//------------------------------// // Insatiable Hunger // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Equestria. Ponyville. Afternoon. James managed to escape a horrific fate. Mainly the Morpeko that was holding onto his leg. After Morpeko in its Hangry Form devoured so much food from Manehattan this afternoon and even last night when it ate pies from Soarin's Home and even going as far as devouring cake from Princess Celestia, it was a target. "Safe." James had managed to escape from an angry mob of ponies who Morpeko had devoured from, aka the stores of Manehattan and the Manehattan restaurant. The Pokemon House and Ponyville were his safe haven. "James. You're back. And you brought a friend along." Fluttershy fluttered over, spotting Morpeko as James placed the heavy bag of food down. "Not exactly a friend. Right now, it's leaning towards being a magnet." James could relax now that he was done with the shopping. "This right here is Morpeko." "Morpeko!" "Nice to meet you, Morpeko." Fluttershy greeted the Two-Sided Pokemon. " I see you're a member of the Electric Rodent Family. But, James. I notice that you didn't get that much food." "I didn't...It ate most of it." James facepalmed before pointing at Morpeko who was already looking at the bag of food. "First bag and second bag while I was heading to Manehattan and back." "All of it?!" Fluttershy gasped. "All of it. At least Jessie is whipping up something. Is she done?" Right on cue. As James brought up Jessie's name a fire could be seen sprouting from Fluttershy's cottage. Jessie's screaming could be heard as she burst out of the cottage. In her hands, she held a Poliwag, using it to put out the flames. "Jessie didn't have as good as luck as I did, eh?" "Well, Morpeko's welcome here at the Pokemon House much like any other-" "NO!" James sat up, shouting at the top of his lungs and even causing Audino's ears to take damaged. This was one decision that he certainly didn't want Fluttershy going through with. "Fluttershy! You can't keep it here!" "Why not? Every Pokemon is welcome here." Fluttershy patted Morpeko on the head. "No matter what." "I know. But, speaking from experience, Morpeko here will eat through everything. There's no getting rid of its endless hunger!" "Oh, come on, James. Troublesome Pokemon aren't uncommon for me. Besides, Morpeko's not the only Pokemon here with a massive appetite. Isn't that right, Snorlax?" Fluttershy turned to the one Pokemon that had an equal appetite to the Two-Sided Pokemon. Snorlax, of course. "Snorlax..." "We'll make sure that Morpeko gets its fill. There won't be any problems here." "Except for this." Along came Meowth to interject. He slid over, holding a newspaper in his paws before showing it to James and Fluttershy. "Look. Sounds to me that we've got a food problem and a Morpeko problem too." By observing the newspaper, they noticed how Princess Celestia was involved as James read it out. "It says here that Princess Celestia is currently pursuing an unidentified thief that had ravaged through her cake last night. The ones we made back at Canterlot?" "Those ones." Meowth nodded. "Modelled perfectly after two things she digs." "And it says that thanks to Arcanine's sense of smell plus the frosting that had been left behind, Celestia tracked down this culprit to Manehattan, but the culprit vanished afterwards. However, it was reported that the culprit also ravaged most of Manehattan's food resources from stores and the restaurant while being alongside...Me?!" James pulled back as one of the photos was of him and Morpeko running away from an angry mob of ponies. "W-When did they get this image?!" "Photographers are almost everywhere in Equestria. You'd be surprised by how many there are." Fluttershy causally spoke while James's heart skipped a beat. "Noo! Not like this!" James got on his knees, pulling on his hair before realizing what this all meant. "A food felon! A cake culprit! In the eyes of the Top Pony in this world!" "Sucks to be you!" Meowth taunted. "Jessie and I are free from that! Took us a while to become wanted but glad it wasn't me!" "What do I do? Do I just run back to the Pokemon World?! No. She's been there so she can teleport there as well!" James was starting to panic and it was a natural reaction considering the stakes that had been birthed. "Gah!" "No need to worry, James. I can explain everything to Princess Celestia. It's just a case of hunger that's all." Thankfully, Fluttershy would be there for James, defending him when Celestia would inevitably show up. "Thanks, Fluttershy." James was glad to hear it. He could rest easy knowing that Fluttershy would vouch for him. "But the point still stands. IF Morpeko is going to be staying here, there needs to be a way to keep it under control. First, we need to get this food away from it as soon as possible." "I understand. Audi. Can you and a few others take this bag back to my house?" Fluttershy requested. "Make sure that it's at a good spot to be safe too." "Audino!" Audino would do just that along with other Pokemon. For the sake of every Pokemon's hunger, the bag of food would be kept somewhere safe. Safe from Morpeko, who would no doubt consume all in its Hangry Form. All James could do now was hope that Princess Celestia would understand. Speaking of Celestia, she had arrived. Certainly, the timing was immaculate. She had set hoof into Ponyville after soon learning of who was alongside Morpeko. James shuddered, sensing Princess Celestia's presence. She was here and not exactly happy mood. She focused directly on the Pokemon House, knowing where James resided. James hid behind Fluttershy, which was pointless considering the size difference as Celestia could be seen approaching. "James," Celestia spoke to James, easily spotting him from afar. "Y-Yes, your highness" The nervous human poked his head from the side whilst still being behind Fluttershy, grinning nervously. "Can I speak with you for a moment" "Mmm..." As if it was a cross mother finding out what her child had done, James nervously scurried over to Celestia with his heart rapidly beating. He stood up tall in front of royalty with Fluttershy getting ready to jump in at any time. "James. I wanted to let you know that your Pokemon has done something..." Celestia closed her eyes, grimacing for a bit as she couldn't bear to think about the tragedy that befell her fridge. She could just envision the two cakes in their glory and now their ravaged appearances as she clenched her hoof. "Cruel! My cakes. Both of which you and your friends made are now gone. Consumed and no more. All thanks to your Pokemon." "Oh, no, no, no, your majesty. Morpeko isn't my Pokemon." "It's not?" Celestia's serious and saddened tone vanished in a split second as she faced James. "I'll explain, Princess Celestia." Along came Fluttershy. "Morpeko is a Pokemon that's with James, following him. It's not his Pokemon Trainer. But it certainly was the one who went on an eating spree." "And I don't know why it's attached to me..." "I see...Well, I'm not sure if it makes me feel better that it's just a Wild Morpeko. But still...All of that cake. Gone." Celestia sighed. "Pokemon or not, Morpeko needs to answer for this global crime." "Global?" Meowth repeated as he could not understand how eating some cake was considered a global crime. Then again, it did belong to royalty and Celestia loves cake. "At best, the highest form of punishment for this is eating their least favourite food for a week." "That's it?" James and Fluttershy uttered in unison. "Yes. After all, it's just food." Celestia, while she did love her cake, she didn't prioritize it over everything else. But she did adore to a staggering degree, no doubt. "What did you think I was going to do?" She chuckled. James and Fluttershy laughed as well as they thought it would be something horrible. But this was fairly tame, depending on the taste buds, that is. "Now. Where is that Morpeko? Its hunger must've been stellar." "Hm?" It took James just now to realize that Morpeko was not here. It was gone. "Morpeko? Morpeko!" SugarCube Corner. Morpeko already had a target. It skipped out on the food that was at the Pokemon House since most of it was raw and uncooked and instead focused on something else. Its nose picked up on a wonderful scent. And that scent could only come from SugarCube Corner. The scent of pastry caught its attention with ease as it bit on some of the seeds in its pouches. But as if by some cruel fate playing a joke on this specific day, Morpeko ran out of seeds yet again along with the grapes it was eating earlier. "Morpeko!" Transforming into its Hangry Form, this only gave it a stronger drive to enter SugarCube Corner. "Dei...No!" And speaking of SugarCube Corner, Twilight and Spike could be found there, having a good afternoon meal via cupcakes. Deino, a Pokemon known for her goal to become the best biter out there, which was an odd goal, scarfed down the various cupcakes. But not without some strength. She wanted to break everything with her fangs, no matter what it was. And after eating the cupcake, she went straight for the table next, ready to bite it off and test her strength. "Ah-ah." Pinkie halted her. "Sorry, Deino. But the table's off-limits. Unless I can disguise some furniture as candy for you." "Disguise furniture as candy? What?" Twilight uttered. "Yeah. It's a neat trick I've been practising. Just think! It'll work as a prank and as a clever design! No one's gonna know what's real and what's candy! How's that sound?" "Could you do that with gemstones?" Spike recommended. "I mean, not that it would change anything but..." "Morpeko!" Busting through the window was Morpeko. Throwing everyone off guard except for Deino, who was off to bite the next cupcake at the same time. Morpeko's eyes were locked onto the cupcake as well, lunging right at it after breaking the windows. "Peko!" However, a clash had ensued. Morpeko and Deino's mouths had both come into contact with the same cupcake in perfect unison. Spike fell over, still trying to process what had just happened. "Mor?!" "Dei?" Deino and Morpeko looked at each other. The two Dark-Types paused to observe the situation before pulling on the cupcake. They had just now noticed that their mouths were on the same cupcake. Obviously, with both of them looking for a bite, especially Morpeko, they wouldn't just let it slip away. They started pulling the cupcake back and forth, gradually ripping it apart as the instant they locked eyes and touched the same food, they were already fighting for dominance. They seemed to have equal strength before eventually ripping the cupcake in half with both of them flying back. "W-Who's that Pokemon?" Twilight and Spike both stammered as Pinkie's ears flopped upon seeing the ripped cupcake. Such a beautiful treat that represents happiness. Torn by fighting. "Deino...!" "Morpeko...!" And speaking of fighting, that could potentially happen with Morpeko and Deino staring each other down. Neither was too happy about this. Both of them exuded dark energy in the form of black flames or black lightning. The Pokedex of Twilight observed Morpeko as Mew got in front of the two Dark-Types to halt this confrontation. "Mew-Mew!" "So that's what it is." Twilight finished observing Morpeko's Dex Entry. "Then this place is a goldmine for it." "Pe...Morpeko!" Morpeko needed food immediately. As many as it can get. It ignored Mew's plea to prevent any conflict by using its signature move, Aura Wheel. It formed that wheel of Aura, running on the spot as Deino wasn't helping the situation as she went for Dragon Rush, covering herself in a raging blue aura. "Wait, not in here!" Spike bellowed, but it was too late. Deino and Morpeko charged at each other with Dragon Rush and Aura Wheel connecting. The collision blew Mew, Pinkie, Twilight, Espeon and Spike back as they butted heads. All other pastries were knocked over by this. Of course, tracking down Morpeko was Princess Celestia yet again. This time, she was joined by Fluttershy and Meowth. They had the right idea of where to go. SugarCube Corner was the obvious choice as they had just now opened the door to witness the struggle between Deino and Morpeko. "There it is!" Fluttershy pointed out. "Morpe!" Morpeko slid back as it and Deino seemed to be equal in strength. Morpeko had then used Stomping Tantrum, shaking the entire room as an already downed Twilight, Pinkie and Spike were bouncing from this constant stomping. Even Celestia and the others were affected while outside. Deino responded to this by also stomping her feet, but it was not as effective or powerful as the golden shockwaves from Stomping Tantrum were coming her way. "Return, Deino!" Spike quickly returned Deino to her Poke Ball before Stomping Tantrum could connect. A close call, however, the enraged Morpeko was still prominent and present. Now that Deino was out of the way, Morpeko threw itself towards the next batch of food. Twilight was alert, readying her horn up with magic and fearing that Morpeko was coming straight for her. Espeon prepped herself as well, only for Morpeko to completely fly over them. Pinkie Pie screeched as she was in Morpeko's way. The pink party pony pounced to the side as Morpeko smashed into the pantry. "Mor! Morpeko!" Morpeko started ravaging the food in the pantry without wasting any time. As long as it could get its fill, it would be fine. "Morpeko!" Then, Celestia stepped forward, standing before the Two-Sided Pokemon. "Stop right there!" "Pe?!" Hangry Form Morpeko paused its eating to swivel its head, facing the Ruler of Equestria. "My. You are a troublemaker, aren't you?" Celestia smirked. "From my observation, all of Ponyville could be next in line for your food quest." "Morpeko!" "Even with what your dex entry says, you have to pay dearly for what you did to my cake..." Princess Celestia gained a glint in her eye. A vibrant sparkle appeared as she narrowed her eyes, gazing down at Morpeko ferociously. "Morpeko...!" Morpeko gobbled the food while also intensely staring at Celestia. If there was one other thing Morpeko hated than just being hungry, it was being interrupted while eating. It wanted complete solitude when consuming food and any interruption only fueled that urge to be wicked. "Peko!" Wanting Celestia to stop interrupting, Morpeko unleashed some electricity from its body in an attempt to scare off Celestia. However, Celestia wouldn't be scared off by something so light. She had thrown the electricity aside with her magic, causing it to fly out of the broken window. "Pe? Morpeko!" Morpeko then tired once more, this time, throwing eggshells directly at the princess. And at a rapid pace too with such little arms. Morpeko was throwing them so fast that they became a blur and were powerful enough to cause harm. Twilight and the others gasped whilst Celestia reacted quickly enough to hold the shells in place. "Morpeko!" Morpeko then started throwing more food at the Sun Princess, this time in varieties. Soft food and hard food. Especially frozen food as the speed that they were thrown at was enough to be a threat. Celestia made sure to stay alert as she spread her wings. Princess Celestia manoeuvred around the flurry of delicacies of all kinds while also slicing some of them in half with her magic. Twilight put up a barrier to protect herself from the rapidly thrown food. Canned foods were being thrown next, breaking apart upon contact. Some of the food managed to enter Pinkie Pie and Mew's mouths accidentally, but they certainly welcomed it, getting a good fill. "Morpe!" Morpeko roared, using Aura Wheel as its next option. Getting through Celestia was not easy as it had launched itself at the Sun Princess. Celestial could see the severity of this as she readied her horn, putting a magic coating around her. Morpeko had crashed into Celestia, only for the coating to hold it back. "Peko...!" "You'll calm down when you eat, correct? Twilight! Everyone! Throw food into its mouth!" Celestia ordered. "It's fixated on me to even feast right now!" "On it! Eve, use Psychic!" Twilight and everyone else would chime in with the goal of stopping Morpeko's potential rampage before it could escalate to global levels. James felt the need to atone for this. Morpeko, in some way, was his responsibility as he started aiding Twilight and her friends. They grabbed as much food as they could from across SugarCube Corner. Whether with their hands, hooves, paws or even telekinetic control whilst Morpeko tried pushing Celestia back. "Gardevoir!" "Passion, don't interfere" Celestia halted her partner. "This is personal." Celestia wanted justice for her cake. And she felt like she was the one who needed to dish out this justice. She thought about the two cakes that she could've finished eventually, using that as her driving force of power. With that drive, her eyes flashed golden, causing Morpeko to fly back. "Mor!" Morpeko snarled before sliding on the walls. It had used Aura Wheel once more as noticeably, its speed had been raised after using that attack. It was raised earlier against Deino and now it had increased yet again, making the Two-Sied Pokemon faster than ever. Celestia noticed this Morpeko's Aura Wheel zoomed at a swifter pace, forcing her reaction time to go off. Celestia flew to the side, narrowly avoiding Aura Wheel. "When did it get so fast...?!" She thought to herself as Morpeko was now faster. It quickly made a detour, drifting with Aura Wheel and rushing back towards Celestia full force. Celestia put her hooves out, coating them with magic. She managed to grab Morpeko's Aura Wheel, holding it in place with her enhanced hoof strength. However, thanks to the speed increase, when holding onto Morpeko, Celestia's hooves could feel the increasing heat, causing her to grimace. She remained vigilant even with her hooves being damaged by Aura Wheel. It didn't help that Morpeko kept using it to get even faster. "Princess Celestia! We have all the food we need!" Shouting out was Twilight as they had all successfully grabbed as much food as they could. Especially cake. "Good! Throw it!" Celestia groaned before holding Morpeko in front of them, still feeling the pain in her hooves. Everyone started launching the various foods at Morpeko who was viciously growling and spinning. Some food managed to enter its mouth despite its rapid spinning, but some ended up being blown away. Morpeko felt some food enter its mouth as its anger was starting to diminish but it wouldn't be enough. "This should end it! Here goes!" James held onto the cake, sliding it underneath Morpeko and Celestia. "Thank you, James! Eat up!" Celestia was ready to put an end to this. With all of her might, she had slammed Morpeko onto the cake, face-first. A large cake splat had been caused by this impact with pieces of it flying everywhere. Morpeko's mouth was flooded with a cake along with everyone's faces. "Mor...Morpeko..." The Two-Sided Pokemon took a moment to chew on the cake, taking it in. Once all of it finished processing, Morpeko's rage had subsided. It was back to normal now. "Morpeko." "Phew." Celestia let go of Morpeko, cooling her hooves near the fridge. Everyone else could rest easy now that it was all over. Morpeko ate the rest of the cake whilst being surrounded by more food than it would've continued attacking Princess Celestia with. But the threat of Morpeko's Hangry Mode was still there. Celestia could close the book on this one. "It's finally over. Glad that's done with." James swivelled, getting ready to leave, only for Morpeko to run over to James, not leaving him alone at all. "Again?!" "Peko!" "Why me?! Can't you go to someone else?! All I did was feed you when we met!" "That's it!" Fluttershy figured out Morpeko's reasoning for following him. " James. It must be similar to when a baby latched on to someone they see for the first time. They see them as their mother instantly. It's the same as that only with food." "Morpeko!" "Oh. Is that so?" James sighed. "So, it's not leaving my sight, is it?" "Afraid not but it still has a place at the Pokemon House." "You'll all have to handle Morpeko from now on." Celestia stepped forward. 'It will have an episode like before if it's ever-hungry again." "And that spells impending disaster for Ponyville." Twilight shuddered. "The Pokedex let us know how big of a deal it is. It might be worse than Snorlax." "Peko?" Morpeko held up a piece of cake to James, offering him some. Even after all of that, it showed charity to James. "...Thanks." James came to like this side of Morpeko as he took the piece. But the Hangry Form was enough to make him quake. Morpeko even shared with Celestia and everyone else, giving them some cake plus electrified seeds. "Mmm. At least it's a charitable one." Celestia said, loving the flavour of this cake. "Bit that punishment is still due. Understood?" "Yes, Princess Celestia." James and Fluttershy uttered. "Although...James. Could you and Team Rocket make those two cakes again?" Celestia requested, still wanting to experience those cakes once more. "Especially the Cobalion Cake. Mmm-mm." "Remake? S-Sure! I can do that!" James stood up tall. "I won't disappoint you, Princess!" "You didn't. It wasn't your fault anyway. I'll be looking forward to when they're both ready again. Passion. Arcanine. Let's go." It was time for Celestia and her partners to leave. Via teleportation, they had bid Ponyville farewell. Celestia was certainly the biggest card here who helped them through this potential disaster. "But Fluttershy. Are you sure you want to keep Morpeko here?" Twilight asked, looking at the Two-Sided Pokemon. "Seems like a colossal waste." "I'm sure Morpeko will do just fine. And since it's stuck to you, James, I can count on you to help out." "Sure. I'll try my best." James gave a thumbs-up, vowing to handle Morpeko from now on. Whether he liked it or not, Morpeko was stuck with him. And so was all of Ponyville. Truly a terrifying and peckish force to live with as the journey continues. Chapter 744 End.