New project for Wicke and other women of the Aether Foundation: incubating the young of rare, possibly even legendary, pokemon.
"Ah- oh! Look at that, you can note the lack of its distinctive grassy fur so far in its development... looks a bit naked to me, but, based on our research, the Shaymin should start growing it within the coming weeks..."
Wicke sat back in her chair, a sleek and cushioned adjustable piece that was perfect for doing an ultrasound on. The assistant branch manager was at the head of an open room, facing rows of seats that were higher the further back you went. Not unlike an auditorium or a lecture hall, and behind her was a big screen revealing the shifting mass that, evidently, was in the round, taut tummy weighing her down.
Naturally, the idea of acting as a pokémon surrogate was a common one that floated from department to department at the Foundation, but rarely had it ever gotten as far as the testing stage. Of course, though, this research was kept a bit hush-hush, a mixture of standard Aether secrecy mixed in with a desire to not have their ideas stolen by would-be industrial spies.
So, when it came time to give it the old college try, they had a distinct lack of people to run the experiment on. So, it fell onto any Aether staff who were willing to carry a pokémon to term.
Wicke wasn't the first person to raise her hand... nor did she raise her hand at all, she was asked by the heads of R&D if she'd potentially enter herself in the experiment. However... despite the concept being a little, well, strange, the scientists noted that this would be for rare and endangered pokémon, potentially even more mythical kinds! Words that were indeed effective, as, after all, Wicke was devoted to the concept of helping pokémon, especially low population species...
The pay bonus and benefits didn't hurt either, nor did the concept of being able to better study pokémon Aether couldn't usually get their hands on. So, here the Foundation was, weeks later, and she was carrying a pair of Shaymin twins, lecturing to the staff as the ultrasound machine whirred, the sensor gliding over the bulging belly for better scans of the mythicals below.
"Carrying the Shaymin, ah..." A kick caused her to pause, then chuckle. A wave of movement creeped across the surface of her belly, bulges rippling before settling down. On the screen, the twin pups adjusted themselves. "...yes, carrying the Shaymin has had some... unique side-effects, something that some of you might be familiar with..."
Indeed, as Wicke looked across the room, Aether employees of varying tummy sizes, from flat bellies to far beyond typical overdue guts, jotted down notes. Waddling parents-to-be were common now across the halls of the Foundation.
"...for example, everything I eat seems to have a grassy aftertaste!"