Pokegirls: Emerald

by Izcariot

Hoenn League is a tropical country teetering on the brink of civil war. Both sides are sliding towards a bloody conflict with an ancient conspiracy pulling their strings. In a world already broken, what will be left?

8. Past Future Present

Chapter: Past Future Present

XXXXX

Thump.

I could feel each time a cloud of smoke was thrown up. I looked at Ruri and her expression was clearly telling me to run. Why was this happening? What was causing this? Savanna was leaning against the cart flinching every time there was a thump. Above me a beam of light swept across the sky and the pokégirl guard above me flew back over the lip of the quarry. Ruri appeared over me and yanked me to my feet. Thump, thump. A column of smoke rose up from outside my view. At Ruri's continued insistence, I broke into a run. Savanna was in front of me, far away and glancing around as unsure as all the women around her. Thump.

A woman, farther away, was screaming. I just kept moving forward towards Savanna. I had to get to her and; the next thought alluded me, I'd think later.

Ruri ran past me. Her hair was swishing back and forth as she charged forward with her head down. Savanna looked up at a four armed woman and shouted something. The water cart, a massive drum about the size of a small mobile home, shielded them from what was attacking. Thump. The whip of light arced across the sky like anti-aircraft fire. I kept charging forward. Savanna was finally looking at me, shouting. It was all on mute; all I could feel was the next thump. A cloud of dust was thrown up. Ruri finally slid to a stop in front of Savanna.

Thump, thump, brrrrr, another woman screamed but it sounded like she was being strangled by a blanket over her mouth. Savanna and Ruri shouted at me but I couldn't hear them. Brrrrr. A stream of light flashed across my vision and I followed it until it hit the quarry wall to my right. Chunks of rock spit off and a woman disappeared in a cloud of red. The light faded and the sounds of gunshots ringing came again. I was still walking forward. To my left were stunned pokégirls staring in horror. Thump. Something roughly bullet shaped, but bigger, arced into the wall behind them. It exploded and they all vanished in a cloud of smoke. One of their corpses went flying out, bounced by the force of the blast. It landed like a ragdoll, flopping and rolling in an awkward bloody shape.

It took forever for me to close the five feet to Savanna. She was so close but so far away. To my right a tamer and his girl stared at the source of the explosions. He pointed forward and a regular looking girl was suddenly wielding a fireball. She launched it just in time for the light trail to appear next her. It swung towards her like a sword and tore her to shreds. Her body bulged as the light ripped her arms off and exploded her chest into a pink cloud. The boy besides her simply watched as the girl fell and the light closed in.

Then it just stopped. The boy stared and stared until he collapsed onto his knees.

I was falling forward. Barely to the cart, I hit the rocky dirt and skid to stop. Between the spokes of the wheels I could see the rest of the quarry beyond. A woman was sitting in the muck. It was Ariel from earlier. She was staring up at a vengeful god. She couldn't even look away. Brrrrrr.

I saw the tip of the sword pierce her chest. Frame by frame, I could see every second of her skin compress under the force then rebound like a ball. Her flesh bulged, stretching like rubber until she popped into a shower of red dust. Her body twisted as the light cut her open and swept away. Her head landed back on the dirt, mud splashed over her hair tinting it red and her lifeless teal-green eyes looked into mine, endlessly frozen in fear.

I was pulled to my feet and dragged to the cart. Savanna's eyes were wide, at full alert; she switched between looking at me and the quarry wall. Ruri was doing the same thing. What to do? What was it? So far it had killed everything it had seen. Ruri's mouth moved but her eyes didn't, explosions drown her out.

Thump, thump, brrrrr.

Water was hitting me in the face, I looked up. The light had sawn off a portion of the water tank and it was raining down like the edge of a log flume. The top of the cask fell into the water and a torrent drenched me to the bone. I blinked and sputtered out some water. The nine foot, four armed Amazonian woman was on the ground. I looked over at Ruri and the back of her hair was smeared with red. There was a chunky blob of something on her shoulder that she picked off.

It was covered in mucus and stuck to her hand, she played with it like a stress ball, her face contorted in disgust and finally the red chunk was cleaned off enough to show the ridges in it. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped it immediately. The chunk hit a puddle of mud and rolled.

A woman charged on my left, a ball of energy in hand. Brrrrrr. A stream of light caught the girl mid chest and sawed her in half. A part of her arm exploded as the trail of light finally passes off her and flies into the quarry wall.

Savanna is covered in blood and bits of flesh as well but she's wiped her face off. She pats me down checking for injuries. Apparently, she had been touching me for a while but I hadn't felt it. She pulled me to my feet like I was a child. Had I been hurt? No, the tall woman had been killed and she was just hanging by the cart and then the two pokégirls had died but not that other Tamer. I wasn't hit. It started in the quarry so? We uncovered something.

"What was that thing?" I asked.

They both shook their heads and said things that I couldn't hear. I tried to form my thoughts together, to reason. I was yanked around and facing Ruri, she had me by the shoulders and was pulling me towards the rocks on our left. She was right, we couldn't stay there.

Cover. Cover was better than concealment. She screamed something, the muscles of her face showing through her cheeks and jaw. But those rocks were through open ground against something that hadn't missed a shot yet. I planted my feet and fought her.

She yanked on my arm and screamed furiously.

I shook my head. "We can't go out there! We have to use the cart as concealment and go wide!"

The lip of the quarry was empty, which meant that wherever Magma was, they were regrouping or retreating. That was why none of them were digging. 'Guards are guards' was a hint or maybe a warning? They knew and had left us down here to die. But that was a good thing, they would have made precautions and disappearing showed something had been rehearsed. She didn't let go of my arm but changed the destination. I was dragged me back to where we came from. It was a long dash punctuated by my feet not wanting to work and almost falling face first into the dirt several times. I felt like the last female survivor in a horror movie. Finally, we slammed into a solid piece of rock to hide behind.

Thump.

Thump.

A column of water was thrown up and then one of fire.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

That noise, like a chainsaw running right next to my ear, dragged on for seconds until falling silent. Only the torrent of my own breathing and a faraway ringing was left.

Thump.

Was it fighting Magma? My thoughts dragged on for hours and came slowly. The fighting was farther away; all I could see was the occasional attack or feel the explosion. Should we have stayed there? What if it came back? We needed to move and get out of the hole. It was just a dead end.

Thump, boom.

Judging by the earlier attacks and tracking how the explosions had become quieter and quieter, it was already in the camp. I looked between Ruri and Savanna. "Hold Fast. We'll wait for it to move further up into the camp."

They nodded in agreement. The sound of fire and explosions finally began to inch further and further away. It was time. We ran along the quarry wall, keeping the cart between us and the majority of quarry out of view. We had to sprint through the tendrils of water that were reducing everything it touched into mud.

The four armed woman's neck was dribbling out a ribbon of red that wisped through the water. Explosions and that damn chainsaw noise blocked out every other sound, I couldn't even hear my feet splash in the mud. The three of us stole peeks to survey the entire burnt out quarry. Activity had been replaced with annihilation. All of the bodies were women. Two tamer's were just staring at the carnage around them like vultures. Craters pock mark the ground, creating central points of bodies.

I took a deep breath as we sat and wait. My heart was bursting out of my chest; fingers shaking on the edge. I took a deep breath, calmed myself down. Hold it for four, breath out. Just like running, I had to control my breathing. The enemy had disappeared over the lip of the quarry, I had a moment to collect myself.

Brrrrrrr.

And yet still in the camp.

The rest of was just open ground. There was no cover, no concealment, and if something else was just waiting then it would be our ass. I pointed to the edge of the quarry, we would use edge to block at least one enemy. "Move along there."

Savanna went to run, I caught her arm. "Ruri first, you next, me last."

We went over as planned. Ruri on point to engage, Savanna to heal her, and I would command? Cower? I wasn't sure but I knew I wasn't important to the offence. We moved along the edge until we got to the ramp. It was a quiet, frantic run but it felt sort of good. I felt as if I was gliding behind Savanna instead of running. That single ramp came so quickly. She stopped me and knelt in the dirt. As I slid in next to her, Ruri moved up the ramp.

Savanna looked as if she asked a question. My hearing was still shot, I pointed to my ears. She had an epiphany and ran her glowing hands over my ears. It was like the ultimate ear pop. Sounds suddenly rushed back to me.

"Sean good?" she asked.

"Better."

I gave the quarry one last inspection. The most obvious addition from the morning was the giant hole in the ground on the other end. The wind shifted. Blood, shit, gunpowder and dirt clawed their way up my nose. My stomach wrenched before I could chase that thought. Thump. Brrrrrr. I fought the bile back down. That chainsaw noise was a gun. I followed Savanna up and we all stared over the edge of the ground trying to spot the enemy before it spotted us.

The science tent was supposed to be the closest but there was nothing but a pile of twisted metal boxes left. The rest of the tents held up little better, ripped and tattered so that we could see the beds within. Not even the walls of the encampment had survived intact, the fabric that held them together had been ripped and it had crumbled. The tree line was just a short run away.

I blinked at the convenience, finally something was going right! We could escape while that thing was distracted. "Let's move behind the science tent and into the tree line. We'll wait it out."

Ruri howled. "We're running!"

"Can you kill that thing?" I screamed back.

She glared but shook her head. Besides, if that thing killed everything then we got all their stuff. She took point again and the ever silent Savanna followed. Nothing remained of the actual tent except for the tattered rag caught on the dirt wall. Every Cargo container had been mauled and dented from bullets and explosions, piling them up haphazardly. It was crazy to see but only a couple were busted open, the rest were barely rectangles anymore but they remained stubbornly shut.

A blur of red and black was in the grey wreckage. He was still alive, waving frantically with his good arm. The tree line beckoned me. The container above him had been smeared by blood and dented by the bullets that had torn through him. He was already lost. We could have left him and no one would care. Half of him was gone, he wouldn't make it! The trees were right there.

A sound like door being slammed and then an explosion shattered my hearing.

Ruri wanted to fight that thing, if we stayed then she'd be killed picking a fight with that sword of light. Savanna though? I turned around and pretended to stare at the quarry but focused on Savanna. Her eyes were unfocused: a thousand yard stare at the pile of containers.

Brrrrrrrr.

It looked like everyone would get what they wanted.

"Savanna on me, Ruri keep watch!"

Savanna ran forward as if she was already expecting me to do this. The guy was in worse shape as we get closer, his right arm was pinned to his torso by a massive chunk of metal. His face was in better shape but with all of the blood and shrapnel in him; he looked like Harvey Dent. Savanna immediately started running her healing light over him. It was gradual but just that tiny bit brought relief to his face. She was barely above the flesh with only a green glow touching the skin, but it worked. As it took effect, the pieces of metal began to fall out of the man's skin.

With Savanna doing her thing, I checked on Ruri. She kept strafing back and forth to get a better view. Some tents had held up better than others but it was still a maze. I took a deep breath when something caught my eye. Under one of the broken boxes, a well formed piece of wood was sticking out. I worked it loose and wonderfully enough out came an iconic rifle: an Avtomat Kalashnikova 47.

I checked the magazine and incredibly it felt completely full! Of course, it may have been a relic that barely functioned. I pulled out the mag and cleared the barrel. None of the parts looked rusted. I pulled the trigger just to be safe, nothing broke. Worked for me. The mag went back in and I pulled the gun into my shoulder. I could fight now. Another explosion rocked the camp.

"Savanna! Is he going to live?" I asked.

She waved me over. She said something and I had to point to my ears. Savanna held up the glow to my right ear. "Pull that piece out of man's torso!"

I put the AK down and braced his arm so that I wouldn't pull the shrapnel out of that too. Savanna put her hand on mine. "On my mark!"

I nodded and readied myself.

"Now!"

Another explosion took my hearing.

I yanked the guy's arm. Savanna's hand was immediately curtailing all of the blood that was gushing out. He arched his back and started screaming. She was calm though and he started to relax as the wound closed. She patted his arm and held up her fingers. Three, two, one. The metal didn't come out as easily from his arm and a sliver of blood touched my hand. Savanna was immediately closing both wounds. The guy's eyes fluttered but nothing else looked as extreme.

I took the chance to ask him some questions. "Is this yours?"

I jerked the gun into his line of sight; all I got was a weak nod.

"Ammo! I need magazines! Where are they?" I screamed.

He looked over at the pile of boxes; Savanna grabbed my shoulder. "Sean stop!"

I was already running up around the pile.

The closest box had a giant hole in it and the next was empty. Probably the only one they used too. The third was dented into a triangle with only a sliver of a locking mechanism keeping the thing closed. It got the butt of my rifle. The new level of abuse popped the lock open easily; piles of straw and shiny new Ak-47s rained out. No magazines though. I kicked the box down the pile.

Blood.

All I could see was blood staining the next layer of boxes. I grimaced; it was everywhere and caked them red. The simplest box to reach next was on the other side of the pile. It proved harder, but it popped open as well and I was bequeathed with a stack of kindling and magazines. I stuck them anywhere they would fit until my pockets were full. I jumped to get off the pile only to be hold back.

With an awkward landing, I found my balance.

A pale hand was clutching my ankle. It looked disembodied the way it was barely poking out from underneath a container. I shook my leg loose and picked up the container that was crushing it. It was a heavy bastard but it came free and I threw it down the pile.

Pinned by three more containers was the hairy scientist who had welcomed me to the camp. He was exceptionally pale and blood had turned his white coat red with only a few spots of white left. He was very close to death. He smiled up at me with a crooked red smile that was missing several teeth and said something. Or tried to. Either he was so weak he couldn't speak or the explosions had blunted my hearing. I honestly didn't think the guy would live. Savanna was patting down the Magma Grunt below and the Scientist was so far gone. She couldn't see this side of the pile either and we had wasted enough time on that grunt. I couldn't save him but if I left and he did survive that would be hard to explain.

One of the containers shifted ominously at the top of the pile. I didn't smile back. "Shouldn't have called them sluts."

With a gentle pull the container tipped too far over and the corner collapsed the Scientist's chest. The force cracked the lock and various pieces of lab equipment, microscopes and the like covered his body. Maybe it was a science expedition.

I bounded down the pile of grey metal. "Savanna! We need to keep moving!"

She checked her patient once more. Running her hand over anything that looked remotely pink, I checked my new gun too. It felt good to have a weapon I could actually use. Punching shit was over-rated. Savanna stood up and I started moving towards Ruri. She fell in step behind me. Ruri jerked as soon as I got my hand on her shoulder.

"Where was it?" I asked.

"I don't know! Stopped firing though," she screamed back.

I blinked at the sheer volume of her scream. Savanna wordlessly stepped in and ran a glowing hand over her ear. Her hearing returned. With the grunt and the scientist, I hadn't noticed it but she was right. There had only been one explosion for in the last few minutes. Had Magma pulled back? It was the smart move: pull back and reassess before engaging. They had already lost the quarry and a few soldiers. They had pulled back beyond the walls, that single exit was a choke point.

I pointed to the walls. It was basic Call of Duty tactics, stick to the outside of the map so that we didn't get surrounded. "Same order as before, move along the edge of the camp."

Ruri on point to engage, Savanna to heal her, and I would provide covering fire. They nodded and we started to move. The walls of the encampment were just far enough from the tents so that we could run relatively unimpeded. With the AK tucked into my shoulder it felt just like all those airsoft matches. Ruri and Savanna seemed to at least have the basics down. Ruri would check around corners, look left long enough to scan and then wait for us to catch up. I swiveled the gun to stare down the alley. The tents were spaced rather loosely together, enough for two people to walk comfortable through. The first row was relatively undamaged. I swiveled back to scan the rear.

Savanna stopped me with a gentle hand and then went next. Again, I scanned down the alley and the camp was still serene.

"Front!" A foreign voice called.

I brought the AK to bear. Five tents down, the shadows of three Magma grunts stopped short. Two females and a male, they stared at us with attacks drawn. Ruri had her own ember ready to throw and my iron sights were right on the lead girl's chest.

The Grunts lowered their attacks first and we did as well. I waved the Grunts forward and they, hesitantly, ran bent at the knees. Ruri moved forward too and I focused on our six again. Another row of tents, nothing. Another row of tents, nothing.

BRRRRR!

All of us bent low on reflex; I swiveled and aimed forward again. Ruri stepped back into Savanna who would've fallen over if I hadn't been there. The tent in front of us collapsed as a sword of light slashed the top of it off. Without supports the entire thing collapsed quickly. I braced them and they both scramble over each other to stand up. The six of us were frozen for a desperate eternity before the lead Grunt poked her head out to get a better look. BRR!

Her head exploded like a watermelon.

I pulled Savanna behind me and allowed Ruri to scramble away from the new deadly alley. She stood primed at my shoulder as we both watched the other's try to pick up the dead woman's body. I turned to ask Savanna to move back.

BOOM!

My ears erupted into ringing and chunks of dirt smacked me in the face. Ruri collapsed on my shoulder and bounced off. Strange, that I couldn't see her fall. I looked down at her to offer a hand and instead found the bloody front of her shirt with a metal rod sticking out of her.

"SAVANNA!" the words were out of my mouth before I could finish.

She was already leaping forward. Ruri's eyes were wide but she was blinking like she had just been hit by a stray ball in gym class. The smoke cleared in front of us and nothing was moving. Savanna pushed me out of the way as she checked on Ruri. I stumbled back and collapsed against the wall. My head was spinning and all I could hear was ringing and some kind of raging windstorm. I fired into the tent creating several holes in the fabric. With a handhold, I was able to yank the canvas apart easily.

Inside were more bunks complete with plywood. We could hide when, whatever the fuck was attacking us, came around the corner. It would've been easier if Ruri had a handle on the back of her dress but I looped my arms under hers and started dragging. Savanna stared aghast until she saw the new hole in the tent behind us. Then she grabbed her legs. Once Ruri was in the tent I sat her down right in the middle of the aisle and waited for Savanna to finish examining her. Ruri looked strangely calm as she blinked at the ceiling. Suddenly, she looked up at us and said something.

Savanna cupped her ears and Ruri asked something again. Savanna nodded and then Ruri made an 'oh' expression. She stared at the front of her shirt, the red showed up really well on her black dress. Shit. Why the hell did we stick to the side of the camp?

I realized it was a kill zone that we wouldn't have been able to maneuver around in. We should've just fucking walked on the other side of the walls!

BRRRRR!

The tent shuttered around us. I dove behind a bed and huddled against the only defense. A tiny wooden leg that was in no way cover. The canvas fell like a theater curtain. A beady red eye was looking at me from behind a visor. Its head was small, a disc that sat atop a bulky square. Old Greenland camouflage made it stand out among the tan tents.

Both guns were leveled at us. Shit.

My hands were shaking, rattling the AK. I tried to pull it tighter into my shoulder but the end of the barrel kept swaying like a drunkard. As I tried to keep the deathbot in the sights it was that same drunken feeling: like aiming a sniper rifle on Call of Duty. I couldn't help it, I laughed. I could feel the damn eye looking at me as a mini-gun adjusted in tiny intervals.

BRRRR!

A constant stream of light flew over my head. I could see every single blur like a line of ants as they ripped past. The robot was stumbling, the gun in my hand started firing back. It began too far to the right and climbed over the mech's head. I finally regained control and pried my finger off the trigger. Underneath the mini-gun, a magma girl had thrown it off target. She was engulfed in flames as the robot used a hidden flamethrower and burnt her to a crisp. I could see her outline in the flames and suddenly she fell over and the flames stopped. It froze for a moment then the big ominous eye suddenly darted to the right. It made awkward waddle like steps with its stubby legs and the guns moved away from me.

Two magma girls suddenly appeared as if by magic. One had a dark blue tail and white legs and the other looked completely human. They were behind the robot then disappeared in another firestorm from the mech's flamethrower. Above it now, the human girl landed on the robots head and pressed her hand on its eye dome.

The metal receded as if being eaten away by acid! I peeked up from over my gun and simply watched. The non-human girl appeared next to the human again and then they moved. This time they attacked the mini-gun barrels and those too were simply eaten away. The flames came out again but they were gone. Those two women completely tore the machine to pieces by teleporting around it. The non-human provided the movement and the human looking pokégirl provided the attack power. The mech couldn't even retaliate, the flamethrower acting as its death bell. Like a dragon being eaten away by disease. Soon it didn't even have arms and its body was being pumped full of acid by the more human looking grunt.

A black boot stepped on my arm and pinned my rifle to the ground. I followed it over red bracers to a furred leg that led into a magma skirt. A fox like muzzle poked out from the hood smiling at me. I looked around for any support. Savanna was collapsed against the remains of a bed that had been chewed up. She was shell shocked but okay. The fox summoned a tiny sun and brought it dangerously close to my head. Ruri and Savanna were both down and all I could do was sit there and stare up at the woman. The grunt waved her hand towards the other two.

I followed her line of sight towards the two Magmas calmly walking over. The more human looking one, whose hands had reduced the robot to scrap metal was taking the lead and exuding a commanding calm. Her uniform was more customized: the typical female magma skirt was replaced by a much longer dress that reached past her knees but was split down the left side. Subconsciously, my eyes drifted to her hands and to the piece of metal where her bracers should have been. It looked almost like a display. The woman smiled at me and said something. It was all on mute, I shook my head.

The woman turned to Ruri and Savanna and said something else. Savanna got up and carefully moved past the girl pinning me and pressed her hands to my ears. The Magma woman became as clear as day. "-ll what'd you do huh? Hide? That's pretty low, how you just ran."

Such overt hostility. I tapped the butt of the rifle to get her attention. "I fought plenty."

The woman behind me ground her heel into my hand. "Learn some respect."

"Hmmm. Well you did shoot at it." Her Mistress folded her arms and continued to examine me. "Let him go."

The pokegirl backed off and took a few steps back. I stood up. Her Mistress offered me a hand but I didn't take it. I made sure the gun came with me and babied it in my hands, if anything I could've smacked her with the butt and put some rounds in her before the woman behind killed me. We

"What's your name Tamer?" she asked.

"Sean and you are?" I asked.

"Administrator Courtney Kagari. I'm the commander of this little expedition." She glanced at the remains of the tent she was standing on. "What's left of it."

Before I could respond, the first batches of red and black were coming around the corner. Team Magma had withdrawn to field outside. One of the male grunts sprinted over and threw up a salute. "Ma'am! It's exactly what we're looking for!"

Was the plan for the commanding officer to fight the enemy one on one? How reckless was that!

"One moment." Kagari held her hand up and glared over her shoulder. The grunt straightened up immediately and didn't say another word. She smiled at me. "Stick around Sean, maybe you'll even want to join us."

I smiled. "Maybe. I definitely like the lodgings better."

I had no intention of joining.

"Good. We'll need that though and all of those." She pointed to the AK in my hands and all of the ammunition stuck in my pockets.

I stared over her shoulder at all of the grunts and took painful note of the pokégirl behind me. I laughed. "Okay."

I held out the rifle and the white furred woman with the leathery tail took hold. She put her hands on it and jerked a little when I didn't let go. I chuckled nervously and finally let go. It felt like the one that got away. Handing off the magazines, eight in all, was easier. Satisfied that I was sufficiently disarmed, Kagari turned around and disappeared into the throng of grunts along with her pokégirls.

There was a long moment of silence. I focused on trying to breathe and trying to keep standing. My legs felt like jelly. The shaking in my hands started to fade. I felt cold but there was an undercurrent rising in my mind. A sense of accomplishment and the lightheadedness that came with that. Then, my mind finally started to progress to the future. I had made some kind of impression. It'd be interesting to see what made that scrap of metal that was laying in the middle of the camp. Several grunts had piled around it, laughing. A couple were taking pictures. Maybe I could tag along, I still felt pretty good and I did have an open invitation after all.

I remembered that there were two people I had a responsibility too.

"You two okay?" I asked, turning to the two of them. Savanna took a deep breath but didn't say anything. Ruri brushed off her dress and fingered the new hole in it. Her eyes were unfocused and the blood from her wound had been smeared over her dress as she kept repeating the same motion over and over again. That dress was ruined.

"Fine," she said. She shook her head and glared at me. "You look like you just lost a salvage battle."

"We spent so little time together," I whispered. Levity would drag us through this. Hopefully. A bloody metal stake was sitting on the floor next to her. Savanna must have pulled it out and healed her just as quickly as she had the magma grunt.

I looked at Savanna and asked, "Is she really fine?"

"Shrapnel wasn't that deep. Shrapnel missed Ruri's heart and lungs." Her voice cracked.

Ruri shook her head in embarrassment. If her egotism had returned than she was fine.

"Savanna?" I asked.

She nodded weakly. "Savanna is, uh, fine."

I studied the wreckage of the mech or what was left of it. Grunts appeared with several boxes full of equipment and shooed the crowd away. They set up a crime scene and started collecting evidence. I shook the jitters out of my head. "I want to find out what that thing was guarding."

Ruri nodded.

Savanna pulled herself up. "Savanna will follow Sean."

I smiled at both of them and walked into the center of the camp. The grunts were in a massive crowd and paid us no attention. It wasn't hard to simply blend into them and start moving along the edge of the group. Most of them had crystallized into little squads of people who were discussing the next step. We were eventually able to glide our way over to the 'Newbie Tent.'

It was in one piece but lesser. The joy of the night before was gone. Inside, three guys were blocking the way further in. The closest didn't look too good, curled up on the ground. He looked mostly dead with a thousand-yard stare locked at the floor. He didn't even look up as I walked past. The other two were magma grunts standing over a pile of bags. "Poor guys. I hear only two or three guys survived."

The second one patted his comrade on the back. "It's always sad to see the young one die first. They all froze and died."

"Shit. To think that something like that was hiding under Route 101."

"Let's just try and find some ID so we can tell their parents."

The second guy looked over his shoulder and finally caught sight of the three of us. He suddenly smiled. "Hey another noobie!"

The other turned to face us. "It's great that at least one of you escaped with your girls intact."

"Yeah. Thank God for that. I'd hate to lose either of them," I said.

They both smiled at me; Ruri smirked, but Savanna actually smiled.

It was a short moment. The grunt looked down at the catatonic tamer. "Better than this one. He was down in the quarry when that robot attacked. Killed his girl right in front of him, weird it didn't kill him. Either way, he's not taking it well."

My stuff was at their feet too. In fact, my bag was near the top. "Right, I just need my bag."

The grunts looked rightly embarrassed. "Right, right. Sorry for touching your things. We didn't take anything though."

Uh huh. I found my bag towards the back and checked over the inventory sheet on my pokédex. Nothing important was missing. Satisfied, I slung it over my shoulder and motioned Savanna and Ruri to join me. The back of the tent was still lit up. I walked past the grunt.

"Um, where are you going?" They asked.

"We're fucking soaked. Ruri is covered in blood and Savanna's shirt was originally white."

The two grunts turned to look at Savanna and her now red and brown shirt. At the sound of their names both of them followed me. Out of habit I walked all the way to the back and used the space I had last night. It still looked the same. I gave myself a quick slap on the cheeks and summoned up another set of pants and a shirt. I tossed the 'dex to Ruri as the items magically appeared in the bag. Ruri didn't hesitate and picked out her own clothes then handed it off to Savanna.

It wouldn't make us clean but it would make us feel better to have dry, clean clothes on. Ruri pulled her fingers through her hair and rung out a lot of blood. "I'm still covered in filth."

"We don't have time for a shower."

She pulled on a more suitable dress. "Yeah, yeah."

For a rich bitch she didn't seem to mind being dirty. Or that she had just been shot at. As for Savanna. She dumped the mass of mud and cloth to the ground with a blank expression. She had that same stare in her eyes. I cleared my throat. "Savanna."

She jerked awake and stared at me. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

She blinked a couple times. "Savanna have never done that before."

Fully dressed, I walked over to her and cradled her head. "Can you keep going?"

She rocked her head forward until she was nodding. "Savanna will follow Sean."

Even seeing the two of them in their bras and panties didn't distract me. Magma was still funneling through outside. After we had finished, we stared at each other awkwardly. I put the bag back on and we dropped eye contact.

I opened the curtain.

The grunts were back to shifting through the bags with gusto. The tamer from before was limping out with the help of a female grunt. They only gave us enough attention to let us by. The tamer and his support peeled off to the left. We stopped at the door of the tent and watched the crowd. The air still stunk but the breeze felt nice. We let it wash over us. Surprisingly, it was Ruri who cast a last look at the guy. Her eyes said one thing, 'weak.'

There was an electric feeling in the air. An aura that martialed the dead. A part of me wanted to stop and fall to my feet and to just process what was happening. But that aura, coming off of Magma grunts who had wisely retreated, called me to action. Purpose beckoned them. Those that had jobs threw themselves into them. Whether it be scavenging through property or dissecting a deadly robot. The crowd watched them with a craving. I should've left or checked on the obviously traumatized Savanna but it wasn't over. Not for the crowd and not for me, who was drunk off their energy.

A grunt and his girl stopped in front of me. He beamed under his hood and waved.

It was Henning and Kelia.

"Hey! You survived!" he greeted. I gave him a nonchalant wave, it stopped him for a moment then he laughed even louder. "And you don't look so green anymore!"

I smiled at him. The jitters had mostly passed. An alarm cut our reunion short, it sounded like an air raid siren, and all of us cringed at the sound. Like ants, the entire pack of people started to walk towards the quarry. I nodded at the Magma goons. "What's up with the march?"

Henning turned around and studied the people filing past, including an abnormally tall magma girl. He sighed. "Well Admin Kagari killed that robot. One of the scientists says it's pre-war. That means it came from what we're looking for. The might of Magma will bring us to victory!"

He shoved his fist to the sky. The passing column echoed with huzzahs. He smiled like a man on top of the world. "You want to come along too?"

I glanced down into the quarry and the ominous black hole. The ruins of the perfectly organized tents collapsed as if bowing down. The individual grunts became a red and black line marching towards the collapsed rock face. Even over the stench of a hundreds of sweaty people filing past I could start to make out the distinct smell. My throat started to reverse itself, I took a deep breath. "We were just about to."

XXX

Henning and I fell into the Magma column and descended into the pit. Ruri and Savanna were at my sides and Kelia was by Henning's. The entire column was silent except for the crunch of boots as we started spreading around the quarry. The lead element crowded around a massive hole in the side of the place. One of the leaders was in front of the crowd directing people but Henning and I were crammed in the back and waiting. The tension was thick as we all stood around and waited.

The scientists were talking with the leaders of the camp. It went on for about five minutes as I jostled for position. Everyone in the crowd was older than me and refused to give the young gun a better look, even if I was taller than them. I had about half a foot on most of these people but that only held true for the guys. There were enough women giants to block my view as well. Eventually, an order came from a booming male voice in front of us.

"Move forward!" The crowd mulled about and then started filling into a slopping slab of concrete that led underground. It had all the trappings of a bunker, including blast doors that had been toppled over by the Mech. Even with the sun at our back the doors only led to darkness. Henning cracked some chemical lights and handed me a few. Ahead of us, several grunts were holding up fire attacks. Ruri did the same but still cracked a chemical-light like Savanna and I.

"Spread out! Report anything suspicious!" came the order from up front.

The spread of fire and the chemical lights made the area glow as we all spread out. I glanced around in wonderment as the lights revealed we were in a motor pool. The main attraction was the truly massive amount of tanks that were parked in here. They were all in mint condition, waiting for duty. I walked over to an Abrams and ran a reverent hand over the hull. The paint was still evenly coated and it suffered no wear and tear; only a little dust, even after 200 years sitting in a cave. A little step ladder was on the side and the turret hatch was open, ready for someone to hop in and start blasting.

Ruri and Savanna both watched me scan the tank. I smiled up at them and they both looked embarrassed for me. "What?"

Ruri shook her head. "Nothing, you just have a healthy respect for some old piece of antiquated tech."

Savanna and her broke into giggles. I scowled. "Healthy respect? Antiquated? This was a Main Battle Tank."

They both look unconvinced. "So what about those two. They look tough."

She pointed over to a T-90 and a T-80. Both of them were painted in woodland camouflage resembling the Abrams I was petting. What was strange was that they both had little soviet flags flapping on the antennae. A bunch of magma grunts were fucking with them. Even further down the line were Chinese flags as well. That was weird, why would Communists and Americans share a motor pool? Was Sukube's war the cause of this? The combined might of the Soviet and American war machine died in a base? O quam cito transit gloria mundi.

I scoffed. "Yeah. Well, wait."

An M1 from 2010 would kick the Soviet T-90s ass. But this was the early nineties. The T-90 wins in technical details but the training was bad especially after the fall of the Soviet Union but then again these are the Soviet models so maybe they had better training? "T-80 no, T-90 maybe."

I'm an American military brat, sue me.

Savanna shook her head. "Sean can recognize old war machines?"

I shook my head. "Not now."

We all glanced around at the various magma grunts meandering about. I hopped on the tank to get in. This was the first time I had unlimited ability to play with a tank and my inner child was screaming in excitement. I plopped myself down into the commanders seat and started playing with buttons on the screens in front of me. The thing came to life slowly but still came on. Immediately, I got the main screen to start pulling up information through some kind of communication screen. It showed the different lanes of the motor pool including that the Russian tanks were friendly: so they were fighting together.

A kept pressing buttons until I found one for the zoom. I pulled the display back and found a 'non reading' signal from something called a M5F "Ahnold". It wasn't responding and was about 300 yards away. Was that what that thing was called? I pursed my lips, cool. I kept playing and found a tactical map of the entire region. It looked sort of like the pokédex map but with completely different locations. Strangely, it was reading our position as 'Langoud Cannon Development Lab/ Motor Pool.'

Langoud cannon? A super weapon? A new turret for tanks? Hmmm. I closed the screen and managed to crawl out of the tank. Ruri and Savanna were sitting on the edge and watching people mill, no words were being exchanged. I ignored both of them and practically bounced down onto the driver's hatch. It was a tight fit again but I managed and was seated in what felt like a dentist's chair. It was actually kind of cool with a handlebar at my waist. I gave the handlebars a little shake and they didn't budge.

The next thing I was fucking with was the little sliding thing under the handlebars. I played with the slider a few more times like I did my Grandma's air conditioner before returning it to the position I found it. There was a switch to my right that said 'start.' My inner child screamed and I flipped it. The entire tank came alive with a deafening roar as the turbine spun up. The girls screamed above me and the entire bunker shook as the massive beast rumbled. A grin was splitting my face in two.

It sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner was reverberating around the bunker. I stared down at my new toy and tried to figure out how to make it go. I slide the selector in the middle of the control handlebars to D and then with a twist of my wrist. Nothing happened. What the; the Abrams lurched forwards as the engine gave a massive WHOOSH! The girls screamed again. I slammed the brake between my feet and it felt like my eyes were trying to leave my skull from the force of the stop. They were twitchy fuckers and I physically lifted off the seat.

Why'd the girl's scream?

Oh shit.

Did I hit the girls? What if they fell off?

I reached over and fumbled with the switch before it finally killed the engine. I had to pry myself out of the seat by gripping the hatch above me. Something slammed onto the top of the tank and suddenly I was looking up Ruri's dress, her tail was an inferno dancing close to my face. "What the hell did you do?"

I just smiled up at her sheepishly and ignored the white pair of panties. "Is Savanna okay? Was anyone hurt?" I asked; Ruri's righteous fury could come later.

She narrowed her eyes. "It threw us off the tank! Why the hell did this thing move?"

It felt like my face was about to split in two, but then I got a gut instinct that I should shut up; the grin disappeared. "I have no idea. I'm as scared as you. I think it was faulty wiring or something. It's very old."

Her expressions didn't change. "Yeah right! How can you work this thing? Were you in a military?"

I laughed. "No."

Savanna appeared on top of the tank and smacked me the shit out of me. I took it like a bitch and was left rubbing my jaw as she glared. "How can you be so reckless? What if you hit someone! Sean what were you thinking?"

She recovered from taming shock quickly.

She was leaning over the tank screaming at me with the look of death on her face. Like a cross between a pit bull and the grim reaper. I rubbed at my cheek and tried not to look in her brown eyes. "I'm sorry. That's why I stopped I didn't want to hurt you."

"You should've thought of that sooner!"

I rubbed my cheek and studied her intently as she stared back at me.

Finally, I bowed my head. "I'm sorry Savanna. I was wrong, I should be more concerned. I will do better in the future."

Her breath caught in her throat. We stared, I looking repentant and she fluttering between angry and scared. She loosened up and sighed. I gave her a small smile and then at Ruri as she joined our level by sitting down on the tank cross legged. She didn't look at all happy. We had a little lull in the action before someone cleared their throat. The three of us all glanced over at a Magma grunt. Most of the group had gathered around the tank in an angry mob. Seeing all of them in a sea of black and red was actually really intimidating and I really regretted my actions.

A white coat stepped forward and stared at me with the intensity of a predator. "It's interesting that you were able to start this piece of old war technology."

It wasn't a question. Hmmm. This could be awkward. I laughed to buy some time and the lies just started pouring out of my mouth. "I know right? The thing just lunged on me. Crazy shit."

The researcher, my new head interrogator, narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Very 'crazy.' You loudly compared it to those over there and said something about America. Why?"

I smile. "I like history. It's a passion of mine."

The scientist didn't buy it; he was still skeptical. If Ruri and Savanna would just get in then I could crank this bad boy up and be flying out of here at 60 miles per hour. But I couldn't just tell them that without getting toasted by all the pokégirls staring at me. I had to buy some time.

"You like history?" he mockingly repeated.

I nodded my head.

He glared some more. "Why don't you come out of the tank, tamer?"

Maybe if I just gassed it? No, the girl's would fall off. Plus it wasn't running anymore. I reluctantly stood up and kick off the reclining chair to get out of the tank. I looked down over the crowd from new perch, I felt kind of like a revolutionary towering over the tank. But now I had to cover my ass. "That's why I accepted this call. A dig? What better place to look for some more history. We lost so much to Sukebe; I wanted to be part of an attempt to reclaim that."

The scientist's eyebrows jumped and his mouth twitched into something of a smile, he liked that. "Well I admire you're enthusiasm but why could you drive this?"

He started off nicer but became a jerk again. I could reply truthfully to that; I shrugged. "I told you I just experimented with it. I hit a few buttons. They are very intuitive."

The scientist gave me an annoyed grimace. I could feel the entire crowd just waiting for the order to take me down. I put my hand in my pocket and kept trying to appear calm. The scientist pursed his lips. "Do you know what attacked us?"

"I have no idea. It was some kind of robot right? They used to have those?"

The scientist didn't respond but posed another question. "Are we to believe that?"

"Dude, look I'm sorry. I'll get off the tank and I won't touch anything anymore. I'm sorry. I'm just a giddy little kid with a new toy."

The scientist pondered me for a moment.

"You appear out of nowhere. You dig in the quarry with the pokégirls. You survive a fight with a robot that no pokégirl around you survived and now you drive a tank?" He wasn't finished but I nodded anyway. He scowls at the movement. "You are an Aqua spy!"

The entire magma force readied themselves as the scientist continued to point angrily. This was bad. This was bad. I threw my hands up. "Whoa! What? Dude! I just got my license! Why don't you call Littleroot! They can vouch for me!"

The crowd, far from disciplined blind followers, gave me a small amount of nods. It was enough to make me feel better. The scientist growled at me and then pulled out a pokédex. He held it up and then waited for a few tense seconds. I assumed he was finally scanning me. A national ID system built in a hand held device that anyone had access to? Scary.

"Sean Weston Iscariot? What kind of name is that?" he demanded, giving his arms an aggressive swing.

"I like it, it's grown on me in my 18 years."

The Scientist did not think I was funny.

"ENOUGH!" It was a feminine bark and all movement stopped. Kagari pushed her way past the crowd of grunts. "Hello Sean."

"Uh, hi." I bumbled awkwardly.

The scientist took a step back and bowed to her authority, she beckoned me forward. "Why don't we talk down here?"

If I stepped down then I was going to be stuck in the middle of a crowd of angry people. I glanced at the ramp, it was so far away. I mentally sighed, I was fucked any way. I waved off her hand and jumped down myself. Ruri and Savanna stayed where they were though. Kagari smiled "Pretty cool how you worked that gun earlier. And now this tank."

I nodded. "Amazing what you can do with a little intuition."

Kagari smiled. "Where are you from originally?"

"Out of League, I just arrived here a few days ago," I answer in perfect confidence.

She looked surprised for a second and checked the scientist's pokédex. With an almost perfect poker face she smiled at me. The only thing she didn't hide was when her tongue tapped the inside of her teeth. She had done something she thought was wrong. "Thank you, Sean. Perhaps we should part ways now."

"I agree. I'll just take my pay and leave you to whatever you're doing." I smiled at her.

She smiled back. "Whatever we're doing. Capture your girls. We'll have a squad escort you to Oldale."

I bowed slightly. "Thank you."

Kagari smiled. "No need. Team magma was always happy to help a new Tamer."

I didn't exactly buy it but if they were offering to escort me out then I wouldn't say no. What about me mentioning that I was from out of league drove her to suddenly wish me a pleasant trip and an escort? And then that tell, embarrassment? I'd have to look more into it later, but for that moment it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

XXX

Norman surveyed the screen in front of him quietly. "What am I watching again?"

One of his special attaché's smiled and leaned back. "That's the footage from outside Mr. Izcariot's hospital room."

Norman rolled his eyes. "Congratulations?"

The man shrugged. "What do you notice sir?"

Norman scanned the black and white image. A tray of several needles was wheeled into the room, enough syringes to require an entire tray. "What are those shots for?"

The attaché smiled. "What indeed. I'm not even authorized find out."

"Use my clearance, I want this found out. This was a top priority," Norman ordered and prepared for his next meeting.

"I already did sir. I was denied," he said. The way the attaché was smiling did not make Norman want to smile.

"And?" Norman asked.

The attaché smile managed to get even wider. This was why Norman kept him around; he never stopped at the easy answer. "Turns out I was rebuked because Professor Wanc ordered every one of those shots. And they're weird stuff like vaccinations for common illnesses: this year's flu shot, a few common insect borne pathogens, including stuff for infants and small children."

Norman nodded. "Mr. Weston is not from Hoenn league."

The attaché nodded. "But that's not all. He's done this before. Four times in fact."

Norman rubbed at his daily stubble. "Wanc is recruiting from out of League then? What are the chances that he planned to put that Charamanda and Weston together?"

The attaché laughed. "No. No, that was the work of the hospitals Megami-Sama."

Norman nodded, that wasn't as odd, keyword: as. Usually that hospital was more compliant. He might've been SEELE but the Hospital Director wouldn't let anything blemish his pet Métis' record. He wheeled around to stare out his large window towards the acreage of his gym. "Good work. Keep digging up anything you can. Go out of League if you have to. Start with any Recovery Missions from Slateport."

The attaché smiled and studied the walls of the office. "Well, I'd like to keep looking at the security footage from the hospital but for some reason, they were shut off for a while. The same time you and Mrs. Lane disappeared for a bit."

He glanced over at Norman innocently.

"Keep looking into Mr. Iscariot." Norman ordered. The attaché bowed but before he could get through the door, Norman spoke up. "Don't fly too close to the sun."

The attaché stopped behind the door. "Wax wings and all that."

Norman went back to watching his latest challenger lose to one of his junior Tamers. The upstart punk lost rather pathetically and Norman was denied another challenger forcing him to return to paperwork. He sat back down at his desk and picked up his pen. "Put some of your people on him. If he starts to dig in the wrong place, kill him."

A presence, barely felt, left the room.

XXX

"There it is. Oldale, pretty as a painting."

It couldn't have been more than twenty buildings crammed together behind a wall. It looked medieval with even a couple of farm fields hiding within the walls. Besides the fact that it was 'T' shaped, what stood out most were the two brightly colored roofs that contrasted with the browns of the other buildings, one red and the other blue. The only way into the town was a large road that shot off to the east. The rest of the town was cut out almost perfectly from the woods with either farm fields or open ground.

Though we were still a long walk off, the rest of the journey would be downhill. I glanced around at my 'escort.' None of them seemed amused at my talking. Not that it was a change. The squad I had been assigned consisted of another two man team with accompanying pokégirls. The pokégirl behind me stared for a mere second before scanning the trees to our right.

The man in front of me chopped another branch out of our way with his machete and then stomped forward. Then his pokégirl, then me, then another grunt, and finally the last pokégirl. I'd like to say that we were trying to be quiet but the crunch of twigs and leaves blew that to hell. Even the men strode forward crunching the forest floor under their boots like they owned the place. And I had thought that humans were cowering against the pokégirl threat. Oldale, as it disappeared behind trees, sure had an impressive wall.

AROOW!

A howl broke the monotony of our march. I stopped on reflex to try and find it. Instantly, I was being shoved forward by a gruff voice. "Keep going Pureblood."

The lead guy faltered in his swing as soon as he heard 'pureblood.' He held it there for a little longer until he just kept moving. I pursed my lips. Variations of those two words were the only things I had heard from them so far: 'keep going,' 'move.'

The pureblood thing was new though and the lead guy had reacted to it. I glanced over my shoulder at my other escort. His eyes were dilated, his lips folded inward. With just one glance back, he suddenly rubbed at his chin. That was Fear and anxiety. Directed at me.

I smiled and shrugged. "I'm going, I'm going."

"DIE!"

A harpy chose that exact moment to drop out of the tree.

"Arc Cannon." And the harpy's body simply vanished into the foliage of the forest; what was left of her.

I sighed, that was actually the fifth time that had happened on this little trip. It was stressful the first time but not the fifth. The woman over my shoulder dismissed the large cannon that had simply appeared out of nowhere and was already staring forward.

"Were you planning to capture that?" The back Magma grunt asked.

I stared, not bothering to stop, at the spot where the girl's corpse had been flung into the trees. "Not really."

"Your Daddy buy you a nice powerful harem?" the front man called back.

"No one bought me anything." I answered, stepping over a large stump.

The two men didn't answer and we fell back into uncomfortable silence. Though, the way he tensed up when he called me a 'pureblood.' So humans did have more pull over métis. Did they bug the tent? That's what I'd do. Or was it when Kagari assigned me an escort that they were clued in. Interesting.

Oldale once again appeared in front of us. The woods had been trimmed back about a football field away from the town wall. On top of the walls, a sleepy looking woman poked her head above the wall and then disappeared. The sun was just starting to paint the sky purple when we finally stopped at the gates. There were no guards and only a single slab of metal that lifted straight up. As soon as I got the first foot into the town the squad was walking away without a word.

Guess Christmas cards were out of the question.

The town was easily navigated but it was mostly close alleys with only two streets that had any significant width. I drifted towards the red roofed building at the southern end of the town. My pokémon senses screamed that this was the pokécenter and I was kind of curious to see how this perverted world had corrupted them. The building was of solid concrete construction with a bright red roof and a pair of glass sliding doors. A giant pokéball symbol was over the entrance and a 'PC' was displayed in bright red to the right of the entrance. It looked more like a bunker than a commercial building all except for the sliding glass doors on the front. I took a step in and came face to face with a sleepy little lobby. A sectioned off area held a nurse joy attendant and a giant machine. To my right was a table and some of lounging furniture in front of a TV. To my Left was a small place for reading and a well-stocked magazine shelf. An escalator on the left wall led up to a second floor and an escalator on my right led down.

I nodded appreciatively and left the center. I continued to explore the sleepy little town, drifting past ignorant and solitary locals. I found the blue bunker in the center of the village. The same stylized pokéball symbol was displayed on top of a large sign with glass door bunker beneath it. I took a peak in and found what looked to be an upscale gas station. Despite the oxymoron, it was really clean and perhaps it was better to compare it to a cramped general store.

The cashier stared at me with an eager smile. I'm sure I was the only customer he had in the past month. I smiled back but walked back outside. The main road stretched out in front of the pokémart towards a massive open gate. Further past, the dirt road continued until it disappeared behind a row of trees.

I sat down on the bench and let Ruri out. Best to distract her before she rips into me. "So I'm here in Oldale Town. What do I do now; I'm sure you need to level up at some point during our trek to the first gym."

"Well first we need to go to the pokécenter, request a room and then." She sat down on the bench next to me and latched onto my arm. She smelled like blood; which did nothing for her. She leaned up to whisper the next part into my ear. "You need to tame the fuck out of me."

She placed my hand between her thighs for extra effect. I smiled at her and then pulled it back. "You're not angry about the whole, 'almost killing us' thing?"

Why did I say that? I had the perfect way to avoid it and I blew it. Ruri seemed to flutter between anger, forgiveness and fear. She pressed herself against me. "Later."

I was torn. On one hand, this was a little weird and it was tripping up every instinct in my body. She had every right to be angry and usually she'd call me on my shit. That's what I liked about her, but she was too horny? What if she was going to do something while I had my guard down? Luckily, my pokédex started buzzing like a phone.

GRRRR. GRRRR.

I grabbed at it, desperate to get my mind out of the limbo between logic and 'woman was obviously flirting with you, tap that.' Ruri and I both separated from our intense stare. I pulled the pokédex out of its shell on the front of my bag. The screen looked exactly like a phone ringing. There was the ugly sight of a smiling Wank and 'Professor Wanc' was in white underneath it. I tapped the green bar and immediately the phone switched to a simple command screen I didn't bother to look at.

"Hello, Mizter Weztland," came Wank's, or apparently Wanc's, accent laced voice.

I choked down a sigh. "Hello Wanc. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He laughed, which sounded worse through the phone then in person. I could honestly say that I had almost forgotten about Wanc in all of the excitement of the last couple of days. However, it seemed as though he hadn't forgotten about me. He sounded cheery even. "I juzt wanted to congrazulate you on your victory over zat Dildoran."

I shut my eyes. "How do you know about that?"

Wanc laughed. "I have my wayz."

"Are you tracking this?"

"I zee everyzing Mizter Weztland." he didn't even keep the threatening tone suppressed.

Probably through the pokédex. My instinct was to throw the thing on the ground, but it was too valuable, which meant I couldn't get rid of it. How to solve the problem? I could get another one but where? I didn't even know where to start. So that meant I was stuck with that one and the tracker. Well it could have been worse. Wanc was Wanc, he rubbed me the wrong way but he hadn't proven me correct. Yet. So if someone was tracking me, it might as well be him. It could be useful to have someone to come save me. Or find my corpse, which seemed more like him.

I smiled, even though it was unnecessary. "Thank you Wanc. Did you like what we found?"

He chuckled. "No, not really, ze camera anglez were all wrong. Ztill exziting zough."

"It was less so in person," I deadpanned. But it proved that he was watching me through the pokédex otherwise he'd have mentioned the killer robot. Unless that's what he wants me to think? I cursed the gods for my lack of information.

Wanc laughed and Ruri gave me a weird look that I caught sight of out of the corner of my eye. I had no doubt she could hear what Wanc was saying through the phone, pokédex, whatever. She didn't look happy to hear him either.

"I'm zure, I'm zure." Wanc laughed some more. "I juzt wanted to congrazulate my newezt champion for hiz firzt hurdle"

"Your champion?" I asked, feeling a little dirty at the thought.

More laughter. "Too perzonnel?"

"A little."

He forced a dry laugh with a bitter edge. "I'm watching Zean. Alwayz."

"I seek to entertain."

He hung up.

So why not keep that a secret? Having a pair of eyes on me would be more valuable if I didn't know about it. Was he such a bastard that he wanted to brag? Or was he luring me with the thought that he only sees from the pokédex? He had given me everything I currently owned. I contemplated this silently.

"Wow," Ruri said as I put the pokédex back in its pocket. "Me and you are never doing it with that thing watching us."

I sighed. "Absolutely not. So, uh-"

Ruri practically dragged me off the bench. Maybe I should just go with her; I thought they were joking about the needed sex almost everyday thing. But maybe she'd recover after this.

XXX

I returned to the pokécenter with Ruri on my arm. I pulled out my pokédex and put my ID on the screen. It had a picture of me on the left that looked a lot like a mug shot; I was even staring impassively at the camera because Wanc had apparently snapped it without my consent in his office. I walked up to the nurse joy; that one was wearing two giant pig tails that were curled up on either side of her head. Both monolithic towers of hair were the actual size of her head.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

I held up my pokédex. "I need a room."

"Run her through a cleaning cycle too." Ruri handed the woman Savanna's pokéball.

Did she just grab that off my belt? Seriously? The joy looked between us before I nodded. I smiled at Ruri, who looked back perfectly innocent. Then she felt the pokéball touch her stomach and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Her too," I said.

The Joy and I smiled at each other. Then she went back to her screen, typing behind the counter. A printer went off somewhere below us. She cracked a card out of a plastic cut out and put it on the counter. "Okay, here's your room, it's down the stairs. We'll have these two delivered to you shortly."

It looked like a regular hotel card, magnetic strip and all. I flipped it over; it was dark green with white '06' taking up most of the card, a little yellow line at the bottom read, 'good for one day' in black. I glanced down into the darkness of the escalator. "I'll wait."

I took the chance to sit down and stare at the idiot box silently. A dated TV show was on and I had just caught the tail end of the beginning. Apparently it was called 'The Wonder Years.' I was able to watch it for about thirty seconds before I started to doze off. I shook my head and fought off the heavy feeling in my eyes. Had I just crashed? I pulled on my earlobes and shook my head. I could stay up for a little longer.

My eyes closed.

The Nurse Joy pressed my shoulder and pulled me out of my slumber. I didn't move while she continued to shake me while I collected my bearings. Finally, I opened them and blinked a few times.

The joy smiled. "Tired?"

I rubbed my eyes feeling better after my power nap. "How long?"

"Twenty minutes." She shoved a tray in my face; it had six depressions in it each the size of a full pokéball.

I grabbed the only two on the tray and stood up. "Thank you."

The nurse joy beamed at me and then walked back behind the counter. With a shake of my head, I walked downstairs. It was short tunnel with warm tones and a hotel feel to it. There were seven doors. Room 006 had the standard key card reader. Even the room looked like a hotel's: a double-size bed, simple dresser and a small bright white bathroom with a tub. Only the lack of a window revealed it as a subterranean room. I threw the bag onto the bed and took a deep breath. The faint traces of vanilla filled my nose, like it had just been cleaned thoroughly. I sat down on the bed and collapsed back. The bed had a starched sheen to it; even the ceiling reminded me of every other motel I'd ever been in.

I closed my eyes, maybe if I just skipped the taming thing tonight. I was too fucking tired to be fucking. I lulled my head on the bed and started to doze off again. I stopped. That was like the beginning to every cuckold porno I'd ever seen.

Didn't want that thought.

I slapped my cheeks and stood up. Man up mother-fucker. I'd take a cold shower and wake up. Ruri and Savanna would come out smelling nice and fresh and I'll still reek of a days' worth of travel. That was not acceptable. Wait. If the rooms were rented out to tamers, for free, then they would logically tame in these rooms as well. If I had a black light the room would light up like the fourth of July.

Didn't want that thought.

XXX

Later that night, as we lay there with Ruri a satisfied mess and Savanna cuddling into my arm; I sat back and let out a confident sigh of achievement. I couldn't feel my legs and I was bleeding on the sheets. We laid there silently until Ruri regained her senses and gave me a quick kiss.

"Where's your pokédex?" she asked.

"Bathroom," I said.

Ruri bounced off the bed and flooded the room with the intense rays of light. She brought up my information and showed me it, the backlight helping when the room returned to black.

Iscariot, Sean

Age: 18

Residence: Littleroot Town, Hoenn

Status: Active

Rank: 1

Record: 0-0-0

Blood Gifts/Curses: [Classified]

Licenses: Tamer

Active Harem:

Charamanda level: 9 Nickname: Ruri

NurseJoy level: 9 Nickname: Savanna

"Only that much?" I whined.

"It's not bad for two days; well pokégirls evolve from a combination of tamings and battles. There are several theories but so far the most prominent was that pokégirl's mind comprehend both taming and violence as very close and they both influence the same part of the brain." I rolled my shoulder and the sheets followed, glued by blood from the claw marks. I could now vouch for the interplay of violence and sex.

My eyelids started getting heavier as Ruri continued.

"So through a combination of tamings and battles, they grow stronger. The scale they use was measured by the pokéballs and then linked to the pokédex. It's actually a very loose approximation but was useful in most cases. If certain conditions are met they can even change forms that are usually stronger, this process was known as evolution. Most of time, it's through experience but others are triggered by certain criteria. Evolution almost always makes them stronger too and most breeds exhibit some sort of physical growth in both height and sexual characteristics, exceptions do exist though."

Through this entire lecture, Savanna and I just watched Ruri, Savanna resting her head on my chest silently. I lulled my head on the pillow and barely nodded.

"Okay." I rubbed my eyes with my only free hand and closed my eyes. I'll just rest them for a bit. Ruri kept talking.

XXX

BRIIIING! BRIIIING!

My pokédex was ringing like a damn phone again. Ruri was drooling on my chest and Savanna was using my dead, right arm as a pillow. I snatched up the damn thing and tried to get a look at the blinding screen. After a second, my vision finally adjusted.

ALL-CALL

OLDALE TOWN

FERAL ATTACK

KILLER QUEEN

I shook Ruri, she jerked awake. "Tsun!"

I ignored that little outburst. "Ruri, what's an all-call?"

XXXXX