Axel was pacing up and down in his apartment. This thing to join the Venu family had scared him. He was scared cause of his family's response. What would his mom and father think about it? Will they disown him when they hear that he was going to join another family?
He was not actually worried about his family disowning him cause his family didn't have much inheritance. But he was afraid they will stop talking to him.
Thinking about it he called home.
###
Tring!! Tring!!… Tring!! Kachak.
"Hello.", said his uncle.
"Hi uncle, it is me. How is everything going around there? Are Mom and Athena ok? How about Dad and you?", asked Axel.
He was just so nervous that he was blurting out things that he would not normally say.
"It is ok around here. What happened, you seem a bit tensed?", asked his uncle.
Then Axel explained all about the proposal about the Venu family and being their member. He specifically mentioned that he would not have to change his surname to "Blaze".
"Oh, you don't have to worry about it. If you think that is good for you, go ahead. Your mother and father are outside now but I know for sure that they would not mind. Being a part of their family is like a business transaction.
I know about these things and it is not that serious. They see potential in you so they are investing in you. So go ahead. But remember, these families are crafty and when they see no benefits from you they would stop caring about you."
A look of relief came over Axel when he heard it. He knew that it would not have mattered much but he was nervous at first. Then they talked about usual things for about 15 minutes and hung up the call.
Then Axel thought about calling Koga. Angela had said that being a member of their family will not affect LAT but he wanted to make sure and he also wanted to know more about Venu's family. He thought Koga would have some insights.
###
Tring!! Tring!!… Tring!! Kachak.
"Hello. Axel… how is life treating you? Being a while. How is your journey going.", asked Koga.
Axel then explained his doubts about the Venu family.
"Venu family is accepting you as their part? That is the first time I have ever heard of it.", said Koga quite shocked.
"What do you mean?", asked Axel.
"Well, Venu family has been quite reserved about its matters. It is not like Toise or Zard family. Toise and Zard families accept outsiders as their part but the Venu family has never done so. Its influence is very low compared to the two of them.
What I know is that, though it doesn't accept outsiders, it has a lot of secrets. There is a rumor that the leader of the family has a Champion ranked Pokemon. And it also has lots of secrets that the world doesn't know. Otherwise why it would be one of the most prominent families till now? Venu family accepting you must be the first case."
"Well then, what do you suggest that I do?"
"I think you should accept it. This must be the new move of the Venu family, as its influence is quite low, it must be thinking of changing that. Since you are the first to get this chance, you will receive much more rewards and benefits compared to the other families.
The benefits of low-level members of other families are not quite good. You will get a good bargain. But you will also be discriminated against in the family since you are the first outsider.
You don't have to worry about any bad thing happening to you other than that. The pride of the Venu family will not let them do that, and you have me and Prof. Oak supporting you so you will be okay. Just put a condition that you will be treated fairly."
"Prof. Oak is also supporting me now?", asked Axel.
He had not heard of this news. If that was true then he may not need Venu family's support either.
"No, not completely. But he has his eyes on you and wants to test you. He says you to go to pallet town and you must at least try to battle 1 gym before that. But you must be prepared for that. You are not still strong enough and that old man will not recognize you now.", said Koga.
After talking for a few minutes, Axel hung up the phone.
Nidoran and Shedinja have already returned to him, and they were healthy. The medical facilities of the Venu family amazed him. Shedinja was badly hurt and he seemed Okay now. His Pokemons were resting inside the Pokeball now. After thinking long and hard, he had finally decided.
###
In the meeting room,
Knock knock!! Knock knock!!
"Come in.", said Angela.
"Ohh, young man, have you decided it then?", asked Angela tapping her fingers on the table repeatedly.
She honestly thought that he would come later in the morning and would take some more time, but he came in the evening. She was nervous too.
If this guy doesn't accept then it would be very hard for her to stir the elders again to find another outsider. Since all the elders have approved, she just wanted this to go with the flow.
"Yes, I have decided to accept your invitation.", said Axel with a determined look.
A wide smile could be seen on Angela's face. The tapping on the table has stopped at once. One of the conditions that she had mentioned to the elders was that only she would deal with the outsider before he accepts the proposal. Cause she knew that the elders were proud and had big mouth. She didn't want this deal to go out of hand.
"But I have some questions and some conditions.", Axel said.
"Ohh. Ok then, let's hear it.", Angela was confident on whatever conditions he had, she could work out of them.
"First, I have heard that the Venu family never accepts an outsider. Have you ever accepted an outsider before this?", Axel asked.
"No"
"Then I want to know, what is your reason to accept me?"
"Sorry, I can not reveal it to you until you are part of the family."
"You said, I would get lots of benefits if I am to be a part of the family. Can I know those in detail?"
"No. You will know about it after you are part of the family.", said Angela.
Hearing that, Axel showed a displeased expression. He can't know why he is accepted as a family, he cannot know the benefits, then why the hell would even accept this proposal? It is like going inside a black hole, you would not know where you would end up.
Seeing his expression, Angela continued "The reason I cannot tell you about it, is the cause of the secrecy. See, our Venu family is very reserved compared to other families. There are some secrets of our family that are not revealed to the world and your question just touches these secrets.
What I can assure you is that you will be treated well and if the answer to those previous questions, doesn't satisfy you after becoming a part of the family, then you are free to not engage in the family business."
Of course, that was a lie. She carefully picked those words. The elders have decided that, if Axel ever wanted to leave the family, there must be a valid reason, and he would have to serve for at least 10 years. She said him not to engage in the family business, but that doesn't mean he would be free.
He would have to report to the family once a month and do all the tasks that are assigned. But she was confident that he would not leave the family, cause she knew that the answer to those questions would not affect him badly.
"Alright then. My condition is that I want to be treated fairly. Since I am the first outsider, I think that I will be discriminated.", said Axel.
"You don't have to worry about it. I will make sure that you are treated fairly.", said Angela.
"Alright, then I am ready to be the part of Venu family."
"Before you say that, I would have to specify your duties. The dealing with the league association, Pokemon traders, and auction should be done in the Venu family premises. We have a branch of them here in our land. But the auction here is handled by Venu family, not the Zard family.
So if you want to buy from the auction, then you could do it outside too but if you want to sell in the auction, then you would have to do it in Venu family. 20% of your income in any way should be contributed to the family.
Since you are the first outsider, I would relax you a bit. Venu family, would not care about the small incomes that you will have, but if something big happens that affects the entire region then, you will be contributing.
And lastly, any influence you have in the future, Venu's family will be a part of it. Don't worry, like if you make a huge discovery, then your name will be the first to come up but you should also mention that you are a part of the Venu family."
He thought about it for some time and thought that it was a fair deal. He would not have to lose anything.
"I have no problem with that.", Axel said.
"Then Venu family is glad to have you in our home," Angela said and she shook his hands.
"Then what do I have to do to become a part of the family?", Axel asked after drinking some tea.
"Nothing much, you will have to sign some documents and your Pokecard will be updated showing your affiliation to the Venu family.", said Angela.
"That's it?", asked Axel.
"Yes, what did you think, that there would be some blood ritual?", asked Angela with a grin.
Then the papers were done and his card was updated. Axel had finally become a Venu family member.
"Your 2 previous questions will be answered tomorrow since it is already late at night. But first, let me tell you about your task tomorrow. Starting tomorrow, for at least 3 months you will be training inside the family premises.
You are the first outsider of us. We can't have a weak trainer outside the world. It will ruin our reputation.", Angela said like it is the most natural thing to say.
"What? I cannot stay here for 3 months. The Elite 4 competition is in 1 year and 9 months and I don't even have a gym badge yet.", shouted Axel openly.
"Haha, you think that you could win the elite 4 competition in the first 2 years of your journey. Don't make me laugh kid, beating a Gym and an Elite 4 member is not a walk in the park.
Even Prof. Oak took 5 years to beat the elite 4 and extra 4 years to be the Champion. And that is the record time of being the Champion. You don't even have a rare Pokemon that could fight.
The evolution from rare to higher-level takes more time than from common to rare. Believe me, kid, this training is the thing that you need to shorten your training time."
Axel reluctantly nodded. He also realized that Angela was right. Because of the quest given by the system to be the champion in 2 years and cause of his seeing the anime and playing games, he thought that beating the gym and Elite 4 would not be very difficult.
But he was starting to realize that he was wrong. To be a Champion, you at least must have a Champion-ranked Pokemon, and besides the Venu family, even the other families didn't have Champion-ranked Pokemon.
To beat the first gym, he must at least have 3 rare ranked Pokemon but he didn't even have a rare ranked Pokemon that could fight. So he thought that training here might not be a bad idea.