MunchMunch stared at the tiny pink Pokémon in front of him.

  She was… she was MunchMunch-sized! Which meant she might be the perfect friend!

  “Hi!” MunchMunch called.

  The Pokémon smiled at him and waved. “Clefairy,” it sang back.

  MunchMunch grinned and waved harder.

  This was great! Finally, someone his size!

  “Do you maybe want to be friends?” MunchMunch called hopefully.

  The Clefairy smiled wider, still waving. And waving.

  MunchMunch blinked. Wait… her paw hadn’t gone down once.

  “Sure!” the Clefairy giggled—

  —and the air split open.

  A roar of light slammed into MunchMunch before he could even blink. Hyper Beam. The floor buckled. Dust and petals whipped through the air.

  MunchMunch stared at the ceiling, waiting for his ears to stop ringing and munched on his Leftovers furiously.

  That was terrifying, he shuddered. And mean.

  He rolled up and heard cackling. Wait — why was Mama Shadow laughing at him?

  Then he looked and realized it was the Clefairy’s Trainer who was cackling!

  “Munch!” He screeched, balling his fists and pointing at Clefairy.

  “You tricked me,” he cried.

  She giggled and continued smiling. Behind him, he could hear Mama Shadow trying to out cackle the other Trainer.

  “Munchlax, Tackle,” his Trainer commanded. He said some other words too, but MunchMunch had no idea what they meant.

  Still, he knew what Tackle meant. And boy, was he going to get Clefairy back.

  “Munch,” he huffed, skipping forward.

  The Clefairy giggled and jumped towards him, seeming to float through the air. It looked so strange, he got distracted and his Tackle missed, causing him to land belly first on the ground with the Clefairy standing right next to him.

  “Oops! You missed!” She gasped, covering her mouth with her paws.

  He scrambled up and glared at her.

  “I thought we were going to be friends!” he huffed, dusting off his belly.

  “We are.” She giggled, throwing both hands in the air as she jumped theatrically.

  When she landed, she smiled and raised her tiny paw…

  …And then she slapped him on the face!

  “Munch!” He reeled back in shock.

  She giggled harder and raised her other paw.

  “Hi friiiiend~!” She sang, and proceeded to slap his other cheek.

  MunchMunch was so shocked he raised a paw to feel his cheek which was sore and stung.

  “Munch,” he sobbed, water welling in his eyes.

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry!” The Clefairy cried. MunchMunch looked up.

  Clefairy grinned and slapped him again. And again. And again.

  Her laughter rose in pitch with each slap.

  “You can be friends with my Doubleslap!” the Clefairy screeched, twirling away.

  MunchMunch plopped on the floor and wiped his eyes. He didn’t want to be friends with the Clefairy at all.

  “Munch!” he shouted to his Teddy, standing back up. His Teddy would know how to help him win.

  And he really wanted to win.

  “Defense Curl!” His Teddy yelled.

  Yes! MunchMunch thought. That would keep him safer.

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  And once he couldn’t be hurt anymore? Then it would be his turn.

  Clefairy clapped in enthusiasm. “That’s a wonderful move!” She gushed, clapping an Encore.

  MunchMunch blinked. He didn’t like her very much, but he did agree it was a great move.

  So he used it again.

  Clefairy giggled and used Mimic, copying his Defense Curl.

  MunchMunch grunted. No one was going to beat him at Defense Curl.

  Especially not this Clefairy.

  So he used it again. Clefairy smirked and copied him.

  “Muuuuunch.” He shouted at her, stomping his foot. She laughed innocently and waved back.

  MunchMunch could hear his Teddy and Gastly shouting to him, but he was just so angry!

  He squeezed his muscles and used Defense Curl harder.

  And then it felt like the air popped, and he could hear his Teddy’s voice cut through the sound of clapping.

  “Munchlax! Tackle!”

  MunchMunch immediately threw himself forward into a Flying-Tummy-Tackle OF DOOM, crashing into the Clefairy.

  Who rolled backwards but hardly seemed hurt. She got up and twirled, bouncing forward again.

  “I got your move,” she whispered. “You can’t hurt me.”

  She giggled and raised her paws.

  And she Doubleslapped him again.

  But MunchMunch was stronger this time. He had used his Defense Curl more times than he had claws on his paw.

  Even if she had tricked him to make him use it so many times.

  He huffed.

  The Doubleslap didn’t hurt at all. In fact, his cheeks didn’t even move, staying firm like a boulder.

  He stood there and glared at her while she wailed on him, her face getting redder and redder from the exertion and frustration.

  Then, he took a bite of his forever-snack and felt his tummy become happy.

  MunchMunch grinned.

  MunchMunch Gengar-cackled maniacally.

  For the first time, the giggle on the Clefairy’s face faltered.

  “Maybe, but food loves me, so I will win!”

  MunchMunch threw his head back and cackled.

  He felt his tummy jiggle happily in time with his laughter.

  He abruptly stopped — he had seen Mama Shadow do that, and it looked really cool — and glared at the Clefairy, furiously munching on his Leftovers.

  MunchMunch inhaled as the decimated flower petals slowly fell around them.

  Now, it was his turn.

  ____

  Teddy had not been expecting the Clefairy to be quite so… brutal.

  The field was a disaster. Broken flowerpots. Cracked walls. Scorched floorboards.

  His Munchlax had probably been slapped thirty-something times now, and the Clefairy used Metronome like Munchlax ate his Leftovers.

  Constantly.

  And throughout it all the little pink terror would taunt his Munchlax. It broke his heart to see his ball of joy teeter from tentative laughter, to bawling tears, to screaming fury, right back to the tears.

  And all the while the Clefairy giggled and smiled. And slapped him. Over and over.

  The pink-haired trainer was no better, smiling sweetly while calling out the most brutal combos.

  Who was this girl?!

  Maybe now he understood better why his mother had made him promise one thing before leaving. Just one.

  Never train a Fairy-Type.

  She had said trainers often came to mirror their Pokémon, and she didn’t want that for him.

  He hadn’t understood what that meant until this battle. He had a suspicion he still didn’t. From what he could tell, this was a Normal-Type gym, the trainer just so happened to have a fairy.

  What would a Fairy-Type specialist be like? It made Teddy shudder.

  The Clefairy giggled another barrage of Doubleslaps.

  Teddy sighed and called out for a Tackle.

  It was a messy battle, but his Munchlax would win in the end, his tankiness and constant healing from his Leftovers just too much for the pink menace.

  He would have to ask Shadow to comfort him later though. The mental and emotional wounds might be a bit harder to handle.

  _____

  MunchMunch decided he didn’t like pink.

  He didn’t like pink berries. He didn’t like pink chocolate. He didn’t like pink anything.

  Well… maybe he liked pink chocolate.

  But most importantly, he didn’t like pink Pokémon!

  He flung himself into one final Flying-Tummy-Tackle, and the Clefairy finally fainted.

  This battle had not been fun. In fact, MunchMunch just wanted to go home and eat a whole Chocolate Cake to feel better.

  Actually, maybe his Teddy would reward him with a Chocolate Cake?

  “Mama Shadow!” He turned and shouted excitedly, “Can you ask our Teddy for Chocolate Cake later?”

  He laughed, suddenly feeling much better.

  He saw several of the watching Pokémon fall off of their perches in surprise.

  Shadow smiled and nodded, drifting over to talk to their Teddy. MunchMunch watched happily as the worry-line his Teddy had between his eyes smooth out, to be replaced with a smile.

  That made MunchMunch super happy, too!

  He had also learned something important during the battle.

  Food loved him more than he realized.

  One of the magic-paw moves the horrible-pink-Clefairy who would never be his friend — used, had made fire explode everywhere!

  He had been scared, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it looked like it should. In fact, it felt like the chunkiness that food gave him when he ate lots of it protected him.

  Which made sense — if food loved him so much, it would do everything it could to keep him safe so he could eat more of it later!

  MunchMunch grinned and clenched his paw. He was ready for the next Pokémon.