10.5 - [Video, in Poke-speak]

[niepokonany]

[When the feed clicks on, a serpentine body is obscuring most of the camera’s view. There’s a curious peep a split-second later, and then Huzar the Dragonair is leaning back to stare at the Warp Band, head tilted slightly to the side.]

Did we do it? Is it going?

[Blossom, a dainty-looking Leafeon, pads a little bit closer.]

It’s making the noise and the light. That must mean its awake and we can talk to it.

Okay!

[Huzar beams, but quickly grows more serious, wrapping herself into a coil and narrowing her eyes. Like her trainer, she’s the sort to cut to the chase without much in the way of preamble, or basic etiquette.]

The thing is, we’re worried our mom and dad are trying to replace us.

You see, everyone keeps telling us that humans don’t lay eggs, but that makes no sense. Our dads had us from eggs. And now...

[Blossom sounds positively ominous, and she is pacing back and forth before the camera like the Bad Cop questioning a particularily reluctant miscreant.]

They’ve been acting weird and wanting all this time alone, and now look!

[In a flash, Huzar uncoils and disappears, only to return with an egg rolling in front of her.]

See?! We told you!

And now they’re alone again, and we’re not babies you know. We know that it’s a mating thing. So does that mean there’s going to be even more?

[Look, she loves her family, but just how many other pokémon is she supposed to share Fai with, exactly? What if he completely forgets about her after a while?]

Comments

2/2

[celebrity_commentator]

[Her hand is gently but forcibly pulled around so that the camera focuses on a serious-looking Blissey.]

I heard you had questions about eggs?

[niepokonany]

Yes!

Mom just had another one, see, and now I'm not going to be his baby anymore and how many of them are they even planning to have?!

[celebrity_commentator]

[Toyo closes her eyes and nods. She understands this feeling.]

I know it can be scary when our partners get new Pokémon. Trust me, mine has Bonded a LOT ever since she started going exploring. Although those were mostly friends we made in the wild and not...

[She puts a fin to her head.]

Right, eggs. I think you're a little confused...

Uh, Toyo, what are you saying?

[niepokonany]

Confused how?

[They have this all figured out! When a mom and a dad love each other very much, they make the older Pokemon babysit you and do something mysterious alone and there's an egg, right? Right!]

[celebrity_commentator]

[Hm. This could be tricky. Most Pokémon she's met have been aware enough that they're "adopted", even if they do refer to their trainers as parents. How to explain this gently.]

Well, you know that eggs are always whatever Pokémon the mother is, right? Or whichever parent isn't a Ditto?

I can't use the Bond feature while you're talking on it, girl...

[niepokonany]

[She tilts her head slowly to the side.]

...Are they?

[celebrity_commentator]

Er, yes. For most Pokémon, anyway.

[niepokonany]

Oh. Most, ok.

[celebrity_commentator]

[This is going poorly but how do you tell someone she's adopted when she doesn't already know?]

Um, the point is, your humans aren't necessarily making all these eggs themselves. A lot of Pokémon in the city let humans raise their kids for them because we learn faster that way.

[niepokonany]

Right, but that's got nothing to do with my mama.

[celebrity_commentator]

Well, you see, your...mama might not be so much having these eggs as adopting them to give them a good home. It's not because of anything to do with you, they're just being generous.

[niepokonany]

They don't need any more eggs, they have us...

[celebrity_commentator]

Maybe it's the eggs who need them.

[niepokonany]

But we need them.

Wow Toyo is starting to make me diabetic and I'm the one writing her

[celebrity_commentator]

I know, little one. But I promise, good humans have a lot of love in their hearts for every Pokémon they take care of, no matter how many.

[niepokonany]

But he's not the others' mom and he's my mom and he doesn't need to be someone else's, too!

[celebrity_commentator]

But he is still yours. I promise.

[niepokonany]

[...She's just going to pout.]

[comparative_insanity]

[Blossom is really a bit shy, but nonetheless attempts a haughty know-it-all air.]

Nooooo, we already know how eggs are made. We just want to know why they keep wanting to make them?

Aren't we good enough?

[celebrity_commentator]

Of course you're good enough. Your humans love you very much, I am completely sure.

[She nods authoritatively.]

Some humans just like making friends with a lot of Pokémon. Mine's really bad about making friends with new wilds all the time, actually...but it doesn't mean she loves any of us any less.

Well okay, that sounded positive...

[comparative_insanity]

But they still won't be able to spend as much time playing with us if there's always going to be new ones, right? Sooner or later they have to forget about us.

[celebrity_commentator]

Well, I believe there's a lot more room in a human's heart than you think.