(If you haven't read the previous stories in my PokePark 2 series:

#1: "Untitled Serperior"

#2: "Dewott's Dilemma"

Be sure to check those out as well! Enjoy!)


Servine's Illegitimate Problem


The Event

Dewott had gotten into an argument with Servine. He had gone out to "get some air", as if retreating from the battlefield in the most "manly" yet most cowardly fashion. There was an oak tree, its bark free of scars. He hit it. He felt his hand crumble upon impact. His body wasn't built for such a thing. He collapsed to the ground, seeking refuge from the hot summer under the shade of a tree.

As he sweated under the heat, he longed to hear the crashing waves of the ocean, the cool saltwater against his skin. "A Water type living in the Arbor Area?" It wasn't natural for him. Nothing was natural for him here. Sometimes he wondered why he even agreed to stay here at the royal court. After all, he was the male…rightfully he should've dragged her down to the Cove Area. Grass types like water, anyways, but not vice-versa. And despite a recent health scare, the Queen Serperior was still alive and kicking.

So there really wasn't any need to be at the Arbor Area. They spent most of their first few months of marriage doing pointless things, taking pointless trips to far-away areas, pointlessly consummating their love for each other. And that's how it had to end up to…this. His head feel to the ground, and he began weeping. Oh, what if Servine had gone to the woods, like he told her to? What if she had actually done it? No, she would never.

"I've done it." Servine walked up to him.

That jolted him to standing position. He seemed relieved, and at the same time absolutely mortified. "You did?"

She nodded back.

"I…I see. You have put it away? Yes? Good. Erm…hidden where no one could find it? Ok? Yes. All right. Erm. Thank you for—"

She stopped him right there. Her eyes were surprisingly tearless. "I didn't do it for you, you know that, Dewott dear. I know you didn't do anything, no matter what the others may say. It's my fault. It's all my fucking fault." She pressed her head against the tree that her mate was sheltering under.

The sea otter was sitting in a quite childish manner, spread across the shaded bit of grass. "I…I thought we were so careful. And I mean…between species it's almost impossible for an egg to form."

"But it's happened before, it's happened before."

"Yeah, but I just don't know how it happened." He hesitated a bit, then spoke again. "I…I mean, it was only once. And when it happened, I…" he was talking to himself.

"Servine? Servine! Come back! Come back!" Dewott's father had told him a story before. About how he was trying to talk to the Queen Serperior, and suddenly she stormed out of his house while he was still talking. To think the same thing would happen to Samurott's child. To think that he himself was almost ready to evolve; and history would repeat itself, in the painful cycle it always did.


Four months before The Event

"Did you enjoy it?" Samurott released his weight from Queen Serpeiror's body, and lay beside her on the bed. She only smiled for a few seconds, then the lust faded away.

"I…I guess I better get back," Queen Serperior mentioned without moving, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Oh, no, no, there's no rush." Samurott pulled her back in. "It never is."

"I'll be back tomorrow night. The guards and my daughter will be asleep, so I can sneak out the palace."

"What's wrong, Serperior? You seem to be…all tight and distraught."

"It's…it's nothing." She rolled to the opposite edge of the bed, facing away from her secret lover.

"You didn't even look at me when we made love. Are you sure you enjoy it? Maybe I didn't do something right—"

"No, no, stop it." She placed a vine over the sea otter Pokémon's mouth.

"You're worried about something."

"Tell, me Samurott." She got comfortable again, less stiff and tense on the bed…though that couldn't be said for the male one of the two.

"Samurott…when did we figure it out?"

"A few months ago." The Cove Area keeper began fondling her, in preparation for the encore. "We made love several times, didn't we?"

"Yes…mmm…"—she had to pause for a moment—"…and nothing…happened. No egg. No…"

"Then you went to get checked…"

"Yes…by the blissey doctor…who works…at the palace."

"I was surprised…myself…you look so young, Serperior."

"Oh…oh…my dear daughter…Servine…she was my first…she was my last…"

"Are you…sad…you can't…have children…anymore?"

"No…actually…I think…oh…oh…yes! Yes! YES!" They screamed in unison.

Their languid bodies rested on top of each other after the blissful event. It never felt old, that wonderful feeling, no matter how many times they did. They had restrained themselves for the first few months since their original meeting, but soon after could not resist it and they make a secret rendezvous at Samurott's Cove Area home one night a week. Then two nights a week. Then five nights a week. Then seven nights a week. Then…

"…wanna go again?" The sea otter Pokémon offered.

"Again?" She smiled smugly back at him.

"It isn't even sunrise yet."

"Can you?"

"No, can you?" They chuckled, then the female one of the two stopped. She suddenly gave him a funny look, not directed at Samurott though. She was thinking. No, the feeling never was old. Then how come she was getting old?

"But…but I can't." She turned away to the side of the bed, weeping.

"Has the time really gone by so fast? Me…maybe my time is up. Servine…she's already found herself a companion, when it only seems yesterday I was caring for her as an egg. The palace…doesn't have youth anymore."

"Youth?"

She turned to Samurott, speaking with firmer intent. "Oh…it's different for you. At the Cove Area, young Pokémon are everywhere! Playing on the beach, frolicking in the water. That's why I like to come here. Because in the tight confines of the palace, there's no youth. None. The guards are getting older too. I miss my daughter scurrying around the palace grounds, shouting 'Mummy! Mummy! Look what I found!'"

"If you really want a grandchild, your Servine can have one with my son. It's rare, but it's possible."

Serperior was almost getting angry, hissing under her breath. "Oh, but a hybrid! A hybrid! I can't have a hybrid running around the palace! It'll be ostracized and ridiculed in the Palace! Serves me right for letting them be together." She was pouting to herself, looking more like the spoilt Queen she was.

"Oh, so it's my fault, isn't it?" The lust was long gone, and the flame they kindled was now fueled by anger. "My Dewott is corrupting your family's flawless gene pool, is it!?"

"Oh, no, no Samurott, stay with me…stay with me…" Her eyes turned apologetic, back to the look that made Samurott fall in love with her in the first place.

"I can't have a child anymore. No matter how hard we try. How many times we try."

"So your daughter must have a child. There is no other way."

The grass snake Pokémon, limp and exhausted, lay beside him, thinking hopeless possibilities, hopeless outcomes, hopeless plans. "Yes, she should. She should."

Then the Queen came upon an idea.


Two days after The Event

"A young male servine to see you, my Queen."

"Oh, yes, let him in. And leave the room. I wish to speak with him in private."

"If I may be so bold to request, my Queen…"

"Yes…?"

"Could I possibly go and visit the Princess tonight? Again?" He bowed down, as was proper custom. Dewott would never have been so gallant in front of her. It was almost…refreshing to her ego to see that the formalities of yesteryear had not gone away.

"Your daughter is very pretty, my Queen," the male servine added, with a sort of guilty smile.

"Well…but…sure, why not. I suppose it couldn't hurt. I'll make sure Dewott is called away tonight."


A week after The Event

"Father!"

"Dewott! My son! What a surprise!"

Instead of reaching for a hug, the younger one stood at the doorstep in confusion. "You mean…you weren't expecting me?"

"Of course not. Why would you think such a thing?"

"Queen Serperior told me you had some important business to discuss with me."

"Important business!?" The Area Keeper scoffed. "What important business!? You've been at the Arbor Area for too long my boy. There's no such thing as 'important business' down her eat the Cove Area! You think I look so young for my age because I always have 'important business'? Come in, sit down!"

He took a seat on the soft rug, accepted his father's offer for a cup of tea, but Dewott still wasn't satisfied. He still hadn't recovered from his dear Servine destroying the egg, one week ago. It was their egg. But they knew if the Queen ever discovered it, she would be livid. Servine didn't seem to be too worried about her mother scolding her, not even worried about the living soul that was as they spoke, forming inside the shell. But rather, she was worried about the contents of egg itself. What the immature muscles would tell. What the color, what the shape would tell. She had this look, as if she was trying to hide something from him. And if that egg ever cracked, all her secrets would be revealed.

"It might as well be that I'm here for important business."

His father brought him the tea. "Why, somethin' wrong?"

"No…"—he declined the tea—"…well…you see…"

He told his father what happened.

"Don't worry yourself over it," the Samurott began quite softly, wiping away his son's tears as best as he could. "The egg is destroyed…there's nothing you can do about it."

"I was so surprised, you know, after all her desperate persuading for me not to destroy the egg, she volunteered to go the woods and break it."

Samurott suddenly turned quite stern. "Why did you even want to break the egg? That's a living thing you killed there."

"I didn't kill it!" Dewott protested.

"Yes, but you were responsible for it," his father scolded. "Would Servine have killed the egg if you hadn't brought up such a horrible idea? Think about that for a minute."

"I thought you said not to worry about it!"

"I said don't worry about it. I didn't say you shouldn't feel sorry."

"Oh, but how can I not worry? I've been a burden in the Arbor Area ever since I set foot on the palace entrance. And I now I killed the own illegitimate child I had created."

Suddenly, the elder of the two was struck by a memory, that made what Dewott confessed seem awfully familiar. He made the connection. It had to be that.

"Dewott, my son," he began, "that egg wasn't your child. You weren't responsible…at least for that part of the problem."

"Why? How d'you know?" Dewott asked in disbelief.

"I…heard something. From someone." Thought it had to be done eventually, he didn't want to betray his lover immediately.

"What really happened!? Tell me! Tell me! Tell—"

"Look, son, this a'int easy for me—"

"Just tell me!"

"I'm…I'm very sorry, Dewott."

"What is it?"

"The Queen can't have children anymore." He took the breath for his next sentence then was cut off.

"Is that it!?" Dewott impatiently asked.

"Not yet, son, I haven't finished. So anyway, the Queen had to find some way to have an heir to the throne. If she couldn't provide a child, then her daughter Servine had to. Problem, she was with you." He turned to look his son in the eye.

"But me and Servine can have offspring. It's just more difficult."

"I know that, Dewott, I said the same thing to the Queen. But the royal bloodline must be pure. She couldn't have a hybrid Pokémon take the throne."

"And…!?" The son was getting desperate for the whole truth.

"So…she hired a male servine from the Arbor Area to visit…while you were away…and have…make…well, give her a child." Samurott quickly sped up his dialog. "Serperior told me all about everything, her plan, what she was gonna do, and I…I agreed that she should do it…oh, I'm so terribly sorry, Dewott!" They were both crying, their tears mixing as they finally hugged, something they hadn't done in many years.

It felt just like the old days. Before all this shit had to happen. Before hearts and rose petals filled the air, lust filled their brains, fertile eggs filled the ovaries of their companions…before Dewott had packed his stuff and left for the Arbor Area.

"Thank you," Dewott said to his father at the door.

"Oh, are you leaving already?"

"Yes, I need to talk to someone."

"Your mate, Servine?"

"No, the male servine who's ruined our relationship!" Dewott left immediately, slamming the door. Samurott didn't take it personally.


One month after The Event

Dewott had trekked for hours in an open field outside the Arbor Area, before he found him. "At last, I've found you!" He proceeded to shout random curse words at the grass type Pokémon in front of him.

The male servine that Dewott was calling walked towards him.

"Were you talking to me?"

"Yes! Come closer!"

The male servine followed the instructions. "I believe that I've heard of you before. Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is—"

"Save the formality shit." Dewott pulled out his scalchop, ready to defend himself. "I'll get to the point. The Queen hired you to give my mate an heir to the throne," the sea otter said through clenched teeth, fangs exposed. "But, you, you made the mistake of falling in love with her! Don't give that look. I know that after the first time, you went back. In secret. Look me in the eye, so I can see what a fucking bastard you really are!"

He turned to face him. He had such a powerful stare, that it must have froze the sea otter Pokémon in his place. "She always kept talking about you, Dewott," he began. "In the darkness, while we were doing it, I think she must've been thinking about you the whole time I was inside her. Imagining it was you. But you're wrong that it was a secret. The Queen wanted me to come back."

Before the water type could respond, the servine continued. "Dewott, don't think that she thinks badly of you. She was only thinking about her precious daughter, being the selfish Serperior that she is. She was having second thoughts about whether it was right to marry you and the Princess together. She was very beautiful, she was. So…after I had impregnated her, I went back to her bedroom, every other night. And she seemed to enjoy it." Now it was Dewott who couldn't look at him in the eye. He squinted his eyes shut, and covered one ear in heartbreak, one ear in unrelenting curiosity.

"But I know she didn't love me," the grass type went on. "I could tell. She only truly loved you. Oh, the Queen always felt terribly guilty about it. She got ill for several weeks, thinking about what she had done. I couldn't let it go on any longer. After seven nights, I collected my pay, told her I was leaving, and before she could protest anymore I left the Arbor Area."

Dewott was silent.

"Well!? Aren't you going to say anything? I've said my piece. Now do what you want to me."

"If I had my way, I would slit your throat right now!" He mimed the action with his scalchop, dangerously close to the servine's neck.

"How is the child?" The grass type quietly asked.

"And why should I tell you?"

"I just want to know—"

"Well it's none of your fucking business!" He drew a little blood, pressing the scalchop a bit too far into the servine's throat. "You're not the kid's father, you sly little servine. No parent would make a child for money."

"I'll have you know the Queen paid me good money to get the job done." The servine grunted through clenched fangs.

For a moment, Dewott was scared by those sharp teeth of his foe. But his scalchop drew a little more blood, and he wasn't scared anymore. "It doesn't matter," he said. "That good money turned dirt rotten when it fell in your hands! How do you sleep at night, doing this for a living!?"

He didn't answer. "Please, I wanna know, what happened? Did the child die? Did he? That's what Servine told me. She said you told her to kill it. I couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. It can be true, can it!? Can it!? Tell me! Is it true? Is it true? Is it—"

"YES!" Dewott screamed right into the servine's face. "He's dead! The kid's dead, okay? You happy? Satisfied? Now you know how much fucking trouble you've caused our family. If your fucking sperm hadn't shot into her, d'you think we'd all in this fucking mess!? Now you—"

The male servine couldn't take it anymore. "You are so selfish, you know that!?" The grass snake Pokémon, who had shown great control before, was now in tears.

Dewott still remained hostile. "Who the fuck are you callin' selfish!?"

The servine whispered as the blade of the scalchop pressed harder into his throat. "You're angry at your mate, you're angry at me, you're angry the Queen. In fact, you're so fucking angry that you're not even thinking about the illegitimate child you destroyed. I'm the biological father! You don't think I feel sad too…? You don't think I feel angry…at the Pokémon who actually wanted to kill my own child!?" He glared at Dewott.

The sea otter Pokémon stepped away, still holding his scalchop in a defensive position. "He was never your own child. The child was illegitimate. The only rightful parents are Servine and me her mate!"

"I've heard about you from the queen, Dewott. In fact, you're an illegitimate child yourself. And your father gave you a chance to live. Didn't your child deserve the same? Why didn't you just stop for a moment and realize how lucky you are?"

What he said was true. Dewott was an illegitimate child. He lived. He lived through the heartache, the painful secrets, and never even saw a tear shed in his earliest memories.

Dewott's mate, Servine. Her child was illegitimate. It never lived through the heartache, because it never lived. Not very long, anyway. Perhaps all it felt was the pain and shock of being forcefully released from the egg. The inflammation and fever of septic shock, the eventual loss of consciousness. And then the child died.

So, at last, history no longer repeated itself.

And Dewott was crying.

"Think about the child for a minute, Dewott." The male servine was weeping on the grassy floor. "Let's set our arguments aside, please. Doesn't the child deserve a moment in our thoughts!?"


"Two days ago, the body of a Pokémon fetus was found in the forest surrounding the Arbor Area. It was believed to have been forcefully removed from its egg, where it died over the course of several hours.

"The fetus had been in the very late stages of development, and it is highly probable it suffered significant pain and bleeding, before dying of infection.

"Examination of the body shows it is a pure-bred Snivy. Investigations as to the parents are underway. The Area Keepers of the Cove Area and Arbor Area, as well as their respective children, have refused comment."


(Thanks for reading! I hope the chronology isn't too confusing; I tried to make it as clear as possible. Please comment on your thoughts...and see you soon!)