"Alright, Kaiba! Use Hidden Power!"

Kaiba flew up in the air and released a glowing orb towards Eric's Tranquill.

"Dodge and use Air Cutter!" Eric cried.

His Tranquill obeyed and steered clear away from Kaiba's attack, only to beat its wings and launch razor-like wind in our direction.

While on our way to Strato Town, Eric had suggested that I train up Kaiba, something neither Kaiba nor I objected to.

"Dodge Kaiba!" I cried.

Kaiba let out a cry as she moved away from the blades of wind.

"Secret Power!" I ordered.

Kaiba let out a cry and started glowing. Kaiba then charged at Eric's Tranquill and made direct contact with the Pokémon, causing it to fumble.

"Nice one, Kaiba!" I cheered.

Kaiba fluttered her wings happily, coordinated with her happy cries.

"I think that's enough training for today." Eric said, extending his arm to the side.

His Tranquill happily perched itself on its trainer's arm and let out a cry.

"Kaiba has certainly come a long way. I don't know what could've happened to her in the past, but she has the heart of a survivor." Eric said.

Kaiba perched herself on my shoulder and let out a happy cry.

"I agree. If we keep working together, Kaiba, you'll eventually evolve into an Altaria!" I said.

Libby hopped on my shoulder and let out an excited cry. Kaiba smiled and copied Libby's cry.

"I think it's time we hit the road again," Nina suggested, "Strato Town is still a long way away from here."

Nina's right. Strato Town is built on top of Ezonia's highest point, Mount Haven.

I picked up my bag and returned Kaiba to her Pokéball.

"Come on, guys," I said, "To Strato Town, we go!"

The others smiled, and the four of us jogged down the path.

"So, what's Strato Town all about anyway?" Kat asked.

I took out my phone and showed Kat and Eric a picture of the town.

"Strato Town is a town that's built into Ezonia's highest peak, Mount Haven," I explained, "Apparently, the view from up there is supposed to be breath-taking. I honestly wouldn't know 'cause I've never been there. Have you, Nina?"

"Nope. My mom visited there a lot when she was younger, though. She said she used to go there for the Annual Sky Festival Strato Town hosts."

Scrolling through my phone, I saw a poster about said festival.

"Yeah, I'm seeing it here right now. The Annual Sky Festival is tomorrow at noon!" I said excitedly.

"If we make it to Strato Town tomorrow morning, we'll be able to enjoy the festival all day!" Eric said eagerly.

"Well, what are we walking for?" Kat asked, "What's the quickest way to Strato Town?"

"Easy, Kat. We'd still have to climb Mount Haven to get to Strato Town," Nina said, "Climbing to the top of Mount Haven takes about an hour or two alone."

We all looked at the redhead like she was crazy.

"Two hours!?" we all asked.

"Don't worry, guys. Strato Town has a cable car that takes people up and down the mountain." Nina said.

We all let out sighs of relief.

Phew... I was not ready to scale a mountain...

The four of us continued to chat with one another as we traversed down the path. That's when I saw Eric's bag beginning to glow.

"Uh, Eric...?" I began, "Your bag. It's... glowing...!"

The others stopped and looked down at Eric's bag. Eric quickly tore off his backpack and opened it. That's when we saw his egg begging to glow.

Doesn't that mean...?

"Eric, your egg is close to hatching!" Nina said excitedly.

"Mine? Look at your bags!" Eric said, "Your eggs are hatching as well!"

Looking back at my bag, I saw it was indeed glowing.

No way...

I turned to Nina and Kat, and sure enough, their bags were glowing as well. We quickly removed our bags and took out the incubators with the glowing eggs.

"They're all hatching!" Kat said happily.

The four of us quickly moved to the side of the path and opened the incubators to set the eggs on the grass.

"Oh, how exciting! I wonder what the little ones will look like?" Nina questioned aloud.

I shrugged my shoulders as I admired the flickering eggs. Humming to myself, I pulled a Pokéball and tossed it in the air.

"Charcoal, we need you!" I called out.

At my command, my Charmeleon appeared with a friendly cry.

"Why did you bring out Charcoal?" Kat asked.

"So, he can heat the eggs." I said.

"Oh, I get it! With enough heat, the eggs will eventually hatch!" Nina said, "Good thinking, Era!"

I nodded and turned back to my Pokémon.

"Charcoal, I need you to heat those eggs so they can hatch," I said, "Think you can do that?"

Charcoal nodded with a friendly cry. He turned his attention to the eggs, and a small ribbon of fire escaped Charcoal's mouth. The flame swirled around the eggs, causing them to glow brighter.

"Okay, Charcoal, that's enough." I said.

At my command, Charcoal closed his mouth. The eggs continued to glow brighter and brighter until the shells dissolved into particles. In the eggs' place were four adorable little Pokémon.

"Aww!" we all gushed.

The four Pokémon looked up at us and let out adorable cries. Kat and I took out our Pokédexes and scanned the Pokémon in front of us.

"Lillipup, the Puppy Pokémon. It faces strong opponents with great courage. But, when at a disadvantage in a fight, this intelligent Pokémon flees."

"Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon. In battle, Chikorita waves its leaf around to keep the foe at bay. However, a sweet fragrance also wafts from the leaf, becalming the battling Pokémon and creating a cozy, friendly atmosphere all around."

"Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon. This Pokémon was long considered to be no more than a myth. The small lump on a Dratini's forehead is actually a horn that's still coming in."

"Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon. As its energy, Togepi uses the positive emotions of compassion and pleasure exuded by people and Pokémon. This Pokémon stores up feelings of happiness inside its shell, then shares them with others."

A Lillipup, Chikorita, Dratini, and Togepi... They're so adorable!

The Lillipup was the first to walk up to Eric and smell his hand. It then let out a bark-like cry that made us all smile.

"Welcome to the world, little one..." Eric said, lifting the small Pokémon in the air.

The Lillipup smiled and barked out another cry. The Chikorita happily bounced over to Kat and let out an adorable cry.

"You are so cute!" Kat said excitedly.

Angel walked over to the Chikorita and extended one of its ribbon-like feelers. The Chikorita smiled and extended one of its vines, interlocking with Angel's feelers.

They've certainly bonded already...

The Togepi waddled its way up to Nina and bounced around, all while letting out happy cries. Nina squealed and picked up the little Pokémon.

"You are the cutest thing, oh, my goodness!" Nina said

The Togepi's smile only grew. That's when the Dratini slithered its way toward me. I held out my hand, and the Dratini rested its small head on it with a smile.

"You're so cute..." I said sweetly.

Libby hopped off my shoulder and greeted the small Pokémon with a friendly cry. Dratini returned that cry.

"Now, what should I call you?" I asked myself.

Libby caught my attention when she let out a cry. I turned to her to see her wagging her tail. At first, I thought she was simply happy, but then, realization dawned on me.

Dratini is a female, huh?

Grinning, I placed my hand on Dratini's head.

"I'll call you... Zora." I said.

"Why Zora, Era?" Kat asked.

I smiled and looked down at my Pokémon.

"It's a name I've heard somewhere. It means dawn, the beginning of every new day," I explained, "And these little guys are just the beginning..."

The others smiled and nodded in agreement. After putting our new Pokémon in Pokéballs, we picked up our bags and started making our way down the path once more.

The newest member of my team is Dratini. To think that something so adorable can evolve into something so mighty. And that's what Zora already is. Adorable and mighty... With a new Dragon-type on my team, I feel like I can accomplish much more now than before...