The fight with Clefairy had been hard. But MunchMunch was proud.

  He had won.

  Which meant his Trainer and Mama Shadow were probably really proud of him.

  That made him feel even better.

  Plus, he had used Defense Curl way too many times — but that was ok, he felt super strong. He glanced at the Gym Trainer and noticed she only had one paw-claw Pokéball left.

  Which meant it was one vs two now! He was going to make Mama Shadow super proud and win this whole battle all by himself!

  After all, he had his Leftovers and his skin was like a rock because of Defense Curl. The Gym Trainer was smiling, slowly bouncing the Pokéball in her hand. For some reason the smile didn’t look very nice, but maybe she was just happy?

  MunchMunch knew what it was like to be happy. Whenever he was with his Trainer, he was happy. And when he was with Mama Shadow.

  Holding and talking to Happy also made him… happy.

  MunchMunch giggled. He liked that Happy’s name was the same as how she made him feel. He just knew she was going to be super, duper special — and he really, really hoped she hatched soon.

  He had so many things he wanted to give her!

  MunchMunch was pulled from his thoughts by the flash of a Pokéball. He watched with interest as the new Pokémon took the field.

  One he had never seen before.

  “Miiiiiltank,” the new Pokémon lowed.

  “Hi,” MunchMunch called. He wasn’t going to be too friendly, not after what the mean Clefairy did to him.

  But there was a chance Miltank might be nice so, he would try.

  The Miltank blinked and looked at him. “Oh my, well ‘ello there! Aren’t you just the sweetest little thang! Are you my opponent today?”

  MunchMunch blinked. Oh. She was nice.

  “Yep!” He giggled enthusiastically.

  The Miltank smiled sweetly. And then she moved.

  She moved even faster than Mama Gastly.

  She stopped right in front of him and smiled again.

  “Well now, I sure do hope we have ourselves a wonderful battle,” she cooed, batting her eyes.

  MunchMunch suddenly realized Miltank was really big. And pretty.

  And had the longest eyelashes. In fact, he couldn’t stop watching how they swooshed when she blinked!

  She smiled at him, and MunchMunch giggled back.

  Then Miltank promptly Stomped on his face.

  MunchMunch rocked back in confusion, but when he looked back, Miltank smiled at him again, batting her super long eyelashes.

  ____

  Shadow watched in exasperation as MunchMunch fell for Miltank’s Attract, blushing furiously as the Miltank proceeded to pulverize him, flinching and cooing every time she wailed on him.

  At least he was remembering to chew on his Leftovers.

  She sighed. No matter, he had done quite well at the beginning of the battle — better than she had expected, truth be told. The instant she saw Clefairy, a Fairy-Type, on the field, she knew it was over.

  They were notorious tricksters and pointlessly cruel, unlike her, who had a reason for her pranks. To her surprise, the baby had won.

  It wasn’t a pretty victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.

  But this Miltank would be too much. The poor baby was so in love he wasn’t even upset he was getting punted around the field like a ball.

  But Shadow was. Shadow did not like seeing her baby treated like that. Both Miltank and her Trainer would be in for a rude awakening when She took the field.

  ____

  MunchMunch was really happy. And really mad. And he didn’t know why.

  Miltank blitzed at him again, raising a hoof and smashing it on his face.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Which made him mad.

  “YOU!”

  Then she blinked at him again.

  And it made him happy.

  “Hi,” he giggled as Miltank smiled.

  “Aww Honey, you’re doing really well!” The Miltank encouraged, kicking him into a wall.

  “WHY!” he screamed, but she zoomed up to him and he flinched.

  Then she batted her wonderful, very pretty eyelashes at him, and he felt almost as happy as when he had Chocolate Cake.

  Almost.

  Then he heard his Teddy hollering at him. That’s weird? Why haven’t I heard him calling me before now — usually he tells me which moves I need to use so I can win? MunchMunch thought to himself.

  “Metronome!” his Trainer shouted.

  Oh! MunchMunch smiled, he liked that moved.

  He raised his magic-paw, but the Miltank punted him in the face again and he forgot to use it.

  In fact, he was starting to feel really tired. He took a bite of his Leftovers, but it didn’t make him feel as full as usual.

  “Munch?” he blinked. That didn’t make any sense at all!

  Then the Miltank waved and winked. But it wasn’t at him.

  She was winking at Mama Shadow. That made MunchMunch happy! He wanted them to be friends!

  But Mama Shadow didn’t look very happy at all. In fact —

  He blinked as Miltank lowed again. “Roooooooooollouuuuutttt!~” she sang, barreling down the field at him.

  He was going to move but, well, she looked really awesome.

  Then she rolled into him.

  And over him, smooshing him into the ground.

  MunchMunch gasped. That hurt a lot more than he expected. Was his Defense Curl not working anymore?

  “Munchlax, Metronome!” he heard his Teddy say. He sounded sad and tired. MunchMunch wondered why.

  Then the Miltank used Rollout again.

  ____

  Shadow grit her teeth. Or she would have, if she had them.

  This Miltank was bullying her MunchMunch. And taunting her, letting Shadow know she didn’t think MunchMunch was an opponent at all.

  Which frankly, the poor child wasn’t. He barely stood back up after the second Rollout, wobbling in place and looking like Chocolate Cake had betrayed him.

  The third Rollout hit him hard enough to rocket him back into a wall.

  Where he didn’t get up again.

  “Oh my! Oh dear!” The Miltank half chortled-half lowed, waving at the by-standing Pokémon.

  All of whom cheered her on.

  Shadow didn’t not like this Gym.

  At all.

  It pretended to be cute. But it was actually mean.

  At least she had the decency not to pretend!

  Ok well, if she was being honest… the prank of pretending to be cute was actually pretty good, but she would never admit that.

  Because it had hurt her MunchMunch.

  “My turn,” she whispered, slipping quietly onto the field after Teddy recalled their MunchMunch.

  Miltank smiled at her. Gastly did not smile back.

  ____

  Teddy stared numbly at the field.

  One hit. Miltank had rolled through Gastly and knocked her out.

  In one hit.

  It had happened so fast he was still frozen.

  They… they had lost?

  He choked out a disbelieving laugh. Which, after it came out, he realized was more like a sob.

  He quickly pulled himself together. No way was he giving this Gym that satisfaction.

  He recalled Shadow and straightened himself, preparing the winnings he needed to hand over.

  “Good Battle,” the pink-haired trainer called as she skipped over.

  “I’m Whitney, by the way,” she grinned, sticking out a hand.

  Teddy took it in a daze, shaking it politely.

  “Like… the Whitney? Gym Leader Whitney?” he asked.

  She giggled, shooing away his money. “Keep it,” she smiled.

  “And yes, I’m the Leader here. Sorry about your Pokémon — they are cute but still too weak. You shouldn’t baby them so much,” she said bluntly.

  Teddy blinked. Whitney shooed the rest of the trainers away.

  “Here, sit down,” she motioned to some rubble left over from a wall.

  “Normally I would go easier,” she explained once they were seated and alone. “But Leader Bugsy called and told me about your battle.”

  She paused and looked him in the eye. “And your involvement with Team Rocket.”

  She held his eye. “So, I wanted to test you. Frankly? You failed,” she finished bluntly.

  Teddy flinched. “That’s hardly fair,” he countered. “I thought this was a Gym Battle!”

  Whitney looked at him like he was a bit of an idiot.

  It made his skin bristle.

  “Ok so, first lesson. Life isn’t fair,” she said bluntly. “Go; train. And for goodness sake, stop babying your Pokémon. They can be cute and strong, ya’ know?”

  She sighed and patted his shoulder, “But if they aren’t strong, they won’t get the chance to be cute.”

  Teddy froze. This girl — no, not a girl. She just looked young, but she knew too much. This woman was…

  She was right.

  Frankly, it was too much. Why was he getting a life lesson in the middle of a Gym?!

  “You’ve stepped into the big leagues, kid. It doesn’t matter whether you meant to or not. Your Journey won’t be the same as others.”

  She jumped up, dusting off her pants and offering him a hand up.

  “Come back when you are stronger,” she said, shooing him towards the door.

  “Heal up your team, keep morale up — that’s important, you know.”

  She stopped and tapped her finger thoughtfully against her lips. “Actually, I don’t think that part will be a problem for you,” she smiled. “Your team genuinely seemed to trust you.”

  “Anyway, the trainers on the path North of the city are pretty strong. Go there. Maybe take a look at the National Park.”

  She leveled a stare at him. “Then come back and show me what you can do.”

  She grinned and pushed him out the door.

  “Until then, you are too weak to be here.”

  Then she pulled the door closed.

  Teddy stood there numbly.

  He needed to get his team to the PokéCenter. He needed to train.

  …He needed to do a lot of things.

  But mostly? Mostly, he just wanted to cry.

  “Huhhh,” he huffed, clearing his mind.

  He didn’t much care for Whitney, but she had been right. With the beating his team just received, they would probably take a few days before waking up.

  He would have plenty of time to think. And plan.

  “Hey, kid.”

  Teddy glanced over to see a middle-aged man with sunglasses leaning against the wall.

  “You did good in there, I think you’ve got what it takes. I’m watching you.”

  Then he sauntered off.

  “What? Who are you?” Teddy called, but the man just waved over his shoulder.

  This day just keeps getting weirder, Teddy slumped, unlocking and unfolding his bicycle from the bike rack.

  And it didn’t go anything like he expected.

  He pedaled into the fading daylight.

  If there was one thing he wouldn’t forget, it was that line.

  Spoken earnestly and without her jovial attitude.

  “They won’t get the chance to be cute.”

  Teddy grit his teeth.

  The world wasn’t safe. It wasn’t always fun and games.

  But he would do whatever he had to in order to keep his team safe.

  No matter what came at them.

  “And I will never be caught off guard again,” he whispered, one single tear falling down his cheek.