Lucas took Ninetales and the others downstairs and sat in his usual spot.
The younger Meowstic sister brought over breakfast, and Lucas casually patted its head and ears.
They felt great to the touch~
Lucas took a satisfied sip of soy milk, then tore a fried dough stick in half, soaking one half in his soy milk and putting the other half into Gengar's soy milk.
Gengar was currently eating a soft piece of bread, and seeing the fried dough stick soaking in its bowl, it swallowed the bread.
"Gen gengar~"
Thank you~
Lucas took a bite of the soy-milk-soaked fried dough stick, feeling very satisfied.
He noticed Zorua sitting in the rest area and asked in confusion, "Zorua, do you have no appetite today?"
Zorua shook its head somewhat weakly.
"Is it because the breakfast doesn't suit your taste?"
Zorua shook its head again.
"It's not—*hic*—"
Lucas: ————
"So you've overeaten!"
Zorua covered its mouth and began to laugh sheepishly.
"*Hic*—I didn't mean to—*hic*—"
"It's fine as long as you're full. Take a good rest for a while, don't make yourself sick from overeating."
"Okay—*hic*."
After finishing breakfast, Lucas went to the rest area and sat down, taking out his notebook and the Breeding House's recent bills to start calculating.
January was approaching, and he didn't know how the Breeding House's income and expenses had been this winter, so he wanted to calculate it to see if they were making a profit or a loss.
The rustling sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper was constant. A ray of sunlight slipped in through the Breeding House's door, shining right on Ninetales, who was lying at Lucas's feet with eyes squinted in a nap. The warm feeling made Ninetales's tails wag unconsciously.
The TV on the Breeding House wall was playing a Pokémon love story. Gengar sat beside Lucas, eating snacks and watching with great interest.
Dash, Vex, Zoroark, Staraptor, Rhyperior, Golduck, Azumarill, and Gogoat were all going in and out of the Breeding House, performing delivery services.
Shauna ran out of the kitchen with her backpack bulging. Carrying Chimecho, she shouted, "I'm going to school!" then ran to the door, mounted Rapidash, and left.
Today the Cottage was closed, so Gothitelle, Roserade, and the older Meowstic brother all stayed at the Breeding House.
The Meowstic siblings went to the Canteen to help Mime Jr. attend to the guests.
Gothitelle took a broom and began cleaning the Breeding House.
Lilligant sat on a high stool behind the counter, eating snacks and chatting with the invisible Latias beside her.
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino went to the backyard to take care of the Pokémon boarded at the Breeding House.
Plop~
Gothitelle looked at the trash that had fallen at its feet and turned back to stare at Gengar.
Gengar was still in the posture of throwing trash. Seeing Gothitelle looking at it, it grinned.
Hee hee.
Gothitelle gave it a glare, then swept the trash into the bin. It then came to the rest area. Lucas didn't even look up; he just lifted his feet high, and after the broom swept under them, he put his feet back down.
Gothitelle nudged Ninetales with its foot, and Ninetales opened its eyes.
"Gothitelle."
Go sleep on the other side.
Ninetales lazily stood up, shook its body, and then went to Lucas's other side to lie down.
After a busy morning, Lucas finally finished calculating the accounts.
Looking at the numbers on the paper, Lucas fell into a daze.
There was no loss as he had imagined; instead, there was a profit.
Looking at the seven-digit figure on the paper, Lucas swallowed hard.
They earned more in winter than in summer and autumn combined?!
And this didn't even include the tips the Breeding House's Pokémon brought back.
Lucas laid out several sheets of paper in order on Ninetales's body.
——
Ninetales: ?!
The expenses of the Breeding House could be said to be enormous. Eighty percent was spent on food, while equipment and facilities accounted for less than twenty percent.
As for the fees from selling pokémon eggs, he had originally thought that after selling the Dratini egg, the Breeding House's winter income would be secure. However, there was a slight discrepancy; the income from selling pokémon eggs plus the boarding fees, minus the overall expenses of the Breeding House, still left a surplus, though not a large one.
"Do we really spend this much on food...?"
Lucas muttered to himself.
Seeing Gengar's action of putting the snacks back into the jar, Lucas didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Go ahead and eat. We're not short of this little bit. No matter what, I won't let you guys go hungry."
Seeing Gengar still hesitating, Lucas spoke up: "Do you see this? The numbers on this paper are the money we've earned over these past two months."
Gengar leaned over and took a peek. It couldn't understand it, but there were a lot of digits.
"Gen gengar"
Then I'm relieved.
Gengar directly poured a jar of snacks into its mouth and began chewing.
Lucas: "You're being a bit too smug now."
"Gen gengar—"
None of your business (*munch munch munch*).
Lucas pinched the corner of its mouth.
Looking at the numbers on that paper, almost all of it was income from the delivery service.
Is the delivery service really this profitable?!
To put it jokingly, among the money the Breeding House earned, the main business didn't earn as much as the side business.
To put it another way, this is a Breeding House, not a restaurant—
Lucas even made himself laugh.
Food is also a part of nurturing, right?
Lucas thought back to the saying that humans are also a special kind of Pokémon. His Breeding House's delivery service served humans, which was akin to nurturing humans, and humans are a special kind of Pokémon.
Then the result was obvious.
Breeding House ≠ Restaurant.
Humans = Pokémon.
Substituting the first equation into the second.
Breeding House = Breeding House.
While Lucas was still daydreaming, he suddenly heard Vespiquen's voice from the backyard.
"Bi!"
Lucas!
Lucas quickly stood up and ran to the backyard.
"What is it, what happened?!"
Gothitelle and Gengar each floated beside Lucas, while Ninetales stood behind him. Lilligant stood in front of Lucas, holding an Energy Ball in her hand.
Vespiquen shook its head and gestured for Lucas to look at the garden.
Pinsir was wrestling with Miltank, although Pinsir was being unilaterally dominated.
"Is Pinsir still not giving up?"
Lucas couldn't help but say as he watched Pinsir working hard to hone its strength.
With so many Pokémon around, why did Pinsir have to fall for Dash...?
Lucas had complained about this countless times.
You guys aren't even in the same Egg Group—
Vespiquen shook its head and gestured for Lucas to look toward the flowerbed.
Lucas looked over in confusion and found an Ariados hiding in the flowerbed, staring at Pinsir with a very gentle smile on its face.
"It couldn't be—"
Lucas was incredibly shocked.
Finding no enemies, Lilligant put away the Energy Ball.
Vespiquen nodded.
——
"Bi."
That's right.
"If I remember correctly, that Ariados is one of the Pokémon Gothitelle brought back yesterday to board at the Breeding House for breeding, right?"
Gothitelle nodded.
"Gothitelle."
The other one is a Beautifly.
That Beautifly was looking toward Lucas's side.
"Wait a minute, you mean to say that among the Pokémon boarded here for breeding, one of them has taken a liking to Pinsir?"
Lucas asked.
Vespiquen had a gossiping expression on its face.
"Bi."
That's right.
Lucas: —
"But shouldn't it and the Beautifly be a pair? That's the only way to produce eggs, so why would it suddenly fall for Pinsir?"
Vespiquen looked at Lucas, seemingly confused as to why he would say such a thing.
"Bi."
They don't need to be together to produce eggs. Most Pokémon just need to catch each other's eye, and only a few will stay together permanently.
Lucas: ————
"Is that how it works?!"
Lilligant and the others nodded.
Lucas: ————
"Alright then."
Pinsir dragged its aching body over to Lucas.
"He-li."
Pinsir greeted Lucas and the others.
At that moment, Ariados crawled over, carrying flowers it had picked from the flowerbed.
"A-duo————"
These—these are for you.
Lucas: My flowers———— (heartbroken)
Pinsir: ?!
Pinsir looked at the shy expression on Ariados's face and was immediately startled.
Oh no, it's coming for me!
It quickly looked around and felt relieved to see that Dash wasn't there.
It then directly rejected Ariados's flowers.
Ariados was not discouraged and kept asking Pinsir what it liked.
Pinsir couldn't stand the pestering and ran off toward the forest.
Ariados followed closely behind.
Lucas couldn't help but laugh as he watched Pinsir flee in a panic.
He looked up and found that Beautifly was still watching him—or more accurately, watching Heracross, who had come to Lucas's side at some unknown point.
Wait, hold on a second!
Lucas double-checked Heracross's gender—male—and then checked Beautifly's gender—also male————
Lucas: ?! ({△{)
Does the Pokémon world have that city too?!
Lucas bit his thumb, too shocked to speak.
Lucas looked at Heracross, "Um, Heracross, why don't you go hide too?"
Heracross didn't understand at first, then followed Lucas's gaze and took a look.
Suddenly, its backside tightened.
It turned and left immediately.
Vespiquen let out an incredibly cheerful laugh.
Lucas watched the Beautifly follow after Heracross.
He couldn't help but hold his forehead.
"Oh my goodness————"
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌