Deep in Dark Cave, after spending two months mapping out the place, Alex finally found a worn-out path that led to nowhere. It indicated that the path was often used, yet it had no clear reason to be of use to anyone.
The stone along the trail was smoother than the rest of the cave floor, worn down by repeated traffic. Even the surrounding walls showed faint signs of disturbance, scratches too uniform to be wild Pokémon, and markings that looked almost like crude trail signs, the kind smugglers would use. Alex crouched down and brushed his fingers over a print in the dirt. Fresh. Maybe a day old.
He followed the path leading out of Dark Cave and noticed even more recent footprints in the area, making it the prime location to set up an ambush. Still, he didn't rush to act, knowing he would likely only get one chance at catching a criminal before the path changed. Instead, he investigated deeper into the cave, following the trail until he reached a dead end.
The air felt different here. It was cleaner, fresher than the rest of the cave. It lacked the usual dampness and musty scent that clung to the deeper tunnels. The wall ahead, however, was completely sealed. There were no cracks, no gaps, nothing to suggest a way through. And yet, the freshness in the air hinted at something beyond.
To prove whether a path existed, he would have to take the risk of having Raticate dig through the wall, an act that could alert those maintaining the route and potentially provoke retaliation.
He considered it, but barely. One wrong move and they might abandon the path entirely, sealing it permanently or triggering a trap. So, Alex decided to wait for anyone passing through. He would target those who were on their way out and follow them, only striking when they were far enough away to avoid drawing attention.
Hopefully, this approach would allow Alex to profit without compromising the path or triggering a collapse or cleanup.
He stayed close to the wall, melding into the darkness. Time passed slowly in the dark, broken only by the occasional drip of water or distant echo of movement.
An hour before the end of the night, just as the sun was about to rise, Alex finally spotted the reason for the worn-out path.
A low grinding noise rumbled through the stone as the wall at the dead end opened, revealing over twenty masked trainers who each headed off in different directions. Some exited Dark Cave through the worn-out path, others split toward the three remaining entrances, while a few ventured deeper into the cave system, likely to wait out the day or find another exit.
Alex followed the strongest of the group, the one radiating an Elite ranked aura. He might not be able to take on all twenty, but he could certainly handle one.
Alex crept behind his target, each step placed with precision. He shifted his weight only when the other man did, letting the crunch of boots on gravel mask his own movements. The narrow corridor of Dark Cave stretched endlessly ahead, walls damp and breathing with silence.
The moment came without warning.
Alex lunged forward, his arm snapping around the man's neck in a fluid motion honed by repetition.
A shimmer of malevolent energy pulsed nearby. With a burst of violet mist, a Gengar slipped from the darkness, ready to aid its trainer.
Before it could move, Aegislash rose silently from the black pool of Alex's shadow, blade already gleaming. The ghost froze, caught between hesitation and instinct.
The man choked, hands clawing at the arm crushing his windpipe. With his free hand, Alex plucked the Poké Balls on the belt with the ease of a street magician, flicking them shut to lock the Pokémon away.
The man's legs buckled. His breathing turned ragged, then stopped as Alex drove a fist into the base of his skull. He dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
He remained unconscious for a while.
When he finally came to, he was groggy, wrists bound and throat aching. Panic set in the moment he realized he couldn't move.
Alex questioned him with a calm, steady voice. It was deep and rough, like it had been shaped by smoke and gravel. The sound alone made the man flinch. He cracked almost immediately. Names. Locations. Times. He spilled everything.
Once Alex had what he needed, he delivered a second blow, sending the man back into darkness. Then he turned to the figure watching from the cave wall.
"Did you get everything?"
Zoroark gave a low grunt of acknowledgement.
"Good. Follow his schedule exactly. I'll meet you outside Violet City."
Without a word, her form shimmered, reshaping into a perfect copy of the man on the ground. With a last glance at his unconscious target, Zoroark slipped into the dark, steps already blending into another man's life.
Meanwhile, Alex carried the man on his shoulder before teleporting back to the house in Violet City.
"Two million credits," Alex said as he checked the man's bounty. "Not bad."
Alex couldn't afford to let anyone find out he had a working route through Dark Cave. If word got out, the path would either be sealed off or flooded with guards, ruining weeks of careful mapping.
To prevent that, every time he caught a criminal inside, he would have Zoroark follow their planned schedule exactly. The illusion made it seem like they were still free, moving from place to place as expected, so no one suspected they had been taken from Dark Cave.
It was the only way to keep the path hidden and avoid starting over.
With that system in place, Alex continued using the route to quietly ambush and capture more criminals, profiting off them for the rest of the month.
-----
Deep underground in Dark Cave, a tired-looking man stood stiffly as he reported to his superior about the sudden drop in visitors.
"What the hell do you mean we lost 20 clients this month?" a fat man roared, slamming his palm on the table.
The sound echoed sharply off the stone walls, and the others in the room flinched.
His face was flushed with fury, sweat trailing down his cheeks as he leaned forward, eyes locked on the trembling informant.
"They were all arrested by a bounty hunter," the man said quietly.
"Who? How?"
"Alex Wattson, 21 years old, adopted son of Officer Jenny from Saffron City in Kanto. He crossed over six months ago and is currently residing in Violet City under Umbraline. I asked around, and they confirmed he's being supported for work against the human supremacists. He's also the one who took down the Cherrygrove base. As for how, he runs into them around Violet City and Route 31 before he captures them and claims their bounties."
The fat man's lips twisted, his rage shifting into something colder and more calculating. If the captures were happening outside of Dark Cave, then the fault didn't lie with them. Their internal routes were still secure. That meant their operation hadn't been exposed yet.
As for the bounty hunter, the Cherrygrove base hadn't been an easy target. It was guarded by a Steel type specialist known for his brutality and madness. If this bounty hunter managed to dismantle it, then he was far more capable than expected. He was definitely not someone to take lightly.
Worse still, he couldn't inform his boss without risking looking incompetent. Nor could he ask the Elites to take care of it, for the very same reason. He would have to handle this himself and pay for it out of pocket.
"How much to make this go away?" the fat man asked.
"Umbraline says they'll try their best for a hundred million. They also stated that they can't guarantee his obedience since he isn't officially under them."
The fat man grunted.
"Pay it. And make sure he doesn't come back."
"Yes, sir."
-----
A month had passed since Alex discovered the worn-out path, and he had been busy ever since. He had hunted down a total of 27 targets, capturing almost one every day, and managed to earn 20 million League credits.
His targets were all well-known criminals, each carrying a sizable credit bounty due to their continued and escalating activities. Some were worth significantly more than others, though most sat below the one-million mark.
At this pace, it wouldn't take more than a year for him to save enough for his dream home.
Realistically speaking, however, he would eventually have to stop. There were likely fewer than 200 million credits' worth of bounties left in all of Johto, excluding Champion ranked trainers. Sooner or later, he'd run out of criminals to cash in on, as they would either flee Dark Cave or go into hiding and never come out.
Just then, a message lit up on his other phone, the one Umbraline uses to send him updates regarding the human supremacists.
The message read, "Dark Cave is watching."
A simple sentence, but heavy with intent.
Alex sighed. "Guess I'm done hunting in Dark Cave for now. Still, I might be able to make an even bigger profit in the future. In the meantime, I should get back to tracking down more supremacists."
Thus, Alex resumed his journey through Johto, temporarily setting aside his hunt in Dark Cave.
-----
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