Seeing Gary suddenly fall silent, Victor was a bit puzzled.
He didn't know what Gary was thinking, but honestly, in his past life, he had quite liked Gary. From his initial arrogant and proud appearance to his later mature and reliable demeanor.
Especially his highlight moments during his journeys—he was truly worthy of being Ash's initial rival.
And most importantly, he genuinely loved Pokémon.
After waiting a while longer and Gary still hadn't spoken, Victor had to continue:
"Do you know why this Breeding House is called 'Gengar's Paradise'?"
Gary shook his head.
"Because Gengar and I opened it together, so it's named after Gengar."
"And 'Paradise' is because I hope this place can be a paradise for Pokémon. A place where they can temporarily forget their troubles, play with like-minded Pokémon, relax, and grow up happily with their friends."
"And not just for Pokémon, but for people too. Whether they're famous trainers or just ordinary people, they can come here, find companionship with Pokémon, and take a good rest."
Who could refuse sitting in a chair in the backyard, surrounded by Pokémon, basking in the sun and watching them play, with a fluffy Pachirisu lying in their lap?
Anyone's tense heartstrings would surely relax in such a setting.
Thinking of this, Victor couldn't help but smile.
He certainly couldn't refuse it.
"Owner Victor, may I ask if I could look around on my own? Although it might be presumptuous—"
"No problem, go ahead," Victor waved his hand before Gary could finish his polite request, indicating that he didn't mind.
"Just try not to disturb the Pokémon here."
"Please rest assured."
Gary nodded, then glanced towards the swing set tree, where his Umbreon was playing with Shana, Tinkerbell, and the other Pokémon. He didn't call it over, but simply finished his reply to Victor and began to explore the backyard on his own.
Watching Gary's departing figure, Victor shrugged.
He didn't know what Professor Rowan had said to make him want to come here to learn, nor did he know what Gary wanted to learn. Victor didn't think he had anything particularly special to teach him.
Since he wanted to look around on his own, Victor let him be. This also freed up some time for him to plan the Breeding House tournament that was coming up in a few days.
Gary walked alone through the backyard.
As he passed through the grass area, he would stop to observe the Oddish and Budew. Crossing the grass, he arrived at the lake area. Azurill and Psyduck were squirting water at each other, while the Petilil and Roselia were whispering secrets.
Standing by the lake, his own reflection stared back at him from the water's surface. Just as he was lost in thought, a blue and white squirrel appeared on his shoulder in the reflection.
Feeling a weight on his shoulder, Gary turned to see a Pachirisu standing there, holding out a berry in both paws.
"Is this for me?"
The Pachirisu nodded.
Gary smiled, took the berry, and took a bite.
Fresh and juicy.
"Thank you, Pachirisu," Gary said.
The Pachirisu blushed, gently rubbed its cheek against Gary's, and then scurried away.
Touching his cheek, which was still warm, Gary was a little surprised, then he smiled and continued his walk, feeling happy.
Entering the forest area, an Aipom suddenly appeared before him, hanging upside down from a branch by its tail, and made a funny face at him.
Seeing that Gary wasn't scared, the Aipom was surprised, then swung away on its tail and disappeared.
As he walked deeper, he was suddenly blocked by a few Combee.
Gary was puzzled, thinking this area might be off-limits, but then a Vespiquen flew over.
"Ves."
It shook its head, and the Combee moved aside.
The Vespiquen came before Gary, its crimson eyes studying him. It sensed Victor's scent on him and knew he was Victor's guest. It then politely explained the situation.
Gary understood its meaning—this area was temporarily inaccessible.
He nodded and turned to leave in another direction.
The Vespiquen watched him go, then turned to look at a few Combee sneaking back from the flower garden, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, he didn't notice.
If he told Victor and Gengar, that would be troublesome.
Still uneasy, it continued to watch Gary's back until he disappeared from view before turning to leave.
As it turned, a pair of crimson eyes from nearby stared intently at it.
"Gengar?"
Gary walked to the border between the Breeding House and the forest, where the fence hadn't been repaired.
This must be the forest Owner Victor mentioned. The forest Pokémon come to the Breeding House from here.
Gary stepped out of the Breeding House grounds and stood at the entrance to the forest.
He watched quietly for a long while, then remembered Victor's words and decided against going further in.
He turned back.
Returning to the planting area, he found Victor, Gengar, Gothita, and Mime Jr. picking vegetables, berries, and some medicinal herbs.
"You're back?" Victor asked, seeing him. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed the herbs he was holding to Gothita.
Seeing the Gothita, Gary took out his Pokédex and scanned it.
"Mhm," he replied, not forgetting to answer Victor's question.
"Will you stay for dinner tonight?" Victor asked the boy.
"Well..." Gary hesitated, but finally said, "Then I'll have to trouble you."
"No trouble at all. Mime Jr. and Gothita's cooking is delicious, right?"
"Goth~"
"Mime~"
"Then please wait a moment."
Victor went back to picking the herbs needed for tomorrow's herbal tea.
Gary watched him, puzzled. "Owner, these herbs are—"
"Oh, these?" Victor waved the herbs in his hand, stood up, saw that he had picked enough, and walked out of the planting area, while also having Mime Jr. and Gothita drag out the Gengar that wanted to pick every last berry.
"Gengar—"
As he led Gary towards the kitchen, he explained, "These are for making herbal tea."
"Herbal tea?" Gary had never heard of it and was confused.
"You can think of it as unrefined traditional medicine. It's very effective for minor ailments like listlessness, sore throat, or excess internal heat."
"It's unique to our Breeding House. After all, there are many elderly people in Twinleaf Town, and minor ailments are common with age. Going to the hospital for such small things can be overkill, so our Breeding House introduced this herbal tea service to help solve these issues."
After hearing Victor's explanation, Gary nodded in understanding.
Then, while Victor and the others were cooking dinner, Gary went to the swing set tree and played with Shana.
Later, he sat quietly on the swing, watching Shana play house with her Tinkerbell and the others, then looked up at the Breeding House's backyard again.
He had walked through the entire yard that afternoon. Although it was much smaller than his grandfather's lab grounds, it had a completely different feeling, unlike his own home.
He had visited other Breeding Houses before, but none had given him such a sense of peace.
He secretly made up his mind.
After dinner, watching Victor gently comb the fur of the Vulpix in his lap, Gary suddenly spoke:
"Owner, can I stay here?"
...
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