"Good morning, Uncle, and everyone else."
Shauna was wearing a dress the color of a Vespiquen today. She ran into the garden, tapping her feet, and greeted everyone present.
"Good morning, little Shauna."
Wallace reached out and pinched Shauna's little cheek, then asked, "Aren't you going to class today? Isn't it Monday?"
Under Lucas's watchful gaze, little Shauna wrinkled her face as she took the hot milk handed to her by the Alcremie that had run out of the kitchen. She drank it all in one gulp before answering Wallace: "No, I'm not. I'm in a bad mood today, I don't want to go."
"Bad mood, indeed. You ate five large meat buns for breakfast, a big bowl of porridge, and three fried dough sticks. It's clearly just laziness—you slept in."
Seeing her drink the hot milk in one go, Lucas nodded with satisfaction and then ruthlessly exposed little Shauna's lie.
"After getting up, you just said, 'Oh no, I've overslept, I don't want to go to school.'"
Little Shauna wiped the milk stain from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and made a face at Lucas.
"Uncle is a big meanie! Little Shauna has decided not to talk to Uncle all day today, hmph!"
After saying that, Shauna tucked the Munchlax, which was lying on the ground sleeping, under her arm and brought the Chimecho along as she ran toward the sand area to build a sandcastle.
Munchlax: ??? I just got picked up like that?
"I guess only you would let her take a day off just because she slept in."
Wallace shook his head and smiled as he spoke.
"I'm not the one making that choice; it's her parents. Only her parents can make that decision."
Lucas took a sip of tea and explained.
Although he also agreed that if an eight or nine-year-old child was in a bad mood and didn't want to go, then they shouldn't go—a point on which he had reached a consensus with Mr. and Mrs. Fujino.
Plus, considering some of little Shauna's previous issues, Mr. and Mrs. Fujino would only feel more tenderly toward her on that basis.
"What do you mean by going to class? Don't you just invite the teachers to your home?"
Steven was wearing a blue suit, sitting on a chair with his legs crossed. He had chosen a spot closest to the flower garden so he could better smell the unique floral fragrance of the Breeding House.
After hearing the conversation between Lucas and Wallace, he set down his teacup and asked indifferently.
Lucas: ——
Wallace: ——
"I remember that whenever I had to go to class, I would just have the teachers come to my home. It wasn't until I went to university that I started going out, but I only attended for a short while before I left on my journey."
Damn rich people! To think that even when you were in school, you had teachers come to your home?! What was the point of my 6 AM to 10 PM schedule back then!
"It's not like everyone has the Devon Corporation backing them up."
Lance rolled his eyes and said.
Steven didn't feel offended at all; he just shrugged lightly. "That is true."
"Speaking of which, you Champions, are you on vacation? Don't you have to work?"
Lucas looked at Lance and the others who had been staying at the Breeding House for a few days and couldn't help but ask.
"Sigh, don't mention it. Clair has already been called back, and I have to go back after dinner tonight."
Lance sighed and said.
"I'm preparing to head to the Kalos Region to hold the Wallace Cup."
Wallace slumped in his chair and said.
"The Kalos Region? When are you leaving? I'll go with you."
Steven looked at Wallace, and Wallace answered without hesitation: "I'll probably go back to the Hoenn Region first to see Winona."
Steven: ——
Tsk, the sour smell of love!
"Made up?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Wallace pondered for a moment. "I suppose—it counts? She'll ask me to come back for a meal if I'm free now. That never used to happen before; it was always me contacting her. It seems like ever since we came back from Poplar Town, she's been reaching out to me a bit more."
"Wait, is that really the main point here?"
Lance's voice cut in. "You and Steven are both going to the Kalos Region, so what about the Hoenn Region?"
Wallace and Steven exchanged a look, then looked at Lance together.
Lance: ???
"Don't look at me. I'm already stretched thin being responsible for the Kanto Region and the Johto Region. I really can't help with the Hoenn Region."
Lance shook his head hurriedly.
"What are you chatting about?"
Cynthia's voice rang out from behind. Lucas turned his head and found Cynthia standing behind him, holding a cup of hot honey water.
She sat down next to Lucas familiarly. Lucas repeated what had just been said to Cynthia. Cynthia nodded gently. "You could also delegate affairs to the Elites under your command."
"You think every Elite is as capable as Elite Four Lucian?"
Lance sighed, remembered something, and turned his head to look around. "Right, speaking of Elite Four Lucian, I just remembered, why isn't Elite Four Lucian here?"
Flint and Aaron were both at the Breeding House, currently in the Lake area playing with little Shauna, but the Breeding House's frequent visitor, Lucian, was nowhere to be seen. Lance asked curiously.
Sinnoh League, League Building, Office.
Achoo!
After lunch.
Lucas and Cynthia were standing in the planting area. Cynthia looked at the large expanse of empty land outside the Breeding House, holding some freshly picked vegetables in her hand, and asked, "Why don't you buy the surrounding land as well and incorporate it into the Breeding House?"
Lucas followed Cynthia's gaze and answered her, "No money."
Simple and direct.
"But now that you mention it, perhaps it really should be expanded."
Lucas set his gaze on the backyard of the Breeding House. The backyard was not small—it was over 800 acres—but when the Breeding House's Pokémon and the forest Pokémon were playing in the backyard, Lucas always felt it would be a bit crowded.
Although he also knew this was his illusion, and it wasn't actually crowded at all.
However, as someone from the Eastern Splendor, seeing a bunch of empty land next to his own property, it was inevitable that he would have thoughts about expanding into that area.
"The tea leaf planting was a success, so we can plant a bit more."
Lucas looked at the lush green tea leaves and said.
"When the time comes, I'll ask Mayor Qinn if the Breeding House can buy this land and incorporate it into the Breeding House."
Cynthia nodded.
On the other side, in the garden.
Aaron looked at Lucas standing with Cynthia and couldn't help but say, "I really didn't expect Lucas to beat the big sis, and I certainly didn't expect the big sis to lose to Lucas."
"I didn't expect it either."
Lance said, "It makes me really want to have an official battle with Lucas as well."
"Then why don't you go?"
"He won't agree."
Lance said speechlessly, "Every time he hears about battling, he just keeps shaking his head and rejecting me."
"Find a suitable time and try again. I also kind of want to battle Lucas."
Steven said.
"Speaking of which, how exactly does Lucas raise his Gengar and the others?"
Wallace pinched his chin and raised the question.
"They are raised so well. I always feel like there's quite a big gap between his Pokémon and ours."
Wallace continued, "In the previous battle, I thought Lucas had lost, but I didn't expect him to win just like that."
"Because of Gothitelle."
Steven looked at his friend and said.
"Gothitelle single-handedly turned the entire battle around."
In fact, Lucas's team composition was not the most optimal; it was even a bit worse than some Trainers' team compositions. The team had many frail Pokémon and lacked strong defensive Pokémon.
Initially, after Cynthia had dealt with Lilligant and Ninetales, she had intended to use high-speed tactics to take down Lucas's remaining Pokémon, but she hadn't expected Gothitelle to appear out of nowhere.
Recalling the Gothitelle that had shown such prowess on the field, Lance shook his head. "It lives up to the name 'Mother Gothitelle' as Lucas calls her—"
Flint, who was nearby, also remembered Lucas's Gothitelle and couldn't help but get goosebumps.
It was terrifying, that Gothitelle.
"This is the first time I've seen a Gothitelle that could take Spikes and a super-effective Shadow Sneak and still keep setting up walls as if nothing happened."
Flint said, "Especially later on, when it could still take a full-power Extreme Speed from Lucario, as well as the Dragon Claw from the ace Garchomp, and still stand tall. I even doubted if this was a Psychic-type Pokémon."
This was simply not the tankiness a Psychic-type Pokémon should have.
"The key is that after sustaining such heavy injuries, it could still use a Z-Move to take out Gastrodon, creating a huge advantage for the Pokémon that came out afterward."
Everyone commented on the battle at that time and finally reached a conclusion: Gothitelle was the real MVP—taking the hardest hits, doing what needed to be done, and dealing the necessary damage.
"After seeing what Lucas did, I also want to raise a Gothitelle. The more I see it, the more I feel Lucas's Gothitelle is full of charm."
Wallace said, "I imagine Gothitelle could really shine in a Pokémon Contest."
Even though everyone felt that Lucas's strength in battling was somewhat weak, they didn't think he lacked the strength of a Champion; after all, defeating a full-power Cynthia was there for all to see.
And since he rarely engaged in official battles, a lack of experience was understandable.
But even so, there was one aspect everyone unanimously agreed upon, and that was that Lucas was indeed a top-tier Breeder.
Being able to raise Gengar, Lilligant, and the others to this level, Lucas's breeding techniques could be said to be among the best in the entire world.
And their physiques were so large, lacking neither a sense of power nor beauty.
(Lucas's secret to breeding: Eat, eat, eat!)
On the other side, Twinleaf Town.
Mrs. Fujino got off the leader Gogoat, and then unloaded the desserts, snacks, and herbal medicine brought from the Breeding House from its back and the backs of other Gogoat. She handed them to Pinsir and Heracross, letting them move them into the Cottage to restock.
Incidentally, she grabbed the Rhyperior that was passing by, just finishing its delivery service and preparing to return to the Breeding House, and forcefully dragged it back to help unload the goods.
After unloading, Mrs. Fujino entered the Cottage to chat with Gothitelle for a while, drank a cup of water, and then got on the back of the leader Gogoat, followed by a few Gogoat, and headed toward the market.
She took a notebook out of her pocket and flipped to the middle, where the items she needed to purchase today were written.
The Breeding House's meat had been eaten up again, again, and again.
"Ma'am, you're here again?"
The owner of the butcher shop saw Mrs. Fujino from afar. He hurriedly handed the work in his hands to his employee and then came up to greet her.
Mrs. Fujino nodded and prepared to get off the Gogoat's back.
"No need, no need, you don't need to get down. It's fine to talk like this, so you don't have to go up and down, it's quite troublesome."
The butcher shop owner was beaming. "The usual today?"
He couldn't help but be beaming; this was already the third time she had come this month, and every time Mrs. Fujino would take a large amount of meat back to the Breeding House. She was the biggest client of his butcher shop.
Mrs. Fujino thought for a moment. "Add 30 percent more. I'll come back when it's finished."
"Okay, 30 percent more. On top of the original discount, I'll give you another 5% off."
The butcher shop owner took out a calculator, calculated skillfully, and finally handed the bill to Mrs. Fujino.
Mrs. Fujino took the bill, glanced at it, and then said with a smile, "Please trouble you to help me send this meat to the Breeding House this time."
"No problem, it's my duty. It will arrive this afternoon."
"Good, then I'll head back first."
"Have a safe trip."
After saying that, Mrs. Fujino rode the Gogoat, taking the Gogoat behind her, and swayed slowly toward the Breeding House.
"Boss, she hasn't paid the bill yet—"
The employee on the side reminded the butcher shop owner. The butcher shop owner glanced at the employee beside him and found that he had just come from another region a few days ago, so he explained, "Usually when she comes to buy meat, it's cash on delivery, and sometimes it's settled once a month, so don't worry."
"It can be like that? Buying some meat needs cash on delivery?"
The employee said quietly.
"Some?"
The boss looked at the new employee and smiled, shaking his head.
In less than a year, he had already built a new house, bought a new car, and even bought a house in another region.
This was definitely not "some."
After saying that, the boss put his hands behind his back and walked back into the butcher shop, starting to arrange the meat that needed to be delivered to the Breeding House this afternoon, picking only the freshest meat that had just been slaughtered.
Mrs. Fujino rode the Gogoat, walking leisurely on the Breeding Road, holding a foxtail grass she had picked from the side of the road. It was long, and she tapped it lightly on the Gogoat in her hand.
"The weather is quite nice today."
Mrs. Fujino looked at the sky in the distance. Starly and Staravia were flying continuously in the sky. A few Pachirisu and Bidoof would run out of the bushes on both sides of the road from time to time, and in the trees, a few Aipom would run past occasionally.
Noisy sounds entered her ears, and she enjoyed shaking her head.
At this moment, she noticed people gathered in the distance, and Officer Jenny was there too. She got off the Gogoat's back and walked over.
"Reese, what's wrong?"
Officer Jenny, who was thinking of a solution, saw that it was Mrs. Fujino and sighed. "A few Graveler, I don't know where they came from, are blocking the Breeding Road and refuse to leave, causing a traffic jam."
Mrs. Fujino looked behind Officer Jenny, where four Graveler were lying on the Breeding Road.
"I'm currently troubled about how to get them to leave on their own."
Officer Jenny said, "I was wondering if I should ask Lucas to come and handle it."
Mrs. Fujino thought for a moment and asked gently, "Would you like me to try?"
Officer Jenny nodded and then made way. Mrs. Fujino walked over and came to the side of a Graveler.
"What's wrong with you?"
The voice was very gentle.
The Graveler ignored her.
"Are you not feeling well?"
No response.
"Then could you please move out of the way? This is causing trouble for others, you know."
Still no response.
"Do you know, at the Breeding House, children who don't listen are in for a miserable time, you know."
Still no response.
Officer Jenny was just about to say to let Lucas come and handle it, but before the words could leave her mouth, she saw Mrs. Fujino with a gentle smile on her face, squatting down, and then grabbing a Graveler with both hands. With a slight exertion of force, the Graveler was lifted up just like that.
Graveler: ???
Officer Jenny: ???
Passerby: ???
"Disobedient child, off you go."
Mrs. Fujino threw it into the bushes nearby, and the Graveler was thrown out.
The other Graveler saw this, stood up, and surrounded Mrs. Fujino.
Officer Jenny was shocked.
But Mrs. Fujino still had a gentle smile on her face. "Oh, are you disobedient children too?"
Just as the Graveler were about to make a move, they saw a huge figure standing behind Mrs. Fujino.
Rhyperior stood behind Mrs. Fujino, looking at the few Graveler.
"Roar?"
Not leaving? Waiting for me to invite you to leave?
The Graveler curled into balls and rolled away into the distance.
The Graveler in the bushes: Wait for me! I haven't rejoined the team yet!
***************************
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