Near the summit of Twist Mountain, in a seemingly isolated cabin along its slope, Orvan Kestrel was lounging on his recliner in the living room when a report arrived in his message box. It detailed the specifics of a bounty hunter who was out for his head with the express purpose of dismantling Argent Solutions.
The report included a file on Alex Wattson, a Champion ranked bounty hunter, as well as Rheabel Argent, the daughter of the company's original owner who had managed to escape.
"Haaa… how annoying," he muttered as he closed his eyes and leaned back further. "Things have gotten out of hand."
He was just a businessman who had taken advantage of Team Dominion to earn his place among the region's rich and powerful. He had never once thought he would be this successful. His only plan at the time had been to replace the owner of the top research and development company in the region, and once that succeeded, everything simply snowballed without intervention.
He had done his due diligence, spreading spies everywhere without even caring about the immediate results. Years later, the seeds he had planted bloomed, granting him protection from the government as he established training facilities across the region, each demanding increasing amounts of resources, support, and oversight from headquarters. Coupled with failures in other regions, his operation stood out as the most successful, even though he had only been following standard procedure.
Now, he was locked in a cold war with Team Umbraline, whom he had managed to piss off by encroaching on their territory. To make matters worse, more than a hundred Elite ranked assassins and bounty hunters had been sent after him.
Fortunately, this was precisely why he maintained over thirty bases in the region, each staffed with someone capable of handling such problems for him.
This new one would be a bit trickier, though. Not only was he a Champion ranked trainer, but Rheabel Argent was also involved, someone who would no doubt want revenge for her father's murder and for having her company effectively stolen from her.
"Call Leonard in Castelia City," he said.
The line rang once before someone picked up.
"Orvan," Leonard said. "What do you have for me?"
"Another bounty hunter. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I've cleaned up over a dozen for you already. You think this one's different?"
"He's Champion ranked, and his record backs it up."
Leonard scoffed. "I'm Champion ranked too. That won't be a problem."
"There's more. Rheabel Argent is with him."
"That little minx who slipped through my fingers years ago?" Leonard said with amusement. "Good. I'll finally get to correct that mistake."
"Just don't cause a scene," Orvan said. "I can only bury so much when civilians start getting involved."
"Relax. I'll keep it clean," Leonard replied before the line went silent.
Orvan exhaled slowly and settled back into his recliner. Castelia City crept into his thoughts, and with it, the Grimefold operating in its shadows. It was an interesting organization, one that clung to him like gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. On one hand, they had their uses; on the other, they were a nuisance.
Still, they had bought themselves time, for now. Once Team Dominion's plan was fulfilled and he emerged as the region's new hegemon, they would no longer be necessary.
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"Contact Orvan Kestrel discreetly and let him know he's being hunted," a voice crackled through the receiver.
"That little shit!" Rhea shouted in their hotel room. "To think I actually felt a tiny, incy‑wincy bit of pity for him. That little backstabber is going to get it."
"Relax," Alex said. "He's not our problem. I'm sure Olivia will do something about him once we've finished up with Team Dominion. They work in the same industry so she would likely want to get rid of the competition once her primary problems are taken care of. Besides, we still need them to get the information you want."
Alex had bugged Garbodor's chamber while the piles of garbage exploded as a distraction. He had read Olivia's warning that Grimefold tended to hedge their bets and make enemies with everyone they dealt with to improve their chances of survival. For the most part, this had worked in their favor because they were still too effective at gathering information to be eliminated, while bigger fish were left to fry.
"Haaa… I kinda don't want the information anymore. Sure, it would help to infiltrate their homes and kill them in their sleep, but it isn't worth being hunted like this."
"Don't worry about it," Alex said with a smile as he picked her up and settled her on his lap. "If anything, this will give the girls more room to operate since everyone will be too focused on us. Leave everything to me. We'll be fine."
"Okay, but the information had better be worth it, or I'm not waiting for Team Umbraline to deal with them. I'll show that little shit what my Mauler is made of."
"More importantly," Alex said, "we should check out the missions they gave us."
Hobo Hunter, a serial killer who specifically targets homeless people, kidnaps them to interrogate them about the Garbodor hidden beneath the city, and then kills them. He operates primarily at night, using discarded shelters and abandoned buildings as hunting grounds. He is considered a psychopathic conspiracy theorist, actively distributing manifestos and online rants to draw attention to the Underworld. His activities have created panic among shelters, making information collection both dangerous and unpredictable.
Nightshade Productions, a porn studio based in Nimbasa City, exploits homeless individuals by filming sexual assaults for sale on the darknet. Their operations are highly compartmentalized, with several small "shooting houses" scattered throughout the city. They use fake job offers and temporary housing as bait, and maintain encrypted networks to avoid law enforcement. Recent investigations indicate they also recruit intermediaries among the homeless population to find new victims.
Black Transit, a human-trafficking syndicate based in Driftveil City, specializes in abducting homeless people and transporting them through a network of safe houses to Underworld clients worldwide. They employ stolen or forged identification, clandestine shipping containers, and bribed local authorities to move victims undetected. Their hierarchy is decentralized, allowing local cells to operate independently while following strict codes for handling "assets" and avoiding exposure.
EvoGene Labs, a privately run laboratory in Opelucid City, conducts experiments on homeless people, attempting to splice them with Pokémon in pursuit of creating human-Pokémon hybrids. They maintain several high-security facilities disguised as medical research centers and operate under the cover of private funding from shadowy investors. Their experiments include genetic modifications, cellular fusion techniques, and Pokémon DNA integration, often leaving subjects in permanent physical or mental degradation.
The Veins, a gang of drug dealers based in Nacrene City, is responsible for the dramatic increase in the homeless population over the past decade. They distribute addictive substances directly to vulnerable populations and manipulate local housing markets to keep supply low, maximizing dependency. Their clientele includes well-off artists and professionals who act as discreet buyers, allowing the gang to maintain high profits while avoiding law enforcement scrutiny. The Veins also employ street-level informants to monitor rival gangs and suppress any interference with their distribution network.
As for the scope of their required work, they only needed to clean Castelia City of the local cells that were currently active. After that, they were free to ignore the main problem in the rest of the region, as the cleanup would likely scare them away from the city.
"Pretty standard stuff," Rhea said. "I'm surprised they haven't moved to clean all of this up themselves."
"They would overextend themselves if they tried to cover the entire city," Alex said. "This Hobo Hunter, in particular, has been devastating their territories, preventing information about the other criminals from coming forward. That's why they need someone like me to clean all of this up."
"I guess working on this isn't such a big deal. At least it's good for the environment," Rhea said, then asked, "Who are we going after first?"
"The Hobo Hunter, since he's alone."
"Isn't that the most challenging one to take down? This city has millions of people. How are we supposed to find him when even Grimefold is failing?"
"Easy. We let Nyx take a look at his online activity and try to catch him in the middle of one of his rants. I noticed Grimefold isn't that well connected online and prefers to rely on information their homeless population reports on site. Perhaps all they needed was a good hacker to track this guy down."
Thus, Alex enlisted the help of Nyx all the way in Kanto to monitor Unova's online conspiracy theory sites and provide a few addresses for him to investigate. In the end, there were several locations near the Hobo Hunter's known hunting grounds, but only one had a reputation for volunteering at a local soup kitchen.
His name was Dexter Vey, a retired bank manager who had managed to get lucky on his investments, allowing him to dedicate all his time to volunteering.
"Looks like we've got our first target."
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