All of them went to a lavish restaurant. This might be the most expensive restaurant in the whole island.
The owners of the restaurant obviously knew Steven and the gang. So they were invited into the restaurant with open arms.
Steven got a private room booked and ordered a lot of dishes. This was very extravagant but he had to be a good host.
Since most of them were rivals and enemies just a hour before, it was hard to start a conversation. At this time, Krishna stepped in. Axel knew that he had a good way with words.
"Since we are going to have an alliance meeting, let's start with the things that we require and are in need of. If there is anyone who could help, they would step up and in return, they would ask for something. If both of the parties agree, then the deal would be done."
None of them had any problem with this issue.
Steven was the first one to ask.
"I want to ask something to Cynthia and Axel. How are you so strong?"
"Oh, so you are interested in my training routine, huh?", asked Axel.
"Yes, I am. Especially you cause you don't hail from powerful families like us."
"If I agree to tell you about my secret, what are you going to offer?", asked Axel.
"I am going to give you all the training plans of my Aggron and how I raised it. Do remember that Aggron is currently my second strongest Pokemon.", said Steven.
"But your father already offered me the training plans of Aggron. Why would I need yours?", asked Axel.
"Because my training plans are vastly different from normal training plans."
"You do know that it is not going to be enough. I mean only your training plans for Aggron are not going to be enough."
"Yes, I know that. So, I ask you what do you really want from me?", asked Steven.
"Hmm... That is an interesting question. What would I really want from you? If I made a deal with you, does that mean that I am making a deal with Devon Corporation?", asked Axel.
Cause if Devon Corporation had his back, then that was a huge thing.
"Currently, I only own 25% of its shares personally. So, I can only help you with that much.", said Steven.
"Ok, I agree on this. First, I want your company to make a branch in my city and sell the goods to my city at 20% discount rate.", said Axel.
"But that is absurd!!", shouted Steven.
First of all, a 20% discount was a lot and Steven might not even have the power to authorize it.
They negotiated for some time and then it was decided that a 15% discount rate would be offered to the citizens of Hakone City.
"Don't worry, I will provide you the land with a discount rate too. Secondly, Devon Corporation would back up my decision if I were to face the league in any situation. Of course, my decision should have a reasonable explanation."
"I have no problem with that but you should also do the same for us.", said Steven.
"Ok. I agree with it. Thirdly, the secrets that I am about to tell you, some of them would not apply to you or you might not be able to do it. I will tell you that secret but don't be disappointed when you cannot do it."
Steven nodded his head.
"Finally, I think we should prepare a point system for all our future transactions. We will make a system to quantify it with fair practice and then make it like a shop where you could buy and sell the goods and information.", suggested Axel.
"That is actually a very good idea. I agree with it. But how are we going to decide how much our information or the goods that we trade cost?", asked Cynthia.
"For the goods, it would be easy. The points would be 1/3rd the money that it would cost. For information, we will have to look into the impact that it has on the seller, buyer, and to the whole world. We must make an automatic system for this.", said Axel.
"Hmm... that is very interesting. But how are we going to do it?", asked Krishna.
"We will think of a way and don't worry Steven. For this first deal, there would not be any point system.", said Axel.
After Steven said what he wanted. Cynthia also asked Axel about his training ways. Both of them decided that they would exchange on the way they train themselves and their Pokemons.
Obviously, there was a clause of confidentiality.
"Since we are trading information, I would like to tell you that you cannot share this with anyone. Not Wallace, not even your parents. If I came to know that you are doing this, then you will be out of this small group and you will also have to face me.", said Axel.
"So, what should we call our group and should we add other people?", asked Wallace.
They began to give their own suggestions and it was decided that they should add members to this group but how should they select.
"Hmm, why don't we select a leader? Since I am the winner of this competition, I will be appointed as a leader, and every year, we will have the same competition again and then the winner will be the leader of this group.", suggested Axel.
Most of them were not willing to appoint Axel as a leader but they didn't have a good base to appoint themselves. So, whether they would appoint a leader or not became a hot topic but they also realized that a leader would be needed.
"So, what would be the powers of the leader?"
"First of all, if the votes are equal on both sides, the leader would get to give another vote. Secondly, for some small things, the leader would decide. The leader would also get a 10% discount on all the purchases.", said Krishna.
None of them had any problem with it. There must be some advantage to being a leader.
"Since I am appointed as leader, there are 2 things that we must decide. How to select a member and how to price the points for information. Let's decide."
The meeting went on for quite some time. Finally, it was decided on who to choose. The requirements were very strict and challenging.
The age of the trainer must be from 15 years to 21 years. And this age requirement would increase by 1 every year. The trainer must have resources to trade cause if he/she doesn't there is no reason for trading. The trainer must be either from Kanto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh region. The trainer must have at least 1 king-rank Pokemon.
Regarding the points, it was decided that this would be handed to an independent party that was well-versed in technology and computers.
The meeting went on for quite some time and by the time it was over, it was already evening.
Axel, Cynthia, and Steven decided to share their information tomorrow morning. Steven also said that he would help Axel pick up an egg. Axel didn't need any help but that didn't mean that he would tell him that.
Wallace also wanted to get on this deal but Axel disagreed. There were several reasons for this. First of all, Wallace didn't have anything that Axel wanted right now. Wallace was from a good family too but as of right now, He didn't have anything to receive from Wallace right now. Secondly, it didn't feel right to trade it with 2 people from the Hoenn region.
###
Axel decided that they would talk about these training plans tomorrow. It was already evening and even though they were full from eating all in the restaurant, Axel wanted some space and others did too.
The island was very big. So, he decided to go someplace quiet and spend some time with his Pokemons.
He called out all of his Pokemons and also called the restaurant guy to get food for him and his Pokemons. He wanted to have a small picnic with them. Axel felt that his Pokemons were the only people that he could completely trust after his family.
Charizard was fuming with anger when it came out.
"Why did you say that I was not here? I would have loved to smack that Garchomp again.", said Charizard.
Axel didn't know how to explain to it that Garchomp was now stronger than it. He knew that Charizard would not like it but after thinking for some time, he decided to tell the truth.
"Because Garchomp is now stronger than you. I heard that it is already a pseudo-champion rank Pokemon. If I would have said that you were here, you would have lost."
"No way!! How can that Garchomp grow so strong so fast? That is just impossible. That Cynthia doesn't even have your superpowers."
"How the hell would I know? But these are the rumors that I have heard. And it is not impossible to get to that level. It is just that you are not training so hard."
"What do you mean?", asked Charles as it wanted an explanation now.
Axel looked at all of them, especially the older Pokemons, and said, "Oh come on guys, are you telling me that you are working as hard as before? Don't you think that you guys are laying off now? It is not that you are not giving enough time on training. I am not saying that. But the drive to get stronger has been wiped out from your brain because, for you, this was the most that you have ever thought that you would reach.
From the beginning, most of you have thought that reaching king ran is a dream and when you reached that stage, subconsciously, you didn't think to improve anymore."
This was true. Axel wanted to say this to his older Pokemons for quite some time but he never had a good opportunity to say it. Cause till now, Axel was at the top and now Cynthia just bypassed him. He didn't know if the rumors were true but he would train his Pokemons and pressure them thinking that it was true.
"I am not saying that you guys should shoulder all the responsibility and start to train really hard from tomorrow. Take your time to think about what you want to do. If you want to be the second and are comfortable with it, I have no problem with it. I don't want to be the best and the most powerful trainer there is. I just want to live a happy life and become the Pokemon master. And becoming a Pokemon master and the most powerful trainer are 2 different things."
Axel spent some time talking to the older Pokemons and then he went towards the new Pokemons.
The 3 Magnemites were very angry at Axel. They could not train as they were locked inside the master ball and Squirtle had now evolved to Wartortle. So, they were behind and Wartortle was now making fun of them.
They vowed to train harder from tomorrow. Not after this island event but from tomorrow. The older Pokemons were surprised to see the vigor and the excitement of the young ones get stronger.
As they were talking, Shedinja came to Axel to talk about a serious issue.
"Axel, the time has come. I must return to Vetal now."