One by one, pieces of eggshell fell from the Pokémon Egg.
The little ones held their breath, eyes fixed on the egg resting on the baby chair.
Crack!
Two tiny paws poked out from the shell, waving adorably in the air.
Togepi, still wobbly, tumbled backward onto the chair, kicking its round little feet in the air.
Gengar moved forward, trying to help, but Lu Ye stopped it.
"No rush."
He pulled out his phone and hit the record button.
"Let's get this on video first!"
As soon as the video was posted in the Trainer Chat Group, the chat exploded.
[Lu Ye: [Video]]
[Yellow: So cute!]
[Lorelei: My heart can't handle this~~]
[Crystal: It's hatching!!]
As the 'The Hatcher', Gold opened the video and blinked in surprise.
"Wait… isn't that the Togepi from Professor Elm's backyard?"
"Yup."
Crystal nodded. "The professor was afraid it'd pick up your bad habits, so he left it with Teacher Lu."
Gold's expression darkened.
Damn it… I can't even argue against that!
[Gold: I heard Togepi's eggshell is full of good luck![
Green chimed in with a sly smile.
[Green: If you don't mind, I could buy the broken eggshell pieces off you!]
[Blue: Can you not show your merchant instincts right now?] Blue sighed, rubbing his temples.
[Green: Oh my~ I actually have a few great items for newborn Pokémon…] Green teased, blinking innocently.
Brock coughed and typed.
[Brock: Togepi sees the first person it lays eyes on as its family. To be raised by Teacher Lu… that's pretty lucky in itself.]
Lu Ye paused for a moment.
Originally, he'd planned to return Togepi to Professor Elm after it hatched.
But Brock's words gave him second thoughts.
"Come on, little one."
Lu Ye smiled at the round little egg.
"Everyone's ready for you!"
"Veeon~"
Sylveon used its ribbons to help Togepi sit up, but it toppled over again.
After several attempts, Togepi finally stood up.
Crack!
Its tiny head poked out of the shell.
A white eggshell body, stubby hands and feet, and big, bright eyes full of curiosity.
Togepi blinked at Lu Ye, then waved its tiny hands excitedly.
"Tchugki-brie~ (❁´◡`❁)✲ﾟ"
Lu Ye couldn't help but smile.
"Gengarr~~"
Gengar chuckled, reaching out a hand.
Togepi tilted its head, grabbed Gengar's claw, and eagerly shook it up and down.
"Tchugki-brie~! (ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪" (Nice to meet youuu~~!)
"Looks healthy," Lu Ye laughed.
For a moment, he had worried that he might be a bad influence on Togepi.
But looking at this… I'm still way more reliable than Gold!
He opened his Pokédex and checked its data.
[Togepi – Fairy]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Serene Grace]
[Moves: Charm, Growl, Present, Follow Me]
Togepi is known as the "the symbol of good luck" Pokémon.
A big part of that reputation comes from its ability, Serene Grace.
Besides, Lu Ye thought to himself, "With my luck, hatching one with Super Luck would be nearly impossible..."
He rubbed his chin.
As for moves, nothing too unusual.
It inherited Present and Togepi's signature move, Follow Me.
With the Serene Grace ability, the King's Rock could be a pretty fitting item for Togepi...
Just as Lu Ye was lost in thought—A wobbly Togepi accidentally tumbled off the dining table. Lu Ye's expression changed in an instant.
By sheer coincidence, Togepi landed right on Growlithe.
Then, with a thud, it rolled onto the floor, happily kicking its little feet.
"Tchugki-brie~~(≧∀≦)♪"
Lu Ye let out a breath of relief.
"Nice catch, Growlithe!"
"Arrf? (O_o)??"
A bunch of question marks popped up over Growlithe's head.
It just fell on me by itself...
I swear I didn't catch it on purpose!
Seeing how excited Lu Ye was, Sylveon initially felt a little jealous.
But then it thought—having an extra teammate would only help its trainer get closer to winning the championship.
So, with a huff, Sylveon elegantly walked toward the exercise wheel.
The lightbulb at the top of the wheel flickered on and off.
---
Lu Ye opened the group chat.
Everyone was discussing the newly hatched Togepi.
[Yellow: What kind of personality will it have?] Yellow wondered.
[Silver: Anything's better than Gold's Togetaro] Silver typed calmly.
[Gold: Hey, hey! Togetaro is cute too, okay?!] Gold protested.
[Crystal: Speaking of which, Teacher Lu's Togepi is actually Togetaro's younger sibling~] Crystal smiled.
[Lu Ye: It's a girl. I already checked.] Lu Ye nodded.
[Gold: Awesome! Next time, I'll ride Togetaro over for a visit!] Gold grinned.
Gold turned to Togetaro and explained the situation.
Even though Togetaro always carried a fierce aura, after hearing Gold's words, it still gave a small nod.
Fine... If it's for my little sister, I'll let you ride just this once!
---
Meanwhile,
Gengar was holding Togepi's tiny hand, helping it get familiar with its new home.
Lu Ye picked up his phone and called Professor Elm.
"Professor, Togepi has hatched."
"Oh! Really? Thank you so much!"
"Actually..." Lu Ye scratched his cheek, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Can I keep it?"
Togepi imprints on the first trainer it sees as family.
Maybe, like Misty's Togepi, it would eventually make its own choice when it grew up.
But until then, Lu Ye still wanted to take on the role of a responsible dad.
"Of course, no problem!" Professor Elm laughed heartily. "To be honest, I was hoping you'd take care of it!"
As expected, Professor Elm thought to himself,
For a trainer handpicked by Professor Rowan, responsibility comes naturally.
Lu Ye blinked.
Wow... so you planned this all along?!
"They say if you treat it with kindness, it will share its luck with you."
Professor Elm said. "In that case, Lu Ye, you must be a lucky person!"
Lu Ye paused, suddenly feeling a bit serious.
So... it's finally time to test my luck, huh?
After hanging up, Lu Ye walked into the living room.
But the moment he stepped in, his expression changed.
Togepi was hugging a giant bottle of cola, gulping it down like there was no tomorrow.
In front of it were several opened bags of potato chips.
"Gengar!!"
Like a frantic housekeeper, Gengar was running around the coffee table in distress, face pale with worry.
"Tchugki-brie~~!"
Togepi put down the cola, let out a long, satisfied burp, and happily kicked its little feet.
Lu Ye: ???
Oh great... I spent half a month raising it, and now it's a total shut-in?!
With a serious expression, Lu Ye walked up to Togepi and stared it down.
"Tchugki?!" Togepi tilted its tiny head.
"No Pepsi."
Lu Ye swapped out the bottle for a Coke instead.
"This is the real deal!"