Auron stared at Clawitzer with a peculiar expression.
"You... want to learn Fire Punch?"
After evolving, Clawitzer no longer had that simple-minded quality that Clauncher once possessed.
He tilted his head, glancing at Auron, then gave a firm nod.
Auron felt somewhat helpless. Looking at this crustacean whose gaze was no longer quite so vacant but whose face still wore that stubborn expression, he rubbed his temples.
"Um, Clawitzer, you're a Water-type. You can't learn a Fire-type move like Fire Punch."
(No!)
"Whoa..."
Auron clicked his tongue in surprise. That worked up, huh?
He had conducted some experiments regarding his Aura abilities. He'd discovered that he could hear the voices of Pokémon when their emotions fluctuated intensely.
Or he could hear those who possessed the power of Aura themselves—like Lucario and similar Pokémon. Under normal circumstances, he couldn't hear them at all.
"How about this—let's focus on practicing the moves you already know first. As far as learning goes, Fire Punch should be something you physically can't master."
Clawitzer's eyes went wide and determined. He immediately tried to climb out of the pool.
Auron quickly pressed him back down.
"But you don't need to worry. I'll do everything I can to help you learn Fire Punch. Is that okay?"
Only then did Clawitzer calm down. He nodded and slowly submerged himself back into the water.
Fortunately, they'd considered the needs of Water-type Pokémon when designing the room, so the pool had been made fairly large. Otherwise, with Clawitzer's increased size after evolution, he might not have fit.
"Phew..."
Auron let out a long breath, then gently patted Clawitzer's head.
"Keep at it, okay? Train hard. After we start university, you're going to be the one leading the charge for everyone."
"Chee-woo!"
Clawitzer gave a resolute nod. I'll definitely train hard!
"Alright, time to sleep. Goodnight."
"Chee-woo~"
Clawitzer slowly sank into the water and closed his eyes.
Auron smiled, then picked up Charmander and headed toward the bed with Snorlax in tow.
"Charmander, you need to evolve soon too. I want you to lead the charge alongside Clawitzer."
The golden Charmander in his arms froze for a moment upon hearing this. Then the flame on his tail blazed even more vigorously.
"Rawr~!"
After letting out a cry, Charmander's body gradually became enveloped in white light.
"Another evolution?"
Auron stared at the Charmander wrapped in white light in his hands, completely dumbfounded.
Only when the weight in his arms grew heavier and heavier did he carefully set the glowing form down on the bed.
Crobat, who had just flown up to his sleeping spot, immediately dove back down. Clawitzer poked his head out of the water as well, propping himself against the pool's edge and craning his neck upward to watch the evolution in progress.
"RAWR!"
The moment the white light faded, the newly evolved Charmeleon let out a mighty roar and shot a stream of fire toward the ceiling.
"Holy crap! Clawitzer, Water Gun!"
Auron yelped in alarm, quickly dodging the flames while commanding Clawitzer to extinguish them.
Hissss~
Water Gun and flame collided in midair with a sizzling sound, both dissipating into steam that slowly drifted down.
"Seriously, Char—Charmeleon! You've gotten bold, huh? I'm still standing right here and you're already trying to burn down the house?"
"Rawr~"
Charmeleon scratched his head sheepishly and gave an embarrassed little laugh.
Then he immediately lunged onto the bed, closed his eyes, and pretended to be fast asleep.
Auron watched him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. After a while, when Charmeleon noticed nothing was happening, he stealthily cracked open his right eye just a sliver.
The moment he saw Auron looking at him with that half-amused, half-reproachful expression, he quickly squeezed his eye shut again and rolled over, turning his back to Auron.
Auron shook his head with a smile, then addressed the Pokémon.
"Alright, everyone get some sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight."
At his words, they each returned to their places—one hanging in the air, one diving into the water.
Snorlax, meanwhile, wrapped his arms around Auron and lay down on the large bed, letting Auron sprawl across his belly.
Smack!
Looking at Charmeleon's back, Auron couldn't resist giving him a slap on the rear.
Charmeleon flinched, then continued pretending to be asleep, not moving a muscle.
The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, while everyone was still sleeping—even Crobat hadn't opened his eyes yet—Auron suddenly sensed a wave of Aura energy in the room gradually intensifying.
This made him open his eyes involuntarily. Still bleary with sleep, he looked toward the source of the growing Aura.
His eyes immediately went wide, all drowsiness vanishing in an instant. He quickly rolled off Snorlax's belly.
Barefoot on the floor, he rushed to his desk, opened the incubation tank's lid, and carefully lifted out Elekid's egg.
The moment he lifted it out, Elekid burst from the shell, popping out of the egg and throwing himself at Auron.
Auron hurriedly caught him, somewhat startled. Was this... premature?
Normally, Pokémon placed in an incubation tank would hatch after three days. So on the third day, you'd take the egg out and wait for the Pokémon to emerge.
But Elekid's egg had only been in the incubation tank for just over two days at most. Why had he suddenly been born?
Auron looked at Elekid with confusion, quickly checking his information to make sure nothing was wrong.
Pokémon: Elekid
Gender: Male
Type: Electric
Ability: Static (When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a contact move, or when this Pokémon uses a contact move against an opponent, there is a 30% chance of inflicting paralysis. Multi-strike contact moves trigger this Ability check independently for each hit.)
Potential: Gold
Base Moves: Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, Earthquake
Egg Moves: Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Cross Chop, Dual Chop
After reviewing Elekid's information, Auron was truly stunned this time.
Not only had Elekid's potential increased, but there was also an extra move?
"Earthquake? I've never heard of the Elekid line being able to learn Earthquake. How is this possible?"
While Auron was still pondering why such a thing had occurred, the disgruntled whimpering from the Elekid in his arms pulled him from his thoughts.
"Oh, oh! You're hungry, right? Just a moment, I'll be quick."
After saying this, Auron carried Elekid and dashed out the door, heading downstairs to the entrance.
The moment he opened the door, he and the milk delivery person came face to face. Both of them froze awkwardly, staring at each other.
"Uh, you're up early."
"Mm-hm, you too."
After exchanging these pleasantries, the delivery person set the Moomoo Milk by the door and turned to leave.
Auron picked up the milk from the doorstep and headed back inside.
"Here you go, drink up."
Once back in the house, Auron opened a bottle of Moomoo Milk, poured it into a bowl, and handed it to Elekid.
The Vale household had a Moomoo Milk subscription. Every morning, a dedicated delivery person would bring fresh milk.
Today's timing was perfect—Elekid had just been born, and the Moomoo Milk had arrived right on cue. If he'd hatched any earlier, they would have had to feed him some Pokémon food first.