"Do you want to become my Pokémon? That stuff you just ate—if you come with me, you can have as much as you want."
Nathan offered generously, his tone full of sincerity.
The mysterious Pokémon didn't respond, acting like a typical creature that couldn't speak. Seeing that it was only interested in eating pokeblocks and paid no attention to him, Nathan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After all, it wasn't easy to come across a Pokémon that even his system couldn't identify. Naturally, he was very eager to catch it.
But at that very moment, a crisp sound of cracking echoed through the air.
Hearing the sound, Nathan quickly turned his head toward the Flabébé's Pokémon egg.
With the sound of the crack, a few fractures began to appear on the shell of the Flabébé egg.
Moments later, Nathan and Lily were stunned.
Because inside the egg—there was nothing! It was completely empty!
"Uh… What the…"
Looking at the Pokémon egg in front of them, Nathan truly didn't know what to say.
This was supposed to be the first Pokémon egg he had given to Lily. He had hoped it would hatch into a beautiful Flabébé to make her happy.
But now, it turned out to be empty? But if the egg was empty all along, why had it been trembling earlier? And why did it crack open just now?
Unless…
"Nathan, did you buy this egg? It kind of feels like one of those knock-off Pokémon eggs…" Lily said, her voice full of grievance. She had always handled the egg with great care.
Back when she was still in the country, she had visited countless flower shops and gone to so many places—all to hatch this Flabébé.
Now, just when she thought it had finally hatched… it turned out to be empty? No Flabébé at all?
Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as her heart ached with disappointment.
Just then, the rainbow flower that had been sitting beside the egg began to move!
"Did… did we hatch a ghost or something? Why is the flower moving on its own?!"
Mickey muttered fearfully from the side.
Initially, Lily hadn't been all that scared, but Mickey's random comment sent a chill down her spine.
"Ahhh!!!"
She screamed and darted behind Nathan, terror overtaking her earlier feelings of sadness. The fear now fully consumed her.
Nathan shot Mickey a glare. He really wanted to smack him right then and there.
If you don't know what to say, just stay quiet. Why do you have to spout nonsense at a time like this?
Sure, the world is full of wonders, but ghosts? Since when could a ghost hatch from a Pokémon egg?
Even if ghosts did exist, they'd come from the dead—not from eggs!
"What ghost? Have you ever seen a ghost hatch from a damn egg?"
Nathan snapped, annoyed.
He was clearly blaming Mickey for scaring Lily.
Mickey quickly shut his mouth, finally realizing he had said something dumb.
But just as he went quiet, the rainbow flower floated slowly over to Lily.
Then, Lily suddenly felt something lightly touch her face.
But the rainbow flower still appeared to be a short distance away from her!
Already terrified, this sensation sent her panic soaring to new heights.
Nathan reached out to touch the floating flower—and then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha~ I really didn't expect this. Lily, you are seriously lucky!"
The feeling from his hand confirmed Nathan's suspicion. What he touched wasn't air—it was a tiny, warm body.
Although the body was small, Nathan could tell with certainty: this was a Pokémon. A completely invisible Flabébé!
"What? How am I lucky?" Lily asked, still confused.
Nathan took her hand and gently guided it toward the flower.
Seeing what Nathan was doing, she instinctively tried to pull her hand away—still afraid.
But Lily didn't have much strength, so under Nathan's gentle insistence, her hand finally made contact with what felt like thin air—but it was warm.
Specifically, it was this invisible Flabébé.
The warmth that she felt in her palm made Lily slowly open the eyes she had tightly shut in fear.
It really had warmth? It was a real Pokémon!? This… this was an invisible Flabébé!
Lily gently cupped the invisible Flabébé in her hands.
The Flabébé cooperatively embraced the rainbow flower and sat calmly in her palm.
"Well, what do you think? Feeling lucky now? A Flabébé like this probably only appears once in every ten thousand," Nathan said with pride.
After all, it was a gift he had chosen for her. Now that such a rare version of Flabébé had hatched, how could he not feel pleased?
"Mm-hmm!" Lily nodded enthusiastically and then began carefully petting the transparent Flabébé with one hand while cradling it in the other.
"Alright, don't waste any more time. We need to get moving," Nathan said, looking at Lily affectionately petting the Pokémon.
They were still far from the exit, and if they delayed any longer, they'd be stuck in the mystic realm.
Reminded by Nathan's words, Lily snapped out of her excitement. They had to hurry up and get out.
The place was beautiful, sure—but if they had to stay here for a year, they'd die of boredom!
She quickly pulled out a Poké Ball and captured the Flabébé inside.
The three of them rushed toward the exit.
Time flew by, and after four to five hours of fast-paced travel, they finally reached the exit—just before it was about to vanish.
However, when they arrived, Nathan was surprised to find that the blue light–shrouded Pokémon had followed them there.
"You two go ahead. I'm going to talk to this Pokémon," Nathan said casually as he looked at the mysterious creature.
Lily glanced at it once, then left the mystic realm with Mickey.
After they left, Nathan pulled out a pile of pokeblocks.
"Do you want to come with me? Be my Pokémon?"
He placed a Poké Ball in the center of the pokeblocks.
Both the ball and the pokeblocks sat on the ground. Nathan left the choice up to the mysterious Pokémon.
The blue-shrouded creature seemed to look at Nathan, almost as if it were pondering.
But it didn't move.
Finally, it began to act—but much to Nathan's disappointment, it just started eating the pokeblocks!
"Haah~ I guess it really doesn't want to come with me…"
Seeing the creature's behavior, Nathan sighed inwardly.
He had hoped that offering such a bounty would persuade it to follow him.
But apparently, it was only interested in the food—not him.
Before long, the Pokémon had devoured all of the pokeblocks.
Nathan was honestly shocked by how much this thing could eat.
There weren't even any Pokémon above level 10 in this mystic realm.
But despite its low level, this mysterious Pokémon had an enormous appetite.
That pile of pokeblocks could have fed several low-level Pokémon—and it finished all of them by itself.
After realizing that it probably wasn't going to follow him, Nathan sighed again and reached down to retrieve the Poké Ball and prepare to leave the mystic realm.
After all, the entrance was about to close.
But just as his hand touched the Poké Ball, the mysterious Pokémon seemed to make a decision.
Without hesitation—it entered the Poké Ball.
It accepted him!
"No way! You're actually willing to be my Pokémon!?"
Nathan exclaimed in disbelief.
He had been ready to give up, never imagining that right at the last moment, it would choose him.
Truth be told, while helping Mickey and Lily select their Pokémon, Nathan had also been looking for one himself.
But he hadn't found a suitable one—until he laid eyes on this creature wrapped in blue light.
The moment he saw it, he felt the urge to capture it.
And when even his system failed to identify what it was, that urge only grew stronger.
He had asked it again and again, and it had always ignored him.
But now, just before the mystic realm closed—it had chosen to accept him.
Nathan quickly picked up the Poké Ball and stepped through the exit.
A flash of white light, and Nathan reappeared outside.
All ten participants who had entered the mystic realm had now emerged.
However, the four members of the Nicholas family glared at Nathan with hatred.
Because he had disrupted their plans to capture Pokémon.
But they didn't dare say anything.
After all, Nathan was a national champion. Inside the mystic realm, they may have dared to threaten him with guns.
But out here? Even with rocket launchers, they wouldn't dare mess with him.
They were even worried that Nathan might retaliate now that they were back in the real world.
As Nathan swept his gaze over the people near the exit, the four members of the Nicholas family felt their hearts skip a beat when his eyes passed over them.
But Nathan quickly looked away.
These people weren't worth his time. He had no interest in getting revenge.
After all, ants can't hurt an elephant.
Nathan walked happily up to Lily, holding up the Poké Ball in his hand and said with a grin:
"Look, that mysterious Pokémon—I caught it."
(End of Chapter)