Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Seasons of Heaven

Episode 25: Temple of the West

"Careful, you'll choke!" she warned as he did just that. It barely deterred him, though. He kept eating until he had to swallow a huge gulp, where he was finally able to take a breather.

"Oh gods, that feels so much better. Wa-water, too. Is there water?" He turned to her with a desperate look. She pointed to a bucket in another room, and he was off. He dumped his whole face in the bucket and gulped away without even looking at what was inside. She was her speechless.

He soon fell back with a gasp, and calmed down. "Man, that feels kinda better," he said, and then had few more gulps.

"W-wow. Are you okay?" She walked over.

He had to take a moment to catch his breath and regain some kind of control, to which his stomach rumbled and he looked up at her with a desperate frown. "I-I don't know. All I can think about is food right now. I-I'm so dang hungry."

She watched him divert back to the fruit bowl. He chomped down and devoured every last thing there like a wild beast, even though some of it looked like it had been there a while and had started to brown. She still had concern on her face, but the way he ate only made her feel hungry, too.

"So much for not wanting to eat or sleep anymore. But I guess that's what you get for not eating for two weeks." She rubbed her her face.

"You're right!" he gasped and stopped at the last bite. He only stopped for a second though, and then swallowed the remainder whole. "How? Why am I so hungry and I- I slept! Kuri knocked me out, and then... gods, I'm still hungry."

"You know what I think?" she said. She giggled at his crazed look. "When you stopped nourishing yourself, your body started using its remaining V-Waves to just like, keep you alive in general. But after fighting Rhodeas, you were so outta strength that you couldn't fight at all. And now you like, need to replenish!"

"Did Marina say that?" he gasped.

"No, that's just a theory," she said. She giggled again, and put a feeler by her mouth to stop herself. He had a gawking frown, and turned away to blush. "It's fairly obvious though, isn't it? All living things need food and water to survive. And if they don't, there's always some substitute. You shouldn't be an exception."

"But that's so ridiculous! What's the point in having all these powers and stuff if I still need to eat? That's... that makes me useless." He hung his head.

"That's not useless." She turned serious.

"I was made a V-Pocket with all these cool strengths and abilities. If I can't use them when I want to, then I can't do what I was made to do. I'm just a useless liability," he said.

The words made the Sylveon stiffen, but she didn't take her eyes off his frustrated stance. Her chest was heavy, but she fought the feelings and approached to slowly wrap her feelers around him. He didn't seem concerned until she brought him close and cradled him like a baby, with their cheeks within touching distance.

"Wha-what are you doing? Sophitia, what's gotten into you?" he gasped and began to sweat.

"Nothing." She nuzzled him a bit. He made nervous sounds and went stiff as he tried to look away and scrunch himself up. That only made her giggle again, and he gulped, a wriggly smile on his face as he dared to look up. "Let's kiss."

"What?" he almost screamed. "O-okay no, that's weird. Something's totally gotten into you."

"What's the matter? You scared? Or shy?" she said.

"N-no- I-I mean yes- I mean- gah, what and why are we doing this?" he cried.

"You don't seem to be too bothered for someone who said no." She put a feeler by her mouth.