It's been quite a while since Thomas had the egg. The egg was a normal egg. It was oval with green spots. The size and weight didn't matter much, not that Thomas can't really tell if it was normal or not but he was informed when the egg was registered in the Hatchery that it was no ordinary egg at all, at least the Pokèmon in the egg.

"It's a new species of Pokèmon," Mss Jesslyn said to the boy. They met a long time ago already when Thomas hatched his first egg.

She had analyzed the egg through the equipment the lab provided then. "I will research on it but you can come back in three days. It should be fine then."

Since the three-day period was gone, Thomas have returned to the Hatchery but he was not greeted by the beautiful lady, instead he was greeted by a man with a wacky appearance. He looked at him suspiciously.

"Who the Darkrai are you, boy?"

Thomas had waited to hatch an egg for a while, it felt nice to know he'd have a new Pokèmon... and even better, a new species.

The three days of waiting had made the boy even more eager to hatch the egg with the unknown Pokèmon. Surely it had to be good if it was a new species, and hopefully he wouldn't fail with this hatching. He didn't want anything bad to happen to the egg, since he hadn't failed before and he has some experience with the hatchery. Maybe he'd be lucky this time... and not get a fire arena.

As he stepped through the doors on the said day, he was greeted by the most strangest person... but besides his appearance, he asked a question that needed to be answered.

"I'm Thomas, I'm here to hatch an egg that I brought here 3 days ago. I was told it was a new species by Miss Jesslyn." Thomas plainly said.

"Is that so... Follow me, young lady. You might get lost in there."

This place was largely familiar to you; it is the Hatchery, the same old place where you entered to hatch your Kiosuke. Ah... it had been quite a long while since the last time you hatched your egg. The Hatchery... it hadn't changed much from the first time you came. Granted, the professor might have looked a little... wackier. It was still the same old thing though; same rules, same people... same euphoria when your egg hatches.

The egg-hatcher was still the same as ever, besides processing a lot more eggs since you last left. You placed your egg tenderly in the machine, indicating to the professor that you are a regular in the Hatchery, and you wish to end it fast. The professor wasn't stupid; he got your drift in seconds and nodded knowingly to you. As he headed into the Hatchery lab, you knew it was time to pick the Pokèmon you wish to use for the upcoming battle.

Here you go, Feeraline.

Thomas told himself to be nicer this time, and a little easier on what environment he'd get. Unlike the last time with that little Vulpine Pokèmon, Matsumo was a little monster. But, he'd try again.

Second time's the charm... right? Or was that the third? ...

Anyway, Thomas quickly settled on Matsumo. Again. Knowing he'd have a little more control over the rouge Larvitar, he'd had a little time to spend with it and maybe this would be another chance to connect with the creature.

"I'll use my Larvitar, Matsumo. Maybe he'll learn something after this." Thomas said stepping on the Platform. Hoping to not see the ground change to that molten lava field again.

"You're using that Larvitar? Fine, it's none of my business anyway."

After stepping into the arena, you were kinda expecting the terrain to reveal itself from the ground. This was, after all, what happened the last time you attempted to hatch Kiosuke. The procedure was all too familiar for you, and Larvitar's unruly behaviour in the Hatchery was still firmly etched in your mind. Ah well, time for the battle.

What surprised you was the sudden stirring of the ground. The platform that you and the professor were standing on suddenly rose rather quickly, elevating you to a height that would get you killed if you were pushed off by a deranged professor or something. Maybe this was part of the professor's plans to get you killed or something... but in any case, what was the professor getting at?

"Don't look so shocked. You don't expect the Hatchery to stay like then forever, did you? Besides, no one really cares if you like the renovation. This is MY Hatchery, not YOURS." Oh. Renovation.

As the professor rummaged through his lab coat, looking for a Pokeball of sorts, you were tempted to ask the professor of the terrain. Okay, so now the arena is elevated. What about the terrain? You attempted to ask the professor about the terrain, but got snapped at instead.

"'Where is the terrain?' Isn't this the terrain? Surely you must know that Feeralines are of the Normal type? With that question, I seriously doubt that the Feeraline belongs to you,such a rare species. Trainers," he spat on the ground as he spoke, apparently unhappy with that question, "well, aren't trainers supposed to know everything? Anyway, defeat this before you want to see your Feeraline, or Sayonara."

He finally tossed the Pokeball, revealing an unusually energized Miltank. Normal types... looks like this is gonna be battle on skill; no one has the type advantage.

And besides, isn't it his job to know that Feeralines are Normal types? Time to wallop him and chip off a bit of his arrogance.

As the platform rose, Thomas suddenly felt sick. What where these people trying to do to their regular visitors, killing them would be bad for business. Not bad enough that they have crazy scientists in their arsenal?
And forget about complimenting on the renovation now, We wouldn't want the Professor to think better of Thomas now.

Usually, at this point Thomas would become more timid. But, he did nothing wrong and he was already being snapped at by someone he hardly knew. He'd won all his previous battles in here, shouldn't the Professor show a little liking to that little bit of info? Thomas was already starting to think they didn't keep records...

And when the Professor released that Miltank.. anyone would think this Pokèmon rarely battled enough. As hyper looking as it was, Matsumo will become irritated easily.. But would that matter? Test to see if the renovations the Hatchery got can stand up to a rampaging Larvitar child..

"Don't mess this one up too much Matsumo, and don't let this Miltank mess this up either." Thomas whispered at the Larvitar's Poke'ball before tossing it out to the field.

The Miltank would be difficult, no type advantages but weakness to fighting was the normal's only weakness. And Matsumo had zero fighting moves, unlike the foe they faced. Powering up was the only way to win in a sense.

"Matsumo!," Thomas gulped, "Use Iron Defense, then use Sandstorm."

Sandstorm might help... It wouldn't hurt Matsumo... and it might give him an advantage as to not become more unruly like last time. Maybe..

The professor grinned from behind his glasses, and with the Hatchery's lights reflecting on his spectacle lenses, he looked more like a crazed professor than ever. As he said, it wouldn't be that easy a fight... from the looks of it, the Miltank could probably be as wild as Matsumo, if not wilder. The fight was just warming up, and there were already questions about the Miltank's true strength. No matter how this would turn out, it would be a lot more exciting than, say, a random battle between two extremely tamed Pokèmon or something.

It seemed like the professor chose a similar tactic to yours. Matsumo stood silently for once concentrating on its defensive armour. As Matsumo waited, a silver coating immediately covered the Larvitar, such that the creature suddenly looked like a metal statue staring at its opponent. For a second it seemed like Matsumo would really turn into silver... then it was gone, with a supposedly harder Matsumo. Iron Defense wasn't a bad move; it would seriously reduce what the Miltank could do to the little critter.

Miltank, on the other hand, duplicated numerous copies of herself. Ah, the all-too familiar Double Team. With the many copies of Miltank around, it would be much harder for Matsumo to land an accurate hit. Not with more than twenty Miltanks making the same sounds and staring so intently at it. However, even Double Teams can't stand the next move... Matsumo smirked as it stomped on the ground, ready to wreck havoc to the arena...

A precarious sandstorm started brewing across the Hatchery arena (just the arena), stacking up the whole arena with sand. The professor seemed unfazed by the sandstorm however, and this seemed like a bad omen to you. How confident was this professor in beating Matsumo... or was he just being overconfident?

As expected, the sandstorm tore through the many images created by Miltank, shredding them one by one, and leaving nothing visible on the battlefield. No images, no actual Miltanks cowering in a corner, no ultimate-charging Miltanks standing in the middle of the arena...

Nothing.

Matsumo seemed shocked for once, knowing that a puny sandstorm would never tear Miltank apart. As the Larvitar looked around the arena anxiously, he caught sight of a shadow stirring... Oh, it was just the Sandstorm. Heaing a sight of relief, Matsumo turned his head to the right...

A Miltank with her arm raised, ready for a Hammer Arm. And... wait, a Miltank!?

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; Matsumo jumped instinctively as the Miltank lowered her arm, smashing a HUGE crater into the platform, and causing the sand to burst out of its current spot, dancing in the air and looking for another spot to land. A few sand particles grazed Matsumo's face, but it wasn't enough for the Larvitar to recover from the shock that the Miltank could smash through ALL that sand AND almost destroy the platform they were standing on.

"Worried about destroying the platform? This thing has an auto-repair function after every battle, so don't worry about destroying it." The professor taunted with his overwhelming sense of ego again. "But of course, whether Matsumo can smash through it is another question altogether."

The shock on Matsumo's face was enough to tell you something. If Matsumo were to fight against Miltank based on brute strength, Miltank might not lose.

Thomas couldn't call anything at first, atleast Matsumo was learning he wasn't all that powerful after all. Took the smirk off that kid's face for sure. This Miltank was fast, extremely fast. Matsumo wasn't fast enough for it. Now Thomas was totally glad he didn't use Curse like he thought he should have.

The Arm Hammer the Miltank dished out like nothing, easily jumped Thomas from the shock waves. And, he wished the Professor would just shut the hell up. It was too hard to concentrate on the battle and his constant talking. Plus, it was just renovations, seriously. If a person is excited about them, you don't try to beat the hell out of them and then tell them something about them.
And why should he care if the Larvitar could break through it... not like this battle was a show of power for the Larvitar. Miltank the Power-house didn't look too serious really.

"Matsumo snap out of it, use Screech. Then take a shot at her with an Iron Head."

He'd hope no matter how fast this Pokèmon is, something had to hit. He most likely should have used Tsubasa, but teaching the Larvitar was as important as getting this egg hatched. Not like the egg was gonna die or disappear if he lost the battle, but the Professor appearently didn't think he was worthy enough to have this new Pokèmon. Getting between a Pokèmon Breeder and his Pokèmon Eggs was not good, if he did lose he'd fear of not getting his egg back...

[ *first time* ]

The sandstorm continued brewing. The particles of sand covered the entire arena but amidst the callous weather was the Larvitar's Screech. Again, the wacky professor didn't look bothered at all. Was it poker-face? No wait, it was always like that. The professor never changed. Even a visit to a psychiatrist can never make renovations, apparently.

The grin behind the loony man's face widened, the remaining teeth he has showing. He wasn't good at keeping up to his dental problems too, aside from his mental dilemmas. "Hehehe, sound travels at waves. If two person lean at each other's back and scream, the sounds travel at two different direction and would sound different compared to two person facing at one side and screaming." An eye of his seemed to bulge out, looking at you critically. "Unless you know where Miltank is, you're lost, pretty lady!"

It was a very good taunting, calling you pretty specifically. Jokes aside, you realized the scientist was true in spite of a seriously broken brain. The Screech had no effect unless Matsumo was facing the Miltank. The Miltank was elsewhere, hiding behind the Sandstorm. Even though Matsumo was a ground-type, it didn't have the eyes of a bird. The Miltank however would surely be damaged from the storm of sand soon.

"Give him a good punch! HYPER BEEAAAMMM!"

Matsumo can't see where the charging beam was, but you do. It's right behind your Pokèmon and judging by the light, it's going to fire anytime!

Hey, at least he called you "he".

Thomas gritted his teeth in frustration, besides the sandstorm scrapping against his skin and Matsumo not knowing what could happen from behind him. This was becoming hard to explain.
Ignoring the Professor's rather snide comments, pretty? He glared the best he could, looking down below to see him Larvitar search around for the foe. Seeing the creature cook up a hyper beam rather quickly.
Thomas freaked, gripping the edge of the platform's bars fast pulling himself over to it. To shout a quick command.
"Matsumo! Behind you, use Iron head! NOW!"
Hoping to cut through the hyper beam, though it might be too much of a blast for the small Pokèmon to handle. He'd be slightly protected with the Iron head's energy release, possibly...

There was a flare of light from the battlefield. The insane professor cackled at the light with wide eyes. How he can do that while you were squinting yours to prevent blindness, no one knows, but right now, you don't know either if your Larvitar survived the attack or not. You can only wait anxiously as the light from the Hyper Beam die. There wasn't a 'kaboom' noise or a loud, wrenched scream. You waited in silence...well, except the professor's cackling.

When the light died, you noticed the absence of dust (or rather, more dust). The sandstorm was ranging and two figures were standing. One of them had to be Matsumo but how well is he doing now? What happened?

"You weren't looking?" The professor questioned you. Well, considering there was a blinding flash of light and a ranging sandstorm...emphasis on the word 'blinding'. "The Iron Head cut through the Hyper Beam but it didn't hit Miltank. You missed a really special show!"

"Well, anyway....HYPER BEAM, HAHAHAAH! LET'S SEE YOU USE THE SAME TRICK!"

Don't ask. He's insane.