Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Alex, Arcanine, and Johnny raced north of the Pokémon Daycare and dived straight into the dark forest, chasing Annihilape’s lingering scent. However, it almost didn’t seem necessary, given the destructive path the Pokémon had left behind like breadcrumbs. There were trees torn from their roots, potholes gouged into the ground, cracked boulders punched through, and the remains of Pokémon unfortunate enough to encounter the rampaging beast.

Judging by the marks left behind, Annihilape couldn’t have gotten far, given that he seemed to pay the utmost attention to everything in his path. The sheer amount of damage suggested he wasn’t moving quickly, but rather stopping to punch every affront he encountered before moving on.

’I wonder if this is enough to piss off the forest?’ Alex thought.

Annihilape was early Elite rank at most, with damage almost reaching peak Elite rank. Also, he had likely been laying waste to everything in the forest for the past few days, allowing him to deal monumental damage without pause.

On the other hand, he was moving in a straight path, so his damage to a large area was quite small overall. It was nothing compared to the battle between 150 Pokemon, with nearly 20 Champions bombarding everything around them for miles.

It was a chance to see the bounds of the forest’s tolerance before they issued the mark.

The group continued their journey north through the forest, scaring away the sparse Pokémon in the area. They traveled through the morning until noon, when they finally found signs of their quarry.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of explosions echoed in the distance, signaling they were likely close. They raced forward for a minute until they found the source of the noise. It was Annihilape facing off against an Elite ranked Trevenant nest. Hundreds of Pokémon surrounded the rampaging Pokémon as he fought three Elite ranked Trevenants all by himself.

At first glance, it looked as if Annihilape was winning, as he pounced on the Trevenants relentlessly, striking them with Rage Fist that dealt significant damage, his feet never stopping as he ran from one enemy to the next. Upon closer inspection, however, Annihilape was simply being toyed with. Sure, Rage Fist did a ton of damage, but because he was bouncing between three opponents, his damage was being divided between them, giving the Trevenants plenty of time to regenerate through the use of Leech Seed, Ingrain, and Horn Leech, a trifecta of moves that guaranteed their survival against their assailant.

Annihilape struggled with all his might as he was sapped of health and strength every time he used Rage Fist. He was covered with plants and vines that weighed him down while feeding his opponents enough health to persist in the fight. It shouldn’t take long before Annihilape was killed and dealt with.

"Primeape!" Johnny shouted with concern upon finally seeing his Pokémon.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t helping, as his cry distracted Annihilape enough for him to miss a Horn Leech, which stabbed straight into his gut and dealt critical damage.

"No! Primeape!" Johnny shouted before dismounting Arcanine and attempting to run into the middle of the fight.

That was when Alex grabbed him by the back of his shirt and held him back while releasing his Pokémon. Raticate and Ceruledge immediately bolted out and quickly surrounded Annihilape, preventing him from attacking with a Protect rotation while simultaneously scaring off the Trevenants. Then Alex released his water team, who immediately created a tidal wave of Surfs, washing away the entire nest gently without killing any of them.

They tried to gather up again and surround Alex and his Pokémon, but that was when Alex released the rest of his team, creating a defensive formation with Annihilape in the center, threatening death to any that approached. The display intimidated the nest enough to scare them away while simultaneously dealing the least amount of damage to the environment.

That was when Alex considered it safe enough for Johnny to finally approach. He let go of the boy and slowly walked forward, watching the touching reunion between trainer and Pokémon. At least, that was what Alex was expecting.

Annihilape’s fist glowed an eerie purple before launching straight for Johnny, who had been taken by surprise. Fortunately, Alex was following right behind him and was close enough to blitz forward, catching the attack with his hand, covered in Dark type energy that directly countered the Ghost type attack.

"Primeape?" Johnny said, doubting whether this Pokémon was really the same Primeape that had protected him through high school.

Annihilape reared his fist back, his focus purely on Alex, whom he had deemed an enemy, and punched out again with full power. Alex wasn’t going to take it lying down, though. He raised his guard and covered his upper body with Dark type energy. Then he deflected the punch with one hand while countering with the other, dealing significant damage.

Annihilape staggered but didn’t give up as he continued his assault, forcing Alex to defend himself while countering every attack aimed at him. It was basically child’s play at this point despite Annihilape’s greater strength. He had no technique, no flow, and attacked with a predictable rhythm. The battle wasn’t even enough to whet Alex’s appetite for combat.

"Primeape! Stop! Please! Calm down!" Johnny shouted as he watched the battle unfold, devastated that his longtime friend and Pokémon couldn’t snap out of his rage.

The slugfest dragged on, but it quickly became one-sided. Every Rage Fist Annihilape threw was met with a clean deflection and an immediate counter. Standing at just 3’11" (1.2 m), he was a furious blur of motion, darting in from every angle and chaining together everything in his repertoire, punches, kicks, lunges, even wild, desperate leaps, but none of it broke through.

Alex, by contrast, barely seemed to exert himself. He moved with mechanical precision, reading each attack as it came, parrying with minimal effort before driving his own fists forward with punishing accuracy. Each strike snapped Annihilape’s head back. There was no wasted motion and no hesitation, just a steady, oppressive rhythm that Annihilape couldn’t disrupt.

As the exchange wore on, the difference in control became fatal. Annihilape wasn’t just burning stamina anymore, he was digging into his own life force to sustain the assault. His movements, once frenzied and relentless, began to dull. The speed dropped first, then the power, his strikes growing sloppier as his body failed to keep up with his rage.

Step by step, he slowed until the momentum collapsed entirely. His limbs gave out and he pitched forward, hitting the muddy ground face first. His body trembled as he tried to push himself back up, breath ragged, strength completely spent, his consciousness flickering as the last of his energy drained away.

"Primeape!" Johnny shouted, finally catching Annihilape’s attention.

He used all his might to look up at Johnny, who moved forward and cradled him in his arms.

"Annihilape!" he said before the Pokémon finally fainted, completely exhausted after days of continuous rampage.

"Primeape!"

"Relax, kid," Alex said as he approached. "He’s just fainted. Although, he’ll probably die in a few minutes if he doesn’t get healed. He’s been using up his own life force to keep fighting, after all."

Annihilape’s form was now wispy, his Ghost typing promising permanent death if all the life force was drained from his body.

"What should I do? Should I use a Potion?" Johnny asked as he took one from his pack and sprayed it on Annihilape.

"Nah, you need something stronger," Alex said as he tossed over a Max Revive. "Here, use this."

Johnny did as instructed without hesitation. He didn’t care about anything but saving his Pokémon’s life. He uncapped the bottle and started spraying it all over Annihilape, his form slowly recovering.

"Now, all he needs is some food and he’ll be good to go. We’d better make sure he doesn’t continue rampaging, though. Are you willing to risk your life to make sure Annihilape stays calm?" Alex asked with a serious expression.

"Yes!" Johnny answered resolutely.

"Alright, I’ll be over there," Alex said as he retreated behind a tree while recalling all his Pokémon.

He didn’t want to be in Annihilape’s view when he woke. Otherwise, he would try to continue the fight. So the only way was to let Johnny be the first person he saw to snap him out of it.

Soon, Annihilape opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Johnny’s crying face hovering over him.

"Ape..." he said, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah, it’s me, buddy. Sorry for leaving you like that."

"Ape! Annihilape!"

"I know you were only trying to grow stronger. But we lost because I wasn’t good enough as a trainer, not because you were weak."

"Ape..."

"Let’s train together from now on."

"Annihilape!"

"Hahaha..."

Alex heaved a sigh of relief. It was fortunate that Annihilape didn’t rampage after waking up. Alex had no way of protecting the kid otherwise, and he would have been fully responsible for the boy’s death. After all, Annihilape was a Ghost type, so he would definitely sense any hiding Pokémon in the area, including other Ghost types. Alex hadn’t lied when he said the kid would have to risk his life.

Johnny spent some time with Annihilape before storing him in his Poké Ball and finally meeting up with Alex.

"Thank you for getting Annihilape back," the boy said sincerely.

"Sure, kid. I highly suggest you bring him to the gym so they can teach both of you how to calm him down when he acts up again. Annihilape, in particular, can be very destructive if you don’t train him properly."

"I promise," the boy said with conviction.

"Good," Alex said, rubbing the boy’s head as Arcanine teleported them back to the Pokémon Daycare.

With Alex’s business in the city officially done, he took the rest of the day off to catch up on some sleep while planning his next move. His next stop would be either Hammerlocke or Spikemuth, but given the urgency of the situation, Spikemuth seemed the obvious choice.

Tomorrow, he would head out and teleport over to see what the city of punk rock had in store.

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