-026- Merylamb's Egg Finally Hatches

Returning to the JOJO Breeding House, Tong Si found the two inside chatting and laughing together.

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“¿¿¿”

Are you two flirting over here?

“Hey!”

Tong Si greeted them, and the pair finally turned to look at him.

Checking the time, it seemed several hours had passed.

“Tong Si, you’re back?” Yun Zishan stood up.

Shen Yuqing hurried to her feet as well.

“Yes… Thanks for watching the shop.”

Tong Si nodded to them, then glanced at the incubator for the Pokémon egg.

“Zishan, your Mareep egg is about to hatch.”

Inside the incubator, the Mareep egg was continuously trembling.

“Really?” Yun Zishan was a bit incredulous, but seeing the egg shaking, he became excited.

When had it started? He’d been chatting with Shen Yuqing, so engrossed that he’d lost track of time and missed the egg’s movements.

Tong Si walked over and turned off the incubator.

The other machine was still running; the Hoppip egg hadn’t changed at all and needed more time to hatch.

After removing the Mareep egg and placing it on the table, the three of them watched it from different angles as it quivered.

“Hoo~”

The egg shook and occasionally glowed.

Soon, a crack appeared in the shell.

“Crack…”

Hearing the sound of the shell breaking, Yun Zishan swallowed nervously.

Shen Yuqing grew anxious as well.

Tong Si, however, was calm—it wasn’t his first time, and he was used to this scene.

“Baa baa baa…”

Accompanied by a flash of white light, the sound of a lamb’s bleat came from within the egg.

“Mareep! It’s my Mareep!”

Yun Zishan clenched his fists in excitement, nearly jumping up to cheer.

“Crack…”

The shell finally broke apart completely, and a Mareep covered in sticky fluid appeared before them.

Tong Si scanned it and saw all the data on his panel.

Mareep
Level: 1
Gender: Male
Ability: Static
Potential: Ordinary
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Take Down

…

Seeing the Take Down move, Tong Si was surprised.

This Mareep actually had an inherited move? And a powerful one at that!

“Baa baa baa…”

Perhaps just arriving in this world, Mareep seemed a little unsettled.

“Mareep!”

Yun Zishan didn’t care about the sticky mess and immediately hugged the lamb.

“Baa~”

“Zzzzzz…”

A series of electromagnetic sounds rang out, and a surge of static shocked Yun Zishan’s whole body.

Although the newborn Mareep couldn’t use electric moves yet, its ability was Static.

Feeling the pressure from Yun Zishan, Mareep instinctively released static, jolting him all over.

“Are you alright, Zishan?”

Tong Si looked at Yun Zishan, whose hair was singed and blackened.

“I’m… fine…”

Smoke drifted from Yun Zishan’s mouth, but his expression was pure bliss.

[Beep·Boop]

[Congratulations, Host, for successfully hatching a Pokémon egg. You have received ten thousand points as a reward.]

As Mareep emerged from the egg, the system’s reward arrived.

Yun Zishan then took Mareep to the bathroom for a bath.

During the bath, he was shocked several more times by Mareep.

Fortunately, the lamb’s electric power was weak so soon after hatching, and Yun Zishan was unharmed.

“Congratulations, Zishan, on your first Pokémon!”

Tong Si was genuinely happy for him.

This made Yun Zishan a rookie trainer as well.

“Thank you!”

Yun Zishan hugged Mareep, unable to hide his excitement.

“You should go buy a Poké Ball. Holding Mareep all the time isn’t practical.”

Tong Si reminded him.

A freshly hatched Pokémon is technically wild; it’s only considered owned after being caught in a Poké Ball.

“You’re right! I’ll leave Mareep with you for now—I’ll be back soon!”

Yun Zishan handed Mareep to Tong Si and dashed out.

“Hey, why doesn’t Mareep shock you, Tong Si?”

Shen Yuqing noticed that Mareep was perfectly content in Tong Si’s arms, not releasing any static.

“Normally, Pokémon with the Static ability don’t shock others unless they’re battling or uncomfortable.”

Tong Si knew this well; his Elekid also had the Static ability.

“I see.”

Shen Yuqing learned something new.

By evening, Yun Zishan finally bought a Poké Ball and recalled Mareep into it. He struck a pose as silly as he could.

Tong Si was a little speechless at that.

Yun Zishan told him he wanted to bring Mareep home that night to show his parents.

Tong Si naturally agreed.

As for learning the Thunderbolt move, that would start tomorrow.

For the next few days, Tong Si went to the Pokémon Battle Club during the day to earn extra points.

At night, he trained Elekid and Eevee at home.

Both Pokémon made great progress.

Elekid’s level rose to fourteen.

Eevee gained only one level, thanks to bullying two Magikarp.

“Karuka karu!”

“Karuka karu…”

The two Magikarp in the pool flailed with Splash, growing faster and faster, to the point Tong Si couldn’t believe it was just Splash.

On the fourth day, Tong Si secretly taught Mareep the Thunderbolt move.

After Yun Zishan settled the payment, he excitedly challenged Tong Si.

Tong Si sent out a Rattata from the backyard; the level one Mareep was utterly defeated by the level two Rattata!

Rattata gained newfound confidence as a Pokémon and leveled up to three.

Tong Si especially remembered that night, when Yun Zishan looked at Rattata with unmistakable possessiveness.

On the fifth day, Shen Yuqing’s Hoppip egg hatched.

Her level of eccentricity was no less than Yun Zishan’s.

Unfortunately, her Hoppip didn’t have any inherited moves.

Still, she happily took Hoppip home.

After seeing them off, Tong Si updated the writing on the little blackboard at the entrance.

Three new moves were added to the Pokémon move tutoring: Weather Ball, Light Screen, and Electroweb.

Tong Si returned to the yard and gazed at the orange tree, now over a meter tall, feeling it needed a companion.

“System, exchange a seedling for a Nanab berry tree.”

[Beep·Boop]

[Exchanged a Nanab berry tree seedling, costing eighty thousand points.]

After deducting eighty thousand points from the system panel, a Nanab berry tree seedling appeared before him.

Thanks to his days of part-time work at the Pokémon Battle Club, Tong Si now had six hundred thousand points.

Spending eighty thousand was easy for him.

In the club, Tong Si had achieved a proud seventy-eight consecutive wins.

Now, whenever the rookie trainers saw him, they would call him “Brother Tong.”

… (To be continued)