Once the idea had formed in his mind, Aven immediately decided to put it into practice.
After instructing Muk to carefully guard the Pokémon Egg, he quickly departed for the castle with the help of Mothim.
"Moth~"
Mothim rapidly flapped its wings.
Once they left the range shrouded in poisonous mist, the normal energy within Mothim's body began to surge.
At that moment, the fluctuations of Poison-type energy on its body quickly dissipated, transforming into Flying-type energy, and its speed of flight suddenly increased dramatically.
After this period of working together, Mothim had already grown very accustomed to carrying Aven on low-altitude flights. This greatly accelerated Aven's traveling speed, allowing him to quickly make trips back and forth between the castle and the Pokémon breeding grounds.
Upon returning to the backyard of the castle, Aven immediately began attempting to concoct a special nutrient solution.
Among the main ingredients, Sludge was the most important. With the aid of Petilil, who infused it with life energy, the toxicity of the sludge increased steadily.
As the life energy fused together with the deadly toxins, it transformed into a unique form of toxin. At the same time, Aven could faintly sense wisps of mysterious energy radiating outward.
After successfully producing this "living toxin," Aven then added in the sludge he had extracted earlier from the poison swamp. The instant the two materials came into contact, an astonishing transformation occurred.
The energy contained within the sludge and swamp toxins seemed to achieve a perfect fusion. The more they merged, the stronger the surging energy waves became!
Witnessing this scene, Aven's eyes grew sharp with focus. Following the same methods he used when preparing regular nutrient solutions, he carefully added materials beneficial for hatching Pokémon Eggs, allowing all the energies to fuse more thoroughly.
Though he already possessed countless experiences of concocting nutrient solutions, this time he exercised extreme caution, monitoring every subtle fluctuation of energy within the liquid.
At last, the energies within the solution gradually stabilized. The liquid transformed into a bottle of dark violet-black potion, from which both Poison-type energy and life energy radiated thickly.
"Perfect… a flawless work of art." Aven's eyes gleamed with excitement as he gazed at the finished solution.
Perhaps this potion was not only suitable for that mysterious Pokémon Egg, but even other Poison-type Eggs—if they absorbed the energy within this nutrient solution, their Poison-type potential would surely grow to terrifying levels!
Of course, now was not the time to experiment with other Pokémon Eggs. With the potion in hand and aided once again by Mothim, Aven hurried back to the toxic swamp.
Following the usual procedure, he poured the nutrient solution into the incubation chamber, then carefully placed the Pokémon Egg together with the mysterious crystal into the solution.
"Lil…"
Petilil leaned nervously over the side of the incubation chamber, watching intently.
Although it had absolute confidence in Aven's skill as a potion maker, it still had no idea how the Egg would respond.
One by one, the other Pokémon also gathered around, all staring solemnly at the Egg's reaction.
"Hey, hey, hey… do you guys think it might really hatch into a Grimer?"
(TN: It said Muk but I changed it to Grimer, might be like the Chansey situation.)
"Muk!"
Muk scratched its head foolishly, but its eyes carried a look of eager anticipation.
"Nido~, nido~"
Both Nidorino and Nidorina were watching closely as well.
In theory, considering this was a Poison-type Egg, there was always the possibility of it hatching into a Nidoran.
Right then, under the anxious stares of every Pokémon, the mysterious crystal submerged in the nutrient solution suddenly erupted with radiant light.
At the same time, the vast energy contained within the solution began flowing continuously into the crystal, slowly merging into the Pokémon Egg.
"Lil, lil~"
Petilil remained focused on sensing the Egg's energy.
As soon as the Egg successfully absorbed the nutrient solution's energy, it could clearly perceive that the life force inside had grown far stronger than before.
This enhancement of life force even surpassed the effect of Petilil directly channeling its own energy into the Egg, showing just how potent the nutrient solution truly was.
After all, the solution had been specifically prepared to assist in Pokémon Egg incubation. With such aid, there was no doubt that the Egg's chances of hatching smoothly had now greatly increased.
"It looks like it really worked. From now on, with the help of this special nutrient solution, we can definitely raise Eggs successfully."
Seeing this, Aven let out a long breath of relief. At the same time, excitement welled up inside him, his heart full of anticipation for the day the Pokémon Egg would finally break open.
For now, he shifted his focus back to the nutrient solution. What he needed next was to prepare even more bottles, so that the Egg could continuously absorb energy.
The biggest obstacle, however, still lay with Tentacool. From here on, Aven needed to strengthen Tentacool's ability so that it could produce more sludge.
"Tentacool, come out! Let's see if you can absorb the power within the sludge." With this thought, Aven released Tentacool from its Poké Ball.
With a flash of white light, Tentacool appeared within the poison swamp. Immediately, the sound of corrosive reactions hissed across its body.
The sudden sting of pain startled Tentacool. But just then Aven's calm voice rang out beside it: "Tentacool, wrap yourself in sludge!"
Tentacool quickly gathered its energy, fully activating its Liquid Ooze ability. Slimy sludge began to ooze outward, enveloping its body entirely.
With the protective layer in place, Tentacool no longer suffered from the poison's corrosion. It let out a breath of relief and began surveying its surroundings, soon sensing the dense Poison-type energy saturating the swamp.
"Tentacool, focus and feel the energy around you," Aven instructed.
As the sludge covering Tentacool reacted with the swamp toxins, Aven narrowed his eyes.
In many ways, Tentacool's ooze bore striking similarities to the toxic swamp itself. If Tentacool could absorb its power, would it be able to produce even more sludge?
"Splash, splash, splash~"
Tentacool nodded, its tentacles swaying gently, sending ripples across the swamp's surface.
Then, stretching out its body, it drew in more of the swamp's toxins, continuously absorbing them.
Almost immediately, a peculiar reaction took place inside Tentacool's body. In the next moment, Tentacool opened its mouth and spat out a thick glob of sludge!
"Ziii—ziii—ziii—"
The sludge splattered across the ground, releasing sizzling sounds of corrosion.
"Ralts~"
Seeing this, Ralts swiftly extended its psychic power, skillfully lifting the sludge into the air.
"Lil, lil~"
Petilil also hurried over, its eyes lighting up.
In recent days, it had been researching sludge in order to better master the transformation of life energy.
With just a brief observation, it confirmed without doubt—this was indeed real sludge!
By absorbing the swamp's energy, Tentacool had truly succeeded in producing sludge!
"Tentacool, excellent work!"
"This means the last problem with our materials has finally been solved!"
Aven's face broke into a bright smile. Then his gaze once again fell upon Tentacool.
Could it be possible… that the Egg inside the crystal might hatch into a Tentacool as well?
Aven lightly shook his head. If the Egg really turned out to be a Grimer or a Tentacool, that didn't quite match the grand atmosphere surrounding it.
In his heart, he preferred to believe that this was the Egg of some legendary Pokémon. Only such an explanation matched his expectations.
(End of Chapter)