Chapter 195: Actually, Rio Is a Good Person
Gengar pondered from inside the ancient Poké Ball for a moment before responding. Then it felt something was off.
"Wait—something’s not right. Rio, when you convinced me to help you back then, were you using this... Franklin Effect too?"
Rio blinked. "No way—don’t overthink it. You’re a Pokémon, not a human. The Benjamin Franklin Effect is for people. You’re way smarter than us humans—you’ve lived over a hundred years. How could I possibly manipulate you? Do you think you’re that easily influenced?"
"Manipulate me? Impossible! How could a mere human like you influence the mind of Old Ghost, who’s lived over a hundred years?" Gengar scoffed. "But you’re right about one thing—I am way smarter than you humans. Your little tricks don’t work on me."
"Case closed, then." Rio shrugged, inwardly relieved. The old ghost had a brain, but thankfully not too much of one.
He walked to the window and watched Saurion and Aria—carrying the box he’d given them—sneak away from below. A smile crept across his face. He could now consider those two handled. Only Lance remained—and he’d just need to pull the same trick again.
"Shouldn’t we check what’s actually in the box first? What if it’s not Articuno’s feather? What if he’s just messing with us? What if he’s already planning to run?" Saurion suddenly stopped and spoke up.
Aria froze mid-step, as if waking from a dream. "You’re right."
"Damn it—that guy, Yukio Goh—no, Rio—really had me fooled with all that secretive pen-and-paper act. I completely forgot to verify the contents."
Aria glanced around, then opened the box. Inside lay a blue feather coated in frost.
"Is that really Articuno’s feather? He actually handed it over to us?" Saurion exclaimed in surprise.
Aria didn’t answer. She reached out to touch it—but the moment her fingertip got close, a bone-chilling cold shot through her entire body, making her gasp and nearly drop the box.
"It’s real—it’s definitely real. No other bird Pokémon could produce this kind of cold except Articuno," Aria said in awe.
The human heart is complicated, she thought. Before opening the box, she had every reason to suspect deception. But after seeing what was inside, all she felt was shock.
"Could he really be under surveillance? Or being coerced by someone?" Aria began to speculate.
"That’s not impossible," Saurion nodded beside her. "This is Articuno’s feather—and he entrusted it to us."
Aria murmured: "But who could possibly be threatening him? And watching him? Back at Raikou Mountain, even though the hunters had their elite forces, he was the one who ultimately captured Raikou on his own."
"Wait—he’s someone who caught Raikou. What could possibly make him so nervous that he’d hand over something as precious as Articuno’s feather to us? From his perspective, we’re his enemies. Who entrusts something so valuable to an enemy?"
Aria was trapped in her own spiral of thought. She glanced back toward the contestant housing area.
"Maybe... he thinks we’re trustworthy?" Saurion offered hesitantly.
That seemed to spark something in Aria. Her eyes lit up. "Exactly—I’m a Pokémon Ranger. Trusting me makes sense."
"I think I can guess what kind of trouble he’s in. He’s probably being targeted by some evil organization—Team Rocket, or some other group I don’t know about."
"But why participate in the Indigo Conference at all? It’s only for regional champion honors and the chance to challenge the Elite Four. Does he really care about that?"
"No, no—he’s probably being forced to participate. That’s why he suddenly switched to pen-and-paper communication at the café."
Aria paused again, then nodded firmly. "I’ve got it. Someone is plotting something at this conference—they want him to be an inside man. He doesn’t want to do it, and he’s afraid of losing Articuno’s feather, so he gave it to us for safekeeping."
"Yes—that’s it. Something big is going to happen at this tournament. This is his way of sending us a warning."
"Damn—I need to contact my brother and have him get the Pokémon Association to tighten security around the venue. We can’t let our guard down for a second."
She tucked the box containing Articuno’s feather into her coat and hurried off, adding: "You know—I’m starting to think Rio’s life isn’t easy. Maybe when he captured Raikou and backstabbed the hunters, he was being forced into it. Deep down, he might actually be a good person. Maybe I shouldn’t hate him so much."
Saurion’s eyes went wide. His mental alarm bells rang loud and clear.
"Aria—you’re not falling for him, are you?"
"Shut up! Say that again and I’ll kill you!"
Saurion sighed in relief. At least she’s not in love with him. But then he remembered—even though Rio hadn’t slept with Aria, he had kissed her hand at Raikou Mountain. That still stung—because Saurion hadn’t even gotten that far.
"No, I can’t be petty about this. He said he’d like to come to our wedding, so his kiss at Raikou Mountain was probably just for show—to sell the act in front of the hunters." Saurion reasoned with himself, and his anger subsided somewhat.
"Should we try using this feather to contact Articuno?" he asked.
"Shut up! He trusted us—we’re not going to betray that trust."
Meanwhile, Rio left his room and headed to a restaurant not far from the conference entrance.
"Old ghost—you remember what to do, right?" Rio said quietly as he sipped his drink.
From within the shadow at his feet, Gengar’s pointed ears emerged. "I know, I know—you’ve said it a thousand times. I could recite it backward."
"Then recite it backward," Rio said flatly.
Gengar went silent, giving Rio a deadpan look. Can’t I just joke around? Why do you have to take everything so seriously?
"Fine—just summarize it."
"After the conference ends, I’ll wait at the exit for that stuck-up Elite Four, Lame, to come out. I’ll tell him you’re waiting for him here and lead him over—but I won’t sit him at your table. Instead, I’ll seat him at a table about ten meters away. Right?"
"Exactly right. But his name isn’t ’Lame,’ it’s Lance."
Rio nodded. He’d been replaying his conversation with Aria and Saurion and realized there were still holes in his story—like how he’d asked for their help right after sitting down, only to switch to pen and paper and create an air of secrecy. But time had been short, and luckily those two hadn’t caught on.
Still, with Lance, he couldn’t afford to be careless. No room for mistakes.
"Whatever—Lance or ’Lame,’ I’ll just look for the guy in the red cape," Gengar scoffed.
Half an hour later, Rio watched the live broadcast announce the end of the day’s matches and tapped the table. "Lance is about to come out."
"I know, I know. It’s always Old Ghost who has to do the dirty work—no one ever appreciates me." Gengar sighed and vanished from Rio’s shadow.