September 9 – 13:15

Zoey couldn’t help but stare at her daughter as she held her to her bosom. She couldn’t believe it… It had to be a dream… All of it, just a bad dream…Yet here she was. Her child, her daughter. It was all so clear now, from the three tails sprouting from her bum, to her tiny hoofed feet and the two horn stubs on her forehead: the father of her child was Tauros. Not the unknown trainer she had had sex with after that party in Unova. Her trusty mount-turned-fuckbuddy had been the one that got her pregnant…

“ This is just… SO messed up…”  Dawn mumbled, voicing Zoey’s thoughts exactly. The blue-haired girl was sitting next to her on the couch, in Delia Ketchum’s living room in Pallet Town. Across from them, seated on chairs in a semi-circle, where Max, Misty, May, Iris, Ritchie and Ash. All of them wore the same expression of numbed shock.

“ I- I mean… This shouldn’t even be possible! Pokemon can’t get humans pregnant!” Dawn in a wavering voice. “Yet, here we are… Apparently they can…” Max mumbled matter-of-factly.

“Yeah… I never imagined my little secret getting out like THIS…”  Zoey said. “And look where it got me… Kicked out of Sinnoh, and don’t even get me started on my parents. When my dad hears about THIS he’s going to flip out completely!”

The young mother thought back to the day before, just after her daughter’s birth. Her nurse had temporarily fainted upon first seeing her daughter, and the stern woman had made it quite clear that the hospital would not provide further care when she woke up. Sinnoh was a religious region, being the birthplace of the Arceus mythology and the associated religion, and as such Pokephilia was forbidden. In the end, the hospital’s staff grudgingly provided basic care and support for Zoey and her child, on the condition that they would leave as early as possible. In their case, in the early morning of the next day.

Returning to Twinleaf Town was out of the question, anywhere in Sinnoh would be too dangerous. If the excistence of a Pokemon-human hybrid child would be revealed, there would be no telling what the more religious inhabitants of Sinnoh could do. Instead, mother and child were relocated to the much more open-minded Kanto region, where Delia Ketchum had offered to take in Dawn, Zoey and the newborn child for as long as was necessary.

And now here she was. Still reeling from the discovery that her daughter, the most important being in her universe now, was something not quite human. Ritchie was the next one to speak, his voice remarkably calm and soothing.

“Look, Zoey… I can’t speak for everyone here, but as far as I’m concerned I really don’t care what you do or don’t do with your Pokemon”  he ensured her. “I mean, Pokemon are smart and strong enough to know what they like and don’t like. If-… If you like to do that, wi- with Pokemon, I’m not going to j-judge you…” he finished and he was surprised when the rest of the group actually followed his example.

“Hear hear! You’re a great girl Zoey and I’m sure you’ll be a great mom, don’t let anyone else tell you different!” May joined in.

“Exactly!” Max agreed.

“Couldn’t have said it better!” Both Misty and Iris spoke together, causing them to giggle, even getting Zoey to chuckle dryly.

Of course, there was a deeper reason most of the group didn’t judge Zoey for her Pokephilia. After all, pretty much the entire group with the exception of Ash and Ritchie had had sex with a Pokemon at one point during their journey on Vulcan Island. Gardevoir, Pikachu, Blaziken, Fraxure, Ritchie’s Charizard and the Dragonite that visited Dawn and Zoey had definitely left an impression on them. Not that any of them would tell the others about it, of course. Especially Max was determined to keep his interactions with Gardevoir a secret, while Iris had no intention of telling Ritchie about her little adventure with Fraxure and his Charizard either.

“Thanks guys… I really appreciate your support”  Zoey smiled for perhaps the first time since she had gone into labor. 

“But that still doesn’t explain how… well THIS… happened”  she continued, nodding towards her daughter, who was sleeping in her arms silently.

“I’m sure we’re all very curious about all the hows and whys Zoey, but if you ask me that can wait”  Delia Ketchum said. “Look at you dear, you haven’t slept at all and you’ve been through a whole lot in the past two days. Why don’t you take it easy, get some rest? We’ll deal with things as they come. For now, it’s most important to provide your baby with a safe, stable enviroment.”

“I guess…” Zoey mumbled mutely. She looked in the mirror on the opposite wall and saw a face she hardly recognized. Her fiery hair was a mess, her eyes still bloodshot with dark rings beneath them.

“Tell you what, Professor Oak is currently away for a convention in Johto. I’ll have a word with him when he gets back in a few days, maybe he knows something more about all this?” Delia offered. Zoey wiggled in her seat uncomfortably. “I don’t know… I’d rather not tell too many people about this… It’s so embarrasing and I don’t want her to be branded a freak!”

“Ah, nonesense! Samuel has been a friend of the family since before my Ash was born, he’ll keep your secret safe, I assure you!” Delia assured her with a smile, giving Zoey a hug when the young mother eventually accepted after giving it some thought.

“Oh my gosh!” Dawn suddenly exclaimed. “I-… I can’t believe I forgot, everything’s happened so fast… Zoey, does she… have a name yet?” she enquired gently. Zoey turned to her with a tired smile and carefully handed the sleeping bundle of joy to her.

“Her name’s Mina…” she said, barely more than a whisper. “Mina Dawn Williams…”

Dawn’s eyes widened  as the words sunk in.

“Y-… You-… Zoey, you’re naming her… after me?” she stumbled as she looked at Mina’s sleeping face. So delicate, so soft. She had her mother’s nose, Dawn noticed, and the tuft of ginger hair on her head was also pretty obviously inherited from her mother.

Zoey nodded. “I named her after my best friend in the world, who’s been with me every step of the way since she found out and supported me in every way. I-…” her voice cracked, “I love you Dawn…”

Choking back tears, Dawn wrapped her arm around Zoey, engulfing her in a hug as they held Mina between them. “I love you too Zoey…”

Around them most of the other women couldn’t help but sniffle as they beheld the endearing sight of the brand new family before them. Iris and May let their tears run freely, while even Max couldn’t help himself as his eyes glazed over for a moment. Somehow, they all knew that Dawn, Zoey and little Mina were going to be just fine…

-

September 11 – 10:25

Things returned to something that resembled normalcy pretty quickly over the next two days, at least for Ash and May. Of course, having a part-human part-Pokemon baby to deal with wasn’t a burden they had to carry. Instead, Ash had spent the majority of two days touring around Kanto, giving interviews and dealing with the media attention that becoming a Pokemon Master brought. May, in turn, had spent her time finishing up her small photo studio in the spare room of their apartement. The stomach medicine she had bought at the hospital pharmacy in Jubilife City had seemed to work wonders, she hadn’t been bothered by her nausea at all last day.

Which made it all the more annoying when she woke up on the morning of September 11th and found herself bending over a toilet bowl again, watching the remainders of last night’s dinner wash down the drain. With a grunt, she raised herself and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Again, despite the medicine…

She placed a gentle hand on her stomach, looking down on it with a mixture of question and fear. This definitely wasn’t just an upset stomach, or a long-carrying case of food poisoning.

Face it May… There’s only one condition left that fits what you’ve been going through…

She wasn’t stupid, she had recognized the signs even if only in the back of her mind. Nausea, tender breasts, and she was pretty sure she had missed a period during everything that happened at the Tournament on Vulcan Island.

“ Urgh… This can’t be happening”  she moaned, “not now, not me… Not this soon!”

“ I-… I can’t be p-… preg-…”

She couldn’t say it, her mind simply refused. Not the P word, not yet… First, she had to be sure, absolutely sure. So she wasted no time in pulling on a coat and heading out to the Viridian City pharmacy, just around the block from the apartment she and Ash lived in.

As she stepped through the sliding doors of the pharmacy, she just knew all eyes were upon her, staring at her, gazing at her stomach – as if they knew.

No! Get it together girl! These people don’t even know you… all inside your head…

The cardboard package containing the pregnancy test felt like lightning in her hands, she wanted nothing better than to just throw it away. But she had to be sure, it had to be done.

“That’ll be 5 bucks please, thank you” the cashier nodded friendly, but May had already turned around, all but sprinting out of the store and nearly knocking over a young man in the process.

“ Hey, watch out! There are people walking here!”  he sniffed, his voice thick with an unpleasant snide tone.

“ Sorry! I’m-… So sorry!” May mumbled in a rush, not stopping for a moment until she was back in the apartment.

“So… Pee on the pink tab, wait a minute, get results… Seems easy enough”  May mumbled as she analyzed the test’s package. “I mean… how hard can it be?! Urgh… Please don’t tell me something I don’t want to hear!” 

Excellent, I don’t even know for sure if I’m pregnant or not and I’m already talking to plastic sticks…

It only took five minutes for the results to come in. Five minutes, turning her whole life around as she watched plastic stick shake in her hands, her grip painfully hard.

The indicator showed  a Chansey carrying an egg in her pouch.

Positive…

“Oh my god…”

-

September 13th - 13:15

After another bout of nausea and another breakfast lost, Iris and Ritchie postponed their departure from Pallet Town in favor of a detour via the local doctor.

“Sorry about all this Ritchie…” Iris mumbled sadly, “I know you really want to get on and visit your parents again…” Ritchie quickly brushed her apology away though. “Come off it Iris! My mom and dad can wait, your health is more important now!” 

They entered the waiting room of Pallet’s local doctor, one Dr. Brooklyn, together.

“Want me to come in with you?” Ritchie asked gently, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Iris shook her head after a moment’s thought. “Nah, I’ll be fine. I’ll only be a minute.”

With that, she walked past the double doors and into the doctor’s office proper.

Dr. Brooklyn greeted her with a firm handshake and a jovial smile.

“Good afternoon miss, Stevens, was it?”

“Yes sir, Iris Stevens.  My doctor back in Unova was Dr. Smith” she smiled back. Pallet’s doctor had a calming aura about him, he put her at ease somehow.  The brown-haired man turned to his laptop for a moment.

“Ah yes, Dr. Smith. Fine fellow indeed! I’m just taking a look at your file now, seeing as I’m not your regular doc… Could you explain what’s wrong, in the meantime?” 

Iris gathered her thoughts a moment before she started.

“Well, it’s just that I’ve been so nauseus lately… Ever since – I dunno – one week, two weeks? I haven’t been able to hold most of my food down!” Brooklyn’s eyes scanned over his screen before focusing on Iris. “Sounds unfortunate. Have you had any other symptoms? Fever, headache, dizzyness perhaps?”

“Hmmm, not really. I’ve had a bit of a heavy head, sure… But nothing like a real headache. Just nauseaus and vomiting.”

“Hmmm, okay, okay. Your file indicates no known allergies or previous ailments and you don’t look fevered, or otherwise sick at this point in time… Is it only around mealtimes you’re bothered by this?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Most of the times right after I wake up, sometime around lunch, and if I’m really unlucky, sometime around dinner too. But dinner’s  been better than the other two by far…”

Dr. Brooklyn’s eyes widened for a moment,  and he reseated himself, putting the index- and middlefinger of his right hand to his temple as he regarded Iris with a newfound interest. 

“Okay Iris… Now this might feel a bit personal, but for the sake of my diagnosis I’ll have to ask…” he spoke in his baritone voice. “Have you been… sexually active… lately?”

Iris blinked momentarily as Dr. Brooklyn’s question sunk in.

Why would that have anything to do with-… Unless..

She gasped sharply, her hand on her mouth as Brooklyn regarded her gravely.

“I’ll take that as a yes…” he said. Iris stuttered as she answered. “Y-yes… I have…W- with my b-boyfriend, a couple of weeks now…”

“Then I’m afraid to say, chances are pretty realistic you’re pregnant, Iris” the doctor spoke firmly. The young girl pressed her hands to her face and moaned loudly.

“I-… I don’t understand! We- we were safe!” she babbled, staring in front of her with an empty look in her eyes.

“Safe… All the time, every time?” Dr. Brooklyn asked, his voice warm and understanding.

Iris looked at him in shock, tears forming at the corner of her eyes as a thought hit her.

“There-… there was this one time… Our –first- time…”

“You did it unprotected?” he asked, she nodded.
“But- but… It was a safe day! I know my period like the back of my hand! Or… I thought I did…”

The doctor got up from his side of the desk and joined Iris, placing a tender hand on her shoulder as he handed her a white plastic stick. She looked up at him with the same shocked expression.

“Best to know for certain” he simply stated. The young girl took the stick, the pregnancy test, she knew.

Ten minutes later she was standing outside the doctor’s office again, joined by Ritchie and with about half a dozen flyers and leaflets in her arms. Ritchie walked beside her, his arm around her shoulders.

“What’s the matter sweetie? What did the doctor say?” he asked, tender care evident in his demeanour. “Are you all right?”

Iris stopped walking and turned to Ritchie. Her bottom lip trembled for a fraction of a second before she dropped the leaflets and flyers and hugged him as if her life depended on it.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry…” she repeated over and over and Ritchie was momentarily stunned, unsure what to do and quite uncomfortable about it too.

“Hey hey, slow down… Ssshhh, easy there Iris… What’s the matter sweetie?”

“Ritchie…” she started, faltering for a second before she regained her nerve. “You’re going to be a father, Ritchie… I’m pregnant…" 

-

September 13 – 13:25

It was just after noon when Misty finally had a chance to take a short break from her gym leader duties. Her last challenger of the morning had been a stubborn boy who had challenged her with his sturdy Blastoise. It had taken a taxing amount of trouble to overcome its excellent defenses, especially considering the fact that Misty’s stomach had been acting up throughout the battle. Her heart just wasn’t in it, she reckoned as the walked by the side of the gym’s recreational swimming pool, towards her office. She entered with a sigh before locking the door behind her and closing the blinds, blocking the office’s pool-side view.

She could practically feel the pregnancy flyer burn in the back-pocket of her jean shorts. She had left it there, two days ago, when she got caught up in all the mayhem surrounding little Mina’s birth.

Misty could hardly read the flyer in her hands, her eyes glazed over and murky. It all matched up. The tender breasts, the nausea, hell even the headaches she had had the last few days pointed towards the same conclusion. The one conclusion she didn’t want to acknowledge, but was forced to accept as she stared at the recently used pregnancy test that now lay on the floor of the small bathroom by the side of her office.

Positive.

Misty Lillis, Water Pokemon expert and Cerulean City gymleader extraordinairy, was pregnant. Knocked up. And by whom? Fuck if she knew, she hadn’t exactly been monogamous during the time she had spent on Vulcan Island with her friends…

“Arceus… what a mess!" 

-

September 13 – 20:00

Max couldn’t surpress a whistle of admiration as he beheld the flat Ash and his sister had been living in. This was the first time he had visited the place, and he had to admit it looked very nice. He wondered again why he was here to begin with as he knocked on the door. May had called him in the early afternoon and asked him to come visit. She said she had an announcement to make as well, but she had sounded extremely anxious and refused to answer any questions.

Before Max could contemplate on exactly what had his sister so spooked, the apartment’s door swung open rapidly, revealing May on the other side. His eyes widened as he saw her. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were puffy and slightly red, as though she had been crying recently. Max could feel his brotherly instincts kicking in, something was off and he wagered a guess that was exactly why May had called him to her.

“Max! Good, you’re here. Get inside, quickly!” she mumbled in a rough voice before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him inside, slamming the door behind him in the proces.

“Wow, easy there sis, where’s the fire?” Max replied indignantly as he followed his sister into the living room as he straigthened his collar again. May answered gravely.

“You’ll know soon enough… Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Oh, a coke’s fine…” Max mumbled his reply before he was momentarily stunned when they entered the living room. Ash, Misty, Iris and Ritchie were all sitting around the living room couch, all of them bearing the same look in their eyes, some sort of stunned shock. “Wow, you didn’t tell me you invited just about everyone else too. What’s up with this whole reunion May? What’s going on?”

“Turns out May’s not the only one with an announcement to make” Dawn said before she stiffled a huge yawn. “Oh, sorry… Haven’t had much sleep since the baby was born. Zoey’s pretty exhausted too, but she sends her regards.”

Max nodded with a smile. “Be sure to send her mine too and if you need my help for anything with the baby, be sure to let me know!”

At the second mention of the word ‘baby’,  the sound of shattering glass rung through the room followed by a loud swear from Misty. Max raised his eyebrow in surprise.

“Okay, what’s going on here? Are you all right Misty?”

The reply came swift and vicious. “Do I LOOK all right to you?! Just… Just get off my case, will you?!”

Max humpfed in annoyance. “As much as I’d like to chat up Misty, I didn’t come here to be abused,” he turned to May, accepting his drink with a nod, “so please May, could you tell me why you’ve gathered all of us here?”

“I guess… I guess we should” she muttered uncertainly. Ash placed a soothing hand on her shoulder and whispered to her reassuringly. “Best to get it over with sweetie. You know I’m here for you…” This ominous statement piqued Max’s interest even more. Just what was going on here?  He took a sip from his coke as May dropped her proverbial bomb. “I-… I’m… p-…”

“I’m pregnant…”

Everything that followed happened extremely fast.  On hearing the news, Max violently sprayed his mouthful of coke into the air, while at the same time across the room Misty flinched violently, cutting herself on the glass shards she was cleaning up. Dawn cried out a shocked "WHAT" as Ritchie gasped loudly. The pandamonium was complete though, when Misty and Iris spoke was one. 

“What?! YOU TOO?”

“What?! YOU TOO?”

It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t been such a serious situation. Misty and Iris snapped their heads towards each other, their looks of shock mirroring one another.

“What do you mean you too?! You’re not gonna tell me you-…” Misty started, only to have Iris cut her short snap. “That’s EXACTLY what I’m telling you Misty… I visited the doctor earlier today and the test confirms it. I’m pregnant too!”

“You too?” Misty repeated in a daze. “S-… Same here… Tested twice, both came out positive…”

Dawn spoke next, her voice thick with annoyance. “What the hell have you guys been up to? Are you telling me I’m the only one in this group who’s not pregnant?!”

Max couldn’t surpress a snort. “Pretty sure I’m not pregnant either, Dawn… Don’t know about Ash though…” His joke earned him a resounding slap on the back of his head from May.

“This isn’t something to joke about, brat! And I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you… You’ve had sex with the both of us, one of these babies could be YOURS just as easily!” she snapped at him, only realizing exactly what she had said when it was already too late. Brother and sister looked at each other with stunned expressions as everyone around them was gobsmacked.

“Well… This is awkward…” Ash summed up the situation after a long period of silence. “Y-… You guys had sex, with each other?” Ritchie babbled incredulously. “But that’s insane… You’re brother and sister!” Max eyed him with a frown.

“Which is exactly why we did it SAFELY!” he defended himself.

“But why did you do it in the first place?” Ritchie threw back. Max was about to retort when May spoke up, her voice thick with emotion and shock.

“I-… We don’t know, okay? I won’t deny I love Max, maybe more than I should… But there was something about that island, something that made us just… Lose control!”

“Exactly!” Misty agreed, “there was this strange feeling, those first couple of days on Vulcan Island… I-... I couldn't control it! Max and May only hooked up because I was already hogging Ash for myself!”

“Hold on, so you basically just had one giant orgy as soon as you landed on the landed? Kinky!” Dawn scoffed. This drew the ire of Iris, who wasted no time in playing her own cards.

“Don’t act as though you’re all saint-like all of a sudden Dawn! As I recall you were pretty occupied with a certain Tauros, that first night on the island!” The blue-haired coordinator gasped loudly. “What?! How did you-… You SAW us?!”

“Of course I did, you were hard to ignore! You know you get REALLY loud when there’s a massive bull pounding away on you!”

Needless to say the mood was going south. Only a quick intervention from Ash and a stunning Thunderbolt from Pikachu stopped Dawn and Iris from attacking one another, both girls going for blood.

“Okay, that’s ENOUGH! Iris and Dawn, I won’t have you fighting in my house, so if that’s what you want to do, the door is over there!” he said, radiating an authority he rarely displayed outside of Pokemon matches. “I suggest we all keep our cool now, and figure out what to do… What’s done is done and we can’t change that. May and Misty are pregnant and we-… we don’t know for sure yet who’s the father…” He eyed May with a sad but determined look as he talked in a slow, determined way. “Could be me… Could be Max. Hell, for all we know it could be May’s Blaziken or Pikachu!” 

Dawn and Iris were about to speak up, shocked by this new revelation, but Ash silenced them both with a raised hand. They needed to focus now and more squabble was the last thing they needed. “I repeat, what’s done is done. Things were kind of crazy the first couple of nights on that island… What’s important now is how are we going to DEAL with the after effects?”

(ding-dong)

The doorbell, visitors… Uninvited visitors too, Ash concluded with a grumble.

“Hhhrmpf, who could that be?” he groaned. “I’m going to answer that. Dawn, Iris, can I trust the two of you to stay put?”

“I guess…”

“I’ll stay put if she stays put…”

“Better than nothing I guess…” Ash sighed turning towards the door as he scratched Pikachu on the head absent-mindedly. “Keep an eye on them, will you buddy?”

The little mouse gave a happy “Pi-ka!” before he made his way to sit on the couch near Misty, his eyes never leaving Dawn and Iris.

The group remained in silence as Ash answered the door, vague bits and pieces of conversation floating into the room. The person on the other side of the door was a woman, speaking in a rushed tone, frequent high-pitched  words dotted her speech, but the group in the living room couldn’t hear exactly what was being said. May let out a sad sigh as she looked down at her stomach. She couldn’t believe there was something in there now. A little speck of life, growing inside of her. Without her knowing it, Misty and Iris mirrored her movements, wondering the same thing. 

“WHAT?!”

Ash’s cry made them all jump, Max and Ritchie standing at attention immediately as Pikachu too jumped to his feet ready to act. They heard the sound of a door slamming shut, followed by two sets of feet rushing towards them. When he came into view, Max saw that Ash was joined by his mother Delia, a copy of the evening newspaper crumpled up in his hands.

“May…” Ash spoke flatly, “we’ve got a problem…” He handed her the newspaper.

Exclusive: May Maple Pregnant?!

Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum’s suspected girlfriend spotted buying pregnancy test!
More on page 2…

Ash and May looked each other in the eye before May slowly turned to face Delia, the older woman looking at her with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. This wasn’t the way she had wanted to bring the news to the grandmother of her baby, not at all…

“Oh shit…”