Chapter 7

Darren left in a hurry. He was someone who didn't like to meddle in others' business, mainly because most of the potions the girl had prepared seemed to only require basic knowledge of a junior breeder, making Darren slightly concerned.

If he wasn't mistaken, these potions were probably all handcrafted by the girl herself. Despite her young age, she possessed the skills of a junior breeder, which surprised Darren and left him feeling a bit stunned. He no longer felt superior to others.

Encountering a girl at a small booth who possessed abilities equal to his own was a coincidence. The World was so vast, and there were undoubtedly many talented people that he didn't know about. The few bottles of potions at the girl's booth were some that he didn't understand the principles behind.

Darren just happened to notice the flaw in that bottle of powder, and because of this example of an error, he knew the difference between the correct and incorrect combinations. This was not because the girl was inferior to him, but because one specialized in their field. This knowledge was something that Darren happened to understand by chance, and even top breeders could not claim to be all-knowing.

"I'll just wait patiently."

As the sky grew dark, Darren prepared to quietly wait for the arrival of tomorrow, which would confirm his four years of effort and need to pass the junior breeder's exam.

After becoming a junior breeder, he would finally have the confidence to venture out alone.

He found a relatively open space and set up his tent. He released his Beautifly, whose alertness was stronger than a human's, so they could both be outside and take care of each other to prevent accidents.

Another peaceful and tranquil night passed in Slateport City.

The next day.

As the sky began to brighten, Wingull flew over the ocean, gliding through the air with the sea breeze.

Early in the morning, Darren's Beautifly woke up and flapped its wings to wake him up.

Darren checked the time, it was six o'clock, one hour before the ship Broken Waves set sail. He wasn't in a hurry.

The Beautifly had a very regular routine, and with it waking Darren up, there was no need to worry about oversleeping.

After packing up his belongings and tent, Darren found a water source to wash his face and began to make his way to the port.

Although it was still early, there were already many people boarding the ship. When Darren arrived, there were already quite a few people outside the port.

"There are so many people."

Darren complained.

In a noisy harbor, there was a continuous stream of people, and even though the staff tried to maintain order, it was difficult to improve the situation.

After wasting who knows how much time, Darren finally boarded the S.S. Broken Waves.

"It wasn't easy. There were too many people," the other passengers who squeezed onto the ship with him also exclaimed.

Then it was time to find his own room. Actually, the room wasn't very useful. Riding this ship only required less than a day to travel from Slateport City to Lilycove City, and the so-called room was a rough place to rest.

After all, the S.S. Broken Waves was not a luxury liner.

Darren was alone, so he just stayed in his room.

But after a while, Darren's door was knocked.

"Hello - it's lunchtime. Would you like to go to the restaurant?"

The person who came was a staff member of the S.S. Broken Waves, responsible for reminding passengers to eat. As for whether Darren would go eat or not...

Touching his dry pockets, Darren smiled bitterly and decided to continue snacking. The food on the S.S. Broken Waves was not something he could afford.

It was noon now, and since he had just finished eating, Darren had nothing to do. He lay on the small bed and took a nap. After about an hour, Darren felt a bit dizzy and regretted sleeping on the ship.

To clear his head, Darren walked out of his room and went to the railing of the ship to feel the sea breeze. Sure enough, after staying there for a few minutes, he felt much better.

"Beautifly. Come and feel it too."

Like Darren, Beautifly was also on a ship for the first time and appeared somewhat novel, flying around him.

"Don't get lost," Darren reminded him.

Then, Darren was alone, leaning on the railing of the deck, facing the sea breeze blowing towards him. He gazed out at the vast blue ocean, lost in thought.

"Is that your Pokemon?" An old and powerful voice sounded in Darren's ear, interrupting his thoughts. He turned his head to see a silver-haired old man, probably around the same age as Granny Oran, staring with interest at the Beautifly on Darren's head.

"Yes, is there something you need?" Darren responded.

Watching Darren's indifferent attitude, the old man chuckled and asked casually, "You've raised it quite well. Are you a trainer?"

Darren looked like he was in his early teens.

"No," Darren shook his head, recalling Beautifly, and spun around to let the elegant butterfly land on his shoulder.

"Oh, then are you a breeder?" The old man became even more curious as he watched Beautifly elegantly land on Darren's shoulder.

"Not really," Darren replied again, trying to avoid endless questions. "I'm actually on my way to Lilycove City to take the breeder exam."

"You say you're a breeder?!" The old man laughed heartily, feeling surprised and amused by Darren's response.

"Not yet," Darren said, turning to leave. He subconsciously took the old man's laughter as mockery.

A ten-year-old breeder was indeed a joke to many people.

Unlike trainers, there were strict requirements to become a breeder. Due to the rigor of the profession, breeders needed to be certified by the breeder Headquarters before they could call themselves breeders.

Being a breeder involved a lot of complex knowledge that took a long time to acquire.

To many people, it was indeed incredible that someone as young as Darren was on his way to take the breeder exam.

After all, at his age, most children had just obtained their trainer qualifications and were still very inexperienced.

Most children couldn't even remember the names and attributes of their Pokemon, let alone the complex pharmacology or the deep-seated habits and characteristics of their Pokemon.

So even though the old man's laughter seemed rude to Darren, he could understand. After all, he knew becoming a breeder was not easy. After four years of study, he was no longer a complete novice.

"You misunderstood. My name is Shozo, and I wasn't laughing at you," the old man called after Darren as he walked away.

Darren didn't seem happy about being stopped, and instead asked, "I understand. Is there anything else, old man?"