Graveler's Grateful Gift, Fire Emperor's Plan (Two Chapters Combined)

[As a cub, you used your weak strength to save a Cubone that was nearly choked to death by a berry pit. +10 Shock Points from Graveler!]

[Little One is really clever, no wonder you're my Little One! +5 Shock Points from Fire Emperor!]

[This human cub... is actually actively helping a Pokémon? +10 Shock Points from Marshadow!]

As dusk fell, the moment he returned to the cave, Dongshu checked the few messages that had just popped up on the panel.

Lying on the fluffy Fire Emperor, sucking on the soft pulp and juice with his underdeveloped baby teeth, Dongshu stared at those messages in some surprise.

Like this... he could actually get Shock Points too?

No, it should be that his proactive move had shocked the Fire Emperor and that Graveler.

But Dongshu didn't quite understand—where did Marshadow's Shock Points come from?

Hadn't it already left?

Recalling the plot from the anime, where Marshadow always lurked in Ash's shadow to observe and test him, Dongshu's eyes widened instantly.

Could it be that Marshadow had never actually left, but was secretly hiding in his shadow, spying on him?

Realizing this, Dongshu immediately looked at his own shadow.

But it was already night, and the cave was pitch dark, shadows everywhere.

"..."

Forget it, let Marshadow watch if it wants to!

With this unexpected windfall plus the 35 Shock Points he'd saved up before, Dongshu's balance instantly hit the 60 mark.

So satisfying!

Dongshu browsed the shop, drooling wildly at the dazzling array of food inside.

Meanwhile, in the mountain forest, under a large tree laden with berries.

Cold moonlight spilled across the ground. Though night had fallen, the Graveler and Cubone mother and child hadn't rested yet.

Watching her child knock berries down from the tree with its bone club, Graveler felt immense relief in her heart.

What happened during the day was still vivid in her mind—her child was still hopping lively by her side.

And all of that was thanks to that Pokémon and the human cub it raised.

Graveler was deeply grateful. She wanted to do something for them, but didn't know how.

Just then, Graveler recalled that those two had also been searching for food in the forest a few days ago. They must be preparing for winter too.

So, to repay them, Graveler took her child Cubone and found a big tree full of berries.

They planned to pick some berries from the tree and give them as a thank-you gift.

The next day, when the first rays of sunlight shone into the cave, Dongshu woke up early.

But with winter approaching, before the sun had fully risen, the morning temperature was still very low.

Outside, a thick layer of frost had already coated the world.

The clothes Dongshu was wearing were still the ones from when the accident happened—they couldn't withstand the cold at all. If he left Fire Emperor's side, he'd probably be shivering with snot and tears in no time.

Dongshu burrowed deeper into Fire Emperor's embrace.

Seeing that Little One didn't want to get up, Fire Emperor naturally lay still on the ground, occasionally licking its fur.

But its gaze was fixed outside the cave, where it sensed a familiar presence.

At ten in the morning, the temperature gradually warmed up.

Only then did Dongshu slowly crawl out, holding onto Fire Emperor, and head outside.

As soon as they came out, Dongshu spotted a pile of berries at the cave entrance.

Huh? Where did these berries come from?

Fire Emperor seemed to have expected it.

Its majestic voice echoed in Dongshu's heart.

"The two Pokémon you helped yesterday brought these as thanks, delivered early this morning."

It was the Graveler and Cubone mother and child! Dongshu immediately realized.

Dongshu quickly looked around, and sure enough, not far away, he spotted a Krabby secretly peeking this way.

"Wow!"

Getting a thank-you gift for doing a good deed—anyone would be happy about that. Dongshu grinned and waved his little hand toward Krabby's direction.

"Kaka!"

Krabby waved its bone club back, then happily turned and ran off.

"Huh?"

Why did it run?

But looking at the pile of berries on the ground, Dongshu quickly thought of a possibility.

That Krabby, seeing that its gift had successfully reached them, finally left with peace of mind.

Dongshu couldn't help but chuckle.

This Pokémon was truly adorable!

Fire Emperor didn't linger outside for long. After basking in the sun with Dongshu for a while, it returned to the cave.

*

Time slowly passed, and the weather grew colder. Finally, on an ordinary day, heavy snow blanketed Heavenly Green Mountain.

Snow fell in flurries outside, the cold wind howled, and the entire Heavenly Green Mountain was cloaked in silver.

Winter had arrived.

In this season, even the usually liveliest forest fell into silence.

The Pokémon living on this land had all retreated into their warm, cozy nests, gazing out through caves and tree hollows at the swirling snow with their companions and kin.

A human child's body simply couldn't withstand this cold. For that reason, Fire Emperor and Dongshu also avoided going out as much as possible.

They stayed in the cave, where the bitter wind raged outside and goose-feather snow drifted down.

Inside the cave, Fire Emperor's Sacred Fire blazed like a furnace, radiating an orange-red glow that kept the chill at bay, making the entire cavern warm and toasty.

Perhaps due to the season, or maybe because he was growing, Dongshu spent most of his day curled up in Fire Emperor's warm embrace, sleeping soundly through this cold winter.

Watching Little One's peaceful, sleeping face, Fire Emperor's expression softened.

Nearly three months had passed since it decided to adopt Little One. In those three months of constant companionship, it had long grown used to having this presence by its side.

Gazing at the snow outside and listening to the soft snores of the child in its arms, a wave of warmth surged in Fire Emperor's heart.

It turned its head to look deeper into the cave.

There, stored away, were the Berries it and Little One had gathered together in the forest. With them, Little One could safely make it through the winter.

The flames on Fire Emperor's body flickered, driving away the cold while illuminating everything around them.

In the shadow of the sleeping Dongshu, Marshadow's figure silently emerged.

It lowered its head, quietly watching this human child who was clinging to Fire Emperor and sleeping soundly.

Life on Heavenly Green Mountain was dull and lonely. Ever since Fire Emperor brought this human child back, Marshadow had seemed to find some kind of amusement.

Though it always said things like "humans are the worst" and "humans aren't trustworthy," Marshadow couldn't help but hide in Dongshu's shadow during the day, secretly observing everything.

Over three months, it watched this human child go with Fire Emperor to the peak of Heavenly Green Mountain to see the sun, watched him sleep soundly alongside Fire Emperor, watched him babble and talk with Fire Emperor. Marshadow felt something inside itself quietly changing.

[Fire Emperor, this goes against the rules.]

Looking at Marshadow before him, Fire Emperor's mind suddenly recalled the words Marshadow had spoken when it first brought Little One back to Heavenly Green Mountain.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Fire Emperor slowly asked, "Has Lord Ho-Oh not returned yet?"

Marshadow shifted its attention away from Dongshu and shook its head.

"I can't sense Lord Ho-Oh's presence. It's probably very far from us and Heavenly Green Mountain right now."

"Mmm..." Fire Emperor nodded gravely. It wasn't too surprised, because Lord Ho-Oh had always been like this.

Neither Pokémon spoke again. They both quietly watched Dongshu, who was sleeping soundly.

After a long while, Marshadow suddenly spoke. "He's grown."

Compared to when they first met, this human child had gotten a bit taller.

Fire Emperor was momentarily startled. It looked at Little One. These days, it had been with him almost twenty-four hours a day, so it hadn't noticed any obvious change.

"Humans will grow up someday," Fire Emperor said in a low voice.

"Do you plan to keep raising him like this?" Marshadow asked again.

Fire Emperor's voice was calm, as if stating the most ordinary thing. "He has no family left in the human world. If he's willing, I'll stay by his side forever."

Marshadow suddenly looked up at Fire Emperor. "But Fire Emperor, there's a huge difference between humans and Pokémon."

"Human children need to keep learning—talking, walking, understanding... We're Pokémon. Neither you nor I can teach him human language."

These were all things it had observed from the Rainbow Heroes who had come to undergo trials in the past.

Hearing this, Fire Emperor fell silent.

It knew all too well that everything Marshadow said was critically important.

Humans are humans. Pokémon are Pokémon.

Humans can't live like Pokémon forever. They belong to humans, to cities.

Having raised Little One for so long, if it had to send him back to a human town now... Just thinking about it, even the selfless, dignified, and upright Fire Emperor couldn't help but feel selfishness stirring in its heart.

Little One relied on it so much, treated it like a father. If it sent him back, he would surely wail and cry, wouldn't he?

Fire Emperor stared at Little One's face. It was silent for a long time, and in its heart, it had already made a decision.

"In that case, I'll teach him to speak myself."

It was not human speech, but the language of Pokémon.

"Now, Little One is my child—a child raised by us Pokémon."

Marshadow was momentarily stunned.

Just then, the eyelids of the human infant beside them twitched, as if he were about to wake.

Seeing this, Marshadow silently slipped into the shadows.

The next second, Dongshu slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the furry face of Fire Emperor before him, then yawned in relief.

What time was it?

Dongshu turned his head to look outside the cave and saw that it was still snowing heavily.

After sleeping, Dongshu felt completely refreshed. He sat beside Fire Emperor, idly watching the heavy snow outside the cave.

If it were an ordinary baby, they probably wouldn't feel much about this situation.

But as a soul of an adult, Dongshu let out a helpless sigh.

A child's life was really boring...

"Little One." Suddenly, Fire Emperor's voice echoed in his heart.

"Hm?" Dongshu turned his head to look at Fire Emperor beside him.

"From today onward, I will teach you to speak—to speak our Pokémon language," Fire Emperor said slowly.

Hearing this, Dongshu's eyes widened immediately.

What? Fire Emperor was going to teach him to speak Pokémon?

But he was a human!

Although he was now one year and one month old, his vocal cords had developed enough to let him say simple words like "Dad," "Mom," "Mm," "Want," and "No."

But... speaking Pokémon was just too shocking.

"Do you want to learn?" Fire Emperor looked at his child with a gentle gaze.

After the initial shock, Dongshu quickly snapped back to reality.

If he learned Pokémon language, wouldn't he be able to directly understand the speech of Wild Pokémon in the future?

Aside from not being able to heal, wasn't this basically a watered-down version of the Viridian Force?

Realizing this, Dongshu quickly nodded his head.

"Good." Fire Emperor's voice continued. It looked at Little One and, instead of using telepathy, let out a sound that was somewhere between a lion's roar and a tiger's growl.

"Rooar!"

"Roo... ar?" Dongshu repeated after it.

"Fire Emperor." The telepathy sounded again, and Fire Emperor said slowly, "That is my name."

"Fire... Emperor? (Pokémon language)" Dongshu tried to imitate it.

Fire Emperor nodded, then said again, "Rooar!"

Dongshu: "..." It sounded exactly the same!

He looked into Fire Emperor's eyes and quickly understood.

No, it wasn't the same. The tone and emotion in Fire Emperor's voice when it said that word were completely different!

"This is Dad." Fire Emperor looked at the confused Little One before him and said slowly, "Rooar—Dad. I am your dad, and you are my child."

Dongshu: "..."

So Fire Emperor really was raising him as its own child, huh?

As an adult, Dongshu simply couldn't bring himself to call a Pokémon "Dad."

He pretended not to understand: "Rooar?"

"Rooar." Fire Emperor corrected him.

"Rooar!" Dongshu imitated it again.

But the meaning was still wrong.

"Is it too difficult?" Fire Emperor wondered inwardly. Still, it didn't dwell on it and instead moved on to teaching other simple words.

Things like "I want," "I don't want," "want to eat," "poop," "drink water," "Berry," "sleep," and so on.

As it turned out, one's environment played a decisive role in language learning.

In just two weeks, under Fire Emperor's constant nurturing, Dongshu could already understand its meaning from the tone of its cries and the emotions it carried.

He even had a feeling that if he stayed in this environment long enough, one day he would be able to converse with Fire Emperor like a human, without needing telepathy.

So this was... the Pokémon language?

In the games, N, who could understand Pokémon speech—did he also learn the Pokémon language this way?

And if he used this language, could he communicate with other Wild Pokémon?