"Guu~"
Bewear's body was warm and fluffy, like a life-sized stuffed toy.
Carver was briefly stunned, but the fear in his heart gradually calmed.
"I'm okay. Just had a nightmare," he said softly.
"Guu…?"
Bewear slowly released him. Gentle moonlight streamed through the window as boy and bear sat together, bathed in silver glow, gazing into each other's eyes.
Bewear blinked, a bit puzzled.
From the look in its eyes, it seemed to sense that something about its little master had changed.
Carver: "…"
He opened his mouth, nearly blurting out the truth—that the original Carver had passed away and reunited with his parents in death.
But staring into Bewear's eyes, Carver couldn't bring himself to say it.
Such a cruel truth might be too much for Bewear to bear.
"I… just dreamed about them," Carver changed his words.
"Guu?!"
Bewear immediately understood who "them" referred to.
Carver continued, "They told me… to live well. It still hurts, but I think if we kept going on like before, Mom and Dad would be really sad too."
Bewear's eyes flickered as it looked at him blankly. "Guu…"
"So, starting tomorrow, Bewear—let's live well together! I've decided to reopen the breeding house, just like Mom and Dad did, and bring this place back to life!" Carver said with conviction.
"Guu…" Bewear stared in a daze—then its face lit up in a bright smile. "Guu!"
Wonderful!
Its little master had finally moved on!
No problem!
It would work hard too, to help the breeding house return to its former bustling self!
Bewear wrapped Carver in a big fluffy hug.
"All right, all right—let's get some sleep. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow," Carver said, sighing gently as he hugged Bewear back and patted its back.
From now on, he was Carver, and Carver was him.
"Guu!"
As the former caretaker of the breeding house, Bewear knew just how tiring the work could be. It needed a good rest tonight.
The more it worked, the less Carver would have to!
But the food Carver bought today wasn't enough. Hmm… Tomorrow morning, it would go foraging in the forest for more food! Bewear thought to itself.
Once Bewear fell asleep, Carver had time to reflect on that strange dream.
His feelings were complex. That had to be... the original Carver and his parents visiting him in a dream, right?
He wasn't surprised by the existence of spirits in the Pokémon world—after all, this was a world where the spirit realm was real.
The original Carver had known he'd wronged Bewear by leaving, which was likely why he'd asked Carver to look after it.
But what puzzled him was something the original Carver's mother—the rebellious Officer Jenny—had mentioned in the dream: a gift she left for him?
Was it the breeding house?
Carver didn't know. Until the next morning—when a police motorcycle pulled up in front of the breeding house, revealing the truth.
When Carver woke, he didn't see Bewear anywhere inside.
He looked around for a while until he heard its voice outside.
Stepping out, he found Bewear standing by the door with a pile of berries in its arms.
Carver blinked. "Where did you find all these?"
"Guu~!"
Bewear set down the berries—it had gone into the forest and foraged for them!
Now, they didn't have to worry about going hungry.
At the orphanage, food had always been provided. But now that they had left that place, they needed to learn how to prepare food on their own.
Carver quickly understood.
The breeding house was located near a wild forest—abundant not only in wild Pokémon, but also in berries and other natural goods.
"Amazing!" Carver genuinely thought Bewear was incredibly reliable. At this moment, it didn't feel like a Bewear—it felt more like a Chansey.
Bewear didn't think much of it. Just as it was about to set the berries down, the sound of a police motorcycle echoed from the distance.
Carver and Bewear turned to see a uniformed Officer Jenny riding up on a motorcycle with an Arcanine behind her.
Carver: "?"
The officer, Jenny, studied the boy in front of her with a complicated expression.
Though she had seen him before, this was probably the first real conversation between them.
Ten years ago, she had left her family behind—refusing to follow in their footsteps to become a police officer. Instead, she chose love and her dream of being a Pokémon Breeder, marrying an ordinary man.
The two of them opened this breeding house and had a child.
Then three years ago, they perished in a shipwreck, leaving their child alone in the world.
Before that tragedy, Officer Jenny had submitted a request to her family—to grant her son a Growlithe egg when he turned ten.
Her family initially refused. But after the accident, the elders relented out of sympathy.
Three years ago, someone from the family even came to invite young Carver to join them. But he refused—saying he didn't want to leave the place where his parents had lived.
He ended up in an orphanage.
The shipwreck's victims were compensated generously—but a seven-year-old couldn't manage such a sum.
To protect him, the Jenny family held onto the money and made monthly donations to the orphanage, ensuring Carver and the other children had enough food and warm clothes.
Now, Carver had finally turned ten—the age where he could become a Trainer. It was time for the family to return the compensation money and the promised Growlithe egg.
"Hello, Carver. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Officer Jenny," she said.
"Officer… Jenny?" Carver was a bit confused by her appearance.
Was this about the ownership of the breeding house?
But in the next moment, he saw Officer Jenny turn to retrieve something from her motorcycle—an egg marked with flame-like patterns.
Carver's eyes fixed on it, and information appeared in his mind:
[Growlithe Egg: A Pokémon Egg that will hatch into a Fire-type Growlithe.]
[Health: Healthy]
[Father: Arcanine (Elite Four-level strength)]
[Mother: Arcanine (Elite Four-level strength)]
[Incubation Progress: 27/30]