"What are we doing with the traitor?"
Naoki shot to his feet so abruptly that his chair scraped across the floor. He glared at Gai with open disgust, hands clenched at his sides.
Few things angered him more than betrayal. He had already suffered through it once when he led the Rock Gang in Trovitopolis, and now Spider had been hit by the same thing. The man everyone had been trying to contact for days had not disappeared because he was in trouble; he had been busy trying to sell them out.
Aya was different. Naoki still refused to believe she had willingly betrayed him after everything between them. Whatever had happened, she had to have been forced into it.
If Reiji could hear that particular train of thought, he probably would have called Naoki a hopeless simp and left it at that. At least Reiji's own relationship with Cissy came with affection, companionship, and a future tied to Mikan Gym. Naoki had somehow managed to suffer all the disadvantages of devotion while collecting almost none of the benefits.
Thankfully, Reiji could not hear him.
"Gai can wait," he said, waving the question aside. His attention returned to Shingo. "You understand the masks now. So what do you think? Still want in?"
Shingo looked around the table once more before settling on the empty chair opposite Reiji.
The recording had revealed enough names for him to grasp just how deep Spider's network went. Reiji had people connected to the Orange Archipelago, the League, and even Team Rocket. Whatever Spider eventually intended to become, it was clearly far more organized than the criminal group Shingo had imagined from the rumors.
And that empty chair had been reserved specifically for him.
The whole thing was suspicious, dangerous, and far more interesting than it had any right to be.
"All right," Shingo said at last. "I'll join. But I have one condition. If I'm sitting at this table, I want to know who most of the people behind those masks actually are."
Then he walked to the far end of the table and took the seat Reiji had saved for him.
There was no hesitation in Reiji's answer.
"Fair enough."
He clapped once and looked to the chair nearest him.
"Number One. Naoki, start us off."
Naoki removed his pale mask.
"I'm Naoki. Gai was telling the truth about me. I used to lead the Rock Gang in Trovitopolis."
His tone remained matter-of-fact as he continued. "Things went bad underground, and most of my Pokémon died during the fighting. I escaped the city, met Boss afterward, and eventually joined Spider. I mostly train Rock- and Water-types now, and my strongest Pokémon is an Elite Four-tier Flygon."
A.J. went next, lifting the mask marked with a 2 from his face.
"I'm A.J. I'm from Kanto, and I used to be a Pokémon hunter."
He gave Shingo a crooked smile. "Other hunters came after me around Mt. Moon. They nearly got me too. Boss happened to show up before they finished the job, and I've been with Spider ever since."
A.J. leaned back in his chair. "My team's a mess of different types, so I won't bore you with the whole list. The important part is Sandslash. It's Elite Four tier and still my ace."
Number Three practically tore off his mask.
"I'm Sou!"
His voice carried across the entire room.
Sou scratched his messy hair and grinned. "I'm a fisherman from Mikan Island. I met Rai-nii because of a job posted at a Pokémon Center. He's helped me a lot since then, and my parents always told me never to forget what he's done for our family."
His grin faded into something far more serious.
"If anybody tries to hurt Rai-nii, they'll have to get through me first. I mostly train Water-types. No Elite Four-tier Pokémon yet."
Several people around the table coughed into their hands.
Sou looked around, confused.
With Reiji's current strength, the idea of Sou protecting him sounded more like aggressive flattery than a practical security plan. The problem was that Sou meant every word of it, which made teasing him difficult.
Reiji rubbed his forehead. That was exactly the sort of thing the idiot would say.
Gulzar removed the mask marked 5 next.
"I'm Gulzar. What Gai said about me was true too. I'm a Trainer from Kumquat Gym."
His voice became quieter as he continued.
"I ended up there because of something that happened years ago. A poaching group captured me and killed my first Pokémon, Oddish, right in front of me."
His hand tightened against the table.
"Travis was captured by the same group. We met while we were prisoners, and Rai-nii eventually found us and got us out. That's how I ended up at Kumquat Gym, and it's also why I'm here."
Gulzar paused before adding, "I specialize in Grass-types. I haven't reached Elite Four tier yet."
Daishi removed Number Six.
"I'm Daishi, Naoki's younger brother."
He had the same heavy build as Naoki, though his expression was much less relaxed.
"I lost an underground fight and got taken prisoner. Every Pokémon I had at the time died. Later, when the League started cracking down on the local underground groups, I escaped from a mine and found my brother again."
He gave Shingo a small nod.
"I train Rock-types. No Elite Four-tier Pokémon yet."
Keith was next.
"I'm Keith."
He scratched the side of his face, visibly embarrassed by what he was about to admit.
"I used to steal for a living. Then I stole from the wrong people and got caught by a poaching group. They used my Pokémon as leverage and forced me to keep stealing for them."
Keith glanced toward Reiji.
"I tried to steal from Rai-nii on Evolution Mountain and got caught. I thought I was finished, but instead of turning me over to Officer Jenny, he helped me get away from the poachers. Later, he sent me to the Orange Archipelago to stay with Naoki, and that's how I joined Spider."
His posture straightened slightly.
"I mostly train Flying-types. No Elite Four-tier Pokémon yet."
Miki stared at him.
She had known Keith was an orphan and understood that he owed Reiji something, but she had never heard the full story. Suddenly, his absolute refusal to abandon this place made far more sense.
Reiji had not merely given Keith somewhere to stay. He had been the person who pulled him out of a life where everyone stronger than him either used him or threatened what little he still had.
Remembering how she had behaved earlier left Miki more than a little embarrassed. She quietly decided that once the evening was over, she owed Keith—and probably Reiji too—an apology.
Tai started to reach for his mask.
"I'm—"
"Number Eight stays anonymous," Reiji said.
Tai stopped and sat back down without complaint.
His position inside Team Rocket was simply too sensitive to spread around, even among people Reiji trusted. One careless leak could ruin years of work and possibly get Tai killed.
Shingo frowned slightly, but he did not object. Tai was the man who had saved his life, and nothing during their time together had given Shingo reason to distrust him.
Shun tried next.
"I'm—"
"Number Nine too."
Shun blinked, then nodded.
His connection to Bruno made him another special case. If he continued growing under an Elite Four member, his future value to Spider could be enormous, which was exactly why Reiji had no intention of making his identity common knowledge.
Shingo studied Number Nine with renewed curiosity. If Reiji was protecting his identity as carefully as Tai's, there was clearly more to the boy than appearances suggested.
Reiji turned toward Itsuki before he could even begin.
"And Number Ten stays masked as well."
Itsuki had perhaps the messiest position of anyone at the table. His connections ran through the League, Team Rocket, Spider, and Cinnabar Gym, while his father had spent years balancing similarly tangled loyalties of his own. Revealing that web to everyone in one sitting would create more problems than it solved.
Three consecutive exceptions were enough that Reiji owed Shingo an explanation.
"I know what this looks like," he said. "But I can personally guarantee all three of them. Number Eight already proved what he was willing to risk for you. Nine and Ten are people I trust just as much. Their identities are hidden because exposing them would interfere with what they're doing, not because I expect you to trust strangers forever."
Shingo held Reiji's gaze for a few seconds before nodding.
That was enough for now.
Reiji finally turned toward Spider's newest member.
Miki removed her mask.
"I'm Miki. I'm from Johto."
She looked worn after weeks of running and barely sleeping, but her voice held steady.
"My family used to be well-off. Then a gang took everything from us. They seized our businesses, killed my parents and the rest of my family, and left me as the only one who got away."
Her jaw tightened.
"I fled to the Orange Archipelago, but the people after me followed. When I thought they were finally going to catch me, Keith stepped in and helped me escape."
Miki glanced toward him before facing Shingo again.
"That's how I ended up here. I mostly train Flying-types, and I don't have an Elite Four-tier Pokémon yet."
Reiji listened without interrupting. Her version matched what Naoki had already told him closely enough.
Once she finished, he looked toward Shingo.
"Well?"
For a moment, nobody else spoke. Most of the table had now revealed both their names and the parts of their past they rarely discussed openly, and everyone was waiting to see whether Shingo still intended to stay after hearing what kind of people Spider had gathered.
Shingo smiled instead.
"Someone's missing."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
Shingo looked directly at him.
"Everyone from Number One through Eleven has either introduced themselves or had you explain why they can't. But Number Zero hasn't said anything."
That got the rest of the table's attention.
He was right.
They all knew Reiji was Spider's leader and that he was connected to Mikan Gym, but very few of them had ever heard him sit down and explain his own history the way he had just asked everyone else to do.
One by one, heads turned toward the end of the table.
Reiji found himself facing an entire room of expectant masks.
Apparently, Shingo's first contribution to Spider was putting the boss on the spot.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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