"Roxanne must be here to recruit for her Gym".
Pushed out of the crowd, Sieg quietly stepped aside to watch from a distance.
After all, a Gym couldn't be managed by just the Gym Leader alone. Aside from the standard staff assigned by the League, all other personnel, trainees, aides, specialists, had to be found and recruited by the Gym Leader themselves.
And just as Sieg had guessed.
With a simple wave of her hand, Roxanne silenced the bustling crowd around her. The authority of a Gym Leader was more than enough to command respect.
"Everyone here is a member of the League, and many of you are also residents of Rustboro," Roxanne began, her voice calm and composed. "With the Gym about to open, we're urgently hiring a variety of positions. If any of you are interested..."
Though she was young, Roxanne had clearly mastered the art of public speaking. Her tone was polished and persuasive, her promises just enticing enough to draw people in, textbook methods of painting the perfect picture.
Sieg listened silently in the corner. His eyes drifted across the crowd until they landed on someone familiar: Miss Joy. She had just arrived, rushing in to greet Roxanne.
"Good morning, Miss Joy!" Sieg called out with a wave.
Miss Joy, as always, was gentle and warm, her presence graceful even amidst the chaos. Although the crowd's attention was overwhelmingly drawn to Roxanne, several men still gathered closely around her, unwilling to part.
When Sieg approached, those men immediately shot him unfriendly looks.
Sieg, not one to invite trouble, smiled politely, gave a brief greeting, then turned and left. He didn't bother squeezing into the packed elevator. Instead, he took the stairs and quietly exited the Breeder Association building.
"The results should be out tomorrow. I should make use of this time to research past exams."
With Eevee nestled in his arms, Sieg returned to the Pokémon Center. The main hall, which was usually bustling, now seemed unusually quiet, most of the trainers and applicants had gathered over at the Association.
Back in his room, Sieg immediately resumed reviewing the exam materials.
Night fell. Though his eyelids grew heavier with each passing minute, Sieg was still poring over his notes when the Pokédex beside him suddenly let out a soft ding-dong.
The sound startled him awake.
He opened the Pokédex in haste.
"Dear Trainer Sieg, congratulations! You have passed the Breeder Association's first exam. Please report tomorrow to continue with the assessment!"
Sieg's lips curled into a satisfied smile. Although he had always known that knowledge was his biggest weakness, his unusual background, memories from another life, had blessed him with a phenomenal memory.
"Let's hope tomorrow goes just as well."
With that message in hand, Sieg finally drifted into a peaceful sleep.
But not everyone in Rustboro was as lucky. That night, in hotels and Pokémon Centers across the city, many candidates tossed and turned in bed, unable to calm their nerves.
A single exam had already eliminated nearly ninety percent of applicants.
It was a sobering reality: the path to becoming a certified Breeder was steep, almost inaccessible to the average civilian. Under the League's knowledge monopoly, ordinary people stood little chance of making it through.
Had Sieg not acquired Level 2 League clearance and gained the backing of the Petalburg Gym, his own chances would've been slim.
"I flip through the League's history books, and every page glorifies its founding. Yet the more I read, the more I see two words hidden between the lines: devours people."
A bitter smile rose on Sieg's lips as a line from his previous life crossed his mind. The thought lingered with faint sarcasm.
…
The next morning.
The number of people at the Breeder Association had dwindled significantly. When Sieg walked into the lobby, it didn't feel crowded anymore.
After presenting his trainer ID, his Pokédex, and the notification from the Association, he was guided by a staff member to a small room on the second floor.
"This is the waiting room," the middle-aged worker explained. "When your name is called, just head through that door for your one-on-one assessment."
He gestured toward a small door at the back of the room.
There weren't many people inside. Including Sieg, only five sat in wait.
But two of them immediately caught Sieg's attention.
One was Miss Joy from the Pokémon Center.
The other, surprisingly, was the elderly gentleman Sieg had met in the elevator the day before.
"Good morning, Miss Joy."
"Good afternoon, sir."
Sieg took a seat and smiled politely at the two people beside him, offering a casual greeting.
As for the last person in the room, he was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. Sieg didn't recognize him, but still gave a friendly nod and smile.
After all, when you're out in the world, you couldn't just walk around with a cold face all the time.
Establishing a pleasant image for yourself could be an excellent way to build connections.
Unfortunately, the young man didn't seem interested in reciprocating. He sneered, scoffing softly before turning his head away with a frosty expression.
Sieg didn't take offense. He turned to look around the room and began chatting with the old gentleman.
"Sir, may I ask how old you are now? Why are you still participating in an assessment like this?" Sieg asked, a bit curious.
The elderly man's clothing clearly marked him as someone from a wealthy family. At his age, he should be enjoying a peaceful life in retirement, not coming out here to compete.
"Hehehe, this old man? I'm eighty this year, the perfect age to get out and explore the world!" the elderly gentleman said with a spirited laugh, his complexion healthy and full of life.
"Haha!"
That comment made Miss Joy chuckle sweetly beside them. She gently explained to Sieg in a soft voice, "Don't take everything Mr. Otis says seriously. He's only here for the breeder assessment to avoid taxes!"
Sieg blinked, confused.
After asking a few more questions, he finally understood the situation. The old man was actually a shareholder of a nearby battle club and was anything but short on money.
The real reason he was here to take the breeder assessment was simple, to avoid the massive inheritance taxes. According to the laws of the Pokémon League, if you wanted to pass your estate on to your descendants after death, a significant portion had to go to the League.
But if one became a certified Breeder, a number of benefits and legal privileges came into play, including full exemption from various taxes.
Sieg looked at the old man with newfound respect. Good grief, eighty years old and still blazing a trail forward!
As they chatted, more candidates began to arrive for the assessment, most of them around thirty years old.
The newcomers naturally joined the conversation, and Miss Joy served as a perfect bridge between everyone, making the mood warm and relaxed.
After all, the purpose of the assessment was selection, not elimination. No one really viewed the others as rivals.
Sieg also took the opportunity to learn a bit about the others. Most of the candidates had taken the breeder assessment several times before.
Naturally, people soon turned to ask about him, especially since Sieg looked so young, barely even an adult by most standards.
"What? You're only seventeen?" Mr. Otis was visibly astonished. "That's incredible, the younger generation really is catching up fast!"
The others were also a bit surprised and looked over with curiosity.
Miss Joy, meanwhile, blinked her wide open eyes and began silently calculating how she would report Sieg's information back to her family.
"This boy's looks aren't bad either. If he gets a decent result in the assessment, even if he doesn't become a breeder, he might still be worth bringing into the family."
Unconsciously, Miss Joy had already mentally assumed Sieg wouldn't pass.
After all, passing the primary breeder assessment at seventeen was extremely rare. While not unheard of, such achievements were usually monopolized by the major breeder families.
Across all regions combined, there were rarely more than three such cases in an entire year.
As for how to bring him into the family, of course, she wouldn't do it personally. Being the appointed Miss Joy of Rustboro, a vital hub city, meant she was a direct descendant of the main family line.
Her future was clearly destined for an arranged marriage with someone from another major family. There was no chance she'd personally approach a trainer with no background like Sieg.
Unless, of course, Sieg turned out to be an unprecedented, once-in-a-century prodigy.
Which meant, if anyone were to approach Sieg in that way, it would most likely be a side-branch member of the Joy family.
"I think my cousin from Oldale Town is just about the right age for marriage..." Miss Joy pondered internally, maintaining her elegant, gentle demeanor on the surface.