"Gaaar!"
With a confident grin, Garchomp charged forward, completely ignoring the swirling yellow flames in front of it.
As a Dragon-type, it resisted fire, and since Growlithe's earlier attacks hadn't done much damage, it remained just as confident this time.
Behind it, Cynthia sensed something wrong, but she was standing on her toes trying to see where Shiro had run off to. By the time she turned back in confusion, Garchomp had already charged forward.
"Garchcooom!"
The moment the thick, swirling flames touched its skin, Garchomp's expression twisted.
It was hot, far too hot.
Instinctively, it tried to turn and dodge, but its momentum had already carried it straight into the flames.
"Garchomp! Garchomp!"
After taking two more steps, it threw itself to the ground and rolled wildly, trying to put out the fire. Its face twisted in pain, as if its skin were about to burn through.
Growlithe didn't pay it any attention at all and instead ran forward, leaping after Shiro.
"Groooowl!" (Don't leave me behind!)
Shiro slapped his forehead.
Right, Growlithe.
Without thinking, he climbed onto its back, but after the dog ran a couple of steps, he suddenly felt something was off.
Why was he riding when he could just teleport?
"Mesprit! Teleport!" He called out softly.
Mesprit waved its arm lightly, and both the man and the dog vanished in an instant.
* * *
Inside the bedroom, Growlithe, still caught in its running motion, kicked its legs in midair before crashing onto the floor near the bed and rolling twice.
Shiro reacted fast. Having sensed the awkward landing, he jumped back before the dog crashed and separated from it, then supported himself with one hand on the floor as he spun lightly and landed right in front of Larvesta's small nest in the corner.
Crack!
A second cracking sound came from the egg.
He hurried forward to check and realized he had arrived early. There were only two cracks on the shell so far.
"Phew…"
Shiro had just let out a breath when a louder cracking sound followed immediately.
Crack!
The fiery red egg shook violently. Inside, Larvesta glowed, and the faint outline of its small body could already be seen.
"Growl!"
Growlithe rushed over from the side, its big face squeezing in next to Shiro.
Wrapping an arm around it, Shiro watched as the egg shook more and more violently, and held his breath in anticipation.
In midair, Unown A and Unown G appeared instantly, landing on Shiro's shoulders from both sides. Curious, Mesprit floated around once before settling on top of his head, leaning forward to peek as its two tails brushed lightly against his neck.
Crack, crack, crack…
After an unknown number of cracks, the top of the egg finally shattered, and a large piece collapsed inward.
A curved red antenna poked out first. Everyone's eyes widened as they focused intently, afraid to miss even a moment.
From inside the egg came faint rustling sounds as Larvesta seemed to be eating the shell. After just a few moments, the red antenna stretched higher, showing soft white fur underneath.
"Larvesta?" Shiro couldn't help but speak.
Hearing the voice, Larvesta paused. It slowly straightened up, revealing its black face and sky-blue eyes, then looked around and carefully observed every creature in front of it.
Growlithe happily stuck out its tongue at the sight. It wanted to move closer to give Larvesta a lick, but hesitated, afraid of hurting the little one.
'Woohoo!' Unown A bounced excitedly. 'Larvesta has successfully hatched!'
'Mm,' Unown G responded softly.
"Yeah…"
The tension in Shiro's heart finally eased.
'Hatched?' Mesprit, however, stared blankly at the broken shell, lost in thought. It had no memory of its own birth or of its two companions, feeling as though they had always existed in the lakes of Sinnoh from the very beginning.
Yet as if recalling something unpleasant, it closed its eyes, and a trace of pain appeared on its face.
'Uxie… is not my family.'
It murmured through psychic power, curling into itself before vanishing from atop Shiro's head.
No one noticed, as all attention remained fixed on the little Larvesta.
Larvesta continued biting pieces of the eggshell and swallowing them bit by bit. The shell had been coated daily with Fire Stone powder and surrounded by Charcoal, making it rich in nutrients and infused with Fire-type energy, which was extremely nourishing for a newborn.
Shiro and Growlithe quietly watched it eat.
After some time, Larvesta had consumed about half the shell, and its entire body was now visible. It resembled a moth larva, with a ring-shaped head and five curved red antennae. Its upper body was covered in white fluff, while the lower half formed a brown, worm-like tail.
Using its three pairs of small black legs, Larvesta slowly crawled to the edge of the Charcoal nest. It seemed a bit full and left the remaining half of the shell untouched.
Shiro couldn't help lowering his head to look at Growlithe.
Growlithe squinted its eyes, its tail wagging like a propeller as it barked, "Growl!"
"Lar… owl?"
Larvesta looked at it blankly and instinctively tried to imitate the sound.
"Growl!" Growlithe barked again.
"Lar-owl…" Larvesta followed.
"Growl!"
"Lar… gr-owl…"
"…"
Shiro quickly covered Growlithe's mouth.
Larvesta was still so young. How could it start learning to bark like a dog?
Though thinking about it, if it went into battle later and opened its mouth with a bark, it might stun the opponent for half a second and gain the first-move advantage.
"Mmmph…"
Even with its mouth covered, Growlithe continued to whine unwillingly.
Seeing this dog about to lead Larvesta astray, Shiro immediately took out a Poké Ball. "Come back, come back!"
He didn't give Growlithe any chance to continue.
Meanwhile, Larvesta stared blankly at the human and the now-absent dog for a few seconds before suddenly lying down and falling asleep on the spot.
Shiro rested his fist against his chin, feeling an inexplicable sense of urgency. This was his first time seeing a Pokémon hatch. Even before birth, it had required all kinds of resources for "prenatal care," so after hatching, the consumption would definitely be even greater.
"Do we need to prepare anything else?" he asked Unown A.
'Hmm…' Unown A thought for a moment. 'Of course!'
"What?"
'I think…' it floated into the air, 'I need a cream puff made with Moomoo Milk.'
Shiro froze for a few seconds. Following the direction of Unown A's raised leg, he looked outside and realized it had already gotten dark. He had been so focused on Larvesta that he hadn't noticed the time.
'Just let Larvesta sleep here,' Unown A said casually. 'Once it finishes eating the shell, just feed it Pokéblocks.'
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