Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Alex didn’t waste any time. That evening, he put on his Silent suit, teleported to Meteor Falls, and quickly located the mining site. As expected, it was heavily guarded.

The site lay in a cave tucked into the wooded slopes near Meteor Falls. No drills or machinery were in sight, only the steady tremor of Ground type Pokémon working beneath the earth. Handlers moved in and out with buckets of dirt laced with crystal flecks, sometimes carrying the occasional large chunk. They worked with mechanical efficiency, even through the night.

The cave mouth was wide, scarred with claw marks and broken stone, large enough for a Steelix to pass through. Makeshift posts and sensors ringed the perimeter.

To Alex, the whole place carried a quiet tension, as though the mountain itself was alive and watching. He suspected it was Sable’s doing, her awareness extending over every inch of the site. That told him his target was inside.

Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any way to enter without being detected. At least, that was what his instincts were telling him.

Seeing that there was no way around it, Alex decided to charge in as planned and hope for the best.

He retreated briefly to change into his combat gear, then released his full team.

"Alright, we’re charging in and taking everything in sight," Alex said. "Gardevoir, I want a solid defensive perimeter around me. Be wary of Rock Slides or Earthquakes. Frosmoth, Aegislash, be ready to use Wide Guard at any time.

"Raticate, take Arcanine, Kommo-o, and Togekiss and hunt down our target. If you can’t, that’s fine. Just make sure you’re safe. Crobats, lock onto her as soon as you detect her, but only if Raticate is nearby. Do not engage unless she’s isolated. Everyone ready?"

His team answered with short grunts and nods.

Mounting Steelix and strapping on the Stormline, Alex pushed forward toward the mining site. If he was dropping stealth for this hunt, he was going in guns blazing.

-----

Sable was in her office, dug out from the side of the main tunnel, while writing up her daily report. Today, they had managed to dig up a few more tons of Move crystals in flecks and chunks, and it seemed their luck would continue for the next few months before the site dried up.

Personally, she hated these reports, as they were below her station. She should have a secretary to handle this paperwork for her, but management, and that prick Victor, refused her request.

Since she was a contractor, she wasn’t allowed certain privileges provided by the company. She didn’t even know who these clients of hers really were. All she knew was that she was being paid in Champion ranked Pokémon meat, and that was more than enough for her to shut up and keep working.

She was quite sure, however, that she was working for the Underworld, considering the fucked-up Pokémon they were using. The mining team came with independent Pokémon that wore an accessory attached to their necks or heads.

Whatever they were used for, she could tell it was the reason the Pokémon seemed out of it.

Their eyes were hollow, while their movements were mechanical. Their digging efficiency was horrible. As a matter of fact, her team was likely efficient enough to match and surpass the mining team she was given.

Unfortunately for her employers, she was being paid by the day, and her contract stated she was an overseer and security, so technically, her Pokémon didn’t have to lift a finger.

Overall, it was a cushy job that was managerial most of the time, with the occasional trainer or stray Elite to fend off or escape from.

Once she finished and sent out her report, Sable pressed her bare feet against the ground and started feeling the earth beneath her. It was her way of overseeing the mining progress without having to set eyes on it directly.

As a Ground type specialist, her talent allowed her to sense vibrations in the earth and interpret them visually. To her, it was like having a three-dimensional wireframe of everything around her, so long as her feet remained in contact with the ground.

This ability was the reason she had chosen to be a miner, and why she had become one of the best in the business. Unfortunately, she couldn’t profit from her skill freely.

Mining sites were too expensive to buy outright, so she was forced to work under others. If her team hadn’t been so brutal on her wallet, maybe she could have purchased a site of her own and made a real profit. But life was rarely fair, so she rolled with the hand she was given, which led to her joining a shady company just to keep her Pokémon fed.

She did a quick check, and everything seemed normal until she felt a faint tremor at the edge of the mining site. It was distant at first, but steadily grew stronger, heading straight toward them.

Sable shot to her feet and barked, "Attack! We’re under attack, everyone, defensive formation!"

The workers who had been nodding off jolted awake, grabbing their guns and rushing into position. They encircled the site, forming a defensive perimeter around the cave entrance.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, seeming like a false alarm. Still, the men remained on edge. They had witnessed firsthand their boss’s ability to detect incoming danger and trusted her warnings. If she said something was coming, then something was definitely on its way.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to quake. Trees in the forest shook violently as something massive moved through the darkness, the sound growing louder with every second.

Then, a Steelix burst out of the treeline with a fully armored man standing on its head. A storm of varied Pokémon attacks rained down upon the camp, blanketing the defenders in chaos.

They returned fire, but the opposing barrage was overwhelming. Most of them were shot down in the initial volley, while the rest scattered, some diving for cover, others fleeing for their lives.

Wide, area-of-effect attacks blanketed the field, smothering their counterfire in a storm of energy. What few shots they managed to launch were swallowed up before they could reach their targets.

All the while, the man astride the Steelix rained death from above at a rate that outpaced their entire force combined.

Following the Steelix and its trainer, two dozen Pokémon burst from the forest and tore into the survivors. They moved too fast to be targeted, their speed marking them as Elite ranked.

"Nope!" Sable said as she released Garchomp and Excadrill. "I am not being paid enough for this shit! Garchomp, Excadrill, get me out of here!"

Excadrill tore into the office wall, carving a path deeper into the mountain, while Garchomp scooped Sable into his arms and followed close behind, lending his strength to the escape.

A Raticate suddenly ripped through the rock from the outside and lunged at Garchomp with a Thunder Wave, but it fizzled harmlessly against him.

"Shit!" Sable spat, throwing out the rest of her team.

Rhyperior took point, absorbing and deflecting an Extreme Speed aimed at Sable. He faced off against an Arcanine that didn’t back down in response.

Dugtrio swarmed the ambushing Raticate, preventing it from targeting Sable or having the leisure to attack freely.

Garchomp intercepted the Kommo-o that barreled in after them, while Gliscor dive-bombed a Togekiss from above. The pair made sure the reinforcements couldn’t move further.

Flygon hovered close, shielding Sable from stray attacks and falling stone.

All hell broke loose in a frenzy of underground combat. Attacks flared in every direction, tunnels collapsed and were clawed open again within seconds. The ground quaked under the force of Rock Slides and Earthquakes, each shockwave threatening to bury them alive.

Sable fought to keep moving down Excadrill’s tunnel while Flygon covered her retreat. She did everything she could just to survive.

Then she felt it, a tremor through the ground. Excadrill had broken through to the other side of the mountain. Their escape path was open.

She recalled her team in a rush and dashed into the tunnel Excadrill had carved, sprinting as the ceiling collapsed behind her.

A chain of precise Rock Slides and Earthquakes sealed the passage, cutting their pursuers off. By the time they dug through, she would be long gone.

"Fuck, that was intense. Thanks, buddy," Sable said, patting Excadrill’s head. "Time to get out of here."

She released Garchomp intending to fly away, but there was a problem. Her Pokéball was empty.

Color drained from her face as she double-checked her Pokéballs and found two of them were empty. Garchomp and Rhyperior were left behind.

"Garchomp? Rhyperior? No... please, no!" she cried, screamed, and begged.

Sable loved her Pokémon, every one of them, and the thought of losing them cut deeper than any wound. Yet the tremors rumbling from deeper in the tunnels told her the two were still fighting. It was only a matter of time before they fell. And when they did, her pursuers would be on her again.

"Fuck! FUCK!" she screamed, returning Excadrill back into its ball before throwing out Flygon’s. The dragon appeared with a pained whine, but Sable swung onto her back and barked, "Get me out of here, Flygon."

Flygon launched skyward, wings humming with strain. Sable pressed a hand to her neck, whispering, "I know, girl. I know. I’m sorry. We’ll get them back. I promise. And if not, then we’ll put our lives on the line to make that fucker pay. I swear to Archeus if he kills them we’ll make his life a living hell"

Flygon’s eyes hardened, and she gave a resolute nod before the two of them tore away from the mining site and into the night.

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