Most kids on their journeys eventually go home. They only were given permission to be gone so long, or they miss home, or they're ready to go back to not being responsible for themselves again. But there's always some who don't. They don't have a safe place to go back to, or they feel they have better prospects somewhere else, maybe they made some friends they want to stick close to. Whatever the case, every year there are children who go off their journeys and stop somewhere they don't have family to look out for them. Sometimes they get taken in by the families of friends. Sometimes they get an apprenticeship and room and board through it (at what age this is an option varies, gym apprentices can be as young as 13 in some areas, but other areas and professions can expect individuals to be as old at 18).
But then there's always some who don't have either of those. It's these kids that utilize various minor boarding facilities throughout the regions of the world.
These are public year-round facilities whose purpose to provide safe and comfortable room and board to minors who are, temporarily or permanently, putting down roots in a location. All provide dorms whose occupancy ranges from 1 to 4 people, bathrooms either shared or en suite, a range of shared living spaces from a simple lounge area to libraries and small gyms, and some form of cafeteria. As those using their services are as a general rule trainers, they also typically have outdoor space suitable to exercise and practice proper care for one's pokemon.
As a general rule these locations are associated with schools. Sometimes as full-on boarding schools, wherein the boarders make up the entirety of the student population and are required to attend that particular school. This is most common when it comes to more rural locations. More often, especially in urban areas, these locations will have ties to a variety of local schools- ranging from standard public schools to specialist and trade schools- which boarders can choose between. Boarders are, in most regions, required to receive schooling in some form so long as they're utilizing public boarding services.
Boarders range in age from 10 to 18, though older boarders are sometimes allowed in special circumstance. Typically, however, boarders are found to average between 14 and 17 years old. Boarders can generally be divided into long-term and short-term, with the former often spending 4+ years as boarders and the latter more often spending 1-2 years.
On average 35% of minors will go on a pokemon journey of some sort. About 0.5% of minors will utilize public boarding facilities, one-third of which on average utilize them longterm.
