The morning started off like most others, just unlike the day before. Christmas was over and work had to be done around the ranch. Ethan got out of bed, brushed his teeth, took a scalding shower, and got dressed for the day. First on the agenda was breakfast.

  Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to eat any leftovers as those were suddenly a thing of the past. Snorlax had eaten everything he’d made, including the cookies. Though, he was mindful enough to let everyone else have their fair share first.

  Thankfully, he had a Snorlax, not a rabid feasting beast… although the boundaries between those definitions were slimming.

  After making some shoddy pancakes with his hand-ground flour, eggs from chansey, milk from Eterna City, and a berry syrup he and Shuckle had worked on, he ate his share, set the table with his pokemon’s meals, and left out the front door to feed the fishies. (and Krabby.)

  As his feet clambered down the front steps to his humble home, Ethan raised a hand to his head and glanced into the darkened sky. A slow cascade of snowflakes fell gently to the earth as his breath let out a billow of fog. The sun would be up soon, causing his ranch to jump into a flurry of activity, and hopefully it would warm up.

  With his trusty bucket in hand, Ethan wandered to his fields to pick from berries fresh for his pond friends. Along the way, he spotted a conga line of Oddish waddling and dancing in between the rows of trees, led by the two Gloom who called his ranch home.

  “Odd!”

  “Odd! Odd!”

  “Oddish!”

  It wasn’t all too often that Ethan and the Oddish were awake or in the same area at the same time—maybe twice a week—so this was a semi-special occurrence to some of them. He couldn’t make out the difference between most of the Oddish, as they were clones of their parent and had very little in the way of individual appearances, but some of their mannerisms differed.

  But, he could tell that he hadn’t seen this bunch recently. Wrapped around their heads, just below their leaves, were thin red scarves. Buying a very, very, long scarf wasn’t cheap, but dividing it up with some stitching wasn’t the end of the world, and gave all the Oddish a nice little present for Christmas.

  The two Gloom were given the chance to evolve with the Leaf Stone held in safety in Chatot’s nest, but they had both declined.

  He knew what they were waiting for.

  As the Oddish surrounded his feet in joyous greetings, dancing, and a humming chorus of ‘odd!’ Ethan had no choice to divert his gathering to give them the time of day—err, night… Early morning…?

  He knelt down and started bopping them on their leaves while singing them a song, causing them all to giggle and dance all the harder.

  “? I was following the pack, all swaddled in their coats ?”

  “? With scarves of red ties ‘round their throats ?”

  “? To keep their little heads, from falling in the snow ?”

  The Oddish giggled and twirled, happy with the flow and rhythm of Ethan’s voice.

  “? And I turned round and there you go! ?”

  Ethan twirled, joining them, as he pointed to a random Oddish out of the pack.

  “? And Michael you would fall, and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime. ?”

  On que, the singled out Oddish collapsed and flicked his red scarf over the snow, simulating a grizzly scene. Without a delay or break in their dance routine, the other Oddish twirled towards ‘Michael’ and scooped him off the ground and danced away into the night. One Gloom led the pack, while the other followed up from behind, protecting their train of childish dancers.

  Once they were off back towards the edge of the forest, probably to go to sleep for the coming day, Ethan proceeded to pick berries and filled up his trusty bucket and pockets with treats and food for the day. It only took a few minutes to gather the wide assortment of goods, then he was on his way to his pond.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  With a mild grunt and a hop, Ethan scrambled over the wooden fence separating the meadow from his fields and sauntered over to the water reflecting the stars up above. The corners of his pond were beginning to freeze over from the cold…

  He wasn’t sure if that was something his fish could deal with naturally or if he needed to do something about that… He’d add it to his research for the day.

  After he tossed a handful of berries into the still water, causing it to ripple and writhe, a small flick of a tail and a splash announced the time for food. One of his local Feebas scooped up a Sitrus Berry and gobbled it down in one big gulp. Not long after, several other flashes of color and displaced water announced the other Feebas and Magikarp joining in for breakfast.

  For the next few minutes Ethan lazily tossed out berries in the relative quiet of the morning dawn. It was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to do to start his day. As always, Ethan talked to the fishies to try and get them to be… more than simple fish. Once again, the Magikarp stared at him blandly and only reacted to the food he tossed out…

  The Feebas on the other hand, were turning things around. He’d always had a lively one, more so than the others, and he or she (he didn’t actually know) was quickly showing some character. The other two were still developing, but he had high hopes!

  “Okay you beauties, do you need more food?” Ethan asked on his knees with his hand stretched out to unsuccessfully pet the scaly fish.

  No answer came to him other than some ‘Karp!’ and ‘Fee!’

  He gave them what was in the rest of the bucket, said his goodbyes, and made his way to his barn to check up on his newly enlarged friend.

  Ethan’s feet crunched through the soft blanket of snow and frozen grass, creating a satisfying sound that boomed through the pre-dawn silence. As he thrust aside the hanging door to the main entryway to his underused barn, the rough round was enough to stop the snore from Snorlax, who was resting just inside the main entryway.

  With a jolt, Snorlax startled awake, nearly sending Ethan diving for the closest barn room to escape the huge flailing arms of his furry friend. It took a solid three seconds for Snorlax to remember that he was much larger now, then smiled and turned to Ethan with a cute toothy grin of joy.

  Snorlax, formerly Munchlax, was over the moon at evolving. Ethan wasn’t too sure if his glutton actually knew the qualifications to evolve, but he was leaning towards no. Munchlax evolves into Snorlax when they gain a high friendship—or bond—with their trainer, similar to Espeon or Umbreon for Eevee. Munchlax was already five years old according to Professor Birch, and he’d most likely never found any other person to even bond with in the first place. Maybe he could have bonded with another pokemon, but would that work in the wilds?

  Regardless, for Ethan, Munchlax evolving into Snorlax meant a great deal. For one, it meant that he wasn’t a bad trainer. While he never thought he was terrible, he’s had his doubts when it came to the happiness of his friends. He wasn’t raised with pokemon and was just doing his best. This evolution? It was at least definitive proof that even if he had to control his food intake, Snorlax/Munchlax knew that he was coming from it as a friend and not as a bully.

  As Snorlax clambered onto his feet, Ethan walked forward and gave Snorlax a wide-armed hug, sinking into the furry fluff of the much larger pokemon. Snorlax was warm, warmer than he should have been for being out in the cold barn in the middle of a field. Hugging Snorlax felt like hugging a thick blanket that came right out of the dryer, and Ethan would definitely be hugging him more often.

  Snorlax scooped Ethan up and raised him off the ground as he returned the gesture of affection, causing Ethan to grumble at being manhandled. With a happy face mashing, Snorlax rubbed cheeks with him before putting him back onto the solid ground.

  “Alright,” Ethan started. “Later in the day, me, you, and Smeargle are taking a trip into the city to pick up a fancy pokeblock machine to make your food.”

  Snorlax smiled even wider at the mention of food.

  “But!” Ethan continued, “You won’t be eating food only from that.” Ethan walked up and leaned into Snorlax’s side to stay warm. “We’ll mix it in with normal food so you can get tasty meals and feel full!”

  At that declaration, Snorlax fist pumped. “Your little berry experiment with Shuckle creating the Enigma berry tree is going to pay off.” Ethan finished with a knowing smile.

  Snorlax did a little jig, sending Ethan nearly tumbling from the shaking of the ground beneath his feet. “Until we leave, we’re going to go to the house and research together. I want you to understand what we’ll have to do to keep you fed and healthy.” Snorlax nodded rapidly, happy enough to ignore the normally boring task. “It’ll also prove to you that if I tell you to stop eating that I’m not bullying you!”

  With a sheepish look away, Ethan nodded. “Yes, Chatot told me about that. She also told me about you sneaking into the fridge late at night. Can’t have any more of that.”

  Snorlax nodded, but Ethan could tell he was already planning on ways to go into the fields to sneak some berries. “Also, I just thought I’d mention that all that food you had hidden in your fur as a Munchlax is gone.”

  Instantly, Snorlax’s eyes bulged wide. His short arms patted himself down with increased worry as he couldn’t find any of his forgotten snacks. Ethan watched on with a saddened nod. “I watched when you absently stored food for later. You never remembered hiding it, but I saw.” Ethan moved to the entryway of the barn. “Somehow it poofed. Maybe it was used up for your evolution? I have no idea, but they’re gone, buddy. I’m sorry… but there’s no more hidden treats to find later on like a prize.”

  “Snooooooooooooore!!!!!” Snorlax bellowed in grief, falling to his knees and waking the whole ranch at the break of dawn.

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