Wen Qi quickly exited the Breeders' Association. Thankfully, while getting in was difficult, leaving was simple enough.
Seeing that it was still early—though some time had been wasted—there was still a while until lunch. He wanted to explore a bit more and happened to notice that the entire street next to the Breeders' Association seemed to be dedicated to breeder businesses.
The street was lined with numerous Pokémon breeding houses, most either run by breeders themselves or affiliated with one. Wen Qi scanned the area, easily spotting dozens of breeding houses at a glance.
In the Alliance, opening a breeding house on one's own was no easy feat. There were clear regulations: either the owner must hold an intermediate breeder certificate, or the shop must have an intermediate breeder as an affiliate. Only by meeting these conditions could one qualify to open a shop.
After all, raising Pokémon was no simple task; it required specialized and extensive knowledge and experience. Intermediate breeders possessed a certain level of skill and capability, offering customers relatively reliable services.
It wasn't surprising to see so many breeding houses on this street. After all, the number of breeders in the Association was limited, making appointments extremely difficult and failing to meet the market's huge demand for Pokémon breeding.
Thus, some shrewd breeders seized the opportunity and opened private breeding houses one after another.
However, in the early days, due to a lack of effective management and regulation, the market grew increasingly chaotic. Breeding houses of varying quality sprang up, some lacking even professional breeder guidance, causing customer losses and severely disrupting market order.
Fortunately, the Alliance eventually stepped in and established a series of strict rules. For instance, an intermediate certificate was mandatory to open a shop, along with numerous other regulations to strictly oversee breeding house operations. After a round of rectification, the earlier chaos finally came to an end.
After years of development, the breeding house market gradually became standardized, forming the orderly, professional landscape seen today, providing customers with higher-quality, more reliable Pokémon breeding services.
Wen Qi took a general stroll outside and quickly noticed three breeding houses that stood out prominently. Their scale was noticeably larger than the others, and their signs were completely different from the surrounding shops—more eye-catching and refined.
Curious, he approached to read the introductions and understood why. It turned out these three breeding houses had advanced breeders as affiliates; no wonder they were so distinctive.
Generally speaking, advanced breeders were rare and authoritative figures in the industry. Their professional knowledge and rich experience made these three breeding houses highly sought after.
As for shops affiliated with top-tier breeders, none were to be seen in this area. After all, those who reached the top level usually held important positions in the Association, engaged in higher-level research and work, and wouldn't casually affiliate with shops.
Even if a top-tier breeder did affiliate occasionally, it was mostly for their own shop, due to family business inheritance, or for special reasons that led them to participate personally.
Wen Qi gazed at these three breeding houses with advanced breeder affiliations, his heart filled with mixed emotions. With the reputation and strength of advanced breeders, these shops must be thriving. Meanwhile, those without such backing could only struggle to survive amid fierce competition.
Wen Qi had been eager to go in and take a look, but when he reached the shop entrances, he suddenly realized he had been too naive. He saw notices posted at the doors, clearly stating "Entry requires advance reservation," which left him dumbfounded.
Even the worst shops here required reservations. Only then did Wen Qi truly grasp how lightly he had taken things.
In his view, an intermediate breeder might not be anything special, but for most trainers, an intermediate breeder was already an unattainable presence. As a result, these breeding houses were doing business beyond imagination.
Wen Qi helplessly realized that even if he could enter a shop, there was little of value he could do. At most, he could handle the simplest tasks like bathing Pokémon, brushing their fur, or grooming—things he had zero interest in.
After all, cleaning his Pokémon was a breeze for him; with a slight control in the small world, any dirt would vanish instantly. As for grooming, Wen Qi had no interest whatsoever—he felt Pokémon were fine in their natural state, with no need for deliberate beautification.
With that thought, Wen Qi's high hopes evaporated in an instant. He had wanted to see how these breeders operated, but now it seemed hopeless. The various energy cubes sold in those shops, which he glanced over, also seemed mediocre, nowhere near matching his own.
This trip left Wen Qi with dashed expectations and nothing gained.
Standing at the street corner, Wen Qi shook his head helplessly and let out a deep sigh. His initial excitement had turned into deep disappointment, feeling like he had come for nothing.
Since there was nothing worth seeing or doing, he might as well head straight back to the hotel, laze around like a "couch potato," and get some good rest.
With that thought, Wen Qi, filled with disappointment and resignation, turned away from this lively but irrelevant place and headed toward the hotel.
Back at the hotel, Wen Qi collapsed onto the bed as soon as he entered the room. Bellossom and the others gathered around, joining him in "couch potato" mode.
Still, Wen Qi wasn't entirely idle. He occasionally entered the small world to check on the new additions: Eevee, Munchlax, Duraludon, and Axew. To his relief, these little ones were all in good shape.
Eevee and Munchlax were having a great time, with Munchlax being the most content—the environment was nice, and there was plenty of delicious food, making it absolutely delightful. The only downside for Munchlax was that Eevee kept controlling its eating, preventing it from having a full feast, which left it a bit frustrated.
As for Duraludon and Axew, they trained diligently alongside Dragonair, even motivating the previously lazy Noibat to become much more serious.
Wen Qi was quite satisfied with this. He told them to rest and recuperate for a few days before he would enhance their aptitudes.
And so, Wen Qi spent his time lazing around while watching the Pokémon train, and before he knew it, evening had arrived.
As usual, Wen Qi stayed cooped up in his room binge-watching shows, fully embracing his homebody lifestyle.
At Wu Zhengyu's house, things were different.
After dinner, Wu Zhengyu couldn't wait to follow his grandfather, Wu Wenfeng, into the study. Before Wu Zhengyu could speak, the old man, Wu Wenfeng, cut in first:
"You little rascal, what's going on? I noticed you were distracted during dinner, and now you drag me to the study right after eating. What's so mysterious? Spit it out!"
Wu Wenfeng fixed his sharp gaze on Wu Zhengyu, waiting for his answer.
Caught off guard by his grandfather's question, Wu Zhengyu grew nervous. After hesitating for a moment, he finally began to speak slowly...