"Good news, Mr. Wattson. Your request has been accepted. You may name your price," Janet said over the phone.
"Any price?" Alex asked, skeptical.
He knew the resources in these ships would be significant, but not to the point that he should be allowed to ask for anything. Something was suspicious about this; he just didn't have the entire picture.
"Any price at all," Janet answered.
"At a minimum, 2 million bullets and 10% of the contents of the intercepted ships in credits," Alex decided.
Getting 2 million bullets would clear him of his responsibilities to Rhea, while the extra credits were an attempt to squeeze out a bit more profit. He didn't know what he would have missed otherwise.
"Acceptible. Please deliver the device to Steven Stone in Mossdeep Space Center."
"Steven Stone? Personally deliver it?"
"Yes, in exchange for your asking price."
"All right."
"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Wattson."
Alex ended the call with a gnawing unease about the transaction. It seemed the price he was being paid was either for himself or for some hidden value from the device. Either way, he had accepted the deal, and so he must deliver.
He decided to head out now and teleport to Mossdeep Space Center. Once he arrived, the front desk ushered him in without trouble. Making his way through the building, he rode the elevator to the top floor.
The doors slid open onto an office where Steven Stone sat behind his desk. He had light-blue hair, the same style Alex remembered from the games. He wore a crisp suit, hands crisscrossed with both elbows resting on the desk in quiet contemplation.
His eyes were fixed on a projected image of Groudon and Kyogre in slumber, one buried beneath molten rock, the other slumbering in the depths of the sea. Hovering protectively behind him was a Metagross, its metallic body gleaming under the office lights as it scanned Alex with its piercing gaze.
"Alex Wattson?" he asked, not looking away.
"I have your coordinates," Alex said, holding the tablet up as he approached.
"Place it on the desk."
Alex moved around the projector and set it on Steven's desk at the far side of the room.
He watched as a projector sprang up from the device, showing a map with over a hundred dots spread out. New details were added, such as the shell companies that had claims to these ships. Then Team names appeared, attached to the shell companies.
There was Team Umbraline, renowned for their espionage and information-gathering skills, operating ten ships. Team Reef specialized in clandestine underwater base construction, building and selling bases for clients beneath the waves, with thirty ships at their disposal. Team Skyreach ran a high-speed delivery service, excelling at transporting anything from point A to point B, with fifteen ships under their command. All three were led by Champions who operated beyond the League's control.
Finally, there was Team Dominion, commanding over fifty ships scattered across Hoenn, with a few strays moving toward or returning from other regions. Next, it calculated their estimated routes and mapped them out across Hoenn in lines. Most of the shipments landed in Slateport before continuing out of the region or to other ports within Hoenn.
A few, however, deviated from their course and took a detour. The map showed them spending several days on seemingly empty seas, usually near ports or cities. It was obvious these were underwater bases.
Steven let out a small smile before finally addressing Alex.
"Thank you for this information, Mr. Wattson. Your help in finding these bases will not be forgotten."
Alex's eyes widened in surprise. It seemed he had just helped catch the tail of the big players. Maybe he could squeeze a bit more out of this.
"It doesn't seem conclusive enough to pinpoint their main base's location, though," Alex pointed out.
"True, but we haven't had a reliable lead ever since they started making trouble. Now we have a massive one, so all it would take is a bit of manpower to pinpoint their location. And I would like your help with that, Mr. Wattson."
"Sure. I can probably do a base every day until we can find their main base."
"Oh no. You won't be doing this alone. As a matter of fact, I would appreciate it if you lay low for the next week while I assemble a team to take down these bases all at once."
"Why bother?" Alex asked. "Are you afraid they'll scatter once one of the bases is taken down? From personal experience, I highly doubt it. They often underestimate the loss of a base, writing it off as incompetence or a fluke, especially if they found out it was done by some no-name bounty hunter."
"I don't doubt your experience would give you that impression," Steven replied. "I've read your records. I must say, I'm impressed with your work, Mr. Wattson. You've been more of a thorn in their side than even they realize."
"Then?"
"I'm not worried about them scattering, quite the opposite," Steven said, turning his attention to the projection of Groudon and Kyogre. "What concerns me is that they'll retaliate and create more work for me than necessary."
Alex didn't fully understand Steven's concerns, but he suspected there was more to the situation than he realized. All the same, he accepted the request.
"Sure, just give me a time and place," Alex replied.
"Expect to be informed within the week, and be ready to move out at any time."
Alex nodded before heading out. He didn't truly want to stay for this mission, since he already had all the resources he needed from Hoenn, but he felt it was necessary for the sake of unseen benefits. The chance to perform in front of the world's top players would look good on his private files and leave a strong impression with the League. There might also be some extra prizes waiting for him if he lucked out and managed to kill or capture the main boss. Lastly, more ammunition is always good.
Steven Stone watched Alex leave and quietly summed up his impression of the man. Overall, it was quite positive.
From his perspective, Alex was the kind of man who was dangerous when suppressed but cooperative when allowed to operate freely. He had violent tendencies, yet the discipline to direct them purposefully rather than give in to every impulse. In a word, he was a tightly contained bundle of violence, so controlled that one might even doubt he was violent at all.
Only when the right conditions were met would he unleash that force, carrying out a killing spree without remorse or hesitation. His records suggested as much, and meeting him in person had only reinforced the impression. Alex was a controlled force of violence, a perfect worker the League could exploit so long as the pay was right.
"Keep an eye on Alex Wattson," Steven Stone commanded.
The Metagross behind him hummed in acknowledgment. It collected a profile for Alex from the public internet and the League's private files. It also set up an algorithm to scrape for any information regarding Alex that might pop up.
Metagross maintained numerous similar files, continuously gathering information on individuals Steven had an interest in. Most of the time, this surveillance proved beneficial for the targets. They were often offered opportunities that would allow them to get a leg up on the competition. Those who failed to meet Steven's expectations, however, often met gruesome ends.
"Now that we have all this information, we'd better start getting everyone into position."
Steven's plan was relatively simple, startle the little snake out of the hole. He would hit every single known location Team Dominion had with a force greater than their reported contents. This would provoke a retaliation he would be ready for, while simultaneously revealing their location. Then, he would quell the unrest with one hand while smashing down his enemy with the other.
No doubt, there would be plenty of civilian casualties and destruction of property, but it would be significantly less than allowing Team Dominion to spread their influence any further. He could only imagine the devastation a fight would cause in the future if Team Dominion managed to gather all the people Pokémon had harmed across the region.
For this operation, he needed all hands on deck, including the Gym Leaders, but he would have to be careful not to divulge too much information. Some among the Gym Leaders sympathized with Team Dominion's ideology, so he could only tell them to prepare for a bit of chaos.
He would also need the Jenny clan and law enforcement to minimize casualties. Beyond that, they would be responsible for immediate cleanup after the battles and for apprehending anyone left behind. The operation was shaping up to be a logistical nightmare.
Lastly, for the bulk of his forces, Steven arranged for his contacts to occupy every strategic position on the map. With over a hundred locations to cover, he relied on a network of Elites, bounty hunters like Alex, who demanded more than a simple reward to take on the criminals of the Underworld.
This list also included certain Champion ranked individuals who were on the lower end of their rank, trainers with only one or two Champion ranked Pokémon. They needed additional power and resources before taking on the full range of high-stakes Champion ranked work and rewards available to individuals of their power.
Paying all these high-ranked trainers would be costly for both Devon Corp and the League, but it would be worth it in the end.
Team Dominion wouldn't know what hit them.
-----
Support me on Patreon
patreon/babywrath