Chapter 446. Team Bones

Team Bones was a regional criminal organization operating across Alola, involved in drug trafficking, extortion, smuggling, and in its most extreme cases, human and Pokémon trafficking. It wasn’t a direct or formal successor to Team Skull, but it emerged from the long-term instability that followed Team Skull’s collapse decades earlier.

After Team Skull fell, Alola didn’t stabilize immediately. Instead, a power vacuum formed, and numerous small gangs appeared across the islands. These groups fought for territory and influence in localized conflicts. At first, their activity stayed relatively hidden and wasn’t significant enough to draw sustained public attention.

Both the Alolan Police and the Pokémon League attempted to suppress these groups early, repeatedly dismantling them before any could grow large or organized. However, this approach only prevented consolidation rather than eliminating the underlying conditions that produced them. As a result, the region developed a repeating cycle in which small gangs would form, be broken up, and then be replaced by new ones, often using similar “skeleton”-themed branding that became a recognizable criminal motif.

Eventually, some of these groups survived long enough to consolidate power within individual islands. Each island developed a dominant faction, and these factions later came into conflict with one another. Over time, one group managed to outcompete the others and expand its influence across all of Alola. This unified organization became known as Team Bones.

Once it achieved regional dominance, it shifted from fragmented street-level crime into coordinated large-scale operations, using its reach for profit, control, and trafficking networks spanning multiple islands.

Although law enforcement and Champion ranked trainers periodically succeeded in dismantling its leadership, the organization consistently re-formed under new leadership. This happened because its structure had become decentralized and self-replicating, with trained successors and established cells already in place before any takedown occurred.

As a result, Team Bones was no longer just a single organization with a stable hierarchy. It became a recurring criminal system within Alola’s Underground, sustained by generational recruitment and repeated power vacuums. This made it extremely difficult to eradicate completely without large-scale arrests that often implicated entire interconnected family and community networks.

“You think Malia and Nohea are a part of this group?” Alex asked.

“Maybe. I’m not sure,” Marlo said. “They grew up with a group of nice kids and did everything together with them. I know the kids’ parents, so there was nothing problematic at the start. But once they graduated from high school and started taking on the island challenge, they came back changed.”

“Now they go out to nightclubs and come home drunk. There have been times they’ve returned with bruises, but they won’t admit to anything. Other times, we’ve had to pick them up from the Pokémon Center. The only relief is that it hasn’t been getting any worse. That was until the rumors started.”

“One of the boys in their group was arrested for drug possession. A girl was apparently assaulted and had to leave the island with her parents for another region. Now there are rumors that my daughters are sluts who sleep with anyone who has enough money. I asked them about it, but all they said was that it was all lies and refused to explain further. It was like they were trying to keep me away for my own good.”

“Sounds like typical teenage behavior,” Alex said dismissively. “Although it is suspicious how they seemed to change so suddenly. It might be that they had no choice but to fight back and defend themselves.”

“That was what I thought,” Marlo said. “They were probably being pressured by a real gang, so I tried investigating on my own, but none of the other parents knew anything either. Whatever this is, it’s being hidden from us. I went out a few times myself, and all I could find were a few shady stores and tattoo shops that might be dealing drugs. Of course, I have no proof, and the police aren’t moving in on them either. It’s all just so confusing and stressful.”

“What I do know is that if they are part of this Team Bones network, I can’t just move against them outright. They’ve got an entire network spanning the region, possibly with a Champion ranked trainer at the top. If I start dismantling their gangs, I’d be exposing my family to retaliation,” Marlo said, his voice tight with concern.

“I’ll look into it,” Alex said. “Since we’re touring the entire region, we’ll have plenty of chances to figure out what’s going on and get to the bottom of it. I’ve dealt with criminal networks before, so this shouldn’t be any more complicated than usual.”

“Aren’t your Pokémon at Poké Pelago? What happens if a Champion ranked trainer comes after you, or you get surrounded by Elites?”

“You let me worry about that, Marlo. I can handle myself just fine with or without my Pokémon.”

“I hope so,” Marlo said quietly.

After breakfast on the beach, Marlo and Leilani led Alex and his family to the beachfront property they had rented. It had more than enough rooms for everyone, with luxurious accommodations similar to the beachfront property Alex had rented in Undella Town.

The plan was to stay for a full week before beginning a tour of the island. After that, they would go island hopping, visiting each one until they returned to Akala Island.

Once they secured their rooms, they returned to the beach for some more fun. Mostly lounging, eating, swimming, and making use of whatever amenities came with the house they rented. There were jet skis, a speed boat for parasailing, diving gear to explore the coral reefs, and of course a fully stocked bar.

By evening, they lit a bonfire to keep warm and spent the time sharing stories from the past decade, with Sable contributing the most. She was the only one among the girls who had actually gone out and explored different regions through her work as a miner.

The others stuck to lighter, funny stories from their day jobs, while Alex had little interest in sharing his more brutal encounters. That left Marlo and Leilani to carry the conversation, recounting their journey over the years.

They were Elite ranked trainers and often took on jobs for the local Poké Center, which usually involved quelling rowdy nests in Lush Forest, Wela Volcano Park, or the Akala Outskirts. Occasionally, they were even called in to handle incoming tidal waves caused by battles out at sea. Fortunately, they specialized in Water Pokémon, so they were more than capable of calming the raging waters.

Malia and Nohea, meanwhile, talked about their island challenge. They met with the captains, solved problems for them, then battled them before finally earning the chance to face Olivia, who took them on in a double battle. It wasn’t a true victory over the island’s kahuna, similar to the limitations placed on early Gym Challenges in other regions, but it was enough to prove their competence as trainers. Now, they were expected to travel to the other islands and repeat the process, with the difficulty increasing each time.

Unfortunately, they had been advised to wait until reaching Elite rank before moving on to the next island. They were told their teamwork had done most of the heavy lifting, but it wouldn’t be enough against the other kahunas, who would put them through stricter trials. So, they had been working at Poké Centers like their parents, taking on trainer jobs to handle troublesome Pokémon while saving up enough money to buy Elite ranked meat to raise their Pokémon’s ranks.

By the end of the evening, they all returned to the house and settled in for the night. Everyone slept comfortably except for a pair of girls who began talking quietly on their bed.

“It’s a shame Alvera isn’t as strong as we thought,” Malia said. “She could’ve kicked those guys’ asses and scared them off.”

“I don’t think it would’ve worked in the end,” Nohea said, shaking her head. “Once Alvera and her family leave, they’ll just come back and start harassing us again. Maybe we’d get some peace for a while, but sooner or later some asshole would push them to come after us. It’s always like that whenever we manage to fight them off.”

“Do you think her dad could help us?” Malia asked. “He’s a Champion ranked bounty hunter, right? He should be able to do something.”

“It’s the same problem,” Nohea replied. “Once he leaves, we’re back to square one with no one strong enough to protect us. As long as we can’t consistently fight them off, we’re never going to have any real peace. The only thing we can do is play by their rules and survive until we’re strong enough that they stop mattering.”

“How about moving to Kanto and training as bounty hunters?” Malia asked. “We’d become strong enough to fight them off whenever we want, and Mom and Dad would be safe here since they’re already at Elite rank.”

“What about the others? Are we just going to leave them behind?”

“Ugh… you’ve got a point. We could try to bring them with us, but those assholes would just start harassing the other kids,” Malia said, then a mischievous smile crept onto her face. “What do you think about Alex, though?”

“Please, don’t start. You’re going to make me horny just thinking about it.”

“Really? He wasn’t bad, but I think Alvera is better.”

“I can agree with that,” the pair laughed, their voices light and careless, unaware of the shadows beneath their beds glinting faintly in the dark.