Uhe dim sky, Ogerpon sat quietly he entrance of the cave, waiting fht to fall.
"Hmmm..."
Staring at the desote ndscape outside, Ogerpon's mind began to wander.
Whely had it arrived here?
It couldn't remember. Perhaps it had been one or two months ago. Back theher humans nor Pokémon liked it in the pce where it lived.
For some reason, they all seemed to dislike it.
After several failed attempts to make friends, Ogerpon made a decision:
I'll leave this pd start a new life somewhere no one knows me.
So, on a moonless and windy night, Ogerpon packed its small belongings a off on a journey.
It had ination or specific requirements, just an impulsive decision to leave.
The journey wasn't a kind one.
Despite trying hard to stiote paths, it still occasionally entered rangers.
When trainers discover an exceptionally rare Pokémon they've never seen before, their reas are predictable.
It wasn’t just humans. Even the Pokémon it entered weren’t friendly.
No Pokémon wanted a newer stealing food ierritory.
Fleeing time and time again, Ogerpoually stumbled into the area he farm.
It found this hidden cave in a barren patch of nd and decided to settle down.
After arriving, Ogerpo some time adapting to the enviro.
Food was scarce, but it was safe.
A few nights ago, it discovered the farm. Venturing in for a little exploration, it was actally spotted by a human.
At that time, Ogerpon panicked.
Fortunately, that human hadn’t attacked it.
"Hmm!"
Unsure how much time had passed, Ogerpon came to its senses as the sky grew darker.
It stood up, spped its small face lightly to stay alert, and dos carefully prepared "stealth outfit" before setting off.
Just as it was about to leave the cave, something came to mind. It turned back, rummaged through the cave's depths, and pulled out two gss marbles, clutg them tightly.
"Hmmm!"
Standing at the cave entrance, Ogerpon cheered itself on.
You do this!
After taking a deep breath, it somersaulted forward, tumbling out of the cave and vanishing into the tall grass.
A few seds ter, it cautiously poked its head up to observe. firming no Pokémon had noticed it, it began crawling forward in a prone position.
Though crawling, its speed was surprisingly on par with a human walking briskly.
Is this the power of a Legendary Pokémon? (Not really.)
With its "twisted and shadowy crawling," Ogerpon mao reach the edge of the farm just as night fell.
"Woof..."
Ihe newly repaired doghouse, Mightyena's ears twitched before its eyes snapped open.
This small doghouse was built by the stru team while they were repairing the fence earlier iernoon.
Sihere were leftover materials, the lead craftsman had made it for fun during his break, even hanging a sign that read "Doghouse."
Mightyena quietly exited the house, its eyes sharp and alert.
It had caught the st of something unfamiliar!
Its keen gaze sed the surroundings aually locked onto a small figure attempting to climb over the fence.
Hmm, green, wearing strange clothes, very small, and looking quite timid.
Ah, now it remembered—this was the osume had mentioned.
Natsume had said not to bother it if it came by and to just let it in.
The vigin Mightyena's eyes faded. With a yawn, it turned back to the doghouse to rest.
It had the night shift ter, so it o catch up on sleep.
As for its rowdy pups who’d gotten into a fight with some Zigzagoon and Pooa earlier in the day, Mightyena decided it would teach them how to fight properly starting tomorrow.
Ba the doghouse, Mightyena looked at its foolish offspring and shook its head.
What could it do? They were its pups, after all.
Though clumsy and dimwitted, they were still its responsibility.
After firming Ogerpon had climbed over the fence, Mightyena pawed at its bedding, found a fortable position, and y back down.
"Hmmm..."
Finally, it was inside.
After climbing over the fence, Ogerpon didn’t linger. It leapt forward with a "belly flop," disappearing into the bushes to hide.
Only after catg its breath did it notice a faiig aroma.
Sniffing carefully, Ogerpon realized the st was familiar.
It was the kind of smell it remembered from Pokémon that had been caught by trainers.
But this aroma was much richer.
Unsciously, Ogerpon followed the st, its feet moving as if guided by an invisible force.
When it came to its senses, it was already in front of a two-story building.
This seemed to be where that human lived.
A shiver ran down Ogerpon's spine, and it quickly ducked bato the bushes.
Through a small gap, it peeked at the house.
In its eyes, the house stood out against the night, a warm anomaly dispelling the darkness and fear.
Even at this dista could faintly hear the lively sounds from within.
ging its angle slightly, Ogerpon mao see through an open window.
The human it had seen before was busy with something, surrounded by several Pokémon who occasionally took something from the human's hands and eagerly ate it.
They looked so happy.
Ogerpon stared bnkly at the se before it.
A plicated emotion welled up in its chest.
"Hmm..."
Clutg its chest, Ogerpon hung its small head low.
What was this feeling?
It was strange and unfamiliar.
Am I... hungry?
Having lived alone in the wild for so long, rarely iing with humans or even other Pokémon, Ogerpon couldn’t quite uand its curreions.
They were hard to describe—just unfortable and unpleasant.
---
“How is it? Do you like the taste?”
Ihe workshop, Natsume cut off some edges from a freshly made batch of Pokéblocks and hahem to his Pokémon.
He’d spent the eernoon experimenting with various basic recipes he hadn’t tried before.
With so many formus in his mind, there were still plenty left to test.
His Pokémon took turns expressing their opinions.
Mino and Sandshrew found it average, while Buneary and Furret seemed to enjoy it more.
“Meow~”
Persian, sitting by Natsume’s side, perked up its ears as if notig something.
It rubbed against Natsume’s hand aured for him to look outside.
“There...”
Following Persian's gaze, Natsume spotted a small head hanging low in the darkness.
Gcell
