Eric didn't leave Pewter City after getting the Boulder badge. There were still things here for him to do.
First, Eric visited a TM shop to buy certain TMs for his Pokémon. He bought the Flamethrower and Sludge Wave TMs for his Haunter. Both were very expensive, costing him a total of 4 million pokedollars. But they were worth it.
Sludge Wave was a great poison-type move for Haunter, and as for Flamethrower...Eric had plans for it. Eric had made the system analyse the book Alka gave him. Certain things in it were just concepts, meaning Alka himself had not been able to make them work.
But they gave Eric ideas. With the help of his system, he hoped he could pull it off. But that is for the future. For what he had planned, he would need more information.
Aside from Haunter, he bought a few TMs for his other 2 pokemon as well.
For Poliwhirl, he bought Ice Beam, Surf and Brick Break. While surf and muddy water were similar, muddy water had a lower accuracy because it involved maneuvering more than just water, but mud as well.
For Fearow, he bought Tailwind and Roost! Both were invaluable moves and would significantly improve her combat strength.
With that, Eric had spent about 9,000,000P in just a day!
He was once again, almost broke.
After this, Eric's next destination...was the Breeder's Guild! It was an organisation made by Pokémon Breeders, and were in charge of all breeders in the league!
Eric had been considering this for a while. His system gave him an unfair advantage in this profession. And there is a reason why Pokémon breeders are considered so valuable.
Beyond their ability to make Poke blocks, which alone was very impressive, breeders can always make sure their Pokémon are always in top condition, even in the wilds. For optimal growth of a Pokémon, a breeder was necessary.
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"...and that's why we breeders are so important." A middle-aged man spoke excitedly to a group of people sitting in front of him, as if they were in a classroom.
One of them was Eric.
He had signed up for a beginner-level class in the Breeder Guild. It was quite expensive, costing over 100,000P weekly. During this period, Eric would be taught all the basics of being a Pokémon Breeder, and mainly, how to craft basic Poke Blocks!
Eric had stopped paying full attention to the teacher, who had spent the last 15 minutes glazing the heck out of the breeder profession. His gaze then shifted to a student sitting a little farther to his right. It wasn't clear if he was awake or sleeping, as his eyes appeared to be closed. That's right, it was Brock!
Eric knew that Brock became a Pokémon breeder in the anime, but he was still surprised to be in the same class as him.
"I can't stand this teacher. It's been a week since I joined, and every time he starts the class with this grand speech."
"Ya, it has gotten to the point where this speech sometimes appears in my dreams."
Two people beside Eric were whispering amongst themselves. Hearing them, Eric sighed. Well, he wasn't planning to spend a long time in this class, so it was fine.
After the grand speech ended, the teacher spent the next 2 hours teaching about how to take care of Pokémon, their biology, their growth phases and so on.
This, Eric found very useful. Especially when he had a Growlithe that was about to be born. Knowing what to look out for when raising a Pokémon from its infancy was very helpful, and he planned to learn everything he could before Growlithe was born.
After that came the lesson about Poke Blocks. This one was a lot more practical than just theory. The teacher explained and demonstrated how to craft Poke Blocks and then handed over basic tools for crafting them to everyone.
"Follow what I did and give it a go." He said as he sat back with his arms crossed and observed the class, particularly those who joined today.
Eric had the system analyse the process fully earlier, so, with its help, he started crafting the most basic of Poke Blocks.
His first attempt was sloppy. Even though the system helped him in every step, telling him what portion of which material to add, and at which moment, it was still his first time doing it, and his hand coordination was bad.
The crafting tool had a digital sensor that told the purity of the poke block once it was finished.
Eric's first attempt showed 30% purity.
The teacher looked with interest at Eric. He could tell it was his first time with his experience, and was impressed that he made a successful Poke Block, even with poor purity.
But soon, his expression turned from mild interest to shock, to pure horror.
Second attempt: 55%
Third attempt: 63%
Fourth attempt: 78%
Fifth attempt: 90%
The teacher blinked multiple times, doubting his own eyes.
'Is this really his first time?' He found it difficult to believe, but his experience told him it was. The sloppiness that gradually improved couldn't be faked.
Besides Eric, Brock, who was done crafting his Poke blocks, also looked towards Eric's direction. He was curious about the guy who just beat his father and was now in the same breeder class as him. He could tell, looking from afar, that Eric's poke blocks were already around the same purity as his.
This shocked him enough that he almost opened his eyes. Almost. Okay, they didn't even move. But his eyebrows raised sharply.
By the 8th attempt, Eric had improved enough to push the purity to 98%.
It was at this time that the teacher couldn't hold back anymore and shot up from his chair to go towards Eric.
"You! Come with me!" He grabbed Eric's arm with an intensity that said he won't take no for an answer.
"...fine, but could you let go of my hand first?"
"Oh. Sorry."
Eric could see the crazed, almost fanatic look in the teacher's eyes and wondered what's up.
"You really gave me a fright kid. Just come with me, I need you to meet someone. Hahaha, I can't wait to see the look on his face."
Eric sighed. He was just peacefully crafting his Poke Blocks. Why did something like that become so hectic all of a sudden.
Sigh. His life was so tough.
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