“This plan is, if what you said earlier is true, very illegal,” Robert said distastefully, “How would we avoid having the League come down on us?”
Francisco smirked at Robert. “The League supposedly sends tamers out to defend towns and such whenever there is a feral problem. They don’t. They do however tax the holy bejeezus out of everyone. Most of the fishing villages have difficulty staying afloat with their quotas. So, eventually people settled off of the League grid. The capital, Terminus, and all the villages known are on the north coast. We live very close to the Mutated Zone, off the grid. The League tax collectors don’t come here, but neither does any support if things go south.”
Robert’s eyes were wide. This was news to him. Didn’t the League chart its territory? Or, was that too inconvenient? He knew little of the ‘Mutated Zone’ that Francisco mentioned; no one knew much of it. All that was known is that everything in there is very strange and very dangerous.
“Let’s make a plan,” Robert said. It was do or die. There was not much of a choice for him at the moment.
Francisco seemed to have a big voice in the town despite the democratic nature of its organization. The older members of the town, those in their thirties and beyond, seemed skeptical and did not give any direct support but did not speak against it. The younger men, though, we’re all for it. There were five in all who seemed to be going pokégirl hunting.
Robert was finally getting used to people calling him ‘Robert’ instead of Charlemagne or even Charley. He had had to dig up every single piece of information he could remember about pokégirls. He only knew of the most common varieties and only had an inkling about the whole elemental strengths and weaknesses spiel. However, he definitely knew far more than these folk. All they knew is that most could be scared off with guns and the smaller ones could be killed if you were close enough and had a big enough gun.
Their merry band set up in the woods- which was actually more of a rain forest- and hopefully a sufficiently weak pokégirl would come. Anything too strong, and they would just be signing their own death warrant. Fortunately, the stronger ones were considerably rarer than the weaker ones for whatever mad reason Sukebe had for designing them that way. The five waited patiently.
Francisco, although the eldest of all of them, gripped his old elephant gun resolutely as he perched himself in a tree on a makeshift stand. Two young men in their early twenties came with them, brothers Tim and Russell who were a couple of regular rednecks. Robert actually had to tell one of them to leave the whiskey or stay home. Russell had had the nerve to say it made him shoot better.
The last member of their little group was a kid, sixteen or so, named Mikhail. Apparently some Russians appeared in Tropic at some point. The kid was quiet but seemed to have his head on straight. Tim and Russell claimed that he was just a hired hand for Francisco but was a ‘demon’ with his rifle. It was some homemade high caliber monster that no one would want to be on the receiving end of. Robert idly wondered how the kid held onto it when it fired. He looked kinda small. Then again, everyone looked small to Robert.
The most boring part of hunting, the mind numbing waiting and watching, passed with the speed of a stoned snail. There was a rustle in the woods here or there but usually it was a squirrel or bird that had been left over from the war.
They all remained silent. Hours passed. No luck. The sun set and they all went home. Tim and Russell seemed discouraged. Francisco reminded them that it was just like everyday hunting. You didn’t always bag something and it was mostly patience. Mikhail just cleaned his gun.
That night, Francisco put Robert up in the barn with a blanket. Robert couldn’t sleep. Things had gotten really bizarre. First he was running for his life and taking Edmund’s Black Book with him to fuck with the family. The would have come after him for disappearing with two pokégirls, but taking that made his life much more difficult than it probably would’ve been otherwise.
Speaking of which, Robert pulled out a metal briefcase out of his still drying oversized pack. The case itself was safe against everything except perhaps a bulldozer or nitroglycerin. He opened it up. Inside was a first aid supply kit. Inscribed on the lid was ‘For Charlemagne.’
The sight nearly made him choke up. He removed the gauze, his calcium supplements, and everything else that was neatly packed into it. Inside was the Quran cipher and Edmund’s chapter of the Molyneux Black Book. He wasn’t sure where to begin, but he had time to start with his attempts to decode the contents. What else could he possibly do with it?
The next morning was an early one. Food was quickly eaten and the same five men met the next day. Francisco brought enough food to last both him and Robert the day. The others were in charge of their own rations.
Time passed. They were all less excited than yesterday. Eyes drooped. Vigilance dropped. They waited.
And then the kid, Mikhail, fired his rifle. Everyone was up in a snap. A green skinned woman with vines flailing in every direction fell to the ground. She had a bleeding hole in her left leg. Her vines whipped out and tried to snag Mikhail.
It is unclear as to what happened after this, but Robert knew what he saw. The others were focused on the flailing pokégirl. Mikhail disappeared. It wasn’t that he was suddenly cut off from Robert’s sight; it’s that he was at one moment one place, then seven meters away the next. That did not just happen. That was not normal. The only explanation that popped into Robert’s head was pokégirls, and Mikhail was no pokégirl. He had a bloodtrait, a gift it seemed. He would need to talk to him after this.
For the time being though, there were far more pressing matters. Francisco dropped a net weighed down with stones. It landed on top of the pokégirl. It brought her to the ground. The combined weight of her body and the stones along with the severe injury in her leg caused her remaining knee to buckle. Her vines tried to lift off the net, but Russell whacked her head with some kind of blunt tomahawk. Surprisingly, it worked and she slumped.
They had captured themselves a pokégirl.
While she had been unconscious, the vines which were the most dangerous part of her were bound together with thick chains which were weighed down with many heavy objects. Her arms and limbs were similarly bound.
After she had been secured, Alex the town doctor was retrieved to sew the wound on her leg shut. Fortunately, the bullet traveled straight through. For now, she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Apparently, she suffered from general human weaknesses in the human portions of the body but was still very durable.
Robert admired the handiwork. Idly he thought that they all might go back on their deal to give her to him. It wasn’t like they had really needed his help. Maybe they wanted to squeeze what he knew out of him?
Elsewhere, Tim and Russell were celebrating by rinsing their brains in alcohol, Mikhail was doing something somewhere, Alex was off cleaning his tools and possibly tending to other business, and Francisco was with Robert looking down at the captured pokégirl. Francisco then turned and looked at Robert expectantly.
“What?” he asked, unsure of what he was waiting for.
“Well?” Francisco asked.
“Well, what?” Robert voiced his confusion. He weren’t being very clear.
“Well, how do you snap them out of their wildness?” Francisco clarified impatiently.
Robert very nearly answered, but then common sense held him back. These people could easily just take that information and then cut him out of the equation, leave him out to dry, even take the pokégirl away from him without giving him anything. So, why should he tell them? It would be against his best interests not to. Should he wait until afterward? Should he tell only those who he chose to sell pokégirls to? What should he do? Oh… That would be evil of him but the most beneficial. It would also probably keep horny idiots from getting themselves killed.
“Oh,” Robert said, as if he had forgotten, “Yeah, we better get to that. Could you do me a favor and go boil some water, about three gallons? Watch it at a full boil for no less than twenty minutes and then bring it here when it’s safe to handle. Oh, and make sure none of it spills over.” That ought to keep him busy. He might even need help doing it.
“You want me to do what?” Francisco asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Robert said as if there was nothing amiss, “She should be safe for now. If you can get that water in here, she’ll be up in a jiff.”
“And what are you going to do?” Francisco asked curiously through his confusion.
“Cover her in dirt and make sure her skin soaks it up,” Robert replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Francisco stared at him as if he had said he was going to jerk off a goat. “Come again?” he said trying his best to not believe his ears.
Rolling his eyes visibly, Robert looked down at Francisco impatiently. “Look, she’s what we call a plant type for obvious reasons,” he stated exasperatedly, “They’re all different, and we need to do this right. Are you going to help me or not?”
Francisco nodded slowly. He obviously was having difficulty accepting the task, but his he wanted the power of pokégirls under the town’s control so badly, he seemed to buy it for now and exited the barn that they had stored the pokégirl in. This could buy Robert anywhere from a couple minutes to maybe half an hour if he was lucky. He normally liked to make these things last longer than a couple minutes, but he’d need to work fast.
Francisco wasn’t stupid; he had proved that much by his subtle actions over the short time Robert had known him. Francisco might oversee the water boiling project himself, but he might also just get someone else to do it while he came and checked on Robert. The town, although excited about the news of a captured pokégirl, had its business to attend to and couldn’t drop everyday chores for the sake of a little curiosity. Hopefully, everyone would be too busy to lend Francisco a hand.
A pitiful moan was heard from the pokégirl. Robert turned towards her. She rolled onto her side and squeaked in pain when she accidentally rolled onto the giant bulb that protruded from her back. Eventually the pokégirl ended up on her stomach. She wriggled like an inchworm, trying to get free and move around at the same time.
Robert had to act while she was still bound. He hurriedly undid his clothes so he could get the deed done. The pokégirl stopped moving. She looked up at Robert’s exposed maleness and began making odd calling noises. She seemed to want his attention.
When he looked at her, she made some kind of gesture and another unintelligible noise. Robert had no idea what she was trying to communicate, but he hoped it was a sign that feral pokégirls were just as chronically horny as the ones he grew up with.
It turned out, that Francisco had actually followed his instructions and had brought the water some time later. By then, Robert had redressed and was petting the plant-type pokégirl’s matted hair. She was chirping happily when Francisco came back.
Robert was on his feet. He was tired, but he had had enough time to recover that it didn’t show. “Great! You’re back. Has the water cooled?” he asked.
Francisco nodded as he heaved the large wash bin filled with the three gallons of water. “I did as you asked. Boiled for twenty minutes and none spilled over,” he grunted and wiped some sweat off of his brow. It seemed old age was starting to take its toll. “Now what in blazes are we going to do with this?” he asked.
Robert merely smiled at him and felt the side of the wash bin with his hand to test its temperature. It seemed as if it really had cooled down nicely. He picked the wash bin up with ease and slowly poured it over the pokégirl’s figure.
She squealed with joy as she felt it wash over her body and had had a similar reaction when he embarrassedly rubbed some dirt into her skin earlier to keep his story straight. It seemed that plant types really did love those kinds of things.
He set the wash bin down purposefully and strode over to the locking mechanism binding the chains wrapped around the pokégirl together.
Robert quickly snatches the skeleton key to the thick locks binding the chains together and sets towards them. Francisco notices and shouts after him: “Stop, you fool!” There was no way that had worked. It went against every ounce of logic and common sense in Francisco’s body.
Robert ignored him. He knew he was safe, but Francisco’s attempts to stop him were worrisome. Robert knew it his lame story wouldn’t work on him. However, it did accomplish the task of getting him out of the way long enough for the truth to be obscured.
Francisco attempted to use his meager strength to pull Robert’s form away from what he intended to do, but there was no way a skinny, underfed farmer could possibly hold back a giant. Using the skeleton key he had retrieved to unlock the two mechanisms binding her humanoid body and her vines, Robert undid the bindings slightly and slowly backed off.
The pokégirl lied there stilly for a moment before she began to experimentally wiggle out of her bindings. Robert at this point was praying to god that the sex actually worked and she wasn’t about to maul them. Eventually she got loose and she used her vines to push herself to her feet since her one leg was wounded so.
She looked between the extremely nervous Francisco and the relatively composed Robert. Not a moment later, the pokégirl used her vines to propel herself onto Richard. Her weight did little to budge his massive bulk, but the scare he received probably shortened his life by about three years.
Francisco screamed and began to darted out the barn door. He had had his elephant gun with him, but there was no way he could have taken a shot without killing Robert.
Fortunately, she had merely entangled her limbs and vines around Robert and was nuzzling into his chest affectionately. After his fleeing spirit crawled back inside his body and rebooted his brain, Robert slowly began to return the physical display of affection.
It wasn’t long before there was a commotion outside and shouts were heard. A stampede of feet were heading this way. Robert carefully pried the affectionate pokégirl off of him and set her down. The moment he had his back turned to go tell everyone that there was nothing wrong, she had affixed herself to his back and was riding on him like some kind of backpack apparently having the time of her life.
Robert picked up the wash bin and stuck it out the barn door to wave it as some kind of signal. He didn’t want to step out there himself afraid that idiots would just shoot the first thing that came out without actually bothering to check to see what that was. Janice’s life lesson would stay with him in that regard.
Fortunately, no bullets passed through his arm or the wash bin. Slowly, he peeked out with the pokégirl still snuggling up against him and running her vines over his body in provocative ways. He shouted out the door: “It’s okay! I’m fine. It worked.”
Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd. Robert slowly stepped out, revealing his unharmed form. Francisco stared at him incredulously. Apparently his brain was trying to reconcile the cause and effect that Robert presented to him. Robert hoped that his keeping the sex aspect of taming a secret wouldn’t get people killed unnecessarily.
Francisco was the first to approach. “It… worked?” he said.
Robert nodded. Time for some fast thinking and fast talking. “Like I said, the process is a bit different for every breed,” he lied. “But, this breed is one of the most common out there and is a plant type, so it was pretty easy to recall. Plants do like water, soil, and sunshine… if it’s prepared correctly.”
Francisco nodded disappointedly. It seemed he was hoping for a universal way to claim pokégirls. Something was fishy though. What was it? Francisco couldn’t put his finger on it. He was confused, and that was a sign that something was wrong. Until he could figure out what, he would need to play along.
Too bad there was and it was right under his nose. He just didn’t have all the pieces because he was too distracted with Robert’s absurd task. He probably didn’t even think that it would be that easy to domesticate one without some kind of special tools or process. Although, it was regardless kind of bizarre to think that something as complex as activating higher thought processes could be done with a simple task after all.
After all, if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.
Robert was distracted by this strange success. Thoughts of Mikhail disappearing in the middle of the night for fear of his ability being found out struck in the back of his mind. He would need to find an excuse to seek him out soon.
The plant pokégirl- who seemed rather attached to Robert already- lounged in a field outside Francisco’s house. She seemed to be soaking up the sun and enjoying a snooze. Francisco had been indignant about her lying about his fields, but Robert took that opportune time to tell him that the breed- Bobbysaurs or something- along with many other plant types actually rejuvenated the soil they lounged around. Francisco was all too happy to allow her to soak up the sun around his crops when he heard that.
Most of the villagers were in a celebratory mood. Large tables had been hauled to the town center and set up. It seemed everyone in the town, which only amounted to a couple dozen people. It was very small. Robert spied a few younger kids around and a couple of young women holding babies.
It was odd that the town could stay so safe without assistance from pokégirls. You’d think that ferals would attack more often. Then again, loud noises did seem to spook them, so gunfire was a viable way to ward off many and kill the weakest ones. It had to be luck and good fortune. Or maybe, this town just wasn’t that old. Some of the people here looked like they were in their twenties. He could count the people in their thirties and later on one hand.
The pokégirl was the life of the party. After the sun had begun to set, she was full of energy and immediately glomped onto Robert’s side. Robert had had to think of a name to call her, so he picked Christina or ‘Chrissie’ for short. She seemed to pick up on it rather quickly. It hadn’t taken long since her attention immediately snapped to him whenever she heard his voice anyways.
Most people had been trying to get her to speak to them until Robert had finally gotten it into their heads that she had never learned to speak and it would be like trying to get a newborn to hold a conversation. It barely worked.
Much food was passed around as well as moonshine. Robert utilized the age old art of drinking without getting drunk- namely retrieving new mugs without finishing, drinking water and other beverages when others weren’t looking, and of course spilling his drink- so he could keep a relatively clear head. He was looking to corner Mikhail after the party. The kid was a lightweight with his liquor and was actually chatting amiably- although with a bit of a lisp- with a village girl who had to be five years older than he.
Well, the kid worked and supported himself and did the most important thing in the hunt, shoot the pokégirl with that cannon of his in an extremity. It probably was the most decisive move in the battle. It confused the target who apparently was used to having her legs to stand on and made her easier to catch.
Actually now that he thought of it, Chrissie was standing on both legs just fine. It seems that that lounge in the sunlight fixed her up just fine. That was scary. Robert had seen the size of the hole in her leg before Alex had sewn it shut. However, she was on his side now and that was good news.
Chrissie never once left Robert’s side and preferred to keep in physical contact with him somehow whether with a limb or one of her vines that extended from the bulb on her back like an extremity all its own.
It was slightly inconvenient because everyone had their eyes on the strange, childlike being. Robert would need to slip away eventually. Ah, there was an excuse. Chrissie had just grabbed his crotch in front of everyone. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to quite understand the mechanics of a button or zipper yet.
Robert stood and tried to dislodge the eager pokégirl without losing his composure. Most of the woman curled their lips in disgust and Chrissie’s lack of modesty- odd considering they had no complaints about her lack of clothing- while the youngest men gave Robert some indecisive glances of jealousy.
“Well, I suppose I best deal with this,” Robert said resignedly, “Wouldn’t want to disillusion her and risk any kind of temper fit in the middle of everyone.”
That seemed to save him some face. He hadn’t really committed himself to anything. He was worried that there might be some revulsion at the idea of sex with a ‘nonhuman’ in this town. He didn’t want to risk the pitchforks just yet, nor did he want anyone connecting sex with the answer to their feral problem. He needed to be useful until he could hightail it out of there.
The people seemed worried at the prospect of a ‘temper fit’ though. He was supposedly an experienced tamer and words like that set off alarms. Although, he probably would be when this was all over. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve survived this long with minimal scaring.” Baffle them with your bullshit, baffle!
The villagers cast him some worried looks as he strode off with Chrissie clinging to his back again and nibbling his neck. As soon as he was out of site and around the corner, he discovered that someone had beat him to this secluded spot although for an entirely different purpose. Whereas Robert wanted to slip away from the crowd and wait in a place to corner Mikhail, Mikhail had come to this spot to try and score with the village girl he had been flirting with. When did he leave the party?
Unfortunately, Robert bumbled into Mikhail’s scene and the girl he was with spotted him. She squeaked and threw her dress down. “I-it’s not what it looks like!” she claimed.
Robert, feeling bad, raised his hands defensively. “Ack! Sorry, I’m leaving,” he said as he hurriedly began to turn and leave. It had not been his intention to intrude like this.
Unfortunately, embarrassment took hold, and Robert saw the girl flee past him and down some trail, most likely towards her home. Guilt flooded Robert’s conscience and he peaked back around to see Mikhail still processing what had happened.
“Sorry about that,” he said, grimacing, “I didn’t see you before I rounded the corner.”
Mikhail just looked at the direction the girl had run off in. He didn’t respond for a while before he turned and looked to Robert and the exuberant Chrissie firmly glued to his side. “I suppose you didn’t really mean to interrupt,” he said resignedly.
Robert nodded, but something about the situation bugged him. “Why’d she run like that,” he asked, “I mean it’s one thing to be walked in on, but she seemed afraid to have others know.”
Mikhail grimaced. “It’s because of the age difference,” he said, “The people around here are really finicky about that kind of thing.”
Not really understanding what the big deal was, Robert nodded at the statement to show some kind of sympathy. Well, as uncomfortable as the circumstances were, Mikhail was here, and Robert did need to talk to him. Here goes nothing.
“Well,” Robert began, the idea of risk sending adrenaline to jumpstart his heart as he prepared to extend an olive branch to what was effectively a high security risk, “I have been meaning to talk to you about something. Can you spare a moment?”
Mikhail sighed and leaned against a nearby post. “Might as well,” h e said, the corner of his lip curling in a sardonic smile, “My schedule’s been cleared.”
That caused Robert to grimace. It had been his fault even if it was a matter of bumbling into something unexpected. “First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on that shot you made. It probably was what allowed us to make the catch,” he commended as jovially as he could muster through his nerves and slight guilt. Hopefully it was all effectively disguised as guilt.
Mikhail shrugged. “It was luck to be honest,” he admitted, “I was aiming for center mass but veered off at the last second when I remembered that we needed her alive.”
Robert quirked a brow. “I’m glad it worked for you, but that was very risky,” Robert admonished. It was a hollow one though considering that if Mikhail could do what he thought he could, he was never in any real danger unless someone got the drop on him.
Mikhail just shrugged, resigned to what had happened.
Breath filled Robert’s lungs. His heartbeat quickened its pace. Here came the risky part. “Before I continue,” he began, “I want you to know that I don’t care.”
“What?” Mikhail asked in confusion.
“I mean, look at me,” Robert continued, “We’ve got the same problem, you and I.
“I don’t follow,” the wary teenager responded, the suspicion clear on his face.
“You can easily get away from me at any moment,” Robert reasoned, “Just hear me out.”
The younger boy’s eyes dilated as he connected the dots. “What do you want?” he asked, his fight or flight response kicking in.
Chrissie picked up on the tension and her vines began to slip out of her back. Robert notices and barked at her to stop. She obeyed. Robert turned his gaze back to Mikhail. “I’m not going to spread the word, sound the sirens or anything like that,” he gave Mikhail a toothy smile, “It must be useful though, to teleport.”
Mikhail froze. The bomb had been dropped. How would he react? Robert felt a little push in the right direction might help, and nothing drew people together like camaraderie. “Hey, at least yours is practically invisible,” Robert said with a friendly smile making doubly sure to crinkle the corners of his eyes so it would appear as real as possible. So many prevaricators and pretenders forgot to do that. “I got to bullshit my way through everyone every step of the way.”
That gave Mikhail some pause. “You?” was all he could voice.
Robert’s smile broadened, but it was more triumphant than anything else, not that most people could easily recognize that. “Ha, I know. Did Alex tell everyone about my quote/unquote ‘acromegaly’ or gigantism or however he explained it to the town?”
“It’s not?” Mikhail asked. Some part of him was rejoicing in having someone to talk to, someone that wasn’t going to try and lynch or enslave him for his ability.
“Well, the thing that’s allowed me to stay alive and free for so long is that acromegaly is just an overactive gland that produces far too much human growth hormone regardless of the cause,” Robert whispered conspiratorially, “but I suppose it’s technically true. If I ever get tested for acromegaly, it’ll come back positive and most doctors will stop investigating at that point.”
Mikhail chuckled. “You lucky bastard,” he said in good humor.
“Hey now, yours is invisible and more versatile. Some people don’t listen long enough for me to pull out the gigantism spiel.”
“I suppose not.”
“Look, people like us will need to stick together. The only reason we’re not in equal standing with the rest of the world is because they’re afraid and also want someone to step on.”
Mikhail snorted in agreement. “Yes, I know,” he said, “The only time I’ve ever seen any other traited guys are the time my parents kicked me out into one of the labor camps.” Robert looked aghast which caused Mikhail to give a confident smirk “They didn’t want to show their faces, so I took the opportunity to escape,” he said.
“I take it your father wasn’t a tamer then?” Robert inferred in a surprised manner.
“No, my ma was one of those kinds that look just like a normal human. Da was a civi. I didn’t even know what ma was until I first disappeared one time when my Da was yelling at me. Was a bit of a shock when she explained it all to me, I’ll tell you.”
Robert frowned. He had just known that there were bloodtraited men out there hiding. It was stupid to think that the government could somehow track all of them or all of the near human pokégirls hiding out there. “I never met my mother,” Robert whispered somewhat jealously. The mild unhappy thought was brushed away in an instant.
“Well,” Robert began as he pried Chrissie off of his side and cradled her bridal style, “Chrissie has been very patient with me for now.” He nuzzled the side of her cheek to give her some affection. She seemed incredibly uncomfortable on her back- probably because of the bulb on her back, but Robert managed to avoid putting any pressure on it. “So,” he continued, “I will see you tomorrow. When are you free?”
Mikhail seemed to have relaxed around him and shrugged. “Francisco usually let’s me have the day to myself around sundown,” he said nonchalantly.
Robert nodded, used to a similar schedule since he was barely walking. “Remember that clearing everyone met in to go hunting?” he asked. Mikhail nodded. “I’ll see you there in the evening, okay?”
They seemed to be in consensus. Robert turned and left. He would need to find a private space to make sure Chrissie got the sexing she deserved. Francisco’s barn was out because Robert just knew that he would get caught there. He did not need Francisco connecting the dots.
Still, despite the way things turned out, Robert felt queasy from the web of deception he had just spun. He knew that his acromegaly, although definitely unusual, was in no way pokégirl induced. The Molyneux family, especially Edmund, would have abandoned him at one of the labor camps if that was the case without waiting for any abnormalities to occur. It had happened before.
Despite all this, a teleport able person such as Mikhail would be dead useful to have on his side. That gave him an idea…