"Ahem. Keep going," Reiji said.
The other three had all turned to look at him, clearly waiting to hear how he had beaten that setup. Reiji cleared his throat and pushed the topic back to Shingo. He had no intention of explaining.
Shingo went through a few more contestants. The photos on the projection changed one after another, until the last one stopped on a completely ordinary-looking black-haired boy.
Reiji's mouth twitched.
Of course.
Shingo continued as if nothing was wrong. "This one is extremely mysterious. I found very few battle records on him. The only reason I'm paying attention to him is because Scizor told me his Pokémon are strong."
"That's enough for now," Reiji cut in.
He knew exactly how strong Tai was. He did not need Shingo to explain it to him.
"Fine. We'll stop there." Shingo closed his laptop, and the projection disappeared.
His gaze moved over the other three people in the room.
Reiji, Shun, and A.J. were all strong. Shingo had data on them too. Even against Reiji, he could not guarantee a win, so there was no point dragging the briefing any further.
The four of them chatted for a while after that. Shingo caught up with Reiji a little, then left first.
Reiji reminded A.J. again not to acknowledge the others in public, and A.J. left the private room as well.
Once only Reiji and Shun remained, Reiji fell quiet.
He was thinking about Shingo.
How was he supposed to pull Shingo into Spider?
As an intelligence officer and coordinator, Shingo would be incredibly useful. With him around, Reiji would not have to handle every messy piece of information himself.
The problem was Shingo himself.
Reiji had no angle.
Everyone else who joined Spider had wanted something.
Naoki wanted revenge.
A.J. wanted strength and a way to break into Elite Four tier.
Sou wanted to change the fate of a family that had been fishermen for three generations.
Gai had been a bounty hunter. He was forced into Spider, and that might have been why he betrayed them later.
Gulzar wanted strength too. He wanted to protect Pokémon from dying and go after poaching gangs.
Daishi was Naoki's subordinate, so following Naoki made sense.
Keith wanted strength and the freedom to soar through the sky.
Tai wanted enough power to protect his little sister.
Itsuki wanted to protect his parents and pull his family out of the mess swallowing them.
But Shingo?
What did Shingo need badly enough to join Spider?
Reiji could not find the answer, and without that answer, he had no way to make the offer land. He could not drag Shingo into robbing criminals with the rest of them if he did not know what Shingo wanted.
Money? Shingo had his father's support. He was not lacking funds.
Strength? Shingo was already strong. He did not need Spider for that either.
So…
Reiji let out a long sigh.
"This is hard. Really hard."
People like Shingo were the worst to recruit. Threats would not work. Temptation would not work either. Spider was not some villainous terrorist group. They were just a bunch of desperate people huddling together for warmth.
Shingo, meanwhile, had a good family, good backing, and no obvious hole in his life.
"Rai-nii? Rai-nii?"
Shun had been watching him zone out ever since Shingo left. Finally, he called out to him.
"Hm?" Reiji came back to himself and looked at Shun.
Then he remembered Darkrai and the Kanto ruins.
Perfect timing.
"Shun, when you went to those ruins in Kanto, did you find anything?"
"The ruins?" Shun blinked. "How did you know I explored ruins?"
When he and Bruno went there, he had not noticed Reiji quietly leaving the area. He had no idea Reiji had been nearby.
"I was around the ruins at the time," Reiji said. "The League had the place sealed off. I saw you from the mountain."
"Oh, that makes sense." Shun nodded, then explained, "I didn't go deep into the ruins. Elite Four Agatha and Master Bruno were the main ones exploring. I don't know what they found in the deeper areas."
He did not notice the disappointment that passed through Reiji's eyes. Instead, he took out a Poké Ball.
"But I did catch a Ghost-type Pokémon inside. Master Bruno didn't even notice it."
"Let me see."
Reiji took the Poké Ball, opened the panel, and found a Dusclops inside.
[Dusclops]
[Type: Ghost]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 58.21%]
[Level: 46.11%]
[Ability: Pressure/21.15%][Hidden Ability: Frisk/28.16%]
"Not bad. It still has one evolution left." Reiji nodded. The Dusclops had decent potential. Once it evolved again, it should be able to reach Elite Four tier. For Shun, that was more than enough.
"Really, Rai-nii?" Shun took the Poké Ball back, visibly excited. "Grandpa is helping me prepare its evolution item."
He had never expected a Pokémon he caught almost by chance to have that kind of talent.
But the smile disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
"Grandpa also told me he's being watched too closely right now. A lot of things aren't easy for him to do. Last time, he sent Charmander over, but the evolution item still hasn't turned up."
"Dusclops evolves with a Reaper Cloth, if I remember right," Reiji said.
He had two Reaper Cloths before. One Advanced-tier Reaper Cloth, and one Elite Four-tier Reaper Cloth.
The Advanced-tier one had been used to activate Golurk, so he had tossed it to Golurk. The Elite Four-tier one was still with him.
When he activated Golurk, the Elite Four-tier Ghost item he used was a Spell Tag. Luckily, he had one of those. That was the only reason the Elite Four-tier Reaper Cloth survived.
Reiji reached into his bag and took out a piece of Elite Four-tier Reaper Cloth. It looked like a strip of dark purple-black fabric, but it carried a heavy Ghost-type aura.
"Rai-nii, what is that?" Shun stared at the cloth, not understanding why Reiji had taken it out.
"An Elite Four-tier Reaper Cloth. It can evolve your Dusclops." Reiji smiled and pushed it across the table.
It was not Gengar, but Dusknoir was no worse. Its base stat total was even higher than Gengar's.
Once Dusknoir reached Elite Four tier, it would be more than enough to guard Shun from the shadows.
"Rai-nii, that's an Elite Four-tier evolution item. It's too valuable." Shun swallowed.
He wanted it. Of course he wanted it.
And this one was not just a Reaper Cloth. It was Elite Four-tier, and so well preserved that he barely dared to imagine its value. It was as precious as the Riolu Bruno had given him.
Which was exactly why he could not accept it.
"Shun, you need to get stronger if you want to help me," Reiji said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm waiting for you to catch up."
"Rai-nii, I—"
Shun still could not take it. He was no longer a clueless beginner. After training under Bruno for so long, he knew exactly how rare Elite Four-tier items were.
"Enough. Send it out and evolve it."
Reiji reached over and pressed the button on the Poké Ball in Shun's hand.
Dusclops appeared in the room.
The moment it came out, its eye locked onto the Reaper Cloth sitting on the table.
For Dusclops, that cloth was no less tempting than honey to a Butterfree.
Even then, it did not move.
There were outsiders here. It could feel how strong Reiji was, and the terror hiding in his shadow was even worse. Dusclops did not dare take a single step.
"Come here. Take it," Reiji said.
Dusclops still hesitated, so Reiji picked up the Reaper Cloth and tossed it over.
The instant Dusclops touched the cloth, evolution light erupted from its body.
White light flooded the small private room. Reiji and Shun both had to close their eyes, and before long, the evolution was over.
Dusclops had gone from something like a boy into a towering, two-meter brute.
Dusknoir really was huge and imposing, with that round, crimson single eye staring out from its body.
"Dusknoir… It evolved." Shun stared at it.
No matter how much he had wanted to refuse, Dusclops had already become Dusknoir.
"All right. Recall it."
Reiji smiled, stood up, and left the room.
"Rai-nii?"
By the time Shun snapped out of it and recalled Dusknoir into its Poké Ball, he rushed out after Reiji, but Reiji was already gone. Not even his back was visible.
…
Out on the street, Reiji headed back toward the Trainers' Village.
He had the contestant information now. That meant it was time to prepare for the group stage.
His Pokémon also needed to get used to their held items. Poliwrath and the others were still with Pryce at Mahogany Gym, and Reiji had no plans to call them back yet. He would bring them over the day before the matches started.
As long as there was still time, they might as well learn from Pryce for one more day. Once he recalled Poliwrath's group, he would not have another excuse to keep freeloading off the old man.
Then there was Riku and Tai entering the tournament.
One side was the Orange Archipelago's local black-ship faction. The other was a Team Rocket mole. If Team Rocket gained the upper hand later, those people would all lean toward Team Rocket.
Reiji had no clean solution for that.
This was not something he could handle. This was the League's problem.
Tell the League?
Please.
The League was not stupid. There was no way it knew nothing. If it had not acted yet, then it had its own reasons.
During breakfast, Reiji had asked Shun, A.J., and Shingo whether anyone had tried to block them in the preliminaries.
None of them had been targeted.
So only Gym Trainers were being hit.
No one dared block Shun. That part was obvious. Someone had clearly been warned.
The League was slow-boiling the problem. Some people should be grateful the League was still playing inside the rules. They should be thanking every lucky star they had.
If the League decided to tear the board in half, there would be no tournament. No games. Nothing. It would simply step in directly, and then things would get interesting.
The League was choosing rules and proxy pieces because it was still giving certain people a chance to make the right choice. If those people could not read the room and kept jumping around anyway, the grass on their graves would grow tall soon enough.
Did they really think the League had gotten too old to swing a blade?
Even if Team Rocket retreated into the Orange Archipelago later, it still would not be the League's equal. Worst case, the League would just launch another conquest war. With seven or eight regions behind it, sweeping through the Orange Archipelago would not be hard.
But none of those big-picture problems were his to solve.
Right now, his priority was simple: get back to the Trainers' Village, equip his Pokémon with their items, let them adjust, and aim for a good result in the tournament.
He did want to enter the Elite Four qualifiers.
Even if he only made the top eight, that would be enough to get his foot in the door. If he could not claim an Elite Four seat, then at least he could grab an Elite Four reserve spot and the benefits that came with it.
As for Senta's assassination, that was not urgent yet.
Cissy's father was staying close to Senta right now. Who would dare kill him under those conditions?
The real chance would come once the group stage or knockout rounds started. When Cissy's parents were busy watching his and Cissy's matches, when their guard slipped and they had no attention to spare—that would be the best time to strike.
When that happened, Reiji would place Gengar beside Senta as a bodyguard. The moment the assassin made a move, Gengar would catch them, force out the information, and then it would be Senta's turn to end up in the hospital.
After running through Senta's setup one more time, Reiji hurried back to the Trainers' Village.
He found an empty stretch of grass with no one around and released his Pokémon in small groups, three or four at a time. Then he equipped each of them with a held item at roughly the right tier.
For Slowking, that meant a quasi–Elite Four-tier Twisted Spoon.
He had not owned one before. Naoki had bought it for him while moving around the black ships during the Larvitar setup, along with several other items, and refused to take money for them.
Reiji knew Naoki was using the chance to pay him back.
Compared with Larvitar's value, a handful of items was nothing, so Reiji did not make a big deal out of it.
If anyone thought a few items were enough to match Larvitar's worth, they were dreaming.
Reiji did not think that way, and neither did Naoki. They were both adults. They both understood what those things meant. A few small gifts would not damage their relationship.
There on the empty grass, Reiji released his 11 main Pokémon and equipped all of them with items. Some had come from Naoki. None were Elite Four-tier, because even Naoki could not easily buy Elite Four-tier items.
Then he released his 11 support Pokémon and gave them matching type-boosting items too.
It was not like he could not afford it. There was no reason to shortchange his own Pokémon.
This tournament was far stronger than the Indigo Plateau Conference, so even the support Pokémon needed items.
After assigning everything, he let the Pokémon practice with their new items for a while. There were still two days before the group stage, and he planned to bring them here every day to adjust.
Once every Pokémon had its item, Reiji finally let out a breath.
Time for dinner.
There were still three main Pokémon over with Pryce. He would handle them after Poliwrath's group returned. Poliwrath's Elite Four-tier Mystic Water was already prepared. It came from the Elite Four-tier Trainer he had hunted before, the one from that cousin's family. That man had contributed three Elite Four-tier items in total.
Reiji ate a quick dinner in the cafeteria, then returned to his room.
Senta had not come back. Reiji did not ask about it. He was probably still with Cissy's father.
With Senta gone, Reiji had one more thing to handle.
He needed to pass a note to Tai, who was staying several rooms away.
Gengar was good at staying hidden, so it was perfect for delivering messages. Reiji wanted to know what was happening on Team Rocket's side.
Before long, a slip of paper appeared in the shadowy part of his bed.
Tai had replied.
According to the note, their mission was to lie low and observe the tournament contestants up close, especially Trainers from the Orange Archipelago. Team Rocket might try to recruit some of them after the tournament ended.
The last part answered Reiji's question about the preliminaries.
Sabrina had been testing him.
Tai had accepted the mission too, but by the time he went to carry it out, Reiji had already stopped fighting preliminaries.
The person who actually tested Reiji was another Team Rocket mole. Tai knew him. Back on Mandarin Island North, both of them had been gang leaders, just in charge of different gangs. Both were local Trainers from the Orange Archipelago.
In other words, that person had at least one Elite Four-tier Pokémon, just like Tai.
Now Reiji finally knew who had come after him.
As for Riku's interference, that was probably paid work from someone else. At this point, who paid him did not really matter.
After reading the note, Reiji sent another message back to Tai.
This one was about Tai's little sister.
Amber and Blaine had come here, which made this the perfect chance to move Komai. First, Tai needed to have Komai get close to Amber and become friends with her. After that, they could stage a fake chase.
The idea was basically the same as Lokoko's situation.
The goal was to have Blaine's Cinnabar Gym take Komai in, then let Blaine bring her away. She was an orphan anyway.
Itsuki was also at Cinnabar Gym. Reiji would notify him later and have him look after Tai's sister there.
One protector in the open, one in the dark. That would be enough to keep Komai safe until Tai grew strong enough to protect her himself.
When Tai received the message, he sat alone in his room, almost shaking from excitement.
His sister finally had somewhere to go.
While the Team Rocket mole sharing his room was away, Tai hurriedly wrote back to Reiji, saying he would have Komai meet Amber as soon as possible and make sure the two became friends quickly.
It had been Reiji who told him to bring his sister to the tournament in the first place.
Now, at last, he could send her somewhere safe.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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