The Return

"Ahh, why are you staring at me like that?", asked Axel.

Kate was staring at Axel as if he had been caught red-handed. But what did she catch? Others were also staring at Axel.

"What is this Blaze Pokemon competition?", asked Kate again.

"It is a competition of my family. Every 6 months, me and family members would fight in the stadium. Common-rank Pokemons would fight common-rank Pokemons and king-rank Pokemons would fight king-rank Pokemons. The winner of each rank will be rewarded.

Why do you ask?", asked Axel.

"I also want to take part in it.", announced Kate.

"Really? But why? It is not so interesting."

"That is for me to decide. Can I take part in it?", asked Kate. 

"Yes, you can. Last time, Red also took part in it."

"Red, the Pokemon champion Red?", asked Kate with a surprised voice.

"Yes."

"I also want to participate."

"Me too."

"I will also have some fun."

Within a matter of minutes, everyone said that they wanted to participate. Axel didn't have any problem with it. He could train his Pokemons much better if there were more participants.

All of them changed their designated directions and now all of them were going to Hakone city. Axel did inform his family about his friends and they were happy to have more people.

###

"Dad, when is brother coming home?"

"I just said, it would take him a few hours now. Why are you so impatient?"

"Cause I miss him and want to meet him."

Arron didn't believe the nonsense that her daughter was spouting. There must be something that she was hiding but he didn't have the energy to know about it.

Arron was already very tired these day for the upcoming Blaze Pokemon competition. It was already announced that it would held after a week but there were a lot of preparations to be done.

His brother Noah and his wife were also very busy. Noah was finally able to stand on his 2 legs. It was an artificial leg and it was not as good as a natural one. He could not fight or run at high speed but now he could walk without any problem. All of this was due to his son.

After his son started his journey, everything changed. Before, they had many problems with money. They were a happy family but money was something they were struggling against. But after Axel started his journey, they also started to earn a lot of money. 

His son also cured Scizor and his brother's health condition. Axel was really a blessing for them and he was proud of his son. He was eager to meet his son again.

###

"Wohhh, this place is so developed. Is this really a small city?"

"How can my friend live in a small city? This city has been advanced!!"

The group had arrived at the airport and they were mystified by looking at that scene. After the news of Axel being from Hakone city got exposed, the city started to gather a lot of tourists.

The money started to pour in and the city started to rapidly develop. Axel had also set up a school for the kids and good defense strategies. The airport had been expanded for more tourists. The roads were clean and wide, there were many shops around the place and many tourist areas.

The place had changed a lot in 1 year.

"Let's go home. Mom and Dad must be waiting for us.", said Axel.

They booked a cab to go home. Axel was very famous in his hometown. All the natives greeted them with respect and awe. The cab driver also didn't ask for any money. 

Cabs were very expensive in this world for some reason. So, for a city to have cab drivers was a big deal. It was a sign of a rich city.

"Axel, is this your home? It is so huge!!!", shouted Lance.

Lance came from a prominent family. In fact, all of them were from prominent families and they were used to big houses and mansions. However, none of them expected Axel's home to be so huge too. 

After Axel acquired a lot of land for training grounds, he created a barrier around the house surrounding all the training grounds. The group could also see a huge stadium that was just outside the house perimeter.

As they entered the place, Axel could see multiple guards on the gate. He was surprised by this. Since when had his family been so rich and sophisticated that they would have guards?

Having guards was necessary now, as the place was very big and guards also cleaned and took care of the training grounds. The guards were free to use training grounds to train their own Pokemons, so the cost of the guards was also low.

ROOAORR

They could hear a loud roar when Agnes came running towards Axel. Agnes was around 8 years old now and she was a little bundle of joy. The group was surprised to see Axel's sister.

They were immediately invited to the home where Axel's mom showered them with food. Even though they had a big land with guards, the house was not very big. Now with 7 new members, they had to adjust.

Axel gave the tour of the place.

"Axel, these are some advanced training grounds. How much did you invest in this?", asked Ryker. He was very impressed with so many training grounds.

"Well, it was a joint investment. It took many trillion dollars to make it.", said Axel with a smile. He was happy to have these training grounds.

"That is a huge amount. I didn't know you were crazy for training grounds."

"When you have king-rank Pokemons like me, you will also think about having these types of training grounds."

Ryker gave a hoarse laugh. Even though their relationship had improved, Axel and Ryker still had some of their differences.

"Can you tell why you have so many training grounds?", asked Frank. He was interested in these training grounds.

"All of them serve different purposes. Some of them are specially for base stats and some of them are for their typings."

"Can we also train on these training grounds?", asked Frank.

"Of course, you can. I have no problem with it.", said Axel.

They toured the place and then returned home. Noah and Arron had already made a bonfire right outside the house and they were ready to make some grilled meat.

Noah was eagerly waiting for Axel to listen to his story. Axel started to tell the story to his family and how they got so many resource places. He also told the story of Lucario.

"That is a very interesting thing. I think you should discuss it with Prof. Oak. He is the Pokemon master and he must know about it.

So, how are your Pokemons now? I see a lot of new Pokemons right now. Your team has grown a bit.", said Noah.

Axel started to talk with his uncle. It had been a long time since he had good talks with Noah. Agnes was busy playing with the new Pokemons of Axel's team. She was especially interested in Bagon and Riolu. Both of them were in their earliest stage and both of them looked cute.

"Mom, how is the business going on now?", asked Axel expecting some positive answer. The food concept of Axel had been approved by the general public and the restaurant was always packed. 

"I think we should open a new business place. The place is always crowded and if we open it in a new city, it would work. However, handling 3 restaurants is not good for my health. Your father doesn't want to leave his job and I and your uncle have to take care of it.", said his mother.

"Father, why don't you leave your job now? We are earning a lot from the restaurant and if we expand, it would be huge."

At first, Arron didn't leave his job cause he was not sure that the restaurant business would work but it did. Now, he didn't want to leave the job cause he was sort of embarrassed. All the ideas and the plans of the business came from his son. Didn't that mean that he was indirectly working for his son? He didn't want to do that.

Axel had been with his father for a long time. So, he could instantly understand his father's emotions. So, he had the perfect reply for it.

"Father, if you leave your job, we could finally expand our business. I have some great ideas.", said Axel.

"Oh, what ideas?" 

"First of all, I have some new recipe plans. I also have a new business model idea. I have made a lot of plans in these 4 months but for that to work, we need a good lawyer."

"I have a good lawyer friend at the place that I work.", said Arron.

"I know. That is why I am asking you. First is the new recipe plans. I have made some recipes that would be a big hit but that is for the future."

"Why? Can't we do it now?", asked his mother.

"No, we cannot. The food industry is different. The craze for our new foods would slowly start to decline. So, even if we expand, after some years, we will start to incur losses if we open in a lot of places.", said Axel.

"Well, that is true. There are very few restaurants that have the same appeal now.", said Noah too.

Others were also listening to their conversation but Axel didn't mind. Even if they wanted to replicate it, they needed the most essential thing and that was a new recipe that they didn't have.

"So, you are planning new recipes for the future. That is very forward-thinking.", commented Arron.

"Yes, but that is not all. We will now start to open a franchise.", said Axel.

"What is a franchise?", asked Lance as he was also interested now.

The concept of franchise was not in this world. There were branches of restaurants where the owner would own and handle all the things.

"Under franchise, we will share our recipe, our materials, and our way to selling to others. For a price."

"But isn't that risky? They might steal it.", said his mother.

"Of course, it is. That is why we need a good lawyer. They will first have to deposit an application fee, the place where the restaurant will be should be as per our policy and then they will have to give us a certain percentage of the profits.

They will also have to train under us, receive the materials from us and all the interiors of the restaurant should be same.

We will earn from the application fee, by selling the materials and by profits.", said Axel.

"But Axel, will they really agree to do it? I mean we are asking a lot from them.", asked Noah.

"Of course they would. We are sharing our brand with them. We will not immediately do it right now. We will open 2 more restaurants in 2 different cities near us and wait for a month.

When our brand value increases, others would line up to get the deal.

However, there is a problem in this plan and I also have a solution."

"What is the problem? This looks perfect for me.", said Arron.

"The food made by you and mom would be completely different even though you did all the things that mom did. So, the original taste of the food would decline when we open the franchise. 

We might train them, but it would not be possible to have the same taste. The popularity of the food would also decline after some years. So, I came up with 2 solutions for this."

Everyone was waiting for the solution. There was a silence. Axel smiled at their curiosity and then said,