+-+-+-+-+-Before you Start-+-+-+-+-+

DISCLAIMER: I don't own pokegirls and whoever else may appear that're not of my own creation.

The story contains violence (and its subcategories) in varying amounts and it also has sexual content (at varying quantities as well), but the story isn't centered around either so it's not THAT much of a common occurrence.

Lastly, this narration takes place within the pokegirl world (in case of doubt, the basics are at the bottom). If you're not into any of these three things, well... I can't force you to stay and read.

For the rest who're not going back out of here... Thank you and I hope you enjoy the read!

-+-+-+-+-+STORY TIME!+-+-+-+-+-

Mario opened his eyes slowly, looking at the roof of his room, his brain going through the routine of waking up.

It was morning, that much was clear; the sun had past the corner of his bed, it was late, past eleven at least. Some still groggy part of him remembered it was Saturday, so any worry towards getting late was pushed out. Instead, he wondered whether or not the rest of his family was awake and if he should risk being called into helping out making breakfast.

He turned his head towards his brother's bed to perhaps glimpse if at least his sibling had become active or not. The covers had been drawn all the way and the only visible thing was the same kind of bushy black mess Mario had. Apparently he was asleep.

Straining his ear, he tried to determine whether there were other sources of sound somewhere at the other side of his bedroom door.

Silence.

Feeling with little desire to get up, he cursed that he no longer felt sleepy. Mario remained on his bed out of hope slumber would come back but it would not be the case today.

Sighing, he gathered the strength to move. As silently as he could manage under the circumstances, he shifted into a sitting position, feet pressing against the cold hard-wood floor giving him a chill that hastened the dispelling of his groggy mind. Taking a long yawn, he pushed himself up to a standing position and took a single extended stretch of arms and back to smooth out some of the sores formed from sleeping on a hard bed. The sensation brought out a small grunt of pleasure and a satisfied 'crack' coming from his lower back that placed his spine into its proper position, rewarding him with a tingle that made him shudder.

Heading for the bathroom, he acknowledged the rumble of his belly, enough that he drew out the mental list of available ingredients they currently had their fridge stocked with. With any luck, there was still some bacon left over he could fry, perhaps even some corn flour he could prepare a proper breakfast with.

The moment he opened the bathroom door, every thought he had derailed instantly.

A strong gust of cold wind buffeted his face, Mario's eyes snapped fully open, seeing in front of him not the black and blue tiles of the bathroom but a sea of snow under a clear blue sky.

He barely had the time to take in the impossible reality that was in front of him, a blast of cold air pulled him into the frozen landscape and through the door, plunging him into the void of empty air.

Mind reeling and unable to comprehend what was happening, Mario hit the snow face first without getting a chance to become consciously panicked. With the exception of the area covered by his briefs, every inch of his skin came into direct contact with the snow.

Gasping for air at the shock, he clambered to his feet as quickly as he could manage, arms and legs flailing nearly out of control at his desperate attempt to get off the snow.

"Mierda! (Shit!)." he shouted out, his word a thick fog that was hastily blown away by icy winds. Already shivering, he slapped the snow out of himself in a desperate attempt to make himself warmer; his slapping turned to rubbing the skin as the cold bit into it, a sub-zero fire drawing out heat and rendering every nerve on his body alight with a burning chill.

His eyes rushed trying to look for something that wasn't snow and ice and cold. His brain had yet to come to terms with the fact he was freezing to death in the middle of the tundra. Just a minute ago he had been waking up smack in the middle of summer and expecting a day that was going to be hot and humid enough he'd stay indoors all day long since going outside would've meant getting cooked in the unnaturally strong heatwave that had come into the already tropical weather.

Now he was surrounded by white frost in every available direction and as far as the eye could see. Wind blew fiercely, the feeling against every inch of his skin like a storm of daggers. Desperate to find anything that could mean getting out of there, he took a step in a random direction; the snow was knee-deep, so cold it felt like he was stepping on daggers. "Que cojones!? (What the fuck!?)" the curse gave him something to focus on, something to believe this wasn't just some incredibly vivid nightmare.

Head turned towards the spot he had come from, only seeing the same thing that was in front of him: more snow. How was this even possible?

It felt too real, even if he couldn't admit to believing it. Whatever was going on was somehow, real.

'I have to move.' The thoughts came out harshly. The impossibility of reality aside, he could not allow himself to lose time, the cold was draining what little energy he could spare too quickly, he couldn't afford wasting any more time wondering how he got here. He was here now and he had to seek shelter.

Taking a second wavering step, he crushed the snow under his naked foot, the skin flashing a sharp pain that his mind couldn't interpret as anything other than he had just stepped on broken glass. Another curse left his lips before he tightened his jaw to will himself into his next step. The pain came back but he had been expecting it this time, he groaned inwardly but didn't stop.

The third step came faster, the cold that was robbing his heat was also numbing out some places, making it more bearable. He began rubbing his arms and shoulders as he hugged himself tightly, trying to avoid losing against the cold, eyes looking for something to go towards to.

Everything under the blue sky was deathly white, and the wind was starting to grow into cyclone speeds, goose bumps spreading throughout his body while the shudders intensified.

WHERE THE HELL WAS HE!?

-+-Several kilometers south or Mario-+-

Miranda's eyes opened abruptly, her head snapped towards one of the walls in her small laboratory. The feeling all too strong to be able to ignore it, the energy spike had been massive enough she would've feared a town had been wiped off the map if she didn't know there were no settlements in that particular direction. She had never felt anything as powerful before. What had that been?

"Fetch him for me, will you?" An ethereal voice whispered in her ear, Miranda shuddered and spun to look behind her. She was alone.

Remaining perfectly still for what felt like an extremely long second, Miranda wondered whether or not it had been something created by her imagination. She couldn't feel any presences nearby.

"If you don't, I will be very cross with you, Miranda. You know how much I hate it when my efforts go to waste." Again, the voice came right from behind her, she swirled, glaring at several rows of empty shelves.

Her eyes broadened in shock as she remembered who the owner of that voice was. "What have you done?" she hissed the words under her breath, feeling how a forgotten well of anger slowly opened up.

"Something fun." The voice snickered, whispering . "Hurry or he's sure to die out there in the cold."

Aged green eyes glared into the emptiness until she was certain the one speaking to her was truly gone; or at least hoped so. Growling lowly, she headed for the door, donning her cape as her spells turned on and kept her from the cold.

-+-Mario-+-

He was warm, very warm. The sensation was universal, every inch of his body felt alive and complaining from the heat; it reminded him of that one time he had been in a sauna with his father.

Ignoring the slightly uncomfortable heat and sweat, his still half asleep mind began focusing on the rest of his body. His throat hurt and every inch of his skin ached in pulsating degrees of pain.

"No muerto. (Not dead.)" Mario mumbled under his breath, fighting to open his eyes.

The roof he was looking at was not one he knew; it was leathery, and the only light there was came from a fire somewhere to his right. He was covered with what he could only make out as fur of some sort; it was very, very soft.

"No muerto. (Not dead.)" He repeated, eyes opening further and blinking. Hand rose to meet his eyes, flexing the fingers proved mildly uncomfortable and the skin felt slightly more tender than the rest of the arm, tinted in a light reddish color akin to a sunburn but otherwise perfectly functional.

Next was the obvious question. Where was he?

Tilting his head and using the fire's light to get a good look at the rest of the place. It was some sort of leather and wood hut, more flimsy looking than what he would've liked, and about large enough for two large cars to park inside. Aside from the fire, there were another three sets of beds and some bundles placed about that he couldn't make out what they were or what for.

Just trying to sit down proved to be more taxing than what he expected, so he quit halfway through and went back to remaining on his back and trying to figure out where he was.

The sound of steps startled him enough for him to quickly shut his eyes and slow his breathing, pretending to be asleep. As soon as he did this, the entrance of the hut he was in opened, the sound of boots following through and towards his general direction.

Mario dared not open his eyes for now, and kept his ears attentive; the boots came closer and to a full halt next to his bed. Then there was silence. The young man feared he had been caught, even though he wasn't sure if that would be bad at all.

What really caught him by surprise was the feel of a soft hand being placed on his forehead. The skin was smooth yet slightly coarse, and the touch cool but not uncomfortably so.

It had shocked him enough to open his eyes.

He gasped.

The woman that was looking down at him had orbs like he had never seen. Where the white should have been there was black, and the iris was a gold that appeared to shimmer in the dark. Her face was pale and feminine, yet somehow retained a certain coarse and sharp feel to it. Her hair a coal black that was tied into a firm ponytail that went past her shoulders, her lips a pale pink.

"Awake." She spoke in English with a slight accent; her voice was as her face, soft and feminine yet sharp and firm. Her lips smiled ever so gently. Raising a cup made out of dark brown clay, she handed it to Mario. "Drink."

She quickly stood to her full height, the whole two meters of it. She wore some form of leather armor and furs that covered her body, her build something akin to a slim warrior, though hard to make out due to the cape on her back and the thickness of the furs. She promptly went out of the tent, leaving him alone once more.

Mario frowned as he looked at the drink, it was a greenish color and it was steaming, probably recently boiled or brewed. He wished he knew how it smelt like so as to at least have an idea of what was in the beverage, but he figured it was actually a good thing he lacked such a sense at the moment.

Sighing, he put it down and struggled to sit down again, not willing to risk drinking it while lying down. It took a couple attempts, but he managed it, then placed the fur blankets on his shoulders to keep him warm as he grabbed the cup again.

The taste of the brew reminded him of the homemade tea his mother made every now and then. Pretty much diluted garden weeds and grass. He didn't much like it. 'Better this than nothing.' He inwardly growled while slowly sipping it, trying to not get burned in the process.

The flaps of the tent opened again and this time three stepped inside. The first was the same woman from before; the second was a man that seemed on his late fifties, long white hair neatly put into a pony tail and bronze colored skin. He was about a meter seventy tall, bright green eyes and wrinkled enough to look slightly older. He wore a worn out coat, stained beyond recognition, the only thing hinting it had once been white were the few patches still to be blotched by whatever it had been that tainted the rest of it in brown, blue and green.

Beside him was a woman Mario could not quite gauge. She seemed relatively young, perhaps late thirties, but the look in her sapphire eyes and the wrinkles around them spoke of many more years than that. Her physique was to be envied for someone her age, slightly shorter than the man; her only clothing was a knee length red skirt and a vest that showed more cleavage than what it should. Her hair was opal in color, flowing gracefully all the way to her hips, the middle part of it braided the rest free.

Mario blinked. "Wait, it's freezing outside." He muttered, switching to English since he figured that was the language they spoke. Looking at the blue haired woman and the doctor a second time, neither looked dressed for anything colder than 10 degrees.

All three of them snickered at that. Well, the black and gold eyed girl just gave him an eerie grin that reminded him of someone… though for the life of him he could not remember who.

"I guess you'd know that from personal experience." The shorter woman said with a small grin. "My name is Miranda, and this is Professor Fellatio."

At that Mario almost sprayed the bit of the beverage he was about to drink. Coughing, he managed to keep it in and swallow it though not without trouble, giving all three of them a weary look. "You're joking." He deadpanned.

The man's brows wrinkled and lowered until they almost became a single line. "I assure you she does not. My name is Angus Fellatio, ice pokegirl researcher." He crossed his arms, scowling, a twitch in his lip. "We found you in the middle of the snow about a week ago, the least you could do is show some respect to…"

"Pokegirl?" Mario interrupted the professor, his mind was starting to whir. "You're pokegirls…." He looked at Miranda and the other girl, he was slowly backing up. "Nonononono… this can't be right." Looking at the black and gold eyes of the first girl, something clicked in his head. "Mulan! Of course! I should have known the instant I…" shaking his head, he began forcing himself to take long breaths, slowing down his heart and mind. The concept in on itself seemed absurd and impossible to say the least, but he had to take caution. With a final sigh, he was calm again. "Ok, Professor. Let's say for a second I believe what you said and they are indeed a pokegirls. Could you please prove it?"

The look Miranda gave him was amused to say the least, more so since the professor looked irked at being ignored. "Should this suffice?" she raised her right hand and with a bit of concentration, a sphere of lightning bolts formed mere inches from it, with a flick of her hand, it flew towards Mario, making him yelp and jump to the side, scorch marks in the leather clearly visible where it had struck.

Mario growled, more so when the three of them looked very content at what Miranda had done. "Yes." He rubbed his shoulder; it stung even when it had just passed near it. "I'm Mario." He said dryly, not quite yet coping with what this meant for him. "Sorry for the outburst, it's just that…" hesitation, should he explain it all? His best option was keeping himself honest but otherwise avoiding from telling anything of much importance. "I never thought I'd end up here of all places."

"Well, we're at the north of Edo, a month and a half away from the frontier with Opal." The professor explained. "Where are you from?"

"Venezuela." Mario commented with a smirk on his lips, he put down the cup and crossed his arms. "I guess in your maps it'd be underwater somewhere between Tropic, Crimson and the Slot leagues." He looked at Miranda's shocked expression. "And before you ask, yes, I am from another world."

There was an awkward long moment of silence that followed his statement.

The professor glanced at Miranda, who sighed as she held the bridge of her nose. "Of course you are." To say she looked frustrated was an understatement. "It couldn't have been something simple like a lost Tamer or a teleport accident. It had to be a world walker." She glanced at Mario. "And how exactly do you know about pokegirls?"

The young man shrugged with his shoulders. "Where I'm from, pokegirls are stories you can read on the internet. I partook on writing a couple stories I never finished, nothing worth mentioning." He tried his best to keep himself looking innocent. "My turn, I need information as to what kind of pokegirl world this is. Whether or not it's like the one I knew of, and how close said relation is." Moving his shoulders, he felt the soreness come and go. "Once I've got that, I'd like to apply for a Tamer's position and see if I can find my way back to my world." Sighing, he could see the surprise in their faces, probably from how calm and collected he had suddenly become. "Let's start off with the important stuff. Do any of you know of Ranma Saotome?"

The professor stepped out and nodded, trying to catch the spotlight. "Three years ago he gave the Speech." he looked cross. "Now you answer me, how much exactly do you know about this world?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Mario snapped. "Since this is a multiverse thing, this world could be an exact copy of the ones I've read, or a similar one with minor differences. Now, Ryu Hissanagi, Kuno, The Undertaker. Any names don't sound familiar?"

Miranda shook her head. "We've heard of all those names." Her expression shifted into an interested grin. "As you probably know, a lot of pre-Sukebe history and knowledge was lost during the war. We'd like to know about the Huns."

The human frowned. "History wasn't exactly my strongest subject." His frustration mirrored the one Miranda had showed only moments ago. "Let's see… for what I can remember, the Huns took over a very large chunk of Europe and Asia thanks to the invention of the bow and arrow. Attila de Hun being one of the most important leaders of the whole thing since he was the last one to rule the empire before it all went to hell. What else…" his frown deepened as he tried to recall as best he could what he knew. "Oh, yeah, they didn't keep records of anything since they didn't read or write, this is why it was considerably hard to know much about them other than from outside sources." His eyes lit up. "Ok, so let's see what else… has Tiphonna been active in the past twenty years or so?"

"Thank the thousand gods no." professor Fellatio was quick to answer. "Do you have any sort of power that a normal human being would not?"

"Unless being obnoxious is a power, then no. I'm as powerless as the average pre-Sukebe human being." Grinning, he rubbed the lower side of his jaw; he wanted to avoid asking anything that could lead them to believe he knew more than he should, so he'd have to keep the questions broad. "Has anything important happened in the last year? And I mean of world changing importance."

"We're rather isolated, so we don't get news that often." The professor's expression hardened. "If anything has happened, it's not been of enough importance for it to reach our ears." He waved his hand as if to dismiss the subject. "We'll continue this latter, I'm sure the village elder would like to have a word with you once we tell her you're awake and well." He turned to the gold and black eyed pokegirl. "We'll be in our lab for now; we have some things to update."

The pokegirl gave a brief nod before turning towards Mario. "I am Shaka." She waited for the professor and Miranda to walk outside. "Elder asked me to take care of you while you were recovering." Crouching, she grabbed hold of one of the bundles and tossed it at the young man. "Put them on."

Opening the bundle, he saw a set of leather pants, a white cotton shirt, something that looked like a coat and boots. The pokegirl was still looking intently at him. "You mind?" he knew he was naked under the covers and didn't feel like giving a show.

"No, I do not mind." She crossed her arms.

"Well, I do." He looked down at himself for a second. "Even when I'm aware you've probably seen me naked already." Eyes became slightly pleading. "I'm way out of my safe zone right now."

Shaka looked into his brown eyes, holding his gaze for just a couple seconds before turning around, keeping her arms crossed. "Change."

Mario nodded, slightly grateful at the gesture of privacy.

He ignored the lack of briefs and just put on the clothes, he'd get to complain about clothes and everything else latter on. Even though the clothes were somewhat soft, he couldn't stifle a slight groan, it was like he had gotten sunburn and now that he was moving his skin was stinging a lot more than before.

Shaka turned to look at him as soon as he had finished dressing himself. The clothes were slightly larger than his intended size, meant for someone about ten to twenty centimeter taller, made out of fur, cotton and leather, making him seem larger than he was.

"Good enough." She passed her assessment while pulling him out of the small hut and into the cold air outside.

Mario flinched at the cold and burst of white light, it took him a couple seconds, but he managed to adjust to the light and his gaze was met with what he could only recognize as a ten hut sized Mongolian village. Each shaped like a short but broad cylinder with walls made out of a dark brown substance the young man believed to be leather or something similar, smoke or steam coming out in a thin stream up the center of the roof.

He also saw a rather large white tent just at the side of the 'village', it looked like the sort of thing you'd use on a camping trip, though somewhat reinforced. The human guessed it was to avoid it having fly away with the strong winds.

"This way." Shaka pointed at the larger hut, it was only a couple meters tall, like all the others, though the base was about ten meters in diameter.

The human noted there was something else at the edges of the village, but he didn't get the chance to see it as he was practically pulled and shoved into the larger hut. He barely had the time to adapt to the reduction in light before he was pushed to sit on a chair that was next to the small fire on the center of the hut.

Dazed eyes blinked repeatedly before he noted he was surrounded. It took him a second before he realized all those that were surrounding him looked very much like Shaka, minor variations such as hair color, height and build, some even looked slightly older or younger… but it still weirded Mario out as it appeared like a large family female reunion.

There were at least a dozen of them, all wearing the fur and leather armor Shaka had, sitting with their arms crossed and a glare that was all too serious. Mario immediately felt like he was a bug.

"Um… hello?" he tested the waters.

The silence made it clear they were chilly cold.

One of them grunted; she had black hair along with a white streak on it. "He looks weak."

"He's human, they all do." At Mario's left a light browned haired one answered, she looked taller than the others.

"Shush now."

The human was slightly surprised to find that the voice came from someone he had not taken notice of. She looked like the other Huns, but was fairly shorter, even shorter than Mario, maybe a meter sixty at best. Her face looked slightly older, perhaps not more than thirty years, but there was something in her eyes… it reminded Mario of Miranda somehow.

Her black and gold eyes locked onto Mario's, her fingers twined as she used them to support her jaw. "I am Io, leader and elder of this tribe." Her voice was sharp, like ice. "The reason we are here today is because of a technicality." This got a confused look from Mario. "Though the League believes this tribe is run by the professor, the reality is that if he even tried to run this he wouldn't be here." At her words everyone chuckled, a very malevolent grin on their faces. "I don't know what sort of deal you might have with him, and neither do I care. However, our customs are that any and all tamers that stay for a prolonged period of time have to lend a hand with chores."

Mario nodded at that. "Not sure in what I'd be able to help, but it sounds fair." he grinned. "However, I'm not a tamer just yet, so I'd like ask of something from you."

"Oh?" Io now looked interested. "I'm guessing you want one of the tribe as your starter? You'll need to pass the…"

"Sorry, not that." Mario was quick to interrupt. "What I want is some training. From what I know, you are very good hunters and survivors." He looked defeated for just a second before showing determination. "As much as I'd love to deny it and claim I'll be well as I am right now, I have a hunch I'm going to need it at one point or another."

Io evened her gaze at him.

An absolute silence soon followed, the whole tribe not speaking a word.

A smile cracked in her thin lips. It was soon followed by a bellowing laughter; every other member inside the hut was quick to follow. Only after an almost two full minutes of this did their laughs begin to abate and the silence returned. Io kept chuckling a bit. "The human has guts. Very well, we'll consider your request, more so since I for one, will not be your teacher." With a wave of her hand, she dismissed him. "I advise you go speak with the professor about what doubts you might have, he can explain our rules better than I can. They're in the white tent next to the village."

Mario's eyes narrowed but he gave a brief nod and quickly walked out through where he came.

Io's lips thinned at his expression but remained quiet; she waited a couple seconds after he was gone before she frowned. "I spoke with Cologne." At her words some of the present looked about to complain, but were hushed by her raised hand. "This guest of ours is all likeliness an off-worlder, and the old hag is asking for some favors." Her gaze hardened as she looked over the tribe. "She's asking that one of the tribe become his." She raised her hand as soon as she saw some of them about to protest. "However, I will not allow a violation of our customs, rights, or honor." Her gaze hardened. "Just like with other tamers, none shall be forced to follow him. And his mentors will keep an eye on him. If he is unworthy…"

She kept the threat remain unsaid in the air, but they all knew it with absolute certainty.

If he was unworthy, he'd die.

-+-O-+-

Miranda's eyes narrowed, the image of the reunion of the Hun village shinning through her crystal sphere. "I hope this doesn't complicate things too much."

There was a knocking on her door, and with a wave of her hand the image vanished. "Yes?"

"Um, it's Mario." The young human spoke from the other side of the wooden door. "May I come in?"

"Yes." she noted the curious look in his face as he stepped into the room. "First time with a pocket dimension?"

He gave a brief nod. "I sorta expected it, but it's still messing with my sense of space." He gave a short chuckle. "It's bigger on the inside."

"It is." She crossed her arms under her cleavage, making her breasts more visible, and enjoying the struggle he had when trying to avoid looking at them. "So what do I owe the visit to?"

Mario's eyes hardened. "I want to know if it's possible for me to learn magic."

The Arch-Mage let out a chuckle at the words, which became an amused grin at the confused face the human showed. "I already made the tests. You're bellow average, probably because of your lack of pokegirl DNA. Still, you should be able to do some of the minor spells if you practice enough. But you'd never be able to reach further than parlor tricks and simple spells."

At her words Mario closed his eyes, crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, leaning against the wall, he remained still for a very long moment, breathing deeply a couple times. "So at best all I'll be unable to use even medium sized spells." He was talking mostly to himself. Opening his eyes, he grinned. "I expected something like that. Though I had hopes it wouldn't be something so lame." Glancing at Miranda, his grin grew in size. "So how much would it cost me for you to teach me trick level magic?"

Reaching into the bag that was next to her, she drew out a small purple book, and tossed it towards Mario. "That's the most basic of magic books; you could buy it with pocket change. It explains the basics of the different routes you can take to learn magic." She rubbed her hands together. "Of course, the magic tests only gauge how much energy you have available and how strong your affinities are. It's impossible to test for every affinity and skill, so you could very well be better apt in some other way."

"Doubt it." Pocketing the book, he looked slightly exasperated but otherwise contempt. "Now for my second question. Am I supposed to use the same bed I was recovering in or do I get a tent or something?"

Miranda blinked a couple times before moving her hand to rub her chin. "I'm not too sure. Depends on what the tribe decides. You could either sleep with the Huns, on your own or here." Eyes hardening, she suddenly looked much older than before. "I advise you ask to be on your own before they try to push the decision onto you. But for today you can use the room across from this one."

Mario picked the change and expression and sobered slightly. "Thank you for the help, I'll try to keep from trouble."

"You do that." She nodded while pulling out an even bigger book from the bag and opening it up on the coffee table. "If you need anything come ask me, Angus is usually very busy."

Mario meant to ask whether the professor had other pokegirls, though refrained himself since he didn't see the need to know at the moment. Giving his thanks, he went to the room Miranda had pointed him towards. He didn't remember there being a door there before, but he took it nonetheless.

The room in question was a plain and simple three by three meters square light blue room with a fist sized sphere of light glowing smack on the middle of the roof.

Sitting down against the wall, he pulled out the book and frowned slightly, the cover was a deep purple color, with some discolored patches here and there that made it easy to see the book was rather old. Flipping the book open at a random page, he noted it was completely blank save for a single line of text.

"Read from the start, you cheater."

Mario growled, so this was an enchanted book. He quickly flipped towards the first page and was slightly irritated to find the words: 'Good boy, now turn the page' written there. Flipping to the second page, he saw an index of the subjects the book had, a quick read over showed it had over one hundred chapters, which was odd considering the book didn't seem to have more than two hundred pages. It also bugged him that he could only read the title of the first chapter 'The bonehead's guide for magic' whilst the rest were in some form of glyphs or gibberish he couldn't recognize or make out.

His eyes narrowed. Whatever spell was making him read the book in the right order also had an attitude. "Tch." Turning the page, he began reading it.

"The rules by which magic abides are both known and not. Always remember that all forms of magic will always contain a certain level of unpredictability. And the more complex it is, the greater the chance for a random result. A simple spell could be repeated a million times without any change in results. An incredibly complex spell, without the proper backups, could work only one in a thousand."

He looked slightly angry. So after a certain level it became more of a gamble than a certainty. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about high level if I won't even be able to do medium."

"In essence, magic is the application of power to affect the reality around us. That power can be internal or external to the user, and the ways to channel, bend, mix and release that energy are what make for the different kinds of magic. Of course, each style has its own limitations, strengths and weaknesses."

After that came a list of forty three different kinds of magic, with a tiny explanation next each name, explaining the main attributes of each one.

Turning the page, he continued reading. "Regardless of what style you pick, first you must be able to draw out your energy. The basic-most of exercises is meditation to relax one's mind. However, being the lazy-ass you are…" Mario's eyes narrowed. This book was becoming more of a pain in the ass than what he would have liked. "…being the lazy-ass you are, you already have meditation and keeping your mind blank all figured out. What you need is to train your physical force of will. In fewer words, you have to get the snot beaten out of you. Repeatedly."

Putting down the book, Mario rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm really starting to dislike this book." He realized his eyes were already getting tired. "I miss my glasses." He added, rubbing harder. "Reading is going to be troublesome until I get new ones." He felt tired just trying to figure out what the book meant with physical will.

It didn't matter much at the moment, since he was in no hurry to get pummeled, he'd continue reading for the time being.

"Nope. You'll have to do what I say before I tell you anything else, twerp."

"Twerp." The word was growled under his voice. He shut the book closed. "Ok, lesson's over."

He stood up, dusted himself off and went to open the door, wanting to ask Miranda if this was some form of joke or something more important since he didn't remember having read that basic magic books were enchanted or magical to begin with.

His steps came to an abrupt halt, inches away from him clashing onto Shaka as she was just exiting the room Miranda had been in, she also looked surprised, though only for a second before her face became cold again. "The elder has taken her decision. She wishes to speak with you."

It took Mario a second more to get out of his surprise, he shook his head slightly. "Ah, ok, that was fast." he nodded quickly. "What was it? Ten minutes?" he let out a short sigh while rubbing his right arm. "Could I have a quick word with Miranda before I go hear the news?"

She was quick to shake her head. "Arch-mage Miranda asked not to be disturbed until lunch." her gaze darkened into a slight glare. "She warns only once."

Mario considered it for a second. "Let's hear what the elder has to say then. I can ask Miranda about the..." he looked at his hand in surprise, the book was no longer there. "The hell?" he quickly turned around, looking on the floor around him, looking for the violet leather-bound book. "Where is it? Where's the book?"

"Book?" she looked slightly inquisitive.

His frown deepened, he was sure he had had the book in his hands only a few seconds ago. "I'll get it later."

"This way then." she turned and headed out the tent, Mario being forced to quickly follow.

The human was slightly surprised to find all the pokégirls from before outside and surrounding the tent entrance in a semicircle formation. Standing shoulder to shoulder and staring down at him. In the middle of the group was the elder, bearing her full height by using a two meter tall staff to stand, her face looking paler than the rest now that they were under the sunlight.

"We have decided." Io muttered as Shaka quickly took her place among the other Huns. "As you asked, you shall be taught. Your teachers shall be Blanca, Mana and Verde."

Three of the Huns stepped forward, each about ten centimeters taller than Shaka, and looking exactly like each other, their eyes red where it should have been gold. The only difference being that one's black hair was short and straight, barely reaching her shoulders, the second had her long dark brown hair tightly combed into a ponytail, and the third had a short fussy tornado of white that stood right up, making her seem taller than she was.

Io cleared her throat. "Mana will teach you fighting, Verde will teach you hunting and Blanca will teach you crafting and chores."

He nodded slowly.

"I'm not done yet." Io's voice snapped; her eyes glimmered with determination and mischief. "They will also train you in how to be a Tamer." Crossing her arms, she kept her gaze steady. "However, you will have to negotiate with them what the price to pay will be."

At her words, a deep feeling of dread hung in Mario's gut.

The part of him that already wanted to get out of there grew ever so slightly.

-+-Someplace Dark-+-

In the darkness he sat, the shadow's head hung tiredly, his arm rested on a bent knee, the other keeping him stable against the rock he was on.

Blue and green eyes rose to gaze onto the eternal shadow, they narrowed as a single white crack appeared on the rock wall just in front of it, its width no greater than a hair's.

'Finally.' The shadow slowly grinned. 'Only a matter of time now.'

+-+-+-+-+-STORY END-+-+-+-+-+

Footnote: Mario is not THE Mario, he's just A Mario. Nothing to do with plumbing or shrooms.

Also, this chapter has gotten some extra work to improve on what back in 2003 I thought was good writing (still not quite there...). Not all chapters have been properly increased in level into something more decent, so... yeah... you may suddenly find half a dozen chapters with abruptly less quality in text/editing than this one. If you do, it gets better, I promise. I'm working to do them all, but considering I post a new chapter every two weeks... it's going slow.

+-+-+-+-+-TERMINOLOGY YOU MAY NEED TO KNOW-+-+-+-+-+

Now, for those of you who don't know about the pokegirl world, I'll give a brief explanation to the terminology and a bit of a background. I'll keep it brief and crude.

TAMING: Sex

TAMER: Pokemon trainer but for Pokegirls.

LEAGUE: Like in Pokemon, it's the synonym of "Country" in this world.

BOND: Sort of a psychic link between a tamer and a pokegirl and happens after enough tamings (exceptions exist). Most of the time only the pokegirl will feel it. Alpha Bond is for the weakest kind, Delta is for the strongest. Delta bonds can often times even allow the pokegirl know what their tamer is feeling.

There's a sort of special bond called "Recognition" which can occur at any moment simply by locking eyes with one another. It's for life and stronger than Delta bonds.

FERAL: If a enough time passes between tamings, a pokegirl will go feral (Which means they lose their minds and behave like wild superpowered animals). Taming by a human (male or female, doesn't matter) is more effective than taming with another pokegirl.

Once feral, the only way to regain human levels of intelligence is by being tamed by a human. If tamed by another pokegirl, the feral girl will remain feral. Fortunately (for everyone's sanity) pre-tenage pokegirls (or pokekits) don't require taming to remain sane.

THRESHOLD: Sometimes, usually because of a strong pokegirl ancestry (other times because of MAGIC), a human will go through threshold and transform into a pokegirl (most of the time this happens during puberty/ late teens and to girls, but when MAGIC is involved some males have been known to end up as pokegirls too).

PARTHENOGENESIS: As the definition of the name, a pokegirl can become pregnant on her own and give birth to a near perfect clone of herself (no memory transfer or weird stuff like being born at the same age as the mother, it's just a baby with the same genes as the mother)

SECOND PUBERTY: During the first puberty, a pokekit/human becomes a full fledged pokegirl (and will from then on require taming to remain sane). During second puberty (about late thirties/early forties depending on the species) they become pokewomen and will not require taming as often at the same time that they gain the ability to get pregnant the normal way.

LEGENDARY POKEGIRL: pretty much like legendary pokemon. A pokegirl who's one of a kind and that can level a whole city if she wanted to.

All other terminology such as "Gym", "Pokeball", "Pokecenter" and such come straight out of pokemon.

BRIEF HISTORY LESSON!

-Sukebe is a mad scientist from the early 90s, creates a couple pokegirls for personal use but gets found out and outed by angry mobs (the girls he made get killed somewhere along the way).

-Sukebe comes back, declares war on the human race as a whole, uses pokegirls as soldiers. Unleashes plague that sterilizes almost all human females.

-Sukebe loses the war after humans realize that if they 'Tame' the pokegirls they'll fight for them.

-Chinese unleashed a plague trying to kill pokegirls a couple years before Sukebe lost but it did little to nothing. Except it mutates and comes back years after Sukebe's fall and almost kills all the humans.

-One thing led to another, and 300 years latter humanity is starting to show signs of actual recovery even though they're constantly fighting against the ferals who roam freely to eat whatever gets in their path throughout about 80% of the landmass.