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Chapter 5: Major Renovation
🕑 Added 2025-09-06 12:53:26 +0000 UTC"So that's how it is." In the main hall of the Daycare, Officer Jenny slowly explained the whole situation to Kawaki.
"This Growlithe Pokémon Egg was something your mother ordered from the family when you were seven, planning to give it to you as your starter Pokémon for your tenth birthday. Nobody could've predicted what happened after that."
Kawaki's feelings were pretty complicated right then.
So this was the "thank you gift" the original owner's mother had mentioned?
"..."
Seeing the boy stay quiet for so long, Officer Jenny pulled a black card with the Jenny family crest from her pocket and placed it on the counter.
"This is the compensation money left behind when your parents died three years ago. One million total."
Actually, it was only five hundred thousand. The shipping company was too small-scale, and that maritime disaster led to public outrage, stock prices crashed, and they went bankrupt on the spot. The owner went straight to prison.
The rest was collected through donations from the Jenny family members. After all, this kid was part of the Jenny family too, and they couldn't just stand by and watch him starve.
"One million..." Kawaki was stunned.
The original owner's memories didn't include any information about this. From Officer Jenny's expression, this money had probably been held in trust by the Jenny family all this time.
That made sense. How could a seven-year-old kid manage that much money?
"I'm sorry we're only giving it to you now." Officer Jenny looked apologetic. "Do you have any plans for the future? If you want, you can come back to the Jenny family."
Kawaki fell silent.
It definitely sounded tempting.
But he didn't want to depend on others - he wanted to make it on his own.
Besides, he'd already made his decision to stay here with Bewear and run this Daycare.
And only by doing that could his special ability reach its full potential.
"I want to stay here and reopen this Daycare." Kawaki replied.
Sure enough, Officer Jenny wasn't surprised.
"Same answer as three years ago." She stood up, and being busy with work, didn't stick around long.
But before leaving, Officer Jenny left her contact information.
"I'm currently stationed in Petalburg City. If you need help with anything in the future, you can reach me."
"Also, be careful. Two criminal organizations have appeared in the Hoenn region recently. They specialize in stealing and robbing trainers' Pokémon. Police stations everywhere have been getting reports about stolen Pokémon." Officer Jenny warned.
Criminal organizations?
Team Magma and Team Aqua?
"Got it, I'll be careful." Kawaki said.
Officer Jenny nodded, then turned and left the Daycare with her Arcanine.
Kawaki watched her and the Arcanine leave until they were out of sight, then returned to the living room with Bewear.
The human and Pokémon stared at the pristine Growlithe egg and the black card containing one million Pokémon Dollars on the table, neither speaking for a moment.
A Growlithe egg...
Both parents were Champion-level Arcanine.
No doubt about it, this was an exceptionally high-quality Pokémon Egg.
Kawaki felt excited.
This Growlithe would probably be his starter Pokémon, right?
The Growlithe wouldn't hatch for another three days though. Even though Kawaki really wanted to have a Growlithe right away, some things just can't be rushed - you have to wait patiently.
As for that million Pokémon Dollars, if you converted the currency to USD it would definitely be a lot.
But this was the Pokémon world. While it sounded like a lot, it really wasn't that much.
Still, as startup capital for the Daycare, it was enough!
After three years of neglect, much of the Daycare's furniture and equipment was damaged beyond use.
With this money, he could repair the backyard fence, replace all the tables and chairs with new ones, and swap out that dust-covered couch in the main hall that had gotten so dirty you couldn't even tell what color it used to be.
The inn side needed renovation too - Kawaki had noticed several guest room beds with broken frames.
They could also buy some decorative plants, and then the inn could reopen for business.
On top of that, the Daycare needed to purchase appliances and furniture like refrigerators, ovens, TVs, and Pokémon Egg incubators.
The former would be useful in daily life, while the latter were absolutely essential for a Daycare.
Egg hatching - helping Pokémon that guests left in their care produce superior offspring - was one of a Daycare's main services.
After all these upgrades, there wouldn't be much left of that million-dollar startup fund.
Kawaki planned out the Daycare's renovation work in his head, then headed to Petalburg City with Bewear that same day.
Once bitten, twice shy - Kawaki was getting used to riding the "Bewear Express" by now.
He spent half the day checking out the town, finally settling on a company called "Machamp Construction."
After explaining his requirements and paying the deposit, that very afternoon the construction company's workers brought several Machamp to the Daycare and started renovations.
Kawaki and Bewear stood at a distance watching the busy Machamp.
Watching them tear down the rotted wooden fence and put up a sturdy new one, watching them haul away broken tables, chairs, and beds and replace them with brand-new furniture...
"Bewear!"
Bewear's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
It was happy about its little partner's changes and the Daycare reopening for business.
Kawaki glanced over and noticed the little sun above Bewear's head had disappeared, meaning its emotions had gradually settled down.
But now, seeing the Daycare getting a complete makeover, its mood was fluctuating again.
Rising from 20 to 40.
A small sun slowly appeared above its head.
And this time, text appeared in Kawaki's vision again.
[Bewear's mood improved, happiness +20, received Bewear's gift: "Tackle" TM.]
[TM (Tackle): Normal-type move. Attacks the opponent by ramming into them with the whole body. Can be taught through mental transmission or by a Pokémon that knows the corresponding move. Target Pokémon will definitely learn it. Uses remaining: 9999/9999.]
"Tackle... so I got another reward."
"But this time the move is nowhere near as rare or difficult as Baby-Doll Eyes from before."
"Could it be related to how much happiness increased?"
Since it only went up by 20 this time, he only got Tackle.
The bigger the happiness increase, the rarer the reward.
Kawaki pondered this. Ever since he'd arrived in this world he'd been too busy making ends meet to properly study his special ability.
After thinking it over, Kawaki decided to test it out while he had the chance.
He turned his attention to a Machamp that was moving cargo nearby.
