Upon waking up, Lucy checked herself out properly, her view no longer obstructed by her massive gut. She really was beautiful, as a Lamia and as a Human. It wasn't too hard to put together a leaf skirt, and a leaf bikini top. Outfit complete, beaming, she considered destinations.
She was currently on the Continent or mainland, which was this world's equivalent of Asia. It was quite dangerous for humans, with monsters like her roaming around. Humans really only lived in the regions which were almost entirely coastal or island based. They were their main footholds on the planet, where Pokémon were much safer, and more used to coexistence. Even the Pokémon in Legends Arceus weren't nearly as dangerous as a current day Continental Pokémon. The main difference was killing intent, in truly wanting to kill, most Pokémon in the relative safety of the regions couldn't quite manage it even if they wanted to. The killing intent changed how moves affected the world, and whether a bladed attack knocked your opponent out or simply disemboweled them.
She'd been to what was probably now the Hoenn region, but she didn't know how much had changed. She wasn't sure about the rest of the regions, she'd been to some but she was most familiar with Hoenn, having searched it for Jirachi once. She would start there. It would be cool to see which version of the protagonists were real, if it was the games or the anime, something else or a mix. She didn't yet know.
She vanished in a teleport, which was odd because she hadn't tried to teleport yet. She appeared just in time, to see the enormous mutated not-Groudon from the Jirachi movie trying to absorb Ash, Pickachu, Max, and Jirachi, with its blue tendrils.
It was giant, with an oddly magma-like underbelly glowing orange red, and dripping between its upper and lower mouth as if it wasn't fully complete.
She was standing on a cliff overlooking the gorge where not-Groudon was roaring, and glancing around she saw who she thought was Butler on a Salamence. She wasn't sure, but it did confirm the anime was at least partly true.
She, changing her legs to a tail, lunged forward and flipping into a Leaf Blade that sliced through the tendril, freeing them. She scooped them up with her own vines and slithered further away from not-Groudon.
She had to slice more of its tendrils, and Butler showed up on Salamence, followed shortly by the wild Flygon.
"It's after Jirachi's energy!"
"It is?" Ash asked.
She set them on the ground, looked at not-Groudon, and grinned.
"Stay back! I'll handle it. I haven't had a good fight in years! Jirachi, I wish I knew how to use Sketch!"
"Ok!" It said telepathically.
Not-Groudon sent many more tendrils after them, but an individual Magical Leaf handled each one.
Ash and friends got onto Flygon, and they took off into the air.
"Listen to me, I'm going to need your help, we have to stop this creature, and there's only one way to do it, if she can't defeat it." She heard Butler say to everyone riding the Flygon.
"Yeah what?" Ash asked.
She lunged into the air carving through several more of its tendrils, weaving closer to not-Groudon.
"Jirachi should be able to absorb energy out of that monster, if we put him back on my machine. We just have to reverse the polarity. It should work and she's holding it off, it's the perfect chance."
"I'm not sure I trust any plan of yours!"
"You've got to, if it defeats her all of its attention will be on us, and I just want to save Diane."
She was pretty sure that in the move Butler had fallen off when not-Groudon had gotten Salamence and was saved by Jirachi, but here Jirachi just spoke up for him instead.
"Butler can't be all bad, he loves Diane."
Not-groudon was doing its level best to try to reach Jirachi, while Butler and Ash, with his direction, set everything up. It was entirely unaffected by the breath attacks of Flygon and Salamence, but she was able to keep it from interrupting their preparation with a series of Leaf Blades and Leaf Storms.
They managed to activate the machine, which powered up sending energy into the ground and Jirachi, and the magma on not-Groudon's underbelly turned blue in conjunction with the ground glowing blue. Jirachi began to shine with a bright light.
Not-Groudon roared in what would have been pain if it was alive, its mouth stretched further than it should be capable of. It tried to lunge at them but she knocked it away. Jirachi became blinding, and blasted it into the air. At the same time, it freed everything Groudon had captured, human and Pokémon, via teleport.
Grinning, Lucy Sketched Doom Desire.
She watched as Jirachi and Max said their goodbyes, and watched as it returned to sleep. Suddenly she had a thought, distracting her.
"Damn, I wanted to see if I could have eaten it." She muttered, scowling.
No one overheard and she sighed, shaking her head to get rid of the scowl. Her finger sparkled with the power of Doom Desire, but she canceled the move, now grinning. She still knew Sketch, her theory about the move confirmed.
"I'll have to seek out Groudon at some point and try to eat, I mean, beat the original."
No one heard her, thankfully, and eventually Ash and friends wandered over.
"So, who are you exactly?" Ash asked.
"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."
"I'm Ash, from Pallet, and this is Pikachu, it's nice to meet you too!"
"I'm May. Pleased to meet you!
"I'm Max."
"I'm Brock! It's wonderful to meet such a lovely woman like you!"
"So what's up with the tail, are you actually a Pokémon?" Ash asked.
"Yes actually. One of the legends about Jirachi says that if you write a wish on one of the slips on Jirachi's head, it will grant the wish when it wakes up, and a long time ago I found it, and wished that I could do this! See!"
She was in her lamia form, and switched briefly to full human, then full Serperior, then back to lamia.
"Wow! That's totally awesome!"
"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed.
He pulled out his Pokédex, and scanned her.
"No data available."
"Darn."
"Here, I'll just recite it. Ahem." She imitated the Pokédex. "Serperior, the Regal Pokémon. An intimidating gaze and majestic appearance have caused this Pokémon to be known as the Lord of the Forest. It only gives its all against strong opponents who are not fazed by the glare from Serperior's noble eyes."
"Serperior aren't native to Hoenn, and we're rare, even in our home region."
"Cool. Uhh, do you want to battle?"
His friends facepalmed.
"Not at the moment. However, I am thinking about becoming a Pokémon trainer myself, so we can have a battle the next time we meet."
"Awesome. I can't wait! I'll see you then."
"Bye!" She waved.
"Bye." They choroused, even Max, who's bye was barely audible because he was still focused on Jirachi.
They left in different directions, and when she was out of sight, she vanished in a teleport, high into the sky, taking care to remain out of sight, and looked around, supporting herself with psychic energy.
The nearest town was a ways away, and she didn't recognise the geography for a second, but then it clicked. The games were no match for real life. It was Lavaridge town.
It was significantly bigger than the games which was to be expected, and she, in human form, walked into the Pokémon center to inquire about joining the league, despite being a bit behind.
She had expected questions, or difficulties, but they hadn't even checked to see if she had any Pokémon.
She was now all set to compete in the league, paperwork wise anyways.
All she needed was a team. For a team she needed Pokémon, and for Pokémon, she needed Pokéballs, and for Pokéballs, she needed money. Not to mention other supplies.
She was kind of stumped on that front, until in typical anime fashion, she nearly walked right into a young rich couple. They both had brown hair and were tourists. The woman was in a dress, and the man was in pants and- She paused thinking is it still a Hawaiian shirt, or is it an Alolan shirt now?
"Oh, thank goodness, you seem strong. Could you help us with something?"
"Probably, what is it?" She smiled at them, and ignored that they seemed to miss the fact that she didn't have any Pokéballs.
"You see, we just got married, we're visiting Hoenn on our honeymoon, and our wedding rings are missing. We had them on just yesterday in town, but they vanished when we took them off to use a hot spring. We think a Pokémon took them, and we'll reward you handsomely for their return."
"Well congratulations, and sure, I can help."
"Thank you!"
"Don't thank me yet." She smiled at them. "Let's start at the scene of the crime."
She eventually concluded that the likely culprit was a Murkrow, given the open to the air nature of where their stuff was left next to the hot spring. She had also caught its scent.
She did not mention how distracted they would have to have been to not notice the theft right next to them, and after informing them that it was likely a Murkrow, she informed them she was going to follow it.
Their expressions when she casually hopped the fence were pretty funny.
Murkrow was nested in the attic of a building a few blocks away.
It returned, right as she was rooting through its acquisitions.
"Hey, that's all mine." It cawed angrily at her.
"Either all of it and you are mine, or I only take what I'm looking for."
"No, it's all mine, and I'll make you leave. Raaah!" It dropped the stuff it had just stolen on the ground, and flew at her with a Wing Attack, and she caught it in one hand.
"Last chance."
"I'll never surrender my stuff!"
"Ok."
She opened her mouth, and Murkrow stared in confusion, then horror.
"Wait no!" It cried out.
She swallowed it whole, and after sliding all the way down her throat, it made a basketball sized lump in her belly.
"And now my stuff." Let's see.
Her haul was the missing wedding rings, a decent amount of change, some shiny rocks, shiny bits of metal, and something that made her stop in her tracks.
It was a small spherical stone, partially transparent mainly blue with a marble like swirl of grey in orange. It could have just been a large marble, but it lit up massively to her aura sense. It felt like Water and Ground energy, and it was almost certainly a Swampertite.
She held it up, to inspect its sparkle in the sun.
"It would be pretty cool if I could Mega Evolve, but I'll settle for catching a Mudkip, and evolving it into a Swampert. This is going to be awesome!"
It took her a second.
"Oh no, I need a Key Stone." She sighed. "Oh well, I'll keep an eye out, and maybe I can find a second mega stone and trade away the less cool one to Steven or something."
The rich couple were very grateful, and with the reward money, she was able to stock up on supplies, and Pokéballs. To her surprise an expanded space backpack was fairly cheap, and widely available.
"Huh. The tech level here is pretty cool."
Now armed with Pokéballs, she set off in search of a suitable starter Pokémon.
As much as she believed in the power of friendship, there were many Pokémon she didn't care to catch. No examples immediately rose to mind, save perhaps not wanting a member of her own line or a like a Sunkern or something.
She set off down the volcano, ignoring established paths, and down toward meteor falls. There were many Pokémon, but none caught her eye, so she ignored them.
There was a wide ledge in the mountains, and when she came across it by happenstance, there was a trainer on it.
"Mudkip you blithering idiot, I said use Hydro Pump not Water Gun! That was clearly a Water Gun! You're not getting fed if you don't manage it before dinner!"
He stormed off and got into his tent.
"Psst. Hey. Hey Mudkip." She whispered. "Do you want to come with me instead? I'm pretty sure it would be hard to be a worse trainer than that guy."
Mudkip rolled her eyes. "He's good at disguising it, nothing will happen."
"Not if I make him disappear."
"Well, I guess that would- Wait, did you just understand me?"
"Yeah. I could make it so he's never seen again."
"Well in that case why not?"
"Great, do you know what his other Pokémon are?"
"He has a Tentacruel and a Gyarados."
"Oh? Do you care if they survive?" Her face split into a wide grin.
Mudkip raised an eyebrow. "Not really, are you actually going to kill him and them?"
"Why not, I've been looking for a Mudkip since I found this in a Murkrow's collection."
She held out the Swampertite.
"Oh Groudon. Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes, but I still need to find the Keystone, which is my half of Mega Evolution."
"I was going to join you anyways, but that seals the deal. Let's go!"
She held out a hand and shook Mudkip's paw.
"I'll go deal with him then."
She stood in front of the tent, and called out to the guy.
"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle! Get out here!"
"Who the hell is out there? I'm here because of how isolated it was." she heard him mutter.
"Why are you disturbing me? No, you know what, fine, I'll beat the crap out of you. Mudkip go! Use Hydro Pump."
Mudkip blasted him, and he scowled.
"All right that's it. No more mister nice guy, You're training with Tentacruel after this." He turned to her.
"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"
It appeared in a flash of light, over twenty five feet of sea serpent, snarling and roaring. It opened its mouth and launched a massive beam of orange energy at her.
"That would have hit me." She said, casually stepping to the side.
"What?" He snarled, mimicking his Gyarados. "Send out your Pokémon already, or not, I really don't care, Gyarados, use Hyper Beam again!"
"It looks like I won't even need a Pokémon to defeat you."
"What?"
"Yeah, you're pathetic.
Mudkip snickered in the background, then considered it.
"I mean he is but is that really possible?"
"Watch."
She Glared at Gyarados, who froze, and arms glowing with the power of Strength, picked it up over her head and slammed it onto the ground.
It was knocked out instantly.
He tried to return it, but she interrupted him with a Mean Look.
She grabbed the Gyrados, and opening her mouth impossibly wide, she began to swallow it.
He and Mudkip stared at her, as she slurped down the seemingly much larger than her Pokémon. It massively stretched out her throat, then her gut, which bulged out far past the point it was resting on the ground.
"What? No, really what the fuck?" he was stupefied for a bit, and so was Mudkip.
"Delicious." She grinned at him over her monstrous belly.
He stared slack jawed, before coming to his senses. "Tentacruel, get her! Hydro Pump!"
"Psychic." She called out, and a glow enveloped Tentacruel, and shook it. It promptly collapsed with swirls in its eyes.
"How?" He asked in a strangled voice.
"Doesn't matter, not for you."
She grabbed him with Psychic, and stripped his pockets, before lifting him above her mouth and swallowing him down too. She then turned to the Pokéballs, and tested them against Tentacruel, till she found the one that worked. She returned it, and broke both Gyarados's and Mudkips. She pulled a loose Pokéball from her own pack and held it out to the now wary Mudkip.
She hesitated, then touched the ball, and was sucked into it.
Lucy held up the Pokéball.
"I caught a Mudkip!" she exclaimed, then released Mudkip.
'So what are you?" Mudkip asked.
"Right. I'm a Serperior." She transformed, her legs fusing together into a tail, and her skin becoming tinged green.
"Oh. Huh. That's odd."
"A little." She agreed, transferring the contents of her human stomach to the snake one. You could still tell she had eaten something massive, and that it was snakelike, and still alive, but her human stomach was flat again.
The Mudkip seemed to be at a loss for words, so Lucy changed the subject.
"So, what moves do you know?"
"Tackle, Growl, Yawn, Water Gun, Rock Smash, Rock Throw, and Protect."
"Cool. I've never trained anyone besides myself, so we'll have to see how strong we can make you. Also, how do you feel about challenging the Hoenn League? I've already signed up."
"It sounded fun, and that was with my previous trainer, so I'm stoked! Are you going to catch anyone else?"
"Probably. It depends on who and what we find."
"That makes sense."
"Are you going to eat the Tentacruel too?"
"Yeah, hold on, I want to try something with it."
She held up Tentacruel's Pokéball, and swallowed it whole.
Mudkip gave her the impression of raising an eyebrow.
Lucy poked her stomach in just the right spot, and the small bulge of the Pokéball became the significantly larger bulge of a whole Tentacruel.
"Oh." Said Mudkip.
"That felt quite weird." She commented, patting her belly.
"I bet." Mudkip laughed. "So what now?"
"I was heading for Meteor Falls, so let's go through there first, then we can find a Gym."
From Lucy's Personal Pokédex:
Number 198: Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon
"Decent snack, and sometimes comes with free stuff."
Number 73: Tentacruel, the Jellyfish Pokémon
"I was pleasantly surprised by how easily it digested, without causing problems. Maybe I should try more poison types."
