Tai stared at Zapdos from behind his mask, grateful that nobody could see the expression underneath.
A Legendary Pokémon.
Reiji had actually caught and raised a Zapdos.
Whatever doubts Tai might once have had about which side of his life deserved his loyalty disappeared a little further. Team Rocket could keep its internal politics and endless power struggles. Following Reiji was looking better by the day.
A.J. was just as shaken. Years ago, during his time as a Pokémon hunter, he had once glimpsed a Zapdos from a great distance during a violent thunderstorm. Watching the Legendary bird command lightning had left such a deep impression on him that he still remembered the scene clearly.
Now one was calmly standing beside his boss.
Sou reacted differently.
He had grown up in a fishing village where older people still blamed terrible storms on angry gods and warned children never to offend whatever controlled the thunder. Some of the more superstitious villagers even left offerings whenever the weather became especially violent.
Sou knew better now. What his village called divine wrath was usually just the work of overwhelmingly powerful Pokémon.
That did not make seeing one up close any less intimidating.
He stared at Zapdos with a mixture of awe and reverence, barely stopping himself from falling into the same old habits he had grown up around. The so-called thunder god from his childhood was standing right there, and Reiji was scratching it on the head.
Gulzar knew enough about Legendary Pokémon to understand the significance immediately. He was not especially afraid now that Zapdos had clearly accepted Reiji, but respect was another matter entirely. Even the wind from a casual beat of its wings pulled at his clothes, and the electricity lingering in the air made his skin prickle.
Daishi glanced toward Naoki and felt increasingly embarrassed by some of the complaints he had made in the past. He had once resented seeing his older brother following someone else, unable to understand why Naoki would willingly place himself beneath another Trainer.
Looking at Reiji now, with Zapdos standing beside him, Daishi finally understood.
His gaze drifted toward Gai outside in the rain.
Fortunately, he had never been stupid enough to voice those complaints in front of Reiji.
Keith and Miki were perhaps the most overwhelmed of all.
Both favored Flying-types, and to Trainers like them, a Legendary bird was almost the ultimate dream. Zapdos was notoriously difficult even to approach, much less capture and raise as a partner, yet Reiji had somehow done exactly that.
"Keith... you're seeing this too, right?" Miki asked quietly.
"Yeah."
Neither looked away.
Miki's family had also passed down traditions centered around Flying-type Pokémon, and catching one of the great Legendary birds had long been treated as the sort of achievement that could validate generations of training. Nobody in her family had ever managed it.
Reiji had.
Remembering how aggressively she had confronted him earlier made her embarrassment worse. She had already decided she owed him an apology, and the sight of Zapdos only strengthened that resolve.
Shun's reaction was simpler. He stared at Reiji with open admiration, feeling the same sense of security he always had around him, only stronger now. Spider, the hidden network Reiji had built, the Elite Four-tier Pokémon he had accumulated, and now a Legendary Pokémon—every new piece made his older brother seem even more impossible to measure.
Itsuki tightened his grip around Bagon's Poké Ball.
So that was why Reiji had never shown any interest in taking Bagon from him.
Itsuki had worried for a long time that Reiji simply did not want to say what he really thought, and he had even prepared himself for the possibility of giving Bagon up if his boss ever asked.
Clearly, that fear had been pointless.
A man with Zapdos did not need to covet his Bagon.
More importantly, having someone this powerful at the center of Spider made Itsuki's own future look considerably safer. Escaping the mess surrounding Team Rocket no longer felt like an impossible dream.
Shingo watched more quietly than the others.
"So that's your real trump card..."
He had already understood why Reiji could sit comfortably at the head of the table and invite anyone to challenge him, but Zapdos made the answer even clearer.
Shingo rubbed his chin as he studied him.
Reiji possessed enough strength to attract powerful Trainers, yet he had gathered a strangely specific collection of people around himself—former criminals, victims, infiltrators, orphans, and Trainers with unfinished business.
Shingo was becoming increasingly curious about what Reiji ultimately intended to build with them.
Reiji let everyone stare for a while longer before deciding the demonstration had done its job.
"Zapdos, come back."
The Legendary bird disappeared into its Poké Ball without resistance.
Reiji snapped his fingers and looked toward the seven members who still needed new rankings.
"All right. Show's over. You seven draw lots for the first round. One lucky person gets a bye."
The group finally pulled themselves out of their shock and crowded around the box. Rain had already soaked several of them during Zapdos's entrance, but nobody seemed interested in complaining about wet clothes anymore.
Sou, Gulzar, Daishi, Keith, Shun, Itsuki, and Miki drew in turn.
Gulzar unfolded his paper and immediately grinned.
"Bye. Nice."
The others gave him envious looks before turning their attention toward their own matches.
The first pairing was Miki against Sou.
Miki's Flying-types took control almost immediately, staying out of reach and attacking from above. Sou tried to force them closer, but his Pokémon never found a reliable way to pin them down, and Miki gradually wore them out from range.
By the time the match ended, Sou was visibly disappointed, while Miki turned toward Keith and slapped his raised hand in celebration.
The second match put Shun against Daishi.
Daishi tried to create a defensive battle with Rock-types and sturdy barriers, but Shun refused to let him settle into that rhythm. His Pokémon pushed aggressively through the terrain, and his injured Primeape smashed apart one of the barriers Daishi had hoped to use as cover.
Shun's command of the pace eventually decided the battle.
Daishi accepted the loss without complaint and offered his hand afterward.
"You're strong. No excuses from me."
Shun shook it. "Your team's good too."
The third match was Itsuki against Keith.
That pairing was particularly ugly for Keith. His Flying-types were still carrying injuries from protecting Miki during their escape, while Itsuki opened with Ampharos and immediately exploited the type advantage.
Keith's Pokémon tried to dodge and drag the fight out, but their injuries made their movements noticeably slower. Ampharos kept the pressure on until Keith finally ran out of room to recover.
Itsuki won cleanly.
Keith sighed as he recalled his Pokémon. "Bad timing for this."
"You'll get another chance," Itsuki said. "They fought hard when it actually mattered. That counts for more."
After the first round, four Trainers remained in contention for the highest spots among the lower-ranked members: Shun, Itsuki, Miki, and Gulzar.
Sou, Daishi, and Keith would settle the lower three positions separately.
Reiji turned toward Shingo.
"You handle those three. We'll mark out another area for them."
Shingo gave him a look that said he had noticed how quickly his new job had begun, but he accepted the assignment and took Sou, Daishi, and Keith away to organize their matches.
The remaining four drew again.
Shun got Itsuki.
Miki got Gulzar.
Miki's match was the more straightforward of the two. Her Flying-types had a strong natural advantage over Gulzar's Grass team, and she knew exactly how to use it. She maintained altitude, denied him favorable exchanges, and repeatedly forced his Pokémon to fight from bad positions.
Gulzar did everything he could to adapt, but the matchup never truly came back under his control.
Miki advanced again.
Keith was waiting nearby, and she immediately celebrated with another high-five, looking more like an ordinary girl enjoying a tournament than the exhausted fugitive who had arrived at the villa earlier that day.
Gulzar could only smile ruefully.
"You're good. Congratulations."
Shun and Itsuki produced a much closer match.
Both had strong teams and enough experience to punish mistakes, so neither could simply overwhelm the other with an obvious matchup advantage. Shun rotated between Poliwrath and Infernape, while Itsuki's team answered aggressively enough to keep the battle competitive from beginning to end.
Moves crossed the field in rapid exchanges, with neither side gaining control for long.
Eventually, Shun's coordination and timing gave him the edge. He created one clean opening, converted it into momentum, and held onto it long enough to secure the win.
Itsuki accepted the result easily.
"That was a good battle. You earned it."
Shun smiled. "You made me work for it."
That left Shun and Miki fighting for the highest available position.
Miki's confidence dipped the moment Shun sent out Electivire and Dusknoir.
It was a miserable pairing for a Trainer who specialized in Flying-types. Electivire brought overwhelming Electric pressure, while Dusknoir invalidated many of the Normal-type options commonly available to Flying Pokémon.
Miki tried to use mobility again, but this time the battlefield gave her nowhere safe to control the pace. Electivire kept threatening from range while Dusknoir covered the gaps, gradually squeezing away her options.
Shun won the final and claimed the highest open ranking beneath Reiji, Naoki, Tai, and A.J.
Miki took the loss well.
"Your team's strong. Congratulations."
Shun was still celebrating when Gulzar and Itsuki began their own placement battle, this one deciding the next two positions.
Itsuki brought out two Fire-types.
Gulzar took one look at them and knew exactly how unpleasant the match was about to become.
His Grass-types struggled from the opening exchange. Itsuki kept them under constant pressure with Fire-type attacks, never allowing Gulzar enough breathing room to build a proper counterattack.
Itsuki eventually took the win, leaving Gulzar to accept the lower position with an exhausted laugh.
"Next time."
"I'll be waiting."
By the time every bracket had finished, Spider's new ranking structure was finally settled.
Reiji remained Number Zero.
Naoki held Number One, Tai Number Two, and A.J. Number Three. Beneath them, the rest of Spider had been reordered through actual matches rather than the old numbers they had accumulated over time.
The organization that had begun with only Reiji and Naoki now looked very different.
More members.
Stronger Trainers.
Better structure.
And for the first time, something close to an actual chain of command.
Spider had changed.
The next time the outside world saw it, they would not be dealing with the same organization as before.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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