Chapter 524. Hunting Loners
As Alex charged through the window to assassinate the assassin, he released his Pokémon to buy himself the space and time needed to fight. Given the cramped bedroom, he couldn't summon his entire team as he normally would, so he entrusted that responsibility to Rotom while he focused solely on Casper. Within an instant, the quiet room transformed into a battlefield as Pokémon materialized in every available corner, each moving to intercept a designated target before the enemy could overwhelm him.
Aegislash was the first to emerge from Alex's shadow, immediately intercepting Casper's own Aegislash with King's Shield before the two ancient blades crossed. Casper's Aegislash held the advantage in Attack and Defense while Alex's excelled in Health and Speed. Their fighting styles reflected those strengths as well. Casper's fought aggressively, remaining in Sword Form whenever possible to unleash relentless offense, while Alex's favored Shield Form, patiently weathering every strike before counterattacking. From the very beginning, neither appeared capable of gaining a decisive advantage as steel rang throughout the room.
Skeledirge, standing guard beside Alex outside the window, lunged with its massive jaws wide open the moment he burst into the room. Aegislash intercepted the attack with King's Shield, forcing the Fire Ghost type to recoil just as Rotom released Kommo-o into its path. The Dragon Fighting type shoulder charged Skeledirge through the shattered window, sending both crashing below where Togekiss and Dusknoir joined the battle, keeping the crocodilian occupied outside.
Meanwhile, Chandelure descended from the ceiling, having concealed itself among the shadows above the bed. It immediately unleashed Flamethrower toward Alex, but Aegislash’s King’s Shield was just in time to intercept the torrent of ghostly fire. Before it could attack again, both of Alex’s Chandelure launched synchronized Shadow Balls that exploded against it, inflicting heavy damage and forcing it to abandon its target.
Sable emerged from the corner the moment the fighting erupted, hoping to exploit the confusion for a surprise attack. Rotom immediately sent Knight to intercept it, opening with Spirit Break before the assassin could strike. The fairy attack burst across the bedroom in a flash of light, forcing Sable back and briefly eliminating every shadow it could hide within.
Meanwhile, Gengar attempted to slip through the chaos by phasing beneath the floor to ambush Alex from below. Gardevoir sensed its approach through her psychic perception before it could surface. The instant Gengar emerged, she seized it with Psychic and slammed it back down, preventing it from interfering.
Finally, Casper's deadly Master ranked Ceruledge charged toward Alex, its twin ghostly blades burning with violet fire. Raticate immediately intercepted it with Protect, halting its momentum for a single precious moment. That opening allowed Alex's own Ceruledge to step forward and engage the stronger opponent while receiving support from Raticate's coordinated interference.
With so many powerful Pokémon battling in such a confined space, the bedroom quickly descended into chaos. Walls collapsed under repeated impacts, the ceiling exploded apart, and the floor cracked beneath the constant barrage of attacks, yet somehow the bed at the center of the room remained completely untouched as Alex and Casper fought for their lives.
Alex secured a rear choke thanks to his superior physique and close-quarters technique, but Casper was still deadly as long as he held a knife. With Alex's arm locked around his neck and his body pinned from behind, Casper swung his dagger backward, the point aimed directly at Alex's eye over his shoulder. Just before the blade struck, Alex opened his mouth and bit down on it, trapping the steel between his teeth.
CLANG!
A sharp metallic sound echoed through the room as the knife stopped dead in its tracks while Alex continued squeezing the life from Casper. Desperate, Casper tried to wrench the dagger free and redirect it toward Alex's arm or abdomen, but it refused to budge. Alex's jaw clamped down on the blade with an iron grip, rendering every attempt futile.
Left with no other option, Casper activated his Ghost Affinity, his body blurring into a spectral form as he tried to slip free from the chokehold. The moment his ghostly aura came into contact with the Dark type energy coating Alex's body, it began to burn away, forcing him back into the physical world. No matter how desperately he struggled, Alex's grip never loosened. His movements gradually weakened, his vision faded to black, and moments later, his consciousness finally slipped away.
With a violent twist, Alex snapped Casper's neck, killing him instantly. The assassin's death sent his Pokémon into a frenzy, and they all converged on Alex at once. Rotom, having anticipated exactly that, immediately released the rest of Alex's team. They emerged outside the room directing the ongoing battles away from the cramped bedroom, preventing the enraged Pokémon from overwhelming Alex all at once.
At the same time, shadows poured in from every corner of the estate, threatening to drown the mansion beneath a tide of Ghost type Pokémon. Despite still holding Gengar at bay, Gardevoir ordered Arcanine, Zoroark, Grim, and Hydreigon to disengage and unleash Snarl in unison. A massive wave of Dark type energy exploded from the mansion, colliding head-on with the approaching swarm. Thousands of Ghost types screamed as they were blasted backward, with the weaker ones collapsing before they could even reach the walls.
The relentless barrage broke the momentum of the horde, forcing the survivors to push through successive waves of Dark type attacks just to enter the mansion. Inside, Alex's Pokémon systematically hunted down the remaining defenders room by room while the battle reduced the old estate to ruins. Walls crumbled, floors collapsed, and sections of the roof caved in until, at last, the final enemy Pokémon either lay dead or unconscious.
"That wasn't too bad," Alex said as he sprayed potions over the stab wound in his abdomen left by Casper's second attack. "It could have gone better, but we were dealing with a slippery assassin."
They cleaned up the site but found little of value, as Casper appeared to be a minimalist, before returning to Dendemille City to claim the bounty. Hunting an independent Master ranked assassin like Casper was a far greater achievement than eliminating most organization-backed Master ranked trainers. Without an organization's resources to lean on, independent Masters were often stronger, more adaptable, and considerably more dangerous.
That assessment proved accurate over the following weeks as Alex continued hunting Master ranked criminals across Kalos. Most of his battles followed the same pattern as his fight with Casper. He would get close, barrel through Champion and Master ranked Pokémon, execute a beheading strategy against the target, then methodically clean up the berserk Pokémon afterward while holding off any supporting Elite ranked forces and below.
Not every hunt went according to plan, though. Some targets escaped through meticulously prepared contingency plans, while others slipped away before the battle even began only to be caught later after a prolonged pursuit. Others died in their sleep, their arrogance convincing them no one would dare touch them.
A handful possessed defenses so formidable and occupied locations so unsuitable for a B.O.M.B. detonation that Alex chose not to engage at all. An even smaller number successfully repelled his frontal assaults by overwhelming him with large numbers of powerful, well-coordinated Pokémon, forcing him to withdraw before the battle turned against him.
Regardless of the outcome, Alex Wattson's name spread rapidly through the upper echelons of the Underworld. Combined with the public record of his destruction of Team Dominion, his relentless campaign earned him a reputation as a bounty hunter no sane criminal wanted to provoke. Those who survived an encounter with him never sought revenge. Instead, they abandoned their hideouts and disappeared, content simply to have escaped with their lives.
By the end of the month, Alex had earned more than 1 billion credits and 1 million contribution points from bounties alone, an astonishing haul that came close to breaking the historical record. Rather than continue pressing his luck, he called the hunt to an end. He now had more than enough resources to fund several months of training in Lumiose City, and his Pokémon had earned a well-deserved rest after weeks of battling opponents far stronger than the criminals they usually faced.
Once back in Lumiose City, Alex gave his Pokémon a week to recover from their exhausting campaign before throwing them back into training. This time, the focus was on refining how they used their moves rather than simply increasing their strength. He divided them according to their preferred combat styles, including type mastery, physical combat, and battlefield tactics, before enrolling each group in specialized training courses designed to deepen their expertise.
Even if they weren't ready to reach Master rank yet, Alex wanted each of them to understand the path they intended to follow when the time came to break through their bottleneck. Simply accumulating willpower wasn't enough. Power without direction was like a bomb, possessing immense force but lacking the precision needed to shatter their limits.
Understanding his reasoning, his Pokémon threw themselves into their studies. They attended lectures from experienced trainers, received demonstrations on advanced applications within their chosen disciplines, and spent countless hours practicing those concepts until they became second nature.
Some, like Arcanine, Dusknoir, and Alcremie, benefited greatly from the theoretical lessons and repeated demonstrations, while others such as Raticate, Hydreigon, and Grim gained far less, relying more on instinct than structured techniques in combat. Even so, the training gave every Pokémon a direction to pursue, or at least a foundation from which to develop their own approach. It wasn't a perfect solution, nor did it guarantee a breakthrough, but it was far better than blindly waiting for inspiration to strike.
Like this, half a year passed in relentless training, steadily draining Alex's finances until an unexpected event broke their routine. A brilliant flash erupted from Prism Tower, followed moments later by a call requesting his immediate presence.
Leaving the Training Center, Alex headed straight for the Research Center, where he finally reunited with Clarissa. She looked noticeably more mature than when they had parted, carrying herself with the burden of someone who had endured countless hardships.
"Hello, Alex," she said, her lips curling into a gentle, affectionate smile unlike any he had seen from her before. "Long time no see."