A few hours into the night, Alex was woken by Metagross, who had been on sentry duty. Trainers were approaching—fast.
He got up quickly, told Metagross to start packing, and splashed cold water on his face to shake off the drowsiness.
After waking the rest of his team, he waited, already dressed and prepared for a potential battle.
"Alex?" a familiar voice called from beyond the trees.
"It's me," he replied calmly.
Moments later, twenty officers emerged from the bushes, Jenny at the lead.
If he ignored her posture, demeanour, and aura, he could've sworn this was his Jenny.
"You're Alex?" she asked, voice clipped.
Her tone told him this particular Jenny wasn't a fan. Maybe it was the pile of paperwork he indirectly caused, but it still felt unfair to blame him for criminals choosing to act like idiots.
"Yes. I've captured about sixty of them. They're tied up just behind that tree line. I would've brought them over, but I ran out of rope."
"Alright."
The group followed him and visibly recoiled at the sight. Sixty people. Easy to say. Much harder to picture. That was nearly two full classrooms of adults—practically a small mob.
"You caught all of them?" one of the guards asked, disbelief clear.
"The first group fought back. The rest walked right into an ambush."
"Do you have proof they were reinforcements?"
"Rotom accessed their phones. We have timestamps, messages, and GPS logs. They should have already been sent online along with video evidence."
The individual interrogations and slightly rougher handling didn't need to be mentioned. The League could find out about them if they really checked anyway.
"Alright. Tie them up to your Pokémon. We'll haul them to the station for processing. Long night ahead, boys," Jenny ordered.
Groans followed. Sixty people was a lot to drag through the woods in the dead of night.
"Oh, and I've already separated their belongings into pouches. Everything's labeled—you just need to double-check," Alex added, handing her a stuffed duffel bag. "Careful with this one, regulated Pokemon."
"Thank you. You'll be contacted about your remuneration within the week."
Alex nodded without a word. Jenny clearly wasn't in the mood, and he wasn't about to poke the Ursaring.
With the camp packed up and the Pokemon alert, he hopped on Hydreigon and took off. No point hanging around. The final stretch of his journey still waited, and he was wide awake.
A few hours later, with the sun rising, Alex arrived at the west gate of Celadon City.
Upon entering, he immediately noted the difference in atmosphere. Saffron City felt like a bustling metropolis, packed with people glued to their phones as they hurried from place to place. Celadon, on the other hand, felt like a tourist trap designed to lure in the wealthy and the elderly.
There were no flashing neon signs or congested walkways—just wide, clean streets and calm, curated luxury. It was quiet. Too quiet.
Alex felt oddly unsettled by the lack of a bustling crowd. It almost felt like he was still in the wilds, as if danger could jump out at any moment. At least in Saffron, when someone targeted you, they couldn't look down on their phones and would be spotted within the crowd.
He had a week to spend before his appointed gym challenge so he made his way to the hotel district beside the casinos and booked an upscale room for 25,000 Pokédollars a night. It wasn't a luxury—he had seventeen Pokémon to consider. He needed the space to house, bathe, and feed them properly.
The next morning, bright and early, Alex headed to the black market. Most people imagined shady backstreets, alleyways, or sewer tunnels when they thought of such places. But this was Celadon City. The criminals here had class.
The market was on the third floor of the very hotel he was staying in—accessible only to select individuals who presented proper invitations. There were no dress codes, just the right qualifications.
Alex arrived in a sleek black suit with an emerald green tie, his hair slicked back into a sharp undercut. He looked like a third-rate villain out of a soap opera. No one would recognize him unless they looked closely at his face.
Normally, Alex wore thick bodysuits, heavy long coats, and messy hair—the look of someone who prioritized combat utility over appearance.
He walked confidently into the market, which resembled a high-end department store more than an Underworld hub. Everyone here was part of the criminal network governed by Ace Monique—an Elite-ranked criminal with a 100-million Pokédollar bounty and the quiet backing of Champion-level individuals.
As far as the League was concerned, this floor didn't exist.
Alex made his way to a bookstore as instructed. Upon entering, he placed two key cards and an envelope on the counter.
The clerk silently slid a book across to him. Alex picked up all four items and headed to a quiet table in the back.
Inside the book were building blueprints, bounty profiles, manpower estimates, financial ledgers, and even a list of captives believed to be held by Monica Alfreds—Lucan Thorne's boss and the woman Alex had been screwing since his bounty hunting debut.
He let out a quiet chuckle, memorized the contents, and walked out.
Pokémon weren't allowed inside, not even Rotom who could have helped record the information. Aegislash wasn't lurking in his shadow, either. But Alex didn't mind—he felt safe enough given the scale of what his employer wanted done.
The mission? Take down Monica's main base of operations—a high-class brothel that trafficked in both human and Pokémon prostitutes.
The Pokémon side of things wasn't even illegal. Pokephilia existed in a gray area under the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. As long as it was kept discreet, it was tolerated.
Pokémon could be groomed or trained to accept and enjoy such treatment, and the League had no means to regulate it without breaking the entire trainer bond system.
Pokemon getting bonded with perverts makes the Pokemon perverts as well. The League could not subject every future trainer to a psychic evaluation to specifically prevent perverts from bonding with Pokemon.
Human prostitution was legal too—so long as it was consensual. The real issue was that Monica's staff weren't volunteers. They were kidnapped or missing persons from other cities, sometimes even other regions.
Clients didn't complain. The police couldn't act—Monica had too many government backers.
So, it fell to someone like Alex. A bounty hunter with a penchant for chaos and nothing to lose.
Alex visited a few shops and picked up some low-level disguises. He didn't dare buy anything outright illegal, like unregistered Poké Balls or poached and stolen goods. He promptly left after his business.
Alex had some time to kill, so he wandered into the casino next door. He was curious—was card counting a thing in the Pokémon world?
That hope was quickly crushed when he realized there wasn't even blackjack, poker, or roulette. Just rows of slot machines and a smattering of mini-game-style attractions. The place didn't feel classy at all, and it soured his mood.
In true Pokémon fashion, he headed toward the back of the casino where a bunch of portraits hung on the wall. He poked around, half-expecting to find a hidden switch or passage. Nothing. Another disappointment. With a sigh, Alex made his way to the rewards counter to see what prizes were on offer.
The lineup was impressive—evolution stones, held items, Pokéblocks with unique effects, captured Pokémon ranging up to Elite rank, and even eggs from pseudo-Legendary species. Tempting, but there was a catch.
The prices were outrageous. Far above market value if you wanted to buy them outright. The system was designed to entice gamblers into chasing prizes through sheer luck, driving most of them half-mad in the process.
Finding nothing worth his time, Alex returned to his room to prepare for the night's operation.
Suddenly remembering Jenny, he pulled her number from his mother and gave her a call.
The voice on the other end sounded like it wanted to commit violence.
"What do you want, Alex? Is one night of peace too much to ask?" Jenny grumbled, clearly having been woken up.
"I just wanted to give you a heads-up about something I'm doing tonight," Alex replied, his tone shifting to serious. "You'll want a few psychic experts skilled in memory erasure. Otherwise, there's a good chance of mass suicides."
Jenny groaned. "Ughh, fine. What are you planning?"
Alex walked her through the operation, and just as he expected, her reaction was instant and visceral.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Jenny practically screamed into the phone.
"Someone wants Monica gone. So yes, I'm very serious. I don't have hard evidence, but I did get a good look at a list of missing persons—and it matches their staff lineup exactly."
"I'm coming with you."
"So your squad's spies can leak it? No thanks," Alex said flatly. "Clean up your unit first, or next time you won't even get a courtesy call. I counted five spies among the twenty people you brought earlier, and you didn't notice a thing."
He had been watching closely. Three of them had visibly recognized people among the sixty captives, while the other two had shown an unnatural lack of interest in the whole affair.
"Fine. Just call me when it's done," Jenny relented easily.
"Sure thing," Alex replied, ending the call.
With due diligence out of the way, he went for a quick nap before getting ready. He had a long night ahead of him.
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