Upon arriving back at his new home in the afternoon, Spike reached up and clutched his shirt near his heart. His lips curled downward into a frown upon feeling uncomfortable for some reason, almost like the feeling one might get upon returning home and finding furniture out of place. Almost on instinct he jogged up the stairs and was about to open his bedroom door, only for it to be opened from inside before he could reach it.

Startled, he backpedaled a few steps and looked up at his body’s mother. Then, he frowned upon seeing a Pokémon egg with blue markings sitting in her hands. Worse than that, she looked furious.

“Good, you’re home already. Where did you find this?!” The woman basically interrogated him while holding up the egg.

Briefly glancing behind the woman, he saw a vacuum sitting in the middle of his room and realized what happened. Then, he looked at his ‘mother’ and answered, “It’s my partner.”

“You can’t just pick up a random egg in the woods and say it’s yours! What about its parents?! Also, you’re too young to take care of an egg!” The woman berated him. Before he could retort, she moved the egg to one arm and grabbed his wrist with her free hand while saying, “Come with me. We’re giving the egg to Officer Jenny to see if she can return it to its parents.”

Spike’s eye twitched as he held back his irritation and raised his voice, saying, “You can’t! It’s a Riolu egg, and it’s my partner!”

The woman halted mid-step and looked down at him, seemingly thinking about something. Then, she looked at the egg and asked, “How did you know it’s a Riolu egg?”

Almost answering on instinct that Arceus told him that, Spike opened his mouth but then stopped. That might sound a little too crazy for her, so he changed his mind and said, “I just know.”

The woman stopped to think for a moment. A few seconds later, she let go of Spike’s wrist, pulled a Pokenav from her pocket, and called one of the contacts on it. Before long, a familiar voice spoke from the other end.

“Hello? Do you need something, Mara?”

“Yes. Are you busy?”

“There is a trainer taking the gym challenge today, and I’ll be next in line to battle them before they battle Norman. I should be free for a bit after that. What do you need?”

“I just found a Pokémon egg in Dilon’s room. He said it’s a Riolu, so I want to see if your Medicham could verify that before I take it to Officer Jenny.”

The line fell silent for a moment, but then he replied, “That should be fine. Only Delcatty will be taking part in the battle today, anyway.”

Then, a click sounded out from the other line, followed by an energized, “Medicham!”

“Medicham, can you go home and help my wife identify a Pokémon egg?”

“Medicham!”

After a few more words, the man hung up after saying the challenger had arrived. Spike’s mother, who he somehow just now learned was named Mara, dragged him downstairs to wait for her husband’s Medicham to arrive.

“I didn’t know dad had a Medicham,” Spike mumbled. He vaguely recalled seeing the Delcatty in some of Dilon’s memories, but the Medicham wasn’t in any of his inherited memories.

“He just caught it a week ago, so he hasn’t introduced it to you yet since you’re always mean to Pokémon.”

Spike sighed and rubbed his forehead. He understood her suspicions toward him because of how the kid acted before smashing his head on a rock, but he found it hard not to be irritated. All he could do was try to gain a good reputation in the future.

Before long, the front door opened, and the fighting and psychic type Pokémon bounded into the room with a smile on its face. It seemed quite happy to be out of its pokeball.

Spike’s mother greeted Medicham with a friendly smile, raised the egg up to grab the Pokémon’s attention, and asked, “Medicham, my son said this is a Riolu egg. Are you able to verify that for me?”

“Medicham!” The Pokémon exclaimed with a confident grin and strangely military-like salute. It then approached the egg, closed its eyes, and carefully placed a hand on top of the egg. A gentle purple glow lit up around its hand. In response, a soft blue glow lit up around the egg, causing Mara’s eyes to widen.

Moments later, Medicham pulled its hand away, opened its eyes, and exclaimed, “Medicham!”

“Told you so,” Spike said while crossing his arms.

The Medicham raised a brow at him and looked at him with curiosity wondering if the kid understood his speech. However, Mara distracted it by asking, “Is it a Riolu egg?”

Nodding, Medicham positively answered, “Medicham!”

Mara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Then, she looked down at her son and asked, “Where did you find the egg?”

Spike thought for a moment, then decided to say, “Arceus gave it to me?”

“How many times have I told you not to make up stories, Dilon?” Mara sternly reprimanded.

Figures.

“Medicham.”

“Hmm? What is it?” Mara asked, unable to decipher the Pokémon’s speech.

“He says I’m telling the truth, I think,” Spike explained while tilting his head in confusion toward his confidence in that interpretation.

“Medi- Medicham!” Medicham exclaimed while pointing at him and dancing on its toes with a happy smile.

Mara’s mouth gaped. She then looked at her son like she was looking at a complete stranger.

“Can you understand it?”

“Hm? Wasn’t Medicham’s meaning obvious from how it was acting?”

Staring at her son for a few moments, Mara wondered how much the encounter with the wild Alakazam had affected her child. She didn’t know what to think about it, so she set aside the thought for now and said, “Since it’s a Riolu, it wouldn’t feel right taking it from you. For now, we’ll wait for it to hatch, but if you don’t treat it well, we’ll immediately give it to a suitable trainer instead. Is that clear?”

“Okay,” Spike replied.

A relieved sigh then slipped from his lips. Although he put up a strong front, he had felt anxious that Mara would still try to take the egg away from him. Luckily, there were plenty of legends about trainers finding Riolu eggs due to fate, which most likely affected her decision.

“Can I have the egg back?” Spike pleaded, giving his best impression of puppy-dog eyes.

Pursing her lips, Mara thought for a moment before sighing and handing the egg over while saying, “You need to be very careful with it, okay?”

Spike vigorously nodded in an attempt to assure her that he would do his best to take care of it. He started walking toward the stairs, but was interrupted by a question from his mother.

“Did you… really get that egg from Arceus?” She asked with a hint of suspicion.

“Well, I passed out in the woods, saw Arceus, and then woke up with the egg next to me, so… yes?”

Mara blinked a few times while processing his explanation. Then, she shook her head and looked at the Medicham who was staring at her son with curiosity.

“Do you want to stay here until Davi comes home, Medicham?”

Nodding, Medicham happily exclaimed, “Medicham!”

Meanwhile, Spike returned to his room, locked the door, and then collapsed to the floor while clutching the Pokémon egg close to his chest.

“That was close. Thought I’d have to forcibly take the egg back and run away. I’m glad it ended up alright, but it would be so much easier if I had been an adult from the start.”