Chapter 117 – Hangovers and hang ups.
When Blade next awoke, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he was not in any pain. Despite being knocked out by Nova's flamethrower. He was laying on a soft bed in a brightly lit room. Despite having been out in the rain all night, his fir was dry, though it was still covered in mud. He wondered briefly how he had come to be there.
A question that was answered when he sat up and saw Cameron and Lucario standing over him. His stomach turned over… "Shit!"
"Good morning to you too," said Lucario, folding his arms as he observed the Sneasel with a half-smile on his face. "Had fun last night?"
"How…" Blade's jaw quivered uneasily, and he swallowed to clear his throat. "How much do you?"
"Bastinado, stocks, humiliation and near rape," said Lucario. "You have some interesting hobbies."
"Ugh. Lucario take this seriously," groaned Cameron. "I can't handle this right now."
Blade shifted his attention from Lucario to his trainer. He couldn't help but smirk at his appearance, in spite of the situation. Cameron was shirtless. His hair was messy, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was rubbing his temples with his right hand as he nursed a headache.
"Wow…somebody had a rough night!"
"Look Blade," said Cameron firmly, not engaging with his taunt. "Nova and Geyser told us what happened. You froze Hunter's paws to a tree, slapped his paws, stick and icicle in his butt and tried to fuck. All without his consent!"
Blade folded his own arms and tried to look defiant. "No. Hunter agreed that…"
But Cameron cut him off. "Yeah, we know about the contest too. That isn't consent Blade. Consent has to be freely given and specific to what it is your doing. Don't play games with me i'm so not in the mood." He put a hand on his stomach, closed his eyes and added in a loud whisper, "ahh I think I'm going to throw up."
"Don't do it on me," sniggered Blade.
Cameron's eyes snapped open. "Alright look, here's the deal. You want to play with the other Pokémon, you play nice. No roughhousing, no bullying, no hurting others and if your want to mate. It has to be consensual. Understand."
"Umm."
"Understand!" Cameron repeated a bit more forcefully. "Seriously Blade, if you aren't going to play nicely with Hinter and then others then I'll just have to keep you in your Pokéball."
Blade sighed. He definitely did not want that. "Fine. I-I'll. Be nice to Hunter."
"And."
"And I promise, no mating stuff without consent, okay!"
Cameron sighed again but nodded. "Glad to hear it. I was going to make you spend the rest of the day in your Pokéball to make you reflect on what you've. But seeing as my head feels like it is going to explode, I'll let you off with a warning. I beef top go lie down."
He turned to leave. Lucario moved to follow, but before he did so, he lent over Blade and put his maw close to his ear. "He's hungover so you got off lightly. But I'll be keeping my eye on you from now on. If you do anything like that to Hunter again and I'll castrate you."
His words made blade jump. His eyes widened in fear as he looked up at Lucario. He could tell that the aura Pokémon meant every word he said.
"I once killed a Metang with my bars paws when it threatened Hunter as an egg. Don't get me wrong, that pup needs his attitude adjusting once in a while and I'd be lying if I said tune thought of him punished like that wasn't a turn on but… you talk about instinct a lot. Try parenteral instinct. There is nothing I won't do to protect Hunter. So, from now on, if you're going to get your dick out, it has better stay safe, sane, and consensual. Got it."
Blade nodded, too intimidated to speak.
"Good. Glad we understand each other!"
[Pokémon]
A few hours later…
"Pichu Pichu."
It was the first time Ashachu had seen his new brother. He gazed at the smaller mouse Pokémon standing in front of him. His tiny body, large round head and pointy ears contrasted so much with his own features. It was almost hard to believe they were members of the same species, let alone related by blood.
"Rai Raichu," he replied raising his right paw.
The little Pichu copied him, lifting up its tiny little arm. He was staring intently at Ashachu, his chocolate eyes full of amazement. Ashachu lifted his other paw. His gesture was mirrored by his brother.
"Heh, I think someone likes you!" Pikachu commented with a smirk.
The three chus and Ash were sitting on the porch of Oak's lab. It was midday and the sun sat high in the sky above them. The rain from the previous night had faded leaving only puddles behind.
"Yeah," Ashachu replied. "What's his name."
"Thunderbolt," said Ashachu.
"Thunderbolt," repeated Ashachu, lowering his paw to touch the top of the Pichu's head. "Good name…Wow, his paws are so tiny," as Thunderbolt reached out and touched Ashachu's paws.
"They sure seem happy playing together," said Jimmy, who was leaning against the wall behind Ash.
As he spoke, Thunderbolt suddenly climbed onto Ashachu. Ashachu felt the flurry of tiny paws and feet tug at his fur as the Pichu climbed onto the top of his head, where he curled into a ball and yawned.
"And it looks like he's found a good place for a nap," laughed Ash.
"Oh," Ashachu glanced up at his brother now resting on him.
"Don't move your head too much," Pikachu suggested. "Hey, when do we get to meet our grand kit?" he added after the laugher had died down.
Ashachu pulled a face and shrugged, not entirely sure how to respond. "I…I ummm…It's kind of up to Charizard. He said something about…" he stared but trailed off. He was unsure whether to repeat what his boyfriend has said to him the night before.
"He's a Charmander. He should be raised by a Charizard. He should be trained by a Charizard," the fire lizard had growled as he held the little fire lizard in his arms. "I don't want him raised by humans for battles and contests. Not until he's old enough. And when the time comes, I will teach him how to defend himself. I was show him how to fight. Too much trust in humans isn't safe for our species, or Pokémon generally. Can't always trust them!"
"Waiting until he's ready…He's still quite young to be out of the cave."
"Hmm." Ash frowned and pursed his lips as though sceptical of this explanation.
"Charizard do tend to be very protective of their newborns," said Jimmy. "They avoid humans when they first lay, and then tuck the hatchlings away in caves in mountainous or volcanic areas. It could just be Charizard's instincts at play."
Ash let out a long sigh. "I still don't get why he doesn't trust me though. Trust us." He gestured to Pikachu. "After everything we've been through."
"Yeah, that is odd," Jimmy agreed with a frown. "But I suppose Charmander tend to imprint on trainers and parents when they're young. Its one of the reasons they use them as starters. They get bad separation anxiety. Not being around a parent can be stressful for them and some Charmander can go into rages. Maybe Charizard thought it best if he manages that phase of his hatchling's life himself."
Seeing the forlorn look on Ash's face he added, "I'm sure its nothing to worry about. Even experienced breeders can have difficulty getting some Pokémon to feel comfortable with others around their newborns. Charizard are quite social, but they're territorial too, especially with nests. It just needs time, I'm sure he'll come around."
"Look I'll to him about it," said Ashachu. "I know its not cool not to let you see Charichu. We're all family. He'll listen to me. I think."
"Ha Charichu. That's a cute name," said Jimmy with a smile.
"Good choice," agreed Ash.
Ashachu shrugged. "Just carrying on the family tradition. Also, it was Charizard's idea." He quickly changed the subject. "Hey, I heard that something happened between Hunter and Blade? Is that true? What happened?"
There was a moment of awkward silence as Ash, Pikachu and Jimmy exchanged looks. Ashachu coxed his head. Or at least he started to before realising that he still had a Pichu sitting on top of him.
"Umm…" Ash started but couldn't seem to think of what to say. He rubbed the back of his head mareepishly.
"It's probably not for us to say," said Pikachu, tapping Ashachu on the side with his paw. "It's kind of between Hunter and Blade. And Cameron and Lucario. It's not really our place to say…"
[Pokémon]
"He tried Hunter to a tree, practiced bastinado on him, made him suck him off and then tried to mate him, all without Hunter's consent," explained Nova a few hours later as he, Ashachu and Geyser sat by the bank of the stream. "He was totally out of control! Cynda!"
Nova blew a jet of flame from his mouth towards the water. It managed to get about two thirds of the way across before dissipating into smoke. He clicked his tongue and waved his paw in irritation as though mimicking the action of trying to snap his fingers in frustration. Cyndaquil do not have fingers.
"Damn it. Every time!"
"What is it you're trying to do again," asked Geyser.
"I'm trying to learn fire blast," said Nova. "It's more powerful than flamethrower. But I can't seem to get enough power, Arceus damnit."
Geyser sighed. "Is training literally all you do!"
Nova shrugged his paws. "It's not all I do. But I do it a lot."
"I thought you were the one who didn't want our lives ruled by humans," Geyser said with a yawn.
Nova laughed. "Ha. I don't train or battle because I want my trainer to win some stupid plastic trophy or gym badge. I battle to test my strength and challenge myself. I battle to get to know my opponent. I battle for the love of the contest…And to attract a mate…Maybe."
Geyser laughed too at this last sentence, a wide grin spreading across his long muzzle. "Maybe I should challenge you to a battle for the loser's body. If all that fiery passion is just pent-up horniness."
"It's not that they shouldn't have made that stupid bet," Nova replied, turning back to the stream. "If they're going to use sexual punishment as a motivator, the consequences should have been delineated first. Safe, sane, and consensual. Hunter clearly didn't like what was happening. You could see he was distressed. Blade continued anyway!"
Ashachu sat on the ground and stretched at his cheek with his hind paw. He recalled the last two sexual encounters he had with Blade. Both had involved him being restrained while his body was used and abused in some way. The first being tickled and edged to near insanity and the second time being forced to lick three sets of paws….while being edged to insanity. He felt something stir inside him, his heart rate increasing and tingle between his legs at the memory. At the thought of Hunter all restrained and helpless. He shifted his body so that Nova and Geyser couldn't see his sheath swell.
"We're Pokémon. We deserve not to be interfered with without our consent," Nova continued. "Worlds fucked up enough as it is, without doing hurting and humiliating each other like that."
"I thought wild Pokémon raped each other all the time," said Ashachu as he continued to scratch. "You know. Law of nature and all. Besides, aren't Sneasel known for trying to dominate each other."
"Cynda!" Nova sent another jet of fire across the water. This time the fire hit the surface of the stream creating a plume of steam. "Damn…" He clicked his tongue again and looked curiously at Ashachu.
"I don't think that it does," said Nova. "Where'd you learn that. Humans like to tell themselves that we do that to each other to justify their supposed superiority. But nothing in my experience shows that it's true."
"Yeah, but you've only ever been a trained Pokémon," teased Geyser. "You've only ever had a trainer setting the rules for you!"
Nova folded his arms and gave Geyser a stern look. "That doesn't make wild Pokémon a bunch of rapists," he said in a lecturing voice. "Pokémon aren't bad. We only do bad things because humans make us."
Ashachu frowned at him. "I just don't see how you can keep saying that after everything we've seen. Especially after Shadow."
"But didn't they say that Shadow created by humans," said Geyser. "They experimented with him at the P2 Laboratory. Mixed his DNA with DNA from another Pokémon."
Nova looked impressed. "That's right. I also heard he was planted in the Unova region specifically to target Sneasel's for a company fighting with the Aether Foundation. Seems pretty human induced to me."
"He still chose to do what he did," said Ashachu. "No human forced him to try to murder Charizard on Team Rocket's train. Or pull out that other Charizard's tongue. Or use that Zoroark's skull as a puppet. Or…."
"Ugh…I get your point." Nova shuddered and put his hands over the top of his head.
For a moment Ashachu wondered if Nova was trying to block out an argument that contradicted his own. Was arguing this this Cyndaquil even worth it. Some of the stuff Nova came out with was pretty strange to Ashachu. Then he realised the note of fear in Nova's voice. He had frightened him by talking about Shadow's brutal murders of Pokémon.
"I'm not defending what Shadow did alright. All of those killings were…." He shuddered again. "Really bad. All I said is that you can't remove the human presence from those crimes. We're not the same as human's Ashachu." A note of anger had entered his voice now. "We don't think like them. We don't ascribe to their conceptions of good and evil. It's makes us vulnerable to exploitation. Many humans don't understand this. Many see as objects that can be used to achieve their desires. That's how Team Rocket think. That's how the people who made Shadow think. And even the humans who love and respect us don't comprehend that. I want train, fight, and learn new moves so I can be the best Cyndaquil I can be. So, I can evolve. So, I can attract mates. Dad wants to win competitions and have his name in the hall of fame. Even though we work towards the same goals the reasons aren't the same…"
He sighed and looked down at his paws. "All of three of us. We have a human parent. But we're not humans. We're never going to be the same as them, and they don't understand the gap."
Once again, Nova's pronouncement had left Ashachu's head spinning. He heard the tone of Nova's voice and wondered, not for the first time, why all this abstract conceptualising about the world got the Cyndaquil so worked up. He wanted badly to change the subject. But Nova hadn't quite finished.
"Human standards should never be applied to Pokémon. If we attack it's usually due to fear, not violence. If we don't obey, it's due to distrust not obstinacy. Our power is ours. When we share it, it's because of trust and respect, not human entitle…"
A hot wave of flame suddenly struck Ashachu in the side sending him sprawling into the grass. Fire engulfed his body, heat searing his fur and skin. Though the orange blur that was his vision he could see the outline of Nova somewhere hire above him. A large flame emitting from his mouth.
In his sudden moment of passion, Nova had managed to fire off a fire blast attack. It had launched him into the air like a rocket, before hitting Ashachu and Geyser, knocking them both off their paws. It ended as quickly as it had begun. The flames disappeared and a confused Nova landed back on his paws in the grass.
"Oh my…"
"Well, that's a fire type for you," said Geyser getting back up. "Learn to channel that energy and they'll be not stopping you."
Nova held up his paws and looked between Geyser and Ashachu. "I wasn't angry…Was I." Seeing the blacked stated of Ashachu's fur, a wave of guilty came over him and he cringed. "Ooh. Sorry I burned your face, mousy."
"I'm mated to a fire type," groaned Ashachu as he rolled onto his back and lay spreadeagled. "Who just gave birth of a Charmander. If I'm not used to getting flamed by now, I soon will be!"
[Pokémon]
On a ranch so full of Pokémon, there were few places of true solitude. Blade had managed to find one. The top of the windmill that stood on the hill overlooking the rest of Oak's ranch. His claws enabled him to climb up to the top where he sat with his claws over his knees observing paddocks, stream, trees, hills, and mountains beyond.
And of course, the daily activities of the Pokémon living there.
His eyes were fixed on Ashachu, talking with Nova and Geyser by the stream. He couldn't hear what they were saying. Blade wondered whether he would figure into the conversation. He suspected word about his and Hunter's activities the night before would have spread by now. He couldn't see Hunter anywhere.
"What the hell am I even doing here," he grumbled. "How did my life become this." He let out a long sigh. "And what have I even become. Guess it's all about you know kid." He promised himself he would speak to Ashachu later. Even if it meant going near him…
"Blade," came a curious voice from above.
He looked up and saw Dragonite flying overhead. The dragon stopped in mid-air, turning around, and looking down at him.
"What are you."
"FUCK OFF!"
Dragonite shrugged. "Alright." He turned back around and continued to fly.