Reiji had no idea that before he even set foot in Lavender Gym, two huge black marks had already been pinned on him.

The first came from Blaine calling him his disciple. Disciple, my ass. They had known each other for less than ten days. Rhydon had learned from another Rhydon, not from that shameless old man. Blaine really had no sense of embarrassment. He was shamelessly taking credit for himself.

The second was the forest fire. Before Reiji had even entered the Gym, he had already been branded an arsonist. That label probably wasn’t coming off anytime soon.

Once he saw the flames spreading through the forest and the mist finally clearing, Reiji decided it was enough. He immediately told Gyarados to stop, then had everyone work together to put the fire out.

Still, the whole mess wasn’t a complete loss. First, the fog was gone. Second, once it cleared, a girl in a pale green hoodie appeared right in front of him.

“And you are?” Reiji looked at the furious girl standing there and couldn’t make sense of it. Had he offended her somewhere? Why was she glaring at him like he had personally ruined her life?

“Was it you who started the fire?” Tania demanded, pointing at the trees around them. Several old trees had already been scorched black.

“What? No. Absolutely not. Don’t go slandering innocent people,” Reiji shot back at once, denying it in one smooth breath. Even if he had started it, there was no way he was admitting that now.

“How could it not be you? I saw everything clearly from the loft,” Tania snapped, pointing toward a building in the distance.

So that was it. Lavender Gym really was nearby.

“Oh, so you saw the whole thing?” Reiji narrowed his eyes, then looked her up and down again before clicking his tongue. “Then as a Gym trainer, why didn’t you help when travelers got lost? You just stood there and watched. That’s cold.”

Tania snorted, though the accusation clearly rattled her. “The Misty Forest is part of the Gym test. If you can’t even get through that, then you have no right to challenge Lavender Gym.”

“I didn’t know Lavender Gym had that kind of test. I thought a Ghost-type was messing with us. How is that my fault?” Reiji asked with complete shamelessness, and worse, he had a point. Whatever else happened, he had still gotten through the test.

There was no point trying to reason with a girl like this. He had already learned that lesson in his last life. Trying to argue properly was less useful than battling twice and settling it that way.

“You—” Tania opened her mouth, then stalled out. The Gym did have the final say in its own challenge rules, but somehow he had talked her right into a corner.

“What ‘you’?” Reiji spread his hands. “Do I look like I have a Fire-type on me? No, right? So how exactly was I supposed to start that fire? I’m the one who put it out. You should be thanking me.”

That crooked grin on his face made her blood pressure climb all over again. A girl like this was easy to handle.

“Just like your teacher. You’re both awful,” Tania snapped at last. Then she turned and stormed off, unable to argue him down and even more furious than before.

She had wanted to vent her anger, but instead she ended up angrier than ever. Her chest felt tight with it. She had always been well-mannered, always calm, and yet today she had broken all of that. Just thinking about it made her feel like she might explode.

Reiji watched the furious girl march away and found the whole thing pretty entertaining. Following the path she had taken, and carrying Blaine’s luggage along with him, he finally reached Lavender Gym.

As for the “teacher” she had mentioned, he still had no idea what she meant. What teacher? Since when did he have a teacher? Maybe he had misheard.

Only after he arrived did he get a proper look at the Gym.

A wall enclosed the whole compound. Most of the buildings inside were single-story wooden structures, and the tallest was just a three-story loft. That was the highest point on the grounds.

The courtyard itself was wide open, centered around a large battle arena. Wooden buildings formed a ring around it, probably the living quarters.

There weren’t many people here. Besides the maids Blaine had brought, there were a few maids employed by the Gym, along with a group of very young apprentices.

Tania was teaching them.

Or rather, yelling at them.

She was barking instructions at full volume, and the little apprentices clearly had no idea what had happened to the gentle, kind senior they were used to. Some were trembling so hard their hands shook. Others were already crying after having their palms smacked with a ruler. The difference between her usual self and this version of her was simply too much.

Reiji watched the scene with a bit of amusement. Some of the kids were shaking from being yelled at, some were in tears, and all of them looked miserable.

In his eyes, it was mostly funny. All it really told him was that this girl still hadn’t trained her composure enough.

If it had been him, he would have smiled sweetly on the surface and left it at that—unless the other side crossed the line. If that happened, then all bets were off.

“You’re scaring them.”

“And what business is that of yours?” Tania wheeled on him immediately, like a lit fuse hitting powder. “They’re my juniors. I’ll teach them however I want.”

“Right.” Reiji gave an awkward laugh and looked away. No point bothering with a powder keg. If she hated him, then she hated him. That was her problem.

In that brief glance, though, he did notice the Pokémon around the children.

Every single one of them was a Ghost-type.

And not the particularly dangerous kind, either.

There were Misdreavus, Duskull, Gastly, Shedinja, Drifloon, and others like them.

These had to be tamed Ghost-types. If they had been wild, a bunch of children would never have been able to keep them in check. A wild Ghost-type could drain a grown adult dry in no time. A child would stand no chance.

As for the girl’s own Pokémon, Reiji was pretty sure she had a Gengar hidden in her shadow.

He knew Gengar’s presence too well. Anywhere a Gengar stayed, the temperature dipped several degrees.

When Tania had come close to him earlier, the air around her had carried that same chill. Right after fighting the fire, while his whole body was still burning with heat, the contrast had been obvious.

“Did you make Sister Tania angry?” one of the kids suddenly shouted. It was a chubby boy who had been glancing back and forth between Reiji and Tania, clearly picking up on the tension. “I challenge you, bad guy!”

“Kid, you’ve got guts,” Reiji said, turning and pointing at himself like he wanted confirmation that yes, the boy really did mean him.

“Yes, you. I challenge you.” The chubby boy had nerve, at least. Anyone willing to raise Ghost-types already had some courage. And after getting smacked on the hands for no reason, he clearly had some anger to work off too.

Still, speaking up with Tania in full powder-keg mode nearby was brave in a way that almost deserved applause.

“Sure.” Reiji smiled at him, already prepared to show him that some things were even scarier than Ghost-types.

By then, the luggage Reiji had carried over had been taken over by the maids, and he could finally recall Gyarados and the others. They were exhausted after putting out the fire anyway.

“I’ll referee,” Tania said at once. “One-on-one battle.”

She even silently gave the fat kid some credit for his courage. More importantly, she wanted to see Reiji’s real strength for herself before the Gym battle that would come next.

“Heh. I use Ghost-types,” the boy said proudly, recalling his Gastly for a moment. “Physical moves don’t work on me.”

“Send out your Pokémon.”

Two Poké Balls burst open.

The instant both Pokémon appeared, a heavy gust blasted through the whole arena, making even the plants around the yard sway violently.

Gyarados came out roaring.

Its lantern-sized eyes fixed on the chubby boy and his Gastly, and that single savage roar scared the boy so badly he wet himself on the spot.

“Well, kid?” Reiji asked with a smile, glancing at the boy now sprawled on the ground and at the Gastly hiding behind him. “Still want to battle?”

“I… I do. Wh-why wouldn’t I?” the boy stammered, struggling to his feet even as his voice shook.

Reiji laughed and waved it off. “Kid, maybe go change your pants first.”

Then he recalled Gyarados. There was no point continuing.

When he looked toward the other apprentices gathered nearby, he could see the damage wasn’t limited to the one boy. More than one kid had lost control.

Even Tania had gone pale.

That was the first time she had ever seen a Pokémon like that up close.

The pressure rolling off Gyarados in that first instant had nearly made her heart stop. She had not expected anyone could tame a creature like that.

The first thing that had struck her was its mouth—that savage maw that looked like it could rip apart anything in front of it. Brutal, violent, wild. It looked less like a Pokémon and more like a monster from a nightmare. She honestly couldn’t imagine anyone keeping something like that under control.

And yet someone clearly had.

That someone had already turned around and walked off.

“You lot keep practicing. I’m going to change my pants,” the fat boy muttered, covering himself as he scurried away. The wet patch on the ground said the rest.

“Me too…”

“Same…”

Several more children fled almost immediately after him.

At the same time, up on the second floor where Blaine and Agatha were drinking tea, the two of them had seen Gyarados’s appearance as well.

“So this is your disciple?” Agatha said with a smile. “Since when did you switch from Fire-types to Gyarados?”

She was too clever to say everything she had noticed aloud. The lie Blaine had told had already collapsed the moment Reiji entered the Gym. The young man who came with Blaine was obviously not his disciple.

A Fire specialist teaching a student who specialized in Water-types? Say that out loud and people would laugh themselves sick. The fact Blaine had the nerve to claim it anyway was impressive in its own way.

“Believe it or don’t.” Blaine couldn’t be bothered to explain. He had only taught Rhydon a few things anyway, and arguing with a stubborn old woman like Agatha was pointless. Tomorrow’s Gym battle would make things clear on its own.

Then he changed the subject. “Agatha, did you notice anything about Amber’s special ability?”

“Other than passively reading the emotions of the people around her, nothing unusual,” Agatha said, shaking her head.

She had already examined Amber while the girl slept. Gengar had sensed a faint, invisible wave of energy radiating from her.

That was all.

Not what kind of energy it was, not where it came from, just that it existed—and that it was clearly tied to Amber’s passive ability to read emotions.

Since the power leaked out unconsciously, it meant it was a real ability, not some one-off accident. In theory, that meant it could probably be controlled. As for how, Agatha had no answer.

And emotion-reading wasn’t that rare in itself. Plenty of Pokémon could do it, and some people could too.

Ralts. Riolu. Audino. Legendary Pokémon. Mythical Pokémon.

Reading emotions was practically a basic trait among true legendary beings, though that didn’t apply to every lesser legendary.

“So even you can’t figure it out?” Blaine asked.

He still didn’t mention Ho-Oh, Mewtwo, Mew, Dr. Fuji, or Team Rocket’s cloning experiment. He had not shared any of that with Agatha.

Agatha’s loyalties were too hard to read, and the whole thing was too tangled, too dangerous. The fewer people who knew, the better.

That was why he had come to Lavender Town first instead of immediately searching for Amber’s mother. He wanted Agatha, a Ghost-type master who had seen all kinds of strange things, to take a look at Amber first.

If Amber’s mother were still in town, news would have reached him by now.

Since nothing had, the odds were poor.

“I can’t see through it,” Agatha admitted plainly. “No point pretending otherwise. But the girl’s gifted. Especially that emotion-reading ability. She’d make an excellent disciple.”

“Disciple?” Blaine stared at her in disbelief. He had come here for help, not to hand over his granddaughter.

“Why are you acting so shocked?” Agatha asked. “You know as well as I do that Ghost-types are some of the hardest Pokémon to tame, train, and command. Their temperaments are strange. Some are isolated, some are warped, some are impossible to read.”

“That girl’s ability would carry her through the hardest stage. She can sense a Pokémon’s emotions. She was born for this road.”

“No.” Blaine refused so sharply there was no room for doubt. Amber had to stay near him. There was no chance he would leave her alone here.

“Calm down, old man. We could teach her together.” Agatha had watched his expression carefully just now, and what she saw had been absolute resolve. That reaction meant the girl was hiding something important. Otherwise he never would have answered so fiercely.

“Together?” Blaine forced himself to settle down, then caught the deeper meaning in Agatha’s words. “I see. Her gift wouldn’t just work on Ghost-types. She’s naturally suited to any Pokémon. Amber’s a born trainer.”

“Exactly.” Agatha paused, then made up her mind. Her eyes, usually kept shut, opened slightly as she looked at him. “Wherever you found that girl, you care about her enough that you don’t want her harmed. If that’s true, then give her strength.”

“You mean—?” Blaine asked, suddenly more serious than before. He already had the shape of her meaning, and he knew he might not be able to stop it if she truly set her mind on this.

Inside the Kanto League, Agatha was a long-standing Elite Four member. The resources she could move within the League far outstripped his own authority.

“Old man,” Agatha said quietly, “that little girl has a real chance of reaching Champion.”

That was all she said.

She knew Blaine would understand.

“Champion? You mean you want to—” Blaine’s eyes widened as he stared at her. He understood now. Agatha wanted to work with him to raise a future Champion.

“That’s right. Kanto and Johto are about to be governed separately. A new Elite Four is being chosen during the split. When that happens, there will be two Champions—one for Kanto, and one for Johto…”

[End of chapter]

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