Pokemon: Master of tactics-Chapter 446

Silence stretched—not awkward, but weighted.

Luis felt it first. Not pressure exactly. More like being seen, the way adults on Springdale Close Street sometimes looked at you when they were deciding whether you were useful or disposable.

He swallowed, then spoke.

"Pokémon are… partners," Luis said carefully. "But not in the way people like to pretend."

Alex didn't interrupt.

Luis continued, choosing his words like stepping stones. "They're living beings with power. If you treat them like friends without understanding what they are, you'll die. A trainer's job is to survive with them. Anything else is a lie."

He finished and waited, hands clenched in his lap.

Alex nodded once. Not approval. Acknowledgment.

Then his gaze shifted to Lena.

She didn't answer immediately.

She leaned back slightly in her chair, eyes flicking to Luis for half a second—measuring his answer, weighing it—before returning her attention to Alex. Unlike her brother, she wasn't tense. She looked… comfortable. As if this were a negotiation.

"Pokémon," Lena said, "are assets."

Luis stiffened.

Lena kept going, unbothered.

"They're dangerous, rare, valuable assets," she said calmly. "They can protect you, feed you, make you rich, or get you killed. Pretending otherwise is stupid. The difference between a good trainer and a bad one isn't love—it's whether they know how to invest properly."

Alex's eyes sharpened—not coldly, but keenly.

"And how do you 'invest' properly?" he asked.

Lena smiled faintly. Honest. Unapologetic.

"You don't waste them," she said. "You don't throw them away for pride. You don't risk them for nothing. And you don't mistreat something you expect to keep paying dividends."

She paused, then added, "If you do it right, they'll stay with you. Not because you're kind—but because it's the best deal they've got."

The room was quiet again.

Gardevoir's presence stirred faintly behind the board. She did not like this answer.

Alex leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled.

Two answers. Both stripped of fantasy. One rooted in caution and responsibility. The other in brutal, lucid self-interest and greed.

Neither was necessarily wrong.

Alex looked at them again, really looked this time, and felt that familiar, unsettling certainty settle in his chest.

These two weren't just talented.

Given time, guidance… or the wrong push—

They could become problems.

Or pillars.

A slow smile touched Alex's face.

He wasn't so incompetent that he feared talented subordinates. Talent only became dangerous when it exceeded control. As long as he remained far stronger—and as long as they were used correctly—they wouldn't become an issue.

If they didn't want to die, that is.

"Good," Alex said at last. "Both of you."

Luis blinked, clearly unsure whether this was approval or something worse.

Lena's smile widened—just a little. She understood. Or thought she did.

Alex's gaze shifted between them again, colder now, more deliberate.

"Now," he continued, his voice even, "let's talk about what kind of trainers I can afford to let you become."

Not what they wanted to be.Not what they dreamed of.

What they would be allowed to be—

"I'll help you become Alliance trainers immediately," Alex said, his tone turning icy. "I can even provide each of you with an A-rank Psychic Pokémon as a starter. You'll receive food, education, protection, and long-term upkeep here."

He paused, letting the weight settle.

"But understand this clearly: I don't give these things away. I'm investing a significant amount of money, time, and effort into you. From this moment on, you would be working for me."

His eyes sharpened.

"Unless you don't want any of it."

For the first time, fear crossed Lena's face. Real fear. Her breath caught as she met Alex's gaze.

Luis, by contrast, remained calmer. Not fearless—but controlled. Even under the pressure, he managed to speak.

"Mr. Alex," he said carefully, "we really want what you're offering. But it's not enough to make us slaves."

Alex blinked once—genuinely surprised.

A six-year-old.Under direct psychic pressure.Still standing.

Luis wasn't imagining it either. Alex had deliberately reinforced his presence with psychic force. Combined with the fact that Alex had killed before—humans and Pokémon alike—his aura was something most adults struggled to endure.

"Hm," Alex thought. Their psychic energy is dampening the effect. That explains it.

Strong. Both of them.

Alex relaxed his power slightly, and the atmosphere in the room loosened at once. He smiled—this time, it looked almost natural.

"Slaves?" Alex repeated lightly. "Luis, that's a dramatic word. Inefficient, too. Think of it less as slavery and more as… exclusive employment."

He raised a finger.

"For at least ten years."

Luis didn't respond immediately. He didn't believe for a second that it would be as simple as Alex made it sound. Ten years meant control. Dependence. Obedience.

But he also knew the truth.

They needed this. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Food. Safety. Training. A future.

They couldn't afford to refuse.

Lena, now calmer but still tense, spoke up instead.

"Sir," she said, choosing her words carefully, "during those ten years, we won't be forced into dangerous missions. If you can promise that, we'll agree right now."

She glanced at Luis. No words were exchanged—but everything was said.

Alex knew they'd accept even if he refused.

That made it interesting.

"No problem," he said without hesitation. "I don't need meat shields."

Behind the board, Gardevoir laughed softly in his mind.

Hehe, Father. You're becoming more and more human.

Alex snorted inwardly.

If this counts as humane, he thought, then maybe humans are worse than I remembered.

He looked back at the twins.

"Good," he said calmly. "Then we understand each other."

They could become problems.

Or pillars.

And Alex was confident in one thing—

As long as they didn't want to die, they would learn which one he preferred.

Alex hadn't prepared a contract.

He hadn't even considered it.

Contracts were for equals, or for fools who believed paper could restrain power. Neither applied here.

By the time these twins reached elite-level strength, they wouldn't be weak anymore—and they wouldn't be free agents either. He would absorb them quietly into the Sky Merchant Guild's underground structure, directly under Maria. Deep enough that outsiders would never see them. High enough that betrayal would be unthinkable.

Rules would be meaningless then.

Loyalty wouldn't come from ink and signatures.

They were smart enough to know that the moment they betrayed him, he would hunt them down and kill them both. Not out of anger. Not out of revenge.

Out of necessity.

And Alex was certain of something else as well.

Once they held real power within the Guild—status, influence, resources—they wouldn't want to betray him. People rarely bit the hand that lifted them out of the dirt and gave them the world.

Alex looked at the twins again, his expression neutral, businesslike.

"I'll inform you as soon as the Alliance paperwork is complete," he said. "As for your starters—two A-rank Psychic-types. You'll receive them within a month."

He paused deliberately. "They'll be born A-rank. Under level twenty."

Then his gaze sharpened. "Get ready to conquer these Pokémon."

Luis froze for half a second. Then—he smiled.

Not the careful smile he used to survive. Not the polite one he wore for adults.

A real one.

"Don't worry, sir," Luis said, voice steady. "We won't let you down."

Beside him, Lena smiled too—wider, brighter, and for once completely sincere.

"Yes," she said. "Thank you, sir."

Alex watched them closely as they turned and left the room.

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