Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Alex immediately went online and purchased a Snom Egg for 1 million Pokedollars and a Matcha Alcremie with Aroma Veil for 500,000 Pokedollars.

Alex didn’t care what ability Frosmoth would end up having. Shield Dust would prevent additional effects from attacks, while Ice Scales would halve incoming special attacks. Both were defensively good options.

Alcremie, on the other hand, had to have the ability Aroma Veil, which made it expensive.

The Matcha Alcremie, however, was the cheapest option he could find because of their less popular flavor. It was a niche flavor that not everyone liked. It was okay for Alex though. She was going to be used for battle

Now that Alex had solidified his main team, it was time to work on his secret team, which would act as his personal protection.

It was all well and good to have Pokémon for official battles, but Alex also needed Pokémon for their convenience. Rotom, for example, was always in Alex’s phone. If Alex were ever isolated from his Pokémon, Rotom in his pocket could pop out to defend him.

For this, Alex needed Pokémon that could give him certain advantages. A Dusknoir, for example, could cover his entire body, blocking out shots sent in his direction. It could hide in his shadow, never to be seen until it was needed.

He considered Gengar or Dragapult, but neither could take much of a hit. They were better off as assassins. Eventually, Alex decided on Aegislash. It hit harder than both of the aforementioned Pokémon while defending better than Dusknoir. It was also big enough for Alex to shoot over it while being defended. It was the best choice for personal protection.

It was also expensive, costing Alex 5 million Pokedollars for an egg. Aegislash was considered top of the line for competitive play. Alex also ordered a top-quality Dusk Stone for when it would eventually need to evolve.

For the final Pokémon on Alex’s shopping spree, he absolutely needed a Teleport Pokémon to ensure he had maximum mobility. He already had Altaria to fly around with, Clauncher to swim around with, and Arcanine for digging. Now he needed a Teleporter to get him around.

After a bit of research, Alex was dumbfounded.

Teleport was a regulated Pokémon move, and its TMs were not for sale due to its ability to get trainers in and out of trouble.

Sure, there were ways to counter it with trapping moves and priority moves, but these only worked if the Pokémon was already caught—not when someone was sneaking around or had just won the battle.

There were also psychic auras that could prevent Teleport from being used in and out of certain locations. However, these barriers depended on the strength of the psychic Pokémon covering the area. They needed to be Elite-ranked at minimum, as they could still at least detect intrusions from a Champion-ranked Psychic Pokémon. Although they couldn’t stop it, at least they would be aware of it.

Maintaining such a field required intense focus, usually managed by a three-person rotation team. This level of security was too costly to implement in all restricted locations, so the League ensured that individuals with Teleport-capable Pokémon weren’t using them for nefarious purposes.

For Alex, this meant visiting the Indigo League’s main headquarters after receiving pre-approval based on his contributions to the League. He had to prove that he was trustworthy enough to own a Pokémon that could learn Teleport naturally or to gain access to the secured, heavily guarded TM. In his case, that meant teaching Teleport to Arcanine.

Once he proved his ability as a trainer, he would be required to undergo a psychic evaluation. Not a psychological evaluation, but a psychic one—where trained psychics would read his mind to determine why he wanted a Pokémon with Teleport. Most people preferred to catch a Teleport-capable Pokémon in the wild rather than allowing anyone to probe their thoughts.

This didn’t bother Alex, but the pre-approval process was tedious. At a minimum, he needed at least eight Gym Badges before he could apply. After that, a thorough background check—taking up to three months—would be conducted, followed by a psychic evaluation.

This, of course, did not apply to the children of trainers who had attained the security clearance for Teleporting Pokémon. However, it did apply to Alex if he were to ever gain access to the move. He would have to pass the background check and psychic evaluation in the future; otherwise, the League would be forced to detain the Pokémon or arrest Alex if he did anything that warranted imprisonment during the psychic evaluation.

Intrigued by the concept of regulated Pokémon, Alex conducted further research and discovered that, in addition to Teleport-capable Pokémon such as the Abra line, Natu line, Ralts line, Elgyem line, and Claydol, Malamar was also classified as a ’regulated’ Pokémon due to its ability to hypnotize people into doing its bidding.

The same applied to Orbettle who had similar abilities to Malamar and Beheeyem who could outright manipulate memories.

To counteract this, even more Psychic-type Pokémon were required to regularly scan the minds of individuals with high-security clearances for any signs of hypnosis.

Another regulated Pokémon was Zoroark, whose illusion abilities made identity theft far more than just unlocking someone’s phone or accessing their accounts. A skilled Zoroark user could make someone look, act, and sound exactly like another person—allowing them to live the target’s life undetected while the real individual had long since been kidnapped.

This did not, however, apply to Ditto, which could transform into any object or individual, as its beady black eyes were a dead giveaway.

Porygon were also regulated Pokémon a few decades ago due to their ability to manipulate computers. They were initially used to protect Team Rocket from hackers and to hack others in turn, which is why paper currency is still in use.

However, Porygon have since been removed from regulation, as the League now has access to Metagross, Rotom, and other Porygon to combat digital crime. Apparently, the League is winning the battle in digital space, so people are now allowed to own Rotoms trained by the League to ensure compliance with the law.

Sadly, this meant Alex could no longer play vigilante and had to adhere to the letter of the law when picking fights. Fine by him—he never wanted to be enemies with the League anyway.

He did decide to do everything he could to eventually get those Pokemon though. He wanted to get a Zoroark for sneaking, Malamar for getting information from his targets, and Teleport for Arcanine.

He’ll try to achieve it the hard way, but if the easy way presents itself, he’ll grab it without hesitation.

Having determined the futility of gaining regulated Pokémon, Alex decided to stop for now, as he had five new Pokémon to take care of.

He planned to meet them one by one and help them get comfortable before starting their training.

First was Pineco, who was ecstatic to finally have a trainer. He had spent years grouped with other Pineco, most of whom didn’t want to battle and simply hung from their designated trees.

However, he was different. He was determined to become strong, and to be strong, he needed a trainer. But getting one had always seemed impossible. It had already been a few months since he was born and passed the test, yet no one had chosen him. So, he trained and trained and trained—until fate finally shone down upon him.

At last, he had been selected over the others who continued to simply hang from their trees. He was ready.

"Hello, Pineco. I’m Alex. I’m your new trainer, and I plan on pairing you up with her," Alex said, pointing at Clauncher, who waved her good claw.

’Hello,’ Clauncher greeted.

BANG!

Love struck him like thunder from the heavens for the first time in his life. She was so beautiful. So graceful. So chitinous.

He didn’t know what to do. Should he say hi? Maybe hey? He was lost. All he had ever done was train like a madman. He had never trained for this. He had no idea what to do—so he simply let out all of his emotions at once. An overwhelming rush of feelings gushed out from within him.

Pineco used Self-Destruct!

BANG!

After the smoke cleared, Alex surveyed the damage left behind by Pineco’s Self-Destruct, standing safely behind Clauncher’s Protect.

’What the hell just happened?’ Alex thought. Pineco had been perfectly fine meeting him—until he saw Clauncher. ’Maybe she had been rude? No, his Clauncher was an angel. She was so nice.’

Sighing, he returned Clauncher to her Pokéball, then walked over and gave Pineco a Revive. The moment Pineco shot up, he frantically looked around before drooping in despair.

"What’s wrong?" Alex asked.

"Pi..."

"I see. Well, good news and bad news. The good news is, she’s still your partner. The bad news is, she thought you were angry and attacked her. So next time, keep your emotions contained, alright?"

"Pine," Pineco nodded solemnly.

"Good."

Alex released Clauncher and asked her to give him another chance, but she hesitated, looking reluctant. Pineco’s mood plummeted even further.

"Clauncher, he didn’t mean it," Alex reassured her. "It’s hard for Pokémon who have never trained to control their Self-Destruct. Give him a chance. I’m sure he can do better once he starts training."

"Pine!" Pineco nodded vigorously, hopeful.

"Clau..." Clauncher narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Alex sighed. "I’m sure you two can start as friends. Why don’t you show me what you can do before we start training?"

Pineco began demonstrating his moves, except for the one he had already used and what Alex saw shocked him.

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