Hatching

Seeing the staff about to place the Pokémon Egg on the shelf, Ye Lan rushed forward in a few quick strides and swept it into his arms.

Only when he truly held the egg in his hands did Ye Lan feel a wave of relief.

Ye Lan's sudden move gave the staff member quite a fright. They had nearly thought some criminal had come to Pokémon House to snatch a Pokémon Egg!

Father Ye and Mother Ye quickly followed after him.

"A-Lan, what's going on?"

Ye Lan also realized that he had lost his composure from being too excited. He coughed a few times and forcibly calmed himself down.

"Well, Mom, Dad, I'll choose this one. The moment I saw it, I knew we were meant to be!"

The guide, Xiao Zhang, who had caught up with them, looked at the Pokémon Egg in Ye Lan's hands, covered in scratches, and could not understand why he had chosen one with such poor looks.

Father Ye and Mother Ye did not know much about raising Pokémon either, but seeing the egg's appearance, they also found it unreliable.

"A-Lan, why not think it over? This Pokémon Egg doesn't even look as good as the chicken eggs sold at the market!"

Incidentally, ordinary animals still existed in this world. Animals that could be used for food, such as cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs, were raised on dedicated farms.

As for the rest, they could only be seen in zoos. After all, with the powerful strength Pokémon possessed, ordinary animals could not survive within the same ecosystem as them.

Hearing his father's words, Ye Lan rolled his eyes. Chicken egg, duck egg—this was a Phoenix Egg, all right!

"Mom, Dad, I've made up my mind. It's this one! And even if things don't go well, I won't abandon it. Don't worry."

Seeing how resolute Ye Lan was, Father Ye and Mother Ye chose to trust their son's instincts.

When checking out, since he had bought an unknown egg, he saved quite a bit of money. Ye Lan therefore chose the best incubator and nutrient solution, and ordered a batch of high-quality Moomoo Milk through Pokémon House's channels.

Moomoo Milk was milk produced by Miltank. It was said that the better a Miltank's mood, the higher the quality of its milk. Some farms even played music for lactating Miltank to soothe them.

Moomoo Milk was packed with nutrients and could not have been more suitable for feeding newly born Pokémon, which was also why it was so expensive.

Even so, Ye Lan's spending this time was still far below budget.

Originally, Father Ye and Mother Ye had prepared around 300,000 for Ye Lan to buy a Pokémon. An ordinary Pokémon cost roughly that much.

Ordinary Pokémon Eggs were much more expensive, costing between 350,000 and 400,000.

The Pokémon Eggs in the egg-gambling area were cheaper still, only costing 100,000 to 150,000 each. Given the condition of the Pokémon Egg in Ye Lan's hands, he got it for 100,000.

Including the incubation supplies and a month's worth of Moomoo Milk, Ye Lan had only spent 200,000.

Father Ye and Mother Ye had originally planned to give the remaining 100,000 to their son as start-up funds for raising his Pokémon, but Ye Lan refused.

In order to support his dream of becoming a Trainer, the family had even sold their old house back home. Recently, they had needed to live frugally.

Ye Lan only took 50,000 and left the other 50,000 for his parents to improve the family's current circumstances.

He believed that as long as he went further and further down the path of a Trainer, he would sooner or later be able to give his parents a good life.

Ye Lan did not merely believe in himself; he also believed in his starter partner, Snivy!

On the way home, Ye Lan could barely contain his excitement as he looked at the Pokémon Egg inside the incubator.

This little one had not even been born yet, but her moveset was already so luxurious that Ye Lan could not help wondering whether, like the jokes from netizens in his previous life, her father was actually Rayquaza?!

Contrary alone, that dream Ability, combined with Leaf Storm later on, had already raised this little one's potential to limitless heights.

After all, Contrary reversed the effects of stat-changing moves, turning boosts into drops and drops into boosts.

Paired with Leaf Storm, a high-damage move whose downside was lowering Special Attack by two stages, it was practically strengthening herself while attacking—a living artillery turret.

Having Glare as an inherited move was already a pleasant surprise among pleasant surprises. Iron Tail, a Steel-type move, broadened her coverage, and she even had Grassy Terrain, a field move. That was truly the icing on the cake.

Setting all that aside, this little one was actually a princess! Among Snivy, the chance of being female was only 12.5%, almost comparable to the highest odds of finding a Shiny.

Ye Lan was already looking forward to the queenly bearing she would have after evolving into Serperior.

After returning home and placing the incubator on his desk, Ye Lan began reading the handbook Pokémon House had issued, Hatching and Raising Young Pokémon.

Although Ye Lan had been a gamer in his previous life, he knew absolutely nothing about hatching Pokémon in reality. Surely reality did not let you hatch them just by walking a certain number of steps!

The booklet was not very thick, but Ye Lan read it carefully twice, afraid he might miss something that would affect the little one's birth and development.

From the booklet, Ye Lan learned that a Pokémon Egg would take roughly two to three days to hatch. During that time, he needed to pay attention to the color of the nutrient solution.

When the blue nutrient solution gradually turned transparent, it indicated that the Pokémon Egg was about to hatch. At that point, the top of the incubator would also flash red, reminding the Trainer to drain the nutrient solution and remove the Pokémon Egg.

Ye Lan did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that the Pokémon Egg in the incubator had become much brighter in color. As expected, premium nutrient solution really was different.

"Looks like you get what you pay for." Ye Lan clicked his tongue in amazement.

Two days later.

Looking at the transparent nutrient solution in the incubator, Ye Lan began making preparations for the hatching.

Ye Lan had not been idle these past two days. While digesting the memories in his mind, he had also been learning about the general state of this world.

From what Ye Lan had learned, this world consisted of a rare ten major regions. In addition to the widely known eight regions—Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar—there were also the Huaxia Region, where Ye Lan lived, and the newly discovered Paldea Region.

"Does that mean I can catch a Sprigatito?"

At that thought, the dashing image of Meowscarada surfaced in Ye Lan's mind.

The existence of ten regions also meant that Mega Evolution had already been discovered and confirmed as a system, while Dynamax was widely used in Galar.

That meant the only advantageous system left for Ye Lan was Terastallization from the newly discovered Paldea Region.

"Looks like becoming a researcher through Mega Evolution really isn't suitable for me."

As a battle enthusiast, Ye Lan felt somewhat regretful over losing so many advantages. But he already had the system's support and insights beyond those of his peers. If he could only defeat opponents by having one Mega Evolution advantage over them, then even if he won, it would feel far less fulfilling.

"Ahem, that's a lie. I can totally become a researcher through Terastallization instead~ (doge face for protection)"

Ye Lan coughed. Just then, the sound of an eggshell cracking rang out in the room, interrupting his thoughts.

The Pokémon Egg Ye Lan had placed on a soft cushion began to develop dense cracks, yet it never completely broke open.

The little one inside seemed to be getting impatient, and the egg began to sway more and more violently.

Seeing this, Ye Lan grew a little anxious as well. He was just about to step forward to help, but immediately stopped himself.

Ye Lan understood that this was a very important lesson for a young Pokémon.