Chapter 70. Tools of the Trade

Words : 1563 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Early the next morning, Alex made his way to the east gate dressed in casual clothes. As he passed through, he couldn't help but overhear murmurs—people recognizing him. He wasn't exactly famous. He was infamous. The sentries employed by the criminal organization Alex had been targeting finally spotted their mark leaving the city. Unfortunately for them, Alex wasn't foolish enough to cross the perimeter within eyesight of the walls. If they tried anything reckless, he'd cause a scene so chaotic that, even if he were captured, everyone involved would fall victim to Sabrina's wrath. Then again, he'd probably die if she ever found him. Just as Alex neared the tree line, Raticate came sprinting out of the forest—battered, missing patches of fur, but alive and with all his toes intact. Alex's confidence in escaping trouble came from a reliable combination: Arcanine and Raticate. Arcanine had Extreme Speed and Agility. As long as they weren't being pursued by a Linoone, a Mythical, or a Legendary Pokémon, Arcanine could outrun just about anything. Raticate, on the other hand, had the ability Run Away. In the games, this ability removed the player from combat under certain conditions. In real life, it enhanced Raticate's capacity to evade pursuit. Through a mix of increased speed, a reduced presence, and a minimized environmental footprint, Raticate could slip away in most situations. However, it didn't work for infiltration; the ability required a flight mindset to activate. It failed when the user was truly trapped—caged, confined in a room, or tied to a tree. It also faltered against abilities like Mean Look, Block, and Shadow Tag, or when facing a Pokémon with superior senses. Dragonite would have posed a serious threat—if Raticate hadn't managed to dive into the bushes, breaking the Dragonite's line of sight and disrupting its senses. With Raticate blocking pursuit and escaping cleanly, Arcanine gained the head start he needed—turning what could have been a deadly encounter into a guaranteed escape. Sure, there were faster Pokémon. But Extreme Speed allowed for sharp turns and rapid directional shifts that left most opponents in the dust. Even if they could catch up, could they actually catch Arcanine before he reached safety? Probably not. Alex returned to the city, much to the dismay of the sentries. With onlookers nearby, they couldn't exactly stall him, so they had no choice but to let Alex pass and report to their handlers. Carrying Raticate against his chest, Alex made his way home, already thinking about his next steps—after giving Raticate a much-needed bath, of course. The League would take about a week to process his latest captures. After all, there was a month-long video submitted as evidence. Some of the individuals had no prior offenses, which meant a judge or gym leader would need to personally review their cases. On top of that, there was new intel on their boss—something the League hadn't seen before. Alex turned his thoughts to his finances. He had fifteen million Pokédollars in the bank—enough to cover half a year's worth of food. With eleven months of supplies already stocked, that gave him enough time to prepare for his gym challenge in Celadon City, scheduled ten months from now. He needed to get ready. Gym Leader Koichi's Pokémon had used Advanced-ranked moves in their last battle. While some of Alex's Pokémon had a few of those moves, it wasn't enough—he needed more to stand a chance. With some breathing room, Alex decided to focus on training for the upcoming challenge. He'd need to invest in training equipment for his team. Raticate didn't need much beyond his resistance training suit—it just needed some adjustments. Clawitzer was fine too; her target dummy was still holding up. Rotom and Metagross required nothing more than their computers. Alcremie didn't need any specialized equipment either. Arcanine, however, had outgrown his training suit and needed a new one. Forretress needed something to help him practice Rollout. Altaria, Frosmoth, and Togekiss could all benefit from an aerial training course. Aegislash needed a training partner. Alex remembered reading about clay dummies designed for sword-based training—they required extreme precision to slice cleanly and could be reassembled afterward. Kommo-o and Hydreigon both needed to learn more Advanced-ranked moves to keep up. After weighing everything, Alex headed to the department store and bought the best training gear money could buy. He picked up a new training suit each for Arcanine and Kommo-o—his frontline attackers. For Forretress, he bought a harness with a rubber rope attachment to help simulate bouncing movement. He grabbed a few extra sets of shooting targets for his special attackers and an aerial training course for the flyers. For Aegislash, he found one of those special clay training dummies. Finally, he picked up grooming kits for all of them. He had been making do with an all-purpose toolkit and shampoo, but it was time to show more care. His Pokémon were his lifeline—and his source of income. After dropping a million Pokédollars on training and grooming supplies, Alex finally made it home, where he kicked off a new training regimen to get his team ready for the next gym challenge. He spent the day setting everything up so his Pokémon could start using the new equipment tomorrow. By dinner, a concerned Jenny asked him about his current case listed in the police records. Compared to the one he had submitted a month ago, this one was far more serious. "I found that camp a month ago, but I had no evidence of their crimes. I also had to pick and choose which teams to intercept—not all of them were involved in theft, kidnapping, or had bounties on them," Alex explained. "You should've reported it to the police. The rangers would have taken a look," Jenny insisted. "And they would've reported nothing unless they had my recordings. Think about it—what would you do if a known drug den and prostitution ring were holed up in a normal-looking hotel?" That shut Jenny up fast. She knew the truth—they couldn't act without evidence, and the recordings Alex had submitted were more than substantial. It wasn't even illegal, either. The wild was considered public space, unlike a hotel, where some recordings could be deemed inadmissible in court. Illicit evidence like that had to be handed over to a Gym for investigation, since Gym Leaders had the literal power and authority to override the judicial system. Why? Because they had the personal power to do something about it—something the police and city officials often lacked. This was the political reality: when personal strength outclassed the law, authority followed power. Now imagine the fallout if training Pokémon was restricted to law enforcement only. Criminals would be everywhere—taking over city after city—until some new system of power replaced the current one. And instead of the League, it would be a criminal syndicate ruling the world. And no one would even complain. What the League does actually makes a lot of sense. They restrict access to resources until trainers have proven themselves—until they've contributed enough to the League. Only then do they earn the status and authority to continue operating on a larger scale. They promote the idea of becoming good trainers to children, steering them toward growth and discipline rather than extremism. At the same time, they quietly cover up the existence of criminals—not to protect them, but to prevent public panic and keep the industry from collapsing. Criminals, meanwhile, are bound by the same unspoken rules. They have to keep things low-key, because open warfare would be their downfall. Sure, people would die—maybe a lot of people—but the resulting conflict would wipe the slate clean. And when the dust settles, the League and law enforcement would still be standing at the top, ready to rebuild. Criminals also have to suffer the consequences of their own actions—especially when they cross a line. Like when a disgruntled father throws the unspoken rules out the window and hunts them down with a vengeance for daring to kidnap his precious daughter. And the League? They reward that kind of fury. They fuel it. They fund it. That was Alex's path—cleaning up criminals while securing his financial stability and rising in power. He just hoped the League wouldn't undercut him with technicalities. "Anyway, if you want to see what would actually happen if I hadn't done what I did, here are the coordinates to a similar camp. Rotom, send her the coordinates," Alex said as he finished up dinner. "Like the camp I took down, they don't have criminal records. Everything is off the books. They make sure only their teams are allowed inside. If you raid it, you might get lucky. But if their moles in the Rangers or police catch wind of it? Say goodbye to any victims they're holding. And forget about getting them imprisoned. Say hi to Aunt Jenny in Lavender City for me," Alex added as he turned and headed to his room. He wanted to give Jenny some space—to let the reality of her position settle in. After all, they were Officers. If anyone should understand how criminals really work, it should be them. ----- Support me on Patreon patreon/babywrath

Chapter 70. Tools of the Trade

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