"Which Pokémon is it?" Ye asked eagerly.
Was it the cute and elegant Dratini? Or the hard-headed Bagon? Or perhaps the well-behaved and clever Axew?
"It's Trapinch," Carver explained. "The Pokémon in this egg is called Trapinch."
"Trapinch?" Ye's eyes widened in surprise. That didn't sound like a Dragon-type at all!
"Before it evolves, Trapinch is a Ground-type Pokémon. You might not recognize the name, but you've probably heard of its evolved form," Carver continued.
"What is it?"
"Flygon—the mysterious Pokémon that can whip up terrifying sandstorms."
Flygon… Ye immediately recalled a match he'd seen at the Verdanturf Tournament. A trainer had used a Flygon that stirred up a fierce sandstorm, dominating the battlefield. It was an incredibly powerful Pokémon.
"After evolving into Flygon, Trapinch becomes a Ground/Dragon-type and can learn powerful Dragon-type moves like Dragon Claw, Dragon Breath, and Dragon Dance."
As he spoke, Carver glanced at the egg.
[Trapinch's Egg: Can hatch into the Ground-type Pokémon Trapinch.]
Health: Healthy
Father: Flygon (Elite rank)
Mother: Flygon (Gym Leader rank)
An elite-level father and a gym leader-level mother—this egg had serious potential.
"So, what do you think? Want to choose it as your starter?" Carver asked.
Ye hesitated.
Even though Flygon was a Dragon-type, it didn't quite match the image of a traditional dragon he had in mind…
After a moment of thought, Ye asked again, "Are there any other Dragon-type Pokémon here?"
"Unfortunately, no," Carver shook his head, then added, "But there are quite a few good starter-friendly Pokémon here. Let me show you some."
"Yes, please!" Ye said.
Carver smiled and pointed to one of the eggs. "This is Wurmple's egg. It hatches into Wurmple, which can evolve into Beautifly or Dustox—both Bug-types."
As everyone knows, Bug-type Pokémon grow quickly and are perfect for beginners, helping them gain combat strength early.
To illustrate: if two trainers set off with Wurmple and Dratini respectively, the Wurmple might already be a fully evolved Beautifly and have cleared several gyms before the Dratini even evolves into Dragonair.
Of course, their late-game potential isn't comparable, but with careful training, even the weakest Bug-types can stand up to powerful Pokémon like Dragonite.
And with early battle-ready Pokémon, trainers could then catch slow-growing Dragons more easily.
Wurmple is common in grasslands and forests—easy to find…
But Ye hesitated. He was a bit scared of Bug-types.
Seeing his expression, Carver understood immediately and moved on.
"How about Oddish?"
Grass-types grow quickly and are very resource-efficient, needing only sunlight, water, and soil.
They're perfect for trainers from lower-income families with fewer resources.
Ye looked even more conflicted.
Carver chuckled and didn't rush him.
For someone with decision paralysis, choosing just one out of twenty eggs for a starter was truly difficult.
He introduced a few more Pokémon, but Ye still couldn't decide.
So hard to choose… seriously hard!
Ye's mind kept circling back to that powerful Flygon he saw in the tournament. Gritting his teeth, he finally made a decision.
"I've decided! I want Trapinch!"
Close enough—it rounds up to a Dragon!
"In that case, I'll leave this little one in your care," Carver said as he handed Ye the Trapinch egg.
Trapinch usually lived in dry deserts and wasn't easy to find—it was a rather unique Pokémon.
Based on its rarity and difficulty to breed, the average daycare price for a Trapinch egg would be around 100,000 League Credits—roughly ¥5,000–¥6,000 in RMB. Not cheap, but not overly expensive either.
Since these eggs weren't bred by his daycare and cost him no resources, Carver decided to sell them at 20% off.
He explained the situation to Ye, then said, "So, it's 80,000 League Credits for this one."
"Thank you so much!" Ye replied gratefully. He had brought 200,000 League Credits with him—not a fortune, but saving where he could mattered.
After paying, Ye eagerly prepared to take the egg home.
But Carver quickly called him back and reminded him, "The egg will hatch in about two weeks. My daycare just opened and doesn't have incubators yet, so you'll need to buy one from the Pokémon store in town—they're cheap, shouldn't be a problem."
"Got it! Thank you so much!" Ye said, then took his Trapinch egg and biked away excitedly.
Watching his daycare sell its very first egg, Carver let out a long breath.
Only by making money could he continue supporting more Pokémon.
Being able to sell Pokémon eggs meant that, from today on, his daycare was officially up and running.
While the Pokémon world was generally a utopia, some shady dealings still existed.
For example, even in daycares, the rarer the Pokémon egg, the higher the price—not just due to rarity, but also difficulty in acquisition. That's why rare eggs fetched far more than common ones.
It was this high value that gave rise to illegal Pokémon hunters. Rare Pokémon were just too valuable.
Daycares were the only legally sanctioned places to sell baby Pokémon and eggs.
Carver turned his thoughts back to the batch of eggs and focused on one in particular.
[Swablu's Egg: Can hatch into the Normal-type Pokémon Swablu.]
Health: Healthy
Father: Swablu (Elite rank)
Mother: Swablu (Elite rank)
Incubation Progress: 15/23 days
The daycare was still missing a Water-type Pokémon for watering the herb and berry gardens.
Swablu had weather-changing abilities and could summon rain—perfect for that task.
In that case, Carver decided—he'd keep this Swablu egg and raise it himself.