After Sam arrived at the Pokémon Center, he handed his Pokémon over to Nurse Joy for treatment as usual, rested for the night, and prepared to challenge the Vermilion Gym the next day. However, that night brought an unexpected surprise—his Togepi egg, given to him by Clefairy, hatched.
At the time, Lucario was holding the egg, about to place it in the incubator when it suddenly cracked open in his arms. Lucario panicked, thinking he had broken the egg, and started running around frantically. It took some explanation from Sam before Lucario realized the egg had simply hatched.
A small, milky-white head poked out from the eggshell, blinking curiously at the world. The moment it laid eyes on Lucario, it mistook him for its mother and affectionately leapt onto Lucario's face. Sam laughed at the sight.
"Well, Lucario, looks like you're the mama now. Since this little one imprinted on you, you're in charge of feeding, bathing, and cleaning up after it."
Lucario looked overwhelmed—it was his first time caring for a baby Pokémon. Despite Sam's teasing, he went out and bought some Moomoo Milk for Togepi. Back at the Center, he gave it to Lucario and took them both to the nearby Pokémon Ranch so Lucario could care for Togepi in a better environment.
After all that, Sam finally got a good night's sleep.
---
The next morning, Sam was full of energy. He summoned Lucario and Togepi to feed the newborn again. Lucario, however, looked absolutely exhausted.
"Didn't sleep well?"
"The little one kept waking up and crying all night…"
"Well, no battles for you today, buddy. Get some rest. I'll take care of Togepi."
Sam handed Lucario over to the Ranch staff to rest and began feeding Togepi himself with Moomoo Milk, reflecting on his recent progress. After days of battles, Lucario had reached level 45, while both Charizard and Greninja had climbed to level 52. Poliwag had also grown steadily, and just last night, Sam had taken a moment to check Togepi's stats.
---
Togepi
Base Stats: 245
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Naughty
Known Moves: Metronome, Pound
Potential: Excellent
---
Togepi showed no fear, curiously examining its surroundings after finishing the milk. With everything ready, Sam set off toward the Vermilion Gym. Just as he arrived at the entrance, he saw two boys and one girl—one of whom had a Pikachu on his shoulder.
It was Ash, Misty, and Brock.
Sam blinked. "Shouldn't Ash be further ahead? I travel so slowly, yet he's still here?"
Still, Sam approached and gave Ash a playful knock on the head.
"Hey!"
Ash spun around angrily, only to light up when he saw who it was. "Sam! You're here too? Are you going to challenge Lt. Surge? Let's battle! I've caught so many new Pokémon lately—and I heard you beat Gary! I want to beat you and prove I'm stronger!"
"These two are really obsessed with each other," Sam thought, sighing. He didn't want to crush his younger brother's enthusiasm, but the system chimed in.
---
[System Task: Battle with Ash]
Type: Elite Mission
Objective: Win a battle against Ash.
Time Limit: 1 hour
Reward: 2 Elite Lottery Tickets
"Bullying your little brother starts young!"
---
Tempted by the reward, Sam decided to go for it.
"Alright, Ash. Let's battle."
"Yeah! Brock, be our referee!"
"I'll do it. This will be a six-on-six full battle—when all six Pokémon on one side are unable to battle, the match ends!"
Ash sent out Charmeleon.
Sam responded with Charizard.
"Whoa! Your Charmander already evolved?! But Charmeleon won't back down!"
Charmeleon stared at its final form, eyes blazing with determination.
"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"
But Charmeleon ignored the order and charged in with Fire Fang.
"Charizard, meet him head-on—Fire Fang!"
Charizard's jaws ignited with flame and collided with Charmeleon's attack. With a powerful bite and a shake, Charmeleon was thrown skyward.
"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower midair!"
Charmeleon gathered energy and fired downward, but the power gap was clear.
"Charizard, counter with Flamethrower!"
The beams collided, but Charizard's overwhelmed Charmeleon's, blasting it back down. Charizard then caught the unconscious Charmeleon midair before it hit the ground.
Ash looked stunned. Charmeleon awoke just in time to see Charizard's powerful wingspan glowing in the sun—an image burned into its memory.
Sam smiled. Perfect moment.
"Charizard, let's show them Mega Evolution!"
The Key Stone and Charizardite X resonated. A burst of white light enveloped Charizard, transforming it into Mega Charizard X, a black dragon with glowing blue flames.
"WHOA! What is that?! Charizard looks incredible!"
"This is Mega Evolution—a phenomenon discovered in the Kalos region."
Charmeleon stared, awestruck.
Sam used telepathy to speak to it directly.
"See this? You can become like this too. But you've got to trust Ash and grow stronger. When you're ready, I'll make sure he has the Mega Stone you need."
Charmeleon nodded eagerly.
Satisfied, Sam ended the Mega Evolution early.
"Let's keep going, Ash."
Ash fired up again. "Okay! Squirtle, I choose you!"
"Type advantage won't help you here. Charizard, use Thunder Punch!"
Ash's jaw dropped. "What?!"
Charizard charged and struck Squirtle with a super-effective Thunder Punch, instantly knocking it out. One after another, Ash sent out Pidgeotto, Butterfree, and Bulbasaur—all defeated swiftly by Charizard.
"Y-you're too strong, Sam… Okay! Pikachu, you're up!"