“I suppose I can count myself as half a Pokémon Breeder now, right?”
Kuroba couldn’t help thinking that as he stared at the Pokéblock he had successfully produced.
He still hadn’t taken the official examination administered by the Pokémon Breeders’ Association, but the fact that he could make Pokéblocks meant he already had one foot through the door.
All he lacked now was experience and familiarity.
Once he accumulated enough practice, producing Pokéblocks would become much easier and far more consistent.
“Still, it took me thousands of attempts just to successfully make this one kind of Pokéblock. I wonder how many different kinds Teacher can make.”
Kuroba’s thoughts began to wander.
He had heard before that the Pokémon Breeder examination was notoriously difficult.
Candidates had to answer a huge number of questions in the written portion, and the final practical test required them to produce a high-quality Pokéblock within a strict time limit.
Only those who succeeded could officially earn the respected title of Junior Pokémon Breeder.
Kuroba glanced toward the corner of the room, where the materials he had ruined during his countless failed attempts were piled up.
“People say Pokémon Breeders are money-making machines, but the investment needed to get started is ridiculous. No wonder Teacher held such a high position aboard the Great Shark even before she became captain.”
Back when the former captain was still alive, Madam Meta had already been one of the most influential people on the entire ship.
And the reason was simple.
She had effectively monopolized the supply of Pokéblocks.
Out at sea, if there was one resource that could be considered universally valuable, it was undoubtedly basic Water-type Pokéblocks.
Almost everyone living this life owned at least one Water-type Pokémon, and for most pirates, those Water types were raised as core members of their teams.
Pokéblocks obtained from the mainland generally had to be purchased through black markets, where their prices were painfully high.
That made the Pokéblocks Madam Meta produced aboard the Great Shark incredibly popular.
Water-type Pokéblocks were so valuable that demand almost always exceeded supply.
That monopoly was one of the foundations of Madam Meta’s lofty status.
“But now… I should be able to benefit from that too.”
The corners of Kuroba’s mouth slowly curled upward.
Sure enough, once word spread throughout the Great Shark that Kuroba had successfully learned how to make Pokéblocks, more and more pirates began visiting him.
Their reason for coming was always the same.
They wanted to buy Pokéblocks.
Kuroba threw himself even harder into practice over the following days.
At first, he might succeed only once after several hundred attempts.
Now, however, he could reliably produce one successful batch in roughly every hundred attempts.
When luck was on his side, he could occasionally succeed twice.
It was still an abysmal success rate.
But compared with where he had started, it was enormous progress.
…
Half a year passed quietly.
By then, the Great Shark had long since returned to the waters of the Hoenn region.
These were familiar seas.
Every pirate crew operating in the region had its own customary territory, and the Great Shark soon returned to its old routine.
From time to time, they robbed tourist vessels.
Whenever they encountered rare Water-type Pokémon, they captured them and later sold them on the mainland.
The crew also recruited new members twice during that period.
The recruitment drives weren’t particularly large, but the number of pirates aboard the Great Shark was steadily climbing toward two hundred again.
“Kuroba, not bad.”
Madam Meta held a pure white Pokéblock between her slender fingers and examined it carefully.
Kuroba answered respectfully, “It’s all thanks to your careful instruction, Teacher. Your student merely got lucky.”
Although Kuroba’s status aboard the Great Shark had risen dramatically during the past six months, he had never forgotten his position.
Whether because of status, gratitude, or simple self-interest, he knew he needed to show Madam Meta the utmost respect.
“You really do know how to say the right things.”
Madam Meta’s eyes curved slightly as a pleased smile appeared on her face.
She was clearly very satisfied with her student.
The two continued chatting for a while.
Kuroba took the opportunity to bring up every difficulty he had encountered during his studies and practical work.
Madam Meta answered each question patiently, speaking with the practiced tone of a teacher guiding her student.
When Kuroba eventually returned to the deck, his attention shifted to his Pokémon undergoing their daily training.
Half a year of heavy investment had produced obvious results—especially now that they had a stable supply of Pokéblocks.
Corphish had reached level 24.
Carvanha had reached level 22.
Both were steadily approaching the level-30 threshold at which they would evolve.
“Spearow, you don’t need to handle reconnaissance for the next few days.”
Kuroba extended one arm, allowing Spearow to land on it.
“You’re already close to evolving. Focus on building up your strength and storing your energy.”
“Spear!”
Kuroba gently stroked its feathers before glancing down toward the lower deck.
A group of young newcomers stood together there.
Their faces were still immature, and their eyes contained a mixture of fear and excitement.
“Another batch of recruits? Hopefully they can hold out. The Great Shark is still desperately short on manpower.”
Kuroba turned to an ordinary pirate standing nearby.
“Are those the new recruits?”
The pirate visibly tensed when he realized who was speaking to him.
“Yes, Lord Kuroba! There are twenty-seven newcomers in this batch. I’m responsible for teaching them the sailors’ duties. Here’s the roster, sir. Would you like to look at it?”
To the ordinary pirates aboard the Great Shark, Kuroba had already become someone far above their station.
It wasn’t merely because he was Captain Meta’s personal student.
The fact that he could produce Pokéblocks was enough by itself to earn enormous respect.
“‘Lord Kuroba,’ huh?”
Kuroba almost laughed inwardly.
When had he become someone people addressed as “Lord”?
He casually accepted the roster and skimmed through it.
Most of the newcomers were street thugs or desperate people who had been driven by poverty and circumstance into becoming pirates.
There were also several who had been forcibly brought aboard.
Those people kept their heads lowered, their faces pale with fear as they avoided looking directly at their surroundings.
Then one name caught Kuroba’s attention.
Hoshino Yumi.
He read the accompanying information—and his expression changed.
“What? This chubby kid was a Trainer directly affiliated with the Pokémon League? How the hell did you people capture him?”
His voice carried unmistakable reproach.
The pirate hurriedly explained, “Sir, we didn’t capture him! We bought the kid at a black market. We had no idea who he was at the time. We only discovered afterward that he had been a League Trainer.”
“According to what we managed to investigate—and what the boy told us himself—he came from a fairly influential family. His branch lost an internal factional struggle. Their fortune was completely destroyed, and eventually even he was sold into the black market as a slave.”
Kuroba’s mouth twitched after hearing the absurd story.
Once again, his understanding of just how rotten the Pokémon League could be deepened.
“No wonder the League can never completely eliminate criminal organizations. The more they suppress them, the more seem to appear.”
His eyes darkened.
“If this is what their internal political struggles are like, the darkness inside the League must be far worse than I imagined.”
While the two were speaking, the chubby boy suddenly stepped out from among the newcomers.
“Go get your captain!” he declared confidently.
“I want to buy my freedom! My family can pay your captain a lot of money!”
The boy looked only eleven or twelve years old, but his tone still carried the confidence of someone who had grown up surrounded by wealth and status.
The pirate guarding the newcomers immediately rushed forward.
“Who the hell do you think you are?! You still think you’re some privileged League Trainer?”
He kicked the boy down and began beating him.
“You’re aboard a pirate ship now! You’re a prisoner!”
The surrounding pirates barely reacted.
Veterans bullying newcomers was completely normal aboard a pirate ship.
And this newcomer had once been an elite League-affiliated Trainer.
For men who had spent their lives near the bottom of society, humiliating someone who had once possessed such a noble status brought a twisted sense of satisfaction.
“Ow! Stop! Stop hitting me!”
The boy’s earlier arrogance disappeared almost instantly.
He curled up on the deck, covering his stomach and head while rolling desperately away from the blows.
“Please! Please stop! Let me go!”
A few good blows were apparently enough to shatter the pride of a pampered League heir and replace it with the survival instincts of a pirate captive.
For a young master who had spent his entire childhood in comfort, this was the first time he had experienced such pain and humiliation.
His once-healthy face twisted in agony.
Tears streamed continuously from his eyes.
“Please… please let me go!”
More than twenty other young newcomers stood nearby.
Not one of them stepped forward to defend him.
Some stared at the beating in terror.
Others lowered their heads, silently relieved that they weren’t the ones being hit.
The chubby boy looked at the indifferent faces of the people around him.
For the first time in his sheltered life, he experienced just how cold people could become when their own survival was at stake.
You can join my P.
@.
T.
R.
3.
0.
N to get access to 50 additional chapters!
/Meegoatbaa Whether you join as a free or paid member, you’ll also get access to 2 extra chapters.