Chapter: Heating Things Up

Lemon about half way down

XXXXX

Compared to our crucible through the forest the three of us were practically strolling through the little meadow between us and the camp. The heavy humidity was being banished by the breeze and inducing all of us into fatigue that was exacerbated by hunger. We stayed quiet but not as much as we could have. The camp was making a good deal of noise and, again, I was eager for the safety. We moved along the edge of the clearing in the tree line, it was the long and more difficult path but it offered some protection from the wide open spaces of the clearing. I had thought we were safe.

Something sharp pressed against my neck and I stopped short as it drew just the tiniest shiver of blood.

I glanced over at the hooded female who was holding the weapon, then over to Ruri to see her getting the worst of a chokehold by a dusky woman in a white, vaguely skull like, helmet. Two men dressed in, I'll be kind and describe it as a red hooded tunic with horns, instead of cat ears, stood up from the grass in front of us. The one furthest from me had a pistol leveled at Savanna while the closest had his hand on his holstered weapon. I couldn't see their eyes with the massive hoods they were wearing but I decided to speak first.

I wasn't sure if I'd survive talking with a blade so close to my throat, so I tilted my head back before speaking.

"I'm just a local tamer who got a 'call' about a job here," I said.

The blade returned to my neck as soon as I finished speaking. All four of them were wearing gendered variations of the same uniform. The males had on black army pants, boots, and shirt with a red, hooded tunic over it all. There was a red and black M emblazoned right in the center prominently. Their pockets bulged with equipment but the only weapon they seemed to have was a pistol. I couldn't see any knives but I didn't rule it out.

"Oh." The closest man suddenly belted out a hardy laugh and threw back his hood to reveal a blond man in his late thirties. His hand didn't move from his pistol though. "Sorry about that then. We're on the tail end of our picket duty and we're a little on edge, let 'em go."

The sword finally pulled away from my neck.

His male partner scowled. "Wait."

My eyes darted to the hooded girl behind me. Her sword was partly resting in its sheath waiting for a reason to come back full force. Ruri choked out a gasp as the dusky girl wrapped her in another lock. My eyes twitched over to Savanna who looked on uncertainly: switching between Ruri, me and then the gun aimed at her.

"Why were you sneaking around the edge of camp?" he demanded.

I laughed, trying desperately to disarm him. "Ironically, we didn't want to alarm anybody. Guess that didn't work. Hahaha."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and kept smiling. The suspicious one didn't change his expression. "That wasn't very smart."

"I'm new at this," I said sheepishly with a self-effacing laugh. "Sorry,"

He shook his head and then gave the dusky woman a dismissive wave. She finally obeyed and Ruri moved out of range of her. The women had on smaller black dresses that went to above knee length, black shoes with red leg warmers and red arm guard's on their hands. They shared the same hooded tunics as their partners; complete with 'horns.' I smiled politely and smoothed my shirt, mostly out of needing something to do with my hands.

The first guy laughed again and then offered his hand. "Name's Henning Winslow, this is my Armsmistress, Kelia."

He seemed the cheery sort something the heavy wrinkles around his mouth highlighted. He pointed to the woman who was holding a blade to my neck just moments earlier. It finally rested fully in its sheath. She looked stereotypically Irish with pale freckled skin, red hair and green eyes; she did a little curtsy with her skirt.

"Harshad Padmoore and this is my Marowhack, Sameera." The second hooded man kept his distance but gave me a nod. He was a very dark skinned Dravidian with a beard and quickly scanned the rest of the field. Sameera was the masked woman; she didn't even look at me, picking up the hostility of her tamer.

"Ah, my name's Sean. This is Ruri and one you were aiming at is Savanna. We were gonna pass you by but then we got the call." I pulled them next me, mostly to put on a show; but actually have them closer in case the shit hit the fan.

Henning laughed politely. "Well we could use the help certainly. We're still on duty so you just go on ahead and walk up to the camp."

He pulled out a radio and told the other end to expect us; he then broke into a long casual conversation.

I smiled. "Well thank you; is there any one I should talk too?"

"Just find the tent beside the hole, that's where the science team is," Harshad answered for his busy partner.

I nodded to both of them and then we continued on our way feeling a little embarrassed and a lot more alert to what might be in here. Henning and Harshad were a few hundred feet away from the main camp so it gave us plenty of time to walk over the broken ground and knock down the grass that kept whacking my shorts. It had made our approach easier, despite how embarrassing it was.

"Those were Team Magma grunts, this is an Earth coalition camp," Ruri announced as we got away from the four guards.

"Earth Coalition?" It sounded like an environmental company.

"One of the ruling coalitions in the League Assembly, Team Magma is their militia group," she said.

"Is that legal? A political party having a personal militia?" I asked.

"I keep forgetting that you don't know this stuff, you should really watch the news." Ruri laughed.

"I'll make time in my schedule. Maybe we can do less hiking." I shot back.

Ruri stopped us and then gave a pair of glances to the gate guards that were only about fifty yards away and the picket duty that had disappeared. "The first thing you need to know is that Hoenn League is a collection of city states that have a common Assembly. Each city has its own government but send representatives to the League Assembly. The Assembly passes the larger League-wide laws, manages intra-city conflicts and any pokégirl affairs. Got it so far?"

"So it's like a federal system?" I asked.

"Nice catch but not really, the Assembly is more of a place to bicker at each other incessantly," Ruri shrugged. "Think of a really weak confederacy. A league wide law hasn't been passed since the inception of the government. The Central Government is a de facto pokégirl agency."

So it's little more than a UN, I grimaced; both at how inefficient that sounded and that I couldn't explain that to Ruri.

She continued. "Right now there are two main coalitions battling it out, The Earth Coalition and the Sea Coalition. They have about the same number of cities and thus seats in the assembly."

"And they don't get along," I reasoned.

"Not at all, The Earth Coalition wants to start piecing together the old governments: you know social security, welfare. They want to do this by bringing all of the cities closer and uniting the budgets. The Sea Coalition wants none of that and they like how things are now. Nice and spread out." So it's basically Democrats and Republics, another reference Ruri wouldn't get. "They get their names from where they have the most power, which is about forty/forty at this point, Earth has most of the main island and the Sea coalition has the outer islands."

I nodded. Nice to know that Hoenn had some semblance to America. "So is there anyone else who's important."

Ruri nodded. "I was getting to that. Lilycove has their own single party government that refuses to get on board with either of the larger coalitions. But the Sea and Earth coalition parties both gained a lot of ground in the last election, so it's up in the air."

"Wow. You know a lot. Was government one of your hobbies or something?" Savanna asked over my shoulder. I nodded in agreement with her question.

Ruri sighed. "Which brings me to my last point, the United Future Party. W-they control Petalburg."

Uh oh, I barely avoided groaning. "Did you just say 'we'?"

Ruri looked away. It was a completely non-committal look, like she was trying to explain away a bad report card. "Norman Lane is the UFP's Chairman."

"What!" I yelled unable to curb my volume, I looked around and then brought my tone back to a harsh whisper. "You didn't want to mention this last night!"

Savanna's mouth had come unhinged.

"It wasn't important!" Ruri said back, practically hissing at me.

"Your dad runs a government! A dad that doesn't like me right now!"

"Will you relax? Da-," she looked flustered that she had to keep correcting herself. "He doesn't run a government, he runs the Petalburg Gym. At best, he manages the sheriffs for the outlying towns. His position as the chairman is completely independent of that, that office manages league wide policy and draws up the platform of the UFP. Being the gym leader is more like being a game warden."

That still left a lot of variables and anyone who was in charge of a political party had someone he could turn to if he needed something done legally or otherwise.

"He has more power in the outer villages because the sheriffs deal with ferals more then they deal with people. They can detain people but they can't press charges and they can't investigate crimes. For that, they need the police and they are completely independent from Norman's control. Besides D-," She took a deep breath. "Norman doesn't even have a lot of friends in the UFP."

Not surprising given his profession. However, one didn't become the leader of a political party without making a lot of friends in other places and Wank seemed about as likable as a pedophile. I would need some more protection than just no history and an asshole professor. We'd have to prepare a lot more before we crossed that bridge. But Petalburg seemed like a long ways off. After all, Rustboro had the first gym and Oldale was the next town so I had a while to prepare.

"Okay, I trust you." Ruri couldn't be trusted; she was hiding too much from me. I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her waist. "You're my alpha."

She nodded, satisfied with my answer. "Good, you should."

"Well what should I know about Team Magma?" I asked looking at the camp.

Ruri laughed. "Just start screaming about we have to protect the poor and help out the farmers. You'll fit right in."

I started walking towards the camp tugging Ruri by the hand.

"Yay for Socialism," I praised in my best Russian accent. Ruri laughed but obviously didn't get the joke.

I looped an arm around her and then glanced back at Savanna. She hadn't spoken for a while. But then I stopped; her mouth was slightly open and she was staring at Ruri aghast. Every once and while her lips would twitch into a snarl but she'd fight it down. I let go of Ruri and walked back to her, something was up and it obviously was about what Ruri just said. I closed the distance and got as close enough so that Ruri couldn't see what I was about to do. Savanna eyes darted to me and then tried, unsuccessfully, to stop staring at Ruri.

"You okay?" I asked.

Savanna floundered for a second then stared at Ruri again.

'Tell me later?' I asked, silent again so that Ruri wouldn't see.

Savanna glanced over my shoulder again and nodded her head. I almost flinched at how obvious her motion was; Ruri would definitely ask questions about it. I made sure to laugh loud enough for Ruri to hear it. "Yeah, But don't worry. I'll make it up to you tonight."

Savanna didn't exactly catch on fast enough so I jerked her into me and pulled her up into a kiss. She took a dull second to respond but when she did, she quickly got into it. I smirked at a job well done. I wrapped my arm around her and then guided her back to Ruri so that she could slide back into our previous position. She looked like she had swallowed something sour but covered it up quickly. Even in that moment I knew that a conflict between them was coming.

The gate was little more than a break in the dirt walls of the compound. There wasn't a little barrier or tollbooth, just an awning with a lazy looking Magma guy. The sides of the entrance were currently being flanked by a brown and black canine woman and an officer jenny, both in the magma uniform. I strolled up, all smiles and trying to ignore the bad feeling in my neck. The jenny ordered us to stop and the magma grunt, a guy that looked about thirty, managed to get out of the folding chair.

"Are you the tamer?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Sean Weston Iscariot at your service," I smiled at him and held out my hand feeling like Hugh Hefner. He just stared me down and the two guards gave me a pair of bemused grins. The gatekeeper regarded my hand for a mere second before he walked back over to his seat. "Right. Go check in with the science team, it's the giant-"

"Tent beside the hole," I finished as the gate keeper simply sat back down and pulled his hood lower. He didn't seem to mind that I just cut him off and barely gave a nod and a grunt.

We walked past the two guard girls unbothered. The camp was mostly just one long stretch of road that had a few branching off but mostly just tents on little plywood stands. Magma grunts, that all looked the same, filtered back and forth with pokégirls running among them. It was hard to tell the individual species through the same monotonous uniform except for when a more exotic naga, centaur and at least one girl with a spider body skittered past. Once I turned onto the main drag I got a few spare glances but for the most part no one bothered me. I noticed a few people pointed me out but it never went past that.

It was a straight line from the outer wall to the edge of a giant pit that had a variety of pokégirls slaving in the ground. Some had pickaxes and others had shovels. Occasionally, there would be one running errands with water or taking dirt and rocks away. If they were doing an archeological dig for something then they weren't being gentle about it. The most egregious offender was using her four arms to beat her way into the wall. A lone guard on the edge of the pit regarded the four armed girl before strolling back over. There were no guards in the center only on the lip of the quarry; some women, some men. It had a very prison feel.

"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice asked.

I nearly suffered whiplash to get a good look at the man who was just standing beside me like he hadn't appeared out of thin air. He had a high voice for a guy and it didn't match his appearance. His exceptionally hairy arms were tucked into his white coat and his glasses glinted in the sunlight. The glare caught me in the eyes and I had to bring up my hand just to see the rest of him. A heavy beard with splotches of grey in random spots covered his face. He laughed and faced me so that the orange sun blocked out his eyes. He looked like some kind of mad scientist with his large curly hair. That he had just attempted to blind me had a negative effect on my charity.

He took off his glasses and freed my vision, I blinked a couple times as he wiped them on his white coat. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Not a problem," I said cheerily.

He laughed. "Good, good. So you're the tamer who answered our bulletin?"

"Yep, figured I'd 'create not cull.'" I was still trying to smile my way into his good graces.

The scientist laughed and made a small gesture over the dig sit. "Kind of a destructive job though."

I chuckled out of politeness. "Yeah."

He patted me on the shoulder and motioned across the hole to a tent that was at least twice the width of the domed tents all around me. He stepped past me. "Let's discuss your assignment in the tent over there."

We followed after him around the lip of the hole that bordered on twenty feet in some spots. We didn't speak the entire way but Ruri kept stealing glances at it with a hard glare. Savanna gave it one look but didn't seem so concerned. I glanced down at all the women working like ancient quarry slaves, 'extra protection and manual labor to continue its League appointed duties' huh? I focused on the scientist, who was merrily gliding past the different guards that would get in our way.

If we were assigned to the labor portion, which was likely given they already had pickets up, then they'd want Ruri, Savanna and me to dig. I looked in the hole for any males and didn't find any. Or maybe just Ruri and Savanna to dig, that was a logical deduction and Ruri must've already come to it. On the other hand, it would be a good time to get down there and work with them to build rapport.

But it might have cost me the respect of Team Magma though; after all, none of them were in the hole. It wasn't like I had much to lose if some militia camp didn't respect me. It couldn't be so bad that I'd be barred from being associated with them in general. The plus side was that I would be seen as a leader that would get down and dirty with his subordinates and that was the key to loyalty. I made up my mind to get down and dirty with Ruri and Savanna. No pun intended.

That was of course assuming that we'd have to do labor.

"So we need you to do some labor," The scientist brushed back the opening of the white tent and sat down on one of the many grey metal containers that made the tent look more like a warehouse then a lab.

I sighed, prompting the scientist to laugh like a hyena on helium. "I know, I know. All those sluts in the quarry and we're still under schedule."

I wasn't aware hard work was slutty. Though if that was his idea of a joke then he was trying to be nice to me. Even though I held it against him, it was the thought that counted. The scientist continued. "The only good thing is that money is no issue so we can hire some tamers like you. Your sluts look strong too so you shouldn't have a problem."

Savanna and Ruri both shifted behind me. The scientist pointed to Ruri. "Might wanna watch that one she doesn't have a lot of self-control."

I glanced back at Ruri. Sure enough she was bristling at the comment and her tail was shifting uneasily. I motioned her to calm down and then turned back to the scientist.

"Why not use the guards? There are plenty in the camp." I offered so I wouldn't have to respond to his comment.

He shook his head. "The guards are guards; not manual labor. Besides what if we need them and they're too tired? No, better to make my bosses help some new tamers. You guys can always use the extra cash. I remember my first week was spent starving."

I smiled with him so he'd feel better. "Well, let's get started."

He laughed some more. "No, no. Please rest for the night, get a meal and we'll start bright and early. I'm sure you'll be able to find the other tamers."

I clapped my hands. "Great. Well we'll be going."

"Bright and early!" the scientist cheered.

I twisted on my heels and motioned Ruri and Savanna to go first. I couldn't get a read on the guy. On one hand he was rather nice to me. It was just that he kept calling Ruri and Savanna 'sluts.' That annoyed me. Though the fact that Savanna hadn't reacted to the sluts comment like Ruri said something about her and the culture she grew up in. Maybe 'sluts' wasn't as offensive or maybe it was simply too common place to have the same bite? I followed them out of the storage/science tent and I motioned them into a small alcove between a tent and a wall. There was an air condition unit blasting hot air loud enough to block out most of our conversation. Ruri punched the dirt wall and seethed, pacing back and forth. I studied the gentle chirping of the quarry.

She finally huffed. "You're seriously going to make us do manual labor?"

I rolled my eyes. "Money's money and its 200 bucks for a day's work, that's like a twenty dollar wage."

"You mean 20 thousand," Savanna cut Ruri off before she could speak. Ruri gave her a hostile glare that Savanna didn't respond too.

"Bucks, thousands same thing." I shrugged.

"We're a combat harem not a construction crew," Ruri said.

"And we get free food, a place to sleep tonight and we can do a little training for the rest of the day. It's a good deal," I said.

Ruri groaned. "This will just slow us down."

I frowned and my stomach chose that exact moment to rumble pathetically.

Savanna looped her arm in mine and started dragging me away. I gestured for Ruri to do the same and we walked off towards the chow hall. Savanna subtly pulled me closer to her and away from Ruri. Then Ruri returned the favor by tugging me towards her.

It was that moment that I knew I was right.

XXX

I twirled the little plastic fork around for the fifth time and then closed my eyes as the 'spaghetti' slid down my throat. I wasn't sure why the noodles tasted like soap but I also didn't want to think about it. Savanna didn't seem to mind the tofu brick she was eating but she wasn't enjoying it either and Ruri was suffering through the same spaghetti as me. I swallowed the last chunk of meatball and chased it down with some water. I looked in between the two of them and finally put my fork down.

"What kind of connections does your-." I stopped myself from saying father. They were seated across from me and seemed content not to talk to each other as they ate. Savanna was the frostier one between the two of them. Which had something do with what she wasn't telling me. "Norman have?"

Ruri tapped her chin. "Hmmm. Well the United Future Party doesn't have a militia like Earth. However, certain members have 'employees' who do something similar. The Tamer Park, Littleroot, Oldale and Petalburg are one district."

I put down my fork. "What?"

Ruri looked confused. "What 'what?'"

"Petalburg is after Oldale?" I asked.

Ruri nodded.

"Oh." Shit.

"Why?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Just trying to get my bearings. Please, continue." So I was going to have to be more careful about standing out.

Ruri nodded. "You might just end up stealing some things or you might find a loveball in your pack. Norman, as Gym Leader, elects the sheriffs for all of the little hamlets. Oldale is only on the map because of the Tamer Park."

"A loveball?" I asked.

"It's a device that turns humans into pokégirls," Ruri said.

"Is that what happened to you," Savanna asked cutting her off but in a neutral tone. Ruri's tail spontaneously combusted and threatened to melt the chair behind her.

She glared at Savanna. "Loveballs only work on someone with some pokégirl DNA."

Savanna eyed her innocently over her drink.

"And you know that," Ruri said grinding her teeth and seething in anger.

I looked in between them feeling slightly annoyed. It would be best if they just worked it out themselves. Plus the evidence, what little there was, supported Savanna. I silently cursed my luck then cycled through a few encounters on how to get them to like each other again. I needed an outside source to unite them in their hatred. That was a little short however. That left them simply punching each other in the face a few times.

"Hey, we have to train don't we?" I interrupted. Both of them ended their glaring match to glare at me. Their eyes screamed 'fuck off.' I smiled and held up my hands defensively. "Why don't we take this outside? A friendly spar to find out your strengths."

Ruri smirked maliciously at Savanna who simply put down her cup and stood up. Ruri followed almost immediately.

Yeah, 'friendly.'

XXX

I propped myself up on the wall of the encampment and tried to get comfortable. It wasn't exactly ideal on the packed dirt of the walls but it allowed me to get a better view of my two gladiators. We had moved outside the camp but only to the other side of the wall. The sky was a vivid display of purples and oranges and I didn't want to end up on the wrong side come night fall. Savanna and Ruri were opposite of each other a few yards away and circling like a pair of animals. They seemed eager to actually beat each other in the face but then again it was not surprising given the last hour.

I actually didn't fully know what the problem was. Savanna had been happy to play the beta in their relationship right up until she learned of Ruri's past. What about Norman made Savanna so angry? Perhaps it was underhanded of me but I was hoping that if they got into a fight then she would be pissed off enough to scream out her reasons for her sudden change in attitude. I wasn't concerned with it getting too out of hand given that Ruri had fire and Savanna had healing. It should have been pretty even. At least that's how it worked out in medieval fantasy games. I folded my arms and waited for both of them to start.

Ruri charged forward and then spun into a high kick. Savanna moved out of the way but took an errant swing by Ruri to her face. She backed up and dodged a few more punches with simple movements of her head. Her face twisted into a demeaning glare. Ruri screamed and threw another punch. Savanna grabbed her arm and yanked her into a solar plexus strike. Then another and another.

I winced as Ruri's face contorted into a variety of pained expressions. Savanna, after several more strikes, finally hit Ruri in her stomach and made the shorter girl double over. She stood back as Ruri emptied her stomach. I winced as Savanna simply stalked after Ruri's sloppy retreat. She glowered down at her until suddenly Ruri upper cut Savanna and sent her stumbling. Ruri moved forward and delivered a scissor kick that missed but kept Savanna stumbling. The smaller girl didn't waste chance and threw some of her own haymakers and finally ended with a spinning kick.

Savanna took the kick with surprising fortitude and countered by boxing Ruri's ears. She followed with several more blows moving around Ruri's sloppy attempts to hit her. She continued to pound on her. It culminated in a brutal strike to the ribs was followed by hit center mass that threw Ruri across the dirt and rolling in pain. Savanna wiped a trail of blood off of her cheek with a glowing green hand and strolled after her.

Ruri struggled to get off the ground.

"So much for pure blood superiority," Savanna mocked.

She moved quietly and confidently, waiting for Ruri to struggle to her feet. I sat there and policed my expression so as not to seem biased. Of course, the truth was that Savanna had been in control of this fight since the first moment. She was handing my alpha, her supposed superior, her ass. Her eyes were hard and she was in a complete 180 of her previous meekness. Perhaps it had to do with this 'pure blood' thing? Norman wanted to hide it, Ruri didn't want to face it and Savanna wanted revenge.

Ruri was finally on her feet, she smiled. "The pokégirl blood's weighing me down."

Ruri threw a couple of sloppy punches which Savanna easily batted aside. Then her foot came out of nowhere and hit Ruri in the chest, followed by her fist crumbling Ruri's face. Another punch by Ruri went wide and Savanna effortlessly dodged the third. Then she caught Ruri in the diaphragm and sent the charamanda sprawling again with a literal backhand. Ruri's legs gave out and she fell to her ass in a heap. Savanna's foot was already coming for her face. She scrambled out of the way and scampered to get away from the stoned-face Savanna. Perhaps there was a little of her father in her after all?

Ruri turned to face her attacker and got a kick to the shin for it. Savanna's foot passed over Ruri's head and the dodging girl tried to get another punch. Savanna watched the swing fall short and gave another straight kick to the charamanda's stomach. Ruri stumbled back but threw another sloppy punch. Savanna countered. She kneed her then punched Ruri in the face.

"So what's the occasion?" came a foreign voice.

I gave Henning a side glance then went back to the fight. He had dropped himself beside me as his pokégirl leaned against the lower stack and stared forward. Savanna and Ruri's arms became blurs as Ruri tried to take the fight back and was countered by Savanna every time. My eyes could barely keep up with the mass of arms and talk to Henning.

Ruri got a solid blow into Savanna's face, busting her lip again. Only for Savanna to trap her arms and throw the smaller girl to the ground.

"Not sure. They're settling ideological differences," I said. Ideological differences was a good term.

Ruri rolled away pathetically. Savanna just gave an extra kick to the stomach to push her along. She was ready to give the coup de grace when Ruri caught her leg and then threw her away. She stumbled up after her and charged again. Her foot was up and returned a kick to Savanna's chin. Then two more with the same leg flowed around Savanna's hasty blocks. She kicked her in the center of the chest and slammed her against the dirt walls.

Ruri took a steadying step. She then let loose a bunch of kicks that showed how limber she was. One. Two. Left. Right. She finished with a blow to Savanna's ribs, Savanna stumbled off the wall and Ruri came low with a sweeping kick that pushed Savanna further away. Beside me Henning clapped appreciatively. "Damn!"

Ruri charged and threw her entire body weight into punching Savanna's face. Savanna stumbled and Ruri chased her with more haymakers that kept her spinning. Savanna caught the third and spun her around in an arm lock. Ruri's eyes went wide and Savanna was punching her in her back again and again as Ruri's face went through several pained expressions. She flailed wildly and finally, Savanna took an elbow to the face. Ruri repeated the move a couple more times until finally the two stumbled away from each other.

Ruri fell on her ass again and kept heaving, trying to breath; Savanna wasn't much better.

"Dammit where'd you learn to fight?" Ruri asked in between heaves.

Savanna stretched out her arm. "My aunts. Those two green haired twins are a herolee and a herochan. They taught me a lot of fighting techniques."

Ruri laughed as she struggled to her feet. "You lick their cunts too?"

Savanna didn't respond. Ruri closed the distance and knocked Savanna's first guard away and punched her in the face. She didn't let up and spun Savanna the other way with a hard blow. They grabbed each other's arms and Savanna punched Ruri in the face. Ruri didn't let go of Savanna's arm and punched her in the gut. Then the face. Savanna blocked the next one and then another. She was weakening however and Ruri got around her guard again to punch her in the gut one more time. Savanna crumpled but threw a few more futile punches. Ruri caught both, hit Savanna in the jaw again then kicked her ribs.

Savanna took the blow and caught her leg but Ruri simply jumped up and kicked in the side of the head with her free foot. Savanna reeled and Ruri pushed her attack. Savanna blocked more punches but Ruri caught Savanna's bun and then elbowed her in the face. Savanna was getting sluggish. Ruri was not. She brought up a spinning kick to cut off Savanna's head but she dodged it.

But not the second revolution.

She hit the dirt and stayed down. Ruri stumbled over her and then readied a fireball in her hand. A red light engulfed them both.

It looked like Ruri had won. That girl just did not stay down, no matter how much Savanna beat on her. And she had been beat on a lot.

I caught both pokéballs and sighed. "Is there place I can heal them?"

Henning just stared at me with a happy grin on his face. "How the hell did you train them to do THAT?"

I shrugged. "Luck mostly."

"They moved like they had been training for a while. The nurse joy had a lot of smart moves. You could see how she was trained to fight stronger opponents by divert strikes. Meanwhile, the charamanda is just stubborn and tries to brawl, threshold?" his pokégirl asked.

Henning nodded in agreement and I supplied a modest affirmation. The pokégirl smirked and cuddled into Henning. He pulled his girl closer to him and started whispering in her ear. "I don't know about you but I have got the most raging hard-on right now."

His girl blushed and snuggled further into his arms. I cleared my throat. "Healer?"

Henning groaned jokingly.

XXX

After showing me to a small tent with the healing machine in it and showing me how to use it. He pointed to a vaguely active tent.

"Well this is the tamer's lodging. Don't mind the smell, all those newbies are so horny they barely come out of there." I grimaced as sounds of a whore house floated out of the tent. Henning slapped me on the shoulder. "Have fun. This old dog is gonna have some fun of his own."

He then walked off into the night with his hand hooked around Kelia's waist. With a deep breath, I pushed back the flap of the tent and entered. Immediately a very distinct smell hit me like I had walked into a wall. It took a moment to really process what it was and that stopped me in my tracks.

The tent was divided into sections with only a few thin pieces of wood giving any privacy between bunks. I steeled myself and stopped breathing just so I could go any deeper into the tent. Most of the beds were shut off by curtains but occasionally I caught the sight of another teenage boy going to town on some variation of pokégirl. Kind of like a dirt cheap brothel. The deeper I went, the more diverse the sounds got until about halfway through I started hearing a whip cracking and muffled screaming. I didn't bother to try and barge in on that party. It felt like an acid trip with all the different colors and anthropomorphic people set to the sounds of moaning, screaming and beds squawking under stress. There was a girl getting blasted from behind by a guy, then there was a guy sitting back and watching a cat and dog do 69, then there was a dude getting a blow job from a girl with six arms.

Finally, I stopped at the only empty bed. The bunk across from it had a guy playing cards with two dog eared girls. One of them was even munching on a cigar.

"Is this taken," I asked.

"Nope. Go ahead." He went back to his next hand. "Got any fives?"

"Go fish," the girl said.

Wow.

I shook my head in disbelief. It was bad when the guy playing 'go fish' was the weird one. I closed the curtain to my new bunk. It briefly flashed a light blue and suddenly the room was silent. I pulled the curtain back and another, this time red, flash occurred. The sounds were back. I pulled the curtain closed again. All of those people could've had some privacy, the fucking exhibitionists.

I took a deep breath through my mouth and gave the bed a couple experimental hops. Comfortable wasn't exactly the word I'd use but it felt better than the dirt and it smelled clean. I pulled out a sleeping bag and stretched it over the entire thing. If I kept it open then I wouldn't have to touch the, probably STD infected, fabric. I finished the bed with a pillow I had borrowed from Savanna's bedroom. I didn't feel guilty in the least, her bed had been comfortable and by some logic she would be using it as well so really I was just taking it for her. It was time to break it in.

The first look I got from Savanna was a very angry glare. "We weren't done."

"Yes, you were," I said.

She grunted and looked away. I craned my neck to stare at her. "Why are you so angry at the Lanes?"

Savanna sighed and turned to face me again, her eyes brows relaxed for just a second in a sign of guilt. It was gone in a second but I had seen it clearly. "The UFP runs Petalburg and thus, Littleroot. They're very elitist and my Dad didn't fit what they thought a Doctor should be."

"Vague."

Savanna took a deep breath. "He might look full human but he's not. My grandmother was a Venuswhore."

Venuswhore didn't sound impressive. Indeed, it was a little ironic that something named after the god of love had created a guy who looked like the personification of Mars. I would have guessed his mother was something like DragonQueen or something that sounded badass. I nodded but she seemed adamant that I have to pry every bit of information out of her. "And?"

"And the UFP didn't like the idea of someone who wasn't a pure human being a doctor. You see the UFP is very pro-purity. If you can't prove that your great-grandparents were pure bloods then you aren't a full citizen and the thought of my father having so much power didn't sit well with the UFP."

"Wait, I thought that there were next to no pureblood humans left because all of the women couldn't reproduce?" I asked.

Savanna shook her head. "Some women still could, and it isn't a problem here. At least a quarter of the human population is a pureblood in Hoenn and it's a small place so they have a lot of pull."

"I can't imagine that there's never been a rich bastard who knocked up a pokégirl and had a kid, what happens to the half breeds?" I asked.

Savanna gave me a scalding look.

"The métis," she corrected with an obvious French word, "end up like my Dad, I never even heard him talk about my grandfather, ever. I only know about my grandmother from Mom."

I nodded. "Sorry. But it all worked out. I mean he was the doctor there right?"

"Well, obviously. I was only about five back then but I remember everyone being really nervous and angry back then," She folded into her bad memories. "We didn't always live in that mansion."

I took her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her eyes locked onto mine and I gave her my best reassuring smile. "It all worked out."

She managed a small smile but rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Yeah but then I antagonized Ruri. She isn't going to be happy."

I nodded. "I think Ruri'll be fine, and you did it in the most badass way possible. Did those two green haired girls teach you fight like that?"

Savanna nodded, her face becoming slightly red.

There was a vaguely uncomfortable silence that descended like a curtain. I knew the next part, or at least I had high hopes for the next part. I glanced at Savanna from the corner of my eyes and even her stance had shifted so that she was rubbing her arm awkwardly.

"So, um," I said in a near mumble. "You must be sore from the spar."

Savanna shook her head. "No, the machine healed me perfectly; you don't have to worry about that."

I think it was meant to be comforting but it really ruined my plan for the conversation. I nodded a lot more then was necessary and studied her feet. "Oh good. How about a reward then?"

Savanna perked up. "Like?"

"A massage," I said. This was my chance to deploy a card I'd been saving for a while. Savanna's expression drooped; clearly it wasn't what she was expecting. But I wasn't going to give this up. I had a plan. "Trust me. Just come lay down on the bed."

She hesitated for a moment and then simply pulled her shirt over her head. She was already reaching for her bra. I quickly turned away feeling my face erupt into a blush. I still couldn't get over just how comfortable she was being naked in front of me.

"Ready," she said.

I turned back around and Savanna was relaxing on her back. She was leaning against the pillow with a sultry grin on her face. She really did have beautiful breasts. Like they were the nicest things I had ever seen. Then I scalded myself for staring and studied the dark of the ceiling. "You, uh, should probably be on your, uh, stomach."

"Oh." Savanna chuckled in that same airy sultry tone. She put her head on the pillow and settled in, staring back at me with a heavy gaze. I took a deep breath and got on top of her. She eyed me dangerously with a catty grin. "If you were into that you could've just told me."

She ground her butt into crotch; I smiled and pushed her back onto the bed. There was no need to get too excited over it.

"Do you wanna take your hair out for this? I'd hate for those chop stick things to get lost or caught on something," I asked, reaching for the bun.

I barely got a finger on it before Savanna was clutching my wrist. "Don't touch the bun."

Her mind suddenly realized what she had done and she went limp.

I grabbed her wrists before her hand fell on the bed. "Don't touch the bun, got it."

"I just." She didn't fight me as I put her hands back on the pillow. Digging her chin into the pillow, she studied the tent wall. "I don't like it when people try to take them out."

She was quick to defend them and I could still feel her iron grip on my hands at that moment. It was best to just start on the massage. I didn't have any oils so I decided to take it slow. I started with the shoulders, tracing her my hands from her defined arms up to the sculpted muscles of her back. "It's fine. I understand."

As she shifted under me, I could feel the feel the power that was coursing through her. It was like feeling a whip cord. Even her back was sculpted. It was wonderful and yet I felt unworthy and emasculated. In a strange way it actually fit her perfectly. Submissive but still able to hide a part of herself like she had been in Littleroot.

Savanna adjusted the pillow under her head. "Problem?"

I glanced up at her surprised and shook my head. I mustered my most confident voice and said. "No. Just admiring the view."

She buried her head back into the pillow entirely unconvinced. "Most people wouldn't expect a nurse joy to look like an amachop."

"Where I am from most of the women don't look anything like you," I said truthfully.

"So, do you like it?" she asked.

It made me feel unworthy and like even more of a lazy slob than I usually did. I gently ran my finger down her spine barely touching her skin. She shuddered for the first time. I worked my fingers into the contours of her back but still she refused to relax. Clearly, my massage wasn't working. I smirked. "Good?"

She looked back over her shoulder and nodded slowly. The knots in her neck and the fact that she tried to shrug told me a different story. She was even rubbing her throat with her hidden hands.

"You are a bad liar," I said and started going lower. So apparently, I was a bad masseuse. My hands finally made it to her waistband and discreetly slid under it. I popped the button of her shorts open. Finally, she smiled at me but my fingers were moving back up her stomach as I moved closer to her breasts. I was good at something else though. I smirked and whispered loud enough for her to hear. "And you need to be punished."

"Wha- WAHAH!" She burst out laughing as my fingers dancing down her sides and across her stomach. She gasped for air and tears were in her eyes, but there was no stopping me. "Sean! Sto-"

I had identified all the sensitive places and I could even see where her muscles quivered the most. She tried to grab me, but she was too surprised to get control over herself. I was faster with my hands than she was, and every time she'd reach for me, I'd hit the ultra-ticklish spots under her arms and she'd clamp her arms back down to protect those spots.

"Sean! Stop!" she screamed. "No fair!"

Which did no good at all, of course. There were too many, and her wildly flailing arms couldn't cover them all.

"I give! You win!" she said quickly, tears of laughter streaming from the corners of her eyes.

"I can see that," I whispered in her ear and gave her a second to get her breath back. She was gasping and trying to calm down as she giggled. I rubbed the muscles of her neck, the knots were gone. "And now you are relaxed. Exactly as planned."

I was absolutely astonished to be rolled over and for her to be suddenly on top. She poked me in the ribs, getting a startled grunt of panic.

"Is this to plan?" she asked.

"Always," I said.

She bounced her hips slightly, and I felt warm, flesh barely hidden by the panties. Her pants had disappeared somewhere I didn't care about.

"Very impressive," she taunted.

"Hey!" I complained, grabbing at her hand to restrain it. She quickly moved to grab my hands instead but I poked her in the ribs in retaliation, making her twitch. She raised one eyebrow and stared down at me. She raised her free hand, two fingers extended.

"I'm showing you mercy. Do you really want to go there?" she asked.

"My pride is on the line here." I made a feint towards her side, then changed at the last minute and went for her stomach.

"Ha hah!" she screamed, I had won for the moment and she jerked her hand to her side. But she was faster, however, and grabbed my wrist in that same iron grip. I was very aroused, and she was very warm. I held her right hand in my left, but she had my right in her left. I was in the right position to pull her closer to me so I raised my arms above my head. She didn't fight me and simply let me force her to lean over, closer and closer until her breasts pressed against my chest and her face was inches from mine. Her nipples were hard.

"So what do you think now?" I asked, attempting to lick her nose, but she was just out of reach.

"I think my plan worked," she replied honestly.

My eyes widened. "Huh-WAHAH!"

She'd released my wrist and attacked my vulnerable underarm with a complete lack of mercy, hitting all my ticklish spots as I squirmed and thrashed beneath her. It was several breathless moments of flailing before I managed to trap her hand beneath my arm and shift my grip so I had her wrist again. She leaned down and stole a kiss, using the movement to rock back on her knees and slide lower on my waist, so her flushed sex met the top of my shaft. Only our damned clothes hadn't got in the way. She ground against me for a moment and giggled.

I couldn't decide between enjoying the sensation and being irritated at continually being outmaneuvered.

"Just as planned?" she asked.

"Always," I repeated myself.

She leaned close, dangling her breasts in front of me. I think she actually had a free hands somewhere at that moment; I didn't really care. "Sean? You should pay attention."

"You have my full attention," I said, but flinched hard when her hand suddenly drifted closer to my underarm.

She smiled, and I was disturbed to note how predatory it was. "Do you know what I was taught to do with an advantage?"

"Mercy?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. But, for you, I'm going to make an exception." Her fingers darted for my side.

"Ow, awahahaha," I yelled. Her fingers danced down my sides and across my stomach as I laughed and gasped. When she finally let up, I gasped out in my best Scottish accent. "You may take my life, but you'll never take MY-"

She made a motion with her hand, and I squealed surrender.

"Please! I'll do anything you want! Just please stop!" I cried trying to stop laughing.

She stopped and gave me a measuring look, tapping her lips with a finger, just to remind me that she still had a free hand and I didn't. "Now, what to have you forfeit-"

"Anything," I interrupted. "Anything at all."

"Anything? I've never been in this situation before." She smiled, showing a lot of teeth. She pressed backwards, and I was acutely aware that I was almost painfully excited. I was also acutely aware of how excited she was. She nibbled up the side of her neck until she was nuzzled behind my ear. She paused and there was tense silence as she simply breathed on the back of my neck. Finally, she whispered. "Are you really into this?"

I pulled away and looked down at her. In contrast to her haughty whisper, her face was almost concerned.

"You won. Ask anything of me." I said. Then I thought about it. "That we can do in this room. Let's not go crazy."

"So if I asked you to use your tongue and go down?" she asked after a long pause. For such a risqué request she was very meek about it.

"You want me to, uh, my mouth," I asked trying not to blush myself.

Her mousy expression only deepened as the silence threatened to claim us again. Suddenly, she freaked out and tried to back out of it. "If you don't; I'm sorry."

Grabbing her waist, I flipped her over on the bed, eliciting a yelp as I landed on top of her, though it was quickly stifled by her moans as my tongue flicked across her exposed neck. I continued to suck and nip at her flesh until I pulled away a few seconds later, leaving a flustered nurse joy under me.

"To the victor, the spoils," I said.

My hands roamed her back, even squeezing her rear. Relinquishing my hold on her mouth, I moved along her cheek and down to her neck, lingering on the junction between her neck and shoulder. She moaned, urging me towards her pert nipples. Smiling into her flesh, I trailed lower, my tongue stopping just above the pink of her breast, prolonging the agony. With a frustrated sigh of ecstasy, she arched her back, forcing her breasts into my face. Her back arched further and her toes clenched as I twisted her pebbled nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Letting out a cry, she began moaning.

But then she let out a sigh of disappointment when I let go of her breasts, moving to her navel instead. With a quick motion, I pulled her black panties down to her ankles, and she removed them completely with a flick of her foot. Smiling slightly, she spread her legs as my lips moved to her inner thighs, exposing her drenched pink folds.

Moving up once more, my tongue danced around her wet sex, taunting her. Unable to take the longing, she grabbed a fistful of my hair, pushing me between her legs. As my tongue snaked around her opening, I could feel the heat inside her building exponentially. I shoot my tongue inside her, squirming wildly. I couldn't help but smile at her obvious pleasure when she closed her eyes and brought her hands up to play with her breasts. I liked her breasts. They were, all things considered, damned nice.

"Uh, wait Sean I-" Savanna moaned. I felt her clench around my tongue and she trapped my face between her thighs. Suddenly, and with a scream of passion, I felt her climax as her body writhed at the waves of pleasure washing over her. Pulling back, I barely dodged her knees clamping shut.

What I didn't dodge was the sudden explosion of hot liquid as she squirted. In my eyes.

AND IT BURNT! (A.N. Moneyshot.)

XXX

Grunt. Pound. Grunt. Pound.

I slammed the pickaxe into the center of a giant rock and then valiantly tried to free the sharpened edge from the nice new crack I had forced into the solid earth. I planted my foot and brought it down again and then pried it out of the wedge once more. I had to do this fourteen more times before the crack finally split the rock in half. It fell out of the wall of dirt nearly smashing my feet. Fed up with the monotony, I took a step back and rubbed the sweat off my brow with my sleeve. My shirt was drenched and the sun was beating down, the only reason I kept it on was because the sun would reduce my shoulders into a peeling wreck if I didn't.

This, while wearing a black long sleeve shirt that kept unfolding down my arms, was cruel. I glanced around the hole I was currently digging in and took in the various pokégirls all slamming the ground and passing around water bottles. Some looked sadder than others and some seemed to enjoy the manual labor and toiled on with a smile on their faces. They, of course, were the more athletic looking ones.

Ruri and Savanna were working on either side of me on their own sections. Savanna had a shovel and Ruri had a pickaxe like me. By some miracle they hadn't unleashed them on each other and were content with simply not recognizing the other existed.

Savanna noticed I wasn't working and gave me a hard look; she leaned heavily on the shovel. "Sean, when Savanna pictured a pokégirl journey, Savanna imagined a lot more battling and sex."

"Consider it strength training," I said, glaring at the wall.

Ruri heaved her pickaxe over her shoulder and flipped her bangs back. "My ass. We barely got fed last night; this little detour is a bust."

I sighed and heaved out another breath. "We're getting paid aren't we?"

"But is it worth it?" Ruri asked and slammed her pickaxe into another part of the wall she was working on.

I focused on the rock I had freed from the wall. What I thought was a root was actual solid, dirt covered, metal. I bent down and pulled off a few more clumps of dirt; it was a piece of rebar. My section of wall had more of the same. I had just chipped off a piece of rebar reinforced concrete. Of course, the metal work looked about ready to rust off anyway so it wasn't as impressive as I would've liked to believe.

"Could you get me a hammer" I asked.

"Yeah, can you get him a hammer?" Ruri snarked. Savanna stopped in mid turn to glare at her.

Good to know they were working well together. I stared at Ruri and then gave Savanna a more pleading look. "Please."

Savanna simply walked off while Ruri smirked at her 'victory.'

"Really?" I asked.

She stared at the wall. "Why do you need a hammer?"

I shook my head; it was going to continue until they found something they hated more than each other. I just hoped it was sooner rather than later. There was no point in pushing it at that moment. "Reinforced concrete, I think I just found whatever they're looking for her."

She cupped her chin in a thinking pose. "But why are we digging up a concrete building?"

"Let's knock this wall in and find out," I said.

"How are you going to get past the rest of the metal and concrete with a hammer?" she asked.

That stopped me; perhaps I was a bit hasty in sending Savanna to get a sledgehammer. I picked up my pickaxe and gave a side glance at Ruri. "Let's get to it then. I'll hit and then you hit and we both work on this."

I slammed the pick axe into a sliver I was sure I could knock and lo and behold it fell off. I looked at Ruri expectantly and she raised her own strike to get the same spot I was chipping at. Another sliver fell off that was bigger than mine. Ruri gave me an expectant look. That's how it was going to be? I heaved my pickaxe over my shoulder and took out another chunk that was about the size of Ruri's. She took a chunk that was smaller and I got to smirk at her. She slammed her pickaxe back down ignoring me, the bitch. I smiled and then went back to work. We kept slamming at the visible wall and getting sparks from the occasional piece of rusted rebar we hit.

Savanna eventually returned with a hammer and watched us as we kept competing to see who could bigger pieces of the wall off. We kept picking away at the wall until we were deep into the concrete and my arms were starting to hurt. We'd have to dig out the area above us to keep picking and no end was in sight because the bunker was thick as hell! We were about a foot in! I sighed; it would have been so much easier if we could just knock down the dirt down like those gold prospectors on that show.

I stopped. Brain blast!

I laughed and then pointed off behind me. "Savanna, change of plans. Go find me a water pokégirl that can spit a high torrent of water."

Savanna dumped the sledgehammer on the ground, sighed and ran off again. Ruri took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders; she didn't look as tired as me though. Which was fucked up since she was a girl and by all means should have less endurance then me, not sexist or anything it was just biology. Well in reality; which this wasn't, I had to remind myself. I sat down and took a swig of the hot water bottle at my feet. Physical labor shit sucked and was reminding me why I got a job with air conditioning.

The sun continued to beat me down but I just fluffed my shirt and took deep breaths. Finally, I looked up at her. "Were you going to explain the whole pure blood thing?"

Ruri clenched her jaw and didn't look me in the eyes. "You didn't have to be concerned."

She hid it from me, which meant that she knew, on some level that it was wrong. I didn't say that out loud. "You have a lot of secrets, Ruri Lane."

"It wasn't important," she scorned.

We studied each other. She had been playing hard ball that morning but the daily toil had worn her down. Honestly, it was fair that she was hiding stuff from me. We're all entitled to that but I also felt like she was still keeping something else important from me. It was just a gut feeling. She'd tell me eventually, whether she wanted to or not. Time uncovered all things and I was very patient.

"I understand. Nemo tenetur seipsum accusare."

"Enough with that Latin shit!" she yelled. "Do you even know what that means?"

One of the beautiful things about latin was that hardly anyone knew what any of it meant. It was a universal language to sound intelligent and mysterious in. "It means that you have a right to your secrets."

Actually, it meant she could 'plead the fifth' and not self-incriminate herself. But she didn't need to know that I was actually accusing her of wrongdoing in a roundabout way. She narrowed her eyes. Maybe she did know? Then her eyes moved to the lower left and she processed what I said. As soon as she finished, she tried to adjust herself pompously but failed. "G-good."

I smiled, she didn't know Latin, and took another swig of scalding water.

"Speaking of," Ruri started, glancing at Savanna as she jogged around the quarry. "She's running a little funny."

I fought the urge to look at the pink haired girl. "No, she isn't."

"Oh yes she is. Did you get curious about anal?" she teased.

"Jealous?" I countered, enjoying the fact that I knew something she didn't.

"No. Wait. No," A cheshire grin spread across her face. She started laughing. "Oh, my god! I'm surrounded by virgins!"

I took another swig. Better for Ruri to know about that and not the more embarrassing event that had happened the night before. My eyes still burnt just thinking about it.

Savanna returned with a girl about my height and wearing a bikini top and a pair of capri pants. The way it flowed down her back in wavy locks, her hair reminded me of the sea waves. It was even a mystifying shade of ocean blue. She smiled at me briefly before she saw the Savanna and Ruri looking unimpressed. Teal-green eyes stole a southward glance before her arms folded under her own voluptuous assets and pressed them together. All of us stared but only I appreciated the gesture, the girls just glared. After she got the agitated looks she wanted, I got a white dazzling smile. I returned it and ignored the subtle way she was pushing her breasts the best that I could, but a bead of sweat poured down into the cavern and caught my eyes.

"So you're the tamer who's down in the trenches with us girls?" the breasts asked.

I shook my head and smiled at her face. "Yeah, can you blast this dirt off this piece of rock we're chipping at? We need more room to get to it. We'd do it ourselves but you're apparently more equipped."

I didn't even mean to use that pun. The woman looked rather appreciative of the compliment though.

"Oh I'd love to," she politely volunteered. I took a step back behind her and ignored the unimpressed glares at me from Ruri and Savanna. Not that I could blame them: the pokégirl was flaunting herself in front of us and the way she was giving Ruri and Savanna cocky looks was probably making them want to break her in two.

Boobs-girl took a deep breath then started to sing. It started off slow as she warmed her lungs up. However, as water began to form around her hands, her voice barely strayed above a whisper and the water gently flowed around her. And then she took a deep breath and started screaming.

"And let it drown!"

The water became a torrent that burst forward and blasted away the dirt wall above the bunker. I was standing in a quarry while a buxom white woman with blue hair screamed the water into a frenzy. Ruri and Savanna both looked far more disgusted and confused then I did. She was actually semi-decent, she would have been a far better singer but, hey, to all their own. The deluge intensified until it drowned out her voice. The dirt vanished over the edge of the quarry never to be seen again. We three watched the girl work until we had another two feet cut out above the buried bunker.

The boobgirl stopped and gave her work an appreciative nod. She bounced, once more flaunting her large chest, and latched onto my arm so I could get a good feel at how large they were. "If you ever want a pokégirl you can actually titfuck just ask for Ariel, the boobkini."

She winked at me.

I returned her smile until I saw the girls' heated glare. If she was getting this kind of reaction out of the two of them just by being near; she would be very useful indeed. Plus, if she helped me with this problem then she could be useful enough to keep around; having a water type would balance out the team. Among her other talents.

I stopped. "I'm afraid my current alpha might not like you."

She pouted theatrically but gave me an even more seductive gaze.

"That's never stopped a tamer before," she paused and her gaze became even more wanting. "I like that."

She held onto my arm for a lingering second and then walked off with a sway in her hips and a seductive smile back at me. I watched her go and fought down my smirk at the sway she put in her hips. "You two might've just met our third teammate."

Ruri huffed. "Don't catch a Boobkini; I'll kill her if she calls me flat chested."

"Please," Savanna agreed.

I would've smiled but I had a better poker face than that. I sighed, she was just prideful of what; would I credit the capital G or Sukebe for her extremely large chest? An image of her on her knees flashed in my head followed by the annoyed glances of Savanna and Ruri. She was getting an invitation after this. I finally processed what they had called her: Boobkini. My first thought was to call that a clever insult but then I remembered the 'oddtits.'

This place, man.

A matter for later, the area we were working was now covered in mud and I refused to step in it. "Ruri, if you used your ember to evaporate this mud it would save your feet."

"Good idea," a fireball formed in both her hands and she just started chucking them at the ground near the concrete. The fireballs would explode and then the water would steam and Ruri would just keep chucking them. The heat they gave off was enough to make the midday sun even worse. I glanced over at Savanna and then rolled my sleeves up for the eleventh time that hour. The cotton of the shirt was oppressive but so would the inability to sleep on my back if I let my shoulders burn. Damn my English ancestors for not breeding with tan people!

I rubbed the back of my neck and felt how bad it was getting. Damn them to an even lower pit of hell.

She eventually stopped and rubbed at her hands, the ground around the concrete suffered another drip of water from the concrete but for the most part was cracked and dried. I picked up my pickaxe and gave the one from Ruri to Savanna. "Take a rest Ruri, you earned it. Savanna, let's get to chipping."

Ruri took a step back and sat down on one of the rocks while I did the first strike. Savanna took another and then we started taking turns hitting the concrete and fighting rusting rebar. In the most emasculating incident so far, Savanna was clearly better at it then I was. Savanna's blows went much further in then mine did. What was worse was that she noticed and then started progressively doing worse just to make me feel better. It had the opposite effect. She glanced at me while I threw a watermelon size chunk out of the way, but I couldn't meet her eye.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

"No," Savanna said succinctly.

"You, sure?" I pressed, face burning from more than the heat.

Her eyes flashed and miraculously she started to massage her arms. She was tired.

Savanna handed the pickaxe back to Ruri. The smaller girl looked at it until she glanced up at me. She folded her arms. "Stop being an idiot."

I didn't respond as Savanna fidgeted.

"A human male is not going to beat two pokegirls in a strength contest. You are letting some chauvinistic, ancient, bullshit get in our way." she pressed. My arms hurt, they were starting to shake from muscle failure, the sun was burning my neck and my shirt clung to me like a wet smothering blanket. I glanced at Savanna for support but even she was looking away. I hung my head as Ruri continued. "You beat up a half-starved, half-dead, common-level feral. You are still very much a physical liabil-"

"Ruri," I interrupted, looking up at her with my 'shut-up' glare. "Enough."

Actual fear slithered onto her face and she stopped in mid-sentence. Seeing that she wasn't going to keep speaking, I closed my eyes having gotten her point. Savanna accepted my pickaxe numbly as I slumped past her. She stood up, recovering quickly from whatever fear had gripped her.

My shoulders felt heavy. I was too tired to feel much more than exhaustion. The sun kept beating down, harsh enough so that it made my skin burn under the sheen of sweat. Another shift passed by and I took Savanna's spot. Ruri soldiered on like the energizer bunny she was. A water bottle was putin my hand at one point by our 'nurse.' As we kept going I started to get angrier and angrier that the concrete kept coming and the wall didn't move. I kept at it until I finally looked down and saw that we were more than three feet in. I just took a step back and slammed the pickaxe at a ninety degree angle. It stuck in and I took a short stroll to calm down.

I put my hands over my head and walked it off, my arms hurt from all the work and my neck felt like it was constantly being stung. The chinks of pickaxes and shovels were starting to make my brain itch. I rubbed at my forehead and tried not to gag as the world became a hurricane of sounds and colors. My shirt felt oppressive after all the sweat I had poured into it, I took a deep breath. Savanna appeared to put a reassuring hand on my back as well as shove a water bottle in my face. "Sean should drink."

I took a few large gulps and then threw the rest on my face. "Fuck, when's lunch?"

She put another water bottle in my hand. "Drink."

I took another large swig of that bottle too, she held it up to my face and forced me chug down the rest. I chugged but put the third water bottle in her hand. "I get it, you want me to drink more water."

She was unimpressed. "Headache, agitation, Sean is not sweating as much, Sean is getting dehydrated."

I took the third water bottle and downed another gulp, nothing like a threatening condition to make you want to drink more. I pointed over at Ruri who was sitting on a rock and leaning her head on the shovel. "Is she drinking?"

"Ruri is drinking more than Sean."

I took another gulp. "Alright let's take a break and come back to that later."

I took a seat on the rock across from Ruri as Savanna walked off towards the water cart that was making its rounds. It was good to see her acting like the team medic; at least that was going to plan. I looked up at Ruri and nursed the pain in my head a few more seconds. I forced a chuckle. "You know last night this was a much better idea."

"Last night you were fucking," Ruri mumbled into her shovel.

"Before that it was a good idea."

"What? Pimping us out as day laborers?" she asked with a flat look.

"Strength. Training." I defended half-stubbornly, half-jokingly. "Though last night was more fun."

BOOM!

A chunk of rock hit the ground beside me and threw some mud on my face. A dull thump, like a door being slammed, then another explosion and a column of fire was thrown up from behind the water cart. What was happening?

Was this planned?

What was that ringing?

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