The night sky twinkled with stars…

Like an endless sea, dotted with islands, each with their own splendid, iridescent bonfire. The creatures here commune with the world around them in ways I had never seen before. 

They whisper to the elements, and their bodies are like... Like... 

Factories. 

I could see them all... Endlessly, they would come together in warmth... They would find the female's midsection swelling, swelling! And the shape of it was beautiful... So round... 

Heavy... 

Full of life... 

Mine... 

What would it be like... to have a mate, and create something new? What would it feel like to be so weighted at the hips, to feel my skin straining... I wanted it all…

I WANTED IT ALL... 

I! WANT! IT! ALLLLLL!!!

BOOM

"The fireworks are a bit much... Right, Li...?" 

Li sat next to Mua on a small hill, just outside of the village. From here, it was transparent how much small town like this was dying, being so cut off from all things they needed and bled dry from those who were supposed to help them. The increasing aggressiveness of the mine's Mystery Dungeon hadn't helped. Though there was now enough to go around, it was only because there were so few mouths to feed in the first place. The Alakazam was de facto leader at this point, and Noah, alongside Ilianna of course, had formed his Team officially. The celebration had come about because a Pelipper had arrived with a letter confirming their new Guild was accepted. They were officially a team... A nameless team though; they still couldn't settle on what they would be called.

Noah, Ilianna... 
Sayl and Farri... 
And of course, Li herself had Mua... 

Above, the sky sparked with fireworks made by a pleasant old Delphox who lived in town. Along with the Alakazam, they were one of about half a dozen still lingering in this place. But that would change, and soon; Li and Mua were currently gently cuddled belly to belly, feeling their offspring kick one another excitedly. Li's belly had actually shrunk as she had processed Noah's apparently extremely dense 'offering' of seed, but her midsection remained full and obviously pregnant. Already she felt movement and kicks. Mew had created a pregnancy to be envied…

But Mua had been pregnant long enough that the large Abra in her midsection was almost worse. It had been excited all evening from the activity, and simply wouldn’t stop pelting its mother’s insides with kicks…

"Ehh... Let them have their fun. They should be proud... Right?" She looked down at her sleepy girlfriend, who nuzzled up to her... 

"I almost wish you'd evolve already... After what happened, all this sleeping is making me nervous... What... Did happen, Mua? I never asked..." 

Mua sighed... "It's normal for me to sleep this much... But..."

Both of course were remembering that painful period they'd spent apart. Mua and Li had traveled to the Mystery Dungeon on beckoning of Mew. They had fought their way down to the great crystal egg and then... Then... 

"I don't remember..." Mua said, in an almost frustrated growl... "I was in a place... A wide empty field... And there was ocean on the horizon and..." 

"And a sunset?" Li asked nervously, reaching her paw across to rub Mua's midsection, as their little one gave a particularly nasty kick. It could sense its mother's anxiety... 

"Not a sunset... Not until later, no... It was a clear blue sky when I was there... But obviously you were there too..." Mua lifted her head, her expression furrowed in annoyance, but changed quickly to a wince... 

"C-Careful... He's kicked me so many times, my midsection is just squeezing up a storm today... Ah... Well... I remember being there for... Forever. For ages. And yet in a split second it was over... But I remember Mew in the tall grass... Flitting in and out... Watching me..." 

Mua grunted and put her claw on her middle... 

"Stop kicking little one! Please, ah..." 
Li had been staring at the immense crystal egg that stood proudly in the town square, (such as it was). Even from this distance, it pulsed clearly in the night's gloom, beckoning with a sweet mix of deep, lustful, maternal pink and eager, throbbing, virile blue. It was hypnotic, for certain…

But Mua’s soft whimper immediately snapped her back to reality, and she pulled her paw back nervously...

"Mua, do you..." 

"No, I have to say this! Because... I feel... Like it's important...! She... Wanted me to...  She wanted m-AHH!!!" She squealed hard... And a final well aimed kick caused a splash of fluids to soak the grass between her thighs...

Li of course leapt up immediately with a gasp. There was no mistaking what that was... Mua arched and clutched fist fulls of grass in obvious pain, her cheeks reddened... 

"Oh! Oh my, it's time...! The... The baby has decided...!" 

"Oh... Oh...! OH!" Li gasped out, her own middle feeling tight in that moment as she moved back and forth. Her panic subsided and she quickly knelt to pick Mua up, but was tossed back a couple feet by a wave of psychic force... 

"OOF!" She rolled a couple times, but jumped up and moved back to Mua, kneeling again to take her paw... 

"Got it, hurts too much to move..." 

"It's... Coming... NOW..." Mua panted, gripping her middle with one paw, and testing Li's strength with the other. It was lucky that Mua was so physically weak, but even still Li could hear her paw's muscles straining... 

"Calm down! Breathe!" Mua gasped hard and panted a few times. Li and her synced their breaths to a gentle, slow puffing... In and out... Li was sweating almost more than Mua was, though it was mostly because she couldn't help but imagine herself in the Abra's place in a few months... 

"Okay... Okay... When you feel the urge to push, you ne-" 

"AAAAAAA!!!" 

Li winced and flattened her ears. A few sharp spurts of fluids hit the grass, and Li heard muscles strain... "D-Don't do too much at once, you'll cramp and that will be even worse..." 

"WORSE?!" Mua shrieked in an accusatory way. Li couldn't help but flash her grin nervously... 

"Shut up. Anything you feel I'll have to feel a hundred times more. You're just having one k-URK!" 

Li was briefly choked by psychic paws, only enough to shut her up. She snapped her jaws closed, reading the message loud and clear;

Labour was hard. 

And yet, between her scent and her blush, Mua was obviously excited... Excited to meet her baby... 

To procreate... 

Fill her purpose... 

Make more...!

BOOM

Sayl bounced down a street in the ramshackle little village, looking idly for a place to nest. Farri was somewhere nearby, and would need it soon, after all. They hopped around the fountain that had been repurposed into a large nest. Inside the great egg was there, and a silhouette was just faintly visible:

Mew~ 

There were sounds coming from inside! It should hatch soon... 

Sayl thought, as they wandered off in another direction and-... Oh? 

They paused, and faced a Zigzagoon who had suddenly waddled up from the shadows. And indeed, they had waddled, because it looked like they were carrying a Rapidash foal... Oh. They were. It was half born, in fact... 

"AH! Miss?! Are you alright?!" The Zigzagoon was panting, feral and eager. Sayl winced as their pheromone receptors were nearly overloaded in a blast of heat. Giving birth, and to something so unnaturally large for you, and STILL wanting more...!? 

"Mew...? Oh... Oh my...~! Are we about to be given that whole 'infinite pleasure' thing?!" Sayl bounced a few times and then was suddenly pinned down by the Zigzagoon, which was easy given the weight of their rumbling middle. The Jumpluff went red in the face, and looked up confusedly as the... 
"Hrmph?! Oh... oh this isn't about me, this is... They've accidentally pinned me against the fountain... They're staring at... The... Egg?" 

Sayl fluffed their pompoms against the Zigzagoon a couple times, feeling if there was some way to move them... then they stopped, and frowned... 

"What... The... You're not a..." 

The Normal type was suddenly shoved aside, and a Sceptile grabbed up Sayl. Whatever thought process Sayl had was entirely interrupted as a Swapstone was crushed against them, and their newly grown puss invaded with enough hot shaft to wipe out the rest of their focus. Their face faded into a dreamy drooling mess as they were... 

Bred... 

boom... BOOM

Ilianna sat the edge of a small pond. In this flat and secluded forest area this pond was the only one for miles. Her expression was concerned, and as usual one hand was gently set upon her middle. It was alive with activity, now more than ever... 

And as her husband made the mother of all nests for her, her own thoughts had been focused stoically inwards... 

On becoming a mother... 

"Here they are!" 

She lifted her head casually and glanced up. Despite being alone, her keen senses had heard Noah coming for the past few minutes. He was proudly walking up to their secluded spot with two shallow baskets: 'bowls' of berries... 

"The variety around this place is a little harsh. If you can't stomach the Tamato, I'll eat it..." 

She took the basket and set it aside her. Noah sat heavily and put his arm around her. If she was glowing, he was beaming with pride. And Ilianna couldn't help but smile at how much of it was directed at her growing midsection. The male had saved a village and founded his own guild, and still his thoughts were bent on being excited for their little one. This was one of the many reasons she loved him, even if he did run off in the middle of the night sometimes to face Mystery Dungeons alone... 

"Why is this pond so remote... Why is there little water hereabouts?" she asked, idly putting her hand on a few of the berries one after another, trying to decide between them... 

"Apparently most of it is underground, like Li was saying." Noah said, once he had swallowed all he had stuffed into his maw in the few moments between sitting down and answering her question. Dewott were notoriously ravenous, given how studiously they trained, and Noah was no exception; his laid back and cocksure personality at times belayed a fighter whose name, alongside Ilianna's, had secured them a Guild…

"It cracks the ground in the winter and pools in the summer, forming little ponds like this that will ice over or dry out in the autumn. That's why it's so green, but there's not much water about…"

"The underground springs Li mentioned..." Ilianna said, after eating a few of the sweeter berries... "Are we safe from that threat?" 

"The caves haven't changed since the last time we checked them. The Cradily did damage, but it doesn't seem like there's any danger of... Well, Li says she has all the detonators stashed somewhere, and I trust her..." he licked his paws clean and then washed them in the pond as a pallet cleanser for the next berry, though he paused to lean down and nuzzle a cheek Ilianna's tummy as he saw a few kicks... 

"We couldn't get into all the rooms though... Could we?" Ilianna said, putting her hand in his paw after his affectionate gesture... 

"Don't worry about that. One or two rooms in a corner of the dungeon won't do much, even if they do go off... I think." he gave a crooked, unsure smile, but shrugged and nibbled another berry... "If it comes to it..." he said, through a half full mouth... "We'll take care of it." 

"Like good parents would." Ilianna said, with a light smile, before turning back and letting it drop off her face... "But without much standing water... What will we do for our twins?"

"Well... We'll have to bring fresh water in from somewhere. We're a small village, but with a proper team like us, we can grow and..." 

He stopped, a berry lifted halfway towards his muzzle. He swallowed what was in his mouth and turned with shining eyes... 

"Twins?!" 

He nearly pounced on her and hugged her tightly…
"So that's why you were talking with the Alakazam and the Blissey all day…"

"Mhm..." she sighed... "And now... I'm thinking about the best place for a nursery, so to speak... And a little pond like this wouldn't do…"

"No, no! You need at least a whole lake..." 

THUD

Noah's face turned with fierce annoyance at whomever had interrupted such a shining moment. Even with the fireworks popping occasionally in the sky, they knew that an earth shaking explosion like that wasn't natural. The ground was vibrating beneath their feet, and the pond rippled ominously. Both took off back to the town without a word…

Back at the town square, the fountain bubbled with water again. The egg was lazily rotating, casting its glittering lights on the Pokemon gathered there. A veritable parade had crawled from the Mystery Dungeon and followed their apparent master here, and had a new directive while they were at it... 

A Pikachu waddled around aimlessly, their belly sparking with the amount of Pichu packed into it…

A Skitty looked dizzy and dazed atop one of the hut roofs, her backside a mess of drooling seed. A satisfied looking Wailord hovered above the square, casting even the light of the moon into shadow, and infecting the scene with only the ominous glow of the egg... 

An Alakazam burst from one of the huts, gripping both of his spoons firmly. He didn't make any audible noise, but his nostrils flared and a silent jet of mist came from each, as it did from his ears. He had to literally focus on staying cool, else his brain's immense power would utterly fry his aged biology... 

"What is the meaning of this..." he stepped forward a few paces, looking around at the feral debauchery of the creatures, who were clearly not actual Pokemon. But they were taking up more and more space, as they continually and rapidly bred... Bellies swelled in moments, and their 'children' swelled to adults just as fast. It was only the blank look in their eyes and the casual nature of it all that had prevented a literal population boom... 

"What is the meaning of this???" he repeated and amplified to echo to every corner of the village. The Pokemon? all turned at once to stare at him... And he in turn looked up at the egg…

===

A long time ago... After the night's sky had blazed with light many began to spread the rumours that this village, and indeed this land was cursed.

A young male Abra pushed through the bushes, turning their head a bit as their psychic power swept over the forest nearby, searching... 

He was a lonesome sort, like many of his kin. He kept to himself, and allowed the others to do as they pleased. Occasionally when a friend needed help, or the situation was dire, he lent his paw. Now though, he was ridiculed. The display in the night's sky was appropriately burned into all of their memory as The Day the Sun Sprung Up. Some said it was Zapdos or Moltres, even Rayquaza. All Pokemon 'proven' to exist, or at least in the narrow minds of those unwilling to probe further... But the Abra had sensed things that night that left no doubt as to what had occurred. Something had come to destroy them... 

And the creature laid in front of him had stopped it. 

He had finally found where she had landed, after nearly a year of searching. At first it was merely a contemplative walk in the woods, attempting to clear his mind... But as time went on, he spent more and more time each day searching the area... He became utterly convinced that the 'echo' of power he could still sense was instead Mew's still lingering, if fading life force... 

And now, there... In the sparse, remote copse of trees and half buried in a crater... 

...was Mew. 

His mind raced, so his heart compelled him instead to go up to her beaten body and administer what assistance he could. Over a month's more time, he returned to her over and over again. With her condition as bad as it was, and wanting no one else to know of her, he didn't dare bring her back to his home. Instead he built a small hut around her... A shrine that to this day was still there... 

And then she had opened her eyes…

=== 

"I still remember her embrace. Tender, loving, maternal… As if I stood exposed before the sun itself…!" the Alakazam spoke calmly, but his unnaturally amplified voice made a few rocks hop and skip with the force. The more sensitive Pokemon? in the group trembled as if they would fall apart at any moment... 

"She was weak, and I ministered to her. Day in, and out. I gave her my time, my life... And my body. I would have begged for it, but she requested it of me. She wanted to return my kindness in the most wonderful way she could..." 
He put his arms out to either side. The air around his spoons warped and thrummed... 

"She gave me a CHILD. She asked for my seed, and I gave it to her. When she departed, I did not know where she would go, nor what she would do…" 

He lifted his arms to cross his spoons above his head. The psychic energy expanded outwards until it covered the whole village. Nearby, Ilianna skidded to a stop. Noah thumped into her back, but neither took another step forward. Even being mere Water types, they could still see the field of power produced... And hear the amplified speech of the Alakazam... 

"And when I had grown much older... Muanil appeared upon my door... Mother of Nothing, they say her name means... No! The translation as intended by those who once knew better is: 'Child of the Unseen Mother'...!" 

His tools touched together sharply and rang out like a tuning fork. The Pokemon? began to crumble quickly, one by one... 

"I know of her soft pink warmth and the endless depths of her sapphire eyes! I have but one child because I have never taken a mate! I never could after experiencing her..." The remaining Pokemon? all were destroyed in a sudden wave of force. The Alakazam receded his field and stepped forward slowly. Though he was old, his kind only grew stronger with age. Still, Ilianna and Noah were at his side in an instant, ready to be there in case his weakened body gave out... 

"So tell me, with your garish neon imitations... You, in the egg... Who ARE you?!" 

The tightly curled silhouette in the egg could be mistaken for Mew... HAD been mistaken for Mew. 

Now, it unfolded itself a bit into a decidedly more humanoid shape... 

A pair of hands pressed against the side of the shell. A pulse of power came from the being so strong that the Alakazam had to throw up his arms and defend both himself and the two Explorers at his sides. He skidded backwards at the force…

The silhouette pulled a hand back... formed it into a fist... And then slammed it squarely against the crack... 

Another rush of power knocked the Alakazam to his knees. His spoons clattered out of his claws. Noah caught him with a sharp 'whuf!', his own knees shaking as he looked up at the egg in terror... 

The creature inside prodded at the crack with their fingers... but finding the grip too difficult, pulled their arms back... 

And each arm... Unraveled... 

Four tentacles gripped the edge. There was a straining sound... A crackling…

Noah and Ilianna were forced to shield their eyes to the flare of white light... 

The night briefly turned to day... Li gasped and covered the recovering Mua protectively, squinting from even where she was... 

Noah blinked rapidly until he could see again. She stood there in the remains of the egg, tentacles lightly flailing until they curled around one another and formed a pair of hands once more, that then set on wide, feminine hips... She stepped forward and down from the fountain, as her intense eyes focused directly on the shaking Dewott... 

"You will call me... Deoxys... And I thank you for finally freeing me from my prison..." 

Ilianna's arm moved almost without her realizing. She flung a pair of vicious water shuriken against the Deoxys. Both struck the ample, shiny chest of the alien creature, but splashed harmlessly into wet splatters. The Deoxys turned casually. Ilianna had moments to think before the alien was suddenly in front of her, in a much more streamlined forme... 

"Imagine... Being up there, among the stars... Being able to feel every bit of what is going on, always out of reach. Now imagine..." She reared a tentacle back, and it became two. Her head grew spikes, but more importantly her power flared, causing Ilianna to be struck HARD and sent through the wall of a nearby building... 

"Being PUNISHED when you finally reach out and TAKE IT!"

They turned back to Normal and lifted their tentacles. The Alakazam suddenly flung off of Noah's back. All of this had happened too fast for him to even process, meaning he merely stumbled to a sit before he too was tossed into the same building Ilianna was... 

"Did you think your precious mother was some hero? Not in my eyes..." 

The Alakazam was floating there, limbs heavy, his own eyes closed until he opened them upon hearing that... 

"I was a fool. I was too eager to meet her again, and I was blind to the warning signs..." 

"Ah... But I have heard and seen everything. It was easy to lure you creatures to me... To inundate you with pleasure..." One of their arms untwisted enough until it formed a helix, which they lifted to show off... "Your genetic structure is fascinating. I admit... when I first descended to your world, I had every intention to simply consume you all. As was my nature, of course. But as I floated in orbit and sensed you all... And as I sat below, and was Psychic witness to every bit of rutting that went on in the forest above me..." 

She reformed a hand, and then patted the side of the Alakazam's face... 

"...I believe you converted me…"

"Do not think your aims are aligned with Mew's..." 

"As if I care." the alien said, turning and sauntering a few steps away. Their figure was almost bombastic, to the point of just barely skirting realism. Each of their formes seemed to have a different shape to them... Bulky, Slender, Toned, or just... Buxom... 

"I've seen what I want, sitting down there, waiting to gather enough energy. Mua provided much to me. If I were to have had my way, I would have drained the mutt physically, probably simply eaten the floating plant, and..." she turned again, glancing at the house where Noah and Ilianna were laid unmoving in the dim moonlight... "...You two... A bit of a wrench in my plan... Wandering here into the village and saving that 'poor' Abra... Ah... Well. I'll wait until they wake up before I decide what to do with them..." 

She spread her arms. From the dirt below formed a few Ground types, and the air above condensed into a few Flying types... 

"But! As I said... Your genetics are easy to manipulate, and so are you.” she glanced towards the house where Noah had been, and then smirked and looked back to the Alakazam… “All it took was a few visions… A small flex of my power, to make as many swollen middles as possible… And you did precisely what I wished… And now…”

She began to hover above the ground, exuding the same neon glow that the egg had. She extended her arms to indicate the Pokemon? that she had created…

“Perfect breeding machines... To spread across the land~ With as many in my own womb as I desire. Is that not what you wished? I'm simply doing it... Better!" 

She tittered a dark, not quite right sounding laugh as she landed and walked back up to the Alakazam. She reached out her hand and placed it firmly against his chest. The air around them rippled once more with power. The Alakazam arched his back and roared in pain as his psychic energy flowed from his body and into her's... 

"To think this well of energy was sat so nearby, but... I couldn't lure you! How utterly frustrating that you had encountered that pink wench before! And once I establish myself... I think perhaps I will scour this world to find her... And pay her back for entrapping me!!!"

There was a sharp whistling noise, and the Deoxys turned just in time for an equally sharp scallop to fly directly into one of her eyes... 

The Alakazam crumpled to the ground. The Deoxys stumbled backwards and let loose a shriek of such anger and pain that it caused the remains of her crystal egg to shatter further. She yanked it out and flung it away, but a paw jerked up and caught it perfectly... 

"You...!" she snarled, her eye slowly reforming so she could properly focus... 

Noah stood there... One arm wrapped around his ribs, but the other was lifted... He was battered and bruised and bloodied... A sharp slash of red would likely leave a dark, red scar just above his eye... But he spread his lips slowly in a defiant grin... 

"Hey. This is MY nest... And I don't take kindly to cuckoos..." 

The Deoxys looked at him, and then back at the house. Ilianna was gone too…

"Adorable. A distraction so your mate can get away? Both of you are tainted with negative energy due to your evolutionary lineage. You would be nothing but a waste..." She lifted her paw. Noah jerked his out, preparing... 

"A fly in the ointment... Squish~"

A huge slab of stone came down on her suddenly, crushing the fountain and the Ground types she'd conjured. Li slid down, her eyes literally glowing with fury... 

"That Rock Tomb won't keep her. Farri is with Mua and Ilianna. Go to them!"

"You're a Fighting type!" Noah snapped, though he did take a couple steps back... "You won't last three seconds..." 

"And you won't last two. GO!!!" 

Noah looked behind him. He spotted Ilianna limping away with a bloated Sayl, and saw Farri's silhouette beyond them in the gloom. They were all safe. He turned back... Puffed his chest a bit, despite how much it hurt... 

"Nah. Rather give them five seconds than run." he squared up. An audible crack and squelch made his eye twitch. But he drew both scallops and had a mad glint in his eye... He hoped his twins would do well after him... 

Despite herself, Li couldn't help but share his grin as she landed beside him. The slab of rock sliced cleanly in two and then burst to either side. The bulky female stood there, panting sharply... 

"You utter whore. I allow you to conceive despite mismatched sexual genitalia and THIS is the thanks I get?! You should be lining up, praising me even! You have at least a dozen inside your womb!" 

"I'll tell them about their psycho aunt when I feel like scaring them straight..." she said, whipping her sleeves sharply and posing... 

"Oh... Psycho Aunt... How amusing..." The bulk melted off of her... She dusted her knuckles and stood straight once more with a hand on her hip... 

She was staring down an injured Water type and a Fighting type. She rolled her neck a bit... "I suppose when your 'employees' become uppity... You need to put them in their place!" She crouched, her body reforming so she could pounce forward in Attack... Noah and Li braced…

Time stood still a moment, as Noah reflected on all that had lead here. The Deoxys had come to defeat them all. It had been within the egg all along, apparently trapped there until it could absorb enough energy to be 'reborn'. It had clashed with Mew, and lost, and then it had stolen her image to lure Pokemon in for its twisted desires... She was a virus. She would spread through all the land and take over. And she'd do it through the very fertility that had lured Noah in…

And in all this... If this wasn't truly Mew... Then where was she...?

BOOOOOOM

Noah and Li stood stock still for a few long moments until they realized they were both not only still alive, but neither had been harmed. They felt over themselves, and then looked up in shock... 

"You...!?" 

Noah gasped upon seeing the regal Dragonite stood there, claw held out to catch the Deoxys' tentacle. The alien looked stunned as the great dragon breathed a sharp jet of steam, then reeled back and headbutted the alien hard enough to slam her into a new crater... 

He turned and looked to them, his expression firm and focused. It was utterly terrifying to see a creature so strong flexing their abilities, even if they weren't aimed at you... 

"Go with your mates. Escape this. It is not your destiny to die at this being's hands..." 

Noah was still slackjawed, but he recovered faster since he recognized the Dragonite. Why he was out here, how he had come to intervene, and what to do next were all questions that had to be answered later. For now, without a word, he turned and dashed... er, limped towards his mate. Li bowed anxiously and then turned to catch up with the Dewott, to help him along... 

With both of them gone, he turned back as the Deoxys stumbled back to a stand... "Damn you... How... A mere Dragonite... There are hundreds of them across the world. You’re not unique! None could be so strong as to face me..." 

"The power of the Dragon is legendary. As is mine." he said, his stood there in a wide stance with an expression of disregard. He was utterly unphased by the sight of the alien in front of him... 

She shrieked and rushed forward in her Speed forme, but it quickly became apparent that her raw ability was nothing compared to the learned techniques of the Dragonite. And her balance of abilities meant she was always a step behind... She tried to be faster, but in her Speed forme her attack power was low... But in her Attack forme, she could be more easily dodged... And worse... In her Defense forme, she still felt the pain of every blast of energy or tail swipe…

She lifted her flat Defense forme arms just in time to block a sharp blow that sent her stumbling through a wall. The village was utterly destroyed by now, but the Dragonite had saved all the other inhabitants... Leaving nothing to stop him from hammering the Deoxys until she was worn down... 

"How?! GRAH! You... Cannot oppose me... I will outbreed you, and every one of your Dragons…"

 "I am not strong because I am a Dragon..." the Dragonite growled, looming above her now. His undersized wings spread, and then a flash of royal blue energy formed from them to give him a proper wingspan, allowing him to flap on spectral wings. He hovered there, the downwards force of his flapping flattened the grass around the Deoxys and pinned their bulky shape to the ground... 

"I am strong... Because I took an oath to defend this land... And I have dedicated myself to it... To defeating those like you... Who would misuse such fertility for conquest... Instead of love…"

"Your pithy speeches mean nothing!" the Deoxys shrieked, but she was obviously panicking a bit. The Dragonite's eyes were glowing, and they lifted their head. From the back of their throat, a light shined... Energy crackled around their maw as they gathered more and more... The Deoxys' eyes shrank. She jerked her arms up as if to deflect the blow... ka

 BOOM 

The Hyper Beam struck with such force that even so far away into the night, Ilianna was blown to her knees by the rush of wind that followed. She scrambled to her feet and looked up at the lingering, draconic-shaped cloud of crackling smoke that slowly dispersed above the village. The others of course were staring too. Was it that easy...? Had the Dragonite finished her off...? The smoke suddenly deformed at one side as a figure streaked out of it, leaving a faint trail of energy as they weaved off into the distance... 

"It's the alien..." "She's going back to the Mystery Dungeon…"

Within a few hours, the whole team was sat in a tent in some clearing not far from the village… or what was left of it. A few dungeoneers had of course been right behind the Dragonite, and had set up triage to make sure everyone was unharmed... 

Li was physically fine, but rubbed her middle with a bit of frustration now. She felt the same as all of them; betrayed and furious. Sayl was the only one more dreamily staring off into space, enjoying the feeling of the bloating seeds inside them as they idly snipped at Farri's furry, pregnant belly. They were making cute patterns, but Farri was far more distracted.

Noah and Ilianna were bandaged, and laid against one another. Their eyes were closed, and despite the dire situation, they could focus on little at the moment but recovery. Much had seemingly changed in the blink of an eye, and they hated to think of what it might mean for them. Luckily, they were mostly left alone with their thoughts until the Dragonite entered the tent and looked to each of them... "We have confirmed. She fled back to the mine... Likely back to the bottom of the dungeon. Had one of our scouts not noticed that immense spike of energy before she ‘hatched’, I might not have been able to reach you in time..." 

"What is she doing down there...?" Li asked immediately, standing up, then wincing and holding her back. Farri huffed and depressedly set her head down. She had been afterglowing when the Pokemon? showed up, and had snuck away with Sayl the moment she could. Now, despite being the one to help their sparse handful of villagers to safety, she felt a little embarrassed. It was like she had missed the fireworks because she was in the bathroom... 

"The crystals. Similar to the one in the Deoxys' chest, but not quite the same. It's safe to assume the Swapstones are her creation, or at least caused by her being there, given her ability to change between Formes..." she patted her paws and kneaded a bit nervously. Sayl tended to her even more, and attempted to relax her again... "I suspect that the energy stored down there is immense?" 

"Or she sees it as her nest." The Dragonite spoke up... "That is more likely. She absorbed much from the Alakazam, and will likely rest and recover there. And then she will return..." 

Silence hung heavy on them all…

"So what do we do about it?" 

Noah's voice came, haggard and weak, but with a determination that was almost frightening. He and Ilianna helped each other to a stand, despite their conditions. They stood straighter, their eyes igniting once more with the dim flicker that would soon grow into their fierce, paternal, protective spirit…

"It's our town, isn't it?" Noah said, thumping a paw into his other, and then wincing. Ilianna set her head on his shoulder... "OUR nest. And like I said; I don't take kindly to invaders to my nest. So I'm going to go and drive this one out…"

"...are you mad?" Everyone looked from Noah to Li... "You barely hurt her. You threw your shell into her eye and she recovered in moments. And she pummeled you before you could do anything to react to it. And as the Dragon just said, she took from the Alakazam. She'll be even more powerful then, won't she?" 

Another heavy silence. Noah shook his head hard to interrupt it... "She took us off guard. That isn't going to happen again. She has no where to hide; her so called nest was destroyed by the Cradily, so she’s somewhere in the mines. We're going to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone anymore." 

He put his fist out in a defiant gesture... "ALL of us can do this. Anyone can look smug with a dagger in their opponent’s back, so let's see how she fairs when she has to take her punches in her chin..." 

The Dragonite chuckled knowingly and turned to leave the tent. Li still frustratedly looked between them, seeing that Farri's tail was wagging and even Sayl was waking up a bit... "You're all mad bastards." she growled, before she stood up and waddled from the tent…

On the edge of the makeshift camp, one paw on her back and one on her belly, she stared up at the stars and grit her fangs loudly. She recognized Noah’s soft footsteps as he came up behind her…

"This where you give me the leader speech? Convince me I have to save some destroyed village, cuz it's ours?" 

"No." 

She turned in surprise, and saw Ilianna standing there. Noah had helped her walk there, given her injured leg, but he was already turned to go back to the tent, leaving the two females alone…

"I'm not certain we've ever stopped and properly spoke, come to think." Ilianna and Li stood across from one another in the dim twilight, both in the same leaning pose thanks to their heavy middles... "I will fight for the nest. I must. I am due soon, and I want a good place for my little ones..." the Frogadier turned and looked at the swaying fields. In the early twilight, the scene looked too dark to make out... 

"And I like this place." 

Li stared for a long moment, then sighed and stepped foward. She and Ilianna stood almost belly to belly, despite the height difference... "I wish to be with Noah. I'm thrilled for Mua. And I don't even mind Sayl and Farri, most times..." she grinned weakly... "But... I don't want to throw all that away just for some stupid little village. It's destroyed. We need to let it go..." 

"It isn't about the place. We chose it, but it is one part of a world that would be threatened by this Deoxys. If we allow her to run rampant... Soon there will be no where else to run…"

Ilianna kindly rubbed at Li's middle, expertly massaging kinks. Li winced and couldn't help but sigh in relief and pleasure... 

"We could turn and run now. We could wander the roads, as Bandits. We could find Pokemon, and offer our services. Perhaps at very high prices..." 

Li's eyes locked with Ilianna's, and her shoulders sagged... "Don't be coy. I understand..." 

"We might settle elsewhere. Perhaps in another town, more crowded and beholden to its own Guild... Which we would likely be forced to join..." 

The Mienshao closed her eyes to block out that sharp, accusatory gaze... 

"Okay, okay... But why us!? That Dragonite is strong enough..." 

"He has business elsewhere. Many Pokemon? came out of the Dungeon, and he has committed to ensure that no one else on the surface is hurt before he joins us in the Dungeon. By then it may be too late... Noah was right. We must strike the moment we are recovered. In a few days... We will go as a Team, and face this threat..." Ilianna placed her hand atop Li's paw. Li opened her eyes and looked at her middle... then at Ilianna's... 

"...Fine. I understand. We're fighting for our nest... Our world... Our home." she grinned softly... "I hope your Noah is good at rebuilding huts, because I'm sick of sleeping in caves..." 

Ilianna chuckled and nodded softly to reassure her, whether it was true or not. She turned with her to return to the village. Admittedly, both of them remained terrified deep down... The idea of facing such a threat could be met with nothing but fear, if you were rational... But it was either face the threat head on... or sit and wait for it to show up on your doorstep.

Ilianna and Li returned to the tent and informed Noah, and the others, that they would be descending as a Team... 
"Thank Mew... Without you, Li, not sure what we would have done. You're pretty strong, you know?" Li thumped her sleeve atop Noah's head, though she did so very gently. He still winced, then chuckled... 

"Alright... We can do this guys... After all, we're Team... Team... Come on Noah, this is the moment, now we really need a name... Team...!" 

"Mua?" 

Everyone turned at once. Li had noticed Mua floating gently into the room, arms wrapped tightly around a little bundle. They went silent upon realizing what it was... Li rushed over to her and hugged her. She winced, but smiled…

"I'll be recovered too, in a few days. I want to fight. I need to... For my little one..." 

She lifted her arm a bit to show the tightly swaddled Abra male who had been born, eyes tightly closed of course, and a small mohawk already on his head. Farri, Sayl and Ilianna gathered around immediately, gushing uncontrollably about the adorableness. Mua looked embarrassed, but proud, if a little put upon... 

"Congrats." Noah said. He might have been more excited, but the wind had been taken out of his sails enough times that he was content to simply be passively smug at this point, rather than actively cocky. Li looked at him, then back at Mua, who was softly answering questions... 

She stared at the female who had produced her child... THEIR child... She couldn't help but give her sharp toothed grin, and for a moment steal Noah's usual radiant pride... 

"Does he have a name...?" 

Li blinked and looked at him. Mua lifted her head and caught Li's gaze. They stared for what seemed like eternity as the others held their breath... Then Li turned, as if inspired…

And said… “Orin...”

Deep in the mines, the a streak of light whirled by. Occasionally a rock wall would implode as if hit by massive force. Something was pinging around like a pinball in sheer fury…
 
The stairs to her nest were gone... They had collapsed. 

In fact, the whole Mystery Dungeon was starting to sag and decay without her presence. More than that, there were no Pokemon? anymore without her passively generating them... 

She burst up into the Mines proper. She stomped through it and again, slammed her fist through a wall... then she shrieked and pulled back as a fat glob of magma spat and hit the ground with a hiss. 

She stared at it, and then floated up and through the mines, exploring it more idly now after being snapped out of her blind fury... "Perhaps this is not so bad..." 

She floated down a flight of steps, and around a corner, pausing as she came to a sealed off door. A cave in had claimed this one, but with a flick of her tentacles she rearranged the stone to give her passage through and... 

'Powder! Do not enter! Highly Flammable!' 

She looked at the signs in turn, as well as the multiple barrels and boxes stacked up, each etched with a bright orange symbol of an explosion. She noticed a crack on the wall glowing with heat, dangerously close to one of the boxes. For a manic moment she thought about widening it, but instead floated to the dusty workbench nearby instead. With another wave of her tentacle, the dust drifted off of it... 

Blueprints... A map of the mine? And several areas marked... 

"Explosives here..." she read out loud, her tentacles weaving into fingers as she picked up the map... "Structural weakness... Whole cave will be flooded... Seal off Dungeon..." she growled, and then nearly crumpled it before turning it over, realizing that it had once been folded and marked hastily with another message... 

"DO NOT BLOW: ENTIRE VILLAGE AND SURROUNDING AREA WILL BE FLOODED”

She dropped the page and picked a few more things from the desk... A pencil, a pickaxe... A small device...?

She turned it over a couple times before realizing there was a seam and popping it open. There was a safety cage over a large button... 

"A radio transmitter...? No..." 

She turned... Her eyes suddenly sparking with the reflection of the magma's glow... 

"A detonator..." 

Her fist closed around it tightly...