The entire morning passed without any customers besides Ariel.
At noon, Carver and Bewear had a simple meal. Since no one was visiting, they decided to take advantage of the downtime to tidy up the messy backyard.
Now that the breeding house was back in business, there were countless tasks Carver needed to handle personally.
He picked up and discarded the rocks hidden in the grass to prevent Pokémon from tripping while walking through the area.
This spot would soon become the habitat for Pokémon like Oddish and Ponyta, who enjoyed roaming grassy plains.
The forest area didn't require much from Carver. The trees were tall and dense, their leafy crowns forming a lush canopy with sunlight filtering through, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor—it looked beautiful.
This area would be reserved for forest-dwelling Pokémon like Treecko, Lotad, and Seedot.
As for the lake area, it would naturally belong to Magikarp, Feebas, and other Water-type Pokémon.
Bewear stood on the grass, watching Carver work. It quickly memorized what he was doing, then stepped forward, snatched the weed trimmer from his hands, and pushed him away to make him rest.
Carver looked confused. "What's wrong, Bewear? I'm working. I need to tidy up this grass so we can accommodate guest Pokémon properly."
"Guu!"
Bewear pushed Carver aside and took over the task of mowing the overgrown grass.
Seeing this, Carver finally understood.
Bewear was insisting that he should go rest!
He couldn't help but smile wryly.
Was Bewear treating him like a child?
Always looking after him, feeling happy when he was happy, and feeling sad when he was sad.
Given Bewear's strength, Carver knew it was pointless to resist, so he simply handed over the task and decided to go to the garden area to start preparing the soil.
"Bewear, I'll leave this to you. I'm going back inside to see if any customers show up. Once we're done, let's take a walk in the forest later this evening."
"Guu!" Bewear gladly agreed.
With a smile, Carver turned and headed to the garden.
With the help of the Machamp construction crew, the soil in the garden had been fully turned and was ready for planting.
He decided to call this area the Herb Garden.
Besides growing everyday vegetables and fruits, Carver planned to plant medicinal herbs here to make potions.
He could produce Potions for restoring energy, Antidotes for poisoning, and Burn Heals to treat burns.
This way, if any Pokémon in the breeding house got hurt, Carver wouldn't have to run into town. He could just treat them on the spot.
The herb garden wasn't large, so Carver finished sowing the herb seeds and vegetable seeds from Fallarbor Town in just over an hour.
He divided the garden into three areas with wooden fences:
Herb Garden
Vegetable Plot
Berry Orchard
Currently, the breeding house had five berry trees:
Oran Berry, Pecha Berry, Sitrus Berry, Chesto Berry, and Aspear Berry.
Since that wasn't a lot of variety, Carver planned to purchase more berry trees later to diversify the orchard.
After sowing the seeds, Carver slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten something important.
Watering!
He hurriedly grabbed a Psyduck watering can, filled it up, and began watering each plot.
"Looks like I'll need to catch a Water-type Pokémon to help with watering." Carver murmured.
It would be perfect to find a suitable Water-type Pokémon while exploring the forest later.
Now that the breeding house had a steady income and was running smoothly, Carver could afford to raise more Pokémon.
After finishing his work, it was already 3 PM, and Bewear had also wrapped up his tasks.
"Take a break!" Carver handed Bewear a chilled berry juice.
Bewear took a sip, feeling refreshed and cooled down.
"Guu!" Bewear was delighted, and his Joy value increased as his fatigue faded.
Carver glanced at the screen but noticed no reward this time. Perhaps it was to prevent him from farming gifts from the same Pokémon, or maybe the Joy hadn't reached the threshold for another gift.
Either way, Carver didn't mind. He was just happy to have Bewear by his side.
Carver glanced at the clock—it was already 3:30 PM. He decided to check if any customers had arrived. If not, he would close up and head to the forest with Bewear.
Just as Carver stood up, a boy about ten years old rushed in.
A new customer!
"Hello! How can I help you?" Carver greeted.
The boy's eyes were bright with excitement, though his forehead was glistening with sweat from running.
"Boss! Do you have any Pokémon eggs for sale?!" the boy asked eagerly.
Carver paused. "Sorry, the breeding house just reopened, and we're not yet able to offer that service."
"Oh…" The boy's excitement faded. "No eggs…"
It turned out that the breeding house near Fallarbor Town was the only one around. If he couldn't buy a Pokémon here, he'd have to catch one himself.
But without a Pokémon of his own, battling wild Pokémon would be impossible.
"Did you come from Fallarbor Town?" Carver asked.
"Yes! My name's Ye. I just turned ten today!" the boy introduced himself.
"How did you know about this breeding house?" Carver was curious since he hadn't advertised yet.
"Officer Jenny told me!" Ye replied.
Jenny? Was she helping with publicity? Carver was surprised.
"So, boss, when will you have Pokémon eggs?" Ye pressed.
Carver thought for a moment. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll be contacting some Trainers to acquire eggs. If you're looking for a specific Pokémon, let me know, and I'll keep an eye out for you."
Aside from care and training, selling Pokémon eggs was a core business of breeding houses.
Although it was generally illegal to trade Pokémon privately, breeding houses were an exception. However, they were only allowed to sell eggs or infant Pokémon.
Ye, still a bit down, perked up at the idea. "Can I pre-order a Dratini egg?"
Carver: "…That's too rare. Breeding houses don't usually get those."
"What about Bagon?"
"Also no."
"Charmander?"
"Charmander is native to Kanto; we don't have it in Hoenn."
Ye sighed, clearly disappointed.
Carver didn't rush—he knew that being a good businessman meant understanding the customer's needs and then recommending products that matched while also ensuring a profit.
Based on Ye's preferences, he seemed to favor cool, dragon-like Pokémon.
If there was any relatively common Dragon-type egg, it would likely be Axew.
"I'll keep an eye out. Leave me your contact info, and I'll let you know if I get one."
Ye reluctantly gave his home number and left, looking back with hope.
"Please, Boss! I really want my own Pokémon to travel with!"
That was the dream of every ten-year-old in the Pokémon world—a dream Carver had once shared.
He paused, then smiled warmly.
"I promise."