Chapter 498. Permission to Launch 1

Once the airship arrived, Alex and the girls went back to work loading everything aboard. There were over two thousand survivors, mostly those who had worked deeper within the underground facility or had been assigned to patrol and defend the perimeter, defended from the blasts by the crater. As for those on nearby ships and submarines, along with operatives stationed in other regions, they melted into the shadows, either being absorbed by other Underworld organizations or striking out on their own.

Either way, it confirmed that Team Dominion was gone from the world for good, along with its asinine ideology. It had never been particularly convincing in the first place, given how cute and gentle Pokémon could become with even a bit of proper training and care.

The island itself didn't look very good when they left. The outer perimeter was pockmarked with small craters where debris had fallen, while bunkers and stationary defenses had been hollowed out. The ports had all been destroyed along with the nearby buildings, leaving behind bare stretches of churned-up ground. As for the crater, it looked surprisingly intact considering Guzzlord had gone to town on it. The slagged metal was gone, leaving only the deepest structural supports intact.

At its center, in the deepest section, was a hole Sable had left behind. She had been mining there and apparently struck gold, uncovering large deposits of valuable minerals and metals. All of it, along with Rhea's findings, was loaded onto the airship for transport since they didn't have enough room in their space bags to carry everything. Fortunately, the airship came equipped with additional space bags, including industrial-sized ones designed in the shape of shipping containers that were filled to the brim as they left.

Once everything was loaded, Alex and the girls headed back to the base in Kanto ahead of the airship, teleporting via Iris's strongest team of Butterfree. They had traveled with the airship and memorized the route, allowing them to make much longer jumps than line-of-sight teleportation since they no longer had to contend with the planet's curvature.

Upon arrival, Alex didn’t waste any time, as he contacted Lorelei to give her an update. It wasn’t included in any sort of rulebook or law, but he understood that despite all his power, he was still just a subordinate and, like any good subordinate, he must surrender benefits to the higher-ups. Also, he was fucking her daughter, so it was the least he could do.

“So? How did it go?” Lorelei asked as she answered Alex’s call.

“Found them. Deleted them along with most of their arsenal. Captured around two thousand survivors. Destroyed the entire base, leaving only the island, which I’m staking a claim to, some Master ranked resources, and their database, which Nyx is currently compiling and will send to the League once she’s done,” Alex said without missing a beat. “Oh, and Alaric Graves is dead, and I freed Mewtwo.”

“I trust Mewtwo won’t go on a vengeful killing spree against humanity given what it’s been through?”

“Probably not.”

“Alright, that’s good enough. Well done.”

As Lorelei was about to end the call, Alex asked, “How’s Clarissa doing?”

Lorelei smiled with pride, like any mother would, as she turned her attention back to the call. “She’s doing well, better than expected. It shouldn’t take long before she reaches Master rank.”

Clarissa, unlike Alex, was likely able to feed her entire team Master ranked meat over the past decade, which meant her team was likely already at the peak of Champion rank, needing only inspiration to break through. Alex, meanwhile, could only afford Champion ranked meat with his current income flow from the Silver Network, only occasionally giving them Master ranked meat to inch their progress closer to the peak.

Even the recent injection of nearly a dozen Master ranked pseudo-legendary Pokémon wouldn’t be enough for Alex’s team. He would require far more than what he currently had access to in order to catch up.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t just run around picking fights in Master ranked danger zones, since he wasn’t authorized to do so, nor could he hunt Master ranked trainers in their home ground without resorting to similarly drastic measures as using the B.O.M.B. After all, more often than not, they had an army under them or were hiding far too well, which was why Alex was so eager to hunt down Team Dominion.

They were on everyone’s shit list and based on a remote island, which made them far easier to take down. That was in stark contrast to digging around in the Grand Underground in Sinnoh, where most Master ranked criminals were known to be hiding. If he poked around there carelessly, he might end up bringing a city down with him, earning not only the League’s ire but Cynthia’s as well.

So his only option was to wait, taking rare missions to hunt down Master ranked trainers and Pokémon, which was exactly what the other Champion ranked trainers were also doing. His advantage had officially dried up, and now he was back to being a pleb who could do nothing but wait for his turn to break through.

“That’s good,” Alex said with a genuine smile. “Would you mind sending a message?”

“Sorry, Alex, but I can’t. Breaking through to Master rank is as much a process for the trainers as it is for their Pokémon. After all, how would a Pokémon do their best if their own trainers were distracted?”

“I understand,” Alex said before his eyes suddenly sharpened. “Would you mind if I asked how I’d go about getting permission to head off into outer space?”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were interested in that,” Lorelei replied as she took on a thoughtful look. “Right, you had an airship. Of course you’d be interested in heading out there. Hm…”

She took her time considering her answer to Alex’s question, her eyes scanning through documents on her hologram.

“Technically, it isn’t prohibited,” Lorelei said as she continued reading. “It isn’t considered a danger zone because there are no Pokémon to upset, other than Rayquaza, and it isn’t particularly temperamental. Then there’s the Minior swarm at the edge of the atmosphere, but they aren’t much of a threat either. The only authority that might want to stop you would be the joint space venture run by the Pokémon Professors who are stationed on the moon. They handle both satellite management for our internet and any ventures deeper into outer space, mainly to make sure random people don’t accidentally bring back another Eternatus or something similar.”

“I see,” Alex said as he considered his options.

He had plenty, considering his relatively high status within the scientific community. After all, they were still trying to quantify a Pokémon’s exact statistics because of him, and apparently the progress was nearly complete, with a comprehensive database of raw information having been collated over the past four decades.

“May I ask why you need to head out there in the first place?” Lorelei asked. “I don’t believe there are any Master rank resources out there for the taking, since the moon is technically a Master rank danger zone.”

“I have a Guzzlord that needs feeding, but I don’t have access to enough excess matter to satisfy it. Even the junk from the Silver Network and its associated locations isn’t enough. So I’m planning to head to the asteroid belt and let it feed to its heart’s content. I’m hoping to fill its stomach enough that it won’t be hungry again for the next century.”

“I see... That certainly justifies the need. Even the Aether Foundation has been having trouble keeping their Guzzlords satisfied, after all. Alright, I’ll give you a letter of recommendation so they know you mean business. As for the rest of the bureaucracy, you’ll have to handle it yourself.”

“Thank you,” Alex said.

“If you really want to thank me, you’ll put a baby in my daughter once she gets out of seclusion,” Lorelei huffed.

“Wouldn’t she be even busier after that? Your plan is for her to take over your position, right?”

“Yes, but I’m as much a mother as I am the Champion of Kanto, so get to it! I want my grandbabies,” Lorelei said before ending the call.

Alex shook his head, laughing to himself. “She’s just like Vera.”

Alvera had been away for over a decade, building a successful photography career. Not because she was an exceptionally talented photographer, but because she was powerful enough to reach places where others would hesitate to tread, like the Grand Underground, for example.

Vera, meanwhile, had started pressuring her for a grandchild, with Alvera vehemently resisting the idea because she was focused on her career, even though they both had all the time in the world to pursue either path.

Alex opened the intercom and began issuing orders one after another.

“Rhea, draw up a flight plan for the asteroid belt and give the airship a thorough inspection once it gets back. Celise, get us in contact with the Professors’ space venture and start the paperwork for permission to head into outer space. We just got a recommendation letter from Lorelei. Nyx, coordinate with Rhea on any personal satellites you want put into orbit. Since we’re heading out there, we might as well make the most of the trip.”

With the orders sent, Alex leaned back into his seat, thinking deeply about the upcoming journey, specifically which Pokémon he should bring and which he should leave behind. After all, not all Pokémon could breathe in space.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.