"What in the world?!"
Nova yelped and threw himself off the sofa, only to find the blinding white light flooding out from the incubator he had set up in the corner of the living room.
Nova currently had three Pokémon Eggs, each needing a different environment to hatch. The new house was spacious enough, so he had placed the three incubators well apart from one another.
The coral-red Egg, laced with fine cracks like old porcelain, needed dry heat. Nova had filled an empty room on the second floor with sand and buried the incubator in the warm, arid grains.
The second Egg — split between grey and cyan — preferred cold and damp conditions. He had cleared out the large bathtub, placed the incubator inside, and packed it with ice made from distilled water.
The third Egg, soft green and dotted with small pawprint patterns, did best surrounded by plants. He had set it in a sunny corner of the living room, nestled among a cluster of potted greenery.
The one now blazing with light was that very same green, pawprint-covered Egg — the one he had been looking forward to the most.
Nova forgot every last shred of composure. He scrambled across the room in a clumsy, stumbling rush.
He skidded to a stop in front of the incubator just as the white light began to pull inward, drawing itself together into a single, brilliant point.
The light shifted and flowed like liquid, glowing and changing shape until the faint outline of a small feline began to form within it.
Then, in an instant, the light burst apart like a cluster of bubbles popping all at once. Nova finally blinked his eyes open and looked into the incubator properly.
The little pawprint Egg was gone. In its place sat a tiny, tender-green kitten.
Four overlapping leaf-shaped markings spread across the centre of its face, and a deep green ruff of fur circled its chest like a soft collar.
His guess had been right all along. The Egg that Mr. Charlie had won at the Glory Breeding House — it was a Sprigatito.
The little one lay quietly on the incubator's padded base, eyes still shut, as if it wasn't quite ready to face the world yet.
Nova's heart turned to mush on the spot.
This. This was what a newly hatched Pokémon looked like. Was there anything more adorable in the world than a baby Sprigatito?
And this was his very first Pokémon with a golden-tier innate talent.
His heart was hammering. His fingers were trembling. Nova pulled up the system's scan, eager to see exactly what a Champion-tier gift actually looked like.
Species: Sprigatito Level: 1 Ability: Overgrow Hidden Ability: Protean
Entries:
Love is the Greatest Force — Friendship has no upper limit. Friendship directly raises this Pokémon's base stats. The stronger the bond with its Trainer, the greater the bonus. Once hearts are truly in sync, it will respond to requests beyond formal move commands.
Wild Growth — Grass-type energy within this Pokémon is abundant. Grass-type moves gain a small boost to accuracy, power, and Speed, but evasion drops slightly.
Rooted — On grassy or forested terrain, this Pokémon recovers 16% of its max HP each turn and gains small boosts to Defense and Sp. Def.
Double Magician — After landing a move, this Pokémon may immediately use the same move again at 50% power. The follow-up is unaffected by Speed and acts at the highest priority bracket.
Femme Fatale — Dark-type moves gain a moderate boost. They deal 25% extra damage to targets of the same gender and 15% extra to targets of the opposite gender. This effect applies to both Pokémon and humans.
Jealous Flame — Moves deal 120% damage to Pokémon that share high Friendship or Affection with the Trainer.
Moves: Petal Blizzard (Egg Move), Ally Switch (Egg Move), Sucker Punch (Egg Move), Copycat (Egg Move), Leech Seed (Egg Move), Scratch, Tail Whip, Leafage…
Training Notes:
1. Diet — Include sweet, lightly tart, and fragrant ingredients in daily meals to raise Friendship and build up Grass-type energy.
2. Daily Companionship — Do NOT keep this Pokémon inside a Poké Ball.
When Nova finished reading through the basic care notes, he sat in silence for a moment.
Was it strong? Terrifyingly so.
And yet, buried within all that power, there was something a little... unsettling.
After thinking it over, he decided the core entry was "Love is the Greatest Force." With no upper limit on Friendship stat bonuses, this little cat could, in theory, grow strong enough to take down a Legendary Pokémon with a single hit. That alone, Nova thought, was more than enough to justify a golden rating.
Wild Growth and Femme Fatale strengthened its Grass-type and Dark-type STAB moves respectively, while Rooted covered the healing it would otherwise lack.
Double Magician was simply absurd. One move hitting twice. It was essentially Parental Bond, tailored specifically for Sprigatito.
But Jealous Flame gave him pause. It felt oddly out of place.
Bonus damage against Pokémon that were close to its Trainer?
That made it a terror in training scrimmages. After all, the only Pokémon with high Friendship or Affection toward a Trainer were the Trainer's own teammates.
Was it planning to take out every partner just so it could have its Trainer's love all to itself? That was a textbook yandere attitude.
Nova paused.
If it ever met Aresdra, Jealous Flame should only affect Pokémon, right?
...Right?
Because if it didn't, he was heading straight into a domestic crisis — his cat and his girlfriend competing for his attention. Something about that picture felt very, very wrong.
Fortunately, the most uncomfortable version of that scenario would never come up. Meowscarada was female. Any rivalry there would stay firmly in the realm of Pokémon.
He could think about that later. Right now, it was time to meet her properly.
Nova carefully opened the incubator and lifted the newborn Sprigatito with both hands, gently pressing his face against its soft belly.
Heh heh... Meowscarada... heh heh.
Sprigatito stirred. Sensing the change in warmth and the soft pressure of being held, it slowly opened its eyes for the very first time.
The first thing it saw was a boy with a gentle look on his face, holding it close.
The two of them stared at each other. Then the tiny Pokémon leaned forward and licked the tip of the boy's nose.
That scent would stay with it for the rest of its life.