Chapter 10: Pokémon Egg Hatching
After much deliberation among the Technical Machines in the shop, Ryan first selected Sleep Talk, which all Pokémon can learn. Then he chose Protect, a move that provides complete damage immunity. Next came the weather moves: Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Hail, and Sandstorm. Finally, he selected two incredibly powerful TMs: Hyper Beam and Giga Impact, for a total of eight TMs.
It wasn't that he didn't want others, but these would suffice for now. Ryan decided to spend his remaining points on personal skills. After all, they were traveling together now, and they couldn't just rely on convenience store food and energy bars like before.
Without hesitation, he spent points on character abilities. First, Cooking and First Aid. Both nutrition and medical care are crucial in the wilderness, so these two skills were essential purchases. They were also reasonably priced at 200 points each, compared to Pokémon items that often cost tens of thousands.
The comparison was painful to his wallet.
Next was Transportation Mastery, costing 600 points. While expensive, it included proficiency with all necessary vehicles. Cars, planes, boats—give Ryan a rocket and he could even pilot it to space!
He spent 1,000 points on Pokémon Communication, allowing him to understand Pokémon speech and making communication and training much easier. He'd keep the remaining 280 points for emergency purchases.
As for his Battle Points, he'd accumulated over 14,000. He spent 12,000 to unlock the Ability Modifier, something Ryan had always wanted. Some Pokémon have truly problematic abilities, and being able to change them would be incredible.
However, after purchasing it, he was somewhat disappointed: he could only modify his own Pokémon's abilities, not change them to completely different ones.
But thinking about it, being able to grant any ability would be absurdly overpowered. For instance, pairing Shadow Tag with Wonder Guard would create an invincible Pokémon.
After consideration, he decided Charizard's ability didn't need changing. While Solar Power delivered explosive damage, the constant HP drain in sunlight was problematic. He changed Sylveon's ability to Pixilate, allowing Normal-type moves to become Fairy-type. Greninja was switched to Protean for more flexible type coverage. Beedrill, Nidoran♂, and Oddish didn't need changes—their current abilities were optimal.
After completing the modifications, he summoned his Pokémon and had them learn their new moves. Then Ryan checked his team's updated status.
Pokémon: Charizard
Level: 36,
Gender: Male
Height: 200cm,
Weight: 98kg
Ability: Blaze Moves: Dragon Rush (Egg Move), Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Flamethrower, Scary Face, Fire Fang, Fire Spin, Slash, Wing Attack, Sunny Day, Sleep Talk, Protect, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact
Pokémon: Sylveon
Level: 35,
Gender: Female
Height: 30cm,
Weight: 6.5kg
Ability: Pixilate Moves: Yawn (Egg Move), Helping Hand, Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, Baby-Doll Eyes, Quick Attack, Fairy Wind, Draining Kiss, Skill Swap, Misty Terrain, Light Screen, Moonblast, Swift, Calm Mind, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sleep Talk, Protect, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact
Pokémon: Beedrill (Shiny)
Level: 38
Gender: Male
Height: 100cm,
Weight: 29.5kg
Ability: Sniper Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Harden, Fury Attack, Twineedle, Rage, Pursuit, Focus Energy, Venoshock, Assurance, Toxic Spikes, Agility, Endeavor, Fell Stinger, Sunny Day, Sleep Talk, Protect, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact
Pokémon: Frogadier
Level: 34,
Gender: Male
Height: 30cm,
Weight: 7kg
Ability: Protean Moves: Toxic Spikes (Egg Move), Pound, Growl, Bubble, Quick Attack, Lick, Water Pulse, Smokescreen, Round, U-turn, Substitute, Bounce, Shadow Clone, Hydro Pump, Rain Dance, Sleep Talk, Protect, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact
Pokémon: Nidoran♂
Level: 5,
Gender: Male
Height: 50cm,
Weight: 9kg
Ability: Poison Point Moves: Sucker Punch (Egg Move), Leer, Peck, Poison Sting, Horn Attack, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sleep Talk, Protect
Pokémon: Oddish
Level: 5,
Gender: Female
Height: 50cm,
Weight: 5.4kg
Ability: Chlorophyll Moves: Teeter Dance (Egg Move), Absorb, Growth, Sweet Scent, Sunny Day, Sleep Talk, Protect
After some thought, he decided to teach Nidoran♂ and Oddish just Sleep Talk and Protect for now, since they were intended as gifts for Lillie and shouldn't be overtrained.
Just as he finished storing his Pokémon, there was a knock at his door. Ryan immediately got up to answer it. Lillie stood there in white pajamas, clutching the Pokémon egg with a panicked expression. "Ryan! The egg just started glowing!"
The Pokémon egg in her arms flashed white again, then dimmed. Drawing on his extensive experience with Pokémon media, Ryan immediately said, "Come in quickly! The egg is about to hatch!"
Lillie hurried into the room and placed the egg on Ryan's desk. Ryan closed the door and turned back to see the egg glowing again, this time staying illuminated. Ryan knew the little one inside couldn't wait to enter the world!
He quickly moved to sit beside the desk with Lillie to witness the birth. The white light gradually intensified. Lillie nervously gripped Ryan's pajama sleeve. Then, with a soft crack, the light faded.
A small, fluffy white creature appeared before them. As Ryan had suspected, it was an Alolan Vulpix, an Ice-type regional variant. The Pokémon opened its eyes, sat up, and looked back and forth between Ryan and Lillie, wondering who would be its trainer.
Ryan stood up and stepped back slightly. The Ice-type Vulpix immediately approached Lillie, calling out softly while nuzzling its small head against her cheek. Lillie happily embraced the Vulpix, stroking its soft fur and smiling. "You're so cool and beautiful. From now on, I'll call you Snowy."
Snowy closed its eyes contentedly, accepting the name with a pleased expression. Seeing this, Ryan retrieved a Poké Ball from his bag and handed it to Lillie. "Lillie, since Snowy has hatched and bonded with you, you should catch it. This will be your starter Pokémon."
Lillie hesitated, not taking the Poké Ball. "I'm not sure that's right. This is the Pokémon that Professor Kukui asked me to deliver to Professor Oak."
"It's fine. Besides, I already discussed this possibility with Professor Oak beforehand, and he's not unreasonable. He simply wants to study regional variants. You can just stay at Oak's lab a bit longer for research." Ryan placed the Poké Ball directly in Lillie's hands. "Besides, you should consider Snowy's feelings. Maybe it wants to travel with you more than anything."
Lillie was persuaded by his reasoning. She held the Poké Ball in front of Snowy and asked, "Snowy, are you willing to travel with me and become my partner Pokémon?"
Snowy nodded enthusiastically, gently touching the ball's button with its nose, transforming into red light as it was captured. Lillie hugged the Poké Ball happily. "This is wonderful!"
Seeing this, Ryan also placed the Poké Balls containing Nidoran♀ and Clefairy in Lillie's hands. When she looked at him questioningly, Ryan blushed slightly and said, "Well, to celebrate you becoming a Pokémon trainer. These are two Pokémon I selected for you at the Game Corner. I hope you like them."
"Thank you so much, Ryan." Lillie gave him a warm hug, wished him good night, and left his room.
That hug kept Ryan smiling until he fell asleep. Sylveon, who served as his pillow, shook her head with amusement: Her trainer seemed very happy indeed!
To be continued...
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