"How will you find Matthews master?" Chandra asked as she and Jack hit the last step to lead them into the barren pokecenter lobby.
"The same way anyone finds anything my dear Watson, the internet." He took a seat at an empty terminal and flipped the switch to bring the waiting machine whirring to life.
"Is Watson to be my new name master?" She took her customary position slightly behind and slightly to the left of him and kept a careful eye on the few early morning tamers wandering about as she spoke.
"No, it's a reference to a series of novels that took place almost four hundred years ago. The protagonist was Sherlock Holmes and he was capable of solving nearly any crime, even those that everyone thought impossible. Watson was his faithful companion who assisted him on his jobs." He idly waved his pokedex in front of the blinking light to gain access and the screen turned flashed green before bringing up the main program. "Make a note about having you read some of these at some point. Having to explain them really dulls the meaning."
"Of course master. I'll remind you once my reading lessons are complete."
"Good, now let us see what we can find." Jack mumbled aloud as he entered the tamer database. "Clyde Matthews, come out, come out, where ever you are."
He quickly found the m's section and scrolled past the myriad of names that didn't matter to find his target.
"Hn unfortunately he opted to restrict access to his data so no address, but then that would be too easy wouldn't it."
"Why wouldn't people restrict their information master?"
"Generally a combination of ignorance and apathy. The system is ostensibly for gyms to check out potential challengers so they can match them appropriately. However anyone can use it and the league assumes you allow people to see everything unless you specifically choose otherwise. It will always show some data though, official battle rankings, badge count, and the last three battles you were in. Let's see just how good he is."
He clicked the mouse and a new window appeared with Clyde's battle stats.
"Not a very interesting person according to this. An overall record of just over 500 and only four badges to show after six months as a tamer. He did win his last two battles though, both of them single elimination."
"Perhaps he only has a single strong pokegirl master."
"Looks like you are correct both battles were won with a Shadetaura. Bit of a doozy for a four badge nobody. Must have an important relative." That it might not be prudent to take on a possibly powerful unknown registered only in that it might affect the future somehow. He knew what he wanted and he would have her.
"Well now this is interesting. All three of his last battles took place at the same location, the Coliseum annex. It might not be an address but it gives us a smaller area to search."
"Will we be heading there now master?" Chandra fingered the glossy black leather whip she had somehow acquired since evolving the previous day in anticipation of a fight. Jack had no desire to ask where it came from and he certainly had no desire to ask how it already had bloodstains.
"Not just yet. I think I'll send Lilith ahead first to scope out the area." He caught the barest hints of a grimace in the reflection of the monitor and added. "You and I will be preparing for when we actually find him."
A flick of his wrist brought the sensual Succubus into the room.
"Master." Lilith greeted once she fully materialized.
"I have a rather important job for you. This will be dangerous, difficult and require all of your cunning but I have faith in your ability to pull it off. This building here," He switched screens to an aerial view of the city and tapped a small square one "is where Clyde Matthews seems to enjoy spending his time. What I need you to do is go there and see what you can find out about him without raising any suspicions. Look through past records, talk to people in general terms but above all if you do see him you are to teleport back tome immediately. Understood?"
"Of course master. I won't disappoint you."
"Very good. You have your mission now get to it." He waited until her lithe figure had fully disappeared beyond the lobby doorway before turning back to Chandra. "What do you know about lock picking?"
"I do not know anything about it master."
"Well then we shall have to correct that won't we."
/o.O.o\
"Are you certain it is the correct target? You've already been wrong once today." The rebuke was sharp and Lilith flinched at the reminder of her earlier failure.
"I'm sorry mas-" Jack cut her off mid-word.
"Don't be sorry. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Now are you certain it is the right person?" Few things were more useless than apologies in his eyes. You either had no control of the situation and had no reason to apologize or you did it knowingly and were only sorry to be caught.
"The target is 5'10 with short brown hair and is accompanied by an Amachoke that has called him Clyde several times." It might not be a Shadetaura but the battle reports had shown an Amachoke in use as well.
"Very good. Get clear and meet me at the room."
"Understood. Lilith out." The annoying crackle of cheap electronics ended in an instant and Jack flipped the hand set closed.
He threw it next to the pokepack on the bed to be dropped in before they left.
"Where did you find him at?" Jack continued to pack the few odds and ends that still remained in the room after their brief stay.
" He was in the main battling hall with a large group of other tamers."
"Is that so." Jack murmered absently as a thought struck him. "Was it a rather large and raucus group with battles going on?"
"Yes, there were several battles going on at the time, though he wasn't actually in one."
"I see. Was he on the fringes of the group or at the center?"
"I think he was on the outside." She replied halfhazardly.
"You think or you know. This is rather important." Jack stopped throwing clothes into his bag to watch her intently.
"I know so. He was standing at the outside." She replied more confidently.
"Well now that opens up a whole new avenue of possibilities doesn't it." Lilith remained silent, recognizing that the question was directed at himself rather than her.
She watched as he grabbed a nearby notebook and pencil and began scribbling furiously pen flying across the page as he worked out a plan. He ripped off the top sheet and began the process anew and she took a seat and grabbed the data reader Jack had left out.
"I bookmarked the article on Nurse Joys you're looking for." Jack spoke without looking up from his writing.
"I was just going to do a bit of reading while you worked." Lilith protested, even as she tapped the screen thrice in rapid succession to get to the article.
"A little reading that would just happen to be on the breed of pokegirl that will soon be in the harem I'm sure." He drawled slowly. "In any event that article will prove quite helpful to you assuming of course that she is like a typical member of her breed."
"You don't think she will be like that do you." She questioned, peering of the reader.
"Your average Nurse Joy is weak and cowardly. A good healer perhaps but otherwise hardly of note at all. This one is different though. I can feel it. She is a diamond amidst the rubble that is the rest of her kind and I will only have the very best."
He stared pointedly at her and she preened slightly under his attention.
"But if you didn't think the article would help then why did you bookmark it, or bother to read it yourself."
"It can still prove to be quite useful even if she isn't like that. Knowing how someone is different tells you a lot. Besides there is no such thing as useless information."
Silence reigned between them as Lilith read and Jack plotted until Lilith had finished the article.
"Master I have a request to make."
"Oh and what is that?"
"I want to be the one to induct the new girl into the harem."
"And why would you want to do that."
"Until now I haven't had anything to do in my role as alpha. As the harem grows though I'll be needed and I need to start somewhere right?"
"A good point. Are you certain you do not want to cut your teeth on something easier this will be harder than you think. If you truly want this to be where you prove yourself as worthy of the alpha position you will have to do it on your own merit. Which means I won't be helping you."
"I can do it." She replied confidently.
"I have faith that you will."
/o.O.o\
"So not only did I scare him off I managed to get the pokegirl he wanted later." Clyde laughed uproariously and so did most of the others. A few of them had seen Jack heading directly for them and decided to withhold their laughter until he was gone.
"So Clyde, you managed to scare me off did you." Jack asked sarcasm heavy in his voice. "And here I was thinking that an OfficerJenny stepped in to save you when you got in over your head."
Clyde scowled as he turned around. "I didn't need her help I would have destroyed you on my own."
"Then how about proving it with a salvage match. Unless of course you would rather admit that you are a spineless worm to all these fine people." Jack swept his arm across the tamers that surrounded them who began to urge Clyde to accept the challenge and prove how tough he was.
"Fine." He growled out, not seeing a way out that didn't end with him completely emasculated. "We'll have to wait for an arena to open up though and they are booked for awhile."
"No problem. We're already on the outskirts of Celaboner and another half mile will take us outside the city where we can battle without any issues.
"Sounds good." Clyde ground out and turned to walk away followed by his Amachoke and the rest of the group he had been with, who were now gabbing excitedly and trying to figure who else would battle while they were out there.
Jack followed at a more sedate pace and enjoyed the various flower exhibitions that had been set up along the road to Route 7. Only a short while later the last building had disappeared from view and the forest began to loom in front of them.
"We've postponed your embarrassment long enough. This will work just fine as a field to destroy you on." Jack called out to Clyde, 50 yards ahead.
"We'll see about that." Clyde called back. "Since you're the challenger you send out your girl first."
"Very well." Jack summoned Jessica's pokeball to his hand and threw it onto the field with a flick of his wrist. The stygian dragon appeared in a flash and immediately rose to her full height and spread her tattered, skeletal wings with a hiss.
Clyde's pokeball flew through the air and a Shadetaura appeared opposite Jessica.
"Dragon Dance." Jessica began to bob and weave in time with an unheard song as her already rust covered body began to take on an even darker sheen.
"Gatling Punch." The Shadetaura's feet bit into the earth and left a small pile behind as she sped toward Jessica to deliver a flurry of jabs across her torso.
"Dragon Breath." The punches were ignored in favor of deliver a large blast of draconic energy straight to the Shadetaura's face.
She dodged to the right but still took a portion of the blast on her upper left chest. The tight top she was wearing had partially disintegrated and the remaining edge smoldered slightly, burns evident but still able to fight.
"Night shade." Clyde called out and the Shadetaura brought her hands together and a churning ball of darkness began to collect which she launched at Jessica and scored a clean hit that brought a hiss of pain from the Nidogg.
"Dragon Claw." Jessica put her greater agility to use and lunged at her opponent; claws smoldering with draconic energy as she attempted to drive them through her. The claw caught her on the opposite side the breath had struck and tore through her shoulder in a torrent of blood and bone.
A red beam struck her in the chest to recall her before shock could set in.
"You still have one more pokegirl left. What will it be I wonder." Jack mused loudly enough for his opponent to hear. Jessica grinned widely and made a show of cleaning the remains off her hand, burned from the energy.
"I concede." Clyde scowled as he gave up but decided that his pride wasn't truly worth the very real risk of losing one of his other valuable girls. That the others didn't look like they wanted to really think about the result let alone taunt him about it made it easier. "I take it you want the NurseJoy then?"
"Of course, you don't think I came all the way out here just for your pretty face do you." Jack said with amusement. The Amachoke by Clyde's side took offense and began to take a step forward when Jessica flared her wings and hissed at her. "Are you sure you want to give up? Your Amachoke seems to want to fight and I don't want to seem like I'm cheating you out of your chance to beat me."
"Stand down Kathryn, she would kill you without thought."
"Yes sir." She stepped back to stand behind him.
"Fine here is your girl. Not even that good of a lay anyhow." He tossed the ball across the field to Jack but Jessica snagged it out of the air before it could get there, unwilling to allow an unknown pokeball anywhere near him when it could open.
"Thank you Jessica. You did quite well." She let out a quiet hiss of pleasure as Jack scratched her just behind the right eye ridge.
He checked the contents of his spoils with his pokedex and affirmed that it was in fact the NurseJoy he was after. "Chandra take us back to the center." He spared Clyde a glance before they disappeared and found him in the process of flipping the bird. He smiled widely in response having long ago found that to be more annoying than any other reaction in the situation.
/o.O.o\
Clyde had gone shopping apparently as unlike her nude appearance at the auction, the NurseJoy was clothed in a somewhat stereotypical nurse uniform. Somewhat, because it was short enough that Jack could see the existence of a pink thong even when fully stretched down her thigh. The top was only a half shirt with two buttons done that allowed most of her C-Cup breasts to be seen as well as exposing her midriff. A small hat with a red cross completed the ensemble and all in all was quite pleasant. Of course her staring neutrally at him made it somewhat less so but you take what you can get.
"I am Jack Rivers your new master. You may call me master or sir." Always prudent to get off on the right foot in a relationship.
"You are the one that attempted to purchase me before Clyde, sir." She tacked on the address as an afterthought and Jack made a note of it but otherwise let it slide.
"I was. I thought you would make a fine addition to my harem and he was of the opinion that anything I wanted, I should not have."
"He said that you had run away from him earlier and that was why he bought me, sir."
"Yes he said much the same thing to his friends when I confronted him earlier."
"Did you buy me from him, sir."
"No, I challenged him to a salvage match and ripped the arm off of his Shadetaura." He grinned savagely as he spoke and teal eyes stared back impassively. "You seem unconcerned by that fact."
"She spoke in speed puns, she deserved what she got, sir." That NurseJoys tended to abhor combat on the whole and this one didn't made things easier.
"I agree, puns are the lowest form of wit. Unless you make them just before an explosion or some gratuitous violence." He hastened to amend his original assertion as he thought of the several times he himself had made them. "In any event there will never be any speed puns by a member of my harem."
"I'm glad sir. Will you be giving me a new name?"
"What is your name now and do you want to keep it?"That she would have been through a level 5 cycle prior to the auction could only mean that the name was given to her by Clyde which did little to endear him to it already and he didn't even know it.
"Mary and I would prefer a different name sir."
"Oh ? I do like the name Mary I must admit it has a certain something. What name would you prefer?"
"Katie, sir."
"Any particular reason why you chose that one in particular?"
"It just seems like it fits."
"I suppose it does fit you well. Would you mind if I called you Kat for short?"
"You may do as you like master." Jack noted the tenseness of her stance at the admission.
"I know I may do as I please, however that is not what I asked you. I asked if you would mind it. When I ask a question I always mean exactly what I ask and I expect you to answer that question, not just tell me what you think I want to hear. Even if the answer is something you don't think I will like I want to hear it. You will never be punished for telling the truth but I will punish lies most harshly." He held her chin in his hand to force her to look at him and swept his thumb gently across her cheek.
"I would mind if you called Kat sir." She shuddered slightly from his caress but still spoke tersely as she stared back at him in defiance.
"Very well then you shall be known as Katie from now on." He held her chin a moment longer before letting go and taking a seat on the bed and asking, "Do you have any questions, comments, concerns, requests anything of that nature?"
She stared back at him for a short while in thought before responding "Is there any way I can get some different clothes, sir."
"Oh you don't like them, but they make you look so good."
"Maybe but if we are going to be in the wilderness as I assume then it will not be enough."
"Logical and well thought out, is there perhaps another reason you want a new outfit. Be honest now I may just agree with your reason."
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise but she recovered quickly. "There is no reason to actually dress in a nurse uniform and I dislike the way people look at me when I wear it."
"I am fairly certain they would still look at you no matter what you wore." The blush on her cheek was faint, but Jack's keen eye caught it. "Though I must admit I rather enjoy the sight of you in your outfit. Would you mind wearing it if I requested it." She opened her mouth to answer and Jack added. "Remember I didn't ask if you would do it."
"I would mind but if it were only for you I would consider it an acceptable trade off, sir."
"I had intended to take Chandra, that is my Dark Lady" If she was surprised at sharing a harem with a Dark Lady she certainly didn't show it. "shopping for a new outfit tomorrow. I see no harm in allowing you to choose your own clothes."
"You would allow me to choose my own?" She asked in surprise without thinking.
"I would. Of course it's only fair to warn you that while I can be generous if you abuse it you will no longer benefit from my largess in the future." He leaned in close and notched in errant strand of pink hair behind her ear. "Now it has recently been brought to my attention that I have not really had an alpha yet. Or rather I did but it was in name only as I was always able to act directly without needing a proxy. As the harem grows I will need one however and Lilith has asked to be given the chance to prove herself as most worthy of the position."
"Is she not already the alpha, sir?"
"She is by virtue of being my first pokegirl. I do think she is capable of the job though so this will be her first real act." A quick tug of their bond signaled to Lilith he wanted her presence and she teleported into view in an instant.
"And what act is that sir." Katie ignored the new arrival in favor of continuing their conversation.
"She will be teaching you all the rules you will have to obey in this harem as well as all the expectations you will be under. After tonight I expect you to be fully prepared and will not accept ignorance as an excuse to avoid punishment. You have a problem with this idea?" He asked as her face contorted into a grimace.
"She may not tell me something purposefully or by accident even and I would be punished for it." Katie protested.
"Don't worry Katie as I'm adopting an old military practice that was used to ensure officers kept an eye on their soldiers actions. Every punishment you receive for something Lilith could have prevented will be given double for her." Her hair whipped through the air as she turned to look at him and he merely quirked an eyebrow. "Rank has it's privileges but it also has it's downsides."
He stood and stretched lightly before heading to the door leaving the two women staring at each other. One pink haired with a gaze of stone and the other a head of flame and eyes to match.
"Now you two play nice." He chuckled to himself as the door swung shut behind him with a soft click.
They both continued to watch each other neither one willing to be the first one to talk and give ground. The silence stretched but Katie simply waited serenely until Lilith could take it no longer.
"You may call me mistress."
"No." The abruptness of the response surprised Lilith who had expected either meek acceptance or angry refusal not a steadfast refutation.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean that I will not call you mistress. This is your proving session as alpha which means Jack won't add his weight to your own person edicts if you can't make them happen yourself."
"You called him Jack." It was half question and half statement, even Lilith didn't know which.
"Yes I did. Addressing someone in the third person is typically done in such a fashion. If he wants me to refer to him as sir all the time I shall however I suspect he doesn't care much either way as long as I am respectful to him."
Lilith scowled at the answer and suddenly understood Jack's laughter and why he said this would be a hard test. Emotions could be poked and twisted to achieve an end but cold, hard logic couldn't. She decided to simple cut her losses on the 'mistress' front.
"Very well you don't have to call me mistress but any time we're around others you will call me alpha. Jack may not make you call me mistress but my being alpha is his decision and he'll enforce that one." She'd be damned if this new girl called him by his first name and she didn't. Katie merely nodded her acceptance of the compromise.
"Most of the rules are simple common sense so you should be fine there." Lilith reluctantly admitted. "Whatever you do though do not lie to him. He absolutely hates being lied to or even purposefully misled. Feel free to lie to anyone else though."
"Even you?" Katie asked evenly.
Lilith contemplated the question for a moment and considered simply telling her not to lie but decided that would earn another refusal and decided to see if the stick method would work. "I wouldn't recommend lying to me. As you pointed out right now my power is almost entirely from my own merits. However it won't always be and I have a long memory."She attempted to extend her aura as she had seen Jack do but got only a quirked eyebrow in return for what was supposed to be a menacing pose.
"Jack spends time with who he wants, when he wants and the same goes for who he takes to his bed so if you are hoping for a schedule there is nothing I can do. We all prefer one on one taming but are fine with group taming if necessary. Jessica, the Nidogg, is unfortunately almost entirely heterosexual however if you feel the need for extra taming you can some to either me or Chandra." Lilith licked her lips and ran her eyes across the tight nurses uniform and the beauty contained within.
"I'll be fine with what Jack offers." Katie shot her down almost immediately eliciting a longing sigh from the Succubus.
"Oh well what could have been. Now what magic do you know..."
/o.O.o\
Men hated clothes shopping and had done so for as long as there were clothes to shop for. They might enjoy the results and on occasion they may not mind lingerie shopping, but shopping for general clothing with its myriad of options and each being just not right was almost universally reviled. Clothiers were not ignorant of this fact and had long come to the conclusion that since a tamer had complete control of how long the girls could spend in their stores the best way to increase sales was to make it something they did not hate.
Which was why clothing stores were one of the few places in the Indigo League that allowed multiple pokegirls to be out and away from their tamer. They could find what they wanted while their tamer was doing something else. Such as shopping in the other sections of the Jahana Department Store or gambling in the Game Corner.
"Chandra would enjoy this." Jack grabbed the book off of the shelf and flicked through it to make sure it was real.
"What is it master." Lillith asked from his side.
"It's the tome for Fira, you know how much she enjoys Fire." He smiled and she suppressed a shiver at the memory of when Chandra first learnt Fire.
"I'm sure she will enjoy it master."
Jack dropped the tome in a basket at his side and began to mentally check off his to do list. "We've restocked all of our potions and salves, replenished our food stores and found Fira is there anything else I am forgetting?"
"Are there any books on healing magic master? Katie only knows Cure, Esuna,and Revive."
"Hmm they don't have much and what they do have she already knows." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Perhaps we should pick up a few T2s for her as well. In order to evolve she'll need to be in battles and right now her only attack is Tackle."
"Are there any T2s she could actually learn?"
"Oh yes there are a dozen or so normal type T2s. Of course they are almost all either useless because they require natural claws or they are only useful outside battle. Bide and Dancing Flash are the only two that would actually serve any purpose."
"It only takes battle stress to evolve master, not winning battles. Perhaps you can have her try to finish off weakened ferals as we make the trek to Nielsbrooke."
"That could certainly work as well." He mused and considered it. "An excellent idea Lilith that is what we will do."
"Thank you master." She demurred and latched onto his right arm much to his amusement. "Will you reward me for my good idea?"
"If I reward you for your good ideas then I'll have to punish you for any bad ideas. Fair is fair after all." He could almost literally see the wheels turn in her head as she weighed the potential benefits and costs.
"How about if you reward me just because then?" She offered and he chuckled at the look on her face.
"I suppose I could do that." He whispered into her ear and traced a circle on the small of her back. "But it will have to wait until tonight. I want to be on our way out of town before sundown." He collected the scrolls on healing magic he had found and added it to his pile. "Now let's go see what Chandra and Katie managed to find."
Originally he had thought it might be difficult to find the two in the rather large clothing department. His worries proved unfounded since all he had to do was follow the yelling.
"You have to dress correctly for master." Chandra yelled at Katie. She was dressed in a tight red dress that clung to her impressive curves with slits up the side and a plunging neckline. Katie however was dressed in jeans and a simple black blouse. Jessica seemed to be between the two of them and attempting to be the peace maker he noted with satisfaction. A harried looking Ingenue dressed in the store's uniform stood nearby and seemed to be debating whether or not to interfere with a Dark Lady.
"He said that I could pick out whatever I wanted and this is what I want." Katie returned crossing her arms across her chest and turning away from Chandra.
"Now ladies what seems to be the problem here." The Ingenue had probably never looked as relieved as she did just then at his entrance. That Chandra's right hand had begun to glow red with the beginnings of Fire probably didn't help.
"Master.""Sir." Greeted his question and they both looked at him before looking at each and looking away neither one answering.
"Jessica tell me what happened." His tone brooked no argument.
"Katie wants the clothes she has on now but Chandra doesn't think it is good enough for you master."
"Chandra is that what happened or is there more."
"Master you deserve-" He cut her off abruptly.
"I know what I deserve. I don't need you to tell me what that is." He sneered and she hung her head in regret. "I told Katie that she may select whatever she likes and it isn't for you to decide that she can't."
"My apologies for my presumption master."
"Besides I happen to think that she looks quite cute like that." Katie looked at him with surprise but otherwise didn't react. "Now let's get out of here shall we."
Jack Rivers
Active Harem
Lilith Succubus
Chandra Dark Lady
Jessica Nidogg
Katie NurseJoy
Indigo League Badges: Pewtit, Celaboner
If you read this story I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review even if it's just a short one. I am trying to develop my sense of style as a writer and any feedback would be appreciated. Do I not develop characters enough? Are the scenes to short? Do I jump around too much? Is it sometimes unclear what is going on? More description or less. More dialogue or less. Remember that helping me develop my writing skills can lead to you have many more enjoyable stories much more often.