::introtext::
C18
(June 20, 296 AS, 1030, unknown location)
It had not been a good day for the enraged Megami-sama. Gisela paused outside of her scrying room, collecting her thoughts, and cursing the dragon tamer silently. All she wanted was to make the world a better place for her kind, and that… ‘male’ was not working with her. He had so much potential to help put pokégirls on top, where they SHOULD be, but the stupid and stubborn male was balking. Typical of a male, really, but his need to get himself and his harem killed is going to ruin my plans if he dies before I am done with him. I think it is time to try something new. Let’s see how he reacts to plan B.
She stepped into the scrying chamber, and frowned, noting her three servants were standing about the pool, and discussing whatever they were viewing.
The short and busty Megami, a former Ninja Nezumi named Tuina originally, looked at her fellow Megami, and then back at the pool. “Gisela is going to get him killed. I am tired of watching her use and then dispose of the people that she used. It reminds me of my former master. And makes me wonder if she plans to let us live when she is done with us.”
The green haired Megami on the other end of the pool glared at Tuina. “She gave you another chance at life after your ‘master’ abandoned you to die, and now you want to betray her? I thought you had some sense of honor, but I guess the stories of ninjas not having any are true.”
The red haired Megami, a Magmammary before Gisela helped her ascend, moved to cut off the argument before it really took off. “Enough. Whether or not you agree with her tactics or not, you did agree to help her in exchange for her helping you. So keep your opinion to yourself, or get out and pray she never catches up with you. She will not hesitate to punish you if she knew…”
“Your true opinions?”
All three of the Megami whirled about as Gisela unleashed a frost spell at Tuina. The Megami dove to the side to avoid the ice beam, and then screamed in pain as a forming ice golem stabbed her thigh with its ice spear, pinning her to the ground. Gisela stalked forward, as two more ice golems finished formed, their gazes on the other two Megami. She did not look at the other two as she addressed them, more interested in trying to kill the traitor Megami with her gaze. “Yuna, Polly, leave us. Now.”
The former High Elf and Magmammary bowed before quickly leaving the room and their fellow Megami to her fate. Gisela turned back to the traitor, and then gestured to the other two golems. They drove their ice spears into Tuina’s shoulders, pinning her to the ground like a Buttitsfree, ignoring her screams of pain. Gisela walked around the traitor once, and then stopped near her head. Reaching down, she grabbed her traitorous servant’s hair, and then stood back up before kicking her in the face once. She then slammed the traitor’s head against the hard stone floor, before pulling out a knife made of ice. “I saved your life, I gave you power beyond anything you had the right to expect, and this is how you repay me?”
Tuina did not say a word, too busy glaring at the insane Megami-sama above her and too busy trying not to scream in pain as the golems began to slowly twist their spears in her flesh. Gisela waited a moment, before placing the dagger against the traitor’s forehead, and then slowly began to carve a Glyph of Agony into the Megami’s forehead. The glyph was quickly finished, and she then wiped the dagger off on Tuina’s face, before putting it back on her belt. She stepped away, and then watched dispassionately as the three ice golems tore their spears free. She gathered the magical energy her former servant was emitting, before feeding it into the newly carved glyph on her forehead. As Tuina began to thrash as the energy began feeding into her, Gisela smiled. She stopped smiling when the Megami began to suddenly glow with black energy, similar to the energies put off during an evolution. After a moment of glowing, the former servant collapsed as the energies stopped emitting, and whimpered in pain.
Gisela stared for a moment, before she began to laugh, staring at the traitor. “Now that is absolutely perfect. I gave you everything, and now I have taken it all back. Enjoy your life, whatever you have left of it. I doubt anyone wants a burned, traitorous and incompetent Ninja Nezumi.”
She gestured, and Tuina screamed in horror and denial as she realized she had devolved back into a Ninja Nezumi, complete with the burns that had nearly killed her before Gisela had offered to save her life. The screams cut off abruptly, as Gisela teleported the Nezumi back to the location where she had nearly died, and then stepped beside the scrying pool. She knelt beside it as the three golems began to melt, no longer needed. Even as her three golems faded away, she smiled as the scrying pool found the person she was looking for. She studied the location for a moment, and then stood up, brushing dirt from her robes. She cast a few defensive spells and then teleported to the location in the pool.
She appeared in the clearing, and looked around, before a fira spell slammed into her reflection enchantment, redirecting it back at the Sorceress that had cast it who desperately countered her own spell. An Amachoke was turning toward her, and Gisela grimaced as a physic attack from a Ka-D-Bra managed to get through her light screen. She noticed a Galem standing beside the male she wanted to talk to, and then used Heat Drain and Cold Snap, augmenting both techniques with magic, completely covering the clearing with a thick layer of frost. As all five people in the clearing froze, literally in the case of the Ka-D-Bra, she said, “James Smith, I am not your enemy. I merely want to talk about how we can help each other with a mutual annoyance named Geno Rathin.”
James glared at the female that had interrupted his lunch, before gesturing for his harem to stop and recalling his Ka-D-Bra. “You have my attention.”
(June 20, 296 AS, 1115, Cherry Grove Town Pokécenter)
Geno glanced up as the door to his room opened, and then grinned as Tiamet snarled something uncomplimentary at the person intruding on her quality time with her tamer. She settled down when Lendysa glared at the G-Spliced, who growled as she pulled Geno against her chest and nuzzled him, though her eyes never left her harem sister. Geno grinned as both of his harem members continued their minor dominance spat, before interrupting. “Lendysa, was there something you needed or is this a social call?”
He was in a better mood than he had been yesterday, when he had finally allowed himself to spend the day mourning for Helaine. She had been his, completely and without reservation ever since she had joined him, and finally allowing himself to mourn had sunk him into a deep depression, so deep that he had locked himself in the back room to mourn alone. He had been in the room for nearly fourteen hours before his harem decided that he did not need to be alone any longer. They had put Tiamet up into her pokéball, before one of them had broken the door down. They had then rather calmly dragged him out of the back room, though he did not fight them much, before they had all curled up around him, mourning as a team. After a few minutes though, Sara had decided that they had mourned long enough, and the situation had fast devolved into an orgy. While it had not been the way he had intended, it had cleared his depression, though he was letting Tiamet have an entire day with him since she had missed the orgy, though it would have been more difficult to enjoy themselves if they had to dodge her super strength limbs during the festivities.
Lendysa tore her attention away from the over endowed female with her tamer, and rolled her eyes at her tamer. “Master, we just got a call from the local Hunter deputy commander. He picked up Razia, and wants a report, and I quote, “if you want your useless, big tittied cat bitch back,” end quote.”
Geno stopped teasing Tiamet with his hands when Lendysa mention the deputy commander, and rolled out of bed when she quoted him. Grabbing the clothing that Lendysa had bought for him, he quickly dressed, and then grabbed his equipment. Not that he had much, most of it had been in his poképack when it had been damaged, and Asheer should be getting it fixed at the moment. He looked up as Tiamet whined softly in protest when she realized that they were done, and again when he released her limb restraints. He gently caressed both of her cheeks before glancing at the clock. “Don’t worry, today is still yours. Once we get done putting this Hunter in his place, we can continue where we left off. Lendysa, any word from Asheer yet?”
Lendysa raised an eyebrow at how calmly he took the news of Razia being taken ‘hostage’, but did not say anything about it. “Yes master. She called and said that the repair shop would need two or three days to repair all the damage. The electric attack apparently blew out all the safety circuits but the last resort ones, and the wand was a total loss and needs to be replaced. If not for the supplies and harem members inside, it would be cheaper to replace the poképack. She said she wanted to do some shopping for a few essentials before she came back.”
He nodded, and then recalled Tiamet, before turning toward the door. “Right, let’s go beat the shit out of an over confident, egotistical, and arrogant Hunter.”
Lendysa stepped out of the room in front of her master, and sighed before she checked to make sure it was clear. “Master, lets avoid that if possible. I don’t think we need that kind of trouble right now, we tend to have more than enough already.”
Ten minutes later, Geno was leaning over the desk of the deputy commander of the local Hunters, and was trying not to hiss in the man’s face. Lt Marcus was simply staring at him, and then glanced at his Espea and Armsmistress before looking back at Geno. “Sit the fuck down right now, before Amy beats the shit out of you and Illiea turns your mind into a mush. Your cat bitch is fine. Now give me your report before I let them teach you your place.”
Geno stared at him, before pulling out his pokédex and offering it to the Hunter. He deliberately dropped it onto the Hunter’s desk as he reached for it, and then smiled, daring Marcus to try something. The Hunter surged to his feet, his hand going for his pistol, as Geno tapped two of the pokéballs on his belt, releasing Lendysa and Tiamet. The man froze as Tiamet formed, his mind trying to process just how big she was. “Holy shit…”
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING?”
Both males turned to the door, and stared at the Hunter captain who had just walked in. He looked from Geno to Marcus before pointing first at Marcus. “You both put all of them up, right the fuck now. Marcus, take a walk. You, go to my desk, and report what the hell took you so long.”
All four girls disappeared into their pokéballs, and Marcus glared at Geno before stepping out of the small office. The captain sat down at his desk, and then glared at Geno. “What the hell were you thinking, trying to start a fight in here? Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. Give your report, and the police will return your Cheetit and we will give you the sighting bounty as well as the special duties pay for what you did for us. I take it the male is dead?”
Geno sat down at the captain’s desk, and handed him the pokédex, before beginning his report. “We found the male, or rather his remains, outside of the structure you told us about. It was clear that the Dronza had taken her time taking him apart, and he had been dead for some time, though scavengers had not yet gotten to the body before us. We entered the nearby structure to check if the Dronza had taken shelter there, but upon entering the second level, the staircase retracted into the ceiling. We were then attacked in waves by apparitions, pokégirls of various types, mostly fighting, psychic and a few dragons, and were forced to descend to the fourth floor to get out. I lost one of my harem, and most of my equipment was either destroyed completely or will need significant repair before it is usable again.”
He leaned forward, and allowed his anger to show, just a bit. “And now I am DYING to hear why I was not warned about the fact that the structure was both trapped and haunted by hostile ghosts.”
The captain snorted, and retorted, “Tell you what, you can either get that reward and bonus pay or get an explanation. Pick one.”
Geno glared back at the male, but while he knew information was power, he needed more funds at the moment. He tapped his fingers on the desk, before finally deciding. “I want the money and my Cheetit back. Now being better than later. And I hope I don’t have business with you again.”
He stood up and picked up his pokédex from the desk, and then unplugged it from the computer, ignoring the warning beep that issued from the computer at the improper device removal. The captain cursed, and started to say something, but Geno had already shut the door behind him. Stopping at the desk, he smiled as he saw Razia being escorted to the front, and waved to her. It was not promising to be the best of days, but hopefully nothing else was going to go wrong before they could get out of town…
(June 24th, 296 AS, 1410, Outskirts of Cherry Grove Town)
Geno glanced back over his shoulder at the city for hopefully the last time, his wings twitching irritably. The Hunters had tried to make his days in the town after he had stormed out of the meeting hell, and had succeeded to a small degree. Banishing the biased humans from his mind, he turned back toward Aliza, and watched her shift her fanny pack uncomfortably, noting again how the ghosts in the ruins had changed all of them. She had recovered somewhat from the attack that had knocked her out and bleached her entire body white, but she was still a bit weak, and her hair and the bulb on her back were permanently white now. She seemed to be a bit unsure of it, but he rather liked how exotic she looked.
She sighed in frustration, as she had no way of getting the fanny pack to sit properly, and having it hang from her shoulder was not acceptable as that position it was too easy to lose, but around her waist it chafed her bulb. He shook his head as she shifted her pack again. “Sorry Aliza, but until we can think of something better, you are going to have to deal with it, unless you would rather not carry those personal supplies.”
She shook her head, and finally slung it bandoleer style between her breasts, before replying. “No master, I will cope. Where did you say we were going next? I was not paying attention to the briefing last night.”
He rolled his eyes, but knew everyone had been distracted making sure everyone that had been in the poképack was alright while he had tried to brief them. His fault, really, and he should have known better. He was simply relieved everyone was alright, and that a healing cycle was the worst thing that had been needed. “I said that we would be heading to Violet Town, and then swinging over to Goldenrod for the badge and larger stores there. It is going to take a month or two to get over there, but we have nothing better to do right now. After that, I was thinking of heading north to Ecruteak Town, and deciding from there where to go.”
She tilted her head to the side slightly, and then asked an obvious question. “So we will not be heading back to Azalea Town?”
She seemed to shrink in on herself a bit as she mentioned Azalea town, but since she had spent a bit of time with Troopa in that town, he could not really blame her. She did relax when he shook his head, and explained. “No, I want to avoid that town for a bit. The Troopas might cause trouble, and I want to give the harem more training, especially you, before we head back for the badge, even though you will probably not be used there for that gym battle. Now, let’s get going, we have a lot of ground to cover, and talking is not making it shorter.”
She giggled, and then started walking, though Geno was quick to point out a way to walk for long periods of time that would not hurt her legs as much as normal walking. He had learned it from Lendysa, and they had taught it to the others already, something the entire harem had been thankful for. As an afterthought, he released Sara, and ordered her to practice and strengthen her wing muscles, as well as practice landings. She stuck her tongue out at him, and then took off, though she stayed close to help if he started to attract trouble like he usually did.
(July 3rd, 296 AS, 1555, Violet City)
Geno limped toward the pokécenter, one arm around Asheer’s shoulder. He refrained from glaring at Aliza since Asheer was doing it twice as strong as he would be and he figured that was enough glaring. The source of his leg wound was doing her best to ignore the irritated alpha, and since the feral that had been Aliza’s opponent was in a pokéball around Geno’s waist, she could only glare at Aliza. He personally thought the situation was somewhat amusing, and would have been hilarious if his leg had not been hurt, but knew he would not even be slightly amused if the wound was more than a flesh wound.
He looked around to try and distract himself, and noticed a pokébattle in progress in the park on the opposite side of the street from the pokécenter. It was between a dangerously attractive female wearing barely enough clothing to conceal her luscious figure, but it was a strangely tasteful outfit, rather than slutty. The pokégirl she was fighting was a feline type, and even as he watched, the feline went down under a hail of magical bolts, and did not get up. The female tamer’s head sagged, and then she tossed her opponent a small object, probably a pokéball, though from their distance it was hard to tell.
The female tamer walked toward and entered the pokécenter, ignoring the male tamer recovering the defeated pokégirl and then teleporting away with the standing victor. Shaking his head, Geno made a silent promise to never lose one of his harem that way, or any way if he had any say at all in the situation. He did sigh in relief when they finally made it to the pokécenter, and then recovered Asheer, much to his alpha’s surprise and discontent. He grinned at her pokéball, but he did not feel like dealing with any pokébattle challenges at the moment.
He waved off Aliza’s attempt to help him, and then stepped into the pokécenter, scanning for the desk. The first thing he saw was the same female tamer from before, arguing with a very powerful looking feline near a hallway entrance, and a group of four tamers sitting together near the door. He warily noted all four of them sat up when he entered, and his wariness turned to frustration as all four got predatory smiles, before turning toward each other. They quickly went into a spirited but quiet conversation, but he knew it could not last.
He quickly limped to the counter, and handed most of his harem over, keeping Asheer, Tiamet, Lendysa and Sara with him in case the four tamers decided to do something stupid. Chain battling was not generally accepted in the league, but that did not stop local tamers from trying to gang up on a person new to town. He leaned against the counter, and then ran his hand through Aliza’s hair, smiling as she pressed against him, a look of content on her face at the fact she had him alone for the moment. She suddenly gave him a needy look, before blushing slightly. “Master, can we get a taming room for a while?”
The female finally finished her argument when the PHU dinged, indicating that someone’s harem was done healing. He looked at the machine with a frown, knowing that his harem had just gone in, so it could not be his. The sound of footsteps made him look up, and he found himself looking into the startled eyes of the female tamer. She stepped back, apparently having somehow not noticed him until she nearly ran into him. She stared at something behind him for a moment, but even as he realized she was staring at his wings, she shook her head and stammered an apology.
Resisting the urge to glare at her, he turned back to the counter, his tail lashing in irritation. As the Nurse Joy set the female’s harem on the counter, he asked her how long his harem would take. As the Joy started to reply, he felt someone touch the left side of his tail. Knowing that Aliza was on his right, he snapped his hand backwards and grabbed the hand stroking his tail, something only his harem was allowed to do. He pulled up and forward on the hand, making the female yelp in surprise as she was jerked practically into the counter. He turned toward her, and gave her a tooth filled smile that never touched his eyes. “Don’t ever touch my wings or my tail without my permission. Please.”
The female’s face was burning red with embarrassment, and her storm gray eyes refused to meet his. He waited a second for her to reply, and then yelped himself as a paw suddenly grabbed his wrist, and twisted. He contorted about, forced into releasing the woman’s hand to twist enough to keep his wrist from breaking, and found himself looking right at a fur covered chest. He glanced up, and started to snarl at the feline, and then gasped in pain as she barely flexed her biceps, the huge muscles easily grinding the bones of his wrist together. Knowing that this pokégirl had to be trying to not hurt him with muscles like that, he chose his words with as much caution as he could. “Let me go right now, before I lose what is left of my temper.”
The feline looked down at him in shock from her at least six and a half foot height, and then laughed, before releasing his wrist with a slight toss. He staggered back three steps from the pokégirl’s gentle effort, and then glared at the feline, before transferring his glare to the still thoroughly embarrassed female; neither he nor the feline paid attention to the Nurse Joy, who was asking for them to settle down before she was forced to call for the police. After a moment of Geno glaring at both the female and her pokégirl, the tamer finished blushing and found her voice again. “Sorry, I did not mean to just grab your tail like that. I have just never seen a male with a tail before.”
He rolled his eyes, and fought to keep his considerable irritation from appearing in his tone. “What are you, a tail fetish female?”
The feline hissed softly at his tone, while the female grinned, suddenly amused at his remark rather than embarrassed like he had expected. “Perhaps I am, male, what is it to you?”
He stood up and stared at her for a second, trying to and failing think of a snappy comeback, before turning to the still hissing feline. “Are you still leaking air? I would have thought you would have deflated by now.”
Even as he realized he had just taunted something with arms nearly three times bigger than his own, he also realized that his temper was flaring with no control whatsoever. The conversation in the corner with the four tamers died as they heard him, the Nurse Joy froze behind the counter, the female tamer’s jaw dropped, and the feline stopped hissing, no one believing he could have possibly been stupid enough to say that to a fighting type. He gave the feline a cheeky smile, before turning back to the counter, blatantly ignoring the pokégirl as he flipped out his pokédex. He scanned the feline, and then nodded as it spat out her information. Ah, a Warcat. Though why she has a ‘normal’ fur pattern of a feline rather than that horrible lime green is an interesting question to be figured out later. As if I care…
He vaguely heard the female tamer talking to the Warcat, telling the proud and powerful feline that pounding him into a paste was not worth getting euthanized for. Realizing that he had been acting in a way most humans would, he sighed, and turned back to apologize to both of the females he had been rude to. His bad mood should not be taken out on them. But even as he turned to apologize, one of the tamers in the corner spoke up. “Hey, we know you are a prick because of the wings and tail, but don’t be taking it out on others. Go slit your wrists if you are that much of an emo.”
He froze, and then turned and looked at the male, giving the grinning bastard five seconds to apologize, before he went over there and broke his face. The male simply grinned, and high-fived the tamer to his left, as the other two released a pokégirl each, a Geogal and a Tigress, if his guess was right. Decent, but he was better. After a few seconds, he politely turned back to the female, and said, “One moment, and then I will be back to apologize for my uncalled for behavior.”
He turned back to the four males, and stalked toward them, ignoring Aliza as she tried to get him to stop. After a few steps, she stopped trying to dissuade him, and looked at the two pokégirls already out and shivered, knowing that they would be able to beat her, though she hoped to take the Geogal with her. Geno ignored the two pokégirls, and stepped into the middle of the group of tamers. Leaning forward, he got right into the male’s grinning face, and resisted the urge to hiss at him. “Are you trying to impress someone here? Because that is the only reason for that comment I could think of. Ego stroking, and Lord knows that is needed for a bunch of mindless, ambitionless, lazy Dildoqueen fucked rejects such as you four.”
The male did not get angry, but instead laughed, before shoving Geno backwards with his foot. “Why don’t you go find yourself a tamer freak? I don’t know how a pokébitch like you got a tamer’s license but you are an obvious mistake.”
That got Geno’s hackles up, and he ignored the sound of the Tigress padding up behind him to shove his left middle finger into the male’s face. “Can you see the finger? Can you see it, CAN YOU SEE IT?”
The male looked at the finger, he could hardly miss it, before looking back up at the pokégened tamer. “That I can, and if you don’t get that out of my face and back off, we are going to let our harems teach you to respect your superiors, bitch.”
Geno grinned evilly, and then brought his right first around in a hook that the male never saw coming. “Good.”
Calmly flipping the stunned male out of his chair to slam him down, back first, onto the ironwood table that was between the chairs, Geno then leaned forward to snarl in the male’s face. “You are a god damn, egotistical, worthless coward who depends on numbers to survive. You make bunnygirls look like they have the intelligence of an Alaka-Wham by comparison. Your ‘life plans’ are for what harem member you are fucking in two minutes, and you expect your parents to carry you through life, without you having to lift a finger to get anything done. You are an embarrassment to the male gender, and the only reason you are still alive is because being criminally stupid, incompetent, and a disgrace to the race is not punishable by death.”
He looked up as another of the four tamer’s grabbed him and tried to pull him off the male on the table. Geno brought his left elbow backwards into the second male’s gut, then his fist up into his face. Geno’s free hand blurred as the other male’s made a grab for the pokéballs on their belts, and the dragon blooded tamer quickly released his four reserve guards. Even as he released his last one though, he realized that the only one he needed to have released was Tiamet. She appeared right in front of the advancing Tigress, who froze, staring in horror at the G-spliced that had formed in front of her. Tiamet looked down at the frozen Tigress, and then around at the again dead quiet pokécenter, before hissing softly in disgust down at her ‘opponent’. She glanced at her master, seeing if he was serious, before pushing the Tigress slightly, seeing if she was going to pass out. Geno grinned at the four tamers, and decided to end the encounter before things devolved further. “Alright, anyone else want to be insulting, or would you four like to leave now, before my harem teaches you guys some respect?”
There was a moment of silence, and then the male pinned to the table began to wheeze, choking. With an annoyed sigh, Geno stopped holding his throat so tightly, letting the male breathe. He gasped for a moment, before gesturing toward the door, indicating that they were done trying to be cute with Geno. He stepped back, and then started toward the counter, not looking back so as to get one last insult in. He paused in front of the Geogal, who did not get out of his way until he looked over his shoulder at Lendysa. No one else saw her roll her eyes, but the Geogal was fast to move when she pulled her war axe from her back. Geno stepped out of the circle of males and their harems, before recovering Sara and Tiamet. He walked back over to the counter, smiling to himself as he heard the tamers scrambling for the exit. He paused by the female tamer, and then bowed slightly to her before continuing their earlier conversation. “Ma’am, my apologies for my earlier attitude. That I took my bad mood out on you was inexcusable, and I can only hope you find it in your heart to forgive an abused and misunderstood half-blood.”
He was smiling during the second half of the apology, trying to be humorous as was his normal habits. The female stared at him for a moment, before shaking her head, her short cut blonde hair waving with the movements. “Has anyone ever told you that you are Zubutt-shit crazy?”
He gave her his wide, lop-sided grin, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, my harem and few human friends tell me that quite often. And I think I will be hearing it again once my alpha and beta here get me to the room.”
Asheer stepped in front of him, and then stepped back, making him almost instinctively wrap his arms around her. She gave the female tamer a flat look, before deciding to comment. “Doubtful, Master. We know you are not going to change, so why bother worrying about it?”
He gave her a startled and confused look, before shaking his head, and offering one hand to the female tamer. “Any way, apology accepted? Geno Rathin, general nut case and freak.”
She started to take his hand, but froze when he said his name for a second, before she finished taking his hand. “Liandra Lithestepper, and yes, I accept your apology. But you are Geno Rathin? I mean, I wondered when I saw the tail and wings, but…”
Liandra’s grip was firm, accepting without testing him, something he found strange. Normally other tamer’s either barely grabbed his hand, or tried to shatter it. He nodded to her question, but pretended to be dodgy. “I certainly hope I am the only one. I would have to hurt someone if they were trying to be me. World only needs one of me, probably would implode if there were more. Why do you seem to know who I am already? I am not that famous yet.”
She snorted, but it was the Warcat that answered that answered the implied question. “Anyone crazy enough to charge into a damage building that Team Apocalypse had just damage, and were breaking a member out of, is worth remembering. His harem getting seventeen people out of the building before sections began collapsing over where the wounded had been are worth remembering. That you managed to get a recording of several previously unknown ranking members was just icing on the cake. You are something of a local hero.”
He shrugged, slightly embarrassed, not realizing that the town had known that much. Hell, he had never thought to ask what his harem had done while he had been spying on James and his friends, concern for Tiria after she nearly collapsed and Sara before they found out she had been charred had blotted those thoughts out while he had could have thought of it. “Well, I was more interested in one of the individuals down there, rather than the group, and we certainly couldn’t have left those people to die there. That was something that Team Apocalypse would have done.”
The Nurse Joy at the desk finally spoke up. “Well, I had several friends among the wounded, and thank you for saving them. You might not think much of what you did, but those of us in the town do.”
Geno sighed, and looked over at the Joy. “So the odds of those among the wounded who did not get a chance to thank me learning I am here are damn good, are they not?”
Her raised eyebrow and amusement at his discomfort was obvious, more than enough of an answer. “So much for relaxing for a while. Maybe I should move on to Goldenrod earlier than expected.”
He tested his leg, imagining having to walk miles on it, before grimacing. He knew Sara or Tiamet could carry him, but the group needed the money from capturing ferals. Something they could not do much of while he was ferrying about and it was not like he was in a hurry. But a group of people coming to say thanks is going to be embarrassing at best. I just hope they don’t decide to make it an excuse for a party. I have no idea what to do or even think about that idea. Even though the town would probably LOVE the idea of getting to publically thank their hero. With an impromptu holiday, and speeches, and fuck this we are leaving early.
His panic must have been getting obvious, because both Liandra and the Nurse Joy were laughing at him. Liandra was the first to recover and make a snarky comment. “Panics easily, doesn’t he?”
Asheer’s glare got even more intense as she leapt to his defense. “Hardly, he just doesn’t like large groups of people. Most of the time, it ends up with him getting hurt. People don’t like differences, and what is he but differences incarnate?”
The Nurse Joy gave the draconic alpha an amused look, before trying to tease Asheer. “Bit over dramatic, even for his defense, don’t you think?”
Asheer looked pointedly at the healing unit, which had just pinged. “So, would you like to point out where your pokéball is, so I can put you in it for a healing cycle after I get done beating you?”
Geno shook his head, coming out of his panic, and realized the situation was devolving again. Turning to the Nurse Joy, he gave Asheer a warning squeeze. “Ma’am, can I get a room key and my harem back? I think I might try and lie down for a bit.”
Liandra started giggling, before grabbing her Warcat and leaving the pokécenter, as the Joy returned his harem and presented him with a room key. Once he had vanished into the hallway, she punched in a number on her communications computer, and an Officer Jenny quickly answered the call. “Sam, you are never going to guess who just walked into the pokécenter and put the Waagh Gang in their place.”
(July 6th, 296 AS, 1000, Violet City)
Geno, Sara and Asheer were walking down Trader’s Street, cruising the shops to do some impulse buying, as they already had all the supplies they would need. The Nurse Joy had not informed the town that he was there, or else his mind had blown everything out of proportion, a much more likely outcome. They paused in front of a curiosity store, and Geno recalled Sara, before heading inside with Asheer. Sara had gotten to go into the last one with him, so now it was Asheer’s turn. After the near fiasco back at the pokécenter, Asheer had gotten together with several of the older harem members, Lendysa, Tiria, Sara, and Mayuan, and they had decided unanimously that their tamer would always have to have one of them out with him. Asheer had yet to tell him of the decision, but she knew he would not be amused, so she was trying to find a good time to do it.
As they entered the shop, Geno spotted a case holding various stones, including a few evolution stones near the back. He beelined for them, hoping to find a few that he suspected or knew he would need in the future for harem members. He grinned as he spotted a pinkish crystal in one corner with a golden pentagram in the approximate center, the crystal glowing softly. He looked around, spotting a diamonds, several amethysts, garnets, and cats eyes, all of them scrying quality, if he remembered the few magic lessons he had gotten back at the Academy correctly. The two white stones with the flexed arms might be round stones, but with Razia, and the current rumor that Cheetits evolved into Leopardesses with them, he was not going to purchase them. She would have to make the decision to evolve into one or not, and he was not going to take that from her. If she wanted to, he would help her when she let him know, not before. But the Mana crystal would being leaving with him if he had to beat himself unconscious to get it.
Looking around, he did not see anyone in this part of the shop, and Asheer was giggling to herself in another part of the store. Heading toward her, he paused as he saw a stand of cover plates for pokéballs, and picked one up that seemed to call his name. It was solid black, except for a pair dragoness, one lounging on each half of the cover. He flipped it over, and then closed the cover, holding up one of his empty pokéballs to compare the sizes. As he had expected, it looked like it would be a perfect fit. He started to palm the cover, and then spotted a sign on the stand, which asked that the covers not be touched. Sheepishly putting the cover back, he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone spoke behind him. He whirled around, wondering how the hell someone had snuck up behind him. The pokéwoman smiled tiredly at him, before repeating her question. “So, found something you like, hatchling?”
She wore a plain green shirt with black pants, but her left sleeve was rolled up to the shoulder, showing she was missing her entire left arm from at least the shoulder. He did not wince, but instead bowed slightly to her before replying. “Yes ma’am, I did. I would like to apologize for touching the cover. I did not see the sign before handling it.”
She waved off his apology, and pointed to the ball, which glowed softly, before vanishing from the shelf. She nodded slightly, and turned to the stone cabinet. “Which stone caught your eye? You were almost drooling over one of them.”
He grinned as he answered, not embarrassed at all. “The mana crystal please.”
She hummed to herself, as she limped toward the stone display. “Hmm, an expensive evolution that must be. She must be important to you, else you would just take the evolution from someone else, and trade her away.”
He felt his wings stiffen, but he kept his tone civil, knowing that she might just be echoing the current trend in the occupation of taming. “All of my harem is important to me, ma’am. The only reason to trade a harem member is because she simply cannot fit with the harem, or because she wants someone else as her tamer. Any other reason is the tamer being lazy and selfish.”
The pokéwoman simply nodded, not replying to his answer. “My tamer painted that cover that you liked so much. We used to have another pokéwoman here who did them even better, but…” She sighed softly, before continuing. “Old age is the only enemy that one can never defeat for good. It will always win in the end. Cherish what time you have with them hatchling. You never know when death will come a’calling.”
Geno paused for a second as Athyra and Helaine suddenly floated up in front of him, and he bit back a sigh of loss. “I know that ma’am, I already do.”
Neither of them said anything as she pointed to the mana crystal, making it vanish as the cover had. Turning back to the tamer, the pokéwoman asked, “Would you like to commission any covers, or is that one the only one you need?”
He considered the question before nodding. “Yes please, at least… let’s make it an even dozen more at the moment. If I need more later, I can come back to commission them, right?”
The pokéwoman nodded, but did feel the need to add another comment. “If we are still here hatchling, of course.”
This woman is beginning to depress me. Reaching out, he sent his sudden need for Asheer down their delta bond, hoping just having someone with him would make her stop. He felt Asheer respond with concern, her amusement and glee at whatever she had found fading quickly. It took Asheer a minute to navigate the cluttered store to him, enough time for them to finish their transaction, putting him back nearly sixteen thousand credits including the twelve commissioned pokéballs, but he did not mind the price, and the woman was mercifully silent for the rest of the time he spent with her. He bid the pokéwoman a polite farewell, and gave Asheer a hug before heading out to the street. Once outside, he leaned against the wall, ignoring the curious stares from several children Asheer looked at him with a bit of frustration and concern, clearly curious as to why he had suddenly become depressed. He gestured back to the shop before replying. “That pokéwoman had an uncanny ability to know how to say exactly the right thing to depress the hell out of me. She kept talking about losing harem members because of lazy tamers and death claiming everyone in the end. All true, but depressing beyond belief.”
He stayed against the wall for a moment, before pushing himself off of the wall and shaking himself, as if to physically shake off the black mood. He glanced at Asheer, about to say something, until he saw a slightly familiar face across the street. It wasn’t until Asheer hissed at someone behind him and he turned to see the same kid from the pokécenter that he had slugged that he realized why the other was so familiar. He grinned cheekily, before his hand darted out to insultingly pat the tamer on his badly bruised cheek. “So, back for another ass kicking? You are in luck; for I was just wondering what else I could do right now. Where are your friends? I am sure I have enough beatings to go around.”
The tamer batted his hand away, and then gestured behind Geno. “Oh, they are more than ready for a freak like you.”
Even as he turned toward the three friends of the tamer in front of him, three interesting things happened that, upon later reflection, would only serve to remind him just how completely WEIRD his life could be. The first thing was one of his pokéballs suddenly activating, releasing Lendysa to stand behind him facing the first tamer and his two pokégirls that had just been about to attack Geno from behind. Second was a flute suddenly began to play music that was almost perfect for the situation from Geno’s position; outnumbered and surrounded. And third was someone screaming at the top of their lungs as they charged the three tamers in front of Geno by themselves. “GENO RATHIN! YOUR ASS IS MINE! GGGGAAAAAHHHHH!”
A familiar form with green hair threw themselves into the group of tamers, and began laying about wildly with his fists. After a few seconds, Troopa Jr was standing above the three unconscious tamers, brass knuckles gleaming in the late morning sun, breathing heavily for a moment before whirling toward the dragon blooded tamer. Geno stared at Troopa Jr for a moment, before he buried his face in his hands, and moaned in despair. The leader of the gang that had just gotten knocked out gaped for a moment, before backing slowly away from the two crazy people he had nearly gotten into a fight with. Lendysa grinned at Troopa in amusement, as Asheer looked at Troopa confused. “Master, I take it you know this kid?”
Troopa howled in rage, before dramatically pointing at the Flarebra. “I am Master Johnson Troopa Jr, and your precious tamer is about to get his ass beat like I promised! Geno Rathin, prepare yourself for the cold embrace of…”
Geno decided to have a bit of fun with Troopa, and rudely interrupted him. “Can you hurry up? I want to get back to the pokécenter and talk with my harem. I have better things, and pokégirls, that I would like to be doing.”
Troopa gaped as the crowd of the locals watching began to laugh, enjoying the first rate drama unfolding in front of them. Several were placing bets as to who would win, and Geno gestured for Asheer to stand aside and let him deal with Troopa. Lendysa grabbed Asheer’s arm, and pulled her to the side, quickly explaining who the challenger was. Troopa finally got over his apoplectic fit, and threw himself at Rathin, fists leading and guided by the sole desire to pound the insulting tamer into the dirt. Having driven Troopa to the point of unthinking rage, Geno ducked under the first swing, and then slammed his left fist into Troopa’s gut, before upper cutting the other in his rapidly descending chin. Troopa’s head snapped backwards, but the son of a bitch was tough, and collected himself after staggering backwards a few steps. Geno set himself in a defensive posture, meant to allow him to deflect strikes and create openings. His wings came up and arched up over him, allowing him to partially disguise his movements in the shadows his wings made, as his tail slowly flicked from side to side. Several of the onlookers gasped as they realized that his extra limbs were very much real and useful, before murmurs quickly began to circulate the crowd. Geno ignored the crowd, focused only on his opponent in front of him.
Troopa sneered at Geno’s posture, and dropped his backpack to the ground, before putting the brass knuckles into it. He pulled out a pair of heavy, weighted gauntlets, and slid those on, before tossing back a healing potion. Done readying himself, as the bruise on his chin from Geno’s upper cut faded as rapidly as it had appeared, they both paused waiting for the other to move first. Troopa lost his patience first, and rushed Geno, who had a sudden feeling of Déjà vu, of being back at the Academy Dojo, with James Smith trying to beat him yet again. He gave the charging Troopa a grin, before sliding to the side of the lunging punch to strike at the exposed side, landing a glancing blow since he was moving away from his opponent. He reset himself as Troopa stumbled to a halt, and knew this fight was already in the bag. All he had to do was not get hit, and not lose his temper. Easy as pie…
As the freak started to carefully pick the human he was fighting apart, a figure at the back of the crowd shifted as he watched with detached disgust at how easily the freak was winning. The same combination every time, and the dumbass Tuba Jr, or whatever his name was, was falling for it each time. The pokégirl standing beside him glanced at the handsome blonde male, and then back to the fight. “He fights well master. Definitely worth our time.”
James Smith glared at the Galem, and then started walking away from the fight as he spotted a pair of Jennies approaching the fight from the opposite side. No sense hanging around. If they recognize me, this will be much less… enjoyable, if the Megami was correct. All this time, I thought he just did not like being cold, not that it could literally kill him. How funny, he really is a dragon type pokéboy.
James turned down an alley, and then pulled out a cellphone. Dialing a number, he waited for an old ‘friend’ to pick up. They exchanged greeting codes, before James cut to the chase. “Start the fires at the planned times, Cinder. I will deal with Lizard, you with Uniforms. Good burning.”
An insane laughter was his only reply, before the phone went dead. James smiled, and then dialed another number. This time it was picked up before the second ring. “About time. Status of the plan, Purity?”
“Plan will initiate on time, Diplomat. We are ready to start the fireworks early though if you want a real party for the histo…”
“Stick to the plan, Purity. Also, is Osex ready to rock and ruin?”
“Primary is ready now, secondary elements are being aligned as we speak. As long as nothing… unusual happens, Lizard will not be able to react fast enough to know what hit him.”
“Purity, remember, the primary target is our MAIN concern. Lizard can be dealt with later if needed. Be sure to jump EVERYONE to the ambush site this time though. If someone follows, let the locals deal with them, and help mop up. Janis is feeling… twitchy at not being able to kill anything lately. Diplomat out.”
James snorted in amusement as the leader hung up, and then tossed the cellphone to the side. The Galem with him stomped on it, destroying it utterly, knowing that Diplomat would be doing the same on his end. Behind him, the crowd roared as he began jogging toward the town bank, though he had two hours to kill before the plan would start. All he cared about was another chance to take on Geno.
Two hours later, he nodded to a brown haired individual with glasses across the street as he headed toward the bank, and then recalled his Galem as he reached the building. He nodded pleasantly to the Espea behind the counter, his mind focused on trying to open an account. The focus worked, and his gentle flirting with the rather small and unattractive female kept her from noticing Osex entering the bank and walking past the security counter.
He smiled, and then raised his plasma rifle, firing twice into her face, and then moving around to the other side as Osex finished taking out the cameras. The Espea’s dying scream alerted everyone that something was wrong, but James and Osex were already releasing their harems and bringing their plasma rifles from their small poképacks. They said not a word, and let their harems take care of the three remaining security personnel, easily killing the outnumbered and surprised guards, before moving on to the next phase of the robbery. Easy as pie. Now, on to the main event. Try not to be late Rathin. Otherwise I might have to encourage you…
Osex leaned over one of the teller counters to release his Video Girl, and then checked the silent alarm. The man behind the counter blanched when Osex discovered it had already been activated. Osex grinned at the man, and then leaned against the counter, idly watching his Video Girl disappear into the system, and then grabbing her disk to move it in front of him. He then pointed the plasma rifle at the teller’s face. “Alright, everyone around to this side of the counter where we can keep an eye on you. Unless you want to end up like the guards… And don’t worry folks, this show is just starting, and you all got front row seats, courtesy of Team Apocalypse! Have a nice day and enjoy the carnage carnival!”
James grinned, and then walked up to the front of the security desk, dropping two… treats near the desk, facing the door. He then fired several low powered shots into the glass doors, warping and coating them with burns, making it nearly impossible to see inside. Anyone coming in the front would be charging blind, and then getting about four hundred ball bearings blown through them. He then went around to other parts of the bank, setting up similar treats in case someone tried to be smart, before activating the anti-entry teleport block. They could leave at will, but no one could teleport into the bank now. He returned to the desk, and then pulled out a sandwich, his feet resting on the dead Espea’s back. Now they just had to hold the fort, and wait for Cinder to stop playing and request entry. This town was going to be having one hell of a party, and the Team Apocalypse would be running it, with James the overall leader.
James took a bite of his Sandwich, and then looked at his Galem as she joined him, her super dense body making the desk shake, dense even for a Galem. Her body gleamed softly in the now dim light, and he grinned, knowing his secret weapon was more than a match for anything Geno had, even that G-spliced could not stand up to Cyrsa. The only question was when Geno would die, before his harem so they could be taken and either used or sold, or after his harem had died, leaving him alone. James shook off his amusing thoughts, and then looked at Osex, who nodded, watching the outside security cameras. James grinned evilly, and then whistled once. Time to rock and roll.
He stood up, and then dialed a number on the bank security phone, watching on the desk camera display three Jennies, a Growltit, and a pair of males get out of the two police cars that had just pulled up. He said three words to the male that picked up the other end, and then hung up the phone, as the law enforcement officials advanced cautiously, knowing something was wrong from the damage on the doors. Then Marcus’ Gun Valkeryie and Gun Bunny opened up on them from the rooftop across the street. James snorted as one male went down, dead from the Gun Bunny’s rifle, and then gestured for Cyria and his Ka-D-Bra to go. The Ka-D-Bra teleported Cyria and herself right outside the doors, and then waded into the law enforcement personnel, catching them between the two groups.
Too easy…
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