Chapter 9: Bugs Migration

"I had almost forgotten it was that time again..." Gary murmured to Kagome, who was shifting from foot to foot in excitement.

"The Yanma come back today with their offspring! And after them, the Butterfree and Beautifly will return!" she said quickly, gazing at the skies in anticipation.

"Do you think Ash's Butterfree will be with them this year?" the redhead asked thoughtfully, making her glance at him.

"He had a Butterfree?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. He let it go when it found its mate years ago. I've kept an eye out for it, but I don't know how to tell it from the rest of them, and Ash has never really thought about him returning," Gary said quietly, glancing towards the training grounds, where their lover was busy with 'toughening up' Kagome's Ninetails.

"That must have been difficult," the woman thought of having to release her Espeon, and felt her throat tighten.

"No doubt. But I know he's done it more than once. His Squirtle is a firefighter, Bulbasaur is at Grandpa's playing president over the grass Pokemon, and his Charizard is off on some 'soul searching' to make himself stronger. That's not even half of them," Gary sighed.

"Oak has most of his Pokemon still...do you think he would like to bring them over here?" Kagome asked curiously, making the male blink in surprise.

Why hadn't he thought of it?

VI

Kagome laughed as the Butterfree and Beautifly circled her excitedly. She was happy they were back in their meadow, knowing that her ninetails enjoyed to chase and play with them. Though she did not get to breed these pokemon, since they migrated to Mount Fuji to breed, she still enjoyed seeing what each new generation brought back. This year, the new insect pokemon had greater speed than the last generation.

She was feeding a Beautifly some nectar when Espeon came running up to her, chirping in a worried way to get her attention. She looked down at her fox, and followed her back to the house quickly. She paused a moment, struck by how cold it was in the house, before she noticed one of Gary's Arcanine laying motionless in the living room.

"Go get Gary and Ash," she told Espeon immediately, and ran to the canine's side.

"Come on, you need to wake up," she murmured, rubbing the fur on his nose gently.

"...I'll call Brock," Ash declared upon entering the room, Gary rushing past him to get to the canine.

"What's wrong with him?" the red head demanded, but Kagome just shook her head.

"Hell if I know. I only know about the breeding process, and how to take care of the mothers and young. An adult male...I don't know how to fix this. I don't even know what this is," she said quietly, and Espeon rubbed her head against her master comfortingly.

"Maybe he ate something?" Gary mused, and lifted Arcanine's lips back carefully.

"Brock is flying here. He said he'd be here in a few minutes," Ash said nervously, wishing to comfort them but not knowing how.

"That's great. Maybe he can figure it out! I can't find any traces of food in his teeth, so I don't think its anything he ate..." Gary said thoughtfully.

"The doctor is in the house!"

The three looked up to see Brock standing in the doorway, bag in hand as he walked towards them. Ash grinned, while Kagome looked at Gary curiously, having never met the male before. The red head moved to sit beside her, stroking Arcanine's head soothingly, and she gave him a hug.

"It's pretty cold in here," Brock mumbled as he listened to the canine's heartbeat.

"I'll say, I wonder why the fire isn't going..." Ash agreed.

"You were using Gary's female Arcanine to train the Ninetails and Vulpix always follows you around. Houndoom is in the barn probably," Kagome said thoughtfully, blinking when she saw Espeon rush out quickly.

"I wonder if its a problem with his flame sac..." Brock said as he took his temperature.

"Could the cold be effecting it?" Gary asked quickly, and the man nodded.

"Doom!"

Brock dove out of the way expertly, and Ash tackled Gary and Kagome away from Arcanine as Houndoom let out a bellowing flamethrower, straight at the other dog. Kagome screamed in horror as the flames engulfed Arcanine, but Gary grinned.

"Of course! Fire will help, if the flame sac is going out because of the cold! Arcanine's ability makes it stronger when a fire attack is used against it!" the researcher exclaimed, and let out a relieved sigh when the dog Pokemon opened his eyes quickly.

"I wonder if the air conditioning has frozen over. It's not normally this cold in here," Kagome said quietly, scratching Houndoom behind the horns in thanks.

"'Speon."

She smiled down at the fox, who then leapt into her arms, demanding attention for all the running she had done.

"Ar!" Brock ignored the short bark as he put the end of his stethoscope to the dog's chest.

With Arcanine awake and better, they were all relaxed. That is, until he bit Brock.

VI

"Arcanine!" Gary sighed as he reprimanded his Pokemon, who whimpered in a confused manner.

"Sorry about that Brock. The Arcanine are extremely distrusting of strangers," Kagome spoke to the stranger, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Who is this delicate flower that has stolen my heart! Beautiful, please, tell me your name so that I might profess my love to the world!"

Ash glanced at Gary cautiously, to see the red head glowering dangerously at Brock. Kagome yelped as Gary suddenly appeared before her, pressing her against his back protectively, the man baring his teeth at his new 'rival' in a grin.

"Brock, don't you know? This is the girlfriend of both Ash and myself," the Pokemon researcher said in a low voice, making the woman look up at him hesitantly.

"Gary, are you feeling alright?" she asked quietly, and the man looked back at her, a decidedly perverted gleam in his eyes.

" 'Breon!"

Kagome blinked when the male fell away from her, now laying on the floor, twitching.

"T-That was Faint Attack!" Ash exclaimed as he rushed to Gary's side, checking him over worriedly.

"Croak!"

Kagome gaped when she saw Brock now on the floor as well, a Croagunk chuckling over him, fingertips glowing.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?"

VI

"I see. So all three of you are lovers. Wow! You're so lucky Ash!" Brock turned to his old friend, grinning.

"Eh?" the black haired male blinked at him, wide-eyed.

Gary snickered at their lover, while Kagome's attention was caught by Espeon, who had looked up suddenly, eyes wide. Kagome tilted her head at the pokemon, who stood quickly, motioning for her to follow.

"Its time then?" the woman asked excitedly, following her psychic partner to the backyard, unaware that the others had followed as she came up to a small kiddy pool filled with water, a glowing egg sitting inside of it.

"What's this?" Brock asked curiously, earning an irritated scoff from Gary.

"Gary's Kingdra bred with a Lapras. It was an accident. Gary is still pissed at Kingdra for it," Ash answered, coming up beside the pool, grinning in excitement.

"Oh! That explains the pool then! I haven't seen a Lapras since you let yours go to it's mom!" Brock said as he stood beside his friend, watching the glowing egg.

"I'll go get my chart," Gary mumbled in an uncaring manner as he walked away.

"Prissy," Kagome scoffed quietly at him, before turning back to the egg as it began glowing brightly, only dimming a few moments later to reveal a small Lapras, who stared at her in a happy manner, before it began swimming about the pool, singing non-stop.

"Wow! You could fit it in your arms!" Ash exclaimed at the tiny pokemon, who gave him a curious look as it stopped swimming before him.

"She is rather small...I'll have to keep her in our quarantine observatory until its big enough to stand a chance against the Sharpedo," Kagome said thoughtfully as Gary returned, looking down at his clipboard as he approached.

"Quarantine observatory?" Brock asked curiously as the Lapras let him pet it.

"The basement was converted into a deep pool. We use it to house water pokemon with special needs, like when they're ready to birth, or if they're sick and we're worried about a low populated herd catching it. Normally, we let things run its natural course, but when they're controlled breedings, I like to use the pool," Kagome said as she beckoned the small pokemon to her.

"That's amazing! You guys have an awesome set-up here!" the pokemon doctor exclaimed.

"Gary designed everything himself. There's a battle field, a barn, a few pastures, the attic was converted into a coop for the birds that aren't nocturnal, a really big water observatory with a tunnel going through it in pretty much any direction you would want to see, a few smaller lakes and ponds, and we're almost done with the fire zone!" Ash said in a proud manner, giving his boyfriend a smile, though Gary didn't see it as he was staring at the small Lapras now in Kagome's arms.

"W-wha-but...all of my data said it would be a Horsea!"

"Disappointed?" Kagome asked over her shoulder as she led them to the basement.

"No...this is actually very amazing..." Gary murmured, staring at the mini Lapras in fascination.

"Maybe you'll be easier on Kingdra now!" Ash grumbled in a relieved voice.

"Amazing!" Brock gasped as they came to bottom of the stairs, revealing the well lit, underground pool that spanned the length of the house, a thick platform of concrete going along its length for them to walk on.

"Here you are little one," Kagome murmured as she let the pokemon jump into the pool, swimming in circles on the surface happily.

"Kingdra is in there, isn't she?" Gary asked as he expertly estimated the baby's size and weight, years of experience and training paying off as the pokemon swam.

"Yes...I wonder why she hasn't come to greet Lapras," the female murmured in a worried manner, before she quickly stripped until she was in her black lace bra and panties.

She quickly slipped into the pool as she heard exclamations of shock from the males still on shore. She gave them an amused glance as Lapras began to swim around her in a playful manner.

"My underwear cover more than the bikini that Ash picked out for me anyways," she giggled, tickling under the pokemon's chin, earning a trilling laugh.

" 'Dra?"

Kagome grinned as she saw Kingdra approaching warily, eying the Lapras in suspicion as it came closer to her, giving the pokemon a wide berth. She watched the seahorse as it stopped just a bit away from them, obviously wanting to come to her, but clearly afraid of the baby pokemon.

"You weren't afraid of the Lapras you bred with...this is your baby. Why are you afraid of her?" Gary called out, only for Kingdra to look at him, her muzzle making a distinct biting motion, before it pointed it at the baby.

"...You're afraid it will eat you...its a baby!" the researcher rolled his eyes.

"But the father wanted to breed. In the wild, its normal to breach species to breed, when genders of your own are scarce..." Kagome recalled her classes aloud, rewarded with a nod from the Kingdra, before it swam towards Gary, obviously intent on going to its Pokeball, abandoning the baby.

"So if the mother is low on the food chain, and the partner is a predator, then the baby has to be the same species as the mom, or she abandons it?" Gary asked, frowning as he allowed his pokemon to return.

"Pretty much..." Kagome said quietly, hugging the small Lapras to her, which let out a small, mournful whistle.

"And if the mother is a predator, and the baby turns out to be the other species?" Ash asked, wary of the answer.

"The circle of life, I suppose," Gary answered, his voice quiet.