Jubilife Breeding Center.
Due to Wayne's super spicy hot pot from last night, many staff members had chosen to rest and recover in their dormitory rooms.
This also made the usually bustling Breeding Center much quieter than normal today.
However, Alan, after simply drinking hot Moomoo Milk, was already fully rejuvenated. His warrior's spirit was burning brightly once again.
He was currently engaged in intense training with Incineroar.
"Let's get fired up!" Alan shouted with enthusiasm.
"Ga-o!!!" Incineroar roared in agreement.
Dragapult was also training Drakloak nearby.
When they had lived on the mountain, Dragapult would regularly train Drakloak. Otherwise, Dreepy would never have successfully evolved into Drakloak.
(Store all your power in your tail!) Dragapult instructed through draconic communication.
Dragapult was teaching Drakloak a very useful move in battle—Dragon Tail.
It involved sweeping an opponent fiercely with the tail, and if it connected, it would lower the opponent's Attack power.
Learning Dragon Tail would make learning other tail-based moves like Iron Tail relatively easier.
Mimicking her mother's technique, Drakloak concentrated Dragon-type energy into her tail.
A green glow gathered on Drakloak's tail, causing a violent tremor in the surrounding air.
"Gulu!" Dragapult called out encouragingly.
(Excellent progress!)
Although Drakloak hadn't completely mastered Dragon Tail yet, she was already showing promising initial results.
Dragapult had noticed that Drakloak was learning Dragon-type moves significantly faster than before.
Dragapult also understood that all of this improvement was thanks to Wayne's care.
With the Shiny Rayquaza's Dragon Scale and the nearly perfect Energy Cubes provided by Wayne, it was hard not to show improvement.
"Duru!" ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ Drakloak vocalized happily.
Drakloak was very happy to receive praise from her mother.
The price war at Coronet Breeding House had left the Breeding Center nearly deserted for the past two days.
But Wayne was not in a rush. Time would tell who had the superior business model.
Having successfully made Mapo Tofu (B-rank), Wayne planned to take a brief break and film the sixth episode of his video series tomorrow.
After filming the sixth episode, he could also begin preparing for the Senior Breeder assessment exam.
Wayne was routinely chatting with Feebas by the pond as usual. Only this time, he had several adorable Pokémon by his side.
Eevee, Pichu, and Jigglypuff—all of which were Pokémon that Trainers had boarded here—as well as Furfrou, a poodle Pokémon that a Trainer had dropped off that morning.
Like Eevee and Rockruff, Furfrou was also a very popular Pokémon that many girls particularly liked to raise.
Not for competitive battling purposes, but purely for its elegant appearance.
Furfrou required both professional hair care and regular haircuts.
Wayne was skilled at hair care, but haircutting wasn't his strong suit. His Aunt Mika would have to handle that.
Haircutting was a new service the Breeding Center had just launched, and due to Aunt Mika's excellent reputation, customers had come on the very second day.
Aunt and Uncle were seriously considering moving over to work here permanently.
This would be a strong alliance between Wayne's family and his aunt and uncle.
A top Pokémon style designer was something other Breeding Houses simply couldn't compare to.
If Wayne could bring his aunt and Professor Oak to the Breeding Center, and then wait for Wayne's skills to develop further—
Wouldn't they just take off spectacularly?
What was being the best in one region?
If he was going to do this, he was going to become the world's number one Breeding Center!
"Eev!" "Pichu!" Eevee and Pichu called out playfully.
Eevee and Pichu rolled around together in a ball on the grass, under the watchful supervision of Master Level Lucario, the designated master of childcare.
Wayne didn't need to worry about them at all.
Go wild, go as wild as you want, he thought.
Wayne just needed to arrange a complete grooming package for them on their last day before pickup.
Wayne sat sideways by the fish pond, looking down at the round, pink, big-eyed Jigglypuff cradled in his arms.
"Puff?" ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ Jigglypuff looked up at him.
Lucario translated helplessly through Aura: (It says it can't use Sing.)
"You can't use Sing? That's a real shame," Wayne said with disappointment.
Wayne really wanted to hear Jigglypuff perform its signature Sing move.
Lucario was very puzzled, not understanding why Wayne was so insistent on having Jigglypuff Sing.
What did Wayne want it to sing? Perish Song?
"Let's play in the water!" Wayne suggested cheerfully.
"Puff!" ◟(˶＞᎑＜˶)◞ Jigglypuff responded excitedly.
Jigglypuff wiggled its plump little feet enthusiastically.
When Wayne said "play in the water," he was actually just holding Jigglypuff carefully.
Jigglypuff could only touch the water's surface with its small hands.
"Feebas, come out and play with us too!" Wayne called encouragingly.
Feebas, hiding beneath the rockery formation in the fish pond, was struggling intensely internally with the decision...
Wayne's phone suddenly displayed a new message notification.
Carolina: "I really can't get away from here. I've sent my sister over to help instead."
"Puff~ Puff puff~ Puff puff~ Puff puff puff~" Jigglypuff began vocalizing a tune.
However, Wayne was currently focused on teaching Jigglypuff to sing simple melodies and didn't notice the message on his phone.
A big question mark appeared above Metagross's head as it observed.
(Why does the Trainer know this particular song? Cannot comprehend, cannot comprehend,) Metagross thought analytically.
Metagross used Nasty Plot! Metagross's Special Attack rose sharply!
At the same time, Garchomp, leaving a visible contrail in the sky, was gradually slowing down its flight speed.
Cynthia could already see the clear outline of the Breeding Center below. She didn't like to be too high-profile, as excessive attention would cause inconvenience to her daily life.
Garchomp touched down at an uninhabited location away from public view.
Cynthia's soft hand gently stroked Garchomp's rough scales, and she said softly, "You've worked hard. Come back for now and rest."
"Gar!" Garchomp acknowledged.
It was well known throughout the entire Sinnoh region that Cynthia's ace Pokémon was a Garchomp.
Golden blonde hair combined with Garchomp—the risk of being recognized as Cynthia was simply too high.
Cynthia put on a pair of dark sunglasses and pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, completing her simple disguise.
And surprisingly, no one seemed to recognize Cynthia like this, until...
"Excuse me, you're Champion Cynthia, right?" a woman's voice asked.
Cynthia's steps paused immediately.
Given that there was only one person in front of her—a blonde woman carrying a Growlithe—she decided to take off her sunglasses.
The woman standing before Cynthia was older than her, and Cynthia smiled warmly. "Hello. You can just call me Cynthia."
Bell covered her mouth slightly and smiled. "Hello, I'm Bell. It really is you! I was originally thinking, 'It can't possibly be her, right?'"
"But then I thought, since I met Champion Blue here before, it's not impossible to meet Champion Cynthia too."
As she spoke, Bell showed a photo on her phone of herself with Blue. "Look, here's proof."
"You've met Blue before?" Cynthia asked with interest.
Bell nodded. "He stayed here for several days. I ran into him often. Are you also going to visit Jubilife Breeding Center?"
"Yes, because of a Feebas case," Cynthia confirmed.
Bell nodded thoughtfully. "That Feebas is indeed very tricky to treat."
"You also know about the Feebas?" Cynthia asked with surprise.
"The owner of the Breeding Center is my good friend. Feebas is indeed a difficult problem. Even Blue couldn't make progress with it. You'll understand when you go see it yourself," Bell explained.
Cynthia nodded in understanding. "Then I'll take my leave now."
"Can I take a picture with you?" Bell asked hopefully.
"Yes, but please don't reveal my presence here to others. It's not conducive to Feebas's treatment," Cynthia requested.
Bell chuckled, pointing toward Alan's small courtyard nearby. "Don't worry at all. Blue stayed there for seven full days, and nothing leaked to the media."
Cynthia nodded with relief, took a quick photo with Bell, and then headed toward the Breeding Center.
Cynthia looked up at the signboard above the entrance.
"This is it," she confirmed.
There was a reception building at the entrance of the Breeding Center.
It appeared to function as a reception desk.
Seeing a Gardevoir there, Cynthia became somewhat interested.
Since Cynthia had forgotten to get Wayne's contact information from Carolina, she simply approached as the door opened automatically, and she stepped inside.