Pokémon Breeder's Story

Chapter 30: Blood Relationship

[Pokémon: Mawile]

[Gender: Female]

[Ability: Intimidate]

[Moves: Growl, Astonish, Taunt, Iron Head, Play Rough, Bite]

[Status: Weakened]

[Mood: 😞 Unhappy]

[Joy Value: -10]

[Friendship: 0 (You don't know each other yet)]

[Description: What a terrible day. —Mawile.]

With a sweep of his gaze, the Mawile's information appeared in Kenji's mind.

"A Mawile, huh..."

Mawile had a yellow, doll-like body, but the most eye-catching feature was the enormous mouth on the back of its head, filled with sharp, pointed teeth. As far as Kenji knew, Mawile was a cunning and terrifying Pokémon. They would use their gentle appearance to make opponents let down their guard, then suddenly turn around and bite them with their large jaws. Once they bit down, they would never let go and could even bite through steel.

However, the Mawile in front of him didn't seem so ferocious. It had a blank expression on its face, just standing there quietly, looking up at Kenji with its large eyes.

"Alright, the test begins!" Old man Eiji announced.

Hearing this, all the candidates began to move. Eiji's gaze turned to Kenji, wanting to see what he would do.

Kenji, however, simply crouched down, making himself seem less imposing. He met the Mawile's gaze and said to it, "Hello, Mawile. I'm Kenji. I'm going to check your body now and then help treat you."

The Mawile looked at the human before it, hesitated for a moment, and then gave a slight nod.

Witnessing this scene, Old man Eiji nodded in appreciation. Showing affinity to an unfamiliar Pokémon, closing the distance with it, this is how you gain a Pokémon's cooperation. And being able to make a Pokémon feel at ease and approach them is a necessary skill for a breeder. The other children didn't even notice this!

Old man Eiji turned to look at the other candidates. Most of them had immediately started observing the condition of the Pokémon in front of them. Although this was not a mandatory requirement for the exam, a breeder who knew how to build a relationship with a Pokémon was a true breeder.

Kenji didn't know what Old man Eiji was thinking. He observed the Mawile's physical condition. The Mawile was very cooperative, spreading its arms and turning around to let the human examine it carefully.

Since it was a Junior Breeder's exam, the difficulty wouldn't be too high. Kenji soon discovered a burnt mark in an inconspicuous corner behind the Mawile. It was clearly a mark left by some kind of Fire-type move attack. The wound wasn't large, likely caused by an Ember attack. But unfortunately, the Ember had triggered its additional effect, inflicting the Burn status on the Mawile.

Other than that, the rest of Mawile's body was quite healthy. Hmm? No, that's not right.

Kenji suddenly noticed that some of the sharp teeth in the large jaw on the back of Mawile's head didn't look right. Under normal circumstances, a Mawile takes great care of its large jaw, and its teeth should be white and shiny. But this Mawile's teeth not only had whitish-brown marks but also showed signs of cavities. Kenji reached out and touched them; some of the sharp teeth were even starting to loosen.

"This Mawile has a calcium deficiency!" Without a doubt, the cause of all this was malnutrition. This couldn't be solved in a short time. After confirming there were no other problems with the Mawile, Kenji stood up and reported all his findings to Old man Eiji.

"...There is a burn mark on the Mawile's back. The mark is not large, likely caused by a move called Ember. Not only that, but the Mawile's teeth are also not very healthy—they are loose with cavities. It will need timely nutritional supplements."

Old man Eiji nodded repeatedly as he listened. Excellent, he even noticed the extra credit points. His gaze towards Kenji grew even more satisfied.

"Did you learn all this from books?" he asked.

Kenji didn't quite understand why he was asking, but he still replied, "When I was bored and had nothing to do, I would read some books about Pokémon."

"I see." A smile appeared on Old man Eiji's face. "Then, next, go find what you need to treat the Mawile!"

Kenji nodded. He went to the pile of herbs and berries in the back and quickly found a Rawst Berry, which cures burns. After feeding the berry to the Mawile, the burn mark on its back healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Maw~"

The pain gone from its body, the Mawile let out a cry of gratitude.

"Alright, you've passed the exam." Old man Eiji's purpose in coming here had been for Kenji. A perfect score on both the written and practical exams meant that the young man before him was, without a doubt, qualified to be a Junior Breeder!

But what Eiji cared about more was that at this age, with such talent, this child was a massive genius! He followed Kenji out to where Jenny Jun was waiting.

Jenny Jun looked at Kenji, then at the excited Old man Eiji behind him, and asked, "Mr. Eiji, how were Kenji's test results?"

"Perfect score! Both the written and practical exams were perfect scores!" Old man Eiji's eyes shone brightly. "Little Kenji, are you willing to study under me? I will teach you all my knowledge. As long as you are willing to work hard, even becoming a Top-class Breeder will not be a problem!"

Hearing this, before Kenji could react, Jenny Jun froze on the spot. Little Kenji... he's actually that amazing? A genius... I heard that the Officer Jenny who left the family was also a genius when it came to raising Pokémon.

Kenji shook his head and politely declined. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Eiji, but I am currently running a breeding center. There are many Pokémon there waiting for me to take care of them. I can't leave at the moment."

"A breeding center?" Old man Eiji was stunned.

"Kenji has inherited his mother's legacy and has decided to continue running that abandoned breeding center," Jenny Jun helped to explain.

Hearing this, Old man Eiji finally understood. So this kid came to take the breeder's exam just to get a license to run a breeding center!

What a reckless waste of a heavenly gift! Such talent... to not continue his studies in breeding but to run a breeding center instead, this was truly a waste of talent, wasn't it?!

However, after obtaining his Junior Breeder qualification, Kenji planned to leave. He and Jenny Jun thanked Old man Eiji and then left the Breeder's Association.

Watching the two of them leave, Old man Eiji felt frantic. He had just seen a rising star in the world of breeding, but that star didn't want to rise.

No!

Old man Eiji didn't want to give up. He made up his mind. He would go to that kid's breeding center later and try to persuade him again properly.

On the road.

Jenny Jun once again gave Kenji a ride back to the breeding center on her motorcycle. She sighed with emotion, "It seems you've inherited your mother's talent!"

Kenji didn't know what to say. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you for everything this time, Officer Jenny."

"You're welcome. After all, you're also a part of the Jenny family. We have a blood relationship, so helping you is what I should do!" Jenny Jun shook her head, then suddenly glanced at Kenji. "If you could, I'd actually prefer it if you called me 'sister'."

Kenji: "..." What if I can't bring myself to say it?

Jenny Jun didn't force the issue. She changed the subject back to business. "Now that you have your Junior Breeder qualification, I will submit it to the Hoenn League. They should be able to deliver that batch of Pokémon eggs by tomorrow."