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.
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Chapter 21
One Step Behind
Nicholas sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if you can understand me, but if you can, I’m sorry.”
The Absol continued searching the room without as much as a flick of her tail to indicate that she had heard him. It was just the two of them, the rest of Nicholas’ harem having been sent away to ensure the pokegirl saw no potential threats around her. Her actions the night before had made Nicholas believe that, even feral, this pokegirl wasn’t an active threat.
“I need to talk to you. I can see clearly that you’re feral.” Nicholas watched the girl sweep past him yet again, her eyes flicking to the door he was leaning against before she moved on. “So, I’m sorry. I’m sorry because to get what I need, you need to be tame. For that to happen, someone needs to tame you. I’m hoping that you’ll be receptive. If you’re not, it’s happening anyways. And that’s the part I’m sorry for.”
That sentence got him a response, either due to his tightening resolve or perhaps the words themselves, Nicholas wasn’t sure. But the Absol stopped moving, turning completely to watch him. And even though Nicholas didn’t say anything else, didn’t make any moves, she remained frozen in place.
“Is that what you’re like?” Nicholas asked. “Your mind is locked on one thing at a time. You’re like Kalmiya once was, before I saved her too.” He shook his head. “This probably won’t work, but…”
Just as he’d feared the Absol didn’t react at all when he slid his shorts off, nor when he removed his underwear as well to let his cock swing free. Whatever set the priorities of her single-minded focus apparently had ‘sex’ at a much lower position than even just a potential interaction.
She’d frozen when he’d made the decision that he was going to tame her no matter what. Okay, so he’d step back. Nicholas leaned up against the door again, sliding down until he was seated with his erection pointed in the air. The Absol still didn’t change her position so he let out his breath, taking his eyes off of her and forcing himself to relax.
As he finally was able to return to the way he’d been before, not thinking of any potential action involving the feral, the Absol moved again. Nicholas glanced up when she began walking but kept his attention as a simple curiosity, an observation, while he waited to find out what her priority list had dropped to. For a few moments she appeared to be returning to what she had been doing before, searching for an escape route, but this time when she passed in front of him her eyes darted down to his new position on the floor, and then lower.
The Absol stopped in front of him, her gaze locked on Nicholas’ twitching penis. “I’m not going to initiate a thing,” Nicholas said calmly, looking the pokegirl over now that she’d stopped in a much closer spot to him. It helped maintain his erection, letting his eyes wander over the naked feral. Much of the Absol’s appearance was familiar thanks to Abby – white fur covered her limbs, long white hair dropped from her head, and in between the brilliant white was an equally deep black skin. But Abby had been clothed. So the white bush that hid the Absol’s pussy from view was new. Her tail, a similar form to the curved horn on her head, that was also something he hadn’t seen much of with Abby. And, though she wasn’t turned away from him now, when she had been walking around he’d seen fur growing on her back, ranging from either shoulder down to the small of her back and coming to a point just above where her tail emerged. All of that, though, he assumed was normal for an Absol. If he’d had the opportunity to see Abby nude he figured she’d look much the same. This Absol had one major difference differentiating her from Joseph Stone’s pokegirl.
The pair of breasts hanging from her chest were absolutely massive.
Nicholas had a thing for breasts. He knew he did and he was surrounded by opportunities to indulge, fondling his pokegirls as one of his most common methods of foreplay. The tight clothing Elaine wore, the cleavage he’d seen in the middle of Morgana’s mega evolution, those were just two current examples of the things he loved most about his harem’s bodies. And the Absol standing in front of him put them all to shame.
Her chest was so massive that even though she was completely naked, without any sort of supporting aid, her breasts pushed together naturally. Her cleavage naked rivaled Morgana’s clothed. Which was astonishing, considering the Absol was around his height, and Morgana towered over both of them by a matter of feet.
Nicholas’ thoughts were interrupted when the body he was staring at moved again. In a new direction this time. The Absol squatted down and reached her hand out to rub his shaft.
I can do this. It’s what I had to do with Morgana, Nicholas thought to himself, relaxing his body entirely and allowing the Absol to play with his dick however she liked.
He held back as long as he could but eventually dribbles of precum welled up and Nicholas found himself straining to hold back an orgasm. The visuals of the Absol combined with her curious exploration of his penis was becoming too much.
It was good, then, that a bit of the liquid dripped down his shaft and onto the Absol’s fingers. The girl stopped her motions and raised her hand, peering at the wet sheen before cautiously licking.
Nicholas grunted as his dick twitched, a small spurt of cum coming out as he began to lose his hold on his orgasm. He was debating whether to just let go when his vision was completely filled with a wall of black flesh. His concentration shattered when the Absol crushed her breasts into his face and he began to come right before he felt a weight slam down on his erection.
The Absol was greeted by a full load of cum in her vagina as she dropped onto Nicholas’ dick and instantly she let out a soft cry, her lower body trembling as Nicholas’ penis tapped against her walls in the throes of his orgasm. Nicholas quickly recovered from the shock of what had happened and moved his focus from holding back his orgasm to holding back from beginning to pleasure the pair of breasts in his face, remaining completely passive as the Absol clung to him.
He was focused enough that he recharged very quickly and soon the Absol gasped, feeling as Nicholas’ cock swelled inside of her. She started sliding back before screaming in pleasure and collapsing on top of him, the motion having caused Nicholas’ engorged member to drag along the roof of her vagina until it pressed firmly against her g-spot. Without him trying to hold back her sudden motion triggered a second orgasm and the Absol almost sounded like she was crying as his cock bounced off her walls, sending the feral’s body seizing as it firmly, and repeatedly, triggered an orgasm with every hit on her most sensitive aera.
Eventually Nicholas noticed that the Absol had gone still again. He carefully pushed her body backwards, ready to relax if she reacted, but the pokegirl’s head lolled to the side as he moved her. She’d fainted.
After a moment of deliberation Nicholas shifted, wincing when the Absol’s dead weight crushed his dick for a moment before he could pull out, and struggled upright with his hands under the girl’s armpits. It took him a minute but he got her onto the bed eventually, dragging her as far onto the mattress as he could before staggering back with a groan. The Absol’s groin was sticky, her white hair mixed with his cum and her own fluids, but he decided to leave her alone for now. It would be easier to clean her up when she was awake and, hopefully, tame.
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“A great calamity approaches.”
Nicholas offered the Absol half of his sandwich which the girl accepted after a moment. “I guessed that. What calamity? Where?”
“A great calamity. Nature will die.”
Nicholas sighed. It was the same thing from this pokegirl, over and over. She’d woken up a few hours after he and the harem had returned to the hotel after their lunch run and instantly begun to do what she had been doing the night before. Howling a warning.
“Listen. Without specifics we can’t do anything about this approaching calamity,” Nicholas said. “I was really hoping that you’d have more for us now that you’re tame.”
“Yes. You tamed me, didn’t you?” The Absol picked at her crotch. She hadn’t seemed too interested in a shower or anything after waking. “You must flee.”
“Flee from what,” Nicholas hissed. When the Absol looked back at him with the same neutral expression he swore. “Why did I bother. Why did I bother? You’re useless to me.”
“Without me you would not know to flee,” the Absol replied haughtily.
“Flee! For a great calamity approaches. No, I will not elaborate.” Nicholas glared at the girl. “I tamed you because that’s all you could spout while feral. I wanted information. I wanted to know what, and where, so I could stop what is coming.”
“It is inevitable. You can not stop it,” the Absol replied. “I have seen it, and so-“
“Precognition is bullshit.” Nicholas gave the Absol a grim smile when the girl’s eyes narrowed. “There are forces in this world that deny fate.”
“I am never wrong.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Nicholas stood. “You know what I think? I think you don’t know anything. I think all you can sense is that something is coming.” He looked around at the harem. “I bet I know more than you do.”
The Absol snorted.
“The coming calamity will be caused by two legendary pokegirls. Groudon and Kyogre. The land will break, the seas will rise. All that lives will be wiped away.” The Absol went still as Nicholas began to speak. “Nothing human or pokegirl can stop them. But they will be released by humans. Humans can stop humans. I can stop the humans, if I knew were to go.” He looked down at the motionless pokegirl. “Look at me.” When the Absol finally did he opened his eyes wide so she could see. “I am Draconid, empowered by the eternal ones. It is my duty and my purpose to stop this calamity. I will try, regardless of what you believe or see. And I will deny fate, because not even Celebi, the chronicler of all things in time, knows my future. Eternity holds no sway over me.”
All of the pokegirls in the room turned to look at him. “Master… you never told us that part,” Bea called.
“No, but you’ve met her. Met Celebi.” Nicholas gestured at Bea, Elaine, and Morgana. “The three of you met her on the Battle Frontier. You know her as Celine.”
“But Celine… was…” Morgana’s hands covered her mouth. “Master, she was… she said she was part of your harem.”
Nicholas chuckled. “Yup. She can’t see my future so she’s chosen to stay with me and watch. I’m her tamer, and she is my pokegirl.”
“Anyone can say whatever they wish,” the Absol sniffed. “I have seen what is to come.”
“I don’t care what you choose to believe. You can’t help me, so that’s all there is to it.” Nicholas turned away. “You’re tame now so whatever choice you make is your own. Goodbye.”
The Absol remained on the bed for a few minutes, a confused look on her face, but when the others all turned away from her and began talking amongst themselves she slowly headed for the door.
Nicholas didn’t react when the door clicked behind him. “What about Marin, Bea?”
“The issue is that we have no strong members to fight Flying-types,” Bea replied, her eyes darting to the door for a moment. “Are you sure, Master?”
“She was strong. But if she doesn’t want to be here it’d be a bad idea for me to force her to be,” Nicholas replied. “I’ve learned that already. Now. If we don’t have any one pokegirl to be our ace we’ll just have to fight smart. I think we start with Aria, test the gym leader’s capabilities in air-to-air combat. I’m sure they’ve trained mostly in air-to-ground.”
“For challengers yes, Master, but if they have nothing but Flying-types then all of their training sessions include air-to-air,” Bea pointed out. “I think we should start with Morgana. Aria and I can fight in the air, now that I’ve perfected my levitation. Elaine is at the biggest disadvantage, and Marin mostly uses physical techniques, so having Morgana lead with her psychic and energy attacks would be a good way to set the tone of the battle.”
Nicholas nodded. He and the others strategized for about an hour before finally deciding on a battle plan and Nicholas returned them all to their pokeballs before checking out of the hotel and walking towards the large gym building that was nestled right in the center of Fortree City.
He hoped they could take the badge on the first attempt so that he wasn’t tied down for very long.
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Maxie sat in front of Groudon’s unmoving form. He didn’t leave her side very often, only to eat and sleep. He’d sent his lieutenants out to scour Hoenn, searching for any clue they could find that would help awaken their Goddess. They were so close.
Maxie stirred when he felt the air in the chamber shift. The stifling heat he was so familiar with had begun to fade. No! He shot to his feet. Was Groudon’s power fading?
“Be at ease, human.”
Maxie swiveled at a feminine voice. In the shimmering heat haze a figure could be seen, almost hovering in the air. As he watched a long tail flicked from the shadows and the apparition spoke again. “You are so close to correcting my greatest regret.”
“Who- Who are you?” Maxie croaked.
“I am but a shadow of Rayquaza,” the apparition said. “My sister must return. You must…” the shadow wavered, flickering with the haze. “…orb of power. It is guarded… on Mt. Pyre.”
“What? What orb? What are you talking about?” Maxie reached out as the shadow began to fade. “Please!”
“Release the seal… locked away… by her opposite’s power…”
Maxie tried calling out again but the shadow was gone. What had it been? What could it mean? He knew the name Rayquaza. The emerald dragon that was the enemy of Groudon. She… regretted fighting her sisters? Groudon’s power, this orb, locked away by that damned whale, Kyogre?
On the other side of the continent Archie walked through the Aqua storerooms, inspecting the deep-sea gear and equipment they’d acquired. Matt would be returning soon with the data from the Weather Institute. If it confirmed what their scouts had found, they’d need a way to reach that deep cavern. There was one possibility, but it was a massive risk. He couldn’t order an attack on Slateport without knowing that the prize was worth it.
“Be at ease, human.”
Archie whirled. In the shadows of some crates a pair of eyes stared back at him and as he watched a long green tail flashed in the light for just a moment before vanishing into the shadows once again. “Who are you?”
“I am but… a shadow, of Rayquaza,” the apparition stated. “You are so close to correcting my greatest regret.”
“Rayquaza? You locked her away! You’re the reason Kyogre is not here!” Archie started towards the shadowy figure but to his shock he couldn’t move more than a step. “What do you want from me, you bitch?”
“My sister must return.”
Archie stopped struggling against the strange force keeping him back. “What?”
“You must find…” the eyes blinked and for a few seconds they were gone. Then they appeared again and the voice continued as if it had never been interrupted. “…orb of power. It is guarded on Mt. Pyre.”
“Orb? What orb?” Archie asked. “Hey, what is this?”
“Release the seal.” The points of light that were the apparition’s eyes began to fade as her voice grew fainter. “Locked away… by her opposite’s… power…”
Archie staggered forwards when the force holding him vanished and he drove his hands into the shadows but there was nothing there. As he stepped back he reviewed what he had just heard.
He knew the name Rayquaza. The emerald dragon that was the enemy of Kyogre. She… regretted fighting her sisters? Kyogre’s power, this orb, locked away by that damned beast, Groudon?
Zinnia’s breathing evened as she watched the future stabilize. Something she could not see had been clouding everything in shadow, her subtle machinations being erased. But now, both cults were pointed directly at Mt. Pyre. She opened her eyes, gazing at the shadowy image of herself she had projected. With a guilty look she waved, forcing the image to dissolve into smoke. Her Mistress would not forgive her for impersonating her. Her life was now forfeit, if it had not already been before.
It was necessary. Her life was but one of those that must be sacrificed to save them all.
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Winona watched with a smile as Aria swooped past her. “Your dragon flies beautifully, Nicholas.”
Nicholas smiled as well. Aria was taking a victory lap. How would she act afterwards? Would she repeat her mistakes in Petalburg? But he pushed those thoughts away and accepted the badge Winona handed him. “She does.”
He was stepping out of the gym with Aria at his shoulder when he saw the figure waiting outside.
The Absol nervously shifted backwards as Nicholas ignored her and headed for the pokecenter. “Human!”
“My name is Nicholas,” Nicholas called without slowing.
“Nicholas-“ the Absol huffed when Nicholas turned a corner and hurried after him, barely catching up by the time he was walking through the pokecenter doors. She followed him and Nicholas turned after handing his pokeballs to the attendant on duty. “Nicholas.”
“I told you. You’re useless to me,” Nicholas replied dismissively.
The Absol winced. “The calamity has… grown closer.”
“Yes I believe that is how time works,” Nicholas replied. “A few hours ago it was a few hours further away.”
“No.” The Absol matched his eyes with a grave expression. “It… is coming. Sooner than before.”
“And here I thought you couldn’t tell when or where it was coming,” Nicholas replied. “You refused to make me believe otherwise before.”
“I have never been wrong,” the Absol said, repeating her words from earlier, “but I can not deny that what I believed before is no longer true. The calamity was a shadow approaching, but it has become an imminent threat.”
The Chansey behind the counter nervously cleared her throat and Nicholas turned to accept his pokeballs. “Don’t worry. We’ll leave,” he said to the pokegirl, earning a relieved smile back. “So. You can tell the time, or at least an approximate time,” he said as the two left the pokecenter. “And you say something has changed to accelerate the timetable. Something has… changed the future.”
The Absol grimaced and looked away from him. “Yes.”
“Well?”
Slowly the Absol looked back. “I am… sorry, for my words. You claim that you will stop this calamity?”
“I will do my best,” Nicholas replied.
“Then will you let me follow you?” the Absol asked. “If you succeed, I would like to witness it.”
“Now that’s quite the request after your attitude earlier,” Nicholas replied. “And why should I let you travel with me?”
The Absol hesitated for a few moments before raising her head and reaching down with both hands to spread her pussy. “I will give you my body.”
Nicholas burst out laughing, causing the Absol to drop her pose immediately. “You’ll ‘give me’ your body? No, you’ll ‘become mine’ if you come with me. I have no use for a wild Absol. I do have use for one in my harem.” He turned to her. “That is, I would if she chooses to use her powers to help me. Without hesitation.”
The Absol dropped her eyes with a bitter smile. “I am already yours, human, Nicholas. Aren’t I? I felt the urge to return to you the moment I left. You tamed me, and my body remembers.”
“That’s why I say if you come with me you’ll become mine,” Nicholas explained. “Right now you can walk away. You’d hesitate, you’d feel the urge to return, but you could do it without much effort as long as your mind was made up. But if you became mine,” Nicholas reached out, caressing her cheek as he lowered his voice to a soft whisper, “I do not let go that easily.”
The Absol was hesitating and Nicholas waited for her, barely holding his hand against her face. Finally, though, he saw her body slump and her head pressed firmly against him. “What I see has always come to pass,” she whispered, her eyes sliding shut as she gave in. “If you can stop this, I will never wish to leave you. If you cannot, then I will at least die satisfied.”
“Fair enough.” Nicholas stroked her a few times before pulling back. “Do you have a name?”
“I have had a few, but my memories of them are incomplete,” the Absol murmured.
“So…?” Nicholas pressed.
“If you are to be my Master, then I would like one from you,” the Absol said. “If I live it will become my most treasured possession.”
Nicholas snorted. “Right. Well, don’t get too excited. I don’t hold names as anything sacred, more functional.” He contemplated the Absol. He didn’t really have any sort of system to the names he gave his pokegirls, more just trusting the first thing that came to mind when looking at them. That was how Morgana and Bea had gotten their names. Aria he’d named because of the musical sounds of the Swablu. So this Absol was…
“Midnight.” Nicholas nodded. “Midnight is your name. But I think I’ll call you Midna.” The Absol’s pitch black skin, horn, and tail had brought the night to mind, and the duality of her pure white fur had reminded him of the moon high in the sky. “Is that acceptable?”
“Midna.” Midna smiled. “Thank you. I will be Midna.”
“Glad to hear you like it. Now, Midna, is there anything you have to share with your Master?”
Midna’s smile faded. “I’m sorry. But… it is as you said. I do not know what will come, or where, or when. I only know that it will be coming now sooner than before, and that it will be a great calamity beyond anything I have ever seen.”
“You’re the canary in the coal mine.” Nicholas chuckled when Midna looked confused. “It’s an old human term. It means that you’re an early warning sign, only able to sense danger, not identify it. Well, that’s fine. Maybe you’ll feel something later that will help me.”
Midna bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t help what you are.” Nicholas kissed her forehead, causing Midna to look up in surprise as he turned away. “Come on. I want to head to Lilycove city, and it’s probably a week or two away. You can meet the others for real once we’re on the road.”
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POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Knuckle Badge
Heat Badge
Stone Badge
Balance Badge
Dynamo Badge
Feather Badge
Harem:
Bea, Metang (Alpha) – Level 40
Elaine, Blaziken – Level 40
Morgana, Gardevoir – Level 41
Aria, Altaria – Level 41
Marin, Sharpedo – Level 39
Midna, Absol – Level 42
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 5
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Steven hunched over the chaotic table in front of him. Old manuscripts, books, murals, there was no organization to the information he studied. “Tetsu, this one mentions the seals again. Where was that mural?”
The Metagross cast about until she found the picture Steven was looking for and handed it over. Steven spread the paper out, his eyes moving along the scene. Much of the cave painting was sky, empty space upon which a massive pokegirl dominated. Rayquaza. In front of her, on some of the little land that had been depicted, a human held out their hands, each glowing with light.
“This mural shows power being given to humanity,” Steven murmured. “Dated…” he checked his notes, “dated after the one in Granite Cave.” He brought his eyes back to the human figure. “Two points of light. Two primals sealed away?”
“It’s possible, Master,” Tetsu replied.
“If that’s true then these seals were given to humanity. Or, no. Maybe the keys to them were?” Steven returned to his notes before tossing them aside with a sigh. “There’s nothing. Nothing in any of these old manuscripts that hint towards a location of these seals, or the primals, or anything. Has the analysis on the weather data been done yet?”
Tetsu silently pushed a more modern stack of papers in Steven’s direction and watched him pore over them. He stopped halfway through before quickly flipping back and forth a few times. “Shit.”
Tetsu frowned. “Master?”
“Shit, shit, shit.” Steven flipped between two pages again before tearing one out and placing them side by side. “Oh that’s REALLY bad.”
“What is, Master?” Tetsu asked, moving so she could see what Steven was looking at.
“In Hoenn, currents flow from east to west,” Steven explained, pointing at a map of typhoon patterns. “But look. Over Ever Grande City, the storms come from the west. From the interior.”
Tetsu frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s not natural.” Steven tapped one of the pages. “Here. Somewhere here, there’s a current that flows towards Ever Grande. A… wellspring, maybe.” He shivered. “It can’t be. It can’t be that simple.”
“You believe that is where Kyogre rests, Master?” Tetsu asked quietly.
“I think that if someone in the Aqua cult is half as smart as me they’ll think so,” Steven replied grimly. “They were looking for this data specifically. There’s a reason for that.”
Tetsu nodded. “Should we send forces to the area?”
“Maybe a few tamers but there’s no real point. Stern has been doing oceanic surveys for years and hasn’t picked anything up. Wherever Kyogre is is hidden away.” Steven turned back to the mural. “No. I think the key to knowing the cults’ next move is in these seals. What did Rayquaza do, and what did she give humanity?”
His eyes were so focused on the light shining from the human’s hands that they ignored the obvious, the sky that dominated the scene, and the tiny bit of land, stranded in an ocean of air.
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Nicholas took a deep breath of the salty ocean air. They’d finally made it. Lilycove City.
It had been a stressful week getting here. Not really because of the terrain, which had been a much straighter path than the twisting and turning thing that climbed its way up to Fortree, but because of the intense density of ferals that lived between Fortree and Lilycove. Even the road was overgrown completely, forcing him to move forwards at half the pace he’d wanted just to remain safe. But they’d pushed through.
Bea moved up beside him. “We made it, Master.”
“We did. Now to find a ship that will take us to Mossdeep or Sootopolis,” Nicholas replied. “I think we all need a bit of a break after that.”
Bea laughed. “Don’t want Marin to ferry you, Master? I’m sure she’d love to.”
“That’s another week of swimming,” Nicholas retorted. “No. I’ll find time for her to play but right now, no. I want a boat to do the work for us.”
Bea laughed again and followed him into the city. It was quite the place. Skyscrapers to one side, the massive port to the other, and in between were all manner of building. He saw a sprawling entertainment complex, a contest hall, multiple museums, and that was just the tourism side of the city. There was also twice as much on the infrastructure end, shops, restaurants, hotels, it was easily the largest city he’d seen in Hoenn yet.
“Ha!” Nicholas ignored the noise at first but when he heard a familiar voice approaching he turned. “We meet again, Draconid.”
“Tio.” Nicholas blinked. The dragonoid person was approaching with another, very similar looking woman next to them. She was definitely female, though, and she differed from Tio by having red hair and yellow eyes. “Who’s this?”
“This is my sister, Tia,” Tio replied, bowing slightly as they introduced her. “I told her about the Draconid who wields the power of his Mistress.”
Nicholas let out his breath. “Riddles again? Well, fine. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tia.”
Tia curtsied with a smile. “And you, Nicholas of the Draconid clan. I hope my sister did not cause you distress.”
“Sister?” Nicholas looked at Tio again. “So you’re a woman after all.”
Tio made an annoyed noise. “Tia, please.”
“Please forgive Tio,” Tia said. “She acts for the good of all, I assure you. You say she spoke in riddles?”
Tio snorted and looked away as Nicholas spoke with Tia. “Yeah. If I may ask, what exactly are you two? Tio said you’re not Draconids, but draw power from Rayquaza’s creator, the original dragon.”
“That is true,” Tia replied. “We two are the only ones of that clan here in Hoenn. Tio, like most of us, is of the mind that those of Lady Rayquaza’s blood are lesser to those like us, who are of our Mistress Tirakan.”
“Tirakan.” Nicholas felt his very soul shiver when Tia said the name. “That’s her, isn’t it? The name of the original dragon. Just hearing it makes me feel…” he smiled bitterly. “Sad.”
“I can see why Tio told me of you.” Tia was smiling at Nicholas when he looked back at her. “I love all descendants of our Mistress equally, Nicholas of the Draconid clan. Because I know some have the potential to love as I do.”
Tio cleared her throat. “You’ve met. Can we leave now?”
“Not until I’ve clarified whatever you’ve confused this one with,” Tia chided. “Honestly, Tio, binding your chest like that, always speaking in circles. Our Mistress loved humanity unconditionally. Why can’t you?”
“You know why, sister,” Tio groused back. “They killed her. You might be able to forgive but I will never.”
Nicholas nervously raised his hand. “Hey. Uh, I don’t want to cause trouble between you two so I’ll leave.”
Tia flicked her own hand dismissively. “This is an argument that will never end. Do not worry yourself. Rather, I would like to answer any questions my sister left you with. We share the same goal, we and the Draconid clan. A storm is approaching and it will take us all to stop it.”
Nicholas blinked. “You know what’s coming?”
“Of course.”
“Then, do you have any idea where the cults are, or what they’re after?” Nicholas blurted out. “I’ve been traveling all over Hoenn in search but I haven’t found any leads yet.”
“They seek to break the ancient seals Lady Rayquaza once placed on her sisters,” Tia replied. “Thankfully those seals can not be broken by anything short of a power equal to Lady Rayquaza’s herself. No pokegirl alive today holds that power. And few humans know how to harness it. They will never succeed, for they will never be able to activate the keys.”
Tio lowered her voice so Nicholas could only barely make out her words. “Tia, this human can harness that power. And there is no guarantee he is true to his purpose.”
“How do I prove myself to you then?” Nicholas asked in a normal voice, causing Tio to jerk back. “You’re talking about what Steven called origin energy, aren’t you? We believe the leaders of the cults have Key Stones and can use them. I will use my power to stop them.”
Tia quickly stepped forwards. “What did you just say?”
“That I will use my…”
“No, the cultists.” Tia whirled to Tio in a panic. “He believes what he says!”
Tio’s head immediately turned to stare at something to the west. “They… they must not find the orbs.”
“We must go to protect them, now!” Tia cried, Nicholas and Bea completely forgotten. “GO!”
“Wait!” Nicholas threw out his hands before the two could get far. “What orbs? What keys, where? Let me help!”
“Only the eldest of the Draconids were entrusted with this secret,” Tia replied. “I am sorry. I can feel your intent, your wish to help. But we can not trust even you with this.”
“The Draconid clan have betrayed their purpose.” Nicholas stepped towards the two as they froze in place. “Zinnia, the current lorekeeper, is the one behind the cults’ rise to power. I am the only Draconid left in Hoenn who remembers our duty. Please. Let me help!”
It was then that his pokedex chose to ring.
Nicholas checked the caller and quickly accepted it. “Steven? What is it?”
“Mt. Pyre!” Tio and Tia whirled at the urgent yell. “That’s where they’re headed, Nicholas! It’s a mountain to the west of Lilycove City, a memorial of sorts where people bury their pokegirls. A sacred mountain, and hidden somewhere at the peak are the keys to awaken Kyogre and Groudon!”
Nicholas slammed his hand over the speaker. “Steven are you mad? Don’t just start shouting something like that!”
“It doesn’t matter!” Nicholas blinked. The background of Steven’s call was flashing, colors spinning across the screen. “I’m on my way now. I just hope we’re not too late!”
Nicholas watched as the call terminated. Slowly he looked up to see Tio and Tia staring at each other and swallowed to wet his throat. “That was…”
“The Champion Stone,” Tio said quietly. “I met him as well, Tia.”
“If he has figured out where the keys lie, then it is only natural to believe the enemy has as well,” Tia said in reply. “Especially if the Draconid’s lorekeeper has betrayed us all.”
Nicholas felt the atmosphere shift. As the two women turned together to look at him once again there was something much heavier than just their gazes upon him. A few moments ago, these two had felt human. Like him, but human. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Nicholas Topolski,” both Tio and Tia said in unison, their voices mixing together to form a single sound, "what do you accuse?”
“Th… That Zinnia of the Draconid clan has abandoned her ancient purpose,” Nicholas said, his breathing growing heavier as he felt heat spreading through his body. The whispers filling his ears. Standing in front of these two women was worse than standing in front of any number of Rayquaza’s fangs.
“And do you, Nicholas Topolski of the Draconid clan, defy the betrayer?” Tio/Tia droned. “Do you stand ready to carry the weight of your entire clan on your shoulders, to uphold their purpose alone, and suffer for their sins?”
“I… do.” Nicholas whispered.
The two sank to opposite knees. “The oath is heard. We recognize you, Lorekeeper Nicholas, scion of the Draconid Clan.”
Nicholas’ mouth dropped open. “Wait. What?”
“We pledge ourselves to the Lorekeeper, He who defends humanity, He who embodies the will of Her Lady Rayquaza in human form,” the two said, and as they spoke the glowing lines that spread from their eyes began racing across their bodies. “May your rule be a time of peace for all human and pokegirlkind.”
“What the fuck?” Nicholas breathed. As he watched Tio and Tia’s bodies were becoming covered in the glowing scales. Every inch of exposed skin, but it didn’t stop there. In a motion that he’d become intimately familiar with the two women’s clothing shimmered and vanished. Underneath, as Tio’s breasts came free from whatever she had used to bind them, the two were identical, save only for their hair and eye colors. And then the glowing lines were no longer just light. Scales that matched their hair began appear across the twin pokegirls’ bodies and as the light had all but faded away wings sprouted from their backs. When Tio and Tia stood once again they were no longer human, not even close.
Bea had been stunned into silence and Tio and Tia looked at each other again. “I will go ahead, sister,” Tio said, her deep blue wings extending and launching her into the air. Her first pump had brought her above the buildings around them and her second caused her to vanish from sight, accompanied by a sonic boom that Nicholas nearly collapsed from the pain of. All he could hear was ringing in his ears as he looked up again to see Tia holding out her hand. A hand that had turned into a wicked set of claws.
“Come,” Tia’s mouth said, but Nicholas still couldn’t hear. However he figured it out when Tia gestured at Bea and then at his belt of pokeballs. He recalled the stunned Metang and took Tia’s hand, shivering when she pulled him to her body. He blinked and they were in the air. He blinked again and the city was nowhere to be seen, Tia carrying him at hypersonic speed towards a distant mountain.
In seconds she was dropping onto the peak and Nicholas let go, looking around for any sign of the cults. Seeing nothing, he began to relax and turned to Tia.
She was staring over his head with tears in her eyes.
Nicholas turned with her to see an ornate headstone broken in pieces. “That was…?”
“SISTER!” Nicholas slammed his hands over his ears when he saw Tio appear but whatever Tia had done to protect him was still in effect; all he felt was a slight shockwave from the arriving pokegirl. “The guardians are… dead. Days ago.”
“We’ve failed in our duty,” Tia whispered. “Lady Rayquaza, we failed to protect this world as you slept.”
“Hold on!” Nicholas jogged over to the broken headstone. The grave it had been marking was torn apart, though inside wasn’t a body. Instead he saw an intricate casket that had been shattered, the contents stolen. “This was the hiding place of the keys to the seals, right? Right?”
“Yes, Lorekeeper.”
“The keys. If the cults don’t know where to use them…”
Tio and Tia looked up as another figure appeared over the trees. A minute later Steven Stone was diving from Tetsu’s arms, casting about wildly and taking in Nicholas and the twin dragons. “Nicholas! Who are they? Did we make it?”
Nicholas moved aside and pointed at the broken grave. “We’re days late, according to them.”
“FUCK!” Steven slammed to the ground. “We’re ALWAYS too late!”
“The Lorekeeper is correct,” Tio said to Tia. “If the enemy does not know where to use the keys, they are useless to them.”
“No. They know,” Steven said bitterly from his position on the ground. “Aqua has found Kyogre just east of Sootopolis. And my teams say Magma has turned Mt. Chimney into a fortress. They wouldn’t have done that if there wasn’t a reason. It must be where Groudon is.”
Nicholas turned to the twin pokegirls. “Do you know where they are? Is Steven correct?”
The two slowly nodded. “Those are the locations Lady Rayquaza laid her sisters to rest,” Tia said quietly. “Days. Even moving at human speeds, they could have arrived by now.”
“We’re always too late,” Steven whispered miserably. “And now we’re here, in the middle of the continent, hours away from anywhere even by flight.”
Nicholas stared at the twins. “The oath I took, what you pledged afterwards. I want the truth, the full truth. What are you?”
Tio and Tia bowed their heads. “I am the ancient pokegirl Latios,” Tio said. “And I am the ancient pokegirl Latias,” Tia followed. “We exist to protect that which our Mistress loved above all. Humanity.”
“Did I hear those two call you Lorekeeper?” Steven asked. Nicholas turned to see him getting to his feet, his grief forgotten. “We’re fucked, Nicholas. What do we do?”
“The only thing we can do,” Nicholas replied. “Latias, Latios, one of you will take me to Mt. Chimney. The other will take Steven to wherever Kyogre sleeps. We must stop the cults at any cost.”
“Kyogre slumbers at the bottom of the sea,” Latios said. “No human should be able to reach her.”
Steven hissed. “The Explorer 1. It’s an experimental submarine Stern is building. I don’t know if it’s completed but if it is, it’s supposed to be able to withstand the deepest ocean pressures.”
“Then that’s where Aqua is going,” Nicholas said. “Latios, take Steven wherever he tells you.”
Latios bowed her head. “Yes Lorekeeper.”
“Lorekeeper.” Steven recalled Tetsu and let the legendary take hold of him. “There’s a story behind that title.”
“There’s not much to say,” Nicholas replied. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but Zinnia betrayed us all. She was the one behind the cults all along.”
Steven shook his head. “No wonder you seemed so sure about the danger. I take it then…?”
“Lorekeeper Nicholas has accepted the sins of his clan,” Latios explained. “As the guardians Lady Rayquaza entrusted this earth to, we have recognized him as the true scion of her will.”
“Guess that’s that.” Steven nodded. “Try not to die, Nicholas.”
Nicholas snorted. “Same to you.”
Latios jetted away towards the south and Nicholas turned to Latias. “I’ll end this,” Nicholas said, reaching inside of himself for a moment and removing any block he could find that kept his power from flowing freely. When he opened his eyes again Latias unconsciously bowed her head slightly. “Take me to Mt. Chimney.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sera winged her way over the rocky shores. There, Ryuko continued her watch. Beyond her she could see Victoria and Kary training with Vika. And there…
Celine smiled when Sera flapped down next to her. “Good day, Sera.”
“Ma’am.” Sera shook her wings out with a sigh. “Surprised to see you out here. I mean, after you and Kali vanished a few weeks ago.”
“Just observing,” Celine replied. “I will need to move closer soon, but for now this is fine.”
Sera frowned. “Move closer to what?”
“What is to come,” Celine replied cryptically. “Do not worry. We are safe here.”
Sera swiveled to look towards the mainland. “Master?”
Celine laughed. “Why do you think we are safe, child?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Knuckle Badge
Heat Badge
Stone Badge
Balance Badge
Dynamo Badge
Feather Badge
Harem:
Bea, Metang (Alpha) – Level 43
Elaine, Blaziken – Level 41
Morgana, Gardevoir – Level 41
Aria, Altaria – Level 41
Marin, Sharpedo – Level 40
Midna, Absol – Level 43
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 5