MunchMunch liked beds.

  He liked them a lot.

  Nurse Joy (the pink-haired Nurse) and Nurse Chansey had shown them to their room.

  There was a big bed for his Trainer, which was higher than he was tall. That annoyed him, until he saw there was a shorter bed — just like there was a shorter table in the exam room.

  When he flopped himself onto it, he discovered it bounced. And if he bobbed himself up and down, the bed would bob with him.

  Until it started bouncing him into the air.

  “Ahahahahahha!” He screeched, bouncing a whole MunchMunch high into the air. He thought he heard Mama and his Teddy shouting — but he was laughing too hard to be sure.

  “I love beds!” He screamed so Shadow would hear. Then he fell and sunk into the bed.

  Deeper. Deeper.

  And then shot right back up, squealing all the while!

  “FOOD!” Gastly shrieked.

  MunchMunch abruptly flailed, falling off the bed and landing right on his bottom — which didn’t hurt at all because he was getting stronger every day.

  Beds were fun, but some things were much more important.

  Like food.

  “Munch?” he asked, staring at his Trainer and Gastly, who were both laughing.

  “Teddy is taking us out to eat!” Shadow exclaimed.

  MunchMunch immediately bounced to his feet. “I can’t wait to beat Goldenrod Restaurant Gym!” He exclaimed, squeezing his paws as he skipped over to pick up the Egg.

  “I’m gonna eat all the food they have!” He babbled, heading towards the door.

  “I want to try one of everything. And maybe two, just in case they taste different,” he explained to Happy, hightailing right past Shadow and his Teddy.

  “Oh!” He said, patting the Egg, “And if they have Pecha Berries, I will have three. One for me, one for my tummy, and one for you,” he smiled at the Egg.

  He really couldn’t wait until she hatched. He wanted to share everything with her, especially food.

  In fact, he was so busy thinking about food, he walked right into the door.

  “Munch?” He asked, shaking his head and looking up at the door.

  His Teddy was just looking down at him, a bemused smile on his face and he shook his head and opened the door.

  “Thanks!” MunchMunch shouted, waddling through.

  ____

  The Goldenrod Restaurant Gym was amazing.

  All the lights were paper lanterns, which made it feel warm and welcoming. He could see long tables and small tables, big tables with big Pokemon and small tables for individual people. He even saw some people and Pokemon playing music in a corner.

  And it was way bigger than Azalea’s Restaurant. Which wasn’t even the best part.

  The best part was the smell. In Azalea, there were few enough smells he could pick most of them out.

  But here? There were so many he had to concentrate really, really hard — and even then he didn’t know what most of the smells were.

  Which was really great, because it meant he was going to get to try a bunch of new things!

  He turned and handed the Egg to his Teddy.

  He was going to need both paws for this.

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  MunchMunch paused. Then his mouth dropped open.

  “Shadow, what is that,” he whispered.

  There, behind the counter, was something that smelled like a Chocolate Cake, and had the same color as a Chocolate Cake — but it was So. Much. Bigger.

  “That is a whole cake,” Shadow chortled from his shadow. “You’ve only had slices of cake until now.”

  MunchMunch felt his heart grow and grow, until it felt like it might burst out of his chest.

  “There, that, big — slice! Mama it comes in a bigger size than slices!?” He cried. “That is almost as big as my whole head!” He enthused, thinking about how he could eat it all in one bite.

  He instantly turned to his Teddy and gave him the best I’m hungry eyes he could.

  His Teddy laughed and said something that MunchMunch knew to mean “later”.

  Which was awesome. Because that meant “yes”, he just had to wait for a while. And he got to wait while eating!

  “Muuuuuunchmunchmunchmunchmunch,” he giggled excitedly, following the Gym Waitress to their table.

  Dinner was delightful. Everything was amazing, and he got to try so many new things!

  There were sweet things, and sour things, and tasty things. There was one thing called a pie that was filled with Sitrus Berries that made his mouth pucker and his tummy feel even happier than usual.

  In fact… “Munch,” he exclaimed, holding his plate up to his Trainer, so he would know to get him another.

  His Teddy laughed and called the waitress over. MunchMunch laughed and looked around in excitement while they waited, his paws happily tapping his tummy while his legs dangled off the chair.

  It was really fun to swing his legs. It aaaalmost felt like he was walking on air. He wondered if he would be able to pretend to walk when he got back to the Pokecenter room and bounced on the bed again?

  He watched with interest as all the people and Pokemon around them ate. He knew for sure he was winning this Gym battle, because he was the only one who was able to eat every dish in one bite.

  Which proved he loved food the most! He even ate a super spicy dish Gastly told him was called “Revenge of the Spoons.” Which didn’t make any sense, because he ate the whole thing in one bite, without ever needing a spoon.

  “Hey Shadow?” He said, kicking his legs harder while he watched his Teddy talk with the waitress. “When do you think it will be ‘later’?”

  He had probably eaten twenty different things — just another proof he deserved to beat this gym — but he wanted to make absolutely sure he had room for the cake.

  Suddenly, he heard his Trainer quite clearly say “Chocolate Cake.”

  MunchMunch froze.

  “Mama,” he said, equal parts seriousness and awe.

  “I… I just understood my first human words.”

  Gastly abruptly burst out cackling so hard she fell out of his shadow; which cause the waitress to scream in fright at the sight of a ghost suddenly appearing in mid-air, cackling on the top of its lungs.

  MunchMunch decided to join in. He loved when Gastly laughed!

  The waitress screeched again and hurried away, causing the other tables to watch them. He knew his Teddy was proud of them, because he had both hands on his face!

  MunchMunch did the same thing when he was super excited about food. He would stick both paws in his mouth and wait until he got to eat!

  The waitress returned shortly, in her hands a beautiful, wonderful entire Chocolate Cake.

  MunchMunch stared at it in awe and excitement. He could hear Gastly cackling madly in the background…

  “Oh.” That was him cackling madly.

  He sounded just like Gastly. Which was awesome. In fact, he needed to tell her, but his whole cake had almost arrived, and he just couldn’t look away. He would just have to tell her…

  Then the waitress put the cake down in front of him and MunchMunch forgot all else.

  Truly, it was beautiful. With three layers, and little chocolate flowers. And chocolate ribbons. And chocolate flakes. And chocolate frosting. And chocolate everywhere!

  Oh… He was so happy! His felt warm water falling from his eyes as he regarded the Chocolate Cake, the final test to defeat the Goldenrod Restaurant Gym.

  “Teddy, I love you,” he whispered, reaching out with both paws and wrapping his arms around the cake.

  Then, he stretched his mouth until his cheeks trembled and his nose popped… and shoved the whole thing in.

  ****

  MunchMunch wasn’t sure how long he lost track of time. All he knew was that he was floating.

  He was flying. His whole world was chocolate. It smelled like chocolate, and tasted like chocolate. All he could see was chocolate. There were even chocolate birds flying around him, and chocolate trees, and a chocolate sun.

  “Mu-hunch,” he gasped shakily, looking around in wonder. Now he knew Chocolate Cake loved him back.

  It had lived in his world, with Teddy and Gastly and MunchMunch. But now, it had brought him to the Chocolate world, and he was the happiest he had ever been!

  He blinked and the world of chocolate slowly faded away.

  “Ooooooooooohhh,” he exclaimed, breathing in.

  He could hear Gastly and his Teddy laughing. Even the waitress and some of the other Gym eaters were laughing as well.

  His tummy felt happier than he had ever remembered it being. His eyes leaked more happy water than he had ever felt before.

  “Munch.” He whispered, stuffing both of his chocolate covered paws back into his mouth.