Ch. 9 - Plans

Sighing with apprehension, I walked past the archives and stopped before a rather imposing steel door. If Nishia, the OfficerJenny upstairs, was correct, then the actual prison ward was down one floor, behind several blast doors, a clearance checkpoint, and an additional twenty meters of the Earth's crust. Hazarding a wild guess, I'd say they kept pokégirls down there too.

Nodding to Patrick, who had stopped two feet to my right, I opened the door and walked in. The two pokéballs at my belt seemed to feel heavy, suddenly. Pity only one of them was full. Nishia said I'd have to 'put up' Kari while I was inside. Like she was a coat or something. I shook my head and dismissed my irritation.

Both of us walked slowly towards the man at the only desk in the room. I noticed the stairs going down behind him, with some sort of energy field over them, and what looked to be an emergency bulkhead in the wall that could slide out for an emergency magnetic seal. This seemed overboard, but I suppose some pokégirls would have little trouble with just the energy field.

"Halt, you two. This is a restricted area. Do you have clearance?" he asked, setting his sandwich down.

I sighed wearily and nodded. "Cuthbert is releasing my Hellcat to me. On file by the name of Kittra? I was told she was down here and to go get her," I explained dully.

The man glared at me for a second longer before sliding one of the right hand drawers open and rummaging through what looked like a file system. Paper files? That's an interesting security measure. He finally found the one he was apparently looking for, and pulled it out. After a few seconds of scanning the first page, he nodded. "Yup. Kittra, a Hellcat. She's a feisty one, but seems to be mostly cooperative. Oh, but the mental scan shows that her last taming was almost two days ago," he read off as he looked through her listing.

"Is that a problem?" Patrick asked as I walked past the desk, heading towards the energy field.

The man looked up at him irritably. "Well she might be partially feral by now, having not been in any form of stasis. It would be wise to get her tamed before I let guests see her. I'll call in one of the professionals," he said, reaching for the intercom on his desk.

"That won't be needed. I'm a tamer," I spoke back gently, looking back at him while still facing the energy field.

The man blinked at me a few times before snorting derisively. "You don't look like one. I doubt a half pokéboy whelp like you can handle a Hellcat, anyway. They're not exactly a Kitten, you know," he pointed out, glaring at me.

"Ah, but he's already her Tamer. So he won't have a problem," Patrick explained, walking past the guard dismissively.

The man blinked again. The lag in his processing was very noticeable. I briefly wondered if he was playing with a full deck. "Wait, that boy's who came up in the scan?" he asked, seemingly surprised. Figuring it would come to this, I was glad when I stopped by Cuthbert's office prior to this and actually got a copy of the report. Holding the report up, I also held up my pokédex that had my Tamer ID up on the display.

The guard looked both over before scowling and muttering something about 'pokéboy freak', and walking over to the panel on the wall. After a rapid series of strokes, he hit the enter key and the field faded. "I hope she eats you," he muttered before walking back to his desk.

"Good day to you as well," I returned before heading down the stairs. Patrick chuckled in amusement and I heard him following me.

Walking down the stairs, I noticed they spiraled gently three times before arriving at the sub-basement. It really was down about twenty meters, then. There was no field on this entry, but I saw a similar emergency bulkhead regardless. We exited the stairwell directly into a long hallway. Rows and rows of bars could be scene lining the way, and I figured this was the human section.

I slipped my hands into my pockets, somewhat self-conscious of their color still, and trailed ahead of Patrick a little bit. Most of the cells were totally empty, and it was eerily silent. A few had a single resident, most asleep. I suppose being a small town, their most frequent lawbreaker was a typical drunk breaking something and having to sit to cool for a night.

Reaching the end of the hall, we were greeted with a bend, and another sealed door immediately afterwards. It had a small viewing window, and I peeked in. Another, shorter hallway greeted my eyes. No bars in this one, the walls were lined with what appeared to be layered steel. Yup, the pokégirl holding cells. Counting doors, I noted they only had the capacity for four.

Smiling, I pushed a little energy up into my eyes, and watched the walls shift away slowly, giving me view past. There seemed to be a smaller division inside each cell, with a large viewing glass. Past that was a reinforced chamber, with actual restraints built into an elevated, chair-like device. This seemed strange. If they wanted to restrain a pokégirl, why didn't they just capture her in a pokéball?  Were they actually expecting to contain a girl in these that the pokéball couldn’t? Or were these used for questioning rather than detainment?

My second sight went off suddenly, and I stepped back from the door just before it slid open. "Can I help you?" a gruff looking, older man asked.

I nodded politely to him. "Knight Cuthbert gave me permission to retrieve Kittra, the Hellcat."

The guard looked at me for a few seconds before nodding curtly. True, I wouldn't exactly be down here if the first guard hadn't let me pass. "Okay, come with me," he said, turning and walking down towards the back, left door. Only two of the cells were filled, as my vision told me. Kittra was in the back left one, and directly across from her was a gaunt looking Infernal type. A pity my pokédex didn't work alongside my eyes.

He opened the door slowly, and peeked inside. My eyes could see she was still restrained in the chair, but I suppose I wasn't one to argue with protocol. After thirty seconds of him looking back and forth, then pulling out a scanner and proceeding to do the same thing with that, I sighed and looked over to Patrick irritably. He just chuckled and shrugged.

"Hey now, we don't want to take any chances. Some of the bitches can be awfully crafty!" he warned, glaring back at me.

His eyes widened when he saw mine glowing. "No loss of respect, sir. I'm just used to my own vision being a bit faster, that's all," I spoke gently, smiling at him.

He smirked but shook his head before completing the scan. I could tell by his expression that he recognized my blood trait. He was probably a retired Tamer like Dad. After several seconds, I stopped. No, like Dad used to be.

"All clean, but you probably already knew that. Did you also check to see if the little lady's secure?" he asked expectantly, in an annoying drawl as I walked past him.

I chuckled as I walked up to the door. My second sight flashed, and I pushed one of the three buttons on it, that my eyes told me would open it. "Does it matter, even if I say she is?" I asked him as the door slid open and his eyes bugged out.

"Look out, you fool! If she's not secure, she could rip you apart in seconds!" he shouted out. I was halfway to her by the time he got his dire warning out, and peeled the face mask off. Her restraints were excessive, even as prisons go, and I just wanted her out of them as soon as possible.

Kittra started awake gently. "M-more questions?" she asked, glancing over at me in somewhat of a daze. We just stared at each other for several seconds, her vacantly, and me with a smirk. "Keith!" she suddenly whimpered, eyes widening. I watched the gauges next to the chair hit five hundred pounds of pressure briefly, as she strained to get out.

The guard could be heard bursting into the room behind me, followed by Patrick's laughter. I smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop struggling instantly. "Er, she knows you?" the guard asked, finally catching up with me.

I nodded as I started to undo her restraints. "Yes, I'm her Tamer, if she agrees to have me," I explained, watching her expression shift from happy, to ecstatic.

"You're a Tamer now, Keith? That's amazing. And of course I want to be in your harem. I only blew the shit out of Karumi for you, and I'm really doubting she'd take me back after that," she pointed out, snickering, then squirming as I must have hit a sensitive spot trying to get the thigh locks off. I could smell the musk coming from her from here, end mentally sighed.

Finally getting the stupid bar off, I stood back up and started working on her upper body restraints, as she stretched the kinks out of her legs. "I never did get a chance to talk to you afterwards. You surprised me a lot, there," I mentioned, trying to pull a large pin out of the chest restraint. Patrick stepped past me and grabbed it himself, so I let go and nodded thanks to him.

My left arm gave a throb from just that simple effort, and I sighed. Kittra looked thoughtful for a few seconds before nodding. "I surprised me a lot there, too. At first I was just tired of always being ordered around by her. But I didn't want to be captured by the humans either, so I was just going to let the crystal explode," she reflected, almost to herself if I didn't know better.

I shook my head weakly. "I don't want you to kill yourself," I reassured, as Patrick finally got the pin loose and opened the chest restraint. Kittra got her arms free and stretched them gently, but didn't bother getting up yet.

"Why is that, Keith? You surprise me the most. I'm a Hellcat. Why do you care if I live or die?" she asked, losing her smile and just looking intently at me now.

Chuckling, I shook my head. "If pokégirls really are as diverse as humans, which I actually expect them to be more so, then your breed is hardly applicable. You've done some bad things, yes, but your recent actions show a lot of change," I articulated, smiling at her again.

She sat there for a few seconds, before resting her forehead on her knees. "I suppose you're right. I was so tired of being ordered around, all for the sake of her fucking organization. I guess being ordered around for just your needs will be a lot more refreshing," she muttered, snickering to herself.

I laughed. "As if I'd order you around," I returned, leaning up against the glass behind me. The older guard raised an eyebrow, but headed out into the other room after apparently deciding she wasn't going to go on a murderous rampage.

Kittra looked back up at me rapidly, confusion in her eyes. "I'm not going to order my pokégirls around. You have minds and think for yourselves, so that's enough. Basic tactics is all I do, not individual orders. And I think a smart girl like you can appreciate battle tactics, right?" I reasoned, before she could say anything else.

She blushed but her eyes softened. "I think I see now why you changed my mind so drastically. You really aren't going to treat me like," she trailed off her question and frowned.

"Don't compare me to any other tamer you might have known. You're not a slave, or a weapon. You're a person and a teammate. What others say doesn't matter. You're with me, and they can go to hell, right?" I furthered, lessening my smile a little as I remembered there are actual tamers out there like that.

Kittra stood up out of the chair and smiled gently at me. "Freedom is what I want most of all. I think you're the only person who's ever given it to me. Or had faith in me to this degree," she commented, sliding against me and bumping foreheads. She was just a sliver shorter than I, and looked directly into my eyes.

"Faith?" I asked, quieter now. If her ears were like mine, she'd appreciate that.

Kittra giggled lightly instead of responding, and motioned back over at the older guard, who was standing suspiciously close to the weapons closet. I rolled my eyes. "If you wanted to kill me, I would have been dead weeks ago. I honestly believe you, regardless," I pointed out, causing her to grin and kiss me lightly.

"Then I am Master's. What's going to be my name, then, Master?" she asked, smiling. I pulled the empty pokéball off my belt before shaking my head.

"None of this 'Master' thing. It makes me feel old. And your name is Kittra, remember?" I reminded.

She giggled, but didn't seem surprised this time. "As Keith wishes," she agreed, pushing the button on the ball herself.

She was gone in a flare of light, and I pushed off the wall again. "Real personality you got there, Keith. She seems to really like you, though," Patrick commented, whistling lightly. I chuckled.

"Well if what the report said is true and we Alpha bonded already," I deduced, trailing off as I walked past him.

The guard visibly exhaled as he saw she was pokéballed now. I nodded respectfully to him as we walked back towards the human section. He smiled and returned a curt nod, and I relaxed a little. He was more polite than the guy upstairs. I couldn't hold someone at fault for being suspicious, after all. Wasn't I? Just for different things is all.

The prison gave me seriously bad vibes, and I didn't want to stick around any longer than I had to. The guard didn't stop us on the way back through, only shook his head irritably at me. Reaching the main hall again, and making sure the door was secure, I pulled out a pokéball with each hand, and released both girls. Patrick chuckled as he walked past me. "You hate having them in pokéballs, don't you?" he asked casually, turning around to face me as he walked backwards.

Kari giggled, and Kittra stretched uneasily. "Damn, it's been a while since I've been balled. I forgot what it was like. Wait, Kari?" Kittra asked in what sounded to be mild surprise.

I nodded weakly to Patrick, that issue having taken a lot out of me. But I was adamantly refusing to absorb more energy until I'd figured out what happened, so I was stuck relying on my own piss poor constitutional fortitude.

Kari smiled pleasantly at Kittra, but I could tell she was straining herself, not totally comfortable with the Hellcat. I suppose Kittra would prove herself in time, and hopefully Kari would feel better around her. "Yes, Kittra?" she asked softly, very little strength to her voice.

"Did you just, you know, come out of his pokéball?" Kittra asked in amusement. Oh yeah, she'd been taken prisoner since we were put under house arrest.

Kari snickered for real this time nodded. "Yeah. I'm a pokégirl now. Keith's my tamer as well."

Kittra stopped and looked at her for a few seconds, seemingly considering the new information, before smirking. "I guess you beat me into the harem, then. Damn! Who's going to be Alpha, then?" she asked leadingly.

"I have two pokégirls. We don't really need one, yet," I headed off, before Kittra could start anything.

Kari smiled and nodded in agreement, while Kittra averted her eyes slyly. There was no point to in-fighting. Deciding to chill the situation further, and test my confidence a little, I swatted both pokegirls on the rear as I walked between to catch up with Patrick. Kari have a light yelp and turned crimson, while Kittra smirked and growled low.

"And you learn the first technique of distracting a pokegirl," Patrick noted as I caught up. I chuckled as I turned around as we walked. Kari was still blushing, but had a smile. Kittra was somewhat pink to, but the look she gave me said it wasn't embarrassment.

Then I noticed I was a little heated as well. I guess I was internally expecting both girls to haul off and hit me. This Tamer thing would take some getting used to. Sliding our door open, I walked over and lay down on the couch. It still had the comfortable blankets on it that Nishia found last night. My body seemed worse than before, and I just sank onto the cushions.

"You okay, Keith?" Patrick asked, falling onto the one across from me. I felt a light weight on my stomach and smiled at I saw Kari's aura. There was also tricks to falling asleep when you can't really stop seeing. 

"My arms aren't fully recovered yet," I muttered sleepily. Kari kissed me lightly on the lips, cutting off the remainder.

Seeing Kittra walk past me, then sit down at the end of the couch, I tried to shift down to give her more room. She caught my shoulders though and lifted me instead, setting me back down in her lap. Kari grinned and pulled the blankets over us. "You two seem a lot more friendly. And what's this about your arms?" Kittra asked, playing with my hair. Being on top of her, I noticed she had a very distinct Kittra smell to her. It mixed with Kari's as she lay on top of me. 

"I hurt my arms with magic after I regenerated my energy too much," I muttered, feeling very drowsy. Being surrounded by female smells, skin, and body heat was having a profoundly relaxing effect on me. I felt safe, almost, for the first time in a while.

Kittra gently slid my sleeve down to look, while Patrick asked, "When's the doctor coming again?"

"After hospital hours tonight. He seemed very interested in my condition when I talked to him on the com."

Kittra traced the scars along my right arm up into the darkened areas. I was a bit displeased that both my arms looked like an angry titodyle had gnawed on them for a few hours, albeit a bit more artistically with the left. "This is aura burn," Kittra suddenly commented.

Glancing back, I saw her frowning. "Karumi talked about it before," she continued, "It's something aura magic practitioners, and aura sensitive individuals get when going through bad areas."

"Bad areas?" I asked, curiosity stirring me out of my sleepy lull.

Kittra nodded and smiled down at me. "You're so cute when tired, but yes. Areas that have negative life force or energy in them," she elaborated, playing with my hair now.

Interesting. Could I have sucked something up that's under the bathroom, then? I doubt there is anything like that close to the police station though. Was it something I'm doing wrong instead? "Why does the negative energy do that, then?" I asked her, intrigued now.

"I'm sorry, Master. I'm not that good with magic," Kittra apologized, frowning.

"Keith, not Master. And it's okay," I reminded, kissing her stomach lightly.

Kittra made a soft purr, holding my head against her stomach lightly. Patrick chuckled softly. "Looks like someone needs a taming," he pointed out.

I groaned weakly as he stood up, picking up his two pokeballs. "Hey now, it's your job, so no complaining. I'll use the taming room next door, then go get food. Want anything?" he asked, heading for the door.

"Cheeseburger!" I managed to call out before Kari's lips found mine.

* * * * *

Zageith sighed as he walked around a few trash cans, following a small, compass-like object in his hand.

Energy readings were slightly elevated in the alley ahead, and if he had guessed correctly, which he usually did, the source would be there.

Stopping halfway down the alley, he looked around quietly, hand on Mishka's pokeball. Smiling then, he looked up towards the fire escape. There she was, tucked into the corner of the first platform.

"You look like shit," he commented plainly to her.

Karumi sighed and looked at him over the side of the fire escape. He could see that, while heavily shadowed, her right side of her face was badly burned, across her eye too. "Fuck off, Zageith," she muttered before tucking back into the dirty blankets.

Zageith sighed and shook his head. "Friendly as usual. You need medication for the burns, Love," he replied, smirking upwards.

"And I suppose you'd just give them to me out of the generosity of your heart," she pointed out, dripping venom.

Zageith chuckled. "All I want is a bit of a favor. And you get your return to power and to not die. Could it get better?" he offered.

There was silence for several seconds, before Karumi started chuckling. "Was that a threat or do you honestly think they're a danger to me?" she blurted out between laughs.

"Kittra plus them blew half your face off," he pointed out.

The laughing shifted to a growl instantly. "Shut up. It was an improbable outcome I didn't consider. It won't happen again," she warned.

Zageith chuckled and shrugged weakly. "I see you have it covered. Well I'll be seeing you, then," he muttered, turning and moving to withdraw. "Oh, I like what you've done with those trash cans. Creative evil lair flair."

"Wait! I never actually agreed or disagreed. Must you be so impatient?" Karumi suddenly asked in a drawing manner.

Zageith stopped and smiled. "My apologies my Lady. You just didn't seem eager for company is all," he produced, turning around as he heard the light thump.

He watched her land and stumble to the side briefly before catching herself. The entire right side of her face was burned off, her right eye non-existent, and her right arm was badly damaged. The explosion must have caught her almost directly. Zageith winced after looking at her. "My apologies as well. I am in desperate need of some company as well.  I have not, how do you say, been thinking as clearly as I wished," she spoke softly, looking up at him with one eye.

His smile widened at the same time his eyes darkened. "I think I can help with that as well, but let's get you patched up first."

* * * * *

I awoke to an extremely pleasant smell. My eyes picked up on Patrick's aura, and I watched him set a tray down on the coffee table.

Smiling, I opened my eyes to the sight of Kari's dark green hair. Feeling back a little, I felt Kittra's chest pushed into me. I inhaled both their scents and sighed. They pretty much tamed themselves using me that time. Neither wanted me to put forth a lot of my energy, but it was still one hell of an experience. Both girls at once was intense.

"Have fun?" Patrick asked, raising an eyebrow to me as he looked over.

"Mmm. Yeah," I muttered, sitting up a little while making sure to keep Kari's and Kittra's breasts covered.

Patrick chuckled lightly. "You know there's no nudity laws for pokegirls," he reminded, as I covered up both snoozing lightly.

"Yes, but both girls are very modest," I defended, slipping my boxers on.

The tray was packed with food. I wonder which girl will wake up first to the smell of the food. "You're very kind to them. I'm glad. Although you really must have tired them out bad," he noticed, looking past me to both unconscious forms.

I shook my head. "They wouldn't let me do much, so all I really did was play with telekinesis the entire time."

He tilted his head lightly, and I laughed. "Oh, you know. A little pressure here, a bit of tickling there. They seemed to like it," I explained, smirking.

"You monster!" he exclaimed, laughing and looking at the two girls again.

Yawning sleepily, I nodded. "How's Danni and Kiya?" I asked, taking a bite out of a burger.

"Pretty good. They ate while we were there, so I'll pull them out after you eat," he returned, upon falling against the other couch.

Nodding, I took a few more bites before I saw movement to my left. Kittra sat up, arm protectively over her chest, as she smirked over at me. "Food after an amazing taming. Perfect!" she declared, before rooting about in the blankets for a few seconds. She came back up in panties, putting her bra back on.

Patrick's eyes were locked on her solidly as she swayed up to the table. "Damn, you're lucky. If I find a nice feral, want to trade?" Patrick asked, grinning more at Kittra than me.

Kittra snickered and shook a finger at him. "Now now. I'm all his. And I doubt you could pull off the tricks he can," she purred, settling into my lap with a burger. I was extremely busy blushing and forgot I was supposed to be eating. She took my burger in her other hand, though, so I shrugged and wrapped my arms around her waist as she gently fed us both.

"Ouch, my ego," Patrick muttered, chuckling dryly. Kittra started to open her mouth to add more, but I stuck my finger in it instead. She blinked, then licked around the finger gently.

"Be a good girl now," I reminded gently, kissing the underside of her soft ear.  She gasped and blushed immediately, but nodded. For being so flirty, she had a surprisingly low modesty threshold.

I managed to finish a full burger by the time she roasted and ate two, claiming they weren't cooked enough. How she even bit into that burnt black chunk of charcoal, I have no idea. Then a knock came to the door. My eyes activated instantly, and I saw Nishia and an older man in scrubs. I figured he'd be coming in more casual dress. Kittra tensed in my lap and made a low growling sound towards the door. Smiling, I ran my hand gently through her fur on her side, just above the line of her panties.

"Shh, Kittra. It's the doctor," I comforted, trying to get her to chill.

Kittra frowned and started to ask, "But how can you be," before turning around and seeing my glowing eyes. She smirked and settled back into my lap again after that.

"Come in!" I called towards the door, before shoving the rest of the burger in my mouth.

The door slid open gently and both figures walked in, Nishia in the lead a little.

"Dr. Huebrit is here to see you, Keith," Nishia announced softly, bowing a little.

Dr. Huebrit was a short and stout man, looking in his sixties. Most of his grey hair was absent, save for a distinctive tuft above each ear. He also had a puffy mustache, equally as unkempt as the tufts, set under a large nose. His nose would have better fit a man half his size larger, really. Probably the strangest, though, were his glasses. They magnified his eyes at least three times, and looked like they could substitute a larger telescope rather easily. "Oh? Oh? First name basis? Oh, oh my!" he suddenly exclaimed, looking up at the OfficerJenny and wiggling his mustache rapidly.

Nishia blushed lightly and shook her head. "No, Doctor. Not like that. Now go see to the patient!" she reminded, shooting me a pitied look. I wondered what I'd gotten myself into.

"Oh, right, yes," he agreed, turning and walking towards us. Well somewhat walking. His right leg seemed to be bad, and he sort of waddled instead. He looked about us as he approached, finally settling upon Patrick. I raised an eyebrow as he walked towards him, and looked about him before rotating to the other side, examining there as well.

Coughing lightly, I tried to get the doctor's attention, but he didn't seem to even realize I was there. Nishia blinked slowly from her vantage point, looking exasperated. "Yes yes, what interesting neck wounds you have. They look about the same age, so, I do say, how are you still alive through such a wound?" he asked curiously, sounding highly intrigued.

Patrick looked taken aback, but shook his head weakly. "I'm lucky, I suppose. Although I'm not the patient, Keith is," he pointed out, gesturing towards me in the chair. Kittra snickered and got off my lap, also pointing towards me. Either she didn't want to confuse the doctor more, or didn't want to be even vaguely involved.

The doctor slowly rotated in place and stared at me for a few seconds, before adjusting the massive glasses on his face.  Unfortunately, it looked like his nose could probably support three of the pairs, as he wiggled it uncomfortably. "Ah, yes, yes, you're the one I spoke with over the com, yes. Hmm!" he confirmed, putting added emphasis onto his pondering gesture as he walked around me instead.

I felt vaguely uncomfortable for a few seconds as he said absolutely nothing, simply contented to circling me, occasionally muttering something. Glancing to my left, I saw that Nishia was still here. She just watched the doctor in bewilderment for a few more moments before shaking her head. Then she smirked towards Patrick and made a motioning with her hand. I raised an eyebrow, and he followed suit, but walked over to her anyway.

"Ah, yes! I've seen this many times before, indeed. Yes, I have," he concluded.

Waiting several seconds, I faltered when he just stopped talking. "Um, and? What is it?" I finally asked, urging him to continue. I saw Kittra's ear twitch out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied instantly, causing me to want to bash my head into the table. "But I can take some solid, educated guesses, indeed I can," he continued, not giving me the chance to.

Shaking my head, I sighed softly. "Anything you can tell me will help," I affirmed, trying to smile up at him.

He gave me a toothy grin, and I noticed one of his upper, front teeth was missing. "Don't lose heart, my boy! You're a Spellcaster, right? I've seen this the most in them, yes," he added slowly, wiggling his nose again.

I nodded slowly, hoping not to slow him down anymore, if that were possible, with a longer response. "Yes, yes! But before being sure, can I monitor you casting a spell, maybe? Nothing too big is needed," he requested, pulling a rather large bag from somewhere I didn't catch and plopping it down on the table, sifting through it rapidly.

Shrugging, I summoned a small void on my palm and produced the crystal, before setting it down on the table. I needed to recharge him today still, regardless. "I need to charge up this item. Can you monitor that?" I asked, hesitantly motioning to the crystal. Kittra seemingly recognized it instantly and grinned.

"Oh, yes, yes, that will work nicely. Give me but a moment to set up, yes," he instructed, rapidly pulling things out of his bag with an accuracy I hadn't expected at that speed. Even if he was an extremely, well, distinct individual, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

Dr. Huebrit rapidly set up a series of tiny spokes, standing up upon disks. Each disk was connected, via wire, to a handheld device he produced from the bag. It looked kind of like a calculator, only wider, and I couldn't understand the button layout. He then aligned the spokes in a very specific order around the crystal, at set distances.  Some kind of monitoring device?

After getting about twenty of the metal bars in place, he nodded to me. "You may proceed!" he announced, in an overly dramatic fashion.

Sighing, I swallowed and nodded. My hands extended up to the crystal, and the five symbols appeared on each tip of the imaginary star that the crystal was in the center of. The area pulsed as the symbols drew in mana, and then recharged the crystal within seconds. Patrick sneezed off to my left, and I smirked, hearing Kittra's giggling.

"Ah, yes, very interesting indeed," the doctor muttered, rapidly pushing buttons on his device. 

Sighing, I picked up the crystal again and tucked it inside the void before he asked to cut it open or something. "I was indeed correct, my boy! Indeed correct. If this is the same manner in which you cast the other magic, with the focus being yourself instead, all the problem is directly from that," he informed, flustering as he rapidly picked up all of the tiny instruments.

"What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of what he was getting at.

He nodded rapidly, seemed to get confused for a second, but then nodded again. "Oh yes, the magic," he assured himself, thinking for a moment as I sighed again, "Yes, you pulled energy into the crystal in the only manner in which necromancy can. To create a well of negative energy inside of the object, then open it up to the external mana. The mana sees all the negative energy, and rushes in like air to a vacuum in attempts to get rid of it," he informed further, animatedly using his hands to visually represent the forces.

"And that had an effect on me, but not the crystal?" I asked, trying to follow him, even though he was talking rather quickly.

"Yes, indeed! The crystal has no life force. That means it can both suffer the negative energy without fail, and adapt to the mana flooding into it. Your body can do neither. You're poisoning yourself with negative energy by using that technique, and then your own chi can't handle the raw mana being pulled into it. It's like, well, trying to mix meatballs and spaghetti, and get away with calling it the same thing!" he furthered, getting himself more flustered by the breath.

This concerned me. The technique was flawed fundamentally, which means I was slowly killing off whatever I happened to draw the energy into. Seeing as I seemed to focus on the hands to do so, it made sense that my arms were the first to go. "Will the arms heal?" I asked him cautiously, partially to get him off the topic that was irritating him.

The doctor considered my question for a few moments before nodding. "Yes, I suspect they will heal like a normal wound within a week or so. I heavily recommend not using that technique again, however. It is very foolish, yes, yes it is," he warned, shaking his head.

Sighing, I flopped back in the chair. I knew that was coming, but I guess I was secretly hoping for insight into how to fix it, not just abandon it. It had been my first real hope of maybe doing things I couldn't have before. I nodded weakly. "Now now. If you truly need to pull energy into yourself to replenish your own chi reserves, might I suggest doing it prior to exertion, instead of after? Take a reference from War Magic and enhance your constitution or muscles before doing something. Sure, you'll be limited to a certain amount of activity, but that's better than poisoning yourself, yes?" he asked, tilting his head towards me.

I frowned. How'd he known that I knew about the War Magic? No, that was jumping to conclusions. He hadn't said 'my' War Magic, after all. "I'll give it a try. Thank you, Dr. Huebrit," I spoke, smiling at him.

"Not at all, dear boy, not at all! Yours was a most interesting case, and I do so enjoy interesting cases," he replied, smiling before waddling towards the door.

"Uh, wait, don't you need to be paid still?" I asked, tilting my head questioningly.

He dismissingly waved his hand backwards as he waddled. "No no, hardly. I was merely passing through and happened to hear the lovely OfficerJenny arguing with the doctors. She patched me right through to you on the com when I offered to peek," he explained, grinning as he turned around at the door and did a low bow.

Passing through? "Oh, well thank you," I replied weakly, trying my hardest to smile at him. He nodded and politely bowed before wandering aimlessly down the hallway. He was an interesting individual.

Sighing, I looked back at my arms. They'd healed reasonably well so far, and were probably about halfway back to normal. I traced the blackened lines that were my veins with my finger idly. "It's hard to believe Karumi taught that to you. Why would she if she knew it would hurt you?" Kittra pondered out loud, frowning and plopping into my lap again.

I chuckled, but wrapped my arms around her waist. "Karumi was probably hoping for another form of control over me, helping me 'heal' every few days. She's not exactly a good person, remember?" I pointed out, squeezing her.

Kittra snickered, then looked back over at Kari. Glancing that way myself, I saw that she'd pulled all the blankets up on the couch and apparently tucked herself into a little ball, still sound asleep. Well it was getting to be night time, so I guess we should just let her sleep. "Hey, Keith?" Patrick suddenly called out.

Glancing back towards him, I nodded once. He was still standing next to Nishia. "I need to go for a little bit. Can you let Kiya and Danni out for some air while I'm gone?" he requested, smiling lightly.

Gone? I raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Sure. Do they need anything else?" I asked, repressing my curiosity. It was really none of my business what he did, so it wasn't really polite to ask.

"Nah. They should be fine for quite a while," he assured, before heading out the door and down the hallway after Nishia.  

Kittra watched him go for a few seconds before shaking her head. "That was a little weird," she commented, sounding bored.

"Yeah, but it's really not our concern, right?" I added, routing her out of my lap and standing. The table was covered with the leftovers, so I decided to clean up a little.

Kittra watched me for a few seconds before suddenly grinning. "Hey, I just realized, Kari's asleep and we're alone now," she hinted.

Rolling my eyes, I stacked the boxes onto the tray. "You just got tamed not four hours ago," I protested, pondering what I was supposed to do with the tray.

She snickered, then eased closer to me. "Hey now, I need a lot of attention, and your attention just happens to be amazing, so maybe I want a little more?" she lead, nuzzling against my shoulder lightly.

"Maybe after we let Kiya and Danni out for a bit," I gave in a little, giving her a playful push.

She grinned and playfully swayed as if I'd actually budged her. "Aww, come on, Master!" she whined, winking and giving me a shove back.

My eyes widened a little as I realized she was several times stronger than the average human in the best shape they could possibly be. Hers widened a little too as she sent me sideways, tripping over the chair I'd just gotten out of and smashing into the floor at the base of the couch.

Lying on my back, I winced for several seconds before opening my eyes again. Kittra scrambled over to me, and I looked up at her imploringly, extending my hand upwards. She winced, but reached down to help me up.  I couldn't help but start laughing as she pulled me easily to my feet. "Dang, Kittra. You pack some real force in those arms," I remarked, impressed.

She blushed and shook her head rapidly. "I'm sorry, Master! I didn't mean to use that much force!" she apologized rapidly. Why did she always act like that around me? I thought Hellcats were supposed to be a little more assertive than this.

"No, Kittra, it's okay. I'm not going to be mad at you for simply not knowing your own strength and accidentally knocking me over. And for the last time, call me either Keith or Kit like you used to," I reminded, shaking my head weakly.

She wiggled her fingers together before nodding. "Thank you, Keith," she replied, ears drooping down a little. Turning, I swished my tail into her face while leaning over and grabbing Patrick's pokéballs. She made a sputtering noise behind me, and I grinned as she shoved my tail out of the way. I was getting pretty adjusted to it now, but it wasn't exactly useful for all that much, being neither sturdy or prehensile.

Pushing the button on each pokéball, I released Kiya and Danni onto the couch. They arrived totally the wrong way as my intention, and were dumped unceremoniously onto the couch, face first. Danni just lay there for a few seconds, while Kiya hesitantly sat up and looked over at me. "Er, sorry for the rough landing," I apologized, tossing them both their pokéballs. Kiya frowned and caught hers out of the air. Danni's landed on her head, and her eyes slowly rotated to look at it after it rolled off and onto the cushion.

"Where's Patrick?" Kiya asked hesitantly after looking over at Kittra warily.

I shook my head. "He had some errands to run or something. He said he'd be back later, and to let you two out while he was gone," I explained, smiling gently towards her.

Visibly, she released a sigh of relief and sagged a bit. "Oh, okay. That's good," she followed.

I raised an eyebrow before it dawned on me what it must have looked like. "Heh, no, Patrick's fine and I'm not your tamer, so you don't have to panic," I pouted, crossing my arms in mock dismissal.

"Ah! No, no! I've just grown attached to Patrick and would be really sad if something happened to him, that's all. I've nothing against you, and would be totally fine with you as my Master instead," she assured, looking worried at me.

Chuckling, I shook my head and patted hers, replying right back with, "No, I'm only teasing you, Kiya. I know you like Patrick, and he likes you very much."

She smiled softly at me before nodding, and I turned to walk back towards my couch. Kari surprised me by sitting up sleepily as I approached. "Did I miss anything?" she asked drowsily, rubbing her right eye.

"Only the healthy diagnostic on my arms," I replied, winking to her as I sat down. Kittra flopped down at the base of the couch, resting against my knees, so I continued, "Oh, and Kittra knocking me flying, but nothing out of the usual there."

Kari giggled as Kittra stuck her tongue out at me from her sitting position, and I tweaked her ears lightly. "What about the arms, then?" Kari asked hesitantly after a few moments.

"They're being poisoned by my own flawed technique, but they should heal up to normal again after a few more days," I summarized, resting my head against her chest.

Cooing lightly, she pulled me gently into herself, kissing the top of my head. "I'm glad they're going to be okay. What are you going to do about the energy issues now, though?" she inquired, resting her head on the top of mine.

"The doctor recommended I pursue War Magic more, in hopes to increase my muscle stamina prior to strenuous activity, rather than use a risky technique like that afterwards."

Kari nodded against me. "That sounds surprisingly intelligent for a run of the mill doctor. I hope you kept his com number," she pointed out.

Frowning, I realized he was extremely intelligent. And he had called me on my pokédex, so it would have stored the number. I made a mental note to retrieve it tomorrow. "Yeah, you're right. I'm going to save his number just in case," I agreed, enjoying her touch. Even a few days ago, this situation would have felt surreal to me. Kari really meant a lot to me, I realized.

Danni was nudging Kiya, which drew my attention upwards away from Kari's neck. I raised an eyebrow as she whispered something into her now attentive harem sister's ear. Kiya nodded a couple times, and I suddenly realized that Danni could talk. I blinked, then decided not to press the issue. Maybe she just didn't trust me yet? 

"Danni has to use the rest room. We've never been let out in the room yet. Can you tell me where it is, Keith?" Kiya asked politely, smiling up at me.

Nodding, I gestured towards the side door the was close to the entry to our area. Grinning, Kiya nodded to me, and pulled Danni along by the hand towards the bathroom. Both pokégirls disappeared inside and the door closed.

"I didn't realize Danni could talk," Kari muttered, watching the door like I was.

Kittra blinked and looked up at her. "She can?" she asked, confused.

I nodded. "She just whispered to Kiya. I'm curious as to why she doesn't want to talk to us, but we probably shouldn't press the point," I reasoned, relaxing into Kari again.

"Maybe she's just a snob and we offend her tastes?" Kittra offered, grinning up at me.

Chuckling, I shook my head weakly. "Somehow I doubt it. She's probably just shy," I deduced.

Kittra shrugged, but smirked, before crawling up onto the couch and resting in my lap. We just lay there for almost a minute like that. There was no noise at all coming from the bathroom, which surprisingly concerned me, but I dismissed it.

The whole situation was weird. Everything was changing at an insane rate, and I could barely keep my mind going fast enough, let alone my body too. But we had to move quickly in this situation, or we risked everything. Frowning, it brought another topic to light that needed to be brought up as well.

"Also, I probably should have brought this up sooner, but there's something we need to discuss in length in the very near future," I announced, breaking the silence.

Kittra glanced up at me, and Kari opened her eyes to my left, the side of her face being inches from mine as she rested her chin on my shoulder. "I was reading up the Dark Lady entry in the pokédex last night. From what I've read so far, if we're not decently prepared, she's going to hand us our asses on a platter," I continued bluntly, sighing in mild frustration. Sure, she wasn't a Widow or anything like that, but I was a newbie Tamer as well. Cuthbert certainly didn't pull his punches when making requests, that's for sure.

Kari sighed, but nodded. "You're right. But you're the best at tactics, no?" she concluded, kissing my left cheek gently. Kittra grinned and nodded in agreement.

"I suppose. I just suck at fighting," I admitted, chuckling at thought.

Kittra scowled. "Hey now, you do not. You have those nifty bone spears and stuff," she protested, scowling up at me.

Shaking my head, I sighed. "I'm not that accurate with them, and as for projectile attacks, they're fairly slow. Even an arrow flight beats them," I explained, looking down slightly, "Fighting a normal human, I wouldn't have a problem. The issue comes in when fighting a pokégirl with higher than two times agility, or three times durability. My ability to handle them drops significantly."

Kari pulled me tighter. "You're still powerful as far as humans go," she reasoned gently, not losing her smile.

"I suppose. Most of my ability comes from an element of surprise. I guess my illusions are handy there," I offered.

Kittra smiled and nodded, sitting up and rotating around to face me more. "So surprise her, then. That is one trump you have over her," she pointed out.

I frowned and raised an eyebrow to her, and she giggled. "Your eyes can see through her illusions, but she can't see through yours."

My eyes widened at the insight. I'd just assumed she had a method of seeing through my magic, apart from her minor aura sense. Suddenly, my brain kicked in and I started piecing together a wonderful idea. "Oh god, look what you've done. I know that face," Kari suddenly exclaimed playfully, smirking at me. I was confused for a seconds before I realized I'd started grinning.

"Oh, sorry. That new insight just gave me an amazing tactic, is all."

Kittra's ears perked up and she blushed. "I-It did?" she asked, seemingly surprised that she actually helped.

I grinned and nodded back to her. "Yes, wonderfully so. You need to help me think more often, Kittra," I complimented, causing her entire face to explode into crimson tinting. She apparently didn't think very highly of herself in the planning department. "But yes, do you think you could keep up with Karumi in hand to hand?" I asked her, setting up the movements in my mind.

Kittra frowned and considered for a moment, before responding, "Yes, I could, as long as she doesn't teleport or start using ranged magic."

"That won't be an issue, if I have my way," I returned, smirking again.

Kari chuckled, but Kittra just looked pleased. "Okay, so Kittra's on attack. I'll work on trying to shape a decent weapon for you over the next day or so. It won't be on par with the scythe, but you seem better off with a blade than your natural claws," I told her.

She nodded slowly. "My original Tamer trained me almost exclusively in a few different blades. I just lucked out with the scythe a lot, but I wasn't really that great with it," she explained. Hmm. I'd have to ask her tomorrow what she was truly good with, then.

"What's my job going to be?" Kari asked, leaning into my back more.

I smiled back at her. "I was getting there. You'll have two jobs, both very important," I replied, kissing her on the cheek. She smiled as if relieved I hadn't forgotten her in the plan, and her eyes softened. "For one, you're going to be protecting me while I cast. Two, I need you to practice, and become proficient with the plant magic you used to show me when we were kids," I furthered.

She blinked and seemed taken aback at the sudden nostalgic memory, and raised an eyebrow towards me. "That spell? It would probably be able to grow quite a few shrubs and such with my new magic abilities, but I fail to see how that's going to stop Karumi," she worried, frowning.

"All part of the plan. Let me just work some kinks out of it before explaining everything," I requested, trying to figure out the best way to do this.

The bathroom door slid open, disrupting my thoughts briefly. Danni strolled out, smiling contently and totally pants-less. She was followed by a flustering Kiya, carrying her panties and pair of shorts. "Danni! You need to put these back on afterwards!" she shouted, pouncing her harem sister to the ground. I chuckled and shook my head before relaxing into Kari, who was giggling. Kittra crawled up me further and rested her head against my chest, looking sleepy again.

Kiya stood triumphantly a minute later, as Danni stumbled up, now in shorts and looking dizzy. "There, now what did I miss?" Kiya asked, smiling towards me.

"We were just discussing our plan for Karumi, that's all," I returned, feeling extremely content with the warmth of Kari's chest under my head. It was a different feeling altogether from what we had encountered in the bathroom.

Kiya wrinkled her nose up. "Dang it, I want in on the plan too!" she whined, flopping over onto the couch and crossing her arms.

"I don't intend on giving direct orders to anybody, but I'm hesitant to give you tactics as well. That's Patrick's job, and I'm not sure if he'll want to go along with my plans," I reasoned, looking down slightly.

Who was I kidding, really? I'm not a brilliant tactician. I'm a fifteen year old boy who has no clue what he's doing. Coming up with clever ideas is one thing but actually anticipating the enemy and countering them? Do I really think I can do that?

Kiya shook her head. "You form tactics based on common sense, right? Master isn't going to go against something like that," she deduced, smiling at me.

Chuckling, I shrugged. "I just don't want to step on his toes. I'd imagine you'll be up there with Kittra on direct fire support, though," I added, considering it.

"Eh? But I'm not nearly as strong as Kittra!" she protested, eyes widening in concern.

I laughed and shook my head. "The point is to keep her focus on evading and defending, instead of attacking. But he must not have told you about the stone," I concluded. He did have a lot on his mind, I suppose. He seemed distracted after he'd gotten back with the food.

"Stone?" Kiya asked, tilting her head.

I nodded gently to her, before saying, "Yes, he picked up a Thunder Stone for you to evolve with." She didn't have to know that I got it for him. That way she could focus purely upon him. My smile widened as that warm feeling came back.

She made a high pitched squeaking noise before squirming spastically. "Master wants to evolve me?! Yay! Kiya must be really important to Master!" she squealed exuberantly. Danni looked at her curiously, and I laughed.

"Yes, it's not here yet, but it should be dropped off tomorrow. Until then, we should probably get some rest. Lots to do tomorrow, remember?" I reminded, looking back softly at Kari. She smiled gently and slid downwards, joining Kittra, but on the other side of my chest as I lay down more. Kittra grabbed the blanket and pulled it over the three of us warmly.

Kiya tilted her head again. "You're not going to put us back in the pokéballs for bed?" she asked hesitantly.

"Do you want to be?" I asked, raising an eyebrow towards her.

She shook her head lightly, but seemed at a loss. "Then you can just sleep on the couch until Patrick gets back. Make yourselves comfortable?" I offered. Kiya nodded and smiled before snatching the blanket off the back of the couch. Danni just watched her until Kiya pushed her back down and covered both of them as well, only pointing the opposite direction as us.

After they stopped moving for a bit, I reached out mentally and snagged the light switch with a symbol. It quivered before flicking downwards gently, and the room went dark. Well, as dark as it could go with my eye. Closing both of them, I tried to piece together a mental checklist for tomorrow. I was tired of waiting for things to happen to me. This time, I'd at least be prepared.

Chapter 9 - End