บท 168: Settlement

Upon returning to the Day Care, Yuga went straight to the Ecopark. He didn't place the Tsareena in the main Ecopark but headed to the Shallow Seashore instead.

Yuga felt that the center of the island in the Shallow Seashore was a perfect habitat for the Tsareena. Besides, there was only one Greninja there, and it was a bit lonely. Introducing a few more Pokémon would liven things up and provide company for the Greninja.

Approaching the lakeside at the center of the island in the Shallow Seashore, Yuga saw Greninja lying on a tree, eyes closed in meditation. Upon hearing Yuga's approach, Greninja slightly opened its eyes, glanced at him, and then closed them again.

"Greninja, I've brought some new companions for you today. You won't be alone here anymore."

Yuga called out to Greninja on the tree.

Upon hearing Yuga's words, Greninja finally fully opened its eyes, but it just went from lying down to sitting up.

Yuga released the ten Tsareena Pokémon from their Poké Balls. They seemed a bit bewildered, probably not used to the new environment.

"Hello, everyone!"

Yuga greeted the Tsareena Pokémon cheerfully, trying to ease their nervousness.

However, perhaps due to a prior notification, the ten Tsareena Pokémon quickly settled down and curiously observed Yuga and Greninja.

Using his Insight ability, Yuga checked the data of these ten Tsareena Pokémon. He found that their data was quite average, with all having green potentials and being around level thirty. Their known skills were also quite similar, indicating they were likely mass-bred Pokémon from the League.

In Yuga's Day Care, the Pokémon were mostly raised with a more hands-off approach. Apart from setting their daily training routines, he didn't intervene much. He believed that Pokémon should have their own independent rights. This was also why Yuga had never delved into researching genetic skills. Intervening in their choice of mates would undermine their autonomy, which he didn't want to see.

Yuga always believed that reality was not a game. Pokémon had more potential and agency. Even without perfect genetic skills, Pokémon could still become exceptional through effort. The League's approach seemed to contradict this belief. Their intervention in Pokémon breeding likely resulted in the appearance of defective eggs.

Yuga didn't know the exact methods they used, so he couldn't definitively say their approach was wrong. After all, they did optimize the Pokémon' genes, but from a humanitarian perspective, there were some ethical concerns.

Just like these ten Tsareena Pokémon, they seemed to have been produced through an assembly line, with identical levels, potentials, and skills.

"From now on, this will be your new home. How do you like it here?" Yuga gestured to the surroundings and addressed the Tsareena Pokémon. He then pointed to Greninja. "This is your neighbor. Despite its cold appearance, it's actually a gentle Pokémon." Otherwise, he wouldn't have entrusted it to guard the eggs.

Yuga had always thought of Tsareena as an extremely proud Pokémon, cold yet powerful. However, these ten seemed a bit different. They were gentle and lacked the imposing aura of a queen.

Were their abilities Leaf Guard or the hidden ability Sweet Veil? But wait, their data had indeed indicated the Queen Majesty. Yet, their appearance and demeanor didn't match their abilities.

Yuga pondered for a while and concluded that it was probably related to the League's method of raising them.

Yuga felt that he might need to help them regain their dignity as queens. But this could wait; there was something else more important.

As a female-only species, the Tsareena would need compatible partners to breed. Their egg group was Plants, so only Grass-type Pokémon could be paired with them. However, not all Grass-type Pokémon would do. The most typical Grass-type species from the Hoenn region, Sceptile, couldn't be paired with them, as its egg group was Dragon and Monster, completely unrelated to Plants.

Besides Sceptile, Chesnaught from the Karlos region and Decidueye from the Alola region were also unsuitable. Chesnaught's egg group was Field, while Decidueye's was Flying, neither having any connection to Plants.

Finding suitable partners for the Tsareena Pokémon would require some effort.

The Tsareena seemed to like their new home. However, they were a bit cautious around the stoic Greninja. Yuga believed that with time, they would realize that Greninja was actually a gentle Pokémon.

Leaving the Shallow Seashore, Yuga accessed his personal account and checked. As expected, his account had gained 10,000 League points. It seemed that the League had invested quite a bit. 10,000 points wasn't a small sum.

However, Yuga didn't currently have anything he wanted to purchase from the League shop, so he decided to leave those points as they were for now and use them when the need arose.

Checking the time, Yuga realized it was afternoon, the time for physical training with his Pokémon. He gathered them in the main Ecopark and led them to the Desert Sub-Ecopark.

Yuga had been conducting physical training with his Pokémon in the desert for a while now. The spacious terrain and the assistance of sand made it an ideal training ground.

Each time they came for training, his four main fighting Pokémon, Ninetales, Houndoom, Honchkrow, Flygon leader, Gliscor leader, and as well as the newcomers Clawitzer leader, two Zubat, and two Taillow, all joined in.

Furthermore, starting a couple of days ago, the former 31 Pokémon babies also officially joined the training family.

Why were they referred to as "former" Pokémon babies? Because they had mostly passed their infancy stage, reaching an average level of around 15. Moreover, Budew and the two Eevee had completed their evolutions. They couldn't be considered babies anymore no matter how you looked at it.

However, for some reason today, the usually non-participating Swellow joined Yuga and the others in their training session.

Even though there were quite a few Pokémon to train every day, Yuga didn't find it particularly taxing. Once the training routines were established, his role was mainly supervisory.

Instructing the Pokémon to follow their usual training routines, Yuga had the recently joined Taillow and Zubat, who were still unfamiliar with the routine, train alongside Honchkrow.

As a senior in the Ecopark, Honchkrow, even after evolving and appearing somewhat more stern than before, was responsible and enthusiastic. It gladly took on the task of guiding the Zubat and Taillow through their training.