It's been two years since Alex reached Champion rank with Raticate. Since then, his Pokémon have been training hard to tighten their formations, and progress has been excellent. Not only have they locked down their formations during practice, but they were also able to apply them in mock battles with the bounty hunters in training.
Speaking of bounty hunters, over the past two years, Dale, Simone, and Morgan have fully internalized Alex's teachings. Not only did they benefit from his knowledge, experience, and expertise, but they've also equipped themselves and their groups with Rhea's latest tech.
Morgan left soon after to continue her bounty hunting with only a handful of girls who had managed to reach Elite rank. After that, her contributions began to come in as she completed bounties through the Silver Network. It wasn't much at first, but over time it should eventually be enough to fully sustain the base.
Dale left as well, eager to follow Alex's lead on a possible solution to their genetic problem. He pointed them in the direction of Bill, who in the games could easily shift between human and Pokémon forms. Whether that still held true in real life, Alex didn't know, but it was at least better than the dead ends their resident geneticist kept hitting.
Simone decided to stay, coordinating with Maris and Iris to send any willing victims of criminal activity to the base for her to care for. It was a safe space for those seeking blind revenge, a place to cool down, think about their futures, while moving toward bounty hunting in the meantime.
Iris has grown comfortable as the base's teleporter and now spends most of her time meditating. She commands over twenty Butterfree and Venomoth, teleporting across Kanto to coordinate supplies and personnel in support of the Silver Network. She has grown especially close to Nyx, frequently working with her to keep operations running smoothly.
The base had managed to stay afloat thanks to some hard adjustments and Alex's presence. Not that he had done anything major himself. All of the work fell to the girls, while financial matters were often left to him. He had to carry out a few assassinations to cover their expenses, but it all managed to work out in the end.
Alvera was finally starting to take her training seriously, which was perfect timing as far as Alex was concerned. She was becoming more independent and was now 8 years old, the ideal age to begin training Pokémon.
The last item on Alex's to-do list, now that the base was secured and thriving, was to get Arcanine and Hydreigon to Champion rank. They eventually achieved it, though progress had been slow, especially since they had run out of Champion ranked meat and could only advance gradually.
Arcanine reached Champion rank a year after Raticate, and just last month, Hydreigon followed.
At 31, he was already a Champion with three Champion ranked Pokémon under his belt. More were on the way, assuming he could keep feeding them Champion ranked meat for the next few years. As for their move proficiencies, they were progressing, but it would still take time for them to reach Master proficiency.
Of those already at Champion rank, Raticate was closest to reaching Master proficiency. He had Expert proficiency in all Physical moves, Shadow Ball, and Taunt. It would take him 6 more years to reach complete Expert and another 5 years to attain Master in his first move.
Arcanine has Extreme Speed, Heat Wave, Teleport, and Morning Sun at Expert proficiency, with 7.5 years until completion. The key isn't the number of Expert moves but which category they belong to. Since Arcanine has one in each category, filling the rest won't take long.
Hydreigon has Special moves at Expert proficiency, with 9 years until completion. Unfortunately, she is stubborn and focuses only on pure damage for her moves, giving them +100% Damage rather than increasing their range as Alex prefers.
Next are those in the upper tier of Elite rank, closest to achieving Champion rank, led by Kommo-o. Unlike Hydreigon, who refuses to adjust her moves, Kommo-o respects Alex and follows his instructions carefully.
All of his Special moves are at Expert proficiency, along with Earthquake, with 9 years until completion. Clanging Scales, Boomburst, Hyper Voice, and Earthquake are trained for +50% Damage and +50% Range, allowing him to devastate a wide area at the front lines.
Clawitzer is the second closest to achieving Champion rank, with Special moves at Expert proficiency. Heal Pulse and Protect are enhanced with Priority +1 and Effect Up +1, with 7.5 years until completion. She still enjoys target practice over the lake and remains the best sharpshooter on Alex's team.
The rest of the group are all at roughly the same power level, making it difficult for Alex to tell who is in the lead.
Rotom has Status moves and Thunder at Expert proficiency, with 9 years until completion. It no longer resists training after the wake-up call of Forretress and Steelix's deaths. It now takes training seriously and has even cut back on gaming time, much to Metagross's shock.
Aegislash has Status moves and Sacred Sword at Expert proficiency, with 9 years until completion. He still mindlessly trains whenever he has free time, eager to gain any boost in strength.
Dusknoir has Physical moves and Gravity at Expert proficiency, with 9 years until completion. His Gravity is unique, with -75% Cooldown, allowing him to cast it up to four times in one go.
As impressive as that sounds, these are only the base versions of the move, and continuous use significantly drains his stamina. He must also remain stationary while casting multiple times in a row, leaving him open to an easy counterattack.
Altaria, Alcremie, Frosmoth, and Togekiss all share the same move proficiency, with Status moves at Expert and Dazzling Gleam trained for +50% Damage and +50% Range, all with 9 years until completion.
Altaria remains the same graceful princess, and Alcremie still hand-feeds Alex her cream.
Togekiss has grown more confident fighting alongside Kommo-o on the front lines, but Frosmoth has changed.
She has thrown herself into mindless training, much like Aegislash, focusing on nothing else in her free time. Alex sent Gardevoir to help her work through her grief, and she has since channeled it into caring for the nests. She's now a mother figure to all the young Pokémon, fussing over them incessantly.
Gardevoir has Status moves at Expert proficiency, with 9 years until completion. She also has Teleport, Gravity, Psychic Terrain, and Expanding Force trained for +100% Range, allowing her to devastate a large area.
Ceruledge and Tsareena have all Physical moves at Expert proficiency, with +100% Damage and 12 years until completion.
Ceruledge has gone above and beyond with her training alongside Raticate and Arcanine, both of whom were Champion ranked. It's clear she's in over her head, but as long as she times her Phantom Force perfectly, the rest is up to them.
Tsareena's combat style was interesting, as she was designated as part of the defense team because of her Queenly Majesty. As a Pokémon with high Attack, however, her primary choice of moves was Bullet Seed and Seed Bomb. Alex asked if she wanted to be an attacker instead, but she didn't seem to mind either way, so he chose to let her stay for the benefit of the group.
The Crobat couple has Quick Attack with -75% Cooldown, Mean Look with Priority +2, and Hypnosis with Effect Up +2. They don't need any other moves, so they're only focusing on these for Master proficiency.
Weezing and his three Maushold have all Status moves with Priority +1 and Effect Up +1, with 12 years until completion. They still move together as a group, with the Maushold comically acting as Weezing's legs, although they toss him down the drainage whenever he wants to visit Muk.
Espeon has Psychic Terrain and Expanding Force trained for +100% Range, with 12 years until completion. She was still attached to Alex's side, never really outgrowing her childlike affection. Alex didn't mind and continued sharing his balcony with her for their regular sunbathing.
Gyarados has Lash Out with Priority +1 and +50% Damage, and Surf with +100% Range, with 12 years until completion.
Milotic has Special moves at Expert proficiency, with 12 years until completion.
Alex found it fascinating that Gyarados and Milotic's children had become the de facto leaders of the Magikarp and the Feebas in the lake. Either there was nepotism in the Pokémon world, or their superior genetics had made it inevitable.
The rest of the Pokémon are all in the lower tier of Elite rank.
The Wishiwashi have Surf and Earthquake trained for +100% Range, with 12 years until completion. They are the leaders of the Wishiwashi in the lake, and there are enough of them to form six full Schooling Form Wishiwashi. A terrifying number of powerful Pokémon if anyone decided to attack.
Zoroark has Special moves at Expert proficiency, with Hyper Voice and Snarl trained for +100% Range, with 12 years until completion. She was more than happy to accept the team change when Alex suggested it. She reasoned that she didn't want a core role, as it carried too much responsibility.
Ditto has Master proficiency in Transform and can change form instantly. It can transform and then use Protect before enemies complete an ambush. Alex wanted one like this for Alvera, but none were available on the market. Hopefully, their geneticist can figure out a way for it to split and produce more.
The Chandelure and the Vikavolt have Physical moves at Advanced proficiency and Special moves at Expert, with 12 years until completion, and are now Elites. Alex decided to train all their moves to Expert rather than leave them at Basic.
Lastly, the Rhyperior has Special moves at Advanced proficiency and Physical moves at Expert, with 12 years until completion, and are also now Elites. He figured that even with low stats, using area-of-effect Special moves correctly should still make a difference.
To support his team's new combat formations, Alex decided to standardize their Effort Values. The attack team, the Rhyperior, and Tsareena have EVs focused on Attack and Speed. The defense team and Gardevoir have EVs for Special Attack and Speed. The utility team has EVs for HP and Speed. Finally, the water team has EVs for Special Attack and Speed to maximize the range of their Surf strategy.
With his exceptionally well-trained Pokémon using new combat strategies, Alex hopes to avoid losing another Pokémon. He understands the fragility of life better than most, which is why he has prepared as much as possible.
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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.
Added levels to help estimate strength, adjusted some moves that may have been misplaced, and updated the formatting.
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