"Is this Hayashi Kaede, the man who just won first place in the Baby Cup?"
Inside HappyMart, under the warm glow of incandescent lights, a young woman in a red store uniform looked at Hayashi Kaede with curiosity.
"Um?"
Hayashi Kaede glanced at her, wondering if someone had recognized him so soon after the tournament had ended.
Was it because he was just that handsome?
The next moment, however, the young woman's gaze shifted to the Servine at his side, her eyes lighting up.
"Sure enough, it is a Servine! So cool and beautiful~"
Hayashi Kaede: ???
I lost to a pokemon, he thought.
He was exhausted.
"Servine?"
The Servine immediately hid behind Hayashi Kaede, clearly uncomfortable with being stared at like that.
Hayashi Kaede gave an awkward smile, nodded politely, and quickly led Servine away from the area.
His goal today was to buy some fruit tree seedlings, then head to the Pokémon League to see if he could apply for a Rotom.
After the surge in fame from his win, he could already foresee a wave of new customers arriving at the breeding house over the next few days.
The Oran and Pecha Berries at home weren't nearly enough to produce the necessary Physical Energy Blocks and Antidote Energy Blocks.
In addition, he needed to plant some Bluk Berry trees to make Maintenance Energy Blocks.
There was also the matter of obtaining a Passho Berry tree to create Energy Blocks with special properties.
Different types of Energy Blocks formed the foundation of any breeding shop—
but the core was still raising Pokémon with strong individual potential.
"These fruit tree seedlings are really expensive..."
Looking at the saplings in their pots, Hayashi Kaede took a sharp breath.
It was no wonder the breeding industry was struggling.
Even the most basic Oran Berry sapling cost 1,500 PokéDollar.
And that didn't even guarantee it would grow into a tree—it required careful care and strict control of a suitable climate.
Worse still, some rare berry seedlings couldn't even be found at the supermarket.
In the end, Hayashi Kaede purchased fifteen Oran Berry saplings and fifteen Bluk Berry saplings.
He also bought some Bluk Berries and Oran Berries, spending a total of 48,000 PokéDollar.
That meant more than half of his 88,000 PokéDollar shopping card was gone.
By the time he stepped out of HappyMart, the sky over Aogiri Town had already darkened.
He brought Servine to the Alliance's Pokémon branch in Aogiri Town and explained his request.
Soon, an Alliance staff member led him to the facility where they maintained Rotom.
Unlike other regions, the Alliance had specific conditions for whether a Rotom could travel with a trainer.
Namely—
a trainer had to graduate from the novice rank and become a formal trainer before being matched with a Rotom.
Although Hayashi Kaede was still a rookie trainer, his ownership of a certified breeding shop granted him the qualifications to have one.
"Roto, Roto..."
All the Rotom looked much the same to him.
He chose a friendly red Rotom that floated over to greet him, paid 250,000 PokéDollar, and placed it into a Poké Ball.
Then he left the city on foot.
Without taking a taxi or waiting for a bus, he followed the road out of the city toward Aogiri Town.
Fortunately, the July night sky was as clear as water, the moonlight casting a misty glow over the road. Summer frogs croaked loudly from the fields—though who could say whether they were actually Croagunk.
"Servine?" (Are we really walking back like this?)
Servine was confused. Since meeting Hayashi Kaede, it had never questioned his actions.
But today, it truly couldn't understand why he chose to walk home.
Hayashi Kaede smiled.
"Back into the Poké Ball for now. I'll call you out when we get home."
Ignoring Snivy's puzzled and reluctant look, he tapped the Poké Ball and recalled it.
Once he had walked far enough from the city and town, he stopped and looked up.
Among the bright stars, a dark shadow darted past.
From its aura, he could tell it was the same presence as the flaming tail that had passed over Aogiri Town that afternoon.
Could it be that Ikeoka Tetsuya invited it?
He quickly dismissed the thought.
How could the manager of a HappyMart branch in Aogiri Town possibly own a Pokémon like Dragonite?
[Pokémon: Dragonite]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Multiscale]
[Aptitude: Red]
[Individual Stats: HP (24) / Attack (30) / Special Attack (25) / Defense (25) / Special Defense (25) / Speed (24)]
[Level: 69]
[Moves: Roost, Agility, Twister, Thunder Wave, Fire Punch, Thunder, Dragon Tail, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, Hyper Beam...]
[Friendship: 20 (Very satisfied with your Baby Cup performance.)]
[Happiness: 40 (I am a happy messenger~)]
The shadow swooped past again, this time slowing and drifting toward him, bringing a faint breeze before stopping right in front of him.
It was a massive creature, over three meters tall, with a gentle, honest face.
Two short feelers extended from its head, its body was yellow-brown, and its small, fleshy wings looked almost too small to lift it.
There was no mistaking it—this was a Dragonite.
It even wore a shoulder bag at its side.
"Ooooooo." (Hello, human!)
Hayashi Kaede blinked, then answered, "Hello?"
"Woo~" (I'm a messenger, collecting the thoughts of young trainers.)
Carefully, it pulled an envelope and pen from its bag and said, "Woo woo~" (Just answer the question inside.)
Puzzled, Hayashi Kaede accepted the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of white paper, printed neatly:
"What do you think is the purpose of Pokémon?"
The moment he opened it, he felt an extremely faint psychic power wash over him.
Startled but unafraid, Hayashi Kaede held his ground—his true rookie physique gave him the confidence to face any Pokémon.
Upon closer sensing, he realized the psychic power wasn't harmful.
It only served one purpose—to record his current location.
Combined with the strange question and the oddly familiar feeling the Dragonite gave him,
a suspicion formed in his mind…
Could this be… a test of humanity from that man-made beast?
If so… this was a question worth answering carefully.
Hayashi Kaede stared at the paper in deep thought.