DISCLAIMER

Hello there, reader! Before we get into things, I’d like to say that this is the second story in a serialized setting of mine. If you’ve read the previous story, great! But, if you haven’t, a lot of things in this story might be confusing, and a lot of context for the main characters will be missing. If you’re new around here, I highly recommend reading my previous story, Friendship, Foes, & Fairies for context, which you can find linked in the description. So, if you want to experience this story at its best, and haven’t already read that story, go read it!

Additionally, I’d like to say that this is a version of the story scrubbed clean of any ass-ripping, so if you’d prefer to read a version where Opal contributes significantly to the methane quantity in the atmosphere, that’s also linked in the description. This story also has some, uh… pretty gruesome stuff a bit after the vore starts, so if you don’t have the stomach for prey getting… ‘compacted,’ there’s an alt without that part also linked in the description.

With that in mind: Enjoy!

—

rrrrRRUUuarrn…

Opal winced as their stomach growled. “Ow…”

“I told you we should’ve ordered something for you before we left.” Amy said, frowning at their discomfort. This was the fifth time they’d had a hunger pang since they’d started their walk just ten minutes ago, and every time she just felt worse for them.

“And I told you that I don’t want you wasting a thousand Pokedollars on keeping me full for ten minutes.” Opal countered, frowning back. “I thought we’d already established that it takes more than what you can afford to keep me fed now.”

Amy sighed. As unfortunate as it was, it was true- they’d discovered very quickly just how much Opal’s appetite had increased alongside their size when they’d emptied Amy’s fridge, freezer, and pantry before their stomach had even stopped growling. After that, it was pretty clear to both of them that they’d need a different food source if they didn’t want to empty Amy’s savings account within the next week.

The good news was, finding a new source of food wasn’t too hard- the bad news was that said ‘food’ happened to be the local Pokémon population.

When Opal had first offered the idea, Amy was vehemently against it- they had managed to avoid the normal diet of a Pokerus host up until now, and that was a streak Amy wanted to keep up. But, other than resorting to ransacking local restaurants and grocery stores, it was really the only solution they had.

“I… I know, I just… I still want to try to give you as much normal food as possible.” Amy said. “Even if you have to eat some Pokémon, I want that number to be as small as possible.”

“I’d personally rather just start with eating a bunch of random Pokémon than empty your wallet and then also do that anyways.” Opal remarked. They smiled. “You deserve to get yourself something nice with that money, not waste it all on feeding my greedy belly.”

“I’d at least like to try, even if I know it won’t do much.” Amy replied. “Even if it makes me go broke, keeping at least a few out of your gut will be worth it. My quality of life isn’t worth nearly as much as the lives of whoever would get eaten if it stays high.”

“I think you’re worth way more than whatever losers are getting packed onto my butt.” Opal commented. “You’re kind, charitable, smart, and super adorable. So far, everyone I’ve eaten has maybe, like, one of those at most. You’re basically perfect compared to them.”

Amy blushed at the compliment. “W-Well, I’m definitely not perfect.”

“What about ‘awesome?’ ‘Amazing?’” Opal grinned at her. “‘The best thing to ever happen to me,’ maybe?”

“More like ‘average.’” Amy answered. “If that.”

Opal’s affectionate grin quickly dropped to a frown as they stopped walking. “Hey.” they said, blocking her from continuing forward with a feeler. “Nobody gets to talk about my best friend like that. Say anything mean about her again and I might just have to make you join the last two guys who treated her badly.”

Amy chuckled. She turned towards them. “Okay, okay. I’m… I’m perfect. Is that better?”

“Mmm… Say it again?”

“I’m perfect.”

“One more time?”

Amy scoffed. “What is this, therapy?”

“Go on, just say it.” They gave her their baby-doll eyes. “For me?”

She sighed dramatically, closing her eyes. “… I’m-”

crk!

Amy paused at the unexpected interruption, a look of surprise on her face as her eyes quickly reopened. Turning towards the sound, she found her vision of whatever made the noise to be inconveniently blocked by some particularly thick foliage. “… You heard that, right?” she half-whispered, looking back at Opal.

Opal nodded. They seemed equally perturbed by the noise that had suddenly cut into their conversation, although they looked less confused and more on-guard, their body tensed and ready as their eyes scanned the brush between them and the source of the disturbance. “Do you wanna check it out, or just try and leave quietly?” they whispered back.

Amy raised an eyebrow at the question. “I wouldn’t expect you of all people to even present ‘check out the suspicious noise’ as an option.”

“Well, normally, you’d be right.” Opal agreed. “But I kinda wanna see if it’s something I could, um… y’know…”

“Eat?” Amy guessed.

Opal grinned awkwardly. “Yeah.”

Amy sighed. The fact that one of the first thoughts on Opal’s mind when met with the prospect of something being nearby was whether or not they could eat it was one of the post-evolution features Amy wasn’t particularly happy about. But, with how hungry they were at seemingly all times, it wasn’t like she could blame them. “… Sure. We can check.” Amy agreed.

Both Amy and Opal tried to be as quiet as they could as they walked towards the thicket the noise had seemingly come from. Using two of their ribbons, Opal cautiously spread the wall of greenery in front of their own eyes, using another two to give an equal peephole to Amy. I hope it’s at least something big if it is a Pokémon. she thought. That way, it’ll be longer until Opal has to eat another.

As Amy peered through, she saw a small clearing, filled with even greener grass than the rest of the forest, along with a few patches of some lovely white and blue roses. Immediately, Amy’s eyes latched onto a rather pretty girl about ten yards away, crouched over a patch of the roses as she picked them and placed them in a red, plastic basket. Long, chocolate brown hair was tied in a ponytail that fell down onto the back of a pitch black shirt, and a bit of dirt clung to both her brown hiking boots and her jeans. She had a belt of various types of Pokeballs, identifying her as a trainer.

Amy felt a twinge of disappointment. Not a Pokémon. Guess Opal’ll have to wait a bit longer to-

“Oh my gosh, she looks so tasty.” Opal said. They turned to Amy, grinning. “Wanna watch me eat her?”

Amy did a double-take. “Wh- What? No! I don’t want you to eat her at all!” she declared, almost loud enough to get the girl’s attention. “Opal, I’m okay with you eating Pokémon. I never said you could eat humans.”

“Aw, c’mon. You can’t tell me you don’t at least kinda wanna see me gulp her down.” Opal said. “It’ll just be this once, promise.”

Amy frowned. “It doesn’t matter if I’d find it hot if you ate her, or if you’d ‘just do it once.’ Being a good person is more important than that.”

“You’re totally sure you don’t wanna see how much better she’ll look as ass fat?” Opal asked. They smirked at her, before looking back at their rear end, slowly running a ribbon over its large surface. “Just imagine the extra jiggle she’d give me as a dozen more pounds of butt pudge; how nice it’d feel to play with it, or use it as a pillow while we watch that new show you like…”

Amy sighed, lowering her head and rubbing her temples. “Arceus, I can’t believe I even have to have this conversation with you…” she said under her breath. “You can’t eat her, Opal.”

Opal groaned. “Okay, fine. What about some of her Pokémon, then?” they asked. “She’s got six- at least, from what I can tell. I’m sure she could do with two or three less.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure she’ll be totally fine mentally after you eat her friends right in front of her.” Amy commented. “No.”

“Aw, come on! Not even just one?” Opal pouted, giving her a pleading look. “You’re really gonna let me sit here and starve?”

Amy looked at their face for a moment. It was pretty obvious that they definitely felt like they were starving, what with the repeated growls of hunger their belly had been letting out, alongside the visible discomfort in their stance and face. “… Okay, how about this: We’ll go up and ask her if you can have one of her Pokémon. If she says yes, you can eat one. But, if she says no, that’s that- no arguing.” she offered. “Deal?”

“Deal!” Opal eagerly accepted.

Amy nodded. “Alright. Let’s go say hi, then.”

Opal nodded back, before swiftly turning to the girl and beginning towards her, simply pushing straight through the thicket without effort. After Amy blinked in surprise at the rather blunt method of traversing the obstacle, she quickly followed, catching up and walking beside them. The woman had obviously heard Opal forcing their way through the brush, looking up from the bed of wildflowers and towards them. As she saw them, her eyes widened slightly, and stayed wide as Opal and Amy continued to approach.

Opal waved with a ribbon. “Hi!”

The girl blinked. “Oh, uh… Hi! You’re… Wow, you’re really big.” she said, looking up at them. She set her basket on the ground, slowly standing up as she kept her eyes on them. She briefly glanced down at Amy, who also waved, before looking back at Opal. “Um… My girlfriend’s kinda expecting me back in an hour, so it’d be really inconvenient if you ate me. Please don’t.”

“Oh, don’t worry, ma’am- they’re not gonna eat you.” Amy assured.

“Yeah, she convinced me not to.” Opal agreed. A bit of hunger infected their gaze. “Even though you do look really tasty…”

Amy punched them in the shoulder, earning a surprised yelp and a slightly hurt look. “You can’t just call someone ‘tasty,’ Opal. You’re gonna freak her out.”

“Okay, sorry. You don’t have to hit me about it…” Opal frowned, rubbing their shoulder with a feeler.

“Well, if you don’t want to- actually, wait, you do want to eat me.” the girl corrected. “If you’re not gonna eat me, then I guess it’s not a waste of time to introduce ourselves.”

“Oh, right. I’m Amy, and this hungry dummy is Opal.” Amy introduced. “As for why we’re talking to you…”

Amy paused as she finally gave more than a cursory glance to the clothes the girl was wearing; specifically, the design on her shirt. As she’d noted before, most of it was pure black. However, right on the chest, there was a bright orange circle surrounding a draconic figure- the logo of her favorite show. “Oh my gosh, are you a Sunset Eclipse fan?”

“Oh, totally! It’s so good.” the girl replied. “Why, have you seen it too?”

Amy scoffed. “Only, like, twenty times over. It’s been my hyperfixation for the past year or so.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” The girl smiled wide. “I’ve never met another SE fan IRL before! Who’s your favorite character?”

Amy put her hands on her hips, looking up as she thought. “Hmm… That’s a hard one. Probably-”

grrrRROOAaaARRrgle…

Opal whined quietly. “S-Sorry to interrupt but, uh… could you talk to her about that after you ask her? I don’t wanna sit here on an empty stomach for longer than I have to.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry for getting off-track.” Amy apologized. Turning back to the girl, she sighed. “So, I know this is gonna sound super weird and probably insensitive, but… Well, as you’ve probably gathered, Opal’s really hungry. We saw you had Pokémon, so we were wondering-”

“Can I eat some?” Opal cut in.

“One.” Amy firmly corrected. “But, yeah. Would you happen to have a Pokémon you don’t care too much about that Opal could eat?”

The girl took a moment to process the request. “Uh… Well, to finish introductions, my name is Tina.” she said, holding out a hand, which Amy shook. “As for the whole ‘eating my Pokémon’ thing… I just wanna make sure: I’m not gonna get eaten if I say no, right? Like, this isn’t either-or, is it?”

“No, no, of course not.” Amy said, shaking her hands. “You’ll be perfectly fine regardless. Don’t feel pressured into saying yes.”

“Alright. Well, uh… I’m pretty fond of most of these guys, to be honest.” Tina said, looking down at her belt. “I’d feel pretty bad volunteering most of them to be a snack.”

“Aw…” Opal whined.

Tina held up a hand. “Wait, hold on; I’m not finished.” Reaching towards one of two Net Balls, she clipped it off her belt. She held it up, showing it off. “I said ‘most’ for a reason. This guy here’s been a real butthead towards me and the rest of my team ever since I got him a month back. I guess the first part of the name ‘Feraligatr’ wasn’t a joke.”

Opal’s eyes lit up. “A Feraligatr? Those are big, aren’t they?”

“They’re pretty big, yeah.” Tina confirmed, smiling. “I’d be fine letting you have him, so long as you do me a favor in return.”

Opal nodded. “Sure! What do you want?”

“I want to battle you.”

Amy and Opal both raised their eyebrow in unison. “That’s… kind of a weird favor. Why?” Opal asked.

“Are you kidding?” Tina asked, grinning. “Getting to battle a Pokerus host without the threat of getting eaten is, like, every ace trainer’s dream! They’re strong, smart, their unique abilities make them unpredictable- it’s the ultimate test of both your skills and the skills of your team.” she explained, overflowing with excitement. “It’s not like I’m ever gonna get an opportunity like this again, so I might as well use it!”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Opal smiled back. “Well, if that’s what it takes to get a meal, then I’m down.”

Amy held up a hand. “Wait, hold on.” She looked at Opal concernedly. “Are you sure? The fact that she has a Feraligatr she’s perfectly willing to give up means she’s probably really strong. You might get hurt.”

“Oh, don’t worry; I won’t do any serious damage.” Tina assured. “I’ll make sure my team doesn’t go all-out, and if they’re having a hard time, I’ll go easier.”

“Really? You promise?” Amy questioned. “I just wanna be sure they won’t get themselves hurt.”

Opal scoffed. “Stop worrying so much, Amy. I’m not just a tiny, helpless Eevee anymore. I’ll be fine.”

Amy looked at them for a moment. “… Alright. If you’re sure you wanna do it, you can. Just- Don’t be afraid to back out, alright?”

Opal nodded, before turning back to Tina. “Whenever you’re ready.” they said, extending some ribbons from their bow. Amy backed up as Opal entered a battle-ready stance, making sure she wouldn’t get hit by any crossfire.

Tina gave an excited grin. “Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!” Grabbing a Great Ball off her belt, Tina held it out in front of her and pressed the button. The capsule popped open, a shining red light flying from inside and coalescing on the ground between her and Opal.

The energy built a round, vaguely humanoid shape, stubby legs landing on the grass and pitcher-glove hands at its sides as a Ludicolo materialized. The Grass-Type looked around for a moment, before locking eyes with Opal. It was visibly surprised at the sheer size of them, but it got over their intimidating stature quickly, squaring up and letting out a “Colo!”

“Oh, wow. You’re certainly ready to fight.” Opal said. They gave a competitive smirk. “Let’s see if you can back up the energy.”

The second English words came out of Opal’s mouth, the Ludicolo’s confident expression was swiftly replaced with worry. “L- Ludi?” it asked, backing up slightly. It turned to Tina, looking scared.

“It’s okay, Migo. They’re a friend- they won’t hurt you.” Tina said, giving a warm smile to her companion. “We’re just having a normal battle.”

“Well, I’m not sure we’re friends yet, but yeah; I won’t eat you. Promise.” Opal confirmed.

The Ludicolo looked back and forth between Opal and Tina unsuredly. “C-Colo…” it said, taking another step away from Opal.

Opal frowned. “Aw… You sure?” As Migo nodded, they nodded back. “Alright.”

Opal looked at Tina. “He says he doesn’t wanna fight me, even if I promise not to eat him.”

“Oh.” Tina’s excitement seemed a bit sullied, but she kept a happy expression. “Well, that’s okay. I won’t make you fight if you don’t wanna.” she said to the Grass-Type, an understanding smile on her face.

Holding out the Great Ball, Tina pressed the button once more, pulling the Pokémon back into its capsule. She sighed as she put it back on her belt. “That’s disappointing. I was really hoping to test out Migo’s new move on you. Still, it’s more important that he’s not forced to do something he’s uncomfortable with.”

“Yeah, maybe don’t speak English next time, Opal.” Amy said. “It’s probably best if they don’t have the possibility of getting eaten in the back of their mind the whole fight.”

“Alright.” Opal agreed. “I’ll just speak Pokémon, then.”

Grabbing the only normal Pokeball on her belt, Tina pressed the button. As she opened the ball, the scarlet light from inside released a tall, sturdy figure, with thick, red and yellow feathered legs supporting the comparatively small torso of a Blaziken. The Fire-Type surveilled her surroundings much faster than Migo had, quickly latching her focus onto the opponent in front of her.

Gazing over the Blaziken’s body, Opal smirked. “Vee~” they said, a slight coating of mischief on their tone. “Sylvee?”

The chicken snorted amusedly. “Ziken.” she responded, spreading her stance slightly further.

“Alright, here we go!” Tina exclaimed, grinning gleefully as she rubbed her hands together. “Sizzle, use Flame Ch- Oh, wait. Your fur is really nice, I shouldn’t burn it…” She paused for a moment. “Okay, Sizzle, use Low Kick!”

Before Amy could even register that Sizzle was moving, she’d crouched, and a wave of dust had been flung Amy’s way as one of Sizzle’s legs flew out towards Opal’s. The powerful strike slammed their front-left ankle, and… didn’t budge them an inch.

Sizzle looked a bit shocked at the lack of any meaningful results from the kick. “B-Blazi?” She looked up at Opal’s face with a slight amount of fear, before quickly bouncing back, obviously taking things much more seriously.

Opal, meanwhile, seemed more confused than anything. “… Veon?” they questioned, which, if Amy had to guess, meant something along the lines of ‘Was that supposed to hurt?’

“O-Oh, wow.” Tina remarked, awe covering her face. “Holy crap, you’re strong. I- I know Low Kick isn’t very effective on Fairy-Types, but I thought with how heavy you are, it’d at least do something. Instead, you- you just… Damn.”

Amy was equally surprised at how easily Opal had taken the hit. Blaziken were strong, especially when it came to their legs; for Opal to not even flinch from a kick like that…

“Okay, well, uh… That’s my turn, I guess.” Tina said. “Go on, do your-… Actually, do, like, 10% of your worst, please. I don’t want Sizzle getting seriously hurt.”

Amy tilted her head. “Wait, what? You’re just gonna… let them hit her?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve gotta.” Tina replied. “That’s how battles work. One Pokémon goes, then they let the other do a move, then they go again, etcetera. Only certain moves can change the order.”

“Really?” Amy frowned. “I mean, I know there has to be a reason for that rule, but it seems… dumb.”

“I know, right?” Tina agreed. “Why not just let both of ‘em go at it? It’s just like how we have to declare exactly what move we’re gonna do before we do it- completely removes the element of surprise.” She sighed. “But, that’s how it is.”

I didn’t expect battles to have so many idiotic rules. Amy thought to herself. “Well, uh… If I have to tell them what to do, then I guess… Hit Sizzle with your ribbon?”

Tina frowned. “Wait, you’re not gonna use an actual move? Don’t tell me you never got told that proper moves are stronger than normal attacks.”

Amy shook her hands. “No, no, I know that, at least- that, and type matchups. I just, um… Don’t actually know any of their moves.”

“… Oh.” Tina remarked. “Well, I’d recommend you get that figured out ASAP, ‘cus that’s useful stuff. For now, though, I guess just having them do normal attacks works.” She shrugged. “It’ll probably help make the fight more fair, honestly.”

Amy nodded. “Alright. So… Opal, hit Sizzle with your ribb-”

Before the command had even fully exited her mouth, a whip-like crack! sounded through the area. Sizzle had just barely enough time to put her arms up to block the blow as it slammed into her, immediately knocking her back a yard or so and onto the ground with a hard THMP!.

Tina, Amy, and even Opal all reacted with equal levels of shock at just how hard the attack had hit. “S-Syl! Vee?” Opal asked, eyebrows heightened with worry. They quickly started making their way over to check if Sizzle was okay, but stopped as she held out a hand, which quickly turned to a thumbs-up. Despite the power of the blow, she was alright.

Tina, meanwhile, seemed less concerned and more absolutely flabbergasted by the sheer force of the attack. “… Oh. My. Arceus. I- I haven’t even seen Sizzle get touched in- it has to have been a couple months, and here you are, your first battle, knocking her down with your first attack?” Tina squealed in excitement, clasping her hands together and literally hopping up and down. “Oh, this is so perfect!”

Amy watched as Opal held out a ribbon to Sizzle, helping to pull her to her feet. “You seem, uh… pretty stoked about your friend being hit that hard.” she commented, turning back to Tina.

“Of course I am!” Tina confirmed. “It means Opal’s just as strong as I assumed they’d be, which means this is also gonna be just as much of a challenge as I thought!”

Interesting reaction. Amy thought. If she ever saw Opal get hit that hard, she’d be scared half to death that they’d broken something; but Tina seemed ecstatic to watch her Blaziken get smashed like that. Turning back to Sizzle, though, Amy could see she seemed equally excited by the development, a smile on her face as she readied for the next turn. I guess they’re both just used to it.

Once Opal and Sizzle had both readied for the next round, Tina took a breath, cracking her knuckles. “Alright, round two. Last hit wasn’t too great, and by the looks of things, we won’t get too many more chances, so let’s make this one count. Sizzle, use Acrobatics!”

Hearing the command, Sizzle quickly crouched, before launching herself into the air. They all watched as she twisted and flipped in midair, spinning like a top as she began to fall straight towards Opal, the fire blazing from her wrists leaving a bright trail in the air. Just as she seemed about to crash into them at full speed, one of Opal’s ribbons somehow managed the precision needed to snatch Sizzle by the ankle mid-spin, quickly pulling her down out of the air and SLAM!ing her to the ground. This time, she didn’t give any thumbs-up- she was out cold from the impact.

Tina frowned. “Hey, unfair! You said they didn’t know any moves, and then they used Counter, without you even saying it! Not cool, Amy.”

Amy raised her hands defensively. “Whoa, I- I didn’t know, okay? They never told me they knew… Counter? That was the name?”

“Wait, hold on. I’m confused.” Opal said, free to speak English with Sizzle knocked out. “I didn’t use any special move there- at least, I don’t think. I just saw her coming towards me, grabbed her so she wouldn’t hit me, and used the opportunity to hit her back.”

Tina blinked. “You… just perfectly described Counter.” she stated. “You block a physical attack, and turn the attack against the attacker.”

“… Huh.” Opal said. “… Well, I guess I know Counter, then.” They took a moment, before looking down at the unconscious body of Sizzle. “Uh, sorry for knocking her out, by the way. I, um… didn’t mean to do it so hard.”

Tina waved away their concerns. “Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just how battles go.” she said. “Plus…”

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, glowing yellow crystal. She smirked. “I’ve got a Revive on me, just in case something like this happened.” Tina leisurely sauntered over to Sizzle, crouching beside her, before holding the crystal up to her forehead. After a moment, a greenish-yellow glow flowed from the crystal into Sizzle’s forehead- one that vaguely reminded Amy of the similar light that came from Opal’s ribbons when they used Heal Pulse. Over a few seconds, the slight shine of the shard faded, before it crumbled to dust as the last of the energy left it and entered Sizzle’s head.

Tina patted Sizzle on the cheek lightly, causing her to wake, her emerald eyes looking slightly dazed as she sat up. “B… Blaz?”

Tina shook her head. “Yeah, they got you real good. You did your best, though.” Standing upright, Tina helped Sizzle up for the second time, before grabbing their Pokeball.

Seeing her trainer prepare to retrieve her, Sizzle frowned. “Blazi?”

“I know, I know, you’re excited to keep going. I wish it was a good idea to keep you out, too, but I don’t wanna risk you getting knocked out again.” Tina said. She smiled softly. “Don’t worry, though; you’ll have plenty more action when we spar with Casey later today.”

At that, Sizzle’s frown changed to a grin. “Zi!” she exclaimed, nodding. She turned to Opal, giving a courteous bow as Tina click’ed her ball open, pulling her back inside.

Tina sighed as she put the capsule back on her belt. “Jeez, Opal. I wasn’t expecting to have to use my ace so fast, but it looks like he’s my best shot at winning this without anything cheesy.” Reaching down to her belt, she pulled off a Timer Ball. Holding it out, she smirked confidently. “Alright. Hope you’re ready for a challenge, Zip.”

The container was opened by her thumb on the button, and yet again, the scarlet light built Opal’s next opponent. This one seemed to coalesce much quicker than before, a sleek, gleaming crimson body appearing before them, sharp red claws and an equally sharp expression forming into a Scizor. His gaze locked onto Opal, quickly sizing them up as he readied his pincers.

“Ooo, Syl…” Opal commented, visibly impressed with the physique of the opposing combatant. “Vee, veon?”

The Scizor declined to respond, instead raising an eyebrow. Opal pouted slightly. “Sylveon?”

The Scizor scoffed in a rather superior fashion, its wings fluttering quickly. “Sci, scizor.”

Opal rolled their eyes. “Vee,” they annoyedly commented, readying their ribbons. “Sylvee.”

“‘Kay, here we go.” Tina said. She grinned confidently. “Hope you’re ready for-”

“Wait, hold on.” Amy interrupted. “You went first last time. Shouldn’t we get to go first this time?”

“Oh, yeah!” Tina facepalmed, chuckling. “Duh. Sorry about that- I just got too into it. You go first, Opal.”

Opal grinned at that. “Syl, syl. Veon.” they said, the tone indicating some kind of taunt directed at Zip. He merely shrugged, obviously unbothered by the change of plans.

“Alright, um…” Amy took a moment to consider what she should tell Opal to do. She could just say ‘hit him’ again, but Scizor were infamous for their speed; Zip would likely be able to dodge, and with his Steel typing, it wouldn’t be a good idea to let him get a proper hit in for free. Unfortunately, she couldn’t really think of much else; not without really knowing what Opal was capable of. “Am I allowed to just tell them to ‘do whatever,’ or is that against the rules?”

Tina opened her mouth to respond, but whatever she was going to say got caught in her throat. She paused. “I… don’t know, actually. Nobody’s ever tried to do that in a battle I’ve seen, so I’ve… never thought about it. Huh.” She took a moment to think, before shrugging. “Well, even if it is, I think since you don’t actually know any of their moves, it’s fine to let it slide. Plus, we’re not fighting for any stakes, so… Sure. Go ahead.”

“Alright.” Amy said. She turned to Opal, who was waiting for a command. “Opal, do whatever you think will be best.”

Opal nodded at her, before turning back to Zip. They scanned him rather thoroughly, taking their time to decide. Zip waited patiently for Opal to make their move, somehow looking equally prepared for and entirely uninterested in whatever they were going to do next.

As the seconds dragged on, though, Opal continued not to do anything; they didn’t talk, didn’t attack, didn’t even really move all that much. The complete inaction seemed to cause Zip a bit of confusion. He slumped a little, slightly lowering his claws. “… Sciz-?”

The moment Zip let his guard down to speak, Opal kicked the ground in front of them with enough force to send a chunk of grassy dirt straight into Zip’s surprised expression, the clump of moist soil slamming him right where his nose would be and covering his face- and, by proxy, his eyes- in it. He stumbled back in surprise, and before he could recover or wipe his face clean, Opal pounced on him, knocking him on his back and pinning him to the ground. Their ribbons immediately wrapped around his limbs, holding them in place firmly to entirely prevent movement.

Once Zip was properly immobilized, Opal smirked smugly. “Vee vee~” they said. They reeled back a ribbon to give the knock-out blow, but stopped as Tina interrupted with:

“Wait, wait, hold on, don’t- don’t hit him now.”

Opal looked up from their pinned opponent and towards Tina with a confused look. “Why no-?” They cut off as they realized what they’d just said- or rather, what language they’d used. “… Oops.”

Zip momentarily stopped his- frankly rather pathetic- struggling as Opal spoke. He processed what he’d just heard, before immediately struggling significantly harder, shouting a very scared “S-Sci! Scizor!”

Tina sighed, while Amy facepalmed. “Well, if he hadn’t already been out, I certainly won’t keep him out now.” Tina said, retrieving Zip back into his ball with a flash of light.

Opal’s front paws fell back to the ground with a slight thmp as their platform disappeared, their ribbons retracting. They gave an awkwardly apologetic smile. “Sorry. I just- y’know, I went to ask you something, and obviously had to use English, so it just kinda came out before I realized.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable; but also not what I have a problem with.” Tina frowned at Opal. “Why were you about to hit him when you already had him restrained?”

Opal tilted their head. “Um… Because I was trying to make him faint? Isn’t that, like, the whole goal?”

“Not when they’re already immobile, no.” Tina said. “If a Pokémon’s unable to continue fighting back for any reason- be it paralyzation, sleep, fainting, or restraints of some kind- they’re disqualified for the rest of the battle, or until whatever status they have goes away or gets healed. You already had him pinned and unable to move; there was no reason to hit him more.”

“… Oh.” Opal remarked. “I didn’t know that. Sorry.”

“I didn’t know that either, actually.” Amy commented. “That’s… actually a good rule, unlike the others so far. I like that.”

“I totally agree.” Tina said. “Which is why it’s so weird that it’s not a thing in the other regions. It seems pretty uncool to beat the crap out of someone who can’t even defend themselves.” She sighed. “Well, anyways, I guess that’s two- Oh, Migo. I guess that’s three of mine out so far.”

“Yep.” Opal grinned. “Honestly, this is really fun. All the other times I’ve fought were either pre-evolution, and I got my ass handed to me, or post, and I just kinda grabbed them and shoved them down my throat without much fanfare. I should do proper fights more often.”

“Um… I didn’t really need to hear the whole ‘shoving them down your throat’ part.” Tina remarked, looking a tad disturbed. “But, uh… Yeah, I get that. Fights are more fun when it feels at least kind of even- although I guess this might not feel like that to you, since you’re crushing me so far.”

“Well, it’s not over ‘til it’s over, right?” Opal said. “You’ve still got three more. You could totally pull one over on me.”

“True, true.” Tina agreed. “And I think I know exactly what to do.”

Swiftly, a Friend Ball was within Tina’s hand, opening and releasing onto the battlefield her next combatant. At first, it looked like similar to Migo, before the round, chubby body turned from the scarlet of the energy into a pale pink with a white underbelly, small mitten-like hands at its sides, with large bunny ears and a curl of fluffy hair at the top of its head. As the Wigglytuff appeared, he looked particularly excited for battle; and, upon seeing Opal, his eyes shined. “Tuff, tuff!” he exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Opal smiled back at him warmly. “Vee! Syl, vee?”

The Wigglytuff giggled. “Gly…”

“Well, I’m glad you two like each other.” Tina commented. She smirked. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure you’ll be able to chat for long, if this works. Puffy, use Sing!”

Hearing that, Amy’s eyes widened slightly. She didn’t know too many moves, but she’d learned about Sing the hard way when she’d gotten put to sleep by a Jigglypuff she met on a walk one time. “Opal, cover your ears!” she exclaimed, before quickly plugging her own.

Unfortunately, Opal appeared to have been too distracted with their conversation with Puffy to hear her. They turned to her, confused. “Sylveon?” they asked.

Amy opened her mouth to tell them again, but the warning was drowned out as Puffy began his song, his voice loud and perfectly melodic. Even with her hearing obstructed, Amy was still met with an immediate wave of drowsiness, one she barely managed to resist- Opal wasn’t so lucky. The second the beautiful chords met their ears, their legs began to wobble, before their eyelids fluttered closed and they collapsed to the ground, shaking the area slightly with their weight.

For the few seconds more that the melody went on as Puffy’s voice died down, Amy continued to fight the encroaching sleep. As the song finished, it took Amy a good few moments to recover as the sleepiness slowly left her. “Oh, Arceus, that was… that was a lot.”

Tina grinned. “I know, right? Puffy’s Sing in particular is really hard to resist. I’m honestly super impressed that you didn’t fall asleep too. Speaking of which…”

She turned to Puffy, frowning. “Puffy, what did I tell you about getting trainers with Sing? You almost put Amy to sleep too.”

Puffy huffed a bit. “Wiggly? Tuff, gly?”

“Yeah, you still won, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to-” She groaned. “Whatever. Sorry for that, Amy; I’ve been trying to get this little rascal to start being more precise when he puts people to sleep, but so far, he only seems to care enough to make sure he doesn’t knock me out.”

“It’s… It’s fine.” Amy said, still weighed down by a bit of residual drowsiness. “Well, with what you said earlier about sleep meaning disqualification, I… guess you won. Congrats.”

Tina smirked, giving an exaggerated bow. “Many thanks, my kind lady.” she stated poshly.

Amy snickered a bit at the comedic display and tone, before turning back to a very much asleep Opal. Walking over, Amy squatted beside their head, before lightly tapping them on the cheek. “Hey, Opal? Um… You there?”

“Oh, that’s not gonna work.” Tina stated. “Sing makes you crash hard.”

Amy looked over Opal’s body with a bit of worry. At least they look like they’re comfy. “How, uh… How do they wake up, then?”

“Well, normally, it just takes half a minute or so.” Tina replied, idly patting a smug-looking Puffy on the head. “But, that’s with the caveat that your opponent is repeatedly beating the crap out of them with their moves, which we don’t do here in Perlon. Last time I used it, the Sawk was out cold for, like… an hour? Two?”

Amy scoffed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “Wh- So I’m just supposed to sit here and wait for an hour or more?”

Tina grinned awkwardly, shrugging. “Sorry. I didn’t really think it through; just got into ‘battle mode’ and used what I thought would work best. They were tanking or countering everything I threw at them without even trying, and beating everything I had pretty easily, so I couldn’t think of anything else to do.”

Amy looked back at Opal’s sleeping body, sighing. “Well, do you have any moves you could hit them with to wake them up earlier?”

“Hmm…” Tina tapped her foot as she thought. “… I do have Wake-Up Slap on Puffy, but with how little they seemed to be affected by Sizzle’s Low Kick, I’m not even sure it’d work on them.”

“I guess we should at least try it.” Amy said. “I mean, the worst that could happen is that it doesn’t work and we try something else.”

Tina nodded. “Alrighty then.” she said. Turning to her companion, she gave a nod. “Go ahead, then, Puffy. Hit ‘em with your Wake-Up Slap.”

Puffy raised an eyebrow. “Wiggly?” he asked, trying his best to cross his arms.

Tina frowned. “Really? You’re gonna blackmail me for Pokepuffs now of all times?” she questioned. “You’re seriously gonna make Amy wait here unless I give you treats?”

Puffy grinned shamelessly. “Tuff.” he confirmed, nodding.

Tina sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll give you a couple of the Razz Berry puffs when we get home. Just go wake Opal up already.”

Puffy smiled, clapping his little hands together in excitement. “Wigglytuff!” Turning to his target, Puffy pranced over to Opal, stopping in front of their face. Smirking mischievously, he reeled his right hand back, and a large, phantom hand appeared around it. The hand glowed with energy, before he slammed it right into Opal’s-

… ribbons, which had just shot out from their bow to block the attack. Everyone’s eyes widened simultaneously at the unexpected development, before widening even more as one of those same ribbons quickly wrapped around Puffy, grappling him tightly. “P-Puff!” he exclaimed in a mix of confusion and fear.

“W-Woah, woah! Uh-uh! Nope!” Tina said, quickly grabbing Puffy’s Friend Ball and pressing the button to retrieve him. The ribbon grew limp once more as it’s catch was replaced with red energy, said glow quickly flying back into the Pokeball as it shut.

Tina eyed Opal cautiously as she slowly put the ball back on her belt. “You, uh- You didn’t think it was important for me to know they were a sleep-walker?” she asked, sounding slightly accusatory.

“N-No, they’re- They’re normally not at all. That’s… really weird.” Amy said. “Maybe… They only did it when they were attacked, so it could’ve been-”

Suddenly, she remembered something. “Oh! It’s the, um… the, uh… Arceus, it’s right on the tip of my tongue…” It popped into her head. “The subconscious ribbon control! Yeah, it’s- it’s this thing that Sylveon can have sometimes, where their ribbons can kind of move on their own every now and then to pursue any subconscious desires the Sylveon has, or to defend them. I guess Opal must have it.”

“Oh, yeah, that! I remember learning about that a while ago.” Tina said. She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that only work when they’re awake, though?”

Amy frowned. “Oh. You’re… right. That doesn’t make sense…” She thought on it for a moment. “Hmm. Maybe they’ve got a special kind of it? One where it works when they’re asleep?”

“Maybe, yeah.” Tina agreed. “Well, I think it’s probably our best bet to, uh… not hit them with anything el-”

In the blink of an eye, a feeler was completely constricted around Tina’s torso and arms, lifting her into the air as she and Amy both gasped in surprise. “Wh- Hey, hey!” Tina exclaimed, struggling against the bind. “What’s- What’re they…”

As Opal’s ribbon failed to do anything further, Tina and Amy’s initial panic dissipated. “… Huh.” Tina remarked. “Well, this, uh… probably isn’t good, even if they haven’t done anything yet. Do you mind trying to get me down?”

Amy took a step towards her, but paused. “Um… What if they just grab me too, though?” she argued. “If they grabbed you, they must have a reason, and me getting you out would probably put me opposed to whatever the goal was, so they’d likely just grab both of us.”

“Oh. That… makes sense, I guess.” Tina said. “Uh, just in case, though, do you think you could help me get my belt off? I don’t want any of my team’s Pokeballs to be in the line of fire if something goes wrong.”

Amy nodded. She slowly made her way over to Tina, trying her best not to make any sudden movements in case they might trigger Opal’s ribbons to react. Once she got close enough, she cautiously reached her hand out to the belt, just below the edge of the feeler’s hold. Unclasping it, she pulled it off, and retreated a bit further away with it.

Tina sighed. “Okay, good. Now, though, uh… Why do you think they grabbed me?”

Amy thought about it for a moment. “Well, if their ribbons are just working off of what they wanted subconsciously, then they probably have something that was on their mind. The only thing I can really think of would be….”

grroaaAAarrRorrgle…

Amy’s face paled. “… food.”

Tina looked confused for a moment. “Huh? Why would they grab me if they were looking for…” She trailed off as it clicked for her too. “… Oh. Oh, no.”

Suddenly, the ribbon holding Tina began to slowly retract, pulling her towards Opal as it did. Her face was immediately overtaken with fear as she increased her struggling. “O-Oh, no, nonono!”

“H-Hold on!” Amy exclaimed, quickly springing into action. “I’ll- I’m coming!” She dropped the belt on the ground and sprinted over to Tina, grabbing her by the ankles of her boots and trying to pull her out of the feeler’s bind. Shockingly, it actually appeared to be working, Tina’s body slowly sliding out of the bottom of the appendage’s hold.

Opal’s ribbons didn’t seem particularly keen on letting Amy rob them of their offering to their owner, though, as another ribbon snapped forth from Opal’s bow, constricting itself around Amy’s middle and trying its best to pull her away from Tina. She held strong, gripping Tina’s ankles so tight she was sure it hurt, pulling and pulling. She gritted her teeth, her arms and shoulders burning with the effort of resisting the feeler tugging at her, until-

She gasped in a mix of surprise and exertion as Tina’s boots came off, removing her point of contact. “No, no!” she exclaimed. She reached her hands out again- but she grabbed at empty air, as Tina was too far away.

Watching Tina get pulled closer and closer to Opal, Amy’s mind raced to find anything she could possibly do to stop this. “D-Don’t worry, Tina! I’ll- I’ll-”

“Amy, it’s- it’s too late.” Tina said. “You… You tried.”

Amy blinked. “Wh- What? No! Don’t just- Don’t give up already!” she declared. “I- I can still-”

“Amy, i-it’s okay. If- If I get eaten, they should- they’ll hopefully be full enough not to eat you, o-or the others.” Tina explained. She looked over at Opal’s steadily approaching face, watching them open their maw as their ribbon turned her feet towards the cavern. She turned back. “We know we can’t wake them up, and they’re way too strong for us to resist them. At least one of us is gonna get eaten, and if it has to be me, I’m… I’m okay with that. If you all a-are safe, I’ll go down.”

“Huh?” Amy said. “N-No, that’s- that’s not-”

“Amy, I-” Tina flinched as she felt her feet and calves sqlch into the back of Opal’s throat. “I need you to promise to do something for me- a-after you and… however many of the others get out of this.”

GLP!

Amy watched as Tina’s hips entered Opal’s mouth. “… What is it?”

ULP!

Tina closed her eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath. “… Make sure they’re all happy. Please.”

Amy struggled just as hard internally as she was externally. She knew that Tina was wrong- Opal needed significantly more than one person’s worth of food to be full for long. The chances of Amy or any of Tina’s Pokémon getting out of this in any form other than butt pudge weren’t in their favor. But, if Tina was done for either way… she at least deserved to go down believing maybe some of her friends would be safe.

GLRK!

Amy closed her eyes, unwilling to look Tina in the face as she lied. “I… I will.”

Although she couldn’t see, Amy could tell Tina smiled in response. “… Thank y-”

Amy heard a final GLURP!, and by the time she opened her eyes, Tina was nowhere to be seen. Just like that, such a caring, amazing person was gone, dragged into the depths of Opal’s belly.

wooaaAAarRglrn…

… and as the ribbon that used to hold Tina reached out towards her belt of Pokeballs, it seemed like her team wouldn’t be far behind. Amy hoped that maybe, just maybe, the feeler was instead reaching for something past the belt she couldn’t see- but, with a click! of the first Net Ball clipped off the belt and popped into their awaiting mouth, her hopes were dashed.

glp!

One.

click!

glk!

Two.

click!

ulk!

Three.

Amy could only sit there and watch as the Pokeballs disappeared into Opal’s maw one at a time, entering their belly and releasing the hapless occupants straight into the hell of their ever-growing stomach. The tauntingly slow pace of it made it all the worse as Opal’s ribbon took its sweet time sating its owner’s hunger- it wasn’t like Amy could do anything to stop it, so it needn’t rush.

After at least a minute of spectating the agonizingly slow procedure, the feeler lazily wrapped around the sixth and final ball, tossing it down Opal’s throat with a small ulp!. With the last capsule slowly pulled down their gullet and into their gut, Opal’s sleeping form let out a shameless, satisfied bwooaarp! as the Pokémon was released within them, idly licking their lips and sighing happily.

Amy, meanwhile, was the opposite of happy. After all, with Tina and the last of her Pokémon all securely tucked inside Opal’s middle, only one thing remained available to feed them should their ribbons deem it so. “P-Please don’t still be hungry…”

“Mmm… Amy…?” Opal mumbled.

Hope sparked in her chest. “Yes! O-Opal, it’s- it’s me, Amy. Y’know, your- your best friend, who you would never eat in a million years? That Amy?”

The hope building inside Amy quickly started to dampen as she began to be pulled towards Opal. “W- Wait! Opal, p-please!” she begged, inching towards them. “C’mon, Opal, don’t- don’t-”

She wasn’t stopping. This is it. Amy thought. I’m gonna be eaten by Opal. She closed her eyes, bracing for the feeling of her best friend’s maw sealing around her. However, just as she expected to feel the saliva-slicked lips circling her body, she instead felt herself push up against something large, fluffy, and lumpy.

Tentatively opening her eyes, Amy was greeted with the sight of Opal’s chest, the fuzzy fur rising and falling softly with their breaths. Below that, the majority of Amy’s body was being gently held up against Opal’s massive belly, the various struggles from within failing to make a significant impact through the pudgy layers. She felt Opal’s front legs wrap around her, the ribbon constricting her pulling away as she was left in their grasp. They were… hugging her.

“Mmm… Amy…” Opal mumbled, pulling her a bit closer. They smiled dopily. “Loooove youuuu…”

As Opal snuggled up to her, it slowly became clear to Amy that their feelers had decided she’d be better used as a cuddling partner than as food- a position she much preferred. “Thank Arceus…” she sighed. She couldn’t fathom how lucky she was that Opal could still recognize her, even in their hypnosis-induced slumber.

It was hard to be relieved, though- knowing that her life had come at the cost of someone like Tina, along with all those Pokémon. She couldn’t help but feel like… maybe it should’ve been her that got eaten, so they could live. After all, it was her fault this situation even happened. She could’ve said no so many times, backed Opal out, gone home.

But she didn’t.

The persistent wriggles of the significantly less lucky occupants of Opal’s stomach up against her body, accompanied by muffled cries that Amy could hear just a little bit too well from her position, only made it worse. She tried to scootch away from their belly, but was quickly pushed closer to them by a ribbon as Opal let out a needy whine, wrapping their front legs around her tighter. “Amyyyy… Don’t go…”

“O-Opal… I- I love you and all, but… I d-don’t really wanna- mmf!”

Amy tried once again to get through to Opal, but was quickly silenced as a feeler pushed her face into their gut, muffling her. “Shh… It’s okay…” Opal murmured. “You’re safe. Just… Mmm… Quiet…”

After a few seconds, the ribbon holding her against them slowly retracted once more, letting her breathe properly as she pulled her head back. She opened her mouth to try and speak again, but before a single syllable left her lips, she was promptly forced back into silence.

This time, when she was released, she decided not to push her luck. Even if she really didn’t feel like experiencing the last moments of Opal’s prey from a front-row seat, she really, really didn’t want to find out if she could annoy this sleepwalking version of Opal enough to join them. So, as uncomfortable as it seemed, Amy deigned to stay put and wait it out.

As she laid there, Amy tried her best to keep her mind on other things. Ideas for her college projects, upcoming events- anything that would take her focus away from how excruciating things must be for the Pokémon and trainer she’d indirectly gotten eaten. She didn’t find much success, unfortunately. She’d never been very good at-

Amy let out a sharp gasp as a particularly powerful kick from one of Opal’s prey- likely Sizzle, if she hadn’t been in far too much pain to guess- hit her square in the gut, knocking the air out of her. She clutched her middle, gasping as she tried to get her breath back.

Opal’s silly grin quickly changed to a frown as they heard Amy’s ragged breaths and pained groaning. “Amy…? They… hurt you?”

Amy’s eyes widened. Knowing how badly Opal had reacted last time someone hurt her, she wasn’t looking forward to seeing what this version of them might do to make it even worse for their victims. “No, I-I’m f… fine!”

Opal frowned further. “Don’t worry, I’ll… Mmmf… I’ll deal with them…”

Amy was quickly filled with dread as all eight of Opal’s ribbons extended from their bow, wrapping around their belly. “W-Wait, Opal, don’t-”

She cut off as one of the ribbons put itself on her mouth to shush her. She so badly wanted to keep talking, to convince Opal not to do whatever they were about to do. But she knew it was a lost cause. So, instead, she closed her eyes and covered her ears, hoping to Arceus that whatever was about to happen was quick.

It wasn’t. Despite her attempt to block out the sounds, Amy could clearly hear the crunch!’s and crck!’s and pop!’s, the shrill screams and blood-curdling cries, alongside the sharp sound of a metal exoskeleton bending and warping under the immense pressure. That, and the feeling of Opal’s belly slowly compressing beside her, gave Amy’s brain all the info it needed to start visualizing what was happening, forcing visions of it all into her mind. It took at least forty seconds before the discordant symphony of shrieking and breaking bones stopped, punctuated by a hot, throaty gwwoaAARroOUUrph… that hit Amy right on her face, followed by a sloshy gloursh~ and a long sigh as Opal’s gut expanded back out again. She could swear she smelled the iron tang of blood underneath the usual sweetness of Opal’s belch. “There, no more… Mmm… No more meanies.”

Amy waited until she was sure it was over before she reluctantly opened her eyes. She saw that Opal’s ribbons had once again retracted, leaving behind a very noticeable lack of any struggles or significant bumps in their distended stomach.

Amy expected to feel the need to vomit at the idea of what had just happened, or at least a little nausea. Instead, she felt a mix of disbelief and mortification at the fact that her panties were now wet.

There’s no way. she thought. I… I can’t be. I’m not aroused by that. Despite her denial, though, Amy knew at her core that it was true. Hearing, visualizing the gruesome and painful deaths of an innocent, kind girl and her Pokémon, crushed into a paste by her lifelong best friend, had made her hornier than she’d ever been. Not only had she caused all this, not only had she been spared in place of someone infinitely more deserving of that mercy, but she had the gall to get horny when they were subjected to the equivalent of an industrial compactor?

She had to think of something else. Anything else. Keeping her mind on that for a moment longer would be a guaranteed dismantling of her entire self-image- all that ‘I’m a good person’ perspective she’d carefully tried to maintain for years and been told by others would be gone. And, just as she started to spiral, a distraction came; in the form of Opal’s giggle.

Looking up at their face, Amy was met with what was probably the single most adorable thing she’d ever seen. Opal’s mouth was curled in a wide, calm smile, complimented on both sides by a light pink blush. Their eyes weren’t even open, yet Amy could tell they held that bright spark they got whenever Opal was genuinely happy. As she looked at their face, she noticed she could hear their tail wagging behind them. Opal giggled again, and the sound made Amy’s soul warm.

Seeing her favorite person in the world so cheery, so content, immediately wiped Amy’s mind clean of all the awful emotions and thoughts that had previously plagued it. They must be having a really good dream. The idea that at least Opal was happy, even if almost every single thing going on right now was positively terrible, allowed Amy to find solace.

That single bastion of positivity, as small as it may seem to anyone else, helped Amy to endure the situation. As minutes passed, glorp…’s and glrrt…’s emanating from Opal’s guts as the lifeless remains were pumped through their bowels, Amy just focused on how satisfied Opal must be after such a big meal; how proud they must be of themselves after ‘protecting’ her from someone who hurt her; how nice it must feel for them to get some gas out with every oooOURRraaoRP! or bwuoOARRrrourph…. After a while, she realized even that made her horny- the mere idea of Opal being so happy aroused her. And that was something she was perfectly okay with.

With Amy’s coping mechanism now in action, the rhythm of Opal’s digestion continued as normal, a healthy amount of bwoOAaarOURP!’s and uuUUOoOarP!’s released as their intestines worked hard to convert the many dozens of gallons of Pokémon and girl soup into extra padding. Amy was slightly disappointed to find that there was enough wind today to wisp away the aromatic gasses before they could build enough for her to smell them more than a moment, before quickly chiding herself internally for wanting that.

Every now and then Opal would mumble a half-coherent phrase, or cuddle a bit closer to Amy as their gut shrank and space was made available. She managed to pick up enough of what they were saying to surmise that their dream had something to do with comforting her after she had been bullied; a thought that was both nice to consider, and a bit worrying. They really think of me so much that even their dreams are about me?

As if to confirm the thought, Opal leaned in close, pecking Amy with a light kiss on the forehead. “Mmm… Pretty…” they murmured, giggling happily. “You’re so… perfect…”

Do they really believe that? Of course Opal said she was perfect- they showered her in all manner of compliments whenever they had the opportunity. But Amy had thought that was just how they were; she’d never considered they’d actually hold someone like her in such high regard. It made her wonder how in the world she’d managed to trick them into thinking she was worth such praise, especially when all their other friends were so much more deserving of it.

The rest of Opal’s digestion continued much the same way, their gassy eructations from both ends powering down and spreading out as their massive belly changed to just huge, then to big, then to just large. Finally, after what felt like an eternity- but was likely only forty or so minutes due to the strength of Opal’s digestive system- almost all of their meal was absorbed, signified by a very happy gwwrrrrrgle!…, along with a little urp~ that might as well have been celebratory. Amy could still hear the faint creaking of steel as the last remnants of Opal’s feast continued to be broken down by their stomach; it seemed that, even as strong as their acids were, metal held on for quite a while, despite the flesh it had once protected being long gone.

Shortly thereafter, Amy’s ears were met with the sound of a heavy yawn, accompanied by Opal taking a nice, long stretch. “Ooof…” Opal grunted lightly, a couple small pop’s meeting Amy’s ears as they cracked their joints and back. “Mmm… Gosh, that was a nice nap…”

“O- Opal?” Amy tentatively asked. “A-Are you… awake?”

Opal’s eyes opened in surprise, looking down at her. “Amy?” they questioned. They smiled warmly. “Aww, did you decide to lay with me while I napped? That’s nice of you.”

“Um… Not… Not exactly.” Amy said. “D-Do you… not remember?”

Opal frowned in confusion. “Remember what?”

Amy went to reply, but Opal held up a ribbon to stop her. The movement of the appendage caused Amy to flinch. “Wait, hold on. I’ve gotta burp really quick, then you can tell me.”

Turning away, Opal thumped their chest a couple times, eliciting an ooouuurgle…, shortly followed by a bwaaORP! traveling up their throat and out of their mouth. As it did, Amy heard a wet splat!. Looking over, she saw the tattered, acid-eaten, and digestive-juice-soaked remains of Tina’s top laying on the ground.

“Whew, sorry about that.” Opal apologized. “Now, what were you gonna…”

They trailed off as their gaze landed on the ‘shirt.’ “… Amy?” they questioned, looking at her with a mix of worry and confusion. “… Why did I just belch out someone’s shirt?”

—

As Amy explained the series of events that had led to a half-digested article of clothing coming up with Opal’s excess gas, their expression changed from confused worry, to just worry, and finally to a deep embarrassment as she finished. Even while leaving out particular details Amy didn’t feel Opal needed to know, such as them ‘dealing with’ their prey or their rather large amount of passed gas, they looked absolutely mortified by the end. “O- Oh…” Opal remarked, blushing. “I… I really ate them all?”

“… Yeah.” Amy confirmed, also blushing.

“I… guess that explains why I feel so much heavier…” they said, glancing over their fattened body. “And… after I ate them, I… I…”

“… held me against your belly while you digested them.” Amy finished, blushing even deeper.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry! That must’ve been awful!” Opal covered their face with their ribbons, groaning in shame. “And I did it to someone so nice, too…”

“It’s- It’s okay, Opal. It wasn’t your fault.” Amy assured. “Her Wigglytuff hit you with Sing, and your ribbons just… did their own thing.” she said. “At least you didn’t eat me, right?”

“Yeah, but still!” Opal exclaimed. “Arceus, I can’t imagine how terrible that must’ve felt. I’ve gotta make it up to you somehow.”

“No, Opal, don’t- You don’t have to make up for something that wasn’t your fault.”

“I- I want to, though. That had to have been super upsetting, and I wanna make you feel better.” Opal gave her a pleading look. “Please, let me make it up to you.”

Amy wanted to decline the offer again, but the look of sheer guilt on Opal’s face made her pause. It was obvious that they felt just as bad about all this as she did, and probably wouldn’t feel any better until they felt that they’d made up for what they’d done. “… Alright. If- If you really wanna do something for me, I… I guess you could…”

Opal looked at her, awaiting her request eagerly. It was particularly difficult to think of something both easy enough not to inconvenience Opal too much, while also being impactful enough that they’d feel like they actually helped. Eventually, she landed on something.

“You could… cuddle with me.”

“… Huh?” Opal tilted their head. “Why that?”

Amy flushed. “W-Well, it’s… Your belly looks a lot softer now after… Um, it looks really nice to cuddle with.” she said. “I-If that’s not okay, I can- I can ask for something else.”

“No, no, I’m fine with it. It’s just… Are you sure that’s all you want?” Opal asked. “I’d cuddle with you whenever. Don’t you want something more?”

Amy shook her head. “No, that’s- that’s all I want.”

Opal squinted at her. “… I feel like you’re doing that thing where you ask for way less than what you deserve because you don’t want to be an inconvenience. Please don’t do that.”

Crap.

“I-I’m…” Amy sighed. “… I’m sorry. I just- I’d only feel worse if I made you do anything much when you obviously already feel bad.” she explained. “P- Plus, I’m… I do actually want to see how it feels to snuggle up with it, um… consensually. I just thought it’d also be nice for you, so it’d help both of us feel better without making you put in any effort.”

Opal gave her face a good few moments of examination. “… Alright, we can do that. But I still owe you a big favor afterwards, got it? And I want you to actually use it eventually.”

Amy nodded. “Okay.” she said, fully intending not to.

Opal nodded as well. “Alright then.” They rolled to the opposite side as Amy, exposing the full expanse of their chubby gut to her. “Come on over, whenever you’re ready.”

Amy took a moment just to gaze at Opal’s immense belly. She could tell it was much larger even just as she was talking to Opal, but the sheer scale of Tina and her team’s gracious contributions wasn’t fully apparent until now. There had to have been at least an extra foot and a half of pure Sylveon chub stacked onto the foot or so that had already been there as a result of past meals, wobbling with each breath Opal took. It wasn’t as mesmerizing as their backside- which was also significantly larger, Amy abashedly realized as she briefly glanced towards it- but it was still enough to make her eyes stick to it.

“Is it really that hot?” Opal asked, looking a bit surprised. “I mean, I knew you liked it, but you look like I used Attract on you.”

“S-Sorry. It’s just… it looks so warm and soft…”

“Don’t apologize.” They smiled at her. “I like it when you look at me like that. It makes me feel nice knowing that you find me so attractive.” they said. “Go ahead and stare as much as you want.”

Amy nodded, continuing to gaze at the small mountain of pudge. Once she’d had her fill of eye-candy, Amy made her way over to Opal, laying back down beside them. She wrapped her arms around them, returning the hug they’d given her earlier as she used her grip to pull herself into their cuddly, squishy pillow of a gut. As she would’ve guessed, the extra hundred or so pounds of fat piled onto Opal’s stomach made it even more wonderful than it already had been- warmth flowed into her, washing away the slight chill of autumn and replacing it with a calming, cozy warmth. Once she’d gotten into prime snuggling position, Amy sighed, enjoying the simple pleasure that was holding her best friend in her arms.

Opal hugged her back, embracing her softly as they nuzzled her head. They were careful not to hold her too tight, a gesture Amy noticed and appreciated. As the two held one another, enjoying each other’s company, Amy could feel Opal’s midsection vibrate against her as they purred. She smiled.

Suddenly, the rumbles of Opal’s purring were replaced with a drawn-out rrooaaAARRrRorn…, one which made both of them pause. Amy looked up at Opal’s face, which was now slowly reddening in embarrassment.

“Um…” they said. “I’m, uh… I’m hungry again.”