Chingling, the pre-evolution of Chimecho.
Compared to Pokémon like Aggron and Flygon, Chimecho was completely unsuited for Pokémon battles.
Through thousands of years of coexistence, they had become fully integrated into human life.
Chimecho liked to use the sucker on their heads to hang from tree branches or under the eaves of houses. Whenever the hot season arrived, they would fly around lively, looking just like a string of wind chimes.
When a gentle breeze blew, Chimecho would produce clear, beautiful chiming sounds.
This was how Chimecho had integrated into human life. They hung under eaves like wind chimes, and people believed that the sound of Chimecho would bring them happiness and good luck.
In the anime, James from Team Rocket's trio had a Chimecho.
Kawaki looked at this egg. If nothing unexpected happened, the Chingling egg probably wouldn't sell for a while.
"...Whatever, if it doesn't sell, I'll just raise it myself," Kawaki thought.
The eaves of the Daycare were still missing one position anyway, perfect for Chingling.
Next was the Castform that would hatch in three days.
Kawaki had big plans for this Pokémon. With it, the herb garden could achieve automated watering.
Kawaki set down the egg in his hands and went downstairs to check on the herb garden.
The batch of herbs and vegetables he'd planted last time had already begun sprouting under Oddish's careful tending.
The seedlings grew in neat rows across the field ridges, their growth looking very promising.
The berry trees nearby had produced another batch of fruit. Kawaki called over Bewear and took out baskets to pick them all.
The plump, juicy berries filled an entire basket. Kawaki brought them back home and divided them into two parts: one portion to juice for feeding the Pokémon, and the other he planned to use for making Pokéblocks.
That evening, after dinner, Kawaki gathered all the Pokémon around him in the main hall to watch TV.
A news program was broadcasting, covering recent major events in the Hoenn region, such as mass appearances of wild Pokémon in certain areas, incidents of wild Pokémon losing their minds and attacking citizens near various cities, and so on.
Besides that, they occasionally broadcast news about other regions.
It had been nearly two hundred years since the Pokémon League was established, and during these years, all regions had gradually strengthened their connections.
Kawaki watched with great interest, while the group of Pokémon beside him were also very curious about this talking, glowing box.
Watching TV was something they had never experienced in their previous Pokémon lives.
"Clefairy?!"
When they saw a Pokémon appear on TV, one of the Clefairy couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
Was that Pokémon trapped inside that little box?
Another Clefairy grabbed a broom, ready to charge forward and smash the TV to rescue the trapped Pokémon.
"!!!"
Kawaki was startled and quickly stopped them: "Stop!"
"Clefairy?" The Clefairy stopped and looked back with confusion.
"Put the broom down first. The Pokémon in there is just a recording. There's no Pokémon trapped inside!" While explaining, Kawaki also introduced the concept to the Pokémon: "This is a television."
"Woof?" Television? What was a television?
"It's a machine that can play videos." Kawaki didn't know how else to explain it, so he simply picked up the remote and changed the channel.
Soon, the screen switched to a cooking show.
On screen, a beautiful girl wearing a chef's hat was working together with an Alcremie to make a sweet, fluffy cream cake.
The pink-toned background, pure white cream soft as clouds, topped with several strawberries - it looked both healing and tempting.
The Clefairy were instantly captivated by the strawberry cream cake on TV.
"Clefairy!"
Some of the Clefairy even began drooling.
That thing called cream cake looked so delicious!
Kawaki: "..."
He wouldn't mind making one for this group of Clefairy to try, but there were no eggs or cream at home. Even the most skilled cook couldn't make a meal without ingredients.
However, there was a dessert shop in Fallarbor Town. He could go buy some later for the Pokémon at the Daycare to try.
Thinking about how Bewear, Growlithe, the Clefairy, and Oddish had probably never eaten cream cake, Kawaki suddenly felt sorry for them, as if he owed them something.
Tomorrow, he definitely had to go to Fallarbor Town and buy a bunch of cream cakes for the Pokémon at home to try!
When Kawaki told the Pokémon about his plan, he was immediately greeted with their cheers.
"Clefairy~!"
They looked just like little children.
Kawaki couldn't help but smile, saying: "Don't worry, I've got you covered."
The Clefairy continued watching the cooking show in front of them.
Growlithe, Oddish, and Bewear were also very interested in the desserts.
Outside the window, it had started to drizzle at some point. The gentle rain fell on the Daycare's roof with a pattering sound.
On this rainy night, Kawaki and his Pokémon huddled together on the sofa watching TV.
He looked around at the group of Pokémon beside him, feeling deeply moved.
Who hadn't fantasized about living with Pokémon when they watched the show as a child?
And now, fantasy had become reality.
This feeling... was absolutely amazing!
*
The next morning brought continued drizzle, making it unfit to go outside.
Looking at the humid air outside the window, Kawaki didn't want to leave the house. He decided to wait until the rain stopped before going to Fallarbor Town to buy cream cakes.
However, just because he didn't want to go out didn't mean others felt the same way.
Early in the morning, Steven, having returned from Mossdeep City to fulfill his promise, knocked on the Daycare's door.
His hair was damp from the rain, sticking wetly to his forehead, and his clothes showed obvious water stains.
Seeing who it was, Kawaki was slightly surprised.
Steven walked through the door, came to the counter, then took off his backpack and began pulling out Moon Stones one by one.
This elegant young master from a wealthy family said: "I've now fulfilled our agreement."
Steven had brought a total of twenty Moon Stones, not only enough for all the Daycare's Clefairy to evolve into Clefairy, but with eight extras to spare. He was incredibly generous.
"That's too many..." Kawaki said in surprise.
Steven just smiled slightly: "These Moon Stones are nowhere near as valuable as that meteorite you gave me. Additionally, to thank you for your trust, please accept this extra gift."
With that, Steven pulled another stone from his jacket.
It was a stone that looked like a marble, with strange patterns inside its beautiful surface.
Kawaki instinctively looked at the stone.
The next second, information about that stone surfaced in his mind.
[Dragonite Mega Stone: A miraculous Mega Stone that allows Dragonite to Mega Evolve when held during battle.]