Jubilife City's Pokémon Trainers Had Gone Far Too Long Without a Quality Pokémon Day Care!

Early the next morning.

(Get up. Time to train.)

Li Wei's personal alarm clock, Lucario, woke him at seven sharp.

Li Wei stretched, then vigorously rubbed Arcanine's head, waking it up by sheer force.

"Woof, woof, woof!" (Mark my words! You'll pay for this tonight!)

Metagross had gotten up long ago and was reading the Metagross Breeding Manual Steven had given them beside the bay window.

Metagross had read the manual countless times. This was a copy Li Wei had reprinted for it.

Curled up in his padded bed, Drakloak opened his sleepy eyes. "Drrr..."

This had been Drakloak's first night in his new home.

With a padded bed and heating, it was much nicer than the cold wooden cabin on the mountaintop.

It wasn't that the cabin was bad. It was just too cold in winter.

Fortunately, Drakloak had been born in spring, giving him time to grow strong enough to withstand the bitter winter and evolve into Drakloak.

Dragapult didn't sleep in Li Wei's room. Li Wei had given it a room of its own where it could store its letters.

After catching Drakloak, Li Wei had four Pokémon in total.

Lucario, at advanced Gym level.

Arcanine, newly at intermediate Gym level.

Metagross, at intermediate Professional level.

Drakloak, at intermediate Veteran level.

If he also counted Dragapult, which was at advanced Gym level, Li Wei could compete in the League.

He might only have five Pokémon, but each of them was powerful.

Still, that was just a passing thought. Li Wei hadn't earned a single Badge yet.

Just as he had when he first caught Metang, Li Wei needed to draw up a training plan for Drakloak.

Appraisal Eye displayed Drakloak's information.

[Name]: Drakloak

[Types]: Dragon, Ghost

[Gender]: Male

[Ability]: Infiltrator (Can bypass barriers or substitutes to attack.)

[Moves]: Infestation, Assurance, Hex, Agility, U-turn, Double Hit, Dragon Dance, Phantom Force...

[Strength rating]: Veteran (Intermediate)

Drakloak was actually a little stronger than Metang had been at the start.

Drakloak was already capable of fighting, making things far easier than raising a Dreepy from scratch.

Drakloak seemed particularly fond of the top of Li Wei's head and rested his triangular head on it.

"Here, take this Dragon Scale and absorb it."

"Drrr!"

Drakloak's eyes lit up at the sight of the black Dragon Scale, and he eagerly accepted it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Before Li Wei's very eyes, Drakloak devoured the Dragon Scale that had belonged to Black Rayquaza.

The dragon power contained within the Dragon Scale would help Drakloak grow over time.

As for how much stronger he would become, Li Wei didn't know.

This was his first time seriously raising a Dragon-type Pokémon.

And with this Dragon Scale coming from Black Rayquaza, Li Wei was even less certain.

Meanwhile, in another room.

Dragapult was deep in a dream.

In the dream, Meria opened her arms and held it close, her long, slender fingers gently stroking its scales as she felt its warmth.

"Dragapult, have you been well?"

"Grr!"

"Have you missed me? I've missed you very much too!"

Meria hugged Dragapult tightly, feeling their hearts beat together.

"It's time. I have to go now."

Meria placed a gentle kiss on Dragapult's head.

"Grr!"

(Don't go!)

Dragapult jolted awake.

It seemed to have had a dream.

For a moment, Dragapult couldn't tell the dream apart from reality.

Although the ending hadn't been pleasant, it had still been a wonderful dream.

"Drakloak, Phantom Force!"

The voice outside caught Dragapult's attention.

Through the window screen, it could see Drakloak training.

Phantom Force collided with Arcanine's Flare Blitz.

"Kang jin!"

"Luca!"

As Drakloak's seniors, Lucario and Metagross had mostly praise for him.

"You did very well."

Li Wei gently stroked Drakloak's head and handed him a few more Pokéblocks.

"Drr!"

Drakloak narrowed his eyes contentedly and nudged him with his enormous head.

Dragapult understood now. Meria was gone, and it had to keep going, carrying her share of life with it.

As Dragapult left its room, someone suddenly called out to it.

"Dragapult, would you like to join me?"

Dragapult recognized the woman before it: Li Wei's mother, Wen Hui.

"Grr?"

Wen Hui smiled. "For some tea."

Every morning, before the Breeding Center opened, Wen Hui brewed herself a pot of tea.

Meria had happened to love tea too.

"Grr!"

For some reason, Dragapult accepted.

"Please."

Dragapult's narrowed eyes were reflected in the amber-colored tea, while its rich fragrance filled the living room.

Dragapult sniffed the aroma, then lowered its head to sip the fragrant tea, carefully savoring the aftertaste as though recalling the past through it.

Wen Hui didn't try to strike up a conversation with Dragapult. She simply brewed the tea in silence, drinking six small cups herself.

She knew Dragapult wasn't really drinking tea. It was remembering the person it had once shared tea with.

Li Wei had told his parents about Dragapult the night before.

Learning that Dragapult had waited twenty years for Meria had given them a much deeper understanding of Pokémon's feelings.

Wen Hui was actually about the same age as Dragapult.

"Grr."

Wen Hui smiled. "You're welcome. Well, I should get to work."

The second stage of the main quest required 1,000 customers, including Pokémon, to consider his family's Breeding Center the best in Jubilife City.

Quest progress (58/1000)

Li Wei's family Breeding Center was gradually establishing itself in Jubilife City, and it had quite a few returning customers.

Strangely, though, there were far fewer customers than usual today.

Most visitors had come to have their Pokémon bathed or groomed. There wasn't a single big order for move training or help with evolution.

Leon was so idle that he had started yawning.

"This is really strange. How come there isn't a single one?"

Without any Pokémon needing move training, Leon had nowhere to put his skills to use.

When it came to Pokémon grooming, Leon was still far behind Li Wei.

Beside him, Wen Hui was tapping away at her calculator as she worked on the accounts.

"It's fine. We've been so busy lately. Think of it as taking a day or two off. We can also make plans for breeding Pokémon."

From the very beginning, the Breeding Center's approach had been to offer fewer services of higher quality.

The advantage was that they wouldn't completely squeeze other Pokémon Day Cares out of business, leaving them room to make a living.

Another clear benefit was that it would establish the Breeding Center's reputation, making it the benchmark for Pokémon Day Cares in Jubilife City.

Those had been the mayor of Jubilife City's exact words.

Jubilife City's Pokémon Trainers had gone far too long without a quality Pokémon Day Care!

Just then...

"B-b-big trouble!"