Victor walked onto the stage and approached the young trainer.
"Congratulations on winning the championship."
The boy pursed his lips, scratched the back of his head, and gave an embarrassed laugh.
The audience below gave him their warmest round of applause.
"One moment, I will be awarding you a precious Pokémon Egg."
"Um, Owner?"
Victor turned to look at him, frowning slightly in confusion.
"Do you... do you have a Gligar egg? I really want a Gligar. Of course, if it's too valuable, I can pay for it. I just really, really want a Gligar."
Hearing the boy's bashful voice, Victor smiled.
"One moment."
He went back to the Breeding House's incubator room, selected a Gligar egg, checked its condition, and then carried it out.
Returning to the stage, Victor handed the Pokémon Egg to the boy.
"This is the champion's prize: one Gligar egg. I've checked it, and it's very healthy."
Looking at Victor's- gentle smile, and then at the Pokémon Egg in his arms, the boy's eyes couldn't help but turn red.
He kept repeating "thank you, thank you."
After the boy had calmed down, Victor looked at the other two finalists and asked them to come up.
"In addition, the top three finishers in this tournament will receive a one-time discount on services at our Breeding House. This includes purchasing items, buying Pokémon Eggs, boarding Pokémon, and having your Pokémon learn specific moves. The discounts are 50% off, 30% off, and 20% off, respectively."
"That goes for our stalls, too!"
"Same here!"
The stall owners in the crowd took the opportunity to shout out as well.
Hearing this, the three trainers on stage smiled happily.
Victor looked out at the crowd, and his voice came over the microphone once again.
"Everyone, the 'Gengar Cup' tournament has come to an end! But, the next event is about to begin! Our Breeding House, in partnership with Twinleaf Town and Sandgem Town, is proud to present 'Breeding House Day'! We hope you all have a wonderful time!"
"I've also received word that there will be an unprecedented, grand fireworks display tonight!"
The crowd instantly erupted in cheers.
Seeing the enthusiastic atmosphere, Victor knew nothing more needed to be said.
"Well then, everyone, the very first 'Breeding House Day' officially begins now!"
The crowd cheered again, then dispersed to wander around the festival.
Just then, another young man put the champion in a friendly headlock.
"Didn't you say you'd wait for me to get eliminated so we could look around together? Didn't you say you had a 'clear understanding' of your own skills? So, can you please tell me, did that 'understanding' mean you were going to win the whole thing?"
The champion just laughed shyly.
"I don't care! You get a discount today, so you have to treat me to some food."
"Okay."
...
Back in the Breeding House's lounge area, Gary was collapsed on a chair.
"Owner, I am never helping you with this again."
Looking at the completely exhausted Gary, Victor felt a pang of guilt for one second.
"I'll make you a delicious dinner tonight to make up for it."
"At least three."
"Deal."
"That's more like it."
Just then, Gengar also floated in.
"Gengar—" it wheezed, completely out of breath.
"Oh, has our great referee Gengar returned? Seriously, in this hot weather, you've worked hard," Victor said, hurrying over. He had Gengar sit down, personally handed it a cup of honey water, and then began to slowly massage its shoulders.
"Gengar~" Gengar closed its eyes in comfort.
"Gengar—" (A little to the left.)
"Gengar—" (To the right.)
"Gengar—" (More to the left.)
"Gengar—"
"Give you an inch and you take a mile?"
Gengar finished its honey water, then launched itself at Victor from behind, its long tongue extended.
"Gengar—"
Watching the scene shift to Gengar giving Victor a "massage," Gary smiled.
I've really grown to like this atmosphere without even realizing it.
He looked at his Umbreon, bent down, and began to groom its fur.
After a short rest, Victor stood up and went outside with Gengar. He wanted to look around the festival, too.
Gary and his Umbreon followed.
As he reached the door, Victor felt a tug on his pant leg.
He looked down and saw it was the Roselia.
"What's wrong, Roselia?"
Roselia gestured towards the backyard.
Victor went to the backyard and found many forest Pokémon gathered at the gate, curiously looking out through the fence.
But without Victor's permission, most of them didn't dare to go out.
Only a few were brave enough.
Victor thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Alright, you can all go out and have fun, too. Just remember to be home by curfew!"
The Pokémon let out a cheer.
"And you can't hurt anyone, understand?"
Victor had Gengar open the fence, and a huge crowd of Pokémon instantly ran out.
He followed behind them, took the megaphone from Gary, and made an announcement.
"A quick announcement: the Pokémon from the forest will also be joining our 'Breeding House Day'! They are all very cute and friendly Pokémon, so please do not do anything to harm them. They are good friends of our Breeding House. If you'd like, you can team up with them to play and walk around!"
Everyone heard the message and then looked at the new crowd of Pokémon.
A girl in an elegant long dress bent down and held out her hand.
A daring Pachirisu scampered up her arm and stood on her shoulder.
This immediately drew a laugh from the girl and envious looks from those around her.
Then, more and more people began to seek out their own temporary partners.
For many families without Pokémon of their own, this was a wonderful opportunity.
They could find a Pokémon to be their partner for the day, and if things went well, maybe even take one home.
But obviously, some Pokémon were still mischievous.
For example, Mayor Arthur's wig was suddenly snatched by an Aipom. As the shiny, bald head ran past him, Victor looked at the Mayor's retreating back with deep sympathy.
Victor looked back at the Pokémon still at the Breeding House gate—they were the ones who had been traumatized.
"If you want to go, you can go, too. Don't worry, they're all very nice people."
"If you're still not ready to take that step, that's okay too. Gengar and I will stay here with you."
Victor looked down and saw the Roselia staring intently at Shana's group in the distance.
He crouched down and patted its small head.
"It's okay. Go on. They're waiting for you, too."
"Roselia?"
It looked at Victor, then turned its head back towards Shana.
It saw that she had stopped with her Tinkerbell and the others, and they were all looking right at it.
Seeing the Roselia still hesitating, Victor gave it a gentle push with his finger.
It was as light as a breeze.
The Roselia ran forward, as if carried by that wind.
"Roselia~"
"Roselia, you came too!"
"Lili~"
"Ching~"
"Yip~"
"Mime~"
"Goth~"
Seeing this, some of the other hesitant Pokémon gritted their teeth.
They also charged out.
Including the Heracross.
Seeing them successfully take that first step...
"This is wonderful, isn't it, Owner?" Gary said.
"Yeah, it is," Victor replied, watching their backs with a gratified smile.
As long as you take the first step, the rest is easy.
Gary looked at the figures of Victor and Gengar, and the group of Pokémon.
He finally seemed to understand... how to raise Pokémon and build a deeper bond with them.
...
Get 10 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"