"Nurse Joy."
Victor greeted Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy greeted him back, and at her request, Victor began calling her "Joy."
"By the way, Blissey and I bought you some groceries and put them in the fridge," Nurse Joy said. "Laura mentioned you didn't have any food prepared, so I bought a few things. You can go into town later to get whatever you like."
Victor froze. He had completely forgotten that because he didn't have a refrigerator until today, he hadn't bought any food for the next day. He was planning to treat them to dinner, but he hadn't prepared a single ingredient.
How embarrassing.
Victor gave a sheepish smile, and just then, he heard the sound of a Blissey from the kitchen.
"Blissey~"
Victor walked into the kitchen and saw that Blissey was already prepping the ingredients.
"Blissey, thank you for your help."
Walking over to Blissey, Victor praised the Pokémon a few times and then joined it in preparing the food she and Nurse Joy had brought. They made a standard four-dish-one-soup meal from the Eastern Alliance and used the berries from his lottery winnings to make some berry juice.
He called Laura and the others over. Victor moved the new round table into the backyard and set up the chairs. Blissey then carried the dishes out and placed them on the table.
He poured a cup of berry juice for each person and a cup of Moomoo Milk for Gengar and the other Pokémon.
After getting everything set up, Victor finally sat down. The setting sun cast a warm glow over them. The weather in Sinnoh was a bit cooler than in other regions; even in the middle of summer, the evenings were starting to feel pleasantly cool.
"I didn't know you had such skills hidden away," Laura said after swallowing a mouthful, unable to stop eating.
"It's alright, I guess. Good food is something that should never be taken for granted," Victor replied, sipping the soup from his bowl.
Gengar and the other Pokémon were also eating joyfully. It was worth noting that Blissey had prepared most of the Pokémon food, with Victor acting as her assistant.
Once everyone had eaten their fill and there was still some food left, Victor asked Gengar if it could eat more. Upholding the traditional virtue of not wasting food, Gengar opened its massive mouth and poured all the remaining food inside.
It then licked its face with its long, crimson tongue.
"Gengar—"
A cool breeze swept over the group of people and Pokémon sitting on the messy lawn. Victor watched Gengar playing with Growlithe, with Blissey trying to mediate beside them, and listened to Laura and the others chatting. For the first time, he felt a true sense of peace.
He watched all of it quietly, then called Gengar over and gently squeezed its round cheeks.
"It looks like Gengar really likes you, Victor," Nurse Joy remarked, watching Gengar giggle endlessly as its face was squished in Victor's hands. "And your cooking is excellent. You're a very talented Pokémon Breeder."
"A Breeder?"
Victor's hands stopped. "A Breeder?" he asked, confused.
Laura and Officer Jenny exchanged a look.
"That's right. Do you have a Breeder's license?" Laura asked him.
"Huh?"
Victor was stunned. A Breeder's license? What the heck is that? Oh, right, I remember now. Trainers need a Trainer Card, and Breeders need to pass an official exam to become a certified Pokémon Breeder.
I just renovated the house and spent all my money, and now you're telling me I need a Breeder's license to run a Breeding House? Can I still get a refund?
His heart pounding with anxiety, Victor asked, "Um... do you absolutely have to be a Breeder to open a Breeding House?"
"Not necessarily. Many private Breeding Houses aren't run by certified Breeders," Officer Jenny replied.
Hearing this, Victor breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, that's good, that's good."
"However, a Breeder's license proves to the League that you have sufficient ability to take good care of the Pokémon in your Breeding House. The League also offers certain benefits and discounts to Breeding Houses run by certified Breeders. For example, when purchasing Pokémon Eggs. In your case, if you had a license to prove you can properly care for Pokémon, the League would probably offer you an even bigger subsidy."
[A Qualified Breeder: Pass the Breeder's examination and become a qualified Pokémon Breeder. This is an essential step for any Breeding House.]
[Passing the examination will grant a rich reward.]
Even without this new mission, Victor had already decided to get certified. The discount on purchasing Pokémon Eggs was reason enough.
Every year, each Pokémon League rescues a large number of Pokémon Eggs. They give some to Pokémon Professors to use as starters for new trainers, and they entrust the rest to various Breeding Houses to sell.
If he didn't buy eggs from the League, his only options would be to breed them himself or sell eggs entrusted to him by others.
For the currently cash-strapped Victor, every penny saved was a penny earned.
"I think you should go for it, Victor," Jenny suggested.
Victor nodded in agreement.
"As it happens, there's a Breeder's examination at the Twinleaf Town Pokémon Center tomorrow afternoon. I'll just go ahead and sign you up," Jenny said, pulling out her phone. She asked for Victor's information and tapped her fingers on the screen a few times.
"There, all done."
"Wait... What?!"
Before Victor could even process it, he was already registered. He didn't even know what would be on the exam.
"Special circumstances call for special treatment. Don't worry," Jenny said with a clap of her hands.
"The exam content... is it difficult?"
Hearing Victor's question, Nurse Joy placed a finger on her chin and thought for a moment. "Well, it really depends on the person. Tell you what, when I get back, I'll find some questions from previous years for you. You can take a look at them."
"Thank you so much, Joy," Victor said sincerely. He would get the questions tonight and pull an all-nighter studying.
With all the Pokémon knowledge stored in my head and the help of my system, passing a Breeder's exam shouldn't be too hard, right?
"Don't worry, we believe in you," Laura said, standing up and patting his shoulder. "Just treat tomorrow as a practice run to get a feel for it. You can always pass it next time."
Jenny and Nurse Joy nodded in agreement.
"Blissey—"
"Growf—"
"Gengar!!"
The Pokémon also cheered Victor on from the side. Gengar, in particular, made a small fist and raised it in the air, though it couldn't quite reach above its head.
"I'll do my best," Victor said, touched by their support.
Laura and the others then started clearing the table. Victor tried to help, but they pushed him back down into his chair.
"You just sit. We can't have you do both the cooking and the cleaning," Laura said.
Officer Jenny laughed. "The food was really good. I might just come over to freeload more often in the future."
Nurse Joy agreed, though since Laura's job as a lawyer required her to travel a lot, she probably wouldn't be able to visit as often.
"You're always welcome here," Victor said.
From them, he could feel the care of older sisters for their younger brother.
And for them, this place was a cherished spot, full of fond memories.
The setting sun passed over them, racing towards the distant horizon. The evening breeze it left behind blew past them, leaving its mark.
Over a decade ago, that same wind had passed through this very spot, caressing a grandmother and three little girls. Now, it caressed a young man and three young women.
In both instances, without exception, it had left a mark on them—a mark akin to that of family.