Last edited on: 2021/12/26
Not one, but two pokémon were eating the painted honey. One's a munchlax, and the other's a chatot. It looked like the cub pokémon's the one that snapped the twig.
"You know what, Lucas? You do the planning. My brain's dead," Barry said, and Lucas gave him the I-don't-believe-you face.
"Wait, are you for real, Barry?"
Barry nodded. "Yeah. I mean, give others a chance, right?"
Holy crud, Lucas had to mark this date on his calendar: Barry finally gives!
"Lemme guess, the old man hit your heart or something?"
Barry's blushing. "F-forget that. What's the plan, Lucas?"
Lucas laughed. "Oh you… Anyway, thanks, Barry. I have an idea. It's a lucky thing we have that with us." Lucas pointed to his left.
What Lucas showed Barry was a bush of oran berries. From those textbooks Lucas read, they're also known as the 'all-around berry' 'cause those've been used for a lot of stuff, like hunting and medicines. That's where he got his idea: luring them away.
Barry hummed, like he's already got Lucas' idea.
"So, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lucas asked.
Then, Barry smiled, and Lucas also did after him.
Barry quietly laughed. "Seems like even you take after my smarts."
"You're not…" Lucas sighed. "Anyway, you wanna know why we're gonna lure them away."
"Why?"
"'Cause you mess things up. A lot."
"No, I don't!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Then, how about a moment ago?"
"Okay, maybe only that, but so what?"
"And that baby starly thing?"
"Fine, you win." Barry hmphed at him, and Lucas put his tongue out at him.
"Anyway, other than you messing things up, this can make us focus on one pokémon each. Remember the 'divide-and-conquer' strategies in those computer games we used to play?" Lucas put up two fingers then made a letter 'V' with them, and Barry nodded. "Since there's two of us and two of them, it's one for you and one for me. Also, I don't wanna get ganged up by wild pokémon again. I'm getting sick of it!"
"Gotcha. Cool plan, Lucas." Lucas cheekily smiled. "Dibs on that bird pokémon!" Barry pointed to bird pokémon that's licking the honey on its wings.
"Hey! I was gonna—"
"I called first dibs, Lucas!".
"Dang you, Barry," Lucas grumbled. "A muchlax's alright, I guess."
It's really impossible to win over this guy's pride…
Lucas got some oran berries for him and Barry. Looking at the pair of pokémon that were still enjoying their afternoon snack, they got ready to throw their own bait.
"Ready, Barry?"
"You bet I am!"
They tossed their berries altogether, but they made it so that the pokémon could go away from each other. Lucas' berry landed near the munchlax's back, and Barry's hit the flag of the chatot's note-head.
Wait, that's not the plan! "Bullseye!" Barry quietly cheered.
Oh crud, this was bad! "What the heck are you doing, Barry?!"
"What I'm supposed to be doing: luring the pokémon!"
"I meant to bait and lure both away from each other, not make it mad!" Yeah, the chatot was pretty steaming mad. "I thought you got my plan, you airhead!"
"I did — alright, fine! If it makes you happy, I'll lure my chatot away then!"
Barry quickly got out of his spot and started making fun of the bird pokémon. Dang that crazy airhead!
"Barry, get back here!"
Barry ignored him and stomped his foot at him. Oh boy, he's really serious.
"Bird-brain!" Barry yelled. "Wanna fight me, huh?!"
Dangit, what the heck happened to stealth mode?!Lucas looked up. If he's gonna do it, then he's gotta do it…
The angry chatot quickly looked at Barry, and its white neck's starting to look weird! Slowly, the chatot cawed and opened its wings.
Barry teased the pokémon more with his hands and words. "Yeah, that's it! Come at me, you pea-sized, bird-brained 'mon!"
Barry, you'd better know what you're doing! Lucas thought while sweating buckets.
Suddenly, the chatot, in almost the same voice as Barry's, said, "Bird-brain! Bird-brain!" The chatot flapped its wings like a mad… 'mon!
"Yeah, you're the one!" Barry got a pebble and threw it to the head of the bird pokémon. The chatot flicked it off with its wing and started flying towards Barry.
"Bird-brain! Bird-brain!" the chatot repeatedly said.
"I'll give you a fight…" Barry turned around and dashed to the thicker part of the forest, "there!"
And then, the crazy chase started. Later on, both of them disappeared into the deeper parts of the lake. If it's any weirder, the chatot flew past Lucas who hid behind the bush, and it didn't notice him at all.
"Bird-brain…!" a faraway echo said from where they flew off to.
Dang, Barry sure loved to look for trouble! And if Barry could do something with his '100% power' — that's how he calls it, it's running away. It looked like Lucas wasn't the scaredy-cat!
Lucas slapped himself in the forehead. Sure, Barry's a hard worker and all, but he's always loved the spotlight: he'll go solo if he wanted to! 'Cause of that, everyone'd quickly know it's him.
Oh, and thanks for ditching me! Lucas grumbled.
On the bright side, Barry's outta the picture. Lucas had the peace and quiet so he could focus better. Well, Barry's kinda smart and kind, so Lucas was kinda grateful for that.
Now, he had to focus.
The munchlax put the oran berry under its fur and then continued getting the honey off the tree without a care in the world. That's the signal: he had to get closer, but he wanted to study the pokémon a bit more.
Those pointy-looking ears seem kinda cute… And those sharp fingers and toenails could mean big trouble if it scratches me with his feet or hands. Oh?
Lucas noticed some shadowy lines under its fur when the pokémon sat down. Taking a not-so closer look, he could make out blue, pink, and yellow things.
Maybe it's got some holder under the fur or something? If that's it, then maybe that munchlax's stored a lot… Kinda makes me wanna ask how it's able to hold those stuff, too.
So that's why it just took the oran berry and didn't eat it. It's gonna put it in something like a food box. Lucas wanted to see it again, so he got one more berry and tossed it near the munchlax's foot.
The pokémon noticed another oran berry and looked at it. "Munch?" the munchlax said before licking the honey off its right paw.
So that's how it is: the pokémon picked it up, put it under its fur, and went back to eating. Lucas now had his answer.
Alright, so there's this weird food box in him, and it doesn't wanna eat anything besides that honey. Lucas looked at the oran berries he got from the plant. I could throw these away, but nah. Don't let it waste, Lucas.
Lucas dug up a small hole and put his handful of oran berries in there. He quickly covered it up with dirt and went back to watching the munchlax, only to find out that the pokémon sat and faced the tree.
That's it! Slowly get near that munchlax, and sneak around!
Careful not to make a sound like that weird bad guy in a TV show, Lucas tiptoed to his jackpot.
So far so good. The cub pokémon still didn't notice he's there. When he got closer, Lucas slowly got his poké ball and made it big with a click.
Oh yeah, you're mine now!
But then, something bad happened, he tripped on something. Dangit all!
Then, there's a loud thud when he fell flat on the ground and dropped his poké ball.
"Argh!" Lucas yelled. "Crud-crud-crud! Stupid tree-root-thing!" He punched the grass.
Oh shoot, the munchlax! I blew it!
The munchlax jumped and quickly turned around to Lucas. Oh boy, just when everything got good!
Wait, something's weird. It's just staring at Lucas while sucking the honey on its paw.
Lucas slowly got up so that he didn't scare it away, but it didn't even run away. Lucas and the munchlax just continued staring. Dang, it's so dead silent that Lucas could hear the leaves rustling.
"This is awkward…" Lucas quietly said.
The munchlax… ignored him? It's just finishing off the honey from its paw, and going back to the tree. When Lucas looked at the painted tree, he got shocked. Almost all of the honey's gone! Heck, and that cost them the whole honey jar!
Oh crud, this pokémon's got one heck of an appetite. Mom's gonna have to cook a lotta food for this guy…
"Um, munchlax? Hello?" he called out to the cub pokémon. The munchlax looked at him and licked its hand off of honey. It groaned at him, too.
Lucas used his hands while he talked. "Do you understand me?"
The munchlax nodded and scratched its back with its free hand.
"Cool. Where'd you learn English?"
Wait, what kinda question's that?
And then… it's back to eating. Huh, Lucas realised; maybe he could act chummy with the pokémon to get its trust.
Well, it did understand me. We'll be partners in no time.
"Hey, uh, aren't you scared of me?" That made the munchlax stop eating for a moment. It looked like it's thinking.
Well, whaddaya know. Looks like I'm Mes, and this munchlax's me. Lucas laughed at how it's kinda the same.
Back to the munchlax, it shook its head.
"Oh, I see," Lucas replied. Good thing he's not. Now, all I have to do's—
Just then, his stomach loudly rumbled for both to hear.
Oh crud! I forgot that I ate my lunch early — oh wait, the munchlax's here too! Aw man, I knew I should've those oran berries. Got too caught up with this guy…
"Huh?" He felt something tapping his left foot.
"Munch. Munch," the pokémon said. It got two yellow berries under its fur and showed him it. Ah ha, sitrus berries!
"W-woah!" A pokémon giving him food? It's normally the other way around, and this was his first! "Really, munchlax? For me?"
The pokémon nodded and then left it in Lucas' hands. Huh, thinking about it, oran berries were the normal berries around here. Sitrus berries weren't normally grown here.
So, this pokémon might be from somewhere else… Ah, who cares? I'm hungry!
"Thanks, munchlax!" Lucas said before taking a bite of the berry. Meanwhile, the munchlax continued getting honey. Dang, he sure was hungry!
"Mmm~! It's been a while since I last ate this!" Lucas commented as he enjoyed his sweet snack. I'd say, this taste's two or three times better than orans. I kinda see now why pokémon usually choose this over oran and lum berries.
Lucas was kinda filled. Looking at the cub pokémon, he noticed that it's also enjoying the sweet honey
"Enjoying it?" he asked the munchlax. It looked at him and nodded. "Fresh combee honey's really tasty. Kinda pricey, though."
Wait, what am I doing! Lucas shook his head. He nearly forgot what he's gonna do. Dangit, focus! Where's that poké ball… But I think I should tell this guy what I'm gonna do. I mean, it's kind enough to give me some berries—
Feeling the poké ball, he took it out. Ah ha! Here you are.
Lucas picked his ball up and then hid it from the munchlax. The pokémon groaned, like it's confused at what Lucas was gonna do.
"Uh, I'm just gonna cut the chase to you," Lucas cleared his throat like a gentleman, "and I mean I'm gonna be honest with you, alright?" Dang, the pokémon looked even more confused. "L-look, it's just — um. Ah, forget it!" Lucas bent down to the munchlax. "Do you wanna be my partner, please?!"
Crud! What the heck was that?! Barry's rubbing me off again, dangit!
Oh crud, the munchlax's becoming scared! "N-no wait! I mean, is it okay if you could become my poké-partner, please?" Lucas asked, more calmly. "When I become a real trainer at 18 years old, we'll get to see the world out there!"
The munchlax's still a bit scared. Lucas was now worried that it wouldn't listen to him. Dang, he could even see it shaking.
Tsk! What to do, what to do? It's not gonna accept the berries back there. Shoot, I don't have anything else to— Wait, he still got the candy from the old man! But… Oh boy, really? Do I have to give it away? I just received it a couple of minutes ago, and it looks tasty! But then, oh boy, there's this fella…
What to do, what to do: save it for him or for the munchlax? Lucas wanted to give it the cub pokémon, but that way, he's not gonna taste a Kanto-style candy. Dangit, but he really wanted a poké-partner! Oh boy, what a tough choice to make…
This sucks. You're right about those tough opportunity choices, Mom.
Well, real men make tough choices, urgh… "H-hey, munchlax. I'm sorry I scared you a bit, I really am." Lucas tried coming closer, but the munchlax backed off a bit. Oh boy, he could hear it whimpering like it's cornered.
Dang, looks like this pokémon doesn't wanna fight.
"I'll make it up to you, alright?" Lucas said and knelt down. He swapped his poké ball with the candy and showed it to him. "Here! It's a little something to cool you down a bit, and my 'sorry' for scaring you."
Lucas held up the sweet in front of the munchlax. The munchlax quietly looked at the candy, and thank goodness, it's slowly becoming calm.
"Don't be shy," he said in the most caring tone he could use and smiled. "Just take it."
The munchlax went to grab his candy. Even with its pointed fingers, it's not able to rip it open, which made Lucas chuckle a bit.
"Oh shoot, I forgot. You can't open this wrapper, huh?" The munchlax growled at him and made Lucas shake a bit. "Alright, alright. I'll help you out. Give it here for a sec." The munchlax gave him the candy. "It's quite easy. You just do this…" He held the wrapper at one of the jagged sides and started pulling it apart. It's… hard!
How the heck can that old man get the candy out with this? Dang, old people are… weird!
Lucas slowly pulled harder, but it's still not opening up. The munchlax just looked at him with a what-the-heck-is-he-doing face.
"Dang, this is tough. Guess I have to use another way." Lucas bit the end of the wrapper and pinched the same side with both hands. And then, he pulled the wrapper like there's no tomorrow. Finally, the wrapper ripped open!
"Ah ha — ow!" The candy flew right to his eye and bounced off. Maybe that's too strong…
But dang, the munchlax leapt to it with its mouth wide open, and ir immediately swallowed it whole! What an appetite, this guy…
Lucas groaned out of pain when rubbing his eye with a clean arm. "I should've been more careful. Who even makes those kinds of—"
Quickly, the munchlax came up to him with two oran berries. The munchlax handed them over to Lucas its oran berries with a delighted face, perhaps as a gesture of gratitude.
"O-oh, was it good?"
"Munch~" the munchlax happily replied.
"Heh! You're welcome, li'l guy! C'mere you." Lucas patted the munchlax's head. With his free hand, he got the oran berries from the pokémon. "Thanks for the extra treat! Nice trade at that, too."
The munchlax put up a happy face and happily cried its name when he rubbed his head. On the other hand, Lucas munched on the oran berry he had. While eating, he asked, "So, did it taste really good? The candy, I'm talking about."
The munchlax nodded.
"That's good to know. Oh," Lucas snapped his fingers, "how about that honey there?" It nodded again. Lucas chuckled. "You're a pretty cool pokémon if you ask me. I'm glad to've met you!"
It nodded and repeated its name once before yawning.
"I guess you're already full from that honey and sweet candy, right?"
That old man really wasn't joking about that candy. Sure wish I tasted it, but eh. The munchlax looked like it enjoyed it. Lucas shrugged.
As for the munchlax, it nodded, but then stared at Lucas afterwards.
I hope it's already gonna ask me about being my partner and friend. That'll really help me out a lot.
"Do you wanna say something? It's alright," he smiled in affirmation, "I'll hear you out."
"Muh, muh," it said when it pointed to Lucas' pocket. He knew what it's gonna ask, and he's very lucky!
"Oh, my pocket? There's no food there, but do you want me to get the poké ball? It's the only thing in my pocket — two, actually."
Yes, yes! It's finally here!
"Munch!" It quickly got near Lucas' pocket.
"Woah! What're you doing?" It took the small poké ball out and then looked at it very closely. Lucas paused for a moment. He had to ask it something first. "Hey, so you're really serious about it, li'l guy? I sure hope I'm not being pushy or anything."
"Munch!" the pokémon happily replied and gave Lucas his poké ball back. In his head, Lucas pumped his fist out of victory.
But man, he couldn't keep it in! Lucas quickly jumped for joy and raised both hands, looking up to the sky. With that, he yelled, "YES!" The munchlax jumped when he did. "That's it. We're poké-partners from here on out, munchlax!"
"Munch! Lax…" Huh, it's yawning.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you're sleepy from eating a lot," Lucas then clicked his poké ball at the munchlax. "Why don't you rest after we make this, uh…" he scratched his head trying to dig out the right word, "'official'! I guess that's the one. Whaddaya say, li'l guy? Lemme catch you first."
The munchlax first looked at the ball with sleepy, concerned eyes then up to Lucas, but he also saw that the munchlax's a bit worried.
"Don't worry. I don't think it's gonna be bad. My friends' pokémon like being sent back to their own balls." He stopped for a sec. "That felt weird when I said it," he quietly said.
"Muh?"
"I'm not sure what that meant, but you can count on me!" Lucas flashed a thumbs up and smiled to make the munchlax feel at home. After a few moments, the munchlax giggled its name, nice! "Thanks, munchlax! Now let's wrap this thing up"
It happily replied with its name and yawn.
"You ready for this?"
"Lax!"
Lucas got near the pokémon, and he pressed the poké ball's centre button at its head. The ball opened when he heard a click.
Suddenly, the munchlax became a glowing, red light before being sucked into the poké ball. The ball then closed by itself on Lucas' hand. Huh, it didn't wiggle. Instead, it blinked thrice before clicking. Dang, poké ball tech always weirded him out in a good way.
Now, Lucas caught a brand new pokémon — his first pokémon ever. Oh man, so this was how that Greek dude felt when he found out about density, or that one scientist when he found out about antibiotic meds. Dang, it's so rewarding! Maybe this was a sign that he's gonna get that 'Top 1' award at the end of his 6th grade!
"You're mine now," Lucas geekily smiled and looked at the munchlax's poké ball, "and I won't let you down as my friend and partner, Munch!"
Yeah, 'Munch' is a nice pet name. Not original, but it's cool!
"Just you sleep tight till our dinner time, alright? You sure ate a lot a moment ago. Wait till Mom and Barry get to see you later." Lucas looked up to the sky. "Dad would be really proud of me, too…" And then, to the lake. "How about you, Mes?"
This was way better than buying pokémon in those pet shops. It didn't feel right, and heck, who'd buy an eevee for 2 000 dollars? Maybe Mom's right about saving money and all that. Well, it's a good thing Lucas and Barry got poké balls as birthday gifts.
Speaking of Barry…
"Where's that airhead anyway?" Lucas shrunk and put Munch's poké ball in his pocket. He looked around to see if Barry's near him. "He's been gone for minutes…"
Oh boy, Lucas had butterfrees dancing in his stomach thinking about the crazy stuff Barry'd cook up at the moment. It's normal for Barry, but he's too reckless sometimes. Dang, and he's supposed to be the smartest airhead in class. Hmph, but not as smart as Lucas!
"Dangit, I just hope he's got some magical butt-pull that could—"
Suddenly, he heard something loud, like bushes getting wrecked mixed with bird noises.
"Barry!" Lucas quickly ran to that area with those weird noises. "Just what the heck's your genius plan now?!"
Oh boy, it sounded like Lucas got near to where it's from, but it stopped when it got very loud. He saw a bush that'd been shaking before calming down. Lucas forced his weak stomach to check the thick bush out, and what a surprise: it's Barry!
But something's wrong, he's lying flat on the ground!
Lucas was heck-a shocked. "H-hey, Barry!"
