Far from human settlements, wild Pokémon were abundant in the forest, but Cole took a leisurely walk with Norman rather than rushing to catch any.
"Take your time choosing, Norman. Just let me know if you spot a Pokémon you really like." Cole said.
"Mm-hmm... I understand." Norman nodded eagerly, his eyes wide with wonder at the Pokémon all around them.
The choice wasn't easy. Since they were mostly encountering common Pokémon, Cole gave Norman space to think without rushing or interfering.
Of course, if they came across a particularly suitable Pokémon that Norman might not recognize as valuable, Cole would offer guidance.
As they walked, an unusual silence fell over the area. Pidove began cooing "coo coo coo" as they came upon a grove of berry trees, their branches laden with fruit.
Though small, the wild berries were plentiful. Cole quickly realized this territory must belong to a sizable group of Pokémon.
"Shroo~ mish~"
"Shroo~ mish~"
...
Sure enough, Shroomish began popping out from the bushes, eyeing Cole's group suspiciously.
"Big Brother Cole..." Norman looked nervously at him as the Shroomish grew more aggressive.
Cole gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, "Don't worry."
He didn't bother explaining to the Shroomish that they weren't interested in the berries. They were here to catch Pokémon, and perhaps one of these Shroomish would be perfect for Norman.
Seeing the group wasn't leaving, the Shroomish grew angrier.
"Shroo~ mish~"
Finally, one Shroomish attacked, prompting others to join the assault.
A cloud of brownish-yellow Stun Spores rushed toward Cole's group.
"Coo coo coo~~~"
Pidove swiftly lifted off Cole's shoulder, its rapid wing beats creating a gust that sent the Stun Spores flying back toward their source.
"Shroo~ mish~"
The Shroomish panicked, leaping down from the trees to escape their own Stun Spores, but it was too late. Most were engulfed by the powder and lay twitching on the ground.
"Breloom~"
"BRELOOM!!!"
"Breloom!"
Suddenly, angry roars erupted from the bushes as three Breloom emerged, their expressions furious. They shouted at Cole's group, accusing them of harming the Shroomish.
One Breloom charged at Pidove with raised fists, seeing it as the culprit.
As Pidove soared upward, Lopunny intercepted the charging Breloom with a swift counterattack. The Breloom barely had time to cross its arms in defense.
A thunderous boom echoed as Lopunny's strike met Breloom's guard, the impact creating a shockwave that sent the Pokémon flying with a cry of pain.
The attack hadn't come from Lopunny's fist at all — it had struck with its long ears, where much of its strength was concentrated along with its powerful legs.
Without pausing, Lopunny vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing between the remaining two Breloom.
Moving with the grace and precision of a skilled warrior, Lopunny struck!
Before the stunned Breloom could react, Lopunny's legs moved with blinding speed. Its right foot lashed out in a double kick so swift it left afterimages, sending both opponents flying with a single strike each.
These Breloom stood no chance against Lopunny's might — even Captain Talonflame couldn't withstand such power. All three lay defeated, their earlier confidence shattered.
Though Cole's provocative presence had sparked the conflict, Lopunny had shown restraint. The Breloom were rattled but unhurt.
In the aftermath of Lopunny's swift victory, the Shroomish could only quiver where they stood.
Cole looked at Norman and said, "What do you think about Shroomish? They evolve into Breloom and become quite strong, though they can be a bit hot-headed."
"I don't want one." Norman shook his head quickly.
For his starter Pokémon, he wanted one with a gentle personality that stayed calm in difficult situations. A hot-blooded, impulsive type wouldn't suit him.
"Alright then, we won't choose Shroomish." Cole said, respecting his choice. What Norman felt was right for himself mattered most.
So Cole led him onward, leaving the Shroomish and Breloom staring at each other in confusion — why had they just gotten beaten up?
The group walked on further, hoping to encounter the Exeggcute that Blaziken and the others had mentioned, but they hadn't seen a single egg.
Suddenly, Pidove started cooing again, having discovered a hollow in a tree. Seeing it about to dive into the hollow, Cole hurriedly tried to stop it — tree hollows were usually wild Pokémon nests.
But Pidove was too quick, and before Cole could finish speaking, it had already plunged into the hollow.
"Coo coo~~" — Look what I found!
Pidove's excited cooing came from inside the hollow, and then Cole saw it pushing a Pokémon egg to the entrance.
It was a pure yellow Pokémon egg.
See, I told you this hollow belonged to someone! Cole thought to himself.
"Be careful, don't drop someone else's child. Come out quickly!"
Though Cole considered that letting Norman hatch his own Pokémon might be ideal, taking someone's child while the parents were away wasn't right — it would be better to catch a Pokémon in battle.
Hearing this, Pidove reluctantly pushed the egg back into the hollow. Just as it was about to emerge, an angry screech pierced the air.
Not far away, a Murkrow was glaring at Pidove with red eyes.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" — Thief! There's a thief! There's a thief!
The Murkrow screamed frantically — this hollow was undoubtedly its home.
Cole furrowed his brow in confusion. How could a Murkrow have produced an egg with a golden-yellow shell? Wouldn't a Murkrow's offspring be another Murkrow, with a black egg?
While he pondered this, the Murkrow charged at Pidove, its wings glowing white. Pidove gracefully flew out of the hollow, dodging the attack with a slight movement.
BOOM!!!
Though the Murkrow's attack missed, its blade of light cleanly sliced through a section of tree trunk. The bird was clearly fighting with all its might.
The Murkrow performed an elegant mid-air turn and slashed at Pidove again.
Since Pidove had intruded into someone's home and touched their egg, it chose not to counterattack, instead swiftly circling through the air to evade.
With its exceptional evasive abilities and touch of mystical luck, Pidove effortlessly avoided the Murkrow's attacks.
Feeling mocked, the Murkrow's eyes blazed with fury as it unleashed a black ring of energy.
Startled by the sudden Dark Pulse, Pidove instinctively flapped its wings, releasing waves of Air Cutter that shredded the attack to pieces.
The Air Cutter, after destroying the Dark Pulse, continued its path toward the Murkrow.
With a pained cry, the Murkrow plummeted to the ground.
True to its reputation as the luck-maxed Pidove, its Air Cutter had scored a critical hit, defeating its opponent in one shot.
After years with Cole, Pidove had learned restraint — in the past, it might have severed the Murkrow's neck with a single slice. Even though it had held back, landing a critical hit wasn't its intention.
Pidove: (๏ᆺ๏υ)
It looked dumbfounded. I didn't mean to! That Air Cutter had a mind of its own!
Cole had no choice but to feed the Murkrow some berries to help it recover.
When the bird regained consciousness and found itself surrounded by Cole, Lopunny, Pidove, and Norman, it trembled in terror and burst into tears.
"Caw~ Caw~ Caw~" — Waaah... if you just want that egg, I'll give it to you!
Cole: ∑(⊙▂⊙ )?!
He listened in confusion, "It's not your child? You're giving it up so easily?"
After some explanation, Cole and the others finally understood — the egg wasn't the Murkrow's at all, but one it had found by the riverside.
The Murkrow had originally planned to eat the egg as a midnight snack but hadn't expected these intruders to show up.
Cole looked at Norman and said, "What do you think, Norman? Want to choose this egg? Hatching your own Pokémon would be the best way to get your starter. Though keep in mind — we don't know what kind of Pokémon egg this is. If it hatches into something not very strong, it might be too late for regrets."
His knowledge was limited and he couldn't identify the egg's species, but since the Murkrow had found it by the river, there was a good chance it was a Water-type Pokémon.
Seeing Norman hesitate, Cole glanced at the Murkrow and said, "Actually, this Murkrow isn't bad either."
The Murkrow didn't understand what they were saying and thought they were like itself, wanting to eat the egg. When it heard Cole mention it again, it thought he meant it would taste good to eat, and immediately curled up in fear.
"Let's not. It eats Pokémon eggs." Norman shook his head, indicating he wasn't interested in this raven.
The Murkrow actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Murkrow: ( ʘ̥̥ ه ʘ̥̥ )? Waaah... my life is saved!
"There's no need to rush—if we can't catch one today, there's always tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the day after. Worst case, we can always buy one from the breeding center," said Cole.
"I want this egg." Norman thought for a moment before finally choosing the unidentified Pokémon egg, "Maybe it will give me a surprise."
Cole asked, "Are you sure? Once you choose, there's no going back."
"Yes, this is the one." Norman hugged the Pokémon egg and nodded firmly.
Perhaps all meetings between Pokémon and trainers are destined — once they choose each other, that bond isn't easily broken. He felt this way now.
"Alright then, let's head home." Cole said, clapping his hands.
Hearing this, Lopunny tossed the Murkrow into the air, and it quickly fled.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
After returning home, Cole retrieved the incubator he had once used to hatch Larvitar.
"Here, take this — with this protection, the egg will be able to hatch more safely." He said as he handed the incubator to Norman.
"Thank you, Brother Cole!" Norman took the incubator and carefully placed the Pokémon egg inside, adjusting the temperature under Cole's guidance.
With the starter Pokémon obtained, Cole had Machamp drive Norman home.
Not long after his brother left, he discovered that his mom had returned and was in a corner outside the house talking with Carbink about something — Carbink looked quite happy.
Cole remembered that Carbink had gone out to play with Larvitar, led by Chikorita — how was it now with Daisy?
He looked around and finally found the other two under the Ganlon berry tree.
Chikorita had its bottom in the air doing who knows what, its whole head buried in the ground, while Larvitar was pulling on its little tail like it was trying to pull up a radish.
"Chika~ Chika~" — Ow ow ow!!! It hurts!
Chikorita let out a piercing scream that Cole could hear from far away.
With one mighty yank on its tail, Larvitar pulled Chikorita's head from the ground, causing it to land squarely on its bottom.
A yellow Pokémon was latched onto Chikorita's head, squirming and biting — the source of its pained cry.
A Dunsparce?
Cole was startled at recognizing the Pokémon — since when had a Dunsparce made its way onto Mt. Ascendant?
The Dunsparce released its grip on Chikorita's head and flapped its tiny wings, attempting to escape.
Swift as lightning, Larvitar waved its little hand, conjuring sharp stones that shot toward the airborne Dunsparce.
With a yelp of pain, it crashed to the ground.
"Chika~ Chika~"
Enraged, Chikorita sprang up, charged at Dunsparce, and began furiously stomping on its head.
Larvitar: ( •_•) Why are you rewarding it? Is it a massage?
Cole rushed over, "Alright, alright, what did it do to you? Why are you bullying it like this?"
"Chika~"
At his approach, Chikorita whimpered and ran to wrap itself around his leg.
✲✲✲
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