Author's Note: Since not much of the post-game made it into the main fic, I figured I should at least do something with Manaphy over here. This'll probably be it unless I can think of a creative way to redo some of the other parts of his subplot, but cute things are always good. We needed something cute to counteract the Darkrai stuff last chapter, obviously. Plus, there are two confirmed character ages here, which is a thing.

Child Care

Claire smiled as she watched Manaphy splash around in the shallow water near the beach's shore. He really was adorable, she thought. The fresh air seemed to be doing him good, and they'd all figured that he'd enjoy getting to play in the water, too.

They'd only had him for about two or three days now, but everyone had adjusted to his presence pretty well. While they'd had to put exploring aside for the past few days, Claire was more than fine with that. Manaphy came first, especially if his species was as rare as Chatot had said. Claire did like having him around, and they needed to learn as much as they could about him.

"Claire! Felix! Everyone! Look, look!" Manaphy babbled eagerly.

Claire looked down at the patch of sand he'd settled in. Manaphy had started pushing the sand into a pile; maybe he was trying to build something?

She blinked. "Oh, do you want to build a sand castle, Manaphy?"

He tilted his head to the side as he stared at her. "Sand castle?"

"Yeah!" Claire nodded. "Here, let's show you how to make one."

She started gathering a pile of sand herself, and Felix quickly joined her. As they built it, Claire could see Bruce and Rin going somewhere out of the corner of her eye. She could ask them later, she supposed.

Soon, they'd gathered a big enough pile of sand into a rough castle shape. Claire nodded as she and Felix moved back, and Manaphy looked at it in wonder. He clapped excitedly and twirled through the air as he moved back.

"Yeah! Sand castle, sand castle!" he cheered.

Iris grinned. "So let's help you build one, yeah?"

Manaphy nodded, and they were halfway through building his castle when Bruce and Rin returned. They'd gathered a small pile of twigs, and Rin was carrying all of them. She set the pile down between the two sand castles as Bruce spoke up.

"We thought we could use them for flags," he explained. "Some of them still have leaves on them, so they'd work pretty well for that. And if we stay out late enough, Felix could use them to light a fire."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Claire agreed. "Here, let me show you, Manaphy."

She plucked one of the twigs from the pile and stuck it into her own sand castle. Manaphy looked at it for a few seconds before nodding eagerly.

"Yeah, yeah! Claire! I want one!"

She laughed before grabbing another one for Manaphy. He took it from her and stuck it into his lopsided pile of sand. Then, he nodded proudly and clapped again.

"I think he likes it," Felix commented, smiling.

"You think? I mean…he kind of reacts that way to everything," Iris commented, snorting. "And besides, I told you, Manaphy! Claire is Mom."

"He doesn't have to call me that if he doesn't want to," Claire replied, giggling.

Rin sighed. "I still don't know why you insist on being 'Dad', Iris. Wouldn't that make more sense for Felix or Bruce?"

Claire shrugged. "It's not like I care who's 'Dad'. I'm fine with anyone, really."

"See? Besides, can either of them do this?" Iris raised her arms into a flexing position before looking over at Manaphy. "Hey, Manaphy! Come here and hang on."

He quickly floated over to Iris and grabbed onto her arm. Then, the Cacnea spun around in a circle, and Manaphy laughed as he whirled through the air. Rin shook her head as Iris came to a stop, and she grinned proudly.

"I doubt either of them could lift him for that long," she replied smugly. "I'm the strongest one here, so I should be Dad."

"Well, to be fair, I don't even have arms." Bruce shook his head. Then, he turned to Claire and added, "I wouldn't mind playing 'Dad' for you otherwise. But as long as everyone's having fun, I guess it doesn't matter."

"See?" Iris said again. "Besides, Felix can't be 'Dad' either. He's practically a baby, too."

"W-what?" Felix sputtered. "No I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are! You're what, like…three, or something?"

"Add eleven to that!" Felix huffed, folding his arms.

"Yeah, so you're three," Iris insisted.

Rin shook her head as Felix huffed at Iris again. "And you act younger than he does, despite being five years older…"

"At least I know how to have fun," Iris shot back. "You're younger than I am, but you act like a total grandma. Anyway! Manaphy, come on! Let's go back to the water."

Manaphy nodded before eagerly diving into the shallows again. Claire giggled and shook her head as she looked at everyone else's incredulous stares. Well, Iris was good at entertaining the young Pokémon, so she supposed the Cacnea had a point. As long as they kept an eye on Manaphy, they'd be all right.

By the time they brushed themselves off and headed back to the bluff, Claire was admittedly worn out. Still, they'd had plenty of fun, and she just hoped they could keep doing this for a while.