It was noon of a new day when Torii finally reached the summit of Mt. Chimney.

  Searching for a ft path, he used a thermometer to survey the local conditions.

  It wasn't until he ventured deep within that the thermometer reached a standard that Torii found satisfactory. In delight, he arrived next to a red giant rock.

  Although this was a volcanic zone, it was only the outer perimeter. It was not particurly hot, but rather pleasantly warm.

  Ordinarily, with the excellent adaptability of Pokémon, successful hatching could be achieved even without so much trouble, but Torii still hoped to create a favorable environment.

  Now that he had found his ideal location, it was time for him to prepare.

  Swablu was on the verge of hatching, just one tiny trigger away. Coupled with the environment being perfectly suited, Swablu would likely break out of its shell very soon.

  During this period, Torii needed to scatter some homemade medicinal powder to guard against intrusion from other Pokémon. The scent of this powder was not well-liked by Pokémon in this area and was an essential item for his solo forays into Autumnleaf Forest.

  In addition to this, there were some other small gadgets.

  He had even meticulously prepared Swablu's initial food.

  After completing a series of tasks, a feeling of weariness washed over Torii, making him drowsy.

  Although he had rested, the constant movement and focused attention were consuming his mental energy.

  He wanted to sleep again.

  This was the gist of Torii's feelings at the moment, but the Pokémon egg was on the verge of hatching. Even though he was sleepy, Torii didn't want to give up. He wanted to witness Swablu's birth firsthand. This was an inescapable responsibility for a Trainer or Breeder. If he missed this Pokémon egg hatching, even the word "regret" would hardly encapsute his feelings.

  But the drowsiness was overwhelming, so Torii had no choice but to occasionally pick up his water bottle and take a gulp, trying to make his brain more alert.

  Ten minutes...

  Thirty minutes...

  Two hours...

  The Pokémon egg floated in the culture solution, the frequency of its swaying constantly attracting Torii's attention.

  Three hours...

  Until a long time had passed again, Torii was taking his fourth sip of water when he suddenly choked.

  "Cough cough..."

  Abruptly pulling away the water bottle, Torii, who was choked, vigorously patted his chest a few times. Fortunately, this commotion reduced his drowsiness somewhat.

  Wiping away the water stains from his mouth, before he could recover, a dazzling white light instantly filled his vision.

  "This is—"

  Torii tried to widen his eyes, his brown pupils staring intently at the Pokémon egg in the culture medium. The expression on his face, which had been calm all along, finally changed.

  "Crack..."

  As if stimuted by something, the culture medium cracked open under the light in an instant, and the pale blue nutrient solution spilled all over the ground. However, Torii couldn't care less at this moment. He reached out and picked up the Pokémon egg fixed at the bottom of the culture medium. The dazzling light constantly dimmed during this process, and finally, with a cracking sound, cobweb-like cracks appeared on the white-bottomed blue-patterned Pokémon eggshell.

  Torii ignored his rapidly beating heart and held his breath. At this moment, he seemed to have no sleepiness at all.

  "Hang in there..."

  Silently cheering for the little life in his heart, Torii nervously watched the tiny creature break out of its shell. An elegant sky-blue body and cotton-like fluffy wings. Seeing the little fellow successfully hatch, Torii breathed a sigh of relief.

  He had waited a full seven hours for Swablu's smooth birth.

  He didn't expect this little fellow to be so patient, even when it was on the verge of hatching, it "dawdled" for seven hours.

  It was evening again, and everything around was quiet and peaceful. Swablu gently fpped its wings in Torii's palm, looking bnkly at everything outside. Finally, after seeing Torii, its body slowly rexed, and a sense of intimacy gradually rose in its heart.

  It cried out happily, as if wanting to get close to Torii. Torii himself had a kind of illusion, that Swablu wanted to climb onto his head, as if it could stay there comfortably.

  After thinking about it carefully, Torii gently sent Swablu to his head and slowly sat down.

  *"For some reason, they really like to quietly climb onto people's heads and pretend to be hats."*

  *"With cotton-like wings, when they gently nd on people's heads, they look like cotton balls."*

  *"Swablu have cotton-like light and fluffy wings. These Pokémon are not afraid of people. When it nds on people's heads, it looks like a cotton hat."*

  Impressions of knowledge about Swablu surfaced in Torii's mind. He knew that this behavior was a natural habit of Swablu.

  Feeling Swablu moving around on his head, although he felt a little awkward, Torii subconsciously did not disturb the little guy.

  In fact, it only took a few minutes for the newborn little life to get tired from pying and quietly y on Torii's head and fell asleep.

  As for the food that Torii had prepared, there was no rush to feed Swablu at this time. After tossing about in the nutrient solution for so long, Swablu had already absorbed enough nutrients.

  Stretching out a finger and touching the liquid in the broken culture medium, Torii specuted that at least 70% or more of the nutrients inside had been absorbed. This was already a very good number, and the environment here probably also contributed a lot to this number.

  The materials contained in the culture solution carefully prepared by Master Katsumune were certainly not ordinary.

  With such a good foundation, Swablu's strength was expected to improve rapidly in a burst during its neonatal period. It could probably grow in a short month, which was why Master Katsumune was confident in making the bet.

  Generally speaking, the starter Pokémon given to novice Trainers in each region are also in the neonatal stage. Only a few Pokémon that have been deyed grow up a little earlier for some reason. These Pokémon are difficult for ordinary novice Trainers to master, but their strength is often slightly higher.

  The Pokémon distributed by the League all belong to a nearly zero-based stage at the beginning. At this time, the growth of Pokémon has just begun, which can best test the training and breeding level of Trainers. The improvement of Pokémon's strength is often closely reted to the guidance of Trainers and cannot be separated.

  Torii was looking forward to Swablu's growth.

  But now he was tired.

  His usual routine was retively strict. Since leaving Autumnleaf Town, a series of things had exceeded Torii's original preparations.

  At the moment, Swablu slowly fell asleep, so Torii picked up the little guy and plunged into the tent. Fortunately, the surrounding environment was not too cold, so they could have a good night's sleep.

  After this night passed, what they would welcome would be a brand new journey.