So I was out and about, stocking up on supplies, when a hastily-scrawn note fluttered through the wind and landed at my feet. I glazed over it for a second before realizing that it was another SOS.  Unfortunately, the place this particular Pokemon was trapped in just so happened to be deep underwater, under the one place that I never wanted to revisit- the Vivid Rainforest. At first, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do, but, I knew that I had to steel my nerves and go- help was needed, and I couldn't just sit back and wait for fate to do its job. I flipped the note over, and I saw that a map had been drawn  on the back of it, highlighting one of the many lakes in that forest.

Breathing heavily, I went to the location in question, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary over the water. Then, something caught my eye. I went closer to it, but I didn't want to touch it. It was a scale, like one that comes from a dragon, but I couldn't place what Pokemon had shed it. Then, I heard it- a few bubbles coming up to the surface of the water. By their erratic popping pattern, I knew they were air bubbles, most likely from whatever Pokemon had sent me the SOS note. How he got it out of the water, I have no idea, but I knew what I needed to do next.

I took a deep breath and dove into the water, but not before something grabbed my leg and pulled me under, forcibly. I cried out for rescue and tried to free myself from the now-visible cream-colored coil that was wrapped tightly around me.

"Let me go!" I cried out to the unseen monster below the water. Surprisingly, the coil unwound, enough for me to break free from it and swim to the surface. I took a deep breath of air, and I quickly swam back to shore before that thing could grab me again. One thought rang in my mind,

But that Pokemon's still down there... How can I save it?! 

Before I could come up with a half-decent plan, a large cream head, sporting two red antennae and two hair-like fins under its red eyes, surfaced. I could tell, immediately, by the sorry gaze in this massive Pokemon's eyes, that it meant no harm to me.

"That scarf that you wear..." the Pokemon said.

"Are you part of a rescue team?" it asked. I nodded, quickly. Even though the Pokemon didn't want to harm me at the moment, I didn't want to change the mind of the massive serpent-esque Pokemon. I didn't really know how long the Pokemon really was, as its lower half was submerged.

Best to just help it out, I guess... I thought to myself, looking at the Pokemon with a blank expression on my face.

Relief seemed to wash over this other Pokemon, which then introduced itself as a Milotic and directed one of its antennae at the water. It seemed to be pointing at something, before it broke down in tears. 

"There's a large fisherman's net down there, under the restless river. And it... It entangled one of my friends! I... I tried to get rid of it myself, but I... I just couldn't..." The Milotic showed a small crevasse in its body, where it looked like it had been sliced there.

The scale that I found earlier. This Milotic's skirmish with that net must have been what caused this...

"Do you want me to go down there and try to free your friend?" I asked it. Again, that look of compassion spread across the Milotic's face.

"Yes, but... I think it's far too deep for you to go alone. You'd run out of air by the time you hit the bottom of the river!"

She has a point. I could get down there, but I'd drown if I did anything else...

We sat in silence for a few seconds, before a gentle blush crossed the Milotic's face.

"I have an idea," she finally said, opening her mouth widely. The opening was the size of a large cave to me, and I jumped backwards in alarm.

"You don't mean that you'll..." I blinked in surprise. The Milotic looked hurt, and it looked down at the water in shame.

"But... I really do need help! I know you won't have enough air to make it down there, get rid of the net, and still make it back alive. I... I just thought that would have enough air in there, at least until we hit the bottom... I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

She laughed,

"That would be just silly of me- to swallow the only means of help that I have, at this point." 

Although the idea seemed like a joke for the Milotic, I'd been in one-too-many stomachs to find that as funny as she did. Steeling my nerves, and, against all common sense, I held out my paw towards her mouth.

"I... I'll help," I said, my whole body shaking in fear.

Please don't eat me... Please don't eat me... I silently pleaded, as the Milotic opened her mouth, wide, for me. I braced myself, got a running start, and leaped into the Pokemon's maw- unfortunately, with a little more momentum than I would have liked.

A shock of terror flew over me as I sailed through to the back of the Pokemon's throat, and I pawed at the fleshy walls as fast as I could, hoping I could find some way to slow me, somehow. However, when I could see clear into the Pokemon's stomach, its tongue lashed out and wrapped itself around me.

I hung for a moment, suspended over certain death, by a fleshy mass only a litter bigger than I was. I was about to sigh in both relief and panic, when I felt the Milotic submerge. The tongue recoiled and pulled me, back with it, into the Pokemon's mouth. I could tell that she was moving quickly because the water crashing against the sides of her face would leave tiny imprints in the walls of her mouth. Although it looked a little cool, I couldn't help but try to realize what I had gotten myself into.

Two minutes of waiting inside the hot, fleshy mouth of a Milotic passed, until, suddenly, the cavern began to open. Water started pouring into her mouth, and she told me,

"Hurry- the net is right over there! Do what you need to do, and get back here before...!" I couldn't make out the rest because of the dampening effect water has on voice, but I knew what she was going to say.

Before you drown... I thought, instincts quickly taking over. My eyes tried to adjust to the freshwater assault, while my head coped with the immense pressure from being this far underwater. As I continued to struggle with the large amount of water beating down on my skull, I saw a small object that looked like a spider's web stuck under the side of a rock.

That must be it! I thought, forcing my arms and legs to move me over to it.

When I was within arms' reach of the object, my pendant began to glow, signaling that my life was in jeopardy.

I'm running out of air, quickly. But, with my pendant, maybe I can... try to... move this! I thought, straining as hard as I could against the rock. After three attempts, it didn't budge, and I began to see spots in my vision.

Please... Move... Please! I tried again and again, but the rock wouldn't even move an inch. Finally, I channeled the last of my strength into my paw and slammed it into the rock. It shattered into hundreds of pieces from the impact, and I heard a Pokemon quickly swimming up to the surface of the water. I could barely tell what it was because it was zooming for the surface so quickly, but the small glimpse I caught of it was of a six-foot pink serpentine Pokemon with two beady black eyes. I passed out shortly after, and I didn't see the Milotic's jaw close around me in a loving embrace as it swam up towards the surface.

When I regained consciousness, I  found myself back on the bank of the river. Two Pokemon stared at me, waiting for me to stir. One was the Milotic, and the other was that other pink serpent that I had just freed. My head hurt all over, and it felt weird to even walk.

A familiar female's voice from behind me jarred me back to reality.

"Risk!" a sound that I have come to recognize for all eternity announced the arrival of a bear-hug that always ended in me laughing. Or, rather, not a bear-hug, but a "maw-hug," I guess. I soon found myself inside the horn-jaw of Beta, who was busy laughing the entire time. I could tell she had been worried, as the inside of her horn-jaw had been tightly constricted the very instant she snapped me up.

The Milotic's voice contained nothing but alarm when she spoke. The sound was slightly muffled by the walls of Beta's horn-jaw, but I could tell that she was probably explaining her second stomach to the Milotic right about now.

"You can do that without killing him? How?"

"Long story short, I have two stomachs. I'd tell you more, but our Guildmaster decided to host a banquet today, and I was worried sick that Risk would still be out adventuring and miss it. Then, one of the Pokemon in Treasure Town directed me here. I guess that the friendly passerby had been right."

"You're safe now. That's all that matters," she cradled her horn-jaw and said to me. In response, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Goodbye, Milotic. Hope you and your friend stay safe from now on. I thought, as I nodded. When I awoke, I knew I would be greeted with a large selection of food, an entire host of happy Guildmates, and my team of Crusaders that I could share this little adventure with.

____________________

Well, that was, quite possibly, one of the craziest things to happen to me in a long time. I figured that I was going to die at least three times, but, probably the coolest thing was that Milotic. When I was in her mouth, it was like the inside shifted to meet my needs for that specific situation, like she was experienced in carrying Pokemon in her mouth like that. Anyway, I think I'm going to wait a little bit before I go out adventuring like that again- being inside, not one, but two mouths in a single day is a little bit too much for me.

Good-night,

Risk