As it worked out, the timing was perfect for a little extra weight to be shrouded beneath a thick, casual coat in the last weeks of October. Unfortunately, this same timing gave Elesa the opportunity and inspiration to plan something different for Halloween.

While always a proponent of the year’s most macabre holiday, Ingo hadn’t been terribly enthusiastic about any of her ideas thus far. It was understandable. She would want pictures to commemorate her efforts, and that was asking… a lot. Yes, they were public figures and photographs would surface well after everything was said and done-- that was just a fact of their lives-- but there was a world of difference between accepting that what happens happens and directly inviting the problem.

He was trying to acquiesce to some degree, Emmet knew. Even in the privacy of their own home, he’d been flustered over the novelty Lampent paternity shirt and the fact that he’d promised himself he’d wear it out today when they met Elesa. To Ingo’s credit, he’d followed through. It was hidden under the long late-fall coat and he was staring determinedly at the subway car’s rubber flooring, the hint of a blush creeping just past the collar he’d buried the lower half of his face behind, as though the other commuters had any clue why he was embarrassed.

Emmet hadn’t said as much, but he knew there was another such article of clothing waiting in the wings; Elesa was just biding her time until the Chandelure version was applicable. Would it be any better received than its pre-evolution? Doubtful, but still possible considering that the final evolutionary stage was more in line with his twin's personal aesthetic. Ingo’s hangup on it was a little silly, anyway, and the Chandelure shirt was awfully cute. Even if his brother refused to humor Elesa a second time, he’d undoubtedly wear it at least once, to make his partner Pokemon happy.

Their train rolled into Mistralton’s station and the both of them hung back until the initial flood of commuters exited, then took up the caboose. This line saw heavy traffic in and out of Mistralton on weekends as passengers rushed to meet their flight or decided what to do upon arriving in the region, but the city itself was relatively tranquil. With general accommodations and the sights of the Celestial Tower, Chargestone Cave and the farmland, it was nothing to sneeze at, but tourists naturally gravitated more toward Nimbasa, Castelia or even Opelucid.

Its somewhat more sedate pace was precisely why, when Skyla asked if the lot of them wanted to meet up, Mistralton had seemed like an ideal place to sit and visit.

Naturally, Elesa had taken that opportunity to stay the previous night with her fellow gym leader. It was just because she hated early morning travel so much and nothing else; not everyone could handle the same early mornings the twins could, after all.

The instant he saw an opening to poke fun at her for it, Emmet intended to pounce.

“Please try to contain yourself.” Ingo said dryly as the not-a-couple appeared on the platform.

To Emmet’s immense annoyance, he hadn’t even bothered looking over before calling him on his intentions. “I make no promises.”

Perhaps to nip this plotting in the bud, Ingo was the one to step forward and greet the two women.

There hadn’t been any firm plans made in advance, so they spent the minutes it took to leave the substation debating where all to visit this afternoon. It wasn’t anything grand; today was mostly to catch up after work had kept them from meeting for several weeks in a row, and the easiest way to do that was to find a quiet, semi-private place to loiter.

They ended up at a local tea house, less gimmicky than the ones in Nimbasa, but still a far cry from the more traditional forms found in Johto or Sinnoh. It made up for it in its specialty blend, based heavily on their own region’s staples: a blend incorporating leaves from both Lilligant and Pansage, and more traditional tea plants grown right there in the city’s greenhouses.

It went perfectly well for some time, Skyla excitedly sharing that Professor Juniper had asked for her help in getting to and from a secluded nature preserve outside of the region. She wasn’t entirely sure what was being studied there, but after working with Cedric off and on for some time, she was eager to get to know Aurea, too.

That had been a promising avenue to sew a little mischief, but Elesa hadn’t risen to the bait when Emmet had agreed that Juniper would be a great friend for Skyla. It didn’t help that it had been followed by Ingo’s ever-so-innocent observation that yes, Juniper seemed like an incredibly amiable person, you could see it in her very close friendship with Professor Fennel. The coded reassurance smoothed all of Elesa’s feathers back down, undoing any progress Emmet had made.

They were in the middle of discussing the eclectic variety of species in this reserve when Emmet noticed his brother toying with the collar of his coat. No wonder, he thought. It may have been a bit brisk outside, but this establishment had a number of delicate-looking plants studding its surfaces, requiring a somewhat warmer baseline. He didn’t bring attention to it.

After another minute of this, though, Ingo begrudgingly unfastened the first button of his jacket, giving himself a little bit more air. This was a mistake. The next time Elesa looked their way, her attention locked onto the visible flash of purple.

She narrowed her eyes and, with a smile just short of wicked, hissed, “Don’t think that gets you out of this, you little smart aleck. Come on, let’s see it.”

Guileless, Skyla looked between them, unaware of the circumstance. Ingo, by contrast, was visibly calculating whether or not it would be worth it to fight back on this. He must have decided the odds weren’t good, because he sighed and moved his chair far enough back to undo the next several buttons, allowing the Lampent to peek out from his coat.

Elesa’s aggressive lean eased into something that spoke of interest instead, resting her chin on her hand; likewise, the challenging grin softened into fondness. She wasn’t the first to speak, however.

“Holy shit,” Skyla said, effectively silencing the rest of them, “You really are pregnant?”

Almost defensively, Ingo wrapped an arm around himself, incidentally pulling his coat closed again-- his expression tilted even further into discomfort, and while it could be difficult to tell when he was happy, this was plain to read.

Before either of them could respond, Elesa found her words.

Without bothering to remove her chin from her palm, she’d tilted her head to stare at her friend in something approaching disbelief, “Seriously, Skyla? Where have you been?”

The pilot held her hands up defensively, face going a dark shade of pink, “H-hey, don’t turn this around on me! You know what kind of dumb rumors turn up online-- why would I believe this one?”

“Because it came from an official channel?” Emmet put in, drier than usual.

“Look,” Skyla said, sinking back into her seat, eyes averted-- and then proceeded to not justify her gaffe.

Elesa snorted and finally moved her hand-- upward to rub at the bridge of her nose-- but there was a smile playing on her lips. “It’s Swellow that you decided to join us mere pedestrians on the ground. How’s it been with your head up in the clouds?”

“Elesa,” Skyla half-whined, thoroughly embarrassed, “Don’t do this to me.”

“You did it to yourself, babe.” Elesa carried on, unrelenting.

The last of the air escaped Skyla, who spent several seconds deflated against the booth. When she deigned to sit back up, it was accompanied by a sheepish, “Congrats?”

Ingo met it with a near-identical, “Thank you?” and though it was transparently a joke in this instance, it was lucky the facade was there, since he still hadn’t quite figured out how to respond to well wishers.

“What, uh, what else did I miss? Boy? Girl?”

“Ah, in that sense, you haven’t missed anything. The relevant scan is scheduled for this coming Thursday, but that’s not information I have any intention of making public ahead of their arrival.” With the intensity ramped down, he allowed himself to relax a bit more, loosening the tight grip on his jacket.

Under the table, Emmet swung a foot to the side, giving him a reassuring nudge. “The only other part of the announcement was that they are also twins.”

“Oh,” Said Skyla, tilting her head before picking up her topping-laden monstrosity, “I guess that makes sense.”

“Indeed. Now, in regards to the odd Haxorus you said you had noticed--”

“Hey hey, no! You’re not getting off the hook that Sneasely,” Elesa half stood up out of her chair, propping herself at a harsh angle over her tea latte, “I refuse to be Lampent-baited like this-- you have to show me your present.”

With a facetiously put-upon sigh, Ingo let his arm drop and finally leaned back against the chair-- though not properly with his back straight against the support. The effect was obvious, leaving him several inches shorter than Emmet by comparison and emphasizing the fabric Lampent’s curve.

“Are you happy now?” He asked, a low, indulgent rumble.

“Extremely,” Elesa chirped, beaming, and waved for him to go ahead and sit properly, which he immediately took advantage of, “Alright, you’ve paid your Wartor-toll. You may proceed.”

A minute later, once Ingo had been distracted by the conversation, Elesa caught Emmet’s eye. If the pointed contact hadn’t told him exactly what she was anticipating, the smug smile would have.

They were lucky she’d gone for the Chandelure and only that.

(“The whole idea is that it’ll ‘evolve’ into a Chandelure print once the Lampent doesn’t fit anymore.” Elesa had said, secure in the knowledge that her victim-to-be was busy getting changed, “That was the cute one. I was also considering ‘I was abducted by Arceus and all I got was pregnant’. I know he wouldn’t actually wear it, but--”

She broke off as Emmet laid a hand on her shoulder, and spent a long, almost uncomfortable second maintaining his intense eye contact.

“But you have so much to live for.” He finally said, completely blank-faced.

“So ‘no’ has also evolved into ‘absolutely not’. Got it.”)