Chapter 9: Oak's Pasture

The rest of the school day quickly went by for Michael. The only two things that remained in his mind were his Pokemon egg and receiving his reward from Professor Oak.

Michael could see his mother waiting for him at the gate alongside the professor.

"How was your day, my little Machop? I bet all the girls were fawning over y… Hmm? I thought you received your first Pokemon today?" Gigi grabbed Michael into a hug, only separating after she noticed that her son didn't have a Pokemon by his side.

"Mm. My day was nice! And I did receive my Pokemon! It's right here." Michael then motioned to the incubator he had put in his empty backpack.

"Oh my! What Pokemon did you pick that they didn't have already hatched?" Gigi was even more confused after seeing the egg.

"You've got it all wrong, Mom! I chose to receive a mystery egg." Michael replied a bit gingerly. He understood that from an outsider's perspective, passing up the opportunity of receiving a high-quality starter Pokemon for a Mystery Egg was unusual to say the least.

"Ah, so that's the case! I must say, Michael, you intrigue me time and time again! I remember receiving this particular egg from a colleague of mine. According to her words, she found it in the deepest parts of Ula'Ula Island! Whatever your new partner may turn out to be, I'm sure that it will be a powerful ally!" Professor Oak offered context that Michael hadn't known.

Hearing his words, Michael's excitement only grew. The Alola region was known as a home to various kinds of regional variants of certain Pokemon.

"Well if Professor Oak is saying it, then I truly have nothing to worry about!" Gigi casted all of her doubts away after listening to Professor Oak.

"Now that you're here, how about we make our way to my lab first? We can check on the egg's health there just in case, then we'll head to the pasture. How does that sound, Michael?" Professor Oak asked.

"Mm. Thank you, Professor!" Michael thanked him with a genuine smile.

The group of three wasted no more time as they headed towards Oak's Lab. It was a pleasant 15-minute walk through the rolling fields as a gentle wind blew past.

The sight of Oak Labs' signature wind turbine entered Michael's vision. It wasn't his first time visiting, but something about this visit in particular filled Michael with a boyish excitement that he had only ever felt in this lifetime.

Michael never had a chance to enjoy being young before, his past life being filled with rage and bloodshed that was forced on him. As a result, his reactions to the warmth and love he had received throughout his ten years of life in this world were all genuine.

His initial resignation to forming deep bonds with those around him wore down over time. He began calling his parents Mom and Dad, he became friends with Sabrina, and most importantly, he allowed himself to enjoy his life.

Professor Oak's lab assistants all greeted the group as they entered. The various machines meant for research were truly spectacular to observe for Gigi and Michael no matter how often they've visited in the past.

The group stepped into one of the available rooms as Professor Oak directed them towards a peculiar machine. It was shaped similarly to a donut, with various LEDs on the inner rim. A computer display was connected to the machine through a handful of wires.

Following the professor's instructions, Michael placed the incubator in the center of the machine. Shortly after, the LEDs began flashing rapidly, producing an array of green lines that scanned the egg inside from top to bottom.

In just a matter of minutes, the machine finished its scans and presented its results on the screen. The results were practically unreadable for Gigi as she found it hard to make any sense of the numbers on the screen. Michael had a vague understanding of the results, however even he was unable to discern exactly what each number was correlated with.

"Interesting! The egg is in perfect health, yet there are no discernible Energy signatures available for the computer to confidently determine the Pokemon's typing. There are traces of four different Typing Energies, specifically Grass, Ghost, Flying, and Fighting, yet no single Energy is stronger than the other." Professor Oak said with the curiosity of a true researcher.

"But Professor, I thought it was impossible for a Pokemon to have more than two types?" Michael asked inquisitively.

"Indeed. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that they cannot hold multiple potential evolutions of varying typings. Take Eevee for example: Eevee is a curious Pokemon with 8 different evolutions, an anomaly amongst all other Pokemon capable of evolution, therefore it must have some level of Affinity towards all 8 of those Typing Energies.

I have used this concept to determine the Pokemon species inside eggs in the past, but I must say, I'm not familiar with a Pokemon that would naturally hold Affinities towards these four particular Energies…" Professor Oak explained to Gigi and Michael.

Michael's eyes widened upon hearing the professor's words. His words insinuated one of three possibilities: 1. This is a new Pokemon species, 2. The Pokemon in the egg has an additional evolutionary path that has yet to be discovered, or 3. This is a Regional-Form that has yet to be researched.

"It also seems as if your egg will hatch by the end of the day according to the scans! I can't help but ask: would it be alright for me to observe the hatching process of your Pokemon, Michael?" The professor didn't try to hide his intrigue.

"Mm. Of course, Professor! I'm just excited to meet my new partner!" Michael responded without a second thought. He understood after spending more time around him that the professor was truly kind-hearted and dedicated to his research.

"Haha, that's the spirit! Now, how about we make our way to the pasture so you can receive your reward?" Professor Oak spoke while smiling, a sliver of his thoughts still fixated on the anomaly inside the egg.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Professor!" Gigi chimed in.

Michael returned the incubator to his backpack before following Professor Oak out of the lab with his mother. Professor Oak's pasture was nearby, taking less than 5 minutes for them to arrive at the front gate.

There wasn't any form of security around the premises as the Pokemon inside the pasture themselves were more than capable of warding off any undesirable guests. It was divided into quadrants to separate four different simulated environments for the Pokemon to thrive in.

"Welcome to Oak Pastures! We host about 300 different species of Pokemon here on over 1500 acres of land, all generously donated to us by the Kanto region Pokemon League. Please follow me for a tour of the area!" A man dressed in a ranger outfit welcomed the group at the front gate.

"No need, Ian. I'll be giving them the tour personally this time!" Professor Oak clarified.

"Of course, Professor! I hope you two have a pleasant time!" The ranger understood and quickly left the group alone.

"*ehem* Now, let me show you around the pasture! Is there anything in particular you'd like to see, Michael?" The professor directed his question to the 10 year old.

"Mmhmm! Are there any regional-form Pokemon here, Professor?" Michael asked. Now that he had already received his starter Pokemon, Michael was no longer interested in simply touring the pasture.

"Ah, I should have known you'd be curious about them! We currently house four Regional-Form Pokemon on our pasture, just let me contact their trainers and I can bring them here for you to meet and observe them." Professor Oak said with his usual joyful tone.

While the professor stepped away for a second to contact a few trainers, Michael and Gigi waited patiently for him while talking about various things.

The egg sitting in Michael's backpack moved ever so slightly at some point, causing Michael to check on it. To his surprise, there was a small crack at the top of the egg indicating that the hatching process was starting to begin. The movements of the egg became more frequent, forming more cracks all along the shell.

Watching this occur, Michael couldn't help but subconsciously sit next to the egg and begin to feed it some of his Fighting-type energy. It was the only Typing Energy he had proficiency in out of the four Energies Professor Oak mentioned detecting.

The process physically drained Michael as the Energy he released was being absorbed at an alarming rate, causing him to show clear signs of fatigue on his face, yet the egg was happily devouring everything Michael threw at it. Michael, however, held strong as he continuously poured his Energy into the egg as it struggled to hatch, not knowing how much time had gone by.

"Oh my! I'll go get Professor Oak! Don't overdo it, Michael!" Gigi recognized Michael's fatigued expression and immediately ran to fetch the professor.

Professor Oak eventually returned with Gigi, his eyes widening at the scene in front of him. Although he wanted to take action and assist Michael, he couldn't help but remain motionless as he wanted to see what would result from Michael's efforts. Of course, Professor Oak would have never done such a thing were Michael's life in any sort of danger.

After a long half-hour, the egg had finally had its fill, and Michael stopped feeding his energy into it. He tried to move his body, but every one of his muscles failed to respond to his brain's commands. The process had thoroughly drained Michael of every last bit of stamina.

Unable to move from his position, Michael instead decided to simply observe the egg intently. Numerous cracks covered the egg's shell, but it remained unmoving causing Michael to become a bit concerned.

"Come on… hah… out, little one. It's… hah… okay." Michael tried his best to speak in a gentle voice between gasps.

As if answering Michael's call, a head popped itself out of the egg. Two black, beady eyes belonging to the Pokemon inside the egg stared at the exhausted boy who was sitting down in front of it.

"Haha, hi there! My name's Michael. It's nice to meet you little buddy! Wait! I don't have any Moomoo milk to give you…" Michael realized something important as he greeted the freshly-hatched Pokemon.

The Pokemon inside the egg heard the boy's words, not fully understanding them as it turned its head to the side without a change in expression.

In the next moment, it hopped out of its egg and sat in the gap between Michael's legs, falling asleep quickly after. Now that he could get a better look at his new Pokemon, Michael was able to identify who his new partner was.

A little owl-like Pokemon sat in between his legs as it snored peacefully in its sleep, a bubble forming from its nose. Its feathers were aquamarine in color and its face resembled a masquerade mask. It was only about a foot and a half tall when it stood on its red feet. Michael used the last bit of his strength to gently stroke the Pokemon's head as it slept peacefully.

"How magnificent… It would appear that your first partner is quite a special one, young Michael! Rowlet are native to the Alola region, which makes them quite the rare sight already… but this one seems to be shiny on top of that!" Professor Oak spoke enthusiastically in a hushed tone, trying not to wake up the baby Pokemon.

"He's quite the cute one! He even has a little bowtie to match. Looks like my little Machop is gonna be competing with his Pokemon for the ladies' attention, huhuhu!" Gigi laughed quietly while covering her mouth.

"Haha… I'm so… tired…" Feeling the last bit of stamina leaving his body, Michael couldn't stay awake any longer as he fell asleep in his seated position. His hands were still comfortably holding onto the young Rowlet.

"My my, we won't be able to tour the pasture today, it seems. I apologize if we've caused you any trouble, Professor." Gigi apologized to Professor Oak as it seemed that Michael would need to focus his attention on his new Pokemon and resting for the moment.

"It's no issue at all, my dear! I'm quite thankful that I was able to witness such an incredibly rare occasion! Let me call over a driver so that you and Michael can get back home without any issues. And here is a pokeball for Rowlet." Professor Oak handed Gigi a pokeball as he offered his assistance.

"Thank you for your help, Professor. I'm sure Michael will want to thank you as soon as he wakes up, huhu." Gigi laughed as she gratefully received the pokeball.