A/N: If you want to know what the 'more realistic' Pokémon in Truth and Lies look like, a good place to start would be Joshua Dunlop's art. You can find it at "joshuadunlop (d0t) art stat ion (d0t) c0m." ... Ffnet is getting more annoying with their filters. He's done most of the first 151, and a couple extras (Espeon and Umbreon come to mind), plus his art is amazing in general. Worth a look.

Side note, apologies once again for the delayed posting. For those on my Pa Tree On, you already know my life has been... interesting, these last several weeks. And things have not concluded well (though they have, in a way, at least temporarily concluded as of today). At least, not what I and several family members and friends would consider 'well'. However, with that case (at least somewhat) behind us, and the school year upon us, I expect to be able to get a lot more writing done in the near future- basically starting Monday or Tuesday. My backlog (quickly dwindling) of stories isn't out yet, but it's running really close, so it's a good thing. I may even be able to build it back up going forward, as long as I keep this post schedule (one Non-FwB fic per week on Wed, FwB every other Saturday, and occasional Omakes- basically monthly or every 3 weeks or so). And for those who have voiced support (there has been many!), thank you. So much.

Finally, if you like this story or any of my other stories, please consider supporting me (and my family) on Pa Tree On. You can find it by going to www. Pa tree / KajaWilder (you must have NSFW filter turned off to find my page). I can only continue my current (or faster) pace of updates if I can pay my bills. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting closer. If you think about how much enjoyment you get out of a movie- about two hours worth of fun- for $10-20- you are getting far greater value by supporting a writer like myself. If even one in twenty people that read this supported me on Pa Tree On at any level, I would be able to easily continue focusing on writing more... and you could read more. I'm going to keep writing anyway. But the pace would be and will be a lot faster if you can spare a few dollars monthly. My lowest tier isn't even a small drink at a theater, any more. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to you? If so, then please support me.
Of course, you can ALSO find more of the same stories there. I post everything on this site at least a week after it's posted on , so if you want more and don't want to wait, well... there you go.
That's enough out of me, though. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: (False) Pleasure / Reality

This time, less injured, they had all but the Pidgey and Larvitar back from Nurse Joy before they sat down to dinner, surrounded by a fresh wave of new Trainers, smaller than had been evident when they first logged in, which made the Pokémon Center crowded once more, though not jammed full as it had been on day one. Still, that meant the only rooms available had two beds, since a higher percentage of the adults were apparently taking up the opportunity to have in-game affairs they never would've tried in real life. Or maybe they're fucking their spouses, or something, Elle thought to herself with a shrug, Not like I know or care, really. Speaking of, though...

"Hey, I'm gonna head up to the room for a shower."

"Okay," Alex said, and she watched him glance toward the attendant, who, at the moment, had no customers.

She leaned in across the table and whispered, "I need an hour of bathroom time."

He swallowed, giving her a nod, then blushed as he realized she had seen him look at the synthetic person. "Fuck her good for me, yeah? I want to see you at fifty Prowess before Pewter... then I'll think about it, stud."

She was gone before he could do more than splutter in reply, taking her pack and Pokémon up to the room, where she immediately claimed the farther bed so he could see her parade past in her towel the next morning, and for the open window's breeze. She did not, however, take along Loki. He floated, invisible or nearly so, about four feet over Alex's head.

She'd learned a new trick from him while chasing down the Pidgey, and had seen, at least until she'd ordered Loki into combat, her companion running to catch up as Loki glided with her, as if she'd been running backwards.

Seen it from Loki's own eyes.

Okay, buddy... I'm getting in the shower. Give me a tingle if he starts talking to Joy.

But no, nothing, until she was clean and fresh, and in bed, flicking through the free porn channels, where another Joy- that was fun- sucked on a yellow tentacle from something off-screen while two more from the same direction filled her ass and cunt.

Just as she decided to get it over with, she felt Loki's presence in her mind, sending a shiver down her body.

She grinned, putting a finger against her clit and closing her eyes. Okay, Loki. I'm ready.

Her vision shifted.

Good job, Loki!

It was blurry around the edges, but as best she could tell with her eyes closed, there was a four-foot window, circular, between her eyelids and a back room, cleaning closet-sized, where she watched as a slightly fuzzy version of Joy sank to her knees and reached for Alex's button and zipper with a smile.

"Oh, yeah," she heard herself moan as if from a distance, or muffled by a pillow or wall. Even though the projection in her mind was a bit blurry, out of focus, it was still erotic to be looking down from a corner, as if Loki were a video camera with audio functions, watching as Alex let the woman go to work, quickly licking him to full mast, then taking him fully into her mouth. Suck him, you slut, she thought.

And Joy did, her head bobbing furiously on Alex's thick member, saliva swinging down from her lips in just a few seconds, one hand pumping at his lower half in time with her mouth for a few seconds, then opposite it for the same. Then she pushed his cock back against his stomach and leaned in, licking at his balls a few times with relish, and stroking her tongue up the shaft, angling him down and sucking again.

Elle groaned again, and felt her fingers- not affected by the mental projection, she felt them fully- move on her cunt, one finger slipping inside to the second knuckle and curling up while her thumb started to circle her clit in turn.

Six floors below, Alex's hands fell on Joy's head, and he started thrusting, softly at first, but with quickly increasing vigor into her mouth.

Joy moaned around him, and Elle did too as she imagined what it would feel like if- when, she hoped- he did that to her. Would she be able to take it as well? She wasn't nearly as large as the buxom NPC, nor did she have a probably programmed lack of a gag reflex.

But shit, do I want to try!

Alex threw his head back, grunting and taking a few more wild thrusts, then yanked himself out of Joy's mouth, gasping, before he hauled her up by the arms and threw her against the wall he'd been leaning against at first.

Her cheek and breasts bulged against the smooth surface, but Elle moaned again as his hands kneaded at her skirt, then lifted it to bare her plump ass. He didn't put it in, though, only stroked himself slowly as he dug his fingers into the muscle, then gave each cheek a few slaps, not too rough and not too soft. "Turn around," he ordered, and Joy obeyed.

This time, when he reached down, the skirt lifting revealed a shaved patch of rose-pink hair in the shape of a Pokéball, the same symbol on the signs outside, just above her slit. Alex hesitated for a moment as he stepped closer, then bent his knees, aligned his dick with one hand, and straightened up quickly, pushing fully into the woman in a powerful drive that lifted her heels from the floor.

"Oh, that's better," he groaned, lifting a hand to both of the woman's tits, giving them a squeeze as he started pumping again, then fumbling to undo a few buttons and push the cloth aside, and her white bra down.

Fucking nice tits, Elle thought, and experienced another mixed pang of arousal and jealousy as Alex leaned down to pull one nipple up with his lips and pinched, pushing hard, at the other so that it sunk completely into Joy's breast, then let both go quickly.

They bounced and swung, and he gave both a mauling squeeze from the outside, then a tender caress from beneath and around the inside of each to the top. "You like having your tits played with, right?"

"Y- Yes," Joy gasped, hands raising to circle around Alex's neck and he continued thrusting into her, driving her up and back into the wall two or three times a second.

Elle watched as he kept fucking her, but his mouth moved to the inside of her tit where a little blemish lay, and nipped the inside of the other one in roughly the same place, suckling on it hard.

Joy moaned, throwing her own head back.

He let go after thirty seconds or so, and Elle's fingers slowed slightly as she felt an orgasm approaching. She'd never had it done or done it herself, but she knew how hickies were made.. He'd marked her as his, in a way. God, I want him to mark me... I don't even know why.

Alex continued playing with Joy's tits, but occasionally moved to grab at another part of her body, even closing a hand lightly around Joy's neck for a few seconds, as his movements became increasingly uncontrolled. "Gonna cum soon," he grunted, speeding up even further, "You're fucking hot, Joy."

"Fuck me," she gasped, and Elle froze as she realized Joy was looking right up at her.

No... at Gastly. Loki. She sees him- of course she does, she's an NPC. Shit!

But she didn't close the window. In fact, knowing the 'kind nurse' that attended the main desk of the Pokémon Center was skipping out on work to fuck her companion while she watched, and knowing she was being watched, made it all the more erotic. It was almost like...

Like...

She was asking me to fuck her...

Alex's hands tightened on Joy's waist and right breast, hard enough to bruise, as his body locked up as firmly inside Joy's delicious cunt as he could push, blasting her cervix and womb with his seed. Elle felt her own climax rapidly approaching, but her fingers weren't enough, not quite yet.

Watching Joy wink up at her, then reach down and gather some of Alex's dripping semen as he pulled out and pull it, with two fingers, into her mouth and sucking the digits clean helped.

Watching her bend down on her knees again after the second pull to lick Alex until he glistened with saliva but not her other fluids pushed the girl over the top, and as she came, her hold on the mental connection with Loki faded, leaving her chest heaving, body trembling, as she stared at the bland ceiling of their room.

"Fuck... I got it hard for him, if I want to fuck her just 'cause he does."

When Alex made it up to the room, he didn't say anything, since she was pretending very hard to be asleep, as he showered quickly and then climbed into his own bed.

This time, she was the last to fall asleep by more than an hour.

Adisa Chuke grinned as she woke the next day. It was still early, but the warmth of her Machop next to her had woken her almost as if it were a child sleeping in her bed, wriggling with unrestrained energy. She hadn't had much opportunity to take part, yet, in the 'special' version of the game Maline had spoken to her about, but then, she hadn't been logged in for a full twenty-four hours yet, either. "Plenty of time," she told herself, then sat up in the North Viridian Pokémon Center's hotel room, lifting both arms over her head as her long body stretched. "Alright, Machop- time for a shower, then we get moving, okay? Breakfast will be light, but I know you need protein, too."

She had gotten most of her supplies set up the day before, including a few weeks' supply of Fighting Fists, a candy-like treat that the grocer had assured her was chemically perfect for a Fighting-Type's high metabolism and needs. He had also gone on while ogling her a bit to explain that as Machop grew, he would require two or even three at a time just to stay fed, and to give him at least once a day on top of any other food he might ask for. Apparently, being that fit burned a lot of calories, even if it was more efficient to digest when healthy.

Still, after her own vegetable-filled salad and his greens and Fists, she gathered the rest of her belongings in the game from the room and checked out, his heavy little feet padding audibly on the tile and then sidewalk as she stepped out onto the bustling streets of Viridian City. "North, South, East, or West?"

It was something they'd talked about yesterday. Or at least, she'd talked and he had seemed to understand. She had no set direction or destination in mind, so he would be taking the lead for now. She knew there were four main roads out of town, and her own 'Dex had a compass, so all she had to do was...

He spun around rapidly, seven times, and seemed a little woozy when he came to a stop, pointing to her right. A glance at the compass told her all she needed to know on the large city's big streets. "West it is. Okay, my friend, let's go exploring."

It took the pair another two hours just to reach the edge of the city, and neither Adisa nor Machop were going at a slow pace. Her legs were long and limber from a lifetime of being a swimmer and occasional dancer, while his much shorter ones seemed to be able to move at the sprint necessary to keep up indefinitely.

The roads had combined as they walked, occasionally zig-zagging, until they were on a main street heading west, a three-lane, smooth-packed road that wasn't asphalt, or cement, but that seemed to wind slowly up into the hills at a vast mountain range's feet. "West, he said, of course that's uphill."

But she was no stranger to exertion, so Adisa began to climb, eyes peeled.

Her first Pokémon was an easy catch, a squirrel-like creature that she added to her collection but didn't examine beyond that. Anything her Machop was able to crush in a single blow wasn't worth the work, in Adisa's opinion.

The bright orange-furred fox with six tails, though... that gave her a run for her money. "Dodge it, Machop!"

The little blast of fire was less than five feet long and only a few inches wide at the end, but the fact that the seemingly harmless fox could breathe fire at all sort of terrified Adisa. She'd known it, of course, from her conversations with Maline if nothing else, but this... who gave this sort of power to just anyone?

Machop, already burned on one arm and the opposite leg, cringed back from the blast, but charged in gamely a moment later as the attack petered out. It tried to go for a tackle, but the fox leaped back and inhaled again, mouth already sparking with flames ignited by its sharp teeth that seemed to be made of alternating flint and steel.

But as it landed, she cried, "Low Kick!"

As Machop hit the dirt once more, it didn't rise to dodge, instead ducking under the first tongues of flame to sweep both of the other Pokémon's front paws from beneath it. It hit the ground with a thump, wincing as its jaw clacked shut.

"Again, Machop, one more kick, then back off."

It obeyed, using the momentum from the first strike to hit it again, then leaped away without looking, skidding back as it landed to just a few inches from her right side. Adisa tossed the ball, and grinned as it opened over the Pokémon's head, then laughed as it stopped shaking a few seconds later.

Vulpix, she read, Fire-Type, and knows Tail Whip, Tackle, and Ember. It is Level Seven.

"Very nice, it's even stronger than you, Machop, but you took it down anyway. Good job! Now, I need to probably head back and heal both of you up... but I'll be back tomorrow, faster since I know the way! Come on, little guy, let's get back to town for now. This game is fun!"

Gobbler, Lingus, and Cock were huddled up in a ball at the foot of Elle's bed when Alex, bladder overfull and with a powerful case of morning wood, rose from his bed and slipped into the bathroom. Unfortunately, even peeing hadn't relieved the tension, which returned full-force when he entered the main room and saw Elle's sleeping position had changed.

She was now mostly out of the blankets, and her shirt had risen high, leaving just one knee and arm beneath the heavy covers, the other leg hanging off the bed just above her ankle, exposing the underside of both small breasts and the sparsely-furred patch between her legs. A glance out the window showed it was still early, very early, but...

No. I can't just stare at her. I'll just go to sleep, or...

He was still staring when his, and he saw hers, menu open, and the 'save and exit' button flash.

A moment later, a soft voice echoed throughout reality: "System shut-down for server maintenance. Force Logoff in 3...2...1..."

Alex found himself, about two minutes later, laying on a familiar bed in a familiar single hospital-style room, still sporting a huge erection, and clad only in the thin gown that he'd dressed in before logging into Pokémon: Truth and Lies a week earlier. That would be bad enough, but there were a half-dozen people in the room, both male and female, some familiar, some not, but all watching him.

"Alex," one of the most familiar faces, a gentle-looking man, reedy and tall with only wisps of gray hair on the outside of his head, nothing on top at all, said, "Do you know who I am?"

He fought for a moment to remember, then nodded, "You're Doctor Hobby, right? The medical care guy?"

"Correct. I've just got a few questions, since the system's pretty well-checked at this point, then I can let the others take care of their own bit. First, how are you feeling?"

He blinked, unable to stop himself from glancing down.

Several of the people in the room tittered, and even Dr. Hobby smiled, "Aside from that."

Flushing, Alex reached down to push himself up in the bed, surprised at how difficult that was. He wasn't feeling weak, and knew the nanite solution the company was pumping him full of would take care of most of that, preventing atrophy, but he was stiff. "I... stiff, I guess. Surprised I don't have to pee, and... that there's so many people here."

"Well, most of the other applicants are still sedated," Hobby said easily, "At least for the advanced testing program. You're only the fifth person we've woken. Any other issues? Pain?"

"Back's a little sore," he replied with another shrug, "and I... yeah, I stink."

Again, there were a few chuckles from the back of the room, but no one close to him did any such thing, which suggested to Alex that he really did... as if he couldn't smell it himself.

"Yes, well, a week's immersion in a VR system can do that. You sweat quite a lot, naturally, if you're running or doing other activities in the game. Your mind doesn't know the difference, and your body follows its commands, except for the ones to move, which are translated to the game."

"That makes sense," Alex said.

"So other than expected stiffness, pain probably from laying still and flat for a week, and needing a shower, any issues? Did you experience any symptoms of your hayfever or other allergies in the game?"

"No," Alex replied at once, "In fact, I didn't even think about it. We spent a few days in the forest west of Pallet, and then out in the fields around the town... and I don't think I ever had a runny nose or sneezed or anything."

"Good. If nothing else, that would suggest that your report of light allergies is not a somatic complaint without basis. In other words, it isn't something you think you have, you probably do, but as there are no allergens in the game itself..."

"I have no symptoms."

Hobby nodded, "Well, other than feeling hungry, which you will, and it's normal as the sedation wears off make sure you report to the medical staff any other feelings of discomfort, pain, or even dysphoria. Not feeling comfortable in the real world, in your real body. Or, for that matter, in the game. Usually that's not a problem, but it can be a sign of something much worse than it seems down the road."

Alex nodded, "Well, to be honest, it was weird... the second day. The night I arrived in the game, I moved naturally, and most of the week it was just as if I was really there. Only for about an hour on the second day, when we first camped in the forest, I felt... kind of out-of-body."

"That's a symptom of an event, we believe," a very pretty woman he hadn't met but had seen in passing on the day he'd interviewed said, more to the others in the room than Alex himself, "but we needn't go into detail. Not everyone in this room has been briefed on the full test's purpose, after all."

"Just so," Hobby said with a deferential nod, "Well, I'm done then, unless you have any questions, Mr. Ward."

Alex shook his head.

Four of the people in the room left, leaving him with just three more- the woman who'd just spoken, a heavyset, muscular man wearing an orderly's outfit, and a pretty young woman he assumed was the older's secretary or assistant as she swiped words into a data-pad with one hand, the other holding the device, as the taller woman spoke next. "Mr. Ward, it's been a while since we met. I'm Maline Greengrass, VP of... well, let's just say I'm high up in the project, and a company VP. It gets old saying it over and over again. I have some more personal questions about the game itself, if you don't mind. Can you two give us some privacy?"

"Of course, ma'am," the orderly said at once, pushing two quick buttons on one of the machines monitoring Alex, then stepping from the room.

"Me too, ma'am?"

"Yes, Gloria," Maline said, sounding slightly exasperated, "Just for a few minutes."

The younger woman seemed a bit confused by the instruction, but did as she was told, shutting the door behind her.

Maline, showing surprising deftness and strength, pushed his bed away from the wall toward the small bathroom door, "Shower. We can talk after, I'm going to go interview someone else in the meantime. First, though... you're one of only six candidates that spent any time with Joy. How did you find her?"

He blushed, turning bright red. "Uh... If... well, isn't that... personal?"

Maline's eyebrows rose, "Of course it is, but you did know what kind of game this was going to be. You've already signed a contract telling us you will provide answers to the game's functionality in whatever way we require. Are you withholding...?"

"N- No," Alex said quickly, face turning quickly pale instead, "I just... well, it was... good. She's... amazing, I guess."

Maline snorted, "Of course she is, I designed that model. No, I'm asking about the feel- did she feel realistic? We've obviously made the NPCs seem less real in several subtle ways, but was she good enough, close enough, that in the moment you didn't think about her as an NPC?"

He took the hint, pushing himself up from the bed, and pulled the monitors off his left arm, the only ones the orderly hadn't already removed, and stepped toward the bathroom, if only to put the bed between himself and the strangely intense woman. "She... was, yeah. The first time I kind of... went back and forth between thinking of her as a woman and as a... thing, like a pleasure-bot. Her skin didn't feel quite... right. Good, but not like real skin. Just close to it. The second time, I wasn't thinking like that at all. I knew the difference, I knew what to expect, and I just... didn't think about it."

"Good. Thank you for your honesty, Alex. I'll let you shower, but I have more questions later. Feel free to relieve yourself- we aren't on a specific time-table, and I probably won't be back until after you've eaten."

He nodded, and for a moment found himself staring at the older woman's legs and skirt as she turned, walking briskly on low, functional heels out of his room before reaching for his freshly-cleaned clothing and the hospital-style towels, then shutting the door of the small bathroom.

You know what? That's not a bad idea...

So, once clean, his erection still very present if slightly softened, he took her advice, trying now to ignore the feeling of growing hunger in his belly.

When he finally left the shower, the folding table, twice as large as a tv-tray, was next to his bed, and laden with some sort of lime-green liquid in a clear plastic cup, and four trays full of food, from a hamburger to salad, soup, and even a slice of delicious-smelling peach cobbler. The same male orderly was back, this time rearranging the wires and electrodes that hung from the larger monitor machine, switching out old ones for new at one end as he went. "Hey- they said it's all for you. Makes me jealous, we get paid pretty well, but I haven't been able to afford a meal half that size in four weeks."

Alex grinned. His family was fairly well-off, all things considered, and he was set to inherit a true fortune when his father finally passed, but even he'd rarely eaten like this- it wasn't healthy. Still... "I'm famished," he said quickly, sitting on the freshly-changed bed and picking up the fork to start with his salad, "but I still don't... think I can... finish all... this," he finished between rapid bites.

The orderly laughed, shaking his head with another glance, "We've had the alpha testers stay in for a week, and I almost guarantee you can eat it all. I'd be surprised if you couldn't. Maybe the girl in Room Two down the hall wouldn't, but she got a bit smaller portion, too."

Alex registered the words, but he didn't pay them much attention. He was only now coming to a full appreciation of the difference between intravenous feeding and actual food.

Even if the game was convincing enough he couldn't tell the difference, now that he was out of it once more and the sedatives were leaving his body, he wanted more, and wanted it now.

While he continued to eat, making his way methodically through every bit of the meal, with the hamburger itself still steaming hot when he got to it since he ate so fast, the orderly finished that task, then left the room briefly, returning with a pair of new towels and a wash-cloth, leaving them on a shelf in the bathroom before reaching beneath the sink to clean the room.

"Er, don't mind the-"

Already facing the shower, the orderly glanced over his shoulder, grimacing, "Believe it or not, I'm used to it by now. Everyone, even the older guys, does it when they leave after more than a few days in the system. Not sure why, I'm not exactly a high-up here."

"... Everyone?"

It was all he could say between the last bite of burger and sipping at the vegetable soup before picking up the whole bowl to almost drink it down.

The other man laughed, and called out over the spray as he turned it on to further rinse the wall of the shower before he scrubbed it down with disinfectant and a cloth, "Yeah, everyone. Caught us, and the research team, by surprise, too. None of us expected it. Except Director Greengrass, I guess. But then, nothing phases her, from what I've heard."

"What's she like?"

The man shrugged, "Never talked to her. Heard she's a hard-ass from some people, really nice from others. I know she's a VP, and you know how higher-ups are. Bottom line is all they care about."

Inwardly, Alex frowned- his father wasn't like that. He wasn't like that. Sure, they wanted to make a profit- who didn't? But his father's shipping company had laid off as few people as possible over the years, and never fired people just to save the company money. They'd even hired and re-trained more than two hundred people that had worked at other shipping companies, everything from loaders and drivers to executives, in the first few years of the company as the world had transitioned from driver-controlled automobiles more to self-driving vehicles for shipping, and even picking and loading of freight.

It wasn't just about making money, it was about people, too.

"Anyway," he continued, "most I can tell, if you get on her good side, you'll stay there until you give her a reason not to think you're worth your space. If you start on her bad side, it'll be... really hard to convince her you're worth the air you breathe, much less the food you eat and the water you drink. But she's really interested in the project, and her and her boss have made sure to hire the very best whenever they could. Heard it's gonna be a sweet-ass game."

Alex's mouth widened into a heady grin, "It sure as fuck is. What's your name? Alex."

"Me? I'm Kelso," the orderly replied, giving a wave around the bathroom door as he turned toward the toilet, with one gloved hand.

"How long you been here?"

"Six years, since... well, just a few years after they started this project, once they got the specs on the SoNinten system. Whatever its actual name is gonna be when it gets released. Probably the best deal Game Freak's ever made, getting bundled with that system, if it's as good as people are saying it is."

"You have no idea," Alex said, but before he could elaborate, the door opened again without knocking, and the same woman, now looking a bit less energetic, stood in the doorway.

"Oh, Kelso... are you almost done?"

"Just a few more minutes, ma'am," the orderly said quickly, "I... can leave now if you need me to."

But Maline shook her head, choosing instead to scoop her black skirt from her rump and sit on the lone chair next to the door, crossing her legs, "No, I can wait. Just don't dawdle, please."

Alex was impressed at the speed the man moved at, knowing the apparently demanding Vice President of Research and Development was waiting on him. Maybe he's freaked out that she knows his name, even if he's never talked to her? Just eighty-two seconds later, by his watch's count, the orderly had stowed away the cleaning supplies and tossed the towel and his gloves into the waste-basket in the bathroom. "That's me, done."

"Excellent, well done, Kelso. We just finished in room One-Eighteen if you'd like to start there next."

"Yes, ma'am."

Again, they were alone in the room.

Maline's next question had the blood running from Alex's face again.

"Are you aware that your traveling companion of the last week, whom you have kissed and fondled on more than one occasion, is a minor?"

Adisa frowned as she downed the last few bites of her meal. The questions had been easy enough to answer, and she'd been able to respond to them quickly even while eating. And of course, she had answered truthfully. There was no reason to lie. This question, though...

"No, unfortunately I have not yet had the pleasure. I was only in the game for a couple of days. Doesn't- doesn't it take time? I haven't even met someone to battle, yet."

The hard-faced man, wearing a business suit of excellent cut though the deep green color was a bit untraditional, nodded, "We understand that, Miss Chuke, but there are opportunities within an hour of game insertion if you are willing and able to look. Technically, for some people, there are opportunities within seconds. You fall into that category, for the record."

Adisa's eyes widened, "I... did?"

He nodded, "Yes. Your own Starter Pokémon was, according to my list, a Machop. That would be more than sufficient to fulfill the duties if you were interested."

My... my Pokémon? I never even considered...

The man sighed, "Look. Director Greengrass picked you for reasons known to her, and I'm not about to second-guess my boss. I'm sure she at least had her reasons. But you are supposed to be looking for sex. You are supposed to be experimenting, trying new things, to test the game's capability and adaptability. If you cannot do that job, I suggest you report that information in your written statement before you return to the game tomorrow."

Adisa blinked. "T- Tomorrow? What day is it, anyway?"

"Friday," the man, who had been introduced only as Mr. Phillips, said, "Nearly two in the afternoon. You have been in the game for three days, and in that time, had exactly zero encounters of the nature you are supposed to be looking for. True, you have done an admirable job of testing the training, combat, and capturing abilities of the game. But we didn't hire you, specifically, to do that from what I've been told."

Adisa nodded thoughtfully. "I... suppose I haven't."

Phillips returned the gesture, still looking more annoyed than anything, though his expression softened a bit at her admission, "I get it might make you uncomfortable, since you aren't from around here-"

"I grew up in Pacific City," she told him quickly, the first time she'd dared interrupt, "I was less than a year old when my family moved here. I know no other place."

"Then you should know we aren't... prudish. We don't expect you to be, either."

Indeed, it had been her parents' main reason for moving to the city. They had been, in their time, members of a more liberal movement that had been pushing for just that sort of thing in their old home.

Adisa had no problem with it, so... why hadn't she...?

"I'll do better," she resolved out loud.

Phillips smiled, faintly, but the first true expression of anything but annoyance he'd worn since entering the room, "Good. I'll be writing my report all the same, making my views clear- both that you have not performed as requested, and that you could, and have said that you will. I will also be reporting my suggestion that if changes aren't made in your performance soon, you should be removed from the project. Even if Director Greengrass disagrees."

"I... I understand."

"Very well, then, I'll leave you to finish eating in peace. You will have a data-pad delivered to your room in the next few minutes to begin your report. Standard procedure is for all applicants in their first week to remain here overnight for observation, then they can either return to the game for further work, or leave if they have decided it is not for them. Obviously, that would terminate any employment at Game Freak."

"Obviously, yes... so... just to be clear," Adisa wasn't sure why she was so intimidated by this man. He was apparently angry, though not without reason, but she was fairly sure she could take him. Hard-faced, maybe, but soft of body, a pencil-pusher. Yet... something about him had her treating him as a predator, and she couldn't be sure why. "I... am not removed from the project, but I will be if I don't up my... performance?"

He nodded, "Pending Director Greengrass' override, if she chooses to. I don't second-guess my boss, but neither does she usually second-guess her team. We work under her for a reason, and that goes both ways."

Phillips had his hand on the door when she dared speak again. "I... have a question."

"Go ahead."

"We are being paid to have sex in the game. How is this not prostitution?"

She saw another new expression on the man's face as he turned to look over his shoulder: amusement. "Who said it wasn't? It's legal in Pacific. But you're being paid to test the game- think of it that way if you prefer. The sex is just a bonus, almost like... Pavlovian reinforcement. If you do a good job, you get pleasure. If you don't... you don't."

Then he was gone, leaving Adisa to wonder just what she'd agreed to, and not for the first time. She wasn't a prude, it was hard to hit twenty in Pacific as a virgin, and the general culture across Earth had moved to be much more liberal as far as sex went in the last century and a half, but...

There were still several societal taboos, some of which Game Freak seemed almost bound and determined to make people break.

Bestiality was one, at least for most people, even if it was less looked down on than in the past, thanks to the advent of true pleasure-bots that could take any number of shapes for those with other-than-standard proclivities.

LGBTQ+E rights?

Those hadn't been a 'thing' in a hundred years, people just didn't care mostly what others did, not anymore.

This, though...

Can I do it...? Could I have sex with Machop...? He is like a child. Almost my child, in a way, but also like a pet.

She didn't have an answer when the data-pad arrived, nor seven hours later when her long, probably too-detailed report was finished.

There were no easy questions, either. The shortest answer she'd written had taken a full paragraph of twenty-four sentences, and the longest took four standard pages.

There were a hundred questions even.

At least the dictation software on data-pads isn't as fallible as it was two hundred years ago.

Still, even though she'd been asleep in some ways for three days, Adisa was exhausted when she climbed back into the bed and fell asleep at nearly three in the morning.

Alex frowned. He knew that her age would be a problem. "I... she said she was twenty-one. Older than me."

Maline snorted, "And her records would indicate such. All of them, in fact. Miss Berkman was very thorough in her editing of her own vital records to hack her way into the project. She's most resourceful. The body, however, does not lie. She started menses four years ago."

He gaped.

The director nodded, "Yes. Now, what I'm going to tell you does not leave this room, and there is no recording taking place during these interviews. That's why my assistant is outside. Can I trust you to keep this information to yourself?"

He swallowed, hard. "Uh... if it doesn't put anyone in danger, I guess."

Maline smiled, leaning back into the chair a bit more, and switched her legs to the other side, "I don't think it will, but I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'danger'. Some, her father for example, might consider you a danger to her given your expressed and non-expressed desires."

"I..."

Maline lifted a hand to forestall his comments, "Wait. Before you say anything, let me say this- and remember, this doesn't leave the room. This is covered under your contract- if anyone but you or I speak of it verbally to anyone, it breaches the contract. My written record doesn't need it unless I say it does, and right now, I don't.

"Miss Berkman, legally, is twenty-one. That's all the law cares about, and therefore, we, Game Freak as a company, and both you and I as individuals privy to that information, are under no legal obligation to claim or say she is anything such. That is how thorough her sweep was. In fact, her alterations were so deep that, if she did claim you assaulted her, there could be no danger of the additional charges of rape or aggravating circumstances due to her alterations.

"Furthermore, you agreed to have sex in the game, for the purposes of your testing. So did she- all players that you see a Prowess rating for if you check are part of that test, and you literally cannot have sex with someone with no Prowess rating. Not a rating of zero, but no rating at all. The game will not allow it, in any of a thousand ways."

"O- Okay..."

"You have also," Maline continued, slower and a bit quieter, "entered into something of a verbal agreement in the game- the game where you are both adults, legally. Of course, there is no contract there. But the whole point of this meeting- of my speaking with you beyond as a basic introduction in case there is need for further questioning later- is to inform you of the circumstances your 'friend' finds herself in."

He let out a slow exhalation, "So... what does that mean, exactly?"

"Any number of things," Maline replied, smiling, "You can do as you and she have planned- we can't and won't stop you without a reason. I, morally, can't 'encourage' you to have sex with her, because I know she's a minor, but legally and as an executive of the company, I am obligated to encourage the behavior. I am obligated to encourage you to have as much sex as you can. I daresay it would be more in the game than any human could manage in the real world- the benefits of a false reality.

"You can, if you decide it's not something you want to deal with for whatever reason, dissolve your Party and split up, go your separate ways. Or..."

He frowned. "Or...?"

Maline raised just one eyebrow, a rather impressive feat, and leaned in, sitting straighter in the chair otherwise, "We- the company- have elected not to remove her from her position. She isn't the youngest person we have in the adult Beta, there are a few as young as twelve, who have come in through special circumstances of their own. And, frankly, some of us were so impressed by how she got in we decided to let it stand. Right now, we've no intention of removing her. But... she doesn't need to know that. She doesn't even need to know that we know."

"Why are you telling me, then?"

"Because... that you know gives her certain leverage over her. I'm telling you to put your mind at ease. Game Freak won't punish you for being intimate with Miss Berkman, and if you need further assurance that she won't try anything, either, if she 'changes her mind', you have this over her head."

"I... see."

And he did. It didn't give him any comfort to know, but the simple fact was that he didn't really know Elle at all. Who knew if the 'game' version was what she was really like? People hid who they were online all the time, and had since the beginning of the 'internet', way back before the holonet was a thing.

This... he didn't have to use it.

But if he needed to, he could.

"Thanks, Mrs. Greengrass."

"Ms," she said with an easy smile, standing up and offering him a firm handshake. "Oh... when you meet the Gym Leader in Viridian City, say 'hi' for me, would you? Oh, and don't forget your report."

"I... okay?"

Then she was gone with just a wink.

One room down the hall, a young blonde girl was fretting over her own written report, unaware of what had just taken place in Alex's room. "How much detail should I give?"

"That's entirely up to you," the young assistant, just seven or so years older than Elle's true age, said exasperatedly. She'd been trying to make that point for more than an hour. "The 'factual' information is all recorded. We know what happened. What we want to know is your take on it. What you felt, how you experienced everything. In your own words, too. Think of it like... a journal. If nothing else, it'll help keep you grounded."

Elle frowned, "Like... a diary?"

"Yes," the older woman said, smiling in relief, "Just like that, in a way. We know you experienced cunnilingus from a Lickitung. My bo- er, someone I know said it was exquisite. But how did you like it? Write down that, for example. We have all the data from how your avatar reacted, and how your own brain sent data back. What we don't have is your interpretation of that data."

"Oh," Elle grinned now, seeming to relax a bit herself, "That's not so bad. But damn, why's it so long?"

The assistant shrugged, annoyed that her boss had given her this of all test subjects to try her hand at interviewing, "First time only, I think. To establish a baseline."

"Fine, fine..."