A few minutes prior to the attack on Team Dominion's island crater base, Alaric Graves overlooked the state of his organization from his office and shook his head. Their plans had slowed significantly over the years, to the point that they only retained control over two regions, Sinnoh and Galar.
Because of a certain bounty hunter, their plans had been set back by decades, forcing them to consolidate their strength on the island instead of operating across every region simultaneously. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Unova, and Paldea were all lost causes. Kanto, Johto, and now apparently Hoenn had the Silver Network protecting them, while the Unova and Paldea Leagues were doing everything they could to keep Team Dominion out and prevent its return. The losses were simply humiliating.
Alola and Kalos, he could understand. Alola had the Tapu, which the people revered and which directly opposed their ideology. Kalos was simply too powerful. All it took was angering the wrong trainer, and their entire operation in the region collapsed.
Now, all they had left was Galar, whose leader had prevented catastrophic damage by disappearing, and Sinnoh, which had been reduced to little more than a mining site due to the level of criminal activity and danger in the region.
"Warning. Spatial displacement confirmed overhead at 5 km altitude. Energy readings unstable and rapidly intensifying. Threat level: Catastrophic. Defensive protocols engaged. All personnel move to combat readiness. This is not a drill."
"Bring up a visual," Alaric demanded.
Immediately, a projection of the skies above the base displayed a silver metallic sphere, 5 m in diameter, dropping in a free fall before igniting in silver energy. Beside it, its energy signature climbed higher and higher as it fell, starting at Expert rank and rising all the way to Master before surpassing it into unknown energy levels.
BOOM!
Upon impact, the skies were engulfed in a cloud of silver energy. The energy shield held the initial blast, but it didn't take long before the system overheated and collapsed, the defenses effectively destroyed. Still, they were enough to stave off catastrophic damage.
"Give me a report on the damage!" Alaric demanded.
"Damage Report. Surface infrastructure: 40% compromised. Subsurface infrastructure: no critical damage detected. Fleet status: 60% operational capacity. Onsite evaluation required for further diagnostics."
Personnel were deployed as a countermeasure against the expected invasion. However, instead of receiving reports of incoming League forces, there was only a single signature again but it was caught too late.
"Warning. Incoming projectile confirmed overhead at 200 meter altitude. Energy readings—"
BOOOM!!
A second massive explosion rocked the entire base, completely catching everyone off guard. Even from the deepest section of the underground facility, Alaric felt the tremors. It could only mean the entire surface of the base had been laid to waste, with much of the upper levels likely heavily damaged.
"Damage report. Give me the damned damage report!" Alaric shouted in anger.
"Damage Report. Surface infrastructure: unknown. Subsurface infrastructure: 20% compromised. Fleet status: unknown. Onsite evaluation required for further diagnostics."
"Damn it!" Alaric snapped, slamming his fist onto the desk before rising to his feet. "Prepare the escape pod."
"Teleportation pod: inaccuracies detected up to 20% due to excessive energy interference on the surface. Aerial escape route: unresponsive. Submarine escape route: ready."
"Prepare the submarine route and execute evacuation protocol."
"Affirmative. Submarine escape route ready. Erasing databases and destroying hardware. Eliminating all experimental subjects. Destroying all samples and evidence."
Alaric reached for his safe and retrieved his emergency escape kit, containing all his research and nearly a dozen special Poké Balls. He then made his way to the data center and retrieved his Metagross, the only exception to his hate for Pokémon.
He stopped in front of the top-secret research lab containing Mewtwo, briefly considering bringing it along to continue his long-term project. After a moment, he shook his head. There were no guarantees Mewtwo could remain contained, and in its current enraged state, it would make a fitting parting gift for whoever managed to reach this place.
Instead, he continued toward the private train station that would launch him directly to the island's perimeter.
Just as he was about to board—
BOOOOOM!!!
A third explosion sent him to the ground from the sheer impact as immense pressure built up inside the hallways, threatening to rupture his organs. But he was at Master rank, so he easily survived it, although the same couldn't be said for his henchmen. Those in sealed rooms should still be able to survive.
The lights switched to emergency lighting as the power was cut, leaving the entire place in darkness save for the red glow illuminating the hallway.
"Escape route status!" Alaric called out, but received no reply.
He rushed toward the train terminal and found the entire tunnel had collapsed, sealing off his escape. His only way out was to dig through the rubble, which would take hours, or attempt teleportation. However, with the third explosion, the inaccuracies of teleporting out would be even more severe, leading to unimaginable consequences, such as being teleported beneath the seabed.
"Ha… ha… hahahaha… ahahaha—" he laughed like a madman, as realization of his impending demise set in.
He knew he was caught there and then, with no options left to escape. Rather than fight in the tunnels, where the tight spacing would limit him in battle, it was better to head for the hallway outside the top-secret lab and confront his assailant there. It was large enough to accommodate a proper Master ranked engagement, and with his enhanced Pokémon, he was confident in his chances.
So he went back and waited. He waited for an hour, feeling the pressure in the enclosed space gradually ease, indicating that a pathway to the surface had opened. He waited, hearing the violent breaking of sealed doors as his assailants pushed deeper into the facility. He waited until, finally, he came face to face with the person responsible for destroying his dreams.
"Alex Wattson," Alaric said as he watched the bounty hunter slowly approach, while his five dozen Pokémon fanned out across the hallway, ready for battle. "Of all the threats to my dreams, I never imagined it would be someone as insignificant as you who would end up destroying them. Tell me, what has Team Dominion done to earn your ire?"
"Honestly? I was just bored," Alex said with a shrug. "It started off with financial necessity, given that Team Dominion was an outside force with barely any support from the local Underworld. Then it became a habit since it was easy. And finally, today specifically, it was the perfect chance for me to stretch my legs, since it's been a decade since I've had a decent fight."
Alaric stood there in absolute shock. He had never felt so insulted in his entire life. All his suffering, all his effort, his entire life's meaning had been reduced to nothing by someone who was simply bored. He was bored, and so he decided to destroy his dreams. What kind of sick fuck was standing before him with so little effort?
"…Bored?" he said quietly at first, then his voice cracked into a shout. "Bored?! You destroyed everything I built, everything I sacrificed for, and it was all just to stave off boredom?"
Alex only shrugged in response, and Alaric's expression twisted, shock giving way to visceral hate and anger. It was a good thing he had chosen to stay back instead of fighting in the tunnels. Here, he could kill this bastard and avenge his dreams.
"Then pay for it!" Alaric roared as he released all his Pokémon. "Pay for every region you tore from my grasp, every base you destroyed, and the future you erased!"
Ten Pokémon emerged from Alaric's Poké Balls. Hovering behind him was his trusted Metagross, a partner that had been with him his entire life through thick and thin. The remaining nine were all pseudo-legendary Pokémon at Master rank, including Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon, Goodra, Kommo-o, Dragapult, and Baxcalibur.
Each one had been enhanced beyond their natural limits through experimental drugs and cybernetic augmentations, pushing them far past their original parameters and making them far more menacing in both presence and power.
Alex's own Pokémon squared off, forming into formation as they mirrored Alaric's team. His attack team moved to intercept the 6 fastest Pokémon, positioning themselves to contain and isolate them, while the defense team stood in the center facing off against the slower units to hold the line.
Alex, meanwhile, stood in the center of the defense team as he took out Stormline, ready to engage. Right before that, Rotom transformed into Mauler behind him, with 4 more Gatling guns deploying into place, 2 on the forearms and 2 on the shoulders, bringing the total to 5 Gatling guns ready to open fire.
The Metagross behind Alaric narrowed its eyes at Gardevoir, while Gardevoir returned the gesture, both recognizing each other as the immediate threat to this engagement. Whichever one of them fell, the rest would follow suit due to a lack of coordination. This was as much a chess match as it was an all-out brawl.
Then, without warning, the battle began as both sides opened fire. Powerful Pokémon moves erupted across the hallway, guns blazed to life bathing both sides with a storm of bullets, shields materialized and shattered in the same instant, and chaos swallowed the space between them. It would be the battle that decided whether Alaric Graves survived to continue pursuing his dream of a world where humans were the strongest, or whether Alex could temporarily stave off his boredom.