Hatching ~ Zubat

After seeing this Pokémon Egg, only five words remained in Lu Ze's mind.

"Wow! A golden legend!"

This was the first Pokémon Egg among all the ones Lu Ze had examined whose Aptitude was Gold.

Pokémon: Munchlax

Gender: Male

Type: Normal

Ability: Thick Fat (Protected by thick layers of fat, damage from Fire-type and Ice-type moves is halved)

Aptitude: Gold

Basic moves: Lick, Tackle

Egg Moves: Belch, Curse, Fissure, Counter

A Gold Aptitude Munchlax—no wonder Lu Ze was so eager to secure it.

"Young Master Lu, congratulations on obtaining this Pokémon Egg. We look forward to your next visit."

At the entrance of the Love Pokémon Store, the store manager personally saw Lu Ze and his father out.

"Dr. Lu, please forgive me for not seeing you off any farther. Some distinguished guests will be arriving shortly to select Pokémon Eggs with good Aptitudes. My apologies."

"It's fine. Please get back to work, Manager. We can make our own way home."

Lu Ba said with a light smile to the Pokémon Store manager before leaving with Lu Ze.

On the way home, Lu Ba asked,

"Son, this is a Munchlax Pokémon Egg, right?"

"Yeah, it's a Munchlax Egg. Snorlax is one of my favorite Pokémon."

"All right. Since you already have a second Pokémon, you need to work hard for the National College Entrance Examination. You shouldn't have much trouble with the Martial Trial. While the Pokémon haven't hatched yet, put in some effort and improve your Written Trial grades."

"Mm, got it, Dad."

When they returned home, Mom had not come back yet. Lu Ba said he would find Lu Ze some study materials and Written Trial papers from past National College Entrance Examinations.

Lu Ze returned to his room instead. He placed the Munchlax Pokémon Egg beside the Zubat Pokémon Egg, then stroked the Zubat Egg and said,

"Little Zubat, hatch soon. I've already brought you a little brother. You need to grow stronger and protect him in the future."

After saying that, Lu Ze stroked the Munchlax Pokémon Egg as well before going to find Lu Ba, ready to seriously study the Written Trial materials. What he did not notice was that after he turned and left, the Zubat Pokémon Egg glowed faintly.

Two days passed in a flash. At last, it was the day Zubat would be born. Because he had used Advanced Culture Medium, most Pokémon Eggs hatched in about three days. Intermediate level Culture Medium took five days, while low-grade Culture Medium took seven. Without Culture Medium, the timing could not be determined.

Since he needed to make up for all the Pokémon knowledge from his three years of high school, Lu Ze had spent all his time studying Pokémon knowledge in the study ever since buying the Pokémon Eggs, apart from eating and sleeping.

Fortunately, he had learned much of this Pokémon knowledge in his previous life. These past few days, he had only needed to study what he had never seen before and review what he could not remember clearly.

People were strange. The things they seriously studied and needed for exams were always hard to remember, but things they were interested in and loved could be remembered for a long time after just one look. Even if they forgot, a small prompt could bring everything back.

Lu Ze was just like that now. He could not clearly remember a lot of Pokémon knowledge, but after reading all the books and completing all kinds of practice exams, when he wrote past National College Entrance Examination Written Trial papers, he hardly got anything wrong.

Just as Lu Ze was working hard to conquer a National College Entrance Examination practice paper, the Pokémon Egg on his desk began to glow faintly. Noticing the light, Lu Ze stared excitedly at the Pokémon Egg and took out his phone, preparing to capture this thrilling moment.

Slowly, the Pokémon Egg grew brighter and brighter. After a burst of dazzling light, a blue-and-purple bat fluttered above the Culture Medium base.

After excitedly flying up and down twice, Zubat landed on Lu Ze's shoulder, wrapping his wings around Lu Ze's neck affectionately.

"Haha, Zubat, you're born! That's amazing!"

Lu Ze excitedly hugged Zubat and jumped around. This had fulfilled a dream he had held for more than ten years. At last, he had a real Pokémon of his own.

After calming down, Lu Ze held Zubat and eagerly ran out of the study. He took out the nutritious Energy Cubes he had prepared long ago and placed them in front of Zubat.

"Eat up. These Energy Cubes were prepared for you, perfect for a newborn Pokémon to replenish its nutrients."

"Eee~"

Zubat happily responded, then picked up the Energy Cube with both wings and began eating.

Lu Ze quietly watched Zubat eat from the side. Since Zubat had only just been born, he ate rather slowly, but Lu Ze was in no rush and simply watched beside him.

Lu Ze's heart was filled with joy. A Pokémon of his own—something that had once existed only in his imagination.

Thus, one human and one Pokémon were immersed in their own worlds, one lost in his thoughts and the other in food. Only when the sound of the door opening came from the entrance did Lu Ze finally look up.

"Ah, Zubat!"

Mom was pleasantly surprised when she saw Zubat eating an Energy Cube on the table.

Lu Ba handed the bottle in his hand to Lu Ze and said,

"Here, this is milk produced by Miltank. It's very beneficial for newborn Pokémon and provides plenty of nutrition. Remember to give him some later."

"Okay, thanks, Dad."

"You're not thanking Mom? I was the one who reminded your dad that your Pokémon might be born today, so he went to buy it."

"Okay, thanks too, Mom~"

Mom's jealous tone made Lu Ba and Lu Ze burst out laughing. Hearing them laugh, Mom smiled sheepishly as well. Zubat, who sensed everything through Supersonic, also grew happier and ate the Energy Cube in his wings even more enthusiastically.

"Ring ring ring~ Ring ring~ ring~"

Lu Ze's phone rang, pulling everyone out of the cheerful atmosphere. Lu Ba and Mom went into the kitchen, while Lu Ze answered the video call.

"Lu Ze!!!"

"Why are you yelling so loudly? I'm here. What is it?"

"My Growlithe and Torkoal were born!"

Sui Yan's voice came through the call, struggling to suppress his excitement.

"Yeah, and? My Zubat was born too."

"Zubat was born too? When are you bringing him out so we can see him together?"

"In a couple days. He was just born, so I'll let him adjust for a while first. By the way, did you feed them before video-calling me?"

"Of course I fed them. Look, aren't the two of them getting along great? They're sleeping together after eating their fill."

Sui Yan flipped the camera around toward Torkoal and Growlithe. Torkoal was somewhat bigger, lying asleep in his nest, while Growlithe lay asleep on Torkoal's back.

"Not bad. It looks like the start of your Sunny Team is set. Have you thought about what Pokémon you want for the rest of the team?"

"Hm? I really haven't thought about that. But wouldn't Fire types be enough? I just need one with high Special Attack and another that's fast, right?"

Lu Ze helplessly shook his head and said,

"A Sunny Team isn't just about using Fire types."

"I know. Five Fire types and one outside Pokémon to transition after Sunny Day ends. It's best if it has status-boosting moves and Baton Pass. If not, U-turn or Volt Switch would work too."

Sui Yan interrupted Lu Ze, speaking proudly.

"Don't think I only wanted to use a Sunny Team on a whim. I spent a long time studying Sunny Team videos online, okay?"

Lu Ze: ?????

"A Sunny Team... is supposed to be like that?"

Lu Ze looked at the confident Sui Yan with a face full of question marks.

"Of course. If you don't believe me, go look it up. They're all like that online. You can ask your dad too."

"What are you asking me?"

Lu Ba walked over to the sofa, pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands, and asked.

"Dad, is a Sunny Team built with five Fire types plus one outside Pokémon?"

"Yeah. That outside Pokémon should preferably know Sunny Day. It'd be even better if it has some stat-boosting moves and moves like Baton Pass, U-turn, or Volt Switch."

"See, Lu Ze? I wasn't wrong."

"So, Sui Yan, are you planning to build a Sunny Team?"

"Yes, Uncle. I already have Growlithe and Torkoal."

"Wonderful. The lower limit of a Sunny Team is very low, but its upper limit depends on how you develop it. Keep it up."

"Mm, okay, Uncle. Lu Ze, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going out to buy some Moomoo Milk for Growlithe and Torkoal. Goodbye, Uncle."

"Mm, goodbye."

With that, Sui Yan hung up. Lu Ze was still completely bewildered.

"What's wrong, son?"

Seeing that Lu Ze seemed off, Lu Ba asked.

"Nothing. I'm going to look something up. Dad, help me give the Moomoo Milk to Zubat later."

"Mm, all right."

Lu Ze snapped out of his daze and spoke to Lu Ba. Then he headed for the study.

After searching around on the computer, he finally discovered where the problem lay.

Although Pokémon existed in this world, Dragon Nation's history had not changed. There had still been that turbulent modern era, and Pokémon battles had only risen to prominence after that era ended. Previously, Pokémon had been used in large-scale military corps battles, while individual battles were rare.

After world peace came, nations needed a way to settle disputes, so individual Pokémon battles emerged. Sunny Teams, Rain Teams, and other Archetype Teams had only appeared a few years ago, which was why Sunny Teams still consisted entirely of Fire types and Rain Teams entirely of Water types.

Later, people discovered that pure Fire-type and Water-type teams lost power after Sunny Day or Rain ended, so they developed the idea of bringing a sixth member to transition through that period.

"It seems the fully developed version of a Sunny Team hasn't appeared yet. Should I let Sui Yan become its pioneer?"

"Hehehe, that sounds pretty good."

Beside the computer, Lu Ze did not know what he had thought of, but he let out a delighted pig-like laugh.