Night climbed into the sky, and then climbed back down.
Victor, finished with his morning routine, and Gengar, finished with its morning exercises, went downstairs, grabbing the still-snoozing Vulpix on the way.
The Vulpix shook its head.
"Yip?"
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino were sitting at the counter with Shana, enjoying breakfast with Gary.
They had stayed the night at the Breeding House with Shana.
"Owner," Mr. and Mrs. Fujino stood up and greeted Victor.
"Good morning, uncle." Shana, her glass of milk untouched, looked at Victor with sparkling eyes.
Victor greeted them all, and only after watching Shana reluctantly drink her milk did he nod in satisfaction.
"Lili~" Lilligant and Roselia emerged from the door behind the counter.
It seemed that ever since Petilil had evolved into Lilligant, Roselia had become even more attached to it.
Like a little sister who wants to follow her big sister everywhere.
Victor habitually reached out to fiddle with the leaves on Lilligant's head, but stopped halfway, remembering it had evolved. Lilligant, however, closed its eyes and leaned its head in, letting Victor touch the flower on its head.
"Lili~"
Victor smiled and gently patted its flower a few times, then looked at the Roselia beside it and patted its small head as well.
"Roselia~"
After breakfast, Victor tried to put Vulpix down, but found it was still sleeping comfortably in his arms.
He tapped its small head.
"Yip?" Vulpix opened its sleepy eyes and looked around.
"Yip?"
What's wrong?
"Still sleeping? Why do I feel like you're getting lazier and lazier?"
Hearing Victor's words, Vulpix just blinked its amber, pupil-less eyes.
"Yip~" it cried sweetly.
Victor ignored its attempt to be cute. After it finished its own breakfast, he put it down and made it walk around.
Standing on the floor, Vulpix pouted, shook its body, and then trotted after Shana into the backyard.
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino then began to talk to Victor.
They were planning to take Shana back to her grandfather's house to spend some time with him.
Victor had no objection, but he suggested they ask Shana's opinion first.
They said Shana had already agreed.
Victor nodded.
They would go home to pack and then come back in the afternoon to pick Shana up.
While Mr. and Mrs. Fujino went to the backyard to play with Shana, Victor opened the main doors of the Breeding House and hung the "Open for Business" sign.
Just then, Lilligant and Roselia came to the entrance, standing on either side of the door.
Victor was stunned. "What are you two...?"
"Lili~"
"Roselia~"
Victor understood. They wanted to help him attract customers.
He smiled, gratified, and then said to them, "You don't have to stand at the door. You can just sit on the counter. If a customer comes, you can greet them for me."
"The effect will be even better that way. After all, who could resist two such cute and beautiful Pokémon the moment they walk in?"
Lilligant thought for a moment, then led Roselia back to the counter and sat down.
Victor nodded. It seems my Breeding House now has its own reception desk.
Looking at the flowers still blooming outside, Victor recalled the events of the past few days.
He reached up and touched the wooden tag hanging around his neck.
"Thank you, Celebi."
The tag moved slightly, as if Celebi was responding to him.
Victor stood quietly at the entrance.
The trash from the festival had already been cleaned up by the janitors and trainers Mayor Arthur had hired, as well as by the festival-goers themselves.
Just then, Victor saw a figure approaching in the distance.
As the person drew closer, Victor's heart leaped with joy.
Well, well, isn't this a coincidence?
Paul was walking down the road, his mind replaying the morning's events.
He had woken up early in another forest and had seen a Staravia practicing Brave Bird. He was impressed by its strength and had decided to catch it.
After it stopped to rest, he had decisively thrown a Poké Ball.
The Staravia had simply slapped the ball away with its wing.
It had noticed Paul yesterday. Although his Pokémon weren't that strong, his understanding of battle was decent.
If he can earn my approval, I wouldn't mind going with him.
With that thought, the Staravia had dodged the Thunderbolt from his Elekid, flown into the air, and gestured towards the Breeding House before leaving.
Paul watched it go, thought for a moment, and had followed.
He saw the person standing at the entrance of the Breeding House.
A strange light flashed in Paul's "dead fish" eyes.
The Pokémon around this man... a few of them looked very powerful. Could that Staravia be his Pokémon, too?
Paul mulled this over as he arrived at the entrance.
"Hello, I'm the owner of this Breeding House. Can I help you with anything?" Victor asked, greeting him as he would any other customer.
"Hello. I'd like to ask, is that Staravia your Pokémon?"
Gary, who had been working on his tablet in the lounge area, looked up when he heard the voice.
He saw it was the trainer Victor had pointed out yesterday as having potential.
His curiosity piqued, he stood up and walked over to Victor's side with his Umbreon.
Paul looked at the boy next to Victor, sensing the restrained but unmistakable aura of strength around him. A spark lit in his eyes.
He looked at Gary. Gary looked back at him.
Here it comes, here it comes. Victor was blooming with joy on the inside. He had been waiting to see what would happen when a rival met a rival.
However, the Paul of this timeline, while not weak, certainly wasn't at his strongest. His team wasn't fully formed, and his battle experience was still lacking.
Gary, on the other hand, had a complete team. He had only just switched from being a trainer to a researcher, so his strength was still at its peak.
Thinking of this, Victor shook his head in regret and interrupted their staring contest.
"It? No, it's not one of our Breeding House's Pokémon. It's just staying here temporarily, waiting for a strong trainer to take it away and help it get stronger."
Hearing this, Paul looked back at the Staravia, which was perched in a tree, preening its feathers.
His older brother, Reggie, had a Staraptor, its evolved form, which was very strong.
His brother had also been a powerful trainer, but he had later switched to becoming a Pokémon Breeder.
Although Paul didn't understand it, he still respected his brother deeply.
So, upon learning that this Staravia was waiting for a trainer, he was interested.
Victor watched his expression.
If his guess was correct, the Paul of this time period only cared about a Pokémon's innate strength.
Meaning, he only caught strong Pokémon.
And clearly, this Staravia had become his target.
The Staravia's sharp eyes stared at Paul.
You want me to go with you? Then prove your strength to me.
Paul understood this from its gaze.
He then turned to Victor.
"Owner, battle me!"
Victor: ?
Victor's eyes widened.
You want to catch the Staravia, so you're challenging me?
What's the meaning of this?
Paul looked at the young man before him, and his image unconsciously merged with that of his older brother.
Victor suddenly understood what was happening.
"So, I'm being used as a substitute, huh?" Victor smiled.
Gary frowned and stepped in front of Victor, about to offer to battle in his place.
But Victor stopped him.
The Breeding House's Pokémon had already gathered around.
Gengar, with its new underling Misdreavus, floated over, its crimson eyes staring at Paul.
Dali and the others were cracking their knuckles.
Lilligant's eyes narrowed.
Gothita's eyes glowed with a strange light.
Mime Jr. and Vulpix just looked at Victor.
The Vespiquen, having gotten the news, flew over with Shana.
Seeing the army of Pokémon, Paul's face paled, but he didn't back down.
"Alright. I accept your challenge," Victor said, leading Paul to an open area.
"Go, uncle!" Shana cheered from the sidelines.
Gary took on the role of referee.
Having watched so many battles, Victor felt his own understanding of battling had risen to a new level.
The Staravia would not be participating in this match.
Victor stopped Gengar, who was about to enter the field. Forcing himself to ignore its wounded expression, he looked at his other Pokémon.
His gaze landed on the Vespiquen.
He saw that it had now learned Spite and Hex.
Victor facepalmed.
Gengar, Gengar, what have you been teaching it?
"Vespiquen, would you do me the honor?"
The Vespiquen's flapping wings paused for a moment, then resumed, even faster than before.
It turned its head away, as if embarrassed.
Fine, I'll help you, just this once.
"Ves!" it cried, flying to the center of the field and letting out a shout.
Its queenly aura exploded outward!
It then stared down Paul.
Paul, in turn, sent out his Elekid, which had a 4x type advantage.
Victor smiled.
Let me show you what "dirty" really means.
The moment Gary gave the signal, the battle began.
"Defend Order!"
"Thunderbolt!"
Thanks to Victor's constant feeding and having been polished by Gengar in battle, the Vespiquen took the full force of the Thunderbolt.
Its Special Defense is high. It can take it.
It then summoned a swarm of Combee, drastically raising its Defense and Special Defense.
Victor grinned.
"Spite."
The Elekid flinched, and the PP of its Thunderbolt was reduced.
Combined with Vespiquen's Pressure ability, after a few rounds, Elekid's Thunderbolt was completely sealed.
From then on, Victor just kept using Roost, Spite, Defend Order, Toxic, and Hex.
In the end, Vespiquen achieved a flawless victory over Paul.
Paul: "..."
He looked at the Vespiquen, which was still on the field looking almost full of health, with who-knows-how-many layers of Defend Order stacked, surrounded by a swarm of Combee.
Paul felt his heart ache.
Gary, at the side, looked at Paul with pity.
The owner's battle style... it's really...
Unique!
Victor nodded, completely satisfied.
"Thank you for your hard work, Vespiquen. I'll make you something delicious tonight."
"Ves!" The Vespiquen tossed its head and flew back to the forest area with its Combee.
"Wow, uncle, you're amazing!" Shana's words were the final blow.
Paul nearly collapsed.
Victor also felt a little embarrassed.
He coughed, then said, "You should understand, even if I hadn't used that strategy, I still would have swept you."
With the Breeding House team's current strength, sweeping the current Paul would not be a problem.
"So, do you think... that your strength is enough to satisfy that Staravia?"
...
Get 10 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"