She and Mudkip both stared at the massive amount of Zubat fluttering around in the cavern, illuminated by Lucy's use of Sunny Day. She didn't really need it, it was mainly for Mudkip's benefit. It really was a lot of Zubat. They had both been in caves before, but apparently those caves just hadn't been true Zubat colonies to the same level.

"Hey, are any of you interested in joining a trainer?" She called out. The volume, and amount of swears she heard directed at her in response was amazing. They also began to swarm, preparing to attack in unison.

"I'll take that as a no." Mudkip commented.

She Glared at the Zubat, and they all collapsed, twitching, and falling to the ground in a pile.

From the ceiling a handful of Golbat flew down, and arrayed themselves against her.

"Wait, hold on! Guys! You're going to get yourselves-" A loud feminine voice rang out from one of the Golbat, as the others attacked her in another miniature swarm.

She Glared again, and the Golbat also fell to the ground, paralyzed, save the second from the left, who had hung back, evidently unwilling to attack her.

Lucy turned to look at the Golbat, raising an eyebrow.

"I can tell you're hiding most of your strength, but not by how much."

"You're smarter than these guys at least." She paused, before asking anyways. "Do you want to join my team? I could use an intelligent and fast flier. I currently only have myself and Mudkip here, and I would be gross overkill against a first Gym. What do you say?"

'Ehh, Why not? I was getting sick of these idiots anyways. But we should do something about them unless you want them to bother us again."

Lucy grinned widely.

"I know just the thing."

Mudkip snorted, and Golbat looked mildly confused.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"I'm going to eat them." Lucy answered.

"Really?"

Golbat eyed her. Lucy was in her lamia form, but still didn't really look capable of swallowing several times over her own volume of Zubat.

Golbat's expression became more and more surprised, as Lucy began to swallow down the Zubat, one at a time, then speeding up, scooping the Zubat up with her vines, and shovelling them into her gullet en masse.

She didn't bother to count, but it was almost certainly a few hundred. She eventually managed to get them all down leaving her feeling quite satisfied, and her gut massive, filled with the mass of Zubat, some of whom were starting to recover from their paralysis and struggle.

Lucy patted her hugely distended belly, which was resting on the floor, and turned to the Golbat as best she could while working around her gut. She held out a Pokéball, and the Golbat hesitantly tapped it with a wingtip, vanishing in a burst of light.

The ball shook briefly, and then clicked.

"I caught Golbat!" She said, before releasing her. "Welcome to the team."

Golbat just nodded at her, hovering in place unsure as to what to say next. Golbat traded awkward glances with Mudkip.

"So what moves do you know, Golbat?"

"Screech, Leech Life, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang, Quick Guard, Air Cutter, Bite, Wing Attack, and Confuse Ray." The bat listed off.

"Pretty good. I think you could use Protect. We'll have to work on that sometime."

"So, Gyms?" Golbat asked.

"Yep, this cave connects up with Meteor Falls right? That's where we were headed."

Golbat nodded, which involved her entire body.

"Yeah, but I don't think you'll fit."

"Oh ye of little faith."

Lucy belched, and then her massive squirming belly began to shrink, as its contents were pulled into her tail. After a good several moments, her human stomach was flat again. She winked at Golbat.

"See?'

Golbat stared at her and her distended tail, in which the massive swarm was making a valiant attempt to writhe around.

"Ahh, ok."

"Lead the way." Lucy said, before belching again. "I must have swallowed a lot of air with those bats."

Golbat took flight, leading Lucy and Mudkip further into the cave system. They walked side by side, and after a little while of walking, the cavern, which was not too far from the entrance, began to narrow. It quickly transitioned into a three way split, branching into tunnels of slightly varying size. They all sloped downward to some extent, and Golbat led them into the leftmost tunnel, which was the smallest of the three options, and the second steepest.

After only a few dozen feet, it narrowed sharply, so they had to switch to single file even with how small Mudkip was. After a few dozen more, the passage opened up into a small room. Golbat looked at the two of them, grimacing.

"I don't think you'll fit." She said apologetically, pointing a wing ahead to where the next passage narrowed further.

"Watch this. Minimize!" She exclaimed, shrinking to half her semi-normal, already shrunken size.

Golbat blinked. Mudkip blinked.

"What?" "That's awesome!" They said, staring at her.

"Can you teach me?" Mudkip asked hopefully.

"Maybe, we'll give it a try."

"Cool." She grinned, along with Lucy.

The cave system, quickly becoming labyrinthine in nature, let them further and further downward through miles of twisting tunnels and caverns. Along the way they began to encounter both Lunatone and Solrock. Most were peaceful and ignored them, giving them quite respectable distances. A few chose to attack, and she had Golbat, their current guide, and her starter Mudkip fight them for the experience; they needed it much more than her.

They didn't give them too much trouble, the smarter ones knowing to stay away. Lucy tried eating one of each, and left the rest alone.

They heard it long before they saw it, the crashing sound of a waterfall, their vision blocked by the turns in the tunnel. They eventually walked into a massive cavern, filled with a massive river and multiple waterfalls. The sound echoed around the cavern, but was much quieter when they retreated a little ways from the thundering waterfall.

They were looking around the cavern in awe, even Golbat, who hadn't actually been there before, because it was a truly awe inspiring sight. It was massive, with the aforementioned river and waterfalls, and stalactites, stalagmites, and also sedate pools, and barely flowing streams with their own smaller falls.

Lucy couldn't sense anything particularly notable, aside from a few Pokémon of above average strength, that she didn't care enough to bother with. She'd been pretty sure there was a megastone somewhere around here, but the sight alone was honestly worth the trip.

She sensed someone approaching, and turned back to an entirely human looking form.

"Hellllllllo!" A girl called. She had blue hair, and was dressed in midriff-baring crop top and shorts, both in orange.

"I'm Ayano! Wanna battle?"

"Sure. I'm Lucy. Two on two?"

"That works. Machoke get'em!"

"Golbat you're up."

The Machoke and Golbat faced each other down.

"Focus Energy!" "Confuse Ray!"

The Machoke flexed confidently, bragging to Golbat, and Golbat hit it with an orb of ghostly energy.

"Wing Attack!" "Dodge and Strength!"

Golbat flew by the slightly staggering Machoke, smacking it with a glowing wing. Machoke tried to punch Golbat with a glowing fist, but Golbat dodged.

"Keep up the Wing Attacks!" "Machoke, snap out of it!"

It took Golbat a good several Wing Attacks to wear down Machoke, but before Golbat could finish it, Machoke finally landed a solid hit, and took out Golbat.

She returned Golbat to her Pokéball. She'd actually worked with Mudkip a little, but they hadn't had time to do anything too crazy yet.

"You're up next, Mudkip!"

"Yeah!"

"One last hit, Machoke! Dynamic Punch!"

"Protect." Lucy stated, grinning. "Then Water Gun."

Machoke staggered back from where it'd hit the impenetrable shield of a Protect, and was promptly knocked out by Water Gun."

'Ahh, ok then. Mienshao Fake Out!"

"Again! Mudkip, then Water Pulse."

Mudkip's protective shield snapped up again, and after the light of Fake Out faded, Mudkip fired off the ball of water.

Mienshao staggered back, and Lucy called out at almost the same time as her opponent.

"Water Gun!." "Aura Sphere!"

Mienshao dodged with the gleam of a Detect, and Mudkip's attempted dodge was halted by Lucy.

"Block it, Mudkip."

She was right, and the move curved slightly, aiming itself at where Mudkip was post dodge.

"Water Gun, rapidfire!" "Close in and use Drain Punch!"

Mienshao was soaked and battered by the time it reached Mudkip, and at Lucy's command Mudkip fired off a Water Pulse at point blank range, briefly stunning the fighting type.

"Finish it with Tackle!" "Mienshao, Drain Punch!"

Lucy's opponent sounded slightly frantic, at Mienshao's state, and to make matters worse for her, Mudkip's attack hit before Mienshao could use Drain Punch, and Mienshao fainted."

Ayano sighed heavily before returning her Mienshao. Lucy meanwhile crouched down to high five Mudkip.

"Good job!" She complimented.

"Thanks!"

"That was a good match." Ayano said, holding out her hand.

"Thanks, you too."

"So what are you doing down here?"

Lucy shrugged.

"Exploring? Maybe find a dragon type, I don't know. You?"

"Exploring too, but I think I'm going to stick with fighting types."

"You don't want a Kommo-o?"

"What's a Kommo-o?" She asked. "I've never heard of it."

"A third stage dragon and fighting type Pokémon from the Alola region. It's considered an equal to the likes of Salamence and Dragonite."

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, but they're pretty rare. Are you going to try to catch one, because it appears you want one."

"Hell yeah I want to catch one."

"Its first stage is a pure dragon type called Jangmo-o, and its middle stage is called Hakamo-o. Good luck."

"Thanks!"

There was a loud crash, the shattering of stone, and a Pokémon came flying through a wall, pursued by another one."

"What the-" Ayano exclaimed.

When the dust settled, the Pokémon were revealed.

It was the monstrous three headed form of a Hydreigon, chasing down the blue and red colored Druddigon.

"Oh fuck." Ayano stared up at the Hydreigon, who had moved one head to look at them, keeping the other two focused on the Druddigon.

"I don't have anything that could fight it, do you?" Ayano whispered to Lucy, almost at the level of a panic attack.

"Do not assist the would-be nest raider." The Hydreigon spat at them.

Lucy nodded casually to it, unafraid.

"We won't."

"Wait, can you understand it?"

"I'm very intune with Pokémon."

Mudkip started laughing, and she snickered to herself.

"She said not to assist the Druddigon, who she called a would-be nest raider, so let's just not do that. And for reference I'm not scared of it."

"B-But its a Hydreigon!"

"It's alright, We'll be fine."

Ayano calmed down a little at Lucy's calm demeanor.

The Hydreigon began ripping into the now defeated Druddigon, and Lucy turned Ayano away.

"Let's go, you don't need to see that."

"Ok." She said subdued.

They walked away, with Lucy leading Ayano, and simultaneously keeping an eye out.

A Deino had followed Hydreigon out of the hole and then done its best to sneakily follow them, as they walked away.

It wasn't very sneaky.

"Hey! Where are you going dearie?" The Hydreigon called out with its main head, its two others still devouring ripped off chunks of the now deceased Druddigon.

The Deino flinched violently.

"Nowhere?"

Lucy snorted at the mom stare Hydreigon gave to Deino, and how effective it was even on a blind Pokémon.

"I'm going to join her, she feels strong." Deino admitted after a moment.

Hydregon sighed, blood dripping from her heads.

"My poor baby is leaving the nest already? Oh, how time flies. Oh, well. Stay safe, become strong, and eat lots of food."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, but turned and held out a Pokéball to the approaching Deino.

The blind dragon sniffed it before tapping it with her nose.

A few hours later, outside Meteor Falls.

The Pokémon ranger, who's name was Jackson, stared at them aghast, and slightly impressed. They were in a ranger outpost, which was just a large cabin, near the entrance to Meteor Falls.

"You encountered a wild Hydreigon in Meteor Falls? And lived to tell the tale? Was it just the two of you?" He asked.

Lucy nodded.

He had already pressed a button on his specialized Pokégear at the mention of Hydreigon, and a few seconds after he finished talking, another ranger showed up, next to an Alakazam. He was blond, and the first ranger had brown hair. They both wore it somewhat short, taller than Ayano, but shorter than Lucy, who admittedly was pretty tall, and were clean shaven.

"What's the situation?" He asked crisply.

"Wild Hydreigon in Meteor Falls."

"Oh. Fuck."

"Honestly, she didn't hurt anyone. No one was in any danger, and I would have taken care of it if it was dangerous."

"Hydreigon, are rarely safe." The blond ranger with the Alakazam said. He turned to Ayano. "What was it doing when you encountered it?"

"It was eating a wild Druddigon that went after its nest." Lucy said.

They turned white.

"Were there any Deino?" Jackson asked.

"One less now, but there's probably more."

"One less- Please, for the love of Groudon, tell me you didn't catch one."

"Ok. I won't." Lucy grinned at him.

"Why did you catch one?"

"It followed me, and wanted to join up."

"Can you even handle a Deino?"

"Of course!" Lucy said, faintly offended. "I could have beaten its mom."

He put his face in his hands.

"How many badges do you have?"

She frowned.

"None, but I haven't actually fought a Gym Battle yet, and I'm confident in my ability to earn them."

"How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Three."

"Including the Deino?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" The second, blond ranger asked her.

"Watch this!"

Before they could stop her, and they tried to, once they'd realized what she was doing, she released Deino.

"Hello!" Deino yelled out. She was shaped a little like a dog, and was over two and a half feet tall.

Lucy picked her up, maintaining control of her head.

The rangers blinked.

Deino struggled to get away, but Lucy tightened her hold slightly, and Deino stopped.

"See?"

"Huh."

"That's a Deino all right."

"Oh, Kyogre! Is that a Deino?" Another ranger screamed in surprise. She was a tall brunette, and looked a little frightened of the Deino in Lucy's arms.

She looked up from the Deino at the two male rangers.

"Why is there a Deino?"

"There's a breeding Hydreigon in Meteor Falls."

"Oh, Groudon."

"The Hydreigon hasn't hurt anyone yet, is it really that big of a problem?"

Ayano and the three rangers all stared at her in shock.

"Have you not heard any of the stories?" Ayano asked her.

"Apparently not."

"The Hydreigon line is infamous for being one of the if not the single most dangerous Pokémon line to train. They have the inherent brutality and cunning of the Dark type combined with the brutality and sheer power of the Dragon type."

"Look at this baby though."

Lucy held out the Deino, which snapped at her arm, but couldn't quite reach it, with her hold on its neck.

She sighed at the unamused expressions on all of the ranger's faces, and returned Deino.

"Alakazam, take that Pokéball." The second ranger said.

"I cannot." He said telepathically.

He blinked and turned to Alakazam, then to a smirking Lucy and back to Alakazam.

"Why not?" He asked, no anger in his voice, just curiosity.

"Her telekinetic grip is stronger than mine."

The rangers and Ayano all did a double take and turned to Lucy, who shrugged, andtelekinetically lifted her three filled Pokéballs, and three empty ones above her head, setting them into a circular orbit.. After a second she made her Pokéballs fly back to their places.

Ayano spluttered.

"Is that why you weren't scared of the Hydreigon?"

"Yes. I could have beaten it without sending out a Pokémon."

The female ranger whistled.

"That's some pretty impressive stuff, but it's a Dark type." The second ranger said.

"So? It's not hard to replicate non Psychic moves. Besides, the Hydreigon knows and doesn't care that I caught Deino."

"It's still a Hydreigon. We can't leave it there."

"Give it a chance. Just keep an eye out and warn people. It hasn't hurt anyone yet."

"I guess."

The rangers nodded at each other, shrugging.

The brown haired Jackson grinned suddenly at his friends.

"At least we don't have to go fight it, right?"

"True." The blond ranger high fived him. "To avoiding life threatening missions!"

"Your sense of danger is skewed," the female ranger said to Lucy, "where are you from? The Continent?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm not not from the Continent."

The rangers were all staring at her now, and Ayano was looking confused.

"I lived there for a pretty significant amount of time."

The rangers gasped.

"What's the continent?" Ayano asked.

"Hold on, let me give you some background." Lucy said. "So you know how the world is controlled by Pokémon right?"

"Yeah?"

"What you probably don't know is to what extent it's controlled by Pokémon. Humans, and their regions only cover a small percentage of all available landmass, and without fail, it's all Islands and coastal areas. You've seen a world map right? Hoenn and to the east and a little north, its nearest neighbors Johto and Kanto respectively, are on a large island called Japan. Even further north Fiore, Almia, and Sinnoh are on the same Island. To the west, however, is the Continent. About half of Japan is covered by areas where the wild Pokémon are too strong, and we stay in the regions as a result.

The Continent is at least three hundred times bigger than Japan, and there are no humans at all, save the far coastal regions on the other side, like Kalos, and Paldea. Galar is in that vicinity too. It's easier and safer to travel across the sea around the world the other way to reach those regions, then to travel across the coast."

"Really?" Ayano asked.

"Yes. Continental Pokémon have a sheer honed killing intent that is extremely hard to match. Everything is more brutal there, and they. A grass type could use a Solar Beam to knock out a Pokémon, but it won't kill unless they really want to kill. Even wild Regional Gyarados aren't as dangerous as their Continental counterparts, because they don't usually mean to kill the random Pokémon they hurt in the process of going after whoever made them angry. Their lack of intent trickles over and makes their attacks somewhat less lethal overall. A Continental Gyarados in the harsher environment, will be far more willing to inflict collateral damage. Gyarados are still Pokémon after all, and are therefore within the same standard deviation of intelligence as humans and most other Pokémon, and despite their nature aren't that bad. Sometimes. It depends on the Gyarados I guess."

They were all staring at her now.

"Just killing intent, that's the difference?" The brunette ranger asked.

"Yep, I really could launch a Solar Beam that would go right through a Pokémon, completely disintegrating it, or burning a hole right through it, depending on its size, but I don't want to kill, so they just get knocked out and/or launched instead. Humans are less durable, but can be pretty resilient at times. Most Regional Pokémon don't actually want to kill, either because they actually don't want to kill, or because they know it's more trouble than it's worth, and therefore their intent both isn't trained, and is also harder to train in the first place. A Pokémon has to train themselves or be trained to have the necessary killing intent to be truly dangerous. A base level of your killing intent is inherited, but not really enough to matter in comparison to the environment that a Pokémon grows up in."

"Damn." The blonde ranger said. "I don't think any of us knew a lot of that."

"Hold on." The brown haired ranger said. "Did you say you could throw a Solar Beam?"

"Ah. Yes. You already knew I was psychic."

"That's one thing, but one of the strongest Grass type moves? How did you even learn to use a move in the first place?"

'Damn,' she thought, glancing around the room. 'Should I eat them, or tell them? I told Ash and friends, but I know I can trust them."

From Lucy's Personal Pokédex:

Number 41: Zubat, the Bat Pokémon

"There is both bad news and good news whenever I encounter a swarm of Zubat. The bad news: There is a swarm of annoying Zubat. The good news: There is a swarm of tasty Zubat."

Number 42: Golbat, the Bat Pokémon

"Pretty good, and most often come with a Zubat or seven."

Number 337: Lunatone, the Meteorite Pokémon.

"All right, but there's better things to snack on."

Number 338: Solrock, the Meteorite Pokémon.

"Taste all right, but kind of hard to choke down.