I’m the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon

At the Ancient Plant Research Institute.

Although the thorny vine had withered after Venusaur absorbed its energy, it still took the police two full days to clear the research facility.

During this time, Yuga oversaw the cleanup efforts at the research institute, while Masato Shirai managed the unconscious researchers and communicated with Devon Corporation.

Since the Devon Corporation's research institute was involved in the incident, it was only natural to notify them to handle the follow-up.

Yuga led a team to remove the withered vines clinging to the research facility's structure and then burned them. The intact fruits were carefully collected.

Though potentially hazardous, these fruits held considerable research value. Venusaur even confirmed that eating them was beneficial. The League's scientists would undoubtedly find these fruits intriguing.

Just as Yuga finished tidying up the research institute, news came from the hospital that the researchers had regained consciousness. The findings matched what Joyka had reported earlier: the thorny vine's floral scent caused hallucinations and unconsciousness but posed no other risks.

The awakened researchers, while physically weakened, were otherwise in good condition.

However, according to the doctors, the hallucinogenic effects of the floral scent caused the researchers to dream continuously while unconscious—dreams described as exceptionally pleasant. As a result, despite their physical frailty, the researchers awoke in remarkably high spirits.

Not long after the researchers recovered, representatives from Devon Corporation arrived in Verdanturf Town to handle the incident. Under Masato Shirai's arrangement, Yuga briefly met the representative and handed over Archeops' Poké Ball.

The visitor is Steven's uncle Cercis Stone, he went to visit the researchers at the hospital after meeting Yuga.

Following this meeting, Yuga also met with officials sent by the League. When he reported the thorny vine's situation to Devon Corporation, he simultaneously filed a report with the League.

The League representatives took half of the collected fruits, leaving the rest for the Ancient Plant Research Institute.

A few days later, even before the researchers were discharged from the hospital, Yuga noticed signs of the fruits starting to rot. He promptly informed Cercis to take the remaining fruits.

The fruits Yuga had kept for Venusaur as snacks also began to deteriorate. In the end, he stored them all in the system backpack, which had a preservation function. Once Venusaur awakened, any fruits that hadn't gone bad could still be consumed.

However, Yuga was surprised to find a seed inside one completely rotted fruit. Venusaur had eaten so many fruits before, yet no seeds had been found, suggesting that most of these fruits were seedless.

To confirm this, Yuga deliberately cut open a few more fruits for inspection, but no additional seeds were discovered.

Later, the League's researchers, while studying the fruits, also found a single seed.

The researchers informed Yuga that this plant had a unique characteristic: out of hundreds of fruits, only a few would contain seeds, which explained the rarity of the species.

The League's researchers eventually decided to plant the single seed they had found. Despite the incident at the Ancient Plant Research Institute, the plant's research value was too significant to let it go to waste.

After learning of the League's decision, Yuga also resolved to plant the seed in his possession. He wasn't worried about a repeat of the incident at the institute.

The accident with the thorny vine at the research institute had occurred due to the Ancient Thorn's concentrated energy, which Venusaur had now completely absorbed. Any plant that sprouted from the seed would grow as a normal plant without any abnormal energy.

The only concern would be the floral scent once the plant bloomed.

However, this could be easily addressed by avoiding close proximity. Yuga decided to plant it in his vast Ecopark, far away from other Pokémon, to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

He eventually chose to plant the seed in the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark, a location ideal for plant growth. The area was home to Grass-type Pokémon, which had higher resistance to the plant's toxicity compared to other types.

Yuga had observed this resistance during his time at the research institute.

The seed was planted in a corner of the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark, far from the Pokémon community. Yuga assigned Roserade the task of caring for it.

Although Venusaur would have been the best candidate for this job, it was still in a deep slumber with no clear timeline for awakening, so Roserade had to take on the responsibility temporarily.

At the moment, the seed had neither sprouted nor bloomed, so it posed no risk to Roserade.

While both Roserade and Venusaur were Grass/Poison types, their toxic properties differed.

Roserade's toxins were highly corrosive, while Venusaur's toxins were more focused on confusion and control, making them less aggressively harmful.

Venusaur's immunity to the thorny vine's floral scent was due to its toxicity aligning closely with that of the thorn, but Roserade lacked complete immunity.

To test this, Yuga had Roserade consume a small amount of the thorn's fruit. Although it didn't fall unconscious, Roserade did experience hallucinations.

Determined to build resistance to the fruit's hallucinogenic effects, Roserade requested a small portion of the fruit daily. Over time, the duration of its hallucinations significantly decreased.

This discovery reinforced Yuga's determination to cultivate the thorny vine's seed.

Yuga tested the fruit on other Grass-type Pokémon. Those without a Poison attribute were completely overwhelmed by the fruit's toxicity, exhibiting effects identical to those experienced by the researchers, though their unconsciousness lasted slightly less time.

Grass/Poison Pokémon exhibited reactions similar to Roserade, but their resistance to toxins was weaker, resulting in much longer hallucination durations.

However, one Pokémon displayed better resistance than Roserade: Amoonguss. After consuming the fruit, it recovered from hallucinations in just ten seconds, much to Yuga's surprise.

Unfortunately, Yuga's supply of fruits was dwindling, as he had already allocated some to Mewtwo and others for research. He couldn't afford to use them indiscriminately for testing.

In the following days, Roserade used Grassy Terrain daily to nourish the seed, yet there was no sign of germination.

One day, as Yuga emerged from the Ecopark, Suzuki Koen informed him that someone was looking for him. When he entering the guest room, he found Cercis waiting for him.

"Mr. Cercis, what brings you here?" Yuga asked in surprise.

Cercis quickly stood up and apologized with a look of remorse. "I must apologize for the delay. I should have visited sooner, but the issues at the research institute kept me extremely busy these past few days. I'm truly sorry for the oversight."

The Devon Corporation and Yuga are cooperative partners. Steven's ascent to and secure tenure as Champion were made possible through the support of Yuga and Mr. Kuni'o. Given that context, Cercis's visit to Verdanturf Town to see Yuga was both a matter of courtesy and obligation.

Although Steven now has plans to pass the Champion title to Wallace, both belong to the same faction, so whether Steven or Wallace holds the Champion position does not significantly impact the Devon Corporation. Nevertheless, their continued support from Yuga and Mr. Kuni'o remains essential.

Yuga waved his hand dismissively and said, "I understand. Handling such a situation couldn't have been easy for you. But, why have you come today?"

"Oh, right." Hearing this, Cercis took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and said, "This is for you."

"This is…" Yuga looked puzzled.

"This is the Archeops," Cercis replied.

Of course, Yuga recognized that the Poké Ball contained the Archeops. He was the one who had thrown the Poké Ball to capture it. But he was unsure why Cercis was now handing it over to him.

"I have fully reported the research institute incident to my elder brother, and he instructed me to give this Pokémon to you as a token of gratitude for helping resolve the situation there," Cercis explained.

The elder brother he referred to was none other than Joseph Stone, the head of the Devon Corporation and Steven's father.

"Giving it to me?" Yuga asked in surprise.

Yuga hadn't expected the Devon Corporation to be so generous. Giving away a Pokémon on the verge of reaching Champion level so easily was astonishing.

Cercis nodded. "Yes."

In truth, the Devon Corporation's headquarters had been unaware of the Archeops' existence or the plans to cultivate the Thorned Vine plant at the Ancient Plant Research Institute. It was only due to the incident that headquarters learned of the Archeops' revival. Joseph's gesture of gifting the Archeops was aimed at strengthening ties with both Yuga and Mr. Kuni'o.

Yuga understood Joseph's intentions and didn't refuse it. He said to Cercis, "Please give my thank to Mr. Joseph on my behalf."

Cercis didn't linger at Yuga's place. After handing over the Archeops, he chatted briefly with Yuga before departing.

After Cercis left, Yuga looked at the Archeops' Poké Ball with some hesitation. If he released it, would it cause trouble?

Suddenly, he thought of the Archeops residing in the Shallow Sea Beach Sub-Ecopark. Perhaps it could handle this new Archeops?

With that thought, Yuga entered the Shallow Sea beach and called the Archeops there to accompany him to the Desert Sub-Ecopark.

Once in the desert, Yuga said to his Archeops, "In a moment, I'll release it. You should try to communicate with it. If it causes any trouble, you're allowed to discipline it."

"Archeops~"

The Archeops nodded in agreement.

Although Yuga's Archeops was among the weaker Champion-level Pokémon, it would have no problem suppressing a Pokémon at the Elite level.

The reason Yuga wanted his Archeops to interact with the newly revived Archeops was that the latter was still adjusting to the modern world. Seeing a member of its own kind might provide some comfort.

(Note: from now on Yuga's original Archeops will be referred to as Archeops One, and the newly acquired Archeops as Archeops Two.)

As expected by Yuga, the moment Archeops Two was released, it tried to go berserk. However, it froze briefly upon seeing Archeops One but quickly resumed its rampage.

Charging headfirst at Archeops One, Archeops Two was promptly pinned to the ground with a single claw, its head shoved deep into the sand.

Archeops Two struggled desperately, flinging sand everywhere, forcing Yuga to retreat a safe distance.

The injuries Archeops Two sustained in its previous battle with Ninetales had gone untreated, and it hadn't eaten for several days. That's why it was subdued by Archeops One in just one move.

After a brief but futile struggle, the already injured Archeops Two was completely drained of energy. It collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath like a beached fish.

Archeops One, still pinning Archeops Two's head to the ground with a claw, began chirping and squawking at it incessantly. However, Archeops Two remained utterly unresponsive.

What Archeops One didn't know was that this day's dominance over Archeops Two would come back to haunt it in the future—because Archeops Two would eventually become its mate. The memory of Archeops One proudly stepping on its future mate's head would be a source of karmic humor down the line.

Seeing Archeops Two looking half-dead, Yuga had Archeops One release it. He then called on Chimecho to provide some basic healing.

Even after being healed, Archeops Two still looked utterly despondent.

The loss of its life-sustaining thorn plant had crushed its will to live.

Years ago, Archeops Two's original habitat had been destroyed by a catastrophic volcanic eruption. It had fled with the ancient thorn plant's seeds but perished in the end, fossilizing alongside the seeds.

To Archeops Two's species, the ancient thorn plant was of unparalleled importance.

Yuga placed a thorn fruit near Archeops Two's beak, and it finally showed a hint of reaction.

"I found a seed inside one of the fruits," Yuga said. "Maybe I can grow a new thorn plant soon."

Hearing this, Archeops Two lifted its head and stared at Yuga. After a moment, it suddenly swallowed the fruit.

But one fruit was far from enough to satisfy Archeops Two. It soon devoured all of Yuga's stockpile of thorn fruits, leaving Yuga with no choice but to quietly apologize to Venusaur in his heart.

Without the fruits, Yuga would now have to wait for the thorn plant's seeds to sprout, grow, and bear fruit again to support Roserade's cultivation.

After eating its fill, Archeops Two stopped its rampage. It lay silently on the ground, seemingly lost in thought. When Yuga recalled it into its Poké Ball, it didn't resist.

Yuga later housed Archeops Two with Archeops One so the latter could keep an eye on it.

To Yuga's surprise, Archeops Two became extremely docile afterward and even got along well with Archen that was also revived from a fossil.

Perhaps their shared experiences of being revived from fossils created a unique bond between them.

Eventually, Archeops Two somehow learned where the thorn plant's seed was being cultivated. It began visiting the planting site daily with Archens to observe the seed's growth.

Archeops One, tasked with keeping an eye on Archeops Two, had no choice but to tag along. The three of them, together, started resembling a little family.

Over time, Archeops Two even became friendly with Roserade, who was tending to the thorn plant's seed.

One morning, Archeops Two arrived earlier than Roserade to check on the seed and was overjoyed to discover it had sprouted. With an ecstatic cry, it announced the news.

The tender green shoot swayed gently, its tiny leaves quivering adorably.

At the same time, a slumbering Venusaur slowly opened its eyes.