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Generally speaking, if a Pokémon Egg is damaged and cannot be rescued and hatched immediately, it signifies the end of a life.
Forget five years; if it doesn't hatch, surviving even three days means it has an incredibly strong will to live!
Yet, this Pokémon Egg, after five years, still hadn't gone completely cold. Its vitality was truly astonishing!
"With all due respect, isn't that unrealistic, Professor Cerise? Theoretically, a damaged Pokémon Egg shouldn't be able to last that long. The life inside must have already faded," Brock couldn't help but interject.
Professor Cerise's statement was simply too unbelievable. Even if a Legendary Pokémon Egg were in this condition, it couldn't possibly last that long!
"Indeed, under normal circumstances, it wouldn't. But it's different if it's in this pool. The water in this pool comes from Clear Cliff, and it contains rich life energy. It's precisely because of this water source that this Pokémon Egg has managed to survive until now."
"Water from Clear Cliff?" Ash and his two companions exchanged glances. This was a place they had never heard of. Was there such a place in Kanto?
"Clear Cliff is a dangerous area in Johto. Its terrain is steep and extremely difficult to climb. Furthermore, some Pokémon reside there, and if too many people venture in rashly, they will be met with a counterattack from the Pokémon. So, generally, one can only climb it by hand and cannot use helicopters or other vehicles."
"It is precisely because of this that the water source of Clear Cliff has not been over-exploited and is highly precious."
As Professor Cerise spoke, his gaze was also fixed on the Pokémon Egg in the pool, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Don't let him make it sound so simple; in reality, the price of this water source is astronomical.
Vermilion City is a considerably large city, and renting a place like this here costs six figures a month.
However, the price of this small pool is more than three times the rent of this place!
Moreover, the life energy provided by the water in the pool is not infinite; the water source needs to be replaced at most once a year. So, to keep this Pokémon Egg clinging to life, Professor Cerise has already spent an amount of money that most people would struggle to earn in a lifetime.
Even so, it was all in vain.
Because this Pokémon Egg had no possibility of surviving. Even with the water from Clear Cliff sustaining its life, its internal life source would gradually diminish each year.
Perhaps it wouldn't be able to last another year.
"Professor Cerise, may I touch this Pokémon Egg?" Ash suddenly asked.
This sudden request made Professor Cerise hesitate: "What do you intend to do, Ash? This Pokémon Egg can no longer withstand any disturbance. If you move it rashly, it could directly cause its remaining spark of life to extinguish."
Professor Cerise had already put it very politely. His unspoken meaning was that it was best not to touch this Pokémon Egg unless absolutely necessary, otherwise, if the Egg eventually died, no one could bear the responsibility.
"I want to save him."
"Save him?" Professor Cerise's expression froze, then he realized Ash meant to revive this dying Pokémon Egg to the point where it could hatch. But how could that be possible?
"Haha, Ash, don't joke around. You can't just say things like that," Professor Cerise waved his hand, dismissing it as a childish prank.
However, Ash didn't speak, merely looking at Professor Cerise silently, the expression in his eyes making Professor Cerise's heart tremble... He wasn't joking, he was serious.
"Can you trust me just this once, Professor Cerise? Although I might seem like a mischievous kid in your eyes, when it comes to Pokémon, I'm always very serious, especially when it concerns a Pokémon's life."
Ash's words were full of solemnity, with no hint of a joke.
Professor Cerise fell silent upon hearing this. After an unknown period of struggle, he looked at Ash and nodded with difficulty: "Go ahead and try, Ash. I believe you are different from that person. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."
That person?
Misty and Brock keenly sensed the 'that person' in Professor Cerise's words, perhaps the culprit who caused this Pokémon Egg to be in its current state.
However, now was not the time to delve into that. At this moment, Ash had already approached the Pokémon Egg, slowly extending his hand through the water and placing it on the Egg.
Ash's palm wasn't large, only barely covering the top of the Pokémon Egg, but it just happened to cover the crack.
Then, Ash closed his eyes, and a brilliant blue light burst forth from his entire body!
The surging power emanating from him startled Professor Cerise.
'What is this energy? It feels powerful and contains surging vitality. After a year, Ash actually possesses this kind of power? Did he acquire it during his journey? But he's only been traveling for a month…'
While Professor Cerise was filled with mixed emotions, Ash had already infused the surging Aura Power from his body into the Pokémon Egg.
The hatching of a normal Pokémon Egg typically takes one week to one month, usually not exceeding a month.
When the hatching cycle reaches halfway, the Pokémon inside will develop consciousness. It will sense everything in the vicinity outside the Egg. If the Trainer or parents of the Egg are nearby and show it care, then it will be more affectionate towards that person after birth.
For example, Ash's Ralts, she was actually still a long way from being born, but under the influence of the giant moon stone, her birth process was accelerated. In just a few seconds, she completed what a normal Pokémon Egg would take ten days to half a month to do.
And this Pokémon Egg in front of them had exaggeratedly existed for five years. Whether it was a good egg or a bad egg, it couldn't remain in the Egg stage for so long. If this Pokémon Egg hadn't been sustained by the water from Clear Cliff, it would have long since perished.
Ash could clearly sense the consciousness existing within the Pokémon Egg. When his Aura was transmitted, he felt the gratitude and joy, as well as the relief of surviving a disaster, feedback from the consciousness inside.
With such rich emotions, the consciousness inside was definitely not newly born. This meant that the consciousness within this Pokémon Egg, after experiencing the initial ignorant , realized that it was on the verge of death, which is why it sought help from the outside.
If Ash hadn't arrived today, perhaps it would soon lose even the strength to cry for help.
As Ash's Aura was injected, the Pokémon Egg's faint life was gradually strengthening. Before long, the life within the Pokémon Egg became vibrant again, and Ash's Aura Power continued to flow in!
Aura Power is a person's life source. If too much Aura is lost from the body, life will weaken, and one could even die!
This is also why Aura could save this Pokémon Egg. Besides the Egg itself being compatible with Aura, it's also because Aura is inherently a power that enhances vitality.
But it's the kind that exchanges life for life!
However, the person doing this today was Ash. Not only did he receive all of Aura Hero Ash's Aura, but his own Aura is also slowly developing. Injecting Aura into a dying Pokémon Egg to revitalize its life would not cause any burden to Ash.
Forget just one Pokémon Egg, even if it were a Legendary Pokémon, a Divine Realm Grade Pokémon, as long as it wasn't Ho-Oh or Xerneas, with Ash's current Aura, he could pull them back from a near-death state without harming his own life.
This is the power of a humanoid Legendary Pokémon!
Tens of seconds later, under the anxious gazes of Professor Cerise, Misty, and Brock, the Pokémon Egg suddenly let out a faint sound.
Before the three could react, the sound rapidly grew louder, and along with it, the cracks on the Pokémon Egg also expanded!
Professor Cerise's expression changed, and a look of worry appeared on his face. The Pokémon Egg, which originally had only fine cracks, was now covered in them. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
He didn't have any detection equipment on hand, and he couldn't tell anything just by looking with his eyes.
"Crack, crack, crack — bang!!"
When the cracks covered the entire Pokémon Egg, a muffled sound rang out, and countless fragments shot out from the pool, splashing to the side.
Misty and her two companions instinctively put their hands in front of them, blocking the scattered eggshell fragments.
"What's going on... Did Ash fail?" Brock said with some worry, feeling a slight pain in his palm.
If that was the Pokémon Egg hatching just now... it shouldn't have made such a big commotion.
When Ralts hatched from her eggshell before, it was quiet, not like now, where it exploded like a bomb, with the eggshell scattering into pieces.
"No... Ash won't fail!" Misty murmured, her voice gradually firming.
Having been with Ash for over a month, although Ash often did some very reckless things, and even things she couldn't fully understand, the final results were always good.
He always surprised everyone and achieved a good outcome. This time... it wouldn't be an exception, right, Ash?
The three slowly lowered their hands. Professor Cerise and Brock were somewhat afraid to look at the situation in the pool, only Misty, with a mix of trepidation and determination, cast her gaze towards the pool.
The next second, a gleam of surprise shone in Misty's emerald eyes: "Brock, Professor Cerise, Ash succeeded! The Pokémon inside has hatched!"
"Really?! This is possible?!"
"Where is it! Where is the hatched Pokémon!"
Brock and Professor Cerise also quickly turned their heads, and then saw a small, blue-black dog-like Pokémon lying quietly in Ash's arms, looking as if it were asleep.
This was the Pokémon that had hatched from that Egg.
"It actually hatched..." Professor Cerise muttered, slightly dazed, then quickly scurried to Ash's front, his gaze fixed on the Pokémon in Ash's arms.
He extended his slightly trembling hand and gently placed it on the dog-like Pokémon. The slightly warm sensation confirmed to Professor Cerise that this Pokémon was alive!
Misty and Brock came to Ash's front, their gazes on the Pokémon in Ash's arms, their eyes full of curiosity.
The former softly asked: "What kind of Pokémon is this? It doesn't seem to be a Kanto species, does it?"
"Riolu, a Pokémon from the Sinnoh region," Ash suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Misty looked at Ash with some surprise.
Compared to his quick thinking in battle, Pokémon training, and cooking, Ash's weakest area should be his Pokémon knowledge.
When he first started his journey, Ash didn't even recognize all the Pokémon in the Kanto region. Now, after a period of learning, he knows most of the Kanto Pokémon, but he shouldn't know Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, should he?
Could this be another one of the Pokémon with special tactics that Professor Oak had explained? Just like Hippopotas and Aron.
"Riolu is an extremely rare Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. Its rarity is even said to rival that of Legendary Pokémon." At this moment, Professor Cerise also recovered from Riolu's successful 'revival' and began to educate everyone about Riolu.
"He possesses a unique power. Those with good hearts will be recognized by him, while those with evil hearts will be detested. He can observe the emotions of people and Pokémon, as well as the state of nature, in the form of waves called 'Aura'. He is one of the few Pokémon capable of freely mastering Aura Power."
Aura Power?
Upon hearing this term, Misty and Brock instantly understood why Ash knew about the Pokémon Riolu.
Ash himself possessed Aura Power, a power that even with their experience as Gym Leaders, they had never heard of.
Later, they also looked up some information about Aura Power, but they couldn't find any humans who possessed Aura Power. However, there were a few individual Pokémon that could master this power.
Those individual Pokémon could use Aura Power to unleash a move that was basically guaranteed to hit — Aura Sphere!
That's right, that's the move Ash used.
But that was the limit of what a Pokémon capable of mastering Aura Power could do.
Even in the information available online, they had never seen anyone like Ash who could fuse Aura with a Pokémon, or rather, a Pokémon that could use Aura Power on a human.
As for using Aura Power to find paths, create barriers, and so on, that was even more unheard of.
Ash not only possessed Aura Power, but his application of Aura Power was also more diverse than many Pokémon.
Now, the Riolu in Ash's arms is also one of the Pokémon that can use Aura, and according to Professor Cerise's description... Riolu's way of using Aura seems quite similar to Ash's?
Being able to sense good and evil, and being able to observe any Pokémon's emotions with Aura, isn't this one of Ash's ways of applying Aura Power?