Ihe incubator, a Pokémon egg with blue and red patterns shook violently, pulsing with rhythmic bursts of light resembling breaths.

  At a g almost looked like a bomb about to explode.

  "Bunn!"

  Spinning in a panic, Buneary calmed down the moment Natsume arrived, darting to him as if seeking reassurance, waving its little arms wildly.

  "Rex, rex. It’s fine," Natsume said soothingly.

  He had a pretty good guess about the egg with the blue and red diamond-shaped patterns. After all, in the Pokémon world, not many Pokémon sported this coloration.

  Could it be one of those jet fighters?

  "Buneary, could you go downstairs and grab two bottles of Moomoo Milk for me? And bring the pokéblocks I packed in the pink pouch."

  "And Mino, please prepare a towel and a basin of warm water."

  Even though he wasn’t sure if he’d need all of it, Natsume preferred to be prepared. g for a newly hatched Pokémon was entirely different from reading about it online.

  "Bun!"

  "Mi!"

  The two Pokémon dashed off towards the stairs to plete their tasks.

  Behind Natsume, Persian padded into the room. It g the soon-to-hatch egg, then at Corvisquire, who was croug by the incubator like a fool, its face almost pressed against the gss.

  "Meow~"

  Letting out a soft sigh, Persian nudged Corvisquire out of the way, pletely ign its squawks of protest. It also herded Furret and Sandshrew out of the room food measure.

  Before stepping out, Persias tail to gently he door closed, leaving it open just a crack—wide enough for the Pokémon outside to peek in without disturbing Natsume.

  Persian vaguely remembered reading somewhere that a newly hatched Pokémon often bonded with the first being it saw, sidering them the closest presen its life.

  For this reason, most trainers chose to be alone in the room during suents, even excluding their closest panions.

  Where had Persian picked up that tidbit?

  Ah, yes. It was back when a younger Natsume had been struggling with schoolwork and dragged Persian into his studies, expinibook material as if it were a captive student.

  Peering through the cra the door, Persian watched as Natsume calmly prepared everything. It couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia.

  The mischievous little boy had grown up.

  Granted, Natsume had always seemed mature for his age, but there was a certain unging essence about men.

  High EQ phrasing: "A man’s heart is forever youthful."

  Low EQ phrasing: "Boys stay childish no matter how old they get."

  "Bunn!"

  Carrying milk and energy cubes, Buneary hahe supplies to Natsume before retreating to sit beside Persian, peeking into the room.

  Mino followed suit.

  Many people uimated the strength of smaller Pokémon, assuming their petite stature meant limited power.

  Iy, even "small and cute" Pokémon like Buneary could knock the wind out of you with a single punch.

  Ihe room, Natsume carefully lifted the egg out of the incubator and pced it into a small, prepared .

  Unsciously, sweat formed in his palms. The birth of new life always carried a sense of arofouion.

  Finally, a crisp "crack" sounded.

  The egg bathed in white light began to ge.

  When the glow faded, a small Pokémon still mostly encased in its eggshell appeared before Natsume.

  It blis wide eyes in fusion, the hazy world around it gradually ing into focus.

  In its emerging vision, one figure domihe view.

  "Tokii?"

  Guided by instinct, the tiny Pokémon reached out with its arms.

  Warm hands gently scooped it up.

  "Hello, Togepi," Natsume greeted with a smile. "I’m Natsume. From now on, we’re family."

  Togepi, its tiny lips puckered, didn’t quite uand the words. But the warmth of Natsume’s presend the f aura he exuded were enough to make it instinctively clutch his shirt.

  "Toki-toki!"

  led in Natsume’s arms, Togepi happily kicked its little feet, enjoying the milk Natsume fed it from a bottle.

  The milk, warmed to just the right temperature, was mixed with crushed energy cubes specially made for young Pokémon, giving it a sweet fvor that Togepi adored.

  Os belly was full, Togepi ced ba its .

  Curious, its tiny eyes roamed around the vast and unfamiliar world. To the newborn, everything seemed enormous.

  "Toki!"

  Gripping the er of its bogepi attempted to roll over, but after several tries, its tiny limbs couldn’t muster enough strength to aplish the task.

  Squirtle could surely rete.

  "Mi-mi!"

  "Ri-ri!"

  Outside the door, Natsume’s Pokémon waited impatiently.

  After Togepi’s birth, Persian had closed the door even tighter, wary of the group’s noisy antics sg the newborn.

  Persian uood this little one would be the farm’s ter of attention for the foreseeable future.

  Although Natsume believed iing all his partners equally, emotions weren’t always so easily trolled. It was iable that his focus would shift to the newer for a while.

  As the de facto sed-in-and on the farm, Persian saw it as its responsibility to care for the new arrival and maintain harmony among the other Pokémon.

  The st thing it wanted etty squabbles over attention.

  Gng at the gathered Pokémon, Persian appeared as calm as ever, but its mind was already pnning.

  "Meow~"

  Its tail swished zily. A cat’s thoughts were always mysterious and difficult to dis.

  The door creaked open slightly.

  Natsume peeked out, addressing the group softly. "Togepi’s asleep. You e in and see, but don’t wake it up."

  At his words, the Pokémon quietly—well, as quietly as they could—poured into the room.

  Gathering around Togepi’s little , they gazed at their new panion with curiosity and affe.

  "Does this make me a senior now?"

  Furret tilted its head, staring at Togepi’s sleeping face adorned with a goofy smile.

  Its tail swayed gently, a clear sign of its good mood.

  Gcell