In the dining hall of Kanto's Silver Network hub, hundreds of members had gathered around long tables to hear Alex's final address as the hub's leader. Most of the faces staring at him were unfamiliar to him, as they belonged to members stationed there rather than people he had worked with personally. Nevertheless, they had all come to witness the passing of leadership as Alex prepared to retire and leave the organization in the hands of his children.
"I didn't start this organization with pure intentions," Alex began. "I was a rabid dog who wanted a reason to kill while simultaneously needing an organization to passively earn contribution points. It worked out pretty well, and I got what I wanted out of it. Now, I'm retiring to an island somewhere you can't visit. Also, I'll be leaving this place in my kids' hands. If you have any problems with it, go pick a fight with them. I'm sure they'll be happy to entertain your concerns."
The crowd promptly averted their eyes from Lila and Veran, suddenly finding Alex's countenance at the front of the hall particularly interesting. The pair glanced around, clearly hoping someone would challenge them, but found none. They both had earned reputations for being just as rabid as their father, with the strength to back it up. Unsurprisingly, no one was eager to dispute their inheritance.
"That'll be all," Alex said before silently stepping down from the front.
A moment later, the crowd broke into rather awkward applause.
Alex had always been a hands-off leader, so there wasn't much loyalty to him personally. Most bounty hunters operated out of the Silver Network without having much contact with the leadership, so it couldn't really be helped. The few people he had met during the organization's early days had either left for greener pastures or been given bases of their own. As a result, most of the people gathered here had little personal connection to him.
After all, the main hub primarily served as a training ground. Once the bounty hunters graduated, they had little reason to stay. Instead, they were encouraged to venture out into the world and pick fights.
Lila and Veran then stepped forward, doing just as poor a job as their father at getting the crowd excited while explaining the leadership changes across the base. It wasn't until the extravagant Master ranked dinner began that the crowd finally cheered.
"That was horrible," Vera said with a sigh, shaking her head.
"We're bounty hunters, not public speakers. Otherwise, we would've joined the League as bureaucrats," Alex said, taking an uncaring bite of his steak.
"I can't imagine it," Rhea said, chewing like a hamster with her mouth full. "Alex sitting at a desk all day, typing away at a computer? Yeah, no."
The other girls tried to picture it but came to the same conclusion. Alex simply wasn't cut out for desk work or public speaking. They could, however, easily imagine themselves working as Alex's secretaries, especially since they already had the outfits from their roleplaying sessions to keep things interesting.
Once dinner concluded, Alex and all the girls teleported to Obsidian Crown Island, where they slept through the night before holding a meeting the next day. Just because they had passed on their responsibilities at the Silver Network didn't mean they were no longer busy. If anything, they were busier than ever, striving to reach Master rank while maintaining their assets in both this world and the medieval world.
With the sudden increase in their supply of Master ranked meat, thanks to the medieval world, the girls now had all the resources they needed to reach Master rank. This was why they had accelerated their plans to leave the Silver Network in their children's hands.
"How are the bases doing?" Alex asked, opening the meeting.
"Pretty goood~" Nyx replied. "They're all at full capacity and even have waiting lists. With our growing popularity across the regions, plenty of trainers come to us for training even if they have no plans of becoming bounty hunters. Some very wealthy trainers even pay a premium to send their children to us for the best education and practical experience."
"They're all in good hands," Lyra continued. "Every base leader is at least Champion rank and has a solid team of subordinates. Each base also has a few Champion ranked nests to defend against the annual Pokémon floods. The graduates are doing well, too, with skills that put them above the average trainer."
"The defenses are up to date," Rhea reported. "Even a dozen Master ranked trainers would have a hard time surviving the automated defenses. By the time we arrived as reinforcements, the attackers would probably already be wiped out. The Arclight cannons are no joke."
"They're fully stocked and their finances are in order," Celise explained. "Management problems have also decreased significantly now that the newly trained managers have found their footing. I barely need to coordinate them anymore and only have to check their paperwork every once in a while."
"The supply depots are doing just as well," Maris said. "Hawke Delivery is performing well financially in every region, ensuring our bounty hunters have all the equipment they need. The depots are also well defended by bounty hunters, whom they hire as bodyguards whenever criminal activity slows down and there's less work available."
"Excellent," Alex said with a smile.
He was pleased that they had finally established a base in every region. Their growing influence had earned them favor with the League, thanks to their significant impact on crime rates. In return, they received a substantial number of contribution points, equivalent to the taxes paid by a single Master ranked trainer.
Unfortunately, those earnings weren't enough to cover the contributions required for himself and an organization with so many Champions and an even larger number of Elite ranked trainers. Still, the Silver Network remained a profitable venture that steadily added to their wealth rather than draining it. It also gave Alex access to a ready-made army in the event of a war. He wouldn't even need to organize them himself, as the bounty hunters only had to accept missions from the Silver Network to be called into action.
"How's the Pokémetal mining going?" Alex asked, turning to Sable.
"Production has been pretty steady, and having this is incredibly convenient," Sable said, showing off the golden ring Hoopa had given her, which she wore as a necklace. "I can mine as much as I want and come and go as I please. As for the mining itself, I'm halfway through excavating the mountain range northwest of Rocky Ridge. By the way, the little Ditto has already finished building five Kanto settlements. She's a hard worker, that one. I send her my spare ore every once in a while."
"Do you need any help?"
"Not unless you want to risk it. Pokémetal is incredibly valuable, right? Any miner with even a little curiosity would be tempted to sell us out to the League for a better deal."
"Do you think it's worth the risk, Rhea?" Alex asked, turning to her.
"Nope! No way! Not happening!" Rhea replied, frantically shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I'm not letting anyone get their grubby little hands on my precious Pokémetal! I've already finished building the arena at the caldera and am working on the island's automated defenses now. These precision machines take forever to build, so Sable's mining speed is more than enough to keep me supplied! There's absolutely no reason to risk bringing in outsiders!"
Alex nodded, satisfied with the mining progress. Hoopa had been a major game changer, allowing them to stay productive even while enjoying their retirement on a remote island. Their recent discovery of the medieval world had also proven to be a lucrative venture, bringing in some substantial benefits already.
"Alright, how's the medieval world doing?" Alex asked.
"The output is roughly one Master ranked giant Pokémon per year of our time here, along with half a dozen smaller ones," Vera replied. "The ecology has stabilized after the changes I implemented, so I'm expecting a slight increase over the next few years. The Legendaries have remained silent, content to defend their own territories. I think they're fine with how we've been managing the land."
"The crops are growing well," Kaia added. "I've had to import high-quality fertilizer from here, but I only need to do that once a year, so it's not a big deal. Thanks to the outposts, the berry orchards are doing well, too. They're supplying plenty of young Pokémon and helping them grow faster. We should see a noticeable increase in output by next year."
"The satellites are working fine," Nyx said. "I was worried a Minior swarm or Rayquaza might mess with them, but we haven't had any problems over the past year. We'll still need to replace them or perform maintenance every decade or so, though. Time moves much faster over there, so they wear out faster, too."
The mood grew more serious as everyone turned to Rhea, who had the most to report. After all, her responsibilities extended well beyond maintaining their defenses.
"I've had to deal with a few pirates," Rhea said, bringing up an image of pirate ships burning beneath the fire of Arclight cannons mounted on aerial drones. "I don't think it'll take long for people to discover us. Maybe a few decades at most before their civilization gets annoying enough to become a problem. We'll need to figure out how to keep them in line if that happens."
She swiped to another image before continuing.
"We also need to keep an eye on the other regions, not just Galar. They've been sending out exploration ships, and some keep stumbling across our territory. Other than that, the defenses are working great. We haven't had a single survivor wash up on our shores."
"What about the research into combining technology with magic?" Alex asked.
"You mean magitech?" Rhea asked with a grin. "I've been working with that old man Alfred to get it going, and things are looking promising, but we've hit a wall. The problem is that the Infinity Energy in this world is different from the kind found in the other world. The only place I can properly study it is over there, and even if we complete the research, we might still need locals to build them instead of automating everything."
She paused before continuing.
"The main problem is that you need to inject intent into Infinity Energy to make it move on its own. Machines don't have intent, so we're having trouble getting them to work without a Mage. We should consider building an actual kingdom or at least supporting a magic tower on the mainland. That way, we could have all the automated magitech we want!"
"It's worth considering," Alex said before turning to Nyx. "How's the research into combining meditation and breathing techniques going?"
"Horrible," Nyx replied. "None of the combinations theorized by the artificial intelligence I developed with Rotom have produced any worthwhile results beyond optimizing the individual techniques. We can't find a good way to combine the two, even with black magic involved. The safety parameters keep triggering whenever the subject needs to control their emotions. That old man might have been right when he said it was impossible."
"That's fine," Alex said. "It was a gamble anyway. I'd be more than satisfied with a scanner that could determine the best meditation and breathing techniques for each person."
"That we can do," Nyx replied with a smile.
The discussions continued, covering Alvera's admission to the Lightning Tower and the solid plan they now had for anyone interested in going on an adventure of their own. The goal would be to grow stronger by fighting powerful Pokémon, Knights, and Mages, giving the girls and children who were interested an opportunity to test themselves. Best of all, they could spend a little over a month in the real world and gain an entire year's worth of experience in the medieval world.
Meanwhile, Alex turned his attention back to Rhea's problem with the need for Mages to operate magitech and came up with a relatively simple solution.
Perhaps it was time to visit the Isle of Armor and see if anyone lived there.
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SPOILER WARNING!!!
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