Sakaki had never ridden in a car before, much less one as fancy and obviously expensive as this one. Motorised vehicles were a fairly new invention, which meant they cost a pretty penny, and only those with large purses could afford them. The Potenza family clearly had great riches, because, at the end of their drive, Sakaki counted seven other vehicles parked on one side of the large oval driveway.
The mansion in front of him solidified that point.
It was massive, but not in terms of height. No, it was only two stories high, but the building extended horizontally a great distance. Sakaki guessed that there were at least thirty rooms, but had a feeling he'd lowballed it. The baronial edifice (an architectural term he'd learn about later) was beautiful, with intricate cornices and large entryways quite apart from the usual architecture of the Kanto region. Marble statues adorned the staircase leading up to the main entrance: strange depictions of beautiful men and women, wearing long, flowing robes and with large, intricately-detailed wings.
The huge double doors, seemingly hewn from a whole tree trunk, old but sturdy, creaked open. Inside, he was greeted by twin staircases snaking up to the second floor. There were large inset windows letting the sunlight in, and a frankly ostentatious crystal chandelier sparkling in the light and hanging in the middle of the high ceiling. The floor was made, not of conventional wood, but of tile. Large, smooth, immaculate tile.
"Hello, Sakaki. I trust you had a comfortable journey."
Miss Potenza, as Sakaki had learned to address her, dismissed her entourage and led him through the west wing of the house: first, a side room with the distinct smell of books, then a long hallway dressed in expensive carpentry and with large framed portraits affixed to the walls, and finally to a boardroom. There were many other rooms that begged to be explored, but Sakaki diligently followed his purchaser.
All the while he marveled at the Italian art, the decor, at the other of a place set deep in the foothills of Kanto, Japan.
To create a piece of Italy here must have cost a fortune. This was a proclamation, like stamping your flag on conquered land, declaring victory. The Potenza family certainly seemed, if not entirely domineering, then grandiose by nature. More than that, to choose to do this so far away from their ancestral home... the meaning of it all escaped Sakaki, but he knew it meant something, and a seed of this unknown began germinating within him.
His eyes were drawn to Miss Potenza. The young woman carried herself with such poise, an assured composure that demanded quiet respect and compliance, and Sakaki wanted to learn to replicate it for himself. He had resolved to be of service to her if only so that time spent in her presence would uncover a clue or unlock some secret. Her plans for him were unknowable, but he'd strive to glean as much as he could while he still had the chance.
They sat down across from each other, at opposite ends of the table.
Sakaki understood some part of this conversation was private, never to leave this room, because Miss Potenza had purchased a human being, effectively participating in the abhorrent and completely illegal slave trade. That human was sitting directly across from her, and though there was, so far, no indication of slavery, she clearly had no qualms about pursuing other illegal activities, so this all left Sakaki with small reservations, and an inkling of opportunity.
What was her motivation for committing such a crime?
Miss Potenza studied Sakaki, her eyes looking over his face long enough that he started to feel uneasy. He was unsure if this was a tactic, a kind of power play to disarm him, or if there was something else.
The air in the boardroom was filled with nervous energy, the silence bearing down on him as the seconds ticked by. Perhaps she was waiting for him to breach conversation, to ask the questions he'd collected like a sentret foraging for nuts since this whole whirlwind of a day began. That was certainly tempting, but no, he would be patient, he would not concede the little leverage he had by speaking first.
Miss Potenza blinked. A crack of a smile played on her face, as if recalling a long-forgotten memory.
"Cards on the table," she said. "I am sure with today's strange and confusing turn of events, you must have a lot of questions. Let's start with the most obvious one first, because everything else leads off it."
Why me?
Miss Potenza looked at Sakaki again, her steely gaze penetrating him once more.
"I think I'll just come out and say it: you look like my dead brother."
What?
Miss Potenza combed a stray hair back behind her ear.
"To be perfectly clear, I did not acquire you for reasons of grief or sentimentality. There is enough of that in this house."
Her eyes flicked to a portrait on the wall of a very imposing man in a suit looming over the two of them.
"My dearly departed brother, rest his soul," she said, her face softening, "was sickly all his life, so I'd been somewhat prepared for his passing..."
She took a low breath, stopped fidgeting with her fingers, and a crack in the facade was quickly papered over.
"My family, the Potenzas, have amassed great power and influence all through the Kanto and Johto regions, and as with such things, we have gained several enemies. These enemies have been wanting to take over, scheming and lurking in the shadows for an opportunity to strike.
"Power is a fickle thing. With my father having removed himself from the leadership, our tenuous grip on the underworld is slipping, and these sharpedo can smell blood in the water. The entire Potenza fortune is in their sights, and they are beginning to pick apart my cover stories. I have been doing all I can to stave off their advance, but their persistence will eventually win out.
"That is, unless we can pull this off."
Sakaki had been taken aback at her reasons for picking him, for rescuing him from his awful family, but as she spoke, he figured something out. A trick, a grand façade is what she needed, something unequivocal to the many eyes scrutinizing the Potenza family.
The gears in Sakaki's mind began turning. This was right in his wheelhouse.
He'd learned much about gang rivalries, about how entire empires changed hands as often as the changing seasons. His parents – the scum that they are – taught him how to take full advantage of the shifts in power, or the solidification of existing power structures, through the art of the grift.
This was no different, though it was perhaps on a much bigger scale. It didn't matter that the fate of the Potenzas hung in the balance. All he needed to do was put up a convincing front, to mislead the right players, and that would be enough for Miss Potenza to accomplish her goal.
He straightened his back in his chair, confidence stirring.
Seeing Sakaki back at the pokéball trial, she probably thought it was a situation she could turn to her advantage. Or perhaps the allure of money would be sufficient reason to get him on board. In any case, Miss Potenza was desperate, and his unexpected appearance had surely been a boon in her attempts to keep the family in power. But as admirable as it was, she had failed to conceal that desperation.
This was a business transaction, and she had indicated by her demeanour that this was no time for grief. How should he approach this? His instincts told him to be direct.
"You want me to pose as your brother, and pretend to claim the family leadership," he said, no trace of timidity in his voice. "Put up a united front, the Potenza name firmly and unequivocally established and affirmed. The 'sharpedo' will scatter and the family fortune will be secured."
Stolen novel; please report.
Sakaki had decided to drop his original subservient tone, opting instead for a boldness that surprised even himself.
Miss Potenza quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, and you will be rewarded, of course. I will draw up a contract with the stipulations we will discuss now–"
"No," he said, too quick, and he felt a spike of fear. "I gather from your... explanation that time is of the essence, so we can deal with all that at a later time. We need to make a move now before our enemies have any more time to prepare a strike."
Our enemies.
That seemed to put her at ease. She nodded, and, emboldened, Sakaki splayed his hands out on the table, inviting her to talk about her sibling.
He needed some details about the brother, and Miss Potenza painted a dry but accurate picture of him. He pretended to be interested, to be eager to listen to boring trivialities about the person he was now replacing.
But she warmed up as she talked, speaking of her brother's interests and hobbies, likes and dislikes, and how he managed his illness. Sakaki was momentarily moved by her soliloquy, especially when she spoke fondly of some of their adventures together, mentioning their young aunt a few times and some of the pokémon they played with as children.
All of which was next to pointless for Sakaki's plan.
"I propose a party, here, tonight. We announce my return from my studies abroad in a public manner, it's been a few years, and my time in, say, Hoenn has changed me and made me see things in a new light. Install me as the head of the Potenza family, with a new, exciting perspective on how to run the family business, and send a clear message to everyone that we are as strong as we have ever been."
"You sound like you've had some experience with this."
"Some."
"So you know that constructing a fake persona out of thin air is neither wise nor sustainable. Some people are bound to get suspicious. Connected, powerful people. If anyone learns the truth, it's all over."
Sakaki clasped his hands together with supreme confidence. "Leave them to their suspicions. You need not worry, Miss Potenza. I will become your brother."
"Izumi," she corrected.
"Izumi."
The two of them looked at each other, solidifying their partnership with a shared smile.
Sakaki wasn't one to look a gift ponyta in the mouth, but he also wasn't going to let this golden opportunity slip through his fingers. He was in, and he would gain the power he craved so much. He could see it, there in his mind's eye, and he would never return to being that feeble, helpless little boy he once was.
But first, there was work to do. Setting up a paper trail in Hoenn, learning more about the Potenzas, putting on a show – and though he was younger than the man he was meant to impersonate, his recent growth spurt, which he'd cursed for his ill fortune a few days prior, had plausibly covered for that discrepancy.
It felt good to be part of a plan he'd have direct control over. He'd be front-and-center, important, instead of insignificant window-dressing. He'd finally have the chance to prove himself, but Sakaki was no fool. The Potenzas were the Italian mafia, with appreciable control in the Kanto-Johto underworld.
One wrong move, and he'd be dead.
Yet a flash of excitement shot through his body, and the confidence he'd expressed earlier had not left him.
This was not about success or failure. This was a stepping stone on his way to glory.
----------------------------------------
Sakaki tempered his amazement at the lavish and opulent rooms – yes, rooms, plural – that were now his. The brother he was masquerading as had lived a plush life, and wore clothing that cost more than most people make in a year. The servants that dressed him did so without complaint; Izumi had bought their silence and they complied with all of his orders, even the silly ones.
Izumi filled him in on the Potenza family dynamics, so he would not get caught out by any probing questions during the party. They were walking the grounds of the estate, and again Sakaki was struck by the beauty of the Italian-inspired gardens.
Her father, Giorno, came to Kanto to set up for the mafia a long time ago. He was a ruthless and vicious leader, and the Potenzas gained power and influence fairly quickly. Their underground pokémon fighting ring initially ran pop-up in a different location every week. They acquired the Fighting Dojo in Saffron, and built a permanent subterranean stadium that pulls in a stupid amount of money every day. It proved so successful they expanded out to Johto after just three years.
The original plan was for him to establish a stronghold for his masters back in Italy, and go back to run operations at home. But then he met Yuuna, and fell in love.
Giorno set down roots, fathering two children with Yuuna: Izumi and her brother. The kids grew up alongside Noriko, Yuuna's sister, and they lived a blessed life for many years. They experienced a deep and full love from their parents, something Sakaki could not fathom.
As Izumi grew older, she noticed her mother's declining health. Awful rumours circulated about the marriage and binding contracts, and how to maintain the relationship between the Potenza and Kitamura families.
"Of course, my father dismissed those he so colourfully labelled as vultures. He loved his wife dearly, and so what if the marriage served a secondary purpose? I could see it in his eyes: the sadness, the desperation... it was only a matter of time. He spent nearly every waking moment at her bedside, caring for her right to the bitter end."
It was clear to Izumi that her brother also suffered from the same affliction, but her father was obsessive about his wife, to the point of being myopic. He never registered that his own son needed him too.
At this point, Sakaki noticed a slight hitch in Izumi's voice. She cleared her throat quickly and continued on.
"After my mother died, my father was devastated and sequestered himself in the east wing of the mansion. He has become a hermit in his home, so isolated he won't even speak to his own children. The business was in serious danger of falling by the wayside, but my brother was bedridden, so I had to step in.
"And then... he passed. And my father has no idea. I have tried for months to speak to him, but he refuses to see me. I've sent notes and letters, all ignored. It's like he does not acknowledge reality, and now lives in one of his own making."
There was no resentment in those words, just simple expression of the facts. Sakaki nodded; parents could be awful, even the rich ones.
"Here he is," she said, presenting the final resting place of her brother.
Though he bowed his head low together with Izumi, Sakaki's first thought was about removing the gravestone and fixing the burial to look like his death had never happened. He stared at the grave in silence.
The family graveyard was at the end of a fairly long and circuitous walk through an extensive garden, hidden away on the border where the woods began. It was austere: basic steel fencing enclosing two bare rectangular slabs, with small trees planted in their memory, barely a year old. Izumi's mother occupied the other plot, and Izumi's face was set in cold grief.
For her to share this special place with him, Sakaki was sure it was both business and personal. She must know this grave would have to be removed to bolster their plan, right? It was public knowledge that Yuuna Potenza, née Kitamura, had died, leaving the patriarch in shambles, but Izumi had hidden her brother's death from the media in her efforts to preserve the family fortune.
It was clear from her more recent actions that she was prepared to do anything in that regard. Sakaki was an imposter, so this smoke-and-mirrors game would need to be flawless.
"Perdonami, fratello mio," she whispered, performing a sequence of gestures; then she brought her hand to her mouth and turned quickly to leave. It was strange, something Sakaki had never seen native Kantonians do, but he stayed silent.
The two of them walked back through the garden, discussing the forthcoming party and the many and varied people who Sakaki would need to swindle.
A burly old man with disheveled hair and wearing a creased, ragged suit appeared on their path. He was studying a topiary of a woman with wings, hands behind his back. He turned and smiled at them, and Izumi was struck speechless. Sakaki eyed the man quizzically, and recognised him as the one he'd seen in the large portrait on the wall in the boardroom earlier.
"Isn't she beautiful?" he asked, with a distinct Italian accent.
"Papa, it's so good to see you up and about!" Izumi exclaimed, her eyes twinkling in amazement. She went in for a hug, which her father returned, chortling.
"Why of course, it's a nice day for it, and I see my children have the same idea as their father."
Sakaki stood apart and stared warily at the two of them. He had not expected to meet the man so soon, and definitely not in this unexpected fashion. He'd been devising a plan in which he would orchestrate an encounter with the Potenza patriarch, but that was a few steps beyond the party and legitimizing the Hoenn ruse.
Izumi's father had his arm out, inviting Sakaki in to the family reunion, but he remained rigid and unmoving. The man's smile faltered; panic shot through Sakaki's body, and he took the man's hand in belated greeting.
"H-hello, father."
The man looked puzzled. "What's this?" he asked, and Sakaki felt a lump form in his throat.
He was not this man's son, and it was painfully obvious with just a cursory look. He was a fake, he hadn't fooled anyone, and he'd been caught before he was even out the gate. Now ensnared, he would spend the rest of his days in a tiny jail cell, or worse, at the bottom of the ocean.
Giorno Potenza tugged sharply and pulled Sakaki into an embrace.
"You've grown, my son," he said, his voice sounding gruff, yet warm. "Your handshake is firm and strong."
A wave of feeling washed over Sakaki, unfamiliar yet oddly invited. This expression of kindness was something he had never experienced with his parents, and though he had been successful in deceiving this man, that little tinge was eclipsed by the gentle endearment he was receiving. He allowed himself to accept this paternal affection, if only for a moment.
Giorno moved to place his weighty hands on Sakaki's shoulders, and Izumi slipped away. Sakaki was struck dumb, fixed by his formidable grip.
"Let me take a good look at you, my boy. Warimizu mentioned you had been studying abroad, and I suppose I had certain... reservations about you leaving, about breaking up the family, but I did not convey my disapproval at the time."
Giorno examined Sakaki's face, his build, and nodded approvingly.
"Well, I am happy to have had my misgivings rebutted. Yes, I do believe your time away has done you a world of good!"
Sakaki smiled, slightly bewildered, but it was genuine nonetheless.
"Welcome home, Giovanni."