Rhea continued the tour of the airship, showing Alex the relatively empty space. Much of the militaristic technology and partitioned rooms he had seen when he raided the place had been stripped away or covered, leaving wide spaces, sockets, and markings for access to wires and vents. It was bare-bones for now and would require an interior decorator's touch to truly bring it to life.
In total, they had access to about a quarter of the airship, with the remaining space reserved for the batteries, engines, wiring, structural frames, gravity field propagators, walkways, and gunports. That left about 50 x 50 x 50 meters of space to work with, segmented into five floors.
The bottom section was for a wet docking bay to hold the Azure Voyager and any other mobile technology. The middle section was for Pokémon to relax during the voyage without being stuck in their Poké Balls. The section above that was the common area, where they could cook, eat, and enjoy recreational activities. The top two floors were for living spaces, the bottom one for guests specifically, while the top floor was for family.
It was more than enough, in Alex's opinion, and was actually a bit excessive. Then again, if they were planning on space travel, it was just comfortable enough.
"It's perfect!" Alex commented. "Why haven't you filled up the space yet?"
"I was still a bit worried that I overstepped by combining both airships. I didn't want to finish it up for nothing," Rhea answered worriedly.
"You did good," Alex said, patting her head. "You're our tech girl, Rhea. You have the authority when it comes to deciding these things. If you start picking a fight, though, let me know first, because that would be my area of expertise."
Rhea smiled sweetly before jumping into Alex's arms and kissing him ravenously. She was honestly addicted to her own love trigger and would find any excuse to be with him. It was like a drug she wanted to drown in.
After a few rounds of lovemaking, Rhea continued the tour and guided Alex through the rest of the airship. Both the front and rear sections housed four gravity engines each, arranged in reinforced compartments. Surrounding these were dedicated rooms packed with fusion cell batteries and Infinity energy crystals, forming the backbone of the ship's power and propulsion systems.
Along the inner hull, evenly spaced portholes had been installed, each designed with three interchangeable functions. The default configuration sealed the ship off from deep space. The second option converted the port into a 30 mm autocannon firing position. The third provided deployment access for Rhea's drones. In practice, this meant every port could switch between full isolation, offensive capability, or utility deployment depending on the situation.
The passenger sections were treated differently. Instead of modular ports, they were fitted with reinforced Champion ranked glass to allow a clear view outside. These viewing panels were equipped with integrated blast shields that could deploy instantly in case of emergencies.
There was no need for a command center, as a Rotom would be in charge of the entire setup. They could, however, view the situation outside from the common area, using an omnidirectional perspective via multiple cameras embedded along the hull.
"What about the large hangar bay doors at the sides?" Alex asked.
"I haven't gotten around to deciding what to do with them yet," Rhea said, "but for now they would allow access from the side if the airship is parked on the water and the wet loading dock is inaccessible."
"You're not adopting the airplane drones?"
"It's a maintenance issue. I don't have the infrastructure to automatically repair them like the quadcopter drones."
"You might want to consider them. I highly doubt quadcopters can defend us at high speed in the air. Also, what about if we head off into space? We'd need an army to defend us there."
"Are we really heading into space?"
"I don't know, but it's something to think about."
"Sure, I'll think about it. So do you want to move forward with the decorations?"
"Yep. Hire a professional. I want this place to be of top-quality, Champion ranked standards before we leave in a few days when Alvera's house arrest is lifted."
"That'll be expensive, at least 20 million credits."
"Do I look like I can't afford the expenditure?" Alex said with a smirk.
"Good point," Rhea said with a laugh.
With their plan set, Rhea contacted an interior decorator with ties to high society. They were the type of people who thrived when told that money wasn't an issue.
The next day, an army of construction workers, landscapers, and couriers arrived. They worked on the interior of the airship with the help of their highly trained Pokémon, and finished the construction in no time. There was nothing money couldn't buy, even more so in the Pokémon world, where Pokémon streamlined the process a hundredfold.
A few days later, Alex, all the girls and kids at the base, and Clarissa entered the airship for the first time, their first view being a loading dock that descended from the bottom of the airship, revealing the Azure Voyager tucked away at the back.
"It's a bit unwelcoming," Nyx commented.
The loading dock was barely decorated, but it included a slide under the yacht that would allow it to be moved back and forth from the water. Given that the propulsion system was gravity-based, there was no problem when it came to downdrafts or control, so it would be able to deposit or retrieve it easily.
"What did you have in mind? A welcome home sign painted all over the walls? This is a docking bay, not a hotel lobby," Rhea complained. "Just wait until we reach the common area."
Off to the side, they entered a circular elevator that could fit all 19 of them before the platform started to rise. Meanwhile, outside, the bay doors lifted, closing shut before the landing gear folded up and tucked away under the hull. Slowly and quietly, the airship rose, then suddenly shot up into the sky before flying east, heading for the coast of Kanto.
The platform the group was riding on passed by the floor above them, where they could briefly see a 50 x 50 x 15 m space filled with greenery. A fish tank was tucked in the far corner, taking up a third of the space, where the Water Pokémon could swim. There were sandpits, grassy fields, sturdy trees, hanging platforms suspended from the ceiling, and Pokémon food dispensers if they felt hungry. It was a mini habitat for the Pokémon to relax in.
Another floor up was a similarly large space that opened into a living room where they could hang out, eat, and watch the view from the floor-to-ceiling window. Further tucked into the space were multiple rooms that included a med bay, fully stocked kitchen, playground for the kids, and a large room for exercising, although combat was strictly restricted.
"Did we already take off?" Alvera exclaimed as she took out her camera before running to the window. "I didn't even notice. The ride was too smooth."
Outside, the view stretched from Cerulean City to the east to Mount Moon to the west, with a sea of clouds beneath them. Above, the sky was a clear, endless blue, making their altitude feel all the more surreal. Flying Pokémon filled the airspace, but they kept a wide berth, preferring to avoid combat while simply migrating.
"Heh heh heh," Rhea laughed with a smug expression. "How do you like my gravity neutralizer? No matter how much the airship moves outside, inside it will always maintain the same gravity. Amazing, isn't it? Actually, Rotom, turn the airship over so Alvera gets a better view of Kanto."
Without any sensation of shifting gravity, the window simply displayed the view beneath the airship, with no perceptible change as the vessel tilted onto its side while maintaining the same speed.
"Wooooow," Alvera said, joined by everyone else, clearly impressed with the view.
Once the moment of awe settled, the group gradually dispersed, each moving off to get familiar with the new space in their own way. Lina headed straight for the kitchen, eager to inspect and test the new tools. Talia went to the med bay to check their stock and verify supplies. Vera, along with Kaia, Lyra, and Mika, took the kids to the playground to keep them occupied. The rest scattered as well, either releasing their Pokémon, taking in the view, or heading to their assigned rooms.
The next floor up consisted of 30 guest rooms designed like luxury hotel suites, each with its own private bath. Since they had no regular guests, these rooms also functioned as private spaces for Pokémon that preferred solitude, such as Raticate, the Cinccino couple, and Gardevoir, among others.
At the top floor were 20 similarly sized rooms for Alex's women and the children, each fitted with its own skylight. At the center of the layout was Alex's master bedroom, easily twice the size of the others. The Champion ranked bed alone accounted for much of that space.
Each skylight also came with a mini elevator platform beneath it, allowing occupants to access the exterior directly. Since the airship wasn't as defensible as Team Dominion's original design had intended, there was a greater reliance on the trainers inside to respond to threats. As a result, Rhea ensured quick access routes in case they needed to deploy for combat.
As the group settled into their new luxury home in the sky, the airship maintained a steady course eastward, cutting through open skies toward the Alola region.