The two ran down Route Three to find themselves in front of a Pokémon daycare, looking to the outside pen that held a few different types of Pokémon. "Ah, Neil they're so cute!"

Beside the daycare there was what appeared to be a children's school, preschool, or daycare, a few children outside playing and being supervised by a young woman. Neil, interested in pokemon breeding and care, sauntered up the inclined path to the Pokémon daycare, Heather following after him eagerly after giving one last look at the Pokémon and recalling her own into their Pokéballs. Neil copied her before knocking, stepping in after a moment.

Inside were an elderly couple preparing different types of Pokéfood on a counter behind the main desk, a Swoobat watching them intently from a perch. The elderly man turned around as the bell chimed signaling guests, a smile upon his face. Heather removed her Pokédex from her bag, scanning the bat Pokémon.

Swoobat, the Courting Pokémon.

The evolved form of Woobat.

Type Psychic, Flying

Height 2′11″ (0.89m)

Weight 23.1 lbs (10.5 kg)

Abilities: Klutz, Simple

It emits sound waves of various frequencies from its nose, including some powerful enough to destroy rocks.

"Welcome! I'm Tom, and this is my wife Jean. We run the daycare. Here we raise Pokémon for trainers, improving their level and skills, or we can breed compatible Pokémon. My wife also gives cooking lessons!"

The man gave a laugh as his wife, Jean, turned and elbowed him, waving to the teens with a spoon in her hand before taking a bowl and sliding it down the counter to the Swoobat who greedily dived in, making a mess.

"Hello, I'm Jean, don't mind my husband. That's a Pokédex you have, isn't it? Does that mean Professor Juniper sent you for something?" She asked toward Heather who blinked, shaking her head with an awkward laugh.

"I'm Heather, this is Neil. No, she didn't send us. We're trainers, just checking things out before we battle the gym. We came through Route Three to see if there was anything to catch, and I spotted your place. I was interested in seeing the baby Pokémon, but cooking lessons sounds like a good idea when we travel."

Jean smiled and her husband began to clean up what was on the counter, the woman walking over to the two.

"Well, the only baby Pokémon we have right now are outside. We have plenty of eggs waiting for their trainers though. And lots that were never claimed... You said you came looking for Pokémon right? Would you maybe like to take care of an egg? " Heather shook her head and blushed faintly, mumbling a bit.

"I don't think I'm ready for an egg... And who knows what adventuring will bring. I don't want it to hatch when I'm in the middle of somewhere out of food..." She explained to Neil's stunned look, the boy shrugging his shoulders.

"I'd be interested in having an egg. I've studied all about Unova and lots about Pokémon, I wouldn't go far from a city when it was close to hatching." He stated casually, getting an approving look from Jean.

"Eggs are funny things, they'll only hatch when they are with other Pokémon. I guess it's a sort of safety mechanism. In the wild, baby Pokémon don't last long. They're easily caught, and sometimes killed. If a mother gets caught, the hatching conditions - the egg needing a Pokémon there to hatch - prevents the Pokémon from hatching, which saves the baby from trying to survive on its own.

"I can understand why you'd be uncomfortable Heather. There is so much about Pokémon that we don't know yet. If you want to come play with the babies and help me feed them after, I'll get you an egg, and another surprise. I can teach you about Pokéfood too."

"What happens to the eggs that are left here?" Heather questioned uncertainly, many different thoughts running through her head. Jean smiled to the question, answering smoothly.

"The eggs that aren't claimed are numerous. Usually we have several, and the trainer will only take a few. The ones left over are stored in our nursery. There are times when we have an 'egg fair' to get rid of some, entrusting them to trainers and families who have a Pokémon.

"Other times we'll hatch them, and give them to the daycare next-door. That way they learn how to treat Pokémon. Sometimes trainers like you come in and we give them a chance at raising an egg. It all depends. Now, lets go check on the babies."

Both teens nodded excitedly and went with Jean to see the Pokémon outside, playing with the babies. After a half hour or so, they brought the Pokémon back inside and to the back where they had a room to rest in, Jean taking the two to a different room to teach them basic cooking skills. By the end of the visit, the teens had a few bags of home made Pokéfood for their Pokémon, and two tickets to an all day cruise in Castelia City for helping Jean with the Pokémon, as well as an egg that Neil had packed securely in his backpack.

With promises of coming back to visit, the team left the daycare as the sky began to swirl pink and orange with the sun setting, still having about an hour to explore. With the children gone from the daycare, Heather convinced Neil to go with her to play at the park. Reluctantly he did so with a smile, watching Heather as she ran up to the slide. She ran up the stairs excitedly and slid down, releasing Lark to play with her.

Neil released Otty and they all played for a while before starting to head back down the dark path, only a few streetlights along the way. In the middle of the path between lights, lay a lump of something, both trainers walking up to it curiously. Heather let out a gasp and dropped to her knees at the lump, turning to the boy beside her who looked shocked.

"Neil! Neil! Go to the Pokécenter and tell Nurse joy it's an emergency!" She cried to the boy who looked at her blankly, nodding and grabbing Otty and running out down the path at Heather's request. Meanwhile, Heather looked to Lark who was standing behind her, tears building in her eyes. She took his Pokéball and summoned him back, carefully leaning forward to check on the mangled Pokémon in front of her.

Ten minutes later had Heather carrying a gray and red lump through the Pokécenter's doors, Nurse Joy and Neil rushing over to her. With a disgusted cry Nurse Joy ran into the back with a 'follow me' gesture to Heather, the girl doing just that.

x—x—x—x—x—x

Heather sat on the main floor of the Center with Lark in her arms, her eyes set on the doors she'd been waiting on to open for several hours. Neil walked over with two trays of food and set them on the table in front of Heather, taking a seat beside her.

"Here, have some dinner. I know you're worried, but Nurse Joy is still in there, meaning she's making progress. You should feed your Pokémon too." He took a bag of the Pokéfood he'd made out of his bag and feeding Otty while he released his Pansear, feeding him as well.

Sighing she looked over and away from the door, watching Otty eat briefly before looking down to Lark. He looked up to her and tilted his head, nuzzling her chin with his face. A small smile broke a crack in her lips and she reached over to her bag, pulling out the bags of the Pokéfood she'd made earlier. Slowly she fed the pieces to Lark and released her Panpour to feed while she took bites of her own food, Neil watching from the corner of his eyes.

A soft squeak brought the trainers attention away from their food as a tired looking Nurse Joy came out from the back, Heather placing Lark on the bench and getting up, walking over to meet her half way. The anxious, scared look in Heather's eyes made Nurse Joy smile, Heather completely baffled at the look.

"She's fine."

Tears flooded her eyes and Neil came over to pull Heather into a hug, the girl happily sobbing into his chest.

"If you wouldn't of found her, or if you brought her in any later, I can't say she would of made it. I just wish I knew who or what did that to her... She'll have to remain in my care for another day, but I'm sure the poor little Minccino would gladly go with you after, you saved her life."

Heather slowly pulled away from Neil and wiped her eyes, smiling at Nurse Joy. The young woman smiled back and gently took Heather's arm, bringing her to the back where the Pokémon in question was.

On a small bed lay a cleaned up light gray Minccino covered in white gauze in most places, some with small blotches of blood seeping through. The Pokémon was hooked up to a few machines and an IV, Heather moving over to carefully pet its head. What happened to you precious..? I promise I'll take great care of you.

Nurse Joy left Heather with the Minccino, the girl slowly stroking the fur that wasn't wrapped up. Neil finished feeding the others and packed up their things, bringing it upstairs to their respective rooms. Neil let Lark remain in Heather's room with Otty while he went downstairs to check on her.

x—x—x—x—x—x

Heather awoke with a yawn and a stretch, finding her Snivy on its stomach over hers with its head almost off the bed. Despite the hectic night, Heather slept peacefully, her stretching waking the Grass Pokémon who lazily slunk off of her to slip off the bed. He used his vines to open the curtains and blinds to let the sun in, the light invading the room.

"Ugh, could of warned me..." Heather mumbled as the light attacked her, looking over to the clock on the night table. 7:48.. "Well, I guess we better get up and ready! More training, and the gym today! I want to check on the Minccino too. Nurse Joy said I might be able to take her today. Do you think she'll want to come?"

Lark pondered the question for a moment before nodding, going back to lounging in the sun in front of the window while Heather laughed and left him to shower.

After showering Heather grabbed her things and left her room to see Neil walking down the hall toward the exit. Keeping quiet as to not wake the other guests, she called his name, Lark and Otty running to greet each other.

"Oh, sorry, I thought maybe you were still asleep, I knocked a bit earlier." Neil said sheepishly as Heather caught up to him, the two walking side by side with their Pokémon in tow.

"Oh, I was probably in the shower. Lark, you should of let him in." She lightly scolded the Grass Snake who was too busy playing with Otty to notice, the group making their way to the restaurant. A few other trainers were sitting around feeding their partners and ignoring the chatter of those around them, most Heather figured, were here for the gym.

"We're seeing the garden today right? Or do you want to scrap it and challenge the gym?" Neil asked as they ordered breakfast, walking over to a table and dropping their stuff off. Neil sat and pulled out the egg, cleaning it with a soft cloth he'd gotten from Jean.

"I want to check on Minccino, then we'll see the garden and train, okay? I'm going to go check up on her while our food is being made. Are you okay staying here Lark?" She dug in her bag for the bags of food, releasing her Panpour to feed as well. The Poké in question nodded and began eating once Heather gave him the food bag. Panpour hopped up on the padded bench beside Lark, eating his food.

"We're going to eat, then go train, okay guys? We're going to take on the gym today, I want you both to get in some training for it." She explained, grabbing her bag and heading downstairs to the counter.

Nurse Joy greeted her and walked her to the back room, the Minccino in the same spot as before. Some of the bandages were off while the ones remaining had been changed, a good number of the wounds mostly healed.

Pokémon don't stay hurt for long, she's healed so much already, maybe Nurse Joy wasn't too far off saying I could take her with me later today. She pondered and moved over to the Pokémon, pulling out her dex to scan it.

Minccino, the Chinchilla Pokémon

Type Normal

Height 1′4″ (0.41m)

Weight 12.8 lbs (5.8 kg)

Ability: Technician

They greet one another by rubbing each other with their tails, which are always kept well groomed and clean.

Known Moves: Pound, Growl, Helping Hand, Tickle, DoubleSlap.

After putting her Pokédex away, Heather moved to sit beside the small bed the Minccino was laying on. As she got comfortable she looked over to see two amber eyes staring at her, Heather blinking dumbly before it clicked.

"You're awake!"

The Pokémon flinched a bit and slowly blinked, studying Heather. Its eyes were timid and it looked frightened, Heather kicking herself mentally for being so loud. The two remained in silence for a small while and examined each other, Heather finally breaking it.

"I don't know what happened to you before I found you, but you're safe now. You don't have to worry about anyone hurting you. Nurse Joy said that by later today, you should be well enough to leave. I was wondering..." She trailed off for a moment hesitantly, thinking her words through. "If maybe you would like to come along with me to challenge the gyms and hopefully, the league."

For a long while the Minccino just stared, and she began to worry that something was wrong before the creature nodded, reaching out a paw. Heather, overjoyed, took her paw in a hand and held it, smiling widely. She explained to the Minccino that she would be back after taking on the gym, and that if she were up to it, they'd travel to the next city together.

With that she left and went upstairs to eat and talk to Neil, as well as her Pokémon, about the new addition. Neil congratulated her and they finished their breakfast, leaving the center with high spirits, walking through the city to the garden.

Inside the garden, the hedges were neatly trimmed to look like various Pokémon, not a leaf or branch out of place. The craftsmanship blew both teens away, some hedges sporting ribbons or jewels to add colours and shine. Heather watched as her Snivy walked up to a long hedge shaped like a Serperior, his final evolution. She walked up to him, watching his expression.

"What's wrong Lark?" She asked as he frowned a bit, pointing up to the shrub. She stroked his head and tried to figure it out, humming in thought. "You... Don't like your evolution?" She asked him curiously, surprised when he nodded.

"Lark, you don't have to evolve if you don't want to. I'm perfectly okay with you staying how you are, or if you only want to evolve once. Whenever you want, we'll get you an Everstone and make it into something you can wear. They prevent evolution. Alright?" He nodded and gave his trainer a content smile, running along to go pounce on Otty who was a few shrubs over looking at his own final evolution.

She smiled and caught up to Neil, the two walking along while looking at the many shrubs. They walked through the field where trainers both trained and relaxed, the two battling a few trainers before taking a break.

They sat and brought out some snacks to munch on while Heather scanned some of the Pokémon that were around with her dex. She gasped as she turned to put it back, a figure standing there, blocking the sun.

"Hey, miss! Want to battle?"