[As a cub, you used your meager strength to save Cubone from nearly choking on a berry pit. +10 Shock Points from Marowak!]
[Little one is so clever! As expected of my little one! +5 Shock Points from Entei!]
[This human cub... is actually helping a Pokémon? +10 Shock Points from Marshadow!]
As dusk fell, the first thing Fuyuki did upon returning to the cave was to check the messages that had popped up on his interface.
Lying on the furry Entei, sucking on the soft berry flesh and juice with his still-developing baby teeth, Fuyuki looked at the messages with some surprise.
This... actually earned him Shock Points?
No, it should be his initiative that shocked Entei and that Marowak.
However, Fuyuki was puzzled. Where did Marshadow's shock come from?
Hadn't it already left?
Recalling the scene in the anime where Marshadow was always lurking in Ash's shadow, observing and testing him, Fuyuki's eyes widened instantly.
Could it be that Marshadow hadn't actually left, but was secretly watching him from the shadows?
Realizing this, Fuyuki immediately looked at his own shadow.
But it was already night, and the cave was dark, filled with shadows.
"..."
Oh well, let Marshadow watch if it wants!
This unexpected windfall, combined with the 35 shock points he had accumulated, brought Fuyuki's balance to the 60 mark.
Feeling great!
Fuyuki browsed the shop, his mouth watering at the dazzling array of food.
Meanwhile, in the mountains, under a large tree laden with fruit...
The cool moonlight bathed the earth, and although night had fallen, Marowak and its cub, Cubone, were not resting.
Watching the child knocking berries from the tree with a bone club, Marowak felt immense relief.
The events of the day were still vivid in its mind; its cub was still lively and playful beside it.
And all of this was thanks to that Pokémon and its adopted human cub.
Marowak was deeply grateful. It wanted to do something for them, but didn't know how.
Just then, Marowak remembered that the two had also been searching for food in the forest a few days ago, and they must be preparing for winter.
So, to thank them, Marowak led its cub, Cubone, to a large tree laden with berries.
They planned to pick some berries from the tree and give them to the tree as a token of their gratitude.
The next day, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the cave, the Fuyuki awoke early.
But as winter approached, the morning temperature remained low before the sun had fully risen.
The outside world was already covered in a thick layer of frost.
Fuyuki was wearing the same clothes it had on when the accident happened, which offered no protection against the cold. If it were to leave Entei's side, it would likely be freezing and sneezing uncontrollably in no time.
Fuyuki snuggled closer to Entei.
Seeing that the little one didn't want to get up, Entei naturally lay still on the ground, occasionally licking its fur.
Its gaze, however, was fixed on the outside of the cave, where it sensed a familiar presence.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the temperature gradually warmed up.
Fuyuki slowly carried Entei outside.
As soon as they came out, Fuyuki saw a pile of tree fruits at the cave entrance.
Hmm? Where did these tree fruits come from?
Entei seemed to have expected this.
Its majestic voice resonated in Fuyuki's heart.
"The two Pokémon you helped yesterday brought these over this morning as a token of their gratitude."
It was Cubone and its mother, Marowak! Fuyuki immediately realized.
Fuyuki quickly looked around and, sure enough, spotted Cubone peeking in their direction not far away.
"Whoa!" Receiving a reward for doing a good deed would make anyone happy. Fuyuki grinned and waved at Cubone.
"Crack!" Cubone waved its bone club back, then happily turned and ran off.
"?" Why did it run off?
But looking at the pile of berries on the ground, Fuyuki quickly realized a possibility.
The Cubone, seeing that its reward had been successfully delivered, had left with peace of mind.
Fuyuki couldn't help but chuckle.
This Pokémon is really cute!
Entei didn't linger outside. After sunbathing with Fuyuki for a while, they returned to the cave.
Time passed slowly, and the weather outside grew increasingly cold. Finally, on an ordinary day, heavy snow blanketed Mount Tensei.
Snowflakes swirled outside, the wind howled, and the entire Mount Tensei was draped in silver.
Winter had arrived.
Even the usually bustling forests fell into silence during this season.
The Pokémon living on this land all retreated to their warm and comfortable dens, peering out through caves and tree hollows at the swirling snow with their companions and loved ones.
Human cubs simply couldn't withstand the cold, and for this reason, Entei and Fuyuki also stayed indoors as much as possible.
They remained in their caves, where the cold wind howled and snowflakes fell heavily.
Inside the cave, the sacred fire on Entei's body blazed like a furnace, emitting an orange-red glow that kept the cold at bay, making the entire cave incredibly warm.
Perhaps it was the season, or perhaps it was growing, but in this cold winter, Fuyuki spent most of its day nestled in Entei's warm embrace, fast asleep.
Gazing at the little one's peaceful slumber, Entei's expression softened.
Nearly three months had passed since it decided to adopt the little one, and in those three months of close companionship, it had long since grown accustomed to its presence.
Looking at the heavy snow outside the cave, listening to the purring of the cub in its arms, Entei felt a surge of warmth in its heart.
It turned its head, looking into the depths of the cave.
There, stored were the tree fruits it and the little one had found together in the forest. With them, the little one could safely survive the winter.
The firelight flickered on Entei's body, dispelling the chill and illuminating everything around it.
From within the shadow of the sleeping Fuyuki, the figure of Marshadow silently emerged.
It lowered its head, quietly watching the human cub sleeping soundly in Entei's arms.
Life on Mount Tensei was boring and lonely. Ever since Entei returned with this human cub, Marshadow seemed to have found some kind of enjoyment.
Although it always said that humans were the most annoying and untrustworthy, Marshadow couldn't help but hide in the shadows of the winter trees, secretly observing everything.
For three months, it watched the human cub go to the summit of Mount Tensei with Entei to watch the sun, watched it sleep soundly with Entei, watched it babble and talk to Entei. Marshadow felt something within it subtly changing.
[Entei, this is against the rules.]
Looking at Marshadow before it, Entei inexplicably recalled the words Marshadow had spoken to him when he brought the little one back to Mount Tensei.
"..." After a moment of silence, Entei slowly asked, "Has Ho-Oh not returned yet?"
Marshadow shifted its attention from Fuyuki and shook its head, saying,
"I can't sense Ho-Oh's presence. It's probably very far from us and Mount Tensei right now."
"Hmm..." Entei nodded deeply. It wasn't too surprised, as Ho-Oh had always been like this.
Neither Pokémon spoke again; they both quietly watched the soundly sleeping Fuyuki.
After a long while, Marshadow suddenly spoke, "He's grown up."
Compared to when they first met, the human cub had grown taller.
Entei was slightly taken aback. It looked at the little one. These past few days, it had spent almost 24 hours a day with him, but it hadn't noticed any significant changes in the little one.
"Humans will grow up eventually," Entei said in a low voice.
"Do you plan to raise him like this forever?" Marshadow asked again.
Entei's voice was calm and even, as if stating something perfectly ordinary: "He has no family left in the human world. If he wishes, I will stay by his side forever."
Marshadow suddenly looked up at Entei: "But Entei, there's a huge difference between humans and Pokémon."
"Human children need to constantly learn—to speak, walk, to recognize things… We are Pokémon. Neither you nor I can teach him human language."
These were pieces of information it had observed from the Rainbow Heroes who had come to participate in the trials.
Hearing this, Entei fell silent.
It knew perfectly well that what Marshadow said was extremely important.
Humans are humans, Pokémon are Pokémon.
Humans cannot live like Pokémon forever; they belong to humans, to cities.
Having raised Little One for so long, if it were to send Little One back to a human town now… the thought made even the selfless, dignified, and upright Entei's heart flutter with selfishness.
The little one was so attached to it, treating it like a father. If it were sent back, he would surely cry his heart out, wouldn't he?
Entei gazed at the little one's face, remaining silent for a long time, having already made a decision.
"In that case, I will teach him to speak."
"Not human language, but the language of Pokémon."
"Now, the little one is my child, a child raised by us Pokémon." Marshadow paused slightly.
At that moment, the human cub beside him twitched its eyelids, seemingly about to wake up.
Seeing this, Marshadow silently slipped into the shadows.
The next second, Fuyuki slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Entei's furry face before him, then yawned contentedly.
What time is it?
Fuyuki turned to look outside the cave and saw that it was still snowing heavily.
After a nap, Fuyuki was wide awake. He sat beside Entei, listlessly watching the snow outside the cave. If it were an ordinary baby, they probably wouldn't feel anything in this situation.
But as an adult with a mature soul, Fuyuki sighed helplessly.
Childhood life is so boring…
"Little one." Suddenly, Entei's voice resounded in his mind.
"Hmm?" Fuyuki turned to look at Entei beside him.
"From today onwards, I will teach you to speak, to speak the language of Pokémon." Entei spoke slowly.
Hearing this, Fuyuki's eyes widened immediately.
What? Entei was going to teach him Pokémon language?
But he was a human!
Although he was now one year and one month old, his vocal cords were almost fully developed enough to allow him to say simple words like "daddy," "mommy," "um," "want," and "no."
But… speaking Pokémon language was too astonishing.
"Do you want to learn?" Entei looked at his child with gentle eyes.
After the initial shock, Fuyuki immediately understood.
If he learns Pokémon, wouldn't he be able to understand the language of wild Pokémon directly?
Except for not being able to heal, isn't this just a stripped-down version of Viridian Power?
Realizing this, Fuyuki quickly nodded.
"Very good." Entei's voice continued. It looked at the little guy, not using telepathy, but instead uttering a roar that sounded like a lion, yet also like a tiger.
"Roar!"
"Roar...woo?" Fuyuki repeated.
"Entei." Telepathy sounded again, and Entei slowly said, "This is my name."
"Ent...tei? (Pokémon language)" Fuyuki tried to imitate it.
Entei nodded, then said again, "Roar!"
Fuyuki: "..."
It sounds like there's no difference!
He looked into Entei's eyes and quickly realized.
No, there was a difference. Entei's eyes and tone were completely different when it said that word!
"This is Daddy." Entei looked at the bewildered little one before it and said slowly, "Roar—Daddy, I'm your daddy, you're my child."
Fuyuki: "..."
Sure enough, Entei was raising him as its own child, wasn't it?
As an adult, Fuyuki simply couldn't bring himself to call a Pokémon "Daddy."
It pretended not to understand: "Roar?"
"Roar," Entei corrected.
"Roar!" Fuyuki imitated.
But the meaning was still wrong.
"Is it too difficult?" Entei couldn't help but think, but it didn't dwell on it and instead began teaching other simple words.
For example, "I want," "I don't want," "I want to eat," "poop," "drink water," "berries," "sleep," etc.
It turns out that the environment plays a decisive role in human language learning.
In just two weeks, under Entei's constant nurturing, Fuyuki was already able to understand its meaning from the tone of its voice and the emotions it conveyed.
He even had a feeling that if he stayed in this environment for a long time, one day he would be able to communicate with Entei like a human, without telepathy.
Is this... the language of Pokémon?
In the games, did N, who can understand Pokémon speech, also learn Pokémon language in this way?
Then, can he use this language to communicate with other wild Pokémon?
۞۞۞۞
You can read up to chapter 38 and more soon on [email protected]/PokeficLord.