Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Reiji entered the power room alone. Naoki stayed outside. One of the plant workers lit a cigarette, glanced back once, and left. Management had already told them this guest was off-limits, and none of the staff were dumb enough to stick their hands where they did not belong.

From here on, no one would interrupt him. To make sure no one could spy on the room, Reiji had Gengar cover the whole place in shadow power. Even if there were cameras inside, all they would record was darkness.

He released the 3 Magnemite, took out the Electric Gems he had left, and had them attach themselves to the exposed wires. Once he flipped the breaker and connected the positive and negative ends, the Magnemite began fusing and evolving again and again. Magneton’s potential soon rose to 68.

Then he poured out the rest of his Electric Gems and counted them. There were only a little over 100. At 1 Gem per Magnemite each round, that was enough for just over thirty evolutions.

That would only raise Magneton from 68 potential to around 79. It still would not cross the Champion-tier threshold.

Gengar had cost him more than a hundred million to get through that same barrier, and that was for 1 Pokémon. If Reiji wanted all 3 Magnemite to reach Champion tier separately, he would need more than three hundred million.

In that sense, Gengar had actually been cheap. It only had to raise itself. Magnemite came as a set of 3, and all 3 had to make it. It was not exactly a downside to the method. The real problem was that he was broke.

Still, if all 3 Magnemite reached Champion tier before fusing, something different should happen. Otherwise, he really would be throwing three hundred million straight into the furnace.

He recalled the Magnemite, had Gengar remove the shadow curtain, and opened the door for Naoki. Then he handed over everything he wanted cleared out: the goods from Mount Moon, the haul from Evolution Mountain, the loot from those delinquents, and the miscellaneous items he planned to sell. All of it was to be converted into Electric Gems.

There were also 3 Magnet items: 1 quasi–Elite Four-tier Magnet and 2 Advanced-tier Magnets. Reiji kept the quasi–Elite Four-tier Magnet and gave the 2 Advanced-tier ones to Naoki. Those 2 should sell for ten to eleven million.

Even counted low, at ten million total and five million each, this batch was worth around ninety-three million. How much they actually got for it would depend on Naoki.

”Boss, you really want all of this changed into Electric Gems?” Naoki swallowed as he took the spatial backpack. There was too much inside. Reiji was casually handing him nearly a hundred million in goods like this was normal.

”I need about three hundred million in Electric-type resources, and this is only the first batch. Don’t buy blindly. If the price starts climbing, use the rarer stuff for trades instead. Evolution Stones and high-grade items are always easy to move.”

Reiji had almost told him Thunder Stones were fine too, but then he remembered Magneton would evolve the moment it touched one. Better not risk it. Electric Gems were safer, and the Thunder Stones he had on hand would have to be sold too.

He needed Electric Gems because they were not just batteries. The electricity inside them was weak. The real value was Electric-type energy, the same kind found in Thunder Stones. Electricity was electricity. Electric-type energy was something else.

Touching a live wire barehanded could kill someone. Holding an Electric Gem or a Thunder Stone was harmless. Maybe that was why Ash had been shocked so many times and still lived.

After Naoki left, Reiji used the last of his Electric Gems to push Magneton’s potential to 78. His estimate had been a little off, but not enough to matter.

Once Magneton split apart again, the second Magnemite had barely reached 70 potential, while the first was still lingering around 68 or 69.

Naoki came back just then. Reiji heard the knock, opened the door, and took the backpack from him.

”How did it go?” Reiji asked. He meant the Electric Gems.

”Some of it had to be sold fast, so it only brought in ninety-two million,” Naoki said. ”The Electric Gems started at four hundred fifty thousand each, but after I bought too many, the price rose to five hundred thousand.”

”Average price, four hundred seventy thousand. That should be 195 Electric Gems.” Reiji did the math in his head almost immediately.

”Boss, too many were bought at five hundred thousand. There are 192,” Naoki said. Reiji’s speed still startled him. He had needed a calculator and a while to get the number himself.

”Good. Sell this batch of Evolution Stones too. Trade all of them for Gems.” Reiji took out another bag. Since Magneton might evolve as soon as it touched a Thunder Stone, he did not dare use them even though he had them. Aside from the high-grade Thunder Stones, he might as well sell the rest.

”Thunder Stones? Leaf Stones, and...” Naoki opened the backpack. It was packed with Evolution Stones of every kind.

Other than Thunder Stones, there were Leaf Stones and Moon Stones. Every mid-grade and low-grade stone among those 3 types would be sold.

The Fire Stones, Water Stones, and Sun Stones had already been used. The Dusk Stones could not be touched.

In total, the pile held 2 mid-grade Thunder Stones and 12 low-grade Thunder Stones.

There were also 3 mid-grade Leaf Stones and 8 low-grade Leaf Stones.

Then 2 mid-grade Moon Stones and 2 low-grade Moon Stones.

On top of that, there were 16 other mid-grade Evolution Stones and 55 other low-grade Evolution Stones from Evolution Mountain and the delinquents’ stash.

Altogether, that made 23 mid-grade Evolution Stones and 77 low-grade Evolution Stones.

A mid-grade Evolution Stone averaged around three million three hundred thousand. Reiji was already estimating high, especially since they were selling in a hurry, but Thunder Stones, Leaf Stones, and Moon Stones were scarce in the Orange Archipelago.

Low-grade Evolution Stones averaged around one million three hundred thousand. That was also a generous estimate, though Thunder Stones were the rarest of the bunch.

By that estimate, the mid-grade stones should bring in around seventy-six million, while the low-grade ones should be worth close to a hundred million.

At an average of four hundred seventy thousand per Electric Gem, the first batch of 100-plus Gems had already cost more than fifty million. Add the ninety-two million from the previous sale and the value of these Evolution Stones, and the total came to roughly three hundred eighteen million.

Once these Evolution Stones were sold, he should have enough to push all 3 Magnemite through the Champion-tier threshold.

”Naoki, trade these Evolution Stones for Electric Gems. Don’t go above five hundred thousand per Gem. If the price goes higher, walk away. Four hundred seventy thousand would be ideal.”

”Got it. I’ll bring back good news, Boss.” Naoki took the backpack and left.

Naoki had handled trades worth over a hundred million before. Now that his Flygon had returned to Elite Four tier a few days ago, this kind of job should not be a problem.

Reiji watched him go, then took out all the Electric Gems. He wanted the average at four hundred seventy thousand because the Gems he had used on Gengar had averaged four hundred sixty thousand.

At a similar price, the total number of Gems should be close as well. If his calculations were right, he would have enough to push all 3 Magnemite into Champion tier. After that, they could fuse, then evolve again. Getting above 90 potential should not be an issue.

He went back to raising the Magnemite. This time, he had to put on sunglasses. The repeated flashes were bright enough that he did not want to risk hurting his eyes.

By the time he used up every Electric Gem on hand, Naoki knocked again right on cue. When Reiji opened the door, Naoki looked exhausted.

”Naoki, that was a lot of work.” Reiji smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and handed him a cigarette. The two of them leaned by the door and smoked for a moment.

”It’s fine, Boss.” Naoki gave a tired laugh and tried to play it off.

His revenge still depended on Reiji. Running errands for him was nothing. Compared with Team Rocket, that massive organization, Reiji was the one standing in front. Reiji was the one carrying the real pressure.

”Thanks. You saved me a lot of trouble.” Reiji patted his shoulder again, took the backpack, and turned back into the power room.

”Boss, the Evolution Stones traded for 380 Electric Gems...”

”Good.” Reiji raised a hand to show he heard, then entered the power room and shut the door.

380 Electric Gems. At an average of four hundred seventy thousand each, that came to one hundred seventy-eight million six hundred thousand.

He had estimated the Evolution Stones at one hundred seventy-six million.

Naoki had squeezed out an extra two million. Barter really was better than selling for cash.

Reiji returned to the fusion training.

Each Magnemite used 2 Electric Gems per evolution. With 3 Magnemite, that meant 6 Gems per round. 380 Gems was enough for more than sixty evolutions.

When the final round ended, the panel looked like this.

[Magneton]

[Type: Electric + Steel]

[Gender: Genderless]

[Potential: 91.12%]

[Level: 38.31%]

[Ability: Magnet Pull/22.13%][Hidden Ability: Analytic/14.23%]

[Moves]

Electric-type: [(Thunder Wave/40.14%) (Thunder Shock/41.11%) (Electro Ball/41.31%) (Spark/40.45%) (Magnet Rise/44.15%) (Charge/59.26%) (Discharge/39.24%) (Zap Cannon/32.82%) (Electric Terrain/46.62%) (Charge Beam/48.22%) (Electroweb/42.21%) (Thunderbolt/56.72%) (Thunder/51.28%)]

Steel-type: [(Gyro Ball/12.22%) (Flash Cannon/11.23%) (Metal Sound/17.31%) (Iron Head/10.81%) (Iron Defense/7.58%)]

Normal-type: [(Tri Attack/12.51%) (Lock-On/6.52%) (Tackle/24.12%) (Supersonic/23.33%) (Screech/24.35%)]

Psychic-type: [(Light Screen/15.21%) (Rest/30.78%) (Gravity/26.47%)]

This was the final result of spending more than three hundred million. Magneton’s potential had reached 91.

It looked higher than Gengar’s had back then, but the cost was 3 times as much, and that was before counting the electricity lost along the way. Gengar had only needed a little over a hundred million to reach Champion tier. These 3 had burned through more than three hundred million.

Split apart, they looked like this.

[Magnemite No. 1]

[Type: Electric + Steel]

[Gender: Genderless]

[Potential: 82.22%]

...

[Magnemite No. 2]

[Type: Electric + Steel]

[Gender: Genderless]

[Potential: 83.32%]

...

[Magnemite No. 3]

[Type: Electric + Steel]

[Gender: Genderless]

[Potential: 83.41%]

...

Only by fusing 3 Champion-tier Magnemite had Magneton reached 91 potential. Once Reiji used a high-grade Thunder Stone for the final evolution, he should get a Magnezone with at least 95 potential.

As for 99, forget it. He had no money left.

Magnemite was not the end of it either. He still had the 3 Diglett, another set of 3 little ones, plus Slowpoke and Shellder. Raising those 5 into Champion tier would start at five hundred million, and pushing their potential even higher would only cost more.

For those evolutions, he would have to start selling off proper items. Pokémon training really did burn money fast.

He had already decided how to handle Magnemite’s final evolution.

A high-grade Thunder Stone was mandatory. Beyond that, he wanted a set of magnetic armor forged with Float Stone powder: lightweight metal armor with magnetic properties. It would make Magnezone tougher, improve its Fire resistance, and raise its defense.

The materials alone would cost at least eight million. Labor would add another two million. Ten million was the conservative estimate, and the final price could easily be higher.

That was far more expensive than Swampert. Back then, Swampert had only used around fifty million in resources. If Reiji wanted to raise its potential further through Mega Evolution later, that would mean another round of investment—assuming he could even find its Mega Stone.

Once Magnemite’s evolution training was done, Reiji had Gengar remove the shadow curtain. He checked the electric meter on the wall against the record book and found that the whole process had used 30,000 kWh. The bill came to six hundred thousand Pokédollars.

”Not bad.” Reiji let out a breath. Electricity was much cheaper than Gems. If it had not helped even a little, he would not have bothered using it.

This was where the gap between Trainers and ordinary people became obvious. Their costs of living were in completely different worlds. Raising Pokémon like this might take ten billion before he was done. It was stupidly expensive.

He packed up and left the power room. The drained Gem husks could go to Hanhan later. Reiji gave Naoki six hundred thousand Pokédollars to settle the electricity bill, and the two of them left the power plant.

From the moment they entered the old district until the moment they left, gang members had been watching them. Not one of them made a move. Toxicroak’s pressure was probably too much for small-time thugs to mess with.

Reiji had planned to set a trap here, but that would not work if the thugs were too scared to bite. He would have to bait the hook again and see which unlucky idiot took it. He was not going to feel bad for gangsters, and he doubted anyone else would either.

After leaving the old district, they took a taxi to the villa. They got out nearby and walked the rest of the way in, just in case someone followed the car and saw which villa they entered.

Once they were sure no one had followed them, they returned to the villa. By then, the sky had long since gone dark. It was already past 10 p.m.

Some people were asleep. Others were still training their Pokémon in the courtyard. Reiji and Naoki did not disturb the hardworking kids. They went to the kitchen, cooked two bowls of noodles, then sat in the courtyard and ate slowly.

”Naoki, check out the gangs in the old district,” Reiji said between bites. ”If we’re going to scare people, we need someone big enough to make the warning stick.”

”Boss, are we doing it now?” Naoki asked. He knew exactly what Reiji meant. They had talked about this before.

”They’re watching us too closely. Let’s give them something else to worry about. This is the last job. After this, we take it easy for a while. Record everything, make it clean, and put it online.”

”How strong of a gang are we looking for?”

”Gengar.”

Reiji did not bother explaining. He just called Gengar’s name.

Under the courtyard lights, the shadow at Reiji’s feet stretched outward without warning. It spread across the ground in seconds and swallowed the whole courtyard. The pressure coming from it hit so hard that Naoki’s Flygon forced its way out of its Poké Ball, staring at the darkness beneath Reiji’s feet in terror.

”B-Boss...” Naoki backed away, almost dropping his bowl. His chopsticks slipped from his hand and clattered onto the ground.

Reiji only smiled.

Snap.

He snapped his fingers, and the shadows pulled back under his feet. Just like that, the courtyard was quiet again.

But Flygon’s terrified stare, the cold sweat on Naoki’s forehead, and the trembling Pokémon around the courtyard said enough.

That shadow power was on another level. It felt close to standing in front of a Legendary Pokémon. For Naoki and Flygon, it was almost like Darkrai had appeared right in front of them. Even the boys training farther away had been caught in the edge of it, and the Pokémon sleeping upstairs had woken in a panic, staring out into the dark.

The power was still rough, but it was already dangerous. An Elite Four-tier Gengar with that kind of shadow power was Reiji’s strongest card.

”I understand, Boss.” After the shock faded, Naoki suddenly smiled.

This was the person he had chosen to follow.

He had thought that now Flygon was back at Elite Four tier, he could finally get some of his old confidence back. He had even started thinking about contacting Aya.

Then Reiji had shown him exactly how far there still was to go.

That little bit of confidence Naoki had built up shrank back down at once.

If Gengar already had this kind of pressure and Reiji was still being so careful, what right did Naoki have to get reckless? What right did he have to contact Aya, the person he missed day and night, and risk ruining everything?

His enemies were Team Rocket, who had killed his partner, and the Black Ship, who had set him up. Both were monsters. He had only just started climbing, yet he was already thinking about the view from the top.

Reiji had snapped him out of it again.

Naoki could not make the same mistake twice. No matter how much he missed Aya, he could not contact her. There would not be a third chance.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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