When Ethan saw the Pokémon hatching from the egg, he was stunned. Isn't this Riolu? The Aura Pokémon, the successor of Wave, and the future Lucario. He never thought his luck would be so great as to hatch this Pokémon from the egg.
"Riolu, come to me! You are my Pokémon!" Ethan shouted excitedly, but Riolu ignored him completely. Riolu was looking around as if searching for something. Ethan was completely anxious because the newly hatched Pokémon had no Poké Ball, and he didn't know how to take Riolu with him.
Ethan decided to fight his way out of the monkey creatures' encirclement. No matter what, he had to get to Riolu first. So, he swung the stick in his hand at the monkey creatures, and a desperate momentum burst forth. As if sensing Ethan's determination, Riolu, who was looking around, suddenly focused on him.
However, this glance did not draw Ethan's attention. At that moment, he was engaged with the monkey creatures. Ethan's movements were quite pronounced, but the monkey creatures dodged the swinging stick one by one. Even so, Ethan did not care; he just wanted to get to Riolu as soon as possible without hurting the monkey creatures.
Seeing Ethan getting closer to Riolu, the monkey leader, who had been standing beside Riolu and had taken the egg, appeared displeased. Energy began to gather in the monkey leader's hands, and soon an energy bullet was launched toward Ethan. Ethan never expected such a sudden attack; he could only raise the wooden stick and swing it in the direction of the energy bullet.
But just as Ethan was about to strike with his stick, a peculiar wave suddenly shifted the direction of the energy bullet. It was a vacuum wave skill, but who had sent out this skill? Ethan couldn't figure out who would deflect the energy bullet for him. It wasn't until he saw Riolu still in the posture of launching the vacuum wave that he understood.
When the monkey leader's energy bullet was deflected by Riolu's vacuum wave, it became furious. It crossed its arms and launched a cross attack toward Riolu. However, Riolu deftly dodged this cross attack.
Riolu dodged the monkey creature's cross attack and quickly leaped to Ethan's side, launching several vacuum waves during the jump. These waves hit the monkey creatures surrounding Ethan, creating an opportunity for both Ethan and Riolu to escape. Thus, the pair broke out of the monkey creatures' encirclement.
Even after breaking free, the monkey creatures didn't give up and continued chasing Ethan and Riolu. The monkey leader occasionally launched energy bullets at them, forcing Ethan and Riolu to flee in a very hasty manner. Riolu's vacuum wave had little effect on the monkey creatures. Even if it managed to hit one creature at a time, it couldn't stop the others from pursuing.
Finally, Ethan had no choice but to instruct Riolu to use vacuum waves to counter the monkey leader's attack whenever it launched an energy bullet. Although the power of the vacuum wave was much weaker than the energy bullet, the explosion from the collision successfully blocked the monkey creatures' vision. Ethan took this opportunity to hold Riolu and escape into some bushes.
Under the cover of the bushes, Ethan and Riolu successfully evaded the monkey creatures' attacks. Only after the monkey creatures completely disappeared did Ethan have the chance to take a good look at the newly hatched Riolu beside him. Seeing Riolu's determined eyes, Ethan's eyes were full of affection. This was his first Pokémon, hatched from an egg, and his first contact with his own, real, living Pokémon.
Although he kept telling himself that this was a game, he began to question it when he felt Riolu's warm touch and soft skin. It seemed so real, as if telling Ethan that the Pokémon world was genuine.
When Ethan touched Riolu's forehead, Riolu didn't reject it at all and seemed to enjoy it immensely. Riolu could feel Ethan's affection and love, and it was also very happy. After playing with Riolu for a while, Ethan wanted to return to the Pokémon Center as soon as possible. Since Riolu had just hatched and fought, it needed a good rest, and Ethan wanted Nurse Joy to check its health.
So, Ethan led Riolu back toward Orudran City. Along the way, he encountered various Pokémon, but he wasn't in a hurry to let Riolu battle. Then, he heard a strange cry.
"Bi~"
The sound wasn't loud, but it was very pleasant and gave a comfortable feeling. Ethan was drawn to the sound, so he took Riolu and walked toward it. Soon, he found a flying green elf in the forest. It had light blue eyes, thick black rings, green tentacles with blue tips on its forehead, and a pair of small wings fluttering behind it.
Isn't this Celebi? Ethan recognized this mythical Pokémon at first sight. Celebi is a time-traveling Pokémon with the ability to travel through time and space, but Ethan didn't know how such a mythical creature was incorporated into this virtual game. Could it really travel through time and space?
Ethan was lost in thought as he looked at Celebi. He had no intention of capturing Celebi because he didn't even have a Poké Ball. So, Ethan just watched silently, with Riolu standing beside him, quietly observing Celebi.
After a while, Celebi noticed the two who were watching it intently and flew toward Ethan and Riolu. Perhaps sensing that they had no intention to harm it, Celebi became gradually bolder, circling around Ethan and Riolu, sometimes landing on Ethan's shoulder, and at other times on Riolu's head.
Although Celebi seemed very playful, Ethan felt its joy, as if they were the only three left in the forest, undisturbed by anyone or any Pokémon. The joyful mood spread, even making Riolu, standing next to Ethan, smile happily.
At that moment, a strong light emanated from Celebi's body. The light was so intense that it stung Ethan's eyes, forcing him to close them. Riolu, too, was affected by the light and closed its eyes.