Alaric Graves sat in his office with an unpleasant look as another report reached his desk regarding Alex Wattson, the bounty hunter. Apparently, he had been running around in the Galar region recently and had already taken down two of their bases.
Meanwhile, the bounty that had been placed on Alex's head had minimal effect since the League released the schematics of his airships to the public, greatly reducing the appeal of the bounty. Only weak trainers who didn't even have the resources to build one were interested in trying, and they were far too weak to actually kill Alex.
Alaric had also received an update regarding Alex that would throw off their plans, starting with the fact that he had managed to kill a Master ranked trainer despite being cornered by three other Champions. He was clearly far beyond the norm when it came to the average trainer.
Now, he watched as Alex fought a Dynamax Pokémon with his bare hands, smiling and laughing wildly with excitement.
"He's a madman, a lunatic who craves battles and goes around offending anyone he can get his hands on, unafraid of the consequences. No wonder he can so confidently pick a fight with us," Alaric commented as he watched the video feed sent by the leader of the Galar region. "What are their plans to handle him?"
"They have decided to halt all operations and empty the bases until Alex Wattson leaves the region."
"A smart move considering his strength. If he can take down a Master by himself, there won't be anything anybody else can do to stop him."
"What would you like to do about him, sir? Should we increase the bounty, send the Alpha Strike Unit, or deploy the other armies? We could also try to target his bases since he's all the way in Galar right now."
"And give that battle maniac exactly what he wants at the cost of our resources?" Alaric asked, raising a brow. "No. Remove the bounty on his head and ignore him for now. Our plans have been delayed in all regions, but not by much. What matters more is that we focus on our technology."
Alaric swiveled his chair, turning to face his fish tank filled with ordinary fish as he continued.
"Our failures in taking down this madman have shown that our technology is still inadequate. If we plan to eventually take down the League, we will need even more powerful weapons. Since we still have Sinnoh providing the resources we need, I don't see a need to start taking control just yet."
"Are you sure, sir? It would slow the spread of our ideology to the masses."
"We've spread it as far as it can go for now. Given our poor reputation, we will need more time to convince them. Continue funding the bases we still have and target the orphans. They're an untapped resource that will go far in propagating our ideology."
"Yes, sir."
"How is research on Mewtwo going?"
"It is still too powerful to control with our current technology, although we have managed to permanently trap its mind in a simulacrum."
"That's fine. Keep at it. Growth is our focus moving forward."
"Understood, sir," the secretary said before leaving Alaric alone with his thoughts.
This entire situation with the bounty hunter had shed light on their current lack of capability. It was unfortunate to have lost so much time and resources to learn this lesson, but moving forward, they would begin to see only benefits. It had been a blessing in disguise, as fighting the League and failing would have been a far more devastating consequence.
Now, all they had to do was keep building, and eventually they would reach a point of no return for the world, a point where humans would rule rather than Pokémon.
-----
After killing the people tailing him and cleaning up their corpses, Alex turned his attention back to the Gyarados he had just beaten down. It was only an Expert ranked one that had happened to Dynamax underwater. It wasn't worth killing or keeping, so he tossed it back into the lake, then released Arcanine and returned to his main mission, finding Amy and the other trainers.
The pair raced over the churning waters without disturbance. Given the battle that had just transpired, no Pokémon would dare pick a fight, so it was smooth going until they reached the cliff face on the other side. They headed north, following the edge until they reached a shore low enough that any surfing Pokémon would be able to easily climb out of the water.
"Arc! Arc!" Arcanine barked, indicating that he had managed to pick up a trail.
It seemed Amy had in fact been taken here rather than killed out in the Wild Area.
"Good boy," Alex said, patting Arcanine on the shoulder before dismounting. "Follow it, but keep your ears open. We might get ambushed by whatever took them."
From the shore, Alex and Arcanine made their way upward along the mountainside, following a steep and uneven climb of fractured rock and compacted earth. Thin grass and stubborn shrubs clung to the cliff face in scattered patches, rooted in whatever gaps they could find between the stone.
Eventually, the terrain opened ahead, revealing a distant structure set into the plateau, a stone circle with eight massive stones jutting outward from its ring, each one easily 15 meters (49.2 feet) tall, weathered and seemingly deliberate in its placement. At its center a campfire burned, and around it were the people and Pokémon Alex was looking for. All five of them sat leisurely talking, surrounded by their Pokémon.
Alex couldn't make sense of the situation, given that they had been missing for over a week. It was strange seeing them there so nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. Still, he approached to get to the bottom of this odd scene, hoping he would get a proper explanation.
As he approached, however, he noticed a Champion ranked aura surrounded by Elite ranked ones. It was an odd nest that didn't seem to include any Experts or below.
"Is this a hostage situation followed by an ambush?" Alex asked, then shrugged and simply released his Pokémon.
Judging by the number he could detect, there were only about 8 Pokémon in total. It was an amount that was easily rushable.
Alex and his Pokémon stepped forward as a group, closing the distance and positioning themselves for a blitz as they moved within range of the rock formation.
"Send it," Alex said, nodding to Gardevoir once they were close enough.
Like the starting signal of a race, Gardevoir coordinated the blitz, sending 8 of Alex's Pokémon surging forward with priority moves. Arcanine, Togekiss, Shiny Lucario, and the Lucario pair shot ahead with Extreme Speed, followed by Raticate and the Crobat couple, who rushed forward with Quick Attack. They reached their targets before a proper response could form, locking them down and preventing the worst-case scenario.
At the same time, a flash of teleportation light appeared beside Alex, likely a decapitation attempt. It was fine, though, Alex was strong enough to survive a hit from a Champion, so he allowed it. Besides, he was surrounded by his Pokémon who would tear the brave Pokémon to shreds afterwards.
Once the light faded, a tackle was immediately thrown at Alex, but the Pokémon's intent wasn't what Alex was expecting. He didn't feel the usual feral bloodlust, only joy, an unrestrained happiness as he was tackled with open arms by whatever had teleported in.
Before it could reach him, however, Gardevoir stepped forward and slapped the cheek of the Pokémon that had appeared, sending it to the ground in a shocked and vulnerable position. It sat on the ground, legs folded to one side, one hand pressed to the ground to hold its body up, the other held to its cheek where Gardevoir had struck. Its expression was a conflicted mix of shock, sadness, and mild offense.
"A Gothitelle?" Alex asked, unsure why this Pokémon was being so familiar with him.
"Goth! Gothitelle!" it shouted at Gardevoir, complaining about how its best friend could just slap her like that.
"Gar! Gardevoir! GAR-DE-VOIR!" Gardevoir shouted back, insisting she had never seen this Pokémon in her entire life, so how could they possibly be best friends.
Alex narrowed his eyes, suspicion creeping in as Gothitelle and Gardevoir started a shouting match, all the while Gothitelle wore the brightest smile.
Gothitelle were Pokémon famous for their ability to perceive fragments of the future by reading the stars, often taking on morbid, gothic personalities as a result. They would often see glimpses of the death of the people and Pokémon they meet, and, coupled with the fact that Pokémon were naturally long-lived species, especially Gothitelle, which was at its third evolution, it was understandable that they were depressed all the time.
In particular, they were often portrayed as fearing the eventual death of their Trainer, even though a strong bond with a Psychic type like Gothitelle could extend a human's lifespan through shared energy. Sadly, this extension was limited, and humans were still far shorter-lived than many Pokémon species. As a result, Gothitelle would still eventually face the loss of a bonded human within its lifetime.
The fact that this Gothitelle was so attached to Alex and actually smiling meant it had seen a future with him, and he had somehow managed to survive. At least long enough that it hadn't gotten depressed by his death.
"This is some time related fuckery again, isn't it?" Alex concluded with a heavy sigh.
-----
Support me on Patreon
pātreon/babywrath