Two months prior, after Team Dominion's bases had been completely eradicated from the Unova region and the government purged of their spies, alerts were sent to the main headquarters reporting the sudden loss of the entire region. Along with the alerts came a request for assistance from the regional manager, Orvan Kestrel, who detailed the emergence of a powerful Champion ranked bounty hunter that had challenged them, Alex Wattson.
It was a report ranked high enough to reach Alaric Graves's desk with the same level of importance as their failure in Hoenn. When he read through it, he had no choice but to take it seriously.
"Tell me more about this bounty hunter," he said to his secretary, who stood confidently in front of his desk.
"Alex Ashford Wattson, age 40, is Champion ranked with at least six Champion ranked Pokémon. He is a widely successful bounty hunter based in Kanto and, in essence, has the accomplishments of a Champion ranked hunter from his years as an Elite. He has since founded a bounty hunting organization called the Silver Network, which has grown significantly in popularity and renown, reducing criminal activity in the region over the past decade."
"He's young, practically a child, and he's already that powerful and active. What is his background?"
"He's an orphan who lost his parents in a Pokémon flood and was later adopted by a Jenny, based in Saffron City. After amassing a small fortune by inadvertently triggering the events that led to the capture of a prominent Underworld criminal, he has since devoted himself fully to the life of a trainer and bounty hunter. Currently, his biggest backer is Clarissa Blackthorn, the daughter of Champions Lance and Lorelei, and they appear to share a very intimate relationship."
"That's not enough reason for him to be so cocky," Alaric said, deep in thought. "Continue with the report."
"Upon further investigation, we have found that he has been responsible for the destruction of multiple Team Dominion bases worldwide, the most prominent being in Kanto, Johto, and Paldea. We believe he is directly responsible for our losses in all three of these regions, with Unova marking the fourth region he has personally taken down."
"How has he been able to take down so many of our bases without our knowledge?" Alaric asked, his tone grave.
"We have absolutely no direct evidence that he is personally responsible for the destruction of any of our bases," his secretary replied. "However, after tracking his movements through multiple information networks, we found that the timeline of his activities perfectly matches the timeline of our bases' destruction. This even includes the complete eradication of our bases in Hoenn, though we have attributed that to Champion Steven Stone."
"We believe he has managed to achieve this with the help of a Rotom, which corrupts all of our collected data upon the destruction of a base while simultaneously scouring the internet to remove traces of his activities. The only reason we have any information on him at all is because information brokers maintain closed-network copies of the internet from which they gather data."
Alaric sat in silence, deep in thought, his mind turning over the implications. If the reports were accurate, if this bounty hunter was truly responsible for the destruction of their bases across these regions, then he was a thorn that needed to be eradicated as soon as possible.
After all, he was directly responsible for more than half of their global losses, with the remaining damage inflicted by the League, Steven Stone, and the Underworld. The actions of a single man, ever since they had begun their push toward world domination, had stifled their progress so thoroughly, and only now had they finally identified him.
'Perhaps it is time to show the world what a future with humanity at the helm is capable of,' he thought.
He had considered enacting this particular plan against Steven Stone after the complete destruction of their Hoenn bases, but ultimately decided against it. Steven was a man after his own heart, someone who embraced technology and progress. Moreover, he was, in essence, the League itself in Hoenn, which would have meant biting off more than they could currently chew. This bounty hunter, however, was far less formidable in comparison and would serve as the perfect target to unveil their power, and, in doing so, draw more supporters to their cause.
"He has a base, you said?" Alaric asked.
"Yes, in Kanto, north of Mt. Moon, near a danger zone."
"Perfect," Alaric said with a smile. "Have it destroyed. Send the Iron Dominion Fleet."
"The Iron Dominion Fleet, sir? That is the strongest force we have assembled to date. Are you certain you want to deploy our premier fleet? Wouldn't the Alpha Strike Unit be sufficient?"
"Are you questioning me?" Alaric asked sharply.
"N-no, sir. I'll begin preparations immediately. They can be ready for full operations in half a year."
"Make it two months. I won't have this dragged out. And ensure the glory and power of our fleet is recorded and disseminated as widely as possible."
"Yes, sir."
The secretary hurried out of the room as Alaric stood and turned toward his fish tank, filled with ordinary fish.
"This momentous occasion will mark the beginning of our rise to power and, in the future, will be remembered as a turning point in history."
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Back in the present, Alex rushed to the command center, where he found Lyra, Mika, Nyx, and Rhea gathered around a hologram of an approaching army.
"What are we looking at?" he asked as he stepped inside.
"Five Team Dominion airships, ellipsoid-shaped, 200 meters long and 50 meters in both height and width, completely covered in metal. They're equipped with heavy artillery, anti-air defenses, and hangar bay doors. Looks like a full-scale army is heading straight for us," Nyx answered.
"ETA?"
"Tomorrow. They're fast, which is why the radar didn't pick them up until they were only a day out. Right now, they should be entering Kanto airspace above Route 25, and since they haven't deviated from their course, it's clear they're heading straight for us."
"What does the League say?"
"I called Clarissa. She said her parents mentioned that what they're doing isn't illegal, at least until they attack public locations, which ours doesn't count as. They're holding off on an official response until trouble actually occurs. Clarissa also gave us a warning, be careful where you fight."
"Find us a battleground. I'm guessing Clarissa's warning is to make sure we don't cause mass casualties, otherwise the League would have a reason to blame us instead of them."
"Since they're flying over Route 25 and passing Route 24, we'll have a small window once they reach the Elite ranked danger zone to our east. There's a wide stretch of mountains there where we can crash them without causing a Pokémon flood."
"What do you think, Rhea?" Alex asked, turning toward her.
"They have Champion ranked defenses," she said, furrowing her brows in thought. "Otherwise, they wouldn't be so confident flying over so many territories, they'd have been torn to shreds by wild Pokémon. They either have Champion ranked plating or a very advanced energy shield that absorbs most of the damage before resisting the rest. Very sophisticated technology, something I haven't even gotten into yet."
"Do we have anything for either of those?"
"No, but I can probably scrap something together by tomorrow. Bringing them down shouldn't be a problem."
"Good. You go work on that, and have Metagross give me an update every hour," Alex said, then turned to Nyx. "How are the evacuations going?"
"Total chaos. They're panicking. Nobody takes our drills seriously, so they're scrambling to grab as much as they can. Some have even asked to be teleported out of the base. It'll probably take an hour to get everyone into the bunker."
"Tell them to calm down and take their time. The threat is still a day out. Allow anyone who wants to leave to teleport out. With the number of Butterfree Iris has, it shouldn't be much trouble."
Nyx sent out the announcement, instantly calming the staff who had been rushing around trying to gather their family members. They returned to their rooms, packed their things, and made their way to the teleport location near the back of the base on the ground floor. From there, they teleported across Kanto to put distance between themselves and the approaching threat. It gave Iris a challenge, but she had more than enough Butterfree to send the hundreds of employees out safely.
The bounty hunters, on the other hand, gathered together, eagerly awaiting instructions and actually looking forward to the fight.
"Lyra, Mika, you two handle the base's defenses in case Rhea and I fail to take down those airships. I highly doubt they have anything capable of outright destroying us, so prepare for ground troops and aerial bombardment."
"Got it," the pair replied, rushing out to begin issuing orders.
"Nyx, pull up the map for the battleground. I want to know everything about it before they arrive tomorrow."
Nyx displayed a map of an inhospitable mountain range, highlighting locations with prominent Pokémon nests that they had to avoid, or risk a third party joining the fight. In the end, Alex chose a lone mountaintop for their assault. The area was often blanketed by strong winds, meaning there were no Pokémon nests nearby, making it the perfect place to stage their fight.
The next day, Alex stood on the mountaintop, arms crossed and brows furrowed, his fitted suit pressed against him by powerful winds that threatened to sweep him off his feet. In the distance, the airships loomed, tiny dots against the pale morning sky. Around him, his Pokémon reared, ready for combat, and beside him stood 5 rockets, each 5 meters tall with a move crystal glinting at its tip.
He was ready for battle, ready to defend his home, and ready to see exactly what Team Dominion had in store.
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