Munna and Musharna

"Daaaaddy!"

The Musharna snorted, then opened a half asleep eye. Blurrily, he saw a lavender flower on pink skin. "Hmmm? I'm sleeping…" he closed his eye again.

Huffing, the little Munna bumped into him. "Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy DAAAAADDDYYYY!"

This time, he awoke abruptly. "Huh, what?" He looked around in a panic. "What happened? Is something wrong?" He was afraid that those people from yesterday had come back.

His daughter looked mad, a trail of pink mist curling around her head. "Yeah, you said you were gonna take me to the gardens today, and the day's almost over. You promised."

"Oh." It wasn't dangerous, so he nearly went back to sleep. But then he realized that the day was almost over, and woke up fully. "Oh! I'm sorry, sweetie. I was up late into the day. But I'm up now." He uncurled a bit, then floated off. "Well let's go."

The Munna cheered and followed after him. As she chattered, they went through the woods around Straiton. This way, they avoided the people. The Musharna had always been wary of humans. Some were good, but many would force a Pokemon to battle. And then there were the two guys from yesterday. They were definitely bad.

When they got to the gardens, there were some humans around the fountain. But a corner of the place was empty, so he felt safe in letting her play here. He got a drink of water from the pools, then watched as the Munna hovered just above the water's surface and patted it with her hooves.

The Musharna yawned, but he wasn't going to fall asleep again. Not while they were here, closer to the humans than usual. He looked to the mist coming off the Munna. "You seem to have eaten a nice dream."

Eagerly, she came over to him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Guess what it was."

"Is that rhetorical?" he asked, because sometimes she said for him to guess, but told him immediately instead of waiting.

She giggled. "No, guess!"

"Hmm, all right. Was it about love?" He manipulated his own mist to form a nice pink heart. "I always like the romantic ones."

"No, no, no! Guess again." She seemed excited to play the game.

"Was it about an Audino?" The form of a curly-haired Pokemon appeared near him. "They're so sweet, and nice singers. I don't think I've met anyone who hates the Audino."

"Audino is nice," she admitted. "But it wasn't that."

Thinking, he made images of colorful dream flowers appear. "Was it about flowers?"

"No. Try again."

"Airplanes?" He formed one to fly above his head in circles.

No, it wasn't airplanes. Or boats, or fountains, or trees, or music, or food, or clouds, or dragons, or the moon. The Munna seemed a bit disappointed that he wasn't guessing right. But there were so many good dreams out there, especially when one figured personal opinions into it.

He sighed eventually, forming a question mark out of his mist. "Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. I'm a terrible guesser."

"It's okay, Daddy," she said sympathetically, rubbing her head against his. "It was a hard guessing game. Anyhow, the really nice dream I had last, it was about you!" She tried to form her own dream mist, but her Psychic powers were developed enough to do that.

That startled him. "About me? Heavens… I don't know who around here would dream of me." If it had been his soul mate, her mother, then yeah, he would expect that. But since she was gone, it was surprising.

The Munna twirled on the spot, excited. "Yeah, yeah, you! It was that girl from yesterday; she had a dream that you were awesome, which you really were cause controlling a nightmarish figure like that scary guy was amazing! And she loved you and thought you were the most amazing Pokemon she'd ever seen, but she was worried about me and liked me a lot too. I want to travel with her, Daddy. I can tell from her dreams that she's really sweet and kind, and great. Can I go with her, please, please, please?"

Although she was excited, the Musharna felt a knot of anxiety grow in his stomach. He'd tried to avoid being seen by humans; getting seen by three yesterday was the most he'd shown himself to his whole life. And now his only child wanted to go travel with one. It was normal for young Pokemon to want that. But, he had hoped that she wouldn't like humans either.

"The girl from yesterday?" he asked. There had been the boy who had fought off the two bad men (he quietly thanked the gods that she didn't want to go with him), but there had also been that blond haired girl and the older woman. She probably meant the blond one. "Are you sure about that?"

She nodded. "Yeah! I know there's scary things out there, like the men from yesterday, but she's a Trainer and I'll be safe with her. And see? She's just over there. She's a good person, I know it."

And on one of the garden paths, he did see the blond girl again. She was standing near one of the pools, watching the Pokemon swimming down there. Even though she hadn't been the one to battle yesterday, she had attempted to stop the bad men from hurting his daughter. Observing her thoughts, the Musharna could tell that she had a good heart, although she wasn't quite as bold and brave as her friend. But then, maybe being more cautious would be better.

He nuzzled the Munna. "You know that if you leave, I'm going to miss you lots."

At that, her eyes did get a bit watery. "I know. I'll miss you lots too. That's a bad thing about going. But, I think there's a lot more good things that can happen. And if she comes back here, I'll come visit, and you can see how much I've grown."

Part of him wanted to insist that she not go. She was going to get hurt again. But, he couldn't protect her forever and a human Trainer would help her learn to fight and defend herself. Maybe if she liked humans, in particular this one, he should honor her feelings. "Okay, you may go with her. Be careful out there."

Excited, she squealed and nuzzled him again. "Thanks, Daddy! I love you muchly."

"I love you muchly too. Goodbye."

"Bye!" Then she flew out of their cover and went over to the girl. The humans seemed surprised, but then delighted to see her. She even asked if she was the same one from yesterday, and if she was all right.

That let him know that she would be loved. Before he left, though, the Musharna carefully came out of cover, just enough so that the girl could see him. Then he manipulated his dream mist in order to form words in her language. "Take good care of her… she's my only child."

And the girl promised she would. Feeling a bittersweet satisfaction, the Musharna left the girl and the Munna to travel together.

…

Munna White entry: It eats the dreams of people and Pokemon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist.

Musharna White entry: With the mist from its forehead, it can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten.

A bit early, but this is for Father's Day.