Chương 9: The First Battle

Training Ring Three had once been a storage chamber. Team Rocket had converted it by painting boundaries on the concrete, installing a retractable observation barrier, and placing medical equipment near the exit. The floor retained old oil stains. Overhead lights produced a steady industrial hum. The surviving recruits filled the viewing platform. Rine recognized interest for what it was. The battle would establish more than collection rights.

If Houndour lost badly, other recruits would challenge him for ranking, credits, and access to his assigned facilities. Weakness attracted violence here because violence was the principal route upward. Cassian entered wearing a sleeveless training uniform. Ekans moved beside him without a leash. The snake had dark bruising beneath several scales where Cassian kicked it. Its emotional state registered as agitated and fearful. Its current potential had fallen from Green to White.

Rine wondered whether Cassian understood that prolonged abuse could permanently lower its ceiling. He probably would not have cared. Gideon observed from behind the barrier.

"Standard concession rules. The match ends upon surrender, incapacitation, boundary exit, or evaluator intervention. Deliberately killing the opposing recruit is prohibited."

"The Pokémon?" Rine asked. Gideon looked mildly amused.

"Assets are replaceable." Rine removed Houndour's muzzle. She looked toward the crowded platform and faltered. Too many people. Too many scents. Her electricity rose. Rine knelt, placing himself in her view.

"Three steps." It was not a formal command. It was their rule. Houndour focused on him. The charge diminished. Rine retreated three paces and stood. Cassian watched the exchange.

"Finished comforting it?" Rine ignored him. The signal sounded.

"Ekans, Poison Sting." Ekans opened with speed Rine had not anticipated. Purple needles crossed the ring.

"Left!" Houndour jumped. Two barbs passed beneath her; a third cut her rear leg. She landed badly but remained upright.

"Again," Cassian ordered.

"Low!" Houndour dropped. Poison Sting struck the wall.

"Ember—floor." She released a narrow line of sparks across the concrete between them. The old oil residue caught. Flame traveled in a crooked line, producing greasy black smoke. Ekans recoiled.

"Through it," Cassian said. The snake hesitated. Cassian's hand moved toward the collar control. Ekans lunged through the fire. Its scales protected it from brief heat. Smoke disturbed its aim but did not stop the attack. The snake struck Houndour in the shoulder and coiled before she could retreat. Wrap. Houndour yelped as the first loop tightened around her ribs.

"Bite it!" Cassian shouted. Ekans sank its teeth into the loose skin at Houndour's neck. Rine's vision filled with warnings. Constriction pressure rising Breathing impaired Venom exposure: Low, increasing Houndour's electricity surged instinctively.

"No lightning!" She looked at him through the coil. Using Thunder Shock at contact range would devastate Ekans. It might also trigger the elemental interaction the veterinarian warned about. Houndour could win the fight and die afterward.

"Small Ember. Under you." Houndour twisted her head downward. Flame washed across her own forelegs and the portion of Ekans pressed to her belly. Her Fire typing protected her better than it protected the Poison-type snake. Ekans hissed and loosened.

"Back!" Houndour tore herself free, leaving hair in Ekans's mouth. She stumbled away. Cassian's jaw tightened.

"Glare." Ekans spread its hood and fixed Houndour with a predatory stare. Her movements slowed. Static gathered uselessly through muscles struggling to respond. Paralysis. Rine forced Identify through his headache. Ekans — Level 9 Immediate focus: Glare maintenance Visual dependence: High You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Injury: Superficial burn, ventral scales Emotional state: Fearful; divided attention"Smoke," Rine said. Houndour did not respond.

"Ember in front of you." Her jaw moved. A weak spark struck the oily smoke between them, thickening it. Ekans lost direct sight. Glare broke. Houndour's body remained partially numb, but she could move.

"Come." She limped toward Rine. Cassian laughed.

"Running already? Ekans, pursue. Bite." The snake followed the vibration of Houndour's uneven steps through the smoke. That was what Rine wanted.

"Wait." Houndour stopped. Ekans emerged behind her, mouth open.

"Right." Houndour threw herself sideways. Ekans passed her and found Rine directly ahead. Rine stepped across the boundary. The snake followed. A warning tone sounded.

"Boundary exit," Gideon announced. Cassian's expression changed.

"What?"

"Your Pokémon crossed the line."

"Because Frostfang interfered!"

"The opposing Trainer is not a valid target. Maintaining control is your responsibility." Ekans turned toward Cassian, confused. The battle had ended. Houndour remained inside the ring. For half a second, no one reacted. Then laughter rose from the viewing platform. Not for Rine—for Cassian. Team Rocket did not care whether the loss was fair. The highest-ranked recruit had been manipulated into commanding his own Pokémon out of bounds. Cassian crossed the ring. Rine saw murder in his face.

Ekans saw it too and retreated. Gideon's voice cut through the room.

"The match is concluded." Cassian stopped because the alternative was disobedience before an executive. Rine returned to Houndour. She stood with one rear leg raised. The Poison Sting wound had begun swelling, and blood darkened the bite at her neck.

"You did well." Houndour panted. Her attention remained on Cassian until Rine held out the ball.

"Your choice." She allowed recall immediately. The watching recruits went quiet. They had seen something more important than a boundary trick. Houndour trusted him enough to enter the ball while injured. Gideon transferred the reward. SANCTIONED VICTORY Reward: 200 credits Collection route assigned Rank adjustment: Rine — 8 of 15 Rine used 120 credits on antidote treatment before leaving the ring. He did not feel victorious. Cassian knelt beside Ekans at the opposite boundary.

For one hopeful moment, Rine thought he might check its burn. Instead, he struck the snake across the head. Rine started toward him. Gideon blocked the path.

"His asset," the executive said.

"You lower potential through prolonged injury."

"Then he will learn or lose his investment."

"And Ekans pays for the lesson."

"Everything pays for every lesson." Rine looked at Gideon. Identify produced a brief impression: not cruelty, precisely. Conviction. Gideon believed suffering was not merely useful but clarifying. In his world, pain stripped away falsehood and revealed value. Rine hated him. The hatred felt strong enough to preserve. The infirmary treated Houndour behind a transparent partition. Rine remained where she could see him.

A Chansey would have made the procedure easier, but Team Rocket's medical wing relied on human technicians and restrained Pokémon assistants chosen for utility rather than temperament. A Magnemite powered diagnostic equipment while a tired Audino sorted supplies beneath the supervision of an armed nurse. Houndour growled when the medic approached her neck.

"Sedate it," the nurse said.

"No."

"Then hold it." Rine entered the treatment enclosure wearing insulated sleeves. He showed Houndour the antiseptic, gauze, and antidote injector one item at a time. Her breathing remained fast.

"Wait." She held still while the medic cleaned the bite. At four seconds, her restraint failed. She snapped, missing the medic's hand by inches. The nurse reached for a tranquilizer.

"Give her a moment."

"This is an infirmary, not a bonding seminar." Rine crouched without touching Houndour.

"Come." She moved to him, placing his body between herself and the medic.

"You can treat the wound from this side." The medic muttered something obscene but complied. Rine fed Houndour tiny pieces of meat throughout the procedure. She attempted to turn twice and growled continuously, yet the treatment was completed without restraints. The antidote reduced the fever risk. Identify still showed venom circulating through the lymphatic tissue around her rear leg, but the concentration was falling.

"Forty-eight hours of rest," the medic said.

"The assessment schedule—""Doesn't change biology. Ignore me if you want a three-legged asset." Rine paid for an anti-inflammatory and carried Houndour back because the medic prohibited walking on the injured leg. She weighed less than twenty kilograms. The number was normal for a healthy Houndour. Her body felt too light anyway. She remained rigid in his arms until they entered the quieter residential corridor. Then her head settled against his shoulder. Recruits watched them pass. Rine expected mockery.

He received calculation. Houndour had obeyed inside the ring, defeated a stronger opponent through positioning, and accepted medical handling without sedation. Every recruit understood those advantages even if Team Rocket called them softness. At the cell, Iona waited.

"Boundary exit," she said.

"It was a valid condition."

"It was funny." That might have been the first joke Rine heard her make. She handed him a sealed packet of Pecha concentrate.

"For the venom."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing today." Rine scanned the packet with Identify. It was genuine and uncontaminated.

"Thank you." Iona shrugged.

"Cassian's asking who sold you his collection schedule."

"No one did."

"He won't believe that."

"Would you?"

"No." She left. Rine mixed the Pecha concentrate into Houndour's water. She disliked the sweet smell until he tasted it first. Only then did she drink. An hour later, Cassian's voice came through the observation slit.

"Enjoy the route." Rine did not look toward him.

"I intend to."

"You embarrassed me with a boundary trick."

"You ordered your Pokémon to attack a Trainer."

"I ordered it to win." Houndour raised her head from the blanket. Cassian lowered his voice.

"There are no boundaries in the city." Footsteps receded. Rine sat beside the door and considered the threat. Killing Cassian would solve several problems. Team Rocket permitted lethal force on certain missions. An accident in the Rust District could be arranged. Ekans's collar logs could be altered if Rine gained access to the correct terminal. The plan assembled itself with disturbing ease. He dismantled it deliberately. Not because Cassian deserved protection.

Because Rine did not yet want murder to become the first tool he reached for. The word yet remained after the rest of the thought. He looked down at his hands. Tomas's blood was no longer beneath his nails, but sometimes Rine still felt it drying there. Houndour crawled closer on three working legs and rested her chin across his boot.

"I'm all right," he told her. She closed her eyes, unconvinced. The match replay appeared on his watch that night. Team Rocket's analysis scored command efficiency, inflicted damage, positioning, and aggression. Cassian led in every category except control. Rine's victory was labeled environmental exploitation and awarded fewer ranking points than a knockout would have earned. Rine watched Houndour's constriction twice. The second viewing made him pause at the moment electricity gathered across her body.

She had looked at him before obeying the order not to discharge. With her ribs compressed and venom entering her leg, she had trusted his judgment over her own instinct. That trust carried a debt. Rine created a private rule: Never forbid a survival response without providing another path. Team Rocket's training materials contained no equivalent principle. He added two more: Never train through an injury for the sake of schedule. Never confuse obedience with understanding. They were simple statements.

Keeping them inside Team Rocket would not be simple. Houndour woke when he returned the watch to his wrist. She limped to the feeding bowl and pushed it toward him.

"You already ate." She pushed it again. Rine checked the portion log. She had, in fact, already eaten.

"Manipulation," he said.

"A troubling behavioral development." Her tail moved once against the blanket. Rine gave her one small piece of meat. The first battle had produced blood, poison, and an enemy who now wanted him dead. It had also produced a private joke understood by one boy and one Pokémon. The world remained capable of holding both. Rine intended to remember that before Team Rocket taught him otherwise. Memory alone would not protect it. He understood that now.

Principles survived only when they were exercised under pressure, and Team Rocket would provide pressure without end. He saved his private rules behind three layers of encryption. Then he added a fourth: A victory that destroys my partner is a loss. He read the sentence twice before locking the file. It stayed.