The next day, Fire Emperor headed out into the wilderness as usual to look for food.
Taking care of Little One had become Fire Emperor's most important responsibility. Winter was approaching, and if it didn't prepare enough food, Little One might starve to death.
Fire Emperor wouldn't let that happen. So before winter arrived, it had to bring back as much food as possible and stockpile it in the cave.
Once Dongshu had eaten his fill, he was full of energy. Staying alone in the cave made him terribly bored, so he insisted on going out with Fire Emperor to look for food.
Fire Emperor naturally didn't refuse.
A human and a Pokémon wandered through the mountains and forests. With Dongshu deliberately guiding it, Fire Emperor brought back more than just Berries from the mountains.
Berries, chestnuts, nuts, mushrooms...
After just a month, all kinds of mountain produce had piled up into one little mountain after another inside the cave. The whole area was packed full, a deeply satisfying sight.
"That should do it. With all this food, at least we won't have to worry about starving this winter," Dongshu thought to himself.
He still had 15 Shock Points, but that was only enough to buy three bottles of Moomoo Milk, so they weren't much use.
Once Fire Emperor saw that they had stockpiled enough food, it stopped going out as often as before.
The temperature outside had plummeted lately. As a Pokémon, Fire Emperor could clearly sense that autumn was nearing its end and winter would soon blanket the land.
It looked around the cave where it lived, feeling that something was missing.
What was it?
They had food, so Little One wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for a while.
With Fire Emperor there, Little One didn't have to worry about the cold, either.
Fire Emperor's gaze lowered, soon settling on the pile of leaves that it and Little One had flattened.
That was it. There weren't enough leaves here. Little One might be uncomfortable sleeping on them, so Fire Emperor needed to gather more and bring them back.
Having made up its mind, Fire Emperor got back to work.
It settled Dongshu in the cave, then went out alone into the forest to search for leaves. It would bring them back and spread them out into a soft, comfortable Leaf Bed.
Once Fire Emperor left, Dongshu was alone in the cave again.
He was still too young to do anything.
But that didn't stop him from letting his thoughts roam.
"It's been almost two months since I came back to Heavenly Green Mountain. Apart from Fire Emperor and some ordinary Pokémon, I don't think I've seen any others."
The Ho-Oh Guard had three Legendary Pokémon: Fire Emperor, Suicune, and Raikou.
They were said to have once been ordinary Pokémon. Long ago, they had perished in a fire at the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City. Only after Ho-Oh resurrected them did they become the Fire Emperor, Suicune, and Raikou they were today.
Dongshu could understand why he hadn't seen Ho-Oh. Given Ho-Oh's personality, it was probably off somewhere acting as a photographer.
He could understand why he hadn't seen Suicune and Raikou, too. Those two Pokémon had their own duties to fulfill.
But... why hadn't he seen Marshadow yet?
As far as he knew, Marshadow lived on Heavenly Green Mountain. Unlike Fire Emperor and the others, it spent almost all its time on the mountain, except when testing the Rainbow Hero chosen by Ho-Oh.
Maybe it was because of its personality?
Dongshu remembered the Pokédex saying that Marshadow was timid and weak-willed and never showed itself to humans. Some places even considered its existence nothing more than a fantasy.
"Forget it, never mind!"
It didn't matter whether he saw Marshadow or not. Having Fire Emperor was enough!
After eating Berries for so many days, Dongshu was craving something else.
He opened the System Store and looked over the dazzling selection of food.
But when he thought about his current condition, he ended up exchanging for just one bottle of Moomoo Milk.
As 5 Shock Points were deducted, a bottle of Moomoo Milk appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Dongshu was about to gulp it down when a notification flashed across his panel.
[Where did that come from? What did that human just do?] [Marshadow's Shock Points +10!]
What? Marshadow?
Dongshu paused with the bottle in his arms, suddenly uncertain.
Marshadow's Shock Points had appeared. That meant Marshadow was nearby, secretly watching him!
Of course. Marshadow couldn't possibly have missed Fire Emperor bringing him to Heavenly Green Mountain...
But where was it now?
Dongshu warily looked around. Marshadow's power came from shadows, and most of the time it hid within them.
So Dongshu paid special attention to the cave's dark corners.
As his gaze passed over one shadow, he suddenly spotted a small figure made entirely of gray smoke in a very secluded corner.
It was a Pokémon like a shadow, standing silently in the darkness and watching him.
Marshadow! There it is!
Dongshu froze.
[It's been spotted? How did this human manage that?!] [Marshadow's Shock Points +15!]
Marshadow's eyes widened in obvious shock.
Marshadow was very proud of its ability to hide. As long as it didn't want to be found, no ordinary human or Pokémon could ever detect its presence.
And now... how had this human spotted it?
The human and the Pokémon both stood frozen.
But Marshadow quickly came to its senses.
It should have immediately slipped into the shadows, hidden itself, and vanished from the human's sight.
But as it looked at the human child, scenes from the child's dream came unbidden to mind.
His parents really had died protecting Pokémon.
And they had given their lives to protect Pokémon they had never even met.
No matter how much Marshadow hated humans or refused to accept them, it couldn't deny what those two "foolish" humans had done.
"Marsha..."
At that moment, Marshadow understood, at least to some degree, why Fire Emperor had acted as it had.
Just then, Fire Emperor returned.
It had brought back more soft, golden leaves and spread them in a sheltered spot in the cave. Then it carried Little One over to the bed.
Only after finishing all that did Fire Emperor glance toward Marshadow.
"What are you doing here?" Fire Emperor used telepathy to communicate silently with Marshadow.
But before Marshadow could answer, Little One held out the bottle of milk he had partly drunk, apparently offering to share it.
Fire Emperor frowned slightly, then gave him a disapproving look.
Little One had used that strange power of his again.
Before you continue