Watching the staff member about to place that Pokémon Egg onto the shelf, Evan Lane rushed forward in a few quick steps and hugged it tightly in his arms.
Only after he was actually holding the Egg did Evan finally feel a wave of relief.
His sudden movement startled the staff member so badly that she nearly thought some criminal had come to rob the Starter Center of its Pokémon Eggs!
Evan’s parents quickly followed after him as well.
“Evan, what happened?” Evan also realized that he had lost his composure because he had been too excited.
He coughed a few times and forcibly calmed himself down.
“Well, Mom, Dad, I’m choosing this one.
The moment I saw it, I knew we were meant to meet!” Mia, the guide who had caught up with them, looked at the Pokémon Egg in Evan’s arms.
It was covered in scratches, and she could not understand why he would choose one with such a poor appearance.
Although Evan’s parents did not understand much about raising Pokémon, even they felt the Egg looked unreliable.
“Evan, why don’t you think about it a little more?
This Pokémon Egg looks worse than the eggs at the grocery store!” By the way, ordinary animals still existed in this world.
Animals used as food, such as cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs, were raised on specialized farms.
As for the others, they could only really be seen in zoos.
After all, with the powerful abilities Pokémon possessed, ordinary animals could not survive alongside them in the same ecosystem.
Hearing his father’s words, Evan rolled his eyes.
What chicken egg?
What duck egg?
This was a phoenix egg, all right!
“Mom, Dad, I’ve made up my mind.
This is the one!
And even if things don’t turn out perfectly, I won’t abandon it.
Don’t worry.” Seeing how certain Evan was, his parents chose to trust their son’s instincts.
At the checkout counter, because he was buying an unidentified Egg, he saved quite a lot of money.
Because of that, Evan chose the best incubator and nutrient solution available.
He also ordered a batch of high-quality Moomoo Milk through the Starter Center’s supply channels.
Moomoo Milk was milk produced by Miltank.
It was said that the better a Miltank’s mood, the higher the quality of its milk.
Some farms even played music for nursing Miltank to help soothe their emotions.
Moomoo Milk was rich in nutrients, making it perfect for feeding newborn Pokémon.
That was also why it was so expensive.
Even so, Evan spent far less this time than expected.
Originally, his parents had prepared around $30,000 for him to buy a Pokémon.
A normal Pokémon was roughly around that price.
Ordinary Pokémon Eggs were even more expensive, usually between $35,000 and $40,000.
The Pokémon Eggs in the mystery egg section were much cheaper.
Each one only cost $10,000 to $15,000.
Considering the poor condition of the Egg in Evan’s hands, he bought it for just $10,000.
Including the hatching supplies and a month’s worth of Moomoo Milk, Evan had only spent $20,000.
His parents originally planned to give the remaining $10,000 to Evan as his starting fund for raising his Pokémon, but Evan refused.
To support his dream of becoming a Trainer, his family had even sold their old family home.
Recently, they had been living as frugally as possible.
Evan only took $5,000 and left the remaining $5,000 for his parents to improve things at home.
He believed that as long as he kept walking farther down the path of a Trainer, sooner or later, he would give his parents a better life.
Evan did not only believe in himself.
He also believed in his first partner, Snivy!
On the way home, Evan looked at the Pokémon Egg inside the incubator and could barely control the excitement in his heart.
This little one had not even been born yet, but her panel was so luxurious that Evan could not help wondering if, just like the joke from his old world, her father was secretly Rayquaza or something.
The Hidden Ability Contrary alone, paired with Leaf Storm in the future, would already raise this little one’s potential to an absurd level.
After all, Contrary’s effect was to reverse stat changes.
Buffs became debuffs, and debuffs became buffs.
When combined with Leaf Storm, a high-power move whose drawback was lowering Special Attack by two stages, it basically meant she could attack while strengthening herself at the same time.
She would become a walking artillery platform.
Having Glare as an Egg Move was already a surprise among surprises.
Add Iron Tail, a Steel-type move that expanded her coverage, and she even had Grassy Terrain as a field move.
It was the perfect finishing touch.
Putting all of that aside, this little one was actually a little princess!
Among Snivy, the chance of being female was only 12.5 percent, almost as rare as some of the highest shiny odds.
Evan was already looking forward to the queenly presence she would have after evolving into Serperior.
After returning home, Evan placed the incubator on his desk and began flipping through the Starter Center’s handbook, Hatching and Raising Young Pokémon.
Although Evan had been a game-focused player in his previous life, he knew absolutely nothing about hatching Pokémon in reality.
Reality could not possibly work by just walking enough steps to hatch an Egg, right?
The booklet was not thick.
Evan carefully read through it twice, afraid that he might miss something and affect the little one’s birth or growth.
Through the booklet, Evan learned that a Pokémon Egg usually took around two to three days to hatch.
During this period, he needed to pay attention to the color of the nutrient solution.
When the blue nutrient solution gradually turned transparent, it meant the Pokémon Egg was about to hatch.
At that time, the top of the incubator would also flash red, reminding the Trainer to drain the nutrient solution and take the Pokémon Egg out.
Evan did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that the color of the Pokémon Egg in the incubator had become much brighter.
As expected, premium nutrient solution really did have something to it.
“Looks like you really do get what you pay for.” Evan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Two days later.
Looking at the transparent nutrient solution inside the incubator, Evan began making preparations for the hatching.
He had not been idle these past two days either.
While digesting the memories in his mind, he had also been learning the general situation of this world.
According to Evan’s understanding, this world was made up of a rare total of ten major regions.
Aside from the well-known eight regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar, it also included the Arcadia Region where Evan lived, as well as the newly discovered Paldea Region.
“In other words, I can catch a Sprigatito?” Thinking of that, the sleek and stylish figure of Meowscarada appeared in Evan’s mind.
The existence of ten regions also meant that Mega Evolution had already been discovered and confirmed as a proper system, and Dynamax was also widely used in Galar.
That meant the only advantageous system left for Evan was Terastallization from the newly discovered Paldea Region.
“Looks like the path of relying on Mega Evolution and then becoming a researcher really doesn’t suit me.” As a battle-focused player, Evan did feel a little regretful that he had lost so many advantages.
But he already had the system’s support, along with knowledge ahead of his peers.
If he still had to rely on knowing one Mega Evolution slot in advance to beat others, even winning would feel a little lacking in satisfaction.
“Ahem.
That was a lie.
I can totally rely on Terastallization and become a researcher instead.
Just kidding, don’t roast me.” Evan coughed once.
Just then, the sound of an eggshell cracking rang out in the room, cutting off his thoughts.
The Pokémon Egg Evan had placed on a soft cushion began to show dense cracks across its surface, but it still did not fully break open.
The little one inside seemed to grow a little anxious.
The Pokémon Egg began rocking harder and harder.
Seeing this, Evan also became anxious.
He had just been about to step forward and help, but he immediately stopped himself.
Evan understood as well.
For a newborn Pokémon, this was a very important lesson.