Darkness became a startling light as a large clawed hand gently scraped away the remaining pieces of  yellowish eggshell that littered the pouch, gently disturbing the new born as it nursed. The baby kangaskhan had hatched in the middle of the night, where it was immediately and tenderly picked up by its mother, hastily licked clean, and placed into the mom's pouch. The babe instinctively and hungrily latched onto one of the two teats to have its first meal, suckling through out the night as it rested.

The cub let out a surprised bark upon its introduction to the sun. It peered up with tired unused eyes to see the broad fanged smile of the creature it was nursing from. The newborn smiled back, immediately knowing that this was its mother, and that it was well protected and loved. The mother khan continued to gently scrape away the pieces of the egg that her tongue had missed in the night, all the while petting and scratching her child on the head.

A kangaskhan's one and true love is that of their children. They will fearlessly and furiously protect the offspring that lay within the pouches on their stomachs, even to the death if need be. The mother and child shared an unbreakable bond. A bond that lasted until the offspring was old enough to have a child of its own and even then, after the poke'mon had a new child to love, the bond stays. Thus forming strong family herds of kangaskhan. The only time they ever separated from one another was to either hatch a new life, or a poke'mon trainer tames one and takes them away.

However, poke'mon trainers were unheard of by this kangaskhan. Same with all the other poke'mon on this island for no trainer ever came to it. The island did not even have a name. It was twenty kilometers north of the Shinnoh region, and was part of a chain of islands that were bigger and more luxurious. The island was only about five kilometers long and twowide. It was made from a volcano that moved on to make other islands, but magma still dotted the island and small fires were not uncommon.

The mother kangaskhan lifted the newly hatched baby from its pouch, and gave it another cleaning with her broad tongue to finish the job from last night. She also licked the child with loving kisses, a tear of joy and happiness filling the giant eyes of the beast. As she cleaned, unease started to fill the mother's mind. This would be her fourth baby, but this one looked different. It had the same color as the other babies, maybe darker than normal, but it already had ridges running along its back and was missing horns that protects their ears. It just had exposed holes for hearing. Upon cleaning the young one to help encourage it to potty, as so not to mess its pouch, she noticed an even bigger difference. 

There was no slit or hole for birthing eggs!

She held up the cub to get a better look. There was just a loose piece of flesh between its legs. She gently sniffed it, puzzled as to what it was. She got her answer as a small stream of urine shot out of it, splashing her in the face. She turned the child around so it can finish as she shook her head to fling off the fluid. She grew more concerned that her kid will never be able to grow up and have a child of its own. It will never know the love of having an infant in its pouch...

Its pouch?

The mother's unease grew as she rubbed the cub's belly, causing it to giggle its first laugh as she realized that it also had no pouch. Was it sick? It looked and felt healthy. Is her deformed daughter going to be okay? The unease did not last long. This was her baby. Her child. Her love. A love that only a mom would know, yet stronger than even that. 

The mother allowed the infant to crawl back into the safety of the pouch to continue feeding, where it stayed for the remainder of the week.

The kangaskhan left the breeding nest after a week. The nesting area was a small region surrounded with wild herbs and smelly plants that helped the kangaskahn impregnate itself and birth its egg. How this occurred was a mystery to them. They enter it, eat the unique plants that are only found in this spot on the black island, and they fall asleep. Then they are pregnant upon waking, and they go to the nest to lay their egg. Its been that simple for as long as they could remember. 

Famished and ready to return home, the mother first devoured an entire bush upon exiting the nest. She then set out to find a more nourishing meal. The baby laid on the edge of the pouch, watching the world move by as it observed its new home. After the khan ate her fill of leaves from one of the few small trees in the area, she set out towards the east.

The mom ran on her hind legs in a skipping gallop, anxious to be with her family again, with a proud smile on her face. She sprinted across the open field of tall brown grass that grew from under the sharp, pointy pebbles that made up the majority of the island's surface. The poke'mon that lived here have tough, thick hides, or paws too small, to be bothered by the pricks of the jagged ground. Besides fields of grass, small trees grew sparsely, as well as thick bushes spotted the grounds, and rocky mountains stretched up in the north where the volcano started to slowly disappear. A single fresh water stream ran through the island from top of the largest mountain, marking the greenest sections of the mostly dry and hot island. Magma flowed and pooled on the opposite side of the mountain, extending the island toward the north.

The kangaskhan reached the stream, and had her first fresh cool drink since she had left to give birth. She gulped deeply as a blue psyduck waded by without a care in the world. There was also a sycther of a dark green hue drinking on the other side of the creek, ignoring the bigger poke'mon that had ran up from out of nowhere. The khan was not far from where her herd would be, just further up stream. The mother looked down stream, watching the psyduck lazily float off in the distance. She saw what looked like smoke rising from the bay. The giant creature stared at the rising cloud, unsure of what to think of it. A feeling of urgency for the protection of her child was rising cause of not knowing. The cloud could be nothing. Maybe just lava making its way to the bay and heating the water, but it could be something else. She gently pushed the baby's head into the pouch, and turned for her family.

It was not long before a roar in welcome rose as the mother encountered her sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. They all greeted one another with scratches on the back, and loving licks on the side of the face. The new mom pulled out her cub, holding it up proudly for all the family to see. The cub was soon being passed around to be loved by it's family. The cub's grandmother hugged the baby tenderly, and slid it into her own pouch to meet one of its aunts that was just some months older. They all had noticed that it was an odd baby, but it was family and they will help raise it as any other kid in the family.

With her new child back in her pouch, the kangaskhans moved out to where more food was available. They traveled to the south this day. South was where the bay of the island was located. Where the cloud of smoke was seen earlier, but the matriarch, the eldest of the grandmothers, had made her decision. The khans marched single file along the stream, passing a tired looking blue psyduck that was slowly swimming its way back up stream. The bay was the only part of the island that had heavy foliage with palms and tropical fruits to eat. It was a treat for the family when the opportunity came to go there.

They walked onto the small, black beach of volcanic sand, and was greeted with the rare site of a ship anchored in the bay, steam rising from its single stack. That explained what was making the mysterious smoke. They recognized what it was from observing the ships that float by in the distance, carrying humans to the other bigger islands far from them. This was the first time they saw one this close. It was also the first time they saw a human walking on the beach. A gray haired man in a white lab coat was on the other end of the beach observing a krabby scuttling from the treeline, and into the water.

The khans decided he was of no threat, and went about the business of  eating. It was while the mother khan was on her seventh helping of a crunchy shelled fruit that she realized that she was now the object of attention. The mother started, and twisted around to confront the human who had suddenly appeared just fifteen yards away with a threatening growl. The old man did not even flinch. He seemed to be happily impressed, even giving a vocal 'oh ho'. The mother blinked, and gave a false charge. The man still seemed to be unafraid. He laughed, then pulled out a pad and jotted something into it. The mom did not know what to think of this stranger. She turned her back towards him so not to bring the cub in its pouch to any possible harm, and quickly strode away towards the rest of the herd.

The human never left. He followed from a safe distance, and it was soon decided that he was still not a threat. The mom continued to forage while she had a metapod tied to its tail with the silk of a caterpie, flicking the hard cased poke'mon from side to side as the baby tried to catch it. The human seemed to be interested in this training session as well as he watched the cub intently, and wrote more notes

It was while the clan of kangaskhans were resting in the sun that the human approached them slowly, a smell coming from his outstretched hand that made their mouths water. After a few tentative moments, they were soon eating the most delicious berries they had ever tasted, officially declaring the strange smiling man to be safe and friendly. He seemed most interested in the newborn cub.

The man scratched the mother in a way the khans never knew about. She was soon laying on her back, hind leg in the air as the man vigorously scratched the thick skin of her neck and chin. He was then able to inspect the cub up close, taking notes with a single finger tapping on the pad's screen as his other hand kept the mother happy. He enticed the child out of the pouch with another one of those tasty berries. It hungrily flopped out, and rolled onto the ground. It fell onto its back, and fought to roll over, legs waggling in the air. The human stared, and stopped scratching as a gasp left his mouth. His shock was only for a second as he became more happy and overjoyed than ever. He handed the bag of treats to them both, and ran towards the raft that he had used to get to the shore from the ship, all the while talking excitedly to himself and taking more notes.

It was at night fall when the weird conversation between kangaskhan and man occurred on the black beach of the far off island. A lamp and table was brought over from the anchored ship as the human ate his dinner and tried to talk to the large poke'mon as wild blue and pink butterfrees flew about the bright light.

The man introduced himself as Professor Oak. He had detoured on a trip to visit his old friend Professor Rowan in Sandgem Town, to deliver a Poke'dex to a new trainer in the town. The road leading to Sandgem Town had caved in due to a colony of dugtrioes, and since it was the only road to get to Rowan, Oak was forced to wait. He decided to spend the spare time exploring some of the lesser known islands where wild poke'mon lived, away from the eyes and hands of trainers.

Oak went on to explain how he thought that the mother's child was a rare shiny color of kahn, but was in fact a boy. The first known male kangaskahn. After explaining in great detail of what that was and what it meant, the mother khan grew more and more proud of her baby as the man continued to talk. Then she caught on to what the man was really offering. Something she had never fathomed in her entire life. The man was asking for her to leave the island. To leave her family. To come with him to help ensure the safety of her precious infant.

The family crowded around in discussion. The thought of one of them leaving was unheard of and heartbreaking, but it was so that her child could be safer and ensure a good healthy life. That was something all the mothers could understand. Until now, they never even considered that there was more beyond the life on the island. The island was all they really knew. However, the thought of a life where her child could be safe and unharmed, a place where it can grow up without the hardships that this island gave, a life to grow up with more poke'mon to play with, and a chance for all of them to learn more of the world was making the decision easier to make.

After a short discussion, the mother agreed that she will go if Oak would ensure the same safety of all her children and grandchildren. Oak was more than happy to do this for them, and pulled out a crate from under the table. From within the crate, he pulled out red and white spheres. After a quick explanation, the mother stood still, her beloved cub in the pouch, as Oak gently pressed the ball to her head. 

The kangaskhan was suddenly in a state of sleep, sharing dreams with her son as the two cuddled and played as they lazily drifted in their slumber. She could feel and sense everything going on outside of this artificial womb. She knew when she was on the human ship and in the middle of the ocean, but she felt safe and secure. She was suddenly in a new and larger land, full of humans and other Poke'mon of all shapes and sizes. Some were even bigger than her, but she felt safe. She felt safe with this human named Professor Oak. She felt like she can trust him with everything, and that she would even protect him like he was one of her own family. 

She had been tamed.

The mother and cub soon realized in their playful dreams of snuggling that they were inside a human home. Professor Oak was talking to some people, explaining how he had made a marvelous discovery. But the younger voice she heard was not allowed to stay. The unknown young male human was given his Poke'Dex while the other older male voice allowed him to chose one of three small poke'mon that she had never seen or heard of before. The boy trainer was soon gone to start his own adventures as the two older men stepped into the backyard.

The khan was suddenly awake again. She stood in a strange, but overly green location. She did not see her daughters, but Professor Oak was there. Another man was with Oak, who looked older with a stern bearded face looking upon her and her baby. As it dawned on her that all that went on in her dreams was real, she lifted her child out of his protective pouch, and hugged him as he relished in these new sights and smells. And that tree with the strange fruit in the center of the yard looked mighty tasty.

Professor Rowan watched as his prized tree was devoured, the only sign of anger to his loss being a small sigh. He was too intrigued with the cub in the khan's pouch to be upset. He had no reason to not believe what his old and longtime friend and partner had told him. Oak had indeed found the world's first male kangaskhan. 

Rowan could not resist to have a closer look as he walked over to the khan, and expertly translated to it that he would like to see her baby. The man was a friend of her owner, so the mother proudly held out the cub in outstretched arms as the bearded man peered closely, and was peed on right between the eyes. The mother embarrassingly turned the child away as it finished urinating. Rowan calmly wiped his face off with a handkerchief. 

“Tiny little squirt,” Rowan commented as he walked back over to his bemused friend.

“The whole herd seemed a little under nourished,” Oak agreed as he chuckled at his friend. “The island they lived on was small, and still volcanic on the north side. I think the bay was the only location that had any real green plant life. But those that remain there should be fine now that the numbers had been halved and get to be as big as other kangaskhans. And this family here will gain weight even faster.”

Oak was soon on the phone and talking to yet another professor about the discovery. The mother khan could hear the name Elm said in greeting, then the man on the other end was heard getting overly excited. She had no idea who this Elm was, or how Professor Elm was the lead in poke'mon breeding and that a male kangaskkhan was going to be one of the most important studies of his career when the cub got older.

The two men sat on the porch into the evening. They discussed what to do as they watched the mother swat a branch at her cub, forcing the baby to defend  himself in the simple yet effective defensive training. Rowan made a phone call to Kaiser, the Game Warden of the Safari Zone in Kanto. It was decided to move the family there. There will be more kangaskhans for the rest of the family to meld with, but they will give this particular mom and child a home within the 'Research Section' of the Safari. It was near where the Game Warden's house was located to make certain they would stay safe. Trainers, and even Team Rocket, in the past had learned to not anger Kaiser and his gun, Thundserbolt. 

With a drink in hand, the two walked over to the kangaskhan, who was now sleeping. She stood in the dirt where the fruit tree had once stood, the child snuggled within her pouch, making a small lump on her stomach.

“For being an eternal blessing upon her species, and to the poke'mon community for bringing forth such a blessed event, I think her name should be Hesai,” declared Professor Rowan.

“Indeed, said Professor Oak in full agreement to the name,” and for being the first male of not just the family, but of his entire kind, I'll name the cub Kazou.”

The two clinked glasses in a toast as a new life for the mother and child was beginning.