Chapter 17 - Hatching
After Halloween, the atmosphere around the castle was tense, but as nothing new happened, it slowly relaxed.
As usual, Hermione went home for Winter break.
For Christmas, Hermione sent a voucher from her for a crystal set for when he caught a new Pokemon, Neville a Waterium Z crystal set for Trever, and Luna a Fairium Z crystal set for her two new Pokemon. She received the same gifts from her friends as she did the year previous. From her parents, she received an instruction manual and care set for raising her soon to be hatched egg.
Soon after returning to school, during first period on Monday, it started.
Professor Lupin was reviewing for the test the following week. The test would cover all the material they were supposed to learn the first two years, what they had covered the first semester.
Hermione was taking rigorous notes on the Professor's lecture when she noticed it. Her backpack was shaking. At first, she was confused and was set to ignore it. Then a thought popped into her head. Opening her backpack, she saw that the egg case was rocking back and forth as the egg inside the incubator shook.
Without a thought to her surroundings, Hermione pulled the incubator out of her backpack and set it on the table in front of her. Once that was accomplished, she carefully opened the incubator and lifted the egg out, putting the egg in her lap.
The egg continued to shake as Hermione, and everyone else in the classroom, stared at it in anticipation. Hermione didn't even notice the attention she and her egg were getting as she was so focused on the egg.
After a few more minutes of shaking, the egg stilled. Unsure of what was happening, most of the class blinked in confusion. Then, as suddenly as it had stopped shaking, it began to glow a brilliant white. The egg started to change shape, morphing into a baby Pokemon. Once it had finished, Hermione quickly identified the newborn as a Ralts. The Ralts was only six inches tall, about the size of the egg, and less than half of its full grown height. Hermione cooed at the baby before pulling out a Pokeball and gently tapped it on the head to catch it.
Looking up, Hermione saw the entire class staring at her. The professor cleared his throat before continuing with his lecture as if nothing had happened.
