Destiny [Pokémon]

❥ chapter XXVII

Turning back around to the coffee table, the Pokémon Professor reached inside his leather bag and produced a cylindrical glass container from it. Inside, a big, lavender egg with purple markings sat atop a pillow-like blanket. He held it out to you.

You couldn't believe your eyes, dumbstruck by this astonishing sight. A Pokémon Egg! You had never seen a real one before, only pictures of different Eggs in the chapter about Pokémon breeding in the Pokémon Care textbook from school. It looked so pretty! Alas, you didn't recognize the dark pattern that stood out in strong relief against the Egg's pale shell, and therefore couldn't tell which Pokémon was going to hatch from it ... You were only familiar with the Pokémon native to the two islands and several other Pokémon as well, like Lina's Nidoran♀ which she had caught during a trip to the mainland. But these elliptic, somewhat teardrop-shaped markings didn't ring a bell.

"C'mon, take it already, little miss." Practically thrusting the Egg case into your hand, Professor Hyperion broke you out of your stupefied state as you scrambled to get hold of the glass container before it would slip from your grasp and smash on the floor. "It's a gift from me."

"Huh?" was all you managed to say to that. You didn't understand what was going on anymore. Why did the Professor give you a gift? And a precious Pokémon Egg at that! No one would just up and give that to a complete stranger as a present. With a determined shake of your head, you tried to give it back to him. "I can't possibly accept this, Professor."

But he just folded his arms over his chest. By doing this, he thwarted your attempt to press the Egg case into his hands and, on top of that, prevented you from giving it back to him altogether, instead forcing you to keep holding on to it. "Of course you can."

"You probably don't remember, sweetie, but you once treated his Pokémon when you were younger," your mom explained, as if she had picked up on your confusion. She was smiling warmly, a stark contrast to the frown creasing your brow. "It was admitted to the clinic with a high fever, and you nursed it back to health with your special herbal medicine mixture. This Egg is from his Pokémon. He insisted on giving it to you."

"You saved her life," Professor Hyperion chipped in, his eyes fixed on you with an intense, unwavering stare. "I still don't know what exactly you did, but somehow, just by looking at her, you could tell that she had mistakenly eaten poisonous Berries. And then you ran out and came back with some herbs you fed her. Thanks to you, she was back on her feet in next to no time."

This would explain why he had recognized you—and why he had been willing to leave his lab to visit you. Scratching your cheek, you cracked a tense smile as you tried to fight back the tension seeping into your limbs. If only he knew ... You had undoubtedly talked with that Pokémon of his—unnoticed by the Pokémon Professor himself, though, as it seemed. Thank Arceus.

"I don't remember any of that, but I'm glad I could be of help."

"Even when you were just a tiny tot, you were already a chip off the old block and treading in your parents' footsteps. And you still are one talented nurse. No wonder the [Surname] Clinic for Pokémon is becoming more and more famous."

Flattered (and taken rather by surprise) by the Professor's candid praise, you found yourself blushing a little. Being so forthright complimented by an acclaimed Pokémon Professor sure was a nice feeling. You smiled brightly at him. "You really think so? Thank you very much, Professor."

"But why were you able to find out the cause of my Pokémon's fever so easily? I've been wondering about that ever since. You didn't need any kind of medical examination. You just took one look at her, and that was it. Is that like an innate talent? Or is there more to it than meets the eye?" He leaned in. Since he was taller than you, he ended up looming over you as he scrutinized you closely, intently, absorbing every inch of your face, as though he was trying to see into your head. "Care to tell me, little miss?"

The smile on your lips froze, along with the rest of your body. At the same time, your heartbeat stumbled before breaking into a gallop like a startled Deerling. He surely was not the first person to confront you with the intimate relationship you had with Pokémon, but no one had ever done it so bluntly before. And what was even worse was that his suspicion was so close to home—too close for comfort.

While suppressing the urge to lean back and away from the Professor, you struggled to keep smiling and not to let it show that his words had thrown you off balance. "You're exaggerating, Professor," you said, pulling the Egg case tightly against your chest. "I'm just good with Pokémon. It's not like I can talk with them or anything."

"Yeah! She's just got a great way with Pokémon!" Alex chirped. "Just look at how the Fennekin—what was her name again? Faniola? Just look at how she went from barking at [Nickname] to snuggling right up to her!"

"That comes as no surprise really since she grew up in a clinic for Pokémon," Lina added.

Kristie nodded energetically, her long fishtail braid whipping behind her as she did. "If you're around Pokémon more or less every day for your whole life, you naturally learn how to deal with them and read them like a book."

"And sometimes she gets a little carried away and actually starts talking to them," May lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug, "but that's all there is to it."

"Stop bothering my daughter already, Hyperion." Your dad's voice held a firm, commanding tone that didn't tolerate any contradiction and added a threatening edge to the smile on his lips. "Just because you're so bent on finding a way to communicate with Pokémon doesn't mean you have to read things that aren't there into other people's behaviour and pester a young lady like that. Only I as her dad am allowed to do that."

Professor Hyperion remained towering over you for another moment or two, scanning your face with an impenetrable expression. Then, he straightened up. "I'm sorry, little miss." He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "I went a little too far there."

"It's fine," you answered, returning his smile with one of your own. "But you did catch me off guard. Lots of people joke about me being able to talk with Pokémon, but you seemed to imply that I'm actually able to do that." You laughed, glad that it didn't betray the nervous flutter in your chest that now slowly subsided.

"Anyhow, take this Egg as a token of my gratitude for saving my Pokémon's life back then." He began to grin crookedly. "And just so you know, I won't take a no for an answer. I didn't lug it all the way here for nothing."

You bowed your head. "Thank you so very much, Professor. I promise that I will take good care of it and make sure that nothing happens to it. But"—you held up the glass container and peeked inside at the Egg coloured in two shades of purple—"exactly which Pokémon will hatch from it? You never specified that."

"You don't know? Well, if that's the case, then I won't tell you. It's going to be a surprise. You'll find out which Pokémon it is as soon as it hatches." He gave you a playful wink. "Just wait and see."

Near-instantly, you opened your mouth to negotiate with the Pokémon Professor and try to get him to tell you which Pokémon this Egg was from. But then, you changed your mind. It really would be way more exciting to wait and see what Pokémon would hatch from this Egg ... and whatever Pokémon it would turn out to be, you would happily accept it into your party.

You smiled. "Alright, let it be a surprise then. Fine by me."

"I'm still not done yet. There's one last thing I want to give you." Once more dipping into the leather gym bag, he pulled out something you couldn't quite see because he immediately hid it between his large hands—but you caught a glimpse of bright red. "Since you're already going on a journey, I want you to have this as well, little miss." He held out a rectangular device. "You know what this is, don't you?"

Of course you knew that. Who didn't? Literally every kid, no matter the region they were living in, dreamed of receiving one of these on the day their Pokémon journey would begin—but only a handful of kids were actually chosen to carry them. These were the lucky few, the "chosen ones," said to have exceptional potential and skill.

And you were going to be one of them ...?