Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Chapter 52: Chapter 52. The Police Academy

Alex stepped into a building about half the size of the Pokémon Academy. He was quite impressed that their facility was even large enough to reach half that size, considering their significantly reduced number of applicants.

Alex wore the standard police uniform—a classic blue ensemble with white gloves and a peaked cap. Standing at 5’6” (1.68 m) with a ripped build, he didn’t favor thick, raw muscles. Instead, he preferred a leaner physique with muscles built for purpose. He was growing taller, and it showed, but his genetic traits and years of malnourishment held him back.

”Hey, Alex,” Clarissa greeted as she came up behind him.

”Hey, looking good,” Alex said as he took in her police uniform.

”I feel like I’m pretending to be a cop.”

”We’re studying to be one, so yeah. We’ll pretend to be cops until we actually become one.”

They made their way into the building, and after signing in, they attended the opening ceremony. It was nothing more than a speech from the Director of the Police Academy. There were about 30 people in their year, all of them looking young—around Alex’s age or slightly older. However, a few older recruits stood out, looking like seasoned trainers.

They looked like soldiers who had been through a war. Even Alex’s parents had never shown such emotional damage. He recognized loss when he saw it. The gym where he coached was popular among certain military types, and he was familiar with their serious, dazed expressions—like robots going through the motions, trying to simulate a ’normal’ life.

After the opening ceremony, they were given a briefing on their class schedule. Starting tomorrow, they would do physical training in the morning, classes in the afternoon, and Pokémon training after dinner.

They were not required to stay in their dorms, and Alex wouldn’t allow his stuff to be stolen, so he opted to run home after class and be back before physical training.

Looking at their new schedule, Alex finally sent a message to the Fighting Dojo and let them know that he could only attend on the weekends. It was a good thing he had already anticipated the strict schedule and had partitioned off a part of his savings to feed his Pokémon.

The next day, from 8 a.m. to noon, they went through basic physical training—an hour of running, an hour of exercises, an hour of repeatedly going through an obstacle course, and finally, an hour of hand-to-hand combat. Nothing too out of the ordinary as far as Alex was concerned, but the rest of the cadets had a hard time, especially during the obstacle course, which required balance, fighting off the fear of heights, and getting down and dirty in the mud. Yes, they specifically brought in mud from outside into the physical training floor of the building.

This was Saffron City, after all, not an open field out in the wilds.

Hand-to-hand combat training consisted of basic judo throws for subduing civilians, along with fundamental fighting stances, punches, and kicks—nothing to write home about. Additionally, they practiced disarming techniques for situations where an attacker became desperate and armed themselves with a pipe or knife.

While Alex wasn’t even breaking a sweat, Clarissa was able to hang on and maintain her stamina, her time at the Fighting Dojo and her beginner course paying dividends at this moment.

As for the older cadets with outside training experience, they didn’t break a sweat either. No doubt their daily treks had greatly built up their strength and stamina in the wild.

The only ones who truly suffered were those who had just decided to jump into the Police Academy at the first chance they got after high school. It was a tragedy for them, but at least the instructors made sure they finished it, no matter how slow they were.

Next came regular classes after lunch, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Alex was well ahead of the curve. They were taught the laws, regulations, proper procedures, basic psychology, how to de-escalate situations, how to handle belligerent individuals, how to identify criminal elements, how to move in a crowded city, how to track runners, how to command attention, how to give orders, and more.

There was a plethora of information that Alex had missed, so he was glad to be ahead with rote memorization, as the additional lessons and personal experiences of the instructors were just as valuable.

They had a quick dinner before heading to another floor, where their Pokémon would receive targeted training. This aspect of their program was left vague in the information packet Alex had studied for over two months. The only detail provided was ”targeted Pokémon training,” with no further explanation.

A tall, straight-laced man with a clean-cut, military demeanor entered the briefing room and introduced himself.

”My name is Johnson, and I’ll be overseeing your training from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. My job is to ensure that you and your Pokémon are trained in tracking, surveillance, reconnaissance, combat, emergency response, crowd control, and the handling of hazardous situations. As officers, you must be prepared for anything, which means working seamlessly with your Pokémon to protect and serve the public.”

”Your first lesson is staying on your feet. Take out all your Pokémon,” he commanded.

Alex tapped the seven Poké Balls strapped to his belt. Immediately, the room filled with a variety of Pokémon, and it was easy to tell who came from wealthier backgrounds based on the strength, type, and number of Pokémon they had.

Alex had seven, while Clarissa had five—she had received a Frigibax after graduating. The others in the room averaged between one and three Pokémon, though one guy had fifteen. The older professional trainers each had between four and six. There were people from all walks of life here.

One thing everyone had in common was that there wasn’t a single person with an Elite-ranked Pokémon. The average was Adept rank, but each person had at least one Expert-ranked Pokémon—except for two younger cadets.

”I said all your Pokémon,” the instructor reiterated sharply.

Alex, Clarissa, and the students with more than six Pokémon all grabbed their phones, prompting Rotoms and Porygons to appear in the room.

Then, from the shadows of the professional trainers and Alex, Ghost-type Pokémon began emerging—Haunters, Gengars, Misdreavus, Dusclops, and more. It seemed that cautious minds thought alike.

A Gengar suddenly floated out of the instructor’s shadow and whispered something to him. He nodded, then turned his attention to Clarissa.

”All of them, cadet,” he said, his gaze drilling into her.

”That one’s my mom’s. I can’t actually command her,” Clarissa admitted.

The instructor nodded before releasing his own Pokémon. Apart from Gengar, who was making faces at the cadets behind his back, there was a Luxray, Pyroar, and Thievul—all of which were Elite-ranked.

Suddenly, they all released their aura at once, exerting a pressure greater than Forretress’s Gravity upon the room.

All the younger, Adept-ranked Pokémon and their trainers crumpled to the floor immediately. Clarissa looked around in confusion, unaware that Froslass was shielding her from the effect.

The professional trainers didn’t move an inch and remained standing, along with their Pokémon.

Alex and most of his Pokémon were unaffected, though Rotom, Aegislash, and Alcremie felt the strain before stabilizing—they had been through Forretress’s Gravity training, after all.

The instructor nodded approvingly as he surveyed the cadets, pleased with the results. Roughly 75% had crumpled under the pressure—an average outcome. There were always a few cadets with darker life experiences who fared better, so this wasn’t unusual.

He suddenly spotted Clarissa, who still had a confused expression.

”Tell her to drop it, or leave my class if you’re unwilling to participate,” he instructed.

”Um... Froslass, it’s okay. I want to participate,” Clarissa said to her shadow.

The protective aura around her lifted, and she suddenly felt the crushing weight of the Elite-ranked Pokémon’s presence. However, it wasn’t overwhelming—she had experienced far worse as a child, facing Champion-ranked dragons. It was just a bit harder to breathe.

The instructor nodded before continuing his rounds. Over the next ten minutes, more and more cadets struggled to stand as he began explaining:

”This is the pressure of an insurmountable challenge. This is what you will feel when an Elite-ranked Pokémon makes it into the city and stares you down like lunch. This is what you will have to get used to in order to do your jobs properly. While the citizens crumple under the pressure, you and your Pokémon will stand and fight to protect them.

Within a year, you and your Pokémon must learn to resist this strain. If you can’t, you will not be allowed to graduate. Do I make myself clear?”

”Yes, sir!”

”Very good.”

Ten minutes later, the pressure eased, and they were finally free to regain their bearings. They were given a few minutes to collect themselves and comfort their Pokémon before being asked to line up again. This time, the room was divided into two based on the number of Pokémon.

Both halves of the class stood in a line facing each other, with their Pokémon tightly lined up side by side, resembling two firing squads facing each other.

Alex stood beside Clarissa as their Pokémon lined up next to each other.

”Your next lesson is the proper use of Protect.”

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