I do not own pokemon. Nor will I profit from use of pokemon characters.

Prologue

Sirens blared. He could hear the barking of the houndour and the rhythmic thumping noise of their paws against the ground. Butch tripped on a patch of grass, shifting his weight at the last moment to avoid damaging his precious charge. After hitting the ground, Butch immediately inspected the egg. Thankfully it was undamaged. His ankle on the other hand was sprained. The howling grew closer, and he knew he was not going to escape.

Butch reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball. "Pelipper I choose you" he screamed. Before him appeared a moderate sized bird with a huge bill. The beak was a container intended to carry food large distances during migration.

Butch tried to get up, feeling a stabbing pain in his leg as he did. Then he bid Pelipper to come closer. The Team Rocket member placed the egg in the Pelipper's beak. "Pelipper," he commanded, "take this egg to Cassidy in Celadon city. Don't let any harm come to it." Pelipper hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to leave its master. Suddenly Butch felt a gust of wind as the pokemon took off in the direction of Celedon.

Butch tried his best to keep moving but it was hopeless. He was soon captured.

Chapter 1: Birds and Bees

"I'm not coming out." Hikari announced.

"Fine, we'll leave you here." Ash responded.

Hikari fumed at Ash's apathetic attitude.

Outside she could here the noises of Ash and Brock dismantling their campsite. She knew they wouldn't really leave her. After all Hikari was holed up inside the groups only tent and it was supposed to rain tomorrow.

"I said I'm not coming out." Hikari repeated.

This time there was no response.

"I really mean it." Hikari assured.

Still there was no response.

"Are you listening to me?" She demanded.

After about ten minutes Hikari zipped up the entrance to her tent and peeked outside.

"Hello."

At that moment Ash and Brock were making their way up a grassy hill.

"Ash," asked Brock, "Is it really okay to just leave Hikari."

Ash Ketchum sighed. He hated to do this. However Hikari needed it. Hikari had just left home on her pokemon journey a little over a month ago. Leaving the nest is frightening. Ash knew from experience. It's quite common for new trainers to run back home soon after they first set out. Some try again when they're ready. Far too many just give up. Hikari's adjustment was much harder then she let on.

Brock was a breeder, in trade and by nature. His instinct was to coddle her, to almost play the role of a surrogate mother.

Ash knew in his heart that what Hikari really needs is to see how strong she is. She needs to know that she is strong enough to face the world on her own.

"Look Brock," said Ash, "Hikari knows we're headed south to Celadon. We'll meet her there. We can't just stop our training and journeying every time Hikari has a bad hair day."

"But Ash, Hikari didn't say it was a bad hair day. She said she was having feminine problems."

Ash was confused. "Yeah but isn't that like girl talk for bad hair day. I mean what else could it be."

Brock looked around to make sure no one was watching then whispered something in Ash's ear.

Hikari was just finished packing the tent and ready to head south when she heard Ash's horrible scream in the distance.

Fearing the worst (and suspecting team rocket) she dropped the tent and rushed forward. Moving as fast as her legs would carry her.

Meanwhile, Ash and Brock Rushed as fast as they could back towards her.

"Ash," yelled Brock, "why are we running?"

"What do you mean why? Hikari's hurt and we abandoned her."

They ran through the mountain path, desperately calling each others names. Eventually they met.

Ash was filled with relief. He alternated between begging for forgiveness and asking if she was okay. Hikari assured him she was. Then Ash scolded her for running in her condition. He bent downwards to look at her legs. Hikari turned beet red and held her skirt down. "What are you doing she demanded."

"I just want to see if your bandages held."

"What Bandages?"

"There are no hospitals for miles." Ash turned to Brock. "Start a fire. We might have to cauterize the wound."

Ash grabbed the bottom of Hikari's dress and she gave him a huge slap on the face.

In the hours that followed Ash and Hikari wouldn't speak to one another. Brock felt somewhat responsible, particularly because Hikari really was just having a bad hair day. It turned out that she didn't know what real feminine problems were either. Brock thought of explaining it to her, but doubted that these were the correct circumstances.

To make matters worse, it started to rain. The waterproof tent that Hikari dropped when running towards Ash could not be found.

Eventually they found a small cave. Brock started a fire.

At that moment Pelipper was flying over the hills to Celedon. Her muscles strained. The pain grew with each wing beat. She was a tropical pokemon, native to the warmer Hoen region. The wind was against her and her wings were so waterlogged it was a miracle she could still fly. What's worse, even her bill was cold. If she didn't warm the egg soon it could die. Her senses, far more acute than humans, smelled fire in a cave below. Fire meant humans. Many humans knew how to care for eggs, and even if they didn't the fire could warm the egg. She was supposed to go straight to Celedon. The bird agonized over whether it was okay to go down and warm its wings. A wave of dizziness fell over the pokemon and it almost fainted. At that point it was decided, she could not risk damaging the egg.

Ash and Hikari both sat on a log, blushing, with their backs turned to one another. Ash was too ashamed to face her. Hikari was too embarrassed to face him.

Ash concluded that Brock must have been making up that stuff about feminine problems. It was just too weird to be true. Girls were weird enough without that nonsense.

Both of them were thinking the same thing, that each would never understand the other.

Hikari knew it was perverted for boys to look up a girl's skirt, but she decided that Ash must have just been worried about her. This was all Brocks fault after all. He told Ash something weird and Ash freaked out. She should just get mad at Brock. That would cut all this awkwardness with Ash. Still, blaming Brock was like biting that hand that feeds her (literally).

Hikari shivered, and her teeth chattered. She had the most petite body of the three and was affected more by the cold. She moved closer to the fire and furiously rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them.

Ash took off his jacket and placed it gently over hikari's shoulders. "Rub your sides," he said, "that way you'll warm your hands and your chest at once." Hikari did as directed.

"Ash, I'm sorry about earlier. About acting spoiled this morning, loosing the tent, and slapping you when you were just worried about me."

"That's okay," said Ash. "I'm sorry I tried to look up your skirt."

"You said you thought I was hurt. Why did you think that?"

Ash blushed. "Well Brock wanted us to turn back for you, and he told me this story. I guess he was just playing a trick on me."

Ash whispered the story into Hikari's ear just as Brock had told it.

"Gross! Leave it to a boy to come up with something weird like that."

Ash laughed a little at her reaction. He tried to hold back, but then Hikari laughed with him. Soon they let go, and were both laughing hysterically.

"Wait," Brock interjected. "That story was true."

They looked at the serious expression on Brocks face and laughed even louder.

"It's true guys."

They kept laughing.

"Okay," said Brock, "If you don't believe me then where do you think babies come from."

"Pelippers," they both answered in unison. They looked at each other surprised at how synchronized their answer was. "My mom told me…" Ash and Hikari looked each other in the eye; they couldn't believe they were both saying the same thing once again. Ash gestured to let Hikari finish what they were saying.

"When a boy and a girl really like one another, they pray together and a Pelipper comes to them with a baby in its bill."

"Heh," Brock chided. "Believing that shows what children you two are."

At that moment a Pelipper flew into the cave and began warming itself by the fire. Ash and Hikari turned white. Brocks jaw dropped.

For several moments everyone stood their staring at the creature like it was a deoxys from outer space. Finally Hikari put some pokemon food in her hand and offered it to the creature. The Pelipper opened its large mouth to reveal a giant egg inside. Again everyone jumped back in surprise.

Gently Ash picked up the egg and cradled it. Hikari placed the food into the pokemon's mouth. The Pelipper chewed, swallowed, made a content noise then dropped down to take a nap.

Brock watched closely. As a breeder he knew it was impossible to identify and distinguish most pokemon eggs beyond type. However he could at least tell that this egg did not come from any bird pokemon. What was the Pelipper doing with it?

Hikari regarded the egg for a few seconds. She stared, and stared. Then a grin formed on her face. Opening her arms, she embraced both the egg and the boy who was holding it. Ash got over his initial shock and smiled down contently in response.

Brock started bashing his head against the wall.

The next morning Brock awoke to the smell of Hikari cooking breakfast. She never cooks. What's stranger she was spoon feeding her food to Ash while cradling the egg in her arms.

"Remember darling, we don't know when the little one is going to hatch, so we need to get some diapers, blankets and formula ready."

"Of course Honey. Hey, I've been thinking. Maybe when we're done in sinnou I'll take that job as a frontier brain. Then I can really provide you and the baby with nice things."

Hikari smiled and gave Ash an Eskimo kiss. Brock gagged and went back to sleep.

End of Chapter

Notes: I know it's odd that I used the American names for everyone but Hikari, still I just can't get used to calling her Dawn.

Hope you like it and please review.