A journey through Lugia PART 1 [COMMISSION]
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"Lugia... I know that I will find you..." This was the thought that ran through Zay's mind each morning when he got out of bed, and every night before he closed his eyes to dream about his ever nearing encounter with the pokemon of his dreams. Although he was much, much smaller than the enormous creature that he was enamored by, he still felt like the proportions were just right for the kind of encounter that he was hoping for once they finally met.
He spent the last decade or so hyper-focusing on gathering every possible piece of information that he could about Lugia, he read every book, traveled all around the globe to talk to people who might have encountered it, and dedicated an entire room in his house as a sort of library to collect all of the books, depictions and other useful things that he could find, that could help him to locate this fantastic beast.
With each new piece of the puzzle being put to place in his mind, the more he came to admire the creature, and the harder it became for him to accept that what he was looking for might not even exist anymore. Still, if there was one meaning to his life, then this was it; and he would not stop until he saw Lugia with his own eyes, dead or alive, or even just as a pile of bones representing the pokemon that he was longing for.
By that time, he felt like he knew everything about it- maybe he knew Lugia better than it knew itself! He knew its appearance and anatomy, its unique behavior and how it was capable of reading minds, its extraordinary intelligence, and even some details about where it possibly could be found... But one thing was still missing, a map to its home. He could have traveled to the island that was hiding the treasure, but not having anything to help him navigate, he would have surely gotten lost before finding what he was looking for. He needed a guide, something to help him find his way through the rough wilderness and hopelessly deep seas.
That help wouldn't come though, at least not until just around 15 years into his research. It was right around Christmas time, when a rather ordinary looking package arrived in the mail, which he threw next to his collection of greeting cards. His mailbox was always full during this time, so he didn't pay much mind to what he was getting, and even though it was rare that he actually received a gift that wasn't just a card, it was never really something he wanted or needed.
It took him days to finally convince himself to get out of his library and take a better look at the stuff he got. He opened up the package and pulled out something that felt like old, fragile paper. He raised his eyebrows curiously- what could possibly be on such a piece of paper? He rolled it out on the floor to see that it was a map of a large forest, with a red letter right around the middle indicating the place of something rather important looking. Of course, he immediately knew what this was supposed to mean, but didn't believe it right away. Was this some kind of cruel joke? One doesn't simply just get an invaluable map of the forest which is supposed to be hiding the creature that he's been looking for for over a decade for Christmas! Maybe it was just one of his annoying acquaintances, hiding Lugia-like bones at the spot which the map marked to try to convince him that what he was looking for was already gone, and to get him out from his endless, hopeless quest?
He almost threw the map away when he noticed a sheet of paper which also came in the package, with something written on it. The letters were small and barely readable, reminding him of the handwriting of someone he knew... But he just couldn't put his finger on whose writing it was. The message read: "My dear friend, Zay! It's been a while since we last talked, years perhaps? Time flies by so quickly, eh? Anyway, I remember how much you've been wanting to lay your eyes on Lugia, and recently I heard some hearsay that my local museum holds a map that supposedly leads to its hiding spot. They've been keeping it secret because they know what hundreds of lousy tourists and rookie enthusiasts can do to the habitat of such an endangered creature, but when I told them about you and your impressive collection, for just a couple of thousands of bucks, they agreed that no other person on earth would be more deserving of its possession than you, sir. Please make good use of it! Professor Brown."
The sergal couldn't believe what he was reading at first, but the strange handwriting and complicated signature of the professor were near impossible to replicate, and was far beyond what any prankster or worried relative would do. He didn't really understand why his friend would do such a thing for him, but he was eternally thankful- and he knew that he couldn't waste a single second. The forest was exactly the same that he suspected, and he had been looking at plane tickets regularly, just in case he had to quickly get over. This was one of those occasions, so it didn't even take him five minutes to book a flight to the other side of the world onto the tropical island which housed the creature. He didn't even pack anything other than his map and a few essentials- it looked more like he was going for a trip in the local woods than flying across the world for the adventure of his life. But that was simply the kind of person that Zay was: when he heard the word Lugia, there was nothing that could get him to think with a clear head.
Due to the time difference, it was early in the morning when his plane landed, the sun had barely started going up and the forest was still coated with a thick layer of fog, which made it a little bit more difficult to navigate. The only things that the sergal could go by were his map, compass and common sense, and he could only hope that those three would be enough to actually lead him to his goal. The map did show that Lugia resided on top of a hill, but the sheer size of the hill only came through once he was standing there in real life. It seemed more like a gigantic mountain, covered with all sorts of tropical trees, among which deadly animals were hiding. Zay didn't fear for his life, however- the premise of finally fulfilling his lifelong dream was far stronger than the fear of accidentally stepping on a cobra or being mauled by some other wild beast.
Given that it was a tropical forest, the humidity was higher than Zay had ever experienced in a forest. It didn't even take a half an hour of walking until sweat was dripping all over him, making his fur soggy and causing it to trap even more heat. He wished that he packed more water in his hurry, but the one bottle that he bought at the airport had to do for a while. The map showed that near his destination, he would come across a large waterfall, which would be his final clue that he had been heading in the right direction all along- and hopefully his clue that he wasn't going to die of dehydration before meeting Lugia.
He had to be quick, as the only time when this journey was possible was early in the morning: during the day, he would literally cook from the heat, and most of the predators came out during the night. He had to make it in just an hour or two, so he took no breaks, only stopping to check his map and compass, and to make sure that he was still going in the right direction.
Having to cut through spiky vines with his flimsy pocket knife, climbing up steep rock walls and several hours of walking in extreme heat and humidity later, he finally arrived at the waterfall. He nearly collapsed before making his way to the water, but he finally managed to stumble to it, falling on the ground and drinking as much water as he could possibly fit into his dry mouth. It took him several minutes of drinking and face washing to finally recover and be able to sit back up. He was going to continue right away as the entrance of the cave was marked to be just about five minutes of casual walking away. It was said to live under the sea most of the time, but every once in a while, it came up to its above-ground home. Zay's plan was to strike up a temporary camp around this place and wait for the rare occasion, but that's when he got the sudden feeling that he was being watched.
He had heard of the concept of feeling like one's being watched, but he'd never really felt it, and always just treated it as an euphemism of some sort. But at that moment, he really did feel something, like a sentient laser beam was penetrating him from behind, and a sudden rush of anxiety came over him. He carefully turned around to investigate, but didn't see anything... Not at first. Looking all over the trees around him, no creature could be seen, but as his eyes wandered a bit higher above, he saw something really extraordinary.
A large, white bird like creature hovered above him, its wings quietly keeping its cumbersome looking body afloat. It bore a lizard like tail with two spikes on its end, looking like a medieval weapon with which it could easily strike down its prey. At first, the sergal couldn't even believe his own eyes and his incredible luck- it could have taken years for the creature to emerge from the depths, but he timed his arrival perfectly! It seems that the hurry was all worth it after all.
He couldn't really say or do anything, he was just frozen for a couple of minutes as they looked at each other, but words were unnecessary with Lugia. Zay knew very well that it was capable of reading minds, and it was perfectly aware just how stunned and honored he was to have this encounter in real life. The pokemon descended onto the small plot of land in front of the sergal and got a little bit closer. Zay was quite impressed at just how accurate his research was in terms of the appearance of the beast, but it seemed even more beautiful than he had originally expected. Its silvery scales looked like mirrors shining in the tropical sun, its large, heavy body moving like it was light as a feather. It was surprisingly quiet, but the sergal knew just how much it was capable of; not respecting this majestic creature was always going to be a death sentence.
Collecting all of his courage, he opened his mouth to formally greet Lugia: "H... Hello! I'm Zay. I've been learning a lot about you and I'm so proud to have seen and met you in real life!" He said quietly and calmly, not wanting to scare it with loud sounds or sudden movements. He felt like a child meeting his favorite character from a cartoon in real life, something that he had always wanted, but never quite believed to be truly possible.
The pokemon, as if it was replying, nodded its head, laying down on its stomach while still keeping an intent eye on the unexpected visitor. It was clear that it was comfortable in Zay's presence- which was something that he noted happily. It looked like it was waiting for the sergal to say something else, because traveling to the other side of the world and surmounting a hill covered in a dangerous rainforest couldn't have been done without a clear purpose. There had to be something else that he wanted to do.
The intelligent Lugia was right, but it was something that Zay wouldn't have been able to say, even if he was given a hundred years to do so. It all felt strange and inappropriate, and really not something that a serious researcher was supposed to be asking for, but controlling one's desires truly is the hardest thing in the world. It was really fortunate that the pokemon happened to possess psychic powers, and in just a second, it was able to read the shy, embarrassed sergal's mind. It wasn't an ordinary request, but one that it could easily fulfill, so having found nothing wrong with the visitor's wish, it opened its mouth wide.
That's when Zay was completely assured of the creature's mind reading powers and intelligence, though it felt a bit creepy that his deepest desire was so easily found by Lugia. He couldn't complain however, as his wish was to experience what it was like to be eaten by it, and now the huge, beak shaped mouth was wide open in front of him, like the gate to a castle. It looked exactly like how it was described in the books: rigged at the sides, small, pointy teeth on the lower jaw, big, fleshy tongue that felt just like a red carpet for the sergal.
"What a sight!" He thought as he approached the maw, while Lugia spread its wings, almost as if it was guiding Zay into its mouth. He could already smell the strong odor of the creature's mouth from afar, which he could describe as fishy, mixed with a bit of seaweed, along with some general mouth smell that reminded him of a mammal. He took a big whiff of the air, as he didn't find it particularly bad smelling, in fact quite the contrary: it was a fantastic experience to be able to smell such a thing! The scent only got stronger and stronger as he neared the mouth, and once he was at the entrance, it was the only thing that he could smell.
Without hesitation, Zay climbed up the hard beak of the pokemon and landed inside of the mouth, the soft tongue acting as a soft pillow catching his fall. He couldn't be bothered to think twice about this, even though he knew that entering the mouth of such a beast could easily be very dangerous. Lugia didn't chew on its prey- it hardly could with the single pair of large, pointy teeth- instead, it swallowed the fish it consumed whole, and waited for the strong stomach acid to do all of the hard work of breaking down the food in its stomach.
As he was looking around and admiring the red, fleshy insides of the mouth, the sergal was suddenly hit by a strong wind coming from the direction of Lugia's throat, like the arrival of a subway train, which pushed the air trapped inside the tight tunnel onto the station platform. Except that this felt much, much stronger and also a whole lot stinkier, causing the sergal to struggle to keep his balance. The wind was accompanied by a loud, deep noise, which almost deafened him, and left his ears ringing for quite a few seconds after the storm had calmed. It took him a while, but Zay suddenly realized what he had just gone through: a burp! He laughed, not being sure if the creature purposefully blessed him with the gush of warm, fantastic smelling wind, or if it was just a coincidence that it felt like it needed to get something out of its stomach while the small mammal was giving him a visit inside of its mouth- but either way, the sergal didn't mind what just happened one bit.
"Thanks!" He yelled out jokingly, not sure if the pokemon was able to hear him inside of its mouth, but still, he couldn't let this burpy encounter go without comment. The blech brought up a myriad of other smells, which Zay thought to be fish, and other sea animals in different stages of digestion, all letting out gasses due to the strong chemical processes done by the strong stomach acid, puffing the stomach up until Lugia got rid of it all in one go at this convenient time.
Although the outside appearance of the pokemon was well known for hundreds of years, and it was not all that difficult for Zay to collect enough information to build a realistic picture, in contrast, quite little was known about the inside anatomy. That was understandable of course, as no one had ever really seen Lugia from the inside- no dissections or inner observations have been made, so the only ways people could gather information was by looking at its outside traits and behaviors, and drawing semi accurate conclusions about the inner organs of Lugia by that.
Zay knew that if he were to go beyond the safe mouth cavity of the beast, he would be able to get a more accurate function of the creature's insides than anyone ever before, but he also acknowledged how dangerous a mission like that was. Although in theory it was possible to travel all along Lugia's digestive system and come out safely on the other side, if the sergal were to fall into an acid pool, or find himself lost, it could easily be fatal.
He thought about it for a while, and whether it was a risk worth taking. After a few minutes, he came to the conclusion that if he wasn't going inside, he was going to beat himself up over the missed opportunity for the rest of his life, so he decided that it was worth giving it a go after all. He thought really hard about wanting to be swallowed by Lugia, hoping that it would read his mind once again and swallow him, just like he wanted. He also yelled out: "Please Lugia, swallow me! I want to travel across your insides! F-for research purposes!"
He knew just how ridiculous his request sounded, but the pokemon didn't seem to find anything wrong with it. It would be winning either way: either it would give its only visitor in a hundred years the adventure of his life, or it would have a nice, large meal and wouldn't have to catch any more fish for a couple of days. Not wasting much more time, it shut its maw closed and swallowed the sergal.
Zay suddenly noticed the light dimming, and looking back, he caught the last moments of the maw closing up behind him. He was now in complete darkness, and could feel the air getting more stale almost instantly. The swallow didn't take long to happen either, as suddenly he felt a tide of saliva that had collected on the creature's tongue, now rushing towards the throat. He really didn't want to complicate the entire process and wanted to be of as much help as he could, so the sergal laid down on the tongue and let himself be carried with the strong current, trying to aim for the esophagus, which was gaping in front of him like a large, fleshy waterslide, serving as an entrance to the inside of Lugia's digestive system. It was a bit difficult to guide himself to the hole in the pitch black, but from what he remembered while there was still light inside of the maw, he managed to somehow enter.
Lugia lifted up its head and looked to the sky, trying to straighten out its neck as much as possible to make for a comfortable swallow for both of them. It knew that if they weren't careful, the sergal could have gotten stuck somewhere halfway through, where the neck got a little bit tighter, and that would have given the story a very different ending. When the pokemon felt that Zay was right at the entrance, it gave one final twitch of the head, causing the sergal to fall in place, and finally start slipping down towards the stomach.
He was officially beyond the point of no return, as he slid down the tube with a dizzying speed. The creature had a long neck, which made the ride even longer, but thanks to the well lubricated surface of the esophagus, his way down was relatively quick. By that time, his entire fur was covered in stinky, gooey Lugia saliva, as swallowing a large, furry object would have proved to be much more difficult than a soggy one, so when he finally fell out at the other and and landed on the soft, squishy, fleshy surface of the stomach, he looked like he had just came out from under the shower.