Every day, Robert began running Chrissie through some hoops to get her into shape. Surprisingly, despite her feral nature, she seemed quite sociable and a quick study on basic things. She also was able to learn a handful of words rather well. Oddly enough, she knew how to say ‘master’ without Robert having to teach her. Must’ve been something Sukebe programmed into them.
She picked up on certain orders eventually; although it was slow going. His only tool to teach her the meaning of his words was object association and positive reinforcement using morsels of food and sexual favors. The later seemed to work the best, so Robert had started leaning towards the use of those. It was very fun for the both of them.
Since Robert exercised once or twice a day out of a habit that was as old as he was, he roped Chrissie into mimicking his motions to the best of her ability. Granted, some things that required you to lay on your back such as sit-ups were beyond her. Eventually, Mikhail ended up joining him in the morning before he began his work for Francisco.
Mikhail could do nowhere near do as much as Robert could; he lacked the practice and strength for now. Despite this, he could probably kill Robert at any time if he ever had the fancy by teleporting behind him and blowing a hole in him. Food for thought.
Still after a couple weeks, Robert decided he liked the younger lad. He worked hard and didn’t seem rash or abrasive in any way he could see. Cultivating a friendship with him turned out to be very easy. They relaxed around each other. It was the first time in a long time that Robert had someone he’d actually think to have a friend. Sure, he had a couple cousins that were okay, but this was a bit different. You couldn’t choose ‘family.’
Finally, Robert brought up if he ever actually practiced his teleportation.
Mikhail wrinkled his nose. “I have once or twice before, but do you really expect me to be able to ever find a place where I can practice that is both away from prying eyes and safe?” he asked.
Robert stared off into space, thinking. Mikhail waited, curious as to what was going through his head. For someone of such a brutish stature, he did have some interesting thoughts. “Give me three weeks,” he said finally.
Mikhail had no idea what had passed through Robert’s head but nodded anyways. Mikhail had never been naïve enough to be ashamed of his gift for teleporting- the one and only thing he felt he owed to his mother- but had never been stupid enough to trust his secret with anyone save the one other traited guy who just happened to see him in action. If there was a way for him to practice safely, he was all for it.
Robert left Mikhail and went to talk to Francisco. A lot of people had been riding him to go start capturing ferals already. Each time someone came up to annoy him with the topic, he spelled it out to them that it was suicide to go into the wilderness with your life resting in the hands of something that not only was untrained but couldn’t speak or understand anything he said.
It had only bought him a few days. It had been less than a week since he had acquired Chrissie. She was a doll, but he was worried that the language barrier might affect her performance far too severely. However, he had run out of time. These people were inpatient. They expected him to go out and capture pokégirls ASAP. Pitchforks would be a coming soon.
And so after he talked with Francisco and managed to wheedle a tent, rations, and a canvas sack with an Imbermelon – a strange melon that stores large quantities of water discovered a decade or so after Sukebe’s death - in it, Robert soon found himself in the middle of the woods. It was a good ten kilometer trek out to the more densely wooded areas. He figured that since they had had such little luck hunting closer to home the first time, it would be best to move farther inland, where the villagers were afraid to go.
Much to his chagrin, Robert was too correct. It wasn’t long before he and Chrissie heard excited chattering and howls echoing through the woods. The two proceeded cautiously. Richard kept his eyes and ears open while Chrissie seemed to be trying to look everywhere at once.
In a moment, it was pretty clear that they were surrounded. Robert counted three- no, four- monkeylike pokégirls staring down at them from the treetops. They swooped down.
Chrissie automatically backed herself into Robert. Her long vines swatted one of the leaping monkey ‘girls away violently. The attackers all wore cheeky grins and danced around them. Robert readied the rifle Francisco had loaned him. He didn’t want to kill too many pokégirls because they were so valuable, but their lives were not worth his.
“Chrissie,” he barked, “Stay with me!” She probably only understood him as far as ‘stay here’ but she got the notion well enough. One of the monkey ‘girls threw a stone at Chrissie who batted it away with ease. Robert had been gently tossing such objects at her to knock away from day one; although, he never imagined that the practice would be this practical.
Eventually one of the apes tried to leap onto Robert from behind. Her foot was ensnared in a very strong vine which soon tangled itself around her torso. The other monkeys howled excitedly until Chrissie reached into her bulb with one of her human limbs and pulled out a fistful of some kind of powder. She smashed it into the face of the struggling monkey ‘girl who went out cold as if she had snorted up chloroform. Robert hadn’t known she could do that.
The other pokégirls began to panic. The other three were joined by a fifth, much larger primate who screeched at them territorially. Chrissie dropped the comatose ‘girl wrapped up in her vine. The four remaining pokégirls all charged at once from different directions. They were, however, each caught in one or multiple vines with coordination that can only come from having lived with those numerous appendages all your life.
Robert got the very distinct feeling that the only reason why Chrissie had been caught in the first place is because she hadn’t been looking to hurt anyone. She probably was curious about the men invading her territory and looking for a quick screw.
The monkey ‘girls all struggled wildly as the vines slowly entwined themselves around the struggling pokégirls like constrictor snakes. Robert had read that Chrissie’s breed, the Boobisaur according to Chrissie’s firm vocalizations, were weak fighters and better suited for helping enrich soil. He wondered who got that idea. While her human body wasn’t that special, those vines and that weird powder that came out of her bulb could keep a healthy radius around her safe from multiple enemies. Robert had lucked out when he got her.
Chrissie aggressively jammed more of that powder stuff into the faces of the restrained pokégirls. They were all out cold soon. Robert took a deep breath as he looked around at the five monkey ‘girls scattered around him. Is this what it meant to be a tamer, sit back and watch the pretty ladies fight? Christ, no wonder people in Tropic paid to be appointed as one.
Now that it was all over, Robert was torn. On one hand, he had five secured pokégirls. On the other, he could probably only reasonably control one additional one with the help of Chrissie. It wouldn’t due to have pokégirls be distributed to other people where he could become obsolete very quickly.
His train of thought was interrupted when Chrissie started glowing. “Chrissie!” he called to her, “What’re you doing?!” Robert was genuinely afraid and started to back off. Soon, the light became blinding causing him to automatically slam his eyes shut and jerk his head away from the light source.
Then, the light vanished suddenly. When Robert looked back, Chrissie was standing there but looked a bit different. She was a couple inches taller, her bulb had started to open like a blooming flower, and her tits were huge.
A memory came to him. They called it evolution, when the phenotype of a pokégirl changed dramatically in a short window of time caused by some trigger or stimuli. Chrissie must’ve been very close to undergoing the evolution. Now, if he was correct, she’d be even stronger.
Mesmerized, Robert reached out and groped one of her soft, heavy breasts. Chrissie sighed happily and moved into the touch. They were bigger than DD’s. God. This was going to be so much fun later.
Back to business. He was only going to keep the biggest monkey ‘girl who coincidentally happened to be the prettiest. There was no use in bringing back a whole gaggle who he couldn’t control. He had a couple of things to investigate besides…
Since he had enough food to last him for a little while, Robert decided to camp out using the dog tent that Francisco lent him. The pokégirl that Robert and Chrissie snuck away with eventually woke up as the sun started to go down. Perfect timing.
Chrissie easily restrained the monkey ‘girl with her vines. She screamed out ‘pri… mate’ a few times which helped Robert mentally identify her from a list of common pokégirls that he knew of. Despite the nature of her capture, she was surprisingly cooperative. Hopefully the part of his plan that required capturing these ‘girls would continue to go smoothly.
After the deed was over, the Pri-mate opened her eyes as if seeing everything for the first time. Chrissie slowly let her go from her vines. The pokégirl stood slowly and began to examine the tent around her with all five of her senses.
Robert watched her with interest. The pokégirl was much calmer and more analytical than Chrissie had been when she first became domesticated or even than she was now. This was interesting. Standing, she was a short 152 cm which was even shorter than Chrissie’s 175 cm. Although, Chrissie’s height was decent compared to the majority of women Robert had come across.
He watched the lithe ‘girl step outside and take in the world around her. There was no notion that she was going to suddenly run off. Suddenly, she turned around and she was in front of Robert. Her eyes shined with an unusual intelligence that Robert was yet to witness in a pokégirl despite her wild and barbaric upbringing. She hopped up and wrapped her flexible limbs around his torso so she could get a good look at his face.
Robert smiled at her, amused by her antics even when she took her small hand and started tactilely exploring his face. A grin graced her face as she hooted some odd sounds that sounded vaguely pleased.
Jealous, Chrissie used her vines to hoist herself into a similar place on Robert’s person. He felt Chrissie’s massive mounds squish into his back causing him to shudder. The new pokégirl – he’d have to think of a name for her- just looked at Chrissie with brief interest before snuggling into Robert’s chest. Hopefully this wouldn’t get too complicated.
Night fell. Neither Chrissie or… Daniele – that sounded good – were disciplined enough to sleep in shifts, so Robert would simply have to pray nothing ambushed them in the middle of the night. He would have headed back to the town if he had remembered before. It was too late now. He’d just have to hope for the best.
Mikhail awoke early, just before sunrise, to get to work. Francisco was one hell of a slave driver especially now that his son had that injury. Still, it was all worth it. Francisco’s wife didn’t seem able to bear any more children, so there was a labor shortage on his farm. Hired help was necessary; Francisco was far from a spring chicken.
And so, five years of labor would get him room and board until he could be given a small claim of his own to work. Then, Mikhail could be his own man, free. It was a good deal when you thought about it. Menial labor rarely got someone their own home of any quality along with food and shelter in the mean time in just five years time.
Work was to be done. The oxen needed to be fed, the handful of chickens needed to be checked for eggs and fed as well, fields needed to be plowed, and of course the barn needed to be cleaned along with an endless number of other tasks that did not stop until after the sun was beneath the horizon. They would be waiting for him the next day though.
As he got to work, Mikhail’s thoughts wandered to the Robert guy who just appeared one day. They were blessed with a tamer who needed their help. Hopefully Robert would keep up his end of the bargain. Although… if Francisco got a pokégirl to do Mikhail’s job, where would that leave him? Maybe it’d be more in his favor if Robert reneged.
Such actions would not surprise Mikhail. He had been screwed over by any and everyone long before he found his way to this little haven from the Tropic government. Robert seemed like a good guy and placed his trust in Mikhail when he revealed that his condition was not natural within the human medical realm, but selfish is as selfish does. He stood to lose a lot if his special knowledge became commonplace. Mikhail did plan on enjoying the older man’s company while it lasted though. He had fun in his presence.
Still, it was kind of interesting how he survived for so long with such a glaringly obvious bloodtrait especially if what was whispered about Indigo was true, that they killed those with pokégirl ancestry rather than just enslaving them like here in Tropic. Robert had known exactly what to say to Alex to verify his story about gigantism or whatever it was called.
His nightly get-togethers with Robert were a source of anticipation after the work day was over. Too bad he was going to be away in the forest south of here tonight. Usually, they merely talked while they exercised. Robert seemed a bit nuts about that, but it also proved to be an opportunity for him to train that plant-girl of his. His company was enjoyable. They just shot the breeze while Robert trained his pokégirl and worked out. It was fun. Mikhail even learned a couple of neat things.
They didn’t talk about their abnormal heritage- no, that would probably be too dangerous- save for the time Robert questioned him about practicing his teleportation. That led Mikhail to think. What was he up to? Robert seemed to have an idea. What was it?
When Mikhail had finished a section of his work around noon, he stopped to refill his canteen. He was drenched in sweat from the sun above. His body which had been born fair as can be was now burned brown from his time working in the blistering tropical sun of Isla Sol Naranja. As he went to the one primitive hand-pump near Francisco’s well, he was cornered by the old farmer.
“Afternoon, Mikhail. How goes everything?” the old man asked conversationally.
“Well enough,” the boy said as he used the pump to refill his supply of water.
“I see you’ve been getting along well with Robert?” Francisco commented.
Alarm bells went off in Mikhail’s head. You didn’t survive being screwed as often as he had been without learning to pick up signals like this glaringly obvious one. “What do you mean?” Mikhail asked innocently. He was no master deceiver, but he knew enough to admit nothing until he at least knew what the old farmer was after.
“Come now, Mikhail. I haven’t gone blind yet,” Francisco chastised, “but that’s not a problem.”
What was his angle? Mikhail thought. First he brings it up and says it’s not a problem? Oh, it was a problem but a useful one. What did Francisco want from Robert through Mikhail? Pokégirls was the first obvious answer, but wasn’t he already going to get that? Robert could easily be kicked out if he didn’t deliver the ‘girls he had promised the village. Mikhail himself was yet to fend off a feral that was immune to bullets, and Robert certainly wasn’t.
Francisco continued on either unaware of or ignoring Mikhail’s guardedness: “But, I hope you know that this town needs pokégirls badly. It would make our lives much easier. Do you remember what happened to Joseph last year?”
Mikhail did. A feral snuck into his home and ripped his guts out.
“We won’t always be able to scare them away. Sightings have gone up recently,” Francisco continued, “I’m afraid our new friend might not be too keen on sharing his information with us.”
“What makes you say that?” Mikhail asked, honestly not knowing Francisco’s reasoning.
“Do you know what he had me do when he ‘domesticated’ that plant of his?” Francisco asked with a bitter taste in his mouth. Mikhail shook his head. “He asked me to boil three gallons water for twenty minutes,” Francisco answered.
Mikhail gave the older man a genuinely baffled look. “Wha- what?” he expressed his confusion.
“That’s not the point. My point is that what he asked me to do made no sense. When I got back, he did some cockamamie tripe and released her,” Francisco ranted, “I didn’t figure it out until the middle of the little party we threw, but his rather lousy lie wasn’t meant to deceive us, it was meant to buy him some privacy with that pokégirl.”
Francisco was openly seething by now, but managed to gain some composure. Mikhail was taken aback by Francisco confiding in him like this, but this story invalidated a lot of the theories and stories he had heard about the ‘taming’ that were floating around.
The story about Robert fast talking Francisco into leaving him alone with the pokégirl did seem to fit him though. From his short friendship with him, he had noticed that he did have his own subtle, silver tongue. Not to mention, he’d need to be wily to pass himself off as a human with his physical appearance.
“What do you want?” Mikhail asked directly. He was intrigued by this story and wanted to know what was wanted from him.
“How long have you worked for me?” Francisco changed the subject.
Mikhail thought. Time and dates was of limited importance outside of the seasons around these parts. “Eighteen months next Saturday, I think,” Mikhail answered slowly.
Francisco put his hand on Mikhail’s shoulder and ushered him closer to him. “If you can get me the real method of taming pokégirls,” he muttered to the lad, “I’ll get you your own home built as soon as I can with some old favors I’m owed. No wait for the end of our agreement.”
The offer trickled down his spine seductively. That sounded good to him, even if the task seemed undoable. “I don’t know how you expect me to get that information, sir,” Mikhail mumbled, lost in thought.
Francisco stepped away. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him,” he mentioned in a normal tone, “Just keep an ear to the ground and see if you can pick up any clues.”
Francisco left Mikhail to consider his offer and get back to work. Mikhail had some thinking to do.