Chapter 63. Hunting

Words : 1647 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

'Tall, muscular, bearded, unkempt hair, brown shirt, khakis, combat boots, steady gait, three visible Pokéballs, three places by the fire—he has accomplices,' Alex analyzed. 'One behind me—light steps, tall, thin frame based on the shadow. Another behind the first man in the cave, similar build to the one behind me,' he thought just as an arm closed around his neck. "Something's wrong," the first man muttered, moments before Alex gave his signal. A flash of red bloomed behind Alex as the man's arms were cut off by Aegislash with the signal. "Release," Alex commanded calmly. Rotom activated all of Alex's Pokéballs, releasing his team in an instant. Metagross, understanding the situation immediately, called out moves to the Pokémon. Altaria threw out a Safeguard, Frosmoth released Mist, Forretress activated Gravity, and Alcremie spread Sweet Scent. Kommo-o used Belly Drum right as Clawitzer shot a Heal Pulse at him, restoring his health to full. Arcanine darted forward with Extreme Speed, slamming into the Arbok lurking behind the men in the cave, knocking it out in a single blow. The entire setup had taken only a second. "It's a trap!" the first man shouted as he released his Pokémon, prompting his accomplices to do the same. In total, they had 15 Pokémon, including Arbok, who was already knocked out, and Pidgeot, who landed in front of the man. Five surrounded Alex, all of them low-end Expert-ranked. None were Poison, Steel, or Fire types, though two were Flying types who immediately kissed the ground. The rest were trapped at the cave's entrance, with Arcanine cutting off their retreat deeper into the cave from behind and Alex blocking the exit outside. They, too, were Expert-ranked, except for three who were Adept-ranked. Their typings varied as well. 'Send Kommo-o and Raticate to intercept the Pidgeot. Clawitzer will use Surf on their position while Arcanine follows up with Heat Wave. Triple Dazzling Gleam to clear our area. Have Hydreigon Dragon Rush to block their exit,' Alex communicated to Metagross, who then relayed Alex's commands to the team along with its own. While his Pokémon moved into action, Alex pulled a Paralyze Heal from his backpack and used it on Togekiss. The area erupted as an explosion of moves clashed and tore through the surroundings. A barrage of Dazzling Gleams decimated the five Pokémon surrounding Alex, while Arcanine's Heat Wave stalled the attackers. At the mouth of the cave, the remaining ten Pokémon struggled as Surf crashed into them, forcing them deeper inside. The powerful current prevented them from spreading out and causing chaos. The first man mounted Pidgeot, attempting to escape, but Kommo-o's Ice Punch nearly clipped its wings. Before he could gain altitude, Raticate struck with Quick Attack, sending both rider and Pokémon tumbling deeper into the cave. "Defensive formation, now!" the first man barked as he got off Pidgeot. The remaining Pokémon encircled him, using alternating Protects while launching special attacks to hold off Alex's team. 'Light Screen, Reflect. Gravity in their area. Start stacking stats. Repeated bombardment. And sit on the man behind me,'" Alex commanded Metagross, who obliged. Metagross might not like combat in general, but it has a PhD in sitting and commanding characters in games. So it relayed the orders and sat on the man who was bleeding to death from both arms. Another wave of bombardment struck, clashing against their rotating Protects and nullifying their Special Attacks. As an Elite, Hydreigon was holding her own, using Snarl to significantly weaken their offense. Sensing a stalemate, Alex checked their identities. According to Rotom's database, all three men are rapists, poachers, murderers, thieves, and repeat offenders. All of them are wanted dead or alive with a combined bounty of only 150,000 Pokédollars—a bit low for Alex. Still, criminals like these were likely facing execution, meaning Alex could claim ownership of all their Pokémon. And that made this encounter worth it. 'Have Raticate Dig under them to compromise their footing. Have Kommo-o use Earthquake to collapse their floor. Have Raticate and Arcanine on standby to intercept them when they Dig. Have the rest bombard the pit.' As Alex commanded, Raticate dug out tunnels under them as they continued to stall. Once Metagross received Raticate's confirmation, Kommo-o used Earthquake to devastate the area at the mouth of the cave, collapsing the floor and temporarily leaving them without stable footing, disrupting their formation and rhythm. Gravity ensured even their Flying types fell with the others. Arcanine peeked down and breathed a Heat Wave below. Hydreigon and Kommo-o used Earthquake together, targeting everything inside the pit. Raticate sat safely outside while the rest of the Pokémon came closer, just in case they needed to throw another bombardment. "Status?" Alex asked Metagross. 'All Pokémon fainted. Both trainers dead,' Metagross replied in Alex's thoughts. "We're done here. Clawitzer, Heal Pulse the man. Arcanine and Raticate, retrieve everything from the pit. Metagross, investigate the cave—it might have some secret rooms. The rest of you, maintain vigilance. We're in the wild now. We can't rest until we get back to the city," Alex ordered, and they followed. In total, Alex had received sixteen Pokémon—nearly a month's worth of their consumption. Their supplies were terrible, as was their equipment. Nothing was worth keeping. Their phones were locked, preventing him from gathering any further information. There were no secret rooms. The man, though alive, had passed out from blood loss. He would need treatment before waking up on his own. Alex was allowed to be rough, but not inhumane. Torture for information was off-limits. 'Lying isn't illegal, right? It's not like I'm under oath,' Alex thought. Leaving the phone to continue recording, he approached the man and delivered a hard slap. The man jolted awake. "What the f—" Another slap. Then another. And another. Until he understood who was in control. "Hello. I'm a bounty hunter, and I need information about these parts. Tell me everything you know." "Why the fu—" Slap. "Because if you don't, I'll leave you here with nothing but your clothes. Your Pokémon are mine now, so give up on taking them back. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll take you to the League alive. Unlike your friends, who didn't cooperate," Alex lied blatantly, his gaze drifting to the mangled corpses of the man's former allies. The man's breath hitched as he took in the scene—his friends had been reduced to little more than chunks of flesh. How long had he been knocked out? "Alright, alright! I'll tell you!" Alex learned about two bases in the area, one on each side of the trail. They were used to collect and transport goods stolen from trainers passing through. Their targets were always Adepts and below, using the same trick they had tried on Alex. The reason they made money was because of rich kids like Alex, who would set out on adventures with little more than a single Adept-ranked Pokémon. These Pokémon were usually top-tier breeds that would sell well in the black market. He also had the man unlock his phone so Rotom could snoop around. It managed to verify the man's confession. One base was located at the start of the trail, a few dozen miles from their current location, while the other was at the end of the trail near Lavender City. Reaching the base near Lavender City would take nearly a week of trekking, so Alex settled for the one near Saffron City. He could have gone after both, but there was a good chance the second base would retreat once word of his attack spread. He could always hit them later—once they cooled off and resumed operations. For now, he burned and buried the corpses. Leaving human remains in the wild was illegal; it could develop the local Pokémon's taste for human flesh. With the cleanup done, Alex left Forretress to guard the cave and ensure their prisoner stayed alive. He then rode Hydreigon toward the target location, staying above the treetops to remain hidden. The dense forest canopy provided excellent cover, and Hydreigon flew silently—relying not on her wings but on Levitation. Within minutes, they reached the location and found an occupied campsite with over a dozen guards. Based on the number of tents, a dozen teams were missing from the camp. They were probably out catching Pokémon, kidnapping, or stealing from Adept-ranked trainers traveling through this trail. Alex would have to intercept them instead of taking down the campsite. A quick scan with Rotom confirmed that none of the guards had bounties on them, meaning they only handled security and retrieval without exposing their faces to the public. They let the teams do all the work and paid them based on what they caught for each submission. This setup ensured a clean operation with distributed roles. As long as they weren't caught red-handed with stolen goods, they could maintain plausible deniability. Alex decided to stake out the camp and ambush the teams on their way back. Given the terrain, he needed to watch three key points around the camp—east, south, and west. The northern side was Pokémon territory. It was legal for them to catch Pokemon there so the probability of illegal goods coming from the north was low. For now, Alex had Rotom monitor the east and west sides of the camp using drones and hidden cameras. He positioned himself on the south side, ensuring they could reach the other locations in time for an ambush. Hopefully, he could either collect more bounties or catch the teams red-handed with stolen goods. If things went well, this might cover a year's worth of their food expenses. ----- Support me on Patreon patreon/babywrath

Chapter 63. Hunting

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