Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 18: Munchlax’s Foodie Strategy

On Route 8, aboard a truck heading to Pewter City, a Munchlax pulled down the tarp and gazed at the sky, muttering to itself.

As it spoke, it reached into its fluffy body fur and pulled out a Berry, tossing it into its mouth.

"Ka~" — Life is wonderful. I wonder what kind of good food I’ll get to eat by following this guy.

Munchlax scratched its belly, staring at the sky with a goofy grin, fantasizing about all the delicacies it would eat in other cities—food it could never get in Lavender Town.

As for why it had followed along?

The reason was simple: over the past few days, it had noticed that ever since that damn Charmeleon got a trainer, it had been getting extra meals regularly. Sure, it wasn’t as much as Munchlax ate, but every time Charmeleon came back, it had treats that Munchlax rarely got to taste.

Munchlax had tried to steal them, but it kept losing the fights.

Then yesterday, it overheard the human named Rio talking with the old man Fuji about going to Pewter City to challenge some Gym. Munchlax decided it was time to go taste food in other cities.

It knew that if it tagged along, it would be taken care of. Whatever Charmeleon ate, it would get too. If they refused to feed it, it would cause a scene—attack humans and Pokémon alike. It was confident that Rio, just like Old Man Fuji, would eventually have no choice but to surrender to Munchlax’s adorable face.

"Ka~" — I’m a genius.

At that thought, Munchlax’s nose twitched. It smelled food.

It quickly stood up from the truck bed and peered through the rear window into the cabin. Inside, the two idiots—one was sleeping, and the other was driving while munching on crackers.

"Ka~"

The next second, the truck suddenly slammed to a halt.

Rio, who had been asleep, was jolted awake.

"What happened?"

He looked around and saw the driver, Karen, frantically patting his chest—apparently choking on a cracker—while pointing behind them.

Rio followed his gaze and saw a big, squashed face pressed against the rear window from the truck’s momentum.

"M... Munchlax?"

A minute later, Munchlax was squeezed into the passenger seat next to Rio and had devoured Karen’s entire box of crackers in one go.

"What should we do, Rio? Should we take it back?" Karen asked, looking at Munchlax with a headache.

"Forget it. We’re almost at Saffron City. I’ll send Grandpa Fuji a message later," Rio shook his head.

"What about its food? I don’t have that kind of money to feed it."

"I’ll pay for it and reimburse Grandpa Fuji later."

"Alright then." With that, Karen continued driving.

Rio, meanwhile, stared at Munchlax, trying to figure out why it had come along and what its behavioral logic was.

As he thought, he glanced at Munchlax’s info panel.

[Pokémon: Munchlax]

[Level: 17 (Time until next level: 132 days)]

[Talent: Elite]

[Friendship: -21]

[Ability: Pickup]

[Gender: Male]

[Moves: Tackle (20%), Metronome (18%), Defense Curl (15%), Amnesia (15%), Rest (32%)]

[Description: This Munchlax was deceived by its former trainer, who used food as motivation to battle but failed to keep his promises afterward. The enraged Munchlax attacked him and was subsequently abandoned. After being abandoned, it caused social unrest by stealing food from other Pokémon, was eventually captured by Officer Jenny, and was sent to the Pokémon House after the system identified it as a released Pokémon.

"Could it have followed me because of food too?" Rio wondered to himself.

Other than that, he couldn’t think of any other reason. In his experience, Munchlax’s philosophy was simple: nothing mattered more than eating.

"Whatever—I was planning to catch it anyway. This trip will be a good chance for us to get familiar with each other."

An hour later, the truck entered Saffron City.

Rio and Karen decided to rest for a night in the largest and most bustling city in the Kanto region before continuing on.

"Come on out, Charmeleon."

With a flash of light, Rio released Charmeleon. Not only to join them in finding food, but also to help keep an eye on the gluttonous Munchlax.

Munchlax was currently staring at a child’s ice cream cone with drool dripping down its chin—a look that made Rio deeply concerned. He was afraid it would suddenly lunge and snatch it.

"Ka~"

Just then, Munchlax tugged at his pants and pointed at an ice cream stall not far away.

"Munchlax, you want me to buy you ice cream?"

"Ka~" Munchlax nodded.

Rio raised an eyebrow, surprised that it had actually asked him first. He’d expected Munchlax’s usual move to be eating first and forcing him to pay afterward.

He led Munchlax and Charmeleon over to the ice cream stall.

In less than three minutes, Munchlax had polished off the entire stall’s stock of ice cream.

Then it turned its gaze to the ice cream Charmeleon was eating.

Charmeleon felt its stare and glared back.

Munchlax shrank its head—it knew it couldn’t beat this one. So it turned its attention to the ice cream cones in Rio’s and Karen’s hands.

"Ka~" It called out to them, placing its little paws on its cheeks and making an adorable expression.

Karen didn’t give in—he took a big bite out of his ice cream, leaving only a small piece left, which made Munchlax frown in displeasure.

So Munchlax focused on Rio’s ice cream instead.

Rio didn’t guard his food—he handed it over. He wanted to see if this would increase friendship.

"Ka~"

Munchlax gave him a grateful little bow.

Then—

Gulp. It swallowed the entire ice cream in one bite.

Rio stared at the info panel above its head.

Slowly, his brow furrowed.

Because the friendship value hadn’t changed at all.

"Is it... playing me?" Rio couldn’t help but wonder. On the surface, it was polite, grateful even—but the friendship meter didn’t budge.

"Ka~"

Munchlax tugged his pants again and pointed at a hamburger stall.

Rio agreed. He took Munchlax to the hamburger stall and once again bought out the entire stand for it. Then the same thing happened again: after eating, it wanted more; Charmeleon and Karen refused, but Rio gave up his share. Munchlax put on that same grateful, adorable expression—and again, friendship didn’t increase at all.

"Ka~"

Munchlax tugged his pants a third time, now pointing at a pancake stall.

But this time, Rio decided to try refusing.

"Munchlax, you’ve eaten more than enough. Let’s call it a day and head back to where we’re staying."

The moment those words left his mouth, Munchlax’s cute, harmless expression vanished.

Two little fangs bared, it shot Rio a fierce glare—

Then it sprinted toward the pancake stall at full speed, leaping into the air and swallowing a freshly made pancake right out of the vendor’s hand—the one meant for a customer—in one gulp.

Watching this, Rio had only one thing to say:

"Damn it. This is definitely a histrionic personality."