My fellow Arthenians:

I know, I haven't written in a while. Shit happens, people. I'll try to get back on schedule.

Previously on ZTS:

"In his dazed state it took him a moment to recognize the creature as a Buneary. The rabbit Pokemon bounced from foot to foot like a boxer, one ear coiled up on its head like a spring, the other standing up and folded over slightly at the top. It met eyes with him and slowly ceased moving, frowning and walking closer to him. It spoke its name, and yet when it reached Ben's ears he didn't interpret it as such: "Wait, you aren't a Pokemon...""

Just as the rabbit Pokemon froze when it got within a few feet of him, as did Ben when he heard it speaking to him. The tone of its voice was one that was strangely familiar, and as it walked closer and began circling him slowly, he started to realize where he had heard it before: talking to animal one doesn't expected to understand due to a language barrier.

"You can talk...?" The question posed was instinctively dribbled from Ben's mouth once the initial shock had begun to palliate, and he now stared with intrigue at the little creature, who recoiled at the sound of its voice. "You can talk?!" The echo sounded, following his words with a similar incredulity.

The Buneary ran around to the front of him to look him over again. Then it began muttering to itself: "Of course it can talk, you stupid... All of them talk, it's the understanding you should be worried about. Get yourself together, why do you always do this..." It trailed off into its self belittlement.

Ben got to his feet and crouched down in front of it, which caused its back and forth march and droning to cease immediately. She looked up at him, an ear twitching and then a paw grabbed him by the hand. "You have to come with me! Now!"

The brown ball of fur took off in the direction of the trees, but was halted as soon as it got far enough away that Ben's arm extended. He had stayed put, which cause the Buneary to be pulled to an abrupt halt. The crown on his face was as eloquent as any speech: "Why?"

Buneary tore her hand away and folded her arms in front of her, staring with an enraged expression at this stupid human who didn't understand how important everything was. "And I'm coming with you, why?" He stood back up, an intended display of dominance over the situation. Demonstrating he had quite a few feet on her in size.

And then, as if preceding sudden reveal of a secret weapon, the Buneary brought a smirk to her lips, angling her head down to hide it, a shadow crossing her face for a moment. Then she picked her head back up and it was gone, and she hopped over to him, standing near one of his legs. There was something detectably different immediately... She clasped her hands together in front of her near her waist, leaning slightly against his leg, looking up at him with what he suddenly believed to be ill-named 'puppy-dog' eyes... Hers were more effective. There was an aura about her that just made her irresistible. "Pwease?" Quieter, slightly higher pitch, pleading. Charm.

Ben's heart melted immediately. "Oh, alright." A smile was on his face. A giggling noise from the Pokemon, who hopped up in a high bounce, directly into Ben's arms, who caught her instinctively. She pointed straight, commanding him forward and toward the trees she was originally leading him toward. He complied, heading that way with a moderate gait.

Once they submerged into the forest, it thickened surprisingly quickly. The canopy above them intertwined with itself, dimming the light, which was bright enough that it had to have been midday. As the two looked around, one had no idea where he was going, but the navigator seemed to understand as if by second nature: it was clear she had been here before.

After a five minute trek, they encountered a group of three Buneary who watched them walk, then looked at each other wordlessly and made their way over. "Lily, why have you brought this heathen here?" Another female. They all looked rather feminine in appearance, so it was of no surprise to Ben. The Buneary in his arms, apparently Lily, replied: "I'll explain later. Just run ahead and tell everyone we're coming."

And they did just that. The Charm having all but worn off, Ben looked down at Lily questionably. "Who exactly is 'everyone'?" Lily looked at him and smiled but didn't reply. Ben got an off feeling from this, but kept to himself. He was lost anyway, and could wander in this forest forever without a guide. He needed her as much as she seemed to need him.

A while longer of wandering provided no help for Ben's sinking feeling he was lost. That is, until Lily piped up from his arms, "wait right here," and then wriggled her way out of his grip and to the ground. There was a stirring from somewhere nearby, and Ben grew uneasy. As if sensing this, the Buneary in front of him told him "don't worry, we'll keep moving in a second. You're alright." Reassuring him as though he was a dog... The condescending tone made him grow irritated. He drew his robe about himself angrily and pointed as if he was going to say "listen here you little shit," and he stopped himself as something dropped from the trees above them, in front of the two.

'Lopunny' was the word that came to mind when he saw the figure. It had torn fur and scars littered its face, along with a caveman-style loincloth of an animal Hyde he couldn't identify. The creature was dirty, but looked instead of disgusting more hardened, as though it was combat-seasoned. In one hand it held a spear carved from what had to be the trees that surrounded them. It was the first strikingly masculine figure it had met. He instantly developed a respect for the individual, who remained with its head bowed and weight lowered like a ninja might prepare to be attacked for a counter.

"Don't move or you will be impaled through the stomach. You will live, but only to be used for experiments. I've always wondered the best way to kill your kind..." Ben sweatdropped, looking with eyes that consumed his entire face toward the hand he had aggressively extended toward the littler of the two other beings. He quickly retracted his arm. "Sorry," was the only thing he managed to get to come from his mouth.

"Oh my Arceus, Dad, don't be so over dramatic." A teenager-esque feign of horror from Lily, accompanied by a sigh. She walked over a few feet and turned to Ben, gesturing to the menacing figure behind her whom she had just identified as her father. "This is Ivan, my dad. He used to be the Chief of our village, but his views of humans and their offspring caused him to become a pariah. He just scares visitors now, but he claims he protects us."

"I do. There hasn't been an invader since I've been on the job." He proudly stood, puffing out his chest and sticking the pointed end of the spear into the ground beside him. Ben nodded, carefully approaching. He was very wary as he held his hand out to Ivan, who gripped it with a surprising firmness. He exuded an aura of power, but the sheer physical strength from the slim looking figure was surprising. "Nice to meet you, Ivan. I'm Ben, and I have no idea why I'm here."

Lily watched the exchange with just short of shock. "Aren't you-" "surprised that we can understand each other? No. One of my Metagross friends told me of the most recent Emergence, and said something was different." He looked at Ben, then released his hand. "I just hope he was right." There was a pause as he looked over the two. Then he gestured with his head behind him. "Go ahead. I'm sure you're being awaited."

And with that, he took off like a shot, up into the trees. Rustling was head for a second and then he was gone. Ben looked to Lily, and Lily smiled awkwardly, sweatdropping and rubbing the back of her head before going where was previously gestured. Ben followed, more confused now than ever.

Once they broke the barrier provided by Ivan, however, the trees began thinning slightly, but the canopy above stayed thick enough to imitate dusk, and Ben saw tents. Lots of tents. As though there was a campers' convention here, but there was no one in any of the tents as far as Ben could tell. Dozens on top of dozens of empty tents. It was almost eerie. One larger tent was in the middle, and it was in this tent there was a source of light, the only one in the area. A shadow could also be seen, a seated figure, waiting.

Lily looked around nervously for a moment and then turned to Ben. "Wait here. No matter what happens, don't come inside. Even if your life depends on it." This was received by a blank stare. "What the actual fuck is going on." Lily returned the blank stare for a second, then disappeared through the flaps of the tent.

Almost immediately, Ben heard whispering. Voices, lots of voices. Too many to be intelligible, but all speaking in hushed tones. Ben did a turn, looking around at the tents anxiously. Then there was a loud noise from the large tent which sounded like a hammer striking an anvil, and Ben whirled around instinctively. He started backing up slowly, watching the flap for something terrifying to come out.

But before the creature form the black lagoon could emerge from the structure, Ben backed up into something soft. Soft, and furry, which gave slightly when his weight was pushed against it. About and inch or two taller than him. He determined just from guessing that this was another Lopunny, based on his one other encounter with one.

He froze when he touched it, but it didn't. It grabbed him by the biceps, holding him at arms' length, which was apparently farther than his own arms could reach. Giving a small squeeze with both hands. A feminine voice, womanly, sounded from it: "Oooo, is this the newest one?" Another female voice: "He's even better than the last one!" One of the first two hands shifted to the same arm as the other hand, another pair of hands grabbing his other arm.

He looked frantically over his shoulder while struggling to break free. He was surprised by what he saw: two more Lopunny, these ones very voluptuous and curvaceous and feminine. He deduced that what he had backed into was a rather generous, furry bust of the first Lopunny, which, along with its lower half from hips to mid thighs, was covered by the same material as Ivan's clothing, but much less generously; Much more provocatively.

Ben caught himself staring and he snapped back out of it as he heard "you hold him for a second," and his left arm was released only to be grabbed again by one hand which was holding his right arm. He continued to fight, but he figure behind him was surprisingly and disturbingly much stronger than he was. He had absolutely no chance.

The Lopunny who had spoken walked around to the front of him and Ben found himself immediately blushing. It was an odd phenomenon, for him to be embarrassed in front of some creature, but it was so distinctively human-like and beautiful he couldn't help but be attracted to it, and he assumed she wasn't oblivious to this.

She folded her arms under her bust and looked him up and down and smiled. He felt scrutinized, and rightfully so. "Aren't you just the cutest!" She giggled and uncrossed her arms, stepping closer toward the restrained male. She paused for a moment, eyeing his robe's pockets, before sticking her hands in them, looking into his eyes and leaning in toward him as she did so. Ben grew increasingly uncomfortable, at least until she fished out the journal he had found and written in when he was plunged into all of this madness.

"Hey, give that back!" He fought again instinctively before remembering that it was useless. His jaw clenched as he watched her open it, thumbing through the few written and many blank pages, the pen she had retrieved from his other pocket sideways in her mouth. "I never have been able to read human writing," she lamented quietly, before putting the book and pen back into his pockets.

Once she was done rifling through his belongings, she looked at him again In an objective manner. He developed renewed unease as she stepped closer toward him again, her eyes darting up and down and across him. She spoke up again, "Hold onto him tight, Luna, I'm going to take a closer look." "I know, Starr, I've done this before," came the sigh of a response from behind Ben, and he felt the grip on his arms tighten. He was pulled back and against the body of the Lopunny behind him.

'Starr' picked her eyes up to meet Ben's, excitedly watching him with a small smile on her lips. She leaned down slightly, her arms coming up from her sides and her hands were placed on Ben's sides, who stood still nervously. "He's behaving well," Luna pointed out. Starr bit her lip and nodded. "I haven't done anything but touch him yet." Starr's hands moved toward one another and up his body to his chest, where they met and held loosely to the fabric of his robe. Ben's eyes widened but he didn't move.

Her hands slipped between the two sides of of the cloth, and the soft, short fur on them rested on his chest. He felt her fingers push slightly, depressing the muscle there. "Above-average musculature here..." She moved one hand along his body to his bicep, which gave him goosebumps, and put it on his bicep and gave another squeeze. "Here too." She retracted his hand and stepped in to his body closer, about an inch or two away and grabbed either side of his robe at the chest with both hands, pulling it closed as though fixing it for him, like a wife might fix a husband's tie.

Then she crouched down in front of him, her head just below level with his waist. Her hands followed her eyes to his lower legs, doing the same routine checks to the muscle there. "Nice calves," her hands slid up underneath the fabric of his robe to the backs of his thighs, "strong legs overall." He felt her open her hands to fill them with his butt, causing a surprised noise from the male, and both giggled at it. She squeezed him, and a similar noise was created. "Strong glutes. Very sensitive here," and both giggled again.

Then Starr got on both knees, lowering herself a little again. "Well?" Luna asked impatiently, and Starr looked up at her with irritation. "I'm getting there, I'm taking my time! Hold him tight, he might not like this..." And she put both of her hands on the tie in front of his body around his waist that held the integrity of his robe together. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning getting ready to unwrap the present she hoped she would get.

Ben wasn't an idiot, even if he was dumbstruck by the entire process. He cleared his throat and looked away, his cheeks blazing as he felt the front of his robe extend outward and upward. "Oh wow," came the pleasantly surprised response from Starr. She made quick work of untying the knot and pushing either side of his robe back to watch the rest of the process of his involuntary hardening, one hand on the front of either of his thighs.

"How is it," Luna wondered aloud to Starr, pressing her breasts into Ben's back as she peeked over his shoulder. "Huge reproductive structure! I've never seen anything like it on a human before!" Starr's eyes were as big as Ben was getting.

Ben was embarrassed and slightly unnerved to the point that he began struggling again. He thrashed his shoulders, causing Luna to stagger back a little but still hang onto him. He couldn't go anywhere, however, because Starr had his other two limbs held like vice grips. "Let me go," Ben demanded of the two loudly.

It was about this time that from the trees descended more Lopunny, all female and each dressed more promiscuously than the last. They were all making "ooo"ing and "ahh"ing noises at the two sisters' discovery, coming forward and making a circle around the three. The original two Lopunny beamed proudly.

Hands came in to Ben now, and even though Luna and Starr had released him, Ben wasn't going anywhere: he was surrounded. He frantically tried to cover himself as grabbing hands assaulted his body, even tearing the robe from his body, leaving him the naked focal point of the sexually charged moshpit.

Unnoticed, the flap from the tent opened, and from it emerged Lily, but there was someone else with her. The voice of the other being was loud, booming, commanding, and obviously belonged to a woman. It was a single word, but it carried enough power to instantly freeze everyone.

"Stop."

I skipped one of my classes today so I could write a longer chapter for you guys, hope it somewhat makes up for my absence. I should be writing w followup pretty soon. Hope you guys enjoyed it, make sure to write your thoughts in the comments!

Arthenius