Warning: Reader Discretion Advised. Pokémon x Human relationships. I do not own Pokemon.

Avery's Pokemon

Evangeline/Eva (Umbreon)
Gender: Female
Nature: Rash

Lady (Kirlia)
Gender: Female
Nature: Modest

Chastity (Buneary)
Gender: Female
Nature: Adamant

Dusty (Furfrou)
Gender: Male
Nature: Hardy

Sprite (Surskit)
Gender: Female
Nature: Quirky

? (Zoroark?)
Gender: Female
Nature: ?

Chapter: Show of Power

It was just a practice battle, but I couldn't shake my nervous excitement. Sure, I was facing my childhood crush, but there was more to it than that. Roxanne was a formidable opponent, and this was definitely a preteen wet dream of mine… but I was more focused on the fact that there would likely not be a better chance to prove myself to my Pokemon than right now.

If I didn't fuck this up, I could show them I was capable of being a good partner, worthy of being their trainer. Maybe, too, I could finally prove myself to Lady: my Kirlia had made it clear countless times that she loved me… but she clearly didn't respect me. I had absolute faith in Eva but she was also the target of Lady's worst side most often. An Umbreon and a Kirlia is a powerful team, hypothetically; the only thing that could hold them back was their relationship, more specifically: the behavior of Lady. Early on Eva had been a bit distant, a bully in other ways, but now there was no reason for them to have such animosity. Vanessa's place had only made things worse, though I still didn't understand why, considering they both evolved there.

But I couldn't let that bother me. Either they figured their shit out, or they were going to lose. It was that simple. Dwelling on the worst possibilities wasn't helpful at all.

Mouth full of food, I glanced at my mons.

Yeah, impossible to dwell in misery with them around. Right now… they were so cute while they ate, though Lady was pointedly ignoring me. She wasn't happy since I'd sassed her, nor that she wasn't getting the chance to battle solo, but at least she didn't throw a tantrum. As it was, the little psychic-fairy type sat splayed out on my shoulder – while Eva was curled up in my lap, slothful, her belly up.

Sitting about ten feet away in her sweatsuit, legs bowed beneath her, Roxanne sat - skimming her Pokenav, a lot different from my own Sinnoh-brand Poketch, and humming softly under her breath. She was still sweating from our exercise earlier despite the cool mountain wind. She had none of her Pokemon out, and sat alone enjoying her meal… She seemed like such a delicate and gentle woman, but she ate with such gusto, shoveling it into her mouth and moaning gratefully as she tasted it. She was in a good mood, and clearly liked my food. As did everybody, all the mons were scarfing it down, especially Dusty who's muzzle was soaked with the stew.

Was this what my mom felt after bumbling around the kitchen and seeing Zoey and I enjoy her meals? I'd only worked in the kitchen at my old job, Dim Lights, for a few days before they kicked me back out to the front-of-house, but maybe I had a bit of a flair for it. I only bought simple stuff to feed them last time I went to the mart, and then the Billy Benjamin Salvation shit happened, and the Underground, so money and supplies I was short on but… maybe if I won I'd ask Roxanne for some reward money, and get some better ingredients. If they thought this food was good, they'd be impressed if I actually put my all into it.

While I ate, I rubbed Eva's warm, fluffy tummy and skimmed my Pokedex's screen, looking at my team's move pools and pondering strategies; I could pick four moves only—that was both helpful and a hindrance. It limited my options, as it did with Roxanne's, so hypothetically… less chance of an actual strategy I couldn't handle.

Maybe the source of my anxiety was that I felt… lost. Staring at all these moves, icons, was overwhelming. And when I tried to develop simple strategies random unhelpful thoughts attacked me, like how whatever idea I possibly came up with Roxanne would obviously be able to counter because of her years of experience, but didn't every trainer start at the bottom?. Pessimism came so naturally. It didn't help that I was starting to realize just how unhelpful the Hearthome Coordinator's Trainer School was when it came to shit like this despite its exorbitant expense. Sure, I remembered a lot of my old teacher's lessons (Old Marcel's crooning voice still echoed in my mind sometimes) but there they just taught us moves were the photogenic, the most beautiful, and could synthesize well with others to create a gorgeous contest routine. Coordinator stuff.

I didn't need anything frivolous like that right now, just logic and strategy.

I must've had a strained look on my face, because suddenly Roxanne burst into giggles. "Arceus, Avery, you look like you're about to blow. Calm down, it's just a little battle."

I sighed. "I-I know, it's just… there's so many moves to pick from. I uh, don't have much battle experience on my belt, or even training. I went to a Coordinator school."

Roxanne's eyes widened, and she smiled. "W-Wait, you want to be a Coordinator? That is so cute, I bet you'll be great!" She said it so passionately that I didn't have it in me to say that I had 0 interest in contests whatsoever. "Your whole team is adorable, you'll all excel. Have you come up with a routine yet? D-Do you have a cute little outfit you wear? Something with frills, maybe?"

I didn't like the way she was looking at me, like Marissa when she used to torment me and try to make me put on girl clothes.

"I, uhh," I scratched the back of my head, smiling nervously, "N-Nah, not really."

Her face fell. "R-Really? Are you just being shy? A guy being a coordinator… I-I think that kind of thing is nice."

An awkward silence fell between us, and I became hyper-aware of the hot sensation of various gazes burning into me. I coughed nervously, and averted my eyes, "A-anyways, that's why I'm struggling. I'm hoping to become a better battler, for their sake." I nodded toward my team, and the busty professor nodded.

"Well, that makes sense," She tapped her chin, "Hmm, alright, well in that case I suppose I could help you out."

"You're going to help out your opponent?"

The brunette's eyes gleamed, and she flashed me a grin. "Sorry Avery, but it won't make a difference even if I do help you." As she got up she brushed her clothes off, and crossed over to where I sat.

Lady gave her a dirty look, and hopped off my shoulder. She trotted over to Chastity, who had been talking eagerly with Dusty and Sprite, and took a seat next to the buneary, nuzzling against her while shooting me knives. Message clear. Eva didn't react overmuch, but I had a feeling she wasn't happy about Roxanne's proximity to us either.

How the hell did I navigate a situation like this?

"O-Oh," Roxanne murmured as she noticed my partner's reactions, full lips curling into a pout, "My apologies, Avery… I didn't mean to bother them." So she said, yet Roxanne pressed herself up against my back as she leaned over me, glancing at my Pokedex screen. The way she was pressed up behind me, it made her warm, full breasts rub into my back, and my arm. She had amazing assets….

Was she trying to turn me on and make my Pokemon jealous!? Or was she just clueless with her body?

"Hmm, well, the good thing is that they're a higher level than I expected. If you don't have much battle experience… How are they so strong?"

"Well, we've been through -a lot," I murmured, red-faced. Eva narrowed her eyes. "Uhm, you wanna sit down next to me? Or…?" I moved my upper half away from Roxanne, even though it killed me to do so.

"R-Right, sorry, Avery…." She took a seat… at a distance now.

"All good."

So awkward. We both focused on our devices, and battle stuff, a foot apart.

"Sooo, I think my double-battle team is going to be Probopass and Cacturne."

I glanced up. "Huh? C-Cacturne!? But you're-"

"A rock-type trainer? Sure, I love that kind of Pokemon the most, but do you really think I only battle with rock-types after all these years?"

"I-I mean isn't that kinda what Gym Leaders do?… A cacturne is just unexpected, I guess."

"Gym Leader is a job, Avery. I enjoy Pokemon outside of the gym battling capacity, it's more than work for me. They're my friends, family, and please keep in mind that my TV series was recorded years ago, I have a lot more mons now, you should set aside any expectations or ideas you have in that pretty head of yours. I have all kinds of Pokemon."

I wondered how much weaker the Cacturne was going to be compared to her other Pokemon, assuming it didn't battle as much as the rest of them. Way less experience, hypothetically.

"So what is the last mon you plan on using?"

"Cubone."

"W-Wait a second." A memory rushed out of the depths of my mind, hitting me hard. "Is it the same little guy that Roark gave you when he was featured in that one Christmas special?"

"The very same one!"

Why the Hell did that make me jealous!? "I see. You really aren't gonna go easy on me, are you?"

"I'm really not."

Roxanne taught me more in twenty minutes about battling than I learned in all my years at HCTS. She pointed out all the different status moves Lady, Chastity, and Eva had available, and discussed the unspoken advantages each one had. Burning a Pokemon did not just cause them to take damage over time, it also caused them to enter such a panic that they couldn't even focus on battling most of the time, causing them to do a lot less damage, paralyzation could immobilize a mon, freezing went without explanation, etcetera. Lady and Eva had started out grumpy about Rox being near me, teaching me, but she had such a way with words that eventually we all ended up listening to her, absorbing everything she had to say. She was an amazing teacher.

I'd never taken the time to stop and consider what the extra details on my mons' pokedex entries meant, and I really should've. Pokeballs automatically linked to the Pokedex, which in turn was linked to PCs that were assembled across every region, so all information available was current. Roxanne went from top to bottom explaining each of my Pokemon's abilities, taking note of anything special about them.

"Your kirlia… She has a lot of moves that I am quite surprised by, for example: disable, synchronoise, confuse ray… one of her parents is not from the Gardevoir line, the only way she could've gotten many of these moves is from cross-species breeding… likely a Hypno or Alakazam, Gardevoir's tend to be more attracted to their own type whether that psychic or fairy."

I suddenly remembered the Gardevoir I'd once met, in what to me was like a phantom memory. Lady's mother had visited me when I'd been ready to "pass over." I'd forgotten about it, could barely conjure the memory in my head, but I remembered her kissing me, and I wondered now if that same Pokemon had partnered up with one of the most infamous Pokemon in the world… to some people Hypno was very interesting, to others they were terrifying, and I'd argue that they were one of the few Pokemon whose bad reputation was earned. Obviously, not all Pokemon are the same, but it's common knowledge that you shouldn't leave a vulnerable person with a Drowzee or Hypno, because they're one of the few species to actively hunt humans for their food source: dreams, especially nightmares, and they were willing to cause them. I'd read stories about families having to get rid of their household Hypno because a new kid was born in the house, and children's dreams were Hypno's favorite.

"K-Kirlia kirl!" Lady nodded eagerly, practically leaping up. "Kirl kirl kirl!"

"She's right, Master! Father is a Hypno! For such an annoying human, she's rather smart."

"Lady says that her dad is a hypno, so good guess, I guess."

"Yep, I figured, as for the rest of your team…."

Eva had the ability to synchronize, which would cause her to pass off the previously discussed status effects to her opponents when afflicted with one, but it wasn't always a positive. Supposedly, it could work to my detriment… and Chastity's ability was even more specific: she had Run Away, not particularly useful now but apparently quite advantageous when she evolved. Dusty had Fur Coat, an ability that supposedly all Furfrou's had, while Sprite had Swift Swim, only advantageous during rainy weather conditions or in water.

When Roxanne got to my final Pokemon, she fell completely silent, and all her confidence fled.

"Now… What in the world is this Pokemon?"

There was a question mark for everything on the Pokedex, and I pondered how I was going to explain this. "It's a uh, well," I bit my lip, and decided to just tell Roxanne straight-up. "... I met this weird Pokemon in the underground. I caught it."

Roxanne's expression shifted, her eyes narrowed. "A… weird Pokemon?"

"Yes. I've never seen it before."

"That's to be expected, you're a new trainer… Can I see it?"

"She'll probably be mad if I send her out for something frivolous. She's old, like… hundreds of years old, maybe even more than that."

Roxanne's breath caught in her chest, and it seemed like she wanted to pressure me or argue, but instead she just shrugged. "Alright. But… you should find out what this Pokemon is, what it's capable of, as soon as you can. Otherwise, I doubt it'll be much use to you in battle."

Would the mysterious Zoroark even be willing to fight for me?

With our little lesson at its conclusion, it was time for me to decide my team's moveset. It was still a tough task, but it had to be done. I had a brief little talk with all three mons, and locked them in.

Eva - Protect, Baby-doll Eyes, Double Kick, Toxic

Lady - Dazzling gleam, Teleport, Disarming Voice, Calm Mind

Chastity - Bounce, Rock smash, knock-off, substitute

With that done, and our food devoured, there was nothing left to do but battle.

"Ready?" Roxanne asked eagerly as she got up, she was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Clearly all the teaching worked her into a frenzy.

I matched her energy, grinning wide. "As ready as ever."

Chastity was up first.

She hopped over to our side of the makeshift arena. Roxanne had carved the boundaries of the battle area with a stick, remarkably proficient at it, but that made sense with her being a Gym Leader. I hadn't done that with Hardy, it gave the looming battle a feeling of realism, like this was legit. My palms were sweaty, and I exhaled hard, staring at the back of my little buneary's head.

She glanced back at me, and grinned. "Bun bun!"

Did the nervousness show on my face? Fuck. I forced the stress away, put a smile on my face, and nodded. "Let's do this."

Roxanne let out her Cubone. "Go Izmir!"

Such a runty little guy… were Cubones usually so grumpy-looking? He glowered at me, brandishing his club as if it was a sword, swaying it in the air. Why the hell was this Pokemon glaring at ME and not Chastity?

"Cubone, bone!"

I scanned Roxanne's Pokemon with my dex, and skimmed the information that appeared. It was a ground-type with mother issues, that was the data I gleaned, there was nothing really useful about its battle-style. With Hardy, I'd been able to use his mon's inability to turn around quickly against it, but Cubone didn't seem to have any inherent disadvantages.

"I'm ready when you are, Avery."

"R-Right."

I glanced to my left. They were all watching me! Lady sat at the edge of the arena right next to Eva. Both of them were staring at me, different shades of ruby eyes burning like lasers into my flesh, analyzing my every move… I focused on Chastity, on the battlefield, and nodded at Roxanne. "Let's go."

Roxanne's happy face transformed like a switch was flipped. Suddenly the happy-go-lucky teacher wasn't standing opposite me, now it was the woman I recognized from my childhood, battling her ass off at all the different tournaments I'd witnessed her at. Stern, voice commanding, she didn't hesitate at all. The second I gave the ok to go, she yelled, "Izmir, start the battle with an earthquake!"

"C-Chastity, use bounce!"

As the cubone slammed his feet into the ground, the earth began to rumble violently beneath us. He was small but the power in his body was insane. Chastity gave me a nod and leapt straight into the air.

Roxanne grinned. "Good boy, Avery. That's exactly right! Such powerful moves can be avoided by creating distance! Now, Izmir, follow up that earthquake with bone club! Take her out!"

The cubone held the bone steady in his hand, and then took a little step forward, tossing it forward. Like a boomerang it ripped through the air in a perfect, precise curve. What an aim!

"B-Buneary!" Chastity twisted her body, crying out as she just barely managed to avoid the flying club.

She started plummeting downward.

"Use earthquake again, the moment that buneary hits the ground Izmir! Don't give her a moment to breathe!"

W-What the Hell? All these rapid fire commands! My mind was barely able to keep up.

"F-Fuck, Chastity use uhm, b-bounce again- no uh, use- j-just try to dodge!"

The more I fumbled my commands the more embarrassed I got.

"Buneary!" Chastity snapped back at me, and as she reached the earth again the cubone began to smash it with his club, creating another violent rush of shaking beneath the ground. Chastity took it on herself to bounce again the second she could, but as she started to jump upward the Cubone rushed forward with surprising speed and slammed his club straight into her.

"Bunn!" She tumbled across the dirt, crying out.

"C-Chastity! Are you okay?"

"Buneary…." Chastity dragged herself up, panting, brushing the spot in her head where she'd been bashed. A little bit of blood was there, the fur dishevelled. She glared at me, "Bun bun buneary!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Izmir, hold back for now…." The Gym Leader crossed her arms on her impressive chest. "Avery, think ahead, don't just try to counter what I do" Roxanne scolded. "This isn't a video game where we take turns, this is a battle. Bounce, and then what? Dodge, and then what?"

It was just a cubone. If I couldn't defeat him, how could I handle Roark?

How would I handle the S.S. Amber?

"Alright, let's go! Izmir, bone club again!"

"Chastity, use substitute!"

"Break the substitute with bonemerang Izmir! And follow up with a focus punch!"

"Ruin his concentration with a rock smash! We need to start lowering his defenses, Chastity - we can't let him get that fighting-type move off."

For a while Roxanne and I went back and forth like that, we just threw commands again and again, countering one another and trying to get the edge in subtle ways.

I got the advantage first when Izmir tried to break the stalemate, disobeying Roxanne outright, and using Focus Punch instead - if he landed the move it would've been devastating, but with a quick command of "Break his focus again-" I put a stop to it. Chastity was so fast that she was able to leap towards him, smashing his hard, sturdy body with her ears again and again, ruining his concentration. Everytime he lifted his little limb to punch her she repeated the action, and the more he failed the more Izmir wanted to get the move off.

Chastity really was incredible at battling when she put her mind to it - it wasn't just her attacks, it was the way she defended herself as well. She seemed more like a dancer than a Pokemon, fluffy little body here one moment, and there the next. Like when she'd faced off against Lady, her poor enemy just couldn't land a hit on her, and I could see the frustration mounting in his eyes, in the halting abruptness of his newfound attacks.

The cubone leapt into the air after one of Chastity's incredible jumps, following after her… only for the adorable bunny to twist midair, slamming both her feet into him and sending him plummeting back down into the earth. She landed next to him a second later. He threw himself back up towards her, swinging like mad.

"Cubone! Cubone cubone cub!"

"Buneary~" Chastity ducked, dodged, and danced out of her way. At the edge of the field, Lady watched her every move in rapt fascination.

"Calm down, Izmir! Straight offense won't work anymore, we've lost our chance for that, so back off!" Roxanne called out, but her little mon wasn't listening. Brandishing his bone club like a sword, he went full on the attack, but it was no use. So long as Chastity was focused, nothing would be hitting us, our strategy of alternating between bouncing, substituting, and small nudges at the cubone's health and defense with rock smash was working. It was obvious to me now that our first battle had been a total fluke, a sign of me being an inept trainer at that point because this one was shaping out to be a victory.

"Chastity…." As the next words came out of me, I realized that battling really wasn't for the soft of heart. "... Hit him while he's down, press the attack!"

"Izmir, protect!"

As Chastity bounced towards him, huge ears sweeping forward for a powerful blow, the cubone held up its weapon just in time - her ears hit the club instead of his body… and just like that Chastity's tiny amount of attack was cancelled out.

"Izmir, follow up your defense with another bone club attack!" Roxanne commanded.

Just in time, Chastity unrolled her ears, shifting subtly out of the way. As Ishmir stumbled past her, missing by a mere half-inch with his bone club, she swept up behind him.

It was time to get rid of that pesky bone it was wielding. He hadn't managed to get more than a few small hits, and one big one, off of us but the vicious way it whipped through the air I didn't want to find out just how much damage it could do.

"... Knock off!" I ordered, "don't give him a second to concentrate afterward Chastity. He can't build his offense properly if you're full on the attack! Get rid of that bone club!"

Izmir managed to protect himself against a few knock-offs, but finally Chastity landed a proper knock off - like hitting a home run, his club flew across the field where it landed with a thud, untouchable. He'd have to sprint back to it now to get it… and if I was remembering correctly, that meant Cubone's offense was practically halved now.

"Chastity, his defense is still too high for us to get a proper knock at him, so start stacking him with rock smash." I ordered, and she met my eyes with a quick nod.

Chastity darted forward, her tiny paws a blur as she unleashed a flurry of attacks. Each hit landed with a satisfying thud against Izmir's tough hide, gradually chipping away at his defenses… It was disturbingly satisfying hearing the Pokemon that so viciously tried to beat up Chastity with his club cry out as he was knocked around instead.

Roxanne's eyes narrowed, her calm demeanor slipping for a moment. "Izmir, back off, grab your club and use bonermang again!"

The Cubone lowered his head and charged away, but Chastity was too quick. She chased after him, her long ears trailing behind her like ribbons in the wind. She giggled at the ground-type's visible frustration, leaping onto his skull helmet and knocking him in the head a few times, one huge blow stopping his attempt to pick up his item. He started to thrash about violently, but without his club he wasn't nearly as formidable.

He swung wildly at her with his paws, missing each blow, in a total frenzy… and she avoided each attack by simply leaping, mockingly dancing on top of him, maintaining a delicate, teetering balance as her paws moved along his skull-helm. She leapt off him, spun mid-air, delivering a powerful Rock Smash to Izmir's exposed back. The Cubone stumbled forward, collapsing onto the ground with a heart-wrenching cry.

"S-Stop that this instant," Roxanne cried out in horror, "Izmir, get it together! Please, focus!"

As he kept swinging, in a total rage that he'd yet to land a proper attack on her, the opening became clear to me. "Now, Chastity! Attack while he's distracted, follow up with another rock smash!" I shouted.

"Get yourself together and use protect!" Roxanne called, but it was too late. Angry, having a full-on temper tantrum, the little helmet-headed mon kept violently swinging around himself, ignoring her commands.

I've heard that traded Pokemon are harder to get obey than most, and perhaps that was true because Roxanne seemingly lost control of the little guy Roark gave to her, she was doing her best but the lack of success in this battle so far had seemingly ruined her mon's attempts at common sense, along with Chastity's constant teasing and taunting. Maybe that was why he was still a cubone even after all the years.

Izmir merely swung wildly, at nothing in particular and in a total confused and hate-filled rage. Dirt and grass flew with each strike, and my little buneary made happy little noises as she successfully dipped and dodged out of the way of his little fists. Even smashing about with full speed and might he still couldn't get a hit on Chastity. She was just too fast, and while he'd been letting his passion consume him she'd been steadily whacking away at his body, his health points decreasing, along with his defenses.

When Izmir ran at her again, totally senseless, he didn't heed a single one of Roxanne's yelled commands. Nor did he pay attention to Chastity's body language. She was basically playing with her food, going easy on him at this point. It hit me that we could finish this battle whenever we wanted, that because of his piss-poor mentality… we'd already won.

Izmir didn't listen to commands, kinda like how Lady didn't with me, it was kind of relieving: if even an adept trainer like Roxanne struggled to train an independent angry little guy like Izmir I stood a chance.

"Chastity, you've got this. Finish him off."

I let her determine how she wanted to do it, and felt no need to take control when we'd already done all the hard work. As expected, she understood my meaning. The fluffy little bunny darted close, and as the cubone attacked her, her single form melted away, becoming two. Such an effortless substitute, and the thrashing cubone was so angry he didn't even notice the difference.

"Izmir, wait, that one is fake! Behind-"

But it was too late. Chastity put her all into it this time, leaping into the air, and combining a rock smash with a bounce attack, plummeting violently toward him. When Chastity's ears slammed into him this time, Izmir flew across the ground a few feet and landed in a heap. And he did not get up. Collapsed on the upturned earth where he'd tumbled to a rest, the fainted ground-type just lay there.

Roxanne stared at the passed-out Pokemon in total surprise.

"Well well… I'm impressed Avery. I thought you were an amateur, and yet you took advantage of his thrashing to finish him off. Rather savage of you."

Her back-handed praise made my face burn. Maybe Juliet ruined me, because the slight aggravation and annoyance in her voice was enticing. "Not savage, and nothing special either. I just noticed he used that move when you didn't tell him to, and I remembered that it creates a huge opening in the Pokemon using it. Confusion, right?"

Roxanne nodded.

"But earlier on… you could've beaten me, easily… you let me get my bearings, chose a traded Pokemon with obedience issues." She didn't deny it. "You were going easy on me."

"The Pokemon choice, perhaps, he's never behaved a single day in his life… but really… that Buneary of yours. She played him like a fiddle. Sure knows how to mess with an opponent's mind, that's a huge advantage. If she didn't learn it with you, though, where did she learn it?"

It was food for thought, and something I didn't have the answer to. I glanced over at my victorious Buneary where she was perched on Dusty's head, paws on each of her little hips. Grinning, huge brown eyes ablaze with excitement and joy, I really couldn't find it in me to care what exactly she'd done before I met her… or why she chose me at that party that day.

I was just lucky to have her. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to think that way: Dusty was all over her. She'd done wonderful, I wanted to tell her that but she was already getting the full applause from our gang so I didn't bother, just smiled and watched as she bathed in all the praise. Even Lady was showering the buneary with affection.

"Alright, enough, you haven't even won yet. You can act all victorious after this is finished," The schoolteacher interrupted our mini-celebration. Fair enough, it was true that this was hardly what anyone would call a victory… especially with the hardest part still looming ahead. The double battle.

I glanced over at Eva and Lady. The pair had been avoiding talking to each other since they'd been assigned as partners, totally opposite what they should've been doing. I didn't bother trying to force them to interact because forcing it would've only made things worse. Now, they glanced at each other, and I sighed heavily as lightning seemed to leap from Lady's eyes.

She huffed, pointing her face away, chin upward. Eva just sighed softly, giving me a weak smile and nodding as if to say 'I'm ready.'

I was already regretting my team choice.

"The next one won't be so easy," Roxanne warned me as she grabbed her next two pokeballs from her belt. "You don't need a break, right big guy?"

"A little one. Mind if I talk to Lady real quick?" I asked Roxanne, and she gave me a warm smile and a nod. Of course she understood. It was weird having someone be so nice to me, especially a human. Her sweet expressions kind of terrified me, as if they might melt away and become twisted smirks, scowls, a mask of twisted bliss.

"Go ahead. Be gentle, but firm. It'll help if you just be yourself."

"Hey, Lady, let's go for a walk," I said, nodding toward the path down from the mountaintop.

My freckled kirlia cocked her head, and gave me a suspicious but happy look, using her delicate little nub-hands to float herself into the air, stepping happily to my side.

'Where are we going, Master?'

'We gotta have a little chat before your battle.'

'I know what this is about. Me taking your orders-'

'Wrong. Stop trying to mind-read me when I'm talking to you.'

I continued the rest of our conversation out loud, "It's about you and Eva. I don't know what's going on between you-"

'She saw us last night. She didn't like it. Or maybe she did, I'm not sure….'

"What? L-Last night? When we were- fuck, that can't keep happening!" That explained so much about the way Eva behaved today. "Why didn't you tell me? I would've stopped."

Lady shrugged. 'Because I liked it.'

"Liked it?"

'How she laid there, paralyzed, and… the way she looked at me. Looked at us. Like we were different from her. She could've just asked to join in, and instead she suffered all by herself. She let me have you! That's the difference between her and I, Master. I would've walked over, and demanded my turn. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you.'

Why did it always come back to this, like speaking this way about her friend was natural, like she really thought Eva beneath her?

"Lady, look at me. Evangeline's heart is not a toy, do you understand me? Wipe that smirk off your face right now."

The freckled little psychic-type's happiness faded when she saw my expression.

I knelt, and looked right into her eyes, our faces close.

"If you mistreat Eva during this battle…." I let the silence hang, an empty threat, and Lady's crimson eyes glowed as she raised her chin in defiance.

'I'll be nice, as long as she doesn't hold me back.' She marched back the way we came.

"Lady!" I called after my little mon, but she was done listening. I sighed, and followed her.

"I hate him!"

"Sister, it was just a phone call, and you're letting our brother undo you like this?"

"It was the way he spoke to me! Like he was better than me! I have no doubt he was thinking how I'm just some silly girl that he has no reason to be afraid of!"

"Really? I think he was just worried about his mother."

As she said this, Chizuru roughly squeezed her new favorite plaything's breasts. Amy Higgs wailed, squirming like a little bug mon in her prison of ropes, eyes shooting wide as her husband's daughter made an object out of her body. Chizuru smiled. The woman acted like she didn't like it, but she was soaking wet where it counted, and her gasps were laced with moans. She even liked pain.

"Slut," Chizuru whispered in Amy's ear, "whore mother."

Amy moaned.

Despite what her twin sister thought, Chizuru wasn't inherently masochistic. She was… rather, whatever she needed to be. Not quite sadomasochistic, but that was as suitable a description as any. It was odd, the way pleasure came to her. She liked to see Emiko get off on her power trips, while knowing that if necessary she could easily overcome her sister in every way that counted. She liked control. Their father had made her that way. She was more powerful than Emiko, in ways her other half didn't quite understand yet, but one day she would.

Aldyr had been more hands-on with Chizuru. She was ready to serve her purpose. It was Emiko who was constantly on the path towards being led astray, always so focused on the negative and rebellion; instead of enjoying Amy, waiting for her brother's inevitable return, she was impatient, and as always, obsessed.

Emiko acted tough, but she was afraid of Avery, she recognized their father in him. Everything Chizuru felt, Emiko did too. Chizuru, meanwhile, hoped he was a true heir. He was so pretty, seemed rather pathetic and easy to mold. She wanted to make him fall in love with her, help craft him into what he needed to be, she could easily claim his heart before Emiko, or anyone else – forge her image in his mind so that nobody else would be do, a fair price, considering how he would be forging his image inside of her. She wouldn't tolerate him being like father, roaming from woman to woman. Instead, she'd make up for it by having many children.

Oddly, Chizuru craved being bred. It meant she would be passing on her remarkable powers; Emiko despised it, but either way, one day, they'd both surrender to the same man. Perhaps it would be Avery, perhaps someone else. Chizuru, more than anything, hoped Father one day surrendered to the truth she already knew. That he was the only one worthy, but for now, she'd continue to be a part of his pointless pursuit for a special son.

If Emiko's loyalty wasn't in question Chizuru would likely be in Johto with Father, instead, but she'd been assigned as Emiko's watcher as always. As ordered, when the time was right, she'd slip inside her sister's mind. She'd resist the man that would give her her purpose, but Chizuru would ease her sister's fears, her hatred, her anger, her doubts. She'd make her sister's legs spread for her breeder, keep them trapped wide open… while He….

Amy began to squeal loudly. That made sense: beyond excited thinking about their future, Chizuru had begun to roughly toy with the Higgs matron's clit, her every touch frenzied.

"Ugh, still playing with that filthy woman. You're so boring! You really don't care, that father wants us to-to…."

"I really don't. I think he's rather adorable. I like the way he tried to stand up to you, how he started to whine when he realized what we were doing to our new mother~ he's a silly boy. Don't you think he's rather handsome?"

"He's not," Emiko snapped, marching up to her twin. "Stop touching that cow."

Chizuru immediately stopped caressing Amy, turning to her other half. "Why?"

"Because we're not staying here."

She cocked her head. "So you were being serious? About chasing him?"

"Yes. I'm going after our brother… and you're coming with me. I don't want to be here in Sinnoh. I want to go home, and the sooner we get Avery-"

"We need to watch after Amy, though," Chizuru mused dreamily, "what happens if father sends a helper and discovers we're not here?"

That made Emiko halt for a second. Then, the braid-wearing girl laughed nervously. "I-It's fine if we're pursuing him. We're only here to wait for brother, anyways. What does it matter if we take the fight to him directly? We already know where he's going. We have no guarantee he is even coming back here, least of all for her." She glared at Amy, who sighed heavily into her gag.

Chizuru smiled. "Let me think about it. It's a wonderful idea."

It was tempting to run off. She wanted to see the Sinnoh Region. It was the only reason she considered saying yes, but she was not as eager as Emiko to break from the commands their father had given them. He likely had a reason for wanting them to stay here.

"All this playing with Mother, I've worked up quite an appetite. I'm going to go grocery-shopping. Do you want to come with me?"

Emiko scowled. "Of course I don't! You know what I like."

"Mmm." Chizuru shrugged, standing and placing a kiss on Amy's sweaty forehead. "We'll play more later. For now, we need to do some chores. Buster! Come here!"

The immense, four-armed fighting-type stomped into the room, shame-faced as usual.

"She's free for the evening, yes? Unless you want to play with her?"

"No way. I'm already bored with her. Such a filthy, shameless woman."

Chizuru didn't agree out loud, but it was unquestionable that no matter what she did, Amy came by the end of it. A truly whorish individual. Incredible that she was a vessel, that she had the potential to give birth to special children… and of course, she'd done something no one had ever done.

Made her father show true emotion.

She undid Amy's bonds, sent her off to get dressed, and a few minutes later, Amy, Chizuru, and Buster were heading into town. They hadn't grocery-shopped for the apartment yet. Emiko had a very specific, all-vegetable and fruit diet. Their budget was pretty much infinite, so she picked the most costly, well-known grocer in the city, where all the wealthiest shopped.

Buster and Amy did all the manual labor for her. She could've used her powers of course, but that was wasted energy, and mundane people didn't take well to common use of psychic abilities even in Johto, she had no idea how people would handle it here.

She was in the middle of watching Amy giggling away with Buster, enjoying herself for a so-called prisoner of her own house, when a voice suddenly disrupted her concentration.

"Amy?"

It was a carrot-haired boy, tall and handsome. His features were well-sculpted, flawless, he was the kind of man you'd find in magazines. His deep blue eyes stared into the Higgs woman, surprise written across his face. It was normal to run into people at a store, why was he acting so oddly? Sweat beaded on his forehead.

She looked inside him….And her eyes widened, as she tasted HIM. Their brother.

Amy spoke up before she could, tone rather nervous. "Uhm, hi Jackson, where's your mother?"

"She didn't tell you? Mom went on vacation."

"Ahh! Yes, on that big cruise right? She invited me, but… I declined."

The ginger boy smiled oddly. "It's probably for the best. I'm not going either."

"Really!? Who's going to be taking care of you?"

He flushed as red as his hair as Amy fussed over him. "I-I'm a grown man, Amy. I don't need somebody to take care of me."

"Ah, I-I suppose that's true."

Jackson looked past Amy, right at Chizuru. He stopped for a moment as he met her odd violet-hued eyes, then smiled weakly. "H-Hey, my name's Jack."

"Chizuru." She extended her hand, took his when he offered it… and took that point of direct contact as an opportunity to see more, all the things as a human he was desperate to hide. In a few seconds, like rushing water inevitably being siphoned into her, she tasted every memory of her brother that he had to offer.

Jackson Wainwright. He would be a useful tool, Avery's former best friend, but an enemy now, desperate to win back the friendship he'd lost. In love with him, no, in love with the idea of him. A control-freak, a lustful beast, an ambitious, power-hungry-

Chizuru ripped herself out of Jack's mind.

"It's nice to meet you," The tattooed psychic said slowly, "how do you know Amy?"

"Her son is my best friend. Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing."

She was aware. That's why she asked first. It was funny that he used best friend in the current tense, considering all that Chizuru now knew.

She wanted to toy with him.

"She's the former wife of my father, Aldyr. I'm vacationing here in Sinnoh for a while… and Amy's letting us live with her." Chizuru walked up behind the older woman, and hugged her tight, taking the opportunity to use one hand, subtly squeezing one round asscheek just so Amy didn't get too comfortable. The middle-aged woman squealed, but kept her mouth firmly shut. Buster stared at them, wide-eyed, and then looked away.

"Ah, I see. Sooooo… Amy, when did you get a Machamp?"

"R-Recently… uhm, he belongs to my boyfriend."

Amy squeaked it out, and Chizuru laughed. The machamp was her boyfriend. It was the human he belonged to that was tagging along for the ride! Buster stayed quiet as Jack stared him up and down.

"He's huge! But… boyfriend? When did that happen?" Jack questioned, and Amy squirmed.

"N-not so long ago," She admitted, "but why don't we catch up another time?"

"Don't send him away so soon, I want to get to know him," Chizuru said softly, "If you don't mind, Jackson."

"He does mind." At that moment, someone else intruded, a girl with the very same vivid blue eyes and bright, bottle-pink hair. Exceptionally feminine, and with an amazing body, the newcomer's energy was hard to describe… Chizuru cocked her head, watched the girl's every move, studying her. There was something odd about this woman. Smiling sickly sweetly, the pink-haired girl wrapped her arms around Jack, snuggling up against him.

He was visibly uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away.

"There you are Jacky-wacky, for a second I thought you'd wandered off!"

"I would never, sis," Jack sighed heavily, "hey, this is Avery's sister… uhh, you said it was-"

"Chizuru. And just how do you know Avery?"

The pink-haired girl made a strangled noise. "He's-"

Jack spoke on her behalf. "The three of us go way back." He shrugged.

Chizuru stared at the pink-haired girl in total fascination.

"And what is your name… ?"

"Marissa."

She shivered when Marissa met her eyes, smiling slowly, a sick little stretch of lips across a pristine face. There was something unsettling… just beneath the skin. That bubbly, happy, innocent mask was merely a facade…. Chizuru could feel her hesitation, her self-restraint, and something else.

She reached inside Marissa. Such a pliant mind, and already ravaged if the disconnected thought processes and wavelengths were anything to go by. This poor girl's brain was in total chaos, especially her memory. But, Chizuru could fix it, had to because she needed every glimpse of him she could get. She burrowed into the Wainwright girl's mind as easily as the snap of a finger, connecting the frayed ends, repairing what memories she could.

Her breathing grew heavy, a heat taking hold of her body as something began to fight her. Truly incredible tampering had taken place in this mind, but the stitching was amateur… and whoever did it had been able enough to wipe away the memory of themselves committing the act. She fought back the resistant barriers, felt the seal burst at the seam, and with a suppressed moan of delight… She tasted everything.

Marissa Wainwright raised her hands to her head, and screamed.

It all started flowing back into her, memory after memory… ravaging her.

Avery carrying her on his back, the sweet scent of his hair in her nose as she nestled into him, safe and serene. Avery and Jack walking ahead of her, always leaving her behind, so many cherished moments. Her first time touching herself to him… she'd ached so fiercely, felt so lonely, she'd taken out her Poketch and pulled up her favorite picture of him. The one where the sun was shining on his then boyish face, casting a delicious glow on his tan skin, bringing out the darkness of his eyes… she'd taken the photo when they all went to the beach together. He looked so cute in his swim-trunks, little sharpedos all along the edges. He'd complained about how childish they were to his mother, but she thought he looked adorable in them, long legs extending out from under him, already so tall at that age. Lying in her bed, she'd pressed feverish kisses across the picture, imagining it was his real naked abdomen and face she was smooching, not a glowing screen. She felt so ashamed when she came, and yet she kept doing it, again and again… and soon her own fingers weren't enough. That was the first time she'd had the idea of playing with her Pokemon, and she and Candy quickly became girlfriends, they were as natural together as Avery and Marissa were. And that's what they were, natural; they were meant to be together.

Avery Higgs….