Trovitopolis, villa district.
Riku's brother returned to the Black Ship's private estate looking like he hadn't slept in days. The neighborhood was lined with expensive villas surrounded by thick greenery, secluded enough to keep the organization's senior members out of sight.
With the League cracking down on criminal activity throughout the Orange Archipelago, the Black Ships had temporarily suspended operations. Their people were scattered across various hideouts, waiting for the situation to calm down.
The Black Ship captain had been too busy dealing with the crisis to rescue Riku's brother personally. Instead, he'd called in a favor and sent another Trainer to bring him back.
Now Riku's brother had to face him.
Several men were waiting inside the study, including a Trainer who had previously served as second mate, Riku, who had been a third mate, and another man recently recruited for the same position.
The captain sat behind a large desk, watching Riku's brother approach. He was a middle-aged man with a weathered face, and his expression gave nothing away.
"I thought I made myself clear before you left."
Riku's brother stopped in front of the desk. His hair was still damp from the ordeal, and the sleeves of his dark shirt were rolled up, revealing scabbed marks where he'd dug his nails into his arms to keep his anger under control.
"Boss, I can't just let this go!"
He dropped to his knees and lowered his head.
There was no point fighting back. He knew perfectly well that resisting the man who had raised him would only make his punishment worse, possibly even cost him his life.
Besides, he still had Team Rocket's promised pseudo-Legendary to think about. As long as he survived, he'd have another chance to rebuild his strength and get revenge.
"Tell me what happened," the captain said. "Who attacked the ship, and how much did we lose?"
Seeing the young man in such a miserable state had already softened his anger. He'd initially considered a severe punishment, but executing someone he'd raised since childhood wasn't a decision he could make lightly.
Nor was Riku's brother expendable. The captain still needed him for an arranged marriage that would strengthen the Black Ship's connections with the city's wealthy families.
He knew about the earlier attempt to ambush Reiji, too. His men kept watch over the Trainers working on his ships, and he'd already heard that three had gone after the young Trainer, with only one returning alive.
Still, he wanted to hear the rest directly.
"Danny from Navel Gym discovered the illegal cargo," Riku's brother explained. "Team Aqua was after Lugia. They attacked because they wanted to clear the area."
He hesitated before continuing.
"As for Spider, I'm not completely sure who they were. But I think they came specifically for me."
Under the captain's oppressive presence, lying was out of the question. Riku's brother recounted the entire incident, from Team Aqua's arrival to Spider's attack and his eventual escape.
"The League isn't a concern," the captain replied once he'd finished. "They won't find anything useful."
The cargo ship had been prepared with that possibility in mind. Every important connection had been concealed, and any investigation into the vessel's ownership would lead to a registered owner who knew little about the operation.
Even if the League traced the paperwork, all it would find was a convenient scapegoat.
"Team Aqua isn't worth worrying about either. They're lunatics, just like Team Magma. Fortunately, the Orange Archipelago isn't their territory. Let the League deal with them."
The captain had been furious when he first learned that Archie had sent people to interfere with one of his ships. If he hadn't been occupied with the League's crackdown, he would have gone after Amber and the submarine himself.
Capturing them might even have helped recover some of the losses.
Instead, he'd been forced to rely on outside help, and the entire operation had fallen apart.
But one part of Riku's report concerned him far more than Team Aqua.
"You said Spider was after you?" he asked. "Who have you offended recently? And how strong were they?"
Riku's brother thought back over the Trainers he'd encountered during the past few weeks. The only person with a serious grudge against him was Reiji, whom he'd met during the Orange League competition.
Of course, he didn't consider himself responsible for what had happened afterward. Reiji had insulted him first, and he'd merely responded by gathering several powerful Trainers to kill him.
In his mind, the whole mess was Reiji's fault for running his mouth.
"There's only one person I can think of. Reiji, from Mikan Gym."
He watched the captain's expression carefully before continuing.
"I think he might be Spider's leader. The reports say Number Zero uses an Elite Four-tier Gengar, and one of his people has an Elite Four-tier Flygon. Their Pokémon match the descriptions from the original Spider incidents."
"Mikan Gym..."
The captain leaned forward, considering the possibility.
If Reiji was involved with Spider, that would explain the timing of the attack. But proving it was another matter, and even knowing the truth wouldn't necessarily help.
For all he knew, Mikan Gym had deliberately allowed Spider's identity to become an open secret. The organization might even be sending a warning on behalf of the old man who stood behind the Gym.
Then there was Madman, who had recently returned to Mikan Gym. Between him and the older generation, that entire part of the archipelago had become a place the Black Ships would be wise to avoid.
A recent rumor from the underground world only reinforced his concerns.
An extraordinarily powerful Slowking had reportedly stormed Team Rocket's headquarters, defeating several Elite Four-tier Trainers before Giovanni himself intervened and drove it away.
The captain couldn't think of many Slowking capable of accomplishing something like that. The first one that came to mind belonged to the old master of Mikan Gym.
Someone willing to attack Team Rocket's headquarters so openly was clearly not afraid of making enemies. And if the rumors were true, the Black Ships were in no position to challenge him.
The old man had been dangerous even in his younger days, while Madman had earned a fearsome reputation of his own. That was why the captain had warned Riku's brother not to provoke Mikan Gym in the first place.
The families behind established Gyms possessed resources and connections that the Black Ships couldn't hope to match. Challenging them would require either finding an even stronger ally willing to fight on their behalf or producing a Champion-tier Trainer of their own.
The latter was hardly realistic.
The captain had spent years trying to reach Champion tier himself, only to remain stuck below that threshold. He knew better than most how many talented Trainers spent their entire lives attempting to cross it.
"Boss, why don't we expose him?" Riku's brother suggested. "Tell the League he's running Spider. Once they investigate, his reputation will be ruined, and he'll have to go into hiding."
He looked increasingly pleased with the idea. If Reiji lost the protection of his Gym connections, perhaps the League would finish the job for them.
"Shut up."
The captain cut him off before he could continue.
He'd already considered that possibility, and the more he thought about it, the worse it looked.
Reiji had attacked the cargo ship while wearing a Spider mask. Clearly, he wasn't particularly concerned about the organization's reputation, especially now that so many impostors were using its name.
Even if the Black Ships publicly accused him, Reiji could simply deny everything. Without solid evidence, their allegations would amount to little more than the word of a criminal organization against a Trainer associated with an established Gym.
Meanwhile, the accusations would give Reiji every reason to retaliate openly.
The captain suspected Spider might be Mikan Gym's unofficial enforcement arm, the sort of organization powerful families used to handle matters they couldn't be seen dealing with themselves.
Trovita Gym had similar arrangements. Its covert Trainers often operated as mercenaries or pirates, performing the dirty work that the Gym couldn't officially authorize. Some were ruthless enough to kill without hesitation.
Such groups were hardly unusual in the Orange Archipelago, and exposing one required far more than rumors and speculation.
What mattered wasn't whether the organization called itself Spider. It was the powerful people who might be standing behind it.
And with the League already moving against the Black Ships, the captain had even less reason to start another feud.
His organization had operated throughout the Orange Archipelago for years, building connections with local businesses, officials, and wealthy families. Those connections had made it powerful, but they'd also turned the Black Ships into one of the League's primary targets.
Spider was dangerous, certainly, but it was still a relatively small organization whose members operated behind masks. The Black Ships were a much larger problem for the League, and exposing Spider wouldn't change that.
At best, the League might investigate Reiji after dealing with the Black Ships. By then, the damage to the captain's own organization could already be irreversible.
And if he accused Mikan Gym of secretly supporting Spider, he'd be inviting its retaliation at the worst possible moment.
The thought of that old man coming after him was enough to make the captain reconsider everything. He wasn't confident he could escape someone with that kind of strength, much less protect the rest of his organization.
Worse, Mikan Gym might welcome the excuse.
If the accusations became public, its people could respond by joining the League's campaign against the Black Ships. They'd have a perfectly respectable reason to attack, and the public would probably cheer when another criminal organization was wiped out.
The captain didn't doubt their ability to find him, either.
Mikan Gym had deep roots in the Orange Archipelago, with connections extending through both legitimate businesses and the underground world. The Black Ships, despite their years of expansion, simply didn't possess the same influence.
They weren't powerful enough to confront those established families directly. If they were, they wouldn't have needed to hide their businesses aboard ships in the first place.
Even Team Rocket, an outside organization that had only recently begun expanding into the archipelago, possessed enough strength to force the Black Ships to make concessions.
And above all of them stood the League, whose current crackdown had already driven the captain and his people into hiding.
He had no intention of making their situation worse by provoking another powerful enemy.
"That's enough. We're dropping this."
Riku's brother looked up, but the captain gave him no opportunity to argue.
"The Orange Archipelago is heading into a mess, and even Team Rocket is keeping its head down. I don't want any of you stirring up more trouble."
He looked around the study, making sure everyone understood the warning, before turning his attention back to the man kneeling in front of his desk.
"As for you, I'm giving you one last chance."
Riku's brother held his breath, bracing himself for whatever punishment was coming.
"We've recently bought several legitimate businesses in the city. You're going to manage them. From now on, you stay in Trovitopolis, keep out of trouble, and wait until your wedding with Aya."
"Understood, Boss!"
The relief was almost overwhelming. He'd expected to be punished severely for losing the ship, yet he'd been given a relatively comfortable assignment in the city.
Better still, it would give him time to rebuild his strength without constantly risking his life at sea.
There was only one problem.
He couldn't stand the thought of marrying Aya.
Unfortunately, the marriage was part of the captain's arrangement with the city's wealthy families. Refusing wasn't an option, especially after the disaster he'd just caused.
Just wait. Once Team Rocket gives me that pseudo-Legendary, I'll raise it until I'm strong enough that nobody can tell me what to do anymore.
He kept his head lowered, hiding the resentment that still lingered beneath his relief.
When that day comes, what's one woman going to matter? I'll be free to go wherever I want.
"All right. Everyone out."
The captain dismissed the men with a wave. Riku's brother hurried to his feet and followed the others, grateful to have escaped with his life and position intact.
Once their footsteps faded, the study fell quiet.
The captain turned his chair toward the window, watching the last of the evening sunlight spill across the grounds. He remained there for a while, considering the League's crackdown and the increasingly dangerous situation surrounding the Black Ships.
Eventually, he reached down and opened a drawer in his desk.
Inside lay a small red badge, shaped like the letter R.
The captain looked at it and let out a weary sigh.
"Boss, come on... I've already worked my way up to captain. How much longer are we going to wait before you close the net? At this rate, there won't be much of a Black Ship left to take down."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]