Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Alex’s surgery went smoothly without any complications. His arms healed quickly with a combination of nutrient supplements and targeted Heal Pulses. However, he still needed to work hard to rehabilitate the severed muscles in his forearms, so he had to take a week off to rebuild his strength.

It wasn’t a problem though.

During that week, the payments for Varek’s head and the Crobat nest he had cleared finally arrived. In total, he earned 30 million Pokédollars, 1.5 million League credits, another cache of ammo and equipment for Rhea, and a generous supply of Pokémon meat from both Expert and Elite ranks.

As for the Elite ranked Crobats he had captured, no buyers were interested. Even at that rank, Crobats were so common that no one found them worth purchasing aside from their meat. In the end, Alex simply handed them over to Lina for cooking.

He also spent the week practicing his marksmanship. His new arms felt slightly off when he aimed, so he focused on realigning his shooting technique.

Lastly, the biggest change was Alex’s sudden enthusiasm.

"Hey, have you noticed anything weird about Alex lately?" Kaia asked during a private meeting with the girls Alex usually has sex with.

"He’s been fucking me more than usual," Nyx said, not even looking up from her phone.

"Same here," Vera, Kaia, and Rhea all replied at once.

"Jynx. Ha. Now you can’t say anything until I—"

"Be serious, Rhea," Kaia said, frowning. "Something’s off with Alex. He never asks me for sex. He usually leaves it up to me to ask for it, but lately... he’s been more eager. Maybe even a little aggressive."

"He took me on a date," Vera said, her eyes lighting up. "There were flowers, candles, and even background music. It was wonderful."

"He choked me out and didn’t stop fucking me, even when I kept passing out," Nyx gushed as she reminisced, a dreamy look in her eyes. "The last time he did that was on my birthday. And it wasn’t even my birthday this time."

"Aww. I want to get choked out and fucked while repeatedly passing out too," Rhea whined. "Though he did buy me a nasty vibrator that has the same effect. It even came with a mold of his dick."

"You got a mold without begging for it?" Nyx gasped. "I had to work hard to earn mine. That’s not fair."

"Focus, ladies," Kaia said, grabbing their attention. "We need to get to the bottom of this. What changed for Alex to suddenly be so... eager?"

"Well... he lost both arms. That must have traumatized him," Nyx said. "There might even have been more to the story than just getting his hands cut off."

"Like what?" Vera asked with concern.

"Almost dying," she replied. "Most people change drastically when they almost die. Kinda like what Alex is going through."

"He’s been more attentive toward us," Kaia said. "He’s trying to show he cares. Does almost dying explain that?"

"Why don’t we just imagine it?" Rhea suggested. "Let’s all think about what we’d regret if we died right now, and see if there’s anything we’d want to change in our lives."

"Well... I think I’d regret not having a child with Alex... and, um, growing old together... and getting married," Vera mumbled, her cheeks burning as she hid her face in her hands.

"I... I think I’m the same," Kaia said blushing. "Having kids would have been nice."

"I’m good," Nyx said. "Although, I would have appreciated dying with his dick in my ass. One last squeeze would have been nice."

"My turn, my turn! I’m pretty close to how Alex thinks, so maybe I’ll figure it out," Rhea said excitedly. "Hmm... let’s say I’m about to die, like, right now. I would regret not building all the fun ideas Alex has been feeding me. I would regret not getting to make more babies. I would regret not finishing my AI that can replace Metagross. I would be sad not to have sex anymore, but maybe there’s sex on the other side? Do you think there’s sex after death? I hope there is."

"Damn it, Rhea. Focus," Kaia cursed.

"All right, all right, gosh, calm your tits. Now where was I? Oh, right. I guess I would regret all my unfinished projects, but that’s about it." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Are you sure?" Nyx asked, putting her phone down and taking on a more serious tone. "Really imagine it, Rhea. Time slows down. A Pokémon just cut your head off, but you’re still conscious. You watch the world slowly fade to black. In that moment, what is it that you want most? What are you missing? What is the one thing that would have made dying easier if you had it? Something that would have made it just a little bit better?"

Rhea paused, her expression turning serious. Among the girls, Nyx understood her best. They shared similar interests and, in some ways, similar personalities, though their eccentricities led them down very different paths.

Rhea seriously reflected on her life, her desires.

She thought about what was missing. She loved her life. She had money, resources, ideas, her Tinkaton, her freedom, her lover...

Lover?

Alex wasn’t her lover. He was her stud at best. She didn’t have a lover. She didn’t need one.

At least, that was what she always told herself.

"I... I think I would regret not ever having felt love," Rhea admitted quietly. "Alex... Alex is the same as me. Neither of us can feel romantic love, nor can we return it. It just doesn’t work for us. If anything, it gets in the way. It’s annoying."

She paused, then added, "I... I think Alex might want to feel love. I don’t know. Maybe... if I ever end up on death’s door, I might want to feel it, just once."

Without hesitation, Vera pulled Rhea into a tight hug.

"You might not feel it, but you need to know that you are loved. Okay?"

"...Okay," Rhea replied awkwardly.

She didn’t share the sentiment, but she understood that love, whatever it truly felt like, was being directed at her.

"That still doesn’t explain why Alex is being so eager," Kaia said. "If he wants to feel love, there’s not much he can do about it. He definitely won’t feel it just by taking better care of us."

"Maybe he just wants to appreciate us more? Or make us feel more appreciated? Maybe he regretted not appreciating us enough?" Rhea asked, rambling.

"Maybe our status got elevated!" Vera exclaimed. "I remember him telling me once that he sees us as his responsibility. Maybe we’ve gone up in status, and now he cares more about us."

"I’m already there though," Nyx said lazily. "I’ve pretty much given myself to him as his possession. It works fine for me since I don’t want to leave my room anyway... but even I got a little something extra from this."

"So the bottom line is that we’re being appreciated more," Kaia summarized. "What do we do about it?"

"Nothing," Nyx replied with a shrug. "We’ll adjust and take as much as he’s willing to give. It’s not like we can offer anything more with how things are."

"Yeah, I’m already his toy. I don’t think there’s a level higher than that," Rhea added. "Or is there?"

"Maybe he’ll give me a baby," Vera gushed, her cheeks flushing.

"Aren’t you leaving soon?" Kaia asked, raising an eyebrow. "It all seemed pretty sudden. Do you really need to go to Professor Oak’s lab just to become a better breeder? There are plenty of Pokémon here to take care of."

Vera smiled warmly, her voice filled with quiet confidence.

"Yes. I need a bigger environment to grow. Breeding is all about experience with all kinds of Pokémon, not just a few. The more exposure I get, the better."

"How long do you plan to stay there?"

"Probably until I become a Master Breeder," Vera answered. "At least a few years to gain proper experience before I come back and focus on the results."

"You are coming back, right?" Rhea asked nervously. "Tink will go on a rampage if she doesn’t get your special Pokéblocks."

"Yes, I promise," Vera replied with a gentle smile.

Rhea let out a sigh of relief. The last time Tink’s Pokéblocks ran out, half her lab had been destroyed in a tantrum. She certainly doesn’t want to go through that again.

With their main topic settled, the girls spent the rest of the day chatting casually.

Meanwhile, Alex, the subject of their discussion, had just finished a shooting drill, satisfied with the results.

"I should be ready to get back to work," Alex muttered, noting his impressive shot groupings.

Along with training hard to regain the flexibility and strength in his arms, he had also been focusing on improving his relationship with the girls.

He had been paying more attention to Kaia, acting more romantically with Vera, brutalizing Nyx the way she liked, and trying to better understand Rhea’s work. In his mind, he had been doing a good job showing them care without slipping into possessiveness.

As far as he was concerned, it was a step in the right direction.

Progress was slow, but perhaps in time he could learn to be a better partner instead of simply an owner.

He had been given a second chance at life. It was time to make good use of it.

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