/Disclaimer. You know the game. I own nothing.
Kinda jumping a bit, I think, but I'm trying to write my own novels and these things just to keep myself writing. Still working on my other stories, but my muse is a fickle bitch. Sorry for that. Someone got interested in writing their own extension to Hot/Crazy Scale, so keep an eye out for it! They have my permission to do so (As with all of my stories, since I don't actually own a single IP used in any of these things) so read, enjoy, and give constructive criticism! Let's help people develop into the best possible writers they can be!
As an aside, I still promise nothing, own nothing, and regret everything.
Chapter 7: Begin!
While Markus had been planning to go to the Pokegirl Tower, catch a few Ghost types, and just explore? That had turned into a gloomy and depressing endeavor. He was fairly certain his dick would not move the whole time he was there unless it was hit. He wanted to avoid that, thank you very much.
So he'd made his way through the floors with as much speed as was respectful for the location. One simply could not run in a graveyard. It was rude, it was disruptive of a place which represented peace, and it was also… just plain wrong. Or at least that's how Markus felt. In a graveyard you made yourself as little of a nuisance as possible.
When he reached the second highest floor, he was met with a completely different layout. It was a reception area with an information desk and a tall girl… or at least Markus assumed she'd be tall given the proportions of her torso. The fact that her head was floating nearby was more than slightly disconcerting.
"Ah. Hello, again." She said, her head spinning in the air to look right at Markus and Salohiel.
Salohiel nodded to the Damehan, "My master has been through a lot, Janice. He honestly doesn't remember most of the smaller details of his life after we got attacked by a feral psychic-type. Unfortunately, some of that included most of the time he spent in Lavenderrier." she explained.
"Ah. One of those situations. Annie's gonna be pissed." the floating head said before sighing and seeming to slump. Taking both the body's movements and her head's movements it looked to Markus like a normal slump of a person's shoulders… If only it weren't in two separate pieces of a body.
Honestly? Part of Markus just wanted to know how she dealt with oral. Seriously! It was something that always intrigued him about the breed. But aside from that the girl was attractive as all hell. She has short cut blond hair, pale skin, bouncy tits, and an all-round figure that was just the sort of 'soft' Markus liked.
"Who is Annie?" Markus asked, looking between the two.
Salohiel shrugged her shoulders and gestured to a board sitting nearby. On the board was a list of topics, costs, and times. A class reference, if Markus was any judge of it. Kind of like what one might see at a community center, save that the classes were entirely focused on Ghost type Pokegirls.
'Huh. I guess there's a legit reason to call them Gyms.' he thought. 'Well, more than just having a bunch of people with the same focus working out and training.'
They even had pamphlets for the various classes offered! Which was nice, because Markus was definitely interested.
"The one who teaches 'Ghost Stories: Facts and Myths' is named Annie. You and she seemed to hit it off rather well." the Damehan, Janice, clarified. "You trained with her for the most part with her Harem going against Salohiel, and she enjoyed having you around. I think you spent most of your last stay in town at her place."
This was news for Markus. He'd known his alternate self had been in Lavenderrier Town for a while, but actually 'hitting it off' with someone here? That was new.
"Huh. Neat." he said. "So, fun new fact? I caught myself a Vampire outside Lavenderrier Town, hilariously having a Blue League accent. And because of my memory issues, I need a lot of help getting up speed… again… on how to train her properly." he said.
Janice nodded. "Not a problem, Mister Williams. If you like I can let Annie know you're back and actually have a Ghost Type to train, or you can register to challenge for temporary membership to the Gym."
Salohiel smiled at Markus, urging him to keep going. The plan was to train and make a full gym challenge of this trip, after all, but getting training for Elizabeth wouldn't be a bad additional option.
"I'd like to challenge for temporary membership, please." he said. "I'm planning on an official challenge of the Gym later, but I'd like to get better dealing with Beth."
"Understandable." Janice said, her body typing away at a keyboard while her head floated about. "We've only got three Tamers who use Vampires, they're a bit of a handful as I'm sure you're aware, but they do meet up to 'talk shop' and discuss strategies with each other every so often…" she seemed to trail off before her head floated back in front of her computer screen. "You're in luck. Alfred is in today, at least, and he's one of the only people we've got who is registered to help train Vampires."
Alfred, as it turned out, was a young man whose only pokegirls included a Vampire and a Goth. When he released his Vampire from her Pokeball, Markus had to take a moment to process what he was seeing.
"Beth?" He asked, looking at the released british-sounding Vampire.
"Yes, Master?" She too seemed to be blinking, but she responded nonetheless.
"Is that… A Chibi Vampire?" He asked, looking at the being his Pokedex identified as a Vampire Pokegirl.
Beth tilted her head, trying to wrap her own head around things. "Either that is a Chibi Vampire, a Vampire who has undergone several rather extreme modifications via anti-bloom powders, or this is the point where Ashton Cooter shows up and tells us we've been 'Punked.'"
"I was gonna suggest the possibility of Chris Hanson showing up and asking us to have a seat…" Markus said, mimicking Beth's head-tilt as he tried to adjust his mental process to the current situation.
"She's a Chibi." Alfred said, pinching the bridge of his nose and sounding aas though he'd had to explain this fact a thousand and five times already. "Look, I know we never met while you were hanging about last time, but she's registered, actually older than me, and just likes to fuck with me by appearing in chibi-form when I call her out." He said. "Not even sure HOW she does that. When I put her in her ball she was in her adult form…"
The Vampire in question was a dark-haired Pokegirl with pale skin wearing what Markus would only describe as 'goth lolita' or maybe something out of Victorian England in style, but all black in color. And she was smirking. Then her body glowed and Markus felt a lot less like he needed to worry about Alfred's tastes since when the glow died down she looked like a 'normal' woman in her late 20's, early 30's.
"Hey, there." She said, her voice. "Don't mind me. I just always love to see people's reactions to my natural form. Alfred can't get it up when I'm like that, so no worries there. Honestly it's the creepers who like it that scare the crap outta me."
Markus simply nodded. Elizabeth was trying not to laugh. She at least saw the humor in it.
"So!" Alfred said, moving hastily past the initial problems. He'd hoped she wouldn't pull that crap again… "First thing's first. This is Ashley. Let's get this challenge out of the way. It's mostly to make sure you're serious about trying to train Ghost-types, in this case your Vampire."
With that, Ashley made to attack Elizabeth. It was pretty interesting to see two Vampires going at it… not like that, you perverts. Clawed hands lashed at each other, the duo phased in and out of the floors and walls, flew around, dispersed into bats, birds, insects…
Markus wanted to think that Beth would come out 'on top' but he was a complete newb, and he'd just barely gotten to know the Vampire's capabilities and disposition, aside from liking blood and sex. Ashley had Beth on the ground, her fangs buried into the other Vampire's neck as she drained blood and energy.
"Not horrible." Alfred said. "Could have gone a lot worse, but you're not exactly showcasing that you actually did take classes here, ya know?" He finished, looking at Markus skeptically and with only a hint of condescension.
"Yeeeeaaaah." Markus drew the word out. "As I've explained a hundred times already? I got hit by a psychic attack and it fucked my memory sideways with a rake. Broad strokes are still there, but the majority of details are all gone. Example. I think I know my parent's and sister's names. I don't know that I know them."
Alfred winced. "Owch. Blood Curse susceptibility?" he asked.
"Probably. Mom's a Fighting type." Markus nodded.
Alfred shuddered slightly. "Damn, dude. Sorry. Don't worry too much. We'll get you back up to speed. Like I said, it's not horrible. You met the bare minimum requirements for temporary membership, but you're gonna have to work your ass off if you don't wanna just rely on your Archangel to bail you out of things. Did the Psychic who got you get caught?" he asked.
Markus' thoughts came to a record scratch for a moment before the regularly scheduled show-tunes began playing again and his years of practice at 'lying and faking knowing what I'm doing' came to the fore once again. "I don't think so? She was a Feral. I was trying to capture her, get my shit back together, ya know?" he asked. "Well, she apparently didn't like that, so she decided to mind-fuck me and run while I was incapacitated. Radical Personality Shift and a lot of blank spots in my memory, and I'm now too afraid of psychic types to get it evaluated."
Alfred nodded. "Yeah, after that kind of shit? I'd be wearing my brown pants all the time within a 50-mile radius of Sapphron City."
Markus nodded back. "Hence me coming here straight out of Vermuffeatin' from Celaboner. I'd rather take the long way 'round. Bad part is? My parents live in Sapphron." he shuddered. "Can't visit, too embarrassed to call, and… yeah. My record speaks for itself, doesn't it?"
"Sadly, you're not wrong." Alfred said, looking at his Pokedex, which Markus assumed had his Tamer record pulled up. The benefits of being a member 'in good standing' of a Gym. Access to records.
"You're going to have to work your ass off if you wanna get any kind of cred, now." Alfred continued.
"Which is part of why I kept Beth, rather than just selling her off." Markus said. "More prestige in keeping a Vampire fed and Tamed than in just catching one and selling her off. Not to mention she's hot enough I could happily spend hours with her bent over a table."
Alfred offered a fist-bump, which Markus accepted and bumped fists. "Amen to that. Vampires are a pain in the ass…" he dodged out of the way of a shoe thrown at his head by Ashley, "But damned if they aren't powerhouses, and sexy as hell. I see you've got a Vampira as well? Could be a worse combo, I suppose, but be careful. Vampiras tend to be kinda touchy about Vampires."
"Oh, it's worse than just that…" Markus said. He explained what had happened, with Velvet and Beth's meeting after being feral, how Velvet had been tamed previously but abandoned… All the while Alfred listened and internally cringed.
"Yowza." he said when the story was finished. "That's a ballache. Well, you're in the right place to learn how to get them working together, I suppose."
Markus nodded and smiled. "That's part of why I came here, and half of the reason I challenged for temporary membership."
"Master needs to get his head in the game." Beth said, standing up at last and shaking off the dizziness of both her defeat and the effects of Ashley's attacks. The other Vampire had apparently taken a liking to small mental attacks on one's sense of balance, twisting things just slightly via illusions to make the inner ear confused.
"And Beth needs to get used to her Master." Markus shot back before rolling up one of his sleeves and offering an arm to the girl.
The bite was… painless, actually. Markus had expected it to either hurt like hell or be a pleasurable experience. The feeling was just numb. Like she just had her mouth on his wrist and nothing else. When she pulled away and the two small puncture wounds, they closed.
"Huh. So it is a lot like the Masquerade." he said.
"If you're talking about that pre-Sukebe 'roleplaying game' then yes. Kind of." Alfred said. "You play?" he asked.
"Me and some friends used to play it a lot." Markus laughed. "I even did the Storytelling sometimes. I preferred Werewolf, though."
Alfred chortled a little. "You don't really strike me as the type." he said. "Which clan?" he asked. He was trying to figure out if the kid was exposed solely to the old pen & paper, or the newer computer games that some company or another had taken up.
"Malkavian was my first, but I always loved the Tremere and the Tzimisce. Giovanni were fun, right up until some players decided that being jackasses was their calling and they loved the Mafioso feel of the clan, using it to basically be complete jackasses to everyone 'beneath' them in the Family hierarchy." Markus said, remembering the years he'd spent LARPing and the decade following that regretting it.
"Tremere are fun, but Lasombra are probably more accurate for Vampire Pokegirls." Alfred said.
"Just don't try to force us to act like any of the Clans." Ashley said. "It's annoying as balls in my eyes to be asked 'what's your Auspex rating.'" she said, finishing with an annoyed growl.
Beth just shrugged and licked her lips, letting the blood settle and her hunger dissipate. "I preferred the computer games of the franchise. Bloodlines was an under-appreciated masterpiece, and the remake of it is a fair improvement."
Markus had to stop talking for a bit as the reality of the situation caught up with him. He was in the POkegirl world (Again, something he'd gotten used to) talking about his escapism mechanism (Role Playing games) within another escapism mechanism (Writing fetich porn.) Surrealism had caught up to him, it seemed, and decided to crawl right up his tailpipe.
"So, you guys play that game here, then?" he asked. "How about Demon: The Fallen?"
Alfred shrugged. "Never got too into it, but yeah. A couple of us get together every few weeks and play one game or another. The Gym Leader, Sir Hellsing, doesn't like them, but they're a way to blow off steam, so it's not as though she does anything to stop us."
The conversation went on from there, discussing the computer games put out for the 'World of Darkness' game line along with their favored methods of play, and horror stories of bad groups, horrible Storytellers, and worse Players. Alfred seemingly enjoyed World of Darkness, while Ashely liked Dungeons and Dragons more, and both directed Markus to the parts of the net that would allow him to scratch his gaming itch easily.
Joining the Lavenderrier Gym was not a bad plan, at least on a temporary basis. Markus and his Harem got experience training with Ghost Types, against Ghost types, and even against a few rare Infernals.
It also gave Markus time to revise his plans. He'd taken a sharp left turn right out of the gate with his goals and desired outcomes. He was originally going to train against the Celeboner Gym assistants and such before going onward to other things like the Safari Zone and rebuilding his reputation within at least 3 cities.
There was one exception to the almost universal approval of training at the Lavenderrier Gym among Markus and his Harem.
Xiao.
Xiao sat in the Pokecenter, after a day of 'training' with her Guan Dao across her lap. The long handle of the weapon acted as a counterweight to the large and broad blade. It was a fairly typical weapon of its type, with no real adornments. There were days when she cursed her birth as a Slicer. She felt she'd have done much better as an Amazon of the Wu variety. Instead, she got a goddamned japanophile-centric breed which would, supposedly, force her into using a goddamned Katana when she evolved. And now, they were in a city filled with Ghost Types. Ghost types which were unaffected by any of her usual techniques. With a Gym that used the same. Ghosts would just phase right through her attacks, and it pissed her off.
Every. Single. Time. And Markus seemed to understand, but he was so concerned with training the new girls that her distaste for the city was only assuaged when he told her that they'd be making for Fight City next.
She began falling into the breathing exercises her mother had taught her. It was an odd exercise if one did not know the history of Chinese myth. The air had become far more pure in the last few hundred years, with less pollution and contamination by man-made products (Owing mostly to the lack of humans to make them, these days, and the concerted efforts of environmentally-minded Pokegirls.) As such, the Qi in the air had replenished far faster than most had anticipated. She was a Fighting Type, the type most attuned to the use of Qi. not that Xiao had given it much credence, mind. Her mother went on and on about 'the Dao' and how everything was part of it, how one had to find and walk their own 'Dao' to cultivate their abilities, and the breathing exercise was the best way to begin…
So while the others mingled, chatted, and sparred with ghosts and ghouls? Xiao sat in their room at the Pokecenter. Breathing. Hours upon hours of meditating, trying to use the ir itself to cleanse her body of impurities… Hilarious given that her entire being was technically an 'impurity' given her need for sex to remain sane, but maybe that was part of the Dao?
She pondered this while she worked, trying to get the breathing rhythm into that 'sweet spot' where she could take her mind off it and let herself wander.
She wasn't snapped out of her meditations by the sound of the door when Markus came back from the Gym. She wasn't even snapped out of it when he turned on the TV to watch some meaningless drivel of a program for background noise.
She was snapped out of it, however, when he poked her shoulder and said, "Take. A. Shower." enunciating each word. "You smell like a skunk took a shit in some 7-year-old gym socks."
All the grace and tact of a bowling ball, her Tamer.
After a moment, however, without her anger growing at the insinuation that she was anything but perfect, she had to admit he wasn't wrong. Her body was covered in sweat and grime and god only knew what else. Her clothing was soaked through with the stuff, and stains darkened parts of her clothing she'd rather never have to think about when connected to the word 'stain.'
She nodded and took her clothing off, leaving it in the laundry-hamper before walking, naked save for her weapon, to the showers.
It took her an hour in the shower before she felt like she might have gotten all of the stench off of her, but she was… Both tired and feeling better than she'd felt in a long, long time. Like her lungs were just taking in more oxygen than usual.
When she came back to the room to see her Tamer smoking a cigarette with Salohiel next to him, her own cigarette lit and smoke wafting lightly from them, she sat down next to him, still naked as a jaybird, and curled up next to him.
She just needed to be close for the moment. She didn't think the breathing would work. But if what just happened was any indication? She'd been giving her mother not even a fraction of the credit she deserved. She needed to make a call soon.
It wasn't hard to convince Markus to let him use his phone to make the call. With satellites and cellular networks being what they were? 'Long distance' was no longer a thing people really worried about. So she dialed up the number she remembered like the back of her hand.
"Thank you for calling the Sky Jade Ranch, how may I direct your call?" answered a female voice in Mandarin.
"I'd like to talk to Nameless, please." she said. "It's her daughter."
"I see. One moment, please." the voice on the other end of the line said before the line turned to 'hold music.' It sounded like some pop top-40 mix from the Edo League.
The music played for about 5 minutes, with Xiao nervously sitting in the common area of the Pokecenter, still naked except for her collar, while the big screen TV mutely played the local news.
"Hello?" The voice was recognizable even over the phone and the thousands of miles of distance. Xiao would know her mother's voice anywhere. It was calm, measured, and refined. Not like hers at all save in pitch given how differently they used it.
"Mom? It's me, Xiao Fenhong." she began.
"Xiao'er!" her mother repeated, excited to talk to one of her daughters. Many were sent out, never to return or speak to their mother again, after all. She used the familiar form of Xiao's given name with the addition of a childish suffix. It was her right as her mother to do so.
"Yes, mom… look… I tried that breathing exercise you told me about and…" she began, but was cut off.
"You found yourself smelling like trash?" she sounded almost excited about the prospect. "Like someone who'd been rolling in muck and grime for years without even the idea of what a bath was?" she continued.
"...Yeah?" Xiao wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. Truth be told she was very, very confused.
"Oh, Xiao… That's wonderful!" her mother sighed happily before continuing. "The breathing exercise I showed you was the basis for Body Cleansing. Where are you right now?" she asked. "I'll send you some pills and elixirs. They'll help speed up the process. Once you've cleansed your meridians, you can begin to gather Qi in earnest, and you'll be able to learn all kinds of wonderful things! Remember my Floating Steps? Qing Gong. Light-step techniques." The words were coming a mile a minute, completely at odds with what Xiao remembered of her mother.
"Mom! Mom…" she started, repeating the word to try and get her mother's attention before she uncharacteristically went off on a tangent. "First ff… When did you get pills and elixirs for this kind of thing? Secondly, I'm with my Tamer in 'Lavenderrier Town' in the Indigo League."
"WHAT!? How are you so far away? What happened, Xiao'er? Who is your Tamer, then? Is he at least Chinese?" her mother asked.
"... no, mom. He's… Well, he's from the Indigo league. White boy by the name of Markus Williams. But he's really a good Tamer, mom!" she said, rushing out the last before her mother could interrupt. "I mean, he's really into chinese culture, history, and the old legends. I've seen his audiobook collection. He reads more cultivation novels and stories than I think is healthy, and he's even into Calligraphy! I was gonna call and ask if you had any pointers for me to help him get into it, like where we could find the right brushes, paper and ink so I could worm my way further into the Harem…"
Her mother listened as she trailed off, the sound of the line filled with nothing but the usual white-noise of a cellular call that hadn't disconnected but had nothing to transmit.
"Mom?" Xiao asked after a minute of silence.
"Hu-wha?" Her mother sounded distracted. "I'm sorry, dear. I was just processing all of that. It's good that your Tamer likes Calligraphy. Enough to get even you interested in it, so I suppose that's a win." Xiao could almost hear the smug grin on her mother's face. "But… A white boy interested in ancient China? Does he speak Chinese?" she asked.
"A decent amount." Xiao acknowledged. "He's rusty, hasn't had a reason to practice 'till he met me, but we've been working on it. He tries to speak to me in Chinese as often as he can, and I correct him when I can."
"Good, good. Alright, dear. I'll send along supplies and some medicines, maybe it'll help you both. And some calligraphy supplies. Be sure to set him down and have him write out some to send to mother, yes? I'll learn what I need from his calligraphy! Now. You're in Lavenderrier Town… The Pokecenter, I presume?" she asked.
"Yes, mom." Xiao said, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. This was a side to her mother she hadn't seen before… maybe it was because she had so many older and younger sisters, being from a Ranch and all, that getting attached was difficult?
"Alright, Xiao'er. It'll be on its way today. Shouldn't be more than a few weeks. If your Tamer decides to leave before then? Leave a forwarding address. These pills are expensive, and I don't want just anyone taking them. They're for you and… If you must, your tamer, alone."
"Alright, mom." Xiao said, still slightly confused by the need for pills and medicines and such. "I'll let Markus know. And thanks… For everything."
"Not a problem, Xiao'ar. You just make mother proud, and we'll call it even." her mother said before ending the call with a 'click.'
Markus blinked when Xiao explained her sudden need to 'phone home.' Cultivation was a thing, here. Magic, Cultivation, and lord only knew what else if some of that space-faring stuff was still accurate.
It wasn't exactly easy for him to keep himself calm upon learning that Xiao's mother was sending stuff to help his sex-loving Slicer fucking cultivation-enhancing Pills and elixers. He'd read enough chinese comics to know that the kinds of things that went into those pills and elixirs were either outright poisonous, or 'just' dangerous…
"Xiao…" he began, looking his slicer dead in the eye. "I want you to know that when I bang you like a drum tonight? It's because I'm so very, very happy that this shit's actually real, and not just another fantasy. Because I have dreamed of cultivation stories being real, had long hours of 'what would I do if it were real and I could do it' and even genuinely looked into it more than once in the past. The fact that you have proof of it's veracity and your mother is helping? I am going to tame you until I can't walk tomorrow. And if you teach me how to do this with you? I'll gleefully save up money to get you a better weapon."
Salohiel looked on… and sighed. Far be it from her to discourage her Tamer from trying, but it would definitely take time away from their current goals… That and she wanted the Taming tonight, damn it! She was here first. Markus and her, that was the plan. On the other hand? It was better that his fascinations get an outlet, rather than trying to tell him not to pursue them. At least this one was a productive one.
"Markus…" she began. "You DO realize that trying to learn this new avenue AND magic is going to use up quite a bit of time, right?" she asked. "And will probably take several years before the slightest bit of visible progress is made on either front?"
Markus nodded happily. "I know, it's great, isn't it?" he lifted Xiao up before flopping back onto the bed with her on top of him. Xiao squeaked a bit at first, but went along with it as she found her naked body the center of attention for a suddenly amorous Tamer… And then found her view of the ceiling obscured by a pair of tits she'd been lusting after for months, now.
Salohiel had stripped off her top and gotten on top of the two bodies on the bed. If her Tamer wanted to reward Xiao? Then she'd be getting her goddamned Taming tonight one way or another… She wasn't into a threesome, necessarily, but needs must as Libido drives.
Xiao began licking those glorious, soft tits, taking first one nipple then the other into her mouth and plying them with her freed hands while Markus carefully maneuvered beneath her so that at least his dick was out, and rubbing against her bare ass.
It wasn't exactly difficult to get 'lubed up' with how wet Xiao was able to get. Her fluids leaked down onto Markus' dick like a leaky faucet, both lubing him up for what was to come and soaking his pants as he reached down to begin running his fingers along the swelling lips of her labia.
Salohiel wasn't into girls, per say, but she could appreciate the sight of a woman writhing in pleasure beneath her every now and again. So when Markus began playing with the slicer's mound, she changed position. While the lack of a mouth on her nipples made them suddenly feel chilly and the lack of attention was nearly painful for the Archangel, she was there to help her Tamer. So when she got between Xiao's legs, positioning so that her face was right up against her inner thigh and planted a few kisses, the nipple-deprived Xiao hitched a breath for a moment.
When Salohiel continued kissing her inner thighs and finally began to kiss along the girl's labia, the slicer moaned, her hands going to run through the Archangel's thick blonde hair in an effort to 'keep her there.'
The next morning came with the decision from Makrus that they'd be staying right where they were for as long as it'd take for the package from Xiao's mother to reach them. International trade agreements being what they were? It'd probably be a month or so. If they were lucky.
The decision was followed by group meditation, as suggested by Mister Fuji, mostly for Salohiel's benefit, but partially for Markus' and Xiao, as he had her walking him through the breathing and mental exercises she'd also be doing.
The good thing about both starting out at once? Well. If he were being completely honest with himself, Markus couldn't figure there were any major benefits other than bringing Xiao a little closer to him as a member of his Harem. The drawbacks were that they could go completely off the rails and not be able to recover. Like Star Wars. Go to the Dark Side and it'll always be there. Can't get rid of it. Not that he gave more than a single damn. It was difficult to get the breathing right, and Xiao, once she started, was no help whatsoever since her mind was off in la-la-land, but he'd dream, damn it!
It was a nice quiet hour of meditation with the members of his Harem that were awake. Grace seemed to enjoy the quiet time, Pythia was happy to use the time to mentally go over the results of her magical experiments, and Beth seemed just as happy sitting quietly as she would have sleeping with the sun out.
For some odd reason, while in the Gym, Beth was both more comfortable, and closer to her actual power. Markus assumed it was something about the environment. Which brought up how, if Xiao HAD been doing these exercises before, even off-and-on, it should have worked long before now, but the environment was different. More ghostly. Maybe that had something to do with it?
A lot of his favorite stories and comics had mentioned things like 'ghost cultivators' and the like, with very little detail on them because usually they were the 'bad guys.' But he had to wonder if that might be an issue…
Xiao seemed to have taken to mediating with all of her usual fervor and enthusiasm… The fact that Markus knew she had a plug in her ass only helped his assumption she was using it as an excuse to enjoy herself. He'd been the one to put the plug in, after all, and while the 'handle' part wasn't overly large, he knew that sitting on it was probably very… 'stimulating.'
When Markus finally let himself go and breath, visualizing as Xiao had instructed the breaths drawing in energy from the air and releasing the stagnant energy within and deliberately doing it with specific muscle groups, he felt more than a little refreshed… Even if he could already smell Xiao beginning to stink up a storm, he kept his eyes closed and his mind on the exercises. The fact that he kept repeating the steps in his mind helped to keep him focused on them, rather than let his mind wander off into its all-too-familiar routine of dredging up embarrassing memories.
When the hour was finished, Salohiel looked pleased, though that pleased look immediately turned to one of disgust at the scent reminiscent of raw sewage wafting heavily off of Xiao… And a little off of Markus.
Markus realized he'd begun sweating slightly at the continued exercise. Hilariously, yes. Just sitting there and breathing in a specific way could be an exertion. Man he was out of shape. For all that the body he was in didn't have his 'rounded' figure from before the… transfer? Change? Whatever it was. It was still not in the best condition. Years of not actually training himself had taken their toll, which meant he had to work his ass off to make up for it.
So, while he showered with Xiao, for once the Slicer not taking it as an opportunity to sneak in some Taming, he reviewed his personal schedule.
Wake up at 9. Meditate with Salohiel until 10… And that was really it his whole schedule.
He took his pokedex, thankfully waterproof, from his pants pocket and stenciled in 'exercise with Xiao' for the 10-11 slot every other day, then 'lunch' for 11 through 1PM… He put in a few other things like studying Magic with Pythia and spending time with Beth and Velvet after sundown.
Velvet was settling into the role of Night Guard fairly well, in fact. Markus enjoyed having the Bat-girl around, as the brunette had taken well to being Tame once again and made for an especially good pillow. Call him kooky, but Markus loved the 'goth' look the girl sported when she was given the chance to actually wear clothing aside from the collar he'd gotten her.
She seemed to prefer dark tight jeans and T-shirts when she wasn't able to dress up, but Markus had found several searches on his Pokedex resulting in elaborate 'gothic lolita' style dresses from studios which catered to winged Pokegirl breeds. It was amazingly accurate to think that everything was someone's fetish, and apparently 'gothic lolita Vampira' had several fan-pages.
Beth took some getting used to, to be honest. She wasn't as bad as Velvet's day-cycle of 'sleep, sleep, and sleep some more' but she was definitely… less than herself when the sun was out. She and Velvet had begun to get along after a week or so of spending nearly every night out of their Pokeballs together.
Markus had awakened one morning to find Beth's head between Velvet's legs, both girls sleeping soundly. It was both adorable and somewhat worrying, since they were supposedly the night 'security.' If they got along 'too well' he might have to split them up… not that he minded, he just wanted to keep some semblance of security while he and the rest of the Harem slept.
The physical exercise with Xiao was entertaining, at least. Sure, it could be considered 'boring' if one took into account the repetition of physical exertion and all that, but it seemed to help when he had the other girls join in. Pythia, obviously, kind of sucked at it, but she took it easy, doing what Xiao called the 'light warmups' for ehr part. Salohiel was able to hilariously outclass Markus without even really trying. Same with Grace.
"Why…" Marus could be heard several times over the next few weeks, breathily complaining as he went through exercises, "Couldn't there just be a montage… Set to, I don't know… Eye of the Tiger? Maybe some 80's song?" he'd ask before moving onwards.
The promise of actual Cultivation being a thing was enough of an incentive to get the normally lethargic and apathetic man to get off his lazy ass and work. The breathing exercises, it seemed, worked best for him when he was doing so, which helped immensely even if it did make him smell like microwaved shit. His body had a LOT of toxins to clean out. Years and years of chemical addictions (Caffeine and nicotine) along with medical issues and popping headache pills every time he so much as felt one creeping up on him.
Truth be told, it'd probably take him years of working on it to get anything but the most basic benefits, especially if he continued to smoke and drink (even as rarely as he did drink…) But it was worth it! Sure, he might be forty before he even saw an end to it, but god damn it!
Markus seriously wondered what kind of shitty Isekai he'd found himself in, with no cheat-powers to fall back on for himself. He'd checked. He had no Blood Gifts, at least none that could be detected. He had no Blood Curses, either thankfully, but still. He had Salohiel, who was more like a guardian angel than anything else, but Markus himself was just a bog-standard human.
It was annoying, but livable. Plenty of ways for bog-standard humans to improve their lots. Magic, cultivation, or just training Pokegirls so the human could sit back and enjoy a life of sex and luxury, living like a leech off the labors provided to society by the very strong women he kept sane through regular injections of Vitamin D.
Markus wanted to be able to sit back and enjoy a life of leisure, but the opportunities presented to improve himself were things he'd dreamed of. Still, the old joke that if humanity could fly they'd consider it exercise and never do it held true. He kind of had to force himself every morning to get up and train with Xiao.
Just like when he was working a regular job, he kept telling himself 'tomorrow I'll take a break' and planned to just keep all of his Pokegirls in their balls for a day or two, give him some free time and use it to just sleep. Or read. Or listen to audiobooks in bed.
The worst part is? He could legitimately do so. The Pokecenter room was free housing, food was easy enough to procure and inexpensive. He didn't even really have to worry about getting up and going to a job he hated just to earn barely enough to scrape by.
But in the morning, he'd wake up and release his Harem from their balls even after a few moments of consideration and reiterating the 'tomorrow' portion of his arguments, and just get the day on with.
Markus went through the daily training with all of his Harem, trying to keep up as much as he could… And failing. But that was to be expected. When it was finished, he settled into the chair in the open area of the Lavenderrier Town Pokecenter where the TV continued playing muted news. He just didn't want to spend his time in the room they'd allotted him.
Pythia sat on his lap, watching the news with him in blessed, beautiful silence. She'd joined him in the shower, not that they'd done anything but get clean, and he could still smell her shampoo.
"Markus?" she asked, looking at him after the newscaster went on another rant about 'uncontrolled violence' and 'Team Wannabes.' "What exactly is your plan, now?"
Markus thought for a moment before responding. "Right now? Challenge the Lavenderrier Gym, hope we don't wind up having to battle Sir Integra, and evaluate our progress from there. It's helped immensely to learn more about Ghost Pokegirls like Beth, but ultimately what we want to do is recover my image in Tamer social circles. To do that we'll need an overwhelming victory over whoever we end up facing in the challenge for the gym's badge. If we wind up facing Integra? Then… I honestly don't know. If her Lucarda comes out? We're right fucked."
"And not in the fun way." Pythia nodded, cuddling a little closer to her Tamer.
Two weeks passed like that, with Markus spending time with his Pokegirls frequently, preferring one-on-one time to group time save when training. Night time was spent with a few hours of cuddle-time with his nocturnal pokegirls, Velvet and Beth alternating nights on who was out of their ball.
Velvet's training had to take place at night, which meant a slightly more laid back schedule for Markus, all told. He had her doing flight-drills and attack runs, while Beth was drilled on creating ever-more-intricate illusions and training her senses.
When the package from Xiao's Mother came, it was a bit of a relief for both her and Markus. The package looked fairly normal. Wrapped in brown paper with a shipping label, it arrived via drone delivery at the Pokecenter one morning. Granted it'd taken half a week more than the original two-week estimate, but still. Markus thought it was definitely worth the wait.
Inside were some manuals in Chinese, though from the depictions he could tell they were Martial Arts forms and meditation exercises… The Meditation exercises took some interpretation from the diagrams and visualization aids, but the martial manuals seemed fairly straightforward. It also had a dozen small bottles, in which they found pills and disgusting-smelling concoctions… Some Calligraphy supplies, including some actually good paper for the hobby, some good (if cheap) ink, and a trio of decent Chinese Calligraphy brushes. And finally a jar of ordinary muscle balm that smelled heavily of mint.
The manuals, apparently, gave a step-by-step instruction for cultivation at the early stages, including the use of the pills and elixirs. Xiao's Mother hadn't exactly 'broken the bank' but she certainly hadn't been cheap when sending her prodigal daughter supplies for improving herself. The only note in English was for Markus.
'To Xiao's Tamer,
Firstly, take good care of her. She's from my Ranch, and when I sold her to the League, I was hoping for the best. Secondly, if you don't take good care of her, her mother will likely hunt you down. Good luck if that happens. Thirdly, please make sure to mention my Ranch's name if it becomes relevant. We specialize in Fighting Type Pokegirls, and a little recognition goes a long way. Especially if you ever find yourself in the Edo League.
Good luck,
Su Bin, caretaker of The Flowing River Ranch.'
"Markus!" Xiao said excitedly as she found an envelope with the ranch's address on it tucked into the side of the box. Pre-paid postage! "My mom wanted you to send her some of your calligraphy."
"You know? There's this thing called 'email' and 'text photos.'" he said.
"Yeah, but not everyone HAS email or a cell phone. My Mom isn't allowed to own one." Xiao said, as if explaining something to a simpleton.
Markus reached out and pinched her butt for that, but took the envelope and the brushes, ink, and paper. "Fine, smartypants. But that tone just cost you your anal privileges for the next week." the 'and mine' was left unsaid in Markus' head… He'd survive.
"Hey! No fair!" she cried. "I know you love my ass as much as I love having things in it!"
Marus took out the materials, ignoring the now-pouting Xiao. He'd probably give in that night before releasing Beth for the night. Looking at the brushes, he couldn't identify the material used for the actual brush portion. The handle was bamboo, but the hair was a mix of dark brown and white. Could be rabbit, could be dear, could be wolf. He hoped it was Wolf. he'd always loved his Wolf-hair brush 'back home.'
Taking care to make certain everything was right, he put the brush to soak in some water, got a little extra water to mix with the ink (just a little, since the ink was fairly thick but could, possibly, be used straight out of the bottle if one didn't care about absorption and the proper methods…
Looking up the character for 'Sword' ('Jian') Markus considered how to write it using the method he'd been taught. He wrote it out a few times on some scrap paper, making strokes as though he were using the brush. It was an interesting experience trying to use a pencil like a calligraphy brush, the way of holding the brush was very different, and the pencil wouldn't bend like the brush would, meaning he wouldn't need to roll it to keep things straight like he would otherwise.
It took him a few tries to get back into practice, while showing Xiao how he learned things, but calligraphy was always one of his most zen things. It was the only form of art he ever felt he had any real talent in. When the brushes were fully wetted and ready, he dipped the tip into the ink, rolling it along the edge of the bowl to make sure the point remained before he went to work.
It was… NOT his best work. Not by a long shot. It had been years since he actually did any calligraphy, but he quickly got back into the mindset and began writing characters he knew or could look up online.
"You know, Master…" Xiao began, taking her own brush and trying to get into the groove of 'traditional' calligraphy as well, "We need to begin doing reading exercises. Character Amnesia is a thing, even with the attempts to simplify the language back before the Revenge War. I'll ask Mom to send us some children's books and other simple things to get back into reading. Maybe get some of those cultivation stories you like so much." she teased.
"Yeah, yeah. Yuck it up. It's real, ain't it?" he shot back with a grin. "Even if I'm not a Fighting type, and probably won't ever be able to keep up with you, it's still worth it on the off chance I can make some progress and keep healthy."
"Hey, you won't hear me complaining." Xiao grinned. "If it does half of what it supposedly does just in the beginning stages? It's well worth it."
"Agreed." Markus said, putting the finishing stroke on his last attempt at the character for 'Jian' and letting it dry while putting his brush into the water. "I'd love a storage ring like in some of those stories. Much more efficient than a Pokepack, but I imagine they'd be a magic item, and Pythia could probably make one if I evolved her into an Enchantress."
"How do you plan to evolve her?" Xiao asked.
"I have zero clue." Markus said bluntly. "On one hand? Sorceress is great. Better spellcasting power, better spell repertoire, better mana reserves… All 'round an improvement on a Witch with much less chance of randomly exploding when she tries to cast above her weight class. On the other hand… Enchantress." he said.
"And on the flip side, Sorceresses tend to be obsessed with learning more and more Magic, while Enchantresses are high maintenance at best and High Libido. Impossible to keep pleased at worst." Xiao countered both of the up-sides.
"Truth." Markus agreed. "Which means balancing out how I want to do this. I could also go Elementalist, but I hate dead-end evolutions like that. It always feels like trying to get a bump now in exchange for potential growth later."
"You could always just let her evolve normally into a Sorceress and go with the flow." Xiao offered. "Not like it's got a lot of downsides other than the obsession."
Markus nodded and began the cleanup process. Fairly easy, all he had to do was wash out his brushes (After signing his work,) and cleaning up all of the ink and such before putting everything back in its case and then into his Pokepack.
Challenging the Gym was a fairly normal occurrence, despite the location of the place at the top of a massive graveyard. When Markus felt he was ready, he simply had to register the challenge with the Damehan who worked the front desk and then wait to be seen by Sir Integra.
Markus was not happy that he'd have to battle Sir Integra. That was never a good sign. He'd wanted to avoid dealing with expy characters written into the setting as much as was humanly possible.
"Damn it, RedPriest. Why you do this?" he asked, deliberately butchering the english language for the sake of the memes he remembered.
"Whoever this 'Red priest' is, I can only assume you are asking rhetorically." a hard feminine voice sounded from the door behind him in the waiting area, causing Markus to jump up from his seat. Salohiel had been waiting with him and stood at a much more sedate pace.
Out of the staircase leading down to the lower levels of the tower came the spitting image of Sir Integra Fairbrooks Wingates Hellsing. More real than in an anime, but it was impossible not to make the connection. Long pale hair, glasses, a cigar, a sharp suit, and an overall authoritarian look to her along with the cross pendant hanging from her neck.
"Sir Integra Hellsing." Markus said, fighting to keep his voice from wavering at the sudden nervousness. He remembered Hellsing Ultimate. He remembered the god-awful original anime, too, but the less said about that the better. And the less he thought about the shadowy mass coagulating behind her, the better for his sanity.
"So. You're the one who's challenged my gym?" she asked, drawing from her cigar slightly and exhaling the smoke lazily. "After a few weeks of learning how to handle a Vampire?"
"Yes, Ma'am." he said. He was going to keep his answers as simple as possible. "I caught Beth on a bit of information from another Tamer who got caught out by a pack of Vampira, but wanted to make sure I knew how to begin training her."
Sir Integra looked at Salohiel before speaking to Markus. "And, I imagine, visiting the local Ranch run by Mister Fuji. An Archangel. You don't see one of those every day."
Markus smiled and patted Salohiel on her shoulder. "Salohiel's been my light when life was hardest. I owed it to her to make sure I wasn't messing it up with her."
That was, apparently, the correct answer. Integra nodded in agreement, not dropping the stern look of authority, but the air wasn't quite as tense. "Good. It should be an interesting match, then. I looked up your records, Mister Williams."
Markus cringed. He knew the basics of what would be in that file…
"Not a single Gym badge to your name, and a career that is… less than impressive to say the least. Most would have you pegged for retirement at your age with no drive for glory or self-improvement to some day-labor job. And yet here you are now, having caught and tamed a Vampire, an Archangel, and brought down two threats to travelers in the few months. Quite intriguing. That's the only reason I accepted the challenge."
Markus sighed. It was still rather painful to look at 'his' life and realize that this was him if he'd been born to this world. "Yes, Ma'am. I hit rock bottom, and made a deal with Salohiel when she was an Angel. We'd try to get back into things and if we failed, we'd retire but we'd be happy with the attempt at least."
Salohiel nodded, smiling at the thought that her Tamer was at least not wallowing in self pity. Revelling in it from time to time, maybe. But not wallowing.
"Well. The details of our match have to be discussed." Integra said. "We'll be having a short match, as I am very busy today with other matters. The appearance of a Vampire so close to my city has me on edge, and I want to make sure she did not infect any others while Feral. So it will be a two-on-two sequential match. No substitutions, no item use, and the roster must be set beforehand. As the Gym leader, I will reveal my selections and then you may reveal yours."
"That seems rather unfair to yourself, Sir Integra." Markus noted. "If you reveal yours first, that means I can tailor my approach."
"That's the point, Mister Williams." She said, not shrugging though her words gave that feeling to Markus. "I'm the Gym Leader, and the Gym does, in fact, want people to be able to gain badges. It makes for better recordings when we're at a disadvantage and still win most of the time. Winning will not determine if you gain a Badge. That power rests solely with myself if you prove to me you are not an incompetant… Which puts you at a disadvantage, given your records."
Markus winced. Yep. That was still accurate, and painful. "Understood, Ma'am." he said.
Getting ready was a simple affair. He was led to a small ready-room where he could see Integra's Pokegirl selections as she made them.
Integra's selections:
Seras (Lucarda)
Jane (Ghostrider)
"Well." Markus said, searching for the right words. "Could be a lot worse. Could have been her cleanup crew. As-is it looks like she's taking it seriously, but not outright trying to kill us."
Salohiel nodded. "Not inaccurate. Her main Lucarda would be difficult at best… but still. Any kind of Lucarda is trouble. The Ghostrider will be tough, but it depends on her element. I can deal with the Lucarda at the very least." She said as Markus put her name down in the first slot.
The second slot was more difficult. If Salohiel could take out both opponents? That'd be great but Markus wasn't putting all of his chips in that bucket. That was just asking for the Lucarda to pull out some asspull finishing move that'd take out Salohiel either immediately or at the very end as a double-knockout. With the weaknesses of Ghost types in mind, he put down Velvet.
The Gym's arena had been enchanted years ago to act as night-time for the sake of the many Ghost types who preferred night for their activity, which meant that even if it was in the late morning, he wasn't utterly screwed. Though it did mean that Integra's Pokegirls were likely stronger. Another 'little' benefit of being the Gym leader. Control of the terrain. Still, it meant that velvet wouldn't necessarily be torpid, listless and lazy.
Markus figured part of it was so that Integra could stand in her corner of the arena with a large moon behind her in the window.
When Salohiel was called out for the battle, she got a look at her first opponent. It was a blond woman wearing a heavily modified version of a police uniform and wielding a gun that would have broken the shoulder, rib cage, and probably spine of a human trying to fire it like she held it. Shadows stretched toward her with twisting and disconcerting movements as her eyes glowed an unholy red in the dimmed lights of the arena.
Salohiel readied herself by summoning a sword. She could stay out of range of melee, but the gun made that a losing prospect, especially as the blonde took out a box of ammunition for her weapon that sparked ominously.
What even her Tamer never quite understood about being a Pokegirl with 'enhanced speed' was what it meant for her. She could see things much faster, like the world around her was going at a crawl while she could move at a 'normal' speed. Other Pokegirls with similar enhancements could follow along, but she was nowhere near a basic-bitch Pokegirl. Angels preserved the enhancements they had before being Blessed and evolving. It's what made them a valuable and variable addition to a Harem.
Salohiel took the initiative, closing in with her speed on the Lucarda, her sword beginning to glow with Celestial power. It was one benefit of the meditation sessions. Celestial attacks were weird like that. Celestial Might was just a basic buff, granting her summoned sword the ability to actually hurt the monstrous Lucarda.
The blonde 'No Life Queen' Pokegirl took the first few attacks with seemingly no concern whatsoever, until the Celestial nature of the attacks started to mount and she realized her regeneration wasn't operating at full capacity. Salohiel then had to duck as the other Pokegirl began shooting electrically-charged elemental rounds at her from the small cannon the opponent used.
It was a sight to see, truth be told. Markus stood on the sidelines, not even bothering to call out orders as Salohiel winged her way around the arena, using both sets of wings for greater maneuverability as she dodged in and out of the Lucarda's rain of bullets. 'Awe-inspiring' is how he'd put it in his head. The bullets exploded in lightning bolts where they hit the walls and ceiling of the arena, while Salohiel worked her own magic and continued cutting at the Lucarda's regenerating flesh. The cuts were deep, but even with the difficulty the opponent had in regenerating the wounds, wriggling masses of shadows like worms in her flesh closing and knitting the skin back together, they still regenerated.
If it were a game, Markus could almost imagine the 'HP' and 'MP' bars fluctuating, with the 'MP' bar going down as the 'HP' bar refilled after the rapid strikes from his Archangel. The fact that Salohiel's strikes sounded like a steel bar being thrown at oobleck was disgusting. It resounded with every hit as new wounds opened up on the Infernal.
Seras, the Lucarda, had her face stretched in a rictus grin as she fought with the flying Archangel, and Salohiel looked calm as ever even when one of the bullets winged (heh) her in the side. The attack was painful, taking advantage of her weakness to electricity, but she shrugged off the pain and continued the attack, the light in her sword growing brighter even as she felt the metal degrade from both constant use and constantly holding more energy than it was designed for (Read: none. It was like forcing an electric charge into a dead battery.)
It took fifteen minutes, and five more bullet-grazes, before the Lucarda was unable to regenerate any more from the constant Celestial-aligned attacks on her Unholy body. She'd summoned Familiars, a crawling mass of blood and flesh, only to have them destroyed by both quick sword-strikes and feather-shurikens. She'd used shadowy illusions, netting her a good solid hit on the Archangel's leg, but that just broke the Celestial out of her stupor and brought another wave of direct attacks.
When the Lucarda held up her hands, Salohiel stopped.
"I give." Seras said in a voice reminiscent of the voice-acting for the character of the same name in the anime. At least to Markus' memory. "I'm almost out, and these wounds will take a while to regenerate… I need to feed."
Salohiel shuddered when she thought of what 'feeding' would entail for the Infernal Vampire evolution, but stayed her hand. Integra still had her most powerful Pokegirls in reserve, and this was just a gym match. Not a life-or-death struggle.
Seras was recalled to her Pokeball, and salohiel hovered in the air. Her leg was fucked. The bullet had shattered her right shin bone. As long as she stays off it, her Aura of Healing would work to keep it from getting worse, but she'd need a full Healing cycle after this without any doubt.
When the Ghostrider came out, at first she appeared as a young woman wearing a leather jacket, denim jeans with a chain belt, and riding boots. The next second she was on fire, the flesh above her collarbone melting to be replaced with an aura of flame around her skull. The spikes on her jacket grew… And the chain she yanked off her belt grew AND caught on fire.
"Fan-fucking-tastic." Markus grunted as he watched the transformation. "This is gonna suuuuuuuck."
Salohiel heard this, but ignored it. Instead she attacked the other Pokegirl! She flew in a zig-zag pattern using her second set of wings as rudders for the air currents beneath them, she held her white glowing sword out to catch incoming attacks and so that she could strike when she got close enough.
That was the plan, anyway. The earlier battle had done a number on her, and when the Ghostrider's chain caught her by her injured leg, she nearly screamed. She could feel the flesh burning along with the acrid stench of burning blood and flesh. When she was whipped about like a toy at the end of a string, the chain dug into her skin and deepened the burn. Then she was tumbling ass over teakettle through the air. And then the wall hit her.
That was the last thing she remembered before the blissful painless darkness of unconsciousness enveloped her.
Markus withdrew Salohiel, knowing that the Pokeball would keep her stable no matter her injuries… But still worried about the beating the woman who could be called his 'primary girlfriend,' had taken. He knew how to keep himself calm, at least outwardly. But it still aggravated him deeply that Salohiel had been flung aside like that.
He took out Velvet's Pokeball (It was marked with a moon symbol!) and tossed it into the ring, letting the Vampira appear in red light. The seemingly-cloaked brunette looked around the arena, then back to Markus. "Is it that time, already?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"Yes, Velvet. You got elected to take on the second round after Salohiel got taken out." he said loud enough for the Batgirl to hear him. His voice echoed slightly in the eerily 'decorated' arena.
"Alright then, Master." she said, wiping the remaining sleep from her eyes, slapping her cheeks a couple of times to wake herself up fully, and then looking at her opponent. Her opponent hadn't made a move to attack since sending Salohiel into the wall, thankfully, but the flaming chain would probably still be a problem.
So, Velvet did what came naturally. She formed a thin sword out of the shadows and then darted forward.
While the speed difference was great, compared to how fast Salohiel could move in relation to the Ghostrider and now Velvet since the Batgirl didn't have any speed enhancements, Velvet had two major advantages. She wasn't injured like Salohiel had been, and she had the type advantage on Ghost Pokegirls. Dark types could deal horrible damage to Ghost types.
So when Velvet managed to dodge through the swiping chain to land a blow on the Ghostrider, the Dark Blade dug deep into the reanimated Pokegirl, cutting down into the Blaze Rider's arm holding the chain.
She had to immediately dodge out of the way of a flaming skull-themed shotgun with flaming ammunition, but at close range it was fairly simple to knock the gun off course and have the bullets go elsewhere.
Integra pushed a button on the console in her booth, and a bell rang when the Ghostrider took a Dark Blade to the chest. The flames on the Ghostrider's 'battle form' had begun to gutter and turn dark before she was recalled.
Velvet and Markus were a little shocked. It took a few seconds to realize what the withdrawal meant.
"Holy shit, we actually won?" Markus asked, not quite believing it.
"Language, Mister Williams." Integras voice came from the console in front of him, along with a face-to-face communication window. "Yes, you've won this match. You've proven to me that you're not a complete incompetant, and the training you've been doing with your Harem has shown through, despite your main attacker being taken out. I will have an assistant deliver your Royal Cross Badge in the lobby. I have other matters to attend to." she said before the communication was cut and her booth went dark. Velvet flew up to his booth and wrapped the both of them up in her wings. It felt like the world's weirdest hug in a giant hand, but not in a bad way.
Still, it meant that he had a badge! Hah!
Back at the Pokecenter, after Salohiel had gotten some emergency care in an intensive Healing cycle and recovered, Markus had ordered Denny's as a celebration. It was amazing that Denny's still existed, but… Meh. As long as he didn't think about the many, MANY Pokegirls involved in the agricultural process, he could enjoy his nice medium-rare steak with mushrooms and onions, mashed potatoes and corn. Velvet was given a tall glass of (donated) blood to go with her rare steak and fries while Salohiel had a large chicken caesar salad. She was still getting used to being able to stomach meat again.
The others in the Harem had their own meals, Pythia preferred to stick to a burger and fries, while Xiao had a salmon 'steak.' Beth had a small glass of (similarly donated) blood and the fried fish with fries. Malt vinegar and curry dipping sauce from the corner store helped. Grace had a meal that made Markus nearly go bug-eyed. It was a 'salad' made up of various types of insects with some kind of sweet sauce.
"Don't get me wrong. I liked grasshoppers and candied grasshoppers… But that?" he looked at Grace's order like it was going to come to life at any second and start wriggling and squirming again.
"Don't judge, Markus." Salohiel said, taking a bite of her own salad. "She's a Spider Pokegirl. Spiders ate bugs in your world, yes?"
Markus nodded, and let things drop there. He'd loved the spiders in his house. They ate the truly annoying insects like flies and mosquitoes… he just never thought he'd ever see a humanoid face shoving a spoonful of insects into its mouth. A mouth he'd kissed previously and had designs on for other activities. Those plans were suddenly under the caveat, 'After brushing her teeth. No exceptions.'
"So, Master. Now you've got a badge to your name, what's the plan?" Xiao asked.
Markus consulted his list of goals, pondering. "Well, we kind of skipped my main step in Celeboner with my desire to get out and see the world a bit, so probably head back to Celeboner and challenge the gym there, if only to gage our strength with more than one data point. It'll also mean I can possibly go back and get more casino winnings. I want that damned Video Girl." he sounded nearly petulant at the end.
"Markus…" Salohiel's voice had a warning note to it.
"I know, I know." he said, waving his hand a little before taking a bite of his celebratory steak. "But I love the idea of a Pokegirl who can interact fully with technology like they can. And that's leaving aside the potential 'upgrades' we can do to really customize one." he said after swallowing his steak.
"You DO realize most Video Girls are 'eccentric' at best, and owned by the League first at worst." Xiao noted.
"Yes. Yes I do know this." Markus said. "But It'd be useful to have anyway. I used to use Microsoft software, I'm quite familiar with the idea that someone's just licensing me something I've paid hundreds of dollars for and them claiming publicly that it's 'mine' but ultimately having back doors and authority to do fucking 'updates' and 'upgrades' with or without my active consent." No, he wasn't bitter. Why would anyone ever suggest that?
"I thought we were stopping at Fight City?" Xiao asked. He HAD promised they'd go to Fight City…
"Ah. Right. Fight City. Not a bad plan. Thank you for reminding me, Xiao." the tamer said, smiling at the Slicer. "I'd wanted to visit, see if we can't add some more Fighting types to the roster, or just see if we can't get Xiao some more training with her Guan Dao."
Salohiel smiled at that. "Alright, you big manchild." she said, no real heat in her voice. "I won't argue the decision to go to Fight City, even if it doesn't have a gym we can potentially challenge. It'd be a good experience for Xiao, I think."
"You're damned right it will be!" Xiao said, smiling wide.
Dinner proceeded with a bit more celebration in the Pokecenter hostel-style room for a few hours into the night. Salohiel's 'turn' to be out of her ball came a little early, but that was her prerogative as the Alpha, damn it. To paraphrase the priest from The Count of Monte Cristo? She's an Angel, not a Saint.
/Run
Yeah. I know. I kinda suck. I REALLY suck. I'm shite at writing action scenes. And 'action' scenes. This setting is pure Harem genre, truth be told, and right now my mindset is on how people develop in that kind of situation, especially with this setup.
I'm still working on other stories. Like 'Ghost of a Chance' (It's about ¼ the way done) 'Hot/Crazy Scale MK2,' 'Virtuous Pursuit of Excellence,' and even 'How Did This Happen?'
I'm debating where to go with a lot of things. My notes were a part of a document that got corrupted during a transfer and had to be deleted (couldn't be saved) before I started storing things on Google Docs, and now I'm having to re-think everything, or if I should start on some of them Harry Potter crossovers I promised when I wrote my Author Profile. Or if I should post my Zombabe Apocalypse story, which was mostly me using Pokegirls and a self-insert (Pre-this project with less 'suddenly here' and more 'was here all along') to whine about Zombie Movie tropes during a binge-watch session of such movies. You can tell easily which ones by the stories. Trust me on that.
Anywho, I'll get to posting this in probably a few minutes, but the point of all of this is… Happy new years, Happy Holidays, and thank whatever Gods may be that 2020 is over.