Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Three months quickly passed after Clarissa returned home to take up the mantle of Champion from her mother. As expected, Alex received another set of very angry calls from both Lance and Lorelei once things had settled on their end. All he could do was shrug and remind them of the depressing conversation Lorelei had shared with Clarissa in the Distortion World, which was enough to calm them down. They had mostly called to vent, while deep down understanding that they were the ones at fault. They’d placed far too much responsibility on their daughter from childhood through adulthood, forcing her to carry burdens that no one but them should have been responsible for in the first place.

Clarissa, meanwhile, took her new responsibilities seriously as she underwent the official title match against Lorelei to claim the position of Kanto Champion. She swept through the Elite Four with ease before facing and ultimately defeating her mother. It was, of course, a close battle, with Lorelei deliberately holding back enough to allow Clarissa the opportunity to claim the title. That was understandable, considering Lorelei was a veteran Master ranked trainer with a well-trained and well-fed Articuno and Regice. Had she truly intended to, she could’ve prevented her daughter’s victory outright.

In the end, however, Clarissa emerged victorious, marking the beginning of a new era in Kanto. At least, that was how the general public saw it. Beneath the surface, very little had actually changed. The League had already been prepared for her succession long before she officially took the title.

Following Clarissa’s victory, Clair Blackthorn challenged the Johto League and defeated Lance. It was decided that she was more than qualified to inherit the mantle of Champion. With Johto and Kanto now in capable hands, both Lance and Lorelei were finally free to participate in dimensional expeditions together instead of remaining behind to fulfill their duties.

Meanwhile, Alex continued training over the next 3 months without interruption. His Pokémon steadily grew stronger, while he himself experienced remarkable improvements to his physique despite already standing at the peak of Champion rank. If he was being honest, it felt as though both his body and mind had already crossed the threshold into Master rank.

Alex watched as his Pokémon shifted from defensive formations into coordinated assaults, with the frontline rotating backward the moment they took a simulated critical hit while fresh teammates immediately filled the gaps. Flying Pokémon circled overhead to relay targets, ranged attackers repositioned to maintain overlapping fields of fire, and support Pokémon moved between squads to heal, reinforce, or disrupt advancing enemies. At Gardevoir’s signal, the entire formation split into smaller units before converging on designated targets from multiple directions, completing the exercise without a single command being repeated.

"I think it’s time to go out on another hunting spree," Alex said. "They’ve gotten too used to these drills. They need some variation."

They’d spent the past 10 months training every single day, repeating the same formations until they became second nature. Real battles would force them to adapt to unfamiliar terrain, unpredictable opponents, and rapidly changing situations while putting their improved energy and body control to practical use.

"Or I could head into the Grand Underground and find a Master ranked Hideaway. Those aren’t regulated, so I should be able to pick a fight whenever I want."

Alex had avoided that option until now because Master ranked Hideaways were no joke. Each nest housed anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Pokémon, guaranteeing a marathon battle the moment he provoked them. He hadn’t believed his team was ready before, but after months of training, they finally had a chance. Especially now that every member of the team carried a turret for emergencies.

At least, that was the plan until Alex heard a faint click from behind him, followed by the sound of a Pokémon materializing. Without turning around, he knew it could only be Guzzlord awakening. However, when he attempted to probe its mind, the only thing he received in return was a single overwhelming sensation of immense, insatiable hunger.

"Gardevoir, bombardment formation! Keep your distance from Guzzlord and hit it with everything you have!" Alex shouted as he bolted forward, narrowly avoiding the suction force that threatened to swallow him whole.

ROAR!!!

The formation immediately turned toward Guzzlord before opening fire with a triple bombardment, each Pokémon spreading out to cover a wide area. Guzzlord opened its massive mouth and accepted the barrage, tearing the floors apart as it swallowed the attacks along with the space around it.

"Focus fire on its mouth and feed it as much energy as you can," Alex shouted as he safely hid behind his Pokémon.

His mind raced as he analyzed the situation. Guzzlord had likely reached the Master rank inside the Beast Ball, then consumed its stored energy far faster than expected. Now that its reserves were depleted, its hunger had overwhelmed its mind, and even Alex’s energy wasn’t enough to calm it down.

"I can’t knock it out since it’ll just rampage again when it wakes up. I can’t approach it to feed it either because it might eat me. Going inside its stomach isn’t an option since it could ignore our deal and digest me. The only choice I have is to keep feeding it."

The bombardment continued without pause, with each Pokémon maintaining their distance while cycling through their strongest single-target special attacks. Guzzlord barely reacted, its massive jaws swallowing waves of energy as the shattered ground cracked beneath its slow advance. Each step forced Alex’s Pokémon to retreat while maintaining their assault, keeping the formation intact as they continued feeding it energy while preventing it from closing the distance.

"Mr. Wattson, we’ve detected the energy signature of a rampaging Master ranked Pokémon. Is everything alright? Do you require assistance?" the intercom suddenly sounded.

"Do you have anything dense enough to satisfy a Master ranked Guzzlord?" Alex shouted back.

"We do, but it’ll be expensive."

"That’s fine. Bring it here, but avoid the main entrance. You might get caught up in the battle."

"Understood."

A few minutes later, a maintenance panel on the wall opened, and a Champion ranked trainer stepped through. He took a moment to watch the battle with a terrified expression before rushing over to Alex’s side and handing him a space bag.

"We don’t know if this is enough, Mr. Wattson, but it’s the densest material we have in the facility."

Alex opened the bag and found a gigantic block of solid black metal, roughly 5 meters tall, wide, and thick. Even Guzzlord would have difficulty swallowing something like this.

"Thanks," Alex said as he moved to the side of the formation.

He released the dense metal cube away from the bombardment and attempted to push it toward Guzzlord, but it refused to budge. He simply wasn’t strong enough to move the cube even an inch, as its sheer weight had embedded it into the floor.

"Gardevoir, push this toward Guzzlord," Alex commanded.

Azuking, Urshifu, and the Rhyperior pair immediately disengaged before lining up behind the cube. They drove their hands into the ground, gripped its edges, and lifted. Even with all four powerful attack-based Pokémon working together, they could barely get it to roll. Fortunately, Alex had an idea.

"Azuking, Giga Impact!" Alex commanded.

Azuking pulled back, momentarily halting the cube’s movement and placing immense strain on Urshifu and the Rhyperior pair as they struggled to hold it in place. Azuking focused its strength as it drew its fist back, gathering energy for the attack.

"Azuuuuuuuuu!" it shouted as it punched forward, sending the massive cube rolling toward Guzzlord.

Guzzlord attempted to swallow the cube like it had with the other attacks, but even it couldn’t immediately pull something that dense into its mouth. The cube slammed into it with its full momentum, forcing the massive Ultra Beast backward and crushing it against the training room’s reinforced wall. The impact left the cube lodged between its jaws, preventing it from moving freely.

It tried to move, but found itself stuck, its suction unable to pull in an object nearly its own size and far denser than anything it had swallowed before. Its tongue lashed out, attempting to push the cube free, but even that failed. Finally, Guzzlord simply closed its jaws, ripping off a small chunk of metal. With a powerful chomp, it broke free from the pressure before proceeding to devour the cube, ripping off and swallowing 1-meter chunks of metal at a time.

Gardevoir immediately halted the bombardment but kept her guard up as Alex and the rest of the Pokémon watched with bated breath. The entire training ground fell silent as they eyed Guzzlord devouring the cube, waiting to see if the massive meal would finally calm its hunger or if its rampage would continue.

Chomp after chomp, Guzzlord devoured the cube in 1-meter chunks, finally finishing it after 125 bites. It took a moment to realize its meal had disappeared before its attention shifted toward Alex standing at the side of the formation.

Suddenly, it rushed toward Alex with a massive leap, its mouth opening wide as it threatened to swallow him whole.