Roughly a year after Alex experienced his first real flood, the second flood came around. It allowed him to earn enough credits to build the base. However, he wasn't ready yet, since he wanted to earn more credits from this gold mine that appeared only once a year.
On top of that, he hadn't earned enough cash to fulfill Rhea and Celise's needs, so he decided to keep waiting. He put in the effort to hunt for more bounties, but he needed 500 million Pokédollars, which was simply too significant unless he picked a fight with the other Underworld organizations.
He was already in hot water with one and had a predatory relationship with another, so he didn't want to add to his plate. He was, however, forced to pick off certain human supremacists in exchange for cash by Umbraline, but he didn't mind the request considering his need for more cash anyway.
Apart from Umbraline's requests, he also targeted those Nyx would suggest he hunt, which were just average Elite trainers who thought they were hot shit. Occasionally, he would even hunt for nests in the region that paid enough to justify the effort. It wasn't much, but it was honest work.
Another year went by, and Alex profited from the flood again, earning an extra 50 million credits after the base was built and paid for in case of any emergency purchases. Since he didn't plan on buying more land, he had more than enough for any emergencies for now.
He was, however, going to wait one more year since he didn't make enough cash again. There simply weren't enough bounties that interested him, unlike targets like Gravik, who could get him 100 million Pokédollars from one bounty.
A third year passed as another flood rolled in, earning Alex the needed cash by selling the Pokémon he captured. It was a poor use of resources, but a valid one nonetheless. Not to mention, he would likely pay his future employees in cash instead of credits, so it made sense to have a surplus above the expenditure.
His Pokédollars now numbered in the billions, a significant sum that could build an entire city. But it was ultimately insignificant, since Alex didn't need what Pokédollars could buy. He was approaching Champion rank, so his primary currency was credits. Still, he had more than enough to pay thousands of employees for years to come.
He was finally ready to endure the cost of the base from this point on. However, he wanted to make sure his defenses held first before committing an entire year to build it, only to later find out it was easily destroyed. So he paid for the wall to be built, which stretched in a half circle from one end of the valley's mountain to the other, completely enclosing the valley and forcing the flood to avoid the location.
He planned to have his Pokémon do a test defense while allowing them and their many children to start up a nest. Yes, many of them had children to start nests with, which would populate the Pokémon habitat. It had been three years since then, after all.
So they trained extra hard while staying at the habitat area and defending it from any Pokémon that would come to pick a fight. Not that there were many in the first place. It was mostly stray Elites that wanted to bypass the wall and ended up landing in the middle of ten very protective Pokémon.
Like that, another year passed until finally the fifth flood came around on the fourth year after the first real flood.
"You've all been training for this and have lived here for close to a year now, so I'm expecting great things. But I want you all to stay safe most of all. If you can't hold on, retreat to the lake. Alright?" Alex encouraged, before receiving some grunts in reply.
He then retreated to the lake, where he and the away team were acting as observers in case they got swamped by the flood.
He turned and looked around at the 10-meter-tall solid wall. Its base was 5 meters thick and tapered to 2 meters at the top, reducing material use while maintaining stability. It was a marvelous sight that wrapped around his entire property, shielding it from the northern wilderness. It reached all the way to the mountain slopes on either side of the valley, with its height increasing to prevent the flood from slipping in.
There had been battles around the walls since their construction due to stray Elites attempting to pass through. Fortunately, the walls held firm with barely any damage, as stronger Pokémon usually just jumped over, while weaker ones were too wary of the aura released by Alex's home team.
The view of the walls was blocked by the forest Alex had decided to keep around. He figured it would help reduce the panic of any Pokémon that managed to make it into the habitat. This would allow his Pokémon to hunt rather than clash with intruders.
Alex heard a rumble coming from the north that resembled a deep growl, increasing in intensity every second. The ground began to shake, accompanied by the sight of Flying-type Pokémon fleeing south. The flood was finally here.
A resounding crash echoed from the very center of the wall before the rumbling seemed to surround it.
Suddenly, Pokémon ranging from Expert to Elite rank began leaping over the wall to escape the chaos.
As predicted, they calmed down once they made it over the wall due to the thick trees, which provided a sense of safety. This gave the home team the leeway to hunt as they pleased.
They targeted the strong ones first while allowing those that fled to escape. Their purpose was to reduce the population of wild Pokémon in the territory rather than to prevent all Pokémon from heading south.
The secondary defensive line, filled to the brim with Rhea's turrets, would ensure no Pokémon ever touched the base, so it was fine to let a few pass through. The most important objective of the home team was to dampen the momentum of the flood and prevent the base from being overrun.
The last thing Alex wanted was for his home team to be overwhelmed. He didn't want them to fight the flood head-on, after all. He wanted them to declare their territory and handle any intruders that managed to make it inside.
After a while, a few Pokemon managed to pass through the forested area as they rushed south heading for Alex and what should be the second defensive line. There weren't many but they were all Elite ranked which would be a significant waste of ammunition for Rhea.
Without prompting, Gardevoir sent the attack team to intercept, while the defensive team spread out to prevent them from escaping south. Alex followed along as he captured the Elites. He might as well make some more money while he was at it.
They kept their defense up for hours until the flood finally passed, leaving them with the simple task of cleaning up the corpses and repairing any damage.
Throughout the fight, Alex managed to capture a hundred Elites and quite a number of Expert ranked Pokémon. He had made less than he would have through fishing, but it was enough to not have to worry about meat from now on. He even made enough to earn 20 million credits every year, so long as the floods continued.
The forest was devastated from the clash and would likely require care to recover. It wasn't such a big deal, considering all that was required was a few days' use of Grassy Terrain.
The wall managed to survive but had plenty of cracks that needed mending, as well as gouges that needed filling. It was another minor fix. Steelix could mold the wall back to its pristine state with some care.
Alex then toured the outside of the wall, where he had dug pits just before the structure and found them filled with corpses ready for sorting.
"I guess this plan worked out quite well."
Alex figured he could place pits right before the wall to "harvest" Pokémon meat, and his plan had succeeded. He could use this meat to feed his Pokémon's nest, saving him from having to spend extra on supplies.
This meant he was ready to have the base built, as their defenses would be able to hold up. Unfortunately, his presence was still required whenever a flood rolled around, since the home team couldn't stop all the Elite ranked Pokémon from reaching the second defensive line.
They would have to spend crystals to be able to defend the farm every time a flood rolled around, which was not an expense Alex was willing to take. Move crystals were quite in demand, after all, considering how popular guns were now to trainers.
Still, the time was right to have the base built. They had 70 million credits as emergency funds, absurd amounts of cash to pay employees, a home team that would guarantee the base's defenses, and plans that had been perfected for years.
It was finally time for Alex to order the base to be built.
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