Day-Care Couple
| Day-Care Couple そだてやふうふ Day-Care Couple | |
 Artwork by Ken Sugimori for the TCG | |
| Gender | One male and one female |
|---|---|
| Eye color | Indeterminate |
| Hair color | Varies |
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Kanto, Sevii Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Orre, Sinnoh, Unova |
| Relatives | Four grandchildren (Hoenn), one grandchild (Lyra/Ethan) (Johto), one daughter (Unova) |
| Generation | I, II, III, IV, V |
| Games | Red, Blue, and Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, Pokémon Colosseum, XD, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, Black and White |
| Animated counterpart | Angie's parents |
| Counterpart debut | If the Scarf Fits, Wear It! |
The Day-Care Couple (Japanese: そだてやふうふ Day-Care Couple) are an elderly pair of non-player characters who offer Trainers the opportunity to raise their Pokémon on their behalf. They are known individually as the Day-Care Man and the Day-Care Lady. Since the Day-Care Man's debut in Generation I and their combined debut in Generation II, a different couple have appeared at every Pokémon Day Care in each game.
The Day-Care Couple have also appeared in several non-game media.
In the games
The Day-Care Couple (or one member thereof) appear in every main series Pokémon game. They will (for a small fee) take up to two of a Trainer's Pokémon and raise their levels for them. This effectively allows players to train up to eight Pokémon at one time. Pokémon under their care will not evolve, even if they meet the criteria.
The couple offer the player the only method of breeding Pokémon, which has been an important aspect of the games ever since Generation II. The Day-Care Man will usually stand outside to alert the Trainer if an Egg has been laid, while his wife will deal with all transactions indoors.
Some of the Day-Care Couples have relatives, both named and unnamed. The Hoenn couple are known to have four grandchildren, while the Johto couple are revealed to be the grandparents of the player's friend from New Bark Town, Lyra/Ethan.
The only region in which a Day-Care Couple is not present is the Kanto region. Breeding was not a mechanic of the Generation I games when Kanto was introduced, so only one person, the Day-Care Man, was included in the games. He and his wife have been in every game since Generation II, including the Red and Green remakes Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. In these games the couple is present in the Sevii Islands; the lone Day-Care Man remains in the original Kanto Day-Care Center.
In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Day-Care Man gives his and the Day-Care Lady's number to the player. The player can call the Day-Care Lady to check their Pokémon's levels, while the Day-Care Man can tell whether two Pokémon like each other and whether they produced an Egg or not.
In Black and White, the Day Care will only accept one Pokémon initially. Two Pokémon may be left after the player has received the Bicycle in Nimbasa City. This makes breeding Pokémon impossible until the player has obtained the first three Badges. When the player's Pokémon have made an Egg, the Day-Care Man will occasionally yell at the player to come over here in order to notify the player that an Egg has been made. The Day-Care Man will only yell if the player has an available party slot to receive the egg.
In the anime
Several characters based indirectly on the Day-Care Couple have appeared in the anime.
Mr. Shellby and his wife run a daycare center in the anime-exclusive town of Eggseter, Johto. While no mention of training others' Pokémon is made during the only episode they appeared in, they do care for and hatch Pokémon Eggs. Ash was given one as a prize for winning the Extreme Pokémon Race.
Angie's parents run a daycare center in Solaceon Town. While they are not as aged as the Day-Care Couple, they do raise other Trainers' Pokémon. Unlike the couple in the games, Pokémon in their care have been known to evolve.
In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The Day-Care Couple from Route 34 are important characters in the Pokémon Adventures manga. When they were young, they were good friends with Professor Oak, Agatha, Kurt, and Pryce. The Day-Care Lady was also a great singer, and she sang the song "Riding On The Stars" to cheer Pryce up when his two Lapras died.
Gold (reluctantly) did chores under her supervision when he was at the Day Care in Quilava Quandary, where his Cyndaquil evolved into a Quilava after fighting numerous Pokémon being kept there, a sight he was overjoyed to see. In the next round, they sent Gold to Ecruteak City after Jasmine called and said she'd be glad to see what her two Togetic's Egg hatched into, but lost contact after the earthquake that Team Rocket instigated there.
It seems likely that the Day-Care Couple moved from Johto to Sinnoh somewhere between the third and eighth chapters. At the end of Platinum chapter, they are seen at Solaceon Town with Manaphy and discussing with Platinum about its relation to Phione. Platinum says that the more one studies Eggs, the more mysterious they seem. After hearing this, the Day-Care Man tells her about a case when an owner was known affecting his Pokémon's personality before hatching.
Raised
These are the Pokémon raised by the Day-Care Couple, save for the ones with known Trainers.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Cleffa first appeared when it jumped out of the bushes while Gold was on his way to the Pokémon Day Care. It was one of the Pokémon that escaped from the day care and the Day-Care Lady had him get Cleffa back.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Igglybuff first appeared when it jumped out of the bushes while Gold was on his way to the Pokémon Day Care. It was one of the Pokémon that escaped from the day care and the Day-Care Lady had him get Igglybuff back.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Magby first appeared when it jumped out of the bushes while Gold was on his way to the Pokémon Day Care. It was one of the Pokémon that escaped from the day care and the Day-Care Lady had him get Magby back.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Smoochum first appeared when she jumped out of the bushes while Gold was on his way to the Pokémon Day Care. She was one of the Pokémon that escaped from the day care and the Day-Care Lady had him get Smoochum back.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Nidoking appeared in a flashback along with Nidoqueen while the Day-Care Couple was reminiscing about the times they had raising Pokémon.
| Debut | Gligar Glide |
|---|
Nidoqueen appeared in a flashback along with Nidoking while the Day-Care Couple was reminiscing about the times they had raising Pokémon.
| Debut | Quilava Quandary |
|---|
| Debut | Quilava Quandary |
|---|
Ekans was one of the elite Pokémon that Gold faced while he was locked in the bars. It had a battle with Gold's Togepi after his Cyndaquil performed a SmokeScreen. Ekans was then taken out by one of Gold's Pokémon (presumably Togepi).
None of Ekans's moves are known.
| Debut | Quilava Quandary |
|---|
Primeape was one of the elite Pokémon that Gold faced while he was locked in the bars. It took on Gold's Sudobo where both of them attacked with Cross Chop while the latter used the move via Mimic. Sudobo took more damage from Primeape which had Gold switch to Exbo. Primeape was taken out by Exbo's Ember powered up from Sunbo's Sunny Day.
Primeape's only known move is Cross Chop.
| Debut | Quilava Quandary |
|---|
Kangaskhan was one of the elite Pokémon that Gold faced while he was locked in the bars. She was not seen battling but was taken out by one of Gold's Pokémon.
None of Kangaskhan's moves are known.
| Debut | The Last Battle XIV |
|---|
Some Azurill were seen with the Day-Care Couple in the end of the Gold, Silver & Crystal arc, along with an Igglybuff Egg.
None of Azurill's moves are known.
| Debut | The Last Battle XIV |
|---|
Some Wynaut were seen with the Day-Care Couple in the end of the Gold, Silver & Crystal arc, along with an Igglybuff Egg.
None of Wynaut's moves are known.
In the Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys manga
In Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys, the Day-Care Couple are young, as opposed to the usual older couple. In Let's Use Fighting Type Pokémon!!, they invite Gold to a tournament run by the Day-Care Center, and in A Huge Mysterious Tree!!, they give him a Pokémon Egg.
In the TCG
The Day-Care Couple are featured on two cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. However, both had them named as Pokémon Breeders in the English translation. The following is a listing of cards featuring the Day-Care Couple.
| Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Pokémon Breeder | T | Base Set | 
|
76/102 | Expansion Pack |
|
|
| Base Set 2 |
|
105/130 | |||||
| Legendary Collection |
|
102/110 | |||||
| Pokémon Breeder Fields | T | Neo Revelation | 
|
62/64 | Awakening Legends |
|
|
|
This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |