"Why do you, as a Gym Leader, have something that only a Breeder would possess?" Xiao Xia asked Brock curiously after reading the contents of the notebook.
In the Pokémon world, Trainers are categorized into Gym Leaders, Battle Trainers, Coordinator Trainers, and so on.
Besides Trainers, there are also various other professions, among which the most popular is the Breeder.
A Breeder is exactly what the name implies: a profession dedicated to raising Pokémon and improving their condition.
Generally, powerful Trainers might have a Breeder assisting them, or they themselves might possess some breeding knowledge; with a Breeder's Helping Hand, a Trainer's Pokémon grow much faster than those without such assistance.
However, compared to Trainers, the threshold for Breeders is somewhat high; it's not enough to simply know some massage techniques or be able to make some Pokémon food to be called a Breeder.
The most basic requirement for a Breeder is to possess one or several methods that allow Pokémon to improve faster and be in better condition than usual.
Among these methods, Pokémon food is one; some powerful Pokémon food recipes can even restore a severely injured Pokémon to peak condition instantly.
If such dishes could be mass-produced, both battle consumption and training consumption could be quickly recovered, and the extent of improvement for Pokémon would be self-evident.
And these recipes that Brock gave, if given to someone who wants to become a Breeder, would absolutely be priceless; why would Brock have such recipes?
"Actually, my dream is to become a Breeder..." Brock showed a helpless expression, then explained his situation.
Currently, Brock is just over twenty years old, but he has to take care of nine younger siblings, managing their daily lives, and at the same time, look after this Gym.
The reason is that his father left home to pursue his Champion dream, and his mother also left home not long after, perhaps to travel or perhaps to train Pokémon.
But no matter the reason, the end result is that the Ni Bi Gym and the nine younger siblings all had to be looked after by Brock alone; Brock also had no way to pursue his dream of becoming a Breeder.
"...So I'm entrusting my dream to you, Ash.
I feel that you can serve as both a Breeder and a Trainer.
These are the Pokémon food recipes I've researched over the years, and they are very useful for Pokémon cultivation.
Even if you don't want to become a Breeder, the things on here can help you progress more smoothly on your path as a Trainer."
If it's just about making Pokémon dishes, it actually doesn't require too much effort; you just need to spend some time getting familiar with how to cook.
Therefore, the notebook Brock gave out, whether one wants to become a Breeder or not, can play a huge role.
After hesitating for a while, Ash decided to accept Brock's request because he was already planning to become a Breeder.
His Insight Eye, which plays a huge role in catching and battling Pokémon, is the ability of Breeder Ash, and in the group, Breeder Ash has also diligently taught him many things.
So Ash also decided to follow Breeder Ash and become an excellent Breeder, which is also Breeder Ash's expectation.
After all, besides him in the group, it seems there's no one else he can exchange insights with about breeding Pokémon; at least, there's no professional-level exchange.
If it's about amateurs, then all the Ashes in the group who have raised Pokémon to the peak stage can exchange some insights with him.
Because without the support of a Breeder, it's very difficult for Pokémon to reach the world's top level, so Trainers standing at the peak also know some breeding knowledge, more or less, but compared to professionals, they are still somewhat lacking.
Just as Ash took Brock's notebook, the Gym's door suddenly burst open with a loud bang, startling Xiao Xia, who hadn't left Ash's side, causing her to flinch, then jump to the other side and tightly hug Ash's arm.
Ash and Brock were also attracted by the opening of the door and turned their gaze towards it.
"I heard everything you just said, Brock.
Go, pursue your dream with all your might!
I'll take over the Gym."
A deep voice came from the doorway.
The light from the suddenly opened door gradually weakened, and Ash and the others could clearly see the person who had arrived at the doorway.
It was a scruffy-looking uncle with a hat and a full beard, wearing a stained glove on his hand, his face obscured by the low-brimmed hat, so his exact appearance couldn't be seen.
But overall, this person looked like a hardworking laborer, so why would he say he would take over the Gym for Brock?
"Could it be you...?" Brock's expression suddenly became somewhat agitated after a moment of stunned.
"That's right, I am... your father, Wu Neng."
As the deep voice fell, the person also flung off his disguise, revealing his original appearance.
Beneath the hat and fake beard was a middle-aged man, and this middle-aged man wasn't completely identical to Brock, but their similarity reached ninety-nine percent!
Xiao Xia and Ash's eyes moved back and forth between the two faces, almost confusing them.
"It's been years, Father.
Why have you suddenly returned?" And the timing of his return was too coincidental.
Subsequently, Wu Neng told everyone about his experiences over the past few years.
Years ago, he went to pursue his dream of becoming a Trainer, wanting to become an Elite or even a Champion-level Trainer, and then left Brock and his mother to manage the Gym.
The result, naturally, was disappointing.
Wu Neng not only failed to become an Elite Trainer, but he didn't even win the league championship in regions outside of Kanto.
The Indigo Plateau Conference is known as a rookie cradle, and a Trainer of Wu Neng's age would naturally not be allowed to participate.
The intensity of other regional conferences is quite high; even top Gym Leaders cannot guarantee a hundred percent victory.
Top Gym Leaders have at least six Gym-level Pokémon, and even at that level, they can't guarantee a hundred percent victory, let alone Wu Neng, who only took away the mid-level combatants from the Gym.
So after traveling for over a year, Wu Neng failed to win any conference championships and eventually returned to his hometown, Ni Bi City, in disappointment.
Upon his return, he learned that Brock's mother had also left the Gym, leaving only Brock to manage the Gym with his nine younger siblings.
Knowing this, Wu Neng felt he had no face to see Brock, so he set up a stall near the entrance of the Ni Bi Gym, selling common ores and other items from Ni Bi City.
He had intended to appear when Brock encountered difficulties, thereby naturally returning to the Ni Bi Gym and also gaining Brock's forgiveness more easily by saving him from distress.
Who knew that over the years, Brock had hardly encountered any difficulties, single-handedly managing the Gym impressively and raising his young siblings healthily and robustly.
Therefore, Wu Neng never had the opportunity to reveal himself to Brock.
Until today, after hearing Brock's dream, Wu Neng finally had the chance to step forward!