Today has been a hectic day for Driftveil Gym Leader Clay. On top of attending meetings for his mining business, he also had to face some challengers who were trying to earn the Quake Badge. Despite their best efforts, none have managed to beat him. His Pokemon were exhausted and so does he. All he wants to do now is to go home and relax with his darling little girl.
Clay was fixing some documents on his desk when his eyes locked onto the small calendar. He is fixated on a specific date that he marked in red. Beside the calendar is a framed photo of his little girl Lacey holding a stuffed doll of Togepi.
"Next week would be her birthday, huh?"
He thinks of his darling little girl back home in Nimbasa who is as sweet as an Alcremie. She always loves whatever he gives her. He's normally a frugal man but for his little girl, he spares no expenses. He quickly calls his secretary on the intercom as he asks. "Do we have anything lined up for next week?"
His secretary quickly replies. "No sir. I made sure that you're all cleared for next week. You do have a meeting scheduled the day after. I made sure to schedule it in the afternoon so you could spend more time with her. I even made sure that you won't have any meetings from the afternoon onwards the day before too."
He smiles as he gratefully replies. "Thanks." His trusty secretary always makes sure he's always free on that date despite his role as both the CEO of a mining company and the Gym Leader of Driftveil City. He didn't want to disappoint his daughter by always being absent in her life.
His secretary adds. "Oh sir. The Daycare also called today. They would want you to come to their place as soon as possible." He asks worringly. "Why? Is somethin' the matter?"
He left his trusted partner Excadrill with the Daycare people as a way for him to socialize with other Pokemon. He reckons that his Pokemon may get tired from being in their Poke balls all the time. His daughter suggested that maybe they're lonely and that they want to play with other Pokemon. Taking her words into heart, he left his Pokemom one at a time in the Daycare whenever he's at work.
He puts his head on his temple as his secretary replies. "The Daycare people assured me there was no problem. They just want you to visit your Excadrill and to decide on what to do with something else."
He furrows his eyebrows as he asks. "Whaddya mean?" His secretary replies. "They prefer that you see for yourself." Sighing exasperatedly, he replies. "Fine. Tell 'em that I'll be there today."
He asked one of his trusted employees from Galar to take him to the Pokemon Daycare. His subordinate brings out a Corviknight holding a taxi cab. "Well, I'll be." He whistles impressively as his subordinate explains. "Back home in Galar, we use Corviknights to use as a taxi service. Pretty impressive, innit?" Clay gets inside the cab as his subordinate gets on the back of his partner. "I want to start my own cab business once I retire. I'm just not sure where to start. Unova is pretty different from Galar, after all."
He assures his subordinate as he is already thinking of a business plan for him. "Well, tell ya what. Lemme take care of the nitty gritty business stuff as I'll talk to 'em big folks about yer idea." He taps on the cab as he continues. "We'll mine for ore so we can make somethin' like this. All ya need to do is to bring 'em Corviknights once I get 'em big folks' permission to import 'em from yer home." His subordinate lights up at his boss's offer to help him with his business idea. "That would help me a lot. Thank you so much sir."
Clay assures him as he replies. "Think nothin' of it. This here be our thanks for yer service with us." His subordinate thanks him again as he instructs his Corviknight on where to go.
Before they knew it, they've already landed near the Daycare. Clay's subordinate assures him that he'll wait for his boss so he can talk to the Daycare people. He is paying his boss a favor later by dropping him to Nimbasa City next.
He enters the Daycare as the owners greet him politely. "Welcome back, Mr. Clay. Thank you so much for coming in on short notice." The owner bows as his wife and daughter does the same. "Pleasure to always be doin' business with y'all. I reckon my trusty Excadrill is behaved as always." Clay bows as he greets back the reliable owners. "I thank y'all for taking good care of my partners."
The owner's teenage daughter starts to talk as she explains the situation. "Oh, it's always our pleasure Mr. Clay to be of service to Pokemon trainers. Your Excadrill didn't cause any problems. He played around with the other Pokemon." She got nervous as she continues. "However, he got a bit too friendly with a female Excadrill that another trainer left."
He raises his eyebrows as he asks for clarification. "Whaddya mean?" He already knows that she's gonna explain the Pidoves and the Combees talk, a topic that he dreads discussing with hia curious darling girl once she comes of age. "Don't tell me that they had an egg."
The daughter nods as she continues."You see Mr. Clay, the female Excadrill's trainer picked her up earlier. We asked the trainer if they would like to take the egg with them but they said no. They said that they already had a full team already." She leads Clay into the Daycare as she opens a fence. "It is the Daycare's policy to ask the parent Pokemon's trainer first if they would like to keep the egg. Otherwise, we have no option but to let the egg hatch and release the Pokemon to the wild once they're able to fend for themselves."
He furrows his eyebrows as he tries to make sense of what they're asking him. "What does this have to do with me an' my Excadrill?" She leads him towards the back where she shows his Excadrill protectively surrounding the egg. "Ever since they had the egg, your Excadrill has been rather protective of it. He refuses to leave it even for a second. And if anyone tries to get near him, he gets agitated." True to her words, his Excadrill hissed aggressively at a Patrat that simply passed in front of it. This behavior is certainly unusual for his partner who he trained to behave. "This is the first time I've see him like that. He's usually as well behaved as a Lillipup when he's not in battle."
He reckons that the owners want him to decide what to do with the egg and if he ever decides not to take it, to also talk to his partner to let go of his offspring and let it experience the world by itself. He also doesn't have the time to train another Pokemon as he is busy enough with being a CEO, Gym Leader and father as it is.
However, he feels sympathetic to his partner's feelings about wanting to protect and watch over his offspring. He briefly remembers the day Lacey was born and he held her for the first time. He promised to her and to himself that he'll raise her to be a good person with the best of his abilities.
"Well, would you look at that. Your Excadrill seems quite attached to his offspring." The owner starts as Clay snaps back into reality. He listens as the owner rambles on. "I bet he wants to keep his offspring close to him so he can watch over it as it grows." He pats his daughter on her head as he continues. "I'd want to keep watching over my little girl here. She grew up so fast." He starts to sob as his daughter gingerly removes his hand from her head. "D-dad..." She recoils embarrassingly at his affection.
The owner's wife then suggested. "How about giving the egg to a family member? That way, your partner can still look after his offspring as it'll still be close with him." Clay take a moment to consider the suggestion. He thinks about all the times that Lacey would adorably pester him about getting her own Pokemon. To keep her pacified, he'd always tell her that she'll get one once she's old enough. In the meantime, he would get her Pokemon dolls as replacements. It wasn't the same but his darling little girl loves the dolls nonetheless. She would always play tea parties with them in her spacious pink room. She may not say it as to not worry him but he feels that she herself may be lonely from the lack of companionship.
He then came to an important decision. "Ya know what? I'm gonna take up on yer idea. I'll give the Drilbur that'll hatch from that egg to my lil girl." He bends down as he pats his Excadrill on the head. "Ya don't have to worry buddy. I won't let anyone else take yer offspring. We're gonna let Lacey take care of 'em. I know that she'll do a fine job." His partner relaxes and nods in agreement as he continues to pat him.
He then stands up and talks to the owners. "When do ya think it'll hatch?" The owner scratches his chin as he thinks. "I reckon it'll hatch by about next week, give or take." He smiles as he negotiates. "That'll do great for me. How 'bout I offer ya a deal? I'll leave my partner here until his offspring hatches. I'll pay y'all extra for the trouble and upkeep." The owner's wife seems overwhelmed by the offer. "Oh my. That's very generous of you Mr. Clay. There's really no need for the extra payment. Taking care of Pokemon is our business after all."
He brings out a huge wad of cash and pushes it towards the owners. "I insist. It'll be bad for yer business to do this extra service without payment. Consider it as my thanks for always takin' care of my team." The owner and his family looked among themselves for a moment before coming to a silent agreement. All of them smiled as the owner's wife finally opens her hands to receive the money.
"If you insist Mr Clay, then we'll be happy to accept your offer." He hands her the cash and she took it gratefully. All of them bowed in gratitude as the teenage daughter gives words of reassurance. "We promise you that we'll take excellent care of your Excadrill and his egg. We'll let you know once the egg hatches." She gives the Daycare's number as Clay exchanges it with his personal number.
He bids the owner and his family goodbye as he boards inside the cab of his subordinate. Then his subordinate directs his Corviknight on their next destination.
When they arrived in Nimbasa City, the sky was already dark. He thanks his subordinate as he and his Corviknight left to return to their own homes. He enters a luxurious looking building and takes an elevator where it'll take him to the upper floors where the penthouses are usually situated. Once he's at the uppermost floor of the building, he quickly gets out of the elevator and opens the door to his penthouse.
Clay is greeted by the adorable sight of Lacey playing with her dolls at the living room. Based on the position of the dolls, it seems that his darling little girl was pretending to be a Pokemon trainer in a double battle. In front of her are dolls of Milcery and Snubbull who are standing opposite against a Dratini doll and a Gible doll.
"Snubbull, use Play Rough on Dratini. Milcery, use Dazzling Gleam on them both." Lacey playfully commands her dolls as she takes the Snubbull doll to tackle it on the Dratini doll. She then takes the Milcery doll and makes swooshing sounds to pretend it's doing the Dazzling Gleam attack. She goes on the other side and knocks both the Dratini and Gible dolls down to pretend they have fainted from the attacks.
Lacey then hugs her dolls as she jumps joyously. "Yay! We won!" Clay smiles as he goes inside his penthouse. His daughter's smile goes bigger as she sees him finally at home. "DADDY!" She excitedly runs and tackles him into a hug as he pats her on the head. "Daddy, did you see me win?" He heartily chuckles as he replies. "Ya sure did. My lil girl did her homework on type matchups."
She holds his hand as she leads him towards the living room. They sat on a nearby couch as she brings her pink Sylveon backpack. She shows him her activity books as she opens it to a page with perfect marks. "I sure did Daddy." He hums impressively as his daughter tells him animatedly how her day at the Trainer's school went.
"Daddy, how was your day?" Lacey asks curiously as she stares at him like an Eevee using Baby Doll Eyes. "Well you know how my day usually goes by, my sweet Milcery. It's a ton of meetings and battles. Nothin' yer Daddy can't handle." She eyes him excitedly as she asks. "Are you going to be at my birthday party next week Daddy?" He pats her on the head as he nods. "Of course, my fluffy Slurpuff. Daddy wouldn't miss it for the world."
Lacey grabs her Milcery plush as she jumps for joy and twirls around. "Yay! Daddy will be at my birthday party. I wonder what present he'll bring." She talks to her plush as if it's an actual Pokemon that can hear. Clay stiffens a bit as he gives a reply. "Yer birthday present from Daddy will be a surprise, my darlin' Clefairy. It'll be the best present you will get." She then gets curious as she excitedly ask. "What will you give me Daddy?"
He chuckles as he pats his daughter on the head. "That's the thing with surprises, my precious Togepi. Ya have to wait until ya got it to know. If I tell ya now what yer gettin', then it'd be a surprise no more." Lacey puffs her cheeks as she tries to understand what her father was telling her. A week may seem short for her busy father but for a little girl like her, it's way too long.
Lacey takes a moment to ponder on her father's words. She realizes that the fun part with surprises is the spontaneity. Her father never fails to disappoint her with his surprises. She finally agrees with her father as she lets out a small smile. "Okay Daddy. I understand."
Clay chuckles loudly as he ruffles his still pouting daughter's pink hair. "That's my girl. It'd be yer birthday before ya know it." Once their housekeeper finished cooking everyone's dinner, both father and daughter went to the table to eat.
As soon as everyone finished eating their dinner, the housekeeper begins cleaning the stove and oven as well as the countertops. She was about to clean the dishes when Clay instructs her. "I'll finish the cleaning 'ere. Ya go home now and rest well. Thanks for yer service today." The housekeeper thanks her boss and bows in gratitude as she packs her stuff. "Bye bye. See you tomorrow." Lacey waves as the housekeeper bows and leaves the penthouse.
Clay holds Lacey's hand as they went toward the kitchen. "Wanna help Daddy clean up before we go to bed?" She smiles brightly as she nods. "Yes." All they needed to do is to wash the tableware. They wore latex gloves and Clay brings a small chair in front of the drying rack so Lacey can stand properly. He opens the faucet to begin scrubbing and cleaning the tableware. His daughter helps her father by placing the cleaned tableware as carefully as she can on the drying rack. As there wasn't much to clean, they were able to finish the job rather quickly. He was proud that his daughter willingly helps him with the chores around their house. He wanted to raise her as an independent person who can do things on their own and not be overly spoiled and burden others.
Lacey yawns as soon as she stepped down from the chair. It was getting late by that point. Clay leads her to her bedroom as her eyes were starting to drop. "Now let's prepare to go to bed now, my sleepy Jigglypuff. Ya dress into yer jammies now and brush yer teeth. Daddy'll read ya a story before ya sleep." She tries to fight her drowsiness because it's not often her father would read her a story before bedtime. "Okay Daddy."
Clay helps Lacey with dressing into a light pink nightgown she chose from her closet. She brushes her teeth thoroughly and goes back to her bed. He picks a handful of picture books for her to choose. She points the book with a picture of a Turtwig and a Scorbunny.
He begins reading her of a tale between a hasty Scorbunny and a quiet Turtwig.
One day, the Scorbunny bragged to his friend Turtwig that he's the fastest among them all. Thinking that he could win against his friend, Scorbunny challenged Turtwig to a race. Wanting to teach his friend a lesson, Turtwig accepted.
On the day of the race, both Scorbunny and Turtwig positioned behind a straight white line. The sun was high in the sky when a loud popping noise started and Scorbunny ran past his friend. Turtwig simply paced himself, slowly but surely walking the track.
Once Scorbunny was in the middle of the track, he saw a Figy berry tree and decided to take a quick nap underneath it thinking that it won't hurt him and he'd still be able to win the race. But while Scorbunny was taking his nap, Turtwig was able to impressively cover a great distance by his perseverance to walk. Soon, Turtwig passed by Scorbunny who was deep in his nap. Some time has passed and Turtwig already passed the finish line, indicating he had won the race.
Before long, Scorbunny woke up from his nap and noticed the sun was starting to set. He quickly went back to the track and ran as fast as he could. But he was genuinely surprised when he found Turtwig already at the finish line waiting for him. Scorbunny lay down in defeat as Turtwig lectured him that he could have won the race had he focused on finishing it and not being complacent on his ability to run fast. And from that moment on, Scorbunny was humbled by the experience and now perseveres to focus finishing what he's working.
Clay closes the book and places it back on Lacey's bookshelf with the other picture books. "That's a great story Daddy." Lacey yawns as she rubs her eyes and lays down on the bed. Clay put the blanket over her and turns on her Morelull nightlight. "That's one of my favorite stories. Daddy focuses on finishin' his work first so he could spend more time with his lil girl. It's not good to stop working hard just because ya have the talent to back it up." She nods in understanding as she lets the drowsiness to take over.
"G'night my bright Morelull. Sleep well." He kisses his daughter on the head as she closes her eyes. "Good night Daddy." He flicks the light switch and gently closes the door. Soon, he was preparing to go to bed and sleeps well so he could do his work excellently tomorrow.
A week has passed and both father and daughter were enjoying a hearty breakfast together on Lacey's birthday. She was eating her pancakes covered in Milcery cream and berries while he was drinking a warm mug of coffee. Suddenly, Clay's phone rings as he answers it quickly. "Hello?" The number listed was the Daycare and the teenage daughter was speaking on the other line. "Mr. Clay, you have to come to the Daycare now. Your Excadrill's egg is about to hatch. It's been shaking a lot and your Excadrill is on edge." Her voice sounded urgent so he knew he had to go there as soon as possible. "I'll be right there."
He quickly called his subordinate with the Corviknight and asks him to take him to the Daycare. He took one last swig of his coffee and finishes it quickly. He stood up so he can leave right away but his daughter beat him to the door.
"Where are you going Daddy?" Lacey asks him with Baby Doll Eyes as she blocks his path towards the door. Clay is frantically thinking of an excuse to tell his little girl. He didn't want to lie to her. "Oh, Daddy has important business to attend to." It wasn't a lie but it didn't give away the actual reason. He hopes that she'll accept it. "I gotta go now Lacey. You wouldn't want Daddy to miss yer birthday party." She has her arms crossed to form a large X. "That's not right!"
She pouts in disappointment as she asks. "Is this for your job Daddy? I thought you never do your work during my birthday." He has to quickly think of a further explanation so she doesn't get more disappointed. "It's not for Daddy's job, my curious Ralts. Daddy will pick up yer birthday present today. That's why Daddy has to leave now." She looks up in excitement as she asks further. "Will you be at my birthday party later Daddy?"
He pats her on the head before he rushes to leave. "Of course, my wishful Clefairy. Daddy wouldn't miss it for the world."
As promised by his Galarian subordinate, Clay was able to reach the Daycare as fast as possible. His subordinate assured him that he'll take him back to Nimbasa City before Lacey's birthday party begins. "This won't be long." He was given a thumbs up in response.
As soon as he entered, the owners immediately led him to where his Excadrill had been staying. "You're just in time Mr. Clay. The egg's about to hatch." The teenage daughter skipped formalities as she hurriedly states. She opened the door to the pen where he saw his Excadrill tense in excitement over the hatching of the egg in front of him.
The egg shook violently three times before a blinding light flashed quickly. Where the egg once stood now holds a newly born Drilbur, the remnants of the egg surrounding it. The Drilbur blinks it's eyes blearily as it awakes to a whole new environment outside it's egg. The first thing it saw was it's father. So it toddled towards Clay's Excadrill as he licks his offspring clean. "Well I'll be. Yer a daddy now." He chuckles at the sight of his normally stoic partner who's showering his newly born offspring with affection.
Clay bends down to his partner as the newly born Drilbur looks at him cautiously. It's father gives it assurance that his partner is no threat. "He looks just like you Excadrill. I reckon that it'll be as strong as you once Lacey trains him." He grabs an empty Pokeball from his pocket as he asks permission. "Whaddya say we entrust him to Lacey? I'm positive that she'll take great care of him." Excadrill nods in agreement as he gently pushes his offspring towards his partner as he toddled along.
The Drilbur now looks at him curiously as he asks. "I know a sweet lil girl who'll play with ya always. I know that y'all be the best of friends. Would ya want to meet her?" The Drilbur takes a moment to decide before nodding his head in agreement. He uses his snout to press the button in the middle of the Poke ball. The next thing they know, a bright light engulfed Drilbur as it's essence was taken completely by the Poke ball. Three shakes later and three tiny stars appeared to confirm that Drilbur has been successfully captured.
Clay stands up and takes Excadrill's Poke ball as he recalls back his partner. "Thanks." He bows towards the Daycare people as he expresses his heartfelt gratitude. "I thank y'all for taking good care of my partners." The owner waves a hand as he gives assurance. "We're glad to be of service to you Mr. Clay. It is always our pleasure to help trainers in caring for their Pokemon." The owner and his family then lead him towards the entrance of the Daycare
Clay tips off his hat as he waves. "I gotta go now. I have a daughter waitin' for me." The owner and his family waved goodbye in response as he leaves the building. He was heading towards the area where his subordinate and Corviknight was waiting when a voice called for him.
"Are you Clay, the Gym Leader of Driftveil?"
He turns around annoyingly to find out who called him. He finds two Ace Trainers looking at him. The male Ace trainer was glaring at him as if he's picking a fight while the other looks worried. "Look, I'm off duty today. I ain't got time for this. Whatever battle ya want will have to wait."
The female Ace trainer seems to try to convince her companion to just leave the man be as it's obvious that Clay has neither the time nor the patience for them. However, her fellow Ace trainer was adamant in his wish to battle a strong Gym Leader. "I also don't have the time to wait until then. I want this battle so I could get stronger right away." He releases a Darmanitan who howls in excitement.
What a pesky kid. Clay thinks as he comes to a quick decision. "Fine, I'll humor y'all." He releases both Seismitoad and Excadrill from their Poke balls. He gives a stern look to both Ace Trainers as he instructs. "Let's make this a quick double battle then. Y'all battle with one Pokemon each while I battle with these two. Whoever has their Pokemon still standin' is the winner. Are we all clear?"
The male Ace Trainer nods in determination then looks towards his partner who hesitantly releases her Whimsicott. Both Clay and Excadrill nod in understanding as they agree to finish the battle as fast as they could so that they wouldn't miss Lacey's birthday party.
The opponent's Whimsicott uses Cotton Spore on Excadrill and Seismitoad first. Owing to Whimsicott's Ability Prankster, the status move took priority over everything else Clay planned. His partners' Speed decreased as a result. The Darmanitan used Arm Hammer
Clay was running as fast as he could when he reached to where his subordinate and his Corviknight were waiting. His subordinate worriedly asks as he hurriedly boards the cab. "Where have you been sir? Lacey's party is about to start." He replied briefly while catching his breath. "Let's just say a couple of Ace Trainers wanted to battle me and I made quick work of 'em through a double battle." His subordinate then commands his Corviknight to head to Nimbasa City. As Corviknight is preparing to take off, his subordinate continues their conversation. "I fancy a double battle myself sir. Some Trainers even excel at it. But couldn't that battle have waited?" Clay smirks as he replies. "I wanted to teach a couple of youngsters that sometimes in life, it's better to be a Turtwig than a Scorbunny." His subordinate pauses for a moment, trying to make sense of what his boss was saying. But he decides to ask later as he's more focused on getting his boss to their destination on time. A promise between his boss and his darling daughter is on the line.
A fun kid's party was in place at the Nimbasa City Amusement Park where Lacey and her friends were enjoying themselves. Her friends' parents were nearby to watch over their kids. Lacey was wearing a pink princess dress that's similar to one of the movies she watched with her father. Diantha from the Kalos region was the star of that movie back when she was around Lacey's age.
Every now and then, Lacey was looking around to see if her father has arrived. And every time she doesn't see his presence, she looks down on the ground crestfallen. However, a familiar voice calls out to her to snap her from her thoughts. "Hey!" She sees a familiar white haired boy holding out a large pink paper bag in front of her. She looks through watery eyes that Drayton was handing her the bag.
"Here." He says as she takes the bag gingerly. "Thank you." She says in a small voice as he huffs dismissively in an attempt to look cool. "You're welcome." He looks concerned as he noticed that she doesn't seem to give him a retort like usual. "What's the matter?" Lacey tries her best not to cry as she explains. "Daddy's not here yet."
Drayton looks around as he bluntly points out the lack of Clay's presence at that moment. "You're right. I don't see your dad anywhere. Did he tell you where he was going?" Lacey simply shakes her head as she continues to hold the unshed tears. Clay would never break a promise he made with his darling girl even if it greatly inconveniences him. For him, there's nothing more important in the world than his daughter.
Drayton tries to distract Lacey from her thoughts by offering to get answers as to where her father would be. "Maybe Gramps would know where your dad is. Let's ask him." He holds out a hand to her as Lacey gingerly accepts and grips it tightly. "Okay." The two kids then went around the park to look for Drayton's grandfather. It took them no time at all for them to locate a gruff and intimidating old gentleman. "Hey Gramps. Do you know where Mr. Clay is?"
The gentleman turns around and his demeanor softens as he sees the two children. "I haven't seen him today. What's the matter?" Drayden is worried when he sees Lacey looking like she's about to cry. His eyebrows knit in confusion as he knows that this is the day that Clay would take his day off. The man may be serious in his duties as a CEO and a Gym Leader. But he's even more serious as his duty as a father to Lacey.
His grandson then blurts out a suggestion. "Why don't you open the present I got for you?" Lacey looks up in surprise at the idea. "But daddy always tells me that we open the presents after we eat our food." Drayton looks around as he smugly replied. "I don't see your dad around to tell you what to do." Lacey looks up in shock at the audacity of Drayton's subtle suggestion to rebel. But his grandfather saw right through the idea and encourages Lacey to go along with it. He saw his grandson's attempt at cheering Lacey up. The girl looks at him for confirmation as he lets out a warm smile at her.
"I don't see why we can't do that. Go right ahead." He nudges her gently as his grandson was almost shoving the bag at her. Lacey smiles as she takes the bag. "Okay." Unlike his impulsive grandson, Clay's daughter carefully plucks out the tape and staples that keeps the paper bag close. She removes the delicate pink tissue and she squeals in delight as she finally takes out a huge Axew plush from the bag.
A gust of wind suddenly envelopes the area as the screech of a Corviknight follows like thunder. Drayden turns his head to see that a Corviknight was indeed flapping it's wings to land what looks like a cab in it's talons. He knows that this is how taxi services in Galar work when he was there during a vacation with his family. But why would a Corviknight cab be in Unova of all places?
Even more questions flood his mind as the door to the cab opens to reveal the familiar face of his fellow Gym Leader. Clay was rushing as he exits the cab. "Thanks a lot for gettin' me 'ere on time." He says a quick thanks to his subordinate as the Corviknight starts to ascend into the sky. His unspoken question was immediately answered as Clay begins the conversation. "I went to pick up Lacey's present from the Daycare." That would certainly explain why he arrived the way he did.
Drayden asks another question. "So you're giving Lacey her own Pokemon?" Clay nods as he explains. "I believe it's time that she has her own Pokemon partner. I know that she'll take good care of 'em." Drayden smiles as he sees Clay trying to look for a PokeBall in his suitcase. But, it shouldn't have taken this much time to bring a Pokemon from the Daycare.
"What took you so long?" Drayden crosses his arms as he waits for an explanation. Clay explains with a hint of annoyance. "A couple of them Ace Trainers wanted to take shortcuts in gettin' stronger. I want to teach them that there are no shortcuts to it. They would have to work their way up the hard way. Just like a Turtwig against a Scorbunny."
Unlike his Galarian subordinate, Drayden immediately knew what Clay was talking about as he himself had his fair share of dealing with such trainers. But one Dragon like Scary Face from him was enough to intimidate rowdy trainers into behaving themselves. Even his own Gym trainers wouldn't dare pull such an inconsiderate stunt on him. Only his rebellious grandson comes close but even then, Drayton knows better than to push his grandfather's patience.
"Couldn't that have waited?" Drayden asks the same question as he waits for an explanation. Clay's face soured as he continues with his story. "I made it clear to 'em young ones that I ain't got the time for a battle. One of 'em was insisting on a battle even though I made things clear. Excadrill and I agreed to just finish it as fast as possible so we could get here early." Clay smirks as he finishes explaining. "But, I gotta give them credit for not just having guts but the brains to plan their strategies. They lost because they couldn't agree on a strategy together. I invited them to challenge me back at the Gym once they polished their teamwork. It needs a little bit of work from the way I see it." A girly squeal directs both men to the source of the noise.
"DADDY!!!!!!"
Lacey ran towards her father as he hugs his excited daughter. He pats her on the head as he explains. "Lacey, Daddy's sorry that he was late today. Ya see, daddy had to pick up yer present before coming here." Clay reaches out from his bag as he carefully pulls out a brand new Poke ball. When Lacey laid her eyes on it, her eyes were sparkling.
Clay kneels down to Lacey's level as he speaks in a gentle voice. "Now Lacey. Remember the times I've said about how havin' yer own Pokemon is a huge responsibility? You've been doin' yer homework so good that daddy decided that it's time ya get yer own Pokemon. This lil one 'ere is a special Pokemon.
