Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work is presented under fair protection where applicable.
Feedback will be read, processed, and if it’s a flame it will be given the finger, then I will burst into hysterical laughter. Constructive feedback, be it criticism or praise, will be read, processed, given a smile, and filed away. To contact me, please send an email to socom.seal@(SPAM)yahoo.com. Remove (SPAM) for a valid email.
You should not read this work if you are not of legal age where you reside. This work may contain concepts or written actions that some readers may find excessive or disturbing. This may include (but not be limited to) rape, BDSM, or death.
~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~
Chapter 5
The Gifts of the Sea
Ashley winged back to Nicholas’ side as the other tamer recalled her pokegirl, Nicholas finally getting a scan on the grass-type he had been seeing and identifying it as a Bellsprout. “Good job, Ashley!” He ruffled her hair as the Pidgeotto cooed. “Got any more?” He yelled at the girl.
The tamer shook her head. “That’s it for me. Go ahead.”
Second battle of this gauntlet down.” Nicholas chuckled. “You’re tearing it up.”
Ashley preened. “Thank you, Master.”
“Oop, here’s number three already.” Nicholas noted, watching another tamer come into view. “I’m going to give Dahlia some time, alright?”
Ashley nodded, disappearing into the recall beam as Dahlia appeared.
Nicholas ignored the other tamer’s shouts and posturing. “Ready, Dahlia?”
Dahlia brightened when a tough skinned pokegirl materialized. “Easy, Master.”
“Honestly this is almost annoying.” Nicholas muttered to himself as Dahlia began tearing into her opponent. “It’s almost like if you’re not a part of the league challenge, you don’t bother getting stronger.” He watched Dahlia flip the other pokegirl on her back before spinning her across the bridge to crash into the wall. “If all of these tamers are battling, why aren’t their pokegirls learning anything? They can’t all be inept.”
“Done, Master.” Nicholas jumped when Dahlia spoke. He hadn’t even noticed the Ivysaur standing in front of him. “I heard what you said. Haven’t you looked at the tamers we’ve been fighting?”
Nicholas glanced at the young boy as they passed. “What about them?”
“How young they are.”
Nicholas frowned, looking back along the bridge. “Hm. I suppose.”
“Maybe they’re not inept, and their pokegirls weak, they’re just new.” Dahlia gazed at him. “I’m not new. I was supposed to be setting out on a new journey almost five years ago. You’re not new. You’ve been learning about pokegirls and practicing battle strategy for longer. We’re weak, but we’re not new.”
Nicholas returned to looking forwards. “Huh. I didn’t think about it like that.”
Dahlia took an extra step so that she was just in front of him and she could really look at his face. “Most, if not all, of the tamers I’ve battled are in their early teens. I doubt any of them have had pokegirls for longer than a year.” She shrugged. “The only exceptions are the other league challenger, and the gym leader.”
“Another aspect is the fact that they’re not part of the league challenge.” Nicholas admitted. “They’re casual, in a way. We’re fighting to be stronger and keep winning, but they might just be fighting for fun. For something to do when they’re bored.”
Dahlia nodded. “That’s also true, Master.”
Nicholas sighed. “Have I gotten too engrossed in this? Am I becoming an asshole?”
Dahlia blinked in surprise. “Why would you say that, Master? These tamers challenge us. I haven’t seen you challenge a single one of them yet, except for the gym and maybe one or two of the fights back in the forest.”
“I suppose.” Nicholas grumbled. “Dahlia, why don’t you always act like this? I had nearly forgotten how intelligent you are.”
Dahlia stopped walking and turned to him with a small smile. “I’m not sure what you mean, Master.”
“When it’s just you and me, you’re a sharp-witted, intelligent woman who can fight just as hard as any of the others. Once Ashley, or Elizabeth, or even Victoria are around, you turn into this quiet, almost timid plant girl. Why?”
Dahlia’s smile faded. “I don’t want to cause conflict, Master. After all, I was your first pokegirl. I’ve known you the longest, know you in some ways the others don’t.” She snaked one of her vines around his waist and pulled him close. “They want to learn about you as well. They don’t need me getting in their way.”
“Fading into the background does them no good either.” Nicholas replied. “And it definitely does you no good. You’re practicing – I’ve seen that. But you’re not getting the kind of experience the others are, and you’re falling behind.”
Dahlia frowned. “What would you have me do, Master?”
“I’m not completely sure, to be honest.” Nicholas replied. “But the first step will be to stop acting so timidly around them. That’s not who you are. I know that.” He smiled to himself. “Would a timid Dahlia have smashed her way through Brock’s pokegirls? No, I don’t think she would have.”
Dahlia laughed softly. “I suppose not, Master.”
“Here, let’s practice.” Nicholas chuckled, pointing ahead at another tamer. “I want to see you fight this battle as the true Dahlia.” He held up a pokeball. “I’ll have Victoria watch.”
Dahlia turned and settled into a fighting stance as Victoria materialized. “Okay, Master.”
Victoria glanced at the ready Ivysaur and back to Nicholas. “Master?”
“Just want to get you some more experience watching everyone fight.” Nicholas breezed. “Alright bud, I know you’re going to challenge me for this gauntlet! Let’s get it over with!”
The other tamer released a Mankey, the fighting-type covered in pads. Nicholas frowned. “Dahlia, treat this one like she knows what she’s doing.”
Dahlia’s stance changed slightly. “Yes Master.”
Victoria looked at her in surprise. “That’s Dahlia?”
Dahlia charged forwards when the other tamer shouted a command, her vines coming out and drawing a loose protective shell in front of her. The Mankey faltered for a moment before meeting Dahlia’s charge, dodging through the vines and pummeling the Ivysaur.
Dahlia grunted, falling back before her vines came to life, slamming down into the Mankey. The girl cried out, rolling away and spitting blood from what Nicholas assumed was a bitten tongue. The two circled each other for a minute before the Mankey darted in, deflecting one of the vines and bringing her hand down into Dahlia’s collarbone.
Dahlia squealed in pain, shoving the Mankey back before throwing her body into a slam that dropped both of them to the ground. The girl flailed for a second before Dahlia’s vines shot out, pinning the fighting-type’s arms and letting Dahlia get to her feet.
“Gotcha.” She growled, yanking the Mankey up with a squawk before bringing her crashing down. The Mankey screamed as she impacted, bouncing away and cradling an unmoving arm. Dahlia gave her no chance to recover, attacking again with her vines in a one-two combo that smashed the Mankey in the stomach and chin. Or what would have been the chin, if the Mankey hadn’t doubled over from the pain of the first hit. Instead it crashed into her forehead and the girl slumped forwards, out before she even hit the ground.
Dahlia slowed, watching the other tamer recall the Mankey and shake his head. “Master?”
“I think that might have been his only one.” Nicholas whispered. “Yea, here he comes.”
Victoria walked forwards when the two tamers began to talk. “You lied to me yesterday.”
Dahlia didn’t look at her. “Maybe.”
“Why?”
Dahlia sighed and turned to the Magikarp. “Because I didn’t want to cause trouble. Master told me I was being stupid.”
Victoria grinned. “You were. Those two thought they were the only strong pokegirls in Master’s harem.”
Dahlia chuckled and turned back to Nicholas. “No, there are four.”
Victoria blushed as Nicholas walked back. “Alright, we’re almost across the bridge! Not sure if we’ll have any more battles.”
Dahlia nodded. “Gauntlet over, Master?”
“That’s what it seems like.” Nicholas replied. “Although there’s a few people waiting on the other side, so we’ll see what that’s about.” He pulled out a potion and treated the bruises that were beginning to show on Dahlia’s body. “She got you pretty good.”
Dahlia sighed as the pain faded. “She did, Master. I needed to fight seriously or she might have won.”
“Exactly.” Dahlia jumped at his curt tone. “You either fight with everything you’ve got, or you don’t fight at all.”
Dahlia shivered at his words. “Yes, Master.”
“Ah-ha, so we have another tamer who has successfully braved the gauntlet!” The man waiting right at the end of the bridge exclaimed when they got closer. “Tell me, tamer, do you know the name of this bridge?”
Nicholas glanced back with a frown. “Um, no?”
“This here is the Nugget Bridge.” The man explained. “A while ago I decided that any tamer who makes it through all the local tamers camping out on it should deserve a fitting prize.”
Nicholas’ jaw dropped when the man opened his hand to reveal a sparkling gold nugget. “Here you are, tamer. Congratulations.”
Nicholas slowly took the gold. “You’re kidding. Just for making it over the bridge, you…”
“It’s your prize.”
Nicholas quickly pocketed the gold before either of his staring pokegirls could try to grab it. “Thank you.”
“Of course! I’m happy to reward strength like yours.” The man’s eyes darted back and forth before he leaned towards Nicholas. “Say, there are ways you can use that strength, you know. Make more than just that little piece of gold.”
“How’s that?”
“See, I’m a recruiter for this organization. Ever heard of Team Rocket?”
Nicholas instantly brought his full attention to the man in front of him. “How could I not?”
“Well whatever horrible things you’ve heard, they’re really not all true.” The man breezed. “Why, we’re an organization that does everything. Hunt wild pokegirls, go on mining ventures, clean areas of… trash… really it’s the members that do bad things while flying our banner that gets us in trouble.” The man shrugged. “A few bad apples aren’t the whole organization. Why don’t you join us? With your powerful pokegirls I’m sure you’d get an Admin position rather quickly.”
“You know, I ran across one of your ‘mining ventures’ in Mt. Moon.” Nicholas growled. “You know what they did when they saw me there?”
The man frowned. “What’s that?”
“They tried to kill me.”
The man sighed. “Come now, don’t let one bad experience turn you off to the whole idea.”
“No thanks.” Nicholas hissed.
“I’m telling you, it’s in your best interest to join.” The man replied, a threatening edge behind his words.
“I said no.” Nicholas growled, both Dahlia and Victoria stepping in front of him.
“Well, I guess you need some convincing.” The man sighed. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
Nicholas watched an Ekans materialize. “Dahlia, try-“
“No, Master.” Victoria called. “Let me. Please.”
Nicholas frowned. “Alright?”
Victoria’s breathing was becoming heavy and she could feel anger bubbling up inside of her as she stared at the enemy pokegirl. In the caves, these people had tried to kill them. Tried to kill Elizabeth. Tried to kill her. She felt her fear rising up but pushed it aside, allowing the rage to dominate her thoughts. She’d show them. SHE’D SHOW THEM!
The man stared when Victoria stepped forwards. “Are you seriously sending a Magikarp? A Magikarp?”
“Get her, Victoria!” Nicholas yelled.
The snake pokegirl moved forwards and quick as a flash she had wrapped her body around Victoria. The Magikarp gasped, feeling the coils around her begin to tighten and drive the air from her lungs.
“She’s right there! Easy hits!” Nicholas yelled.
Victoria twisted around so that she was facing the Ekans before she smiled.
The Ekans reeled back in surprise when she saw her prey smile. Why would this small, weak little fish girl smile? Did she-?
Victoria snatched the few precious seconds of confusion and tensed, for the first time in her life trying to move the massive tail that had held her down for so long. The Ekans squealed when she felt the muscle ripple, shoving against her hold, and before she could fight it her coils had loosened.
Victoria’s smile grew into a grin and she threw herself backwards, sliding free and leaving the Ekans to constrict into a jumble of tail and body before turning.
“Good night.” She snarled.
The Ekans’ head snapped back from the strike, the girl howling in pain and clutching at where Victoria had punched, but the Magikarp wasn’t even close to being done. She had struck the way Master had taught her, and there was no pain. She could hit again.
The Ekans staggered back from the second strike, finally uncoiling and lunging forwards with her jaws open wide. Victoria screamed when the Ekans’ fangs sunk into her shoulder but got yet another solid hit in, bringing her other arm up to punch right into the Ekans’ temple.
The snake girl let out a mixture of a groan and a scream before her eyes rolled back and her body went limp against Victoria’s.
Nicholas winced when Victoria screamed in pain, now with the entire deadweight of the Ekans pulling down on where the girl had sunk her fangs into her shoulder. Thankfully the Team Rocket member recalled his pokegirl, but unluckily he immediately released a Zubat that winged towards Victoria and latched onto the bite wound.
Victoria’s face went white and she screamed again, desperately punching at the vampire bat. The girl doggedly hung on, her own fangs undoubtedly making deep wounds of their own as she sucked the life out of the slowly weakening Magikarp.
“Dahlia-“ Nicholas started before Victoria yelled.
“NO!” She cried, grunting as she tried to throw another strike into the Zubat. “Let me, Master!”
Nicholas exchanged a look with Dahlia and shrugged. “Alright, Victoria.”
Victoria’s mind raced. She could feel her strength failing every time the Zubat sucked her blood. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to even throw a punch. She needed another way.
She tried to stand but between the girl latched onto her shoulder and the heavy weight behind her, there was no way…
Suddenly she surged to her feet, barely able to pivot to the side before throwing herself towards the ground.
The Zubat squealed, trying to let go of Victoria’s shoulder but the Magikarp had moved too quickly and the fragile bat girl screamed when her wings crumpled under their combined body weight.
“What the- FUCK!” The man swore. “She’s basically down, just get free!”
The Zubat was squirming loose when a hand slammed into her face. She looked up with panicked eyes as Victoria slowly levered herself upright and stared down at her opponent.
“You fucking bitches tried to kill me, my sisters, my Master.” Victoria hissed and the Zubat quailed at hearing the pure hatred in the voice of a Magikarp she had assumed soft. Barely worth her time. Weak. “But I’m strong enough now. Strong enough to protect them, just as THEY PROTECTED ME!”
The girl shrieked when Victoria slammed her fist down, breaking the Zubat’s nose before shoving her away to begin choking from the blood running down her throat. The Zubat managed to roll on her stomach, getting onto her hands and knees before she felt something smash into her ass and she fell forwards with a cry.
Dahlia stepped past where Victoria was being treated. “How does it feel?” She hissed. “To be the one on the ground, to be helpless. How does it FEEL!”
The man stumbled backwards, recalling his Zubat before she took any more hits and dashing towards Cerulean City.
Dahlia watched him run for a bit before turning to Victoria. “Nicely fought, Victoria. You’ve come a long way from the scared girl Master found.”
Victoria was still panting, the rage that had driven her through the fight not going anywhere. “Master.” She groaned. “I feel… I feel…”
Nicholas jumped back when her body exploded with light. “Whoah! Was not expecting that.”
Dahlia brightened. “She’s evolving!”
“Yea, I wonder what-“ Nicholas started before the barely five foot figure in front of him surged in height. “SHIT!”
There was a loud snapping noise as Victoria’s new bathing suit ripped to shreds, but the evolving Magikarp was in no position to worry about her clothes. Nicholas’ jaw sat agape as Victoria’s height grew, and grew, and grew, until the still glowing figure stood well above him. Seven feet, he guessed? Maybe even more?
And then her body began to grow. Once weak-looking skinny arms and legs swelled. The thin torso ballooned outwards, building muscle mass that supported a gargantuan pair of growing breasts. But even that wasn’t enough as the tail that had once been holding Vitoria back began to lengthen, fins sprouting along the length and the entire thing curving upwards.
“She’s still going?!” Dahlia cried, watching as Victoria’s body continued to shift. “What the hell?”
“The evolution has a lot to answer for.” Nicholas replied, watching as more fins sprouted from Victoria’s limbs. “As a Magikarp, she was dealt one of the worst physical bodies I’ve ever seen.”
“I mean, yea, but this is-“ Dahlia stopped to watch Victoria’s hair begin cascading down her shoulders. “Look, I know how long it took me to evolve. I was done in seconds!”
“Five or ten, maybe fifteen.” Nicholas agreed. “We’re approaching a minute right now.”
Finally the glow began to die down and Victoria slowly opened her eyes.
Nicholas stared up at her. “Victoria, how do you-“
The newly evolved Gyarados started to turn towards him before yelping, the stoic and quietly ferocious look her evolution had left her in immediately vanishing when she clumsily crashed to the ground. “M-MASTER!”
Nicholas burst out into laughter and dove down, grabbing her and holding as much as he could. “Easy, girl! You just nearly doubled in size!”
Victoria began speechlessly feeling her body. “Master, I- What is all this? What happened? I feel so different, everything is different! What’s going on!”
“Hey, calm down! Calm down. It’s okay.” Nicholas grabbed her arms. “Look at me, Victoria. Hey.” He gazed into her newly blood red eyes. “Look at me. It’s okay.”
Victoria took a deep breath and gazed back at him. “Did I evolve, Master?”
“You did, and just like I thought, you’ve become something absolutely incredible.” Nicholas replied. “You’ve made it, Victoria. You pushed through the stupid, impossible weakness that you were born with and now look at you. Now look at you, Victoria!” He couldn’t help but laugh happily. “I don’t think both my hands would fit around these biceps of yours!”
Victoria carefully sat upright. “I feel…” She glanced back, moving her tail fluidly behind her. “I can move it.” She reached down, pausing to inspect the dark, heavy blue scales that shimmered along the top of her arms. “I’m… I’m bigger!”
“Try standing up.” Nicholas called, rolling off of her and getting to his feet. “Carefully.”
Victoria slowly put her feet under her, standing and weaving slightly before her tail flicked out and she immediately came to a halt. “It’s balancing me.” She whispered, tears beginning to bead in her eyes. “Before, it… It would drag me down, make me fall, but now it’s-“
“Hey, open your mouth real quick?” Nicholas called. He grinned when she awkwardly obliged. “Hoo boy, I don’t want to be the person you test those out on. You’re probably able to give a wicked bite now.”
Victoria felt the sharp fangs that had replaced her canines. “Mastuh?”
“We’ll hold off on any oral for now.” Nicholas snickered. “Just until you’re more used to your new you.”
Victoria groaned. “Mastuuuh.”
“Yea, yea, I’m kidding.” Nicholas waited for her to stop poking about and remove her hand from her mouth. “It’s too bad we just went and got you new clothes. Now they’re ruined, or don’t fit.”
Victoria stared at him in confusion before her hand flew to her stomach and she moaned. “Nooo! This was the-“
Nicholas gazed at the tattered remains of the back and silver swimsuit where it had managed to barely hang over her nipples. “It gave its life for a noble cause, Victoria.” He spared a glance down and snickered. “Although it lost the fight there.”
Victoria glanced down and threw a hand over her exposed pussy for a moment before sighing and in a single movement ripping the remains of her swimsuit from her neck to leave her completely nude. “I hope they have one in my new size, Master.”
Nicholas had to catch his breath before responding. “…yea.”
Victoria played with her body for a minute, seemingly oblivious to Nicholas’ reactions. “So, are we continuing forwards, Master, or are we going back?”
Nicholas swallowed, hard. It was only the sight of Dahlia glaring at him that was keeping him from ripping his own clothes off and tackling Victoria. “Um, let’s take a little break. Okay? I’ll set up the tent, we can have some lunch…”
Dahlia snorted and strode past him, a vine reaching out to roughly yank his bag off his shoulders. “Sure, Master.”
Nicholas glanced over when Dahlia began pulling their tent out before looking back at Victoria.
The Gyarados was staring at him. They both stared silently for a few minutes until Victoria dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry, Master.”
Nicholas was thrown off guard by her apology. “What? What for?”
It was surreal to see the massive girl in front of him begin to tear up. Everything about the new Victoria screamed confidence, strength. Danger. Her posture, the visible yet subtle musculature of her body, all the way through her unashamed gaze. Yet she was crying.
“I’m sorry, Master.” She repeated, sniffling a bit. “I know how happy you are for me, but... but this didn’t happen because of you, of any of your love. I, I evolved because I was angry, and-“
She flinched when he placed a hand on her arm. “Victoria, look at me.” Eventually she raised her eyes from the ground. “Do you know what your name means? What I named you.”
“Victory.” Victoria mumbled.
“And why do you think I called you that? Even when you were barely able to stand, a Magikarp awkwardly flailing about. I named you Victoria.”
“Because... because you believed in me?” Victoria shook her head. “But that’s not why I evolved I-“
“Victoria.” Victoria stopped again when Nicholas spoke. “I named you Victoria because I wanted nothing more for you than that. Victory. I didn’t work with you for my own ego, I mean what would I even gain? Your evolution doesn’t change anything about me, does it?”
“Um...”
“I named you Victoria, worked with you, helped train you, all so that you would be stronger. I gave you a name that was both a goal and a promise. And here you are.” He grinned at her. “What have you achieved?”
Victoria felt her heart quicken. “Vic-victory.”
“You have.” Nicholas replied with satisfaction. “And you did it for yourself.”
Dahlia was finishing up the tent when she heard Victoria speak again. “But Master, that can’t be completely true. There must be something you gain from me.”
The Ivysaur sighed and swiftly moved out of the way when Nicholas replied in a teasing tone. “I get a powerful pokegirl in my harem, that’s what. I’ve always been rather fond of water types, and you’re the most sexy one I’ve ever seen.”
“Three, two...” Dahlia trailed off when Victoria lunged forwards, wrapping him in her arms before crashing through the tent door. Thankfully she had already opened it. “Didn’t even wait three seconds before jumping him after that. Not that I blame her.” She looked around, glaring at a staring tamer. “Get lost, bud!”
The boy jumped, dashing down the road and Dahlia turned back to the shaking tent with a sigh.
She wanted him to look at her like that. With those eyes full of lust and pride.
She’d make him look at her like that. Even if she had to dominate each and every one of his harem to get there. A devilish smile tugged at her lips and she laughed, a quiet, snickering laugh that she quickly contained.
Dominate them. Now there was an idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Pewter City – Boulder Badge
Harem:
Dahlia, Ivysaur – Level 19
Ashley, Pidgeotto – Level 19
Elizabeth, Nidoqueen – Level 19
Victoria, Gyarados – Level 20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashley and Elizabeth stared at their harem sister’s new body. “Holy shit, Victoria.” Ashley stammered.
Nicholas was passed out in the tent, a blissful smile on his face after he and Victoria had tamed through not only the lunch hour, but the early afternoon as well. The Gyarados herself had remained with him for a while after until finally emerging near sunset.
Elizabeth stepped closer but even her stature didn’t come close to matching Victoria. “You look bad. Ass.” She crowed. “I see you’ve copied me as well.”
Victoria blinked. “Huh?”
“Your scales, fish-girl.” Elizabeth ran her eyes over Victoria. “Although maybe ‘fish’ isn’t the right thing to describe you as anymore.” Her eyes brightened. “Nah, with the way you’ve filled out, you’re like a sea monster.” Her teeth glinted as she smiled. “Leviathan.”
“That might be going a bit too far.” Dahlia cautioned. “Although I agree that a simple ‘fish’ description doesn’t suit her anymore.” She looked around before ducking into the tent and pulling out Nicholas’ pokedex. “Here, we’ll just see what everyone else calls you.”
The three clustered around as Dahlia pointed the scanner at Victoria. After a moment it beeped. “Gyarados. The atrocious pokegirl.”
There was silence for a moment before all three girls burst into laughter. “Atrocious?!” Elizabeth roared, “That’s so mean!”
“I can see it, though!” Ashley cried, gesturing at Victoria’s angry pout. “I mean just look at her!”
“‘Atrocious. Barbarically wicked, ferocious.’” Dahlia read. “Oh, so it’s not... okay, the meaning I think we all thought of is the secondary meaning.”
“Poor quality?” Elizabeth choked. “Really bad?”
Ashley noticed Victoria’s anger begin to reach her eyes and quickly fell back. “Hey, Liz...”
The Nidoqueen didn’t even acknowledge the use of her nickname. “I’m surprised they didn’t call Magikarp the atrocious pokegirl, considering how weak Victoria was!”
Dahlia half chuckled along until she noticed Ashley’s absence. She looked around for the Pidgeotto and, seeing her backing away, quickly turned towards Victoria.
The snarl that ripped through Victoria’s throat finally got Elizabeth’s attention and she looked up in surprise. “Huh?”
Dahlia dove away when Victoria stepped closer to the Nidoqueen. “Take. That. Back.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “Take what?”
Victoria took another step, rage burning in her eyes. “Take it BACK!”
“Hey, I don’t know what you’re talking about...” Elizabeth blustered, a pit forming in her stomach.
Victoria struck.
In her eyes the Nidoqueen was slow. She crossed more than half the distance between them before Elizabeth even started to react, and that was when her spikes began to rise. Victoria didn’t care about that. She wasn’t the weakling Elizabeth was insulting. Not anymore.
Elizabeth screamed when Victoria’s jaws closed around her arm and she clutched at the biting Gyarados, desperately trying to push her free. “Victoria, hey, hey, calm down, don’t-“ she screamed when Victoria torqued her body, lifting Elizabeth off the ground and flipping her through the air. Elizabeth landed hard, biting back her pain and struggling upright to stare in shock at the deep wounds on her arm. “What the fuck?”
Victoria spat, watching Elizabeth’s poison sizzle on the ground. “You taste horrible.”
Elizabeth clutched at the tooth marks when they began to bleed. “How? You bit right through my scales!”
“Hey, Victoria, she’s just being Elizabeth.” Ashley called nervously. “You know that, right?”
Victoria worked up some more spit and cleared the rest of the poison from her mouth. “I know. I was just responding in kind.”
Elizabeth took a nervous step back from her. “Hey, there’s no need for any of this, okay? Let’s just... move on.”
“I’ve noticed you don’t apologize.” Victoria retorted, glancing at where Ashley stood. “None if you do. So I made sure you understood how you were wrong.”
None of them noticed that Nicholas was sitting just inside the tent doorway.
He watched Elizabeth move forwards, her uninjured arm reaching out to meet Victoria’s. Well. If strength and battle were what they wanted to resolve their problems with, he at least could be satisfied that they weren’t letting resentments evolve into hatred.
Ashley perked up when she heard movement inside the tent. “Master’s awake!”
Elizabeth quickly turned so her injury wasn’t easily visible from the tent.
Nicholas stepped out with a yawn and looked around at the watching faces. “Afternoon, girls.”
“Good afternoon, Master.” Elizabeth and Ashley parroted.
“Has everyone gotten used to Victoria?” He asked, looking around at the nodding girls. “Excellent. Dahlia, since you’ve already set up the tent, we’ll just use this as our campsite tonight. We’ll do some training, fight any wild pokegirls around here, then keep moving in the morning.”
“Sounds good, Master.”
“Alright! Let’s start with you, Victoria.”
The Gyarados made a surprised noise when he turned to her. “Me, Master? But I’ve already done so much today.”
“I want to know if you have a water-type attack.” Nicholas explained. “I know you couldn’t do anything like that as a Magikarp, but how about now?”
“Water.” Victoria mumbled. “How would I do something like that, Master?”
“Don’t look at me.” Nicholas chuckled. “I’m no pokegirl.”
“I don’t think...” Victoria trailed off. “I don’t think so, Master. Where would I even start? It’s not as if I’ve got a bunch of water that I can just,” she made blowing noises, “you know.”
“The last water-type I saw actually did have that.” Nicholas replied. “She just started shooting it from her mouth without any issue.”
Victoria shook her head. “I’m sorry, Master, but I can’t.” She puckered her lips and blew a few ineffectual raspberries. “See?”
“Hmm, I guess not.” Nicholas smirked. “Good thing I’ve got a way to fix that.”
Victoria watched him rummage through his bag and withdraw an oblong case. “What’s that, Master?”
“I found it in the mountain. Think someone dropped it.” Nicholas opened the case and pulled out a disc. “The label is pretty dirty, but if I’m reading it correctly this is a Technical Machine for Water Gun.”
Victoria stared at it. “What’s a Technical Machine?”
“You know, I’m not completely sure.” Nicholas laughed. “Brock told me I could use them to help my pokegirls learn new moves, but he didn’t exactly explain how.”
“Does the pokedex have a disc reader?” Dahlia asked curiously. “Maybe there’s a special player?”
“Maybe...” Nicholas trailed off, Ashley joining them to inspect the pokedex.
Victoria was left staring at the glittering blue disc in Nicholas’ hand. That little thing could show her how to shoot water? But how? It would probably take a lot of practice, time, before she could emulate whatever that disc showed. But it almost was calling to her, the sparkling blue capturing her eyes.
“Wait, I don’t think it’s in the pokedex.” Nicholas was saying. “Brock said most TMs are so fragile they can’t be used more than once. I really don’t think that means it will shatter inside my pokedex.”
Dahlia grimaced. “Hopefully not, Master.”
“Master.” Nicholas turned when Victoria spoke. “Can I hold it?”
Nicholas gave her a confused look. “I don’t see why not.” He handed over the disc and watched Victoria stare at it. “You alright?”
Victoria blinked and looked at him. “Sorry, Master. It just feels really nice to look at.” Her eyes slowly returned to staring at the disc. “It’s pretty.”
Nicholas warily looked around at the other pokegirls. “Anyone else think it looks... pretty?”
“I mean, the color’s nice, I suppose.” Elizabeth grumbled.
Victoria was still staring at the disc with rapt attention when she raised it up and pressed it against her own forehead.
“WHOAH!” Nicholas yelled when the disc exploded with light. It was almost like an evolutionary light, but fully contained to the disc and where it touched Victoria’s head. After a minute the light died and Victoria staggered, shards of the broken TM falling to the ground.
“Owwww.”
Elizabeth propped her up. “What in the world happened to you, girl? You just slammed that thing against your head so hard it broke!”
“No, I don’t think that’s what she did at all.” Nicholas blurted out. “Victoria, did it work?”
The Gyarados rubbed her head. “I... I don’t know, Master.”
“I’ve heard about how TMs teach pokegirls techniques, and before now I assumed they were instructional videos.” Nicholas explained. “But that right there, that was energy transfer. Maybe a TM literally teaches you a new move.”
Victoria burped. “Urp. ‘Scuse me, something’s... something...” she hiccupped. “Uh oh.”
“Eww!” Elizabeth cried, shying away when Victoria’s cheeks bulged and liquid shot across the ground. “That’s gross!”
Nicholas was staring at the crystal clear water that had come from Victoria’s mouth. “No, she just created water.”
Victoria hiccupped again. “Master, something‘s happening. It’s. It’s-“ she quickly turned away from the group as another burst of water spewed from her mouth. “ARGH!”
Laughter echoed as Victoria took turns hiccupping and spewing water across the field. “Can’t you turn it off?” Nicholas laughed.
“I’m- urp- trying!” Victoria cried, coughing when some of the water went up her nose. “What’s happening to me, Master?!”
“You’ve been taught how to use a part of your body you never knew existed.” Heads turned to Elizabeth, the Nidoqueen stepping back towards Victoria. “I was the same way when I first learned about my spikes.” She studied the hiccupping Gyarados. “I bet you’ve got something kind of like another lung that creates water from the air. This is the first time you’ve used it, so it’s just doing whatever it wants.”
“Make it stop.” Victoria moaned.
Elizabeth stared at her for a few seconds before giggling. “And it did.”
Victoria blinked. The butterfly feeling in her chest was gone. “Wh-what?”
“You wanted it to stop so it did.” Elizabeth replied. “Now, do you remember how you felt when the water was coming out?”
Victoria poked her breast. “Yea?”
“Imagine that feeling again.”
Victoria’s brow furrowed. The butterflies? No, that’s not what the water had felt like. It had felt like...
Elizabeth grinned when Victoria’s midriff flexed. “Yea, just like-“ her eyes widened when she realized she was standing right in front of the Gyarados. “WaitwaitwaitWAIT!”
Victoria felt instinct kick in and her body braced itself, her mouth forming a nozzle as the water shot up her throat and directly at the panicking Nidoqueen.
Elizabeth was blown over by the attack, sliding away through the grass with an indignant splutter. “BITCH!”
Victoria’s eyes widened and she ran forwards, slipping through the soaked field. “ELIZABETH! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-“
Elizabeth stopped her with a single raised hand. Victoria watched her get to her feet, wincing and favoring one side before she turned to look at her. “Victoria.”
Victoria swallowed. “Yea?”
Elizabeth rubbed at where the water had battered her body. “Please never hit me with that again.”
Nicholas was chuckling quietly. “Nidoqueen are a ground-type, you see.”
Victoria blinked. “Oh, so you’re weak to something like that?”
Elizabeth stared at her. “I didn’t say that.”
“I did!” Nicholas called helpfully.
Elizabeth groaned when Victoria gave her a cheeky grin. “I promise not to hit you with that again... accidentally.”
“Peachy.” Elizabeth sighed.
Nicholas was still chuckling but he waved his hands. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Victoria has learned her new move, and this area is full of wild pokegirls. Let’s get training!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Whoah, hey man.”
Nicholas nodded to the other tamer but internally he couldn’t stop laughing. Who knew that walking around with two intimidating pokegirls would stave off random challenges so well?
Victoria and Elizabeth quietly padded along behind him as they walked along the coast. “It’s beautiful here, Master.” Victoria murmured. “Do you think we can take some time...?”
Nicholas glanced back at her and turned towards the water. “Fancy a swim?”
He staggered when she sprinted past him, Elizabeth stepping forwards with a chuckle. “Aren’t you worried?”
Nicholas watched Victoria slice into the waves. “Me, worried about her? She’s the scariest fucking thing around, and that’s a fact.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I guess she is, Master.” She began walking when Victoria turned and started swimming parallel to the coastline. “We should follow her.”
“Yea, I guess so.” Nicholas took a few steps before he pulled out Ashley’s pokeball and released the Pidgeotto.
“Hey, Victoria’s taking a minute to swim.” He explained, gesturing at where Ashley could see the Gyarados’ tail breaking the water’s surface every few seconds. “Mind keeping a lookout while she’s busy?”
Ashley nodded and flapped into the air while Nicholas caught up to where Elizabeth was waiting for him.
“This area’s pretty nice.” Nicholas said as they continued. “Victoria’s right, it’s beautiful here.”
“I’m surprised there aren’t any houses.” Elizabeth replied. “The land must be pretty valuable.”
“Well, we are in the middle of nowhere. Comparatively.” Nicholas explained. “Anyone who wanted to live out here would be completely on their own if a feral attacked.”
Elizabeth slowly nodded. “That’s true.”
“And there’s quite a few wild pokegirls around.” He grunted, pushing his arms over his head and stretching out. “Mmm. Still, beautiful.”
“Still beautiful.” Elizabeth agreed.
Ashley was lazily drifting overhead when something caught her eye and she wheeled back around. They’d been fighting wild pokegirls all day, so seeing another unattended pokegirl was nothing special. This one, however, was new.
Nicholas glanced up when Ashley dove back down to him. “Master, there’s some sort of new pokegirl under a tree.” She oriented herself. “That way.”
“Oh? A wild girl?”
“I think so, Master. She’s alone, and I didn’t see any humans nearby.”
“Huh.” Nicholas turned. “Let’s check it out, at least.” He stopped. “Oh, Elizabeth, can you keep an eye on Victoria?”
The Nidoqueen glanced at the water. “And what am I supposed to do if she gets in trouble?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Nicholas shot her a smile before following Ashley up the beach.
Elizabeth glared at his back but turned to the ocean, watching Victoria happily dive in and out of the waves.
“Right up there, Master.” Ashley whispered, pointing at what appeared to be a slumbering pokegirl. “I’ve never seen one like her before.”
“No, me neither.” Nicholas muttered. “I’d scan her but the noise might wake her up. This way you’ve got a surprise attack.” He grinned at Ashley. “Want to take advantage?”
Ashley grinned back and shot forwards, her wings barely making a sound as she sped at the motionless pokegirl.
An instant before she could attack the girl vanished.
“WHAT!” Ashley cried, flaring her wings desperately and barely managing to pull up before she hit the tree. “Where did she go!”
Nicholas glanced around and pointed. “Four o’clock, low!”
Ashley whirled, homing in on the girl and stopping in frustration when she vanished again. “Master!”
Nicholas’ eyes darted about until he saw her again. “She’s... she’s still asleep.” He unhooked his pokedex. “Hold on, Ashley. Let me scan her.”
“Abra. The psi pokegirl.” His pokedex reported.
“The what?” Nicholas muttered. “Oh, psi, psychic. Alright.” He watched Ashley creep towards the sleeping girl. “Ashley, she’ll just keep teleporting. It’s basically an automatic defense mechanism.”
Ashley came to a halt. “So what do we do, Master?”
“Well, something small enough to not immediately be seen as an attack, thrown hard enough to get to her before she reacts…” Nicholas hefted a pokeball. “Let’s see if she dodges this.”
Ashley watched him line up his shot. “You’re sure, Master?”
“Pretty sure.” Nicholas replied, and threw.
The pokeball whizzed through the air, smacking into the slumbering pokegirl and sucking her into the capture beam. Nicholas tsked when the ball broke and the girl vanished. “Let’s try that again.”
Ashley easily located the girl again and Nicholas chucked another ball, grumbling when it also broke. “Damnit.”
The third time, the Abra teleported before the ball had even made it close.
“I think she sees them as a threat now.” Nicholas muttered. “Shit. What now?”
Ashley squinted at where the Abra had come to rest. “Give me a pokeball, Master.”
Nicholas handed her an orb. “What are you going to do?”
Ashley hefted the ball and took off. “I’m not sure yet.”
Ashley climbed high into the sky, staring down at the slumbering Abra. Could she try to dive, to go so fast that the Abra couldn’t react? No, the wild pokegirl would recognize her as an attacker and just teleport. Maybe attack from a distance, then throw the ball wherever the girl teleported to?
Nicholas squinted up at Ashley. Maybe they should just give up. Once she came back down he’d ask.
He frowned when a small object fell from her hand. Had she dropped the pokeball?
Ashley watched the ball drop towards the wild pokegirl. If throwing it triggered the defense mechanism, and she couldn’t get close, she’d let gravity do the trick. She grinned as the ball got closer and the Abra didn’t budge. Yes!
Nicholas began running forwards when the ball impacted. If this one failed, maybe he could be close enough to hit another.
But he didn’t need to worry. By the time he reached where the pokegirl had been sitting, the full pokeball was waiting.
He glanced up when Ashley swooped in. “Did it work, Master?”
“It did. Good job!” Nicholas grabbed the ball. “Alright! Let’s get back to the others.”
Elizabeth glanced up when they walked back over the hill. “Oh, there you are.” She glared out at the ocean. “Victoria is having a fucking blast.”
Nicholas chuckled and sat down next to her. “Can you not swim?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t know if I can. But I know I won’t be able to swim as well as she does.”
“I suppose not.” Nicholas gazed out at the Gyarados. “We caught the new pokegirl, by the way. A psychic-type. Another one of your weaknesses.”
Elizabeth sighed. “What is that, everyone except Ashley who has an advantage over me?”
Nicholas glanced at the Pidgeotto and back to Elizabeth. “I guess that’s why you make good rivals.”
She grunted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Victoria! We need to set up camp soon!”
The Gyarados burst from the waves and ran up to Nicholas. “Already, Master?”
“You’ve been swimming for hours!” Nicholas laughed. “Come on, we can swim later.”
Victoria huffed but followed him up to where the others waited.
“Night’s falling, Master.” Ashley looked around at the rapidly dwindling sunlight. “Shouldn’t we make camp now?”
“Yea, probabl-“ Nicholas stopped. “Hey, did a light just come on?”
The girls turned to where he was looking. “Yea, it did.” Dahlia said in surprise. “Who could that be?”
“Let’s find out!” Nicholas said.
The light was coming from a small cabin set right near the edge of the point and Nicholas made his way to the front door. “Hello! Good evening!”
There was some movement from inside before the door opened and a man peeked his head out. “Hello? Who… Oh, hello! My name is Bill. Who are you?”
“I’m Nicholas, and this is my harem.” Nicholas replied, gesturing at the others. “I wasn’t expecting to find anyone living out here.”
“Ah, well, being in the wilds here helps my research.” The man looked around. “One, two, three… I should be able to fit five more in my back room. Come in, come in!”
“Oh, we have a tent.” Nicholas tried.
“Nonsense! I don’t get visitors often, so it’s my pleasure to help some traveling tamers avoid a night on the ground.” He stepped back and ushered them inside. “Please, come in!”
Nicholas stepped in and looked around the cluttered room. Computers and parts were strewn everywhere, and he could see research papers haphazardly stacked wherever there was space. “What do you research?” Nicholas asked. “I’m a pokegirl researcher myself.”
“That’s incredible! My other guest said the same thing.” Bill exclaimed. “Well, you see, I’m the pioneer of the pokegirl storage system here in Kanto.”
Nicholas’ jaw dropped. “YOU?”
Bill chuckled. “That’s right, me. Little ol’ Bill, living in his cottage by the sea.” He stretched. “We can talk more in the morning, yes? Please, this way.” Bill led them through the building. “There should be enough mats in there; just share, and respect each other’s space!” And with that he was gone.
Nicholas shrugged and pushed inside the room.
Michael glanced up. “Oh, Bill? We were-“ He stopped when he saw Nicholas. “EYYYYYYYY!”
“EYYYYYYYYY!” Nicholas yelled back, running forwards and embracing the other man. “Mike! I wasn’t expecting to run into you out here!”
“Same here!” Michael laughed, his pokegirls clustering around. “So what are you doing up here? I came to visit Bill, heard he’s a rather famous researcher in Kanto.”
“He said that, but I was just up here training for the Cerulean gym.” Nicholas chuckled. “Oh! I’ve got some new faces since I’ve seen you last.”
“Same here.” Michael replied, gesturing at his harem. “Why don’t we get introductions out of the way, and then get to bed? I am exhausted.”
Nicholas nodded. “Sounds good. Alright girls, grab a mat, say hello, and lights out!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Pewter City – Boulder Badge
Harem:
Dahlia, Ivysaur – Level 20
Ashley, Pidgeotto – Level 19
Elizabeth, Nidoqueen – Level 20
Victoria, Gyarados – Level 21
???, Abra – Level 14
Tamer:Michael Thieme
Badges:
Pewter City – Boulder Badge
Harem:
Vanessa, Wartortle – Level 22
Petunia, Rattata – Level 20
Hannah, Mankey – Level 22
Riana, Sandshrew – Level 18