This is a piece of fiction and should be considered as such. It is also an adult-themed story, and should not be read by those who are easily offended by such or are not old enough in their respective country to be allowed to read it. This particular work is the property of
The PokeGirl Universe was first created by metroanime. He isn't doing it any more, so don't blame him- find someone else on the site to. In other words, I didn't create the setting, and I'm not taking any credit for it, Original Characters aside. Feedback is encouraged, it provides ego and morale boosts equivalent to the power of the Stim Pack in Starcraft, or in modern terms several grams of crack.
A/N: I'm still not the best in writing actual battles... so here's my chance to try :D
The arena was only 'small' by the standards of a gym; in terms of private spaces it was more than enough. Toman ballparked it to be at least fifteen meters long. Like most modern indoors facilities, the floor was a rubber-wood mixture designed to be softer to land on and proofed to the degree required to tolerate some of the hotter Girls. "Yeah, I think this will do," he said, having a seat on a spectators' mat to one side of the battlefield and allowing his Pokegirls to sit beside him.
Flurry came in behind him, with Joan in tow, spinning around as she surveyed the new space and shared Toman's opinion. "Perfect," He said, hurrying over to the far side and making a big show as she and her Chikotit stretched together to prepare. "You'll be at a disadvantage but because you're both at low levels it shouldn't be too bad. I doubt Grace has had time to learn many fire moves. Be aggressive and try to keep her off balance." Her beloved Girl nodded in understanding, eyes flicking over to Dom and Grace as they went to the opposite side of the arena.
Dom said, "Just focus on your flames, Grace. This one should be in the bag with a few good Embers, like we practiced. Good luck." He pulled her close for a kiss that was the encouragement few words could equal. Grace looked ready to go, her fiery personality coming out as she stepped up.
Professor Shields came in last, alongside Katya. The Psi'dkick was dressed in a striped shirt, having convinced her master to take a seat and let her handle things. When she got to the middle of the field and saw that both sides were ready she spoke up. "This is an official arena battle between Dominique Barrett of Samara Village and Josette-Josephine Fleury of Shelaya City," She said officiously. "This will be a single battle, no substitutions or items. The first one to render her opponent unable to continue will be the winner."
It was hard for Toman to tell who was more confident, and both of them seemed to be consciously radiating it to intimidate the other, like a battle of wills. "Ladies first," Dom called, bowing gracefully.
Flurry was never one to pass up the initiative when her opponent offered it up. "Joan, go! Vine whip!" Joan acknowledged and charged for her opponent, twin green tentacles sprouting from her back and growing longer than she was tall, whipping around in search of a target. Grace stood her ground, waiting until she crossed the half-way line of the arena for orders.
"Try to keep some distance between you," Dom ordered. "Ember." Grace opened her mouth and spat burning embers like watermelon seeds. The small fiery projectiles arced out into the air by the dozens, aimed straight for the charging opponent. Joan had little room to dodge but did what she could, although she got pelted with agonizing embers several times before she could get in striking range.
Grace rolled to the side to avoid a vine that snapped like a true whip, slapping the air where she would have been. She fired again, sending another volley of scorching missiles at her enemy. Joan let out a curse in guttural Russian as one of the embers struck her hair and threatened to set it alight, only stopped by her frantic hands pounding it out. She instinctively lengthened both of the vines, sweeping them around in a cone and brushing the edges of Grace's brown legs.
The Torch Chick moved to sprint around her when her vines were swinging around, but Joan dived into her as she got close, physically tackling her. The impact winded both girls as they landed in a heap on the floor, a mess of tentacles, limbs and squirming inhuman flesh. In low-level battles like this when most of a Pokegirl's potential remains locked away, it tended to resemble human combat a lot more, with common punches, kicks, and slams that might happen on any street brawl. It certainly devolved into this as both girls tried to smack and punch each other, bucking to throw their opponent off-balance.
The type disadvantage became really apparent close-in, and when Grace got a shot, she spat the weakest basics of a Flamethrower attack, which was still several hundred degrees of heated air right into her enemy's face like a shotgun blast. Joan screamed like a banshee, pain throwing her into a rage as she pulled herself up and then used gravity to slam her opponent. Both were fairly light for Pokegirls, but the impact knocked the air from Grace and she felt a stinging pain from her ribs.
The combatants both had enough wherewithal to create some distance, rolling and crawling away and struggling to get up. Grace figured she hadn't taken any serious damage, and was up before Joan could get over the searing burns on her face. "Continue using Ember," Dom commanded, and her target was stationary this time, letting her rain globules of molten pain upon the Chikotit.
Flurry cursed as if her life depended on the outcome of the match, and screamed encouragements and orders for Joan to get up. Incredibly, she did, rising even as her body shuddered from each new, painful impact. Marya, Toman and Irena all found themselves unable to look at her, scorched across her entire body and with agonizing burns on her face. Steam literally rose from her, and the battle's observers had no idea how the Grass-type was still standing.
"Razor leaf," Flurry ordered. They hadn't mastered the move yet, and Joan's vision was blurry at best, but it was good enough to counterattack with a stream of sharpened leaves, twirling like ninja-stars as they cut the air. Grace had been focused on keeping up the attack and the first half-dozen leaves smashed into her torso, drawing blood from cuts that allowed red liquid to drip down her tanned body. The stinging pain knocked her own aim off and her next embers did nothing but scorched the ground in random places. "Get in close and give her a good smack with your vines!"
The contest had become more than a 'battle', but was now a fight, a fight to destroy the enemy. Grace and Joan both had hate in their eyes as they jogged toward each other, Grace capable of moving faster than the more heavily damaged Chikotit.
Joan kept her vines inside until she was in range, letting her enemy guess at what range to keep her. Grace greatly underestimated her reach and before she could lob any more fire or fists, two cables of what might as well have been steel smacked her head and whipped it, and her body, sideways like a puppet. The report echoed throughout the gym like the bark of a gun, and Toman's shoulder subconsciously throbbed as he watched Grace go down and stay down.
Flurry stared at the grounded Fire-type, and then looked over at Joan, who was struggling to stay on her feet after throwing all of her power into the last attack. She grinned triumphantly and said, "Alright! I never had any doubt that we'd kick your ass!"
When Grace remained on the ground, barely moving, for ten seconds, Katya said, "Grace is unable to continue. Joan, and Flurry, are the winners." As soon as they could, both Tamers produced their Pokeballs and returned their wounded Girls in beams of red light. "We have a civilian grade healing machine but the PokeCenter can work much faster, you guys had better get your Girls there."
Dom nodded, minimizing and pocketing his Ball. "Good match. Joan's Vine Whip is really powerful, I'm impressed."
Flurry laughed. "Well we didn't expect you to be able to even try a Flamethrower," She conceded, tossing her red and white sphere up and down a few times, catching it deftly. Finally, she minimized it and hooked it back onto her belt as though she were holstering a gun. "Come on." The gym cleared out pretty quickly, and soon only Toman, Marya and Irena were left, still sitting on the mat.
"You want me to do that for a living?" Marya asked, sweeping an arm across what was so recently the scene of a brutal fight. "Hell, looks fun!" Neither Toman nor Irena could fathom the combat-type Pokegirl's thought process about what constituted 'fun'.
"It looks terrifying," Irena said, and even that much was showing a lot of temerity, even to familiar people. In truth, she was playing up her girlish fears just a bit as she hugged into her master, but neither of them seemed to mind that.
Marya saw this and gave Toman an oppressive frown. "Master, I feel you haven't been giving me nearly enough attention. As your Alpha I should get much more of your ever so precious time than, ahem, certain others." Irena shivered and recoiled as if she'd been slapped and she smirked. "Look, your influence is already corrupting that innocent little Mynx. She's becoming more uppity and deceitful." Said Mynx turned a tearful, soul-melting gaze upon the Boobisaur, who somehow managed not to break down and glomp the creature on the spot.
Toman let out a long sigh, idly patting Irena's head like she were an actual puppy. "I suppose I can't argue with that, Madam Vice President." Irena turned her crushed look upon her Master, who had to look away if he was going to do anything but coo and dote over the furry girl for the next few hours. "But I just Tamed you four days ago."
Marya shook her head. "Insufficient. My libido might technically be average, but as you yourself observed, I love to take my Master's massive, glorious cock as much as possible." She smirked like a predator, lowering herself slowly until her head, and large breasts, rested upon one of his legs. Toman gulped, and suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. The Boobisaur was rewarded by the stirrings of a bulge in her Master's pants, and she stroked it lovingly.
Irena looked around. "Um, Master, Marya, maybe we shouldn't do this here," She suggested, worrying about how public the large room was.
"She has a point," Toman said, almost desperately as he felt his mind shifting into a more primal gear and lust threatened to overcome his mind. He wasn't willing to risk being caught in the act, no matter how common or expected that act might be in modern society. He had a bit of work convincing his Boobisaur of that, though, as she continued to shepherd his growing erection with a powerful, yet gentle hand, eagerly watching it grow past what a normal man might have presented.
She looked up at him. "But Master~" She complained, her voice thick with want and making Toman physically shiver, "I wanted to try out something new~ I know you'll love it." Marya had been working out physically, but she'd also taken it upon herself to start her training in Taming techniques, and she had plenty of experienced Girls at her disposal, which had made their most recent Tamings more interesting and exciting. 'I know you'll love it' wasn't just an argument, it was a guarantee. Toman wasn't exactly doubtful of that.
"Regardless," Toman said, admirably not tripping on his own words as he found little room to wiggle away before his back hit the wall, "Control yourself for the whole minute and a half it will take to repair to our room and lock the door. Then you can show me all you want."
"Deal," She said so abruptly Toman was stunned, getting to her feet with a jiggle of her bountiful flesh from the motion. She grinned widely at him and offered a green hand. The human got over it quickly, grasping her hand and feeling the strain in his arm as she effortlessly pulled him to his feet. Even as a low-level, her strength was still far, far greater than his, or even Irena's. "Irena, let's stand in front of Master in case anyone notices his big juicy cock's standing up for me~" She said, pulling him to her side and leading both of them out.
They looked a little odd moving in such a formation, but they booked it up to their room and Toman had to admit it was better than walking around like a fool with what was now a cock at full, straining, throbbing attention.
Irena pulled the door shut and locked it securely as Marya led Toman to the bed and began to forcibly strip him. Although slightly bewildered, he was more than eager to help, pulling his shirt over his head as he felt his pants fall. More of his thin, almost totally unmarred brown body was revealed as clothes were stripped, and Marya's eyes never got tired of drinking in every detail they could get. She spotted the large, offensive scar on his shoulder that marred what was otherwise a sheltered, soft beauty that men of this age almost never had, but ignored it and gave Toman a fiery kiss.
"It's called titfucking, Master," Marya told him, holding his gaze with her lust-caked eyes. "And I think it's perfect for us since it works best with big tits," She jiggled her own assets, "And a big cock." He gave his iron rod a single playful squeeze. "So. Let's get on with it." She dropped to her knees and pulled his boxers down, licking her lips as she saw his throbbing cock finally free of any constricting cloth. "You might need to have a seat, Master," She said, expecting to render him a quivering bit of jelly.
He nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed, his eyes never leaving Marya. He had heard of and even seen titfucking a few times on the internet but had never considered what his own Pokegirl could do with such a technique. Irena seemed content to watch for now, although all three of them knew she was going to join in after this.
She used her tongue to lubricate the sides of his throbbing cock, which was enough to send shivers down his spine, before lifting up her large breasts and putting his penis in between them. Toman couldn't have described the sensation if he'd been asked, but it was enough for him to be able to feel it, gasping.
Then, Marya began to move her breasts, generating delicious friction. Her large mounds moved up and down, gaining speed as she smirked, watching Toman convulse and shiver, moaning in encouragement. She could tell he wasn't going to last long under this kind of treatment, especially after she slid her mouth over the head of his throbbing cock and began to suckle on it, only adding to the overload of pleasure.
"Marya.. I'm going to come.... right in your mouth..." Toman gasped, his whole body on fire, especially his lungs as they tried to grab for air as his muscles contracted. Marya wasn't sure if it was a warning or a promise, but she welcomed it all the same, preparing herself to gulp down her master's delicious, very sweet semen.
He pumped his seed right into her mouth, and she consumed it like it was Milktit milk, continuing to rub and squeeze his cock and suck at it to milk him for every drop she could get. Toman laid back on the soft, comfortable bed, eyes closed as he rode through the climax with his Pokegirl still clamped onto his organ.
Irena had been watching, but the display had cemented her will to jump in, and she found her opportunity now. The Mynx slid over the bed and laid atop her Master, trapping his mouth in an insistent kiss as her furry body rubbed up against his.
/\/\
Irena awoke to the faint sound of clicking, which struck her as an odd thing to hear in the dark, quiet bedroom. She was on the large bed, nestled firmly in Marya's arms, hugged to her taller, busty form like she was a cute little plushie. She tried not to blush as she noticed her head was resting in the valley between her considerable breasts. The Mynx wiggled, trying to move enough to look over at her master, sitting in a chair and framed by the ethereal blue light of a computer screen. She was already accustomed to this sight, and decided to try and join him, if she could get away from her Sister.
With as much gentleness as she could achieve, she slowly pulled Marya's arms apart, although a part of her longed to remain inside the wonderful embrace for as long as possible. The furry girl escaped, rolling off the bed and getting to her feet. Toman was so engrossed in the screen he didn't notice her approach. Irena looked over her master, finding he had put on new clothes. He hadn't bothered to tie up his hair, and it flowed like silk, or snow, and she felt the urge to run her hands through it like she had during- her thoughts cut off and she did blush this time. "Master?" She asked, her voice weaker than normal.
Toman turned his head and smiled at her. "Hey." He reached out and pulled her into an affectionate kiss. She sighed and leaned against him happily, enjoying every second of it before the human had to pull away for air. Toman had appeared to have shed most of his uncomfortableness by now, and open displays of affection like that were sure to be more common, something the Mynx was certainly happy about. She glanced over at the screen and saw a wall of text, most of it in English, and thus mostly indecipherable to her.
"What are you doing, Master?" She asked, and he pulled her into his lap. She eeped but didn't exactly complain. Her master was thin but not really bony and made a decent cushion, especially with his warmth. She tried not to fidget too much, as she knew what such friction would provoke.
"Reading a forum online," He explained. "Forums are places where a lot of people go to leave messages for each other. This particular forum is for Mynx owners." Like most interleague sites, the forum was multilingual, although it generally had English as its official and most common language because so many different regions spoke it.
"Wow, a whole group of people who own girls like me?" She asked, tilting her head as Toman showed that many of the users had put up pictures of their cute girls, using them as avatars, signatures, or just in various boasting threads.
"Yup. Right now I'm reading about Tamers who think it's time to evolve their Mynx." He clicked on a particular thread, which blossomed into hundreds of posts, and began to relate to her the gist of them. "There's a lot of argument about which breeds are better depending on what you want to do. For Tamers like me, many people recommended we try to get an Angel Stone and turn you into a Lupina." He grabbed for his Pokedex, on the desk next to the keyboard, and flipped it open to the entry on the girl, letting the machine talk.
She tilted her head, ears twitching slightly as she tried to understand as much of this as possible. "Am I going to become a... monster, Master?" She asked, sounding afraid of the concept.
"Of course not," Toman shook his head. "First off, you won't become anything unless you want to. This is the sort of decision about yourself that I wouldn't dream of making for you. I do want you to educate yourself about all your options, though, and make sure you make an informed decision. And second. Lupinas aren't monsters, not even in their battle forms; you'll still be you, even ten feet tall."
Irena smiled. "Alright, Master. Thank you..." From what she'd heard from other Girls, usually even decisions like evolution were made totally by the Tamer, without regard for what the Girl felt about it. Of course, her Master was anything but the average Tamer, in so many ways.
"Nothing more than you deserve," Toman assured her, turning her sideways to kiss her again.
They heard a 'hmph' sound from behind them and looked back to see Marya, pouting at all the affection that she was missing out on. Toman grinned and motioned her over, and she bent over to give both of them a kiss. Marya's eyes went to the screen and she figured things out pretty quickly. "Lupina, huh? Well, it would definitely let Irena fight. She'd be stronger than me."
Irena blinked. "Stronger than you, Marya? Wow." Boobisaurs weren't exactly death machines as Pokegirls went, but one with the proper training was still capable of handing out pain far better than the physically handicapped Mynx could dream of being.
Suddenly, Toman felt a lot of pain from his shoulder, and was unable to keep himself from giving it away with a wince. "I wonder what caused that," He said thoughtfully as the spike of pain subsided like an ocean wave.
"Maybe the injury messed with your nerves in that region more than the doctors thought," Marya suggested. "This definitely isn't the only time that's happened..."
"It still hasn't been that long at all since I took the bullet," Toman said. "Give it time and it should die down. They aren't as intense as before." He sighed, leaning against Irena. "Almost five o'clock now. After dinner you two should get down to the hydroponics farm and report for duty." The Pokegirls nodded, Marya expectantly, but Irena with a bit of hesitation. "You'll be fine, Marya'll be with you." That seemed to give her some comfort.
Someone knocked on the door to the room a few times, and Katya's voice drifted through. "Are you guys awake and decent? Or either?"
"Decent as we usually get," Toman replied, and watched the Psi'dkick appear in front of the door with the slight pop of rapidly displaced air. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to tell you, dinner is served in twenty minutes," She said. "Today we're having shie, beef stroganov and pelmeny, and with some of that carbonated drink the Professor's fond of or some hot tea."
Toman nodded. "Thank you." The Psychic-type nodded to him and then vanished. "Man, I wish I had an assistant who could just Teleport around. That has to be nine different kinds of useful." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, after dinner you two had better get over to the farm. Tomorrow's our first pay day." In this region, paychecks tended to come on friday, although some businesses stuck to thursday or monday.
Until dinner was served, the three of them found other occupations. When they arrived at the table, Irena had a hard time controlling her giggling. Nobody asked about it, though- the privacy of a Tamer and his Harem were respected like religion in the lab. Professor Shields struck up a conversation about Toman's plans after Boot Camp, instead, and the aides and other Pokegirls looked over to him curiously.
"I haven't really thought too much about it," Toman said, which was kind of a lie. He had given it a lot of thought in idle moments, but he didn't have any kind of plan for what to do. The idea of adventuring in the brush, fighting for survival in the chilling cold of the outdoors still held remarkably little appeal. Somehow, just going back home seemed like the wrong move, too. Maybe he would linger around Shelaya for a bit. "I guess we'll stick around as long as you'll tolerate us. Maybe catch and sell some Ferals, save up the kind of money we'd need." Shields nodded, it sounded sensible enough.
"As long as you don't loaf around here the rest of your natural life, our doors are always open for you, Toman," The researcher assured him and Toman felt his sincerity, the less-social teenager fighting a blush. "In fact, if you get the sort of money you need, I'd be happy to offer you my services and sell any of my rarer Girls to you at cost." He blinked. That was certainly a generous offer, given the kind of mark-up he could get when selling to ranches or companies.
"That probably won't be for a while," Toman replied, "But I really appreciate it. Just don't expect to sell someone like that Succubus off to me." That got a low chuckle from most of the table, who had no doubt heard about the incident. "I don't think she'd be happy with me, anyway."
"I dunno, me and Irena are more than satisfied with your-" A glare that would make previous generations of KGB officers wither and cower silenced Marya instantly, although she spared her master an impish grin before bounding off to go absorb some of the last of the sun's rays for the day.
"You are truly fortunate to have such a lively Pokegirl, Toman," Katya said, munching on some of her stroganov with a bit less table manners than one might have expected.
"Ah, yes," Toman said, "The gods have truly blessed me by sending me an insubordinate, headstrong Boobisaur." His stern 'learn your place' voice was so well done that Irena threatened to collapse into giggles, almost spilling some of her drink over her rich fur.
/\/\
In the morning, Toman had no trouble at all making his way through the much thinner crowd of students to find his assigned class room in the Gym. He felt the tension, even in the students who had remained, and the general air was something mixing fear with uncertainty. Perfect atmosphere to learn and grow, He figured, approaching a room which had been helpfully designated by a big english letter C. The door was ajar, and about a dozen students and their Pokegirls were milling about outside. He blinked, curious now. "Why are you all hanging around out here?" He asked the teenager closest to the door.
The man looked over at him and said, "Look." He motioned to the door, and Toman got closer to look. "Lean in slightly and look up. Don't move it, though." Following his directions, he spotted something. It looked like a cup or bucket, balanced atop the slightly ajar door. This simple trap had been employed for at least a thousand years of school history, and Toman blinked again.
"No way," He said after a moment, withdrawing so he stood no chance of tripping it himself.
"Yeah," The other man said. "We can't think of many people who'd have the pure balls required to actually booby trap a class with something that could rip your face off, but I have to give them a certain amount of respect. And fear." Several students glanced towards a shorter boy near the rear of the group, whose Jigglyslut was milling about behind them.
"What?" He asked, looking around. "We went over this. You guys saw me get here! Even I wouldn't do something like this! What if we get that Mantis? Or something worse?"
"That's Joker," The teen who had pointed out the trap said, nodding to the protesting Tamer. "His Igglyrunt's called Bubbles, from bubble-gum. And I'm Feofilakt. Call me Filat." He held out his hand and Toman took it, feeling his strong grip. Joker and Filat both looked a lot less strange than Toman did, with pale skin and short, dark hair and at least a minimal amount of hard muscles. Everyone in the crowd still had a coat on or was wearing a dark-colored hoodie, as the hallway was a bit brisk for comfort. "And the Charamanda trying to look disinterested is my beloved Vesta."
"Toman Kross," He said, "Son of Professor Kross and elite intellectual. A pleasure. This is my Boobisaur, Marya, and my Mynx, Irena." The group seemed to be impressed that he had already caught a second Pokegirl. A few of them, all male, were also impressed by Marya's assets, and received some indignant pinches and whispers from their own Girls in retaliation.
Marya noticed that her master seemed to do a lot better in small-group situations like this as opposed to massive crowds, and he had grown almost smooth and charismatic about his manner, although a core of unease remained. She liked to think she had helped that part of his personality come out, as well as destroying his neolithic nervousness about sex.
Nobody knew what to do about their trapped door, and so remained outside as several more people joined the group. As the last people vanished into their rooms they began to grow impatient, but soon four adults came striding down the hallway. "Sorry we're late," The sole woman, a slender person with dark hair and some kind of uniform, called to them. "Did we forget to unlock the room?"
"No, it's open," One of the males said to her. "Hm." He arrived at the door and pushed it open, just enough to cause the container to fall. He withdrew his hand and stepped back, and only got splashed a little bit by the cold water that went all over the floor like a mini flood. "Very clever." He looked around the students, but saw they were all as puzzled as his fellow teachers. "I think I know who did this."
Joker objected. "Oh come on. You guys don't trust me enough to think of something better than that, at least?"
"I didn't mean you, Yankovitch," The teacher replied, shaking his head. "I'll explain later. Alright, everyone, let's get inside. Just step over the puddle." Everyone had to hop or take a ridiculously large step to avoid getting wet, but they managed it and were soon inside the large room, which had more than enough desks for humans and Pokegirls alike. The beginning Tamers took seats, separating out into groups already, and Toman found himself planting him and his two Girls next to Filat and Joker.
Nobody noticed the pressure-sensitive device full of firecrackers until someone sat on it, and the loud cracking noise made everyone jump in shock. Toman's mind instinctively thought a gun was firing and he tossed himself to the floor with more agility than he thought possible, smacking it with a drowning pain across the entire front side of his body and feeling at least one of his Pokegirls land atop him.
The loud chaos slowly devolved into stun and confusion, as people gradually realized what had been at fault. The commercial-grade firework trap was something anyone could have picked up at a local shop for less than two hundred credits, and someone picked the smoking device up to examine it. "When we find who did this can we feed them to the Mantis?" Joker asked, his tenor a bit more grim than usual. Toman barely heard him, too embroiled with getting Marya off of his back and dealing with his pain. Filat knelt to help him up and checked to make sure he hadn't broken his nose, even though it wobbled a tiny bit more than it should have under his grip.
"I'm fine," Toman assured his classmate and Girls despite feeling the writhing, burning pain increase instead of dull, taking a seat before he fell over. The small part of his mind that had recovered enough to desire vengeance did, and he agreed wholly with Joker's request.
The people in uniform made sure everyone was ok and confiscated the prank device. The woman stepped forward and cleared her throat to get their attention, trying to repair the damage to their focus the childish trick had done. "As you all probably figured out, we will be your primary League instructors for this course. Given the low turnout we should be able to offer you all more personal help than we normally could. My name is Alexine Nikolaev and I'll be teaching you about Pokegirl Battle Theory." She motioned to one of the men behind her. "These are, David Kasparov, your Practical Battle instructor, and Keiichi Tachibana, come all the way from Edo to teach you Survival Skills. The man on the far end is Mikhail Weber, who will be your Fitness advisor and Legal teacher, as well as assisting your Menace Instructors. Speaking of which, they were supposed to be here already..." She sighed, seeming almost oblivious to how on-edge the class was. Mentioning the fact that there were supposed to be Menaces in there to greet them, as well as childish pranks, did nothing to calm them down.
Kasparov, a heavy-set man whose body showed muscles as well as the fat that had begun to replace it over the years, went over to the large desk which had been brought in along with the student ones, and pulled open the top drawer. He winced as a tiny magical rocket blasted out of the desk, setting several papers on fire and roaring like a demon. The device swirled up into the air, leaving a streak of blood-red in the air as it summersaulted around the class and then dove lower to buzz a dozen heads, almost threatening to set them on fire, too.
Before a Girl could shoot it down or catch it, it abruptly ran out of steam, its heady red glow fading away as the charred little rocket coasted ballistically until it smacked into one of the walls and fell. Now the complaints were much more vocal, and many of the students were getting quite fed up with this treatment. Toman felt inclined, despite his own nature, to add his voice to the malcontents as his body continued to ache cruelly.
"It's almost like you guys want to run everyone off," Someone in the back said, and new Tamers rose up to agree with him. Several people had taken their mutiny to the level of leaving, and were grabbing for their stuff or standing up when a titan appeared at the door. The Pokegirl's four arms, four breasts, and massive, muscular, gray body shouted 'Amachamp' to even the most forgetful or unobservant person. The behemoth of a Girl was nearly as thin as an average person, but her height and density more than made up for that, and she wore no clothing at all, which gave all the onlookers the best possible view.
Intimidating as any sane person found the pinnacle of fighting strength and power, a lot of the tension in the room slackened off. At least Amachamps were well-known, understood and controlled, which made them so much less alarming than if that Mantis or any other monster had shown up. This reprieve from fear and dread, though, didn't last long at all as the tower of muscle drew a breath and said, "Sorry we're late." No student missed the 'we're', and they tried to see past the huge girl, but to no avail.
Then she stepped into the room, followed closely by a Dronza, and the students wished they couldn't see her again.
/\/\
Flurry tried not to fidget in her seat, and failed, unable to keep her nervousness hidden as her eyes, like all of the students', kept flicking over the Dryder and Muffgoose pair that stood beside their human instructors as if this as the most natural thing in the world. Her crumb-littered napkin rested like a foreign plant on the edge of her desk, and Dom was still absently nibbling on his own more in-tact cookie.
She still couldn't quite figure out whether the Dryder, Anastasia, creeped her out more because of what she had once been and still resembled strongly, or because she had baked cookies for them all as a 'welcome to class', brought them here, and handed them out personally. Nobody had been foolish enough to refuse, even though the Dryder had shown nothing but kindness and gentleness to them. Dryders were still Menaces, and even if they were nothing compared with Widows, she had once been a Widow, and nobody in the room forgot that she was still deadly.
Now, the human instructors, named Victor, Nathan, Peter and Chaim, were passing out sheets of paper with the pre-test on them, taking advantage of the students' collective disbelief and stupor to get this done quickly. Angolia the Muffgoose had taken advantage of the lack of need for her, and was currently strumming idly on a guitar and chatting casually with Anastasia.
"It's like we've wandered into one of those fucked up neo-impressionist painting that some Ar-tits came up with while tripping," Flurry observed, and Dom mutely nodded in agreement with her. Grace and Joan, their previous contest all but forgotten, sat together to the other side of Flurry, and their eyes went to the Dryder almost as much as their owners' did.
The test came around to them, and soon had diffused amongst the whole class. The questions were mostly pretty basic stuff, and Dom wondered if it wasn't just to make sure they hadn't cheated on their Tamer tests. There were some more advanced things that he didn't know, but he didn't sweat it and just tried his best. Within twenty minutes all of the papers had gotten back to the instructors.
"This is just to see how much you know now, so we can fill in the gaps," Anastasia explained, somehow flitting about with grace despite the fact that her lower body was large and had four legs, although they were human-like legs, as if someone had put a spider and a human into a blender. Dom couldn't help but notice, though, that she looked a lot more full human above the waist, although nobody would ever mistake her for one even in darkness. He wondered what it had to be like to become a Widow, which was the closest thing to a rampaging legendary in the modern times. Somehow it didn't surprise him that the Dryder moved with a tiny, almost imperceptible caution and continue to glance around at all angles. A bit of paranoia couldn't help, given the tons of vile stuff said about the breed, and the general fear she had to have of facing attack.
"While Chaim looks over the answers and gives them a rough grade, I'll just start talking," Nathan said. "Your first basic lesson, and the only one we'll give you today, is something I think you guys will enjoy, even if you can't get over yourselves about our guests." How any human being could possibly expect them to 'get over' it in the space of two days was something Flurry didn't want to find out. Her opinion of Boot Camp so far was about to get even lower, but she paused and perked up as Nathan continued. "Battle practice. Specifically, pairing you off against people from other classes and letting you go one on one. It's the same principle as the written pre-test, and we'll be evaluating how well you do."
Although still gloomy and guarded, the instructors didn't have to be very perceptive to notice how the class seemed a bit more cheerful and eager after that. They passed back the sheets, and for the most part were pleased with the results. Everyone demonstrated they retained the basic knowledge from their licensing test. "All the classes are gonna work up some lessons based on where the most people are the weakest, and we'll start that tomorrow. Remember, you still get the weekends off, like in school." He saw a hand go up, and pointed to Flurry. "Yes?"
"When do we get to the fighting?" She asked, already having a perfect candidate in mind for an opponent. Toman would finally have to face her and prove his steel, and this time it would an even Grass-on-Grass battle. Everyone had a light chuckle in agreement with the question.
Angolia smirked, leaning against the wall. "Don't worry," She said. "We wouldn't keep you long. Master'll call everyone down to the main arena and then you can rock out."
"So you are Makai's Girl?" Dom asked, resting his head on his folded arms over the desk.
"Yeah, and so's Stasia," The Muffgoose replied. "All the 'menaces' are, man. He's the only guy shit-crazy enough to handle us, after all." Dom nodded in agreement with the point.
"You aren't a menace," Flurry pointed out after checking her Dex.
"You haven't heard her when she gets a hold of a sound system," Anastasia said like a disappointed nanny as she slid through the rows of desks and handed out another refreshment, this time plastic cups of juice. If she was looking for an effective way to get in the good graces of a bunch of teenage boys, then she had found the second most effective part of the body to service, Dom figured. It's going to take a bit more than this, though, to convince us you aren't some evil monster. He sniffed the drink just in case before taking a sip.
On the other hand, that very same stigma and aura of danger gave a certain exotic, taboo-shattering thrill to being around the Dryder, and Dom almost felt it radiating off many of the young and eager guys in the room. Of course, even they still maintained healthy doses of caution, for simple natural selection had weeded out most of the people who would willingly go around Menaces over the past 300 years.
That led him to pondering why anyone would willingly stick around for this. Some of them were in it for that thrill, others were so determined that they conquered their fear and forced themselves into line, and a few had just been too stubborn to listen their families and leave. The Samaran was fairly sure Flurry could be put into category 2, although 1 or 3 were also valid, depending on what was going on inside her head. He didn't really think he would be in any of those groups, though. So why?
Maybe it was Toman. He still felt guilty for leading his friend into that ambush in the wilderness and getting him shot, and was determined to make sure he didn't get hurt again because of someone else's decisions. Dom certainly thought that loyalty sounded better than blind ambition or menace-loving, anyway.
Whatever it was, he'd just have to pray that everyone survived this surreal adventure, and he was just trying to word his spiritual message just right, cursing the fact that a more word-savvy person like Toman wasn't around to help, when the PA system crackled to life. "All classes, come on down to the main arena," Dahmune's voice demanded, and cheers went up, through the rooms and echoing into the hallways. "Yes, yes. You're all thrilled. When you get there find some seats and pair up with someone in a different class. Stragglers will be paired with my beloved Girls." That was all the motivation the mob needed, and Flurry was surprised people weren't killed in the ensuing stampede and rush to find partners.
Toman certainly looked a bit like death warmed over, perched on the topmost left part of the bleachers next to his Girls, three other guys, and their Girls. Dom lead Flurry over, and said, "Hey, man. New friends?"
"More or less," Toman said. "Gentlemen, meet Dom. Childhood friend in our tiny village, got me shot, you know, the works. And that's Flurry. French, a girl tamer, and don't let her near your personal belongings." They both spared suitably withering glances to the thin teen before waving to the others. "And these are Joker, Filat, and Zack. Joker and Filat are in my class, Zack's from A and we just met when he rescued me from being totally run over."
"A pleasure," Zack said, shaking both of their hands and then going back to sit with his Amachop, Christi. "So how are we dividing up?"
As if he had predicted this, or was actually looking forward to it, Toman said, "I'm already engaged. Flurry?" She nodded happily and took a seat beside him. "As for the rest of you, do it any way you want." Joker cracked a grin but a warning glance silenced any commentary. "I suppose we should be surprised at how chummy we're acting but when faced with adversity, humans cluster up." He motioned to the rest of the students, who were naturally forming groups, large and small, and stragglers were absorbed with none of the coldness that real school could breed.
"Let's do this randomly," Dom said, producing a coin. "I'm heads and Joker's tails. Filat, flip it. Whoever you don't get will pair with Zack." They nodded in agreement and the other teen grabbed the coin, flicking it up and watching it twirl in the air for a moment before arcing down to land atop his flat hand. He covered it up, and then took a look.
"Heads," He announced and returned the coin to him. "Looks like we're evenly matched, then. Fire with fire, almost poetic there." His eyes went over to the two Fire-types, who had found themselves sitting beside each other and with the other girls, almost like background images as they had faded from the notice of the human group.
Grace turned to Vesta with a nervous, friendly smile. "I hope we'll both do our best," She said in an effort to reach out to the other Girl, and looked her over. She was reptilian, with blazing red scales that gave way to an orange-red and orange front, including the lightest colors around her upper C-cup breasts. She was a tad taller than Grace, and her thick tail laid sprawled out behind her, the lack of flame indicating her as a domestically born Girl.
Vesta gave a huff, trying not to show any friendly feelings. "I won't hold back in battle, even if you beg me."
Filat sighed. "She's got a heart of gold but insists on acting as if she'd already evolved into a Charmelons. Isn't that what they call being a tsundere in Edo? Anyway, don't mind her. I'm sure it's just a phase." The ribbing caused Vesta to give her Tamer a glare and she turned away from the humans.
"How do you know she's not actually just mean?" Dom asked.
"Well, there's one way we could tell. If she really wanted to be cruel she could have done what Marya did and taunted her about her assets," Toman pointed out, trying to ignore his still painful and sore body so he wouldn't worry anyone. His shoulder in particular lanced fire down the entire side of his body and he wished he could turn off all of his sense for a while until it died down.
Joker said, "So you're my enemy today, huh? Christi looks like she's packing some serious hurt. You and her seem pretty confident. It's kinda sad, really. I'm gonna feel bad when Bubbles slaps her around." His tone was so sincere and concerned for the fate of the poor, vulnerable little Amachop that Zack couldn't help but grin.
"You sound like the cocky one," He returned. "Igglyrunts aren't cut specifically for battle like my hard-charging Fighting-type is, and Christi could take her apart with one finger."
The teen nodded. "Perhaps, perhaps. But I'm saying she's never going to get the chance to use even one finger, man. I'm not gonna patronize you badly enough to assume you haven't figured out my strategy. So how are you gonna defend against it?"
"You'll see," Zack promised, and the look in his eyes almost made the more jovial man shiver.
"Ahem. Guys? Sorry, the microphone kind of got attacked by a Ria for a minute." The joke fell flat with such speed and intensity that Toman expected to see a crater when he turned around to face the arena floor, but at least the broadcasted voice of Dahmune Makai had gathered everyone's attention. "So. I see everyone managed to find someone else. Nice and romantic. As you can see, we've divided this massive arena floor in half just to make things go faster. You'll still have plenty of room to move around, but please, please try to avoid stray attacks into the other lane or the bleachers." The front four rows were already totally vacant and people showed a natural respect for the destructive powers of Pokegirls in battle. "Any volunteers?"
Toman didn't particularly feel up to going first, down in front of the gaze of nearly a hundred people, with his body still troubling him so. Flurry, on the other hand, raised her hand high and proud, straining to hyper-extend it and get noticed through the sudden forest of eager human arms. Luckily for him, Dahmune picked two groups on the other side of the gym to go first.
Nobody had failed to notice the Pokegirls against the far wall, Dahmune's Girls, but Toman had avoided thinking about them until now. When all he had to do was sit there and watch battles, he couldn't help but find his gaze drifting over to them. Quite an alarming lineup, to be sure- the Dronza from his class, the Mantis, a Dryder... there were more 'normal' breeds like the Amachamp and Night Nurse, too, which was something of a comfort, although he couldn't pin down why.
The Dronza made eye contact with him and his head snapped away, the teen suddenly filled with new fear. The hatred for him had sent a chill through his entire body, but at least he had seen it before. His entire class had gotten the distinct pleasure of being introduced to Diana, and they had been more than a little shocked to learn she had actually set the juvenile traps, and that they could expect many more in the future. She certainly hadn't been playful about it, though, and the instructors had explained in an eerily calm voice that it was her way of venting her natural rage towards all humanity. At least she didn't channel it into more direct actions.
Delilah sighed, forcing her four huge arms not to fidget as she saw one of the teens in her class look away in pure fear from her close, close friend. She considered saying something about it, but she knew Diana was trying so hard as it was, in a room filled with so many people, not to leap in and start murdering. If she had given in, Delilah was here and made sure she was in a position to react at all times, but she had a lot of faith in her.
On the other hand... she made up her mind, and made her way over to her Master, who was standing to one side as a referee as a Oddtits and a Mephitits slugged it out on their side. The Poison-type was suddenly sent flying, and smacked into Delilah's super-dense body with a solid thwap. Dahmune wasn't worried one bit about his huge Girl, though, going over to make sure that the Mephitits wasn't hurt. "You alright?" He asked her and she nodded, although she was gasping and it looked like she was having a hard time staying on her feet. "Alright, return to the combat area," He ordered. The skunk-girl did so, and was back in the fight, although Dahmune could tell she wouldn't be for much longer. He looked up at Delilah and said, "What's up?"
"I'm worried about Diana, Master. She's having a hard time keeping herself in check with so many loud people around. I think you should let her duck outside or return to her Ball," She said to him, and he mulled it over, looking over to his Girl. She did seem to resemble a coiled spring, and even with Lockdown, he appreciated the struggle that every second out of violent fury was for her.
"I forgot that she still has a lot of trouble with that," Dahmune sighed. "Crap. Ok, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Go take her out for some air. And anything else she might be up for." That got Delilah a lot more cheerful, and she made her way back over to Diana before the two of them ducked out a side-door.
Dahmune smiled slightly, glad as usual he had gotten the reasonable and empathetic Delilah as the perfect counterweight to Diana. The distraught cries of the Mephitits Tamer grabbed his attention back to his duties as the teen knelt next to the prone, beaten form of his Girl. "Ash is unable to battle," He said authoritatively. "Lily is the winner." The winning Tamer's large group of friends let out a cheer that cut through the crowd noises and the clatter of the other lane's ongoing struggle and the Oddtits leapt into his arms in a loving hug. Dahmune's Night Nurse moved in, his Jolie assisting the Tamer get the Girl back into her Ball and to the PokeCenter.
He cast around, his eyes searching the crowd's mass of eager Tamers for the next combatants. Let's see.... Suddenly he noticed what appeared to be a human female... one of the very rare girl Tamers? And next to her was a boy with dark skin and long, shock-white hair tied back in a ponytail. Both of them were certainly interesting enough to draw the eye, and he grinned, pointing towards the eager girl.
Flurry saw that, cheered raucously, and just about dragged Toman to his feet and down the bleachers. Marya, Irena, and Joan followed, exchanging looks as they approached their battlefield.