Chapter 9
"Try it like this," The young Vulpix-woman named Falvy, who only wore a leather top and shorts, stood next to Helios,. "Breathe deep, feel the fire inside and unleash!" She breathed a stream of fire at the rock pile that was the target for two seconds. "Go on."
Helios nodded and ran through the process in his head as he took a deep breath then unleashed his flamethrower at the same rock pile.
"Very well done," Chieftain Raz Ooga clapped Helios on the back, which made him stumble forwards. Age had not diminished the Arcanine-man's strength.
"Thanks," Helios too a deep breath, "I can feel the fire burning in me the more I'm here."
"We all do, now try it on me," Falvy took a few steps back and braced herself, "don't hold back, Vulpix are immune to fire."
Helios turned to face Falvy and saw her smiling so smiled back, "If you insist." This time he only took a short breath before he breathed fire at her. He saw Falvy seem to catch fire for a moment but as soon as he stopped the fire was absorbed into her and Falvy seemed to be glowing.
She laughed, "That felt good. Too bad you're already taken, you make me feel so hot."
Helios laughed and turned to look inside the arena where Dee was training with the Blaziken-man named Helfra, mostly Dee learning now to dodge and deflect at the moment. Gertrude had been there earlier mostly practicing her Pin Missile as something other than a last-ditch effort defense.
"Back to training!" Falvy's voice was accompanied by a spray of embers at Helios' feet, and he jumped back and breathed fire back at her. Despite being fireproof she dodged the blast and their training picked up in earnest.
Gertrude was with the tribe's healers learning about burn poultices and other medicine that could be made from plants found in the wasteland nearby. Despite her interest in learning medicine, she found her mind distracted by questions she had been ignoring since they left Trovitopolis. She pushed it out of her mind and focused on what she was learning, hand resting idly on her belly.
Dee, Helios and Gertrude gathered for lunch with the rest of the tribe. Dee was rubbing her legs after she sat down. "Been trying to learn high-jump kick for the last two days. Almost got it but I'm worried about the impact if I miss."
Helios put an arm around her for a moment, "Don't worry, we'll be here when you do. Right, Gertude?" he looked at the Zigzagoon-woman who was tearing through her food.
"Hmm?" Gertrude and swallowed then looked up, "sorry had something on my mind."
"What's that?" Melany approached while just wearing her undergarments again and with GR-0-WL at her side, who now had a full face sculpted to look like a Growlithe's face instead of just a trapjaw and a couple of small camera eyes.
"GR-0-WL, you have a face!" Dee smiled.
GR-0-WL barked and nodded, "Yes, Melany just finished it."
"Couldn't figure out a tongue though, too flexible to build," Melany sat down, "Combat armor's done too, was able to make two full sets once I took apart my metal armor, I should have the assault rifle ready by the end of the day. We can leave tomorrow if you're ready."
"I am," Helios turned to his food.
"Guess I have to finish by tonight," Dee was about to dig in when she recalled what Gertrude had said, "What's on your mind, Gertrude?"
Gertrude finished her plate before she answered, "I've just been thinking: what was with that raider attack on Trovitopolis? How'd they get working Verteots or why would the Aether Enclave work with them? They hate Poke-people so my only guess is that they either planned to betray them or expected them to get slaughtered in the attack."
"Then why'd Aether infiltrate and attack our Vault?" Dee asked between two mouthfuls.
Melany swallowed, "Probably looking for pure-strain humans and Pokemon, the only things they want. They probably infiltrated yours because the NKR controls this region and after their old war they're short on manpower."
"Or the Survivalists somehow stole those Verteots," Helios suggested, "Either way they hopefully won't try anything against Trovitopolis any time soon."
"I hope your right," Gertrude stood up, "Good luck with your training and repairs, excuse me," she departed the group.
After giving her lunch time to digest, Dee was back at the arena stretching and warming up. Helfra watched the Riolu-woman until she was done, "Are you ready to try now?"
Dee nodded then stretched her legs one more time, "I'm ready."
Helfra pointed to one of the rock piles that Helios had used as a target, "Then hit that. Remember to let the attack flow in mid-air."
Dee took a deep breath and turned to face the target, "Let it flow," she repeated to herself before she sprang upwards, turned a summersault and dove at the rock pile with a foot extended and smashed through it.
"I did it!" Dee turned to admire the effect of her strike.
"Yes, but you should speed up the delivery and don't use it recklessly," Helfra's voice was stern, "if you think you can try hitting me." He readied himself as Dee turned to face him.
Dee didn't show her nerves as she tensed then jumped at Helfra and aimed a kick at his chest. Helfra dodged aside at the last second and Dee smashed into the ground which sent a shockwave of pain up her leg and through her whole body. "OWWWWWW!" Dee fell on her butt and shook in pain.
Helfra offered his hand to her, "High jump kick is always a risk," he pulled Dee to her feet where she stood on shaky legs, "You should learn more varied techniques, in case you run into a ghost or something else that resists you."
"Like what?" Dee held her legs until they stopped shaking.
"Like this," Helfra stepped back and threw a roundhouse kick as his taloned foot caught fight. "Blaze Kick."
Dee just stared, "But I'm not a fire type."
"Fighters can use their aura to generate other elements, with some practice," Helfra turned back to face her, "are you willing to learn?"
"Just let me catch my breath," Dee took a deep breath, "We're leaving tomorrow."
"Then if you don't learn by the end of the day, Helios can help you figure out your inner fire," Helfra nodded to where Helios had resumed his own training with Falvy, "I'll demonstrate again and you can practise until you leave." Helfra swung another Blaze Kick in the hair as Dee watched, seeing his talons catch fire the moment after they left the ground.
"Alright, I can do this," Dee focused inwards, trying to feel out her own aura and threw a kick but it was just a normal roundhouse.
"You can, and the form practice will help regardless," Helfra nodded, "Keep trying."
OoOoO
The next morning Dee, Helios, Melany, GR-0-WL and Gertrude had gathered at the entrance to Hinota Village with Raz Ooga and Cambu to see them off. They had been given more than enough water and food to see them back to Trovitopolis.
Helios had just finished putting on his new suit of combat armor, "Thanks Melany," he turned to look at the Stunky-woman, who wore the second suit of repaired combat armor.
"You're welcome," she passed an assault rifle to him and a bag of ammo, "This should be more your speed."
Helios checked the weapon before slinging it over his back, "Thanks." He turned to Raz Ooga, "Sorry about this…"
"It's a harsh world, do what you need to survive," the chieftain nodded, "I only hope you will return to us when your great task if complete."
"He will, I'll make sure he does," Dee took Helios' hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Thank you for hosting us," Gertrude gave a short bow.
"I'll lead you to the entrance, after that I will wish you good luck on your way," Cambu headed for the entrance and motioned for them to follow. Cambu climbed up the rocky outcrop where they had first met him and waved goodbye as they set back off into the desert.
Dee checked her Rotom-boy as they lost sight of Cambu, "Let's avoid the Durant this time, I want to save my grenades."
"Thank you," Melany checked her Plasma Defender, and the accelerator sheath she'd put around the barrel, before she holstered it, "Not in the mood for another swarm fight."
"A nice scenic romantic walk through the desert," Gertude giggled and rubbed her belly when she saw Dee blush as Helios took her hand.
Going around the Durant mound only added a couple days to the journey but it was worth it to not waste time and ammo on another swarm. The detour wasn't without its dangers and they ran into more Survivalist Raiders despite most of them not having firearms.
Melany held her plasma defender in both hands, aiming at a dead Mightyena who had been part of the sixth raider attack in the last four days as if she expected him to get back up. Finally, she holstered the gun, "I think they're getting desperate."
"Why do you say that?" Gertude was shaking, having spent most of the fight just avoiding being shot.
Melany kicked the dead Mightyena's gun, which snapped in half, "Their gear's getting crappier and their parties are getting smaller." She looked over the half-a-dozen dead bodies nearby then to Dee and Helios, "Any food or chems on them?"
Helios stood up and shook his head, "Nothing, not even dirty water. I guess there's not too many of them left after they attacked the city."
Dee stood up and put a hand to her ear, "I hear something, sounds like chittering."
Melany was alert and pulled out her plasma defender, "RadSkorupi!" she turned to the sound as three of the giant mutants approached and a fourth much larger one behind them with arms that ended in pincers instead of spike.
"RadDrapion!" Gertude turned and ran with both hands protectively on her belly.
"Crap!" Helios reloaded his assault rifle and began firing at the approaching monsters. One got too close and he was forced to jump back, its pincer tail thankfully just striking his armor, and breathed fire at it causing it to shriek in pain.
Melany unloaded plasma bolts into the nearest RadSkorupi until it liquified and she was forced to reload and run. As she felt the thing close in she unleashed a stink cloud from beneath her tail. It cried out from the stench which gave her just enough of a lead to turn and fire at it, only to find GR-0-WL had bit down on its tail and was holding it in place as the RadSkorupi tried to spin around and attack the robot. Melany took her chance and put two plasma bolts into the creature's head after which is slumped down, motionless.
Dee had caught the attention of the RadDrapion and was dodging the giant Pokemon's pincer claws and tail. She lashed out with vacuum waves and punched the claws away when she couldn't dodge. Twice she tried to conjure fire for a blaze kick but only felt sparks before the blow connected.
"Dee, look up!" Helios' shout came just in time and Dee dodged the towering RadDrapion's tail and it struck down at her, only to get caught by the creature's claw pincer.
"AAAH!" Dee cried out in pain as the claw pierced into her. She slammed her elbow into the creature's arm three times until she fractured the carapace and it finally let go. Helios ran in and fired his shotgun at the claw which crippled the limb.
Melany pulled out her plasma rifle and fired her last six shots at the RadDrapion's head: one went wide, three hit it in the chest and two struck home one of which took out one of its eyes.
Helios tried to fire his assault rifle one-handed but missed half the shots at the RadDrapion before he breathed fire while backing off. Dee ran sideways and got behind the RadDrapion and slammed her palms into its tail until she felt the limb go rigid and fall limp behind it.
"Move!" Melany aimed her plasma defender at the RadDrapion's back and Dee jumped away to give her a clear shot. Melany fired her weapon until the heat started to scorch her hands. Helios ran sideways as he reloaded his assault rifle but was almost snatched by the RadDrapion's remaining good claw until Dee jumped at and kicked the arm so hard that it cracked half-way down its length. GR-0-WL ran in and bit down hard on the remaining claw and with a sudden jerk ripped the limb off. The RadDrapion's one good eye rolled at Dee and it tried to bite her until Helios emptied an entire clip from his assault rifle into its head. The RadDrapion shuddered then collapsed forwards, twitching on the ground.
Dee wiped sweat from her forehead and panted, "That thing… that was almost too much…"
Helios dropped his assault rifle and ran to Dee's side, helping the Riolu-woman get steady on her feet, "You're hurt!" he saw the puncture marks on her lower chest.
"DEE!" Gertrude ran over from where she had been hiding, "I'm so sorry! I got scared and panicked and I…" she started to choke up as she yanked her own backpack off and almost dropped it, until Melany grabbed her shoulders.
"Whoa calm down, Gertude!" she held the Zigzagoon-woman until her breathing leveled off, "It's alright. Let's just get moving before something else shows up, then we can make camp and get everything looked at." She released Gertrude then retrieved Helios' assault rifle and returned it to him. "You alright GR-0-WL?"
"I am undamaged," the robo-Growlithe barked.
"Just a minute," Gertrude forced herself to be steady as she pulled some antidote out of her back and applied it to Dee's injury, "I'll give it a better look when we camp."
"Thanks," Dee felt pain at the site but suppressed it so they could get moving.
They walked in silence for an hour before making camp; as soon as Dee sat down Gertrude got Dee to take her jacket and shirt off so she could get a better look at the puncture wounds on her front and back.
"Looks poisoned, here I'll give it a more thorough treatment," Gertrude used a syringe to inject the antidote into Dee then cleaned the wound and disinfected it. "If you're still healing fast better to just cover that up…" her voice was downcast as Dee pulled her clothes back on.
"Thanks Gertrude," Dee clapped her on the back, which almost sent Gertrude sprawling. "Sorry! Forget how strong I've gotten."
"I'm sorry I ran," Gertrude sniffed, "I just got scared."
"Hey it's fine!" Melany's looked up from her maintenance work on her plasma defender, her voice unusually harsh, "You're a doctor, not a fighter, just stop apologizing. If you weren't here we'd be all torn up and out of stimpacks."
Helios nodded, "She's right, so just relax and do what you can."
Melany couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, all of you. I just… thank you."
As they ate Dee lay her head on Helios's shoulder, "You know, for all the danger I feel more alive than I have in my life! All this danger and adventure and more," she sighed, "I just, whew!" she fanned herself, "I think your tail's heating me up, Helios."
Helios looked behind where his tail and its fire lay behind them, "No, Dee are you alright?"
"I feel something, uhhhhh haaa haaa!" Dee started panting then shuddering.
Helios grinned, "I think you're evolving, Dee!"
"Ahh! I feel so much energy, Gah!" Dee shuddered as she felt muscles grow all over her body, gaining a few inches in height as her clothes became tighter. In the fading daylight she saw the fur on her hands and forearms turn from blue to black and short spikes grew from the silver disks on the back of her hands. Her ears grew longer as her aura-dreads slid backwards and each split in two while retaining same blue bands of fur and her snout become narrower and more pointed. She leaned back as she felt her breasts grow and stretch her bra tight around her chest and finally a spike sprouted from the top of her now more prominent cleavage.
Dee sat there, panting for a minute before she stood up. "Wow, that was intense. Was it supposed to be like that?"
Helios nodded and just stared at her, "Yeah, that's how I felt."
"How do I look?" the newly evolved Lucario-woman turned to let everyone see her.
"Hot!" Helios blurted out.
"Very nice and healthy," Gertrude added, "On that note I should give you two a full checkup when we get back to Trovitopolis." She started sweating and patted her belly.
Melany watched Gertrude critically for a moment as something finally clicked. "Gertrude, why didn't you tell us you were pregnant?"
"You're pregnant?!" Dee sounded alarmed.
Gertrude smiled, "Not exactly, I'm eggnant." She wiped her forehead and sat back then winced. "Poke-people hatch from eggs so I'm carrying an egg. Ahh!" she winced again then started to undo her armor, "But I won't be for much longer!"
"Oh shit!" Melany sprang up, "What can we do?"
"Just help, aahh! Me get my, hnnn! Pants off!" the contractions kept Gertrude from getting a good grip on her armor's straps. Melany was at the Zigzagoon-woman's side and helped her pull the armor's pants off. Dee was up too and got some bottled water to Gertrude, who gulped it thankfully as Melany finally got her pants and underwear off. Helios propped their backpacks behind Gertrude to give her some makeshift pillows.
"Anything else we can do, like boil some water?" Helios asked.
Gertrude just spread her legs which gave them all a view of her dilating nether regions, "No, it's all on me nooooOOOOW!" Gertrude clenched her body as another contraction hit, "This isn't as messy as a live birth."
Helios and Dee sat down and watched along with Melany and GR-0-WL who hadn't moved from where he sat, not having any context for what was going on.
After half-an-hour, Gertrude cried out as she finally felt her egg start to slide out and she started to push. Everyone was startled as they saw the white tip of the egg start to poke out of her vagina.
"What's going on?" GR-0-WL looked up at Melany.
"She's having an egg, it's how we reproduce," Melany kept her eyes on Gertude as she pushed again, "I'll explain another day. For now we just need to keep her safe."
Gertrude grit her teeth and pushed, the egg sliding further out before she had to stop and take a breather. "Almost… there…" she panted. When the next contraction hit she pushed as hard as she could. Everyone watched as the egg spread her even farther and fluid dripped from around the shell. Gertrude put her whole effort in and with a loud cry followed by a sigh of relief, her egg finally slid out on to the ground and Gertrude collapsed backwards, panting heavily.
The egg was about the size of a soccer ball had a white shell with brown splotches scattered across it. Gertrude forced herself forwards and retrieved her freshly laid egg, even as she continued to leak from her nether region, and pulled it close to her.
"Want me to help you get dressed?" Melany got up and retrieved Gertrude's pants.
Gertrude accepted the clothes but shook her head, "No, hurts too much right now." She wrapped the egg in her pants.
"How long till you can walk again?" Dee asked.
"I'll manage after a good night's sleep," Gertrude held the egg close to her belly, "This isn't as hard as live birthing it. I helped a couple times with that when I was with the Followers in tribes that had human mothers. It was so much worse than this with the umbilical cord and," she sighed, "I'll spare you the disgusting details."
Melany sat back down and eyed Gertrude critically, now that the big moment was over, "Why'd you come with us if your due date was this close?"
"I didn't think we'd stay with the Moltres' Embers that long and I thought I had a couple more days. Guess I was early." Gertrude yawned and managed to pull her backpack around to use as a pillow, "I'll put it in my incubator when we get back home."
"How much farther till we get there?" Helios turned to Melany.
"We'll get there tomorrow if we hustle," Melany propped her bag up for a pillow, "GR-0-WL, you sure-"
"I want to keep you all safe, don't worry," the robo-Growlithe wagged its tail, something else Melany had added during the upgrade.
"Thanks," Dee smiled as she and Helios lay down together, the Charmeleon-man behind her with his arms around her middle.