Meanwhile, within the territory of the Western Marquis of Aspiration City, many lords were gathered together in a meeting.
The expressions on these lords' faces were far from pleasant. Clearly, they had already heard about what had happened in Marina City. The thing they had not wanted to face had finally come to pass.
Lord Aven had actually reclaimed the authority of the Marina City lords, leaving them only with their titles. But once control over the territory was gone, what meaning did the title of lord still hold?
In addition, the civil official selection currently underway in Pokémon Domain was likewise a provocation against the noble system. The moment they received the news, they hurried to seek out Marquis Salt.
At present, if one did not count Princess Mira and Lord Aven, Marquis Salt was the greatest noble in all of Aspiration City, holding control over the entire western region. His strength was likewise the greatest.
"Marquis Salt, Lord Aven is absolutely provoking the nobles of the entire world!"
"Right now it's only Marina City, but next it could very well be Aspiration City. Are we just going to sit here and wait for him to reclaim the power in our hands?"
The lords present spoke one after another, their voices filled with anger and resentment, as well as barely concealed fear. They all knew that this day was bound to come.
"What do you think you can do about it?" At this moment, Marquis Salt, seated at the head of the table, finally spoke.
His gaze swept across the nobles below as he repeated, "So, what do you think you can do?"
In an instant, all the lords fell silent. If they wanted to change everything, the most direct method would naturally be resistance—to refuse with force.
They were the lords of Aspiration City, possessing absolute autonomy within their territories. Unless they personally handed over the power in their hands, no other lord could force them to give it up.
However, when they thought of the power currently controlled by Pokémon Domain, struggle appeared in all their eyes. The image of that Heatran surfaced in their minds—that was a guardian deity!
In all of Aspiration City, only Lord Azelf could possibly deal with Heatran. But asking Azelf to act against Lord Aven—was that realistic? After all, Aven was someone acknowledged by Azelf, the one who had saved all of Aspiration City.
"Not to mention Heatran—even the Pokémon Domain Knight Order is something we can't deal with…"
"It's too late. Everything is already too late. If it were last year, we might have been able to curb the development of Pokémon Domain, but now everything is already too late."
"The promotion of the Pokémon League and the Trainer system was a trap from the very beginning. He had already anticipated this step. The nobles of Marina City are the best proof."
"One year is very short, but for Pokémon Domain, it's the difference between the past and the present. The current Pokémon Domain is simply too powerful—we can't win."
Some lords' faces darkened. Their hearts had already been shaken. If they knew that nothing could stop it, then perhaps submission would be the better choice. After all, if they could retain their noble titles, their families could still continue.
"Not only is the Knight Order of Pokémon Domain formidable—even the Trainers within the territory are extremely difficult to deal with. Don't forget how Marina City fell," the lords sighed, lamenting their own weakness.
As more and more commoners became Trainers, the power of knights was already beginning to lag behind, giving them an unmistakable sense of being swept aside by the times.
"Actually, there is still a way… have you forgotten about the sorcerers?" one lord suddenly spoke up.
But the moment he finished speaking, he was met with a sharp gaze. Marquis Salt looked at him with a warning expression. "Do not forget your identity as a noble of Aspiration City!"
"If Aspiration City falls, then our noble status will be meaningless. And don't forget the lesson of the Ironblood Fortress—the Sorcerer Organization is the enemy of all Aspiration City!"
After speaking, he continued to look at the other lords who were avoiding his gaze. "There's another point you can rest assured about. After the Sorcerer Organization is completely eradicated, Lord Aven will not move against us. He also does not wish to see Aspiration City fall into chaos."
"And besides that, I do have a suggestion—one that might allow us to retain our current authority."
Upon hearing Marquis Salt's words, all the lords turned their eyes toward him, hope appearing in their gazes as they waited to see what method the marquis had in mind.
"It's actually very simple… fully join the Pokémon League!"
"Right now, the Pokémon League is still just an empty shell, and our joining could allow it to develop much more quickly."
"As long as we can join the Pokémon League, we can use the authority we currently hold to secure higher positions within the League."
"Since the Pokémon League wants to reform, why don't we become part of the reform ourselves? In that case, even if we lose territorial authority, we can still obtain corresponding authority within the Pokémon League!"
"I've heard that in Marina City, Trainer Association branches have been established in every territory. Then why don't we proactively establish Trainer Associations in our own territories and become the branch presidents ourselves?"
As Marquis Salt's words fell, the entire meeting room fell silent. Clearly, the lords were astonished by his plan. But upon careful consideration, it did indeed seem to be a way to preserve their own power.
Whether nobles of Aspiration City or officials of the Pokémon League, the foundations they possessed were not something ordinary people could ever replace. If they proactively joined the Pokémon League, there would currently be no one capable of competing with them.
When that time came, whether the Pokémon League replaced Aspiration City or Aspiration City remained as it was, their authority and status would not be affected.
Of course, they would also need to give up quite a bit. After joining the Pokémon League, they would have to submit to its management and constraints. Moreover, Marina City was already operating under a centralized governance model.
In the future, all territories would implement the same set of systems, be managed by unified departments, and see their lordly authority weakened. However, as long as they did not violate Pokémon League regulations, their status within their territories would not actually be affected too greatly.
Furthermore, with the establishment of the Pokémon League, each territory would inevitably experience greater development. Coupled with the Trainer Association's authority over Trainer management and related matters, their power could even become greater in certain respects.
…
Inside the study of the castle in Aspiration City, Aven learned of the plans made by the various lords from Mira's account. He had not expected that the lords of Aspiration City would take the initiative to propose joining the Pokémon League. However, after giving it just a moment's thought, he quickly understood their intentions. This could be considered an open and honest strategy—there was nothing hidden about it.
At present, the Pokémon League truly did need a large number of officials. This was not something that could be resolved simply through short-term educational expansion or a few rounds of civil service-style examinations. In fact, even in the Pokémon League of his previous life, the internal forces had been intricately intertwined. Many officials holding key positions within the League had powerful factions standing behind them.
If these former lords were to join the Pokémon League, they would clearly become internal aristocratic families similar to those that existed in the League of his past life. Yet there was no denying that they were also extremely important to the League's development. Since this was something the future Pokémon League could not avoid anyway, Aven found it very easy to accept. The two sides were inherently complementary in nature.
Moreover, if one wished to obtain greater power, what truly mattered was still one's own strength. As long as his own strength continued to grow, there was no real need to worry excessively about these lords joining the Pokémon League.
Although, relying on the power currently under the control of the Pokémon Domain, it would be easy to forcibly strip these nobles of their rights, the subsequent handling of territories and related matters would bring endless trouble. Thus, Aven did not mind taking a step back.
"By nature, there still needs to be a balance between the Pokémon League and the lords," Eva said after learning of the situation, voicing her own thoughts. This was also a conclusion they had reached during recent discussions regarding the implementation of the Pokémon League system. Given the nature of the current era, such a balance could help avoid many unnecessary problems.
(End of Chapter)