Wasn't it stupid to sleep outside when there were perfectly good rooms available? Bi Diao clearly thought so. Completely ignoring Su Yu's instructions, it followed him out, flapped straight upstairs, and claimed a room it had been eyeing for a long time. From today onward, that room was its territory. The breeding house had plenty of empty rooms anyway—most of them prepared as Pokémon dormitories. Besides the main building, there were even two separate houses outside specifically designed for Pokémon living spaces, so Bi Diao had absolutely no intention of roughing it outdoors.
After feeding Charmander some warm milk, Su Yu brought the little one back to his room to rest. Pikachu and Ralts followed closely behind, sticking together as usual. Once the three small Pokémon settled down, Su Yu finally went to wash up himself. By the time he returned and lay down, Ralts immediately wriggled into his arms, hugging him tightly before falling asleep with a content expression. Being overly popular with Psychic-type Pokémon was sometimes troublesome—but honestly, this little guy was just too cute to complain about. Su Yu muttered a few thoughts to himself, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Su Yu was woken up by the sound of chaos. Pikachu, Ralts, and Charmander were already up, tumbling and playing together like they had endless energy. Watching the three little ones fool around, Su Yu yawned deeply and sat up. "Alright, alright, get down," he said lazily. "I've got a lot to do today." Turning his attention to Ralts, his tone became more serious. "Ralts, Xi'er asked me to train you, so you'll need to work harder from now on." Then he looked at Pikachu. "Take Ralts to the back mountain. Fight the Pokémon there—you know what to do."
For now, that was enough training. Letting them battle Caterpie and similar Pokémon was sufficient for their current level. Those fights would sharpen their instincts without being too dangerous, and by the time they were done, Ralts should be strong enough to evolve into Gardevoir. That would be more than enough progress for the moment. Over the next few days, Su Yu knew he wouldn't have time to supervise them anyway—energy cube production was about to consume all his attention.
Hearing Su Yu's instructions, the three Pokémon immediately hopped out of bed and ran outside together. Charmander had already blended in seamlessly with Pikachu and Ralts, and the two older Pokémon clearly took great care of the newborn. Watching their backs disappear, Su Yu finally got up, brushed his teeth, and headed downstairs.
The children from the orphanage were already there. Early in the morning, they had begun placing the low-level energy cubes into the basins prepared the day before, ready to feed the wild Pokémon. Even Bi Diao was up early, casually eating energy cubes like it owned the place. A nine-year-old girl named Lily noticed Su Yu and hurriedly greeted him, "Good morning, Brother Su Yu!" Her voice drew everyone's attention, and soon a chorus of greetings followed.
Smiling, Su Yu responded, "Good morning. Have you all eaten breakfast yet?" The kids immediately started answering all at once—Aunt Wang had cooked early, they had already eaten, and they'd even saved some for him. Today's breakfast was steamed buns, and they urged him to go eat quickly, promising they would take care of feeding all the Pokémon.
Listening to them chatter excitedly, Su Yu couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'll eat right away. I'll leave things here to you." With that, he turned and went back inside. Seeing how reliable these kids were, Su Yu felt he didn't need to worry too much. Even if he overslept, they would still come over to help feed the Pokémon. Still, once school started again, they wouldn't be able to help as much. That meant he would eventually need to recruit a few proper staff members.
As he ate his breakfast, Su Yu began planning in his head. Maybe the aunties would know someone suitable. With that thought, he finished eating and headed straight for the orphanage to talk things over with Aunt Wang and the others.
Normally, the aunties had fairly relaxed duties—cooking, cleaning, and looking after the children. But ever since Su Yu taught them how to make low-level energy cubes, they'd become much busier. Now, in addition to their usual responsibilities, they also helped produce food for the wild Pokémon. There were five of them in total, and everyone had taken on extra work without complaint.
When Su Yu arrived at the small workshop and explained that he wanted to hire two more people to help at the breeding house, the aunties immediately objected. They insisted he just leave everything to them, saying they weren't too busy and that he was already paying them wages anyway. Their eagerness made Su Yu both touched and helpless.
He knew better than anyone how hardworking these women were. In the past, the orphanage could barely afford to pay them, yet they had stayed without hesitation. They were elders who had practically watched Su Yu grow up. Precisely because of that, he respected them deeply. "I can't let you handle everything," Su Yu said seriously. "The breeding house needs young people to help take care of the Pokémon. If business increases in the future, you'll be overwhelmed even if you want to help."
After hearing this, the aunties exchanged glances. Aunt Wang thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "How about this," she said. "My daughter Xiaoyu is about to graduate. She's already obtained her intermediate breeder certificate. Let her come back and help you—and learn from you at the same time." With internship season approaching, having her work under Su Yu might just be the perfect arrangement.