Running a daycare may have seemed easy, but in truth, it involved all sorts of tasks, both big and small:
Cleaning, cooking, feeding Pokémon, welcoming guests, tending the herb garden, managing the guest rooms…
If it were just Kawaki and Bewear doing it all, it would take up a lot of time.
But with the Clefairy helping out, things were very different.
Taking advantage of the lull in visitors, Kawaki and Bewear launched an emergency training session for the Clefairy, assigning each of them to different roles and responsibilities.
There were twelve Clefairy in total.
Kawaki paired them off into six groups:
Chef Clefairy, in charge of preparing food.
Housekeeping Clefairy, responsible for cleaning.
Waiter Clefairy, greeting and serving guests.
Caretaker Clefairy, who looked after and fed the Pokémon in the backyard.
Farmer Clefairy, tasked with watering and tending to crops and herbs.
Medic Clefairy, who used healing moves to treat injured Pokémon at the daycare.
Each group received training from either Kawaki or Bewear.
Bewear, being good at chores and feeding Pokémon, took charge of training the housekeeping and caretaker Clefairy.
Kawaki personally handled the other eight.
First, he bought two Wailmer-sized watering cans from Fallarbor Town and gave them to the farmer Clefairy. He taught them to water the crops on schedule each day.
Since there were no Water-type Pokémon at the daycare yet, this job had to be handled manually.
As for the medic Clefairy, their "clinic" was set up inside the spaceship. Injured Pokémon could go there to receive care.
Then came the inn duties.
Waiter Clefairy simply had to deliver food to guests during meals.
The most challenging job was chef.
Training the other Clefairy had only taken one day.
But it took Kawaki a full three days to teach the chef Clefairy how to make ramen, sandwiches, and berry juice.
As Kawaki watched the two Clefairy skillfully putting together sandwiches, he exhaled deeply.
This menu was good enough for now—the main focus was still the daycare.
At first, Kawaki had worried the Clefairy would get bored or struggle with the tasks. After all, they'd never done anything like this before.
But he'd overthought it.
The Clefairy were clearly enjoying themselves.
"Clefairy!"
After all, this place had endless food and milk and juice—just like the legendary "land flowing with milk and honey" from the stories passed down on their home planet!
Here, they didn't have to hunt for food or worry about danger. At every mealtime, that human named Kawaki would bring them loads of tasty treats.
They'd never lived like this before.
Even their home planet didn't have this kind of luxury—this place was amazing!
Still, playtime was playtime—when it was time to work, they were serious about it.
Kawaki had said this was an employment relationship. They worked, and he would help them repair their spaceship and search for Moon Stones—the energy source needed to fly again.
Once they gathered enough Moon Stones, they could leave this planet and continue their voyage to the "land flowing with milk and honey."
That night, after a day of hard work, the Clefairy gathered inside the spaceship and talked excitedly about their dreams. They discussed how they'd leave this planet once they had enough Moon Stones.
At the end of it all, the chef Clefairy sparkled with joy: "Clef!" (Making food is so fun! I love cooking!)
Watching the guests enjoy its food brought it happiness like nothing else.
The farmer Clefairy felt the same.
Earlier that day, Oddish had told them: even though what's buried in the soil looks like just a tiny seed, with time, it will sprout, bloom, and bear fruit.
"Clef~" What a magical thing to look forward to!
And not only that.
The farmer Clefairy turned to the chef Clefairy and said, "Clefairy!" (Kawaki said once our crops grow, you'll use them to make delicious meals!)
"Clef?!" The chef Clefairy's eyes lit up. Really?
"Clef!" The farmer Clefairy nodded excitedly. That's what Kawaki and Bewear said!
"Clefairy!" That's amazing! The chef Clefairy beamed with joy.
Even the other groups didn't mind their jobs—they were enjoying life at the daycare too.
On their home planet, there were only rocks—no flowers, trees, grass, or berry juice.
Work here wasn't even hard. Most of the time they were free to goof off.
Plus, Kawaki and Bewear often gave them tasty snacks.
This place was practically Clefairy paradise!
Seeing that, one Clefairy couldn't help but ask, "Clef?"
Did they really still need to find that mythical land flowing with milk and honey?
They didn't even know where it was. Even if they kept traveling, they might never find it.
"Clefairy!" One Clefairy nodded firmly. Of course they did! That was the whole reason they left their planet!
"Clef…" The others fell silent.
But for now, the Clefairy had a home, and Kawaki had a whole crew of new helpers.
His mood was better than ever.
Though, there was still one issue…
What should he do with the six meteorites the Clefairy had gifted him?
To them, they were just decorative rocks.
But Kawaki knew better—any one of these could trigger Mount Chimney to erupt and awaken Groudon.
They were warm to the touch too… could they be radioactive?
He stiffened, quickly put the stones down, and checked his hand.
No burns. No nausea. He felt fine.
"Uh… maybe it's because humans in the Pokémon world have weirdly strong bodies?"
He muttered to himself. After all, in the anime, people like Ash could take Thunderbolts to the face and be totally fine.
Speaking of Ash…
At this point, Steven hadn't become Champion yet. Ash was probably only four or five years old.
Which meant—those big story events from the games and anime were still at least five years away.
Perfect.
They could use that time to grow in secret. That way, if Groudon and Kyogre ever clashed and threw Hoenn into chaos, they'd be ready to protect themselves.
Bewear: [Cracking skulls in two, then landing a clean Arm Thrust for the win]