"That's how it is."
In the breeding house's lobby, Jenny slowly explained the situation to Carver.
"This Growlithe egg was something your mother reserved from the family when you were seven. She intended to give it to you as your starter Pokémon on your tenth birthday. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned."
Carver felt deeply conflicted inside.
So this was the gift the original Carver's mother had mentioned in his dream?
"…"
Seeing the boy remain silent, Jenny pulled out a black card bearing the Jenny family emblem and placed it on the counter.
"This is the compensation money from the accident three years ago—one million Pokécoins."
In truth, the original settlement was only 500,000. The shipping company responsible for the disaster was a small operation. The incident led to a public outcry, their stock crashed, and they declared bankruptcy. The owner went straight to jail.
The remaining amount had been raised through donations by members of the Jenny family. After all, Carver was part of the family—they couldn't just let him starve.
"One million…" Carver was stunned.
There had been no memory of this in the original Carver's mind. From Jenny's tone, it seemed the Jenny family had been holding it on his behalf all along.
Which made sense. What seven-year-old could manage such a sum?
"Sorry it's taken this long to give it to you," Jenny said apologetically. "Do you have any plans for the future? If you'd like, you can come live with the Jenny family."
Carver fell silent.
It did sound tempting.
But he didn't want to rely on anyone else. He wanted to depend on himself.
Besides, he had already made his decision: to stay with Bewear and run this breeding house.
Only that way could he fully use his cheat ability.
"I want to stay and reopen this breeding house," Carver replied.
As expected, Jenny wasn't surprised.
"Same answer as three years ago," she said with a nod. She didn't linger, likely due to her workload.
Before she left, though, Jenny gave him her contact info.
"I'm currently stationed in Fallarbor Town. If you ever need help, you can reach me."
"Also, be careful. Two evil organizations have recently emerged in Hoenn. They've been stealing Trainers' Pokémon. We've received reports from all over." Jenny warned him.
Evil organizations?
Was she referring to Team Magma and Team Aqua?
"Understood. I'll be careful," Carver said.
Jenny nodded, then turned and left the breeding house with her Arcanine.
Carver watched them go until they disappeared from view. Then he and Bewear returned to the living room.
There on the table lay the Growlithe egg and the black card loaded with one million Pokécoins. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
A Growlithe egg…
Both parents were Elite Four–level Arcanines.
Undoubtedly, this was an excellent Pokémon egg.
Carver was starting to feel excited.
This Growlithe was likely going to be his starter Pokémon.
Unfortunately, the egg still needed three more days to hatch. As eager as Carver was, some things couldn't be rushed.
As for that one million Pokécoins—if converted to RMB, it'd be a fortune.
But in the Pokémon world, despite sounding impressive, it wasn't that much.
Still, it was plenty as startup capital for the breeding house.
After three years of neglect, most of the furniture and tools were damaged or unusable.
With this money, he could:
Repair the broken back fence
Replace old tables and chairs
Swap out the dusty, discolored sofa in the main hall
The inn also needed a makeover. Some guest beds had broken boards.
Adding some decorative plants would spruce it up and make it ready to welcome guests again.
Besides that, the breeding house needed appliances like refrigerators, ovens, a TV, and most importantly—Pokémon egg incubators.
The household items would help daily life, while the incubators were crucial for a breeding house.
Hatching eggs and helping client Pokémon produce strong offspring was one of the core services.
After all that, there wouldn't be much of the million left.
Carver began mentally outlining the renovation plan—and set off with Bewear for Fallarbor Town that very day.
Now familiar with riding the "Bewear Express", Carver could just barely tolerate the experience.
He spent the day scouting and ultimately chose a company called "Mighty Machamp Renovations."
After explaining his requirements and paying a deposit, the crew arrived that afternoon—with several Machamp—to begin work on the breeding house.
Carver and Bewear watched the Machamp crew from a distance.
They dismantled the rotting fences, replaced them with sturdy new ones, carried out broken furniture, and installed brand-new tables and beds…
"Guu!"
Bewear's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
It was overjoyed by both its young master's change and the revival of the breeding house.
Carver glanced at Bewear—its little sun icon was gone, meaning its emotions had settled.
But now, as the breeding house slowly came back to life, its mood shifted again.
Its Joy rose from 20 to 40.
A glowing little sun once more floated above its head.
And then—Carver's field of vision lit up with a message:
[Bewear's mood improved. Joy +20. Received Bewear's gift: TM for "Tackle."]
[TM (Tackle): A Normal-type move. Charges the opponent with full body weight. Can be taught via intent or to compatible Pokémon. Guaranteed success. Uses: 9999/9999.]
"Tackle… So I got another reward."
"But this time, the move isn't as rare or difficult as Baby-Doll Eyes."
"Is it because the Joy boost was smaller?"
Since the Joy only increased by 20, he got Tackle.
The greater the mood boost, the rarer the reward.
Carver reflected. Since his arrival in this world, he'd been busy just surviving and hadn't properly studied his cheat ability.
Now that he had a moment, he decided to run a little test.
He focused on a Machamp nearby that was carrying supplies...