Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

With the room getting hot, would Senta’s cousin really stop to inspect the air conditioner when he was about to get what he wanted?

Of course not.

He would open the window and put up with it for one night. After waiting this long, that was the only thing on his mind.

Reiji understood men like that. In a moment like this, everything else could wait.

That was his opening.

As for Cissy being drugged?

He wasn’t going to stop it before there was proof. If he stopped the crime before it happened, he would just look like a busybody, and if the other side came after him later, no one would believe him.

If he barged in while it was happening with no evidence, they could twist it into blackmail or extortion. Reiji wasn’t rich enough to take that kind of risk.

He had learned that lesson from his previous life. First, get the evidence on video.

He needed proof that the guy really intended to do it. He also needed proof that he was stepping in to save someone, and that Cissy was not clear-headed or consenting. That part mattered. Remember it. It would be on the test.

After breaking the air conditioner, he recalled Scyther. Once the patrol passed, he had Spinarak lower him back down. They dropped to the outside of the hull, where Golbat was waiting.

Reiji let Spinarak return to his shoulder, had Golbat carry him away from the cargo ship, then switched Pelipper back out. From there, he only had to match the ship’s speed and glide with the wind.

He didn’t hide on the ship because he didn’t want to be found too early. Better to keep his distance and avoid tipping them off. For at least fifty million in Pokémon resources, he could wait.

Near ten at night, the sea-view room with the cut air-conditioning pipe finally lit up.

Reiji immediately sent Golbat over with the video camera it had been holding in its mouth. Butterfree followed close behind, ready to use Sleep Powder.

Through the binoculars, Reiji saw two maids carry an unconscious Cissy into the room and place her on the bed. They wiped her down with towels. Her bag was set beside the bed, and the T-shirt and shorts she had worn earlier were loosened.

Reiji quickly lowered the binoculars.

He really had not meant to look. This was all for evidence.

A moment later, he raised the binoculars again. The maids had finished cleaning Cissy and wrapped her in a white bath towel.

He had missed it after all. What had he been acting so restrained for? The good scenery only lasted a second.

Then a drunk young man walked in. He had to hold the doorframe just to stay upright. He had clearly been drinking heavily.

The moment he entered, he felt how hot the room was and told the maids to turn on the air conditioner. They did, but it only blew warm air.

They lowered the temperature again and again, but nothing changed. Sweat broke out on their faces. They had no idea what was wrong, and they were clearly afraid the young master would whip them if he got angry.

But he was in too good a mood tonight to care. Instead, he told them to open the window.

The wind at sea was strong. The maid opened the window only a crack, and a gust rushed into the room, lifting one corner of the towel and revealing a long white leg.

Senta’s cousin stared with a disgusting look in his eyes. He licked the corner of his mouth and rubbed his hands together, then waved the two maids out. He was already reaching for Cissy’s leg.

Once the maids shut the door, the air in the room stopped moving and the heat rose again. His hand froze before it touched her. Annoyed, he walked to the balcony, took off his shirt, and opened the window wider.

He pulled the window open, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath of sea air. A filthy grin spread across his face as he turned back toward the bed.

He reached the bedside and collapsed.

”Free...” Butterfree was waiting upwind, quietly releasing Sleep Powder. The young man had opened the window and taken a deep breath at the perfect time. He inhaled too much of it at once and dropped straight into deep sleep.

Reiji had Golbat carry him back to the balcony. ”Butterfree, good job. Now go upwind and put the whole ship to sleep. Come back when you’re done.”

”Free.” Butterfree nodded and flew silently over the cargo ship, spreading Sleep Powder from above.

The ship was large, so putting everyone to sleep would take time. Naoki and the others would need time to arrive too.

Reiji had already retrieved the camera from outside the window and entered the room. This was the safest place for now. He shut the window to keep the Sleep Powder out and looked at the two people on the bed.

Senta’s cousin was easy to deal with. The camera had recorded everything. After Golbat had placed it outside the window, it had flown back to pick Reiji up.

Now the recording was done. Spinarak had already tied the cousin up, gagged him, and poisoned him with Toxic. His death was only a matter of time.

Next came the loot.

First were his Pokémon. All six of his main Poké Balls were on him. Reiji took them and locked them down. If they were released, he might not be able to beat them. Good thing this was an ambush.

Then he had Spinarak search the room. Anything valuable went onto the bed. If it found a Poké Ball, it called him over.

Reiji took out his phone and called Naoki.

”Boss, did it go smoothly?”

”All good. Get here fast. Wait for my signal before attacking the ship.”

He hung up, released Ditto, pulled down the cloth covering his face, and let Ditto turn into the smiling mask.

The Smiling Spider would make its debut tonight.

Reiji picked up the young man’s bag, which Spinarak had found, and packed all the valuables from the bed into it. He left the electronics alone. Those could be tracked too easily.

He took down each picture frame from the wall, then had Spinarak tap around the room for a safe or hidden compartment.

After a while, it found nothing. No safe. No hidden space. Senta’s cousin was probably confident enough to keep the good stuff in his bag.

Reiji had Spinarak search him too. It found plenty of flashy items: a new flip phone, a stack of bank cards, and a red badge shaped like the letter R.

”What? Team Rocket? A mole?”

Reiji froze when he saw the badge. So this guy really was Team Rocket. He had been worried he might have killed the wrong person, and a little guilt had started to creep in. Now it was gone.

His earlier guess had been right. The cousin had approached Cissy on purpose and was targeting Mikan Gym as part of a Team Rocket assignment. Senta had said he was a distant relative from Kanto.

If he was related to them, and Cissy’s side had a Gym, then his family in Kanto probably had some standing too. If that whole family had joined Team Rocket, things could get messy.

Still, this made things easier. Team Rocket deserved what it got.

Reiji wrapped the R badge in a silk cloth and put it in his shirt pocket. He could deal with it after returning. With this, he should not get kicked out of the Gym for saving Cissy and killing the cousin.

He didn’t care that much about keeping his Gym Trainer status, but the Gym had not thrown him out either. Leaving without a word would be rude. Considering the old man’s hopeless fishing luck, saving his granddaughter counted as doing more than enough.

The rest of the items did not interest him. The bank cards had no passwords written down, and interrogation was impossible now. He could try a birthday later. If that failed, no loss.

Once the room was cleared, he released Pelipper. He tossed the stolen goods into Pelipper’s bill, then Cissy’s bag, then Cissy herself.

He did not change her clothes. He packed the outfit she had worn today into her small shoulder bag so she could find it when she woke up.

Cissy, like the cousin, had inhaled Sleep Powder. She would not wake up for a while, which was good. She would not get in the way of the raid.

After that, Reiji opened the balcony glass door and let Butterfree back in. It had released so much Sleep Powder that it was panting hard. He recalled it, then sent Pelipper away from the cargo ship and told it to follow quietly from outside.

Last, Reiji looked at Senta’s cousin.

The poison had already taken him. His eyes were still open.

The man had woken up in pain before he died. He had watched someone in a smiling white mask with a black 0 on it calmly pack up everything in his room and take it away.

Even at the end, he had no idea who that person was, why this was happening, or when he had offended someone enough to be taken down this way.

If he couldn’t figure it out, he could think about it in the next life.

Reiji was too busy packing to care. The man’s bulging eyes were unpleasant, though, so he had Spinarak wrap his head in silk. Then he tied him up with a bedsheet and fastened the other end to a dumbbell.

Of all the things to find in this room, there were dumbbells. The bastard actually worked out here.

Reiji used one as a weight. He planned to sink him in the sea and let the blood draw Sharpedo.

First, he cut a few wounds into the body. Then Golbat carried it out over the water and dropped it with a splash. Once the blood spread, Sharpedo would come from below. There wouldn’t even be bones left.

With the body gone, Reiji released Weezing and had it use Flamethrower to burn the room. Then he let Spinarak return to his shoulder, recalled Golbat and Weezing, and released Toxicroak.

At that point, he only had Ditto on his face, Spinarak on his shoulder, Toxicroak at his side, and Pelipper waiting outside the ship.

He brought Toxicroak to the balcony, gently closed the glass door behind him, and left the room to burn. Then he rappelled down from the balcony. Spinarak held him steady with silk, letting him land softly on the deck.

The moment it jumped down, the balcony glass cracked under the heat and burst apart. Fire rushed out of the room like a snake.

”Fire! There’s a fire! That’s the young master’s room!”

Someone on the bridge hit the alarm at once. The crew members under Sleep Powder kept sleeping, but the off-duty sailors woke in a panic and waited for instructions.

Naoki and the others had already reached the sky above the ship. They saw the fire burning near the bridge, but they did not move right away.

”Brother, is that the signal?”

”The plan said he’d cut the power first, didn’t it?”

”Everyone’s looking at the fire now. This is the best time to get in. Brother, let’s go.” Gai was getting impatient. No, not impatient—eager. Everything below was money.

”Fine. Prepare to land. Follow the plan and block every escape route. Sink any lifeboat you see. Sou, Gulzar, you two lead your teams and hold the deck. If anyone tries to run, stop them. If you can’t stop them, call for support. Don’t use names.”

”Understood, No. 1.”

Their voices came from beneath the masks.

One by one, they dropped from the sky. Four heavy thuds hit the deck and drew the second mate’s attention from the bridge.

The second mate looked toward the forward deck and saw four black-clad figures in white masks. They released their Pokémon and attacked the sleeping sailors on the deck.

Three more black-clad figures in white masks were still in the air, flying straight toward the bridge. Their Flying-type Pokémon began attacking it from above.

Drip. Drip.

Rain started falling from the night sky, making things harder for both sides.

By then, Reiji had already used the fire to draw everyone’s attention and slipped down toward the boiler room. He met almost no resistance on the way.

When he reached the boiler room, the engineers inside had only just learned there was a fire above. They had no idea how bad it was.

Reiji rushed in and shouted, ”The fire reached the fuel storage! The captain ordered everyone to abandon ship! Move, move, move!”

”What? Abandon ship? We didn’t get any order from above.”

”There’s no time for orders. Half the ship is burning, and the phone lines are down. Run!”

That did it.

The boiler room was hot and miserable on a normal day. These men worked hard for their pay, but they were not about to die for it. They all rushed for the exit.

By the time they reached the deck, they would probably see that the fire had already been contained, but that didn’t matter. Reiji only needed the ship stopped.

”Weezing, use Poison Gas.”

”Weez, Weez.” Weezing immediately released Poison Gas, filling the boiler room.

Next came the explosion. If the gas went up, it would wreck the boiler room and stop the cargo ship. All he needed was a cigarette.

He backed away with Weezing, all the way to the deck. Even after Poison Gas filled the boiler room, he did not tell Weezing to stop.

He lit a cigarette, took one drag, and exhaled a stream of white smoke. Then he recalled Weezing and Toxicroak and flicked the cigarette down into the thick gas below.

Boom.

The moment the cigarette fell, Reiji turned and ran. Behind him, the metal deck swelled and buckled before tearing open with a deafening blast. The shockwave tore across the ship.

Reiji only had time to leap off the deck.

He hit the sea with a splash. If he had not been so close to the explosion, he would never have jumped in.

Staying on the ship was worse. There had been no cover on the path he used. If the blast wave crushed his organs, he was finished. Jumping into the water was the safer choice.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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