Pokemon Daycare!
Munchlax's Heart vs. His Stomach!
By: Cutegirlmayra (It's so hard lately to find time to write… I get a lot of asks on Tumblr, not that I mind! Lol, but it does make it hard to work on my own fanfiction ^^ anyway, hope you enjoy our next little adventure! Hehe~)
The children were all hanging out around the orchard today, eating berry juices they had learned how to make, thanks to Miss Pearl.
"Remember, Totodile. Manners." Cleo gently lifted the bottle for Totodile, who was spilling his juice everywhere, wearing a baby doll's bib around his neck that Cleo had swiped for him.
He chugged it all the way down, before swiping it from his mouth and out of his hands, letting it toss everywhere on the dirty grass floor, before Cleo gasped.
She put her hands to the side of her face and shook her head, "Totodile, no! That's mean! Not nice, Totodile. You have to be neat when you eat…" Cleo was starting to sound more and more better as she hanged around the daycare with everyone, though, she still found it hard to really speak with Brandon…
Still, she wasn't baby-talking anymore. Miss Pearl had supposed she always knew how to speak properly, but since receiving a new role as 'Mother' to the baby Totodile, that perhaps she felt the need to grow up so she could nurture him well.
"That would make sense…" Candy looked up at the sky, still missing her baby-talk though, and smiled gleefully at the memory. "She has seemed like she's grown up a bit since being with us. Maybe her parents spoiled her?"
"Candy." Pearl sternly whacked her cane onto Candy's head.
"Ow! Yeesh! My bad… I just thought they were pretty busy people, right? Maybe this whole time, she was in the 'baby' role. Now that she has Totodile, it gives her a chance to really mature, you know?" Candy rubbed her head, leaning down at it's aching, before scarfing her face to mask her rage at being scolded again.
Miss Pearl had started to instruct her personally on different things about Pokemon, battling, and the world. She wasn't quite sure why, but Miss Pearl began to act more like a mentor than ever before now…
Maybe because she saw her growing up too?
"Now then, children." Pearl lightly clapped her hands, getting Brandon's and Cleo's attention. "I've received exciting news. A popular chief has come into town, and in his honor, the city is going to throw a food eating contest. I've already asked your parents, and as long as our pokemon are out and able to protect you, they're alright with you going as a field trip. I hope you'll see many trainers and their pokemon working together to win, and notice their unique bond with each and everyone pair you'll see- Ah. … Candy…" Miss Pearl stopped explaining her happy surprise when she noticed Candy's face drooling and her eyes sparkling.
"Conest… you say?"
"Not this again…" Miss Pearl sighed, a puff of white air flew down to show the action being exhausting, before Candy jumped straight up from her seat, looking determined.
"There's not a soul alive that adores food like I do!" Candy eyes shined with pure determination, almost growing in their sparkles now. "I've just gotta win that contest! It's not a beauty contest, thank goodness! So I can be as ugly with my eating as I want to be!" she suddenly jumped onto a basket of berries, head first, and kicked her feet up rapidly as she held the basket with her hands gripping the sides, holding it in place.
Her face was like a parana, and Miss Pearl sweat dropped at the horrible mannerism she portrayed.
"Candy… for a young lady to eat so… so viciously!"
Cleo grabbed Totodile, afraid she might eat him as well, and scooted over to Pearl, a little afraid.
"Ah! You're scary! Ah-ha!" Brandon, seeing Cleo and Miss Pearl's reactions, quickly grabbed his own basket, and dived his face in. "Come on, Yamask!" he stuck his berry covered face out to call to his friend, who blinked his eyes as he hovered in the air, having a berry in his hands. He seemed to have simply just nibbled it every now and then, and looked back to it.
"Come on!" Brandon stuck his face out, and laughed. "It's perfectly, wonderfully terrifying darkness in there!" Brandon then dived back in, munching the berries and calling them 'brains'.
Yamask grew excited too, though not sure what he was saying, and grabbed his own basket, digging his face in it, though not really eating… he just seemed to happily smear berry juice all over his face as it squished the berries below.
"Oh, Candy!" Miss Pearl exclaimed, as suddenly, Cleo laughed, and Totodiled stared in awe at how yummy that technique looked! So many berries!
"What terrible manners! You're setting a bad example for the children!" Miss Pearl held Celo with one hand, and scolded Candy with the other, before Totodile wiggled out of Cleo's hands.
"Ah! Totodile! Come back here!" She reached out for him, but he just happily ran over to the gang and jumped into a basket, lowering his head and seeming to 'swim' in a circle around the basket, squishing the berries up and then eating them along the way.
"Oh dear… now you're all filthy." Miss Pearl put her hand up to her forehead, seeming to regret her decision of telling the children in front of Candy… "I should have at least kept it a secret from you… hoo…"
Candy ran towards a flyer on her way home, holding some groceries as she excited bounced her knees up and down, reading it over. "Woah! What simple rules!" she squee'd.
"Now all I need is a pokemon that can match my appetite, eating habits, stomach, and my stomach's metabolism! Hmm… Wait a second…" she looked down at her belt, seeing a pokeball wiggle a little.
"Ah! Miss Pearl's pokemon for me! Cuddles!" she took the pokeball out and clicked the center to make it big, then smiled to it and raced home.
Getting there, she wrapped a napkin around her neck, and took the pokeball out and onto the table. "Alright, kiddo! Training starts…" she leaned forward with her hand. "..Now!"
Clicking it open, Munchlax appeared, shaking his head and looking at her.
"Munch?" he tilted his head.
"No time to explain!" Candy shoved a spoon and fork into his hands, having him stumble with them from the fast action, as she leaned over to position a napkin around his neck. "You're the most gluttonous pokemon I know! So this tournaments gonna be a cinch!"
Munchlax stopped squirming once she pulled away, and just blinked in complete confusion.
"Okay! Here's the peanut jelly sandwiches, pop tarts, spaghetti- you name it! We've got to stuff ourselves good to see our limit. Then we have to find out when to start slowing down to let our stomach's settle, and start back up for the final stretch! Literally! Stretch your stomach out before we begin!"
Candy rolled up her casual clothes sleeves, having baggy clothes on just for getting dirty, and started leaning to one side, lifting an arm up, and then shifting to the other.
"We've to be in tip-top shape for this fri-…Huh?" She suddenly took a moment to realize he wasn't as excited as she thought he'd be.
"…Cuddles?"
He stared, solemnly down at the food.
"…What's wrong, boy?"
A moment of concern spread across her face, as she lowered her hands to the table, sitting criss-cross apple-sauce on the small chair she had for herself, but medium sized for Munchlax.
"You don't like my cooking..?" She started to tear up.
He immediately looked up, and shook out his head and arms, showing that wasn't the case, but then looked sadly down again, and put the spoon down.
"Ah!" Candy freaked out, gripping the back of the chair, sitting sideways now, "What on earth!? Don't tell you're-!"
He then placed down the fork.
"Not-!" her eyes widened in horror.
He reached to slowly untie the napkin.
"HUNGRY!?"
He jumped down from the table, and sighed, walking off slowly towards another hallway in her home.
Her hand twitched as she reached for him, trembling in complete bafflement.
"Oh my Arceus… He's sick!"
Not knowing how else to explain his extremely odd behavior, Candy quickly grabbed her regular clothes, changed, and ran munchlax as quickly as possible to the Poke center.
Trying to move as fast as she could with a limp little bag of fat in her arms, she found that she had to hunch over as she ran with him dangling from her arms like an overstuffed puppy.
His face looked neutrally closed off from the experience, as his head just bobbed with her running, and his eyes remained in thick, straight lines.
"C-Candy?"
Candy stopped and turned around, "Will!"
He was about to put a letter in a mail box, and stopped to blink and look up at her.
"You're awfully early. What's your rush? Isn't this your off day?"
She charged over and back to him, having not even noticed he was behind her and across the street from the corner she had just taken.
"Do cities still have traditional mailboxes?" She seemed confused.
"W-well… I wouldn't say all are 'traditional' but…" He scratched the back of his head, seeing as she really asked that as sincerely as she could.
"You make me laugh sometimes, you know that? Haha!" he gripped his stomach slightly, before hearing a sigh and looking down at Munchlax.
"Huh? He looks so… empty for some reason? Is he okay?" Will looked back up at Candy.
"That's the thing… he won't eat." Candy barely was able to say it.
Will's eyes widened, "Are you sure? Munchlaxs are famous for their appetites though!"
"I know! And he's acting weird too! Isn't it terrible!?"
Munchlax sighed again.
"Maybe… he's tried?"
"That wouldn't explain it. He does sleep around the house a lot, but he hasn't even slept! He's just… stared… aimless up at the ceiling! He's dying I tell ya!" She threw Munchlax's body up to his face, struggling to keep it there from the weight, as Will leaned back with a sweat drop on the side of his face.
"L-let's not get over dramatic here…"
"I've gotta fix him! Before the Chief's eating contest tomorrow!" she looked up with tears in her eyes again, truly worried for both her pokemon and the contest!
"Huh… Eating Contest… oh! Right!" Will looked to his van, and put a hand up to cup around his mouth, "Gail! Can I see one of those contest flyers, please?"
A second passed before a pink aura floated out, flying a paper out to Will and hovering in front of him. "Thanks, Gail!" he called back to his Kirlia, having decided to sleep in the back with the packages, just to rest her eyes a bit from all the hard work they've been doing.
"Let's see… ah, here it is! The winner gets money for the charity of their choosing! I'm guessing your trying to win the prize money for the Daycare, right?" he smiled, as Candy blinked her eyes a moment, and then smiled warmly up.
"Oh. I just wanted to win. But that works too."
He almost fell over, unable to comprehend what she just said. "W-wait! You were just gonna stuff yourself alive and go in it for glory!?" he was confused, "I thought only men thought like that…"
"Are you kidding!? Eating is a part of life! Women of all ages know the importance of a fine-tasting meal, and cherish it!" she suddenly stomped her foot up on a nearby fire hydrant, and seemed about to go off on a speech before she noticed her Munchlax sigh again.
She held him back in her arms and turned him around; holding him like a big toddler and looking worriedly towards him. "You still feel bad, Cuddles..?"
"Poor guy… hmm… hey! If you want, instead of carrying the ol'lug all the way over to the pokemon center, I could give you a ride?" he threw a thumb back and grinned.
He then turned around, stars in his eyes, 'A girl in my van! It's like an early Christmas miracle!'.
"Ah! You would do that? Thanks, Will!" she jumped in, before leaning back and letting herself fall on the packages in the back, laughing.
She held Cuddles close as she looked around, noticing the back of the van had Kirlia sleeping just off to the side of her, leaning her head on the van's inner wall, but not seeing…
"PELLLLL!" emerging from being piled up under packages, Seamour happily spread his wings out and flapped them excitedly.
Will hopped in the car, and joyously looked back to his merry crew, "Everyone! We have company! Cuddles and Candy are going to hop a ride with us. Any objections?"
Seamour cawed out joyfully back to his trainer, before leaning forward and nuzzling his large beak up to Candy, who giggled it as he lightly nipped at her long blonde hair.
Kirlia smiled, but rolled her eyes, shaking her head before going back to sleep.
Munchlax finally opened his eyes, looking to Kirlia as she slept and the car started rolling.
He blinked as his mind's eye pictured Jigglypuff, gently sleep in Kirlia's place.
His eyes teared up, before he shook them away and sighed in heartache again, flopping his head down on Candy.
"Ah! He's getting worse!" Candy called out, panic taking over.
She leaned up and pulled herself to the rectangular opening of the back of his van. "Can't you make this thing go faster?"
"Hold on..!" Feeling this was his chance to prove himself, Will had his mighty mailvan screech around the corner, and blaze in lettered glory as some letters flew out from the sides of it down the street.
Kirlia, tediously making sure that nothing was lost, used her abilities to pull each envelope back into the car, and grumbled with her cheek puffed up at the mess her trainer was making.
Once they arrived and pulled in at the pokemon center, Candy leaned forward and jumped out, rushing down and getting to the doors, before quickly realizing she forgot something, and ran back to Will.
"Will!" she called, coming back up to his open-side, no-door driver's side of his vehicle.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
She leaned up and gave him a half hug, making him freeze as he had leaned down to address her.
"Thank you…"
She whispered lightly, before pulling away and smiling.
"You're the best, Will!"
The Best!
"Like no one ever was!"
Like no one. Ever.
He leaned back in his chair, watching her wave goodbye.
Suddenly, his whole body steamed as it burst into red, his eyes swirling.
"Two Christmas miracles…"
He wobbly mumbled from his love-stricken seat.
Kirlia leaned her head up and peeked out from the rectangular opening to see his condition, and looked distress, lifting a shocked hand up daintily by her face.
"Kirl!" she cried out, as Seamour wobbled over, and then started flapping his wings, panic taking over at his trainer looking feverish.
"PEL, PEL, PELL!" His flapping made Kirlia cover an arm over her, as the letters she tried to keep intact went flying around the back of the van through his random gust attack.
"Kirl!" she shouted out, "Kirl, kirl!" She calmed him down by letting him know what he was doing, as he stopped and held his wings out, before slowly withdrawing one to his side, and then turning quickly to rub a wing behind his head, looking apologetic.
She shook her head at his antics. "Kirl…"
She then tapped her trainer's shoulder, "Kirlia. Kirlia? Kirl-Kirl!" she shook it a little more with some force but not too much, as she puffed her cheek in annoyance again before he finally seemed startled out of his thoughts, and blinked in surprise.
"Oh! Ah! S-sorry! I must have gone off in la la land again." He scratched the back of his head, apologetic as Kirlia just sighed, stuck caring for two lovable and whacky men.
Candy rushed into the pokemon center, and quickly looked to Miss Joy, "Miss Joy?! Miss Joy, it's terrible!"
"Oh dear." A nurse turned around, seeing Munchlax in her arms and walking up to the counter. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Nurse Joy, it's my pokemon! Munchlax's have an almost unstainable appetite, but mine won't eat even a wrapper!"
She held her precious baby Munchlax up to the nurse's face, just like she did with Will, and struggled once again with the weight issue.
"Isn't… he… looking… terrible…!" she struggled so hard that her face almost turned blue, and she had to set him down a moment, panting.
"My… well… he does look awfully limp." Nurse Joy sweat dropped, and then moved around the corner to properly examine him.
She bent down and lifted his arms, then his head, and started to feel around his stomache.
Candy bit at her nails, worried sick!
"Please, tell me he's okay… He's just gotta win with me at the eating contest tomorrow!" she kept her hands in tight fists up near her face, as Nurse Joy's eyes suddenly caught something.
She saw Munchlax sigh, and smiled warmly to him.
"I think I see the problem here."
She leaned up, and gently tucked her dress down as she did so.
Folding her arms and looking politely proper as ever, she closed her eyes and continued to gently speak her diagnosis for Candy.
"You're Munchlax seems to be depressed. When Munchlaxs, or any pokemon really, become so sad that they lose their appetites, it's usually do to something troubling them." She held a finger up to the side her face, tilting her head slightly into it. "Now… could you recall anything that may have left your Munchlax feeling this way?"
"Depressed..? Well, at least he's not dying." She seemed relieved, before processing the rest of Nurse Joy's words.
"…Something… that could have upset him..? Hmm…" she looked down…
"The twins… did leave… But that was the only change since… AH! I got it!"
Candy turned to Munchlax, bending down to his level, as he turned to look up at her.
"…." She stared at him closely.
"…You're upset I didn't leave you the last cookie. Aren't you?"
He looked away, sighing.
"Ah-ha! That's it, isn't it!? You can't hide the truth from me!"
She waved a pointed hand repeatedly at him, before something pink caught his eye.
He turned to look at a Chansey.
It's body shape… coloration…
His eyes started to tear up.
The tender way it handled other pokemon.
His mind's eye replaced her with Jigglypuff, and her gentle voice filled his mind.
She turned to him, and lightly chimed it out, smiling and shaking her head in her usual joyful way…
He suddenly turned around, darting an arm up to his face to cover his eyes, and started bursting into tears.
"MUNNNNNCHHHHLAA-AH-AH-AH-AXXX!"
"Oh dear." Nurse joy folded her hand over her mouth, amazed to see his outburst.
"Aww… I'm sorry, little guy. I never knew that last cookie meant so much to you!" Candy wrapped her arms around him, "There, there… I still love you! Tell you what? Along with our training for today, we'll go get some batch of cookies. Sound good? I don't really have time to cook them or anything so…" she sweat dropped, seeing him make a scene.
Munchlax stopped a moment, thinking about cookies…
He suddenly remembered!
That was the last time he was able to eat a meal with Jigglypuff!
"MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNCHHHH-Ha..ha…chlax…" He once again burst into a fury of tears, dropping his arms forward, completely and dreadfully missing his darling crush!
Candy leaned back, removing her hands. "Er… no cookies, then?"
"I believe he's trying to tell you it may be something else." Nurse joy leaned down, trying to help the situation all she could. "I'm afraid I'm not specifically trained for emotional matters of the mind-"
"MUUUCHHH!"
"O-or the heart?"
"…Lax…" Munclax nodded to her change.
The two suddenly seemed to realize he was crying from no one understanding him, and was trying to communicate his feelings.
"Ah! I believe he's trying to tell us what's wrong. Munchlax, why don't you act out what you're upset about?" Nurse Joy bent to her knees again, as Candy sat on the ground, resting on her legs.
"Emm-emm! That sounds like a good idea! Charades!" Candy nodded, and turned to Munchlax. "Come on, kiddo! We've only got today until the contest! What's keeping your stomach from grumblin' for the munchies?" she got into it now, holding her hands up to her face in fists and leaning forward.
She was dead-set on figuring out what was wrong, focusing intently on whatever issue may be troubling her Munchlax.
She was also extremely competitive, and didn't want Nurse Joy out smarting her like she just did again.
Cuddles was her pokemon! It was her right to figure him out!
Cuddles began waving his arms about, forming a circle.
"Ah! A cookie!"
He whacked Candy's head.
"Ow! Okay, not a cookie…" she rubbed her head. "Hey… only Miss Pearl can do that… and it's not like I gave her permission or anything! I don't like being hit!" Candy whined, as Nurse Joy thought a moment.
"Hmm…" she placed a hand to her chin, leaning back. "Perhaps it's not a food at all. An object… person maybe?"
Munchlax pointed to her excitedly, smiling for the first time since he came out, and nodding to her.
"Ahhh… so it is a person after all!" Nurse Joy looked so happy she guessed right, as Candy gave her a short, quick pout her way before looking back to Cuddles, getting in the 'game' zone.
"Ah… so a fat person."
He jumped up and whacked her on the head again.
"HEY!"
"Perhaps he doesn't like you calling the person that… a… poofy… person? Like Chansey?" Nurse Joy gestured behind her to the Chansey had previously been watching greet and welcome pokemon and trainers with another nurse as they walked in.
He held out a hand and lowered his other paw into it, to show that she was on the money.
"Oh yay! I'm pretty good at this, physiatry, stuff. Maybe I should go into it as a side career?" Nurse Joy looked up as if going over the option in her head, as Candy fumed behind her in utter rage, twitching a hand up in frustration at her doing better at this than herself.
"Wait…" her expression suddenly changed and dropped, as a lightbulb went on.
"Round.. poofy… like Chansey…?" she put her head down.
"…The twins…"
She raised her head again, looking sympathy. "You… You miss…"
"It's Jigglypuff… isn't it?"
Munchlax looked up at her, sorrowfully, then down and nodded.
"Oh… I didn't realize… you two were friends at the daycare… I… I should have known…"
She reached out a hand, before turning away.
"You… you never said goodbye."
He turned away, his shoulders bouncing up and down, before tightening his small paws and then jumping into Candy's arms.
"MUUNNNCHHH!"
"OH YOU POOR THING! WHHHAAAA-HAHAAA-HAAA!"
The two sure made a scene, crying right in front of the counter as a few trainers waited awkwardly behind them.
One boy leaned down, but Nurse Joy stopped him from saying anything by putting a finger up to her mouth, and smiling kindly to him.
"Hehe. They just need one moment longer…" she happily stood by them, as they hugged and cried it out.
On the way home, Candy and Munchlax held hands, as Munchlax waddled beside her, and stared at an ice cream cone.
He wasn't sure he could eat it... just yet…
"Go on. Before it melts." Candy smiled down to him, licking her own as he just teared up, and couldn't look.
She stopped at his reaction, and warmly, with a gentle tone, spoke down to him.
"Although I can't really mend your broken heart… and am not very good at losing people myself…" she recalled Lucario, but then shook her head, looking back at Munchlax. "I do know a trade secret to comforting troubled feelings!"
Muchlax looked up, blinking in surprise, and amazed hope.
He truly wanted to feel better.
What was the trade secret?
"STUFFING YOUR FACE AND DRINKING YOUR TEARS!"
Candy stood on the other side of the contest table, having Munchlax right next to her, as he watched her stuff her face with food when the timer went off.
He watched in amazement, before wiping any forming tears and looking determined to succeed.
If this was true, then all he needed to do to be happy again… was eat like he usually did to feel happy!
"OM-NOM-NOM-NOM!" she gulped down in large chunks the food, and then turned to chug some water, but not too much, she had to leave room in there…
"Ah." She wiped her mouth and slammed the bottle down, turning to Muchlax as they refilled her plate.
"Rather than feeling the ache in your heart, you can feel it in your stomach!"
He had never been more so connected to Candy than in this moment.
She smiled down to him, an indirect encouragement that she would never disappear…
Unlike this baked pie placed in front of him.
"WE MAY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TRAIN, BUT THAT MEANS OUR STOMACHS ARE HUNGIER THAN EVER! OM-NOM-NOM!" she swallowed hard, "Ah. TO THE OPPOENT PLATES!"
The folks beside them who were eating stopped in fright, as she leaped forward and started to eat their food, and from behind her…
Munchlax leaped forward, right over her bent body and walked along the long table, head down as he looked like Pac-Man, opening and closing his jaw.
A literal vacuum as each plate just slid into his mouth and disappeared instantaneously with each causal bite.
Candy spun around, her stomach large, holding three turkey's under her arms and one half eaten in her hand, the leg in her mouth.
"HONEY! I'M COMING HOME WITH A FOOD BABY, TONIGHT!"
Miss Pearl, Will, the on-lookers, and the poor children watched horrifically as Candy and Cuddles DOMINATED the contest in such a monstrous fashion.
"Disgraceful." Pearl held her head up high, not liking that her natural lady-like behavior was so easily pushed to the side when it came to a free buffet. "For a lady to scarf her face like that. Shameful. Such a waste of fine food. With all that swallowing and not enough tasting, it's almost like disrespecting the chief who generously made it for the banquet." Nevermore, upon her shoulders, had his jaw hanging out, dangling at the horrific scene of the two stuffing themselves and still asking for the rest of their portions.
"S-…She eats like a house full of brothers!" He exclaimed, also in complete terror. Though, it's hard to say if he was really turned away from this or not. "It's amazing she can keep herself so well fit while still eating like that!"
"…So well… fit? What, what?" Miss Pearl turned back to him, realizing he must have not heard himself say it, and mused with a hardy chuckle to the side at it. "My… you really are enamored with her, aren't you?"
She glanced up to see his reaction, but he was so taken aback by Candy's wild eating habits and Munchlax right by her side that he was paying too much attention to notice her side-comment.
She sighed, "Young men."
"What can you do."
"We're. Not. Done. Yet!" Candy kept shoving food in her mouth, as Munchlax also continued, having a moment where he tuned out, and saw Jigglypuff in his daydreams again.
She turned around, and opened her mouth, "Jigggg..~" as if hand feeding him all the food he was eating.
Blushing, hanging his mouth open, he continued to just literally shove food down his large mouth,… before…
He started glowing white.
Candy stopped a moment in her eating, and turned around.
"Muwunwchwax?" She had her mouth full like a chipmunk, before looking up at the massive white light that burst away,…
"Woah!" The chief stood up, and then struck a pose with a spacula in hand. "It's my signature pokemon!" he exclaimed.
A Slaking, having been behind the chief this whole time, suddenly turned around, his eyes shooting a glare with a strike of light.
He was simply lounging around before hearing his title being ripped from him.
He slowly arose… "Sla…" he looked like he had a score to re-settle… again.
"SNOOORRRRLAXX!"
A large cry sounded through the outdoor event, as people's hair were flown back, and a lazy looking face came upon Cuddles's face.
He scratched the side of himself, before looking over at the preparations table.
The second he started waddling over to it, the cooks and people all fled, as he lifted a giant caldron up and chugged down some chili that was still being prepared.
"SLAKING!"
"…Sn… snorrrrr?"
Cuddles started to lift one foot after the other to about-face himself, seeing a large pokemon and then having it thump it's chest.
The ape pokemon suddenly pointed over to another stash of food.
Snorlax smiled, thinking the pokemon a friend, and nodded.
Slaking thought he understood the challenge, and began to walk over there.
"Ah! What's this!? The champion gorger himself! Slaking! Has challenged rookie Mun-I… I mean, Snorlax to an all-or-nothing showdown!"
"W-wha..?" Candy dropped her food, realizing they didn't care about her anymore. "Heeewwwyyy…" she lowered her eyelids, clearly upset they were all just ignoring her now.
Slaking took a seat as people rushed to fill their plates. He looked up at the corner of his eye to Snorlax, who just happily looked at all the different meals, seeming excited as he then sat down, making a few tables and even Slaking himself bounce up and back down from the impact of his landing.
Slaking twitched, anger filling him as he threw a bit of a fit, but Snorlax didn't seem to pay attention.
Even more enraged, when the bell went off, Slaking began to scarf himself with food.
"Amazing! Slaking is off like lightning to wood! Just burning through those calories!"
After a minute of having a stack of plates, Slaking grinned confidently and turned to see snorlax.
No plates!
He grinned even more, deciding to loaf around now that he was in the lead, before the announcer let out a roar of amazing.
"Sla..?" he turned in confusion to why the crowd was so fixated on snorlax… and… and…
He suddenly shook his head around.
NO ONE WAS WATCHING HIM!?
"A…Amazing folks! Snorlax doesn't even look at the food! He just eats the plates WHOLE."
Slaking jumped up, his eyes shaking in fright.
WHOLE!?
He looked straight up to this monstrous glutton and watched him pick a table up and jostle the contents off of it into his large mouth.
"Snooorrrr!" he let out another large roar, as Slaking tipped slowly over, sweating great amounts in complete flabbergasted awkwardness.
"My new companies trademark logo!" The chief outstretched his hand, as Slaking saw it was gestured to Snorlax, and bent down, hitting the ground. "KING, KING, KING!" he seemed to cry out in defeat.
Snorlax looked over at his supposed new friend who had showed him where the rest of the food was, and tilted his head, not sure why he was acting the way he was. "Snor? Snorlax snor."
He waved a banana in front of the Slaking's face.
Rage focused in on his eyes.
"SLA!" he jumped up, grabbing a table and trying to choke the contents down.
Snorlax clapped, thinking his new friend was simply hungry.
But Slaking's eyes started swirling, and he toppled over, dropping the table as it crashed down and his stomach looked as far wide as it could go.
His leg twitched slightly as he fainted, slight tears in his eyes as his champion days were threw.
"And with that! The last of the food is gone! The Snorlax and his trainer, miraculously, have eaten EVERY LAST POUND of our contest's rations! Even the plates from the opponents sides! And have skillfully defeated, with room to spare, our champion Slaking himself!"
The opponents looked deeply frazzled and disturb, their clothes sagging or their faces frozen from the shock of having their food snatched from them.
"The winner of the charity prize money is… Candy! And her pokemon, Cuddles!"
The announcer man raised her arm up, as she jumped and looked to her new and improved cubby baby.
"We did it!" she exclaimed, as he roared out with his arms up, and slowly began to lean back…
"SNNNNNNOOOoorrrrr…."
The opponents all fled the scene quickly, as his massive frame slammed down on the table, breaking it as he started to doze off.
Candy laughed and jumped happily up on his belly, turning around and falling and rising with his stomach, also starting to doze off.
"Write my check to… the daycare… center's… Miss Pearl… zzzz.."
"And there you have it! A girl with a bottomless pit, having a victory snooze ON a bottomless pit! Astounding!"
"I've got it! I've got it! My new recipe! I make it now! Tonight! Maybe Thursday. But it will commemorate that woman's snorlax and shall be made out of sugar candy! Or… just some sugars… yes, premium candy maybe… we'll see. Expensive stuff. STILL!" the chief briskly walked off, waving some cooking tools around as his people and agents all followed him off.
The kids all swarm Snorlax, as he wakes up and opens his mouth into an 'o', and looks down to smile as they climb up and jump on his belly, having it bounce and roll left and right, as it's squishiness lifts one child up, who then jumps, to make the other child lift up, before she jumps again.
Totodile leapt on too, his tail failing around with his arms and legs as he belly flopped and bounced all around in the air.
"We'll never need a trampoline!" Cleo giggled out.
"Everyone was so afraid of his mouth! I love it!" Bradon stated, speaking much more now than ever before too. "Like the darkest pits of oblivion. He's.. magnificent!" he belly flopped down and hugged the squishy jiggling of the ripple effect that it caused. "I love him!"
Pearl began to walk over, smiling awkwardly at how well the children had accepted him. "Alright, children. Easy now. He's just evolved you know. Probably doesn't even know his own strength…"
Snorlax burped, and the children laughed.
Candy still remained asleep, having the stomach flop her wherever it happened to be bounced too, as Totodile jumped over her too, trying to avoid landing on her, as he seemed unable to control where the belly flopped him too.
Will laughed, and came up beside Pearl, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, Miss Pearl. I think you'll have a hard time yanking them away from their new bounce house." He joked, as she, regrettably, could not deny that.
"Very well. I suppose they can play in the park the rest of the day. A good time to try and teach Candy about what happens with evolution." She had opened her eyes a moment, a rare sight indeed (the pun was intended) and looked up to Candy.
Will was watching her goofy way of sleeping between the bouncing children too, and Yamask just floating above, remaining silent and distant from the world, much like a ghost would.
"What do you mean by that, Miss Pearl?"
"..Well, Will. Everyone changes as they get older." She looked more softly towards Candy, seeing a bubble pop out of her nose to show her now in a deeper sleep than before.
She sighed, "Eventually… some are later bloomers than ever."
Will smiled and sweat dropped, "I'll say." He closed his eyes, remembering the first time he met her up till now. "But she has changed."
"She's grown stronger. More independent. Less whiny and complainy than before." Pearl agreed, and smiled up to Murkrow. "Don't you agree, Nevermore?"
"Murkroww!" Murkrow spread his wings out, completely agreeing.
She scratched his head and nodded, "Yes well… she has much more to learn. I have yet to teach her that with every new form, there's also a deeper change within." She then refocused herself to the children, and returned her eyes to their straight, old lady lines again. "Snorlax may act differently now. Much like when Torchic evolved into Combusken. There is a multitude of changes in humans as well. With experience, we all undergo some form of transformation."
She looked over to Will, "That's what those writer's call charater development." She winked to him, before looking back.
"…You think… Candy won't like what she becomes?" Will took on a more sorrowful, but serious tone. "…Would I be a late bloomer… too..?" he lowered his head, his hat covering his eyes a moment as he reached up and tilted it further down.
"Hmm?" she gazed up at him, not sure what that meant for him.
"You seem to be going through your own phase of life at the moment. Currently, I think you're much stronger a man than when I first met you."
He jolted his head up, straightening himself and blushing faintly, blinking his eyes. "T… Thank you, ma'am…"
"But you're still clumsy."
"Ack!" he almost fell over again in shock. "M-ma'am…" he sweat dropped, a nervous smile on his face.
"However…" she took in a deep breath, and let it out. "I'll admit that you've been distant for some time. The farther apart you stay away from her story…" She once again looked to Candy, and placed both hands over her cane.
"The farther her connection to you will be."
He felt something in his heart get pinched, or so it seemed.
He stared at her gentle face, swaying with the bouncing, and felt guilty again.
"..I know.. I've been busy."
"Heh. Love knows no such thing."
He squinted his eyes.
"Boy, you sure don't sugarcoat it."
"Candy's sweet. But even sugarcoating it won't save you from what you may already have learned about her fatal flaw."
Suddenly, Totodile at last fell on Candy's face, and she jolted awake, failing and fidgeting to try and get him off.
She kicked her legs out and threw her hands around, before finally pulling him off her face, and looking around. "W-why is his stomach moving so much!? W-wa…wahh….woah!" she got up and felt the uneasiness of his stomach, full of food and filled to the brim.
"Yikes! Maybe we should start a diet!"
"…Fatal… flaw?" Will blinked, unsure of what she meant, exactly.
"Candy's still very young, and very innocent." Pearl held back an answer, not wanting to discourage the boy.
She pulled out a poketreat and fed it to Murkrow on her shoulder, turning around.
"Good luck. I sincerely am rooting for you."
"W-wh-wha, huh?"
He shook his head to her and then to Candy.
"W-wait! I'm still not sure if I'm following!"
He held out a hand to her but she went to sit on a vacant chair, relaxing as she monitored the children again.
"Ah.. Miss Pearl…"
"….."
He frowned.
Whatever he was missing, he was sure he already knew it.
He looked back at Candy one last time, before hearing his watch on his wrist click to indicate an hour, and knew he needed to get back to work.
"Soon."
He stated boldly.
"I'll show you how strong I've become."
Candy's face laughed with the kids in the distance, playing around and bouncing on Cuddles with them.
"Whoo! That was fun!"
"Did you properly recall your pokemon, Candy?"
"Of course, Miss Pearl! I can't let Snorlax in the Daycare! He'll look like Alice in wonderland stuffed inside a small home!"
"Good. In that case, let's clean up and make sure the children didn't leave anything in the-"
Suddenly, the two heard a crash and turned around.
An egg had shook so violently to hatch in silence, that it fell and rolled off the table, smashing to the ground.
The two froze in shock.
The egg broke to reveal a small grey and white pokemon, emerging from the egg and forming into it's contents, before rolling and bouncing on the ground.
"...Ha." Candy took in a gust of air, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She raced immediately over to the poor thing.
Gripping it gently, she held onto it for dear life.
"Brain injury! How do we test for brain injury!?"
She was panicking, as Miss Pearl rushed over, bending as fast as her age would allow her too.
She placed her cane to the side, "Quickly now. Gently. Roll it on it's back."
Candy did so, as the little thing remained still… not waking up.
"It probably wasn't ready to come out just yet. This could be bad for it's development."
Candy's eyes shook in fright as she heard that, and Pearl gently held her hands to the pokemon's neck.
"….it's breathing."
Then, the pokemon slowly opened her eyes.
"Min…Minccino?"
"Oh you poor dear. What a horrible way to enter the world. Smashing out of your egg like that. You must be more careful in your desire to be born."
Pearl lightly scolded, before patting the small pokemon's head, as it's weak eyes slowly blinked more and more open, and then finally, turned to Candy.
"…Cino?"
It tilted it's head, and Candy just melted at the sight of it.
"You're adorable…"
"She'll be alright. She's just a little weaker than she would have been, that's all."
Pearl smiled, glad it wasn't anything too serious, and slowly rose to one foot, then the other, and made sure to get her cane.
"Let's feed and take care of it's needs first. Then we'll clean up and call it a night."
Totodile and Yamask raced in, having played tag outside on the jungle gym before seeing the new pokemon.
Yamask, in great fright, shivered a jagged line up it's body before fleeing off, hiding behind the rocking chair.
It peeked it's mask out, before slowly looking over with his own eyes to see the pokemon.
Totodile bravely approached her, and tilted his head, leaning forward. "Todah…" he opened his mouth to smile, curious, before patting her head.
She closed her eyes, innocently, at each pat.
Suddenly understanding that the pat meant a good thing, she smiled and jumped up to hug the totodile, wagging it's tail and chanting out it's name.
Suddenly, it flinched when it noticed that Totodile was covered in dirt, and that dirt…
GASP!
Was on it's belly now!
"Min! Min-min-min-min-mincinno!" she cleaned herself off with her tail, not liking the filthy feeling she got.
"…Mincinno? I've never heard of that pokemon before." Candy, remembering that Pearl had said some pokemon directly speak their names and others don't, concluded the pokemon's name and looked up to her instructor.
"What's that pokemon like?"
"Haha! You think me a pokedex?... well, alright. Mincinno is a tidy pokemon. They clean after themselves and their living spaces. I wouldn't be surprised if- oh… haha! There she goes." Pearl laughed, musing over seeing the little Minccino turning around and using her tail to dust off Tododile, who flailed.
He didn't seem to like baths… even without water!
Her tail was moving in front of his nose, and he slowly reeled his jerking head back, and let out a sneeze.
Mincinno flinched, feeling the air on her back and quickly ran off to clean herself again.
"Haha! Hey! She can help with sweeping!" Candy thought excitedly.
"Oh no you don't!" Pearl threw a broom to her.
"Ah! Hey!" she caught it, but not before it hit her head.
She rubbed it again, "Why does everyone think they can pick on me!?"
"That's a baby pokemon. And you're about to be an adult human soon. You sweep the floors." She nodded, firmly, being more rough with Candy now that she was becoming of age to start acting more responsibly.
"Yeesh… like my own grandma." She smiled, loving Miss Pearl, and got up to start sweeping.
Immediately, Mincinno saw the wonderful object that mimicked her tails natural instinct, and rushed back to join in the fun, sweeping her tail in the motions with Candy.
Candy looked down, and smiled. "I think I'll like you very much." She nodded, making her decision.
Mincinno looked up, her ears perking in a twitch at the sound of her voice. "Cino!"
A new pokemon joins the crew! And you know what that means! A new tale has been hatched! :D (so many puns, lol)
(Stay tuned for more, Pokemon Daycare!)