Joseph looked at Sato with an expression of disbelief. "Are you messing with me?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. I can stop its vitality from fading, but if the shell doesn't heal, it'll still keep losing strength!"
"Sigh..."
Joseph sighed in resignation. He extended his hands, releasing a steady flow of vivid green light onto the Egg.
One second... two seconds... three seconds... The crack in the shell showed no signs of healing. Just as Joseph was about to tell Sato to give up, Sato interrupted him first.
"Joseph, keep going! It's working!"
"It is?"
Joseph blinked, quickly leaning in for a closer look. The crack seemed... maybe... possibly... just slightly improved?
Excited, Joseph doubled down. Healing a cracked Pokémon Egg… this was a rare opportunity!
Thinking of that, he didn't hesitate to increase the flow of Viridian Power, hoping to restore the Egg quickly!
"Slow down! Ease up!"
Sato suddenly called out. Joseph's hand twitched in surprise, nearly breaking Sato's Dark Energy focus.
"What now?"
Joseph rolled his eyes in frustration; the joy from earlier completely erased.
"Just hold it at the original level. I'll explain everything afterward."
Sato gave him a serious nod.
Explaining the special nature of his Dark Energy wasn't something he could do quickly. Because ever since Joseph joined in with Viridian Power, not only was the shell gradually healing… even the Egg's fallen potential was slowly rising!
But when Joseph increased the flow, the potential had stopped rising again.
This meant Sato's Dark Energy was the one restoring the potential. But it could only work properly under the protection of Viridian Power!
Sato increased his output of Dark Energy again. This time, he could clearly feel the emotional feedback growing stronger and stronger.
Ten full minutes passed. Joseph was now sweating, his hands trembling involuntarily. Even without using abilities, holding a fixed position was exhausting!
Sato, despite having more Dark Energy to spare, was in about the same condition after such a long duration.
By now, the Egg's crack was mostly healed, and its Dark-type potential had returned to Elite Four level!
And yet… the Egg continued absorbing Dark Energy. Its potential was still climbing!
Sato was both shocked and excited. He glanced at Joseph and asked how much longer he could hold out.
Upon hearing Joseph was still okay, Sato decided to see just how far this Egg could go!
And so, the long healing continued. The crack in the shell was slowly closing, and the Egg's potential continued to grow, albeit more gradually.
Sato had to maintain the flow of Dark Energy and use energy perception to track the changes within the Egg.
Twenty more minutes passed. Joseph's face had turned pale, his knees now on the ground. Beside him, Kirlia gently wiped the sweat from his face.
Sato didn't look much better.
His face dripping with sweat, and no one to wipe it for him… yet his eyes grew brighter, his excitement increased!
A powerful wave of emotional feedback surged back through the Dark Energy. So strong that Sato nearly lost control of his energy output!
"Jo…seph! Full power! Use Viridian Power and finish healing the shell!"
"Got it!"
Joseph exhaled in relief and pushed his Viridian Power to its limit. The last crack in the shell sealed shut in an instant.
The Egg was saved!
Then something none of the Murkrow, nor Sato and his companions, could have anticipated happened.
The Egg suddenly burst into an intense blue light!
The blinding flash forced everyone to close their eyes. And in that moment, the same thought crossed all their minds: 'It's hatching!'
"Cheep-cheep!"
A tiny, sharp chirp rang out just three seconds later.
Sato opened his eyes to find a Murkrow no bigger than his palm, staring at him with bright, intelligent eyes. Its wings, not yet covered in black feathers, were outstretched as if asking for a hug.
"Krow-krow!"
A giant wing suddenly swooped between them, cutting off the eye contact.
The massive Murkrow glared intensely at Sato. The message was clear: Step back.
Sato frowned.
True, the Egg had been damaged because of the battle he started, but after he and Joseph spent nearly half an hour healing it… wasn't that enough to ease the hostility?
"Sato, we should…"
Joseph wanted to convince him not to act rashly and just leave.
But he too had exhausted almost all of his Viridian Power to save the baby Murkrow; the fact that the giant Murkrow didn't even glance his way left him feeling a bit bitter. The words of persuasion reached his lips… but never came out.
"Cheep-cheep! Cheep-cheep!"
Suddenly, the baby Murkrow chirped again.
The giant Murkrow quickly loosened its wings to check on the child.
Only to see the baby Murkrow struggle its way out of the basket, slip under its parent's wing, and waddle its way straight to Sato's feet, looking up with pleading eyes… begging for a hug again.
Sato instinctively picked it up.
An inexplicable sense of warmth surged in his chest. So strong that Sato genuinely felt like… this Murkrow was his child.
This wasn't anything like what he'd felt when he hatched and raised Spinarak.
Raising Spinarak had been nurturing. This… this was bonding.
He held up the baby Murkrow with both hands so they were eye-level again.
Their gazes locked. That strange feeling returned once more.
'What the hell…'
Sato widened his eyes in disbelief and quickly placed the baby Murkrow back down.
But it ran back to his feet again.
He moved it aside… it ran back.
He moved it again… it came right back.
He moved it again-
…
"Cheep!"
The baby Murkrow stopped running and suddenly started crying, clearly heartbroken.
Sato immediately felt a pang of pain in his chest.
Without thinking, he picked it up again and the baby Murkrow instantly stopped crying, nuzzling deeply into his chest.
Sato stood frozen, not knowing what to do. He stared at the baby Murkrow peacefully nestled in his arms, rubbing against him with pure happiness.
When he looked up, he saw that the giant Murkrow was dumbfounded, Joseph was dumbfounded…and even the entire flock of Murkrow was dumbfounded.
Why was the baby clinging so desperately to a human? Wasn't it the leader's child?
"Krow-krow!"
The giant Murkrow finally snapped out of its shock. It was overjoyed that the Egg had hatched safely… but now the chick clearly didn't recognize it!
Furious, the giant Murkrow shouted at Sato, raising its wing with a twitch, clearly tempted to smack him away. But upon seeing the chick still cuddled in Sato's arms, it forcibly held back.
Yet… the baby Murkrow had run over all on its own!
"Krow-krow!"
The giant Murkrow was on the verge of a breakdown...