Master Rachel

Credit to Dyemelikeasunset.

**Rachel,** also known as Master R, is the more well known leader of the Silver City Syndicate, and a Tier A outlaw. She co-leads the Syndicate alongside Master Saku, a childhood friend of hers who develops technology that helps her stay in touch with her subordinates.

## Personality

Rachel appears cold and deadpan on the outside, but inside, she holds a somewhat motherly warmth for the members of her syndicate, frequently checking up on underlings through their collar. As a result of her hospitality and genuine care, her minions end up being far more intrinsically loyal than those of The Boss.

Wronged by the Justice guild at an early age, Rachel wishes to head an anti-authority revolution in Silver City, claiming to have ultimate power over all crime that unfolds within it. Needless to say, she has a distaste for guild programs.

## Methods

**Master Rachel** synergizes extremely well with Master Saku in terms of managing the Syndicate; Saku handles technology and intelligence, while Rachel handles networking and income management.

Until recently, the Silver City Syndicate made a large portion of income from the Giga Impact tournament, forming a partnership deal with The Boss in exchange for using their resources to further his interests and business.

Rachel almost never steps out from her headquarters, only doing so to feel the breeze every once in a while. She sits atop a throne like a king in her own quarters, where she holds meetings with Syndicate members to assign missions and recruit new members.

Rumors say that the Syndicate has a room where members of the Syndicate can volunteer for a break window, having free reign over any prisoners held by the Syndicate for a selected time slot until they go back to work. They say that this is used primarily to extract intelligence from, or harshly punish belligerent guild members with constant torture.

## Abilities

Rachel's strength has declined over years of a sedentary hiding lifestyle, managing the guild and snacking while spending most of her time sitting in a throne. However, she excels in communication, garnering trust, coming to compromises, and getting her way with her words.

Her ability to persuade lends to an ability to grow her influence, by recruiting citizens that have been wronged or are in need, and offering them food and a place to stay in exchange for servitude under her. Their poor conditions make it easy for Rachel to convince them that guild programs are ineffective and action against them is justified.

## Backstory

Rachel, like many of her underlings, came from almost nothing in the densely packed, decaying housing district in Silver City. Raised primarily by her mother while her father was burdened with bringing the money. The father was often forced by the conditions around them to take questionable jobs and selling drugs. Rachel attended public school locally at Silver City, where she first met Saku, a psychic capable of hearing everyone's thoughts. Saku became fond of Rachel due to how unusually quiet her thoughts were compared to other students. Rachel would regularly invite Saku to her house, where her parents were always impressed by her incredible brilliance and adored their cute dynamic.

Rachel never knew her father was selling drugs to make ends meet back at home; it was her father's biggest secret. He said that when he saved up enough one day, their family would move to Redpetal to get away from the concrete jungle and take in the bountiful fields of Redpetal poppies and breathtaking views of the mountains. Unfortunately, these dreams were cut short one fateful day.

At the time that Saku and Rachel were young, the Iron Enforcers guild had not even been established yet. The major governing guild over Silver City was **Justice**, which was founded at around the same times as the major guilds of the other regions (namely Everhope, La Casa Monstro, and Puerta de la Muerte).

One day, when Rachel and Saku were ten years old, they were coming back home from school, side by side, back to Rachel's place, to find Justice guild members surrounding her home. Rachel watched in horror as her father fell victim to a sting operation during a drug deal, and was going to be taken to prison. Until, when he made a wrong move, a guild member with an itchy trigger finger executed him on the spot, right in front of her eyes. Saku, hearing his final thoughts before his soul departed from his body, could not stand to let such injustice unfold. As the murder of her father was quickly swept under the rug, she grew enraged, and Saku formed a pact with her that would forever shape their future together.

Over the course of the next five years, the rage inside her only festered and worsened. She swore she would avenge him, and Saku agreed to handle it for her, on the condition that she spent the next five years preparing for the fallout of their actions. She set up numerous hideouts in abandoned buildings, serving as sanctuaries. Spreading her story to trusted students at school, and meeting at these buildings every other day. She developed her ability to persuade in this time, rallying the emotions of her followers and having them take action on her behalf. Adorning the logo of a crudely drawn Pancham face, her mark spread her influence to every corner of Silver City, to remote hideouts that changed every other week, to confuse authorities.

Five years later, at the age of fifteen, Rachel evolved into a Pangoro, and prepared for the day of Justice's reckoning, on the fifth anniversary of the murder of her father. Saku enacted the plan, destroying the Justice Guild in an instant and killing any lingering survivors and witnesses.

Her multitude of sanctuaries proved to be safe hideouts for both her and Saku while guilds conducted their investigations, reinforced over time by her loyal servants and defended even by civilians. The Syndicate had become a political force among the people, formed as an anarchist faction opposed to the orderly guilds. The Iron Enforcers rose afterwards as a response to the skyrocketing crime in Silver City following the Justice incident, making it the youngest of any active guilds in Astrea.

Rachel is one of the most powerful Pokemon in all of Astrea, having developed a densely woven network of loyal goons all over Astrea to enact her bidding, spread her influence, and keep the guilds in check.