Meteor City, a fortress-like settlement surrounded on all sides by rugged rock formations.
Compared to the fertile farmlands of Aspiration City, Meteor City possessed almost no arable land suitable for cultivation.
However, Meteor City had one thing in great abundance: mineral resources.
With its countless mines, the city could continuously produce iron tools without end.
Thus, even though it lacked farmland, Meteor City could still trade its iron goods with nearby cities in exchange for more than enough food.
Deep within Meteorite Mountain, the Grand Sorcerer Lazrak stood atop the peak, overlooking the vast land below. His face, hidden beneath his black robe, was as gloomy as stagnant water.
Several months had passed since his last defeat. Every time he thought of how he had lost Darkrai, his breathing grew unsteady with rage.
He had been so close—only a step away from capturing Azelf.
But then that bastard, Aven suddenly appeared out of nowhere and ruined everything.
What he could not understand the most was: why did Azelf also acknowledge that boy Aven?!
And that terrible sealing technique…
Even with Darkrai under the control of the Black Crystal, Aven managed to seal Darkrai away completely!
His gaze shifted southward, towards the direction of Aspiration City.
After a long silence, his clenched teeth finally ground together as he hissed:
"Aven… I will reclaim Darkrai no matter what!"
Whooo—whooo—
At that moment, a violent gust of wind suddenly swept across the mountaintop.
A large silhouette swooped rapidly down from the sky—an Honchkrow. After circling once in the air, it descended and landed heavily on the ground.
Straddled on its back was a black-robed sorcerer.
"Grand Sorcerer, we have successfully located Heatran."
"It is currently living deep within the harsh mountains on the volcanic island ahead. At this moment, it is under a seal and remains in a state of slumber."
The sorcerer dismounted from Honchkrow, dropped to one knee, and respectfully made his report.
"Sealed…? Excellent!"
The Grand Sorcerer's lips twisted into a grin, a glint of satisfaction flashing across his cold expression.
Then his eyes shifted toward the direction of Meteor City in the distance.
"The next step is to obtain the Volcanic Keystone. According to the information we've gathered, the Volcanic Keystone should be located inside Meteor City!"
…
Meanwhile, in the Pokémon Breeding District, Link stared in astonishment at the group of Bellossom before him.
Drawing on his knowledge from the Pokédex Handbook, he immediately recognized these Pokémon.
They were Bellossom—the evolved form of Gloom.
But Bellossom required a Sun Stone to evolve.
Where in the world had His Highness Aven found so many Sun Stones?
"Your Highness… these Bellossom…"
Link turned toward Aven, bewildered.
"Yes," Aven nodded, fully confirming Link's guess.
"All of these Bellossom evolved from the Gloom living in the Drapion territory."
"And among them, several have already mastered the move Grassy Terrain."
Hearing this, Link's eyes widened slightly.
He knew better than anyone how powerful and usefull Grassy Terrain could be—and now there wasn't just one, but multiple Pokémon who had mastered it!
With these Bellossom who could use Grassy Terrain, they could now establish far more Pokémon Centers and Pokémon Breeding Houses throughout the region.
And beyond that, for the territory's agriculture, this was an enormous blessing.
Grassy Terrain's catalytic effect on plant growth was something Link understood extremely well.
"That's right, Grassy Terrain," Aven continued.
"In the coming days, I'll give all of you the opportunity to interact with these Bellossom. Whether you can earn their approval and form a bond… will depend entirely on your own efforts."
Link's fist gradually tightened.
He had already made up his mind—he would give it everything he had to gain Bellossom's recognition.
Seeing Link so filled with motivation, Aven shifted the topic:
"Link, how many apprentice breeders does the Pokémon Breeding House currently have?"
His own profession was that of a Pokémon Breeder, and the training of future breeders had always been something he took seriously.
Ever since the Pokémon Breeding House was established, he had constantly worked to nurture new talent.
But becoming a true breeder was extremely difficult, especially for ordinary civilians who had not received proper education.
As a result, the ones who currently handled most of the basic work in the Breeding House were apothecaries.
Their understanding of herbs and potions gave them natural advantages in handling medicines and treating Pokémon.
However, in Aven's eyes, these people had only grasped the basics—merely apprentice breeders.
They were still far from being true, fully fledged Pokémon Breeders.
To become an official Breeder, one needed vast knowledge about Pokémon and the ability to create individualized development plans tailored to each Pokémon's needs.
Thus, the difficulty of becoming a formal Breeder far surpassed that of becoming an official Trainer.
In reality, most official Breeders were also official Trainers—but most official Trainers were nowhere near becoming official Breeders.
"Your Highness, the Breeding House currently has more than sixty registered apprentice breeders," Link reported.
"In addition, many territories have been sending their best apothecaries here to study, so this number should double soon."
As the very first true Pokémon Breeder in this world, Link had been taught personally by Aven, receiving a great deal of specialized knowledge.
By now, Link would likely have a very high chance of passing the Junior Breeder Certification exam and officially becoming a recognized Pokémon Breeder.
Because of this, Aven had felt comfortable entrusting the management of the Breeding House to Link.
Link clearly understood breeder knowledge and had even begun taking on apprentices himself.
"Sixty-something apprentice breeders…"
Aven nodded lightly.
It was impressive progress for just one year.
But to him—it still wasn't enough.
The Trainer Academy had already begun training trainers.
He planned to introduce Breeder courses into the academy curriculum, preparing to cultivate many more breeders in the future.
Furthermore, the official Trainer Examination had officially begun.
At the same time, Aven had decided: the official Breeder Examination would also be launched soon.
And the exam reward?
An opportunity to interact directly with Bellossom.
Additionally, the field of Pokémon Breeding itself was vast, divided into many branches.
Right now, most breeders in the Pokémon Domain specialized in pharmaceutical fields.
But beyond potions, there were other important branches such as Move tutoring, Physical conditioning, Genetic research and many more.
Even Pokémon Doctors were considered a subcategory of Pokémon Breeders—Nurse Joys were all officially Breeders as well.
In this world, apothecaries and doctors largely overlapped.
Many apothecaries already possessed basic healing skills and were fully capable of serving as Pokémon Doctors.
Now, given the current situation, Aven had formed a plan:
If these apprentice breeders could earn Bellossom's acknowledgment, he could guide them onward—training them further into full Pokémon Doctors and assigning them to Pokémon Centers throughout the region.
(End of Chapter)
TN: I'm hesitant to change Pokémon Doctors into Nurse Joy's since most of these apothecaries and are males.