Alex didn't have to wait long before his TRH device vibrated lightly at his side.
He glanced down and tapped the screen, and a calm, official voice came through. "This is city staff. The Pokémon raid has been successfully contained. All elite-level trainers are cleared to leave their assigned positions."
Alex listened without saying much, his expression as calm as ever.
"…Understood," he replied briefly before ending the call.
For a moment, he remained where he was, letting his gaze sweep once more over the now quiet battlefield. The tension that had filled the area earlier had completely faded, leaving behind only scattered blood and the faint traces of battle.
Then he turned slightly. he said calmly, "Sophie, go inform Ethan and Markus. Tell them to come here."
Sophie nodded immediately and hurried off without hesitation. It didn't take long before she returned, with Ethan and Markus following close behind her.
Ethan still carried that composed, focused demeanor, although there were clear signs of fatigue on his face. Markus, on the other hand, looked a bit better.
Both of them stopped in front of Alex.
Alex didn't waste time. he said simply. "The raid is over, we've been cleared to leave."
Ethan gave a small nod, clearly relieved but not surprised. he said with a small smile, "Good, That went smoother than expected."
Markus let out a short breath, rolling his shoulders slightly. "About time. I was starting to think this would drag on forever."
Alex didn't comment on that. Instead, he just glanced at the three of them once before saying, "Thank you very much for your cooperation, and I hope we will meet again in better circumstances."
That was his indirect farewell.
For a brief moment, Alex had considered whether he should try to recruit one or two of them into his underground organization. The thought crossed his mind naturally, as it always did when he encountered capable trainers.
But in the end, he dismissed it. What he needed right now were very specific people, not mid-elite-level trainers who were weaker than Daniel and about whom he knew almost nothing.
Daniel and Elise had only been accepted as his direct subordinates because Alex had spent a considerable amount of time observing them, gathering information, and understanding their personalities and backgrounds.
Even then, his trust in them was limited.
He didn't fully rely on either of them. If one of them were to betray him tomorrow, he wouldn't be particularly shocked.
Maybe a little. But not much.
Alex was, by nature, an extremely distrustful person, and that wasn't something that changed easily, especially not for people who weren't exceptional in either strength or talent.
Aside from the fact that he already had enough talented trainers for a start, with Maria, Elise, Daniel, and the six children who had already received Pokémon from him.
There was simply no urgency to expand further.
Alex and the others exchanged a few brief farewells. Without wasting more time, Alex turned away and gave a quiet signal.
Crobat moved to his side, and a moment later, Alex was lifted into the air as Crobat carried him toward the city, leaving the battlefield behind.
As he flew with the help of Crobat, Alex noticed through his psychic perception that a seemingly weak Flying-type Pokémon was moving in his direction.
from the city direction, directly toward him.
Crobat had noticed it much earlier, but because it was so ridiculously weak, he ignored it and didn't even bother to warn Alex.
That was completely normal.
When flying, they often passed by weak Pokémon, and reacting to every single one would only slow them down. Most of the time, those Pokémon posed no threat whatsoever.
Alex was used to it as well. Since it wasn't even at the elite level, he had no intention of taking it seriously.
After about thirty seconds, the Pokémon finally came into view. It was a Fearow.
As usual, Alex casually checked its information the moment it got close enough, even though it wasn't flying directly at them anymore, but rather adjusting its path after spotting Crobat.
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Pokémon: Fearow
LV: 28
Type: Normal/Flying
Ability: Sniper (Hidden Ability)
Gender: Male
Potential: Gold (34%)
Moves:
- Growl, Peck, Leer, Pursuit, Focus Energy [E], Fury Attack, Aerial Ace, Mirror Move, Assurance, Agility
- (Innate Talent) Roost [E], (Innate Talent) Tri Attack [E], (Innate Talent) Drill Peck [M]
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Alex showed a slightly surprised expression. A Pokémon with Gold potential that hadn't even reached the elite level was very rare.
That usually meant it had been born with shallow Gold potential. The same Potential as his Blaziken or Umbreon.
Although it's no longer enough for him to accept this Pokémon as new team member for himself, it's more than good enough to give as a reward to one of his subordinates.
The main reason he's now accepting fewer Pokémon is because each one costs an exorbitant amount of money if he wants to maximize their potential. He prefers to use the money for his current Pokémon rather than for new ones that aren't more talented.
Maybe once his "money problems" are solved—when most of his Pokémon have reached their potential, which Alex considers almost the maximum, he'll lower his requirements a bit.
Maximizing the potential of even one Pokémon cost an absurd amount, and spreading his resources too thin would only slow down his overall progress.
Maybe in the future, once most of his current Pokémon team had reached what he considered their peak potentail, he would relax those standards a little.
But for now, he wasn't planning on accepting any Born Shallow Gold Pokémon.
Alex suddenly said to Crobat, "Crobat, do you see that Fearow? Make it land, but don't hurt it too much if possible."
Crobat showed a bloodthirsty smile as he telepathically replied, "Oh, haven't you hurt enough innocent Pokémon today? Now you want to take down this weakling too? You humans are truly so bad that I could learn a thing or two from you."
He said this, but without hesitation, he flew toward the Fearow, which immediately panicked and tried to escape when he noticed him.
Alex knew Crobat was just joking, and he said with a slight smile, "You joke about it, but I'd say that the worst kind of evil, whatever that really means, mostly comes from humans, not Pokémon."
Crobat glanced at him and disagreed. From his point of view, more Pokémon were willing to kill another living being than most humans. Since that was his main standard for judging how "evil" someone was, he couldn't agree with Alex's conclusion.
He told Alex exactly that.
Alex's smiled. He looked at Crobat for a moment before replying, "Maybe on average you're right… but when it comes to extremes, you're completely wrong."
By then, Crobat had already closed the distance. It didn't take long before he reached the Fearow and knocked it unconscious with a swift, controlled move.
Alex moved quickly, catching it with a Super Ball without any resistance.
He looked at the Poké Ball for a moment and thought, 'Fearow, you're really unlucky to run into me. But if you fly this close to a human city, you shouldn't be surprised when something like this happens.'
Alex still felt a little uneasy about attacking Pokémon that were completely friendly, but this Fearow was definitely not one of those, so he didn't have much trouble catching it right away.
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