Spinarak skittered quickly up onto Nidoqueen's head and, while Nidoqueen was still dealing with the silk around her legs, spat another string of webbing straight at her eyes.
It only managed to seal one eye before Nidoqueen's left fist flared with Fire Punch and slapped toward Spinarak, forcing it to leap away.
Right then, as Nidoqueen raised her flaming fist to burn away the silk over her eye, Reiji shouted again for Spinarak to web up Nidoqueen's legs.
By the time Nidoqueen cleared the silk from her eye, both feet were wrapped up again. After four or five such exchanges, even the onlookers were tired just from watching; the whole style felt shamelessly cheap.
"Spinarak, Pin Missile." Reiji was dead set on grinding Nidoqueen down. Since they couldn't win straight up, he had no choice but to run this kind of low, kiting tactic.
He couldn't use Electroweb—Nidoqueen was a Ground type. Poison Sting was pointless—she was Poison type, so she wouldn't get poisoned. That left only Bug- and Grass-type moves for Spinarak to actually damage Nidoqueen with.
Spinarak did have one clear advantage: mobility. Compared to the lumbering Nidoqueen, it was much more agile.
Pin Missile only had a base power of twenty-five, but with good luck it could hit up to four times in a row. And Spinarak's accuracy was nothing to sneeze at—against a stationary target, it practically couldn't miss.
"Nidoqueen, ignore the Pin Missile. Get rid of the threads on your legs first!" The black-clad brute finally realized he'd been dragged into a loop. If this kept up, Nidoqueen was just going to get kited to death by Spinarak.
The worst part was that she couldn't even use Dig, Earthquake, or a bunch of other Ground-type attacks. Those moves were off limits here. If he used Earthquake in a cave like this, he'd bring the whole place down on his own head. The order not to use those moves had come from above—no way he dared break that rule.
As Nidoqueen burned away the silk at her feet, Spinarak seized its opening and spat another line of webbing straight into Nidoqueen's right eye. Because that hand was busy with Fire Punch and burning off the threads on her legs, she couldn't block in time, and her eye took the full hit.
Spinarak sprang onto Nidoqueen's back and began to drain her again, pulling out another mass of green energy. Nidoqueen let out a pained roar.
"No, that's not Absorb. Absorb doesn't hit that hard." The black-clad brute's panic spiked. If this was Giga Drain, his Nidoqueen wouldn't last long at all.
Reiji had noticed it too, of course. There was no way he was letting Nidoqueen get free. Every time Nidoqueen burned the silk from one foot and turned to work on the other, new threads wrapped the first leg again. With webbing glued around both ankles, even lifting her feet was getting hard.
Spinarak kept spraying silk while clinging to Nidoqueen's back to avoid those slapping fists, draining more and more energy. Nidoqueen's roars grew weaker until finally she crashed to the ground.
Only then did Spinarak stop draining and scurry back to Reiji's shoulder, panting hard. The win had been razor-thin, like dancing on a tightrope. If Nidoqueen had known Flamethrower, she could have just burned both herself and Spinarak and shattered the whole cheap strategy in one go.
As soon as Spinarak got back, Reiji handed over a prepared box of good-quality Bug-type Pokéblocks to restore its stamina. Good quality was already the limit—if he pulled out top-tier Pokéblocks here, people would start asking way too many questions.
With Nidoqueen down, he had passed the test. And as a bonus, Spinarak had pushed Absorb all the way into its advanced form—Giga Drain.
That wasn't the real issue, though. The real question was whether that temperamental black-clad squad leader was going to take a swing at him personally.
"Kid, you're pretty good." The brute looked down at his Nidoqueen, eyes spun into swirls as she lay unconscious on the ground. He recalled her into her Poké Ball.
He didn't blow up, at least not outwardly. With so many people watching, he couldn't afford to. He even threw Reiji a compliment.
Then he immediately followed it with, "Don't get cocky. All you did was pass the test. Your days are just getting started. You better pray you don't get assigned to my squad…"
Leaving that threat hanging in the air, the black-clad man walked off the field. The other onlookers didn't cheer for Reiji's victory at all; if anything, their eyes glittered with schadenfreude.
Everyone knew he'd just pissed off a Poison Gang squad captain. From now on, life was going to be rough. Once the test ended, nobody wanted to go near Reiji. They were all afraid of being dragged down with him and kept their distance.
Well, almost everyone. The young bartender was the exception. He knew Reiji's true strength was far beyond this. Out at sea, the guy had turned a black-on-black ambush around and murdered the would-be robbers. The second time he'd hit a black ship, he'd walked away with more than four million in the bag. That kind of man wasn't simple.
From his point of view, even if that squad captain went all out, he might not actually beat this man. Playing dirty tricks on someone like Reiji? That was just asking to get killed in some "accident" sooner or later.
With a trainer this dangerous, the smart choice wasn't to provoke him—it was to get on his good side. The young bartender stepped forward and called out, "Sir, we meet again…"
"You still remember me?" Reiji was a bit surprised to see the bartender come over on purpose.
"My lousy disguise clearly can't fool you, sir." The bartender was wearing a black face wrap just like Reiji. The only reason he'd recognized Reiji was because of the Spinarak on his shoulder.
"If you hadn't opened your mouth, I might not've realized," Reiji said. Obviously he couldn't admit he'd recognized the kid at a glance. What kind of spy blows his own cover?
Still, this kid really was something else. Everyone else treated Reiji like a walking disaster and avoided him like the plague, but this guy actually walked straight up. Hard to figure out what was going through his head.
"Sir, let me properly introduce myself. My name's Taihei." The young bartender reached out his hand for a shake.
"Rai." Reiji reached out as well, giving the kid a fake name as they clasped hands. He found the young man interesting—and the name too. He couldn't help wondering if there was a little sister somewhere in the background. Maybe a hardcore siscon in the making.
There was a nagging sense of familiarity about him that Reiji couldn't quite place, like poking around in a filthy cesspit with a stick and suddenly finding an undigested seed. That seed would suck up all that rot as nutrients and one day grow into a towering tree.
He had a feeling this kid might have that kind of potential. He wasn't sure, but the possibility was there. Starting with the fact that the boy had the guts to greet him and offer a handshake—most people down here were wired to avoid trouble. This one walked toward it. That alone made him stand out.
If there was a chance in the future, Reiji wouldn't mind nudging him a little. Whether that turned into anything would just depend on the kid's own luck.
After all, orphans like him and Shun were everywhere. What they all lacked was some starting capital and a guide. With a bit of caution and the right opportunity, taking off was just a matter of time.
"Rai, looks like we're teammates now. I'll be in your care from here on." Taihei let go of his hand with a smile. From the little he'd seen so far, this mysterious trainer was definitely worth sticking close to.
His gut told him he had a much better chance of surviving by following Reiji. He'd joined the Poison Gang specifically to get onto the trainer's path; he had no intention of dying nameless in some cave, turning into a clump of forgotten bones.
"Smoke?" Reiji just nodded, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
"I don't," Taihei said, waving it away. He even tried to talk Reiji out of it. "Smoking's bad for you…"
"I know." Reiji nodded lightly, drew out a cigarette for himself, lit it, took a long drag, and held it between two fingers. "It helps me stay sharp."
This was an exception. Normally, he only smoked after "taking care" of someone. This time, he just really wanted one. First time going undercover; he was a little tense.
"In that case, give me one too." Taihei suddenly changed his mind. Reiji passed him a cigarette and tossed him the lighter.
They leaned against the cave wall side by side, smoking in silence as they waited for the test to end so they could go collect their "free" Pokémon.
Once the matches finally wrapped up, the thirteen successful recruits had their results sent off to the boss in the deepest part of the cave, inside the largest tent.
"Boss, thirteen newcomers passed this round. With some training, they can all reach Elite-tier level. A few of them stood out even more…"
"Take them to pick up their Pokémon and uniforms. Explain the rules around here and assign them to patrols. They'll be guarding the mines and the market."
"Yes, Boss." The examiner set the report down and left the tent. This was just the first batch. Headquarters had shipped in a full hundred Pokémon. They still needed to keep recruiting.
As for who these rookies really were, or why they'd joined, that didn't matter at all.
They were cannon fodder. Cannon fodder didn't need identities. Cannon fodder didn't need to know the organization's secrets. There was never any plan to seriously invest in them.
Even the "issued" Pokémon weren't truly free—they'd be paying them off with their salaries. That didn't even count as a benefit.
The real perks were the three hundred thousand Pokédollars a month, plus contribution points they could trade for items you couldn't get on the open market. Even pseudo-legendary Pokémon eggs were on the list.
Money could sometimes buy those things too, though a lot of items were strictly contribution-only. That at least gave the rookies something to dream about.
If they could survive the coming chaos, then they might be worth telling more to. If they couldn't even make it through that, there was no need to waste resources on trash.
The thirteen who'd passed were gathered up by a tall, skinny squad captain. Everyone who'd just been watching from the sidelines, or had failed the test, was thrown out.
The Poison Gang's base was only open while recruitment was happening. Now that it was done, only their own people were allowed to stay.
"You're lucky," the tall captain said. "You're the first batch of recruits to join the Poison Gang. From here on out, your job is, first: obey orders from above. See this yellow insignia on my shoulder? When you see it, you call me Captain."
"Second, still obey orders from above. Whatever order you get, you follow without question. Any squad captain with a shoulder patch like this can decide whether you live or die. So tuck away any clever little schemes you've got rattling around."
"Third, and this is an order: pair up in teams of two. Choose your own teammate. Then go pick up your uniforms and your Pokémon. After that, meet back here and I'll assign missions."
When he finished his little speech, the thirteen rookies traded looks and started hunting for familiar faces.
Thirteen meant one person would be left without a partner—and everyone assumed that unlucky guy would be Reiji.
That "guy with the Spinarak who pissed off the examiner."
They guessed wrong. Reiji had someone to team up with.
One masked man walked toward Taihei to suggest a team-up and was immediately rejected. Taihei turned instead and walked straight for Reiji, taking his place at Reiji's side.
"You sure about this?" Reiji asked, watching him come over. Was this kid trying to get himself killed, sticking this close now?
"I'm sure." Taihei stood firm next to him. Being here felt safer. He didn't know any of the other masked men. He'd seen Reiji several times already—at least that made him a familiar face.
"Suit yourself." Reiji didn't even need to look around to know what everyone else was thinking. Taihei was about to get branded with the same "don't go near" label. From this moment on, he'd be shoved to the edge with Reiji.
The tall, skinny squad captain had been very clear: if you didn't obey orders, you died. This wasn't the League. This was a gang. People really did die here.
The whole time he'd been standing there, Reiji had been thinking about the best way to quietly get rid of that black-clad examiner and take his place. One Nidoqueen with no Advanced-tier level behind it wasn't worth worrying about.
"Come on. Let's go get our Pokémon." As soon as others started moving, Reiji jerked his chin, and he and Taihei headed over to the tent where they were handing out uniforms.
They each received a set of black clothes in roughly their size and were told they'd be paying them off with two days of wages. Then they were handed a form listing a bunch of common Poison-type Pokémon.
The most expensive were Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂; each would cost two months' wages to pay off. Ekans and Zubat were one month each.
The rest—Koffing, Spinarak, Tentacool, Bellsprout, Seviper, Grimer, Weedle—were only half a month of pay.
Who in their right mind would pick Weedle? Everyone who came here clearly wanted the most valuable Pokémon they could get.
Reiji still hadn't decided which one to choose. In his eyes, none of these had outstanding potential. If that was the case, it didn't matter. He could just pick whatever. No point overthinking it.
What he hadn't expected was that the Pokémon would cost money at all. He'd thought he might get to freeload.
But in the end, he was here undercover, not as an actual employee. Even if they never paid him, he wouldn't care.
After they'd paired off and changed into their uniforms, each duo lined up outside another tent to choose a Pokémon.
By the time it was their turn, three pairs had already picked theirs. Every one of them walked out grinning, like they'd just made a killing.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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