Day Care
,Chapter 2: The Day Care
On the second day, Yuga woke up in a state of suffocation.
In his sleep, he always felt something sticking to his face, preventing him from breathing.
In a daze, Yuga reached out and peeled off whatever was on his face, tossing it onto the floor.
With a resounding thud, a miserable cry echoed, jolting Yuga awake.
Yuga abruptly sat up in bed, scanning his surroundings, searching for the source of the earlier cry.
He saw a Flabebe floating unsteadily from the ground, glaring at him indignantly.
"It's you, Flabebe," Yuga muttered, relieved to see his initial Pokémon.
Yuga's parents had gone to great lengths to acquire this rare Flabebe, even in their native Kalos region, let alone in Hoenn region.
Yesterday, while bedridden, he hadn't noticed Flabebe, so it slipped his mind.
Seeing Flabebe's angry expression, Yuga said, "Alright, alright, my apologies. Considering I'm still recovering, can you forgive me?"
Only then did Flabebe remember Yuga's illness and flew over, looking concerned.
Watching the tiny Flabebe worry about him, Yuga felt a bit embarrassed.
"Don't worry, I'm feeling better now. Everything's fine."
After spending a day and night in bed, Yuga's bones felt stiff.
Feeling less weak than the previous day, he got out of bed.
He walked to the window, opened it, and let the morning sunlight bathe him, feeling revitalized.
Yuga's room was on the second floor, with the window overlooking their family's yard.
The yard was vast, not just large.
His parents had bought this extensive land with the intention of expanding their Day Care business in the future.
Day Cares typically had two types of operations.
One involved selling Pokémon eggs or young Pokémon, as the names suggest.
Yuga's parents ran this aspect of the Day Care business.
The other operation was Pokémon boarding, where trainers who didn't have time to care for their Pokémon would leave them at the Day Care for a fee.
Yuga's family's large yard was prepared for the expansion of this business.
Unexpectedly, before the business could even start, they were gone.
Yuga gazed at the neatly trimmed and cleaned backyard, thinking, "My original parents must have had high hopes for expanding the Day Care."
Taking a deep breath, Yuga descended the stairs with Flabebe by his side.
Although Yuga's family home was quite run-down, it was spacious.
The second floor was where his family lived, and the first floor housed the shop, which specialized in selling Pokémon eggs and Pokémon.
However, with Yuga's parents gone, the Day Care was now closed.
As Yuga gazed at the counters that were once used to display Pokémon eggs and Poké Balls, he felt a wave of nostalgia.
Flabebe noticed Yuga's somber expression and thought he was upset about his parents' passing. She hurriedly flew over to comfort him.
Yuga gently patted Flabebe, reassuring her that he was fine.
At that moment, Hisako entered the door with Luna.
Seeing Yuga up and about, she quickly asked, "Yuga, are you feeling better now?"
Yuga smiled at Hisako and replied, "I'm fine, Aunt Hisako."
"That's good. Are you hungry? I brought you breakfast. Come and have a bite. I'll go upstairs and tidy up your room."
Hisako handed Yuga his breakfast and then went upstairs.
As for Luna, the moment she saw Flabebe, she paid no attention to anyone else and started chasing after Flabebe.
Flabebe wasn't new to Luna's mischievous antics and refused to play along.
While having breakfast, Yuga watched Flabebe and Luna play around. His earlier gloomy mood had lightened.
After Hisako left for work, she left Luna behind, claiming it was to keep Yuga company.
Once Hisako had left, Yuga opened the doors of the Day Care and placed a chair at the entrance.
Yuga's family's Day Care wasn't located in a bustling area; in fact, it was a bit remote. Although it faced a main street, there weren't many people passing by.
Since Yuga's family's Day Care was the only one in the entire Verdanturf Town, everyone knew where it was.
As Flabebe and Luna played inside the house, Yuga sat at the entrance, closing his eyes to relax.
Faced with this sudden transition to a new world, Yuga hadn't yet figured out what to do in the future.
Just as he was contemplating his next steps, a voice reached his ears.
"Is this YoYo Day Care?"
YoYo Day Care was indeed the name of Yuga's family's Day Care.
Yuga opened his eyes and saw a boy standing at the entrance, addressing him.
"Yes, it is. Do you have any business here?" Yuga politely inquired.
"Oh, I'm in the right place then. I want to buy a Pokémon. Do you have a Dratini?"
Yuga thought to himself, "Where did this guy come from? Even if our Day Care weren't closed, we wouldn't have Dratini for sale."
"We don't have one."
"No Dratini, huh? How about Growlithe?"
Come on, this is Hoenn region, not Kanto region. If you want Growlithe or Dratini, go to Kanto. Why come to a small Day Care like this?
"We don't have any."
"How about Charmander?"
Seriously, this is Hoenn region, not Kanto region.
"None."
"Why don't you have any? Well, at least you must have Rattata, right?"
Yuga struggled to maintain his smile, feeling like it was about to crumble. He replied, "Still no. Moreover, we have other customers, and our Day Care is already closed."
The boy suddenly realized, "Oh, it's closed. No wonder you don't have anything."
Yuga's smile finally gave way to exasperation.
"The Pokémon you mentioned are all from Kanto region. This is Hoenn region, and most Day Cares here don't have them."
"Oh, I see. I just wanted to buy some Pokémon from Kanto region to see them. I thought Day Cares had all kinds of Pokémon."
Yuga thought to himself, "Where did this troublesome kid come from? Buying Pokémon just to look at them."
Faced with this situation, Yuga felt that it might be better to sell the Day Care to someone else. After all, he had no experience running it.
Apart from a few remaining Pokémon eggs that Yuga's parents hadn't sold before their passing, everything else in the Day Care had been disposed of.