Early in the morning, as the first ray of sunlight streamed into the wooden house, Hayashi Kaede had already woken up and gone to the Plantation, mainly to check on the plants he had sown yesterday.
In just one night, some seeds had already sprouted tender shoots, some even several centimeters tall.
This made Hayashi Kaede nod repeatedly. "The fertilizer given by the system is really powerful."
In this world, although most plants grow faster than in his previous life, they don't grow this fast.
At most, they grow two or three times faster, and the growing environment is easier to control.
After all, there are unreasonable super-beings like Pokémon.
After watering, Hayashi Kaede returned to his room.
Snivy and Feebas were already awake; the former was standing by the window, greeting the morning sun, while the latter, like a loyal wife awaiting her husband, stared blankly at Hayashi Kaede with its fish eyes.
He took out the remaining Pecha Berry energy cubes from yesterday, poured them into a small bowl, and called out to Snivy, "Come, it's time for breakfast."
"Snivy."
Snivy responded. Although still a bit embarrassed, he had accepted his current identity.
He took the bowl, placed it on the table, and elegantly picked up an energy cube to eat.
Hayashi Kaede then walked over to Feebas, crushed an energy cube, and dropped it into the water.
Feebas's scales still had some rough spots.
If he were to evolve her now, although the Prism Scale would greatly smooth out these imperfections, it would still affect her beauty after evolution.
It would be better to resolve this issue while she was still a Feebas, rather than wait until it became difficult to fix later.
This problem wasn't big.
As long as he changed the water frequently and fed her energy cubes properly, it would take about half a month to smooth out these rough patches.
However, a single sentence from the system shattered his expectations:
"Congratulations to the host for increasing Feebas's pleasure value from 60% to 75%. Reward: ten bags of fertilizer, one Rare Candy, and a maintenance energy cube recipe."
"…Hmm."
Maybe it wouldn't take half a month?
Hayashi Kaede looked at Feebas strangely.
She was happily eating the energy cubes inside, completely unaware that her increased pleasure had earned her another good item.
"It seems the day Feebas turns into a swan isn't far off," he mused, no longer paying attention to her and instead walked to the door and opened the Breeding House.
Today's task was to collect his Breeder certificate, purchase some necessary items for the Breeding House, and register Snivy and Feebas under it.
The Donghua Alliance's law states that if a Pokémon is captured, its information must be registered within seven days.
Furthermore, a novice Trainer can only capture one Pokémon at most.
As your Trainer level increases, the number of Pokémon you can capture will gradually increase.
However, Breeders do not have this restriction.
If you have a Breeding House under your name, you can capture even more Pokémon…
Turning to look at the two Pokémon who had finished eating, Hayashi Kaede was about to recall them into their Poké Balls when a voice called from behind.
"Kaede-nii~!"
He turned his head to see a young, vibrant girl in white enter his view.
She was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and cotton sweatpants, with her short ponytail tied up. Her eyes were as clear as water, with a hint of a dazed look, and her face was somewhat round, full of youthful energy.
It seemed she was out for a morning jog.
Upon seeing Hayashi Kaede, the girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately turned and ran toward him.
Beside her was a Squirtle with a look of utter despair, panting miserably.
"Huh? Why are you back? Is it summer vacation?" Hayashi Kaede asked, a little surprised.
The girl was Takagi Megumi, Takagi-ojii-san's granddaughter. Like him, she studied at Aogiri City's Aogiri Pokémon Middle School.
The difference was that Takagi Megumi was currently in her second year of high school, while he had already graduated.
They were both from the same small town.
After his parents disappeared, Takagi-ojii-san had taken good care of him, often sending seasonal food and instructing him to look after Takagi Megumi at school.
Over time, their relationship had become quite close.
"Yes, yes! Summer vacation started yesterday, and I came back last night!" Takagi Megumi said excitedly, then pulled the Squirtle beside her forward. "Look, Kaede-nii~! This is the Pokémon I just caught! Squirtle, say hi!"
"Squirtle… Squirtle…" Squirtle greeted him weakly, its forehead covered in sweat.
Clearly, it harbored great resentment about being dragged out for a morning run so early.
"Pfft…"
Seeing Squirtle in that state, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but chuckle.
While starter Pokémon weren't rare in this world, they weren't very common either.
Generally, only middle-class families could afford one.
Hayashi Kaede knew about Takagi Megumi's family situation.
Her father was a training instructor at a Gym, and her mother was a nurse at a Pokémon Center.
If they saved diligently, they could afford to buy a Squirtle for their only daughter.
"Hmm, not bad. Aside from a slight lack of luster in its eyes, its skin is bright, and its limbs are strong. It's a good Pokémon. By the way, have you finally passed the Beginner Trainer assessment?" he asked.
After nine years of compulsory education, one must pass the Trainer assessment to become an official Trainer.
The Beginner Trainer assessment is just theoretical knowledge, which isn't difficult for most people.
Hayashi Kaede had passed it in his first year of high school.
After all, if you don't even understand some basic Pokémon knowledge, why become a Trainer?
But as for Takagi Megumi… as far as he knew, she had already taken the Beginner Trainer assessment three times.
She hadn't passed once.
Still, she was extremely energetic and a pure sports girl.
Sometimes, Hayashi Kaede suspected that she had put all the nutrients she consumed into physical development instead of brain development.
In any case, she always gave off the impression of not being very intelligent.
Squirtle, following her, would probably have to endure some hardships.
"Hehe…" She scratched her head awkwardly. Then suddenly remembering something, she quickly asked, "I heard you're not planning to be a Trainer anymore? Why? Your liberal arts grades are so good—why not catch a Pokémon!?"
"Precisely because my liberal arts grades are good, I should be a Breeder. I'm not really interested in traveling around right now," Hayashi Kaede explained, stepping aside to let her in.
"Oh, oh," Takagi Megumi nodded thoughtfully, but her attention was quickly drawn to Snivy, who was still finishing his energy cubes. Her eyes sparkled. "Kaede-nii, is this your Pokémon? It's a Snivy! Let's have a Trainer battle!"
Hayashi Kaede: ???
So, you didn't hear a single word I just said…
"Snivy?" Snivy finished his last energy cube, glanced at the heavily panting Squirtle, then looked at Hayashi Kaede, as if asking, "Should we fight?"