If he needed a higher-level ID card, Reiji already knew where to look.
The captain from earlier.
Gengar had memorized the man's scent, so Reiji had it lead the way. They found him in the cafeteria, eating a late-night meal.
The moment Reiji walked in, the whole room turned to look at him.
Word had already spread. A rookie who had been keeping his head down, trying to climb from the bottom one step at a time, had finally snapped after some idiot pushed him too far. The idiot had paid for it.
When Reiji headed straight for the captain, everyone moved aside. They all understood what this looked like. He had beaten a squad leader, so he had the right to seek a place under a captain.
Reiji stopped in front of the man and kept his mouth shut.
The less he said, the less chance he had of exposing himself.
"Captain," he said quietly.
The captain set down his spoon and stood. "Come with me."
He left the cafeteria without looking back. Someone else would clean up his tray.
Only after they reached the corridor did he speak again.
"Obara, right? Your Pokémon are Golbat, Weezing, Rattata, and Beedrill. Your starter's not bad. The rest are trash. If you want to become a squad leader under me, go to the warehouse and claim a new Pokémon first."
"Uh?"
Reiji had already been preparing to move. Then the captain handed him an ID card, and he stopped.
All right. He could listen first.
"My unit still has spare Pokémon slots," the captain said, walking ahead. "Return the card tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Captain."
Reiji stopped where he was and watched the man walk away.
He turned the ID card over in his hand.
That had been far easier than expected.
So Team Rocket wasn't completely heartless after all. As long as you were strong enough, suddenly everyone around you became reasonable.
The real Obara wasn't around to enjoy that kindness. Reiji had already buried him.
No strength, no future. Especially not in Team Rocket.
If Reiji hadn't exploded earlier and made himself look useful, he never would have received this kind of treatment, much less gotten the captain's ID card so easily.
Handing over the card like this had basically bought the captain his life. The man didn't seem worried that "Obara" would run off with it, either. Team Rocket members probably couldn't leave the base that easily, and one night wasn't enough for someone like Obara to cause trouble.
Unfortunately for him, Reiji wasn't Obara.
And Krystal had already called the police. The League should move tonight. Zapdos had been captured; if the League ignored that, something would be seriously wrong.
With that in mind, Reiji used the captain's ID card to enter the core section of the base. He took the elevator underground and opened the warehouse where Team Rocket kept captured Pokémon.
The moment he entered, his eyes went straight to the cages holding Zapdos and Raikou.
It was his first time seeing either Legendary this close.
Both were locked up, with needles and cables attached to their bodies. Researchers in white coats walked around them, occasionally prodding them with rods.
Zapdos and Raikou growled in protest, but that was all they could do. Their bodies were limp, drained of strength, and some strange signal seemed to be keeping them half-asleep.
"You there. What are you doing in the research warehouse?"
There were Rocket security guards on night duty here too. One look at Reiji's stunned face told them he was new. Suspicious personnel, even their own, still had to be checked.
"My captain sent me to collect a Pokémon from the warehouse."
Reiji hurried over and handed them the captain's ID card.
The guard checked the card, took out a communicator, and messaged the owner. Not long after, he received confirmation and gave the card back.
"This isn't logistics. Leave quickly. Stay to the side, don't get in the researchers' way, and go claim your Pokémon from logistics."
"Understood."
Reiji took the card and followed the signs along the side of the corridor.
On the way, he passed the research area holding the red Gyarados.
He couldn't help stopping for a moment.
Researchers were pulling off red scales. Tubes of red blood ran into containers. Samples were being sliced and processed.
He watched until someone urged him to move on.
The corridor was lined with research rooms, each one dedicated to a different Pokémon experiment. And there, for the first time, Reiji saw the evolution signal at work.
Behind a glass wall, a Magikarp thrashed around in a testing chamber. The signal hit it, and its body grew violently, stretching upward in seconds until it became a five- or six-meter Gyarados.
The instant evolution finished, Gyarados opened its mouth and began gathering energy against the glass cage.
Before the attack could fire, the collar around its neck released a surge of high-voltage electricity. Gyarados convulsed, went stiff with paralysis, and collapsed with its eyes rolled back.
It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Not red this time.
So the red Gyarados was still a matter of probability.
Reiji kept walking and soon passed another research room.
Inside, a Lotad was hit by the same evolution signal. Before the blue of its body could fade, it evolved all the way into a blue Ludicolo.
Reiji stared.
So that was what Team Rocket was doing.
They weren't just mass-producing evolved Pokémon.
They were also mass-producing artificial shinies.
If the signal affected enough Pokémon, shiny-looking variants would become common. These weren't natural shiny Pokémon. Their bodies were evolving so fast that they kept the colors of their earlier forms.
The red Gyarados still had Magikarp's red scales.
The blue Ludicolo still had Lotad's blue body.
And if the same thing happened to the Mareep line, you could get an Ampharos that kept Flaaffy's pink skin or Mareep's blue skin instead of turning yellow.
Different colors alone would make those Pokémon sell for a fortune. Reiji almost had to admire the business model. Change color, sell it as new. No need to touch the base model.
Then Reiji reached the room that truly stopped him.
Electivire.
It was locked into a metal apparatus by the two cable-like tails on its back. Thick power lines ran from the device, the same kind he had seen beside the cages holding Zapdos and Raikou.
The machine started up.
Golden light surged through Electivire's tails. Blue-white sparks burst violently between the two horns on its head.
That was what Electivire looked like when fully charged.
No, more than fully charged.
It was overloaded. Even the lights in the corridor flickered from the strain.
"It's in pain," Lokoko said, appearing beside Reiji. She looked through the glass at Electivire. With her psychic power, she could feel how hard it was enduring the process.
"They're insane," Reiji muttered. "They're forcing Legendary Pokémon electricity into it."
He understood the purpose of this room now.
Team Rocket was using Zapdos and Raikou's power to push Electivire's potential, trying to make it evolve again.
That was basically Mega Evolution.
Except in the official world he remembered, Electivire didn't have a Mega Evolution. At least, it hadn't received one before he crossed over.
But this was a real Pokémon world. Game rules didn't necessarily define everything.
Pokémon researchers here had a theory: Mega Evolution was a kind of atavism.
They believed Mega Evolution might return Pokémon to an ancient form. At some point, possibly because of insufficient energy or some other reason, Pokémon had regressed into the third-stage forms known today, instead of retaining those ancient Mega forms.
The discovery of Mega Evolution had only strengthened that idea.
Researchers had even found an Aerodactyl in a Mega-Evolved state while it was halfway through degeneration. That discovery had helped them study Mega Evolution in depth.
"Should we help it?" Lokoko asked.
She could feel Electivire's voltage rising fast. It was close to bursting. If nothing changed, the energy inside it would tear it apart.
"We can't."
Reiji sighed.
If he caused a commotion now, it might ruin whatever operation the League was preparing. He didn't even know what their plan was, but if he interfered and the League traced the mess back to him, he would be the one taking the blame.
Besides, there were too many Pokémon here.
Even Legendary Pokémon had been chained up by Team Rocket. What was he supposed to do by himself? He couldn't save them all.
The helplessness sat heavy in his chest.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to keep walking.
His foot had barely lifted when the entire floor shook.
The lights overhead went out.
Reiji lost his balance and hit the ground.
A shrieking alarm tore through the base. Red warning lights flashed across the walls, and Rockets rushed past him one after another.
"Intruders! Intruders detected!"
"Teams One and Two, move the Legendaries! Team Three, move the other test subjects! Teams Four through Seven, hold off the intruders and buy time for the transfer teams!"
Intruders.
Reiji turned back toward Electivire, which was still being charged.
Its body had already changed.
Its limbs had grown thicker. Its whole frame was larger. The horns on its head had reverted to the plug-like shape of Elekid's.
The black marking on its chest, once shaped like a number one, had turned into the lightning pattern Elekid had on its own chest. Its black-and-yellow fur was growing wildly, with hints of gold starting to spread through it.
Most striking of all were the two cable-like tails.
They had changed from black cables with red tips into golden cables with blue tips.
Electivire had endured the power of two Legendaries until now, even with its body on the edge of rupturing.
This was a chance.
That was Zapdos and Raikou's electricity.
More than enough for Magneton's evolution.
Once the thought formed, Reiji moved.
He had Lokoko and Gengar cover him. First, Gengar destroyed the cameras inside the lab and out in the corridor. Then Reiji slipped through the open door into Electivire's research room.
Several researchers were still inside, packing data.
The moment Reiji and Lokoko entered, the researchers fell under her illusion. Each grabbed an unfinished briefcase and followed the evacuation group out like nothing had happened.
Once the room was empty, Reiji shut the door.
Gengar spread shadows across the lab, blocking the room from view.
Reiji threw out Magneton's Poké Ball, along with the magnetic armor for its evolution and a pile of Electric- and Steel-type resources.
There were three high-grade Thunder Stones, a large supply of Electric Gems, plenty of lower-grade Thunder Stones, and a heap of Steel Gems.
Only Steel Gems. No metal.
Metal would add weight, and there was no need for that with the magnetic armor.
Reiji had Magneton put on the magnetic armor, then sent it into the electric field around Electivire. He threw the three Thunder Stones in after it, and they struck Magneton's body.
Electric Gems and Steel Gems rose under Magneton's psychic control, attaching themselves around it.
A blinding light erupted.
"Magneton!" Reiji shouted. "Absorb Electivire's electricity and use it to evolve!"
"Mag!"
Magneton cried out.
The Legendary current hit Magneton like a flood. It tried to draw the power in, but the voltage was far beyond what it could handle. Its awareness slipped away almost at once, leaving only the pull of evolution behind.
After that, only evolution remained.
Bang.
Something moved inside Reiji's backpack.
A Poké Ball opened on its own, and Zapdos emerged—the same Zapdos that had spent more than twenty days transforming by the lake.
The moment it appeared, it shot straight toward the lightning raging around Electivire and Magneton.
"Zapdos?"
By the time Reiji noticed, it was already too late.
Zapdos had released itself and thrown itself into that deathtrap. Reiji instinctively started forward, but Gengar dragged him back.
Boom.
The instant he was pulled away, Electivire's charging equipment exploded.
The blast hurled Reiji backward and slammed him into the wall.
The entire Electivire lab buckled inward, then blew apart. The ceiling ripped open, smoke poured upward, and the night sky appeared above the ruined base.
"Cough… cough…"
Reiji waved dust away from his face.
He hadn't been injured. When the explosion hit, Gengar's psychic power wrapped around him, and both Gengar and Lokoko had used Protect in front of him to block the worst of it.
But this was no time to rest.
He rushed to the center of the blast and found three Pokémon lying in the crater.
Electivire.
Magnezone.
And Zapdos, now completely changed.
Reiji recalled all three into Poké Balls and ran.
Luckily, Electivire could be recalled too. Its original Poké Ball had probably been destroyed in the explosion, breaking the binding. He could figure out what to do with it later. For now, he just needed to get it out.
As he fled the blast site and ran toward the logistics area, he saw Zapdos, Raikou, and countless experimental Pokémon being loaded onto helicopters.
He glanced back at the smoke rising behind him. Flames flickered in the ruins, and more explosions sounded in the distance.
The League's main force had arrived.
Their infiltration must have been discovered, so they had switched to a direct assault. The earlier tremor had probably been the League's attack.
Fine.
If the League was already here, Reiji had nothing left to fear.
He threw on a jacket to cover the R on his uniform, then released Rhydon.
"Rhydon, Rock Blast! Hit the helicopters!"
"Rhydon!"
Rhydon stomped hard. More than a dozen rocks tore from the ground and shot toward the helicopters.
Then it slammed the ground again, and sharp stone spikes burst upward, spreading toward the aircraft.
The ground shook.
Every Team Rocket member nearby turned toward Reiji. Pokémon were released one after another to block the rising spikes and incoming rocks. More than anything, they had to protect the transport helicopters.
While everyone's attention snapped to Rhydon, Gengar had already slipped into one of the helicopters.
It aimed a Dark Pulse at the cage holding Zapdos and shattered the device built to absorb electricity.
Then Gengar sank into Zapdos's shadow and hit the weakened Legendary with a full-power Thunder.
Zapdos's dying body drank in the electricity.
Its eyes snapped open.
With a furious cry, it burst upward, tearing through the helicopter's cabin wall and rising into the rain. Its gaze locked onto the humans below.
How dare they?
They had hit it with freezing shells, captured it, plucked its feathers, and drained its electricity.
Every human down there deserved to die.
"Gengar," Gengar said from its shadow. "There's another guy below. Save him too, or neither of you gets out."
Gengar had announced its presence the moment it slipped into Zapdos's shadow, so Zapdos wasn't startled.
It turned and saw Raikou lying below, barely alive. Raikou had been captured before Zapdos and looked even worse.
"More electricity," Zapdos growled.
Thunder rolled.
As Gengar fed it more power, Zapdos used Rain Dance and pulled a mass of storm clouds over the base. Then it beat its wings, whipping up a tornado that caught the helicopter, lifted it into the air, and slammed it back down in a fiery explosion.
At the same time, Gengar fired another Thunder.
The storm clouds answered the lightning. Rain began falling in sheets, and bolts crashed down from above, striking Zapdos directly.
Once Zapdos had real lightning to draw from, it no longer needed Gengar's help. Gengar slipped out of its shadow and returned to Reiji.
Reiji had already finished making his scene and was running.
The crash had broken Raikou's cage.
Zapdos cried out again and shot into the storm clouds. A heartbeat later, it came down wrapped in lightning and fired Thunder at Raikou.
"Raaa!"
Electricity flooded into Raikou's body. Blinding light burst from it, throwing aside the wreckage and flames that had pinned it down.
With a roar, Raikou charged straight at the stunned Team Rockets members who had been trying to surround Reiji.
Once Team Rocket realized Zapdos and Raikou were free, they forgot about Reiji entirely.
Only two things mattered now: the furious Legendaries standing in the rain, and the black-uniformed humans they were staring down.
Zapdos and Raikou unleashed Thunder together.
Even from far away, deep in the rainy forest, Reiji could hear the screams.
So many screams.
They cut through the rain and thunder alike.
Rain plus Thunder was a nasty combination. At that point, even the concrete might as well have been electrified.
By then, Reiji was hidden in the trees, changing clothes. He burned the Team Rocket uniform to ash with Will-O-Wisp. Obara's ID card and the captain's ID card had both been left inside the base to suggest their owners had died there.
No witnesses. No proof.
Thunder rumbled overhead again.
Reiji pulled up a rain hood and looked into the lightning-lit sky.
A dragon rider flew above the battlefield.
A Dragonite carried her through the storm, with more than ten Dragon-type Pokémon flying around her.
Damn. That was stylish.
Reiji almost drooled at the sight of all those dragons. Through his binoculars, he saw long hair, which meant this wasn't Lance.
A Trainer who could command that many Dragon types and call in that many dragons near Lake of Rage…
It had to be Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader near Lake of Rage. In this story's telling, she was Lance's younger sister.
Reiji remembered hearing that Clair had a Dragonite passed down from the Blackthorn Gym Leader two generations before her. A Pokémon like that had to be close to a century old. Even if it had not reached Champion tier, it was almost certainly quasi-Champion.
That was the difference between lone Trainers and old families. One side scraped for resources and built everything from scratch. The other could call in a century-old Dragonite and a swarm of dragons like it was normal.
Nope.
Not his battlefield.
Reiji put the binoculars away and released Pelipper, keeping low as they slipped through the forest. The League had already sealed off the outer area, but the Trainers on the perimeter were not especially strong. With Lokoko covering them in an illusion, Reiji passed through without drawing attention.
The League was clearly planning to wipe out the entire Lake of Rage base.
Good for them.
He wanted no part in the main fight.
Only after he was more than ten kilometers out and safely beyond the blockade did he rise above the trees and head back toward the lake with the crystal. The evolution-signal data was probably out of reach now, but that could not be helped. Plans changed. Nobody had warned him the League would storm the base at that exact moment.
Still, the trip had not been wasted.
Zapdos and Raikou were free.
Magneton had evolved.
He had even dragged out an Electivire, though whether it survived was still an open question.
Lokoko had not been exposed either. Even if Team Rocket tried to trace what happened, the most they could connect it to was Reiji. He had never used any of Spider's Pokémon, and at this point, Team Rocket already hated him anyway. One more suspicion would not change much.
The false identity was even cleaner. In that kind of chaos, nobody would spend time investigating one low-ranking grunt. Obara would simply be counted among the dead, another name swallowed by the raid.
The only thing that still bothered him was Zapdos.
That little idiot had forced its way out of the Poké Ball and thrown itself straight into the blast zone. Reiji had no idea what condition it was in now, or whether Magnezone had come out of the evolution safely.
They had better still be alive.
By the time he reached the lake with the crystal, dawn was close. Police lights flashed near the shore, so Reiji did not land. The last thing he wanted was to get pulled into Officer Jenny's report.
He brought Pelipper down in the forest instead and decided to wait until the police left. Krystal should be safe by now, and after what happened, she probably would not stay at the lake much longer either.
Reiji had come back for Zapdos, Magnezone, and Electivire.
All three still needed the lake.
For the first time all night, he finally had a chance to breathe. Hidden among the trees, he opened their panels one by one to see what the electricity from Zapdos and Raikou had done to them.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]