Pokémon Egg

Xinhai cradled Torchic as he strolled home. The sun slowly sank toward the west, dyeing the sapphire-blue sky with warm hues. The cotton-white clouds seemed to have been carefully draped in golden gauze as they drifted leisurely across the distant horizon.

Xinhai glanced at the sleeping Torchic in his arms, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously into a gentle smile. His heart was filled with warmth and peace, and his steps grew lighter as he headed home.

When Xinhai arrived at the gate with Torchic in his arms, he gently pushed it open. But the moment it opened, he heard a familiar cry. "Zigzagoon!" Zigzagoon immediately pounced on him, sticking out its tongue and happily licking his face.

Torchic was licked awake by the sudden commotion and let out a sleepy cry. "Torchic..." Xinhai quickly freed one hand, grabbed Zigzagoon by the scruff of its neck, and lifted him farther away.

Looking at the awakened Torchic, Xinhai felt helpless. He had wanted Torchic to sleep a little longer. He gently set the still-drowsy Torchic on the ground, then grabbed Zigzagoon's head and rubbed it lightly.

The commotion also woke Rapidash and Quagsire, who had been resting. Seeing that Xinhai and Torchic had returned, they came over to greet them affectionately.

It took quite a while to calm Zigzagoon and the others down before Xinhai led Torchic into the house. His mother, Nami, was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the door open, she called out, "Is Xiao Hai back?"

"Yeah, Mom, we're back," Xinhai replied as he brought Torchic to the kitchen doorway. Nami poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at Xinhai and Torchic. "Perfect timing. Dinner will be ready soon."

Xinhai looked at his mother, slightly puzzled, and asked, "Mom, why did you get back so early today?"

Nami smiled. "There weren't many people today, so I came back early. Oh, your dad is in the study. He has something for you." With that, she returned to the kitchen.

Xinhai watched his mother's retreating figure, then returned the somewhat tired Torchic to its Poké Ball and headed for the study.

At the study door, Xinhai knocked. "Dad, I'm back." As he spoke, he opened the door and walked in.

Hearing him, Yantai turned to look at Xinhai. "You're back. Come sit down."

Xinhai walked toward his father, but his gaze was suddenly drawn to something on the desk. It was a Pokémon Egg resting in an incubator. Its base color was pure white, covered in delicate green patterns.

This Pokémon Egg!

Xinhai stared at the Pokémon Egg, his eyes narrowing slightly, before glancing at the box beside it.

Xinhai sat down across from his father, unable to suppress his curiosity. "Dad, you said this morning that you had something for me. Is it this Pokémon Egg?"

Yantai smiled and turned to look at the Pokémon Egg. "Yes, but not entirely. This is a Ralts Pokémon Egg I exchanged for you. It should have inherited two Egg Moves. With a Psychic type Pokémon, as long as you don't take dangerous risks, you shouldn't run into any major trouble during your journey."

Xinhai stared at the Pokémon Egg, his eyes full of astonishment. It's actually a Ralts Pokémon Egg.

In the real world, Psychic type Pokémon were undoubtedly the most troublesome to deal with aside from Dragon type and Ghost-type Pokémon.

Dragon type Pokémon might possess overwhelming power, but in everyday life, they were not nearly as troublesome as Pokémon of those two types. Yet now, a Psychic type Pokémon Egg sat right before Xinhai.

After a brief burst of ecstasy, Xinhai quickly came to his senses. Looking at his father, Yantai Bai Mu, he asked, "Dad, how did you get this Pokémon Egg? With its value, it's not something a family like ours could obtain."

Yantai smiled. "It's fine, don't worry. I exchanged for this Pokémon Egg through the League. Its origin is completely legitimate."

Even after hearing that, Xinhai still did not believe him. He looked as though he would refuse to accept the Pokémon Egg unless his father explained everything clearly.

Seeing Xinhai like this, Yantai scolded him with a smile. "You brat, you still don't trust your old man?"

However, after scolding him, Yantai Bai Mu fell silent for a moment before finally speaking slowly. "Actually, this was compensation from the League after two of my companions died during a League mission I carried out before. The League gave me the chance to claim two new Pokémon, but I was devastated at the time and never used those chances, so I kept them. I thought having a Psychic type Pokémon would make your journey much safer, so I used both chances to exchange for this. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Leaving those two chances unused would have been a waste anyway. This can give you some help, and your mother and I won't have to worry so much about you."

When a trainer's Pokémon reached Elite level and died while carrying out a League mission, the League would compensate the trainer with a Pokémon possessing two Egg Moves.

Of course, its strength definitely would not be the same as that of the Pokémon that had died. The trainer would still need to spend time raising it.

Xinhai nodded solemnly, his gaze fixed firmly on the Pokémon Egg. "I understand. Don't worry, Dad! I'll work hard."

Yantai smiled and looked at the box beside the Pokémon Egg. "Inside that box are Aptitude Potions for Torchic and Ralts that I exchanged for with my remaining League Points. They'll be very beneficial for them."

Xinhai's eyes immediately lit up. He knew just how important aptitude was to Pokémon. With them, Torchic and the soon-to-hatch Ralts could improve their aptitude somewhat, and their strength would surely increase much faster.

Xinhai carefully opened the box. Inside were two potions emitting mysterious dark-red and blue glows.

"Dad, thank you so much!" Xinhai looked at his father gratefully. Yantai smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Work hard. You still have a long road ahead of you."

Xinhai nodded, filled with fighting spirit. He planned to use one potion on Torchic later and see what changes it brought. As for Ralts, the other could be used once he hatched.

At that moment, Nami called from outside, "Dinner's ready! Come out and eat!" Inside the study, Yantai said to Xinhai, "Use the Aptitude Potion on Torchic after dinner."

Xinhai nodded, then left the study with Yantai. The family sat happily around the dinner table. As Xinhai ate, he was already looking forward to seeing Torchic and Ralts after they grew stronger.

After dinner, Nami cleared the dishes while Yantai brought Xinhai to the study. After closing the door, he walked to the desk and took out the dark-red Aptitude Potion from the box.

Seeing this, Xinhai released Torchic from his Poké Ball. The moment Torchic came out, he excitedly circled around Xinhai, crying, "Torchic!"

Xinhai gently stroked his head, then accepted the dark-red glowing potion. He asked Yantai, "Can I just feed it to him directly?"

Yantai nodded. "These Aptitude Potions were specially formulated by the League. They're the gentlest Aptitude Potions available and won't have any side effects."

Hearing that reassured Xinhai considerably. He looked at Torchic and said, "Torchic, if you feel uncomfortable later, let me know."

Torchic nodded. Xinhai fed him the potion, and Torchic obediently swallowed it.

The boy and the chick waited for a while, but nothing happened. Xinhai asked Yantai, "Dad, why isn't there any reaction?"

Yantai Bai Mu rolled his eyes. "What kind of reaction were you expecting? Did you want him to suffer terribly? I already told you, this potion is very mild. You'll see the effects tomorrow."

Xinhai scratched his head, feeling that his father had a point. He stroked Torchic's head again, then, seeing how tired he looked, returned him to his Poké Ball.

Afterward, Xinhai smiled at Yantai and said, "Dad, then what about Ralts's training plan?"

Yantai thought for a moment. "Ralts hasn't even been born yet, and we still don't know much about his moves. Once he hatches, we'll design a training plan based on his moves. Oh, I bought some training resources for Ralts and exchanged for some Advanced Pokéblocks. They're all in the room where we keep the Pokémon food. Also, pour the incubation fluid in there into Ralts's Pokémon Egg. It'll be good for him."

Xinhai replied, "Okay, I'll go right away. Dad, you should get some rest too."

With that, he carried the incubator out of the study and headed toward the room where the Pokémon food was stored, saying as he walked, "Ralts, we're going to add incubation fluid for you. You need to hatch soon!"

Yantai Bai Mu smiled as he watched his son. He placed the box on the desk somewhere safe, then continued working on Torchic's training plan.