William stood on the deck of the ship as the view of Kanto arrived. Beside him were his two Admins—Shelly and Matt.
Ever since the events of the last two weeks, Shelly had joined William in his endeavour. He had promised to make her strong, while she would assist in achieving his goals of dominating the ocean.
Just like William, she was disguised. She had taken on the pseudonym Ashe for her name. Matt was just…Matt. Team Aqua was his life, so he had no need for disguises or hiding his face. Even if he did, his large muscular body would be a big tell.
Shelly, who was standing beside him, surveyed the ship with a look of surprise. It was her first time on one of these expeditions.
Team Aqua moved as if they were a single organism, operating through the ship with efficiency and fluidity. One member hauled a crate of supplies down below deck, while another stood at the edge of the ship—communicating with their Pokemon, who briefly dipped their head above water to convey information.
"I never expected…cohesion of this level when I signed up for this." Shelly said, slightly aghast.
William eyed her. "And what did you expect?"
"Not this. I expected some form of discipline, but this is extremely professional—almost as if they're diligent workers, not about to rob a ship."
"It's their livelihood," William said. "These raids are the very reason these men can go home to their families and have their children eat. Of course they're taking it seriously."
"I never thought of it that way…"
"I did say we weren't the evil the news painted us out to be. Under all the masks, they're just normal people fighting for a living. They don't do it because they like it—they do it out of necessity. Well, most of them anyway. When you pick apples from the tree, you're bound to get a few rotten ones."
"We'll be taking care of that soon though, don't worry…" William said.
"So, what's the plan?" Shelly asked.
"We're going to pick up the members of Team Rocket at the port. After that, we'll head out onto the open waters and raid the S.S. Anne." William said. He held a sheet of papers detailing the shipping route of the S.S. Anne.
The port was now within sight.
"We'll need to be on our A-game. Most of the people in our team have joined out of necessity, but Team Rocket…"
"Kanto and Johto are going through periods of economic growth—there's no necessity in joining a team like that. The people who have joined did it because they like it—they like stealing Pokemon, like the power that comes with the costume, like the feeling of using their Pokemon for personal gain. Their entire business model of stealing Pokemon is inherently much more nefarious than stealing some valuables."
"We'll need to be very careful then," Shelly said.
"Or the opposite," William countered. "I don't plan on being bullied by trainers with Golbats and Raticates. Let's show them we mean business."
He let the statement hang ominously in the air.
The port had been closed off—partly due to Giovanni's and Team Rocket's influence. Only the members of Team Rocket remained, dressed in their black suits with a massive red R emblazoned in the center.
They lounged around—some sitting on crates, others standing. A pair of grunts shadowboxed and playfully sparred with each other. A few of them were smoking.
The ship pulled into the port, and the anchor was dropped. The members of Team Rocket boarded the ship with swagger, walking casually and laid back as if they owned the ship.
They stepped foot onto the ship, led by one of the Admins—Proton.
William walked up to meet him as the Team Rocket members began spreading across the deck.
"So, you're the one they call Poseidon?" Proton walked over, sizing William up.
William remained unfazed. "Keep your grunts in line, and we'll have no problems." He didn't even bother to introduce himself.
"Or what?" Proton challenged.
"Or they'll have to swim back to shore."
Proton narrowed his eyes and stepped up to William. William didn't move.
"Tch." Proton scoffed, then turned and walked away. Team Rocket took their own section of the ship. Across opposite sides of the deck, both the teams eyed each other, sizing them up and wondering how they would fare in a battle. There was a certain level of respect between two villain teams, but also hostility.
Luckily, the trip didn't last long enough for any problems or conflict to break out. The target ship soon came into sight thanks to the quick speed of their ship. Given its sheer size, it was easy to spot even from a distance. But that size was also a crutch—despite being expertly crafted, it sailed slowly through the waters, allowing William's ship to catch up with little resistance.
Both teams began to prepare. Pokeballs were clutched, backs were stretched, and necks were cracked.
The ship sailed parallel to the S.S. Anne. Boarding was a challenge with the massive vessel still in motion, but William ordered the Pokemon in the waters to push against the ship, forcing the S.S. Anne to a gradual halt.
Several ladders were deployed—and just like that, the raid began.
The open deck—which barely covered half of the ship's length—of the S.S. Anne was larger than William's entire ship. Passengers and sailors stood frozen in shock as Team Aqua and Team Rocket stormed aboard with electrifying speed.
High pitched screams were heard as panic spread.
One sailor, attempting to play the hero, released a Raticate—but it was quickly defeated, overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.
"Take everything they've got—every person on this ship! We will meet back here!" William commanded.
"Boys, with me!" Proton shouted, storming off toward another section of the vessel as team rocket followed him.
William turned, pointing at a few of his grunts. "You five—tail them," he ordered. "Make sure they don't do anything stupid. And if they do, keep them in line as best you can."
He turned to another group, "You guys should head to the control room and make sure the ship is stopped. Make sure the ship does not move."
From there, the raid intensified. For Team Aqua, it was like clockwork—they had done this a hundred times before. Though never on a scale like this.
The S.S. Anne was massive—with hundreds of rooms, several dining halls, and even shopping centers. Why would anyone need to shop for clothes on a boat? William briefly wondered.
Team Aqua moved as one at first, then began to fan out as more hallways and entrances were presented to them—splitting into smaller squads and sweeping through different sections of the ship with practiced precision.
Beside them were their Pokemon partners, assisting in the intimidation and stealing while also carrying heavy bags of possessions.
William mostly stayed on the outskirts, observing the way his team moved. Occasionally, he would spot someone who wanted to cause some problems and intervene. He didn't want any of the passengers to be hurt and make things worse.
Both Team Aqua and Team Rocket met back up on the deck of the S.S. Anne. In the centre of the deck, the wooden floorboards creaked and moaned in protest as they held up the mountain of valuables stacked on top of each other.
Pelippers swooped through the skies, assisting in carrying the valuables back to the ship as they stored the large bags in their gaping mouths, quickly moving back and forth.
Once they were all back on the ship, Thomas—one of the grunts he had sent to watch over Team Rocket—went up to him.
He cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered to him. William's eyes widened.
He sent a look to the three other people who were part of the group he had sent to observe team rocket. They subtly nodded, faces down and disappointed. William silently let out a groan of irritation.
On the other hand, Team Rocket cheered and laughed. One of them clumsily grabbed a bag full of alcohol—knocking down a few other bags of valuables in the process—and began handing out bottles for the team rocket to drink.
"So we take 50% of all of this?" Proton said, mostly to himself.
"You take 22%. No more no less." William clarified.
Proton laughed. "22%, really? After all the work we did on the ship? You should be grateful we were there. You should be grateful we gave you all the information you needed. It was the R on our shirts which brought the passengers in line."
"That was the agreement with your boss, 22%" William spat. He was beginning to lose his patience. "And in my opinion, you don't even deserve 22%. You've covered less than 22% of the ground, and got less than 22% of the valuables here because you were too busy messing around—taunting innocent civilians, beating them up, making threats. You would have done worse if you had the time. For a group as big and influential as yours, I expected more. Intelligence. Discipline. Someone in charge who isn't…you."
"Because of my agreement with your boss, it wouldn't be good to do anything to you. Instead, I will punish one of my own crewmates as a warning to yourself. I heard he joined in, yes? He was ordered to observe your group—instead, he joined in your debauchery. Maybe if this member was intelligent or loyal, he could explain he was doing this to spy on you. But I know this person: he is violent and takes pleasure in feeling some form of power over others. I know what kind of man you are…John."
All heads turned to a short and stocky man with specs of blood on his blue and white striped shirt. John's face paled.
"Tie him up!" William ordered. John immediately began to shout and beg, but he had broken one of the codes of Team Aqua, and he needed to be punished.
William turned to Proton as chains were tied around John, "Our idea is that we live by the sea, and we die by the sea. The members in this group take from the sea, so when we die, we must return it to its natural order and give back to the sea, with our bodies as compensation. We also bury those unfortunate enough to die in our service in the ocean, though we give them a much more respectful ceremony and sending off compared to what you're about to see now."
The man screamed and jeered, begging for one last chance to make things right. He said he had a family—but William knew he was lying in a desperate attempt to live.
William held out his hand in a neutral position, and then…Thumbs down.
"Throw the traitor overboard."
John struggled and struggled, flailing like a fish out of water. Soon, he would be in that water, unable to stay afloat with his limbs tied in chains.
SPLASH
John was thrown overboard, letting out one last scream before being engulfed by the waves. John had been a violent man—who probably thought William had grown soft—so he saw fit to do what he did.
He had just succumbed to his base desires, just like the members of Team Rocket.
If you let one member of your crew get away with this, it would set a standard—a standard that said you could break the rules.
And that was never good.
William walked up to Proton. "You either take 22% of the valuables, or the same will happen to you. Fuck the agreement."
Proton gulped. He went with the 22%.
Team Aqua and Team Rocket went their separate ways after they were dropped off at the port, taking 22% of the valuables with them.
William hoped he would never have to deal with Proton again. He was so close to killing him, so close to drowning him in his arrogance. If he hadn't made an example out of the grunt he had killed, he would've made an example out of Proton—consequences be damned with Team Rocket's partnership.
The man was psychopathic and sadistic, but that was why Giovanni kept him around—he was Team Rocket's mad dog, kept on a leash and only let go when the situation called for it. But why did Giovanni send Proton if he wanted a partnership with him? Surely someone else would have been better?
"Are you okay, boss?" Matt asked. "We should've taught them a lesson." He cracked his knuckles, an angry look on his face.
"Maybe in the future," William said. He looked off into the distance. The sky was bright blue with great white clouds. There were five dots in the distance. William chalked them up to some migrating Pokemon and paid it no attention. However, as he continued to look into the sky, those five began to increase in size at a very quickening pace.
These weren't Pokemon migrating somewhere—they were running for their life, or running to take someone's life…
William could finally now make out the five figures in the distance. Two Dragonites, a Charizard, an Aerodactyl, and an Altaria. terrifying Pokemon in their own rights, but what scared him even more was the figure riding atop one of the dragonites—a spiky red haired trainer with sharp eyes and a stern face.
Lance.
"Fuck…" William whispered. They were screwed.
But before he had any time to contemplate, a shrill, almost deafening noise cut through the air. All activities on the boat ceased as the attack seemed to freeze time itself.
A yellow beam of pure energy erupted from one of the Dragonites, heading right toward the ship, threatening to end all of William's plans so far.
William's world turned yellow.