Gothita brought two drinks over to Victor and Gary, who were engrossed in their work.
Thanks to the recommendations from Twinleaf Town's Jenny and Joy, as well as the promotion from Sandgem Town's Professor Rowan, the number of trainers from both towns who had signed up for the tournament had reached 38.
Victor and Gary were currently arranging the tournament schedule.
"Thank you, Gothita."
Victor took the drink, had a sip, and thanked her.
"Goth~"
He patted her small head, then looked back down to continue working on the tournament details.
For this tournament, Victor was offering a Pokémon Egg as the grand prize for the champion.
As for second and third place...
They would only get Poffins.
After all, it was just a Breeding House; Pokémon Eggs and Poffins were the only prizes he could really offer.
However, the top three finishers would receive a discount on all services at the Breeding House, such as buying eggs or boarding Pokémon.
50% off, 30% off, and 20% off, respectively.
Victor looked at the prize list. It seemed pretty generous. He nodded in satisfaction.
Gary, meanwhile, was arranging the match-ups.
After they both finished, they looked at each other and agreed that everything was in order.
The first-ever Breeding House tournament was officially set.
It would begin tomorrow.
Victor took Gengar and the others out to the open space in front. Since the Breeding House was the only building in the area, the road between Twinleaf and Sandgem Town was extremely spacious. It was more than enough room to hold a small-scale tournament.
There was even plenty of extra space for stalls.
Gary forwarded the tournament schedule to the group of registered competitors.
He and Victor then began to set up the venue.
Finally, they put up a large sign, which had a drawing of Victor and the Breeding House's Pokémon on it.
The name of the tournament was: The Breeding House "Gengar Cup" Tournament.
The Breeding House's Pokémon stared at the large sign, mesmerized.
Victor smiled. "Next time we hold one, we'll call it the 'Shana Cup,' the 'Petilil Cup,' the 'Dali Cup,' and so on."
As soon as he said this, all the Pokémon cheered.
Gengar, in particular, was ecstatic. It floated in front of the sign, struck an elegant pose, and had Victor take its picture.
Victor laughed, went back to the house to get his camera, and took a photo of it with the words "Gengar Cup."
After finishing all that, Victor returned to the Breeding House and gave the packed herbal tea to Shana.
Today, only Shana and Gary's Arcanine would be going to Twinleaf to make the deliveries. Of course, the Staravia would be following them.
Back at the Breeding House, Victor lay on the lounge chair, happily scrolling through videos on his phone.
The Vulpix lay quietly in his lap as he gently stroked its fur.
Gengar had run off somewhere again. Victor just hoped it wasn't off to bother the Vespiquen for a few days.
After lying there for a while, his phone rang. He answered, and Shana's voice came through.
"Uncle, Grandpa Muji and the others have something they want to talk to you about."
Victor was a bit confused. Grandpa Muji and the others had his contact info. Why did they always have Shana call him?
He told Shana to pass the device to them.
"Hello, Owner Victor?"
"Grandpa Muji, Shana said you had something to talk to me about."
Grandpa Muji laughed heartily on the other end, then began to explain what he and Grandpa Yuba had discussed a couple of days ago.
In short, Grandpa Muji saw that the Breeding House was holding a tournament and that a lot of people would probably be coming. He and a few of the other elderly folks from Twinleaf wanted to set up a stall in an empty spot.
They were hoping to ride the coattails of the Breeding House's popularity and sell some of their own items.
"I guarantee, our things are absolutely worth the price."
After hearing him out, Victor agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Before hanging up, Victor told him that if he needed anything in the future, he could just call him directly instead of waiting for Shana to come by.
Grandpa Muji laughed again and readily agreed.
After hanging up, Victor fell into thought.
If they're coming to set up stalls, they might even attract more people. When the time comes, I could ask Shana or Gary to run a stall for me, too.
I might even be able to make a bit of extra money.
On the other end, Grandpa Muji hung up, handed the watch back to Shana, and then looked at the others gathered around him, nodding.
They all had expressions of determination, ready to get to work.
"Little Shana, when you go back, please don't tell Owner Victor about our plans just yet, okay?"
Shana nodded. "Don't worry, Grandpa, I won't tell."
She then got on the Arcanine, adjusted her backpack, held down her hat, and headed back towards the Breeding House.
...
Back at the Breeding House, Victor had already gone into the kitchen to experiment with a new snack.
He had Gengar go to the garden to pick some peppers, while he, following a recipe from memory, began to process some flour.
Before long, the dough was rolled into long, stick-like shapes and processed.
He then washed the peppers Gengar brought, crushed them, and added them to hot oil.
Finally, he drizzled the chili oil over the dough sticks.
The Breeding House's version of Latiao (spicy strips) was officially born.
"Gengar, come and try this."
Gengar floated over, looking curiously at the bright red snack.
It reached out with its small hand and picked one up. It was soft.
Then it tossed it into its mouth and began to chew.
...Chew, chew, chew.
Its eyes lit up.
It was a little spicy, and a little numbing.
So yummy~
It swallowed the first one and then picked up a second. It went down the wrong way, and Gengar felt a fire erupt from its stomach.
It coughed nonstop, tears streaming from its eyes. Victor couldn't help but burst out laughing.
After Gengar recovered, it looked at the spicy strips again.
It licked its lips.
Ignoring the laughing Victor, it continued to eat.
"Don't eat too many. You'll get an upset stomach."
Gengar, its mouth full of spicy strips, shot Victor a look, then turned its back on him and kept eating.
"Gengar—"
That's what you get for laughing at me.
Victor tugged its little tail, letting it float in the air for a moment, then picked up a strip for himself.
Not bad. The taste is about right, and it's a lot healthier than the ones from my past life.
He then took out a portion and called the other Breeding House Pokémon over to try.
Unsurprisingly, it received rave reviews from all of them.
When Shana got back, she saw everyone eating something.
She ran over on her short legs.
Victor gave her a piece.
He put a small glove on her hand, and she took the spicy strip and began to chew.
It was so spicy she stuck her tongue out, fanning it with her small hand.
After she finished the piece, she drank a large glass of water.
Seeing that Shana didn't seem to like it, he patted her small head.
"Next time, I'll make a non-spicy version for you."
"Okay~ Thank you, uncle!"
Unexpectedly, Gary loved them.
His mouth didn't stop moving.
Other than Gengar, he was the one who ate the most.
Victor glanced at Gengar, whose mouth was completely stuffed with spicy strips.
Of course. No one can compete with you, you glutton.
"Gengar?"
What are you looking at?!
...
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