After everyone shouted in unison, they turned and scattered, found their own teammates, and started patrolling the section they were responsible for.
Reiji and Tai headed for the black market entrance. Their post was one of the sewer mouths that served as both entrance and exit. There were plenty of these; every mouth needed two people on guard.
The two of them leaned against the concrete wall of the sewer. Reiji took out a pack of cigarettes—the ones they'd looted off those four guys during that last black-on-black job. He'd kept all of them. He flicked one to Tai. "Have a smoke, relax a little…"
"O-okay," Tai took the cigarette, his fingers still trembling. He'd really been scared just now.
"Relax. As long as you don't run, you're fine. We've all met Boss Viper; this was nothing compared to that." Reiji took a drag and patted Tai on the shoulder, trying to steady him. That scene just now had been pretty shocking, especially for newcomers.
"Yeah… you're right." Tai took a deep pull, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, and after Reiji's reassurance, he really did feel better.
"Alright, pull yourself together. The night's just getting started." Reiji dropped his hand and pressed his foot lightly to the ground. A shadow flowed out from beneath him, sliding along where the light couldn't reach, slowly creeping toward the Poison Gang's base.
As the minutes ticked by and midnight passed, that shadow slipped back to his feet, and a voice echoed in Reiji's mind.
"They didn't notice me. I've mapped out their base. We can strike whenever you like." It was Darkrai's voice.
"Yeah? No rush. Go check out the other two gangs' bases as well. Be careful." Reiji had quietly asked Darkrai over dinner to scout the other two bases.
Even if they were going to move, now wasn't the time. Those bases were packed with gang members, and the bosses were all inside. If they were discovered, the black market would definitely get locked down, and then no one would be getting out.
But Darkrai had barely been gone half a minute before it emerged from the shadows again and told Reiji, "Someone's coming. A lot of people…"
"What?" Reiji didn't quite get it—until he suddenly saw a flood of lights sweeping toward them in the darkness of the sewer. He immediately warned Tai, "Move! Go tell the captain…"
Back in the mine, Reiji went straight for the black-clad squad leader. "Captain, something's up. A lot of people are coming…"
"A lot of people? Who?" The squad leader looked toward the sewer entrance. Light was already spilling in from outside, along with bursts of loud laughter.
"Hahahaha! Poison-slinging rats, why isn't anyone out here to greet your grandpa…?"
"Bastard, Daishi, don't get cocky." The squad leader recognized the newcomer—an old acquaintance, a trainer from the Rock Gang and also a squad leader. They'd crossed paths before and fought to a draw.
"Well, if it isn't Stinky. Did your Gloom smell so bad they sent you out to pull the night shift?" Daishi loved running his mouth, especially at Stinky, who'd been butting heads with him for half a year and still couldn't beat him.
"Daishi, you're asking for it." Squad Leader Stinky reached for his Poké Ball, ready to send out Gloom and shut up this loud-mouthed idiot. "Stinky" was a nickname Daishi had slapped on him; he hated it. If he could beat the guy, he'd have shut him up ages ago.
"Easy there, don't get so worked up. I'm not here to fight." Daishi grinned. "I'm here on behalf of Boss Naoki to deliver a challenge letter…"
"What challenge letter?"
"A challenge over the ownership of the mine. Boss Naoki wants to settle the disputed mining zone with a battle, decide which side it belongs to…"
"Heh. You lot think you're worthy?" Squad Leader Stinky let out a cold, dismissive laugh and refused to bite.
"I'll just leave the challenge letter here. Time is tomorrow night at eight. We've already delivered one to the Storm Gang too. If you don't show up tomorrow, that disputed mine goes to us. Otherwise, we'll just bury the place with Earthquake and seal it off…"
"There'll be three brackets. I hear you're recruiting rookies, so we added a rookie bracket too. Hope you don't get stuck in the rookie bracket, hahahaha. We're out."
"Bastards." Stinky ground his teeth. The Rock Gang punks had come in a hurry and left in a hurry, and in the war of words he hadn't gotten the better of them even once. They'd played him from start to finish, and it pissed him off.
Angry or not, there was nothing he could do about them right now. The most important thing was to report the Rock Gang's challenge letter to Boss Viper and let Boss Viper decide whether to take tomorrow night's gambling match.
"Everyone, back to your posts. I need to step away for a bit. If anyone dares cause trouble—kill them on the spot…"
The squad leader swept a vicious glare across the room. Everyone immediately ducked their heads, not daring to meet his eyes, terrified he'd decide he was in a bad mood and just off them then and there.
Back at the sewer entrance, Reiji and Tai returned to their night-shift routine. Both of them were replaying the scene with the challenge letter in their heads, wondering what it would set in motion.
In the end, Tai was the one who broke the silence. "Rai, do you think Boss Viper will pick us for the fight?"
"No idea." Reiji shook his head, not taking the challenge letter too seriously. He'd already sent Darkrai to eavesdrop. He'd know soon enough how Viper planned to handle it.
"Will there be a reward?" Tai was still uneasy. If he got picked, the reward would be secondary. If he lost and cost them the mine, he might get killed by his own side.
"No idea. Depends on what Boss Viper decides." Reiji shook his head again, not sure what Tai was so worried about. Worst case, he'd just grab his kid sister and run.
"Right, does your Zubat show any signs of poisoning?" Tai had already struck out twice on the challenge topic, so he switched over to the Pokémon they'd picked.
The Bellsprout had been Reiji's recommendation. If there was a problem, Reiji would know. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told him to choose it. It was just the idea that a Poison-type Pokémon could suffer from poisoning that had caught him completely off guard.
"Look at this. That Bellsprout's Poison-type talent is unusually strong. It was artificially forced out. There are two ways to fix its condition: detox and strengthen its body, or surgically remove its poison sac…"
"I see…" Tai took the Poison-type Pokémon breeding manual Reiji tossed over. The section on using Poison-types in 'Gu-style' cultivation explained exactly what was going on with that Bellsprout.
After reading, Tai started to suspect Reiji might be a breeder—or maybe it was some special ability of his. Either way, just from observation, it was hard to pick up on abnormalities in a Pokémon like that.
He didn't ask, though. That was the man's secret. If he pried into it, there'd be no friendship left.
Instead, he changed the subject again. "Rai, can I ask you a favor?"
"Say it." Reiji unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and took a swallow. The bread earlier had left him parched.
"I want to get an Electric-type Pokémon. Could you help me look at one, see if it's any good?" Tai wanted to buy an Electric-type for his little sister. From yesterday to today, he'd been scouring the black market stalls for one.
Now that he had Poison Gang credentials, he wasn't afraid of getting ripped off. He might even get a better price. He'd checked out the city's official daycare centers too.
Even just an egg was expensive. An Electric-type egg cost over five hundred thousand Pokédollars a piece, and you didn't even know what species it was. He'd even seen someone hatch a Chinchou from one—total scam.
As for already-hatched Electric-type Pokémon—fluffy, cute-looking little Electric-type babies—those all started in the millions. There was no way he could afford that.
The only place that was remotely within reach was the black market, but the health and talent of the Pokémon there were anyone's guess.
With Reiji here—a guy who clearly knew his stuff—he could at least get the Pokémon checked over. Then he might actually pick out a decent Electric-type for his sister, something that could protect her when he wasn't around.
If it were Water, Grass, Bug, Poison, Ground, or Rock types, it wouldn't be this complicated. There were plenty of those in the wild; he could go out and catch one whenever he wanted. Electric-types were the troublesome ones.
"Sure." Reiji nodded lightly. Tai immediately left his post to track down the masked stall owner.
When Tai came back, a masked man trailed behind him, holding an ordinary Poké Ball.
"Rai, it's this one—a Pikachu." Tai pointed at the ball. His sister had her heart set on a fluffy Electric-type.
"Let me see it." Reiji beckoned the masked man over, wanting a look at Pikachu's stats.
The masked man hesitated. "Sir… could you just let me go?"
Reiji chuckled. "I'm just looking. I'm not stealing your Pokémon. We've got rules, you know." They'd been warned by the squad leader not to strong-arm anyone into a sale.
That was one of the perks here: as long as you didn't go too far, and both sides could live with the outcome, nobody would interfere. Lots of room to maneuver.
"Alright…" Gritting his teeth, the masked man handed over the Poké Ball. He'd already resigned himself to losing the Pokémon.
Reiji glanced over Pikachu's panel. Its potential was barely in the twenties. It was poorly groomed, fur patchy and messy, eyes dull and listless. Even without his ability, anyone could see this was a problem Pokémon.
"Trash. It's that obvious and you still can't tell?" Reiji tossed the ball back at the man and waved him off.
The moment he heard "beat it," the masked man looked like he'd just heard heavenly music and bolted out of the black market as fast as he could.
"Haha… I just wanted an Electric-type so badly I didn't pay attention." Tai scratched his cheek, not sure how to explain. He couldn't exactly say it was for his little sister; better not bring her up. He still didn't fully trust this mysterious trainer.
"That Pikachu was black-market junk." Reiji lit another cigarette and, curious, asked, "What do you even need an Electric-type for? Fighting? In a sewer like this, it's not exactly ideal…"
"Battles too, yeah, but mostly I want an Electric-type with decent talent that I can use topside as well." Tai's lie was clumsy, but Reiji chose not to call him on it.
"Take your time looking, then. I'll hold the post myself. Just don't bother me with garbage like that again. You can spot that kind of thing on your own." Reiji waved him off and smoked, leaving Tai to keep searching.
"Thanks," Tai said, then turned and headed back into the stalls of the black market.
Not long after Tai left, Darkrai returned and reported to Reiji, "That human called Viper accepted the challenge letter. He's picking names for the gambling match. I didn't see yours on the list…"
"There's something off. Definitely." Reiji leaned back against the concrete wall and shook his head to himself. The whole situation stank.
As one of the three major gang bosses in the underworld, the Rock Gang's leader couldn't possibly fail to notice that the Poison and Storm Gangs had already joined forces and were actively recruiting. The Rock Gang should be thinking about how to break that alliance, not sending out some bullshit challenge letter.
Unless the challenge letter itself was the method of breaking the game. Follow that thought: Poison and Storm were united, and yet Rock was challenging both at once. On the surface it was still one against two; Rock would still be at a disadvantage.
A leader is called a leader for a reason. Nobody gets to that position by being simple or soft. There isn't a single harmless one among them. There's no way he missed that point.
If he'd seen it and still sent challenge letters to both Poison and Storm, then there was only one explanation: the Rock Gang already knew the Poison Gang was the Team Rocket in disguise.
On the surface, it looked like Poison and Storm were allied. Behind the scenes, it might just as well be Rock and Storm working together. The mine battle and gambling match would be bait—bait to lure Poison Gang elites away from their base.
Once that happened, Rock and Storm could join hands and wipe out Team Rocket's fake Poison Gang operation.
Reiji's thoughts had gone there because Poison Gang was Team Rocket. Both Rock and Storm had a reason to team up: to drive Team Rocket out of Kanto's Orange Archipelago.
The Orange Archipelago was their turf. Reiji didn't know whether "their" meant Trovitopolis's local powers, Mandarin Island's local powers, or Team Aqua from Hoenn, also known as the Ocean Team.
Given that Team Aqua only had eyes for Relicanth and similar things, they probably weren't that interested in the Orange Archipelago. This was the domain of those three "idiot birds" and Lugia.
That narrowed it down to just the League, or some entrenched local faction in the Orange Archipelago.
The black market in Kinnow City, the clubs in Kinnow City, the cruise ship captain they'd run into after leaving Kinnow Island, the black ships at Murcott Island and here—all of those were part of the old-guard local forces. The names might change, but the people behind them wouldn't. It was just that there were too many fence-sitters.
Was the League involved?
Of course it was. Elite Four Lorelei lived out here on vacation, and there were also the four Orange League gyms. Their chief trainer Drake was League power as well. He and the Orange League were the faction that welcomed and embraced the League—at least on paper, they stood firmly on the League's side.
Don't be fooled by how weak the four gym leaders look in the anime. That's just the current gym leaders. The previous generation, and the generation before that, are all still around.
Call those old monsters pushovers? Reiji wouldn't believe it if you paid him. At worst, they'd all be quasi–Elite Four tier. Some of them were probably full Elite Four tier. Otherwise, how would they have held those gyms down all this time?
And those gym positions were hereditary. Grandfather to son to grandson—anyone else could forget it. As long as the League didn't collapse, the gyms would be passed on forever. Tell him you're not jealous…
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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