"That's right, that's right, just like that! You're learning so quickly!"
Watching the perfectly formed Pokéblock taking shape, Lin Feng let out a satisfied exclamation.
As expected of Shanaido its ability to learn was lightning fast.
Lin Feng stepped closer, giving Shanaido's shoulder a couple of pats. "From now on, we'll have to work hard together to keep up with the demand for Pokéblocks in the breeding house."
Shanaido didn't dodge his hand, though there was a trace of exasperation in its eyes.
So this was what he'd been scheming all along…
Having spent quite some time in the breeding house, Shanaido now had a decent understanding of how the place operated. Essentially, Lin Feng made fresh Pokéblocks every day and sold them to customers.
No wonder he'd been so diligent in teaching it how to craft them…
Still, Shanaido offered no refusal, responding calmly, "Shana." (Understood…)
After all, it was his Pokémon now. Helping with the breeding house was simply part of the job.
"Heh…"
Lin Feng chuckled, then looked up at Rotom hovering overhead. "Did you get all that on video?"
"Roto~ I did, Master~!"
Rotom zipped down excitedly, its digital face forming a wide grin. "Master, Master, your Douyin account just got followed by someone huge! You've gained over a hundred thousand new followers overnight!"
"Huh?"
Lin Feng blinked in surprise. "Who followed me?"
He'd been running his Douyin account for some time now. Over the past few days, thanks to the videos featuring his shiny Shanaido, his views and followers had been steadily climbing.
But even so, the growth hadn't been explosive not quite as rapid as he'd hoped. In this world, the fastest way to fame was still to become a powerful trainer and compete in high-profile Pokémon battles.
Like the famous Trainer Red.
Starting from Pallet Town, he'd fought countless battles, eventually claiming both the Johto League and the Kanto League championships, earning tens of millions of fans and the title "The Battler."
Or like Green, known as the Champion with the shortest reign in history. He'd won the championship only to be defeated less than ten minutes later by his Pallet Town rival Red. Yet, because he managed to assemble an Elite-level team in such a short time, he became known as "The Breeder."
And now Rotom was telling him that just one person following him had brought in over a hundred thousand new followers?
Could it be an Elite Four member? Or even a regional Champion?
Lin Feng's mind raced with possibilities.
Rotom swiftly revealed the answer. "Green it's Green!"
Rotom pulled up Douyin's main screen, tapping into the followers list. There, next to the verified badge, was the name "Green – The Breeder."
"What?!"
Pulling his own phone from his pocket, Lin Feng opened Douyin, searched his followers, and found Green's profile. His eyes widened in astonishment.
It really was Green.
On Green's page were occasional battle videos and detailed content about Pokémon breeding plans.
Scrolling all the way down, Lin Feng even stumbled across an old battle video from the early days of Green's journey a match between a young Green and Red at the entrance to Viridian Forest.
The two Pokémon on the field were a Squirtle and a Pikachu.
Compared to the Squirtle currently used by that girl who worked an office job, Green's Squirtle seemed far more agile. Despite being freshly received from the Professor, it was already executing Water Gun beautifully and even managed to dodge Pikachu's Thunderbolt, finally claiming victory with a precise Water Gun.
But among all the videos on Green's page, that was the only one showcasing a battle between him and Red.
Lin Feng couldn't help wondering if Green had lost all the other matches or simply preferred not to share them.
Leaving the page, Lin Feng let out an impressed sigh. "Wow… even a legendary figure like that is watching my videos now."
"It's just a pity that most of his fans are over in Kanto. Otherwise, the breeding house's popularity would be skyrocketing even higher."
Just as he was about to close the app, a notification suddenly popped up.
[Green]: Hello.
"Huh?"
Lin Feng blinked, then quickly typed back a reply.
[Lin Feng]: Hello, Green!
He racked his brain but couldn't think of any reason why Green would reach out to him personally.
Aside from that Baby Cup battle, Lin Feng hadn't shown much Pokémon breeding footage in his videos at all.
[Green]: I have a question. Is that Shanaido of yours carrying Darkrai's curse?
Shanaido?
Green had seen Shanaido?
[Lin Feng]: Yes.
[Green]: Have you resolved the curse yet?
[Lin Feng]: Not completely. Why do you ask?
[Green]: Not completely resolved? So you've found a way to deal with it?
[Lin Feng]: …Yes. It's pretty straightforward, really. All you have to do is boost the Pokémon's resistance to negative statuses so it can control the curse's power itself.
[Green]: …uh…
All the way over in Kanto, Green stared at that reply, feeling at a complete loss for words.
Technically, that method was indeed quite simple…
But raising Shanaido's resistance to abnormal statuses to the point where it could withstand Darkrai's nightmare curse wasn't exactly easy.
In fact, it was about as difficult as training her to surpass Darkrai's own power level.
Otherwise, why did competitive Pokémon battles keep developing so many underhanded tactics?
It was precisely because negative conditions were so tough to eliminate.
Green muttered under his breath, bewildered. "Weird… so how on earth did he manage to catch Shanaido?"
Meanwhile, back in the breeding house…
Lin Feng stared at Green's final message just a simple "Thanks" and felt puzzled.
"That's strange… is that really such a difficult problem?"
He glanced again at the skyrocketing follower count on his Douyin account, and his mood instantly lifted.
Whatever Green was thinking didn't really matter.
Those new followers were real people, genuinely added to his account.
And if he ever launched an online Pokéblock shop, they'd all be potential customers!
Wutong Town was still a little too small…
Eventually, he'd have to bring his breeding house's products to the entire world!
…
August 10th.
Because Fire Chick, Popplio, and Sweet Bamboo were all still fairly new arrivals at the breeding house, Lin Feng had been spending plenty of time with them lately, helping them settle in and feel secure.
Alongside Shanaido, he'd been making Pokéblocks, harvesting crops to deliver to Uncle Chen, milking the Miltank, and feeding the Pokémon. Before he knew it, an entire week had flown by.
And on this particular morning…
Something rather unexpected happened.
While Lin Feng was feeding Pokéblocks to Milotic and Popplio as usual…
A wave of heat suddenly swept across the sky, followed by a sharp, piercing bird cry.
Looking up…
Pidgeotto, who had been calmly circling above moments earlier, suddenly shot higher into the sky.
"Pidgee!!"
Bathed in a dazzling white light, its silhouette began to stretch and transform.
Down below, Lin Feng's face lit up with excitement.
"Is Pidgeotto evolving?!"
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