The process of making Pokéblocks is quite intricate. Ensuring that all the properties and energies of the Berries blend perfectly is crucial—if the raw materials are incorrect, even the rarest Berries will yield Pokéblocks with significantly weakened effects.
Even the order in which the Berries are added to the machine can affect the quality of the Pokéblocks. If one were to consider factors such as precise measurements and the freshness of each individual Berry, the process becomes even more complicated.
For mid-tier Pokéblocks, such precision isn't necessary. However, since this was a batch of high-tier Pokéblocks, they had to be crafted with the utmost care to avoid wasting such valuable ingredients.
It must be said that the Berries provided by Kade and Carsten seemed to have been stored meticulously, maintaining an impressive level of freshness—something that greatly benefited Maki's craft.
After over an hour of work, Maki finally completed the batch. Of course, he had deliberately prolonged the process and even subtly lowered the quality, ensuring that the Pokéblocks he produced were of a standard high-tier level and nothing more.
After all, creating Pokéblocks relies heavily on experience and intuition. Maki's expertise was largely due to Giovanni's backing—it was only within Team Rocket that he had unlimited access to such a vast supply of rare Berries for practice.
As for the League's version of "Maki," due to his "parents" both being League investigators, his family was quite wealthy. According to the information Maki had obtained, those two individuals—whom he had never actually met—had even left him a house in a city within the Kanto region.
If not for such financial privilege, Maki wouldn't have been able to obtain one of the League's starter Pokémon.
But producing high-tier Pokéblocks was one thing. If he demonstrated even greater proficiency, suspicions would surely arise. After all, an average middle-class League family couldn't afford to fund the rigorous training required to master Pokéblock crafting.
There's a limit to how much of a genius one can be. Reality doesn't always follow logic, but Maki saw no reason to push his limits unnecessarily. Slow and steady was the safer approach.
Now that he had officially joined the Breeder Association, Maki felt that he had taken another step closer to the small goal Giovanni had set for him.
"Phew… all done."
Wiping away the fine sweat that had formed on his forehead, Maki carefully cut the Pokéblocks into standard-sized portions and handed them over to Carsten and Kade.
"This…"
Carsten immediately snatched the box of Pokéblocks and examined them closely. Kade, after a few unsuccessful attempts to take a closer look, could only sigh in resignation and lean in to inspect them. Both men soon wore expressions of astonishment as they turned to look at Maki.
Although the quality of these Pokéblocks was slightly inferior to the ones they crafted, the difference was subtle—one that only an expert could discern.
Moreover, they were getting older. Maintaining such high-intensity work for extended periods had become increasingly difficult, and under normal circumstances, unless making Pokéblocks for someone very close to them, the quality of their work usually hovered around this level.
But Maki was still so young! He hadn't even reached his physiological peak yet.
The truth was, Maki did have an exceptional talent for crafting Pokéblocks, something even Giovanni had praised. Otherwise, even as the leader of Team Rocket, he wouldn't have wasted precious Berries on Maki's practice.
Of course, there was always a trade-off. Sabrina had once called Maki a rare "one-in-a-million genius"—yet even after extensive training with her family's ancestral psychic techniques, he had shown no signs of developing psychic abilities. In that regard, he was truly a unique case.
"Kid, are you sure you don't want to become a Pokémon Breeder?" Carsten asked, swallowing nervously. At this moment, he looked at Maki with more affection than he did his own unlucky grandson—like a rare gemstone, sparkling brilliantly in front of him.
"My only talent is in making Pokéblocks. I'm not particularly gifted in other areas, so I'd rather not," Maki replied casually.
"I think you should at least give it a try. You never know—you might discover even more hidden potential in yourself."
To Maki's surprise, this comment didn't come from Carsten but from Kade, who had been relatively quiet until now.
Carsten immediately shot Kade a disdainful look. "Oh, so now you believe me? Weren't you just doubting me earlier? And now you're trying to butter him up?"
Despite their enthusiasm, Maki politely declined. Aside from the fact that he was a member of Team Rocket, there was another important reason—just as he had said, he wasn't a well-rounded genius. His extraordinary talent was likely limited to this particular field.
The belief that one can achieve anything with enough effort is, in itself, a form of arrogance.
Before finalizing his registration, Carsten and Kade posed a serious question to Maki—should his profile be registered as a mid-tier or high-tier Pokémon Breeder?
In truth, by following the standard procedure, Maki wasn't yet qualified to be a high-tier Breeder. The level of specialized knowledge required was immense, and Maki was the very definition of an extreme specialist.
However, his specialization was so profound that it defied expectations. He had developed a unique style—an entirely new level of expertise—prompting Carsten and Kade to reconsider the usual standards.
"Normally speaking, a higher rank should be better, right?"
In response to Maki's question, Carsten nodded affirmatively.
"That's usually the case, which is why all breeders come to the Breeder Association for evaluation when they refine their skills... But your situation is different. You suddenly appeared as a high-level breeder with skills comparable to top-tier professionals, and at such a young age. There's no way you won't attract attention."
Then, a sly grin appeared on Carsten's face as he continued, "Considering your case, once your information is fully registered, the Joy and Jenny families might come looking for you."
"Huh? What for?"
Maki was momentarily stunned before quickly realizing what Carsten meant, his mouth twitching slightly.
"I have my dignity as a man, you know."
"They offer quite a lot," Carsten remarked, as if recalling some past experience.
"Oh? And how exactly do you know that?"
"I was quite the promising young man back in the day!" Carsten sighed, tilting his head back slightly. The wrinkles on his face stacked like the layers of a mille-feuille pastry.
"Oh, please. Even in your younger days, you barely looked human. The Joy family isn't blind—why would they ever choose you?"
Kade scoffed and mercilessly shot down Carsten's claim.
"Can't I have just heard about it from someone else?" Carsten glared at Kade, snapping out of his nostalgic daze.
"I've always had a question," Maki mused after a brief moment of contemplation, looking at Carsten as if the man held some secret knowledge.
"Oh? What is it?"
"Those who marry into the Joy and Jenny families—how do they even tell their wives apart? I can't even differentiate between Nurse Joy in Saffron City and the one in Celadon City."
"How would I know? I never married one."
Carsten shook his head in exasperation, wondering why this kid always focused on the strangest details.
"Alright, enough with the weird questions. Kid, what's your decision?" Kade cut in, feeling like he was the odd one out in this conversation. These two, despite their age difference, seemed to have remarkably similar personalities.
"I'll just register as a high-level breeder," Maki answered without much hesitation.
"Why?"
Kade wasn't surprised by Maki's decision. Judging from Maki's composure and analytical thinking, he clearly wasn't a fool. In fact, he had an insightful perspective and a maturity that didn't quite match his age.
"Well, no matter what happens, the association has my back, right? Since you two recruited me, I doubt you'd let anything happen to me."
A glint of intelligence flashed in Maki's eyes as he grinned at the two men.
The saying goes, 'The tallest tree in the forest gets the strongest wind.' But Maki's plan was the opposite—he wanted to stand out as much as possible and force the Pokémon League to notice him as soon as possible.
In the shadows, he had Giovanni and Team Rocket as his safety net, while on the surface, he had the Breeder Association as his official backing. Maki wasn't worried about any real danger.
And if worst came to worst, he'd just release the dragon. His Dragonite wasn't to be trifled with.
"Haha! Well said! Go ahead and do whatever you want—milk the League for all they're worth! With the association backing you up, you have nothing to worry about."
Carsten let out a hearty laugh and patted Maki on the shoulder, while Kade also showed a satisfied smile.
"Ahem. So, about these Pokéblocks..."
After completing the registration with Kade's assistance, Maki patted the box of Pokéblocks he had been holding all this time, making his intentions clear.
"Look at you. Fine, take them! If I remember correctly, your starter Pokémon was a Charmander, right? Seems like it's already evolved. These Pokéblocks will benefit it as well."
After a moment of hesitation, Carsten added another piece of advice: "But only use them occasionally as a supplement. For regular training, stick to mid-tier Pokéblocks. Overloading it with high-tier Pokéblocks won't do much good."
Maki nodded in agreement. That was his plan all along.
With two top-tier breeders in front of him, it would be a waste not to take advantage of their expertise. Following the principle of using the right people for the right job, Maki released his two Pokémon for them to inspect.
After all, in the realm of breeders, these two were true experts—far beyond his own capabilities. Neither Carsten nor Kade objected to Maki's request, and they led him to a more spacious area for the examination.
"Hmm... This Charmeleon has been exceptionally well-raised. Tell me the recipe for the Pokéblocks you've been using."
Carsten carefully examined Charmeleon and then looked at Maki with an approving gaze.
"The recipe I've been using is..." Maki proceeded to list various Berry names along with their proportions and preparation method.
Carsten listened carefully, nodding slightly before speaking. "You've made quite a few modifications to the standard formula, and I have to say, it suits your Charmeleon well. However…"
He paused before continuing, "There's still room for improvement. For example, you could reduce the amount of Haban Berries. Your Charmeleon's Fire-type energy reserves are already quite high… in fact, it looks like you've been overloading it a little, haven't you?"
As he observed the roaring flames on Charmeleon's tail, Carsten ran a hand over what little hair he had left. He almost yanked a few more strands out by accident.
A Charmeleon's tail flame is its life force—burning stronger means greater vitality and better physical condition. However, this only applies within a healthy range. The intensity of Maki's Charmeleon's flames was slightly excessive. Leah hadn't noticed this issue, simply assuming it was a sign of good care, since she wasn't familiar with Charmeleon's biology.
But to a top-tier Pokémon Breeder like Carsten, the problem was immediately apparent.
Excess Fire-type energy isn't necessarily a good thing. Take Sabrina, for example—her uncontrolled bursts of Psychic power were a direct result of an overwhelming energy imbalance.
Maki nodded thoughtfully at Carsten's advice. While Carsten assumed the issue stemmed from overfeeding, Maki knew the real reason.
Inside Charmeleon's body was a fragment of a Fire-type Plate.
Ever since Maki had let Charmeleon absorb the shard, he hadn't adjusted his diet to compensate. In fact, after Charmeleon evolved, Maki had even increased his meal portions.
But there was one crucial factor he had overlooked—Charmeleon might not need as much supplemental energy as a normal one. With the power of a Plate fragment inside him, the usual nutritional standards no longer applied.
Carsten noticed Maki's contemplative expression and figured his advice had gotten through. After providing an optimized ingredient ratio, he didn't press the issue further.
Beyond that, he also gave Maki some training recommendations tailored for Charmeleon, which proved to be invaluable.
"That just about covers it," Carsten concluded with a sigh. "Honestly, I thought there would be way more issues for me to point out, but after going over everything carefully, these were the only areas that needed improvement."
He had initially assumed Maki wasn't particularly skilled as a Breeder and expected to find all sorts of flaws in his training methods. But in the end, he had to dig deep just to find a few minor adjustments.
Kade had a similar experience—after reviewing the Pokéblock mix Maki used for his Cottonee, he gave a few minor suggestions. But aside from that, there wasn't much else to critique.
After briefing Maki on the requirements for officially joining the Breeder Association, they let him go. Before parting, they also gave him their phone numbers, assuring him that he could reach out for help anytime he had questions or trouble. If any special League-related requests came up in the future, a designated representative would contact him directly.
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