Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Species: Crawdaunt, Male

Market Price: 160,000 Credits

Raised on a lakeside estate but developed a deep-seated aggression after killing the owner’s children when one of them struck it with a stick. Attempts at behavior modification failed completely, with the subject exhibiting escalating hostility and signs of sadistic aggression, especially when near land. Considered unsuitable for conventional training.

Alex released Crawdaunt, who took a moment to assess his surroundings before ultimately cowering beneath Hydreigon’s might. He might have been a hostile and sadistic Pokémon, but he knew when death was breathing down his neck.

Alex approached and placed a hand on him, snapping their bond into place. Before Crawdaunt could move, Arcanine and the others immediately tore him apart. Alex could confirm that, given the chance, Crawdaunt would have returned to his sadistic ways, posing a danger to anyone who came near the lake.

Alex wasn’t about to allow such a dangerous Pokémon to roam his territory.

He stored the corpse and checked the final Pokémon on the list.

Species: Drapion, Male

Market Price: 170,000 Credits

Formerly used in an illegal testing facility where it was chemically enhanced for aggression. Abandoned after the facility was decommissioned, resulting in a rampage that destroyed a small town. Views all trainers as enemy combatants. Pheromone exposure is ineffective. Priced low due to guaranteed violent first-response behavior.

Alex remembered a certain Tyranitar who had roughly the same condition of chemically enhanced aggression. If he remembered correctly, Sabrina had stated that it was an illegally experimented Pokémon. This Drapion was likely similar, so Alex wondered how it was allowed to be sold on the market.

Ultimately, he reasoned that perhaps this particular specimen did not come from an illegal testing facility, but from a League certified one that later became illegal. Still, it didn’t explain why it was allowed to be sold on the market, other than to be used as a decoy during battle.

Alex released Drapion, and before it could even move, his Pokémon pounced. They sensed the hostility it was emitting and knew Alex would never keep nor bond with it, so they finished the job efficiently.

Alex took comfort in the fact that Drapion would no longer have to suffer as it had since being experimented on.

"That’s all of them," Alex said as he recounted his gains.

Out of the 12 Pokémon he purchased, 7 bonded with him. The 5 that were killed had either lost their minds, were too firm in their independence, or were simply too aggressive to be trainable.

Now, he had Absol, Morpeko, Houndoom, Mightyena, Liepard, Mabosstiff, Honchkrow, Sharpedo, Mandibuzz, and Shiftry to defend his territory, and he could already start having them guard it regularly so the surrounding Pokémon would get used to their presence.

He refrained from doing that, however, for two major reasons. The first was that they still needed training, which would likely take a few months at least. Secondly, Pokémon floods happen yearly, which might endanger their lives if they tried to fight it without a wall.

They might have an advantage because of their moves and training, but they would ultimately lose to tens of thousands of Pokémon. There was simply no contest unless they managed to reach Champion rank.

As for Alex’s other bonded Pokémon, such as Muk, Goodra, Araquanid, Cinccino, Gogoat, and Vespiquen, they couldn’t help out in the same way due to their responsibilities around the farm and the future safe zone. He would, however, endeavor to spend more time with them to strengthen their bond with him and reduce their effects on his mentality.

With his recruitment drive a success, Alex spent the next few months focusing on his Pokémon. He trained them to learn all the moves they could possibly learn and had them actively train their move proficiencies so they would have an edge over wild Pokémon.

He also had them regularly practice combat through sparring so they would know which moves to use depending on the situation. Lastly, he had them practice formations with Metagross so they wouldn’t fight blindly when they found themselves being overwhelmed.

On top of this, Alex spent plenty of time with his bonded Pokémon in an effort to strengthen their bond and lessen their burden on him. It worked for the most part, as Alex felt he could start increasing the number of Pokémon he could bond with again. Not that he was planning to do so anymore. He was satisfied with his current team and would likely avoid bonding for the next few decades so he could prepare for when they reached Champion rank.

Alex also spent plenty of time with Alvera, who was starting to recognize faces. As for the difficulties of child-rearing, Vera had no problems whatsoever. She regularly takes care of more aggressive and dangerous Pokemon, so it wasn’t an issue for her.

She rarely relied on anyone else when it came to raising Alvera. At most, she would leave the baby with the Cinccino when she needed some sleep. She also had Talia perform a check-up once a month, who was more than happy to do so, especially since she was the most free around the farm most of the time.

Speaking of the Cinccino, they finally hatched a little Minccino, whom they were training to help with their cleaning duties. They took their jobs seriously, so when Alex let them know about his future plans to open up a base with easily 100 times the living space, they endeavored to get more helpers and began actively mating so their children could assist them.

The Cinccino weren’t the only ones actively mating once the Pokémon heard news of the new living space. All the Pokémon who had partners practically jumped at the opportunity to start building their own nests.

There were plenty of Goomy, Zubat, Dewpider, Combee, and even Grimer running around and receiving training from their parents. As for how Muk was able to hatch an egg, that was because she was female and her partner was Weezing.

This surge in utility Pokémon would be great for the base once they got it up and running.

Speaking of which, Celise finally got back to Alex with an estimate for the dream home after consulting with architects, engineers, construction companies, and credit-only experts in the industry.

"The total comes out to 150 million credits to have everything built," Celise announced during their meeting.

"Why so cheap?" Alex asked. "I was estimating double that price."

"The biggest reason is the wall you decided to change. Originally, with the land covering 6 square kilometers, we would’ve needed 12 kilometers of wall at minimum to fully enclose the area. That alone would have cost around 100 million credits. But since the new layout only needs 1.5 kilometers of wall, the cost drops to about 10 million instead. As for the flood wall, that can be paid for in cash, so it barely factors into the total budget."

"That’s great. What else does 150 million credits buy us?"

"A 10-floor, 0.26 km² full-scale command center built to house 1,000 occupants, which also doubles as a luxury hotel. Each person gets 200 square meters of living space, and the facility comes fully equipped with everything you’d expect from a top-tier operational hub: hospital wing, offices, gyms, cafeteria, parlors, the works. It’s built with Champion-grade materials, so you’re getting the best defensive capabilities available to the public."

Alex thought about it and roughly gauged it was worth the price. A building like this likely cost close to 100 million credits alone, which is equivalent to a typical Champion’s abode that includes 1 km² of land, walls, a mansion, and supporting infrastructure.

"The only thing the building doesn’t include in the package is the 10,000-occupant bunker, which is a separate purchase already included in the pricing. As for the rest, there’s Rhea’s automation lab, which is equipped with the most advanced technology currently on the market, and Nyx’s telecom tower, also top of the line. So overall, you’re getting a highly secure, self-sufficient facility with cutting-edge infrastructure."

Alex wanted a bunker of that size as a precaution for the future. Since it would need to be built beneath the command center, he figured it was best to construct it now while excavation was already underway. If their business grew as expected, they might eventually need to house that many people for operational purposes, so he preferred to address the need early rather than retrofit later.

"What about the lake and the outdoor training and shooting grounds?"

"Also included. As for the Champion ranked battlegrounds, I was recommended to simply use dirt, since anything that could withstand their battle would still eventually get destroyed, so it’s cheaper to simply have the craters filled up again."

That made sense to Alex. He had wondered if others used some kind of advanced technology for it, but even in Team Dominion’s bases, they only used dirt for their battlegrounds.

"How soon can everything be built once they start construction?"

"I plan to use a credit company to have all of this built, but even then, they would still require over a year to complete everything. The detailing inside the base is quite significant. On the bright side, they don’t need any help with deliveries or transportation despite the remote location. They apparently have their own teleportation services."

"Excellent. Great work, Celise. This is well above my expectations for an estimate."

"Thank you, Alex."

"What about you, Rhea? How is the mass production going?" Alex asked, turning to Rhea, who had a frustrated look.

"I need more money!"

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