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VOREMON

The journey continues! In our last episode, Umbreon had to contend with the Tower Leader Flygon, and she reluctantly had to defeat him, despite his kind nature. Despite the need to end the threat he posed, she took him into her womb, rather than simply devour him, allowing him a second chance. Meanwhile, Mew encountered a being who has now promised to help all of the Chosen in their desire to save the Pokémon world. This being, Blackwhite, has already begun his first act of assistance...

Blackwhite gestured at the enormous valley, smiling broadly. "How do you like it?" He asked them all. The valley before them was a sparklingly sunlit open plain, with a swirling river running by a small set of hills. At the top of the biggest hill in the valley was a single large tree filled with berries, and bushes filled with others lining all around. Hovering around in the air above them was Mew herself.

"This is going to be our new home." Mew told them all. "We'll keep all the rescued Pokémon here, safe from the Vore Lord."

"Yes, just in case something...something happens to all of you..." Blackwhite spoke up sadly, nervously. "Also, I'll help to direct you to the nearest towers from here with the others helping out."

"And we WILL be helping you indeed!" Celebi said proudly, suddenly appearing with an armful of berries. The littlest rescued Pokémon all cheered as they ran forward, swarming her and taking the berries while hugging her happily. "Aw, go ahead, help yourself!" She insisted.

"Umbreon, Celebi will be assisting you from hereon. I shall endeavor to help out Lucario...since...well, he needs a motherly touch." Umbreon whispered to her as Lucario began setting up an enormous hall made of logs with the help of a big Charizard and several Grovyle and Sceptile who had defected from the Tower Leader.

"First thing's first." Celebi spoke up. "I've gotta get that Flygon born out of you...you can't save the world if you're eating for two, no offense."

"Wait, I must ask something of thee." A Dragonair spoke up. Her voice was melodious and kindly, yet...somewhat sad. Umbreon could guess why...there was a slight bulge to her stomach. She must have felt guilty about eating a Tower Leader. Blackwhite turned to look at Dragonair, rubbing his head with his clawed hand.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You don't really...look much like an imposing figure." Dragonair spoke up. "Not really a...benevolent deity. You appear more like some...strange blend of holy and demonic TOY."

It was true. He did look a lot like a plush toy. He nervously sighed. "I assure you, I AM powerful, but it depends on something." He informed Dragonair. "Do I FEEL strong to you?" He asked Dragonair.

"...well, you do not LOOK it." Dragonair admitted.

"I'll put it to you this way. If you have a strong, just and good heart, I appear weak because I need not frighten you. If your heart is cruel and wicked and tainted with evil, I appear strong, so that you may know my power." BW explained calmly. "Now..." He clasped his claws together. "Who wants a story?" He asked the little tykes.

"Ooh, I LOVE stories!" Rosalia said happily as she sat down in a large ring with the other children. "How does this one go?"

"It all starts off in the human world." Blackwhite explained. "It's an old tale by Mr. Baum...it goes...like this..." He whispered.

...

...

...

...once upon a time, there was a hard-working student who lived in an attic, and he had nothing in the world of his own but the clothes on his back, whilst on the first floor was a grocer, who had the whole house for his own...save, of course, the attic.

A little Goblin belonged to him. Indeed, every Christmas Eve he was waiting for the grocer to get a dish of jam with a large lump of butter in the middle. The grocer was rich enough to afford this always, and in exchange the Goblin brought good luck.

One day the student had said good night to the Grocer after buying some cheese from him. Yet before he could leave, suddenly he stood still, reading the sheet of paper in which the cheese had been wrapped...It was a leaf torn out of an old book--a book of poetry!

"Poetry?"

Poetry.

"There's more of that over there!' said the grocer. "Indeed, I gave an old woman some coffee for the book. If you like to give me twopence you can have the rest!"

"Oh yes, gimme the book instead of the cheese. I can eat my bread without cheese, but it would be a shame to leave this book torn up. You might be a clever and practical man, but about poetry you understand as much as that old tub over there!" The student laughed.

However, though the Grocer thought this funny, the Goblin was angry that anyone should dare to say such a thing to a grocer who owned the house and sold the best butter and jam all around. So when it was night and the shop was shut, and everyone was in bed except the student, the Goblin went upstairs and took the grocer's wife's tongue!

"Her TONGUE? EWWWWW!"

I know! But you see, she did not use it when she was asleep, and on whatever object in the room he put it that thing began to speak, and spoke out its thoughts and feelings just as well as the lady to whom it belonged. But only one thing at a time could use it, and that was a good thing, or they would have all spoken together and would have NEVER stopped talking. So...he placed it first upon a table where old newspapers were placed.

"Is it true?" The Goblin asked. "That you know nothing about poetry?"

"HUMBUG!" Cried the tub. "Poetry is something that is in the papers, and that is frequently cut out. I have a great deal more in me than the student has, and yet I am only a small tub in the grocer's shop!"

Indeed, the Goblin put the tongue next on a coffee machine, and HOW did it grind out an opinion! He put it on a milk bottle, on a bobblehead, on a cash register, and all the things within the shop had same opinion as the table...and one must believe the majority, correct?

Now the Goblin went off to tell the student, and he crept up the stairs to the attic where the boy lived, slipping towards the key-hole...and he saw that the boy was reading the torn book that he had bought in the shop.

But how bright it was! Out of the book shot a streak of light which grew into a large tree and spread its branches far above the student. Every leaf was alive, and every flower was a beautiful girl's head, some with dark and shining eyes, others with wonderful blue ones. Every fruit was a glittering star, and there was a maaaaaarvelous music in the student's room. The little Goblin had never even dreamt of such a splendid sight, much less seen it...it was simply, utterly divine.

He stood on tiptoe gazing and gazing, till the candle in the attic was put out; the student had blown it out and had gone to bed, but the Goblin remained standing outside listening to the music, which very softly and sweetly was now singing the student a lullaby.

"I have NEVER seen anything like this!" said the Goblin. "I never even expected this! I must stay with the student!"

But then he thought about it. The student had no JAM, and the Goblin had to be sensible.

And on that note he went down to the grocer again. And it was a good thing that he did go back, for the tub had nearly worn out the tongue. It had read everything that was inside it, on the one side, and was just going to turn itself round and read from the other side when the Goblin came in and returned the tongue to its owner.

But the whole shop, from the till down to the shavings, from that night changed their opinion of the tub, and they looked up to it, and had such faith in it that they were under the impression that when the grocer read the art and drama critiques out of the paper in the evenings, it all came from the tub.

But the Goblin could no longer sit quietly listening to the wisdom and intellect downstairs. No, as soon as the light shone in the evening from the attic it seemed to him as though its beams were strong ropes dragging him up, and he had to go and peep through the key-hole. There he felt the sort of feeling we have looking at the great rolling sea in a storm, and he burst into tears. He could not himself say why he wept, but in spite of his tears he felt quite happy. How beautiful it must be to sit under that tree with the student, but that he could not do; he had to content himself with the key-hole and be happy there!

"Poor Goblin."

Poor Goblin indeed.

But then, in the middle of the night on Christmas eve, the Goblin awoke, hearing a great noise and knocking against the shutters--people hammering from outside. The watchman was blowing his horn: a great fire had broken out; the whole town was in flames! Everybody was rushing out of their houses to save their most most valuable possessions, so naturally the Goblin did as well. He leapt up to the student's room, seeing that the student was standing quietly by the open window looking at the fire that was burning in the neighbour's house just opposite.

The Goblin seized the book lying on the table, put it in his red cap, and clasped it with both hands. The best treasure in the house was saved, and he climbed out on to the roof with it--on to the chimney. There he sat, lighted up by the flames from the burning house opposite, both hands holding tightly on his red cap, in which lay the treasure; and now he knew what his heart really valued most--to whom he really belonged...

"Awwwww."

BUT...when the fire was put out, the Goblin thought things over once again. And he said...

"...I must divide myself between the two. "I cannot quite give up the grocer, because of the jam!"

...

...

...

... "And it is just the same with people. We spend our entire lives balancing what we know is good TO us...with what is good FOR us. We cannot give up jam." Blackwhite finished.

"Geepers, that's quite the story!" Eevee admitted, nodding his head.

"Hmm." Umbreon looked thoughtful at this as Celebi placed a paw on her womb. "That really IS a good story...fitting too."

"Yes, it is our plight." Dragonair sighed. "I despise Vore, the power is too horrible to use, and it leaves my heart heavy to engage in it, but while I know I ought to rid myself of it, I can't...because I have to protect this world from the Vore Lord."

"We have to balance our own desires for justice with our desires to indulge ourselves on this journey." Lucario admitted as he stepped forward with the Charizard.

"Indeed. I want to avenge my clan." Charizard growled, clenching his claws. "Until that's done, I won't rest until I've eaten all that side with the Vore Lord, who ruined my people!"

"Careful of revenge. It can turn you into the very monster you seek to destroy." Blackwhite remarked. *And mind your hunger, too, Little Ember.* He added, speaking in a different tongue.

Hearing somebody speak the language of the dragons, Charizard's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. Dragonite smiled slightly as Charizard whined out a reply. *Don't CALL me that! That's not my name anymore! How'd you even find that out!?*

*I'm sorry, I meant...* BW rubbed his chin. *Bonfire that Makes Women Hot to Trot.*

Dragonair giggled as Charizard gave her a dirty look. "Overcompensating much?" She managed to get out.

"By the way Mr. Lucario, how did you get free of your bonds at the tower?" Umbreon asked as she felt a sudden pain in her womb. "OOH!"

"Sorry, he's about to come out." Celebi apologized. "I'm trying to speed it up..."

"I'll deal with the pain." Mew said, placing a paw of his own atop the Umbreon's forehead, cooling and calming her.

"Well, I suppose it's MY turn to tell a story." Lucario decided. "You see, I come from a village far away...we were peaceful farming folk, and I was studying to be a monk..." He informed them all. "Then...THEY came...they...they captured all of us without pity..."

He shivered.

"Thanks to Celebi, I broke free of the bonds I was in..."

...

...

...

...walking around the enormous halls of the Tower, avoiding being caught wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be. Holding a glowing blue sphere close to his body, sweat dripping down his head, Lucario frowned angrily. He was still stewing over the idea of this "Vore Lord".

"What sick, twisted Pokémon would do something like this? And how can anybody go along with him?"

"Some do it for power." Celebi informed him. "Others are forced into doing it out of fear. Others are even brainwashed...and some just do it for food...or for fun."

" Monsters." Lucario hissed as he slunk along the wall, seeing a Hitmonlee pass by.

"Hurry up." Mew informed him. "If you don't keep moving, you'll be gobbled up, remember?"

Indeed. Some towers had a special "trap" installed into their floors. Any Pokémon not recognized by the Tower Leader as being an ally would be, within a five minute period, dropped into a room...where a giant, hungry Pokémon lay waiting. In this tower, it was an Ekans...and Lucario had NO desire to be snake food.

Carefully waiting for the fighting Pokémon to pass by, Lucario tiptoed along the wall, heading up a nearby flight of stairs. Three minutes left...

Luckily the door was there. Big and grey with a large, round indentation in the middle, awaiting the orb within Lucario's hands to be placed in it's rightful home. Lucario thrust it in and with a big "CLICK" the door shuddered and then began to dissolve away into nothingness, allowing Lucario to move forward into a dark hallway.

At the end of the tunnel was a large, open room...and he could see a Pokémon there, sitting in a big, plushy red chair with golden trimmings, stained glass windows behind him.

"Alright, Lucario. You're safe from the trap now." Celebi told Lucario. "I've shut off my barrier so I can conserve energy."

"Who's this?" Lucario wondered, walking towards the center of the room.

"Oh? What have we here?" The Raichu in the room wondered. He looked rather...portly. Kind of simple-minded too. There was a faint gleam of sloth in his beetle-black eyes and this made alarm bells go off in Lucario's head.

"You must be the leader of this place." Lucario growled.

"That's correct! You're well-informed." The Raichu complimented, speaking with a good-natured, jolly sort of tone. "I've no idea how you ended up making it this far without ending up in the belly of my giant Ekans, but I must say I'm rather pleased!" He remarked, getting off the throne. "You just saved me a walk to the ovens!"

"So you plan to eat me." Lucario stated.

"Of course! Why? Aren't you here to feed yourself to me?"

"NO." Lucario snapped. "Of course not! I'm here to defeat you!"

"Defeat me? Don't be silly." The Raichu said calmly. "You wouldn't be able to defeat me in a million years."

"Won't know if I don't try." Lucario insisted proudly, slamming a fist into his chest.

"Know your place, morsel." Raichu said firmly. "THUNDEEEEER!" He roared out.

SCHOOMA-THWOOOM!

ZZZZAAAATTT!

An enormous burst of electrical energy surged through Lucario, who screamed in horror as he fell to the ground. "LUCARIO, NO!" Celebi yelled inside his head.

"GAAH!" He gasped out.

"Heh. Gotcha." Raichu calmly remarked. He approached Lucario, rubbing his chin. "Now I COULD just eat you here and now, ah, but I like to PLAY with my food. Gobbling you now is no fun." He told Lucario. "I just can't ignore my sense of needing a challenge."

"What are you babbling about?" Lucario gasped out.

"Simple. We're gonna play a little... game. If I win, then I'll eat..." He poked Lucario's nose. "You. Up."

"And if I win?" Lucario asked, standing back up.

"That's for YOU to decide. I do this with all my prey who are...feisty. Not all of them die, you know. Sometimes they win and I let them go, unharmed. I DO keep my word." Raichu promised.

"You're too kind." Lucario remarked.

"Accept the offer." Celebi whispered. "But tell him that if you win, you're going to eat him."

"Why?" Lucario wondered in his head.

"To put it simply, there's no way you'll be able to face the Vore Lord as you are now. You need to get much stronger, and FAST."

"The only way to get TRULY strong takes time. This feels...wrong."

"It IS a little wrong, but it's for a greater good." Mew insisted. "I'll release your Vore Seal and you'll be able to eat him."

"Well? What's the hold up?" Raichu asked. "Do you want me to eat you? I can't wait around forever." He whined. "I'm getting quite hungry, and I can't promise how much longer I'll be able to resist wolfing down that delicious-looking body of yours."

"Settle down. I've made my decision. I accept your challenge. If you win, you get to eat me. But if I win...I will get to eat you."

"That's truly the prize you desire?"

"If I'm risking my life, so will you. It is only fair. So...have we a deal?" Lucario asked.

"Of course." Raichu said cheerily. "I'd look like a fool if I backed out now. The challenge shall be...a race. You see, there is a very special maze built into the end of this "twin-dome" style tower. I had it installed as a personal request to the Vore Lord...payment for my joining its forces. First one to reach the end wins."

"That's not fair, you've probably got the race memorized!" Lucario growled.

"Oh no, as I said before, I'm a man of my word and I prefer playing fair. The walls of the maze are always changing, so the route through is never the same for long. Don't worry your tasty little head, you'll be going in just as blind as me." Raichu offered.

"And you play with ALL your food like this?"

"Oh yes, usually. Save the ones that are dead, you know. However when it comes to the race challenge, nobody's beaten me. Anyway, I will have the mechanisms of this tower shut off so the maze won't change on us mid-run. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Lead the way." Lucario remarked.

...

...

...

...Lucario placed his paw on the ground, eyes closed. "Aura...guide me..." He whispered.

A swirling wind seemed to fill his mind. He could hear a thousand different voices all chanting as one, and then...something useful. CENTER.

He raced along the ground, rushing as fast as he could along his paws as his eyes narrowed. Center of the maze, center of the maze, center of...

It wasn't more than two minutes that he found it. A glowing white pentagram...his ticket out. And, therefore, Raichu arrived in the room to see a confident-looking Lucario.

"I-I don't believe it! Nobody has ever gotten to the end of the maze before me!" Raichu gasped.

"Well, I did...and you know what that means." Lucario told him.

"Oh my..." Raichu remarked as Lucario's body glowed pink, shimmering before the sound of a crystal breaking filled the air. "This is certainly unexpected."

"Hmm, now that my seal's broken, you look MUCH more delicious than before. Time for me to gobble you up."

"Heh-heh. Yeah, it certainly looks that way." Raichu said, shrugging. "Oh well, a deal's a deal."

Lucario approached, paw placed on Raichu's shoulder. "You are awfully confident for a being about to be devoured."

"Oh don't get the wrong idea, I'm terrified." Raichu commented. "But you eating me isn't going to make any difference. It doesn't matter how strong you become, you'll never be able to defeat the mighty Vore Lord. You'll get caught, and eaten, and the energy you absorb from me today will be transferred to him. Even in death, I'll serve my master."

"You sure have an optimistic way of staring death in the face." Lucario admitted. "Your loyalty's actually somewhat touching, despite it being twisted."

"I do my best." Raichu remarked cheerily.

"Well, enough chatter." Lucario commented. "I'll eat you quickly, out of civility." He then suddenly knocked Raichu into the air with a single blow, then opened his jaws wide. Raichu fell into the elongated maw of Lucario as he gulped Raichu down, his tongue licking, savoring a slightly springy taste. He pulled Raichu down deeper into his mouth, down to the opening that was his throat. Soon Raichu was resting in Lucario's stomach as Lucario patted his enormous belly.

And so, as a new home is found for our heroes until the Vore Lord's defeat comes, they discuss their pasts to prepare for the future, and they are sure it will be one WITHOUT the tyranny of the Vore Lord. But...only time will tell...