"Celise," Alex said over the phone after successfully defending the valley from the flood.
"How did it go, Alex?" she asked, already expecting the call.
"It went well. We're ready to have the base built as planned."
"Are you absolutely sure? Once I make the call, we're contractually locked in. There's no turning back after the credits are spent."
"Yes, I'm sure. By this time next year, the home team will be strong enough to scare off most of the flood, while the walls keep us from being overrun. They should also be able to defend their nests better."
"Alright, I'll make the call."
Alex hung up and let out a long sigh. Not too long ago, he had been just a simple MMA fighter. Now he was a billionaire, spending money without a care. He never imagined he would be that type of person before he died.
In a way, he was right. He would never have become that type of person, since, well, he died. Now, with a new life, he was able to reach where others strive in less time than it took him to reach Champion rank.
Speaking of Champion rank, he was close. He could feel it through his bond with Hydreigon, Raticate, and Arcanine. He was at the cusp of crossing that threshold and reaching a rank less than 1% of the population would ever achieve in their lives.
He would have already reached it had it not been for his hierarchy's loot distribution. At the same time, Raticate and Arcanine would have been years away from reaching Champion rank, rather than being on the same level as Hydreigon.
As for the rest of the away team, every member had reached Elite rank, all the way down to Ditto, the most recent recruit. Each of them also had at least one Expert-ranked move, with the exception of Tsareena, Weezing, the Maushold, and Espeon, the youngest of the group. They were close, but not quite there yet.
Ditto had even managed to achieve Master-rank on his Transform with Priority +4. The improvement let it use the move faster than most other non-defensive techniques, even edging out Protect, which naturally carried a Priority of +4. Unfortunately, it still did nothing for its ability after transformation.
In terms of relative power, Raticate, Arcanine, and Hydreigon were just shy of Champion rank. Clawitzer, Forretress, Frosmoth, Kommo-o, Dusknoir, Steelix, Ceruledge, Rotom, Altaria, Alcremie, Aegislash, Togekiss, Crobat, and Gardevoir occupied the upper half of the Elite rank. Meanwhile, Tsareena, Weezing, Gyarados, Milotic, Wishiwashi, Zoroark, Maushold, Espeon, and Ditto were in the lower half of the Elite rank.
The home team, on the other hand, had all reached Elite rank as well, except for their children and those who focused solely on their jobs, such as the Combee and the Cinccinos.
"Alright," Alex announced to the home team in the territory while having Gardevoir telepathically spread his message. "Excellent work fending off the flood. You let quite a lot of Elites slip through, but it's your first time and you haven't spent enough time in the territory, so it's understandable. Next year, I expect better defenses. Are we clear?"
A cacophony of roars answered Alex's demands. They had done their best, but it wasn't enough, so they would do better next time.
"This will be your home from this point on," Alex continued. "I will have your children sent here by tomorrow so you can start building up your nests. I'll also occasionally visit to check up on you and make sure you all have enough food. Lastly, there will be construction crews coming and going. As long as they don't come near you, I want you to leave them alone. Got that?"
They roared in response before Alex nodded with satisfaction.
He had to assert himself when he needed something done. Pokémon were intelligent, but they were still just animals. Allow them a small amount of leeway and they would push their boundaries. Keep the leash tight and they would fight back. A healthy balance was always best.
Once he was satisfied, he stored his gains and the away team, then teleported back to the farm. He passed by Nyx's place and deposited the captured Pokémon for sale before heading back into the mansion, where his daughter was waiting.
"Daddy!" Alvera screamed when she saw Alex enter the room. She ran toward him with her arms outstretched, expecting to be picked up.
"My baby girl!" Alex shouted back as he scooped her up, tossed her just high enough to brush the ceiling, caught her, and then cradled her safely in his arms.
"I missed you," she said, burying her face in his neck.
"I missed you too. Have you been a good girl for Mommy?"
"Yes, I was a good girl," she said, turning to Vera. "Right, Mommy?"
"Yes, she was a very good girl."
Alvera looked like Vera, with Alex's dirty-blonde hair and deep black eyes. She was now five years old and would normally have already started school, but there were just enough people on the farm to justify her being homeschooled.
Vera didn't have much to do, since Talia had taken over her duties in helping Lina and Mira. She put her full focus on Alvera, while the girls helped where they could.
They discussed their options when it came to school and the special Elite school was briefly mentioned before being immediately rejected. She would turn cold if they tossed her away like that.
They also discussed putting her in school at Saffron City but that was rejected as well given Alex's occupation. He hadn't forgotten about his scouts either so he didn't want to take the risk.
In the end, it was decided that they would start a school at the base once it was finished. They would hire single mothers, caretakers, and teachers to staff the school, allowing not only Alvera but also the children of struggling mothers to get a complete education. This way, she would be able to grow up safely.
"How's Mabosstiff doing?" Alex asked.
"He's doing better. He just needed some time to cope."
The child Mabosstiff was guarding had been about Alvera's age when they died. Since then, Mabosstiff, fearing a similar tragedy, had been on edge. It took Alvera tugging at his beard and ears to get the guard dog to calm down.
"That's good. Let me know if he shows the slightest sign of hostility toward you. I can feel his wariness growing around the other girls."
"Alright."
He needed time to recover from his trauma, and hopefully, seeing Alvera grow up healthy and happy would be enough.
Alex spent an hour playing with Alvera until she tired herself out from being tossed into the air over and over. Once she was asleep, he left and gathered his executive team to discuss their plans moving forward.
It was basically just Celise, Rhea, Nyx, and himself.
"How did the calls go, Celise?" Alex asked once they were in the meeting room.
"The construction has been scheduled. It won't take them longer than a week to gather materials and start breaking ground."
"Good. Anything else?"
"I was thinking of starting the recruiting process," Celise added.
"No," Alex said immediately. "There will be no recruiting until after I reach Champion rank."
"Why?" Nyx asked.
"Because I'm not legally allowed to conduct psychic evaluations yet."
Even as an Elite, there were restrictions. One of them was the authority to carry out psychic evaluations, an essential safeguard for trust and safety when forming an organization.
Alex had skirted the rule in the past only because his targets were going to die anyway, so legality had never been an issue. But doing it formally, as a requirement for employment, was an entirely different matter.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Nyx, any news?"
"People are starting to pay attention to the valley. They still think the prices are too high, but some have begun recruiting others to pool funds. They would have already bought it up if the League hadn't raised the price. Looks like we'll be having neighbors soon enough."
"Hopefully they're the type that respect boundaries and understand who's in charge. Rhea, do you have anything?"
"We need more bullets."
"You've been saying that in every meeting we've ever had." Nyx complained.
"Well, I still don't have enough bullets, so of course I'm going to keep saying it!" Rhea shot back.
"I'll look into it," Alex said. "I think it's time to get back out in the field and start collecting ammunition."
"The base on Cinnabar Island hasn't been found yet," Nyx pointed out. "Where are you going to be hunting for human supremacists?"
"I'm thinking of heading to the other regions."
"Are you sure, Alex?" Nyx asked, frowning. "There was that whole incident with Umbraline not long ago, and construction on the base has just begun. People are going to start asking questions about us. On top of that, you moved most of the Pokémon in charge of defense to the base, leaving the farm exposed during the transition."
"Umbraline has proven themselves trustworthy over the past few years. I've turned down plenty of their jobs and haven't received a single warning. The farm is safe. There are still plenty of Elites watching over it, along with Metagross and the Tri-Lock Defense Network. You'll be fine without me."
"Where are you going?" Celise asked. "You can't be so far away that it takes more than a day to return, and I remember Umbraline in Johto being hostile toward you."
"I was thinking the Hoenn region."
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