Chp 2: Day Care

A new day marked a new beginning.

Feeling the sunlight seeping through his eyes, Zorua slowly woke up, only to see a plate of food in front of him. Instead of immediately filling his empty stomach, he carefully surveyed his surroundings.

Suddenly, he found that his body was no longer that hurt anymore. Then, he noticed a bed not far away from him, and the human he saw yesterday was sitting on it.

Although he lost to the human in the confrontation yesterday, from his state today, Zorua knew that the human in front of him must be the one who treated him. At least, he was not a bad person, he thought.

After hesitating for a while, Zorua finally lowered his head and began to eat the food in front of him.

Vic, who had been paying attention to Zorua, raised the corners of his mouth slightly. This was a good start.

Licking his plate clean, Zorua finally turned his attention to the human who had been staring at him.

"This place is safe. You should stay here and rest. I'm going out in a while and will be back later at night."

Hearing that, Zorua just nodded its head and lay down on all fours. Although he felt that Vic was not a threat to him, he still didn't trust him one bit.

Vic didn't think anything of it. He knew it would take time before Zorua began to warm up to him. After leaving his house, he took in the more wealthier buildings around him before turning to see his run down house and sighed inwardly.

Vic, who was reborn in this world, had no relatives left. His parents were all killed in a raid by a criminal organisation. All that was left to him was his home. Luckily, his home was within the safe range of the city. At least, he was safe from wild Pokemon.

He was only 14 years old this year. It would take another year before he could get his first Pokemon and Pokedex from the Pokemon Center. However, he knew most of the Pokemon there were only average.

Before Zorua appeared, Vic had been looking forward to choosing a relatively better Pokemon. He knew that the three main starter Pokemon like Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle were out of his reach. He was hoping for a better Pokemon like Pidgey or Nidoran.

Only with a good Pokemon can he develop better.

Walking through the familiar streets, Vik soon arrived at a Pokemon Day Care where he worked. Here, he can get in touch with rare Pokemon. He also learnt a lot of knowledge about Pokemon, which he knew would be helpful for his future travels.

"Vic, you're here."

A young girl stood in the Day Care. She was Nicole, who was in charge of the reception. She was also the granddaughter of the owner of the Day Care, Grandma Cici, a very nice and kind old lady.

"Good morning, Nicole! By the way, the food in the store is almost gone. You need to order some more," Vic said to the girl as he went to the staff room.

"Vic, wait a moment." Seeing that Vic was about to change into his work clothes, Nicole hurriedly stopped him.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you notice anything different today?"

"Is there? Now that you say that, I feel the shop is a little quiet today."

Vic suddenly noticed there were no trainers coming in to drop off their Pokemon today. He had worked here for nearly a year and knew how many trainers spent lots of money just to raise their Pokemon well.

However, it was very quiet today which was very weird. Usually, when the store opened, there would already be several trainers waiting at the door.

"What's going on? One more thing, where is Grandma Cici?"

Seeing Nicole's hesitant expression, Vic also became worried. He loved working here and the pay was good. He didn't want something bad to happen to this Day Care.

"We're leaving," Nicole said.

"Leaving? What do you mean?" Vic looked at her in disbelief. "Wait, you are saying that you and Grandma Cici will be leaving soon and the store is closing?"

"Yes, do you remember the time when you asked me where my parents are?" NIcole asked.

"Of course I do."

When it came to this topic, Vic spoke very carefully. He still remembered how angry the lively Nicole got at him after he asked that question. It appeared he might have touched something sensitive when he asked that back then. That was why he never asked her where her parents were again.

Although that was already a long time ago and Nicole had already forgiven him, he was aware of the gravity of the situation. He felt uneasy after Nicole brought up this topic again

"And what does leaving have to do with your parents?" Vic asked after a moment of pause.

Nicole looked at Vic for a moment, then rose up, locked the store, and hung the close sign before beginning to relate her tale.

The world was full of mysteries, and people were always on the lookout for new discoveries. Both of Nicole's parents were mineralogists who travelled the world searching for new and unusual stones.

When Nicole was only one years old, her parents accidentally discovered a mine. Later, they found many Evolution Stones inside and the quality was quite good. However, after spending some time sifting through the mine, they stumbled into an Evolution Stone of perfect grade.

"Perfect grade Evolution Stone!" When Nicole said that, Vic couldn't help but exclaim.

"That's right, I think you know how precious an Evolution Stone of perfect grade is." Nicole, who was interrupted by Vic, continued.

Vic was at a loss for words as he stared at Nicole, who seemed lost in her own world of sorrow and had no desire to continue talking. He had already guessed what happened later. Someone had killed her parents for the stone.

"Are you planning to take revenge?" Vic asked her.

"Revenge? Of course I want to, but the enemy is too strong. I don't think I have any chance against them." Nicole replied.

"Then why are you leaving?"

Hearing Vic's question, Nicole fell silent for a moment before answering him. "You often said that you should take the chance when you are given an opportunity. I know a place that can make me stronger. Do you think I should go?"

"If that's what you want to do, then just go ahead. You'll kick yourself later if you put it off," Vic told her. If it were him, he would not let go of the person who murdered his parents.

"Nicole, we'll be leaving later. Go and pack your things, I have something to talk about with Vic."

Just when Nicole was about to say something, Grandma Cici, the owner of the Day Care, walked in through the front door.

"Okay, grandma," Nicole said, standing up.

She gave Vic a look before going up the stairs. While Vic watched her leave, he couldn't shake the feeling that it would be quite some time before they met again.

After that, Grandma Cici turned to Vic and said, "Vic, do you know why I took you in?"

"Err, no?" In Vic's mind, the elderly woman who hired him was simply being generous. There weren't many people who would willingly hire an underage child. For this, he was very grateful to Grandma Cici.

"Do you still remember the first time you killed someone?" Grandma Cici spoke to him. "I saw everything that day."

What she said shook Vic to the core.

"Wha… how…" He was unable to form any coherent sentences. All he could do was gape at her.