I don't own Pokemon

"Good morning class" Professor Kukui said.

"Good morning Professor Kukui" Ash and his friends said in return.

"We have a very special lesson we are going to learn today. It's about the childrearing of certain Pokemon," Kukui said. "All Pokemon that are capable of breeding can hatch their young out of eggs in many cases."

"That's right!" Sophocles said.

"But some Pokemon can also have babies in another way. Mammalian Pokemon are also capable of getting pregnant and birthing their babies live, depending on the situation. Like humans always do" Kukui said.

Lillie said, "that's very interesting, go on."

"In cases where two mammalian Pokemon specimen of the same evolutionary line breed, the result is always live birth of babies of the first stage of the line" Kukui said. "However, if two compatible mammalian Pokemon species cross-breed, they may produce either an egg or a pregnancy depending on what animals the Pokemon are based on. Hoofed Pokemon cross-breeding will usually produce an egg. But if Pokemon like Pikachu and Raticate were to get together, it would result in a pregnancy that leads to a mixed litter, with the babies being Pichu and Ratatta."

Ash said, "cool, anything else in this lesson?"

Kukui said, "there's plenty more. Mother mammalian Pokemon are very dedicated to their babies. They nurse their babies by feeding them mother's milk early in their life, then when they are weaned, they help the babies find sustenance in other ways until they are old enough to fend for themselves. The weaning occurs at different ages per species."

Kiawe said, "I would have never guessed."

Lana said, "my Popplio is very young."

Mallow said, "I'm guessing you have a surprise for us teacher?"

Kukui said, "Lana, your Popplio is what we refer to as a pup, since it is a sea lion. And yes Mallow, I'm going to show you some mammalian Pokemon mothers with their babies and give you an idea on how baby mammalian Pokemon are raised. We're going on a field trip!"

Kukui first took the students to a beach full of Primarina with Popplio pups.

"These here are mother Primarina raising baby Popplio, which are referred to as pups, since they are sea lions, which are pinnipeds. Some are nursing their pups at this moment" Kukui said.

"This is a cuteness overload! I must record it!" Ash's Rotom-Dex said.

Lana went up to a mother Primarina nursing her Popplio pup. "I bet this little cutie is gonna grow big and strong, just like its mother" she said.

Lillie said, "I wonder how all the starter Popplio handle being separated from their mothers."

Kukui said, "they are probably weaned before being handed out to new trainers in Alola."

Kukui next took his students to a forest, where he showed them a mother Pikachu raising a litter of Pichu.

"This here is a mother Pikachu with her Pichu litter. From the looks of it the Pichu are probably 7 days old. The mother must be on all fours in order to nurse her babies, like she is now. Once they're fed their milk the mother rubs their bellies so they can pass their waste. At this early an age they need this help going to the bathroom" Kukui said.

Mallow said, "I'm glad I don't need my stomach massaged in order to make."

Ash said, "me too."

Kiawe said, "that's a little TMI."

Kukui said, "oh Kiawe, there's really no shame in talking about bodily functions. Everybody does it."

Kukui led the students to another part of the forest, where he pointed them towards a Lycanroc pack.

"This here is a pack of Lycanroc. But there's something special about this pack. One of the females is a mother nursing her Rockruff pups. The males in the pack will hunt food for the mother. At 3-4 weeks, the Rockruff will begin eating solid food" Kukui said.

Lillie said, "the Rockruff are so cute! I wish I could pet one of them."

Kukui said, "I wouldn't if I were you. Lycanroc mothers are very protective of their young. They will attack anything they see as a threat, and that includes people."

Lillie said, "good thinking."

Ash said, "I wonder about the gender of my Lycanroc sometimes. If my Lycanroc is the opposite gender of Gladion's maybe we can breed them and have a litter of Rockruff pups of our own."

Kukui took the students to a cave next.

"This here is a Crobat line maternity colony. Many female Golbat and Crobat have given birth to baby Zubat here. Baby bat Pokemon are called pups. When Zubat pups are born, their wings haven't fully developed. Some pups always cling to their mother in flight in their early life, others are left in a cave during the night while their mothers hunt for food" Kukui said.

Lana said, "the pups are really cute, exploring the cave while their mothers hunt for food."

Mallow said "such amazing creatures."

Kukui said, "a mother Golbat or Crobat can always locate her pup through echolocation. Oh, watch out for the guano."

Sophocles said, "what's that?"

Kukui said, "bat Pokemon droppings. It's often mined from caves to be converted into fertilizer, because it's rich in nitrates."

Mallow said, "I wish I could convert mine into fertilizer, but mine are always green for some reason, guess it's because I'm a specialist in Grass-types."

Kiawe said, "Mallow, what's with you and #2? You're a girl for Arceus' sake!"

Kukui said, "Kiwae, it's natural. We all do it. Pokemon do it too. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Kiawe said, "OK then. Anyway, this was a great lesson and field trip, Professor."

Kukui said, "it's not over yet, when we get back to the school, I've got something to show you."

Kukui and his students came back to the school, and Kukui started up a video.

Kukui said, "this is real life footage of mammalian Pokemon giving live birth. Several species are in this video."

The video showcased live births of Seel, Spheal, Meowth, Pichu, Zubat, Woobat, Noibat, Ponyta, Rhyhorn, Wailmer, Mienfoo, and many other mammalian Pokemon.

Sophocles said, "that was cute and amazing!"

Ash said, "thanks for the lesson, Professor."

Kukui said, "I'm glad you all enjoyed it, see you all tomorrow."

I wrote this because I think it is more interesting for mammalian Pokemon to have babies through live birth (like real life mammals) than by laying eggs. Professor Kukui explains my theory about mammalian Pokemon breeding in this story that they can both get pregnant and lay eggs depending on the situation. This one-shot shows that mammalian Pokemon mothers are just as devoted to their babies as real life mammal mothers.