The storm had come; unannounced and furious.

  There had been no time.

  MunchMunch or Teddy.

  She had to trust Teddy would be fine. In the moment she had taken to decide, the storm had already taken him.

  She had chosen MunchMunch.

  She’d had no choice but to drift the Hallow-winds to find him.

  It had hurt more than she expected.

  Lightning and rain crashed around them as she hurtled towards MunchMunch, straining to keep herself together as the storm blew through her.

  The Winds said he was here.

  He had to be —

  “MunchMunch!” she cried in relief.

  The child was waterlogged and clinging to a tree for dear life, but otherwise unharmed.

  “Mama!” He cried, the trust in that one word causing too many emotions for her to deal with.

  She packed them away.

  MunchMunch gasped as he let go of the tree, the flash-flood’s river pulling him away mercilessly.

  She quickly phased to catch up, watching in helpless sorrow as he flailed.

  “I’m with you, MunchMunch,” she shouted over the wind and the lightning.

  Then he looked directly at her and smiled, the relief evident on his face.

  He was asleep instantly, his backpack clutched in one arm.

  ____

  This… this was preposterous.

  Shadow strained to keep up as the storm raged unabated.

  The child had gone to sleep.

  Once he stopped fighting, he floated, held aloft by his Thick-fat.

  The river whipped him along at speeds so frightening she had to tether to his shadow to keep up.

  Yet, he was completely unharmed. He smiled and slept peacefully as he crashed through trees, uprooted rocks and careened through any debris the river threw at him.

  Is that really my MunchMunch? she wondered, watching the little cannonball plow through another tree.

  Realizing the safest place was in his shadow, she resigned herself to take up residence and ride out the storm.

  She and MunchMunch were safe.

  She could only hope the same for her Teddy and the fairy.

  ____

  Cheese.

  Maybe he should try cheese again. It didn’t go well with Cake, so he hadn’t thought much of it.

  But maybe it would taste really good with berries. Yeah, that made sense!

  Cheese and berries. It was decided, he would —

  MunchMunch’s eyes fluttered open, forcing him to leave his dream.

  “Munch,” he whispered sadly, taking a bite of his Leftovers to feel better.

  The sun was shining softly through the trees, and it felt like morning. It also smelled like fresh rain, which was really nice.

  The forest did not look very nice though.

  He looked around in interest.

  Somehow, he had ended up in a tree! MunchMunch had never been in a tree before! He was on a big branch that wasn’t too far up.

  The water must have put him there?

  The water.

  MunchMunch shivered. He didn’t realize water could be so scary. Usually he got to splash in it for a little while when his Teddy gave him a bath.

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  Teddy.

  “MunchMunch?” he called, trying to stand up. His legs were wobbly, so he sat down instead and opened his backpack for some breakfast.

  His Teddy would be proud, he had held on to his backpack!

  After he had eaten enough berries to make his tummy happy, he went back to looking for his Teddy.

  But he wasn’t there.

  In fact, no one —

  “Good morning, Sweetie,” Shadow called, drifting through the trees. “I was looking around to see where we ended up!”

  “Shadow!” he shouted, then froze as the storm from yesterday jumped to the front of his mind.

  It had been scary. Dark, cold and scary. He hadn’t been able to do anything! He —

  No! he shook his head. It was ok, Mama had found him.

  He looked at her happily. Then, his tummy felt funny and his chest felt tight.

  “Munch?”

  He didn’t know why, but he started to cry.

  “There, there,” Shadow whispered, drifting close and stretching her gases as much as she could around him.

  “I, I’m sorry!” MunchMunch sobbed. “I’m just so happy to see you. But also sad. And scared. I don’t know why!”

  “It’s ok,” she soothed, “Last night was scary. But you did so well! You were so brave.”

  He looked at her with big eyes.

  “Was I really? I didn’t feel very brave,” he whispered in a small voice.

  She smiled. “Yes, you really were.”

  MunchMunch smiled back.

  “Where is our Teddy, and Happy?”

  Shadow faltered, looking around.

  “I’m not sure, Sweetie,” she answered truthfully. “But the Hallow-winds are deep. I think the storm pulled us closer to Ecruteak, which is — “

  “Oh good!” he enthused. “We can find our Teddy and our Happy, and then we can all go together!”

  “I’ve been looking since the storm stopped,” she explained. “I can’t find them. I think it would be better for us to get to Ecruteak ourselves. If he isn’t there first, we will alert the Rangers. The Growlithe Legion will be able to sniff him out for sure!”

  “Travel… without Teddy?” MunchMunch tilted his head. That sounded… that sounded scarier than the storm.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Mama,” he whispered.

  Shadow smiled. “I’m glad I’m here, too. Now the first thing is to figure out how to get down from here!”

  MunchMunch looked at her, then giggled.

  Then rolled off the branch and landed head first on the ground.

  He rolled over, completely unharmed. “It’s just like stairs, but bigger. And stairs don’t hurt!”

  Shadow shook her head as the two began heading towards the path she had found earlier. They needed to find Ecruteak and their Team.

  But something inside her couldn’t wait to unleash MunchMunch on the Pokémon League. If he was like this now, how unstoppable would he be when they finally made it there?

  ____

  Teddy woke to find himself covered in a pile of very soft, very warm, Sentret. All of whom were sleeping peacefully. Birdsong and soft sunlight filtered in from the world outside their little cave.

  “Pii!~”

  Teddy adjusted himself to see his Togepi clapping to encourage a group of Sentret who were bringing small branches and twigs to a Cyndaquil.

  Who was happily setting them on fire, keeping the small gathering warm.

  What is going on, Teddy wondered, turning to see a Stantler keeping watch by the entrance. He snorted and eyed Teddy unhappily.

  Togepi shrieked again and the Stantler’s eyes softened as they drifted to watch the baby Fairy’s antics.

  Teddy chuckled to himself. That made more sense — Togepi had stolen more hearts.

  Over the next few minutes the little cave slowly came to life, his blanket of Sentret falling off of him in a tumble of squeaks as they hurried to join their friends. Teddy spied a group of Eggecute, as well as a distinctly miserable looking sandshrew.

  Teddy nodded in commiseration, the storm must have been particularly miserable for it.

  He would be at the mercy of any of these Pokémon, should they decide he didn’t belong.

  And yet, everyone was happy to have made it through the storm, safe and warm — thanks in no small part to the Cyndaquil.

  He couldn’t help but notice his Gastly and Munchlax were not present. He had to trust Shadow had them safe for now, but he needed to find a Ranger station as quickly as possible to organize a search party.

  His stomach rumbled in protest, so he opened his backpack to fish out some breakfast.

  All eyes in the cave immediately turned to him.

  Teddy smiled. Things could have turned out a lot worse if this small group hadn’t decided to keep him safe. He was happy to share his food.

  A few moments later and the entire cave was filled with the sound of Pokémon happily eating, punctuated with Togepi’s cries as she pulverized her berry — much to the amusement of those watching.

  The irony was not lost on Teddy. The berries he had brought to feed his one Munchlax in case of emergency… were enough to feed an entire cave of Pokémon.

  With some left over.

  “Arceus have mercy,” he whispered, chuckling.

  His generosity with the food had apparently garnered him some good will with the Stantler as well, as it politely asked for another berry — which he gladly supplied.

  “Do any of you understand me?” Teddy asked, looking around. Most of them ignored him, but the Cyndaquil sneezed in surprise at him talking.

  Which led to him lighting himself on fire briefly — much to the amusement of the rest of the cave.

  “Gastly, Munchlax… Rangers?” Teddy tried again, looking around.

  All he got were a few blank stares.

  “I really wish Shadow was here,” he sighed.

  Without warning, the Stantler stood and nudged him, heading for the exit of the cave.

  Teddy quickly followed.

  It walked a short ways, then turned, waiting for him to follow.

  “Are you going to show me the way?” Teddy asked in excitement.

  The Stantler stared at him, obviously not understanding, yet still willing to help.

  Teddy wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass by.

  “Thank you!” he shouted, turning back to the cave. “Just one moment!”

  He returned to find his Togepi straining to rip her berry in two. She succeeded with a small roar —

  “Piiiiii~”

  The Sentret burst into applause and she happily munched on her prize.

  Teddy shook his head. Unbelievable.

  “Togepi, time to go,” he called, scooping her up.

  The Pokémon immediately protested, swarming his legs. The Cyndaquil called softly and even the Sandshrew looked disappointed.

  “Thank you,” he bowed to all of them. “Thank you so much!”

  Togepi clapped and waved goodbye as he turned to exit the cave.

  He followed the Stantler, Togepi in his arms, as the cave of little Pokémon waved goodbye.