How will Michael, I mean Flame, deal with starting his new life as a baby Cyndaquil? There will be crying, there will be language lessons, and there will be milk!(Warning: there will also be cursing.) Just a reminder, I need OC's, especially for Claire's Pokémon. You need to pick a species, name him/her, and give them a distinct personality. I am only accepting Kanto and Johto Pokémon.

Chapter 3: Baby Steps

Claire was woken up the following day by Flame screaming his head off. "Hey, I just came into this world yesterday and have had nothing to fucking eat!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He had slept pretty well but, being a baby, had woken up at a very early time.

When he woke up he had the strongest urge for food. His stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself. He tried getting Claier's attention, but she snoozed on. Not knowing what else to do, he gave into his baby instincts and bawled for all he was worth. This is what babies do when their hungry, right? He thought to himself. When Claire finally rolled out of bed, she quickly padded over to his makeshift crib; a cardboard box with blankets in the bottom.

"What's wrong little guy?" she said, picking him up and gazing at him concernedly.

"The hell you think Claire? If my stomach doesn't get some damn food, and fast, there isn't going to be anywhere for the food to go!" he screamed.

Claire eyed him over. "Do you need to go potty?" Flame grumbled.

Then his stomach grumbled as well. Both of them looked down at it, and understanding appeared on Claire's face. "Oh, you're hungry, of course!" She hurriedly brought him downstairs. On the way, Flame patted his growling midsection with a small paw. "About time you did something right!"

Fiona, Claire's mom, smiled as her daughter ran towards her; the baby Cyndaquil in her arms. "Mom, he's hungry! What do I feed him?" she asked.

Her mother chuckled. "What do all baby's eat honey?" she asked sweetly. Claire thought for a second. "He wants milk!" she said with a start.

Running to the fridge she quickly yanked the door open. Flame shivered a little as the cool air washed over him. But looking inside, his chilliness left him. Food. Claire looked around before finally finding a jar of Miltank-milk. She was just about to open it when a thought struck her. "Mom, how's he going to drink this?" Good thing mothers know all. Walking over to a cabinet she brought out a baby bottle. Tossing it to Claire she said "That was your old bottle Claire, seems right that you should use it again."

Claire quickly filled the bottle with milk. She put the nipple to Flame's mouth who immediately latched on and began to suck. Then, with a sputter, he unfastened and began to spit the milk out. "Damn, that shits cold!" he yelled.

Claire set the bottle aside and looked at Flame with a motherly expression which was mirrored by her own mother. "What's wrong, it looks like he doesn't like it." Her mother grabbed out her phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang for a few seconds until someone picked it up. "Yes what can I help you with?" Professor Elm answered.

"Yeah, Elm, this is Fiona and I'm calling because we're having a bit of trouble with little Flame here."

"What kind of problem?" Elm inquired.

"He won't drink his milk and we aren't sure what to feed him if he doesn't like milk."

Elm laughed on the other end. "No, all babies like milk; the key is knowing how they like it." Continuing he quickly explained how newborn fire Pokémon need warm, or sometimes hot, milk when they first start. "The milk from their mother would be hot which, besides nurturing the baby Pokémon, it also gives it warmth. After a month or so the newborn will have matured enough to keep itself warm with the fire inside its body. Like us, he also needs three meals a day, uh, bottles a day. "

"Thank you Elm, you're a genius you know that?" Fiona laughed.

Elm chuckled. "I know, take care!" and hang up.

Picking up Flames bottle, Fiona placed into the microwave. "Elm said that baby fire Pokémon need hot milk and that eventually they will outgrow it." The microwave dinged. "But for now, Flame, will need special attention." She wrapped the bottle in a towel, that way she didn't burn her hands, and passed it to Claire who in turn passed it to Flame.

Now this is more like it! Flame thought, since his mouth was otherwise busy. The mother and daughter laughed as Flame emptied the bottle and, with a burp, rubbed his stomach contentedly. "If this is what babies get, I could get used to this." He said happily.

Claire's mom took her over to the couch and sat down with her. "I know that you want to start your Pokémon journey as soon as you can, but Elm said that Flame would need to be on hot bottles for about a month." Claire looked at her disappointedly.

Her mom rubbed her back in a, well, motherly way. "If it was only about the milk I could give you as much as you needed. My Miltank wouldn't mind but that's not the problem. You wouldn't have any way of heating up Flame's bottle until you got to the next town and he needs hot milk three times a day."

Flame looked up at Claire "Listen to mom Claire; she knows what she's talking about." Claire nodded and looked down at Flame with a tender face. Her mother attempted to cheer her up. "If you want to be ready for your journey, then this little guys gonna have to start training pronto! He can barely walk on his own let alone battle." She knew that Claire had inherited her brother's competitive spirit so she was familiar with how to work that angle. Claire looked at her mom with renewed confidence. "Your right!" Picking up Flame, she put his head on her shoulder and ran for the door. "Come on Flame, we've got some training to do!" He looked back at his mom with an irritated expression. "Nice job mom! I take back what I said before!"

Setting Flame on the grass, Claire walked ten feet away from him and got on her knees. "Okay Flame, first we need to get you walking. Come here boy, come on!" she said, her arms outstretched.

Flame got onto his feet. "Why do I have a feeling that I'm just gonna make a fool of myself?" struggling, he attempted a few steps. Naturally, he fell flat on his face. Fiona came out to watch, her plump Miltank right behind her. "Ah, what a cute little guy!" it gushed.

Flame looked at her with annoyance. "Shut up, I'm just not used to walking that's all!" The pink cow Pokémon walked over to him.

"You may be young but it's never too early to learn!" She looked at him with her hooves on her large sides. "I suggest that you start by walking on your four feet. You will be slower, but you will also be steadier."

Grudgingly, Flame took her advice and fell onto all fours. At first, he tried putting his front feet out at the same time then following with his back two. Not having enough balance for the feat, he once again fell onto his face. "Move you damn legs, move!" he cursed.

Miltank shook her head, waving a finger as she did. "Tut, tut, you need to watch your mouth little man, otherwise I might sit on you." Eyeing her considerably well fed bulk, he reluctantly guarded his tongue.

After a few more failed attempts, and more than a few tips from Miltank, he slowly padded towards Claire. Her face lit up as he put on foot in front of the other, first one of the front, then one of the back, and then the opposite legs. He got to Claire at almost a jog and surprising her, and himself, he bunched his back legs and jumped into her open arms. "Good job, Flame! You did it." She yelled, rubbing his head.

He yelled with her. "You bet you're a-"he began, but stopped at Miltank's expression. "Uh, your butt I did, I mean." He relaxed as the pink cow nodded her head.

Okay, how was that? I made up the hot milk part myself, just thought it would make sense. I still need the Pokemon OC's.