Pokemon: The Breeding House

Zangoose's expression immediately became gentler. Although still cold, it no longer held the wariness from before.

It looked at the human before it. Though its face showed nothing, its heart was filled with gratitude.

Now it could continue getting stronger and defeat its nemesis Seviper!

After it defeated Seviper, it would come back to properly repay this human's life-saving kindness.

Zangoose turned to leave. Before departing, it looked back at the human behind it, then turned and disappeared into the dark night.

Seeing this, Carver was slightly stunned.

Zangoose just left like that?

Its joy level didn't increase either...

Carver was somewhat confused.

Probably because Zangoose had encountered something that put it in a bad mood?

Whatever, rescuing Pokémon was a forest ranger's duty anyway. Carver decided not to overthink it.

After confirming no more customers would visit, he closed the shop and prepared to rest.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, An and her two companions got up early. They didn't leave immediately, but stayed at the breeding house to train their Pokémon.

According to An, they planned to pass through Meteor Falls next and head to Rustboro City to challenge the gym there.

So before that, they needed to properly train their Pokémon.

Especially after learning about the breeding house's main business, An immediately firmed her resolve to stay and train.

"Boss, I want my Altaria to learn Dragon Dance!" An said excitedly.

Dragon Dance was normally a very difficult move to master, especially for Pokémon without dancing talent.

Unfortunately, her Altaria was exactly that type of Pokémon without dancing talent.

They had worked hard for a long time but couldn't master this move.

She never expected this breeding house could teach Dragon Dance!

Dragon Dance could enhance a Pokémon's speed and strength, which would perfectly complement Altaria's weaknesses.

"Dragon Dance?" Carver nodded with a smile: "Of course, no problem. Learning Dragon Dance takes about a day, depending on your Pokémon's comprehension."

"No problem!" An nodded. In that case, they'd stay here for two days!

"Alright, please give me your Pokémon. I'll arrange for my Pokémon to teach it in the backyard," Carver said.

An nodded and handed over Altaria's Poké Ball.

The other two began sparring on the battle field at the breeding house entrance.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting any experience, Carver immediately had Bagon wear the Exp. Share and go absorb experience nearby.

Carver stood watching the battle while serving as referee.

The two boys weren't novice trainers fresh from starting their journey. Their Pokémon were a Camerupt and a Ludicolo respectively.

Although Camerupt was at a type disadvantage, it seemed familiar with Ludicolo's attack patterns. Under its trainer's commands, it fought with ease and soon ended the battle with one Earth Power.

Bagon, wearing the Exp. Share nearby, initially didn't understand what this thing was for.

Its small brows furrowed tightly, seemingly disliking having something else on its head, especially this oddly-shaped item.

But when the battle ended, Bagon's eyes immediately went wide.

Strength was continuously flowing forth!

What was this feeling?!

Its strength was growing, and many battle scenes appeared in its mind, as if it had personally experienced such battles!

Bagon was stunned, standing there in a daze.

At this moment, it had only one thought: Getting stronger could be this simple?

"Clap clap clap!"

Carver led the applause.

"Very exciting match!"

Faced with praise, the two boys scratched their heads embarrassedly.

Just then, one of the boys seemed to suddenly notice something and pointed: "There seems to be a Pokémon over there!"

Hearing this, Carver turned to look. The next second, he saw a familiar figure limping out from the forest.

That was... the Zangoose from last night?

How was it injured again?!

Zangoose seemed to have expended great effort coming from the forest to the breeding house. When it reached the breeding house entrance, it could no longer hold on and collapsed with a thud, falling unconscious.

Without time to think, Carver hurried forward to check the situation.

He saw that Zangoose's body had many double-puncture bite marks, seemingly caused by some snake Pokémon.

Seviper? Carver immediately thought of this name.

Because Zangoose and Seviper were ancient enemies, and fighting each other was encoded in their genes.

Seviper was a Poison-type Pokémon. Fortunately, this Zangoose had the Immunity ability, which could prevent poisoning. Otherwise, its injuries would probably be even more severe.

Carver directed Bewear to help carry Zangoose into the main hall, then used the old method to treat it.

However, whether because this injury was more severe or because it was too exhausted, Zangoose didn't wake up immediately.

An and her two companions were also drawn over.

Looking at this severely injured Pokémon, they couldn't help asking:

"Boss, what's going on with this Pokémon?"

"It's injured. I'm the forest ranger for this forest, so I occasionally rescue injured Pokémon here." Carver briefly explained what happened last night and his speculation: "Looking at the wounds on its body, it should have had a fight to the death with a Seviper."

"Zangoose and Seviper..." An murmured. As far as she knew, these two Pokémon had always been natural enemies.

Just then, Zangoose slowly regained consciousness.

"It's awake!" the boy nearby said.

An immediately looked at it: "Zangoose, you're awake?"

Zangoose remained silent, not speaking.

Its gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Carver.

Carver said helplessly: "Your body and spirit haven't fully recovered yet. Continuing like this won't work—it could easily cause irreparable damage."

Zangoose: "..."

Just then, its nose twitched a few times.

Almost instantly, Zangoose became alert. It perked up its ears, contracted its pupils, suddenly jumped off the sofa, and rushed outside.

Seeing this, everyone present was slightly stunned, then hurried to follow.

When Carver came outside, he clearly saw a black snake with a pair of blood-red fangs in the distance.

"That Pokémon is—"

"Seviper!" An called out the Pokémon's name.

At this moment, Zangoose had already assumed a battle stance, confronting the Seviper that had pursued it.

Seviper's gaze didn't linger on the humans but looked toward the opposite Zangoose.

"Hiss..."