Chapter 02

        Whisper took out the book that seemed to be the last Will and testament of the fool who had saddled them with their deranged Damsel. She didn't enjoy reading it, but she had familiarized herself with it enough to know what was going on.

---

        They say that Fate is a cosmic wheel. That acts in a former life reflect on this one. Well, I'd like to find the saints that I raped, the orphans I butchered, etc. assure them I'm a changed man and they can knock it off.

        Seriously, my life really sucks. No, I don't have a tragic, fatal disease. My parents didn't abuse me, any more than any of the other Rocket Urchins in my neighborhood, they didn't want to raise wimps.

        My parents were both high-level Team Rocket types, so I learned from birth a lot of dirty tricks, sneaky fighting tactics and underhanded stuff that actually work. So even though I'd have to start from the bottom, I'd already have such badass skills that promotion would occur. Stealing Pokègirls from lame-ass Tamers, robbing Pokècenters and research labs of new technology, would be my path to fame, glory and wealth.

        I figured I at least had the key to Club Badass, all I had to do was get my respect. Then I pricked up a nemesis. Not just any mook hunting my scalp, but a Pokègirl hunting me. A tough, nearly unbeatable one. One tough enough to shrug off a blast that would KO a Mantis or a NeoIczel, and keep right on coming. One you'd have to beat with guile and fast thinking. That's the ticket to get respect. Go toe-to-toe with a bigger badass, and live. Roll out the carpet, I've got a key and an invite. Badass Central, here I come!

        Except actually my life really blows. Fate decided to lube up and shove it in deep. So every time I go out for a walk, or when I tried to go on a Tamer's journey, something intervenes. Even now it stalks me. Making capture an impossibility, making my life a constant misery. My nemesis didn't get me my respect, no one wants to stay near me. It isn't that my nemesis would go after them, at least not on purpose. But there's a certain taint involved than makes everybody react strongly, and that strong reactions doesn't earn me any points.

---

        See, Team Rocket knows more about Pokègirls than the average Tamer, the 'dexes they give us have stuff the average twit never even hears about. The high muckety-mucks in the Leagues know knowledge is power, so they keep what they know, and that they know, a big secret. Not that anybody is fooled, except the average dippy Tamer. The only secrets you can keep, are those no one knows about. You want to keep a secret? Tell the loudmouth who everybody knows lies all the time. He'll tell everybody, and everybody will know it's bogus. Perfect camouflage.

---

        It, she, my nemesis, crept along the forest floor alongside the path I'm walking, sounding like someone tentatively tap dancing on a bag of potato chips. 'Crinkle crunch', silence, 'crinkle crunch', silence. Then she realizes she can't overtake me, so she leaps out of the forest and out onto the path behind me. I've already pulled the cheap vampire mask over my face.

---

        One of those un-dexed secrets is the Hunter Pokègirl. You see the Hunter thing is a Template. You know Templates? They make a Pokègirl more than advertised. Yeah, some do that too, but I was talking about sex, and especially fighting. The Hunter was designed to hunt and kill rogue Pokègirls, she's got the coolest Dark attacks, a mean streak three feet wide, and she's sexually aggressive. That means while you're beating her brains out with a rock, she's still trying to fuck you to death. And my nemesis was one of those things. If that wasn't enough to walk into Club Badass and demand the Badass Longcoat(tm) and the secret decoder ring, what is? The Devil is in the details.

---

        "Foul, treacherous Dildoran! You shall be kept from harassing innocent Pokègirls!"

        I mouthed along with her speech, there's never any variation, never any change. If it were a good speech, that would be all right, but it's not.

        "For the record, I'm a human male," I shouted back at her, "I've got the birth certificate and everything!" Might as well be talking to a Farfuck'd, I realized.

---

        The problem is, Templates don't always do as advertised, some are just bad ideas. Fiendish Angel? Not happening. Fiendish Fallen Angel is a whole other bucket of pain-sex. Blessed Demoness, you know that one's obvious. Then you get into the tricky ones. Symbiote Succubus, sounds real hot and juicy. Enough tongue to satisfy Typhonia, and lots of combat power, except you go from 'I am invincible!' to 'someone's screaming like a little girl, help me it hurts!' You can hear the respect draining from that one. BattleElf, 'You're going to fill me with machines?' Mayhem ensues. Some are more subtle, a lot more subtle! Figures I'd get stuck with one of those.

---

        The shining defender of innocent Pokègirls raised the Dark Bomb over her head, as I whirled around. "RIP! SHRED! Tear! Rape! BLOOOD!" I screamed at her while waving my arms like a maniacal bird.

        She shrieked in terror, dropped the Dark Bomb at her feet, which went off as it hit the ground, and anybody with a 'dex knows the rest.

        We do this every rayemin' time! I thought as I watched her flying away squealing about 'foul villains', Is she ever going to change her tactics? I hoped not, I reminded myself as I packed away the mask for the next time. Then I pulled it out again. Butthead! Don't forget to mark it! I cursed myself, It only works eight to ten times, before she gets used to it. I added the tally mark to the other three.

---

        Like I said, some are more subtle. Hunters have more sensitive senses than most. Damsels are jumpier than most. The effect would be comical, if not for the first and most obvious problem, how ridiculous it appears to everybody. I actually had a Mantis spare my life, because the Hunter Damsel screwed up my life so bad, 'killing a man like you would improve your existence', she told me. Great, something designed to fuck up men's lives took pity on me. Second and unlikely, but too dangerous to ignore, she might just get her head screwed on straight for five seconds, or have a complete accident. In either case, she'd reduce me to a greasy cloud with a successful attack. In either case, it's not funny from my eyes.

---

        The splash and frantic noises were new. Usually the trees just splintered, or the owner of the house or business just screamed at her.

        I swear, the real use of Damsels was as armor piercing rounds, I thought as I made my way to the pond, They needed to be submissive to let other Pokègirls stuff them in cannons. This one has to be a Bimbo, not a Damsel, I thought as I watched her floundering. Her landing splintered some boulders and they had shifted to trap her. Then her most obvious asset had her head trapped underneath, and thus effectively, under the water of the pond. Anybody nicer than me would walk over and save her, a nastier man or dildo-wielder than me would go over and give her a rayeming until she drowns. I do neither.

        Not me, I tried that, which is how she got convinced I'm a Dildoran. Besides, sooner or later she's going to realize that the water is only three feet deep and if she quits trying to swim, and simply pushes her tits out of the way, she'll get a breath and can see how to work herself loose. Once she's loose, I'm not going to be here, I thought. "Stupid moron."

---

        Team Rocket chucked me out of course. My 'pretty but fierce' female partner couldn't keep from laughing at inappropriate times. Besides, she was obsessed with this guy's Peekabu. I thought she was obsessed with the Pokègirl's Tamer. So when they both got Lust Dusted, I grabbed all the kid's other Pokègirls. What I ain't totally stupid?! I left him the Peekabu, my partner and took off with the girl he was traveling with, who was not a half bad looker, her Pokègirls, and hightailed it out of there.

        I also collected a bit of Lust Dust, which I used on my new friend when she got snippy. You're supposed to breath that stuff. Absorb it through the lungs and nose. Do you know what happens when you pour it in somewhere else? I do. She couldn't get enough of that itch being scratched. I tested it on the other Pokègirls, and found out it works exactly the same on them. Although they didn't try to fight it as hard as she did, and by not fighting it, they had no long-term side-effects. Poor little Boomer though had a lot of long-term side-effects. She sometimes screamed she'd rather go through Threshold when she came. Bitch, I can arrange that.

        So I had a happy, little cockslave, a pack of decent Pokègirls, and a valuable secret. Everything was looking up right? Three miles from base, who showed up? Knocked me down a hill and then got the fuck Tamed out of her by all the girls she `rescued`? There ain't no justice!

        I tried to team up with Havoc and Hard Rocket, neither one was gonna give me a chance.

        When I decided to end it all, found a Mantis, when guess who shows up and you know. I've tried to ball her, in more ways than one, and I think she's immune to both Taming and Pokèballs. She's pretty enough: slim waist swelling up and down to a magnificent ass and a big set of tits. I'd love to fuck her till she squeaked, but no chance of that. She knows enough about her Dark Blade to cut her way loose of any restraint. So there's no chance of 'boink her till she likes it.' Research said she only hunts Pokègirls. If I could convince her I'm not a Pokègirl, those big tits and long legs would go to a good cause, me. But I didn't know if she is obstinate, delusional, or just fucking stupid. Until then, the most wonderfully fuckable piece of Pokèass I've ever even heard of stays just out of reach. My life sucks!

---

        Whisper put the book aside. Whining idiot, she thought, You got the solution right there, and you refused to take it. Funny, a wannabe bad ass never figured out that he should beat her up to get her revved up. Stupid, then she smiled evilly, And another `experiment` that perhaps we should attempt. It would certainly change the dynamic.

        She saw Harpy and Madge bringing their problem child back, to sling her into the other problem child's tent. The Harpy and the Valkyrie didn't explain that she was whimpering out of slaked lust and couldn't move because of the natural byproducts of that slaking.

        If the girl has any empathy, she'll have it tweaked by that. She was reportedly remorseful that her playmate/victim was hurt, Whisper thought, But was she remorseful she'd done something wrong, or was she remorseful over getting punished unjustly? Time will tell. The Francinestein glanced over to the tent where Eloise and their Master slept. She felt a needle of jealousy pierce her soul. They have been together longer than I have been with them. It is all right that she looks after him, while I am his Alpha. She is also a NurseJoy, so healing is her mainstay. I just wish I didn't still feel like an interloper between them. I guess I always have been on the outside looking in with those two. Well, enjoy your dreams together, tomorrow will come soon enough.

        She pulled herself up into a tree with one arm, settled in a comfortable place, and stared at the storm clouds forming. I'll have to go up into the hills when the thunder really starts, she thought, To get something to eat. Sweet dreams you two, you both deserve it.

---

        I feel Eloise stop. I don't feel any tension in her shoulder through my hand, so I know it isn't danger.

        "It's perfect, even prepared firepits, and I can see a stream in the background."

        "Very good," I tell her, then regret it as she begins unbuttoning my shorts. "Another Taming?" I ask amazed, "Greedy?"

        "I only want one thing."

        "What's that?"

        "My Master pumping me long, hard and continuously."

        "Long and continuously both speak to time," I tell her. I really should learn to quit teasing her, I think as her hands slip into my shorts to knead and stroke.

        "I was actually stating terms of length," she says and squeezes gently to make her point, getting a bit more 'long'-ness in response, "And of course duration."

        "I sometimes forget you were always there while I was getting tutored. What even happened to the cute, little Pokèkit who was so embarrassed when I went to the bathroom, and she had to be in there too?"

        "She learned that thing was good for something other than running used water through," she replies as she tugs at my pack straps.

        "Setting up your mattress will take a while," I remind her.

        "There's trees here, and that's all I need." She takes my hands and pulls them around in front of her and puts them on her breasts, a modification of my usual hand-on-shoulder pattern. I cup and squeeze, so she'll know I appreciate the change. I concentrate on her rock hard nipples, squeezing and rolling them through her shirt.

        Now I freeze, stopping to listen intently. I know I heard something! I think as I stand there, trying not to give away my anxiety, Just treat it as a joke, let them make a mistake again. "Is there anyone around?" I'm sure we're being watched!

        "Three old couples, they're getting out the popcorn, and one has a set of signs numbers one through ten."

        "Ha. Ha."

        "When have I ever wanted a Taming with other people watching me?" she asks, putting my hands back where they belonged.

        "There was the time I got my license - "

        "That was in a Pokècenter, that doesn't count."

        "When my parents were having that dinner party."

        "The chandelier was loose, I didn't figure a Taming on the floor above it would make it fall, and I didn't ask for all those people to come storming in."

        "There was - "

        "Okay! Point taken, it's happened," she says as she stops and grinds her soft butt into my crotch, "What are you worried about? If they keep quiet, you can't see them."

        "I'm just worried I'll find your stash of medical books and depilatories, and discover that you're really a Vixxen who's been masquerading as a NurseJoy."

        "Fine, worry then. We need firewood, so help me knock this tree down. You know what to do." She rubs a little harder. "At least I feel you do."

        She's right, her defiance, soft curves and need always turned me on, I think, A good mix of 'fuck her hard to put her in her place'; warm, smooth, soft flesh molding itself to mine; and she's always so eager and grateful. So I am already quite hard, and I can smell she is ready.

        "You and your worry about Taming off the ground," I joke.

        "Bugs can get in there, and dirt. You have someone who keeps you clean outside, and it's warm. I've got to splash cold water up there and hope it's enough, brr!"

        "You seemed to like ice cubes up there," I comment innocently. I'm glad I can't see her expression, I can feel the tension in her muscles, I think as I run my hands over her back, on her butt, stroking the former, little slaps to the latter, Since I am getting her ready, she probably won't turn around and slug me.

        "Only because I had fire wood to rub against me and strike sparks."

        "I knew you were going to get 'fire wood' into this conversation," I say as I strip off my hiking shorts and underwear. I hear no complaints or wolf-whistles, so I continue. I run my dick between her butt cheeks as I squeeze and fondle them. "Ah, that's nice."

        "Not there you ninny!" she complains.

        "But it feels so smooth and nice."

        "Don't make me come back there!" she threatens.

        "I thought that was the point. I guess I'll put my pants back on."

        "MEN!" she exclaims, "Just when you want them to only think with the head in their pants,they suddenly want to be clever!"

        "Just because you're fully ready, that doesn't mean I am."

        "Oh." The pressure against me stops and I hear close movement, and then a warm wetness envelops my cock. Her tongue runs along the base, from root to tip, as her lips squeeze down. While her hands caress my sack. Her slow, careful strokes and gentle touches gets me completely hard almost instantly. Finally when I'm almost ready to blow, she pulls loose, sucking to the end and finally releasing with a little pop.

        Gods, she's good at that, I think, offering a prayer to any of the gods who sent her my way.

        "Now, Master, if you would be so kind as to fuck me, I would greatly appreciate it," she says as she presses her bare bottom against my crotch, "Turn your PADAR on, and get to pumping."

        " 'PADAR'?" I ask.

        "Pussy Automatic Detection And Ranging," she replies as I push inside her easily.

        "You have been thinking about this for a while," I tease about her well-lubricated condition, while pumping as fast and hard as I can.

        "Thinking of you," she blurts out as I pump, and easily bring her to climax. As the muscles around my cock squeeze and massage, trying to bring me to a climax I am not quite ready for, I think I can't shake the sensation of being watched. I'm no psychic, but I figured out pretty early when someone was in the room, especially an empty room, and was staring at me. The sounds change, I remember as I try to pick out the clues to how I 'know without understanding' this time, No insect noises. They're keeping quiet. So are you friend, foe, or just a passing voyeur? Let's find out.

        I pull out until I am just poking the entrance to her slit with my tip. Then with one hand, I pull off her hat, the NurseJoy equivalent of pulling a pin on a hand grenade. 'Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend', I remember, Neither is a NurseJoy, she's a raging cockwhore, no wonder Succubi don't ever wear hats. If they did, they'd just become pretty, winged women. With my other hand I gather up her hair and pull up until she's standing on her tiptoes.

        "Now you're going to give me the mortgage to your sawmill! Bwa ha ha!"

        "Never! Ravage my chaste body! But the sawmill is mine!"

        I thrust into her, far and hard enough to lift her off her feet. "Not so chaste now, my proud beauty!"

        "Eek! I shall never wear white at my wedding! Perhaps Eggshell," she proclaims as I repeatedly thrust into her, lifting her off the ground, "Almond. Pink. Cerulean. Beige. Rose. Gray. Black. Say - you're - pretty good - maybe - you'll go - with me - and we - can wear - matching - Tuxedos."

        "Then I'll get the sawmill?"

        "Oh no."

        "I know what you really want all those logs for!"

        "They don't call it a beaver for nothing!" she yelps.

        "Then I shall smite you anew!"

        "Oh rape me, beat me, make me write bad poetry! Why are you stopping?!"

        "I can let any more bad poetry into the world."

        "As long as you keep me pinned to this tree, I can't get to my pen and paper. OHH!"

        I speed up the pace. I'm almost ready to blow, and my legs are getting tired. I remember the rows my parents got into, 'You finished, then rolled over and went to sleep!' I feel her nearing climax. I don't slow down to draw it out like I sometimes do. To give her a more powerful climax when it did come, or rather she did.

        She orgasms and I again feel the tantalizing squeezing/massage of her pussy. This time I let myself go off off with it.

        "Better?" I ask.

        "Much," she replies and pulls my arms over her shoulders, so she can drape me across her back like a jacket while she heads back to our packs. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and my legs around her waist, and enjoy the feeling of power as she walks. She ignores the extra weight I represent, I thinks as she kneels over the mattress she'd unstrapped from her pack. As my strength returns, I enter her while she's on her hands and knees blowing up the mattress.

        "Erfurgle!" she stammers as she falls onto the mattress when she feels me push inside her as brace my full weight on the small of her back.

        "You wanted a Taming," I tell her as she raises her behind as high as she can, and me along with it, as I easily stand over her, my weight on my arms and her bottom, while my legs push into her as hard as I can.

        "At least let me get the bed inflated," she stammers her complaint.

        I gently squeeze and massage her bottom, sending tremors through her body. "I think the important parts are sufficiently inflated.

        She growls, but is enjoying the unexpected Taming too much to complain. When she climaxes, I do too, and sit down beside her.

        "Don't you think you should set up the tent first, and put the mattress inside?" I ask innocently. I'm glad I can't see her expression, but it feels like she must have at least half inflated by now, I think.

        "Why of course! Only an idiot would do it any other way," she replies.

        Even a deaf man could hear the sarcasm in her voice, I think. "Why don't we get cleaned up and come back later to set up that tent," I suggest.

        "That is such a wonderful idea, that I'm surprised you thought of it."

        Okay, teasing her beyond a certain point is a bad idea, I think as I pick up our packs.

        "What are you doing?"

        "We don't want to leave our stuff here. Somebody might swipe it."

        "We haven't seen anybody for hours," she replies.

        "This is a camp site, and someone could be coming the other way. Besides, I haven't seen anybody in years, that doesn't mean they aren't there."

        "Oh har har."

        The path to the water is macadamized, gravel in asphalt on stone, staying on it is easy even without my cane. Eloise carries or wears the half-inflated air mattress. I'm glad she's bringing it. I have an idea, I think as I consider the 'innocent' question to ask, "So, is it more a brook or a pool?" I ask as I hear and smell the water. I still think we're being watched, I don't tell her, Maybe she feels the same and that's why she's so snippy.

        "More a pool, right in front of us. It's not very big so I - hey what are -?" she asks as I pull the mattress off her and toss it in the water. "Oh, that's not a good idea!" she shouts as I pick her up, "Bad Master!" I toss her atop the the mattress which probably is folding up around her. I just hope it will still float with her aboard.

        "Now I can't get out!" she complains as I hear scrambling sounds and the squeaks of the plastic.

        "I can fix that," I reply as I slip into the cold water, hoping to catch her unexpected, and amuse and titillate our voyeur. Underwater, I encounter the biggest lump in the mattress, and turn it over, dumping Eloise in the water with me, and the mattress over us.

        "What are you -?"

        "We're being watched, aren't we? Tell me what you sense, not what you've seen."

        "I don't know," she says as she lays her head on my shoulder, "I think so, I thought only I . .. I'm scared, Master. I'm no combat Pokègirl. I can't really defend you if it is hostile."

        "I don't think it is, or it would have attacked us after I tired out, or as we stand here. So I think we watch what we do, and either draw our watcher out, or we slip away calmly. In the latter case, we chalk it up to a neat, scary experience." I kiss her forehead and pull her out from under the mattress Together we ground it and go back into the pool to bathe.

        Terrific, I splashed her and got no reaction, I worry, If the map is to be believed, the nearest camp site after this one is 12 miles and it doesn't have a fresh water source nearby. So it's this one and our anxieties, or walk all night and get to a marginal site. I help her carry the mattress and packs back to the campsite, then stay out of her way as she pitches the tent and inflates the mattress. While she works, I assemble the ingredients for dinner. I don't mind Pokèchow, I think as I add many of the seasonings to the veggie-tasting Pokèchow, but don't add the water to stew the kibble. Eloise would have a fit if I started a fire without her watching me closely, I think as I listen to her work, She likes Pokèchow, it will keep me from starving and it's cheap to obtain. I walk down to the stream to get the water, making a pantomime of looking at the water, as if I could actually see. I return to the firepit without spilling the water, or getting a clue about what is out there watching us. Once she has the mattress carefully set up and the bedding on it, she drags me into the tent and flops both of us down on the usually rock-hard mattress. With our packs and gear inside, except for the dinner pots and pans, it all completely covers the floor space. 'Cozy.' Or it is with a nice Pokègirl to snuggle with.

        "I'm too tired to eat," Eloise admits as she wraps herself around me, "As long as you didn't pour the water in that stuff, it will keep."

        "Okay," I reply as I gather her into my arms, "You don't want to finish filling up the mattress?" Normally she kept it hard as a rock. Right now it is soft, and we sink deeply into it.

        "No," she replies with uncharacteristic laconicness.

        I'm more worried about you, old friend, I think as I recognize her being in a `soft` phase, You want to be cuddled and coddled, I can do that. You're more worrying than the `monster` out there. Maybe I should just swallow my pride and crawl back home. Let them keep me in `schools` and `suites` to keep me `safe`, and out of sight, where I can't embarrass them with my imperfection. Eloise snuggles tightly against me, burying her face in my chest. I did this to you. I knew there's be risks, but I wanted to get out and see the world, ha, and get out from under everyone's thumb. I never considered how scared you'd be, by all of this. I settle in and let my mind drift, half-listening to the sounds around me, and hoping to find sleep on my own.

---

        In the morning, the familiar soft skin, the scent of jasmine shampoo and the little noises and touches all remind me of my comforter and companion through my entire life. If the Parity Pukes really cared about Pokègirls, or any kind of people for that matter, they'd pair up a Pokègirl and a human at a young age. Like when I was three and she was five. Let them grow up together, and then she'd have some guarantees that Ferality wouldn't be a problem, and he'd have someone to look after and cherish him, I think as I brush the hair from her placid face, It would also teach people that utterly devoted doesn't mean footstool or passive slave. Which is something else the Parity Pukes seem to forget.

        I don't have to get up early anymore, but I want to, I think, then give a grin that a Jokette would envy, I know how to wake her up, and have her in the appropriate move when she rises. I carefully reverse myself, taking care to avoid jostling her, and thus alerting her. I ease her panties away from her skin, so I can slip my hand inside, while I give her little cat-licks on her inner thighs. I feel her legs shifting while her labia grows warmer and her clit harder. Her murmurs increase as I move faster and probe deeper.

        "Snarkle, smaf, MasTER!?!" she shouts as she climaxes.

        "Wakey, wakey," I chirp. I am so in for it now! I think as my 'gentle and caring' partner has to peel her brain out of the stratosphere.

        "Rotten, evil, vicious Master!" she spouts as consciousness returns. She flips both of us on our sides and declares, "Breakfast of Champions attack!"

        The race is on, I realize as I bring my face between her thighs and begin using my tongue on my primary target, taking her clitoris between my lips and sucking and squeezing it like a teat.

        Eloise squeals at that, rolls me on my back and tries to speed her head bobbing.

        Oh no, I'm going to get my second, then on to a hat trick. I think as I take it between my teeth and squeeze slightly, while flickering my tongue across the tip, occasionally pressing on it hard with my tongue. Only my solid grip on her legs keeps her from squirming wrong and the resulting injuries.

        "EEP!" she squeaks as she practically melts with her second climax. All thought of direct competition against me forgotten.

        I release her, roll her on her back, and I swap ends. One hand I keep between her legs, gently stroking and plunging within, while my mouth and other hand work her breasts and nipples. All the while I ran my dick up her sides, across her stomach and then down the other side. As I do this, her breath catches, ceasing the happy, little noises she makes, as tiny orgasms race through her. That Prof in Pokèbiology and anatomy was worth more than any BloodGift, I think as her little breath catches grow more frequent, In knowing how to please and excite Pokègirls. It's always good when you can beat them with sex attacks they don't necessarily see as such.

        Eloise lets out a delighted sigh of 'Master' and seems to go limp.

        That's three, plus a whole lot of little ones, I think as I snuggle against her, her arms and legs wrapping weakly around me. I can feel the heat coming off her skin, the speed of her trip hammer heartbeat slowing, the smell of her sweat, and hear her little gasps of breath, I think, I'm pretty sure she's not going to kill me for my alarm clock act.

        "Okay, I almost forgive you, and I assume you want to ask something I'm going to disagree with."

        "A Taming outside, where our guest can watch. Don't frown," I tell her smugly, because her silence meant I'd guessed right about her disapproval. "If the Prof who taught us the tricks I used was right, lots of Pokègirls hate being Feral, even ones with a mild Feral state, but they only recognize how to get out of that condition among all their other drives to eat, protect their territory and reproduce. We want to bring that one signal out of the rest of the noise."

        "Now I know I should be worried," Eloise says, "But I want breakfast first, maybe a double helping."

        "I hope you mean Pokèchow, because I want to use the 'double helping' to get our potential friend out there to know we can offer a lot."

        "We?" Eloise asks.

        "Yes, we," I reply, "A warm, dry place to sleep, and male or female companionship," I suggest as I slip out of the tent. "More perhaps," I tell her as I retrieve the pot of dry Pokèchow I had planned to prepare for dinner last night. "Food for one thing," I tell her as I open the completely empty pot and run my fingers around inside, I cannot feel any crumbs on the smooth metal. The packs are still in the tents, I take a mental inventory, So it's not much loss of food, but whoever it was, was willing to walk into camp, eat veggie-Pokèchow, and even lick the pot clean.

        "There's one good thing," Eloise says as she rests her chin on my shoulder, "She's willing to eat the vegetable blend. Unseasoned and raw, that stuff is like eating brightly colored rocks, rather than anything resembling food."

        "And she ate enough for a helping for me, and a double helping for you. Unless she's an Ursine or Snorlass, I think she may be starving for more than attention."

        "She?" Eloise asks.

        "Look down," I tell her as I put my bare fot next to a footprint in the dirt, "I wouldn't have noticed if I'd been wearing my boots. I don't know how far those footprints extend." I listen as Eloise circles the firepit. If Eloise is following the prints, then they run along the campfire pit.

        "They were mostly brushed away," Eloise tells me, "But she either circled or stepped over the pit. Clawed feet too. I'm no tracker, but that foot is big, as big as your uncle Mel's."

        Terrific, I silently lament, It might be an Ursine or a Snorlass.

        "Should we quietly pack up and leave, Master?" she whispers into my ear.

        "No," I reply equally quietly, "Let's give her something to watch, and we'll see what she does."

        "And you called me an exhibitionist."

        "You also said if it's just Pokègirls, it doesn't count." I don't need to see to know she's frowning, I think as she sits me down.

        "Breakfast first," she commands. She brings water and Pokèchow, which I mix in the newly cleaned pot with the proper seasonings, before I put it on the small stove. Eloise sits next to me. It's not cold, but I can feel her shivering. "There's nothing to worry about," I tell her.

        "Nothing?" she asks.

        "Either we can make her friendly, or she'll kill us instantly," I tell her, "Either way, we won't suffer."

        "Oh Master," she says in a childish, happy sing-song, "That just makes wain-bows and smiling bunnyyyys just appeaw!"

        "I'm glad I'm blind then," I reply.

---

        Again I'm balancing on my shoulders, pressing down on the small of Eloise's back and just using my legs to thrust into her as hard as I can. I wish she didn't insist on this, I think as my thighs slap hard against her round butt, stinging us both, I'm always afraid I'm going to break something. A vibrator and a padded, electrified baker's peel is what I should use. I thrust the image of me writhing on the ground in agony, the thing currently under highest stress bleeding and broken. I know she says she could fix any injuries, hers or mine, but I'd rather not break it in the first place.

        Her voice and it's enthusiastic squeals are muffled by the bedding her face is buried in as she claws at it as well, her breasts squashed by the hard mattress, butt high in the air for me to get at, and her butt reddening with the blows, I know she's in Heaven, and isn't afraid to express it.

        BANG!! nearly scares me out of my rhythm. "Dammit!" I say as I realize the poor overstressed mattress has again given up the ghost.

        "Got it!" Eloise moans as she grabs a handful of sagging mattress to seal or slow the leak, "Keep going!" She's sunk up to her ears in the once-hard surface, and it's wobbling too much to continue this 'high impact' Taming. I resort to slapping her has hard as I can, as close as I can to where I was `slapping` her before, as I thrust in. But both of us know it's not the same, I think as I keep riding her.

        She gives a long stuttering cry. There's a faint answering cry from the woods.

        Sounds like she's deflating rather than the mattress, I think as I pull out, Something to remember. And after most of the morning, we've got our voyeur, I just hope Eloise can still move. "See her?"

        It takes Eloise a moment to get her head together. "Yes," the NurseJoy realizes.

        "Let's get her."

---

        My Master has gone insane, Eloise thought as she tried to guide him to follow the elusive foot prints their `friend` had left, He's blind and I can't stand up, so what does he do, he carries me into the underbrush over his shoulder. All to catch one Pokègirl. Maybe going on a Tamer's Journey is a sign of insanity. "Left, root coming up, less left tree, sharp turn right, sharper, sharper SHARPER! Okay, got the next one, roots ahead, duck tree limbs, she could be leading us into a trap, more roots step carefully , STOP."

        "Yes, she could, but why would she? She could have struck us any time, instead she kept peacefully coming back. Why did we stop and why are you squirming?"

        "I'm trying to figure out where she jumped to. The foot prints are real deep, and I can't see where she jumped to, or if she grabbed a tree and spun around."

        "You want to get down and look close?" her Master asked.

        "You lean down," she replied, "My legs still feel like rubber. All morning, fucking all fucking morning. If it wasn't so much fun, I'd say you were trying to murder me, and what about you. Did you ever cum?"

        "No," her Master said.

        I wished he'd lie, or just stab me, instead of staying that, Eloise thought.

        "And that took a lot more self-control than I thought I had, believe me. You writhing and moaning, your whole body shaking and clenching. I think half the reason I want to catch her is I do want to let go. And you were so frustrated it ended," her Master added with a smile that always melted her heart.

        "Okay, straight ahead," Eloise growled happily, "We're gonna give this bitch a Taming she'll never forget."

        "Just remember we can't let her know she's doomed until after we've got her Tamed once."

        "Then we Tame her until she can't stand up!" Eloise proclaimed.

        "You really don't like having your Taming interrupted, do you?"

        She leaned over and carefully bit his nose. "No," she growled again.

        After several more stops and starts, they approached a cave, she guided him forward from his shoulder. "Not as easy as a house," she commented.

        "Not as difficult with your help," he replied, not seeing her smile, then sniffed, "She must take care of - sanitation - outside here."

        "Do you think this is wise? Chasing down a Feral this way?" she asked as they advanced. Within a few feet darkness closed in and the confusing shadows made her vision useless.

        Her Master carefully picked his way across the floor in the odd, stalking way he'd been taught to walk, not putting weight on a foot until he was certain it would support him. "Think about what you just said. 'Chasing down', not fighting, not escaping from, but 'Chasing down'. I think this proves she's more afraid of us than we are of her."

        "I wouldn't bet on that, Master," Eloise muttered as they passed through the dark cave.

        "Think about how easy she made her trail to follow," her Master offered cheerfully, "She could have scrambled up into a tree and hid there. While she tried to throw us off, she never did anything that would have completely evaded us. She never directly attacked us. I think she wants something, but needs to know how far we'll go to give it to her."

        "After interrupting us, I'd like to give it too her," Eloise said as her hands found and fended off the overhangs and outcroppings in the darkness, protecting her Master as well as the fading light allowed. "Otherwise, this makes no sense, Master. She could have lured us in here to seal the two openings. She's big enough to be a real powerhouse. You do realize how dark it is in here?"

        "Good."

        "Good?" the NurseJoy asked.

        "It evens the odds. In dim light, a Pokègirl has the advantage. In complete darkness, we're on even odds."

        I think you're being overconfident, Eloise thought as they entered a wider area, she couldn't feel the ceiling or the walls anymore. "I think this is the place," she said, and heard the faint echo. In the darkness something moved.

        "Okay, Eloise, stay near the entrance to the room." He slipped her off his shoulder.

        "I can stand, but I don't think I can run," she warned him. She strained her ears to hear his approach and the labored breathing of the other.

        "Glow stick," her Master warned. Eloise looked away as the pale green chemical light illuminated the figure. Humanoid, almost-human, Eloise thought of the figure trying to avert her gaze, With those hips and tits, there's no doubt it's a girl, although the muscles of the arms would make me wonder on a human. The fur is dirty, and matted, as if it had been washed occasionally, but not properly brushed out. I have a couple extra brushes, and a curry comb. The figure blinked and rubbed her eyes at the unexpected brightness as Eloise's Master stepped forward.

        The tall, powerful Pokègirl took up a defensive stance.

        Look out Master! Eloise wanted to shout, No, he'd advance whether I warned him or not. Let her assume his blindness is insane courage. She watched intently as her Master advanced, and the big Pokègirl gave what little ground she could.

        The big Pokègirl bared her teeth in a silent snarl and thrust her fist into his face, but didn't touch him. Her Master took no notice of the display. If he's even aware of it, Eloise thought as the big Pokègirl's snarl faded, replaced by a growing uncertainty. When she thrust her clawed hands at his face and gut, he caught the one that touched his face, covering the hand with both of his. Then he rested it against his cheek while he caressed it. The Pokègirl's uncertainty grew by leaps and bounds.

        He's going to give me a heart attack! Eloise wanted to scream at him. Instead, she made sure her hat was firmly on her head and visible, and she approached. The girl stared in horror as Eloise too approached. I can feel your terror, and suddenly I'm not frightened. I could no more stay away from one in such need than I could survive without breathing, she thought as she approached and made soothing gestures. She's recognized I am a NurseJoy, she thought, So she knows I am no threat. She looked at the fearful looks the girl was still giving her Master. She's not so sure about you, Eloise thought, You still scare me sometimes, Master. Eloise took the large girl's other hand and began a similar set of exercises as the ones her Master was performing. A simple hand massage, she thought, Like I'd do for anyone who writes or types too much. We didn't acknowledge your threats, now we serve you, and you don't know what to make of it, do you? Eloise considered looking at the girl's face, but decided against it. Keep a professional demeanor, watch through your bangs, that why most NurseJoys have them, so they can see without being seen watching, she thought as she watched the girl looking frantically from Eloise to her Master and back.

        Her Master reached up, cupping the girl's cheek and began stroking her fur. Eloise picked a spot on the girl's arm to do the same. She kept her `professional` smile firmly in place. Soft, and cleaner than I thought, but it desperately needs a good brushing out, she thought, You care about being pretty, you want to be wanted. I guess my crazy Master was right. You want to be brought in, you're just afraid. The gentle stroking of her fur had reduced her wariness to almost nothing.

        "We won't abandon you," Eloise said quietly, "Is that what happened? You lost your Master?"

        "Lost," the girl made it sound like a wagon had dragged the word over a dozen miles of bad roads.

        "Did you lose him?" Careful Eloise, she warned herself, I don't even recognize the breed, and some are touchy about their Masters. "Did he abandon you?" she asked.

        "Master," the girl filled the word with so much pain Eloise found herself fighting back tears.

        "You can be with us now," Eloise offered, and glanced at her Master who nodded.

        All three of them were looking at each other now.

        Please say yes, please don't let me have screwed up my Master's plan, she thought as she smiled.

        The sound was like a fog horn having an asthma attack, and the wall of soft fur they were suddenly being pressed into somehow increased rather than muffled the sound.

        "There, there dear," Eloise said as she stroked the girl's back, "There, there."

---

        I must not be smug, I must not be smug, I think as we are practically carried along, I wish I could see poor Eloise. I think the question of who 'gave this bitch a Taming she'll never forget' to whom is still up in the air. Although Eloise started at a disadvantage.

        "Look at her Master!" comes a rough voice from some distance ahead of us. Our new friend freezes at that.

        There's a slap and an angry, male voice. "Are you crazy? She's the NurseJoy's bodyguard! I don't want Melanie and Willer to bleed to death because you want a fight."

        "But Master, she looks strong!" the first voice wheedles.

        "If you don't drop the whole idea. I'm going to tell the Joy specifically not to leave a scar," the young man's voice says coldly.

        "You - yes you would," the rough girl says with resignation.

        "Someone's hurt?" Eloise asks, all business for all her fatigue and lingering afterglow.

        "My Gladiatrix, and all the others," the young man says, "We ran into a Giantess."

        "We killed her," the Gladiatrix says, then yelps slightly.

        "I don't think you're in the shape to fight Whisper here," I tell them, "Maybe some sparring to keep things from stiffening up."

        I feel the passage of air in front of my face. I wave a hand in front of the Gladiatrix's face.

        "You're blind," the Pokègirl says, "What are you doing out here?"

        "Master," Whisper says, laying a hand on my, and presumably Eloise's shoulder.

        "Sorry," the Tamer says, "No offense meant."

        "None taken," Eloise says, "These field dressing are pretty good. Who taught you?"

        "My mom was a NurseJoy. I never knew who my dad was. I helped around the center until I was old enough to go on my journey. Consul is my Alpha. Some people thought she'd never work out as a starter."

        "My Master has done an adequate job for a rookie. Soon he will be better," the rough Pokègirl, Consul, said.

        "Getting away with a dead Giantess, and your Harem intact is more than 'adequate'," I tell them, "It sounds remarkable."

        "Not all the Harem performed adequately," Consul growls, "OW! The blood is mattedinto the bandage, and still attached to me!"

        "I have to let it bleed a little to let the infection get out. I wish the nearest Pokècenter was closer," Eloise replies, all business, "This really requires a Healing cycle."

        "It would leave no scar," Consul replies.

        "Okay, I can stitch it up, and I'll try to let you keep a bit of a scar."

        "You could use coarser stitching," Consul suggests.

        "And you could throw a fight, but that isn't likely either, is it?" Eloise says, making it clear that the idea of doing less than her best offends her.

        "Whisper, would you mind getting dinner ready?" I ask. I can feel you staring, I think, You didn't realize I was blind, did you. "Now?" I ask and hear the footsteps receding.

        "Could I talk to you?" the Tamer approaches and asks, then realizes I can't see whatever covert gestures he is making, "Privately."

        "Certainly." I remember the path to the pool. I start walking that way.

        "I'd like to - I was going to tell you how I was going to do you a favor, but I can't lie. I've got a headache that maybe won't be a headache to you. Most of my girls are Fighting-types. I've worked hard getting them to work together and cover each others weakness and enhance each others' strengths. We took out that Giantess because of a couple of special combo moves."

        Let him talk, I remind myself, I'm good at listening.

        "One of them, to say she won't get with the program is an understatement. She's always causing fights."

        "There are bound to be frictions among fighting types," I tell him.

        "Some, yeah, not as much as with her," he admits, "Look, I'd like to `lose` her. But when I traded her away, she came back. She won't leave unless she's defeated."

        I know Eloise can't beat her, I think, Whisper might. She's not fast, but shes powerful.

        "Okay, what's the stake?" I ask.

        "If you win, she's yours," the Tamer says, "If I win, you don't charge me for the healing of the Harem."

        "I wasn't planning on charging you anyway," I reply, "So I guess it's a no-lose for me."

        "Thanks. I hope you won't regret this."

        That doesn't fill me with hope, I think as we return to the others. I can smell the cooking starting.

        "Whisper? Do you feel up to a fight?" I ask the big Pokègirl.

        She rests her forehead on mine and nods, so I feel it.

        "Use your head, I think the girl knows what she's doing," I tell her quietly and get another contact head nod.

        "Dancer, I chose you," the Tamer calls.

        Eloise sits down beside me. "That whole Harem needs to get to the Pokècenter, as fast as possible."

        I'm about to agree when she adds, "Oh crap, an Amazonkapoeraa."

        That explains a lot, I realize, One of the breeds that's usually more trouble than it's worth.

        "Hey Furface, you couldn't afford one pelt, so you had to go through the remnants bin?" the new Pokègirl calls.

        "I think Whisper's pelt is very pretty," Eloise whispers defensively, "Oh no! Don't cry!"

        The familiar sound of the mournful foghorn shakes the trees.

        "Wassa a'matter baby? Can't take a little insult? How 'bout I call your Tamer a loser and his Alpha a useless Pokèwhore?" the insults sound like they are getting very close to where Whisper is seemingly crying her eyes out.

        "How about if - OOOFFFF"

        The sound of meat on bone, meat on wood and then a Pokègirl flopping limp into dirt tells the story as eloquently as if I'd seen it, I think as I walk over to the now quiet Whisper.

        "Good Master," the big Pokègirl says as she leads me over to the fallen Amazonkapoeraa. "Good Master?" she asks as she shakes the stunned Pokègirl.

        "Gah Massa," the girl slurs.

        "Dancer, return," the Tamer says.

        "I think I'm going to keep it at sparring," Consul says in a small voice, "Even though she rolled with that head butt, you still pulverized her."

        "Not really," Eloise whispers, "But that's a good reason to head forward to the Pokècenter."

        "Dinner and some rest, we'll convince them tomorrow," I tell her.

        "Here," the Tamer says as he put a Pokèball in my hand, "You aren't collecting Gym badges to go to the Finals?"

        "Not really, just going out into the world," I assure him. I can almost hear the relief in his voice.

        "You'd be pretty good."

        "Thank you."

 

FRANCINESTEIN - Whisper
HEROKAPOERAA - Dancer
VALKYRIE - Madge
HARPY - Harpy
NURSEJOY - Eloise
DAMSEL HUNTER - Hey You!