Ch. 10 - Awakening Pt 1

Frowning, I tested my arms while munching a muffin. They seemed to be mostly functional again, albeit still a little off in color. Flexing, I decided that I was indeed up for whatever was ahead tomorrow. Well, as ready as I could ever be with three days preparation.

Kari sat directly next to me, looking through my Pokedex. I figured she was looking up her own data, but when I looked at the screen, she had elemental comparisons up. Kittra snored lightly behind us. "Where's Master again?" Kiya asked, just sitting down on the other side of me. Her hair was tangled and she had a Danni drool spot on her night shirt.

I sighed and shook my head. "I thought he'd be back last night," I replied.

Kiya shook her head weakly. "I wish he wouldn't do this."

"This isn't the first time?" Kari asked curiously, looking up from the pokedex.

Kiya shook her head. "I bet he tamed one of the staff last night. He can never resist," she muttered irritably.

"That seems irresponsible," I pondered out loud, honestly surprised.

Kiya sighed again. "It's not like he's that horny. He just knows most service girls don't get very regular tamings. It's like a pity thing," she explained.

"If you say so," I muttered, deciding it would be best to just not talk about it.

Kiya frowned, and I mentally sighed. "What do you mean? What else would he be doing it for?" she question uneasily.

I sighed, not really wanting to go to go here when I really didn't know him well enough to make a judgement call. "I'm not meaning anything, really. Some guy's just don't like settling," I furthered, taking another bite of the muffin.

"Settling?" Kiya asked hesitantly.

"They like variety," Kari answered for me.

I sighed and nodded. "Not saying he's one of them."

Kiya sighed heavily. There was a moment of awkward silence, in which I mentally shrugged and took another bite of my muffin. It needed butter.

Not that I approved of that sort of thing. But our current world didn't exactly support a structured relationship pattern. Loyalty wasn't exactly the word for it anymore. The meaning had been lost in transition somewhere. Society expected it to some degree. Hell, I was "with" two girls as well. Although I didn't seek out females apart from them, nor did I have any desire to enlarge my "team."

Of course, it was natural in this day and age. Natural, by definition, having adapted from situation. Both plagues did quite a number on human population, and far more heavily towards males. So I'd be considered strange for only having two pokégirls, I suppose.

A knock came to the door suddenly, jarring me from my thoughts. Kiya perked and smiled before I shook my head. Patrick wouldn't have knocked. The image of an OfficerJenny appeared in my mind's eye upon focusing on the door, and I called permission to enter.

"Good morning, Keith," Nishia greeted, closing the door behind her. I nodded briskly to her, and she continued, "The Captain wants to meet with you about strategy, if you're up for it, in a few minutes."

Sighing, I thought about it. While I had the fundamentals down, my plan had a few hiccups still. In theory, it was solid, but I think I knew better than that. Or maybe I was just second guessing myself? "Yes, it's mostly ready," I finally reported.

Nishia smiled gently and nodded to me, starting to turn.

Kiya interrupted, however. "Do you know where Master is?" she rapidly asked.

She got a frown in return. "Yes, he spent the night on the second floor. If he's not back yet, that also explains why Paru hasn't reported in yet," she muttered, letting the response die out as she pondered.

"Paru?' Kiya asked, tilting her head.

I sighed and shook mine. "The shy Growlie from before, right?" I speculated.

Nishia nodded and shrugged weakly. "Normally she doesn't behave like this. She wasn't adjusting from threshold well and was just recently relocated here," she explained, raising an eyebrow at Kiya's defeated look.

A very strange choice indeed, Patrick. I pondered it for a few moments before setting my muffin down and nodding weakly to her. "He'll just have to miss out on the meeting, then, for now, I suppose," I added, standing up and walking towards her.

Kari frowned slightly. "Can I be there during the meeting? And what about Kittra?" she asked promptly.

Nishia smiled curtly and nodded. "Alpha's can be present. All others must be put up. That includes both of Patrick's since he's not in the room to watch them."

Kiya sighed and nodded, looking down, before agreeing, "I think I'd prefer that, actually."

"Kiya, I really don't think he's a bad person or unhappy with you," Kari protested, bending over slightly to try to peek at the Peekabu's face. Kiya simply sighed and shrugged weakly. I wasn't sure what to think, so I simply refrained from commenting.

Walking over to the couch, I picked up both of their pokéballs and nodded towards them. Kiya closed her eyes, but nodded, so I pushed the button on both at the same time. She disappeared immediately in a soft glow, and I watched the blankets on Patrick's couch deflate as well, Danni no longer under them. Not sure what to do after, I simply placed both within Patrick's bag at the edge of the couch.

Kari smiled weakly at me as I pulled Kittra's off the hook on my belt. "She's going to be pissed she slept through the election to Alpha," I muttered, recalling her into the ball as she snored gently.

Kari responded with a snicker, but seemed quite content with her situation spurred promotion. "I'm not really experienced enough to make a good alpha, but I was under the impression she wasn't really interested," she pointed out.

"She's interested in the perks that come with it, but her personality doesn't lend itself to organization and tactics effectively. You'd probably be a better Alpha in time," I reasoned, smiling gently towards her. 

Kari blushed lightly and smiled back, but Nishia nodded promptly. "I agree soundly with the tactical analysis. Captain Cuthbert was correct in placing his confidence in you," she praised, nodding more towards Kari than I, earning a deeper blush from her.

I chuckled and nodded before following her as she turned and headed down the hall. Kari turned out the lights to the room and closed the door before running to catch up. I smiled gently at her as she reached my left side, and she blushed more. Then she surprised me by slipping her left hand into mine. I snickered at her blushing more from her own action, but gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She sighed, looking distant for a second or two, but let her head rest against my shoulder. I caught myself wondering what she was thinking about, but refrained from asking, especially in front of the OfficerJenny.

The walk wasn't a long one, Cuthbert's office being on the first floor in the back. I remembered mostly where it was, and a similar view greeted me upon entering. To my amusement, the A-Bra had simply moved up a shelf, and was still asleep. The view wasn't sunny today, unfortunately, and I watched the darker clouds brewing overhead. I'd thought the storm wasn't supposed to be coming in until tonight.

Cuthbert sighed and looked up from his computer upon my entry. "Ah, good day, Keith. I've been looking forward to this meeting," he greeted, giving me a weak smile. He looked stressed, and it seemed to magnify the different wrinkles along his chin and around his eyes.

I nodded courteously to him before sitting down in the chair he offered. Kari stood beside my chair and did her best to look proper, causing me to surprise a chuckle. The only other person in the room was Lythis, standing vigilantly to the Captain's right as usual. She eyed me up calmly as I sat there, and I noticed her demeanor was far more relaxed than during our first meeting. I let myself briefly wonder why as I watched Cuthbert.

He rapidly typed into his console before abruptly hitting the enter key and relaxing back in his chair. I jumped slightly as the front of the desk directly in front of me slid open, exactly where I'd be leaning should my chair be properly moved forward. A smaller data pad extended out of the plastic or metal I identified the desk to be made of, as well as a stylus and holographic screen projection. Blinking, I rapidly analyzed the screen and noted it was what appeared to be a map.

"Out of random curiosity, what can you tell me about that information, Keith?" Cuthbert asked, directing his stare from his own monitor to my eyes.

Looking over the map a little more, I nodded weakly to him. "It's a map of an urban area. The tight clustering of buildings seems either tenement or mercantile in zoning, but that's just a guess. Do these readings next to it coincide with the map?" I asked back, motioning to the bars on the right of the screen.

He nodded curtly to me but said nothing. Sighing, I decided operating in a structured enforcement agency like this wasn't really my thing. "The magnetism of the area is distinctly higher than normal, and I note it's effecting the gravity somewhat," I added as best I could with just a quick scan of the bars.

Lythis surprised me by nodding in Cuthbert's stead. "We've also received reports of electrical faults in several of the buildings by the local merchants," she informed promptly. Electrical faults didn't seem to directly correlate to the magnetic distortions, though. Wait!

"The magnetic distortions are the effect, aren't they? That means the electricity is getting higher levels of resistance along the ground lines, and the gravity is causing the distortions as a byproduct. Gravity distortions are an anomaly in the area, then?" I asked, to nobody in particular, but much more interested in the map now. What caused gravity distortions, then?

Cuthbert smiled suddenly and nodded to me. "Astute. We were very curious as to the issues the area was having, although we didn't come to that conclusion immediately. It's similar to what we picked up in the graveyard after the next door resident complained of satellite communication errors," he added, smile widening as I looked back over at him.

"Her spell causes gravitational distortions, then. She's made a new pocket dimension in this short of time?" I concluded, causing him to lose his smile and sigh.

After several seconds of looking over paperwork, he shook his head weakly and slid one towards me. I looked it over, briefly, before deciding I had distinctly no clue what it was about. "It looks vaguely like forensic analysis, which isn't exactly my forte," I muttered, trying to keep from sounding cynical.

The Captain chuckled and shook his head. "It can't be helped, then. It's what our team uncovered at the site of the explosion at the edge of town. The ghost type was found and pronounced dead on-site, and from the levels of blood on the scene, as well as various other amazing wizardry the team can pull off, they theorized that Karumi should have been dealt an almost fatal blow," he explained, accepting the paper back as I slid it to him.

"So she's recovered this quickly from something she shouldn't have. Did she get medication or potions somehow?" I asked, shaking my head. It could never be easy, I suppose.

Lythis frowned but shook her head, before concurring, "That's what we thought too, so we had records transferred in from the local Pokémart. It's the only supplier in town."

"And nothing, huh? Strange indeed," I finished for her, getting irritated. How could she have gotten medication without being discovered? I'd scanned the book enough to know there wasn't standardized healing potions in it, so maybe she knew a way to make them outside of what she read?

"Could she have tricked someone into getting the medication for her?" Kari suddenly asked, snapping me out of my mental tangent of possible healing recipes.

Cuthbert sighed and crossed both of his arms over his chest. They made the distinctly heavier sound of armor under the longer robed sleeves of his uniform, causing my left ear to twitch slightly. "It would have to be through magical spell or technique, and we haven't gotten anything strange reported in the last three days," he refuted, frowning.

Sighing, I shook my head. "We're stuck on that end for now, then. The only reliable thing we can count on assuming is that she recovered at least enough to generate a new pocket dimension. Somehow."

Lythis clenched her fist irritably. "You're the only magic user anywhere near this town. We need to know more about this pocket dimension concept!" she exclaimed, sounding frustrated.

Cuthbert placed a hand gently on her clenched fist, causing her to visibly exhale and close her eyes. "Calm down, Lythis. I trust he's properly prepared," he assured, looking back at me. I suppressed a gulp, and tried to remind myself that I had indeed prepared, and could do this.

"Yes, those. They're a strange technique. Kind of like teleporting, but not coming out at the new spot, and instead just sitting there in the ether," I explained, frowning as I tried to gather my wits again.

The Captain frowned, but nodded towards me. "Ether?" he asked tentatively.

"Of the Ethereal plane. It's the same place ghost-types partially phase into. Teleportation also uses it to instantly move matter, in most cases. Normally it's incorporeal, and you can't really interact with it. Her magic makes a folded pocket of it, like a wrinkle in a piece of cloth, and she sits in the wrinkle doing whatever," I furthered, shrugging and shaking my head.

Kari frowned. "How did you guys open up the pocket in the graveyard?" she asked suddenly, catching my instant attention. I'd wondered that myself, but forgotten about it.

"You'd probably consider it brutish, but we simply punched a hole in the bottom of the energy field we discovered to figure out what would happen," Cuthbert admitted, suddenly chuckling.

I blinked several times before wincing. The pool hadn't exploded due to a strange reaction to the plane collapsing then, but by an actual blast poking through our area. "Oh. Well that explains a lot. Very messy, but effective, I might add," I muttered, sighing weakly.

Cuthbert started laughing, causing Lythis to actually blush a little and look away from me. "I told her she overdid it. Ha ha! I hope she didn't hit anyone on the inside!" he exclaimed, grinning up at her very obvious embarrassment. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Just almost. I'd thought it was a weird energy reaction up until now," I remarked, smiling a little now. It was funny, really. I'd not considered simply bashing a hole in the pocket.

"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile," Cuthbert suddenly commented, causing me to look back over at him.

There was a long moment of me simply considering the statement, before Kari suddenly plopped down in my lap gently. Blinking once, I finally let myself smile again weakly. "Just taking a bit to adjust to all the changes, Sir," I replied politely.

He stared at me for several seconds before nodding solemnly. "I understand. You're barely able to legally live alone. You're still in school, even. Everything that's happened is probably bewildering," he agreed, leaning back in his chair again.

I sighed and rested my chin on Kari's right shoulder, wrapping my arms around her gently. He was right, of course. Being cut off from everything I knew so rapidly had taken its tole on me. I didn't realize how much I needed Kari until yesterday. She was more than my friend. More than my pokégirl. She was my link to everything that used to be. Probably the only reason I was yet sane. I wonder if she realized that on some level.

"Not to interrupt, but we should really get back to the topic of Karumi," Lythis suddenly reminded, sounding irritated again.

I sighed again, but nodded.

* * * * *

"Is this the basic size and shape you're proficient with?" I asked Kittra, handing her the basic mold of the blade. It was a large sword, and shaping it with pure magic was a pain. It wasn't the biggest blade I'd seen, but it certainly wasn't small either. English-make, in pre-war times; a longsword. 

I ducked as she performed a few practice cuts, gripping the raw mold by the tang. The full blade length was just about four feet, but almost a foot of that would be inside the handle. It was a lot like shaping the bone spears. Except for it was metal. And layered. And took ten times the energy and time. It had taken me all morning to form the basic shape, and then another twenty minutes after lunch to work the details into it. Engraving? Hell no. Details like the grip support, fuller, and central ridge. I'd never look at an elaborate blade the same way again.

She took a few more swings with it before nodding. "It needs a bit more mass, it feels like," she finally reported. More density? Great.

Nodding, I picked up the blade again and took it back to the conjuration circle I'd made on the floor in the corner. Kiya smiled at me as I walked past, and I nodded to her, sitting down on the floor again. She flopped down next to me again and watched in fascination as the metal churned and twisted slowly, becoming more dense as I summoned matter into the blade. It was reaching the limit of my willpower, though, and I didn't think I could push too much more matter into it at this rate. Ignoring the dull throb as I let the spell do its work, I glanced back past Kiya and into the room again.

Kittra had turned around and was talking to Kari more. They'd been talking since returning from the meeting. About what, was beyond me, as I didn't catch more than a few words here and there over the drone coming from the generator that was behind the wall next to me. Unfortunately, this was the only reasonably clear segment of flooring, and I didn't want to move furniture around and risk getting yelled at by the staff. The channeling circle wasn't really for summoning, instead used to focus power flow. It was the biggest one I could find in the book, and I was using it to form the basic metal out of my energy reserves. I drew heavily upon the mana from under us as well, and it seemed to really enhance the formulation of the metal, strangely. Maybe there really was something to mana being elementally tinted? Metal was classically earth-based, so maybe mana drawn from the ground magnified it.

Danni cooed contently on the couch, drawing me out of my thoughts. I looked up again just in time to see the door slide open and Patrick walk through. My eyes widened, causing Kiya to follow my line of sight. She made a squeaking noise before bursting towards Patrick at an inhuman speed. His eyes widened as she collided with them, and he was sent backwards from the blow. The couch obstructing my viewpoint of them, I shrugged and went back to working with the blade, while reading the Grimoire between bursts of willpower needed. I needed to know what I was doing tomorrow, solidly. That was when we planned the attack on her new area.

Sighing, I released my focus on the third burst, seeing the blade had gained about five percent increased density, and was a little heavier. Metal was a pain to work with, and I just didn't have the energy reserves to do this well. Looking up and down the blade, I sighed and nodded to myself. This would have to be good enough. Laying the blade down, I grabbed the tape measure next to me and measured it out, just to be sure I hadn't changed it too badly. Kittra had insisted it maintain certain specifications, so I wanted to be sure. Total length was forty seven inches. Thirty six of that was in the blade, leaving the remaining eleven for the hilt. It was just about perfect. The extra mass pushed out the width a little, but it remained within specification at a little over an inch. The thickness was barely over four millimeters though, and it was quite sharp. Both sides were sharp, along with the point, which lead me to believe she was a largely offensive fighter. That didn't really surprise me. Straight and geometrically symmetrical, she could use it for cutting, striking, and thrusting without risk of breaking it.

A low whistle sounded to my left as I started forming the diamond-shaped cross section. Glancing up, I saw Patrick looking down at me, carrying Kiya on his back. She looked exceedingly content there. "The blade's for Kittra, right?" he asked, examining it.

I nodded weakly upon finishing the cross section. Starting to form the final shape for the pummel, I looked back up at him. "Yes. She says she's really skilled with this type of blade, more so than with her claws or the scythe," I elaborated, trying to get the right weight for the pommel. I wasn't all that familiar with swords, and only knew that it was used for balancing the blade. Or clobbering people, I supposed.

He chuckled lightly before sitting down next to me. "I heard you went over the strategy with the good Captain already. Nishia informed me that he put me under your command, anyway," he commented, letting Kiya off his back, only to have her collapse into his lap instead.

Sighing, I shrugged weakly. "I just came up with the plan, that's all. You know what you do best, and I figured I'd just give you a nice sniper position over the area and let you do your thing," I concluded quietly, earning a laugh from him.

"I wasn't informed of the plan, so if you could go over that with me too, it would be great. And I'd love to put a bullet through her skull, and am in total agreement with your assessment," he requested, sounding amused.

Stopping, I thought about it for a second before nodding. "Only if you're more mindful of your pokégirls' feelings in the future, okay?" I requested, looking back up at him after finishing the pommel.

After several seconds of him just looking at me blankly, he finally sighed and nodded. "I know, I know. Kiya gets jealous when I pay attention to girls outside of the harem," he muttered weakly. Said pokégirl started mock pouting in his lap, crossing her arms over her chest and drooping her ears.

"I'm not telling you what to do. I think it's nice of you to consider pokégirls' feelings outside of your harem as well. I'm just worried for Kiya's sake," I furthered, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

He shook his head slowly. "I know. I should have talked to her about it beforehand. I'm not trying to ignore her." She smiled up at him slowly, and kissed the underside of his chin.

"Or bring her with next time," I added, smirking lightly before considering what to coat the hilt with. Rubber was probably the most durable, but might throw Kittra off. Maybe she was more used to woven material, or leather? I should probably ask her before finalizing the blade.

Kiya made a squeaking noise, turning pink, but Patrick just laughed, and agreed with, "Excellent idea, Keith! Want to play with the puppy too, Kiya?"

"M-master?!" she stuttered in return, going from pink to red.

Patrick laughed and I simply smirked before forming a simple cord and wrapping it tightly around the handle of the blade. Compared to metal, leather cord was a piece of cake. "It's settled then. Pay attention to your team's feelings?" I offerred, looking back up at Patrick after tying off the hilt wrapping.

He nodded solemnly before requesting, "So will you give me a rundown of the plan, then?"

I nodded, considered for a moment, then shrugged. "It's simplistic in theory. Eliminate her movement capacities, overwhelm, then eliminate," I summarized.

"Movement capacity?" he asked almost instantly.

I sighed. "That's the hard part. She can gate and teleport rapidly. If we can't restrict her movement, we don't stand much of a chance of killing her," I theorized.

Patrick nodded weakly, and I saw a glimmer of concern in his eyes. "Don't worry. Dimensional Fielding generated by rapidly growing plant mana should limit the battle to about a block radius," I informed, smirking. I was met with two blank stares, and sighed. "Kari uses her powers to rapidly grow plants, which I priorly discovered produce a lot of mana. I use said mana to trap Karumi inside one of her own bubbles. Kittra enters and serves up her head on a platter while you riddle her body with bullets," I elaborated, inhaling sharply after as I got a little dizzy.

Kiya giggled in amusement. "That is a simple plan! And I like the ending."

"Simple plans usually equate directly to 'harder to fuck up', in any case," Patrick agreed. I nodded and held up the finished blade, smiling. Not bad for a first attempt, I guess. It even kind of looked like a sword. "What about tactics?" he asked after a few seconds of eyeing the blade warily.

"Of the actual skirmish? Kittra's our best fighter, so she's on offensive. The Captain's archangel is faster moving in flight, so I suggested she flank, then close whenever Karumi teleports, until Kittra catches up again," I replied, setting the sword down again.

Patrick chuckled. "I like the way you think, Keith. Keep the heat on her so she can't cast, and wait for her to screw up so one of us can drop her," he concluded, nodding his head slowly.

"That's the theory, anyway. Kiya and the two angels guard our sniper nest, and I toss in distracting illusions and tricks while maintaining the field. I also have one more useful trick that might help as well," I finished, standing up with the blade and walking towards Kittra.

Patrick nodded slowly before following, carrying the still pink Kiya bridal style. Kittra looked over and grinned as I tossed the blade in her direction. Kari flinched next to her, but she snatched it out of the air like it wasn't moving. She did a few practice swings with it, so I kept my distance.

"It is a little heavier. Is this your limit?" she asked, lowering the blade.

I chuckled and approached. "I'm not yet capable of compressing coal to diamond, yes."

Kittra snorted and rolled her eyes. "Was I really being that picky?" she questioned, putting her left hand on her hip while raising an eyebrow skeptically, smirking.

"Of course. You're a brat," I replied simply, turning to Kari, before asking, "You know your part in the plan, right?"

She nodded and smiled softly at me. "Keep the plants alive and growing as fast as I can," she affirmed. I smiled and kissed her forehead softly, causing her to blush.

"Aww! I don't get a kiss?" Kittra pouted almost instantly.

I chuckled and raised an eyebrow skeptically to her. "You were a brat, remember? Besides, I thought you only wanted tamings?" I asked, winking at her.

She purred softly and leaned closer, as if to emphasize her point. "But I like kisses too," she whispered, winking back. From this distance, I could see the slits of her glowing orange eyes softening.

Kari wobbled back a little, noticing she was equally close to Kittra. "It wouldn't do to start that kind of kiss here, though," I pointed out, looking away from her. She blinked once before hesitantly backing up slightly, seemingly at a loss. Patrick frowned, but I ignored him and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going, Keith?" Kari asked.

Without turning around, or stopping, I returned, "Headache. Going to see if Tyra has anything for it."

"Oh," was her only reply. That, and Kittra made me uncomfortable sometimes, but saying that would be extremely rude. Shaking my head at myself slowly, I headed for the stairs up.

* * * * *

Sighing, I tucked my legs up against my chest. My entire body ached from making the sword and later, the sheath for it. I should have listened to Kari and waited to make the sheath. I guess I felt bad for thinking what I had about Kittra earlier, and wanted to make it up to her.

Or maybe I was just too sensitive. Shivering, I let the heated water drift around me, spraying lightly upon my aching skin. Sitting on the bottom of the shower, I just tried to relax. I'd been thinking too much about things that need to wait, lately. I couldn't help but feel alone, though. It felt alienating, having pokégirls now. I grew up around them as family, not as their master. But I'd never see my family again, now, would I?

It was difficult to focus upon. To say it was easy, really, but acknowledging it was almost impossible. My mind refused to realize they were all dead. Dead. I shuttered again and shut my eyes harder. My hidden secret mixed with the water as it ran down my face, and I tried to push the feeling back inside again. No, worrying anyone with it wouldn't do.  I'm already a necromancer to them. No need to give anyone even more ammo against me. Besides, would it really do me well for it to get out that I was a 'whiny' necromancer? Wasn't that almost an oxymoron?

My ears tilted back and I frowned as I heard the door to the bathroom slide open. "Chill. Just need to take a piss," I heard Patrick say. I raised an eyebrow, briefly. There was a very light giggle after, and the padding of feet on the hard floor.

"I didn't know you could do impressions, Kittra," I remarked, smiling finally.

There was a pause, followed by, "K-Kittra? I'm n-not…" Kari started laughing hysterically, and I heard a heavy sigh during. "Damn it, Kit! What gave me away?" was asked a second later, in her normal voice.

"Your footsteps on the floor, mostly. Oh, and your less than quiet partner in crime," I replied, leaning back and peeking around the curtain, knowing the shower water would hide my prior activity. Kittra was standing indignantly in the center of the room, with Kari just shutting the door and still giggling.

"Damn it, Kari! You need to be more ninja," Kittra declared, scowling back at Kari as she turned around, grinning.

Their antics were cheering me up, anyway, but I wondered what was going on. "As much as I'm amused, I can't help but wonder what you two are doing," I finally pointed out.

Kari smirked and stepped up next to Kittra. "We're your Pokégirl's, Master. We're here to amuse and cheer up, too," she declared mirthfully.

"Keith, remember?" I reminded, resting my chin on the edge of the bathtub.

Kittra waved her finger at me. "Right now, you're Master, and we need to take care of you," she declared. Both girls started stripping immediately, and I suddenly realized this shower was about to take a hell of a lot longer.

Groaning, I shook my head rapidly. "I'm a little, um, sore for playing today," I whined, noticing it did little to deter them.

"Master won't have to do a thing," Kari assured, winking at me as she pulled her nightgown over her head, revealing her entire body all at once. I gulped and looked away to be polite, until I remembered I'd tamed her before, and that it was silly.

Both girls, now naked, slipped past my opening in the curtains, lingering at my face level tantalizingly. Kari smelled faintly of strawberries, while Kittra had a heady, female smell about her. Both managed to just barely fit side by side in the bottom of the tub, laying on their stomachs while the water poured down them. My blush deepened as they grinned up at me. I pushed my legs tighter together, feeling somewhat shy suddenly.

"We wanted to thank you for being so kind to us, really," Kari added, crawling up and next to me slowly. Kittra smirked and followed, lagging behind slightly, and gently pushing apart my knees. I felt Kari's body contour my chest as she slowly lifted my head up by the chin and kissed me gently.   It wasn't a needy kiss, but slow and filled with feeling. At the same time, I felt a raspy tongue snaking its way along my inner thigh, causing me to shudder. Relaxing a little, I let Kittra push my legs apart gently. Sighing gently into the kiss, I pulled Kari tighter against me, enjoying the feeling of her skin against mine.

Kittra suddenly giggled and stopped licking, a mere inch from reaching the base of my shaft. Blinking, I broke the kiss and looked down at her. "You smell like fox down here, even after just showering," she reported, grinning up at me. I blushed slightly but shook my head at her.

"I can only smell him when he's been sweating. You must have an amazing nose, Kittra," Kari remarked, looking surprised, but sniffing the air anyway.

I sighed weakly. "Well I do have a lot of fox in me, thanks to Mom. Why do you notice?" I asked her, curious.

She grinned back up at me, and said plainly, "Because it's hot?"

"Aww! Let me smell!" Kari pouted, sliding down me and joining Kittra side by side again. My blush hit a new octave as both girls grinned up at me and started licking each side of my cock, slowly and tenderly, up and down. Gasping, I felt a slow heat soak into my core, as I relaxed against the back of the tub. "Mmm, Master does smell like fox down here," Kari muttered after a few seconds.

"And tastes really good too," Kittra followed, starting to purr.

Watching them both, it felt amazing along with being a distinctly awe inspiring sight. Which rapidly degenerated into a humorous one. Both went for the head at the same time. Kari yet out a yelp as her tongue hit Kittra's much longer one, and both girls flailed backwards. I went from groaning, to laughing almost immediately. While I didn't want them to stop, that was quite an interesting event.

"I-I'm sorry, Kittra!" Kari apologized, blushing furiously.

Kittra grinned impishly and shook her head. "Sorry for what, exactly, Kari?" she asked, a noticeable blush appearing on her cheeks, but it did nothing to curb her raging hormones it would seem.

"Well, um," Kari stammered, shuddering a little as she turned even more red.

Kittra snickered and leaned into her, closely. "This?" she asked, before pushing her mouth directly onto Kari's. My eyes bugged out of my skull as I watched. Kari went ridged, eyes wide and blush furious as the older Hellcat kissed her gently on the lips. After several seconds though, I saw her eyes soften as she started kissing back, wrapping her arms around Kittra's neck.

My eyes somehow widened further as both girls made out right in front of me. It was hard not to find the sight more than stimulating. My member was at full attention now, and I felt oddly left out now, watching both of them like this. My eyes widened further, along with Kittra's, as I yanked my legs back just in time. Kari pushed off the wall with her back, crushing her breasts into Kittra's much larger pair, and pulling the startled girl tightly against her. Kittra rapidly recovered, however, and started returning the kiss in earnest. Their tongues could easily be seen dueling between the temporary partings of their lips, and my own body started to ache.

I was forced to push my knees into my chest, however, as Kittra's legs became unwrapped, and she pushed the other girl back heatedly, until she was partially overtop of her. Her free left hand snaked down and started playing with Kari's right breast to add to the feelings. Kari groaned heatedly at the stimulation, letting her right arm slip below Kittra's neck and along her side, where she trailed slowly and teasingly along the wet skin before gently returning the favor to Kittra's left breast.

Trying to get some of the ache to die down, I tried to wonder how on earth they'd worked themselves up this much. They'd obviously been psyching themselves up for this before even entering the bathroom, and were fairly horny beforehand, but I wasn't quite sure their intent was to make out on top of me at that point. At least it didn't seem like it.

By this point, Kittra was pushing Kari up against the sliding door, massaging her breast with one hand, and her other slipped down to slide along Kari's entrance teasingly. Kari refused to remain passive, however, and her left arm pulled Kittra harder into the fiery kisses, while her right snuck down to massage the Hellcat's ass and along the base of her tail, driving her absolutely wild. Both girls had their legs entangled now, and I knew certain intimate parts were rubbing together, which didn't do much for my own increasingly urgent needs.

Frustration set in as both girls had their sides to me. Their legs were so wrapped up that I couldn't figure any way to get at them without disrupting their fun, and I wasn't all that into anal. Requesting access also seemed equally rude, but my needs were urgent. I contemplated playing with myself instead, but that seemed voyeur to me. Other guys would probably just push their way in. I blushed more at the thought, but couldn't get past the roadblock of interrupting them.

Neither girl seemed to notice anything aside from each other, and Kittra slipped a finger gently into Kari. Kari's eyes, while closed, fluttered as she moaned into their heated kiss, her fingers snaking behind Kittra's ass and seemingly finding something sensitive to play with, as Kittra let out a throaty purr into her. Figures that they'd discover each other's bodies right here and now. I'd not taken Kari for being bisexual, although I suppose there's always room for experimentation. It left me in an awkward position, unfortunately. All of my options felt uncomfortable, and I wasn't sure what to do.

Finally deciding that they deserved to experiment and I needed to respect that, I withdrew my legs and managed to stand up, bracing stiffly against the side of the tub. Both had their eyes closed and appeared heavily distracted, so I simply shrugged and slipped out through the still-open sliding door. Wincing at my complaining member, I toweled myself off tenderly, while listening to their muffled groans. 

Maybe I'd ask Patrick later what to do in a similar situation, although I didn't really want to be greedy. Psychologically, I lacked the absolute need for such acts like they did, so mine was the flexible end, wasn't it? So was it really rude for me to interrupt them if they're having fun by themselves? Sighing, I decided I didn't know. Maybe I'd just ask them whenever they, well, finished up. I knew what most 'tamers' would do. But then again, I didn't really consider myself a tamer. Frowning, I stared blankly at my reflection in the mirror, ignoring the hand suddenly pressing up against the glass of the sliding door. That brought into question what I really did consider myself.

My right ear twitched, and I watched it in the mirror. I'd gotten more and more adjusted, anyway, to my newish body. Swishing my tail back and forth, I stared blankly at it. Its only use was in ruining all of my jeans, really. It was difficult to recognize myself, when looking in a mirror like this, still. Everything was changing too quickly, and I wondered my place in things again. I flexed my right arm painfully, my body still stiff and sore from earlier exertions. Using up my body's energy was the same either way, I guess, whether magic or exercise.

Feelings from before they showed up returned, unfortunately. I wasn't exactly normal, was I? A 'normal' tamer would have just bulled his way in with little fuss, instead of doubting every little thought he had, I supposed. Was it good that I doubted? Probably not. I was, deep down, a big chicken, really. The only 'brave' thing I'd done so far was stabbing a distracted pokégirl in the side. All I did was run away in the fight at the graveyard, really. But could I really have made a difference at all?

Turning, I looked back as the hand clawed down the glass, scratching it. They were pokégirls. Kari was easily as strong as me, if not stronger. Kittra was definitely stronger than me. What was I hoping for, exactly? My magic couldn't currently even compare, I doubted. What use did that leave me, really? Tactics and a sex toy to keep their sanity?

Looking away, I sighed. Scratch that, no pun intended. They could keep each other sane. I guess that left me to tactics and maintaining the cage they'll all fight in tomorrow. Glorious. But I guess as long as it got done, who was I to complain? Deciding I was being too prideful, I gathered up my boxers and pants, putting them back on.

Slinging my shirt over my shoulder, I exited the bathroom, keeping the lights on, and closed the door behind me. Turning to my left, I raised an eyebrow as I saw Patrick talking to another girl. After a couple seconds, I recognized her as the same blonde haired tamer that was with Cuthbert at the cemetery. She turned upon hearing me exit the bathroom, then whistled low in my direction. Blushing, I slipped my shirt back on.

"I'm sorry. Didn't think we'd have a guest," I apologized, settling the bottom of my shirt.

The girl turned to fully face me and snickered. "Trust me, you didn't have to put that back on. But I was looking for you, after all," she returned, placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh, the evolution stone?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to her.

Kiya, whom I suddenly noticed, perked up on the couch and grinned over at me. Patrick chuckled at her enthusiasm. "She refused to give it to me directly, as you bought it," he reported, causing the girl to grin again. If I remember from the transaction record, her name was Lisa.

"Lisa, right? Thanks for helping at the cemetery a few days ago," I muttered, smiling softly at her.

She snickered and shook her head. "It was my duty, that's all. Unless that's an official offer to thank me?" she asked, winking.

Blushing again, I gulped. "Uh, not in that way. I kind of have a harem for that," I corrected.

Patrick laughed. "She's just a big flirt, that's all," he explained, causing her to raise an eyebrow and look back over at him.

"Excuse me? Do you want the stone or not, Mr. Sleep With The Staff?" she asked.

Patrick took it in stride and laughed. "I have two already, thanks," he shot back, causing her to roll her eyes.

I sighed weakly. "She's the flirt?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"See? The kid sees all," Lisa agreed, grinning back at me.

Blinking, I sighed and looked away slightly. Kid? Well I suppose I was the youngest in the room. And wasn't I just considering how useless I was? Kid wasn't exactly an insult, all things considered. "Hey now, what did I say?" Lisa asked, suddenly taken aback. I forced a smile and shook my head before walking past her and flopping onto the couch.

"Oh, before I forget, don't go into the bathroom for a bit," I warned, glancing back up at Patrick.

He raised an eyebrow gently. "Wait, didn't Kari and Kittra go in there?" he asked, sounding confused.

"Oooh. You don't want him to see your exhausted and assumingly naked pokégirl's, right?" Lisa asked, recovering and smirking again.

Sighing, I shrugged but nodded. "Something like that, anyway," I agreed, closing my eyes again softly. My body was not happy with me at all, and I felt its complaints

"Well that's hardly how a virile and manly stud should sound after satisfying two ladies to the point of exhaustion!" Lisa whined, giving me the distinct urge to throw up. I'd not realized her personality over the minor exchange of text, I suppose.

Sighing, I looked back up at her. Before I could say anything, a piercing howl sounded from the bathroom, followed by the sharp screeching of glass. "How much would it cost to replace the glass on the sliding shower doors? I have a feeling Kittra just murdered them," I asked instead, glancing back to Patrick.

He stared blankly at me before glancing back towards the bathroom. "Oh, hell. They're taming each other still?" he asked, sounding confused.

Lisa frowned and looked down at me still. "You didn't get them as tired as I thought?" she asked carefully.

I couldn't help but laugh at that one. "Me? I didn't exactly do anything. They got distracted with each other, in the heat of the moment, and didn't seem to entirely need company," I replied, closing my eyes again. They hurt as well, for some reason. Maybe I was developing a headache.

"You didn't act the man and butt your way between them, I take it?" Lisa asked in what could only be taken as rhetorical.

Sighing weakly, I shook my head anyway. "Excuse me for not being an asshole?" I requested back, getting a little irritated.

Lisa shook her head rapidly, holding her hands up. "No no, that wasn't an attack. I was just warning that they'll probably feel badly, that's all," she defended.

Patrick chuckled lightly. "Well that backfired," he muttered, sounding amused, but with something else I couldn't identify mixed in.

Frowning, I opened my eyes again, not that I really needed to I guess, but it was habit. "What do you mean?" I asked him carefully.

He shook his head and chuckled. "It's nothing. Although if you two don't make the trade soon, Kiya might eat my head at this rate," he reminded, and I noticed the Peekabu partially climbing on top of him to get a better view of the small sack at Lisa's side.

Chuckling, I sat back up again and dug my pokédex out of my bag. Lisa smiled and nodded, pulling hers out as well. The transfer of SLC was recorded wirelessly, and she grinned, nodding to me. "A very sound transfer, thank you," she finalized, putting her pokédex away and pulling the small bag off her belt and handing it to me.

Untying it gently, I smiled as I withdrew a small, but neatly faceted green stone, that made my fingers tingle upon touch. Kiya's eyes were like saucers, but Patrick smiled gently at me.

"I would have gotten it to you yesterday, but something came up. My apologies," Lisa added, as I admired the gem.

Shaking my head, I glanced back up at her curiously. She wore a much more tranquil expression now, and I mentally noted her as being more complex than I'd guessed. Then I remembered back to the cemetery, when she scolded the other man for trying to arrest us while Tia lay dying. She could be serious, as well, I suppose. "It's fine. You got it here a lot faster than the other stone, and before tomorrow as well," I finally assured, after a few seconds of considering her.

"Oh, the raid? I'll be there as well," she suddenly said, causing me to tilt my head.

"What about the other guy?" I asked curiously.

"The asshole?" Patrick asked?

"Alan?" Lisa asked at the same time.

They looked at each other and Lisa burst into snickers after a few seconds. Rolling my eyes at her, I nodded gently. "The guy from the cemetery," I elaborated.

Lisa nodded, still grinning. "Asshole," she confirmed, before continuing, "Alan left the area to scout something, so he won't be there."

"Well that's refreshing news," Patrick remarked, catching the entire bag I tossed to him. Kiya sat politely next to him, now, giving her best angelic look.

I snickered at her before digging both pokeballs out of my bag and clambering off the couch. Wandering into the bathroom, I discovered the water still going, and two naked pokégirls unconscious while laying in the bottom of the tub. Damn. They fucked each other into unconsciousness? My male pride ached a little, but I reminded myself that it was my doing in the first place. Not that I needed to be prideful, regardless.

Giving a shrug, I balled both of them before turning off the water and heading back into the main room.

"Keeping the two love birds in their pokeballs?" Patrick asked as I returned.

Nodding slowly, I dropped them into my bag before sitting down on the couch again, running a hand through my damp hair tiredly. "They're naked and soaked," I pointed out, slumping to the right before just letting myself lay down.

"Oh, true. Water and feminine juices can't be good for the furniture," Lisa agreed.

Snorting, I shook my head and furthered, "I was more concerned for their modesty than the couch."

"You are a very strange boy," she concluded, upon watching me for a few seconds and deciding I was serious.

Both of us were interrupted as a heavy light coated the room suddenly. Looking back at Patrick, I smiled as I saw Kiya absolutely radiating a golden light. She made the cutest squeaking sound as it diminished, and immediately looked herself over.

Her color scheme was that of orange predominantly, with traces of yellow and black now. The rabbit-like ears had also altered, becoming more fan shaped. The prior cream along her stomach became yellow, while the rest of her fur shifted orange. The faint red on her cheeks went to yellow instead, oddly enough, and her tail became even thinner, but yet retained the lightning bolt shape.

Patrick grinned at her while she made excited squeaks. "Congratulations, Kiya. You're a Ria now!" he exclaimed, causing her to pounce him and rain kisses upon his face.

"They recommend you tame a pokégirl immediately after evolution, you know," Lisa instantly pointed out, causing Patrick to laugh and Kiya to blush.

"Well it wasn't originally her night, but," he trailed off. Glancing towards the snoring Danni, he chuckled. "Sure. Let's go, Kiya!" he agreed, seconds later.

Lisa laughed as he picked the blushing Ria up and carried her towards the door. "Wastes no time, that one," she commented in amusement a few seconds later.

I laughed. "When it comes to certain girls, he's a horny bastard, I've noticed," I replied, picking up my pokedex again. Might as well consider strategy more before tomorrow.

"What about you?" Lisa suddenly asked, smiling down at me.

I raised an eyebrow to her. "Kari doesn't have a huge libido, and Kittra's modesty would surprise you," I defended, not liking what she was insinuating.

"Bummer. That must make tonight all the worse," she added, chuckling lightly.

Glaring at her for a few seconds, I then resumed reading my pokedex in silence. She made a disgruntled noise shortly thereafter. "I'm sorry, I wasn't teasing. You simply must have blue balls from hell, right?" she asked, more pointedly this time.

"Why are we discussing the status of my balls again?" I asked in return, irritably staring up at her.

Unexpectedly, she laughed. "You certainly know how to put things in perspective! Perhaps I was merely willing to help make them feel better in your pokégirls' stead?" she reasoned, smirking warmly again. If I hadn't wanted to scrape her face off with a cheese grater, I might have figured the look to be seductive.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I spoke flatly, going back to looking up combat data.

There was a long pause, followed by her sighing. "As you wish," she muttered before walking towards the door.

Not bothering to reply, I simply ignored her existence until she was gone. Females confused me. I knew that thanks to the huge population of pokégirls, the female population was a lot larger than the male, but sometimes their intentions still weren't entirely obvious. I almost think they were intentionally being mysterious sometimes.

Deciding I was distracted, and not really feeling the best, I shut down the pokédex again and simply curled up in my blankets. Giving the light switch a nudge with my magic, I let my eyes adjust as the room was plunged into darkness. Well not really total darkness, as the lights from the hallway shone through the heavily tinted windows to either side of the door. The only sounds was Danni's light snoring, and some sort of machine in the distance.

Relaxing, I realized this was the first time since the cemetery that I had to fall asleep by myself. It was hard to before that, even with Patrick and Kari staying in the same house. My mind kept drifting towards darker thoughts. I really was alone, wasn't I? Apart from this town, I didn't know of any relations. Mother and Father never spoke of family, which I guess was kind of strange, now that I thought about it, but it meant I only knew of them. Every family member I knew of was dead. A part of me was so very angry about it all. Because that part of me knew they weren't just dead. That they were murdered. The act itself indicating they were 'taken' from here, apart from their will, by someone else. The injustice was stifling, and I was so angry because of it.

It was strange hating someone you didn't even know. I'd never stopped to think about it before, but I didn't even know who he was. Why was he even after Mom like that? He was there for a purpose. Purely to kill Mom, and I just realized I had no idea why he was. He didn't even seem that bent on it, which means he wasn't doing it for himself. A hit man? 

All I got was more questions, the longer I pondered it. Nothing made sense anymore, and I felt lost and alone. Like because of these people who took everything, I was flung out of everything I knew. Kari was really all I had of my prior life, besides the house. But I couldn't bring myself to 'use' her like that. Earlier had bothered me, but I suppose that was the real reason why I didn't interrupt them. She is her own person, not here only to serve me. She was experimenting, and it wasn't my place, regardless of what society may think, to interrupt her with my own selfishness. If that made me weird, oh well.

Sighing, I rolled onto my back and felt the lump growing in my throat. Pulling the blankets up further, I resigned myself to a difficult night for sleeping.

Part 1 - End