Taking Action

The firewood crackled in the fireplace. The weather was cool, but not cold enough to need a fireplace for warmth.

Everything was for the sake of this Pokémon Egg, which still held a faint spark of life.

The fireplace in the little house hadn't been used for a long time. Its interior was blackened, with wood ash that had probably been there for ages.

To put the fireplace to use, Luo Mu first had Dragonite use air currents to sweep the ash outside and onto the soil. It made excellent fertilizer.

Next, he had Swampert use Water Gun at its lowest power to clean the fireplace. Ceruledge then used Flame Blade to quickly evaporate the remaining moisture, and just like that, the old but still usable fireplace was clean.

After Luxray, Mimikyu, and Serperior gathered some firewood, they placed it inside the fireplace and lit it. The temperature in the house rose in an instant.

Then, gathered around the Pokémon Egg, Luo Mu and his six Pokémon held a discussion.

The topic was how to help the Pokémon inside the egg hatch safely into the world.

Luo Mu told the Pokémon everything the egg had been through, from beginning to end. Each of them reacted differently.

Serperior's faint jealousy toward the Pokémon Egg vanished completely. It only felt sorry for the unborn Pokémon.

Mimikyu and Ceruledge quietly moved farther away from the egg. They knew full well that, as Ghost-type Pokémon—especially powerful ones like themselves—even their mere presence might unknowingly affect the egg and hinder the Pokémon inside from hatching, or even turn it into a dead egg.

Swampert didn't have much of a reaction, but it was willing to do its part to help the Pokémon Egg hatch.

If there was anything it needed to do, it would get right to it without a second thought!

A trace of sympathy appeared on Dragonite's honest, endearing face, along with a deeper sense of understanding.

Not long ago, it too had been born from a Pokémon Egg. It still remembered the space inside: safe, yet at times cramped, dark, and stifling.

It had successfully hatched when its time came. But how long had the Pokémon inside this egg been trapped in its shell? How long had it been stuck in that sunless darkness?

"Meow."

Luxray's low voice rang out. It told Luo Mu that he only had to let them know if there was anything they could do.

Luo Mu pondered for a moment, then said, "On the way back, I'd already been thinking about how to help this Pokémon Egg hatch."

"This egg hasn't hatched for who knows how many years. The fact that the Pokémon inside is still alive is a miracle in itself, so we have to do everything we can to help it hatch as soon as possible."

"First, Dragonite." Luo Mu turned to Dragonite. It immediately straightened up, eyes wide, as if declaring its determination. Luo Mu asked, "Do you remember the Nutrient Solution you had when you first hatched? Pokémon Eggs usually don't need Nutrient Solution to hatch, but this one is different. It's been trapped inside for too long. A severe lack of nutrients is probably one of the reasons it hasn't been able to hatch."

"We can't buy high-quality Nutrient Solution in Pingdie Town. I want you to fly to Breg Light City as soon as possible. It has the largest shopping mall in the Paldea region. I'll contact a friend of mine, and she'll take you to buy the Nutrient Solution."

"Bwoom!"

Dragonite stood tall, saluted, and showed how determined it was.

Luo Mu turned to the other Pokémon and explained his plan for each of them.

Ceruledge, Mimikyu, and Luxray would head into the wild to look for Wild Pokémon with the Ability Flame Body and invite them to the farm.

If possible, they should try to find some particularly powerful ones.

Pokémon with this Ability kept their bodies at a very suitable temperature, which could speed up the hatching process.

Braviary, Magcargo, Rapidash, Volcarona, and even Moltres and Heatran all had the Ability Flame Body.

As for Serperior and Swampert, they would stay at the farm with him to keep watch, protect the Pokémon Egg, and carry on farming!

With the knowledge he had, these were the only methods Luo Mu could think of. Nurse Joy had probably thought of them too and tried them before.

His only advantage was that he was reasonably strong. Perhaps Nurse Joy had only found Pokémon with Flame Body that had just evolved, so he could have Luxray and the others look for stronger ones.

Nutrient Solution was expensive, but he could still afford it with his current savings.

He'd made all the arrangements he could. Now everything depended on the little one inside the Pokémon Egg.

If none of these methods helped it hatch, then perhaps only a Legendary Pokémon would have the power to save the egg.

Early the next morning, Dragonite took off slowly with the large box Luo Mu had prepared for it, following the directions it remembered to Breg Light City.

After telling Serperior and Swampert to keep the house safe, Luxray led Ceruledge—and Mimikyu, which Luxray had once again overlooked by accident—toward the wilds to search for Pokémon with the Ability Flame Body.

As for Luo Mu, he was fully dressed and wearing a straw hat just like Peter's. Beneath the rare sunny skies, he led Serperior and Swampert to the Farming Area, carrying the Pokémon Egg in an incubator with temperature control.

The weeds that had been pulled up by the roots had been swept aside by Dragonite with Hurricane the previous day and stacked neatly nearby.

After asking Peter for some basic advice, Luo Mu knew he could sow the seeds as long as the soil was loose enough.

He took out six bags of seeds, then glanced at the wood ash Dragonite had gathered nearby. After giving it some thought, he decided to start by trying potatoes, a crop that could even grow in Siberia.

Potato seeds usually had a low germination rate, so most people propagated them from tubers instead. But the Pokémon world was different.

Ordinary crops were easy to grow and produced higher yields. And today, he also had two Pokémon by his side: Serperior and Swampert.

The methods for planting crops were mostly similar: dig a hole, bury the seed, fertilize, water, and so on. The steps and finer details varied slightly from crop to crop.

The work was simple enough, but Luo Mu still spent the entire morning bent over with a hoe. With Serperior and Swampert's help, he managed to plant one small bag of seeds. He spread the old wood ash he'd gathered as fertilizer, then had Swampert water them with Water Gun at its lowest power, looking thoroughly put out.

When he was done, Luo Mu—his back aching and his forehead drenched with sweat—turned to Serperior with an expectant look.

Serperior sighed as if resigned to its fate, then lowered a Verdant Vine into the hole and transferred a little of its Grass energy and nutrients to the newly planted potato seeds.

Serperior withdrew the vine. Luo Mu peered into the hole and waited a long while, but nothing happened.

Luo Mu looked puzzled. That didn't seem right.

Peter had told him that at Jones Farm, they had Grass-type Pokémon supply crops with Grass energy and some of their nutrients, too. The vegetables and fruits that grew as a result were not only large, but delicious as well.

So why weren't the seeds reacting at all when Swampert and Serperior tried it?