"This must be the Breeding House that person was talking about, right?"
"It should be. I heard there's only one Breeding House between Twinleaf Town and Sandgem Town, and this is it."
"Is the strength of the Breeding House really that high? Just like that Gothitelle—"
"I don't know, let's go in and see."
Murmuring voices came from outside the Breeding House. Inside, Lucas was lying in the lounge area, fast asleep with his eyes closed.
The group walked into the Breeding House, and the first thing they saw was Lucas sleeping in the lounge area.
"Why does he look so familiar?"
One of the Trainers looked at the sleeping Lucas and whispered.
"I think so too."
Another Trainer nodded in agreement.
"Meow?" May I help you with something?
Female ran to the door and asked politely.
"Wow! What a cute Female—"
A female Trainer reached out to pet Meowstic, but Meowstic politely dodged her hand.
The female Trainer's hand stopped in mid-air, looking a bit awkward.
"Meow~" Female gave a sweet smile and apologized politely.
"Meow?" May I ask, is there something you need?
Perhaps sensing the change in Female's tone, one of the Trainers spoke up: "We heard that one can challenge the Breeding House here, so—"
Female suddenly realized that they were here to challenge the Breeding House.
Female looked toward the lounge area. Ninetales, which was sleeping at Lucas's feet, kept its eyes closed but lifted its tail and gently poked Lucas.
"Achoo~" Lucas opened his eyes, moved the large tail away from his nose, rubbed his nose, and realized that someone had come to the Breeding House. He rubbed his eyes and stood up.
"Meow~" Seeing that Lucas had woken up, Female ran over and reported the situation to him.
"Is that so? You did very well, Female."
Lucas reached out and scratched Female's chin, then patted her little head and spoke.
Damn it—I want to pet her too—The female Trainer who had been rejected felt incredibly envious; she wished those hands petting Female were her own.
Lucas looked at the Trainers at the door with a smile on his face. "Everyone, here to challenge the Breeding House?"
Seeing Lucas's face, the Trainers opened their mouths wide.
"The Trainers from this morning? You came to challenge the Breeding House so soon? Don't worry, the strength of the Breeding House certainly won't disappoint you."
Lucas smiled and reassured them.
The Trainers: —It certainly won't disappoint us, after all, you are the boss—
No wonder they said the strength of the Breeding House is similar to that Gothitelle; so you are the boss—
I feel like I've been deceived—
"How about it? Do you want to challenge?"
Hearing Lucas's question, everyone looked at each other, feeling a bit hesitant.
Lucas was not in a hurry and let them discuss it properly. He sat back in the lounge area, and Female sensibly brewed some tea and poured a cup for Lucas.
Looking at Female's sensible eyes and her cute, sweet smile.
"Oh~ My Female, my spring flower, my sunshine~"
Lucas pulled Female into his arms and gave her a good squeeze.
Female's cheeks turned rosy red.
"Boss, I'm back!" At this moment, a voice came from outside the door. Lucas and the Trainers at the door all looked over and discovered a student wearing the Jubilife Academy uniform.
Lucas remembered him. So far, he had come to challenge the Breeding House three times, and every time it had ended in failure.
The more he fought, the braver he became, and the braver he was, the more he lost.
Lucas admired him very much.
"No classes at school today?"
"No. It's already spread throughout our academy that anyone who wants to come and challenge the Breeding House can take time off. My partners and I have trained well. This time, we will definitely win."
The Jubilife Academy student clenched his fist, full of confidence.
"So confident? It seems our Breeding House will have to use its full strength to deal with you."
"Huh?" The Jubilife Academy student was a bit dazed.
"Then I will be your opponent personally."
Lucas finished his tea and twisted the Z-Ring on his wrist.
Jubilife Academy student: ??? Me, fight you?! Me?! Both faces dazed.
Seeing the Jubilife Academy student's 'Who am I, where am I, what am I doing' expression, Lucas laughed out loud, then clapped his hands and shouted behind the counter.
"Everyone, someone is here to challenge us."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gengar phased through the wall, carrying some twigs and leaves on its body.
Next were Shauna and Tomoyo, as well as Staraptor and the others.
Shauna and Tomoyo also had twigs and leaves hanging on them.
Lucas looked at their outfits, feeling a bit confused. At this moment, Mrs. Fujino also walked in, looking exactly the same as Shauna and Tomoyo.
"What is this?"
Mrs. Fujino cleaned her clothes, then helped Shauna and Tomoyo clean up as well. "We were just playing hide-and-seek in the backyard."
Lucas nodded, pointed at the Jubilife Academy Trainer, and asked: "Who wants to volunteer?"
Little Tomoyo raised her hand immediately.
Little Shauna hesitated for a moment, then also raised her little hand.
"Can I try? Uncle."
Little Shauna? Is she going to try battling too?
"Sure, then how about Little Shauna goes?"
Little Tomoyo looked at Little Shauna, lowered her hand, holding her Dratini egg in her arms, and nodded.
Lucas brought them to the battle field outside the Breeding House. Shauna stood happily on the field, and on the other side was the Jubilife Academy Trainer.
The Trainers from Twinleaf Town also followed, wanting to watch the battle before deciding whether to challenge.
Shauna sent out her Shinny Rapidash. When Rapidash entered the field, it was still a bit incredulous—is its Trainer also starting to battle?
Thinking of this, Rapidash lowered its head, snorting, and kept stamping its hooves.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer sent out a Graveler.
Double effectiveness?
Lucas looked at Shauna with some concern. Very quickly, Shauna's commands dispelled Lucas's worries.
There was no need to worry at all—Lucas held his forehead.
Even Ninetales shook its head helplessly.
"Rapidash, ram it!"
Rapidash: ?
Jubilife Academy Trainer: ??
Twinleaf Town Trainers: ???
After receiving Shauna's command, the horn on Rapidash's forehead began to become more slender, gorgeous, and gleamed with a metallic light.
Rapidash quickly approached Graveler, raised its front hooves, and then fiercely stabbed Graveler with the horn on its head.
Crack—a crack appeared on Graveler's body, and it was fiercely knocked flying.
However, it stumbled and stood up.
Seeing Little Tomoyo tugging at his clothes, Lucas explained: "Smart Strike is a Steel-type physical move, which happens to be super effective against Golem, but Graveler has the Sturdy ability, so it won't be knocked out in one hit. Otherwise, Graveler would have already been defeated by that one hit."
The Trainers present were incredibly shocked to see that Rapidash had forced out Graveler's Sturdy ability with just one hit.
"Graveler, Earthquake."
Graveler rolled into a ball, then jumped high and landed heavily.
"What should I do about this? That—Uncle said what again?"
Little Shauna couldn't quite remember. "If I had known, I wouldn't have eaten sausages during class—"
Little Shauna regretted eating sausages and sleeping during class.
"I know, Rapidash, we jump up too."
Rapidash, currently suffering from Earthquake, looked pained. Hearing Shauna's words, Rapidash bent its legs slightly and leaped high.
Lucas: —------
Rapidash's agile figure leaped straight over Graveler's head and landed behind it.
"Burn it!"
"That's called Flamethrower—" Lucas couldn't help but say.
"Oh right, Flamethrower, burn it!"
Rapidash opened its mouth, and scorching flames poured out.
Already at low health, it was directly burned by Flamethrower and lost consciousness.
"Uncle, I won." Little Shauna ran happily to Lucas and said with a grin.
Lucas took the lead in applauding, and the surrounding Pokémon also applauded, cheering for Shauna.
"It's not over yet."
Shauna hummed, then walked back to the field with high spirits.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer's second Pokémon was Granbull.
Granbull, this is the first time seeing it in reality.
Lucas saw Granbull and thought it was actually quite cute—
Under Little Shauna's simple and clear instructions like "Ram it", "Butt it", "Burn it", and "Dodge it", Rapidash struggled to defeat Granbull and secured the victory.
In the end, it narrowly lost to the Jubilife Academy Trainer's third Pokémon, Prinplup.
This result was already very good.
In her first battle, Shauna achieved the feat of defeating two Pokémon. Lucas had a premonition that this might be one of the few good records in her career.
In this battle, Rapidash also displayed extraordinary strength.
It took an Earthquake head-on, defeated two Pokémon, and almost beat Prinplup in the end.
It was purely thanks to the good food at the Breeding House and the training from Dash and the others.
Little Shauna ran over and scratched her head embarrassedly. "I accidentally lost, hee hee."
Lucas reached out and pinched her little cheek. "How does it feel?"
"It was quite fun, hee hee. It turns out Rapidash is so strong. If I hadn't been eating and sleeping during class, I might have won."
"You still have the nerve to say that?"
Lucas pulled her little cheek hard.
"But it's okay, Little Shauna. You only need to remember one thing: no matter the result, just enjoy the battle."
Lucas said to Little Shauna with a smile.
"Mm." Little Shauna showed a big smile.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer came over, looking happily at Lucas. "Store Manager, I won."
The match rules were set by Shauna: she would only use one Pokémon, while the opponent would use three. If the three Pokémon could defeat Shauna's Pokémon, he would be considered the winner.
Lucas took a small wooden carving from Gengar, which Lucas had carved based on Nina's Empoleon. He handed this small Empoleon wooden carving to the Jubilife Academy Trainer. "Congratulations, you finally succeeded in the challenge. I believe that as long as you maintain this mentality of becoming braver as you fight, you will eventually become a powerful Pokémon Trainer."
As the owner of the Breeding House, facing a Trainer who succeeded in the challenge, one must certainly congratulate and encourage them. Facing a Trainer who failed the challenge, one must encourage and acknowledge them even more.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer took the Empoleon wooden carving with trembling hands and couldn't help but start crying.
"Look, we did it, we finally succeeded in the challenge."
He looked at his partners.
Graveler, Granbull, and Prinplup all cried happily, and they embraced each other.
Seeing this, Lucas smiled knowingly.
His Breeding House can also bring such good emotional value to others.
If you keep thinking about it, there will be an echo.
Perhaps seeing the challenge from the student from Jubilife Academy, the Trainers from Twinleaf Town were infected by the atmosphere of them winning and crying with joy. They walked over and asked Lucas if they could challenge.
Lucas looked at Little Tomoyo. Tomoyo nodded, then handed the Dratini egg in her arms to Lucas, and ran onto the field wearing a luxurious dress.
The first to enter the field was the leading Trainer, and his first Pokémon was Magcargo.
A Pokémon whose body seemed to be made of magma, carrying a huge snail shell on its back.
Little Tomoyo looked at Rhyperior.
She grinned.
Rhyperior bumped its fists together and walked onto the field.
"Roar!" Seeing the intimidating Rhyperior, the Trainer had a bad feeling.
"Don't be afraid, she's just a child. Maybe she's like the last little girl and doesn't know how to battle."
The Trainer muttered to himself, and it actually helped him regain his confidence.
Little Tomoyo looked at the Magcargo in front of her. "It looks like it's a Fire-type. If it's Fire-type—"
Little Tomoyo pointed her finger. "Earth Power!"
This was the first time Lucas had watched Tomoyo battle in person, and he was quite looking forward to it.
Rhyperior slammed its fists heavily onto the ground, and ripples spread across the ground towards Magcargo.
Boom.
Magcargo had absolutely no power to fend it off.
The second one was Magneton.
"Flash Cannon."
"Hammer Arm, blast it away."
Rhyperior's arms glowed with white light, blocking in front of its chest, and it walked straight towards Magneton in the face of Flash Cannon.
"Rhyperior, Hammer Arm!"
Magneton looked at the large fist coming down from the sky, which slammed directly onto its face.
Magneton was smashed directly into a pit.
Sturdy ability triggered.
Little Tomoyo's voice grew louder and louder, and the smile on the corner of her mouth became more and more obvious.
"Rock Blast!"
"It's Rock Blast."
Little Tomoyo turned her head and looked at Lucas in confusion. Lucas smiled and said: "There is no move called Rock Blast—oh—"
Rhyperior aimed the holes in its palms at Magneton, then charged up, and a huge rock began to appear.
Bang! It directly crushed Magneton underneath.
So it was Rock Wrecker—I thought it was Rock Blast—
Lucas wiped the sweat from his forehead.
There was no need to use Rock Wrecker for the final blow—I feel sorry for Magneton.
The third Pokémon was Nidoking.
"Nidoking, let's try our Earth Power on it too!"
"Earth Power!"
The clash of Earth Power ended with Nidoking's defeat.
"Charge up, Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm!!!"
Looking at Little Tomoyo's appearance, Lucas pursed his lips.
Tomoyo, that is strength—
No extra moves, just blindly using Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm.
Attacks that hit flesh.
Miss Strength, the name is well-deserved—
Rhyperior, just like boxing, hammered one punch after another onto Nidoking's face.
Nidoking's eyes were vacant.
Under the Trainer's command, it wanted to counterattack, but under Tomoyo's command, Rhyperior withstood Nidoking's attacks and kept hammering Nidoking's face.
This Rhyperior is very smart.
Seeing Nidoking's eyes swirl into spirals, it extended one hand to hold Nidoking, and then continued to smash Nidoking's face with the other hand.
It vented all the pain of being trained by Dash at the Breeding House onto Nidoking.
Lucas: ——————
Lucas turned his head and looked at Gengar.
Gengar also turned its head and looked at Lucas.
Then they both looked up at the sky.
The other Trainers: ————
As expected, it's still a Pokémon gang! Damn it!
The battle ended, Little Tomoyo clapped her hands with satisfaction, and Rhyperior also let go of Nidoking.
Lucas looked at Little Tomoyo, whose little face was flushed with excitement, feeling a bit dumbfounded.
The quiet and gentle Little Tomoyo has a bold and unrestrained fighting style, while the overly strong Little Shauna's battles are too dazed—what a contrast.
Lucas had already imagined that later, when Little Tomoyo couldn't win a Pokémon battle, she would point her finger.
"I choose you, Little Shauna—"
Lucas shook his head quickly, clearing all these thoughts from his mind.
Then he looked at the other Trainers and asked politely with a smile: "May I ask, who is next?"
The remaining Trainers looked at each other and retreated one after another.
Then they all shook their heads together.
"What a pity."
After Lucas helped that Trainer's Pokémon recover, he watched them leave, and then he returned to the Breeding House.
Just as he was about to sleep, the wooden plaque pendant on his chest burned him so much that he jumped up.
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌