The S.S. Tidal Sets Sail

Terrance left in a hurry. He had been meddling, mainly because most of the medicines the girl had prepared used knowledge at the level of a junior breeder, which had caught his attention.

If he had guessed correctly, she had probably prepared all those medicines herself. She was young, yet she had reached the level of a junior breeder. Terrance was taken aback, and much of his sense of superiority vanished.

A girl at a stall he had happened upon possessed skills no worse than his. Hoenn was so vast that there were bound to be many exceptionally talented people. The little he knew might really amount to nothing.

There were even a few medicines at the girl's stall whose principles he couldn't figure out.

Terrance had spotted the flaw in that bottle of powder by chance. The mistake was a classic example, and he happened to know the difference between the correct and incorrect combinations. It wasn't that the girl was less capable than him; people had different areas of expertise, and Terrance had merely happened to learn about that particular subject. Even a top breeder wouldn't dare claim to be omniscient.

"I'd better just wait."

Watching the sky grow darker, Terrance prepared to wait quietly for tomorrow. He needed to pass the junior breeder examination to prove that his four years of effort had paid off.

Only after becoming a junior breeder would he have the confidence to be out on his own.

Terrance found a relatively open spot, pitched his tent, and let Beautifly out. Pokémon were more alert than people, and with the two of them outside together, they could look after each other and guard against accidents.

It was another peaceful, tranquil night.

Terrance's last night in Slateport City passed quietly, without incident.

The next day.

At the first light of dawn, Wingull crossed the sea, gliding through the air on the ocean breeze.

Beautifly woke early and flapped its wings to wake Terrance.

Terrance checked the time. It was six o'clock, and the S.S. Tidal wouldn't set sail for another hour. There was no rush.

Beautifly kept a very regular schedule, so with it waking him up, Terrance didn't have to worry about being late.

Terrance gathered his belongings, packed up his tent, found a water source to wash his face, and headed for the harbor.

Although it was still early, plenty of people were taking the ship. By the time Terrance arrived, a good number were already outside the harbor.

"There are so many people."

Terrance grumbled.

People streamed through the noisy harbor. Even though the staff kept trying to maintain order, things were hardly improving.

Terrance had no idea how much time he had wasted before he finally boarded the S.S. Tidal.

"That wasn't easy. There were too many people," the other passengers who had squeezed aboard with him also remarked.

Next, he had to find his room. The room wasn't all that useful, really. The S.S. Tidal took less than a day to travel from Slateport City to Qishui City, and the so-called rooms were basic, just places to rest.

After all, the S.S. Tidal wasn't meant to be a luxury passenger ship.

Terrance was alone, so he stayed quietly in his room.

After a while, however, someone knocked on his door.

"Hello-it's lunchtime. Would you like to go to the dining room?!"

It was a member of the S.S. Tidal's staff, responsible for reminding passengers about meals. But would Terrance go eat?

Terrance felt his empty pockets and gave a wry smile. He'd better stick to munching on snacks. He couldn't afford the food on the S.S. Tidal.

It was noon by then, and since he had just finished eating and had nothing else to do, Terrance lay down on the little bed for a nap. After sleeping for about an hour, he felt a little dizzy and somewhat regretted sleeping on the ship.

To clear his head, Terrance left his room and went to the ship's railing to get some sea air. Sure enough, after a few minutes there, he felt much better.

"Beautifly, come experience it too."

Like Terrance, Beautifly was on a ship for the first time. It seemed intrigued and flew around.

"Don't get lost," Terrance reminded it.

Then Terrance leaned alone over the deck railing, facing the sea breeze and gazing out at the blue ocean ahead. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Is this your Pokémon?" An old but strong voice sounded beside him. His thoughts interrupted, Terrance turned his head.

He saw an old man with gray hair, probably as old as Grandma Oran. The man was studying Beautifly as it flew above Terrance's head, looking quite interested.

"That it is. Can I help you?" Terrance replied.

Seeing Terrance's lukewarm attitude, the old man smiled and said, seemingly unconcerned, "It's been raised very well. Are you a trainer?"

Terrance looked to be only a little over ten years old.

"No." Terrance shook his head and called Beautifly back. It spun around and landed gracefully on his shoulder.

"Oh, then are you a coordinator?" Watching Beautifly land so gracefully, the old man grew even more curious.

"No, I'm not." Having answered the old man's question again, Terrance continued, hoping to stop him from asking questions endlessly. "I'm on my way to Qishui City to take the breeder examination."

"You're a breeder?!" The old man laughed heartily, finding Terrance's answer amusing and unexpected.

"Not yet."

With that, Terrance turned to leave. He had instinctively taken the old man's laughter as mockery.

A ten-year-old breeder did indeed sound like a joke to many people.

Breeders were different from trainers and coordinators. The latter two had no entry requirements, but because breeding was a rigorous profession, one had to be certified by Breeder Headquarters before calling oneself a breeder.

Breeding involved a great deal of complex knowledge, and reaching the required level took a long period of study.

To most people, it was indeed somewhat unbelievable that Terrance, at the age of ten, was going to Breeder Headquarters to take the examination.

After all, children that age had only just become eligible to be trainers and were still very inexperienced.

Most of them couldn't even keep Pokémon names and types straight, though that was also because of children's nature.

Never mind complex pharmacology or a deeper understanding of Pokémon habits and traits.

So although Terrance found the old man's laughter very rude, he could understand it. After all, he knew how hard it was to become a breeder. After four years of study, he was no longer a newcomer who knew nothing.

"You've misunderstood. My name is Katsumune, and I didn't mean to laugh at you." Seeing Terrance walk away, the old man hurriedly called him back.

Terrance stopped, not displeased, and asked, "I see. Was there anything else, sir?"