A/N: Huge thanks to everyone taking the time to read and review. I hope you like the new chapter.
xx-Kitten.
Fusion
By Kittenshift17
Chapter 3
It grew dark much faster than Maggie was expecting when she was on the road all by herself. She'd allowed Fennekin out of her pokéball for most of the way, chatting to the pokémon as she walked. She'd wanted to make it to the forest before nightfall. Maggie had chosen today to set off on her journey on purpose. Tonight was the night that the Venusaur would gather in a glade deep inside the forest for their mating season to begin.
It was the Autumnal equinox and one of the most important evenings on the pokémon calendar. Maggie had forgotten that being in the woods and far from town, it would get darker much faster. She'd thought she would have time to arrive and make camp, but she'd miscalculated how long it would take to traverse the countryside on foot. Especially when there were people getting about everywhere. She'd run into a few other researchers earlier in the afternoon and a few young gun trainers. She'd skirted around most of them. She wasn't ready for a pokémon battle just yet, and she wanted to make it to the glade by nightfall.
She knew she wasn't going to have a chance to make camp before attending the ritual that would begin the mating season, but Maggie didn't mind. Fennekin barked from beside her and Maggie glanced down at the pokémon at her side, noticing that the poor little fox looked a bit tired. Maggie knew the feeling. All the walking had made her tired, too.
"Return," she told the pokémon, fishing the pokéball out of her pocket and allowing Fennekin to rest. Shuffling her pack on her shoulders, Maggie trudged on in the gathering dark. She had no fear of the pokémon she might encounter deep in the forest. Not when she was moving quietly and calmly. Most pokémon could sense when a trainer wanted to battle and when they merely wanted to observe them.
She crossed the path of a Hoothoot as she wandered through the dark, her eyes adjusting to the gloom, seeing only by the light of the full moon peeking through the trees. It was slow going as she tried to keep from tripping over tree roots and to make sure she wouldn't step on any pokémon by accident.
An Oddish dashed by her in the dark, muttering to itself and Maggie smiled at the pokémon. She must be getting close now. Just as she was about to round a copse of trees to where she thought the glade might be, something solid and strong snatched hold of her, jerking her to the far side of a tree.
"Quiet," a male voice commanded in her ear. "You're stomping loud enough to scare off all the Venusaur!"
She struggled wildly, realising she'd been grabbed by a boy from behind. When he kept one hand over her mouth to muffle her shout of protest and used the other to drag her pack from her shoulders, Maggie stomped hard on his foot.
"Ouch!" he snarled in her ear, jerking her back hard against him now that her pack was out of the way. "Stop struggling, you little urchin, and keep quiet. You're going to give away our position! Do you want to be trampled? Hold still!"
He took his hand away from her mouth and Maggie squeaked in surprise when he wrapped both arms around her middle, lifted her and carried her deep into a thick copse of trees.
"What are you doing? Who do you think you are?" she demanded in a whisper when a sudden crash just beyond the trees alerted her to the danger that awaited her had she not been grabbed.
"I'm the guy who just saved your life," he muttered in her ear and Maggie shuddered at the feel of his lips brushing the sensitive shell. The tight space between the trees he'd dragged her into meant she couldn't even turn around to get a look at his face.
"You were about to walk right out into the glade where the Venusaur are battling. Little thing like you would've been trampled!" the boy went on. "Now, keep it down before we're spotted; that big one is probably strong enough to bulldoze these trees right over."
"You made me drop my pack!" Maggie protested.
He wrapped his hand around her face to silence her again and Maggie dug her nails into his arm in protest. At least, she did until he jerked her just a little more to the left and she suddenly caught sight of the glade filled with Venusaurs. That sight took her breath away. When she stopped struggling to be released, the boy took his hand away once more and Maggie leaned forwards, pressing her face between two trees to get a better look at the magnificent creatures beyond.
Enormous male Venusaurs, bigger than she'd ever seen, were battling like leafy giants. The females milled about nearby, all of them shuffling in agitation.
"They're waiting for the moon to rise," she whispered breathlessly when they all looked towards the pale orb hanging in the sky above.
"The males will fight until the ritual begins," the boy behind her whispered in her ear and Maggie startled. For just a moment, the sight of the Venusaurs had caused her to forget he was even there. He'd leaned forward with her, the front of his body pressed intimately against the back of hers. It made her nervous to be in the woods, alone with a strange boy she'd never met, and yet the draw of the ritual meant she wasn't just going to up and leave, no matter what he did. He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her, though that had been her initial suspicion. He just wanted to watch the ritual like she did and he'd acted to save her life.
She supposed she ought to thank him for that.
"How do you know?" she asked without taking her eyes off the Venusaurs, rather than apologising, noticing the knowing tone in his voice.
"Do you see that huge male over there?" he asked, his arm snaking around her ribs in the tight space to point through the trees. Maggie looked where he pointed, noticing the male seemed to be the biggest and strongest. She nodded, feeling her hair brush his skin as she did so.
"He's mine," the boy told her proudly. "I've had him for five years now. For the first two years, things were fine. He evolved pretty slowly, and so it wasn't until our third year together that he evolved into venusaur. He was restless and agitated for weeks and weeks, picking fights with every pokémon we met, refusing to return to his pokéball. I thought he must've outgrown me, until one night he wandered away from me in Johto. I followed him to the first ritual. I've been every year since."
"He's massive. You must take good care of him," Maggie commented, eyeing the Venusaur with a practiced eye. He was undoubtedly the biggest Venusaur she'd ever seen, the thick foliage adorning his back easily dwarfing that of the other males and making a few of the females look like they were still just Ivysaur in comparison to the impressive specimen.
"You've never been to one of these before, have you, kid?" the boy asked her, not acknowledging the compliment on his ability to care for his pokémon at all.
"No," she admitted softly. "I only started my journey this morning. But I've wanted to witness one of these rituals since I was five."
"I thought you looked shiny and new," he muttered. "How old are you, anyway?"
"Sixteen. I have an overprotective mother. Don't ask," she defended. "I'm Maggie Cantino, by the way."
"Seth Wrecker," he replied, wriggling his arm around to shake her hand even though he was still standing behind her in the dark copse. The trees pressed close together and Maggie knew he must've chosen this location to better watch the ritual from up close without fear of being accidentally trampled. Inside the trees he was hidden from the Venusaurs and protected by the thick trees should they sense him and attack.
A loud cry from one of the Venusaur drew her attention and Maggie felt a chill run down her spine when all the males stopped battling and every pokémon in the glade went still. There were hundreds of Venusaurs there, all staring up at the moon. Total silence engulfed the woods for a moment then and Maggie held her breath, breathing in the silence and the anticipation. It was palpable in the air and it made her whole body tremble with nervous excitement. She'd been waiting eleven years for this moment and now it was finally here.
It happened in slow motion. The biggest pokémon in the glade – Seth's Venusaur – began it. The enormous plant upon his back began to glow as he absorbed the moon's rays. She'd seen a Venusaur gathering solar light before, but never the light of the moon. The others followed suit, their flowers blooming wide to absorb the light greedily. It took her breath away when they seemed to grow even bigger, to shine even brighter. As the moonlight seemed to fill each pokémon, they grew bigger, their flowers blooming larger and brighter.
The females gave a shrieking cry that gave Maggie goosebumps and then they began to dance. Petals scattered in the glade, the females dancing wildly and with an abandon she'd never seen, even when the ability was used in battle. Whirling and writhing, they flipped and turned, swaying on their back legs before bucking forward and dancing on their front legs too. Pink petal whirled through the air. Like the wild performance that gave Petal Dance its name, they leaped and twirled, putting on a display like nothing Maggie had ever seen.
"Now comes the good part," Seth murmured into her ear and Maggie shivered at the feel of his lips against her ear once more. He brought both arms around her slowly and Maggie wondered what he was doing. She was too transfixed by the petal dancing Venusaur to ask him, but she did wonder.
At least, she wondered until the males leapt into their plant frenzy. The ground beneath her shook under their enormous weight, every plant in the glade shuddered into bloom, and Maggie felt a strange yearning warmth spread through her body. Seth's grip on her was the only thing that prevented her from stumbling about and crashing into the surrounding trees. His warm strength enveloped her and Maggie shivered at the pulse of desire that shot through her to feel him so intimately against her. The females continued their petal dance as the males frenzied and the world around them shuddered with the urge to procreate. The petals and plants grew so thick that it was hard to make out the pokémon of the glade but Maggie couldn't look away.
They were utterly entrancing as the magic of the pokémon swept through the woods, coating Maggie and Seth along with everything else.
"The Venusaur ritual sparks the beginning to all the pokémon breeding cycles each year. They bring the world to life in ways we've yet to understand. Every pokémon within a hundred mile radius of this event and all the other events like it across the regions will be struck with the urge to breed," Seth murmured to her, sharing the knowledge he'd gained from the past two rituals he'd attended.
"Wow," was all Maggie could manage to say. She suddenly understood the urge the pokémon must be experiencing because a rush slammed into her like a powerful gust of wind as the world around her shuddered to life. Her whole body tingled wildly and Maggie bit her lip on the groan she almost emitted as the warmth beneath her abdomen spread, engulfing her body with heat and a powerful lust.
The light that had gathered in the Venusaur blooms suddenly glowed so bright it hurt Maggie's eyes, growing brighter and brighter before suddenly it burst free, scattering around the glade in a fantastic display of light and magical power.
"And now comes the mature part of the evening," Seth murmured in her ear, causing goosepimples to slide over her skin again with sudden desire. The sound of his voice in her ear was like a hotwire to her secret places, and Maggie squirmed uncomfortably with the urge she had to rub herself against the boy holding her so deliciously.
The dancing and frenzying pokémon in the glade slowed their hypnotising displays and Maggie watched on with intrigue as they came together, the males and females copulating and furthering the species. She knew that come the spring, the mated females would birth eggs that would soon hatch into the new generation of Bulbasaurs, destined to evolve into Venusaur and continue the annual breeding cycle.
"Do you have any pokémon in these balls?" Seth asked her, brushing his hand over her belt and making her shiver with the need to feel his hands against her flesh.
"Two females," Maggie whispered, choking on her lust.
"Let them loose," Seth instructed. "The females will breed and come the spring you'll have some new pokémon eggs to hatch."
She felt him move behind her, calling his own pokémon out of their balls.
"Won't they get lost in the frenzy?" Maggie whispered, watching the way all of his pokémon milled around for a moment before they began dashing away into the undergrowth.
"They'll be back at dawn," he promised. "Let yours go, Maggie. They need it."
Maggie bit her lip for a moment before she did as he instructed, releasing Fennekin and Bulbloom. Fennekin licked her hand before trotting away and Bulbloom stared up at her.
"What is that?" Seth breathed in her ear, clearly fascinated by her pokéfusion.
"A Bulbloom," she replied, as her pokémon skipped away, intent on finding a mate of some description to breed with.
"You have a pokéfusion?" he asked, a tone of awe in his voice, his arms slipping back around her waist. Maggie nodded, not protesting the touch at all. In fact, she welcomed it. She hadn't even seen his face yet, but she knew she'd been entranced by the power of the Venusaurs. She could feel a strange pulsing through her body, a strange yearning to be touched.
"I found her when I was thirteen, working at the Day-care centre near here," Maggie murmured, looking back to the Venusaurs in the glade. She'd seen mating pokémon plenty of times at the centre and in the wild, but there was something so sensual about the Venusaurs as they copulated; something about the ritual that made it much more intense and enthralling. Beyond the glade, Maggie's ears picked up the sound of other Pokémon, too. If she weren't so entranced, she'd be blushing pink at the very idea of watching any creature going at it, but she simply couldn't look away.
She didn't say anything when Seth's arms tightened around her gently. She bit her lip on the strange urge she had to rub herself all over him. She could feel that he was as effected by the ritual as she was, the evidence of the desire the ritual inspired prodding at her backside. Maggie didn't say anything about that either. The intimate moment felt all the more personal to be shared with someone and Maggie didn't want to break the spell by protesting that she knew nothing about this boy but his name and that he had a Venusaur.
She could smell the scent of the cologne he must use, something citrus; it was sharp in her nose, but pleasant. She rather liked it, actually. She could smell it even over the sweet scent of the petals littering the glade and Maggie found herself turning her head just a little bit. He'd moulded himself around her back, his face peering over her left shoulder to be able to see the glade. Before she could resist the urge or feel embarrassed over doing so, Maggie turned her face into his neck, breathing him in deeply.
Seth groaned softly at the press of her nose against his skin and Maggie wondered if his skin felt as sensitive as hers did. She felt like she'd been hooked up to a live wire, as though a fine layer of electricity was dancing over her flesh, sizzling through her nerve endings and making her crazy.
"You shouldn't do that," he murmured, though he tilted his head back a little, allowing her better access to his throat as though he was as powerless to resist the effects of the ritual as she was.
Maggie's breath hitched when he slipped his hands under the hem of her t-shirt, caressing the taut flesh of her abdomen and her hips lightly. Turning her head further, Maggie skimmed the tip of her nose along his collarbone and up the side of his neck, breathing in his citrus scent and marvelling at the sparks of desire that shot through her everywhere he touched her. His fingers dug lightly against her ribs and Maggie realised idly that she'd begun rolling her hips against him, pressing herself back into his embrace and craving something she couldn't voice. Beyond the copse of trees where they stood the raucous sound of coupling Pokémon filled the night, echoing through the forest, and Maggie realised with a start that she wanted to copy them.
Seth tilted his head towards her when she leaned away a little, trying to get a look at him in the dark. Maggie's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't make out much by the light of the moon and the glow of the Venusaurs still lightly pulsing as the ritual continued, but she could tell he was roguishly handsome. His hair was dark and hung in his eyes as he tilted his face toward hers. His jaw was pointed and sharp, his cheekbones high and casting shadows on his face. His eyes gleamed in the light of the moon and Maggie licked her suddenly dry lips when she realised he was staring at her mouth hungrily.
When he met her gaze, Maggie could see the indecision warring within them before the flash that told her she was about to be kissed if she didn't pull away. Maggie didn't. She couldn't. Not that she wanted to. He leaned in slowly, his eyes flashing to hers in question before brushing his lips ever so lightly against her own. She was grateful when she wasn't the only one to make a noise of surrender at the caress. Seth's hands on her hips urged her to turn toward him and Maggie was powerless to resist. She couldn't get enough of the feel of his lips on hers, leaning into him hungrily. In the confined space, she turned to face him, still pressed intimately against his solid form. Bringing her hands up, Maggie tangled them into his hair, kissing him desperately.
Nothing else mattered to her in those moments. She didn't know this boy at all. She knew only his name and yet she craved him and craved his touch like she'd never craved anything else before. His hair was silky between her fingers and his lips were warm on hers. When he licked at the seam of her lips, requesting entrance, Maggie granted it, swallowing the groan he gave as she slipped her tongue out to meet his. His hands clutched at her back, his fingers digging into the skin needily and Maggie vaguely knew she was grinding her pelvis against his desperately.
She'd been with a boy in the past. Last summer a trainer had come into the Day-care centre and she'd befriended him. Maggie wasn't a virgin. She suspected from the way Seth clutched at her, his hands slipping down to her backside and pressing her against him firmly, his hips thrusting against her needily, that he wasn't either. The boy she'd dated last summer had never made her feel like this. Dimly she realised it was probably just an effect of the ritual, but Maggie didn't care. Just as the pokémon in the woods all around them were driven to copulate, Maggie felt the same burning urge.
"If we don't stop now, I'm going to ravish you right here against this tree," Seth warned her, several passionate minutes later, his hands curled around the top of her shoulders from behind, pulling her back far enough to break their desperate kiss. Maggie didn't reply, she didn't even have to think about what she wanted. She didn't think she could stop even if she wanted to. She'd never felt so alive. Shrugging her shoulders in his hold until she could reach his lips again, Maggie kissed him wildly, nipping at his lips hungrily, whimpering when she felt his hands at the hem of her shirt. They broke apart long enough for him to peel the fabric from her body, while Maggie reached for the zip on his hoodie. Shoving it from his shoulders, Maggie dragged his shirt off over his head, dropping each garment at their feet. When he unsnapped the fastening on her bra, and dragged it down her arms, he dropped it on the growing pile before pulling her close again, kissing her soundly.
Maggie whimpered at the way her nerve-endings set fire to feel so much of his bared flesh pressed intimately against her own. She clutched desperately at Seth's back, pressing him closer, feeling the undeniable urge to bring him as close to her as she possibly could. His hands tangled into her hair as he kissed her insatiably, his hips grinding into hers. Maggie lost herself in the feel of his touch, his lips and tongue tormenting her, his hands clutching her as needily as she clutched him.
They fumbled hands when Maggie went for the fastenings on his jeans, unbuttoning them quickly while he returned the favour. He pulled away from her lips slowly before she could shove the garment down his legs, one hand fishing into his pocket and Maggie sighed in relief when he snagged a condom from them. She supposed it was lucky he was thinking straight because she wasn't. She'd completely forgotten such precautions. She took medication to prevent conception, but the added security measure was a necessity, given that she only knew his name. Maggie buried her face against his throat hungrily while he fumbled with the contraception, sliding it on easily when she shoved his pants to the ground. She nipped at his throat and he laughed huskily, his head tilting back of its own accord and meaning he couldn't see what he was doing.
As soon as he was sorted, Maggie felt his hands on her jeans, dragging them down and stealing her knickers away along with them. The cool breeze of the evening caressed her skin as Seth's hand slid down her thigh, lifting her leg to curl it around his hip, angling her hips. She sighed contentedly when he impaled her slowly. He took his time about it despite the desperation she'd felt to have him so close and Maggie clutched him closer, curling her leg around him, her heel urging him closer, driving him deeper.
"Fuck!" she heard him curse as his head dropped back at the incredible feeling of joining his body with hers. Maggie had never felt so good in all her life. She couldn't think. She couldn't even speak. All she could do was cling to him, riding the sea of desire roiling within her and the electrical feel of his touch. The feel of him driving into her high and hard was all Maggie knew then. She was pressed back against a tree, and she could hear the sounds of wild pokémon in the night, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was Seth and the way he was making her feel.
