"I still can't believe that you battled Drayden without me!"
Nicholas grumbled under his breath as he avoided Sabrina's eyes. "I wasn't intending on making it a gym battle at first, that's why," he said before taking a pause. "And you know what?" he asked. "I'm damn glad I did. Because OTHERWISE you'd have been caught in Neo Plasma's attack!" Nicholas turned to the woman with an accusatory glare. "If you'd been there I would have been worried sick!"
"Don't deflect! All that happened after you'd taken the badge!" Sabrina exclaimed, though she also immediately broke eye contact and crossed her arms as she slouched into her chair with a petulant pout. "But yeah, I can't say I'm… you know, mad about missing the rest of what happened." A long pause. "I appreciate that you would have been worried about me." Sabrina blinked a few times before looking back at Nicholas. "I was worried about you too."
"I know," Nicholas said softly, reaching out a hand and smiling when Sabrina unfolded her arms to take it. "I'm sorry that I… that apparently, this kind of thing is just a normal occurrence around me." He hesitated. "Living in interesting times sounds like so much fun until you're the one who's always in the middle of what's happening."
Sabrina breathed out a deep sigh and gave Nicholas a smile of her own. "That's why they call it a curse."
"Yeah. It really is."
"Yeah, well, next time maybe don't go charging to your death without me, eh?" Cathy grumbled from her seat nearby. "Going in like that was stupid."
"I don't need a lecture on how I failed as a tactician, a tamer, and a man during the Neo Plasma event," Nicholas replied without looking at the Miltank, keeping his voice perfectly even but with a biting edge. "Not from you, Cathy, nor anybody else. I have already relived those events multiple times in the weeks since." When Cathy began to open her mouth again Nicholas slammed the hand not holding Sabrina against the table. "I said DROP IT."
Cathy's mouth was still open but the Miltank herself had frozen at the suppressed rage behind Nicholas' snarled command and Sabrina took a quick glance around the empty patio before slowly beginning to move the silverware Nicholas' outburst had tossed about back into their original locations. "Honey…"
"I said I don't want any lectures, Sabrina," Nicholas growled, his fist clenching so tight that the knuckles were beginning to turn white. "Please."
Sabrina gave the smallest of shrugs as she continued rearranging the table. "What is it you've always told me? Whenever I wanted to disappear? To let it all end, so the fear and pain would leave me alone? When I would make myself forget?" Sabrina finished putting the place settings back in order and looked at him. Nicholas' eyes were locked straight ahead and he hadn't moved since she started talking. "I'm not alone? Was that it? That you're here? That you are here for me, that you would face my pain, help me?"
"Sabrina…"
"I can feel your mind locked down harder than I have almost ever felt it before," Sabrina said quietly, slowly reaching over to wrap her hand over the top of Nicholas' trembling fist. "You are fighting yourself, aren't you? Just as I have before. Well just like then, honey… the one who is fighting is not alone." Sabrina leaned in and placed her other hand around his too. "You are not alone," she murmured, projecting only her words and concerned expression and not even trying to push her way psychically towards the solid wall that was Nicholas' thoughts. "Tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."
Nicholas' cheek twitched before he yanked his head around to look away from Sabrina as tears glittered in his eyes. "I- It's nothing. Sabrina. Honey. I'm fine."
He heard Sabrina laughing gently as her hands squeezed down on his fist. "Acting brave to shelter your lovely fiancé only works when you can keep face, darling," she said, reaching one hand up to fondly stroke the side of his head. "Come on. I am going to keep asking until you let me in. I won't give up. Just as you never gave up on me."
Tears were beginning to drip down Nicholas' cheeks and he brought his free arm around, clumsily smacking his wrist against his nose before he managed to bring the shaking hand in place to press over his eyes. "It's… nothing," he choked, his voice cracking as the tears began to flow freely from beneath his hand. "It can never be anything. I can't let it be. Not if, if I… if I want to be able to protect you."
Sabrina let out a soft sigh and gave him a small smile. "You don't believe that, honey," she murmured. "I know you don't. You always talk about how it's okay. Okay to need help. Okay to need somebody." She made a sympathetic noise when Nicholas let out a hitching sob. "Oh, darling…"
Nicholas finally let her pull him into her embrace, tears streaming down his face as he cried. "I, I thought I was going to lose them," he sobbed, curling into Sabrina's chest as she rested her cheek on the top of his head. "The ice… the cold… it was so cold… they were all… nothing I could do…"
A light frown flickered past Sabrina's lips. "Here…?"
"All because of me!" Nicholas all but screamed, his body shaking with his sobs. "All… all because of me. My choices. My decisions." Sabrina's frown returned when she felt the wall around Nicholas' thoughts cracking and she could sense… "I led them to die," Nicholas said in a tortured whisper, his eyes still screwed shut. "They trusted me. They all did. And I couldn't protect any of them."
The Unovan harem was seated around the long table too and Kiana awkwardly looked around before roughly clearing her throat. "Master-"
"He's not talking about you," Sabrina said softly to cut the Arcanine off. "He's talking about the others. His first harem." She slowly ran her fingers through Nicholas' hair to comfort him as he cried. "You've told me before, about the islands, the caves… Articuno." Nicholas' entire body flinched. "You never told me how you still relive that moment every day."
"I'm sorry," Nicholas cried. "I, I shouldn't be like this, I-"
"What happened two weeks ago was just too similar, wasn't it?" Sabrina asked. "The flashes, the memories, the dreams… the nightmares… you're a very strong man. I love that about you. The rest of it, you could ignore. It wasn't real." Nicholas clutched at her body. "But two weeks ago…"
"It was real," Nicholas moaned. "Arceus, it was real, and they… and I…"
"No wonder you always seem to understand me whenever I'm having one of my episodes, darling," Sabrina murmured, wrapping her arms completely around Nicholas and holding him tight. "We are truly not alone."
"I…"
"I am going to introduce you to my therapist," Sabrina interrupted with just enough firmness to her voice to ensure Nicholas knew there would be no argument. "She has helped me." Nicholas felt Sabrina peeling him away from her and he looked up, blinking past puffy red eyes to see her… was she crying too? Tears beading in her eyes as she gazed down at him? "She can help you too," Sabrina whispered. "Or she can find the one who can." She smiled and clutched at his hands tight. "I'm trying," she whispered to him. "I have so many people wanting me to get better. Now that I know, I want to help you try too."
"I don't…"
"Yes, you do," Sabrina interrupted before Nicholas could form his weak denial. "Hey. We can still help each other. Our triggers are different." She giggled, beaming to push away the tears. "Fire and ice. As opposite as you can get."
Nicholas coughed, rubbing at his face as he began to chuckle. "W-Well, you, um, you know, they say… what they say…" he choked when he inhaled some mucous and the chuckle turned into a wracking cough. "A-About-"
"Opposites attract?"
"Y-Yeah," Nicholas coughed, the laughter returning as he managed to clear his lungs. "We were made for one another."
The others around the table relaxed as the two humans began to laugh together and then let off to enter a sensual embrace. It lasted for a few minutes before Nicholas and Sabrina pulled apart, their lips remaining in the shape of the other's mouth for a few moments as they stared into each other's eyes before Sabrina smiled softly and gave him one more light kiss on the lips before letting go. "I love you."
"I love you too." Nicholas paused before letting his arms fall and turning to where Cathy sat. "Cathy, I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I wasn't feeling well, but that doesn't excuse what I did."
Cathy slowly blinked at him. "I didn't realize how much it hurt you," she replied with a rumble. "I am sorry for pushing you. I didn't understand, but that, too, did not excuse my actions."
Nicholas let out a sigh and gave the Miltank a rueful smile. "So neither of us are to blame, eh?"
"Or both of us are," Cathy pointed out. "Let's go with both. I know it's what you would prefer." Cathy gave him a toothy grin. "Always talking about how we pokegirls should stop trying to make you our blameless tamer."
Nicholas chuckled and reached out to give Cathy a firm squeeze across the table. "Thank you." After a moment he let go of the Miltank's hand and turned to the others. "And all of you. I'm sorry. For doing this to you. Pokegirls and power struggles and politics… I'm your tamer. I'm supposed to step in. Put my foot down when things aren't right. I failed to do that for you. I dragged you into Neo Plasma's headquarters and nearly got you all killed. I… I still don't know how we all survived, honestly. It's a miracle."
"I survived because I refused to die."
The table turned. It was Cindy. Completely breaking her character to give Nicholas a flat stare. "And I'm making sure I'm the first one to say something, because the rest of these girls?" She looked around at the rest of the harem. "Any of them say something like that, and you'll brush it off as them being them. Even Melody. Big… wide brick that she is." Melody blinked. "What that man was saying. How pokeballs trap us, hold us, force us to remain with you… It's not like that at all." Cindy turned away from Melody. "I'm here because of who's here with me. I refused to die because fucking shit I wasn't going to go while you were all still beside me." She lifted her chin. "I was there because you were, Nick. Because my sisters were. There was no pokeball to retreat to. I didn't care. And I don't think any of them did either."
Kiana was chuckling, a low sound vibrating her chest. "You trying to speak for me, spider?"
Cindy sniffed, lifting a hand to inspect her fingernails as she slipped back into her ojou veneer. "Somebody has to."
"She's right, Master," Kiana said in amusement, turning from the Galvantula to grin at him. "Did it hurt?" Her smile slipped. "Yes. Were we afraid? I was. But it stopped being about the 'politics' or 'power struggles' the instant we got up on that deck." Her eyes were locked on his. "It was about us. You. The others, who were fighting and risking their lives for what they believed in. Who they strove to protect." She smiled again. "You wanted to help them all, Master. To save everyone. And so we did too."
Nicholas felt fresh tears coming but he managed to hold them back by breaking eye contact with the Arcanine and coughing. "Hah. Thank you… Cindy. And Kiana. And all of you."
"You think now we can do what you first started this harem to do, Master?"
Nicholas glanced back to see Kiana's smile had become her signature lolling grin. "I would love to," he said, smiling back before giving the others one last look. "But if any of you are struggling, as I apparently am…"
"If we are then a good fight is just what we need, right?" Melody interjected. "Come on, we know there's a gym here. It's not just some rich fuck vacay resort out there, right?"
Nicholas had to stifle his laughter at the Seismitoad's brusque statement. "No. No, it isn't. This is Humilau City, and apparently, it's in the middle of some rather explosive growth." He managed to calm himself enough to give Melody a wink. "The rich fuck resort is south along the coast. Undella Town."
"So what's this place then?"
"Tourist hotspot, and expanding," Nicholas replied. "They just built a massive underwater tunnel running from here to Undella, but that was apparently a small-scale proof of concept. There's currently underwater construction offshore for an advanced tamer's school to complement the new gym, which is led by a Water-type specialist named Marlon who replaced Brycen. And that," Nicholas said, smiling at Melody, "is why we are here."
"Water-types, huh," Kiana grumbled.
"The battle is going to be decided without you and Jade, I believe," Nicholas said to the Arcanine. "So-"
"The Water-type gym." Adalinda rested her hands on the table and stared down Nicholas. "I barely got a chance to stretch in Driftveil. Let me take this one."
Nicholas chuckled at the Serperior's earnest expression. "You'll be there, Ada, don't worry. It will be you and Cindy leading Melody and Silla…"
"I-"
"Just hold on a moment, Ada," Nicholas interrupted. "Let me finish and then you can say whatever you'd like to say." Adalinda slowly settled back. "Ever since we first left Castelia, when it was just Ada, Kiana, and Jade, Fiona has been here. Even as we continued across Unova, travelling to gyms, training, there was something else hanging over our heads. Even Drayden, a battle in which I was very proud of all of you, was ultimately for a goal other than simply continuing the badge challenge. But Neo Plasma is gone." Nicholas let out his breath and smiled around the table. "Fiona is not here anymore. There's only one thing left for us. All of us, to focus on." His eyes twinkled. "Take Humilau's badge. And move to fight Champion Iris at the pokegirl league." He popped to his feet. "So! To. That. End. I've had a lot to think about these last two weeks. And one thing I've settled on is this." He grinned at the pokegirls watching him. "I'm done. Done with crime syndicates, done with doomsday cults, done with genocidal megalomaniacs, and especially done with power hungry despots. I'm done. From this day on," he said, placing his hand firmly against the table, "there is only one goal I have. Well, two, but one for my pokegirls." His smile firmed. "You will be champions. AND SO!" He laughed and grabbed his bag, yanking it up onto the table and popping open the main compartment. "From this day forth, every single thought I have will be dedicated to making my pokegirls stronger. No more distractions. No more hurrying from place to place without a plan. I'm supposed to be a powerful tamer so it's about time I take the gloves off, in a way I haven't truly done since I was in Indigo."
"What does that mean, Master?" Kiana asked curiously as Nicholas began rooting about in his bag.
"It means focusing on each of you directly. Finding whatever I can to cover your weaknesses. Bolster your strengths. It means being your tamer, being proactive, instead of just letting things play out naturally." He pulled a jumble of objects out of his bag and dropped them on the table. "Things like our time with the three dragons. You were wary, right Silla? Until I introduced you to each of them?"
Silla's heads grinned. "Now I am of truth." "And ideals." "And what lies between," the two chorused.
"You are indeed," Nicholas replied. "Expanding your arsenals is one way to be proactive. Another is to find things for each of you to use." He'd untangled the mess now and lifted a collar set with heavy metal spikes into view. "Kiana. You always are there to protect your pack. This harem. But too often you neglect to protect yourself. So I thought about how I could help protect you." He turned to present the Arcanine with the collar. "This should punish anyone who tries to punish you for your dedication to your pack."
Kiana growled in excitement and eagerly ducked forwards, her tail wagging as Nicholas fit the collar around her neck. "Thank you, Master!"
"I wanted to get more for each of you, but at such short notice I could really only scrape together the rest of what remains from my purchase in preparation for the PWT. Along with a small stock of these." He pulled a small cooler out of the backpack and opened it to reveal a handful of large plump berries. "Sourcing fresh berries this late in the season is a nightmare, but I managed."
"What else is here, Keeper?" Jade asked.
"I've got two spare focus bands, and then this." Nicholas pulled a sheet of vellum from beneath the small pile and turned it over to show the inscribed runes running down its length. "I'll be honest, this one's outside of my realm of expertise. Honey?"
"That's a spiritual talisman," Sabrina replied. "Can I hold it for a moment?" Nicholas obliged and Sabrina slowly ran her fingers across the symbols. "It's been blessed by a priest, though of who or what I can't tell," she murmured. "There's power in these runes. An amplification spell?"
"The woman I bought it from said it would enhance my pokegirls' connection to the ethereal plane, which I took as a spooky way of saying it could help Sammy in our fight against Cynthia, so that sounds about right," Nicholas explained. "Sammy didn't want it though. She took the other thing I got for her instead, a rod of ferrous metal that was supposed to help boost her Electric-type attacks by reacting with her natural electric field, but all she did with it was turn it into a snack." Nicholas shook his head as scattered chuckles began from all around him. "Most expensive treat I've ever given that Rotom. Ah well. With how refined her transformation was during the battle I guess it was worth the price tag."
"What are these supposed to do?" Adalinda asked, pointing at the cooler.
"So those are just a few of the two most generic healing berries. The yellow one with orange spots is supposed to be packed full of energy to help get an injured pokegirl moving again, and the bulbous green one is damn expensive but it should keep anyone completely healthy instead of getting paralyzed or blistered or anything like that," Nicholas replied as he took the talisman back from Sabrina and walked over to Jade. "Skyla used the green one during our battle to keep her Swoobat flying despite Cindy's electricity." He grinned at Jade when he reached her. "Mind opening up for a moment? I'd like to see what you think of this talisman thingy."
"That's all well and good, but these things are just meant to help us with what we can already do. Right?" Adalinda asked Nicholas as Jade's breastplate cracked open and he ducked inside her armor. "Hit a little harder, shake off a hit a little better. This stuff isn't going to win a fight for us."
"No, but the point is that you should all have the ability to benefit from these things. The same as the rest of my harems," Nicholas replied from within Jade, his voice muffled. "Another part of our battle plans."
"Then we need to be making those plans before worrying about a new toy," Adalinda said, causing the others to turn to her. "Do I get to speak now?"
Nicholas finished securing the vellum to Jade's armor and emerged to blink at Adalinda. "Sure."
"Two and three."
Nicholas frowned, but his confusion faded when he saw how Adalinda was looking at him. "Items two and three."
"I am a dragon." Adalinda moved around the table to approach him directly and came to a halt a few feet away. "But what has that meant? What kind of a dragon am I? I didn't know. For a long time, I didn't know." Silla was watching her with bright eyes as the Serperior talked. "But I figured it out, over time. Knowledge is my treasure. And I would use what I hoard to make myself more powerful. So I have." She lifted her head. "Item three. How do I fight? For a long time, I haven't known. I have many ways I can fight. But how do I? What is 'me'? What is something that only I can do?" Adalinda's fangs popped out as she grinned. "Recently, I've felt myself getting stronger. As we fought our way through that ship I could feel something beneath my skin. Itching to get out." She lifted an arm and Nicholas watched as her leaves began to break free, streaming in towards her torso to swirl around her body. "I now think I know what it is I can do. That no other Serperior can," she said softly. "Get me in, Nicholas. Put me into that gym battle. As long as you can guarantee me just a little bit of time without worry, I promise to take care of the rest."
Nicholas gazed at her. "Are you sure?"
"You once asked me," Adalinda murmured, the swarm of leaves circling her beginning to swell in size, "if I wanted to be more. More than what I am." She gazed back at him. "I do. I really, desperately want to be far more than what I am. It eats away at me. But what I am…" she lifted her other arm and the leaves surged out to either side before Adalinda closed her fists and they all scattered to the ground. "What I am… is all I need to be."
"Any objections?" Nicholas called, looking about. "Ada's asking for us to build a strategy around enabling her to take the entire badge by herself. In other words," he said, glancing back and smirking at the Serperior, "she's had enough of being the sacrifice play. She wants to be the one still standing at the end this time." He snickered. "Or, yknow, slithering." Adalinda gave him a swat.
"I see no reason why she shouldn't have her chance," Kiana replied immediately. "I will gladly leap into this battle just to fall, if it means my Beta will avenge me." She chuckled and stroked the spikes of her new collar. "I will make sure to soften them up for you."
Nicholas took another look around but none of the others even spoke after their Alpha. "Okay then," he said. "Let's make our plan."
.
.
"Now that's a gym," Nicholas chuckled. He and Sabrina were walking the shoreline towards the Humilau Gym while Cathy trailed a respectable distance behind. The structure was enormous. Set right on the edge of the water and even extending a good ways over it, the exterior was decorated with cascading water patterns to make absolutely sure anyone looking at it knew the kind of pokegirls they'd find inside. "Ten bucks that the ocean is incorporated into the interior."
"No bet," Sabrina giggled. "So after this…"
"Well, I have to win first," Nicholas said. "But yeah. After this…" He lifted his eyes to the mountains in the distance. "I go for Iris."
"Sup Championo!"
Nicholas jumped at the sudden shout, whirling to see that a heavily tanned man with a pair of goggles hanging around his neck had pushed out of the ocean next to them and was waving in his direction. "You coming to challenge the gym?"
"Erm, yeah, but who are you?" Nicholas asked.
"I'm the Gym Leader, Marlon! Was just out for a nice swim with my harem when we saw you coming our way!" Marlon flipped back into the water and began swimming towards the gym, various shapes flashing around him as he did. "I'll be waitin'!" he called back to Nicholas. "Try not to fall in before you get to me!"
Nicholas and Sabrina shared a look before starting to walk again. "Welp," Nicholas said. "Here we go."
The inside of the gym was full of water. As to be expected, but Nicholas was surprised to find that there was barely even a floor. The natural shoreline had been preserved within the building and beyond it fountains of fresh water cascaded down the walls to splash over wooden piers while the ocean lapped below, large flat platforms drifting through the open waters between them. And all the way at the far end, in the center of a large opening in the outer wall, sat a small tiled platform. Nicholas could see Marlon sitting on the side with his legs in the water and no doubt chatting with his pokegirls.
"So I need to get over there, huh," Nicholas muttered, surveying the piers throughout the building. The idea was obvious. Catch a ride on a platform, let the waves carry you forwards. Gym assistants were already pulling themselves from the water to take their positions. "Seems like there'll be some resistance." A tap at his belt and a pokeball triggered, Silla materializing to stand beside her Weyrleader. "Can't risk Cindy or Ada being worn down on the way to Marlon. You ready to sink your teeth into some pokegirls, Silla?"
The Zweilous hissed excitedly and bobbed her heads. "You bet I am."
"I've noticed you've started getting along with yourself lately," Nicholas observed as the two made their way down the first pier. "Anything you'd like to share?"
Silla's heads glanced at each other before the second one spoke. "I'm pathetic, aren't I, Weyrleader?"
Nicholas blinked at the abrupt admission. "Huh?"
"Back in that cave… when we met the other Hydreigon," the first head said, blinking before it swiveled to continue while looking at Nicholas directly. "When I did. She wasn't… I still don't know what she was. She felt hollow." "She should have been strong, but she was… weak," the second chimed in. "I'd never seen a Hydreigon whose heads fought each other before. By the time we evolve there's a winner, at least that's what I thought."
"Hollow and weak," Nicholas said. "Like maybe she didn't have enough strength to properly control her own body?"
"Maybe?" Silla's heads chorused.
"It's possible Ghetsis did something, Colress did something to force her to evolve before she was ready," Nicholas mused. "That would also explain why her heads were still fighting, like yours do. She was a Zweilous in a Hydreigon's body."
Silla's heads looked at one another again. "I really am pathetic," the first muttered, the second blinking at it. "That's what you see when you look at me, Weyrleader." Nicholas looked over to see Silla's heads both gazing at him solemnly. "You see what I saw in that Hydreigon," the second murmured. "You see a weak dragon," the first said. "Well I'm not weak," the second said firmly. "And I'm strong enough to prove it," the first finished.
A grin had been growing across Nicholas' face as Silla spoke. "You're using singular pronouns to refer to both of your heads, Silla. Do you know that?"
Silla's necks flexed away from one another slightly as the Zweilous' heads cleared her throats and pretended to pointedly ignore the other. "I don't know what you're talking about," the first muttered. "I still can't stand how I- I, I mean, um, how she acts sometimes." A blush was creeping up both of Silla's necks. "Me and my big mouth," the second grumbled.
"Such a proud little dragon," Nicholas teased playfully. "Come on. We've got a badge to win."
Silla was moving better than ever as the two made their way deeper into Marlon's gym. The time he had ensured she would have with the three fragments of Tirakan was paying off in spades, granting the Zweilous the ability to adapt to every opponent they found and keep her momentum rolling. One head taking the lead with electricity crackling from her fangs, and falling back without hesitation to let the other bring the icy mist she exhaled to bear when some assistants tried to slow them down with Ground-types. Nicholas kept Silla topped up with potions in between each battle and it wasn't long before he was catching the side of the final pier and pulling himself up while Silla used her wings to help her jump straight from the floating platform to stand before Marlon.
"Here already, huh? I see the talk about being a dragon tamer is true," Marlon laughed, getting to his feet along with Nicholas. "Well, Champion? You ready?"
"Where's the arena?" Nicholas asked. This last stretch between him and Marlon wasn't nearly large enough to hold a battle in. "I'm ready."
"It's right behind you!" Nicholas turned to watch as the walls of the gym flared with light and barriers began appearing all down the length of the building. "Hope your girls know how to swim!"
"Oh now this is interesting," Nicholas grinned, stepping back to stand next to Marlon and gaze out at the path he and Silla had just taken with new eyes. "I like it. Nice gimmick. It's too bad it won't help you against my pokegirls."
"We'll see about that! I've got a reputation to uphold!" Nicholas recalled Silla as Marlon selected his first pokeball. "Full battle! On my count! Three! Two! One! Begin!" Nicholas released Cindy out onto one of the piers and Marlon placed a Quagsire into the water in front of her with a laugh. "KNEW IT! Tania, handle that spider!"
"Cindy knew what she was getting into here," Nicholas replied and raised his voice. "CINDY! Let's get things ready for your Beta!"
Cindy was already in action, drawing her silk free and spraying it as far as she could across the gym while Tania swam closer. As Marlon watched the webs begin to form across every surface and even hang low over the water his posture shifted. "Tania, change of plans. Make an opening for Cass!"
The Quagsire sat up in the water as Cindy glanced in her direction, her mouth opening in a massive yawn before she splashed backwards again. "'shcuse me," Tania mumbled, drifting around in hypnotizing circles while Cindy was forced to watch. "'m just so tired," she said, yawning again as Cindy's energetic movements slowed and the Galvantula felt her own eyelids drooping.
Nicholas cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected this. Cindy was supposed to be the sacrifice lead, just as she'd unintentionally been in Opelucid. Clog the battlefield, go down, let Adalinda come in freely. If he let her fall asleep Marlon would just take momentum instead. "Melody, I need you to take care of this Quagsire!" he called, recalling Cindy and releasing the Seismitoad in her place so that she wouldn't have to deal with the Galvantula's webs.
Melody appeared and took in the Quagsire drifting towards her before letting out a shocked cry when the dopey pokegirl opened her mouth and a beam of ice blasted out, punching her backwards to slide past one of the wall fountains. "I've taken far worse," Melody snarled, shaking off the ice and running forwards to intercept where the Quagsire was trying to get out of the water. "Compared to that dragon you don't even tickle!"
The two launched into the water when Melody impacted, vanishing below the surface as Melody drew a torrent around her fist and slammed it in the Quagsire's chest. Only for the other pokegirl to completely absorb the blow, her tail paddling furiously while she threw a punch into Melody's body and forced her down to slam against the seafloor. Melody felt a rib crack from the impact and snarled, dragging herself out of the Quagsire's grasp so she could find a firing position and slammed her hands together, the shockwave she created dragging the Quagsire along with the turbulent water and smashing her against the gym wall. She pushed off just as quickly as Melody had from the seabed and the two bulky pokegirls impacted once more near the center of the arena, trading blows until Melody tried to touch down, find the comfort of the earth beneath her feet, and the Quagsire spun, going head over feet as she launched herself straight down to smash against the ground before Melody could gather her power. Melody felt the seismic shockwave slam into her unprepared stance and she bounced, her mouth popping open from the pain of her legs shattering. The Seismitoad's scream came out as nothing more than a torrent of bubbles and she was helpless to resist when Tania bounded off the bottom and slammed straight into her stomach, driving Melody from the ocean in a plume of water and sending her to crash onto dry land. Unconscious.
Nicholas' eyes were flicking rapidly across the battlefield as he recalled her. The Quagsire was heavily injured, having only just won the one on one with Melody. It seemed like the perfect moment to bring Adalinda in. What could an injured Quagsire do against her? But he had no idea what else Marlon had up his sleeve. He needed more information before he sent out the Serperior. Cindy could probably finish her off, but he needed to play this carefully. Cindy was needed to soften anyone who might be a threat to Adalinda's rampage. He released Kiana instead.
"Tch," he heard Marlon mutter beside him when the Arcanine materialized and immediately locked on where the Quagsire was trying to retreat and recover. The salamander pokegirl seemed out of reach, drifting halfway across the water by now, but nothing was out of reach of Kiana's wrath. One instant she was lunging for the edge of the pier, wrapping her hands and feet along the boards in a diver's pose, and the next she was a white flash lancing across the floating platforms to draw a line straight through Tania. The Quagsire croaked when a clawed foot crashed into her head and she rolled over with the impact, Kiana tumbling but regaining her footing when she landed on the other side of the gym before looking back to watch her unconscious target bob limply in the swell.
"Dude," Marlon chuckled, recalling his pokegirl and pulling out the next pokeball, "your girls are really into this, huh!"
"You don't know the half of it," Nicholas chuckled, his eyes lighting up when Marlon released a Starmie into the gym and the girl was snarled up in Cindy's webs. Here was a pokegirl who could bother Adalinda. Perfect. "Nice work, Kiana!"
Kiana grinned, preparing to lunge for the Starmie next if that's what Nicholas wanted from her but he was already recalling her in favor of bringing Cindy back onto the battlefield. "Fry her, Cindy!" Nicholas yelled. "She's been slowed by your webs, so it's all you!"
"Not for long!" Marlon crowed. His Starmie was pulsing short bursts of water from her limbs and using the jets to pick up speed, cartwheeling her body end over end in the same fashion Nicholas remembered Misty's girls doing when they were going for a major attack. His shouted warning to Cindy did nothing as Marlon's Starmie blasted out of the water and began rocketing through the gym, sweeping through Cindy's webs along the way and scattering them uselessly to the edges of the arena before she arced back around and smashed into the Galvantula herself. Cindy took the blow well and rallied, sparks filling her hairs, but when the Starmie landed across the gym from her and slammed her wrists together with her hands cupped in Cindy's direction the webs that had clung to her were wiped away. Meaning the Starmie could recover from her attack and fire her next one before Cindy even managed to charge.
The ocean itself rose to batter Cindy back and the Galvantula screeched in pain, the damage from the impact combining with the water threatening to drown her and driving her to her knees. But she did not go down. Even though she only remained upright by using two of her arms to supplement her legs the other two were free to draw the charging electricity free and send it out as a wicked thunderbolt which sank into the Starmie's body with a deafening crack.
"Bitch," Nicholas heard Cindy gasp when the Starmie sank to her knees only to use her falling momentum to dive into the water. "Sorry," the Galvantula breathed, her fingers twitching as she tried to charge another blast that would never connect. "Had to lower my power for precision. Guess I'm really not as perfect as I try to pretend." She was grinning when the Starmie erupted from the water in front of her, angry black lines beneath her skin highlighting the heavy internal injuries the Water-type pokegirl had sustained from the shock and was still smiling when the Starmie thrust just one hand out, her red jewel flashing before Cindy was sent flying back to crumple in a broken pile of limbs against the wall.
Marlon was shouting something, taunting, maybe, since he'd just lost a usual tamer's trump card against this gym, but Nicholas wasn't listening. The Starmie was on her last legs. Sure, it would have been better if Cindy had been able to take her down, and sure, he could try to bring Kiana in to finish off this pokegirl as well, but with the Galvantula out of the battle attempting to finish the Starmie off with Kiana might just give Marlon the opening to stabilize. Cindy's webs being removed were okay. They'd been meant to handicap a pokegirl like this specifically, to give Adalinda the edge to take control of the battle. It wasn't a perfect opening, but if worst came to worst Adalinda could take an extra hit. They'd made sure she could.
"It's over," Nicholas whispered, raising Adalinda's pokeball and sending the Serperior out into the gym. "IT'S ALL YOU NOW, ADA!" he screamed, spreading his arms almost mockingly as he shouted encouragement to the figure appearing across from the Starmie. "WHAT KIND OF A DRAGON ARE YOU?!"
"Awww, dude, she looks strong!" Marlon laughed. "I'm just so pumped up! Best battle I've had since I opened these doors!"
"Glad you've enjoyed it, because it's OVER!" Nicholas roared, feeling Adalinda's glee at seeing a soft target across from her. "DO IT, ADA!"
"Take a chunk of her with you, Violet!" Marlon whooped, his Starmie bringing her arms back around and focusing to send a blast of ice for the Serperior. Adalinda hissed in pain, falling back under the onslaught, but she was chuckling when the Starmie's leg gave out and she fell panting to one knee.
"That stung!" Adalinda called cheerfully, shaking her body to break the ice crusting across her scales. "Too bad it wasn't enough!" She flung out her own arms, her entire body beginning to glow with energy as her leaves tore free and swirled around the Serperior in a slicing maelstrom. "NOT ENOUGH AT ALL!"
"Hot DAMN that's some overkill!" Marlon laughed as the storm of leaves exploded across the gym and sent his Starmie's blood spraying behind her. "Really shoulda taught her to keep that ultimate move in reserve, Champion! Don't you know it cripples the girl who uses it?"
"Oh," Nicholas chuckled, his eyes dancing as he watched Adalinda stumble slightly because of the damage she'd sustained from the Starmie's assault before she steadied herself and pulled a yellow berry from where she'd been keeping it safe within her vines, "I don't think it does that at all."
Adalinda felt energy lance down her spine as she bit into the fruit, the juices dribbling down her chin as she let her eyes slide shut from the sensations. The spots where her leaves normally sprouted were raw skin, exposed between her scales, and she briefly considered how another Serperior might feel being so naked. Would it be too much of a drain for them to recover and fight on? Would they be forced to retreat, to spend the energy to regrow within their pokeball? As her eyes opened again, stuffing the rest of the berry into her mouth and swallowing, she couldn't help but grin. She rejected the fatigue she felt pulling at her soul. All it was making her do… was find more to give.
"Muriel, we've got a weed to pluck!" Marlon hooted, releasing his next pokegirl directly above the water and her massive form splashed down to send water pattering across the entire gym. "She's weakened herself so it'll be easy!"
"Oh you think you can withstand THIS?" Adalinda shrieked, screaming as the glow returned and suddenly her leaves were shooting back into existence, pushing even taller from her skin than they ever had before before snapping free once more and filling the air around the Serperior like a swarm of angry birds.
"Easy mirror! Show her how it feels!" Marlon yelled, his Wailord breaching and drawing the water around her up to form a shimmering barrier. Adalinda didn't care. She attacked, the maelstrom even larger this time, and the Wailord's eyes widened when she saw the power bearing down on her.
"Master-!"
Whatever it was the Wailord had been trying to do was obliterated in the face of Adalinda's fury. The girl herself was borne entirely from the water by the storm of leaves, flinging her as if she was but a doll as she was flayed alive by the power Marlon had thought would be weak. A shocked silence fell over the gym leader while he watched his Wailord fall from the sky, crashing against the pier before bouncing into the ocean to float motionless in a spreading pool of red.
"What the fuck…?"
"Cripple her? Slow her down?" Nicholas' teeth flashed as he grinned at where Adalinda, still roaring, was beginning to regrow her leaves once more. Even LARGER than the times before, the structures expanding out to make it seem as if the Serperior was sprouting an entire forest from her skin. "It only makes her stronger!"
"C-Crucia!" Marlon called, swapping the unconscious Wailord with a reptilian girl, her tough blue skin complemented by a massive armored shell that covered her torso and extended out to cover her back while also providing protection to her face and sides. "We got a problem, drop that Serperior!"
The turtle pokegirl was slow. Very slow. So slow that she had barely turned to find Adalinda before the next storm of leaves had found her, a gasp echoing from her chest as her prized armor was cut away like paper. But somehow, she held on. Hunched into the onslaught, her skin tearing away, her shell cracked and broken, but withstanding it until the energy had passed and she could straighten, blood running from the broken structures across her face and body, to bring another burst of ice to bear on the recovering Serperior.
Adalinda took it without even flinching. She was becoming an overgrown thing, her face vanishing within the foliage with only her burning eyes still able to be seen from within, and though the ice crept through her leaves and broke many away to shatter against the pier, it was not enough to stop the second blast that instantly brought the Carracosta to her knees.
"Maybe Bella can…?" Marlon said, rallying when he sent out a levitating spectral jellyfish pokegirl and Adalinda's leaves swept out for the fifth time only for the Jellicent, even as she was eviscerated, to bring her body forward and send a burst of spectral feedback barreling back to engulf the Serperior. The effect somehow managed to halt Adalinda's leaves before they could more than sprout from her skin. "Yes, that's it! Okay!" Marlon laughed and slapped Nicholas on the back as he released his final pokegirl, the Mantine smoothly diving into the water before soaring out on an attack vector. "We still got this, Champion! Don't count us out yet!"
Adalinda was growling, shaking her arm and glaring at the leaves that refused to grow, when she heard Marlon's confident call. "You still got this…?" she asked, her fangs coming fully into view as she howled at the Mantine swooping towards her. "DON'T BE ABSURD!"
The Mantine squealed when the Serperior's vines lashed out, wrapping around the wing-like fins she was using to glide with and pulling her at high speed straight towards the ground. She crashed into the pier, tumbling before Adalinda caught up and lunged onto the other pokegirl to smash one hand against the Mantine's chin, slamming her head against the boards, and drive the other under the other pokegirl's ribs, leaving the girl gagging and gasping for air, her flopping struggles growing weaker and weaker as stolen energy streamed up Adalinda's arm. "I'm not a one trick Ponyta," she hissed, locking eyes with the Mantine as the girl slipped into oblivion. "I've got my vines too."
Nicholas was smirking as the arena deactivated and Marlon recalled his final pokegirl. "Told you it was over," he chuckled. "Ada's been waiting for this for a long, long time."
"I gotta admit, she swept me away!" Marlon replied, staring at Adalinda in awe. "Man, Championo, you don't just look strong, your girls are strong fo' reals! You've got some wicked ones in that harem of yours!" He laughed and turned to clap Nicholas on the back again. "Good stuff! Here, you earned it!" Nicholas accepted the badge from Marlon and watched as the gym leader took a step back with a jaunty salute. "I'm off! See yourself out, yeah? Gotta work off the energy from that battle! Woo!"
"Yeah…" Nicholas replied, watching Marlon flip off the platform and into the open ocean, breaking the surface again to start swimming away. "What a guy." He turned, a grin growing when he saw the way Adalinda was holding herself. "Hey," he said, hopping down onto the floating platform that had brought him to Marlon and pushing off to drift over so he could catch himself next to where Adalinda was. "I know you told me how pulling that technique out boosted you instead of draining your energy, but I gotta say." He glanced around at the carnage left behind from the Serperior's rampage. "Our enemies are probably pretty damn relieved that you are only what you are." He turned back to smile at her. "Imagine if you were everything you wanted to be. You would be unstoppable."
Adalinda breathed out, her own grin plastered across her face as she laughed softly. "But I am unstoppable," she whispered, her eyes dancing as she turned them to look at him. "Because I'm with you, Nicholas."
She offered a hand as Nicholas boosted himself up, helping him onto the pier and releasing a breathy sigh when he captured her body, caressing her skin and kissing her gently, slowly drawing closer and closer until the two were intertwined, their lips pressed together as the tip of Adalinda's tail happily thrashed about.
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POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer: Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Basic Badge
Insect Badge
Bolt Badge
Quake Badge
Toxic Badge
Jet Badge
Legend Badge
Wave Badge
Harem:
Kiana, Arcanine (Alpha) – Level 61
Adalinda, Serperior – Level 63
Jade, Golurk – Level 61
Melody, Seismitoad – Level 62
Cindy, Galvantula – Level 61
Silla, Zweilous – Level 63
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 35
Cathy, Miltank – Level 72
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"Another one coming in low!" Nicholas yelled, his feet scrabbling in the loose gravel of the mountain path. Cindy was too busy fighting off a screeching Altaria to turn to the Unfezant swooping in towards the tamer. Jade and Melody were occupied with a small swarm of muscular ferals that pushed out from the cave they had been heading towards, and Adalinda and Kiana were back-to-back further down the slope as the two did their best to slow the flow of angry Grass-types pouring from a copse of trees that Kiana's flames had inadvertently set alight during the battle. It was chaos. A hell of a way to start their second day on Unova's Victory Road.
Nicholas dove as the Unfezant blew past, her claws digging into the side of the mountain where he'd been standing and sending dirt spraying out as she pumped her wings to reposition for another attempt. "It's a smart one who wants some dick!" Nicholas yelped, throwing himself into a roll and tumbling down the scree in order to avoid the feral's grasping claws again. "That or she's looking for an easy pick on a soft target for her meal, HELP!"
Two pairs of eyes were focused on the Unfezant while the avian pokegirl wheeled. Two wings, beating the air as they fought to lift the body they were attached to off the ground.
"Come on!" Silla's first head cried desperately, her second straining as the wings behind her flapped uselessly. "What use are wings if I can't fly?"
"What use are two heads if one does nothing but cry?!" the second head retorted, causing the first to wheel on her and begin hissing angrily. "If I put half the energy I wasted on complaining into my wings I bet I'd be intercepting that bird already!"
"I'm doing my best! I'm just not strong enough-!"
Silence. Silla's heads were staring at one another as her wings slowed, then fell still. "Yes, I am," the second said, the first blinking before growing a wry smile. "I'm still no better than that dragon in the cave," it murmured, getting a quiet laugh from the other. "I was wrong. Always wrong," the second whispered back. "My Weyrleader already told me what I need to do."
As one, Silla's heads turned to the diving Unfezant. "I'll put everything I have into my left," the first said. "I'll put my all into the right," the second said. Darkness was beginning to swell from Silla's body as all of her eyes locked on her target.
Nicholas was raising his hand in a futile attempt at blocking the incoming pokegirl when a dark missile flashed across his vision. And the Unfezant was gone. The roar echoing back to him a few moments later as he whirled to see Silla spinning through the air.
The Unfezant shrieked as electricity coursed through her body, one of Silla's heads letting go of her bite just for the other to immediately take her place and ice raced out from her fangs, freezing the feral's wings and causing her to spiral down, unable to slow her fall, when the Zweilous released her grip.
"I'm flying!" one head exclaimed excitedly, the second winding up and roaring her triumph to the sky around her. Silla's bangs were blowing back from the wind against her faces and her breath caught as she took in the moment. "I'm really flying," she whispered again, her two heads glancing towards each other after a moment.
"I've been so stupid," the first said, sharing a smile with the second. "Haven't I?"
"I really have," the second agreed, the darkness flowing from Silla's body beginning to be replaced by a shining light. "But I can be better."
"Don't let myself forget," the first whispered, the evolutionary glow taking over. "I never will," the second whispered back, Silla's heads bending together for a moment before they both reared out, a deafening roar echoing over the mountains as the evolution fully consumed her body.
The others were beginning to clean up their respective battles when the glow from the figure flying overhead faded. Nicholas was trudging back up the mountain when he felt, rather than heard or saw, Silla swooping down after him. Before he could turn the newly evolved Hydreigon had passed over his head, her new pairs of wings moving together to let her land properly and turn towards him.
They stared at each other for a while. Silla's three heads all gazing down at her Weyrleader until Nicholas cracked a smile. "From one, to two, to three."
Silla's heads all blinked slightly out of time before the middle one began to chuckle. "From one, to one, to one," she corrected, the other two heads smiling and nodding along. "I'm sorry for not understanding that earlier, Weyrleader."
"And before you say anything, yes, I'm letting the middle one speak because it's just easier that way, you know?" Silla's right head said, getting a huff from the middle head while the left began to giggle. "Hey, you think you'll let me bite you now as long as it's not with the head that's doing the sucking?"
"And that is my cue to be quiet," Silla's middle head said tiredly, lifting her hand to pinch the right head's lips shut. "Sorry, Nick. I'm still trying to figure out what's internal and what is on its way out of one of my mouths."
"All I will say is that I can already tell your relationship with yourself is in a much healthier position than it was a few weeks ago," Nicholas said warmly, grinning as he did. "Also, I think hearing you just casually reveal your private thoughts is hilarious. And adorable. But mostly hilarious."
"It's embarrassing!" Silla cried, going red when her left head darted forwards and began happily rubbing its cheek against Nicholas' "What am I-!"
"Ooh, this one's the honest one," Nicholas laughed, stroking Silla's cheek as her left head pulled back a little and gave him a massive grin. "You want a kiss, Silla? Hm?"
"That is not-" Silla's middle head squeaked when Nicholas pressed his lips to her left, the red blush that had been forming growing brighter as she fidgeted. "H-Hey, that's enough, I… Y-You don't have to go for tongue, I-!" The right head used the distraction to pull free of her grip and darted in to plant a kiss on Nicholas' cheek, laughing as she drew back and Silla threw both of her hands over her mortified middle head. "Please stop, it feels so weird, I can't stop myself…"
"You know what I think?" Nicholas murmured, breaking his kiss with Silla's left head and leaning in as if he was keeping a secret from the other two. "I think you're protesting too much, Silla." He chuckled when the left head began nodding rapidly and her middle pulled further back. "I think you're trying to hide and pretend to be a stoic dragon, but your body is aching for my touch." The left head made a happy noise when Nicholas reached up, gently pulling Silla's hands away from her face and stepping closer to her. "What do you want? Be truthful, now."
"I…" Silla breathed.
"I want you to pin me down and fuck my pussy!" the right head cried excitedly.
"You know? Probably for the best that you chose your middle head to be in charge," Nicholas said brightly, Silla letting out a wail as she realized what she'd just blurted out. "The other two don't seem to have the same filter."
"Why do I keep saying things why are my thoughts just leaking out I-!" Silla babbled, her eyes growing wide when Nicholas wrapped his hand behind her middle head and pulled it down into a full kiss.
"You're still learning, that's why," Nicholas said kindly, pulling back from the kiss and lifting his hands to meet as Silla's outer heads both twisted in to nuzzle. "You said you decided to let your middle head act as your primary mouthpiece, correct?" Nicholas chuckled. "Well, you've got two other mouths that are more than willing to speak up if the primary one isn't being honest with yourself. And yeah, that's a bit embarrassing. Trying to play it cool and just blurting out your true feelings regardless. I'm sure you'll get better with time." He gave her middle head a warm smile. "From what I've seen so far, your left head is showcasing your inner emotions. I don't think it's said a word yet. So if you don't want it to give you away, show yourself that you're not ignoring how you feel. Acknowledge things like your lust, then decide if you're going to show it off or hide it away. I'm sure once you know what you're doing then your left will stop doing things on its own."
"What else, Weyrleader?" Silla asked quietly.
Nicholas chuckled. "With your right, well, blurting out your private thoughts isn't great either. Even humans think out loud, though. Figuring out what is something you want to keep inside, and what you can relax and discuss with yourself freely, whether that's silently, or between your heads, that's something you'll need to define as well. So far, your right seems to be speaking up to clarify things you may not have meant to leave vague, or to speak what's really on your mind. Like when you were hesitating, unwilling to admit what you wanted from me, it spoke up instead." He turned to smile at Silla's right head. "Does that all sound correct, Silla?"
The right head opened its eyes and blinked at him but it was the middle one that replied. "Yes," Silla whispered, drawing Nicholas' attention back to the center. "Everything is so, so strange, and… and new." She sniffed. "All of the stress I felt, I… From both of my heads, before," she explained, lifting her head to gaze at him. "Now that I understand, now that I'm not fighting myself, I remember it all and I just… I hate it," she whispered. "It was like I was in constant turmoil. I didn't see it back then, because of course I didn't, but the fighting and the anger at myself, it… it hurt," she said, wincing while her outer heads pressed harder into Nicholas' hands as Silla searched for comfort. "Yeah. I can feel everything burning, yearning for you, I want to feel you inside of me and discover what new sensations I can experience, but most of all," she said, shuffling in and clumsily wrapping her arms around him in a hug, "I want to feel you, feel my Weyrleader, because I want to feel like everything now is going to be alright."
"Now that," Nicholas murmured, feeling as Silla's middle neck draped itself over his shoulder, "is being honest with yourself." He waited a few moments before stroking the heads in his hands. "It's going to be okay, Silla," he said, smiling into the tearful eyes that pulled back to find him again. "We've got all the time in the world. I'll give as much of it to you as you need."
Rocks pattered down as Kiana stepped down to join them. "We good to continue? Master? Silla?" the Arcanine growled softly. "Do you need to rest in your pokeball?"
Silla took a deep breath, all three of her heads drawing back as she turned to her Alpha. "I can handle it," Silla said, her outer heads remaining silent. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Alpha."
"Girl you've grown another foot and a half and are as thick as a tree," Kiana chuckled, Silla glancing down at her new body and lifting one hand to explore her expanded curves. "I'm not worried, I'm excited to see what you can do now. But I'm not going to force you forwards if you're not ready for it yet."
Silla beamed with all three of her heads. "Thank you, Alpha," she said. "Nick says I'll be okay. So I will be, right? Let's keep moving."
Kiana growled happily, her tail wagging as she grinned up at Silla. "That's the spirit. Master, I've decided we're not dealing with that cave after all. It'll probably be faster to just climb straight up the mountain anyways."
"No arguments here," Nicholas replied, following Kiana as she began trudging up to join the others. "This place is crawling with ferals after being closed down for so long."
They continued up the mountains, moving from peak to peak as the air grew thinner and the vegetation became sparser. The sun was going down, bringing with it a hard chill, when Nicholas saw another cave opening ahead and sighed. "Place is a honeycomb," he griped, leading the group away from the cave. "Wish we could use one of these caves as shelter, but every single one has been teeming with ferals so far."
"This one's probably clear, Keeper," Jade replied, having hovered slightly into the air to get a better look as they passed by. "There's another human resting outside."
"Eh?" Nicholas turned and, sure enough, a man kitted out in full hiking gear was leaning against the rock face next to the cave. "How did I not see him before…?"
Nicholas trailed off. He'd come to a halt, the harem stopping with him, a few confused questions coming as Nicholas and the hiker stared at each other.
"Eris…?"
The hiker pushed off the wall he, she had been leaning on and the Zorua turned away, stepping into the cave without looking back and letting the darkness swallow her illusory form.
"That guy smelled familiar," Kiana muttered.
"Because that was Eris. N's sister, the Zorua," Nicholas said, making his choice and hurrying towards the cave Eris had vanished into. "That hiker illusion is the same one she used when she spoke to me in Nimbasa. Why's she here now? Where's she going?" He stopped and peered into the cave. It was dark. Very dark. "I think she's telling me to follow her."
The others clustered around the opening. "Not making camp, then?" Adalinda asked. "Anyone got a light?"
"What would you do without me?" Cindy said smugly, stepping forwards and lifting two of her arms to begin shaping a crackling orb of light between them, dancing shadows filling the cave and revealing Eris standing further in. The Zorua gazed back towards the group until she turned again, her illusion pulling a collapsible walking stick from a pocket and continuing deeper into the cave, the silence of her footsteps now replaced by the rhythmic click of what was probably her claws against the stone.
"We're really following this guy?" Melody grumbled.
"This pokegirl, but yes," Nicholas replied, following the tapping sound into the dark. "She's here for a reason. Let's find out what that is."
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POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer: Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Basic Badge
Insect Badge
Bolt Badge
Quake Badge
Toxic Badge
Jet Badge
Legend Badge
Wave Badge
Harem:
Kiana, Arcanine (Alpha) – Level 64
Adalinda, Serperior – Level 65
Jade, Golurk – Level 64
Melody, Seismitoad – Level 65
Cindy, Galvantula – Level 64
Silla, Hydreigon – Level 65
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 35
Cathy, Miltank – Level 72
