Chapter 20

C20

 

 

Geno stretched, and then waved to the others, who were heading out to do their own things. Liandra was going to go shopping, while Kaigan mumbled something about the Ice Path and being alone, away from humans for a while. Geno waved Kaigan and Shikano off, as Liandra gave him a quick kiss before dashing off with Cally, her kitten, heading off to get some of Blackthorn’s famed Dragon brand products. He noted Kaigan pausing to let Liandra catch up to him, and then he released Kathea, his sparkling new Lady Luck, thanks to some rich but wet eared tamer challenging him to an three choice item salvage battle. The kid had had a new selection of evolutionary stones, including a dream stone. Kaigan had immediately selected the rare stone, along with two other items, but that was the only one that Geno had seen.

 

Wondering what those two were scheming about, especially after the Lady Luck gave Liandra a hug and then a kiss, he pulled his pokédex out with a shrug, and brought up the information about the local gym. He read aloud, summing up the information about the gym. “Let’s see, normal battle mode is either one vs. one, no reserves, or three on three grand melees. Exceptions are rare, and the gym leader usually refs. All matches are recorded or live broadcasts, and not scripted like the more famous broadcasts of Ruby league.”

 

Asheer nodded, looking over his shoulder, her breasts pressed firmly against his back, and her mouth and tongue caressing his neck when she was not watching the pokédex. She rubbed her tail against his own as he talked, before reaching around to caress his crotch, trying and succeeding in distracting him. “Will you behave, you lusty little wannabe Vixxen?”

She purred in pleasure at him, before sliding around to straddle him, her hips grinding his, as she gave him a long, delectable kiss. “If I say no, what will you do?”

 

He glared at his horny alpha, before glancing around. “Punish you until you beg for more?”

 

She smiled gratefully at him, her hands pulling his pants down, and then hilting herself against him with a pleasurable hiss. “Never. I am a dragon, and a Flarebra. We do not beg, oh that feels good, don’t beg no matter how hard you try to torture, oh gods yes, torture us.”

 

She clung to him, slowly rolling her hips in time with his own thrusts, making her coo and gasp softly in delight. His fangs sinking gently into her neck made her squeal in pleasure, her inner folds tightening convulsively around his shaft. Her hips began to roll against his, ever harder, her moans getting louder with each thrust into her. Her climax was sudden and completely unexpected, making him bite through her scales in surprise, his hands digging into her buttocks as he held himself back through force of will. He stopped digging his fangs into her neck when he realized he had drawn his alpha’s blood. He swallowed the bit of blood in his mouth, and then began to lick her neck. Asheer’s purr of pleasure intensified as she realized what he was doing, and she gently nuzzled him, her tongue gently lapping his own neck, accepting his silent apology, before rolling her hips again, demanding more.

 

 

 

Geno looked down at his alpha as they sat on one of the benches, her head against his shoulder and dozing lightly, a content expression on her face. He smiled softly before sending a mental request for Ia to join him, using the mental exercise she had taught him for getting her attention. He did not get a response, but did not worry, figuring his wandering Alaka-Wham was just busy. He instead played with Tiamat’s pokéball, figuring her, Asheer if she woke up at some point, and Lendysa, if Ia did not show up, would be his fighting team. He was curious about the 1 vs. 1 match, but figured it would be a blind draw; both tamer’s picking a girl from their teams at random.

 

He shook his head, returning his attention to the lobby when he noticed a red tinted pokégirl walking toward him. The Draco that had been at the desk earlier, before he had came in. He flipped his wings flat against his back, she had snarled earlier when he had flipped them out in surprise at seeing another dragon, working in the gym no less. He simply nodded to her, realizing that he had accidentally challenged her earlier, but she simply indicated he was to follow her. He nudged Asheer awake, who growled softly in protest, but stood up, and followed him into a small room, a holding room for a tamer about to enter into an arena battle. A female tamer and a pokégirl, a silver Dracona if the wings were any indication, waited for him inside.

 

The woman waved him to take a seat at the table she was at, and then introduced herself and the Dracona. “I am Rhiban, the leader of this gym, and this is Myl’ia, my alpha. Kira has told us that you are here for the gym badge.”

 

He glanced at the Draco, and then back at the gym leader. “Yes that is why I am here. Is there a problem?”

 

She shook her head, and then looked at Kira, who nodded. The gym leader sighed, and then looked at Geno. “As you probably know, if Nicky was even slightly correct about you, my gym normally offers a choice between a one against one battle without reserves or a three on three battle, either all three at once or with two as reserves. However, a certain member in my gym heard the call from Nicky, and wants a one on one with you. Not one of your harem, you, the tamer.

 

“I did some checking with the league about your blood gifts and curses, and theoretically you could hold your own against her, even win with a bit of luck. So, as gym leader, your battle for the gym badge will be against Kira, a survival match. If you are still conscious, and in the ring after six minutes, you get the badge. These are the terms for your gym battle. Do you accept our terms, or would you rather wait a month before challenging us?”

 

He looked over at the Draco, who simply smiled at him, as if she expected him to simply forfeit the match. Asheer looked at him, trusting him to remember his promise to not charge head first into battle and in his good sense. Sadly for both of them, they failed to calculate in Geno’s own pride and faith in his own abilities. He smiled at the Draco, and then turned to the gym leader. “I accept. When do we begin?”

 

Asheer sighed in vexation as her tamer dove head first into danger, and managed to do it even with her standing right there. Kira’s mouth dropped open in shock and Myl’ia stared at him as if he had lost his mind, but Rhiban simply nodded as if she had expected that response. “In two hours. We make it a policy to allow some of the unbonded dragons over in the Dragon Den to watch, in case they want you to tame them or become their permanent tamer after watching the battle.”

 

Geno nodded, and then leaned back in his chair. “Fair enough. Do I wait here, or go to another room?”

 

Rhiban gestured for him to stay where he was, and then led the shocked Draco out, who was wondering why the tamer was so sure of himself. After all, the only times anyone had ever beaten this kind of gym battle was by turning it into a sex battle, and she was not going to let it turn into one of those battles.

 

Asheer glared at Geno as the leader left, but sat down in his lap when he held his hand out for her. She sighed, and buried her face against his chest, before biting his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at the gesture of frustration, but as she did not even break the skin, he let it pass. He simply kissed her neck, and hugged her close, trying to ignore the feelings of distress and concern coming from his alpha. He held her close, and simply tried to reassure her without saying a word, trying to use his actions and thoughts to make her believe he cared about her fears, even though he just proved that when he was challenged, he cared only about proving himself.

 

He kissed her neck again, but before he could verbally apologize, Asheer spoke. “Master, I know you try, but I understand why you broke your promise this time. I would have done the same if she had challenged me.”

 

He smiled at his beloved alpha, feeling better now that he knew that she had forgiven him for being hotheaded. He lost track of time, both of them reveling in the other’s company, a rare moment of quiet and affection. Both of them glared when the door suddenly opened, and Rhiban stepped in. She looked at both of them, and then smiled herself. “Well, that explains why you did not hear the intercom. Your match started five minutes ago.”

 

Geno sighed, and gave Asheer one last kiss, which she eagerly returned, before sliding off his lap, and taking his belt and poképack with her. He followed his alpha and Rhiban into the arena, his tail rubbing against Asheer’s before she went up the stairs and into the stands, while Rhiban went to the judge’s box, and the dragon-tamer entered the arena, opposite of Kira. She snorted at him, her hands on her hips. “Finally. Too busy taming your alpha?”

 

He grinned back at her, before tossing his shirt out of the arena, and then emptied his pockets, lightening himself for the match. “There is more to taming than just sex. It also includes the quiet and intimate moments were a tamer celebrates with one of his harem. Though since you are young, and have never had a tamer to experience that kind of moment, I will forgive your impertinence this time.”

 

He grinned at a choked laugh from the stands where Asheer had gone up, but a glance up showed that Kaigan and Liandra were both up there, their harems out so they could watch the gym battle as well. Kaigan was laughing at his hubris, recognizing it from their sparring matches back at the Jhoto Academy. He gave his friends, their harems, and his own family and harem a wave, before glancing at the other side of the arena, and was shocked to see over two dozen dragons in the stands, Dracos mostly, but three Dragonesses and another pokégirl that looked like a Draco with long pointed ears. Two of the Dragonesses sat beside another Draco, but this one did not wear a shirt, and appeared to be flat-chested, making him think it was a pokékit.

 

He turned back to Rhiban, and flicked his wrists as he nodded, his claw weapons sliding out and then back into their sheathes with a steely hiss. He leaned forward, his wings fanning outward, an almost maniacal gleam in his eyes at the prospect of a battle against a pokégirl that would not hold back, but also would not actively try to kill him; a true test of his skills. One foot ground into the dirt floor, and his tail slowly flicked from side to side, the sharp bone edge tracing a figure eight in the dirt. Rhiban glanced at the tamer, and then at Kira, before yelling, “Battlers! READY? STEADY! GO!”

 

Geno blurred forward almost as Rhiban began the match, wings slamming down to hurl himself even faster at the Draco. He jumped up, coming around in a powerful, but very obvious roundhouse kick, his favorite opening move. Kira barely dodged the attack, shocked as she realized he was actually going to try to fight her and win, rather than win by surviving for six minutes. Geno landed in a crouch, and then flicked his tail out to draw a line across Kira’s arm, the bone edge of his bladed tail just barely breaking her skin. The wound seemed to galvanize her into action, breaking her from her shocked state. She growled in frustration, and ducked under his punch, before lashing out with one fist, managing to catch him in his shoulder, just as Geno was busily slugging her in the stomach three times to get out of the way of the attack.

 

The force of the blow did knock him off balance and back a few steps, and he growled softly, taking a moment to deactivate the release triggers for his claws, not wanting to accidently trigger them in the fight. He glanced up, and then used both forearms to block a right hook, which drove him to his knees. He rolled right to avoid a powerful kick, and slammed his forearm against the side of the Draco’s head, the claw sheath making the bash more damaging than it would have otherwise have been. He felt his eyes widen as she grabbed his arm, and then turned away, using her superior strength to flip him over her shoulder. He jumped and twisted, moving with the throw and shifting his arm to grip her forearm, and managed to land on his feet. He grinned at her shocked expression, and then used a sweep kick, knocking her off her feet, before flipping her over his shoulder, with more success than she had had, slamming her shoulder first into the somewhat packed dirt floor.

 

He danced backwards, and gave her a moment to catch her breath and right herself. While he waited for her to right herself, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, almost dancing in place to preserve his momentum, as he worked out that she would simply overpower him if he tried to stand and fight. Mobility would be the key to actually winning this match, if he could win at all. He rushed forward as she set herself, feinting another jumping attack, but then rolled under her, managing to get under and then behind her before she realized what he was doing. He heard a gasp from the dragon side of the arena at his audacity, and then lashed backwards with a powerful backhand strike, again slamming the claw sheath against Kira’s head, this time putting as much force into the blow as he could.

 

Kira screamed and staggered, giving him time to try for a way to finish the battle quickly. He quickly turned and lunged, one hand grabbing her right arm and twisting it up and behind her, the other grabbing her throat and compressing her windpipe slightly. “Yield, now.”

 

He suddenly realized that he had sacrificed all of his momentum to start a contest of strength with Kira, and he heard one of the dragons mutter, “Stupid male, you had a chance before you grabbed her.”

 

Indeed, stupid was a good choice of words, because even as he tried to release and move away, Kira grabbed his wrist with her left arm, and forced his hand away from her throat. Her right arm began to twist around, moving despite his best efforts to prevent her from freeing her arm. He yelped as her left arm suddenly snapped about, and reached up and behind her, trying to grab him. He managed to partially dodge her hand, so that instead of grabbing his shoulder, she instead grabbed his right wing. Using just one arm, she heaved, and he screamed as the ball of his wing slipped free of its socket with a wet popping noise. His strength ebbed, and she quickly used his distraction to grab his right arm, flip him over her shoulder, and slammed him into the dirt, returning the earlier throw. She then picked him up and whirled twice in a circle, before tossing him down the arena. He landed hard, and felt his already injured wing flex unnaturally. He rolled as he landed, pulling his limbs in to try and prevent anything from snapping, but he felt something stretch in his right wrist as he landed, the wrist bending further than it should.

 

He lay still for a second, and then stood up, and saw Kira rubbing her throat, and glaring at him. “That hurt, you bastard.”

 

He responded with a hiss, pulling his wings in tight against his back, not realizing that his vision was slowly fading toward a red tint. He stretched his right arm, and then launched himself at Kira, rushing her, and then jumping, intent on smashing her into the ground with a running jump kick. She side stepped around the kick, and grabbed his leg with both of her arms, but before she could throw him into the ground, he brought both of his palms against the sides of her head, slapping her ears. She screamed in pain as the pressure from the slaps popped her ears painfully, and she dropped him to hold her ears. He delivered a snap kick to the distracted Draco’s gut, and then applied his knee to her descending face as she recoiled from the kick.

 

He felt her nose shatter on his knee, and then grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him as he turned away from her. He brought his elbow around in a blur, slamming it into her head, before snapping back around again, and catching her in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick. He barely realized he was raging as the Draco fell to her knees, shaking her head as she tried to regain her senses. He started to swing about to slam the thick part of his tail against Kira, but froze when Rhiban yelled, “ENOUGH! Six minutes are up, and Geno Rathin is the winner.”

 

He stared at the gym leader for a moment, not understanding, and then bent over, realizing he was completely and totally out of breath and energy. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the rage, and took a few deep breathes, centering himself. He picked himself up, and gave the fuming Draco a grin as she slowly stood up, as he limped off to the side, holding his dislocated right wing still as he could. He suddenly remembered that he had an audience; he gave them all a wave, before stepping into the preparation room he had come out of, not remembering to give the attending dragon types a bow of thanks for watching the battle. He shut the door behind him, and then gingerly sat down on a bench, his entire body aching from the strain of the fight.

 

He grabbed his dislocated wing, and bit off a scream as the dislocated bone compressed several muscles and tendons as he moved it. He quickly released the wing, and just held his shoulders, realizing that for this damage, he was going to have to wait for help. After a few seconds, he looked up at a hand on his shoulder, and smiled at the woman holding him upright. Ia blandly looked at him, before unceremoniously grabbing his shoulder and wing, and then popping the wing’s ball into its socket, professionally ignoring his scream of pain and expertly holding him still so he could not thrash. He weakly leaned against her, before looking at his mysterious Alaka-Wham. “Thanks, but that hurt. Too much to ask for you to block the pain?”

She simply stared at him, and then shocked him with a small smile, which quickly vanished when the door slammed open, and his harem ran in. He started to yell before they could hurt his wound, but Razia, the first one through the door, suddenly bounced off of nothing, and sprawled backwards. Everyone else managed to skid to a stop before tripping over her, but Razia’s glare at Ia, and her snarl of fury at being denied access to her tamer, was stopped when Ia calmly picked her up and slammed her back down on the floor. [He has a dislocated wing that I just fixed, along with fairly substantial bruising and a strained ligament in his right wrist. If you damage him after I get done fixing his wounds, I will return the favor upon YOU four fold. Harem sister or not, he is still OUR tamer, and he needs to be in good health without injuries that prevent him from performing well in that job.]

 

Asheer laughed, and looked at the harem, before turning to Ia. “Funny, normally I am the one that has to tell the harem that. Well, you heard her girls, congratulate Master on beating a pokégirl in single combat, without help from us, and then we can gently beat him senseless for giving all of us a heart attack.”

 

That got a laugh from everyone but Razia and Ia, both of whom were staring at each other, the former growling softly at the latter. Ia simply stared impassively at the Cheetit, who sedately stepped around the Alaka-Wham, and then launched herself at Geno, though much slower than before. She purred in pleasure as she finally got to hug her beloved tamer, gently rubbing her face against his. The door opened again, and he glared as Kaigan spoke. “For the love of Inari, can you not keep your dick in your pants for longer than it takes to get through a battle? You nearly got your butt kicked, and already your harem is trying to start rutting like rabbits.”

 

Liandra stepped through the door behind him, the Psyvix and her Shadowcat right behind her, and laughed. “You say that like it is a bad thing. I would think it reflects well on his ability as a tamer that his harem is that eager to get tamed.”

 

Kaigan glanced back at her, before shaking his head. “I still think you are a pokégirl in disguise, you sound more lustful and driven than my Foxx.”

 

She smiled demurely at him, but did not answer as she stepped around him to stand behind the harem, waiting for all of them to reassure themselves that he really was alright and firmly ignoring Kaigan. Eventually, his harem stepped away, except for Razia, who had glued herself against him, gently rubbing her body against him. Asheer gave Razia a concerned look as she stepped to his side, assuming guard position again. Liandra gave his harem an amused glance of her own, before carefully giving him a hug, and whispering, “Would have given you a hug that shows how happy I am for you, but I don’t want to anger that Alaka-Wham. She is really scary.”

 

Geno laughed, and gingerly returned the hug, before whispering back, “Yes, she can be at times.”

 

Liandra giggled before she turned away and headed after the already departed Kaigan. “Well, I am going to do some shopping, and it looks like Kaigan is off to the Ice Path already. I am buying you a celebratory dinner tomorrow, so be sure to get cleaned up and wear something nice, okay?”

 

 

 

Geno looked around, and then sat down on a bench outside of the pokécenter where Liandra asked to meet him, smiling softly at Bellezza. His Buzzqueen sat on the bench next to him, before snagging his pokédex. “Alright Master, we have most of the supplies we need, except for the evolutionary stones you wanted. Anything else we need before your date with Liandra?”

 

He smiled at her before giving her a hug, and pulling her closer, wrapping a wing around her as he looked over her shoulder at the pokédex. “Hmmm, nope looks like we got…”

 

Something small and hard slammed into the back of his head, and he froze, before slowly turning around to glare at the tamer that had thrown the pokéball. He glared at the half familiar face, who sneered at him. “Well knave. We said we would return for our satisfaction, and here we are. We challenge you to a pokébitch battle.”

 

He stared at the male, and then tried to place his face, but could not. The male stared at him, the scantily clad female at the male’s side staring at him, constantly popping the knuckles of her right hand. Geno finally shook his head, and said, “I am sorry, but have we met before?”

 

The male stared at Geno, disbelief crossing his features, and the pokégirl spoke before he recovered. “My master’s true name is too great for mere worms such as you to know. But his use name is Thomas Yarrick, so that you might know who the master of your destroyer was.”

 

Geno stared at the human male, now vaguely remembering him, the snobby male that had tried to fight him right after a gym battle, and again after he had been raped by Tiamat. He felt his hackles rising as he finally placed the male, and then stared at the pokégirl, trying to decide on what girl to use.

 

“Geno, are you… What the hell is he doing here?”

 

Liandra had just stepped around the stone wall that surrounded the pokécenter, and both males did a triple take at her. She was with her alpha, and both were wearing beautiful dresses, a slim, form fitting black and silver silk dress with both legs free for Liandra, and a striking gold mini dress for Tintra. Both of them were staring at Thomas with a hint of disgust, who was busy giving Liandra an incredulous stare, before he turned and gave her a courtly bow. “Well, you certainly do know how to clean up. We thank you for your former pokégirl; she was a most welcome addition to our harem before Obliva broke her.”

 

Liandra glared at the pokégirl, who smiled at her and snapped her fingers, summoning a whip of black energy. The whip jogged Geno’s memory of right before he met Liandra, of her battling a tamer with a pokégirl that used a whip just like this, and realized that that battle was how the two of them had met.

 

He reached over and wrapped a wing around Liandra, pulling her protectively close to him, and snapped, “Well, I have better things to be doing than battling some random tamer. Good day and goodbye.”

 

Thomas swelled up, something he remembered the toad doing rather well. “We are not some random tamer; we are the heir apparent to the Yarrick family of the Sunshine League.”

 

“Yarrick, huh? What, ‘Pompous Slutge Rimmer’ was too long for a last name? Like I said, battle request denied, beat it.”

 

Liandra made a choking noise as she restrained her laughter, and then leaned against him. He gave her a hug, before turning and walking away from Thomas, Bellezza flying after him until she drew even with him and gracefully landing beside him. She smiled at him, and Tintra was chuckling softly to herself as she gave Geno a look of appreciation. He sighed regretfully, before recalling Bellezza, wishing she could be with him, but he had promised Liandra a date without any harem members, though she clearly meant for Tintra to join them. He gave both of the ladies a once over, trying to decide who was more attractive. Liandra returned the examination, and then purred, “You look good in blue and black.”

 

He preened a bit, his dark blue Arachnae silk shirt and black silk pants a good contrast to the pale blue of his wings and tail. He made a brief denial, and then kissed her neck. “You look absolutely ravishable. Tintra looks stunning herself, but you…”

 

He waved a finger at her, as Tintra started to lead them toward the restaurant. “If you had been wearing this when we first met, I would not have protested about you playing with my tail. Or at least, not so loudly.”

 

She pressed herself up against him, and smiled demurely, her eyes half closed as she protested, “Not so loudly? I would prefer you not protesting at all.”

 

She slipped one of her legs between his, and then ground her hips against his. “And if I have anything to say about it, it will be sooner rather than later.”

 

Tintra grinned at the bemused expression on Geno’s face, before stepping behind him, and wrapping her arms around him, pressing her tamer and him together. “And Mistress usually gets what she wants.”

 

 

 

Geno gently rubbed Liandra’s side, admiring her beautiful form as they lay together in her room. He could vaguely hear Tintra moving around in the larger room adjacent to the one he was in, but he was busy trying to understand how he had ended up here. He could remember everything that had happened, the park, the restaurant, her steadily increasing need apparent to him as they had ate, but it was the reasoning that had led to this point that escaped him. He stared at her soft, almost innocent form, and then grinned evilly, knowing that innocent she was not, not after last night

 

He shifted away from Liandra, and then stood up, pulling on his pants before quietly striding from the room. He stopped in the doorway, and smiled indulgently. Tintra was nude again, and reclining on her side in the love seat, reading something in a pokédex. He silently stalked forward, and then leaned over her shoulder, shamelessly spying on what she was reading. His smile lessened when he realized she was looking over his harem, but he did not say anything, curious as to what she was doing. He watched her grab Liandra’s pokédex, and brought up her tamer’s harem, and then compared the two lists, looking them over. Sensing a chance for mischief, he leaned forward, and gave her neck a tender kiss. The Azhi Dahaka moaned in pleasure, leaning into the kiss, before she suddenly realized it wasn’t her tamer.

 

She lunged over the sofa, surprisingly quick after figuring out that Geno was the one that had ‘attacked’ her. Geno hissed in pain as she tackled him, and trapped one of his wings under him at an unnatural angle, the bones flexing, but Tintra quickly shifted him about, relieving the pressure. She glared at him, before growling at him, “While you might get to tame my Mistress, I am hers and only hers. If you ever kiss me again, I will apologize nicely to Mistress for damaging her fetish relief, but you will not be taming anyone or anything for a while.”

 

He looked at Tintra in shock, but nodded, understanding her position. He would be furious if someone tried to poach one of his pokégirls from him, and hoped his harem would be angry as well. She glared at him, but stood up, and moved away, allowing him to get up as well. “Sorry, you were just too inviting.”

 

She snorted, but sat down on the couch, and returned to looking over the two lists as he sat down in a lazy boy across the table from Tintra, and fell back into musing as to why he was here. After a time, Tintra finally looked up, an expression of annoyance on her fair face until she realized he was not staring at her, but beyond her. She watched him for a moment, before she started to laugh softly. Her laugh finally got his attention, and he came back to reality with a start. “What is so funny?”

 

“You look like you just took a board to the back of the head, and are trying to understand why. Rather similar to when you saw Mistress in that dress.”

 

He grinned, not put out in the least. “Well, the two of you did make a dangerously attractive pair, but I am trying to figure out how you and Liandra managed to convince me to abandon my plans for the evening to spend it with her. Not that I am complaining, but still…”

 

Tintra’s grin became cryptic, and then indulgent. “Perhaps Lady Luck was on her side?”

 

He snorted in amusement, before suddenly stopping, remembering that she might be telling him the truth, exactly as it had happened. “Did Kaigan…”

 

Her smile got even bigger, and he sighed in vexation, finally realizing both the why and the how of Liandra seducing him. Though he would hardly call it seduction now that he knew how it had happened, not that it really made a difference to him now that they had coupled, though perhaps tamed was a better choice of words for the urgency in which they had screwed each other’s brains out. He snickered to himself, before looking back at Tintra. “So, I guess you two did not feel that your natural charms were enough to snare a dragon?”

 

“You are just sore that you let yourself be taken cheaply. Don’t be too put out; I DID warn you that Mistress usually gets what she wants. Though I did not mention she was willing to cheat get what she wanted.”

 

He grinned, and leaned forward, his wings spreading out slightly as he smiled at the Azhi Dahaka. “Actually, thinking back, I must admit that you looked better than Liandra. She was attractive, but you looked stunning. And I am fairly sure that only her boosted luck kept me from spending the dinner flirting with you.”

 

He leaned back into his chair, a content look on his face as shock flashed across her face, and then she blushed, one arm coming across her chest to conceal herself, suddenly body shy. She did not say anything for a moment, before she suddenly flung his pokédex at him, and stormed into the bedroom, and quietly shut the door so not to wake Liandra. He leaned back into his chair, smiling to himself, before closing his eyes and dozing off, knowing that tomorrow he would be busy trying to get everything ready for the next leg of the trip, and the day after that up at the dragon den, trying to impress some dragon pokégirls. Something told him the first task would be slightly easier.

 

 

 

Geno stopped at the end of the path, and stared at the small house in confusion. Lendysa paused as well, and then looked at the house, before nodding to herself. “Not what you were expecting for a harem master?”

 

He shrugged back, and then headed up to the front door, not bothering to answer his beta’s question. He had not been sure what to expect, when he had learned that anyone wanting to enter the Dragon Den had to first get permission and an escort from the former harem master, Lance Piker. He sighed, and started to check the release for his hidden claws, and then cursed the now nearly reflexive action, having left the two weapons back with Mayuan to continue working on getting them ready for enchanting. She would need at least two weeks to actually do a few basic enchantments, and about six weeks to do all of the enchantments she had for the weapons. She had gotten him to promise to look for some kind of body armor for her to enchant, but that would take time and probably travelling to Goldenrod to get a suitable set for enchanting.

 

He rubbed his wrists to conceal the check of the catch, and then knocked on the front door. After a few minutes, the door opened, and a striking silver dragoness opened the door. She stared at him for a moment, and then gestured for him to follow her. “You are here for permission to enter the Dragon Den, correct?”

 

He nodded, managing to not stare at the Dragoness, and followed her inside to a small sitting room. A small female was just stepping in, and her off-gray skin color, pointed ears, and long, thin tail showed she was a pokégirl, probably the tamer’s Bramage unless he had picked up a new pokégirl since his last official update of his public harem records. She stopped when she saw her harem sister and who she was leading. She simply nodded to her harem sister, and then looked at Geno. “Would you like something to eat or drink while you wait for Master Piker?”

 

He refrained from making a smart ass comment about eating her or the dragoness, and simply asked for some fruit juice for him and Lendysa. The Bramage gestured at a sofa for two, and then left to get him and Lendysa their drinks. She returned a few moments later and silently offered them their drinks, before taking herself from the room. He sipped the drink, and waited before giving Lendysa a look, and gently pulling her down beside him. He wrapped a wing around her shoulder, and gently kissed her ear, grinning at her as she glared at him for trying to distract her. Even as he kissed her neck, one hand rubbing her side, they both turned at the sound of a door opening. He had to do a double take as his first glance revealed a pair of Dragoness and a Draco entering, but on his double take he noticed that the Draco was either male, or an extremely small chested female.

 

The Draco sat down in the middle of the largest couch, the silver Dragoness that had answered the door moving to lean down on the sofa behind the Draco, and the second Dragoness, an eye catching bronze color, lay down on the couch reclining beside the Draco. How they positioned themselves revealed a good deal about the group dynamics, that the Draco was the one in charge, and that HE was actually the tamer of the group. Interesting, he probably had it even worse than I do. Though I doubt anyone would dare give a harem master the crap they give me. So that is my best bet if I ever want to be free of the pokéboy comments.

 

Harem Master Lance wasted no time on small talk, something that Geno would have found refreshing if the other tamer’s presence had not caused his hackles to rise. “You want to enter the Dragon Den.”

 

Geno nodded, one wing still protectively around Lendysa, who was watching both of the dragoness. Lance stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head. “My apologies, but I must deny your request. I will not allow someone that is willing to beat a Draco to attempt to silver tongue one of my… less wise charges into joining your harem. Perhaps if you had not been so willing to beat one of your… extended family members…”

 

Geno sat perfectly still, his expression one of shock as the Harem Master completely denied his request, and for giving one of his dragon kyn what she wanted, a chance to fight him. That she was one of his kyn should not have mattered, all that should have mattered was that she was an opponent, and needed to be defeated. Lendysa was also staring at Lance, though her expression was one of disbelief. Lance stood up, and nodded pleasantly at Lendysa. “I believe this concludes your visit, so Regalia will show you to the door.”

 

Geno felt himself snapping out of his shock, and it was quickly replaced with anger. He gently pushed Lendysa to her feet, and then surged to his own, though the fact he was so careful with his beta reduced the impact of the movement. The silver Dragoness simply raised an elegant eye ridge at his movement, while the bronze stood and slid in front of her tamer. “Are you truly doing this out of concern of your nominal charges, or because you are afraid that I might usurp your position as Guardian of the Dragon Den? Because, right now, I am suspecting the second instead of the first.”

 

Lance merely raised an eyebrow at his accusation, before turning to his silver Dragoness. “Anna, if he continues to overstay his welcome, help Regalia remove him from the premises, and call the Officer Jennies about a prowler.”

 

Geno reflexively flicked his wrists, an action that would have caused his claws to slide out if he had them with him, but nothing happened; the weapons were with Mayuan. Neither of the Dragonesses noticed the movement, and he realized that if they had noticed it, Lendysa would have been ripped in half. He slowly straightened up, and then whirled about, his wings flicking dismissively at the two Dragonesses as he made his way to the door on his own, not bothering to let the Dragoness lead. He let himself out, his tail slamming the door behind him, almost in Regalia’s face. Lendysa had left in front of him, but she turned and stared at her tamer, concern plain on her face as he released Tiamat, Sara, and Asheer. Both of them looked around before returning their gazes to their tamer, wondering what was going on.

 

Geno did not say a word, but instead turned and lashed out with a kick at a tree. He felt someone stop him from kicking it, and turned to yell at Asheer for stopping him, but froze when he found himself staring at Tiamat’s sizable chest. She looked at her unhappy tamer, and then slugged the tree almost casually, easily shattering it in half. She pushed him out of the way as the tree began to fall, and simply watched the tree fall, not bothering to warn the others, who scrambled out of the way. All three of the others glared at the silent pokégirl, who turned back to Geno, and growled questioningly. He found himself smiling at her, and gave her a hug, feeling better already. Lendysa related what happened while he held his G-spliced, since that alone made him feel better. “Come on, let’s get back to town and get ready to go feral hunting. Not quite the visit I was hoping to have, but I guess it maybe is for the best.”

 

 

 

Geno waved Asheer and Sara forward, toward an area that was in one of the Feral Incident Reports at the pokécenter. A powerful feral was in the area, and had mauled several domestics, a local researcher, and two watchers. The report had not listed what the pokégirl was, so the Hunter’s weren’t interested in helping yet. But for Geno, who was trying to work a bit of his frustration out it was a perfect excuse for going out and beating up ferals, not that he needed one. He watched Sara and Asheer slow down, and look back at Rathin and Lendysa, letting him know that they could smell something. They slowed down, letting the two rear guards, Mayuan and Aliza, catch up, before heading deeper.

 

For nearly ten minutes, they slowly advanced, Geno and Lendysa both with their weapons out, and scanning their quarter, ensuring that neither Sara nor Asheer had missed anything. They were moving through some thick foliage, scanning carefully, and Sara raised her hand and pointed to a cave entrance, about five hundred feet away. Geno turned to look, and then dropped as pain suddenly sprouted from his arm and side, not even realizing he had been attacked until he saw the feral standing above him, snarling at the intruders in her territory even as she used hyper beam on Asheer, slamming her through a tree, and then against another one, before she bonelessly slid to the ground. Sara and Lendysa both whirled toward the feral, as Mayuan got off her spell, and Aliza hit the feral with some kind of seed in her arm, which quickly sprouted and then wrapped around it, the roots burrowing into her arm. Geno watched the feral slowly turn to stare at the sprout in confusion, as Sara pegged her with flame sniper, and Lendysa hit her with chi blast. He figured that he had been attacked, but wondered why there was no pain. Either I barely got grazed and it knocked the wind out of me, or I am in serious shock and dying. Ia, I think I need some help.

 

He felt her irritated response, having stayed back at the pokécenter to do some meditating, and then concern at what she felt in his head. All of his harem were slamming the slowed feral about, keeping her too off balance to do anything but scream in pain. She suddenly roared at Lendysa, knocking her backwards, as Ia teleported above Geno, and used barrier and light screen, protecting her tamer from the feral if she returned to her attention to his helpless form. The feral looked at the newest intruder, crouched over her ‘prey’, and used dragon rage, which was harmlessly deflected by the light screen. Ia’s eyes flashed as she looked at Geno, and then used a psychic attack, the point blank attack knocking the feral unconscious immediately, blood freely flowing from her eyes, ears, and nose. Everyone scrambled toward the tamer, except for Lendysa, who grabbed Asheer’s pokéball and headed toward the alpha, pausing only to peg the unconscious feral with a second, empty pokéball. Geno tried to say something, but suddenly choked as the pain hit, three searing lines of agony running along his side, and another throb from his left elbow. Ia grabbed the upper left portion of his arm, and forced him to hold it still, while she released Tiria from her own pokéball. Tiria looked around, confused, and then knelt beside Geno to begin pouring healing magic into him. He gave her a weak smile, trying to not choke on his blood from his bitten tongue as Lendysa suddenly screamed.

 

Sara and Mayuan looked up, and then back at the suddenly glowing Aliza, before heading off to help Lendysa at Geno’s nod. He tried to release Tiamat, but Tiria grabbed his arm, and he felt the bottom of his mind fall out when he met her eyes, her hypnosis technique taking him out without a sound.

 

 

 

“So, he was in the MIDDLE of the group, and still managed to get mauled by a feral? You know, that takes talent. I am beginning to wonder if he does this on purpose. I mean, seriously, first at the police station attack, then the bank, and now here. For a guy with such a problem with getting healed, he gets mauled with rather disturbing regularity. If I did not like dragons, tails, and men so much, I would find myself another male to play with, one more likely to live.”

 

Geno opened his eyes and glared at Liandra, before slowly sitting up. “Other than Lance, I don’t know of any other male dragons. But you are welcome to leave if you don’t want to deal with me and my action movie style life. By the way, that hurt.”

 

He looked around, and then tried to check and see how hurt he was. Tiria grabbed his broken arm above the break, and held him still as she told him what he wanted to know. “You had three gashes from the feral’s claws, going from behind and just above your left hip to just below the front of the rib cage, and all three got infected. Your left arm was broken just above the elbow, a clean break, relatively easy to fix on most people but you. It was three days ago, and we had to keep you unconscious to accelerate the healing process. Are you hungry?”

 

At his nod, she handed him a tray with a large meal on it, and he quickly dug in, finishing it in record time, and mopping up the last of the juices with his bread. He looked up, and then sighed in pleasure, before playfully pulling Tiria into his lap with his good arm. Ia sighed in vexation as Tiria meeped in surprise, before the Nurse Joy snuggled against her tamer’s shoulder. Liandra looked like she could not decide between being glad he was awake or cross that she wasn’t in his lap. Geno saw the look, but Tiria was the one to comment. “You know, Kaigan is right. Are you absolutely sure you aren’t a pokégirl? Because you sure do act like you are part of my Master’s harem at times.”

 

She merely smiled, and then stood up, stretching, before swaying out the door. He watched her leave with interest, though she had a walk that would make a dead rock watch with interest. He jumped as Tiria grabbed his tail tip and pulled, and frowned as she suddenly yelped. She stared at her hand, a razor thin cut on the palm, and then at the spade on the end of his tail. She used heal on herself, and then carefully picked up his tail to examined it minutely. “Geno, you have a… Wait, what in the world…?”

 

She examined his tail more closely, and then grabbed just above the spade of his tail. Sliding her fingernail under the tip of the spade, she looked up at his soft exhalation of discomfort, before she carefully lifted the skin. “Geno, did you know that you have a… Well, a section of sharpened bone under the flesh on the spade of your tail?”

 

“Yes, I have always had it, please stop that.”

 

He did not move, afraid that he might slice her, but simply buried his fingernails into his palm; the feeling of flesh being pulled away from the bone and her fingernail scraping it was discomforting and it felt damn weird. After a moment of her examining the new discovery, he finally could not stand it anymore, and carefully pulled his tail away. He glared at his Nurse Joy, before shrugging at her, and then pulling her into his lap again. She squeaked cutely, and then sighed in pleasure as he grazed on her neck. After a moment of him grazing, slowly working his way down, she pushed herself free. “Sorry, Geno, but I am supposed to be helping Mayuan.”

 

She nodded to the silent Alaka-Wham, and then left, ignoring his look of annoyance. He wanted her company, but after a moment he shrugged and looked hopefully at Ia, offering her a wing. She raised an eyebrow at him but joined him anyways. [So, what are your plans? Other than tame someone.]

 

He did not answer immediately, too busy exploring her neck and shoulders with his mouth, in preparation of teasing her breasts. He did pause after planting a kiss between the tops of her breasts, though only long enough to answer. “I figured, after healing up enough for you and Tiria to let me know I am combat worthy, we would head to the Ice Path, and then Mahogany Town with Liandra and Kaigan. After that, not sure, but I was thinking the Lake of Rage would be a good sight to visit, if only to say I had.”

 

He returned to exploring her breasts with his tongue, smiling as she shifted closer so he could better molest her though she never made a sound. [Perhaps we should skip the Ice Path? With your cold weakness, it might be hazardous to you. And what do you want done with the two ferals we caught? One is a Dracass, and the other a Naga, according to Lendysa.]

 

He rested his head against her breasts, his expression thoughtful. “Perhaps we should, but I am hoping to find an ice type there that I can handle for capturing feral dragon types. That was my real reason for agreeing to meet Kaigan there. Besides, Sara and Asheer going to be my guards in the Ice Path, and between the two of them, I should be fine. As for the ferals that we caught… let me think about it, I might wait until Mahogany Town before deciding. I am not sure yet, I seem to be slightly distracted at the moment.”

 

[Then why don’t you do something about it?]

 

 

 (August 12^th, 296 AS, 1020, outside Blackthorn Pokécenter)

 

Geno glanced at his current travelling companions, and seriously contemplated recalling his own pokégirl and bolting for the Ice Path on his own. Liandra was getting clingy, and while he did not normally mind it, she was getting excessive about it. Aliza was talking to Liandra’s Kitten, though she stopped to step over to his side, and press herself against him. She had evolved into an Ivywhore after the Dracass had mauled him, and had been nearly frantic for a good taming, something he had been quite happy to help with. She rubbed against him suggestively, before resting her head against his chest. “Liandra annoying you, Master?”

 

He merely snorted as a reply, not feeling the need to dignify it with a response. He glared at Liandra, who simply responded with a raised eyebrow, as if she did not know what his problem was. He turned away, and then groaned as he spotted Thomas Yarrick by the exit, his pokégirl from before out and idly playing with her whip as she stared at Aliza, licking her full lips and smiling evilly as if she thought that Aliza would be her opponent if they fought. He grinned to himself, and idly imagined Tiamat tearing the pokégirl’s arms off and shoving both of them up her tamer’s ass, as Thomas started toward them. Geno sighed in vexation, and then yelled, “1 on 1 battle accepted, I want this done quickly. Five item salvage rights only.”

 

Thomas’ mouth quirked once, before he nodded, and turned toward his pokégirl. “Obliva, show him why you are our alpha.”

 

She bowed to her Master, before stalking forward, staring at Aliza with an evil grin, which quickly vanished as Geno tossed a pokéball into the clearing between the two of them. “Aliza isn’t your opponent today. You get to fight Tiamat.”

 

Tiamat appeared from her pokéball, and stretched her wings as she looked at the stunned Thomas and Obliva. Thomas quickly pulled out his pokédex, and then screamed in fury. “You bitch fucker. G-spliced don’t have an entry in the pokédex!”

 

Geno grinned as Tiamat blurred forward, and body slammed Obliva as he scanned her. “Sure they do. They just don’t have much in the way of details. Which is one of the reasons why I like her. The other reasons should be fairly obvious.”

 

He glanced down as Tiamat unleashed dragon rage, missing as Obliva teleported above and behind Tiamat, and used rune chain to bind her. He ignored Thomas’ howl of glee and Obliva’s insane giggles, more interested in the pokédex entry on Obliva. He did grin as Tiamat used her superior strength to easily snap the chains binding her, and whirled to hurl a rock at Obliva the size of her head. He paused for a moment, wondering where Tiamat had gotten that rock, and then shrugged, before focusing on the ‘dex entry.

 

He idly read the entry, listening to Obliva scream in rage as Tiamat took several power and force bolts without flinching, and then squeal in pain as Tiamat clipped her with a hyperbeam, spinning the levitating Dark Lady about. The Dark Lady renewed her aura barrier, and then used void aura inside of the barrier, a move that impressed Geno, and he made a note to discuss using similar ideas with his harem. Tiamat finished recovering from her hyperbeam, clearly stymied by how to deal with a levitating opponent. She paused for a moment, but before Geno could issue any commands, she used dragon dance, and then blurred toward and up at her opponent, something that Geno had not realized was possible. Obliva and Thomas were just as shocked at the move as he was, so shocked that Thomas could only gape as Obliva dropped her attack and froze, her mouth no longer spewing insults at Tiamat or Geno.

 

Tiamat slammed into Obliva hard enough to make Geno ache in sympathy, and then savaged the reeling Dark Lady with slashes, before slamming her claws into Obliva’s side, and slowly drawing her head back. Obliva desperately used bitch slap, trying to stun Tiamat long enough to get loose, but the blow did nothing but enrage Tiamat further. The energy that had been gathering in her mouth suddenly pulsed, and her head snapped forward, unleashing a super charged hyperbeam point blank into the immobile and helpless Dark Lady.

 

The over-charged hyperbeam ripped Obliva from Tiamat’s grip, leaving her holding a rib in each hand, and slammed her into the ground before the beam finished gathering and exploded, nearly killing the Dark Lady with that one attack. Thomas simply watched in horror as his alpha was mercilessly slaughtered, too stunned to try and recall her to save her, leaving Geno to release Tiria, and point to the opponent after giving Thomas a disgusted look. Tiria had barely finished kneeling down beside the dying pokégirl, when Tiamat landed hard just behind Tiria and snarled in fury at her harem sister, thinking she was trying to ‘steal’ her opponent. Geno shook his head, before recalling Tiamat and turning to Thomas. “Your inventory please.”

 

His words pulled Thomas from his shock, and he numbly set down his poképack and pokédex, before running over to Obliva to see if she would live. Geno walked over, and idly considered just taking the poképack with everything in it, but shook his head as he flipped through the pokédex, looking to what Thomas had on him. Tiria soon joined him, as Thomas recalled Obliva, and turned back towards Geno, who was pulling his five items out of the poképack. He had choosen several evolutionary items, as well as two Megalixirs. He tossed the pokédex and poképack back to Thomas, and then gestured for Liandra and her Kitten to follow him.

 

Once outside of the pokécenter compound, he started shaking with suppressed laughter, as he stored the five items he had gotten into his own poképack. He glanced back at Liandra, and then gave her a second look, wondering why she looked so… uneasy. He did not ask her about it, instead releasing Aliza and pulling Tiria against his side, quietly thanking her for healing the Dark Lady. Having to have Tiamat put down would not have been a good thing, he rather liked his over endowed, overpowered G-spliced.

 

After they had finally gotten out of town, Liandra finally found her voice. “I never… Why… How can you tame something like that?”

 

He turned and simply stared at Liandra for a moment, before handing Tiamat’s pokéball to Tiria, and releasing Asheer. “Asheer, Tiria is going to head off a ways to heal Tiamat. Aliza is still tamer guard until we get to the Ice Path.”

 

He waited for Tiria and Asheer to wander off in the direction he had indicated, and then leaned against a nearby tree before replying in a deadpan voice. “Well, I stick my dick in her pussy, and after a while…”

 

Liandra turned beet red, and snapped, “That was not what I meant! That… That… thing is a walking disaster zone waiting to happen. She could kill you during a taming and never know what happened until she finally managed to look around those tits of hers.”

 

He tilted his head to the side, and counted to ten to make sure his voice was merely cutting instead of royally pissed off. “Alright, that is enough out of you. First off, she is in MY harem. You don’t have to tame her. Secondly, she is actually quite gentle outside of a battle, and tries to not hurt the rest of her ‘pack’. Secondly… Or thirdly for those keeping count, she has restraints that she goes into before we tame. I am well aware of her strength, and while we do tame sometimes without them, that is not your concern. And finally, I would like for you to keep your negative opinions on my family and harem to yourself. I don’t say anything bad about your harem, and I would like you to return the favor.”

 

She simply stared at him for a moment, before quietly nodding, though she still had to have the last word. “You haven’t said anything bad about my harem because there is nothing to complain about.”

 

He glared at her, but did not continue the conversation, as Asheer and Tiria were stepping into the clearing. Asheer handed him Tiamat’s pokéball, and then gave Liandra a flat look, before letting Geno recall her, having already put Tiria away. “Let’s keep moving, we are about four hours from the Ice Path, and I want to be there before the sun sets.”

 

 

Geno gave Liandra an amused look, before turning back to the clearing in front of them, and waved to Kaigan. He gave Aliza one last hug, before recalling her and releasing Sara, the opening to the Ice Path just beyond the clearing, and even here Geno could feel the cold. He paused, and then yelped as his Whorizard grabbed him from behind, pulling him against her. He grinned up at her, and then kissed her, her tongue already twining around his own. He broke the kiss and grinned at Kaigan, fully expecting him to say something about Sara, who had wrapped her wings about him and was resting her head on his shoulder.

 

Kaigan stared at Geno blankly before rolling his eyes at Rathin’s silly grin after swapping saliva with his pokégirl. “Are we ready to get going?”

 

His arm was wrapped securely about a Dark Kitsune’s waist, with his ever present pack on her back, and what appeared to be a small child on his back, who was looking inquisitively at the group that had just arrived. He winced when the Dark Kitsune jabbed her elbow into his side. “This is my alpha, Meikai, and the ‘child’ on my back is actually a chibi Hoarfoxx I caught.”

 

He coughed as he watched both Liandra and Geno, before turning on his heel and walking toward the Ice Path entrance. Even as Kaigan turned, everyone winced at the high pitched squeal from Liandra, and then she was off like a shot going for the Chibi Hoarfoxx. Geno winced and tried to call her off, but Liandra was still squealing like a fan girl and moving forward. He shook his head, not expecting this to end well, and finished pulling out his heavy jacket, and gloves. Once those were on, he pulled up the hood, and glared at the Ice Path, before starting forward, making sure that Sara stayed close. Even as he finished pulling the hood up, he noticed Liandra try and grab the chibi, squealing about how incredibly cute she was. He yelled, trying to distract her, even though he knew he was far, far too late.

 

Kaigan blinked as Geno yelled, but he kept going, striding along as Meikai paced him, the Chibi hoping off his back and staring at the rushing girl. Suddenly the Chibi smirked as a small wall of ice came up, just as Liandra reach forward, causing her to trip and fall flat on her face for the second time that day. The Chibi grinned and then hopped back onto Kaigan, before Kaigan shouted back at the others, “Can we get a move on? Also, Lia-chan, never try to rush a trickster, that was one of the STUPIDEST things I have ever had to witness.”

 

He looked back over his shoulder and was greeted with a kiss on the cheek by the chibi, and the sight of Rathin laughing as he moved to help Liandra to her feet. He helped her up and started after Kaigan. “This hasn’t been a good day for you, Lia. First tripping over that imaginary branch, and then slipping on ice. Perhaps we should call you Slipfoot instead of Lithestepper.”

 

Liandra smacked him lightly on the arm as she picked herself up and gave a good imitation of a growl, jogging slightly to catch up. “It wasn’t a branch, it was a playful alpha, dammit! That girl’s been playing tricks on me since I evolved her!”

 

Geno snorted in amusement, as they finally caught up with Kaigan as he entered the Ice Path. “Must not be that hard. Show you a bit of cute and your mind turns to mush. Though I must admit, you really are too cute. Almost cute enough to give me sugar sickness.”

 

He grinned as the Chibi stuck her tongue out at him, and Sara wrapped her wing about him, using her much higher body temperature to keep him safely warm. He still could not repress his shiver, and then looked up as Meikai looked back at the two humans, the Whorizard, and the Shadowcat, a gentle smile on her face. “She has a name, if you wanted to know. Its Kukiko.”

 

Kukiko, as the Hoarfoxx was now known to be, grinned wider, before pouting, “Mama’s right, call me Kiki thought!”

 

Kaigan paused in his strides for a second, before looking at Meikai,, “Wait…Momma?”

 

The Dark Kitsune blushed before tenderly kissing Kaigan on the lips, and nipping his bottom lip before she turned back to Geno, “So, you are the Ryuu that Foxxy talks about at times.”

 

Liandra had stopped for a moment, quickly pulling her pack off to rummage around in it for her thick, knee-length coat. She smiled as she pulled on the treated, insulated black leather, and slung her pack back over her shoulder, before running to catch back up. “Hey, I can’t help it, it’s a girl thing. You’ve got a fatally male dose of testosterone, so you wouldn’t understand.”

 

Geno gave Liandra an exasperated look, though he did let his eyes linger on how well she had gotten the coat to fit her torso. “Um, Lia-chan, we left that conversation behind a while back. Try to keep up.”

 

He smiled at her, and then pulled out the map he had bought for the Ice Path, before picking one of the paths and moving along it. He wanted to be through here and outside again. Even with Sara trying to keep him warm, he could feel himself getting cold. He turned back to the Dark Kitsune, and nodded to her. “Sorry, Liandra distracted me. Yes, I guess that would be me, though I am not sure what that word means. I poke fun at him, he mocks me, it is a friendship to defy ages.”

 

He gave her a quick grin and a wink, before burying the map in his pocket and his hands into his armpits. Sara stepped forward, and pulled him close to her side, looking at him with concern. He shook his head, and did not say anything, knowing it was going to be a long two and a half days to get through the Ice Paths. He leaned against Sara, and was reaching for Asheer’s pokéball when Liandra slipped into the open side. He grinned at her, his wings under his coat even as Sara tightened her own wing around her Master.

 

 

 

Geno glanced to the side, and stared at the nearly uninterrupted 50ft drop down to the ice cold Laplass River. He stepped back into Asheer’s grasp, and nodded at her, as the group continued toward the exit. He found it slightly amusing that it had taken the group nearly two and a half days to move about three miles forward and two miles west. But the tunnels crossed each other almost randomly, and a cave in had forced the group to find an alternate path. He figured the river took about an hour to run its path of about three and a half miles, and figured he would see about maybe three of those minutes before he died from heat loss and exposure. He looked at Asheer and shivered suddenly, leaning closer to leech some of her heat.

 

He was ahead of the others, and heading to the exit, but stopped when he saw a young girl curled up near the exit, her skin a pale grey and shivering in the cold. He tapped Asheer and points to the young girl. She stared at the girl, and then stepped free of Geno, moving slowly toward the girl. The girl looked up as Asheer knelt down beside her. “Hey sweety. How did you get all the way out here?”

 

The girl stared at Asheer in fear, and slowly began to back away, fear clear in her eyes. Asheer moved forward, and held out her hand, her voice soothing. “You look half frozen. Come on, let me take you back to my tamer, and we can get something nice and warm for you.”

 

The girl looked at the hand and then slowly reached out, her fingers curling around Asheer’s hands, before suddenly turning and easily hurling Asheer through a stalagmite of ice. Even as Asheer rolled to a stop, Geno heard a half expected voice. “Geno R-R-R-Rathin! I h-h-have f-f-finally f-f-found you! D-D-Damn it is c-c-cold. What t-t-t-t-took you so long? I nearly f-f-froze w-w-waiting for you. Your ass is m-m-mine!”

 

Geno gave Troopa Jr a disgusted glare as he stepped out from behind an closer stalagmite, and then sighed. “Screw you sideways with a poleaxe. And I don’t care that it isn’t comfortable, sanitary, OR possible.”

 

Troopa suddenly rushed forward, and threw himself at Geno, who slipped and went to one knee as he tried to dodge and released Razia. Troopa grabbed him and hurled him against a nearby ice flow. He slammed against it, and rolled to the side, and cursed as both his poképack and his belt ripped free, dropping to the ground. He saw Asheer surging to her feet and blasting the gray skinned girl with fire blast, but the pokégirl dodged, though the explosion still partially encased her. He tried to dodge again, but this time his jacket was caught on the ice flow, and Troopa Jr hit him with a flying tackle before he could rip his way free. Razia lunged after the flying Troopa but missed herself as she slipped on a patch of ice under some snow, and was helpless to stop Troopa from slamming Geno into and then through the ice, sending both of them plunging over the edge into the river.