Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 499 - 500: The Weird Pokémon Egg

A Pokémon egg fell out of the coffin, the patterns on the shell appearing extremely weird and eerie.

"Exc~a~drill~"

Excadrill looked at Basalt, asking if it should destroy it.

"Wait until the Pokémon recover first!"

Basalt decisively retreated dozens of meters, keeping as much distance as possible from the Pokémon egg. This thing was very evil; who knew what weirdness it might hold? Having just escaped death, Basalt was extremely cautious now.

"Exc~a~drill~"

Excadrill nodded, then silently stood up and went to finish off the Lich Old Man's Pokémon one by one, only stopping after confirming every Pokémon was completely dead. The battle before was too intense; neither side had time to finish off the opponent's Pokémon after defeating them. But now, Emperor Mole finally had his hands free.

Waiting silently for nearly ten minutes, except for Camerupt, all other Pokémon woke up slowly. Camerupt had used a move of the level of "Precipice Blades"; the consumption was simply too great. Even with the "Spring of Life," it couldn't wake up and recover in a short time. Fortunately, Camerupt's breathing and vital signs were very stable; otherwise, Basalt would definitely be worried.

"Bronzong, bring that Pokémon egg over."

At Basalt's signal, Bronzong released psychic power to approach the Pokémon egg. But the moment the psychic power touched the eggshell, Basalt saw the Pokémon egg shake weirdly and emit a faint gloom.

"Bron~"

Bronzong showed a look of fear, its body retreating slightly, surprised: "It is devouring my psychic power!"

In Bronzong's perception, this Pokémon egg was like a black hole; its psychic power would be attracted and devoured upon approach, very weird.

Hearing this, Basalt frowned tightly. He could feel that this thing was probably ominous; after all, it came from the hands of the Lich Old Man and had been stored in Cofagrigus's body. With this treatment, could it be anything good?

"Excadrill, smash it!"

Basalt's gaze focused, preparing to destroy this ominous object. Although he was curious about what exactly was inside this Pokémon egg, Basalt understood the principle that curiosity killed the cat. The safest way was still to destroy it! End it once and for all!

"Exc~a~drill~"

Killing intent appeared in Excadrill's eyes, locking onto the Pokémon egg. When locked onto by Excadrill, the Pokémon egg shook again. Clearly an egg, yet Basalt seemed to see a shivering child, revealing a look of fear on its face.

"Actually daring to use illusions to confuse me? Seeking death!" Basalt snorted coldly.

At the same time, Basalt was also roughly certain. This Pokémon egg was obviously about to hatch. Otherwise, the Pokémon inside would absolutely not have a consciousness of fear. Not yet hatched, but able to devour Bronzong's psychic power and create illusions to confuse. If this hatched, what would happen?

"Carb~ink~"

Ears twitching slightly, Carbink seemed to feel something. Unexpectedly, it stood out, blocking between the Pokémon egg and Emperor Mole.

"Carbink?"

Basalt and Excadrill were both stunned.

"Carb~ink~ Carb~ink~"

Carbink shook its head while explaining.

"Carbink says this Pokémon egg has already conceived life. Although its energy is somewhat mixed, weird, and evil, and its origin is unknown, the life inside has just been born and has never done evil; it is innocent. We shouldn't kill the innocent indiscriminately based on subjective assumptions!"

Bronzong quickly took charge of translating, looking at Basalt after speaking.

"There is some truth to that, but..."

Basalt remained silent. When he looked at the Pokémon egg again, he found that the egg had rolled behind Carbink at some point, like a child hiding behind a parent to avoid scolding.

Seeing this, Basalt's eyelids twitched: "Carbink, you haven't been bewitched by it, have you?"

"Carb~ink~"

Carbink shook its head, its gaze clear but firm. Having absorbed the "Life Horn" (Xerneas's Horn), it had a different respect for life.

"Carbink says the life in this Pokémon egg is now a blank sheet of paper. If it were hatched by the Lich Old Man, it might be the King of Demons. But as long as we guide it towards good, it will be a kind Pokémon."

Carbink looked at Basalt; Bronzong translated.

"Guide? Towards good?"

Basalt swallowed. This plot was a bit familiar! Basalt couldn't help but remember movies he watched on Earth in his previous life; it seemed that in this situation, the result was definitely not very good. Even if the result was good, the intermediate process might be very bad! Reference Hoopa!

"It won't really be Hoopa, right?"

Basalt scratched his head. Thinking of the Lich Old Man's image, Basalt felt it wasn't impossible.

"Fine, fine! Let it off for now."

Basalt looked at Carbink seriously and said, "But if this guy makes any outrageous moves, don't blame me for being ruthless. In addition, since you pleaded for it, you will be responsible for looking after it from now on."

"Carb~ink~"

Carbink was overjoyed and nodded quickly.

"Don't worry, leave it to me! I can feel that the life energy fluctuations contained in this Pokémon egg are very strong, which means its potential is very great. If cultivated well, it will also be a great help to you."

"Hope so!"

Basalt shook his head. As long as it didn't invite trouble, he would thank heaven and earth. Help? Dare not think about it!

Sensing the disappearance of killing intent and that Carbink saved it, the Pokémon egg shook a few more times slightly, appearing very happy after escaping death.

"Let's go, enter the cave!"

Basalt waved his hand, leading the Pokémon slowly into the cave. Excadrill and Bronzong acted as vanguards, Hakamo-o's aura perception supported from the middle to check for gaps. Basalt moved forward slowly under the protection of Carbink and Swampert. Fortunately, there seemed to be no threats in the cave anymore. Basalt and the Pokémon passed through unimpeded.

Deep in the cave, Basalt saw the weird candle formation and also saw the sealed An Ning.

"Teacher An!"

Basalt ran up quickly. Although Teacher An was wearing a uniform and her hair was cut short, Basalt recognized her at a glance.

"Ba... Basalt?"

An Ning widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief.

She had fantasized that someone would come to save her—maybe the Director, maybe a civilian trainer of Huaxia, maybe an expert cultivating nearby, or maybe even a trainer from the India or Pakistan Alliance...

But the only one she never thought of was her own student!

Basalt, a genius trainer nearing 21 years old! At the same time, An Ning's proud student who won first place in the County High School Selection Tournament. After that, An Ning didn't know much. Because being in the remote border area, news was very closed off to her.

But looking at the Shiny Excadrill behind Basalt, An Ning felt like a lifetime had passed. Was this the little Drilbur from before? Grown... so big! And this color, so flashy!

As for Bronzong, Cradily, Tyranitar, Hakamo-o, and other Pokémon, An Ning was also stunned watching them. Was this lineup really from a student I could have taught?

"Teacher An, it's me!"

Basalt nodded and helped An Ning up, only to find An Ning's body stiff as iron, completely losing mobility.

"There is a gloomy Ghost-type energy in her body sealing her body control ability. Don't worry, I'll remove it!"

Bronzong stepped forward, psychic power surging. After clearing the gloomy energy from An Ning's body, An Ning indeed slowly recovered her mobility.