CH120 (350), Choosing My Fire Lizard

It did not take us long to arrive in front of the first room, and once we entered I felt a slight increase in temperature. Taking a look around, I saw that each egg had its own space that seemed to be based on the incubators on the market.

Well, the difference to the one used here was pretty big since the space inside the incubator was much larger, and it was open at the top.

"I'm sure you've noticed the resemblance of the hatching unit with the standard incubator," the female assistant spoke up. "That's because the incubators are based on our units," she finished proudly.

"Yes, the incubators were made using the analyzing and safeguarding tools of our hatching units. The growth and enhancement support of our units were not included. That's also why they are much smaller and can be carried around," the male assistant chimed in.

"I'm sure you've noticed the rise in temperature after we entered the room," he commented.

"That's due to the materials used in each unit to support the development of the eggs," his partner finished.

"Are you using Fire Stones for this, and do the eggs stay inside the units until they hatch, or are they taken out on occasion," I asked curiously.

"Fire Stones are only part of the materials we use, but I'm not allowed to say more than that. As for the eggs, they normally remain inside their unit, but sometimes they are taken out for a deeper examination," the female assistant answered.

*clap*

"Alright, let's focus back on the purpose of your visit," the male assistant said with a soft clap of his hands. "You are allowed to touch the eggs, especially since we know you are an aura user, but you have to be careful while doing so, and you are not allowed to lift the egg from its place," he finished but the female swiftly followed up.

"Also, while you can use your aura senses, you are not allowed to channel any aura into the egg. Since you are also a psychic, I have to mention that trying to open a telepathic link with the egg is forbidden as well," she added before motioning for me to go ahead.

"I'll make sure not to do that," I assured them before I moved toward the first egg.

The hatching units were only around 120 cm tall and a bit more than 1 meter wide, so I had no problems reaching in to touch the egg in the center, but before I did that I closed my eyes and used my sense to check the egg. I had to keep up appearances after all.

I could feel the growing life inside the egg, and I could feel the developing mind as well, but I made sure not to initiate any contact as had been requested. Still, feeling the developing life like this was fascinating no matter how many times one felt it.

I opened my eyes a few moments later and reached out to gently touch the egg. I naturally used that moment to check its status.

'Species: Charmander

Gender: Female

Type: Fire

Potential: Light Blue

Stage: None, PokeEgg

(Genetic) Modifiers: None

Abilities: Blaze, Solar Power

Talents: None

Affinities: Fire'

Well, it was not a bad egg/Pokemon, but I did not doubt that I would see better ones during my visit. I upheld the contact for a few more moments before I retracted my hand. I kept examining the egg for an additional few seconds with my eyes to show that I was seriously studying the egg before I began moving toward the second unit/egg.

That one turned out just like the first one, just male, so I moved on after spending an appropriate amount of time in front of the egg. I spent roughly a minute in front of each egg, so it took me around 15 minutes, 14 minutes 22, and now 23, seconds according to my watch, to check all 15 eggs present in the room.

None of them really stood out, and the best ones were the three eggs with blue potential, so once I was done checking all eggs I asked the assistant to lead me to the next room.

"So, did none of them feel like the right one?" The female assistant asked while we were leaving the first room, and I could feel the male assistant's gaze on me as well.

"Not really," I said while shaking my head. "However, even if one gave me a reaction, I would still want to check out as many rooms as I can before making a decision.

I'll simply make sure to remember the unit and room number of the ones that react to me. After all, it is possible that another egg could give me a better reaction, so there is no reason to make any premature decisions.

Once we are close to running out of time or if I finish checking all rooms, I'll go back to the one that caused the greatest reaction," I explained my plan to them, and they both returned a "makes sense".

The second room was pretty much right beside the first one, so it took us less than a minute to enter the room. I did a quick sweep around the room and saw that there were 13 eggs/units. I directly made my way to the first, or rather closest, egg, and began checking it.

I moved from one egg to the next, and the result was pretty much like the first one in the first room. The best egg(s) had blue potential, and there was even one that had deep green potential, showing that some non-blue eggs had made it to the center.

We moved on to the 3rd room, and I once again began examining the eggs one by one. Yet, after checking more than two-thirds of the eggs it seemed that I would not find any outstanding eggs this time around as well.

Finally, there were only 2 eggs left, and I honestly thought the 3rd room would end up like the first two, but the egg that I was currently checking out decided to prove me wrong.

45 minutes into my visit, in the 3rd room, the second to last egg present, and the 42nd egg I checked in total, finally stood out from the rest.

'Species: Charmander

Gender: Female

Type: Fire

Potential: Deep Blue

Stage: None, PokeEgg

(Genetic) Modifiers: Shiny Gene

Abilities: Blaze, Solar Power

Talents: None

Affinities: Fire'

Not only did the egg/Charmander have the highest potential so far at Deep Blue, but she also had the Shiny Gene. This egg went straight up my list, and until a better one showed up, it/she would be the one I would choose.

Also, I didn't know if it was me, but somehow the vast majority of Shiny Pokemon I encountered ended up being female. I knew intellectually that gender did not influence the Shiny gene, but my actual experience made me start to doubt that.

Anyway, I made sure to remember the position of the unit/egg and moved on to check the last egg. It turned out to be one with light blue potential and the Keen Smell talent, so I choose to ignore it and made my way to the 4th room.

The 5th room followed the 4th, and the 6th one also turned out like the rest. It was when I was halfway through the 7th room that I encountered an egg that stood out from the rest, even if it was worse than the shiny one.

The one in front of me right now was a male with deep blue potential, but he had no talent or modifier, so he was slightly worse than the Shiny female. Still, at least he had deep blue potential, so I remembered his position just in case before I began checking out the rest of the eggs. Maybe I would get lucky and encounter another outstanding one.

Well, I didn't get lucky, and after checking all eggs in room 7, we went toward room 8. Room 8 was a bust, but room 9 actually had another egg with deep blue potential. Yet, just like the other one, it could not replace the Shiny egg. Still, I memorized its position just in case and moved on.

Room 10 ended up being "average" as well if you could call a room with light blue and blue potential Charmander eggs average. Regardless of that, no egg stood out, so I moved on to the next room.

It had already been close to 2 and a half hours since my arrival at the center, and I was just starting to check out the 11th room. If I kept up this pace, checking all 39 rooms would be a really tight thing. Yet, I was not planning to speed up since it would be pretty suspicious if I went any faster than I already was.

Regardless of that brief reflection, I began checking the first egg, and it actually had deep blue potential. Quite the lucky start if I had to say so myself. Optimistic due to my starting luck I moved on to the second egg, which ended up being one with blue potential.

The third egg actually had light blue potential. Just when I was wondering if fate was trying to mock me and whether the next egg would end up having deep green potential, I saw that egg number 4 had blue potential along with a talent that allowed it to trigger Blaze earlier, at 50% "health" instead of 33%.

That was not bad at all, even if it was not good enough to shake the position of the Shiny. Still, it made me happy once more, and I happily moved on to the next egg.

Who would have thought that it would end up being another outstanding one? Yes, egg number 141 ended up being pretty impressive indeed.

'Species: Charmander

Gender: Male

Type: Fire

Potential: Light Purple

Stage: None, PokeEgg

Genetic variation: None

Abilities: Blaze, Solar Power

Talents: None

Affinities: Fire'

This was the first egg that I saw that had light purple potential, and that made egg number 141 move straight to the first place on my priority list. Well, he had to share the first place with the Shiny egg since only having light purple potential was not enough to surpass its importance, but I would have to deeply ponder which one to choose before making my decision.

I made sure to remember the position of the egg/unit and moved on to the next one. Unfortunately, the eggs after that were not as interesting, and I made my way to the next room without finding another egg that stood out.

The rooms no.12, as well as 13, were rather lackluster, and just as I was about to walk toward the next room the female assistant stopped me.

"Mikail it's time for lunch, so let's make our way to the canteen. We'll eat with you, and then we'll hand you over to our replacement," she said and a quick look at my watch told me that it was already 1 p.m.

Seeing how it was indeed lunch time I agreed and they led the way to the center's canteen.

"The food is free for the employees of our center, and as a guest, it's free for you as well, so you can choose whatever you want," the male assistant said once we entered the canteen.

I gave him a nod and took one of the empty tablets and two plates before moving around to take a look at what food was available. I ended up choosing the Schnitzel, of the chicken variety, along with some rice and some sauce.

The assistant duo was done with their selection before me and had already settled at one of the tables, so I made my way over to them. Surprisingly, only moments after I sat down two more tablets were placed on the table, and I saw a man pulling over one of the empty chairs.

The two that joined us at our table were another male and female duo, and the first duo introduced them as the assistant pair that was going to replace them after lunch.

Apparently, the two decided to come over a bit earlier to join us for lunch instead of arriving later on. After the introductions were out of the way, we began to eat, while conversing on the side.

"So, we've all heard about your plans to do an internship with one of the professors, but as far as I heard from my circle, no one has received any applications yet, including our Oak's Lab. Have you only sent out one application, or do you have yet to send out any applications?" one of them asked halfway through the meal.

"I was, still am, busy dealing with the rewards of the competition, so I have not sent out any applications yet," I answered with a shrug. "I think I'll do it either next weekend or some days after that," I finished and they conceded that it made sense.

Nonetheless, they advised me to definitely apply to Oak's Lab, emphasizing that theirs was the best lab on the continent and the world, with the most extensive network. I simply told them that I was planning to send an application to Oak's Lab anyway. They smiled and told me that it was the right choice.

After that, they switched the topic to some of the work they did, and around 6 or 7 minutes later everyone was done eating. I bid farewell to the two that were leaving before I made my way to room no.14 with the new pair of assistants in tow.

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