41 The Egg Miracle

My victory is short-lived, however…

"Nicole, we have a problem!" Courtney shouts, running to me with the egg in her arms. A slight crack has developed on the top.

I turn to her as irate as my subconscious will allow me to be. "Not exactly what I want to hear right now," I utter with venom dripping from my lips. The egg shakes slightly. "What's happening with it?"

"It's"—the top of the egg cracks more— "hatching…"

Courtney wordlessly hands me the egg as my eyes remained transfixed upon it. After all this time, after all this…pain, I can finally see what I've been waiting for. What pokémon has unknowingly been traveling with me, subject to trials they likely will never know?

The top cracks completely, creating a sort of lid to the egg. We all watch in anticipation as the pokémon inside slowly reveals itself, lifting the egg lid.

The first things that stand out to me are the two orange, plate-like structures sticking out of the front and back of the pokémon's head. The one on what I presume is the front is slightly bigger than the one on the back. They two horns sit on a blue-hair like substance that I believe is closer to flesh in composition. It blocks the eyes of the pokémon as its two hands help it climb out of the egg.

"Is that a Ralts?" Korrina whispers. "It doesn't look right…"

"It's a shiny variant," Courtney whispers back, though it's obvious in this empty, silent room. "They're rare alternate colorations of pokémon."

"Yeah, but is it supposed to be that big?" Gurkinn mumbles, louder than both Korrina and Courtney.

Although their comments slightly interrupt the birth of this beautiful Ralts, they're not unwarranted. Yes, this is a shiny variant of the normal Ralts with orange horns and light-blue hair. Yes, it is quite abnormally large for just being born. In fact, once it fully develops over the next week or two, I suspect that this Ralts, just naturally, will be about half of my height. Maybe more?

I gently help the Ralts out of its shell, using my robotic strength to support me as I cradle the child against my body. "Hello, littl—Ralts. Welcome to the world," I whisper in its ear. It grabs against me, hitting my chest with its arms. Even for being just born, it's like a fairly strong five-year-old pounding my chest.

In other words, it's slightly hurting.

"Please don't do that…" I coax the Ralts by holding it by the pits in front of me. From this angle, I can see that the eyes are a vibrant red, almost leaking light from them.

"Red eyes?" That's all I can say before it grabs my forehead and assaults me with a migraine akin to that of the Malamar.

"Not…again…" I see my arms shoot out to brace me as light fades from my vision.

———————————————————————————————————————

I open my eyes, expecting to be in my mental landscape again. Maybe my memory library, or some other aspect of my psyche, but no… That would be too simple.

I'm in a bed. Twin sized with white sheets and a thrown off comforter. I appear to be in a single-room apartment with a massive glass window on one wall. Covered by blinds and…blackout curtains, when I peek through, I see a thundering storm outside. Rough winds are blowing trashcans and other debris through the street.

Turning back to the room, I take stock of the furniture…or rather, the lack of it. Other than the bed, there's a small kitchenette with a fridge and electric stove. A doormat at the door, an entrance to the bathroom, a desk with a desktop computer, and my closet.

My closet?

I…don't remember this place. Yet…I feel like I've lived here before. I don't like discrepancies in my memory, and I feel the need to dig deeper.

The lock jiggles as someone struggles to put their key in the door. It always did stick…

Ugh… This is getting old pretty fast…

Calmly, I open the closet, silently note that only a third of it is filled, and step inside, closing the door behind me.

Now that I'm hiding, I can…gather my thoughts. But if I'm in my own mind, wouldn't my thoughts be somewhere around here?

…I feel it futile to dwell on the machinations of my mind. I'm not a psychologist nor do I plan on becoming one.

Last I remember, I was looking into Ralts's eyes before succumbing to the newborn's psychic power. I should definitely look into making protection against psychic attacks at this rate. This is what? Two times in the matter of a few weeks? Yeah…

Discount the fact that I've been mentally assaulted by a newborn pokémon that is 100% going into a pokéball, I should also deal with the red eyes that I saw—a telltale sign of an Alpha Pokémon. They went extinct as trainers became more prevalent as the alphas were capable of commanding other pokémon like trainers did naturally along with being larger and stronger than others of its kind.

If I were to publish any findings, I might become…popular. Especially for those in archeological fields…

———————————————————————————————————————

I blink, staring up at a…pink ceiling. Two paws are resting on my head—Lucario's, I think?

Slowly, I sat up, feeling a slight strain on my temples and a weight on my torso. Looking down, I find the Ralts clinging tightly to my chest.

"Nicole?" To my right, Korrina approaches with visible worry on her face, and Courtney not far behind. Gurkinn is standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

"What…is going on?" I barely spit out. My mouth feels like a desert right now.

Courtney notices and pours me a glass of water from a pitcher on the nightstand. I graciously accept while I wait for someone to start talking.

"After the Ralts grabbed your head, you both just passed out," Korrina timidly begins… Something's off. "Your robotic tentacles shot out and cocooned you. Gurkinn and Lucario couldn't move you at all."

She stops, not continuing further. Courtney picks up on this and continues. "They moved for Korrina and me, though, so we moved you to her room." She jabs a thumb to the side at Korrina. "We had the idea to have Lucario course some aura through you to help your healing."

I don't respond to them. I'm just…thinking. My bag is on the nightstand. Korrina's nightstand…

Pushing the fact that I'm in Korrina's room to the side, I reach into my bag and grab an empty pokéball. Gently, I press it into the sleeping Ralts's head, watching as the abnormal pokémon is pulled inside.

With three little shakes and a click, I'm assured that the pokémon is captured. I'll check gender later…though it's probably female and assign a name later. I have a lot to process and plan for.

Getting up from the bed, my bones crack like stepping on glass. "Thank you for the hospitality, Korrina, but I think I'm going back to the inn for some recuperation. I hope that we can meet up tomorrow to continue this discussion after I…think through some stuff."

I continued walking towards the door, not waiting for an answer.

There's a lot to do.