Alex, Nyx, and Rhea went to work drafting up an attack plan and the resulting cleanup while Lyra and Mika added a bit of colorful commentary. It was still quite early in the morning when the meeting started and far too late to get back to sleep, so the pair joined in until a plan was decided.
"I'll run a few tests with Gardevoir and double-check my babies before we proceed with the plan tomorrow," Rhea said with a yawn.
"Thanks, Rhea," Alex said, appreciating the girls' efforts so early in the morning.
"It's my passion," she said with a shrug as she left, making her way to her laboratory.
"How are you doing, Alex?" Nyx asked as she approached, sat on his lap, and took him inside her.
"I'm fine," he replied with a loving smile as he cupped her cheek and stared deeply into her eyes while she moved her hips back and forth.
"Something's different about you, but I can't place it," Nyx said as she began panting.
"I don't have any love triggers right now," Alex said simply, completely shocking Nyx to the point that she stopped moving. "And yet, I can still feel my overflowing love for you. It's... a different feeling compared to the usual. It's like it's always on now but flares up when I think you deserve it. Does that make sense?"
Nyx's jaw dropped as she sat still on Alex's lap. This was the result of over two decades of mental manipulation via love triggers. Alex was finally starting to feel genuine love for them. At least, as genuine as they could get it.
"No, that sounds about right. You feel it just from being in a room with the one you love or even thinking about them, and it intensifies when you see the traits and actions you love about them," Nyx said before asking, "Why didn't you tell the others?"
"I wanted to see what it was like without prodding. I've had this high, contented feeling since earlier and was wondering how far this would go. Since you noticed, it was pointless keeping it from you," Alex said as he wrapped his arms around her and very slowly gyrated his hips beneath her, slowly increasing in intensity and power as his expression shifted to ravenous hunger.
"Mmmph, Alex~" Nyx moaned as she took his lips and doubled her efforts.
They had a bit too much fun, spending most of the morning until noon in the command center before Alex decided he had work to do. With Nyx at Champion rank now, she was quite insatiable, able to handle his full strength with absolute ease, no matter the physical abuse.
Nyx, meanwhile, regretted nothing of the immense amount of resources and effort she had invested into reaching Champion rank. It was worth it to be manhandled so roughly without any need for consideration of her body's well-being.
Alex, leaving an exhausted Nyx on top of the conference table, jumped down from the balcony of the command center on the top floor of the main hub and landed heavily without cracking the pavement. He then strolled through the small gate in the wall toward the new, significantly bigger backyard. It was easily more than thrice the size of the old one.
To the immediate right was the repaired wall beside the sanctified graveyard where the Ghost types and Mandibuzz liked to hang around. To the left was the enlarged lake, churning with movement from the Water types. Farther beyond were Kaia's expanded fields, filled with trees and shrubs that regularly produced top-quality berries.
To the north stood two dark, fruit-bearing forests on either side, concealing over a thousand Pokémon living freely with all the food they could ever desire. Their only real concern being boredom, easily remedied by partnering with bounty hunters or families belonging to the organization.
Between the forests stretched an enormous open dirt landscape of the training grounds, overflowing with the Champion ranked auras of Alex's away team, all training hard after the false alarm earlier that day.
After a decade of top-quality Champion and, on occasion, Master ranked meat, every single Pokémon in Alex's away team reached Champion rank. This even included his most recent additions from Alola, the most prominent of which was Guzzlord, who was at the peak of Champion rank.
Name: Guzzlord, Champion lvl 99
Type: Dark Dragon
Ability: Beast Boost
Moves:
Expert:
(+100% Damage): Bite, Dragon Tail, Knock Off, Stomp, Stomping Tantrum, Crunch, Body Slam, Hammer Arm, Heavy Slam, Dragon Rush, Belch, Thrash, Giga Impact, Thief, Payback, Fling, Snarl, Brutal Swing, Dark Pulse, Outrage, Dragon Claw, Dragon Pulse, Brick Break, Drain Punch, Body Press, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Heat Wave, Heat Crash, Shadow Claw, Bulldoze, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Hyper Beam, Snore, Facade, Round, Sludge Bomb, Poison Jab, Sludge Wave, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, Iron Tail, Gyro Ball, Iron Head
Master
(Effect Up +4): Swallow, Stockpile, Wide Guard, Gastro Acid, Protect, Substitute, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Amnesia, Iron Defense
Description: Guzzlord, the Junkivore Pokémon. It is an Ultra Beast codenamed UB-05 Glutton from Ultra Space that has a bottomless appetite, swallowing everything in its path, including mountains, rivers, and entire buildings. Despite consuming colossal amounts of matter, it leaves no droppings behind. Scientists believe it perfectly converts everything it eats into pure energy.
It was designated as the organization's toxic waste and non-biodegradable trash unit, happily consuming all waste produced by the main hub and its thousand-plus occupants. Unfortunately, it carried a latent danger of rampaging when it got hungry, so a plan to feed it meteorites until it was sated for the next hundred years was being considered, while it was being staved off with whatever trash they could get their hands on.
As for its potential to reach Master rank, even at the peak of Champion rank it remained far from attaining true mastery of its energy; a limitation that couldn't be solved by time alone, as it required a spark born from genuine insight and complete understanding.
The same issue affected Grim, the Roaring Moon, and Knight, the Iron Valiant. Both stood at the brink of Champion rank, only a step away from breaking through, yet it wasn't meant to happen anytime soon. Still, they at least inched forward in their move proficiencies despite their lack of deeper contemplation.
Grim had mastered all its physical moves like a proper rampaging barbarian, with Draco Meteor at Expert rank, while everything else stayed at Advanced for now. It was at the point where a small spark of inspiration could trigger its breakthrough at any time, yet it operated like a machine, repeating move after move just to gain proficiency, strangely making it feel the furthest from mastery despite being only a step away.
Knight was similar, with Expert rank in everything except Dazzling Gleam. Like Grim, it lacked inspiration, functioning with cold, calculated precision rather than instinct or creative drive.
Just below those at the peak of Champion rank were Raticate, Arcanine, and Hydreigon. Raticate attained Master ranked proficiency in Quick Attack, granting +200% Damage and, subsequently, reach, allowing him to launch himself across long distances and reach the top of the main hub from the training grounds in a single use. It did wonders for his personal hit-and-run strategy, which Alex was quite proud of, to the point that he wouldn't be surprised if Raticate reached Master rank first. As a side note, he reached Master in all status moves, reflecting his keen awareness of his own weaknesses despite his high rank and proficiencies.
Arcanine reached +200% Range on Teleport, allowing travel between regions in a single use given his near-Master rank strength. He also attained +200% Damage to Extreme Speed, surpassing Raticate's Quick Attack, though without Raticate's finesse he functioned more like a bulldozer fired from a railgun.
Hydreigon, meanwhile, true to her violent nature, attained +200% Damage on all physical moves. She was currently struggling to progress further but drew inspiration from Grim to continue pressing forward. Her passion was undoubtedly her greatest drive for improvement.
Next on the list were Clawitzer, Kommo-o, and Azuking, who were at the exact midpoint of the Champion rank. Clawitzer reached +200% Damage in all her special moves, increasing her firepower by leaps and bounds. She was like a battleship's main guns once she began her bombardment.
Kommo-o attained Master rank proficiency in all physical moves, as was fit for a battle maniac, with the benefit of higher sustainability due to Drain Punch. His usual sparring partner Azuking, the Azumarill and Slaking fusion, meanwhile reached Expert in Earthquake and Advanced in everything else.
Through sheer strength alone with basic proficiencies during their first fight, it had been able to match Kommo-o, but now that it was at Expert, it could toss out a near Master ranked Earthquake in effect due to the Huge Power Ability. Alex was excited to see its future growth, even if reaching Master rank was still at least 3 or more decades away.
Next were those just shy of the midpoint of the rank.
Rotom, Aegislash, Togekiss, Dusknoir, Crobat, Weezing, the Maushold trio, Espeon, and Gardevoir had all reached Master in status moves.
Rotom and Dusknoir stood out for slightly enhanced Priority on Protect, allowing them to block even Master ranked Priority trained moves with ease, in addition to already being able to handle Master ranked attacks. Togekiss pushed this further, with all status moves gaining Effect Up and Priority Up +2. Dusknoir could also manipulate Gravity freely, generating multiple pockets of heavy gravity with a single wave of his hand.
The Crobat couple reached Master in Quick Attack and all status moves, but remained at Advanced in physical and special attacks due to their non-combat focus. Those areas would likely catch up over decades, but for now their role was fully optimized.
Espeon not only maxed out her status moves but also reached Master in Expanding Force, matching Gardevoir and Gothitelle in psychic mastery, though her physical moves remained at Advanced as she wasn't a frontline combatant. Gardevoir similarly maxed status moves and achieved Master in Expanding Force, with all other moves at Expert.
Altaria, Alcremie, Frosmoth, and Zoroark specialized in special AOE attacks, with the first 3 specializing in Dazzling Gleam, gaining +100% Damage and Range. Zoroark, as the primary Dark type of the defense team, focused on Snarl and Hyper Voice.
Ceruledge specialized in physical moves, matching Raticate and Arcanine's pace, primarily to break through Protect shields preemptively.
Tsareena focused solely on Power Whip at Master rank, leveraging its range and physical power despite being part of the defense team.
Gyarados, Milotic, the six Wishiwashi, and the Araquanid pair all shared Master ranked Surf with +200% Range, having been raised together and maintaining synchronized growth in both proficiency and strength.
Ditto remained far from Master rank due to its late start and its Transform utility was unchanged. Despite its low move proficiency once transformed, its unpredictability still made it valuable, especially that neat little trick it pulled with Jonah.
The Chandelure pair and Vikavolt pair specialized in Master ranked special attacks with +200% Range, while the Rhyperior pair, who were recruited at the same time, specialized in Master ranked physical moves with +200% Range.
Shiny Lucario reached Master in Extreme Speed, while Gallade and Lopunny, her teammates, lagged behind. The gap between them was simply that significant when they joined Alex.
The Goodra pair reached Master in Draco Meteor, not far behind everyone else.
Grimmsnarl only reached Expert in all status moves, though he remained relevant against Master ranked opponents thanks to his Prankster Ability and +1 Priority and Effect proficiency, even if he primarily served as an annoyance rather than a fighter.
Gothitelle reached Master in Psychic Terrain, Gravity, and Expanding Force, and was steadily progressing toward Master in all other status moves. She was working hard to close the gap with Gardevoir, her best friend.
Finally, there were the Pokémon who had only recently reached Champion rank, either because they joined weak or joined later. Still, with very luxurious resources, they were eventually able to cross that threshold.
Gallade and Lopunny were at Expert rank and close to reaching Master, with Gallade developing his unique short-range Teleport and Lopunny refining her Quick Attack for improved maneuverability.
The Lucario pair had Master ranked physical moves, including +200% Range Earthquake and Rock Slide, yet were still relatively recent additions in terms of reaching Champion rank.
Mantine had Master rank in all status moves but remained at Advanced in everything else, only recently achieving this due to increased free time. He was on the lazier side, so it was anyone's guess when he would be able to reach Master rank in all moves.
Urshifu had Master rank in all physical moves, most prominently Adamant Strike, which delivered devastating Steel type damage with guaranteed critical hits at reduced priority.
Seismitoad and Breloom both had Master rank in all physical moves as well, with their final teammate, Raichu, reaching Master rank in all status moves with Priority +4. It was an unusual configuration that ensured his enemies were almost always struck by a debilitating Thunder Wave before anyone else could act, including Grimmsnarl, who had Prankster.
Along with working on their proficiencies, all the new additions also trained in formations and became proficient enough to keep up with the rest over the past decade. Now, Alex's away team was perfectly complete, more than able to pull their own weight without hindering the others.
Seeing them battle it out on the training grounds, Alex couldn't be prouder. He was confident that with this lineup, he could easily handle any Master ranked trainer, especially Alaric Graves, the final boss of Team Dominion, whom he had a very high chance of facing by tomorrow.
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A stats sheet for the away team is available on Patreon for free for those who are interested. No account needed; just drop by and take a peek. Its name is Chapter 490.5 Stats Page 6.