Alex arrived at the coordinates Nyx had sent him after half a day. There were some encounters along the way, but nothing a few Thunder Waves couldn't handle. True to the report, the place was ideal for Pokémon like the Zubat line to thrive.

The cliffs loomed high above, jagged and narrow, with countless cave mouths scattered across the rock face. Some were little more than cracks in the stone, others wide enough to house a truck. The air was damp and heavy with the distinct smell of guano. The ground near the lower caves was stained with dark blotches and littered with small bones and broken shells.

As Alex stepped closer, a low rhythmic chittering echoed from deep within the tunnels. He glanced up and caught sight of movement along the upper cliffs, shifting shadows clinging to the stone like a living curtain. 

Hundreds of Zubats and Golbats hung upside down in clusters, their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Occasionally, a Crobat glided silently between cave mouths, scanning the area with sharp twitching ears.

Despite the numbers, the nest was eerily quiet, as if the entire cliffside was holding its breath. The only sounds were the distant rustle of wings and the faint screeches from deeper within.

Suddenly, a wave of screeches rang out from the caves, followed by the sudden rush of beating wings. Dozens turned to hundreds as Zubats, Golbats, and a few Crobats poured into the open air like a swirling tornado of blue and violet.

Alex had accidentally alerted the nest. 

Zubats, being highly sensitive scouts, detected his presence early on. As a result, the entire nest reacted, and a large swarm of them flew out from the caves toward his position. 

Realizing his mistake, Alex prepared himself for the incoming fight as he released his Pokémon.

"Defensive formation. Kommo-o, Clanging Scales. Gardevoir, Expanding Force with Espeon."

The Pokémon huddled around Alex in a tight formation, then alternated using Protect to shield themselves from the constant waves of attacks.

Kommo-o received Decorate from Alcremie before he hunched his back and vibrated his scales at a resonant frequency, amplified by his Dragon-type energy. 

The resulting shockwave pushed back the tide of Zubats. Many of them were struck down, falling from the sky and littering the ground, either fainted or dead. However, their sheer numbers helped blunt the full force of the shockwave for the rest.

Meanwhile, Gardevoir and Espeon prepared by using Calm Mind and setting up Psychic Terrain, boosting their power and reinforcing their psychic moves.

Then, in perfect sync, they unleashed Expanding Force, blasting the majority of the swarm against the cliffside, effectively neutralizing them. There were still over a hundred who managed to escape the blast but their numbers had been decimated. 

Those who managed to survive quickly turned and fled.

"Don't let them escape," Alex commanded. "Crobat, hunt down the Elites and bring them back."

The Crobat pair blitzed through the fleeing Zubats and Golbats with Quick Attack, homing in on the Elite ranked Crobats attempting to escape. 

A quick Hypnosis sent the fleeing Crobats plummeting from the sky, and Alex's Crobats continued their pursuit of the others.

Meanwhile, the rest of Alex's Pokémon spread out, hunting down as many of the remaining Pokémon as possible. 

Clawitzer, in particular, was having a great time shooting down the evasive, erratic Zubat with precise Water Pulses. This was exactly what she had been training for.

"A preemptive attack would've yielded better results," Alex muttered. "Too bad you can't exactly sneak up on a Crobat nest. Now, I don't know if there is enough to justify completing the request."

Nest hunting was complicated business, especially when the request involved stopping the attacks around Route 10. Anyone could simply submit the request as completed by handing over a few hundred Zubats, Golbats, and Crobats, but whether that would be enough to stop the attacks remained uncertain.

For all Alex knew, there was another Crobat nest in the area responsible for the attacks. Hopefully, Nyx was right and the majority of the nest was enough to justify the completion of the request.

A few minutes later, the Pokémon gathered around, retrieving the corpses without being told. They were used to hunting nests by now and understood that the corpses, even weaker ones, were spoils of their battle.

Alex collected them, taking particular note of the Crobats his own had captured.

There were three of them at Elite rank, and they had simply fainted. Alex locked them in Poké Balls to sell. Credits could be earned through captures as well as missions, so this might bring in some extra income from their hunt.

"How many managed to escape?" he asked Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir (A few dozen managed to escape along with an Elite Crobat)," she replied. 

"Gardevoir (They went that way)," she added, pointing northwest, deeper into the wilds.

"Arcanine, can you track it down?"

"Arc! Arc!" he replied before dashing off in the direction Gardevoir had indicated.

"Send the attack team to follow him," Alex commanded, before mounting Hydreigon and storing the rest.

Gardevoir rode on Altaria as she commanded the attack team to follow Arcanine's trail. They weaved through the mountainside like a pack of wolves hunting prey.

Alex, meanwhile, did not like the direction they were heading. They were moving deeper into Champion nest territory, farther into the wilds. There would come a point where they would encounter nothing but Champion ranked nests, so he estimated they would hunt for no more than an hour.

An hour later, Alex heard a massive roar coming from the exact direction they were heading. It was still quite far from their location, but at their current pace, it was clear they would encounter the source within minutes.

Suddenly, their course shifted north before turning east. It seemed the escaping Crobat had been frightened by the roar and made a sharp turn toward Route 10, much to Alex's relief.

He could fight a Champion ranked nest, but he was not fully confident yet. He remembered how much collateral damage a single Giga Impact from a Snorlax could cause, and it was enough to sweep him away. He simply was not strong enough to witness a Champion ranked fight up close yet.

They continued their hunt for a few more minutes until Alex received a telepathic message from Gardevoir.

'Arcanine caught up and has restrained the Crobat,' she reported.

When Alex arrived at the site of the battle, he was just in time to see Arcanine proudly sitting on the knocked-out Crobat, panting heavily.

Alex returned the Pokémon before giving Arcanine an affectionate rub.

"Good job, buddy," Alex said, then captured the Crobat and asked Arcanine to teleport them to the Pokémon Center in Lavender City.

The mission was complete, with nearly a thousand Zubats, Golbats, and Crobats defeated, along with four Elite ranked Crobats captured alive. One way or another, this would be lucrative for Alex.

At the Pokecenter request desk, he submitted the mission report along with all the Pokémon he had killed or captured. As expected, he did not get paid right away due to the conditions specified in the mission details.

"Your submission has been logged, but we will need to investigate further before releasing the payout," the clerk said, handing Alex back his license and spoils. "In the meantime, would you like to take another mission?"

"No, thanks. I think I'm done for the day," Alex replied, retrieving his license and spoils.

Then he made a quick stop at the butcher's for an exchange before teleporting back to the farm, arriving just as Vera returned, escorted by Persian and Audino.

"How'd the Chief breeder licensing exam go?" Alex asked.

"I think I have it in the bag. The results will come out in a few days," she replied, though she looked guilty for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"Nothing, it's just… I'm going to miss the farm."

"Well, you can always come back and visit."

"Yeah… I'll be sure to call."

They released their Pokémon before settling in for dinner. Alex had been running around all day, so he was starving, while Vera had gone through a rigorous examination that left her brain feeling melted by the end.

The rest of the girls soon joined them for the early dinner, settling into a far less awkward silence compared to the previous night. Still, the girls tried their best to ignore the elephant in the room until Talia made an observation that broke the silence.

"Vera, you're looking a bit pale and fatigued. Are you alright? Would you like me to do a check-up on you?"

"No, it's okay," Vera replied rather quickly. "I just jogged from Saffron City where my examination took place. I should be fine by tomorrow."

"Alright, but please take it easy and let me know if you start feeling worse. Fatigue can catch up faster than expected, especially after a long trip and a stressful exam. Rest well tonight, alright?"

"Thanks, I will," Vera replied with an appreciative smile.

Suddenly, Nyx shot up, turned on the projector, and played a video of Vermilion City engulfed in flames.

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