Dusk gathered, and the streetlights along the old street flickered on one by one, casting a dim yellow halo outside the glass door.
On the wall clock in the corner of the bar, the hour hand had long since quietly slipped past the six and now pointed at the seven.
Shane finally lifted his slightly sore eyes from the scroll.
He habitually looked out the window, preparing to call Whimsicott over to close up shop, but was startled by the deep night sky outside.
“It’s seven o’clock?!” he exclaimed in astonishment, quickly checking the wall clock to confirm.
Whimsicott also stopped his practice and followed his gaze, his little ears twitching.
“Whimsicott!” *That was so fast, I didn’t notice at all.*
The human and Pokémon stared at each other in dismay.
Immersed in the valuable experience provided by Professor Doran and Whimsicott’s steady progress, they had completely lost track of time, missing the cafe’s normal closing time of six o’clock.
On the counter, the scroll lay quietly unrolled, and the espresso machine had long since cooled down.
Outside the shop lay the tranquility of Magic City’s night.
Just then, three crisp knocks echoed from the door.
“Whimsicott?” *Someone’s here?*
Shane set down the thesis scroll, pushed back his wooden chair, and stood up.
Outside the glass door, Kade grinned and waved.
Behind him stood a dense crowd of twelve young people wearing Magic City University varsity jackets, their training bags slung over their shoulders.
“Shane!” Kade pushed the door open, bringing in a gust of warm air.
“I’m here to bring you some business!”
Kade was the current captain of the Magic City University varsity team.
He wouldn’t step down until the next semester, leaving him with half a month remaining in the current term.
The people following him were all members of the varsity team.
“What brings you guys here?”
“Ah, I was just leading everyone in training.
I just took the team to sweep through the Magic City Gym.
It was a blast.”
Sweeping a Gym as a team?
Good grief, how was that any different from crashing the place?
Bringing such a huge crowd to the Magic City Gym…
Gym Leader Nova was probably going to lose his mind.
A girl with a ponytail on the team poked her head in and marveled, “So the hidden gem cafe the captain mentioned belongs to Shane!”
The Lopunny beside her sniffed the air curiously.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Kade said, casually slapping the back of the guy next to him.
“Everyone pays for themselves today.
I only brought you here; I’m not footing the bill!”
The guy stared at the menu and chuckled.
“How expensive could coffee be?
It’s gotta be cheaper than intermediate Pokéblocks—”
His voice abruptly cut off.
Kade tapped his finger against the top of the price board with a sharp smack.
The gold-stamped letters reading [Salac Berry Latte 14400] made everyone gasp in shock.
“Is this a robbery?!” the crowd erupted in exclamation.
“A Salac Berry and a Petaya Berry Latte.”
He turned and raised an eyebrow at his dumbfounded teammates.
“What’s the going rate for an intermediate Petaya Berry Pokéblock in Magic City?
Fifty or sixty thousand?
Shane’s cup is only fourteen thousand, and it works way better than an intermediate Pokéblock.
It’s a Breeder’s special blend; you couldn’t buy this outside even if you wanted to.”
Shane tied on his dark green apron, and Whimsicott wordlessly pushed the grinder over to him.
These two types of Berries cost five thousand Alliance Credits each on the market.
To process them into Pokéblocks—even hiring an intermediate Breeder to make intermediate Pokéblocks—would cost forty to fifty thousand Alliance Credits, and success wasn’t even guaranteed.
He actually dared to use such expensive Berries for a cup of coffee?
Even though the Donghuang Alliance had achieved mass production of rare Berries with the help of Professor Sun Shi, they still weren’t this cheap.
After reading the menu’s description of the coffees, they were even more stunned.
It actually had such potent effects?
Based on Shane’s current testing, the special lattes on the menu temporarily offered four types of effects.
Restoring stamina and granting immunity to status conditions, increasing a Pokémon’s resistance to a certain typing, boosting a Pokémon’s elemental energy, and enhancing a Pokémon’s base stats.
Under normal circumstances, standard intermediate Pokéblocks couldn’t achieve this at all.
So, in a way, this was indeed a steal.
“The most expensive ones are limited to one cup a day.
The Berry supply is limited, so please understand.”
Liechi, Ganlon, Salac, Petaya, and Micle Berries corresponded to a Pokémon’s Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, and Accuracy.
Consuming them provided a massive boost to a Pokémon.
Setting aside their exorbitant market prices, even having the money didn’t guarantee you could get your hands on them.
Spurred on by the triple threat of Kade’s endorsement, the menu’s listed effects, and Shane’s reputation, a few wealthy students squeezed their way to the counter.
“I want the Ganlon Berry!”
“Give me the Micle Berry!”
“I’ll take the last cup of Liechi Berry!”
The others followed suit and bought a cup each.
Whimsicott was running around in circles, but watching the numbers constantly ticking up left him feeling like he was floating on cloud nine.
*This Kade is actually pretty useful.*
*Next time he pokes me, I won’t use Stun Spore.*
*Hmm…
I’ll use Fairy Wind instead.*
When the thirteenth latte was finished, the scanner’s blue light flashed rapidly—”Today’s Revenue: 152,000.”
“That’s it?
It doesn’t seem any different.” A short-haired guy swirled the liquid in his cup, looking utterly perplexed.
Charizard took half a sip and spat out sparks in disgust; to him, this stuff was nowhere near as good as a soda.
But Kade immediately pressed down on his head.
“Don’t you dare spit that out!
It’s expensive!”
After Charizard finished drinking, a faint luster visibly appeared on his body.
The varsity team members all had their Pokémon drink the coffee, and without exception, they all exhibited the same effect.
It was truly miraculous!
“The coffee’s effects take a day or two to digest.
Just train normally when you get back.
Oh, right, since they just drank coffee, your Pokémon might have trouble sleeping tonight.
They probably won’t be able to fall asleep until eleven or twelve.”
“Got it.
Thanks, Shane.”
Seeing that everyone had finished their coffee, Kade scooped up the still-unsatisfied Skiddo, recalled Charizard into his Poké Ball, and slung his battle bag over his shoulder.
It was getting late, and with so many people in tow, it wasn’t a good time to mooch a meal.
*Whatever, I’ll just consider it boosting Shane’s sales.*
*Back to school!*
“We’re leaving!
If I stay any longer, my wallet is going to stage a rebellion!”
The team members quickly followed suit.
Amidst the lingering vibrations of the glass door closing, Whimsicott leaped into Shane’s arms with a soft poof.
The young man buried his face in the warm, fluffy wool and took a deep breath.
The ledger in the corner of the counter was blown open to a new page by the wind, the wet ink winding into a triumphant curve:
[Alliance Calendar 2036.6.11 Revenue: 218,346]
“Whimsicott!” *We’re rich!*
The little guy’s tail brushed past Shane’s wrist as he kept the books, causing the coffee-stained ledger to flutter noisily.
Shane lightly tapped his forehead with the end of his pen.
“Stop messing around.”
“We really made a killing today.
I should find a chance to thank Kade.”
Shane pinched up the scattered Berry pits from the counter, gathered them, and soaked them in water.
Once they sprouted, he could plant them in the backyard’s biosphere space.
The reason the rare Berry coffees were limited to one cup a day was that the Berries were too difficult to buy.
Even with Donghuang’s mass production, it still couldn’t meet the public’s demand.
The Donghuang region’s Berry yield accounted for ninety-five percent of the total output of all other regions combined.
This was all thanks to Professor Sun Shi, who specialized in Pokémon ecology and pomology, but even this couldn’t satisfy every Trainer.
Although he had an entire tree in his biosphere, selling them openly would easily draw suspicion regarding their source.
Moreover, Shane didn’t know if other people could enter the biosphere, so for now, he could only sell them in limited quantities and occasionally halt sales altogether.
As for the hoarded Berries, they were naturally made into Pokéblocks for Whimsicott to eat.
Since he didn’t like coffee, he could eat Pokéblocks instead.
Wasting a little didn’t matter.
As long as Whimsicott enjoyed them, that was all that mattered.
Just as Shane was about to close the door, a hand stopped him.
“Please wait a moment.
May I come in for a cup of coffee?”