Back at the Water-type Day Care, the Staryu Reiji had picked went for 4.5 million here—pricier than the department store.
Reason? One word: Gravity. That move alone bumped Staryu by half a million. Staryu with a couple of inherited moves still listed around four million, about the same as Exeggcute.
One was Grass/Psychic; the other only gained Psychic on evolution—Water/Psychic.
At least this shop honored the same member cut: 5% off put it at 4,275,000.
Shun's Staryu was also 4.5 million, and Ditto was 3.2 million—two hundred thousand more than next door.
Total: 7,700,000.
Member 5%: 7,315,000.
They paid, packed their Poké Balls, and stepped out.
Outside, half-hidden looks pricked at them from every angle. Neither dared linger. They slipped into the same access corridor and started back toward the tavern.
As they climbed, Reiji set his ambush. He sent Shun up first. After giving him a lead, he moved into the tunnel and snapped, "Spinarak—seal the passage with Spider Web."
"Yitoo… sss—" Spinarak spun and sheeted the upward tunnel with overlapping webs.
The tails had answers, though: Fire-types out, Flamethrower through the choke, and every web burned away.
Reiji quickened his pace. Near the exit, he spotted Shun and hissed, "Get out of the tavern—rendezvous on the beach!"
Thump, thump, thump—
As soon as Shun cleared the door, Reiji yanked three disruptors—smoke, tear gas, pepper—and pitched them into the corridor mouth.
He tossed another trio onto the tavern floor by the exit, then slipped out the back and wedged the rear door shut to pen the tails inside.
Coughs and cursing bled through the walls. He didn't stick around. What bothered him was Shun, still waiting in the alley. They were supposed to meet at the beach—why hadn't he moved?
When Reiji asked, Shun didn't answer—just flicked his eyes toward both ends of the lane. The mouths of the alley were already blocked.
They'd boxed someone at dusk; now someone boxed them. The wheel turns.
The tunnel tails were blunted for the moment. The ground team lying in wait was another story.
Front and back—obvious ambush. Reiji and Shun exchanged a glance. Reiji whispered, "On my mark, we punch through together."
Orders given, Reiji lobbed a smoke grenade toward the more distant group to blind their sightlines—then sent out Poliwhirl.
Seeing two Pokémon at the mouth ahead, Shun released his own Poliwhirl.
Smoke billowed down the alley, swallowing vision. Reiji burst forward at the nearer pair while Spinarak laced the rear with more webbing.
At the chokepoint, the masked men sicced their Pokémon—mission wasn't to win, just to stall. Reinforcements were coming; two "rich idiots" would be easy meat.
"Primeape! Poliwhirl! Don't let them through!"
"Full burst—delete the Primeape!" Reiji barked.
"You too. No holding back—Ice Punch!" Shun snapped to his partner.
They collided—and it was over in a heartbeat. The blockers had misread them completely.
In a single exchange, Reiji's Poliwhirl launched Primeape into a wall, and Shun's Poliwhirl sent the other Pokémon pinwheeling back faster than it came, smashing both Pokémon and trainer into a heap.
Reiji was already there. "Bind him with String Shot! Grab the balls—recall their Pokémon!"
Spinarak pounced, webbing the downed man and snatching the balls. Shun scooped them and recalled both fainted Pokémon.
Reiji moved faster still. A prepared knife kissed the man's throat—one clean draw, a spray of red. He stripped the backpack as he stood.
Another three disruptors clattered behind them. Then he and Shun were gone.
At the far end, the other watch posted a Pidgeotto—Gust blew the smoke aside, edged wind slashed the webs, and the scene resolved: his partner on the ground, blood pooling at the neck, lips worked, then stilled. Gone.
"The two killers" were nowhere. He slammed a fist into the wall and snarled at Pidgeotto, "Find them. I'll gut them when you do."
"Pi—pipip!" Pidgeotto beat for altitude, scouting the city.
Meanwhile, Reiji and Shun, each carrying two packs, slipped through the night, ducking and weaving through alleys. They didn't bolt from the docks immediately; instead, they found an empty house to hole up.
Poliwhirl hosed them down head to toe with Water Gun. Then they doused themselves in strong liquor, trying to wash and mask any scent that could be tracked.
Only after recalling Poliwhirl—and Spinarak, too—did they pull off their hoods and masks, stroll to a busy street, splash liquor across a few car trunks, and keep moving.
Finally, they hailed a car to Coconut Palm Beach in the south.
Before getting out, they discreetly poured more liquor along the rear deck. As the car drove off, the vaporous trail would drift, saturating half the city.
All that booze came from Shun's pack. Reiji asked why he was carrying so much.
"Borrowed," Shun said. "Don't tell Grandpa. He'll tan me."
By the time they reached the beach, the sky was fully dark. It had already been night when they left the market—street lamps had hidden that detail. After that it was all running; neither had noticed.
They retrieved Kingler and Pelipper from training. Reiji mounted Pelipper for the flight to the villa.
Shun got airlifted by Pelipper's claws again. He prayed his Wingull would evolve soon; he was done being cargo.
Back at the villa, first order of business: showers. Clothes soaked in detergent and whatever else they could grab.
Anything to strip scent. Backpacks too—spritzed with the villa's cheap perfume until it choked the room.
They dumped the stolen pack and sifted everything. Anything that looked like electronics, they handed to Pelipper to drop far out over the sea.
Probably no trackers—probably. But they weren't gambling.
Only once all that was done did they sag onto the couch and exhale.
They hadn't hit the ambushers out of spite. Those men had seen them use Poliwhirl. Leave them alive, and the next encounter would ID them in a heartbeat. The smoke had hidden their faces from the other end.
Stealing the Poké Balls was for the same reason—those Pokémon had seen them too. The bag was just a bonus.
Lesson learned: no more dirty work with Poliwhirl. Two trainers with two Poliwhirl—anyone who'd crossed them would spot that pattern in daylight.
Good thing they'd bought Croagunk. Above ground: Poliwhirl. Underground: Croagunk for the black-on-black.
And good thing it was night. They'd seen a Pidgeotto above and stayed hidden. Without scent, there was nothing to follow.
Sure enough, when the other ambush teams arrived, all they found was a corpse with eyes wide open and a fuming Pidgeotto handler.
"They're gone. No trace."
"You didn't even see which Pokémon they used?"
"Couldn't. Smoke everywhere. By the time I pushed through, he was dead, and the Pokémon were gone."
"Savage. One exchange and we lose a man. We picked the wrong marks."
"Bastards. Let me find them…"
"Enough. Clean the body. Risk comes with the work."
A few grumbled words and they split.
He didn't care about the corpse—his real friends were the two waiting at other exits.
They'd posted two at every tunnel mouth because they didn't know which exit Reiji and Shun would take. The plan was to stall until the rest arrived.
Turned out they couldn't even take a single hit. That's on them.
In the world of black-on-black, if you don't know the enemy's strength, you either eat—or get eaten.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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