Marill had always been a good sleeper. When the lights went out, she'd flop onto the floor. Before long, she'd be sound asleep, snoozing until morning without waking up once.
This time, though, she woke up in the middle of the night because she was hungry.
At some point, a rich, sweet fragrance began wafting through the room. In her dream, Marill was gnawing on a pile of food. But as she chewed, the food suddenly lost all taste, and she slowly woke up to find drool pooling on the floor beside her.
It wasn't a dream. The room really did smell amazing.
Still half-asleep, Marill sniffed hard and followed the smell to the Pokémon egg, her nose twitching the whole time. She lifted the blanket covering it.
Because the room was so dark, she didn't see the crack in the eggshell or the small thing wobbling at its edge. Marill sniffed suspiciously for a moment, then, following the scent, she stuck out her tongue and licked it.
The sensation on her tongue was strange: the sweet, creamy flavor and soft texture wrapping around her taste buds.
'Wait...was she licking the Pokémon egg?'
'What happened to the hard eggshell?'
A soft plop came from inside, as if something had fallen. Then, a faint whimper followed.
Marill's drowsiness vanished completely. She broke out in a cold sweat; now she was truly awake.
She dashed into the bathroom, jumped up to turn on the light, and carefully scooped up the Pokémon egg, carrying it inside.
Now she could see clearly that the Pokémon egg was cracked!
'This shouldn't be happening! There was no way. She had only licked it once. How did it break?'
Hearing another soft whimper from inside the egg, Marill panicked even more. 'Could it be her fault? Had she somehow caused the baby Pokémon to hatch early?'
She squinted, trying to peer through the crack, but all she could see was the little Pokémon curled up in the darkness. The entire egg trembled in her paws.
'Was… it scared of her?'
From the baby Pokémon's perspective, it was terrifying. A warm yellow light had just appeared in its dark world, and as it tried to crawl toward it, a giant eye pressed up against the crack and peered wildly inside.
Flustered, Marill quickly set the egg back down on the soft cushion and bolted for Luther's bed. She yanked back his blanket.
Luther was dreaming of lying on a sunny beach, sipping fruit juice and basking in the warmth while gazing lazily at the endless blue sky and sea— It was pure bliss.
Huh?
'Why had the weather suddenly changed? Where had the clear skies gone? Why was it raining now?'
Cold droplets spattered onto Luther's face. Something felt off. He jolted awake.
Marill was pouting, concentrating hard as she dispersed a Water Gun into a misty spray that fell like rain over his head.
His beautiful dream shattered. He felt irritated, but before he could get angry, Marill tugged him urgently toward the other side of the bed.
Marill was so strong she nearly tossed Luther off. Still confused by her late-night antics, Luther caught sight of the Pokémon egg with a hole in it. His sleepiness evaporated instantly. He patted the bed, waking up all the other Pokémon.
They gathered around, staring at Marill in unison.
"Was this you?" Luther asked the question they were all thinking.
Marill frantically waved her paws and shook her head. But midway through, she froze, suddenly unsure. When she'd come to her senses, she was already standing in front of the egg, and there was still a sweet taste lingering in her mouth.
'Could it really have been her fault?'
Eager to peek inside, Kirlia and Espurr clambered onto the egg. A creamy-white figure darted into a corner, hiding from their curious gazes.
Seeing this, the two Pokémon tugged at Luther's hand and placed it on the egg, urging him to act.
"Act? You want me to… break it open?"
Well, why not? The shell was already cracked, and judging by Kirlia and Espurr's reaction, they seemed to sense something, too. So he might as well help the baby hatch.
Without hesitating, Luther carefully followed the fracture line on the shell and pried off a large piece. Sticky fluid clung to the shard, and Luther's eyes lit up.
The egg contained minimal sticky fluid, meaning the baby Pokémon had been steadily absorbing nutrients since its revival.
All the Pokémon eagerly craned their necks and peeked into the cracked egg.
Inside was a tiny Pokémon, even smaller than an Espurr, roughly the size of a teacup. It was curled up and trembling.
The moment she noticed all the Pokémon staring at her, her shaking intensified.
Her creamy-white body was tinged with a hint of brown. As soon as the eggshell cracked open, a rich, buttery aroma filled the air, making Marill's mouth water uncontrollably.
She recognized the smell; she had tasted it in her dream!
Luther was a little stunned. He thought he'd seen this Pokémon in the data archives of a research lab.
Wasn't the Galar Pokémon League known for refusing to integrate its data with the global Pokémon League system for internal reasons?
With Galar's strict restrictions on Pokémon leaving the region, how had a Milcery egg ended up in a commercial shop in Kalos's Crescent District?
The situation was complicated. Even though the Milcery seemed frightened of Luther's Pokémon, it was clear that they knew she was scared. Yet, they couldn't help but want to lick her.
Luther felt the same, but he held back.
The Milcery had endured an unusually long incubation period, hatching in the dead of night. The pitch-black world outside the egg was no different from the darkness inside it and only deepened her fear.
Of course, Marill had scared her, too.
The first step was to gain her trust.
"Food. Marill, where's that milk candy I gave you last night? Bring it out."
Marill didn't even hesitate about giving up her treat. She scrambled to the bedside, hooked her tail under the bed, and pulled out two pieces of milk candy.
"Why were you hiding candy there? No one was trying to steal your snacks!"
Luther felt a little dizzy.
He unwrapped a piece and held it out to Milcery.
Even though she hatched far earlier than expected, she seemed perfectly fine, except for being frightened and a bit worn out from breaking free of her shell.
A memory of Mai caring for Poliwag came to mind.
As he waved the candy in front of her to tempt her, he instructed Chansey to grab a container and crack an egg to prepare some nutritious food.
It was still an hour before six in the morning. Luther didn't want to disturb Mai, so he decided to feed Milcery himself for now.
Surrounded by curious Pokémon, Milcery couldn't resist the sweet, creamy scent of the candy. The egg yolk she'd tasted earlier hadn't been filling, and now, with the candy in front of her, she was completely helpless against temptation.
The tiny Pokémon leapt forward, mouth open, and began sucking eagerly on the candy.
Luther set the candy on the ground, letting her enjoy it.
Once Chansey had finished preparing the egg mixture, Luther carefully scooped up Milcery, who was blissfully munching away, and placed her in the bowl.
Milcery took a sip of the egg mixture, licked the candy, and splashed around happily in the bowl. Watching her, Luther suddenly felt like a father.
(End of chapter.)
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