WARNING

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT INAPPROPRIATE FOR READERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18

.

.

The taming session Nicholas had had with the feral Growlithe had lasted hours and by the end of it he'd been covered in blood from the heavy scratches she'd inflicted on him. But she'd been acting aware. That's all that mattered when he'd finally returned her slumbering form to her pokeball to join Adalinda. A short shower later and he'd stumbled out to join with a worried Sabrina, doing his best to laugh off the screams and crashes she'd been hearing but having to admit that it hadn't gone quite to plan when he realized that his psychic fiancé wasn't buying any of it.

"I'd forgotten how dangerous this all really is," she'd whispered, stroking his tired face with a smile. "Thank god you're you."

Once he'd woken up the next morning Nicholas took both pokegirls to the center to have them healed and cleaned once more before releasing them back in the hotel. The Growlithe had immediately lunged for him AGAIN, prompting a quick bark from Cathy when she'd seen it, but this time it had just been to throw herself into his arms and begin affectionately rubbing her entire body against him. Which was why Adalinda was now hissing away, coiled up, glaring daggers as she watched the girl that had given her so much grief the night before happily playing with their tamer as if nothing had happened.

Jealousy is certainly some part of it, Nicholas thought as he chuckled and returned the Growlithe's advances, the girl's tail swishing back and forth at high speeds. "So," he finally managed to get out in between a few of the Growlithe's sloppy kisses, "I'm very glad to see you tame. Do you have a name? Can you speak?"

"Rr-rr!" was all he got in response as the Growlithe playfully nibbled at his cheek.

"That's a no. But you do understand me to some extent," Nicholas laughed. "Definitely a feralborn pokegirl. Hey, Cathy? Could you run out and grab a language TM for her?"

Cathy, like Adalinda, had taken one position when the Growlithe leapt onto her new tamer and had kept it the entire time. Arms crossed with a thunderous scowl. "And leave you alone? No."

"Aw, c'mon. You can see that she's just an excited little thing. I'll be fine."

"Tell that to Mistress Sabrina."

Nicholas quieted when he heard the biting tone Cathy was using. "Is she okay?"

"No. You scared her last night, Nicholas," Cathy growled. "She's taking a walk."

"Alone?"

Cathy shook her head slightly. "You should know I would never allow that. Sera shadowed her while I contacted Kali." The Miltank's eyes narrowed. "She was needed."

"I knew this whole thing was a bad idea," Nicholas muttered to himself. "I'm sorry. We'll talk once I've found you a language TM," he said to the girl cuddling him. The Growlithe whined when he pushed her to arm's length but he ignored her drooping ears and returned her to her pokeball. "If a feral pokegirl clawing me up during a taming is going to set her off this badly I should call it right here, right now. I've almost died on these journeys. Actually taken injuries that put me out of commission for weeks on end. Compared to any of that last night was literally nothing."

"Not to her," Cathy rumbled. "It may have been to you but to her it was terrifying."

Nicholas sighed. After a few moments he glanced over at where Adalinda coiled. "How about you, Ada. How are you feeling."

The Snivy had stopped hissing with the Growlithe gone but she still glared at him. "Pretty pissed myself."

"I got you hurt. I got both of you hurt." Nicholas massaged his face. "Fuck's sake. Do I get rid of her? The Growlithe. Is that the right call here?"

Adalinda's tail lashed. "I want to punch her in the jaw."

Nicholas blinked before letting out a wry chuckle. "And chase her off? Or keep her around so you can keep doing it."

"I'd be fine with either."

"I figured." Nicholas shook his head. "Cathy, did Sabrina say where she was going to walk? I need to talk to her."

"You certainly do," Cathy growled. "Kali says that they've stopped in a small park nearby."

Nicholas nodded. "Okay. Let's go find her."

The small park was a nice little patch of green within the city and Nicholas found Sabrina draped over a bench as she stared at the clouds. When he called her name she turned. "Oh? Nicholas. Hey."

Nicholas walked over and sat down next to her. "Hey," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

Sabrina let out her breath and let her head fall back again. "One hell of a first real day."

"Can't say it was my favorite one ever," Nicholas agreed. "But, you know… That's all part of the journey. It's not all sunshine and rainbows."

"Yeah. I've been remembering that this morning," Sabrina replied quietly. "When I met Helga… Did I ever tell you that I'd seen Articuno, too?"

Nicholas blinked. "No. No, you've never told me that. When?"

"I was working on my last two badges," Sabrina recalled. "Even at the time I was building friendships with the other gym leaders and Misty invited me to come with her to the Seafoam Islands. She apparently trains there a lot. What she forgot to mention is that she can do that because she has an agreement with the pokegirl who lives there."

"Wait. Misty?" Nicholas asked in surprise. "SHE knows Articuno too?"

"Yeah." Sabrina shivered. "It was terrifying. Wandering away from her and exploring the caves, looking for a Jynx, just to came face to face with… even now, I can remember the cold. The utter cold of the mind in front of me."

Nicholas nodded. "Cassidy had a similar experience when she tried to scan Articuno, I believe," he said. "I assume your encounter went a bit better than mine, though."

"Misty explained things quickly," Sabrina whispered. "But for a few moments I thought I was going to die." She shivered and turned to drape herself across his chest. "You face that all the time. No wonder you were laughing last night. I bet it didn't even seem like something to worry about."

"Pretty much," Nicholas replied quietly. "I'm sorry to have scared you. Let's call this off."

"No, no." Sabrina turned her head to look up at him. "I'm fine. I just hadn't prepared myself yet." She winced. "Man. Spend a few years away from my gym and I forget all about how dangerous pokegirls really are."

Nicholas chuckled and kissed her hair affectionately. "You're sure."

"Very," Sabrina said firmly, and nearby Nicholas saw Kali nod slightly. "You shouldn't let me control this new badge challenge."

"Honey, if I listened to that then I'd be calling it off regardless," Nicholas snickered. "You're the only reason I decided to start it, remember?"

"Yeah, right, I remember," Sabrina sighed. She sat up and shook her head to settle her hair. "How's the Growlithe?"

"Tame but feralborn, so she's got no concept of language," Nicholas replied. "I asked her for her name and she just started nibbling on my cheek."

Sabrina laughed. "Oh. I wish I'd seen that, that sounds adorable." She looked over to smile at where Adalinda sat. "Is that your secret to success? Because if it is I want to keep seeing how cute you are with each new pokegirl you meet."

"Heh." Nicholas grinned and stood, holding out his hand to help Sabrina to her feet. "Alright. Then I'll keep going. First thing on today's agenda is finding a shop to buy a language TM for this Growlithe." He grimaced. "Then I have the fun job to explain to her how we found her."

"Yeah, don't envy you there," Sabrina replied sympathetically. "How's Vika?"

"She's recovering," Nicholas said as they headed down the street. "Apparently Lili and Zisela even let her into their room to cuddle the egg for a few minutes before chasing her off again."

"Wow," Sabrina murmured. "From what I know they've been like with you that means a lot."

"Yeah, she's never let herself be portrayed as the young pokegirl she is and now that something has shaken her the whole harem is coming together to comfort her," Nicholas replied. "It makes me very happy."

Sabrina smiled at him. "I can tell."

Nicholas chuckled and shared a quick kiss. "Right. This Growlithe. Let's find a store."

One wasn't far away and before long Nicholas was stepping back outside, though not with just a language TM. He was also hiding a few more from Adalinda, the curious Snivy trying and failing to read the words printed on the disks he slipped into the case in his bag. "Come on," she whined. "What is it? Something for me?"

"Maybe. Maybe not," Nicholas snickered. "Maybe I picked some stuff up for the girls back at Pokestar. Who's to say."

"YOU'RE to say," Adalinda retorted with a huff. "You're so mean."

"Yes. Yes I am," Nicholas replied with a shit-eating grin. "Let's find somewhere to give this Growlithe the language TM and let her get used to it."

They ended up right back at the park where Sabrina had been resting earlier and Nicholas released the Growlithe, laughing when she made a lunge at him at first before recoiling when she saw Adalinda get in the way. "Oi! Chill, both of you." He gestured for the Growlithe and held out the disk. "Come here. I'm going to use this on you and figure out a good name."

The Growlithe scampered around before freezing in place when he pressed the disk to her forehead and activated it. As her eyes began jittering to indicate that the TM was being written into her memory Nicholas leaned back and took another look at the disk in his hand. It hadn't shattered under the stress of activation. Had that been why prices here were so high? It was a reusable disk, just like the one he had been gifted all the way back in Blackthorn?

Speaking of that disk. He took another peek at his pitiful collection when he returned the language TM to the case. He wondered. Could Adalinda use it? Was she dragon enough?

Something to test in the future for sure. He returned his attention to the Growlithe as she began forming gibberish sounds with her mouth. "Part of me wants to explain things to her first, before deciding on a name," he said out loud so the rest of the group could follow his thought process. "Plus, there's always the possibility that her new knowledge will let her express a certain idea or even word that she'd like to be named after. But, the other part of me knows that for a feralborn like her, a pokegirl for who I am their first tamer, receiving a name will be very important to bring her into the harem."

"Got any ideas?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"Hm." Nicholas studied the Growlithe. He couldn't stop thinking about how ferociously she'd fought as a feral and tapped his chin. "I think I do." A smile slowly grew as he watched the girl stagger back and sit down on her ass, hard. "In fact I think it's the perfect name for the pokegirl who will evolve to become my roaring Arcanine. A pokegirl that humanity consider as majestic as the legendaries themselves." He grinned when Kali snorted. "Hey. Go take it up with whatever researcher decided on Arcanine's tagline in the pokedex."

"Hmph. Maybe I just will," Kali sniffed.

The Growlithe was groaning, one hand rubbing her head while the other rubbed her tailbone until Nicholas got up and stepped towards her. Instantly she was alert, focusing on the approaching threat before her eyes lit up and she shot upright with an excited yip. "MASTER!"

"Excellent, you're speaking already," Nicholas laughed as the Growlithe threw her arms around him. With them both standing normally he could finally see the difference in their heights, the Growlithe's ears only barely reaching to tickle his chin as she rubbed her cheek on his chest. "I take it from how much you've been hugging me that you're interested in joining my harem?"

The girl sprang back with her eyes sparkling. "Yes Master! I'm so happy that you're my master, Master."

"We've barely met," Nicholas chuckled. "How much of the last few days do you remember?" He cocked his head. "If I told you that I found you feral, would you understand what I'm saying?"

The Growlithe nodded rapidly. "Yes Master. 'Feral' is the time I can't remember. But that doesn't matter, because everything I remember is you, Master!"

"Can't remember." Nicholas gave her a slight smile. "Interesting. Can't, or just can't remember much?"

"Can't," the Growlithe replied brightly. "But that's okay. Nothing matters before I met my Master."

Nicholas gazed at her. She was lying. He could tell by the way one of her ears had flicked ever so slightly at the end of her sentence. How her sparkling eyes were quivering as they looked at him. She… was hurting. Not because of him, but because she did remember. Probably just barely enough to know that something had been wrong.

"I might as well ask, I think. Do you have a name?" he asked her. "Or would you like me to name you?"

The Growlithe shook her head. "Everything is blank, Master. I'd love a name!"

"Then your name is Kiana," Nicholas said. Kiana's entire body perked up when she heard him say her name and he repeated it for her benefit. "You are my Growlithe Kiana."

"Oh, Master! I love it!" Kiana jumped forwards to give him another hug and Nicholas wrapped his own arms around her before shifting his grip to lock her against his body. "Oh- Master-?"

"Kiana." Nicholas made sure the Growlithe wouldn't be able to escape before continuing to speak. "I would like you to stop lying to your Master."

Kiana froze. "L-Lying?" she stammered. "I'm not lying, Master. I love the name you have-"

"I don't mean that," Nicholas grumbled. "I mean when I asked you about what you remembered from being feral." He sighed. "You remember something. Something that hurts you."

He felt Kiana's claws dig into the back of his shirt when her fingers tensed. "There's nothing that matters before I met my Master."

"You don't believe that," Nicholas said gently. "You're not my first feral pokegirl, Kiana. Not even my first feralborn. I know you're just putting on a brave face for your new Master." He let go of her so that he could squat down and take hold of her hips while he looked up at the Growlithe's eyes. "Kiana. When I first encountered you, as a feral, you showed no fear. Even in the face of pokegirls so much stronger than you you still tried to fight them off." He smiled softly. "You're doing the same thing right now. You're trying to be strong. And that's fine. You can be as strong as you want. But I'm not going to ignore if one of my pokegirls is hurting." He gazed at her for a while before continuing. "Kiana, when I found you, your pack had abandoned you." The Growlithe whimpered and he saw her ears fold slightly. He'd been right. "You remember that much. I know you do."

A sudden snarl and Nicholas was surprised to see Kiana's fangs bared, though her eyes were unfocused. Gazing into her past. "Not abandon me," she snarled. "Tried to abandon her." A pause before her eyes snapped back to the present and she whirled to his in a panic. "Master! Where is-?"

Oooh, there it is, Nicholas winced. "Your egg?"

Kiana's eyes widened. "Master, where is she? Master?" Kiana stared at him uncomprehendingly when Nicholas settled onto the ground and pulled her down with him. "Master?"

"Kiana," Nicholas said softly. "When I found you, you were still defending your egg."

"Not mine, Master!" Kiana exclaimed. "They tried to abandon her but I wouldn't let them! Until-" Kiana blinked. "Until… I was all alone."

Nicholas studied the drifting Growlithe in front of him. "Kiana." When she didn't seem to hear him he reached up to cup her cheek. "I found you defending an egg that would never hatch. That is why the other Growlithe tried to abandon it."

"No, no, where is she?" Kiana stammered in a daze. "All daughters of my pack are precious, we will not leave any behind. We… We must protect them, they… We must stay until she… Until she…" Kiana was staring wide-eyed at something only she could see. "Why are you leaving?" she whispered. "Alpha?"

Nicholas carefully moved to stroke her. The Growlithe's hair only grew from the crown of her head and naturally fell on just one side, her fur covering the rest of her scalp, so as he ran his hand up the other side of her face he gathered up the few stray strands there before transitioning over to gently press them back into place, rubbing over her ears as he did so. "She was never there, Kiana," he said softly. "But you didn't care, did you. All you cared was that there was a pokegirl who needed you." He'd come to rest with the backs of his fingers resting against her other cheek. "The egg… it was never going to hatch. But you protected it." He let his hand fall. "When I found you, it was still there. Unbroken. You defended it well." He reached over to take her hands and squeezed them comfortingly. "But it's time to let her go."

The Growlithe shuddered, her eyes struggling to return to the present until Nicholas squeezed her again. Then Kiana's head slowly lowered as she released a long, deep breath. "I… Master, I…"

"I'm here."

Kiana was gazing listlessly at the ground. "I couldn't save her."

Nicholas' mouth thinned. "No, Kiana. There was nothing you could do."

"I tried so hard," the Growlithe said in a broken whisper. "Always trying so hard. For all of them." Her eyes slid shut. "I am no denmother."

Nicholas grimaced and looked around for assistance, but none of the others had any to give him. They were all just staring at the limp Growlithe sadly. "Kiana, please," he begged, turning back to her and clenching down on her hands. "Don't give up. You can't blame yourself for this." A thought struck and he lunged forwards, Kiana gasping in shock when she was tackled onto her back with Nicholas clinging to her body. "You're part of my pack now," he growled, clutching the Growlithe tight. "They need you. They need a denmother."

"They need…?" Kiana breathed, one hand drifting to lightly touch Nicholas on the back as he squeezed even harder. "Master…?"

"Will you protect them?" he whispered. "Some are hatching eggs of their own, right now. Will you protect the daughters of my pack just as you fought for the daughters of that one?"

He was still hanging onto her when he felt the hand resting against his back press down. Now he was the one being held, and he struggled back a bit to see Kiana staring up at him with a single-minded look in her eyes. "Master's pack needs a Denmother?" She snarled, baring her fangs before jerking Nicholas down and crushing her lips to his. "Master's pack has one, Master."

Nicholas grinned back when she let him back up for air. "You're a good girl, Kiana." He was making to turn to the others when the pressure on his back ratcheted up ten notches.

"I'm a good girl?" Kiana squealed, and Nicholas yelled when she threw him to the side and rolled on top. Her tail was going so fast it was a blur. "Master thinks I'm a good girl? Me? Master does?"

"I- Whoah, Kiana, whoah!" Nicholas cried as the Growlithe started grinding her body against his. "What in the world? Where'd this come from! HEY!" He yelped when Kiana's claws dug into his shorts and started tearing at the clasps. "DOWN, you crazy Growlithe!"

He heard hissing and then Adalinda was squeezing in between him and Kiana, forcing the Growlithe away in a classic breast to breast clash that Nicholas was unfortunately unable to appreciate with the Snivy's tail suffocating him. "Didn't you hear him?" she hissed. "Get off of our tamer."

"Who?" Kiana asked, stumbling back before planting her feet and grinning in Adalinda's face. "OH! You! You…" She blinked. "You… Are you part of Master's pack?"

"I'm a part of this harem, yes," Adalinda sniped. "And since you're going to be, too, I'm keeping myself from giving you a good thrashing. But you better believe I'll be coming after you during training."

Kiana's head cocked to the side. "Alpha?"

"No!" Nicholas cried, finally managing to fight his way free of Adalinda's tail. "No Alpha! Not yet!" He scrambled to his feet and blinked. "Oh for the love of- girls, can we please not be doing this?" He rubbed his face with a drawn-out sigh. "It's hot as fuck but not when one of you is actually serious."

Kiana danced back with a grin. "Yes Master!"

"Yes, this is Adalinda, you've already met," Nicholas said tiredly. "I apologize for what she was doing last night but I had to try." He looked to the Snivy. "I still need to properly apologize to you for that, Ada. Please don't let me forget."

The tip of Adalinda's tail was slicing through the air until she whirled to him. "Then I want to evolve."

Nicholas blinked. "Huh? That's what you want as my apology? I'm going to be pushing you to do that regardless."

"I know. I don't want it to just 'come'," Adalinda growled. "I want to evolve NOW."

Nicholas scratched his ear. "Erm. It's not that simple. You're an experience-based evolution, so to evolve you NOW would mean we'd need to find a way to really test your skills, REALLY put you through a lot of stress."

"And?"

Nicholas sighed. He was learning that when the Snivy focused in on something she didn't relent. Much like him, really. "The only thing around here that I can think of doing that is the gym," he replied. "But-"

"Then let's go!" Adalinda slithered forwards. "Where is it?"

"Ada, it's a Poison-type gym," Nicholas tried. When the Snivy ignored him he walked over to her. "You're a Grass-type."

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when the Snivy just glanced at him with a single word response. "So?"

Nicholas let out a huff. "Ada. Come on." He lowered his voice when the Snivy turned back to look down the road. "I know. I get it. You're annoyed at this Growlithe for existing. But last night, you were the one suggesting I tame her." He waited. When Adalinda didn't respond he continued. "What happened to that pokegirl, huh? What happened to the little Snivy I found in Bianca's lab?"

Adalinda finally turned to look at him. "She got out of the lab," the Snivy replied. "Now she's a tamer's pokegirl on a badge challenge. So she's acting like one." Nicholas blinked when she poked him in the chest, though there wasn't any anger behind her finger. "Now she's got a harem sister," Adalinda growled under her breath, "who she'll be competing against at every hour of every day." She dropped her hand. "One she has already lost to. She isn't interested in losing again."

Nicholas settled back and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Fair enough, Ada," he said with a nod. "I guess I was seeing how Bianca rubbed off on you before. I suppose I'm a much worse influence."

That got a smirk out of the Snivy. "You're just as good of one, Nick. A different one is all."

"Heheyy, see? Nick works just fine," Nicholas chuckled. "Here's my advice as your tamer, though. We shouldn't go for the gym."

Adalinda scowled. "Why not. Don't want me to evolve?"

"Hell no. I want that just as much as you do," Nicholas replied. "The reason is what I told you. It's a Poison-type gym. Kiana is barely tamed, if we tried to fight Roxie now we'd get obliterated."

"Fight?" Nicholas turned to see Kiana scampering up with her ears standing high. "Are we going to fight, Master?"

"I was just telling Ada how it's a bad idea," Nicholas began before Adalinda cut him off.

"I want to fight but Master won't let me," Adalinda whined. "You want to fight, don't you Kiana? Fight with me? With your new pack?"

Nicholas glanced back at the Snivy as Kiana began bouncing up and down. "Yes! Yes! We can fight, right Master? Can we? Can we?"

"Ada, I promise that I'm trying to do what's best for you," Nicholas muttered under his breath.

"I want to fight. Master," Adalinda replied smoothly, her eyes challenging him. "Come on. You know you can't resist Kiana's face."

Nicholas glanced back again to see Kiana standing with her tail drooped, ears folded down, lip quivering as she stared up at him. "I can, actually." He turned back to address Adalinda. "But you know what, Ada? Sure. If you want to rush into this, then let's go." He shook his head when Kiana squealed happily and Adalinda smirked. "It's not going to end well."

"We won't know until we try," Adalinda replied, turning to scan the street again. "Which way?"

"South side of town."

Nicholas watched her slither off, Kiana dancing after her excitedly, and turned when Sabrina walked up to join him. "She's a bit headstrong."

"Reminds me of Dahlia," Sabrina teased.

"Yeah, except this one doesn't understand how to temper it," Nicholas griped. "We're going to get rolled." He shook his head after a moment. "Problem is I don't know how else this could ever go. I hadn't had a good chance yet to form a strategy for Roxie's gym, but I know it didn't involve strolling in there with a Snivy and a freshly tamed Growlithe."

"Could always come back later when you did have a strategy," Sabrina pointed out.

"Yeah, that probably would have been what I settled on, but now Ada's forcing the issue," Nicholas groaned. "Fine. Whatever. I'll still do my best to help them win."

They caught up to the two pokegirls near the end of the street and Nicholas directed them until the group was standing outside a small entrance, a neon gym sign hanging precariously over a set of stairs going down as rock and roll music blasted from inside.

"This is the gym?" Sabrina asked, a bemused look on her face. "It's a club."

"Yeah, that's Roxie," Nicholas laughed as he led the way down the stairs. "During Plasma's attack on the League she was there blasting out tunes on her guitar." He grinned as he pulled open the door at the bottom of the stairwell and a wall of sound smashed into them. "SHE'S THE BARD!"

They stepped into an active club, though there were only a handful of people on the dance floor at this time of day. It didn't matter to the talent up on stage, though. They were going at it as if it was two in the morning and the place had been packed all night.

"Hey! Hey!" Roxie was center stage and she dropped her guitar to better scream into the microphone standing in front of her. "WE'RE THE TOXICS AND IT'S GONNA BURN! YEAH!" The other woman on stage ripped her hand down her guitar with one last electric riff and the drummer slammed his sticks into the cymbals before leaning back and twirling one over his head. "We'll be back in just a bit don't you all worry, so let's keep this party rocking! Thank you!" Roxie stepped back from the mic with a massive grin and started chattering with the other guitarist as a recording began to play over the speakers.

"Great timing," Nicholas chuckled and started pushing his way towards the stage. "YO! LEADER ROXIE!"

Roxie turned to squint at the group walking across the dance floor. "Eh? Oh! Oh-ho-HO!" She stepped away from the other woman and began clapping. "Look who's shown up! Ey! I know why you're here, big champ! You think you can rock with me, huh?!"

"Sup Roxie!" Nicholas yelled back, laughing as they got closer and waving at the other two on stage. Unlike Roxie they were making the most of the short break and chugging water. "How's it been? Going hard as usual, I see!"

Roxie grinned and jumped off the stage to grab Nicholas in a back-slapping handshake. "Been great, big champ! Hey, you didn't happen to bring that cool chick with you, didja? I'd love to get her on stage here some time."

Nicholas chuckled but shook his head. "No, I'm afraid Nikki didn't come along with me today. I don't think, at least. But!" He turned, squinting into the shadows. "SERA! I know you're skulking somewhere. Come say hi to Roxie."

"It's so loud," a complaining Sera replied as she flapped down from the walkways overhead. "I'm going to need to head back to Pokestar after this. Somehow, THAT place is nice and quiet in comparison."

"Oh hey, it's the bat!" Roxie exclaimed. "Nice to see you again, Sera, was it? You've got some sick moves you know, did you ever get to meet Pamela?"

Sera had curved her wings around her head in an attempt at muffling the music blasting from the speakers around her. "Yes," she grunted. "I asked her how she could stand having such a loud Mistress."

"HAHAHA!" Sera winced when Roxie burst out in raucous laughter. "Oh, come on! You trying to say you wouldn't love to scream it out with me? Pam goes hard!"

"Sera is more on the 'silent creature of the night' side of Crobat than the 'screaming ultrasonic voice' side of things," Nicholas explained to save Sera the trouble. "Where's your girls at, anyways? Back at the League you had a bunch of them rocking out right alongside you."

"Oh, they're chilling in the back," Roxie replied brightly. "Hey. I'm not wrong, am I? You're here to try me out?"

"My girls really wanted to see what you could do," Nicholas replied, gesturing at Adalinda and Kiana. "I warned them."

"Ooh, that a Snivy?" Roxie tsked. "Hey, I always battle with three. You at least got enough to match, yeah?"

"Do I need to?"

"I'm just saying, might be smart." Roxie hopped back on the stage, sitting on the edge at first to more easily swing her legs up. "I'll make it fair, of course, but a three v two isn't going to be fun."

"My Snivy is very insistent," Nicholas replied as Roxie got to her feet and dusted herself off. "If it's okay, she wants to battle now."

"Aight. As Gym Leader of the Virbank Gym, I accept your challenge!" Roxie turned and waved at her band members. "Nick, Jo, clear the stage!"

"Hey, you're a Nick too?" Nicholas called as the drummer started popping the latches securing his drum set to the stage and wheeling things away. "Nice to meet you!"

"Ha! Yeah, and if you weren't chummy with Roxie I'd be knocking you out!" Nick hollered back, a grin widening before he shrugged. "Hell, even though you ARE I'd be coming for ya if she wasn't planning on taking you herself!"

"So what's the arena, Roxie?" Nicholas asked. "I assume the stage is part of it since you're telling your band to clear off."

"It's all of it! Get up here, big champ." Roxie gestured towards the side of the stage Nick was rolling his drums behind. "Challenger box over there. I'll get my girls."

"I've been itching to hit something all day," Adalinda growled as she led the way up the stairs on the side of the stage Roxie had indicated. "I can go first, right?"

Nicholas shook his head in resignation. "Sure, Ada. You can lead us in."

"RIGHT!" Nicholas turned to see Roxie jumping back in view, still with her guitar over her shoulder but now with a pokeball in her hand. "Unlimited battle! The gym leader will only use three pokegirls! First to TKO! Assistant Jo will be our referee!" Nicholas could see the other guitarist fixing her ponytail as she walked into a referee box. "GET READY, big champ! I'm about to knock some sense outta ya!"

"Isn't the term 'knock some sense INTO-'?" Adalinda started to ask before she vanished into the recall beam, Kiana following her as Nicholas turned to the arena.

"Ready!" he yelled.

"Then let's rock!"

Adalinda rematerialized inside the arena and immediately swiveled to stare at Nicholas. "REALLY?" she cried. "What was that for?"

Nicholas reached up and rapped his knuckles on the barrier that had appeared around the stage. "You wouldn't have been able to walk through, that's what." He nodded at a pokegirl that had just appeared in front of Roxie. "Eyes up, Ada. Your opponent is here."

The Snivy quickly turned back and began scanning the levitating pokegirl. "What's the plan?"

Nicholas barely suppressed another sigh at the question. "That's a Koffing. She's going to be resistant to your vines, so you're going to have to do your best with your body."

"That all? Easy!" Adalinda slithered forwards, snagging the Koffing by the leg as she tried to levitate away and dragging her back down. "Gotcha!"

In response, the Koffing turned and opened her mouth to belch a noxious cloud of purple gas right in the Snivy's face.

"Oh- Oh, shit," Adalinda wheezed, her grip on the Koffing loosening as she fought to breathe. "Oh that's- you little-!" The Koffing grunted when Adalinda's flailing hand slapped her across the face but it wasn't a directed strike. "Oh, fuck I, I-"

"Come on, Ada!" Nicholas yelled. "You wanted to fight! GET HER! WRAP HER UP!"

Adalinda retched as she finally managed to drag the Koffing down to the ground and started to wrap around her. "Don't think- Don't think this," she gasped out, "Don't think this is going to… Going to… Stop…"

"Geez, I kind of feel bad," Roxie grumbled when her Koffing spat a blast of sizzling liquid and Adalinda began to scream. "Oi, big champ! She's out, yeah? Come on, don't make your girl suffer."

Nicholas sighed. "Trust me. I didn't want this, either." He shook his head, recalling Adalinda when she collapsed and moving to Kiana. "Kiana!" Nicholas gestured at the Koffing when the Growlithe materialized. "Do your best! Ada's down already."

Kiana gasped. "Down?"

"Yeah. She didn't stand a chance against that Koffing."

"Down." Kiana blinked at her levitating opponent. "Pack… sister. Down." Nicholas was trying to think of the best way he might try commanding Kiana to a one-girl solo victory when he heard the frenzied roar. Kiana was sprinting forwards, flames spewing from her jaws as she howled her rage at the stunned Koffing.

"WHOAH! I can feel the desire to win pouring out of that girl!" Roxie exclaimed. "Inumi! Don't bother with poison, just take her down!"

The Koffing wasn't able to rally in time to stop Kiana from smashing into her, the Growlithe having leapt into the air and begun torquing her body around so that when she hit it was punctuated by an explosion of fire as she flipped away to land on all fours, skidding to a halt before lunging back towards Inumi with another angry noise.

Kiana's yells snapped to pained shrieks when Inumi doused her with another dose of the acid she'd used to drop Adalinda but unlike the Snivy the Growlithe wasn't immediately overcome. Inumi screamed in pain when she felt sharp teeth sinking into her arm and this time as Kiana shot past, her entire body alight, it was also with a spray of blood that she landed to begin snarling at the injured Koffing.

"Damn, nice hit!" Roxie cried. "But I'm not letting you take Inumi down that easily. Lil' Fil will finish this off!"

Kiana was stalking forwards and she paused as a recall beam took Inumi. She lunged for the materializing shape that came next, the girl seeming to be appearing on her knees, and roared her triumph when she ripped a chunk from her opponent.

Which quickly turned into a horrible gagging noise when Kiana heaved, purple goo dripping from her mouth as she tried desperately to clear out the sludge she'd manage to take a massive bite of. The pokegirl that had materialized laughed at the sight and flowed forwards, the Grimer leaving a trail of sizzling bright purple slime behind her. "HA! I don't taste THAT bad, girly!"

Kiana whimpered but still raised her head and prepared to attack again, her flames lighting up, before the Grimer slammed her hand to the ground and brought it flinging forwards when the Growlithe charged. The motion sent her slime out in a spray of noxious goo that splattered across Kiana's body and, more importantly, smacked right into her eyes. Immediately Kiana was howling, clawing at her face in a futile attempt at clearing her vision and the Grimer leaned out of the way when the Growlithe went tumbling past her without her flames even leaving a scorch mark. Nicholas grimaced and raised Kiana's pokeball, recalling her as she was pounded by a second slap of sludge and her flames snuffed out.

"Does the challenger have additional pokegirls that can fight!" When Nicholas shook his head Jo raised her hand towards Roxie and her Grimer. "By TKO! The winner is Leader Roxie!"

"Yeah, not surprising at all," Nicholas griped, waiting for the barrier to fall before walking forwards to stick out his hand to the woman. "Hey, thanks for taking the fight anyways and giving it your all, Roxie."

Roxie gave him a normal shake at first before she smirked and flipped the grip to give him a real good squeeze. "I'll be perfectly honest," she said. "That Growlithe of yours REALLY wanted that win. I like her. Too bad she couldn't take Lil' Filia or Inumi down with her."

"She might have taken Inumi if you hadn't made the swap," Nicholas replied.

"Yeah, maybe," Roxie agreed. "But that's why I did it! Couldn't let you take a point. Sorry big champ!"

Nicholas laughed. "No apology necessary, Roxie. I didn't expect to win that whatsoever." He shrugged as he settled back. "She's freshly tamed. I would have wanted to wait at least a few days to get her trained up before doing this, but Ada insisted. Oh well."

"Ada the Snivy?"

"Adalinda is her full name, yeah," Nicholas explained.

"The Snivy didn't give up either," Roxie pointed out. "I mean, no, she never had a chance, but she didn't let that bother her. That's good too."

"Eh, kind of," Nicholas sighed. "I mean you're right. She doesn't care about the odds if she gets it in her head that she wants to win. But that kind of thinking isn't helping her pick good fights."

"Now that's the truth," Roxie said. "Hey. You'll be back at some point, won't you? I want a real fight."

"Don't worry. Once I've built this harem a bit, rounded it out with maybe a nice Ground-type or two, I'll be back," Nicholas chuckled. "I really do appreciate you giving me the battle today."

"Any time, big champ!" Roxie cried, giving him a fist bump when Nicholas offered. "Look forward to seeing you back in here. Good luck!"

"Thanks Roxie!" Nicholas turned, keeping a hand raised as he walked back down to the dance floor and rejoined the others. "Right. That's that," he said. "Let's head back to the surface."

"Thinking of trying again before moving on?" Sabrina asked as they emerged onto the street.

"Hell no," Nicholas laughed. "Kiana could probably take two on a good day but Ada is just not going to cut it here. I need at least a third pokegirl and I don't think I'll find her here."

Sabrina was nodding when another voice from behind them cried out. "But you HAVE TO!" Nicholas didn't have time to even turn his head before a body slammed into his side and he was staggering along the sidewalk with Nikki hanging off of him. "That wasn't cool at all, Master!"

"Where the hell were you hiding, eh?" Nicholas yelped. "I knew I felt something off." He dug in his feet when she surged up his body and started yanking at his arms. "OI!"

"You lost! But you can't lose," Nikki was babbling. "And not like that! It wasn't even close! What happened? It doesn't matter! You're not allowed to lose again!"

"I lost because those girls weren't ready yet, that's why," Nicholas tried to explain. "It happens, Nikki. Losing is just as important as winning for-"

"No!" Nikki shot into the air. "No, losing isn't fun! You haven't lost once since I found you!"

"I haven't had many real battles," Nicholas replied. "It was just the PWT and then the events surrounding Plasma. But now I'm building a new harem of more inexperienced pokegirls. As they learn, they're going to lose. They have to sometimes to grow and win."

"No," Nikki repeated. "They don't have to. Here!" Nicholas blinked when she zipped back down and grabbed his hands. "Here, Master. If I do this they'll get it from you too!" Nicholas shivered when he felt an energetic current beginning to tingle down his fingers and up his arms into his body. "With enough of my energy, you can't lose!"

"This your power?" Nicholas grunted, feeling as Nikki's energy was supercharging his own reserves. "Your aspect. Victory."

"YES!" Nikki's grin was lighting up her eyes. "So now you can go back in there and-"

"That's such a cheap way to win." Nikki was frozen as Nicholas pulled his hands from hers and began massaging his neck with a grimace. "Ugh. I'll say this though, you've given me one hell of a high. Wow."

"Ch-Cheap?" Nikki stammered. "What do you mean?"

"Even the best can't win everything," Nicholas replied. As he spoke he was trying to isolate Nikki's energy from his own but it was nearly impossible. Hers was the power to augment his – something very interesting when he compared it to what he understood with the relationships humans held with pokegirls. "What makes them the best isn't that they always win, but that they always do the best with what they have. When they have the same as others, that means they win. But the best Ada and Kiana could give would just never be enough to overcome three of Roxie's pokegirls, even if they're all about the same level of experience."

"Right! That's why I-" Nikki started.

"I get it," Nicholas interrupted again. "You want to see me win. That's what excites you. But like this?" He raised a hand, barely twitching his fingers and watching the aura he was summoning surge as if he was focusing with everything he had. "Nikki, this is… I'd never be satisfied with this. It's a cheat. A hollow victory." He lowered his hand to look at her. "I want to win on my own power. Stand as World Champion because I deserved it. Because I won. Not because you just boosted me to the top."

The others were watching Nikki as a shudder raced through her body. "O-Oh."

"You okay?" Nicholas asked.

Nikki swallowed and ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips. "Um. I'm, sorry, um. Nicholas. Master." Another shudder. "I… forgot, for a moment. Who you are."

Nicholas let out a bemused chuckle. "It's fine, it's fine. You panicked for a moment, that's alright…"

"OOH!" Nicholas jumped when Nikki abruptly flung herself into his arms. "NO! No, Master, it's not alright! Of COURSE you're too cool for that! What was I thinking?" She slammed her lips to his. "You've made me so fucking horny right now," she mumbled excitedly in the middle of her feverish advances. "Victini wants to drag you back to her dungeon and tie you to her bed and never let you go."

"Well then I guess I'm glad you're Nikki, not Victini," Nicholas growled back, taking the hint and summoning his aura. Just as he once had to truly match Kali, except this time Nikki's own energy was there to augment his so the aura that exploded from his skin brought her to a standstill in an instant. "You know what Nikki's Master does to her when she's unbelievably horny?"

Nikki was trembling with excitement as she stared up at him. "Wh-What?"

Nicholas slowly leaned in next to her ear. "He drags her to his dungeon. Ties her to his bed. And will never let her go."

.

.

"I thought it was just a rumor."

Nicholas leaned back with a smirk. "Nope. Did you not meet Nikki back at Pokestar Studios?"

Adalinda barely shook her head. The legendary in question was currently passed out, face down on his bed, her ass sticking straight up in the air. He'd given her her energy back. And then some. "No. I never saw her."

"What about Kali?" Nicholas asked, nodding at where Kali was resting next to Sabrina. "Or, Zinnia, Celine?"

Adalinda's eyes slowly moved in Kali's direction, the Snivy's wide-eyed expression frozen somewhere in between shock and curiosity. "Kali…? I heard your name, but…" If her eyes could have gotten even wider they would have. "Wait… I'd heard it before. In the…"

"Rumors?"

Adalinda swallowed. Kiana meanwhile was just relaxing while the Snivy came to terms with everything Nicholas was showing her. "They're true?"

"Welcome to my harem." Nicholas inclined his head towards Kali. "The eternal ones are your sisters." He straightened again. "Anyways, how are you feeling? You seem to be forming a habit of being horribly injured while in gyms. One I'd prefer we broke, to be honest."

Adalinda shook herself. "Just like that? You're changing the subject just like that?"

"I understand that it's a shock but what else is there to say?" Nicholas asked. "You're not like Midna, are you? All worship-y over one of them?"

"I-" Adalinda shivered. "No, not… really, but that's really her?"

"Yup. I fucked Victini unconscious. I also was the human who stood beside Reshiram when Plasma attacked the league. And there are others in my harem, others who the world are beginning to discover and you already know."

"Zinnia, Celine," Adalinda murmured. "I met them, but…"

"Heh. I'll let them introduce themselves," Nicholas chuckled. "You'll get used to me. Everyone else has." He smiled at Kiana which made the Growlithe start wagging back. "Kiana's not freaking out."

"Yeah, because she's a feral. Was," Adalinda amended. "Victini isn't-"

"Nikki," Nicholas interrupted. "She goes by Nikki."

"…Nikki," Adalinda said. "Nikki isn't… you know. Showing off. I know Kiana would recognize her then."

"So, Kiana is fine because Nikki isn't treating herself like she's above the two of you?" Nicholas asked, Kali chuckling under her breath as he did. "Wow. Crazy that. It's almost like the only eternal ones I get along with are those who aren't interested in lording over others." His lips twitched. "That's my job."

Adalinda took a deep breath and let it all out. "And you're my tamer."

"That's right."

"Who is a pokegirl researcher, like I want to be, and is working on conquering every League Champion to stand as the World Champion. Choosing me to help him conquer the Unovan League badge challenge."

"Sounds like a fair assessment of our current situation, yes."

"Phew." Adalinda shook her head and gave him a wry grin. "Damn. I guess it hadn't really sunken in until right now."

Nicholas smiled slightly. "To be fair, if Zinnia and Celine didn't introduce their true selves then this is the first you could have learned about quite a few things. Besides the rumors that are circling around me, I suppose. And you've said it yourself." He gave the Snivy a wink. "You don't deal with silly things like that. You deal in facts."

Adalinda nodded. "Yeah. And the fact is I got destroyed."

"Obliterated, even," Nicholas agreed. "I did try and warn you."

Adalinda looked down and flexed her hands a few times. "You did," she said quietly. "I just… It's just that I've been waiting for this. For so long." She looked back up. "I thought I was going to be able to show that to you and all it seems I've been doing is losing."

Nicholas frowned. "How do you figure that?"

"I lost to that Tepig back at the school. I couldn't stand up to my first harem sister. Then I was… obliterated… in the very next gym." Adalinda grimaced. "You keep telling me how you see this, 'dragon' inside of me but all I can see is a failure of a pokegirl."

"At least for this one you were unconscious," Nicholas griped. "If you'd just been in your pokeball I would have been rather annoyed this was happening again."

Adalinda blinked. "What?"

"What is Victini known to be? To embody," Nicholas said.

"Um… energy? Freedom. Victory."

"Victory. Precisely." Nicholas jabbed a thumb towards the bedroom. "Nikki's in there right now fucked silly because after I left Roxie's gym she popped out crying about how we'd lost. She tried to grant me her energy. To make it so we could go right back in and easily win." He watched Adalinda's reaction. "I turned her down. You know why?"

"Because… that would be boring?" Adalinda guessed.

"Pretty much," Nicholas agreed. "So I gave her a little speech. Really, it boiled down to one thing. Losing is a part of life. Sometimes, we learn the most from when we lose instead of when we win." He sighed. "That turned her on, thus the taming."

"Heh. If that's the case I must have learned a ton."

Nicholas gave her a slight smile. "Did you?"

"I-" Adalinda paused. "I learned that I can't take a hit."

"For shit?" Nicholas asked with a grin.

Adalinda gave him one back. "Vika was saying that about one of her moms, wasn't she?"

"Mmhmm. But, thing is… I don't think a Dragonite is who you should be comparing yourself against." He got up and walked over to run his hand down the length of Adalinda's tail. "All this, you're not a brawler like Vika or Kary. You're sleek. Streamlined. Built for speed." He stepped back with a nod. "You're like the girl I started off in Sinnoh with. Sohn. The Infernape. If that's the case then it's no wonder you can't take a hit – you're not designed to." He smiled at her. "It's still good that you've come to understand that." His smile flickered. "Although…"

Adalinda gazed at him. "What?"

"Sorry, just thinking," Nicholas mused. "I couldn't just help compare my starter pokegirls through the years. Dahlia is a bulky girl who soaks hits and controls the fight with her flower and vines, Nessa is a bulkier girl who wades in and trades blows, neither of them are super fast but they've got the stamina to make it work. But then once I left Indigo, it's all been different. Elaine isn't super fast herself, but that's because she's all in on her power. She gets by on the strength of her focus letting her endure until she can find an opening. Sohn, she's all about hit and run and crumples if she hits something that doesn't budge, but you… Ada, yeah you went down hard in the last two gym fights, but I don't think it's fair to say your body isn't designed to take hits." He leaned back over and smacked her tail a few times. "You're solid. Not a juggernaut like Dahlia or Nessa, but certainly not as frail as Sohn or Elaine. I wonder…" He frowned. "Nessa and Dahlia have the stamina to keep going. Could that be your problem? You can take hits just fine, but you can only take one or two before being overcome?"

"Doesn't that make any defenses I have useless, then?" Adalinda griped. "If I go down in one hit either way wouldn't it be better to be as frail as Sohn?"

"How did those battles go," Nicholas muttered under his breath. "Against the Tepig you were getting smacked around like crazy and doing fine, at least until she set you on fire. Then it was one and done. Against the Koffing… Acid, wasn't it? Both times you went down hard to attacks targeting your weaknesses." He snapped his fingers. "No. You're a bulkier Sohn, which is actually very useful. Sohn crumples to anything. You only crumple to specific things. That makes all the difference in the world." He grinned. "Sohn, I just threw her into battle and trusted she'd make the most of it. But with you, Ada. With you, I get to strategize. We get to fight smart." His grin vanished again. "Hm. But if you're as fast as Sohn, and bulkier, then what's the tradeoff here?"

"I don't have as much power?" Adalinda asked. "I guess?"

"There hasn't been a good chance to measure that," Nicholas grumbled. "I guess the Tepig. It took you a while to choke her out. I like it. Good hypothesis." He grinned again and this time it stuck around when he clapped Adalinda on the shoulder. "We're going to crack list item three eventually, I know it."

Adalinda giggled. "I like the idea of fighting smart. What does that mean for me? Do you know?"

"So, with Dahlia she has various powders that she makes in her flower," Nicholas replied. "She also could grow little seedlings that would drain her opponents if they ever took root in them. I assume you don't have a massive flower on your back for the powders." He made a big show of checking her over, Adalinda laughing as he crawled onto the couch with her. "Hmm, nope, not seeing it. But you've got these cute little things." He teased her dormant vines and grinned as they reflexively curled away from his touch. "You've got vines like her. I wonder if you'll learn to do the seed trick too."

"I've never thought about doing something like that," Adalinda confessed, humming happily when Nicholas snuggled in between her and the back of the couch and wrapped his arms around her torso. "Only what I can do with my body."

"Aye. But now that all changes," Nicholas chuckled. "There's so, so much more a pokegirl can do that's not limited by her form. It's a tamer's job to bring that out."

"We have to… mmm… train to do that, don't we?" Adalinda asked, moaning softly when Nicholas' hand crept to her chest. "Are we going to train here for a while until we can give Roxie a good battle?"

"I'd love to. But with just you and Kiana I don't see us ever taking a victory in Roxie's gym," Nicholas replied, slipping through the open side of her top to cup her breast and tease her nipple. "So there needs to be another harem sister. And I know a great place to find one. The desert north of Castelia City."

Adalinda's tail was starting to curl around his leg. "How do we get there?"

"There's a ferry that leaves in the morning." Adalinda let out a pleasured gasp when she felt something hard pressing against her tail. "Which means we've got the rest of the day and night to kill. Unfortunately for you and Kiana, Nikki's little gift hasn't quite worn off just yet."

"Unfortunately?" Adalinda whimpered.

"He likes to tease, Master Nicholas does," Kali growled as Nicholas began working his way out of his clothes. "You get used to it."

"Kiana!" The Growlithe perked up when she heard Nicholas call. "Get over here." He pulled at Adalinda's groin covering until her slit could be seen and used a finger to spread one of her lips. "You really beat her up last night, you know?" He poked his head up and grinned at the confused girl. "Look. I bet if you lick her here she'll forgive you real quick."

"NICHOLAS-!" Adalinda started to scream but a massive grin was growing across Kiana's face and with an excited yip she'd leapt onto the couch with them, yanking the Snivy's underwear away until she had a clear shot to bury her face in Adalinda's pussy and begin worming her tongue deep inside.

Sabrina laughed quietly as the Snivy's squeals began to grow in volume. "I wonder what Diana is doing right now."

Kali smirked and extended a hand to her Mistress. "Would you like to find out, Mistress? Or stay and watch."

"I'd love to join in is what I'd love to do," Sabrina chuckled. "Unfortunately, I know Nicholas would just ask me to leave his new harem to him." She smiled when he shot her a quick thumbs up. "He really does take the whole, 'using only their own power' thing seriously, doesn't he."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Then I suppose I'll take you up on your offer, Kali." Sabrina paused before putting her hand in Kali's. "Unless… You would like to pass the time together?"

Kali blinked. "I didn't think you wished to be with me like that, Mistress. Do I not overwhelm you in those ways?"

Sabrina smirked and now took firm hold of Kali's hand before tugging her in the direction of the second bedroom. "You may be Nicholas' pokegirl but he's my mate," she purred, looking back into Kali's eyes. "Yes, I always appreciated you from a distance. But over the past year we've had a lot of time together. Time to get to know one another." Kali's tail contorted before her eyes snapped to life, psychic energy glowing there to match Sabrina's. "Would you like to learn why they call me 'The Mistress of Psychic Pokegirls'?"

Kali's lips slowly drew back in a challenging grin. "Yes, Mistress."

Nicholas grinned to himself when the bedroom door slammed itself shut behind the two. Sabrina didn't believe she stood with him among the eternal? Here she was taming Mewtwo. His glorious fiancé was just as much the legendary tamer he was.

.

.

POKEDEX UPDATED

Tamer: Nicholas Topolski

Badges:

Basic Badge

Harem:

Adalinda, Snivy – Level 16

Kiana, Growlithe – Level 17

Non-Com Harem:

Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 35
Cathy, Miltank – Level 72