Milk the perks early

After getting dressed, Gary fussed vainly with his hair. Today, he was attending a regional academic symposium.

Besides, the other delegation included a world-class powerhouse like Cynthia, so naturally, Gary had to mind his appearance.

He wore a light blue shirt with a dark blue suit jacket and casual trousers, a white tie, and brown leather shoes.

He casually worked some gel into his short brown hair, styling it so he looked neither too formal nor too casual.

Altogether, he carried an air of refined, effortless elegance.

Gary set off with Eevee and Charmeleon. His other Pokémon all had training sessions arranged.

To make sure he seized every opportunity to milk the university's resources, Gary had brought only his two all-rounders from home.

By the time he reached the faculty office building, Caitlin and Cynthia were already waiting for him.

"Sorry for the wait!" Gary walked up with a smile.

"Wow!" Caitlin craned her head around in an exaggerated circle like a little kid. "Young Master Mao, you look so handsome today!"

Gary playfully smoothed the hair over his forehead. "Please. When has Young Master Mao ever not looked handsome?"

"Pfft! Shameless!" Caitlin covered her mouth and giggled.

"Hello. I'm Cynthia, Caitlin's best friend." The blonde beauty, dressed in a black trench coat and matching wide-leg suit trousers, stepped forward and offered Gary her hand.

"Hello. Gary Oak." Gary politely reached out and gave her hand a light shake.

Come to think of it, although both were blonde beauties, Cynthia and Caitlin had completely different styles.

Caitlin's blonde hair had a warm, bright yellow tint, its fluffy texture making her look just like a Barbie doll. Normally, she gave off the air of a harmless princess.

Cynthia was entirely different. Her hair was a dark gold with a slightly aggressive edge, and her overall air was the exact opposite. She usually looked rather sweet and endearingly guileless, but the sharpness she occasionally revealed was enough to leave people secretly astonished.

"All right, everyone's here. Let's go, Young Master Mao! Time to milk the-mmph!" Before Caitlin could finish, Cynthia clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry. My best friend doesn't think before she speaks." Cynthia smiled awkwardly.

Gary spread his hands. "It's fine. That's exactly what we're going to do. Professor Monet actually teamed up with Professor Rowan to ply me with drinks yesterday. I have to collect a little interest."

"Haha! You really are amusing, Professor Oak." Cynthia chuckled too.

"If you're Caitlin's friend, then you're my friend too. If you don't mind, you can just call me Gary, or call me Young Master Mao like Caitlin does... yes... I can live up to that." After a moment's thought, Gary said this to Cynthia.

"Sure, Professor Gary." Cynthia nodded.

"Let's go, Young Master Mao! Today, we're going to fleece old Monet until he's bald!" Caitlin eagerly pulled Gary along.

"Ahem. Caitlin, next time, discuss this topic with me through Telepathy. Remember, if we run into any university staff, we're here to prepare for the symposium." Gary spoke with righteous solemnity.

"Yes, Young Master Mao!" Caitlin grinned like a little fox sneaking off to steal chickens. She secretly pointed at Gary, and her telepathic voice followed. You really are the devious one, Young Master Mao!

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Hehe, yes! But it's fun!" Caitlin floated cheerfully in the air, bobbing her head.

Cynthia followed behind them with a sweet, fond smile. She hadn't seen Caitlin this happy in ages. Did this boy from the Oak family really possess some kind of magic?

Chatting and laughing along the way, the three reached the entrance to Rainbow University's Pokémon Day Care.

Though called a day care, it was actually an enormous greenhouse covering more than ten soccer fields, with habitats suitable for almost every Pokémon type.

"Professor Oak, you're here." Director Robert had been waiting at the entrance for some time.

"Thank you for your trouble, Director Robert." With two blonde beauties in tow, Gary had turned heads at a rate of two hundred percent all along the way.

Apparently, the university's male students had declared themselves utterly awestruck by Professor Gary's ability to charm women. Their admiration flowed like a mighty river, endless and unbroken...

After greeting Caitlin and Cynthia, Director Robert led the three through the facility's doors.

"I'd heard Rainbow University's Pokémon Day Care was famous, but I never imagined it would cover this much ground." Entering the vast, temperature-controlled greenhouse, Cynthia couldn't help admiring it.

Robert proudly puffed out his chest. "Of course! This enormous greenhouse covers over a thousand mu of land. It's the breeding center Rainbow University takes such pride in.

"Every year, students in the breeding department do their internships here before graduating. Besides the Pokémon we breed, quite a few powerful Pokémon belonging to faculty members live here too.

"You see, Rainbow University's Pokémon Day Care uses thirty percent of the university's annual budget, but accounts for eighty percent of its output value."

Gary nodded inwardly. Raising Pokémon was a surefire way to burn through money. Even something as basic as Pokémon Food was an expense ordinary people couldn't afford without the Pokémon League's Trainer allowance.

Why had the Pokémon League officially instituted a full-party limit of six Pokémon?

In part, it was because having more than six Pokémon could put enormous pressure on a Trainer's finances.

A wealthy heir like Gary, however, could apply to have the limit on the number of Poké Balls he carried lifted, as long as he passed an asset review.

In fact, Gary had already applied to have the restriction lifted. It just hadn't been approved yet.

Generally speaking, penniless but ambitious young people like Ash would leave any Pokémon beyond their six-party limit with a professor they knew.

The Pokémon served as subjects for the professor's daily research in exchange for regular meals. That saved quite a bit of money.

"Young Master Mao, is Professor Oak's backyard this big too?" Caitlin asked curiously.

"If I remember correctly, my grandpa's backyard has an entire hill behind the house fenced in. It's probably four or five times bigger than this place." Gary propped up his chin and gave it serious thought.

Robert's mouth twitched. Damn rich kid! Don't just casually say things that make people this jealous!

The four chatted as they ventured deeper into the grounds. Robert also got down to business. "Professor Oak, what sort of Pokémon do you need?"

Gary took out a list and answered as he considered it. "Gligar and Sneasel-I want ones bred by Rainbow's Pokémon Day Care. As for Onix and Poliwhirl, see whether any teachers have left theirs here. I need ones showing signs that they're ready to evolve."

Robert nodded. "Gligar are in the cave zone, and Sneasel are in the glacier zone. I have both Poliwhirl and Onix that meet the requirements for evolution. You can just take mine."

Gary nodded. "That would be great. Don't worry. I'll return a powerful Steelix and a rare Politoed to you."

"Steelix and Politoed!" Robert's eyes lit up. "Then Steelix really is-"

"That's right." Gary nodded. Wild Steelix and Politoed had actually already been discovered in the Johto Region. There simply hadn't been any detailed academic reports proving the relationship between Onix and Steelix yet.

As for Politoed... a scholar had previously speculated that it was a powerful, standalone species of Pokémon that didn't evolve. It only appeared where Poliwhirl gathered because it happened to be a frog too...

Steelix was even more ridiculous. The prevailing view in academia was still that Steelix and Onix had nothing to do with each other. Apart from both being huge, the two Pokémon didn't even have the same face shape...

Yes, Onix had a tapered face, while Steelix had a broad, flat one...

Was that reasonable? Not remotely...

"It looks like Professor Oak is about to make another name for himself." Director Robert nodded admiringly.

Once the connection between them was proven, it would mean discovering not just two new evolution chains; Politoed's evolution could also be placed on equal footing with Slowking's.

The evolution chain of a royal Pokémon-that could make the headlines on the Kanto Science Network!

"Then let's go see the Sneasel and Gligar. I'd like to pick them myself," Gary said with a smile.

"Absolutely! I promise I'll point out all the best ones for you." Robert thumped his chest. It looked like it was time to bring out the offspring of those Champion-level Pokémon!

Gary shrugged and tapped his temple. "No worries. My eyes are my measuring stick. I've done quite a bit of research into Pokémon potential."

Please, did I get my Appraisal Eye just for show? If Gary made his living appraising Pokémon, he would certainly eat himself to death...

"Cynthia, do you think Rainbow University's Pokémon Day Care has any especially good Pokémon?" After staring at a Slowpoke for quite a while, Caitlin turned to Cynthia with a worried look.

"You don't need to worry about that." Cynthia smiled and nodded. "Rainbow University's Pokémon Day Care has a reputation almost on par with the Original Pokémon Day Care at the Pokémon League Headquarters on the Indigo Plateau.

"The Pokémon here supposedly all share one trait."

"What trait?" Gary looked at Cynthia curiously.

Cynthia smiled faintly and parted her lips. "Wild and untamable, with tempers like fire."

Unlike the traditional breeding methods used by the Original Pokémon Day Care, Rainbow University employed the latest breeding techniques and cutting-edge training concepts.

Almost every Pokémon raised here had a competitive streak.

Although that wasn't particularly beginner-friendly, Trainers like Gary loved precisely this sort of troublemaker.

"Interesting." Gary smiled in satisfaction. There was nothing wrong with a Pokémon being eager to fight. A lack of fighting spirit was the real problem. Pokémon that flopped down and lazed around were better off staying home as pets.

After all, official matches had a rule covering the loss of the will to battle.

Even if you were strong enough to trounce Arceus, the referee would still declare you the loser if you just lay there and did nothing.

Just look at how Ash had lost at the Indigo Plateau Conference... despite the enormous gap in strength, Charizard had taken a nap and handed victory straight to the opponent.

Had that happened to Gary, he probably would have died of anger on the spot...