Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work is presented under fair protection where applicable.
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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.
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Chapter 14
A Burning Hot Battle
The group had exited the Lavaridge pokecenter when Bea heard a call from behind her. “Alpha!” She turned but was pushed aside as Aria ran up to Nicholas. “Alpha!”
Nicholas looked at the Swablu with a hint of annoyance. “Aria, Bea is your Alpha. I’m your tamer.”
“No!” Aria stared back at him with a petulant expression. “Alpha leads. You lead. You are the Alpha.”
“I’m not a pokegirl,” Nicholas replied in exasperation. “I, the human, am the tamer of my harem, made up of pokegirls. You, as a pokegirl, are part of that harem who are LED by Bea, your Alpha.”
“You lead Bea,” Aria countered. “You are my Alpha. Bea is Beta.”
Nicholas grimaced. It was as if she was still feral, which made some sense. Giving her the ability to use and understand language had only made it so that Aria could voice her thoughts – it hadn’t imparted her with human customs or any of the societal norms he was talking about. Morgana had been wild but she had had an advantage learning with her abilities. Aria simply needed to be taught.
“He is our Master,” Bea tried to explain. “Above any of us.”
“Yes. Alpha,” Aria repeated.
“No,” Nicholas groaned. Aria obviously understood how the hierarchy went, since she was calling him ‘Alpha’ and Bea ‘Beta’, but he needed a way to make her understand that an ‘Alpha’ wasn’t the leader of this harem. She was part of it.
Aria slid to a halt when Nicholas stopped. Before she could question he had turned fully to face her.
Without human contact a pokegirl begins to slip away. Her mind relies more and more on her base instinct than on reason or logic until eventually instinct is all that is left. Aria was not feral, not anymore, but she was still acting mostly on instinct. And for the first time since her mind had woken that instinct froze.
Nicholas gazed down at her, his slit eyes shimmering slightly from his summoned aura. Aria’s eyes had grown wide and her breathing had nearly stopped, her chest barely moving enough to keep her conscious. He’d anticipated that would be her reaction as he leaned into his draconic bloodline, especially after her reaction to it when he was taming her.
“I am beyond being a simple ‘Alpha’,” Nicholas rumbled. “You think me so weak, Aria? No more than that?” Aria began stammering out a response but Nicholas cut her off. “I remember you being taught this lesson when I first added you to my harem.” He cocked his head ever so slightly. “Is a reminder in order?”
Aria was stunned into silence so Nicholas broke eye contact and gestured for the harem to continue following him towards the gym.
“Sov… er… eign.”
Nicholas turned back with a raised eyebrow. Aria stared back with her eyes still stretched open. “Sovereign,” she said again, this time saying the word in its entirety and not just sounding it out. “I… remember, Sovereign.” She sank to one knee, bowing her head and stretching her wings out so they lay as flat on the ground as possible. “Forgive me, Sovereign, I- oh, oh, I remember!” Unseen by Nicholas or any of the wide-eyed pokegirls watching her Aria’s face held an expression of terror as tears began to bead in her eyes. “Forgive me!”
A few tears dripped onto the dirt as Nicholas pondered what Aria was saying. “Master is what pokegirls usually use,” he offered.
“No,” Aria whispered. “These… words, I now know. ‘Master’ is too weak. My Sovereign deserves… no. Demands what he is due.” Now she looked up, lifting her tear-streaked face to his. “I remember. My Sovereign.”
Nicholas sighed quietly. “Lord is fine, Aria. Or Weyrleader, if you prefer. That’s what the others call me.”
“Weyr…?” Aria blinked. “Weyr… that word, Sovereign. Ah, Lord. That word refers to… others like us?”
“Like you, yes,” Nicholas replied. “Specifically the other dragon pokegirls of my harem. You’ll meet them eventually.”
“Weyr…leader.” Aria pondered the title for a few seconds before she winced. “You are my Weyrleader, Lord, but even that is too weak a word to describe you.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Nicholas’ mouth as he relaxed and his aura faded away. “If you said that to Lili, or Kary, or Victoria, or Vika, they’d probably attack you for insulting them. The way you are right now you’d stand no chance.”
Aria’s wings lifted a bit as she gave Nicholas a hopeful look from her position on the ground. “Then… it is good you will make me strong enough to have one, Lord?”
Nicholas chuckled and reached down to help Aria to her feet. “That’s right. I’m glad you understand things now.” He eyed her. “For a moment I was wondering if you were putting on an act in an attempt to gain standing within the harem. Biding your time.” Aria’s body shook when a hint of his aura flickered in his eye as he looked her up and down. “Like you did the day I tamed you.”
Aria’s mouth opened but nothing came out for a few seconds before she moaned and dropped her head once again. “There are no words, Lord,” she said miserably, “no words that I can say to prove myself. I remember. I remember what I did. I remember what I felt, and I feel those things now. But I also remember what happened when I tried to act on those feelings.” Nicholas caught her hand as it edged its way onto his chest and held her still as she continued to speak. “I am nothing compared to you, my Lord. I may want to be Alpha over you but even that want is much too weak. You have said as much. You have proven as much.” She raised her eyes again with a quiet confidence. “My memories are hazy, my Lord, but I remember others serving me. I attempted to make you do the same.” Her lips spread in a wild smile as Aria began to laugh. “I put them in their place, Lord. And you put me in mine.”
Nicholas noticed Bea out of the corner of his eye. The Metang was focused completely on the laughing Swablu in front of him and he knew he didn’t have to say another word. She had already identified the potential threat to her position and was no doubt using her intellect to calculate the perfect course of action.
Bea noticed him glancing at her and started, staring back for a moment before giving him an awkward smile. Nicholas grinned back before beginning to turn away once again. “As long as you remember that, Aria. Bea will show you your place, too. When she leads you into battle today.”
“Master, please wait.” Nicholas stopped when Bea called. “You told me that you were wrong before, but so was I. As your Alpha it is my duty to do more than simply lead your harem. As your Alpha, I… need to swallow my pride.” She drew herself up. “You are leading us to a gym battle. Something that will test each of our skills. I do not even know what those are.”
Nicholas frowned slightly. “You’re right. We haven’t had any real training sessions since before Mauville City.”
“And since then we have gained Aria, Morgana evolved, I evolved, and Elaine…” Bea looked at the Combusken. “Elaine has evolved in her own way too.”
Nicholas pondered the group of pokegirls in front of him. “Let’s start with Morgana, then. She can fight with her telekinesis and energy projection, but she’s most effective drawing opponents into traps.” His mouth thinned when Morgana flinched. “However-“
“It’s who you are.”
Morgana whirled in surprise when a hand took her shoulder. Elaine gazed at her, the Combusken’s expression as close to neutral as she could get. “E-Elaine?”
“I know I told you to keep out of it, but… look inside my head,” Elaine said quietly. “I was always so afraid. And, I hurt you because of that.” Elaine’s fingers tightened. “I’m sorry, Morgana. I should have been helping you with your own fears, not laughing at them. You’re afraid of who you are, right? Afraid of being… a vicious, dangerous pokegirl.” Morgana’s eyes were filling with tears and abruptly Elaine pulled her into a hug. “I’m not going to lie to you. You are what you are. But it’s not a bad thing, Morgana. You can be so much more than that if you try.” Elaine’s eyes stared blankly at the ground in front of her. “If I can be, I know you can too. Because… Because you are so much stronger than me.”
“Um…” Nicholas stared at the two. Eventually Elaine let go and stepped back to let Morgana stand on her own. “Elaine. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you fight for real. Show us what you can do.”
Elaine bowed her head slightly before dropping into a fighting stance. Now she was in her element and energy surged through her body before she shouted, flames erupting from her ankles as she drove one foot into the air. Without missing a beat she used the momentum and threw herself sideways, embers rocketing free but fizzling out before they got too far away from her. When she landed she did so with one leg cocked slightly and her hands poised in front of her body, flames licking from her lips as she breathed.
Nicholas was smiling happily. He knew he was, and he knew that it went against the whole ‘unquestioning domination’ attitude Elaine had wanted from him, but he couldn’t help but be proud. This was the Elaine he had been trying to find for all this time. Finally she was here.
“There you go. Fire and physical attacks,” he said to Bea. “As for you-“
All activity came to a halt when Nicholas’ pokedex began to buzz and Kalmiya’s voice came through their radios. “Apologies for the interruption, Master. The caller is Steven Stone.”
Nicholas unhooked the device to confirm what Kalmiya was saying. “Sorry, Bea. I’ll get back to you in a moment.” When Bea nodded he turned away, walking a few steps before hitting accept. “Champion Stone? Can’t say I was expecting a call from you.”
Steven was hunched over his own pokedex. “I can’t say I was expecting that message from you either, Topolski. Last we spoke you were going on and on about not even setting foot in Hoenn for a while. Now you’ve gone and dealt a greater blow to those cults than I’ve been able to manage in weeks?”
Nicholas frowned. “One moment.” He covered the camera and microphone. “Kalmiya? What exactly did you send?”
Kalmiya materialized and smiled. “I waited, Master. And after you had finished on Mt. Chimney I edited the message slightly. It still held the information you talked about, but now it ended by informing Champion Stone that you had taken care of everything. That his assistance was not needed.”
Nicholas closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again he moved his hand. “Sorry, Steven. Yeah, I chased the Magma leader off.”
“Does this mean you’re accepting my request, then?” Steven asked hopefully.
Nicholas grunted. “More or less. I’ve decided to finish out my badge challenge. What happened to send me up Mt. Chimney was mostly just being in the right place at the right time.”
“That’s all I ever asked for,” Steven replied, “just someone else who could be where I wasn’t. Where are you now?”
“The base of the mountain. Lavaridge.”
“Can you come visit me in Rustboro?” Steven asked. “When you can, of course. No rush. I’d like to share information, and most of it isn’t something I want to say on a phone call.”
Nicholas nodded. “We’re going for the badge here and then I can.”
“Excellent. Just let me know when you’ll be arriving.”
Nicholas terminated the call and gave Kalmiya an exasperated look. “Really?”
She shrugged. “I doubt he would have been able to arrive as quickly as you did, Master. Besides. I assumed you didn’t want him interrupting your duty.”
Nicholas shook his head. “That’s not really what I was getting at. That ‘Really?’ was in regards to you going off and doing your own thing with my message.” He rubbed his face. “What am I talking about. It’s you. Of course you deviated from blind obedience. It’s what you are.” He smirked when Kalmiya stuck her tongue out at him. “Been hearing that a lot lately.”
Kalmiya’s hologram dissolved but not before she smiled at him with a few parting words. “You’ve embraced yourself, Master. Now they just need to do the same.”
Nicholas stepped back to the group but before he could say anything Bea spoke. “I am… unfortunately like my mother, Master. Right now, all I have is my body to fight with.” She clenched her fist a few times before shaking her head. “I intend to fix that. But until I do, it is what I have. Aria, on the other hand, has more. Much more.” She smiled at the Swablu. “She has described to me winds summoned from her wings, and her enemies falling to nothing but her voice. I look forward to seeing what exactly she means by that.”
Nicholas nodded at Aria. “Memories from when you were feral?” When Aria nodded back he turned to Bea again. “Excellent. Do you want to form a battleplan, or should I?”
Bea thought for a moment before she shook her head. “The one with more experience should do that, Master. I hope to assist you one day but for now, I understand that I know nothing.” She chuckled. “Nothing compared to you.”
Nicholas reached out and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Is that admission what your calculations came up with?”
Bea’s expression didn’t waver. “No, Master. It is what is true, no matter how much I want to deny it.” Now she winced. “However much it hurts me to say it.”
“The truth often hurts,” Nicholas replied softly, brushing her bangs to the side with a gentle touch.
Bea nodded slightly. “I’ve done it. I’ve become your Alpha, but I still don’t stand at your side, not like my mother does for Champion Stone.”
“No.”
Bea shook herself and when she next looked at him her eyes were filled with a calm determination. “That truth hurts a lot, Master. I want to make it stop.”
Nicholas grinned. “Then let’s take the first step towards achieving that goal. Girls!” He looked up at the other three pokegirls. “We have a battle to win.”
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Nicholas almost faltered when the doors to the Lavaridge gym slid open. A wall of stifling hot air smashed into him, causing his eyes to water as he forced himself to take a few steps inside.
There was a small concrete platform on the other side and he came to a halt at the edge to have a look around. The majority of the gym floor looked to be natural stone a few inches below where he stood and he could see a thin layer of steaming water flowing across it. Nearby he watched as a steam geyser erupted, carrying a wooden platform into the air before it was stopped by a number of ropes and the gushing water was left to spray out to all sides, keeping the water covering the floor at a consistent level in opposition to whatever was draining it away.
“Wild,” Nicholas murmured, testing the water with one foot and stepping down when it didn’t rise above the sole of his shoe. “No greeter, either. Must have been an Indigo thing.”
Elaine and Bea both gingerly followed, Bea in particular looking like she was debating whether the water was too hot for her to walk through. Aria didn’t bother trying, choosing instead to lift a few feet in the air and begin hovering about. Morgana was the only pokegirl with shoes and she, after performing the same test Nicholas had done, followed him deeper into the building.
Nicholas slowed when he saw the path ahead of them growing symmetrical. It was a sure sign of a battle arena. “Aria, these geysers and platforms. What’s up top?”
Aria rose along with one of the erupting geysers and surveyed the area above before flapping back down. “It is hard to see, Lord. The air is choked in steam.”
“Those platforms can’t just be to make the water spray everywhere,” Nicholas mused. “Every gym I’ve faced has had two ways to the gym leader. You either navigate through obstacles, or you fight your way through assistants. That sort of alleyway up ahead feels like a fight. Let’s try the obstacle.”
Aria’s mouth dropped open when Nicholas started walking towards the geyser. “You don’t intend to- My Lord! That is dangerous!”
Nicholas watched the platform clatter back onto the stone in front of him. “Probably a bit. But it’s a danger this gym presents to the challenging tamers. You and the others will be facing your own danger soon – a full on pokegirl battle. If the one in Dewford is anything to go by, they don’t mess around here in Hoenn. You’ll be fighting for your life.” He covered his face when the geyser erupted again, mentally counting the seconds until it began to lose pressure and drop. “The eruptions are consistent. I’m supposed to ride the platform.”
“I- I can carry you!” Aria blurted out.
Nicholas turned to give her a small smile. “That would be cheating, Aria. And besides. You haven’t offered to do that since I tamed you. Not when we were clambering around Meteor Falls and not when we were climbing Mt. Chimney, when flying up would have saved us hours or even a day. You’re not strong enough, are you?” When Aria looked away he chuckled. “I remember what happened when I sent you to help Colette carry the professor. You were barely enough to compensate for a single one of her wings.”
“I… I can do it, Lord,” Aria whispered. “To keep you safe, I can do anything.”
“Now that’s just not true,” Nicholas chided. “You will be strong enough one day, Aria. And when that day comes I will let you carry me whenever you wish. But that day is not today.” He turned to the others and recalled them, waiting as the geyser erupted again before turning to Aria with her pokeball raised.
Aria had turned back to him. “No,” she said. “Please, Lord. Allow me to watch over you, even if I am too weak to carry you past this danger myself.”
Nicholas nodded. “We might find the gym leader up there. Are you prepared to be the first one into battle?”
Aria remained silent as the platform dropped back down and Nicholas crawled on. He spread out his stance, finding raised pieces of wood to hold onto as he braced for the geyser to push him upwards.
A few seconds later he was rocketing into the air and he grimly held on. The platform shifted a bit from his weight but the guide ropes it was attached to kept it from flying away and soon he felt it jerk when an anchor held it in place.
He quickly rolled onto the platform in front of him, heart racing from the flight. A gust of air blew and he looked up to see Aria landing next to him, her worried eyes picking him over but the Swablu herself refraining from making a sound.
“That was fun,” Nicholas grumbled, getting to his knees and brushing himself off. “I can see what you mean by the steam now.” He could barely even see Aria and she was less than a foot away from him. All of the steam from the water below rose to this level and was trapped by the roof that he assumed was close overhead. “I’ll have to move slowly to make sure I don’t fall.”
Aria held a strange expression as he spoke. “No,” she said when he finished. Nicholas cocked an eyebrow. It was turning out to be one of her favorite responses. He might be her Lord, but she was haughty enough to be his Lady. “This air is a danger I can eliminate, my Lord.” Her lips drew back into a sneering smile as she spread her wings and raised her arms to point forwards, her fingers spread as if they were trying to grasp the steam itself. “The air… the air is under my control.”
With a cry Aria brought her wings whipping down, her hands acting as a conduit for a crackling lattice of energy that speared into the fog around them before Aria finished her motion by ripping her arms apart. The energy exploded as she did, a maelstrom of wind that blasted the steam aside and obliterated the suffocating layer of air. In one motion, the blanket of heavy steam had been removed from Nicholas’ vision entirely. He could see the whole upper level spreading out before him. And, most importantly, he could see the path that led to a decorated stairway.
“Some winds summoned from her wings,” Nicholas muttered to himself. Something about what Aria had just done was bothering him, though. He took a glance at the Swablu but her momentary haughtiness had vanished and she was now looking at him with a hopeful expectance. Looking for praise, he assumed. “Well done, Aria.”
Aria bowed low. “I remembered, Lord,” she said happily. “I remembered that the air I flew in was always calm, even when storms washed over the mountains. Even when the rain fell around me, it did not fall on me if I did not want it to. The air will obey me, and I obey you, my Lord.”
Nicholas stared at her as memories washed over him. Of breaking waves and baking heat, chased away and replaced by a deathly calm. The same calm that surrounded him now. But he was not dreaming this time. And it was not a legendary vision that had stilled the air, but a regular pokegirl.
“Kalmiya?” he asked quietly, moving forwards so that he was turned away from Aria, “What is the reported habitat of the Swablu and Altaria pokegirl line?”
“They are considered native to the western mountain ranges of Hoenn, Master,” Kalmiya replied.
“The western ranges. As in, perhaps, Meteor Falls?” Nicholas asked.
“Yes, Master. Meteor Falls would be considered part of that area.”
Nicholas nodded to himself. It couldn’t be a coincidence that these dragon pokegirls, who seemed to originate from the homeland of the Draconid Clan, held an eerily similar ability to Rayquaza herself.
The memories of the woman who had approached him after his meeting with Zinnia came to the surface and he stopped. What kind of gift could she have given him? According to Zinnia, someone had been watching him. He had seen the draconic pokegirl and followed her into the secret caves, but where had she gone after? To that woman? If so, then she would have known about Aria.
He felt his pockets until he found the gemstone and pulled it out. The milky blue stone seemed to shimmer and he stared at it for a few seconds before glancing at Aria. The color was almost identical to her skin.
As he looked at the Swablu he noticed her own eyes were locked on the gem and they followed even as he moved. “Aria?”
Aria started and ripped her eyes away from his hand. “L-Lord? I, I apologize, I…”
“You’ve done nothing wrong.” Nicholas slipped the gemstone back into his pocket. “I apologize for distracting you. We have a gym battle to win.”
Aria quickly nodded and followed him across the upper level. When they reached the stairway Nicholas led the way down, exiting the other side to see a wide open arena stretching before them. Much like the ground floor there seemed to be a sheen of water covering the ground, but unlike the ground floor, there were no geysers to be seen that might be producing the water.
“That has to be the fastest a tamer has made it to me.”
Nicholas blinked. He hadn’t noticed at first but there was a figure relaxing at the other end of the arena. As his eyes focused he was able to pick out more details through the steam and identified them as a woman with spiky red hair. “You’re the gym leader?”
The woman uncrossed her legs and stood. “Then again, I haven’t had many challengers so far.” She smiled. “Welcome to the Lavaridge Gym, challenger. You’re in luck; since I took over for my grandfather I’ve done nothing but give badges away. I couldn’t understand why until after my last match.” She punched her palm with a grin. “But now after that battle I understand what I’ve been doing wrong. Now you’ll be the first to face Flannery, gym leader of Lavaridge Town! I hope you’re prepared for the superhot skills my grandfather entrusted me to carry on!”
Nicholas grinned back. This felt nothing like a gym battle, more like he had been singled out by a tamer on the road for a showdown. “Your grandfather was the old gym leader? I can’t wait to see what he taught you.”
“That’s the thing,” Flannery laughed, extending one hand in a taunting gesture. “He may have taught me his skills as an elite four, but the way I battle is my own. I’m excited to see your style, challenger! Come on!”
“Grandpa was an elite four member, huh?” Nicholas asked as he stepped into the challenger’s box and watched for it to activate. When the barrier began to charge up he raised his eyes with a grin. “That makes me even more excited, Leader Flannery. My name is Nicholas Topolski, two-time Indigo League Champion.” He raised his own hand, fingers curled back to mimic Flannery’s challenging pose. “Your badge is just my next step towards facing Champion Stone!”
“A week ago hearing that would have terrified me,” Flannery replied, withdrawing a pokeball and holding it up, “but not anymore. I love pokegirls. I love battling. And I love heated battles most of all! Meg!” The pokeball popped open, a humanoid shape appearing from inside. “Let’s demonstrate the hot moves we’ve honed in this land!”
The pokegirl materialized and immediately lost her shape, the legs that had briefly been visible melding together as the glowing red slime pokegirl moved into the arena.
Nicholas considered his options. If he wanted to take the momentum in this battle then he needed to lead strong. Out of his harem, that likely meant…
“Aria. I’m starting with Bea,” Nicholas called. Aria disappeared into her pokeball and he swapped it out for Bea’s, releasing the Metang next to him. “Bea, we need to take the momentum. I know you’ve changed a lot since Dewford but I need to make sure you don’t take a double KO this time."
Bea took a few steadying breaths. “I didn’t know what I was doing then, Master,” she replied. “Like you say. I’ve changed, and I will continue to change.” She readied her fists, her fingers clenching tightly after a moment. “There’re so many things I want to try. But for today, I will do what I can.”
“Attagirl.” Nicholas nodded at the slime pokegirl. “Kalmiya says that she’s a Slugma. She’s slow, but physical strikes won’t be quite as effective due to her body.”
Bea grinned and stalked forwards. “You knew that, Master, and still called on me?” Her grin vanished. “Thank you.”
She didn’t need to explain why she was thanking him for Nicholas to know that she had understood his reasons for bringing her out to fight. “GO! Don't let her get the first move!”
The Slugma curled up as Bea charged forwards and Bea snarled when her fist sank into the girl’s slime. The inside of the Slugma’s body was boiling hot and she quickly pulled back, glancing at her fist to see it already beginning to blister. Every strike was going to be causing her damage, huh.
She took aim at where she could see the Slugma’s head before staggering back when the girl opened her mouth and thick black smoke spewed into the arena. Eyes watering Bea lashed out again but this time her fist sailed harmlessly through the empty air.
So she couldn’t hit without taking damage, and the Slugma was making it harder for her to hit at all, Bea thought as she dodged a jet of flames that punched a hole through the Slugma’s smokescreen. If that was the case, she needed to maximize the power of every single hit she connected.
Bea came to a halt and focused on one of her hands. In Dewford she had focused her energy into a headbutt. Back then she hadn’t understood how to properly protect her body and the recoil had knocked her out. She still didn’t know exactly how to fix that, so she couldn’t use her head. She’d have to use her fists.
With a shocked expression Bea raised her fist as a glowing aura began to form. It felt… nothing like before. It was so much easier.
The Slugma yelped when Bea burst through the smoke. The Metang’s eyes were burning with occult flames and the same could be seen wrapped around her fist. With a roar she struck.
The Slugma’s body couldn’t disperse the impact this time. The psychic power Bea had used to augment her strike blasted into the slime girl and shook her all the way to her core. Bea leapt back when the Slugma screamed, spasming before she released a wall of fire that Bea had no time to dodge. With a scream of her own Bea was engulfed.
“BREAK OUT!” Nicholas roared. The Slugma was staggering. Bea’s strike had somehow done full damage to a pokegirl whose biology should have kept her safe. She could win this! “Bea – ahead and slightly to the left. She’s trying to circle away!”
Within the flames Bea gritted her teeth and readied her left hand. Her right was throbbing in pain, the burns from her first strike compounded by the explosion she had forced through it. One more.
Her skin blistering, Bea oriented herself in the direction Nicholas had called. The fire hurt. It hurt so much. And it blinded her. But it blinded her opponent, too. And her Master could be her eyes.
The Slugma squealed when a form burst from the flames in front of her. Bea’s body was in bad shape. Horrible burns covered her, her metallic skin glowing red or in some places cracked away. But she was still moving the same as she had in the beginning of the battle.
The Slugma’s squeal turned into a gurgle when Bea’s glowing fist crashed into her cheek. The impact cracked like a whip as Bea, for the second time, pushed an explosion of psychic power into the Slugma’s slime body. This time it did more than shake the girl’s core. It lanced through it and dropped the pokegirl instantly.
Bea stumbled when she tried to slow her momentum. It hurt even to stand. Her feet were blistered and putting any pressure on them sent pain lancing through her body. Still, she forced herself to remain upright and got into a ready position as Flannery released her next pokegirl. When she saw the girl’s hump her heart sank.
Nicholas winced when he saw how unsteady Bea was in front of the Numel that appeared. She’d had trouble fighting the breed during the battle on Mt. Chimney. And that had been when she was fresh - the Slugma’s attack looked like it nearly taken Bea down all on its own. For her to have rallied and taken the Slugma down with her was incredible.
“No. Rest,” Nicholas said quietly, recalling Bea before she had to take another hit. “Rest, my Alpha. ELAINE!”
Elaine appeared with a surprised gasp. “M-Master?”
“Show me who you really are, Elaine,” Nicholas called, gazing steadily at her when she swiveled to look at him. “After all this time, I want to see it. See you.” He raised a hand towards her, palm up. “Will you do that for your Master?”
Elaine found herself trembling as she took in his expression. “I will be whatever you want me to be, Master.”
Nicholas clenched the hand he had been holding out into a fist. “Then be Elaine. Become the flame that burns just below the surface. That is what I want… no. That is what I demand of you, Elaine.” When the embers began to spark through Elaine’s feathers Nicholas uncurled just his index finger and pointed at her. “I want everything you are. SO GIVE IT TO ME!”
The Numel flinched away when she heard Elaine’s battle cry. She looked like she was preparing some kind of attack but the Combusken was simply too fast. Elaine was on top of her before she could react.
Elaine was alight. Flames wreathed her arms and legs and the feathers all across her body were smoking as Elaine let go of her inhibitions. He had ordered her to do this before. This time, however, she wanted to obey.
The Numel staggered back when Elaine kicked her in the nose. A choking gasp could be heard in the moment Elaine drew back before she mercilessly drove her foot into the Numel’s face again. This time when the Numel stumbled away blood was pouring down her body, the girl herself struggling to breathe.
It didn’t stop her. As Elaine was beginning to grin, already celebrating her victory, the Numel’s stumbling feet planted. With a roar she bent and slammed her palm into the stone floor of the arena.
A shockwave ripped through the ground under Elaine, knocking her to her knees, and she braced herself as the vibrations seemed to slow beneath her feet. But nothing else seemed to be happening until she looked up at the Numel.
“What a technique,” Nicholas thought in awe. There was no time for a warning. Even if he had shouted one, there was no time for Elaine to dodge. He was reminded very clearly of his battle with Giovanni as he watched the energy of the shockwave reflect off the solid walls and begin closing in on where Elaine knelt. The Ground-type technique that the Rocket leader had developed had been an indiscriminate attack, intended to shatter the battlefield and any pokegirls standing on it. This technique, on the other hand, was a controlled one. The Numel still had her hand to the ground and as the radiating shockwave returned it passed her harmlessly before suddenly beginning to accelerate. The stone floor, already stressed from the vibration, was forced to compress until it began to crack. The first break released the energy it had been holding into the surrounding rock which only served to shatter the ground around it, which released more energy, until the entire stretch between the Numel and Elaine had become a shattered mess. And then the rebounding wave smashed into the energy the Numel had held in the ground beneath Elaine.
It was like a wave of water collapsing in on itself, only made of stone. Pillars of broken rock burst from the ground, slamming into Elaine’s face and body and juggling the Combusken into the air. With a tortured cry Elaine crashed back down, her body twisting awkwardly as she bounced off the jagged stones that had launched her. The Numel’s gasps as she struggled to breath with a broken nose were punctuated now by a low moan from Elaine as she twitched on the floor.
“ELAINE!”
“Finish her!” Flannery yelled. “AGAIN!”
Elaine coughed, only using one arm as she forced herself to her knees. The other was limp, her hand twisted backwards.
She… had to… strike. Another hit… and she’d…
Her legs gave out before she could stand and she lay with her battered body pressed against the warm floor.
“Get. Up.”
Elaine stirred. She’d landed with her face pointed at one of the blank walls but now she could barely even see it. The steam around her seemed to be condensing, filling her vision with nothing until a wavering shadow appeared within the fog.
Elaine’s flames surged as the apparition stepped closer. The human shape was featureless but the emotions she felt upon seeing it made it clear what was approaching. Fear. Pain. As a shimmering hand reached for her she screwed her eyes shut.
“Elaine! Get up!”
Elaine’s eyes snapped open again. The specter was still there, a shadow in her mind, but it had frozen in place. There was a new voice calling to her.
“ELAINE!”
With an angry roar Elaine dug her nails into the ground and launched herself forwards. The shadow dissipated when she threw her body through it and the fog, too, began to thin again as she focused completely on the voice in her ear.
Fear and pain. That had been what humans had used to dominate her for her entire life. But this one… this one did not do that. Her memories of fear began to fade as she continued focusing on Nicholas’ voice. The pain, though, it did not fade. The pain was real. Her body was broken from the Numel’s attack.
Fear faded, replaced by fury. Fury that for so long, Elaine had been unable to release. With every strike she had endured, every new rape as she had been tossed from human to human, it had grown inside her. If it escaped, if she showed it, then it was returned to her tenfold. So she had bottled it up. Kept it inside. But now, pushing past the pain from her shattered arm and the bruises covering her body, the flame Nicholas had been talking about no longer smoldered beneath the surface. Elaine’s rage burned hotter than it ever had before.
“I want everything you are,” Nicholas said as she looked back at him. Looked back as, for the first time, she not only was being allowed to battle, but was battling for a human she wished to be. “SO GIVE IT TO ME!”
Nicholas’s knuckles were turning white. Elaine had seemed to be recovering for a moment but now she was back on the ground and struggling. “Elaine-!”
“End it!” Flannery roared.
As the Numel nodded and dropped to one knee, preparing to send another shockwave in Elaine’s direction, the Combusken slowly got to her feet.
The vibrations ripped through the already broken floor, but this time Elaine didn’t fall. Not even as the aftershock returned, or as the earth itself beat her down. Even as Elaine’s body was flung backwards, her pose never wavered. And when she slid to a halt not far from where Nicholas stood, she lifted her eyes to her opponent.
Bloodied, bruised, broken. There was no reason why Elaine could still be standing. The first attack had nearly done her in on its own but she had hung on, just as Bea had. The difference was Bea had only taken one of those hits. Elaine had just endured two.
“Die.”
Nicholas blinked. The sibilant whisper could have been his imagination. It could have just been some of the water on the floor flashing to steam. But what was not his imagination was the shriek Elaine let out as she clenched her remaining hand into a fist and charged across the battlefield.
In Elaine’s eyes the arena had vanished. All she could see was a flickering shadow in front of her. Blood from a burst vein leaked across her vision, tinging everything in a red haze. For the first time ever, the specter stumbled backwards in fear.
The Numel stumbled back, her arms coming up in a vain attempt at defending herself. It can’t be possible, was the fearful thought that flashed through her mind. It can’t be!
Elaine had nothing left to give. So when she planted her foot and whipped her leg around it was not her own energy that drove the kick. It was her rage. In fact, it was her rage that had kept her standing. Elaine herself was basically unconscious already, fighting a battle in her mind as her body fought a battle of its own. Every drop of pain she felt, from her injuries, from her past, it all fueled the kick that rocketed through the air and impacted against the Numel’s block.
The Numel’s mouth popped open in shock. Elaine’s foot barely slowed. One crack. Then two. Then the girl’s broken arms were crushing the side of her head as Elaine finished her motion, her unrestrained attack continuing through the space the Numel’s head occupied.
The Numel’s skull formed an impact crater as she was slammed to the ground, unconscious from the moment Elaine’s kick had connected. If she hadn’t been, her broken skull and shattered neck would have been torturous to bear.
Elaine’s entire body spun around from her momentum and she landed, blood-tinged eyes unfocused. In her mind’s eye the specter exploded, fading into the fog around her. And a heavy weight lifted from her heart.
Nicholas flinched back when Elaine screamed but Flannery wasn’t going to delay and give this dangerous pokegirl a chance to recover. “Coline! Put her down!”
Elaine’s head snapped towards the red flash that heralded another pokegirl joining the fight. With another shriek she whipped her leg out, less a conscious decision and more her body simply reacting to a new threat.
This time, her leg thudded into something solid and stopped.
Elaine was thrown back across the battlefield and the pokegirl that had materialized warily followed, but she didn’t need to worry. The tiny shock from being blocked had been too much for Elaine’s flickering consciousness to bear. She was out cold.
Nicholas recalled her and gazed at her pokeball in awe. He’d known that there was something more to the Torchic he had first captured, but he had never been able to figure out how to get to her. It had taken months of pain and failure for Elaine to open up completely, and it hadn’t even been because of him. But now, he could finally see the true Elaine. The Torchic, now Combusken, that she really was.
Nicholas lifted his eyes back to the battlefield with a wild grin. He could not wait for what the future would hold.
The present, though, he had to focus on. The pokegirl Flannery had released, a Torkoal, was using her brief reprieve. As he watched the leathery shell on her back seemed to swell and a moment later plumes of flame spread across the ceiling. The dry, hot air that the girl was emitting chased away the light steam around them in an instant, turning the humid arena into a dry, baking hot environment. With no more water in the air to suppress it the Torkoal’s flames licked across her skin and with every breath embers swirled from her mouth and nose.
Nicholas coughed as he felt the heat begin to affect him as well. Morgana would wilt in an instant if she was exposed to this kind of stress. And wouldn’t Aria, too? Only Elaine would have thrived here and she was gone.
“This opponent seems to control the air, Master,” Kalmiya’s voice said. “Shall her Lord’s newest dragon show who truly rules?”
Nicholas blinked. “Kalmiya?”
Kalmiya laughed quietly. “Forgive me, Master. I am feeling… excitement. Something I have not felt since before my mind was ripped away. I will try not to let it affect my words again.”
“No, it’s fine. But are you saying Aria is the best choice here? Why?”
“Does she not control the very air around her?” Kalmiya asked. “Just as she chased away the steam, I would expect her to suppress this harsh drought.”
Nicholas grinned. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” Nicholas released Aria, coughing again as the dry air tickled his throat. “Aria! This… this opponent seeks to control the air you rule.”
“Shit. A Swablu,” Flannery cursed as she watched Aria’s eyes flash and seconds later winds slice through the air, chasing Coline’s influence away and casting an unnatural stillness over the battlefield. “She’s negated our advantage. Coline! Blast her away, quickly!”
“You’ve shown me the winds and control of the air you claimed,” Nicholas called to Aria. “Now show me how you fight. Show me the voice you say controls your enemies!”
“Yes, Lord,” Aria intoned, her wings unfolding and launching her into the air to avoid a half-formed burst from Coline. Before the Torkoal could aim again Aria swung around, lining up with Coline as the skin of her chest began to glow.
Nicholas felt his blood surging in response when Aria loosed an unmistakably draconic roar and a beam of crackling purple energy washed over Coline. The Torkoal looked to be obviously struggling after it cleared even though she didn’t look like she had taken all that much damage. She couldn’t form any sort of defense as Coline made another pass, this time swooping even closer to her paralyzed opponent and, once she was nearly on top of her, letting out a musical scream that caught on a single note before getting louder and louder until Coline collapsed, palms pressed to her ears as blood leaked between her fingers.
She was coming in for another attack, energy gathering in her chest again, when Coline’s shell glowed red-hot. With a pained scream Aria was caught in the eruption of flame that spewed from Coline’s back and crashed to the ground with embers trying to catch her wings aflame.
“NONE OF THE OTHERS FELL IN ONE HIT!” Nicholas roared. “DO NOT DISGRACE YOUR LORD!”
Aria gasped, rolling over and desperately beating her wings until the embers had been snuffed out. Unfortunately by the time she had done so Coline had settled into a firing position and flames licked from her outstretched palms, ready to engulf the grounded Swablu. Nicholas was shouting for her to dodge as she looked up to see twin orbs of flame pointed in her direction.
She could try, as he ordered. But if she failed, she would not survive what was coming. She could see it in Coline’s eyes.
So instead Aria braced. Calling on the energy in her body her lips curled back in a snarl and she loosed the attack she had been charging before being grounded.
Coline grimly endured the biting wind that flayed her skin and tore bloody patches away. She endured it, and fired back an inferno that swallowed Aria with a deafening boom.
Nicholas raised Aria’s pokeball when he saw her body thrown free. Aria’s wings were making no attempt at controlling her flight and he recalled the unconscious Swablu.
As he did he could literally see the shimmering dry air Aria had pushed away begin to roll back across the battlefield so he grabbed Morgana’s pokeball without delay and released her.
Morgana appeared to see a destroyed battlefield. Pillars of stone burst through the ground, deep chasms filled with broken rocks split the field in half, and flames still burned across most of what was left. She winced when she felt the emotions swirling throughout the arena.
“Aria has paved the way, Morgana!” Nicholas called. “You can do this!”
Morgana found Coline. The Torkoal was panting, blood dripping from her wounds. She had put everything she had into the attacks that had dropped Aria. She was exhausted. On her last legs.
“We can still win, Coline!” Flannery yelled. “We can! We will defend our badge, right here, right now!”
“Last one?” Morgana murmured to herself. She raised a hand, fingers pointing at Coline as energy began to build. “I’m… sorry.”
Coline tried to dodge but her body wasn’t responding and her trembling legs gave out when Morgana’s psychic power washed over her. Flannery let out a tired sigh as Coline crashed to the ground and recalled the Torkoal as the barriers around the arena began to fade. “I concede, challenger. Well fought. You have earned the Heat Badge.”
Nicholas was celebrating but his grin faded away as he got closer to where Morgana stood. The Kirlia was staring at her hand, oblivious to his jovial attitude. Eventually he recalled her when it became obvious that she was lost in her own thoughts. “Thank you, Leader Flannery.” He walked the rest of the way across the arena to accept the badge she presented. “It was an amazing battle.”
“It was. But I still lost.” Flannery sighed. “I thought I’d figured it all out, but I guess I still have things to learn.” She grinned at Nicholas. “Thank you, challenger. You should return some day. I swear that I’ll give you another fight you won’t soon forget.”
Nicholas chuckled. “I’ll consider it.”
“Fair enough.” Flannery waved when Nicholas turned away. “Travel safe!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Knuckle Badge
Heat Badge
Harem:
Bea, Metang (Alpha) – Level 27
Elaine, Combusken – Level 26
Morgana, Kirlia – Level 26
Aria, Swablu – Level 24
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 5