This is the beginning of chapter 2.
A/N: Here we go again…
/run
A few days had passed since the acquisition of the newly-named Pythia. She was still getting used to it all. Her new owner… her Tamer, didn't seem displeased with her? He seemed genuinely intrigued by Divination as a whole. The first night she'd spent with him wasn't spent in the usual, almost ritualistic Taming she'd learned (by gossip) to expect. Instead it was spent on the roof of the hotel they were staying at, with him asking her about the constellations and how Astrology actually worked, trying to learn for himself what things meant.
It was odd, trying to explain things she knew instinctively. She'd gotten tuition to help refine her natural gifts, certainly, but being asked to tell someone about the deeper meaning behind what she already knew was a new experience. Especially when the most physical thing he wanted to do with her at the time was put an arm over her shoulder.
The big thing about Divination wasn't that it allowed one to peer into the possible futures. It's main focus was upon the finding of information. It was, historically, related to Necromancy, which got it's own start via the summoning of the spirits of the dead to divine truths about the universe only readily available to the dead. Pythia didn't like summoning dead things, though. The thought always gave her the creeps, and Undead were just so very unpleasant to be around. The sickly smell of decay and rot were not her go-to perfumes, thanks.
So when her new tamer asked if she could show him, say, what was going on in City Hall? She simply took out a bowl, poured some water into it (bottled from the soda-machine nearby) and ran a finger along the edge. Light shimmered within the water as she felt the magic go to work. Soon, they were looking at an image of the mayor's office. It was dark, since it was night and the office was closed, and nothing was happening, but the point had been made, proof undeniable that her magic worked and could allow others to see what she saw.
Markus seemed pleased? She knew some of this would happen. Like when another couple came up to the roof, laid down on some chairs put there for guest use (usually during the day) and began the inevitable process of taming what looked to be a Catgirl, if Pythia's eyes didn't deceive her. It was sometimes very odd how the brighter it got, the darker it actually got. Light pollution kept the light of the stars from being bright enough to see by (for her, anyway) but the light pollution itself didn't help overmuch when it came to actually seeing anything.
She didn't notice when her scrying spell turned to watch them from a much closer angle. Just before the Tamer in question 'drove home the point of his argument,' Pythia let out a quite 'eep' and spilled the bowl onto the ground. Completely on purpose.
Markus chuckled at her antics. He'd noticed, for sure. He didn't know if it was the couple who'd just come up and gotten comfy with themselves, or if it was some other location… He wasn't the one who cast the spell, after all. But he still noticed that her spell went right to some action. He ran a hand up her arm, thinking that was something *he* liked, Being as tactile-focused as he was, he knew a Witch had to be even more so. He remembered their 'Dex Entry' practically by rote. They had a very low pleasure threshold, and were insanely sensitive to tactile sensory input.
"Hehe. Input," he muttered. He couldn't help it. He still liked crude, juvenile toilet-humor jokes. Sue him, he was proud to be a dude.
"Hm?" Pythia looked at him from her spot, trying to keep herself from getting any excess water on her shoes and, admittedly, enjoying the sensation of his hand on her upper arm. He was using feather-light touches, rather than just manhandling her arm. It felt nice, much gentler than she'd been expecting after all the times she'd peeked on possible futures if she'd been bought by a wandering Tamer. Much better than her first time, but she WAS trying to kill that one at the time, so it was… Well. Needless to say, none of what she'd been expecting of physical contact with a Tamer was really happening.
Markus was just enjoying the physical contact, if he were being honest with himself. He enjoyed physical contact. He loved to get back scratches, he loved to have the feather-light touches, mainly because he knew it sent his nerves flying in a pleasant 'almost tickles' way. He knew he was somewhat weird, but let other people be normal. See where that gets them. So he'd continued as long as she let him. His mind was all over the place, and he needed the quiet.
Part of him was still coming to terms with the fact that he'd smeggin bought someone. He'd bought a girl off a prize rack like he was picking out a particularly expensive T.V. With all attention given to whether the specifications were right. He might as well have asked if she could play Blu-Ray discs and get Netflix while he'd been at it. Academically he knew that was just the way the world he'd found himself in worked. If he wanted to get by in any comfortable fashion, he'd have to learn right fucking quick how to deal with it… It still didn't stop him from feeling like an asshole.
Another part was overwhelmed by the whole situation, and still coming to grips with it. Where was his cat? What was his life if his life was already played out here, then why did he remember his original life? What in the flying hell was going on? What if there was no 'going back?' Every story except for a few Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu stories had basically said 'you're stuck, boyo.'
For that matter? If he was taking over his own life, why in the hell was his alternate such a loser? In this world… Well, he probably had big dreams as a younger man, but the decade between them was likely filled with all the same setbacks, just in different flavors, teaching the hard lesson that the world doesn't care about your plans. Maybe he'd just given up entirely on planning, and was just trying to get by? Who smegging knew…
That was all a few days ago, of course. He'd had a few days, one of which he'd recalled both Pokegirls to their respective pokeballs and spent the whole day just watching news, reading up on the history of things in this world, and looking once more for journals, photos he'd taken, anything that would help him.
Photos he'd found. In abundance. And worst of all? Selfies. He found pictures from his teen years, him and the woman he recognized as his mom (in much better shape than he remembered her being) and his dad (in a lab.) He found a picture of his sister, wearing what he could only imagine was a school uniform for Vale Academy.
He found emails, as well. From his parents, from his sister, from his circle of friends… Luckily the 'other Markus' had organized them away from the ever-present 'booty-call' folders. He learned that he, in this life, was loved by his parents, his sister wasn't nearly as much of a woman-child as he remembered her being and had actually set up shop as a Mechanical Mage with her Pet, a Steel Alchemist, somewhere in the Crimson League doing contract work for Jahanna Corp while working on her own vehicular projects.
Wow. He was the fuck-up of the family. The one who had yet to settle down, get any kind of degree, or even consider setting up his own business. His parents lived in Sapphron City… the city seemingly dedicated as a monumental shrine to Psychic types.
Well, there went any hope he had of getting to visit his parents in the near future…
When that day was over, he'd received a message telling him that his package had finally arrived. The box at the front desk was conservatively wrapped in brown paper and packaging twine. Markus quickly grabbed the thing and nearly ran back to his room, not caring that he looked slightly crazy. He knew how much he'd apparently spent on the damned thing at that auction… Online auctions were great, when you didn't spend over one-hundred thousand credits on something that felt like it weighed ten pounds at most.
He was beginning to fear that perhaps he'd been had, given the amount of money needed for the damned thing and the fact that he hadn't had the ability to inspect the merchandise for himself beforehand… his previous self must have been either hopelessly naive or just plain desperate for this thing.
When he reached his room, he closed the door, pulled the curtains across the window, and locked the door using all three metal bars and chains the doors had available. With trembling hands, he cut the twine and pulled the paper off the box. The box had several notes tied to it beneath the paper. Taking a look at them first he read them as authenticity notifications, review appraisals, and a receipt for his purchase. Within the box itself? It was… less than impressive.
It looked like a small loaf of bread made out of dull metal. Seriously. That's exactly what it looked like. A goddamned loaf of bread made out of metal. In his hands it felt heavy enough. Ten pounds, give or take a few ounces. Still, he'd gone along with things this far, and an Archangel was a great improvement upon her less advanced 'sister' species, the Angel.
He called out Salohiel, letting her form out of the red light that was the Pokeball's capture matrix, and settle into being physical again.
Salohiel looked around. Then to Markus. "Is it taming time, already?" she asked.
"No." Markus said, holding up the stone. "It's Evolving time, Angelic perv." He teased. If there was one thing he liked doing? It was finding people's buttons. He had yet to find Salohiel's. It was how he knew which topics to stay the hell away from. Pythia's 'button' was her stature and shyness… Not her fault her tits weren't exactly 'bowling balls.'
His mind refocused when Salohiel positively squealed with joy at the thought and had to hold herself back from jumping and glomping her Tamer. Markus appreciated the effort. He almost felt bad when he couldn't think of anything to do other than….just toss the thing at her, let her catch it, and watch the lightshow.
"How do you want to do this?" He asked at last, finally giving in to the fact that he had no damned clue what he was supposed to do.
Salohiel held out a hand for the stone, silent but smiling wide. "I'll see you on the other side, Master." She said.
The moment the stone touched her hand, Markus felt it vanish, being absorbed by the metamorphosis and the flash of white light that enveloped Salohiel. When it cleared, Salohiel looked pretty much exactly the same as she had before, only with an extra set of wings… Almost immediately, her hands went to her chest, cupping and feeling her breasts for a moment before she released a sigh of relief.
"Thank the Heavens for small mercies." She said. "I don't know what I would have done if these things had grown bigger." She had enough problems as it was, thank you very much. It was only then that she noticed she hadn't really stopped fondling herself, her fingers going over her nipples lightly through the cloth, which was rapidly beginning to not really hide that she didn't wear a bra.
Soon her blouse was on the floor, and her hands right back where they had been, but without the cloth to get in the way.
Markus, stunned by both the light show and the new 'show' Salohiel was putting on, was finding sitting comfortably difficult. It was the pants, you see. They got in the way of something inside which decided to make itself known at that moment. It had been a few days since he'd had any 'me time' after all, which meant certain things were building up. And trying to look up any decent porn… That wasn't spoiled by either bad acting or a far-more-interesting plot… was an adventure in and of itself in this world.
How in the hell was a guy supposed to find a 10-minute clip for some personal time when everyone seemed to want to prove to the world they could last for a goddamned hour? He watched as Salohiel's hands worked their magic on her breasts, and the way the new Archangel squirmed slightly under her own attention, and decided that… Maybe doing this first thing in the morning had been a BAD plan…
Fools rush in, after all. 'Fool, thy name is Markus.'
It took him a few seconds to work up the nerve. Here was a woman… playing with her tits, baring them for HIM to see since he was the only other person in the room and she had made zero attempts to either hide or get a corner of the bed to herself. If anything, she seemed to be *trying* to get him to look, since she was facing directly towards him and moaning as her fingers went to town on the soft flesh beneath them.
Markus, tentatively, reached out and touched one of the stiff nipples, standing tall and proud on hills of soft skin. The moment his finger made contact, Salohiel's hand was wrapped around his wrist and trying to shove his whole hand into the action.
Far be it from him to complain. He'd always liked breast play. Sadly, her wings made it impossible for him to go behind her, like he'd envisioned doing at some point, so he did what he could, and reached out with his other hand. Not for her breast, but for the waistline of her jeans. Working with his dominant hand, thankfully, he was able to unbutton it, unzip, and pull it down. A trim tuft of blond hair, exposed to the air, met his eyes… the hand he had on her breast was currently being directed by a increasingly impatient Salohiel.
Increasingly impatient meaning her other hand finished the job of getting rid of her pants, and she straddled him. With her legs on each side of his, and his hand suddenly left to its own devices, the Angel went to work on her tamer's pants as well. Since his hands were free, he began to really explore the marvelous breasts (nice C-Cups, thank God) right in front of him. He felt two pairs of feathered wings wrap around the duo on the bed, and knew that there was no way he was getting out of this.
Salohiel seemed to agree, as the moment his pants were undone and his belt out of the way, she pulled 'mini-me' free and practically drove herself down onto it.
There are times in life when a man must admit that he is, was, or has been wrong about something. For instance? Markus, for the longest time, didn't believe he'd ever actually enjoy the idea of sex. He just didn't see the appeal. Why? Who fucking cares. That moment, when the four-winged blond on his lap engulfed his dick in a silk vice, forced the man to acknowledge some things.
First off? Heaven did exist, there was, in fact, a kind and loving God who wanted him to be happy with more than just good beer.
Secondly? He'd been wrong. Suddenly all that talk people had made a huge point of, saying 'oh, you just did it with the wrong person' or 'was she a size queen or something?' Made a lot more sense… The fact that the girl was an admitted 'size queen' made him feel all the more foolish for judging all by that standard.
Markus as he was now, the bland 30-something man from Minnesota as opposed to the 30-something from Saffron City, could not tell you what happened in the next few hours, let alone the next few minutes. It took every bit of self control he'd developed, having a girlfriend squirm on his lap, having a girl dripping with only his fingers, or the times when he'd fuck with himself and prolong a session of 'me time' for a few hours because he didn't want to have to backtrack to find that particular porn clip again… All to not blow his load right then and there.
He had the distinct feeling it would have ended poorly for him, no matter how affectionate Salohiel might be towards him.
Instead? He pushed on, keeping himself back as much as possible. She wasn't making it easy, though. Not only was she moving her hips at a pace he was sure was going to bruise both of them, but she seemed utterly incapable of slowing the fuck down. His dick was held in a warm, wet, tight grip of heaven… possibly literally… and he had no control over this ride. All he could do was strap himself in and try not to scream.
Salohiel slammed herself down on her Tamer's dick over and over again, nearly growling as it scratched that itch that wasn't really an 'itch.' It just felt right to have something inside her. It felt better to have it moving in and out of her. And it felt divine to have it moving as her hips moved, rather than just straight-out sawing in and out. She would rotate her hips slightly, trying to get it everywhere she could, have it touch every inch she could. If her wings hadn't straightened out behind her already, she'd have done so just for the extra sensation… And balance. She was on top, now, she was in control, but Markus had begun trying to meet her half way, trying to go deeper than he had been with just her own efforts.
When Salohiel felt the tightening ball of an oncoming orgasm in her stomach, she kept going. When that ball released and her whole body was washed in a warm glow, she kept going, though a bit sloppier and with less force on her end. When she felt her tamer twitch inside her and the heat slashing into her? She finally let go and the two of them laid there on the bed.
Salohiel fell asleep like that, using Markus as a pillow after the bout of post-evolution taming. It was only then that Markus remembered. Archangels' Libido was listed as 'high' as opposed to the Angel's 'average.' He'd have to start battling, soonish, so if nothing else he could afford lotion. Or medicines. He KNEW they'd figured out a way to stop chafing… He knew this… he kept telling himself this as he drifted off. Had to keep up the hope…
It took him a few days to get used to things, as they were… Honestly Markus was surprised that it didn't take him a month to get over the massive change. Still, he spent the next week or so just getting the hang of things, playing a few games in the casino, enjoying the games of chance (They wouldn't let him bring Pythia to the card tables…) and general nonsense. It was apparently relatively commonplace that people could win it 'big' but most people won just enough to keep them coming back for more only to lose it all.
So, like normal casinos. Sometimes you win 20,000slc, other times you go back to your room 2000slc fewer than you started. Markus mainly liked to play for the Prize Coins. The odds, according to Pythia and Salohiel, were much better in those instances, because the exchange rate favored the casino, the city, and the Prize Corner rather heavily. Still, it was fun. There was a slot machine with a Celestial theme he liked…
Markus was honestly *very* confused at his liking of Celestials… he'd always been a big proponent of the Infernals as an author. Why did his alternate have an Angel as his longest-lasting Pokegirl? Why did he enjoy having an Archangel in his Harem? Why did MARK enjoy having an Archangel in his harem more than he thought he'd ever enjoy having a Demoness, Succubus or Dark Lady?
Okay, that last one was oft a pipe-dream of his. The darker part of his brain, anyway. He had some pretty dark thoughts, owing mainly to chemical imbalances and such… Which was truly odd since he hadn't had a mood swing since he woke up. Maybe Salohiel's Aura of Healing? Long-term exposure might have helped? Who knows if this physical version of himself even had that problem? Either way. He liked the Celestial-themes slot machine much more than he'd thought he would.
The fact that Pythia could help him decide how much to bet on a given spin, and which angles to take, was helpful…
"Master?" Pythia had beegun when he'd first asked for her insight. "My visions show possible futures. The most likely to happen. Have you never heard of what happens to those who try to meddle with temporal mechanics, cheating chance.. All that stuff?" She asked.
Markus had pondered that for all of two minutes before discarding the thought. It didn't make any goddamn sense. Why would magic give visions of likely futures only to then turn about and make things difficult if the people it gave those visions to try to utilize them.
"What will happen if I do?" He asked, thinking for a moment to be a bit cautious, rather than throwing caution to the wind.
"Nothing. But it's not wise to tempt fate." Pythia said, shrugging. She'd known he'd do this from the moment they'd met, after all. Everyone did it. Magic types, psychic-types, et al were often used in games of chance to stack the deck. The only reason it wasn't illegal (for slot machines, that is) was because it had only a slightly better chance of winning than doing things normally. It'd taken them 20 years worth of studies to figure that one out. Still, tempting fate was never a good idea.
"Fate-shmate." Markus waved the concern off. "If Fate has plans for a pissant like me? Then someone upstairs has *way* too much time on their hands."
For once? Pythia had to agree, despite the common wisdom of not tempting fate, pattern-recognition was more to blame for most superstitions. Humans had a bad habit of seeing a series of events and implying causation. One of her first lessons with her 'Big Sister' from Vale was a simple verbal equation.
Co ≠ Ca. Correlation does not equal Causation. Friday the 13th is a magical day, to be sure, but people tend to remember the bad things that happen on it more clearly because of the mental connection to 'bad luck.' Numerology, thankfully, was all about the math of divining the future, and True names of beings. Astrology, however, was all about Correlation and Causation. The difference between the old and new systems was the magical significance of the stars in relation to the mundane. Astrology was always a subtle thing, at best, rather than the all-consuming thing some people had turned it into before Magic was studied.
Still, utilizing Pythia's ability to read the future did give him a small uptick in his Prize Coin winnings. She wasn't allowed to help him at the blackjack tables but he was still managing to come out a bit ahead, there… Credits flowed like a river in the casino, after all, and all he had to do was be careful about where his went, and how many he got in return.
With that week, coming to terms with everything that was going on, having sex and actually enjoying it for a change, and light gambling, Markus ended the week with a hefty amount of Prize Coins in his account, and a little bit richer than he'd begun the week. His hotel stay was still paid for the next few days, thankfully… but still, he was beginning to feel the coming need to get the fuck out of there.
He was thankfully able to afford a T2 for use later. A general compilation of basic information should he catch Ferals. Why he didn't have that beforehand was odd, but Markus figured the other 'him' just used whatever facilities the Pokecenter had. He'd taken a look online for information on just what was in the standard 'English T2' and it was… strangely bereft of a lot of nuances. Higher end models, the kinds you could buy for a few hundred dollars (Converted to slc, 1,000+) had more information… Sure, he had to get the disc shipped from Sapphron City, but his disc would, hopefully, teach a Feral a bit more than basic information. The disclaimer stated that it'd still take time and practice to get things down, but the basic information would be available. Things like 'basic history' and a more nuanced understanding of the english language. Basic math, which would then lead into his currently-owned Finance Basics T2, was also included.
Taking inventory of his actual equipment showed he had some rollerblades, a folding bike, camping-style cookware, a few weeks worth of meal packs, and what looked like an extension to his backpack which acted like a miniature Pokepack. Inside it contained a few dozen pokeballs, a couple of changes of clothing, a tent…
That certainly explained why Markus hadn't seen a tent anywhere. Probably had to fold it up pretty tight to fit into the small extension…
In other pockets of the backpack, he found several small cases of medicines, D-Tox and the like, along with salves, creams, and other assorted nonsense meant to make life as a travelling (Vagrant) Tamer a bit easier.
By the end of his little inventory, Markus was exhausted of trying to account for the things he'd found, and trying to piece together when he might have gotten which item. The cookware was well used, as was the sealed spice collection, but the medicines looked to be barely touched. He had a store of Prize Coins… he could totally afford a Slicer, and it'd round out a three-Pokegirl team nicely to have a good dedicated Fighting Type involved…
Markus tried to think of it as being like ripping off a band-aid. He'd have to get used to buying (And… Selling) pokegirls off. Especially if he went out, caught Ferals, and sold them to ranches and the League and such. So, with heavy steps he made his way to the Prize Corner.
Slicers were far more popular than Witches, so the demand was higher, and thusly Markus was not allowed the leeway of interviewing. Instead, he got a choice between three examples of the breed. And two of them were right out.
The first girl looked normal enough. Brown hair, green eyes, and a toned physique mark would have killed to just be able to touch 'back home.' But her weapon of choice? A Scythe. Not in Markus's wheelhouse at all.
The second was similar, though her hair color was slightly on the 'pink' side of 'blonde.' She looked attractive enough, but she glared at him like he was nothing more than the lowest form of dirt she didn't even want to have to scrape off the bottom of her shoe, and the Mace she was carrying didn't look like it'd be fun to be introduced to on a personal level.
The third, and Markus's final choice, was a slender girl, probably in her mid 20's by the look of her, with black hair, brown eyes, and carrying a Guan-Dao, a Chinese Great Sword. Far be it for Markus to ever deny his love of wuxia movies, and the distinctly asian features on the girl didn't hurt his decision, any… but the main reason was that while she didn't immediately profess undying love (That'd have just made things incredibly awkward) she did at least profess to being willing to 'work together for the time being.'
Paperwork was signed, a name (Xiao Fenhong) was given (By the Slicer in question, of course. She HAD a name, thank you very much!) and the Prize Corner was left behind the now ready-to-travel…. he hesitated to even think of himself as a Tamer.
"This is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, I should think." He sighed, slumping aas he walked back to his hotel, intent on checking out a few days early.
The next day was spent, in the first hour, getting out of the hotel, telling the pleasant staff that no, it was nothing they'd done (or neglected to do) it was simply him getting itchy feet and wanting to travel again, and that they could keep the other days pay for the room as a tip for the front desk and housekeeping staff.
This left him with the rest of the day to wander about. He'd given Salohiel the main part of his backpack, keeping the extension on him as a kind of mini-pack, and recalled her to her pokeball before he began rollerblading East on Route 7. The Ferals along the route, the listed ones anyway, were all minor concerns at best. A few butterfly-girls, some mouse-girls… All of which seemed infinitely more interested in whatever it was they were doing than in him.
That sat just fine with Markus. The route wasn't perfect for rollerblades, but it was still tolerable. He could see the remnants of an old highway along with the newer paved roads. The trip towards Sapphron City would take him, give or take, a few days. And given that he fully intended on leaving the road before long and going towards… He wasn't going to even think~ VerMuffEatin' City, Damn it, he figured it'd take him at least a week to get all the way there, if he kept going at his current speed. Off-road would slow him down immensely.
Call it a week and a half. Plenty of time to get ready for random battling, especially with ferals as the main opposition. Feral Bunnygirls, Kitsune, Vixxens… it was only now, that he was stuck IN the world that he realized how much of a fetish 'fox-girls' were for people. He was setting down for a break, since rollerblading for extended periods can really take it out of you, especially when you have to avoid potholes, cracks and gaps in the road. The hills were his LEAST favorite things on the planet, when he had to get up the damned things…
"Hey!" He heard a voice. Male. Probably young, based on the pitch and exuberance in the voice. "You!"
Finally, Markus opened his eyes. He'd set himself down on the side of the road, leaning back against a tree near a bend in the road, which explained why he didn't see the younger man coming. He'd have gone further off into the wooded areas if he'd known someone would be coming.
"Yeah?" he asked, looking the younger man up and down. He was wearing rugged clothing, at least. Looked like it had been through it, with the mud stains and small tears littering the fabric. Several bruises and scratches were evident beneath those tears, and on the exposed skin of his hands and neck.
"You know how far it is to Celaboner?" the other man asked. "I've been walking for what feels like forever!" the Tamer exclaimed in a rather melodramatic fashion.
"Yeah. Bout half a day by rollerblades." Markus said. "Follow the road. That'll take you to the Eastern entry to the city. Residential neighborhood, first, but that'll pass quickly so long as you follow Route 7 and it'll take you straight to the gaming district."
Markus watched as the other Tamer nodded and made notes in his Pokedex. When he finally saw Markus eyeballing the injuries, he chuckled nervously. "Sonic Emitters up the road are out of order. Got attacked by a Vixxen. Or three…"
Markus nodded, rapidly growing awkward with his inability to think of anything to speak of.
"Wanna battle while we're out here?" The younger tamer asked. "My name's Broyce."
"Is it normal to challenge and then give your name?" Markus asked, genuinely curious. It'd mean that the idea of battling was more important that actually knowing with whom you were tangling… Not a pleasant thought for the somewhat out of place man.
"Nah. I just get excited. You're the first human face I've seen in the last few days that didn't immediately try to challenge me to a battle, steal my Pokegirls, or rob me of everything down to the clothes on my back." Broyce explained.
"That good, huh? Think maybe the robberies might be involved with the Sonic Emitters being down?" He asked. He could think of a dozen reasons why he, if he were more criminal in mindset, would want to destroy the things. It'd make for a convenient excuse for people randomly going missing on a certain route. Rob 'em, kill 'em, bury the body in a shallow grave or just leave it for the Ferals… Fuck that's dark. He shook his head to clear those thoughts out.
"Probably." Broyce shrugged. "I'm not exactly in a position to investigate that kind of thing. I'd let the Sapphron City PD know about it? But there's been no cell reception out this far either. I'll send 'em a message when I get to Celaboner."
'If the kid even survives that long.' Markus thought. If it were him? He'd keep trying to get rid of the 'one that got away' before his sweet hiding spot and setup was compromised. But then, maybe the thieves/murderers of this world were more sedentary? Ah well.
"Sure. I'll have a battle with ya, kid." He said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it as he stood, stretching out his upper body a bit. His legs were just smegging fine, thanks. "I just got a Slicer at the Prize Corner, and I was hoping to test her out against Ferals."
"Oh? Well… Don't blame me when this goes badly, then." Broyce shrugged before taking out one of six ('He's got a full harem, but I've got half! AUGH!') pokeballs and tossing one into a centre-area between the two of them. Out came a girl with goldenrod colored skin and two small antennae… It didn't take much for Markus to recognize the species as an A-Bra. The Pokegirl version of the Abra. Psychic Type. Fuck.
And she was asleep. Broyce looked at the girl. Then to Markus. Then back to the girl…
"Come on, Jess. Wakie, wakie?" He tried, shaking the girl's shoulder. A mumbled response was all he got as the girl rolled over. "Jess, come on!" Broyce nearly shouted, more than slightly embarrassed.
"Don't worry her, Broyce. By the way? My name's Markus. Forgot to do that. A-Bras need 18 hours of sleep for their psychic abilities. She probably knows more about what's going on right now than either of us, but the fact that she's sleeping keeps her from doing anything about it." Markus said. "Let's move on to your next choice? The mark of a good Tamer for an A-Bra is knowing when to let her sleep, and when she'll be up for a battle." Ok. So he was mixing bullshit from pokemon into this. Sue him. The A-Bra was a direct rip from the original Gen-1 Pokemon, and one of his favorite Pokemon of all time. Ralts still won that fight, though.
Broyce sighed and nodded, moving 'Jess' to the side. Markus took the opportunity to call out Xiao Fenhong, who took the opportunity to show off a bit, spinning her Guan Dao about with a flourish as she reformed out of the red light of the capture matrix.
Broyce watched as Xiao Fenhong formed and nodded appreciatively. "Lucky bastard." He said. "She looks like a good one."
Markus nodded, and watched as Broyce tossed out another ball, letting the pokegirl form. "Diana!" He called out as Markus saw something that made him wince slightly… The girl was dark black in skin color, pointed elfin ears, and that was about the extent of Markus's knowledge. She looked like a Dark Elf… So he scanned her with his Pokedex.
DROW ZEE, the Elf Variant Pokégirl
Type: Near Human
Element: Psychic/Magic
Frequency: Uncommon to Rare
Diet: Near Human Diet (Omnivore)
Role: originally strike squads, but excellent at surveillance, strategic strikes
Libido: varies (usually Low to Average)
Strong Vs: Psychic, Poison, Fighting
Weak Vs: Bug, Dark, Ghost
Attacks: Water gun, Ember, Spark, Hypnotic Gaze, Shadow Teleport, Backstab, Shadow Possession, Low to Moderate Magical Spells
A Drow-Zee. The girl was a Psychic/Magic type, but thankfully not a Dark Elf in full. "Thank fuck for small mercies…" Markus said to himself.
"Thought she was a Dark Elf, right?" Broyce asked, grinning slightly. "So did I. But Diana's awesome."
Markus nodded. Drow-Zee were one of those breeds he'd had loved to have, if only because he'd always had a thing for Dark Elves in D&D… Sue him. Crazy-deadly-spider-chicks? He had his moments of suicidal stupidity, he wasn't afraid to admit this.
The dark-skinned elf noticed him appreciating the view. It wasn't hard. Markus wasn't quite as subtle as he'd usually be in doing so, the shock of *being* in the world he'd written for was still getting to him. Her winking at him just threw him off a little more.
"No salvage, OK?" Markus asked, looking back to Broyce. "One on one, maximum 3?" he offered.
Broyce nodded. He didn't want to risk any of his current Pokegirls, either, and he could see Markus only had three pokeballs on his belt. Not wanting to do a salvage battle was probably a prudent decision for the older Tamer.
"Cool." Markus sighed in relief. "Xiao?" he looked at the Guan-dao wielding Slicer, "You up to show your stuff?"
Xiao looked at her clothing, a distinctly Chinese dress if Markus had any eye for that kind of thing.
With a laugh, Markus shook his head. "Not like that. If anyone's seeing those, I'd like to first."
With little more fanfare, the battle began. Markus and Broyce got a safe distance away, and the two kicked things off with a bang.
Xiao, the Fighting type, rushed in with her Guan Dao, sweeping at the Drow-Zee's midsection. While Xiao's speed was impressive, Diana's agility was just a touch more effective as she bent backwards almost entirely, bringing up a foot into Xiao's face while her large and heavy weapon was still moving from the missed slash. The impact was minimal, and not impressive given Xiao's physical toughness, but it was enough to get a little bit of space between the two of them as she continued the motion and flipped herself a few feet away.
When she landed, her hands lit up with a purple light, forming a small blade of psychic energy. The dark-skinned pokegirl grinned and rushed back in, swiping at her foe with quick strikes to vital locations. It was only Xiao's ability with her Guan Dao, and the lesson of not over-extending herself from that kick to the face, that kept her from getting a psychic blade to the gut!
Xiao kept parrying the strikes, going for the arm or hand rather than the blade as she didn't know whether or not the blade would go through it or not. She'd never actually fought someone using a Psi-Blade before, so she didn't want to take any chances. Still, the blade came too close for comfort more than once in the next few exchanges of the fight. Xiao kept moving, trying to find an opening, but every time she thought she'd seen one? The girl seemingly moved to close it.
Then the thought came to her. The girl was reading her intentions. She'd never thought a Drow-Zee might be able to read her mind, but this little exchange was putting that assumption to a painful execution. It was risky, but she couldn't continue as she was. Diana's movements were wasting far less energy than Xiao's own, and the elemental advantage would likely cause quite a bit of problems for her.
Finally giving up on the tactical route, Xiao began attacking, using the length of her weapon against her opponent and keeping her at a distance as much as was possible.
Markus knew enough about Drow-Zee to know that in a shadowy environment, this would be much more difficult, but given the sun shining bright in the sky, the lack of overhead trees on the road, and the weather working in their favor? Markus also knew that this was, at least, possible to win. Part of him hoped she'd fail. Not out of malice, but because one learns more from failure than from success. Already he could pick parts of Xiao's style that could use refinement, and plans were forming in his mind of how to do so.
Xiao's new strategy seemed to be working. She'd talked to some of the other Slicers while she'd been up for the Prize Corner's exchange block. One of them, one whom she thought had an unhealthy obsession with one of Edo's provinces formerly known as Japan, once told her 'No Mind. Don't think about your enemy, don't think about your tamer, don't think about the audience. Just fight. No Mind.' She'd landed a few strikes on the other Pokegirl, leading to a few bleeding gashes on the girl's form.
It was only when Diana stopped to mutter a spell, which Xiao could see was healing her wounds with a soft white light, that she gave up the 'finesse' portion of her style completely.
"You have GOT to be fucking with me!" she shouted, swinging the Guan Dao, blunt-side first, right at the stationary girl's torso… The cracking of bones could be heard as the superior strength of the Fighting Type finally overwhelmed the innate resistance to such attacks Psychic types had and the Drow Zee went flying. Small scratches littered Xiao's form from when the Psi-Blade had extended at just the wrong time, but otherwise Xiao was fine.
Diana, however? She was down for the count.
The next to come out was a Bunnygirl Broyce called 'Muffy.' Markus had to try very hard not to facepalm at that. The fight was… lackluster at best. One good bonk and the girl went down. Not even fully from the bonk as the rabbit-eared girl tripped over her own feet and fell into the attack.
The third and final round of the battle was against a girl Broyse seemed reluctant to call out. He addressed her as 'Sally.' When he called her out, a being of shadows, nearly unrecognizable as humanoid, all jagged edges and claws, it seemed.
Markus couldn't help but wonder… "How in the hell do you even Tame that?" The term 'mannish' popped into his mind, though from the side he could see it did, indeed, have shadowy silhouettes of breasts… Not the best determining factor, to be sure, but who knows? Maybe Broyce was into that kind of thing?
Looking at his fellow tamer, Markus could only assume that no, no he wasn't. He could think of worse things, perhaps, if he had time. Maybe she was just good at battling? A quick scan was in order… no way she was a Shadowgirl…
YOUMA, the Default Demon Pokégirl
Type: Not Very Near Human to Inhumanoid
Element: Magic/Varies (Infernal)
Frequency: Rare
Diet: special: energy consumption, various
Role: Soldier of the Legion of Terror
Libido: Average
Strong Vs: Normal, Varies
Weak Vs: Celestial, Varies
Attacks: Absorb, Dream Eater, Energy Drain, Shadow Scythe (Lv35), (Everything else varies)
Markus sighed. "Well… Fuck."
"We can do that after this." Xiao said, readying her Guandao.
Broyce sighed and nodded. "Yeah… just caught her a few days ago. Tamed her… don't ask… But she's an absolute demon in a fight. Nearly killed one of my 'Girls taking her down enough to catch." he explained.
Markus nodded. "Xiao? Please be as quick as you can? I'd hate to have to call out Salohiel AND have to explain how I got such a pretty new addition to the group hurt so soon after she joined?" he nearly begged the Slicer. He really didn't want to risk alienating Salohiel after he'd gotten to *see* an Archangel… And fuck one. Just saying.
Xiao nodded and rushed in, swinging her weapon as fast as she could at the shadowy form of the girl.
'Sally' seemed to take offense to that, as while she was slightly less durable, based on the 'Dex standard information? She didn't seem any less quick to react to things coming at her. Broyce was silent as the girl fought, probably due to lack of information on the girl's abilities… But Markus was calling out instructions.
"Duck!" he shouted, in time for the Chinese-themed Slicer to avoid getting an oblique swipe from a shadowy claw coming from behind, seemingly detached from the main body of the girl. "Try Swordwave!" he commanded.
The attack, despite being named 'swordwave' was more of a shockwave technique, like a 'void strike' from some anime. It seemed to work well enough. Better than well, if Markus were being honest given that Sally seemed to be very hurt by it. She took out that frustration with a lunging claw attack that wound up leaving three long gashes down Xiao's arm and ending with nearly taking it off at the shoulder with a cruel twist. Blood spurted from the wound before slowing to a distressingly fast ooze.
Xiao was nowhere near out of the fight, though, as she came back around, using the length of her weapon to gather momentum as she began spinning it one-handed, her good hand near the pommel to maximize the speed of the blade as it cut through the air. It might have been a trick of Markus's eyes, but he swore he saw a hint of light spark off the blade itself before it buried itself into the other girl's shoulder.
Broyse, being more concerned with not losing the girl than with winning the fight it seemed, recalled her and held up his hands. "I forfeit." he said.
Markus was already moving, grabbing his medicines from his pack and moving to Xiao's side to utilize the hypospray function of the canister. Before his eyes, the wounds oozing blood stemmed and began to close. Another left her with a couple of scratches before she stopped him from using another. "Failure teaches, pain teaches better." she said.
After the battle, Broyce took a break, with some medicines provided by Markus for his girls so that if he was caught out on the road he wouldn't be utterly screwed, and sat next to Markus under the tree.
"So." Broyce began. Markus looked over at him, curiously. "Where're you going?" he asked.
"VerMuffEatin' City." Markus said, keeping the response simple before his urge to talk took over. He'd recalled Xiao, and now it was just him and the other Tamer. "Spent time in Celaboner, gambled, had a good time, got myself two new 'girls from the Prize Corner, including Xiao…"
"I did notice you've only got the three." Broyce noted.
"Yeah…" Markus trailed off, a little embarrassed by his 'new' personal history. "Let's just say that I've been at this 'Tamer' gig for a while, now. Got to the point where I should probably retire, but too much got left undone, too much unseen, and too many Pokegirls lost to my own idiocy as a younger man."
Broyce laughed at that. "Come on, man. You're what? Twenty five?" he asked.
"Thirty one." Markus drawled. "Thirty one and for the last four years it was just me and Salohiel, training like mad. Lost my starter on Sadie Poken's Day, lost a Kunoichi to a Salvage match, lost a Shieldmaiden because I lost the Kunoichi… I guess I just kind of gave up after that. Then Salohiel came to me the next Sadie Poken's Day and we had a long conversation about where I was going in life. The answer? Nowhere. And fast. Drifting, aimlessly trying to get some powerful girl to turn my fortunes around…" he sighed, sad at the thought that this was who he'd be in this world. "Meanwhile? My sister's off in Crimson as a graduate from Vale working as a Mechanical mage with contracts from JahannaCorp, my mom's still in the Battle Circuit, and my dad's a Researcher."
Broyce was silent for a moment before, with all the grace of one dude talking to another he said, "That sucks, man. Well. You've got a good Slicer, now, and this 'Salohiel' you seem so fond of. And a third, so you're off to a good second chance, right?"
Markus chuckled, brightening up. "Yeah. Second… Third… maybe eleventh… the fact that i've survived as long as I have should probably count for something, right?" he laughed.
"Hell yeah, dude. I haven't met a lot of active tamers past twenty-seven. We either retire early, or die early." Broyce agreed. "And if you've been training a single Pokegirl for four damned years? I'm glad you didn't bring her out in our battle."
"She'd probably have been overkill. Salohiel's an Archangel. I used a good chunk of cash to get her that Shield Stone, too." he laughed.
"No shit? Yeah. She'd have torn Sally to shreds!" Broyce laughed. "I'll trade ya?" he offered jokingly.
"All aboard the Nope-train to Fuckthatshitville." Markus responded with a joking tone of his own, leaning back against the tree.
"Kinda figured." Broyce acknowledged with a renewed laugh.
"Knowing my luck? I'll run into a Youma myself at some point. I'd love to have an Infernal… But Celestials are more my speed I think." Markus said, relaxing into his spot on the tree.
"Yeah, I can get behind that. But I really want a Demoness… or a Succubus." Broyce said, a hazy look in his eye as he imagined the sex involved in that.
Markus sighed. "Let me tell you something I know from intimate experience. Don't keep a girl just because she *might* be powerful later, especially if she causes problems amongst your Harem. It never works out well." It made for shitty stories, unless the girl was a 'redemption' story. And there were only so many of those to go around.
Broyce nodded. "Still, I'm gonna try. If I'm dyin'? I'm tryin'. As a friend of mine once said." he said, relaxing into his own spot.
The two of them rested there for an hour in companionable silence. Markus took out a pair of earphones and turned on one of the audiobooks on his cell-phone/Pokedex. For all that things revolved around sex in this world? People still enjoyed good literature, and he had a few hundred years to catch up on in details, so his selection was a history book. He only put one earbud in, since he wanted to be able to hear things with the other at least…
After the hour passed, Broyce looked to be asleep next to the tree, so mark began setting up his camp. He called out Salohiel and took his bag from her while the Archangel sat next to the tired Tamer, letting the aura of healing she'd gained as an Angel help the young man recover from the undoubted shitstorm his last few days had been.
The life of a Tamer, it seemed, was not one long in days.
By the time night had fallen, Markus had his whole 3-woman harem out and eating, with Salohiel sitting *right* next to Xiao, to help her arm heal from whatever was left of the injury. Broyce woke up with a start, and noted the fire and three Pokegirls sitting around it and eating what looked like instant stew. Smelled like instant stew, at the very least.
Broyce called out Jess again to find her awake, now, though still tired given the way she immediately plopped herself down on the ground and leaned back.
"Oh, come on Jess!" Broyce nearly shouted at the sleepy psychic pokegirl.
Said pokegirl just yawned and began to snooze. Broyce physically dragged the girl over to the fire, where the light was well enough to see by.
"Finally awake, eh?" Markus asked as Broyce sat down, plopping the A-Bra next to him.
Jess lazily opened an eye and telekinetically floated some soup into a bowl for herself. Broyce nodded and got himself a bowl of the stew. When he took a bite, the flavor, much deeper than standard instant stew, bit back. The flavors were much richer, the broth a bit thicker than he'd normally encountered with this particular meal pack…
Meal packs, at least the ones Tamers usually could buy for cheap from regular markets for 150slc a pack, were bland but nutritious. Some seasoned theirs, sure, but adding a slight kick to it in spices meant negating how many Pokegirls could eat it as well.
"Gotta love vegetable stew, right?" Markus offered, taking another spoonful with a big chunk of potato in it. "A bit of habanero pepper sauce gives it a nice flavor when you throw in some brown sugar." Sure, Markus had to supplement it for Xiao with some protein pills, but peas, bean sprouts, and button mushrooms made it relatively high in protein to begin with. And a bit of flour thickened up the originally thin stew broth… Really they should have called the base recipe 'vegetable soup' more than 'stew.'
"This is really good, dude." Broyce said, digging in. Even Jess seemed to be enjoying it, but with her not saying anything anyway it was difficult to tell.
"Thanks." Markus said, taking a drink from his canteen. "I pride myself on my ability to make bland things taste like someone actually put some care into their preparation… Jess seems rather advanced for an A-Bra." He said, looking at the psychic. To his knowledge, A-Bras didn't normally *have* telekinesis.
"Yeah, she's getting pretty close to becoming a Ka-D-bra." Broyce said, rather proud of himself. "I've been working with her for months, now, since I got my license. It's only good for small things and…" he trailed off as Jess looked at him.
After a moment or five of silence, he spoke again, "I know, I know. It's your hard work and effort that're paying off, Jess, but can't I be just a little bit proud? If it weren't for my happy ass, you'd sleep all day and watch TV when you're awake, and still be a basic A-Bra."
More silence. Markus could only assume she was speaking to her Tamer telepathically.
"Yes, yes, fine. I'll say it." Broyce sighed. "She's been working with ME, not the other way around, because I'm a useless lump. There. Happy?" he asked, looking at the psychic girl. Jess nodded and went back to her bowl of stew.
The rest of the night passed quietly, with Broyce setting up his tent and taking first watch. Just because there were sonic repellents didn't mean that Ferals couldn't overcome their dislike of the things and ransack the camp.
Markus went into his tent, recalling Salohiel, who wanted to be called out if something interesting happened and to give Markus a night to get used to the two new additions to their travelling band…
Saying Pythia was 'tight' was like saying the ocean is slightly wet. Saying Xiao liked sausage AND tacos was redundant, but for some reason Markus's brain seemed to be stuck on that fact. By 11 o'clock he was balls deep in Pythia while Xiao had taken it upon herself to 'help.' Pythia was the center of a sandwich, and by the look on her face was enjoying every moment of it. Xiao, meanwhile, was behind the girl, nibbling on her neck while she reached around and drew widening circles on her breasts as the Witch bounced. When the 'drawing' had become too difficult, bounding 'canvas' and all, she'd begun just paying the mounds attention, lightly touching when she could, but slightly tweaking her rather rudimentary technique to play with Pythia's hardened nipples every so often.
Markus was on bottom in this equation, and he really didn't mind this. The fact that this was a lifetime of fantasizing becoming reality was still sinking in. Every few seconds, literally. The moans and shrieks from Pythia were certainly helping. The fact that he hadn't 'blasted off like team Rocket' (A phrase he only thought in the relative privacy of his own mind… There WAS an A-Bra around…) amazed him. Desensitized, maybe? He'd had a week of Salohiel's newly increased libido to deal with, and he'd tamed Pythia once before…
Still. Things were getting painfully necessary in the immediate future. The thoughts of Jason Voorhees cutting through the tent and murdering them all… kinda helped keep a lid on things? But with the way Pythia kept tightening down on him every few minutes, while a massive ego-boost, and the way her hips felt when he had his hands on them, were enough to kill any thought of mass-murdering psychopaths.
As Robin Williams once said? It was then that Markus realized that God gave him a brain and a penis, but only enough blood to run one at a time. When Xiao quit nipping at Pythia's neck and sat herself down right over his face? He not only got the message, but he crossed the point of no return. No more playing around for him… His body was on auto-pilot as he went diving. What he could hear through Xiao's thighs was muffled, and muffled again, meaning the two were probably kissing, which was the final image he needed to slam Pythia down onto him and hold her there while his balls tightened and worked overtime, intent on that wonderful biological imperative to put a bun in something's oven.
He continued to lick the pussy above him, mind you. Kinda hard not to when it's literally right there in your face. That is until Xiao moved again. Pythia had stilled and was moaning as she rolled off of him. Markus's dick nearly popped out of her when she moved enough, but didn't sit in the open air for too long as Xiao bent over and held it upright once again. Any flagging involved was ceased as, despite being more than slightly exhausted, the blood began pumping again and getting 'mini-me' back into the action… Because Xiao was using her mouth. He could feel her tongue along his shaft, licking up remnants of both himself and Pythia.
The first time Markus had gotten a blowjob? Nothing special to be said. Teeth were involved, and it wasn't pleasant. Xiao, meanwhile, seemed to know what she was doing, and had a mouth to go along with that knowledge. After a few licks to get most of the obvious evidence, she engulfed him in her mouth with gusto.
Before long, he was back at full mast, and she was withdrawing, not only taking him out of her mouth, but reluctantly taking herself away from his. He'd been trying to get through the ABC's with his tongue and had gotten stuck on 'G' for the last few minutes.
When Markus looked at the girl, his face looking like a glazed doughnut at this point, he saw she was spreading Pythia's legs again. Not for him, but so she could crawl in between them and lower her mouth to the Witch's pussy. Facing Markus, however, was the lovely sight of Xiao's own derriere, toned and firm and wiggling at him.
As Xiao began diving into a cream pie, Markus wondered for a moment. Some of his favorite porn was not vaginal in nature. Could he…? Maybe give it a go, see if she's into it? He put his hands on the firm cheeks in front of him and pulled them apart slightly, showing off both the pussy he'd just been licking at and another prize just a bit higher. Trying to make things seem accidental, he was still relatively new at this, he ran a finger along her slit and up to her ass, trying to make it seem like he'd just slipped.
Whether it worked like he thought or not? Xiao didn't seem to care. Goraning and pushing her hips back slightly, Markus's finger went in slightly. Xiao nearly shot up, if not for Pythia's hands, which had begin running fingers through Xiao's hair, holding her in place. Her whole body tensed up before relaxing around the intrusion and she began wiggling again, pushing the finger deeper.
That answered that question. Markus pulled his finger out and grabbed a tube of lube, something he'd bought with the express purpose of using on Pythia since for some reason her body never seemed to get the memo that relaxing made that kind of thing easier to get started, and began working the cool gel-like substance both onto himself and into Xiao's ass.
Surreality aside, Markus was fairly certain that if this WAS a fever dream brought about by a complete psychotic breakdown, he never wanted to wake up. When he'd used a good amount, and his finger was no longer difficult to remove from Xiao's 'other hole,' he moved closer behind her and put the head of his dick against her. He didn't really have a choice after that, as Xiao nearly slammed herself back onto him.
Whatever he'd been expecting? This blew the whole fantasy out of the water. Fantasy could not compare to reality. And the reality was he was balls deep in the ass of a woman who could and would kick his ass if she felt the need to do so. Markus, in some small corner of his mind not overtaken by the need to move his hips, checked off another item from his bucket list.
He moved slowly, at first, trying to get used to it. Most of the tightness was at the entrance, after that it was warm, and still tight but not quite as much as the ring of muscle currently squeezing the base of his dick. It took a lot of self control for him to not begin jackhammering away. He knew the kinds of health issues that could cause, even with lube involved. Still, he moved. Xiao seemed to be controlling things anyway, even with her mouth occupied and Pythia's continued moans and shrieks when her tongue found just the right spot. She controlled the pace. When he was going too slow for her tastes? She pumped her own hips back and forth, when he started meeting her half way with a bit too much force, she tightened down on him.
When she decided, somehow, that Pythia had had enough, or that she'd gotten everything she could out of the poor girl, she withdrew from the grip of the Witch's fingers and pulled her down beneath her so she could kiss her.
Markus was, thankfully for him, nearing the end of round 2. It'd taken him a bit since he was still recovering from round 1 with Pythia, but it was coming nonetheless. With a titanic effort, Markus took hold of Xiao's hips and buried himself inside her, hilting himself in her ass as he began to shoot her ass full of cum… or at least it felt like it. Round 2 was always less voluminous, but it felt like it was 'big enough' to the sole human in the tent.
When everything had calmed down, Xiao was laying on top of Markus with Pythia next to them, and none of them felt the need for anything heavier than a sheet over the group of them. Markus, pondering the situation he found himself in through the post coital blissful relaxation, couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he'd get tired of this kind of thing. A depressing thought.
The minor scuffle outside involved Broyce and Jess sending a Feral Catgirl off running. She'd probably come for the Titmice in the area. It was a rather anticlimactic encounter, as Broyce relayed it when Markus got up to take his turn on watch at about 2 AM.
Markus called out Salohiel for his watch, since he didn't really feel that bringing Xiao or Pythia out would be a good idea at the moment. The two of them, both older than any in their little camp by a wide margin of at least five years each, sat quietly in the light of the fire. Markus put logs on the fire to keep it going, and seemed lost in his own thoughts, while Salohiel pondered their situation and the plan. More importantly, how to make her Tamer's goals a reality.
His goal of having at least a full Harem? Well on its way to completion. Or, well… Halfway there, and this new Markus seemed just a tad bit more determined to make something of himself than he'd been little more than a few weeks ago. Before that day when he'd awakened claiming to not remember any of his current life, saying stuff about pre-Sukebe society and such? A world without Sukebe? He'd been listless, living from payday to payday. 'Picky' was the best way she could put it, but at the same time like many men led by his dick, rather than the brain in his head. He'd wanted to visit Edo, Slot, and and a lot of other Leagues, but never put much effort into getting the badges for his passport to be worth a thing. He'd wanted to compete in tournaments for the cash prizes, but aside from training her? He never put much effort into capturing other pokegirls, even ones with a lot of potential.
This new Markus, however? While he might have a disturbing aversion to anything that didn't fall under 'very near human' categories of body types, he didn't seem too picky on the details, so long as the personality wasn't a complete waste. He'd told her, before, about his original Harem. A Shieldmaiden obsessed with his Kunoichi, an Ingenue who basically refused to be anything more than a travelling companion, using him to keep tame only out of some sense of obligation to herself to do so… And others with even less likable personalities. The sad thing was he had actually been fond of that kunoichi, and lost her due to their own confidence in her skills in that damned salvage match.
Bad luck after bad luck, it seemed. So the change was probably a good thing, by Salohiel's estimate. He seemed more driven, more optimistic about the prospects, and given that he specified 'no salvage' in the battle where he was testing out Xiao? He'd learned his lesson on not being overconfident.
Xiao was a nice addition. She knew her stuff, knew how to handle her weapon, and was easily fairly strong for her breed. The fact that Markus seemed to have a hardon for her features was a happy coincidence, but she'd have to break him of that quickly, if this was a new personality… or if Markus was just reinventing himself a bit more literally than she'd taken it for when she read that goal.
Reinventing his image in Tamer circles would take a bit more work than just filling out his Harem. He'd made a name for himself as a washout, sadly. His lack of participation the last 4 years had probably made most think he'd retired in disgrace somewhere and was living quietly away from the shame. So that'd have to be taken care of right quick. A few good battles, with her at the front, maybe? He'd made a good start with the battle with Broyce, but one battle does not a reputation make.
Salohiel formed a bow and arrow out of light and shot it into the darkness of the forest nearby, sending leaves scattering as the Pokegirl who'd been watching them scampered off.
Markus would probably have to use Xiao or Pythia against any trainers at the VerMuffEatin' City Gym… Salohiel knew her limits, and electrical attack were well beyond her ability to deal with comfortably. They made her wings lock up, made her hair stand on end, and of the two? That last one was a no-go.
Salohiel would deny to her dying breath that she protectively stroked her own hair at the thought of the poor follicles being so abused.
When dawn broke, Markus and Salohiel began making breakfast. Bacon strips, two for each person in the camp, and eggs with some sausage links cooked up as an afterthought. Gotta love meal packs… granted, Markus had to use two for this feast, but it worked out. The eggs would stay fresh in the mini-pack, as did the meats. He even found a tomato, which he cut up, toasted some english muffins, sprinkled with cheese, and put the tomatoes on with a pinch of seasoning salt and some minced garlic. He then put those back near the fire to toast a bit more.
Salohiel's Cooking T2 experience hadn't taught her that recipe, so she took notes. It looked like a good snack, and for breakfast? It was probably a good addition.
When the others woke up, it was to the smells of food. Broyce made his way out first, zipping himself up as he and Muffy the Bunnygirl made their way towards the fire. "Hey, dude." he said as he sat down.
"Good morning." Markus said, taking the muffins away from the fire and putting them on a cool pan to sit. "Feel free to take some. I've got dishes, if you don't mind camping plates and such." he said, beginning to dig through his camping cookware.
Broyce happily took his share, as did Muffy, who seemed happy to remain quiet for now, though she only took the tomato snack. She was a vegetarian, after all.
When Xiao came limping out followed by Pythia, Pythia sat down to eat, while Xiao 'chose' to remain standing… Salohiel could guess as to the why of it. She wasn't one for anal play, but it's not like it was taboo… Most of those taboos had died out long ago. The duo took their food, with Xiao happily eating the high-protein food and all of them enjoying the snacks to varying degrees. Xiao wasn't overly fond of it, but it was tasty. Pythia seemed to enjoy the snack, and Salohiel thought it was well worth learning how to make.
Parting ways with Broyce, Markus and his Harem, two of whom were withdrawn (Xiao being particularly pleased with not having to walk…) made their way East on the route while Broyce went East, towards Celaboner.