NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Energy Cubes
North Street was a secluded area on the outskirts of Lakeside City, far from the bustling city center.
The housing prices here were much cheaper compared to the urban area.
With few residents around, the streets were almost deserted. Walking down this road, it would be hard to spot more than a handful of people.
If someone planned to start a business here, it would be seen as an act of pure recklessness.
Ten years ago, North Street wasn't as desolate as it is now. However, as more and more people flocked toward the city center and with the increasing issues regarding public safety, North Street gradually fell into decline.
That's also why properties here were so hard to sell.
But Ethan wasn't interested in turning this abandoned shop into an actual Pokémon breeding house. He had something else in mind.
In the near future, this very street would be targeted by a well-known company in the Shenzo Region for a large-scale Pokémon-themed entertainment facility.
The area they selected for development just happened to include the abandoned shop owned by Ethan's second uncle.
Later, after careful negotiations, his second uncle managed to sell the property to the company for eight million credits.
Ethan remembered this event vividly because, after completing the deal, his uncle threw a banquet for all their relatives and endlessly bragged about it.
The way his uncle flaunted his achievement while trying to appear modest was enough to make Ethan want to punch him right in the face.
That shop had been a turning point for his uncle's family—a golden opportunity that changed everything for them.
As soon as the system offered the chance, Ethan immediately began planning how to take the shop for himself.
In the afternoon, Jayden cheerfully handed over the ownership papers for the shop to Ethan. Clutching the breeding house quota he had coveted for so long, Jayden left the villa in high spirits.
He didn't notice the cold smirk forming on Ethan's face as he watched him walk away.
After completing the trade, Ethan spent the rest of the day bonding with Oddish.
In his previous life, he had failed to pay much attention to the little Pokémon, wasting a lot of its potential in its early days.
Now, with the system's powerful strengthening features, Ethan had no intention of repeating his past mistakes.
Even if it meant spending every last credit he had on Oddish, he would do it without hesitation.
Thus, Ethan began browsing online for the best ways to nurture Oddish and its evolutions—Gloom and Bellossom. He also used his allowance to purchase mid-grade Grass-type energy cubes that Oddish loved.
Soon, the store's delivery service arrived with the energy cubes Ethan had ordered.
Staring at the ten small cubes that had cost him a whopping 5,000 credits, Ethan couldn't help but sigh.
Energy cubes really are one of the most lucrative and profitable industries in the entire Pokémon world.
It only took four berries—each worth less than 100 credits—to produce 10 to 20 small, palm-sized energy cubes using a berry blending machine.
Low-grade energy cubes were priced at around 100 credits each, depending on the Pokémon's dietary needs.
Meanwhile, mid-grade energy cubes sold for 500 credits each and were the most common on the market.
For most trainers, energy cubes were primarily used for nutrition and stamina recovery. Low- and mid-grade cubes were usually sufficient for their needs.
However, only those who had experienced high-grade or perfect-grade energy cubes could truly appreciate the dramatic difference in performance they offered.
Unfortunately, high-grade cubes were both prohibitively expensive and incredibly rare, with most of them being sold exclusively at high-end stores or within large, well-known families.
Many trainers tried their hand at making their own energy cubes to reduce costs, but it was a tedious and skill-intensive process. Those who persisted usually gave up after spending months locked in a quiet room, painstakingly adjusting precision and timing—only to fail over and over again.
Still, mid-grade energy cube producers, known as intermediate breeders, were always in high demand among trainers.
Advanced breeders capable of crafting high-grade energy cubes were quickly snatched up by elite families offering them sky-high salaries.
As for the legendary perfect-grade energy cubes? In the entire Shenzo Region, no more than thirty people could confidently claim to produce them.
Ethan held up one of the energy cubes, examining it carefully.
In his previous life, after his family went bankrupt, Ethan had learned how to make energy cubes with the help of his sister Elena. After two grueling years of practice, he eventually became a well-known intermediate breeder.
Judging by the color and texture of this particular energy cube, Ethan could tell it was of high quality—well above average for a mid-grade cube.
It might have cost a fortune, but Ethan knew it would be worth it. Oddish deserved nothing but the best.