Thanks for all the support on my Patreo-n so far! 3 advanced chapters at /xlucqs.

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  Shelly often likened ruling Team Aqua—temporarily—to teaching a university class full of students. Yes, they were different in many ways—many ways, but also similar in many more.

  For starters, the university students were typically ideal citizens with spotless records and a passion for doing something meaningful. Team Aqua, on the other hand, was filled with the dregs of society—criminals and thieves. The students wanted to contribute to the system, whereas Team Aqua wanted to dismantle it.

  Of course, that wasn't to say all of them were bad. In her short time with Team Aqua, she had spoken to a number of the members and gotten to understand their situation a little better. Some liked battling, others were trying to provide for their families, while a few simply wanted to train Pokemon in a professional capacity rather than keep them as house pets.

  It was nothing like the news presented them: hungry, ruthless, heartless criminals with no conscience. Most of them…were just normal people dealt an unfortunate hand.

  Back when she was a university lecturer, her life was simple: she would teach classes and hand out assignments. Now, she handed out tasks and missions for criminals.

  When she joined Team Aqua as an admin, it was clear that most of the team didn't respect her. It made sense—one day they were unaware of her existence, and the next she was suddenly an admin. She wasn't like Matt, who had been there since the team's conception, nor like William, who had risen through the ranks and eventually overthrown Archie as leader.

  That was another piece of information William had never told her—Archie had been the previous leader of Team Aqua. She always just assumed it was him. William seemed so knowledgeable and integrated with the group. The thought never passed her mind that it wasn't him who created it. Instead, he joined during a period of stagnation and proceeded to elevate it to a higher level than the team ever dreamt of. She learned about the truth pretty early on however—it was impossible not to hear all the whispers.

  It's no wonder everyone respected William. Outside of all that he had done for the team—they knew he was strong. William had hammered that point into her from day one—it was those who were strong and those who were willing to seize who would make it in this harsh world.

  William saw an opportunity to take the reins of Team Aqua of Archie, and he did it. From what people had described, the battle had been legendary—the best they had ever seen. William and Archie faced each other out on the open sea: singles format, six versus six.

  Both displayed calculating ruthlessness. The rain shattered against the spectating ships. Pillars of water erupted up to the skies. Both trainers barked commands, and their Pokemon were ferocious, fully understanding the stakes of the fight. She knew it had most likely been exaggerated in some form or another—when stories were told and traded often, it tended to happen—but she wished she had been there to see the fight herself. It was an incredible battle, she'd been told—but in the end, William had won convincingly. The man had managed to stalemate Lance, after all—with the help of her Pokemon.

  She had never actually seen William in a Pokemon fight—the skirmish she had on the day she joined the team didn't count. Shit! Shelly had been trying her best to forget that fight—it was the most embarrassing loss she had ever had.

  Currently, she was sitting in her office—she had been given one when she joined the team—running over some paperwork. How boring. She suppressed a sigh. If she ever became a gym leader just like she wanted, she would probably be stuck doing paperwork as well.

  Maybe it's fate, Shelly thought, looking at the stack of papers on the desk. She went through them. Every month, a report detailing

  and all of its resources.

  She scanned the page.

  40 Ships - 8 Large, 24 Medium, 8 Small

  Members: 71

  Pokemon: 384

  …

  …

  …

  They had enough ships to form a grand fleet, and their numbers were vast—each member possessing several Pokemon. There was even a list categorising the species most frequently used. The most common were Sharpedos and Mightyenas. That was surprising; one would usually expect the majority to be unevolved forms—but here, it was the opposite. Numerous training sessions had pushed both trainers and their Pokemon to evolve.

  She remembered a few weeks ago—William standing by the training grounds, arms crossed, watching the drills. Shelly had been beside him.

  "We cannot be like other teams. Our members cannot be thugs and bullies with no experience in battle," he had said. She nodded along, remembering Proton—his Pokemon were strong, but he had absolutely no idea how to use them.

  "Think of our team structure like a pyramid," William had continued, raising his hand with each level. "Grunts, Admins, Leader. If the foundation is weak—it will crumble. The strength and reputation of our organisation depend entirely on the bottom, because that's what people will target, they will target where we are weakest. Well—our organisation anyway. Some teams, if you cut off the head, they die. They invest all of their strength and attention at the top. You need to distribute it. If a government just had the Champion, all it would take was one bullet, one drop of poison to destabilise the region. We won't be like that. We've been through a change in leadership before, so we could do it again. That's why I have you."

  She hadn't known exactly what William meant that day, but from his words, it was clear: if he were ever caught or killed, she would become the leader of Team Aqua.

  Once, the thought would have filled her with nerves. Now, it filled her with determination—and eagerness. And she was more than willing to display that eagerness when William left.

  FLASHBACK

  It had barely been an hour since William had left her in charge of Team Aqua. Since then, she'd been sitting in the office—William's office—sorting through piles of paperwork.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  She sighed, standing and stretching her legs before deciding to find Matt. His "office" was easy to locate—it was on the top floor where both her and Williams' offices were. Though his office was a room filled with punching bags and weights rather than desks and paper. Photos of famous dojo masters all across the world, like Bruno and Brawly, filled the room with personality.

  "Matt," Shelly called. It wasn't an alias; it was his real name. For a man with no need to hide his identity, he didn't bother. He lived in the Team Aqua base—no, he lived for Team Aqua.

  Matt stood shirtless, his body glistening with sweat as he powered through a set of bicep curls. The weights looked heavy, and he grunted with every lift.

  "Seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…twenty!" He dropped the dumbbells to the floor, panting. His arms rested on his knees, and the sweat dropped onto the floor like rain.

  He looked up. Only then did he notice Shelly standing by the door.

  "Ashe, what brings you here?" he asked, taking a few measured sips from his water bottle. His chest moved up and down in rhythmic patterns.

  "W—Poseidon is gone for a few days. He left me in charge," she said. Shelly expected a reaction—but Matt only nodded and said, "Okay."

  "You're not…mad?"

  Matt chuckled. "Of course not. I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid. People like you and Poseidon have the brains—I've got the brawn." To emphasise his point, he flexed his arm. Striations rippled across his bicep muscles, veins popping beneath the skin. "You two are better suited for leadership anyway. It was like that when Archie came along—you know, we both founded Team Aqua together. Archie was always the smarter one, so he took the lead."

  "You knew Archie beforehand?" Shelly asked. That was something she hadn't known.

  Matt nodded. "Yeah. We were both on the same security team."

  "And where was that?"

  "At Devon Corp."

  Shelly let out a low whistle. "That's a solid job—high paying."

  "It was," Matt agreed, nodding. "But money was never the primary motivator. Me and Archie never really had a primary motivator—until Team Aqua was made. Now that was something we were passionate about, something we could look forward to when we woke up each day, a goal worth chasing." His smile reached from ear to ear.

  "Must be hard, now that he's gone," Shelly said.

  Matt shrugged. "Shit happens. When we created Team Aqua, we understood the risk—we were putting our lives on the line. It's why we never saw any use for disguises." Matt glanced at Shelly, dressed head to toe in disguise. "Don't get me wrong, I understand why you and Poseidon both use disguises. You're much smarter; you can use your public identities for the team's advantage. Mother Ocean knows I couldn't—I have the most recognisable frame in the country." He let out a booming laugh.

  "Anyway," He took on a more serious tone—sombre, almost. "I always expected the possibility that either one of us would die. I always imagined it would be a stray attack, or from a Pokemon, I never really imagined it would be one of our own. I never imagined anyone would challenge Archie for the role of leadership—nor that anyone would beat him…You heard about the battle, yes?"

  Shelly nodded. How could she not? People still talked about it as though it happened yesterday.

  "Well, Archie lost, as you know…Poseidon even offered to let him live, you know? A simple swap in the change of leadership. Archie would be an admin, still respected and admired," He shook his head. "Archie was always so headstrong. It's what made him 'him'. It was why the team was created in the first place. Archie wanted to go through with this insane plan, and nothing would stop him. But it also bit him in the ass. Archie couldn't live without being the leader of his creation, couldn't stand not being at the helm, so he wanted to die instead. Poseidon granted him that wish. It was a good send-off."

  "I think if Archie were watching from below the sea—he would be proud of what we've become. To see his team elevated to such a level, it would make him smile," Matt chuckled. "Poseidon took what we started and cultivated it to a level we never even imagined possible. I don't hate him or feel the need to avenge Archie. I respect Poseidon. So I will follow him and his leadership—to see where he could take us, to see where he can take Archie's dream," he finished.

  Shelly stood in silence, processing all that Matt had just said. She genuinely hadn't come here out of worry but out of curiosity. If she was going to be a leader, then she at least needed to know her admins properly.

  Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak—Matt cut her off.

  "I trust Poseidon, so if he anointed you leader while he is away, then I trust you. However…as for the others…"

  "I know," Shelly nodded. In Team Aqua, respect needed to be earned. "They'll listen to me soon enough."

  With those words, she left, making her way down to the common area where most of the members stayed during the day. These were the members who stayed at the Team Aqua base—most with permanent residency. Some didn't stay at the base and only came for raids. Others had separate accommodation but regularly came to the base.

  Some had families, some had appearances to keep—there were a wide variety of reasons.

  The common area was bustling with activity. Loud music, laughing, and shouting echoed across the whole room. When she had been here before—back when William was in the middle of fighting Lance—the energy was nervous, on edge.

  Many people had left, going back to their homes, thinking Lance was going to break through the entrance any moment, but for the ones who had stayed—this was their home. Now there was none of that worry. It was all happy.

  The recent raid on the SS Anne had been extremely lucrative, and each one of the members had gotten a very handsome payday. Even though some time had passed, they were still living off that large payout.

  The energy was electric. A group of members watched the large plasma screen TV attached to the walls. Another group were playing cards, while a larger group was playing pool. Beside them, there was a small gathering of people playing darts.

  Shelly removed herself from the entrance and walked forward.

  Bump!

  She almost fell as a shoulder crashed into her. She adjusted herself, remaining balanced. Shelly looked at the culprit, a man—he gave her a disrespectful glance and walked past her.

  "Apologise," she said. The words were quiet, but they brought the attention of the entire room. Conflicts were common, but conflicts with an Admin weren't.

  "Huh?" The man turned around, eyes flashing with fury.

  "I said, apologise."

  "And why should I?" he challenged. "You might be an Admin, but that doesn't mean I need to listen to you, especially as you're a woman. I'm sure the boss just took pity on you. Saw a pretty face and decided to promote you."

  "Apologise," she had said it three times already.

  The man huffed, "Fuck off…"

  She let one of her pokeballs drop to the floor. It clattered against the ground, bouncing upwards. And then Spots came out. Azumarill understood the assignment. In an instant, she closed the distance and pinned the disrespectful man down.

  "Hey! What the fuck! Let me go!" The man struggled against Spots' grip.

  "I gave you more than enough chances to rectify your mistake. I asked you to apologise three times. I gave you three chances, and each one of them you threw in my face. I have to pay it back, no?" she said, her voice taking on a dark tone. "Spots is going to break three of your fingers, one by one. Each time you feel the bone snap, I want you to remember each time you refused to apologise. Maybe then you will learn your lesson."

  Shelly gave the man a cold look. "Let's start with the first one."

  The screams echoed through the common room, louder than anything she had ever heard there.

  END

  Since then, no one in Team Aqua had disrespected her—no one had refused an order from her. Her cold, calculated display of finger-breaking had sent the message: she wouldn't tolerate disrespect, and they should treat her like an Admin of Team Aqua.

  A couple of months prior, she could never have imagined doing something like this. It was a drastic change, but a necessary one.

  Given how long had passed, William should be returning soon. She would go back to her position as admin—but the difference was that people would respect her now.

  She relaxed back in her chair. Until William returned, all she needed to do was hope nothing bad happened, and everything would be—

  Just then, the door was forcibly thrown open. A grunt burst into the office, face pale, looking terrified.

  Shelly straightened. "What is it?"

  "The Barboach! They're saying there are intruders above!" the grunt cried.

  "What?" She leapt out of her chair.

  He nodded feverishly. "A massive group—people and Pokemon. Dressed in black and red. They don't look like government forces, and they don't look friendly."

  Shelly was already grabbing her pokeballs. "Let's go!"

  The grunt nodded, and they dashed to the common room. The speed of their entry—and the panic on the grunt's face—shifted the room's energy. This was serious.

  Just before she could speak, an explosion rang out. The door to the Team Aqua common room entrance was blown off its hinges, and a group of men and women in red stormed in.

  Shelly didn't freeze. "Kill them!" she screamed, knowing that the sentiments in their head were the same.

  Pokeballs were thrown, and the battle began.