Chapter 141:
September 23rd.
Early morning.
The first person to step into the breeding house was the evaluation livestreamer, Akira.
However, today, he felt something was off the moment he entered.
Ever since that young lady, Takagi Megumi, had left, the breeding house's opening time had been delayed by about an hour and a half.
Everyone knew it was because Hayashi Kaede had to finish his work in the berry plantation and feed the Pokémon before opening the shop.
Though there were some complaints, no one made a big deal out of it.
But today, Akira, who had come early, saw the breeding house's door open at 6:30 in the morning.
He walked in, ready to greet Hayashi Kaede, but noticed that the person behind the counter wasn't Hayashi Kaede—it was a Pokémon?
And standing beside this Pokémon was Hayashi Kaede.
"Indeede-e-e."
Indeedee (Male) greeted the day's first customer with great seriousness.
"Indeedee?"
Akira was taken aback for a moment before turning to Hayashi Kaede. "Kaede, you've already caught an Indeedee to act as a cashier?"
Hayashi Kaede smiled and nodded. "Well, it's not just about being a cashier. Having them here will be a huge help to me. It's their first day, so I'm staying here to see how things go."
"That's great, that's great. This means we can come early again every day." Akira nodded in satisfaction.
As an evaluation livestreamer, he couldn't stay at Hayashi Kaede's breeding house every day. Sometimes, he needed to come early to buy Energy Cubes for his Munchlax before heading out to evaluate products from other breeding houses or places.
But to be honest, after trying so many different foods, he still felt the Energy Cubes sold at Hayashi Kaede's breeding house were the most impressive.
He had a feeling that if he kept feeding his Munchlax these Energy Cubes for a while longer, it would probably evolve.
But work required him to travel to various places.
Akira quickly selected the Energy Cubes he needed this time and, under the watchful gaze of Indeedee (Male), paid for his purchase.
The entire process went smoothly. It was clear that Indeedee had quickly gotten the hang of this simple task.
Later customers also expressed amazement at the new Indeedee assistant but completed their purchases without any issues.
Seeing this, Hayashi Kaede felt completely at ease.
He was just about to head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast when two students wearing Aogiri First High School uniforms walked in.
They cautiously looked around before finally settling their gaze on Hayashi Kaede, who hadn't left yet. "Um... Are you the owner Kaede?"
"Yes? What can I do for you?"
Hayashi Kaede turned to face them.
The two boys glanced at each other before one of them stepped forward. "We're students from Aogiri First High School. We were referred by our senior, Takagi Megumi. She said that coming here would make our Pokémon stronger. Is that true?"
Hayashi Kaede looked stunned. "Huh?"
...
Suzuki Takeshi and Rikuchi Homura were second-year students at Aogiri First High School this year.
During the entrance exams for the third-year students at Aogiri First High, they had watched the match between Wartortle and Quilava.
They were utterly amazed, unable to believe that a third-year student could have such a powerful Pokémon.
It looked like it was about to evolve into a Blastoise.
Later, they heard that before summer vacation, Senior Takagi Megumi's Wartortle had been a Squirtle that couldn't even use Tackle properly. This left them even more shocked.
It was around that time that the senior had also revealed the secret to her Pokémon's growth during the exam.
It was a place called the Neighboring House Breeding Shop.
They had secretly noted down the name and planned to visit and see for themselves.
Unexpectedly, a typhoon had delayed their plans indefinitely.
However, during the break after the typhoon passed, they immediately came to visit.
Even though they had already looked up reviews and basic information about this breeding house online, seeing Hayashi Kaede in person still made them think, 'This shop owner looks really young...'
He didn't seem much older than them.
As everyone knows, youth and being a skilled breeder don't necessarily go hand in hand.
So, at first glance, honestly, neither of them was very convinced.
"Senior Takagi Megumi said that the secret to Wartortle's growth lies in this breeding house," Takeshi, who was more bold by nature, asked directly, "Can you make our Pokémon stronger?"
"Hmm..."
Hayashi Kaede stood there and, after hearing this, couldn't help but smile. "Stronger? What level of strength counts as 'stronger'?"
This was a question he loved to ask.
Everyone had a different idea of what "stronger" or "more powerful" meant.
Some might still feel they are still not strong enough even after becoming Champions.
But others might feel incredibly strong just by reaching a certain point.
Take Pidgeot, for example.
After driving away the Fearow and Spearow, it had become much more relaxed.
It used to train its moves often, but now it preferred spending its days perched in the trees, watching its flock come and go.
It kept an eye on everything in the berry plantation to prevent other Pokémon from entering.
To get it moving again, Hayashi Kaede had given it a new task: to patrol the town more often and help keep the town safe.
"What level of strength counts as stronger?"
The two students clearly hadn't expected Hayashi Kaede to ask this question. They were stunned for a moment.
After a while, Rikuchi Homura timidly said, "Like Senior Takagi Megumi, being able to defeat the examiner in the test?"
Hearing his friend say this, Suzuki Takeshi clearly wasn't satisfied. "What's so great about defeating an examiner? Becoming as strong as a Champion —now that's what I call strong!"
As he spoke, a look of admiration appeared in his eyes.
"...Having ambitious goals is good, but you also need to be realistic" Hayashi Kaede said with a cheerful laugh.
He didn't discourage their dreams.
He could also see their different personalities.
For example, Rikuchi Homura was more practical, while Suzuki Takeshi was clearly more impulsive.
Now that Indeedee was managing the breeding house, it was a good time to implement some of the ideas he had been considering.
"How about this, you two. If you're really interested, I happen to have a challenging method here. Would you like to give it a try? It should help your Pokémon grow stronger."
They looked at each other and then nodded in unison. "We both want our Pokémon to become stronger."
"Hmm..."
Hayashi Kaede asked them to wait outside for a moment.
He then went into the berry plantation, looked at his Pokémon, thought for a moment, and called over Combusken and Miltank. After another moment's thought, he looked up at Pidgeot and Pidgeotto, summoned a few Pidgey and Pidgeotto, returned them to their Poké Balls, and then headed back to the breeding house entrance with the Poké Balls in hand.
"Come on, let's find an open area," he said to the two waiting teenagers.