Alex stepped out of the light of teleportation and found himself in Mistralton City in western Unova. He figured he could start taking down Team Dominion's bases to create a distraction for the girls while advancing their plan at the same time, reducing the number of locations they would have to visit.
Mistralton City sat in the middle of three mountain ranges that hosted several mining operations. It developed around its airport, which transported people and raw materials between places such as Lentimas Town to the east and the Nature Preserve farther to the northwest, an indistinct location that served as a source of diverse wild Pokémon.
The airport operated despite the dangers of crossing vast areas controlled by Champion ranked territories by assigning a Champion ranked Pokémon to accompany each aircraft belonging to Skyla. Its role was to deter any Elites who might attempt to start a fight, while the flight paths were carefully planned to avoid Champion ranked territories during travel.
Within the Unova region, this wasn't much of a problem since most of the wilderness had already been domesticated. Travel between regions, however, remained limited, especially to areas that hadn't been fully domesticated such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Alola.
In more controlled regions such as Galar, Kalos, and Paldea, flight was already available with support from worldwide shipping routes that maintained a constant read on sea territories, though this often came at the cost of the ships that sailed them.
The city itself was neither a metropolis nor a tourist destination like most other cities in the region. Instead, it remained a large, practical town built for comfort, housing the miners, drivers, and transportation workers who kept its economy running.
On the eastern side, instead of skyscrapers, there were cozy cottages, warehouses, open markets, and rows of cheap eateries serving quick meals to people between shifts. The streets were wide and functional, designed for vehicle traffic and trade instead of leisure.
The western side was dominated by the airport, a sprawling complex of runways, hangars, cargo depots, and terminals that formed the backbone of the city's identity. Along the outskirts stretched broad farmland, where produce could be harvested and loaded onto aircraft the same day, flown across Unova with minimal delay.
The city housed three gyms, led by Skyla and her Flying type gym. The other two were the Rock and Ground type gyms that had recently been added. Together, they worked to support search and rescue operations whenever a cave-in occurred nearby, providing rapid aid during rescue efforts.
As for Alex's target in the area, it was a Team Dominion training facility where the Paldea branch leader had trained after his recruitment and before being assigned to his mission. The facility functioned as a central hub, processing personnel and sending them to other regions as needed.
It was a prime target, one that would truly get them buzzing and eager to hunt him down. Assuming he could even get near it.
"Halt. You're under arrest," an officer said when he spotted Alex strolling through the city.
Alex sighed. He had been discovered less than five minutes after arriving. He had hoped to move in and out quickly, but it seemed the League wasn't afraid of him, unlike most high rank criminals who wouldn't hesitate to devastate a city once exposed.
"I wonder how you found me so fast," Alex asked.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The officer and his partner opened fire out of pure nerves, the barrage wearing down his bounty hunter armor, punching holes through his overcoat, and grazing his skin. They kept firing until they ran out of bullets, then stared dumbly at Alex, who remained largely unharmed.
"It's a good thing I'm getting a new wardrobe," Alex said. "Otherwise, I would have been pissed."
He ignored them and continued strolling while the pair called for backup and began trailing him. Soon, nearly a dozen officers were following him, weapons drawn and Pokémon growling. They caused a scene, wasting their bullets on him, while Alex calmly followed the directions on his phone toward the training facility.
Once he arrived, he was surrounded by the facility's guards at the front and a small group of policemen at the back. Both sides had their weapons drawn and trained on him. Off to the side, reporters were documenting the so-called "deadly battle" between a wanted fugitive and the brave heroes who had failed to arrest him.
Alex turned to the cameras, smiled, and waved before commanding, "Rotom, take out all those cameras."
Rotom emerged from his phone, zipping to the front of each camera and unleashing Flash followed by Thunder Wave, destroying them completely. It also targeted any nearby phones, frying their circuits to ensure nothing could record Alex's next moves.
Once Alex confirmed Rotom had finished, he released all his Pokémon. Under Gardevoir's command, they charged forward, taking down the guards and the mind-controlled Pokémon in droves. After breaking through the defenses, they swarmed the facility, tearing it apart.
The police and the news crew were ignored, little more than innocent bystanders. All they could do was watch as the facility's guards were torn apart by Alex's Pokémon, leaving them terrified and questioning the judgment of their superiors for putting them in the path of a trainer commanding such powerful and ferocious creatures.
Alex didn't care about being exposed as a criminal in Unova, as long as he could justify his actions to Interpol. What bothered him were the cameras; he had no intention of giving Team Dominion any brutal evidence they could broadcast to the world. Resisting the police was one thing, but slaughtering guards crossed a line. There was a fine distinction between a cold-blooded killer and a ruthless bounty hunter, and Alex needed to make absolutely sure there was nothing on record to paint him as the former.
As he watched his Pokémon destroy Team Dominion's training facility from the sidelines, he sensed the aura of a Champion ranked trainer approaching from the skies, diving straight toward him. The police and news crew quickly retreated after receiving a warning. It seemed he would soon face an actual challenge from the city.
With a whoosh, a Swoobat swooped in, dropping a tan-skinned woman with long dark-red hair in a bun, blue eyes, a light propeller-like hair accessory, a light-blue crop top, short-shorts, and dark-blue gear suited for flying and combat.
"So, you're that infamous bounty hunter, Alex Wattson," Skyla said seriously, lacking the perky enthusiasm she was known for. "I need you to stop what you're doing, or I'll be forced to make you."
"I didn't take you as someone who would surrender to Team Dominion," Alex said. "I'm quite honestly disappointed."
"You have massacred more people than they ever have in this city. Those guards and the people inside that building have families too you know."
"That's fair," Alex said with a nod. "Although, I wonder how many of them are complicit in watching people being mind controlled while forced to give up their Pokemon."
Skyla narrowed her eyes at him, unsure if it was true or not. All she knew was that it was a training facility for workers being flown out to Kalos, Galar, and Paldea. Everyone who came in did so willingly, as it was a legitimate job opportunity. Every single one of them also left willingly, logged at her airport as passengers. Perhaps there was something she was missing.
"Do you have any evidence?" she asked.
"I read it from one of their leaders' memories in Paldea. You'll probably find plenty more once you head inside and snoop around, or you can wait until I have the facility's leader undergo a psychic evaluation."
As if on cue, the window on the top floor of the building exploded, and a woman leapt out atop a Hydreigon carrying a Champion ranked Malamar. She barely managed to gain distance before Grim swooped down from above, clamping onto the Hydreigon's neck with a Jaw Lock, while Knight followed up with a precise Spirit Break that struck the Malamar.
The woman was thrown off and tried to continue her escape, but Alex's Hydreigon landed on top of her, sinking her teeth into both of the woman's shoulders and pinning her in place. She struggled frantically, then suddenly noticed Skyla standing next to Alex, her posture tense and confrontational.
"Help me! Gym Leader Skyla! I'm being attacked! Help!"
"Let me bring her in for a psychic evaluation," Skyla suggested.
"Why wait?" Alex said before calling out for Gardevoir.
Once she arrived, she quickly read through the woman's memories before passing them onto Skyla at Alex's request.
To say that Skyla was horrified would be an understatement.
This woman had been responsible for placing memory locks, implanting deep psychic suggestions that made people hate Pokémon, and even erasing or rewriting core memories to reshape a person's personality entirely.
It was no wonder that every employee who left the facility appeared to act willingly, they had been subjected to heavy mind control. Even those who were complicit in Team Dominion's practices were fitted with psychic locks to prevent them from sharing any sensitive information they might acquire on the job, the same psychic locks that have managed to preserve the location of Team Dominion's main headquarters.
While Skyla was distracted by the memories Gardevoir sent her, Grim and Knight killed the woman's Hydreigon and Malamar, ensuring that even if she survived and managed to escape imprisonment, she would no longer be able to continue her work as if nothing had happened. At the very least, she would have to raise a new Malamar to Champion rank.
Once Skyla understood the situation, guilt washed over her for having unwittingly enabled Team Dominion's activities from the start. It was no wonder the other gym leaders had kept their distance; they had likely assumed she was part of the organization rather than someone who simply didn't know any better.
"I'll take over from here," Skyla said, her tone dark.
"Sure," Alex replied. "I'm done here anyway. Have fun with the cleanup."
Meanwhile, in a cabin perched on the side of Twist Mountain, Orvan Kestrel scowled over yet another report detailing the loss of their base since the bounty hunter chaos began. He decided it was time to turn up the heat and force the League to deal with his problem once and for all.
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