Chapter 25: A Genuine Miracle – Part 2

"Can history truly be made twice?!"

That question was in every Paldean guest's mind as Rika had just sent that message to Geeta, who announced it to everyone. A severely flabbergasted Jacq was the one who asked that fateful question and the Paldean Champion didn't even flinch as she saw that the other guests were giving her their undivided attention as she spoke with the authority she was born with:

"It would appear so. A third time may do the unbelievable charm if those babies come out as 3-way hybrids. Regardless of that possible outcome, we're still going to give all the love and honor those babies deserve, courtesy of the dangerous journey made by their parents. Safe to say that these next two weeks will be the longest ones we've ever endured in our lives. Patience is truly a virtue and shall not be taken for granted. We, as well as all of Galar, will make this fortitudinous wait totally worth it. Do we all agree?"

"Here, here!" Everyone within the Training Dojo replied with bravery in their voices, including Klara and Iono.

It was a promise set in stone for them immediately and so…

…these grueling two weeks have begun.

Wednesday – Week 1

Although the rest of the Galar region was cut off from the nursery, there was still the usual hustle and bustle around the facility. Now that Rika's Clodsire plus all of the rest of Karthaniel's winning Pokémon team came out to keep the eggs company, everything was at peace and not a single dark cloud hovered over them. As for all of the humans, they kept their observing distance at the entrance and even had lawn chairs for each one of them to relax in. Karthaniel, however, was the only human to mingle among all of the pokémon within the massive play yard.

During that time, Urshifu had finally approached the eggs after the first two days since their arrival and he dared not to touch them. He just stood there with his arms crossed and the proudest smile he's ever pulled on his usually serious face. Being dubbed as Hatterene's brother, he was excited to have uncle added to his moniker soon. Plus, it would sound pretty catchy to him and hearing it from the twins' adorable voices would make him laugh every time, no matter what they call him for:

"Heh-heh! 'Uncle Urshifu'…"

"Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Hatterene came in five seconds after that was said from the humble Wushu Pokémon. "In about another week or so, you'll probably hear that from at least one of the twins after they hatch." Then, she noticed his smile and giggled. "Now, I have never seen you pull off such a happy grin, even with your mouth still closed. You're just as filled to the brim with excitement as Sir Davis and I combined!"

"I've only felt like this once before: When Wallace told me about how he safely placed you at the Glimwood Tangle while you were an egg yourself." Urshifu confessed this with pride as he never turned away from the eggs before him. Hatterene kept her full attention on him as he continued. "Although I had never met you back then, I still felt that bond between you two, despite everything you went through. Now this bond that you have with Karthaniel is 100 times stronger and it just rattles every one of my senses, especially now that you have these eggs."

"May Arceus bless you, Urshifu." The two new siblings embraced each other after that was said from Hatterene. This lasted for the next two minutes before the two slowly broke apart and held hands for a moment as she continued: "Don't be shy about touching them, then. They could use their uncle's touch right about now while they're still incubating."

"Will do." The ever-so-humble Wushu Pokémon didn't waste a second after that was said and he gently placed each hand upon an egg, which made his smile grow even more. During that time, Hatterene was on her way around the rest of the roomy yard and was just elated to see so much joy and peace all around her for the first time in a long time, especially after everything that was shared with her Mother prior to it all. In fact, she went over to her and Karthaniel to see that he was having a conversation with Elegance about that fateful subject and was relieved to see that his handsome smile never ceased.

"…and it's safe to say that I agree with your daughter." The handsome trainer concluded by the time Hatterene came to full stop before the two facing each other as they held hands with hope. "It may have all been for science and greed, but you're still a loving mother regardless. That latter factor comes first before everything else, Madam Elegance. You keep that in mind for me, okay?"

"May Arceus bless you, Sir Davis." Elegance replied with exultant tears as she embraced the kindhearted man. Hatterene admired this scene with a regal smile of tranquility on her face as she allowed it to continue. "Your ordeal with my daughter is truly a journey that deserves to be on repeat because you are such a brave soul." The hug ended after that last word, but they never released hands for a little longer as the shiny anthro Silent Pokémon continued. "I guess the same could be said about my very own, yes?"

"Without a doubt. Deep down after all those years, you loved your daughter. Now that you're about to become a grandmother within a week or so, that energy will be so powerful that our children will come to you first after hatching, like metal to a magnet."

"You don't mind that, Sir Davis? I'm sure you and Hatterene would love to hold them before me."

"We most certainly do, but whatever nature allows, we will let it proceed. We won't feel bad at all." Both of the Silent Pokémon started to shed tears of pure happiness before all three of them became engaged in a group hug, only having the shirtless man feel their warm tears against his skin. "May their birthday be the happiest of all birthdays in history."

Thursday – Week 2

It was currently naptime at around 12:45 PM for everyone somehow within the nursery, having Hatterene and Karthaniel sleeping in a luxuriously soft queen sized inflatable bed right next to the eggs. Karthaniel's other pokémon were sleeping in various locations, having Urshifu up against a tree and Rika's Clodsire sleeping on the left side of Karthaniel and Hatterene away from the eggs, just to mention a few. As for the humans, they were all sleeping inside the building within their own sleeping bags.

Overall, it was very quiet and not even the various sounds of nature surrounding them didn't wake them up at all.

About an hour later…

CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

That sound had somehow only woken up Clodsire and he made a huge yawn before sliding towards the basket to inspect the eggs. When he saw that each of them had a single crack in the shell, he released his loudest snarl/growl combo to alert everyone. Hatterene was the first to wake up by that sound and she instantly gasped when she saw the cracks, crying her happiest tears immediately as she screamed at the very top of lungs with just as much joy:

"THE EGGS! THEY'RE HATCHING!"

That alerted everyone else immediately as they all ran towards them and created a crowding circle around Clodsire, Urshifu, Hatterene, Karthaniel, and Elegance, having the last three surround the eggs with hopeful glows in their eyes. As for the eggs themselves, they were indeed crackling and wriggling with life for the next three minutes.

At the fourth minute, a single piece of shell popped off one of the eggs and, as if on instinct, Hatterene's hat claw gently volunteered to peel off the rest of the shell. When it was at a decent size, the most adorable thing popped its head out with the cutest toothless grin everyone's ever seen:

It was a tiger cub with a small spiky mane between the rounded ears that was colored in Hatterene's famous baby blue and pink gradient colors of her hair. As for the cub's body, it was in Karthaniel's skin tone, but had blue stripes and Hatterene's black-with-white-pupil eyes. Seconds later, the second egg emerged on its own without assistance and was revealed to look exactly like its twin, except the stripes were pink and the Hatterene-like eyes were different: Having the left eye being brown and the right being deep blue with the white pupils. They were both at the small size of your average newborn human baby, but didn't waste any time emitting the cutest little roars as a way of saying 'Hi' to everyone.

Overall, they were quite the sight to behold and everybody was speechless for a moment, even while Rika approached them with absolute shock. After a full minute of just admiring the twins, the ground-type member of Paldea's Elite Four just had one question:

"How come they're tiger cubs?" Karthaniel scoffed with confidence as he crossed his arms with expectancy.

"My spirit animal." He replied with no regrets. Hearing this made everyone become even more shocked and surprised, even after the cubs fulfilled what the humble trainer had predicted: They already used their psychic abilities to float up to Elegance and allow her to carry them both within her slender arms first for a while. They purred with comfort and Elegance became tearfully overjoyed as she snuggled her face against them with all the love in her heart as Karthaniel continued. "I remember sharing with you all from Paldea and the others that my spirit animal was the tiger and there might be a chance that it would rub off onto the babies. Turns out I was right and yet, they still have Hatterene's psychic charm. Whether or not they have a second type is a mystery right now. We'll have to wait for that."

"They look incredible!" Wallace semi-whispered with astonishment. After three more minutes of just hearing the twins' purrs, that's when Elegance approached the new parents and handed them over one at time: The blue striped twin for Karthaniel and the pink striped one for Hatterene. Since she was still overwhelmingly blessed and speechless, Wallace continued on her behalf: "And I see that they already love their grandmother very much. There's no doubt that they love you both as well. They… sense the struggle you've been through and sympathize with you already."

"…no wonder." Hatterene replied breathlessly as she cradled her baby and took a good look at him. "Sir Davis, this is quite stunning to see. Why didn't you tell me you had a spirit animal within you?"

"I wanted to surprise you, Hatterene-love." Karthaniel confessed with no remorse as he continued to cradle his other twin. "I actually had a gut feeling that the babies would turn out like this."

"And they're so beautiful!" Hatterene paused to cuddle her face against the soft fur of her precious child and the purrs added more to the atmosphere once more. "Awww, such an adorable pair of miracles we have here! I'm not sure whether or not to call you pokémon or pokémon/human hybrids. What I do know is that these two are three types in one: psychic, fairy, and steel."

"STEEL?!" All of the other humans asked with flummoxed looks on their faces. Hatterene didn't flinch as she continued her professional observation.

"Yes! It should be obvious. My precious Sir Karthaniel Harrison Davis is the most professional user of steel type pokémon that Galar's ever known. So, it makes perfect sense that our children should have the steel type within their system. They may not look the part, but it's a spiritual third type that's absolutely not shy about showing in battle one day. Physically, they are classified as psychic and fairy, but the steel type is hidden away within their souls, so to speak. It's a mystery as to whether or not they'll have the weaknesses of the steel type as well right now. I'll find that out as they grow."

"That means that, if that latter factor is the case, the only steel type weaknesses they'll have are ground and fire." Behemoth pointed out professionally. "Those three types together will be lethal, that's for sure!"

"Indeed." That's when Karthaniel's other pokémon surrounded the new family with smiles of admiration, including Duraludon. That's when the new parents turned towards them all to give the twins a better look at them. They were not intimidated by them at all and they continued to give them their adorable roars and toothless grins as a sign of that benefactor. Even Dragapult's pair of Drepy missiles became curious as they came out of their stations to just fly around them playfully for just a few seconds. This made the twins giggle with glee and they even tried to swipe at them with their soft paws. This display made everyone chuckle with adoring smiles for the next minute before the pair of Drepy went back to Dragapult as if it never happened. "Awww, they've bonded with your other pokémon already, Sir Davis."

"That was quite a display of affection from those Drepy missiles." Karthaniel admitted. "Now comes the most important part: Naming them. I'll let you do the honors, love."

"Let's see…" It became extremely silent now as Hatterene used her psychic powers to let her twin babies hover before them while she had her eyes closed and the hat claw in a position that made it seem like it was about to cast a spell, but it never did. This didn't scare her babies at all and they just had their heads tilted with utmost curiosity. "…the one with the blue stripes has an exact replica of your brave personality and calm demeanor, Sir Davis. He'll also have the ability to make everyone feel good about themselves, regardless of the surrounding atmosphere. Therefore, his name shall be… Sanguine."

"…whoa!" Rika exclaimed with amazement. "That's a fancy word for being optimistic or positive, especially in bad or difficult situation. An excellent choice, Hatterene. It reflects that observation perfectly!"

"That's the benefit of having the psychic type." Extonia pointed out professionally. "Believe me: My husband knows all about that."

"Absolutely!" Behemoth agreed. "Impress us again, Hatterene. How about the second twin's name?"

"Let's see here…" Hatterene paused again as she allowed Sanguine to fly over to his human father and he just cuddled himself within his muscular tattooed arms, leaving the younger twin to float before his mother. "…this one possesses just about the same personality as me and emits such grace and nobility, much like Queen Diancie Totanuki. And yet, he too also harnesses so much positive energy that any mean person or pokémon would verbally curse him for it because of how annoying it can get on occasion. Since that's the case and regardless of the latter, this twin shall be named Merit."

"Huh! Sanguine and Merit… a combination of utmost positivity and being worthy of it all, especially so as to deserve praise or reward for the younger twin. An excellent choice of names for these precious miracles." At that comment from Karthaniel's father, those said twins floated over to him and Extonia for their share of appreciative cuddles. "Heh-heh! Aww! It's safe to say that these boys approve of these names as well."

"Wait a minute…" Rika came in with a regal glare of observation in her red eyes. "…you say that you sense this third steel type within their souls, right?" Hatterene nodded twice in response. "Well! Good thing you mentioned it…" The ground-type expert paused as she turned towards the nursery entrance to let Paldean Champion Geeta walk in with a smile of admiration on her face. "Geeta, tell 'em about it!"

"My pleasure, Rika." The proud champ replied as she approached Karthaniel's parents and the twins, giving the latter two loving pats upon their short manes between their rounded ears. "Sanguine and Merit's third hidden steel typing can actually be classified as their Tera Type in Paldea. You all here in Galar have Dynamaxing; in Paldea, we have Terastalization."

"Oh, wow!" All of the Galarian residents said in unison with astonishment before Hatterene continued alone: "How exactly does that work?"

"It's very simple: You get a Tera Orb and, in every pokémon in Paldea, there's a hidden third type that can only be accessed by using that Tera Orb, although some wild ones can already do it themselves without it. Once activated, they become that Tera Type only, even though they can still be themselves. Also, any attacks that match that Tera Type will be 10 times more powerful than before. Of course, if they can't learn a specific move to match certain types, they can always learn the move Tera Blast. It's a universal attack that every single pokémon in existence can acquire in order to use their Tera Type attacks, no matter if they're physical attackers or special attackers. And trust me on this! It's highly effective and quite popular in Paldea."

"…" Everyone surrounding the Paldean Champ was just speechless, except Rika, of course. She knew this subject would come up eventually and hearing Hatterene sense that third hidden steel type within her own babies was the perfect time to mention it.

"So, all in all, Hatterene and Karthaniel, your babies actually have the Steel Tera Type within their being and cannot be changed with Tera Shards."

"Will we need a Tera Orb to access it in the future?" Karthaniel asked as he and Hatterene just approached the group and he carried both babies in his muscular arms this time. Geeta stroked her chin with deep thought for a few seconds while showing a puzzled look on her face.

"An excellent question, Sir Davis, but I'm not entirely sure. This case is entirely different from what we're used to in Paldea, but it wouldn't hurt to test it out." She paused as she reached a hand into her suit pocket within the jacket and pulled out two Tera Orbs in one slender gloved hand. "I brought one for each of you." Hatterene volunteered to use her psychic powers to allow them to levitate before her as the champ continued. "Feel free to use them whenever you're ready to try and see if they're necessary. If not, then please keep them as mementos to remember us by."

"Thank you so much, Madame Geeta." Karthaniel took his and placed it away in his jeans pocket while Hatterene had just started holding on her hers in a slender hand. "We shall see if this phenomenon really works."

"You have my word. Now, since the twins have been born now, it's about time the rest of us Paldeans get to meet them. Nemona and Iono haven't slept a wink since you two started the process because of their excitement."

"Well, they'll finally be able to get a good night's sleep after this. C'mon, all! Let's introduce Sanguine and Merit to everyone!" With that being said from the new Galar Champion and proud new dad, a flying taxi that was big enough to everyone arrived right on time at the main entrance of the nursery, having all of Karthaniel's other pokémon and Rika's Clodsire back inside their respective pokéballs along the way.

This meeting will be the best first meeting in the history of them all for sure.

To be continued…