FA/N: If you want to know what the 'more realistic' Pokémon in Truth and Lies look like, a good place to start would be Joshua Dunlop's art. You can find it at "joshuadunlop (d0t) art stat ion (d0t) c0m." ... Ffnet is getting more annoying with their filters. He's done most of the first 151, and a couple extras (Espeon and Umbreon come to mind), plus his art is amazing in general. Worth a look.
Finally, if you like this story or any of my other stories, please consider supporting me on Pa Tree On. You can find it by going to www. Pa tree / KajaWilder (you must have NSFW filter turned off to find my page). I can only continue my current (or faster) pace of updates if I can pay my bills. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting closer. If you think about how much enjoyment you get out of a movie- about two hours worth of fun- for $10-20- you are getting far greater value by supporting a writer like myself. If even one in twenty people that read this supported me on Pa Tree On at any level, I would be able to easily continue focusing on writing more... and you could read more. I'm going to keep writing anyway. But the pace would be and will be a lot faster if you can spare a few dollars monthly. My lowest tier isn't even a small drink at a theater, any more. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to you? If so, then please support me.
Of course, you can ALSO find more of the same stories there. I post everything on this site at least a week after it's posted on , so if you want more and don't want to wait, well... there you go.
That's enough out of me, though. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Brutal / Civilized
After checking their supplies, it quickly became apparent that they would have to head back sooner rather than later. They had a fair bit of human food, as Elle had said, but she only had a small stash of Poison Pellets. Enough, maybe, to feed all their many Poison-Types for two days, tops. So, reluctantly, after breakfast both broke camp and turned north, following the stream toward mountains they had spotted the peaks of from the lake the day before.
It was not to be the smooth journey either had expected or desired, though, and it was not for finding tough Pokémon.
Instead, it was a Trainer.
Their first clue that something was wrong was the cry of a Pokémon in pain, followed by a resounding smack of flesh on flesh. Then a harsh cry in English, "Shut up, damn it! Take it all! You're mine now, bitch!"
There was another cry, a high, keening shriek of pain, and the pair began to run forward, heedless of the crashing noise or the branches that caught at their clothing or scratched at faces, arms, and legs.
Alex skidded to a halt as the male voice groaned again, louder, "Oh, yeah, that's tight as fuck... take it, you little- Ow! How dare you bite, me you little rat?!"
Alex skidded to a halt at the edge of a small clearing, maybe ten feet on a side, and immediately wanted to vomit.
There was a man there, a burly sort with an unkempt beard, with a t-shirt on, shoes, and pants around both ankles, with a tiny little Pokémon, barely a foot if an inch, impaled on his dick. Next to him, Elle gasped, and he saw out of the corner of his eyes as both hands came up to cover her mouth in horror.
Horror he felt himself.
Not... not having sex with Pokémon.
That was one thing.
But the Pokémon here was clearly in pain, struggling weakly, even bleeding profusely around the man's genitals. He didn't care, though, and with both hands moved it back and forth, hips moving too, as he rutted into its tiny little body.
Next to him was another rat, larger, maybe even the evolved, rotund form of the same one the man was currently fucking, staring up at its master with disgust and hate, but unable to stand against him.
The smaller Pokémon gave out a piteous sort of chirping mewl as the man thrust again, harder, "Yeah- yeah!"
Alex saw red.
His hands reached for two Pokéballs without thinking, and Cock was already out. Two more Pokémon appeared in flashes of pink and brown. "Cock," he ordered, voice soft and cold, "Focus Energy then Double Kick the shit out of that man. Lingus, try and catch the Pokémon with your tongue. Spike... Bite his legs off if you have to."
For a moment, each of the Pokémon hesitated, and Elle gasped again. "Alex, it's illegal to tell Pokémon to attack-"
"Fuck it!" he shouted over her, "That bastard's-"
The man was clearly alerted by Alex's yells, and he turned around quickly, hands still pumping the Pokémon onto his dick, "Hey, you guys wanna join the- what- what're you doin'? You can't attack me! I looked, you can't challenge anyone while they're in Prowess mode! It's illegal!"
"This isn't a challenge," Alex growled, "Do it!"
Cock was the first to move, cerulean blue eyes shining as it dashed forward, quills raised in a threatening fashion all over its body. Before it had closed half the five feet between them, then man started stumbling backward, and even withdrew the poor Pokémon from his member and almost casually threw it aside. "Raticate, eradicate 'em! Quick Attack!"
The Nidoran, though, was faster, had started sooner, and leaped into the air, spinning its body around in a wheel to drive both clawed, poisonous rear feet directly into the man's exposed, still-hard genitals. Alex reflexively winced when, seemingly in slow motion, two nails pierced into the erection, driving deep, and all four of the other foot drove into his scrotum.
The man screamed in pain, crying out himself even as he fell backward.
Lingus, meanwhile, had done exactly as Alex had ordered. The poor Pokémon's landing was significantly softened by the soft flesh of her tongue, and even now she was withdrawing it toward them as quickly as she could, carrying it over the twelve feet it had been thrown as gently as possible.
Spike, though, could not reach the man in time to aid in his defeat, thanks to the Raticate.
But its own powerful jaws, and Alex knew they were capable of crushing a man's arm based on the size of the main teeth alone, could not do more than scrape and slide against his Larvitar's hard shell. Meanwhile, its own mouth clamped down on first the Raticate's tail, then right hind leg, taking massive chunks out of both as they entered a frenzied, no-holds-barred scrum on the ground that kicked up dust and leaves in a small cloud that almost looked like a miniature Sandstorm.
"Wait, Alex!"
"Peck, Cock!"
The Pokémon moved even as Elle's hand landed on his arm, "Alex, stop! If you kill him, you'll-"
He shook off the girl's hand, "Poison Sting!"
The man cried out again as the little needle-tip of the horn, now dripping with poison, just entered the flesh of his abdomen, a few inches to the right of where it had speared him harder a moment before.
"Alex!"
"Double-"
His next command was cut off by a flash of white and a stab of pain as Elle's open hand smashed across his jaw.
He blinked.
The red faded, but only part-way.
"Wh- Elle? Why'd you slap me? Don't you know what this guy was doing?"
"Of course I know," she sobbed, lifting one hand to wipe at the tears running down her face, "I'm not blind, dummy! But if you kill him... if you kill him, you'll be banned from the game!"
"B- what? What do you mean?"
She reached through the shiny spot that was his minimized window, and it expanded. It was flashing red, not the usual clean blue.
His eyes widened as he read, and the Raticate and Larvitar continued to fight. Cock, at least, had stayed still, standing atop the vicious man's chest and snarling down at his terrified, panicked eyes.
Warning! You have initiated PvP activity in an unsanctioned battle. Directly attacking another player has flagged you for possible expulsion from the game. Further actions will result in your immediate dismissal from the game world. For further information, please consult the upcoming PvP Rules, date TBD.
Then he looked at Elle's, who had turned hers to face him, as well. It was not red, but nor was her background blue, either. It was bright orange, the letters now black to show up better.
Warning! You have witnessed a crime. Would you like to report that crime to the local authorities via in-game messaging? This will result in likely in-game punishment for the offending party, and possible restitution on the behalf of the victim.
The crime(s) you have witnessed include:
Assault with Pokémon (3 counts); Forcible Intercourse with Pokémon (1 count).
To report any of these crimes, simply touch the crime in question. Local authorities will be on their way shortly.
"We can let the cops have him," Elle said quietly, sobbing still, "We don't have to... have to take things into our own hands."
"And in the meanwhile," Alex whispered, "that Pokémon..."
"It's not suffering anymore," she hiccupped, "he killed it... probably when it squeaked. Fucking bastard literally raped it to death... but we don't have to take it into our own hands."
Alex nodded slowly, then closed the screen and took a deep breath as he looked up over the clearing. Spike had pinned the Raticate to the ground, bitten one arm completely off, and then driven its head-spike into its skull. It was twitching slightly as Spike moved, but otherwise, he suspected it was not just defeated, but dead, as that first Oddish they had discovered had been.
That means there's at least two Pokémon I've outright killed. This isn't a kid's game with 'fainting', and I knew that, but... shit. And this asshole...
"Spike, good job, buddy. Lingus, thank you for trying. You did great. Cock... I know you want to finish him off as much as I do, but Elle's right."
The Nidoran continued to growl, snout just an inch or so from the brutal man's scruffy bearded face, who now lay almost still, aside from the tremble of fear, on the ground. "You- you aren't gonna kill me, are you? I wasn't doin' nothin' wrong! They said we can fuck Pokémon! I asked!"
Elle snorted, "Yeah, if they want to, you sick fuck. There's a line between- between sex and rape, you bastard. And you killed that poor Rattata."
"Tight hole," he grunted, "Besides, there's plenty more. I got another one, and my Raticate ain' so tight no more. Find 'em all over up north a bit."
All the blood drained from Alex' face. "How... how many have you killed, you prick?"
The man shrugged, only to stop half-way as the quills on the Nidoran's back raised threateningly again, "A- A couple, I guess? Some survive... I was just getting' a bit too excited, ya- ya know?"
"Let me kill him," Alex growled, "It's totally worth it."
"No," Elle said, "We can do better. I think... Your Kakuna and Metapod can still use String Shot, right?"
"I think so," he replied, "Why?"
"Grab his arms. Maybe give him a kick in the nuts for good measure- and one for me."
"Hey, wait," the other man protested, "That ain't- oww! Holy fuck, man, what the- oh fuck! Ow! What the..."
Any other protests, Alex ignored as they turned into pained whimpers when Elle delivered a swift kick of her own, "For the Rattata, you piece of shit. Consider yourself lucky I don't know how many others there were."
Under Elle's instructions, Alex wrestled the slightly smaller, dirty man against the nearest, tall pine tree, and moved behind him to hold his hands in place while Spike and Cock flanked him to prevent the man from running.
That was when Elle, smirking viciously herself, walked up with his two cocooned Bug-Types, one under each arm. "Okay, guys... let's get his arms, first."
The man didn't even protest, still whimpering weakly in pain, as the String Shot covered both arms from the elbow down and not a small amount above it, pinning him to the tree.
Then she kicked out one of the man's legs and aimed there, too, before getting his other.
Only then, after all of it had dried, did she set the two Bug-Types down, and Alex circled the tree once more, knowing he was quite secure. That much thread would hold him for hours, and this guy seemed much more malnourished, almost like a street bum.
Wonder how he got into the closed Beta, then?
"Come- come on," the other man whimpered weakly, "I'm bleedin' everywhere, I think yer damned Pokémon poisoned me... don't leave me tied up, too!"
"Oh, I'm gonna do more than that," Elle said, "I'm gonna report you... there. Reported you for raping a Pokémon. That is a crime, see?"
The man's dark brown eyes widened as she spun her screen to face him. "It... it is? Sh... shit, I didn't know, I swear!"
"Ignorance is no defense," Alex told him, "and honestly? I'd consider myself lucky this is all she's doing."
"What makes you think it is?" the girl snarled, then turned to the man's own rather dirty tent and backpack.
"Hey, you can't steal my shit," the man shouted, "That's illegal!"
"Really?" Elle grinned cruelly, looking up from his bag, "Because this is flagged as Alex' inventory in my list, which means it's party stuff. You didn't have any cash to give when he won the fight, so..."
Alex, in turn, grinned as he watched the other man's horror return full-force. "That's... that's all I got..."
For a moment, he felt a small spike of pity. Clearly, this man was not just a bit disturbed, but probably homeless, or nearly so, in the real world. But this...
It's not okay.
Not in a game, not in the real world.
"You ever rape anyone or anything outside the game?"
He didn't know why he asked, but the man's suddenly shifty expression told him all he wanted to know, and all pity vanished. "If I ever find out who you are out-of-game, I'm gonna be coming after you, shit-head. You better log out and stay out, if you make it that far."
"I- I will. I..."
The rapist and Pokémon-murderer fell quiet, letting his head hang in shame or at least despair while Elle just dumped out the pack. "I got- well, you got- six Pokéballs, and a Great Ball- that's cool. A Potion, and a little bit of Normal Nutrisnacks, four bars."
"Good," Alex said with a frown, reaching down to take them from the girl's hands and add them to his own collection before helping her to her feet.
He let himself watch, forced himself really, to look the man up and down. He was a couple years older, maybe, but Alex knew that if circumstances had been different, if he'd been born into a less-affluent family, he might have ended up just like this man. No... Not like him. I wouldn't have been doing that. Homeless, maybe. But this... I wouldn't have ever done this.
With one final closed-fist punch across the other man's face that made his hand smart and brought blood to the captive figure's mouth, he turned away.
They walked in silence, neither saying a word, for more than an hour.
That still didn't stop them, as the trees began to thin, from hearing the distant cries of fear and pain as some sort of Pokémon found the captor. Neither turned back, and neither bothered to report to the authorities about the change in status.
Four days later, an overworked officer would come across a bound skeleton, mostly in pieces, and largely picked clean. The Raticate and Rattata bodies had been completely consumed, and she eventually just chalked it up to justice served, hopefully, before returning to her normal beat.
Adisa winced as Machop's bicep was pierced by the plucky little bird's sharp beak again, and it cried out, "Chop!"
The Spearow wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, but this one was stronger, faster, and larger than others she had faced, and her Machop was having a hard time of it, largely because it could barely time attacks to hit as the flying Pokémon whizzed through the air out of its reach before it could retaliate.
"Damn it," she muttered angrily, "Back to your ball, Machop! It's not worth you getting hurt any more! No... I'm going to have to use Geodude."
She could tell her Starter was frustrated, probably as much as she was, but it obeyed her command loyally, disappearing in a flash of gray. Another, a shade or two darker, revealed the stomping rocky arms of the toughest Pokémon she'd captured, though that number was still few. "Geodude, start with Rock Throw. See if you can knock it from the sky."
The black woman's dark eyes widened in surprise as the very first rock, ripped from the ground without visible effort, hurled directly into the Spearow's path. It tried to swerve at the last moment, but the stone still clipped its wing and body, and it tumbled down, crashing into the earth. "Well done, Geodude, a very good throw. Alright... more. I need more Pokémon to fight. But first, I should take care of my buddy."
A moment later, the Geodude snorted as the Machop appeared, wincing in pain but still flexing to show its own dominance over the Rock-Type. Adisa rolled her eyes at the male and pseudo-male posturing even while she pulled out one of her several Potions and began to treat Machop's several piercing wounds. I need to remember that he's not that useful against Flying types. He's great overall, easily my strongest, but he can't do everything himself.
Once more, they were high in the mountains west of Viridian City, but Adisa still had no intention of collecting a vast array of Pokémon. She preferred quality over quantity, and a specific skill-set or style. Even having a Geodude was only a product of desperation, though it was useful to have him all the same. But a sweeper it was not, as she had scanned over its statistics on the night she'd caught him, and that was definitely her own style.
Still, as she sprayed the two holes on Machop's chest, she noticed something she had not before.
Its eyes, larger than a human child's would be on the head, were watching her. Not just her in general, but... he's watching my chest? Is he... interested?
There was no physical sign, as she glanced down when she finished, but Adisa couldn't help but watch him throughout the rest of the day as two more Spearow, a male Nidoran, and no fewer than four Rattata were destroyed by her ever-stronger team.
He is definitely watching me move. I wonder...
That night, she decided to run a little experiment.
"Besides," she whispered to herself after dinner while laying down on the top of her own sleeping bag, looking up at the unfamiliar stars, "It has been a long time since I was satisfied. Everyone does it, no?"
Still, it felt strange to her, to reach down, knowing her companion and starter was watching every move, and pretend to ignore him while she unsnapped her shorts and pushed them down slightly, just enough to give better access for one hand between her legs.
What the... I'm already a bit wet. Hah... maybe I like this more than I expected, no? Or has it just been that long...?
She forgot, for a few minutes, her experiment as the woman's fingers began to move across her twat, gently spreading her folds, then pressing them together again, and even pushing two fingers inside herself, the thumb pressing into her hooded clit. Her other hand moved up her generous chest, giving one side then the other a squeeze as she started to truly enjoy masturbation for the first time since she was a teenager.
Only as Adisa brought herself to a modest, shaking climax several minutes later did she remember why she'd started in the first place. "Oh, yes... that felt really good."
A quick glance to her left, though, showed her Machop looking almost in pain... and considerably different.
His overall form, she supposed, as she looked at the creature that still watched her shamelessly, was the same. But now, where there had been smooth flesh between his legs, an unmistakable penis and two small sacks that might have been separated scrotii, rose from the otherwise gray, smooth flesh. Slightly smaller than a human man, but on a creature the size of a ten-year-old that's pretty impressive. It reaches nearly to his mid-torso.
Without really debating it internally, Adisa lifted her hips to return her clothing back to its normal spot and sat up facing Machop. "Come here."
It did so hesitantly, glancing down at its new growth with what she guessed was confusion. "It's alright, come on."
Up close, she could see that, aside from coloring, there was only a little difference. Its dick was very human-like, slightly curved and made in mostly the same way with a 'circumsized' head that was a few shades darker gray.
She looked up, and glanced around the area briefly. No one around but us, and it's late, the fire is low. I... am I really going to do this?
But he really did look like he was in pain, so she asked, "Machop... does it hurt?"
"Ma," the creature rumbled quietly, but also nodded hesitantly.
"Do you... want it to stop hurting?"
"Ma," and another, more sure, nod.
"Oh... okay. I'll help. But I want you to... to know how to help yourself too, okay? So... so pay attention."
It watched closely, as she too hesitated briefly before lifting her right hand and bringing it up. She recoiled the moment her fingers touched Machop's dick, but they closed around it again a second later, "You're very warm," she whispered. "Now...I'm not very good at this, I've only ever done it briefly, but... I think if you move your hand like this..."
She started pumping, maintaining a light pressure, and watched both as Machop's head flew back in surprise, its wide mouth opening slightly in a gasp, and as the flesh moved and molded under her fingers.
It was true, she'd never really given a hand-job before, and had only stroked between positions on most of her infrequent previous lovers, but she understood the concept well enough, and she watched raptly as she continued to pump. Machop's expression began to change quickly, the pained look already gone but rapidly turning into one of pleasure she only saw otherwise upon a tough victory.
Then, without warning, his body began to move, too, pumping into her hand even as his smaller arms wrapped around her wrist and forearm, forcing her to move faster still. She smiled, unbidden... it was kind of fun watching her Pokémon lose control.
It climaxed without any sign of warning, too, grunting and shuddering to a halt, pelvis thrust forward into her hand, as one arc of semen flew clear over her shoulder, then another, and a third, before they started to peter out. But it kept coming, and she started to look down in amazement, ignoring for the moment the splatter on her t-shirt, her dark shoulder, her chest, as it climaxed for over a minute, still pumping her hands up and down its length, ejaculating the entire while, until its jerky hip-thrusts subsided, and it collapsed backward onto its rump.
Adisa grinned. Machop was conscious, but its eyes were rolled partly back in its head as its chest heaved, one eye barely following her now. "You liked that, huh?"
"M- Maa..."
"Well, you can use your hands, too- like I did. Enjoy, my friend."
Only as she returned to laying across her sleeping bag once more did Adisa realize she was covered in cum. Damn it...
She sat up once more and began hunting for her one towel- it was the best thing she had to wipe it off. At least I don't feel any in my hair.
Still, five minutes later, she gave the sodden towel a sniff. Strange, it doesn't smell bad. Kind of pleasant, actually, like... honey, almost. I wonder how it...
Before she could talk herself out of it, Adisa stuck her tongue out and gave the gobs of white a single lick, then brought it back into her mouth as she stuffed it into her bag and, thoroughly embarrassed at what she'd just done- both things- she held it there before swallowing.
It's... it's not bad. Maybe I won't... make him do it himself after all. I...
That was as far as she got before her mind forced itself to stop that train of thought where it was.
Thursday, after having taken advantage of the game's mechanics to walk all night two days in a row after the horrifying meeting with that man, Elle found herself smiling down at what could only be Viridian City. They had passed by another couple of smaller towns in the distance, but had mostly been heading straight north as fast as they could, not even stopping to fight or collect many Pokémon, and they hadn't even spotted any Trainers to battle.
Until now, that is.
"Look how many there are," she whispered.
Alex, dumbstruck next to her, nodded. "There's at least twenty. It looks like they're doing some sort of training."
Elle nodded too, "Yeah- look, they are pairing off. Think we can go jump in?"
"I think I'd rather challenge them and hopefully make some money," Alex replied.
"All of them...? Well..."
"Not all at once," he laughed, "Besides, you said yourself there are rules for Trainer on Trainer battles. Let's go."
After a moment's hesitation she followed him down the hillside meadow toward the city limits, still some five or six miles off. The end of the forest had been rather abrupt half-way up the hills they'd just climbed, but the reason why was clear now. All around them, fields covered the wide, broad valley that Viridian sat in at the foot of a large mountain range to the west, with the same dense forest surrounding it and even more to the north than they'd already passed through.
The nearest plot of land, though, was covered in wild grass and flowers, but none of it high enough for Pokémon to be hiding in, and it was clearly not a harvested field, if the people moving forward through it slowly to meet up, battle, and then break apart, were any indication.
"Then again," she heard her friend muse out loud, "it makes sense in a world where everyone- or almost everyone- has Pokémon that there are places set aside to train them. Look, further over there, there's a few target dummies."
"I guess so," Elle agreed, "So... who's first, me or you?"
"You can," he answered, waving his hand forward. Their nearest potential foe was still thirty feet or more away, but she grinned in anticipation.
Even if fighting against another human made images of the dreadful scene they'd left behind a few days ago surface, Elle fought them back down. This was going to be different, a sanctioned battle, she hoped. With rules. Not...
Not what was essentially a bushwhack, no matter how deserving the victim might have been.
"Hey, are you- down for a battle?" she asked the young boy, probably around twelve she guessed, as she got within ten or so feet.
The boy, who wore a plain white t-shirt, slightly grass-stained, blue denim shorts, and a darker blue baseball cap backwards on his head, looked up from where his own light blue spiked Pokémon was snarling at nothing. "Oh, uh, sure, lady. I can fight you! Come on, Nidoree!"
"Nidoree," she mused aloud, gesturing Gobbler forward after releasing it, "Is that a female Nidoran?"
"Yeah," the kid grinned, glancing at Alex's starter, "Like that, but they evolve a bit different later on, I think. I haven't fought other trainers much, they say I'm too weak."
"Well, I think you're plenty strong," Elle smiled, "And a secret- I haven't fought anyone else before, either."
"R- Really? But you're old!"
Alex laughed as Elle's happy expression fell, "I'm only fifteen!"
"Yeah, that's old," the kid said, clearly not understanding the dangerous hole he was digging himself into, "Eleven is the best age! Alright, Nidoree, you ready to go?"
"Ni!"
"Okay... battle start!"
At once, around them, Alex saw a shimmering blue and red field appear. It was dome-like, twenty feet or more across, and his body was physically, if gently, pushed back as the wall of light expanded. He found himself, a moment later, standing several feet away from an equally surprised Elle.
"Alex?"
"I'm alright," he called back, then tapped the barrier, which rippled, but remained unharmed. Cock, too, was beside him, equally unhurt. "This must be the game's battle system keeping me out of it."
"Game?" the kid asked, cocking his head, "Well, never mind- initiate battle! Awesome kid Zolo, against, uh... old lady... what's your name?"
"I'm Elle," she growled, "And I'm not old! Beautiful girl is a more accurate title!"
But before he could respond, another voice echoed through the area, causing several other Trainers from nearby to gather around, and many of them to cease their activities and come running to watch. "Attention Trainers! A battle has been initiated between Lad Zolo and Beauty Elle! The Neophyte Battle will begin in sixty seconds!"
"Neophyte?" Elle asked, looking toward Alex, who shrugged.
One of the other Trainers, who had been nearby and who closely resembled Zolo though she was a bit darker of hair and female, a few years older too, answered her question anyway, "It means you're the bottom rank of Trainer in battles. Just starting out. There's ten levels, but I don't have time to explain- you gotta get ready to fight."
"O- Oh. Well, Gobbler... ready to go?"
The same announcer-like voice rang out again, "Zolo has one Pokémon, so Elle will be limited to one Pokémon unless Zolo forfeits the right of a balanced group."
"N- No way," the kid said quickly, shooting a scared-looking glance at Elle's now-full belt, "She's got a lot of Pokémon!"
"Thirty seconds. Twenty. Ten. Five... four... three... two..."
"Good luck, Elle," she heard, while several of the onlookers, now more than ten, most no older than eighteen she guessed, started cheering on either the younger boy or herself.
While it counted down, she had had time to realize that she and Zolo were on opposite sides of a circle, while their companions had been moved to face each other an equal distance from the opposing Pokémon and their trainers, with a dividing line down the blue and red sides.
But on zero, as quickly as she could, Elle shouted, "Growth!"
Zolo, in turn, took a more direct approach, yelling in turn, "Scratch it up, Nidoree!"
The moment she called out her attack, Gobbler began to swell, roots digging deep into the ground to pull up as many nutrients as it could for the next ten seconds, while the Nidoran dashed forward and leaped, slashing with one arm as it bowled through the air past her motionless Bellsprout, which winced with one eye but didn't seem too perturbed.
She'd worried for a moment, but Gobbler's wound was superficial at worst, Elle could tell even at a distance. "Growth again, girl!"
"Scratch her up! I wanna win!"
Again, Gobbler grew, another inch or two in fact, though the enemy scored another hit across her bell. Now, though... "Okay, use Vine Whip!"
Somehow, the Nidoran dodged the first two lashes, cutting across one with its own scratch, but on the recoil, one tip slashed across the Nidoran's left ear, opening a wide gash with the supersonic crack that followed it. "Nice job, Gobbler- Growth again, hit it harder next time."
"T- Tail whip Nidoree," Zolo called out, eyes wide with sudden fear, "You gotta hit it harder!"
The Nidoran's short, spiked tail whipped, as instructed, around the stem of Gobbler's lower body and yanked, tugging it off-balance just enough that it staggered, one root-stem fully free of the ground. It recovered, mostly, by the time the Nidoran had run in and taken another swing, but she still saw sap ooze from her own Pokémon's bell, and watched it shudder.
All around here, she could tell the crowd was actually getting into it, and more people were cheering. She knew, too, that Alex was shouting words of encouragement, advice maybe, but she heard none of it.
There was only the pounding in her ears, the cries of the Pokémon as they fought, and the desperate need to win.
I won't lose my first real battle. I won't, I won't.
"Alright, Gobbler, Vine Whip again!"
This time, she watched as the leaf-capped vine-arms shot out and wrapped around the Nidoran's right hind leg and tail both, lifting it into the air and slamming it down. Somehow, it twisted mid-air and scored another Scratch on the vine itself, making it release the hold on the Nidoran's tail and recoil in pain, but without her ordering it to, Gobbler reflexively flung the other Pokémon across the field, hard and high enough to impact the shield that protected the watchers and gave them boundaries to fight in.
It hit the ground with a soft thud a moment later, and several people in the crowd gasped.
Zolo cried out, "Nidoree! No... not again! D- darn it!"
He ran from his 'safe zone', and at once the blue and red faded to white, nearly invisible, then vanished. Again, the announcer's smooth voice rang out, "The battle is over, Beauty Elle is the winner! Congratulations!"
Again, the crowd cheered, and this time Elle heard it, felt it as a visceral wave of joy and sound that crashed into her from all sides. She watched, numb and tingly with ecstasy of an entirely different sort than she was growing used to washed over her, and a few of the other boy's friends, maybe his sister too, commiserated with him for a few minutes. Her eyes, though, mostly skimmed over the young Trainers gathered around, crowding in on her.
Instead, they settled on the tallest pair around, the ones belonging to her companion, who'd hung back to let the others run in.
Still, she saw him smile, and nod.
Yes... he thinks I did well. Ha! Take that, Papa! You're a dick, but Alex is nice, and he thinks I can do good things!
For more than ten minutes, the young trainers expressed congratulations, before the young boy, looking a bit embarrassed, sheepishly walked past several of the others, his wounded Nidoran in his arms, and the older girl that had to be his sister, she decided, urging him on from behind. "Uh... so you won. I don't have a lot of money, but here's your prize. Good job."
"Keep it," she said happily, but several people in the crowd frowned. "Uh... is that not allowed?"
"It's custom," the older girl said with a shrug, and only then did Elle realize- these were NPC Trainers. The girl was cute, but her dark brown eyes were utterly uniform, and... there was just something a little bit off about her smile, "You're supposed to take prize money from those you defeat in battle. It's half of what we carry, so in this case, you've just made fifty-six dollars."
"He... was carrying a hundred?"
"And change," the girl said in reply, "Go on, Zolo, give it to her."
"H- Here," the kid repeated, holding out the money once more.
"Alright," Elle said quietly, "but I feel bad taking money from kids."
"I'm not a kid," Zolo protested, "I'm old enough to go on my Journey! I just wanted to get some training first!"
Several of the others laughed, but his sister rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure, because you can't beat even the preschoolers. You just suck at Battling, little bro. Come on, let's get Nidoree patched up, then we can come back to watch the rest of their matches."
Elle grinned.
Then Alex was there, and she watched as he called over the crowd, "Okay, who wants to be my first Trainer battle?"
Elle frowned as another of the more attractive girls, in fact probably the most attractive of the group, stepped up, "I'll take you on, sir."
But Alex, at least, didn't seem to have girls on his mind as his fingers drifted over his belt, lightly caressing each of the shrunken Pokéballs there in turn. "What should I use..."
"I've got two Pokémon," the girl said, "so you can use two as well, mister. I'm gonna start with... well, initiate battle! Lass Erin against Mr. Studly!"
"Hey, I'm not-"
Suddenly, as she, too, was pushed back, Elle was fuming again. Even if Alex wasn't thinking it, her new enemy certainly was.
The dark-haired girl's first Pokémon was, thankfully, a Caterpie.
The crowd of kids and teenagers gasped as the much larger Lickitung appeared from her ball, and one even swore, "Shit!"
The girl, though, sent Alex a saucy sort of wink, "She can lick me if you want, after. Go on, Caterpie- start with String Shot!"
"Ugh... you're a bit young, don't you think?" Alex called out in response.
"String Shot again!"
He blinked, and Elle face-palmed. "You gotta tell her commands in a battle, dummy! Don't just let her keep tying Lingus up!"
"Oh, shit," she heard her companion swear darkly, "Uh... forget I said that, kids. Use Acid!"
She gaped as the heavy pink Normal-Type's tongue worked around its large, cavernous mouth, then flicked outward, sending a spray of thick, yellow-green saliva arcing through the air with incredible precision.
The gob was larger than the Caterpie's entire body, and even though she knew full well the Bugs weren't very hurt by Poison attacks...
The String Shots stopped coming at once.
"F- Fine," the other girl said, "That's fine- I have a stronger one, anyway! Butterfree, go!"
Many of the group gasped, "She's using her Butterfree? Wow, she never pulls her out to fight anymore!"
Elle quickly reached down and popped her screen up. Okay, evolved Metapod... level ten? Wow, that's the strongest thing we've fought- or at least, as strong as- except for that Raticate. "Be careful, Alex! It's a much higher level!"
He, though, only smirked. "Lingus, use Supersonic!"
She didn't see anything, but Elle, like all of the onlookers, suddenly covered her ears, though it didn't help. The droning buzz emanating from the extended tongue, which vibrated fast enough to warp the air around it, left even her own trainer wincing.
The Butterfree, flying head-on toward the Lickitung, suddenly wavered, and plowed head-first into the grass, spinning twice, before righting itself and taking to the air once more to hover over Alex's head. "Alright, Lingus, come back, good job. It's confused... so now I'm gonna use Spike."
Again, the crowd gasped as the Rock-Ground appeared in a flash, and Elle looked on in glee as Erin grimaced, clearly knowing as well as she did that the battle was over.
Even if her Butterfree could fly straight after having its senses messed up by the Supersonic attack, there was no way it could defeat a strong Rock-type. "I... I concede. You win."
Again, the field went white, but this time there wasn't as much cheering. In fact, most of them seemed a bit disappointed that they'd missed out on watching the fight.
Still, the other girl made her way more quickly toward Alex, beating the others there, and even reaching him before Elle herself, who had hurried in the moment the field disappeared. She was just close enough to hear Erin, hand outstretched, say, "Good fight... I didn't expect to be out-typed so easily, but I guess I should expect the unexpected. Here- I'm kind of the best in the area, so I win a lot. You're getting... nine-hundred, eighty-two from me."
Alex gasped, "That- that much?"
Erin shrugged, "Like I said, I win a lot, so... I had a lot on me. Come back tomorrow, and I'll have my actual battle team ready if you want to do it right. Or..."
Elle watched as the other girl leaned in and whispered something into Alex's ear that made him blush, and made sure her chest lingered against his arm for a moment before pulling away.
"My turn," she growled, pointing at another random kid, "You and me, initiate battle!"
He didn't stand a chance, not as furious as she was, though for the life of her, Elle couldn't figure out why.
It wasn't like she cared who he fucked- she'd even liked watching him do Joy in Pallet Town, so... so why did this girl hanging on him bother her so much?
Fighting against eleven of the twenty-two Trainers in the field before making it to Viridian City proper still didn't give her the answer, though her and Alex's teams both benefited from the experience anyway.
Loki's new attack, at least, had been something good to come out of it, and it was obvious from the moment the invisible Pokémon's first use that it was far more damaging than its ghostly tongue.
Watching the Nightshade attack hurl ghostly images from nothing, images that presumably only she, of the two actual, real human Trainers could fully see, could have been nightmare-inducing... if it hadn't been Elle's deep and abiding knowledge that it was her Pokémon doing it. Somehow, the bond of Trainer and Pokémon had made it clear to her, from the beginning, that it- for Loki was neither specifically male or specifically female, as far as she could tell- had no method or reason to harm her. Others, maybe.
Loki had a vindictive streak a mile wide, and she knew it, if for no other reason than how he'd cackled at what Alex and his team had done to that... rat-rapist, murdering bastard in the forest. So while she wouldn't have pegged herself as a Ghost-Type Trainer off-hand, the truth was, its personality and hers meshed rather well.
Better by far, in fact, than she felt Cock and Alex did.
The little Poison Pin Nidoran was almost dog-like in its affection and mannerisms, but it also acted in a strangely rodent-like fashion, too, and she couldn't quite put her finger on how or what it was supposed to be. Some kind of vole, maybe, but clearly nothing too similar to a real-world animal. At least, nothing that hadn't been driven extinct long before the Mega-Cities showed up and changed so much of how the world worked almost overnight.
So yes, due to said vindictive streak, Elle might have taken more joy than she should have out of watching the poor Water-Type... thing... the young boy used against her scream. But he wasn't her true enemy- that was the slutty lass who still hung on Alex's arm while she fought. Can't kill her, though... she's an NPC. She'd just respawn, damn it...
When the battle was over, what seemed like too short a time later, Elle grabbed her companion's other arm and practically yanked him from the other girl's grip, "Come on, Alex. I'm hungry, let's go get lunch."
"Ooh, I can show you the best-"
Elle shot a glare backward, between her and Alex, at the other girl, who was glaring back at her though her voice still sounded sweet, and following a pace or two behind. "That's alright, we'll find our way, thanks. I wouldn't want you to... get distracted from your fans."
The girl spluttered, and stopped walking.
Alex, beside her, rolled his eyes as he reassuringly- to her, at least, she couldn't quite read his intentions- slipped his much larger arm around her waist. "Relax, Elle. She wasn't going to 'steal me'."
Elle felt her face heat in a furious blush, and her steps actually faltered. "I... I wasn't- that's not what I-"
"Sure," he chuckled, but thankfully said nothing else as he bent down, hand still on her waist, to scoop up their packs with his other hand and throw both over his shoulder, his own larger, framed one hanging sideways, half beneath the arm.
He didn't say anything else until they were a couple of streets into the city, heading for the nearest Pokémon Center, guided by the gigantic tower sign, slowly spinning, of the Indigo League, which rose high over the mostly residential southern side of the city. "So... you encourage me to fuck your Pokémon, and tell me to go entertain myself with Joy... but this little girl makes you jealous? I gotta admit, Elle, I really don't get it."
She didn't answer.
How could she? Elle, herself, didn't know why she'd reacted that way. So they kept walking, in comfortable silence that had only recently started appearing between them after nearly two weeks in the game world, until they reached the Center itself.
It was after dark, though the sun had only set an hour earlier, when Alex, now half-carrying the still ill and easily tired Elle into the lobby of the South Viridian Pokémon Center. There were still several people, mostly couples, lounging in the common area to the left, and a larger number in the eatery on the right. Directly ahead, a buxom woman with dark pink hair and violet eyes stood behind the counter of the reception area. A familiar someone, who had...
Alex shook his head. This isn't the same Joy, even if they look identical, he reminded himself.
"Hi," Elle chirped, pushing off his arm and standing on her own as they stepped up, "We have some Pokémon to heal. Do you still have rooms?"
Joy smiled, "Of course. We've been packed all week, but most of this season's Trainers have started moving on. Set your Pokémon that need care on this tray, and my assistant will take them back."
Elle giggled and murmured a single word, "Cute," in Alex's ear as the large, egg-shaped Pokémon appeared in the doorway behind Joy. It was round of body, with a small face near the top the narrower part of the 'egg', with a large, marsupial-like pouch below that on its belly, at the widest part, that seemed to hold a Pokémon Egg rather snuggly. Its arms and legs were short, thin, and poorly defined, almost like bony pseudopods, but he could make out fingers as it reached for the now filled tray, and it had six ears- three on each side- or at least ear-like fronds that moved out like feathers in a crest on either side of its head. Just below the pouch hung a short apron, too, the only piece of clothing it wore.
Of course, I've yet to see any other Pokémon wear clothing at all, so...
"Chaansss!" the creature called as it set down the tray in the back a moment later, and he could hear it deftly maneuvering each of their Pokéballs- all but a couple of their weaker ones, like his Kakuna and Metapod, which he didn't usually battle with- onto the machines in the back.
"Chansey will take good care of them," Joy reassured them with a winning smile, "Now, about the rooms. Would you like a single, a double, or...?"
Alex frowned, "Uh, now that you mention it, I'm a bit light on cash..."
"No you aren't," Elle reminded him with an elbow to his side, "You just got a bunch from the Trainers, remember? But I've got this one, it's definitely my turn. We'll take... a single, but a queen or king sized bed, if you have it."
Joy blinked, then nodded, her lips turning into a faint frown, "Very well. For just the one night, will be three hundred and twenty dollars, which includes double towels and other necessities, including your breakfast meal."
Alex gaped, "Th- that's more than twice as much as Pallet Town!"
Joy frowned at him, "I am aware, thank you. My cousin can charge less due to government subsidies, which our center does not receive. You'll find that my rates, at the South Viridian PMC, are the lowest in the city."
"It's fine," Elle said, elbowing him again and sliding her Pokégear's watch over the pay-pad on the counter, "I don't know why you're complaining. I thought you said your family was fairly well-off."
Alex shook his head, frowning.
That frown deepened as Elle said, leaning in over the counter a bit, "My friend's just... lonely. Do you think you can spare him a few minutes for some stress relief?"
Joy's back stiffened, and Alex watched in horror. He'd seen that look before, though it had been many years, when he'd made the mistake of admitting a crush to a teacher in school- a crush on the teacher herself, and may have- inadvertently- propositioned her in the meantime.
"I don't know what you're implying," the attendant hissed, shooting Alex a glare even though Elle had been the one asking, "but I don't fuck my clients. And if I did, I'd be more likely to do it with you than him, young lady."
Elle froze, half-recoiled at the surprisingly vehement response, and turned beet red.
Alex snorted, "I didn't ask, she did. I wasn't going to, so don't get upset with me, ma'am. Just hand us our room keys and we'll be on our way."
Joy nodded, still glaring daggers at both of them, and then swiped the two mag-lock cards across the activator before dropping them onto the counter and crossing her arms beneath her chest, still glaring at both.
Rolling his eyes, Alex put his hand around Elle's waist again and, with his other on her elbow despite trying to still hold up both packs, guided her up to their room, then ordered a delivered dinner from downstairs before stepping into the shower, glad that Gobbler was busy being healed. He didn't need the distraction.
Especially since, as he stepped out with boxers on and towel still drying his hair, he found Elle, legs open wide enough to show light pink panties between her legs, leaning back on the headboard of the bed, the remote in one hand and one of her tits, though the shirt, in the other while she watched a Lickitung slabber away at a... to be honest, Alex wasn't sure what kind of Pokémon it was, though it was large and stone-like, probably quadrupedal judging by the size and proportion of it, utterly dwarfing the Lickitung, which was the largest Pokémon in their party by far. "I... don't know why I expected you not to be watching porn, but..."
Elle shrugged, not taking her eyes off the holo-screen, or her hand from her chest, "Helps me think."
Then a moment later, she dropped the remote and hopped up off the bed, gathering her usual night-clothes of short shorts and a halter-top and heading into the shower herself.
Alex rolled his eyes and sat down, watching for a moment, strangely fascinated, as the long tongue coiled around the phallus several times, then started corkscrewing back and forth, until the massively larger creature began to grunt and thrust its hips.
The room's door alarm sounded, Ping-pang, just before the Rock-type climaxed, and Alex hastened to flick the screen off before standing up.
Another young, attractive NPC, this one with blonde hair in pigtails and the uniform of the PMC's diner, held a small tray with two bagged meals on it. "Hi, your dinner, sir. Miss... uh, Barkman ordered it?"
"Berkman," Alex found himself correcting automatically, "I'll take it, she's in the shower. Thank you. Uh... do I owe you a tip?"
The girl, who couldn't have been older than eighteen, looked him up and down, "You can owe me the whole thing if you want. But no, we actually aren't supposed to take tips unless we do favors for clients. But we're pretty busy, so that'll have to wait, I'm afraid. I can come back after things slow down...?"
Alex, now red in the face himself, shook his head, "Uh... that's not- not what I meant. No, that won't be necessary."
"Oh well, suit yourself," the girl shrugged and turned, offering a one-handed, brief wave, "Let one of us know if you change your mind!"
The moment the door shut, he turned and started setting out the food.
He was about half-done at the small table when Elle left the bathroom, grinning from ear to ear, "Offer you the tip, huh?"
"That's not what I said," he grumbled, "And you know it."
"I know," Elle laughed, leaning over her own share to pick up one of his chicken tenders and pop it in her mouth, "Ooh, that's good. Better than anything I've had in real life, for sure. You should've- taken her up on it."
Alex frowned, looking down at his plate, then reached across and took one of hers, instead. Elle didn't protest, only grinned. "Contrary to your apparent belief, I'm not a horn-dog who thinks about sex all the time. I'm not that kind of guy."
Elle leaned in as she sat, and smirked as his eyes were drawn, inevitably, to her now braless chest beneath the halter-top. "Oh, I know that. I wouldn't be here if you were. But it's so fun to tease you. Besides... I heard the anticipation was worth the pay-off. Still, as I've said, if you ever do want to... have some fun, I won't object."
He was quiet for a bit, had half of his meal gone in fact, before Alex dared ask, "Like the girl this afternoon?"
He watched, both worried and amused, as the younger girl's hackles visibly rose, "That's different."
"I don't see how."
"She..." Elle's shoulders deflated, "She reminded me... of a friend. One I used to have. Before..."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Alex reminded her, trying to adjust to the sudden, surprising change in the conversation's tone, "but I am here if you need someone to talk to."
Elle, too, went quiet, eating the rest of her meal and the last quarter of his in silence before going to brush her teeth, him following once she was done.
Of course, the porn was back on when he came out of the bathroom again, but this time, the holo-screen displayed a black-haired human woman, more voluptuous than even Joy, rode on a human man's dick, dragging her massive baps across his face from side to side, as he pounded into her... and a gray-furred, canine-like Pokémon mounted her in the ass, growling and snarling as it went wild.
Elle, visibly masturbating, though thankfully over her shorts and halter again, leaned against the headboard, only now the covers were pulled back and her legs from the knees down were beneath them.
"Really?"
She nodded, breathing fast, and not removing her eyes once more. "Like I said, helps me think. Come watch- she's gorgeous, and taking it so hard."
Alex sighed and did as she asked, making sure he had a box of tissues in easy reach- there was one on either side of the bed on the nightstands, predictably. He was almost embarrassed to be openly watching porn in front of another person, but found himself growing hard almost immediately.
"You can jerk off," Elle said after glancing downward, grinning at the sight of his head peeking out from the hole in his boxers, "Not like I'm being shy about it."
"I'm not jacking off in front of you," Alex protested.
"You will if you wanna see me cum," Elle grinned back, her hands falling still, "I do it 'cause I like it, I don't have the same need you do. Go on- not like I haven't seen it before."
"No way."
"Seriously," Elle urged, physically picking up his hand and dropping it over his cock, "Go for it. It really is relaxing, and you'll be better for it. Think about a question, something you need to figure out. Let it percolate in the back of your head while you watch that... whatever it is, fuck that lady's ass. It'll help."
"I don't know why you think it would," Alex protested weakly, then, "Hey!" as she grabbed his hand again and put it directly around his cock this time, before returning to her own pleasure, "but I don't even have things I need to think about!"
"Well, I do," Elle grumbled, "so if you aren't gonna participate, at least shut up."
He fell silent.
And lasted maybe a minute before, with a groan, he was fishing himself out of the boxers and letting his hand slide up and down his length, lightly at first, but with increasing pressure and speed as the dog emptied first, then the man, then the dog, who hadn't slowed down, shoved its knotted scrotum inside the woman, too, making her scream in apparent relish as it howled in another release.
Once it was over, he was just starting to get really into it, and had to admit he even liked the thrill of doing it with Elle occasionally glancing down at him... and him glancing down at her.
Then she picked up the remote, and flipped a switch to a different program.
This one, two human women, and no Pokémon.
He blushed, and so did Elle, but she swallowed again, audibly, and put the remote down.
"Never thought about fucking a woman," she whispered, "until an hour ago."
It took him a moment to figure out what she was getting at. "J- Joy?"
Elle nodded.
The images came quickly, and for once, Alex wasn't complaining- it was sexy as hell, even in his imagination, watching the two go at it.
"Of course, I don't have to ask what you think of it," Elle giggled, glancing down at him again, hand now blurring almost on his dick, "the way your cock is jumping. Guys are pervy."
"So are you," he reminded her.
Elle grinned, turning back to the T.V., "Damn straight. So... I gotta admit, now I'm... c- curious."
"Lesbians are hot," Alex agreed, doing the same.
The shorter woman was a red-head, petite and slender, even more so than Elle, while the taller was a dark-skinned asian woman of some descent he couldn't place, with heavy, surgically modified breasts and, if he wasn't much mistaken, the fins of a Water Pokémon grafted onto her elbows, knees, and around her ears.
They were in the sixty-nine position, side by side, each with one raised knee and eating each other out with gusto.
But most of Alex's mind, despite his own growing arousal, was on Elle.
Or more accurately, Elle and Joy.
And... me. Fuck, I want her. Damned temptress...
Elle's eyes fluttered, and he watched her hips jerk, "Cum," she murmured, "Cum for me, A- Alex... I wanna see you shoot it out. M- make a mess of the bed, I don't c-c-are. Come on... c- cum... cumming... Oh Arceus, I'm-"
Her hand, once flying over her shorts, went brutally still, though he thought it might have been vibrating in her tension still, as Elle's hips lifted a few inches from the bed, her weight on her feet and neck against the headboard. A heady smell of her pleasure and arousal hit his nostrils at once, and the moment she collapsed back to the bed, he came too, jettisoning out over the bed, clearing its length on the first and third spurts, and the second and fourth, the last strong ones, leaving an arc of white lines across the red bedspread.
"Amazing cum," Elle exhaled, turning her head to him with a blissed-out grin, "Fucking great. You?"
Alex couldn't speak yet, he was still shaking with aftershocks himself, hand fisting tightly at the bottom of his erection, unable to help himself from pulsing out more and more white goo, which dribbled down the underside of his length or directly onto the sheets.
"I'll take that as a yes," she giggled, before one hand darted out and grabbed the upper half of Alex's cock, squeezing as it pulled away.
He gaped as she brought the hand to her mouth, and sniffed, then licked up what dregs of his cum he'd just let out. "E- Elle?"
She shrugged, sent a wink, then licked at it again, a long, slower one that seemed designed to get him hard again in an instant, and started doing just that before she stopped. "Not bad... just checking the flavor. More fruit wouldn't hurt, but you're okay. Come on, let's get clean sheets ordered."
If the blue-clad bellhop thought anything strange of a half-dressed man handing him a soiled set of bedclothes in exchange for another pair of cute girls putting the next set on the bed while Elle, also dressed for bed and looking a bit disheveled, with a stain of moisture between her legs, none of the housekeeping trio said a word about it, and they were gone again within ten minutes of the call.
This time, Alex didn't protest as Elle climbed into the bed after him, and turned the brightness on the screen down, and muted the volume but otherwise left it on, then reached for the control for the room lights.
"Hold me," she whispered after turning onto her side, facing away.
Slowly, Alex let himself slide across the clean, scented sheets to spoon against the younger girl's back, and slipped an arm around her waist.
Elle had other ideas, though, and quickly lifted his hand to cup her left breast. "Better. I... What kind of home life did you have?"
Alex didn't know why she'd asked, but gave a long, slow breath against her golden yellow hair, while she tucked her body further against his, and started talking.
Vaguely, true, but he told her about Cora, and Colt. How they'd grown up together. How his father had turned a shipping company that barely serviced a small area into one of the largest in Pacific Mega-City, using and abusing the newest technologies in self-driving vehicles, then drones, and even fully autonomous AI to get things where they needed to be as efficiently and quickly as possible. His mother's death was glossed over, and his father's age and illness touched on but not elaborated on.
"So yeah," he finished quietly, an hour or so later, "I suppose I grew up wealthy, but it's not like I know how the 'one percenters' live, even if technically my family belongs to that group. My dad insisted we be 'normal' as much as possible."
"Must be nice," Elle murmured sleepily, "Night."
"It did have its perks," he whispered, "but this is still better."
Then he was out, too.
A/N: A final note before you click away.
I meant what I said about Pa Tree On (/Kaja Wilder). I'm really close to being able to do this full-time (not with that site alone, but writing in general). Couple more patrons- ie, my next goal- OR (not even and!) a bit more sales on Amazon and I'm good for the time being. So if you- yes, YOU, the one reading this, is interested in seeing more, then consider supporting me either on Pa Tree On or Amazon (it's the same author name as the Patron site). And thank you!