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The night passed quietly, and morning arrived with a new day.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window onto the windowsill, filling the room with brightness.
Jacob looked down at Nina sleeping in his arms, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Nina slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Jacob smiling at her, she asked softly, "What time is it? You're up early."
"It's eight o'clock. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yeah, pretty well."
...
Nothing inappropriate had happened between them the previous night. Jacob and Nina had simply slept in each other's arms, finding comfort in being close.
After washing up and getting dressed, they both put on sun hats, sunglasses, and face masks before heading out. They were going to visit the Aqualis City Water-type Secret Realm, fully prepared for their adventure.
...
The Water-type Secret Realm of Aqualis City was located on an island offshore and could only be reached by boat.
Even with this inconvenience, the water-type secret realm remained extremely popular, drawing massive crowds of visitors daily.
In recent years, Aqualis City had invested heavily in developing the water-type secret realm. Not only had they constructed large-scale facilities on the island, but they had also built luxurious five-star hotels and various entertainment facilities for children and families.
At the same time, the city had introduced almost all three families of Water-type starter Pokémon into the secret realm. Their goal was to make this water-type secret realm the most suitable destination for new trainers and to attract anyone seeking Water-type Pokémon.
After passing through the security checkpoint on the island, Jacob and Nina began exploring the secret realm.
Following their usual strategy, they decided to check the normal area first to see if there were any Pokémon with decent potential.
If they found something good, they could purchase it directly and wouldn't need to waste their one-time selection opportunity.
Because of its proximity to the ocean, the Water-type Secret Realm of Aqualis City was home mostly to ocean-dwelling Pokémon, while freshwater Pokémon from rivers and lakes were quite rare.
This geographical advantage meant that many of the Pokémon in Aqualis City's water-type secret realm had reasonably good potential.
Jacob and Nina walked together through the incubation room in the secret realm. Jacob's eyes constantly scanned the Pokémon eggs displayed before them.
"An Elite-level Magikarp."
"A Lord-level Azurill."
"A Lord-level Slowpoke."
...
As he continued looking, Jacob discovered many promising Water-type Pokémon. The final evolved forms of Water-type Pokémon like Magikarp, Azurill, and Slowpoke were all quite impressive.
However, they all shared a common flaw—their potential was too low. The highest among them only reached Gym Leader level.
For quite some time now, finding Pokémon with adequate potential had been the biggest challenge Jacob faced when capturing new partners.
Although he still had a miraculous potion in his possession that could directly improve a Pokémon's potential and even change its Ability, this item was extremely precious. Jacob still didn't plan to use it casually.
Therefore, even though Jacob genuinely liked many of the Pokémon before him, he could only keep moving forward without making a purchase.
"Haven't you seen any Pokémon you like?" Nina, who was standing beside him, looked at Jacob and asked with concern.
"Let's keep looking," Jacob shook his head. "There are several Pokémon I really like, but their potential just isn't good enough."
"Alright." Nina nodded understandingly.
...
The two of them walked through the crowded and noisy ordinary area and finally arrived at the entrance to the VIP section.
The VIP area was different from the ordinary area. There were strict entry requirements, and the two fully disguised visitors were stopped as soon as they reached the entrance.
"Excuse me, you two. We need to verify your identities before you can enter the VIP area." The two reception staff standing at the door said with sweet, professional smiles on their faces.
"Of course." Jacob nodded, reached into his bag, and pulled out a card that symbolized his championship achievement. He handed it to the staff member in front of him.
The staff member looked at Jacob's card, and a hint of surprise flickered in her eyes. It was a College Cup Champion card.
So the person standing before her was Jacob?
Although she felt excited internally, she had worked as a guide in the VIP area and had witnessed many impressive visitors, so she managed to maintain her professional composure without showing any emotional reaction.
After briefly examining Jacob's card, she immediately turned her attention to Nina standing beside him.
Compared to Jacob's identity, the identity of the woman accompanying him made both staff members far more curious.
Looking at their coordinated outfits and close proximity, they appeared to be traveling together. Even if they weren't romantic partners, they were clearly very close friends.
It seemed they had discovered some incredibly interesting news, but the key question remained—who was this woman?
...
"Welcome, both of you. I'll be your guide today. Please follow me."
Jacob and Nina followed the guide ahead of them and walked into the VIP area.
The surroundings suddenly became much quieter. Compared to the packed and noisy ordinary area, the foot traffic in the VIP section was noticeably lighter, but the quality of the Pokémon eggs was significantly higher.
As soon as they entered the VIP area, they noticed that most of the customers were gathered in front of the empty incubators in the front row, as if waiting for something specific.
"What are they doing, standing in front of those empty incubators?" the naturally curious Nina asked.
The guide beside them wasn't surprised by the scene before them. She smiled and explained to Jacob and Nina, "That's because today is the once-a-month new Pokémon egg unveiling day."
"On this particular day each month, brand new Pokémon eggs are brought into the VIP incubation room. Large families who want to select quality Pokémon eggs for their descendants will send representatives here on this specific day."
"Would you two like to go take a look?"
Listening to the guide's explanation, Nina's face showed considerable interest.
Compared to the Pokémon eggs that had been passed over by previous customers in the hatchery, everyone was naturally more interested in the fresh arrivals, and Nina was no exception to this.
Jacob also noticed Nina's eager expression, so he said, "You go ahead. I'll take a look at these remaining Pokémon eggs first."
Since Jacob had his system, he naturally wouldn't want to miss checking these older Pokémon eggs. It would only take him a quick glance to scan through them all.
If there really was some rare or legendary Pokémon hidden among them and Jacob missed it, he would probably be furious with himself.
Of course, the likelihood of that happening was practically zero.
...
"A Quasi-King-level Squirtle... it would be perfect if its potential were just a bit higher."
"A Quasi-King-level Wooper. The evolved Quagsire is quite decent, but this potential is too disappointing."
"A Lord-level Horsea. This is a complete rip-off. Whoever chooses this one is a complete fool."
...
As he scanned through the entire collection, Jacob kept criticizing in his mind. Not only was there no Pokémon that satisfied his standards, there wasn't even a single one with King-level potential.
This made Jacob silently reflect that these were indeed the leftover Pokémon eggs that others had passed on, and their potential was genuinely poor.
This was actually the norm in secret realms. Pokémon with King-level potential or above were exceedingly rare. Under normal circumstances, a secret realm would only produce a handful of them throughout an entire year.
After completing his inspection, Jacob could only move forward and rejoin Nina.
Just at that moment, a staff member emerged pushing a cart loaded with Pokémon eggs. They approached the empty incubators and carefully placed the new Pokémon eggs into each compartment.
Jacob's eyes swept across the Pokémon eggs before him.
"A Quasi-King-level Mudkip."
"A Gym Leader-level Wingull."
...
"Wait."
Looking at one particular Pokémon egg before him, Jacob's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement.
"A King-level Poliwag."
Finally, Jacob had spotted the first Pokémon with genuine King-level potential.