A/N: Hey guys and gals, nice to be back.
Okay, let me start off by saying it wasn't my fault. I was just minding my own business, waking up a bit later than usual though when I groggily checked my PokeNav and it showed that it wasn't quite seven in the morning. If we left early then we wouldn't be put behind. I yawned and rolled over after a nice, dreamless night and found there to be a black fire pit and my Pokemon but… no Thalia.
"Wh-what?" I sleepily questioned what I was seeing aloud as I managed to prop myself up on one elbow. Yeah, nothing was there nothing to really show that someone had even been there to begin with. It was spooky, even her Pokemon were gone. I quickly sat up and began stretching out as I took in my surroundings. No, I hadn't been moved, I was still at our riverside camp, my Pokemon were still resting around, nothing had changed but for Thalia disappearing. I looked over to where the river disappeared into the woods and…. Hello. I spied something against a tree and I slowly stood, taking the time to stretch, before I began walking over to it. Once I reached the tree, I noticed it was Thalia's large backpack.
Okay, Thalia's bag is here. But where was Thalia? Can't tease a bag, at least not this kind. I looked into the woods and decided to follow the river for a bit. If I didn't find her after a few minutes, if she wasn't kidnapped or something, she'd come back. And so, with my laggy brain, I trudged forward, keeping an eye on the river while also trying to keep myself awake.
"Probably shouldn't have stayed up so late." I muttered to myself as I rubbed my face to try and wake myself up. What good is late-night philosophy if I can't remain up the next day? Maybe I should get laid more though I doubt that's my problem. Last thing I need is to become some sex addict. Reminds me of a podcast series, couple guys played games and drowned them out by talking over them about stuff, they touched upon this sorta thing once or twice. Ethan, Krys, and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I'd need to catch up at the nearest place that had available internet.
As I walked, in a straight line with the river to my left, I noticed that some footprints were close to the river bank. I decided to follow them. It wasn't much long when I reached my destination, the destination, however, almost got me murdered on the spot.
I'll be blunt, I found Thalia. She was fine. What she was doing, however, was bathing within the river completely naked. I watched as she came up from below the water to reveal… holy Arceus. Her breasts were something I never noticed much due to her sweater being worn all the time, but she had some nice sweater puppies, excuse the pun. The sun had risen and was rising so some light was hitting her and the way it reflected off her body was… hypnotising. As she retreated from the water, I could see… oh wow. She was well kept down there save for a bit but that seemed well groomed enough, nothing super overgrown. Of course I should know this since she made me face plant directly into there but you ignore things when the girl is angry and wants to hump your face for-
"BRENDAN!" I heard. I was still groggy so it took me a second to realise where it came from. Thalia covered herself and turned from me, alloqing me to realise that my jaw had come undone and was hanging wide open like a gaping idiot. I shut my mouth and hastily tried to explain.
"Okay, listen-" I started before a rock sailed at me. It wasn't huge, about palm sized, but those things hurt! I backed out of there as quickly as I could, running as rocks sailed at me like ballistic weapons. However, a couple minutes of running allowed me to leave Thalia's range, which I appreciated. It's always a shame when things just wind up bad like that. I sighed and decided that the best thing to do right now would be to just wait at the campfire for a bit until Thalia returned. It would give her time to cool off so that she wouldn't kill me. So I sat and waited, eating a granola bar for breakfast while I figured Thalia would be quite a while.
Turns out I didn't have to wait long while I fretted over my dwindling granola bar rations as Thalia, now fully clothed, marched over and picked her bag up as she made her way over to me. Her hair was still wet and clinging to her neck at the bottom. She had a scowl on her face as she walked over to me and sat down in a huff, for good reason. I'll admit I didn't mean for it to happen. I said as much.
"Look, I didn't mean for that to-"
"Listen." Thalia raised a hand. "You're a fucking pervert." She stated, pointing at me. I raised an eyebrow, now confused.
"And your hair is blue, are we stating the obvious?" I asked, earning an eye roll from her.
"Listen you idiot. I'm saying just because you're a pervert, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want." She said pointedly.
"I was groggy and following your backpack and the river." I reasoned to her, despite the fact I could tell she wasn't believing me. I sighed and said "Look, I woke up to you gone, what else was I supposed to do?"
"You knew where I was!" Thalia frowned at me in anger and confusion. "I said to you this morning, 'Brendan, I'm gonna go down the river and bathe, don't follow.' And you said 'okay.' You said you wouldn't follow."
"I literally remember none of that." I countered, being truthful once more. I didn't, I had a wonderful night of sleep. No wake ups, nothing like that week where I snapped awake after only like five hours of sleep for some reason.
"You're kidding, right?" Thalia looked incredibly confused as she looked at me, allowing me to remain quite confused myself.
"No. I don't remember you saying a damned thing." I scratched my head under my headband.
"I asked and you said yes."
"Well I don't remember." I reasoned. "I honestly don't."
"Well you fell right back asleep." Thalia mentioned and suddenly it came back to me. Not our apparent conversation, but something my mother got on me about. There were times I've woken up home alone or my mother making something that confused me. Like one morning I woke up wanting waffles and she was making pancakes. I enjoyed the pancakes but my mother had said she asked what I wanted and I mumbled pancakes in some half asleep stupor before I drifted off. Or the times she'd come home with dad and I'd ask where they were and mom said she'd told me that morning.
"Ooooooooooh." I realised. "That explains it."
"What?" Thalia asked, now even more confused. I toyed with the notion of fucking with her but I decided against it.
"Oh I've dealt with my mother with this. Sometimes if you wake me up I don't really wake up. Then you ask me something and I'm in this sorta not awake state and I answer and then I don't remember when I fall asleep and wake up for real." I explained, shrugging. "It happens. Only thing to do is to make sure I'm really awake." I let the conversation drop as Thalia stared at me in silence for several minutes as she tried to comprehend my explanation.
"So what you're saying is that you're some kind of narcoleptic?" she finally asked after her silence.
"What? No." I responded, shaking my head. "I just sometimes don't wake up properly. Sometimes I can remember it. Like once with my mother asking me if I wanted eggs for breakfast. But generally I wake up completely oblivious to what's happened."
"I see." Thalia responded quickly, musing over the information she was given. She was quiet for a while as I saw my Pokemon beginning to wake. They stretched and walked over to me and Thalia as she sat there. I returned all three of them to their Pokeballs in preparation for the journey for the day, placing the orbs on my belt.
"So yeah." I started off, the sun beginning to rise and my energy beginning to rise. I wanted to go but Thalia was remaining seated in her spot, still contemplating.
"Okay" she finally started "that makes some kind of sense." She seemed to concede that my odd sleep habit happens as she stood. I quickly matched her and she raised an eyebrow.
"So, we ready to go?" I asked, grinning. Thalia seemed a bit tired now, which I was noticing by the dark bit under her eyes. I wonder if she had slept much at all in the past couple days.
"Yeah, sure." She said, getting a bit of a non-committal grin herself.
"Excellent." I responded, turning and beginning to walk, enjoying the morning air as we left the clearing and making our way to the path that lead to Mauville.
It was a couple hours later when I noticed clouds gathering on the horizon.
"Clouds on the horizon." I repeated my thoughts to Thalia, who looked to the horizon. I looked and suddenly the weather change yesterday, the radical ones, popped into mind. I turned to her and asked "Do you think it has something to do with yesterday's weather changes?"
"Doubt it." Thalia remarked. "Those were sudden and out of nowhere. This seems like it could be an overcast day, given time."
"I don't mind overcast. Johto always had an orange, sunset-y look to it which was nice enough but overcast days were nice. They cooled things off."
"Like your libido?" she quipped at me with a grin. I rolled my eyes.
"Is that all you're going to do? Just poke fun at my perversion?" I intertwined my fingers and pushed out, popping my knuckles. "I mean it's funny the first few times but then it just gets old."
"To you." Thalia remarked, that grin still on her face. "I still find it funny."
"Yeah but if you wrote a book or story and that was the main joke of a character, wouldn't that get boring?" I asked.
"Well good thing I'm not writing a book, isn't it? I'd be a terrible writer." Thalia adjusted her backpack. "I mean I'd just give each character one joke and nothing else. They'd be grey blobs with one joke per blob." Actually…
"Honestly if you did that then someone, or some group, would find it to be some sort of symbolic of something." I rolled my eyes. "Art makes no sense that way, there's always some interpretation or meaning to everything. Sometimes a bunch of steel girders bent at angles and painted red is just that, girders red and bent."
"Well, when you think about it." Thalia offered. "Art is technically a subjective thing. What one considers deep art, another might consider trash."
"One man's trash is another man's treasure, so to speak?" I looked to Thalia.
"Yes. Perspective is everything. Some people play a certain game and claim it to be the most beautiful work of art in every aspect. Other criticise everything and can't see their views."
"So your feud with Team Aqua then?" I proposed, earning a stiffened Thalia to add to my memories.
"Look, they want to drown everyone. To them, that's good for some dumb reason. To reduce the population so Pokemon run free perhaps. Tem Magma plans to expand the continents to give both humans and Pokemon more space to live." Thalia glared at me and I shrugged.
"Look, either way something's losing." I reasoned. "Team Aqua wins, lots of people drown and stuff. You guys win, the oceans drain more and the Pokemon in the sea are at risk. Either way, some huge part of the environment is going to get harmed irreparably." I looked to Thalia. "I'm sure you understand that."
"Look" she started "It's either more land or more sea and which is better for everyone?" Thalia stared at me, pushing the point home.
"What if there's a third option no one's thought of? What if there aren't only two options? What if-"
"Brendan." Thalia started. "Listen, it's one or the other. As much as I'd love for there to be a third option, there isn't. There's two options. If there was a third, wouldn't there be a third team out there causing trouble as well? Wouldn't it be quite obvious if it was there?" Thalia looked back to the road ahead. "There's only one side or the other. No middle ground and no third option. So pick a side. You'll want to." And with that she closed her mouth, leaving me to think her words over.
If I'm being honest, I don't think that a third option is unavailable. After all, there were three legendary Pokemon in Katherine's book. That meant that the third one was out there with whatever powers it had that could do a few things. I wasn't about to speculate, however. Last thing I need is to run my mouth off and be wrong. But still, Thalia seemed ignorant to the existence of the third Legendary which meant I had some out. I'm not sure how I could handle the choice of Aqua and Magma if it were presented to me. Both seem somewhat undesirable, personally. Suddenly thunder boomed in the distance and I looked up. The clouds from the horizon were gathering en masse and spreading like milk on a floor. I could almost see the new clouds forming and joining the ever growing mass.
"That does not look good." I observed.
"No, it doesn't. I wonder if we should find any shelter." Thalia looked around as did I. Trees had been risen above us and the ground on either side was now rock and dirt face, as if we'd gone down a ramp.
"Perhaps there's a cave around here otherwise we're fucked hardcore." I observed. "I mean the trees might not provide much protection."
"Don't you have some sort of weather thing on your nav?" Thalia asked me.
"Oh yeah, shit." I pulled out my PokeNav and found the option to find the weather. I clicked it and it showed today. "Early thunderstorm, supposed to last all day. Heavy rains and thunder/lightning." I reported to her, closing my PokeNav.
"Shit." Thalia pursed her lips in frustration. I was able to agree with her for once today. If we didn't find something, then- I felt a drop. I looked directly up and saw the clouds were above us and behind us quite a distance.
"Oh fuck." I said, getting Thalia to look up. Her reaction was similar.
"Fuck me sideways." She whispered.
"That an offer?" I asked out of the blue.
"Shut up." Was her answer. Another drop fell. It must've been a slow rain because it wasn't pouring down heavily. Yet.
"Well how long til it pours, you reckon?" I asked, noticing that the sparse drops were pattering out already, though I could smell it now. It was thick, the scent of rain.
"Probably not that long." Thalia pursed her lips as we walked. "Either way, we need some shelter ASAP."
"I ain't gonna argue there." I agree, looking out to the sides in case someone set a tent up or something near the path. However, we weren't able to spot anything. We walked for several minutes, to the point I lost track rather quickly it seemed, as thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. It was like hearing an approaching army who only took steps every few minutes, a thought that made me giggle. Rain drops began coming down after a while of searching, the smell of rain becoming almost noxious, although I'm of the mind that the smell of rain is one that you can never get sick of.
"There!" Thalia pointed to a cave after some time, at which I could feel the weather about ready to unleash its wrath upon this area. It didn't look too terribly large but by this point we were in quite an indent in the ground with the trees pushed far up above us. If anything we were in a small gorge by this point, so the cave didn't seem like it shouldn't be there. We dashed to it as quickly as we possibly could and our timing couldn't have been better. The second I entered into the small cave past Thalia lightning split the sky and thunder boomed as rain began pouring down in sheets, drenching the entrance of the cave as I stepped from the edge.
"Holy sweet Arceus that's insane." I breathed, doubling over and panting from the short burst of speed. Thalia was in better straits than I but I was never the most athletic. Something Krys constantly poked fun at me about. Ethan tried on occasion but the bastard's just as unathletic as I am so he wasn't in a place to talk. I looked outside and for all intents and purposes, the rain was almost a door in and of itself. I breathed out a sort of laugh at the whole thing before turning and seeing that Thalia and I were not alone.
"Hello." A smiling girl about my age, or perhaps a couple years older, sat nearer the back of the cave. Her black hair was tied up in a pony-tail with some strands hanging on either side of her face with an orange hat on her head. She had a black shirt on, tucked into mid-thigh length shorts that were kept up with a belt. Over the shirt she wore a vest along with some black, fingerless gloves with orange wrists. On her legs were bright orange boots that almost went to her knees but not quite. Behind her was what looked like… was that a whip?
"Hello?" Thalia repeated the word in a cautious manner. Who was this girl?
"Hello." I started. "Who are you?" I asked, curious. The girl seemed only happy to oblige. She pulled the left flap of her vest to reveal an official looking badge, showing her photo and name and the organization she worked for. The Pokemon Rangers.
"I'm Pokemon Ranger Helen." The girl, Helen, spoke the name on her badge.
"What's a Pokemon Ranger?" I wondered aloud as Thalia bit her lip she was looking anxious.
"Pokemon Rangers are dedicated to protecting innocent wild Pokemon from poachers and miscreants of the like along with protecting the environment and helping stranded travellers however we can." Helen said with a smile as my mind began working.
"So you sit in this cave in case it rains like that?" I pointed behind me with my thumb at the rain that was current attempting to flood the entire area. Helen's face suddenly became strained as I realised she was probably driven here from the storm that was approaching, took shelter before it hit and was now stuck with us.
"Well the storm was coming and I saw the cave and figured it'd be good to wait it out." She reasoned, sitting with her back against one of the cave walls, her arms around her knees. She seemed to be keeping herself upbeat, though a bit forcefully.
"Well, if it means anything", I said, taking a seat somewhat opposite her. Thalia followed me as I walked down the cave and stood near me. "I'm Brendan."
"I'm Thalia." Thalia spoke a bit curtly, for some reason.
"We got stuck in the rain." I looked outside. "Well more we got here in time."
"I can sympathise." Helen smiled at us. "I just hope it ends soon." I inhaled through my teeth.
"Hate to say but from what I've heard, it's an all-day thing. Probably won't quit until late." I relayed to Helen, who visibly slumped.
"You're kidding." She said with a sigh. She lowered her head into her knees in aggravation. "All day?"
"As far as I know. My PokeNav said so but things change, weather's weird. Especially in this region." I commented, my mind going to yesterday. Helen raised her head.
"You're not from Hoenn?" she asked.
"Johto." I was forced to confess. "Moved here a little bit ago and I'm going through the league."
"League's tough." Helen commented. "How many badges you got?"
"Two." I pulled out my badge carrier and showed her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Brawly and Roxanne, not bad." Helen smiled in a mischievous way as she straightened a bit. "Wattson's a bit tougher."
"What does he do?" I asked, curious to get as much info as I could.
"He's an Electric type trainer. Damn crafty too. He was too much for me." Helen admitted.
"Too much?" Thalia asked, almost scoffing. "What, did you try him in a battle?"
"I tried to do the league circuit." Helen shrugged nonchalantly. "I got to Wattson and he beat me every which way. I couldn't find a way to out-smart the guy, no matter what I did. It was after that that I decided to join the Rangers."
"What made you choose the Rangers?" I asked, still not entirely knowledgeable about the groups in the region.
"Well I had my Pokemon healed and was leaving Mauville when I saw a Ranger in a fight with a local poacher. I managed to intervene and free the Pokemon the poacher was after. He was arrested and the Ranger, Jackson, said he could help me join them." Helen turned and pulled what I thought was a whip from her back and set it down. Only now was I able to see it was a rope with a clip hook in it, for climbing. Images of Katherine's sex dungeon entered my head and I had to sit like Helen, knees up, lest erections go misinterpreted.
"I moved here with my family since my dad got a job." I explained. "My friends in Johto are doing the Johto League."
"What's your dad do? Is he a Ranger?" Helen asked.
"No, he's a Gym Leader. He's in Petalburg." I responded, seeing Helen's eyes widen.
"You're the son of the new Gym Leader?" she asked, almost sputtering. People seemed surprised whenever I said I was my dad's kid.
"Yeah. He left the Johto League and his gym was taken over by someone else. We came here since Hoenn was looking for a Gym Leader and my dad was only happy to oblige."
"So he replaced the last fifth." Helen mused to herself. She stayed silent and in thought for a minute before turning back to me. "What's his type?"
"Normal." I answered quickly. Dad favoured them because he found them sneaky and brutish at the same time. He had Hoenn Pokemon in his roster now though his Pokemon from Johto were let out occasionally, according to what Mom said. Helen quickly went back to her cocoon of thought. She seemed to be muttering to herself about gym leaders and stats.
"Well, that's interesting." She said finally. "It'll be interesting to see his stats when they come out this week."
"Stats?" I wondered aloud. Helen smiled.
"Sorry, I may not participate, but I've taken to watching League battling on TV and stuff. I've got all the Gym Leaders and stuff memorised. I don't know your dad's stats or anything else yet but now I know his typing and gym." Helen brought out a notepad that looked like it had seen far better days. Pages were crumpled and torn in places and it was covered in red ink. The Ranger had pulled a red gel pen from her vest and wrote some things down onto the notepad before she shoved it back into her vest.
"There's League battles on TV?" I asked, before realising Johto had them as well though I never paid attention. Ethan and Krys did since they were doing the circuit themselves right now.
"Oh yeah. Gym Leaders record them and then on TV they play the battles and analysts analyze it. Sometimes they're live if it's a big thing." Helen looked to me with a gleam in her eye. "Like Father vs. Son."
"I see." I said, swallowing. I wondered how they'd show my battles with Brawly and Roxanne.
"Your battles will be on as well, I should think." Helen reiterated my own thoughts. "I'll have to pay attention. See how far you get."
"Well I hope to become Champion." I said with confidence but Helen kind of shrugged indifferently.
"That's what they all say." She said, grinning. "Some quit after the fourth, or fifth, some quit at the last, some quit in the Elite Four, so far no one was beaten the Champion in the past while."
"Don't supposed you'd be willing to-"
"Don't even." Helen chuckled as she figured me out. "You'll have to figure everything out yourself. I gave you Wattson's type as a courtesy. But that's it." Helen lowered her knees and stretched her legs out. "I'm gonna enjoy seeing your progress." I swallowed. This was a bit off putting.
"Thanks." I said, a bit nervous now.
"Tell you what. You make it to the Elite Four and I'll even come out to see ya live." Helen suddenly said, surprising me. Thalia chuckled.
"Second person in as many days to promise that." She relayed as she shifted her weight. Thalia wasn't helping much though Helen seemed to ignore her.
"I'll know right away too. The Eight Battle is generally a live broadcast though due to my work I tend to watch the re-runs. However I'll make an exception and do my best to watch yours live." Helen smiled a cheery smile. She really took this seriously. "I should even have your stats once I see your battles."
"My stats?" I asked. Helen nodded.
"Mhm. The shows track the people that go through. Not a lot get as far as you'd think so they keep an eye on the ones that wind up pasting the fourth. Even more so after each successive win."
"So if I lose once, can I try again?" I had to ask, beginning to worry.
"Yeah, no limits. Though people just give up a lot. It's kind of sad, they try so hard and get so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter." Helen shrugged. "Oh well."
"Shame." I agreed. "Makes you wonder why they try in the first place."
"Well let's not get too deep into it." Helen stopped me before things could. "Let's just keep things simple."
"Not much of a deep thinker, are you?" Thalia suddenly asked. I looked up at her and I could see the grin on her face. She was having a dig. Helen opened her mouth and was about to speak before she caught on.
"Oh, clever." She rolled her grey eyes before giving Thalia a smug look. "What's your story, then?"
"Team Magma, stuck travelling with this perverted bum." Thalia jerked her thumb at me.
"Heeeey-" I started when Helen looked between us. She seemed confused. She stared at Thalia's uniform until it seemed to finally sink in.
"Team Magma? What are you doing solo?" Helen looked to me. If Thalia's pervert comment made any impression on her, it wasn't obvious. "And why with him?" Thalia shrugged.
"Boss's orders." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back, acting a bit more casual now. "He said I gotta get to Sootopolis but because resources are low on helicopters and such and he said just get there on foot. Brendan's travelling along the circuit and boss never gave me a date." Thalia said, skirting around her boss to make sure she didn't give much. "So now he and I are travelling buddies who can't respect river bathing privacy."
"Hey, that wasn't my fault." I countered. Why was she still upset? We thrashed this out already.
"Says you." Thalia replied curtly but with a neutral expression. I swear.
"Interesting." Helen crossed her arms over her raised knees and set her chin down. She had a wry grin on her face. "So you two together?"
With that question, Thalia and I turned into five year olds.
"Wh-what!?" I exclaimed. "Of course not." I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
"As if." Thalia rolled her eyes. "He's too easy to walk all over. I tend to shift moods." Though she sounded off putting, she buried her face in the pushed up front of her sweater, to cover her cheeks, which were tanged red. Helen chuckled heartily.
"Oh, okay. I just figured, a guy and a girl together alone for travelling. Sounds like some sort of romantic get-away."
"That'd make sense if he was from Team Aqua but if he was I wouldn't be as nice to him as I am now.
"You aren't nice to me anyway." I retorted.
"You're still alive and breathing, aren't you?" Thalia asked.
"Psh. Don't pull that on me." I looked to her. "Not like I'd take sides anyway."
"Not like I was asking." Was Thalia's curt response.
"Lover's quarrel?" Helen asked us.
"No!" the both of us responded, earning another fit of chuckles from the Ranger. If she started laughing we'd have to divide the cave into two halves where we couldn't talk over the line.
"I kid, I kid." Helen sighed as she stretched out, her legs splayed out, showing that the shorts were somewhat tight on her since, at least I could see it, there was a semi-visible panty line. I raised an eyebrow and Thalia glared at me. I grinned. Perversion is fun, no matter what anyone says, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Just don't be an inconsiderate pervert, make sure you're sneaky about it.
"Well that's good." I noticed it was getting darker in the cave. I looked outside to the pounding rain that was providing background music. Either it was getting into the evening or the clouds were intensifying. I checked my PokeNav. Only about two in the afternoon, which didn't bode well. If this rain was all day we were gonna be delayed severely.
"I know what you're thinking." Helen said to me, a grin on her face. Did she see me looking at her panty line? My heart skipped a beat. Oh Arceus, would she get mad? Demand something? "We should get a fire going, rain isn't going to help." She jerked her head to nearer the back. "There's some firewood. Someone might've left it there from a previous stay or something. I just stumbled upon it. Should be useful, cave is decent height, I got flint."
"Brendan's got a Combusken." Thalia relayed. "He can light it."
"If he doesn't set us ablaze first." I dryly commented.
"He should be more mature now." Thalia wondered.
"Well let's just get the wood, 'kay?" Helen stood and made her way to the back where she grabbed several sticks, some thick some thin, and started making a sort of cone hut out of them with some dried grass and a couple twigs underneath. It only took her a couple minutes, I was impressed. Once she was done, she was on her knees, hands on hips, and smiling. She seemed used to this outdoorsy stuff but then again that was her job, wasn't it? "So, flint or Pokemon?" she asked.
"Go for flint. Might buy some in Mauville if they have a wilderness store." I responded. "Also wouldn't hurt to learn."
"True, very true." Helen agreed as she pulled from her right vest pocket, a small knife and a small grey block. "The block is the flint and you need a knife or a rock or something sharp that can cause a spark." Helen held the flint at a downward angle to the grass and scraped at the flint, making sparks until they caught on the grass, lighting it. Helen quickly moved the flint out of the way but kept it on hand as she lightly blew into the grass, intensifying the embers as they slowly grew and grew until they managed to catch on the branches, making fire. "Success!" Helen seemed happy as she got a small fired going. Thalia even sat to my right with her back to the entrance to enjoy the warmth, such as it was.
"They must teach you a lot when you become a ranger." I wondered aloud.
"Oh the things they teach us are invaluable in real life." Helen said ecstatically. "Being a Ranger is probably the best thing I did. I'm not cut out for being in the League Circuit." Helen shrugged. "But I'm happy with what I chose. No regrets."
"That's good. I don't think I could do the super hero thing." I stated, earning a snort from Helen.
"We're far from super heroes." She chuckled. "We're just normal people."
"Well the hero thing then." I elaborated. "I could never become the good guy, I'm too flawed."
"Too perverted." Thalia corrected me with a grin as I glared.
"And you're too angry and bitter." I retorted, earning a shrug of indifference.
"Eh, I can't argue with that much." Thalia eyed me and I sighed in defeat. Hard to joke about someone when they're able to just take it. I knew a guy who dragged that stuff out in school. I hated him. He wound up getting caught with drugs and arrested. His fight was quite the spectacle, highlight of my day at least. Ethan and I spent the rest of the day dramatizing it and adding things like armed police and special forces. Krys got sick of it fast and we stopped. Unlike that guy. Take note.
"Okay then." Helen intervened, turning to me. "So what's it like in Johto?" she asked, hoping to distract us I guess.
"Oh, quite different from here. Johto has a few modern things, like Goldenrod City. But it's a mostly…. Rustic. It's got traditions and stuff, the heavy traditional stuff is in Ecruteak City. Very heavily engrained in the rustic stuff, home to our Kimono Girls."
"Oh, I've heard of them." Helen interrupted. "They're the dancers with the eevee-lutions."
"Yeah. Big attraction to the city. Very pretty they are, supposedly. I wouldn't know, though Ethen would."
"A friend of yours?" Helen asked.
"Talk about best friend. We've been a duo since we were toddlers. Krys as well, though her and Ethan are now together and I'm still alone but, meh." I shrugged my shoulders. I'd long since accepted the single life though I was looking. Just not hard.
And so I kept talking about my times in Johto, reciting the stories I'd told Thalia along with just some stuff about Ethan and Krys and my recent conversations with them. I went on talking for at least a couple hours with Helen and Thalia intervening at various points to ask questions though it was mostly Helen. We broke for supper and ate lightly, mine and Thalia's granola bar rations getting dangerously low. Helen had a small bit of food that she munched on and we got to talking again about various things. I proposed some hypothetical situations to the two of them and then Thalia and I got in a small argument over the ethics of looking up a skirt with impunity should the opportunity occur. A while later, Thalia turned in for the night and laid down a bit away from the fire, closer to the entrance where it was still pouring but the rain was staying outside for the most part. This left Helen and me near the back of the cave, making small talk until we just sat there in silence for a bit.
"So what is the deal with you and Thalia anyway?" she asked finally, out of nowhere.
"What?" I asked, as I hadn't been paying attention.
"You and Thalia. You sure you're not a thing?" Helen looked to me, he ponytail swishing as she moved her head.
"Pretty sure. Most intimate we've gotten is her sitting on my face. Otherwise we're like friends. We bicker but generally have the same outlook on things." Was how I described it since that's how I was interpreting it.
"I see." Was her only response. She sat there, thinking for a while as I tried to wonder what her motives were before she suddenly crawled on top of me, straddling me as she put her face close to mine.
"Wh- I- uh, what?" I started as she pushed me against the back wall of the cave with her hands, a grin on her face.
"I saw you looking at my panty line." She whispered roughly into my ear as my erection grew, she began pushing her pelvis into me. "Also you don't conceal your erections well."
"Hey." I interrupted her, breaking the tension a bit. "I'm damn good at it." Helen smiled.
"Well to be fair I can spot one on any guy." She whispered as she pulled my pants down, revealing my member in all its above average glory. "And you seem like a good one night thing."
"One night stand?" I asked. "Haven't had enough of those."
"Well I'm not looking for a relationship but I'm always ready if you want to?" Helen raised herself up a bit to lower her shorts, revealing a cute pair of blue and white striped panties. She then lowered herself onto my erection, pressing it against me as she rubbed her covered slit along the shaft. Arceus she was forward.
"Well, how can I say no?" I asked, accepting it as my hands struggled to stay in place. However, Helen just smiled and said
"Go for it." With that I pulled her shirt up to show a simple white bra that opened from the front. I opened it quick-smart and grabbed her tits. They fit nicely in my hands, warm and soft as I groped them, squeezing them nice and tight, my thumb and forefinger pinching her nipples, which seemed sensitive as she bit her lip hard so she wouldn't moan. "Ffffffuck." She whispered. I leaned down and took one of her breasts into my mouth as she moved her panties aside, allowing her now wet slit to rub up and down the shaft, an agonising thing to do. However the more I played with her nipples, the more Helen rubbed. It wasn't long before she pulled away and got down low.
"Oh?" I asked, my brain a bit slow from arousal. Helen nodded.
"It's been a while. I need to taste it." She said, her breath hot on my erection as she startled licking along the length. I felt it twitch in response to her tongue which was closely followed by her mouth, eagerly taking as much as it could so she could taste me. She bobbed her head up and down, her tongue moving around and around, bringing me closer and closer. I hadn't had a good honest wank in a while, nor sex, so I was a bit sensitive.
"Oh fuck, Helen." I hissed as she immediately got it and took even- took even more!? I clenched my fists as Helen's mouth pleasured me until. "GRH!" I growled as I climaxed, shooting burst after burst into her waiting mouth which kept sucking, taking it all. I saw her throat working as she swallowed it all. Arceus. She pulled off of my twitching member after a minute, smiling with glee.
"It's been so long." She said, straddling me again. Though this time she pushed her entrance up against the head. I was surprised I was still hard. Helen did the rest of the work as she lowered herself on my erection. The feeling of being inside her was amazing. It was nice and tight and she seemed to just clamp down and unclamp on me as she slid herself up and down. "Fuck me." She whispered to no one as she fucked me. She started going faster and harder with each movement of her lower body.
"If you insist." I whispered as I grabbed her hips and made her take all of me. She gasped as I made her but she went with it so much she slammed down to the hilt harder and faster than I could make her. So I moved my hands to her breasts. I pinched her nipples and pulled them, making the girl bite her lip hard. She had such sensitive nipples, how could she handle it? Helen gripped my shoulders as she rode me, allowing me full reign of her sensitive breasts. I licked them, pinched them, I was making her tighter by simply teasing her.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." She whispered. "Big and teases my nipples. You're amazing." She breathed as she started moving her hips in circles as she slid up and down. It was amazing, Helen really knew what she was doing. However I decided to move one hand down. I found her clit after a bit of searching and pressed my thumb into it. Hard. The resulting groan from bitten lips was so arousing, I could feel myself throbbing inside her violently. Sweet Arceus I wasn't gonna last long.
"Helen." I breathed as she rode me.
"Me too." She groaned as she picked up more force in place of speed. She slammed down into me as hard as she could while I thumbed her clit and suckled her breasts. I could feel her getting tighter and tighter and tighter with each thrust of her hips until
"Helen!" I hissed, gripping her hips as I brought her down hard, making me climax once more. Helen leaned in and bit my shoulder hard as she achieved orgasm herself. We sat there for a minute as her insides convulsed around my erection which shot burst after burst of cum into her. I was throbbing really hard, like it had its own heartbeat. We managed to get Helen off me and she lay down, my seed leaking from her red, wet slit, her breathing heavy. I was panting as quietly as I could, my erection throbbing but now slowly leaving. I watched Helen slowly finger my cum out of her snatch and clean her fingers of it until she was satisfied and pulled her shorts and panties up. She closed her bra and pulled her shirt down as I zipped my pants up. She gave me a tired smiled.
"You're pretty good if I do say so myself." She sighed as she walked over to the fire. "Now I'm just gonna get some sleep." Helen collapsed by the fire, breathing heavily as she fell asleep. That left me awake, to ponder the previous events that happened. But I was tired. I simply closed my eyes and I fell asleep rather fast.
A/N: Hopefully the wait was worth it. Bit of a short chapter this time 'round as well but hopefully this sex makes up for it.