Birthday

Four years later.

In a forest, sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering dappled patches of light across the ground. A gentle breeze brushed the treetops, making them rustle. The forest brimmed with life and vitality.

A boy was running through the woods. Though he was barefoot, his steps were light yet powerful, every stride closely connected to the earth.

Sweat slid down his forehead, but his eyes remained determined and bright. His breathing was rapid yet steady, as though he were fleeing from something.

Behind the boy was a huge beast-like Pokémon. Its four limbs were as powerful and flexible as springs, and every leap carried it easily over the obstacles ahead.

Sometimes it slowed down, sometimes it sprinted, relentlessly chasing the boy ahead as though they were playing a game of cat and mouse.

Everything around them rushed backward: trees, shrubs, and the occasional other Pokémon were all left far behind.

Quite a few Pokémon seemed to have witnessed this scene before and appeared to know them as well. They jumped about and shouted, seemingly cheering the boy on—Chikorita, Girafarig, Sentret, Nidoran, and others.

After who knew how long they had been running, the beast-like Pokémon behind him suddenly pounced. Before the boy could react, he was knocked to the ground.

"Dad, I lost again. You're so fast!" the boy said in frustration as the Pokémon pinned him to the ground.

"Of course I am. I'm a Legendary Pokémon, after all. I can swim across the entire Johto Region in a little over ten days. At your speed, kid, it'd probably take you months. How could you possibly outrun me?"

Entei looked immensely proud, as though catching up to a child were some great accomplishment.

The Pokémon speaking was none other than the Legendary Pokémon Entei, while the boy was naturally the human infant he had adopted several years ago.

Little Sun had given himself another name, Yan Yang, claiming that he wanted to take his father's surname. Entei naturally had no objection.

Since he had grown up in the wild and no one had taught Yan Yang how to speak, the two communicated in Pokémon Language.

Yan Yang struggled to his feet. "I only have two legs, while you have four. You're so strong too. How am I supposed to outrun you?"

"I've already been holding back my speed so much that it barely feels different from walking. You still can't keep up, so it seems you need more training." Entei helped brush the dust off the child and spoke sternly.

"Got it. One day, I'll make it so you can't catch me."

"I hope that day comes."

"Alright, alright, I know you're amazing and I can't outrun you, but I'll work hard. So can I go play with the other Pokémon now?" Yan Yang asked expectantly.

"You little brat, that last part was your real goal, wasn't it? Fine, go play. Just remember to come home early. If you stay out until midnight again like last time, I'll give you a Flamethrower."

"Got it. But Dad, your Flamethrower is way too weak. It doesn't hurt at all. Bleh!" Yan Yang made a face at Entei and dashed off in a flash.

Entei watched him run away and thought, If you took a real Flamethrower from me, you'd probably turn straight into roasted meat.

Of course, it was not quite that exaggerated. Humans had some resistance to the power of Pokémon moves, seemingly as a result of natural evolution. Otherwise, a Pokémon could seriously injure its Trainer with a careless Flamethrower.

Entei returned to the cave. He had not gone out to work today. Every week, he set aside one day to spend entirely with Yan Yang—both to keep him company and to push him to train.

Even though the child's physique was unexpectedly strong, Entei had never seen a human around Yan Yang's age who could run so well. His stamina was astonishing.

Ever since Yan Yang had called him "Daddy," Entei felt as though he had changed a great deal.

He had originally been the sort of Pokémon with a rather bad temper, but now even he felt that he had become much gentler. He felt gentler than even Suicune.

He could still remember how deeply moved he had been when he first heard that cry of "Dad."

Surprise? Relief? Joy? Disbelief? Perhaps he had felt all of those things. Back then, it had truly felt as though something had appeared in his heart—heavy, yet exceptionally reassuring.

He seemed to understand a little better why the Entei in his dream had acted that way.

He had had many doubts at the time, but after that sincere "Daddy," every one of them had vanished. Were the other things still important? They were not.

Entei silently began preparing things. Today was actually a special day. Four years ago, on this very day, he had found Yan Yang. Though he did not know whether it was appropriate, he had still decided to treat it as the child's birthday.

Entei had lived for hundreds of years and had never had any concept of birthdays. Only a few days ago, when he had gone to a human city and overheard people talking, had he learned that birthdays were an extremely important day for humans.

He had been so engrossed in listening that he had nearly been discovered by humans. Fortunately, he had reacted quickly enough. Otherwise, it would have caused a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

Legendary Pokémon always caused a stir among humans, no matter how they appeared.

Some humans even thought about capturing him. How could that be possible?

As a lofty Legendary Pokémon, he had his pride. He would never casually acknowledge a human, and even the Brave of the Rainbow personally chosen by Ho-Oh would not be allowed to capture him.

Whether they could defeat him was one matter. Whether he wanted to was the real issue. If he did not want to, there was no way he would allow himself to be bound by humans, even if they bore no ill intent.

If they were the sort of despicable people who wanted to forcefully capture him and make him do things against his will, then he would rather fight until the very last moment than let them have their way.

Of course, most people revered him and would not do anything so outrageous. He was naturally willing to offer those humans a little help.

Uh, he had gotten off track. He should think about what to prepare as a birthday gift for the child. According to those people, giving a birthday gift was the most direct way to express one's feelings and a good way to strengthen a parent-child relationship.

Even though their relationship was already close enough, it still needed to be reinforced. He could sense that Yan Yang still had a tiny bit of distance from him.

That was understandable. The two of them were far too different. They were not even the same species, so a sense of distance was normal.

And the child was very smart. Even though Entei had never told him about his origins, he could probably guess some of it.

Fortunately, the child had no issues with his personality. He was cheerful every day and liked making friends. Now that he had other Pokémon friends, Entei was naturally happy. This way, Yan Yang would not feel lonely whenever Entei was away.

Fortunately, when Entei had looked for clothes for Yan Yang back then, he had glanced at the calendar at the stall. The date had been October 30, and fortunately, he had remembered it.

Entei understood a little of human writing.

October 30. Going back one day made it October 29. That was the day he had first met Little Sun, which meant it was his birthday.

As for his original birthday, Yan Yang probably did not remember it himself. Besides, he had been abandoned, so there was no need to celebrate that original one.

When Entei had learned about the concept of birthdays a few days ago, he had also checked the date. After calculating it, today turned out to be October 29.

This really was a day worth commemorating. Some human customs were quite interesting.

As for himself, forget it. At his age, what was the point of celebrating a birthday?

Still thinking, Entei ran outside, seemingly searching for something special to give Yan Yang as a gift.