บท 572: Mayor in jail

Axel's eyes brightened after hearing his father. He had read many novels where the protagonist would dominate the fight but this was the real world. However, after hearing from his father, he realized that he had been here for a long time and lost the zeal to overwhelm a fight.

Axel didn't know if he could overwhelm the fight but he knew that if he wanted to make a stand, then he would have to do something.

Both of them got a hotdog and then went home. Lyra, Lorelai, Hymer, Ryker, and Kate were ready to depart. Seeing his friends depart, he felt sad. But there was nothing he could do about it.

He especially felt bad when Kate also decided to go. He had thought to propose to her but now he was not so sure. The group said their farewell and then all of them went towards the airport.

After the news of the tide spreads, there would be very few planes that would be ready to work.

After saying goodbye, Axel went to the garden to clear his mind. Lance came near Axel to talk. He could see that his friend was not in a good mood. It was his duty as a friend to ask him about his troubles.

"What are you thinking? Is something troubling you?", asked Lance.

"Well, I hoped that at least Kate would stay. But I guess I was wrong."

"Why?"

"You know why. Why are you asking again?"

"I know but I want to hear from your mouth.", said Lance with a sneaky smile.

"Well, I feel that I like this Kate girl. I thought that she also felt the same. But she didn't even hesitate to go back to save her ass. I mean, HOW CAN SHE DO THAT?"

Axel's voice was rising with every word. He really felt heartbroken when Kate turned her back.

Lance wanted to tease him even more but he knew that it was not the time for it.

"You are feeling bad cause she indirectly rejected you."

"Yes, that is the gist of it."

"I said that if you have any girl problems, you should come to me. You thought that it was a joke and now look at you, you failed even before it started."

"Oh, and what is your advice, almighty Lance?"

"Well, my first piece of advice is that you are wrong. She didn't reject you, you didn't ask her out."

"How does that make a difference? She is not stupid. She should know that I like her."

"You are wrong again. You cannot confirm that she knows about it unless you tell her. You see, Axel, words are very powerful. If you want that girl, you need to act and show."

"So, what do you think that I should do? Even if I go and ask her out after a few months, I would still feel betrayed that she left me when I needed her."

"You should learn to forgive Axel. It was your mistake that you didn't ask her out. So, you should also forgive her mistake. If she says yes and does the same thing again, then you can give her the punishment she deserves."

Axel started to think about it. Lance was right. He didn't ask her out. He wanted to think about it for some time, but he didn't have the time.

Alakazam came near him and said that the mayor was ready for the meeting.

"Lance, have you asked your father for any support?", asked Axel.

"I did today but father refused. Almost all of the fighting forces are in the Johto region, so he could not help us."

"That is just bullshit."

"I know. He said that I have to grow stronger on my own and if I ask for help in every little thing, then I could not become a powerful individual in the future."

"Well, don't worry. We will face this tide on our own and we will prevail. Let's call K and Cody. We must get ready for the meeting.", said Axel and it stood up.

He went to his room to get ready. His mother called him for lunch. They were going to have a meeting in the mayor's office.

As he went to the kitchen, he saw his younger brother, Aurther. Aurther was now 1 year old. He had started to walk. He could not speak in full sentences but he could speak some broken words. When he saw Aurther, he remembered the promise he made to protect him at all costs.

He then saw his mother cooking, his father reading a newspaper and his uncle looking at T.V.

He then looked at his home and its surroundings. He wanted to protect everything here. He remembered the talk he had with his father about dominating the tide.

He didn't have the full information of the tide but he felt that he could do it. If he played his cards right, he could dominate the tide. He thought of the newly built school and the rising stars of the school.

He was going to dominate this tide. He was going to show these wild Pokemons what he was made of. He will be victorious.

###

"Mayor Adam, it is nice to see you again.", said Axel.

"Welcome Axel. It is good to see you again too. Please have a seat.", said the mayor and guided them to their seat. They were now inside one of the meeting halls of the mayor's office.

The mayor didn't like Axel at all. When he first met Axel, Axel had proposed to train his soldiers and build a school in the city where the children would learn with minimum fees.

This meant that Axel basically controlled the military and the school of the city. These were 2 important factors to make the city run properly. Now, Axel had also partially taken control of the economy of the city as the restaurant and stadium of Axel were gaining significant money.

Practically, Axel was like the shadow mayor of the city while the mayor was just a face. So, he wanted to avoid Axel as much as possible but when Axel's Alakazam came to say that something very important was happening, he had to come.

There were many dishes of food around the table. It looked like the mayor had prepared a lot for this meeting.

"Oh, so many dishes!!", exclaimed K.

"Yes, nothing more than the best is good our prodigy.", said the mayor with a smile. He then turned towards Axel and asked, "Mr. Axel, I know that you are a busy man. So, you must have something to discuss."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is something serious that I must share with you."

"Oh, is it something very serious?"

"Yes, we are going to face a tide."

After hearing that they were going to face a tide, the world turned upside down for the mayor. The mayor was around 50 years old. His great-grandfather was the first mayor of this town. Then his grandfather became the mayor and then his father and finally him.

Throughout all these years, the city had never faced a tide. How could he be so unlucky to face one right now?

Facing a tide was not a joke. The city would have to contribute a lot of money and resources and they would also have to do a lot to recover the damages. The league did provide a helping hand but it would never be enough.

"Mr. Mayor, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath and then drink this glass of water.", said Axel and he handed the glass to Adam.

After a few minutes, the mayor was able to breathe properly.

"Why are we facing the tide right now?", asked the mayor.

"You see, the king of the south side of the forest is in its old stage. So, it is going to die and...."

Axel told all the things to the mayor and the reason for the tide. He also told that they would have to fortify the east and the west side as the south side was connected to them.

After hearing about it, the mayor started to boil in rage.

"Mr. Axel, are you sure that it was a human that did it?"

"I am 90% sure that it was a human."

"Do you know who it is?", asked the mayor.

"Hey, you are the mayor. You tell me. Don't you know who enters the forest and who doesn't?", asked Axel in anger.

He was really pissed. Of course, that human might have used 'Teleport' with the help of his Pokemon and he might be hard to track but when the mayor asked the question, he was confirmed that the mayor was not serious about his job.

Every entry to the forest was properly checked. That was the rule of the city but it looked like the mayor didn't monitor it and now they were having this problem.

"Mr. Axel, it is not like that. I just slipped my tongue."

"Mr. Adam, when I first met you, I expressed my love for the city and I wanted it to be protected. But it looks like you are not doing a job."

"No, you are…."

"And because of you, we are having this problem. Light, go and take all the records of the entry of the south side of the forest."

"Ok, I will.", said Alakazam and vanished.

"No, you cannot do that. It is done with the authority of the mayor."

"Mr. Adam, we are now facing the tide and it might be because of your carelessness. I am ordering the martial law and I am the law right now. I hereby remove you as the mayor and I will take the position till the will select a new one."

"How can you do it? It is done by the league!!!", shouted the mayor as he stood up from his seat.

"Oh, yes I can. Only the powerful can dictate and at such a time, I am the most powerful trainer here and do you really think that I care about the league right now? You will now spend time in house arrest and be grateful that it is only a house arrest, not an actual prison.", shouted Axel.

"No, you can't do it. Can't do it.", shouted the mayor again.

"Yes I can and I already did it. Now, give me the responder. I will take it from here."

After hearing about the responder, the mayor could not even speak for some seconds.

"What happened?", asked Axel.

"Well, we will have to contact the league for the responder."

"What? So you are so corrupted that you sold the responder?"

"No, no, it is not that. I have not such paid the tax for the responder till now."

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?", shouted Axel as he was ready to kill the mayor.

K and Cody had to hold Axel to stop him. Axel was truly pissed right now. How much corrupt was this mayor to not pay the tax for the responder?

"How much money do we have in our city safe?", asked Axel.

"I don't know. I will have to check it."

"Tell me the estimated amount.", shouted Axel again.

"It is around 400 billion Poke dollars.", said the mayor hoping that he would come out of this meeting alive.

Axel didn't know what to do. He could kill the mayor right now but that would create a lot of problems and he would have to explain the citizens of the city.

He didn't want that problem during the start of the tide.