Pokémon: Above the Top-Chapter 262: The Fated Third Partner

Watching Steven gleefully hold the Poké Ball containing Armaldo, Sato couldn't shake a strange feeling deep in his heart.

In the future, when Steven becomes the Champion of Hoenn, part of his team includes both, Armaldo and Cradily.

From another angle, didn't this count as witnessing history?

The group continued onward. After reaching the intersection where Armaldo had appeared, and looking in the direction it had come from, they saw a swiftly flowing underground lake radiating with a powerful presence.

As everyone approached the riverbank, the rushing water splashed against the rocks, and the spray even reached their faces.

The underground lake wasn't very large. Under the glow of the white crystal stones, the entire lake could be seen clearly at a glance.

At the center of the lake stood a solitary small island. The island also had a cave, pitch-black inside with no way to tell where it led.

However, since the entire lake was visible and the island in the center was clearly not that big, the space inside the cave shouldn't be too large either.

Still, with the island situated in such a special spot, it was clearly sending a message to Sato and the others.

'There's something in there!'

"Can we ride our Pokémon across?" Joseph looked at the rapid currents with concern.

"Sharpedo should work. If anything goes wrong, it can hover. Lapras would probably struggle," Sato replied after thinking briefly.

"Don't you have any flying Pokémon? My Skarmory can carry two people. I'll ride Metagross," Steven came over to help resolve the issue.

"Thanks, that helps a lot," Sato didn't hesitate and accepted on behalf of Joseph and Mark.

Soon, everyone was riding their Pokémon. Considering the unknown conditions of the underground lake and the potential for surprise attacks, Sato had Sharpedo "fly" across the water the entire time.

The four of them began crossing the lake, with Sato constantly scanning the area, staying alert.

But perhaps he was overthinking it. The closer they got to the central island, the more turbulent the lake's currents became. Even Water-type Pokémon would struggle to survive long in such an environment.

Flying was fast. The group reached the central island within minutes, the only sound being the increasingly loud rush of water.

It wasn't until they set foot on the island that they finally let out a small breath of relief.

"Metagross, Flash!"

There were no white crystal stones in the island's cave. Once Flash was activated, the entire interior became clearly visible.

The cave looked like it had once been home to a Flying-type Pokémon. A massive nest was placed right in the center of the cave.

But judging by the broken nest and the dust-filled cave, it had clearly been abandoned for quite a while.

There was nothing to be seen at first glance, but since they were already there, the group went inside for a quick look around.

Steven went first, followed by Joseph, Mark, and Sato.

Steven walked around the nest once and then examined the surrounding cave walls. There was clearly nothing to be found.

Joseph did the same. He picked up a few feathers from inside the nest, but all that did was stir up waves of dust.

Being a "neat freak", he quickly backed away and lost interest completely.

Then it was Mark's turn. He squatted right beside the nest, hunched over, and started digging through the feathers with his hands.

"Huh? I think there's something here," Mark suddenly said, prompting everyone to look in his direction.

Without concern for the dust covering the feathers, he reached both hands in and pulled out an oval-shaped object.

Huff!

"Is this... a Pokémon Egg?"

Mark blew the dust off its surface, revealing the true appearance of the Pokémon Egg bit by bit.

The Pokémon Egg was milky white overall, with blue and yellow triangles on its surface. It was perfectly intact... just a little dirty.

But before anyone could even start guessing what kind of Pokémon would hatch from this egg, under the group's puzzled gazes, Joseph suddenly stepped forward.

Lifting both hands, a warm, faint green glow slowly shone onto the Pokémon Egg.

"The vitality inside the Egg is very weak. So weak that even the Viridian Power in my body almost didn't sense its presence."

Joseph finally explained, then focused entirely on healing the Egg.

Steven's eyes lit up with amazement. Joseph actually possessed a special ability, and a rare healing one at that.

When Joseph had treated Mark earlier, the process had been quick, and Steven had been distracted by the dead Lileep. So it wasn't until now that he realized Joseph's hidden ability.

Mark didn't move a muscle as he held the Pokémon Egg, letting Joseph channel Viridian Power into it, while his eyes frantically signaled something to Joseph.

'You must save this unborn child!'

Joseph understood Mark's plea. He seemed to think of something as well. He nodded seriously at Mark, then poured even more effort into it.

Sato silently stepped forward and released Zoroark, then had Sharpedo join them, forming a protective triangle around the two.

From the look in Mark's eyes, Sato had guessed the possibility too. Though it sounded far-fetched, it was highly likely...

This Pokémon Egg might very well be Mark's "fated" third Pokémon!

Based on the markings on the egg, Sato had already confirmed which Pokémon would hatch from it.

The "Happiness" Pokémon: Togepi!

If a Trainer could only ever have one Pokémon, Sato might choose Zoroark.

And for Mark, the one and only perfect match would be Togepi!

What's more, it had been Steven and Joseph who inspected the abandoned nest first, yet in the end, it was Mark who discovered the Egg.

Even more significantly, Mark had narrowly escaped death just an hour ago.

All these events linked together; Sato didn't believe it was just coincidence. When every coincidence lines up, the result becomes inevitable.

Soon, over ten minutes had passed. Joseph's face was covered in sweat, and his hands, glowing with Viridian Power, were starting to tremble.

Things didn't look optimistic...

"Mark, are you sure..."

"I'm sure! Please, Joseph, I'm begging you!"

Mark cut off Joseph's last bit of hesitation with firm determination.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

Only Steven was left in the dark, but he clearly understood now wasn't the time to ask. Still, he felt a slight hint of envy in his heart.

The friendship between these three was something truly admirable.

"Togepi's vitality keeps slipping away. All I can do is maintain its total amount. Like with the Murkrow last time, I need energy from a source connected to this Pokémon to replenish it."

As Joseph spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Mark, clearly telling him: 'this can only be done by you.'

Sato's Dark Energy obviously couldn't help here. But did Mark have a special ability?

He definitely did. The only question was... how could he manifest it and transmit it into the Pokémon Egg?

"I..."