Remi pushed open the gate to the front gardens of the pokémon daycare centre and looked over the building. She straightened her shirt and skirt, ready to introduce herself to the old couple who ran the place."This is Executive Remi checking in. Assignment to acquire the omanyte egg from the route five daycare is underway," she said. "I'll be done in no time."
The pokémon in the garden didn't pay Remi much notice as she walked up the path. Sometimes pokémon sensed that she had ill intentions and foiled her plans, but she'd learned to send out positive vibes and make people and pokémon feel comfortable around her. They were all such saps.
Before Remi had even reached the front door of the daycare it was pulled open by an elderly man with a shock of white hair. He was probably Grampa Hatcher. "Oh, hello there," he said.
"Hello, Mister Hatcher. I'm from the pokémon school in Cerulean, here for my work experience," Remi introduced herself. She smiled sweetly, to get the old man on her side straight a way.
"Oh silly, call me Grampa—I'm not one for titles. Gran's inside, waiting for you. You go on in and say hi. She'll get you started," Grampa said.
Remi thanked the old man and headed into the building. She thought it unbelievable that trainers would bring their pokémon to places like this. The idea that people would give you pokémon – and money – and walk away with a smile on their face was crazy.
"Hello there. I don't suppose you're from the trainer school?" Gran Hatcher asked.
"I am," Remi nodded. She was quick to scope the room out, looking for quick exit paths, dead ends, security cameras and locks. The data she'd been provided wasn't very detailed, so she knew she'd have to find her own way out of the building and out into the woods.
"Excellent," Gran smiled. "Come with me and I'll go through your orientation. Then we can get you polishing eggs and learning the trade."
The old bat went on forever about how to hold a pokémon egg, how to rub it, when it's ready to hatch... what to do if there's a crack in one, what not to do if you drop one... where they are when they're dirty and where they should go when they're clean... it was such a bore. Remi's face hurt from smiling and nodding, and her pride hurt from being so damn polite.
As soon as she was alone in the garden, Remi started searching through the hutches, looking for the egg she was tasked with collecting. "What do we want with a stupid non-extinct pokémon anyway?" she asked herself. The "artist's impression" picture she had showed that the egg was probably azure blue with a dirty, yellowy sort of spiral marking on the bottom.
Remi was into the last hutch quickly, looking over the shelves and finally coming to an egg that looked like the picture. She snatched it up and placed it into one of the egg containers that was lying around, then sneaked it into her bag. "Executive Remi checking in. I have the egg. I'm on my way out."
The acknowledgement came over Remi's hidden earpiece just as she was walking down the ramp outside the daycare. Then, just as her foot touched the grass, an alarm sounded. "Curses!" Remi shouted. "I've got to get out of here, now!"
