Alex didn't waste any time once Iris agreed to become their teleporter. He brought her to the Psychic Gym in Saffron City, signed as her guarantor, and secured the license.
Being a guarantor meant he was directly liable for any criminal acts she committed. It was the same system that allowed children to own psychic Pokémon under their parents without being scrutinized or having their Pokémon taken away.
Of course, she still needed to undergo a psychic evaluation, but she managed to pass without a problem.
They headed to the fourth floor afterwards, where Iris taught all her Pokémon Teleport. Then they headed back to the base.
For the next month, Iris had her Pokémon practice Teleport continuously to raise their proficiency.
Morgan noticed the change in Iris's schedule and realized she had lost a teleporter. She never knew teleporters could be trained before Elite rank as long as a Champion signed as their guarantor. It was a waste to lose her, but ultimately inconsequential. She would just have to train one from scratch once she reached Champion rank.
She didn't bother confronting Iris as it was pointless. For one, Alex was likely watching, so any attempt at contact would draw suspicion. For another, she saw no realistic way to convince Iris to stay loyal. Maybe, if Iris had still been part of her group, there could have been a chance to salvage the relationship. But now, there simply wasn't.
She had investigated Iris's group before she left and found one of her direct subordinates bullying her, so that bridge had been burned from the start.
Meanwhile, Alex took Iris out on trips throughout Kanto with her Pokémon. Now that they had learned Teleport, they could start saving locations to memory so they could return in the future.
It took a while as their Teleport range was still short, so they couldn't jump straight to each destination. But over the month, they managed to visit all the bases Maris had across Kanto. With that, Iris's training as a teleporter was officially complete.
Once he was confident she could handle the role, he handed her off to Vera and called a meeting to check on the base's progress. This included all the girls including Vera, Kaia, Celise, Talia, Lina, Mira, and even Iris.
"It's been a month," Alex said. "How are we doing?"
"Everything is within expectations," Celise answered. "The base is fully operational, with all facilities staffed and open to employees and their families. This includes the grocery store, the clothing store, shops, food stalls, and other necessities. Amenities like the gym, pool, and shooting range are already seeing constant use."
"The education program is officially underway. It was decided that instead of a traditional school system, each teacher would oversee a group of up to twenty students and provide tailored tutoring and guidance. Progress and workload are determined by automated assessments, and students who pass the standardized regional exams at any major city will still qualify for higher-education admission."
"Everyone has settled into their respective roles and been given a rundown on the base, including boundaries. Satisfaction levels were low at the start, but they peaked after the announcement of the base's teleporter, although there were complaints about undergoing a psychic evaluation every time they return."
"I can't do anything about that," Alex said. "For all we know, someone might get mind-controlled while on vacation. A small inconvenience like that shouldn't matter, and it shows we take security seriously."
"Work has gotten significantly easier now that they've gotten comfortable. We hardly need to do anything for daily maintenance," Vera added. "All we really have to do is monitor them and make sure they aren't doing anything suspicious."
All the girls nodded along while Rhea wore an irritated look.
"All of you have it so easy since you're just dealing with subordinates, but I have to handle people who think they're experts. Sure, maybe they are, but the little shits won't listen to me since they keep insisting their way is the best," Rhea complained. "Can't you hire a manager to replace me? I want to go back to working on my babies, not babysit these ones."
"Celise?"
"I can send someone to take charge, but it'll be difficult to tell if they're doing the work properly since we don't have a generalist who can tell the difference."
Alex considered it and decided to give the professionals the same level of autonomy as Rhea. It would be a good way to test their loyalty and work ethic; they were still new and, ultimately, easily replaceable.
"Let's go with your suggestion, Celise, and give them a bit of freedom," Alex decided. "If they're genuinely passionate about their work, support them and give them the same level of resources as Rhea. But I want them under strict surveillance. The second they do anything questionable, we'll get rid of them."
"Metagross," Alex called out. "Keep a close eye on them for the next year or two and get a feel for them as people. "
"Anything else?" Alex asked as he looked around the room.
"Um…" Nyx said, checking her device. "We're running out of money."
Alex's eyes widened at that particular bit of information. They had billions in pokédollars and two hundred million in credits. How the hell were they running out of money?
"I ran the numbers based on the bounty hunters' progress, and our entire stockpile of Elite rank meat will be gone by the end of the year. That includes what we got from the flood six months ago. We could supplement with credits, but we still wouldn't be able to sustain the expenditure until they move out and start hunting. Too many of them were at the low end of Expert rank when they joined. And if they bring in more recruits once they leave, we'll be strapped for meat and credits again."
"In terms of floods, how many do we need to keep up with the expenditure?"
"Three floods per year," Nyx replied.
Alex felt a headache coming on. That was definitely too much. He would have to hunt three to five Champion ranked nests per year to support that expenditure, and he hadn't even hunted one yet.
"Lina, any suggestions?" Alex asked.
"We could lower the amount of Elite ranked meat and replace it with alternatives," Lina suggested. "Right now, I believe we're overfeeding both the humans and Pokémon with meat. I can rebalance their diet so they have just enough nutrition to maintain growth. I'd need more Elite rank honey, Elite rank Moomoo Milk, and premium berries to compensate."
"Vera, Kaia?"
"Vespiquen has been producing more honey ever since we moved here and the Combee started harvesting in the area, so I can have her increase production," Vera said. "I can also look into replacing the Pokémon's diet with more Pokéblocks, although I'd need to spend credits to acquire the ingredients. As for milk, only Lina's Miltank produces it. We might need a specialized breeder to guarantee quality."
"The premium berries won't be an issue since we have more than enough space to grow food for everyone," Kaia added.
"How much can you cut down on meat while maintaining stable growth, Lina?"
"About half, with growth dropping by roughly 10%."
Alex's eyes widened again.
"We've been overconsuming for years!?" he exclaimed.
"Well, you were using the calories, so it's not really overconsumption. It's just that the nutrition went to waste most of the time. Still, that extra 10% is worth it in my opinion."
"Alright, let's go with those options," Alex decided. "Celise, use credits to stockpile Elite rank substitutes until Vera and Kaia can produce locally. Increase the budget on Vera as well so she can make more Pokéblocks."
"Anything else?" Alex asked, dreading the answer.
"With the rise in comfort level, we've seen an increase in confrontations," Celise said. "Nothing major, just arguments and disagreements. It hasn't devolved into fighting yet, but if it does, Metagross has us covered with surveillance and drone intervention."
'That's not so bad,' Alex thought.
"It's just that guns being readily available may be a problem," Celise added, not needing to explain further.
Alex almost slapped himself in the face for thinking too soon. Gun violence was a problem that couldn't be completely prevented. It wasn't an issue for bounty hunters who had Pokémon, but for civilians and children, it was a nightmare waiting to happen.
"Metagross," Alex called. "Create a profile on anyone who might use a gun for violence and keep them on a watchlist. Closely monitor them and make sure you're there to intercept if they ever act on impulse."
The girls kept tossing problems at Alex for the rest of the day. It turned out managing people was a hassle. He couldn't even dump the mess back on them since most of the issues actually required his authority or expertise.
He had planned to head to the International Police headquarters and register as a bounty hunter once today's problems were handled, but it looked like he'd be stuck babysitting the base a little longer.
Arcanine and Hydreigon were close to Champion rank anyway, so staying put until they pushed through didn't seem like a bad call.
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