Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Give me a minute.”

Reiji pulled a blank sheet of paper from Naoki’s study and started writing out the plan. ”Here’s what we know. The cargo ship’s captain is a distant cousin of Cissy’s. He should be quasi–Elite Four tier, and his tournament records are still online.”

”If Cissy doesn’t suspect anything, he has a very high chance of succeeding. Our job is to wait until he makes his move, then pull the Gym Leader out.”

”First, we need information on the whole ship. The crew’s strength, the layout inside the ship, patrols, sentry posts, and the ship’s route.”

”Second, nobody can know it was us. If the League starts digging too hard, it’ll be a problem. We need someone else to take the blame, and it has to look believable.”

”Third, the kids need to be part of this. If they go through danger together, they’ll start trusting each other for real. Nothing builds a team faster than getting through a life-or-death job together.”

”Boss, I can handle the information. This cargo ship probably passes through here often, so Sailor’s Bar should have something on it. As for covering our tracks, I’d say we hit them at sea and make it look like a pirate raid.”

”Pirates?” Reiji looked at Naoki. He had run into pirates before, but pirates strong enough to rob an armed merchant ship were not small-time thugs.

”Yeah, pirates,” Naoki said. ”Most pirates out here are really black-market Trainers in disguise. Big local groups hire them to handle dirty work. Sometimes those groups even send their own Trainers out to play pirate for a night. We can use that identity to hit the ship.”

”Good. Pirates it is for now.” Reiji looked through the second-floor window at the kids training and battling in the villa yard.

A.J., Gai, and Daishi were about the same age. Gulzar, Sou, and Keith were a little younger.

All six were at least Elite Trainers. A.J. and Gai were Advanced Trainers. Gulzar and Sou each had one or two Advanced-tier Pokémon. Daishi and Keith were weaker. They had not reached Advanced tier yet, but they were good among Elite Trainers.

With Reiji and Naoki, two half-crippled quasi–Elite Four-tier Trainers, they should have just enough strength to ambush the armed merchant ship.

”What do you want me to do, Boss?” Naoki came to the window too and waited for orders.

These kids were different from his old gang members. He could tell Reiji was raising them as future Elite Four-tier Trainers. Once they grew up, every one of them could become valuable.

”First, measure their height and weight. Buy each of them a full black stab-resistant outfit. For this operation, everyone needs a Ditto. Anyone who doesn’t have one goes to the black market and buys one. The cargo ship leaves this evening, so everyone has to be back by noon.”

”Got it, Boss.”

Naoki left the study, went downstairs, and called everyone over from the yard. He measured them with a tape, then took the ones without Ditto and drove away from the villa.

Who would gather intelligence? Who would buy the protective clothing? Who would take the kids to buy Ditto?

Naoki would sort all that out. Reiji only needed to wait and review what they could actually use in the fight.

Since they were disguising this as a robbery, he couldn’t use any of his obvious Pokémon. Gengar was asleep, Darkrai wasn’t around, and that left Toxicroak, Golbat, Marshtomp, Weezing, Ditto, and Spinarak.

Those little guys weren’t enough to beat Senta’s cousin head-on. That left a night raid, a dirty ambush from the shadows. That was where Reiji was at his best.

He had already chosen the timing.

They would strike right after the man made his move, when he would be at his most relaxed.

Out on the open sea, with only one ship around, surrounded by his own men, and Cissy unable to fight back, he would be feeling untouchable. She could scream herself hoarse and no one would come.

And the man who set the whole thing up would never imagine that some dirty sneak was already watching him.

Reiji would handle the ship’s boss himself. For the ambush to work, he needed the man’s bedroom window open.

A rich young master like that would definitely have a sea-view cabin on the ship. The only question was whether it faced sunrise or sunset. As long as the window was open, Butterfree could release Sleep Powder through it and put both people inside to sleep without a sound.

No one would react in time. Cissy would already be drugged, the man would be busy enjoying himself, and there would be no third person in the room. He probably wouldn’t even keep a Pokémon out. That was the best time to hit him.

To make that happen, Reiji had to make sure the window stayed open. The easiest way was to make the room hot. If the cabin was hot enough, the man would open the window no matter how strong the sea breeze was.

So he needed to sneak into the room while the man was away, cut the air-conditioner pipe outside, and block it so the cooling stopped working. If the room used a normal air conditioner, that would be easy. If it used central air, he would have to block the duct.

Now he just had to wait for Naoki to come back with the ship layout, especially the location of the captain’s cabin.

By noon, Naoki still had not returned. The others who had gone to buy clothes and Ditto came back one after another.

Half an hour later, Naoki finally returned with a thick stack of rolled-up papers. He didn’t stop in the yard. He went straight upstairs to the study.

”Boss, I brought everything you asked for.” Naoki dropped the papers on the desk, grabbed the kettle, and drank straight from it. He had been running around all morning and hadn’t even had time to drink water.

”Rest first.” Seeing how tired he was, Reiji didn’t rush him. Once Naoki caught his breath, Reiji had him call everyone upstairs.

Eight people crowded into the study. Reiji was looking over the drawings. Once the other seven gathered around, he began explaining.

”Now that everyone’s here, I’ll tell you why I called you up.”

”This is the plan for an armed merchant ship. It leaves this evening. Our job is to raid it.”

Some of them reacted at once, but Reiji didn’t give them time to speak.

”That’s the cover. Our real goal is to rescue the kidnapped Gym Leader of Mikan Gym.”

That was the purpose Reiji and Naoki had agreed on. The ship was tied to the League, so if they didn’t give the group a reason, the kids might start questioning whether the raid was justified. Better to kill that doubt before it grew.

The League’s authority ran deep. Not everyone was bold enough to rob one of its armed merchant ships.

If Reiji had known the ship belonged to a Team Rocket mole, he would not have felt any pressure at all. It would also have been much easier to convince the kids to help him attack it.

He didn’t want to turn these kids into monsters. He wanted them to know right from wrong and become Trainers with both strength and responsibility.

When he said he wanted to clean their records, he meant it. Some of the small crimes they had committed could be ignored. Most of that had been forced by circumstance. Even if they had killed someone in the black market, Reiji wouldn’t say much.

The black market was a place where the strong preyed on the weak. Nobody there was clean. If someone died, then they died. They could only blame themselves for being weaker.

If someone wanted to be kind, do good, and live in harmony with Pokémon, then why go to the black market? The League sold that dream better than anyone.

”Boss.” Gai raised his hand. When everyone looked at him, he didn’t flinch. ”If we’re rescuing a League Gym Leader, why don’t we contact the League?”

”That’s one of the things I’m about to explain.” Reiji pressed one hand down, telling everyone to settle. ”The captain of this ship is a quasi–Elite Four-tier Trainer with a Charizard. Counting his other Pokémon, his team is worth at least fifty million.”

The moment he said that, the room changed.

Reiji could see it in their breathing. Money moved people. If the profit was big enough, these hungry ghosts wouldn’t care whether it was a League ship or a Team Rocket ship. As long as they could justify it to themselves, they would rob first and think later.

The hook had landed.

Reiji added more bait. He took out a photo and pinned it to the board. ”The first mate is also the captain’s steward. He’s quasi–Elite Four tier too. The Pokémon resources on him should be worth at least another fifty million.”

”Of course, don’t even think about those two. You can’t handle them. Only Naoki and I can.”

Then he pinned up a third and fourth photo. ”These two are the second mate and the boatswain. Both are Advanced-tier. Among you, only A.J. and Gai can take them.”

”Boss, I’ll take the first mate,” A.J. said at once when he saw Reiji look his way.

He understood what Reiji was doing. They were dividing up the targets.

”Any objections?” Reiji looked at Sou and Gulzar.

In yesterday’s friendly matches, Sou and Gulzar had both done well, but neither had A.J.’s balance. They had only played two matches, and both of them had only one or two Advanced-tier Pokémon. That was enough for yesterday’s tournament, but in a full six-on-six battle, they couldn’t beat A.J. or Gai.

”No,” the five of them said together.

Gulzar and Sou both understood their own strength. Gulzar had also told Sou where A.J. placed in the Indigo Plateau Conference, so there was nothing to argue about.

”Good.” Reiji nodded, then looked at Gai. If Gai didn’t take the job, Reiji would assign it to someone else.

”Boss, I’ll take the boatswain.” Gai raised his hand and accepted the task.

An Advanced Trainer’s belongings were worth a lot. He wasn’t confident against a quasi–Elite Four-tier target, but this one was manageable. No need to act tougher than he was.

”Get the details from Naoki later. He has information on both targets’ Pokémon. Talk it over so you don’t run into the wrong person.”

After explaining the strongest people on the ship, Reiji turned everyone’s attention to the ship layout on the board.

”This is a medium standard cargo ship. It sails south to north. Its next stop is Pummelo Island. At normal speed, if it leaves this evening, it should arrive by sunrise tomorrow. We’ll set the ambush near Rind Island and hit the ship at night.”

”This drawing shows the ship’s structure. The bridge is here.” Reiji tapped the highest point of the bridge tower. ”At night, while the captain and first mate are resting, the second mate and boatswain will take shifts. They may be on the bridge.”

”There will also be sailors patrolling and standing watch. For anyone out in the open, I’ll have Butterfree release Sleep Powder from above the ship. If it puts them to sleep, good. If it doesn’t, then Sou, Gulzar, Keith, and Daishi will handle them.”

”You’ll move in pairs so you can watch each other’s backs. Clear?”

”Clear,” the four answered together. They exchanged looks. This was an operation led by Reiji himself, and none of them wanted to mess up.

”Good. Pair up yourselves. Get the sailor profiles from Naoki. Some of the older sailors are strong enough to match Advanced Trainers.”

The four quickly split into teams. Sou paired with Daishi, while Gulzar paired with Keith.

Reiji was satisfied with that. First and third place from the friendly matches were taking fifth and sixth with them. That would help cover the two weakest ones. These kids were still too weak.

But after this job, they would start changing. Give them half a year and a few more private jobs like this, and they would grow fast. Reiji trusted his own eye for talent.

”Before the raid starts, I’ll take down the captain first. Then I’ll cut power to the whole ship. Your job is to make sure your targets don’t get away. Every Trainer named on the board goes down. No exceptions.”

”Boss, what identity are we using?” A.J. asked.

He noticed the wording. They were not supposed to let the named Trainers escape, but there were more people on the ship than Trainers.

Besides the captain and armed sailors, there were engineers in the engine room and cooks in the kitchen. Were those people allowed to leave?

”Good question. This time, we act as pirates robbing the ship. Aside from Trainers, any crew member who attacks us first dies. There’s no way to know whether Team Rocket has people hidden among the crew.”

”While you’re raiding the ship, mention pirates from time to time. Make it clear you’re only here for money and not for lives. Let people hear that you’re pirates. Act vicious enough to sell it.”

”And since we’re pirates, anything valuable on this ship is yours if you can carry it away. But no fighting over loot. Whoever finds it first gets it. Whoever beats the target gets the spoils. If I hear that anyone tried to snatch someone else’s loot, don’t blame me for what happens.”

After the warning, Reiji softened his tone a little. ”Your life comes first. Money can be earned again as long as you’re alive. If you run into someone you can’t beat, run and call for help.”

”These are walkie-talkies and earphones. Come take one. Set them all to the same channel. Wear one earbud and keep the spare in your pocket, in case you lose the first one. That way, we can keep in touch on the ship.”

”And memorize this floor plan. Remember the important locations. If you can’t describe your position clearly over the radio, or if you get lost inside the ship, things will get messy fast.”

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]

[[email protected]/BellAshelia]

[Thanks for your support!]