The sun had already set. The Pokémon sheltering from the rain in the cave had long since left, leaving only one person and one Pokémon in the spacious cavern.
Entei looked at the infant, wondering what he was thinking.
The sleeping baby seemed to sense something and slowly opened his eyes. His beautiful eyes were as clear as crystal. Seeing the enormous creature beside him, he did not cry in fear. Instead, he started giggling.
This child did not seem to be afraid of him.
For some reason, seeing the infant smile improved Entei's mood as well.
With his mood lifted, his thoughts flowed more smoothly. Since he was going to raise this human child, there were some matters he needed to settle quickly.
First was a name. Although many Pokémon of the same species shared their species name—even he and other Entei were collectively called Entei—this infant was not a Pokémon, but a human. He truly needed another form of address.
Since Entei had found him in the rain, how about calling him Little Rain?
Entei called out, "Little Rain," then realized that human infants could not understand what he said. To the child, it probably just sounded like some wild beast's roar.
However, the infant's reaction surprised him. Upon hearing the name Little Rain, he seemed very unhappy. He cried loudly and shook his head slightly, as though he disliked the name.
"You understand what I mean?" Entei was a little surprised, but the infant showed no further reaction. It was probably just a coincidence.
Still, since his reaction had been so strong, Little Rain was no good. He should choose a better name.
The rain had stopped and the sky had cleared when he saved the child. How about Little Sun?
Who would have thought that upon hearing the words "Little Sun," the child would start giggling, as if he were very pleased?
There. He had a name.
Next came the matter of food. Fortunately, there was a bottle of milk. Otherwise, with night approaching, it would not be easy to find food outside.
Although this was Entei's first time caring for an infant—and a human infant at that—he still knew a little about it. He did not know how he knew. Perhaps he had once seen other Pokémon care for their own young while rescuing Pokémon.
But how was a human baby bottle supposed to be used? Entei picked it up in his mouth and examined it carefully. The infant seemed to think the large creature before him was going to steal his milk and began crying in protest.
Naturally, Entei would not fight an infant over milk. After studying it for a while and figuring out what to do, he warmed it with his flames. As an excellent Fire-type Pokémon, controlling fire was his specialty.
Soon, the milk became pleasantly warm. Entei placed the bottle by the infant's mouth.
Little Sun began drinking desperately, as if he truly feared the big fellow before him would snatch away his milk.
After drinking his fill, he fell asleep. Infants were just that sleepy; they could sleep for more than ten hours a day.
Entei also prepared to rest with his eyes closed. Although, as a Legendary Pokémon, it did not matter much whether he ate, drank, or slept, he still had a sense of time similar to that of humans.
He traveled everywhere during the day, then rested at night. Of course, most Pokémon had similar habits.
Entei began planning what to do next.
His work would definitely be affected somewhat. After all, he now had a child who needed care. It seemed he would have to slack off a little.
His work was nothing more than helping Pokémon in trouble and searching for and testing the Brave of the Rainbow chosen by Ho-Oh.
The Brave of the Rainbow had not appeared for a very long time, so his work had been fairly easy lately. He should have plenty of time to take care of Little Sun.
Even if something truly came up, he could leave Little Sun with other Pokémon for a while.
As for food, he needed to find a Miltank. Little Sun could only drink milk right now, and Miltank were excellent milk-producing Pokémon.
Humans seemed to drink Miltank milk too, so Little Sun could naturally drink it as well. Besides, he had heard that Miltank milk could help infants grow up healthier.
There was no need to worry too much about the child's future health. If the child got sick, Entei could just give him a Sacred Fire. That was Ho-Oh's signature move, and Entei had only learned it after following Ho-Oh for a long time.
And the fire had no side effects. It could even improve one's physique. After all, most germs harmful to the human body would be killed by those flames. Without those nasty things in the body, one would naturally be in great health.
Also, if he ran into Raikou and Suicune, how should he introduce Little Sun? As companions who had lived and died together, perhaps they would help take care of him.
Forget Raikou. His temper was even worse than Entei's. Gentle Suicune seemed more suited to caring for a child...
As he thought, Entei fell asleep.
He had a dream. In it, an Entei was summoned by a little girl and became her father, helping her fulfill her wish.
The Entei in the dream truly loved the girl and was willing to make sacrifices for her in the end.
It left him somewhat emotional. The two of them were very alike, both caring for a child. Yet he might not be like the Entei in the dream and offer the child so much help.
Perhaps adopting Little Sun had only been a whim. Maybe he would soon find the child bothersome, leave him with other Pokémon, and stop caring about him.
A father... did he count as Little Sun's father? Probably not. He was merely an ordinary Pokémon who had adopted him. They were not even the same species. Once this little fellow became aware, he would probably despise him.
The Entei in the dream was an exception. A dream was only a dream. How could there possibly be someone in reality who called a Pokémon father? He had lived for hundreds of years and had never encountered such a thing.
Once Little Sun grew up, Entei still had to send him back to human society. That was where he belonged.
He did not know whether he would be able to bear it. Probably. He was not the kind of Pokémon who hesitated and wavered.
"Waaah, waaah..." Entei was awakened by the baby's cries. At the same time, he caught a foul smell in the air. Little Sun had soiled himself. Entei took him to the riverbank to wash him, carefully controlling the water until it became warm.
After being cleaned up, Little Sun fell asleep again.
Looking at the clothes he had pulled off Little Sun and the child's bare little body, Entei sighed. It seemed he also had to solve the matter of clothing.
Pokémon did not need clothes, but humans did. They were not only for warmth, but also to cover parts of the body. Although there was no one else nearby, it still needed to be dealt with.
Although he could dry clothes quickly, he still had to prepare several more sets. Besides, the child might outgrow them before long, so he needed to keep a few larger outfits as well.
Entei carried the child back to the cave. The midnight sky was covered in deep blue, and stars adorned the entire night sky with dazzling brilliance.
The crescent moon floated amid the river of stars like a light little boat. Meteors streaked past, leaving long trails of light. The night breeze blew gently, bringing a trace of chill, yet it could not affect the warmth within the cave.
The infant slept on Entei's back. Since he was not wearing anything and it was inconvenient to dress him while he slept, Entei was afraid he would catch cold, so he let him sleep on his back. His body was quite warm.
Entei's back was covered in flowing white mane like drifting clouds, soft and warm. The child slept sweetly, occasionally rubbing against Entei's mane and turning over. It was clear that he would be a very active child.
Yet Entei did not dare move. He was afraid of waking the infant on his back, and even more afraid that the child would fall if he shifted even slightly. So he prepared to rest sprawled out just like that.
The sleeping child and the nervous beast made a striking contrast, yet they were unexpectedly harmonious.
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