The next day, early morning.
(Time to get up and train.)
Austin's personal alarm, Ryu, woke him promptly at seven.
Austin stretched lazily, then rubbed Agni's head, waking him up.
"Nine! Nine! Arcanine!"
Zenith was already up, sitting by the bay window, reading the Zenith Breeding Manual that Steven had given him.
Zenith had gone through this booklet countless times; Austin had reprinted this version just for him.
Drakloak, lying in his cotton cushion, opened his sleepy eyes.
"Draakloaak…"
It was Drakloak's first night in his new home. With a cotton cushion and heating, it was far better than the cold wooden house on the mountaintop.
The old place hadn't been bad; it was simply too cold in winter. Fortunately, Drakloak was born in spring, which had helped him endure harsh winters and evolve.
Dragapult didn't sleep in Austin's room; Austin had arranged a separate room for him to store letters.
After catching Drakloak, Austin now had four Pokémon in total:
Ryu, Platinum (Advanced)
Agni, Platinum Intermediate)
Zenith, Platinum (Intermediate)
Drakloak, Silver (Advanced)
If Dragapult, Platinum (Advanced), was counted as well, Austin could even consider challenging the League circuit.
Even with just five Pokémon, his team's individual strength was high—but that was only a thought. Austin hadn't earned a single badge yet.
Like when he first trained Zenith, Austin needed a plan for Drakloak.
The Identification Eye displayed Drakloak's information:
[Name]: Drakloak
[Attribute]: Dragon, Ghost
[Gender]: Male
[Ability]: Infiltrator (Passes through the opposing Pokémon's barrier, Substitute, and the like, and strikes.)
[Skills]: Infestation, Pursuit, Hex, Agility, U-turn, Double Hit, Dragon Dance, Phantom Force…
[Strength Rating]: Silver (Advanced)
Drakloak's strength was slightly higher than Zenith's at the start. Having combat capability already made him much simpler to train than starting from scratch with Dreepy.
Drakloak seemed fond of the top of Austin's head, resting his triangular head there.
"You can absorb the Dragon Scale."
"Drakloak."
Drakloak's eyes lit up, and he quickly took the black scale off his head to chew.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Drakloak swallowed the Dragon Scale from Black Rayquaza at visible speed. The Dragon energy within would help him grow, though exactly how strong he would become, Austin couldn't predict. This was his first time seriously raising a Dragon-type Pokémon, and the scale's origin made it even more uncertain.
Meanwhile, in his room, Dragapult slept deeply.
In his dream, Meria opened her arms and embraced him, her slender fingers gently stroking his scales, feeling his warmth.
"Dragapult, are you alright?"
"Pulttt~"
"Do you miss me a lot? I miss you too."
Maria held him tightly, their heartbeats aligned.
…
. .
.
"Time's up, I have to go now."
Maria gently kissed Dragapult's head.
"Draagaapultt!"
(Don't go!)
Dragapult suddenly woke up, disoriented, unsure where the dream ended and reality began. Though the dream had ended abruptly, it remained beautiful.
"Phantom Force!"
A sound outside the window caught Dragapult's attention.
Through the window, he could see Drakloak training.
Phantom Force collided with Agni's Flare Blitz.
"Meta!"
"Cario!"
Ryu and Zenith, as seniors, mostly praised Drakloak.
"You did very well."
Austin gently stroked Drakloak's head and handed him a few Energy Cubes.
"Drak."
Drakloak narrowed his eyes and nudged Austin with his large head.
Dragapult understood that Maria had already left him, and he had to continue carrying Maria's part with him.
Leaving the room, Dragapult was suddenly called.
"Dragapult, want to join us?"
Dragapult recognized the woman in front of him, Austin's mother, Amanda Black.
"Draga?"
Amanda smiled, "Tea?"
Amanda always brewed a pot of tea herself before the Black Crest Jubilife Breeding House opened in the morning. Maria also loved drinking tea.
"Dragapult!"
Dragapult chose to accept.
"Please."
The amber-like tea with the dainty porcelain tea cup reflected Dragapult's squinted eyes, and the rich aroma filled the living room.
Dragapult sniffed the tea, lowered his head, and began to sip, savoring it carefully, as if recalling the past from the tea.
Amanda did not converse with Dragapult, merely silently brewing and drinking six small cups herself.
She knew Dragapult wasn't drinking tea, but remembering the person he drank it with.
Austin had already explained Dragapult's story to his parents last night.
Hearing that Dragapult had waited for Meria for twenty years gave them a deeper understanding of Pokémon emotions.
Amanda's age was actually similar to Dragapult's.
"Dragapult."
"I will take that as a 'Thank you'." Amanda smiled. "All right, I should head back to work."
"Hope you have a wonderful morning."
"Dragapult."
. . .
The second phase of the main quest was to have 1,000 customers (including Pokémon) believe that Austin's family's Breeding Center was the best in Jubilife City.
Quest Progress: (58 / 1000)
Austin's family's Breeding Center was gradually gaining a foothold in Jubilife City, with quite a few repeat customers.
But it was strange today; customer traffic was much lower than usual.
Most people came for Pokémon bathing or fur care; there were no big orders like learning skills or breeding for evolution.
Leon was so idle that he started yawning.
"That's really strange. How can there be none?"
Amanda, calculating accounts nearby, clicked her calculator.
"It's all right, we've been so busy lately. Consider this a day or two of rest, and we can plan for Pokémon breeding as well."
The Breeding House's approach from the start had been small but excellent, providing high-quality service.
The advantage was that it wouldn't completely squeeze out the survival space of other Breeding Houses, allowing them to earn a living.
The bigger benefit was building the Breeding House's reputation and establishing it as the benchmark in Jubilife City.
These were the Black Crest Jubilife Breeding House's original guiding principles.
Just then…
"B-b-bad news!"
. . .
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