“You got us on a night mission?” Lutro said, groaning at what Lara the Shinx showed. She was grinning brightly, fluttering the paper in front of her Buizel partner’s face. It was night already, the two explorers in their dormitory and ostensibly settling in for the night.

“Yep! Got bonus rates and everything.” She swished her tail and suppressed a laugh at the sight of the devastated Water-type. “What’s the matter, Lutro?”

Lutro, having been all geared up for bed, thought it was obvious. “We’re not gonna get any sleep is what’s the matter,” he sighed. “Can’t we just like, do it during the day?”

Lara did laugh this time. “Sure Lutro. We’ll just tell the whoever’s stealing guild food to do it in broad daylight.”

“Er, right...”

“Look Lutro, the guildmaster really wants this problem dealt with.” She tapped a particular part of the mission description with a paw, bat bat. “See what I mean? The guild’s barely taking a cut here? It’s easy money!”

“Except for the whole thing about not getting any sleep,” Lutro muttered, resigned to the fate of the dreaded all-nighter. “You know we still gotta go out tomorrow right?” Just the thought of missing all that slumber made Lutro start to yawn.

“That’s what catnaps are for, sleepyhead. A bit here and there and you practically make up for it.” Lara smirked. “Oh, and did I mention I’m doing this by myself?” Lutro froze mid-yawn. “These sorts of things are best done solo, after all.”

“I uh… but I should be there for you. We’re partners, right?” The Buizel hopped onto his bed and grabbed his scarf, holding it out much like Lara had done with the mission paper. “Stick together and be there for each other and–”

“Save the speeches, Lutro, it’s fine, really. I’m not leaving the place, and at best it’s some pesky little Pokémon creeping through some hole in the wall while everyone’s sleepin’.” Lara winked. “I like late hours. Do you think I sleep through the whole night here all the time? I’ll be fine.” Lutro still seemed hesitant, and Lara blew out a breath that disturbed her bangs. “Seriously, you’ll hardly know I’m gone, and by tomorrow we’ll have a nice fat payday. Could go paint the village red, you know? Get some rest.”

Lutro relented. “Alright alright, just be careful.” He wasted no time burrowing under some covers and flopping his head right down against the softness.

“I’m sure the demons haunting the guild will leave me be if I ask nicely… Oh come on Lutro I was kidding there are no demons. Just get some sleep.” And before Lutro could get another word in Lara tossed hopped up into the round open window and launched into the night. The feat was much less daring considering the guild was very much pyramid-shaped, Lara sliding down to earth, probably spooking some other guild members who were trying to sleep on her way down.

“Good luck,” Lutro said to the empty room, stifling a large yawn and, despite the fretting, was sound asleep in minutes.

Lara’s eyes glowed in the darkness. Her vision wasn’t anything comparable to true nocturnal Pokémon but she wasn’t completely in the dark either. She could make out vague blobs and other shapes, better if they moved. She thought over what the guild had found out so far. The evidence collected suggested someone or someones sneaking in, as opposed to a guild member trying to pinch anything. Members caught stealing weren’t around for long, though they did make filling midnight snacks the guildmaster, who was wont to staying up late hours in his study. But nobody within the guild was taking anything.

No, the thief of the Serpents’ Guild food supply was an outsider. And Lara was determined to catch the culprit. It would take patience and be completely silent, maybe for hours, but stakeouts were something she excelled at. Before Lutro it wasn’t uncommon for Lara to take these sorts of missions head-on. Being on her own had its perks, and one of them was her being able to work when she wanted and sleep when she wanted, and she liked the night. It was cool, it was quiet, and it was when the feistier foes came to play a lot of the time. A good tousle under the moonlight made Lara one happy Shinx the next day, though she figured tonight’s quest wouldn’t come to that.

Lara had settled some rather fragrant spices out in the pantry that was leaking supplies. She tipped her head up and sniffed at the chilly night air, smiling when catching the enticing scent. The lovely aroma made her belly growl, the Shinx adoring spicy foods, but she ignored encroaching hunger and just followed the trail instead. It didn’t take long for her to find a heavy crack along a foundation stones of the guild hall, splitting wide against the ground. An obvious burrowed hole sat at the base, not too big, but big enough for a Pokémon half Lara’s size to squeeze through. The hole practically glowed with aromas, and Lara’s nose almost stung from the intensity. Gotta be how they’re getting in, she surmised, leaping over the hole and catching the slanted walls of the guild. Her legs bunched down against the stone and wood, digging into the latter with sharp claws and climbing her way up. Lara clambered onto a small outcropping, a balcony that extended out from the main mess hall where the guild ate on warmer days, and settled. Her glowing eyes peered over the ledge, the Shinx downwind and out of sight, commencing her stakeout.

Lara was still as a statue, body poised, tail flat against the floor behind her. She kept her glowing gaze on the aromatic tunnel, hardly blinking, for hours, peeled for any sense of movement there or in the surrounding areas. Her gaze only broke from the hole when something would tickle her periphery. A rustle of a bush, a twinkle of a branch, a rustle of wind. Occasionally a Pokémon would make themselves known, but were innocuous and obviously not the culprit. Either they were too big, or ignored the hall entirely, simply living their nocturnal lives under the protective watch of the Serpents’ Guild. Indeed, most crime tended to take place far away from where the guild was, given how easy it would be to get caught otherwise. Lara wasn’t jumping at shadows or leaping to wrong conclusions at the mere sight of Pokémon minding their own business.

The only one that would matter was the one that went towards the hole.

Lara spent some time amusing herself at the thought of Lutro trying something like this. Her partner was great in many ways, but he’d either be sleeping or bored out of his skull if he was here next to her. She suppressed a snicker at the thought of Lutro skulking around, trying to be stealthy, or doing half of what made for good stakeout behavior. She allowed herself a wistful, silent sigh. Heart’s definitely in the right place. But we’ve a lot of work to do before we could even entertain the idea of Lutro having to sneak anywhere. The Shinx was very grateful to have him in a proper open fight, but on top of everything else she genuinely didn’t want Lutro to suffer a sleepless evening. He’d be a total grump the whole next day anyway.

A susurration of wings! Lara’s ears twitched at the tell, and she stole an upward glance. Wasn’t the first flier to disturb the silence that evening, but unlike the others who’d merely been coasting along, this one was coming in for a landing! Lara scooted to the corner of the balcony, where her large Shinx form could just make it under the wooden guard rail and shield her from view. She watched the flying figure coast down and land not a foot from the baited hole. The aromas from the spices didn’t reach the sky: This Pokémon knew right where the illicit ingress point was. Lara couldn’t immediately identify the Pokémon, but she could tell it was definitely small enough to fit. She waited, silent and still, to catch the thief red-winged.

The flier ducked down, and worked into the hole. Lara smiled, sharp teeth gleaming in whatever pale light the moon had to offer. “Gotcha,” she hissed triumphantly. She waited a minute or two, then slunk off the balcony and, claws protruding, carefully walked her way down the slanted walls. She crouched and perched a couple feet from the opening on the ground, all senses tuned to what was going on inside, ears forward, eyes narrowed, tail twitching. Compared to the rest of the stakeout, the 10 minutes she had to wait here went by in an instant. She heard the scuffling of a Pokémon not built for burrowing working its way back out of the tunnel, clearly pushing something along with it. A moment later a small malleable sack popped out of the hole, rolling to a stop some inches away in the grass. She heard tell-tale clinking of glass from the bulging sack, it full to bursting with guild spices and other food. The thief managed quite a bit this time! Lara waited until an avian head poked out of the hole, it twitching left and right, but not up.

Idiot.

Lara pounced, the only sounds coming from her those of claws scraping against wood. She closed on the hole just as the thieving Pokémon was wriggling its body free. It let out a squawk of surprise when 45 pounds of Shinx, forelegs extended, sharp claws shining, crashed in from above. Lara wrapped her legs around the exposed feathered midsection and ripped it the rest of the way out of the hole. “No no no let me go!” The flier’s voice – higher than Lara’s – cried. “This is my food go get your own!” Lara rolled with the mysterious bird thief, feathers askew, until she easily pinned him to the ground. Lara could easily make out the Pokémon now, being so close. It was a Staravia, and by the feel of paws plunged against a soft torso, a well-fed one. No wonder, given how much of our food he’s been gorging on, she thought while seating herself on his tail feathers. The feather patterns and colors were typical, though the extension on his head flowed backward down against his head, as opposed to sticking upright.

The Staravia struggled, but with three points of his body pinned, he wasn’t going anywhere. He flapped his wings rapidly, but did nothing more than scatter more loose feathers about. Only when he stopped, panting heavily, did he notice what was actually keeping him to the ground. His wide eyes grew wider still at the sight of the large Shinx, whose glowing eyes were narrowed to slits, and sharp teeth plainly visible even in the darkness. A blue scarf, ripped in some places, sewn back in others, indicated she was of this very guild. This Shinx looked like one who did not mess around, carrying herself with a wild, overgrown mane, battle scars and scratches, even missing a chunk of an ear! The fur around her swaying tail displayed a similar unkempt nature, it bristled and sticking out every which way. This Pokémon, staring sinisterly down at him, wasn’t going to put up with any guff.

But since guff was all Flicker the Staravia had to offer, he gulped and tried to bargain his way out anyway. “O-oh h-hey,” he chirped with a shiver. “Listen uh I’ll split the food with you. You can have more than half. Heck just take it all, I d-don’t mind!” He became rather generous when a larger feline Pokémon had him dead to rights. He fell silent, waiting for some response from the smirking Shinx. She hardly moved, save for the digits of her paw pressing into his chest, feeling his rising heart rate, making the Flying-type look all around for non-existing aid.

After a minute, Lara simply laid down, crossing her fores across the pinned bird and covering his entire lower half with her form. “Oh, no, please continue. I want to hear more offerings from the moron who’s been pilfering from us for weeks now.” She lowered her menacing gaze further, snout brushing against beak. “I’m all ears.”

“M-m-my name’s Flicker, Ms. Shinx,” he babbled. “I uh, am feeding lost orphan Pokémon! Gotta look out for those in need, you know? J-just like the guild does!”

Lara barked out a laugh. “Well, I’m not so sure about that.” She extended a hind back and gave the bag of stolen goods a nudge, making the spice bottles clink around some more. “I’ve yet to meet a hungry Pokémon getting full on paprika.” Though she knew there was plenty of food in there too, her words made the Staravia practically wilt. “No, I’m sure this, like all the other times, is all for you. Been stuffing yourself, haven’t you?” she accused, extending a single claw and teasing it against the soft midsection the bird had recently acquired. “No need to answer, I can feel it on you. Not exactly desperate through near-starvation are you, mister orphan-feeder.”

Flicker gave up. “A-alright fine, you caught me!” he moaned, trying and failing to wriggle out of the Shinx’s grasp. “Just turn me in, alright? I’ll take my punishment! I won’t even struggle any more, look see?” Flicker dramatically flopped his head to the side, and closed his eyes a moment. He peeked one open a second later, to see Lara’s reaction.

He didn’t like what he saw.

“Oh, you’ll get what’s coming to you, Flicker,” Lara vowed. She sat up and, keeping a hind on the base of Flicker’s tail, turned and rummaged into the sack. Flicker had no idea what she was up to, just watching the star-tipped tail flick back and forth right over him. Lara scooped out a bottle, gave it a sniff, and smiled. “Ah, curry pepper. Perfect.” She nosed the bottle around and sat it upright, casually twisting the cap off. “You like spicy food, Flicker? Because I love it.” Flicker could only gawk as Lara took the spice and casually sprinkled it over the prone Staravia’s body, coating him in a light dusting of the stuff. While Lara seemed unaffected Flicker’s eyes were watering, just from the bottle being so close.

“A-as a matter of fact I do b-but not too much because it’s so hot you know?” Lara ignored him, giving a second dusting, before taking her paws and working the distributed curry into his feathers. She dusted her paws and capped the bottle, and gave Staravia a hungry look. “U-uh M-Ms Shinx?” he stammered, shaking like a leaf and knowing the answer. “Wh-what exactly is my punishment?”

Lara openly licked her lips, and gave Flicker a lick to the cheek. Slurping her tongue across her mouth again, she sat back and hefted the stunned bird up, wings clasped to his side. “Oh I think we both know the answer to that.”

Flicker’s beak dropped open, and he immediately renewed his struggles. His wings strained against the paws pinning them against his own form and he shook his head violently. “No no don’t! Please, don’t eat me, I’ll never steal again honest!” But the Shinx keeping a vice-like grip to him only smiled wider… and then she sparked. Flicker let out a frightened squeak even before the bolt leapt from her to him, and he felt it from beak to talon. Feathers stood on end from the simple shock, and muscles froze stiff. “O-oh no,” he whimpered in terror, unable to do much more than fidget and twitch parts of his body.

And with the Flying-type thief paralyzed, Lara ate him alive.

Flicker watched, heart thudding, as Lara’s jaws spread wide open. There was little drool, but the tongue that lolled out still glistened faintly in the moonlight. Other parts of the interior shone with way too much detail to the terrified Staravia, and he tried with all his might to lean his head away or protest or do something. But the paralysis held him in place, and all he could do was moan and beg, when the big Shinx’s jaws came down right over his head, beak sliding across the tongue and already prodding to the back of her throat. “Mmff, n-n-nooo–” GLRK. Lara’s tail silently swished along the ground in pleasure, gnawing around Flicker’s neck and drawing more of him in with subsequent swallows. Her neck pushed out as a bird head and crest crushed down her gullet, her maw kept wide to fit the smaller chubby Pokémon inward in fits and spurts. She could feel him protesting, muted squeals bubbling up from within her. Lara’s response was to do something she rarely did: Purr. The rumbling tones made Flicker cry out even more desperately, even when the eager tongue worked back and forth on his underside, feathers skewed and ruffled, plumper midsection tasted thoroughly. “S-someone, s-stop this Shinx from eating me aliiiive!” he roared to no-one.

One of Flicker’s eyes was clenched shut, covered in drool and probably worse, as another heavy swallow pulled the bulk of his wings and stomach into Lara’s mouth. She crunched her jaws down heartily at that point, feeling the pudgy parts squish and make room, his curry-coated feathered flavor exploding wonderfully across her tongue. He wailed when his head slursh’d right into the Shinx’s belly, the stench awful, the noises scary. Yet he still could hardly move, head and neck forced to slide through whatever inert fluids lay along the stomach floor, all while feeling less and less of the chilly night air on his back half. The last of his wing’s primary feathers were gobbled up, bent and broken, the bird hoping no bones would join their fate. Lara cared little for her prey at this point, and it was mere chance he was mostly uninjured (despite the overwhelming cramped space). Her tongue managed to cup up between Flicker’s legs, tasting his rear, as fanged jaws continued to clench and drag more of the Staravia inward. Her neck was swollen generously with his form at this point, and her belly began to sag. Another thick GULK swelled Lara out further, a GLURSH heard when more of Flicker sloshed into the belly. There wasn’t much of Flicker left, but his twitching never stopped. His tail feathers flicked up and down, with talons clasping weakly at nothing. It wouldn’t be long now, he knew, before his fate as a Shinx snack was sealed.

Lara allowed herself to really revel in Flicker’s curry-enhanced flavor. She worked her jaws around the bird’s protruding rear, gulping and drooling slightly over what remained. She dragged her tongue around his pudgier parts until, with a clutching of jaws and pulsation of throat muscles, there was nothing but talons and tail feathers left surviving. Flicker’s body largely squelched down that throat and into the stomach, and Lara’s scarf was at its most-strained at this point. It held around her thickened neck, though, and her belly was more than capable to survive the Staravia’s size. The Shinx stood, her belly able to sag downward with its newfound freedom, and tilted her head upward to finish the thief off. Flicker moaned when his head bent awkwardly up against the back of the stomach, pushing his obvious bulge out between Lara’s hinds, while she gradually slurped in his own! They’d just managed to slip past the threshold of sharp teeth, as they clasped together with a sudden, climactic clack. He gasped as the back half of his tail feathers got a sudden shave,  the bitten-in-half feathers fluttering to the ground. Nothing anchored the poor Staravia to the outside world now, and he felt his rear expertly maneuvered to the back of Lara’s mouth.

“No, please, don’t swallow, let me out, n-noooo!”

GLOURK!

Lara’s head was held high, the prideful Shinx smiling brightly with Flicker’s form visibly sinking down her neck and joining him in the stomach. A rather loud SLOSH followed by a meeker, barely-audible “mffff!” bubbled out from her fully-distended stomach, which strained against her legs and the ground. Her sides pushed out beyond her legs, much like it was already doing under her own rump, though her paws still stood flat on the ground. Lara’s face contorted when she rudely burped, spittle and feathery bits decorating the grass before her. “A good way to polish off a mission,” she commented with a dainty lick of her lips, scooping something off the ground. “Time to turn you in, whatever your name was.”

“Mff! Hllllp!” Grrrrwwwlln…

Lara snickered as she began her laborious walk, half-waddling, with the belly mushing against the ground to every step and audibly groaning. “Going to sleep well tonight,” she mused, then came to a halt. “Oh, right.” She backtracked and clutched the food-laden sack in her teeth, and proceeded to walk backwards, dragging the burden across the ground. Flicker felt just like that sack at the moment, the whimpering Staravia feeling the ground drag beneath the Shinx’s swollen stomach. He chirped mindlessly as stomach acids already began pouring in from the walls, soaking into his feathers, warming up to their digestive duties, to dissolve the thief for nothing more than another Pokémon’s nutrition. He barely fit as it was, with his body scrunched up in all manners of awkwardness, talons even poking into his own midsection uncomfortably. Even if he wasn’t paralyzed, the Staravia would be lucky to budge his beak inches in either direction.

And the rising stomach fluids continued to fill in what few gaps there were in the dark, squelching confines of the Shinx stomach.

Lara was paying Flicker absolutely no mind at that point, sweating as she dragged the sack of food across the dark empty guild halls. She didn’t mind the post-meal workout, though, as she wouldn’t be able to sleep on a full stomach without burning some of the excess off anyway. She continued her walk backwards, knowing the guild hall by heart, going up stairs, past dormitories, and towards the mess hall. Her backside was raised, tail mindlessly swaying in the air, as she dragged sack full of food and belly full of Flicker through the quiet corridors. Maybe I should start carrying a bit of curry with me whenever we go out, she idly mused, silence broken only when her belly let out a vociferous churn. Could probably even get Lutro to give it a try. Wonder how he takes spicy stuff. Lara sighed contently as she made it back to the pantry, and as expected, found it ransacked to a degree. She hauled the returned foodstuffs over to a corner, and would deal with sorting it out in the morning. Rotating her neck about her shoulders, the well-fed Shinx made to head back outside for a little walk. “Hope you’re doing well in there, thief,” she taunted with a sinister grin.

“Mpph? Mff mfff! M-mff–” GLRTCH.

“Thought so.” Without the sack of food Lara felt considerably lighter on her feet (despite her gait still being more akin to a Ducklett at the moment). She meandered through the halls heading for the exit when she heard her noise. She peered down a hallway and saw one door with light escaping. A particularly large door, decaled with several serpents about its wood frame.

The guildmaster was keeping late hours again.

Lara thought a moment, shrugged a shoulder, and went down to pay Karishi a visit. May as well give him the good news now. She reached the towering door and gave it a gentle knock, stomach dragging and burbling under her.

“Come in,” a soft voice called, and Lara pushed the door open with a grunt of effort. A Serperior several times the size of a typical one was comfortably coiled on a matching-sized soft pillow, bundled up near a flickering fireplace, with a book perched near his head. Karishi looked up and removed his comparatively-tiny reading glasses, a smile forming at the edge of his lips. “Ah, Lara! I see you’ve dealt with our repeated intruder?” Lara’s prideful smirk answered his question for him, the Shinx prowling on in and taking a seat before the massive serpent. She put a paw to her blue-and-black stomach, and pushed it in daintily, making a faint gurgle rumble out, before tossing a few of the bitten-off tail feathers to the floor.

“That would be correct, Guildmaster. Baited the room with something fragrant to find where they were coming from and just waited. She rubbed at the noisy stomach some more, allowing herself a chuckle. Karishi joined in the moment of mirth, before peering out behind her.

“I assume you let your partner sleep? I know you don’t need company kept during a stakeout, and you care enough to not make both of you keep late hours, but I imagine Lutro was somewhat insistent he join you?”

Lara laughed. “Oh he was having nothing of it. Wouldn’t want him letting the whole forest know we were watching anyway.”

Flicker found nothing amusing about any of this. Even though he was privileged to be privy to such a private conversation with one of the guildmasters, he felt no sense of pride! Loud gurgles and groans were his only company, and the Staravia felt his feathers get more and more soaked in the deadly fluids that flooded the squishy insides of the belly. He was barely conscious at this point, moaning what little he good, but he doubted the guildmaster was going to force him free at this point…

“You know, of course, that you still have to go out tomorrow too?” Karishi reminded. “You’ll receive the mission’s bounty of course.”

Lara waved dismissively. “Nothing I haven’t done before.” Lara stood and stretched, raising her rump and letting the noisy belly sprawl out behind her. “See you in the morning, Guildmaster.”

Karishi re-settled his spectacles and resumed reading. “Mm, rest well, Lara.” The Shinx turned and walked with as much dignity as she could on a full stomach, though her waddle returned just as she exited. As she toddled through the halls and back outside, she beamed. The big payoff was secure, and the cost outside some lack of sleep, was enjoying a full, spicy meal!

Guild life was definitely suited for this Shinx.

*	*	*

Lutro didn’t meet back up with Lara until well past breakfast. His partner had decided, not for the first time, to sleep outside. Lara had found a comfortable perch near the guild hall, a strong tree with open, inviting branches with which to sleep off her immediate reward comfortably. Her active belly, straining with the throes of digestion and squirms of still-living Pokémon prey, sagged over the edge. Flicker had passed out some time during the night, and was still being worked down into a pile of pudge for the sated Shinx. Lutro had caught sight of Lara just as she was rising and stretching, and he waved brightly to her. Lara, naturally, skipped breakfast.

She’d permitted Lutro to take the lead on the day’s efforts. The Buizel took point, having signed them up for some run-of-the-mill tasks. He was perched atop a fallen tree trunk and surveying the wooded area for one of the more rare lost items of the day. Lara, doing her best to hide her struggles, clambered up beside. Thank goodness for claws! She stood next to Lutro and hid all but the smallest of grunts of effort when making the climb. How does he haul himself around so easily with that gut all the time? she mused.

“Mm, nothing around here either,” Lutro said. “You’d think it’d be easier to find a silver necklace fit for a Rhyhorn, right?” He gave his partner a sidelong glance. Lara shrugged.

“It’s a big forest.” Shinx stood strong on all four legs with her tail poised. Her belly still bulged prominently with whatever remained of last night’s meal, Flicker nothing more than softened roundness stretching out blue and black fur. The bottom of the stomach grazed tree bark, but, to Lara’s relief, it no longer bulged out her sides or under her legs. Some had moved to her thighs and backside, though overall she was hauling less around. Digestion was still churning along, forest ambiance broken apart by the occasional wet groan from her middle. “Some Pokémon could’ve stolen the necklace for themselves too.”

“With how heavy she said it was?” Lutro giggled, stealing a glance to the full Shinx’s belly. “Can’t imagine any Pokémon weighing themselves down like that…” he fell silent under a rather threatening Shinx stare. Lutro rolled his eyes, a glint of humor appearing in Lara’s gaze. “Right right I know. No more cracks after catching a criminal.”

“Would hate to remind you about a certain saying regarding pots and kettles,” she grinned. Lara was a tough nut, but has softened ever-so-slightly towards Lutro when it was just the two of them. “Few days and I’ll be back to my usual self.”

“I promise I will not enjoy it while it lasts then.” Lutro stuck his tongue out at her, the two explorers leaping from their perch as one and moving deeper into the forest. “Nothing for you tonight at dinner then?”

“I think I could have something small,” Lara, managing not to waddle any more, said. When next they paused she gave her pleasantly-full belly a squish with a paw. She grinned, showing teeth, the soft flesh of her stomach yielding and burbling to the pressure.

“Something spicy.”