The old Day-Care Man closed the door of the Pokémon Day Care behind him and shook his head. “I swear to Arceus…” he grumbled.
“What did you say, honey?” his wife, who was the most beautiful woman he ever met, even despite her now showing age, asked.
“The lad that left his Pokémon here is cycling in front of the Day Care again. As if this would speed up what his Pokémon are doing in the garden.” he answered. “And the egg I just gave him also won’t hatch any sooner from this! Watching him cycling up and down all day is driving me crazy. Stupid shiny hunters! Today’s youth has no patience at all!”
“We’re just going to charge him more then, when he wants to retrieve his Pokémon, how about that?” his wife said with a warm smile that instantly calmed the old man down.
“That’s a great idea.” he agreed. “That will teach him a lesson.”
The door opened once again and the old man turned around. “No vacancy!” he said in a harsh tone. “At least until this whippersnapper out there retrieves his Pokémon!”
“And a good day to you as well!” the visitor closed the door behind her. “I’m the new intern. You said I could start today, so here I am.”
The Day Care Man looked at the young woman who was standing in the entrance of the Day Care, smiling at him, her head tilted a little to her left side, and her eyes closed, with a big smile on her lips.
“The new intern, eh?” the old man repeated. “A little early, aren’t you? Didn’t we hire you for the night shift.”
“Night shift?” the woman asked. “I thought, this was a DAY Care?”
“And we care for the Pokémon all day and night, because their trainers don’t.” the Day-Care Lady said with a sad sigh.
“That is… horrible.” the intern shook her head in disbelief.
“That’s just our daily routine.” the old lady shrugged. “When everything is a distraction, nothing is worth attention. Not even your beloved Pokémon.”
“Come back later, then I will show you around and after that, you’ll have to work your first night shift. Don’t worry. It’s mostly quiet at night, when all the kids are at home.” the old Day-Care man said.
The new intern nodded hesitantly, turned around and left the Day Care.
~
A few hours later, when the sky was already turning orange from the setting sun, she had entered the building again. She was ready for her first day, no, her first night, as a Day-Care Lady! This was, what she had dreamt of doing since she was a kid. Playing with cute Pokémon all day - or night - and even making money from it! What could possibly go wrong?
The old Day-Care man had shown her everything she needed to know and explained the five rules of the Day Care to her. It was hard listening to him when he did, because she was too distracted by all the cute Pokémon which were playing in the garden. A fluffy Arcanine brought her a ball and tail-waggingly expected her to throw it. Of course, she did and as it ran after the ball, she squealed with excitement. When a tiny Skitty pulled on her moving pant leg, she got down on her knees and lifted the Kitten Pokémon up to lavish it with cuddles, before putting it on the ground again, where it immediately began to chase its own tail. And while the new intern was playing with the different Pokémon, the old Day-Care Man explained the rules to her. He didn’t expect her to listen. Those spring Torchics never did.
And then, the Day-Care Couple left her alone.
The first two hours of the night she spent in the garden with the Pokémon. The garden was a huge open field in which the different species could play with each other. But soon she learned that not everything was as idyllic as it had first seemed.
When she spotted a Seviper sneaking up on an unsuspecting Zangoose, she quickly grabbed the water hose that was meant for entertaining the water-type Pokémon and used it to shoo away the Fang Snake Pokémon. With an angry
Hiss the Seviper slithered back into the taller grass of the field.
<Rule number one.> she remembered, while the Zangoose she just saved hid behind her, its claws fanned out and ready to defend itself. <Never let hostile Pokémon getting close to each other.>
On her way back to her lookout, the intern tripped over something that was lying in the grass, and she flailed her arms to regain balance. Her eyes went big as she looked down and saw that she had almost cracked open a green-patterned Pokémon egg. “Oh no!” she said in shock and checked the egg for any forms of damage. Miraculously, it was unscathed. A sudden movement in the corner of her eye made her look up, and she saw the Skitty from earlier running away. Was this her egg? Was that even possible? The egg was almost as big as the Kitten Pokémon itself. She shook her head. Whatever Pokémon had laid this egg, it couldn’t have been this small cutie. She looked after the Skitty which ran to the big pond with her Wailord friend in it.
<Rule number three.> she remembered. <Watch out for Pokémon eggs lying around. If you find one, wait outside for the trainer to collect it.>
Wait a second! The third rule? She paused for a moment. If this was rule number three, then what was rule number two again? She scratched her head, but the second rule had slipped her mind. It probably wasn’t that important.
She took the egg with her and went to the entrance of the Day Care, where she wanted to wait for the trainer to collect the egg.
On her way, a Morgrem pulled on her leg. She looked at the Devious Pokémon that gestured at its open mouth. “Not now, Morgrem. I will feed you later!” she said to him and proceeded to walk to the door. Of course, she had no idea whose Pokémon laid this egg, she just hoped no one would notice if she gave this egg to the wrong trainer.
<Rule number four.> she remembered. <When in doubt which egg was laid by which Pokémon, check the egg-pattern guide.>
The intern went inside again and looked up the egg-pattern in said guide. After a while of browsing through the pages of the book, she found the pattern of the egg. Unmistakably. That really was a Skitty egg. Pokémon really were wondrous creatures.
It was already past midnight, and she was standing outside the Day Care again, scanning the nightly horizon for someone to come and collect the egg. No one was coming. She sighed. Suddenly, the door behind her opened and the Morgrem was looking at her with a devilish grin. It pointed at its open mouth once again. “Mor!” Somehow it had managed to escape the garden and followed her.
“Fine.” the intern said. “If you stay inside the garden then, I will give you a snack. But just a small Curry!”
“Morgrem!” the Pokémon replied happily.
She brought the Devious Pokémon back into the garden and gave it a small plate with a Sweet Curry on it, before returning to her place in front of the Day Care.
With the egg in her arms, she leaned against the wall and waited for its owner, or any trainer that wanted it, to come around. Right now, she would have been happy for any passerby to relieve her off this egg.
And finally, someone came. “Ah, this must be the egg of my Skitty and Wailord!” the young trainer said with a happy smile. She guessed he was fourteen at the most.
<Rule number five.> the old Day-Care Man’s voice echoed in her head. <What happens in the Day Care, stays in the Day Care. Be vague when talking to trainers.>
Now she understood what he was trying to convey to her: “Don’t traumatize children and teenagers with the mental image of a Wailord on top of their Skitty.”
“Oh, hello! Yes, we recently found this egg at our Day Care. We don’t know how this happened, but we’re sure it’s yours.” the intern repeated the words the old Day-Care Man had taught her. “Do you want to take it with you?”
“Of course I do!”
With a sigh of relief, the intern got back inside. She didn’t know how late it was, so she checked the watch on her arm. Almost 2AM. She was sure she had forgotten something important. But she just couldn’t remember what it was.
At least, until she heard a cackling laughter, and a pair of red-glowing eyes began to appear from behind the Day Care’s counter.
<Rule number two. Don’t feed the Morgrem after midnight.>
The intern’s horrified scream tore through the silence of the night and then fell silent as quickly as it began.
~
“Looks like our new intern left in the middle of her shift.” the old Day-Care Man grumbled. “She didn’t even leave a note. Today’s youth is really beyond remedy.”
“Don’t worry, my dear.” his wife smiled, and for a second, there was a slight red shimmer in her eyes. “We still have time to find a worthy successor for this Day Care. Lots of time…”