February 23rd, Year 2 of the Alliance Calendar, marked the first day of the group stage in the Pokémon Battle Tournament.
Ordinarily, with such an exciting lineup of contestants, Dak would never miss the event. But he found himself stuck in the office, forced to deal with paperwork by his colleagues.
"I swear… things just keep piling up," Dak muttered, staring at the mountain of documents on his desk with a sigh.
What kind of boss gets forced into working by his own employees?
Dak had already started considering retirement and selecting a successor for the leadership of the Pokémon Alliance.
However, after mulling it over, he realized there wasn't an ideal candidate yet. Plus, with Pokémon Island still in the process of being developed, he couldn't step away from his position just yet. At least not until the entire island was fully stabilized.
One document from the financial department read:
Monthly expenses for environmental maintenance of the Pokémon Alliance Forest in the outer city of Alliance CityApproval of funds for promoting Yggdrasil tourism
"This kind of stuff should go to Tesoro!"
Smack!
Dak slammed the stack of papers onto the table.
He had already delegated all financial matters to Tesoro. How did the financial department mess up and send this to him? Dak had no clue about managing finances.
His subordinates seemed to think he was some omnipotent figure.
If he were that capable, he wouldn't have been scrambling across the seas to recruit talent back in the day.
Only those who worked closely with him, like the Pokémon Breeding House partners, knew the true limits of Dak's abilities.
Even high-ranking figures like Sengoku, Garp, and Dragon didn't realize Dak lacked basic financial knowledge.
Another document from the engineering department stated:
Yggdrasil has been completed, and population recruitment can begin for constructing a high-speed rail system between Alliance City and Yggdrasil
"Yggdrasil is done, huh? Time to think about the population issue."
Dak frowned, contemplating.
As far as he knew, at least half of Angel City's residents were eager to move to the surface. This could be their chance.
There were also many people from the maritime world and ninja world eyeing those spots.
"Have Robin gather some stats later."
From the environmental department came requests like:
Ryugu Castle in Fish-Man City applying for five-star scenic site status.
Angel City applying to create a green forest.
"Neptune must be really bored if he's aiming for five stars with Ryugu Castle. Denied, give him three stars."
Dak shook his head after glancing at the documents. "As for Angel City, they've gone a bit crazy, but fine, we'll transplant some forest from an uninhabited Calm Belt island."
The education department sent reports such as:
List of new students for the second class
Plan for reforming the Pokémon Academy's grades and subjects
Plans to establish educational institutions in Fish-Man City and Angel City
"A new school year already? That was fast."
Dak murmured as he picked up the student list.
He spotted many familiar names—mostly new generation kids.
Luffy, Hinata, Naruto, and even Sasuke were all enrolled. Glancing further, he recognized more names:
Ten-year-old Nefertari D. Vivi, princess of Alabasta
Nine-year-old Grount, the boy with a ghost hand, saved by Kuzan after eating a Devil Fruit he couldn't control
Nine-year-old Kaya, a young lady from Syrup Village in the East Blue
Twelve-year-old Nojiko, from Cocoyasi Village in the East Blue
Binz, a peer of Marine Ranger Ain, who ate the Overgrowth Fruit
And more.
"By the next class, the children from the ninja world should be ready to enroll."
Dak mused.
By the time another year passed, the situation in the ninja world should have stabilized enough for them to join the Pokémon Academy.
From the research department came reports like:
Request for transferring the Seraphim Project test subjects
Third phase results of the Pokémon Fossil Resurrection Machine test
Restricted use of Electric/Light/Gas Pokémon weapons for security on Pokémon Island
"Good, Vegapunk and Monet are always on the right track, moving quickly."
Dak nodded in satisfaction.
The research department was by far the most reliable. No unnecessary surprises or issues.
The security department sent requests like:
Weapon upgrades
Personnel recruitment expansion
Supply requests for logistics
"Deny them all!"
Dak slammed the table in frustration. "They submit requests every day—if Hiruzen saw this, he'd think this kid was planning a rebellion."
He couldn't understand why Sugar was so fixated on expanding the security department's power.
Out of the three major defense forces, the security department was the least in need of more power.
Their operations were confined to Pokémon Island, where there were virtually no criminals. Even if they had to deal with some, they weren't dangerous. The current weapons were more than sufficient.
Those technological weapons could easily control even small nations in the ninja world. As long as they didn't encounter Kage-level figures, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
From the inspection department came:
Overlapping duties between the Inspection Team and Griffon Army
Request to raise the entry-level standards for new Inspection Team recruits
Application for building an Inspection Team fleet
Dak immediately knew that these reports didn't come from Bellamy or Gin.
They were great at fighting but completely hopeless at managing and developing departments.
Dak had specifically recruited clever assistants for them, and these reports were likely from those assistants.
Especially Gin—he was notoriously lazy.
If not for his assistant, Wanda of the Mink Tribe, who was exceptionally diligent, the inspection team in the ninja world would have been useless by now.
The medical department sent:
Request to create an agricultural department for growing medicinal materials
Third phase results of Pokémon injury treatment clinical trials
Request to expand the medical department, recruit more surgeons, and initiate a worldwide recruitment drive
"Reiju really went all out on this one…"
'Creating an agricultural department?'
Dak hadn't thought of that before, as he never considered the Alliance would need such a department.
But he had to admit, the Alliance did have a need for it. For now, Kuma's group was handling similar tasks.
For example, many Alliance City residents rented farmland outside the city to grow crops, which fell under the work of this prospective department.
Not only the agricultural department but also the legal department needed some attention.
The laws of Pokémon Island were far from complete—Dak had only drafted basic rules based on his memories from his previous life. He would need to continually update them to ensure Pokémon Island ran smoothly.
"This will need careful consideration. If push comes to shove, I can even recruit talent from the ninja world. The Nara clan is full of bright minds, perfect for this kind of work."
Dak pondered for a moment.
He decided that once the ninja world entered the Pokémon era of peace, he would start integrating talent from that world into the Pokémon Alliance.
There was also the judiciary department.
However, it was a relatively small department managed by Perona, so there weren't any pressing issues or reports from that area.
Dak spent the entire day working through the mountain of paperwork on his desk.
"Finally done."
As night fell, Dak slumped over his desk, looking out the window and sighing. "The human struggle is real. I need someone competent to take over my position soon."
Suddenly, Dak remembered something Charlotte had mentioned.
She had come from a hundred years in the future and spoke about how the Second and Third Alliance leaders had the shortest tenures, only to be replaced until the Fourth took over and stabilized things.
That meant, excluding the Second and Third leaders' brief tenures, Dak and the Fourth leader would have held the position for about 95 years combined.
"No way. Am I going to have to work for several more decades?"
Dak smacked his face. "Fourth leader, please appear soon."
Knock knock.
A knock came from the door, but before Dak could respond, someone barged in.
Only two people dared to do that—Bon Clay and Robin, his external and internal secretaries, respectively.
In truth, Robin and Bon Clay spent more time in the office than Dak himself.
"Oh, Robin. What is it now? I'm off the clock."
Dak looked up.
It was Robin, with a mischievous smile on her face. Dak immediately felt alarmed.
He was genuinely afraid she'd bring in more paperwork for him to review.
"Don't worry, there's nothing that needs your direct approval."
Robin giggled, seeing his wary expression. Then she said, "It's good news."
"Huh? Good news?"
Dak was taken aback.
He racked his brain but couldn't think of any related matters.
"Tesoro and Stella are getting married."
"Eh?!"
Dak's eyes widened in surprise. He had completely forgotten about it.
He had once planned to host a grand wedding for the two but ended up forgetting about it entirely.
"Stella is pregnant. Reiju confirmed it's been three weeks."
"I see, that is indeed good news."
Dak nodded, then asked Robin, "Have you asked where they want to hold the wedding? In the maritime world or on Pokémon Island?"
"I've already asked."
"And?"
Robin's smile turned mischievous once again as she replied,
"They want to hold the wedding at the ruins of Pangaea Castle, in the remains of Mary Geoise."
"…."
(End of Chapter)
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