Leaving Snivy to practice the dual-layered form of Leaf Tornado, Ethan pulled a stool out of his storage capsule, sat down, and started scrolling through his phone.

  He wasn’t slacking off—he was searching for traders who might buy his crops.

  A portion of the plantation’s harvest would be kept for himself. These, combined with the year’s Pecha Berries and Oran Berries, would be used to craft Antidote Energy Blocks and Stamina Energy Blocks. These were not only easy to store but could also serve as products for his breeding house.

  He planned to send some to Grandpa Qin as a token of gratitude, while the rest would be sold off.

  As for finding buyers…

  Ethan wasn’t worried. His parents had once visited many wholesalers and markets specializing in vegetables and farm produce.

  One of the most renowned places was once called the Bellsprout Produce and Grocery Supermarket, but a quick search revealed that it had since evolved into Big Gloom Foods Co.

  It seemed that, over the past decade, even the business had "evolved."

  "This will do," Ethan decided, locking in on his target.

  Big Gloom Foods Co. – Owner’s Office

  Charles, the owner of Big Gloom Foods Co., was feeling a bit troubled.

  The company had just gone public, but it was already facing its first major hurdle: competition pressure.

  To be precise, it wasn’t exactly competition from peers but from a supermarket that only marginally overlapped with their business.

  However…

  This wasn’t just any supermarket. It was Woofmart Ltd., the largest company in Wutong City.

  Even back when Big Gloom was still a small produce supermarket, Woofmart had already shown signs of trying to suppress them.

  This trend had become blatantly aggressive after Big Gloom Foods Co. went public.

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  First, Woofmart slashed prices in their produce sections, triggering a price war.

  Then, they began intercepting Big Gloom’s supply chains at the source by offering higher prices to suppliers.

  As a result, Big Gloom’s grocery stores and markets were left with unsold produce while their access to fresh supplies was being cut off.

  If this continued, it was only a matter of time before the company went under.

  The pressing issue now was finding a stable supplier.

  "What’s wrong? Still worrying about the supermarket situation?"

  As Charles rubbed his temples in frustration, a woman entered the office.

  She wore a yellow floral-patterned dress, her figure curvaceous and graceful. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, framing her strikingly beautiful face.

  Charles sighed and looked at his wife, shaking his head silently.

  He was an older man with a much younger wife, and they also had a daughter currently in high school.

  The weight of his responsibilities was immense.

  Right now was the time when he needed to conserve his energy, yet at just over forty years old, Charles was already losing hair by the handful.

  "I can’t help it. Woofmart’s suppression is relentless. Without reliable supply channels, the company might collapse right after going public," Charles finally admitted, unable to hide the situation from his wife any longer.

  "Then why don’t we scale back to a small supermarket?" his wife suggested gently. "Moon’s Pokémon doesn’t have to be a pseudo-legendary. We can pick one of the starter Pokémon—those are great too."

  "If we choose a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, the cost of raising it will be astronomical. And if something goes wrong later and we can’t keep up with the expenses, the Pokémon’s potential will be wasted anyway…"

  She looked at her husband, who was buried in worry, and tried to console him.

  "That’s true… but our daughter…"

  Charles trailed off with a sigh.

  Woofmart was a national chain, a corporate giant. Meanwhile, his company was just a small-town business in Wutong Town. Competing with them financially was impossible.

  The only chance of winning was to outclass them in produce quality—by an overwhelming margin.

  But…

  How could they achieve that?

  To produce fruits and vegetables of such exceptional quality, it would require the expertise of a skilled Breeder—particularly one specialized in agriculture.

  But Breeders were already rare, and agricultural specialists were even harder to come by.

  Sigh… if it doesn’t work out…

  Charles Shaw shook his head, feeling like he was overthinking things. He was about to dismiss the idea when the desk phone suddenly rang.

  "Rotom! Incoming call from the Purchasing Department. Would you like to answer?"

  "Purchasing Department?"

  Charles paused for a moment, then quickly picked up the Rotom-branded phone. "It’s me. What’s going on?"

  "A new supply channel? The samples look good? Where…? Alright, understood."

  He hung up the phone, but despite hearing about the new supply channel, his expression remained unchanged.

  "What’s wrong?" his wife asked, noticing his lack of enthusiasm. "Didn’t they say there’s a new supplier? Shouldn’t that be good news?"

  Charles let out a bitter laugh. "Yes, there’s a new supplier, but it’s the plantation in Wutong Town. You know, the one that used to belong to the Greenwood’ family. Now I hear their kid, Ethan Greenwood, has taken over."

  His wife’s eyes widened in surprise. "Ethan? That boy? He’s not going to high school and decided to run the family plantation instead?"