"Riku, what on earth is going on?"
"Why did Gardevoir suddenly appear here?"
May was a little nervous. She had already witnessed Gardevoir's strength at the Gym.
Even if all her Pokémon teamed up, they wouldn't be a match for Gardevoir.
That was a being that could even defeat Drake's Dragonite in an instant!
"I don't know either. You've been with me the whole time. I haven't had any interaction with Gardevoir at all," Riku said helplessly, then smiled at the Gardevoir that was gradually floating toward him.
"Excuse me, is there something you need from me?"
"I noticed earlier that you seemed to be staring at me the whole time."
"Sana sana…"
"No way, don't scare me!" Gardevoir's response startled Riku.
"Riku, what did Gardevoir say?" May quickly shook Riku twice.
She knew that high-level Gardevoir could communicate telepathically.
What she didn't know was that Riku could understand Pokémon speech—
A rare ability that only a few humans possessed.
And Riku had obtained this ability through the system.
Before Riku could respond, a large egg floating in mid-air suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was a Pokémon egg with green spots, about three parts tall and two parts wide.
Riku saw it for the first time and quickly, carefully held it with both hands, afraid he might drop it.
May shuddered all over. "Riku, what… what on earth is going on?
Don't tell me this is Gardevoir's egg…"
Riku shook his head. "I don't know why, but it seems Gardevoir wants to give me its egg."
"Sana sana…"
"Master, I hope you can let my child follow you."
"Why choose me?" Riku asked confusedly.
"You should also be able to see that I'm not even a Pokémon Trainer yet. And it's a bit weird for you to call me Master… Hey, don't leave!"
Unexpectedly, while Riku was still asking, Gardevoir looked down at the Pokémon egg and suddenly flew away.
May, being quick-witted, saw Gardevoir heading toward a Pokémon Trainer named Koga who was rushing over.
She immediately instructed Blastoise to speed away.
Even Drake had been defeated—May and Riku didn't stand a chance.
If they were misunderstood, it could lead to serious consequences.
---
On the way back, the two talked quite a bit.
But they still couldn't understand why Gardevoir would do such a thing.
Its Trainer had defeated Drake—perhaps even a regional Champion!
Why would a Pokémon like that choose an ordinary person like Riku?
Even after Riku jumped off Blastoise, May still hadn't figured it out.
Carefully holding Gardevoir's egg, he returned to the small wooden house.
The hungry three dumb birds and Groudon were about to complain, but the moment they saw the large egg in Riku's hands, their eyes lit up with excitement—
They even started jumping up and down.
"Roar…"
"Gaa gaa…"
"Chirp chirp…"
"Coo coo coo…"
The four Pokémon cried out in unison.
Riku returning late and holding an egg clearly meant—an extra meal!
They had eaten plenty of seafood.
But eggs? That was new.
And such a large one at that—it looked absolutely delicious.
Soft-boiled egg! I like soft-boiled eggs!"
"No way! A big one like this has to be a fried egg."
"Bullshit, you guys don't know how to eat Scrambled eggs are the best!"
"Don't fight me for it! It's my first day here—this egg is my welcoming meal. Let me eat it all!"
…
Instantly, the three dumb birds and Groudon were arguing fiercely—
They were even about to fight.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!"
Riku's expression turned serious.
He had heard their greedy chatter loud and clear.
"I'm warning you!"
"This is an egg that Gardevoir entrusted to me.
Whoever dares to touch it—I'll chop off their claws!"
"And don't say I didn't warn you in advance—
Gardevoir's mother is very strong. She defeated Drake's Dragonite with a single move.
If you don't want to die, you'd better behave yourselves!"
Riku was furious.
Outside, the wind was calm and the waves were quiet.
But to the three birds and Groudon, it felt like the earth was shaking and the weather was changing.
The Lord of the Land—Groudon—felt it most directly.
It felt like the earth itself was about to crack,
and a long-dormant volcano inside it was on the verge of erupting.
If it really stole Gardevoir's egg… it too might become an egg. A cooked one.
Frightened by Riku, the three birds and Groudon quickly nodded.
Eating was important.
But their lives were more important.
---
After carefully placing the egg back inside the small wooden house,
Zappy suddenly pointed excitedly at the large water tank outside like it was showing off a treasure.
"Did you electrocute fish again? So many… can you guys even finish them all?"
Riku had a headache.
The fish and shrimp in the large water tank were so full, they were about to overflow.
Thump, thump, thump…
Groudon patted its hard chest in confidence, guaranteeing there was no problem at all.
Riku knew the four of them were starving.
With no choice, he was about to clean a few fresh fish to quickly feed the hungry bunch—
when he suddenly noticed something odd.
"You guys… come take a look."
Riku pulled a large fish out of the tank.
"This… this should be a Pokémon, right?"
"Although it's kind of ugly…I'm certain this fish is a Pokémon."
---Support with power stones