Eight years later

In a plain neighborhood where many houses looked the same slept a little girl who everyone mostly ignored as though she didn't exist at all. Little Harriet Potter of Radiant City Long Island, lived with her Aunt and Uncle in their spotlessly clean house. Her Aunt wanted everything spotless at all times. Harriet thought she had obsessive compulsive disorder for cleanliness. The last time she'd gotten in trouble she swore she couldn't sit for a week after breaking her Aunt's favorite vase while cleaning the living room. Then afterward she was locked up in her room all day for the next three days grounded for it.

"Wake up girl!" her Aunt Petunia yelled through the door. "Stop being a lazy lay about, it's time for you to make breakfast." Causing Harriet to grumble as she hated getting up. "What was that?" Her Aunt yelled back.

"Nothing, Aunt Petunia. I'm getting up." Harriet replied quickly to avoid her Aunt's ire.

"That's what I thought. Now Hurry up, breakfast needs to be perfect for Dudley's birthday." Her Aunt replied as she walked off.

Continuing to grumble Harriet rolled over and grabbed some of her cousin's old clothes she wore and proceeded to get dressed before heading upstairs to the bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth and commenced to wage war upon the mop on her head she had to call hair. After getting ready she headed downstairs and began working on making the bacon she knew her cousin would probably inhale like a vacuum leaving none for her. "Now remember, medium heat and keep an eye on it. We don't want a repeat of last time do we?" Her Aunt instructed her before she went back to cooking her part of the breakfast.

"No Aunt Petunia." Harriet sighed out. Last time she'd cooked the bacon she'd allowed her mind to wander and ended up searing one side of it leaving the thin piece of meat burnt tasting.

"After you finish breakfast you need to get ready to go over to Mrs. Fig's house for the day." Her Aunt informed her, because she would not be going with them on Dudley's birthday day out.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." She responded as she finished up the bacon and began plating everything that'd been made for Dudley's breakfast. Dudley already sitting at the table completely ignored her. He hated getting up even worse than she did. Though the scent of the bacon did perk him up as he began trying to grab the whole plate's worth. Fortunately for her she managed to snag a piece or two before getting bread and buttering it up to eat. It was at this time that the phone rang. "I'll get it," Petunia said as she left the dining room, her Uncle having just sat down to breakfast.

After several minutes of everyone quietly eating. Her cousin had inhaled most of the food while her Uncle drank his morning coffee and read the Daily Pelipper. Her Aunt came back into the room as everyone else finished up. "Miss Fig can't take the girl. She tripped over one of her Glameows and broke her leg." Aunt Petunia informed everyone. Leaving Harriet to groan half caught between exasperation she'd have to go elsewhere, relieved that she wouldn't be mobbed by the catlike Pokémon Miss Fig bred or worse the dread she'd have to go with her family out in public.

"What about what's her name you work with? Surely she can take her." Asked her Uncle.

"No, she's in upper Long Island for a vacation. She can't do it." Petunia informed him.

"What about-" Her Uncle began before Harriet interrupted him.

"I could just stay here? Please it's not like I'll blow up the house or anything." Harriet pleaded with her Aunt and Uncle.

It was at this precise moment though that Dudley's brain finally seemed to come online. "Why isn't Harriet coming?" Dudley asked as the last vestiges of sleep left his body.

"You know why she isn't going to come with us." His Aunt replied. "We're going to the Pokémon Zoo today and you know she can't stand being in public for too long."

"But I want her to come," Dudley started as tears began to build up in his eyes.

"You know she doesn't like going out," Her Uncle began as Dudley actually started to cry.

"But I want her there, I want Harriet to go," Dudley's tears beginning to spill over at this point and one of the few temper tantrums he'd ever pitched was starting to build up.

"FINE," Harriet said exasperatedly. She hated dealing with her relatives in the morning. Her Aunt was snippy upon waking up, her Uncle was anti-social and her cousin was practically a zombie. "I'll go, just don't... Just don't expect me to enjoy myself." She muttered the last part too low for Dudley to hear.

"Yes!" he exclaimed all traces of his crying gone in an instant. "I knew you'd come around cousin!" He continued as he began to hug her in his excitement.

"Yeah, Yeah." She replied patting Dudley on the back. Dudley had always been like this since they were children. He'd always tried to finagle her into going outdoors with them. Something she vehemently hated doing since she had been four years old and gotten ambushed by people who realized she was the child of their Heroes Lily and James Potter. To make matters worse Pokémon always flocked to her and she was still slightly scared of them if too many began to circle her at once. As a toddler she'd never understood why they did it and it frightened her immensely every time it happened. It wasn't till last year she'd realized that other people just can't talk to Pokémon the same way she could. Which was the issue, for some reason Pokémon loved it when a human could understand them. "I'll go upstairs and get dressed for outside then."

Petunia sighed as she watched the girl go up the stairs. "I really do hope she can get over this before she has to start school in two years."

"She'll be fine," her Uncle replied as he stood up from the table. "Once she has a partner of her own she won't feel as overwhelmed by other Pokémon and they'll keep her safe."

"I can only hope." Petunia trailed off. "Lily would be so sad to see her like this always indoors never going out, avoiding life itself."

It had only been a minute, but Harriet was already ready to go. All she needed was to add a cap to her ensemble. She wore a baggy white long sleeve shirt and shorts that had once belonged to Dudley. Her relatives had tried to get her, her own clothes, but she refused. She preferred the baggier clothes that hid her away. The only thing she would wear that they'd gotten her were the undergarments, socks and shoes. She'd tied up her hair and slid it under the cap as she put it on as well. Coming downstairs she announced, "I'm ready!"

"Okay let's get to walking then. The Zoo isn't too far away." Her Uncle told everyone, and so they set off towards the destination of Dudley's birthday trip.

After several minutes of walking she was in her own little world avidly avoiding the gazes and everyone and Pokémon alike. "Harry," her cousin started, breaking her out of her own thoughts.

"Yes, Dudley?" she asked.

"Why don't you like going outside? I mean you explained it but I never really understood it." He asked her. She knew he didn't understand her desire to not go out. After all he had his own problems when he went out in public. His Mother, her Aunt, had bloomed into a beautiful woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She was also really good at taking care of Pokémon and understanding their needs in a way many didn't. Not even she with her ability to talk to them could truly understand them. After all they could always lie to her which left it to her own interpretation of what they needed or wanted. Pokémon could be embarrassed about things too. Anyways, one day someone had told her between her own beauty and the way she took care of her Pokémon she could easily become a Pokémon coordinator and so she had. She was good too. She was the reigning Queen of the Elpis Region in the coordination scene. This meant Dudley got stares and whispers almost as much as she did. Other kids however picked on him about it especially once they found out he wanted to be a battler and not a coordinator. So the fact Dudley still went out meant her own problems with it were lost on her.

"It's because like you, I have my own issues to deal with," she muttered trying to keep the adults from hearing. Unfortunately her Uncle had heard them.

"Your cousin isn't like you Dudley. She's not as outgoing and with her issue with the way people and Pokémon crowd her. It makes her perfectly happy sitting at home inside the house." Her Uncle tried to explain as simply as possible. "Which means in public she'll be relying on you to keep them off of her, eh? My big strong boy." He finished playfully.

Dudley and Harriet both grinned at that. "Thanks Uncle Remus, I really didn't know how to explain it." Harriet said to her Uncle.

"No problem at all Harry," Her Uncle smiled at her. "You're only eight, kind of makes it hard to really put it into words. You'll get better as you get older."

That had her really smiling. She did hope that one day she'd be able to move forward. While her Uncle was right and that she wasn't as outgoing as Dudley was. That only with people, she really truly did enjoy being outside and exploring. However to do that meant she'd need to get over her problem with Pokémon. Maybe once she had her own it could keep the others from crowding her too much. She loved Pokémon, don't get her wrong, but the crowding could be a bit much. It was always worse when she visited her Aunt and Uncle though since her mothers' Raichu couldn't come with her since it was needed at the Gym her grandparents ran to keep others in line.

"Look there's the zoo!" her cousin exclaimed as they got closer. The zoo kept all kinds of Pokémon specifically for children to be able to see that they'd normally not get to as well as interact with them in a safe environment. It was the second part that bothered Harriet the most though as meant being crowded again. "Come on cousin! Maybe they'll have some fighting types that are rare." Her cousin was obsessed with fighting type Pokémon. Part of it started with the fact his father's two strongest Pokémon Lycanroc and Zoroark were weak to them and he wanted to be stronger than his daddy. The other part was watching a fight where Kanto's Elite Four Bruno won against Agatha for the first time several years back despite fighting being weak to ghost types.

"I see, maybe they'll have something rare in general this time." She replied back almost excited as he was. She may hate going out, but once she was outside she was easily excitable. She was a kid so sue her.

Meanwhile her Aunt Petunia was smiling as her ickle Duddykins brought her precious niece, the last link to her sister Lily, out of her shell. "I'm really glad Dudley cares so much about her." Her husband whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I know, imagine how much worse it'd be if he didn't try to get her to do things with him all the time." She replied with a smile on her face as she leaned into him.

"Miss Fig didn't really break her leg did she?" Remus asked her.

"No, no she didn't." replied Petunia, a mischievous smile crossing her face.

"Holy Arceus!" Harriet shouted. "They have a Tyrantrum in the zoo today!" Her excitement was really bubbling up now that she was distracted and no longer thinking about the negatives of being out in public.

"Language young lady!" Her Aunt snapped. "Be a dear Remus and go pay for the tickets. I don't think they will be able to contain themselves for long."

"Of course love." Remus replied as he took the pass she handed him before heading off to go pay for the rest of the ticket cost. As he approached the ticket vendor though he noticed a sign. "Two adults and two children please." Remus told the man, though his eyes hadn't left the flyer on the sign. "How much for two tickets in the guaranteed egg Lottery?" He asked the man. Knowing that guaranteed eggs probably wouldn't be anything special.

"Hmm? OH the egg lottery yes. Well as you noticed it's a guaranteed egg for each child who wants to participate. Children only, no adults. The tickets run for 5,000 poke dollars each." the vendor explained.

"5,000? That's a bit high isn't it, an egg from something as common as a Rattata would only fetch a couple hundred poke at best." Remus queried.

"Yes, indeed. Because here's the catch. While most of those eggs are valued pretty common. We have several donated eggs just for this event that the breeders didn't know what they were. Which means they will hatch something rare, since the breeders know all the common Pokémon eggs by heart." The vendor told Remus a bit giddily at this point. Though whether it was the thought of making so much money off a chance or the rarity of what could pop out of one of the rare eggs Remus didn't know.

"I'll take two tickets then. One for my son and one for my niece." Remus told the vendor handing him the money for admission and for the tickets.

"Pleasure doing business with yah," the vendor smiled at Remus. "And best of luck to your son and niece in the drawing."

Remus didn't bother replying to the man as he walked away. Most likely they'd have two Rattata eggs by the end of the month hatching but at least the children would have a lot of fun today. "I got the tickets and a little something special for the children." Remus told Petunia as he approached.

"Just in time Remus, I think the children are about to have Littens from all the waiting they're so excited." Petunia said trying not to laugh at the children's antics at this point. "So what did you get that was special?"

"Just two tickets for the egg raffle this afternoon. I know we might get a Pidgey or Rattata, but at least the children will enjoy the raffle and the expense waiting to hatch. Plus they'd make a good pet and learning experience for when school starts." He explained.

"Very well, come on children we can enter now." Petunia called out to Dudley and Harriet.

Harriet had a blast. She got an ice cream made by a Slurpuff, got to speak with the Tyrantrum and the Auroras that had separate areas for the children to interact with without getting mobbed by a massive group. Though the female Tyrantrum was very upset to see her go. Harriet thought it may have tried to adopt her if she'd stayed too long. Her Aunt and Uncle didn't force her to go into the other petting zoos available since they had many more Pokémon in them. Surprisingly Dudley didn't push the issue either though she hadn't noticed her Aunt explain why he needed to lay off for that bit. Overall the day was fantastic and while most of the Pokémon on display were those she'd gotten to see already she always enjoyed watching them as long as they didn't rush her.

Elsewhere in the zoo. "What do you mean you accidentally sold an extra ticket?" a woman asked the vendor. "We only have an exact number of eggs, so how did you sell an extra ticket?"

"I didn't mean to," the vendor defended. "The last person to get tickets was the Queen of Elpis' husband and I was not about to risk offending them." The vendor though he had made a good point though.

And he had. "Very well," the Warden of the zoo replied, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "You're right you never know with people like them what issues could come up if they're denied, and while Remus is very laid back today is his son's birthday." While it might seem strange that she knew this everyone knew who the Lupins were thanks to Petunia. That and she had contacted the zoo ahead of time to get the discount pass for her son's birthday.

"Exactly," the vendor nodded enthusiastically before pausing. "Besides you can always throw in that one egg that refuses to hatch."

"You mean the one that's been here for two years?" they had several eggs that refused to hatch. However the one the vendor was most likely referring to was that one. They'd had it for two years and no matter what they'd tried it refused to hatch for them. "Yes that could work. It registers as healthy on scans and while no one knows what it is, it does us no good keeping it if it won't hatch. Plus they can't blame the zoo for giving them a faulty egg if even the specialist believes it's perfectly healthy. If anything they'd just give it back and we'd have another to give them in return at that point." The warden rambled as she pulled out her phone to deliver the instructions to her people.

Back with Harriet and Dudley who are sitting in the showcase room where special performances with the Pokémon occur. They were here waiting for the drawing to begin. "When are they starting daddy?" Dudley whined, to which Harriet smirked knowing Dudley was starting to get truly impatient.

"In a minute son, now calm down." Remus placated his now nine year old son.

"Yeah Dudley calm down already. You wouldn't want Uncle Remus to have to take you home early and let me get your egg too, would you?" Harriet teased her cousin knowing exactly how to wheedle him with this.

"That's not fair!" Dudley exclaimed. "You wouldn't do that would you daddy?"

Remus seeing the glint in his niece's eye that reminded him of her father merely played along with it. "Oh no, she's definitely right I'd definitely have to take you home if you get too excited and rambunctious and we'd just have to let her take both eggs."

At this Dudley whipped around to his mother, "Mummy tell them they can't do that! It isn't fair."

Rolling her eyes at her family's antics, Petunia just smiled before turning to her husband. "Okay Remus, knock it off now. I think you two have teased my poor Duddykins enough for now." she said with a small smirk herself.

"Muuuuum," Dudley whined at this. "You know I don't like it when you call me that. I'm not a baby anymore." Dudley pouted as he said this completely disproving his own point.

"Ah, but you'll always be my ickle Duddykins to me." She replied trying not to giggle at her son's antics. Meanwhile Harriet had already broken out into giggles while Remus snorted trying not to laugh as well. Petunia had developed a bit of a prankster habit when she had begun hanging out with her sister's friends from school. Those friends including himself of course.

"Ladies and gentleman!" the announcer began. "It is time to start the egg drawing! I'll be calling out the number on each ticket as the ticket is drawn. At which point whichever child has that ticket can come forth and choose one of the many eggs available."

Excited yells from children were all that could be heard at that point before they calmed down enough for him to continue. As they called each child up to randomly select an egg from the group they had laid out. When it was Dudley's turn to be called up he chose a light purple egg with two white bands around its middle with brown spots. However when it was Harriet's turn to choose she couldn't decide. She initially almost went for a brown egg that had cream spots on it before stopping. She felt like something was calling to her. So she paused and looked around at the eggs again getting yells from the other children for her to hurry up as their parents tried to placate them. There it was, she thought. The egg that seemed to call to her was blue with black and yellow spots around it. So that was the one she picked.

After the rest of the children had chosen though she noticed her Uncle being approached by a lady in a safari suit and being the curious child she was began to follow them. After trailing them for a bit she began to hear their voices. As she got closer she began to make out the conversation between the two of them, but not much of what was actually said. All she got was that if the eggs didn't hatch they could be brought back and exchanged. Harriet didn't like what she'd heard though and quickly ran off, upset, to find her Aunt. Harriet spent the walk home in silence. When they had gotten home she immediately ran upstairs to put the egg in her room safely. After Dudley's birthday dinner which she'd helped her Aunt Petunia cook she went back up the stairs to her room and got ready for the night before laying down in bed. Harriet thought back to the snippet of the conversation she'd heard about in case the eggs didn't hatch but refused, she simply gripped her egg harder to her. She knew this egg was special, after all it called to her when the others didn't and she would never give her egg up even if she had to hold onto it for years for it to hatch. And with that as her last thought she drifted off to sleep her dreams wandering through just what kind of adventures she'd have in the future with the Pokémon from the egg.