Side Story 03/05 – Expected Mother

Icirrus City – Pokemon Center

The afternoon inside the Pokemon center of Icirrus City would be a busy time for passing trainers travelling to and from gyms, travelling the region to protect their trainers Pokemon would end up here for the night to be treated before heading back out with their trainers next destination. Inside the main area of the Pokemon center lying down on the bed at the far end of the room beside the large windows was Latias affectionately rubbing her stomach because as of a few hours prior she had discovered she was pregnant and Zack was the father. For the longest time she remained silent, refusing to find a remote to stitch the centers TV on to watch her favorite show Super Latias that would be on by now. New episodes Latias was dying to see for some time now, but today, she was excited she would soon be a mother. "A mother. Me, about to have children with Zack…" She chuckled at the thought. She began to wonder what her children may look like; a Latias like herself, a Latios maybe. Or maybe even an Oshawott, perhaps both. The nurse didn't tell her how many she was expecting, all she knew that she would be a mother within two months time. The egg would take two weeks to hatch, a long process of keeping warm but a worthwhile wait to look into the eyes of their child.

'Now what would I call it if it's a Latios of if it is a male Oshawott? But what about if it is a Latias or a female Oshawott?' She thought as she continued to rub her belly affectionately, thinking about what she and Zack would name their baby. 'If it's a Latios; my suggestions would be… huh, I can't think of anything good. Maybe I could leave it to Zack to name the child. Or perhaps I'll find the best name for the child when I look into its eyes for the first time, then I'll most likely come up with the perfect name… I hope.'

'B-but what if it doesn't like me, it'll just keep crying nonstop whenever I am near it? Or if I hurt it… Oh gosh no…' Her excitement on becoming a mother quickly turned into fear; fear that she would be a terrible mother. She didn't know who her own biological mother was. She only had Zack's mom Ayaka there with her. A woman Latias had over the years saw her as her mother, raising her as if she were her daughter, teaching her from right and wrong, being there for her when things were tough, and she in return. 'I hope I can be a great mother like Ayaka. She was so kind to me…' Thoughts of Ayaka played in her mind.

Thoughts from long ago of the times Ayaka played with her every one in a while, she even helped Ayaka by baking a birthday cake ready for Zack's tenth birthday. Then the day after Ayaka was killed by her own sister, Shiny Latias, like with Zack she felt like she had just lost a part of her. A lot of stuff had happened and they had to leave town before she could say goodbye to her or mourn properly, only thinking about the next step in the search for her sister to put an end to her reign of tyranny and evil. 'I hope things will be back to normal with us after Team Doom and my sister have been dealt with. I don't want us to be still fighting when the baby arrives or after. I want the baby to grow up with both of its parents still alive, not growing up without its parents, like I was before Zack took me in when I was still young.'

Latias had little to no memory of her younger years before she met Zack. Only flashes and images of a white room with men in lab coats examining either her or something else, the memory was always blurry and she couldn't quite make it out, despite having tried numerous times to gain access to those younger years through The Dark Place, a state in which all Psychic types can use to access their minds, use it to train with their Psychic moves making them stronger and also to recall past memories from moments passed, weeks, months or even years. Memories thought once forgotten about could be reclaimed by focusing as many days as it could to find what you were looking for. But years had passed and still Latias hadn't recovered anything about her youth prior to meeting Zack. The memory of meeting Zack as a young Latias was always the strongest memory, the one that shined the brightest within The Dark Place.

She had wanted to know what her childhood was like before meeting Zack, maybe even catch a glimpse of her own true mother. But despite the countless times of endless search, she could never remember her face, her voice, nothing to remember her by. The records left behind by Team Annihilation soon after their defeat revealed that they did capture a Latias and Latios with two younger Latias; one normal color and the other a shiny Pokemon. But the records didn't explain anything other than that they were used in experiments; they were found in the wild and brought to the labs immediately. Nothing about Latias' parents was ever talked about; personality of the two, escape attempts, it was just a single document about her parents, her sister and Latias were there and nothing else. Espeon had told her that everyone's Dark Place is different; a dark labyrinth of thoughts, fears, hopes, and past memories all scattered within the mind. To find what you are looking for, you just had to search, but Latias had searched, finding old memories from long ago she didn't remember happening. The thing is within the Dark Place, Psychics sometimes have trouble finding memories often confused with dreams they have had sometimes believing them to be real events that have occurred. Latias at a few times had found a still image, and a moving video-like memory of an adult Latias she didn't recognize, both believing that she had found the very thing she had been searching for all this time. But who shall ever enter their own Dark Place would have confusion over what was a real memory between what they had seen for real. What Latias saw was another Latias not in Team Annihilation's HQ, in a laboratory or some caged room for them to live in, but it was in Zack's own living room, a dream she had of being a grown up when she was younger.

Latias thought about her sister as she turned her head towards the window, watching as the snow continued to fall. 'Maybe Shiny Latias knows about our mother. I know she has done terrible things, but I don't want to kill her.' Ever since Shiny Latias had entered the scenes, escaped Team Annihilation's HQ, she had wanted to talk to her, wanted to help her get out of the life she was in. She wanted to talk to her before Zack got to her first; she wanted to stop any more blood from being shed and wanted a peaceful end to the fighting. She had feared that if Zack does fight with Shiny Latias, she might kill him. Zack wasn't an expert fighter, he was still learning to use his moves. His most powerful move he was good at were Razor Shell followed by his Psychic attack. Shiny Latias worked with Team Annihilation for years, and the last time she had seen here was when she had attacked Zack. A single Pokemon going up against, herself, Dewott and Espeon, all with years of training couldn't handle the likes of Shiny Latias, so how would Zack handle her?

'I don't want anyone else to die, I want us to live.' She glanced down at her belly and gave it another affectionate rub. 'I… I want you to meet you father when all of this is over. I just hope that the fighting doesn't continue as soon as you come into this world. I want to show you so many beautiful things…' She smiled, her eyelids closing. 'I think if it is a female, I would call her Amaya… that's a beautiful name…'

Latias quickly and peacefully fell asleep dreaming of being with her child, living somewhere peaceful with Zack, a happy life together, that's all they have ever wanted. First they would explore the world, each region they came across and just had fun exploring it without worry. And when the moment was right they would settle down and live out their lives in peace, which was original plan. It was the original plan before Team Doom entered the scenes, it was a plan, but soon that plan would never become a reality.

Trivia:

This chapter was originally set when Latias was still a young Pokemon living with her family in Team Annihilation. But this was cut because of future plans I have with that storyline.