"The starter trio? Signature moves?"
Hearing the old man's words and recalling the in-game lore surrounding Cape Brink, Caster blurted out, "Sir, are you the Priest?"
Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, combined with the mention of signature moves, made it impossible for Caster not to connect the old man to the Priest from the games.
"Oh? You actually know who I am?"
A smug look spread across the old man's face. His playful, animated expression made it clear he was a mischievous sort at heart.
"A little," Caster said with a smile, though he shook his head in disappointment a moment later. "Unfortunately, I don't have any starter Pokémon with me."
"Nothing to be done about that, then!"
The Priest shrugged, then smiled warmly. "Still, as an apology, please come sit in my cottage for a bit and have a cup of tea!"
He gestured toward the far northern end of the cape.
Only then did Caster notice that at the very tip of the cape stood a small wooden cottage, so unassuming it was almost invisible unless one was looking for it.
"I wouldn't want to impose!"
Caster thought it over and accepted without hesitation.
Tea itself held little interest for him, but Slowpoke was another matter entirely. More precisely, it was Slowpoke's tail that had his attention.
What he was turning over in his mind was whether he could borrow the Priest's Slowpoke and dip its tail into the water to lure fish to the surface.
Once the fish had all gathered near the shore, he could return Slowpoke to its ball and let his fishing rod do the rest.
"A Slowpoke would be perfect. A Slowpoke would be well worth raising!"
Thinking about the effect of Slowpoke's tail, Caster's thoughts shifted again.
A Slowpoke was a practically essential companion for any traveling angler!
In that moment, he suddenly found himself hoping the Pokémon Egg might turn out to be a Slowpoke after all.
After recalling Gyarados and Dratini into their balls, Caster followed the Priest's lead toward the cottage at the cape.
Because of how slowly Slowpoke moved, however, what should have been a few minutes' walk ended up taking nearly twenty.
Caster grew a little restless, but seeing the Priest's perfectly composed expression, he said nothing and quietly kept pace.
Inside the simple wooden cottage, the Priest brewed a cup of tea for both Caster and Pikachu, thin wisps of steam curling gently into the air.
"Pika~"
Pikachu mimicked Caster's cross-legged posture and picked up the teacup, sipping from it in dainty little mouthfuls, looking every bit the tiny dignified scholar.
Caster sipped his tea and chatted with the Priest, working up to the moment he would finally reveal his true purpose and ask to borrow Slowpoke. But just then, his backpack gave a sudden jolt.
"Hmm? Is the egg hungry again?"
Caster's heart jumped. He quickly opened the backpack and pulled out the Pokémon Egg inside.
The egg had come from Clem. According to Lance, its life force was quite weak, so over the past several days Caster had been regularly infusing it with Energy Orbs to sustain it and nurture its vitality, waiting for it to hatch.
What left him deflated was that nearly ten days had passed since he had received it, and the egg showed no sign of hatching whatsoever.
"Blast~"
The moment the egg was taken out, Blastoise's gaze sharpened.
It could sense that the life energy within the egg was steadily draining away, while the elemental energy inside was growing stronger, as though a terrifying storm were building within.
"Blastoise, what's wrong?"
The Priest noticed Blastoise's change in demeanor.
"Blast~ Blast~"
After Blastoise had explained, the Priest's expression shifted to one of surprise.
"Young man, what exactly is the situation with this Pokémon Egg?"
The Priest fixed Caster with a serious look. "According to Blastoise's senses, the egg's life energy appeared to be continuously converting into elemental energy, strengthening its innate abilities. But if this kept up, in a matter of days it would exhaust its life energy entirely and become a dead egg."
"Life energy converting into elemental energy?"
Caster blinked, then asked curiously, "Sir, your Blastoise can actually sense life energy?"
"Naturally!"
The Priest smiled with evident pride. "My Blastoise's greatest move isn't actually a battle move like Hydro Pump or Flash Cannon. It's the recovery move Life Dew. It had a natural sensitivity to life energy."
"I see!"
Caster nodded, though he still didn't feel particularly alarmed by Blastoise's discovery.
He had been infusing the egg with Energy Orbs every day to keep it alive, so he wasn't worried about it becoming a dead egg.
But the Priest seemed to read his thoughts and asked directly, "Young man, I imagine you've been using some method to replenish this egg's life energy and keep it going. But based on what Blastoise could observe, the rate of energy conversion would only accelerate over time, and that process could not be reversed."
"It was like a dam. Once a crack formed, the crack only grew wider, until the whole thing gave way."
The Priest's gaze was piercing.
"He might be able to sustain it for now, but that alone wouldn't be enough to carry it through to hatching. In another week or two, whatever energy he was providing would become completely negligible against the rate of loss."
At that, Caster finally felt a cold wave of dread wash over him.
He had placed enormous hope in this egg.
If it were to become a dead egg right there in his hands, he wasn't sure he could accept that.
"Sir, is there any way to save it?"
Caster turned his gaze to the Priest and Blastoise, grasping at what felt like a lifeline.
If Blastoise had such a deep understanding of life energy, perhaps there was something it could do.
"It's not something I can guarantee, but it may be worth attempting."
The Priest considered for a moment, then exchanged a glance with Blastoise and said, "The only method he could think of was to infuse the egg with a single powerful surge of life energy all at once, forcing it to hatch. Once life emerges from the shell, the conversion process may stop on its own."
"A single powerful surge of life energy all at once?"
Caster's heart stirred. His mind went immediately to the hundred-odd Energy Orbs stored in his Fishing Space.
With his team growing larger by the day, his daily consumption of Energy Orbs had been climbing steadily.
By now, only around a hundred and forty-five remained.
"Would a hundred and forty-five Energy Orbs be enough for the egg to hatch?"
Caster counted the Energy Orbs in his Fishing Space and felt far from confident about the answer.
But at that moment, the white-haired Priest rose to his feet with Blastoise's support.
He looked down at Caster with a smile and said, "Well, since it was my Blastoise who caused the trouble in the first place, let this be my responsibility. As it happens, the Pokémon under my care all have some ability when it comes to life energy."
As he spoke, three Poké Balls appeared in his hand as if from nowhere. He tossed them lightly into the air.
A flash of red light erupted, and three Pokémon of varying sizes and forms materialized before them.