Chapter 568. The Hunt Begins

Chapter 568: Chapter 568. The Hunt Begins

Alex stood near the entrance of the storage room, cloaked in Dark type energy as his eyes swept over the corridor connecting the main floor to the back room. He simultaneously extended his senses, keeping track of the powerful presences several blocks away. Three of them were close enough to investigate if they heard the sounds of a battle, though they were currently moving at a leisurely pace. Meanwhile, Rotom continued possessing, scanning, and storing devices from the local tech store. Everything was going according to plan.

That changed when Alex spotted a flash of white, pink, and green at the other end of the corridor. His heightened danger sense immediately reacted to the immense killing intent, causing the world around him to slow to a crawl. In less than the time it took to blink, a humanoid Pokémon with a metallic body and a glaive in hand had already crossed the corridor and swung its weapon at his torso.

Alex had no time to think and reacted purely on instinct. The glaive was sweeping diagonally from bottom right to top left, its trajectory aimed at bisecting him through the torso and passing directly through his heart. At that absurd speed, dodging was impossible, while attempting to parry the blow risked getting his legs or neck cut. He could only block.

He lowered his right arm and angled it parallel to the incoming blade, deliberately sacrificing his arm to protect his torso. The glaive struck a moment later, splitting his arm lengthwise as Alex positioned it to absorb as much of the force as possible. His Dark type energy coating shattered instantly under the impact, telling him that the attack was infused with Fighting, Bug, or Fairy type energy. Judging by the pink energy covering the blade, it was clearly a Fairy type, and given the Pokémon wielding it, Alex immediately recognized the likely move.

Spirit Break.

His opponent was a Master ranked Iron Valiant, after all.

Alex’s desperate defense worked. The blade’s momentum slowed dramatically as it tore through his arm, eventually crawling to a halt halfway up his biceps. It finally stopped when it struck his side, with his skin and ribcage preventing it from cutting any deeper. Unfortunately, Iron Valiant wasn’t finished. It continued its swinging motion, following through with the attack and using its strength to smash Alex into the concrete wall beside them.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rang through the building as Alex was sent crashing through multiple rooms, smashing through several walls from the force of a single attack. His right arm hung limp at his side, utterly mangled from the glaive’s strike, but the injury itself wasn’t particularly severe by his standards. He had suffered far worse during sparring, allowing him to recover quickly and get back on his feet.

He barely had time to do so before Iron Valiant attacked again.

Alex’s danger sense warned him a fraction of a second before the glaive came crashing down in a vertical hack. He shifted to the side just before the weapon reached him, narrowly avoiding the strike as it smashed into the floor where he had been standing.

He had completely dodged the attack of an opponent an entire rank above him through sheer combat experience. What followed was much of the same. Alex dodged a fraction of a second before each attack came, beginning a game of cat and mouse in what appeared to be an underground parking lot.

Iron Valiant wasn’t a pushover, however. It continued attacking Alex with one deadly swing after another, gradually analyzing his rhythm, breathing, movements, thought patterns, and intent. It was only a matter of time before it adapted to his timing. Eventually, Alex’s danger sense warned him of an incoming attack a fraction of a second too late. A horizontal slash came in too fast for him to duck or leap over, forcing him to sacrifice another limb.

That was when help finally arrived.

THUD!

A dull impact rang out as Raticate intercepted the attack with Protect, completely nullifying the deadly Spirit Break. A moment later, Arcanine crashed into Iron Valiant and rammed it through several concrete pillars. Before the Master ranked Pokémon could recover, Ceruledge descended upon it, her twin blades striking with Phantom Force and dealing even more damage. Urshifu immediately rushed in behind her, unleashing Adamant Strike and delivering a devastating Steel type blow that sent Iron Valiant flying into the air.

A heartbeat later, Lucario followed with Extreme Speed, kicking the Iron Valiant into the distance, where an impatient Azuking was already waiting with Giga Impact. The massive blow caught the Master ranked Pokémon midair and sent it flying back toward them.

The deadly game of cat and mouse had suddenly turned into a game of catch.

Meanwhile, Gardevoir treated Alex as he drank a Full Restore while she forced his arm back together and hit him with one Heal Pulse after another. Fortunately, the cut was quite clean, making it relatively easy to patch back together. The mangled nerves, however, took more time to reconnect as Gardevoir carefully manipulated them with her Psychic force. It was hardly a wound she wasn’t accustomed to dealing with after spending so much time healing Alex from injuries sustained during his sparring sessions back when he was still Champion rank.

"I’m fine," Alex said once the bleeding had stopped. "Go prepare the team for more Master ranked Paradox Pokémon. I detected three nearby before the fight began. Take them down one at a time as quickly as possible while protecting Rotom."

Gardevoir remained by Alex’s side, continuing to repair his arm, but more than half of her attention was focused on coordinating the Pokémon. She sent the defense team to establish a perimeter around the building, positioned the water team around the storage room to protect Rotom and the goods, and dispatched the attack team to intercept the approaching Master ranked Pokémon. Three groups from the attack team concentrated their efforts on bringing down Iron Valiant as quickly as possible, while another three moved to intercept the approaching Masters and contain them before they could reach the building and risk causing it to collapse.

Three battles immediately erupted around the city block where the building stood, creating a massive commotion. The clashes were loud enough to be heard for miles, with the earth trembling beneath every thunderous blow. Weaker scavenging Pokémon scattered in panic, while even more powerful Pokémon were drawn toward the disturbance, swelling the number of potential enemies by the minute.

Meanwhile, Alex stood and stretched his newly healed arm, testing for any lingering loss of sensitivity, mobility, or strength. He clenched and unclenched his fist several times before rotating his wrist and flexing his fingers, confirming that Gardevoir had restored it perfectly.

"I’m good now," Alex said as he gently rubbed Gardevoir’s head. "Thanks for the rescue. Now go make sure we aren’t swarmed from all directions."

Once Gardevoir left for a better position to command the blooming battle, Alex sighed at his failure to remain stealthy. To be fair, Iron Valiant had been the perfect counter to him, leaving him with little he could do to avoid detection. If anything, rather than hiding his presence, he had practically announced it by covering himself in Dark type energy. It couldn’t be helped, however, since doing so concealed both his presence and his Master ranked aura against most other Pokémon. His failure had simply been inevitable.

"Now that it’s come to this, we might as well make as much noise as possible," Alex concluded. "According to Gardevoir’s report, they don’t seem to operate under a hive mind, so they’re likely acting on instinct rather than coordinating with one another. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to keep avoiding them. We can simply lure them in and hunt them as they come. I guess I got lucky." ℯℯ𝑙.

It was one thing to fight a hive mind and another entirely to fight independent opponents. Hive-minded Pokémon were dangerous because they could coordinate strategies, employ tactics, and call for reinforcements, allowing them to overwhelm even a stronger opponent through sheer numbers and cooperation. Independent Pokémon, however, were a completely different matter. Alex could hunt them one by one without worrying about them coordinating against him, all while collecting their precious corpses.

After all, the corpses of Master ranked Pokémon were valuable Master ranked resources. Harvesting them in sufficient quantities would go a long way toward pushing his team to the peak of Champion rank, giving them the minimum foundation necessary to eventually break through into Master rank.

Suddenly, Alex received another update from Gardevoir. The three battles outside had drawn in eight more Master ranked Future Paradox Pokémon. They were approaching at high speed, meaning they would likely arrive before the three ongoing battles were finished. That meant they would soon have to deal with nearly a dozen Master ranked Pokémon across three battlefronts surrounding the building. This didn’t include Iron Valiant, which was already on its last legs after being swarmed by three groups from Alex’s attack teams.

"Well, damn. I guess we have our work cut out for us," Alex said with a sinister smile, excitement building as he looked forward to the massive battle ahead.