Hi everyone, Ace Trainer Alicia reporting for duty!
This story needed a rewrite, so this is actually the second iteration of it I've done. I actually wrote it before I played the game, and I think this take is a bit more in-character and makes a bit more sense.
Enjoy the redone Hatching an Egg, Part 1!
I always used to think that I'd never be lonely so long as there were Pokemon around. My friends have always been around to keep me company, when Ghetsis never was, and for most of my life, they've been all I ever needed. I guess things change when you least expect them to.
Now, even with them all around and there to keep my company, I still miss her. It's still a little hard to believe I feel this way about a human, even if she is Unova's hero of ideals and I am the hero of truth. And I miss her Pokemon just as much.
Is Alyssa avoiding me? I was only going exploring with Reshiram for a month and a half this time. She knew I was going to come back. She used to spend whatever time she could with me whenever I was in Unova, and her Pokemon like me very much too.
I hope I find her soon. Alyssa is a very special friend—the only human friend I've ever had. She is special in another way, too—I've even tried breeding with her, hoping we might make an Egg. Of course, she was the one who wanted to breed first. I can still recall that first night, the way she looked up at me with the face a Ditto might make when it finds a Pokemon it likes…
Could that be why she is avoiding me? Did I leave her with our Egg while I was exploring Hoenn with Reshiram? I was wondering why we still didn't have an Egg after all the times we did the breeding thing. It's strange that I never found one in the bed in the mornings afterwards—perhaps there is another variable that's throwing a wrench in the breeding equation?
On the other hand, it might be that she can't have my Egg and doesn't have the heart to tell me—which I really hope isn't the case. But wouldn't humans all be in the same Egg group?
Whatever the case, wherever Alyssa is now, her mother will know. To Nuvema Town with Reshiram and me!
When I land, I softly stroke Reshiram's neck and smile politely. "Thank you so much, my friend. Please, go and fly free."
Hm. I'll leave you alone then. You know I will come to your aid whenever you need me. Reshiram spreads its beautiful wings, and I pause to look up at the sky and watch it take off.
The house in front of me is a familiar sight, and a pleasant one, small and squarish with perfect corners and all right angles. I know it's the one I'm looking for thanks to the wooden painted sign that says "Grayson" hanging beside the front door. So I push the doorbell and wait. Even if Alyssa isn't there, her mother must be.
The door swings open, and Sarah Grayson stands there. A frown crosses her face, but then she smiles and nods in greeting.
"Ah, you're Alyssa's friend, aren't you? N, is it?" She gives me her best smile. "Did you want to see Alyssa? She went to Castelia City today, but she'll be back in time for dinner."
She motions me to come in and sit down. "You should stay for dinner, too. Alyssa and I have something important to discuss regarding you."
"You wish to discuss me?" My heart flutters, and I can feel my hands sweating. "Did I do something wrong?"
Sarah shakes her head. "Don't get upset—it's just something important for you to know. Please, have a seat." She beckons me to come and sit down again, pulling up a chair—so I give her a small, shaky smile and sit.
I watch her go back to work on her cooking. There's a wonderful smell drifting from the saucepan on the stove—it must be Berries boiling for her special sauce. Sarah serves it with a lot of different meals; I find that it's quite good spread on a roll. I can always taste each of the different Berries she uses; I picked that up from my friends.
She stirs the sauce, and I wonder how long the wait will be. So not just Alyssa, but Sarah too wants to discuss something important with me. Does Sarah know of my former involvement with Team Plasma? Does she know of Ghetsis? She's never seemed to dislike me before, though…
No, that's probably not it. I shouldn't be so afraid; Sarah isn't the bad sort of human. I remember the first time Alyssa brought me to Nuvema Town, and a flock of passing Pidoves told me all about how they liked to stop by the Graysons' for a treat. I can see why they would like it so much; special sauce aside, Sarah makes wonderful Cheri Berry sandwiches.
My stomach rumbles a bit, and I do my best to stay focused. Hm… Perhaps it's more likely that something has happened to Alyssa, or to one of her Pokemon. I hope none of them are hurt or anything—I can't stand to see any of my friends get hurt!
I hope Alyssa comes back soon. Otherwise I'll have to call Reshiram and search Castelia City until I find her…
The door swings open, and I see a flash of blue come dashing in. We're back!
Sarah turns to look, and my heart flutters as I see the familiar face. "Hello, Miju."
The Samurott jumps up and runs over to me, shaking the ground a little as he does. If it isn't N!
I stroke him under the chin. "Good to see you too, Miju. Is Alyssa doing well?"
Before he can reply, Alyssa walks in and closes the door behind her, her hair bouncing as she walks. There's something different about her today, but I can't quite tell what.
"Hi Mom, I'm ho—OH SWEET RESHIRAM'S TAIL!"
She stumbles forward, startled, and Miju has to dive and catch her.
"It's OK, Mom, I'm alright, I'm alright!" Slowly she stands up and brushes herself off. "Thanks, Miju. Sorry I'm late—I've been craving ice cream like crazy lately, and the line for the Casteliacones practically stretched all the way to Nacrene City!"
Sarah raises an eyebrow. "Actually, I'm almost finished making dinner… and now I know who ate my quart of Cheri Berry Garcia."
Alyssa looks down at her feet, her face as red as a Darmanitan. "Uh, well…"
"Alyssa Hilda Grayson…" Sarah's voice is calm, but stern. I do hope she won't start yelling.
She shakes her head. "Anyway—you should sit down, and say hi. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
Alyssa does so, and as she's sitting down, she looks at me nervously. "Well, uh… Hi, N. I… I wasn't expecting you to show up."
Why is she so nervous? Does she not want to see me anymore?
Miju looks at her expectantly. Well, aren't you going to tell him about it?
"Of course I'm going to!" She sounds indignant. "Just… I'm not really sure how."
What's gotten into her today? I'm about to say she shouldn't speak to her Pokemon that way, but Sarah pipes up first. "We'll discuss it together over dinner."
"…and together we raced it through the clouds! What a sight Rayquaza was, with all its loops and segments—it moved so gracefully and elegantly! But Reshiram and I were still faster!"
Sarah smiles, her blue eyes sparkling like the sky on a sunny day. "You certainly know how to have fun, N."
I've been telling them about exploring Hoenn with Reshiram while we eat, and Sarah and Miju have been very interested in hearing about my adventure. Alyssa's nodding in excitement too, but she keeps looking down at her plate for some reason.
Miju gives her a nudge with the point of his shell. Come on—tell him about it.
She straightens herself up. "I'm going to! Yeesh, for Zekrom's sake, you don't have to remind me every two minutes!"
Sarah raises an eyebrow. "What did Miju say just now?"
Alyssa looks at her mother and sighs. "He says we should have that little discussion now."
"Ah, indeed. Well, he's right." Sarah's gaze seems to soften a little. "Honey, I know you're nervous—but you do have to tell him. It's just as important for him as it is for you."
They say curiosity killed the Purrloin, but I can't take it anymore—I must know what they're going on about.
"And what exactly is this thing that concerns me? You aren't keeping secrets from me, are you?"
"No, it's not that!" Alyssa pauses a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, before she says anything else. "N, there's something you should know—it's about us…"
Something about us? Does she not want to be friends anymore or something?
"You know that… that stuff we sometimes do?"
"Stuff?" I have to think for a minute before I realize what she means. "Oh, you mean the breeding thing! Did you want to do that again when I came back?"
This time it's Sarah who turns bright red, and gives me a funny look. Was it something I said?
"See, I… I kinda… well, uh…"
An Egg, Miju cuts in, sounding impatient. She has an Egg, N! And it only took forever and a day and a half, too.
So we do have an Egg now! I knew it!
"Really, Miju? Have you seen it?"
I haven't seen it yet. I actually heard her telling Cheren and Bianca about it, and that's how I found out. You should have seen their faces… He bursts into a fit of laughter.
An Egg of my own… this has to be the most wonderful news I've heard all day. Already I'm thinking about looking after it, showing it to my friends, taking it for walks, seeing it hatch… I wonder what it will look like when it hatches.
"We're going to have an Egg…" I go around and pull Alyssa into a tight hug. "Oh, Alyssa, that really is good news! And here I was worried about you…"
Miju is looking at us proudly. I knew you could do it!
Alyssa smiles a little, still blushing furiously. "I guess it's good news… Cheren and Bianca didn't really think so. And Mom wasn't too crazy about it either."
Why would Sarah be unhappy that we have an Egg? Shouldn't she be happy for her daughter?
Now I wonder about the Egg itself. She must have it with her, and I'd like to see it. I'm already eager to hold it.
"Our Egg… Alyssa, do you have it with you? May I see it, please?"
Alyssa's getting all red in the face again, and she starts wringing her hands in her lap. Sarah is eyeing us oddly, looking very confused.
"Um… well… it's… well, just a little different with humans than with Pokemon…"
Miju sighs. Why are you so embarrassed? It's only an Egg.
"A little different?" I arch an eyebrow curiously, thinking back on that time when Ghetsis explained the human way of breeding to me. He hadn't said anything about humans' Eggs being different from Pokemon's—he just told me the stuff I was supposed to do to make the Egg. "How so?"
Alyssa is still wringing her hands. She looks down at her place, and even though she's talking under her breath, I can make out "Oh sweet Zekrom's wings, how am I going to explain this stuff to him…"
It seems a long time before she finally swallows hard and says anything.
"Um, N… humans… kind of… erm, carry their young on the inside…"
I wonder if I heard her right. "On the inside?" So does that mean I won't get to hold or even see our Egg? Ghetsis never told me anything about this… but then, I also didn't know what Ghetsis was really like until that night Zekrom had awakened… the same night Alyssa told me she wanted to be my friend…
"Yes, on the inside." Sliding her chair back a little, Alyssa places a hand on her stomach. "It's right here, to be exact."
I look down at her stomach. I guess it seems to makes sense; that slight bulge in her stomach where her hand is is definitely Egg-shaped. But… how did it get in there, and how does it even hatch from inside a human? Wouldn't the shell shards scratch or cut her?
And how long have we had it? She can't have made it yesterday; it must have resulted from the last time we did the breeding thing at the very latest. I'm guessing it's been in there for quite some time.
"How long have we had it?"
"The Nurse Joy in Accumula Town said it'll be exactly three months in a week." Alyssa is looking a little less red in the face, but the flush isn't quite gone. "I'd have told you sooner, but I wasn't sure how and when to tell you about it—and you were off with Reshiram anyway."
I can understand her worry—I wouldn't want anything to happen to my Egg while I was gone. Team Plasma might come back if Ghetsis gets out of jail—what would he do if he knew I had an Egg? Still, that is a long time to have had an Egg—I'm surprised it hasn't hatched yet.
Still… that whole carrying it on the inside thing is really making sense now. She must have swallowed the Egg to protect it from Team Plasma, a hungry Dragon-type Pokemon, or anyone else who might want to hurt it. Nothing can get it from in there, it's in a warm place, and she can't mislay it, so it will hatch safely. I'm not sure how it will get out when it hatches, or when it will hatch, but she probably knows more about this than I do.
"I see." I place a hand on her stomach where the Egg is, stroking it a little. "When is it going to hatch? Or do you not know?"
"Six more months." She turns a little red. "At least that's what the Nurse Joy says."
That long… for an Egg cycle? Miju looks exasperated. Yeesh, humans really do take forever and a day to do anything.
I give him a pat on the head. "Patience, Miju. It will be well worth the wait when it does hatch."
"I sure hope so," says Alyssa, biting her lip. "Humans aren't very easy to raise. I can't do it all on my own, N… we're going to have to settle down someplace to raise it."
Sarah finally speaks up again. "I've already had a discussion about this with Alyssa—you can both stay here in Nuvema Town, but you have to take full responsibility for raising the child when it… er, hatches. N, raising a human is not anything like raising a Pokemon—it is very difficult, and it will take up a good deal of your time and effort. When Alyssa was born, her father and I had to put our Pokemon journeys on hold just to take care of her for her first three years."
She is right. You're going to have to learn how to be a good father to a human, adds Miju.
I hadn't thought of that till Sarah mentioned it, but now that she does—well, she's right. I've dealt with all sorts of Pokemon, and met new ones that aren't Unovan in other regions—but I really don't know how to raise a human, even if it is my own hatchling. And I wouldn't want to be anything like Ghetsis.
What about my friends, and Alyssa's? Will Miju and Shimmer and Lisette and Plushie and Ramona and Idoun have to be forgotten about once the Egg hatches, or can they help us look after it? Will a human hatchling be safe around fully evolved Pokemon?
Come to think of it, it seems there's a lot of things we're going to have to straighten out. Miju might be impatient, but I'm kind of grateful for the long Egg cycle. It will allow Alyssa and me time to make all these decisions and find answers to all these questions.
I'll have to ask a few friends for advice on being a father later. I've seen plenty of Pokemon look after their families, and who better to turn to than my closest friends? They do know what they're doing. Of course, I'll ask Sarah too, since she did look after a human hatchling herself.
I never used to think that hatching an Egg would be this complicated. Not only do we have to hatch it, but learn how to raise it, name it, keep it safe, and probably a lot of other things I can't think of at the moment. And before it hatches, I'll have to look after it, and Alyssa, very carefully. If she's carrying that Egg inside her, I'll have to make very sure she doesn't get hurt.
"Oh, and N?" Alyssa says. "Please don't mention breeding in front of my mother again."
Sarah nods in agreement. "Indeed. You should finish your dinner, both of you."
So I go back and sit down again, wondering what will hatch from the Egg. Will it look like me, or more like Alyssa? Will it like to play with her Pokemon? Will it be a hair puller? Will it want to play with my Menger sponge, like those Pichus in Viridian Forest who stole it when I last traveled Kanto? It took me three days to get it back—as much as I liked them, what's mine is mine.
Six months never felt like such a long time—I really can't wait till it hatches.
Well, I finally got this thing good and rewritten. Onto Parts 2 and 3!
Ace Trainer Alicia, out!