Fang Yan carried Petilil to the grass beside the lake.
"How about you bask in the sun here for a while?"
Petilil liked living in soil with plenty of moisture and nutrients, and the lakeside happened to meet those conditions, so Fang Yan had carried it over.
"Lili..."
Petilil nodded weakly.
"All right, I'll come back to take you home later. If there's a problem, you can call me, Gengar, or Machamp."
Fang Yan set Petilil down. It turned to look around, then closed its eyes and basked in the sun. With the trimmed leaves on its head, it looked like an onion growing out of the ground from a distance.
Leaving Petilil to enjoy the sunshine undisturbed, Fang Yan and Gengar quietly left, stopping to ask Dali to keep an eye on Petilil.
Dali gave him a thumbs-up. They were also very fond of this little sister who had joined them later.
"How does it feel to have a little sister?"
Fang Yan asked Gengar, who was grinning beside him.
"Gengar?"
A little sister?
Gengar's eyes lit up. "Gengar! (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ"
Back in the kitchen, Fang Yan sent Gengar to watch the front counter so they wouldn't miss any customers who came, while he started preparing lunch.
"Gengar, what do you want to eat today?"
Gengar floated out through the wall and pointed to two dishes. It had decided to start from the beginning and try everything.
After lunch, Fang Yan sat in a chair with Gengar, dozing.
The Machamp were out back clearing away weeds and loose stones they hadn't finished removing, and looking after Petilil.
"Rumble~"
The sound of an engine woke Fang Yan. He glanced outside and saw Officer Jenny parking her vehicle.
"Having an afternoon nap?"
Officer Jenny walked in and smiled at the bleary-eyed Fang Yan.
"Looks like you've opened for business?"
Officer Jenny had passed the wooden sign and read it, learning that the Pokémon Day Care was open.
"No customers came, so I dozed off for a bit."
Fang Yan yawned as he answered.
"That's because not many people know a Pokémon Day Care has opened here yet. Trust me, you'll be busy in a few days."
Officer Jenny patted his shoulder and said, "The Pokémon Eggs the League sold you have arrived. Take a look."
With that, she had people carry the Pokémon Eggs inside. Fang Yan looked at the eggs before him, pleasantly surprised.
That was efficient.
Fang Yan examined them one by one, and the status panel displayed detailed information about the Pokémon Eggs.
[Starly Egg] [Buizel Egg] [Kricketot Egg] [Shinx Egg] [Pachirisu Egg] [Mime Jr. Egg] [Burmy Egg] [Cherubi Egg] [Glameow Egg] [Chingling Egg]...
They were all Pokémon from the Sinnoh League, all quite common, but more than sufficient for a place like Twinleaf Town, which had no Gym.
Fang Yan paid, then waited until Officer Jenny had left before returning to the hatching room to examine the Pokémon Eggs closely.
He suddenly remembered that the description of a stethoscope he owned seemed to say it could detect activity inside Pokémon Eggs. He asked Gengar for it, put the earpieces in his ears, and gently pressed it against an eggshell.
He closed his eyes and quietly concentrated. A hazy figure suddenly appeared in his mind, and he saw a little hand move.
[Hatching progress: 28/30]
"Wow..."
How amazing. Fang Yan opened his eyes and looked at the Mime Jr. Egg before him in surprise.
He really could sense the life inside, as well as its hatching progress.
He looked at the stethoscope in his hands, then continued examining the other Pokémon Eggs:
[Chingling Egg] [Hatching progress: 12/30] [Pachirisu Egg] [Hatching progress: 11/30]
So these are Pokémon Eggs... They hold new life...
"Gengar, you try."
Fang Yan fitted the stethoscope into Gengar's large ears. Imitating Fang Yan, Gengar gently pressed it against a Pokémon Egg, moving even more carefully than Fang Yan had.
After a while, Gengar's listening session came to an end.
"How was it? Could you sense it?"
Fang Yan asked with a smile.
"Gengar..."
Gengar shook its head.
He patted Gengar's head. Perhaps he was the only one who could sense it.
Then he looked at the Mime Jr. Egg, which was furthest along in hatching, and fell into thought.
Mime Jr. evolves into Mr. Mime, a Pokémon as well-known as Indeedee, and a great helper with housework. My Pokémon Day Care happens to need a housekeeper, so this one can stay here.
Fang Yan nodded slightly, then left the hatching room with Gengar, who was wearing the stethoscope and a white coat. He went to the entrance to revise the wooden sign, crossing out the parenthetical text after "Pokémon Eggs for sale."
Then he quietly waited for customers to arrive.
By evening, not a single customer had come.
Fang Yan stood up, brought the wooden sign inside, and closed the door.
He went out back to the lake to bring Petilil back to the Pokémon Day Care, then started preparing dinner.
After dinner, Fang Yan signaled to Gengar. Gengar made an OK gesture and sneaked outside carrying a shovel and a large flowerpot.
He held Petilil until Gengar returned, then directed Gengar to wash the dishes before they went back to the bedroom together.
There was now a flowerpot filled with rich soil on the bedroom balcony.
Carrying Petilil out onto the balcony, Fang Yan set it in the flowerpot.
"How about staying here tonight?"
At Fang Yan's words, it glanced at him and Gengar. They were looking at it gently. It had seen Gengar sneak off toward the lake with a shovel earlier.
This was soil Gengar had brought back for it. It swayed a little.
"Lili..."
"It's all right. Gengar and I are just inside, and the Machamp are downstairs, so there's no need to be afraid."
Fang Yan patted its little head as he spoke.
"Gengar~"
Then Petilil closed its eyes.
A gust of wind shifted the dark clouds overhead, blocking out the moonlight completely.
"Lili!"
Petilil cried out, waking from a nightmare, and looked at the moonlight obscured by dark clouds. Yet this time, it wasn't afraid of the darkness that came when the moonlight was blocked.
It turned around. The warm light from the room enveloped its entire little body and the flowerpot beneath it. Inside, Fang Yan was sleeping soundly.
A scarlet gaze suddenly lit up on the ceiling.
Petilil turned back to look at the pitch-black grounds ahead. Feeling the warmth of the light behind it, it recalled everything that had happened that day, along with what Fang Yan had said to it.
"Gengar~"
It came out of its thoughts and glanced to the side. Gengar was sitting on the balcony beside the flowerpot, its two little feet dangling over the edge and swinging gently in the air.
Gengar turned to look at Petilil, then gave it a cute smile.
Petilil said nothing, and Gengar quietly kept it company.
After a long while, Petilil spoke:
"Lili?"
Why isn't the light off?
"Gengar."
He said you were afraid of the dark.
Gengar swung its little feet.
Only after another long while did Petilil speak again, though what it said was unclear.
Gengar answered softly. Just then, another breeze blew past, cool but not cold, scattering the clouds that covered the moon. Silver frost once again spilled over the earth, over the balcony, over the flowerpot...
The two Pokémon talked softly in the two different shades of light. The leaves on one's head rapidly fell away and regrew, a deep, vibrant green, swaying gently in the breeze.
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