Chapter #6Rescue Team Valor by: Unknown Every day of your life, you thank your lucky stars you weren’t born a snake.
Seriously, imagine having to constantly wriggle every single inch of your body just to move around. Plus, without any limbs to speak of, the simplest of tasks could prove to be monumental struggle. You used to think snakes were cool, of course… until you met your partner, Zona. Now you just felt sympathy for them. All that slithering around seemed absolutely exhausting for her… especially when she had a huge, misshapen lump in her belly. “Phew… could we, uh, take another break for a second? I’m gonna need a breather…” The serperior panted, weighed down by the contents of her stomach.
“Ugh. Fine…” You groaned, and Zona immediately stopped dead in her tracks, curling up and catching her breath. With a sat, you sat down on a nearby boulder, deciding to use your free time to unfurl your map and review your route. What was supposed to be a quick trek back to town had dragged on far longer than you anticipated, thanks to your partner’s ‘appetite’. “I could have helped you drag that Meganium back to town, y’know, if you hadn’t eaten ‘im.”
“He was a dangerous criminal! He needed to be restrained!” She protested indignantly, as she nursed the painfully distended bulge in her gut.
“He was knocked out!” You roll your eyes.
Your name is Flinch, and together with Zona you’ve formed Team Valor, your standard gold rank rescue team. You’re the leader, and definitely the brains of the operation, with the voracious serperior being the brawn. And when you said voracious, you meant it — being a snake, she can unhinge her jaw on command, and likes to swallow other Pokemon whole whenever she has an excuse. Of course, she’s no killer, always releasing her ‘prey’ unharmed, sooner or later. Still, her habit can be quite annoying sometimes; especially on the occasions where you’re the one getting swallowed, as opposed to some random bandit.
It did have some utility, at least. First and foremost, it allows her to conveniently imprison wanted outlaws inside of her body, so you can ‘escort’ them straight to jail. Take, for example, the unconscious meganium that was currently making a larger-than-usual lump in her belly. He had definitely been a tough bastard; he was a crook and a robber that had terrorized the countryside for years, and when you finally found his hide-out, he had put up quite a fight. He was so big, too, that you had to knock him out just to fit him inside Zola’s belly without it bursting. Even now, the poor serperior was straining to lug his weight around. Still, she seemed to partially enjoy being so full…
Eventually, she gets her bearings, turning her focus back to the task at hand. “Mm… alright, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with,” Zola says, and with that, you’re back to travelling.
┄┄┄
“Thank you two so much! That rapscallion nearly drove us out of business!”
The moment you got back to town, Zola released the half-conscious meganium right in front of the local prison, letting the busy prison workers tie him up and drag the outlaw away. While the two of you were sitting around waiting for the sheriff to give you the bounty’s reward, a cheerful millitank walked up to you, serenading you with gratitude. Apparently, that meganium had stolen from her regularly in the past. “I don’t think I could ever truly repay you. Still, perhaps you’d accept a token of my gratitude…” She offers.
“No reward needed, ma’am. We’re just doin’ our jobs,” you said, holding up a hand. She seemed to be struggling financially enough as it is.
“No, no, no, I insist! Look!” The millitank said, digging through her bags. You were just about to turn her down again when she pulled out a big, ancient-looking key. You stopped dead in your tracks, forgetting whatever it was you were about to say. “I found this big key up in the mountains a few years back. I’ve never found a lock big enough for it… but you probably travel a lot! Maybe you’ll figure it out!” You stare at the artifact wide-eyed as she unceremoniously plops it into your hands.
“T-thank you,” you stutter, immediately hiding the key in your bag. You gesture to Zona as you walk away, obviously in a rush. “C’mon, Zona! Let’s go!”
“But we haven’t collected the bounty yet,” the serperior frowns, though she follows along behind you anyway.
“W-we’ll come back later,” you say, clutching the bag tightly against your chest as you hurry back towards your house.
People wonder occasionally what guild you’re associated with. The answer is, of course, none. There weren’t any exploration guilds left; not after the mystery dungeons all closed up one fateful day, sealing whatever Pokemon who were unlucky enough to be caught inside within them forever. No, no, no… you were just a freelance team. You were nominally dedicated to law enforcement; y’know, catching bandits, collecting bounties, keeping the peace. But the mystery of those old dungeons still lurked in your mind. Nobody had ever found a way to unlock them again, and eventually, Pokemon just stopped trying. But this key… reminded you of those dungeons, somehow. Could it be…?
“Ah! I’m almost going to miss that meganium…” Zola reminisced as she slithered into your humble home on the outskirts of town. “Hope we run into more outlaws like him soon! He was huge!” Normally, a remark like that would annoy you… but your mind was elsewhere at the moment. While Zola gets settled in, you get to work hiding the key as best you can. You needed to research the artifact’s power before you made your next move. While you were stealthily sneaking the artifact beyond a bookshelf, you almost jumped out of your skin when you heard Zola behind you. “Hey, what are ya doin’?”
“Jeez, Zola! Don’t sneak up on me like that,” you said, clutching your chest as you turned around, trying to act natural. In response, she only giggled.
“Trying to hide something from little ol’ me, huh? Don’t worry; I respect your privacy,” she smiled slyly, before changing the subject. “So, uh… I’m sorry I took so long out there, actually. It’s really getting late.” She glanced sadly out the window, staring into the night.
“Nah, it’s fine. I couldn’t have caught him without you, anyway,” you sigh, standing and walking up the creaky, wooden stairs. Your whole house was one big, circular room, though you did have a loft tucked away at the top of some stairs.
“So… want to watch a movie or something?” She asked, following you to your room.
“No, I think I’m going to call it a day,” you said, stretching as you hopped onto your bed. You were moderately surprised when the snake followed you all the way to your room. “Oh, uh, sorry, Zola. I’m gonna need some space, tonight.”
“Oh, come on! Can’t we snuggle?” She grinned.
You stared up at her, considering it, before finally shrugging your shoulders. “... oh, fine,” you said. The instant you nodded, you felt the snake’s coils wrap around you with terrifying speed! “Mmph!” Before you knew it, Zola’s body had wrapped around you like a steel vice, squeezing you gently but firmly between her coils as she curled up on your bed.
“Hehe!” She giggled, leaving only your head free from her coils as she settled in on your bed. “Good night, lil’ cheri berry!”
You catch your breath as you get comfortable in her coils. She always squeezed you a little more tightly than you were comfortable with, though the pressure all around your body was always oddly pleasant for some reason. It was better than spending the night in her stomach, at least. “Good night, Zola,” you whispered as the two of you started to drift off to sleep…   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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