"the three starters? Heavyweight moves?"
Hearing the old man's words and thinking of Cape Brink's setting in the games, Adrian blurted out, "Old man, are you a Move Tutor?"
With Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, plus the heavyweight moves he mentioned, it was hard for Adrian not to associate him with the Move Tutor from the games.
"Oh? You actually know of me?"
A look of pride appeared on the old man's face; his winking and nudging clearly marked him as an Old Imp.
"I know a little."
Adrian smiled, but then shook his head in disappointment. "However, I don't have any of the big three starters pokémon on me."
"If you don't have them, then there's nothing to be done!"
The Move Tutor first spread his hands, then smiled and said, "But as an apology, please come sit in my shack and have a cup of hot tea!"
After saying that, the Move Tutor pointed to the northernmost part of the cape.
Adrian then noticed an extremely inconspicuous wooden house at the very northern end of the cape; one wouldn't even notice it without looking closely.
"Then I'll intrude!"
Adrian thought for a moment and readily agreed.
He wasn't very interested in drinking tea, but he was very interested in Slowpoke—specifically, Slowpoke's tail.
What Adrian was thinking about now was whether he could borrow the Move Tutor's Slowpoke and put its tail in the water for groundbaiting.
Once the fish gathered at the shore, he could withdraw the Slowpoke, and his fishing rod could go on a rampage.
"Slowpoke is good; Slowpokes need to be nurtured!"
Thinking of the effects of a Slowpoke's tail, Adrian's thoughts shifted again.
Slowpoke—this is simply a must-have for any fisherman on a traveling fishing trip!
At this moment, he suddenly hoped that the pokémon egg would ideally be a Slowpoke.
After returning Gyarados and Dratini to their poké balls, Adrian followed the Move Tutor to the Cape Courtyard.
However, because the Slowpoke walked so slowly, a journey that should have taken only a few minutes ended up taking the group nearly twenty.
Adrian was a bit impatient, but seeing the Move Tutor's peaceful expression, he didn't rush him and followed obediently.
Inside the simple wooden house, the Move Tutor brewed a cup of hot tea for both Adrian and Pikachu, the steam rising in delicate curls.
"Pika~"
Pikachu sat cross-legged just like Adrian, even holding the teacup to take small sips, looking quite human-like for a mouse.
As Adrian sipped his tea and chatted with the Move Tutor, he was just about to reveal his true intention and borrow the Slowpoke when his backpack suddenly jolted.
"Hmm? Is Exeggcute hungry again?"
Adrian's heart stirred, and he quickly opened his backpack to take out the pokémon egg.
This pokémon egg came from Clemont. According to Lance, its vitality was quite weak, so Adrian had been activating energy cubes for it every now and then to nourish its life force, waiting for its Shell Smash and hatching.
To Adrian's disappointment, nearly ten days had passed since he got it, yet the egg still showed no signs of hatching.
"Kami~"
Once the pokémon egg was brought out, Blastoise's gaze narrowed.
It could sense that the egg's life force was continuously draining, but the elemental energy inside was growing stronger, as if brewing a terrifying storm.
"Blastoise, what's wrong?"
The Move Tutor noticed Blastoise's unusual behavior.
"Kami~ Kami~"
After Blastoise explained, the Move Tutor couldn't help but look surprised as well.
"Young man, what is the matter with this pokémon egg?"
The Move Tutor looked at Adrian and said seriously, "According to Blastoise's perception, its life energy seems to be constantly converting into elemental energy, strengthening its elemental talent. But if this continues, it will exhaust its life energy in a few days and become a completely dead egg—"
"life energy converting into elemental energy?"
Adrian was stunned for a moment, then asked curiously, "Old gentleman, your Blastoise can sense life energy?"
"Naturally!"
The Move Tutor smiled proudly. "My Blastoise's best moves aren't actually the combat-focused Hydro Pump or Flash Cannon, but the recovery move Life Dew. It is naturally sensitive to life energy."
"I see!"
Adrian nodded, but he still didn't take Blastoise's discovery too seriously.
Because he used energy cubes to nourish the pokémon egg every day to sustain its life, he wasn't afraid of it becoming a dead egg.
But the Move Tutor seemed to see through Adrian's thoughts and asked bluntly, "Young man! You must be using some method to replenish this pokémon egg's life energy to sustain it, right? However, according to Blastoise's observation, as time passes, this egg's energy conversion will get faster and faster; it's irreversible."
"It's like a dam; once a crack opens, it will only get wider and wider until the dam collapses."
The Move Tutor said with piercing eyes, "While you can still sustain its life now, it won't be enough to support its Shell Smash. In another ten days or half a month, your energy replenishment will be completely meaningless compared to the consumption."
Hearing this, Adrian finally panicked.
He had high hopes for this pokémon egg.
He couldn't accept it if it became a dead egg in his hands just like that.
"Old gentleman, is there a way to save it?"
Adrian turned his gaze toward the Move Tutor and Blastoise, as if clutching at a straw.
Since Blastoise had deep knowledge of life energy, could there be a way?
"This kind of thing is rare, and I can't guarantee it will work, but it's worth a try," the Move Tutor said.
After pondering for a moment, the Move Tutor glanced at Blastoise and said, "The only way I can think of is to inject a powerful burst of life energy into this egg all at once to help it Shell Smash. Once it successfully hatches, the life within will be reborn, and this trend of energy conversion might stop."
"Inject a powerful burst of life energy all at once?"
Adrian's heart stirred as he thought of the hundreds of energy cubes stored in his fishing space.
As he got more and more pokémon under him, Adrian's daily consumption of energy cubes also increased.
By now, he only had a little over a hundred energy cubes left.
"One hundred and forty-five energy cubes... is that enough for Exeggcute to hatch?"
Adrian counted the number of energy cubes in his fishing space, feeling unsure.
But just then, the white-haired Move Tutor stood up with Blastoise's support. He looked down at Adrian and smiled, "Forget it, since my Blastoise was in the wrong earlier, I'll take care of this. It just so happens that the pokémon under this old man are somewhat skilled in the use of life energy."
As he spoke, three poké balls appeared in the Move Tutor's hand at some point, and he tossed them gently.
Red light flashed, and three pokémon of different sizes and shapes appeared.