On one weekend afternoon, the air flowing at a peaceful and silent pace, a young girl passes her time within her room. A white egg once again rested on a set of pillows, its incubator not a long distance away. The egg has had quite an intriguing journey over a short period of time. First, it spent all of its time on that same bundle of pillows, mostly under the watchful eye of a caring butler. Then, the girl gained enough courage to wrap her hands around the egg, enough courage to place the egg into its incubator and carry it with her everywhere she went. She was set on keeping it contained in the casing for its own protection, wanting only what was best for creature developing inside. Then she had a realization... although this constant encasing kept the egg safe, it did not provide the other important need of companionship. That very realization was the one that brought about a major change in the relationship of the not yet born Pokémon and its current guardian.

"Alright, egg, so my breakfast was nice." The girl, Lillie, spoke in a stable tone as she kneeled down in front of the shaking egg. "You must be excited to eat for the first time, you know, when you hatch. I promise I'll try to feed you something extra yummy! I've been reading about different types of Pokémon and their personal tastes, so maybe I'll know exactly what will make your taste buds dance."

The egg was naturally unresponsive, with the exception of the tiny noises caused by the sporadic trembles within. Lillie has adapted to this absence of animated or heavily audible responses, which allowed for her not to stiffen as the seconds idly passed by after her statements. The feeling of oddness caused by talking to one without responsiveness has faded from Lillie's mind. This was all apart of bonding with the egg, and in a way, Lillie did feel confident that the growing Pokémon inside was indeed listening to her small talk.

"...Well, since I'm making promises, I might as well try to make one that may become empty." Lillie's voice softened into a impactless pitched squeak as she wrung her hands, although no one was present to give her reason to be anxious to speak. "When you hatch from that egg, I want to be the first to pick you up and hold you... here I am with my hopeless dreams again."

Without allowing the pitiful statement to linger, Lillie's face perked up as her voice raised. Despite her volume increasing, their was still the sound of a tense, choked squeak. "No no no," the girl recoiled. "I shouldn't speak like that, my dreams are not hopeless. I've been working on my dreams. Taking it step by step, just like Ash told me!"

The optimism introduced to her by the confident Ash stabbed through and defeated the lack of confidence in Lillie's heart. With a puff in her chest, she stood up, and grabbed a furry little object that sat in the corner of the room. She approached the egg, once again kneeling down at the exact same spot. She presented the Skitty-shaped object forward, as if the egg was able to see. Her grip was firm.

"This is a Furreal Friend. You know, those fun little toys they make? This one looked really cute... I mean Skitty is a really cute Pokémon... so I decided to buy it to help me practice touching Pokémon!" Lillie's face became a little lighter, as if her own words gave her reason to feel pride. "...I'll show you my egg friend!"

Lillie undid the two attached velcro straps that aligned together on the toy Skittys' underbelly, granting her access to the power switch. The moment she flipped that switch, a irritatingly loud "meow" filled the space of the closed off room. It continued to make sounds that cheaply imitated a Skitty's cry, while it's robotic limbs began to move. With a shrill shriek of fright, Lillie immediately dropped the toy from her hands, and raised her arms into a position of defense. After the reality of the incident began to fully process in her mind, she slowly lowered her arms as her eyebrows lowered and pointed upwards in her disappointment.

"Oh, I can't even hold this Skitty" Lillie sighed. "And it's fake!.."

Lillie laid her hands on her knees, sadly focusing on the moving toy still squirming on the floor. With a shudder going down her spine, she straightened out her back and reached her hands forward. Her two cheeks puffed out, and her eyes narrowed as creases developed on her forehead. "Take two, let's do this."

Gripping the toy yet again, Lillie shut her eyes tight as she pulled it from the ground. The robotic limbs still moved, and the toy still made cheap sounding cries, yet Lillie mainted her grip as she raised it high into the air. Her eyes slowly opened, before she sprout up into a standing position with the toy still being held above her head.

"I did it! I did it! Egg! Egg! I did it! I'm holding the Skitty! I'm holding it!" The girl danced around the room with her two skipping feet, her smile bright and wide. That was until her door suddenly opened.

"Is everything alright, Madame Lillie?" Hobbs and his refined voice made an unanticipated entrance, surprising Lillie, causing her to once again shriek and drop the toy back onto the ground.

"Eeep! Don't scare me like that, Hobbs!" Lillie took a breath after her jump in surprise, shaking her head lightly at her Butler. "Please, knock!"

"But whenever I knock, you screech just the same," Hobbs claimed.

Lillie avoided his gaze as she bit her lip. "I... suppose that's true. Er... well the good news is I held the toy Skitty! Did you see me? Wasn't I amazing? I held it!"

Lillie once again began to dance around the room with peppiness in her steps, while Hobbs began to chuckle at her enthusiasms.

After that very weekend disappeared into the past, Monday arrived and school was ready to be in session. Of course teachers were the earliest to arrive, as Kukui held a coffee in his hand and popped his head into Samson Oak's office.

"Alola Oak," Kukui greeted casually. "How's your morning going? Hotter than a fireblast?"

"Yes, Yes Kukui. What a Cleffa joke for you to make!" Per usual, Samson made playful imitations of the Pokémon he mentioned. "And what were the Chanseys of you checking in? You were just the man I wanted to Seel!"

"Really now? Is there an aqua tail you want to tell me Oak?" Kukui chuckled with the game of puns, a continuous game the two have held for a good while.

"Well not eggs-actly!" Samson snapped his fingers, and pulled out the reliable finger guns which aimed at Kukui. "The two eggs are Budew to hatch soon! And as for mine..."

Samson reached below his desk and lifted up a red egg, sitting in it's incubator. He rests the container on the desk gently as the egg inside shakes and quivers violently. Kukui leaned closer to observe, quickly taking note on how unsettled the subject of his focus was.    

"Hmmm...  this egg isn't using Slack off, that's for sure." Kukui places his thumb on his chin, and momentarily paused to sink himself in thought. "With that movement, I wouldn't be shocked like a shock wave if it ended up hatching today." 

"Righto! Now I really want your class to see this, it is their project after all." Samson's grin grew wider. "I have a feeling this egg will hatch during class hours! So I would like this egg and myself to attend your class. I'm sure it will be an Absol-utley Wailord of a time! As long as you and your Elekids don't mind!"

Kukui shook his head. "Oh no, of course we won't mind. Just burst in with the force of a force palm and we'll welcome you right in!"

Both men share a chuckle. Kukui takes a sip of his coffee, before once again going to speak. "I think the white egg is about to hatch as well. Who knows, they might just hatch the same day."

"You never know, but, Wynaut!" Samson squeezes a final pun into the conversation. "I'll be there by the time class starts, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you then." Kukui exits the room with a small wave, leaving Samson to finish the paperwork he was caught in the process of filling out. With a speedy hand, the man finished the papers within the half hour, the bell only ten minutes away from ringing.

Samson slide the stack of papers into a tan folder, and bent over to pick up the egg still residing in it's incubator. Holding the wiggling egg with a careful grasp, he threw open his office door and entered the school halls. Students were already passing through, heading to their classes to learn everything they could about Pokémon. The anticipated buzzing of conversation was the only sound that echoed the halls, a pleasant calming air to it. That calming air, however, was soon shattered by the unexpected raising of two voices.

"I d-didn't mean to! I... I... please calm down!" One voice, brittle and defensive.

"You know what you said! Quit denying it, you ass!" The other, strong, raspy, and furious.

The energy of the area began to grow in weight, a pressure developing on the backs of all surrounding the two agitators. Half of the students began to scurry away in an attempt to avoid any stress the situation could cause them, while those who remained gathered in a round observing crowd due to their intrigue and nosiness. Samson was caught in the upheaval, forced into fighting through the disarray to get a glimpse at the core. Afterall, he was the figure of responsibility, being the very principal of the school.  

In the center of the watching crowd, a boy with red cheeks slowly backed up with his hands raised to his chest. He had nowhere to back up towards and escape to, as he was forced to stop his movement before bumping his back into a spectator. Panic was written all over the boy's face.

The person his large, rounded, shuddering eyes stared at was none other then Saki. She was the second person the crowd has gathered around, though she herself has yet to notice all of the eyes glued onto her. Her hot head was burning, and her tunnel vision allowed her to see only the unsteady boy she approached. Steadily closing the distance, she cracked her knuckles with teeth bared. "You better take it back," she warned.

With witnesses surrounding him, and embarrassment crawling up his spine like an irritating and creepy spider, the boy was torn between routes. Despite his better nature shouting at him to reconsider, they boy decided he wouldn't bend to the girl's intimidation. In his mind, he was a 'man' after all. And he would force himself to act like one.

"I won't take it back!" The boy ripped all of the strength from the bottom of his throat, and spat it out. "You deserve every shitting thing anyone says to you! Just look at the way your acting! You expect me to take it back and say sorry when your acting like a-"

The boy didn't even get to finish the sentence. Saki grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward with a hefty tug. Before the tension could raise and reach a peak, Samson finally squirmed his way to the front of the crowd as the onlooker's attention shifted to his direction.

"Stop! Stop you two!" Samson raised his voice as he entered the circle's center. Both the boy and Saki turned their heads to meet the man's eyes, which contained an absurd mixture of gentleness and strictness. He wore a frown as he placed his free hand on his hip, his grasp still tight on the egg. His simple presence forced a de-escalation. Saki's fists released the boy's shirt collar, taking a single step away. The boy, who's fight or flight response was triggered in his head, dashed away from the scene and pushed himself through the crowd. With the incident mostly over, and with Samson waving them off with his hand, the spectators began to leave the scene themselves. Within seconds, Saki and Samson a couple of the few standing in the middle of the hall.

"Listen-" Samson began to speak.

"If you're gonna yell at me or whatever, do it quick." Saki's eyes averted his gaze as they shot to the floor. "I'm used to it."

"I'm not going to yell at you, Saki-" Samson began to say.

Saki's two eyebrows raised as her face remained flat. "... are you going to expel me?"

"Well, no-" Samson began to explain.

"Bye then." Saki forced out a brief farewell, shortly before pushing herself past Samson and in the direction of her classroom. Saki ditching the conversation caused a slight despondent feeling to arise in Samson's head. He felt a genuine worry for the girl, as it was quite clear that she was both already troubled and prone to getting herself into trouble. Kukui has made mention of the girl's sometimes less than appealing attitude, something the laidback teacher was unsure on how to handle. Samson, especially after witnessing that potential fight, knew that action must be taken at some point by someone. He made a mental note of this, and planned to give it plenty of thought during the night.

The man headed in the direction of Kukui's class. Meanwhile, after standing and observing the whole occurrence, Mallow took a deep breath. She placed a hand on her chest, as the concern that was already present sprouted once again.

Class started, with both Samson and the red egg present in the back of the classroom. Kukui notably had sweat rolling down his cheek, his boss's watchful look aimed right at him in a sniper-like fashion. Despite the uneasiness Kukui had, he did not hesitate to pause when he took notice of the animated shaking of Lillie's egg.

"Why look at that, Lillie! I don't remember it being quite so unsteady on Friday." Kukui put a temporary stop to his lesson, as he approached Lillie's desk. Lillie flinched as she became the focus of the room, her body taking in rapid and unsettled breaths.

"Uh..." Lillie took a deep breath as she dug her nails into the bottom of her desk. "Yeah well... it wasn't this way last night either. It has to be... it has... it has... it has to be hatching soon."

"Just like Samson's egg!" Kukui beamed, turning to face Samson towards the back. Several of the students cooed statements of excitement to one another, pondering what creature would pop out from within the shells.

"I bet one is a Electabuzz, ready to unleash some electric power!" Sophocles said, putting his fists up as high in the air as he could. Though in honesty not very high, for his arms were short and chubby.

"That's silly Sophocles... but it might be a fomantis! So cute!" Mallow spoke with her two cheeks rosy bright. Despite her current feelings on Saki, she was able to push it into the back of her mind and enjoy the presence of her classmates.

"Who knows. One might be a Kyorge egg. I did hatch and raise a Kyorge, once." Lana grinned, emanating a playful sense of mischief. Sophocles and Mallow responded to her comment with faces of suspicion.

"Really?" Ash's eyes began to glitter.

Lana continued to grin. She hooked a sucker, otherwise known as Ash. "Yes," Lana continued. "I also hooked a shiny red Gyarados that day. Now I'll be lucky for a million years."

"Really!?" Ash's eyes began to shimmer even brighter, his jaw dropped open in a smile. "You've done so many cool things, haven't you Lana!"

Kiawe thumped his forehead on the desk.

"...Uh. Kiawe? Are you okay?" Bob asked the boy whose head had just collapsed.

"No." Kiawe responded shortly, slowly, and firmly.

Lana began to giggle with her teasing fibs. Her giggling did not go long without interruption, since Lillie suddenly shushed the other nine people in the room without any prior warning. Once the room went silent, everyone noticed the reserved noise of something cracking.

"It's happening! It's happening! The baby's coming! The baby's coming! Uh... which baby is it?" Ash asked.

Lillie placed her two hands on the incubator of her egg, and rotated it side to side. With an inspecting eye, she tried to spot a forming dent in the shell. Unfortunately, it was to no avail. "I don't think it's mine," she said shaking her head. 

Samson inspected his own egg, discovering a small hole in the red egg's surface. His eyebrows raised high as his grin stretched ear to ear, shortly before he ripped the incubator open and exposed the hatching egg to the surrounding air.  "Everyone, gather around! Witness a new life Bellsprout into the world!"

Seven of the students jumped from their seats, gathering around Samson and the hatching egg. Saki took a more distant approach, scooting her chair back and attempting to catch a good glimpse past the heads of her peers. The egg wiggled and shook at a continuous pace. Bit by bit, the crack in the egg grew wider and wider. Soon the crack met where it had began, going fully around the egg's surface. Finally, the final noises of the crunching of a breaking shell sounded, and a red little head popped out. The top of the eggshell remained on the creature's head like a hat, while it's body was still hidden in the security of the bottom half. Two large round eyes blinked, and a small nose vibrated as the Vulpix of a Kanto breed experienced the world for the first time.

"It's a Vulpix... I think..." Sophocles stated.

"Not like one I've ever seen..." Lana mentioned.

"I can agree with you there Lana. I haven't seen a Vulpix like this before," Mallow said.

"It's a fire type Vulpix! I never thought I'd get a chance to look at one for myself!" Kiawe lit up with an awe as he leaned in closer to observe the fluffy red creature.

"A Vulpix, huh? Welcome to the world little guy!" Without any hesitation, Ash picked up the small newborn from within it's egg and held it up into the air. The Vulpix still wore the top of the eggshell on its head, which it now tried to scratch off with it's two soft paws.

"Ash! You should let Principal Oak hold it. He's the one who looked after it as an egg," Mallow scolded. As she chastised Ash, she kindly lifted the eggshell off of the Vulpix's head. 

"Yeah Ash! Hand it to me! I'll hand it to Oak," Bob said extending out his two arms. A nervous look struck his face when Mallow looked at him with her cheeks puffed. The girl saw right through him, like a piece of glass.

"Oh don't fret, of Corsala I don't mind you all getting a chance to hold Vulpix!" Samson leaned his shoulders back in a relaxed state. "But I admit, I would like to see the cutiefly myself!"

Ash, respecting the care Samson has previously given to the Pokémon as an egg, approached the man with the Vulpix still in his hands. Already having recognized his voice, the Pokémon leaped from Ash's arms and into Samson's lap. The newborn curled up and closed its eyes, already resting in fatigue of taking in a brand new environment.

Samson laid his hand on the Vulpix's back, and gently stroked it. "It's simple moments like this that gives me such a love for Pokémon," Samson expressed.

The students agreed with a nod, many of them feeling the exact same way. Lillie took a deep breath, carrying a look of admiration. She admired the man who could enjoy the simplicity of petting a Pokémon he has raised from an egg, with all of his care. Her own egg due to hatch lingering in her mind, she wished she could wear his shoes. She wished she could grab her own hatchling with no hesitation, and show it loving affection just like Samson. She wanted and hoped, but she felt little strength.

But she was not to be underestimated, not by even herself. Taking a step forward, Lillie stood in front of her peers and right before Samson. "...May I please try to hold the Vulpix?" She asked in a low voice, but everyone heard. Her classmates went silent.

Samson paused for an instant, before nodding in approval. He lifted the Vulpix from his lap, the Pokémon's eyes popping open in curiosity. He raised it upwards towards, while he displayed an encouraging grin. "Here you go Lillie," Samson said. "You can do it."

Lillie shut her eyes, taking another breath that filled her anxious and unsettled stomach. She lifted her arms a tad, bracing herself for the sensation of a fluffy touch. She prepared to touch something soft, but she feared the touch of sliminess would be waiting for her. She feared the pain of suffocation, caused by a beast with a venomous touch. The memory, aching her as much as ever, made warm stream of tears spill from her eye. She couldn't say she was crying, however. There was no sniffles, and her face didn't scrunch up in some sort of agony. They were idle tears that simply slipped down her cheeks. She questioned herself, she questioned if she was about to embarrass herself infront of all her friends. She questioned if she would fail, yet again, to make contact with a harmless Pokémon. She thought she was going to fail again, but something wouldn't let her back away from that egg. She wasn't allowing herself to run away with a shriek, not this time. She was doing this for the egg, she was doing this for her baby.

Thinking of the egg, she gave herself one final push. She laid her hands on the Vulpix, gave it a gentle squeeze, and pulled it from Samson's hands. She opened her eyes and held the Pokémon close. It was a fluffy creature, one Lillie looked down to in disbelief. She was holding it, and she was okay. She was very, very okay.

"Lillie!" Mallow cheered before suddenly wrapping her arms around the unprepared girl. "You did it!"

"Eeeep!" Lillie jumped in surprise as she squeezed the Vulpix tighter to her chest. "Mallow... Mallow don't scare me!"

"But you did it! Lillie hug!" Ash wrapped his arms around the girl as well, making for a small group hug.

"Awe... you guys." Lillie responded with a smile and reddened cheeks. Kukui and Samson clapped their hands for Lillie, as did Kiawe, Sophocles, Bob, and Lana. The moment of pride had little time to fester, before another sound of cracking stopped everyone in their tracks. Mallow, Ash, Kiawe, Sophocles, Bob, and Lana dashed over to Lillie's desk. Ash removed the incubator's top, as once again the group watched the egg open bit by bit. Kukui walked over to the six, while Lillie handed the Vulpix back to Samson. Saki continued to watch from her own seat, petting Akemi in her lap.

Just like before, the egg's crack grew wider and wider. Eventually a small head peeped out, one white in color, with large blue eyes. Another Vulpix, but this time, of an Alola breed. The Pokémon was greeted with many eyes staring in it's direction, which caused it to feel a newfound nervousness. It ducked it's head back into it's shell, the top and bottom of the egg reconnecting.

"Uh oh... did we scare it?" Sophocles asked.

"I'm afraid so," Kiawe said. 

The comment caused Sophocles to snicker lightly.

"That wasn't meant to be a pun, you know!" Kiawe retorted.

"It must be shy," Ash said. "I didn't get a good look but...I'm still confused. It kinda looked like a vulpix but it's... white?"

"You've never heard of an Alolan vulpix?" Bob asked. "They are ice types opposed to fire types. I met a guy back in Kalos who had one, once."

"Wow! So cool!" Ash exclaimed with his eyes widening in dazzlement. He reached forward and removed the top half of the broken eggshell, exposing the shaking little newborn. Adjusting to the new world way less easily than the previous hatchling, this Vulpix tried to make itself as small as possible. It curled itself into a tiny ball at the bottom of the eggshell.

"Oh... poor little thing," Mallow said with a saddened look. "So much to take in at once."

"Poor... Snowy..." Lillie softly spoke.

The group looked back at Lillie with puzzled faces, as did Samson. The new hatchling, after hearing Lillie's voice, began to slowly raise it's head.

"Snowy?" Kukui asked. "Did you name it Lillie?"

Lillie's face brightened with a rosey red color as she gripped her elbow with her hand. "Uh, I guess. It just suddenly came to mind because it's an ice type and I always thought Snowy would be a cute name for an ice type! So I just called it that, I guess." Lillie spoke quickly, spilling out words jumbled all together. She forcefully laughed afterwards, rubbing her arm at a rapid pace to the point where the skin on her elbow became red.

Recognizing the high pitched, sweet voice of Lillie, the newborn jumped from it's egg and attempted to walk it's way to the edge of the desk. Not quite used to it's legs, the Vulpix stumbled and fell onto it's stomach before even making a single step. Lillie couldn't help but to place a hand to her mouth and let out a giggle.

"Looking at you, I think you do look like a Snowy," Lillie said as she grinned. "So I'll call you that." She walked closer to the large eyed Pokémon who continued to look up at her. The closer she came, the more those two blue eyes shined with a feeling of fulfillment. Lillie, not flinching or recoiling, picked up the newborn and held it close to her chest. Newly named 'Snowy' let out a cry of happiness as it nuzzled into it's guardian.

Everyone was breathless, both impressed and relieved. However, no one said a word. No one dared to interrupt an important moment in the brand new relationship forming between a trainer and her Pokémon. It was a scene that filled the room with an aroma of sweetness, and created a pleasant aura everyone could feel as if it were tangible.

Lillie beamed with a sweet brightness as she laid her head atop of Snowy's, feeling a warmth that could only be described as love. Snowy felt security, and affection, happy to be with the one who has shown it proper attention before it was even born.

"You're my sweet, baby Snowy," Lillie said.