Eggs

"Skarmory can't lay eggs," Steven argued.

This obstinate response caused Winona to frown at him and then down at the large gray Pokemon egg cradled in her arms. "Oh, but of course they can," she told him, rubbing the thin shell with her hand, as if comforting it from Steven's hurtful denial of its existence. "They're birds, for one. And almost all Pokemon except genderless ones can lay eggs. Did you fail Pokemon biology in college?" Winona glanced up and gave him "the look"—the same disgruntled look that she'd given him during childhood when he'd lost a drawing she'd made, during high school when he'd dumped her best friend, and during college when he'd skipped one of his final exams. It was the look she gave when she was fed up with him.

Apparently, he lack of knowledge of his own Pokemon was enough.

Steven wasn't good at much outside of geology and Pokemon battling, which was why the ex-champion of the Hoenn League was exasperated and out of a job after he'd had his title relinquished by a young woman from Littleroot Town. His pension from the League was barely enough to tide him over, so a secondary form of income that didn't involve his useless hobby of rock collecting was essential if he was going to eat anything more than ramen every night for dinner. He received plenty of sympathy, but no assistance from anyone around him—an ex-champion, though esteemed, was still an ex-champion, and that was apparently not enough to warrant help.

Interestingly, it was Winona—his childhood friend and the leader of Fortree City's Gym and someone whom he hadn't had contact with in years—who told him about breeding his Pokemon and selling their eggs to young trainers for profit. At first, he was worried that the tall, slender, and unassuming woman was goading him into a clearly illegal trade, but he discovered that it was indeed perfectly legal and acted as almost an adoption service of sorts. In addition, Winona convinced him that breeding his team and giving away their offspring would be a perfect selling point—after all, who wouldn't want an egg from the team of a former champion? Eventually, Steven agreed, on the condition that he was allowed to screen the paperwork for all potential buyers to ensure that they weren't of unsavory origin.

So far, he'd bred his Metagross several times—he was surprised how much a trainer was willing to pay for a Beldum—but it was Winona who'd encouraged him to have both of their Skarmories mate to produce an egg, something Steven was skeptical of happening. Even though he knew the offspring of a gym leader's Pokemon and an ex-champion's was valuable, he'd never come across a Skarmory egg in his life—he'd believed that Skarmories had live births. He'd remembered learning in school that there was one bird-like Pokemon that gave birth to living young and suckled milk instead of laying eggs like most, so he'd simply assumed that Skarmory was that Pokemon.

Of course he'd been wrong. Steven was never much of an academic type anyway.

"I thought Skarmory had live births," he explained. "I didn't know they laid eggs. I thought they were one of the few who did."

Winona rolled her eyes, clearly done with his ignorance. "Arceus, are you serious, Steven?" she groaned. "They're birds. Of course they lay eggs. They aren't mammals like a Camerupt or a Chansey. What were you expecting?"

"I learned in school that there's a bird Pokemon that has live births," Steven argued. "I apologize. I thought it was a Skarmory. I suppose I was wrong, then." Winona had always been the smarter of the two and Steven endlessly resented her for that. He'd been a better battler himself, but Winona always disported her knowledge of Pokemon when they were growing up and already had plans to become a Pokemon professor with a specialization in Flying-types when she retired from the League. Intelligent women scared Steven.

"You're just being a pissant because I'm a girl and I'm a hell of a lot smarter than you," Winona pointed out, practically reading his mind. "You need to get over your sexism, Steven. And as for the Pokemon you're thinking of, it's Quagsire. There are no bird-like Pokemon that have live births. Read a book."

Steven grunted. While she may have had a point, he was stubborn. "Whatever," he said, stretching his hands out toward her. "Give me the egg so I can take its measurements for the advertisement."

Winona took a step backwards. "No," she said.

"And why not?" Steven asked.

"Because you were too dumb to remember that a bird Pokemon laid eggs," she said, "and I am going to require a different kind of validation of your intelligence in order to hand this Skarmory egg over to you." She placed the egg on the table next to her and crossed her arms over her chest, smirking radically, her jasmine gaze judgmental beneath a lidded smile.

Steven groaned. "And what is that?" he demanded. Winona had liked to tease him with trivia games in high school. It was always trivia that Steven could never get right, causing him embarrassment. "If it's another test of random facts, you know I'm not going to get any of them right. The odds are stacked against me."

Winona chuckled. "No, I know how bad you are at those," she said. Walking over, she leaned down to meet her face with Steven's, her breath hot on his face. Suddenly, Steven became acutely aware of every sensation that surrounded her—her deep, unfathomable gray eyes, the star-speckled bridge of freckles across her nose, the red rosiness of her cheeks—and he felt a small twinge of something unintelligible stir within his chest. "I have a different idea. Ever heard of this one?" And leaning forward, Winona pressed her lips against his.

When they were growing up, Steven always had a hunch that Winona had a crush on him, but there was really no way he could confirm it. She did all the expected behaviors for someone smitten—gave him Valentine's chocolate, laughed hysterically at all his jokes, made fun of him gently, and blushed when he made eye contact. Still, Steven was a shy teenager, despite his disgruntled cynicism, and he was too afraid of losing her if she mentioned anything. Even in adulthood, Winona's attitude didn't change, but Steven still didn't know what to say.

He supposed now, he didn't have to say anything.

Leaning forward, closing the space between them, Steven lifted one hand and curled it around Winona's face, stroking her sharp jaw with his thumb and his fingers softly brushing her purple hair. The kiss deepened and Steven found himself wanting to fall forward into her as their mouths moved together, raising a spark that ignited his veins. He felt Winona give the smallest wisp of a smile against him; contagious as it was, Steven smiled too.

As they pulled away, Steven was the first one to speak. "That wasn't a measure of intelligence," he pointed out. He was staring at Winona, his tart attitude from before having ebbed away into sweetness; his hand was still on her face, not moving. Winona melted into it and grinned.

"No," Winona said, "but I think I still win anyway."

Steven began to tug her face down again for another kiss, but a small peeping sound interrupted him. The tiny, vulnerable noise emanated from the egg on the table beside them and they both looked over to see a steeple-shaped crack form on one side, the cloudy shell buckling under the force of its prisoner. A metallic beak pushed through the hole, followed by the little head of a baby Skarmory. Out of nowhere, it shrieked, likely startled by its first contact with the cold outside air. It began flailing with in the egg, causing the sphere to topple over and shatter on the desk. Among the shards lied the baby Pokemon, wailing at its explosive entrance. To Steven's disappointment, Winona moved away from his grasp and picked up the child in her arms, soothing it by holding it against her warm body.

"See?" Winona said, stroking the whimpering Skarmory in her arms. "I told you Skarmory lay eggs."

Steven smiled clandestinely, inward and out of Winona's sight. "Well, then," he said, "I suppose I have no choice but to believe you now."