"So, Ash, you little brat, don't blame me later, okay? Letting you experience the harshness of the adult world a little early is also meant to help you grow up better."
Inside Team Flare's underground base, the purple-haired woman gave a coquettish smile as she muttered to herself.
"Have you found out where that brat is right now?" Celosia asked a Team Flare member who was busy working at the computer beside her.
"Yes~! I hacked into Lumiose City's traffic surveillance system. I've already located that brat called Ash. This morning, he went to Professor Sycamore's research institute with his friends for a visit."
The Team Flare member answered respectfully.
"Professor Sycamore's research institute?"
"Good. Keep a close eye on him. The moment that brat leaves the research institute, report it to me immediately."
"I'm going to take care of my skin now."
With that, the purple-haired woman swayed her sensual hips and arrogantly turned around before leaving.
~
—Professor Sycamore's Research Institute—
"Professor, something's wrong! The Fennekin Egg that was delivered from the Lumiose City Pokémon Day Care a few days ago has suddenly experienced a rapid increase in temperature, and its life force is beginning to decline!"
While Sycamore was showing Ash around the Pokémon greenhouse at the back of the institute, a female researcher suddenly came running over in a panic.
"What happened? It was only delivered a few days ago, wasn't it? And if I remember correctly, there are still three days before it is supposed to hatch."
Sycamore frowned.
"I'm not entirely sure. It may be because the developing attribute genes have begun to fuse with each other, resulting in stronger rejection."
The female researcher replied anxiously.
"Take me there."
Sycamore did not even have time to say goodbye to Ash. He immediately hurried away with the female researcher.
Ash was initially confused by what had happened, but from the conversation between Sycamore and the researcher, he was able to piece together the general situation.
Apparently, a Fennekin Egg that had been sent over from the Lumiose City Pokémon Day Care had developed some kind of problem.
Curious, Ash quickly followed Sycamore toward the laboratory where the Fennekin Egg was being kept.
Clarissa, Serena, Shauna, Clemont, and the others had also heard the commotion and gathered outside the laboratory.
"Professor, what's wrong with this Pokémon Egg?"
Ash asked curiously.
"This is an Egg containing Fennekin, one of the three starter Pokémon of the Kalos region. It was sent here by the official Pokémon League Day Care in Lumiose City."
"Fennekin's final evolution is Delphox, which is a dual Fire- and Psychic-type Pokémon."
"For Pokémon whose initial form is already a dual-type Pokémon, or whose final evolution becomes dual-type, the Pokémon's body initially contains only a latent gene for the secondary type."
"During the developmental stage of the Pokémon Egg—in other words, while the fertilized embryo is developing—there is an extremely small possibility that the two different attribute genes will come into conflict and reject one another."
"For this kind of genetic rejection occurring during the Egg stage, neither the Pokémon medical community nor the biological sciences have yet developed a particularly reliable solution."
"In other words, once this kind of genetic conflict appears in a Pokémon Egg, the Pokémon inside is facing an extremely dangerous situation."
"If it manages to survive long enough for the two attribute genes to stabilize and fuse properly, then the Pokémon inside will be able to hatch safely."
"But if it cannot endure the conflict, then the Pokémon will die before birth, and the Egg will become an unviable dead Egg that can never hatch."
Sycamore pointed toward the Fennekin Egg resting on a scanning platform inside the laboratory.
"Because Pokémon Eggs are extremely difficult to treat directly, the medical and biological sciences have never found a sufficiently reliable and effective method of dealing with this condition."
"The official Pokémon League Day Care in Lumiose City sent this Egg to my research institute because it is essentially an experimental specimen. They want me to study the condition and develop a treatment strategy that could potentially cure it."
"Although the probability of this kind of rejection occurring during attribute-gene development and fusion is less than one in ten thousand, even within that tiny fraction of cases, only around twenty percent are caused by ordinary incompatibility between the attribute genes."
"The remaining eighty percent occur because one or both of the attribute genes are exceptionally powerful."
"In simple terms, the natural talent of one attribute—or both attributes—is simply too outstanding. That causes the rejection between the genes to intensify during their development and fusion, or causes the two genes to suppress one another."
"Whether the patient is a human or a Pokémon, when confronted with such a rare condition, medical researchers and biological scientists will do everything in their power to develop a treatment and find an effective medicine."
"What's more, the vast majority of Pokémon that experience this kind of genetic conflict are exceptionally talented and possess extremely high potential."
"How could the Pokémon League possibly refuse to find a way to save Pokémon like that?"
As he spoke, Sycamore looked at the Fennekin Egg lying on the scanning platform in the laboratory.
"So that's what happened."
After hearing Sycamore's explanation, Ash, Clemont, Serena, and the others finally understood the situation.
"Wait, Clarissa, you come from the Joy family. Do you know about this kind of condition occurring in a Pokémon Egg?"
Shauna turned her head curiously toward Clarissa Joy.
"Mm-hmm."
Clarissa nodded.
"I do know about it. But just as Professor Sycamore said, this is an extremely rare condition."
"Moreover, this is one of the most difficult types of genetic diseases to treat, and the problem occurs while the Pokémon is still inside an Egg, where treatment is especially difficult to perform."
"So even the medical community doesn't have any particularly effective solution."
Clarissa explained.
"Professor, the life readings of the Fennekin Egg are dropping rapidly. The Pokémon inside probably isn't going to make it much longer."
A researcher operating the scanning equipment in the laboratory reported the latest readings.
"Okay. I understand."
Sycamore nodded in response, his expression remaining relatively calm.
There were several reasons for that.
First, the Pokémon inside the Egg had not yet been born. Strictly speaking, it had not yet entered the world as a fully developed living being, so its sudden death did not produce quite the same emotional impact that the death of a Pokémon already living outside an Egg would.
Second, the medical and scientific communities currently had no effective treatment for the rejection between the attribute genes.
Furthermore, this particular Egg had been sent to the research institute specifically to serve as experimental material.
From the moment it arrived, everyone involved already understood that it was extremely unlikely to survive.
In a sense, it had been brought here as a test subject.
Therefore, with the Pokémon inside the Egg now approaching death, Sycamore naturally did not show overwhelming grief.
At this moment, Ash, Clemont, Tierno, and Trevor—the four boys—also remained relatively composed.
Serena, Clarissa, and Shauna, however, all wore expressions tinged with sorrow.
As for the youngest among them, Bonnie grabbed onto the hem of her older brother Clemont's clothes.
Her expression was filled with grief, and tears had begun to well up in her eyes.
At her age, the impact of witnessing a life approaching its end was simply too strong.
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