Romances of the Pokemon World

by The Imperator 2 you

The world of Pokemon is vast, and in this vast world, stories of individuals can be found and told, some are of great challenges and even greater problems. But some can be small and subtle, and others are romantic. In a world where Pokemon and Humans live together, unions can be found, but are they forbidden, or is there another word for it? Rated M, for Lemons

29. Scyther (F)

There comes a moment in everyone's life, which puts before us many paths that we may take in life. When we take that first step down the path we choose, we often accept that there is no other way down that road. What one fails to realize, is all it takes to change our path, is a small leaf that makes us turn our heads to see another path~

(Credit to XXX for the pairing)

= A Scythe to the Heart =

= Human (Cutler) / Scyther (Tavia) =

[Narrator]

[In the Any Region one might visit, it's quite common to see Pokemon assisting in everyday tasks; from simple farm work to complicated science, you can find Pokemon of all shapes and sizes assiting their human counterparts in one way or another.]

[Yet for every region, there is that one region that suffers from having a dark underbelly that it seems unable to rid itself of. Underground battle arenas, where vicious Pokemon Battles unregulated by the Pokemon League take place for the sport of those wishing to see Pokemon fight close to death. Often hosted by criminal organizations, these 'underground arenas' are often the same sites of the Pokeblack Market! A profitable business for those with little concern for the participants.]

[Despite how deplorable these battles are, and the conditions these Pokemon are forced to live in, they can also be the scene of great advancements, particularly in fields that one would not expect in such places. After all, how do you keep a Pokemon in fighting condition when it's not given the same treatment as those 'above ground'?]

(Tavia's PoV)

[If you placed your bets on the Scyther with the red band, then you may just find your winnings three times greater! There's only two battlers left in this ring and only one of them leaves the victor!]

She panted as she stared at her last remaining opponent, a panting Galvantula that bore the marks of all their other opponents; burns, scratches, bite marks, even blood, all so that it could fight one more opponent before 'finally' they could return to their cages. It was a battle royal brawl, thirty Pokemon enter, one leaves a winner and gets the grand prize: medical care and a warm meal.

For those that didn't win, well…

She glanced around, some of her opponents were barely breathing, many had claw and teeth marks, others sported other marks of battle. But those that she herself had fought, bore deep gashes, the result of her main weapons of battle.

She glanced at her right scythe arm, which was dripping red from the blood she had drawn from all the fighting. The other scythe arm, had scratches and burn marks, the result of her using it as a shield in every fight.

How she hated this life, but this was the life she had. How things had changed from so very long ago…

"Hyaaaaaaaa!" Her opponent screamed, before lunging toward her with mandibles clicking, breaking her trail of thought and instantly throwing her back into a fighting stance.

Her opponent had expended all of her electric attacks fighting other battlers, so it had nothing left to fight with, only the natural fangs and whatever strength its legs had.

She didn't know its name, nor its gender. She didn't know if it had been born into this life or if it had been forced into it. She had no clue if it belonged to a 'trainer' or was 'wild', it's very hard to learn any of those things in the underground arena. Probably for the best she figured, as she used her left scythe to block the attack, allowing it to harmlessly sink those mandibles into her blade.

While she jabbed her right scythe forward and cut deep and long into the abdomen of her enemy, drawing blood and some other green liquid from it.

"Hkye… khk… heesss…" Her opponent sputtered feebly, before collapsing to the ground and curling its eight legs into a ball, twitching in pain.

'Yes… better indeed' She thought sadly as she lowered her arms wearily. 'So that I don't have to know, if I 'killed' anyone… or who I do kill…'

She heard the crowd applauding and cheering, some complaining and others yelling, but she just drowned them all out. This was her life for now, fight, fight, fight… fight… and fight some more.

All for their amusement.

Sometimes she wondered why these humans enjoyed such spectacles, why they loved watching Pokemon battle to the brink of death, why they wanted these blood sports to be held. Yet as she drowned out the words, and focused only on her thoughts, she took a deep breath, smiled, and took solace in one single thought.

It was over, and she had her reward, but not the reward that these humans thought it was, or what the other twenty-nine Pokemon wanted.

As she watched the humans beginning to leave, the night's show over, her one… shining… beacon of light entered the large steel cage.

"You poor things…" He whispered to them all, bending down to hold the Galvantula in his arms.

She looked at him as he opened his medical kit and began trying to tend and ease the pain of the battlers and smiled warmly.

His name was Cutler, a human with pale-tan skin, orange eyes, standing five feet nine with long dark spiky hair that went to his shoulders. He was the only human that she and the others had any contact with, aside from his Loan Shark, a man she didn't even want to think about because of how he treated them. He was also the only one it seemed that cared about any of them, and he showed it after every night of hard, brutal, savage battles.

She watched him wrap the Galvantula's wounds and try his best to comfort the electric bug type. It gave him a gentle lick in gratitude, before he placed it on the large rolling stretcher, so he could move on to the next one. Next, he walked over to a Jolteon, and after wrapping it in bandages and applying some potions, placed it too on the stretcher. One by one he put all the wounded Pokemon onto the stretcher to take them to be treated in their cages, and each one she held her breath wondering if any of them would be left on the ground. Thankfully, all twenty-nine of her opponents were on the stretcher, some lying on top of others, but at least they were on it, meaning they were all 'alive'.

She breathed a sigh of relief, tonight had been a brutal night, but there had been no deaths this time.

She also lamented that small cheerful thought, because a good night usually meant that the next night would not be so fortunate for them.

'How I wish things were different…' She thought wishfully.

She and Cutler didn't always live in this region, in fact they had moved here from the Sinnoh Region with his father after his mother passed away. She was helping train several Kabutops for a museum when a fight broke out among them, and she, caught in the middle, was an unfortunate victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They tried to save her, but it was too late, she had bled out by the time they reached the hospital.

'And now here we are, trying to survive…'

She remembered her 'original trainer', Cutler's father. She was only three years old, young by human standards but for her species that meant she was entering adulthood. Her trainer had tried to support his son and herself, but it was hard taking care of an 'exotic' Pokemon like her, requiring him to take several loans from a loan shark. Yet the stress of raising him, keeping her, and trying to pay off the interest was too much... and he died from exhaustion.

She closed her eyes and shook her head as she followed Cutler from the arena and downstairs into the underground level where all the cages and equipment were. Lamenting wasn't going to help their predicament, she had to fight, it was the only way they could be free now.

Thinking of their forced servitude she looked at her scythes, one dripping in blood and the other bearing scratches and bite marks and hardened her resolve, determined to be free of this accursed place once and for all. 'If I must slice and tear apart my fellow Pokemon, then I shall do so.'

"Alright everyone, hang on… dinner is ready for you all…" Cutler said as he carefully put all of her opponents in their respective cages.

She eyed the cages before eyeing the lone bed at the end of the room, a simple mattress with some random blanket and pillow lying on the floor. That was 'their' bed that they shared, because she was technically 'his'. She didn't need a cage to lock her and keep her from breaking out, Cutler was her cage. So long as he was trapped here by debt, working for the very loan shark that his father had mistakenly trusted to borrow from then she too was trapped here.

She couldn't leave without him, that was the last promise she made to Cutler's Father, Aran, when he was alive. The last words he spoke to her before he 'died'…

He told her to take care of Cutler, keep him safe, protect him, and never leave his side.

"Dinner time everyone." He said.

She looked up and watched as he grabbed today's dinner, a pot of some kind of… stew if she had to guess. But that stew which didn't exactly look warm or enticing to eat wasn't for her. The others were each given a bowl of the stew, and they all ate it gratefully because that was all they were going to get in terms of food for the day. They ate once a day, after the fighting was done.

She looked over at the cart where a special bowl of steaming Pokemon Food straight from a can was, and next to it were medical supplies. The Grand Prize, what she and the others were fighting for. To a typical trainer's team, it would seem like a simple meal, yet here in the underground arena it was probably a gourmet feast to them.

She sighed inwardly, knowing how long its been since 'any' of the others had even had a taste of that food, because she always won a lot of the fights she was involved in. Yet she had to, the more money their 'slave keeper' as she called him won, the closer to being free of their debt they got.

"Tavia, come here." Cutler said, trying to smile as he picked up her bowl and the medical supplies.

She smiled back, if only to help him feel relaxed and followed him to their bed where he and she ate. While she ate he applied the potions to her and helped restore her to full health, the others would have to let time and the meager potions they received heal their wounds.

"Well, at least we're another sixty-thousand closer to being debt free." Cutler said. "I managed to skim over how many people were betting against you today.

She nodded in understanding as she watched him prepare to feed her. She couldn't hold the bowl well with her scythe arms, so in order to feed her in the cage basement he had to hold the bowl and spoon feed her.

That and after fighting and either maiming or all but killing her fellow trapped Pokemon, she found the simple kindness of Cutler feeding her enjoyable.

One meal later Cutler sighed and scratched his eyes. "Let's go to bed girl, another day down and another to go…"

She nodded and laid down on top of him, folding her wings back and snuggling in with Cutler beside her, being extra careful with her scythes to not harm him.

As she began falling asleep, she watched him out of her exhausted eye, finding the sight of him comforting.

'Someday we'll be free… someday… but not today…' She thought sadly before going to sleep and proceeding to dream about life when things were better.

(Cutler's PoV)

The next morning Cutler got up early so he could prepare the underground arena for that night's battle. Walking out from his janitors room with a bucket of water and soap as well as scrubber he saw the alcohol stains, the smears of fast food packages, and a host of other things that made him groan.

"What a mess…" He muttered as he began scrubbing clean the floors outside the arena ring.

"Yea, it is, so hurry up and clean it before we open up!" He heard a voice yell out from behind him. "And pick it up, I aint got all day!"

"Yes sir." He said sadly as he scrubbed harder. "Studied engineering for three years… and now I'm stuck scrubbing… why dad why did you have to trust that man."

"Not my fault your idiot father couldn't pay his debts, now shut up and scrub, or I'll increase the interest rate 'again' on your father's loans!"

He nodded and scrubbed as he heard footsteps leaving and sighed sadly.

If only they hadn't moved to this region, the Pokemon League had only just been established and their official power wasn't truly set yet. There weren't any real 'champions' or any big-league names to give it any sway in how things were done in this region. The only league arenas were small time ones for up and coming trainers, the real money came from these now 'illegal' underground arenas.

The one he was working for was beneath a fancy hotel in the middle of Grindinberg City, the second largest and third most overcrowded city in the region. The arena here served to satisfy the most demanded form of entertainment, Pokemon Gladiator Battles, so named because back in ancient times Pokemon battled in bouts like they do today, but without the 'gentle' rules of fair play and sportsmanship that modern trainers and Pokemon enjoy. It was quite often that battles back then ended in death, sometimes only ending until one 'expired', and with the introduction of the Pokemon League in the Thore Region, these forms of entertainment were outlawed.

He shook his head and scrubbed, wanting to get done so he could go back downstairs and tend to Tavia, knowing that she was going to be fighting in the next bout that night.

The next bout was going to be a Gauntlet match, one Pokemon fighting against twenty others. The bout ends only when either the twenty Pokemon are finished or the one fighting the gauntlet is finished. Tavia would have to fight twenty Pokemon in a row, sometimes many at once until she won. She needed all the help and support she could get to make it through.

Speaking of Tavia, he wished she wouldn't push herself so hard, even if it was to set them free. They've been forced to work and fight in the underground arena for their Loan Shark, yes, but she was still a living being and had her limits. The first time she was in a gauntlet match she won but was barely clinging to life by the end of it. Nothing was worth losing her life for, even a massive debt to a loan shark.

As for the Loan Shark, Rubias was his name, the owner of the hotel by day and to the public, but in private he was a cruel and corrupt owner of an underground arena. He catered to the wishes of people wishing to see a bloody sport, not the 'polite and civilized' show matches of the Pokemon League has for the public to see. He enjoyed showing off deadly confrontations between Pkemon, sometimes deliberately setting up the arena to make it as dangerous as possible.

If a Pokemon he had bet heavily on failed to win, he would deprive it of food or force it to battle the next day without giving it 'any' medical care. Sometimes he even beat the poor thing himself and called it worthless for losing him money. A lesson he and Tavia learned well as she won her first match and so many people, including Rubias, had bet against her, losing over half a million to those who gambled on the underdog.

The poor Vaporeon had its face kicked in by him, and when he tried to intervene he threatened to increase the interest rate of his father's loan.

"Two Hundred thousand seems so small now…" He muttered, talking about the first loan his father took out.

His father, wanting to give him and Tavia a new life took out a loan from the only person who would give him one. Rubias, but at a 'substantial' interest rate of forty percent. Originally it was used to buy a new home and get him in college, but after four years all the loans together, with interest, required him to pay back almost ten million.

"And its only growing each month its not paid off…" He muttered while cleaning a particularly nasty spot.

Taking a glance around to make sure Rubias wasn't around, he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the prize Tavia won last night and sighed despairingly.

"Even with the sixty thousand, we still owe over a million and a half." He muttered. "At this rate we'll never pay it off…"

In order to help pay off the debt he worked for Rubias, cleaning and tending to the Pokemon combatants of the arena for cheap. In exchange he and Tavia were fed and housed, but they could not leave until all the money from the loans and the accrued interest was paid back.

"Dad, if only you hadn't taken out those loans, sending me to college wasn't worth it…"

He shook his head and went back to scrubbing.

Hours later he finished scrubbing and went downstairs to the cages to check on all of the Pokemon, seeing them locked up like that behind bars, some of them with blank stares as they simply waited to be released for battle before being collected to be shoved back into the cages again. He knew what the looks meant, they were looks of defeat, of hope being lost and knowing that their fate was sealed.

Any thoughts of escape had long since vanished from their eyes, now they only waited to see how long they could live, hoping that their next battle would not be their last.

Yet when he entered they all looked at him and some moved closer as he walked by, hoping to get maybe a friendly pat or even a 'hello' from him.

"Hey guys, how are you doing?" He said warmly, leaning down to either scratch or pet one of the Pokemon on their heads.

"Keekteka…" The Galvantula croaked at him, still covered in bandages where Tavia had sliced it from yesterday.

He looked over at it and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday, but Tavia can't help it… you know how it is in that arena."

"Keeekte…" The Galvantula croaked back, shaking its body to say it didn't blame Tavia in the slightest, though he noticed as it did it flinched in pain.

He sighed as he got up and went toward his and Tavia's living area. Their living area was in the basement of the arena, down below where all the Pokemon lived in their cages. There was a bathroom and shower for him to use, and some curtains for privacy, but otherwise their living area was simply a corner of the basement. Their bed was a standard mattress with pillows and blankets, a chair for him to sit in and a table that he used to work on little projects in what spare time he got.

It was all he could 'afford' with what little money he got from both Tavia winning and his earnings, that weren't being used to pay off their debt.

To an outsider who may be wondering, if his living conditions were this bad and he and his Scyther were basically all but slaves in name, why didn't he just up and leave or even report to the police? The answer was simple, there was nothing the law could do, the loans were under contract to his name, and because he inherited them he had no choice but to abide by their terms. He had no choice but to work here in the Underground Arena, and the lawyers and police knew that.

What they didn't know was what work he was doing for Rubias, thanks to some legal wordplay, he was simply 'working off his debt' by working at the 'hotel'. Which was true, above was the hotel and technically he was working at it, as this arena was directly under it and a part of it. Yet the Pokemon League didn't know the arena existed, and Rubias wasn't about to let them know.

So, he and Tavia were stuck here, until they paid off their debt, or something happened.

What that was, they didn't know, but all they could do was work, and work, and hope some day they could get away.

Speaking of his Scyther and work, he saw Tavia still asleep, snoozing softly and with a small smile as her scythes were still 'wrapped' around where he was. She looked very cute looking like she was holding him, and he really wished not to disturb her, but she had only a few hours before the arena opened and let in people for the next match, which was the gauntlet match.

Thinking of Tavia, he wished he could do more for her, but outside of feeding her every day, massaging her muscles and giving her short pep talks and encouraging words, he could do nothing more before these matches. He owed everything to her, the only reason they even have what they have going toward their loan's repayment is because she risks her life in these battles. If he was on his own, he'd probably only be free of his debt by dying, he could not hope to pay off the loans by himself.

He wanted to let her sleep some more, just because she looked so peaceful, and so lovely asleep. 'I wonder what she's dreaming…' He thought to himself.

But he had to wake her up, she had a match to prepare for both physically and mentally. So, with a heavy heart he shook her gently and she snapped her eyes open and stared at him, almost as if she were shocked to see him, before relaxing and slowly beginning to wake up.

"Sorry to wake you Tavia, but we have to get you ready for tonight." He said as she got up and stretched.

"Scy…" She muttered in understanding.

"Today's a gauntlet match, and Rubias is going to be betting on you to win this time. So, you need to try your best and win today's matchups, because I doubt he'll be happy if you lose, not to mention he'll probably just increase the interest rate just to spite us…"

Tavia didn't respond as she sliced the air, performing her warmup stretches.

"If you win today though, we might be much closer to paying off our debt then." He said as she turned and sat on him, letting her abdomen hang over his legs and allowing him to message her shoulders. "There's over half a million in bets saying you'll lose, I took a glance at the betting board while scrubbing earlier. If you win we're almost half way to paying off that debt."

Tavia only nodded, resting her body while he helped her get ready.

"I know… its not what you want to hear, more pressure to win… but I'm just saying…"

"Scy!" She replied instantly, telling him in her own language that she got it.

He was slightly taken aback but apologized quickly, looking down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry… I just wanted you to know what was on the line tonight. I know you don't need to be told what's at stake but… believe me, I thank you for fighting for me in the arena… you didn't have to, you could have fled and left me to work on paying off that debt but…"

He suddenly felt Tavia wrap her scythe arms around him and hugged him closely, being very careful not to scratch him with said scythes.

"Scyther scy scyther!" She told him firmly before smiling and gently, as well as 'very carefully', used the soft side of her scythe arm to comfort him.

He knew what she meant even if he didn't understand the words, she wasn't going to just up and leave him just to avoid fighting to pay off a debt that wasn't even her fault. She was going to help him however she could, in any way she could.

"Thank you Tavia… I promise you, we'll get out of here somehow…" He whispered to her.

"Scyther!" Tavia said with a smile.

She nodded and got up from his lap and began doing her deep breathing exercises, which was his signal that she needed to be left alone to prepare herself.

"Don't push yourself too hard okay Tavia?" He said as he got up to leave as well.

"Scy!" She replied, assuming an aggressive stance as if she were battling.

He nodded and headed upstairs to prepare for the upcoming Gauntlet Match, and that meant seeing who Rubias wanted to battle Tavia so he could line their cages up.

(Tavia's Pov)

Tavia sliced the air as Cutler walked out of their 'living space' and up the stairs to the arena, and watched him leave with a very heavy heart, and a depressing pang in her heart.

"Oh Cutler… if only you knew…" She whispered sullenly.

Cutler's words pierced her heart, far more than any attack she ever felt. Hearing how much hope and faith he had in her winning the battles for their freedom, broke her in more pieces than anything else ever done to her did. Without her, he would probably never smell free air ever again, and be trapped as a barely paid/fed/cared for slave. She was his only true hope of getting out of this place, she was his only chance of tasting that free air once more.

But the truth was, she knew how much she meant to him and his dreams, which was why she fought so fiercely and so desperately to win every battle. It didn't matter how much was on the line, if it got them even a little bit closer she would do whatever it took.

Even kill…

"Cutler… if only… if only I could…" She muttered desperately, holding her arms out where he had been, imagining him standing before her. "Just hold you close… hold you to me… and… comfort you like… like…"

Then she looked at her scythe arms, and lowered them sadly, then she glared at them furiously.

"But I can't because all these are good for… are slicing my enemies… they cannot even properly embrace…" She growled venomously, watching as her arms shook ever so violently.

After a while she took a deep, calming breath and forced her body to stop shaking.

"They cannot even embrace the one I love most…" She whispered sadly.

Yes, Cutler wasn't just her friend, he was more than that. That twenty-six-year-old, three years out of college, human male who was the son of her original trainer was also the love of her life. This was for two reasons, one because she no viable candidates for a partner in terms of species' compatibility.

That of course was the reason she would give any other scythe who might have asked why…

The real reason though was because she loved Cutler because of who he was. When his father died he tried to save her from being forced to fighting, offering to release her and let her be free or even find another trainer for her.

He was willing to sacrifice his own life of freedom to keep her free of this life.

They've been stuck here for over two years now, over two years of this miserable life. How she wanted to break free, how she wished there was a way… just so he didn't have to be here. During their first few weeks here, she had felt dead inside, having to become so brutal just to have a fighting chance in the arena. Yet, when the fighting ended, and he appeared, and whether she won or lost he brightened her day. Eventually, hearing his words, seeing him smile even a little, and knowing that he was safe and sound and would be there waiting for her just made her fall in love. Scythers normally found a mate attractive if they were strong, deadly, and had sharp scythe arms that gleamed in battle.

But after all the fighting, all of the blood, and above all each time she limped back into their bed tired and feeling dead inside, what she found attractive was his… 'softness'. He would hold her close to him, and just whisper words of comfort, telling her 'its alright', and lulling her to sleep with him close by. His gentleness, his scent, him protecting her from the cruel reality of their life for even tiny moments made her fall in love, deeply in love with Cutler... her human.

And that love she had for him… drove her to keep going, day after day, battle after battle, drawing blood from her opponents and risking her life so that one day they could leave it behind.

'If I can just survive… get through this… win these battles… then we can rest… and never fight again.' She thought as she raised her scythe arms.

She stared at her scythes and glared with determination, before taking a deep breath and performing a perfect 360 spin that ended with both scythes extended in front and behind her at 40-degree angles.

"I will win our freedom… no matter how long it takes. I'll fight in that arena and win no matter the odds…" She whispered before stepping forward and stabbing both scythes forward. "I'll win our freedom… no matter the cost…"

*Narrator*

[Hours later the guests arrived in the underground arena, many of them guests of the very hotel that they resided in for whatever business they had in the city. However once down in the underbelly of the hotel, the masks they wear up top come off, and they prepare for a night of entertainment, one they can't enjoy up top any longer.]

[Tonight's entertainment, a gauntlet match featuring Tavia, the exotic Scyther from the Kanto Region. Her opponents would be twenty Pokemon of various species, and the challenge is if she can emerge triumphant over all twenty in a row!]

[Yet, no matter how simple a challenge can be, a Pokemon can only take so much and only so much one can have control over a situation…]

(Cutler's PoV)

"Wooooo"

"Yea!"

"Rip it apart!"

"Yea, slice em dice em!"

Everyone was yelling as Tavia dodged another assault from an Ariados trying to sink its mandibles into her. She parried the attack and swung around it and stabbed its lower abdomen, giving the Ariados a long gash that drew blood.

"Ariiiiiii…" The Ariados screamed before it spewed some webbing to fling it upward away, and then turned and shot poisonous barbs in a furious assault of Poison Sting.

All he could do was watch quietly from the sidelines as she used her clean scythe to deflect the attack, while hanging her bloodied scythe and giving it a chance to recuperate and pray she could finish strong. She was now on her eighteenth opponent after an hour of fighting. He had looked at the schedule and Ariados was number eighteen, up next was Jolteon for number nineteen, and then came Mightyena 'Three' for number twenty.

Yet the fighting was taking its toll on his Scyther, as she was not able to rest or even take a breather, and that was causing her to be slow. Her last attack was purely defensive, and being partially paralyzed, poisoned, and now covered in strings of web from Ariados were taking their toll.

"Hey, get me another beer 'waiter'!" Someone yelled at him.

"Ya get me one too!"

"Yes sirs!" He replied.

He wanted to watch the fight more, wanting to encourage Tavia as best he could, but he wasn't going to get that chance thanks to all the guests.

He went over to the bar station and collected another two cans of beer and proceeded to take them to the two people who requested them. They took them without even a thank you, but they hollered and hooted as they watched Ariados swing from the top of the cage using its web as a rope.

He watched as Tavia shielded herself from the assault, using her clean scythe to block the Furry Swipe onslaught.

"Scy…" Tavia moaned as she was pushed to one knee.

"Woooooot!" Everyone screamed as Ariados swung back and assaulted her again.

Yet Tavia spun and jabbed upward, carving a long slash into Ariados' underbelly and slashing three of his legs.

"Riiiiii!" Ariados screeched in agony before it fell from the ground, landing belly up and curling its legs in pain, with blood streaming from the gashes and cuts Tavia had made.

Everyone yelled and applauded as Tavia panted heavily, her two scythe arms hanging limp as she used the small respite to breathe. She had just won battle eighteen, and only had two more to go before she won.

He breathed a sigh of relief, she was still in this fight.

"Enjoying the show kid?" He heard Rubias ask him.

He turned to the hotel owner/loan shark and looked back to Tavia. "Trying not to sir…" He said as 'politely' as he could.

He hated it, seeing Tavia go against what she grew up knowing. Before his father died, she loved Pokemon Battles like he did, the sportsmanship, the battles, and above all the 'honor' each Pokemon had.

But mostly, he hated how vicious she had to be just to 'survive', let alone win.

"Yea well, enjoy the show, cause we got a special guest for our twentieth battler!" He said with a chuckle. "Ganna be a real party!"

This caught him off guard, Mightyena 'Three' was supposed to be the last battler. "Wait, who's going to be battling?" He asked, but as he did an uproar sounded as number nineteen was released, Jolteon.

He turned and saw Jolteon storm in with electricity blazing, zapping Tavia as she ducked and stumbled backward to avoid the torrent.

"Jooooooooolt!" Jolteon screamed, trying to zap Tavia for all it was worth.

As Tavia backed up and fell over one of the previous combatants, a Beedrill, she felt the full shock of Jolteon's thunderbolt, all fifteen hundred jolts.

"Scyyyyyyyyyyy!" She screamed in agony, her body twitching from the jolts.

"Taviaaaaa!" He tried screaming, but his words were drowned by the yells and cheers of the crowd, all of whom hooted and cheered at Tavia's pain.

A vast majority had bet that she would lose and seeing her twitching and rolling in agony after over an hour of battling was all the better to them.

Tavia however seemed to have heard his cries, as she pushed herself up, still being shocked, and with all the power she could muster launched herself at Jolteon. Jolteon was shocked that she had mustered the energy to perform such a feat and didn't dodge the attack that she flew at him.

She slashed downward with her bloodied scythe, using the unblemished one to knock him upward into the first.

It was a pincer maneuver, and the result was Jolteon being stabbed three centimeters deep below his white spiky color.

Despite Tavia's miracle move, after she removed her scythe arm from the still breathing but now twitching in pain Jolteon everyone booed and yelled at the Jolteon.

"That piece of meat didn't even last a minute!"

"This is riiiiiigged!"

"Boooooo…"

"Kill something already!"

He watched Tavia wearily stumble and lean on a wall, looking about as 'dead' as everyone wanted her to be. Her eyes were half lidded, there was hardly any emotion in them, her limbs simply hung where they were, and her chest heaved three times the normal pace. She barely saw past the crowd and looked at him, and while he wanted to help her even morally, the crowd wouldn't let his voice carry to her.

"One more win and I'm half a million richer!" Rubias boasted loudly. "And your half a million closer to paying off your debt!"

"Sir, who's the twentieth if Mightyena isn't going in?" He asked again.

The bell ringed and Rubias smiled.

Then he heard the crowd ooing and applauding as he saw a flash of light, and turned to see…

Another Scyther appear.

[Ladies and Gentlemen, for your final entertainment of the night, we present for our twentieth combatant in today's gauntlet showdown… Slasher!]

"Where did you get another Scyther? This wasn't part of the deal for tonight's show, you said…" He tried to protest before he was kicked in the back of his knee, instantly forcing him to the ground.

"I'm altering the entertainment of the night!" He growled, giving him a dirty glare. "Pray I don't alter it any further… and you best hope your 'friend' wins this! I want my money!"

He got up and stared as the Scyther began sharpening its arms for combat, performing a stance he recognized as 'Swords Dance'. Meanwhile Tavia simply watched and stared as her opponent readied himself, unable to muster the strength to assume any kind of stance herself.

(Tavia's PoV)

Tavia was dead, absolutely 'dead' on the inside. She barely had the strength to stand, let alone fight. Upon seeing another Scyther she realized that she had no hope of winning now, it was over for her. Twenty opponents, twenty victories in a row… what was she thinking deluding herself that she could win? The odds were stacked against her from the start, her opponents were always fresh, and she barely had time to even 'breathe' before her next opponent came charging in.

By the sixth battle she was tired, by the twelfth she was exhausted, now she wanted to 'die' and end her suffering.

She was poisoned, paralyzed, barely awake, her limbs had lost feeling, her wings were bent at odd angles and she not only reeked of sweat and blood but also had bits of gore sticking to her scythe arm.

And now, she was supposed to fight a 'Scyther' as her last opponent, a fully rested, probably trained, battle hardened Scyther and 'win' in her condition?

'Just end me already…' She thought hopelessly as the Scyther marched toward her, as she lay against the wall trying to will another fight.

She took one last breath, and lurched forward, taking heavy steps as she lumbered toward her opponent while readying her last reserves of stamina into her scythe arm. She had only one move in her, a simple slash from above, let gravity do the work. It was all she had, all she could manage, each step she took stung like insanity. The poison in her body sapped what strength she couldn't gather and began clouding her judgement. Sleep Powder from a previous opponent had made her incredibly tired and broke her concentration.

She wanted nothing more than to simply lay down and 'die'.

The crowd was hooting at her, but she ignored them, what did it matter, this was what they wanted to see. Her in pain, her dying, her fight a hopeless battle and lose.

She reached her opponent and used all the strength she could muster and swung her scythe arm back, and swung it downward…

Her opponent blocked the attack with ease, then gave a slash across her chest drawing blood, before kicking her in the abdomen and sending her backward to the ground.

At that the world began to spin around her, as she watched her own blood fly before her eyes, saw everything becoming blurry, and feel her vision fade.

'I tried…'

She tried, she tried so hard to win… but it just was too much…

'It was too much…'

It was all too much for her, the crowd cheering as she lost at long last, the fact nobody wanted her to win… the constant battling… not even a moment to rest… it was too much for her to handle.

'I'm… going to die…'

Time seemed to slow down, as she realized that it was over for her. Nobody was going to save her, she could hear everyone cheering as they began to announce the result…

'But if I lose… Cutler…'

She thought about Cutler, what this meant… if she lost then he'd never be free… she couldn't lose, she couldn't die here… she had to win….

'Win…'

Her vision became less clouded, as if suddenly strength began to pour into her body. She looked up and saw the Scyther addressing the crowd, taking a bow as the results were being announced.

[And the winner by knockout is…]

She gathered every last ounce of strength, all of her reserves, all of her stamina, everything she had left… and flapped her wings for all they were worth.

[Slashe…]

She jumped upward, lunged her scythe arm forward…

And stabbed her final enemy through the neck…

She could see the surprise, feel the shock, but all she cared about was blankly staring at the back of her opponent's head as his body twitched, fidgeted, as the blood seeped along her scythe.

Before his limbs fell limp, and he slumped motionless, held up only by her scythe. Then she pulled it out and let the lifeless body of a fellow Scyther hit the floor.

[Uh… the winner is… the Gauntlet Challenger!]

Hearing those words, she raised her bloodied scythe arm up toward the light above…

smiled…

And fell backward, falling asleep from exhaustion.

*Several Hours Later*

She slept in Cutlers bed for how long she didn't know, but she didn't care, she was comfortable. There were no people yelling at her to die, nor were there Pokemon she had to battle for her life's sake. All that was said and done, and now she slept comfortably in the bed filled with her and Cutler's scent.

His scent really comforted her, but not nearly as much as Cutler's gentle touch and sweet words did.

Yet as she was stirring from her slumber, she noticed that Cutler wasn't there comforting her, nor was he talking to her. Curious she tiredly opened her eyes and looked up from his bed and saw the basement, with all the Pokemon in their cages, many of them sporting bandages and looking depressed, but all of them alive.

'What happened?' She asked herself. 'Where's Cutler?'

After a while she heard the basement door open up and saw Cutler walking down toward her. She expected him to be proud, beaming, happy to see her awake and moderately well but mostly happy that she had won!

Instead he looked depressed, even heartbroken.

He walked over to her and sat down, not looking into her eyes or even in her general direction.

"Feeling better girl?" He asked warmly.

"What's wrong?" She replied.

He sighed and looked at her now, and she saw that he looked about as 'dead' as she felt earlier. "I just got away from our 'boss'… and he's raised the interest again."

The news hit her hard, her heartbeat began racing as she contemplated this information, 'But… but…' She thought. "But I won!"

He nodded, knowing why she was upset. "He says its punishment for making him lose his bet." He answered. "You won but only because your opponent was officially dead. His bet was that you would flat out win, not win because your 'victorious' opponent suddenly became deceased before his name was finished being said. Because of that, he decided to punish me by increasing the interest rate another ten percent." Cutler looked away in shame. "He didn't even add the half of the prize he 'did' claim because you technically won to our overall debt. I tried to convince him but…"

She watched as Cutler shook his head in defeat, but all she could think was… 'how'.

How could the world be this mean to her and her human, what had they done to deserve this 'hell' that they were forced to endure.

Another ten percent interest… if what little math she 'did' know from Cutler explaining it to her, the total interest of their loan was now fifty percent. At that rate they'd never pay it back until they were old and grey.

"He… he can't… DO THAT!" She screamed furiously, getting up and turning to Cutler.

"There's nothing I can do… I tried to convince him but… he doesn't care about us… he just wants his money." He whispered in disgrace. "This is all my fault… I tried to help inspire you to win today but all I did was get you to kill someone's Pokemon for no reason."

"It's not your fault, ITS THAT MONSTER'S FAULT!" She yelled, getting his attention.

He nodded as he looked at her, and for a moment he began to smile, but it quickly dissolved into him crying. "I know… but what can I do?" He said as tears began to appear. "I can't run… then I'll be breaking the law… I'll become a wanted man. The law's on his side, I'm trapped here all because my dad wanted to give us a better chance at life after mom died. That debt I owe now… I'm trying my best but… I can only get so much with how much he will pay… what more can I do?"

His hands went to his face as he held his face, trying to hide his tears and broken spirit from her. She could see he was trying to stay strong, stay positive, but after over two years the abuse, the mistreatment, the lack of any 'light' at the end of their endlessly dark tunnel was finally getting to him. The weight of their reality was crashing down on him, and it was now becoming too much for him.

"What can I do Tavia… tell me… what more can I 'do'?" He moaned. "What… tell me what… what can I do? You won't leave me even if I ordered you… I can't send you away because… I just need you… and I can't pay back this debt on my own… what… tell me please… what can I do?"

He began hiccupping into his hands and seeing him be driven to such a point broke her heart.

"I'm… just a human… what can I 'do'?"

Her anger subsided, if only for a moment, replaced with sorrow and despair, as his words truly broke her more than any attack did. He was her sole source of comfort and joy, he was her light in this dark world, and his warm and gentle being gave her heart all the love she could feel in life.

She was a fighter by species' nature, it was just a part of who she was, but this world was not what her human was meant for. He was educated, he was kind, and above all he meant to be free. Reduced to an employed 'slave' forced to pay off a debt that was not originally his, trapped because the law declared he had to less he be put in jail, mistreated by others and the only honest and welcome treatment he received coming from a Scyther that belonged to his father…

He was reaching his breaking point.

She put those thoughts aside for a moment and instead walked forward, trying to ignore his sobs, and simply pressed against him while keeping her scythe blades pointed away from him. It was the only hug she could properly give, and even then, it wasn't how she wanted to hold him. He however returned the hug, still sobbing into her chest as he pressed closer to her.

They sat that way, embracing one another, a Scyther shielding her soft human from the harsh world as best she could, and a human letting his fierce defender know that he had tried all he could to save her efforts that day.

She felt her heart, beating in sync with his, felt his despair, his fear… and wished deep down that she could slice all that troubled him as easily as she sliced her opponents in battle.

They stayed that way for a while, how long they didn't know but Tavia didn't care, she would comfort Cutler as long as needed. Eventually he stopped sobbing and simply whispered, "What are we going to do?"

She didn't know, but she did know that Cutler couldn't stay here any longer, another month, another year in this place, no matter how much she won or how long it took before they were free of their debt would destroy what little remained of the Cutler she loved and cared for.

'Keep him safe, protect him, and never leave his side…' She thought.

Those were her OT's final words, and she had to protect Cutler, and the only way to protect him, to keep him safe, and to never leave his side… was to leave this place with him.

She used her muzzle to life his face up and looked deep into his eyes.

"We have to run!" She said.

The one benefit of being together, despite not speaking the same language, was that they instinctively knew what the other was saying.

"But we can't run, if we run the police will be after us, they'll just put me in jail for not wanting to pay my debt back. Then they'll separate us… I can't risk leaving to avoid working at this Hotel and Underground arena unless..." He said.

It was at that moment though that his eyes grew wider, as if sudden inspiration occurred to him.

"Unless we could convince someone from the Pokemon League that Rubias was using his Hotel as a front for an illegal Underground Pokemon Arena!" He whispered quietly.

At those words she smiled, the Pokemon League would shut this place down and investigate if it was true. It would also help give Cutler a case to obtain his freedom from that debt. Yet her sudden joy seemed to vanish as quickly as the look in Cutler's face did.

"But how can we convince anyone, we have no evidence… without evidence its my Loan Shark's word against mine. He can just say I'm making stuff up to get out of paying him the loan interest back. Then he'll have me arrested for trying to get out of paying my debt and running away…"

She didn't know why she did what she did next but seeing his spirit that was suddenly becoming strong now fading… made her take action.

She watched him with determination in her eyes, and tentatively… or nervously… pressed her lips to his.

(Cutler's PoV)

He just sat there on the bed after finding inspiration to get away from this underground arena, but now was sitting there questioning why his Scyther had pushed herself into a kiss with him. Her mouth wasn't like his, it didn't have the same softness as human lips did, instead it felt like kissing something both soft and hard that also had trillions of tiny little hairs too small to see and only were noticed now that he was kissing them.

But that still paled to his question as to why was she kissing him, was it something he said, something he did? It didn't make much sense to him, until she pulled away and stared at him with her eyes. Her normally strong, fierce, determined eyes… that now looked at him with such gentleness, such affection, and filled with an emotion he could only describe as 'love'.

She was expressing her feelings the only way she could, by using the same method 'his' species did to express love.

"Tavia?" He asked.

"Scy?" She asked back.

"Why me?"

In response she shifted her eyes, trying to figure out how to answer that, before she pushed herself closer to him and tried to deepen the hug. She held him like that, simply holding him and nothing more. He was even more confused until he began hearing her 'crying', it was a soft cry, but he heard her crying into his shoulder. As she cried she pulled him closer, and that was when he understood 'why' she loved him.

She could be 'herself' with him, she never cried whenever they talked about matches or fights, and she never cried when she lost. Yet here she was laying tears on his shoulder when he was the one crying before.

"Scy… ther… scy…" She muttered to him, trying to hold him closer but unable to without risking hurting him with her bladed arms.

He smiled warmly and did the hugging for her, pulling her closer to him. "It's alright, I understand now." He whispered to her. "If I'm what makes you happy in life, then I'll do all I can to make you as happy as possible."

She tightened her grip and nuzzled his cheek happily. "Scyther scy…" She whispered just as gently.

They embraced each other for a little longer before he returned to the topic of how to escape with evidence.

"But how do we get out of here, if we just run we'll be fugitives, we need evidence or else Rubias will just hide everything here and then it will be our word against his." He said gesturing to all of the cages around them.

It was at that moment he suddenly had an inspiration, and he turned to look at all of the Pokemon in their cages all looking at him with curious expressions. Nearly all of the ones that had battled that day were sporting heavy bandages which covered up their most recent injuries. Others looked underfed because they didn't get proper proportions in their diets for their species. And others still looked extremely depressed simply because they didn't have any hope of ever escaping this place.

"Unless we 'bring' the evidence with us… that is." He muttered.

"Scy?" She asked.

"What if we escaped with all the Pokemon here?" He asked her. "If we go to the nearest Pokemon Center, and 'they' explain where they came from, and we tell Nurse Joy how this happened to them and what is down here… then she'll HAVE to believe us, and if she believes us she can convince the league to investigate and shut this place down!"

"Scyther scy?" Tavia asked looking at the Pokemon in their cages.

"Yes, I know, it's risky trying to save them all, but if 'we' manage to escape why can't they?" He said quickly, getting up and heading toward the nearest Pokemon, a Galvantula that was limping on its left legs. "Hey, Galvantula…"

The Galvantula looked at him with a worried expression. "Galvan?" It asked him.

"Galvantula… if me and Tavia escape tonight… would you be willing to come along with us?" He asked it.

"Galvantula?" It asked in shock.

"Yes, we're trying to escape, but we can't without proof that this place exists. If the right people find out, then we can all get away from this life! We can be free, we can all be free of this life if we can get out together!" He said with a confident smile. "So, what do you say, do you wan…"

He didn't even get a chance to finish as it suddenly began nodding and screaming, "Galvan galvan galvan!"

He smiled, before looking at the other nearby cages, and now he had all of the Pokemon's attention after hearing Galvantula all but scream that it wanted to escape with him and Tavia.

"What about the rest of you, do you want to come too?"

Without fail all of them screamed in their own languages that they were with him. Now that they were all in on the plan to escape, he had to figure out how to get them out of their cages. This was a problem because the keys were with Rubias upstairs, and there was no way he could sneak up there and get them without being caught at this time.

"Hmm, I can't use anything in this room to make a lock picker." He said looking around. "Tavia… do you think maybe you could slice through the lock?"

She looked at the locks on the cages and nodded, moving closer and raising one scythe arm.

"Scyther!" She ordered, telling him to step back, which he and Galvantula did, getting back as far as it could in the cage. "Scyyyyyy!"

Tavia swung down and sliced at the lock, but all that occurred was a 'ding' as her blade arm bounced off the metal, leaving only a scratch and landing into the floor.

"So much for that idea…" He muttered looking at the dent, and then noticed how Tavia had to pull her scythe out of the wooden floor. "Wait… I have an idea."

Moments later Tavia thrust her bladed arm into the wooden floor and began to carve up the plank. It was slow work, but she managed to carve up the plank on her side of the cage, before carefully carving it up on the inside of the cage now through the bars. Once that was done she repeated the process some more, carving up the flooring into pieces so that eventually it could be broken up and revealed the dirt underneath.

"Alright, now Galvantula, do you think you can dig your way out from there?" He asked.

Galvantula nodded and began using four of its legs to pull dirt and pile it behind it.

"Good, this is how it will work, Tavia is going to carve up the planks and then we'll rip them out, after that you guys will dig your way out!" He instructed as Tavia moved to the next cage. "Those who can help do so from their side to speed this up, those who dig their way out help others dig or break the planks up, so they can dig! We all have to work together to get out of here!"

Everyone yelled in understanding as Galvantula picked up its pace to dig its way out. It took them hours, Tavia slicing as fast as possible while those who were digging pushed their limbs to their limits. Many had a hard time because they had injured body parts, no doubt some of them on the receiving end of Tavia's blades, but despite this they worked with determination to dig to their freedom.

(Cutler's and Tavia's PoV)

Cutler was amazed by this, never having seen these Pokemon work as hard when it came to digging as they did fighting in the arena. "But when you have the chance for freedom, to escape a miserable life of fighting just to live, you'd push yourself all the harder…" He whispered as an Absol pawed the dirt with one leg, clumping as much dirt as it could while its other leg was in a sling.

Finally, after four hours of hard work, with everyone working together, the last Pokemon, a Jolteon, crawled out of its cage and gathered with Cutler.

"Alright, let's go… but quietly everyone…" He said, getting a nod from everyone.

They silently walked up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible as they moved from the basement to the arena floor. Many of the Pokemon looked around in awe, having never been on 'this' side of the bars when it came to the arena. Cutler looked around and made sure the coast was clear before signaling them all to follow him toward the door.

They had 'just' reached it when he felt something hit him in the back of his chest, then he screamed and collapsed to the ground, twitching in pain as surges of what felt like electricity coursed through his body.

"HOW 'DARE' YOU, you little piece of…" Someone yelled furiously, but the last words were drowned as he screamed in pain.

It paused for a moment and he managed to look up to see Rubias looking at him furiously from behind the bar, in hand a stun gun that had launched a pair of needles into him. He had a moment to think 'Where was he?' before he was shocked yet again.

"Aaaaaagh!"

"I gave you a chance to work, I fed you and housed you, I even let you keep that 'piece of meat' that I could have sold for a fortune here! And 'THIS' is how you repay me!?" He yelled. "You think I was going to let you just run off without paying back the MONEY you owe me? Not in a hundred years you piece of TRASH!" He took a step and shocked him harder, increasing the voltage. "If you want to live you better get back downstairs and get back in your 'cage' like the 'moron' you are!"

"And the rest of you better get back in your cages as well, I own all of you, and if you think I'm going to let you all get away with this you have another thing coming!" He screamed at the Pokemon, all of whom cowered in fear, their courage lost when Cutler fell to the floor.

Tavia however… had not lost her courage, it was replaced by an even stronger emotion, one that nobody can stop feeling once its upon them.

"Let him… GO!" Tavia screamed in rage, angered at seeing the loan shark hurting her Cutler. "Don't you DARE HURT HIM AGAIN!"

She ran forward, rage blinding her as she stormed forward at Rubias. Her predatory nature, her Scyther instincts had kicked in without her wanting, almost three years of silent bitterness and bottled up resentment toward their captor exploded as she threw herself at the target of her anger. In that moment she forgot who Rubias was, forgot he was human, all she saw him as was a threat and Cutler her mate. Her instincts screamed to defend him, to attack that which threatened him and demand he pay for injuring him and threatening him.

She ran forward, seeing red in blind furry, and lunged her scythe blade forward, the one she always used to cut her enemies up.

Rubias saw her and tried to run but turned enough to avoid being 'stabbed' through. He still felt the cold sting of her blade though, as she sliced the side of his torso as he dove away. Then she sliced his leg, then at his arm, then his hand as he tried to shield himself. She just continued to slice and stab, ignoring his cries and screams of pain or pleas for mercy.

Eventually her mind settled, and she regained control of her body, then she looked down as she saw the injuries she had done. The human was covered in gashes, bleeding from multiple sources. These injuries were nothing she really wanted to do, oh how she wanted to kill him, and as she was raising her scythe arm for the finishing blow, ready to end the life of the one who had all but enslaved her and her beloved, Cutler's pained voice rang out.

"No Tavia… he's not… worth it…" He yelled, causing her to look over at him.

Oh, how her mind wanted to disobey, but the look in his eyes… that alone made her agree. Killing him would not free them and killing him would not take back all he's done to them.

Killing him was too good for him, at least in her mind…

She nodded and walked away, helping her human up as she and he led the way up the stairs, with all the other Pokemon behind them following. They had cowered when Rubias shocked Cutler into the ground but seeing him wounded by Tavia made them walk away without looking back at him. Within minutes they were all outside, many of them looking up at the stars with wonder, amazed by the sight, but mostly they all took a single deep, unifying breath… and breathed free air for the first time in what felt like eternity.

Then as one they all made their way in the night to the nearest Pokemon Center.

(Tavia's PoV, half an hour later)

"I need more bandages for this one!" A Chansey yelled.

"Get me several Hyper Potions stat, this leg is broken in seven places!" Another Chansey screamed.

"This one's leg has healed improperly, we need to get them into surgery asap!" A Blissey screamed.

That was how it had been for the past few minutes, with Chanseys and Blissey's screaming at each other about medical terminology and stuff she didn't care about.

After arriving in the Pokemon Center to a very tired and bored Nurse Joy, shocking her into alertness with their many sustained injuries and conditions, she and what looked like every Chansey and Blissey in the city were now hustling and bustling with treating them all. Meanwhile, Nurse Joy herself had called in more help from all the other Pokemon Centers because of just how many had arrived at once. Nearly thirty-seven Pokemon were with Cutler, and their injuries had shocked her because of how bad they were.

Cutler himself was with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, as well as a Pokemon League Official, explaining the whole thing. Some of the less seriously injured Pokemon were also with them verifying what he said. By the sounds of it they were convinced, and Officer Jenny had ordered police and an ambulance to the location.

It was only a matter of time before the darkest stain in their life was removed from existence.

But she however had another stain she was staring at, as she looked at her right Scythe which was still covered in dried blood.

"Alright miss Tavia, your doing well." A Chansey said as she wrapped up her shoulder which had been dislocated from battles past. "If you just avoid fighting for a few days your body will heal quickly!"

She had no intention of battling ever again, she's battled enough for one life time, but she wanted to be free of all the stains of those horrible three years. Over two years, close to three now that she was told how long they had 'actually' been in that underground arena. She did not want to be reminded of 'anything' in that place.

"Miss Tavia?" The Chansey asked warmly.

She ignored her as she continued to stare at the scythe.

"I'll go get some alcohol swabs and we can clean that arm of yours spotless!" She said, trying to sound cheerful as she bounded away.

Clean that arm… spotless.

Nothing would make it spotless, nothing, there was too much blood on that blade…

She raised her left scythe…

'I won't put any more blood on it, and I won't taint my body with those stains any 'longer'!' She thought fiercely. 'For Cutler's sake…'

(Cutler's PoV)

"Alright I just got in touch with a pair of Rangers, they and their Meinshoa and Latias partners have just finished investigating and your story checks out." Jenny said after getting off the phone. "Based on your story you were assaulted and in self defense your Scyther attacked Rubias, so that means you won't be charged in court. As for the state of your loan debts, based on what they found it's a clear case of extortion, so I'll get in touch with a few friends with the Pokemon League to help you out."

The Pokemon League Agent nodded with a smile. "We'll have to get a few good lawyers and the case will take us a few weeks to settle, but after all's said and done you won't have to worry about that debt anymore."

Cutler sighed gratefully, that was the worst fear he had, paying that debt back.

"Which leaves the Pokemon that you rescued, and what to do with them." Jenny said to Nurse Joy.

Nurse Joy slumped in defeat at those words. "I tried my best to convince them, but they absolutely refused to leave Cutler's side." She said. "I can't send them to a shelter because they're all so fixated on remaining with him. The only thing they'll accept is if they get to live with him."

"Well considering how much Rubias was worth, I'm sure after court fees and everything else, Cutler will walk away with quite a hefty payment. You can use the money to buy a home and take care of all the Pokemon yourself, though your going to have a hard time with them."

"I've been taking care of them for over two years, I think I can handle them." He said nervously, much to the joy of the two Mightyena and Absol who were with him.

"KSCYYYYYY!" A huge scream sounded at that moment.

They all turned and saw a blue light turn on above the healing station.

"Blissey bliss!" A Blissey yelled, waiving at Nurse Joy.

"Code blue, we have a code blue!" Nurse Joy yelled.

He followed Nurse Joy with Jenny and several other Pokemon and walked into a scene where three Chanseys were struggling with a Blissey to help calm Tavia settle down, all the while trying to bandage up her arm that was bleeding profusely. Why it was bleeding was easily answered, as on the floor her bladed Scythe lay, covered in blood, while her 'stump' bled.

Her other Scythe blade was being held down by the Blissey, as her body lurched and twitched, with blood on it.

"She's going into shock, get her into the ER now!" Nurse Joy ordered.

*Narrator*

[After Tavia was spirited into the ER, a Chansey told them what happened with the Scyther. She had just turned as was leaving to go get some swabs to help clean her blade, when Tavia sliced off her right Scythe arm, leaving it a stump. After the Scyther had recovered, they offered to transfer it back and try to repair the damage, but Tavia refused to let it be reattached. She stated that 'it was a stain she didn't want anymore'.]

[The court case went through, and try as Rubias might, his financial empire dissolved around him thanks to the Pokemon League's intervention. Once it became known that he had abused and mistreated Pokemon in an illegal underground arena, the league's team of elite lawyers tore into him, leaving him with almost nothing to live off. After all was settled, paying restitutions to the damages the pokemon sustained with years of injuries and mistreatment, as well as mistreatment of those who were extorted for monetary gain, he was left penniless.]

[Cutler in contrary, being the primary voice on the inside and given witness protection, received nearly five times what his loan debt was after over two years, with seventy percent interest included for each month his debt was unpaid. With his newfound wealth he purchased a nice, quiet home on the outskirts of a city in the Johto Region, taking all the Pokemon who he had rescued. There they lived in comfort while Cutler finished his education at long last, and his first engineering project was finished on his graduation day…]

(Cutler's PoV and Tavia's)

"Hey guys, am I glad I'm back!" Cutler said as he walked through the door, carrying a large rectangular box.

As he walked in dozens of Pokemon ran or flew toward him, all of them cheerfully greeting him in their own separate ways, whether it be simply waving or an affectionate nuzzle or saying hello in their own species' language. But one Pokemon in particular, Tavia his Scyther was the first to greet him by pulling him into a hug.

"Welcome back 'graduate'!" She said as she tightened her hug, smiling proudly as she looked at him.

He looked so dignified and so wonderful in that black robe and square hat, with a doodle of a Scyther with a 'stub' for an arm drawn on the hat. He had just graduated, not at the top of his class as she wished, but still with pride and glory as they watched him leave for the ceremony that morning.

She had never been prouder of her lover as she was now.

Many things had changed since they left their horrible past behind and moved into this new home. First was that all of the Pokemon had found a new lease on life, having given up fighting for good and using their powers or abilities for other uses.

The electric Pokemon used their electric powers to power the building and all of its contraptions, meaning they didn't have to pay electric bills.

The many bug type Pokemon used their skills to help around the house with cleaning or mending damages done by mother nature.

Grass types tended to the gardens and helped raise crops, so they saved money on food.

But most of all, they each found a purpose in life and found a way to put a smile on their faces one way or another.

She had found her purpose, being the 'house wife', using her only remaining scythe arm for kitchen purposes. She found it far more enjoyable to slice food up then to slice up Pokemon. Learning to cook was a very difficult skill, and it took her almost a full year to get the skill down, but she found she loved playing the role of a wife.

Though the one thing she lamented, was her right scythe arm, as she couldn't properly hug him with only a stub.

This was something Cutler knew, as he de-robed and pulled the box out for all to see.

"Alright Tavia, I have something for you, I've been working on it all year as my project." He said.

Curious, she watched him take the box and open it, and saw him pull out a long mechanical arm. Amazed she watched as he held it to her.

"This is for you, it took me a while to finish, but here it is… a new 'prosthetic' arm I designed specifically for a Scyther." He said. "There are actually more pokemon than I realize that have missing limbs, so I decided I wanted to help design new prosthetics for all of them, to help them regain their old lives."

She stared in awe at the prosthetic, and then looked at her stump of a right arm, wondering how it would work.

"You can't wear it twenty-four seven, but at least when your awake you can strap it on and use it like you would your real arm. Best part is… it's not a blade! I figured maybe you didn't want one…"

She smiled and nodded, before turning and letting him strap on the prosthetic.

"Alright, now… move your arm…"

"Alright…" She muttered, and then began to move her stub.

As she did the arm began to move around, it took her some getting used to but as she did she learned how to better maneuver it, and then she watched as her efforts paid off. The arm bent, then moved upward and extended the clamp, or hand as it was supposed to be.

He took the offer and held the clamp, and she tentatively clamped down on his hand.

Her heart exploded, as she held his hand for the very first time. She looked up at him with a joyous smile, and he responded with his own warm smile, before she pulled him in for a very deep and passionate kiss.

All around the Pokemon either smiled or cooed at the two, before they began to nod to each other and left the room to let them 'have their moment'.

For months Cutler and Tavia had their relationship grow, first becoming lovers and then unofficial husband and wife. They had not done anything 'special' outside of kisses, hugs, maybe pecks on the cheek or the occasional sensual rub. Tavia had not pursued that path for one reason, she wanted to wait for the proper moment.

She grinned into the kiss as she wrapped her new arm around him and began 'tugging' him backward toward their bedroom.

'Well, that time is now' She thought warmly.

After being pulled backward by his Scyther, he followed her into their bedroom, Tavia slipping her arm sheath on so she could hold him with both arms now. Once inside she resumed holding him close and kissing him deeply, tickling his mouth with her tongue to gain access.

Feeling the moment, he acknowledged her request and opened up, allowing her tongue to playfully touch his with the tip, before enticing it to leave his mouth and pursue hers into her mouth. Once both were inside her mouth they playfully danced, wrapped around each other, and shared her space. Her tongue was thin to match her mouth, and lacked real strength because it was so small compared to his, but this worked to her pleasure as she wanted nothing more then to feel his body's dominance over her most private, soft, and gentle parts.

Speaking of private, soft, and gentle parts, she lowered her arm and carefully used her prosthetic to remove his clothes as best she could. Her arm wasn't as nimble as her Scythe arm was, but it was enough to get the message across.

They separated for a moment to breathe and he stared at her with a grin, "Do you want to do it now girl?" He asked her warmly.

She smiled and nodded. "Shut up and fuck me already, you handsome 'graduate'." She muttered.

She's waited long enough, she waited to be embraced as a lover for long enough, and now that her body was sensing what was about to happen it was demanding even more occur.

Cutler nodded in understanding, and resumed assaulting her mouth and kissing her raw, while he worked his hands to remove his clothing for her. First came off his pants, then came his shirt which she happily ripped off, it wasn't one he needed anyway. Finally came off his trousers, revealing his member that was only at half-mast.

She took a glance and her eyes 'exploded', it was only four inches long for now, but it was already large by her species standard.

'Sweet Arceus if female Scythers knew what even lowly humans were packing they'd jump them in a heartbeat…' She thought to herself.

She however grinned before she bent down and engulfed it in her mouth, tasting her lover's scent and trying her best to get it to full-mast for the main event. Scyther females didn't exactly care as much about length as she did now, because to them the act of mating was more for procreation, and while she wanted to procreate she also wanted to make her mate 'happy', and she had been studying while he was back in school on how to make him happy.

Which is why she was now rolling her tongue over his pseudo-flacid member, savoring its salty and exotic taste in her mouth. Each lick she made sure to feel the tiny veins, wrap around the tip of his dick, and send little shivers down her human's body which she felt while holding his legs.

"Ah… oh… my goodness Tavia… where did you learn to do 'this'?" He moaned pleasurably while standing naked in front of her.

She opened her eyes and grinned, before closing them again and focusing on pleasing him.

'Watching Slutty Gardevoir Wannabes Four~' She thought with mirth.

Seconds later he held the back of her head and began to bob her head back and forth, increasing the pleasure his dick was getting and making it extremely hard and 'hot' in her mouth. She began to deepthroat his dick as it reached now over six inches in length, going all the way to the back of her throat.

"Fuck… Tavia… it feels wonderful!" He said while thrusting slightly into her mouth.

This made her happy, she wanted nothing more than to make him happy because him happy made 'her' happy. But her body was confused and becoming frustrated, it was screaming in silent rage at her. She had his dick inside her, yet why wasn't it 'inside her' by now? She silenced its complaints because her mouth began tasting pre-cum, and that really enticed her mouth.

She tasted the first few drops and enjoyed the strange flavor, it reminded her of 'something', what that was she didn't know but her tongue and mouth loved every bit. She massaged and licked, tended and tempted his dick to give more, and more it gave. Soon she was tasting a small stream of pre-cum in her mouth and each little drop was like a sweet nectar to her.

'It's so delicious, why oh why didn't I do this before with him?" She thought as he began to thrust even harder into her mouth. 'Oh~ I can't live without this taste in my mouth… I want it every day now!'

Cutler however had other ideas, he was reaching his limit and didn't want his very first release to be inside of Tavia's mouth, he wanted to release in her lower abdomen. So, with some effort he pulled out of her mouth and lifted her onto the bed. There he laid her on the bed and angled her lower abdomen toward him, where the tiniest hole revealed itself.

Unlike other species of Pokemon, bug-type pokemon like Scyther only reveal their genitals when mating was expected, and he could see that it was opening up expecting him. The entrance to her sex was barely wide enough for his dick, and seeing this she used her left scythe arm to cover her face in embarrassment.

"Are you going to fertilize my eggs Cutler?" She asked, both hopefully and nervously.

He smiled before he leaned forward and kissed her deeply. "I want you to have my babies Tavia." He whispered seductively.

Hearing that she began to cry happily, she wanted nothing more than to bear his young, her eggs inside her lower abdomen were ready for fertilization, they just needed his sperm now. "Breed me, my beloved…" She moaned lovingly.

He nodded and held her mouth with his, while he angled his dick so that it could slide into her passage. Her passage expanded only a tiny bit, after that it tightened around him like a vice, it was an almost painful pleasure that made him nearly explode inside of her.

"Its so tight… you are so damn tight Tavia!" He groaned as he pushed in further.

"Oh… Arceus… forgive me… IT'S TOO BIG~!" She screamed. "It hurts… but it feels… so GOOD!"

Male Scythers were small by comparison, so for her walls to even stretch as far as they were was amazing. Cutler was probably average size for a human, but for her passage he was the biggest in the world.

Inch by inch he slid in, until he reached the end of her passage and felt himself rub against something smooth and hard that also felt slimy after hilting.

They looked at each other while panting, both understanding what was up. He had touched her eggs, he was now touching the very containers that would soon be carrying his young.

"Now beloved… make me yours!" She moaned happily.

He nodded and began to slowly exit her passage, but it was very hard to do so, as now he was inside her body did not want him to leave. She grimaced in slight pain at how big he was compared to her passage, but then moaned as he shoved back in.

Her walls were tightening around his dick, but those very walls massaged and slimed his member up with her juices. Each time he slid in or out, her body reacted accordingly. She loved his dick, not only because it was giving her pleasure and him pleasure, but because it was the tool that would fertilize her eggs.

"You're so tight… it feels amazing Tavia." He whispered as he held her close.

"And your amazing… I love it… don't stop beloved!" She cried blissfully, using her right arm now to hold him while her left arm hung off the bed.

She bent her legs inward before wrapping them around his, trying to give him a better angle to fertilize her, and this indeed allowed him to reach into her egg chamber by another centimeter, but to her it felt like an extra foot.

His thrusts began to grow in pace, and the strength of each thrust increased as well. Every time they made contact, a wet slopping sound was heard and tiny splashes of her juices fell out. It wasn't the same juices that he was leaking though, it was a slime-like liquid that was lime green and coated his dick each time it left.

After a few more moments of thrusting into her body he pulled her close and began to ram her body, causing her to moan with each thrust.

"Ah~, ha,..ga…ha~… haw~…" She moaned loudly, feeling her eggs moving around in her body.

"Shit… I can't take it… I'm…" He muttered, before pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Hmnnnnng!" She screamed as he rammed one last time and stayed hilted.

"HNNNNnnng!" He also moaned, while cumming inside her.

She felt his dick releasing inside of her, felt his sperm pooling inside her chamber and felt enormous joy.

They panted heavily as they began to come down from their high. But she smiled lovingly as she held him close, before looking up at the ceiling.

'Master… I will protect your son, I will stay by his side, and I will keep him safe' She thought warmly, picturing his father's image above them smiling down on them. 'Though… I can't say I won't give him a few hundred kids while I'm at it… but I will love him with all my heart… as you loved 'us' with all your heart.'

With that she felt him slump against her and pass out and decided to join him in sleep land as well. They were going to be stuck for a while anyway, Scyther's usually stayed together when mating for hours, and her body wasn't about to let him free anytime soon.

That, and her passage was silently milking every drop of sperm it could get while they rested.

*Narrator*

[Meanwhile, inside of her egg chamber, a tiny pool of sperm was slowly swimming around her eggs, slushing and gushing from one end of her chamber to the other. Each egg being assaulted by millions of tiny little sperms. One after another though, each egg was 'breached' by the little vigilant warriors.]

[First one egg, then another… then another… and another… until finally…]

(Five Months Later)

Tavia smiled as she slowly turned her nine eggs by the fire, using her prosthetic to ensure each egg was warmed properly by temperature to ensure the genders she and Cutler wanted. They had wanted six boys and three girls, so six boys and three girls were what they were getting, the boys were farthest from the fire while the girls were closest.

She had never felt so proud of herself, and she knew Cutler was just as proud of her. The birthing had been very hard on her, nine eggs, a small number by Scyther Standards, but what else was she to do? Human sperm have a hard time fertilizing bug type Pokemon eggs. She was lucky to receive nine, let alone the fifty on average a female can have in one cycle.

"How are the eggs Tavia?" Cutler asked as he made their bed.

"Doing well…" She responded warmly. "I think another month will pass before we see our children for the first time."

"I can't wait." He said with a smile. "So, do you think they'll all look like you, or do you think maybe one or two will have something from me?"

"They'll all look like me dork." She giggled. "But… maybe a few will get your eye color~!"

He chuckled as they both lay down for bed, with Tavia removing her prosthetic arm.

As she did she looked at it with silent joy, her thoughts thinking one thing.

That arm was like her new family, untainted and unstained by horrible thoughts and a horrible lifestyle. It was the very symbol of her new life…

And she treasured every second of it.

With that she leaned over and snuggled closer to Cutler, who held her close to him.

A human, and a Scyther, ending another night of their life, while waiting for their new life to begin.