Marshadow

However, Dongshu didn't care about the Fire Emperor's thoughts. That was just how he was—if someone treated him well, he would treat them well in return.

Besides, those Shock Points had been earned from the Fire Emperor in the first place, so he felt the milk should rightfully be shared with it.

So, Dongshu crawled over to the Fire Emperor's massive head, frowned, and shoved the Moomoo Milk toward its mouth.

"Ee-yah!" (Drink it up!)

Fire Emperor: "..."

Though it couldn't understand the little one's words, the Fire Emperor could clearly sense that if it refused, the little one would definitely get angry.

This was the little one's goodwill... A feeling the Fire Emperor had never experienced before surged in its heart.

Its efforts hadn't been wasted—the little one had already come to see it as family.

The old father felt both happy and gratified.

With his belly full, Dongshu soon felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Most babies spent their infancy like this—aside from eating, they were asleep most of the time.

It meant they were growing.

Out of habit, Dongshu snuggled into the Fire Emperor's warm embrace and fell asleep in no time.

Seeing this, the Fire Emperor frowned slightly.

It could clearly sense that the little one's mental state seemed to have grown a bit weary.

"Is it because he used [Power]?" the Fire Emperor thought to itself.

In this world, using any kind of power came at a cost.

When they used Moves, they consumed energy from their bodies—even Lord Ho-Oh was no exception.

And since the little one was still young, he likely hadn't fully mastered his own power yet. He had just used it and immediately fallen into a deep sleep.

That wasn't good.

Even though the milk was delicious, for the sake of the little one's health, the Fire Emperor decided it would have to strictly forbid him from using his abilities from now on.

In reality, though, Dongshu was just full and sleepy.

The Fire Emperor didn't know this.

It lowered its head to look at the little one resting on its foreleg, then stuck out its tongue and used the Secret Technique "Big Cat Lick" on him.

Suddenly, the Fire Emperor's movement paused.

It jerked its head up to look at a shadow in the corner of the cave.

A small, delicate figure had appeared there without a sound.

It was a humanoid Pokémon, its body seemingly made of gray smoke, with a helmet-like area around its face and two small, curved horns on top of its head.

It had appeared silently, its orange-red eyes staring gloomily at the Fire Emperor and the little one in its arms.

"Marshadow," the Fire Emperor said in a dignified voice. "Why have you come to my place?"

Marshadow's gaze was dark. Its voice sounded childlike but utterly lifeless.

"You've brought a human to Heavenly Green Mountain. He carries no trace of Lord Ho-Oh's presence, nor is he the Rainbow Hero chosen by Lord Ho-Oh."

Marshadow's gaze slowly shifted from the human child to the Fire Emperor.

"Fire Emperor, this breaks the rules."

"..."

The Fire Emperor was silent for a moment, then said, "I will report this matter to Lord Ho-Oh myself."

Hearing this, Marshadow said nothing more.

It had come today because it sensed a strange presence on Heavenly Green Mountain and had planned to check it out, only to find a human child here.

Marshadow gave the other a gloomy look, then slowly sank down until it vanished into the shadows.

Humans were the worst.

Marshadow returned to the Shadow World. It closed its eyes, and scenes from the dreams of humans who had taken the Rainbow Hero trials surfaced in its mind.

All kinds of desires, greed, evil thoughts...

Every human, every Rainbow Hero, was the same.

Marshadow had experienced too much. It no longer held any hope for humanity.

*

Dongshu slept for a very, very long time.

It wasn't until evening that he opened his eyes from his dreams.

The Fire Emperor lay beside him like a statue. When it saw him wake, the majestic big cat immediately looked over.

Dongshu rubbed his eyes. Outside, it was already dusk. The sun was about to set, and golden light spilled across the entire mountain peak.

Seeing Dongshu look outside, the Fire Emperor asked through telepathy, "Want to go out and take a look?"

"Ee-yah?" Is that okay?

Dongshu quickly turned to look at the Fire Emperor.

The Fire Emperor slowly rose, then picked up the little one, tossing him onto his back. With sturdy limbs, he padded out of the cave.

Outside the cave, a peaceful and serene scene unfolded.

Above, the sky was filled with orange twilight, its soft glow blanketing the mountains. Where the sunset reached, many Pokémon roamed leisurely through the forest.

Rhyhorn, Magmar, Weezing, Nidoking, Nidoqueen...

Within Ho-Oh's domain, these Pokémon of different species and types coexisted in harmony.

Few humans ever set foot here—only Pokémon.

"Whoa!" So magnificent!

Gazing at the sight, Dongshu couldn't help but exclaim.

The Pokémon world was truly amazing!

But soon, a cold wind swept in, blowing away all the excitement in Dongshu's heart.

So cold!

"Ah-choo!" Dongshu sneezed.

The Fire Emperor immediately brought Dongshu back into the cave.

It channeled the power within its body, radiating a wave of heat. In no time, the entire cave grew as warm as if a fireplace had been lit.

Only then did Dongshu let out a long sigh of relief.

Sure enough, in the cold season, having a Fire-type Pokémon was the best!

But then, he remembered something very important.

The season was already deep autumn; winter would arrive before long.

When it did, the temperature would plummet, snow would fall heavily, and the entire mountain range of Heavenly Green Mountain would likely turn into a land of white.

With the Fire Emperor around, Dongshu wasn't too worried about freezing to death.

What worried him was the food supply.

In winter, food was scarce. Even the Berries that grew everywhere wouldn't be as easy to find as they were now.

As a Legendary Pokémon, the Fire Emperor and its kind didn't need to eat on a daily basis, and his Shock Points were still limited—nowhere near enough to sustain a whole winter's worth of food.

Thinking this over, Dongshu turned to the Fire Emperor, trying to communicate and explain the situation.

"Ee-yah-yah!"

The Fire Emperor looked at him, seemingly unable to understand a word.

Dongshu felt a bit deflated.

Sigh, he was still too young!

If he were ten years old now, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state.

With his cheat ability, if the Fire Emperor cooperated, they could head to a human town, challenge some rookie trainers just starting their journeys to a Pokémon Battle, and rake in hundreds or even thousands of Shock Points in just one round.