Day 16 back in the Orange Archipelago. Clear.
After coming back last night, Reiji's group slept hard and stayed put until morning.
The old district must have been wild after they left. By then, they were already back at the villa. Tai had also sent a message through Gengar: two Elite Four-tier Trainers from Team Rocket had arrived on Mandarin Island North, so they should not wander around.
Those people were not like Reiji and Naoki, who had only just reached Elite Four tier with 1 or 2 Elite Four-tier Pokémon each. Team Rocket's people had been at that level for years. They had at least 4 Elite Four-tier Pokémon on hand. If Reiji could not beat them, he could at least stay out of their way.
He did not know whether those 2 had left yet. Tai had sent over a recording and another piece of news: Team Rocket had already entered Mandarin Island North and taken control of the other 2 major gangs in secret. Tai was now in charge of one of them.
There was more.
Team Rocket was investigating Reiji. They had suspected he might be Smiling Spider because Gengar's dark field looked a lot like something Darkrai would create. Once they heard the darkness had come from a Gengar instead, the suspicion eased.
That part had been pure luck. Reiji had only revealed Gengar because he needed to face the Lightning Gang boss's younger brother, but it ended up helping him dodge Team Rocket's suspicion.
If they had kept digging, they really might have found out that Reiji was Smiling Spider. For now, the misdirection had worked. Team Rocket probably would not keep staring at him.
Still, Reiji had learned one thing: Team Rocket already had his name on a list. He was no longer some nobody they could ignore.
Without the protection of Mikan Gym, Team Rocket might have come straight for him. They had the confidence for it too. Two Elite Four-tier Trainers in the Orange Archipelago could not do whatever they wanted, but almost no one here could stop them, and even fewer people would want to try.
Reiji was not going to the old district today unless Tai confirmed those 2 had left. The Lightning Gang's stolen Pokémon would not be sold on Mandarin Island North either. They would have to move them through other islands, unless they badly needed money or waited until things calmed down here.
Before that, he needed to edit last night's footage.
The battle itself had been one-sided. The only parts worth showing were Naoki fighting 2 enemies at once and the final standoff between the 2 Elite Four-tier Pokémon.
A few cuts stitched together would be enough.
There was no talking in the footage, only background noise. The camera shook badly too, which actually helped. If the video looked too clean, people might start wondering whether it had been staged.
Once the video was ready, Reiji posted it in two places: the public net and the dark web.
Then he let the internet do the rest.
Next came the stolen Pokémon.
They could not move everything at once. It had to be done in batches. Team Rocket had already taken the old district. Trying to sell stolen Pokémon there now would be asking for trouble.
They definitely could not sell the batch on Mandarin Island North. Once things settled, they could move them one at a time. For a large batch, the easiest way would be to send them to the old drunk.
But after thinking it through, Reiji gave up on that too.
Even if the old drunk handled the sale, their identity would not stay hidden for long. Anyone who connected this batch to what happened over the past few days could guess where it came from. From there, it would not be hard to guess they were Smiling Spider.
The cargo ship goods had been different. Back then, they had used disguises, and the merchants who bought the stolen goods had no idea who they were buying from. They only knew the goods were illegal. By the time the news spread and they realized those goods came from the ship, it was already too late.
Now Smiling Spider was famous. Selling a large batch of Electric-type Pokémon would point straight back to the Lightning Gang. Anyone paying attention would know the seller had to be Spider.
So they would handle it themselves.
Reiji did not want the old drunk learning that they were Spider. For now, the Pokémon could stay with them until the heat died down.
There was something else they needed to do first: build the Smiling Spider legend around the video.
"Boss, will posting the video really pull attention away from us?" Naoki asked. He still looked worried. He had heard Tai's recording too. Proton, the man who had killed his Pokémon, was here.
"Not by itself. We need to add fuel." Reiji looked around the room. Everyone looked worried, scared, or lost in thought.
Spider still had one small job tonight. It would support the video.
Reiji had lived through the internet explosion in his last life. He knew how viral videos worked. Once something caught fire, imitators popped up everywhere.
The internet here was still young, so it would not be as insane as the world he came from.
But it was getting there.
"Anyone too weak stays home tonight. The rest of you have a job. Go rob some weaklings and gamblers. Use Spider's name. Don't kill them after you get the money. Laugh at them instead. Call them idiots for handing everything over just because someone scared them with Spider's name."
"Rai-nii, wouldn't that make people blame us?" Sou asked honestly.
"That's fine. Change your voices when you do it. Don't use the same voice twice. Use only 1 or 2 Pokémon each time, and don't use the same Pokémon every time. You can even use Pokémon registered with the League."
"Boss, League-registered Pokémon?" A.J. caught on. "You want other people to borrow Spider's name and start robbing people too. Then Spider will show up all over the Orange Archipelago. Even if the League or Team Rocket catches some fakes, it won't matter. By then, we'll already be quiet."
"Right," Gai said. "Nobody will expect the real Spider to move again the night after what happened. Especially not all of us at once."
"That's the idea." Reiji smiled. "Tonight, depending on the situation, hit at least 20 or 30 targets under Spider's name. Those people are already scared out of their minds. Even if they suspect you're fake, they won't dare fight back."
He waved everyone out.
Soon, only Naoki remained in the study.
"Wait for Tai's update," Reiji said. "If there's no sign of those 2 Team Rocket Elite Four-tier Trainers today, and Gengar doesn't sense them nearby, we move tonight."
He added, "Hold on to the stolen Pokémon for now. Once things cool down, sell them in batches. If anyone really needs money, selling a few is fine. But be careful with anything too unique. Don't be stupid and try to sell something that screams Spider the moment it appears. Make sure the others understand that."
"Boss, you're worried..." Naoki understood, but did not finish the sentence.
Reiji nodded.
"Some stolen Pokémon are too recognizable. If we got them as Spider, they're hard to sell under any other identity. Either sell them openly as Spider, or don't touch them at all. Don't get greedy over money."
"I'll stay here a few more days. If anything needs to be moved, I'll handle it outside. Remind the kids."
"Boss. Don't worry." Naoki took it seriously.
After tonight, Spider would disappear for real. Any Spider still moving around outside would be fake.
Naoki had gotten plenty from the raid. He had an Elite Four-tier Pokémon now. Reiji had taken Magnezone and left Electivire to him. They had not even counted the quasi–Elite Four and Advanced-tier Pokémon yet, and nobody had bothered with the Elite-tier ones. There were too many.
Reiji could have taken Electivire too, but he had not. Naoki was honestly touched. His boss had left him the most valuable Pokémon.
"Go to work like usual. We'll talk more tonight. Call Keith in."
Reiji looked out the window while Naoki left. A little while later, Keith pushed open the study door and stepped in.
"Rai-nii, I'm here." He stood neatly to the side.
"Keith, there's twenty million on the table, plus a high-grade Thunder Stone and some Elite-tier Pokémon. Take them."
Reiji had taken down plenty of Elite-tier Trainers last night, and the Poké Balls he collected were all here. He might as well give them to Keith.
As for the cash, the Lightning Gang boss's backpack had over a hundred million in it. There were several high-grade Thunder Stones too. Giving Keith one was nothing.
"Boss, this is too much." Keith looked at everything on the table. The whole pile was probably worth over fifty million. He had thought he would only get the ten million Reiji promised.
"Take it. I'm not saying it twice." Reiji waved him off.
He did not want to watch the kid cry. If Keith had not been so weak, he would have earned far more from the raid. At this point, Reiji had to give him extra support. Otherwise, he would never catch up.
"Thank you, Boss. I..." Keith tried to hold it in, but the tears still came. He wiped at his eyes, and then at the snot running down his nose.
"Enough. Get out of here. If you want to thank me, get stronger. What's the point of crying?"
Reiji's head hurt. Kids were still kids, especially orphans. A little kindness hit them too hard.
"I will, Boss." Keith's eyes were so serious he might have scared himself if he saw them in a mirror.
He took everything and left the study without bothering Reiji any longer.
Outside, Keith was still crying. Gulzar saw him and walked over.
"Keith?"
He hugged Keith without pushing him away, even when Keith got tears and snot on his clothes.
"Gulzar, Boss is too kind..." Keith sobbed as he tried to explain, but Gulzar could barely understand a word.
"I know. I know." Gulzar finally understood what it felt like when Reiji comforted him.
It really was like being treated like a kid.
After calming Keith down, Gulzar pulled a backpack from behind him and handed it over.
"Here," Gulzar said, shoving the backpack into Keith's arms. "Don't overthink it. Just make me look cooler next time you film."
Gulzar had already cut his own version of the footage and posted it online. Anyone who wanted to upload it had made their own edit from the original.
"Gulzar, Boss already gave me plenty," Keith said. He looked at the backpack but did not take it. Reiji had given him more than enough to last a long time. He could not keep taking from everyone else too.
"Just take it."
Gulzar shoved the backpack into Keith's arms, turned, and ran before Keith could say anything.
"Gulzar?" Keith stood there holding the bag, not knowing what to do with it. Gulzar was already gone, so Keith could only give a helpless smile and go back to his room.
He had just stepped inside when someone knocked.
When he opened the door, 5 or 6 backpacks were sitting outside. No one was there, but he understood right away.
Gulzar had given the most, around twenty million's worth. The others had left different amounts, some only a few million, some over ten million.
The amount did not matter.
What mattered was that they had all thought of him.
For the first time in a long while, Keith felt like he had a home. He was the youngest one here, and everyone was quietly helping him catch up.
It felt good.
Having older brothers felt good.
Keith was too busy checking the backpacks to notice the group watching him from outside the window.
"Look, look. He's wiping his eyes. He's crying again."
"Told you it would work. No way he could hold it in."
"What are you talking about? He came out of the study crying. If anyone made him cry, it was Boss."
"I heard Boss tell him to get out."
"That's just how Boss talks. He acts rough, but he's soft on kids. I heard him on the phone once saying taking care of kids was a pain."
"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" A.J. yawned while the others kept whispering, completely ignoring the fact that he was only 14 or 15 himself.
Reiji did not hear any of it.
He sat in the study for a while, then went out to the courtyard. Everyone was training their Pokémon. For some reason, every person who saw him called him Boss.
Strange.
They were usually more focused than this. Most days, once training started, they would not even notice someone walking past.
The day went by quickly.
The ones who had work went to work. The ones who had Pokémon to train kept training. The only place making real noise was the old district.
The Lightning Gang was gone, and that left a huge hole. Normally, smaller gangs would rush in, fight over the scraps, swallow each other up, and eventually one new gang would climb to the top.
But Team Rocket had stepped in, so that would not happen this time.
From now on, the old district would have 2 major gangs. Team Rocket would control both from behind the scenes, while keeping them hostile on the surface.
That gave Team Rocket exactly what it wanted.
The gangs would keep fighting, which meant weak Trainers would get pushed out and useful ones would rise.
Those useful Trainers could then be pulled into Team Rocket's outer ranks. When the time came, Team Rocket could arm them and turn them into a fighting force almost overnight.
It was a nasty setup, but a smart one.
Team Rocket did not have to spend much. The gangs would make money, train people, and feed recruits straight into their hands.
But that was not Reiji's problem.
Right now, Team Rocket and the League could crush them without much effort. Reiji's group needed to stay quiet, keep growing, and use the League as cover for as long as they could.
Night fell.
Then Tai sent the message.
Team Rocket's Elite Four-tier Trainers had left.
Their own operation could start.
[End of chapter]
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