CH59 (581), Orphanage(s) (3)

The second week proved to be just as busy and demanding as the first. My favorite time was nap time since a little more than 80% of the kids were sleeping during that period, so it served as somewhat of a break for me. It was not that I had a problem dealing with the kids, just the opposite. The kids loved me since I was very good at entertaining them, and that was the problem.

I was too popular with them so I got crowded all the time by a lot of kids who wanted my attention, which got pretty loud at times. In fact, I was so good with the kids that I was not assigned any miscellaneous job and simply asked to supervise/interact with the kids most of the time.

Unfortunately, since I was at the orphanage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I did not have much free time. During the times after work, which was pretty much only the evening, I spent 2 to 3 hours with my Pokemon, which included dinner, before spending another two hours training myself.

Anyway, the regular weekdays aside, we ended up doing something a bit different on Kyoday. The children were very excited when they heard that we would be going to the petting zoo, and since it was Kyoday all the kids were present, which meant that our group was quite large.

The Lavender City Petting Zoo was larger than the one in Hope Town, which honestly was not all that surprising. Not that this mattered all that much for the kids who were playing, cuddling, or petting the Pokemon. Some of the older orphans were actually holding play-battles with a few willing Pokemon.

None of the moves used were really powered, so their play-acting was fine since no one got hurt, at least that was what the caretakers told me when they noticed my attention being drawn to that particular batch of kids. Seeing how nearly all Pokemon here were either stageless or at the (low) iron stage, I did not refute and let the kids have their fun. I mean, if the caretakers on both sides said it was fine, then I saw no reason to intervene.

We stayed at the petting zoo for the whole day and only returned after dinner. If the matron had not told me that the alliance, as the sponsor of the orphanage, was paying for all expenses, I would have seriously wondered if it was okay or even possible for the orphanage to spend this much, because entrance fee aside, the bill for lunch and dinner for so many people had to be really high, especially at places like this.

Still, hearing that the alliance was covering the expenses for a visit to this Petting Zoo once a month, along with a visit to an educational site, such as a museum or an exhibition, I could not help but admit they were doing a good job. Well, at the very least with this orphanage that was the case.

I had no idea if the same was true for the other orphanages since I knew from my parent's description that visits like these were a rarity during their time. Well, their orphanage had not been an alliance-sponsored one as far as I knew, so there was that.

Anyway, after we returned to the orphanage my shift was up, so I left for my one-day break. Similarly to last week, I spent the evening and the whole of Grouday inside Utopia, spending time with my Pokemon.

The following week ended up being similar in that I was busy during the regular weekdays, and that something distinct took place on Kyoday. However, this time it was not a trip or the like, but rather an open day for the orphanage.

While adults interested in adopting an orphan could organize an appointment for any available day, once a month the orphanage held an open day where anyone could visit the orphanage to spend time with the kids whether that be simply to interact with the children, or to get to know them better for adoption purposes.

Honestly, I could not help but be a bit worried that day. While there had been no attempts on my life during my three weeks at the orphanage so far, I was not sure if that was because I did not give them a chance outside with orphanage and they did not want to "storm" the place or if it was because they had a moral bottom line.

Honestly, it was more likely that they were simply unable to get close to the orphanage during usual times due to the interference of the alliance, though I would definitely be happy if their moral bottom line was the true reason for the peace I enjoyed.

Nonetheless, this open day presented any assassin without that moral bottom line a golden opportunity to attack me as long as they managed to blend in with the crowd visiting the orphanage with good intentions. I was really hoping that the alliance took more serious measures to ensure that didn't happen, but just in case, I spoke with the matron and asked for permission to let out some of my less large and more cute-looking Pokemon to act as extra security.

Mothra/Butterfree, Optimus/Butterfree, a small contingent of their minions, Nyx/Umbreon and her Eevee Squad, Luna/Clefable, Gwen/Gardevoir, Tatsumaki/Alakazam, Thor/Raichu, Saphira/Altaria, and Kimura/Hitmonform were the ones that were assigned a security role, while Hades/Gengar remained inside my shadow as usual.

The kids certainly enjoyed their presence, and thankfully the day ended without any issues popping up. Regardless of whether it was the alliance, my measures, or their bottom line that allowed the day to end with an attack, I was just happy that the day did not get ruined because of me.

The kids began to crowd me when I started to recall my Pokemon and they asked/begged me to bring them out again sometime next week so that they could play with them once more. I naturally did the smart thing and threw the matron under the bus. I told them that it was her choice and that they should bother, I mean ask her about it.

While they headed in her direction I quickly left since I was done for the day/week. Honestly, I would not mind calling out my Pokemon for a few hours to spend some time with the kids if the Matron ended up agreeing to their request, but if she didn't I wouldn't care all that much either since the "blame" would be on her shoulders not mine. In scenario one, the children would love me, and in scenario two, they would not dislike me, so I was fine with either scenario.

Anyway, like before, I spent Grouday inside Utopia, hanging out with my Pokemon. I also told the ones who helped me out at the orphanage about the possibility of a few cameos there if the matron ended up agreeing, and none of them minded, though they used the chance to ask me to play the Ocarina for them for a few hours.

The next morning I began my fourth week at the orphanage, and while Arcday went as normal as a day with a lot of energetic kids can be, Mewday brought some pleasant news. Roughly two hours after lunch, Shino/Yanmega requested my attention.

He then shared that he had felt the completeness the others had mentioned, so he requested that I check his status sheet to see if he was right or if it was just a misconception on his part. Seeing how I was busy I asked him to wait until I was done at the orphanage, and as soon as I was off work, I made my way inside Utopia.

Shino was already waiting for me at my place, and after a quick greeting he urged me to take a look, so I did. Upon seeing his parameters section, I congratulated him on completing his limit-breaking phase. I promised him that we would go through with his breakthrough straight after dinner, and the others who had been coming over for that, heard about it as well, so they began to crowd Shino, while I began to take out our dinner.

Once we had eaten, I announced Shino's upcoming breakthrough, and we headed to his place, where we waited a few more minutes for the last stragglers to arrive. Shino alighted on one of the low-hanging branches and I went up to him to wish him good luck. I touched his forehead with mine while I did that, and Fortuna/Togetic followed suit when she wished him good luck as well.

We then retreated to the circle and I gave Shino the go-ahead. The breakthrough went mostly normal, though he did shine a little at some point. As soon as it was over, and Shino's (high) dark gold stage undulations began to spread, I moved up to him to congratulate him on reaching the dark gold stage and on joining the Aurora Club since I had seen nothing that would prevent him from doing that.

The others quickly came up to us and congratulated Shino as well. While they were crowding around him, I went ahead and took a look at his new/updated status sheet.

'Name: Shino

Species: Yanmega

Gender: Male

Age: 15+ years

-

Type: Bug, Flying

Potential: Light Aurora (8.31%)*

{Deep Purple (35.27%) -> (36.63%) -> Light Aurora (8.31%)}

(Genetic) Modifier: Ancient

Abilities: Speed Boost, Tinted Lens, Frisk*'

As expected Shino's potential rose to light Aurora, and seeing how there was no reduction I was not surprised to see no changes in the modifier section. Shino's new potential brought along a third ability, and I had already expected it to be Frisk. If Frisk had been the same as in the games it would have been a full-blown disappointment, at least in my opinion, but that was not the case.

Frisk here was decentish since it gave the Pokemon, upon meeting another Pokemon, an instinctive knowledge of any possible weaknesses such as wounds and possible impairments, at least as long as they were (outwardly) visible.

If it had been a controllable ability that could be used without limit Frisk would have actually been incredible, but since it could not be controlled and only worked once on a Pokemon within a certain period, the ability could only be ranked as decent to good.

Before I could share the news with Shino I caught a glimpse of his talent section, and I noticed that his talent seemed to have undergone an upgrade, which was probably what had caused the little glow that happened during his breakthrough.

'Talents: Danger Sensing*

Affinities: Bug, Flying, Dragon (budding)*'

His talent changed from Danger Sense to Danger Sensing, which was not all that much of a change. I took a look at the details and saw that the previously passive Danger Sense talent had turned into a passive/active one that allowed Shino to actively sense potential sources of danger within a certain radius. The passive part remained the same as before.

While the change might not appear all that extensive, it was still a great upgrade to an already pretty good talent, so it was definitely something to be happy about. Additionally, while looking at his new/upgraded talent, I also noticed that Shino seems to have unlocked a budding dragon-type affinity, which was quite interesting.

Anyway, I went ahead and shared the abundant good news with him. In reaction to the news, Shino released quite a happy buzz. Everyone else was also quite happy for him and congratulated him once more. In the meantime, I resumed looking at the rest of his status sheet.

'Bond: Mikail (deep)*

Quirks: None

----

Parameters:

Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)*

Vitality: C

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: B

Energy Density: E'

Our deep bond was no surprise, and the same was true for his stage, but looking at his parameters one could see that he only managed to start at the (high) dark gold stage by a hair's breadth. His parameter average was exactly at the point where he could start at the (high) sub-stage instead of the (mid) one. That aside, looking at the sole E-value on the parameter spreadsheet ensured that his energy density would be our focus for the next while.

Moving on, I saw a lack of any further changes caused by his breakthrough, though I did make a mental note to train Silvercane in tandem with his Energy Density since it was a powerful move with great potential.

'Techniques:

-

Novice:

Silvercane (C, new)

-

Beginner:

U-Turn (+), Endure (new)

-

Proficient:

Protect (new), Tackle (+), Pursuit (+), String Shot (+)

-

Advanced:

Double Team (+), Quick Attack (+), Gust (+), Uproar (+), Super Screech (C, ++), Wing Attack (+)

-

Mastered:

Silver Wind (+), Hurricane (+)

-

Combo moves/Custom moves:

Super Screech (Advanced), Silvercane (Novice)'

Once I was done checking Shino's status sheet, I told the others that we would only hold a mini (two-hour) celebration right now since I had to work tomorrow and that the main celebration would be on Grouday instead.

---------------------

---------------------

This part is purely to display Shino's status screen in one piece and does not count toward the word count.

'Name: Shino

Species: Yanmega

Gender: Male

Age: 15+ years

-

Type: Bug, Flying

Potential: Light Aurora (8.31%)

(Genetic) Modifier: Ancient

Abilities: Speed Boost, Tinted Lens, Frisk

Talents: Danger Sensing

Affinities: Bug, Flying, Dragon (budding)

-

Bond: Mikail (deep)

Quirks: None

----

Parameters:

Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: B

Energy Density: E

----

Resistance:

Grass (Major), Fighting (Major), Ground (Minor), Bug (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Fire (Minor), Ice (Minor), Flying (Minor), Rock (Major)

-

Standardized:

Electric, Flying (in progress)

----

Condition: Healthy, Happy, Pleased, Excited

----

Masteries:

Bug E. Manipulation (Advanced),

Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Advanced)

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Silvercane (C)

-

Beginner:

U-Turn, Endure

-

Proficient:

Foresight, Hypnosis, Screech, Steel Wing, Sonic Boom, Crunch, Night Slash, Supersonic, Bug Bite, Leech Life, Slash, Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, Hyper Beam, Swift, Psychic, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Protect, Tackle, Pursuit, String Shot

-

Advanced:

Aerial Ace, Ancient Power, Detect, Signal Beam, Double Team, Quick Attack, Gust, Uproar, Super Screech (C), Wing Attack

-

Mastered:

Bug Buzz, Air Slash, Silver Wind, Hurricane

-

Combo moves/Custom moves:

Super Screech (Advanced), Silvercane (Novice)'

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