Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Chapter 9: Chapter 9. Home Sweet Home

Saffron Grand Mall is a skyscraper located on the east side of Saffron City. It has multiple floors catering to all its customers’ needs, even those who aren’t trainers.

On the second floor of the mall, customers can find the League Bank, the preferred banking institution worldwide.

Many major companies, like Silph Co. and Devon Corp., have attempted to establish their own banking systems. However, whether in terms of security, availability, or reach, the League has consistently outperformed them.

This led to a unified banking system that could practically go paperless—if not for cyber threats, which forced the League to maintain paper currency. Add in the public’s fear of having their savings erased with the click of a button, and people get a cash system that criminals continue to exploit, even when a perfectly secure credit system is already in place.

Alex, Jenny, Arcanine, and Rattata made their way to the bank so Alex could set up his own account. Since he had recently been adopted, he was now able to access his parents’ money with Jenny’s permission.

As for the total amount? Over a million Pokédollars. This included all of his parents’ savings, liquidated assets, and the reward he received from the League.

For any respectable trainer, this amount could last over ten years—assuming they had a full team. Unfortunately, this only applied to established trainers.

New trainers, like Alex, had to purchase Pokémon, Pokéblocks, TMs, held items, supplements, evolution stones, special ingredients, training resources, and more. With all these expenses, even a million Pokédollars wouldn’t realistically last a year. At least, that was Jenny’s assessment after hearing the total amount.

Alex deposited the 40,000 Pokédollars he had taken from the man and the director before finishing his account setup.

Next, they made their way to the electronics section, where Alex bought a League-certified Pokédex. This device functioned as both the original Pokédex developed by Professor Oak and a high-end smartphone.

It was even compatible with Rotom, should he ever catch one. Unfortunately, they were notoriously expensive. Given their role as artificial intelligence assistants, cybersecurity systems, and personal defense mechanisms, their high price was understandable.

Alex also bought a laptop for studying, finally allowing him to gain some proper common sense. Lastly, he picked up an oversized hamster wheel for Rattata so he would have something to do while Alex spent hours studying.

After leaving the electronics section on the seventh floor, they swept through the mall, purchasing clothes, a space bag, shoes, toiletries, snacks, and even kibble for Rattata.

By evening, they finally arrived at Jenny’s apartment, just in time for dinner.

The building was located on the south side of Saffron City, near the slums. The slums encircled the city along the outer walls, while the wealthiest residents and businesses were concentrated in the center. Between them were small businesses and residential buildings.

Jenny’s apartment was a small unit on the third floor, consisting of two rooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Though compact, the building had a training area accessible to all residents, making it more practical. It also featured a rooftop garden for Flying, Grass, and Ground-type Pokémon.

”Well, this is it. Home sweet home,” Jenny said as she unlocked the door. ”It’s small, but at least you get your own room.”

As soon as they entered, she released her other two Pokémon—Boltund and Espeon.

Boltund immediately started running around, full of energy, while Espeon stood off to the side, silently observing. Meanwhile, Arcanine lumbered into the relatively small living room and plopped down next to the couch.

”These are my other two Pokémon—Boltund, who helps catch and stun criminals, and Espeon, who provides support.”

”Nice to meet you both,” Alex greeted, patting Boltund.

”Don’t mind them. They mostly do their own thing. The room to the immediate left is yours, while mine is down the hallway.”

The apartment opened into the kitchen, with the living room at the far end next to the balcony. A hallway to the right led to four doors: the bathroom to the immediate right, a closet at the far right, Alex’s room to the immediate left, And Jenny’s room at the far left.

The apartment was quite spacious for two people but small for two people and an Arcanine.

’I must have taken up the Pokémon’s room,’ Alex thought, feeling only a slight twinge of guilt.

Determined to make it up to the big guy once he got his bearings, Alex stepped into his room.

It was simple but functional, with a single bed, a drawer, a table, and a chair. The view outside his only window was nothing more than another building just two meters away, so he decided to permanently shut the blinds and never open it again.

After unpacking his and Rattata’s belongings, Alex headed back to the kitchen to help Jenny with dinner—a simple vegetarian pasta dish.

Jenny was apparently a vegetarian, which made far more sense in this world than on Earth.

In this world, there were no vegans, thanks to Pokémon like Miltank, Alcremie, and Gogoat, whose milk and cream were dietary staples for both humans and Pokémon alike.

Being a vegetarian was often a luxury, something reserved for those well-off enough to afford alternatives. Orphans, however, had to make do with cheap Pokémon meat, which was widely available.

As they ate, Alex decided to make small talk.

”So, Jenny, your last name is Ashford? I saw it on the adoption papers earlier.”

”Yes, it’s my father’s last name. All Jennys are related to each other, but we usually take our fathers’ last names.”

”How do you know a newborn is a Jenny? Do they just assign the name at birth?”

”Jennys always have green hair. If a girl is born with green hair from a Jenny’s lineage, she’s almost always a Jenny.”

”Can you tell each other apart?”

”Honestly? No, not at a glance. You have to look closely—mannerisms, aura, scars, and small imperfections are usually the only indicators. Even I have a hard time telling my mother and cousins apart.”

”Do you have any siblings?”

”No, just me. Mom works security at Indigo Plateau, and Dad’s an engineer. That’s where they met.”

”Am I an Ashford now?”

”I didn’t include a name change when I filed the adoption paperwork. I figured you’d want to keep your parents’ last name.”

”Yeah... I think I will. But I’ll use Ashford as a middle name.”

”I’ll help you file the name change next week, then,” Jenny said with a small smile.

Alex could tell it meant something to her to have her last name included somewhere in his.

Honestly, he could have gone either way, but he figured that the old Alex would have wanted to keep his parents’ last name as a memento.

After dinner, Alex and Jenny, along with all their Pokémon, sat around the living room to watch some TV.

”So, Alex, what plans do you have now? Are you interested in going to school? Although you’re late by four years, you can definitely catch up,” Jenny suddenly asked.

”Yes, I do plan on going to school, but I’d like to become a trainer once I graduate and reach adulthood. My plans don’t go much further than that because I don’t even know what I’m good at. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it,” Alex answered honestly.

The original Alex had dreamed of becoming a strong trainer so he would never be bullied again. But the Alex now was confident in himself and his own strength. Even if Rattata left for some reason, he could still round up a weak Pokémon or steal from some thugs in the worst-case scenario.

As long as he had enough time and money to build up his body, he could thrive rather than just survive. What was left was to do the things he found fun—like Pokémon battles or just battles in general.

”That’s good. You have a few months to catch up with the curriculum. I can show you a site where you can learn everything you’ll need for the next school year—just in time for high school.”

”That sounds good. I lost four years of studying to the orphanage, and I won’t lose any more from this point on.”

”That’s good to hear.”

”Oh, by the way, how much is rent?” Alex suddenly asked.

He had been waiting to drop this bomb for a while now.

”I’m not taking a single Pokédollar. I adopted you for my own selfish reasons, not because we had some sort of deal,” Jenny said reassuringly.

”Okay. Thanks, Jenny.”

”Mhm.”

They settled into a comfortable silence after that conversation and simply watched TV.

’Jenny is such a good woman. If only I had transmigrated into a body of similar age to my previous life, I would absolutely marry this girl,’ Alex thought ruefully.

An hour later, they decided to call it a night. Alex went to bed, excited for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, he would finally begin some research to start understanding this world he had been dropped into. It was clearly different from the anime, games, and manga, yet confusingly close enough.

This wasn’t the happy-go-lucky world where 10-year-olds could go off on an adventure and be fine, where death was only ever mentioned in stories, or where enemies just blasted off into the sky.

This world was dangerous—very dangerous—and very real. Alex had some serious reading to do.

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