The tents that were made for the members were not permanent. But they were also not temporary with a portable shelter made out of cloth. It was made of a mixture of wood, cloth, and some hard stones.
Of course, Axel was not going to let his team members live in those tents for a long time. These were just made to fulfill the requirements of the league. They would be taken down and remade after some time.
Axel and the team had the money to build the headquarters, base, and other things. But they lacked time. The tents would be ready at the end of the month but the headquarter was a different issue. The league had some basic requirements for the headquarters and they needed to fulfill it.
"Ashmita, show me the current condition of the base.", said Axel.
The team had taken multiple pictures and videos of the base. Looking at all of them, Axel nodded with a satisfied expression.
"Miss. Ashimta, can you tell us the basic requirements of the headquarters?", asked Krishna.
Ashimta nodded her head and then opened up a presentation relating to it.
"The first requirement for headquarters is a massive hall that could fit all of us inside. This would cover a lot of areas as we are 50k strong.", said Ashmita.
"We should increase the area that could fit 100k of us in there. We have to think of the future. I believe that our members will increase in the future.", remarked Axel.
"Sir, I have done the calculation. If we are to fit 100k members in the hall, then it would cover a very large area. Are you sure about it?', asked Ashmita.
"Yes, I am sure. What is the second requirement?"
"Other requirements are not so hard to maintain. There would be a mission hall, where the team would take missions from it. This would be digitally connected with the league.
There should also be a Pokemon healing center in the headquarters. We can employ doctors and nurses there for healing.
Shops like Pokemon Mart are not a mandatory requirement but it is suggested that we have that too.
Besides that, most of our place would also be covered for training ground. The requirement is to have at least 5 training grounds and this number should be increased every 2 years.
There are also requirements for some meeting and conference hall, a big canteen that can fit around 10k members, and some miscellaneous things that would not need to be discussed."
"I am not worried about the construction cost. We have money for that. I am worried about maintaining this place. Electricity cost, cost for training hall maintenance. Cleaning cost and cooking cost for the cafeteria would consume a lot of money.", said Axel.
He didn't think that having a base would cost so much but when he started to hear about it from Ashmita, he realized that it would cost a pretty penny.
"Sir, we have found some solutions for it.", said Hector.
"Oh, what is it, Hector?"
"There are companies that provide services specifically for the mercenary team only. Actually, there are only 2 of them in the Kanto region. We asked for the quotation of their services and their cost are considerably lower than going through the normal route.", said Hector showing Axel the quotation details.
Axel looked at the details and found out that both of the companies were a whole package. When Hector said that they provide services specifically for the mercenary team, they were not joking. They did all the things. From cleaning, cooking, other repairs and maintenance of the building and training halls, and security. They also provided secretary services that would co-ordinate between the league and them making the process easier.
One of them took 3 million for a month and another took 2 million for a month. Axel felt that the price was reasonable since they would be doing so many things.
"Has the price been negotiated?", asked Axel.
"Yes, it has been negotiated already."
"Then why is the difference in price so high? Is there a reason for it?", asked Axel.
"Actually there is. The company which asked for 3 million said that no matter the increase in the size of the headquarters, the price would remain the same for 10 years. But the other company didn't provide us with such a facility.
The pricier company also said that they would reduce the price to maintain the whole base when the base is completed fully."
"Hmm.... What do you think? Should we take the pricier one?", asked Axel as he wanted to know what they thought as they had personally met with both of them.
"Sir, I think we should take the pricier one."
"Ok, let's do it. Draft a contract and I will sign it.", said Axel.
After the discussion about the headquarters, the meeting went on and Axel discussed other topics. The formation of other teams and also the hierarchy of the members of the mercenary team.
"Sir, I think that the hierarchy can wait for some time. At least till we get officially registered.", suggested Sam.
Axel was also thinking the same. There were new lieutenants that he had invited and Axel didn't know much about them. Jin and Krishna needed to be with the members to know about the situation of the mercenary team. So, he could not determine the hierarchy of the members right now.
###
It was now time to meet with Kate. Katherine Zard was one of the upcoming geniuses of the Zard family from the Kanto region and she was also the girlfriend of Axel.
They had only talked over the phone and had not met after becoming couples. Axel had also not talked to her frequently. It had been more than a month since he talked to her.
He thought that their relationship would be over before it even began. So, he decided to surprise her and visit her in the Zard family. He already knew where she would be staying.
Unlike the Venu family, who only had 1 headquarter and no branches in the Kanto region, the Zard family had 2 branches and 1 headquarters. Kate lived in the main family headquarters.
###
The meeting with the team members only finished at night.
"We have discussed all the things needed for the next month. I will be busy and may not be able to contact all of you. Krishna and Jin, you will be joining the team. Get familiar with the team.
If you have found any potential members for your personal squad, do tell me and I will see what I can do."
After feeding good food and recipes with ample natural resources to Jin's Pokemon, they had become better than before. Of course, none of them had solid foundations like Axel's Pokemon but it was still better than before, better than normal.
"Frank, stay with me for a minute after they leave.", said Axel.
"Sir, you said that you know someone who could help us in building the headquarters. Can you tell us who it is?", asked Krishna.
"I am sorry, I cannot. I don't even know if that Pokemon could even help us in this situation. If it agrees, then naturally you will know about it.", said Axel.
Krishna was a bit disappointed in the answer but Axel also must have his secrets and he had to respect that.
###
The best person for this job would be Celebi. It was a psychic/grass-type Pokemon with a strong affinity to wood and forest. So, it would be a massive help if Celebi would agree. But that was if it agreed.
Axel didn't know what it would say and he could not directly talk to it. So, he decided to call Mew to pass the message to Celebi.
Since he had known Mew for such a long time, Mew had given him a green crystal. He just needed to put some aura into it, and it would be notified. Whether it would come or not would depend on its mood and it would generally not come to meet him. Mew was a free Pokemon and it didn't like to be bound by anything.
Axel knew when it would come. So, he started to do the preparations. He had already called his mom to send the ingredients for the food preparation. The dish that he was making was called 'Chole Bhature'. It was an Indian dish where you would have a bhature (a type of bread) which could be eaten with Chole (a type of curry). [A/N: Do google it for more visuals.]
It was one of the favorite dish of Axel but it was not so easy to make. At least for him. He first made the Chole and made all the preparations for Bhature.
Then he went and got his bag and took out the green crystal. He infused a massive amount of aura inside that crystal. Axel didn't know what this crystal really was. It was very mysterious.
He just put a bit of aura inside the crystal and the crystal glowed.
Suddenly Mew appeared out of nowhere. It first looked at Axel and then it stared at the dish. It started to circle around the dish and started to smell it. Finally, it looked at Axel and asked, "What is this mysterious dish?"
First of all, Axel was happy that it was Mew, not MEW. Mew would always be the victim of his food but MEW was different. It was a bit too serious and it would not be bribed by food. It looked like Axel's luck was on today.
Mew would normally not come out when he called it. It would be notified about the call but it was not responsible for responding to it. However, there was only one way that it would come without fail and that was when Axel made a new dish.
That was why he made Chole Bhature today.
Axel explained the dish and then started to prepare Bhature. Bhature tasted good when it was made fresh and eaten immediately. It would lose its taste and value if it cooled down. He made 4 Bhatures and even showed Mew how to eat it.
Even Axel liked it. He had not eaten it for more than 16 years and frankly had already forgotten the taste of it. Seeing Axel's expression, Mew jumped over the food and started to eat it. After eating 10 Bhatures and chole, Mew was finally satisfied.
Petting its stomach, it said, "Axel, you really have a knack for how to make new food dishes. I don't know what I would have done without you. So, what do you need this time?"
"What do you mean? I don't need anything. Can't I share my new food ideas with you?"
"Axel, I am not stupid. You only make new dishes if you have something to ask from me. So spill it already. I am getting ready to sleep."
Axel felt guilt when he heard it because it was true. He only made new dishes when he needed help from Mew. But right now, he didn't care about it and said, "I would need your help to contact Celebi. I have a favor to ask."
"Sigh, sorry but I cannot do that."
"But why?", asked Axel irritated.
"Axel, Celebi is very different than a normal Pokemon or even from a mythical Pokemon. It can control and manipulate time. So, even I would not know where or when it is right now. I can only contact it when it is in this timeline and near me. Except for that, I would just have to wait for it.
Besides, why do you need its help? Have you already forgotten about me?", asked Mew and pouted.
Finally, Axel said why he needed Celebi. When Mew heard about it, it shouted in a loud voice, "Are you CRAZY? Thank Arceus, I asked you before. Otherwise, Celebi would have been very angry with me."
"What happened?"