Spice of Life: Suitable Substitutes
 
Cyn's eyes drifted closed. Despite all her attempts at keeping them open, there was just no helping it. Maybe a couple of minutes rest would help her.
 
It had been a long night of paperwork for the shiny Liepard, trying to make sure that the new guild members had somewhere to stay while they worked on expanding the Den. Malus had been the worst on that account, while Rune and Volt were willing to sleep in the wild, the cat was insistant on a luxury hotel with room service... she eventually offered the ultimatum that he could either stay at the Clearspring inn, or in her gut. She still wished he had picked the latter.
 
“...We've done well recruiting new members,” Auric continued his evaluation of the work week. Cyn snapped her attention to him, moving one paw to her head to keep it upright while the Lucario continued to look over his notes, “We've still got a few holes in the group though. Our goal right now should be to get a pokemon of every type to join The Winners.”
 
“Yeah, yeah.” Cyn replied vacantly, giving little nods as she looked over the desk, if she could keep her eyes busy it would probably help her stay awake. She took the stack of letters and began to go through them, “It's just that we don't have a real base to keep them all in right now, so...”
 
“I would recommend acquiring a base as well. Now that you've got enough pokemon to form two teams, we should be able to double the amount of missions we can partake in.” Auric agreed before pausing, trying to find the right way to put what he wanted to say next, “And if you don't mind me saying, it would be good if we could have better diversity in our team not only for types, but also genders. I've noticed you're the only female in the team thus far.”
 
“Spice is practically a girl. I'd call it a 'one and a half to seven' ratio.” Cyn noted with a little shrug, turning her attention back to the letters as she pawed through them. A bill, some letters from the local businesses, some missions... she perked her ears, taking the final one off the stack, it was a pearly white envelope with the guild's emblem on the front. She put down the others and tugged the letter from the envelope, pushing the rest to one side as she looked up at Auric. “This is from the Guild.”
 
“It may be a reply about the report. Hopefully Xatu's refusal to join the guild doesn't end up reflecting badly on The Winners,” Auric tucked his ears back, sitting back in his chair as he looked over his clipboard once again, “It was my failure after all, not yours.”
 
“It's not about Xatu, it's about The Shadow.” Cyn replied, her eyes scanning the paper as she began to read aloud, “Dear Team 'The Winners', We wish to inform you that the pokemon menace known as 'The Shadow' is now being held in custody thanks to your actions. His bounty was....” her eyes widened, a lump formed in her throat, “E-eighty thousand P!”
 
Auric cleared his throat, “Keep reading.” he told her, gesturing with his hand... unfortunately, he had been in the Guild for long enough to know where this was going.
 
“...As the Guild takes 90% of the earnings from any mission to cover equipment, agency and membership costs, please find enclosed the remaining ten percent.” Cyn's ears flicked back, her smile fading instantly. 8000P was still a sizeable amount, but it just gave her another reason to ignore future jobs. With a huff she reached around in the envelope... “...Wait, there's nothing else in here.”
 
“It may have been lost in the delivery,” Auric noted, only to paused as he took the envelope from Cyn. He checked over the flap, noticing little tears along it, “...Or someone has taken it out already.”
 
“Give me that.” Cyn snapped, snatching it back from Auric with a swipe of her paw. She brought it to her nose, beginning to sniff along the edge. The Lucario watched curiously as the feline worked.
 
“Figy berry.” she growled as she came to her conclusion. She pushed herself away from the desk and charged through the door to the Den, practically knocking it off its hinges as she did so. “SPICE! Get your tails out here, you bounty-stealing jerkass!”
 
“C-Cyn, there's no need to be so rash. We don't know that Spice was the one who took it.” Auric insisted, trying to remain calm as he stood up and followed after the cat, “What would Spice need all that money for anyway?”
 
“Are you kidding me? It's Spice! There's a thousand things he could do with that kind of money.” Cyn growled back at him, storming up the hallway to the Hunger room. The Ninetales had been sleeping on the pillows every night, she rammed the door open with her shoulder and glared around, looking for him in the dimly lit room.
 
'Mmph~' 'Mmmhn~ <3”
 
...her eyes were drawn to the silky pillows in the corner of the room, the Ninetales was bent over them as his tails wagged about happily, kissing and sucking sounds coming from the pokemon he stradled over as he pinned them to down.
 
“Where's the money, Spice? I know you took it!” Cyn snapped as she stormed over to the Ninetales. She grabbed onto his shoulder and turned him around, only to notice something was off about him, he wasn't wearing his red scarf. Her eyes turned to the pokemon he had been tending to.
 
Spice smiled up at her sheepishly, laying on his back as his ears folded back shyly and a blush crossed over his muzzle. He wiped some of the other Ninetales' drool off his mouth before clearing his throat, “Would you, um... give us a moment?”
 
“Wh-” Cyn glanced between the two Ninetales, finding herself speechless as she tried to comprehend what was happening, “Is he your twin?”
 
“Not quite, he's a substitute. I managed to find a vendor selling the TM.” Spice replied, stroking a paw along the mane of the other Ninetales, “Isn't he simply marvellous? He's practically a work of art!”
 
“Well he's -literally- worth ten Reviver seeds, or enough to hire a builder to, I don't know, give our new team members somewhere to live!” Cyn growled, bringing her paw back and thrusting it forward to punch the Ninetales, only for the substitute to dive in the way at the last moment, “Wh- Hey! Get out of the way!”
 
“I will not allow you to harm him, that punch would have ruined his perfect face!” The substitute gasped before turning and licking at Spice's nose, “Are you alright?”
 
“I'm fine, thank you, Spyce.” the Ninetales replied, nuzzling back at himself lovingly before opening his mouth, the two pokemon began to lock muzzles once more as his paws wrapped around him, “Mmmph~ Let me kiss that better for you, Foxy~”
 
“Oh for Arceus' sake.” Cyn gagged at the display, climbing off the pillows to get away from the two. She made her way back towards the door, glancing up at the Lucario who had been patiently waiting for her, “I'm calling a meeting, get everyone together and bring them to the front room.”
 
“What about Spice?” Auric asked, glancing over at the pair of Ninetales as they began to roll, playfully pinning eachother, “Aren't you going to discipline him?”
 
“I will, once he's done screwing himself.” Cyn replied, flicking her ears back as she made her way back up the hallway and towards the stairs, muttering under her breath. Auric stopped to watch the two Ninetales briefly before closing the door, deciding to give them their privacy.
 
* * *
 
“So, before we begin, I want to welcome everyone here to the Winners,” Cyn began, standing on her hind paws and using her forepaws to balance on the table as she looked about the seven pokemon stuffed into the cramped room, ”This is our first meeting as a team, and I know that things are a little tight right now-”
 
“Just like Cyn's pussy~” The Persian chimed from the back of the room, getting a little snicker from the Umbreon standing next to him.
 
“Shut up, Malus.” Cyn snapped before taking a moment to compose herself and beginning again, “I know that we don't have a lot of room here, which is why I want us to expand as quickly as possible.”
 
“I'm fine living in the forest until we do, it's actually a lot safer than the Canyon was.” Rune spoke up, glancing over at the Manectric beside him, “Volt and I have found this one tree that has this huge den built under it. It's pretty comfortable once you get used to all the dirt.”
 
“We believe it may have been abandoned when Clearspring was built, the pokemon who once owned it probably now live in the town,” Volt added in, glancing down at his Umbreon denmate, “There are still places of the underground we haven't explored. There might be an entire mystery dungeon hidden down there.”
 
“Good, another place we can explore for loot.” Cyn nodded, looking to the Lucario. Auric quickly made a note of it in their meeting minutes before the Liepard turned her gaze to Spice, “Of course, we would have 8000P towards our goal if SOMEONE hadn't spent it all on themselves.”
 
Spice glanced over at his double, which gave a little grin and a wave to those gathered. Malus raised an eyebrow at the two and leaned on the desk as he grinned to the two, “So, I'm going to say what everyone else is thinking; Have you two done it, or what?”
 
“'Or what' is a good answer.” Spice replied, furrowing his brow over at his Substitute, “Apparently Spyce and I think identically too.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his forepaws over his chest as his tails twitched in frustration, “Honestly, I was standing there with my tails in the air for ten minutes, wiggling them about, and when I looked over my shoulder he was doing the same thing!”
 “Well, of course I was! I thought you were going to initiate!” Spyce cried out defensively with a blush, “And it's not as though we haven't done -anything-, we wouldn't have been late to the meeting if we hadn't been-”
 
“Stop. Just... Stop.” Cyn slapped a paw against her face, trying to contain her anger, “You're both equally terrible, both as pokemon and adventurers. If I could fire you, I would, but we don't have another fire-type yet.” she gave a little glare to Auric as though blaming him before turning to look over the table, “So, today we're going to go out there and make back the money Spice lost. I suggest we split into teams.”
 
“Rune, Volt and Malus are going to go with Typh and get some training done at the water dojo. While you're there look for any pokemon who might be interested in joining, and take any loot that isn't nailed down,” Cyn began, watching as the pokemon shuffled into the first group, “Auric and I are going to head into town and see if we can find some builders, I'm going to have one of the spare rooms converted into a bunk room.”
 
“What about me and Spice?” Doc Leaf spoke up, raising his paw to get Cyn's attention, practically lost in the crowd of larger pokemon, “Should we go out on a mission?”
 
“No, I need you and Spice here. You'll work the desk, Spice will work the Den.” Cyn replied, turning to the Ninetales.
 
“What about me, Cyn?” Spyce asked as he raised his paw, “Should -I- go out on a mission?”
 
“I'm not talking to you. You're a figment of Spice's overactive ego.” Cyn replied flatly before turning to the rest of those gathered, “Okay teams, let's move out and make some money!”
 
“Wait, there's one other thing,” Doc Leaf spoke up, holding up his paw to get everyone's attention as they turned to head for the door. “I think we should start looking for leads on the Rainbow Lense, but it's important we don't start a wave of pokemon searching for it. We're not the only adventuring group in town, after all.”
 
“The Lense would prove valuable to the Guild, I could probably send for help in searching for it,” Auric noted, turning to Cyn as he lowered his clipboard, “They would likely repay you with access to their stocks, maybe even discounts on Reviver Seeds.”
 
“I think we'll take our chances with growing them ourselves, I'm sure Leaf can figure out how it works,” Cyn replied before nodding to the Leafeon, “But you've got a point... okay, new plan. Team Rookies, start searching around one of the local Mystery Dungeons, Auric and I'll check the Dark Woods.” Cyn breathed out a sigh, “I'm afraid it's going to be another night in the wild, unless you want to share a room with Team Selfcest.”
 
“I prefer to think of us 'Team Self-Love',” Spice noted, giving his other half a little peck on the cheek. Spyce nuzzled back at him before moving to his muzzle to the other fox's neck, giving him gentle little lovebites as the other Ninetales squirmed in delight.
 
“Get a room, you two... and try to tend to the clients too, alright?” Cyn breathed out a sigh before making her way out from behind the desk, “Alright everyone, let's move out. Remember; Grab Loot, Recruit Pokemon, Find Rare stuff.”
 
“We need a better motto,” Malus muttered to Rune, who gave a little shrug as the two teams made their way out of the front door and went their separate ways, leaving the two other pokemon behind.
 
“So, I never actually got your name,” The Doctor said, turning his attention to the Ninetales. He offered a paw up to the substitute and smiled warmly, “I'm Doc Leaf. The resident doctor and... well, prey.”
 
“Ah, I'm Spyce. With a 'Y'. Spice's substitute.” Spyce replied, shaking the little Leafeon's paw as he looked over at the door, pouting his lips, “I do hope I haven't upset Cyn too much. I didn't mean to make her so angry by merely existing.”
 
“Well, of course we didn't.” Spice noted, flicking his mane out of his eyes and he moved to the window to watch as the Liepard walked up the street, “But honestly, she reacted far worse to this than she should have. Imagine how much more work we'll get done now that there are two of us!”
 
“Ah, of course. How silly of me.” Spyce laughed, wrapping his tails around the other Ninetales and nuzzling into his neck once more, “Mmm, she's just jealous that she didn't think of it first. If she was in love with one of us, imagine how she'll feel about -two- of us!”
 
The Leafeon watched as the two Ninetales laughed heartily, he couldn't help but chuckle too at the obsurdity of the situation. He shrugged and made his way back to the desk, taking a seat at it and beginning to organize the clutter, “Well, you two head down and get ready. I'm sure we'll have plenty of business today. I just hope you two can be both predators and prey... and remember, keep an eye on how many seeds we're using.”
 
“Oh, as if we can't just find more.” Spice rolled his eyes before grinning back at his substitute, “Come along, Spyce. Time to get to work~” he murred, swaying his tails invitingly as they made their way down to the Den. The other Ninetales followed after him with a grin, though as he reached the door he paused and glanced over at the Leafeon.
 
“Leaf, would you mind running down to the item shop and getting me a scarf?” he asked him politely, swishing his tails back and forth behind him, “I feel positively naked without one. It's really quite distracting.”
 
“Well, you -are- naked.” Leaf replied, looking up at the Ninetales. As Spyce began to whimper he offered him a reassuring smile and got up from the desk, “Alright. I'll only be a little while, just make sure you check the desk every now and then.”
 
“Of course~” The Ninetales chimed before making his way down the stairs, closing the door behind him as he wandered along towards the Hunger room. The Leafeon felt a little strange taking requests from a substitute, but at least the Ninetales was a little more courteous than his original.
 
* * *
 
Spice let out a sigh as he rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling before glancing over to the other Ninetales, “Spyce, how long have we been here? Do you think we could go on our lunchbreak yet?”
 
“Actually Spice, it's only been an hour.” Spyce breathed out a sigh before whining and flopping down next to the other Ninetales, “But it feels like it's been all day! Isn't anyone going to come down here?”
 
“Honestly, I'm starting to think I should have gone with the rest of the team,” Spice huffed, folding his forepaws over his chest, “I can't believe Cyn stuck us here while she went off adventuring with everyone else.”
 
“Of course, everyone knows that if you have a pair of perfect pokemon on your team, you're bound to attract more wild pokemon for recruitment,” Spyce replied, flicking his tails before beginning to groom each one of them, “And we're the most perfect pair of all.”
 
Spice paused and cleared his throat, “Well...” he began slowly, his eyes drifting over Spyce's form.
 
“Well, what?” his double asked, his smile fading as he looked up at the Ninetales, “Are you having a bad fur day today?”
 
“Of course not, my fur has never been better,” Spice flicked his mane out of his eyes before averting his gaze from the other Ninetales, “It's just that... you're not -actually- perfect.”
 
“What?” Spyce snapped, sitting up and looking himself over, checking his paws and tails for any dirt before looking back to Spice with a huff, “What are you talking about? I'm perfect in every way!”
 
“The third tail from the left is a quarter of an inch shorter than your others,” Spice explained, pressing his paw against the fluffy culprit. He finally sat up, pushing it to another of the Ninetales' tails to show him the difference in their size, “See? You're not a perfect copy after all.”
 
“I-I can't believe what I'm seeing, why would I have one tail shorter than the-” Spyce stopped, then slowly turned to look into the Ninetales eyes, his expression turning one of boiling rage, “You. You did this!”
 “Me?” Spice gasped, backing away from the other Ninetales, though he quickly found himself with his back pressed to the wall and his double looming over him, “Why would I do that?”
 
“Because you didn't want to share the spotlight. You couldn't stand another pokemon being as beautiful as you are!” Spyce growled as he put one paw to his chest, bringing his muzzle inches from Spice's as he spoke to him, “Well, if you're not willing to share first place, then I'll just have to take it from you.”
 
Before the Ninetales could say anything In his defense he found the other fox pinning him down, his tails coiling around him to hold him in place as he sat on him for good measure. Spyce grinned away as he opened his mouth, deciding to start with those beautiful nine tails that had become the bane of his existence. He bunched them up with his paws and stuffed them into his mouth, licking over the squirming mass of fluffy tails with a delighted murr.
 
He took his first gulp to begin his creator's descent into him, using his forepaws to pin the Ninetales legs while his own legs locked either side of the squirming fox's head, smothering his face with his rear. Spyce murred in pleasure as he brought Spice's backlegs into his mouth, taking swift gulps to bring his voluptuous hips into his hungry maw, grinning down at his prey as he felt his many tails wriggling around in his throat.
 
It wasn't long before the Ninetales' slim midsection disappeared, allong with his forepaws. He wiggled his shoulders in an attempt to get free, whimpering and whining as the tongue slathered over his face, taking in his flavour and matting down his fur. He went to yell for help, only to find Spyce's paw covering his muzzle. The Substitute unravelled his scarf and winked at him teasingly, then shoved his head into his mouth with a final loud 'Gllrk~'.
 
Spice widened his eyes as he entered his doppleganger's stomach and immediately started kicking and punching at the walls. Spyce gave a little belch and a chuckle as he rolled onto his side, hugging his gut with all four of his paws, “Mmm, yes~ Squirm my little snack, become one with my perfection~”
 
“N-never! I refuse to be part of some... some common mutt!” Spice growled, ramming himself against the stomach wall and pushing at it as hard as he could, leaving a defined bulge of his face on the outside.
 
“Those are big words coming from such a delicious meal~” Spyce chuckled and rubbed him back down condescendingly as he nuzzled at his stomach lovingly, “Mmm, but it's like we always say; 'True beauty is appealing to all five senses, even taste!'”
 
“Hmmph!” The Ninetales let out the muffled reply of frustration as he continued to squirm in an attempt to free himself, though as he ran out of energy he flopped against the stomach wall, whimpering as he felt it moving and constricting around him... now that his panic was over, he noticed something, “Th-there aren't any stomach acids in here.”
 
“Oh, you just wait, there will be.” Spyce giggled with glee as he massaged his bulging gut more vigorously, giving it a little shake to incite the stomach juices, “Any minute now~”
 
...but none came. After a moment of silence the Substitute perked his ears, pushing one to his stomach to listen, “Are you digested yet?”
 
“N-no, I'm quite alright.” Spice replied, glancing over the stomach around him. He reached a paw up and felt along it... it felt real, and yet, he wasn't getting digested... and from the sounds of it, it wasn't because the fox was holding his acids like Typh could, “I suppose being a substitute, you wouldn't have need for them since you can't really feed or need to be fed... you're just supposed to 'take hits' for me.”
 
“Clearly a flaw in the move's design. Fortunately for us both, I'm a genius.” Spyce announced proudly as he stood up, “So, here's how this is going to work. You have been upgraded from 'meal' to 'stomach'. Your job now is to digest whatever I devour, thereby keeping you alive which, in turn, keeps me alive.”
 
“And what are you going to do if I refuse?” The Ninetales snapped back at him.
 
“This.” Spyce replied, opening his mouth and letting out a long belch. As he did so Spice felt the stomach beginning to shrink around him until finally he was forced to hug his tails. He wriggled as much as he could, but found himself otherwise trapped and under the Ninetales' mercy, “One more remark and you'll be out of space. Are we clear, stomach?”
 
Spice whimpered in response. The substitute gave his gut a little pat of approval before putting on Spice's red scarf and making his way towards the door to hunt, only to notice the very confused Leafeon standing infront of it. Doc Leaf gasped and turned to flee as he was spotted, only to be pounced down by the Ninetales and pinned to the ground, “Afraid I won't be needing that scarf after all, Doctor. Spice was kind enough to lend me his.”
 
“O-oh, well that was generous of him,” The Leafeon replied, putting on his best fake grin and trying to stifle his nervous chuckles, “H-hey, you're kind of heavy... would you mind getting off of me for a sec?”
 
“I'm afraid not, Leaf. You see, my new stomach is acting up, and I need to make sure he knows how to do his job.” The Ninetales replied, opening his mouth wide for the Leafeon. As the substitute's breath hit his face he could smell the Figy berry scent that Spice always wore, and he could hear his muffled cries for help beyond Spyce's throat.
 
“O-oh, well. If you just give me a minute to grab a Reviver seed-”
 
'Glrk!' The Ninetales had already begun to devour the Leafeon before he even finished his sentence. The grass-type gasped and tried to pull his head free of the Ninetales, but Spyce adamantly held onto his meal as he tilted his head back, lifting him off the ground. He jerked his head back, bringing the Leafeon's upper body into his mouth while his legs kicked at the air uselessly.
 
Spyce grinned as his tongue explored the Leafeon's small frame, taking in his refreshing flavour. After a while of toying around with his prey he tilted his head back and closed his mouth around the smaller pokemon, taking a heavy gulp to send him down to meet the other Ninetales. He murred as he ran a paw over the bulge in his throat, guiding it down until it disappeared past his chest.
 
“L-Leaf?” Spice gasped as he saw the familiar pokemon entering, only to find the throat forcing him to make room for the grass-type. He lowered himself as much as he could as the confused Leafeon entered, finally curling up against the Ninetales and squirming around until he was facing him, though with the tightness of the stomach he found their noses pressed together.
 
“H-hey Spice, I see you're still in one piece.” The Leafeon chuckled awkwardly before running his hand along the stomach wall, “It's quite remarkable, it's like just like your actual stomach. I wasn't expecting this much attention to detail.”
 
“Well, thank Arceus there wasn't -more- attention to detail. He doesn't have any stomach acids.” The Ninetales replied. He could feel the stomach swaying back and forth around them as Spyce continued his hunt, “The nerve. He'll have everyone thinking I'm some sort of gluttonous pig!”
 
“I don't know if his body is capable of knowing when he's full. For all we know he may keep going until he's eaten the whole town.” Doc Leaf gasped, pushing against the stomach walls, “There must be some way out of here.. have you tried getting back out the throat yet?”
 
“No, I was too busy kissing my tails goodbye to try that,” The Ninetales flicked his ears back before pawing at the stomach wall, “But that's never worked for any prey -I've- eaten. I just swallow them back down again until they stopped trying.”
 
“Well, that just leaves one other idea...” The Leafeon noted, glancing down at the Ninetales' rear. Spice remained silent as he tried to figure out what Leaf was referring to before finally the doctor decided to throw him a bone, “I mean, if he doesn't have stomach acids... do you really think he'll have intestines either?”
 
“We are NOT going out the back way!” Spice snapped, whapping at the Leafeon's head with his paw before whimpering and hugging his tails, “What if we were outside? What if someone saw? I'd never live the humiliation down!”
 
“It's better than being stuck in here forever, isn't it?” The Leafeon replied, shuffling down the Ninetales, “Look, maybe if I just give it a try and then run for help if it works?”
 
“You can't just leave me here.” Spice cried, grabbing onto the Leafeon with his tails and pining him to his front, “What happened to adventurers sticking together through thick and thin?”
 
“Somehow I don't think whoever came up with that would apply it to this kind of situation,” Doc Leaf chuckled nervously, wriggling against the tails and pushing them away, “A-are you sure I can't just give it a try?”
 
“No. Neither of us are going anywhere.” The Ninetales snapped at him before wiggling against the stomach wall, trying to get comfortable once more, “We'll just have to wait until we're rescued. It shouldn't be long.”
 
Spice glanced up as he heard the throat above him opening again, only to find a lilac Espeon rear sliding out of it and landing on his face. She moaned and squirmed, rolling onto her back as she kicked one of her back-legs in pleasure, “Oooh, Spice~ You're so forward. You didn't even ask my permission, but I suppose that's what I get for being prey~”
 
“Rose?” The Leafeon blinked, finding himself coming face to face with the Espeon, “Wh-what are you doing here?”
 
“Being eaten by Spice... what are -you- doing here?” the Espeon replied, blushing bright pink as she found she wasn't alone. She kicked her legs as she felt the movement below her rear and quickly shuffled forward towards the Leafeon, “A-and what are we sitting on?”
 
“The real Spice. The one you just got eaten by was a substitute.” the Leafeon explained, trying to shove the Ninetales' tails off of him so he could speak with her, “Don't worry, he can't digest us... but if he keeps eating pokemon at this rate, he just might overcrowd the stomach and crush us.”
 
“Cr-Crush us?” The Espeon gasped before beginning to kick at the stomach walls again, her footpaw occassionally slamming into the Ninetales' muzzle instead, “S-Spice! Stop eating! You're quite full as it is!”
 
“My stomach will tell me when I'm full, you little snack. Now shut up and get in him.” Spyce growled back, sniffing at the air, “I know Cyn's around here somewhere. I'm sure she'll be happy to see there's only one Spice in her team now.”
 
“Yeah, the WRONG Spice!” Spice growled as he kicked his paws against the stomach wall. The three pokemon kicked and squirmed in the Ninetales confined stomach, though it did see to distract him as suddenly they felt a jolt all around them, they could hear the 'thud' of the pokemon laying down from the outside.
 
“Fine, you want me to stop so you can digest those two?” Spyce growled impatiently, patting at his stomach, “Well, go on then. Eat up! You're just wasting valuable time though, Cyn would never listen to a prey over a predator.”
 
“What are we going to do?” Leaf whispered to the others, trying to keep his voice down so Spyce wouldn't hear their planning, “If you don't do something soon, he's going to send Cyn in here too! There's barely enough room as it is!”
 
“Oh, I don't know. I'm actually quite enjoying being part of an ensemble meal,” Rose admitted with a blush and a purr, “I think we could make room for Cyn if Spice were to eat one of us, and I've got a Reviver seed on me, so of course I volunteer to 'go down a level.'”
 
“Sis, please try to stay focused,” Leaf muttered, glancing over at the Espeon before turning his attention back to Spice for his input... though as the fox just looked at him with bewilderment the Leafeon nodded up towards the Espeon, “We're step-siblings.”
 
“Not even biologically related,” Rose confirmed with a flick of her forked tail before wriggling to the side so she they could all see eachother, using her gem to light up the stomach around them, “Still though, if the substitute can't digest us, I don't see why we shouldn't take advantage of this rare opportunity.”
 
“Rose is right,” Spice spoke up, much to the Leafeon's surprise. He cleared his throat, “About Spyce finding Cyn, I mean... do you really think she'd let him just eat her?”
 
“Spice? What the crap! I told you to stay at the Den!”
 
The three pokemon looked at eachother, frozen with anxiety. They had all heard Cyn's voice through the stomach wall... all they could do was wait and see what would happen next.
 
 
“Ah, yes, well I thought I might get some time in the sunlight, sleep off a particularly irritating customer.” Spyce replied as he laid down on the grass, sprawling out to reveal his bulging gut to Cyn, “I don't suppose you'd care to rub him down, would you?”
 
“Gladly,” Cyn replied with a little smirk, making her way over and stroking over the bulge. She purred to herself, feeling the defined print of the Ninetales' muzzle hidden behind the fluff and pudge of the Ninetales on the outside, “So, I see you and your substitute have gotten really close, Spice.”
 
“Oh yes, we're practically inseperable,” Spyce replied with a giddy yip, wagging his tails, “I think I like him much better this way.”
 
“I wasn't talking to you, clone.” Cyn noted, glancing up at the bewildered Ninetales as he put her paw firmly down on his stomach, “Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to not see through this? Spice would -never- let himself be seen out in the open like this. You're more belly than pokemon!”
 
“Well, I am right -now-. But by the time Spice is done digesting the pokemon inside of me, It'll only be him in there,” Spyce replied, leaning forward towards the Liepard, “Cyn, we both know he isn't good enough to be in your team. I mean, he spent all the money that you earned on himself.”
 
“What?!” Spice let out a muffled growl, kicking around in the stomach violently as he heard Spyce. Cyn raised an eyebrow and slowly put her paw on the bulge of Spice's head, pushing him back down.
 
“I'm listening.” Cyn noted, looking into the substitute's eyes as her ears perked curiously at the offer, “So you're saying I could keep you and leave Spice to be your stomach?”
 
“Exactly. So long as he's alive, I'll remain here.” Spyce smiled politely as his tails curled around her back, they began to stroke along her form seductively, “I'm not like him. I'll be the refined, perfect gentleman he could never be. I'll follow your orders to a T and will be your perfect pokemon companion... and if you so wish, your lover.”
 
“Don't listen to him Cyn!” Spice called out, now muffled by the stomach wall and the Liepard's paw, “He thinks identically to me, he's just telling you what you want to hear! He's no less obsessed with himself than I am!”
 
“Shut up, Spice.” Cyn growled in response, climbing up onto the Ninetales' gut in order to put her full force on the pokemon inside it. Her tail lashed angrily for a moment before she turned her attention back to Spyce, staring into his eyes, “So.. you'd really do all that, just for me?”
 
“Of course, Cyn... I'll give you whatever you want...” Spyce replied, closing his eyes and leaning forward to kiss the Liepard, causing his gut to raise up to slowly push her towards him.
 
“Oh Spyce...” Cyn purred romantically, leaning down to kiss the Ninetales. She could feel his breath against her muzzle, the heat of his lips as they moved forward to meet her own. She opened her eyes just enough to see him before leaning up to whisper in his ear.
 
 “Shadow Ball.”
 
The Ninetales opened his eyes as he heard the whisper, only for them to widen as he saw the crackling ball of dark energy on the Liepard's tail. She gave a little grin as she flicked it, sending it down towards the Ninetales gut. The substitute let out a final yipe before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving the pokemon he had eaten sprawled out on the grass, gasping for air.
 
“Y-you could have told us that was your plan, you know.” Leaf noted between short, panting breaths.
 
“If I did, Spice would have known. Which means that his substitute would have known too.” Cyn replied, turning her attention to the Ninetales before glancing over at the two eeveelutions either side of him, “Seriously, it's a substitute. Not one of you thought to break it with moves?”
 
“I didn't realise it was a substitute until I was inside it,” Rose exclaimed before quickly shuffling to her feet, her tail curling between her legs in embarassment. She patted down her fur in an attempt to compose herself before briskly walking away, “B-but I must be off. I've got some... papers to grade.”
 
“Have fun 'grading papers',” Cyn replied, doing little air-quotes with her paws before turning her attention to the other two, “Well, I hope Spyce at least remembered to close the Den before he went wandering out.. if not, you two have a long night ahead of you.”
 
“I know,” Spice breathed out a sigh as he got up, collecting his scarf from the floor and putting it back on, “I still can't believe he ate me. I'll never use that move again.”
 
“Like hell you won't,” Cyn growled, storming over to the Ninetales and glaring into his eyes, “You spent 8000p on that TM, and you're going to use it until you get your money's worth!” her ears flicked back, “Or maybe it'd be better to say 'My money's worth', since it was never yours in the first place.”
 
“Y-yes, Cyn. Sorry Cyn.” Spice stammered with a nervous gulp. The Liepard lashed her tail at the air and stormed back towards Clearspring, leaving the two pokemon alone in the field outside of it. The Ninetales breathed out a sigh and got to his feet, stretching a little and cringing as he felt a pain in his leg, “Mmph, spending all that time in a stomach has left me quite cramped up.”
 
“You know, if Spyce and you think alike... doesn't that mean that he sort of meant everything he said to Cyn?” Leaf asked, glancing up at the Ninetales, “I mean, I know he was doing it to avoid freeing us, but some of what he said sounded kind of.. genuine. I mean, like all that stuff he promised Cyn.”
 
“Y-yes, well.” Spice flicked his tails with a blush, “I'm just a good actor.” the Ninetales announced before walking back towards the town. He could still feel Spyce inside his mind, waiting until he next needed to use him... and now that Cyn had forbade him from forgetting the move, all he could do was hope next time his substitute might be more willing to negotations.