Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Alex jolted awake at a sudden roar that was far too close for comfort. He scrambled upright and was immediately struck by a swipe from behind. His attacker was only Expert rank, so his long coat managed to absorb most of the damage, but the hit still shoved him forward and sent him stumbling straight into the path of an Elite ranked Ursaring. Its claws glowed with Normal type energy as it raised them for a Slash.

Alex lifted his arms just in time to catch the attack. He grabbed the Ursaring by the wrists and used its own momentum to pull it forward into a clean shoulder toss. The moment its back hit the ground, he stepped down hard on its neck. A sharp crack echoed as it fainted. He tightened his grip and twisted further, killing it for good. Dinner secured. He stored the corpse in his space pocket and finally took a proper look around.

He was inside a purple barrier filled with a chaotic mess of over a hundred random Pokémon fighting each other. Trash littered the ground and the entire area felt like someone had tried to start a food fight inside a warzone. The terrain was mostly flat with patches of grass and dry dirt, and a few scattered trees were spread around the area. The weather would have been pleasant if it weren’t for the oppressive barrier trapping everything inside.

A sudden pressure on his leg made him look down. An Expert ranked Sneasel clung to him, refusing to give up the fight. It looked up and suddenly launched itself straight at his eyes. Alex weaved his head back and responded with a full-force punch that knocked it out instantly and sent it flying straight into the side of a massive Onix.

The Onix lifted its head, noticed the attack, and seemed to take immediate offense. It twisted toward Alex and charged with wild abandon, preparing a Tackle that would pulverize anything in its way. Alex braced himself, unwilling to be outdone, and readied to meet the attack head-on.

They were moments from colliding when a Toxicroak shot in from the side and delivered a Low Kick that tripped the Onix, slamming it into the dirt and dealing massive damage. The Toxicroak followed up by vomiting a Sludge Bomb into the Onix’s face, finishing it off, before turning toward Alex.

"You want a piece of this?" Alex said as he shifted into a ready stance.

The Toxicroak paused, immediately sensed danger, and hopped away in retreat, leaving Alex standing between two fainted Pokémon. He bent down to deal the finishing blow, but his instincts screamed a warning. He rolled aside just in time to avoid a massive Shadow Ball that erupted from an Elite ranked Gengar floating behind him.

The Gengar grinned at him with a wide, malicious smile and lashed out with its tongue coated in ghostly energy as it used Lick.

"You think I’m afraid of you?" Alex said.

Dark type energy crawled across his hand as he met the corrosive tongue with a backhand that knocked it aside and dealt heavy damage. The Gengar roared in surprise and drifted backward while preparing another Shadow Ball.

"No you don’t," Alex said as he sprinted forward.

The Gengar shot the Shadow Ball aiming straight for his chest, but Alex jumped over it with perfect timing. The ghost panicked and tried to pull away, but Alex had intentionally overshot the jump and came crashing down on it with a jump kick glowing with his energy. The impact staggered the Gengar, but it wasn’t finished yet. Its eyes glowed as it tried to ensnare him with Hypnosis.

Alex charged again, this time with his eyes closed and Dark type energy coating his head. He swung a heavy haymaker that connected right between the Gengar’s eyes, finally knocking the ghost out cold.

Before Alex could catch his breath, a glob of poison struck him, drenching him from head to toe. The Toxicroak had returned and ambushed him with a Sludge Bomb.

"You little shit!" Alex yelled as he wiped poison from his face and charged forward.

The Toxicroak refused to engage in close combat and kept retreating while throwing Sludge Bombs to slow him down. Alex wasn’t agile enough to catch it while dodging the attacks and had reached the end of his patience, so he drew his guns and opened fire with Feint rounds.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three shots struck center mass with more rounds incoming when Toxicroak suddenly vanished. It reappeared right in front of him with a Sucker Punch aimed at his solar plexus. The impact forced the air out of his lungs, but he clamped down through pure grit and wrapped his arms around the Toxicroak before it could escape.

"Got you," he wheezed.

He slammed his forehead into its skull, disorienting it, then dragged it down into a takedown. Mounting the struggling Pokémon, he hammered its head with repeated punches. It attempted to fight back with its moves, but Alex powered through them and kept striking until it finally went limp.

He rose to his feet with labored breaths, flared his Champion ranked aura, scanned the area, and shouted, "Anyone else want some!"

A Lickitung nearby shook its head in clear refusal and backed away slowly. The rest of the surrounding Pokémon gave him a wide berth, wanting nothing to do with him.

Alex let out a long breath and grinned. That had been more fun than he expected.

’Maybe I should do a battle royale for training,’ he thought.

Shaking the idea away for now, he focused on his current situation. He was trapped in some sort of arena where Pokémon were made to fight each other, surrounded by trash. Since he had gone through some portal, he might be in some alien planet as entertainment or in some rich guy’s backyard, although he highly doubted it.

First things first, he had to investigate. He made his way toward the purple barrier.

When he reached it, he extended a hand, bracing for the painful shock he expected would throw him back. Instead, his hand slipped cleanly through.

He stepped forward and found himself standing in a peaceful environment outside the enclosure.

Behind him, a flash of light burst, followed by a sharp bang. He spun around just in time to see the barrier collapse entirely. All the Pokémon and trash were gone, leaving only the scars of battle etched into the ground.

He was alone now, surrounded by the sudden calm.

"Where the fuck am I?"

He looked around, and the first thing he noticed was a familiar mountain with a storm cloud swirling above it. Around him, the atmosphere was relatively peaceful, but there was a strange difference from the scene he was used to.

The Pokémon here were, for some reason, unusually calm. They weren’t scouring, scavenging, or hunting, but simply went about their day as if no danger could threaten them. They even gave him a wide berth, even when he hid his aura. It was proof that these Pokémon weren’t the same as the ones he was used to.

"I am still definitely in the Pokémon world, but maybe in a different dimension. There’s no way these Pokémon could be the same as the feral ones from back home."

Since there were no threats in his immediate area, he decided to get a better bearing on his situation. He crouched low, tightened his muscles, and jumped with all his strength. As he soared through the air, he twisted his body to get a proper look at the environment around him.

Behind him was the sea with a nice beach. In front of him were clean flatlands with patches of grass, dry dirt, and sparse trees. Off in the distance lay a valley that would be ideal for a town or city, offering natural defenses.

He landed hard on the ground, the impact creating a crater with a loud crash that sent the nearby Pokémon fleeing.

"Welp. There’s nobody around for miles other than Pokémon, but at least I have a heading."

Before deciding to leave, he quickly headed for the beach and cleaned himself of Toxicroak’s Sludge Bomb. He followed that by downing a bottle of Potion and a bottle of Antidote.

Now that he was clean and healthy, he took note of the sun’s position in the sky and determined that his target, the valley, lay to the north. With that in mind, he started making his way toward it.

As a Champion ranked trainer with the corresponding physique, Alex sprinted north at the speed of a car on the interstate. To him, it felt like a comfortable jog despite the incredible speed of his travel. Still, it was much slower than what he was used to when riding on Arcanine.

He continued on his way until a powerful force struck his side, sending him crashing through a tree and destroying it. He had to admit that he had lowered his guard after seeing all the Pokémon ignore his presence, so the invisible ambush took him completely by surprise.

He turned to face his attacker and noted that it was an Alakazam with a much larger body and red eyes that radiated that familiar hostility.

"So there are completely hostile Pokémon here," Alex said as he got to his feet and approached. "Alright, you’ve got some meat on you, so let’s dance."

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