Gardevoir led the team in raiding the warehouses and factories while Rotom sifted through their databases. Meanwhile, the corpses were gathered and scanned to determine whether they had bounties, with Alex betting that most did. Team Luminal was, after all, an exceptionally feral organization, making it highly likely that anyone powerful enough to rise through its ranks had earned a bounty through criminal activity.
"Taking down Master ranked trainers is too easy," Alex noted as he watched his Pokémon clean up.
Over the past three days, he had fought one Master ranked opponent after another, yet there had been little challenge. Simply put, his team was tactically superior. The numerical advantage was one thing, but now that all of his Pokémon had reached Champion rank, even armies of Expert ranked trainers armed with guns could barely slow them down.
They had been capable of defeating powerful Master ranked trainers even before their breakthrough. Now, they could comfortably take on opponents far stronger than themselves. By Alex's estimate, it would take at least three Master ranked trainers with full teams of six or a dozen Champion ranked trainers capable of matching his team's coordination to truly overwhelm them.
"Maybe I should consider hunting in the Grand Underground."
The Grand Underground was the only Master ranked danger zone beyond the League's effective control. Its vast network of tunnels and overwhelming criminal presence made enforcing the law deep beneath the surface nearly impossible. It also contained the world's largest concentration of powerful Pokémon, allowing criminals to consistently reach Master rank if they were fortunate enough to discover a sufficiently deep Pokémon Hideaway.
Less than half an hour later, his Pokémon finished stripping the base clean. They took everything that wasn't bolted down before demolishing every wall and building. By the time they were done, the compound had been reduced to little more than bare ground, forcing Team Luminal to rebuild the entire facility from scratch.
"Let's see here," Alex said as he inspected the loot.
The haul contained an enormous stockpile of supplies. There were Poké Balls, rations, camping gear, Pokémon meat, potions, firearms, ammunition, evolution items, and held items. While individually unremarkable, together they would significantly reduce the Silver Network's operating costs by supplying its bounty hunters.
"It's a bit too much though."
The sheer volume was enough to equip and sustain thousands of trainers on their journeys. It was a stark reminder of how many victims Team Luminal had preyed upon to amass such a vast cache of resources before distributing them to its members.
As Alex considered selling the surplus on the black market, he sensed the unmistakable energy signature of an incoming Teleport. A flash of light erupted, and a dozen people materialized before him. Judging by their energy signatures, they consisted of nine Elite ranked trainers, two Champion ranked trainers, and one Master ranked trainer.
Immediately, Poké Balls burst open, releasing a small army of Pokémon as the trainers raised their guns, ready to open fire.
"The dumbass is still here! Surround him and whittle him down!" the man in the lead shouted.
Alex glanced at the freebie that had just arrived and waved a hand, signaling for Gardevoir to prepare for battle. They were a little tired after taking down the base and cleaning up, but they were all fully healed and more than ready for another round.
His Pokémon immediately gathered into their defensive formations before unleashing a relentless bombardment at the opposing trainers. Forced onto the back foot from the very start, the late reinforcements scrambled into defensive formations of their own just to withstand the opening assault.
As the battle raged and attacks were exchanged, Alex noticed the Master ranked trainer releasing more and more Pokémon. Though they were only Expert ranked, their numbers continued to grow, gradually encircling his team with each passing second.
"I don't like where this is going," Alex muttered.
If they were forced to split their attention between the Master ranked team and the ever-growing horde, they would eventually be overwhelmed. They needed more firepower.
"Rotom, deploy the Mauler and cover the flanks. Don't let them surround us," Alex commanded.
The backpack on Alex's back expanded with a series of metallic clicks, unfolding into a 5-meter-tall humanoid robot behind him. Four gatling guns, two mounted on the shoulders and two along the forearms, rotated into position to cover both flanks before their barrels began to spin. A second later, a deafening storm of bullets tore through the advancing Pokémon, ripping apart the encirclement and pinning the flanks in place before they could close around his team.
Both sides settled into a spectacular stalemate. Waves of attacks collided in the space between them, each impact sending violent bursts of energy across the battlefield. Along the flanks, the Mauler's gatling guns thundered without pause, cutting down every Pokémon that tried to close the distance until the ground was littered with bodies.
The Master ranked trainer remained unfazed. He calmly released more Pokémon into the fight with the clear intent of exhausting Alex's ammunition rather than breaking through by force.
The exchange continued for several more minutes before Alex sensed another familiar fluctuation in space. The energy signature of an incoming Teleport, signaling that more reinforcements had arrived.
"Gardevoir, send in the attack team to finish this," Alex ordered without hesitation.
She immediately staggered the tempo of their formation, easing the pressure just long enough for the attack team to assemble. The moment they were in position, the defense team unleashed a concentrated barrage straight through the center of the battlefield. Expanding Force, Surf, Dazzling Gleam, Heat Wave, and countless other attacks surged forward with overwhelming force. The cascading torrent of energy overpowered the clashing attacks between both sides, briefly carving a corridor through the storm.
The attack team immediately charged down the opening in their chainsaw formation.
They made it halfway across before the opposing Pokémon redirected their bombardment toward the attack team's exposed flanks. The defense team answered in kind, intercepting the incoming attacks and preventing the advance from stalling under the mounting pressure.
As the attack team closed on the enemy's front line, the opposing trainers abandoned their scattered fire and concentrated everything on the center. A dozen guns opened fire in unison, weaving a dense wall of bullets across the battlefield in an attempt to pin the attack team down before they could break through.
Alex drew Stormline and hopped onto the Mauler's shoulder.
"Rotom, heavy suppression on the center."
The Mauler's massive arms swung forward as its four gatling guns opened fire. Together with Stormline, five guns poured an unbroken stream of bullets into the enemy formation. The concentrated fire chewed through their return fire, forcing heads down and tearing open a narrow lane for the attack team to exploit.
Like a spear thrust through a gap in a shield wall, the attack team burst through the corridor of suppressing fire.
Ceruledge opened with Phantom Force, shattering the Protect rotation anchoring the enemy formation. The instant the barrier collapsed, Arcanine slammed into the breach, hurling Pokémon aside with sheer momentum. A heartbeat later, the rest of the attack team poured through the opening like a flood. The enemy formation unraveled almost immediately as their organized battle line dissolved into a chaotic melee.
Unfortunately, they had no time to capitalize on the breakthrough. Two dozen trainers suddenly appeared on the enemy's flank and immediately released their Pokémon. Among them were three Champion ranked trainers, six Elite ranked trainers, and the rest were Experts. Together, they added well over a hundred Pokémon to the battlefield, while every trainer raised a firearm, threatening to overwhelm Alex's team through sheer weight of numbers.
"Gardevoir, hold off the reinforcements. Rotom, focus on the rabble," Alex commanded as he swung Stormline toward the newly arrived force.
Gardevoir immediately shifted the formation, pivoting the defense team's fire toward the reinforcements. A relentless barrage swept across their approach, forcing the newly arrived trainers and Pokémon into defensive formations almost as soon as they entered the battlefield. Rather than supporting the melee unfolding beside them, they were forced to commit everything to surviving the bombardment.
Meanwhile, the attack team continued their rampage, systematically dismantling the enemy formation. The Master ranked Pokémon were tied down by Grim and Urshifu's groups, while Lucario and Seismitoad held the Champion ranked Pokémon at bay despite fighting at a numerical disadvantage. At the same time, Raticate and Kommo-o's groups tore through the Elite ranked Pokémon, cutting them down as quickly as they could. It was, overall, a relatively even matchup, which was why they were taking so long to bring them down.
"Advance, Gardevoir. Choke the reinforcements while keeping them separated from the main group," Alex commanded.
The defense team, rather than remaining stationary, advanced one deliberate step at a time while maintaining their relentless bombardment. Given enough time, they would close the distance and force a second chaotic melee, allowing them to support the attack team once the main enemy force had been dealt with.
Everything was going according to plan despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, pushing his team's coordination to its limits. Then a third shift on the battlefield threatened to unravel everything.
Another Teleport energy signature flared to life on the opposite flank of the main force, heralding yet another wave of reinforcements that even Alex's Pokémon might not be able to contain.