"Far…" Farfetch'd tried everything it could think of, but Riolu still sat there with the same blank look. Only then did Farfetch'd finally understand how impossible it had been back then. It really had been one angry duck, refusing to listen no matter what anyone said.
Riolu wasn't angry like that. It had just locked itself away. No matter what Farfetch'd tried, Riolu only stared at the lake and kept flicking stones across the water.
Reiji noticed what was happening, but he let Farfetch'd do whatever it wanted. Things couldn't really get any worse, and if anyone could understand Riolu, it was probably Farfetch'd.
Both of them had been hurt by the worst side of humans. That gave them something in common.
Reiji stayed there until evening before recalling his Pokémon and heading back to the cafeteria for dinner. From now until tomorrow morning, his team needed proper rest. The fourth round of the group stage was tomorrow.
After dinner, he returned to his private room and let Toxicroak and the others out to eat. Then he went out onto the balcony to watch the sunset for a while.
The sun was almost gone by the time he recalled them and got ready to shower and sleep. Just then, someone knocked on his door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Reiji went to the door with Poliwhirl. He wasn't exactly worried about an attack, but being careful never hurt.
"It's me. A.J." A.J.'s voice came from outside. If Reiji hadn't answered, he probably would have kept knocking.
"What are you doing here this late?" Reiji opened the door and saw A.J. holding a white plastic bag. The smell of grilled meat hit him right away. The guy came over and even brought food.
"Can I come in?" A.J. glanced into the room. Poliwhirl was beside Reiji, and Eevee was on the bed playing with a ball of yarn. No fangirls in sight. Just Reiji.
"Come in." Reiji stepped aside.
A.J. walked in, went straight to the balcony, and set the bag down. He pulled out skewers, grilled food, and cold beer, then tossed Reiji a can.
"Come on. Have one." A.J. sat down on the balcony like he owned the place, started eating, and watched the last bit of sunset.
"You're leaving?" Reiji guessed what this was about. He shut the door, sat down across from him, and cracked open the beer.
"Yeah. I lost, so I'm with you now. Boss, you better look after your new little brother." A.J. smirked at himself. He had come to keep his promise.
"Cut it out." Reiji could tell he was joking. After spending this much time together, they felt more like friends than boss and subordinate.
"Haha. I'm serious, though." A.J. lifted his beer and clinked it against Reiji's. His tone settled down. "I know how hard it is to make it as a Trainer. I've gone as far as I can on my own. Having an organization backing me up, especially one that doesn't keep too tight a leash, sounds pretty good."
"As long as you understand what you're choosing." That was Reiji's answer. A.J. was now part of Spider.
"By the way, are there any rules I need to know? I'd rather not screw up because I didn't know something and end up getting hunted by my own people." A.J. still didn't know much about this strange organization, only that he had to meet up with them in the Orange Archipelago. Of course he felt uneasy.
Since there was an insider right in front of him—technically the boss himself—he might as well ask.
"There aren't many rules. If I had to name a couple, don't traffic wild Pokémon, and don't eat wild Pokémon. The organization isn't about doing evil for fun. It's more like using dirty hands to deal with dirtier people."
"Got it. Robbing crooks, basically." A.J. finally understood what Reiji had meant before, back when he said he could earn training resources while stealing from other criminals.
That made the organization less like a terrorist group. If the League counted as lawful good, then this group was probably lawful evil.
They followed the League's rules, but only up to a point. They weren't stupidly rigid about it. If someone in the black market deserved to be robbed, then they got robbed. Trainers who lived in places like that weren't exactly clean anyway. Most of them were just different shades of dirty.
If everyone was already playing in the dark, then the strongest could sort themselves out. Sooner or later, the whole mess would produce one real monster.
"When are you leaving?" Reiji glanced at him. Spider didn't really control its members. If A.J. heard the rule against trafficking wild Pokémon and still chose to do it, then he had better not get caught.
Otherwise, Reiji, the hidden boss, would deal with him quietly.
"Tomorrow. I'll head to the Orange Archipelago first, but I don't have anywhere to settle yet." A.J. planned to go there and see what Naoki, the person Reiji had mentioned before, was like before deciding what to do next.
"Go wait on Mandarin Island North. Once I'm done with the Indigo Plateau Conference, I'll meet you there." Reiji remembered that Naoki was on Mandarin Island North, though he wasn't sure if he was still there. He could contact Naoki after he returned and introduce them then.
"Okay. Mandarin Island North it is." A.J. made a note of the place. At least now he had somewhere to go instead of wandering around with no direction.
Once that was settled, they exchanged phone numbers so they could stay in contact. After that, they just ate, drank, and chatted about nothing important—the moon, the stars, the kind of useless talk people had when they were killing time.
As the night grew late, A.J. finally got up to leave. He had to rest before traveling tomorrow.
When he stood, Reiji looked out at the lights of the village and reminded him one last time. "Remember the organization's rules. Spider is trying to clean itself up. If you cross the line and end up wanted by the League, you'll look very tempting to us."
"Haha, got it." A.J. waved without turning back and left Reiji's room.
The smile dropped from his face the moment the door closed. Cold sweat seeped down his back. For one instant just now, he had felt killing intent. Real killing intent. The kind that meant Reiji would actually kill him.
So this organization really was dangerous. Most of its members had probably seen blood. As for those so-called rules, he would have to figure out where the line was himself. The most important thing was not ending up with a League bounty on his head.
Poaching was the easiest way to get wanted by the League. From now on, he would have to be more careful. At the very least, he should only deal in Pokémon outside the League's protection.
Anything protected by the League was better left alone. Pokémon like Beedrill, Magikarp, Koffing, Muk, and Barboach that caused trouble in rice fields were a different story. They weren't under the same protection.
Those could be caught freely. Muk could even be sold to waste treatment plants. Places like that always needed Muk for garbage disposal.
After A.J. left, Reiji got ready for bed too. Once you were eliminated, life got simple. All you had left was watching matches to pass the time.
Reiji had it rougher. He still had another match tomorrow, the final group-stage round. He didn't know who his opponent would be yet, but surely nobody would try to target him, right?
The Indigo Plateau Conference was supposed to be fair. They probably wouldn't pull anything shady with the draw. If they tried the same kind of fixed match nonsense he had seen on Kinnow Island, then he was done. They could do whatever they wanted.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]