Ch.3

After finishing my daily lessons from my Dad about the world's history, training methods, and current issues the world faces, we headed to the Volcano. Charizard was able to easily carry us both to the Volcano. Once there we landed inside normally people would not be able to be this close to Lava, from the heat and deadly gases in the area. Though the people here are built differently than my old life, after years of doing this my Dad has grown resistant to the fumes and heat.

While I have grown used to the heat from being around his Pokémon the fumes just give me a mild headache. My Dad said would only grow the longer I was in the volcano, but after doing it for a while like him would become immune to it. He gave me a rebreather that would cycle out the fumes once the headache became too much.

"Remember Lucas, do not wander too far and listen to Charizard. Do not argue with him should he tell you to leave an area," Dad says to me once we land in the Volcano and he tosses out the rest of his Pokémon who immediately jump into the Lava excited to be in their natural environment.

"I know," I say to him as he gives me one last look before going to his Pokémon to tell them what to work on today.

"Come on Charizard," I say running towards the place that has my starter.

As we make our way there Charizard is on guard against any Pokémon that would try anything. Though only a Pokémon of Charizard's Rank or higher would try anything, as the weaker Pokémon would not be stupid enough to challenge him. Plus my Dad's Magmar has claimed this Volcano for his own territory as no other Pokémon at his Rank. It is extremely rare to find a King/Queen Ranked Pokémon in the wild. The highest wild Pokémon usually seen is at the Earl/Countess Rank.

The way there was very uneventful thankfully and due to Charizard's presence. Turning the corner, I see the extremely well-hidden entrance that not even Charizard noticed. Seems God did me a favor by keeping the egg this well hidden, which makes sense. Since many Pokémon will eat an egg that is unguarded. Plus there are no tracks suggesting that the parent of this egg is nearby, mostly not having one as I like me was placed into this world by God.

The egg was a deep red with dark brown spots covering it, the egg itself was giving off heat. Picking it up I felt a connection with the unborn Pokémon inside, like we are meant to be partners in this life. Smiling I take the egg out of its hiding spot to show Charizard.

"Charizard! Look at what I found!" I say taking the egg out making Charizard's eyes widen in surprise and worry while looking around in panic. Thinking that the parent of this egg will be coming any second to defend the egg.

"Char–" Charizard begins to say most likely wanting me to leave the egg and quickly leave the area.

"I don't think its parent is around Charizard, look at the foot traffic. Nothing shows that it was looked after for a long while," I say as Charizard looks around at where I 'found' the egg. Then he nods his head while looking down at the egg and then me.

"Char-Charizard," Charizard says to me sighing a bit before we quickly make our way back to my Dad since Charizard is worried another Pokémon might attack to get the egg.

"Dad! Look!" I say while Charizard is trying to quickly explain behind me what happened as my Dad looks over with wide eyes.

"What the hell?! Lucas! Charizard, did you let him steal an egg!" Dad says while looking at me and then Charizard shakes his head immediately denying the accusation.

My Dad's other Pokémon all come over to look at the egg that I am holding as they seem to think about what Pokémon it could be. Magmar seems very interested in the egg as he asks me to hold it I nod my head handing it to him as he sniffs the egg. Then hands it back to me patting my shoulder.

"So… you just found it and decided to take it… Lucas…" Dad says after hearing Charizard's explanation. We might not know exactly what Pokémon says, but humans can naturally tell what a Pokémon is roughly saying.

"Yeah, it was left alone. Can't I keep it? I felt a connection when I picked it up, I want this to be my partner," I say to my Dad, which is a big deal in the Pokémon world.

The first Pokémon a person gets is considered their partner and they form a connection that allows them to understand that Pokémon on a deeper level than any other they would catch or meet. Me saying that a connection formed with this unborn Pokémon is not unheard of, though I can tell my Dad is worried that I may have a weak partner now and my future might not be as bright.

"You can keep it. But just remember from now on this Pokémon will be your responsibility. I will help you learn what it means to take care of it and train it. It looks like a fire type, which means I can help you a lot when training it and nurturing it," Dad says as he inspects the egg, though it seems even he hasn't seen this type of egg before.

"I'm very curious what type of Pokémon this is… I've never seen this kind of egg before," Dad says as his inner fire-type Pokémon researcher comes out.

"Do you know when it will hatch?" I ask him curious to know when it could hatch.

"Hmm… Maybe in a few more days," Dad says to me as he hands me the egg back.

"We should head home now. I will need to get a few things before this Pokémon hatches," Dad says as he cuts his time here short and we all head back home.

Over the next few days, he grabbed everything I would need, though for the first few months after hatching a Pokémon can't do anything other than eat, play, and sleep. In the first month, they can only drink milk or whatever liquid their mother Pokémon releases. So my Dad ordered several types of drinks for it, while also waiting for it to hatch to make up a future feeding plan. What type of food the Pokémon eats especially in its early life, can determine how well it performs later in life.

For the Pokéball, he gave me a 'Cherish Ball' an extremely rare ball, just as rare as the Master Ball. Though my Dad has connections to get one. A Pokéball also helps a Pokémon do better, as it allows them to naturally heal faster the better the ball over time and allows them a better sleep as they wait inside the ball. The best Pokéballs the public can get are Ultraballs, while there are better you have to have connections or be a high Ranked trainer. For special Pokéballs like heavy balls, heal balls, luxury balls, etc. you would need connections or a high trainer rank.

All in all my Dad went all out for my partner and did everything in his power to help me and my Pokémon have a head start in our future career as a Trainer. I was extremely grateful for his help and everything he has done for me so far. His homeschooling was even better than the school on the island, as I was being taught by a Gym Leader and an Ace Trainer. He was doing everything in his power to help me, making me eternally grateful to him.

"Dad, thank you so much for everything," I say to him giving him a hug after he finished explaining the plans for taking care of my Pokémon.

"You are welcome Lucas, I will always be here for you. Don't forget that," Dad says to me as I nod my head and smile at him.

After a week of finding the egg, one morning I woke up with the egg sitting in its incubator and it then began shaking. The shaking increased which made me snap out of my stupor seeing the egg moving, as my morning brain was confused at what was happening.

'Oh! It's hatching!' I think to myself running over to the egg taking it out of the incubator and placing it on my bed.

After a few very tense and exciting minutes the baby Pokémon finally broke free from its egg. Just as the egg broke apart the little baby Pokémon cocked its head looking around in confusion before seeing me and then moving to me with an excited look on its face.

"Grow-Growlithe," the little Hisuian Growlithe says to me as it makes its way over to me wagging his tail. The little guy has extremely deep red fur, with a stark white mane that covers his eyes and a stark white tail. Three black stripes across his back, two black stripes across his hind legs, and one black strip across his two front legs.

"Hey little guy," I say picking him up as he starts to lick my face making me laugh.

As my Dad told me we won't be able to tell his potential or really anything about him until six months after his 'birth'. Pokémon grow very quickly in the first six months of their life, reaching their real size, and can then be trained. Right now he is just a newborn baby and very small only around ten pounds (4.5kg). I took out the Cherish ball my Dad gave me and easily 'caught' Growlithe. Then I release him from the Pokéball before going downstairs to show my Dad and his Pokémon.

"Dad! The egg hatched!" I say coming downstairs as he turns around to look, along with all his Pokémon quickly coming over to see.

"Growlithe?... Wait, what kind of Growlithe is that?!" Dad says looking at my Pokémon and becoming confused as apparently this type of Growlithe has never been seen before.

"I named him Leo," I say holding him out as he barks at them all wagging his tail.

"I see… Uhm, ok. Give him this, he must be very hungry," Dad says going over to the supplies he bought and then handing me a bottle of milk. I began to feed Leo as all of my Dad's Pokémon were looking at him with curious faces.

"Lucas, I would like to run some tests once Grow– Leo has grown up a bit," Dad says to me and I nod my head since my Dad is very curious about this different-looking Growlithe.

"Sure, I want to make him the strongest Arcanine one day. So, whatever you can do to help me, I would appreciate it," I say to him as Leo is drinking the milk while wagging his tail and looking at everyone who is staring at him.

Finding a wild Growlithe is extremely rare, as almost all of them are under the Jennys Family's exclusive rights to raise. Meaning to get one you have to buy one from their family which is almost impossible to do and finding one in the wild is even harder. So having a Growlithe and one that is apparently different than the others is a whole new level of rare.

"I will do the paperwork and have Leo your official Pokémon and partner," Dad says after thinking about the future tests he wants to run on Growlithe.

After Leo finished eating, I let him down as he got to know each of my Dad's Pokémon and explored his new home for the next six years before we begin our journey. With time flying by as Leo finally reaches six months old and ready to be trained. My Dad first ran his tests to figure out what makes him different and help me plan a good schedule for him to train.