Alex had been in Hoenn for about two months. He spent most of that time just waiting, either on the cruise to hunt down Blackwake or for his rewards to be given. Now that he had received his rewards and earned enough ammunition for Rhea, he could finally return home.
"Okay, I'm ready," Sable said nervously.
Ever since she was recruited by Alex, she had spent the majority of her time relaxing, meditating, and having sex with him. Throughout that time, she had built quite the relationship with him. It wasn't anything particularly romantic, just the natural result of feelings developing when men and women have sex and spend time together.
She was still on the fence with regards to joining his harem. She had never been in a stable relationship long enough for it to matter, but she was willing to give it a try. Alex seemed like a strong protector, plus he was filthy rich for someone at the same rank as her.
"You don't have to be so nervous. I'm sure they'll welcome you warmly."
"I've just never been with a guy who has his own harem before. I don't know what I should do."
"Just be yourself. You'll be fine," Alex said before nodding to Arcanine and Gardevoir, who were teleporting them back to Kanto.
It took both Pokémon to teleport them back, as the trip was quite far. He had to cross over most of Hoenn, teleport through the islands to Johto, cross over all of Johto, then teleport to the center of Kanto to head back to the farm. Understandably, a single Pokémon couldn't comfortably teleport Alex all the way in one go, so it was a concerted effort.
Alex and Sable teleported from one place to the next until they reached a lone island between Torterra Island and Johto. It was on the larger side, with a thicker forest, but still uninhabited since it was too far from civilization.
Upon arrival, Alex immediately had a bad feeling, so he spread his fingers wide, signaling for Aegislash to release a Protect shield.
The barrier came up just in time to defend them against a charging Elite ranked Tentacruel and Arbok that came at them from behind. The shield, however, immediately broke when a bullet slammed into it with near-perfect timing.
As a result, Tentacruel was able to sneak up on Arcanine and use Wrap. It mounted his back, wrapped its tentacles around him, and squeezed him tightly. Arbok also sneaked up on Gardevoir and used Wrap, coiling its body around her midsection and constricting her firmly. Both were caught off guard by the surprise attack as they attempted to use Teleport again, as usual.
Following closely behind the pair of attackers were Raticate, Fearow, Sandslash, and Electrode, all of whom were also at the Elite rank.
Electrode used Discharge, releasing a significant amount of electricity around it to deal damage to everyone, including its own allies. The damage wasn't much, given that it was split evenly among everyone, but the intent was to hopefully paralyze the trainers and the Pokémon using Teleport and prevent them from escaping.
Ditto used Transform on Sandslash, shifting form from a watch on Alex's wrist. It adopted the Ground typing and shielded Alex and Sable from the Discharge by harmlessly channeling the Electric energy into the ground.
Sandslash used Bulldoze as it charged head-on, creating a trench along its path. It ran between Gardevoir and Arcanine, knocking them aside. This separated them from the group as they were pushed away by the Ground type energy exploding from Sandslash's move.
It charged straight at Aegislash, slamming into him powerfully and sending them both flying away from the group while dealing significant Ground type damage. Aegislash was still recoiling from the shattered Protect barrier, so he could only move to the side to take the attack head-on, sparing Alex and Sable from the impact.
Ditto moved between the explosion of Ground type energy and Alex and Sable, saving them from the area of effect by tanking the hit itself.
Raticate used Crunch on Gardevoir, using its oversized teeth covered in Dark type energy. The attack dealt significant damage due to the typing and the fact that it was a physical move, which Gardevoir does not have strong defenses against.
Fearow used Drill Run on Arcanine, ramming into him beak-first. It was another Ground type move that would have dealt significant damage if not for the fact that Arcanine had strong defensive stats and Fearow wasn't Ground type.
The surprise attack was highly effective, preventing both Gardevoir and Arcanine from using Teleport. They needed to eliminate their attackers before they could attempt it again.
Gardevoir took heavy damage from all four attacks, but it wasn't quite enough to bring her down. She retaliated with a Psychic blast that knocked out Arbok, uncoiled it around herself, and sent it flying, freeing herself from its grasp. Unfortunately, Raticate struck again with Crunch while Electrode unleashed another Discharge, finally knocking her out.
Arcanine fared better due to his strong defenses, so he used Wild Charge on Fearow. As electric energy covered his form, it surged through Tentacruel, who was still on his back, and knocked it out in the process. Tentacruel had already suffered immensely from Bulldoze and repeated Discharges, so the residual energy from Wild Charge was enough to finish it off.
Arcanine charged forward and rammed into Fearow with wild abandon, nearly knocking it out, but it managed to hold on and countered with another Drill Run. Fortunately, Arcanine was quite tough and was almost at Champion rank, so it would take more than that to take him down. Still, both Pokémon were at their breaking points.
Alex took out his white guns and was about to use Heal Pulse on Gardevoir, but he was too late. She had already fainted, so he focused on Arcanine instead and fired a Heal Pulse, allowing him to survive long enough to recover fully with Morning Sun.
"Boss! I got one," Alex heard someone shout, followed by the sound of gunfire.
As bullets started raining down on them, Alex dove at Sable and dragged her to the ground. Most of the shots missed, but one struck his left shoulder, tearing into him as they hit the dirt.
He immediately released all his Pokémon while Sable did the same. In total, they had 40 Pokémon between them, although it was actually less because the Wishiwashi combined into one with Schooling Form, bringing their actual number to 35.
"Espeon, take command! Defensive formation!" Alex ordered.
"Follow their lead!" Sable ordered as well.
The newly released Pokémon swarmed the ambushers' Pokémon, tearing them to shreds in the process.
"Boss! We hit the jackpot, but I need help! I can't hold them down for long," Alex heard.
"There's more coming," Sable warned. "Five more are on their way, and they each have a full team. I don't think we have enough time to use Teleport."
"Then we'd better get ready," Alex replied.
He started firing Coaching and Decorate rounds at all their Pokémon while they used status moves to prepare for enemy reinforcements.
Gardevoir was still fainted, so she was dragged to Alex's side to be kept safe. He wanted to revive her but prioritized buffing the team against the incoming attackers instead. Meanwhile, Sable was preoccupied with reading the ground through her feet.
Sure enough, it didn't take more than a few seconds before more came running out of the forest. In the lead was Golbat, ready to use Mean Look to block a Teleport. It was fortunate that Alex had taken Sable's warning seriously.
As for their ambusher, he fled the moment Alex released his Pokémon. The ambusher's Pokémon were all taken out, but he didn't seem to care. Soon, he came charging back with reinforcements with his gun raised.
Alex counted 30 Pokémon, all of which were similar to the ambushers, Pokémon that were incredibly common in the wilds. They were so common that they couldn't even be caught and sold as Elites for a decent profit. Now that he thought about it, it was possible some of these had been sold by Nyx, although he doubted it since they were paid in credits rather than cash.
Among them were Golbat, Primeape, Golduck, Kingler, Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, Pelipper, Mightyena, and Linoone, all Pokémon that were easy to get a hold of, so long as a Champion ranked trainer took a stroll in the wilds.
Overall, Alex liked his odds. He had more Pokemon with a few almost at the Champion rank. He could win in both an all out melee and a defensive battle.
Both sides immediately took defensive formations ready to start their bombardment. That was until the ambushers all took out automatic rifles that Alex recognized from raiding Team Dominion.
"Scatter!" he shouted before taking Sable, storing Gardevoir, and jumping on Steelix.
A defensive battle was useless when Feint and Phantom Force rounds were added. It would turn from a tactical battle into one of attrition. Alex wasn't about to sacrifice his Pokémon blindly in an attempt to win. Besides, he preferred a more chaotic melee to a clean defensive one.
Alex's Pokémon spread out, pairing themselves based on their training practice. Even Sable's Pokémon paired up while following Espeon's instructions.
The ambushers took this as a sign of an advantage, so they immediately attacked with special attacks while firing at anything they could target. Specifically, they targeted Steelix, the largest Pokémon around and the easiest to take down given its obnoxious size.
A myriad of colors burst from their formation, aiming in the general direction of Steelix, who stood against it with resolution.
Their attacks landed on target, buffeting Steelix and covering it with thick, chaotic energy.
Given the number of attacks they had used, the damage in one barrage could even kill a Champion, especially considering Feint rounds were used to remove Protect barriers. It wouldn't have been surprising if Steelix had died multiple times.
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