Another day passes as you train Larvitar, beating up multiple Pokemon to improve his battling. You sort of feel bad for all those Shinx and Chatot. You can tell he's improving a lot, his defense and attack getting better every time he fights another Pokemon. You hope he's going to evolve soon. The two of you have travelled to route 218 to look for more Pokemon battle. It's a shame you have to beat up so many wild Pokemon, but at least they get to help Larvitar improve. It's better than having him eat a whole mountain to evolve. That'd raise more than a couple problems that you can't solve. You were going through a field of tall, weed-like grass with your pal when you run into an egg.
It was stuck in the middle of the road, perfectly still, sporting a mellow white shell with bright green spots covering it on the surface. Did someone leave this behind? Or did a Pokemon forget about their egg? You couldn't find anyone around, the field only filled with non-evolved Pokemon. Which means that they couldn't have made this egg. There's no trainer around, too. You look around vigilantly, trying to see if anyone was going to claim the little egg. You waited for a bit more, before deciding that a new team member doesn't sound too bad. You take the egg, and put it in your backpack. You've heard that eggs need to walk around with you in order to hatch properly, and you can't risk going around with an egg out in the open, so you kept it in your main bag pocket.
Larvitar notices you putting the egg in your bag, scratching his head and trying to figure out what exactly that thing is. You hand the egg down to him and let him see for himself. Still unable to figure it out, he tries ramming his head onto the egg, a mere inch away from stabbing it with his head rod- horn? You can't really figure out exactly what it is.
"Whoa there, pal. Careful with the egg, these don't come around too often. Who knows what's inside? Hmm... How about we try walking around a little more to see if the egg's about to hatch or not?"
Larvitar grunts in confusion and disagreement. Thought so. He's been walking around by himself all around the fields and forests, hoping to evolve soon. To his annoyance, no luck today, either. You've been going around for about 3 hours now, making sure not to knock out too many Pokemon lest the ecosystem gets messed up because of a fat little rock dino. One could only dream of a peaceful world if people decided that they should go all out in Pokemon hunting and grinding. Seeing the egg take the spot in your backpack makes Larvitar a little too content in head ramming the poor thing. You can already tell by the way he's walking several paces ahead of you despite having legs the size of green beans.
"Use Crunch!"
You yell for what feels like the millionth time. Sometimes, like Larvitar, you wonder if he's ever going to evolve. It's been years since you had him, and you've been training a lot more than a youngster Joey would. Larvitar obeys your commands, biting down on the poor Luxio that happened to cross your path. Though the main difference between Pokemon training and the Pokemon wilderness is that they never actually give it their all. Not to say that they're not putting their back into it, but it's more like a wrestling match compared to a gladiator ring. You haven't seen much of the latter outside of movies. The Luxio faints after a few more moments. Injured, but not killed, fortunately. You turn around to see Larvitar after checking on the egg again, your heart beating faster at what you're seeing.
A brilliant orange light envelops Larvitar, illuminating most of his silhouette and shifting his body structure into a starkly different shape. His form no longer visible and fluctuating between shapes, you hope he'll turn out even better. The to-be evolved Pokemon seemed nothing short of surprised and happy as you are. He looks at you, for the final time as a Larvitar, and lets out a joyful, satisfied cry before fully being swallowed by the light, evolving into a...
Pupa. He turned into a Pupitar. Literally just an "in progress" stage. You've got to be kidding. But while you're slightly disappointed by the transformation, to say that Pupitar is over the moon is an understatement. He wiggled as much as his rocky shell would allow him to, rolling around in the dirt contently until he was covered in blades of grass and dirt. And as much as you're personally bummed out by how the efforts paid off, you can't help but feel a strong sense of pride watching him enjoy his new achievement. Your newly evolved Pupitar also wants to show you something, gesturing you to watch.
You two run into a Graveler, with Pupitar far more excited than you had expected him to be because of how much bigger and bulkier Graveler is compared to him. However, he patiently waits for the wild Pokemon to attack him instead of his typical strategy of going first. What's he up to?
The Graveler uses Explosion, letting out a giant... Explosion out into the surroundings, hitting trees, rocks, including Pupitar with a massive shockwave that can worsen your hearing if you went close enough. Luckily, he was able to resist the damage, and in a split second before the Graveler was about to faint, Pupitar struck back by covering himself with a dark, purplish black cloak of energy, bracing for impact, and threw himself with all his might onto the Graveler. He learned Payback!? Awesome!
"Pupitar, come here. That was awesome! I didn't know you could learn Payback! Tell you what, I'll let you spar with Gabite next time we see 'em. It's been a while since I got into a battle with Cynthia, too. You've gotten stronger, too. That's my boy!"
Pupitar leans towards you, both in celebration and as a way to show determination on the upcoming battle you told him about. You're both looking forward to this.
You make your way back home through Celestic Town, miserably going through the fog because of Pupitar's inability to learn Defog. After all of that, you finally reach the Pokemon Center, with yourself more exhausted than Pupitar. But just as you're about to open the door, your bag starts shaking more than it should. Hold on, hold on. It's already hatching? You hurriedly take it out of the bag to let it crack and hatch properly. It starts glowing a shining light from inside the egg, all the while cracking more and more with every shake. You never really knew why hatching Pokemon eggs glow from the inside. The same happened when Pupitar hatched. And finally, the Pokemon broke out of its comfortable shell, ready to be introduced to the world. Lo and behold...
A small blue Ralts. The little thing has a slim, orange horn protruding over its bangs, which you've heard it uses to sense emotions of humans and fellow Pokemon. It has small, short hands, though they seem to be more functional than the ones Pupitar used to have. Her skin has a weird, light tint of pink all throughout her body, and little stumps for legs that edge off into something that looks like the end of a long skirt. The Ralts in question has a striking feature: its bangs that take up most of the head is a bright, shining blue instead of the usual green that you've seen on television in the Hoenn region. She looks around her new surroundings, oddly not intimidated by you or Pupitar. She walks up to you and calmly reaches her arms out, meaning that you are now a father parenting two Pokemon. You give her a quick pat on the head and bring her into a Pokeball. Pupitar can bond with her some other time.
The Pokemon Center looks and feels refreshing every time you visit it. The air conditioning and fresheners fill the room with a sharp yet soothing, relieving breeze that smells of dawn after a night's worth of rain. There are firm and comfy seats for the trainers to rest on after their long journey of losing their mind because of endless Zubat encounters along the caves, or just to sit down and relax after hours' worth of walking. The floor is a warm yellow, with patterned tiles running along all corners of the building, illuminated by the several lights inside the floor every few paces apart from each other. Two escalators at each side, leading up and down respectively, connect the Pokemon Center into the communications room where trainers can interact with their friends and keep in touch with their family.
Most important of all is the pink-haired woman at the counter. She heals your Pokemon with the help of a machine that can store up to 6 balls and heal all their illnesses obtained through battle, wounds and energy. This can only work on Pokemon that are damaged through battles or with minor injuries and ailments. If you had a Pokemon that had half of its body blown off, this is not the place to be.
You walk up to Nurse Joy and hand her your Pokeballs.
"Welcome to the Pokemon Center! I'll be taking your Pokemon for a moment. Say, you're [Y/N], right? I've heard about you."
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm [Y/N]. How'd you know me? I don't remember coming here often."
"Ah, right. You really don't know? That young lady named Cynthia talks about you a lot, you know? She's a bit stoic most of the times she's gone here, but when I tried to make some small talk, she could go on and on about a lot of things, especially about history and geography. Well, one thing led to another, and now I know you. I've heard from my sisters too. She always lights up when she's talking about you. It's a little jarring to see someone like Cynthia so giddy."
Ah. Is that so.
"... Are you okay? Your face is getting red. Did you catch a fever on the way here? You might want to stay on those seats over there for a while."
"A-ah, no. I'm fine. Yeah, just a little... Tired."
You try to keep a straight face as you take back your two Pokeballs and walk over to a seat on the side. After you sit down, you take a deep breath and exhale loudly to relieve the tension from just a few moments ago that got you thinking. With your hat tipped down to cover your reddening face, you think out loud to yourself, Pupitar and Poliwag, the dark sky of dusk outside and heavy rain fading away from your ears as you mutter under your breath.
"I wonder if she feels the same way..."
With those thoughts plaguing your mind, you decide that the best option is to just try and sleep it off. Time passed, minute after minute, then hour after hour, until dawn came. The Pokemon Center provided you with a blanket for cases where a trainer would sleep through the night in the seats. The wind outside got chilly, and considerably windy. After some more time, a single frozen drop of water landed on the roof of the building, and the rest came after it, sprinkling the ground, roads, lamps and homes with a white coating. The sky opened up, and illuminated Celestic Town just as dawn broke. Sinnoh winter has officially begun.