Contest #2: Komaru's entry!

This story is a submission for the HPF's first story-based contest, written by Komaru. If you wish to vote for this entry, please use this thread!
(All entries are posted exactly as submitted for the contest.)

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Snorlax’s Snack

“Never, ever, go anywhere near the fields to the east of the temple.” The temple’s elder said to the young

Riolu. A small tribe of Riolu and Lucario lived in a temple in a mountain far from humans. This temple was built so long

ago that both Pokémon and human alike forgot its name.

This young Riolu’s name was Canem, he was an impetuous, curious, Riolu, who never really cared about rules

that could not be easily explained. The rule that he hated the most was probably the first rule that any young Riolu

learned. Not to approach the plains located to the east of the temple. These plains were usually lush with verdant

grass, however, from time to time; usually about once a month, large circular patches of barren wasteland would

replace the vegetation in the run of a night. Now Canem wasn’t the first Riolu (or Lucario) to be interested in this

phenomenon, but upon leaving the temple, none of these Pokémon were ever seen again, not that no one ever tried to

investigate these disappearances, but they either came up with nothing, or went missing themselves.

Canem had researched these disappearances and the proceeding investigations to the best of his abilities,

trying his best to find a pattern, the only thing that seemed to him to be common in all of the disappearances is that

anyone who disappeared, did so during a 3 week window each year. This window, however, varied. This left Canem

with little more information then when he started, but he was determined to find the cause of these mysterious

disappearances.

About 3 months later, after preparing everything he’d need for his exploration of the plains, food, a variety of

status curing berries, a pair of crude binoculars, and of course, a journal to report any findings. When Canem reached

the entrance to the plains, he found the temple elder, Gentori, blocking his path. “You really are a determined young lad

aren’t ya?” He asked the young Riolu, with a bit of a chuckle. “You know that there are dangers out there that you can

scarcely imagine, right?” he asked, returning to his rather serious nature. “Yes, Elder, and I am prepared to take that

risk.” Canem replied. “I feel I have made all of the preparations necessary to investigate the disappearances, and to

survive, I have even taught myself some of the “aura arts” That Lucario have mastered so well.” This impressed the

elder. “I admit, you have proven to me that you are dedicated to this role, and I am just as interested about finding

out the fate of the Pokémon that were lost as you are. Best of luck to you, Canem.” With that the Riolu took his very

first step out of the temple he had grown up in, and his first step towards a dangerous world.

The beginning of Canem’s trek seems to have brought good fortune, as the “sign” of the disappearances; the

large crop circles were present in the field, becoming even more numerous the further from the temple he voyaged. The

young Riolu was very attentive and noted every miniscule detail in his journal, from the exact size, using his feet as a

unit of measurement, to just how barren the patches were, some even had a strange smell about them, something

familiar, but still somewhat different.

After thirteen hours of vigorous exploration, Canem could not find it in himself to push on further, sweat

dripping down his blue fur, and even “polishing” the metal plates of his fists. “Phew… I guess I’d better set up camp

here for the night.” The young Riolu said to himself, pulling the canvas for his tent out of his exploration bag before

searching for some sticks of the correct length and strength. After his tent had been set up he stepped inside and

wrote his thoughts and achievements for today in his journal. Just before the Riolu fell asleep he heard what he could

have sworn was a loud snore, coming from further east, however, he dismissed this as a hallucination caused by his

own fatigue and fell asleep. He had no idea how wrong he was…

Canem rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he woke ten hours later, refreshed from a good night’s sleep. After

splashing some cold water from his canteen on his face, the young riolu heard the loud snoring from the night

before. “Hmm…the same noise I heard last night, I wonder what it could be; it’s obviously not my imagination.” Canem

said to himself, also being sure to note this in his journal. “I guess I better head out again.”

Canem continued his journey east, noticing the snoring becoming louder and more frequent, like an ever

present thunderclap. Finally, upon the horizon, appears a large beige dome. “Woah, what could that be?” Canem

wonders aloud. Then it came to him; it’s the belly of a Snorlax. The Riolu ran behind a tree nearby the Snorlax and

began to hastily scrawl notes in his journal, the size of the beast, location, even scribbling a few pictures of it. The

beast then began to stir, and the Riolu ran, leaving his journal under the tree.

After running for a while, Canem tripped over a root. He fell unconscious, and when he awoke, he found

himself under an enormous shadow. {Where am I and how’d I get here?} The young Riolu thought to himself. Before

long however, the Snorlax towering over top of him noticed him wake. “So you are awake little one.” It said in a

booming voice that carried around the empty plains. Canem quickly got his bearings and looked around; all of the grass

around him was gone, undoubtedly eaten by the Snorlax. “Are you the one causing the disappearances of the Lucario

and Riolu from the temple?” Canem asked the Snorlax. “If you call feeding myself ‘causing disappearances’ then yes;

and now I’ll do the same to you, I ate all of the grass in this area, but I’m still hungry!” With that a thick, massive arm

shot towards Canem picking him up by his arm, lifting him towards the Snorlax’s head. “Good bye then, little Riolu.” The

Snorlax booms, tossing Canem into her maw. Inside of the maw, Canem tried to struggle against the tongue as it slid all

over him coating him in slick, oily saliva. Canem realized that the Snorlax would swallow him soon, and attempted to

grab onto the large, writing tongue underneath him, this, however, did not avail him as his already slippery paws could

not grasp the saliva coated tongue; and just as the young Riolu thought, the tongue started to curl around him and

push him towards the gaping hole of the gullet. “Come on, Canem, you can get out of this.” He says to himself, doing

his best to fend off the tongue, but again, his efforts are in vain as the Snorlax’s gullet muscles grab his legs, pulling

him down into Snorlax’s throat. Canem listens to the contented murring of the Snorlax as she enjoys her meals

struggles and the gurgling of her stomach below as it processes its latest meals, no doubt a lot of grass maybe a

couple of other unlucky Pokémon. Finally the valve to her stomach opened and pushed the young Riolu into the liquid

filled cavern below, filled with saliva, stomach juices, and the remains of her previous meals. All Canem can hear as her

stomach gets to work on digesting him is the loud gurgling and groaning of her stomach, her heartbeat above him, and

finally the sound of her falling asleep, the energy of this meal will keep her full for another few months; looking on the

bright side, at least Canem’s journal survived, some other explorer may find it and report his findings. This is his last

thought as he passes out, nothing more now, then food for the Snorlax.