Disclaimer: I do not own anything, I make no money or profit from this.

Chapter 19: Rest Stop and Pokemon Daycare

[Route 5]

The group of trainers were about a day away from Saffron City and decided to take a break in a small town. It didn't have a pokecenter or or chain market stores, but small and family run shops and Inn. It wasn't a tourist destination, but was a pleasant quiet place to rest in.

"Well I got us a room for the night" Lynn told her companions upon exiting the Inn. "This is a small town so you two can go do whatever you want, as long as it's in the town. Our room is 106, so if you just want to stay in the room that's fine. I'm going to check the local shops for any supplies, don't cause any trouble and come back before nightfall."

"Can I train my Pokemon just outside the town?" Ronnie Anne asked hopefully.

"Only if Lycanroc goes with you" Lynn replied in a firm tone. "I don't want a repeat of the Rattatas' and Poochyena." The younger girl agreed, Lynn released Lycanroc, and the 2 ran off.

"So I'm just going to look around the town," Clyde told his mentor. Lynn nodded in understanding and walked off. Clyde meanwhile was excited to look around.

He would always look around in any cities or towns they visited if they could. It was hard sometimes with Ronnie Anne's impatience of wanting to go to the next gym and Lynn's scheduling of trying to make sure they can get to their next destination in a timely manner. So he enjoyed the times he could wander around the places they stopped at. He visited the bakery to see what they had and even talked to the baker about some of their baked goods he sold. He found an odd thrift store that sold random items. From small furniture to books, knickknacks, hats, homemade items, and used tools. One thing that caught Clyde's eye was an item called "Mystery Shack", it was a small bag with unknown items in it. Clyde asked the shop owner, who was an odd but friendly elderly man, told him he bought it from a traveler who was passing through. He paid 1000 pokedollars for it, but never opened it and just sold it as is. Clyde saw he price it at 2000, but was at one point 2500. Deciding to take the risk, he bought it and would open it tonight back at the Inn. After that Clyde simply walked around and talked to a few of the locals, simply enjoying his day.

However his walk soon found him at a different building just near the outskirts of the town. It was larger than the shops, but didn't look like a house. It had a picket fence that started from both sides of the building and extended far to the sides and behind it. He could also see different Pokemon frolicking in the fence area. There was a large sign on the front of the building, but it was only a picture of an egg. Walking closer he saw a smaller sign beside the entrance that read "Pokemon Daycare". Being curious he went inside to see what this place was like. Inside looked professional. Clean tile floor, light colored painted walls, chairs against the walls, and a reception desk across the the entrance with a door to the back.

"What are we going to do?" A voice said that it came from the door behind the desk. The door opened and 3 people came through. It was a woman and a elderly couple, one of them was holding a large egg.

"I'm not sure," the woman replied. "The trainer left yesterday. We can't afford or have the time to take care of it." It was then the group noticed Clyde. "I'm so sorry for not noticing you, I'm Ellie and these are my grandparents. Welcome to our Pokemon Daycare, how can we help you?" The elderly couple simply smiled and greeted him as well

"Oh it's no trouble, my name is Clyde" he replied. "Me and my group are Pokemon Trainers that are just resting in this town for the night. I was just exploring and wanted to see what this place was."

"Ah I see, we do get lots of trainers passing through" the elderly man agreed nodding his head.

"Our daycare will look after people's Pokemon for a daily fee" the elderly woman continued on. "We look after them, feed them, keep them clean and happy until their owner returns." Her expression then saddened. "Unfortunately there are people who bring their Pokemon here to abandon them. We wait for three years for people to pick up their Pokemon, but after that we need to find people who are willing to take them or release them into the wild."

Ellie then got a happy and hopeful expression as she started. "Maybe you can help us with a problem we have? We found this Pokemon egg in the back, we suspect it's from a Ditto that a trainer just picked up yesterday. We are too busy taking care of all the other Pokemon to properly care for the egg. Would you be willing to take the egg with you?"

"Ellie we shouldn't trouble this young lad with our trouble" the grandfather scolded his granddaughter.

Before she could reply, Clyde spoke up. "I'm just a beginner trainer, I don't know anything about taking care of Pokemon eggs" he told them nervously. He then looked at the egg and curiosity filled his head. "What Pokemon is it?"

"We don't know unfortunately," the grandmother replied. "It could honestly be any of the Pokemon we have here."

"I can give you some pamphlets on how to take care of it," Ellie added. "Please, you'd be doing us a huge favor."

Clyde looked at each one of and then the egg, before letting out a sigh. "Okay I'll take it" he said hesitatingly, but with a smile. Ellie cheered and then went to grab the pamphlets, with the couple thanking him while handing the egg over. Soon he had the egg and pamphlets and said his goodbyes to the daycare group. They thanked him again and wished him luck on his journey as he left. Clyde looked to the sky to see the sun was just starting to set and it was a good time to head to their room for the night.

[Room 106, Inn]

"So now you have an egg with an unknown Pokemon" Lynn stated examining said egg. Clyde had just finished telling the others his day and explaining why he now has a Pokemon egg. "Pretty risky McBride, I expect this from Santiago not from you."

Ronnie Anne, who was examining the mystery shack Clyde bought, was about to retort, but realized it was something she might do. "Well I think you got ripped off with this" she turned to him and held up the shack. "It feels like there's only rocks in it." Before Clyde could respond, she opened it and pulled some out.

"What is this?" She asked confused and curiously, while holding the item up for all to see. It was a fair size claw, but she couldn't identify what it could've come from.

"That's a Quick Claw!" Lynn was surprised when she stopped examining the egg. "I've seen trainers use them in battles. Trainers find ways for their Pokemon to wear them and it supposedly makes them faster in battles.

"A broken spoon?" Clyde asked, confused, pulling it out the shack. It was a mental spoon that was twisted at the handle.

"No, that's a Twisted Spoon!" Lynn replied, her shock only increased. "That's another battle item, any Pokemon holding that will increase Psychic moves."

"Well all that's left is rocks" Ronnie Anne said, while looking inside the shack.

"Dump them out and let me see!" Lynn told her with some urgency. Ronnie complied and 6 colorful stones fell out, Lynn eyes widened at what she saw. "Those aren't rocks, they're Evolution Stones" she said in awe.

Ronnie Anne was a bit confused, but Clyde recognized one of them. "She's right, this is a Leaf Stone" he said in shock, holding up said stone.

"You got some very rare stones here" Lynn added, picking up the dark colored stone. "You got a Dusk Stone, a Shiny Stone, an Ice Stone, a Dawn Stone, and a Sun Stone. You got all this for 2000 pokedollars? Where did the shop owner say he got that bag from?"

"He bought it from a traveler who was passing through," Clyde replied, examining another stone. Ronnie Anne meanwhile realized how important these stones were and started looking at the Shiny Stone. "He said the traveler would take anything for the bag, so the owner gave him a 1000, never opened it, and sold it as is for 2000 which was 2500."

"I think the traveler stole these" Lynn commented, while looking at the Ice Stone. This caused the other 2 to look at her in shock and disbelief. "By the sounds of it, he was looking to just get rid of these because he was on the run. Maybe even being chased and didn't want to get caught with the items on him. It's strange the shop owner didn't look inside, but you did say he was a bit odd so it makes a little sense. If they are stolen, there's nothing we can do now. There's no way to trace back to the original owner, you and the shop owner legally purchased them so they're yours now."

"But there's a chance they're not stolen, right?" Clyde asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Sure there's a chance" Lynn replied, placing the stone with the others. "However, it's rather suspicious that someone would sell a thrift store 2 battle items and 6 Evolution Stones for only 1000 pokedollars. Especially since they could've gotten 3 or 5 times that for just 1 stone."

"Man you really lucked out Clyde" Ronnie Anne commented happily though with some slight jealousy. "You got a new Pokemon and these awesome stones."

"That's not all," the older girl added. "You are now ready for when your Oddish evolves and use whichever stone you want." Both her students looked confused, before Clyde realized what she meant and grabbed the Leaf and Sun Stone. "That's right, you could have a Vileplume or a Bellossom." She then let out a yawn. "We should get to bed, we're leaving first thing in the morning."

Lynn went to lay in her bed, while Ronnie Anne went to get changed. Clyde meanwhile stared at the stones in his hands, before putting them and the other items back in the shack, and the shack in his backpack. He then went to change and then went to bed, joining his companions.