"Pay up. Ten thousand."
The gate guard stuck out an arm to block Reiji's path, palm open.
"I'm here to sign up," Reiji said to the two Poison Gang guards at the entrance.
"I don't care what you're here for. You pay, you go in. No money, no entry." The guard's face didn't twitch. No cash, no passage.
"Fine."
Reiji had no choice but to pull out 10,000 Pokédollars and hand it over. They were clearly shaking him down, and he wasn't about to try forcing his way through.
Whether you came to register or just to watch, if you wanted into the Poison Gang's base, you paid.
Only after he'd handed over the money did the two guards let him pass.
Reiji walked through the rock tunnel and stepped into the Poison Gang's base: another wide, hollowed-out cavern. Several large lamps hung from the ceiling, flooding the place with light bright as day.
Then came rows of temporary tents—not flimsy camping gear, but more like military tents from his previous life.
Besides the residential area, the camp was neatly divided into a training zone, a battle zone, a mess area, storage, and so on, all housed in the same kind of military tents.
The layout was surprisingly organized. Reiji had no intention of wandering too freely; a lot of tent doors had Poison Gang members in black uniforms posted outside. The more guards around a tent, the more valuable whatever was inside.
He didn't dare roam too deep—he had no idea which parts were off-limits.
But he did see a large crowd gathered in the battle area. There were four or five battlefields there, each ringed with shouting spectators. That was clearly a place open to everyone—probably the test those guys mentioned earlier.
"Come on! Come on!"
"Knock him out! Knock him out!"
Before he even got close, the roar of the crowd hit him. He didn't know who they were cheering for, but in Poison Gang turf, obviously all the support was going to Poison Gang.
Each of the four battlefields had several examiners in black uniforms. If they didn't rotate, it would turn into a gauntlet.
If it were a gauntlet, anyone who went later would have an easier time passing. Poison Gang couldn't be that stupid.
After half an hour of watching, Reiji realized each examiner had more than one Pokémon and took turns sending them out. Some Pokémon even went on twice—losing the first battle and winning the second.
In seven or eight matches, he also noticed that all challengers used Poison-types. Other types did appear, but only in the examiners' hands.
Anyone trying to join Poison Gang, without exception, was using a Poison-type. That had to be part of the test.
Right now, the requirements looked simple: first, you needed a Poison-type Pokémon; second, you had to beat the examiner.
Whether there was a third stage afterward, he couldn't tell yet.
He was about to leave when he spotted someone he'd been looking for in one of the arenas—a boy battling with a Grimer.
Reiji had already planned to walk away, but now he stopped. He wasn't here to join Poison Gang. He already suspected this place might be a Team Rocket base; no reason to jump into the fire pit.
But the kid using Grimer caught his eye—because that boy was the young bartender he'd been searching for. He hadn't expected to find him here, and trying to join Team Rocket on top of that.
Reiji had no intention of warning him. They weren't family, they weren't friends. Why should he tell the kid this was basically Team Rocket territory?
He just found it interesting. The kid didn't look like the quiet type after all, if he'd come up with the idea of joining Poison Gang.
As a local working in a harbor bar of all places, how could he not sense the rising gunpowder in the underground black market? And he still chose to join a gang now of all times.
"…Huh?"
Reiji suddenly realized this might be his opportunity. A juicy one.
With Poison Gang and Storm Gang joining forces to surround Rock Gang, all he had to do was join any one side to make a profit. He could quietly run some black-on-black robberies in the chaos and frame the other gangs.
That way, he could keep ramping up the conflict until it exploded into full-scale war—and then swoop in for the spoils.
By "spoils," he didn't mean skimming some leftovers off the battlefield or playing sneak-attacker on the fringes. He meant going straight for the big prize: looting the warehouses of all three gangs—the private vaults of the three gang bosses.
That was just how he was. Sometimes too careful, sometimes willing to go all in. For Gastly's sake, he was ready to gamble. The funding gap this time was huge; he needed at least hundreds of millions.
He'd already decided he wasn't going to play it safe. Not this round. He could go back to playing it safe after this big score.
Without Darkrai, he wouldn't even dare think this way. But he'd just caught Darkrai last night. Tonight, he ran into a gang recruitment drive. That felt like fate handing him a golden chance.
Just thinking about the combined assets of the three gangs—at least three hundred million Pokédollars, probably more—was enough to make his worries about Gastly's resource consumption disappear.
Without Darkrai, he really wouldn't have the guts. But Darkrai could slip through shadows and scout out every corner of these camps.
Once Darkrai had mapped out all three gang bases, it would be time for Reiji's big feast.
When the three gangs were tearing each other apart, that was when he'd move in, muddy the waters, grab what he wanted, then go underground and disappear. Nobody would ever find him.
To pull this off without leaving a trace, he had to become a member of the Poison Gang. Only from inside could Darkrai explore freely, and only then could he stir up conflict between the three gangs from an "official" position.
If he didn't join any of them and just ambushed members from the outside, it was entirely possible all three factions would decide to deal with the "small fry" troublemaker before they fought each other.
And it wasn't just Poison Gang. He could also join Storm Gang; he specialized in Water-types and would fit into that gang easily. As for Rock Gang, he could join with Rhyhorn.
If he did all that, he'd be a triple agent. That would test his acting skills for real.
But he was only one person. If he disappeared for too long from any one side, or kept asking for leave, suspicion would eventually follow.
Given that Poison Gang and Storm Gang had already allied, he only really needed to join Rock Gang. That alone would make him a double agent.
Even if he didn't officially join the other two gangs, he could always disguise himself as a Rock Gang member and attack Poison Gang underlings, creating bloody incidents between the three gangs.
Besides Rock Gang, the other two wouldn't lift a finger over this kind of thing. Especially not Poison Gang, which was almost certainly tied to Team Rocket—they wanted to unify the underground market and would be happy to see more bloodshed.
So far, the plan didn't exceed what he considered doable. All he had to do was carry it out step by step. His first priority now was to join the Poison Gang standing in front of him.
First, become a Poison Gang member so he could stir up bloody conflicts between the three gangs.
Second, have Darkrai map out all three bases, so robbing them later would be easier.
Third, that was where Gastly would come in…
"Darkrai, is a backpack really a no-go?" Reiji asked quietly from within the crowd, sounding out Darkrai. He'd been thinking about letting Darkrai use a backpack to carry loot.
"No. I can't take other things into the shadows with me," Darkrai's voice echoed in his mind.
Reiji's original idea had been to have Darkrai slip into the base with a backpack and steal things. But the backpack was a physical object and couldn't enter the shadows; only Darkrai itself could move through them.
So his thoughts turned to Gastly—or more precisely, what came after Gastly: Gengar, with its own "four-dimensional pocket."
Gengar could also move through shadows. Add its ability to phase through walls and that four-dimensional pocket, and it would be the perfect thief.
One problem, though—if Gastly evolved into Gengar, could it still devolve? If not, things got complicated. Gastly's potential wasn't maxed out yet; he didn't dare rush the evolution.
Evolving into Gengar wasn't a normal evolution either—it was a trade evolution. He wasn't sure Gastly could forcibly evolve into Gengar, and he wasn't sure Gengar could go back to Gastly. All of that would need testing.
If Gastly could evolve into Gengar, then in theory it should be able to devolve again. In the dream world that worked. Reality was a different story.
Still, the Gastly problem could wait. Worst case, he could try reversing the evolution wave that triggered trade evolution. That might produce the same effect.
For now, he had to focus on the immediate issue: how to get into this gang.
He'd skip the harbor's black ships for now. He'd changed his mind. Black ships? Black-on-black robberies? How much money was in that? Nothing compared to looting three gang bosses' private vaults.
He had three Poison-types. Gastly was never showing its face. Croagunk wasn't suited either; revealing it right now would be too abrupt and suspicious for a "newbie"—Croagunk was far more valuable than Spinarak.
That left only Spinarak. The masked people had all seen him with a Spinarak; even the young bartender knew about it. Croagunk, on the other hand, almost nobody knew existed. Perfect for keeping hidden as long as possible.
He needed to use his Poison-type Spinarak to defeat one of the examiners on the battlefield. The young bartender had just used Grimer to beat an examiner's Weepinbell.
Pinned down by Grimer's sludge, Weepinbell never got up again. Overwhelmed by the stench, it passed out, and the kid passed the Poison Gang test.
After that, the examiner on that field had no challengers.
Registration here was simple: step onto the field, and you were signed up. The sign-up fee was already paid.
The battle that followed was the test. Beat the examiner and you passed. Lose, and you went to the sidelines.
With nobody stepping forward, the examiners were about to wrap up and leave when Reiji finally walked out.
"Kid, made me wait this long. You ready to get your face smashed in?"
The brawny man in black had a short fuse. He'd been looking forward to calling it a night, and now this kid stepped up to drag things out.
"Spinarak, let's go."
Reiji didn't answer him. No matter what he said now, it wouldn't change the fact that the man was already pissed.
"Don't think showing up last means the test will be easier," the man sneered. "I'll show you what happens when you annoy me."
He wanted to make sure Reiji understood exactly what "strength rules" and "respect your seniors" meant here. In this place, only power mattered.
Thump.
He hurled his Poké Ball, and the Pokémon that emerged made the cavern itself tremble: Nidoqueen.
A wave of murmurs rose from the crowd.
"Seriously? That thing's over the limit. Everyone else only got second-stage evolutions, and he sends out a Nidoqueen?"
"Hey, that's what you get for bad timing. Showing up now? Of course he's getting hammered."
The sudden change on Reiji's field drew the attention of many masked onlookers, including the young bartender who'd just passed his own test.
The bartender recognized Reiji immediately. That mysterious man who had approached him before—what was he doing here? With his strength, there was no way he'd come to be a bottom-rung thug.
Before the kid could think it through, Reiji's battle had already begun.
"Nidoqueen…"
The moment he saw it, Reiji knew the brawny man was probably a squad leader. Having an Elite squad leader administer his test? That was definitely "too much respect."
But this was a gang. Their moods turned on a dime.
If the guy had a grudge, it was completely imaginary as far as Reiji was concerned.
They didn't dare vent on superiors who gave the orders, so they vented on rookies. In the end, they were all just bullies who picked on the weak and feared the strong.
"Spinarak, be careful."
Reiji warned his Spinarak and waited for Nidoqueen to make the first move. Spinarak and Nidoqueen weren't even in the same weight class. If it wanted to win, it had to outthink, not overpower.
"Nidoqueen, Fire Punch!"
If the man was going to bully someone, he would bully hard—with type advantage. He wanted Reiji to experience real despair. He planned to kill that Spinarak right here.
Thud, thud, thud—
Nidoqueen's heavy steps shook the ground as it charged.
"Spinarak, String Shot, glue up Nidoqueen's feet!" Reiji called.
"Won't work. Nidoqueen, use Fire Punch to swat it away!" the man snapped, instantly changing his command.
Nidoqueen skidded to a halt and swung its flaming fist, knocking aside most of the web strands. A few still stuck to its feet.
"Spinarak, jump on and use Absorb!"
The moment Reiji saw Nidoqueen focus on burning off the webbing, he ordered Spinarak to move in.
"Nidoqueen, knock it off!" the man barked again.
Spinarak was simply too fast. It leapt onto Nidoqueen's back as the big Pokémon bent forward, and by the time Nidoqueen straightened and tried to swat, it was too late. Its arms couldn't reach.
"Spinarak, keep using String Shot—wrap its ankles."
"Spii~tah!"
Spinarak's Absorb tugged a big glob of green energy out of Nidoqueen's body. At the same time, hearing Reiji's order, it kept spitting silk down toward Nidoqueen's heels.
"Nidoqueen, ignore the bug and deal with the web!"
The man was starting to panic. Watching Nidoqueen fail to touch Spinarak and get its strength drained over and over, he knew that if it didn't get rid of the web, it'd be worn down to nothing.
At his command, Nidoqueen stopped caring about the pest on its back and focused both Fire Punches on burning away the silk around its feet.
Reiji didn't sit still either.
"Spinarak, go for the eyes…"
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]