Lucario was plotting

Li Wei had just one thought at that moment.

Could I really be a rich kid, just like Akin said?

A system falling into my lap, luxury cars and beautiful women throwing themselves at me, Legendary Pokémon arriving uninvited, financial dynasties dancing in the palm of my hand, spiritual energy returning to the world...

Ahem. Wrong story.

The thought of the thirty million his dad had borrowed from Elder Uncle snapped Li Wei right out of his dream.

In reality, he was a cook saddled with an enormous debt, desperately needing to make the Pokémon Day Care thrive.

A Staravia flew into a tree, a Budew buried itself in the soil, a Burmy hung from a branch...

A few Pokémon could be spotted here and there around the grounds.

Li Wei suspected they were wild Pokémon, since they all grew wary at the sight of the car.

"Is this place open to the outside?" Li Wei asked.

Wen Hui nodded. "There's a fence around it, with a few gaps for wild Pokémon to come and go."

Elder Uncle immediately added a reminder. "So when you take in other Trainers' Pokémon, be careful not to let them run off.

"But you've always been careful, Xiao Wei, so I'm not worried."

As Elder Uncle drove toward the central buildings, he introduced the Pokémon Day Care to Li Wei.

"The Pokémon Day Care covers roughly 1.2 square kilometers, divided into five environments: foothills, forest, lake, wetland, and sand dunes."

"You call this a Pokémon Day Care?" Li Wei quipped. "It's practically a breeding center!"

Elder Uncle laughed heartily. "Sharp as ever, Xiao Wei. Jubilife Mayor does have that in mind. You'll understand once we get inside."

His dad, Leon, sounded excited. "And another thing! If the Pokémon Day Care does well, we can expand!"

Clearly, his dad was brimming with confidence.

We can even expand?

Li Wei finally understood just how much importance the Jubilife Mayor placed on the Pokémon Day Care.

He probably wants to make the breeding center a new calling card for Jubilife City.

If he could get the breeding center established during his term, it would certainly count as a political achievement.

Once the car stopped, Li Wei, his parents, and Lucario got out.

Red maples and cherry trees stood on either side of the house, with swings suspended from their thick branches by vines.

"Come on out, Arcanine, Metang!"

Seeing all that open space, Li Wei immediately tossed out two Luxury Balls.

As usual, Metang cautiously scanned the surroundings with psychic power. The sheer openness took some getting used to.

The moment Arcanine emerged, the Pokémon made a beeline for a swing.

Arcanine was determined to test the swing's load-bearing capacity with that hefty body.

"You can't get on that! It'll collapse!"

Fortunately, Li Wei had a Super New Trainer physique and managed to physically hold Arcanine back.

"Awooo~" Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

Arcanine tilted that big head, looking utterly bewildered.

When did my Trainer get so strong?

Li Wen, Leon, and Wen Hui all wore the same expression.

[Stunned speechless].jpg

"Son, when did you get so strong?"

"I just kept working out back home, and this happened."

Leon looked at his tall, lean son, then compared him with his own muscles wrapped in fat. He patted his belly before scratching his head in confusion.

"Why didn't that happen to me?"

Ding, ding. Dad failed to comprehend.

Easygoing as ever, his dad didn't dwell on it. He watched Arcanine frolic on the grass with that tongue flapping around and nodded in satisfaction.

"You guys come out too!"

His dad and mom each tossed out Poké Balls, and four bursts of red light landed one after another.

Machamp and Scizor were his dad's Pokémon, while Ninetales and Gardevoir belonged to his mom.

"We'll be living here from now on."

"Sciz!" Scizor gave an aloof nod.

"Champ!" Machamp answered while striking a series of bodybuilding poses.

Everyone was already used to it.

Machamp's personality was just like his dad's: flashy, optimistic, and confident.

"Garde~" Gardevoir held both palms facing each other and answered Wen Hui through Telepathy.

"Rrr~" Ninetales leaned against Wen Hui's side and nuzzled her palm.

Lucario nodded to Li Wei.

We're going to look around.

"Don't go too far."

Lucario nodded to Arcanine and Metang, then led them away.

That's odd.

Watching Lucario and the others leave, Li Wei felt a little puzzled.

But Elder Uncle's voice soon interrupted his thoughts.

"You'll live in the middle. The warehouse and generator room are on the left, and the specialized training facilities are on the right."

At the center of the breeding facility stood a residence made up of three connected buildings. The middle was lower than the sides, forming an "H" shape.

Li Wei raised an eyebrow. "Training facilities? Those can't have been cheap."

Elder Uncle nodded. "Jubilife Mayor has been very supportive of the Pokémon Day Care. We practically got it for a song."

The ever-optimistic Leon chuckled and patted Li Wei's shoulder with his fan-sized hand.

"Don't worry, son! All we'll have to pay from now on is maintenance, and the League offers discounts on that too!"

Sometimes, Li Wei really envied his dad for coming from such an optimistic family.

Outlandish as all this was, it was still within the limits of what Li Wei could handle.

Until he spotted a Pokémon Center here!

Behind the buildings on the left stood a Pokémon Center, complete with a Nurse Joy and a Chansey.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Nurse Joy Xuelan, stationed here permanently. This is my partner, Chansey."

"Lucky~" Chansey waved.

This Nurse Joy was relatively young and looked as though she had just graduated from nursing school.

Wen Hui reached out and shook her hand.

"We look forward to working with you."

Nurse Joy Xuelan smiled softly. "Likewise. I look forward to working with all of you."

Li Wei was dumbfounded. "This place even comes with a Nurse Joy?!"

Nurse Joy smiled sweetly. "There are quite a few wild Pokémon nearby, so I'll be responsible for them too."

Nurse Joy treated even wild Pokémon.

It was just like when Ash and his friends rescued Pokémon on their travels and took them to a Pokémon Center.

After all, this was the outskirts. In a real emergency, even getting to the nearest Pokémon Center would take time.

"Breeders and Pokémon doctors do different jobs, so the League simply sent me here!"

While Li Wei and his parents toured the house, Lucario and the others were plotting...

As the leader, Lucario gathered Arcanine and Metang.

"Luca, luca."

The boss and his family spent a lot of money opening this Pokémon Day Care. We need to help as much as we can.

"Metang?"

But what can we do?

Besides helping out here, we can also...

Lucario laid out the idea.

"Metang!" Great idea!

With a brain like a supercomputer, Metang analyzed the feasibility of Lucario's proposal.

Arcanine nodded vigorously.

"Awooo~" ┗|｀O′|┛ "Awoo~~"

Leave it to yours truly!

With a determined look, Lucario held out a right paw.

Arcanine placed a huge paw on top, and Metang added another on top of that.

Any time! Anywhere!

Super sleuths! On the case!

That's the spirit! Meeting adjourned. We start tomorrow!