Victor carried the Petilil to the grassy area beside the lake.
"How about you sunbathe here for a while?"
Petilil thrive in soil rich with moisture and nutrients, and the area by the lake was a perfect fit. That's why Victor had brought it here.
"Lili..." the Petilil nodded weakly.
"Alright then. I'll come back to get you later. If you need anything, you can call for me, Gengar, or the Machoke."
Victor set the Petilil down. It turned to look around, then closed its eyes and began to soak in the sun. With its freshly trimmed leaves, it looked like a little onion growing out of the ground from a distance.
Not wanting to disturb the sunbathing Petilil, Victor quietly left with Gengar. He gave a signal to Dali, the Machoke, asking it to keep an eye on their new charge.
Dali gave a thumbs-up. They were also very fond of the little newcomer.
"How does it feel to have a little sister?" Victor asked the grinning Gengar beside him.
"Gengar?"
A little sister?
Gengar's eyes lit up. "Gengar! (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ"
Back in the kitchen, Victor asked Gengar to keep watch at the front counter in case any customers arrived, while he started preparing lunch.
"Gengar, what do you want to eat today?"
Gengar floated out from the wall and pointed at two dishes. It had decided to start from the beginning of the recipe book and eat its way through everything.
After lunch, Victor and Gengar sat on the chairs, dozing off.
The Machoke were in the backyard, clearing away the remaining weeds and loose stones and looking after the Petilil.
"Vroom, vroom~"
The sound of an engine woke Victor up. He glanced outside and saw that Jenny had just parked her motorcycle.
"Taking an afternoon nap?" Jenny asked with a smile as she walked in, seeing Victor's sleepy expression.
"Looks like you're open for business?" Jenny had seen the sign on her way in and knew the Breeding House was officially open.
"No customers have come by, so I just dozed off for a bit," Victor replied with a yawn.
"That's just because not many people know you're open yet. Trust me, in a few days, you'll be plenty busy," Jenny said, patting his shoulder. "The Pokémon Eggs you ordered from the League have arrived. Take a look."
She then had someone bring in the Pokémon Eggs. Victor looked at them, pleasantly surprised.
That was fast.
He checked them one by one, and the status window displayed the detailed information for each egg.
[Starly Egg][Buizel Egg][Bronzor Egg][Shinx Egg][Pachirisu Egg][Mime Jr. Egg][Burmy Egg][Cherubi Egg][Glameow Egg][Chingling Egg]...
They were all common Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, but for a place like Twinleaf Town that didn't have a Gym, they were more than sufficient.
After Victor paid for the eggs and Jenny had left, he went to the incubator room to observe them more closely.
He suddenly remembered that the description for his stethoscope mentioned it could be used to observe the stirrings inside a Pokémon Egg. He got it back from Gengar, placed the earpieces in his ears, and gently pressed the diaphragm against an eggshell.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. A hazy figure suddenly appeared in his mind's eye, and he saw its small hand move.
[Hatching Progress: 28/30]
"Whoa..." Victor opened his eyes and looked at the Mime Jr. egg in astonishment.
He could actually feel the life inside, and even see the hatching progress.
He looked at the stethoscope in his hand, then continued to check the other Pokémon Eggs:
[Chingling Egg][Hatching Progress: 12/30]
[Pachirisu Egg][Hatching Progress: 11/30]
...
So these are Pokémon Eggs... containing new life...
"Gengar, you try."
Victor placed the stethoscope's earpieces on Gengar's large ears. Gengar mimicked Victor's actions, pressing the diaphragm against an egg even more carefully than Victor had.
After a moment, Gengar finished its "examination."
"Well? Did you feel anything?" Victor asked with a smile.
"Gengar..." Gengar shook its head.
Victor patted Gengar's head. Perhaps only I can feel it.
He then looked at the Mime Jr. egg, which had the most advanced hatching progress, and fell into thought.
Mime Jr. evolves into Mr. Mime, a Pokémon renowned for its housekeeping skills, just like Indeedee. My Breeding House could use a caretaker. I'll keep this one here.
Victor nodded to himself, then left the incubator room with Gengar, who was still wearing the stethoscope and lab coat. He went to the front door and modified the sign, crossing out the parenthetical note after "Pokémon Egg Sales."
Then, he quietly waited for customers to arrive.
By evening, still no one had come.
Victor stood up, brought the sign back inside, and closed the door for the night.
He went to the backyard, brought the Petilil back into the house from the lake, and then started preparing dinner.
After dinner, Victor gave Gengar a signal. Gengar gave an "OK" sign and snuck outside with a shovel and a large flowerpot.
Victor held the Petilil until Gengar returned. After having Gengar wash the dishes, they all went up to the bedroom together.
On the bedroom balcony, a new flowerpot filled with rich soil was now sitting.
Carrying the Petilil, Victor walked to the balcony and placed it in the flowerpot.
"How about you sleep here tonight?"
Hearing Victor's words, it looked at him and Gengar, who were both watching it gently. It had seen Gengar sneak over to the lake with the shovel earlier.
This was the soil Gengar had brought back for it. It swayed its body slightly.
"Lili..."
"It's okay. Gengar and I will be right inside the room, and the Machoke are downstairs, so there's nothing to be afraid of," Victor said, patting its small head.
"Gengar~"
The Petilil then closed its eyes.
A gust of wind blew a dark cloud across the sky, completely blocking the moonlight.
"Lili!"
The Petilil cried out, waking from a nightmare. It saw the moon obscured by clouds, but this time, it didn't feel afraid of the encroaching darkness.
It turned its body. The warm light from inside the room enveloped its entire tiny frame and the flowerpot beneath it. Inside, Victor was sleeping soundly.
A pair of crimson eyes suddenly lit up on the ceiling.
The Petilil turned back around and looked out at the dark yard, feeling the warmth of the light on its back. It thought about everything that had happened that day and the words Victor had said to it.
"Gengar~"
It came back to its senses and glanced to the side. Gengar was sitting on the balcony railing next to the flowerpot, its two small feet dangling in the air, swinging gently.
It turned its head to look at the Petilil and gave it a cute smile.
The Petilil didn't say anything, and Gengar just sat there quietly, keeping it company.
After a long time, the Petilil finally spoke:
"Lili?"
"Why is the light on?"
"Gengar."
"He said you're afraid of the dark."
Gengar swung its little feet.
Another long silence passed before the Petilil spoke again, though what it said was unclear.
Gengar replied softly. Just then, another breeze blew by, cool but not cold. It pushed the clouds away from the moon, and a silver frost once again spread across the land, across the balcony, and across the flowerpot...
The two Pokémon spoke softly in the two different lights. The leaves on one of their heads began to fall and regrow rapidly, the color turning a deep, healthy emerald, swaying gently in the wind.