"Hey Amber?" I asaked, getting her attention.
"Yes?" She replied.
"I am very sorry. About the name." I told her.
"It's okay. I just wish it would've happened sooner." She said.
"I should have asked." I said. "Anyway, we should probably get some rest. We need to get our egg checked tomorrow."
"Yeah, you're right." She agreed.
"Can I hold you tonight?" I asked.
"Sure you can." Amber replied as she laid down. Then I followed.
-Tony's dream-
Next thing I know, I'm in a stand that looks like I'm in the Pokemon league. I looked down, Amber was battling. She was facing a Gengar. She seemed out of breath. She glanced back at me breathing heavily. Then I heard the announcer speak.
"Is this it for the champion Tony?!" He called as the crowd cheered.
I felt a tug on my leg. I looked down and saw a little pale skined girl with green hair.
"You and mom can do this dad! I believe in you!" She said.
"This intense battle that has pushed our champion further than any other battle! It appears he isn't so untouchable!" The announcer went on.
I looked at my wrist. I had my key stone on my hand. I almost tried, but fairy isn't too effective against ghost. That would actually hinder us. That must be why I didn't do that yet.
"Tony, what are we doing?" Amber yelled up to me. "What's our next move?"
"I'm done waiting! Gengar, Sludge bomb!" The opponent called.
"Amber, Psychic!" I responded.
She pushed it back although there was another one coming. The second one hit and she went down. The crowd went wild.
"And she's down! A devistati- ack from ch-ger -. The invincible ace of our champion is down! But is, she out?" The announcer called.
The referee ran over and threw up a green flag. This caused the audience to go crazy once again.
"The cham-'s Amber is un- to battle. Gengar wins. The victor is -." The refferee called.
- Back to reality-
"Come on!" I yelled as I sat up from waking up.
"What happnn." Amber slurred as she woke up.
"I missed the name again!" I yelled a little quieter this time.
"Your Pokemon League dream?" She asked.
"Yeah, it was a different one. But still I couldn't get the name." I said.
"That's annoying." She replied.
"Yeah, on top of that though, we lost too." I said.
"What?!" She got loud this time.
"Yeah, it was a Gengar." I replied.
"So a Poison Type." She shuddered.
"Yeah." I responded. I walked over and grabbed her. "Don't worry, we'll just make sure we don't lose to anyone in the future."
"Exactly!" She exclaimed.
On that note, I let everyone out of their Pokeballs and we got breakfast taken care of. While they ate breakfast, I held our egg. The whole thing still feels unreal. All branching from the egg itself. I know amber hasn't been with any Pokemon in that way, at least since I got her back. So I know it's mine. But not only that, it's so much lighter than I expected. Almost as if it's hollow. Then, I felt it kick finally.
"Amber! I felt it finally! It kicked!" I called full of excitement.
"Really!? That's awesome!" She replied.
It lifted my spirits so much more than I thought it would. Kind of regrounded me in a way. Made the whole situation feel so much more real.
I just sat there holding the egg for the next hour or so. Then Mawile walked over and held her hands out. "Maw Mawile?"
"Grandma wants to hold the egg." Amber said.
So I handed it over. Then I remembered our conversation last night. So I went to Amber.
"Should I ask them about names too?" I asked her.
"Yes." She replied as she started packing things back up.
"Hey, Mawile, question for you. Did you have a name you'd like to go by?' I asked.
She nodded as her eyes went wide slightly. "Wile"
"Her name is Topaz." Amber translated.
"Topaz, okay sounds good. Sorry I took so long." I apologized.
"Mawile" She said nodding her head.
The others seemed unaware, I decided I'd get them later. I'm normally awful at making names.
"Ready to go?" I asked as I started to return everyone.
"Yep." Amber replied grabbing our egg. "Did they get names?"
"Not yet, I need to think of some. I'll take care of it by tomorrow." I said.
"Alright." She said as we got to the lobby.
I checked out of the room then grabbed Amber's empty hand. Then, we teleported to New Bark Town once again.
"I'm already so uneasy." Amber said.
"Yeah, I feel you on that." I said
I didn't see anyone of suspision nearby so we went right for the lab.
"Welcome!" One of the assistants greeted.
"Hello! How can we help you today?" Professor Elm greeted.
"Hello, I'm Tony and this is Amber, I was told by Professor Birch to come to see you about this egg." I explained.
"Ah, yes. He told me you would be stopping by." Elm told us.
"That makes things easier." I said as Amber handed over the egg.
"This feels empty?" He questioned with confusion all over his face. "Do you mind telling me about this egg?"
"Yes, essentailly, we made it." I pointed to Amber.
"Really?" He asked as we nodded. "That's very intriguing. Let's get this hooked up to my analyzer."
We watched him stick some sensors to it. Then he went to his computer and launched a program of some sort.
"Now we just need to give it a minute." He said. "You two are the first time I've heard of something like this."
"Really? I mean, I've never heard of it either but still." I said.
"Yeah, if anything comes of this, mind if we make it public?" He asked.
"Eh, I'd like to wait a little." I replied.
"Okay sounds good." He said as his computer beeped. "Okay it should be done.
We went over and looked. "An error? That's never happened before." He stated as he reran it.
This time we watched it. The scan was successful this time.
The look on Professor Elm's face wasn't the best. "This egg... It's a bad egg." He said.
"What do you mean bad egg?!" Amber chimed in both outloud and telepathically.
"It's a strange phenomonon that normally happens as a result of doing something that isn't meant to happen or isn't supposed to happen." He said.
"Oh?" She said curious.
"What makes them a 'Bad Egg', is that they will never hatch." He said.
"Why not?" I asked pulling Amber close. I could sense her starting to cry.
"We haven't been able to figure that out yet. The weird thing is that some appear to start hatching, but they just hatch into another Bad Egg." Elm replied.
At that, Amber started audibly sobbing.
"I am very sorry about that. I imagine this must be unbeilivibly hard for you right now." He said.
"I feel l-like I j-just h-had a mi-miscarriage or so-something. Amber said between sobs.
"We've felt it kick though. Doesn't that mean anything?" I asked.
"That is something new that I haven't heard of yet. But, I can't say for certain." Elm replied.
"Oh." Is all I could say.
"Do you still want the egg back?" He asked.
"Yes." Amber replied as he handed it over.
Then we heard the doors open.
"Professor! I'm here for my Pokedex report!" The voice called over.
I looked and it was exactly who I didn't want to see.
"Oh! Hello! What's wrong?" Lyra asked.
"They have a Bad Egg." The professor said. "It won't hatch."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She said.
I was shocked, she wasn't being her normal annoying self. She walked over and hugged Amber who hugged her back, again to my surprise.
"It's not your fault but we definitely appreciate that." I replied.
After a few minutes we left the lab.
"Why?" Amber asked me.
"I don't know." Was all I could think to say.
"Did we do something wrong?" She asked. "Are we wrong?"
"No we didn't." I said.
"Then why?!" She asked again.
"I can't say why." I replied again.
"It's just not fair." She sobbed into my arm.
I pulled her close as we walked further from the lab. We slowly made our way onto route 29. We walked until we found a shaded little clearing where we sat down. I still held her close.
"Tony, your crying too?" She asked.
"Yeah, i was excited over the whole thing, and it just got ripped away. I replied trying to stop. "It hurts."
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry." She said.
"Yeah, I try my hardest to hold it back. This time I couldn't."
"Oh. You don't have to hold it back around me. You do know that, right?"
"Yeah, thank you."
"Your welcome."
We just sat there taking turns holding our 'Bad Egg'. After what felt like hours, we heard footsteps approach.
"I know this may not be the time, but the professor wanted you two to come back to the lab." Lyra said to us.
"Did he say why?" I asked.
"He didn't tell me." She replied.
"Okay." I said as I got up holding the egg and helped Amber up with my free hand.
At that we started walking to the lab once again. When we walked in, Elm was on the phone it seemed.
"Ah, perfect. I'm glad you didn't go far." Elm said to us.
"Did you find something?" I asked.
"Very possibly." He answered. "I thought to reach out to my friend Mr. Pokemon. He always finds and studies strange things.
"Oh, the man who found that Togepi egg some time ago?" Lyra asked."
"Yes. Here I'm going to put the video up and put it on speaker." Elm said
Then we saw a man appear on the screen.
"You must be Tony and Amber?" He asked.
We both just nodded.
"So, getting down to business, all hope is not lost." He said.
At that, he had our full attention.
"I have seen records of this happening once before." He said. "That being a bag egg that kicks."
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Apparently, the egg did hatch. However, it did take longer than normal to hatch." He responded.
"So it still will hatch?!" I asked.
"It is a possibility. However, it is not for certain. It is still technically a Bag Egg" He said. "I hope I was able to help realease some tensions though."
"Definitely!" Amber and I responded.
"There is hope!" Amber exclaimed as she jumped on to me.
"I would like to ask something of the two of you." Mr. Pokemon said
"What's that?" I asked.
"Can you two stop back every so often to get a checkup on the egg?" He asked. "As long as its okay with you Professor. It might help to get some data on this."
"I was thinking the same." Elm replied.
"That's fine with me." I said as Amber nodded.
"Perfect! Then, on that note I will take my leave. Talk to you later Professor." Mr. Pokemon said as the screen when blank.
"So sounds like pretty good news." Lyra said.
"Yes thank you for letting me know." I agreed. "I really appreciate you." I said.
"So, what's next on your agenda? Elm asked.
"I want to give Professor Birch an update. Then probably off to the Hoenn League." I said.
"Alright sounds good." He replied. "Just remember to stop by."
"Will do!" I responded as Amber and I left, her taking hold of the egg now.
After leaving the lab, I took her hand and asked. "Do you mind taking us home?"
"Sure thing." She said as we appeared in front of Professor Birches lab.
"We're back!" I called as we walked into the lab.
"That was fast! How did it go?" He asked.
"Not to great, apparently it's a Bad Egg and may not hatch. How ever there is a chance it still will, so we are remaining hopeful." I summarized.
"Oh, ok. Thanks for the updated. Where to next, by the way? How are your gym battles going?" He asked.
"We are going to head for the league." I said showing my badge case.
"Sounds good. I would recommend Going Mauvile City and just going east. Once you hit the ocean, I'm sure you can catch a ferry of sorts." Birch explained.
"I would but I think I want to make a stop in Lilycove before we go further. So I'm going to make a detour at that point." I replied.
At that, we left the lab and I took her hand again. "Would you be able to take us to Mauville City?" I asked.
"Yep."
In a second we were in front of the Mauville Pokemon Center.
"It already looks dark?" I asked looking up.
"Looks like it."
""How about we turn in from the night?" I asked, motioning to the center.
"After the roller coaster we've been on? Sure." She replied.
"EEEE!"
I woke the next day to a screeching Amber. I looked over to see her holding our egg.
"Wha- happen?" I Asked.
"It twitched!" She exclaimed.
"Really?" I asked again.
"Yeah!
"You think it'll happen again?
"Maybe." She said handing over the egg.
I sat there for about 30 minutes. I waited for the slightest movement. However, there was nothing.
"Well that's disappointing." I said handing it back.
"You're done?" She asked.
"Going to the bathroom to get ready. Then we can head out."
"Okay."
A few minutes later we were on our way out. While walking along the route east of Mauville, Amber chimed in.
"Any reason you want to make the stop in Lilycove City?" Amber asked.
"I want to check out the department store." I answered.
"Oh?"
"Yeah they should be having a sale on something I want."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." Amber replied laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Stopping just for a sale." She chuckled.
"You wouldn't be laughing f it was for you." I chimed in.
"Is it?" Her laughter stopping could.
"Maybe."
"Tell me!"
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Don't want to."
"Why?"
"I want it to stay a secret."
"No fair." She pouted.
After laughing for a little, We came to a lake. This seems like a decent place to take a break. So we set up Lunch and I let everyone out.
"Maw?" Topaz asked with her arms out.
"Here you go." Amber replied handing the egg over.
"Maw." She replied with a smile before walking away.
"Everyone's so happy." Amber said.
"Yeah, it's nice."
After about an hour we moved on. We had to go around the lake. It took about another hour. Afterwards, we came to a fork in the road, one path going north, and the other continuing east.
"Which way are we going?" Amber asked.
"Depends." I replied.
"On what?"
"Another gym battle? Or not." I answered.
"We have 8 badges right?"
"Yes."
"Do we need more?"
"No, but do you want to?"
"Doesn't matter to me." She replied.
"Okay, we'll skip it. It looks like it's been raining for almost a whole week with no signs of stopping anytime soon." I said.
"Sounds like a lot of bug types." She said.
"And nowhere dry to put up camp." I added.
"Eww..." She started.
"Problem solved." I said as we continued walking. "However..."
"However?"
"This way crosses Mt. Pyre" I added.
"Which means?" She asked.
"Bre." Breloom butted in.
"Not ghosts." Amber said going pale.
"So our choices are, no camp, or some ghosts." I said.
"I don't like those choices." Amber said.
"Delphox del del phox del." Delphox said smugly.
"Translate?" I asked.
"She doesn't like them either, and Breloom can't touch them so, how do I think he feels." She said.
"Oh someone's getting a little smart." I chuckled.
"OH, before I forget, do either of you have names yet?" I asked.
Delphox shook her head yes, the rest shook no.
"What's yours? I asked Delphox.
"Delphox." She said.
"You know I can't understand you. Can't you use telepathy again?" I asked.
"I forgot about that." She said into my mind.
"Much better. Now then, what was it again?" I asked again
"I was called Crimson." She said.
"Alright, sounds good." I replied.
"Next, Breloom, I'd like to call you spore."
"Loom." He nodded his head.
"Swampert, you are Tsunami."
"Swamp." He also nodded.
"And Luxray, Spark, same as the attack."
"Luxray!" He seemed to agree as well.
"Any objections?"
Everyone shook their heads no.
"Sounds good." Amber chimed in.
"Now then, which way?" I asked.
"I guess ghosts aren't so bad." Amber said.
"Sounds good." I replied taking the egg from Amber to have my turn.
We went to continue on our path. We travelled until nightfall.
"Where is everyone?" I asked returning everyone to their pokeballs.
"What do you mean?" Amber asked.
"There are no wild Pokemon, there are no trainers. Nothing." I answered.
"Now that you mention it. It is kind of weird." She agreed.
"I don't like it." I added.
"I know. I don't either."
"Oh well." I said propping the tent."
"Maybe tomorrow." Amber said as she crawled into the tent.
"Maybe." I agreed following her in, then closing the tent.