"Guh~" Bewear's body was fluffy and warm, just like a giant stuffed animal. Kawaki was slightly stunned, and his frightened heart gradually calmed down.
"I'm fine now, just had a nightmare," he said slowly.
"Guh...?" Bewear slowly loosened its grip. The bright moonlight streamed in through the window, and the person and Pokémon sat facing each other in the hazy moonlight.
Bewear blinked, looking somewhat puzzled. From its expression, it seemed to have noticed something different about its little master compared to before.
Kawaki: "..."
He opened his mouth, almost wanting to tell Bewear that the original owner had died and left this world along with his parents. But looking into Bewear's eyes, Kawaki couldn't bring himself to say it. Such a cruel truth would perhaps be too harsh for this Bewear.
"I just dreamed about them..." Kawaki changed his words.
"Guh?!" Bewear immediately understood who "them" referred to.
Kawaki: "They said we should live well... Even though it's hard, I think if we keep going on like this, Mom and the others would be really sad if they knew, right?"
Bewear's eyes flickered, staring blankly: "Guh..."
"So, Bewear, starting tomorrow, let's live well together! I've decided to run the Daycare again, just like Mom and Dad did, and restore this place to its former lively state!" Kawaki made up his mind and said to Bewear.
"Guh..." Bewear stared blankly, then its face broke into a big smile: "Guh!"
Great! The little master had finally come around! No problem! From now on, it would work hard to help the little master restore the Daycare to its former bustling state!
Bewear pulled Kawaki into an embrace.
"Alright, alright, let's go back to sleep. We've got lots of work to do tomorrow!" Kawaki sighed softly, then hugged Bewear and patted its back.
From now on, he was Kawaki, and Kawaki was him.
"Guh!" As the former housekeeper of the Daycare, Bewear knew how hard the work could be. They needed to rest well tonight. If it rested well, it could do more work, so the little master could do less!
The food the little master bought today didn't seem like enough for them to eat. Well, tomorrow morning it would head out to the forest to forage again and bring back more food! Bewear thought to itself.
After Bewear fell asleep, Kawaki finally had time to reflect on that strange dream. His feelings were complicated. Was that... the original owner and his parents visiting him in a dream?
He wasn't surprised that souls existed in the Pokémon world, after all, this world had a "Ghost World." The original owner probably knew his actions had wronged Bewear, so he had asked him to help take care of it.
What puzzled Kawaki, though, was that the original owner's mother, that rebellious Officer Jenny, seemed to have mentioned leaving him a gift of gratitude in the dream. Was it this Daycare?
Kawaki wasn't sure, until the next morning when a police motorcycle stopped in front of the Daycare, and the truth slowly began to unfold.
Early in the morning, when Kawaki woke up, he didn't find Bewear anywhere in the Daycare. After searching around for a while, he soon heard Bewear's calls from outside. Going out to look, he saw Bewear standing outside the door with a large pile of berries in its arms.
Kawaki was slightly stunned: "Where did you find all these berries?"
"Guh~!" Bewear put down the berries. It had picked all of these from the wild forest! This way, they wouldn't have to worry about going hungry!
The orphanage would prepare delicious food for them, but now that they'd left the orphanage, they had to learn to prepare their own food!
Kawaki quickly caught on. The Daycare was located in a wild forest with abundant natural resources, not just various wild Pokémon, but also a rich variety of berries and wild foods.
"Amazing!" Kawaki genuinely felt this Bewear was incredibly reliable. In this respect, it didn't seem like a Bewear at all, but more like a Ditto.
Bewear didn't think it was anything special. Just as it was about to put down the berries, the sound of a police motorcycle came from the distance.
Kawaki and Bewear turned to look and saw an Officer Jenny in police uniform, followed by an Arcanine, parking her motorcycle in front of the Daycare.
Kawaki: "?"
Officer Jenny Jun looked at the boy in front of her, her feelings complicated. Although she had seen him many times before, this was probably their first real conversation.
Ten years ago, an Officer Jenny who should have become an excellent police officer left the family to pursue love and her dream of becoming a Pokémon breeder, marrying an ordinary man. The two ran a Daycare here and had a son.
Unexpectedly, three years ago, those two were caught in a maritime accident, leaving only the child in this world.
Before the accident, this Officer Jenny had submitted an application to the family, hoping to request a Growlithe egg for her child, to be given to him when he turned ten.
The Jenny family had initially refused, but after that maritime accident, seeing the child who had lost his parents, the council of elders finally agreed.
Three years ago, the family had sent someone here to invite the boy named Kawaki to join the family, but unexpectedly he refused, saying he didn't want to leave the place where his parents had been. He eventually went to an orphanage.
The maritime accident had provided a substantial compensation to the victims' families, but a seven-year-old child had no ability to manage so much money. To prevent ill-intentioned people from coveting it, the Jenny family stepped in to hold it, donating money to Kawaki's orphanage every month to ensure that the children, including Kawaki, could eat well and dress warmly.
Now, Kawaki had finally turned ten, reaching the age when he could become a trainer, and it was time for the Jenny family to return that compensation money and the Growlithe egg to this child.
"Hello Kawaki, nice to meet you, I'm Officer Jenny," Jenny introduced herself.
"Officer... Jenny?" Kawaki was slightly stunned, not quite understanding this Officer Jenny's purpose. Could it be about the Daycare's property ownership?
But the next second, he saw Jenny turn around and take out a Pokémon egg with flame-shaped patterns from the police motorcycle.
Kawaki's gaze lingered for a moment, and the egg's information immediately appeared in his mind.
[Growlithe Egg: A Pokémon egg that can hatch into the Fire-type Pokémon Growlithe.]
[Health Status: Healthy]
[Father: Arcanine (Elite Four-level strength)]
[Mother: Arcanine (Elite Four-level strength)]
[Hatching Progress: 27/30]