Chapter Forty-One: Building the Breeding House

The battle continued.

"Altaria, use Tackle."

"Gardevoir, Double Team."

Once again, Gardevoir surrounded Altaria.

"Gardevoir, Shadow Ball."

Shadow Balls struck from all directions; Altaria couldn't dodge.

"Cotton Defense!"

This time, Altaria was slower, and took damage.

"Gardevoir, Hypnosis."

"Altaria, Sing!"

Altaria's song disrupted the use of Hypnosis.

"Altaria, Scare."

"Charge and attack relentlessly!"

Gardevoir was hit by the barrage and could no longer fight.

"Gardevoir has lost the ability to battle. The winner is Muzi Qitong!"

"Come back, Gardevoir."

After retrieving Gardevoir, Cheng Cheng walked over to Muzi.

"Muzi, congratulations."

Muzi stared at Cheng Cheng, making him feel awkward.

"Did you go easy on me? Gardevoir could have dodged that last attack."

"No, really, I didn't."

"Liar. Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Muzi—"

Cheng Cheng grabbed Muzi.

"I'm sorry, but now we both get high scores, right? I had Gardevoir learn Shadow Ball, which should earn points, and your win will give you a high score too. It's good for both of us."

"Idiot, I didn't need you to let me win. I can win on my own."

With that, Muzi ran off, leaving Cheng Cheng confused about why she was angry and unsure whether he should go after her.

Thus, the Pokémon Breeder exam officially ended for Cheng Cheng and Muzi. All they had to do now was wait for the notification. Afterwards, it was the holiday for everyone. To receive the notification, at least a month would pass, so Cheng Cheng decided to return to Yinhu City first. When he went to find Muzi, he discovered she had already returned to Dragon Village.

Originally, Cheng Cheng wanted to apologize to Muzi, but now he had no chance—he would have to wait until he met her again.

Afterwards, Cheng Cheng boarded a flight to Yinhu City.

Back in Yinhu City, Cheng Cheng felt as if he was missing something. He pondered for a while, but couldn't figure it out and set the feeling aside, returning to the breeding house.

After two months away, the breeding house hadn't changed much, except the spot where eggs used to be was now filled with Pokémon food and energy blocks. Apparently, Lili and Ali hadn't managed to purchase any eggs.

Cheng Cheng felt a pang at this—the breeding house was in its current state largely because of him, and in part because of the system. If the system hadn't required him to sell only Psychic-type Pokémon, he wouldn't have ended up like this. It seemed he'd have to take proper care of his breeding house for a while.

He released his Pokémon into the backyard to roam freely, then headed upstairs.

"Ping."

A sound echoed in his mind, reminding Cheng Cheng of the system. Since entering the breeder school, the system hadn't issued any tasks, and he'd forgotten it existed. But if he thought carefully, he'd used the system to check Pokémon data, so he was already partially integrated with it.

"Ping. Tasks will now be released:

If you wish to become a Pokémon Master Breeder, how can you lack Pokémon? Build a Pokémon Ecological Park, and be self-sufficient.

Sub-task One: Determine location and design blueprint for the ecological park. Time limit: three days. Reward: one system renovation.

Sub-task Two: Acquire a legitimate Pokémon acquisition channel. Time limit: five days. Reward: one Psychic-type Pokémon habitat access.

Sub-task Three: Reach one hundred Pokémon in the ecological park. Time limit: one month. Reward: 1,000 achievement points.

Sub-task Four: Sell 100 Pokémon or eggs. Time limit: two months. Reward: 1,000 achievement points.

Sub-task Five: Increase breeding house reputation. Settled monthly. Reward: achievement points equal to reputation points. Each 1,000 reputation points earn three hours of habitat access.

Sub-task Six: Not available yet."

"Hiss—"

Cheng Cheng drew a sharp breath—this was the first time the system had released so many tasks at once. They were all interconnected; as long as he completed them one by one, he wouldn't have to worry about lacking Pokémon.

He was especially interested in the reward granting access to Psychic-type Pokémon habitats—he wondered where it would take him. But that wasn't a concern for now. The focus was on tasks one and two.

Cheng Cheng checked his status panel:

Name: Cheng Cheng

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Achievement Points: 430

Psychic Ability Level: Sprouting Leaf

Items: Four early-month lottery tickets, 20 Pokémon fragments

Bound Pokémon: Chimecho, Ralts, Abra, Gothita, Natu, Spoink, Slowpoke, Mr. Mime, Lunatone, Sigilyph.

He noticed some new items—early-month lottery tickets! He realized he'd neglected to use them for months, but now he could finally try.

"System, I want to draw the lottery."

"Ping. Drawing early-month lottery."

"Ping. Congratulations, host, you have received one hundred berry seeds."

Cheng Cheng was delighted—with the seeds, and some quick-growth potions from the system, he could alleviate some of the Pokémon food issues.

"Draw again."

"Ping. Congratulations, host, you have received two green-grade reagents."

As expected, the lottery yielded green-grade reagents, which could enhance his Pokémon’s rank.

"Draw once more."

"Ping. Congratulations, host, you have received an Intermediate Breeder Handbook."

Not bad—this should help him grow even faster.

"Last one, draw."

"Ping. Congratulations, host, you have drawn a Treecko. Converted into ten Pokémon fragments."

"Too bad, not a Psychic-type. With thirty fragments, let's exchange them."

"Ping. Exchanging fragments."

"Congratulations, host, you have obtained a Ralts."

Cheng Cheng examined the Ralts—green-grade, quite good, but since he already had one, there was no need to raise another. He decided to sell it.

After finishing this, it was time to tackle the tasks. Since the system tasks were linked, he’d start from the first.

But it was late, so everything would begin tomorrow. Cheng Cheng started his meditation as usual. According to the system, his psychic ability seed had sprouted one leaf, and he was working hard to grow a second.

The next morning, Cheng Cheng went to the backyard. He chose his own backyard as the site for the ecological park. The backyard connected to the mountains behind, and all of it belonged to him. He suddenly realized he was quite wealthy—a large landowner.

He walked the entire backyard, roughly fifty to sixty thousand square meters. He carefully mapped the area and terrain, creating different plans for different regions.

Although he only had Psychic-type Pokémon, each could have other attributes, so their preferred environments varied. Cheng Cheng divided them accordingly.

He sketched each section and outlined the necessary structures: a feeding area, a large shelter for rain, a cleaning station. Looking at it, even fifty to sixty thousand square meters seemed insufficient.

After finishing the layout, he submitted the first task to the system.

"Ping. Congratulations, host, you have completed Sub-task One. You have earned one full-system renovation service."

"Ping. Scanning site and design diagrams, building model."

"Ping. Model established successfully. Please select a renovation plan."

The system provided four options, all similar but with subtle differences. Cheng Cheng chose the one he preferred most.

"Ping. Plan selected. Please remove all Pokémon from the site. System will begin renovation, duration: one day."

Cheng Cheng recalled all his Pokémon, gave Lili and Ali two days off, and planned to bring them back later.

With the first task complete, he moved to the second. Finding a legitimate acquisition channel was both simple and difficult—he didn’t know anyone. In Yinhu City, the only person he knew was Aunt Muzi, but she couldn't help with this.

If not Yinhu, then elsewhere—but he knew no one in other cities either.

Wait—Petalburg City.

Cheng Cheng calculated: Ash had probably finished the Battle Frontier, May’s contests should be over, and they likely parted ways. He could try contacting May and Max; their father was the Petalburg Gym Leader, who might be able to help.

He acted swiftly, taking out his communicator to contact May.

"Hello, is this May?"

"It's me. Are you Cheng Cheng?"

"Yes, where are you now?"

"I'm at home in Petalburg City. Soon I'll head to Johto for the Pokémon Contest. Is something wrong?"

"Actually, I have a favor to ask of Mr. Norman, but I'm not acquainted with him. Could you help?"

"Of course! I'm in Petalburg City, and Dad's here too. I'll wait for you."

"Great, thank you, May. I'll come tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll be waiting."

"Okay, goodbye."

"Bye-bye."

After the call, Cheng Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. With May’s help, he was halfway there.

The next morning, Cheng Cheng took several Pokémon and headed to the airport in Yinhu City, bound for Petalburg City. After more than an hour of flight, Cheng Cheng finally arrived at the famous Petalburg City.