"Be careful, Hilda!" A young woman yelled. "Don't forget to be back in an hour!"

"I always am!" The eight year-old called back.

Hilda ran passed the quiet house, giggling. Her town was like ghost town during the day. All the grown-ups were at work and most of the children were at school. Hilda was homeschooled because that was what her parents wanted. She never thought to ask why. As long as she was allowed to visit the forest during recess, she didn't care. Her mother was against her going, but the wild Pokémon were friendly and her father said it was good for her.

"Pup!"

Hilda looked down and laughed. Two Lillipups were running besides her. Their names were Ruff and Tuff. Hilda always gave her Pokémon friends names because it sounded weird calling them their species name, at least to her. Sometimes Watson, a Purloin, would join the group but he was probably taking a nap somewhere.

"Watchog!"

Hilda looked up and found the source of the voice. Two Watchogs were watching her from a fat tree. There was a wide, hollow hole in the center, overflowing with leaves and sticks.

"You moved again," Hilda said slowly, "That must mean…"

She shot one of the Watchog's a questioning look. He nodded and hopped on a nearby branch. She hoisted herself up to the hole and grinned. Inside were three eggs, all of them shaking. Her mother told her that meant they were going to hatch soon.

"You're going to be a mother soon, Rosie!" She said to the other Watchog.

Rosie gave her a prideful, but tired look. Hilda reached into her bag and brought out two bags. One of them was her lunch, but the other was filled with various Pokémon foods.

"I told Father you guys were going to have kids. He came back yesterday with all of this," Hilda said happily, "This should make things a little easier, especially since not many berries grow around here."

Mister, the male Watchog, examined the bag while Hilda sat down to eat. She watched the two Lillipups playing in the long grass, using Tackle on each other. They stopped to stare at her when she took out a Pecha Berry sandwich.

"Nope!" she stated, stuffing the rest of her food in her mouth.

()

After she finished her lunch, Hilda made her way back home. Her father would be home soon. If she was late, he wouldn't teach her Gym class. There was nothing wrong with her mother teaching it, but her father rarely had half or whole days off. When she reached the forest edge, she saw his tall, bulky outline.

"Father!" she yelled.

She ran up and jumped on his back. He laughed and spinned her around, causing her to giggle loudly. When she spot a green and black sphere on his waist, a mischievous shine appeared in her eyes. She made a swipe at it, pushing the button in the center during the process. The ball opened and bright light formed a two-headed beast. The two heads made eye contact and started to bite each other.

"Hey! Stop that!" her father yelled.

Hilda laughed and climbed off her father's back. She calmly walked up to the beast and petted his back. The heads stopped fighting and calmed down.

"You'll make an amazing Dragon Tamer when you become of age," her father said happily.

"I think I'll want to train more than dragon types, Father," Hilda said.

He gave her an approving nod and recalled the Zweilous. She quickly led her father inside, chatting about her day so far.

"So, what are you going to teach me today?" she asked, excited.

"Well, since it has been awhile, why don't you do some basic warm-ups?" he said.

She gave him a goofy grin and started to do some push-ups. Her father had been teaching her how to fight when he taught gym. He would only do it because she promised only to fight if she or others were in danger and it was the only option.

"Do I have to do curl-ups too?" she asked.

"What do you think?" he replied, chuckling.

Hilda hated curl-ups.

()

"Whew. Your parents take forever to get to bed," Hilda sighed.

Her friend gave nervous chuckle and her other friend gave an annoyed sigh.

"So was there a reason you forced us to sneak out of our rooms in the middle of the night?" he asked.

"I want to show you something," she said, barely containing her excitement.

"You do know we need eight to ten hours of sleep, right?" he said.

"Oh, stop being a smarty pants!" Hilda said.

Even though he expressed his dislike for what they were doing, he followed them into the woods anyway. A guide walked behind Hilda, mainly to guide the two behind her. She remembered the path well enough to be able to walk at night. However, she had an extremely clumsy friend.

"Are you okay?" she called behind her.

"Yeah," Bianca said, brushing the dirt off her pjs, "I think I tripped over something fuzzy."

"That wasn't very nice, Wattson," Hilda said.

A sarcastic meow was heard from the treetops. Hilda rolled her eyes and took a sharp left. They had arrived. The three eggs, now violently jerking around, were on the forest floor. Rosie was sitting beside them.

"Stop! Hog!"

Mister was on the tree right behind them, his fangs glowing. Hilda stared into his intimidating, red eyes. She positioned her body in front of her two friends. Mister slowly loosed the energy in his fangs and made his way toward Rosie. The eggs had started to flicker, illuminating the grass around them. Hilda saw her friends eyes widen and smiled. They couldn't get any closer to the eggs. Not only would Mister not allow them, but also the newborns could mistake them as their parents. The eggs stopped moving. Silence fell over the woods as Hilda held her breath. A bright light exploded from the eggs, making her look down so she wouldn't get blinded. When the light finally died down, three Patrats sat where the eggs once were. Two of them started to bawl, most likely wanting food. The other one tried stand on two feet, but fell over.

"Awww! They're so cute!" Bianca quietly squealed.

"It's late," Cheren said, "We should get back."

Hilda stuck her tongue at him. They slowly made their way back to Nuvema Town, making quiet conversation.

"I haven't heard of many people witness an egg hatching in the wild," Cheren committed, "The parents would attack anyone near their eggs."

"Me and Rosie became friends after her trainer let her go," Hilda said quietly, "He wasn't very nice. His other Pokémon beat her up. As for Mister, I think he always lived in this forest. It took longer for him to trust me."

"That's so sad!" Bianca said a little too loudly.

A couple of Pidove made angry noises at Bianca. However, they quickly flew away after series loud noises rang through the air. To Hilda, they sounded like a book being slammed to the ground, only louder. She started to shake, but she wasn't quite sure why. Cheren didn't say anything smart for once.

"Th-h-hat came from home…" Bianca said shakily.

They broke out into a sprint. The trees and bushes turned into a blur, all Hilda could see was the path to get out of the forest. It felt like an eternity had passed when they stumbled out of the forest. The town was in an uproar. Strangers were appearing on flying Pokémon or just appearing out of thin air. Later, Cheren would tell her they were the police. She had never seen a police officer before. Bianca's father spotted them and yelled something. Cheren's parents ran over, embracing him in a hug. Bianca was swooped up by her father and carried to her house. Hilda, confused on where her parents were, made her way to her house. There was yellow tape surrounding it and even more strangers. She tried to sneak under the tape, but someone caught her.

"Now, Miss. You aren't allowed to go in there," the man said.

"Yes I am! This is my house!" Hilda yelled, "Let me go!"

"Your house?" he asked before whispering in collar, "I found her."

The man's grip loosened and Hilda slipped out, bolting to her house. But the front door was locked. She heard the man walking behind her.

"Mother, Father and Billy are locked inside!" she said, scared.

"Your mother is in a tent behind your house," a man in a brown coat said.

Hilda didn't like the man's tone. It sounded like he wasn't telling her something. He didn't mention her father or Billy. She spotted two people carrying something. It looked like a black, lumpy sleeping bag.

"Sir. We found this at the scene," another man said.

"Looks empty. Check his trainer card," the brown coat man said.

Hilda lunged at the other man. He had Billy's Poké-ball! She managed to swipe it and opened it but Billy didn't jump out.

"What did you do to Billy? Where's Father?" Hilda yelled.

"Hilda?"

Her mother was lying on a flat board carried by two people. Hilda ran over and asked what was going on. Her mother's eyes were wet with tears.

"We….won't be seeing your father anymore."