Up. Down.

  Sleepy…

  Hungry.

  Fluffy?

  Togepi cracked one eye.

  Fluffy was there, sleeping.

  “Pii~~”

  Togepi hugged her Pretty and fell back to sleep.

  — Happy.

  ____

  Teddy groaned and woke to the pre-dawn chill. On his chest, Togepi clung to her Cheri Berry like it was a treasure.

  To her, it was.

  Teddy groaned again, trying to adjust his leg; which was completely asleep.

  He loved his Munchlax, but light he was not.

  He tried once more (and failed) to remove himself from where MunchMunch was draped over his leg.

  He sighed and lay his head back down, gently rubbing his Togepi’s belly.

  She giggled happily in her sleep.

  Happy. That seemed like a nice name.

  A soft cackle drew his eyes to the shadowed canopy of a tree, where his Shadow was watching.

  “Shadow, were you waiting for me to wake up… just so you could see my reaction?”

  His Gastly cackled and zipped off into the trees, the cackle loud enough to startle MunchMunch.

  Who rolled over, chewed on his Leftovers and scratched his belly.

  Teddy gasped as blood rushed back to his leg, giving him a few moments before trying to move.

  When his leg was finally awake, Teddy sat up and gently placed Togepi next to his Munchlax where he knew she would be safe.

  He stood and stretched, going about taking down the tent he hadn’t used and starting his day.

  ____

  MunchMunch woke up, then smiled. They were on their way to a new city.

  Which meant they were on their way to trying a new Chocolate Cake!

  “Muuuunch,” he yawned.

  “Piiiii~~~” he heard Togepi yawn next to him.

  MunchMunch froze and opened his eye, looking down to see Happy snuggled up next to him.

  “Morning Happy!”

  “Pii~~” she giggled, smooshing her face into his tummy and giving him a hug.

  MunchMunch patted her head, just like his Teddy did for him. Then he picked her up and carried her with him, over to where their Teddy was taking down the tent.

  “Munch!”

  His Teddy turned and smiled at them. MunchMunch happily skipped up for his morning head pat, before heading off to find his backpack.

  Togepi shrieked gleefully and pointed at the sparkling stream.

  “That’s called a stream!” MunchMunch exclaimed, setting her down so she could play while he dug through his pack.

  “Morning Shadow!” He called over his shoulder, pulling out an Oran berry for breakfast. He stopped to think, then pulled out another one. Then a face-scrunch berry, too.

  He added a pretty yellow berry as well — just in case he was still hungry. Then he followed up with a candy-berry, just to be sure.

  “Munch,” he nodded to himself. That should be enough to help him wake up. Then, he would have energy to find more food!

  “How did you know I was here?” Shadow eventually answered, sounding annoyed.

  MunchMunch giggled.

  “I love you, so I always know where you are. Just like food!”

  Gastly snorted. “Good Morning to you, too, Sweetie,” she huffed, settling into his shadow to watch.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Throughout everything, Happy had ignored them both, excitedly splashing in the water.

  “Mama,” MunchMunch giggled, “watch this — “

  Then he pulled an Aspear berry out of his backpack.

  Happy immediately froze and turned to look at him with huge eyes, the little spikes on her head quivering with excitement.

  “Pii~!”

  “See? I knew she would love food too!”

  Gastly and MunchMunch cackled together as Happy devoured her breakfast.

  A sudden rustling caused all three of them to freeze, staring across the stream.

  Two eyes watched them from a bush.

  “Munch?”

  Then, the bush moved, gliding closer before plopping back down.

  Happy took a huge munch of her berry and watched intently.

  “Gellaaaaa~” the bush moaned.

  “Shadow!” MunchMunch whispered. “The bush is alive.”

  Then the bush stood up and started walking over the stream, plopping down right in front of them.

  “Gela.” It moaned again, its eyes fixed on MunchMunch’s breakfast.

  “Oh, are you hungry?” MunchMunch asked.

  The eyes blinked and the bush nodded.

  MunchMunch was rather confused, as he usually took berries from bushes, but he guessed he could give one back.

  So he offered an Oran.

  The bush reached out with a vine and took it, before waddling back across the stream and into the forest.

  MunchMunch blinked. “Are the berry bushes mad at me, Shadow?”

  “I think that was a Pokémon, MunchMunch.”

  “Oh,” he exhaled in relief. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to pick berries any more!”

  Happy shrieked and face-planted back into her breakfast with gusto. MunchMunch noticed she hadn’t eaten very much.

  She was very small though, and her mouth was tiny. But still, looking at the state of the berry…

  “Mama, I think she likes destroying the berry more than eating it,” he whispered sadly, watching Happy pulverize the berry with joy. He loved food. It deserved to be eaten.

  Gastly drifted over to observe as well.

  “Why did it have to be a Fairy,” she sighed.

  At that moment, their Teddy walked over all packed up.

  “Shadow, do you think we can use the bicycle today?” he asked in excitement. He liked walking and exploring, but he also liked how the wind felt blowing through his fur when his Teddy peddled super fast!

  Shadow drifted over and gestured questioningly to the bicycle with her gases. Their Teddy nodded and pointed to all the roots on the path, and also pointed out how it twisted.

  MunchMunch nodded. A bicycle needed room to be used — that was good to know!

  Their Teddy bent down to clean off Happy in the stream, who somehow had berry juice on the bottom of her foot-paws and her back.

  And everywhere else, too. MunchMunch just didn’t understand how it got to those two places.

  He gently picked up the berry.

  “Why don’t you eat it, MunchMunch,” Shadow asked, peering over his shoulder.

  MunchMunch giggled. She seemed much more excited and curious since they had left Goldenrod.

  “Are you looking forward to the next city?” MunchMunch asked, patting the mound of soil gently where he had chosen to plant the berry instead.

  It had fought a good fight. Now, it was time to rest.

  He nodded sagely to himself, then opened his pack to eat a few more berries. He finished it off with a munch from his Leftovers.

  “Do I?” she asked in surprise.

  “Yep!”

  She thought for a moment. “Well… it is nice to be back in shade again so I don’t have to hide. And yes, I am… quite invested in the next part of our journey.”

  MunchMunch smiled. That sounded like excitement to him — the bubbly-tummy feeling. He liked it too, just not too much.

  The warm-tummy feeling was much better. Both the one that came from food, and especially the one that happened when Shadow or Teddy were proud of him.

  He liked that one a lot.

  ____

  They hadn’t gone far — although it had been far enough for MunchMunch to find three different berry bushes, letting him fill up his backpack and have extra to snack on — when their Teddy paused.

  On the side of the trail, resting under some shade next to a bush, was a trainer.

  MunchMunch squinted. He recognized that bush —

  “Munch!” he called, setting Happy down so he could reach into his back. She immediately started giggling at the feeling of sand under her shell.

  MunchMunch pulled out the Oran berry he had been hunting for, then paused and watched Happy for a moment.

  She looked so sweet and well, Happy. It made him very warm inside, not just in his tummy. She giggled, cooed and rolled onto her back, where she started kicking her hand and foot-paws but was unable to get up.

  She looked at him and giggled instead, reaching for him to pick her up. MunchMunch happily complied, and she rewarded him with a tiny hug, which was very big for her.

  “I’m really glad you are with us,” he told her, patting her head. “I’m glad you are a Fairy, too! I don’t know what that means, but I’m glad you are you!”

  She paused to stare at him with her huge eyes, her mouth open in a small “O”. MunchMunch kneaded his toe-claws into the ground and felt his ears get warm.

  “Pii~” she whispered, nestling up against his chest.

  He jumped when a vine tapped his foot-paw.

  “Oh, right — sorry!” he exclaimed, looking up to see the bush had shuffled over. “This is for you!”

  MunchMunch held out the Oran berry proudly. The bush’s eyes squinted happily and it took the berry from him.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know you were a Pokémon earlier!”

  The bush just swayed happily and chewed on the berry.

  MunchMunch knew it was eating even though he couldn’t see its mouth. He knew the happy shaking that came from enjoying food very well!

  “Do you want another?” he asked.

  The bush eagerly reached out another vine.

  ____

  Shadow stretched contentedly as she watched from the canopy shade.

  She liked hiding in MunchMunch’s shadow, but the shade from the trees was cooler and gave her a lot more room to roam.

  Yes. It was nice to be out of the city.

  She watched as the Fairy continued to steal MunchMunch’s heart.

  And she did it with such innocence, Shadow couldn’t be mad.

  Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, she sighed. If it had to be a Fairy… at least it was a Togepi.

  She could at least trust its love for happiness and joy were real. Which was why she was ok with it being around MunchMunch.

  Out of the Fairy-Type, Togepi might be one of the most trustworthy.

  Still. It was a Fairy.

  Shadow sighed.

  MunchMunch was also becoming more perceptive. That miffed her. She loved her MunchMunch, but Munchlax and Snorlax were supposed to be du —

  She coughed.

  Less smart.

  So why was he able to read her like an open book?

  Miffed.

  “… Battle!”

  She peered down, to where they had met a new trainer.

  She berated herself — she had completely missed it!

  Then she paused, watching with disbelief.

  The new trainer wanted to battle. Instead, MunchMunch and the trainer’s Pokémon — whom she now recognized as a Tangela, were sharing breakfast.

  And completely ignoring him.

  Shadow hummed. Maybe Togepi wasn’t the only one stealing away hearts.

  She drifted closer.

  She was a Ghost. She couldn’t feel emotion.

  So what was this?