Route 34 was long. Very long. Even though it was a straight shot from the Ilex Forest gatehouse to Goldenrod City, it would take a long time to traverse the whole thing. James and Jen spent a lot of their time training on the run, moving up the route and camping out when it got dark. As the sun set on another day, James scanned his Pokégear map to determine what was next.
“Okay, Goldenrod City is another couple of days' walk from here,” James said as he looked for landmarks along the route. “According to the Pokégear, the Pokémon Daycare is just a few miles away. Maybe we can find out what there is to know about them, and whoever runs the place could possibly give us some advice on training our Pokémon.”
“I've always wanted to visit a Daycare.” This was true; Jen's ambition to become a breeder had not dropped since they left Violet, and now she had a chance to meet someone who did it for real. “I always loved playing with the baby Pokémon at the Trainer's School, and Daycares are full of them. Plus, I've got two baby Pokémon myself, so the person running the Daycare could tell me how I'm doing raising them.”
“So let's get over there. It's not too far now, if we run we can get there quickly.” Jen nodded in agreement, and they hurried along the path, Quilava keeping up easily.
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Less than an hour later, they reached a small house on the edge of the road, where an older man stood outside watching the route. As they approached, he turned to face them, and smiled as they reached him.
“Hello, young ones,” he said in a friendly voice. “I take it you are both Pokémon Trainers?”
“Yes, we are,” Jen answered, smiling back. “My name's Jennifer, and this is my friend James and his Quilava.” James nodded, preferring to let Jen do the talking.
“Fascinating,” the old man said, looking at Quilava. “I can tell that this Pokémon is quite well-trained for its relative experience level, and looks like it has endured some hard battles already. Am I correct, son?”
“Yeah, we've had our ups and downs.” James related the major points of their journey, leaving out the encounter with the Triassic Admin's Kabutops; even weeks afterward, the memory was still painful. “We've both got two badges already, and we're heading to Goldenrod to get the third.”
“Well, why not come inside and see our facility? I'm sure you will learn quite a bit here.”
“I was hoping you'd ask us that.” Jen told him, and they walked into the house.
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The house was a simple one, with a living area on one side and a play area, presumably for the smaller Pokëmon, on the other. The old man introduced the youngsters to his wife, who gave them a cheerful smile.
“Welcome to our Daycare Centre!” she said enthusiastically. “It's wonderful to have trainers stop by on their travels. Are you here to drop a Pokémon off with us?”
“Unfortunately not, ma'am.” Jen said respectfully. “We're on our way to Goldenrod City, and we thought it would be cool to check out the Daycare. My dream is to become a Pokémon Breeder someday, and this seemed like a great place to find out more about it.”
“In that case, you've come to the right place!” the old woman said. “I'll show you around our Centre, and you can see how we get things done around here!”
“Awesome! Thanks so much!” Jen followed the Daycare Lady out into the play area, while James stood with Quilava and the Daycare Man.
“She's got a lot of heart,” the old man said, and James nodded.
“A lot more than I do, that's for sure. She cares a lot about her Pokémon, and she's put up way better showings in battle than I have.”
“Now, don't sell yourself short, son.” the Daycare Man reprimanded. “I can tell just by looking at you and your Pokémon that you care just as much as she does. And don't let the negatives affect you too much. Remember, you're still both relative beginners. Just stay patient and focused and the results will follow.” James nodded at the old man's words, and they headed to meet the others in the backyard.
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The Daycare Lady showed Jen the play area, which they used as a safe environment for the younger Pokémon to run and grow. It was a simple area, with many toys and other knick-knacks to keep their charges entertained.
“We try to make sure the Pokémon in our care have a safe, calm place to grow.” the old woman explained. “This area attempts to provide that. They do spend time outside, but only under strict supervision. Once they grow older and stronger, we let them move to the outdoor area on a semi-permanent basis. The outdoor area is where we conduct most of our work, caring for Pokémon that trainers have left in our care as well as newly-hatched Pokémon that stayed behind for whatever reason.”
“Wow, you guys sure have a great job!” Jen answered, gazing in awe at the area. It seemed like any Pokémon could grow and have a good time here. “So what do you do about breeding? How does it work?”
“Well, with breeding it's a little tricky. We do our best to make sure the process only occurs if the trainer allows it, or more normally asks for us to go ahead with it. There are hatcheries around the region, but we don't have the facilities to run something like that. We do our best to ensure that nothing unauthorized happens, but we always make sure we keep the eggs safe if something does go amiss.” Jen nodded; it would be borderline irresponsible to allow Pokémon to breed without their trainers' say-so. If something bad happened, such as if the trainer couldn't take care of the egg, the baby Pokémon would have to stay behind without a trainer, or worse, a parent.
“So when you do discover an egg, you either give it to the trainer or hatch it yourself, right?”
“Yes. Hatching an egg here is fairly difficult, since Pokémon eggs hatch best if they are cared for by a trainer. But in the cases where we do, we make sure the baby stays with Pokémon of their own species, so that they can grow almost as if they had been bred in the wild. Once we reach a stage where a Pokémon is grown enough and no-one claims them, we either send them to another facility or release them into the wild.”
“Is letting them out into the world safe? If they were born in the facility, they may not be able to handle living in the wild.”
“We try to make sure of that. It would be wrong for us to just send them out there, that's why we gauge their growth very carefully to make sure they can cope. But we also know that they can't stay here forever, and will need to go out into the wild where they can live with others like them. Perhaps they might even find a trainer to take care of them that way, too.”
“Wow,” was all Jen could say.
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In the yard, the Daycare Man showed James the large amount of Pokémon he and his wife cared for. Most of them were first-stage Pokémon like Pidgey or Sentret, but some mid-level species were also in the mix. James looked around and noticed that the Pokémon tended to congregate with others of their type. As his eyes fell on a group of Electric-types, he saw Jen walk through the back door, followed by the Daycare Lady.
“Hey, Jen, how'd it go?” he asked her. Jen smiled and told him all about what the old woman had said, and indicated that she had learned a huge amount.
“This is one of the coolest places I've ever been to!” she finished. “Now I know what I'm going to do when I get older.”
“An admirable goal.” the old man said. “I was just showing young James here our main Pokémon-raising area.”
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“Wow, look at all the Pokémon!” Jen said excitedly, moving towards where the Electric-types were convened. James mentally sighed at her enthusiasm, and followed her with Quilava. Before he could reach her, though, an electric shock knocked him over.
“Hey, what the...?” He looked and saw a roundish yellow Pokémon with black stripes laughing at him. The creature's horns looked like the prongs on an electric plug, and its chest had a black lightning bolt.
“Oh, goodness, not again,” the old lady said, shaking her head. “That Elekid is such a prankster, it never listens when we tell it not to do that.”
“Elekid?” James had heard the name, but he'd never actually seen one. He took out his Pokédex to scan the still-laughing Electric-type.
“Elekid, the Electric Pokémon. It spins its arms to build up an electric current, but it cannot store this charge within its body.”
“That's one cool Pokémon,” James said to himself, despite his annoyance at being shocked. “I'd sure love to train one.”
“James, are you okay?” Jen asked as she ran over to him.
“I'm fine, just a bit shocked.” He half-laughed at his terrible joke, then noticed the Daycare Lady watching him.
“That Elekid is a handful. It's always shocking other Pokémon for fun, and often goes after visiting trainers as well. I think this is because it truly doesn't know any better, and no-one has taught it anything different. I believe that it needs a trainer to teach it some discipline.”
“I'd take it off your hands in a second. An Electric-type would really give me a strong option in my team.” James didn't expect much from this comment, but to his surprise, the old woman was smiling at this.
“Maybe you could. Why not think about that while you look around? I'm sure it would love to travel with you.” James grinned and continued to walk through the large area, observing the Pokémon as he did so.
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Jen had wandered back over to the Electric-types that James never reached, overcome with happiness. The little ones are so cute, she thought to herself. I could get used to doing this job. As she turned away, she saw a small mouse-like Pokémon timidly walking around her feet, gazing up at her with a nervous expression.
“Hey, there.” Jen said softly, kneeling down to face the little Pokémon. It had black-tipped, triangle-shaped ears and a short black tail, and its cheeks had small pink circles on them. “What're you doing there, little one?” The Pokémon flinched as Jen spoke to it, and Jen backed away a little bit, taking out her Pokédex to learn more about the creature.
“Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon. This Electric-type can produce a strong enough electric current to shock a human, but it has trouble controlling this current.”
“Cool,” she said as she stowed the device. Pichu had moved back towards her, and Jen smiled at it. “Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you.”
“Jen, look out!” James called, and Jen turned to see an Elekid flying at her. She quickly moved out of the way, and the Elekid stopped in front of Pichu, glaring threateningly at Jen.
“What's up with this Elekid? Is this the same one that shocked you, James?”
“No.” Jen looked to see the Daycare Lady standing next to her. “You see, this Elekid is very protective of that Pichu, for reasons we haven't been able to identify. This particular Pichu happens to be extremely timid, which is unusual for her species. Pichu as a whole tend to be quite social, but this one tends to stay away from the others.”
“That's too bad,” Jen said, watching Pichu wander past Elekid and go back to her left shoe. “She's certainly intrigued by me, that's for sure.”
“Well, I've already talked to your young friend about taking the Elekid that shocked him along. Why not do the same with this Pichu? I'm sure you will make a great trainer for her.”
“Maybe,” Jen said as she knelt back down to look at Pichu. “Hey, would you like to come with me? You can meet my other Pokémon, and we'll be best friends.” Pichu looked scared, but then a small smile crossed her face. She squeaked happily, and Jen smiled back.
“Looks like that's a 'yes'.” the Daycare Lady said, and Jen took out a Pokéball to take Pichu along. Before she could tap the Tiny Mouse with it, though, the Elekid jumped back in front of Pichu and growled protectively. “Oh, goodness me, Elekid doesn't like the idea.” Elekid pointed behind him to Pichu, then crossed its arms defiantly. “I see...”
“What's it saying?” Jen asked.
“It seems to be saying that it wants to go along too. I believe the expression is something along the lines of 'if she goes, I go'.”
“Okay,” Jen said doubtfully, then brightened. “Hey, the more the merrier, right? Okay, Elekid, you can come with me too. If you feel that strongly, I won't separate you guys. How about it?” Elekid nodded, and moved so Jen could catch Pichu before going into a Pokéball himself. Jen tapped Pichu on the ear, and she was sucked inside with a flash of red light. The ball didn't even shake, just pinged and lay still at Jen's feet. “Awesome. Alright, Elekid, you're next.” She did the same with Elekid, making a mental note to introduce her new acquisitions to the rest of the team later.
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James had walked around the whole yard, watching the Pokémon go about their business and marveling at how two people could handle this whole operation. He saw Jen taking two Pokémon and adding them to her team, and went over to her to see what was going on.
“Hey, Jen, they let you take those two with you?”
“Yeah,” Jen said happily. “A Pichu seemed to like me, so I was only going to take her, but another Elekid came up and wouldn't let me take her unless he went too. So now I've got five Pokémon, and I can't wait to introduce them to the gang.”
“Sounds like you've had a good day, then.” James looked around for the Daycare Lady, and indicated that he wanted to talk to her. “Ma'am, I've thought a lot and made a decision. I will take that Elekid along with me. I get the feeling we'll be great teammates.”
“That's absolutely fine.” the old woman affirmed. “Let's see if it wants to go with you.” The Elekid in question had wandered over to them, and was preparing to poke James in the leg and shock him again. “No, Elekid, no shocking. It's rude to attack visitors.” Elekid backed off sheepishly, and the old woman addressed it again. “How would you like to travel with this young man? I know you would be a strong member of his team, and he would take very good care of you.” Elekid considered, then pointed to James' belt. “Well, I think I know what it wants to do.”
“What's that?”
“I think it is indicating that it wants to battle you first. That might be the best option, actually. This way, you can catch it as if it were a wild Pokémon.”
“Sounds awesome,” James said, and quickly considered who to use in battle. “Quilava's too strong, Pidgey has a bad type disadvantage, and of course Geodude's immune to electricity, which takes the fun out of it...” There was only one choice. “Alright, Gastly, come on out! It's time to battle!” The purple cloud of gas that emerged sounded like it was yawning, which James disregarded. “You can take a nap later! Let's catch us a new Pokémon!” Elekid was already moving, brandishing a sparking fist.
“It doesn't know Gastly is a Ghost-type,” the old woman observed. “That Brick Break is going to do nothing.”
“Brick Break?” Jen asked as she joined the proceedings. “Isn't that a Fighting-type move?”
“Yes. Many trainers will teach it to Elekid, in order to overcome its general inability to damage Ground-types. It looks like this Elekid picked it up from its parents, and yours may have as well.”
Elekid's attack went right through Gastly, not doing any damage at all. Gastly watched Elekid run by in confusion, then bared its fangs menacingly.
“That's right, Gastly! Use Hypnosis on it!” Gastly floated over and surrounded Elekid with its purple cloud, and the Electric-type was asleep in moments. “Now, Lick attack!” The Ghost-type's long tongue brushed against Elekid, causing it to shudder in its sleep. After several of these attacks, Elekid finally awoke, and shot a jolt of electricity at Gastly.
“Be careful! Those electric blasts are dangerous!” Gastly floated around, and wagged its tongue to taunt Elekid. The Electric-type rushed in again, swinging and missing. James decided it was time.
“Alright, Elekid, time for you to come with us!” He threw a Pokéball at the overbalanced Elekid, who was sucked in, and the ball began shaking. Quilava watched from the side, not entirely over his nervousness around Pokéballs. After three shakes, the ball pinged and lay still. James walked over and picked up the ball, grinning broadly.
“Way to go, James!” Jen was excited; they now had five Pokémon each, and having two Elekid in the overall group would be fun. “You've got yourself an Electric-type now!”
“Yes I do.” James said, looking at the Pokéball in his hand. The Electric Pokémon would be a tricky one, but one James looked forward to raising. “Now all I have to do is introduce it to the others. Quilava, come here, will ya?” As Quilava walked over, James let Pidgey and Geodude out to meet the newcomer. They both reacted well to Elekid's appearance; Geodude nodded calmly, while Pidgey trilled a greeting while somehow managing to maintain her haughty expression. Gastly didn't do anything significant, it just yawned heavily.
“Well, I should introduce everyone on my team now.” Jen released Magby, Togepi and Zubat to meet her new Elekid and Pichu. The reaction was the same; Elekid stood protectively by Pichu while Magby and Togepi greeted their new teammates, and Zubat chittered a welcome.
“Those are some interesting choices, kids,” the Daycare Man said as he moved over toward them. “Jennifer, you seem to have an affinity for baby Pokémon, and James seems to be emphasizing the basics with his team.”
“Well, James' battle style is mainly offensive,” Jen explained. “I'm still trying to develop my own style, but that'll come with time.”
“You two will be fine. Your Pokémon look strong, and you have a strong handle on what it means to be a Pokémon trainer. And Jennifer, I think if you work hard enough you will become a great Pokémon Breeder someday.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jen answered. The group said their goodbyes to the Daycare Couple, and the two youngsters headed back out to finish their trek towards Goldenrod City.