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 SUB SCRIBE STAR dot ADULT slash KajaWilder. 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 Sub Star 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 SubStar, so if you want more and don't want to wait, well... there you go.
That's enough out of me, though. Enjoy!
Chapter 17: Lightning Rod
Adisa Chuke stood beneath the scant shelter of a tarpaulin on too-long poles driven hastily into the rocky cliff on which she and Morley Vaan stood. It whipped and snapped constantly in the gale-force winds that threatened to tear both the humans and the rain-block from the plateau on which they stood. It had taken them nearly a full day just to arrive, as the flying vanguard of Team Rocket's Combat Division had been forced to battle powerful headwinds as they flew toward the eye of what looked like a hurricane if they got high enough.
Scouting, as much as Morley had tried, did not go well. The smaller fliers were unable to maintain position or course, and the largest, like the Charizard that had carried the two of them, his own NPC Trainer, and another young woman that seemed to be Morley's aide-de-camp was not able to get closer than a mile from the power plant.
Which was, itself, a massive, multi-tiered structure. The cliff they stood upon looked over half of a hydroelectric dam with the power plant far below and some ways distant. Along the south shore far below, geothermal vents and towers showed them that there was a secondary means of power production, too. Wind turbines, a third, lined the cliffs on both sides in rows between one and fifteen deep. And far below, in the sea beyond the plant, Morley had told her while en route that there were tidal walls gathering power, too. This single power plant, with its four varied and near-constant sources of energy, supplied half of Kanto. Rocket's own estimations put the standard daily output at more than 300,000 Gigawatt-Hours. That would power half of Pacific, she had thought at the time, and the amount still staggered her. While the Mega-Cities of the real world had huge transmission lines and even fusion generators to power them, this Kanto region of the game, at least, was far smaller in population. She had hardly done any research into the census, but Viridian City, Celadon City, and Lavender City, the largest three they had flown over or near, would not be larger than a single district of Pacific's hundred-twenty-eight districts by themselves. The amount of energy flowing through the plant was staggering.
But that wasn't happening right now.
Even in the midst of the colossal, terribly intense storm, she could see a focus for all the lightning and thunder. It didn't look that big from here, perhaps ten feet long at most, but the creature shone and glimmered with a sun-like radiance, full of lightning that did not fade.
Zapdos, the Lord of Storms, the Thunderbird, just a few of its many names. A true Legendary Pokémon, known for awe-inspiring potential, speed, and, above all else, difficulty in catching one.
This is what Team Rocket's combat division had set out to do, and Adisa would do all she could to help. Because it was eating all the power produced by the storm, as it pulled the lightning strikes toward itself before they touched the ground, and from the plant itself.
The jagged-feathered, flying monstrosity was incandescent, far brighter than any lightbulb, and plainly visible even at this distance through the driving rain with the power of its shine as it gnawed at one of the primary output cables that moved from the plant into a series of power substations that distributed power throughout the region.
At least, when a beast like that wasn't hijacking the energy.
Adisa had her doubts, a couple of days before, that Rocket was on the up-and-up. Now, she could see that Morley Vaan was honest when he said that Team Rocket were 'the good guys'. They had to stop this thing, or too many people would suffer. It grew stronger with each watt it consumed, and they were coming in by the millions. More. A scientist she might be, but Adisa did not know a lot about electricity, except that it took a lot of power to make it jump through the air, generating plasma, light, heat, and sound as it did. But even the stray lightning bolts that were not absorbed seemed no more or less powerful than natural ones.
Only they protected this... this thing, of terrifying, awe-inspiring might.
One that destroyed the things humans built for its own seemingly insatiable hunger.
Her dark eyes narrowed as she continued to brace against the howling wind, her hands tightening around the single Pokémon she dared use against that thing. Machop would be unable to reach it at all, even if they got close, thanks to the wind and driving rain, the lightning. Vulpix might if they could get a lot closer, but she feared the fires it created going out of control thanks to the wind too, or perhaps being next to useless thanks to the rain. But her Geodude, as cranky as he'd been when they first met, was a formidable Pokémon, immune to lightning as it grounded out without strain, and resistant to most physical attacks.
It was, really, her only safe choice. Perhaps if she had a larger roster it might help, but Adisa preferred quality over quantity. Geodude and its evolutionary line weren't exactly in her wheelhouse of powerful, strong fighters that could knock out an opponent in a few seconds, but against Zapdos, that was a pipe-dream at best, anyway. It would take another Legendary under their control to fight it on an even footing, and the few Charizards, Venusaur, and other fully-evolved Pokémon she had seen under the Rockets' command were not enough.
Not alone.
Which is why she turned around and followed Morley into a cavern entrance that protected, at least a little, a maintenance elevator shaft. While they were moving down from their high vantage point toward something very close to sea level, her companion and now lover reached for the bag that had kept his radio dry, and sent her a single glancing look as he pulled it free. "You up for this? Last chance to back out."
"I am," she replied quietly, "I don't know how much good my Geodude will be, but I must try."
"Good. None of us will do a lot of damage alone, not even our big hitters. It's just absorbing too much energy, healing as fast as we can hurt it. But with numbers... we can whittle it down. Maybe force it to back off from the power plant, and then it'll be a lot easier to weaken."
"Ah. What then?"
He grinned, holding the radio now in one hand as he used the other to pull a single, oddly-colored ball from the back of his belt. "A special ball we've developed. It isn't ideal, but all our officers have one. Sorry, we didn't have enough to get you one, too, or I'd have done so. It's a Nest Ball."
"A... Nest Ball?"
The device was the same size as a regular Pokéball, but rather than standard red and white, the lower half was painted to resemble webbing or a cocoon, while the upper half looked like twigs woven together in a haphazard way. In other words, like two kinds of nests.
"Yep. It's very good to catch things like Flying or Bug-types, anything you can imagine living in a nest of some kind."
"So," Adisa murmured as the elevator stopped hundreds of feet below where it had begun, and they moved out into a long, wide hallway capable of driving even heavy equipment through, "the plan is basically the same as any other Pokémon. Weaken it enough, and then toss balls until you catch it?"
"Exactly," the handsome NPC said seriously, "Only with a Legendary like Zapdos, we will... take more casualties. It's unfortunately unavoidable, but better our Pokémon or people get injured, even killed, than the innocents who can't stand up for themselves."
It sounded noble. They were acting like the old National Guard did, back before the Mega Cities were created. Soldiers, professionals, who might not be all that exceptional individually, but worked as a cohesive group to accomplish amazing things, like protecting civilians. Adisa nodded to herself, her mind fully made up. "Let's do this. Is it alright if I use a few balls myself, if I'm still up and fighting?"
"Of course," Morley answered, though he gave her a concerned look, "Just be careful. You have to be within arm's reach, you know, and Legendaries are... known to be unpredictable when they get cornered, or in too much pain."
"Understood. I just don't want to step on any toes. I don't plan on capturing that monster. Just in case."
"Good. Honestly, it's too much for any one person to control, I think. We're almost there. Jules will relay my commands from the bunker up top, but you and I are going to be in the middle of the fighting. Try and keep your Pokémon in good shape, we'll need your strength later."
"My strength," Adisa almost laughed, though a bit nervously, "There's hundreds of you."
"True," the commander nodded as they neared the great double-doors that would take them outside again, "but your Geodude is stronger than most of them, and one of the very few with a real Type advantage we have here. Venusaur, the six we could muster, might be the strongest we have in this fight all things considered, but your Rock-Ground is in the top tier of what we could bring on such short notice. Even the Charizards won't last for long, and the one Blastoise... well, I hope he stays out of the fight altogether."
"Ah, yeah, I didn't think about it being an Electric-type against all the others, only my own."
"That's alright, you're a skilled fighter, but not everyone can or even needs to think about squad- or battalion-sized tactics," Morley chuckled, swiping a borrowed badge over the keypad. As the great doors, which to Adisa looked even stronger than some of the blast doors she'd worked beyond when doing military projects, slid open, she gave him a wry smile.
That was certainly true, even if it hurt to admit. Her personal combat style could be described as, "Hit the opponent as hard as you can until one or both of you is down." She would and could use Type, and knew that eventually she would have a full, varied roster like most Trainers did. But having her three powerhouses had, until now, been plenty.
But being a 'Sweeper' could only get you so far, sometimes. She was a researcher and computer geek, not a tactician and strategist. But at least she could follow orders.
Back out in the biting gale and driving rain, which was swiftly turning into sleet as they neared the Power Plant and the center of the whirling storm, Adisa had no trouble matching Morley's long strides, even if the wind affected him a bit less. They had come out on what looked like a staging ground for construction machinery, some of which was still lined up next to the reinforced cliff wall they had just exited. Freezing cold water made the bright yellow stripes on the pad hard to see, but they mostly ignored them anyway as they moved past gathering lines of Pokémon and Trainers, arranged much as they had been when Adisa had first seen the group. They were tired now, all of them, wet, cold, and maybe even a bit hungry since meals had been spotty. Getting supplies here in the storm was hard, so they were limited to what they had carried in, or scrounged on-site.
Yet everywhere she looked, through goggles and beneath windswept hats, or on the faces of the many who bore the elements through necessity or determination, she could see strength. Youths as young as twelve, adults as old as sixty or maybe even a bit more, in an even spread, all wearing the form-hugging black uniform with the large red R she wore, and proudly. Next to them, Pokémon of all stripes, all Types (though a great many were Poison, Fighting, or Dark, for some reason) stood with their Trainers.
On the far end of the huge cement structure, a single small building that served as a gatehouse for the parking lot was their destination. A large window that overlooked the East Kanto Power Company's central plant would provide adequate visuals of the field of battle, but some protection from the storm. Maybe, if their hastily-added lightning rods were effective, from the Pokémon's less-focused attacks, too. Morley held the door open for her, and Adisa hurried in to squeeze into the tiny space with two other people, both wearing the same pips on their shoulders that Morley himself was. They greeted him with nods, but neither the man nor woman so much as glanced at her, or interrupted their rapid-fire instructions through radio headsets.
One of which Morley himself slipped on, staking out a central position standing behind and between the two who were sitting, then turned to her. "Adisa, I'm going to be asking a lot of you. Can you leave Machop and Vulpix here to help back us up? I want you to take your Geodude to the front lines. Climb onto the roof with the other teams if you can, and assault Zapdos directly. If he, or you, get hurt, then pull back immediately. Can you do that for me? For us?"
She gulped. That... was not exactly what she had hoped for. She wanted to fight with him, even if that meant hanging back and playing guard while he helped direct the battle. But what he'd said about the strength of her Pokémon was true, she supposed, and therefore it was the right call. Firming her nerves, the tall, dark-skinned woman nodded, "Sir. Is there a particular team I should follow?"
Morley considered for a moment, then shook his head, "Not that I can think of. Follow whoever you think has the best odds of getting there. Take control of a squad, if you find their leadership lacking. You have the authority for this mission, and the temporary field commission of Lieutenant. Perform as I expect, you'll have that position permanently if you survive. Good luck, Adisa."
"Th- Thanks," she murmured, oddly embarrassed by the serious look the slightly taller man gave her along with the promotion. She wasn't sure what to make of him. Friendly of course, as he'd been even during their first battle. But there was definitely something hidden and mysterious about him, and it wasn't just that he seemed to be working for what, as far as her gut was telling her, were the 'bad guys'. But they were clearly helping people, so that couldn't be right. Sure, everyone knew that in the old days, the first ten Generations of Pokémon games, Rockets were the Team to beat. That was ancient history though, right? Surely, fighting to protect and restore the power station from a monster like Zapdos was not in the wrong.
Thus, while she questioned what exactly Morley Vaan was thinking, the single night she had spent in his bed and the now four days in his company were enough to get Adisa to give him a respectful nod, pull out all three of her filled Pokéballs, and open each. "Alright, something new," she said to the three creatures as she crouched down, "Machop, Vulpix, you two are going to stay here with Morley and keep this building safe. I'm going with Geodude to fight a really powerful enemy."
Machop flinched, growled, and flexed, something Adisa took to mean that he wanted to go too, wanted to fight. But she shook her head and reached out a hand to pat his skull-ridges, "Sorry, my friend, not this time. It's a Flying-Type, and you haven't got much that can reach it easily. I know you want to, but I need you to stay here this time."
"Mmmrr... Chop..."
Her Vulpix didn't question the instructions much herself, only glanced out the still-open doorway into the heavy, nearly horizontal rain, then shivered and curled into a ball near Morley's feet.
Her Geodude, on the other hand, scowled at it (not that it wasn't always scowling), and started stomping out on its two fist-hands, ignoring the liquid that ran off its stony body in waves. "I guess that's my queue," she murmured to herself, getting a final nod from her new lover as she followed her newest Pokémon. The last things she heard from Morley before the rain, wind, and thunder drowned him out were, "Teams one through nine, we are go. Release code Alpha-Alpha-Six-Nine-Five. All Pokémon Trainers, you are clear to engage Zapdos on my mark. In Five... four... three..."
The last two were inaudible as she broke into a run down the long ramp that would take them to ground level, moving with and past a few other small squads and even single Trainers. Some of them, she could see, had player tags like she knew floated over her own head whenever another player looked too closely. Not alone on this mission, then.
She passed Geodude after just a few strides, but it quickly matched her pace, trailing behind with heavy, thudding foot/hand-steps she could feel through the ground along with the steady humming vibration of the rain. The slope ended in asphalt, which she and the other Trainers and their Pokémon continued running as best they could along, shielding their eyes and faces with anything from arms to visors. Mid-way across, she saw the first streaks of light outpacing them all overhead in the gap between the elevated parking structure's top level and the huge but low power plant's, roof. Purple, pink, green, white, black darker even than the heavy storm clouds. Light and energy in all colors of the rainbow began to flicker, streak, arc, or twist across the sky as hundreds of Pokémon unleashed whatever attacks they could use at range against the monster on the roof.
They came in waves, mostly, each squad or unit of forty unleashing their attacks at once under the command of their group's leadership, while a few more powerful attacks, including one blinding-bright ray of what looked like celestial energy of yellow-gold shot laser-like, all of the spread-out energy focusing on what she knew was a single point.
Their destination.
Then she was inside, hurtling along with others along linoleum floors, around corners, and up staircases. The layout of the building was complex in size but simple in structure, and every member of the close-in teams, Adisa included, had been briefed on the route they would take from each of the four main entrances.
They all converged on two stairwells, after all, one to the north and one south.
Two flights would take them to the roof entrances.
Adisa, with her fit body and long legs, a runner for both fun and profit in her youth, was among the first to reach the stairwell on the south side, her Geodude right behind her.
It was a good thing she was not the first, for the squad of five that had beaten her to the door perished in a blinding flash of storm-fury, as a powerful electrical attack rampaged in a jolting, jerking plasma stream just a few feet beyond where she skidded to a halt.
Suddenly, she could hear nothing as the shockwave, too close to even be thunder, blasted past her and threw several smaller people and Pokémon from their feet, many tumbling down the stairwell a ways. At her feet landed a charred, smoking husk, half the size it had once been, the rest of the body carbonized into the atmosphere. All Adisa could smell was ozone. "Geodude," she tried to call, but the ringing in her ears was so bad she couldn't even hear herself. But the rock monster looked up at her, its already antagonistic expression changed to one of determined rage. "Go! Open up with Rock Throw, but if it comes after you, use Bide!"
She watched it mouth something in silence, then plod past her, practically throwing itself in short rather than running. Just before it left the tiny shelter of the stairwell entrance, she watched it, mid-step, conjure a stone as large as its body in one hand, and hurl it to the right, out of sight.
She did not hear Zapdos' answering screech, but she heard it as a high-frequency vibration that made the entire building shriek. Then her Geodude was gone, out of sight. A glance back told her that some of the others were recovering, moving up. A few were vomiting. Two had turned and run. But most were stepping toward or over the charred husks. She shouted for them to follow but find cover if they could, and not for the first time, wished she had more Pokémon under her belt. They might survive a direct blast like that with some of the more powerful medicines, but she doubted she would.
At least they were all NPCs, Adisa told herself, not entirely sure that was even right. Who knew what would happen if a player got hit by an attack like that.
Then she was out in the rain, spinning around the stairwell itself and ducking behind it as she got a good glimpse of the creature at last.
Up close, Zapdos was shorter than she was, perhaps five feet tall as it perched atop the edge of one of the transmitter towers, one massive cable clutched in either talon, both sparking as it absorbed power wildly. A bolt of lightning rained down from the sky, striking and sparking across the beast's lightning-coated body with no effect except to feed it more. Black edges of the long, sharp-looking feathers gave it a little definition, but beyond the energy coursing around it, which skittered along its wings like water on a duck's back, or lined its open beak as it screeched like power flowing up between tesla coils, but also in a shell about ten feet across.
It was that which was absorbing, she saw, most of the attacks. Weak though they were, the number of Pokémon moves being sent against Zapdos was staggering. Hundreds struck the sphere of electricity every few seconds, using every Type except Electric itself, in a dazzling, rainbow-like array that would have mesmerized her if Adisa dared let it. Over the next few seconds, more Pokémon and then Trainers poured from the stairwell she was using as cover, many seeking out transformers, other towers, even some of the thicker lines to get out of the terrifying Legendary's line of sight. Across the roof, some hundred feet away, the shed was gone but Trainers and Pokémon alike still clambered out of the hole it had once covered, forming loose ranks as they joined the onslaught.
Hundreds of Trainers, she gasped in realization, thousands of attacks and moves, and we aren't even making a dent! She was certain of it: Zapdos did not have a scratch on it, or a misplaced feather.
It was furious, but nothing except the most powerful of moves she could see were even putting a small dent in the bubble of electricity, which quickly reshaped as the attacks faded.
Even her Geodude's strongest Type-Advantaged attack, Rock Throw, was useless. The stones simply disintegrated on contact, ground to dust by the high-energy field.
She watched in horror as the beak opened wider, and the bolts of twisting plasma between it cycled faster, coalescing into a sphere of blinding incandescence, held by magnetic forces until it was unleashed in a convulsion of raw elemental power that blasted forth like a cannon-shot.
That was when she realized what the move was, one of the most powerful Electric-type moves, and one Zapdos in particular had been famous for over a century for using. Zap cannon.
It was not aimed anywhere near her or the group around her. If Zapdos was her twelve, it was aimed at the ten o'clock position, and she guessed the small shed Morley and his fellow commanders were using as a forward operating base was roughly at eight o'clock.
Unfortunate, as it landed, that the first thing she could remember hearing as her ears began to recover, over the rain, the wind, the continued thunder, were the screams of dead and dying Pokémon and people as the energy dispersed from a compact shell into a burst that must have been thirty feet across, judging by the arc-flash she could see past the lip of the building.
Unless Adisa was vastly miscalculating, that was an entire unit of fighters, maybe more, wiped out in a single attack.
Zapdos reared back, calling another challenge to the sky, and more electricity powered down, lancing from the twisting, roiling clouds into itself.
Its eyes flashed, and both a Trainer, a young woman perhaps two years younger than Adisa herself, who had an evolved Cloyster, vanished in a fan-like arc, which left two dozen black scorch-marks as it spread from one of Zapdos' wings into a twisting line between the Pokémon and the girl. She screamed in agony, her body writhing and smoking suddenly on the ground fifteen feet away. Adisa whirled back to the other side of the stairs, out of the monster's sight. She was unable to tear her vision away from the girl and the Bivalve Pokémon, both of which she knew were beyond saving. The girl was already dead, her eyes melted and exploded from her skull, brain matter leaking from those sockets, her ears, and nose. Only her body still moved because of the energy still within it, randomly moving through her muscles as it quickly grounded into the building through her flesh and the rain. The Cloyster was in even worse shape. One of its larger spikes had slagged into molten calcium instantly, and the inner flesh, soft and tender beyond the hard shell, sent out a great, oddly nice-smelling gout of steam and smoke as it flash-boiled. For a moment, the dark-skinned Trainer thought she might like to try a Cloyster next time she ordered seafood, before immediately vomiting up the meager breakfast she'd had, which quickly swirled and mixed with the girl and Pokémon's blood with the rain washing both toward the nearest gutter.
This is too much, she thought numbly, fighting to keep down rising panic. I can't- I can't- this- I can't do-
Another sound broke past the ringing, a loud, rumbling cry of defiance. Familiar, reassuring.
No. No, I don't want to lose... no, no, no!
Adisa's head came around the corner to see ten other Trainers still on the roof, hurling one attack after another into the Zapdos' shell. None that she could see got through, but... was it smaller, now? Her own Geodude was the closest Pokémon to the monster, a mere foot and change tall compared to the bird that stood almost as tall as she did, but it roared in defiance as it created yet another boulder from thin air and hurled it with both hands in a high, overhead toss at Zapdos.
Like all the rest, the rock vaporized on contact with the field of electricity, but... yes, it did shrink! It grew larger again quickly as the enraged Zapdos continued to absorb more power, but... it shrank with the hit! If they continued to rain damage on it...
The attacks were thinning, she knew. Some Pokémon were already exhausted, their high-power moves wearing them out faster, even if they had a bigger effect. Some had been annihilated by the beast. But they weren't out yet. She had to change strategy, though. This wouldn't work as it was. They had to do something different, or bring far more manpower next time.
Or cut off the power.
Cutting off the power? Shit... shit, that might work! I just need...
"Geodude," she cried as loudly as she could, and pointed as it turned one red-shining eye to look at her, "Tackle that big wire out of the wall! Disconnect the power!"
Just as she ordered the instruction, Zapdos turned its head to look straight at her. Adisa watched the long, narrow spike of its beak nearly disappear, then vanish entirely as it began to gather energy there once more. Avian eyes narrowed, and the Zap Cannon fired, gathered and released before she could react.
Not at her. Adisa watched in horror as the condensed Electrical energy blasted toward the single Pokémon that stood between she and Zapdos: her Geodude.
Who laughed.
It began to lumber into motion far too late, and Adisa drew in a breath while covering her mouth to scream. Too late. More than a million volts of electricity lanced outward, igniting the air between Zapdos and her Pokémon into incandescent plasma that seemed brighter than the sun by at least two orders of magnitude. The attack hit her little Geodude, still just a child in the sense of lower-stage evolutions, and... petered out.
It sparked several times with the direct hit, sending a circle of further flashes and arcs into the rainwater and building around him, but did not do anything whatsoever to the Geodude himself. I... fuck, shit, I forgot- he's Ground! He's immune to Electric! Ha, hahaha!
Almost hysterically, she pointed again, "The wire, Geodude, cut the wire!"
She didn't feel the impact, barely heard it over the cacophany of the battle and the still-painful, even renewed ringing in her ears from the many close-by thunderclaps, but she saw the sparks, the reflections of light on the darkened buildings change position for a moment as the heavy bundle of copper and rubber shifted, tore loose.
It must have taken him a few hits for Geodude, as she risked a glance around the other side of the shed, was now moving slower, seeming tired as it continued to push the still-sparking power line with its head, grinding both fists into the roof to provide just a little impetus.
Another look at Zapdos... yes, yes, it was working.
The shell was smaller, and not growing back as quickly.
Adisa grinned, only to watch as another Zap Cannon blasted away three more attackers, and what must have been a full-on Thunder attack smashed into one of the more distant units, those acting as fire support, almost simultaneously. And as it realized the power wasn't coming in from its feet anymore, the monster took to the air, flapping a few times as it rose more on magnetic energy than with wings, and screeched overhead. One talon raked down at Geodude, and tore a slash through the back of its shell to spray crimson into the rain as it passed.
Adisa gasped, instinct alone returning the poor thing to its Pokéball as the Zapdos rose higher into the air and began circling the building. Now, more attacks were missing than not, unable to keep up with the creature's speed at that range, and it continued to rain electric death down on those who dared attack it. Slower, yes, and the shield was growing weaker by the moment, but... would it be enough?
Adisa didn't know, didn't care. Once it was in the ball again, she immediately let Geodude back out, this time with a Super Potion at the ready. It groaned and twitched, falling silent and still as she poured the entire canister into the nine-inch wound. The entire body of the Geodude was just over a foot in diameter. It had nearly been split in two by a single talon.
But slowly, the potion began to work, and flesh knit closed. With a sob, Adisa pulled the heavy Rock-Type into her chest and held it tightly, shivering in the rain.
Several minutes later, she put it back into the ball, and then reached out with numb, trembling fingers toward the poor girl's belt. She had stopped twitching now, but it still shocked her when she touched the Pokéballs.
It was... disgusting, she knew, looting a dead body. Taking things that did not belong to her. But she wasn't planning on keeping them. Hopefully she would have something, anything, Adisa could use to defend herself. There were two other balls, after all.
She released them both after strapping the belt below her own to find one ball empty, the Pokémon that had been within was no longer there. The other made her gasp in surprise. It- it's ador-able!
The creature looked up at her in confusion, winced as raindrops hit its very warm body, and then moved over to nuzzle the charred corpse of its Trainer with a loud whine. It nudged her a few times with its snout, then looked up to Adisa before turning to the sky once more and howling piteously.
"I'm sorry," she told sobbed again to the dark-furred, white bone-shelled... dog-thing, "I'm sorry, I couldn't save her. But we can avenge her. You and me, what do you say? That thing- that Zapdos over there, he's the one that killed her. You up for it?"
She let it mourn a little longer while running her Pokégear over the creature, followed by Zapdos itself, hoping it would be useful, too. Houndour. Fitting, it looks like a bloodhound, and... so sad. Dour, even. Fuck... Fire/Dark Type, that's nice, even if I already have a Fire. That won't be super helpful with this rain, though. But it's better... better than nothing.
"So what do you say, buddy? Up for getting some revenge for your old Trainer?"
This time, she dared reach down a hand to pet the creature atop its fur, finding it quite warm indeed despite the cold wind and rain. It shivered beneath her, reared up to howl once more, and then turned toward her with a very angry expression. It let loose a single bark, then twisted its head to follow the Zapdos' flight as it continued to circle, blasting downward again and again at the gathered Rockets.
She still had one ball left, the girl's own Nest Ball.
It would have to wait, but maybe, just maybe...
Then the Houndour was running, dashing and skidding through the rain around the corner and down into the still-standing stairwell building. She took off after it, bounding as it had over a few more smoldering corpses, a couple bodies of those had only been knocked unconscious, and even more that cowered, unwilling or unable to get up onto the roof itself. "It's not there anymore," she roared, "Get up on the roof and open fire, you weaklings!"
Some, a few, she thought might have listened. Cowards. Cowards! But she was fighting on. Even over the broken bodies of her fellows.
That creature had to be captured, had to be stopped. It had to pay.
The Houndour was already outside when she reached the bottom floor, and it gathered up flames in its mouth, unleashing them in a twisting, snaking line as she skidded to a halt next to it, gasping from the cold air abusing her overworked lungs. But it was too little, too small, too thin a stream. It didn't even reach the Zapdos, much less hit it or cause damage.
"Wait, buddy," she murmured, kneeling down onto one leg as she rested a hand on its head, and used the other to point. "See, he's coming back around. When he gets closer, give 'im hell. You hear me? Hellfire."
The Houndour barked again, twice this time, and its lips curled into a snarl as it gathered heat and flames again, embers and cinders beginning to spin around its jaw.
Soon, Adisa actually had to withdraw her hand as, even through the rain, sparks landing on her drenched skin burned her. Then, just as the Zapdos was passing overhead, she cried, "Now!"
The lance of flame was faster now, contained more energy, and the Zapdos was far closer. Even if Ember was the very weakest of Fire-type attacks, even in the pouring rain, it still struck.
The shield shattered, sending little glittering motes of light around the area.
And the Zapdos looked down at her, at them, in fury once more. This time, a crashing wave of sheer pressure at the intensity in its aura nearly drove Adisa to her knees, if she hadn't been there already.
It wheeled in the sky quickly, coming around to flap those horrible, jagged wings to hover directly overhead as another Zap Cannon began to charge. Adisa's eyes widened in fear as her hand gripped the Nest Ball. It was still too far, too strong. They'd barely scratched-
A Hyper Beam blasted into the Zapdos' side just before it launched its own attack, followed by the same brilliant golden-yellow beam she had seen before from the same direction. Both attacks had come from the rooftop parking area, she realized, and nearly cried out in relief again as the mighty Electric Legendary spun mid-air, its attack not just going wide but far off into the upper atmosphere before detonating harmlessly. It squawked and screeched, righting itself only after falling nearly to the ground. It whipped over her and Houndour's head, catching her long hair and threatening to pull her over with the speed of its passage, but the Nest Ball still flew, caught up in its own backdraft.
Of course, she didn't catch it. A stray Thunderbolt, she thought, fried the ball before it got even half-way there. But another beam of energy, this one ice-blue and so cold it chilled her even from a hundred feet over Adisa's head blasted into Zapdos' left leg, causing the rain around it to freeze into a solid block of ice.
At once, the beast listed in that direction, as no matter how hard it flapped it could not keep up with the extra weight. It crashed onto the large, mostly empty space of the parking structure, and Adisa found herself running pell-mell up the long ramp she'd run down not so very long ago, Houndour right on her heels, barking madly.
When it came into view again, Zapdos was beneath no fewer than six nets, each weighted down and driven with rail-gun spikes into the cement of the parking lot for stability, while no fewer than forty trainers threw one ball after another at it, including all three of the commanders, Morley at the forefront.
Adisa ran in too, her own regular balls, all six of them she had left, coming to hand.
Zapdos struggled, unleashing more electrical attacks, but the rain and heavy steel cables grounded them out, nullifying its ability to reach more than a few feet.
A few feet that the Trainers collectively stayed well clear of, and not without reason.
Finally, after another few minutes of tirelessly littering the ground with more than a hundred Pokéballs of various types, the Zapdos gave a final screech, then vanished in a blaze of radiance.
Several seconds of silence fell over the area as the rain suddenly petered out, and the storm's vengeance faded. The clouds were still dark in the sky, but all the fury with which they had been unleashing the storm seemed to have gone with Zapdos. They were just regular storm-clouds, and without much reason to be there. The female commander whose name Adisa didn't know, eventually walked forward, accompanied by the heavy thuds of a Venusaur as it crushed balls beneath its plant-like feet. The brown-skinned woman eventually reached down and picked up the ball, which had just stopped shaking a moment before. "It's a Nest Ball... ID number... 24273566215672. Which Trainer is that?"
His eyes wide, Morley raised his hand, "Uh, that's mine, Carol."
The woman snorted, "You don't mind me verifying, of course."
"N- No."
Adisa watched, stunned as the rest were by all that had transpired in the last few days and even minutes, while the other officer compared his electronic record to the number now logged in the ball. "Shit," she muttered, then rolled her eyes and slapped the oddly-colored ball into her companion's hand. "Right, then! The capture goes to Morley Vaan! Like the Board says, he's getting a promotion, and the honor of locking up that Zapdos. You've all done well today, everyone! Expect your bonuses on this week's check. Don't forget your expense reports, and confer with Logistics Division Three if you need lodging or transport somewhere in Kanto! Operation successful. If you need medical attention, Support Group Alpha's your go-to. If your Pokémon are injured, report to Support Group Beta. Dismissed!"
And that was it. A few short minutes later, she was holding tight to Morley once more, the sulfur-odor of the Charizard they rode keeping them warm despite the freezing wind as they tore through the sky, back toward the west.
"Morley," she called over the local headsets a few hours before landing, almost twelve after the fight, "What happens to the Pokémon of fallen Trainers?"
"Most get claimed by friends and family," he sent back after a click of acknowledgment, "but if they don't, they go in a pool for new members to choose from. First come first serve. Why?"
"I- I picked up a Houndour," she replied.
"It's yours, then. When we land, I'll fill out the paperwork, make it official."
"The League doesn't care?"
She felt him snort in her grip, his warm back helping her against the cold too, "The League doesn't control Team Rocket. But no, that's all in the rules. Unclaimed but tamed Pokémon are better off with almost any Trainer than being released into the wild. Any unclaimed Pokémon can therefore be taken in by a registered Trainer. Sometimes you even find them out in the world."
"Ah. I see."
After a few seconds, she felt his gloved hand close around her wrist, and he twisted to give her a wind-chapped grin, "You did good, Adisa. Or should I say, Lieutenant Adisa. Next time, you're definitely getting a custom ball of your own."
She grinned, feeling too exhausted still, even hours later, to be more than a little happy about it. Not to mention all the NPCs that had died. Even if they weren't real, they sure felt real, looked real. Smelled... She fought down the urge to vomit again. Lightning-cooked flesh was not pleasant to inhale. "Wh- What about the Zapdos? Is that yours, now?"
"No," Morley chuckled a little ruefully, "No, I'm not keeping that fucker. It's going to a research facility, one that Rocket owns. We'll put it to use. Hopefully, eventually, it'll make up for all the damage it did."
She nodded against his back, but didn't say anything. It deserved worse, as far as she was concerned.
She was asleep before they landed, and didn't remember climbing into Morley's bed. Or much of anything for the next sixteen hours.
Elle yawned loudly and widely, barely covering even part of her mouth with her hand as she staggered after him into the East Viridian PMC just after sundown. It had been a long walk, and she'd made it without complaint after they had broken down their camp, but Alex was surprised the girl had lasted this long without displaying signs that she was as tired as he felt. This trying to act tough thing is shit, he old himself with a grimace, shrugging his heavy backpack off one shoulder as he joined the short queue booking in for rooms. "Looks like most of the Trainers are moving on," he commented quietly.
"Y- Yeah," his companion replied with another short yawn, "Can't blame 'em. That Gym Leader's a piece of work. If we decided to come back later, I'm sure others have, too."
"Fuckin' cunt," a mohawk-sporting girl with torn jeans, and both dirt and blood smears on her knees, hands, and across one cheek growled as she half-turned to face them, "I heard a pair actually killed a couple of her Pokémon the other day, so I figured I'd have a shot, but she creamed me. And not in a good way."
"Uh, y- yeah," Elle murmured, turning a little pink and looking away, "I- we heard that, too. She's tough."
"I'm tough," the punk growled, trying to give a menacing grunt, which shifted quickly into a grimace and groan of pain as she moved something she shouldn't have, "Fuck. Owie... Next time I fight her, I'm gonna fight to kill."
"Don't blame you," Elle growled, and Alex felt one of her small hands close around his bicep. He looked down at her in surprise, only to find her looking back up at him with concern written all over her cute little face. "You okay?"
It was only after her soft question, asked a few seconds after the older young woman had turned back around, that he realized his hands were trembling, white-knuckled around the strap on his shoulder and his own palm, which was smarting something terrible. Alex forced himself to take a long, deep breath, then let it out slowly. "No," he admitted just as quietly, "I agree with this chick, though. Nadine's a bitch, and I want to bring her down."
The girl who'd interrupted their conversation to complain about Nadine Minier was the next at the desk, and after a brief conversation with the receptionist, they both stepped up together. "One bed, make it a king if you have one left," Elle said quickly as Alex drew in a breath to speak.
"Certainly," the moderately attractive hostess said with a pleasant smile, "For how many nights?"
"Just the one for now," Alex answered when his companion glanced his direction, "We should be heading towards Pewter soon, but we might stay another night."
"Of course, sir. Would you like to include breakfast and supper with your room now?"
"Sure," Elle replied again, then swiped her 'gear over the payment sensor before he could do it. "That gets refunded if we don't eat it, right?"
"It does, but it might take a few days to arrive back in your account. Usually it's within twenty-four hours, though. Any special services or requests?"
"Like what?" The blonde asked innocently.
Alex groaned as the NPC, without a hint of shame, said, "We have handcuffs, both fuzzy and metallic, ropes, a wide variety of dildos, onaholes, vibrators, a portable ra-"
"Thank you, no," Alex interrupted as he Elle's face turned bright red, "Nothing like that tonight. We're just sleeping. Thanks. Keys?"
"Just swipe your 'gear, as usual," the young woman said with the same automatic, pleasant smile as if she hadn't just mortified a fifteen year old girl.
"Thanks, uh, h- have a good night."
Elle did not protest as he took her elbow and lead the girl away.
She frowned thoughtfully as he turned to look at her once the door to their room was closed and locked. "Do... do people like that stuff? I mean, like... the bondage stuff."
"BDSM? Some do," he admitted, shrugging off his backpack and leaning it against the wall next to hers before letting his battle team out to explore the room. It was fairly basic, much like all the other Pokémon Center rooms they'd stayed in, but having just one larger bed changed the layout a little.
Elle was quiet for a few more seconds after letting out her own team, and the now twelve Pokémon began tussling gently together, the Fire-types careful not to set anything ablaze despite being relatively freshly caught. Having exposed fire on Surtr would bear watching, he knew, but even as Alex contemplated it, the flames began to diminish until his Ponyta's tail and mane were, rather than open alight, just smoldering ember-lit hair. Huh. They actually do really have manes. Interesting.
"Do... you like it?"
He coughed, and tried to feign ignorance, as if he hadn't been trying to distract himself from imaging Elle, Cora, and even Nadine Minier (or the real-life actress he so often fantasized of that shared her first name) tied up with shibari, or in a pillory, or..."Like, uh, what?"
"BDSM, of course," Elle replied softly, sinking onto the bed with her hands folded in her lap, as she often did when she was feeling a bit embarrassed. "I... I mean, I've seen... some of it in porn, but... it always seemed so... extreme. Like it... couldn't be fun. But I'd be willing to try it if... if that's what you want."
Do I? Fuck. She's a kid, Alex, you idiot. Don't scare the fuck out of her! He forced the thoughts from his rampaging libido into the background, and took a long, slow breath before answering. "Never tried it, so I can't honestly say. Like... well, I imagine like a lot of people, I've seen more in porn than in real life. A lot more. Some of them really seem into it. I... I don't know. I'm sorry I can't answer your question, at least that one. But I'm not going to push you to do something you don't want to."
Elle nodded, seeming a bit relieved. He tried to put it from his mind as he started setting out clean boxers and clothes for the next day, then moved over to the bed. "But what if I do?"
"Er, I..."
"I mean, I'm not saying I do," Elle hurried to explain, sounding suddenly very animated, "'Cause it does seem like it might hurt or something, at least sometimes, but when the ladies in those videos climax, it always seems like it's super hard. I'm up for that, you know? I don't want to get hurt, but I like to cum, and if I can cum more and harder, it might be worth a bit of pain. But only if you're into that, because I don't want to be weird, and I know real life isn't porn, and-"
"Elle."
"-but I understand if you do want to, so I want you to know that I'm up for trying it, but I might not like it, so I don't want to get your hopes up if you do, because-"
"Elle."
"-won't like me anymore, and I like you and I don't want you to leave, so I'll do it if it's only a little uncomfortable, because I want you to be happy and like me, and-"
"Elle," he tried again, a but more forcefully, even sinking to his knees in front of the now red-faced girl and grabbing her hands in his much larger ones. "Breathe. I think you're having a panic attack or something. It's fine, I- breathe. Breathe, girl."
She stopped talking, thankfully, but it was a few more seconds before her wild eyes came back to focus on him, and the petite girl took a long, shuddering breath. "I... I... what..."
"I think you had a panic attack," Alex repeated quietly, as calmly as he could, "Cora, my friend, she used to get them to. You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna be okay. We- us- we're gonna be okay. If we- if we have issues like that, we can talk about it. I'm not just going to suddenly... stop liking you. Okay? Hell, I'm worried I'm not going to be able to keep up with you."
She was quiet for a moment, then gave a soft, half-hysterical giggle, "What? But you fuck everyone, and I'm still a virgin, and I'm not... not ready. I want to, I really really do, but..."
"Hey, Elle. Seriously. It's okay. I'll wait. You don't... you don't have to force yourself to keep traveling with me, okay? You don't have to force yourself to make me like you. I like you. Sure, part of that is... how kinky you are, how willing you are to try things, but that's just part, okay?"
She nodded once, still focused on him but almost too intently. "But I want to fuck," Elle reminded him, voice both intent and impatient, "I'm just not ready, but soon, and I don't want you to give up on me because I keep saying wait."
"It's me who keeps telling us we should wait, remember?"
"But I... I..."
He sighed, then stood up from the floor to sit next to her and pulled the girl against his torso. "Hey, seriously, I'm not going anywhere unless you make me. I love having fun with you, but that's not everything, and it's not why I'm traveling with you. You're my friend, okay? I'm not going to abandon you because of something like not having sex. Not all friends do, you know?"
She nodded, hiccupped against him, and was quiet for a while, her breathing shuddering occasionally but evening out over the next several minutes. "I... thanks, Alex."
"Anytime, Elle."
"I... I do want to... if you're up for it... maybe sometime. Try that stuff."
"Okay."
"And maybe I'll like it, and maybe I won't."
"That's totally fine with me."
"And... and I want to have sex so bad, but... but I want to keep my promise to myself. It's important to me."
"That's also totally fine. I admire that conviction."
"You... you do?"
"Of course," he snorted, giving her a little squeeze, "Hell, it's taking all my willpower not to just throw you on the bed some days and have my way with you. You're taking the whole holding back thing way better than I am. And if you're doing it because of a promise you made yourself, that's even more impressive. Because I'd have changed my mind ages ago."
"You... you would have?"
He nodded.
"I... when was the first time you thought about doing that? Doing... me?"
Alex grinned, even while part of himself marveled at how much their relationship had changed in just a month. How much he had changed. "Well, I think we've talked about this before, but remember how you said when we first met, you sat down with the intention of fucking me one day?"
"Y- Yeah."
"The moment I looked up and saw you."
"Arceus," the girl moaned, before pulling herself from his grip and dropping back onto the bed, her tight t-shirt heaving as she panted, "It's really hard to stop myself from jumping you when you say shit like that, Alex."
"Me? Jumping me? Hard to stop? Fuck you, Elle," he chuckled, laying back more sedately and rolling onto his side to rest one hand on her flat, smooth belly. After a moment, he shifted, just daring to put it under the hem of her shirt instead, splaying over the molten-hot flesh there. "You're such a tease it's a wonder I haven't gone mad. Or maybe I have."
"Maybe you have," she grinned a little shakily up at him, "but if you have, we're in the loony bin together. Fuck. I... that feels really good, but... no, don't move it. Just... stay... stay with me. Fuck whoever you want. Arceus, I want us to fucking be wild. I want you to... to take me whenever you want, just bend me over and shove it in, but... but not yet. Soon. Soon, fuck. I keep saying that."
"Soon is when you are ready," he told her gently, then leaned down to kiss her just once, gently and softly, on the lips. "When you are, and not a moment before. I'll wait forever, you know. Not- not saying I won't be with others in the meantime."
"Not saying I won't, either," Elle told him seriously, her eyes glistening, "because I fully intend to. But you're gonna be the first to... have me. That way. First dick in this tight, virgin pussy. And in my ass, when I want to. Or when you do. And I'm definitely gonna have your dick in my mouth first. You know... you might even get to take my virginity twice."
"Uh.. what?"
"In game," she whispered, tilting her head away from him to stare at the headboard, then putting her much smaller hand over his and shifting it further down to the hem of her shorts, "and then out. In the real world."
He blinked, "That... that sounds fucking awesome... but I don't want to hurt you twice."
"Hurt? Please. Pain pills, duh. Besides, maybe I'm into that? Maybe not, who knows. Maybe if I like it enough I'll wait in the real world so you can take it again and again in the game... if it works that way."
"Fuck," Alex groaned, and started reaching down to adjust his cock.
But Elle beat him to it, rolling to face him instead and pushing him onto his back. "No... let me. I've fucking waited long enough. I'm gonna suck that dick if it's the last thing I do."
"I... uh..."
Part of him wanted to protest still, to say she didn't have to, that she could do it when she was well and truly read. That part was beaten senseless before it could utter a word even inside his head. Huh. Turns out my libido carries a really big stick.
It had only been a few weeks, but to Alex it felt like he had known Elle for months. They had a few years between them, but the girl was insightful, wicked-smart, witty, and had the sex drive of a woman despite being, unless she was lying to him again, fifteen or sixteen. She was closer to him than Alex could remember being to anyone except Cora, and his best friend in the real world had been drifting apart from him for years.
He and Cora had known each other for most of their lives, but unlike the last few weeks, Alex had not spent nearly every moment, waking and sleeping both, with the girl now staring at his dick. It should have been no wonder that he felt more connected to her than the older woman. Taking that a step further, it felt like he had been waiting for her to see him, waiting for this moment, for far longer than mere months. It was almost as if Alex had been waiting his whole life, all eighteen and a half years of it, for Elle to do what she said she wanted to.
"I'm not going to be as good as Gobbler," the blonde reminded him seriously, "so don't get your hopes up. I've... never actually practiced this, I've only see it."
"It's fine," Alex groaned as she shifted her position, pushing his legs apart to settle on her knees between them. "Just don't bite, and it'll be fine."
"Oh," Elle teased, leaning down over his crotch and looking up at him, "you don't want me to bite your cock off..? Why not?"
"Well, for one it would hurt like shit," Alex made himself laugh, even though he felt his testicles withdrawing in fear at the very mention of it, "and for another, it'd bleed everywhere. That's a big mess to clean up."
"Hm... I suppose I'll just make a mess another way, then," Elle agreed thoughtfully, before returning her hand to his shaft. She simply rested her palm along it, fingers upward, and stroked lightly like that a few times. "I forgot how silky it is, too... hard, but smooth and soft. I love it."
"Thanks," Alex murmured, slowly starting to relax as the threat- joking or not- was forgotten in light of Elle's clumsy, but heartfelt exploration. "You can do whatever, just don't like... be rough."
"Next time, then," the girl whispered, then shifted her grip down to his sack, while her other hand moved to circle his rod. It didn't quite close around him, but at once Elle started pumping, her grip light, almost caressing, while the other rolled and kneaded his balls.
"Shit," he moaned, unconsciously thrusting his dick against her hand to increase the friction a little. "Don't stop doing that."
Elle grinned, as much as Alex' movement as his words, and sped up her stroking while tightening her grip just a little. "Not too tight? Too loose?"
"No, it's- it's great," Alex replied.
"Good... tell me if it is. I want to do good for you. I want you to want it all the time."
"I do," he told her seriously, closing his eyes. Watching her, the cute, angelic face of the girl he was already sure he was in love with even if he couldn't admit it to himself, was too much while she was touching him like this.
"Not enough," said girl replied softly, barely above a whisper, "you don't beg me to touch you nearly enough... but you will." He felt her shifting, but with his eyes closed didn't know what Elle was doing until he felt her tongue replace her hand and slide up his shaft, from the base all the way to the tip. It flicked there a few times, tasting his pre-cum.
He opened his eyes to judge her reaction, but the blonde's face was largely neutral as her hand went back to stroking. "Not terrible, I guess. Kind of... tasteless. Not nearly as bad as I imagined it."
"Hah... you've been imagining the taste of it, huh?"
Elle's face turned pink, which looked even cuter on her from her place by his cock, and she nodded. "Of- Of course I have. I told you I've been wanting to do this for a while."
"Well, do it then," he urged her. He was past the point of caring that she was still legally a minor. They were only a few years apart, and if the Pacific Mega-City Security came after him for this, well... it was a game, and he was still young enough he could say they were in love. Which, he hoped, both of them were.
"Okay," was all Elle said, before licking him again. This time, when she reached the top, the girl closed her soft, tender lips around his cap and swirled her tongue around it a few times, suckling with just a little pressure to make him swell further in her mouth.
Alex groaned again, and felt his hips buck. His right hand fisted in the sheets, but his left moved up to rest against the side of Elle's head. He didn't try to guide her, though it took a monumental effort to hold back from it. Instead, he growled, voice husky and low, "Are you sure you haven't practiced? Because, fuck. That's so good, Elle."
"Good. Tell me what you want me to do, Alex."
"Suck it," he groaned, hating how needy he sounded.
Elle seemed to relish it though, because she grinned proudly before returning to licking all over him. Up and down his shaft, alternating sides, then pulling him straight up and leaning forward to run the side of her tongue against the back. Her lips too, cupping and suckling as she kissed and nibbled one spot after another up, down, around.
Finally, she moved back down to his scrotum and pulled one of his testicles into her mouth, sucking gently on it by moving her cheeks in and out while running her tongue over and around that, too, before switching to the other with a soft pop.
"Holy fuck," Alex gasped, his eyes wide at the pleasure the girl was giving him, "How the hell did you learn- oh, Arceus- all of- of that?"
"I watched a lot of porn, and I paid attention," Elle replied quietly, her eyes hooded with lust as she devoured him with tiny little nibbles and kisses. "I had to make sure that if I did ever get a boyfriend, I could keep him. It was the only way to get away from my dad."
"Uh- What? What do you mean?" Alex pushed himself up onto his elbows, suddenly angry as much as aroused.
Elle only shrugged, "It doesn't matter now. Game Freak, this 'adult beta', they made all of that... unnecessary. I don't have to worry about him anymore. Now I can put those skills, all that study, to... different uses. Like keeping you."
He was about to protest, to ask for more information, demand she tell him what the problem with her father was. Elle must have sensed that, because she chose that moment to close her mouth around his dick again. This time, though she did circle him once with her tongue, the girl sank lower than before. Lower, and down a bit more, until he felt himself nudge at the back of her mouth. She coughed around him as he groaned again in pleasure, his head falling back despite himself.
Eventually, as she kept bobbing, his pleasure rising slowly as she grew more confident, Alex asked his companion, "What- what was that about your d-dad? If he's coming after you..."
Annoyed, for the first time he shivered as Elle let her teeth graze his shaft. When she took him out of her mouth, the younger girl sent him a glare. "How about we don't talk about my asshole of a father when your cock is in my mouth, huh? How would that be?"
While her hand started stroking him, the raised eyebrow and silence quickly prompted Alex to acquiesce. "F- Fine, that's fair, I... sorry."
"Good boy," Elle said with a renewed grin and chuckle, then bent to kiss the tip of his head again before taking him back into her warm, hot orifice.
As much as the man suddenly wanted to hold her head still between both his hands and buck upward into her throat, he restrained himself. This was too good already. Maybe he was just too horny, maybe he was more in love with Elle than he had ever thought. The reason, he supposed, didn't matter. All that Alex knew was that this was easily the most enjoyable blowjob of his life. Gobbler the Bellsprout might have been objectively more pleasant physically, but even though the creature seemed quite alive as it bobbed on him, he felt no real emotional connection with it. The Pokémon was more like a living sex toy than a real person to him. Cora, the only woman he might have thought he loved before Elle, had only gone down on him once in their brief, abortive relationship and her own dedication to the task was nothing compared to the petite blonde's.
In fact, aside from her age- and she wasn't that much younger, just two and a half years- there wasn't much that Alex didn't love about the girl. He was fine with large-chested women, curvy women, tall, short, and slender women, but something about Elle's petite, athletic physique drove him wild. How she acted all tough most of the time, but showed vulnerability when it was just them. How she was as perverted as he was, and probably even more. For all her innocent demeanor, and relative inexperience, Elle was clearly the one pushing for more in their relationship, and Alex did not find himself minding that at all.
It still seemed a bit too... well, callous and passion-oriented to say it when she was doing her level best at swallowing down at least half his length, though. So Alex decided to show his affection and care by resting his hand on the top of her head, which was still in its customary ponytail instead. That gentle pressure would, he hoped, encourage her to try and take more, even if he wasn't going to actually push. And if not, well... it's not like he wasn't enjoying it already.
Elle didn't seem content to only do that, though. Because as soon as he let his hand fall on her head, she started pumping faster, her suction grew firmer, stronger, and her other hand, which had been steadying her for a bit, moved to pump the lower third of his cock with her longest fingers.
All too soon, it became too much. With both of her hands and her mouth on him, Alex felt the pressure, the need, the lust, the desire, bubbling up, almost boiling over. "Fuck, Elle," he gasped, "I'm... I'm gonna-"
He didn't know what. Climax, certainly, that was inevitable at this point. But the words for it seemed lost in the haze of his body's response to the pleasure his companion was giving him.
The Trainer also didn't know what he expected. He had warned her because she was new to all this, of course, and he didn't want to surprise her, but... what did he expect her to do? Take it out, make a mess? Or swallow it? Take it for the moment and spit it out later?
It turned out to be 'all of the above', but only because the moment he said it, before Elle could even react, his climax was on him. The first two shots hit the roof of Elle's mouth and the back of her throat, and the girl immediately winced and recoiled. Her mouth was still open, and some of his semen immediately started running out. That let his third and fourth shots to shoot straight up. One arced down toward Elle's shoulder, splattering against the pale, lightly freckled flesh, and the other landed on the bed next to Alex's waist. The fifth and sixth, weaker shots, were bucked up against the palm of Elle's hand as she covered it like an umbrella, the other still pumping the base of his erection.
Alex didn't know how she would react, but hoped his clear pleasure would help her form a positive experience. "Fucking hell, that was amazing," he groaned, collapsing limply to the bed, "I've... I've only ever cum that hard a- a few times... in my whole- whole life."
It seemed impossible that the girl, his semen in her mouth, on her shoulder, all over both hands as it dribbled down his shaft, would feel the same. Still, he could only watch in wonder as the tight lips that had just brought him to such ecstasy closed, and Elle clearly swished his leavings around her mouth. Then swallowed audibly, and opened it again. Her eyes narrowed, and he feared recrimination, judgment.
"Not... too bad. Slimy, salty... the texture is really weird, but the taste isn't terrible. Huh. I... Well, I suppose I can get used to it. I like that I got you to cum so hard, though! Was it really that good? Or are you just saying that so I keep doing it?"
"It was amazing," Alex replied firmly, "I've seriously only ever cum that hard a few times, Elle. It's- It's hard to believe that was really your first time doing it."
"It's not that hard anymore," she chuckled, turning her eyes down to his slowly-softening member. Her hand, which had been circling him and holding his semen in place, came up to her mouth. She licked the webbing between her thumb and palm next, then shuddered, wincing. "Definitely better fresh, though. Even just a few seconds makes it gross. Ugh. I'm gonna go brush my teeth. You... you can clean that off yourself."
She was gone before he could protest. Alex did as she suggested as best he could with the provided tissues, and swapped places to use the sink to finish the rest once the girl was done.
When he came back out of the bathroom, she was underneath the covers, grinning as she watched him. "You, uh... do you want me to return the favor? 'Cause- 'Cause I will. I'd be happy to."
Elle pursed her lips, but shook her head. "No, not this time. I'm not quite ready for that, stud. Soon."
"Okay. I just thought, well.. if we've done this, then..."
Elle shrugged, revealing her bare shoulders. That, he knew, meant she at least wasn't wearing the camisole she sometimes wore to bed. "It's different for a girl. Not too much longer, I promise. Maybe even tomorrow, or in the morning if you're lucky and I'm feeling horny. Might smell bad then... I bet I'll be leaking all night. I'm fucking horny after all that."
"Well, the offer's open..."
"I know," she giggled, "And I'm serious, I'll take you up on it. No one's ever gone down on me before, so... I'm eager to try it. Just not right now. It's been a long day, and I want to sleep."
"Okay. It's kind of weird, though," he mentioned as he slid into the sheets next to her. At once, Elle curled up next to him, and his hand around her waist at least told him she was wearing her panties.
"What is?"
"Well, you know how the rooms are pretty nice, well stocked, all that. There's stores for all kinds of stuff, everything you can think of. But even in this adult beta- which has all those toys the lady mentioned- there's no... no condoms, anywhere."
He felt her lashes on his chest move as she blinked several times in surprise. "That is weird. I wonder why? Were they just not something the team thought about? Or is it because it's a game, and pregnancy isn't a thing?"
"I donno. That's a kink for some people though, so I'd have thought they did allow it. I don't know. Maybe it's an option in the settings, one you can turn on and off or something."
"Maybe," Elle murmured, clearly getting sleep even though they'd just laid down. It had been a long day, so he decided to let her sleep as much as she could.
All too soon, he was drifting off, too.
A/N: A final note before you click away.
DON'T go to if you can help it. I am still posting there, but they are HEAVILY censoring my content (especially this story). If you want the full experience, either be patient, or, to support me and get things sooner, go to Sub scribe Star DOT Adult SLASH KajaWilder.