Fuyuki didn't care what Entei was thinking.
That was just how he was. If someone treated him well, he'd treat them well in return.
Besides, those Shock points had come from Entei in the first place. It only made sense to share the milk with it.
With that in mind, Fuyuki crawled up beside the legendary beast's massive head, scrunched up his face, and shoved the bottle of Moomoo Milk straight toward Entei's mouth.
"Ah-goo!"
Drink it!
Entei: "..."
It couldn't understand the Little One's words, but it could clearly feel that if it refused, the child would definitely get upset.
This was the Little One's goodwill.
A strange feeling welled up inside it, something it had never felt before.
Its efforts hadn't been wasted. The child had already accepted it as family.
The old father's heart felt full, warm, and deeply satisfied.
Once his stomach was full, drowsiness quickly washed over Fuyuki.
Most infants were like this, eating and then sleeping, spending the majority of their early days fast asleep.
That meant they were growing.
Out of habit, Fuyuki burrowed into Entei's warm chest. Before long, he slipped back into deep sleep.
Watching this, Entei frowned slightly.
It could clearly sense that the Little One's mental state seemed a bit exhausted.
"Is it because he used his power?" it wondered.
In this world, using any kind of power came with a cost.
Pokemon consumed energy when using moves. Even Ho-Oh was no exception.
The Little One was still too young and likely hadn't fully mastered his own strength. After using it, he immediately fell asleep.
That wasn't a good sign.
No matter how good the milk tasted, for the sake of the child's health, Entei decided it would have to restrict him from using his abilities as much as possible in the future.
In truth, Fuyuki was simply full and sleepy.
But Entei didn't know that.
It lowered its head and looked at the Little One resting against its foreleg, then extended its tongue and gently licked him, using the secret technique known as "big cat grooming."
Suddenly, its movements stopped.
Entei snapped its head up and stared into a shadowed corner of the cave.
At some point, a small figure had appeared there.
It was a humanoid Pokemon, its body seemingly formed from drifting gray mist. The area around its face resembled a helmet, with two small curved horns rising from the top.
It appeared without a sound, orange-red eyes quietly watching Entei and the sleeping child in its arms.
"Marshadow," Entei said, its voice calm but imposing. "Why have you come here?"
Marshadow's gaze was dim and distant. Its voice sounded like that of a child, yet carried no warmth.
"You brought a human to Mount Tensei. He carries no trace of Ho-Oh, nor is he the Rainbow Hero chosen by Ho-Oh."
Its eyes shifted from the human infant to Entei.
"Entei, this breaks the rules."
"..."
After a brief silence, Entei replied, "I will report this matter to Ho-Oh personally."
Hearing that, Marshadow said nothing more.
It had only come because it sensed an unfamiliar presence on Mount Tensei. It intended to investigate, never expecting to find a human infant here.
Marshadow cast one last indifferent glance at the child, then slowly sank downward, vanishing into the shadows.
Humans were the worst.
Returning to the world of shadows, Marshadow closed its eyes. Scenes from the dreams of past participants in the Rainbow Hero trials surfaced in its mind.
Desire. Greed. Malice.
Every human, every so-called Rainbow Hero, was the same.
Marshadow had seen too much.
It no longer held any expectations for humans.
Fuyuki slept for a very, very long time.
It wasn't until evening that he finally opened his eyes.
Entei lay beside him like a stone statue. The moment the child woke, the imposing big cat turned to look at him.
Fuyuki rubbed his eyes. Outside, dusk had arrived. The sun was sinking toward the horizon, and golden light washed over the mountain peak.
Seeing him look outside, Entei asked through telepathy, "Want to go take a look?"
"Gah?"
Can I?
Fuyuki quickly turned his head toward it.
Entei slowly stood up, picked the Little One up with its mouth, and set him onto its back. Then it strode out of the cave on its powerful limbs.
Outside was a scene of quiet peace.
Above them stretched an endless sea of orange clouds. Soft twilight bathed the mountains, and within the glowing forest, Pokemon wandered leisurely among the trees.
Rhyhorn, Magmar, Weezing, Nidoking, Nidoqueen…
Within Ho-Oh's domain, Pokemon of different species and types lived together in harmony.
There were no humans here. Only Pokemon.
"Woah!"
So amazing!
Fuyuki couldn't help but cry out.
The Pokemon world really was incredible.
But a sudden cold wind swept through, blowing away his excitement in an instant.
So cold!
"Achoo!"
He sneezed.
Entei immediately carried him back into the cave.
Drawing on the power within his body, heat radiated outward. Before long, the cave warmed up, like a lit fireplace.
Only then did Fuyuki finally relax.
Sure enough, in cold seasons, having a fire-type Pokemon around was the best.
But then, something important came to mind.
It was already late autumn. Winter would arrive soon.
When that happened, temperatures would plummet, snow would fall heavily, and the entire mountain range around Mount Tensei would likely be buried in white.
With Entei around, Fuyuki wasn't too worried about freezing to death.
What really worried him was food.
Food was scarce in winter. Even Berries that grew everywhere now might not be so easy to find later.
As a Legendary Pokemon, Entei didn't need to eat. But Fuyuki's Shock Points was limited, nowhere near enough to support a whole winter's worth of food.
Thinking this over, he turned toward Entei, trying to communicate and explain the problem.
"Goo-goo, ga-ga!"
Entei looked at him, clearly unable to understand what he was saying.
Fuyuki deflated.
Sigh. He was still too young.
If he were already ten years old, he wouldn't be in such an awkward situation.
With a cheat ability like his, and if Entei cooperated, the two of them could head into a human town, challenge some rookie Trainers who had just started their journeys, and rake in Shock points through Pokemon battles.
One round would easily net hundreds, maybe even thousands.