“Unch. Munch.”

  MunchMunch yawned and blinked himself awake, scratching his belly. He didn’t remember going to sleep but —

  “Hello MunchMunch.”

  MunchMunch blinked again and twitched his ears. For some reason, the noise hurt. He looked up to see a Nurse Chansey.

  “Nurse!” he giggled, eyeing the Soft-Boiled Egg in her hand. “Does it taste like Mint Cheese Chocolate Cake?”

  Chansey blinked. “I… certainly hope not?”

  MunchMunch giggled.

  “I like cheese. And Chocolate Cake. And Mint Berries! And Soft-Boiled Eggs! And —”

  He stopped to blink.

  Why was he with Nurse Chansey? Oh… that meant —

  “I… I lost?” he whispered, wiping water from his eyes. “I promised I wouldn’t lose any more,” he finished, taking a bite from his forever-snack in devastation.

  “There, there,” Chansey comforted, wrapping him in a hug. “Battles are about your Team, not just you.”

  MunchMunch looked up at her.

  “Your Team Leader, Shadow? She said you would be sad. She wanted me to tell you ‘Good Job, and we won the Battle’,” Chansey smiled, plopping the egg in his lap.

  “Oh! We won?” he asked, stuffing the whole egg in his mouth. “I’m really glad. I don’t want our Teddy to have to lose anymore!”

  He paused.

  “It does taste like mint berry!” he squealed kicking his foot-paws, “and chocolate… no cheese though but that’s ok!”

  Chansey cleared her throat.

  “That mint chocolate pastry will be the death of me,” she muttered.

  “Thanks for the treat, I was really looking forward to it,” MunchMunch grinned, licking his paws clean.

  “Oh, have you met Happy? She is my sister. She just hatched and is really small and really cute and I hope I looked really cool for her, just like Shadow is cool for me! Oh, maybe she will like Soft-Boiled Eggs?”

  MunchMunch looked at Nurse Chansey hopefully.

  Chansey stared at MunchMunch for a moment.

  “Would you like to see your Team?” she responded, clearing her throat.

  “Yes!” MunchMunch shouted, then twitched his ears again. “Why do my ears hurt?”

  Chansey waddled forward to look in his ears.

  “Oh, they still hurt? Hmm. You healed so quickly I thought your ears would be good, too,” she muttered. “Does this hurt?” she asked, pushing just below his left ear.

  MunchMunch flinched.

  “Am I broken?”

  “No, you are not broken, Dear,” Chansey reassured him, handing him another egg.

  MunchMunch happily shoved it in his mouth.

  “Still tastes like Mint and Chocolate,” he nodded to himself. “My first Nurse Chansey let me taste Chocolate for the first time! She was the bestest,” MunchMunch smiled dreamily. “And then the Nurse Chansey in Goldenrod had a special egg that tasted like Pecha Berries! I like yours a lot, too! I wonder what the next Nurse Chansey’s egg will taste like? Oh! I still have to try the Ecr…Eka…this place’s cake!”

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  “You are a ball of energy, child,” Chansey huffed. “And… are you travelling to each city and trying the Nurse’s Soft-Boiled Eggs?”

  MunchMunch nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! And they are all really good. And they taste a bit different, too! And I love them all!”

  “I don’t know how I feel about that,” Chansey blinked.

  MunchMunch sat on his small table and kicked his foot-paws happily.

  “I like your room, it’s darker than Goldenrod’s, but in a nice way. It makes me feel warm,” he smiled.

  Chansey smiled. “I like Ecruteak as well,” she agreed. “Now, get some rest.”

  She waddled over to push a button on a little box.

  “What’s that?” he asked curiously.

  Chansey waddled back and patted his head, putting something over her ears.

  “Just a little something to help you sleep.”

  One of the most beautiful sounds MunchMunch had ever heard came from the box. It sounded like Singing and it didn’t hurt his ears at all.

  “Oh,” he grinned, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

  ____

  Fluffy.

  Fluffy was fluffy.

  Fluffy was strong!

  Happy grinned.

  She loved Fluffy.

  “PiI~”

  She bounced happily in Big One’s arms and kicked her feet.

  She cooed as Big One rubbed her head.

  She watched as Big One pet Fluffy, too.

  Fluffy was asleep.

  Happy wanted to sleep on Fluffy’s tummy.

  Fluffy’s tummy was warm.

  “Pii~ toge, Pii~,” she chimed.

  Big One looked at Round One.

  Round One nodded and Big One put Happy on Fluffy’s tummy.

  Warm.

  Safe.

  “P~i~,” Happy yawned, sinking into Fluffy.

  Happy cooed, warm inside and out, and closed her eyes.

  ____

  Teddy watched his MunchMunch and Happy sleep from the rocking chair of the recovery room, soft Jigglypuff playing on the radio.

  Togepi was trying to hug MunchMunch in her sleep, except her arms and legs were too tiny.

  So she mostly just ended up face down, cooing into his tummy.

  “I always knew I wanted you on my team,” he whispered to Shadow, rolling her Poké Ball in his palm.

  Shadow snorted softly from her spot on his lap. She had never rested there before, but he didn’t mind at all.

  “But I never imagined I’d have anything like those two,” he continued. “I dreamt of big and powerful Pokémon, like Machamp or even a Dragon… even though Mum said no to Dragons,” he grinned, rocking softly.

  Shadow listened as the music continued to play.

  “I never thought about it explicitly. Maybe because I didn’t want to fail,” he sighed softly, eyes drooping. “But I wanted to be the strongest trainer. Still do.”

  Shadow watched him hold her Poké Ball to his chest.

  “I’m glad it turned out this way,” he mumbled, head drooping. “I’m glad you all are my family…”

  Shadow floated quietly as her Teddy drifted off to sleep, the rocking slowing.

  “Thanks,” he whispered, so softly she could barely hear.

  “Thanks for choosing me, Shadow.”

  Then the rocking stopped.

  ____

  Shadow watched Chansey check on them as her team slept, earmuffs on her ears so she didn’t join them.

  She nodded to Shadow, and Shadow nodded back from her spot on Teddy’s lap.

  She had seen Happy rest there and wanted to try.

  It was… nice.

  Her Teddy spoke about being strong, as if he wasn’t already. Shadow couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

  Strong didn’t mean never losing, although she hated losing more than anything.

  Well, almost more than anything. She hated seeing MunchMunch hurt more.

  She thought Teddy was slowly learning the same. When she thought back to their first Gym Battle in Violet she couldn’t help but chuckle.

  It had been sad. The Gym Leader really must have used his weakest Pokémon. But they had still tried so hard.

  Now her Trainer had been touched by Legendaries… and still thought himself weak.

  She grinned. She liked it that way, it kept him kind for MunchMunch and the… cooing thing.

  She would help him with the self-confidence later. After all, he would need to stand tall with the best.

  And stand with the best they would.

  MunchMunch giggled in his sleep, stuffing both paws in his mouth.

  Shadow wanted very badly to peer into his dream. Not to take it, just to see it.

  To see what made him the way he was.

  But she didn’t. She would take other dreams, but not MunchMunch’s.

  Those were his.

  Shadow allowed the music to wash over her as she drifted into meditation.

  ____

  “Quite a group in there, isn’t it, Chaney?” Joy said, watching Teddy and his team through the observation window.

  Chansey snorted, then sighed.

  “A Ghost and a Fairy,” Joy joined her sigh. “I’ve never seen that work out.”

  Chansey nodded, looking over the Munchlax’s file.

  “How are his ears?”

  “Chan. Sey. ChanChan.”

  Joy nodded. The music would help him heal. She hadn’t expected to have his entire Team slumbering with him, though.

  It wasn’t bad. They obviously needed it.

  “Something about that Munchlax is special,” she said, turning back to her work. “That whole team, Trainer included, is in there for him. And he is just sleeping.”

  “I wonder what their Journey has been like, to have bonds that deep?”

  Chansey peered through the glass, absently chewing on the Mint and Chocolate pastry she loved so much.

  Joy giggled softly. She spent a fortune on those pastries, and it was worth every single one of them.

  She stood to rest a hand on Chansey, who huffed and leaned into her.

  “Maybe the team will work after all,” Joy observed. “I think I’d like to follow his Gym progress.”

  “Chan. Sey,” her friend chuckled, waddling back to her computer.

  Joy watched as Munchlax smiled and stretched in his sleep, subconsciously wrapping his arms around the Togepi.