Alex descended a spiral staircase after forcing his way into the suspected hideout. Raticate, Ceruledge, Kommo-o, and Togekiss led the way while Gardevoir remained close behind him. As they descended, she kept watch over both the team and the panicked humans scattered throughout with her psychic senses. Meanwhile, Rotom had already infiltrated the facility's network, downloading copies of its database as quickly as possible while ensuring the alarm systems remained disabled.
At the bottom of the staircase, Alex stepped into a surprisingly luxurious underground complex. Plush carpets muffled every footstep, polished wooden furnishings lined the halls, crystal chandeliers bathed the corridors in warm light, and tasteful paintings adorned the walls, making the place feel more like an exclusive hotel than a criminal hideout.
Behind the reception desk, a bank of large digital displays tracked the latest market prices for rare Pokémon. Names, specifics, and regional demand scrolled continuously across the screens as values rose and fell in real time, the fluctuating numbers resembling a bustling stock exchange. Computer terminals stood ready to log newly captured Pokémon, process payments, and coordinate transactions, while a nearby armory was stocked with weapons, restraints, and specialized capture equipment.
Farther back, beyond a secured hallway, rows of reinforced kennels housed valuable Pokémon awaiting buyers, transport, or redistribution to other cells within the organization. Automated feeders and watering systems kept the captives healthy while sensors continuously monitored their condition, preserving their value until they changed hands. Should any Pokémon become aggressive or attempt an escape, ceiling-mounted tranquilizer launchers would sedate them.
This was without a doubt a poacher's hideout.
Alex released the rest of his attack team, sending them deeper into the underground complex to systematically clear the facility. Among those captured were several Expert ranked trainers, regular clients who had come to use the organization's services, along with the employees responsible for management and security. There was also the Elite ranked trainer overseeing the entire operation, all of whom were subdued without incident.
"Start building a network for me," Alex commanded.
Rotom immediately began collating local intelligence, compiling dossiers on the region's poachers while cross-referencing criminal records, known associates, and operating patterns. At the same time, Gardevoir sifted through the prisoners' memories, extracting the locations of safe houses, hunting grounds, black-market contacts, and anyone carrying dead-or-alive bounties. Whenever she uncovered fugitives with execution warrants, she consumed their minds without hesitation, knowing no one would mourn their passing.
Within the hour, Rotom had distributed an intelligence packet to local bounty hunters containing updated information on the poaching network before notifying the police of the raid and the elimination of the Elite ranked leader. Meanwhile, Gardevoir compiled a list of their remaining assets and contacts, giving Alex a trail that led not only to additional Underworld operations but also to even more notorious poachers with larger bounties on their heads.
"Not a bad start," Alex said, glancing at expected earnings on his phone as Rotom tallied the rewards for every poacher captured in the hideout. "A few more places like this and I'll have earned enough to match a Champion's bounty. I need more though, so we'd better hit a few more places before word spreads and they start scrambling."
Once they were finished, Alex didn't bother waiting for the police to arrive and immediately headed for their next target. It was a hideout deep within the forest east of the city. Unlike the operation they had just dismantled, this one was far larger and served as the primary gathering place for the local poachers, a place known throughout the Underworld as the Poacher's Paradise.
Apparently, this was where the real money was made. The operation was far more established, protected by Champion ranked defenders, and featured hotels, supply stores, armories, and an even larger kennel complex. Its reputation was so widespread throughout the Underworld that criminals regularly came here to buy and sell Pokémon.
Alex mounted Arcanine and vaulted over the city's walls before racing east through the forest. They traveled at blistering speed, with Arcanine using Extreme Speed whenever wild Pokémon or wandering trainers threatened to slow them down. Within the hour, they reached a solitary mountain rising from the endless sea of trees.
To the untrained eye, it blended naturally into the landscape, but anyone familiar with geography would immediately recognize that something was wrong. The mountain stood isolated in otherwise level terrain, its steep slopes and uniform shape completely at odds with the surrounding land. A closer inspection only confirmed Alex's suspicions. The rock face bore unmistakable signs of Pokémon manipulation, with massive sections compressed and lifted from the earth rather than formed through natural geological processes.
Once they located one of the many cave entrances surrounding the mountain, they ventured deep underground before using an access pass taken from one of the captives. The security checkpoint accepted it without question, granting them access to the hidden settlement beyond.
Alex found an entire underground town carved into the cavern. A bustling marketplace filled the center with merchants buying and selling Pokémon, equipment, and contraband. Hotels and other businesses lined the outer edges, while a towering watchtower hung suspended from the cavern ceiling, overlooking the crowds below. Reinforced tunnels branched off into warehouses, training grounds, and kennel complexes, turning the settlement into a self-sufficient criminal enclave. More than a few thousand people milled through the streets, befitting its reputation.
"Rotom, deploy the drones for mass incapacitation and stay in the center with the defense team. Gardevoir, send the attack team to contain the crowd as much as you can, but don't overextend yourself. We know there's at least one Champion ranked trainer here."
Alex couldn't realistically prevent everyone from escaping. Even if Rotom hacked into the facility's systems and sealed every known exit, trainers with Ground type Pokémon could simply tunnel their way out of the cavern. It was far more profitable to sow chaos, draw out the leaders of the operation, and capture only those they could realistically handle. It wasn't as efficient as having additional bounty hunters to lock down the perimeter, but the small fry had never been the objective anyway.
With a loud mechanical buzz that steadily grew in intensity, Rotom deployed dozens of drones into the cavern. They immediately began firing Hypnosis and Thunder Wave while Rotom released Alex's Pokémon one after another, each scattering in a different direction under Gardevoir's telepathic command. The opening assault was devastating, dropping scores of unsuspecting trainers before panic swept through the settlement.
Many fought back, determined to eliminate the attackers, but they stood little chance against more than 50 Champion ranked Pokémon. Meanwhile, the drones ignored the strongest opponents, focusing instead on incapacitating weaker trainers and preventing them from organizing into a coordinated defense.
Within minutes, the entire cavern descended into chaos. Criminals and low-ranking poachers fled for the exits while those in command converged on Alex's position. Hundreds of Expert ranked Pokémon, dozens of Elites, and more than 12 Champions rushed to engage, backed by gunfire from their trainers. Even so, they were hopelessly outmatched. Alex's team had fought and defeated armies before, and with their recent growth in strength and coordination, they dismantled the defenders with ruthless efficiency.
Once the primary defense collapsed, Alex's Pokémon immediately spread through the settlement, pursuing those attempting to flee into the tunnels and incapacitating anyone too slow to escape. Meanwhile, Gardevoir personally led the flying Pokémon in an assault on the watchtower suspended from the cavern ceiling, swiftly clearing it of every remaining defender.
"Good work," Alex said, surveying the now-silent cavern. "You know the drill. Clean up."
More than half of the goods and the cavern's occupants escaped through the network of exits before Alex's team could lock the area down. Even so, they recovered enough weapons, ammunition, capture equipment, medical supplies, and other contraband to significantly replenish the Silver Network's stockpiles.
As expected, those captured were primarily the people who ran the place. Among them were 2 Champion ranked trainers, 7 Elites, and nearly 100 Experts who either managed the Poacher's Paradise or operated as its trusted partners. Their memories pointed to a handful of individuals who coordinated the entire organization.
"As expected," Alex muttered. "They have more than a dozen facilities like this spread across Kalos, with additional branches in other regions. Worse, they're backed by several well-known Master ranked trainers in Lumiose City. Based on their profit margins, their history of tolerating losses, and my own reputation, I'd better stop after 3 bases. Any more than that, and the damage I'll cause will outweigh the cost of hunting me down."
Apart from the leadership, they also captured several hundred ordinary criminals. Most had simply been caught in the opening assault or failed to escape before Alex's Pokémon secured their section of the cavern. They were likely to receive little more than a slap on the wrist, as most were customers rather than organizers, so Alex left them for the League to sort out.
Once the cleanup was complete and the League had been notified to secure the area, Alex checked Rotom's latest tally. The capture of so many Champion and Elite ranked criminals with bounties on their heads, not to mention the over a hundred Experts, pushed his expected payout to well over 50 million credits.
"A damn good day's work," Alex said with a satisfied nod. "A few decades ago, I wouldn't have dared pick a fight with an organization like this. Now I'm finally strong enough to reshape the Underworld instead of just taking careful picks from it. Feels like I've crossed a major milestone."
As Alex relished crossing a milestone he had once thought beyond his reach, the Underworld began to stir.