Chapter 80: Reconciliation (Patreon)

Before the girl could object, Renan went on. "I'm a psychic, and a Gym-class one at that. Even if I run into a near-Elite Four-class or Elite Four-class Trainer, as long as they don't have a Psychic- or Ghost-type Pokémon on hand, I can run away whenever I need to, even if I can't beat them."

"But if you came along, it'd be a different story."

Misty: "..."

She actually understood the logic. It still left a sour feeling in her chest, as though he'd ditched her.

"Besides," Renan continued, "when I start fighting, I'm pretty fierce. Nothing like how I usually look. Why do you think those two Team Rocket lieutenants looked so terrified when they saw me again the night before last?"

Misty had followed Renan into the detention room, but nearly all her attention had been on the boy himself.

Even when she heard the two Team Rocket members screaming, she hadn't thought anything of it.

Now that he'd brought it up, a lot of details came flooding back.

The terrified faces. The limbs in plaster casts. The faint wet stains on their trousers...

"You..." The girl opened her mouth, but for a moment she had no idea what to say.

Renan, on the other hand, had stayed calm from start to finish. "I crushed those two women's limbs with my own hands. And before the other investigators arrived, I also used hypnosis to dig a fair amount of intel out of them."

"For example... the boss of Team Rocket is Giovanni, the Viridian Gym Leader."

This time, Misty was genuinely shocked.

Then a second thought struck her. "Wait, that doesn't make sense. The night before last, why didn't Handsome and the others ask anything about Team Rocket's leader?"

Renan shrugged. "Who knows?"

He knew full well. The League had very likely known all along that Giovanni stood behind Team Rocket. But they had no physical evidence, and just like the guild in the DanMachi world turning a blind eye to the dark factions, plenty of mid-level and even high-ranking officials had long since been fattened up on Team Rocket's political donations.

Even if some investigators and officials in the League still held on to a sense of justice and wanted to investigate Giovanni, unless they found direct evidence that could convict him, everything would be nothing but slander from other people as far as Giovanni was concerned. In fact, with hypnosis, a psychic really could forcibly implant a false memory into someone else's mind.

Of course, Renan didn't need to spell any of this out for Misty. Once she took over as Gym Leader and spent some time in the League, she'd understand everything on her own.

"Who the boss of Team Rocket is doesn't really matter to you or me right now," Renan concluded. "Back to what we were talking about. Do you want to watch me do something extremely violent and bloody right in front of you?"

Misty fell silent. After a while, she answered softly, "Can't you just not do it?"

Renan laughed at that.

If he were a native of the Pokémon world, he would indeed have been like the original Renan, and like Misty right now: a flower raised in a greenhouse.

But what a pity.

Renan had been born in the DanMachi world, where the law of the strong preying on the weak was barely disguised. On top of that, his head held his own memories of Harry Potter and the Demon Slayer world.

From the very beginning, there was no way he could be a perfect gentleman.

That he could stay neutral between good and evil, and lean a little toward the right side when the big moral questions came up, was already the work of the memories from his past life in China.

Misty was no fool. Seeing Renan only smile without answering, how could she fail to catch his meaning?

She sighed. "I get it. In a way, you really were doing it for my sake."

"But... next time something like this happens, tell me the truth. Don't make up some random excuse to fool me."

"Got it?!"

Misty planted her hands on her hips, a touch of willful pride on her face. Her look said, If you don't listen to me, I'll never talk to you again.

Seeing her return to her usual self, Renan let out a long breath of relief inside. Out loud, he kept up his defense. "Honestly, I didn't really lie to you. I do have a Ralts now, after all."

As he spoke, he even lifted the incubator he was cradling in both arms.

Misty answered with a drawn-out "Hmm~" and a narrow-eyed look.

Renan gave in. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll never lie to you again."

"Hmph~" Misty raised her head high. "Then I'll forgive you this time."

Once she'd said that, she hurried a few meters ahead, then turned back with the corners of her mouth curling up. "Why are you still standing there? Pick up the pace! The sooner we get to Rota City and grab that badge, the better. We might still make it to the festival at Cameran Palace."

With his wealthy-lady travel companion putting it like that, what else could Renan say? He shrugged on the spot. "Fine."

...

Getting from Oma Town to Rota City took two days at an ordinary pace. But because Misty wanted to take part in the Battle Festival, the two of them moved noticeably faster.

On the second day after leaving Oma Town, at nine in the morning,

they reached their destination.

But just like the Pokémon Center in Oma Town, which couldn't spare a single empty room, the Pokémon Center in Rota City was packed, and so were the Gym challenge reservations.

Renan specially asked Nurse Joy, who was helping with the Gym battle reservations. He learned that if he wanted to challenge the Gym Leader, he'd have to wait five days at the very least, and the Battle Festival at Cameran Palace would open on that very same day.

"So, what do you say?" Misty stood to one side, holding the incubator with the Pokémon egg for Renan in the meantime. "Do we go to the festival at Cameran Palace first, or stay here until you've finished the Gym challenge and then take the bus over?"

Cameran Palace was very close to Rota City, only half a day on foot. What's more, to make travel easier for tourists, the League had set up bus stops at both ends, and a round trip took just over an hour.

Renan thought it over for a moment. The Indigo League was still a long way from opening, so he had plenty of time to spare for a Gym challenge. And he was honestly a little curious about Cameran Palace, which the movie hadn't spent much time on.

So he gave his answer. "Let's go to the festival first. After it's over, I'll challenge the Rota Gym Leader."

Hearing that, Misty nodded in satisfaction. "Hehehe, I knew you'd say that."

Although they'd settled on the destination, the two of them still stayed in Rota City for another three days. On the fourth day, Renan signed up for the upcoming battle event.

In the movie, winning the battle only earned the nominal title of "Aura Braver" for a single day. In reality, the top eight finishers all received actual item prizes.

On top of that, every Trainer who registered for the battles could stay at the inns in Cameran Palace for half price.

So every time the festival was held, a crowd of travelers signed up for the event. But when it came time to actually compete, a lot of them chose to forfeit.