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...
The two of them made their way along the path to the Pokéblock production room...
As soon as they took their seats, the class bell rang.
To avoid being harassed by the group of girls again, Caleb directly pulled Jinpei to sit in the corner of the classroom.
On the table sat a Berry Blender and a box of Berries of various shapes and sizes. These two items were the key to making Pokéblocks.
Caleb pulled the Berry Blender toward himself, fiddling with it earnestly.
Seeing this, Jinpei felt that this new classmate was somewhat different from what he had imagined. He seemed... not like a bad person after all.
No longer worried about being bullied, Jinpei relaxed slightly and asked, "Have you taken a Pokéblock-making class before?"
"No," Caleb replied. He had only seen a Berry Blender in games.
"Then you can take a look at this first."
Jinpei handed him a book with a long title printed on the cover:
«Berry Blender Operating Manual & Complete Pokéblock Guide»
"Thanks." Caleb took the book and began flipping through it carefully.
As someone who had undergone nine years of compulsory education back in his homeland, the content of this book wasn't particularly complicated for him.
^...Berries contain a special type of pectin that can transform liquid Berry juice into an edible solid...^
^...The pectin from a single Berry alone isn't enough to solidify the liquid. However, after extensive research, experts discovered that if this pectin undergoes five processes; compression, heating, stirring, electric shock, and freezing... its effects can be greatly enhanced...^
^...Based on this principle, we invented the Berry Blender...^
~ Excerpt from «Berry Blending Theory»
After reading for a while, Caleb set the book aside, picked two Berries from the box, and tentatively placed them into the Berry Blender.
The Berry Blender whirred to life. A faint buzzing sound came from inside.
Caleb pressed his ear closer and could clearly hear the Berries being crushed and their juices spraying out.
This process lasted only ten seconds. He continued operating the machine according to the steps in the book:
- Step one: Extract the Berry juice...
- Step two: Heat the juice to a controlled temperature...
- Step three: Stir while hot...
- Step four: Apply an electric shock...
- Step five: Freeze into shape...
These five steps seemed simple, but executing them was extremely difficult.
The maker had to remain fully focused throughout, constantly monitoring the Berry Blender's gauges to control the heating temperature, stirring intensity, electric current strength, and freezing temperature.
A single mistake, and the Pokéblock wouldn't solidify properly.
Pokéblocks also came in various flavors and qualities. A perfect Pokéblock would be crystal clear, with no impurities visible even under sunlight.
Naturally, its production difficulty level was also very high...
*Sploosh!*
The Berry Blender stopped. A strange green liquid flowed out from the outlet.
It was a failure...
Caleb fell into thought and continued flipping through the book.
Beside him, Jinpei offered words of comfort: "Don't rush. Take your time. The first time I made Pokéblocks, the Berry juice evaporated from overheating."
Caleb wasn't in a hurry. He was pondering something else...
'Compression, heating, stirring, electric shock, freezing = Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam...'
These five processes just so happened to be things his Dragonite could do.
'If Dragonite could precisely control its flames, electricity, and freezing breath, and if we had a suitable container, could we make Pokéblocks by hand?'
It was a bold idea...
As Caleb mulled over this in his mind, he casually tossed a few more Berries into the Berry Blender and absentmindedly operated the machine with his right hand...
Five minutes later...
*Ding*
...An entirely green Pokéblock with streaks of red Berry skin floated out from the outlet.
Jinpei was stunned, "You– you... what's going on here?!"
Caleb replied, utterly deadpan, "If I told you I just got lucky, would you believe me?"
The teacher at the podium adjusted her glasses, the lenses flashing white.
"Let's see, which student successfully made a Pokéblock today?" As she spoke, she walked over to Caleb's side.
But when she saw that hideous green Pokéblock, her face darkened instantly...
Through gritted teeth, she said: "Look at you all! After two years of teaching, you still can't even get the basic shaping right. Always coming up with these messy, ugly things."
"...How are you going to survive in society like this, huh? Can't win Pokémon battles, can't make decent Pokéblocks, always daydreaming about romance... what 'can' you do? Who made this? Stand up!"
Caleb stood up and blinked innocently, "Teacher, I'm sorry. I'm a new student who just enrolled today. This is my first time learning to make Pokéblocks."
Upon hearing this, the female teacher's expression changed instantly, her tone turning gentle, "Ah? Oh! Then never mind. You did great. Sit down, please!"
"Teacher, that's so biased..." a male student couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
"Hmph!" The teacher snorted, "Biased? Look at him... he made a Pokéblock on his first try. What about you? What did you make your first time? If I remember correctly, it was a lump of ice, wasn't it?"
The boy had nothing to say...
...
The morning passed quickly...
After school, Caleb went to the elementary division to pick up little Lily and took her to the cafeteria for lunch.
Morris had returned to Oldale Town after settling them in that morning.
Though the Pokémon School was a boarding institution, it didn't restrict students from going out.
However, the school was located in the suburbs of Slateport City, and transportation was inconvenient. Unless they had a flying Pokémon capable of carrying them, most students didn't leave campus.
Besides, the school had all the basic facilities; cafeteria, dorms, infirmary, battle areas... so there was no real need to go out.
"Onii-chan!" Lily came running over, clutching her Plusle and Minun.
Caleb glanced at the two little Pokémon and asked, "Didn't I buy Poké Balls for you? Why aren't they inside them?"
Lily's little face scrunched up, "But the Poké Balls are so small. Little Red and Little Blue would feel stuffy!"
"Fine." Caleb held her hand and led her to the cafeteria, buying two servings of seafood fried rice at the first window.
"How was school?" he asked.
Lily made a face, "They keep crying. It's so annoying."
Her class was full of four or five-year-old children who had never been away from their parents for so long. It was only natural for them to cry.
Hearing this, Caleb suddenly remembered something... Apart from the first day he entered the Instance, he had never seen Lily cry.
Moreover, a strange feeling had been lingering in his mind...
Felix had always lived next door to him, yet when they first met in the wild, the Youngster had clearly acted like he didn't recognize him...
Also, there wasn't a single item belonging to Lily's "brother" in her house... So, did Lily's so-called "brother" actually exist?
And was this world Scenario even real? Caleb checked his mission panel.
If... If he returned to the Kanto Region now, would this Scenario's Kanto be the same Kanto from his previous Scenario?