I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon

Chapter 1221: Let's Find Trouble Together

Leaving the Pokémon Center, Yuga returned home with Froakie and Squirtle.

However, as soon as he reached the shop's entrance, he noticed a crowd gathered outside, discussing something animatedly. The commotion had created quite a stir.

Someone in the crowd spotted Yuga and shouted loudly, "Boss Shimizu is back!"

The crowd parted on its own, creating a path for him. Only then could Yuga see what was happening. Ayaka and Suzuki Koen were facing off against a couple, whose child was clinging tightly to a Mime Jr. And Mime Jr. with tears in its eyes, was hugging Ayaka's leg.

A distressed Ayaka, sweating from the stress, let out a sigh of relief when she saw Yuga. Suzuki Koen was doing her best to explain the situation to the couple, while Mime Jr. With its teary-eyes gazed pitifully at Yuga.

"What's going on here?" Yuga frowned as he approached.

Before Ayaka or Suzuki Koen could respond, the wife of the couple immediately spoke up, her voice loud and shrill: "You're the boss, right? What kind of business are you running here? My son wants to buy your Mime Jr., and yet these two refuse to sell it. Is this how you do business?"

From this outburst, Yuga immediately understood the situation. It seemed the family wanted to purchase Mime Jr., but Suzuki Koen and Ayaka wouldn't sell it, leading to the uproar at the shop's entrance.

Yuga, keeping his patience, explained, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this Mime Jr. is not for sale."

As soon as he finished speaking, the woman glared at him and retorted, "You think you can just say it's not for sale? You run a shop, don't you? Refusing customers at the door—don't you have any sense of customer service? Do you even know what 'the customer is king' means?"

It was clear that Suzuki Koen had already explained this to the woman, but she paid no heed.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want this Mime Jr.! I want this Mime Jr.!" the young boy shouted, tugging at Mime Jr.'s arm with all his strength.

The Pokémon whimpered in pain, crying from the discomfort—it had never been treated so harshly before.

Hearing her son cry, the woman immediately tried to soothe him. "Don't cry, sweetie. Mommy will get it for you right away. Don't cry, okay?"

After calming the child, she turned back to Yuga. "We're in a hurry, so just get the paperwork done quickly. We're buying this Mime Jr. Name your price!" She squinted at him suspiciously, adding, "Or could it be you're stalling because you want to drive up the price? Now it makes sense!" Her eyes flashed with an "aha" expression, as if she had uncovered some great conspiracy.

While the woman continued her tirade, Yuga glanced at Mime Jr., whose face was twisted in pain. He addressed the boy, "Little one, please let go of Mime Jr. You're hurting it!"

The boy stared back at Yuga for a few seconds before bursting into loud sobs. "No! No! I want Mime Jr.! I want Mime Jr.!"

The moment her son cried again, the woman shrieked, "What's wrong with you? How could you bully a child like this?!"

At this moment, Yuga felt his anger reaching its peak. He turned to the man, who had remained silent throughout, and said, "Sir, please control your wife and child. This kind of commotion is inappropriate."

The man, however, appeared indifferent and replied casually, "Then just sell us the Pokémon. It's just a Mime Jr., so why make such a big deal out of it?"

The man's attitude made Yuga decide he'd had enough of tolerating this family of three.

Just then, Gothitelle happened to come out of the shop. Yuga instructed her, "Gothitelle, make the boy let go of Mime Jr."

Gothitelle nodded, her eyes flashing with a bright light. The boy suddenly found his body moving uncontrollably.

"M-Mom... Mom..."

Frightened, the boy began crying and shouting again, but his hand involuntarily released Mime Jr.

"Mime Jr.~ Mime Jr. ~"

Once freed, Mime Jr. leaped into Yuga's arms, its face scrunched up in tears, as it pitifully complained about its grievances.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Is this how you treat people? I'm going to report you!"

The boy's cries enraged the woman further. She scooped him up and pointed at Yuga, yelling accusations.

After rescuing Mime Jr., Gothitelle withdrew her psychic power, ensuring the boy wasn't harmed in any way.

Looking at the mother and child, who were now making a scene, Yuga said coldly, "I'll say it one more time: Mime Jr. is not for sale. If you continue causing trouble, I'll have to call Officer Jenny."

The woman's shouting stopped abruptly, though the child continued wailing.

"Are you picking on us just because we're from out of town? We just want to buy a Pokémon!" the woman cried, now taking on a victimized tone.

The man chimed in with a forced laugh. "Exactly! You run a day care, don't you? Why can't we buy a Pokémon?"

Yuga countered, "If your family ran a supermarket, would it be okay if I wanted to buy your son?"

The man stammered, "That's not the same thing..."

Yuga cut him off. "I think it's the same."

Faced with Yuga's threat to call Officer Jenny, the family of three slunk away in embarrassment. As they left, the child was still crying and making a fuss.

Watching the backs of the family of three as they left, Yuga couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. In all the years he had run his Pokémon Day Care, incidents like this were incredibly rare.

As the onlookers dispersed, no longer entertained, Persian suddenly appeared out of nowhere and informed Yuga that while the family of three was causing trouble, a few suspicious individuals had been lurking around the vicinity of the Ecopark. It was unclear what their intentions were.

Yuga listened thoughtfully to Persian's report.

After the cat left, Yuga dialed the Verdanturf Town police station and relayed what had happened outside his Day Care to Masato Shirai, requesting him to investigate whether there was anything unusual about the family of three.

Maintaining Verdanturf Town's peace was part of the police station's duty, so Masato Shirai agreed without hesitation.

In addition to asking Masato Shirai to secretly investigate the family's background, Yuga also assigned two Ghost-type Pokémon to keep them under surveillance.

The investigation results came back quickly. According to the files sent by Masato Shirai, the family was just ordinary citizens of the Pokémon League—moderately wealthy, but known for their unpleasant behavior.

The Ghost-type Pokémon had found nothing suspicious either. The family had come to Verdanturf Town as tourists, and the scene at the YoYo Day Care was merely one of the many embarrassing episodes they had caused during their stay.

Although the investigation revealed nothing unusual about the family, Yuga couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Given the sensitive nature of the Ecopark, which concealed his greatest secret, he felt it was better to err on the side of caution.

Soon enough, Yuga's instincts were proven correct. Over time, the YoYo Day Care began experiencing minor disturbances every now and then. While none of these issues were particularly significant or complex, they nonetheless aroused his suspicion.

According to the patrol Pokémon's reports, nearly every time there was an incident at YoYo Day Care, suspicious individuals were spotted near the Ecopark.

Under normal circumstances, such events might not have seemed connected, but Yuga's initial doubts made him view the situation differently. When pieced together, the pattern felt undeniably suspicious.

Yuga kept a quiet eye on those involved in the disturbances and even asked Masato Shirai to privately investigate a few of them. However, the findings were much like those for the troublesome family: no apparent anomalies.

But Yuga firmly believed that so many coincidences couldn't be mere chance.

It was clear—someone had set their sights on his Ecopark.

Although the Ecopark was safeguarded by the system's protection, its connection to Yuga's deepest secret left him no choice but to remain on high alert.

For a while afterward, YoYo Day Care returned to a peaceful state. Nothing unusual happened—not even the minor disturbances. At times, Yuga wondered if he'd been overthinking everything.

Even so, while his vigilance eased somewhat, he tightened the security measures around the Ecopark. During the day, Xatu kept watch, and the patrol Pokémon maintained strict surveillance. At night, Ghost-type Pokémon roamed the area while Crobat and its kin stayed awake throughout to guard the perimeter.

Meanwhile, in a concealed underground chamber in Verdanturf Town, a group of individuals had gathered.

"Is everything ready?" the leader asked those assembled.

The group, dressed uniformly in dark nightwear, responded in unison, "Ready!"

The leader nodded in satisfaction. "Good. This operation is crucial. If we fail, there won't be many opportunities left."

Hearing this, the group grew solemn. The leader continued, "Shimizu Yuga has captured too many of us and ruined too many of our plans over the years. We're preparing to retreat from Hoenn for the time being, but before we leave, Mr. Giovanni has ordered us to give him a parting gift."

"Mr. Giovanni~"

"Mr. Giovanni~"

"Mr. Giovanni~"

...

At the mention of Giovanni's name, the group erupted in cheers, as though the name itself was a source of faith and reverence.

The leader raised a hand to quiet them. "Shimizu Yuga is too strong. A direct confrontation would be pointless for us. This time, our plan is to destroy his Ecopark, so his YoYo Day Care can no longer operate."

"For this plan, we've used all the covert operations and hidden agents the organization had placed in Hoenn over the years. This plan can only succeed—it absolutely must not fail. Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

The crowd responded in unison.

The enthusiasm and determination of the group satisfied the leader. Nodding, he said, "Since everything is ready, let's move out."

...

In the middle of the night, the usually lively Verdanturf Town had fallen silent, including YoYo Day Care.

A group of individuals clad in black quietly appeared near the Day Care. Stealthily, they made their way toward the Ecopark with the familiarity of someone who had been there before.

Blending into the night with their dark outfits, one person approached the entrance to the Ecopark and attempted to open the gate.

As soon as their hand touched the gate, Yuga, who had been sound asleep in his room, abruptly opened his eyes.

Moments earlier, the system had alerted him to an intrusion attempt at the Ecopark. While the intruders could not gain entry, the system still notified Yuga as a precaution.

The individual in black fumbled with the gate for a while but could not open it.

Another black-clad figure approached and asked, "Still not open?"

The person trying to open the gate replied anxiously, "It shouldn't be like this. I'm sure this is how it was supposed to work!" Unbeknownst to them, gaining access to the Ecopark required a special system-granted permission.

"Just hurry up! If we get discovered, none of us are getting out of here!" urged the second figure.

"I know, I know! Stop rushing me; the more you push, the more nervous I get!" the first responded irritably.

Suddenly, the person at the gate felt something gripping their shoulder. A sharp screeching noise followed, and before they could react, they were lifted into the air.

One by one, the other black-clad individuals experienced the same fate. Crobat, hanging upside down under the eaves, had opened their glowing golden eyes. In the quiet of the night, the eerie gleam of their gaze added a layer of terror to the darkness.

"Skreeee! Skreeee!"

The piercing cries of bats filled the air as more intruders were plucked from the ground. Ghost Pokémon silently emerged, surrounding the captured individuals.

Yuga had already moved to his bedroom window, observing the scene outside under the faint moonlight. From the cries of the Crobat, he could discern the situation.

Fearing discovery, the captured intruders didn't dare scream, instead enduring their terror in silence as they released their Pokémon.

However, the moment their Pokémon appeared, they were overwhelmed by the swarm of Ghost Pokémon and subdued without a sound.

The leader of the intruders was the strongest among them. His Pokémon, a Persian, retaliated the moment its trainer was seized by Crobat, using Fake Out to repel the attack. The leader narrowly avoided being carried off.

But when he looked up and saw the countless pairs of glowing golden eyes floating in the sky, his heart sank. One thought flashed through his mind: It's over. The mission has failed.

Seeing his comrades being captured one by one, the leader realized there was no time to waste. He turned to flee but found himself face-to-face with a Pokémon wreathed in dark purple flames.

A Chandelure.

The Persian lunged to attack again, but Chandelure's strength far exceeded that of Crobat. With a single glowing flash from its eyes, the Persian was frozen mid-air, unable to move no matter how much it struggled.

After swiftly subduing the Persian, Chandelure turned its gaze toward the leader. The man felt a wave of dizziness before collapsing unconscious.

As he hit the ground, his blurred vision caught sight of a pair of shoes.

Yuga, having arrived at the scene, kicked the unconscious leader lightly. When there was no response, he instructed the Crobat to gather all the captured intruders in one place.

Surveying the group of subdued individuals, Yuga couldn't immediately determine who might have orchestrated the attack, given the number of enemies he had made over the years.

He then used Hypnosis to interrogate the intruders, starting with the leader.

However, as soon as the Ghost Pokémon applied Hypnosis to the man, he began convulsing, foaming at the mouth, and went still within moments.

Yuga checked for signs of life and frowned. The man was dead.

He proceeded to interrogate a few more individuals, but the results were the same—each one died moments after being hypnotized.

Staring at the bodies before him, Yuga was at a loss. Should he quietly dispose of them or turn them over to the police?