Chapter 130. Repairing the Farm

Once Alex made it back to the farm, he took a tour of the property to assess the damage. The grounds were littered with potholes, cracks, and tunnels that had been dug by panicked Pokémon. Raticate had done a thorough sweep and ensured that no Pokémon were still hiding underground, but the damage was already done. Many tunnels had been carved out in a desperate attempt to escape when they encountered the wall. It would take about a day for a professional crew to fill in the tunnels, patch the potholes and cracks, and reinforce the terrain. 'I should have the entire grounds reinforced like the training area while I'm at it,' Alex thought as he considered potential improvements for the farm. The decorative plants and gardens around the farm had been damaged in some places, but not severely. Kaia would be able to handle the repairs in due time, especially since it was her personal project from the beginning. The mansion itself held strong. No Pokémon had managed to get inside, so the interior was largely untouched. Reinforced steel panels had sealed the windows, and bolted doors had prevented any breaches during the chaos. The exterior, however, was a different story. Paint had been scratched off, holes had been dug into the cement walls, several windows were shattered, one of the balcony pillars had collapsed, the roof was missing some panels, and the gutters were clogged with flesh and blood. These were all minor repairs and cosmetic issues that could be resolved in a day. 'Perhaps thicker walls and a reinforced roof,' Alex considered. The mansion had held up perfectly with little to no damage, but he wondered if a few improvements could still be squeezed in. The girls' houses were in a similar state, though one had been completely destroyed when an Elite rank Pokémon fell from the sky and landed directly on top of it. Hydreigon had taken it out immediately afterward with a Draco Meteor, bringing the house down along with it. Alex couldn't exactly complain given the circumstances, so he chalked it up to bad luck. Rebuilding the destroyed house would likely take a month, but fortunately, it was one of the spare homes and hadn't been in use. The orchard had taken a heavy hit. The ground was scorched in places, with telltale signs of beam attacks cutting long paths through rows of trees. An entire section had been burned to the ground, while other areas showed signs of upheaval that had torn out trees, roots and all. The orchard sat on the edge of the perimeter and had been intentionally sacrificed to conserve the Pokémon's stamina. The defenders had focused their efforts on the mansion, where the girls were sheltering and where their food supplies were stored. The greenhouses fared no better. Not a single one escaped without damage. Glass panels had been shattered, and the neat rows of hydroponic units were now a chaotic mess. The generator, filter, solution tank, and pump had all been destroyed. Thankfully, the steel framework of the structures had held firm. Repairing the greenhouses would involve replacing the glass panels, the hydroponic systems, and the damaged machines. With proper parts, everything could be restored within a week. The training grounds were mostly intact. Some potholes marred the terrain, and a few pieces of training equipment had been damaged by stray attacks. Fortunately, those were easily replaceable. Overall, Alex considered the damage fairly minimal. He remembered the devastation he had seen when he first arrived. The entire property had been flattened, with not a single building left standing. In contrast, his farm still had all its major structures intact. Even the neighboring wall had remained mostly untouched. It was clear that his Pokemon had done an excellent job protecting the area. 'Not much to improve other than hardening the ground and reinforcing the mansion. Although, I should take this opportunity to extend the waterways around the entire property. It would act as a makeshift wall while helping cool the area during the summer,' Alex ultimately decided. Alex took photos of the damage and included them in his report to the League for compensation. The cost of repairs and replacements would likely run into a few million Pokedollars, a small price compared to the immense value of the meat they had secured in exchange.  Suddenly, three Zubats swooped in and landed on Alex's head and shoulders, chirping in excitement. "It's good to see you as well," Alex said, responding to their enthusiasm. A pair of Golbat flew down soon after, scolding the younger Zubats before guiding them off to continue their patrol. These five were the children of the Crobat couple, who had produced several eggs over the past two years. Like their parents, the young ones had inherited moves like Hypnosis and Quick Attack. Alex had originally planned to sell them, but recalled his need for scouts in the surrounding forest. Instead, he asked the Crobat couple to teach them how to patrol and detect intruders. The arrangement worked out perfectly. Vespiquen also gave birth to more Combee. The females were sold to avoid confrontation with Vespiquen while the males were made to harvest honey. There are now five Combee harvesting honey from the forest.  Arcanine, Absol, and Houndoom had children as well. Alex wanted to keep the Absol that was born but it left the farm the night it hatched. Alex assumed it was following its instincts, drawn toward solitude. He figured the mountains to the northeast were its likely destination. A pair of Houndour were born too, and both Arcanine and Houndoom agreed with Alex's suggestion to sell them. Their aggressive nature and habit of setting things ablaze made them unsuitable for farm life. Alex sold them to the League as eggs and received a tidy sum in return. They were not especially rare, but not common either. Raticate and Morpeko produced an egg as well, though neither had the desire to raise it. Alex sold it soon after. Frosmoth finally caught Forretress's attention after he gave up his long, fruitless pursuit of Clawitzer. When she began spending more time with the water team, Forretress came to a simple, painful realization: it was never going to work out. He would drown, after all. Heartbroken, he withdrew for a time. But eventually, his eyes turned to Frosmoth, who had quietly stayed by his side this entire time. The two ended up producing several eggs, which Alex also sold. There was another love story quietly unfolding behind Alex's back. It began and ended without him ever noticing. Vera, however, knew everything. Kommo-o had been trying to claim Hydreigon for the longest time. She was strong and fierce, just the way he liked it. Unfortunately for him, Hydreigon only preferred Alex's company and would beat Kommo-o senseless every time he made a move. Frustrated and restless, Kommo-o's fierce draconic instincts drove him to seek solace elsewhere. He turned his attention to the Goodra pair, both female, who eagerly welcomed the presence of a powerful male to keep them company. In time, they laid eggs that Alex sold, earning a handsome profit from their rare lineage. Many other pairings across the farm also resulted in offspring that were sold. These included the Araquanid pair, the Maushold, and the Gogoat. All the eggs were sold with the parents' permission. Neither the parents, Alex, the girls, nor the farm had any use for them. The water team was on a whole different level, multiplying quietly in the ponds without Alex noticing until it was too late. One day, he simply realized there were far too many Magikarp, Feebas, and Wishiwashi swimming in their waters. Alex had wanted to sell them as well but discovered they were dirt cheap, almost not worth the effort of rounding them up and selling them. So he decided to forget about the problem and let the water team handle it. It was the main reason Alex decided to expand the waterways. It would give the water team plenty of space to accommodate the extra members. However, since they were not truly considered part of the core team, Alex only fed them low quality meat gathered from the forest similar to the Crobat couple's children. Meanwhile, Alex focused on his recent additions: the Expert ranked Onix and Zoroark. The Metal Coat was on its way, and Zoroark required highly specialized training to make the most of its Illusion ability. Finding no helpful information on the League market, Alex concluded that personal experience and a more active imagination would be the best approach. To that end, he spent time with Zoroark watching mindless TV to expand its knowledge base, while also including it in regular training sessions with the others. A month later, the farm was repaired and improved, the meat had finished processing, and, most importantly, Alex received his compensation from the League. He received 5 million Pokedollars for the damage to the farm and 20 million credits for the captured Pokémon of Adept rank and below, along with their meat. This amount was comparable to the compensation he had received for taking down Don. In that case, the League paid generously because Don owned extensive property they desperately needed. This time, the reward came because Alex had held his ground against the flood, significantly reducing the damage to the surrounding farms. The Pokémon and meat Alex surrendered were worth at most 10 million credits, while the farm's damage amounted to about 5 million Pokedollars. The extra 10 million credits was the League's reward for successfully protecting the neighboring farms. Over the past month, Alex had received many gifts from farmers who survived the ordeal with minimal losses. Unfortunately, numerous farms on the outskirts were still destroyed by the flooding Pokémon. Meanwhile, the city suffered far less damage than during the flood a decade earlier, thanks to the flood's shorter duration and Alex's successful defense of the farmland, which acted as a buffer that thinned the flooding Pokemon. The reward was a substantial sum, enough to sustain most trainers for over a century in terms of resources. The last time he received this much, the credits vanished quickly because Alex had gone overboard acquiring new Pokémon. Kommo-o, in particular, had been an expensive but worthwhile investment, given its value as a top-tier combatant.  In addition, Alex's definition of resources were Elite ranked Pokemon meat which would run in the millions of credits for just a year. Clearly, it was beyond extravagant for the average trainer.  This time, however, Alex had no urgent needs, giving him the freedom to thoroughly scour the market for any opportunities or advantages he could secure. At the top of his list was something far more ambitious: land situated beside Champion ranked Pokémon where danger and opportunity walked hand in hand. ----- Support me on Patreon patreon/babywrath