With Silas watching, a short, white-haired old man stepped out from behind Yuriko.
Two long white mustaches hung down to his chest, making him particularly conspicuous.
"This is Grandpa Kura. Everyone calls him the Shuckle Elder."
Yuriko introduced the old man to Silas. "He and Chuck are actually quite close."
"Nice to meet you."
Silas quickly greeted him.
The old man stroked his mustache and nodded in satisfaction. "Hello there. You must be the kid Yuriko told me about, right?"
"Hey, Kura, could you hurry up? Stop wasting time, will you?"
Just as Yuriko was about to properly introduce Silas, Chuck's impatient voice rang out again.
The Shuckle Elder's eyes widened, and even his mustache seemed to bristle.
"What are you rushing me for? After all these years, haven't you learned anything from Yuriko? All you ever do is rush, rush, rush."
Although he grumbled, he still walked toward where Chuck was standing.
"No big deal. It's just fainting from normal physical exertion. Its arms are a little exhausted. Let it rest for half a day and it'll be fine."
After taking a glance at the still-unconscious Poliwrath, Kura casually gave his diagnosis.
"Shuckle, help treat it."
As he spoke, he casually tossed out a Poké Ball.
"Shu-shu~"
A lively cry rang out.
A Pokémon resembling a turtle appeared directly in front of Poliwrath.
Unlike an ordinary turtle, this Pokémon had numerous holes scattered across its red shell, each surrounded by a white, raised ring.
This was Shuckle, the Bug/Rock-type Pokémon.
The reason Kura was also known as the Shuckle Elder was because of his extraordinary understanding of Shuckle and his exceptional ability to utilize their powers to create various items.
Potions, for example.
These were unique products produced through the special properties of Shuckle's red shell.
Shuckle is known as the Mold Pokémon.
While it feeds on Berries, it can also store some of them inside its hollow body and use its shell to ferment them into Berry Juice with various effects.
Whether in terms of conversion efficiency or the quality of the finished product, an exceptional Shuckle could be far superior to human machinery.
Kura could even use this special Berry Juice as a raw material to create various special potions and pills.
Shuckle itself was also an extraordinary Pokémon.
In terms of its base stats, Shuckle had extremely low HP, almost no offensive power, and terrible Speed. Yet its physical Defense was even higher than Steelix's and Aggron's, while its Special Defense was even more impressive.
According to legend, a powerful Shuckle's Special Defense could even surpass that of Regice, a Pokémon renowned for its exceptionally high Special Defense.
Of course, that was merely a legend.
People in the Pokémon world generally didn't believe it.
As soon as Shuckle appeared, it clearly knew what it was supposed to do.
It tilted its body slightly, and a liquid resembling orange juice flowed out of it and into a small bottle that had been prepared beforehand.
Chuck immediately grabbed the bottle without the slightest hesitation and poured it over Poliwrath.
"You wasteful bastard!"
Although this wasn't the first time, every time Kura witnessed this scene, his blood pressure seemed to rise.
"Leave half of it for oral consumption! Do you have any idea how precious this stuff is?!"
"Come on, we're practically family."
Chuck spoke casually, but he still carefully followed Kura's instructions.
The orange liquid flowing down Poliwrath's body was absorbed the instant it touched it.
"Poli!"
Poliwrath opened its eyes and suddenly jumped up from the ground.
"Bang!"
Chuck was completely unfazed and pressed it back down with one hand.
"Open your mouth."
"Ah~"
Still dazed, Poliwrath instinctively opened its mouth upon hearing the familiar voice.
A sweet-and-sour flavor flooded its mouth.
After smacking its lips a few times, Poliwrath thought it tasted pretty good.
"Poli!"
Suddenly, it climbed to its feet and rapidly struck a series of bodybuilding poses while shouting excitedly.
This time, Chuck didn't stop it.
Instead, tears streamed down his face.
"That's it, Poliwrath! Amazing! Is this your fighting spirit?! Let's burn it together!"
Chuck cried as he tightly embraced Poliwrath.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
The apprentices also raised their clenched right fists and cheered when they saw the scene.
Silas expressionlessly took a small step to the side.
He always felt out of place simply because he wasn't crazy enough.
Yuriko had clearly seen plenty of scenes like this. She smiled at Silas.
"Chuck has always been like this. You'll get used to it. Besides, this kind of energy is unique to Fighting-type Pokémon!"
Silas actually agreed with her.
After all, every Fighting-type master he had ever met had an astonishing amount of energy.
Yes, even that professor at the New Bark Town Research Institute in Johto who once conducted research for three consecutive days without sleeping.
Forget being in his fifties. Silas, a young man who wasn't even twenty, wouldn't dare push himself that hard. He was afraid he might fall asleep one day and never wake up.
"Make sure you perform well later."
Quite suddenly, Yuriko winked at Silas.
"The value of your gift could vary quite a lot."
"Huh?"
Silas tilted his head before understanding what she meant. His gaze shifted toward Kura in the distance.
"Normally, Shuckle's special Berry Juice can be fermented in just a few days, but I'm sure you can imagine what the quality of Berry Juice produced that way would be."
Yuriko smiled.
"If you want high-quality Berry Juice, it needs to be fermented for at least a month before it can be used as a raw material.
"Some of the effective potions currently available on the market are made this way."
"That's true, but Kura's potions are different from the ones on the market."
Chuck picked up the conversation.
The apprentices still had their post-meal training to attend, so he quickly returned to his normal state and arranged everything.
He looked at Silas.
"The Berry Juice Kura uses as raw material has been fermented for anywhere from two or three years to four or five years. Some even use special secret formulas and ratios.
"Even when making the same type of potion, the effects can be more than ten times stronger than those of commercial potions.
"What's more, he has several special Shuckle."
Chuck winked suggestively at Silas.
The Shuckle Elder's forehead was covered in wrinkles.
"I knew it. You husband and wife have been eyeing my Shuckle all this time."
"Honestly, I really made the wrong friends. The wrong friends!"
He sighed helplessly.
"But Yuriko is practically a granddaughter to me. I watched her grow up, so naturally I'll fulfill her request."
Kura suddenly changed his tone.
"But there's one condition: you have to give me answers that satisfy me.
"Don't worry. They're not difficult questions. Just some basic Pokémon Breeder knowledge.
"You seem to be a pretty capable Pokémon Trainer, so I assume you know a thing or two about Pokémon breeding as well."
Yuriko and Chuck quietly snickered beside him.
The Shuckle Elder, who spent most of his time at home fermenting Berry Juice and making potions, naturally didn't know Silas, let alone his reputation as a genius Pokémon Breeder.
Silas might have trouble answering some particularly obscure questions, but when it came to Pokémon Breeder knowledge, this was practically the perfect field for him.
"First question: What's the flavor ratio for a Persim Berry?"
The Shuckle Elder ignored the eccentric couple and raised his head to question Silas.
"The Spicy, Dry, Sweet, and Sour flavors are in a one-to-one-to-one-to-one ratio, with no Bitter flavor."
Silas answered without the slightest hesitation.
The Shuckle Elder stroked his mustache. "Hmm, not bad."
The Persim Berry was a very special Berry capable of curing confusion.
What made it special was that the other five Berries associated with confusion were the Figy Berry, Wiki Berry, Mago Berry, Aguav Berry, and Iapapa Berry.
Their effects were related to their strong individual flavors: pure Spicy, Dry, Sweet, Bitter, and Sour flavors respectively.
A Pokémon that disliked spicy food could instantly recover from confusion after eating an extremely spicy Figy Berry.
Perhaps this was what people meant by using a stronger medicine for a serious illness.
Among them, the extremely bitter Aguav Berry was undoubtedly one of the most frequently used.
Even Pokémon that enjoyed Bitter-flavored Berries would have trouble tolerating such an overwhelmingly bitter taste.
Of course, if these Berries were forcibly stuffed into the mouths of perfectly normal Pokémon, they would also become confused.
The Persim Berry's flavor combination was therefore quite unique. Despite lacking any Bitter flavor, it could cure confusion with remarkable effectiveness. It could even be given to a Pokémon that wasn't confused without causing any adverse effects.
"Second question: What Berry should a Jigglypuff eat when its throat is uncomfortable?"
"A Pinkan Berry. It can heal the throat."
"Third question: What do the different-colored sections of a Starf Berry represent?"
"The flavors. Red is Spicy, blue is Dry, pink is Sweet, green is Bitter, and yellow is Sour."
"Fourth question..."
A total of nine questions followed, ranging from easy to difficult, and Silas answered every one of them accurately and rapidly.
The Shuckle Elder's expression visibly changed to one of astonishment.
"Very good, very good. There aren't many young people like you around anymore."
He paused before continuing.
"Now, for the final question.
"What Berry in the world can make a Pokémon change the color of its body?"
Yuriko and Chuck, standing nearby, were both stunned by the question.
"There's a Berry like that?"
"Wouldn't that basically be an artificially created Shiny Pokémon?"
Silas was stunned for a moment as well.
The previous questions were things he had learned after coming to this world, but this one was something he had genuinely known about for a long time.
"The Orange Archipelago. The Pinkan Berry from Pinkan Island. If a Pokémon consumes it over a long period of time, it will turn pink. Short-term consumption can cause parts of its body to turn pink, and after stopping consumption, the Pokémon will eventually return to its normal coloration."
Ordinary people, or rather, the vast majority of people in the Pokémon world, wouldn't know much about a remote island in the Orange Archipelago's nature preserve.
Even someone who had visited the Orange Archipelago probably wouldn't have been able to enter the nature preserve because of its special status, much less know about the effects of the Pinkan Berry.
"Good, good, good."
The Shuckle Elder was clearly extremely satisfied with Silas's answer.
The more he looked at the young man, the more he liked him.
"How about becoming my apprentice and learning how to make potions from me? I'm an official League Master of Potions, you know!"
"Get out of here! Kura, why are you trying to steal him? Yuriko asked you to bring him something, not poach him!"
Chuck immediately sprang into action.
He hurriedly hooked his arms around the Shuckle Elder and lifted him away from the ground before setting him aside.
This was his junior apprentice! A genius Trainer! How could he possibly spend his entire life making potions?
In this Pokémon-dominated world, the status of Pokémon Trainers was something ordinary professions simply couldn't compare with.
Even the Poké Ball manufacturing master Kurt might not necessarily have a higher social standing than a region's Elite Four member.
Ignoring the argument between the old man and the middle-aged man, Yuriko looked at Silas with a hint of surprise.
"This is the first time I've ever seen someone answer all of Kura's questions so smoothly. Silas, you're really impressive."
"It's nothing, really." Silas tried to remain humble. "I've just read a lot of random things over the years, so I happened to remember them."
Yuriko smiled and shook her head without saying anything else.
This kid really didn't seem like a young man at all.
"You two! How long are you planning to keep this up?! Silas is still watching! Don't you two have any sense of dignity as adults?!"
The moment she turned around, an angry roar came from Yuriko.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two men arrived in front of Yuriko at a speed that was almost impossible to see.
Silas blinked as he watched the two men standing completely motionless in front of her.
Wow.
The Shuckle Elder was the first to recover.
"Ahem. Well, I'll prepare some things for the young man. Looks like I'm going to have to dig pretty deep this time~"
As he spoke, he somehow pulled seven or eight Poké Balls from somewhere on his person.
"Come on, boys! Time to get to work!"
One flash of red light followed another.
One energetic Shuckle after another emerged from their Poké Balls and appeared on the ground.
Silas's eyes narrowed.
Among the eight Shuckle, one had a blue shell.
It was unmistakably a Shiny Pokémon.
The Shuckle Elder didn't say anything else. Instead, he immediately instructed the Shuckle to pour out the Berry Juice stored inside their bodies.
"Chuck, help me buy these things."
Without even looking up, he handed Chuck a list.
Chuck casually passed it to the nearby Brawly, who then handed it to one of his juniors.
Yuriko shook her head helplessly.
"Honestly, none of you are reliable."
By comparison, the more Yuriko looked at Silas, the more satisfied she became.
If she and Chuck had a daughter, she almost wanted to have her marry this kid.
"Oh, right. I heard you were bullied by the person in charge of the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City before."
Yuriko suddenly brought up the subject.
Silas didn't know why she had suddenly mentioned it, but he still nodded.
"Yeah. Why, Yuriko?"
Could something have happened at the Safari Zone again?
No, that couldn't be it. Silas clearly remembered that he had only just received the endorsement payment for the previous quarter.
"Nothing. Chuck and I discussed it before. We're planning to report to the Pokémon League and have another Safari Zone established nearby, one that belongs exclusively to Johto."
Yuriko said it as casually as if she were talking about the weather.
Silas's expression froze.
"Then who are you planning to make the Warden...?"
..
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