"Forget it. Sell it for whatever you can get. I just want it gone quickly. If you find a buyer, don't bother with an auction," Reiji said.
At this point, 10 or 20 million made no real difference to him. He was not interested in hoarding money for its own sake. As long as he had enough to spend, that was fine.
Once the Pokémon from those two hauls were sold, the Lightning Gang's assets would be nearly cleaned out. They still had over 100 million in Electric-type resources, while the resources from other types had mostly been used up. Add the 34 million in cash, and that was basically everything left from the Lightning Gang.
As for the Elite Four-tier Trainer who had hunted him, only a few Elite Four-tier item materials remained, along with three finished Elite Four-tier items and several quasi–Elite Four-tier items. The Pokémon would all be sold.
After that, whether Reiji wanted to trade for resources or sell black-market goods to buy more, he would have plenty of money to work with. He would not have to worry about funds unless he suddenly decided to burn tens or hundreds of billions on some insane project.
Once the Pokémon business was settled, the three of them talked about recent events. Tai also shared some internal Team Rocket news.
"Boss, Team Rocket raised the bounty on you again," Tai said, unsure how to phrase it. "They only want your head now."
His boss had really gone out and offended Team Rocket to death this time. Before, they had still wanted him alive. Now, dead was fine too.
"Doesn't matter. What else?" Reiji shrugged.
He had stood Giovanni up. Honestly, getting turned into ash on the spot would not have been strange. A higher bounty was nothing.
"Higher-ups gave me a new mission," Tai continued. "They saw that my background is still clean and that I don't have a bad record in the Orange Archipelago, so they want me to enter the Orange League tournament. They want to see if I can slip into the League. They also hinted that this year's tournament isn't normal. It sounds like they're using it to choose the Orange Archipelago's Elite Four."
"Choose the Elite Four?" Reiji looked up and exchanged a glance with Naoki.
He suddenly felt a huge hand closing over the Orange Archipelago. Something this important was happening, and nobody had told him. How the hell had his future self become Champion?
Then he remembered what his future self had told him.
In the future, Reiji became Champion of the Orange Archipelago. The Elite Four were Tai, Itsuki, Sabrina, and Koga. Every single one of them was tied to Team Rocket. His future self had skipped over the whole process, so Reiji had never known how it happened.
Now everything lined up.
No wonder Tai became one of the Elite Four. Reiji himself would never have arranged that.
If Tai left Team Rocket, Reiji would lose his mole inside. Tai was far more useful staying where he was.
There was only one possibility: Team Rocket had arranged it. Itsuki was probably the same. Giovanni must have noticed something and placed both of them beside Reiji as Elite Four members. That way, they could not keep working as moles inside Team Rocket, and Giovanni could keep them under his nose at the same time.
Nice plan.
"If this tournament is an Elite Four selection, then the competition is going to be packed with strong Trainers." Reiji looked at Tai.
You do know where you stand, right?
"Boss, I'm not weak either." Tai scratched his head awkwardly.
It had been too long since they last met. Maybe Reiji had forgotten what Pokémon he had.
"Because of what we gained last time, I had a lot of money to work with. I poured it into buying poisons, including Elite Four-tier poisons. My Muk reached Elite Four tier after eating Elite Four-tier toxic materials."
"Gengar also got Ghost-type energy supplements, but it's a little slower than Muk. Then there's the Victreebel you helped me choose, the Houndoom you gave me, and Gyarados. They've all reached quasi–Elite Four tier. The Abra Team Rocket rewarded me with has evolved into Alakazam too."
"The Magnemite you gave me also evolved into Magnezone. The Nidoking I caught evolved thanks to the last incident. I also picked up a Beldum by accident, then exchanged for another Beldum inside Team Rocket and evolved the two of them together into Metang."
"What the hell? Are you insane?" Reiji stared at him.
Raising that line was pure money-burning madness.
Metagross needed four Beldum combined through evolution. That meant at least 2 billion just to get one Metagross.
And this was already one of the cheaper pseudo-Legendaries. A Larvitar would eat through an entire mountain before reaching its final form. One mine could cost over 10 billion, easily. That was the real money pit.
Reiji suddenly felt Dragon types were cheap by comparison. So far, his Dragon types had not even eaten 100 million in resources. The problem was that they grew slowly. Without several years of growth, they would not become real fighting power.
That was its own kind of torture.
"Boss, I didn't expect to run into a Beldum. I just caught it and didn't think too much," Tai said, scratching his head again.
Only after looking into Beldum's evolution did he realize how expensive the line was. But he had already raised it this far. It was not like he could just give up now.
"Fine. Handle it yourself. If you really can't find another Metang later, then steal someone else's from the black market. Just make sure you erase that Metang's consciousness before the fusion. Otherwise, after evolution, it'll come looking for revenge."
"I understand, boss." Tai brightened the moment Reiji approved.
That was a pseudo-Legendary. Before this, he had only ever seen one on television. He never imagined he would one day raise one himself.
He was not too worried about getting another Metang. With his status as a Team Rocket Executive, and with half of Mandarin Island North's black market under his control, setting up a little situation to obtain one Metang would not be hard.
And it was not just pseudo-Legendaries. He could also get whatever Electric-type Pokémon his sister liked. It was much easier than before, and the talent was usually good too. He had already picked out several for her.
Everything he had now came from the person sitting in front of him. Reiji had given him his first Pokémon and opened the door for him. That was what let Tai stand out from the Team Rocket training camp, take root quickly, and keep climbing until he became an Executive.
"Be careful. We're almost done eating, and you should head back soon," Reiji said, setting down his chopsticks. It was almost midnight. Tai could not stay too long.
"And remember this. No matter what happens, don't drink. Keep your head clear at all times. When we finally make it, I'll buy you that drink myself."
Reiji lifted two cups of liquor. Under Tai's gaze, he drank one and poured the other out in front of him.
"I'll be careful, boss." Tai's throat moved slightly.
He had once been a bartender at the harbor bar. Of course he drank.
And honestly, with the faint scent of liquor drifting through the room, he was a little tempted.
But ever since he became a double agent, he had kept his distance from alcohol. He was afraid a drink would make him careless. More than anything, his sister still needed him. He was afraid he would not live to watch her grow up.
Tai looked at Reiji one last time, nodded silently, picked up the backpack, and stepped onto the balcony. Golbat carried him away, and before long, he vanished into the night.
Only Reiji and Naoki remained in the study.
Reiji watched Tai leave, then turned his attention back to Naoki. Tai had changed more than expected. He already had an Elite Four-tier Pokémon, which was far beyond what Reiji had imagined.
So what about Naoki?
"Boss, my Golem and Aggron have grown the fastest. Both are quasi–Elite Four tier now. Swampert and Gyarados are close too. The Haunter you gave me used a special training method and is currently asleep. It has already evolved into Gengar."
"And the Pokémon I use at the club—Victreebel and Tentacruel—have reached quasi–Elite Four tier too. The rest are still a little behind."
"Take it easy. Don't poison them to death," Reiji said.
The moment Naoki mentioned that, Reiji knew he had been using toxins for training. Ordinary Poison-type Pokémon could be raised with toxins too, but their tolerance had limits.
They were not like Muk, which was made of toxic sludge, or Koffing and Weezing, which were toxic gas, or Gengar, a shadow Pokémon. Those kinds could accelerate their growth almost endlessly with poison as long as the toxin quality was high enough. Ordinary Poison types would eventually hit a limit. If their bodies could not handle the toxins, they would collapse and die.
"I understand, boss. I'm controlling the dose. I'm using toxins from the same species too, so they're easier to absorb." Naoki wiped sweat from his forehead.
He knew Reiji did not like this method.
But he needed power.
He needed it badly.
"Tell me about the others." Reiji waved the topic aside, opened window, and stepped onto the balcony to let the wind cool his face. He had drunk quite a bit, and his cheeks were flushed.
"Daishi has Golem, Flygon, and Nidoking at quasi–Elite Four tier. His other Pokémon still need more time."
"Gai has been impatient lately. His Golduck still hasn't broken through to Elite Four tier. Gyarados only just reached quasi–Elite Four tier, and he also used toxins to raise Tentacruel to quasi–Elite Four tier."
"Keep a close eye on him. Continue," Reiji said, cutting in.
Naoki nodded. He did not know why Reiji kept telling him to watch Gai, but he would do it.
The future had already changed. Reiji did not know whether Gai would still expose himself to Tai. If he exposed himself to someone else instead, that would be troublesome.
As for dealing with him early?
That would be absurd.
It reminded Reiji of the insane logic of the radical feminists from Korea in his previous life. They believed every man might grow up to become a rapist, so all men should be castrated in advance, killing future criminals before they could exist.
Damn. Even remembering that madness made Reiji feel a chill between his legs.
The reason he found that logic ridiculous was simple. Gai had not betrayed them yet. If Reiji killed him first and then told everyone, "This guy would have betrayed Spider someday," would anyone believe him?
If he really did that, he would only be telling the others that he had changed. That he had become suspicious and violent enough to kill based on a possibility.
Everyone would panic. Everyone would wonder whether they might be next.
Fear would spread. Suspicion would feed on itself. Then came internal conflict, people striking first to protect themselves, and finally a complete split.
For the future of the organization, Reiji had to endure. There was no way around it. Reality worked like that. You could not just do whatever you thought was right and ignore everything else. Acting recklessly only made you die faster.
When he had been alone, life had been freer. There had been far fewer things to consider. But once he had people under him, he had more to protect.
And protection meant weakness.
When he had first crossed over, he had no weaknesses. After taking a trip through the future, he suddenly had plenty.
What a curse.
"Keith has been working pretty hard lately," Naoki continued, sneaking a look at Reiji. "After the Lightning Gang incident, his Graveler evolved. He also caught a Scyther and asked me to help buy a Charmander. I got the starter Pokémon from Tai."
"Good. Keep going." Reiji knew Keith liked Flying-type Pokémon. There was no way he would pass up Charizard, the official favorite child. It was good that the kid was improving, even if he was still a step away from quasi–Elite Four tier.
"A.J.'s Sandslash just reached Elite Four tier. His Graveler evolved into Golem and reached quasi–Elite Four tier too. His Scyther evolved as well. Arbok, Weezing, and Gengar are all quasi–Elite Four tier. His Gengar is asleep, same as mine."
"Scyther is pretty popular." Reiji took out the booklet Muramasa had given him and tossed it to Naoki. "This is Scyther's training and evolution method. Copy one version and return the original to me tomorrow morning. Anyone with Scyther or Scizor can come to you if they want to read it. They can read it, but they can't copy it. Understand?"
"I'll keep it safe." Naoki looked at the training method that could take Scyther straight toward Elite Four tier, and even he felt tempted.
Steel-type Scizor fit a sandstorm team very well. There was real potential there. The only drawback was money. The stronger it grew, the more expensive it became.
Naoki quickly skimmed through the booklet, suppressed his excitement, and continued talking about everyone's changes.
"Gulzar's Gyarados has reached quasi–Elite Four tier. The Pokémon that needed evolution stones have all evolved too. He also bought a Charmander. It was bought together with Keith's."
"Sou is the impressive one. His Pelipper is close to Elite Four tier. I can feel it." Naoki smiled.
Watching these kids grow gave him the strange feeling of being the head of a large household.
"He bought a Horsea too. It's a Seadra now."
"He also bought an Electrike pup. It has evolved into Manectric. His Gyarados, Tentacruel, and Gengar are all quasi–Elite Four tier now. They raised their Gengar together, so all of them are asleep. Tai told me that after eating all those resources, Gengar should be quasi–Elite Four tier once it wakes."
"Their Gligar have all evolved too. Sou also bought an Elekid. I guess after getting beaten by Electabuzz so many times at the club, he decided Electabuzz was strong and wanted one. He used Tai's channel for that too, buying from a Team Rocket store. Everyone thinks they got a good deal."
"Everyone's changed a lot." Reiji was genuinely pleased. "Except for Keith, most of them have basically reached quasi–Elite Four tier. Next, they'll all need to start preparing for Elite Four tier."
"Yes. In as little as two years, or maybe three to five, everyone should have two or three Elite Four-tier Pokémon." Just thinking about it made Naoki's blood heat.
In three to five years, he could fight his way back, take back the woman he loved, and collect some interest from the Black Ship.
Five years.
Did anyone know how he had lived through those five years?
He was only twenty-five now. Even if he had to wait until thirty, so what? He could wait.
That was far better than dying in hatred and pain.
For the first time, he could truly see hope for revenge.
"Good. Everyone's working hard. Keep that momentum." Reiji stood with a smile and patted Naoki on the shoulder. "I'm heading back to rest. You can keep enjoying the view."
He left Naoki on the balcony and returned to his room.
Hearing that everyone had grown gave him some peace of mind. Once these people matured, Spider would have over ten Elite Four-tier Trainers. That would be enough to do a great many things.
Fighting Team Rocket head-on was impossible.
They would wait until the League crippled Team Rocket first. Reiji liked kicking enemies while they were down. Persimmons were meant to be picked when they were soft. He was not going to charge into a wall like an idiot.
Time was on his side.
Being reckless was for blockheads.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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