Suicune: You Too, Raikou?!

At the peak of Heavenly Green Mountain.

Suicune's ribbon-like tail drifted lightly in the wind.

Its gentle, water-like gaze slowly settled on the two figures, one large and one small, walking along the distant mountain path.

A full two months had passed since the day it met Fire Emperor.

For the past two months, it had remained on Heavenly Green Mountain.

Though it had not shown itself before Fire Emperor and the human child, it had kept constant watch over them.

It saw Fire Emperor and the human child picking Berries together in the orchard.

It saw Fire Emperor sleeping in an embrace with him inside the Cave.

It saw the human child occasionally take out human food to share with Fire Emperor and Marshadow.

It saw Fire Emperor often bring the human child down the mountain to play with the Pokémon living there.

And today, Suicune saw the human child and Fire Emperor share the Berries they had harvested with those Wild Pokémon in the forest who had no connection to them.

Suddenly, Suicune, which had been standing still and watching, sensed a familiar presence.

Without even turning around, it knew Marshadow had arrived.

Suicune's gaze remained fixed on the two figures, one large and one small, down the mountain.

"That human child... is called Dongshu?" it asked.

"Yes," Marshadow replied quietly.

After a pause, Marshadow suddenly added, "He likes Fire Emperor very much."

"After all, he was raised by Fire Emperor." Suicune could tell that the human child depended greatly on Fire Emperor. He practically wished he could cling to Fire Emperor twenty-four hours a day.

"But..." Suicune turned, directing its gaze at Marshadow beside it. "Why are you suddenly telling me this?"

Marshadow's gaze was shadowed. It raised its head to look at Suicune and slowly said, "If Lord Ho-Oh holds us accountable later, I hope you can help us plead with Lord Ho-Oh."

Suicune froze slightly upon hearing this. "You too...?"

"That human child is different." Marshadow shook its head. "When Fire Emperor first brought him back, he couldn't even speak or walk... He was so tiny, sleeping in Fire Emperor's arms."

"Gradually, he grew up. Fire Emperor and I began teaching him the Pokémon language, and now he can already speak with Pokémon in their language."

"He is not a human child. He is our Pokémon child."

Suicune listened quietly.

Its personality was not as solitary as Raikou's, nor did it harbor prejudice against humans. On the contrary, while carrying out its mission beyond the mountain, it often encountered humans.

Good humans, bad humans...

Suicune could view all of this properly. It would not hate all humans because of evil people, nor would it show mercy to evil people because of kind ones.

"This is Fire Emperor's own choice," Suicune said softly.

Marshadow fell silent. It was about to slip into the Shadow World and leave when it suddenly heard Suicune say, "However, if Lord Ho-Oh truly holds you accountable, I will help you plead with him."

Having received the answer it wanted, Marshadow finally left and returned to its Shadow World.

Suicune looked down the mountain again and murmured softly, "Dongshu, huh?"

Raikou returned to Heavenly Green Mountain on the day after the first snowfall of the year.

At the time, heavy snow had sealed off the mountain, and all of Heavenly Green Mountain was blanketed in pristine white.

The Wild Pokémon that usually roamed outside had all vanished, and the forest was quieter than ever before.

Raikou's agile figure passed through the forest, treading on the soft snow before landing lightly at the entrance of the Cave like a great tiger.

The moment it appeared, Suicune hurried over as well.

Fire Emperor and Dongshu had already been hiding inside the Cave, watching the swirling snow outside, so they noticed Raikou's arrival the instant it appeared.

"Raikou!" Dongshu's eyes immediately lit up.

As Suicune looked at Raikou before it, the Legendary Beasts were now finally gathered together. Just as it was about to say something to Raikou, Raikou glanced at it, then slowly walked past it toward Fire Emperor and the human child.

Suicune: "?"

Could it be that you too, Raikou...?

"Raikou, you're back!" Dongshu said excitedly.

"Mhm." Raikou answered in a rather cold tone, then set down the bag it had been carrying in its mouth.

"What's this?" Dongshu's attention was immediately drawn to the bag.

He opened the bag and saw several bottles of Moomoo Milk inside.

"A gift I brought you." Raikou remembered that Dongshu loved drinking this stuff.

It had originally wanted to bring that Miltank back to Heavenly Green Mountain to live there.

But the Miltank had already been caught by humans and begun a new life on a ranch.

Although the Miltank couldn't come, after hearing why Raikou had come, it still asked the ranch owner for a whole pile of Moomoo Milk and gave it to Raikou as a gift.

As it spoke, Raikou did not forget to glance at Fire Emperor beside it.

That look seemed to say: See? Little One will like my gift more!

Fire Emperor: "..."

Useless, Fire Emperor thought silently. In Little One's heart, it was the best, Marshadow was second-best.

And Raikou could only rank last, in third place.

"Thank you, Raikou!" Dongshu enthusiastically gave Raikou a huge hug, taking the opportunity to pet the big cat as well.

Though Raikou looked a little unaccustomed to it, it still lowered itself so Dongshu could wrap his arms around its neck.

"Oh, right, Raikou! All the Berries we planted together have grown! They produced so much fruit this year!"

Dongshu eagerly shared the good news with Raikou.

"Oh? Really?" Raikou had actually already seen the Berry orchard outside the Cave.

"Come with me!" Dongshu grabbed Raikou's foreleg and pulled it inside.

At first, Raikou did not think much of it. After all, it was very familiar with this Cave.

But the next second, once it clearly saw the scene before it, it froze on the spot.

The inside of the Cave had somehow completely changed. Not only that, there even seemed to be several rooms within it!

After passing through a doorway, they entered a room stocked with Berries piled up like a small mountain!

Raikou's pupils instantly shook.

This was...

"This is Little One's power," Fire Emperor explained to Raikou as it followed behind.

"Hehe!" Dongshu smiled sheepishly.

He suddenly noticed a layer of snow covering Raikou's fur, so he pulled Raikou over to lie down and began clearing the snowmelt from its body.

Outside the Cave, Suicune stared blankly at the scene.

The wind and snow raged outside, flakes settling over its body. At that moment, Suicune suddenly felt as if the entire world had isolated it.

What it had not expected was that even Raikou liked that human child so much...

Suicune fell silent for a moment, then quietly turned and left.