I think at this point you don't even need the warnings, but…

This chapter doesn't contain sex (that I remember).

If you're confused about something, read the author's note at the bottom or send me a message/email/review if that doesn't help. Or just review… or don't, I'm not your boss or anything, but it's highly appreciated!

Thank you all, here's a new page of the story. Enjoy and review!

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

-+-Mari-+-+- Monday 14th -+-

She would've glared at the door were she not suspicious she was being observed. Instead, she kept her calm appearance while going through the list of potential things she could do to whoever she was going to have to deal with.

Just knowing Ranko was in a pokeball at her hip and about to be given to some human low-life had her blood boiling. The betrayal felt very much fresh however, and she'd play an angel's bitch before she allowed such betrayal go unpunished.

"The mistress will see you." A voice rang out.

Mistress? Mari just raised an eyebrow as she opened the door with a wave of her hand, not wanting to touch it if possible. She'd seen the last two to go through and she was certain physical contact with the thing would be just as satisfying as having paper-cuts on the webbing between her fingers.

The corridor that she entered was just as grimy and dimly lit, as per the official 'Illegal base of operations' manual they had followed for every other place. Mari rolled her eyes at that and wondered if there was going to be some echoing screams at a distance synched with a flickering of the lights.

She felt an edge of irritation at the fact she couldn't feel any presences nearby, not a single mind she could go into and start extracting some information about the layout or potential ambushes. The lack of magical energies meant either she was alone and there weren't barriers preventing her from snooping around or most likely there were barriers and they came mixed in with very high level cloaking spells.

Whoever was expecting her appeared to have done their homework.

Breathing in, she let out a multitude of aura pulses, paying close attention as she waited for a response.

One of the shadows ahead quivered but instantly went still again.

Mari kept from showing the smugness and walked past it, already having an idea of the sort of force that could be waiting for her in the eventuality of an attack. Her mind was prioritizing the list of spells she'd have to use if her 'client' was any dumber or prideful than she was already anticipating.

One of the many bland and unappealing doors opened several seconds before she reached it, and the total lack in manners to greeting her was making Mari strongly consider going to 'negotiate' with some other 'not too friendly organization of thugs'… the opposition preferably.

When she looked inside the idea became stronger still, the room was just as horridly disgusting as the corridor if not worse and it was even more poorly lit.

"Enough is enough." She gathered her energy and snapped her fingers.

In a wave of black hellfire and shimmering red light, the room was completely cleansed of all its gritty contents, leaving behind teal colored walls and white cement floors. The two chairs withered to ashes and in their place a simple wooden one and a comfortable large leathery one spontaneously came to be. The light fixture on the ceiling became an ornate chandelier decorated with its own set of candles that cast a much more inviting light to the place.

It always came in handy to bring along a couple pieces of furniture in your own subspace.

"THIS is how you should greet a guest properly." She spoke bemusedly, taking seat on the leather chair as she faced the door she had gone through, snapping it shut with a wave of her hand and crossing her legs demurely as she was made to wait a second time.

She promised herself she'd walk out of the place with a slave that would serve as her living chair for future visits. She just had to figure out who was going to be the 'volunteer'.

Leaning back on her seat, she contemplated on the possibilities. The local forces were too segmented to be worth the effort of remembering who wanted what. Even more so since the inter-league presence of the groups as a whole were a joke; the fact the Mistress had even a smidge of interest in them to begin with was centered around the fact that outside forces had marginally just as much influence inside Edo as the inside groups did in the outside.

It was a bad joke to say the least. The inbred "puritan" clans in the yakuza had grown content in their little thrones believing themselves untouchable. All because the league had a bested interest in keeping them protected so they in turn would "protect" the league from the "contaminated" illegal organizations and ideas from the outside.

The hefty sums of money being moved around to and from each of these two sides was also a very heavy incentive to keep things going as smoothly as they were.

The policies promoting isolation and "cleansing of ideals" repeated generation after generation of imperial figure-heads had only caused stagnation in the political shift of power, in turn making it that much easier for corruption to take hold between the few bloodlines that were in charge of the parade.

They had been telling themselves they were above all others for so long they blinded themselves from the fact the seams were starting to slowly being pulled at the edges.

The Mistress hadn't paid much attention to the league as it rotted from the inside since there was little to gain and much to lose in trying to get a proper foothold. Instead she had limited herself to add new agents every so often just to keep an eye on things.

But Mari had seen an opportunity now that she had had the proper chance to study the situation. There was a growing possibility there would be a major shift in powers within the next couple decades, in all likeliness brought by the yakuza's bloating past the unspoken boundaries within which the league would "turn a blind eye" to their activities. Regardless of the form in which this conflict would play out, Mari could ensure the Mistress would have a hold in the league strong enough she could have easy access to whatever resources she could want.

So long as she had ensured the loyalties of the right people beforehand that is.

Which meant Mari was stuck playing "nice" for the time being. Probably one of the reasons whoever she was meeting was "subtly" trying to push the idea that what she represented meant little to nothing to them.

She briefly considered the possibility her 'host' didn't know she was playing emissary for a legendary.

"Nagina-Oujou is ready to-."

The voice choked on his words and Mari raised her eyes from her entwined fingers to look at the man that had just entered the room. Her danger sense tingled and she immediately felt the mind of the man wearing a white tux.

There was a mild sense of surprise as she recognized the sensation. "Out of all the pokegirls…" She smirked as she stood up, locking eyes with the faux-male. "…it just HAD to be you, Suzaku. How long has it been?"

"Not long enough." The reply came between gritted teeth. "I should kill you."

Mari's response came in a broader smile. "I'd advise against trying that; today I'm here only as a messenger."

The shock in Suzaku's expression turned into a scowl, though not before stepping out of the room without giving Mari the chance to take the lead.

"I take it you didn't know about that, how odd." The infernal's tone reflected her improved mood. "And here I thought whatever clan you're slave of was the best at getting information... seems they're rusty."

There was an instant, a moment where the pokegirl in a tux lost control of her powers, just a slip small enough to be barely noticeable as she had been a twitch away from using her abilities to attack Mari. But the moment had been contained and wrapped up faster than one could blink; the pokegirl taking a stoically stony expression as her eyes burned with a desire to kill that was nearly palpable.

Apparently unaware of what had been about to transpire, Mari contentedly kept striding down the hallway, each step a clack of heels that bounced off the walls as her imposing elegance made it all appear as if she were a queen striding down her own palace.

"Wait here." Suzaku kept the growl from showing, her voice all but frozen over with icy self-control while she stepped past the doors.

Mari merely looked bored as she glanced at her surroundings with her mind, ensuring there was still that 'void' from before. Now she suspected all this had not been put in place merely to greet her, but because this place was prepared to stump psychic and magic types in general. For what purpose those preparations were a necessity, Mari wasn't sure.

Not that she particularly cared at the moment.

She was more focused over the fact it had been Suzaku who had greeted her, that could only mean Bayushi Nagina was at the other side of that door. Out of the list of names she had hoped would be the ones to greet her, Nagina's was near the top. The woman's position as the Bayushi clan's main source for political power would make it much less cumbersome and cut out potential inept middle-humans.

The woman probably also held a certain degree of power over the other clans through her contacts, but it was an unconfirmed theory. At the very least, Mari was certain she wasn't going to get anything out of the shrewd human without having to wring out every drop of it.

The one to open the door this time was another pokegirl, wearing a full set of black samurai armor with a snarling red hannya mask included to make it all look that much more threatening. "Come in."

The swords at the hilt were not drawn, but the raw aura of power the pokegirl was emanating made it clear that fact would change the instant Mari so much as blinked the wrong way.

"Please, take a seat." The deceptively polite voice that came from behind the samurai came from a woman with obsidian black hair and eyes darker than the abyss. She could only be Nagina, and she was seated on a large leather chair much like the one Mari had summoned for herself only minutes ago.

Suzaku was standing right next to her tamer.

Mari glanced at the chair she was being pointed to. It was also brown leather, but with patches of black silk on the seat and armrests. It looked comfortable and important, though not as imposing.

"I am very sorry for the behavior." The woman kept the kind of sweet smile that could make lesser men agree without thinking. "But my Alpha has warned me you are a very dangerous girl to be around of."

"She flatters me." Mari gracefully took the seat. The fact that the samurai stood right behind her did not go unnoticed. "I take it extra spells have been put in place."

"Suzaku told me you've come as a messenger." Nagina leisurely avoided answering. "I am rather intrigued, few times does Hild use a girl of your caliber as a mere envoy."

So the catgirl was out of the bag. Lightly shrugging her shoulders, she leaned back on the chair. "Indeed, though I volunteered since I was in the area."

The coal haired woman gave only the barest expression of interest. "Doing what, if I may ask?"

"Sight-seeing, mostly." The smile she used was an identical copy to the one Nagina had used to greet her with. "Nothing someone of your standing would have an interest in."

There was a slight shift behind Mari, a clinking sound of metal and armor as the pokegirl moved to some new position. The threat level rose with the shift, and Mari had to guess her words had stirred no small anger out of the samurai.

Nagina's eyes worriedly flickered towards some point behind Mari, and suddenly the atmosphere eased out.

The infernal's lips twitched as she just barely smiled more broadly.

-+-Corona-+-

She was blind.

"You?" The word came from a voice, a weak voice, afraid and confused.

There was something heavy on her hands, something sharp.

There was a thrusting motion, a warm liquid splattering across her skin. Something inside her screamed in pain and misery.

Corona woke up in a start, cold sweat running down her neck, eyes broad with a sense of fear she couldn't find a source for. The room was dark, and she could barely make out anything at all, but she wasn't blind this time.

It took her a moment before she fully adjusted to the darkness. She slowly realized she had been sleeping on one of the chairs, Jade having taken the full length of the bed as Mario had tried to get used to her by sleeping with the eelara.

Corona was slightly surprised to discover he wasn't in the bed, even though the snake pokegirl still was.

Closing her eyes to focus, she found the gentle touch of his sleeping consciousness through the bond, and further surprise appeared when she realized it came from the room next to theirs. She grinned at that, someone had been busy last night.

With a smirk she shoved aside any unease her sleeping mind might have sent her way and instead went to her feet to start the day with some very light stretches to ease out the sleep out of her brain. The pinielf was already going over the routine warm-up before the sun fully rose over the horizon.

She'd have mercy on Mario and the splice and let them sleep, though she was going to drill some details out of him when the chance presented itself.

Satisfied her body was already getting into the routine, she flipped the lights and shuffled for Verde's pokeball, releasing the hun in a burst of red.

The Alpha's first action was to quickly survey the room before narrowing her eyes. "He went to tame Hecate."

"And they're asleep." Corona confirmed with a nod, ignoring the yawn her harem-sister gave out as soon as the tension on her shoulders vanished. "Thought we'd leave him there for now."

"Master is not here." Jade's voice came as a low hiss, the mass of tails shifting around until the impassively intense gaze of the eelara was revealed.

For a flicker of a second, Corona was certain the snake pokegirl sounded irritated.

"He went to tame the new girl." Verde's posture straightened out as she put forth her full imposing stance of command. "We're going to do some training without him."

Glancing at Verde, the pinielf let out a yawn before shaking her head slightly. "Think we should go hard and see how far we can drag her scaly ass?"

Verde took a thoughtful look. "Her entry said enhanced speed, agility, and durability; nothing about endurance." She nodded and mirrored Corona's smirk. "And unlike you, we can put her through a healing cycle."

Crossing her arms, Corona's response was to attempt looking as imposing as the hun. The near full meter difference in height however made it extremely difficult. Still, the pinielf managed to look much meaner if nothing else.

"Since I'm not the one who could be permanently trapped forever in the void of storage, I may have a suggestion." Corona pointed her thumb at Jade. "How about the two of you get some intense combat experience like when you and Sakuya had that argument?"

Ignoring the light taunt, Verde nodded once. "Let's do that."

-+-Mario-+-

He woke up.

It had been a sudden flip in the switch. One instant he was asleep, the next he was fully conscious and aware of the world. There was none of the usual grogginess or tiredness that accompanied waking up, he actually felt energized. It had come as such a surprise it took him several seconds to come to terms with the fact that he was actually awake.

The first thing he took immediate stock of was of the comfortably cool skin touching him on his right side. He was exquisitely aware of the naked breasts on his arm as a little over half of Hecate's body was draped over him, her cheek pressed against his shoulder and a side of her horn caressing the underline of his jaw, her soft breaths running across his neck in an almost ticklish fashion.

Mario noted his arm was slightly holding her closer to him, and she had one leg over his own in a near tangle of limbs as she was hugging him like a pillow.

He wondered for a second which was the best course of action, memories of the night before surfacing like a dream and making him feel slightly awkward. Would it be best to stay there until she woke up? Would the fact she now had a tamer better sink in if he left her to wake on her own? Would she be more appreciative if he woke her up now?

His thoughts stirred, and he frowned ever so slightly. The memory of the real reason he had been out in the corridor at such hours in the morning came rushing back and his gut tightened. Verde.

"Mmm…" Hecate mumbled the sound, barely awake as she tightened her hold on him, her dainty lips placing a peck on his jawline before she snuggled her nose into the crook of his neck. "Mminnneee…" With a sigh, she became still again.

Another more immediate dilemma surfaced as Mario struggled between grinning at the gesture or feeling worried about it. For all he knew she was a hugger like Sakuya or how Jade was starting to show, but then again… she was part wendigal and this could be a warning flag.

His body decided at that time to make the decision for him, he needed to use the bathroom.

The first couple times this had happened it had been with Sakuya, and it had almost felt like kicking a puppy to wake her up just so he could go relieve himself. At least it was like that until Verde got into the mix, and neither would wake up unless some outside force came into play.

He had become that outside force.

Slowly, he began to lean towards her, shifting Hecate's weight so she was on her back. There was a moment of struggle as she tried to hold on tighter, but once it seemed he was just changing positions she eased up.

"Wake up." He whispered as he managed to pull away from her grip before she could grab hold again. Mario took a moment to stretch once he was off the bed and winced. His back ached more than he had thought.

"Nnnoooooo…" The pokegirl whimpered pawing at the opposite side of the bed in search of the warmth that was no longer there.

Shaking his head, he quickly made a bundle out of the sheets that had been tossed aside and placed it near her hand. Like some form of modified venus-fly-trap, she pulled the cloth into a full body double legged hug and squeezed it into a death-grip, calming back down again with a contented sigh.

That had been surprisingly cute.

Pushing the idea aside, he went through his morning check-list and eventually came to a halt as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

There was a slight surprise at the dark brown and blue area near the base of his neck, half the size of his fist, and clearly a hickey. At least it didn't hurt, and Corona'd be able to quickly deal with it if it became annoying.

Mario tried to recall at what point had he gotten it, but despite having his mind clear, his memories from the taming were mostly a blur.

There had been a feeling of constricting burning sensation in his chest, but for the life of him he couldn't recall anything else. Also, there were no wounds that drew his attention in that area that suggested it had been an actual injury.

At this point he was just thankful he didn't end up as bruised as that time Verde had been a bit too enthusiastic. That had been before Corona and it had been nearly a week before the aching had stopped.

Hot water, that's what he needed right now, and he needed to create a plan of action, or at least a list of things he'd need. Now that Hecate appeared a lot less uncertain about leaving he'd put her and Jade into the training schedule, a stricter one too. The last thing he needed was that the two became a burden when things got ugly.

That said, his top-most priority was finding someone that could help them find Sakuya. He'd start by asking around the ranch, Kim would probably even know…

"Crap." He thumped his head against the wall. He had completely forgotten about Kim.

He'd have to apologize for that.

At least he had a clear objective now, he could work with that.

"Hecate?"

He turned to see Hecate's head peeking through the bathroom wall and at him. He stepped back in shock, accidentally hitting the knob, and he let out a shriek as the water came out scalding hot.

Flailing wildly in an attempt to get out of the way of the boiling water, his hand rose to protect his face from the stream. The desire to stop the pain mixed with something else that had not been there the day before, resulting in a sudden surge of energy exploding from the center of his chest and up his arm in a flash of lightning blue.

Mario grunted as he hit the tile floor with his shoulder from the stumbling, feeling like someone had been using him as a piñata for the past hour. At least he didn't feel like someone was trying to make stew out of him anymore.

Whatever other thoughts he had screeched into a halt when he opened his eyes. Mario looked up in wonder followed by shock at the stream of ice that connected the palm of his hand with the now fully frozen showerhead. A chill soon followed from the very cold sensation.

Silence reigned as he turned to look at the head of the splice pokegirl who was looking at him with the same look of incredulity he had.

"Did you do this?" The words felt surreal coming from his lips.

Slowly, Hecate shook her head.

-+-Verde-+-

As she parried the punch with her right arm, she returned the favor with a frontal kick to Jade's hip, sending her torso reeling backwards but ultimately not moving the rest of her serpentine body. The eelara responded quickly by backing up slightly and raising herself so her head at least a full meter above Verde's, before hastily returning to circle around her adversary, launching a rain of punches and scratches.

Growling, Verde jumped out of the ring of flesh that was slowly closing in from all sides. She managed to grab one of Jade's lower arms and unhinge it from its respective shoulder socket with a wet snap before swiftly taking several steps back to increase the distance.

Though she winced, Jade glanced at her now limp lower left arm for only a moment before slithering right back into an attack, her face remaining as unblinkingly expressionless as it had been up to this point.

The hun went for a second grapple, but this time it was anticipated. The tables were turned on her as four of the five uninjured hands grabbed both her arms and the fifth one slapped her twice. The second it took Verde to free herself was long enough for Jade to twist her whole body into a single quickly unwrapping circle that ended with the fin on her tail slapping hard against Verde's head and knocking her to the ground.

Rolling back to her feet, Verde grinned savagely as she rubbed her hand against her cheek, lowering her stance to nearly a crouch before jumping at Jade with arms wide and everything her legs could give. She successfully wrapped her arms tightly around her target's waist and squeezed it with a knuckle firmly placed between two vertebrae, a rain of punches falling across her back as she did.

CRACK

This time Jade cried out in pain and her lower body went totally limp, the upper one freezing from the pain for only a moment before her punches now came down with in a desperate struggle.

In a flash of red light, the eelara was gone. Verde was left panting, bruised, but grinning from ear to ear.

"We'll have to show her how to get out of that one." Corona chuckled as she plopped the pokeball into the healing machine. "Tomorrow maybe…"

Checking herself over for any serious injuries, Verde was left satisfied her durability and Jade's lack of enhanced strength had left her with nothing more serious than a sore bruise or three. "I think we should go for a feral hunt, put the new girls to the test and bring in some extra cash."

Corona eyed the hun nonchalantly and shrugged. "We should also look to add some city girl to the team. I'd like a pick-pocket if possible; nimble fingers are always handy."

"We just added two to the team." Verde snorted.

"Oh? I just thought we were both saying unlikely ideas out loud." The pinielf shook her head, making a vague gesture towards the main building with her head. "You think Mario would give a go ahead to spend a day going around hunting ferals when we haven't even found someone that could help us find Sakuya?"

Verde opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it as her eyes locked onto a figure walking in their direction. "Wait, is that…?"

Sure enough, the red headed lab-coat wearing pokegirl was wobbling her way towards the main building. The amount of twigs and scratches on her seemed to make it look like she had just tried to wrestle with a tree. And lost.

"That's Kim." Verde idly tilted her head in curiosity.

"The brainiac?" Corona looked over her shoulder. "Did she try shagging a thorn bush or something?"

"Looks like it." Snorting, Verde crossed her arms and straightened out. "Hey!" The hun called out with a raised voice. "Looking for someone?"

The lone figure paused for long enough to look at the two and appeared to whisper something under her breath before slowly starting to make her way towards them.

"Wow, that's some language she's got." The pinielf commented.

"You heard her?"

"Enhanced eyesight." Came the brief reply.

"You know a lot of tricks."

"I'm old enough I could be your elder's grandmother." Crossing her arms, Corona glanced back at Verde. "You learn things as you go."

Verde cracked a grin. "You're too tall to be the elder's grandmother."

"For what I heard, she was taller than you back in the day." The pinielf casually brought out the eelara's pokeball. "For what I've seen, fighting types in general begin losing height once they have their first kits as pokewomen." She shot a nasty grin at Verde. "Maybe you'll get lucky."

Verde shuddered at that. "Not like you can't influence the outcome, what with your fleshbending…"

The grin only grew nastier.

"Finally!" Kim's voice broke the unnerving silence as she offered a desperately grateful greeting to Verde. "Tell me there's someone who can give me food around here, I haven't eaten since yesterday!"

"What a martyr." The pinielf rolled her eyes. "What're you doing here?"

"Excu-." Her voice cracked with a cough and the glare she had been about to send at Corona was suddenly replaced with a stony neutral expression that revealed only the slightest hint of fear. "You're a pinielf."

Corona replied with a sneer. "Your smarts sure seem to shine through the cracks."

A very nervous hand was offered accompanied by a fearful smile. "My name is Kim, please don't cripple me."

Deciding not to let things gain any further momentum, Verde tapped the supe-bra's shoulder to draw her attention. "If you're here for Mario you'll have to wait for him to wake up, though I don't think he'll be participating in any more tests." Her tone became somber. "Sakuya was kidnapped."

The look on Kim's eyes took a blank thoughtlessness for several very very long moments. Her jaw hung slack as she became unfocused and completely unable to register the world around her. "Well shit."

"That about sums it up." Corona declared coolly.

Verde shot a quick glance at her harem sister, trying to figure out why the sudden hostility. She realized she would have to wait for some other moment to ask about it, but her gaze was quickly caught by Mario and Hecate leaving the building, heading their way.

"We're not in the mood to deal with unnecessary crap right now." She warned with a dry and commanding whisper at Kim. "Don't push it."

The cold chill that followed her words completely straightened Kim's spine, making her give a very tense nod.

"Kim? What are you doing here?" Mario had quickly covered the distance, looking curious above all else. Hecate was close behind. "I was meaning to apologize for not warning you about not seeing you yesterday."

"No, it's perfectly understandable." Kim hastily replied. "I… um… I just sort of lost my means of contact and I…"

She deflated, letting out a groan. "…I sort of got lost on the way here."

"I can see that." He nodded, taking a quick step sideways while gesturing at Hecate. "I don't think you've been introduced, this is Hecate." Closing in on Corona, he pecked the top of her head and she grumbled something in response.

"This one's Corona." He followed by pulling Verde and pecking her cheek. "And of course you've met Verde already."

"A… pleasure." She scratched the back of her head absently, glancing at Hecate only for long enough to frown but then glanced right back at Mario. "I was going to ask whether you'd be interested in going another couple rounds of testing today, but it seems you've got your hands full, so if you'll-."

"I'll go… this afternoon probably, but I've got several things to do before that." His voice rang out suddenly but otherwise perfectly calm. "I'd first like to ask you a couple things though. Some… things have recently come up regarding my powers."

Kim peeked at Verde only long enough to confirm the hun wasn't showing any hostility just yet, before tentatively let the faintest ray of hope shine through her expression. "Yes?"

"Hecate and I will need someone who can teach us magic, so if there's anyone you could vouch for it'd be appreciated." He nodded at his pokegirls ever so slightly. "Though right now I'm more focused on looking for someone to help us find Sakuya…"

Looking her over, he nodded a second time. "How about we talk it over breakfast? I've got a room so you can also use the shower if you want."

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

+-+-+-+-+-CURRENT HAREM-+-+-+-+-+

-SAKUYA (Dark Kitsune)(Missing): Speed x6, Agility x6, Hearing x6, Smell x6, Isolation Aura

-VERDE (Hun)(Alpha): Speed x4, Strength x4, Durability x4, Endurance x4, Reduced Feral, Cold Resistance, Hunting Aptitude

-CORONA (Pinielf): Strength x2, Endurance x2, Agility x4, Vision x3, Smell x3, Flesh Bending, Fighting Aptitude, Longevity

-JADE (Marylith. Aka: Eelara, Laplass): Durability x5, Speed x10 (Swimming), Agility x5, Summon-Water, Hydrokinesis, Multi-limbed(6 Arms), Affinity-Ice, Toxic-Blood, Enhanced Flexibility

-HECATE (G-Splice): Speed x7, Strength x3, Endurance x7, Agility x6, Smell x4, Enhanced (Memory & Intelligence), Empathy, Partial Body Sculping (Self), Intuitive Aptitude (Body Sculpting, Computers), Familiar Bond.

Extra Enhancements: +2 Smell from Cerberass.

+-+-+-+-+-A.R.-+-+-+-+-+

(Author's Replies)

Vendettadabeast: Thanks it was rough to get it that way and I'm glad you enjoyed it, more so that it helped you even if some small way to make a part of your own stories.

Always thought inspiring others was well worth the effort. Let's see what you've got!

A Whimsical Seishin: As every other time, I do strive for "Emotional Reality". My plot may be full of holes and my pacing sluggish at best, but I'll be damned if I'm not making my characters as realistically as my current skill level allows me to!

Unwanted Empathy: I agree on the whole "At one place for too long", but unfortunately that's how it goes... either way, I've got an announcement to make about "Getting the show on the road"... just scroll a bit further down.

Also, in a sense both of them were getting their "Cherry" popped. It's Hecate's first time on every aspect, and it's Mario's first time with a first timer as well as a girl that could potentially go insane so quickly the whiplash would kill him.

Literally.

Erlkonig: Wowowowow, okok, chill... chill... hooooo... sounds like I hit the fetish (nail) on the head for you this time. Never expected such a... flamboyantly excited reaction? (not sure how to describe it any better). I'm really pleased that I could cause such a thing on you (though considering the level I'm at, I'll be honest and add I'd be thrilled if it had happened to anyone).

Yes, I put up a whole lot of thinking and effort into the scene, and as you guessed, from Mario's POV it was mild at best (yes, I did originally make it that way, but switched and remade it with Hecate before the part they got to the bed).

Also yes, I wanted the bond to be a form of "Mind Fuck", Hecate was tamed in very much the same way any threshold girl would have. The shift in mindset from "I am a free human" to "I have a master" is one any human being tamed would be forced to go through, and (I hope) the 'rationalization' of it that she gives herself would be similar to what would be going through the heads of others in such situation ("I want to be his all" , "I want to give him something no one else does" "I'm proud of being able to make him feel pleasure/joy/excitement").

Hecate's "mental shift" would've been the equivalent of several weeks if not months under the influence of a bond, but you get the gist of it.

This is brought because first the Wendigal. And though the bonding aspect of the Yandere pokegirl might have been diluted from her being just a part in the mix, the Imp side of her intensified it past what anyone had anticipated.

Quick note: For those of you that haven't read the dex entry. Among other things, Imps are meant to boost their tamer's magical reserves as well as sharing their minds with them to a certain degree so as to lessen the mental load of casting spells.

This resulted in what you read, and though I've yet to fully show it, though Hecate's attitude may have shifted thanks to it, Jill (as I tried to show) was entirely twisted around and wrapped by the resulting bond. If I were to briefly describe what she became, then I'd say she's the manifestation of everything that makes a bonded pokegirl loyal... with nothing else left for her personality to focus on. Just HIM.

If you don't get why that's a bad thing, I'll make sure you find out eventually.

Also, though there was no takeover, it does clearly show Jill is now capable of actual control over their body, which is several magnitudes more dangerous than the mental voice that could be easily pushed aside that she had been only hours before the taming.

Unfortunately, I do have a bit of bad news for you: I can't/won't be focusing great big chunks of the story solely on Hecate/Jill. They will get the spotlight like all the other characters, but a full chapter for them will probably not happen for a LONG while.

sandcrawlr: THANK YOU! As I mentioned to 'Whimsical Seishin', I go for broke when it comes down to emotions, I wanna make them actual 4D characters and not just cutouts!

+-+-+-+-+-W.C.-+-+-+-+-+

(Writers comments)

With that little chapter out of the way (that TMFett helped me fix-up as always), new things are revealed and the setting is almost set up. That said, I do have big news: I GOT THE JOB!

Now the bad news (for you): I GOT THE JOB!

(Notice the second one is also on capslock? That's because I'm really happy about it and don't care about anything else!)

At this moment and until... October 16th (I think) I won't be posting any new chapters. It may or may not be slightly more as I plan on making it a long chapter, but... well, here's the second big piece of news:

Chapter 35 will be the last one for "Imagine Pokegirls".

No, it does not mean I'll throw the towel and stop writing about it, it means the first official "Arc" of the story will have been done and finished and the next "Arc" (the name of which I've yet to come up with... suggestions are welcome) will start with a considerable time-skip from the ending of "Imagine Pokegirls" (at least a couple hours from where I'll leave it, maybe a day (bad joke I know, but I'm the one chuckling so it counts as a quality joke, hehehe)).

As I said before, "The setting is almost set up", and on the next arc you'll get to see how it's developed (a part of me is complaining that I shouldn't make such as skip as I would be missing on juicy character moments). Fingers crossed it's up to the challenge for a final chapter.

Also another reason for making 35 the last one for Imagine Pokegirls is that I'll have to slow down the writing for a while and leaving it as "hiatus" would just be absurd.

That's about it...

huh...

I felt like I would've written a whole lot more WC for a chapter were Mario finds the biggest advantage of having Hecate around... oh well, what I AM certain about is that our human protagonist is no longer going to allow anyone go into the bathroom while he's showering without knocking loudly first. Everyone says "Third time's the charm" and he's nearly died in that slippery death-trap twice, so...

Thanks for reading and here's hoping you stick around for the "Season finale"!

PS: Yes, you better expect a "Thanks for being with me throughout the years..." speech on the next chapter. And you better read it!

PPS: Just realized that with this chapter, Imagine Pokegirls now has over 300K words! Putting this series into the very rare few (only 4 others in FF) stories that can be found through the search-term "Pokegirl" with "300K+ Words"! YES! I've managed to get this far! Yoohoo! Yet another reason to celebrate and eat cake!

Now I only need to work on quality and marketing so I can draw in a larger number of thralls to blindly praise me...