Chapter 7 – At his paws

Ashachu gave a huffy sigh as he got back to his paws. For the second time that day he had just lost a battle with Meowth. He had tried his best to win…he really had. But for some reason he had seemed to have grown two left foot paws.

Every attack he had launched had missed. Every time he had tried to dodge an oncoming attack, he had found the scratch cat right in front of him. A series of repeated fury swipes, tackle and iron tail later and he was spent.

The bout had ended just the way the first one had. With Ashachu on his back, Meowth standing over him flexing triumphantly…and annoyingly…with his right foot on his chest, and Blade laughing.

"Man on man." Blade draped his arm around Ashachu's shoulder and lent on him. He was laughing so hard he couldn't stand straight and needed Ashachu to support him. "You really can't do it can you. You can't fight without a human coaching you!"

"I beat twerpachoo. I beat twerpachoo," Meowth chanted happily.

"I can too," Ashachu half groaned, half whined. "I just…" He wasn't sure what the problem was, but he just couldn't think straight during the battle. Or make his body move exactly as fast or in the direction he wanted it to do.

He suspected it had something to do with whatever was in the bottle! He regretted taking the additional swigs before entering the bout.

He grumbled as Meowth pressed his foot a little harder into his chest, while continuing to flex his muscles. "Will you get off me!"

"Whatever you say, twerpachoo," Meowth giggled before removing his foot.

Ashachu climbed back to his paws and sighed. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

"Yeah, ya told me," Meowth replied. "But now I know I can beat ya, why should I listen to ya. What ya gonna do 'bout it."

Ashachu sighed and shook his head. There was no point in taking the bait.

"Well come on then," said Blade, clapping a claw on Ashachu's shoulder. "We should let Meowth claim his prize. Hehe."

"Oh yes," Ashachu breathed. "How could I forget." He glanced at Blade. "Any chance of getting out of this."

Blade shook his head. "Sorry buddy, but you already agreed."

"Dat right Twerpachoo," Meowth added smugly, a wide grin on his face. "You lost, so it's time to pay up now…"

What Blade and Meowth were referring to be the challenge the three had set before the last battle.

Flashback…

"Okay, I think what you need kid, is a little motivation," said Blade. "You wanna fight like a wild Pokémon something reals gotta be on the line. For me it was always my life. Now what's something you'll fight tooth and claw to avoid. Hmmm." He rubbed his chin with his right claw.

Ashachu stared at him in disbelief. "Uh. Did someone hurt you. You messed up thing."

Blade sniggered. "Ha. Funny…Now, I think I got just the thing. Hikari, Meowthy. Come here."

The two Pokémon drew in closer so Blade could whisper whatever it was he was planning into their ears.

Ashachu's eyes widened in shock. "Uh-uh. No way." He shook his head seriously and folded his arms. "There is no way!"

Meowth smirked at him. "Oh, come on twerpachoo. What are ya, scared. Scaredy-chu."

Ashachu glared at him. "For the last time. Stop calling me Twerpachu. And there is no way I'm scared of you!"

"Oh really," taunted Meowth. "Because I think the results of few battles say different."

Ashachu's eyes narrowed. "Alright, I accept the challenge. And you just wait. When I kick your tail. It's gonna be." He made a gesture with his paws as Blade held up a claw.

"Pokémon. Take your positions!"

End flashback…

"Meowthy, if you'd like to do the honours," said Blade gesturing to Ashachu with his claw.

Ashachu jumped, his stomach giving a violent lurch of fear. "What."

Meowth rubbed his paws together, grinning evilly. "With pleasure." He then did something strange. He flicked up his paw as if throwing a ball.

Ashachu didn't have much of an opportunity to ponder this, before he felt something take hold of him by the arms, wrapping themselves around his forearm and wrists.

"What the!"

He looked down at his arms, and saw to his horror, a thick looking leafy vine had sprouted from the sand and ensnared both his arms. He gaped at Meowth and Blade in disbelief.

"How did?"

Meowth chuckled again. "Sappy Seed," he said. When Ashachu frowned he elaborated, "similar to Leech seed, 'xcept normal types can use it."

Ashachu shook his head in disbelief. First iron tail, now sappy seed. How many surprise moves did this cat have? When had he learnt them all? He couldn't recall Meowth being this strong in any of their previous encounters with Team Rocket.

"And now I've gotcha right where I want ya!" Meowth continued. He leaned out and used his paw to rub Ashachu beneath his chin, his three fingers delicately tracing Ashachu's jawline. Ashachu shivered at his touch.

"Don't touch my mouth," he replied. "I might bite your finger."

Meowth sniggered. "Ha. Feisty."

Ashachu suddenly felt a jerk from behind. The vines were pulling him to the ground. Without any warning, he had been unable to brace for it, and quickly founding himself lying on his back in the sand.

He gave a little squeak of fright. "Pika."

It made Blade and Meowth both giggled.

"Relax would ya," said Blade. "I told ya. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."

As soon as Ashachu was on the ground, two more vines sprouted out of the sand and wrapped themselves tightly around his ankles.

A wide smile spread across the Sneasel's face. "Though now I've got you right where I need ya. Meowth, he's all yours."

Ashachu felt his heart pounding in his chest and his throat felt dry. He was lying spread eagled and vulnerable in the sand with his paws tightly bound. He tried to pull his free, but the vines grip on him was too tight. The only part of his body that could move freely was his tail. The rest o him could only wriggle and squirm.

"Excellent," said Meowth. "Hand me da lube, would ya?"

Blade handed Meowth a small plastic bottle. Ashachu had no idea where it had come from. Same place as the brown liquid, he supposed. Meowth squirted some of its contents onto his left paw, then rubbed them together. The liquid was thick and seemed to make his paws glossy.

"Now den."

He then knelt down at Ashachu's feet, lent forward slightly and placed his paws on Ashachu's chest. Ashachu felt the liquid on his paws sink into his fur and onto his skin. IT was a viscous liquid with a gel like consistency, that felt cool on his body. It had the affect of slackening his yellow fur, making it stick to his body.

Ashachu's heart continued to race as Meowth gently started to caress him, first drawing circles across his chest with the palm of his paws, then moving slowly down his sides, across his stomach and down into his thighs.

"M-Meowth,," Ashachu cried out as the tips of the cat's fingers came dangerously close to his sheath.

Meowth made no reply except to grin evilly at him, the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his maw. He slid his paws straight up the middle of Ashachu's belly, across his chest and right to the crook of his neck, before removing them.

He then reached for the bottle and squirted more of the liquid onto his paws, before returning to his gentle caressing of Ashachu's body. Ashachu shuddered at Meowth's touch, his ears and tail twitching. The combination of the cat's soft paws against his fur, the feel of the gel…It was indescribable.

He knew he probably shouldn't like it…But he did. He started to squirm, his breath coming in short and sharp intervals. And the colour in his cheeks was slowly rising.

After about half a minute of this treatment – though it felt to him like much longer – Ashachu finally managed to blurt out, "What…in the distortion world are you doing?"

Meowth continued to grin that evil grin at him, and Ashachu had a definite feel of foreboding.

"Oh nothing," he replied slyly. "Just…getting'…ready. You have a great body you know that."

Meowth felt his away along Ashachu's stomach, giving the muscles a little squeeze.

Ashachu blushed. He wasn't sure whether this was meant as a compliment or not. "Oh…Thanks."

"No really," said Meowth. "Your stomach's like. Rock hard. Dat twerp's sure done a good job with you."

Ashachu glowered at him. "His name his Ahhhh…" Before he could finish his sentence, Meowth brushed the inside of his waist with the end of his claw. Not enough to scratch or break the skin. Just enough to let Ashachu know it was there.

It had the desired affect. It sent a shock, through Ashachu's body and up his spine. He arched his back and let out a little giggle.

"What's his name. Sorry buddy didn't catch dat," Meowth taunted.

Ashachu collapsed back down, panting, and lifted his head up. His eyes narrowed, and as his breath returned he whispered a defiant, "screw you."

"Ha. Ya wanna watch dat language of yours dare Twerpachoo. Don't forget where ya are."

Ashachu rolled his eyes and Meowth resumed his gentle caressing and stroking of Ashachu's body. Up and down the paws went, covering the mouse in more and more of that gel until Ashachu was glinting from the neck down, feeling the powerful muscles under the fur as he went.

Ashachu decided to just enjoy it. The massage felt so good. He closed his eyes and let all of his other thoughts drain away. His breathing was getting heavier and heavier. He concentrated only on the paws.

Until Blade's voice brought him back to reality… "Whoa careful there Meowthy. Getting him a bit excited aren't you."

"Huh." Ashachu opened his eyes and lifted his head. And saw to his horror, his member poking out from between his sheaths. "Oh shit." He went bright red in the face and tried to get up. Only to realise he was still tied down by the vines. "Shiiittt."

"Heh don't worry yourself kid," chuckled Blade. "Everything's fine. It's a natural reaction. Besides, you ain't got anything we haven't seen before. We're all males here remember." He winked at him.

Ashachu stopped trying to pull himself free. Once again, there was something about Blade that seemed to calm him down. Make him feel like everything was okay.

"I think that might be enough with the touching there Meowthy. Might be time to move onto the main event."

A wide smile spread across Meowth's face. "Excellent!"

Ashachu swallowed, the sense of foreboding coming back. This evidently reflected in his expression because Blade let out a snort of laughter.

"Ahaha. Stop pouting kiddo. You remember the deal. Looser of the battle has to allow the winner to tickle them silly."

Ashachu let out a long-drawn sigh. "How could I forget. Well, get on with it then."

No sooner had he uttered that last phrase, that he regretted it. Meowth was merciless. He dug the middle finger on each of his paws into Ashachu's sides just above his waist, wiggling them around.

Ashachu let out a torrent of laughter as he squirmed in his bonds. He didn't think he had ever laughed so hard in his life. Very soon there were tears running down his face and his chest was starting to ache.

"hahahahaha pika…you hahahaha. Bas…hahah…tare…I'm hahaha. Gonna get you both for….ahahahah. This!"

Meowth smirked at him. "Sure. What ya gonna do. Fight me. Ya already tried."

He continued his merciless assault on Ashachu's body, moving his paws up Ashachu's torso to his armpits. He dug his fingers in deep, which had quite the affect on poor Ashachu. Ha stared to laugh, splutter and gasp worse than ever, his body twisting from side to side, sweat mixing with the gel in his fur.

This continued for…Ashachu had no idea how long…before, at Blade's persuasion, Meowth finally let up.

"C'mon Meowthy, the poor kid's turning blue!"

Meowth removed his paws from beneath Ashachu's armpits, leaving him to collapse, giggling and breathing heavily.

"Arceus damnit," Ashachu gasped as he finally caught his breath and gathered the strength to look up and glare at Meowth.

Meowth stood back to admire his handiwork, folding his arms and grinning as he gazed down at Ashachu. Naked, tied down, sweating, humiliated and, despite his glowering with a look of being utterly defeated in his eyes.

Meowth knew how he was feeling, because he had felt it so often in his life with Team Rocket. Usually after one of their…often his…plans had been foiled or a machine destroyed, and they had been forced to endure a blastoff!

"Payback's a bitch," he muttered under his breath triumphantly.

"Alright you've had your prize now," Ashachu continued, irritably. "Can you get these damn things off me know."

"I dunno," replied Meowth mischievously, enjoying the flashes of worry and anger in his eyes. "What do you think Blady? T'ink he suffered enough?"

Blade was slouched in the sand beside the restrained Ashachu, propping himself up on his elbow and with one knee raised. He grinned evilly at him for a moment then looked over his shoulder at Meowth.

"Hehe. Not quite yet Meowthy."

Ashachu groaned, wondering what was coming next!

[Pokémon]

Meanwhile…

"Hunter, use force palm!"

"Geyser, counter it with razor shell."

The Riolu and the Dewott charged at each other. Hunter raised his fist ready to punch his opponent. Geyser brandished his Scalchop like a knife. The two Pokémon met somewhere in the middle of the battlefield, where they brought down their blows upon the other.

Hunter struck Geyser on the nose. Geyser drove his blade like shell into Hunter's stomach. There was a small explosion and the two Pokémon disappeared in a cloud of dust and sand. About thirty seconds passed, in which Ash and Cameron watched in bated breath for the cloud to clear.

When it did, Hunter and Geyser were lying on the ground beside each other, swirls covering their eyes.

Typhlosion, referring, raised his paw and declared, "both Pokémon are unable to battle. It's a draw."

"Well done you two," said Cameron. "Alright, take five."

The two Pokémon started to stir, then opened his eyes. They slowly sat up, then got to their feet and smiled at each other.

"Great match Hunter," exclaimed a happy Geyser, offering his opponent his paw.

Hunter took it. "Yeah, thank's buddy."

The two moved of the field as Cameron removed a Pokéball from his belt. "Alright Ash let's go again. Swana, I choose you!"

"Then I'll use Ashachu," said Ash, looking over to the group of Pokémon gathered to the side. "Ashachu!"

But Ashachu did not appear to be among them.

"Ashachu," Ash called out again, looking around. "ASHACHU!"

"Pikaka," Pikachu cried from his shoulder.

There was no reply. Ash's heart sank. "Oh great. Where is he?"

Hunter coxed his head, "He was with me earlier. We were talking in private over there." He pointed to the edge of the jungle. "I thought he followed me back."

"You know I don't think I've seen Ashachu since breakfast," said Cameron rubbing his chin.

Ash bit his lip, fighting back a growing sense of fear. "Don't tell me he's run off again. Oh Ashachu, what in the distortion world am I going to do with you?"