"Boss, do you have any Beautifly eggs for sale?"
"Boss, I'll be ten years old next year - please make sure to save a Pokémon for me!"
"Boss, boss, there's no room at my house. When the time comes, can I board the Pokémon I catch during my travels here?"
The young children spoke in unison. Though their questions were all over the place, their eyes were filled with longing to become trainers and love for Pokémon.
Kawaki smiled as he responded to each one.
"We don't have Beautifly eggs, but we could have Wurmple eggs. If you like that Pokémon, I can keep an eye out for you."
"Of course, no problem! When you turn ten, come back and I guarantee I'll have a whole batch of Pokémon eggs ready for you to choose from."
"Boarding? Of course! I'm really looking forward to seeing what rare Pokémon you'll encounter on your journeys!"
Fallarbor Town was a small agricultural town, and most of the kids here were rural children from ordinary families.
They couldn't get starter Pokémon from professors like some people, and they definitely couldn't send their Pokémon to live at Professor Oak's lab like Ash could.
So in situations like this, the Daycare became their best option.
Without a Daycare, they'd have to rely on their own strength to catch Pokémon in the dangerous wild.
Looking at these simple, innocent children before him, Kawaki couldn't help thinking: maybe the Bug Catchers and Youngsters that players encounter in the games are just like them?
"Wow! That's great!"
Hearing Kawaki's words, the children all cheered in unison.
They stayed at the Daycare for a long time, finally leaving one by one as noon approached.
Once the kids left, the Daycare immediately quieted down.
With no customers at the Daycare currently, Kawaki simply prepared lunch for himself and the few Pokémon.
"Woof woof woof!"
The tiny Growlithe bounced along behind Kawaki, circling around his legs, seemingly inviting him to play.
Kawaki picked up Growlithe and set it aside: "Sit by yourself for a bit first."
"Woof whine..."
Seeing that Kawaki wouldn't play with it, little Growlithe felt very wronged. It drooped its ears, and even a little dark cloud appeared above its head.
Kawaki: "..."
What do you do when a Pokémon is too clingy?
He sighed somewhat helplessly and said to Growlithe: "It's not that I won't play with you - I need to prepare food for everyone. You must be hungry too, right? After we eat, I'll play with you, okay?"
"Woof!"
The cloud cleared away, and a little sun appeared above Growlithe's head.
After Kawaki's explanation, Growlithe finally realized it was hungry too!
So the little dog Pokémon stopped making a fuss and obediently sat to the side, waiting for dinner.
**[Growlithe's mood improved, happiness +10, received Growlithe's gift: Puppy Paw Print.]**
**[Puppy Paw Print: A paw print left by a young Growlithe, proof of Growlithe's friendship and affection, full of commemorative value.]**
Looking at the mold with plum blossom paw prints that suddenly appeared in his pocket, Kawaki didn't know what to say for a moment.
Still, one thing was right - this thing was indeed full of commemorative value.
Kawaki carefully treasured the puppy paw print, planning to show it to Growlithe when it grew up.
Lunch was once again eaten at the small dining table.
One person and three Pokémon sat around the table, looking just like a family.
After finishing its Moomoo Milk, Growlithe couldn't help but yawn.
After running around all morning, it was getting sleepy.
Young Pokémon were like that - they often got drowsy, but this was also a sign that they were growing.
Seeing this, Kawaki simply had Bewear take Growlithe back to the room for an afternoon nap.
Meanwhile, he took advantage of having no customers and brought Oddish to the herb garden next door.
Kawaki took out his Psyduck watering can and did the daily watering of these vegetables and herbs.
"Oddish," Kawaki called out.
"Od-dish?" Oddish looked over somewhat puzzled.
"Can you help me with something?" Kawaki looked at the field that hadn't yet grown any crops and said to Oddish: "If you can, could you use your Grass-type energy to help me tend to the seeds in these fields?"
Oddish blinked and agreed without hesitation.
"Od-dish~" Of course!
Kawaki was its trainer now - not only did he prepare delicious treats for it every day, he'd even created a special area just for it to live in!
Oddish really loved this herb garden. Its heart was full of gratitude toward Kawaki, and it was very happy to have met him.
And now if it could help Kawaki, that would be even better!
Pokémon were just that simple - if you were good to them, they'd be good to you.
Seeing this, Kawaki felt relieved.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you!"
"Od-dish!"
He wasn't a professional trainer and couldn't make Pokémon stronger through special training.
But breeders had their own training methods.
Integrating training into daily life - while on the surface it looked like Oddish was using its energy to help tend the herb garden, in reality, by doing this, Oddish was also improving its proficiency in controlling Grass-type energy.
Ready to get to work, Oddish had slept all morning and couldn't sleep now anyway. Since it had nothing else to do, it might as well help Kawaki tend the farmland.
Little Oddish concentrated on mobilizing the Grass-type energy in its body. It used Ingrain to bury itself in the soil, sensing the seeds buried in the earth.
Under Oddish's control, its body continuously released green Grass-type energy.
This energy became nutrients and began nourishing those seeds.
From the surface, the entire field didn't seem to undergo any major changes.
But Kawaki knew this was because Oddish's current power was still too weak.
When it eventually evolved into Bellossom, maybe just one thought could make seeds sprout, bloom, and bear fruit!
Kawaki wasn't in a hurry - with this magical system, that day was just a matter of time.
Just then, a clear cry suddenly rang out from overhead.
Kawaki looked up to see that unsatisfied Taillow had somehow landed on his roof again.
Once familiar, twice comfortable.
Taillow opened its eyes and looked down at Kawaki below, at this human who had fed it food this morning.
Now it was hungry, so it had come back.
Good grief!
This Taillow was here to mooch food and drinks again?
With the possibility of information related to the legendary Pokémon Latias and Latios floating through his mind, Kawaki didn't hesitate.
After all, for him it was just a few Pokémon treats - being able to exchange that for legendary Pokémon information was worth it!