The Hunter
The cold but stagnant air that surrounded me was a relief from the heat of battle that was slowly winding down around me, various bodies laid strewn about on the cave floor or random rocks that dotted the surrounding area. My eyes had adjusted to the dark a while ago thus I was able to see all the destruction my Pokemon had wrought in their attempts to subdue the perceived threats. Pieces of melted machines along with cages smashed open all around. The sight was truly a disgusting thing, and the whole reason I had decided on this path in life.
The first to return to me was my ever faithful shadow Jigsaw, the Banette immediately jumping into my shadow for rest and to serve as an ever present shield from any and all unseen attacks. The cold feeling shifted through my body, a constant reminder of his presence.
"Alright everybody it's time to round 'em all up, otherwise we won't get paid." My voice was as quiet as always, never being raised unless absolutely necessary. The responding grunts and shrieks let me know I had been heard and so I set to my task of calling the authorities and collecting my reward.
The slow ringing sound filled my thoughts as I waited for somebody at the closest ranger station to actually start doing their jobs. While waiting my team moved with precision to gather all the grunts into a pile with the Pokeballs containing their own Pokemon slowly floating into a sack being managed by Archon, the split brains of a Duosion more than up to the task.
"Hello! This is Ranger Station Delta. How can we assist you today?" The happy female voice immediately put me into a bad mood, these so-called Rangers were able to be so happy-go-lucky that they hadn't even been aware of a major poaching scheme happening right next to them. The standards for these members of the League truly were far below my own expectations.
"This is Trainer Max Blackwell with the Hunter Corps. Reporting a Team Rocket Poaching operation inside Mt. Moon floors 3 and 4," The Ranger let out a loud gasp at my announcement but before they could properly interrupt I decided to get through this, "27 grunts have been captured with their Pokeballs having been put into stasis lock and I await your stations help in moving the large group into custody."
The silence hung heavy for several seconds until finally, "You managed to capture 27 grunts all on your own?" The disbelief almost annoyed me as much as the clear incompetence being displayed.
"Yes, now please send in some Psychic types to help out so I can collect my bounty and get moving." By now all my Team had finished up and slowly returned to me, clearly not wanting to be around me in my ire. Trying to show that I was happy with them I offered them a smile and slowly scratched Apollo behind his large fluffy ears as he waited patiently for me to finish up.
"Uh y-yeah of course we'll be there within the next few minutes please hold on until we arrive!" The slight quiver really showed how much this confused Ranger was shook by this call. Made my decision to be a part of the relatively unknown Hunter Corps. a much better one in my mind.
"I'll be waiting, don't make me wait too long."
The next hour tested my patience to the limit, having to explain myself to a Lead Ranger and all that had led to this capture was slow and filled with many interruptions, I was thankful for my foresight to keep Apollo next to me for comfort, the large Arcanine made the Rangers watching understand what kind of power I had on me. The envious looks also made me chuckle so that was a plus. He was one of the few recorded trainer owned Arcanine in the world after all, only the likes of the famous Professor Oak or former Elite Four Blaine had one in Kanto. Less than 10 known trainer trained ones in all the League associated regions.
"The League thanks you for your service and the accomplishment of dealing such a blow to Team Rocket!" The words followed by a quick salute from the Ranger in charge, a Ranger Daniel or something, marked the end of this impromptu interrogation on what had exactly gone on. It wasn't often such an operation was stopped before anything was achieved and even more rare was that such a large amount of grunts had been captured.
"Thanks, I'm assuming I can collect my Bounty at the normal place?"
Caught off guard by my response it took a second to get a straight answer, "That's correct, the normal bounty amount for each grunt being 5000P, leading to a collection of 135,000P at the nearest Bounty Station for you." Turning to leave I just grunted a response and began my trek to the cave exit, only to be stopped by one of the observing Rangers.
"You're him right? The Hunter who managed to dismantle all those poaching operations while competing for the Silver League." It wasn't said in a bad way, more just curious than anything else and yet it still grated me for some reason. I decided to just give him a nod as acknowledgement, hoping that would be the end of this. "Are you here to compete in the Kanto Circuit? Or are you just hoping for some easy money from Hunting?" Ah, there it was. The low growl from Apollo showed I wasn't alone in this feeling of annoyance.
"Just trying to clean up this diseased region before it gets too late, but a second trophy would look nice at home." With that I beat a quick exit with the steady warmth from Apollo keeping me company from the chill of the lower caverns of Mt Moon. Leaving the voices of the Rangers talking behind my thoughts drifted to the things that led to my current life.
My name is Max Blackwell, I am 16 years old and this was a second life for me. I had been reborn after a pretty boring previous life, I had been in my 20's with not much to show for it. I hadn't finished college and I didn't have any real close relationships with anyone in my life, I had been a nobody. One day I went to sleep and woke up in this new world, one straight from the fiction I had loved from my previous life ,a Pokemon adventure right around the corner for me, or so I had thought.
I had been reborn in Oldale Town in the Hoenn region, most people thought I had been from Johto since I had competed in my first League there but the reality was that I had gone running from the life I was stuck in. I had been 10 years old when I was reborn and had thought I would get to become a trainer in no time and have a blast seeing the sights the tropical region had to offer while growing in strength to become a legendary figure in the battling scene. Reality had come crashing down hard on me.
The starting age for new trainers was 15 here and that was only if you could pass the proper tests to qualify, to show that you wouldn't just go out and die in the woods. The survival tests done aren't even that comprehensive, mostly just stating some obvious things about setting up camp in safer areas than others and on the best way to handle your own resource management to handle the trips through the various environments one might find themselves in.
The disappointment for not being able to go on a Pokemon Journey right away had been harsh but it did present a unique opportunity to bond with my new family. I had a new set of parents and a younger brother by about 5 years. It was a wonderful experience for me to get to be a child again and form those new bonds while being able to learn everything about my new world. It had been an amazing time for me, I had even looked into becoming an aide at the Professor's Lab down in Littleroot Town, it had been surprisingly easy to apply and show my interest through some online forms which led to me meeting the jovial Professor Birch.
The kind man had taken my enthusiasm with learning about Pokemon and ran with it. I quickly was learning how to help out with the various trainer Pokemon he had in his stables, learning all I could about various species. It had been a wonderful few years growing and finding some peace in this new life, I even started to earn some small wages for my work at the Lab that would start my fund for becoming a trainer. Sadly things didn't quite stay that way.
When I had turned 14 tragedy struck Oldale Town hard, it was a massive fire from a thunderstorm that had started it all. I had been at the Lab that day and with the terrible storm going on I had been told to stay there for the night for my safety, it would prove to be the thing that saved my life in the end. I had found it strange that when I was first reborn Oldale Town was much larger than the small town it was shown to be in the games but figured it was the difference of this being a different reality. Turns out that wasn't quite right.
The town wasn't made up of people with strong Pokemon, it was mostly just a small area where people could enjoy their lives in the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. So when that fire started nobody was really prepared for all that would come from it, no trainers with strong water types to douse the raging flames. In the end over half the town was burned to the ground, my home included. It was the last day I had seen my new family before they all perished. I tried not to think of them too often.
After that tragedy the Professor offered me a room with him at the Lab, a place for safety till I was ready to go out on my journey. With nowhere to really go I decided to accept and finished my final year of prep there, once I turned 15 and aced my test to become a trainer I never looked back. I got my starter from the Professor and left Hoenn behind. I had decided to get a fresh start in Johto.
It was while I was gathering Gym Badges that I ran into the first sign of the rot in this world. Poachers. I had my first run in with some on my way to Olivine City, trying to capture the Miltank at the ranch for some reason. I had only been a 4 badge trainer at the time so I was supposed to contact the authorities to help, so I did, and they arrived too late to help. It put into perspective how much people could get away with in this world when the people who were supposed to be the protectors for it just never got there on time. The next time I ran into a similar incident? I captured all those involved myself.
It was near Cianwood City, in the mountain areas to the west that I found more poachers trying to capture as many rare species as they could. I don't know what really set me off but I had run headfirst into danger that time, it was actually easier than I had thought possible. It made me realize something, those poachers had no idea what to do when someone actually tried to stop them and fight back, they had grown used to success through the fear they brought. I made a decision then to never show them that fear in the future and to always put them down whenever I could.
It would be much later that I would come to the conclusion that I needed to take down Team Rocket to make a big impact, they were the biggest buyers for many different poachers so it only made sense to dismantle them. But first I had needed to grow into my strength, I needed a way to have access to more than 6 Pokemon at a time. At the time I would have to call Professor Birch whenever I needed to swap one out since I had managed to get to 8 at the time. The only real way to accomplish this was to do something major, for me to win the Silver Conference and have my status as a trainer changed to an elite who had no carrying limits.
I had planned to participate in the large League Tournament, I had already gotten 6 badges by that point even, but now I knew I had to crush the competition with only a year of training under my belt. It was with a stupid plan that I made my decision, I went to Mt. Silver to train.
Mt. Silver was an area blocked off in the games for the danger it was supposed to represent for any who dared to challenge it. The reality was much worse. The League actually wouldn't stop you from going there, only would make you check in to notify anyone of your location, but they had no plans to send anyone after you if you did miss a check-in. The dangers of something like a Tyranitar would pose a threat to any trainer looking to challenge the mountain, for me I thought I was ready. I was foolish.
I had become sure of myself in my short time as a trainer, within 6 months I had managed to get 6 of 8 badges needed for the Silver Conference, an incredible feat for anyone to achieve. I had managed to win several local Tournaments to bolster my experience and success. It had made me think I was ready for the challenges that I would face, I had been arrogant.
I spent 4 months training my team in those mountain ranges. We barely managed to climb halfway when we stopped to return to our Gym Challenge. The harsh weather made every second unpleasant followed by the threat of being destroyed by some upset Pokemon that thought we were too close to its home. The last 2 gyms felt like a breeze compared to some of the Pokemon we found and battled on Mt. Silver, the sheer strength of some of those Pokemon blew my mind and made me desperate for more every time. So when I had managed to become the youngest winner of the Silver Conference in history I knew I had managed to truly survive that awful place.
My plans had been to dismantle Team Rocket as quickly as possible, and for that I was going to need to become something they feared. A Hunter. It was with my success as a trainer that I managed to find out about the Hunter Corps. It was a small group of trainers who were supposed to be dedicated to fighting against threats to the League without the backup provided from the Rangers or Aces. Both of those groups were reactive to anything that was happening whereas with the Hunters? I could go at my own pace and use some previous life knowledge to make things happen. I didn't get a salary like an Ace trainer or Ranger would, I only made money off of things like turning in bounties for criminals or for completing requests to stop some dangerous Pokemon that was causing major issues for the people near it.
I made the decision easily despite people at the League trying to dissuade me from such a choice, they didn't like the idea of a young kid going out and battling criminals, so I made it clear I was capable by going after every major known poaching ring in Johto. It was almost cathartic to see the looks on some of those peoples faces after, alas I didn't have time to waste as my mission to see the end of Team Rocket was now in motion, my first stop? Mt. Moon.
I have 10 Pokeballs clipped to my belt currently, two of which were empty right now, the otherworldly chill from Jigsaw in my shadow competing with the wonderful warmth from Apollo was a reminder to always have some protection out and ready to go. Though the pleasant warmth of the sun hitting my face as I emerged from the depths of Mt. Moon reminded me that we had a lot more ground to cover for the day. I wanted to be at least halfway to Cerulean City by the time we made camp. I already knew that I had made some major changes to this new world of mine but I was excited to see how they played out. My name is Max Blackwell and this is my 2nd chance at life, and I'm not going to waste it.