Main quest [The student surpasses the teacher]

The examination room.

The room was in complete chaos, forcing the assessment to pause temporarily.

The judges, including Nurse Joy, all came over from the room next door.

Li Wei had made several servings of Oran Berry Pokéblocks.

Electrike, Marill, Cherubi, Glameow, and Skorupi were eating the Pokéblocks with gusto.

These supposedly fussy Pokémon showed no sign of being picky now.

Nurse Joy's Blissey, Dayou's Incineroar, and Mizuki's Glameow had come out too.

Incineroar grabbed a handful in each hand and narrowed his eyes in delight.

"Hsss-roar!"

Notification chimes rang out one after another in Li Wei's mind.

[Ding! Gained 999 Pokéblock proficiency points.]

[Ding! Gained 999 Pokéblock proficiency points.]

Li Wei had now changed the proficiency notifications to announce the total all at once.

[Ding! Pokéblock Crafting has advanced to advanced level.]

Li Wei took a moment to check the skill on his personal panel.

Pokéblocks (advanced): You can create high-quality Pokéblocks that Pokémon will rave about, with a certain chance of producing perfect-quality ones.

(1,023/100,000)

The elderly man, who was the most excited of all, picked up a crystal-clear Pokéblock and ate it.

Sourness, sweetness, heat, bitterness, and astringency blossomed across his taste buds, bringing back memories of his youthful days...

"Roar!"

Don't fight me for them!

The elderly man, whose name was Yasong, gave Li Wei a thumbs-up. "My Pokéblocks aren't as good as yours."

Li Wei replied modestly, "I outdid myself this time. They aren't usually this good."

Yasong smiled warmly. "That still shows you're capable of it. Your potential is limitless. Perhaps you'll even surpass your grandfather."

The erratic system chimed again, adding another main quest.

[Main quest]:

The student surpasses the teacher (optional): Surpass your grandfather and become a League-recognized Grandmaster Breeder!

[As the host has passed the Intermediate Breeder assessment, the beginner and intermediate breeder rewards will now be issued: Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket ×3.]

[Stage three objective]: Become a League-recognized Senior Breeder.

[Stage three rewards]: Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket ×3, random skill upgrade.

The rewards were certainly generous, but the difficulty was real too.

There were still the senior, top, and master levels ahead.

Only then came the grandmaster level.

His grandfather was a League-recognized Top Breeder. Surpassing him would not be easy for Li Wei.

Li Wei chose to accept.

Li Wei turned to the elderly Yasong.

"You know my grandfather?"

Yasong nodded. "We're old friends. We were rivals back then, but I wasn't as good as your grandfather."

Li Wei did not pursue that remark and exchanged contact details with Yasong.

"I hope you'll give me plenty of guidance from now on, Grandpa Yasong."

Yasong stroked his beard with a smile. "I wouldn't call it guidance. You might surpass me very soon."

Nurse Joy smiled. "Mr. Li Wei, you've passed your Intermediate Breeder assessment, with full marks in the second round."

There was supposed to be a discussion first, but Li Wei's results left nothing to discuss.

After tasting the nearly perfect Pokéblocks Li Wei had made,

Marill and the others saw the Pokémon food made by the other four as little more than scraps, turning up their noses at it.

Only after much coaxing from Nurse Joy did Marill and Skorupi reluctantly give it a try.

Dayou muttered, "If I'd known, I would've had you make yours later."

Li Wei said awkwardly, "I really did outdo myself this time."

Dayou waved it off. "It's fine. We weren't as good as you. These things happen."

Before the results came out, Yasong looked around at the four of them and pointed at the empty bowl.

"What did you learn from these Pokéblocks? There are bonus points for a correct answer."

Yasong's words gave the remaining four a glimmer of hope.

But even with bonus points on offer, they could not come up with an answer out of nowhere.

Selene, who was relatively confident, ventured, "As long as it tastes good enough, flavor preferences aren't an issue?"

Yasong shook his head, then nodded. "Not entirely right, but partly. Are a Pokémon's flavor preferences important?"

Dayou nodded. "Of course they are. Otherwise, why make Pokémon food in so many different flavors?"

Yasong looked around at the Pokémon gazing eagerly at Li Wei, his eyes full of amusement.

"They matter, but they aren't everything."

"Apart from absolute dietary limits, such as genuinely being unable to eat spicy or bitter food, flavor preferences aren't really an issue."

"Not every Pokémon has Telepathy. Often, we can't fully understand a Pokémon's tastes.

"Sometimes even Pokémon don't understand their own tastes. You're the one making the Pokémon food, so the choice of flavor is yours."

"You need to consider a Pokémon's tastes, but you can't let that dictate everything. You still need to work from your own strengths."

"Li Wei did very well. He didn't dwell on the staff's reminders and simply made what he was good at. You, on the other hand, let yourselves get boxed in and became hesitant."

Selene, Dayou, and Yuko, who had been singled out, thought back over their work. They had indeed felt somewhat constrained.

Mizuki, who had been frantically taking notes nearby, put away her pen and bowed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Yasong. We've learned a great deal."

"Thank you, Mr. Yasong."

Yasong smiled warmly. "All right, I'll be going now. We need to discuss the assessment results."

Dayou asked Mizuki quietly, "Could you let me copy those?"

"Sure."

Yuko immediately raised her hand. "Me too!"

While they were copying, a sudden click sounded, and a camera flash lit up.

Li Wei held up his phone.

"There's actually this thing called a camera."

"..."

Yuko suddenly flushed, the redness spreading from her neck to her ears. "We know!"

Dayou grumbled, "You won't have any friends if you're that clever."

Selene secretly took a picture too.

The results came out soon afterward. Only two people had passed: Li Wei and Mizuki. Dayou had failed.

Eleven people had come to take the Intermediate Breeder assessment, so having two pass was already a very good result. Most of the time, even one person passing was rare.

Mizuki, who sported a neat, short haircut, held up her phone.

"Let's exchange contact details. Is your family's Pokémon Day Care still hiring?"

Li Wei exchanged contact details with her. "Yes. We start hiring tomorrow."

"Remember to send me the address."

After confirming that they had added each other, Mizuki hurried away.

Dayou nudged Li Wei with his elbow and asked quietly, "Can a beginner breeder come in for an interview?"

"Sure. Even someone without a certificate can apply. As long as they love Pokémon, they can learn as they go."

Dayou laughed heartily. "That's what I like to hear. I'm heading off. I need to go home and prepare for the next exam."

Incineroar waved to Li Wei too.

"Gaoo! (Gaoo!)"

Incineroar had already started plotting how to get Dayou to join the Pokémon Day Care.

Then he could eat the Pokéblocks Li Wei made!