"TOGGGGEEEEE!"
Togepi wails and hollers rolling around on it back of my sleeping bag as I pull myself up straight
"Its okay little one, just take a breath, what's wrong?"
I put my hand on its small body and it finally calms down opening it eyes
"Toge!"
"Okay so you just want to touch? Okay" I say picking it up
I place the small egg Pokemon on the pillow next to me, pushing it to rest against the tent
"You can sleep on my hand and I will face towards you okay?" I say softly
"Toge…"
It says softly before falling into it closed form and sleeping
I knew this would be tough but she's very clingy
I look to my other side and pull up my phone to check the time. 04:34 flashes upon it causing me to groan. I throw my head back and shut my eyes trying to get some semblance of sleep, I feel my eyes flutter before they baulk open, I can see the daylight breaking through into the tent. I groggily pull the hand with my phone up and it now read 08:46
"Oh I hate when that happens" I groan
I look to my other side and Togepi is still curled up sleeping softly, I move it slowly and carefully to my pillow inside the sleeping bag. I quickly dress myself, I sit for a while and contemplate getting back into my sleeping bag for a few more hours of sleep but decided against it
"Well here goes nothing" I say to myself as I slowly pick up Togepi
"Come on time to wake up"
Togepi groggily comes out of it curled up for, if huff a little before smiling widely in sight of me
"Did you sleep well?"
"Toge Toge!" It calls out happily
"Good, lets get some food okay?"
I step out of the tent before sending out Quilava, Togepi since hatching had been really close with it, it had spent much of its time either being held by me or on Quilava's back. I had read that when a Pokemon first hatches your not supposed to keep it in a ball all the time as that can cause it to be a recluse of sorts. Plus when I had caught it at the start upon letting it out it cried and screamed for a few hours so I had wanted to stop that happening again. Sudowoodo and Bayleef had also be of great help, Bayleef was really good at picking her up and rocking her to sleep while Sudowoodo sphere were great make shift rattles that kept her occupied while I ate. Croconaw and Lapras had tried but the faces Croconaw pulled mainly just scared her while Lapras comparatively is a hulking figure and I think her sheer size seemed to scare Togepi a little. They were a bit discouraged but I reassured them she would come around. In general the team was quite young not only in experience but also in years. The three starters I had from Elm were all born within the last 6 to 8 months. Lapras was only a calf as she had been growing bigger by the day. The only one I didn't know for certain was Sudowoodo but from some research Daisy had done, the vision we saw from Latias seemed to have occurred in the Paldea Region around 2 and half years ago, meaning Sudowoodo was most likely under 3 to 4 years old as 4 is generally when a wild Bonsly will naturally evolve unless they stave it off. However, in some ways this gave me a good feeling about the team, while they inexperienced in battle, it means they would be easy to teach and tactics wouldn't be too hard to implement its a striking contrast to my Kanto team as other than perhaps Blastoise and Venusaur the other were a lot more experienced in battle. Jolteon and Dodrio had previous trainers so had been involved with training and battling. Starmie and Poliwrath were notorious strong wild Pokemon when I caught them meaning they had faced off against plenty. Vulpix was perhaps the outlier but certainly had more battle experience than any of my Johto team. It was nice in some ways to have mostly clean slates, it would be a while before Togepi was ready to take part in a battle. I had looked up some of the moves it could use; Charm, Pound and Growl. It certainly knew how to use Growl, it was super cute so Charm made sense and when it tried to grab Sudowoodo hands you could say it kind of looked like Pound but we would work on it. My plan currently was to have a few battles with it watching, see if it takes an interest and go from there, besides I had barley used my newest recruits of Lapras and Sudowoodo in battle yet. Sudowoodo hadn't struck me as much of a fighter but I had used it in a battle against a local in the recent days against a Pidgeotto. It had powerful moves like Rock Slide and Hammer Arm at its disposal which made quick work of its opposition so that was a start. Whitney was the next gym leader I would be taking on so Sudowoodo with fighting type moves and a rock resistance would be really helpful.
I quickly pack up my camping gear and hitch up onto my back, I had used one of my hoodies as a temporary papoose of sorts to house Togepi in. I quickly laid some food out for Quilava before I sat myself down on a nearby bench
"Right, it after nine now, hopefully he isn't too busy"
I pull up my phone and set it to hover in front of me, I pull it big into tablet form and click on the directory to call Professor Elm. I hadn't called him yet since starting my journey, we had exchanged emails as I had sent him some feedback and updates on the three starters progress. I thought I would call him to give him a live update but to also ask him some question on raising Togepi and dealing with it at this young age. Seeing as he is a leading expert in Pokemon breeding and eggs I though he was the best place to start. The phone ring 3 time before it picked up
"Oh hello?" comes a muffled voice from the black screen
"Uh Professor its Dustin" I say slightly confused
"Oh! Dustin sorry bear with me, ah there we go!" He says as his video link comes up, it shows him in his office space buried each side with mountains of books
"How are you young man?"
"Im good professor, I wanted some advice if I could ask please?"
"Of course of course!"
"Um well you see, I need some help with this one" I say before holding Togepi up to the camera
"Toge!" she calls out happily waving her arms around
"Oh what a little cutie. Did the egg you got from the tower finally hatch?"
"Yes, she's got a pretty good temperament but there is one problem" I say before placing her down on the bench, she immediately tears up before wailing and rushing up to the side of my leg
"I see, it has an issue with separation. I assume you were the first thing Togepi saw when it hatched?"
"Uh yeah I'm pretty sure I was"
"That would explain it, its imprinted on you, it believes you to be its mother"
"Oh, I read about that, I thought that was only with flying types though?"
"Well Togepi is essentially a hatchling, it becomes a flying type upon evolution"
"Oh yeah okay I see"
"Is everything okay young man?" Elm question
"Uh yeah, its just a little daunting. I know raising Pokemon are all different but this little one, she's brand new it kind of feels a little more daunting"
Elm laughs softly
"You'll be fine young man, your only a little sprout but you've gained a lot of experience since you set of, trust your judgement and as always any questions you only need to give me a call"
"Thank you professor I really appreciate it"
"Now how are my three getting on?" He questions
"Really well, I know I thanked you before but again I am thankful for you letting me have them"
"Have you any thoughts on which one is which?"
"What do you mean?" I ask
"Which is from the high potential group, the middle and low?"
"Oh, I guess I never really thought about it since I had them"
He smiles
"That why you are perfect young man"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh nothing, anyway your Kanto team are getting on masterfully. Venusaur has really taken to Ryan's Torterra they're training together very often now"
"Oh amazing, I looked at there Battle Tower rental records, Poliwrath and Starmie are doing really well"
"They absolutely are, remember to your welcome to swap out anytime, they here to impart any help onto your new team. Plus I believe your next gym battle is perhaps the toughest one"
"Oh don't worry about that, I have a plan to beat Whitney"