The workshop was lit by a single lamp in the corner of the room while a Mawile sat at a stool, hunched over a financial booklet. They were getting worried about money; The past couple of days have seen multiple clients of hers failing to deliver their payments for her magical services. In fact, they'd been failing to return from their travels at all. She would have to take more drastic measures to keep up with her constant purchasing of magical tools and trinkets if this kept up. What was Amelia to do except being proactive about finding answers? To that end, she stood from her seat and left her home to go investigate.

Her inquiries led to a rumor of a mysterious beast swallowing up the villagers of her town. That was an unusual circumstance; monsters didn't usually show up around the Dominion Archipelago, especially on the island that was her home. If they did, they quickly became news and Pokemon were quick to begin hunting it. Indeed, there were only a few monsters in the region that many Pokemon dared not hunt for fear of losing their lives. Beasts of immense strength and terror, well cataloged in their abilities but as of yet unmatched and unchallenged. Amelia remembered the bounties on those beasts, should she be able to get trophies from any of them. Perhaps she would go hunting if she couldn't solve her financial problems, but first this mysterious beast.

The disappearances all occurred around the same area, northwest of the town. A road existed between the town north of the island and her own town on the southern point of the island. There was a large tropical forest in that area that the road ran through where it would be easy for a monster to hide, especially if it was small. Given the lack of information, Amelia was quick to assume this monster was a small but vicious predator and prepared herself accordingly, equipping her magic bracelets with her mega stone and keystone. They would significantly bolster her power should she be forced into conflict.

She left town and marched into the forest, wherein she was met with solitude. Normally there were feral Pokemon out in these woods; small rodents and birds that were known to pester undefended travelers for food and shiny objects. They were mysteriously absent, much like this beast of mystery. She searched for clues of the victims' whereabouts and almost immediately happened upon a sword and shield lying in the grass. They were of high quality and only recently abandoned, likely belonging to one of the victims. Nearby, she found a scarf that was relatively undirtied. And also nearby, she found a well-maintained hat. Whatever this beast was, this was likely its hunting grounds and it was very good at capturing its victims.

Her senses lit up and she turned, launching a blast of light at whatever was behind her. It turned out to be some sort of weird vine-like tube that was about to grab her up. The attack struck the plant and it was repelled, reeling back to an orange-shelled, autumnal Chespin. It was one of three vines extending from his being, where Amelia would normally expect there to be two. The third, appearing to extend from the back of his neck, was the only one that was unfurled and gaping open though it closed up as it returned to him. She calculated that it was the only one able to do so, judging by the appearance of the remaining two vines. This Chespin seemed... very much not like a beast, despite its abnormal neck vine. They seemed like a normal commoner, in fact, with their orange and green-spotted hoodie and brown ring around their right ear. "What are you doing?" Amelia asked them, ready to defend in case they attacked again. "This place is dangerous right now. There's a beast that's-"

"Absorbing everyone?" The Chespin asked, giving her a devious smile. The upper-most vine unfurled again, showing her the inside. It was completely hollow on the inside, but the innards appeared to look soft and ridged like it was made to have a ton of surface area. It must have been some sort of digestive tube, Amelia theorized, and she came to a conclusion: This Chespin was the one devouring all those townsfolk, and this strange tube-like vine was how he did it. It was lunged at her and she responded by releasing a plume of fire in its direction, catching the vine alight and forcing the Chespin to retract it again. "What the?! You're not a fire type! How are you spitting fire at me?!" They exclaimed, lunging the vine at Amelia again. This time she failed to counter and the vine snatched her up. "Hah, gotcha!" The vine quickly enveloped the Mawile and sucked her up, slowly pulling her down the length of the orange plant.

Or so he thought, as a moment later he could sense somebody behind him. "Surprise!" The Mawile exclaimed, swinging a foot shrouded in dark energy at him and sending him flying into a nearby tree.

The Chespin groaned, stood up, and looked back at the bulge with a perplexed expression. He realized that he could taste nothing from the victim within if it even was such a thing! A moment later, The body turned into a plume of fire inside his vine. A substitute, only somehow able to explode with fire! That hadn't been an ordinary attack, he thought. The Chespin screamed in agony as the vine was burned up. He quickly grabbed the vine from partway down and yanked the burning end off, regenerating the tip a moment later. "That hurt!" He grunted at the Mawile.

"And I'm supposed to cry for you? You're the one trying to absorb me." She replied, taking a fighting stance.

The Chespin pursed his lips and admitted she had a fair point before firing pins of grass at her, charged with a tremendous amount of energy. The Mawile responded by firing a blast of force, knocking the pins away from her before they could strike. The blast was strong, too, enough to catch the Chespin and hurl him into the same tree as before. He couldn't even tell what that attack had been if it even was one! Growing frustrated, he stood and fired his pin missile again, only for the same thing to happen again. "Stop doing that!" He shouted at her, annoyed.

"Try something different then!" She answered, boastfully. She broadened her shoulders and made a fighting pose as if mocking the Chespin. They took this as a challenge and curled up, rolling at the Mawile at high speed. They were charging blindly, so they didn't predict that they would not only miss her but also be struck in the back as they rolled past her, catapulting them into a boulder. Luckily their shell was well hardened for Rollout attacks or it likely would have left them dazed or unconscious.

The Chespin stood and reoriented himself with the world. The Mawile was still standing there, ready to fight. Except... she wasn't really fighting now, was she? The Chespin realized that the Mawile was instead standing ready to counter his attacks. Even so, that shouldn't have been enough to confront him. Not with all HIS strength! "You're pretty strong." The Chespin admitted. "Who are you, anyway?

The Mawile smiled. "I am Amelia, archmage of the wizard's tower of this island. What about you? Do you have a name?"

A wizard, and apparently a strong one. He should have realized something was not right about this Mawile from the moment she unleashed fire upon him. "I'm Hypha." He replied. He knew what question was coming next, so he answered: "If you're wondering, Yes. I'm the one who's been absorbing all the Pokemon in this forest. I keep thinking I got them all but they keep showing up! It's not much but it's still something."

Amelia felt confident enough about the situation to approach the Chespin. "So, you ate every wild creature in this forest and then you ate the townsfolk using the trail to get to the next town over. That's rather undignified of you. What's a civil Pokemon doing eating civilized Pokemon, anyway? Is your appetite that big that you aren't content with a whole forest of wild ones?" Hypha began to answer, but as he did he lunged his vine at the Mawile again and grabbed her by the head. He paused, before swinging the vine around and tossing the body away as it exploded into flames again. Amelia once again appeared behind him, asking "Do you wanna try that again?"

Evidently, capturing this Mawile was going to require trickery, Hypha thought. "No." he replied.

"Sit with me, would ya?" She asked, pointing out a log and sitting down upon it. "Listen, I need you to help me here. Those Pokemon you absorbed were my clients, and I'll not be eating for about a week if I don't get their money. So, tell me why you absorbed all those Pokes and tell me what it's gonna take for you to give them back."

Hypha sat down and replied "Hah! Like I'd give them back. I needed their energy to grow stronger, and stronger I grew! Like I said, it wasn't much but-"

"But you could get so much more if you actually had some good quarry." She remarked. "If you're looking to get stronger by absorbing others, why not start with actual monsters? The beasts that threaten this land?"

After a pause, Hypha replied, "Nah, capturing your townsfolk is more fun!" He laughed and blew a raspberry at the Mawile, teasing her.

Amelia simply rolled her eyes and said "Look, I have a spell that can reform Pokemon if I get a hold of their energy, their soul, their remains, whatever. If you can give them back to me, I can help you get however much energy you want."

"Starting with yours?" He asked, opening up his vine and showing her the inside of it. "C'mon, I'm hungry for more energy! And hungry in general, to be honest. Haven't eaten in a while and absorbing doesn't do my stomach any good."

The Mawile just casually pushed the gaping vine away and said: "Ok, sure." She said, catching the Chespin off guard. She explained, "I'll give you my energy and help you find three tremendously powerful beasts to absorb, and they in total will be significantly more energy for you than what you got out of my clients. And in exchange, you'll give the townsfolk back and not go on a rampage against the civilians of this area again. Can we make a deal out of that?"

Hypha shook his head. "First of all, if I absorb you then you won't be alive to help me find anything. How do I know you won't run away in the middle of me absorbing one of these beasts? And second, how do I know you're telling the truth about beasts in the first place? You could just be taking me somewhere far away and then ditching me."

The Mawile simply offered her hand. It glowed a faint pink. "Let's shake on it. I'll give you energy in exchange for the townsfolk's safety. Deal?" The Chespin hesitated before offering his hand, whereupon he felt energy rush into his arm. It was some sort of spell centered around their deal. As soon as the energy stopped flowing, Hypha felt a great urgency to give her the townsfolk back. They immediately acted upon this urge, forcing their energy into the Mawile via their shaking hands. She smiled and said, "Great, thanks for helping me!" She stood and put her hand on the ground. Several arcane-looking circles appeared on the ground and the townsfolk Hypha had absorbed faded into existence through a cloud of purple mist. As soon as they were aware of their surroundings and saw the Chespin, they bolted.

If there was one thing Hypha hated, it was having something taken from him. "That was rude!" Hypha shouted, swinging his vines at her in frustration.

The attack was a simple vine rather than his absorptive one, so Amelia simply swung her maw around and the vine wrapped around it. She tugged at it and pulled the Chespin up to face her. "We made a deal and you fulfilled your end of it. Now if I don't fulfill my end, my life is forfeit to you." She said. "That's your trust factor, alright?"

If the feeling of urgency Hypha had felt a moment ago resembled what the Mawile was feeling now, then he believed her. "Alright then. Where do we start?"

"First, I need to teach you a spell," she said, putting her hand to the ground again. "Neither of us is strong enough to face any of these beasts but, judging from the energy I can sense in you right now, our power combined may suffice. I'm going to give you my energy to aid you in this hunt. Trust me; you'll need it. When you have my energy, use this spell I'm performing now..." She dragged her palm over the dirt and the symbol from before appeared on the ground again "... and that will allow me to reform, albeit with my energy almost entirely depleted. Then I will lead you to our first quarry."

Hypha wasn't too sure why, but watching the Mawile perform the spell just now made him feel like he could mimic it exactly. He felt that Amelia had imparted the knowledge to cast it to him. "And this time you're actually gonna let me absorb you? instead of setting yourself on fire?"

Amelia nodded. "Oh, ah! One more thing..." She remarked. She reached into the back of her Maw's throat and pulled out a small orb. "Hold this, please! A power like yours just has to be studied!" Confused, Hypha took the orb in his hand. He wasn't sure why she cared about studying him, but whatever. "Ok then, absorb me." She said, holding up her arms to be grabbed.

Hypha grinned. Finally! He lunged his vine forward and unfurled it, enveloping the Mawile's arms and pulling her up. Yes, this time he could feel it. He had her, and her energy! It all started draining into him before she was all the way in the vine, too! Hypha groaned as his heart raced and his blood boiled, feeling the Mawile's vast stores of energy flowing into him. "Oooh, yes! You're the best morsel I've had in ages!" He remarked, pulling her further up the vine. She didn't make an effort to struggle against him, much to Hypha's surprise. The energy flow only grew stronger as her body was fully enveloped by his vine. It started to retract into his body to bring her right up to his back. He paused as she approached the end of the vine, savoring her energy. "You're like a saucy orderve, the kind that's going to ruin the rest of my meal." He remarked, enjoying the bliss of growing strength.

Meanwhile, inside the vine, Amelia couldn't help but be fascinated by the process she was going through. She could feel her energy being literally sucked from her body from all angles, weakening her to the standards of a normal Mawile and then going further still. Her body went numb, then it went completely limp. As she got pulled along, her senses started to diminish and her ability to make observations was hindered. The observation orb she'd given to the Chespin would hopefully do its job, recording the energy changes of her body and theirs. It also would observe the Chespin as a way of preemptively identifying whether or not he would reform her body as she'd requested. If he didn't, her body would be reformed back at home sometime later and their deal would be severed. But that would certainly be inconvenient...

Hypha sat on the log and pulled the Mawile's body up to the end of his vine. It squeezed against his body as the last of their energy was sucked up, making it easy to squeeze their body into his own. One last burst of power flowed into the Chespin and he huffed, feeling absolutely arcane! "Yes, this is so good!" He exclaimed, holding out his hand and forming a ball of fire in it. The same spell the Mawile had used moments ago. With his other hand, he unleashed the force spell the Mawile had used. His new magical abilities coursed through his body, and he felt he was going to make good use of them.

The orb in his hand flashed and he remembered what he'd said to the Mawile. Part of him wanted to just let her be absorbed and go his own way. Maybe he could keep absorbing travelers on this road. But he remembered what she'd said: the monsters were much more powerful than either of them. That was a tantalizing offer. In the end, he decided to play along. He put his hand to the ground and, from an arcane circle, out popped the Mawile. Mostly powerless, the Mawile stretched her limbs and grunted. "That was quite the experience." She remarked, taking the orb from him and looking at it. "Yes, this is perfect. I'll have to study this process when I get back home! Are you ready to head out?"

"Out to where?" Hypha asked, still not confident in Amelia's words.

"To find the first beast. We should go in order of their strength so that you don't get yourself killed on your first hunt. Like I said, these things are extremely powerful."

Hypha was surprised she was cooperating, but then again she did have that deal she made and sealed in magic. "Alright then, lead the way," Hypha asked. The way ended up being going into the town and boarding a propeller boat to sail to a nearby island in the archipelago. When they landed, they beached the boat up on an uncolonized strip of land and disembarked. The beach looked pristine and untouched, apart from another boat a tenth of a mile down the beach. The jungle reached the very edge of the beach and looked as untamed as the beach. There was probably nothing but wilds going inland. "I'm guessing not a lot of Pokemon live here?" Hypha asked, curious about the environment. Amelia nodded in answer, noting that the beast tends to hunt down any would-be colonizers. Though it could be beaten by military forces, the soldiers in the area haven't bothered to take out the best yet. They climbed up some hills moving inland and stood atop a hill looking into the island's interior. The bulk of the land looked like an overgrown crater apart from a big rock in the middle of the depression, likely an old meteor. There was a wide hole carved into its side. "Is that where it's living?" Amelia answered yes. "Let's go hunting then!"

They began to descend down the hill. Along the way, Hypha occasionally paused to lung his vine at a tree or a bush and pulled out a small, wild Pokemon. Amelia watched as each time they slid down his vine, struggling and fighting, before getting sucked into Hypha's body. "They're pretty small morsels, aren't they?" Amelia asked. Hypha laughed, saying any energy was good energy for him. Further along the trail, Amelia paused as she heard something in the distance. She and Hypha rushed towards the commotion to find a pack of seven Lycanrocs attacking an explorer. "You'd better jump in and help him!" Amelia said to Hypha. "You have all my power right now and it would take me a while to power myself up again."

"Alright, I'll- Wait, you can regain your power?!" Hypha asked, suddenly shocked. Before he could ask anything further though, Amelia shoved him forward towards the dogs. They looked up from the injured explorer and turned their attention to Hypha. He simply laughed and unfurled his third vine, rushing forward to grab one of them up. Much to his surprise, one of them instead lept onto Hypha and tackled him, while another grabbed hold of the vine with its jaw and tore it off. Hypha cried out in a jolt of pain before beating the dogs away with his vines. He stood and unfurled his third vine again, charging to attack. The same exact thing happened to him: One Lycan tackled him while another grabbed his vine and tore it off. This time the Lycan began to tear and rend at Hypha, which didn't do much to injure him given his tremendous endurance but certainly was no fun.

Amelia was in shock. The Chespin had all of her magical powers plus his own abilities and he was just charging at the dogs blindly. What exactly had she gotten herself into? She quickly rushed over to help the explorer to his feet and to run away. The Chespin was doing a good job occupying the dogs' attention, so Amelia started casting a spell t to regain her strength. It was one of low power, so she had enough strength to cast it despite being so weak. As the spell was continuously cast, her strength grew and grew until she was fully restored.

All of that took ten minutes. During that time, Hypha had let himself be pinned again and again while desperately trying to capture just ONE of the blasted dogs. If he could just get one, he thought, their numbers could be thinned and he could grab the others easier. Then Amelia rushed in and bashed a dog pinning Hypha with her Maw, making it lose its breath. The Chespin gasped in surprise before quickly unfurling his vine and grabbing the Lycan. It was swiftly pulled into his vine and began to be absorbed. Meanwhile, Amelia was throwing pulses of energy at the dogs, trying to keep them back. One of them barked and charged. Hypha lunged his still-full vine at them, but its charge was a trick; it lept to the left and then at Amelia, who quickly snapped her Maw around the dog. Amelia started swinging her Maw around while the other dogs ran in circles around them. One of them barked and lept at the two, but Amelia swung her Maw around and down into the dog, releasing the first one in the process. Hypha quickly grabbed them both up in his third vine, beginning to absorb their energy.

Another dog began to charge at them and Hypha lunged to grab it, but once again it was a trick which led to the dog evading his attack and then tackling him. "Stop charging at them! Wait until they attack and defend yourself!" Amelia shouted at Hypha, snapping her Maw around the Lycan and slamming it into the ground behind her. Hypha grabbed the dog and began to absorb it. In total, there were four bulges in his vine, all getting sucked into his body and making him stronger. Yet that didn't seem to be affecting his odds of victory much at all. Another dog charged at him and he did the same exact thing. This time, Amelia anticipated the dog's charge and caught them before they could even tackle Hypha. "I said stop charging!" She shouted at Hypha.

"Alright, alright! Sorry!" he exclaimed. There were now only two dogs left in the pack. They slowly circled the two of them, growling and ready to charge. They attacked simultaneously, one leaping at each of them. Amelia easily grabbed up the one attacking her. Hypha meanwhile took a moment to watch the dog's movement. As he began to lunge his vine, he noticed the dog's paws turning as it prepared to leap. He swung his vine to the left and caught the Lycan as it leaped in that direction, its bluff called out. "Hah! Eat dirt, you little pest!" Hypha exclaimed, eager to have won.

After such an intense battle, the two needed to rest. Hypha moved over to a tree and sat down beside it, bringing his vine up to his mouth and spitting one of the Lycan's down his throat. His stomach immediately distended as the Lycan fell into his gut. The remaining ones began to slide down his vine and, one by one was shoved into his body as pure energy. Amelia huffed and made a meal for herself out of her captured Lycan, ingesting it down her Maw and into her stomach. It distended and shook a bit as the Lycanroc settled. She sat down beside Hypha and huffed. "That was an atrocious fight!" She shouted at Hypha. "You just charged at them thinking you could take all of them at once and you got your butt kicked. What do you think you are, a one-man army?"

"Kind of!" He exclaimed. He gagged a bit as the Lycan in his belly kicked. He hit the gut with his fist to try and make it calm down. "I've absorbed an army's worth of Pokemon, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to fight-"

"Not when you're just rushing onto the field of battle!" Amelia shouted. "If it wasn't for you having all that power, you'd be ribbons right about now. You're lucky I could restore my energy or-"

Amelia's words were interrupted as Hypha grabbed her up with his vine, for once managing to catch her off guard. "Speaking of that, I'll be taking that from ya." Hypha said, grinning. Once again he felt Amelia's energy flowing into him, this time faster than before! His body must have been adjusted to the Mawile's power and was doing a better job of absorbing her. Within minutes her energy was completely drained, but rather than absorb her outright he put the vine to his mouth and spat her down there, distending his stomach with a Lycanroc and a Mawile with a Lycanroc meal in sum total. He sighed in content and fell asleep.

He awoke as the sun was setting, his meal fully digested. He was calm now after the meal and nap and so reformed the Mawile again. As soon as the fairy emerged from the cloud of magic, she huffed. "Eating me doesn't invalidate my point."

"Would you mind telling me how you were able to just grow back to your full strength?" Hypha asked, unfurling his third vine again. "Else you're going back in here and not coming out."

The Mawile sighed and explained to him how her resurrection powers worked: Although they would initially leave her in her weakest state, it also gave her a simple spell to increase her strength. It could be cast continuously until her strength was fully restored, but it was slow and took time to use to its full extent especially for a powerful Pokemon such as herself. It was essentially a way to get back to strength in safety. She admitted that Hypha could technically eat her over and over again at full power and gain an unending amount of strength from that, but she pointed out that she could very easily refuse to cooperate and not restore her own energy; She preferred that Hypha sticks with their plan of capturing the beasts.

To Amelia's surprise, Hypha agreed. "Feels like cheating to just eat you over and over again. Though, you do taste pretty good..." He leaned his vine over and rubbed her under her chin, briefly grabbing one of her frills with the vine and sucking some strength from her. He then released her and retracted his vines. "OK then, enough fooling around. Let's go and-"

"Stop!" Amelia said, putting her foot down. "You aren't going into that cave before you know everything about that monster, understand?" She barked, clearly serious about ensuring Hypha's safety. "Otherwise you're getting yourself killed, and I speak no hyperbole here. That thing DOES have enough power to outright kill you if you aren't careful. Got it?!"

Her words earned her another grabbing up by Hypha's vine. Though there was very little energy in the Mawile to absorb in this state, he noted that she was absorbed very quickly. His body was adapting quickly to swallowing the girl. The next time Hypha resurrected her was right outside the Lycan's cave in the middle of the night. She was disoriented for being brought back in the dark, but her eyes adjusted quickly. "We're here." Hypha explained, looking inside the cave. The monster was sleeping within, a giant Lycanroc of at least eight feet in stature. It was gigantic! It had to be super strong, too. No wonder nobody dared colonize the island! "It's sleeping right now. I'm gonna sneak up on it and absorb it."

Amelia grabbed his shoulder. "Don't. It's very-" She began to say before Hypha slapped her hand away, insisting he could do this himself and he was more than twice as strong as she'd ever been. The Mawile sighed, beginning to cast her spell to restore her strength. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long for her to be ready to jump in and rescue him.

To her relief, Hypha was at least cautious in his approach. He very silently crept towards the Lycan, calculating his every step so as not to make a sound and disturb them. He had all night to grab them, after all! After a few minutes, he was standing before the Lycan and it was even more astonishing to look at up close. Let's see, he thought. The easiest way to grab this monster would be to weaken them first. He unfurled his vine and slowly enveloped one of its paws. Then the energy started flowing and... oh god, Amelia was right! This beast had so much power! So much strength. Hypha moaned as it flooded into him!

Suddenly the monster began to stir and Hypha froze, a chill going over his body. Oh no, that moan had woke the monster up! He quickly pulled his vine back as it stood, retreating to put some distance between himself and them. It stood and looked at Hypha, growling angrily, before charging at him. Hypha prepared himself to catch which direction it would leap to outflank him but, instead, he realized too late that it was instead raising its paw to swing its claws at him. Too late to move, he prepared himself to be hit. And hit he was, seriously hard and being sent flying into a rock wall! His breath escaped him as his back slammed into it, relatively protected by his shell but still pained by the blow. The massive dog charged again. Hypha only had time to prepare himself to counter its claws again, but as it came within bludgeoning range it instead made a full spin of its body and swung its tail at him, again sending him flying into a wall. Hypha grunted and stood, but the dog charged at him yet again and this time grabbed him in its maw, shaking him about between its teeth before flinging him to the floor.

Hypha groaned, disoriented from being tossed around so much, before he looked up and saw the dog was about to pounce on him, claws ready to pierce his soft belly. He gasped in horror and tried to shield himself, closing his eyes in fear. The paw came down and Hypha expected to be struck but, instead, the attack was blocked somehow. He looked up to see the Mawile shielding the attack with her maw, swinging it around to fling the claw off. "I want you to do exactly what I tell you to, OK?" She demanded, raising her hand and blasting a flurry of leaves at the giant Lycan. It backed away to the wall but prepared to charge at them again.

Hypha's heart was racing. Even despite all his power, he'd nearly gotten himself scarred really bad. "O-Ok..." He muttered, ready to listen. Amelia instructed him to wait in the center of the cave while she drew the Lycan's attention. Hypha nodded and Amelia raced off, hurling several clusters of sharp leaves at the beast which brought it to anger. It began to swipe at her with its fierce claws, each attack either blocked by her maw or evaded completely. Hypha grunted; if only he had that kind of defense. His shell was only as good as a very strong wood, there wasn't much that could beat steel.

"Hypha!" Amelia shouted as she raced around the perimeter of the cavern. "Get ready to grab its legs!" The beast kept leaping at her as it tried to catch her, missing each of its attacks. The Mawile was very good at predicting its attacks! She then raced past Hypha to the other side of the cave.

The Chespin gasped and pulled out his vines. Hypha looked at the beast, ready to see it charge. And charge it did, leaping over the Chespin and at the annoying yellow thing that'd thrown leaves at it. However, as it leaped, it was suddenly caught and collapsed onto the ground, dazed by the unexpected attack. Its tail dropped right in front of Hypha. Perfect, thought Hypha. At least it was until the beast started standing up again. He quickly swung his vine at the tail and wrapped around it. Energy began to drain into him; he could siphon energy using his third vine without directly swallowing it, but the energy would quickly wear off if he didn't properly absorb it shortly thereafter. The beast was huge too, so that would definitely be a challenge! He kept extending the vine further and further to wrap around more of the tail, feeling the beast's strength pour into him! Eventually, the Lycanroc started flailing about to get the weird thing on his tail off. Hypha just kept on fighting and absorbing, aiming to weaken the Lycan enough to safely envelop them. Unfortunately, he forgot about the flexibility of a tail and it started swinging wildly, carrying his body all about and slamming him into walls, the floor, and the ceiling! He couldn't take the nauseating experience and cut himself loose, sending himself flying into a distant wall.

Amelia looked upon the Lycan and saw it huffing in exhaustion. Hypha had absorbed a good chunk of its strength. "Hypha! That was good! Let's do that again!" Amelia shouted to Hypha as he picked himself up from the ground again. The beast started to turn to Hypha again but its attention was diverted back to Amelia when it was struck by leaves again. This time, Amelia charged at the beast as the beast charged in turn. As it swung at her, she slid under the attack and between the Lycan's legs, racing behind it to grab its tail in her maw. It growled and flailed about again, swinging its tail to dislodge the Mawile. Unlike the Chespin, her maw had a lot more grip and she was much more durable, able to hold on where Hypha was unable.

Hypha watched as the beast fought to get Amelia off and saw his opening. He released one of his vines and caught a leg, causing the beast to trip. It ended up falling onto its side, knocking its head against a rock wall and collapsing to the ground. This was his chance! He opened his vine as wide as he could get and shoved it against the Lycan's muzzle, pushing him down his vine. Giga Drain started to do its work, rapidly draining the beast of its energy. Hypha moaned again, feeling all of that power pouring into his being. It was enough for him to push the vine further down the monster's body, and then further... and further!

As it was being enveloped and drained, Amelia quickly climbed onto its back and swung her maw at one of the spikes there, managing to break it off. The dog yelped in pain, but it was growing too weak to fight. Hypha kept enveloping it more: its shoulders, its legs, its torso and finally its lower legs descended into his vine and he was rapidly drained. Hypha moaned happily, feeling all that energy pouring into him like a waterfall. "Oh my god... you didn't disappoint, Amelia... This guy has so much!" His vine shifted and twitched around the Lycan; he would be draining him for some time.

When it became clear Hypha would need time to drain the Lycan monster of its energy, she left and said she would be back soon. Hypha was too busy enjoying the bliss of absorbing the Lycan to argue. By the time she returned, the Lycan monster was completely limp and right at the end of Hypha's vine, ready to be pulled into his body. The Mawile had returned with a distended belly and another Lycanroc in her Maw. "I got you dinner," she remarked, offering her maw to the Chespin.

Hypha smiled and took it from her, swallowing it whole and distending his own belly as well. "Dogs taste delicious." He remarked, patting his belly. He began to pull the monster into his body, grunting as his body squelched and squeezed. His heart raced as his energy exploded in scale. "Y-yes... yes!!" He moaned, starting to drag it into his small body. About halfway down the bulge, it all slipped in all at once and he screamed "YES!!!" before collapsing onto his back. "Oooh... that was by far the best meal I've ever had! Why did I ever doubt you?"

"You need to stop charging blindly into things," Amelia remarked, dropping the pretense of celebration. "Twice you've done that now and twice you would have been killed under normal circumstances if it wasn't for me," she said. "You need to realize that-"

Only a moment later did Hypha grab her up yet again, consuming her for the fourth time. This time it took seconds to absorb her. As soon as she was in, the energy just poured into him in one big burst and she fell down the vine like it was an esophagus, sliding straight into his body. "Heh, why don't you shut up and enjoy a little success?" Hypha remarked, patting his belly and resting in the cave for the rest of the night.

By the next morning, he'd woken up with his meal digested. Still feeling the glee of victory, he went on a hunt and devoured half a dozen Lycans on the island, distending his belly by an enormous margin. He was immobilized but had become so underneath the shade of a tree. He was more than happy to sit and relax while his body churned up his meal. "Mmm! A feast fit for a powerful warrior!" He remarked, patting his bloated belly with his still-kicking meals. It would have been nicer to drain them, but feeling them struggle felt like a reward in and of itself.

As his excitement wore off though, Hypha began to feel a little bad. Yeah, he had charged in blindly twice and, while the Mawile was exaggerating about the first instance of saving his life, he definitely would have at least had a scar on his belly for the rest of his life if not for her. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to be underestimated; if that was the weakest beast of the bunch the Mawile planned to take him to, then the others surely could destroy him if he wasn't careful! Even someone such as him! But, then again... all that power he'd gotten from the Lycanroc. He... no, he needed to be more serious about this! His cockiness nearly got him killed. He put his hand to the ground and resurrected Amelia yet again. "Hey, Amelia..." he said. Before the Mawile could say anything, he said "Wait, hold up! I'm... I'm sorry, OK? I almost got myself killed and you saved my life. You're right, I need to take more time to plan these things and not just rely on my immense strength. Thank you for saving me."

The Mawile paused before looking at his belly and laughing. "you had a celebration feast and didn't invite the other member of your party? What's wrong with you?" She remarked, giving him a pat on the back. Moments later, she was grabbed up by a vine and brought to Hypha's mouth. "This is not what I-" She started to exclaim before being shoved down the Chespin's throat, joining the others in his tummy.

Hours later, she was restored on the beach by the boat. "Hey, Amy." Hypha said, having dragged the boat to the water. The Mawile said nothing as they started out towards the next destination, until Hypha said, "So if you could do me a favor... I know you said you would help me get a lot of energy, and technically you are, but maybe if this next monster is more powerful than that giant dog was then you should help out again. Run interference so I can sap its strength, ya know?" He asked. The Mawile just laughed, saying that somebody of his power shouldn't need any help. "I mean, yeah I don't need help. That's why I just need you to distract it from me, or something."

"I'll think about it." She offered. They rode several hours to another island in the archipelago, this one sporting a rather rocky volcanic mountain. They beached the boat and proceeded to move inland. Hypha noted the differences between this island and the last; very sandy and stone-covered as opposed to lush jungle, and with lots of trails of obsidian running down the mountainside. The volcano clearly had frequent eruptions that cleared out the hills around the island. The cliff face looked a bit unstable; it could have a rockslide at any time.

It was during this search that he noticed some odd-colored rocks poking out from partway up the mountain. "Hey, what's that?" Hypha asked, pointing it out. Amelia looked and smiled, saying it was his next meal. Hypha grinned and whipped out his vines, knowing a confrontation was about to happen. He began to climb the mountain before he remembered what happened just hours ago and turned to Amelia. "Ok, so... what do you know about this monster? How do I defeat it?" He asked, wanting to approach this with some more strategy this time.

"This one's heavily armored by its skin, so attacking it by normal means will be impossible," Amelia said. "The last excursion sent to attend to this beast was defeated, and they were a well-trained military force. You're... well, you're incredibly strong, but yeah." Hypha scowled and unfurled his vine, holding it over Amelia and asking her to continue her analysis of himself and see what happened. "It did have one success though. It was confirmed that a scar was left on its back. Attacking the scar might be enough to cause damage, perhaps to bring it to unconsciousness."

Hypha nodded. That was all he needed to know! He began to climb the mountain with great haste, although partway up Amelia shouted to him saying "Wait! You should figure out a different way up." She pointed out the monster, which was starting to get up from its perch: A gigantic Druddigon with thick armor. Amelia was right; Hypha wouldn't be able to attack it with all that armor. It might even hinder his ability to absorb its energy! But if he manages to attack that scar, he'd probably have a good chance at taking the monster down. He continued to climb with that assurance in mind.

Amelia shouted at Hypha to climb back down, but he ignored her advice. Unfortunately, it turned out to be good advice: The Druddigon slammed the rocky mountainside and started a landslide. The Chespin gasped in horror and turned right around, running down the mountain as fast as he could. Amelia casually strolled out of the way of the falling rubble while Hypha bolted to the side. They ended up meeting together behind a rock. Now that the Druddigon had spotted Hypha, they had no way to surprise it. Amelia looked at it marching about in search of them and grunted. "Sorry, Amelia." Hypha said. "Didn't think he would do that."

"It's fine, whatever." She remarked. "Maybe if one of us can distract it, then the other can-"

"You're a fairy!" Hypha exclaimed, albeit in a hushed voice. "Its dragon attacks can't affect you, and you can probably do a lot of damage to its back." He climbed up on the rock and looked at the Druddigon, shouting at it to grab its attention. "I'll distract it while you try to hit its back." He said before rushing out to confront the beast. All Amelia could bring herself to do is bury her face in her palm. It seemed like a foolish plan, trying to distract the Druddigon rather than waiting for its to turn its back on him. She watched as Hypha swung his vines at the Druddigon, lashing at its body and causing absolutely no damage to it. It swiped at him over and over, each time being dodged and receiving a lashing in retaliation. The beast grew frustrated and held its arms over its head before slamming down into the dirt where Hypha had been a mere second ago; the Chespin had leaped backward and then lept onto its left arm, leaping onto its head and shoving it into his third vine. The beast was blinded. "Now, Amelia! Hit him now!" He exclaimed, wrapping two other vines around its shoulders to keep from being flung off.

Equal parts surprising and impressive, Amelia thought, but then again he did have the strength of the giant Lycan and herself, three or more times over. Having already recharged her energy, she was ready to attack; She lept up while the Druddigon's back turned to her and struck its scar with a magic-infused punch. It yelled in agony before wildly flailing its arms in circles and smacking her into a rock. Then it flung itself at another rock, with Hypha caught between his head and the stone surface. He was crushed between the two hard surfaces but was fine as the Druddigon picked itself up. He had accidentally released his vines though, and now the Druddigon could see. It turned to strike him, but he curled up and rolled between its legs and behind it. He quickly turned and fired a pin missile at its back, striking it for the second time.

The Druddigon yelled in agony once again, this time lifting its arms and slamming them into the earth. Hypha felt the earth shake beneath his feet, and the mountain began to rumble ominously. Another rockslide started coming down, this time higher up the mountain and carrying trails of obsidian with it. The blackened glass would surely rip him to shreds if he got caught in it. He wasn't too sure about Amelia, but... He happened to glance at Amelia and noticed she was unconscious, with the rockslide headed straight towards them. In a panic, he quickly grabbed her up with his third vine and sucked her in. Energy started to flow into him, which unfortunately meant he would be without a companion. The rockslide was still coming; he rushed out of the way, meanwhile absorbing Amelia without even realizing he'd done so; he was too used to it by this point.

The Druddigon remained in the tail of the rockslide, but it didn't get carried off by it. In fact, after it had flattened him, he burst forth from the rubble and gathered up a ball of rock and obsidian shards to throw at Hypha. The Chespin, scared for his body not being in multiple jigsaw pieces, took shelter behind some rocks as he threw the ball at him.

Hypha was alone in this fight, which was pretty normal for him but he'd never had to fight a foe this powerful before. He tried to think: how could he get at the scar on the Druddigon's back? What trick could he possibly... use... An idea snapped into his head, a rather clever idea if he did say so himself. And he frequently did. He climbed out from behind the rocks and fired a pin missile at the Druddigon's head, mocking it and daring it to attack him. Angered, the Druddigon did just that, charging and then bringing its claw down upon the Chespin.

The orange nut's body seemed to go limp as he was struck, but it was a trap: The body was a fake and exploded into magical fairy energy moments after it had been struck! A second later, Hypha appeared behind the dragon, yelled "Surprise!" and struck it with another dose of magical energy. The Druddigon yelled in agony and swung its arms around wildly, trying to strike Hypha away. When it did manage to strike him, it instead was met by another explosion of fairy energy, followed by Hypha appearing behind him again and striking his back once more. This time, he was able to get multiple hits in by pouring Amelia's fairy energy into each of his limbs and lunging them at the wound in rapid succession. He ended his attack with one final powerful blow that sent the Druddigon flying several yards away. Hypha landed on his feet with a confident grin. "Heh. I guess Amy likes to play rough," he remarked, clenching his fist.

The Druddigon turned itself sluggishly to face Hypha; it clearly was not doing so well from being struck in the back so many times. The Chespin knew this was almost over. The monster took a deep breath and blew a plume of blue flames at him, something he was not expecting. But, as the flames enveloped him, he found himself completely unharmed by them. His body glowed with pink, magical energy that tingled his nerve endings. It occurred to Hypha that he must have absorbed Amelia so many times that he'd made himself partially a fairy type. A silly theory, perhaps, but then how was he standing in the middle of dragon's breath? No matter; while the beast was breathing where he stood, Hypha was outflanking the beast and caught him from behind one last time, stunning the dragon and knocking him out.

What a victory, Hypha thought! And against such a powerful foe, too! He unfurled his third vine and shoved it over the dragon's face, pulling him into the vine and draining his energy. Once again, Hypha felt almost euphoric bliss as the energy washed over his body, making him stronger and stronger. For a brief moment, he felt like he could level the whole mountain with a single swing of his fist! The feeling grew stronger as the dragon was enveloped: first the head, then the shoulders and the upper torso, then the lower torso and, finally, the legs and the tail were all enveloped by his vine and started to siphon him off. This one was going to take even longer than the last one! Perhaps a whole day!

He sat and relaxed, enjoying the euphoric bliss of growing power. He took the time to reform Amelia and told her of his success. "... and then while he was distracted breathing fire at where he thought I was, I snuck around behind him and knocked him dead. Heh, and here he is, feeding me his power."

"You did a good job. I'm glad you see the value of strategy now that we've hunted two of these-"

"Well, ah... that's the thing." Hypha said, pursing his lips at the thought of needing to admit something. It'd been an issue he'd thought about more than once and it troubled him somewhat, but he never really did much to act on it: "I kind of have a habit of forgetting about strategy when I get huge lumps of energy. It's just that I feel so powerful, like a god among mortals, and think I can do anything. And... well, you saw what happened with me on that island of dogs. And against that Druddigon! Sorry for not listening to you right away, by the way."

"It's ok, it wasn't exactly a good call-out that I'd made." She said. "Even so, I'll bet that, with the Lycanroc's power, you could have survived a rockslide like that."

"Well, I certainly can now!" He boasted, slamming his fist into the ground. To their surprise, he actually caused the ground to shake a bit. "W-whoa, I should get to know my own strength." He remarked, clenching his fist. As a joke, he lightly tapped the ground and caused an even bigger rumble than earlier. They heard some rockslides coming down in the distance. "Hah, I hope I can now if my punches can do that!"

Hypha was pinned down by his quarry, so he asked Amelia to find some food on the island, if at all possible. Though he still needed her to find him the third quarry, he'd grown to trust her enough that he was not at all surprised when she came back with a distended belly and two Axews in her maw. She'd already eaten three and so offered the remaining two to Hypha. The two sat and digested their meals while Amelia explained the location of the third beast. "The last one we're going after is particularly vicious. Its island isn't at all explored... well, by anybody alive, that is. And its abilities are unknown. Erm... except to dead people."

"I get it, I get it. This thing could kill me, need to be cautious. Don't worry, I've got my head screwed on right for this one." Hypha said. "I've got the power of two monster Pokes flowing through me now. Well, almost two. This one is..." He clenched his vine and pulled the Druddigon up to the back of his neck. "Oooh... almost ready! This is gonna feel so good! Anyway, you were saying?"

"Ah, well, I was going to say... I'm afraid I'm not gonna be able to help you with this last one. Even with all my strength, I'll be powerless against this opponent. Yes, it is that strong. With your massively increased strength, I'd wager you have a good chance to beat it. Especially if you take the time to absorb some of its strength mid-fight, but without being able to sufficiently attack, counter, or evade it I'll be mostly useless. So, you'll just need to absorb me and go with whatever strength and wits you can."

Hypha nodded and started pulling in the Druddigon. It squeezed against his neck and power SURGED through his body. Amelia could feel a tremor under the Chespin's feet as his body quaked with energy. "Yes... more...!" He muttered, pulling the Druddigon in further... "More..." Further... "More!" And finally, all the way down, shrinking the once massive bulge in his vine to a small thin normal one. "MORE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, feeling his power peak! The whole island shook violently at the explosion of energy within the Chespin's body. He collapsed onto his back and moaned "God, this has been so fun. We should do this again sometime, once we're done with this hunt." Hypha said.

They got the boat ready and set outwards, taking the time to grab one more meal of dragons before launching. The two took it in turns steering the boat and rubbing their bellies while they made for the last island. When they arrived, Hypha was in for quite a shock. The beach was short and the inland portion of the island was one massive, hollow plateau. A single cave entrance revealed the inside of the mountain, a monster's lair. Inside at a glance, he could see his quarry: a truly gargantuan Tyrantrum. It was easily twenty times bigger than him, and definitely bigger than a normal Tyrantrum! It even had dragon wings, somehow! "That... that thing... is my...?"

"Your next meal," Amelia said, standing up in the boat. "OK then, before we land, you should absorb me. But before we do that... I should bring myself up to my maximum power, so you can get the most out of me." She stood and grabbed one of her bracelets with her opposite hand, poking the keystone in particular. Hypha's eyes shined as he noticed the mega stone; he'd not thought to ask about her bracelets. Her body glowed bright and exploded with energy, her form changing to be bigger, tougher, and wield two gigantic maws instead of one. Hypha could feel her body pulsating with energy, so much more than all the other times he'd absorbed her combined! "Alright then, I'm ready!" She said, holding her arms out.

Hypha smiled and held his vine, opening it up and presenting it to Amelia. "Ah, would you mind climbing inside? Those maws of yours may get in the way and... well, I've been enjoying having you as willing prey."

Amelia laughed. "Don't press your luck, kid." She said. Regardless, she pushed her head into the vine and pulled her way inside, feeling her energy begin to get siphoned almost immediately. Each time she'd climbed down this vine, she felt her mind slip away faster than the last. She expected it to take longer since she had more energy in her Mega form but... nope! her energy just rushed right out of her body and into the Chespin, leaving her with a tingly feeling of numbness that relaxed her into unconsciousness.

Outside, the Chespin was groaning in pleasure and excitement as he absorbed the mega Mawile. "Mmmm! I swear, Amelia, you're like a morsel I just can't stop eating!" He remarked, relishing his growing power. It felt particularly incredible, inspiring... it felt... strange. His body began to get very warm, and the back of his head began to ache. "Wait... W-wait.. what's..." He muttered, feeling himself getting taller. On top of that, his mind felt a bit more... clear, for some reason, like he suddenly had much more through mental capability. Most alarming of all, the back of his head felt like it was being stabbed for a moment before two gigantic maws grew out of his head. His autumnal shell also seemed to change, hardening to the consistency of steel and turning a darker shade of orange. His skin also changed, shifting to a more creamy hue. Most interesting of all, the energy that flowed through his body also made the Mawile's belongings appear on his body: on his arms were her mega bracelets, and on his back was her cloak which had become part of his hoodie.

When the heat died down, Hypha looked over the water to see what had happened to him. In his reflection, he saw... well, he could only describe it as a mix between himself and Amelia! A hybrid of Chespin and Mawile. "Fascinating..." Hypha muttered to himself. He wasn't sure why, but a part of him was ecstatic at this change and wanted to study his new abilities and unique features. Was this... was Amelia's being affecting his personality? Possibly; maybe it was just a natural Mawile instinct to be curious. Either way... He felt stronger, he felt more capable. He looked into the cavern and recognized the power of the beast was like no other in the realm; he was ready to face it!

Hypha beached the boat and walked into the cave. A quick analysis of the area gave him an idea of what he was dealing with: There was lots of white powder in big piles all over the place. Bonemeal, Hypha thought. This thing must have crushed its victims into dust for some unknown reason, possibly for cleaning its teeth. Perhaps it made the bonemeal while cleaning its teeth. His face scrunched up in disgust at the thought: eating his prey whole was much less unsavory. The ground was also very broken and uneven despite being the dwelling of a massive beast that probably would flatten it. Maybe it was shifted by the beast? Speaking of which, the beast was lounging on the opposite end of the cave, not doing anything worth noting. Maybe it was relaxing?

A single glance at the monster told him that it was extremely powerful. Hypha closed his eyes and tried to imagine it. Yes... He could feel its strength through his own magic. It was about... more or less twenty times more powerful than he was in this state, and at least fifty times more powerful than the Druddigon he'd consumed previously. He would need to drain some of that energy if he was to properly envelop and absorb this foe. Furthermore... He noted that its tail was relatively undefended. It lacked the spikes and ridges that a Tyrantrum's body normally wielded, perhaps having been broken off during battles past. That would be the best point to grab and siphon energy from. He estimated that if he drained about... twenty-five percent of its energy, his own would raise to be on par with it and he would be able to envelop it without issue.

Its strong muscular body indicated that the Tyrantrum was a physical fighter. To be expected for a lumbering beast such as this one, but where was that strength applied. Hmm... very toned quads, a very tough jaw... its tail was very muscly, which partially explained the lack of ridges back there: plenty of use. Yes, its strength seemed to be in stomping, sweeping, and biting. The wings seemed to be purely decorative, perhaps a vestigial feature, but they were also armored and probably not a worthwhile target for attack. Its back was also naturally defended by thick scales. With that in mind, Hypha knew exactly where he would be targeting the beast: its chest. Hypha had his target then, with the tail able to serve as a backup in case he isn't able to grab onto its chest.

Talk about analytics! Hypha couldn't help but note how much he was reading into the situation. He rarely put this much thought into his prey; this was definitely a result of his hybridizing with Amelia. Still, it was definitely useful. He knew exactly what he was doing. He fired a single pin missile at the beast to grab its attention. It grunted and raised its head, turning to look at Hypha and stood. A deep breath, and then a roar. Hypha clenched his fists and whipped out his vines, unwilling to be intimidated. He pulled them forward and noted they were lined with metal filaments. How useful!

The Tyrantrum charged, reaching Hypha's position in just three steps. He lashed out a vine and grabbed onto a leg as it approached, throwing himself forward through its legs. Another vine reached to its tail and grabbed on, pulling him onto its back. He kept the tail wrapped up, beginning to siphon energy. The power poured into him rapidly, giving him a feeling of elation. Rather than euphoric bliss, he felt tension though. In his head he knew what was about to happen; The Tyrantrum roared in anger and flung itself at a wall back-first. Hypha tightened his grip and curled up. The wall struck him with immense force, but his hardened armor protected him thoroughly. The Tyrantrum yelled again and raced about the room, flailing its tail about and trying to shake Hypha off.

Four percent, Hypha thought. He'd siphoned more-or-less four percent of its power so far. Its tail swung up and Hypha released his grip, riding the force of the swing to launch himself up above the beast's head. He launched his vines at the beasts head and wrapped around its skull spikes, swinging over its snout and underneath towards its chest. He curled up once again and prepared a rollout, augmenting the attack with magic. The g-forces given to him by the beast's tail maxed out his attack power, and when he struck the impact was amplified by the fairy magic. The Tyrantrum roared and took several steps back as it was slammed in its weakest point. Hypha landed back on the ground and rolled away, uncurling and readying himself for another round.

Then it charged again, this time with its head held high. Hypha grunted; it was about to swing its tail, he was absolutely sure. he curled up and rolled towards the beast, launching himself up as the beast's tail came swinging. He was whacked into the wall and bounced off into the air. When he uncurled, he saw the beast looking up at him as he descended, opening its jaw to grab him as he fell. Not today! He cast the substitute trap and descended into its maw, only to explode with fairy energy once he was in its maw. He reappeared on its back and threw one of his vines over its body. It reached around and grabbed onto an arm, letting him pull himself down to its chest and grab the other arm. His draining resumed and he absorbed as hard as he could. He'd lost a bit of energy in the interim; he couldn't hold onto the energy if he didn't absorb the whole body. But it quickly raised back up to four. Five... six... seven... eight... nine... The beast roared and threw itself at the ground Hypha broke off one of his vines and swung himself away from the beast, landing on his feet some ways back. He was almost halfway there!

The beast growled and stood up, raising its foot and beginning to stomp. The whole cave, nay the whole island shook from its movements. Earthquake! That explained the uneven floor. Hypha cursed and rolled up, trying to roll through the rumbling towards the beast. Several times through the earth shifted and he slammed against the rocks, bouncing backward away from the beast. The quaking began to calm and he uncurled his body, only to see the beast was right above him ready to slam its head down. "NO YOU DON'T!" Hypha exclaimed, making a fist and swinging it upwards. A fighting attack, one that powered up his strength to punch. His punch met the beast's snout and the two canceled each other out. The beast grunted and backed off, growling in anger. Hypha meanwhile had to rub his hand. "Heh, so that's what a good punch feels like." He remarked.

The beast stomped once and shifted the ground before charging again. His head was held high... tail incoming, Hypha thought! He rolled up once again and charged, this time managing to evade the tail and roll through its legs. the beast's side was turned to Hypha after the tail attack; He released a vine at one of its arms and grabbed hold. The vine became taut and he started swinging through the air around the beast. He wrapped once, twice, and then a third time before landing on its chest. This made the siphon really pick up! Ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty percent of its energy was drained before Hypha had to react to the beast again: it hurled itself at a pile of bonemeal and he quickly cut the vine loose and leaped away before he was caught in the jagged pile of remains.

He landed and stared the beast down. Just a little more, and it would be weak enough to absorb! He'd already absorbed so much from it! But now was no time to slack off. The beast made one last charge, Swinging its head back to slam into the little hybrid. Hypha knew exactly how to counter: He charged at the beast and lept as it brought its head down, flying past the attack and striking him straight in the chest with a magic-empowered vine. The combination of grass, steel, and fairy energy were enough to take the monster's breath away. It lost its balance and struggled to get it back. In that time, Hypha was able to wrap his vines around the beast and keep draining it. Within moments he'd passed the threshold and the beast collapsed, just as he calculated. Before it could get up, he unfurled his vine and shoved the monster's snout into it. Energy began to pour into him even faster and he kept pushing. He got the head, the upper torso and the arms, the body and wings, and finally the legs and its lengthy tail. This was by far the largest prey he'd ever captured, but it was his now! Its strength rapidly diminished, as did its struggle to resist. He had beaten the monster!

He sat and relaxed, basking in the glow of power flowing into him. Though he calculated that he wouldn't reach godly scales of strength, he certainly would become the most powerful warrior in the realm after absorbing this beast's strength. He smirked and thought about how much strength he'd gotten thanks to that Mawile; thank goodness he hadn't consumed her! Well... permanently, at least. Shoot, he'd almost forgotten about her in his excitement. he put his hand on the ground and started to resurrect her. Then... a thought occurred. He could turn in this beast's trophy and get a huge sum of cash from the regional government when he returned to Amelia's island. Wait... what? Where did he get that thought from? He knew nothing about this region's government, certainly nothing about hunting bounties.

A thought occurred to him and he refrained from resurrecting Amelia for the moment. First, he had to take care of this beast. he pulled it up to his body and grinned. "Heh, this has been fun, but this is the best part." Hypha said to the bulge in his vine, pulling it against his body. Oh, how the strain felt divine! His power surged and he felt like a god as he pulled the behemoth into his tiny body. The whole island rumbled beneath him as his strength grew so drastically. As the energy intensified, the cave was shaking so heavily that it began to collapse! Hypha didn't care though; rocks couldn't hurt him with this much power! His body squeezed and squelched against the giant as it shoved it into his being, its size diminishing as it was fully absorbed. It got pulled in further, further, making Hypha more ecstatic by the moment. His power easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled anything he'd ever had before. The quacking grew so intense that other islands began to feel it, their civilians wondering if someone was fighting the great Tyrantrum behemoth again. Well, someone had been! Finally, as the beast's body was halfway into the Chespin it simply slipped into him all at once. The whole island practically broke from the sudden and immense spike of power he had. The mountain fell on top of him, but Hypha was so strong now that it didn't even scratch him. Instead, absorbing so much energy at once gave Hypha such a high that he collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.

He awoke sometime later and blasted his way out of the mountain rubble with a single swing of his claw. He clenched his fist and tapped the pile of rubble that had been the beast's lair, causing it to fall into the ocean. Nice, he thought! He returned to the boat and made for Amelia's town, wishing to know something. Along the way, he conjured up the trophies he'd need for this final part: a giant Lycan spike, a giant Druddigon plate, and a claw from the Tyrantrum. That would work!

Some time passed. Hypha entered Amelia's house and found the info he needed. He also happened upon Amelia's resurrection loadstone, a slab of marble with some ritualistic carvings and gems embedded into the surface. The symbols were gradually lighting up as time passed as if a timer was going. Understanding how the spell worked now, Hypha waited...

Amelia came back into being as the last of the symbols lit up on her loadstone. She looked around and re-oriented herself with reality. She assumed that Hypha had decided to not resurrect her after his final quarry; perhaps he'd forgotten. Oh well, she thought, pulling out the only one of the three trophies she'd managed to grab during the trip. "This'll cover the month's expenses, no doubt." She said to herself, preparing to leave her house again.

But as she went down the hall, she stopped when she saw who was at the end of it: The familiar orange Chespin, Hypha. "Hey, Amy. Looking to get a quick buck?" He asked, pointing at the trophy in Amelia's hand. Held in each of Hypha's vines were the trophies he'd conjured up from each of the beasts. "You didn't tell me we were hunting for bounties. That's pretty rude using me like that, ya know." He gave her a devious smile, knowing he was correct and had caught Amelia red-handed.

The Mawile paused before laughing, saying "You're the one who almost cost me my month's salary, after all! Of course, I needed to get something more out of the deal. I don't work for charity, and they don't call my species masters of deception for no reason."

"I freed those townsfolk for ya!" He exclaimed. "Besides, I already claimed the rewards before you came back to life." Amelia's expression turned into one of shock, then one of anger. Before she could yell, Hypha added "Don't worry, I told them to give the money to you. But you owe me a little extra for it..." He raised his third vine and unfurled it, dropping the Tyrantrum trophy at Amelia's feet. "See, I did a bit of studying on myself and it turns out that I can hybridize my body with somebody else if I absorb their species enough times; I can even prefer a certain individual for the hybrid form if I try. It's all temporary, though maybe with practice I could make it a permanent second form. It definitely wears off when they reform, like you did just a moment ago. Either way, I wanna keep using you as a hybrid form for a little bit, so I need your energy again. It's really good for fighting and finding prey! Mind helping a starving Chespin out?"

Amelia huffed, knowing she had no choice. After all, he had the power of her own strength at least four times over, plus the strength of three beasts she thought she would never see defeated! She only had herself to thank for that, but at least the month's... no, probably a year's expenses would be covered by the bounties of all three monsters. She nodded and grabbed hold of the vine. Pulling it over her head. It closed up around her and sucked her right up, pulling her straight into Hypha's body without a moment's hesitation.

The Chespin laughed as she descended. Already he could feel the change, his body morphing and hybridizing the Mawile with him. Her maw exploded from the back of his head and his shell hardened once again. Hypha licked his lips and remarked, "Gotta said, you do taste really good! I gotta learn to savor you more." He went out the door and locked the house up. He needed to think of someplace to go hunting for now with this new body; maybe he could find another monster to capture. He wasn't concerned about reforming Amelia anymore, knowing she would come back on her own. Then again, maybe he would be back before she did to have another meal...