"Hello, sir."
Kaixin greeted him naturally with a smile.
Her gaze fell on the Berry machine running on the kitchen counter, and her eyes lit up.
"Are you making Pokéblocks?"
"Uh... yeah. I just learned."
Yushu scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Can I take a look?"
"Of course."
Just then, the Berry machine stopped running. Yushu opened the compartment and took out several freshly made Pokéblocks.
Kaixin leaned closer for a look, then raised her head toward Yushu, her gaze complicated.
"This quality... doesn't look like a beginner's work."
As the saying went, amateurs watched the spectacle; experts saw the technique.
Kaixin could make Pokéblocks herself, and judging by appearance alone, Yushu's were clearly a good deal better than his.
Yushu was a little puzzled, too.
He had no idea what standard his Pokéblocks were at.
Kaixin took a small bite. After chewing a few times, she stopped moving.
Then she took another bite.
By the time she came to her senses, she had finished an entire Pokéblock.
Kaixin looked up at Yushu with a complicated gaze. "...Are you sure you made this?"
"Doesn't it look like it?"
Yushu had no idea what Kaixin meant.
"Kaixin, is what my son made good or bad?"
Qingmu came over as well.
He knew they tasted good, but he had no idea of their actual market value.
Kaixin was silent for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Sir, do you know how much the Pokéblocks Yushu made would sell for on the market?"
"I've bought Pokéblocks before. Ordinary ones are 100, and better ones are about 200."
Qingmu recalled his past purchases.
They certainly weren't cheap.
Kaixin nodded. "That's right, those are the normal ones. But Pokéblocks of the quality Yushu made should cost between 400 and 500."
"How much?!"
"Five hundred? That expensive?"
Qingmu and Yushu spoke almost simultaneously.
Qingmu felt they had struck it rich. The kid really was a god of uneven talents.
He couldn't beat Gyms, but he sure had a knack for making Pokéblocks.
What did they call this? When God closed a door, he opened a window.
No, he had opened a floor-to-ceiling window!
Yushu, meanwhile, was astonished.
Four hundred each, when the Berry ingredients just now had only cost around one or two hundred, and had yielded five or six.
That profit... damn, that was pretty huge. Calling it exorbitant wouldn't be an exaggeration!
Did breeders make this much money? Then why didn't Brock look well-off?
Brock smiled calmly.
A beauty-loving mom, a rebellious dad.
Plus ten little brothers and sisters with mouths to feed.
Try having that family background.
"Expensive? Do you realize the quality of your Pokéblocks is almost intermediate grade?"
"You just can't learn talent like that."
Kaixin's voice was full of envy.
She had been a breeder for several years and considered herself quite experienced at making Pokéblocks.
Yet this younger guy before her, who claimed he didn't know much, had made Pokéblocks even better than hers.
After eating one, she had felt as though energy had burst inside her.
She had only experienced that feeling of perfectly drawing out a Berry's energy with intermediate-grade Pokéblocks.
As for high-grade ones?
How many advanced breeders were there? Pokéblocks of that quality couldn't be bought even if you had the money.
"Maybe... the machine's better?"
Yushu still wanted to be modest.
Though the truth was that the credit belonged to the recipe.
Kaixin rolled her eyes at him.
"I have a Devon Corporation machine too. I can't make this quality."
Yushu didn't know what to say. Anything more would be showing off.
Qingmu, meanwhile, went into full bragging mode. He patted Yushu's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
"My son has the makings of a master breeder!"
Kaixin sighed, then turned serious.
"By the way, Yushu, I'd like to order a batch of Pokéblocks from you. Twenty a day, at market price."
"Let me think..."
Yushu quickly did the math in his head.
Twenty a day, at 400 each.
That was 240,000 a month.
Holy shit, did a Pokémon Day Care make that much money?
Of course, Kaixin wouldn't lose out.
Her Pokémon Day Care had VIP clients too. A daily supply of intermediate-grade Pokéblocks would attract even more VIP clients.
That was called money making money.
Trainers who weren't short of cash were willing to spend any amount to give their Pokémon the best nutrition.
Yushu held out his hand, his expression solemn. "Please, you absolutely have to give me this order."
Kaixin shook his hand.
"Here's to a great partnership."
Afterward, the two chatted a little longer about breeding.
Kaixin was, after all, a certified junior breeder with a very solid foundation in theory.
She told Yushu a great deal about Pokémon nutrition, and he benefited enormously.
Drawing on the unique perspective of the Eye of Detection, Yushu also offered some insights that Kaixin found refreshing.
She looked at Yushu with admiration. "You really are talented."
Yushu blushed at her praise.
Kaixin extended an invitation. "By the way, come visit my Pokémon Day Care when you have time."
"I have quite a few Pokémon there. You can check their condition in person, and maybe give me some advice."
"Sure. I'll definitely come when I have time."
Yushu readily agreed.
After Kaixin left, Qingmu drove back to Hearthome City as well.
His speed was seventy miles an hour, his spirits carefree.
Sitting in the driver's seat, Qingmu hummed a tune, the grin on his face harder to suppress than an AK's recoil.
Suddenly, he felt that he might even be able to land a regional manager position in his lifetime.
That evening, after finishing a busy day, Yushu went for a walk beside Lake Acuity.
The Pokémon Qingmu had brought were settled in, the Pokéblocks were made, and the Berries were planted.
Everything was proceeding step by step.
He walked slowly along the lakeside path. The setting sun dyed the lake golden, and a breeze brushed the water, stirring shimmering ripples.
Yushu stood by the lake, looking at the scene, and felt a rare sense of calm settle over him.
Just then, he caught something unusual out of the corner of his eye.
A streak of silvery-blue light flashed across the lake.
It was so faint that he would never have noticed it if he hadn't happened to be looking in that direction.
Yushu froze for a moment and instinctively activated the Eye of Detection.
[Pokémon: Uxie (Lake Guardians)] [Type: Psychic] [Ability: Levitate] [Level: Champion Level] [Moves: Psychic, Teleport, Extrasensory, Mystical Power, Future Sight, Confuse Ray...] [Status: Mildly peckish.]
"???"
Yushu's pupils abruptly constricted.
What had he just seen?
An unlucky player had pulled gold! A wild Uxie!
One of Sinnoh's Lake Guardians! The Pokémon that governed knowledge! It had just appeared before him, just like that?
And what kind of status was peckish?
Did that make sense?
It made perfect sense!
Just then, the blue light flashed and vanished, and the interface suddenly disappeared.
"Am I too tired? Seeing things?"
Yushu rubbed his eyes. The Eye of Detection couldn't see it either. He watched a while longer himself, but the lake remained calm, with nothing unusual about it.
As though it had never appeared.
Still, even if Uxie really was in the lake, what could a former trainer who couldn't even beat a Gym use to fight a Legendary Pokémon?
His head?
Just pretend I didn't see anything.