The rewards

When the human survived the first Pokemon tide, a huge banquet was held to celebrate their victory. Since then, a tradition was made. Every survival of the tide lead to the banquet which the citizens would organize to thank the soldiers. They called it 'Appreciation banquet'.

The banquet was not too fancy but it meant a lot for the citizens and the soldiers.

At the front of the banquet stood a medium-sized young man with silver hair coming to his shoulders. He was wearing a black suit with a dark purple shirt and black tie. His light silver hair highlighted his attire. That young man was Axel Blaze.

Axel had not bothered to cut his hair for the past 2 months and it had grown a lot. He now tied his hair on the back. It suited him.

Hector opened the banquet gate and they entered. The banquet was held on a huge ground. They didn't have the hall to fit such a huge crowd.

Everyone was staring at Axel. Some of them were gossiping, some of them were murmuring and some of them came near him for autographs. It was a surreal experience for him. After giving the autograph, more people came near him. Hector acted like his bodyguard and didn't let anyone come near.

Axel then went to his zone group and started talking with his captains and lieutenants. He could see that the soldiers from his zone were extra proud and they were given more respect than other zones. He ate some snacks and drank some wine.

After an hour of spending time at the banquet, the mayor finally came onto the stage getting ready for the speech.

"Hello to all the citizens and brave soldiers of Burbos town. I am your mayor Derek and I welcome you to the 21st appreciation banquet of this town. We have been through a lot and it is the first time in 200 years that we had to face a Pseudo-king ranked Pokemon.

However, we prevailed and now we are here to celebrate and thank our brave soldiers for their effort."

Everyone started to clap their hands for the brave soldiers.

"Now, I must inform you that your merit points have already been calculated. I would like to call out 3 of our soldiers who had contributed the most."

The room got silent. This was the main event of the banquet. The top 3 soldiers who had made the most contribution would be heavily rewarded by the mayor.

"On the third, we have Hector Garnechi. He had single-handedly killed 2 elemental rank Pokemon and many wild Pokemons. He had done a perfect job as a lieutenant. He would be rewarded with 2000 merit points and 50,000 Pokedollars.

Hector Garnechi, please come on to the stage."

The crowd started growing wild with clappings.

"Damn! 2000 merit points. Isn't that a lot?", said one of the soldiers.

"Yes, it is. I only got 50 merit points. Well, he did kill 2 elemental ranked Pokemons."

"Yes, I am proud of our lieutenant. He had done a great job."

Axel could see the excited faces of the north base soldiers. They acted like it was them that had been awarded.

The mayor put a medal on Hector, shook his hand, and thanked him

"Now, for the second, we have Salam Namaste. He is our commander and he has been a backbone in this tide. He had defeated 3 elemental-ranked Pokemons, multiple rare and uncommon rank Pokemons, given perfect decisions to each of the zone in need and many more.

I don't want to waste all of your time listing out his accomplishment cause it is a long list. He would be rewarded 4000 merit points, 200,000 Poke dollars, and Aux power."

The clapping was noisier than before. This was the commander of the tide and he had done a good job.

"Now, finally we have the first. We all know about him. Axel Blaze. Despite being only 14 years old, his contribution is the highest. It is safe to say that, only due to him that we are standing here alive. His creative strategy and bold moves had not only helped his zone but the whole town. He is the hero of this town.

He had single-handedly defeated 10 elemental ranked Pokemons and 1 pseudo-king ranked Pokemon. He would be rewarded with 16,000 merit points, 2 million Pokedollars, and a 100-year-old naturally formed water gem. Let's welcome him to the stage."

Someone started chanting 'Axel.. Axel…Axel..

It started slow at first but by the time Axel was on the stage, everyone was calling his name. The north base soldiers were extra proud of their zone commander. Axel may have had a rocky start in this tide but he had made a name for himself.

He felt proud and happy for what he had accomplished. The mayor also gave him a medal and shook his hand.

The banquet went on for the whole night but Axel went to his room after a few hours. He was very tired and his mental health was not really good.

The next day, Axel came to the commander's office.

"Hello, Axel. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Sir, I would be taking my leave now.", replied Axel.

"Why would you go? You did great in the tide. A soldier like you is always welcome."

"I would like to go home, sir."

Salam looked at him and then said, "Oh, how could I forget? This is your first tide. Your mind should be in a mess. Go home and rest. But before going home, let me give you the details of the reward.

A soldier can claim the body of the elemental rank Pokemon they had defeated. Or they could exchange it for money. What do you like to do?", asked Salam.

"Just give them to the family of the dead of the north zone."

"Are you sure? That would be a lot of money."

"I am sure. I don't lack money."

"Ok then. Have a safe trip."

Axel then said his goodbyes to his soldiers and called Oak's Alakazam. It teleported near him.

"Can you take me home?", asked Axel.

Alakazam nodded its head and immediately teleported him to the gate of his home.

###

Knock..knock.. Knock.. Knock…

"Coming… coming.."

The door opened.

"Axel? Why are you here? Are you okay son? You look very pale.", asked his mom.

But Axel didn't say anything. He was starting to lose consciousness.

"Axel… Axel.. Arron come here fast. Something is wrong with Axel."

His mom started to panic. She didn't know what was happening.

Arron came running to see what the hell was going on.

"Axel what happened?", asked his father.

"Tide…. Pokemon tide…", he mumbled softly and then fainted.