Chapter 418. A Date with Marnie 1

Alex paid a hefty price to obtain all the information he could on Team Dominion in the Galar region, so he would be damned if he didn’t use it. He checked his map and located a base between Route 8 and Route 9 on a frozen island with inhospitable mountainous terrain. He figured there was likely heavy activity in the area that might have resulted in Eliza’s capture, so it was worth checking.

“There’s a base not too far from here,” Alex said as he looked northwest over the seawater from their position.

“Alright,” Marnie said as she walked toward the shore and released Sharpedo.

“I have a much better ride,” Alex said as he released his Titan Mantine, its massive size promising a far more comfortable ride.

“Impressive,” Marnie said as she returned Sharpedo and hopped on. “It’s really big.”

“Thanks,” Alex said as he hopped on as well. “He has very expensive upkeep, but he’s well worth the cost in aerial battles.”

“I can see the appeal. I bet he could just ram right into a mountain and burst through without a scratch. He might not fit in a cave or underground system, though.”

“He should be strong enough to just plow through,” Alex replied, a smirk playing on his lips.

“I guess,” Marnie said with a shrug.

With a powerful gust of wind from Tailwind, Mantine took off, heading northwest toward the frigid waters of Circhester Bay. As they flew overhead, Arcanine lost the trail shortly after leaving the beach. With the rushing water and the strong scent of the sea in the air, following a trail by smell was next to impossible.

“So, how well do you know Eliza to personally search for her?” Alex asked, starting small talk for some reason.

“She was a friend I grew up with before I started my gym circuit,” Marnie said, holding Morpeko tightly to her chest to stave off the cold sea winds. “Then she became an avid fan who even joined Team Yell for me. We’re not really close, but I still hate to think of what happened to her, so I want to go out and find her.”

“You’re the Gym Leader of Spikemuth, one of eight in the entire region. I don’t see why you can’t pull favors from the League to try and find her. At the very least, your first stop should have been to ask Team Yell or Team Umbraline.”

“The League won’t be able to help beyond putting up missions or bounties that’ll go nowhere if even I can’t find her. The same applies to Team Yell. I don’t want them running around the region making too big of a mess. They can get pretty rowdy and they wouldn’t be of much use for a missing person’s case like this. As for going to any Underworld organization, I don’t trust them. I might tolerate their presence in the city, but that doesn’t mean I’m not keeping an eye on them. Also, I would hate to be indebted to them by asking for help. They might turn around and start ordering me to cater to them more.”

“That makes sense,” Alex said with a nod.

He held pretty much the same stance with Team Vortex, who ran Clearstone City. He kept a tight leash on them and their activities, yet never went to them for anything beyond an equal transaction. At the very least, he would never ask for a favor.

“What about Team Dominion?” Alex asked.

“What about them?”

“I’m surprised you would come with me to raid one of their bases just to check. Aren’t they protected by Galar’s old nobility?”

“Hah! I run Spikemuth. Do you really think those old foggies scare either me or my brother? I’d like to see them try to run its economy into the ground. It’ll give Team Yell something to yell about.”

“Huh, that’s pretty badass.”

“Damn right.”

The pair shared a laugh and continued with much lighter small talk as they traveled toward the base. Given Mantine’s speed though, it didn’t take them long to reach the mountainous beach.

Once they arrived at the location, they landed on the shore, and Alex released his water team. Apparently, there was an outlet nearby for their submarines to access, leading deep underwater toward the base somewhere in the center of the island.

“So, um, how does this usually go?” Marnie asked, fidgeting slightly. “I’ve never really done a raid before. Usually, I just leave it up to the authorities or my brother.”

Alex’s eyes widened in surprise. Was this goth rebel chick actually an innocent princess?

“I think I should just take you back to the city. I’d hate to piss off your brother for corrupting his innocent little sister.”

“Shut up! I’m not innocent. I’ve killed people before,” Marnie said, looking away as a faint blush spread across her cheeks. “I’ve just never raided an Underworld organization’s base before. Usually, my brother handles that sort of thing while I stay in the city and focus on preventing mass casualties.”

“Well,” Alex said, hoping Piers wouldn’t pick a fight with him later… then again, perhaps picking a fight with someone of his strength didn’t sound so bad. “Usually, you start by sealing the exits, then send in a Rotom to disable their tech. After that, you head inside and deal with anyone who resists. Once everyone is neutralized, you locate any captives, collect any information or tech they may have, and finally destroy the base so no one can move in after you leave.”

“Aren’t you supposed to report any destroyed Underworld bases like these to the League?”

“It depends on whether I want to share my findings.”

“Should you be telling me that? I am a Gym Leader, you know.”

“I’m telling you because you’re the Gym Leader of Spikemuth.”

“Haha. I guess that makes sense.”

Soon, Gyarados erupted from the water, signaling that they had found the entrance they were looking for.

“Now, we go underwater to infiltrate,” Alex said as Ditto transformed into the Deep suit while Marnie readied a rebreather, planning to dive in with the sparse clothing she was wearing.

Noticing this, Alex didn’t hesitate to send Ditto to cover Marnie instead, leaving himself with only his suit. It didn’t matter, though, as the depth, temperature, and duration of their dive weren’t enough to bother him.

“What are you—” Marnie exclaimed, shocked as a diving suit suddenly enveloped her.

“Wouldn’t want the little princess to be soaking wet. She might catch a cold.”

“Dick!” Marnie shouted, pouting, but she accepted the suit anyway and returned Morpeko to her Poké Ball.

The pair dove into the water, riding Gyarados and escorted by Alex’s water team as they headed for the outlet they had found. It led to an underwater tunnel that opened into a submarine bay.

Once Alex surfaced, he immediately released Rotom and waited, giving it time to infiltrate the security systems before finally sending in his Pokémon to wreak havoc.

Marnie surfaced as well and released all her Pokémon as Ditto returned to Alex. Among her Pokémon were her Champion ranked Morpeko, Grimmsnarl, Scrafty, Liepard, Toxicroak, and Hydreigon, as well as a few dozen Elite and Expert ranked Dark type Pokémon.

They immediately scattered, wreaking havoc across the base and destroying everything in sight. Alarms blared as the facility descended into chaos, the sudden onslaught overwhelming any organized resistance. Her team of over a hundred Pokémon seemed thoroughly thrilled for this particularly brutal battle.

“You don’t train them for formations?” Alex asked, unimpressed with Marnie’s Pokémon’s performance.

“I do, but just generic ones. Pokémon are far more dangerous when they’re wild and unpredictable. Besides, I’ve never given them this much freedom to battle before. They must be overly excited for the opportunity. Yours seem used to it, though.”

“Being a lone bounty hunter means having to fight armies all the time, especially for base raids like this. So it’s important to keep your Pokémon in formation to fight off larger numbers and to instill discipline so they know what to destroy and what to leave alone. You never know if they might accidentally destroy something they shouldn’t.”

“Oh no, Eliza. I have to call them all back.”

“Let them have their fun for now,” Alex said. “Recall them once most of the combatants are gone and leave the rest to my Pokémon to clean up.”

“Alright,” Marnie said, ashamed she might have messed up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said. “Any prisons they might have are usually heavily reinforced. I highly doubt your Pokémon would specifically go after them.”

“They’re trained to only kill when necessary, so they shouldn’t go after captives. I’m just worried that any stray attacks might compromise the prison.”

“Then it’s fine. Just let them have their fun for now.”

Once the fighting started to die down, Marnie recalled her satisfied Pokémon while Alex’s team began the cleanup. They gathered the corpses, tied up the prisoners, collected any seemingly valuable resources like guns, ammunition, or tech that wasn’t bolted down, and finally rounded up any captives.

Only, there weren’t any captives in the base at all. It turned out this facility specialized in manufacturing drones, so any captives they had were immediately shipped out.

“Looks like it’s a bust,” Alex said. “But Rotom did find a clue in their files. It seems they may have sold any women they captured to a brothel in Spikemuth.”

“How dare they!” Marnie shouted, dark energy erupting from her form and creating a black mass that radiated hatred and danger.

Alex raised a brow, his interest and arousal piqued. There was something intensely attractive about Marnie’s anger that drew him in. He could barely contain the urge to run up and take her right there. Fortunately, he had enough control over himself to hold back.

As for any organization that ended up with Eliza, he could only feel pity. They had no idea who they had just messed with.

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