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: My shortest chapter, but some important and emotional events happen.
The Shelaya air was unmercifully cold. The sun hadn't been up long enough to really go to work, especially in the slow to change pavement and metal of the city. It nibbled and bit against every bit of exposed flesh, and by the time Toman reached the front steps of the training gym he couldn't feel his nose at all. He took a moment to look around, spotting Irena bringing up the rear, as well as the clusters of Tamers that flowed around him and into the warm building.
It was obvious that word had already spread about the attacks. If the students had been eager to form into big groups before, now it almost looked like a choreographed convoy system. He was the only one without at least a few buddies, with Girls out if physically safe, to watch his back. The tension that had already come with entering a building with Menaces was only compounded as people feared they would be next to be robbed.
For many people, losing their first Girl would be a crippling blow, not only to their morale and Taming career, but also to their families, who would need to pay to get a second one or risk sending their precious offspring into the wilds alone to try and catch one. Dom could probably get a replacement, his family was doing ok and he was friends with a Professor's son, but even that would take time, and the shame of having lost his Girl so early must have burned him up. He didn't know about Filat's situation, and he was sorry for him, but more in a bystander witness way than the deep, personal sympathy and shared pain he felt with Dom.
Irena tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and reminded him that being faster on getting inside was better. As soon as he stepped through the door, warmth rushed over him, surrounding his body like an old friend or a familiar blanket. The numbness was banished and he let out a sigh of relief, shedding his jacket and rolling it up on his arm. He had done this smoothly enough to make sure nobody would notice the obtrusive metal object in one of the interior pockets.
It occurred to him that he needed to actually apply for a firearm permit from the city, and after that an additional conceal-carry license, and until he did he was carrying a highly illegal weapon. Well, it wasn't like he was hoping to actually use it; the gun was both safed and actually unloaded, three magazines of fire elemental bullets sitting in the opposite pocket. He would feel uneasy without it; but he was also less than comfortable carrying it around. Damned either way.
His thoughts were not on his surroundings, barely remembering to free Marya from her Pokeball before heading for class, so he wasn't looking for traps as he entered the room. That was a mistake. He didn't pay for it, not initially, but when he went to take a seat next to Joker, the minor fire spell trap on his seat went off. The spark ignited both the chair, and his pants, and although the fire was small it was still something that caused to boy to leap up and cry out.
After a few moments' alarm, Toman was on the floor, and some rolling set the artificial flames out, leaving a smoldering hole in his pants and burning pain on his ass. Oh, and equal parts humiliation, anger, and shock. The chair, though, had to be doused by a Squirtity on hand. After the weak water gun splashed over and stopped the blaze, his seat was merely a soggy chunk of smoldering wood.
Joker didn't look very amused by this, although Toman was beginning to feel embarrassment gain a majority hold in the shares of his feelings. "Gods damn, man, are you alright?" He got up and offered Toman his hand, and he and Marya pulled him up with little difficulty.
"Another trap?" Irena asked, examining the seat and spotting a bit of soggy paper. "Master! Look."
Toman didn't recognize it for what it was, but Joker let out a groan. He was familiar with these devices. "Little enchanted scrolls with minor spells on them. Usually pressure sensitive, goes off when someone sits down. Like a whoopee cushion or cracker cushion, but with more fire or electricity. I'm sorry, Toman, I thought it was some stray note or piece of paper or something. I didn't see the runes."
"Don't worry about it," Toman reassured him, adjusting his glasses and brushing himself off. The teen was visibly perturbed, though. "It's not customary to have to check for traps in your own classroom." All eyes were on him, some amused, some worried, a few managing to do both with impressive balance. Once it was obvious nothing was on fire and he was safe, though, attention slowly drifted away to other matters. He thanked whatever Gods might exist for the short attention span of teenagers.
They switched out his desk with a vacant one, of which there were plenty, but Toman had to sit gingerly. Marya had assured him both that his little ass was no less pretty or rapeable for the spell, which hadn't helped his embarrassment at the spectacle and trap, and that he bore no burn marks. "Barely singed your underwear," She had said, sadly. "You might have to take em off, though, Master. And the pants, of course. To be safe." In retaliation, she had been returned to her ball, vanishing in a beam of light before he could be made to endure more commentary.
Great, now he was feeling slightly guilty, as well. Throw in something to make him absolutely disgusted, and something he wanted, for some greed, and he'd be running the gauntlet of generally negative things. With a long-suffering sigh, he released her before class began. She, in return, resolved to try not to make a single joke about her Master's holed pants over the ass all day. Oh, the things she did for him.
Joker brought up this new trap with the instructors. "Can't you guys do anything about this crap? It's getting really annoying. I mean, when I do something like this, it's funny and clever, but this is just mean-spirited."
Alexine sighed. "I'm sorry, but we really can't. Even if we felt like shutting off a Dronza's venting method, we have orders from the head instructor himself not to try. We'll try to mitigate things and make sure there's little actual danger from Diana's pranks, that's all I can promise." Toman was still more than a little angry, but the sincerity in her tone convinced him not to speak up and press this further. I suppose it is better than having her explode on us.
The two Pokegirls arrived together, and late, again. "Sorry," The titanic Delilah said, sounding just a bit flustered, "We got hung up on the way here."
Diana smirked. "Is that what we're calling it now?" She noticed that almost all of the Tamers were staring at her, and she didn't care for that much. A single very, very murderous look was sufficient to scatter their gazes. Toman and Joker were no exception, staring at the suddenly interesting surfaces of their desks.
The female human rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Anyway, let's get going. Today's your first actual day of instruction. Each of us has prepared the most basic and general info sheets, stuff you should pretty much know anyway. Look over them a bit, and then we'll have a written exam. While that's being graded, I'll give you a short lecture on battle theory. It certainly looked like a few of you could use that, after yesterday." That might have drawn chuckles, but not only was the deadly Menace drowning out most positive feelings, but many people thought that was a reference to the muggings, and bristled. "So get out some paper and something to write with."
Like Alexine predicted, Toman learned very little from the sheets that he wasn't already aware of. Test stringency for becoming a Tamer did vary from town to town, though, and in some places all you needed was a psychic reading and a blood trait test. He felt a bit of pity for Joker, who was obviously trying to memorize a lot of the sheets, even going so far as to quietly write a few things on his arm. Well, modern society's education level just wasn't what it-
"Time's up," Alexine declared. "Delilah, please collect the sheets and pass out the test questions. Don't write on these, use your own paper." Toman had to admire how the bulky Fighting-type gingerly took the papers without ripping them.
The test barely took any time at all, and once those were turned in, Alexine stepped up to lecture. "Make sure to take notes," She said.
"Battle theory sounds abstract, but it's really not. You'll have to use tactics and strategy or you're fucked. First off, let's establish the two types of battles. Limited battles, those with rules, regulations. Tamer battles, Gym battles. The other type is Serious battle, which is when there's nothing keeping one side from killing the other, and no civilization needs apply. When you fight a Feral, or just someone who doesn't recognize battle rules and is gunning for your ass. A lot of tactics from Limited battles don't really apply to Serious ones, and vice versa..."
/\/\
Toman paused in the lobby, searching through his wallet and taking score. After collecting his Girls' pay late yesterday, he had exactly 4,852 SLC to his name. He figured it was probably wise to keep saving up and allowing his money to accumulate, as all his basic needs and general Tamer supplies were already met.
"They're planning on discharging Dom today, and Filat tomorrow," Toman informed his Girls. "I think that's a little fast but whatever. So we're going over to visit them today. We won't be able to stay too long, though, or we'll miss dinner."
"Aww, so we won't get to sit around in a stodgy, sterile room for boringly long periods of time?" Marya looked truly heartbroken, which earned her a glare from her Master. "Hey, and shouldn't you go back to the Lab first to get some new pants?"
"... Yeah, good point." Toman's mood didn't do any improvement on the ride over, and as soon as possible he was up in his room and changing. After that, they enlisted the Pegaslut's services again and she took them to the Center.
Filat was looking better, and Dom's injuries were healing, Toman noticed as the group entered their room. Both patients looked up and said, "Hey." Marya had a seat by the window, making sure it had enough room for her bulb and wantonly basking in the sunlight. Irena, on the other hand, stood and let her Master take the visitors' seat.
"Any progress with the search?" Toman asked, getting straight to the point on everyone's minds.
"No, not yet," Dom replied. "We're starting to get... more worried. By this time the perps could have left the city on the trains or just on foot."
Toman sighed. "It's still not hopeless, guys." He wasn't exactly a pep talk guy, but he did his best to keep things optimistic and humorous, offering them distracting conversation. Toman was just thinking of leaving when a Nurse Joy peeked into the room.
"Excuse me, but the Center downtown has reported a sighting, of both a Torch Chick and a Charamanda." The news didn't really sink in at first, but then both boys got massive smiles on their faces and their spirits rose. "The police have been called. If they catch the bad guys you'll have your Girls back within an hour or two." Here was finally the good news they had waited for.
Toman grinned. "Thank you, Nurse. I guess I'll stay a while longer," He said, really glad for them, "If I'm allowed."
"We don't have any visiting hours rules, Mr. Kross," The nurse assured him. Along with the good news she had brought along a clipboard and some equipment, which she used to run standard medical tests on the injured Tamers. "And you guys won't have lasting damage from any of this. Any scarring will be very, very minimal."
It was agonizing, waiting minute after minute for news from the cops about how it had gone. Toman was pretty confident they would recover Grace and Vesta. He was still worried that the criminals would somehow manage to Level 5 them, which would be a mental execution, completely destroying their personalities and memories. In some places, Level 5s were regulated, but Ruby's liberalism and individuality meant that any Tamer could get it at any time for a Girl. I don't know how they would take that. I would see it as just another form of death, but I know Dom's a bit less liberal than me. Maybe he could cope.
Eventually the Nurse returned. "They've been recovered," She said, and both teens looked fit to leap out of their beds and hug her. Everyone noticed that she wasn't smiling, though, and guessed that she had more to say. "Um." She blinked, looking down. "The police say that, by the time officers arrived, both girls had been given complete Level 5 cycles. Physically, they're unharmed, though, and they're being sent right over."
There was a period of flat disbelief. Toman watched both of them as they numbly tried to process this. Dom took it better, simply laying back without comment. Nobody with a heart wouldn't have it nearly broken at the news, but at the same time at least she was alive, and he could make new memories with her. Filat reacted less calmly, stammering objections. "But... but.... how? Didn't the Center staff stop the cycles when they called the cops? Why did they go through it?"
"Those breeds are fairly common, even this far north," The Joy explained, sensing that things were going downhill quickly. "The Joy in charge felt that if it wasn't the crooks she didn't want to inconvenience the Girls' owners, and even if they went through with it the Fire-types could still be returned in fit condition to you."
"Fit condition, minus everything they were," Filat shot back accusingly, his tone angry and unreasonable outrage seeming to be directed on the hapless public servant. "Oh Gods, you're really serious! I can't... can't believe this is happening. Vesta..." He trailed off, looking down and actually breaking down into furious tears.
Toman was struck by Filat's reaction, but didn't know what to say, and felt completely useless as he sat there and watched his friends react in their own ways, one noisy, one silent. It was like the cautious optimism and enduring spirit that they'd tried to accumulate in the room together had been shattered by a bomb, broken forever. These boys faced not the uncertainty of waiting, but the certainty of knowing the horrible truth.
The Joy had retreated at the first opening, worried for the patients but also realizing that removing herself might help to calm Filat down. Toman looked up as Marya went over to Filat and silently pulled the sobbing teen into a hug. "You knew her before you were her Tamer, am I right?" She asked so quietly Toman barely heard it.
Filat nodded. "We practically grew up together... oh my Gods..." He whimpered, pausing to catch a shaky breath and repeating the hollow oath like a broken record. "Level five... just... in the span of like two days, I've lost her..."
Suddenly, Toman didn't want to be in this room anymore. The air was suffocating. Even Dom's motionless back seemed like an omen of disaster. He adjusted his glasses and said, "I'm going out... I'll be back." The boy stood up and left the room, and Irena followed, but Marya decided to stay behind and let Filat cry into her shoulder.
"Master..." Even Irena was fully informed about what a Level Five was, and her voice was equal parts grief and terror. She was imagining if that had happened to her, her entire mind just wiped clean. Clearly a monstrous process. "Are... they going to be all right?" Toman didn't know if the Mynx meant the Tamers, their Girls, or both.
He took in a deep breath, leaning against the wall and feeling very tired. "I don't know," He admitted, refusing to meet her eyes. She got closer, clinging to his thin arm. "How the Tamers react, and come to terms with this, will determine if the Girls are gonna be alright."
"Who would do this?" She asked him softly. "Why are there people out there that would take a Girl and... just wipe her mind out? Wipe out who she is? It's.... it's no better than murder..."
Toman closed his eyes, leaning slightly against her comforting weight and body heat. "There's a lot of evil in this world, Irena. I don't think anyone's ever had a real answer for why that is. I'd always read about and heard about all this stuff, but what I've seen since I became a Tamer..." He cut himself off. "Irena. I will never, never let anyone do that to you or Marya or any Girl I have, ever. I swear, on my life." He felt her cling even closer, snuggling into him.
When the boy finally released his hold on the Mynx, he decided he still didn't want to return yet, and walked with her through the Center. It was a very big, urban place, and nurses and doctors bustled past them in the long hallways. Occasionally a Girl or Tamer would pass them, as well, and they exchanged casual greetings out of common camaraderie. None of them, even the ones with healthy Girls, bothered to challenge him, a fact that Irena had the decency to blush at.
His cell phone started ringing, and he pulled it out, seeing that it was a call from the Lab. A glance at the time told him why. "Ah, crap. Dinner." The emptiness in his stomach, one attention had been given to it, began to physically pain him and he winced. He still answered, pulling the small device to his ear. "Hello."
"Toman, it's the Professor," Aaron Shields' voice boomed through the phone line. "Katya's fretting about you guys, we're just sitting down to eat. If you don't hurry home we're going to get it all." The teenager smiled a bit. A call like this, just a simple measure of the care between people, made him feel a bit better.
"Thanks for calling, Professor Shields," Toman replied, always reflexively polite, but really feeling gratitude. "They found Filat and Dom's Girls, though, and we're sticking around the Center for the reunion."
"Really? That's amazing news. Please give them my congratulations. They're very lucky boys."
Toman winced. "I'll give you the whole story when we get back, sir. It'll be a bit still, I think, so please seal up some food for us." After extracting a promise to hear him out and make sure he and Irena wouldn't starve, Toman ended the call. "Maybe we can leave before Grace and Vesta get here," Toman said to Irena. "That might be best, I'm feeling worse every minute about intruding in this." She nodded silently.
They made best speed back to the room, but turning the final corner, both of them heard the loud noise of a girl crying. Grace, Dom and Marya were sitting against the wall around Vesta, who was bawling and whimpering pathetically. With the sense that he'd missed titanic developments, Toman practically ran up, and demanded, "What the hell?"
"It's Filat, Master!" Marya looked on the brim of her own tears. "Soon as he saw Vesta he fucking flipped out. Started yelling that she wasn't the real Vesta, that she was a fake or something..." She nodded to the sobbing Charamanda. "Told her to get out of his sight."
Toman's heart was lanced with sympathy for the Girl, who was asking in genuine confusion, "What did I do wrong?" She was shivering, leaning against Grace, who looked understandably uncomfortable with a stranger leaning against her but was doing her best to provide comfort.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Dom assured her, his voice low and unsure. "Neither did you, Grace," He added, seeing the look in the Torch Chick's frightened eyes. Toman was worried about his old friend, but Dom actually seemed to be holding up pretty well, helping those who weren't through this.
Marya's eyes met Toman's, communicating such sorrow that he had to go to her, taking her hand and lifting her to her feet. She fell into his arms, clinging ferociously. "Everything's... breaking down, Master," She said. "He made... all of us leave. He's in there... yelling." In fact, a very angry, yelling voice could be heard faintly through the almost soundproof Center walls.
The familiar sense that he had to do something about this tugged at him, but Toman really couldn't. Not only was he almost a bystander to this twisted scene, but he couldn't just go in there and holler at Filat to calm down and accept his Girl. His reaction, if unjustified and unfair, and hateful, was understandable. The boy had probably been on the brink ever since the mugging. This new horror had been all it took to really unleash a flood.
Several Nurses gathered to see what was wrong, and they joined in trying to comfort Vesta, but she kept insisting it was her fault, that her new Master had seen some defect in her. "I'm not the real Vesta," She repeated inanely every time someone addressed her, "Master said so, and Master's always right..." The new conditioning had certainly worked, and she probably wasn't even capable of being outraged at her treatment. It didn't help the deeply hurt, rejected, confused look in her wide eyes, though.
Dom spoke up. "Toman. Come here for a second." He stood and pulled the other human aside, taking him far enough away that they could talk in relative privacy. "This is a massive problem, man."
"Yeah," Toman agreed quietly. "Dom, you can't be totally alright about what's happened, either... are you really ok?"
"Compared with Filat? Yeah, I am." That was all he could get before Dom took over the discussion, as he was accustomed to doing. "Look. I don't think Filat is going to accept Vesta any time soon." Toman nodded. "Hell, he's pretty much released her already. She's going to need a home, an owner, someone who can use her power."
Toman blinked. "You're going to take her? That'll be a coup if you can swing it, man. I never figured you for the comforting type..."
Dom shook his head. "No way. Look, I don't think I could handle two Level Fives at once. No, I know I couldn't. It's just... you should take her instead."
"What?" It took Toman a few moments to consider the implications of this. "First off, you're giving me an advantage? I'll have two combat Girls to your one."
"Not if you can contact your Dad and swing it so that the Titodile he's keeping for you for when you think you're 'ready' goes to me. Then I'll have a fire and a water and you'll have a grass and a fire. That'll actually put us even, or me ahead, in terms of type." In spite of the mood of the whole situation, Dom managed a grin. He wasn't going to let his rival outpace him if he could help it, and he seemed quite proud of his idea.
Under normal circumstances, Toman might have rejected this idea. He still didn't think he was fully up to the task of keeping three Girls, be the third a Water or Fire type. However, Vesta's situation, combined with the new feeling that he needed more power, to protect himself and those he cared about, were enough to sway him. He nodded slowly. "Alright, Dom. If Filat and Vesta both agree to this then I'll go for it, and I'm sure father will be willing to grant this request."
"You always were too considerate of the Girls' feelings," Dom teased, softly punching him in the arm. "But yeah. Go ahead and ask her. I'll go in and confront Filat. I know it might make the situation worse... but maybe I can just convince him to see how crazy and stupid he's being."
"Good luck, man." That was really all Toman could say, and they walked back to the others. "Marya, Irena, come here." As Dom slid past, and opened the door to the room, stepping in and closing it behind him, Toman laid out the plan for them.
Dom winced as Filat seemed not to notice his entry, screaming at the wall like a lunatic. "Gods dammit, you pile of shit, will you stop yelling?"
"Fuck off, Dom!" The response seemed almost automatic, but there was force behind the command, and Filat turned angry, agonized eyes on the other teen.
"No chance, not while you're acting like a fucking retard. Look. Vesta's been with you forever, you said it yourself!" Dom stepped forward, speaking with passion. "After all you've been through together, you're just going to let this end it and push her away forever?"
"That's not Vesta! Not any more!" Filat was animated by spiteful self-pity, on his feet. "They killed her! Everything, every memory, every day I've had with her.... it's all for nothing now! It might as well have never happened!"
Dom felt his stomach go cold. "That's bullshit, and you know it," He said, softer, no longer eager to scream it out with him.
"What the hell do you know about me?" Filat spat back, not noticing that he was no longer all-out yelling as a reaction. "I barely know you or Toman, and you definitely can't come in here and tell me what or what's not right or wrong!"
"Anyone can see this," Dom replied, still getting closer, his posture aggressive. Adrenaline surged through him as he faced off with the other boy. "Anyone but you can see how you're hurting her! She doesn't know why you hate her, you son of a Widow! She doesn't understand, she can't fucking understand!" Now his voice was louder again, more force and volume seeming to come with the punch of his words.
"Of course she doesn't! Only Vesta would understand, and she's gone now! That's nothing but a shell! How am I supposed to just... accept this? It's sick! It's wrong!"
"You're her Tamer!" Neither of them was working under logic now, emotions ruling them as their tempers burned. "You're supposed to be the one who accepts your Girl, and uses her, and makes her feel like she has a purpose in this world!"
"Yeah?" Filat let out an explosive, shaky breath, tears still streaming down his face. "Well. Then I'm a shit Tamer, because I'll never accept that as Vesta. That abomination. That shell that shouldn't exist, and if we hadn't failed to stop those monsters in the first place.... this would have never happened." He was almost whispering by the end, sitting back down on his bed. "So we're both shit Tamers, huh? I'm not the only one who lost their Girl."
"What are you saying?" Dom felt the roller coaster of emotion, but he wasn't descending into the dark, quiet place that Filat was. He was still the heat, the light, the anger.
"Come on, Dom, you're feeding me this shit about the feelings of the Girl, about making her feel needed. That's not your real motive, is it. You barely reacted when the Nurse told you about Grace. I don't think it matters a damn to you about what the Girl's thinking, or feeling, as long as she does what you tell her."
Dom thought of his family, and his mind rested not just on who Grace had used to be, but also the sweet Girl that had cared for them... that had become a Penance when she just couldn't bear it anymore, and fled forever from his life.
That was all it took, and Dom was on him in an instant, punching and kicking ferociously, slamming Filat into the wall with all of his strength. He was a berserker, and it took Marya, Grace, and Vesta's combined efforts to even get him off his immobile victim.
When it was over, he gasped, shocked at himself, staring as the Nurse Joys rushed around Filat to help him up and assess his injuries, new and old. Vesta was looking at him with no small amount of fear, and rushed out of the room as soon as she knew she was no longer needed. Grace simply clung to him, and now she was sobbing. This was definitely a day for tears. He numbly hugged her to him and knew he had to get out of here, steering his Torch Chick towards the door.
Toman had no clue what to say as the two of them emerged from the room, followed by Marya. Irena was just about fainted from the shock and stress of everything, especially this newest development. "Dom..."
"I don't know.... when he.... I just..." Dom had no words, but felt both a deep shame and a horror from his own actions. It's just like that time in the forest, with the Feral. Just like then, I just reacted. He could see even Grace looked scared of him, her new personality not knowing what to expect from such a clearly volatile owner.
"Let's go," Marya said, hugging Toman's arm tight. "Where's Vesta's Pokeball? We have to go introduce her to the Professor and everyone and the others at Boot Camp tomorrow."
Toman said, "I barely had time to talk with her, you guys... go ahead for a moment." His Girls didn't want to leave his side but a sterner command and his assurance that he would be right behind got them moving. He looked back, and saw Vesta cowering almost like a frightened animal down the hallway. "Vesta." She looked over at him. "We need to talk more."
"Why? What's happening? Why did Master's friend attack him? Why does Master hate me?" She couldn't stop spewing questions, and to Toman's great grief, he simply had no answers for her.
"Filat doesn't have to be your Master. He's... given you up." There was no delicate way to break this to her so he resolved to do it quickly and efficiently so she could make her own decision. "It's obvious that you two wouldn't work together now anyway... and he refuses to take you flat out." She seemed to deflate further from that knowledge.
"I knew it... he doesn't want me..."
"Vesta. Come with me," Toman said. "I want to become your new Master and help you. I can provide what you need, and not just physically... I'm not a very people person, but I'll try my best to help you. And maybe one day Filat will realize what he's done and take you back. Until then you can join my Harem. I know that right now you feel... worthless, but I'll tell you that you have great value and I could really use your help. It's totally up to you." There, it was all out there for her, and he felt his cheeks heat as she fell silent, lost in thought.
"I can't go with Ma-.... Filat, right?" Toman nodded slightly. "Well... if you're willing to help me and take me in, even though I'll be a burden to you... and be my new Master..." She teared up again, but ran towards him, and he was prepared when she enveloped him in a sudden hug. "Thank you so much! Um.... what's your name?"
"Toman," The teen replied, gingerly patting her. Man. This day... has been completely fucked up.