MunchMunch snuggled the Egg and watched as his Trainer and Gastly slowly made their way over. They looked really tired — like after he had to go up all those steps to the Apricorn house.

  Teddy plopped down next to him, making some of the mud splash. MunchMunch giggled and scooted closer, making sure to splash the mud too. He was glad his Teddy liked mud.

  Gastly floated down on the other side, smiling at him before closing her eyes.

  MunchMunch didn’t know how, but he could tell she was tired — and super happy. He could feel the happiness coming off her. MunchMunch liked to reward himself when he was happy. He thought for a moment, then took his most favorite thing out of his mouth and offered her a bit. After all, he really liked Mama Gastly, and food always made him happy!

  Gastly cracked open one eye and inspected the item. “You can keep it, Sweetie — thank you, though,” she said softly, before closing her eyes again.

  MunchMunch put it back in his cheek, where he knew it would be super safe.

  Next to him, Teddy made one of his not-mean-noises — except quieter and slower than usual.

  MunchMunch liked the sound a lot. So he tried to copy it.

  “Muuuunch munch munch munch munch munch munch!” he said.

  His Trainer made the noise a little louder. Gastly floated a bit closer without opening her eyes. “You have a lovely laugh,” she whispered.

  So that’s what the noise is called! MunchMunch thought.

  A laugh. It sounded like a very nice thing.

  While he was thinking, Teddy and Gastly got real quiet. When MunchMunch looked up, he could tell they were sleeping!

  Which meant they trusted him to keep watch!

  MunchMunch felt light and happy and BIG. He stood up, made his face all serious, and held the Egg carefully. He would do a good job watching.

  After a little while, a pink Pokémon waddled around a rock and scooted through the mud. He stopped a little ways in front of them.

  “Sloooooooow…poke,” he said, then closed his eyes to go to sleep.

  MunchMunch could feel how happy he was that the scary two-legs with blue hair was gone.

  Then more and more Slowpokes came. They found cozy places and fell asleep. It was really nice feeling all of their happiness — and they looked so comfortable.

  It made MunchMunch feel very comfortable too.

  Then MunchMunch, while standing guard, fell asleep with his Trainer, his Gastly, and the Egg held close, surrounded by all the softly snoring Slowpoke.

  ___

  Gastly woke slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Rest had done what it could — a PokéCenter would have to finish the job. She found a shadow and used it to get herself up the wall. Beside her, her team still slept. The baby Munchlax was still on its feet, holding the Egg and doing his best to stand guard.

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  She marveled at the little creature. The journey from Union Cave to the Azelea PokeCenter had taken a handful of days.

  She sighed. Speaking of hands, she had been hoping she might be a Haunter right now. Goodness knows that last battle had taken all she had. Not yet, it seemed.

  Munchlax snored softly. She drifted down closer, his hands gripped tightly around the Egg. If she included their travel from Union Cave…the child was just barely a week old.

  She snorted. A week old. A week, and he had already fought and won his first trainer battle, taken the responsibility of guarding the team, and was now holding that Egg like it was his charge.

  The poor thing was still an infant himself. Many Pokemon took months from hatching before they even started understanding speech, much less battling. This Munchlax was going to be a monster when he grew up.

  She just hoped he didn’t lose his childlike wonder. It had been a long time since she had cared about anyone. Teddy was the first. But the way she felt about Munchlax was different.

  If she was honest with herself, he was the reason she fought so hard today. She wouldn’t…couldn’t, lose in front of him.

  She looked around. Thankfully, the wild Pokemon were grateful for their help and seemed utterly uninterested in fighting with their saviors.

  The Slowpoke slept, and the Zubat kept away. With a soft grunt, her Trainer opened his eyes.

  He looked at Munchlax and smiled. “Hey Gastly,” he whispered, careful not to wake all the sleeping Pokemon.

  “Gaaasss,” she responded, floating out from the warmth of the shadow she was hiding in.

  “Yea,” he nodded, “That was a tough fight. Thanks for trying so hard — I mean it.”

  Gastly really liked that about her Trainer. Somehow, he understood what she was saying. It made life a lot less lonely.

  “Gaaas, gas Gastly,” she finished.

  “Mm, yea, little Munchlax definitely deserves a break after this,” he agreed. “Maybe we can stay in Azalea for a few days before going through Ilex Forest. I bet he would like that.”

  Gastly snorted. As long as there was food, he would be happy anywhere. Teddy perked up his ears.

  “Sounds like Kurt is coming,” he said. Gastly listened too, and heard another two-legs shouting in the distance. She couldn’t understand what he was saying, but she figured he was probably calling her Trainer’s name. He stumbled into the cave they were resting in a moment later.

  The noise of his arrival jolted little Munchlax awake.

  “Munch!” He cried, tucking the Egg under his arm and reflexively doing a Defense Curl in preparation for battle. It was so sweet, but also broke her heart a little bit.

  MunchMunch couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep! He didn’t even remember doing it. But then a noise that sounded like a two-legs woke him up, and he thought it might be another bad trainer. He took a quick bite from his yummy-forever-snack to help wake him up, before realizing it was the Apricorn two-legs.

  “Oh!” He gasped, his heart beating much faster than it was supposed to.

  “It’s ok Sweetie,” Gastly said from above him, which caused him to gasp again and his heart to beating even faster. He hadn’t seen her there!

  “Calm down Munchlax, the fighting is over,” she crooned. She looked super scary like that, but MunchMunch knew she was actually super nice, so it was ok. The Apricorn two-legs and Teddy were talking now, and it looked like maybe the Apricorn two-legs had hurt himself.

  MunchMunch had no idea how — he hadn’t even been there for the fighting! Suddenly, his Trainer reached down to pat his head. MunchMunch sighed in happiness. Then his Teddy tried to take the Egg from him.

  MunchMunch gasped and plopped down, wrapping his arms and legs around the Egg. Well, tried to wrap his legs — but his tummy was too big. But at least he tried! He didn’t want to let go of the Egg — he really, really liked it, and thought maybe the Pokemon inside might like him?

  His Trainer was saying things, but he didn’t understand them. He stopped trying to take the Egg though, so MunchMunch happily got up and took his hand, tucking the Egg under his arm as they made their way out of the cave.

  “You did really good today, MunchMunch,” Mama Gastly said at one point.

  That made MunchMunch feel really, super good. It made his chest feel very big.

  He smiled and tried to make laughing noises like his Trainer.

  They all laughed together.