The Pokémon egg had a red base color, which suggested an association with Fire-type Pokémon, but the gray-black stripes expanded the possible range.
At least, based on Lucas' knowledge, he couldn't accurately determine what kind of Pokémon this egg was.
But why did Granny Touko want to entrust this Pokémon egg to him?
Lucas voiced his doubts. After thinking for a while, Granny Touko replied gently, "My son is an adventurer. He found this Pokémon egg while exploring the Sinnoh region. He wanted to keep it and raise the Pokémon that hatched from it, but after a long time, it still wouldn't hatch."
"Later, because carrying an egg around all the time made it hard for him to move freely, he left it with me the last time he visited, saying that when it hatched, it would help me look after my shop."
"Unfortunately, even after all this time, it still hasn't hatched. When I took it to the town's Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy said the egg is still alive—it's not a dead egg."
"I've lived for so long; my judgment isn't bad. Last month, the Pokémon you released when you turned in that peddler was very strong. Maybe, as a Trainer, you have a way to bring this little life into the world."
Granny Touko had been considering giving the egg to a reliable Trainer or Breeder for a while. Lucas seemed trustworthy, so she brought it up at this opportunity.
Lucas took the egg. It felt cool and smooth in his hands. After careful inspection, all he could be sure of was that the egg was still alive.
Even Nurse Joy, who specialized in Pokémon medicine, could only reach that conclusion. Lucas didn't think his judgment could surpass hers.
After all, his knowledge was mostly from his previous life as a gamer and anime viewer, hardly professional. In terms of expertise, Nurse Joy was far ahead.
Should he accept the egg, or politely decline Granny Touko's request? Faced with these two options, Lucas was lost in thought.
Selfishly, an unknown species of egg, with no guarantee it could hatch—two risks stacked together. Rationally, he should refuse.
Emotionally, surely Granny Touko, her son, and Nurse Joy had all done everything they could. With nothing left to try, the egg had ended up in his hands.
After a long silence, Lucas finally chose to accept the responsibility. Word by word, he said, "I can't guarantee I'll be able to bring it into the world, but I can promise I'll do everything I can to help it hatch."
"That's enough, that's enough." Granny Touko's aged hand carefully brushed around the egg and grabbed Lucas'ssleeve, as if clutching onto hope.
She was old and couldn't bear to see a life stuck in an egg, never seeing sunlight before dying.
"If this child can hatch, just let it help out on your farm. That's all I wish for."
"All right."
Lucas left the seed shop. He'd arrived empty-handed, but now he had six bags of crop seeds and a Pokémon egg in his right arm.
This unknown egg—he'd searched online but couldn't find any with a similar pattern. He'd have to make other plans.
Besides seeking expert help, he'd need to prepare some incubation nutrient solution—which was expensive. He remembered how much trouble he'd had getting it for his Dragonite's egg.
As for the incubator, which was another big expense, luckily he still had the one from Dragonite's egg, so he didn't need to worry.
Next, Lucas took the egg to other stores to order regular fertilizer and bought enough grass seeds to cover the ranch land.
Altogether, the expenses totaled exactly 10,000 League Coins. The crop seeds were the smallest part; most of the cost went to the large amount of grass seed.
Both fertilizer and grass seed would be delivered by truck, so Lucas didn't have to carry them himself.
Feeling lighter, Lucas walked back to the farm with the egg and crop seeds, looking at the yellowing sky and feeling content.
The day had truly flown by.
By the time he got back, night had fallen, stars twinkled in the sky, and the gentle moonlight was enough to see the path ahead.
From afar, he saw that at the old gate formed by a dilapidated fence, a pair of bright golden beast eyes and a ghostly flame sword were waiting for him.
A warm feeling surged in his heart, and the early spring chill couldn't stop his body from warming up. Hugging the egg, he hurried to the gate, where all six of his Pokémon, led by Luxray, stood waiting as if they'd been there a while.
Serperior glanced at Lucas with a hint of reproach, as if blaming him for always being out of sight after he got busy, and now, coming home so late.
Lucas didn't explain much. He just took out the slightly chilly egg from his arms and said, "The weather is still cold, and the egg can't handle low temperatures. Let's talk inside."
A flash of surprise crossed Serperior's eyes; it looked incredulous.
Lucas had just gone out—how did he come back with a Pokémon egg?
Aren't the six of us enough!?
Does his already-divided love need to be split even further!?
Dragonite carefully hugged Lucas, afraid of bumping the egg, then turned around and flapped its small wings, signaling that it had safely delivered Arven to their house.
Lucas patted Dragonite's head as a reward, then looked at Mimikyu, who was in emo mode from being ignored by the others, and laughed, "Mimikyu, come on, let's go home together!"
Mimikyu's droopy ragdoll ears perked up, and if you looked closely, you could see a smile in the Pikachu-like eyes on its stomach, as it began to radiate happiness.
Lucas' voice made the others, especially Luxray, realize they'd ignored Mimikyu again. Luxray, as Lucas' first Pokémon, felt responsible for uniting the team, but Mimikyu's invisible aura always made it difficult.
Only Mimikyu, with its unique "ignored by the world" vibe, kept running into obstacles.