Chapter 70:
"Yes, yes, that's it—you're learning fast~"
Looking at the freshly made Pokéblocks, Hayashi Kaede gave a satisfied compliment.
As expected of Gardevoir—her ability to learn was remarkable.
Hayashi Kaede walked over, patted her on the shoulder, and said,
"From now on, making the Pokéblocks for our Breeding House will be something we work on together."
Gardevoir didn't dodge, though inwardly she felt a bit speechless.
So… this was what he'd been waiting for.
After spending some time at the Breeding House, she had roughly figured out how it worked—each day, Hayashi Kaede would make fresh Pokéblocks and then sell them.
No wonder he had been so eager for her to learn Pokéblock making.
Still, Gardevoir didn't refuse. She simply said softly, "Gardevoir." (Understood…)
After all, she was now his Pokémon. It was only right to think about the Breeding House's needs.
"Heh..."
Hayashi Kaede chuckled, then looked up at the Rotom hovering in the sky.
"Did you get that on video?"
"Roto~ got it, Master~"
Rotom quickly floated down, its electronic face narrowing its eyes into a smile.
"Master, Master—your Breeding Network account just got noticed by someone! You suddenly gained over a hundred thousand followers~"
"Huh?"
Hayashi Kaede blinked. "Who noticed it?"
He had been running his Breeding Network account for a while. In the past few days, thanks to the shiny Gardevoir, his videos' views and follower count had been steadily climbing.
But… the growth wasn't nearly that fast.
In this world, if you wanted to become famous quickly, you still had to be a truly powerful Trainer and participate in various Pokémon competitions.
Like the Battle Master—Red.
Starting from Pallet Town, he had fought countless battles, eventually taking both the Johto League and Kanto League championships, amassing tens of millions of fans and earning his title as the Battle Master.
Or like Green, known as the shortest-reigning Champion in history. He had held the title for less than ten minutes before being defeated by Red, also from Pallet Town. Later, for raising a team of Elite Four–level Pokémon in such a short time, he earned the title of Breeder Master.
And now Rotom was telling him… that just one person's attention had brought in over a hundred thousand new followers?
Could it be a Champion or Elite Four from some region?
Hayashi Kaede wondered.
Rotom quickly provided the answer.
"It's Green! Green!"
It pulled up the Breeding Network home screen, opening a verified account in the following list. The nickname read: Breeder Master—Green.
"Huh?"
Taking out his own phone, Hayashi Kaede opened Breeding Network and found Green in his following list. When he tapped into Green's profile, surprise flickered in his eyes.
It was indeed Green.
His page contained occasional battle videos and Pokémon breeding plans.
Scrolling to the very bottom, Hayashi Kaede even saw an old, clumsy battle—Green and Red's very first match at the entrance to Viridian Forest.
Their Pokémon were Squirtle and Pikachu.
Compared to the Squirtle of that young lady still working her day job, Green's Squirtle was far more agile.
Even fresh from the lab, it was already firing Water Guns with skill, dodging Pikachu's Thunderbolt, and ultimately winning through nimble Water Gun attacks.
Yet, in all of Green's profile, that was the only battle video featuring him and Red.
Who knew if the others had been losses… or if he simply didn't post them.
Backing out of the profile, Hayashi Kaede let out a small sigh.
"Tch… even someone like him has watched my videos~"
"Too bad most of his fans are in the Kanto region. Otherwise, the Breeding House's popularity could get an even bigger boost."
He sighed again, about to close Breeding Network, when a new message popped up.
[Green]: Hello.
"Hm?"
Hayashi Kaede froze for a moment, then quickly replied:
[Hayashi Kaede]: Hello, Green-dono.
He thought for a moment. He was sure he had no personal connection to Green.
Aside from that Baby Cup battle, he hadn't even shown much footage of raising Pokémon in his videos.
[Green]: May I ask—this Gardevoir of yours, is she under a Darkrai curse?
Gardevoir?
Green had seen her before?
[Hayashi Kaede]: Yes.
[Green]: Have you resolved the curse?
[Hayashi Kaede]: Not completely. Why?
[Green]: Not completely? Then you've already found a way to deal with it?
*[Hayashi Kaede]: …Yeah. It's actually simple—just strengthen her resistance to negative conditions until she can control the curse's power herself.
[Green]: …Uh…
Far away in the Kanto region, Green stared at the message, feeling a bit at a loss for words.
The method was simple to say…
But increasing Gardevoir's resistance enough to withstand Darkrai's nightmare curse wasn't easy at all.
That difficulty was almost on par with training her strength to surpass Darkrai itself.
Otherwise, why would so many dirty tactics be developed in Pokémon battles?
It was because status conditions were notoriously hard to remove.
Green muttered to himself, puzzled.
"Strange… then how did he even capture that Gardevoir?"
Back at the Breeding House, Hayashi Kaede looked at Green's last message: "Thank you."
He frowned slightly.
"Strange… was that supposed to be a difficult question?"
Then he glanced at the ever-climbing follower count and immediately felt better.
Whatever Green was thinking, those new followers were very real—and all added to his account.
If he ever started selling Pokéblocks online, these were all potential customers!
Aogiri Town was just too small…
Eventually, he would take the Breeding House's products to the whole world!
...
August 10
Because Torchic, popplio, and Bounsweet had only recently arrived at the Breeding House, Hayashi Kaede spent the past few days focusing on getting along with them and keeping them comfortable.
Helping Gardevoir make Pokéblocks, harvesting crops to deliver to Uncle Chen, milking Miltank, feeding Pokémon—the week passed by like flowing water.
And then, one morning…
Something unusual happened.
While Hayashi Kaede was feeding Pokéblocks to Milotic and Brionne as usual, a wave of heat suddenly swept across the sky, followed by a sharp bird cry.
Looking up—
The normally calm Pidgeotto that stayed aloft suddenly shot higher into the air.
"Pidgeotto!!"
In the glaring sunlight, its silhouette began to stretch and change…
From below, Hayashi Kaede's eyes lit up.
"Pidgeotto's evolving?"