I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon
Chapter 1488: Gasai and Ryota

Chapter 1488: Gasai and Ryota

When Ash and Hoopa arrived at the shore of Tangelo Island, they noticed the beach nearby was bustling with activity—there was some event underway. Curious, they went ashore and learned that a Water-Type Pokémon surfing competition was being held here.

Whenever something involving Pokémon is happening, Ash can’t help but be interested. As he hesitated about whether to enter, he suddenly saw a familiar figure in the crowd—and he quickly waved and shouted.

"Misty!"

Misty was busy preparing her surfboard alongside her Starmie when she heard someone call out her name. She turned around and saw Ash standing not far away.

"Ash!" Misty called in surprise and joy, then hurried to greet him. "What are you doing here?"

...

The two friends, long unseparated, were ecstatic to see each other again and happily caught up.

Meanwhile, back in Verdanturf Town, Yuga had no idea what had transpired on Tangelo Island. He continued living his day-to-day routine as always.

It’s worth noting that after losing the gym match, Chikai still came to the YoYo Day Care every day and interacted harmoniously with Flabebe. Meanwhile, with Mewtwo’s help, the two Deoxys had recovered remarkably well and should soon be fully functional again.

On this particular day, Yuga was in his new store, practicing making Pokeblock, when his Aunt knocked and spoke.

"Little Yuga, Mayor Ishida has someone here to see you—there’s something they need you to come over for."

Hearing this, Yuga set down his work and said, "Understood!" Then he and his Aunt headed downstairs.

When they arrived at the town office, Yuga learned that the Pokémon League had sent representatives. Verdanturf Town was currently booming with the "Verdanturf City Rise Project," under League support. Several initiatives were already completed—town expansion, new highways, and so on.

The League representatives had come to discuss a key part of the next phase: picking the site for an advanced academy.

Yes—because of Verdanturf Town’s beautiful environment and its convenient new roads, the Hoenn Pokémon League planned to build a high-level Trainer Academy in what will become Verdanturf City.

Not an ordinary academy, but one specialized for Trainer education.

Regarding the location of this academy, the League representatives and Mayor Ishida disagreed. The League representatives believed the academy should be located in the center of future Verdanturf City—it’s the city’s key growth point, after all.

But Mayor Ishida argued that schools require quiet surroundings to foster learning, so there was no need to build it in the city center—building it in the suburbs would suffice and avoid wasting valuable land.

The League representatives countered that a suburban location would be inconvenient for students, potentially harming their quality of life, and debate between the parties heated up.

As Yuga entered the meeting room, he found the local government and League reps engaged in a heated argument, faces red.

"Ahem, ahem..." Yuga deliberately cleared his throat twice, drawing everyone’s attention. The disputing voices abruptly stopped.

Mayor Ishida, seeing Yuga arrive, breathed a sigh of relief and smiled broadly.

"Ah, Little Yuga is here—please, have a seat."

Once they sat Yuga next to him, the mayor introduced both parties.

"This is Shimizu Yuga, the Gym Leader of Verdanturf Town—you’ve undoubtedly heard of him."

Mayor Ishida was clearly proud as he introduced Yuga—this was their town’s most prominent figure, a reputation that gave him great satisfaction.

"My pleasure—my pleasure," nodded the League representative.

Opposite to Yuga sat a rather warm gentleman with slightly graying hair in his fifties.

After introducing Yuga, Mayor Ishida went on to introduce the League’s delegates.

In fact, the League had sent two groups.

One group consisted of League officials, primarily responsible for liaising with Verdanturf Town’s government. The leader was a middle-aged woman, around forty, who had spoken little and had maintained a gentle smile throughout.

The other group comprised representatives from the future academy itself. The man who spoke with Yuga first was the appointed principal, Mr. Gasai.

To become principal of a future high-level trainer academy required no small credentials. This Mr. Gasai was one of Hoenn’s Elite Four candidates—although his ranking had slipped over time.

That wasn’t due to lack of strength—in fact, if he gave his all, most in the Hoenn Elite Four candidate list wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

Rather, his priorities had shifted with age, and he had grown more interested in scholarship than competition. That is why his ranking had gradually dropped.

There are many higher academies across Hoenn, but few specialized specifically in Trainer education. This pattern holds true in other regions as well.

Many Trainers, once they finish the academic requirements set by the League, choose to graduate and head out into the world—adventuring and traveling—instead of continuing further study. They believe that growth comes from adventure and battles, while staying in school is wasted time.

This split gave rise to the "Academia-trained" and "Adventure-trained" Trainers. It’s not that Adventure Trainers never studied in schools—academia-trained Trainers specifically are those who pursued advanced study at higher academies.

Compared to the broad ranks of Adventure Trainers, the number of academia-trained Trainers is far smaller, hence academies aren’t very numerous.

However, with the times advancing, the League realized that Adventure Trainers varied widely in quality. Many possess natural talent, but lack knowledge and struggle to achieve peak potential.

Therefore, the League began encouraging young Trainers to pursue higher education—studying more systematically the knowledge of Trainers and Pokémon. Consequently, the plan to build an advanced academy in Verdanturf Town was placed on the agenda.

Once everyone had been introduced, Mayor Ishida turned to Yuga and said, "Come, Yuga—take a look at my proposed location. Tell me if it’s a good choice."

Through the clarification from the League’s female official, Yuga quickly understood the crux of the dispute: Mr. Gasai and his party advocated building the academy in the heart of future Verdanturf City.

Yuga thought for a moment and addressed Mr. Gasai: "Mr. Gasai, students of the academy will mostly live in dormitories and spend most of their time on campus—so transportation really won’t be an issue."

Mr. Gasai opened to speak, but Yuga raised his hand, continuing: "You must understand that city center land is limited, while the academy needs many facilities: dorms, classrooms, training grounds, special facilities, and so on. That’s beyond what a typical school needs—and the school may expand in the future. If you locate it in the city center, future development will be greatly constrained."

Mr. Gasai, though wise in Pokémon knowledge, did not know much about constructing and planning an academy, let alone professionally. He was just stubborn, determined to secure what he believed was the best site.

After some heartfelt persuasion from Yuga and Mayor Ishida, he finally accepted Ishida’s recommendation and agreed to place the academy in the suburbs.

Yuga was surprised to learn that Mayor Ishida’s chosen site was the mysterious mansion where a Spiritomb had once been sealed. After clearing its wall-vines, the town had already demolished the mansion.

That spot must have been excellent—from environment to location—since a wealthy family once chose to build a mansion there. The surrounding land was spacious and entirely suitable for an academy.

With the matter mostly settled, it was already noon. Mayor Ishida then invited everyone to lunch and asked Yuga to join them.

Actually, Yuga wasn’t very eager to join them for the meal. On one hand, he wasn’t good at these kinds of "workplace" social situations; on the other, food away from home just didn’t taste as good as his.

Still, he had to show some courtesy to Mayor Ishida—after all, once the academy is built, Mr. Gasai and the others will be stationed in Verdanturf Town, essentially making them colleagues. It was wise to get acquainted ahead of time.

Mr. Gasai had admired Yuga for some time, and so he kept drawing him into conversation, exploring many Pokémon-related topics. Fortunately, Yuga had continued learning since arriving in the Pokémon world, and with his previous-life knowledge, he had a solid foundation. Soon, Mr. Gasai was lamenting that they had met too late in life.

That single meal lasted two to three hours, enjoyed by around ten people. Originally, Yuga had plans for the afternoon, but he had to adjust them to accommodate the gathering. Afterwards, someone suggested going for tea—but this time Yuga truly didn’t want to join and quickly declined.

At that moment, Mr. Gasai said, "How about this—my son Ryota has admired Mr. Shimizu for a long time. I wonder if Mr. Shimizu could offer him some guidance."

With that, he gently pushed forward a teenage boy of around seventeen or eighteen years old. Mayor Ishida had previously introduced the boy to Yuga, but the youth’s shy, reserved, almost invisible nature had kept Yuga from noticing him until now.

Mr. Gasai had married late—nearly forty—so he had high hopes for Ryota. Once the academy is built, Ryota would enroll alongside other students.

The boy stepped forward, his face flushed, clearly uncomfortable being watched by so many, yet his gaze towards Yuga was full of ambition.

Yuga thought: guiding a junior Trainer isn’t a bad thing. He nodded and said, "All right—why don’t we go to the Verdanturf Gym?"

So the group abandoned the idea of tea and, in a grand procession of around ten people, headed to the Verdanturf Gym.

Everyone was excited at the prospect of seeing one of Yuga’s Pokémon battles, since aside from routine gym matches, he rarely appeared at public events. Video footage of his battles was hard to come by.

To Yuga, guiding Ryota was no different from advising other Trainers who challenged his gym.

"All right, let’s have a bit of an informal match," Yuga said to Ryota once inside the gym.

With both of them in position, each released their Pokémon. Yuga was pleasantly surprised to see Ryota using a Grass-type Pokémon—which explained why Mr. Gasai had asked Yuga for guidance.

Ryota’s partner was a Torterra with blue potential and a high level. It was impressive for someone his age.

Yuga himself had a Torterra among his main team and was intimately familiar with the species, so after a single battle, he easily pinpointed areas where Ryota needed improvement in nurturing and training his Torterra.

When the session ended, the participants gradually dispersed, Mr. Gasai and Ryota leaving last. Because of the academy-building project, the two would remain in Verdanturf Town for some time. They had no pressing engagements—especially with League officials on hand to assist.

Mr. Gasai seized the opportunity to show Yuga Ryota’s full team and asked whether he recommended adding any other Pokémon to round it out.

Ryota truly is an all-Grass-type Trainer. According to Mr. Gasai, Ryota became a Grass Trainer because he admired Mr. Kuni’o when he was young. Later, when Yuga’s reputation and deeds spread, Yuga also became one of his idols.

Ryota’s team had some very obvious shortcomings. Grass-type Pokémon are often specialists in healing, disruption, and wearing-down support roles—this is the focus of Ryota’s team. But if the entire team is composed of support-oriented Pokémon, naturally a gap forms: there are no hard-hitting attackers, putting him at a disadvantage in some battles. Even though Torterra’s Attack stat wasn’t low, its ultimate role was still closer to tank and attrition.

So Yuga suggested that Ryota also nurture a hard-hitting attacker.

At that moment, Mr. Gasai quietly asked Yuga whether he could pull strings so that Ryota could buy a Pokémon from YoYo Day Care through the back door. It was clear Mr. Gasai was well aware of the Day Care’s policies.

Unfortunately, Yuga flatly refused. His relationship with Mr. Gasai wasn’t close enough for favors like that.

Mr. Gasai wasn’t offended; he smiled and escorted Ryota out of Verdanturf Gym.

A few days later, Yuga saw the father-and-son duo at YoYo Day Care again—they were here to buy Pokémon. This time Yuga couldn’t refuse because they had a VIP reservation slot.

Yuga checked and found out that Professor Birch had given up his slot—it wasn’t clear what relationship existed between them.

Over the years, Yuga hasn’t released many VIP slots, so tracking them is easy—but since this was a mutual agreement, Yuga couldn’t interfere and happily sold them a Pokémon.

Ryota bought a blue potential Bounsweet from Yuga—it was expensive, but Mr. Gasai was wealthy enough to afford it. For people like them, money wasn’t the issue; what mattered was access to high-quality Pokémon. Without this VIP slot from Professor Birch, buying a blue potential Bounsweet would have been difficult no matter how much money they had.

After sending them off, Yuga suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Were those two just here to buy Pokémon?"

Yuga jumped and turned—Chikai was standing there.

"Yes," Yuga nodded, but didn’t say more.

The fact that YoYo Day Care has VIP slots wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t widely known among ordinary Trainers, so few were aware.

"Did they buy high potential Pokémon? I don’t recall them being on the list of this month’s reserved Trainers," Chikai asked suspiciously.

He knew all the Trainers who reserved high potential Pokémon this month—they’d already come to the Day Care and he even knew some of them. After all, building bonds with reserved Pokémon naturally leads to meeting them.

"They weren’t," Yuga confirmed.

"Then how...?" Chikai looked even more puzzled.

Yuga, not wanting to advertise the VIP system too broadly—after all, YoYo Day Care couldn’t mass-sell high potential Pokémon yet.

So he change the topic by saying, "It looks like Flabebe is calling you."

Chikai turned to look at Flabebe nearby. Sure enough, Flabebe was looking directly at him. As Chikai looked back, Yuga quietly slipped away.

Chikai stared blankly into the depths of the Day Care, unsure of what to think.