MunchMunch happily waddled next to his Trainer. After their fights — which Gastly told him were called Pokemon Battles, or battles for short — the rest of the Zubat and Rattata in the cave seemed very interested in not being seen.

  MunchMunch thought that was super funny, because Mama Gastly kept popping out of the shadows and scaring them!

  He wanted to be able to do that too, but Mama Gastly told him that was her job. She was supposed to be fast and slippery - he was supposed to grow super big and strong, so that no one could hurt him.

  MunchMunch liked that. He liked it so much he took a chew from his yummy-snack.

  After some more walking — MunchMunch made sure to jump in all the water-puddles, because it was super fun — they rounded a corner. This time, there was an enemy trainer sitting on a rock, watching them.

  He had blue hair, and where the other trainers had seemed bad…this one seemed really scary. The trainers they had beat earlier were standing behind him.

  The blue-haired trainer started talking, and suddenly MunchMunch felt great pain in his chest. It was like his chest was trying to squish his heart! He started breathing too fast and then he was feeling dizzy. He knew that voice — from before, when he was in his real egg. He had forgotten it, but now he remembered it. And it was making him feel very small and hurt.

  Gastly swooped out of a shadow. “Are you ok, MunchMunch?” She whispered worriedly.

  But MunchMunch couldn’t speak, “I…it…ahhh….wahhhhhh,” he couldn’t help it. He started to cry.

  The blue-haired man was pointing at him, and MunchMunch knew he was talking about him. His Teddy was yelling back. MunchMunch wanted to be brave, but he felt so small — and he didn’t know why!

  “It looks like he’s the one who took you from your real mama,” Gastly whispered sadly. MunchMunch sniffled.

  “You are my real mama!” He sniffled, but he still felt super small.

  “Oh sweetie,” Gasatly cooed, knowing how to make him feel better. “Don’t you worry — our Trainer and I are going to take care of this guy, and then we will go get you some yummy food.”

  That sounded nice to MunchMunch. He took a chew on his favorite-snack, and that helped him feel better too.

  Suddenly, Teddy knelt down next to him and took off his backpack. He was saying two-leg things that MunchMunch didn’t understand, but Gastly was there to help.

  “Teddy needs your help MunchMunch, can you be brave?” She asked. He nodded tearfully.

  Then Teddy pulled an Egg out from his backpack. MunchMunch gasped. It wasn’t a food egg — it was an egg like his when he was a baby. But this one was much, much prettier. His was white with some brown spots — he remembered seeing it when he had broken out. This one was shiny! And it shimmered! And it had really pretty shapes on it - like stars!

  His Trainer was looking him straight in the eyes. MunchMunch couldn’t understand his words, but he knew what he was saying. “Can you keep it safe?”

  MunchMunch nodded vigorously, wiping the water from his eyes. He grabbed the Egg and held it close. He remembered how good it felt to be warm when he was in his Egg, so he wanted to make this one feel the same.

  In the background, he could hear his Trainer and the blue-haired trainer shouting - and Gastly cackling. But MunchMunch kept his eye on the Egg - because that was his job. Gastly and his Teddy would take care of the scary trainer, he would take care of the Egg.

  MunchMunch remembered that when he was in his egg, he could sometimes hear things outside of it. But no one talked to him, and while he didn’t know what it was at the time — the feeling it made him feel was lonely. So MunchMunch talked to the Egg.

  While Gastly cackled and battled and kept them safe, while his Trainer showed her how to get stronger and stronger, MunchMunch told the Egg about when he was born. And then all the adventures they had since then! He told it about the PokeEgg that was actually a Pokeball, and the food that they couldn’t eat called apricorns. He even took out his favorite thing to show the Egg, telling it just how much he loved it. He was pretty sure his favorite thing loved him back too, because it always tried to make sure there was a bite for him to eat!

  Stolen novel; please report.

  He even told the Egg about what it meant to get stronger! About how it got you food — which was the bestest thing, and how to win. He made sure to cackle like Gastly to show the Egg how to do it — and he was pretty sure he heard Gastly cackle louder in her battle too!

  He made sure to hold the Egg close. There was just something about it. Something that made his heart hurt — but in a different way from the scary trainer. It hurt in a good way.

  While food made his tummy feel happy, this Egg made his chest feel happy. Maybe it could be his most favorite thing, but in a different way?

  _____

  Gastly was panting softly. This battle was hard — harder than any she had fought yet. But more importantly — they couldn’t lose this one. No matter what.

  She spun and avoided a Smog from the enemy Pokemon.

  “Koff-Koffing,” it taunted.

  Gastly was tired. The blue-haired trainer was scary, but he was no joke. His Pokemon were strong. His first Zubat took a lot of effort to win — more effort than any Zubat fight before.

  This Koffing was a nightmare. She had never met a Koffing before, and she hopped she wouldn’t meet one again. She had been forced to use Curse, but it was still going strong. If Teddy hadn’t found that Shell Bell outside Union Cave…she shuddered to think of the state she would be in right now.

  It didn’t heal a lot, but a little was way better than none.

  She tried to use Confuse Ray again, but the enemy Koffing just puffed out some poison gas so it couldn’t see her eyes. Thank goodness she was immune to poison. The Koffing seemed equally immune to her Hypnosis though, which was terribly frustrating.

  Which left her with Curse and Lick. Curse was doing its work, but it had severely weakened her - and she hadn’t had much left to give after the Zubat. Lick barely seemed to affect the Koffing, and it always retaliated with a Smog that hurt her more than she hurt it.

  Even with her Shell Bell, she was losing.

  She glanced over at Munchlax. The little child was cooing and protecting the egg, completely oblivious to the fight. He trusted her to keep them safe. She cackled softly, and he cackled back.

  Gastly smiled. She had to win - there was no other way.

  She swooped in for a lick, and the Koffing punished her for it. Her Teddy was quiet — they both knew it was up to her now. He had already used the two potions.

  She remembered listening to Professor Elm tell her Teddy that you could only use two potions on a Pokemon in between PokeCenter visits. Something about too much of a good thing being bad. Three potions could permanently injure a Pokemon. She remembered thinking at the time she would never need to worry about that.

  How she wished her Trainer could give her a third potion now. She might even ask him to do it.

  There was no way this blue-haired monster was getting his hands on Munchlax again. She would do whatever it took.

  ___

  Teddy gritted his teeth. It broke his heart to see his Pokemon working so hard. Little Munchlax was doing everything he could to keep the Egg safe. But he was still just too little — he had no place in a fight like this.

  Gastly was running on empty. She put on a brave face, but he could tell. She didn’t have much left to give.

  It was his fault. He should have helped them get stronger. He should have captured more Pokemon for his team!

  If worse came to worse, he would recall them all. He would run. He wouldn’t be able to escape, but maybe he could hide their Pokeballs. He knew Kurt would come looking.

  With a glint of determination, he grabbed the pokeballs from his belt. The poor Egg Elm had given him wouldn’t be so lucky — it couldn’t be hidden in a Pokeball and he had very little hope of hiding it.

  Suddenly, Gastly was cackling — and she sounded very, very happy.

  ___

  She had done it! She had no idea how she even learned Sucker Punch when she didn’t even have hands yet, but she wasn’t complaining. She had needed the Darkness to help her - and it had responded.

  She hovered over to the Koffing, which was just getting up off the floor. She felt it prepare to use Smog.

  She Sucker Punched it again. It crashed to the ground and rolled away. Gastly started cackling. Over in the corner, Munchlax started cackling too.

  She loved that little furball.

  The blue-haired trainer was frowning now. The Koffing used Smog again, and Gastly sunk into the shadows on the floor to avoid it. A final Sucker Punch and the Koffing fainted.

  She floated tiredly to the floor. She had done it. She had kept her team safe. It had taken everything she had, and some things she didn’t have. But she had done it. They had done it. The whole team.

  The blue-haired trainer exchanged words with her Teddy. Then they watched them go.

  Gastly knew she was feeling the same thing her Trainer was. It didn’t feel like a victory when they got to walk away. They shouldn’t be able to walk away. She knew both she and her Teddy were making the same promise to themselves.

  Next time, the would be strong enough. Not just to win, but to make sure the bad guys didn’t get to walk away. And she wouldn’t forget that name.

  Proton.

  Now he was the wrong kind of strong.