Alex immediately reached for Rowan's belt to store his Pokémon, only to find it was roughly the same model he had purchased from Interpol's headquarters, equipped with bio scanners that verified authentication before use. This prevented Alex from storing Rowan's Pokémon, including the enraged Claydol beside him, which had been trying unsuccessfully to blast him to bits with Psychic.
He could try fumbling with Rowan's finger to bypass the authentication, but he didn't have enough time. With no other choice, Alex stored Rowan's corpse, then aimed Stormline at Claydol and opened fire.
The Pokémon tried to use Protect, but the shield shattered instantly as a Feint bullet tore through it. A second later, Claydol fainted, overwhelmed by the equivalent of a hundred Elite ranked moves, just in time as Rowan's remaining Pokémon charged in to avenge their fallen trainer.
Alex took that as his cue to play bait and immediately bolted, circling the rim of the crater while zeroing in on Brutus's position. The thrill of being chased by 30 Champions and a Master ranked Pokémon eager to tear him apart exhilarated him to no end.
"Hahaha!" he laughed wildly as he closed in on Brutus.
"What the fuck!" Brutus shouted, unable to comprehend the madman charging at him alone. "Get him!"
His Pokémon in the crater joined the chase, moving to climb the walls and intercept Alex.
This gave Gardevoir the opening she had been waiting for. The attack team quickly pursued the Champion ranked Pokémon and began taking them down one after another. The water team bombarded Rhyperior, who was only as fast as a Champion, with concentrated Hydro Pumps. Meanwhile, the defense team began a zone bombardment to protect Alex's rear and left flank along the side of the crater.
At the same time, Lyra finally snapped out of it and began commanding their Pokémon.
"Target Brutus's Pokémon!" she ordered, staring at Alex as he ran like a madman, dodging unending attacks. "Don't let them interfere. Bring them all down!"
Inevitably, some of the Pokémon managed to reach Alex before using a powerful move to finish him. The first was a Flygon that got in close and used Crunch.
Alex, aware of every Pokémon around him, hopped just as the attack was about to land and kicked off of Flygon's head to gain extra speed. As he soared through the air briefly, he turned and opened fire with Stormline. Due to the unstable position, he couldn't maintain perfect accuracy, allowing the Flygon to survive. Still, he repeated the same maneuver each time a Pokémon came close.
Any special attacks thrown his way were countered with a quick burst from Stormline to cancel them as he continued his wild charge.
Soon, a terrifying bombardment rained down around him. Rock Slide, Rock Blast, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, and countless long-range attacks came his way. Fortunately, he was much smaller than the projectiles, allowing most to collide with each other and give him just enough space to slip through.
It was pure chaos as he wove through falling rocks, exploding ground, and intersecting beam attacks, each step a narrow escape. The battlefield roared around him as shockwaves snapped at his heels and stone shattered into whistling shrapnel while the crater collapsed in his wake. Alex loved every second of it, feeding off the long-missed adrenaline and focus he needed to survive.
As this continued, Gardevoir kept up the attack and ordered concentrated fire from the strongest to the weakest. Rhyperior fell first after a second barrage of Hydro Pumps, allowing the water team to attack freely. Then the Champions began falling one by one, freeing the attack team to turn their focus onto Brutus's Pokémon.
By the time Alex reached Brutus, who was too stunned to comprehend his situation, half of the enemy Pokémon had already fallen.
"No… no! Stay away!" Brutus shouted in fear at the hobo who had survived an assault from over a hundred Pokémon while continuing to close in.
Quickly, he mounted Magnezone in an attempt to escape, but Alex was close enough to open fire with Stormline.
A deluge of Elite ranked moves battered Magnezone, eventually causing it to faint after three seconds of concentrated barrage. Both Magnezone and Brutus crashed against a tree, allowing Alex to get in close.
Brutus barely had time to stand before Alex appeared in front of him, wild-eyed with victory in his grasp. Before Brutus could react, Alex shoved Stormline into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and opening fire.
A hole tore through Brutus's stomach before Alex followed through the stab, tossing him into the air and turning him into a bloody sieve after a second of relentless fire.
"Hahaha!" Alex laughed wildly as blood and flesh rained down on him, savoring the long-awaited victory.
Remembering the horde of vengeful, enraged Pokémon charging after him, he turned and opened fire with Stormline. It was useless, however, as he would have needed minutes of precise fire to take them all down.
He managed to take down three of the dozen attacking from every angle before they reached him and pounced with fury. Fortunately, a pair of Crobats swooped in, grabbed him, and bolted off with Quick Attacks. They circled the enraged horde before returning to Gardevoir's side, positioning themselves in the center of the formation.
Immediately, they assumed a defensive stance and began counter-bombardment against Alex's pursuers, many of whom were little more than frenzied wild Pokémon at this point despite the occasional use of Protect.
"Alex!" Lyra shouted, hugging him without a care for the ongoing battle or his blood-covered body.
Alex hugged back, missing the girls more than they had missed him. He had been celibate for a year, and in a nostalgic reflex, he grabbed Lyra's ass and squeezed.
Lyra didn't care. She would have fucked him on the spot if that was what he wanted. Now that she thought about it, the idea was kinda hot.
"Alex!" Sable and Mika shouted as they joined in a group hug, relieved to see him alive despite his current appearance.
Around them, their Pokémon continued to battle, but Alex knew victory was assured. The remaining Pokémon were outnumbered, enraged, and uncoordinated, making it easy for his team to finish them off.
"Alex… why do you have a beard?" Sable asked after the emotional moment faded. "It's pretty long too, like you've been growing it for months."
"I've been stuck in another timeline for nearly a year," he replied.
"What do you mean?"
"We'll talk about it later when we get home," Alex said, surveying the nearly wiped-out Pokémon. "Let's finish up here first and head to Sunyshore City. I haven't seen the others in a long time."
The battle ended with the attack team pursuing the Pokémon that had given up on revenge and tried to flee. The chase was quickly concluded thanks to the combined efforts of Arcanine, Togekiss, Raticate, and the Crobat pair. Those that attempted to escape underground were easily intercepted by Sable's team.
Once the fighting finally stopped, the Pokémon immediately began cleaning the battlefield. In total, they had defeated a hundred Elite ranked, 36 Champion ranked, and one Master ranked Pokémon, not to mention the bounties.
They continued their trip east toward Sunyshore City, occasionally running into more criminals who wanted a piece of Sable. News hadn't traveled fast enough to warn those who arrived late, so they were added to the list of bounties Alex was submitting. These encounters were easy pickings compared to facing Brutus with his encirclement or Rowan and his devastating Rhyperior.
Upon arriving in the city, Alex didn't waste any time and submitted the bounties to the police. The total came to 110 million credits: 20 for Brutus, 60 for Rowan, and 30 for the others they had run into who also accepted Umbraline's deal.
Alex decided to be generous or perhaps apologetic and gave each of the girls 10 million credits for their trouble. That left him with 80 million credits and 8,000 contribution points, bringing his total to 300 million credits and 30,000 contribution points, which was more than enough to pay for a Paradox Pokémon as well as two Range-proficient Lucarios.
By evening, Alex had settled everything with the police and immediately teleported with the girls to Kanto via Interpol's teleportation hall. Understandably, everyone was shocked at his sudden change, as it had been less than a month since they last saw him. Even Alvera hesitated to approach, since Alex was covered in blood.
He put off the happy reunion and decided to take a shower and shave first. While in the shower, reflecting on his year-long absence, he couldn't help but remember Mesprit's advice. He could use her induced love in his memories to trigger a semblance of affection toward the girls, which would hopefully train him to eventually fall in love with them naturally.
He wasn't foolish enough to dive in immediately and knew he needed to consult with the girls before trying it. Hopefully, it wouldn't cause any significant changes to his personality.
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