Aroma Day Care

The next day, after finishing training his Pokémon at the Ecopark, Yuga stepped out and saw Arata Sena arriving as planned.

Following behind Sister Koen, he became a little intern. Although the shop no longer sold Pokémon Eggs, Sister Koen occasionally shared her sales experiences with him, and he listened attentively.

Yuga nodded in approval, feeling satisfied. As long as people are willing to learn and put in effort, they will surely succeed.

Just then, the TV unexpectedly broadcasted news that surprised Yuga.

"The recent Champion League has finally concluded. Yesterday, the Hoenn League announced the candidates for the new Elite Four. The long-standing Elite Four member, Mr. Moore, has stepped down, and the newly appointed Elite Four member is the expert in Dark-type Pokémon, Sidney.

The newly crowned Elite Four, Sidney, is already a well-known Trainer. In past Champion League, he performed remarkably well...

Following his retirement, former Elite Four Mr. Moore has taken over his son's Gym..."

Hearing this news, Yuga was genuinely taken aback. He had just seen Mr. Moore a few days ago, so why had he stepped down from his position as one of the Elite Four so suddenly?

From what Yuga observed of Mr. Moore's strength, there seemed to be no decline. Both his powerful Charizard and Typhlosion were at their peaks. Why step down now?

Could it be related to the recent incident involving the Team Aqua?

To prevent unnecessary panic, the League didn't make the Team Aqua incident public; instead, they handled it discreetly. Yuga wasn't sure about the aftermath of that event, but if the League was pursuing the Team Aqua, there was no escaping for them.

After contemplating for a while, Yuga couldn't make sense of it. He decided to let it go. Whether the issue with Mr. Moore stepping down was related to the Team Aqua incident or not, it had no significant impact on him as a small player.

At that moment, Windy came downstairs and told Yuga that someone had contacted him, expressing interest in an interview. The person wanted to know when Yuga would be available.

Yuga instructed Windy to tell the applicant that they could come anytime, but they needed to hurry. If they took too long, they might miss the chance for an interview if someone else was hired before they arrived.

Windy nodded and headed back upstairs.

Seeing the empty entrance, Yuga suddenly felt that something was off. After thinking for a moment, he remembered, "Hey, where's Linoone? It used to nap there all the time."

Thinking harder, he realized that the Great Flygon had also been absent from the rooftop lately. That was its favorite spot for sunbathing and resting.

Considering this, Yuga still couldn't figure out what was going on with them. If he hadn't seen them that morning at the Ecopark, he might have suspected someone had taken them away.

Could it be because I haven't been paying enough attention to them? Yuga wondered.

Just as he was about to check on them, Windy came rushing down the stairs once more.

Seeing how hurried Windy looked, Yuga stopped in his tracks and asked, "What's going on? You seem pretty worked up, like a fire's been lit under you?"

Windy caught his breath and said, "Someone from Aroma Day Care's headquarters contacted me. They want to meet you."

Aroma Day Care? Meet me? Why? Yuga couldn't understand. They didn't seem to have much interaction. Yuga Day Care's scale wasn't significant enough to be in direct competition with Aroma Day Care. So, what could they want with him?

Aroma Day Care was one of the five major private Day Care chains and was also one of the top five heads of the Day Care Joint Council. They were worlds apart from small players like Yuga Day Care.

During the Day Care Conference, Yuga hadn't been left with a great impression of the Council members. He felt they were a bit too overbearing, leaving no room for compromise.

But after some consideration, Yuga decided to meet with them. So, he asked, "Did they mention where they want to meet?"

Shaking his head, Windy said, "No, they want you to decide on the location."

Yuga chuckled, thinking they were quite accommodating. However, this suggested they might have a request or favor to ask of him. With this in mind, Yuga directly said, "Tell them to come to Yuga Day Care to meet me."

Windy hesitated slightly and said, "Is that appropriate?"

Yuga shrugged it off. "What's wrong with that? Didn't they say I could choose the location?"

"That's true, but..." Windy's unfinished words were understood by Yuga. He was implying that Yuga's position wasn't on par with theirs, so he should be more humble.

However, Yuga didn't see anything wrong with his approach. First, it was their suggestion, and he was merely following it. Secondly, precisely because he was in a weaker position, he needed to assert himself a bit; otherwise, he'd seem easy to push around. Lastly, it was highly probable that they were in need of his help this time, and lowering his stance would only make him vulnerable.

"Why overthink it? Just reply to them as I said."

In the end, Windy could only reluctantly nod in agreement. After all, Yuga was the boss, and what he said went. What could Windy do about it?

However, what surprised Windy was that when Yuga suggested they meet at YoYo Day Care, Aroma Day Care didn't express any objections. They readily agreed, leaving Windy with the feeling that, for the first time, he truly understood the phrase: "The boss is the boss!"

Aroma Day Care's team acted quickly, and the next day, their representative arrived with a few others at Yuga Day Care.

Standing at the entrance of Yuga Day Care and looking at the somewhat rundown appearance of the shop, the Aroma representative unconsciously furrowed his brows.

Nevertheless, the representative displayed excellent professionalism. Despite finding Yuga Day Care's facilities less than satisfying, he didn't show much disdain. Calmly, he led his team into the shop.

Once inside, his expression improved significantly. At the very least, the interior was presentable.

Observing Suzuki Koen, who was currently busy with the intern, Arata Sena, the representative walked over and said, "Hello, I've scheduled a meeting with your boss. Could you tell me where he is?"

In fact, as soon as this group walked into the shop, Suzuki Koen had noticed. After all, a sudden influx of several people was hard to miss.

Upon hearing someone address her, Suzuki Koen raised her head and asked, "Are you Mr. Yezuki from Aroma Day Care?"

The representative replied politely, "Indeed, that's me."

"In that case, please take a seat over there and wait. I'll go fetch our boss." Suzuki Koen pointed towards a chair in the center of the shop.

Yezuki nodded, walked over to the chair, and sat down. Suzuki Koen went upstairs to summon Yuga.