Nobody volunteered.
The members without an Elite Four-tier Pokémon had just watched the Orange League tournament prove how wide that gap really was. Reiji himself had pushed Shingo's Scizor as far as he could with tactics, traps, and every advantage he could manufacture, yet he still had not actually defeated it. Shingo had been the one to concede.
If even Reiji had needed that much effort, challenging Naoki, A.J., Tai, or Shingo with an ordinary team would be less an act of courage than an act of stupidity.
Seeing that everyone had accepted the obvious, Reiji took out three pieces of paper and wrote 1, 2, and 3 on them. He crumpled them into balls and dropped them into an empty box.
"Naoki, A.J., Number Eight. Come draw."
Naoki looked at the box. "We're deciding the top three by luck?"
"For now." Reiji pushed it toward them. "All three of you have an Elite Four-tier Pokémon. If I make you fight seriously for placement, there's a decent chance somebody walks away with their ace too injured to use."
That would defeat the entire purpose of building a stronger organization.
"Luck counts too," Reiji continued. "Once everyone has several Elite Four-tier Pokémon and can afford to have one sitting in recovery, you can settle the rankings properly."
Naoki clearly wanted Number One, but he accepted the decision without complaint. Tai cared even less; most of his time was spent undercover in Team Rocket, so Spider's internal ranking rarely affected his daily life. If anything, having a decent number would simply make it easier to call on stronger members whenever he needed Spider to handle something he could not touch personally.
A.J. had no objections either. Sandslash had only recently reached Elite Four tier, and he knew perfectly well that he was probably the weakest of the three at the moment. Leaving the initial order to chance was hardly unfair to him.
Shingo, however, noticed a problem.
"What about me?"
Reiji looked across the table at him. "You're not drawing."
"Why not?"
"Because you're staying at the bottom."
Shingo stared at him.
Reiji smiled. "You get the seat opposite mine. If that bothers you, you're always welcome to take Number Zero from me."
"Forget it."
Shingo leaned back with a dismissive click of his tongue. He had already lost to Reiji during the tournament, and that had been before learning how much the bastard had hidden.
Publicly, Reiji already had more than one Elite Four-tier Pokémon. Spider's records added an Elite Four-tier Gengar to that list, and Shingo had now learned that members kept separate teams for public identities and covert work.
Three Elite Four-tier Pokémon that he knew of.
Probably more that he did not.
Shingo had no intention of volunteering for that particular beating.
"Good. Then draw."
Naoki went first. He reached into the box, picked one of the paper balls, and unfolded it beneath everyone's attention.
1.
A grin immediately appeared on his face.
"Naoki gets Number One," Reiji announced. "Nice pull."
A.J. went next and opened his paper much more cautiously.
3.
His shoulders sagged a little.
"Seriously? Three?"
He had gone in with a fifty-fifty chance of taking Number Two and somehow landed on the lower result.
Tai laughed softly and did not bother reaching into the box.
"Then mine's obviously Two."
"Looks that way."
With the top three settled, Reiji stood and looked toward the members who still needed to establish their order.
"Everyone else, outside."
Naoki glanced toward the windows. Rain was still falling across the villa grounds, and flashes of gold occasionally lit the heavy clouds overhead.
"Boss, we're really battling in this?"
"Eventually."
Reiji opened the front door and stepped beneath the covered entrance. Damp wind immediately swept into the villa, carrying the smell of rain with it.
"Bring me a chair first. There's something I want all of you to see."
Naoki gave him a suspicious look but went along with it. A chair was brought outside, and Reiji sat down comfortably, crossed one leg over the other, and rested his arms on the sides.
He had been waiting for a good opportunity to do this.
Spider had grown quickly. Some of its members trusted him because he had saved them, others because he had given them opportunities, and some because their goals happened to align with his.
That was useful.
A little awe would not hurt either.
Reiji put two fingers to his lips and whistled sharply into the rain.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then a cry came from somewhere above the clouds.
Everyone looked up.
A streak of gold punched through the dark sky.
The enormous bird emerged from the cloud layer with electricity crawling across its jagged feathers, every flash illuminating its body against the storm. Golden arcs snapped around its wings as it circled once above the villa, black eyes fixed on the people gathered below.
Someone near the back whispered the name first.
"Zapdos..."
That was all it took.
Recognition spread through the group at once, followed by stunned silence. Several people stepped backward instinctively, staring at the Legendary Pokémon hovering above them.
"What is Zapdos doing here?"
Nobody had an answer.
Then the clouds flashed.
"Boss, move!"
One of the members saw the electricity gathering overhead and shouted a warning as others reached for Poké Balls.
Reiji did not move.
A thick bolt of lightning tore down from the clouds and struck the villa's front yard with enough force to shake the ground. Soil and stone blasted outward, leaving a blackened crater steaming beneath the rain.
Zapdos descended through the smoke.
Its wings beat slowly as it dropped toward the courtyard, each movement driving gusts of wet air across the gathered Trainers. A few of the younger members stumbled backward, while others simply stood frozen with their hands still hovering near their Poké Balls.
Nobody was paying enough attention to notice the most important detail.
For all the spectacle, Zapdos still had not reached Elite Four tier.
"Enough showing off," Reiji called. "Come here."
Several heads snapped toward him.
Zapdos turned immediately.
Naoki, who had reflexively moved between Reiji and the Legendary Pokémon, stiffened when Reiji waved him aside. He stepped away just in time for Zapdos to cross the courtyard and stop beside Reiji's chair.
The bird glanced at the stunned crowd, apparently pleased with itself, then calmly began preening one wing.
Reiji reached over and placed a hand on its head.
The feathers were much less pleasant to touch than they looked. Electricity prickled through his fingers, and the stiff crest jabbed against his palm, but after arranging this entire spectacle, pulling his hand away with a yelp would ruin the effect.
So Reiji kept smiling.
"Zapdos. Clear the weather."
The Legendary raised its head.
With one powerful sweep of its wings, it sent a violent current of air upward into the clouds. The next beat was stronger, scattering the lower layers of gray and opening a gap high above the villa.
Moonlight broke through.
The rain weakened with astonishing speed. Heavy drops became a drizzle, the drizzle became scattered droplets, and within minutes the storm over the area had nearly vanished.
Only then did Naoki understand what had been bothering him.
They had used several Water-type Pokémon and Sou's Pelipper to create the rain around the villa, but ordinary Rain Dance should never have maintained weather this widespread for so long.
Zapdos had been up there the whole time.
Naoki slowly looked from the clearing sky to the Legendary standing obediently beside Reiji.
"Boss..."
His voice came out quieter than usual.
"That's really yours?"
Reiji scratched beneath Zapdos's crest as though having a Legendary bird beside his chair were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Naoki already knew Reiji had Darkrai.
Now there was Zapdos too.
Most Trainers could spend their entire lives without even seeing a Legendary Pokémon outside a photograph. Reiji somehow had two of them living around him, and one had just descended from a thunderstorm because he whistled.
Whatever everyone at Spider's table had thought they knew about their leader's strength, that estimate had just become badly outdated.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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