Sydney felt woozy, and knew she was in trouble. The ace trainer shook her head, trying to keep awake and focused. She was currently pregnant—again—with pokemon, and a trainer of her stature couldn’t afford to take as many sabbaticals as she’d had, especially not all in a row. Thankfully, Tammy had pulled some strings to arrange a series of exhibition matches to be done early on in her pregnancy. The first two had gone on without a hitch.

But right now, it seemed that early pregnancy pains were striking at the worst possible time.

A spurt of nausea pounced and Sydney only just managed to catch herself from staggering sideways. She grit her teeth, trying to focus and power through it. People were doubtless already talking about her thanks to her unexplained absences. She really didn’t need the sort of whispers that would come from fainting mid-match!

The match was a double battle, with her teammates Blastoise and Aggron being pitted a rising star, Shara. The younger woman’s pokemon of choice were a Persian and a Magneton. Though Sydney’s team had the edge, Shara’s pokemon were still coordinated and powerful adversaries; and when Aggron and Blastoise temporarily faltered when they noticed that their trainer was going through a troubling patch, that was all the opportunity they needed to press the advantage.

Magneton unleashed a spray of lightning at Blastoise; the shiny pokemon withdrew, sparks dancing at the top of his shell. Persian rushed Aggron. Its furious attacks were all but useless against the great Steel-type’s hide, but its main goal wasn’t damage—instead, it wanted to stop Aggron from interfering, which it did flawlessly.

The crowd murmured, and Sydney grimaced as she felt her gut twinge, sweat beading on her forehead. Of all the times for her baby to act up…! “B-Blastoise!” she commanded. “Face your cannons northwest, and fire them… now!”

It was a strategy she’d drilled into her team. Withdrawn into his shell and without his feet to anchor him, the force of Blastoise’s blasts sent him recoiling, rocketing back right towards Aggron. Despite her ill feeling, Sydney smiled. She could envision what would unfold next. Aggron would catch Blastoise’s shell and launch it at Persian, then take advantage of the confusion to pitch a Ground-type attack at Magneton. It would all be flawless…

The Steel-type caught his partner, and just then the twinge in Sydney’s gut became beyond problematic. She had a moment of fluttering thought, wryly thinking oh dear to herself, before she collapsed to the battlefield, fainting outright.

She woke blinking in a center, the same nurse as before frowning down at her. Sydney was treated to an earful about overexertion. “Your… eggs are fine, thankfully,” the dour woman said, hands on hips. For someone so judgmental about Sydney’s proclivities, she’d quickly become Sydney’s go-to woman when it came to this sort of thing. “And I’ve been entrusted with a get-well-soon present from a friend of yours. That rancher?”

“Oh, Alex?” Sydney said, perking up. “He did say something about letting me have one of the Ponyta that Arcanine mothered…”

Was that stoney look on the nurse’s face just a touch softer than usual? Regardless, she pulled out a poke ball. “Here. Compliments from the gentleman.”

Sydney released it and squealed with delight. The pokemon before her was a female Ponyta, young and spry—and her fire was a beautiful azure blue. The equine pokemon bleated happily and came over to nuzzle Sydney, and the trainer just cooed in response. How kind of Alex to give her a shiny!

“You’re so lovely,” Sydney said. “Your mother’s going to love you. As for a name… let’s see, what do you think about ‘Sapphire’?” The creature nickered pleasingly and Sydney just smiled. “I thought you might like it. I can’t wait to show you your new home.” She recalled the pokemon, still smiling.

A clear of the throat reminded Sydney that the nurse was still there. “A very lovely specimen indeed,” she said, and Sydney got the sense she meant it. “Still, though! I don’t know what you were thinking by pushing yourself in three back-to-back matches in your condition, even early on!”

Matches… that’s right, she had collapsed during a match! “Did we win?” Sydney asked.

The nurse just sniffed indignantly, but the door flew open and Tammy rushed in. “Of course you did, silly,” she said, holding Sydney’s hands tight and going in to rub noses with her. The nurse’s eyes trailed from the two women holding hands to Tammy’s stomach—itself pregnant with pokemon eggs, and noticeably bigger than Sydney’s—and then took her leave with a long-suffering look. “Your plan went off without a hitch,” Tammy said. “Blastoise and Aggron pulled through, and right after they were done, Blastoise ran to pick you up. The whole crowd went wild.”

Sydney nodded. That was good news, at least. “What are people saying?”

“Honestly?” Tammy said. “They think the league overworked you by scheduling you for three back-to-back matches after you spent so long on hiatus. Your collapse is being written off as mere exhaustion, and the fact you still pulled through to win is actually benefitting your reputation!”

Sydney smiled with relief. That was fortunate. The last thing she needed was people looking into her health. They might put two and two together, like Vion had, and deduce she’d borne nonhuman children…

“Your secret is safe,” Tammy said, holding her lover’s hands tight. “All of ours are. And hey; when I heard you were close to recuperating, I thought I’d give you a certain treat.” When Sydney raised an eyebrow in query, Tammy just giggled and turned her head. “She’s ready for you all!” she called out. “Come on in!”

What followed was a veritable stampede of young pokemon. Sydney squealed with delight as the youthful critters poured in and nuzzled her, chittering and chirping and clacking happily. All six of her recent young were here: the brother-and-sister pair of Axew whom she’d called Tusk and Honey; her Fletchling daughter, Arrow; her two Litleo, Brick and Cinder; and her Tyrunt child, Duchess.

“Darlings!” she said with laughter as they crowded her, cooing and chirping happily. “Mommy’s fine, I promise!”

“They were quite put out seeing you in trouble on the TV,” Tammy teased, resting one hand on her own tummy. “Brick was liable to charge the set before Blaze and Zen stopped him.” The Litleo stood proudly, huffing out a growl.

“Naughty boy,” Sydney said playfully, reaching out to bop him on the nose. As she did, Arrow flitted down to perch on her shoulder and nuzzle against her, and as Sydney reached up to stroke her daughter’s downy feathers, Duchess plodded forward. The stone dragon nosed inquisitively at her chest, which set all the baby pokemon active with excitement.

“If I’ve been out, I suppose it’s been a while since you all have been fed,” Sydney said with resignation. “Tammy, could you make sure…?”

“I’ll guarantee nobody will interrupt,” the bespectacled woman said with a wink. Turning, she left Sydney’s room, shutting the door solidly behind her. As soon as she did, Sydney hoisted herself out of her shirt.