Preparing for Winter, Leaf Bed

The next day, Fire Emperor went out as usual to forage for food in the wild.

Raising Little One had become Fire Emperor's most important duty. Winter was approaching, and without enough food stockpiled, Little One might starve. Fire Emperor wouldn't allow that to happen, so before winter arrived, it had to bring back as much food as possible from outside and store it in the cave.

After eating and drinking his fill, Dongshu was full of energy. Staying alone in the cave bored him, so he pestered Fire Emperor to take him along to find food. Fire Emperor naturally didn't refuse.

The one human and one Pokémon roamed through the mountain forest. With Dongshu's deliberate guidance, Fire Emperor brought back more mountain goods besides Berries—Berries, Chestnuts, Nuts, Mushrooms...

In just a month, all kinds of mountain goods piled up into small mountains inside the cave, filling a vast area and looking deeply satisfying.

"This should be fine now. With this food, at least we won't have to worry about starving this winter," Dongshu murmured to himself.

He still had 15 Shock Points, but that was only enough for three bottles of Moomoo Milk—not much use otherwise.

Seeing that the food stockpile was sufficient, Fire Emperor stopped going out as often as before.

Lately, the temperature outside had plummeted. As a Pokémon, Fire Emperor could clearly sense that autumn was nearing its end, and a bitter winter was about to blanket the land.

It looked around the cave it called home and felt like something was missing.

What was it?

Food was taken care of—Little One wouldn't go hungry for a while. With it around, Little One wouldn't have to worry about the cold either.

Fire Emperor's gaze dropped, landing on the flattened pile of leaves where it and Little One had been sleeping.

That was it. There weren't enough leaves here. Little One probably wouldn't sleep comfortably. It needed to gather more leaves and bring them back.

Having made this decision, Fire Emperor got busy again.

It settled Dongshu in the cave, then went out alone to the forest, collecting fallen leaves and carrying them back to spread into a soft, cozy Leaf Bed.

Once Fire Emperor left, Dongshu was alone in the cave again.

His body was still too young to do much of anything.

But that didn't stop his mind from wandering.

"It's been almost two months since I returned to Heavenly Green Mountain. Aside from Fire Emperor and some ordinary Pokémon, I haven't seen any others."

The Ho-Oh Guard consisted of three legendary Pokémon: Fire Emperor, Suicune, and Raikou.

Legend had it that long ago, they were just ordinary Pokémon. They died in a great fire at the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City, and only after being revived by Ho-Oh did they become Fire Emperor, Suicune, and Raikou.

Dongshu could understand not seeing Ho-Oh—given its personality, it was probably off playing photographer somewhere right now.

He could also understand not seeing Suicune and Raikou—they each had their own duties.

But... why hadn't he seen Marshadow yet?

Logically, Marshadow lived on Heavenly Green Mountain. Unlike Fire Emperor and the others, aside from testing the Rainbow Hero chosen by Ho-Oh, it usually stayed on the mountain.

Maybe it was because of its personality?

Dongshu remembered the Pokédex saying that Marshadow was timid and weak by nature, never showing itself in front of humans. Some places even thought it was just a myth.

"Ah, forget it! Doesn't matter!"

Whether he saw Marshadow or not was irrelevant—he had Fire Emperor, and that was enough!

After eating Berries for days, Dongshu was craving something else.

He opened the System Store and browsed the dazzling array of food.

But considering his current physical condition, he ended up only exchanging for one bottle of Moomoo Milk.

With 5 Shock Points deducted, a bottle of Moomoo Milk materialized in his hand out of thin air.

Dongshu was about to gulp it down when he suddenly noticed a message flash across his panel.

[Where did that come from? What did this human just do?] [+10 Shock Points from Marshadow!]

What? Marshadow?

Dongshu paused mid-motion, bottle in hand, a flicker of surprise and uncertainty crossing his mind.

Marshadow's Shock Points had appeared—that meant Marshadow was nearby, secretly watching him!

Sure enough, Marshadow must have known Fire Emperor brought him to Heavenly Green Mountain all along...

But where was it now?

Dongshu warily turned his head, scanning his surroundings. Marshadow's power came from shadows, and most of the time, it hid within them.

So Dongshu paid extra attention to the dark corners of the cave.

As his gaze swept over one shadowy spot, he suddenly spotted a tiny figure made entirely of gray smoke in a very hidden corner.

That was a Pokémon like a shadow, standing silently in the darkness, quietly watching them.

Marshadow! There!

Dongshu froze.

[Discovered? How did this human manage that?!]

[+15 Shock Points from Marshadow!]

Marshadow's eyes showed clear shock.

Marshadow was proud of its hiding ability—if it didn't want to be found, no ordinary human or Pokémon could possibly detect it.

And now... how had this human found it?

Both human and Pokémon stood frozen in place.

But soon, Marshadow snapped out of it.

Logically, it should now dive into the shadows, conceal itself, and vanish from this human's sight.

But looking at that human child, Marshadow's mind inexplicably recalled the scenes it had seen in his dreams earlier.

His parents had indeed died protecting Pokémon.

And they had lost their lives protecting strange Pokémon they'd never even met.

No matter how much it disliked or disapproved of humans, Marshadow couldn't deny the actions of those two "foolish" humans in its heart.

"Mar-sha..."

At that moment, Marshadow began to understand, at least a little, why the Fire Emperor had done what he did.

Just then, the Fire Emperor returned from outside.

He brought back more soft golden leaves, spread them in a wind-sheltered spot inside the cave, then carried the Little One over and set him down there.

After doing all that, the Fire Emperor turned his head and glanced at Marshadow.

"What are you doing here?" the Fire Emperor used telepathy to communicate silently with Marshadow.

But before Marshadow could answer, the Little One held out the milk he'd been drinking, offering to share it.

Seeing this, the Fire Emperor frowned slightly, his eyes showing disapproval.

The Little One had used his mysterious power again.