Afterward, the atmosphere inside the store suddenly became quiet.
Dak and the others glanced at Gion and then at Mihawk, creating an awkward scene for a moment.
"How about this? Since both of you are here with nothing particular to do, why don't you help me find a suitable look for Darkrai?"
Dak felt that continuing like this wouldn't do.
So, he involved Mihawk and Gion to see if they could help him complete the main quest.
"A look?"
Gion tilted her head, looking at Darkrai.
"Yes, as individuals, Pokémon naturally have their own styles. In the world they live in, there's a profession called Pokémon Beauticians. And in our field as breeders, we are also required to possess a certain level of skill in Pokémon grooming. I'm currently practicing, but I'm at a loss for ideas."
"Interesting."
Gion's eyes lit up when she heard what Dak said.
Although Gion wasn't like the average girl, she would relax by studying beauty and makeup during her spare time. Now hearing about grooming Pokémon, she naturally became interested.
"Boring."
Mihawk wasn't deliberately opposing Gion .
He was just expressing his true feelings from the bottom of his heart. However, since he had nothing better to do, he stayed to watch, without any intention of leaving.
"Hmph, if you're not interested, you can leave."
"I won't."
Mihawk's words nearly made Gion have a brain hemorrhage.
If it weren't for the fact that they were inside the breeding house, Gion would have definitely swung her sword by now.
"Alright, Darkrai, come here and let Miss Gion take a look at you."
Dak quickly stopped the brewing conflict.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if Newgate and Sengoku, Garp and Dragon, Luffy and Smoker were to meet in his shop.
Darkrai approached Gion without any objections. In his view, nobody could make him look worse than Dak and Bon had.
However, he was wrong.
Gion indeed knew how to apply makeup, but only women's makeup.
When Darkrai saw himself in the full-body mirror, with bright red lipstick, false eyelashes, and blush on his face, he almost buried his head in the ground.
Gion even combed his flowing hair down into a middle part.
"Ha ha ha ha ha."
Mihawk laughed.
This was the first time Dak had seen Mihawk laugh so openly, which genuinely startled him. He had never seen Mihawk laugh like this before, and now, Mihawk's laughter reminded him of Uchiha Madara's maniacal laughter.
"What are you laughing at?!"
Gion was annoyed.
Her sword was drawn horizontally across Mihawk's neck.
"Can't even hold a sword steady, don't bother drawing it at all."
Mihawk wasn't the least bit flustered, instead, he looked at Gion's trembling hands and blade with a mocking gaze.
Inside the breeding house, everyone's strength was suppressed to the level of a Totodile. Physical strength decreased, and neither Haki nor Devil Fruit abilities could be used.
Gion and Mihawk being able to wield large swords was already quite impressive.
"..."
Gion realized the kind of suppression power spoken of by Tsuru.
Truly terrifying.
Gion sheathed her sword and glanced at Dak.
With such a terrifying suppression power, the breeding house could run rampant across the seas, and they could simply hide inside if others dared to enter, waiting for their doom.
No wonder the breeding house dared to warn and threaten the navy.
In just a moment, Bon had already washed off the makeup from Darkrai's face before he could get angry.
"Mihawk-san, how about you give some suggestions?"
Dak then turned his attention back to Mihawk.
Honestly, there was something oddly similar between Mihawk and Darkrai.
"A suggestion? Trouble. Just wearing a hat or a scarf would do."
Mihawk seemed to find it somewhat boring and spoke dismissively.
And with that single sentence, Dak suddenly realized what he should do.
In the Pokémon world, indeed, many beauticians put quite flamboyant makeup on Pokémon, which seems to be the only thing they consider 'beauty' worthy.
But Dak forgot, among most ordinary trainers, adding a little something to their Pokémon already counted as dressing them up.
Like Meowth wearing boots, Pikachu with a hat, or Treecko biting a twig.
Most Pokémon do not like having things added to them.
Especially Darkrai, who often has to battle, would find those things burdensome. Only Pokémon that are primarily for 'companionship', or rather, kept as pets, wouldn't mind having those flashy decorations.
"Ah, that's it!"
Dak suddenly understood what he needed to do.
Darkrai looked at Dak, already having lost faith in Dak's aesthetic sense.
"Hats won't work. Scarves, neither."
Dak circled around Darkrai, then shook his head.
The flowing white hair and red serrated neckband were Darkrai's signature, which couldn't be covered; that would be uncool.
Dak looked at Darkrai's bare torso, had an idea, ran back to his bedroom, and brought back a strip of ice-blue ribbon, then tied it around Darkrai's left arm.
The color of the ribbon matched the color of Darkrai's eyes, making it somewhat match.
"Wow, don't tell me, just this simple touch, and it actually looks good."
Bon commented from the side.
In his view, at least Darkrai's body didn't look so monotonous anymore.
Darkrai glanced at his reflection in the mirror, felt indifferent, then looked at Dak, who was looking forward to his approval.
Well, it didn't bother him.
"Dak."
Darkrai nodded, giving Dak a bit of recognition.
Dak was delighted, genuinely happy to have received Darkrai's approval.
He didn't even notice that his personal panel in breeding had reached Lv.2.
[Main Quest: Pokémon Grooming Course - Completed]
[Rewards: Evolution of Tree, Lake, and Warm Lamp]
[Effects: The tree can now produce a large amount of berries for Pokémon to eat; the lake can now be used to keep marine life; the sunlight from the warm lamp can accelerate the hatching of Pokémon eggs]
Dak had yet to observe the changes in the store when a new system prompt arrived.
[A new main quest has been assigned]
[Main Quest: Breeding Course Three - Skill Teaching]
[Content: Teach a Pokémon to learn a new move]
[Reward: Pokémon Check, Recovery Device]
[Magical Store]
Seeing this reward, Dak immediately opened the Magical Store to search what exactly it was, only to find, to his surprise, that it wasn't just one thing, but two machines.
[Check Device: Provides a comprehensive check of a Pokémon and organizes a detailed data panel about that Pokémon, an essential machine in Pokémon Research Institutes.]
[Recovery Device: Strongly restores a Pokémon's physical strength, quickly repairs injuries caused by battles, an essential machine in Pokémon Centers.]
"Both are great items! Together they cost 10k Magical Coins."
The price for both devices in the Magical Store is 5000 Magical Coins each, equivalent to 500 million Belly.
Fortunately, this task isn't very difficult.
With Darkrai's gold-tier potential, learning a new move is a simple task, right?
(End of Chapter)