We rushed to the Pokémon center as fast as we could to get the egg in the place it needs to be. Gold kept yelling at me, asking what was wrong. I kept my mouth shut and I was focused on where I was going.

As soon as we arrived to the front lobby, I raced to the front nurse and showed her my trainer badge and yelled out my name "I'm from the Zoe family! I need urgent care for my egg!"

"Okay, please set the egg on the counter and I'll take it to the back" she said calmly, not at all phased when I said my name.

"I'll carry it myself!"

"I can't let you back there. Employees only" I glared, handed the egg to Gold, and slammed my hands on the desk.

"Excuse me! Don't you know who I am?! I'm authorized to enter any medical facility as long as it involves an egg!" She freaked out and started sweating, but didn't move from her spot "If I'm not in the proper place I need to be in, I'll have to involve the court of law"

"W-What?!" She waved her hands "B-Because I won't let you where you're not allowed?!"

"Do I have to repeat myself? I am authorized by the court of law to enter any medical facility under the name of Zoe as long as it involves an egg!" I slapped the desk again "Who's in charge here!?" A man in a lab coat and cowboy hat walked from the other room and walked up to us.

"Nurse, don't you know to accept anyone under the name Zoe?" He asked. The nurse flinched "You've wastes enough time. What do you have to say for yourself?" She rubbed the back of her head.

"I-I must've missed that lesson in school" she bowed to me "I'm sorry! Miss!" The man gestured me to follow him.

"Please come this way, Miss Zoe" I huffed and walked to the back room with the man and Gold carrying the egg for me. We entered a personal room and I took the egg out the case to rest in a blanket the doctor set down for me. The egg was flashing more than earlier before.

"Allow me to introduce myself" The doctor said "My name is Milton. I work here as a nutritionist for Pokémon health. It's a pleasure to meet someone from the Zoe family" I nodded "Please tell me how I can help"

"This egg is close to hatching. It's a few days off before that it's plan to happen. I believe it's going to be born prematurely" I explained the eggs medical history when I had it in my hands "I'm afraid it'll be born with a birth defect"

"We can only hope it doesn't happen. You've saved the shell and it looks well preserved. The damage might have been final, but let's pray it may only be born with minor difficulties" Doctor Milton said "I'm sorry I'm not the kind of doctor that can help. I'm only a nutritionist, covering the doctor who's away"

"No need to explain yourself. As long as I'm back here taking care of the egg, I'm grateful you're here" I gently stroked the shell "You'll be alright" I told it "You'll be a part of my team, and we're going to be great" to think I'll have two newborns in my team. Looks like I better train them with Bayleef and Pichu's help.

While the egg was flashing, I filled out some paperwork on the eggs visit. By the time I was finished, the egg was glowing solid. Gold and I stood close to watch it slowly form into a Pokémon. The glow stopped and a cute little Cleffa sat there with its eyes closed, slowly looking up with big brown eyes and faced me.

"Whoa! What's that Pokémon?" Gold took out his Pokédex and used it on the Cleffa keeping its eyes on me.

"Because of its unusual, star-like silhouette, people believe that it came here on a meteor" the Pokédex said. Gold looked at the dex and Cleffa confused.

"Star? It doesn't look like a star to me" he said. I pet Cleffa's head and studied what was missing.

"That's because she's missing a horn" I frowned, picking her up "everything about her is pretty much healthy, but she doesn't have a second horn" Pichu jumped off my shoulder to greet the Cleffa, showing off her own missing ear. Cleffa didn't understand and started playing with her head.

"Just as I thought... She had a birth defect" I inhaled a sob I didn't want to release "I failed..."

"What? No!" Gold quickly took my shoulders "This is not your fault! Why would you think that?"

"I could had saved her egg sooner"

"You found it damaged in the well! You couldn't had prevented that!" He shook my shoulders "Look, she's born healthy. You did that!" I looked at Cleffa looking at me "She might be missing a horn, but she's capable of living because you saved her life! Stop looking down at yourself!" I looked down and nodded.

"You're right..." I lifted Cleffa in the air to look at her "Welcome to the world, Cleffa" I smiled. She smiled back and cheered. I was beating myself up for thinking every little thing was my fault. I wanted my rescue to be perfect, but it wasn't my fault she's missing a part of her. If I didn't find her egg, she wouldn't be here healthy at all, or alive.

"You got yourself a new team member" Gold smiled. I hugged Cleffa and nodded, happy she's okay and happy. That's all that matters.

Something could be heard from the hallway, like glass knocking on glass. Like bottles. We looked back and saw Doctor Milton walk into the rooms with 2 carriers carrying 6 jugs of milk in one hand each.

"I'm back" he lifted the carriers and set them in the table "I often bring in milk for the Pokémon. It helps a Pokémon recover and I highly recommend it. It'll be a good source of nutrition for your Pokémon, especially new hatchlings. They're fresh from the farm I bring them from and there's enough to go around" he handed me some rubber nipples for the bottles "These fit well with the bottles so you can feed your Pokémon without a big mess" I send out my Bayleef and Togepi.

"I really appreciate it, doc" he bowed his head and looked at Cleffa and Togepi reaching out for the bottle I was putting together with the rubber nipple.

"Looks like there was a birth defect after all. That's not something we could prevent after what happened to it" I nodded, not wanting to talk about it, and started feeding my hatchlings some milk. Pichu whined and pulled on my arm.

"I'll pour you some in a bit. Give me a minute" I said. She shook her head and pointed at the babies "What? You want me to feed you?" I giggled "You're not a baby" she whined and pushed Togepi out the way "Pichu! No!" Togepi started crying "What's gotten into you?!" Pichu just waved her arms for me to feed her "You've always been patient. Why are you being like this?"

"She's probably jealous" Gold said after pouring some milk into some feeding bowls for his own Pokémon and even Bayleef "She's probably use to being the only baby in the family" I frowned at Pichu and fed Togepi again so she can stop crying. Pichu turned away when I didn't give her my attention and gave it to the hatchlings.

"I don't blame her. She's stuck as a Pichu for the rest of her life. She'll remain a baby, always. I've always treated her like a baby Pokémon, but it doesn't mean I don't care about her any less" I leaned towards her "I'll always give you my attention, but let me take care of the ones who need it first" she frowned at me "I've overworked myself many times, but I've never forgotten to take care of you as well. Just like everyone else in my team, you're important"

"Pe..." she turned away again and stayed like that for the remaining time I fed the hatchlings until they finished their bottles.

They fell asleep right after. I scooped Pichu up, catching her by surprise, and fed her the bottle I already prepared for her. She panicked at first, but relaxed and closed her eyes to enjoy the milk and my warmth she felt in my arms.

"What a baby" I smiled "My baby" she blushed and hummed in delight. The doctor walked up to me.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. Did you say your Pichu is stuck like this for the rest of its life?"

"Yes. She was hospitalized due to her injuries in a house fire. The doctor there told me she won't be able to evolve. She also doesn't have any electricity for a Pichu"

"How strange... I never heard of such a condition. I have heard of Pokémon being unable to evolve because of a birth defect, but losing its electricity?" Birth defect? I never thought of it that way. I looked at Cleffa and frowned.

"Nothing to worry about. Pichu is a supporter to my team. She won't be involved in battles as much as the others will be" he nodded. Gold tapped my shoulder.

"Everyone is all fed up and ready to go. Let's go call Professor Elm"

"Oh right" I faced the doctor "thank you so much for  earlier. And also giving us the milk. I'll pay the bill up front" I returned my Pokémon, captured Cleffa in my new Moon ball, and continued feeding Pichu in my arms "We'll be off!" I smiled and waved, heading to the front counter to pay before heading to the video calling machines.

"Gold" I pointed at the machine "What is this actually called?"

"Not sure, to be honest. They always have weird names for them" I shrugged and waited for Gold to call Elm by dialing his number. Gold grabbed the phone and brought it up to be between our ears, then Elm answered.

"You two!" Elm answered with a big smile "It's been awhile since last hearing from you! How's it been?"

"It's been awhile!" Gold smirked.

"Probably two months already" I said.

"How are your Pokémon I gave you?" Elm asked. Gold and I send out our starter Pokémon and carried them up to see the screen. The two of them gasped in delight when seeing Elm "They've gotten big!"

"If only we were able to find the guy that took the other Pokémon" Gold said.

"That Pokémon has no interest in coming back" I stated. The guys looked at me surprised "I'm sure that Totodile, now evolved, just wanted a trainer and didn't care if it was taken from the lab. I've seen that Crocanah, and I can tell it's there to stay"

"I-I see..." Elm frowned.

"When did you see that guy?!" Gold gasped "Why didn't you say anything?" I looked away.

"Does it matter? I saw him and Crocanah. I have no intentions on reporting him"

"What?! Why not?" Elm leaned closer to the screen. This may not be the main reason, but I can't tell them I just want to know what his connection is to my mother.

"He saved me from getting kidnapped" I said honestly "I don't know what his motives are, but I won't be the one to report him. Sorry, Elm" Elm sighed.

"Well... I can sort of understand"

"Well, I'll teach him a lesson the next time I see him!" Gold raised his voice.

"You've met him?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah! And he's nothing like how you described him" I nervously laughed and left the screen to see what Bayleef needed. It looked like she had something in her mouth "Don't worry, Professor. I'll teach him a lesson"

"As will I" I said "You think I'm letting him off the hook for what he did? I might not want to report him, but he's still on my watch list"

"W-Watch list?" I crossed my arms.

"He's right under Team Rocket. They are my top priority"

"Valerie... Please be careful" Elm frowned "I may not be able to stop you, but I trust your judgment" I send out Togepi and shoved her close to the screen for him to see with my unoccupied hand.

"Toge?" Togepi question what she was looking at.

"I-Is that the Pokémon egg I had you take care of?!"

"Yes sir" he gave the biggest smile.

"I knew I picked the right person to take care of the egg! Of course, you are an expert. You truly are wonderful, Valerie! Thank you!" he relaxed his excitement "Please you two, don't make crazy decisions without thinking about it first" Gold and I turned away from the screen. I can't make promises, especially since I've been off my medicine for a long time "Well, whatever you do, be safe" we nodded.

"Got it" Gold and I said before hanging up. I sighed and set down Togepi next to Pichu laying on Bayleef's side, still drinking from the bottle. Togepi looked shy to ask for some, but Pichu offered to give her what was left. Good to see she was probably just jealous of me feeding them instead of becoming selfish.

"Bayleef" I called "What's in your mouth?" Bayleef shook her head and refused to let it go "Come on, hand it over" she whined and opened her mouth, showing that she was chewing on a small poster.

"What's this?" I took the wrapper and read what was on it "Big radio tower broadcast at 6pm" My heart raced when seeing a big red R on the corner "We're ready for you, boss" I groaned out loud and crushed the poster in my hands. Everyone jumped at my surprise aggression.

"Y-You okay there, V?" Gold asked nervously. I calmed down and looked at Bayleef frowning at me, like she did something wrong. I pet her head to make sure she didn't think that way.

"Sorry, it was just what I read on the poster..." she nodded "Sorry Gold, I can't give you that battle you're wanting today"

"What? Why?" I looked at the time and saw that it was already 3 in the afternoon.

"I have something I have to do on my own. Sorry, I'll make it up to you" I stood up and looked at him "I'll battle you next time, okay?" Looking at my face that was holding in massive rage, Gold just sighed and nodded.

"Well, you do what you have to do. I think I'll head out to look for the gym leader"

"There's a gym leader here?" I asked. Milton walked from the front counter and approached us.

"The gym leader of Goldenrod City is named Whitney. She's my niece. She's pretty new to the whole gym leader thing, but she's very talented in battles. You'll be lucky to run into her though. She likes to shop with her friends that work for her in the gym. You'll probably have to wait up on her outside the gym" Gold sweat dropped.

"S-She goes shopping instead of work?" Milton shrugged.

"I don't know what goes on in these youngsters heads now adays" I can say the same, honestly.

"Well, Alright! I'll wait on her for how ever long I need to. V" Gold looked at me "Take care of what you need to do. If you need my help, I'm one call away" I smiled, returned my Pokémon, and headed off to the place where the poster had planned on doing this broadcast.

"I really wanted to start training the younglings" I told Pichu on my shoulder "but even if I start, they're very young to start any kind of battle. I only have one fighting Pokémon and a supporter" I stopped running and looked at the floor "I'm letting my anger get the better of me... How am I going to battle a bunch of grunts with only one fighter?" I squeezed my fist "I have to find a way... I'll get through this. I believe in Bayleef" I looked at Pichu "Even if you're not a fighter, you can still fight" she nodded "Even so..." I hugged myself "I have to face them no matter what..." I glared at myself. I honestly don't know what I'm thinking. Am I choosing the right path, or just letting my anger get the better of me..? Would Red have fought so many with little Pokémon..? I can't know for sure... I can't know until she comes.