Elder Uncle Li Wen soon left. He had squeezed time out of his busy schedule to pick up Li Wei and his family.
Elder Uncle's shop was not too far away, only thirty minutes on the nearest train.
Buying such a huge breeding facility had drained all their family's earnings over the years, and they still owed Elder Uncle thirty million.
But Li Wei remained optimistic.
Now that they owned the place, there was no pressure to pay rent. His parents could save a huge sum that way. At worst, they could earn the money back.
Especially with equipment this good, losing money would be impossible once they made a name for themselves.
"If all else fails, I can compete in the Little Cup and the League."
Winning a League Conference championship would earn him a sizable cash prize, too.
"Hmm... once I'm famous, I can take endorsement deals, too."
In no time, Li Wei had his future all mapped out.
Then he suddenly realized something and froze.
"Oh, crap. Why am I being blindly optimistic like Dad?"
"Son, what's that you're saying about me?"
His dad popped up out of nowhere, nearly giving Li Wei a fright.
"Nothing. I was thinking about how to make videos."
Leon failed to notice his son lying with a perfectly straight face and cheerfully patted his shoulder.
"You've got this, son! Work hard! Dad believes in you!"
Li Wei did not respond.
Because "you've got this," "work hard," and "Dad believes in you" were his father's stock three-part combo.
Noticing that both his parents were fully geared up, he asked, puzzled, "Are you going out?"
Compared with his dad, who came from a family of optimists, his mom seemed much more normal.
"We're going into downtown Jubilife City to order some supplies. Want to come?"
Li Wei shook his head. "No, you go ahead. I'll work out how to make videos. I also need to prepare for the Pokémon Breeder Exam."
Before Li Wei even finished speaking, Leon climbed into a black pickup, ready to start the engine.
"We're off, then! You've got this, son!"
His mom quickly got into the truck, too, leaving with Machamp and Gardevoir.
Machamp even waved to him-with all four hands!
Left with a faceful of exhaust, Li Wei sneered. "You never intended to take me along, did you?!"
Li Wei was already used to his parents leaving him to his own devices.
The breeder exam was in two days, and Li Wei was brimming with confidence. For a moment, he actually had no idea what to do.
"I wonder where Lucario and the others went."
Lucario and the others had said they wanted to look around earlier. Now they were nowhere in sight.
"Whatever. With their strength, they should be fine."
Li Wei took stock of his quests.
[Day Care on the Attack] and [I Really Never Meant to Become a Content Creator] were the ones he currently had the best chance of completing.
One required a hundred satisfied customers and Pokémon at the Pokémon Day Care.
The other required his account to reach a thousand followers.
The Pokémon Day Care was technically open now. It simply had no customers. After all, they had not even put up the sign.
Besides putting up a sign, they also needed to hire some staff. Humans or Pokémon would both work.
Li Wei planned to discuss those things with his parents when they returned.
He went back to his room and turned on the computer. He had created an account on the Eevee Bullet Screen Video Network ages ago, but had never uploaded anything.
Li Wei sat at the computer, deep in thought.
"How do I grow a new account fast? Stage something? 'I Found a Shinx'?"
He certainly was not going to admit that, looking out through his room's floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see several Shinx on a nearby hill.
They belonged to a wild Luxray group. A rough count put their numbers at over a dozen.
Luxray had blue skin, with most of their bodies covered in fluffy blue-black fur and a yellow four-pointed star at the end of their slender tails.
Luxray were a couple of sizes smaller than Arcanine in both height and length, and they were skilled at Intimidate, too.
Li Wei could not go around forcing a deal on them. The Luxray might well give him a round of Thunderbolt electrotherapy.
Even with his superhuman Pallet Town physique, getting shocked numb would not feel good.
Li Wei browsed the homepage. Dance, music, animation, sports, food, battles, games...
The battle section featured lightly edited footage of real battles.
Videos with high view counts included Lance vs. Lorelei, Leon vs. Raihan, and Cynthia vs. Lucian.
He could not find Red vs. Blue.
Li Wei found that deeply unsatisfying.
There were plenty of Blue's Viridian Gym matches, though, complete with dedicated compilations.
[H-Haunter Knows How Many Times I've Watched This?]
[Popular Supermodel Elesa!]
[The Black Pearl, Nessa!]
[Charmander Evolves!]
The Eevee Video Network had very detailed categories. After losing himself for a while in the dance section's offerings for every taste, he quickly came to his senses.
He tugged his pants up. Nothing special.
Almost every video on the homepage had something to do with Pokémon. Elesa might have been a supermodel, but she was also a Gym Leader.
In other words, Pokémon equaled views.
Li Wei realized that staging videos was beyond him.
If someone exposed his scripts one day, he could end up blacklisted across the internet. Then even crying would do him no good.
After much deliberation, it seemed his only option was to muddle along in the food or lifestyle sections.
The Pokémon Day Care fit both of those.
The top-ranked channel in the lifestyle section was [Professor Oak's Backyard].
"Maybe one day the Pokémon Day Care can become something like Professor Oak's backyard, too."
Li Wei had started dreaming as well.
He glanced at his cooking skill and thought of all the dishes his grandfather had taught him...
His grandfather had said that he had learned his cooking from his own grandfather-Li Wei's great-great-grandfather.
They knew nothing about the generations before that, because his great-great-grandfather had come to the Sinnoh Region alone and never spoken of his past.
His grandfather had said his own cooking fell far short of his great-great-grandfather's. Even now, thinking of his grandfather, then his great-great-grandfather...
Li Wei felt terrifyingly powerful.
Until Li Wei saw the completely empty fridge...
Only then did he remember.
They had just moved in. There was nothing here.
Even the Pokémon food...
Li Wei was running short of that, too.
The weather was cold now, unsuitable for making smoked Apricorn juice, and he had already squandered all the Apricorns he had dried before.
Li Wei's previous attempts at smoked Apricorn juice had been a string of disasters. He had only succeeded with his grandfather's guidance.
Facing the completely empty fridge,
Li Wei took out his phone.
[Li Wei: Dad, buy some extra ingredients. I'm going to make cooking videos.]
[Dad: Sure thing, son. Leave it to me.]
[Dad: Image]
With nothing else to do, Li Wei looked at Scizor guarding the house and Ninetales lying beneath a tree, then chose to keep studying.
Meanwhile, over with Lucario and the others.
The Pokémon Day Care was on the outskirts of Jubilife City, but the area was not deserted.
There were homes nearby, mostly detached houses with large yards and villas.
A neatly dressed man rode a Rapidash along the level road.
An elegantly dressed woman walked along the road, leading an orange-furred Growlithe with black stripes.
There was also a young man riding a bicycle, with a Wingull circling around him.
These people were Lucario and the others' targets...
"Luca!" (Begin the operation!)
"Awooo~" ┗|｀O′|┛ Awoo~~
"Pika!"
Before you continue