Auron laughed. "Me? I've got my improved Pokéblock formulas. Money comes in every month. I'm not exactly strapped for cash."
Lucas's chubby little face drooped. "Fine. Forget I said anything."
"Alright, since we've got nothing better to do, how about we go check it out tomorrow morning?"
"Works for me."
"OK."
"Then it's settled." Auron clapped his hands with a smile. Phew. He'd finally managed to steer the conversation away from Manaphy.
"Why not this afternoon? My competition starts tomorrow." Jace propped his chin on his hand, face etched with misery. He loved these kinds of brainless errands—the kind where Auron did all the thinking and Jace just executed. His favorite arrangement.
Auron smirked. "Didn't you just say you have your school reward to collect, so you're not coming?"
Jace: righteous_indignation.jpg
"Yeah, but you've got Aura! Any egg you pick for me is gonna be perfect anyway."
Auron blinked, then noticed everyone else nodding in fervent agreement.
He pressed a palm to his forehead. "Fine. What can I say—I'm your big brother, after all."
Jace looked at him with pure contempt. "Pft. You're younger than me."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm older than you too." Tim nodded along.
Finally, Lucas chimed in with a quiet, apologetic tone. "Master... technically speaking, I'm also about two months older than you."
Auron didn't get annoyed. He just smiled. "Oh? Is that so? Well, if you call me 'big brother,' I'll pick you all the perfect Pokémon."
"BIG BROTHER!" ×6
"Wow. I shouldn't be surprised."
Watching all six of them flip their expressions on a dime to call him big brother, Auron didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Alright, alright. Clean up. I'm heading upstairs for a nap. Tomorrow we'll all go hit up the Pokémon shop."
"OK!"
"No problem!"
Everyone agreed, hands already busy. The table of leftovers was cleared in no time.
Tim and Jace grabbed the trash on their way out, leaving with the others.
Once his friends were gone, Auron stretched, yawned, and scooped up Dratini to head upstairs.
"Let's go~ Naptime~"
"Oh, and if you guys don't want to sleep, feel free to go play outside. Just be back for dinner."
Downstairs, Crobat's warm gaze followed Auron as he poked his head over the railing. She nodded at him, then hooked a wing at Charizard before flying out the door.
Charizard saw the big sister beckoning and hurried after her.
Auron watched the two fly off and shook his head with a smile. Crobat had been working hard lately, training Charizard on her own initiative. It saved him a lot of trouble.
("I'm heading out too. Want to come with me?")
After Crobat and Charizard left, Munchlax lowered his head and asked Clawitzer.
("Mm.")
("Cool. Let's go then.")
("Me too, me too!")
("Ugh, fine.")
Munchlax scooped up the bouncing Electabuzz, set him on his shoulder, and ambled out the door with Clawitzer waddling behind.
...
The next morning, Auron woke up early. After sleeping that long, even an early alarm couldn't produce that groggy, half-dead feeling.
"Hmm. I really need to get a juicer. Can't keep drinking sweet tea all the time—even if it is pretty good."
He'd finished making breakfast and was watching his Pokémon sip their sweet tea when the thought hit him.
He'd originally planned to make berry juice this morning. They'd come home last night panting and exhausted, so some fresh juice would've been a nice pick-me-up—better nutrition than sweet tea, and it'd restore their stamina faster.
"Right. I need to restock on berries too. Running low."
Auron mentally tallied today's shopping list. A big supply run meant buying everything at once.
"Stamina-boosting Pokéblocks. Strength-building Pokéblocks. Speed-enhancing Pokéblocks... hiss, I need all of these. Crobat and Munchlax have hit their growth period. Can't skip any of it."
"Crobat, Munchlax, Charizard, and Clawitzer... somehow it feels like I've got less money than I thought."
After running the numbers on Pokéblock production costs and calculating how much each Pokémon would need, Auron suddenly felt his wallet getting lighter.
"Oh right—the administrator told me to come collect my rewards. Grandpa said the researcher rewards come with a hefty payout too."
RING~ RING~ RING~
Just as he was mulling over his rewards, his phone rang.
He picked it up. Unknown number—but he answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Whooo~ whooo~ Hey, Auron! Know who this is? Whooo~"
Auron paused. Why was the wind so loud? The voice sounded familiar, though.
"You are...?"
"Whooo~ Haha! You'll find out soon. Are you home? I'll be there in a sec. Whooo~"
"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm home."
"Great. Almost there. Whooo~"
After the call ended, Auron finally processed what had just happened. "Wait—who was that? And how is he almost here already?"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~
"Coming!"
Still puzzling over the mystery caller, Auron heard the door and decided to just open it. The person was already here—he'd find out soon enough.
"Uh... Mr. Administrator? What brings you here?"
He opened the door and froze. It was the Dragon Kingdom's official administrator.
"Haha! Sorry about that. Yesterday was so hectic I never got a chance to properly introduce myself to young Dr. Vale." The man grinned, slapped his own forehead, then extended his hand with a formal expression. "Hello. Official administrator—Cyrus Zhuge."
Auron gave a slight bow and shook his hand with a wry smile. "Please, just call me Auron. 'Young Dr. Vale' is way too much."
Cyrus clapped him on the shoulder. "Haha! Heroes are born young. You absolutely deserve the title. But if you insist—then I'll take the liberty of calling you Auron."
"Hehe. Auron works, Auron works." He ushered Cyrus inside, still grinning. "So, Uncle Cyrus—what brings you by?"
(End of Chapter)