Chapter 4
Tawny wiped her eyes and peered at Nicodemus in the light rain. A month of hard travel had burned away fat and softness and, on her, it looked good. “We should reach Licka tomorrow, what’s the next move? Are we going to settle in the Slot League?”
He shook his head. “Not after that message we got warning us that Malcolm was putting out a hit on me and he wants you brought in for questioning. Eventually things will settle out and they’ll realize we’re still getting the Team Zenith group messages but, until then, it’s nice to eavesdrop on their communications.”
“So what’s next?”
“I have some business here and then we’ll catch an airship or water vessel for the Sunshine League, move to another city there and move on to the Blue League. It’s far enough away we can get lost without worrying about being found.”
Tawny leaned forward in the saddle and ran her fingers through her mount’s hair. The Ponytaur leaned into the caress as the human thought. “Team Zenith has some members in the Slot League, so your idea sounds good. What business do you have here?”
“I’ll have to have my pokedex replaced.”
“Why? What’s wrong with yours?”
He slid from the saddle and carefully placed his pokedex on a flat rock. “Tabitha, stomp on my pokedex.”
The Rapitaur nodded and reared, bringing her full weight down on her front hooves. The pokedex shattered.
Nicodemus picked it up and tucked it into a pouch. “During a pokegirl battle, it got broke.”
“I’d say that was stupid, but you must have a reason for what you did.”
Nicodemus chuckled as he climbed back onto his pokegirl. “The various leagues don’t talk to each other much. That’s why they don’t have extradition treaties. Since my pokedex is broken to the point of uselessness, they’ll register me as a Coordinator in the Slot League, since they won’t have access to my Tamer data. They’ll expect that I’ll get reregistered as a Tamer once I return home, so I can battle. That’ll give me a legitimate record to use during my travels. Once we get to the Sunshine League, we’ll do the same for you.”
Tawny shook her head. “That’s not necessary, I’m a real Tamer. I’ll just need to update my record with my new pokegirls.” She frowned. “I’ll change my record to use my real name. Nobody in the team knew it, so they won’t know to look for me.” She looked blandly at him as he stared back and finally smiled. “Isabella Maria Carmen de la Vega.”
He blinked. “That’s not anything I was expecting. What should I call you?”
Her smile grew. “I’m partial to your ladyship. However, we’re friends, so you can call me Isabella. Tawny works too, since we’re good friends; but it’s known, so Isabella.”
“Are you nobility?”
“My family was, in Spain, back before Sukebe.”
Nicodemus shook his head. “I would never have thought that I, Nicodemus Azrael, would be traveling with nobility.”
“Perhaps this will bring a touch of much needed class into your life.” She frowned. “I’d like you to be my bodyguard. Would you?”
“Is this part of your being a noblewoman?”
She shook her head. “Nobody except you knows that and even if others did, it wouldn’t matter. Nobility isn’t recognized anymore. This has much more to do with reality.”
“What does this bodyguard job entail?”
“It would have been so much easier if you’d agreed first and then asked that question.”
“Maybe for you.”
She smiled again. “You’ll protect me in case there is trouble. Some places want to segregate human women and some guys want to catch them. Us,” she corrected absently. “I wasn’t interested in being Murchison’s broodmare and I’m not interested in doing it for a stranger. I’ll have children when I’m ready.” She gave him a speculative look. “And when I find the right man. What about you?”
“Biologically, it’s impossible for me to be a broodmare, so I’m not that worried about it. And I’m not interested in men.”
“It’s a good thing you don’t want to be a comedian. Your humor is awful.” She looked up at the sky as the rain began to fall more heavily. “Will you be my bodyguard? I’m no shrinking violet. If there’s any trouble, you distract them and I’ll hit them from the rear.”
He nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Nicodemus watched Tawny for a moment as they slowly headed in the direction of Licka. Originally, he’d intended to kill Tawny when they were in the wilderness; when the opportunity had arisen, for some reason, he’d found himself reluctant to carry out his plan. Maybe that was friendship; if true, it was very inconvenient and he was going to have to work not to have more friends.
***
The NurseJoy stared at the wreckage of his pokedex. “What happened to it?”
“A pokegirl hit it instead of me. I’m lucky I’d dropped it or I’d have a pokedex shaped bruise at best.” He shrugged. “I’ve got enough pokegirl related scars for my tastes.”
The pokegirl center attendant looked up at him. “If you’d come in, we could have healed you.”
“I was too far from a pokegirl center and the wounds festered. My alpha saved my life.” He motioned towards the pokedex. “Can it be fixed?”
The NurseJoy peered into a break in the metal. “No. If the case is cracked then the unit has to be replaced. I don’t know if we can recover the data, but I’ll have someone try.” She put the broken electronics on a tray. “Are you aware that you’ll have to pay for the replacement?”
Nicodemus swallowed. “No, but I figured I’d have to.” He grimaced. “I was almost finished saving for a grav bike, too. If it’s not too expensive, I can pay for one.”
“They’re cheaper than a grav bike.” The NurseJoy smiled. “If you’ve got that much, you can afford a new pokedex.”
“Thanks. What happens if you can’t recover my data? I’m from the Silver River League.”
The NurseJoy nodded. “I thought as much from your friend’s pokedex.” They’d had Isabella update her data first, since they figured his problem might take a while to fix. “I can’t authenticate you as a Tamer, the best I can do is switch you over to pet owner and have you enter a contest here to become a Coordinator. Once you get home, you can have them reactivate your old records. I’m afraid you’ll have to start off as a beginner.” She cocked her head. “Are you familiar with the requirements of becoming a pet owner?”
This was not what he was hoping for, but he’d already shown her the broken pokedex. At this point he had no choice. “A bit. Will I have to take a test?”
“Yes. You’ll have to prove you are knowledgeable enough to be a pet owner. I suspect you’ll find it easier than your Tamer’s test and you can find practice tests in the Licka library.”
“If that’s the only way I can go back to catching feral pokegirls, then I don’t really have any choice.” He gave her an anxious look. “I’ve already got six pokegirls, am I going to have to give some of them up?”
Isabella spoke up. “You can transfer them to me and once you become a Coordinator you can have them back.” She smiled. “I’m a Master Tamer and I’ve got storage rights.”
Nicodemus bit back his first response and considered her. Then he considered friendship. Once again, he really had no choice and finally he nodded. “All right.” He turned back to the NurseJoy. “Can I have a couple of days to study for the test?”
She reached over and patted his hand maternally. “Of course you can. When you’re ready, I’ll set you up with an exam. I’m sure you’ll do fine. The next contest is next month and I’ll go ahead and get you entered once you pass your test.”
***
Isabella watched as he dropped heavily next to the fire. Nicodemus noticed and gave her a grim smile. “Yeah, I know I need a break, but I’ve only got a couple of weeks to cram in training that everyone else here has been studying since they were kids.” He reddened when she chuckled amusedly. “I am fully aware of how old I am. I meant since they were little kids.”
She shook her head. “I know you’re out here for the training and I’m out here because I don’t want to be brought in for questioning.” A wry smile appeared. “That and the fact my bodyguard is out here, so I need to be here. Otherwise, how could you protect me?”
“Do you think they know we are around? I haven’t seen any sign of anyone looking for us and Team Zenith is not known for subtlety. None of the teams are.” He reached for his pokedex. Pet owners could have them and he’d gone ahead and bought one instead of waiting to see if he could cadge one when he became a Coordinator. Leaning back, he keyed up a video.
“Are you watching another event?”
He nodded without looking up. “Contests and Coordinators have only been around for about a decade, and in some ways they’re still feeling out what you can and can’t do; but I can still learn a lot by watching the recorded contests. This one is the very first Eva cup.”
“Speaking of Eva, congratulations on Naomi.”
His eyes flicked in her direction. “Thanks. I was pretty surprised when she evolved to Espea without warning. I thought Ruth was closer to evolving than she was, but that only proves I’ve still got a lot to learn.”
Isabella sighed and gave up any attempts at conversation while he immersed himself in his research. Leaning back, she idly studied him through half closed eyes.
Nicodemus treated her a lot better than Murchison had, and she’d learned a lot about him during their long trek to Licka. Still, there was this core that he kept carefully isolated and she was determined to break through and see what he was truly like.
There were things about him she didn’t understand, and she didn’t like that. His lack of sexual interest in her was one of those things. For her whole life she’d been pursued by almost every man she’d met. For a pure blood human, it was one of those facts of life. Like most, she’d complained bitterly about it to her few female friends, but it was the way things were.
When Nicodemus had suggested they not become lovers, she’d been initially relieved; over time it had become a source of nagging frustration. While taming her pokegirls kept her satisfied, being with a man once in a while was nice, too. Since she was stuck outside of town, thanks to Malcolm’s orders, Nicodemus was her only choice. He wasn’t bad looking, which helped her to ignore the fact that he was younger than she preferred. His level of emotional maturity had also helped her to overcome just how young he was physically.
She’d given a couple of hints that his attentions wouldn’t be spurned; he’d either completely missed them or else he’d noticed and then ignored them. At this point, she wasn’t sure which would be more annoying, but she was starting to wonder just how blatant she would have to be. Any other man would have jumped at the chance to bed a human and his apparent lack of interest was maddening, to say the least.
Some things about him were disturbing. About halfway into their journey she’d woken up one night to realize that he was squatting next to her bedroll. She’d carefully cracked an eye open and watched him looking at her. Something in his gaze as he regarded her had sent a thrill of fear through her and, for an instant, she’d been sure she was about to die. But the moment had passed when he silently rose and returned to his guard duties. For hours afterward she’d been unable to sleep, but was too scared to rise and ask him about what had happened. He hadn’t mentioned it and she’d decided for the time being not to bring it up.
She’d ordered Kay to investigate and the Ka-D-Bra had reported that Nicodemus was now using a mental technique which made probing him difficult. Breaking it down would warn him that she was spying and, incidentally, give her pokegirl a splitting headache. Not wanting to alert Nicodemus, Isabella had told Kay not to attempt it for the time being. However, Isabella was starting to reconsider the situation.
She had no intention of leaving Nicodemus. She was serious when she told him that she needed a bodyguard; pure blood women on their own had to be very careful who they associated with. Rape was heavily prosecuted, but a woman locked away was unlikely to make it to the police and, only recently in the Silver River League, a kidnapping ring for human women had been smashed. They’d been selling the women as breeding stock to the highest bidder and she didn’t want that to happen to her. She’d live with Nicodemus being disturbing from time to time if that was what it took to be safe.
So lost was she in her thoughts that she started when he spoke. “You look unusually introspective.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about what’s going to happen once we get to the Blue League.” She rubbed her fingers together. “I’m still going to need a bodyguard and I was wondering if you were going to abandon me.”
“You seemed to do well enough without one in Montevideo.”
She glared briefly. “I almost never left the warehouse. It wasn’t much of a life. You’ve had me out here for almost a month and I don’t want to go back to being cooped up all the time.”
He blinked. “I didn’t realize it was so bad for you. My apologies. My plans once we get to the Blue League are, for the moment, rather vague. I want to be a Tamer, so I’ll be hunting feral pokegirls; unlike most Tamers, I want a base to operate from. I’m considering eventually becoming a Breeder and finding a good site is something I want to do quickly, so I can be developing it before I retire.”
“Do you ever do anything spontaneously?”
Nicodemus chuckled. “Yes, but only when I have to. Careless spontaneity will get you killed in the wilderness. Contingency planning will keep you alive a lot better than dumb luck. Dumb luck is what gave me my scars. I was helpless and if Ruth had wanted me dead, I would be.”
“I suppose you are right. So, you don’t have any plans to dump me anytime soon?”
For the first time he looked faintly suspicious. “No, I have no plans to abandon you.”
“Good. That’ll do for now.”
***
Nicodemus nudged Isabella with his shoulder and pointed with his chin at a man getting out of a groundcar in front of the contest hall. “It looks like the judges have started to arrive. That’s Adan Carranzo.”
Adan was a tall, well dressed man with carefully coiffed black hair and a goatee. An armored pokegirl wearing a sword followed him out of the vehicle and stood impassively as he exchanged words with the driver.
“What kind of pokegirl is that?”
“That is one of the most dangerous pokegirls in the world, in my opinion.” Nicodemus looked vaguely disgusted. “Seraphs have killed more Tamers than ferals, usually by hauling them into dangerous situations as part of their battle against evil.” He shrugged. “Adan is supposed to be tough and he believes that pokegirls should follow the stereotypes that exist about them. He doesn’t like a pokegirl being original.”
“He must be the toughest judge.”
“All three of them are tough, but Adan is reputed to be the most fair. If you’ve got a Celestial, though, he’s rumored to be more fair than if you have an Infernal pokegirl.”
They shared a cynical snicker as the next car arrived and another man got out. He was older and stockier than Adan, but big, rather than fat. A pokegirl with emerald hair that matched her dress and boots slid out of the car behind him. “That’s Enrique Spada and I think he’s the toughest judge. He’s as picky as his Neo Iczel and won’t hesitate to dress down a contestant right on the stage. He’s made more than one kid cry with his acerbic comments.”
“I’m glad all that research you’ve been doing is paying off.” Isabella watched a slender woman with pale skin fade into view as Spada entered the contest hall. She looked curiously at Nicodemus when he grunted. “Who is that?”
“Bella Martinez and she must have been traveling invisibly. She’s the final judge. She’s got an affinity for ghosts and never goes anywhere without a Wraith that she owns. She’s considered the most liberal judge. In many ways, she’s also the hardest to please, since no one is ever quite sure what she’s going to like.” He paused. “That’s not quite true. Bella has a fetish for pretty pokegirls. She believes that with the proper guidance, almost any pokegirl can be beautiful. She despises ugly ones like Trollops or Slutges. If Naomi had evolved into an Espea before we got here, I’d probably be using her in the contest, if only to please Bella.”
“You sound like you want to win.”
“If I have to enter the blasted thing to become a Coordinator, I’m very well going to do my best.” Suddenly, he hopped off the bench. “I’m hungry.”
“Hungry? The contest is in two hours. I’d be a nervous wreck. How can you eat at a time like this?”
“I can’t. There’s no food here. Once we get to the restaurant though, I don’t expect any problems.” He shrugged. “I’m a growing young man, remember?”
She shook her head as they headed down the street. “Young man, I’m not sure you’re human.”
***
“Here’s your pokegirl, Nicodemus.” The NurseJoy handed him his pokeball and smiled. “The rules mandate that all pokegirls must go through a healing cycle and a cleaning cycle to make sure the contestants all start at the same level.” It was the same NurseJoy who he’d talked to when he first arrived in Licka. Over the last three weeks, he’d kept in touch with her and dropped by whenever he was in town. She’d made sure he understood that she wasn’t one of those crazy NurseJoys who dropped all her responsibilities to go running off into the wilderness with a Tamer. Since Nicodemus didn’t want her to, they got along fairly well.
“Thanks, Anita. How many entrants are there?”
“Only nine, including you. It’s a slow month. Are you ready?” She blinked at a soft chime. “Gotta go. Good luck.”
Nicodemus turned as she bustled off. “Come on, Isabella, unless you want to go out to the stands first.”
She grinned. “I’m in a reserved seat since they think we’re family and you’ve got an hour to prepare. There’s no way I’m going to be away from my bodyguard for that long. Come on, Kay.”
With so few contestants, each one of them had a private dressing room. He waved Isabella and Kay at some chairs and released Tabitha. The seven foot tall Rapitaur looked around the dressing room as he began releasing items from his pokepack. “Time, sir?”
“That’s right.” He opened a jar filled with ointment and handed it to her. Stopping, he looked up into her eyes. “Tabitha, I know you’ll do your best. I can’t ask for more than that and I want you to know I’m proud of you. You’ve worked very hard and learned a lot in a very short period of time. No matter how we do, you have no reason to be ashamed at your performance today.”
Tabitha swelled with pride and scooped him from the floor for a hug. She put him down and grinned evilly. “They fucked.”
“They’re or they are,” he corrected absently as he frowned slightly. “I’m beginning to think that T2 was defective. I don’t curse and Isabella doesn’t curse, so where did they all learn those words from and understand their meanings?” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Start brushing, Tabitha.” He opened another jar as she dipped a brush in the jar and started working the unguent into her hair. “Change.” The Rapitaur shifted smoothly to her quad form while still brushing. Her equine torso was based off of a Clydesdale and she now stood a good fourteen hands high at the shoulder, putting her human head over ten feet in the air. Using a pad, he began patting the powder inside his jar along her equine back. It glittered softly in the subdued lighting.
“I’m still not sure why you’re using her. Pokegirls in contests are usually from the cute breeds. Elena or Lucretia would be more suitable. With your trainer bloodgift, you could have brought either of them up to speed in time to compete.”
He glanced at Tabitha and saw her shamelessly eavesdropping as she brushed. “First of all, even natural trainers have to train their pokegirls. We can’t wave a hand and have them know things. Secondly, and more importantly, Tabitha is perfect for this and I happen to think she’s quite cute.” She colored in pleasure at his words. “The theme for this is contest is the way things used to be and I don’t think I have a pokegirl who’s more suited for the program. Bella will like us because I’m using an unconventional pokegirl for a contest and because she’s pretty. As long as she behaves like his mental image of a Rapitaur, Adan will be satisfied with her and as long as we perform perfectly, Enrique will only be able to nitpick. I’d say he wouldn’t have any complaints, but the day someone like that is completely satisfied, say goodbye to your friends because the sun went nova six minutes beforehand.”
Finished with powdering her, Nicodemus washed his hands and moved to the mirror for his makeup. He eyed Isabella for a long moment in the mirror until she frowned. “What is it?” He sighed and opened a case before removing his contacts. Teal eyes gleamed in his reflection and Isabella straightened up. “I never knew you wore contacts.”
“You weren’t supposed to. This is my only really distinguishing feature and I wasn’t going to give Team Zenith a way to track me when I fled. I’m only changing them now because I’ve gone too long without cleaning them. They’ll go back in before I compete.”
“I think they’re charming and make you more handsome than before. Why don’t you leave the contacts out?”
“When you see me not wearing my contacts, you can be assured that my days of running are over.”
***
Nicodemus thought it funny that, while they waited for his visual judgment phase of the contest, Isabella was more nervous than he was. Tabitha had been put back into her pokeball but he wasn’t worried about her. While intelligent, the feralborne Rapitaur wasn’t prone to flights of fancy or worry.
While higher level contests sometimes broke the visual judgment and appeals portion into different phases, in the city contests they were usually combined for the sake of brevity. Still, each contestant had five minutes to appeal and it could go longer if the judges had questions or comments. With nine contestants, that meant the visual phase was likely to take an hour and the contestants were required to remain apart from each other for the whole time. Only the audience and the judges would see the contestants and their pokegirls before the acting phase. Only then would the contestants meet, when they prepared to battle each other for points.
“This is taking forever,” Isabella snapped suddenly.
He glanced at his pokedex. “It’s been thirty minutes and I’m number eight. I’ve got at least ten minutes to go and probably more like twenty.”
“How can you remain so calm?”
“It’s a survival trait. The anxious cavemen went racing out and sometimes got some extra food, but sometimes they got eaten by a smilodon. Sometimes my ancestors went a little hungry, but they didn’t get devoured. I think it’s a good trait for a hunting Tamer too.” He checked his hands and straightened the lapels of his suit. He’d considered a tuxedo, but was unwilling to pay that much for something he’d outgrow in a year. The suit was of good quality, but far less expensive.
A double handful more minutes crawled by while Isabella fidgeted. Finally, the door opened and a Goth peered in. “Pet owner Azrael?” She smiled when he nodded. “You’re up next.”
She led them up to a ramp on one side of the state. “The current contestant will be leaving on the other side and you’ll go up when your name is called.” A glance at Isabella. “You’ll have to stay here or go back to the dressing room.” The pokegirl went to get the next contestant before the Tamer could respond.
“I’ve got a seat in the stands. Good luck, Nicodemus.” Isabella gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off.
He sighed silently as he watched her leave. “Why do women always want to change things?” he quietly muttered. “We were doing quite well as traveling companions and now you want more. Just find someone and have him tame you. I’m not interested in screwing up my trip because you want me.” A sudden spate of applause caught his attention and he jerked his mind back to what was really important.
It was another moment before his name was called and he climbed onto the stage. The crowd was about a hundred people or so and they murmured quietly as he appeared. He had no idea where Isabella might be seated and didn’t waste any time looking for her.
As he moved to the X which marked his starting point, he examined the three judges. Bella looked tired, but it was his understanding that people with ghost affinities often did. An anticipatory gleam filled her eyes and she leaned slightly sideways to whisper to the air. Since it was the same spot relative to her chair that was filled with pokegirls for the other two judges, Nicodemus presumed she was talking to her Wraith, who was known to occasionally make an appearance during a particularly moving contest, but more often than not, remained invisible the whole time.
Adan was making some notes while his Seraph stood unmoving. Her eyes met Nicodemus’ and narrowed slightly. Since there was nothing she could know, he chalked her glare up to innate belligerence and ignored it.
Enrique was talking to his Neo Iczel and made no effort to keep his voice down. “Maria, I cannot believe that girl was made a Coordinator. We’ve got to tighten our standards to keep the riffraff out.” He turned his gaze on Nicodemus and glanced at his notes. “Nicodemus Azrael, it says here you are a pet owner. What, you haven’t been good enough to become a Coordinator yet?”
Adan’s voice was deep and resonant. “If you’d read his entry, Enrique, you’d see this is his first contest.”
“He’s old enough to have been competing for a couple of months. It took you long enough to get ready, didn’t it, Azrael?”
Bella gave Enrique an amused look. “Señor Spada, don’t you think we should give him a chance before you dismiss him from the stage?” She turned to Nicodemus. “Have you been training for a long time?”
“No, señorita. I’ve only been in the Slot League for a couple of months and training for three weeks.”
She nodded as Enrique looked surprised. “You’re from the Silver River League, if I’m not mistaken.”
“No, señorita, you are not. I want to become a Coordinator and I have to compete in a contest to do so.”
Enrique frowned. “Your entry says you are a pet owner. Why aren’t you a Tamer? Lying on your entry form is grounds for disqualification.” Suddenly, he looked like a cat that’d spotted a sparrow with a broken wing.
“I was a Tamer, but my pokedex was damaged during my trip to Licka and my records couldn’t be retrieved. I had to become a pet owner to be eligible to enter this contest and, right now, I’m not a Tamer.”
“Oh? And when you return to the Silver River League you’ll become a Tamer again and just throw away whatever we’ve done for you, right?” Spada’s face began to redden at the thought of the disgrace.
“No, señor, I’ll never return to the Silver River League again.” His tone was definite.
That stopped Spada for a heartbeat. “Never? Good.” He glanced at something on his desk. “Time’s a wasting. Let’s get this moving.”
In his life, Nicodemus had met two Tamers with the trainer bloodgift. Both of them agreed with something he’d always believed, that to train a pokegirl you had to be willing to train yourself. One of the classes he’d taken had been oratory, not for the speaking, but so he could project commands to his pokegirls in the din of battle. He used that to good effect now and his voice rolled out into the audience as he spoke.
“Before Sukebe, and even before the Spaniards came, there was woman.” He released Tabitha. The Rapitaur was nude, as she normally was and which was perfect for the theme of this contest. Golden blonde hair hung to the middle of her back and glittered with metallic highlights. Although she stood seven feet tall, she was perfectly proportioned and heavily muscled. A surprised murmur rippled across the crowd at such an unconventional pokegirl for a contest and Adan’s lips thinned. Bella, on the other hand, looked unsurprised and delighted. Clearly, she’d had some idea of what he was going to be competing with. Enrique was still unhappy from the earlier exchange and his current scowl merely deepened.
“White Tezcatlipoca, whom we also know as Coatlique, came from the heavens to impart her wisdom to woman and gave her one of the two greatest gifts of all.” Tabitha raised her right hand, palm uppermost. “Fire.” Flames erupted from her palm as she used ignite, showing her fine control by not allowing it to spread across her body. The crowd gasped when the flames flickered and went from the normal yellow-red to a brilliant blue. Bella’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction as Enrique dropped his stylus.
Nicodemus continued. “Then, came the Spaniards. They brought many things, both good and bad, but one of the greatest things they brought was the gift of mobility.” Tabitha shifted smoothly to her quad form, never losing her concentration on her flames, which neither spread nor went out. Tabitha was a blood bay and her red coat and gold feathers and tail gleamed in the light. “When combined,” the ignite spread over her body as he spoke, flames sweeping rapidly to her tail, “the two are almost unstoppable.” The flames in her hair, tail and feathers were a brilliant gold and the flames on her hide were scarlet.
Her flames grew as she fed power to them, until they roared as they reached more than three feet from her body. Most pokegirls never learned how to extend their flames and those that did seldom reached such impressive heights.
The crowd burst into applause as Nicodemus and Tabitha bowed in unison. Her flames flared and vanished as Nicodemus nodded to her.
Then the grilling started. Enrique, of course, was first out of the gate. “I’ve seen better. Flame extension is a very difficult technique. How long did it take her to learn to do that?”
“Sir, she learned it in two weeks.” When Enrique made a rude noise, Nicodemus hastened to defend Tabitha. “It’s true, sir, and if I need to, I have a witness in the audience.”
“Of course she did,” Bella smirked as Enrique shot her a glare. “You have the trainer bloodgift, don’t you?”
That woman had a disturbing tendency to know things she shouldn’t and Nicodemus was starting to be concerned as to what else she might know. He crushed his apprehension ruthlessly. “That’s correct, señorita.”
She smiled at him. “How did you get the colors in the flame?”
He blinked. “I was really hoping not to have to explain that.”
“Too bad.” It was Adan. “It’s a very good question. Pokegirls can’t naturally change the color of their flames. How did you do it?”
Technically, sir, it’s possible that they could if they raised their temperature enough. However, I used some common chemicals that cause fire to burn different colors and put them on Tabitha. In the concentrations I used, they’re harmless and I’m going to have her cleaned as soon as we leave the stage. Copper chloride was used to get the blue color. For the red, I used strontium chloride and, for the gold, a mix of the strontium and pure sodium chloride. Then, Tabitha had to pull her flames close to her body to activate the chemicals.”
Adan looked shocked. “She did that while extending them too?”
Nicodemus smiled. “She’s remarkably talented.”
“She’s also blushing.” Bella chuckled quietly. “I think she likes praise from you.”
“I certainly hope so.”
“I wasn’t that impressed.” The Neo Iczel spoke. “There was nothing to it. It’s just a parlor trick.”
Bella’s humor dried up like a corpse in the sun. “It was remarkably well done, and while you may advise Enrique, do so quietly.”
The Neo flared angrily until Enrique grabbed her arm. He glared at Bella. “You do things your way and I’ll do them mine, but you leave Maria alone.” He turned to the Neo. “You keep your voice down.”
Maria glared at him and then shrugged. “As you command, master.” Her sarcasm was thick enough to cut, but Enrique ignored it.
Adan looked at the two other judges. “I think we’re done here. Does anyone else have any questions?”
Enrique shuffled his papers and glared at Nicodemus. “Are you intending to use more parlor tricks if you make it to the performance segment? They won’t save you.”
“No, señor, I don’t. I’ll rely on Tabitha’s abilities combined with superior tactical acumen. I don’t promise a win, but my opponent will know that he or she was in a fight.”
“How long were you a Tamer in the Silver River League?” This was from Maria.
“I was a Tamer for five months.”
“And you think you’ll give someone who’s been studying to be a Coordinator their whole life a fight? You think very highly of yourself.” Enrique’s lip curled with disdain.
Tabitha stomped a hoof. “We fight good.” She cocked her head. “We fight well.” Her head bobbed emphatically at the last word.
Nicodemus smiled at her. “Very good.” He turned back to the judges. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. If we advance, we’ll fight well.”
Enrique snorted. “If you advance, I guess we’ll see if you are up to the task.”
Adan took command of the interview again. “Pet owner Azrael, that will be all. Return to your dressing room and you’ll be notified in due course if you advance.”
Nicodemus returned Tabitha to her pokeball and turned on his heel.
To his surprise, Anita was waiting for him in his dressing room. She hugged him. “That was quite impressive. I’m certain you’ll advance.” She held out her hand. “May I take your pokegirl, Coordinator Azrael?” She winked. “Technically, you’re not one yet, but there’s no way they could deny you made a good enough showing to become one.”
She headed out of the room as Isabella came back in. “Getting some congratulatory taming in?” she asked waspishly.
“If I am, I must have the bloodcurse of quick finishing and no short term memory.” He sighed and tugged at his tie. “Besides, I don’t think I could get undressed in less than five minutes. Can I change back into regular clothes?”
The Tamer dropped into a chair. “You know you can’t.” She tossed him a bottle of water. “You’ll need it for the battle.”
“It’s called the performance segment.”
“It’s a pokegirl battle, no matter what they call it.” She stretched out, putting her feet on the other chair. “My neighbors in the crowd seemed very impressed with you. That was quite a show you and Tabitha put on.”
“It’ll only be unique once.” He drained the bottle and lobbed it into the trashcan. “If it’s really successful, others will start using it as soon as they hear about it.”
“You’re being too critical. Yes, the chemicals will either start being used by people with fire types or they’ll be banned as makeup. Still, the two of you worked well together and her fine control was impressive. Most pokegirls aren’t going to have enough control to activate the chemicals the way Tabitha did. If you battle that well together, you may actually have a chance of winning.”
He turned and looked at her. “Thank you. I hope you’re right, but even if we don’t win, Anita assured me that we did well enough for me to become a Coordinator. Although a win would be pleasant, I’m not going to get my hopes up. A lot of Coordinators have a lot more experience and stronger pokegirls.”
“Yes, but most of them have already won a ribbon here and moved on. Nicodemus, city contests are where people become Coordinators and learn how to act in a contest. You’ve been studying national events for your inspirations and striving to hit that level of performance in a local event. The crowd was really impressed and I was too, if only just a tiny bit.” She smiled. “I heard several people say that you looked like you should be at a regional or national event and they’re the ones who should know.”
“I hadn’t even considered that possibility. Do you think I overplayed my hand?”
Isabella chuckled. “I think that in future competitions, judges would expect a lot more from you than from your average Coordinator and judge more harshly if you don’t meet their preconceptions.”
“I can live with that.”
There was a knock on the door and Anita came back in. She grabbed Nicodemus up in a hug. “You advanced! Sara is on her way to formally inform you, but I saw the list and since I was on my way here anyway, I thought I’d tell you myself.”
Nicodemus felt stress he’d been unaware of drain away. “That’s great. Thanks, Anita.” He took Tabitha’s pokeball and tucked it into his belt. “When will they call for me?”
“They still have to do the selections for the semi-finals and then they’ll summon you.” Anita hugged him again. “That was an excellent job. I’ll be watching for your win.” She hurried away.
“What is it with all the hugging?” Nicodemus grumbled quietly as he opened his pokedex and began reviewing the performance phase of a contest.
“She likes you. Maybe you could convince her to join your harem after all. It is the going craze to have a NurseJoy.”
He glanced at Isabella. “No thanks. She’s not interested and neither am I.”
“You do know that once you become a Coordinator you’ll be able to get a noncombatant pokegirl for a seventh, right?”
“Yes, but if I fill that slot, I want someone who’ll be able to fight in a pinch. Anita doesn’t strike me as that kind of individual.”`
The Goth stuck her head in the door. “Anita told me you know about advancing and it’s time for your performance bout.”
“Thank you, Sara.”
She looked surprised. “You remembered? Thank you, sir.” She ducked back out of the room and her voice floated in. “He’ll be just a moment.”
Isabella cocked her head. “I need to get to the stands. Good luck.” She headed off as Nicodemus followed Sara.
He was waiting at the base of the stairs again when a form shimmered into sight. She looked normal, but was white with dark gray hair and eyes. Dark rings circled each eye. Her voice was a whisper that seemed to echo around Nicodemus. “My mistress wishes to congratulate you on advancing to the performance round and she also wants me to convey her apologies. She fought against what is going to happen, but Enrique has more authority than she does.”
“What’s going to happen?” His eyes narrowed. “I’m being set up, aren’t I?”
“You will face a veteran Coordinator who competes in city competitions because he likes ribbons. He’s very good and has a powerful Sharptits that he competes with. He will be your opponent.”
“I see. Tabitha will be facing a Sharptits.” His mind began working furiously. “I’ll do the best I can.”
“My mistress expects that of you. Good luck, señor Azrael. It will do you no good, but I give it all the same.” She faded from view again.
He grabbed his pokedex. “Sharptits are normal against fire damage, but I’m still screwed. Still, I can probably hurt her before she takes Tabitha out.” His mind still working, he almost missed the announcement of his name.
On the stage, he moved automatically to his mark, his mind still racing over details about Sharptits, Rapitaur and trying to find a way to pull out a win. It took him a moment to realize he’d been asked a question. “Excuse me?”
Enrique glared. “Are you ready to compete? You look lost, little Tamer turned pet owner. Would you like to withdraw?” He smiled as next to him Bella’s eyes glittered with suppressed anger.
Nicodemus pulled himself up proudly. “Never.”
“That’s nice. I like an opponent who won’t run.” The voice came from next to him and Nicodemus turned. He instantly recognized the Coordinator; it was Emilio Garcia, the runner up in last year’s Eva Cup. He was a power fighter with a stable of powerful pokegirls. One was Magda, a Sharptits who had only been defeated a handful of times since he evolved her from Boobfin.
“Señor García, it will be an honor to battle you.” If García was used to novices cowering in his presence, he was disappointed as Nicodemus nodded coolly. “Win or lose.”
If he was disappointed, it didn’t show as García smiled. “Trust me, you’ll lose, but I admire your spirit.” He stuck out his hand.
Nicodemus shook firmly. “Thanks.”
Enrique’s Neo Iczel snickered loudly.
Adan cleared his throat. “Pet owner Azrael, are you ready?”
“I am, sir.”
“Coordinator García, are you ready?”
“Si.”
“Then, take your marks.” The stage shifted, a protective barrier rising in front of the judging stand and the audience. Nicodemus and Emilio moved to their positions and removed their pokeballs. “Release your pokegirls.” They did so. Tabitha appeared in front of Nicodemus in her quad form and suddenly a Sharptits towered over García. She bared her teeth and snarled at the Rapitaur as she flexed claw tipped fingers.
Adan spoke again. “On my count of three the bout will begin. One, two, three.”
“MAGDA WATER SPEAR!” García bellowed.
Nicodemus kept his voice even. “Hyper quick attack, side.”
The Sharptits raised her hands as Tabitha blurred in an arc and crashed into her opponent, smashing the massive water type sideways. Magda’s water spear sprayed the wall behind Nicodemus as she crashed to the ground. He ignored the near miss to fully concentrate on the battle. The crowd gasped as the backwash staggered him.
“WATER SPEAR!”
“Sonic wave!”
Tabitha stomped the ground as the Sharptits rolled to her feet and the sonic wave lifted Magda from the ground. She twisted in midair and her water spear took the Rapitaur in the chest, knocking her to her knees.
“IRON PUNCH!”
“Combo one.”
The Sharptits’ hands glowed and she swung at Tabitha, but the Rapitaur had already used quick attack to move to the extreme other end of the performance area. She stood, her flanks heaving as she sucked air.
“WATER SPEAR!”
“Continue.”
Tabitha nimbly sidestepped the next water spear as she used recover to heal some of her injuries. Now she looked fresher than Magda, while the Sharptits appeared slightly frayed around the edges as she snarled at the Rapitaur.
“PEN HER IN, WATER TOWER!”
“Hyper quick attack.”
The Sharptits’ scream of rage was abruptly cut off as Tabitha used her massive weight to smash directly into Magda and then blurred back to the other end of the battlefield before the Sharptits could respond. More streaks of blood appeared on her torso from where Magda’a skin sliced her upon impact. Twin walls of water exploded from Magda, passing on either side of Tabitha and taking away her maneuverability.
Nicodemus had suspected something like this would happen during the bout and it signaled the beginning of the end.
“WATER SPEAR!”
“Flamethrower. Duck.”
The water spear punched through the center of the oncoming flames and knocked Tabitha sprawling. She struggled briefly and went slack. The flamethrower attack washed over Magda and she screamed thinly. When the flames vanished, they revealed her wavering slightly, but still standing triumphantly.
“Tabitha is no longer able to perform.” Nicodemus returned the unconscious pokegirl to her ball as he spoke the fateful words. “I have lost.” He bowed to Emilio and Magda before turning back to the judges and bowing to them as well.
Bella turned to Enrique as they watched the defeated pet owner leave the stage. “Do you think Emilio knows he was in a fight?,” she asked archly.
Enrique snapped his stylus as Maria hissed in anger.
Nicodemus Azrael
Ladyien – Lucretia, Thundrix – Elena, Eva – Ruth, Espea – Naomi, Ponytaur – Dorcas, Rapitaur – Tabitha