Celadon City Daycare Center, full name is “Celadon City Public Infant and Childcare Education Comprehensive Center.” This is a welfare institution fully funded by the League government.
It was originally just a welfare home for orphans, but due to the education reform promoted by Celadon City in recent years, it has integrated the functions of a kindergarten and began to enroll age-appropriate children from the society.
Precisely because of this, there are both children like Kaname who are homeless and day students like Erika who have a wealthy family and only come to school during the day.
Kaname rests her chin on her hand, her gaze falling on the slide on the playground outside the window.
Relying on her cute, exquisite appearance, plus her quiet personality of not talking much but never causing trouble, Kaname is actually quite popular in the Daycare Center.
Many adults who came to adopt had taken a fancy to the delicate girl like a doll at first sight.
If it were an ordinary orphan, she would have happily rushed into the arms of new parents.
But even before awakening the memories of her past life, the young Kaname shook her head firmly every time, refusing all opportunities to leave.
Now that she has regained her memory, Kaname is even less likely to agree.
After all.
For a transmigrator hiding the soul of an adult and many secrets, living in the Daycare Center, which is a bit dilapidated but has a warm atmosphere and where everyone takes good care of her, is far freer than entering a strange family.
“Kaname, Kaname?” The call comes again, pulling Kaname’s thoughts back to reality.
She turns her head and looks at the expectant Erika in front of her.
Kaname’s mind cannot help but conjure up the setting about Erika from her past life.
In the original game, Erika is the Gym Leader of the Celadon Gym, a graceful young lady always dressed in a kimono, the epitome of a traditional Japanese beauty.
She loves nature, excels at Flower Arranging, and has a gentle yet slightly scatterbrained personality.
She often falls asleep without realizing it, earning her the nickname “The Nature-Loving Young Lady.” In the anime, Erika is the owner of a perfume shop.
In the less formal Special manga, she becomes a university teacher.
However, none of these impressions match the little girl in front of me.
Kaname looked at the little one in front of her, dressed in a pinafore dress, her eyes shining just because she called herself a “bride.” She truly couldn’t reconcile this with the dignified young lady from her memories.
This style is all wrong, right?
However, after this interruption, Kaname finally dug up the origin of Erika’s claim to being a “bride” from a hazy corner of her memory.
“…I remember now.” Kaname held her forehead in resignation, feeling utterly drained.
“It’s playing house, right?” “That’s right!” Erika nodded vigorously, not sensing anything amiss at all.
“Once Kaname is better, we have to continue our training!” That had happened a few days before she fell ill with a fever.
At the time, Erika was obsessed with the game of “playing house” and had assigned herself the role of “mom.” But a child’s logic is always very peculiar.
To become a perfect mom, one must first become a perfect bride.
And to become a perfect bride, one must first undergo “bride training.” As for the subject of the training, it naturally fell upon little Kaname, who hadn’t awakened her memories yet and was just as ignorant as any other child.
Just as Kaname was thinking about how to tactfully get the future Gym Leader to give up on her embarrassing proclamations, the life-saving school bell finally rang.
“Ring ring—” The previously quiet classroom instantly erupted, and the children cheered as they packed their things.
Kaname was still dazed, but Erika had already raised her hand with nimble movements.
“Teacher!” The young female teacher walked over, looking at the two children with vastly different personalities who were always stuck together, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
“What is it, Erika?” The little Erika, who had just been clamoring about being a bride, suddenly became well-behaved.
She held a small paper bag filled with medicinal herbs in both hands, bowed slightly, and displayed good breeding that belied her age.
“Teacher, this is Chinese medicine I brought from home.
Mom said it’s very helpful for reducing fever and recovering strength.” Erika’s voice was crisp and earnest.
“Please help me boil it for Kaname to take, so her body should be able to recover faster.” The teacher paused for a moment, looking at the heavy medicine bag in her hand, then at the serious-looking Erika in front of her and the still-dazed Kaname beside her.
After a long while, she revealed a knowing, motherly smile.
“Oh my, Erika is such a sensible good child, caring so much for Kaname.” The teacher patted Erika’s head and winked at Kaname.
“Kaname, you must thank Erika properly.” “Um…” Regardless, she had indeed received kindness.
Kaname had just thought about saying a proper thank you.
However, little Erika’s initiative clearly didn’t need any verbal preparation.
“Teacher, it takes an hour to boil the medicine, right?” Erika’s eyes darted, and her previously affected dignified posture instantly broke.
She grabbed the soft hand beside her.
“We’re going out to play first!” “Eh?” Kaname only had time to let out a short exclamation before her body was pulled away by an irresistible force.
This five-year-old body was simply too weak.
Coupled with her recent illness, Kaname couldn’t resist the energetic Erika at all.
The two little ones were like a gust of wind, darting out of the Daycare Center door in a flash.
Behind them, only the teacher’s somewhat helpless shout could be heard.
“Slow down!…Remember to come back early for dinner!” …
The Celadon Daycare Center was located on the edge of the suburbs of Celadon City.
The surrounding area was not yet fully developed, and many discarded construction equipment and huge concrete pipes were scattered about.
For children of this age, the ruins full of unknowns were simply a natural playground.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long; the surroundings were overgrown with weeds, and the air carried the scent of soil and rust.
Pulled by Erika, Kaname passed through the empty lot filled with gravel and finally stopped in front of an abandoned glass greenhouse.
This greenhouse was a legacy left by a bankrupt floral company.
Although most of the glass was broken and the steel frame was rusty, many tenacious wildflowers and vines still grew inside, forming a small, semi-enclosed ecosystem.
This place was originally little Kaname’s exclusive territory.
She liked to hide here, avoiding the noise of the Daycare Center, to quietly daze off alone.
But this exclusive tranquility was completely declared over after Erika accidentally stumbled upon it once.
Now, the name of this greenhouse had been forced to upgrade from “Kaname’s Shelter” to “Kaname and Erika’s Secret Base.” In her memories, little Kaname had secretly sulked for a long time over this, even trying to use the excuse that “there are Ghost-type Pokémon here” to scare Erika away, but it only made Erika more excited instead.
The current Kaname didn’t mind.
It was just that this body’s stamina was too poor; after running for only a few hundred meters, she was already tired enough to want to lie directly on the grass.
“We’re here, we’re here!” Erika was clearly in high spirits.
She let go of Kaname’s hand and, familiar with the route like the original owner, ducked into the half-hidden small door of the greenhouse.
Kaname followed slowly behind, preparing to remind Erika to watch out for the broken glass on the ground.
Suddenly.
“Ah!” A short scream came from the front.
Kaname was still rubbing her sore wrists, but when she heard the sound, her heart jumped.
Ignoring the need to rest, she hurriedly moved her short legs and followed quickly.
“What’s wrong?” Pushing aside the vines blocking the way and walking into the interior of the greenhouse, Kaname saw Erika crouching beside some broken bricks in the corner through the mottled light and shadows, her hands covering her mouth, her large eyes filled with panic and confusion.
Following Erika’s line of sight, Kaname looked down.
Between the withered yellow leaves in the corner of the greenhouse, a small ball of brown fur was curled up.
Its long ears hung down listlessly, and the fluffy cream-colored fur on its neck was stained with glaring dark red marks.
Because of the pain, its body was twitching uncontrollably.
[Ding—] At this very moment, a crisp electronic prompt sounded in Kaname’s mind without warning.
[You have discovered the Evolution Pokémon: Eevee.]