After eating and drinking his fill, Wayne returned to his room for the evening.
Leaning comfortably against Arcanine's soft fur, Wayne decided to use the three Random Pokémon Item Lottery Tickets stored in his system inventory.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have drawn a Metal Coat.]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have drawn a Speed Enhancer (Powerful Version).]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have drawn a Life Orb.]
Three new items materialized in his inventory backpack.
[Metal Coat]: When held, Steel-type moves are powered up. Can also be used as an evolution item.
Wayne was extremely familiar with this particular item. His father Leon's Scizor had evolved using a Metal Coat traded from another region.
Besides these two primary uses, the Metal Coat could also be incorporated into Pokémon breeding practices to enhance Steel-type Pokémon development.
This item would be perfect for Metang, and since Metang was approaching its evolution threshold, Wayne planned to use it specifically for Metang's training regimen.
[Speed Enhancer (Powerful Version)]: Can increase a Pokémon's Speed stat. One powerful version is equivalent to six regular bottles!
In the Pokémon video games Wayne had played, he remembered this item increasing Speed EVs by 10 points.
However, this was the real world, and Wayne found it difficult to predict exactly what changes would occur without testing it first.
"I'll give the Speed Enhancer to either Lucario or Arcanine," Wayne decided aloud.
Wayne examined the final item carefully.
[Life Orb]: When held, the power of a Pokémon's moves is increased, but a small amount of HP is lost with each attack.
Speaking of the Life Orb, one couldn't help but mention the devastating combination of Life Orb paired with Sheer Force ability Feraligatr, which would immediately set up with Dragon Dance.
Wayne also remembered that Dragapult was particularly well-suited to using a Life Orb in competitive battles.
Among Wayne's three Pokémon, Arcanine possessed the most vigorous health and stamina, making it capable of handling the Life Orb's HP drain effectively.
Wayne quickly finalized his decision on how to distribute the items.
He handed the small blue bottle containing the Speed Enhancer to Lucario first.
"Lucario?" the Aura Pokémon questioned.
(What is this?)
"It's a beneficial item that will enhance your speed capabilities. You'll understand once you drink it," Wayne explained.
Lucario, suspecting the liquid might taste unpleasant, chose to down it in one quick gulp.
"How does it feel?" Wayne asked with interest.
(It's sweet and surprisingly delicious! I'll head outside and test it out right now,) Lucario responded enthusiastically.
"No rush. I'll conduct a proper speed test tomorrow under controlled conditions," Wayne said.
"Lucario," the Fighting and Steel-type acknowledged with a nod.
Wayne then retrieved the Metal Coat, which resembled two small button batteries stacked together, and presented it to Metang.
"Metang, this one is for you. Just consume it directly."
The metal energy concentrated within the Metal Coat was self-evident. Metang confirmed its quality with just a brief psychic scan.
The Metal Coat could either be ground into powder for easier consumption, or it could be eaten whole and allowed to dissolve naturally.
Wayne didn't possess the proper tools to grind it into powder form, so he simply let Metang handle it using its own methods.
"Meta!" Metang hummed with satisfaction.
"Woof woof~" Arcanine whined pitifully.
The large Fire-type looked at Wayne with pleading eyes.
(What about mine?!)
"You have one too, don't worry. Here, take this!" Wayne reassured his partner.
Wayne pulled out a purplish-red Life Orb from his backpack and held it out.
"Slurp!" Arcanine immediately stuck out its tongue and gave it an investigative lick, then nodded with clear satisfaction.
"Hold on—this isn't meant to be eaten! You're supposed to just carry it with you," Wayne clarified quickly.
Arcanine grinned proudly with what appeared to be a wise expression on its face, as if it completely understood the instructions.
Wayne could only hope Arcanine truly grasped the concept and wouldn't simply eat the Life Orb when he wasn't looking.
For Arcanine, continuously licking or even directly consuming items like Fire Stones or Charcoal was perfectly fine and even beneficial. However, the Life Orb operated on entirely different principles.
Wayne felt compelled to repeatedly remind his enthusiastic partner.
"Remember, this is absolutely not something to eat. It's meant to be carried."
"Woof woof!" Arcanine barked confidently.
(You can trust me to handle this responsibly!)
While Arcanine contentedly continued licking the Life Orb's surface with its tongue, Wayne opened the Eevee Video Network application on his device.
His first video had unexpectedly gone viral during the afternoon hours. His private messages had already reached 99+, and his follower count had climbed to over 900.
After all, this was Wayne's debut video on the platform, so many viewers probably remained hesitant about committing to follow him permanently.
He scrolled through some of the comments:
"The class representative's summary is here for those who need it..."
"Lying at home while my cooking skills grow in my heart."
"Saved to my favorites folder to gather dust forever!"
"Time to submit my homework~ I got it perfect on the first try!"
"Already sent this to my girlfriend. She said it looks delicious and wants to eat this next time, telling me I have to make it."
"Already showed it to Mom and told her to watch."
Below that comment, there were some brilliantly witty replies from other users:
"Mom: Do I look like Sweet and Sour Pork to you?"
"Already got scolded by Mom for wasting her time."
People who spent considerable time browsing Eevee Video Network had discovered a promising new content creator in the cooking and food preparation section.
The Sweet and Sour Pork that Wayne had prepared looked absolutely appealing in terms of color, aroma, and presentation. Arcanine licking the plate completely clean also served as undeniable proof of the dish's deliciousness.
Wayne estimated that he wouldn't even need to release a second video before breaking the 1,000 follower milestone, thereby completing the first small goal of his side quest [I Really Didn't Want to Be a Content Creator].
Wayne was already planning to release his second cooking video the following day.
As Wayne drifted into sleep that night, the 1,000th follower clicked the subscribe button...
[Ding! Detected that the account has exceeded 1,000 followers. The first stage goal of [I Really Didn't Want to Be a Content Creator] has been completed. Rewards have been issued.]
[Ding! You have received Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket × 1, Random Specialty Dish Recipe — Crab Roe Lion's Head (B-rank).]
[Second Stage Goal: Account followers exceed 10,000.]
[Quest Reward: Random Specialty Dish × 1, Random Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket × 2]
...
Early the next morning, personnel from the renovation company arrived with their Machoke assistants.
While washing up for the day, Wayne took a moment to examine the Crab Roe Lion's Head recipe and its special properties in detail.
[Crab Roe Lion's Head (B-rank)]: Features a soft and tender texture that's rich but not greasy, with fresh and fragrant crab roe. After consumption, Strength stat is slightly increased (permanent effect, one-time only).
Click to view detailed production video tutorial.
Daily production attempts: (0/6)
Note: The cooking difficulty of this dish far exceeds the Host's current cooking skill level. Production attempts are guaranteed to fail at this stage.
Wayne muttered under his breath, "Why don't you just directly tell me not to waste perfectly good ingredients?"
The system humbly added an additional line at the bottom—Please improve your cooking skills before attempting this recipe, Host. Do not waste food unnecessarily.
"..." Wayne stared at the screen.
The system was surprisingly receptive to constructive feedback.
He then decided to use the newly acquired Pokémon Item Lottery Ticket from his quest completion.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained Moomoo Milk (High Quality) × 1.]
[Moomoo Milk (High Quality)]: One bottle restores energy completely. Consuming an entire bottle can slightly increase Stamina stat (permanent effect, one-time only). Humans can also safely consume it.
A permanent slight increase to Stamina was valuable, but having only a single bottle felt somewhat disappointing.
With his enhanced Heavenly Aura Physique, this modest stamina boost wouldn't significantly benefit Wayne personally. He wasn't planning to participate in competitive sports anyway.
If there had been 10 bottles available, Wayne could have distributed them strategically among his team.
The Moomoo Milk would be particularly suitable for Arcanine, who would be carrying the HP-draining Life Orb. Wayne planned to give it this special treatment.
...
Two muscular Machoke carefully hung up the large sign reading "Jubilife Breeding House," officially signifying that the Breeding House was now open for business.
"Yes, yes, perfect! That's exactly right!" Leon exclaimed.
Leon nodded with obvious satisfaction at the result.
Wayne took a commemorative photograph of the newly installed sign and promptly sent it to both Alan and Claire. He also posted it on his social media circle of friends.
"I've already posted the job recruitment information online. I expect interested applicants will start coming for interviews very soon," Wayne reported.
Wayne had carefully edited and uploaded the recruitment advertisement to a popular job-seeking website the previous night.
Leon nodded approvingly at his son's initiative.
"Well done, son! You're really on top of things."
Shortly after they finished hanging the sign, the Breeding House welcomed its very first customer through the doors.