Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Gengar hurled both Shadow Balls at the distortion forming over the cargo deck. The attacks shot through the rain toward the point where someone was trying to complete a long-distance Teleport, but Riku’s brother reacted before either could reach it.

”Slowbro, stop those Shadow Balls!”

Slowbro vanished in a flash of blue light and reappeared in front of the first attack. It raised its arms, forming a translucent barrier just as the Shadow Ball struck. The impact shook the deck and sent a blast of hot air through the nearby sailors, knocking several off their feet.

The second Shadow Ball was about to reach the distortion when a Scyther shot out of the darkness. An unmistakable Elite Four-tier Pokémon, it crossed its scythes in front of its body and caught the attack head-on. Another explosion rolled across the deck, throwing up smoke and debris that briefly hid the arrival point.

Reiji stared toward the Scyther’s hiding place. Someone had just risked an Elite Four-tier Pokémon to protect a stranger’s Teleport, and he couldn’t understand why. If the cargo ship’s reinforcements got through, taking Riku’s brother down would become that much harder.

As the smoke thinned, Danny emerged from the shadows, his sailor disguise torn in places from the blast. He didn’t look pleased about having to reveal himself, but with Scyther out in the open there was no point pretending he wasn’t involved.

”Danny?” Reiji recognized the Navel Gym Leader immediately. ”What are you doing? If that Teleport goes through, we could be dealing with the captain’s backup.”

The League investigating this ship made perfect sense to Reiji. He had seen enough of the Black Ship’s business to know there was plenty for an investigator to find. Danny’s decision to stop Gengar, on the other hand, made no sense at all. They should have wanted the same people caught.

Riku’s brother brightened the moment he recognized the Gym Leader.

”Ha! League reinforcements, finally! Danny, these masked pirates are trying to hijack my ship. Arrest them!”

Danny barely glanced at him. Instead, he turned to the figures above the deck and addressed Reiji as politely as he could.

”Sorry, Mr. Spider. I called for backup too. Can you hold off until we see who’s coming through?”

”Did you hear me?” Riku’s brother shouted. ”They’re attacking a legally registered cargo ship! Do something!”

”And you didn’t call the League,” Danny replied, finally facing him. ”You know exactly why. The last thing you want is League officers searching your holds.”

Riku’s brother gave him a hard look, then laughed under his breath. If Danny was that certain, the hidden cargo had probably already been discovered. There was no sense keeping up the act.

”So you found it. Congratulations. You’re still not taking my ship.”

Danny produced his League identification and held it up where the nearby sailors could see.

”League coast guard vessels are already on their way. I’m placing you and your crew under arrest. Surrender now.”

Reiji watched the exchange with growing impatience. Danny seemed determined to announce an arrest in the middle of a fight he couldn’t control, and the argument was giving the incoming Trainer exactly the time needed to complete Teleport. Off the side of the cargo ship, Team Aqua’s submarine was already sinking out of sight.

By then the distortion had stopped spreading. The air over the deck rippled once more, then a tall figure in a black robe appeared beside an Elite Four-tier Hypno. The Pokémon held its pendulum ready and swept its gaze over the crowded ship, while its Trainer took a moment to work out what he’d walked into.

”Well, this is lively,” the newcomer said, his voice low and rough. ”A League Gym Leader, a few rats slipping away underwater, and...”

He stopped when his eyes reached the bridge. Reiji’s hostility was unmistakable, and the six Elite Four-tier Pokémon above him turned their attention on the newcomer as well. Whatever the robed man had expected to find, an entire squad of powerful Trainers clearly wasn’t part of it.

Reiji looked down at Danny.

”See the problem now? That’s the captain’s backup, not yours. And you just helped him get aboard.”

”Yeah, I got that wrong. Sorry,” Danny admitted, looking from the black-robed newcomer to Reiji above.

There was nothing to gain by arguing further. Reiji had already lost his chance to prevent the arrival, and letting the newcomer leave would only give Riku’s brother another opportunity to escape.

”Gengar, Mean Look on Hypno. Don’t let it Teleport them out!” Reiji turned toward his team. ”One, Two, take the captain!”

The Spider members moved together, dropping from the bridge and spreading toward their assigned targets. Sailors scrambled to intercept them as the deck erupted into another battle, while Gengar fixed Hypno with its glowing eyes. Dark light shot toward the Psychic-type, leaving it unable to escape by simply using Teleport.

Hypno tightened its grip on its pendulum and looked to its Trainer for help. The black-robed man quickly sent it forward to buy time, and it began swinging the pendulum in a steady rhythm. Waves of hypnotic energy spread from the ring, threatening to put anyone who watched it to sleep.

Keeping Hypno between himself and Gengar, the man hurried over to Riku’s brother. His composed entrance had disappeared; he looked thoroughly irritated by what he’d found.

”What the hell did you get yourself into? Where did all these Elite Four Trainers come from? If I’d known it was this bad, I’d never have agreed to come. Your captain called in a favor, not a suicide mission. Come on, we’re leaving.”

”I can’t leave the cargo!” Riku’s brother snapped, watching Spider’s members close in. He and the third mate sent their Elite Four-tier Pokémon to hold the attackers back, but neither looked confident that they could keep the line together for long.

He had already lost two Elite Four-tier Pokémon and both of his senior officers during the attempt on Reiji’s life. Losing the cargo ship as well would turn a disastrous operation into something he might never recover from.

Ordinary shipments were one thing. The Black Ship could dispute the loss, claim the vessel had gone down, or leave the owner to fight with an insurer. The contraband was different. Clients in the underground market expected to be paid in full if their goods disappeared, and refusing would destroy the Trovitopolis Black Ship’s reputation.

With other Black Ships competing throughout the Orange Archipelago, that kind of failure could put them out of business.

The robed man shook his head.

”Your captain was too busy to come himself, so he sent me. And whether I get you out of here or not, he still owes me that favor. I’ve warned you. If you want to stay and die over some crates, that’s your choice.”

He released another Elite Four-tier Water-type Pokémon to intercept the Elite Four-tier Flygon advancing on him, using the clash to buy a few moments for his own retreat. Then he turned sharply toward Hypno, which was still struggling under Gengar’s Mean Look.

”Hypno, Baton Pass!”

Hypno’s relief was almost visible. It glowed, returned to its Poké Ball, and shook off Mean Look as it switched out. In its place, the robed man released an Elite Four-tier Gyarados, which roared at Gengar and held its ground while the Trainer prepared to leave.

Reiji saw the escape taking shape and immediately changed targets. Stopping Hypno was pointless now, but Riku’s brother still had Slowbro, and that Pokémon could Teleport him off the ship just as easily.

”Gengar! Mean Look on Slowbro!”

”Tyranitar, tear up the deck! Block its view!” Riku’s brother shouted back.

Tyranitar plunged its claws into the metal plating and ripped a large section free, wrenching it upright between Slowbro and Gengar. The improvised shield cut across the battlefield just as Gengar turned its gaze toward Slowbro, leaving the move with no clear target.

Reiji swore and started to direct Gengar around the obstruction, but the robed man’s Gyarados interrupted before it could try again. It bellowed at Gengar, slamming its tail against the deck as it used Taunt to provoke the Ghost-type into attacking.

Gengar took the bait. Instead of pursuing Slowbro with Mean Look, it turned on Gyarados and fired a pair of Shadow Balls. The two Elite Four-tier Pokémon fought across the storm-battered deck, Gengar slipping through the air to avoid its opponent’s powerful Dark-type attacks while Gyarados struck back with enough force to send blasts through the clouds overhead.

Riku’s brother watched the exchange with a flash of satisfaction. Taunt had bought him room to maneuver, and his Slowbro had another safeguard: its Oblivious Ability meant the same trick wouldn’t work on it. Even so, he could see his crew losing ground to Spider’s Trainers on the other side of the torn deck.

He had wanted to bring the whole shipment home, but the fighting was slipping beyond his control. However much it would cost him to abandon the cargo, staying aboard was beginning to look like a much worse gamble.

[End of chapter]

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