The next day, early morning.
(Time to get up and train,) Lucario communicated through Aura.
Wayne's personal alarm clock—Lucario—woke him up promptly at seven o'clock as always.
Wayne stretched lazily, then gently rubbed Arcanine's head to wake the Fire-type up.
"Woof woof woof!" Arcanine grumbled. (Remember this! You'll get yours tonight!)
Metagross had already risen early and was positioned by the bay window, diligently reading the comprehensive "Metagross Breeding Manual" that Champion Steven Stone had personally given to Wayne.
Metagross had read this valuable booklet countless times already. This was actually a reprinted version Wayne had specially made for easier daily reference.
Drakloak, lying comfortably in his soft cotton nest, slowly opened his sleepy eyes. "Duru..."
This was Drakloak's first night spent in his new home.
With a warm cotton nest and proper heating, it was vastly better than the cold, drafty wooden house on the mountaintop.
It wasn't that the old mountain house was inherently bad—it was just far too cold during harsh winter months.
Fortunately, Drakloak had been born in spring season, which had allowed the young Dragon-type to withstand the following cold winter and successfully grow and evolve from Dreepy into Drakloak.
Dragapult did not sleep in Wayne's bedroom. Wayne had specially arranged a private room for the elderly Dragon-type to store and read Meria's precious letters.
After successfully catching Drakloak, Wayne now had a total of four Pokémon partners.
Lucario, who was Gym Leader Advanced rank,
Arcanine, who was Gym Leader Intermediate rank,
Metagross, who was Professional Intermediate rank,
Drakloak, who was Veteran Intermediate rank.
If Dragapult—who was also Gym Leader Advanced rank—was counted as well, Wayne could theoretically even challenge the Pokémon League right now.
Even with only five Pokémon total, each individual's strength level was impressively high.
But that was merely a passing thought. Wayne hadn't won a single Gym Badge yet, so League participation was premature.
Just like when he had first caught Metang, Wayne also needed to formulate a comprehensive training plan for Drakloak.
Wayne's Appraisal Eye ability provided Drakloak's detailed information.
Name: Drakloak
Type: Dragon/Ghost
Gender: Male
Ability: Infiltrator (Can attack through protective barriers or Substitute.)
Known Moves: Infestation, Pursuit, Hex, Agility, U-turn, Double Hit, Dragon Dance, Phantom Force...
Strength Rating: Veteran (Intermediate)
Drakloak's current strength was indeed noticeably higher than Metang's had been at the start of training.
Drakloak already possessed solid combat capability, making him considerably simpler to train compared to starting completely from scratch with a baby Dreepy.
Drakloak seemed to genuinely enjoy perching on the top of Wayne's head, resting his distinctive triangular head there comfortably.
"You can absorb this Dragon Scale to increase your power," Wayne offered, holding out the black scale.
"Duru!" Drakloak responded with excitement.
Seeing the jet-black Dragon Scale, Drakloak's eyes lit up brilliantly, and he quickly took it eagerly.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Drakloak swallowed the Dragon Scale—which had belonged to a Shiny Rayquaza—at a visibly rapid speed.
The concentrated Dragon-type power contained within the legendary scale would help Drakloak slowly but steadily grow stronger over time.
As for exactly how much stronger Drakloak would become from this? Wayne honestly didn't know for certain.
This was his first time seriously raising a Dragon-type Pokémon from this stage.
Especially since this particular Dragon Scale belonged to a Shiny Rayquaza, Wayne was even less sure what effects it might have.
On the other side of the house, inside Dragapult's private room.
Dragapult was deep in peaceful slumber.
In his dream, Meria opened her arms wide and embraced him warmly, her slender fingers gently stroking his scales affectionately, feeling his body temperature.
"Dragapult, are you alright?" Meria asked with concern.
"Gulu!" (I'm fine!)
"Do you miss me very much? Because I miss you too!" Meria said softly.
Meria held Dragapult tightly against her, and both could feel each other's heartbeats synchronizing.
The moment felt eternal...
"Time's up now. I have to go," Meria said with sad finality.
Meria gently kissed the top of Dragapult's head one last time.
"Gulu!" (Don't go! Please stay!)
Dragapult suddenly jolted awake from the dream.
He realized he must have had a dream about Meria.
For a brief moment, Dragapult couldn't clearly distinguish between reality and the dream world.
Although the ending wasn't happy, it had been a beautiful dream for him to experience.
"Drakloak, use Phantom Force!" Wayne's voice called from outside.
The sound from outside the window caught Dragapult's attention immediately.
Through the window screen, Dragapult could see Drakloak actively training in the yard.
Phantom Force collided dramatically with Arcanine's powerful Flare Blitz attack.
"Meta!" Metagross called out encouragingly.
"Lucario!" Lucario cheered supportively.
Lucario and Metagross, acting as senior teammates, mostly offered praise and encouragement to Drakloak.
"You did very well. That was excellent form," Wayne said warmly.
Wayne gently stroked Drakloak's head and handed him several high-quality Energy Cubes as a reward.
"Duru!" Drakloak responded happily.
Drakloak narrowed his eyes contentedly and nudged Wayne affectionately with his large triangular head.
Watching this scene, Dragapult came to an important realization.
Dragapult understood deeply that Meria had already permanently left him, and he had to continue living while carrying Meria's memory and love with him.
Leaving the private room, Dragapult was suddenly called out to.
"Dragapult, would you like to join me?" a kind voice asked.
Dragapult recognized the woman standing before him—Wayne's mother, Fumie.
"Gulu?" Dragapult vocalized with curiosity.
Fumie smiled warmly. "To drink tea together."
Fumie always brewed herself a fresh pot of tea before the Breeding Center officially opened each morning.
Meria had also deeply loved drinking tea.
"Gulu!" Dragapult accepted with surprising enthusiasm.
Somehow, Dragapult instinctively chose to accept the invitation.
"Please, make yourself comfortable," Fumie said graciously.
The amber-colored tea reflected Dragapult's characteristically squinted eyes. The rich, fragrant tea aroma filled the entire living room.
Dragapult carefully sniffed the tea's complex scent, then lowered his head and began to sip the fragrant tea slowly, savoring it carefully, as if recalling cherished memories from the tea's familiar taste.
Fumie did not attempt to converse with Dragapult. She merely sat silently brewing tea, peacefully drinking six small cups by herself.
She understood intuitively that Dragapult wasn't simply drinking tea—he was reminiscing about the precious person he used to drink tea with.
Wayne had already thoroughly explained Dragapult's entire story to his parents the previous night.
Hearing that Dragapult had faithfully waited for Meria for twenty long years gave them a profoundly deeper understanding of the emotional capacity of Pokémon.
Fumie's age was actually quite similar to Dragapult's own.
"Gulu," Dragapult vocalized with gratitude.
Fumie smiled gently. "You're very welcome. All right, I should go start work now."
The second phase of Wayne's main quest required having 1,000 customers (including Pokémon) genuinely believe that his family's Breeding Center was the absolute best Breeding Center in Jubilife City.
Current Quest Progress: (58 / 1,000)
Wayne's family's Breeding Center was gradually and steadily gaining a solid foothold in Jubilife City, with quite a few loyal repeat customers already.
However, something felt strange today—the customer traffic was noticeably much lower than usual.
Most people who came to the center were only requesting basic Pokémon bathing or fur care services. There were absolutely no substantial orders like move tutoring or breeding for evolution at all.
Leon was so idle that he started yawning repeatedly out of boredom.
"That's really strange. How can there be almost no customers today?" Leon wondered aloud.
With no Pokémon to train moves for, Leon had nowhere to properly display his martial arts expertise.
As for general Pokémon care services, Leon had fallen far behind Wayne's skill level by now.
Fumie, who was calculating accounts nearby, rhythmically clicked her calculator.
"It's alright. We've been extremely busy lately, so consider this a day or two of rest. We can also use the time to plan for implementing Pokémon breeding services," Fumie reasoned optimistically.
This Breeding Center's business strategy from the very beginning had been "small but excellent"—providing exceptional high-quality service rather than volume.
The advantage of this approach was that it wouldn't completely squeeze out the survival space of other Breeding Houses in the city, allowing them to continue making a reasonable living.
The significant long-term benefit was that it could steadily build the Breeding Center's sterling reputation and establish it as the gold standard benchmark for Breeding Houses in Jubilife City.
These business principles were actually the Jubilife City Mayor's original words of advice.
Pokémon Trainers in Jubilife City have suffered for far too long from a lack of quality Breeding Houses!
Just then, the situation suddenly changed...
"B-b-bad news! Emergency!" someone shouted urgently.