"Two ice creams, the most luxurious ones you've got."
In a quiet town, Jack stood in front of a local dessert shop and casually purchased two of the most expensive ice creams they had.
After receiving them, he turned and walked away. When no one was looking, he tossed one of the cones toward his own shadow.
Before it hit the ground, a small, clawed hand darted out from the darkness and snatched it cleanly into the shadow.
Having liquidated Willy and Mara's Pokémon and cleaned out Willy's hidden stash, Jack's account balance had soared to 110 million PokéDollars. That was more than enough reason to treat himself and Haunter to a luxurious dessert.
He took a bite of his own cone, savoring the matcha flavor as it melted in his mouth. His eyes narrowed as he started thinking about who his next agent would be.
Despite having dealt with three agents already—each ending in betrayal—Jack wasn't considered a traitor in the underground scene. The reason was simple: Jack never struck first. Every one of them betrayed him first.
His first agent was a control freak. He'd grown anxious about Jack's rapidly increasing strength and evasiveness, so he tried to manipulate him while selling him out for profit.
The second agent had been careless—he revealed too much and got himself caught by the police. Under pressure, he turned on Jack. The result? Jack wiped out the entire precinct, agent included.
That incident marked the beginning of the police's interest in the mercenary they'd nicknamed Ghost Fox. His bounty had been climbing ever since.
Then there was Willy—greedy, overconfident, and completely unaware of just how dangerous Jack was until it was far too late.
So, Jack wasn't worried about finding another agent. In fact, he knew many would be lining up, even willing to reduce their commission just to be part of his network.
Still, after three betrayals, Jack knew he had to be cautious. Constantly switching agents wasn't just inconvenient—it was a liability. The more frequently he changed handlers, the more suspicious and wary the good ones would become.
Thankfully, the Hunter's Guild site provided plenty of jobs to keep him busy in the meantime.
While Jack quietly scouted his next partner, the Pokémon Alliance had finally lost patience.
Two elite teams were dispatched, each led by elite-ranked trainers, tasked with tracking down the elusive Ghost Fox.
Officially, it was a search operation. In reality, both teams were simply waiting for Jack to show himself during a mission—then pounce.
Whoever captured him would receive the full bounty and Alliance honors.
But to the captains of these two teams—Ramil and Hideki Kusaka—the most valuable prize was something more: a chance to choose which elite division of the Alliance they could join.
The Alliance was massive but tightly structured, and its most prestigious departments were:
The Forest Rangers under Bruno.
The Pokémon Centers under Agatha.
The Special Police under Ice Queen Lorelei.
And the Investigators under Dragon Lance.
Both Ramil and Hideki had their sights set on Lance's Investigators. This mission was, essentially, a test for that qualification.
But not all tests are fair.
Ramil was a talented trainer, no doubt—but poor and without connections. That still made him exceptional by normal standards. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become an elite-level trainer at all.
Hideki Kusaka, on the other hand, came from the powerful Kusaka family of the Kanto region. Though he wasn't the most talented in his lineage, his name alone opened doors.
The contrast was most obvious in their team rosters.
Each squad was allowed four members plus a captain.
Ramil's team consisted of average trainers—no specialists, no elite breakthroughs, just dependable but unremarkable allies.
Hideki's team? A psychic, a ghost-type specialist, a water-type combat expert, and a tracker who had just broken through to elite level.
That meant Kusaka's team had two elite trainers, including himself.
The gap was painfully obvious. Most of Ramil's team had already resigned themselves to playing supporting roles. But Ramil wasn't ready to give up.
He still had hope—but that hope came with fear. Would any of his teammates sell him out to Kusaka? The chances were slim, but in this game, even a slim chance could be fatal. Ramil had to watch his back.
Meanwhile, Jack, unaware of the hunt underway, completed another task with ease—using his signature stealth tactics to avoid detection.
The moment his mission results were uploaded, Hideki Kusaka's team sprang into action, moving like sharks sensing blood in the water.
Hideki was confident. With a tracking expert on his team and a surplus of strength, once they narrowed down the general location of the Ghost Fox, it would only be a matter of time before they cornered him.
What Jack didn't know was that the Kusaka family had actually suppressed public pursuit of him—deliberately keeping the Alliance from making aggressive moves.
Why? They were waiting for him to become infamous. Then they'd unleash one of their own to defeat him in a high-profile operation, using Jack as a stepping stone to launch their heir into a leadership position.
The lives lost along the way? Police officers, mercs, trainers—just nobodies with no political weight. From the Kusaka family's perspective, dying to help their son advance in the world was an honor for the commoners.
It was brutal. But that's how power really worked.
And while Jack was blissfully unaware of the elite game being played behind the scenes, he had just found a promising new agent—and was about to reach out to negotiate.
If things worked out, this time, he might finally settle in with someone reliable.