Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Chapter 552: Chapter 552. Mining the Past 1

Alex strolled through the streets of young Viridian City at his leisure, finding the place remarkably undeveloped. The town was filled with crudely built wooden houses where people lived, while the few proper public service buildings stood out as being two stories tall and considerably wider than the surrounding homes.

There was a training center where trainers were taught how to train their Pokémon, built on the site where the future Viridian Gym, owned by Giovanni, would eventually stand. The town hall served as a place where people could handle matters concerning work and residency, while a trading post allowed merchants to sell supplies, purchase goods gathered from the forest, and trade with travelers passing through the town.

Beyond these public buildings, nearly everything else consisted of crude wooden houses. Most were small and cramped, with little more than the basic necessities needed for daily life. A public well and Water type Pokémon provided the town with water for drinking, bathing, and other household needs. It reminded Alex of how the Draconid people lived.

Guards stood in watchtowers and patrolled the tall wooden walls surrounding the town. The defenses looked hastily constructed, likely because of the ongoing war with Johto, and Alex suspected they’d be dismantled once things settled down.

All of this told Alex that he was looking at a version of the Pokémon world that was far less brutal, or at least one where Pokémon were far less feral. It was the kind of world where 10-year-olds could eventually be sent out on Pokémon journeys across the land without adult supervision.

"It isn’t much, but we call this place home," the older woman beside Alex said.

Her name was Hiromi, and she was in her late thirties, with short black hair and a sharp, business-minded personality. She also held a deep-seated grudge against Johto, something Alex could tell from the complete change in her demeanor whenever the topic of the war came up. Not that he could blame her.

In practice, Hiromi was the true mayor of the town, despite her husband officially holding the title and spending his days buried in paperwork at the town hall. The guards and some of the trainers answered to her more readily than they did the official mayor, often referring to her as Madame Boss.

She was unmistakably the founder of Team Rocket, although Alex didn’t know whether the organization had been established yet. Likely not, considering the ongoing war with Johto might’ve been the very reason for its eventual creation. As for the young Giovanni, he was still just a young trainer with a Beedrill, Rhyhorn, and Meowth.

"It probably doesn’t compare to the place you came from, though," Hiromi continued, showing clear interest in Alex’s origins.

"It doesn’t," Alex replied. "Now, where is this explorer you mentioned?"

"At the trading post," she answered, clearly dissatisfied with how little information she’d managed to get from him.

She was a curious one who’d likely already pegged Alex as a potential cash cow, figuring she could squeeze at least some benefit out of whatever gadgets or knowledge he possessed. Alex, however, remained unconvinced that she had anything worth offering in exchange. Not to mention that if she did have something he wanted, he had the power to simply take it.

The pair made their way to the trading post, a large open building with food and other supplies displayed throughout the main hall. Several warehouses stood behind it, where the town’s food reserves and other bulk supplies were stored. They entered the building and made their way toward the offices at the back before stopping at a door marked Surveyor.

Inside, they found a bespectacled young man with gaunt eyes and a thin frame, buried beneath a mountain of paperwork. His tired expression and hunched posture made him the perfect representation of an overworked office worker.

"Kenta!" Hiromi shouted, startling the young man from his intense concentration.

He nearly fell out of his chair in panic.

"Wa? Madame?" he stammered.

"This man needs to find certain resources. I want you to tell him the best places to find them if you recognize any of the materials he needs."

"What?"

Alex stepped forward and placed a pile of Master ranked resources on the table, right on top of the paperwork. There were all kinds of metals, minerals, plants, and samples of wood, representing some of the most commonly used and highly sought-after Master ranked materials on the market.

"These are? This is!?" Kenta stared at the samples in disbelief. "My goodness! Where did you get these? I’ll buy everything you have!"

Hiromi swatted him on the head, snapping him out of his stupor.

"You idiot! He needs to find them. He isn’t selling them. Get your head on straight."

"I... my apologies. It’s just that these are..."

"Don’t make me hit you again!" Hiromi warned, raising her hand.

"Sorry. Right." Kenta straightened himself and looked over the samples again. "Well... I’m not sure where to find these, but it definitely won’t be in any of the public mines. I don’t even recognize some of these materials, which is why I wanted to purchase and research them in the first place. If you really forced me to give you an answer, my best guess would be the mountains northwest of here or somewhere directly west toward Mt. Silver. The area is full of ancient, powerful Pokémon, though, so you should be careful if you’re planning to set foot there and start mining."

Alex frowned, not liking the answer. Sure, he could mine for the resources himself, but it would take him decades to fill his space bag. During that time, he’d have to overhunt the mountain regions for Champion or at least Elite ranked Pokémon to feed his small army. That wasn’t a prospect worth considering, especially since he didn’t even have Sable by his side to help him determine where to dig. In the end, it wasn’t a suggestion he was satisfied with.

That was until he had an idea he should’ve acted on from the start.

"Thanks," Alex said, turning to leave.

"Are you heading out already?" Hiromi asked. "Why don’t you spend the night in town? Maybe you can meet some other explorers or trainers who might know what you’re looking for. I can offer you a larger place to stay with a comfortable bed. I’ll even prepare the best dinner in town."

"No, thanks," Alex replied as he made his way toward the edge of the town, with Hiromi following close behind.

She kept trying to entice him with increasingly generous offers. She offered him access to rare resources, parcels of land, positions of influence within the town, exclusive training methods, and even private tutors capable of teaching his Pokémon moves that weren’t available to the general public. As a final offer, she even hinted that she could be persuaded to spend the night with him.

None of it worked.

Once Alex was outside the city and reached an empty clearing, he released Mantine and climbed onto his back before taking off at high speed. The sudden appearance of a gigantic Pokémon with a 20-meter wingspan, fully armored in heavy-looking black metal, left everyone in the city staring in shock, including Hiromi, who could only watch in awe.

In that moment, she finally understood that there was nothing she could offer Alex that would entice him. The vast difference between them planted a resentment in her heart that would remain with her for the rest of her life. Alex, however, would never be affected by it, just as he’d never been bothered by the resentment that had taken root in the heart of the Blackthorn elder.

Even if he were forced to remain in this world for the next century, there was very little the people of this era could do to him. He and his Pokémon were simply that powerful.

"Rotom, do you have access to resource locations based on the year they were discovered?" Alex asked.

"General information is available."

"Hahaha! Why did I never think of this? Since we’re in the past, I can use records from the future to find mines before they’re ever discovered. Records of mining sites, the materials they produced, and the dates they were discovered would let me locate untouched deposits that haven’t even been mined yet. With that information, I could fill the space bag to the brim in no time. Actually, it’d be even better if there were excavation maps showing exactly where the deposits were found. The more specific, the better," Alex said. "Rotom, use the historical records to find large deposits of Master ranked resources that were discovered in these regions and display their locations on a map. Don’t worry about inaccuracies or geographical differences for now. We’ll figure those out later."

"Processing request. Cross-referencing publicly available historical mining records, geological surveys, archived maps, excavation reports, and resource classifications."

A holographic map appeared before Alex, displaying the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh as countless markers began appearing across their territories.

"Compilation complete. I’ve identified 147 locations that match your criteria. Several appear to have produced substantial quantities of Master ranked materials before becoming depleted, abandoned, or inaccessible."

Alex’s grin widened as he examined the map.

"Show me the closest one."

One marker enlarged, highlighting a mountainous region not far from Viridian City. It was likely the location where the future Indigo Plateau would eventually be built. According to the records, the area contained a rare type of rock that could be processed into an exceptionally durable cement mixture capable of producing Master ranked walls. It was the same material used in the construction of most Gyms in Alex’s world.

"Nearest confirmed prospect located. Estimated travel distance is—"

"Good enough," Alex interrupted, already turning Mantine toward the marked location. "Let’s go mining."

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