A graveyard in a mysterious, dense forest seemed like the right place to hatch a Ghost-type Egg. Alice had been carrying it around for some time now, talking to it often and always making sure she kept it warm. That was what Eggs wanted, right? Because they were like Pokémon babies, and babies wanted warmth and safety and the sound of a voice that cared about them.

But just in case it didn't care about that, she made sure she got plenty of steps in as well.

She'd let out Kirby, her Impidimp, because the only way to make a graveyard less spooky was to have ridiculous company, and he was definitely the most ridiculous her team had to offer. He was currently pawing at something in the damp earth. Not a good sign.

"Kirby... c'mon, dude, don't dig in a graveyard. You're just asking for some troubled spirit to come harass us."

<Boneeeeee!> Kirby announced, brandishing a large bone he pulled from the dirt with that excited glint in his eye.

"Drop it!" Alice scolded, like he was a dog with something he shouldn't have.

Alice wheeled around, half-expecting an actual ghost to be floating right behind her, but there was nothing. Well, that wasn't totally correct. There was a Dewpider, but it was definitely a living Dewpider and not a ghost. Shifting her Egg to her other arm to cradle it, she gestured at Kirby to come closer. She really didn't fancy getting bit by the spider Pokémon.

Thankfully, Kirby listened to her this time, swinging his bone around all the while. It seemed he was eager to use it in battle more than anything. She sighed, sending a silent promise to the Pokémon it'd formerly belonged to that she'd make sure the bone was still in the graveyard when they left today.

"Use Bite!" she commanded, backing away to let her Pokémon have more room as the wild encounter began.

Relief rushed through her as something seemed to click with Kirby after getting hit with that Water Gun. With the bone gone, he had nothing else to goof off with, so having a battle must've been something as fun as anything else. Whatever it was, he hit Dewpider with a ruthless Assurance, immediately knocking it sideways where it didn't get up again.

"Wow, you know how to hit when it counts, I guess," she remarked, opening her UI and tossing the Golden Pokéball at the collapsed Dewpider. "Nice job, Kirb."

And then the Egg in her arms began to gentle tremble. "Oh--oh my god, it's happening! Finally!" Heart pounding with excitement, she set down the Egg - now shaking with purpose - and crouched down to watch it hatch. Its emergence was accompanied by a brief flash of light (a little nod to the previous games, perhaps?) but she was able to watch the hatching in full as the new member of her team pushed its way from the Egg and entered the world.

"Corsola," she murmured, and blinked when she realized the milky, pale color of its figure was not Egg membrane. "A Galarian Corsola."

<Ghost,> Kirby confirmed smugly.