"Phew~ Finally done!"
Inside the newly built laboratory at David's small home, David looked rather worn out, with two dark circles under his eyes, but he wore a joyful smile as he stared at the tube of deep purple liquid in front of him.
The construction crews in the Pokémon world were incredibly efficient. With the help of Pokémon strength, David's laboratory had been finished in less than a day.
David couldn't help but marvel at their speed, and his thoughts drifted back to the world before the timeline shift.
If Pokémon had existed back then, perhaps ninety percent of construction workers would have lost their jobs overnight. There would have been no need for so many hands, and the work would have gone much faster besides.
Still, although people called it "construction," the job hadn't really been that complicated. David had simply moved his entire laboratory from his family's manor, kept fully intact.
The crew's main task had been to transport all the instruments and equipment, then set everything back up properly.
The laboratory wasn't large, only about one hundred square meters, but for David alone, it was more than enough space.
Luckily, his small home had plenty of room to begin with. After clearing out a few unused rooms next to his original makeshift lab, he ended up with five hundred square meters total, which was plenty.
During this stretch of time, on top of his usual two days off, David had taken an entire extra week of leave.
This had nearly convinced his homeroom teacher and Teacher Dominic that something terrible had happened to him, and it took quite a bit of persuading on David's part to set their minds at ease.
They reluctantly approved his leave, though Dominic still reminded him that the school team selection trials would take place exactly one week from then.
Given David's consistent grades and the strength he had already shown, the position of team captain was practically guaranteed to be his.
Still, regardless of how the selection turned out, he was expected to show up in person. David agreed without hesitation.
He wasn't particularly drawn to the title of team captain itself, but he was genuinely looking forward to the upcoming Trainer School League!
High-level Pokémon battles against a wide pool of strong competitors would bring him plenty of benefits.
And if he happened to trigger one or two major chain quests along the way, his progress toward the legendary ten-pull would take another solid step forward. How could he not look forward to that?
As for the week of leave, David certainly hadn't spent it idly — instead, he had thrown himself into researching what he called the Dragon's Will Potion.
He'd taken time off to study potion-making, not to laze around.
The main purpose of the Dragon's Will Potion, as the name suggested, was to strengthen a Dragon-type Pokémon's mental fortitude, boosting its resistance to mind-affecting moves such as Charm.
It also amplified the natural effect of a Dragon-type's innate Dragon's Maw presence, since that intimidating aura was, at its core, a kind of mental pressure.
However, the Dragon's Will Potion proved far more complex to brew than the earlier Dragon Breath Potion. Even after nearly a full week of work, David still hadn't mastered the complete recipe.
Even so, he managed to produce a simplified version, which he now held in his hand and had named the Dragon's Might Potion.
Mastering the brewing methods for two advanced potions back to back within a week and a half — even with the original formula and old experimental notes as reference, and even with his increasingly sharp mind — was no small feat. It spoke to David's real talent, whether one called it a gift for cultivation or simply a gift for potion-making.
"Excellent, a success at last... huh?"
Dragapult, David's ever-reliable potion tester, rushed over the moment it sensed its Trainer had succeeded.
It could tell at once that this potion suited it even better than the Dragon Breath Potion had, and without hesitation it turned into an affectionate ball of dragon, coiling itself around David and giving him gentle licks with its cool tongue.
"Ugh — alright, alright, Dragapult, that's enough! This one's for you."
David, nearly breathless from laughing under Dragapult's enthusiastic greeting, had no choice but to give in.
There was a good reason David let Dragapult test his potions. After his mother had examined his work, she'd noted that potions brewed at his current skill level had only a mild effect on stronger Pokémon.
Even if something did go wrong with a batch, the worst Dragapult — having already reached the peak of its Elite-level strength — would suffer was a bit of an upset stomach.
That was exactly why David felt comfortable letting it try his creations so freely. And most of his earlier failed batches, the ones without harmful side effects, had ended up in Dragapult's stomach as well.
Thanks to David's hard work, he had also partially mastered the recipe for an even higher-grade potion, one that had taken him six full days, astonishing everyone who knew what he'd accomplished.
The instant Dragapult heard David's reply, it didn't waste another second, since it already had its plan ready.
It wrapped its tail around the cup and downed the strengthening potion in a single gulp.
The cool sensation made Dragapult shiver as it drank, sending a deeply satisfying feeling through its whole body.
It quickly settled, though, and began to focus on the changes taking place within its mind.
After just one bottle of the Dragon's Might Potion, its mental strength — which hadn't budged in a long while — crept forward by another small notch.
That small notch shouldn't be underestimated. At a certain level of strength, a gap that tiny could be the very thing that decides a battle.
Watching Dragapult's thoroughly contented expression, David knew right away that he'd succeeded.
Pleased as he was that the potion had turned out well, the freshly brewed batch was gone the moment it was made.
David had no choice but to spend more time brewing another batch, though this time he wasn't entirely certain how it would turn out.
Today marked the final day of his leave, and tomorrow was the school team selection trial. He needed to return to school as well, so after quickly tidying up the laboratory, David picked up the newly made potion and set off.