Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Chapter 572: Chapter 572. Military-Grade Loot

Standing before Alex was a 3-meter-tall bipedal robot with reverse-jointed legs, a bulky armored torso resembling a sealed pod with no discernible head, and a pair of powerful arms jutting from its sides, each ending in what appeared to be a laser cannon. Off to the side stood several humanoid robots similar to those he had seen in the tech store, though the difference in material quality was immediately apparent. Behind them sat a hover tank equipped with a laser main gun and what appeared to be a plasma minigun mounted on top. Spare parts were scattered everywhere, piled into heaps that made the entire place resemble an expensive, high-tech junkyard.

The robots themselves were a rare find and would be added to the collection they had already gathered for Rhea, but the materials they were made from were even more valuable. These were undoubtedly military-grade machines. Better yet, this was a private company, meaning there had been no reason to skimp on quality when manufacturing equipment intended for sale to the government. If that was the case, there was a good chance even better materials were stored somewhere nearby.

It didn’t take long for Alex’s Pokémon to return with several space crates filled to the brim with raw and processed materials. Synthetic materials, computer chips, manufactured frames, armor plating, internal components, and countless other parts were packed inside.

Judging by what they had found, this place appeared to be the final assembly line for an entire range of military-grade weapons of war.

”Robots and lasers weren’t particularly rare back home, but they were never combined for military applications. Pokémon were far more powerful and could defend themselves with Protect. Energy shields were too bulky to carry around and required expensive batteries just to last a few minutes, so they never saw much practical military use.”

Alex glanced toward the assembled machines, his curiosity growing.

”I wonder if they managed to solve that problem with these,” Alex thought before giving Rotom an order. ”Rotom, play around with a few of them and let’s see what they can do. Don’t be afraid to break them. If they aren’t useful, there’s no point in keeping them.”

Rotom zipped toward one of the bipedal robots and discharged a pulse of electricity into it. Slowly, the machine hummed to life, its joints whirring as it shifted back and forth before adjusting its arms and locking onto a nearby wall. Then it opened fire.

VRRRAAAAM!

A brilliant beam struck the wall, punching straight through it with surprising explosive force. The laser’s intensity was high enough to vaporize the material almost instantly, and the sudden expansion of superheated matter created a miniature explosive effect around the impact point, amplifying the damage far beyond what a conventional laser would produce.

The damage wasn’t particularly significant by Alex’s standards, but it was still enough to kill an Expert ranked Pokémon outright and could eventually bring down an Elite ranked one with sustained fire. A Champion ranked Pokémon would be considerably harder to defeat, but it was theoretically possible. These machines were probably intended as disposable ground units, useful for providing covering fire, drawing enemy attention, or creating distractions rather than serving as the primary force on a battlefield.

”Not bad, but not great,” Alex commented.

Next, the robot projected an energy shield directly in front of itself. The barrier stood roughly 3 meters tall and 5 meters wide, enough to provide cover for ten people standing shoulder to shoulder, or two similar units positioned beside it. It functioned almost like a Pokémon’s Protect, except the barrier remained stationary rather than surrounding its user.

The shield held for a full 10 seconds before disappearing. Thirty seconds later, it reappeared.

”Oh? A triple-alternating defensive shield? That’s a bit better, but the flanks will still be exposed, not to mention its particular weakness against aerial bombardment. Then again, that’s probably what the laser cannons are for,” Alex mused. ”Gardevoir, play with the shield.”

When the shield came up again, Gardevoir fired a Psychic at it. The condensed ball of psychic energy slammed into the barrier, making its surface flicker violently but otherwise doing little damage. The shield remained intact for the full 10 seconds before disappearing.

On the next cycle, Gardevoir opened fire without restraint, launching one Psychic after another in rapid succession, yet the shield surprisingly held.

”Gothitelle, Espeon, help her out.”

The two Pokémon moved to Gardevoir’s sides and began firing their own Psychic attacks. Under the combined assault of all three Champion ranked Pokémon, the shield lasted only 3 seconds before finally flickering out.

”Not bad. For such a relatively small robot, this would make an excellent frontline unit. I wonder if we could fit these shield generators into the spider tanks. They’re considerably bulkier, so they should have enough room and carrying capacity for the additional weight and equipment. As for the laser cannons...” Alex turned toward the hover tanks. ”Those could probably hurt a Champion, right? That puts their firepower at Champion rank, making them the first weapons of their kind with such a small size. Although, even a weapon that powerful would still be at a disadvantage against a Pokémon if it were stationary. Rotom, test its mobility next.”

The bipedal robot Rotom was inhabiting suddenly sprang into motion, sprinting across the area before leaping, kicking off walls and buildings, and changing direction with remarkable agility. Its movements were comparable to those of an Expert ranked Pokémon, demonstrating impressive speed and maneuverability despite its heavy mechanical frame.

In essence, it possessed Expert ranked mobility, Elite ranked offensive power, and Champion ranked defensive capabilities. The specifications were decidedly lopsided, but that imbalance only made its intended purpose clearer.

”Overall, a clear upgrade over what we had back home. Rhea is going to flip her shit,” Alex said with a chuckle.

They continued testing the other robots, finding that their performance followed the same general rankings. The humanoid units were entirely Expert ranked, while the hover tank possessed Champion ranked firepower and defenses and Elite ranked mobility, though its bulky frame prevented it from matching the agility of an actual Elite ranked Pokémon.

However, there were major limitations. None of the weapons could break through Protect shields, and their overall sustainability was inferior to that of an Elite ranked Pokémon. Taken together, that meant all of them were effectively Elite ranked at best in terms of overall combat capability.

Even so, they represented a clear upgrade over Rhea’s existing arsenal. With sufficient numbers, they could easily fend off a Pokémon flood led by a Champion ranked Pokémon, which alone spoke volumes about their capabilities.

”Not great, but not bad either. Ultimately, they’re still useful,” Alex concluded before giving the order. ”Pack everything up and fill the inventory to the brim.”

It took a few days, but eventually Alex managed to fill his inventory with loot. The rank of some of the materials was questionable, but the technology itself seemed valuable enough to make the haul worthwhile. He also discovered several raw materials on the hover tanks that were undoubtedly Master ranked in quality, so he prioritized those and filled his inventory with as much as he could carry.

Overall, it wasn’t as profitable as his usual hauls, but it still had considerable value to Rhea, who would soon have plenty of new toys to play with.

”Now that that’s done, let’s go find a data center,” Alex decided.

Information was third on the list of things he wanted to bring back. Specifically, he wanted to preserve a portion of this world’s internet, and military databases seemed like the most valuable place to start. They would contain information on weapons, technology, engineering, tactics, and perhaps even secrets that had never made their way into civilian databases.

The main concern was contamination. Bringing an unknown computer virus into his own world’s network could potentially cause a disaster, so Alex had no intention of connecting the two networks directly. He would first isolate the data, scan and analyze it in a closed system, and only transfer anything useful once he was certain it was safe.

Besides, he wanted to bring Nyx something back as well.

For this, they traveled north from the industrial district, retracing the route they had taken earlier. The moment they passed through the gate, they were attacked again, confirming that the path they had cleared had already been overrun by a fresh wave of Paradox Pokémon.

”Since we’re going to keep fighting anyway, we might as well head straight for our destination.”

They continued northwest toward a hydroelectric power plant designated as a secured military installation. Along the way, they planned to stop at government offices, corporate facilities, and other locations likely to contain servers, gathering as much valuable data as they could before reaching the power plant.

When they arrived at their first destination, a server facility belonging to a major social media company, they found the servers completely destroyed. The same was true of the other facilities along their route, each bearing signs of battles far more devastating than anything they had encountered in the city. Whatever had happened here, these servers and data centers had clearly been targeted.

Their next stop was a government office containing backup servers, but Alex immediately noticed something strange.

The surrounding Paradox Pokémon didn’t react to the sounds of the nearby battle or rush toward the disturbance as they normally did. Instead, they moved through the area in a coordinated pattern, circling the building and periodically changing direction.

They seemed to be... patrolling.