Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

At the start of the battle with the Snorlax, Lyra and Mika split their teams on either side of the formation and circled around the behemoth before combining their Pokémon in front of the portal. From there, they bombarded it without caring for any corpses they might be able to score. It was an emergency, after all.

With them were all their Pokémon, even the ones who were supposed to be resting, totaling 40 between them. It wasn’t exactly efficient, but again, it was an emergency.

Suddenly, a Champion ranked aura spilled from the portal, promising a tough battle. They could certainly handle it given their numbers and the small core Elites they had in their roster, which included Lyra’s Corviknight, the Mightyena pair, Poliwrath, and Haxorus, and Mika’s Pidgeot, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Liepard, and Flygon.

The reason most trainers never went beyond 6 was because of the difficulty of feeding and training them. At Elite rank, there was more leeway given their income boost from enhanced capability, but even then, they could only manage 20 each at most, compared to Alex’s 50 when he was an Elite. It showed a clear difference in earning potential and overall capability. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Even if they filled up their ranks with other Elites they bought from the market, those Pokémon still weren’t as well trained as their core. They would just be a liability in a battle like this one.

Hence, when the Champion that came out was an enraged Electrode, they both had no choice but to fight at a disadvantage. This particular Pokémon had a fondness for Explosion, a devastating move that would wipe out most of their Pokémon and send them flying off the platform.

After all, their weaker Pokémon’s move proficiency wasn’t up to par. Most of them didn’t even have Effect Up +1 Protect like their core, which meant only their core could fend off the swarm pouring from the portal.

"Mika! You take care of the Electrode while I handle the flood," Lyra said. "And keep your weaker Pokémon back. They’ll just get in the way."

"Got it!" Mika replied, storing her extra Pokémon. "Go, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Flygon! Just like we practiced. Contain it."

Nidoking led the charge and used Toxic to start wearing it down, while Nidoqueen stood to the side, prepared to intercept any retaliation with Protect. Flygon, meanwhile, used Screech to lower its defenses. They couldn’t use Ground moves due to Sable’s warning, but they could still reduce its health to prepare for a finishing move, avoiding the risk of Explosion.

Electrode tried to attack with Discharge but suddenly found its attacks ineffective. Confused, it used Rollout instead.

Nidoqueen stepped in and used Protect, nullifying the damage before following up with Mega Kick to shove it back, just as Flygon used another Screech and Nidoking used Protect to counter its second Rollout.

The battle continued, with Nidoking and Nidoqueen alternating Protect and physical attacks while Flygon fired Scale Shots from above. Since Electrode had locked itself out of Explosion with Rollout, they were taking advantage of the opening to bring it down. By the fifth Rollout, they knew this was their only chance.

"Now!" Mika shouted. "All together! Giga Impact and finish it off!"

They unleashed a combined Giga Impact that should have either knocked it out or blasted it back through the portal. Instead, Electrode survived and slammed into a charging Rhydon bursting out of the portal, ricocheting straight back toward them.

Hanging on with only a sliver of health, it began to glow. Electrode had used Explosion.

"Oh no. Lyra, run!" Mika shouted, retreating with her Pokémon while Lyra did the same.

"Alex! There’s a Champion ranked Electrode that just came out of the portal. We need help!"

The Electrode exploded behind them, shaking the platform violently and causing it to blow apart entirely. Alex, Sable, Lyra, and Mika quickly recalled all their Pokémon to ensure they weren’t separated.

They found themselves suspended in the void, drifting between asteroid-like landmasses that tumbled through open space. Shards of broken platforms, pieces of terrain, and loose debris slid past them as the explosion hurled them farther and farther away from League territory.

"Alex! What do we do? Alex? Alex!" Lyra shouted. "Fuck, there’s interference. Mika, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Lyra. Sable, are you there?"

"I’m here."

"We lost Alex."

"I know. I can’t reach him."

"Oh my Arceus. Is that a black hole?" Lyra exclaimed, her voice trembling.

Ahead of them, a massive portal loomed, far larger than the ones that had been spewing Pokémon. Its surface swirled like liquid night, crackling with deep red lightning. The closer they drifted, the stronger its pull became, dragging them in faster and faster.

"We’re all going to die," Mika muttered as the realization hit her fully. She turned to where Lyra floated nearby and said, "I love you, Lyra. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. It was fun while it lasted."

"Shut the fuck up, Mika! We’re not dead yet," Lyra snapped. She released Corviknight, mounting the bird. "Corviknight, get us out of here!"

The Pokémon beat its wings furiously, but the pull was relentless. They drifted closer to the portal, debris and shards of the platform spinning past them.

Lyra followed up by releasing the rest of her Pokémon, shouting for them to float, fly, throw out moves, anything that could push them back toward a landmass. But even combined, their strength barely slowed their fall.

The others released their Pokémon as well and pushed with everything they had, but it was useless. The gravitational pull was too strong, dragging them deeper. The stars, or what looked like stars, stretched into streaks around them as they tumbled helplessly through darkness.

"We should combine all our Pokémon!" Lyra shouted before pushing themselves and their Pokémon closer together.

They clung to one another, linking their Pokémon to form a unified force. Slowly, painfully, they began to resist the pull, their combined efforts making the smallest difference.

"What about Alex?" Mika asked, her voice shaking.

"If we can get out of this, Alex can as well. He has stronger Pokémon than us. He’ll be fine. We just need to make sure we survive first," Lyra replied, her focus absolute.

Suddenly, a solid mass slammed into their cluster of Pokémon, knocking them free from the gravitational pull and then propelling them toward a nearby landmass.

"It’s working!" Lyra shouted.

They pushed with everything they had, feeling the strain in their bodies. Slowly, they edged toward a solid platform that shimmered faintly against the darkness. A trainer stood on it, watching them carefully.

With a crash, they landed harshly, but they were relieved to be alive.

"That was close," the trainer said, walking toward them. "I’ve never seen anyone survive that. Are all of you okay?"

"We’re fine. Where’s Alex?" Lyra asked.

"Your friend didn’t make it," the trainer replied. "He sacrificed himself to save you."

"WHAT!?" the girls shouted, spinning to look at the portal, but Alex was nowhere in sight.

"No... NOOO!!!" Lyra screamed.

"Alex is fine," came a robotic voice, calm and clear. "He said he will see you on the other side."

-----

While the girls worked on combining their Pokémon to resist the gravitational pull, Alex was deep in conversation with Rotom, trying to figure out a way out of their predicament.

"Rotom, could we push ourselves out the same way the girls are?" Alex asked.

"Negative," Rotom responded in its robotic voice. "Analysis indicates that even if all Pokémon execute dash maneuvers such as Extreme Speed or sustained attack moves such as Hyper Beam, the aggregate thrust remains insufficient to counteract the gravitational pull."

Alex thought for a moment. "What if we use centrifugal force to launch me toward them, then I retrieve the Pokémon left behind and release them to contribute to a combined push?"

Rotom paused. "Feasible, but probability of successful retrieval cannot be guaranteed."

Alex sighed. That was his best idea, taking advantage of the Pokémon’s changeable weight. But so long as it was not 100% guaranteed, he would never risk any of his Pokémon’s lives. That left him with horrible options, one of which relied heavily on luck.

"What if all of my Pokémon were added to their group effort? Would that work?"

"Affirmative, but the window of opportunity is closing," Rotom stated.

"Alright. Use the backpack to launch yourself to them, then release the Pokémon and push until you all reach safety. Have the Pokémon defend them and bring them home. Tell the girls I will see them on the other side."

Alex felt a psychic connection from Gardevoir, but there wasn’t enough time to explain. All he could do was send her a reassuring thought.

’I’ll see you later.’

He removed his backpack, stored Ditto and Aegislash inside, and began spinning it rapidly around him. The rotational motion built up centrifugal force, and when he released it, the backpack converted that motion into a powerful directional launch.

With Rotom’s assistance, the boosters on the backpack fired at the moment of release, propelling it toward the girls at high speed.

The backpack slammed into their group before Rotom released all of Alex’s Pokémon to combine with the girls’ efforts. Together, they created enough force to push themselves toward safety.

With a small, satisfied smile, Alex watched as the girls and his Pokémon all made it to the landmass while he was swallowed by the portal.

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