572 CH45 (567), Police (15)

We were rather busy following the second interrogation of Dave, the ex-crime boss pretender, but by the end of the 34th month we managed to completely tie up the theft/kidnapping gang case. After getting everything we could out of Dave, we began raiding the new bases that we learned about.

Following that, all accounts related to the gang that we managed to uncover got blocked. All objects that we seized were identified and used as evidence before they got processed and turned into capital that was then allocated to a victim's fund.

As for any of the Pokemon that were rescued, they first got examined to determine the state of their physical and mental health, before any further steps were taken. Depending on the state of the Pokemon, they were handed over to certain facilities for treatment.

Naturally, their origins were investigated as well, and if they were registered to anyone, said individual got investigated to ensure that they actually cared for/about the Pokemon. I naturally got curious and asked for more information to see how the whole thing was handled.

From what I learned, if the individual was deemed unfit for a Pokmeon that went through such an experience, they got extra compensation from the victim's fund but were told that their Pokemon was already gone. The people who fell into this category were those who proved to be cold, callous, or hard to their Pokemon.

Meanwhile, the Pokemon related to such individuals were given three choices at the end of their treatment. First, they could be handed over to a Pokemon Park or Reservoir where they could live freely. Second, the alliance could introduce them to some potential trainers to see if they were interested in joining one of them, and finally, they could be released into the wild.

However, if they chose the last option, steps had to be taken to ensure that they did not go around creating problems for the alliance due to a grudge. Nothing harmful to the Pokemon, just some simple psychic blocks to ensure that their experience with Dave's gang got buried/numbed, along with a suggestion to not work against humanity/the alliance.

On the other hand, if the individual passed the assessment, they were informed that their Pokemon had been found and was currently in treatment. They were given permission to visit the Pokemon during the treatment process, and once the treatment was complete, they were allowed to bring the Pokemon back home.

Finally, the wild Pokemon were given pretty much the same options as the Pokemon with unsatisfactory human partners. Unfortunately, they could not be used against the criminals in the same way as the other Pokemon since they were "wild", so the only charge we could add through them was Pokemon abuse. Nonetheless, they still got the same treatment as all the other gang victims.

Anyway, that was pretty much how the assets and victims of the gang were handled. As for the criminals themselves, they were all swiftly brought to court where they got judged.

The ones that got off easier were sentenced to a few years in a correction facility, which was the equivalent of a prison with a few steps taken to ensure that the prisoners were productive during their stay and actually came out as "productive" members of society if possible.

They all received regular counseling sessions and were forced to actually work a few hours each day. The work they did was craft-related, so once they came out of "prison" they actually had the means to get a job in that craft if they wanted to. There were alliance-related shops/companies they could be hired by, so the criminal record detriment/excuse did not apply here.

The criminals that got a harder sentence had to do the same at a more secure prison. They had to stay there for much longer and their work could include hard labor as well depending on the severity of their sentence/crime. Meanwhile, the worst ones among them got sent to the border, which made the previous sentences look rather mild in comparison. Stella, Dave, and the enforcers belonged to this group.

Yes, we, or rather some alliance agents actually managed to discover and catch Stella along with the enforcer she took with her when she fled. They caught her within just 2 days of us passing on the news of her leaving our jurisdiction. That was extremely impressive since these could have been anywhere, which meant they had to have put out their feelers everywhere as well.

Honestly, the speed at which they did that either meant that they were that much better than our people, or that our side was just incompetent. I knew for a fact that my colleagues were not incompetent, so the agents had to have been really good, which showed the importance the alliance placed on capturing Stella.

Sadly, while capturing Stella in 2 days was really impressive, it still gave her enough time to put out a bounty on me, and since she handed in the reward upfront, the bounty could only be taken down by her. From what I heard that seemed to be the black market rules. Only the issuer could retract a paid bounty mission, and they actually had to do it without the effect of any supernatural energy/influence.

Apparently, it was a matter of maintaining the black market's reputation. Mr.Cameron was actually the one who called and told me all that. It seemed that they/the order had gone to the black market to have them rescind the bounty, but the best they managed, was to force them to let the bounty fade into the background, though it would remain active, which meant that criminals could still try to earn it.

Attempts to persuade Stella to retract the bounty in exchange for slight leniency failed since she knew that her verdict would be pretty bad either way due to all the stuff she had done. In Stella's words, her being able to drag a genius like me down with her was enough for her, so yeah.

Stella, along with her whole gang had been captured, judged, and shipped off. On the other hand, I now sported a 7.5 million Poke bounty, that would get paid out to the person who could prove that they had killed me. My head was now worth as much as a good Pokemon with 5-star potential.

I was honestly more annoyed than worried by the bounty. Such an amount while certainly attractive to most, would not really attract the attention of the people/trainers that could pose an actual threat to my well-being. The ones attracted by this amount of money would most likely pose no real risk unless they caught me off guard or an accident happened.

That did not mean that being attacked by them would not be annoying, because suddenly being attacked was quite annoying, especially since most decided to do it while I was eating. During the last week alone more than 4 people got arrested because they attacked me that way, and 17 people had been captured so far since the bounty had been issued.

Letting Hades/Gengar hang out inside my shadow proved to be a major boon considering the current situation. He was the one who captured all the attackers, and so far each assailant got a taste of his Hypnosis and Nightmare. For now, none of the would-be assassins required more effort on his part, due to all of them being pretty weak whether that be personally or the Pokemon they had.

Nonetheless, I really hoped that this would die down over the next month or two once the word spread that I was too tough a nut to crack. Otherwise, I might have to take a proper look into the black market, more specifically the bounty scene, to see whether I could "persuade" them to rescind the bounty.

The alliance or the order might not be able to justify starting something against the black market just for me, but I had no such problems. I did not know if any Master or even Legendary Class trainers were involved with the black market, though that did not seem impossible considering that they could put up some resistance against the order.

Their unwillingness to fall out with the black market could also be because they knew that criminals as well as crime would always exist and that the black market and the forces behind it acted as a form of regulator, forcing some form of order onto the crime scene.

However, that would not explain why they refrained from forcing the issue using superior might. Unless, the other side had the means to either resist, maybe even match our side, or they could be capable of causing a substantial amount of damage if pressed, making the issue not worth it.

Still, even if such patrons existed, I would have no scruples forcing my bounty issue with the market as long as anyone above the champion class was forced to stay put by the good side. The good side here referred to the Aura Guardian Order, the Alliance, and Professor Oak. Impressive really how a single individual was equal to two super "organizations".

Anyway, if that happened, I was confident that I could resist and escape any champion class trainer/individual who tried to deal with me, due to two simple reasons. My Pokemon were already strong enough to give me such confidence and I had Utopia.

Worst case, I still had some champion class trainers on my side who would be willing to step up to help me even if the previously mentioned Giants decided to keep watching. Kinji was a bona fide champion class trainer who would definitely help me. Misty had not become one yet, but I knew that she could hold back one of them if she had to, and just like with Kinji I was sure that she would definitely come to my help.

Moreover, unlike Kinji, Misty had the Williams family behind her, and even if only her immediate family supported her, that still pulled two champion-class trainers to my side. Aside from Kinji and Misty, I was still rather close to Uncle Roger, who was a champion-class trainer as well, though I was not sure if he could help due to his position with the Navy.

Uncle Jacques was pretty close to being a champion class individual, so he could help too. Still, in his case, I was not absolutely sure if he would be willing to step in, though he might not have a choice if Weiss decided to get involved. Unfortunately, that was certainly something Weiss would do if she learned that I decided to challenge the black market, even if she was currently too "weak" to make a true impact.

Actually, I was confident that most of my close friends would react like that, which was something I'd rather avoid since I was afraid that they might get hurt or worse if it came down to it. Honestly, the dilemma I was currently considering in my deliberations was enough to illustrate why the order and even the alliance were reticent to deal with the black market.

This was also why I kept the bounty issue to myself for now. Neither my parents nor any of my friends knew about my black market bounty, at least as far as I knew, and I was hoping it would stay like that since I was pretty sure I would not like the headache that would follow that revelation.

Anyway, where was I before I got derailed by the bounty matter? Oh, yeah, the 34th month passed on Kyoday, two days ago, and today I was starting my first workday of the 35th month. The 34th month had been quite busy, but Detective Monroe already told me that their cases usually did not develop to that extent.

In her words, she wanted to lower my expectations for the work we would be doing during the new month. She and Detective Loneson made sure I knew that my first case with the unit was an exception, not the norm. Not that I needed it since I knew that not every case was connected to a gang or criminal ring.

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