Deep within the confines of Team Aqua's base, William eyed the room filled with his Pokemon with a cool and calculated gaze. The room was large and spacious with dull concrete tiled walls, but that didnt matter as the room was designed for one thing and one thing only—training.
It was sectioned into two spaces—an area with a large massive pool, and another spacious area on the ground with various types of equipment available for the Pokemon to use.
Scattered across the room were his Pokemon—each of them training in their own way which benefited them.
Leviathan whipped its tail and crunched its jaws down onto the defensive shell which was Britney's legs. He paused for a moment while Toxapex recovered—both physically and using the move—, and then Juggernaut took his place.
They took turns testing Toxapex's defence while improving their attacks.
"Leviathan." William said. "Shock practice."
Gyarados grumbled but complied, slithering through the water and into the sectioned-off area of the pool. William pressed a button on a remote, and a steady current of electricity began to flow through the water—then started crackling across Leviathan's body.
Leviathan grunted.
"Ok, now focus on moving—don't let the electricity stop you from moving!"
Slowly but steadily, William increased the current as Leviathan tried to move around. Off to the side, Kirby—his Blissey, the healer—used Heal Bell and Heal Pulse in tandem to prevent any possible paralysis or fainting. She was the team's personal Pokecenter. She was extremely cost-effective.
William turned away to Lochness. He was isolated from the group, focused on something else.
Lochness shot out a powerful beam of water at the wall and, trying to maintain the same intensity, slowly closed its mouth. While still maintaining the powerful current, the stream slowly compressed. It was as if the current had transformed from a hammer into a blade—blunt and powerful becoming sharp and silent.
The water narrowed into a thin line, but just before it could continue, it was suddenly cut off.
Lochness breathed heavily.
The first time William had met Lochness while he was still a Mudkip, he had taught him this same method. Now, they were taking it a step further. If you compressed water enough, it could turn into a wafer thin line of pressure that cut—like a pressure washer. However, the further you try to compress it the harder it was. It required tremendous amounts of control.
"Good work, Lochness. You're nearly there," William said.
Lochness nodded, bringing a finger up and mimicking a shooting motion.
"Oh, him? He's on a mission right now," William said. "He'll be back soon."
While Lochness was recovering, William turned his attention to Vortex and Riptide—his Froakie.
Vortex spun and moved animatedly, gesturing toward the wall with one of its many limbs. It gathered water and fired off a Water Pulse with precision.
Riptide tried to do the same. It had been taught Water Pulse, but still hadn't mastered it yet.
It just needed training—training to master its manipulation of water and Water-type energy.
"Riptide, you can manipulate your own type of bubbles, right?" William asked, walking over.
Riptide nodded.
"Well, instead of thinking about your bubbles and water as two separate things, why don't you place them in the same category, and just shift gears when you want to use one or the other?"
"If you treat the water you produce the same way you treat your bubbles—as an extension of your body, something normal and natural—I think it'll be much easier for you." William said. "Alright? Let's try it again, use Water Pulse."
Riptide fired off a Water Pulse at the wall. The blast of water slammed into it. William nodded in approval.
There wasn't a drastic improvement—but there was an improvement nonetheless, and that was what these training sessions were for.
"Alright, training session's over. Drink some water and eat your meals! Kirby, you assist them!"
"Bliss!" Kirby cried.
Shortly after, William sat in his office. His mind wandered back to the black market, and the fact that he had seen Team Magma there.
It really put a wrench in his plans. They were competition—direct competition. Not just because of their similar business models of picking up people down on their luck who needed opportunity and money, but also due to their directly clashing ideologies.
Although Team Aqua wouldn't attack Neptune's ships, he wouldn't put it past Team Magma to do the same. If their goal was to expand the landmass, then destroying ships that traveled on open seas could very well be a possibility.
It was like they would be attacking the waters before changing it to land mass.
Which is why he needed strong trainers on Neptune's ships—not just for show, but for the possibility that someone would actually attack. Maybe after Bond's current mission, he would need to rearrange another one—and he knew exactly who for.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," William said. He was dressed in his typical outfit, of course.
The door opened, and an average-looking man with brown hair and brown eyes walked in. He was middle-aged, with short balding hair and a few lines of stress etched into his face. Just an average man, a part of a villain team.
"Jeremy. Nice to see you. Sit."
Jeremy nodded respectfully and sat down.
"How is Team Aqua treating you so far? Has everything been good?"
Jeremy nodded. "Everything has been good. I can properly provide for my family now. To be honest, before, I struggled to pay the bills. With the last Champion, the cost of living increased so much…I didn't know what to do. Then I was fired because the company I worked for had layoffs. But then I heard about you guys—I don't like violence, never have—but if intimidating and stealing from a few rich people on boats can help me provide for my family, then sign me up."
William smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. No father should ever see his child go hungry. The fact you care…it shows you're a better man than most."
William continued, glancing down at a piece of paper below.
"So according to reports, you have: a Mightyena, a Sharpedo, a Swellow, a Wailmer, a Crawdaunt, and a Spheal," William whistled. "Quite an impressive team you have."
Jeremy blushed slightly, scratching his head. "Those training sessions helped. The fighting, team bonding, the battle tactics—all of it helped."
"Those training sessions are designed to show your true potential. You're the one who put in the work, Jeremy. I've seen the sessions—the people who half-ass them and waste time messing around, you're not like them. You took it seriously, and you reaped the rewards." William said.
He looked back at the paper. "You've participated in a majority of our raids. You wear a disguise, of course—you do have a family and a public life, you don't want anyone recognizing you. It's also for that reason you don't really speak on these raids. Smart. Tell me, what are your overall opinions on the raids? Be completely transparent with me."
Jeremy paused for a moment, bringing a hand up to his chin and looking upwards, "I think they are…necessary. I also think that when Archie was in charge, he let his members get away with certain things. Y'know, sometimes a passenger was roughed up, but nothing ever went too far. Ever since you took over though—I've noticed a strict no-harming policy, which I agree with."
William nodded, leaning back in his chair.
"You're a smart man, Jeremy. You have a strong sense of justice, but you're also not afraid to be on the wrong side of the law if it means providing for your family. I think you're the perfect man for it."
"Perfect man for what?"
"Recently, a company called Neptune Shipping came in contact with us. In exchange for a truce of sorts, as well as a few strong trainers from our crew, we will get some of their revenue. What I'm offering is a job—you will be required to protect the ship from any harmful entities. Pokemon, people, people with Pokemon, and so on and so on." William explained. "I think this is a good opportunity for you to get away from some of the more dirty business and get a clean, legal job where you protect people. You will still be working for Team Aqua, just protecting Neptune Shipping. Consider it a promotion."
"You will be given a much higher wage than you have now—a wage where you can safely provide for your family and give them all they want. Who knows? Maybe your daughter could follow in her father's footsteps—you could pay for her entry into trainer school."
Williams' hand silently rested on his pokeball—on Vortex's. If he said no, he was ready to hypnotize him— make him forget this meeting even happened.
"That sounds…"
"Too good to be true?" William asked with a chuckle. He reached forward and gave the man an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "You have earned this, Jeremy. You've worked hard—for the team, your Pokemon, yourself, but most importantly, your family. So, what do you say?"
"Yes…Yes!" The lines of stress on his face seemed to vanish in that moment as he smiled. His tense shoulders immediately relaxed. Jeremy enthusiastically pulled William into a hug. "Thank you so much. I won't forget this, and I won't let you down."
"For all of our sake, I hope you don't." William said sharply. Jeremy was too excited to hear the hidden threat.
"I'll deal with all the paperwork in order to get you your trainers licence. I'll just need you to sign a few things and then I can do the rest." William reached down into his stack of papers and sifted through them, picking one of them out. "Here is a list of the full job description, including what you'll be doing, where you will be staying, and your exact wages."
Jeremy took the paper.
"Wow…alternating 12 hour shifts with another guard…quarters shared with them…free food and drink… no alcohol rule…" He continued to read through the contract, occasionally mumbling to himself and nodding along. When he got to the wages, his mouth twitched with excitement, but he managed to keep himself under control.
"Do you have any idea who I will be working with? Don't mean to pry but…"
William chuckled, "Don't worry, this job requires specific characteristics—positive characteristics. We need not just strong trainers but people who will make the passengers feel safe and not afraid to strike up a conversation with you. I can promise you your co-worker won't be anything like some of the characters in there. Y'know, the people who take glee in doing this stuff. You have nothing to worry about."
Jeremy nodded silently, satisfied.
"Alright, now get out of there Mr ship protector. " William said jokingly. He suddenly turned serious. "Also, don't tell anyone else about this. You can tell your family and friends about your job but that's it. Nothing about our agreement with Neptune. Nothing about this meeting. Don't say anything. That's the most important part of this job—even if it's not on the job description—, it's keeping quiet and not saying anything which could get us in trouble. Got it?"
"Got it."
Jeremy left. William sat back in his seat and gave a nice long yawn and cracked his neck. He had another interview to do.