Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

During training the next morning, Alex and Raticate experimented with Raticate’s Quick Attack and discovered that its damage had increased by roughly 50%. As a side effect, its range had also increased by about the same amount.

Quick Attack, unlike Sucker Punch—which requires a target—is simply a sudden acceleration. It can be used anywhere and at any time, as long as the Pokémon has enough time to release it.

Its typical usage is to close the distance quickly or strike before the opponent can react. It’s great for disruption and evasion due to its ability to be executed instantly, leaving opponents little time to respond.

Now that its damage had increased by 50%, it was powerful enough to surpass Sucker Punch as Raticate’s main damaging move. As a Normal-type attack, it benefited from STAB, making it even stronger.

As a result, Raticate’s hit-and-run prowess skyrocketed.

He could now use Quick Attack to bounce off opponents, using the extra momentum to stay out of range of melee attack counters. If an opponent relied on ranged moves, Quick Attack could be used to dodge instead.

It was a solid strategy for whittling down an opponent’s health before finishing them off with a decisive strike.

Over the next few months of battles, Alex and Raticate continued to dominate the Adept-ranked matches in the battle arena. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Their opponents often felt helpless, unable to pin down the big rat. If they used melee moves, they could never get close enough. If they used ranged moves, Raticate would simply evade them.

It was an eye-opening experience for many trainers who faced Alex.

Of course, Alex and Raticate still occasionally lost to more powerful Pokémon, especially those with guaranteed-hit moves like Swift or Aerial Ace. However, Raticate had carved out his own niche. Even after adding more Basic-proficiency finishing moves to his movepool, their win rate stabilized at an impressive 80%.

One opponent they could never defeat again was Clarissa. She always opened with Aerial Ace, relentlessly chipping away at Raticate’s health as if her life depended on it. Even when afflicted with Thunder Wave, she dominated the battle by ensuring that Blast Burn would land, often overpowering Blizzard in the process.

Regardless, Alex and Raticate managed to rack up a significant number of credits. They earned 10 credits per victory, and at the school’s stores, one credit was worth about ten times a Pokédollar.

High-quality Pokéblocks cost 100 credits each, so Alex started buying a set for Raticate once a week. These Pokéblocks enhanced various attributes, including senses, status resistance, reflexes, resilience, and even appearance.

The benefits were immediate. Raticate’s eyesight, hearing, and sense of touch improved, allowing him to spot more openings and land guaranteed hits. Against underground opponents, he could detect their location through subtle vibrations in the ground.

His status resistances increased significantly, preventing him from getting burned by Basic-proficiency Flamethrowers. Unless the move had a guaranteed status effect, like Thunder Wave, he could shrug off lower-chance effects such as Sing or Hypnosis.

His reflexes were enhanced, allowing him to react to attacks more quickly.

His resilience improved as well—his body no longer feared scars, as long as he had enough health points to resist other energy-based moves.

As a bonus, his fur became glossier and softer, something Alex appreciated.

Overall, it was a significant combat upgrade.

There were other Pokéblock options, such as those that increased a Pokémon’s combat stats like Attack or Special Attack, but these affected EVs. Since Raticate had already maxed out his EVs, he wouldn’t benefit from them.

Speaking of EVs, Raticate switched from maxed Attack EVs to maxed Special Attack EVs. This adjustment ensured that his Attack and Special Attack were now roughly equal, rather than Attack having a 50% advantage. The goal was to keep his options open, allowing him to effectively battle Pokémon with skewed defensive stats, such as Onix or Golem.

This ultimately paid off in the end because Raticate no longer feared overly large Pokémon like Onix, even when it didn’t charge at him for Grass Knot to take effect. He could now simply OHKO them with Blizzard.

"Your Raticate’s fur has been glossier lately. Have you changed shampoo or something?" Jenny asked as they ate dinner.

"Maybe he was born with it?" Alex replied with a smirk.

"No, it’s definitely glossier. Did you start feeding him Pokéblocks?" Jenny asked, missing the inside joke from Earth.

"Yeah, I started giving him Pokéblocks from school," Alex answered, feeling a bit nostalgic.

He didn’t really miss Earth, but the fact that he was alone in this new world weighed on him. At the very least, none of the memes from Earth made sense here. Maybe he could start making memes in this world instead.

"It’s good that you’re winning enough battles to afford Pokéblocks. They’re quite expensive and hard to come by otherwise. Only the truly wealthy can regularly feed their Pokémon Pokéblocks daily."

"Isn’t the Jenny Clan wealthy enough?"

"That’s a misconception. We Jennys and Joys value our individuality more than most people. Why do you think there’s only one Joy and one Jenny in each city, town, or village?"

"That makes sense... and is kinda sad."

"Well, we do come together when one of us is in trouble, so it’s not really that sad. But we try to rely on ourselves first before asking for help, so financial struggles—like affording Pokéblocks regularly—don’t count."

"Do you have a massive chat group or something?" Alex asked jokingly.

"We do, actually. The older Jennies monitor it for important information, but mostly, it’s used to vent about annoying problems or as an early warning system for our relatives."

That was surprising news to Alex. Such a comprehensive system could be quite powerful if used correctly.

"Anyway, Alex, I have something for you. Wait here," Jenny said as she placed her dishes in the sink.

While waiting for Jenny to return, Alex finished his meal and started washing the dishes. He was usually responsible for them since Jenny always did the cooking. Not that he never cooked—he typically prepared the Pokémon meat for himself and Raticate as an extra source of nutrition.

When Jenny came back, Alex was surprised to see her carrying a Pokémon egg.

"Tada! Happy birthday, Alex," Jenny said as she presented an incubator with a Pokémon egg inside, followed by Arcanine, Espeon, and Boltund.

"Thank you, Jenny. I really appreciate it," Alex said, taken aback.

He had never celebrated birthdays before, so he hadn’t given much thought to the original Alex’s date of birth. He was now officially thirteen.

"Arc!" "Esp-eee!" "Bolt!" the Pokémon all cried out together, each giving their own greeting.

"And thanks to all of you too," Alex said, giving each of them a rubdown.

Alex took the incubator from Jenny and inspected the egg inside. It was orange with black stripes and had a yellow patch at the bottom. If he was right, it was a Growlithe egg.

"It’s Arcanine and Espeon’s child. They’ve been trying to have children for a while now, and it finally happened two weeks ago," Jenny explained.

Arcanine was the mate of both Espeon and Boltund. Their dynamic made it difficult for Jenny to add a fourth Pokémon to her team. Arcanine was the domineering type and wouldn’t allow new Pokémon into their group unless they were female. Espeon, who was the most recent addition, was just as territorial—she merely tolerated Boltund since she came last but refused to accept any others.

As a primarily canine-type trainer, Jenny struggled to find a non-canine type Pokémon to add to her roster. In the end, she gave up and settled for three, especially since her apartment was already small. She planned to expand her team once she got a bigger place.

"Are you sure about this, Jenny? I read that Growlithe eggs are expensive," Alex asked.

Growlithe eggs cost about three million Pokédollars on the market. They were highly valued due to their well-balanced stats.

"Arc!" Arcanine barked in response.

"Arcanine said he would never allow his children to be sold. He would much rather give it to you to raise instead. He’s seen how you’ve cared for Rattata, and all four of us agree that you’d be the best person to raise their child," Jenny explained.

"Thank you. All of you. I won’t let you down. I’ll raise it to the best of my ability," Alex said, then glanced down at Raticate at his side.

"Our ability," he corrected himself.

"Raticate! (Leave it to me!)" Raticate exclaimed.

Alex carefully placed the incubator on the table before pulling Jenny into a long, warm hug. He then turned his attention to Arcanine, Espeon, and Boltund, giving each of them a thorough rubdown in gratitude for their trust in him.

Jenny spent the next few minutes explaining how to care for a young Growlithe and what to watch out for during its early stages. As a canine-type trainer, she spoke from experience, and Alex listened intently. In truth, raising a Growlithe wasn’t all that different from raising a dog—except for the part where it could breathe fire.

His main concern was making sure nothing burned down. Fortunately, Jenny’s apartment was fully fireproof, from the walls to the bedding. Even the appliances were insulated—everything except for Alex’s laptop.

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