That night they camped on Route Thirty-four. Kanade slept soundly while her Tropius wandered off. "Mucai, where are you?" Kanade called out her Munna but she didn't seem to know either. Not long after they spotted a few tracks heading south. Tracking after him, he was quickly found.
Mucai lay on the path ahead, and growled and groaned at her. Then he recognized his trainer. He was curled tight around something and refused to let Kanade see it at first.
Then he lifted his wing. A pokemon egg? Where did that come from...
"Mucai did you steal that from someone?!" Where had she gone wrong? Mucai was always the best behaved of her three pokemon. Baku ran over and bumped him with her nose, he snorted at her and tenderly maneuvered the egg back under him. No touching, he seemed to be saying.
"Can you show me where you found it? May I see it, it's very pretty." Kanade kept her voice calm as to not startle the Tropius. Tropius looked at her doubtfully then nodded, rolling it over to her, ever so gently. It was a mottled egg, green and blue and tan. The egg was warm and Kanade gently wrapped it in the blanket she'd use to camp out the night before and carried it carefully following Mucai. He headed south and after a few more minutes of weaving between patches of tall grass they arrived at a small house, it had a large fenced in yard with eggs and several pokemon.
Kanade thought a bit. He really did steal another pokemon's egg... Mucai... what have you done... The sign outside the house read daycare center. An elderly woman was tending to the pokemon beyond the fence. "Ma'am... err... excuse me but I think my pokemon may have taken one of your eggs. I am very sorry! I brought it back." She gently offered the bundle to the woman who checked inside the blanket and laughed.
"That's not one of mine." The old lady chuckled in understanding. Mucai shook his head and looked at Kanade proudly, then back at the lady, hoping she could explain better than he could. If he could talk his trainer's language sometimes. "Your Tropius here brought you back part of a clutch he sired. It looks like this egg belongs to you. See how protective he is of it?" Kanade nodded slowly, understanding sinking in with time, though she did wonder what was in the egg. "It's yours to keep take it with you, keep it warm and safe on your journey's and soon your Tropius will be the proud father of a fine young hatchling."
Tropius trilled gleefully at the old woman's words. No harm would come to this egg or any others Kanade received, he would protect them like he protected Baku and even Ares though sometimes he was unsure if the latter really needed it.
The old woman gestured down the path in the direction they were headed. "That way leads to the Ilex Forest. Be careful in there it's very thickly wooded and always dark. Now get going while there's still daylight on thiry-four unless you want to leave a pokemon in our care." An old man was also tending the pokemon left at the daycare. She shook her head, they would all travel together through the forest, even if it was dark and scary.
Mucai lowered a wing as Kanade placed the wrapped egg carefully in her pack. She shook her head and her flew in the air above her, keeping a close eye out for threats to his trainer and the precious egg.