Get Stronger by Pleasing Pokémon? Who Needs to Be a Trainer!

"Hm?"

Lin Feng glanced curiously up at Li Bing, who was still floating in the air. He hadn't expected the commentator to become his unexpected ally.

He'd thought he'd have to wait until the tournament ended for the journalists to crowd around before he'd get a chance to properly advertise his small breeding shop.

Seeing Li Bing descend from above, Lin Feng cleared his throat, already thinking about what story he ought to spin next.

Li Bing spoke up. "May I ask, Lin Feng, as the champion of this year's Junior Cup, during your match, you quickly noticed and resolved the problem with Lapras's condition. Are you actually a Pokémon Breeder? And if so, could you tell us which breeding facility you're affiliated with?"

Lin Feng replied, "Yes. I've been learning breeding techniques from my parents since I was a child. By now, it's been twelve years. Honestly, I can tell at a glance whether there's any issue with any Pokémon that ends up in my hands."

"As for the breeding facility… it's a small shop in Wutong Town called the Neighbor's Breeding House."

Then he turned to look at Snivy… no, now Servine, and scooped her up in his arms. "See this? Smooth, glossy scales and incredible control over her energy. That's what you get with a Pokémon raised from a young age on our Neighbor's Breeding House's special energy cubes."

"Right now, our little shop sells both Beauty Maintenance Energy Cubes and Stamina Energy Cubes, all guaranteed to be naturally produced. With these, you'll never again have to worry about your Pokémon's looks or stamina. We also specialize in treating various tricky Pokémon health problems. First come, first served. And while you're at it, you can even enjoy the sight of some beautiful… Hey, wait, I'm not finished talking yet!"

He stared in frustration as Li Bing hastily pulled the microphone away.

Servine: ???

She still wore a bewildered look as Lin Feng held her up to the spotlight.

Was she… just used as a live commercial?

Li Bing looked utterly embarrassed.

Right now, the live broadcast was airing on the Wutong City Pokémon Battle Channel. There was no telling how many people were watching across the city.

And Lin Feng had just openly started advertising.

"Ahem… everyone heard that. The Neighbor's Breeding House. If anyone's interested, feel free to check it out. Anyway, let's move on to the final match… though I'm not sure if Chi Chang will still be able to participate…"

He did his best to steer the topic back to the battles.

But the audience, who had been completely captivated by the intense battle moments before, were now buzzing with curiosity about this so-called "Neighbor's Breeding House."

Some people had already started looking it up online.

...

In the end…

The final match never took place.

Chi Chang's Lapras was simply in no condition to keep battling and wouldn't recover anytime soon.

So…

The first-place winner was Lin Feng. And second place… somehow went to Qin Shu.

Ever since the group stage, she hadn't fought another single match, securing second place effortlessly.

You could say that in this entire tournament, she was truly the chosen one.

Once the competition concluded…

A crowd of reporters immediately surrounded Lin Feng, peppering him with questions about his background. Which school had he graduated from as a Trainer? What was his current rank as a Breeder?

Lin Feng answered every question earnestly, using each opportunity to promote Neighbor's Breeding House yet again.

Then came the awards ceremony.

Tournament organizer Chi Heng approached Lin Feng to present the prizes, his expression rather complicated.

There was no question that his Junior Cup had been a tremendous success.

The broadcast ratings were sky-high, and the atmosphere in the venue had been electrifying.

But in the end…

The person who reaped the biggest rewards wasn't the one he had originally hoped for.

Yet, deep down, he knew that if not for Lin Feng stepping in, the entire Junior Cup might have ended in disaster.

Moreover, Lin Feng wasn't just any Trainer he was a young, extraordinarily talented Breeder as well.

In the end, Chi Heng sighed inwardly. He realized that someone with Lin Feng's talent as both Trainer and Breeder was not someone he could afford to offend.

So, during the awards ceremony, he managed to put on a smile.

[First Prize: One Pokémon egg of a starter species, a shopping card for 88,000 yuan at Wangwang Supermarket, and one chance to participate in the Wangwang Supermarket Headquarters' Egg-Guessing Challenge!]

First came the shopping card worth 88,000 yuan, which was handed directly to Lin Feng.

Next was the starter Pokémon egg. However, since the eggs hadn't yet arrived, Lin Feng would be notified within a week to come and select his prize.

Finally, there was the Headquarters Egg-Guessing Challenge.

This was a fascinating game.

There were two ways to play: the Open Guess and the Blind Guess.

In the Open Guess, Wangwang Supermarket Headquarters would display thirty Pokémon eggs in front of the contestant.

If the contestant could correctly identify the species of at least twenty-eight out of those thirty eggs, that was considered a successful Open Guess, and they would be allowed to choose one egg from those correctly identified.

The Blind Guess, on the other hand, involved covering the Pokémon eggs with a black cloth.

The contestant could only touch the egg, feeling its texture and temperature, to guess its species.

In this version, identifying at least twenty-five eggs correctly counted as a win.

Likewise, with a successful Blind Guess, the contestant could take home one of the correctly identified eggs.

According to Chi Heng, the eggs hidden in the Blind Guess challenge generally tended to be of slightly higher quality than those in the Open Guess.

The headquarters of Wangwang Supermarket in Hunan Province was located in the provincial capital, Changsha City.

The Egg-Guessing Challenge was available at any time.

So essentially…

Lin Feng could go whenever he wished.

It wasn't until six o'clock in the evening that the entire tournament finally wrapped up, and the crowd gradually began to disperse.

Lin Feng was strolling out of the stadium, hands clasped behind his head, with Servine following close at his heels.

Although it was already six, the sky was still bright and open. The golden glow of the setting sun painted brilliant streaks of crimson across the horizon.

A trail of white-tinged red cloud stretched from the eastern edge of Wutong City all the way to the west.

It looked almost like the contrail left behind by a missile streaking through the sky.

"So much money~"

Behind him, Qin Shu was staring at the shopping card in her hands, grinning from ear to ear.

Lin Feng couldn't help laughing as well when he saw her expression.

He knew about Qin Shu's family circumstances. They weren't extremely wealthy.

Buying Squirtle had already placed a strain on her family finances.

There was no way they could keep spending lavishly to raise Squirtle.

But now, with this shopping card in hand, she'd have plenty of resources to help her get through the crucial early stages of Squirtle's training.

"Are you heading home now?" Lin Feng asked.

Qin Shu tilted her head in puzzlement. "Hm? What about you, Feng-ge? Aren't you going home too?"

Lin Feng shook his head. "I still have to make a stop at Wangwang Supermarket to pick up a few things. I probably won't catch the last bus, so I'll just take a cab home later."

"Oh… alright, then~"

Qin Shu nodded happily, not pressing him further. All she could think about was rushing home.

She couldn't wait to show off to her parents and grandfather how she'd come in second place at the Junior Cup and won a shopping card worth so much money. That meant she wouldn't have to worry about Squirtle's food expenses for quite a while.

So happy~

Lin Feng, meanwhile, gazed up at the blazing streak across the sky. He paused for a moment, then turned and began walking toward Wangwang Supermarket.

That lingering trail of flame in the sky…

Was radiating an aura that his Viridian Force recognized as belonging to Dragonite…