I sat up from bed, shocked out of my mind, when seeing an unfamiliar Pokémon standing on my lap. The egg I placed on the counter was gone, but the Pokémon standing on me held the same colorful pattern on its body... Meaning only one thing.

"You hatched!?" I gasped "I can't believe I missed your birth!" The white Pokémon with a jolly smile cheered.

"Togepi!" I whined and hugged the little thing.

"I'm sorry for not saying hello sooner!" My new Pokémon just chirped in happiness and hugged my face. I swayed it side to side in the loving hug.

"Welcome to the world!" I lifted it up in the air "I'll make you a part of my team! We're heading to the Pokémon center for your check up after we eat!" I got dressed and headed to the kitchen where Malerie was making breakfast and Kurt was reading the newspaper.

"Good morning" I greeted.

"Morning!" Malerie cheered excitedly and almost freaked out when seeing a new Pokémon with my own "Is that the Egg you were holding before!? It's so cute!" She abandoned the stove to admire Togepi and Bayleef. I went over to finish what she started "this one even evolved! So cool! When is this one going to evolve?" She picked up Pichu.

"She won't evolve" I said, cooking the pancakes "She's going to stay like that forever. She accepted that she can't evolve so she agreed to be my team's supporter" I smiled at my Pokémon "In any way shape or form my Pokémon become, I'll never leave them out of something they can be a part of" Malerie smiled.

"You're a good person" I smiled and finished the rest of the pancakes so we can eat. I got to feed my own Pokémon before I ate my own food.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, by the way" I told Kurt "I hope it wasn't any trouble"

"Not at all. It's the least I can do" the least I can do... I always hear that from others "You've done a big job that I couldn't do. Move that stress off your shoulder and relax today. You deserve it" I smiled and ate my food.

Malerie started talking about random things in the table for almost the whole time. After about half an hour being on the table talking, I heard someone running towards the door. I stood up cautiously and prepared for what was coming. A young girl in a onesie with shorts slammed through the door with a big catching net on her shoulder. That is a girl... Right?

"Kurt!" The kid, around Malerie's age, outburst "I heard what happened yesterday! I-I'm sorry for not being around!" The kid bowed over and over "Please don't be mad!"

"Let me guess... You were out catching bug Pokémon again, weren't you?" Kurt crossed his arms. The kid shut his/ her eyes.

"Y-Yes sir..." Kurt got up and slapped the kid's head with a newspaper "Ah!"

"You never know what can happen when you're not around. A gym leader is supposed to be the true protector of their town or city! Stop playing around and take your job seriously!"

"I-I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" The kid whined.

"So that's the gym leader?" I asked Malerie "Seems pretty young to me"

"Yeah. Gym leaders comes in all ages. He's the youngest one in Johto, from what I heard" she explained "Seeing that excited look on your face, you want to challenge him?" So he is a boy! "Hey! Bugsy!" She hollered, stopping Kurt from hitting him again "I know how you can make it up to Grandpa!" She presented me like I was a trophy "Give the honors to the true hero of this town and rescuer of the Slowpoke! Challenge her and we'll forgive you for being late!"

"H-ahhh!?" Bugsy flinched "I-I can't just do that, Malerie! Even if I like to, I have other appointments-"

"You missed many appointments before! There's no excuse!" Malerie waved her finger "Take responsibility! This girl battled Team Rocket in Grandpa's place when he got hurt! All by herself" I waved nervously, not wanting to overwhelm the boy and make him feel bad.

"N-No need to be hasty" I sweat dropped.

"W-Well..." Bugsy started sweating.

"If you're so dedicated to your so called appointments, just give her a badge!" Malerie crossed her arms.

"W-Wait!" I panicked.

"I heard there were a bunch Team Rocket grunts in that Well and she took care of them all by herself!" She continued. Bugsy looked down. I panicked more and took Malerie's shoulders.

"Malerie! That's enough!" She looked at me confused "I don't want to battle when I can't. I don't expect a badge either. I'm just hoping to get stronger. That's all"

"That's why you deserve that badge! You fought so hard all on your own with very little Pokémon!"

"It's okay. I won't push anyone. I don't know how long I'll stay in town, but I can always come back to challenge you" I smiled at Bugsy looking at me with a blush on his face "Don't stress. I'm in no rush"

"I-I'm sorry..." he looked down "I could had helped. To be honest" he hid himself behind his hair "I've been avoiding appointments on purpose to do my hobbie. I haven't been practicing my battling in a long time. I don't think I could had helped you at all in the well. I'm sorry you went through that alone" I went over to pet his head.

"Save your excuses. I'm not mad at all. If you're a gym leader, live up to your title. If you don't like it, give it up. Kids have to live, right?" He blushed again "It's not a good idea to let kids grow up too fast. I grew up too fast and never got the chance to be a kid. You can always find time to have fun, but if you're choosing to have a job, you need to take responsibility" he looked down.

"Y-Yes ma'am..."

"Miss Valerie worked very hard to save those Pokémon" Kurt said "I don't think she's looking for an apology" Bugsy stood straight fast.

"Thank you for helping!" I giggled.

"Don't mention it" my Pokégear started ringing. I answered "Hello?" It was the Pokémon center that I was at before "Right. I'll be right there" I hung up and looked at everyone "I have to go now" I bowed to Malerie and Kurt "Thank you for letting me stay here and let me have breakfast with you. I must be going" Kurt walked up and handed me a box "huh?" I took the box confused and opened it to see two unique Pokéballs I never seen before.

"Those are two capsules I made last night for you" he told me. Malerie raised her hand.

"Yeah! The one on the left is a Moon Ball, and the one on the right is a Love ball! The Apricorn you got made the Moon ball! I had grandpa make the Love ball because it's my favorite and I wanted you to have it!" She put her hands together "You can use one of them to capture the Togepi that just hatched!" I looked at Togepi walking around wobbling, and smiled.

"Thank you so much. I don't deserve it"

"But you do" Kurt said. I smiled and looked at my gift. I'm truly blessed to find good people...

"Thank you... I'll cherish them" I used the Love ball to capture Togepi. After the capture, I returned Bayleef and left Kurt's home with a smile. Bugsy took my shirt and pulled me back.

"I'll make it up to you... I promise" he frowned. I chuckled.

"Don't beat yourself up. You're fine" he nodded and let go "See you another day. Bye!" I left completely and entered the Pokémon center that called me in.

"I just remembered..." I thought to myself "wasn't I suppose to meet Gold here?" I checked my Pokégear at the same time I approached the front desk blindly "I keep forgetting I have one of these. So many unread messages" I found Gold's message saying that he won't be able to meet me at this town due to his grandparents asking him to help them in the daycare. I responded back and nearly ran into the desk even if the nurse was warning me over and over.

"Er... Sorry" I sweat dropped, embarrassed. The nurse giggled.

"That's alright. I'm glad to see you back. Did you sleep well? I'm sure that sudden operation took a toll on you. Especially after what I heard about yesterday" she smiled "You are one interesting young lady" I blushed and set Togepi's Love ball on the counter.

"Thank you... Please give my new hatched Pokémon a check up" she gladly took the ball.

"Right away! Also, the doctor would like to see you. Please come this way" I nodded and followed her to where the egg I brought yesterday was. The main doctor who helped me in the operation was in the room with the egg.

I walked up to the pink egg with white stars around it before greeting the doctor "I trust that everything is okay? I hope you didn't call me for complications"

"A-About that..." he was sweating "Last night, there was a incident with a troubled patient and it caused one of our electric type patients to spark a current and broke a few of the equipment" he patted the machine holding the egg "This is our only warmer and the currents were fried a few hours ago, in the morning" my jaw dropped.

"Are you saying that this egg has not been warmth for hours!?" I took the egg out the machine to hug it "The egg needs warmth to heal on its own! Why is this your only machine?!"

"W-We don't get eggs often, so we didn't think we needed another..." I shook my head.

"How is this egg going to survive?!" I panicked "I cannot have this egg die in my hands! It has a chance to live! Hasn't anyone came to fix the machine!?" I was growing worried "Why didn't you call me that morning..?"

"Forgive me... We used blankets and all methods to keep it warm, but it didn't reach to the necessary heat to help it" I looked at the egg and started thinking. There has to be something we can do... I can't let it die like this. Who knows how long the egg had been in that well, alone and cold.

"So you're sayin... There's nothing we can do!?" I started shaking and hugged the egg closer "No... I can't let it happen. It's just a baby... The shell is supposed to be its cradle. It doesn't deserve this"

"Please, don't panic yet. Even if we can't fix the machine on time, We ordered an emergency package that contains a cradle heater for the egg to stay in" I snapped my head back up "It should be here soon, so we'll have enough time to give it back the heat it needs"

"A-A case..? You mean one of those fancy things that keeps the egg in place on a blanket and keeps the heat inside?"

"Y-Yes... That's what I said" I looked down, still in a panic. I can't speak or think correctly when in a panic "Do you think the egg still has time?" I softly rubbed the egg.

"It survived for this long... I think it'll be okay" I took the blanket that was in the machine and wrapped it around the egg "Just get it here as soon as possible" the ones in the room nodded and left the room, leaving me on my own with the egg and Pichu standing in front of me.

"It's heartbreaking to have a baby front of you suffering in your sight. I can't tell you how worried I've been when I couldn't see you in the hospital" I told her "I hoped to never feel that way again. I hate the idea of any Pokémon getting hurt, but an egg that doesn't get to see the world yet... It's shattering to see" I closed my eyes "I hope that case comes on time"

"Pe..." Pichu frowned and came to hug the egg with me. I pet her head and remained as I was until the doctor finally came back with a box in hand.

"We got it" I walked over to him taking it out and settling it up as fast as he can "There's a timer that keeps the case warm for 12 hours. What I recommend you to do is find the nearest Pokémon center and take the egg there to properly be healed there and rest"

"I have 12 hours on a timer to take it to the nearest Pokémon center..?" I repeated his words again "How long will it take it me get there..?"

"The nearest one is in Goldenrod city" Goldenrod city... I've been there before. That city is so big... How will I find it without the fastest direction? Gold escorted me there before. "I recommend you to get through Ilex forest and head straight there. The trip will take about 10 hours by foot. I recommend you to take a bus, but the bus stop won't be open for the next few hours since it won't be back from Goldenrod for awhile"

"This is ridiculous!" I groaned "Why must I have this luck... but the things I care about can't!?" I sobbed "I'll go by foot if I have to! I won't wait another minute! Just turn on the case and hurry up!" The doctor quickly nodded and set the timer for the heater to stay on.

I stuffed the egg inside with a few blankets and hurried to leave the Pokémon center as fast as I could. I didn't even look back at those who worried about my panic attack and raced to the exit of the town, careful with the egg I held in the decent size container that took up hand space.

I didn't care how long I have to walk. If I have to walk 10 hours straight, I'll do it. When I got around to finding the exit, the corner of my eye spotted a man in the black uniform approaching me with a deadly smirk. I gasped and stopped at my tracks.

"There you are, little kitty" I took a step back, fearing the worse "I've been looking for you. You made a real mess out of the other day, didn't you?" It was the one grunt that surrounded me with the others before they passed out after the battle "Come on, you're coming with me" I started tearing up.

"No... I don't have time for this! Just let me through!" I shut my eyes "I'm in a hurry!" He walked up to me.

"You should had thought of that before coming down to mess up our plans" he grabbed my arm forcefully, almost making me loose my grip on my case. My eyes widened in horror as I quickly caught it!

"NOOO!" I shouted loudly at him, panicking that he'll make me loose my grip again "Leave me alone! I have something important I have to do!" I begged as he tried pulling on me "Stop! Stop!" I shouted "Let go!" There was a muffle behind my screaming. Soon after, the force on my body was gone and I had a perfect hold on my case.

I looked up to see a Crowconaw and my Pichu biting on the grunt. I quickly looked up to see Silver approaching me. He looked down at me with his cold eyes. I shut my eyes in fear of what'll happen, but nothing did. I looked back up to see him turned away from me.

"Team Rocket isn't all at big and bad when they're not in a group. Get up, will you?"

"H-huh..?"

"Get them alone and they're weak. For someone who beat them, from what I heard, you're pretty weak if you end up crying like that over one grunt" he looked back down on me still shaking "Get out of here, will yah?" I gulped and nodded, hurrying pass him after grabbing Pichu and left Azalea Town to enter Ilex Forest.

I don't know if Silver intended to save me, but I'm grateful either way... He saved me from that grunt that caught me at the worse time.

"That grunt better pray I don't kill him" I sobbed "I won't forget his face... When I get this egg to safety, I'll mess him up so bad" I got shaky on the knees and stopped running to fall on my legs "Why am I like this..? I have to hurry up" I sobbed, still feeling my body shaking more and more "I can't have another egg die on me" I cupped my mouth to sob loudly "Get up... Get up!" I punched my legs "I have to go... I have to go..."