with his eyes to take them away. “But you’ll have to answer one question for me.”

The black-suited bodyguards understood immediately. It was one thing to let their young masters and misses watch their own battles. But when an Elite Four member didn’t want an audience, nobody was allowed to sneak a peek.

Once the bodyguards had herded the kids away, only three people remained on the field. Lance finally turned back to Reiji and asked, “Why didn’t you get excited when you saw us?”

“Huh?” Reiji had been bracing for some earth-shattering secret. He hadn’t expected… that. This time, he was the one left dumbfounded.

“Ahem…” Lance suddenly felt awkward, like he’d just asked, “So why aren’t you my fan?” There was no good way to stand there and own that.

“I don’t chase idols.” Reiji waved a hand. He didn’t follow stars, period.

That, at least, made it click for Lance. People like that weren’t nonexistent, just rare. He’d met a few, but they were very much the minority.

Up on the balcony, Lorelei also snapped out of it. She realized she’d over-identified with her lecture halls. Spend enough time doing talks and you started to believe your own press. Now that someone who didn’t idolize them had shown up, she found it a bit hard to adjust.

But that wasn’t the important part. What mattered now was how this kid was going to beat Lance. Even if Lance was “only” using a Dratini, with his command skills, beating him would not be easy.

Because Lance had a Dragonite. He knew everything about Dratini’s limits. This match was basically like challenging a younger version of Lance himself—with the difference that Lance’s experience definitely wasn’t young.

“I get it.” Lance’s eyes sharpened. “Beat me, and I’ll grant your request.” He flicked his cape back with a snap. Time to get serious. He hadn’t expected some random stranger to get his blood pumping like this.

The last time he’d felt this fired up was chasing down Team Rocket and smashing their operations. Those were the days.

“Careful, Lance.” Reiji recalled Kingler. For this battle, he sent out his strongest Pokémon—Poliwhirl.

“Poliwhirl, poli poli!” Even inside the Poké Ball, it could feel the pressure from this opponent. But with Reiji at its back, it wouldn’t back down. It would fight to the very end.

“Poliwhirl, this enemy is strong. Don’t hold back.” Reiji stared straight at Dratini. It might just look like a little dragon, but that depended on whose hands it was in.

This particular Dratini was in the hands of the Dragon Master, Lance. No amount of caution would be too much.

But things went differently than Reiji expected. The Dratini hadn’t evolved yet. That meant its level hadn’t even broken thirty. Throwing a Poliwhirl in the mid-forties at it was… honestly a bit bullying.

“You be careful too. Dratini, use Thunder Wave—”

“Poliwhirl, go in—Ice Punch!” The instant Reiji heard “Thunder Wave,” he had Poliwhirl surge forward with Waterfall, fist swirling with ice crystals, and drive an Ice Punch down toward Dratini before it could even react.

And that was that.

The battlefield cracked open under the impact, leaving a deep crater where Poliwhirl’s punch had landed. Dratini lay at the bottom, eyes swirled into dizzy spirals, completely out cold.

“Uh…” Reiji scratched his head, embarrassed. He’d thought Dratini would be a lot stronger. He hadn’t expected… this. And “this” was very awkward.

“Poli poli…” Poliwhirl glanced back at its trainer, as if asking with its eyes whether it might have overdone it.

“Come back, Poliwhirl.” Reiji recalled it first, then carefully asked Lance, “So… Lance? Does that count as a win?”

“You little punk…” Lance gave a wry smile and recalled Dratini as well. If it hadn’t been a Dragon-type, that hit might’ve done some serious internal damage. Thankfully, its scales were tough enough.

“Then… may I go now?” Reiji was still worried Lance might change his mind, so he asked again, very cautiously.

“Go, go.” Lance didn’t even want to look at him. This might be the most humiliating loss he’d ever suffered. The fight had ended before it even started. Lorelei was going to roast him alive over this.

Reiji had no idea what was going through Lance’s head. He immediately released Pelipper, climbed onto its back, and flew off. He didn’t want to stay here for another second.

If you really wanted to know why… it was because he’d just beaten Lance’s Dratini. Badly.

Once he was gone, Lorelei came down from the second floor and walked over to the battlefield. Two craters scarred the ground—one where Poliwhirl had pushed off, the other where its Ice Punch had landed. Shards of ice still glittered in the hole.

“Did you catch that? The way that Poliwhirl moved?” Lance turned to face the craters as Lorelei joined him, asking what she’d seen from the balcony.

“I did. And… I didn’t.” Lorelei first nodded, then shook her head. Thinking back, it felt unreal. Everything had happened too fast. By the time Lance had finished saying “Thunder Wave,” Dratini was already lying in the crater.

“It was too fast. Dratini never even got the move off. The moment it tried to cast Thunder Wave, Poliwhirl just… vanished.” Lance stood on the field, replaying that explosive burst of speed. It was terrifying.

“Of course it was fast. Otherwise it wouldn’t have stomped a crater into the ground.” Lorelei stepped onto the spot where Poliwhirl had pushed off. She nudged the edge of the pit with the tip of her shoe, and the damaged ground collapsed again, the cracks spiderwebbing outward.

“I’d say that Poliwhirl is at least quasi–Elite Four level.” Lance watched the second collapse as well. He couldn’t quite figure out how Poliwhirl had generated that kind of explosive power.

“‘Quasi–Elite Four level’ is still a bit generous.” Lorelei shot him a look. “You haven’t forgotten how long you were stuck at that threshold, have you?”

She felt like Poliwhirl’s burst was almost at quasi–Elite Four level, but its overall strength wasn’t there yet.

“Did you forget that we’re talking about a Poliwhirl?” Lance reminded her with a bitter smile. “Once it evolves into Poliwrath, it’ll break into Elite Four territory sooner or later. One day we’re going to have to face that thing. Judging by that hit, that day isn’t far off…”

“Raising a Poliwhirl to that level… how have we never heard of a junior like that before?” Lorelei finally registered that Lance was right—it was still just a Poliwhirl.

And there was nothing “normal” about that Poliwhirl’s performance. In all their years battling, they’d never seen one that savage.

“We just checked, remember?” Lance said, thinking back to the data. “He’s an orphan. If I want to know more, I’ll have to make another trip to Kinnow City.”

“As far as I can tell from his behavior, he’s the type who doesn’t like being bothered.” Lorelei folded her arms. “If you’re going to investigate, do it in secret. Don’t use anyone he knows. The moment he feels something’s off, he’ll probably disappear and start over with a new identity.”

“I know.” Lance exhaled. “He’s the first one who ever beat me just to make me take an offer back. And I lost hard this time. Don’t you dare tell Bruno and Agatha—they’ll never let me hear the end of it…”

“Hahaha. Oh, this is too good.” Lorelei laughed out loud. “Blackmail material like this doesn’t come cheap, you know.”

Once she’d laughed herself out, Lance shifted to a more serious topic. “Right. Agatha’s retiring soon. Does the League have any suitable candidates lined up?”

“There are a few.” Lorelei listed them off casually. “The Psychic-type specialist Will, the Poison-type Koga, and the Dark-type Karen. Any thoughts?”

Lance knew all three. On paper, they were solid choices—Elite Four candidates, all of them.

The problem, of course, was that every single one of those “excellent candidates” was a Rocket agent. If Reiji had been there, he’d probably be losing his mind on the League’s behalf.

Was there really not a single normal candidate in the pool? How had the process ended up with a list of undercover operatives? Did Team Rocket just have better talent development than the League?

“What about that kid?” Lance asked instead of commenting on her list, nodding toward the direction Reiji had left.

“He looks like a Water-type specialist.” Lorelei hadn’t expected Lance to set his sights on a stranger he’d only met once. “He can’t compete with those three—at least not yet. And who knows how long it’ll take for him to catch up.”

“Kanto and Johto are going to be split into separate jurisdictions. That’ll free up a few slots.” Lance looked off into the distance. “If he wants to stand on our side of the stage, he’ll show up in front of us one day.”

He was really looking forward to that day. The kid had keen instincts, sharp perception, and smooth, precise command.

He was a born trainer. The only problem was his motivation. It was way too low. Lance honestly wanted to walk over there with a whip and tell him to hurry up and stop being so lazy.

Too bad the boy wasn’t part of his clan. If he were, Lance could beat some urgency into him. Among the Dragon Master’s family, layabouts didn’t survive. The Lance clan didn’t raise dead weight.

“Then stop worrying about it.” Lorelei shrugged. “Let the old men at the League stress over that stuff. You’re their poster boy; of course you’re always thinking about the League’s future. I’m just here on vacation.”

That was the difference between them. Lance carried the League’s public image on his shoulders. Lorelei was on holiday at her villa.

She turned and headed back inside, already thinking about calling a construction crew to repair the wrecked battlefield.

Lance stayed where he was, looking up in the direction Reiji had flown off. What an interesting kid, he thought. He couldn’t help wondering whether Kinnow City had any more surprises waiting for him…

[End of Chapter]

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