Chapter 33: Chapter 33: A Crowded Breeding House
"Coming, coming!"
After finishing his morning routine, Lin Feng rushed to the door, still calling out over his shoulder, "Rotom, make sure to start recording!"
"Roto~!"
Rotom immediately activated its recording function.
Lin Feng had given it a mission: to handle filming and video editing, all in preparation for growing his Douyin account.
As soon as he pushed open the door, the sight waiting outside gave Lin Feng quite a shock.
It was only six o'clock in the morning, yet dozens of people were already gathered around his doorstep.
Some were sitting right outside the door, while others were resting along the stone path leading up to the shop.
Among them, a few were holding selfie sticks, chattering non-stop into their phones.
"Here we are, folks, we're finally at the Neighborhood Breeding House in Wutong Town! They've just opened the door, so let's go in and see what makes this little shop so special!"
One young man sitting on the steps outside the breeding house immediately jumped up and made to go inside as soon as he saw the door open.
"Hold on, hold on."
Lin Feng stepped into the doorway, quickly stopping him. He pulled out a wooden sign and hung it above the entrance.
"Each customer is limited to three portions of each type of Pokéblock per day."
This was a necessary precaution.
Looking at the crowd outside, Lin Feng strongly suspected that if he didn't impose a limit, the Pokéblocks he'd stayed up all night making would be completely wiped out the moment these people stepped in.
His bigger goal was to let as many Pokémon as possible get a chance to taste the Pokéblocks he crafted.
After all, each time he delighted a new Pokémon, he earned special rewards from the system.
"Huh? Boss, your shop just opened and you're already setting limits? Aren't you worried people won't come back to buy Pokéblocks in the future?"
The young man who'd been first in line froze in surprise.
Right after that, the other customers who'd been following behind him began frowning as well.
A newly opened store, without any special grand opening promotions, was already imposing rules on its customers? That didn't exactly scream "good customer service."
Facing this questioning, Lin Feng responded sincerely,
"I'm really sorry, everyone. Honestly, I didn't expect so many people to come so soon, so I haven't been able to prepare enough stock. I'm hoping to make sure every person and every Pokémon has a chance to try them first. I don't want people coming all this way for nothing. I appreciate your understanding."
After all, no one likes to hit a smiling face.
Lin Feng's polite and humble attitude immediately softened the expressions of the crowd that had been frowning moments earlier.
Besides, Lin Feng looked only about seventeen or eighteen years old and had quite a gentle, youthful appearance.
No one pressed the matter further and instead began filing into the shop.
Inside the breeding house, the layout was simple.
There were several glass display counters, much like those in a bakery, inside which sat the various types of Pokéblocks. Outside the counters, samples were laid out for customers to try.
On either side of the shop, Lin Feng had also displayed some berries he'd picked from his breeding garden: spicy Cheri Berries, Pecha Berries, Oran Berries, as well as some vegetables.
There really wasn't much else to sell in a small breeding shop in its early stages.
"Holy crap, folks, check this out! We're inside the breeding house now, and the first thing we see are these Pokéblocks.
Look at the color on these Pokéblocks… whoa… they're so bright and glossy, with a nice, bouncy texture. They look great, but we'll only know how good they are after seeing how Pokémon react when they eat them."
"Boss, can we sample the Pokéblocks?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Of course you can. Just one thing if your Pokémon is really big, I wouldn't recommend releasing it inside the shop."
The young man nodded back and pulled out a Poké Ball. With a gentle tap, he released a Beedrill right into the shop.
Everyone present immediately turned to watch.
Pokémon are highly perceptive creatures.
They can generally sense whether a particular food is good for them or even how beneficial it might be.
The young man picked up one of the stamina Pokéblocks Lin Feng had made from Sitrus Berries.
Beedrill delicately speared the tiny Pokéblock with its stinger and popped it into its mouth.
Buzzzzz…
The moment the Pokéblock hit its tongue, Beedrill froze in place.
Only the sound of its wings vibrating continued to hum through the air.
"What's wrong, Beedrill?" The trainer frowned in concern.
A second later…
[Congratulations to the Host for raising Beedrill's Happiness from 20% to 60%. Reward: 10 bags of Golden Fertilizer, 3 Rare Candies, and 1 Salac Berry (which, when used consistently, increases a Pokémon's Defense IV).]
As Lin Feng heard the system's voice echoing in his mind, Beedrill finally moved again.
It looked at its trainer, then pointed one of its long stingers at the Pokéblocks in the display case, buzzing insistently.
It was like a girlfriend clinging to her boyfriend's arm at a watermelon stand, insisting, "Buy me watermelon…"
No watermelon, no going home.
"It's really that tasty?"
The young man holding the selfie stick was momentarily stunned, but he didn't forget to keep narrating for his audience. "You can tell my Beedrill really loves these Pokéblocks. The label says these are Stamina Pokéblocks, meant to help Pokémon recover after battles."
"Guys, I'm going to buy a portion and take it home to try it out. I'll give you all a proper review!"
"Boss, how much for one portion?"
Lin Feng quoted the price he'd already decided on. "One thousand."
"Huh?" The young man blinked in surprise.
A single portion of Pokéblocks was only about a pound in weight, enough for a Pokémon to eat for maybe three days at most.
At a thousand credits per portion…
That was definitely on the pricey side.
But if it truly allowed a Pokémon to recover significant stamina in a short time…
For trainers who spent long stretches in the wild, it would absolutely be a must-have item for any journey.
Whether it was genuine or not remained to be seen.
Holding onto a spirit of curiosity, he asked Lin Feng to weigh out a portion, paid for it, and quickly left the breeding house.
If it turned out to be a scam, he'd be back in under half an hour, ready to expose the shop's "true face" and capture the whole drama for his followers.
The others, seeing what happened, began releasing their own Pokémon as well. After sampling a piece of the trial Pokéblocks, many chose to buy at least one portion to test further.
To Lin Feng's surprise,
Although the early morning crowd had been modest, by eight o'clock the number of visitors to the shop grew steadily larger. Some customers bought three portions, others two.
A few even noticed the fresh vegetables displayed on the side and picked out some to take home.
Which meant that…
By around nine-thirty in the morning,
Lin Feng's entire stock of Pokéblocks had sold out.
Right at that moment, the door swung open, and a slightly flustered figure rushed inside.
It was the same young livestreamer who had been the first to sample the Pokéblocks earlier.
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