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 6
The Beginning
Sohn stirred. She could hear the sounds of the forest around her and she cracked open bleary eyes, a smile growing when they saw Nicholas sitting nearby. “Good morning… Mas-ter.”
Nicholas looked down at her. “Good morning, Sohn. I preferred when you didn’t call me that.”
Sohn closed her eyes and stretched, making a happy noise when one of her hands bumped his leg. “I know,” she murmured before finally opening her eyes fully and sitting up. She was still naked from their activities the night before and she held no embarrassment in casually displaying her body to him. “But when I was scared, it was like a warm feeling that hugged me. Every time I said that, I heard you telling me it was going to be okay.”
Nicholas smiled as he dropped his gaze. “Thank you, Sohn.” He raised his eyes again when a pokeball flashed and Miru appeared. “Good morning to you as well, Miru.”
Nicholas grunted when the Buneary pounced on him in a huff. “MAAASSSTERRRR, I MISSED YOUUUU!”
Sohn’s happiness faded as she watched Nicholas try and fail to fend Miru off. This pokegirl’s jealousy was fake. She wasn’t a rival. But… there was a real rival here now. She glanced at the other pokeball still on Nicholas’ belt. A harem sister. She’d never had one before.
Miru squealed happily when Nicholas flipped her around and slammed her to the ground, his pants flung into the bushes and his dick hardening at her slit. “Horny rabbit,” he hissed, sliding inside and keeping Miru pressed firmly into the dirt. “Where were you all day yesterday? Huh?”
“Miru will never leave Master again!” Miru sobbed as he hammered her pussy. “Miru sorry! Sorry, Master!”
“Yeah. To be honest you’ve been ‘gone’ a lot more than usual lately,” Nicholas muttered. “I guess we’re returning to this now.” Miru collapsed when she came and Nicholas pulled out, her legs twitching as she made happy sounds. He stared at her for a bit before snorting and grabbing his belt. “Okay, while you recover let’s meet this Rotom.”
Sohn jumped to her feet. “Is that smart?”
“It usually only takes one good taming for a feral to wake up,” Nicholas replied. “It’ll be fine.” He triggered the pokeball.
A pile of goop materialized with a splat.
Sohn stared. Nicholas stared. Miru moaned. The goop… sat there. Nicholas tentatively raised the pokeball again and triggered the recall beam and it successfully recaptured what was apparently the Rotom, but when he released her again it was the same story. A tiny pile of grey goo.
“…Where’s the tv? Where’s the big tit ghost girl?” Nicholas asked after a while. “What the hell?”
The pile trembled when he spoke. A tendril began to grow from the top, twisting as it searched and stopping when it was pointed at him. Nicholas blinked when a flurry of sparks filled the slime and suddenly it came to life, the tendril joined by dozens more that writhed and twisted around each other. As they continued building upwards the sparks began spreading out, zipping through what Nicholas now realized was some kind of stable, condensed plasma. They began forming paths as a body took shape, legs, then groin, stomach, chest, shoulders, and arms, before finally a massive flurry shot straight up and popped a head into being. The pokegirl’s face morphed from the featureless head and as she opened her eyes sparks zipped around in circles in the place of her pupils.
Nicholas blinked. The girl… stared? Back. “Hello?”
Suddenly the girl’s figure flashed, a ‘skin’ of light springing to life over the plasma, or ectoplasm, of her body as she came to life and leapt into the air. “YAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She landed with a massive grin and jumped towards Nicholas, her eyes and mouth appearing as holes in the light and thus showing the clear plasma she was made of. “You! You sound yummy! You’re my new Master right? RIGHT?!”
Nicholas threw his hands out to fend her off. She was… material, and he was shocked to feel that the film of light making up her ‘skin’ was as firm as any other pokegirl’s. He’d been expecting his hands to just squish into her plasma, slime, whatever it was. “Er, yes? What do-“
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Nicholas reeled back when the girl screamed again at the top of her lungs. “It has been SO boring replaying that stupid movie over and over and over and over and over and-“
“STOP!” The girl’s mouth snapped shut at Nicholas’ cry but the sparks in her eyes were still whirling like crazy. “Just, stop. Start over. You were feral, right?”
The girl jumped back and snapped to attention. “Yes, Master!”
“You knew you were feral.”
The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Master!”
“How.”
“Because I wasn’t feral!”
Nicholas slowly turned away from her. His eyes slid shut and a low hiss could be heard as his breath whistled away. “Explain.”
“I never go feral, Master!” the Rotom said. “I just get really really reall-“ she paused mid word when Nicholas’ eyes snapped open. “er, um, I get focused on being one thing and never change, even if I want to!”
“So you’re still fully aware while feral, but you disconnect a bit and lose the ability to change your form from whatever it is when it happens,” Nicholas replied. “Fascinating. So you were acting like that ghost girl in the horror movie. Why?”
“I thought it would be funny to have a ghost in the ghost mansion!” the Rotom exclaimed. “But then nobody showed up… and I waited… and waited… and then I got bored, so I was going to leave, but I couldn’t, I just kept waiting and waiting…” If her cheeriness had been starting to fade it sprang back to maximum now. “But then you showed up, Master! Did I scare you?”
Nicholas bit his lip. “Uh, yes. I was terrified. So terrified that I… you remember everything? You were aware?” When the Rotom nodded he coughed. “I was so terrified that I had to make you stop your, um, scary noises.”
“Right! That’s when you-“ the Rotom stopped. “Wait. That’s when you… but then I… Why did I? That wasn’t scary at all.”
“No it was terrifying,” Nicholas said quickly. “I was shaking the whole time.”
The girl brightened. “Right, I felt you shaking! You must have been scared! I did it!”
“That’s right. I was, ah, ‘shaking’ in fear,” Nicholas said. He barely managed to choke back his laughter and quickly scrubbed at his face. “Hem. So, hello. I had already guessed that you can shift your body with the stunt you pulled in the mansion but it’s interesting to see you in a completely different form now."
The Rotom looked down, her hands popping up and tapping at her blank features. “Oh. Ew. I’m back to boring.” Nicholas nearly choked when her chest ballooned out and she grinned when her breasts spilled out of her hands, her skin beginning to flicker as it cycled through various shades of grey. “Oh, goody! Everything listens again!”
“Can you go back to being boring?” Nicholas pleaded. The Rotom’s body was in constant flux, shooting up and down in height as her chest expanded and contracted and sparkling strands of what seemed to be hair blew in all directions. It was chaos. “We still haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.”
The girl glanced at him and her body froze, somewhere in between ‘big titty amazon’ and ‘slim model’. “Introduce?”
“Yes. You know, names.” Nicholas waited but the Rotom didn’t speak. “What’s yours?”
“What is mine?”
“Uhh, I’m asking you.”
“And I’m asking you,” the Rotom replied. “You’re my Master so tell me my name already.”
“Uhhh…” Nicholas trailed off as the Rotom went back to playing with her figure. “It’s kind of hard to think with you constantly changing. Don’t you have a form you prefer?”
For the first time since she’d appeared, the Rotom didn’t just brush off his question. In fact she didn’t even look at him when she replied. “All of us do, Master. But Master always has a form they prefer instead. Besides, my me is private. It’s just better to be Master’s me instead.”
“Ah,” Nicholas replied softly.
“So tell me my name already, Master,” the Rotom complained. “I’ll be whatever you say!”
“Whenever one of my pokegirls has asked me to name them I’ve created a name for them using their appearance and whatever else I know about them,” Nicholas replied. “If you’re going to keep changing your appearance then how can I give you a name?”
The girl huffed. Her body’s changes slowed, then began flowing together until she’d become a tall woman with massive breasts and an ass to match. “There, Master.”
Nicholas rolled his eyes. “You can’t expect me to believe that’s the form you prefer.”
“Yup!”
“All you’ve done is set your breast and butt sliders to max!” Nicholas retorted. “It can’t be a body you like.”
“It’s a body Masters like,” the Rotom muttered sullenly. Still, her assets returned to a more natural size before she shrunk. “Maybe Master prefers this?”
Nicholas shook his head again. “No. And I also don’t believe you would want to be a dwarf.”
“This?”
Nicholas crossed his arms. The Rotom had shot back up and taken a sculpted, muscular form. Even if it was one he personally liked to see he wasn’t going to tell her that. It wasn’t what he was trying to achieve. “Again, I don’t think that’s what you want to be, is it?”
“I want Master to hurry up and name me!” the Rotom snapped.
“Listen. I have decided to add you to my harem. I am very, very picky in who I choose to join me, and-”
“My name is Susan.”
Nicholas turned when he heard Sohn interject. The Monferno was stepping forwards. “My name is Susan but he… he doesn’t call me that. He calls me Sohn. He calls me Sohn because I want to be Sohn. He wants to make me what I want to be. You’re so lucky. You can be whatever you want. Why won’t you let him help you be you?”
The Rotom swiveled and stared at Sohn. “What?”
“Listen to him,” Sohn begged. “I don’t know what kind of Masters you’ve had but none of them can have been close to what he is. He cares. He puts us before himself. Humans don’t do that, which makes sense since…” Sohn glanced at Nicholas. “He’s… better than any of them.”
Nicholas barely nodded at her, blinking his thanks.
The Rotom was still staring at Sohn, obviously stunned by the heartfelt plea she had just heard. Suddenly her body shuddered, features swelling and shrinking as the light composing her skin flickered. Her face slowly turned to Nicholas as her skin began to swirl with color. The holes in her face that were her eyes, too, began to change, the sparks within her spinning up until they became rings of light that spread out and formed glowing sclera, inverting what had been there before. “I…” She blinked, actually blinked, somehow having formed eyelids or at least mimicking them. “I want you to name me, Master.”
Nicholas sighed. “I told you that I won’t do that until you show me the form you want to take.”
“I want to hear what you think I am,” the Rotom whispered.
“Hm.” Nicholas scrutinized her. In her musing the Rotom had slipped into a form that he could believe was an unconscious choice. Maybe what she was now was close to what he wanted to see. It was certainly different from what she had been doing so far. “You have a name in mind, don’t you? You want to see if I can name you what you want. It could be anything. I’ll never guess right.”
The Rotom glanced away. “I… I know you’ll get it wrong, Master. I just want to know. I want to know who you think I am.”
Nicholas sighed. “Samantha.”
Silence. The Rotom looked back. “That is a horrible name. Really, Master? Samantha?”
“Then what is it?” Nicholas asked in exasperation.
The Rotom scuffed her toe. “Sammy sounds much better.”
Nicholas cracked a grin. “Oh. I see. You just didn’t like how stiff it sounded. Sammy, then. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sammy.”
The Rotom barely nodded. Suddenly her body flashed. Her skin of light vanished and underneath Nicholas could see a splash of color beginning to spread through her ectoplasm. Sammy seemed to realize what had happened too because she blinked before gasping and throwing her hands across her body, but she couldn’t stop whatever was happening. Color soaked through her and she raised her eyes in something of a panic as it settled on a warm orange instead of the blank gray it had been before. Sparkling golden threads shot from her scalp, forming into long blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Her body slimmed and grew, her chest shrinking back before very slowly swelling to a moderate size, with the rest of her following suit. When she lowered her hands again she had become an orange slime girl shaped as an athletic woman with medium breasts that stood above Nicholas by at least a few inches.
Nicholas was grinning to himself while he watched the flustered Rotom. “Now that’s a Sammy.”
Sammy strained, the light that had been covering her starting to appear between her breasts before it snapped out of existence once more. “Oh. No. No, no, no…”
Nicholas sidled towards her. “What’s wrong?”
Sammy’s eyes shot to his and she threw out her hands. “No, Master, please! Don’t look! I’ll put it back, I promise!”
Nicholas smiled. “Put what back? Why?”
Sammy froze. “W-Why?”
“Mmhm.”
“B-Because…” Sammy swallowed. “L… Look at me. I don’t look human at all."
Nicholas chuckled. He wasn’t going to call attention to her telling him not to look and now to look. She was in a state of panic. “And? You’re a pokegirl. Why do you need to look human at all?”
Sammy stared at him. “Because… humans don’t like…”
“First of all, many do. Many really, really do,” Nicholas replied. “Like me. Secondly, who gives a shit?” Sammy gasped when he pressed his hand into her body. A bit like Sasha when she wasn’t fully maintaining a form but firmer. “You’re a slime pokegirl. This is you.” His smile grew. “This is YOU, isn’t it, Sammy? You’re beautiful.”
With the light covering her gone Sammy’s insides were fully visible. As he’d already seen she had no internal structures, no skeleton, but instead sparks buzzed through her in an intricate web that likely mimicked something like a nervous system. When he’d said those two words there had been a flurry of activity everywhere. She’d lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Ha… Haha…” Sammy slowly began to smile, the sparks zipping through her faster and faster until she loosed a joyous scream and lunged forwards. Nicholas laughed with her when she grabbed him by the hands, spinning in circles before tumbling over the ground and springing right back up. Her movements were so quick that he didn’t even notice where she was going next until he felt her grab the shorts in his hands. “Master. Master, Master, Master. I want to taste Master again. I remember Master being yummy. If Master really tastes as good as Master makes me feel I want-” Sammy froze. “Wait. Master, what’s that?”
Nicholas blinked. He’d been getting ready to feel Sammy grabbing his dick next. “Hm?”
Before he could move Sammy had snatched his pokedex. “What’s this?” Her eyes widened and she began squealing in excitement. “Ooooooh it looks so delicious! It’s nothing like the yucky things other masters have!”
“Hey!” Nicholas tried to grab the device but Sammy spun away. The fingers she was gripping it with began pulsing, her ectoplasm probing the cracks and buttons before she let out a pleasured groan and sparks burst up her arms. “HEY! Don’t break that!”
“GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY HOME!”
Sammy yelped when the speakers shrieked at her and dropped the pokedex. “Wha!”
“I read all about what you Rotom do to electronics,” Kalmiya hissed, and Sammy took a few steps back when the Porygon rose from the pokedex. “You are not eating my home.”
“Uh, uh, let’s calm down,” Nicholas cried when Kalmiya extended a hand and lightning began arcing across the ground. He’d never seen her enter a battle stance. Ever. “Sammy was just excited Kalmiya there’s no need to fight.”
“Don’t interfere, Master,” Kalmiya replied. “This is a matter between two pokegirls. She needs to understand what isn’t hers.”
Sammy was staring at the Porygon with a slack-jawed expression. “What are you?”
“Sammy, this is Kalmiya, my Porygon,” Nicholas said in introduction. “She lives in my pokedex and manages all my communications.”
“And acts as your strategic advisor, coordinates with your harems and Alphas, and generally is an invaluable part of your harem who only answers to you. Right, Master?” Kalmiya asked.
“Er… well, yes,” Nicholas stammered.
“Which means I am, effectively, one of Master’s Alphas.” Nicholas’ shock only grew when Kalmiya stuck her nose up. This was all brand new to him. “I am an Alpha and this pokedex is mine. Back off.”
Sammy blinked. Her eyes weren’t on the pokedex anymore, they were locked on Kalmiya and not on the Porygon’s charging attack. “Okay.”
Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief. “See, Kalmiya? No need to do anything hasty.”
Kalmiya slowly lowered her arm. “Why are you looking at me like that, Sammy?”
Sammy’s ‘tongue’ snaked out and licked her lips. “I’ve never seen a pokegirl like you before.”
“Uh-“ Kalmiya was starting to speak when Sammy lunged forwards. Instead of returning to her original target she was locked onto something new. Kalmiya screamed when the Rotom tackled her.
“DON’T TRY AND EAT HER NOW,” Nicholas roared, sprinting at the wrestling pile of sparks and light. What a mess. “SAMMY!”
He skidded to a halt when he heard Kalmiya scream again. Higher pitched. Breaking off with a…
He finished approaching the pair at a more normal pace. Kalmiya was fighting back, but Sammy was in full control. The Rotom’s body had melted in places, her ectoplasm forming tendrils that were probing Kalmiya’s avatar wherever they could find an opening. And due to the transparent nature of both pokegirls he could see very clearly where they were wriggling in. Sammy was ‘eating’ Kalmiya alright. Eating her out and filling her up in what must be a simultaneous pleasure overload for the poor Porygon.
Nicholas flinched when Kalmiya squealed, sparks arcing from Sammy’s tendrils and filling Kalmiya’s ravaged body. “Hey. Sammy.” He waited but the Rotom was completely engrossed. “SAMMY.”
Raising his voice didn’t make a difference. Nicholas sighed, after a while deciding to walk over where Sohn stood and returning to the task of getting dressed. Sammy’s tendrils weren’t going for the core nestled below Kalmiya’s stomach so he had no reason to believe that the Rotom was trying to actually consume the Porygon. Though he could stop them. Recall Sammy. He glanced over again. Sammy had deformed even more by now and looked more like an orange film smothering Kalmiya and worming its way into her orifices than a pokegirl. Nah. He’d let them be. His twitching erection was definitely not influencing his decision there. No sir.
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POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Mine Badge
Harem:
Sohn, Monferno – Level 18
Miru, Buneary – Level 17
Sammy, Rotom – Level 15
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 6
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The moment Sammy had slowed, giving Kalmiya even a moment to breathe, she had broken free and zipped back into Nicholas’ pokedex, hiding there ever since. He saw Sammy eyeing the device as they traveled but it appeared she was respecting Kalmiya’s claim and made no moves to try and touch it again.
As a bit of a consolation for losing her ‘prey’ Nicholas had given her one of his spare pokeballs instead. Once Sammy had confirmed that it was technology she could do what she wanted with she’d ripped the hemispheres apart and devoured the circuitry inside. The metals had quickly dissolved into her body and she’d become even more excitable than before, if that was even possible. Nicholas hoped that it had been the equivalent of giving her a treat and not that Rotom fed on metals like that. She’d get pretty expensive if that was the case.
He grinned when the trees began thinning ahead of them. “We’re almost there! Eterna City.”
“Master, look!” Nicholas turned to see Sammy excitedly waving her hand at him. When he did she thrust her fingers in his face. “Isn’t it cool?”
Nicholas blinked. The tips of two of her fingers weren’t ectoplasm anymore. Or, they were, because he could see down the length of her finger and into the tips, but they were capped in a shimmering metal. “Is that what you pulled out of the pokeball?”
“Yup!” Sammy snatched her hand back. “It’s cool, right Master? If you give me some more delicious things I can make it even cooler.” She gave him a coy look.
Nicholas chuckled. “Be good and I’ll give you more treats. How about that.”
Sammy immediately snapped into her position of attention. “Got it, Master! I’ll be good!”
“Kalmiya?” Nicholas snickered when Sammy quivered at the Porygon’s name. She had literally just promised though so she kept quiet. “Hey, Kalmiya? You there?”
Kalmiya’s voice muttered in his ear. “No. Go away.”
Nicholas held back his laughter. “Would you do some research for me today? I want to know what Sammy is doing with the metal she eats and why.” He waited for the Rotom to skip past him. “It looks like she’s sort of augmenting herself. If it’s a method of making her stronger then I’ll be more inclined to give her more of what she wants.”
“Then it’s not-“ Kalmiya checked herself and sighed. “Yes, Master. I’ll look.”
“Come on. She wasn’t hurting you. In fact the way you were screaming-“
“GOODBYE.” Nicholas winced when his radio squealed and went dead.
She was fine. Nicholas frowned. Though, maybe Sammy had been a bit too aggressive. Kalmiya was essentially a newborn pokegirl, after all. One that was very very slowly building herself up. Despite all her posturing Sammy had been able to completely and utterly overwhelm the Porygon before having her way with Kalmiya’s body. She might have enjoyed it but the fact she’d had no choice… he sighed. He could understand what she was feeling. He’d make sure to keep Sammy away from her for a while.
“There it is,” Sohn called, dragging Nicholas back to reality. “There’s the city.”
Miru scampered over. “It’s been so long Master! Are we gonna fight now? Are we? Are we???”
“If I remember correctly you were the one who didn’t want to fight before,” Nicholas scolded. “You change your mind on a whim, you rascally rabbit.”
“I wanted walking then, not fighting. Now I want fighting, not walking!” Miru retorted.
Nicholas shook his head. He was continuing forwards when a vibration on his belt made him pause. Pulling out his pokedex he checked the new message and his expression changed. “Another spam message. Some kind of advertisement with the tagline ‘See you soon’.”
Miru glanced at him. “How can an ad-vier tizment see you, Master? Aren’t those just words?”
“Ooh! They’re gonna hack your camera, Master!” Sammy blurted out. “You should let me-“
“No.”
At least Sammy had the decency to blush when she grinned and scampered back away from him. “Okay.”
“I’ll just delete that.” Nicholas stowed his pokedex and took another look at the city ahead. That wasn’t the only new message he’d gotten from the strange government number. A few days after leaving Jubilife for the second time he’d gotten another. It hadn’t had much to go on, but there had been the word “galaxy” in there. He wasn’t sure who was sending him these cryptic messages, or why they couldn’t just reach out to him directly, but they apparently were well informed to his purpose here.
They entered the city just before noon. Nicholas was checking the map for the gym’s location when he realized the traffic around him was all flowing one way. He looked up to find the cause and watched two reporters sprint past, their cameras already raised.
“What in the world is going on?” Nicholas looked around at his harem. “Do we take a look?”
Sammy was taking hesitant steps at a few of the stores around them. “Ummmm…”
Nicholas swatted the back of her head, getting a yelp from the Rotom as she spun around. “I told you to behave, didn’t I?” he growled. “Your pokeball works just fine and I know you can’t eat it from the inside.”
Sammy sulked but stamped back over to him. “Sorry, Master.”
“Miru, Sohn?” Nicholas glanced at each of the two. “Want to go see what’s happening or just find the gym?”
“I want to fight, Master!” Miru whined.
Sohn shrugged. “I don’t mind. Are we really just here for the gym?”
“I think so,” Nicholas replied. “Let’s go ahead and check out the activity before we go, though. Who knows. Maybe something will happen if we dawdle long enough.”
Sammy was clueless but Miru and Sohn both understood what he was saying, so the group turned north and began following the crowds.
It actually took a few minutes before they saw the cause. The camera flashes were near constant, forming a blinding wall of light between them and whatever they were flashing at. Nicholas shielded his eyes, rotating around the clamoring crowds until he could get an uninterrupted line of sight.
He was treated to the sight of a stately woman in a long black dress. A familiar woman. His eyes widened. “She’s here?”
Miru latched onto his arm. “Who is it Master?”
“As if you don’t know,” Nicholas muttered under his breath. “That’s the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia.”
Sohn was staring with wide eyes. “What is… why is she…?”
Nicholas ducked back when a few of the reporters looked in his direction. “I don’t know but I don’t want to be seen by the paparazzi. Come on.”
“Then please follow me, gentle sir.”
Nicholas whirled. From nowhere a girl had appeared behind him. She smiled and curtsied when he spun. “Who the hell are you?”
“Hell? Oh, heavens, no,” the girl replied with a radiant smile. As she spoke a pair of brilliant white wings rose behind her, the girl’s entire appearance seeming to radiate innocence and light. “Do hurry, please. It appears someone has recognized you.”
Nicholas turned back to see one of the reporters trying to head in his direction. “Fine. Lead the way.”
The girl’s head bobbed and she gestured him down a side street, whisking the group through a rapid maze of alleys and buildings until Nicholas had no idea if they were even still in Eterna anymore. Eventually though she pushed open a door and turned, curtsying once more before stepping out of the way. “Here we are gentle sir. None will disturb you now.”
Nicholas eyed her. The girl was smiling, giving off this air of innocence, but he was getting the same feeling from her as what he felt from Miru. Felt? He frowned. Since when had he felt anything from the Buneary?
“She’s waiting,” the girl said, breaking Nicholas out of his thoughts. Her smile had faded and her dark black eyes were drilling into his. A peek she was giving him behind the veil of kindness. “Must I lead the way?”
Nicholas grunted and stepped through the door. Yeah, she was a powerful pokegirl for sure. Whose powerful pokegirl was the question.
His suspicion to the answer was confirmed by stepping inside. The room he entered was quite large, with couches and tables scattered around, enough space for twenty, maybe even thirty average sized humans or pokegirls to be mingling comfortably. Half of it was already full, though not exactly by the capacity it was designed for. Cynthia was draped over an entire couch by herself and half a dozen pokegirls were relaxing around her. He felt a thrill run through him when the angelic girl stepped in behind him and closed the door with a quiet click. This was his first time meeting this woman in person. A woman who, out of all the powerful League tamers he’d met so far, had commanded his attention from the moment he’d first heard her speak. The display of force she was putting on now only served to further cement his opinion of her. She was powerful. Casually powerful, and aware of it. The kind of power that she felt no need to prove, and nobody with any sense would dare to contest.
He found himself smiling. She was strong. But he was stronger.
Cynthia was smiling back. “Welcome to Eterna City, so-called World Champion. I trust you’ve enjoyed your time in my league so far?”
Nicholas left his harem standing with the pokegirl that had led them here and dropped onto a couch across from her. “Sure have. The leader in Canalave… Byron, I think it was? He gave me quite a warm welcome.”
Cynthia laughed. “Ah yes, Byron. I like to call him the wall. Many starry-eyed tamers crash into him and find their dreams shattered.”
Nicholas’ smile faded slightly. “The wall?”
“That’s right.”
“Is that something a lot of people call him?” Nicholas asked.
Cynthia shrugged. “Perhaps.” She raised a hand and one of her pokegirls rose, handing her a glass of water from one of the nearby tables. “In fact I would say a galaxy of those starry-eyed hopefuls have been destroyed by Byron. A shame that is the only galaxy he’s managed to destroy.”
Nicholas cleared his throat. “I assume you set all this up to meet me. Your pokegirl, the paparazzi to draw my attention.”
“I wanted to take a good look, Mister Topolski,” Cynthia replied. “You surely haven’t been shy in challenging me. I figured it was only right to return the favor.”
“I see.”
“There are many things, said and unsaid, that only those who are listening will notice,” Cynthia continued. “I’ve been told you listen better than most. Or perhaps someone you trust listens for you.” Off to the side, one of the pokegirls tapped a device she was holding and Cynthia leaned forwards. “What does she hear now?”
Nicholas frowned. What did that mean? Was it more code? So far he was coming to realize that Cynthia had been the one sending the cryptic messages. But for what purpose?
“This room is clean. If there are ears listening, Miss Champion, they are not active.”
Nicholas blinked. The voice had come from his pokedex. “Kalmiya?”
Cynthia barely nodded. “Good.” She stretched out with a sigh. “Good, good. Oh it is such a pain to keep up that façade all day.”
Nicholas was looking between Cynthia and his pokedex in confusion. “Someone fill me in?”
“Abigail led you here because I hoped it was a room in this city Galactic hadn’t infested yet,” Cynthia replied. “I’d heard you have one of the synthetic pokegirls and knew of their capabilities. Now she has confirmed we may speak here freely.”
Nicholas looked around again. The rest of the room hadn’t changed their positions. “Okay. So all the bluster was for anyone listening in?”
“Oh, no,” Cynthia replied seriously. “You will come for me one day, Nicholas Topolski. You should know I will not make that day easy.” She finally sat up and her smile returned. “But that day is not today. Can you guess why I’ve brought you here in secret?”
“You’re the one sending me those odd messages.”
Cynthia clapped happily. “Correct! I was afraid I had been too coy. And?”
“And with your talk of Galactic I assume the reason I’ve been brought here has to do with them.”
Cynthia clapped again. “Correct again! Which one is she?”
Nicholas blinked. “Pardon?”
“The wolf in sheep’s clothing. The pokegirl of those three who does not belong.” Cynthia turned. The angelic pokegirl, Abigail, Cynthia had called her, was still standing behind the three shocked pokegirls of Nicholas’ harem. “I was the one to bring Galactic to the World League’s attention. I would like to speak to the one who answered my call.”
Silence. Nicholas shot the three a glance before looking back at Cynthia. “You’re not in direct contact with the International Police?”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? Galactic has infested this league. Even my own circle. I secretly called for the International Police’s aid and yet the rats scattered just days after. I can’t trust communicating with them normally.”
Nicholas held up his hand, both to draw Cynthia’s attention back to him and to forestall anything Miru might be thinking of saying. “If that’s true then are you sure the pokegirls in this room are clean?”
Cynthis stared at him. After a moment she spoke. “If I can not trust my own harem, I have already lost.”
“Even though you say that I only see your personal elite here with you today,” a voice replied. Sammy whirled, her eyes bugging as Miru stepped forwards and joined Nicholas in front of Cynthia. “Hello, Champion. I believe you are correct in trusting these seven, even if you can’t trust any of the rest.”
Cynthia frowned at her. “Have we met?”
Miru laughed quietly. “No, but I know you well. I know all of you. Although, the last time I was asked to reveal myself like this both parties introduced themselves so as to be on equal footing.” She inclined her head. “You may call me Miru.”
Cynthia looked over at the angelic pokegirl. “Abigail?”
Abigail had a sheepish grin on her face. “I’m sorry, Mistress. I never suspected the airhead.”
“Precisely why I act that way,” Miru said. “Now, why don’t you all say hello to Nicholas here? Then we can talk about why you’ve brought us here, Champion Cynthia.”
Nicholas looked around. All of the pokegirls were shifting, deciding whether Miru’s firm request was one they had to follow. It was a girl in a pious robe, a necklace of smoke hanging past her chest, who decided to speak first. “We are Sophea.”
Nicholas heard movement behind him and Abigail spoke a moment later. “You wanted hell, gentle sir, there she is.”
Sophea just shrugged.
A chiseled pokegirl walked over to join Cynthia. When she grinned her teeth were sharper than the fins running along her body and flicking tail. “René.”
Nicholas chuckled. “Your introduction was unnecessary. I know all about you.”
René’s grin went from confident to challenging.
Cynthia held up her hand. “Peace. The quiet one in the corner is Jacquelyne.” Nicholas nodded towards a silent Lucario. “The Milotic who’s pretending to be more interested in herself than us is Karen, the Roserade between them is Grace, and slumbering behind me,” Nicholas raised an eyebrow when a head rose from behind Cynthia’s couch, “is a lazy slug.”
“Miiiiiisss-treeeeeesss,” the girl whined.
“Her name is Sable. She’s a Gastrodon,” Cynthia explained.
“The Monferno over there is Sohn, and beside her is the newest member of my harem, a Rotom I’ve named Sammy,” Nicholas said. “Sohn’s a big fan.”
Cynthia turned with a smile. “Oh?”
“You went through all the trouble of arranging this meeting,” Miru interrupted. “Talk.”
Cynthia kept smiling at Sohn for just long enough that Miru began to fidget before looking back. “You’re new, aren’t you Miss Miru? Rapid Response? They’re the only ones within the IP who would dare be so rude towards me.”
Miru grunted. “Special Investigator.”
“That kind of title isn’t granted right away. You rose somewhere, and only a highly decorated member of the IP’s combat unit would be so comfortable around seven of the most powerful pokegirls in Sinnoh.”
Miru gazed back. “I didn’t think we were enemies, Champion Cynthia. If we aren’t then why should I worry about the strength of any creature in this room?”
Cynthia’s smile grew and she began to laugh. “What a perfectly plausible excuse. I can see why you were promoted.” She looked back to Nicholas. “I’m glad she isn’t one of your pokegirls, Mister Nicholas. I might be worried to see that Buneary on the day we finally battle.”
Nicholas sighed. “I hate to back her up here, but can you get to the point? If this is Galactic’s city they know that we are both here. They won’t ignore that. And, call me Nicholas. There are no cameras here, you had Kalmiya check. Neither of us really cares about honorifics, do we?”
Cynthia shrugged. “A fair point. And a fair point. Then Cynthia is just fine. To the point.” She withdrew her pokedex and set it on the table between the two couches. “This requires some background information but I will do my best to keep it brief. I am a Champion, yes, but my profession is archaeology. I am an archaeologist because this place I was raised, Sinnoh, is overflowing with heritage. Heritage of pokegirls, heritage of humanity, heritage of the very world under our feet.” She tapped a few buttons and slid the pokedex to Nicholas and Miru. “That is an artifact I discovered some time ago.”
Nicholas squinted at the small screen for a bit before grimacing. “Sorry, this is really hard to see.”
Cynthia gave them an apologetic look. “It’s the best pokedexes can do. Portability…”
Nicholas snorted. “Mind if I use mine?”
Cynthia hesitated. “Ah, well, I’d rather you didn’t just start downloading my data.”
“You’ve brought an unshielded device into the proximity of a Porygon.” Cynthia blinked. “Cynthia, if I told her to, Kalmiya would have already scraped every bit of data from your device and wiped it clean. Because that is within the capabilities of ‘the synthetic pokegirl’ you were talking about. Some level of trust has to exist here. Either that or you didn’t think – and I respect you too much to believe that was what happened.”
Cynthia winced. “You’re right. I specifically brought you here because I knew you had a pokegirl with those capabilities. Do whatever you want to do.”
“Kalmiya, go ahead and bypass my pokedex’s systems and hook the feed from Cynthia’s pokedex directly into your projector.” Nicholas popped open one of the compartments of his pokedex and unwound a data cable, plugging it into Cynthia’s pokedex before sliding the device back to the woman. “Just open whatever you want us to see. Don’t worry about giving us the pokedex.”
Cynthia frowned but complied and her jaw dropped when a hologram sprang to life above the table. “What the…”
Nicholas chuckled. “Let me rephrase what you said. That was the best publicly available pokedexes can do. Mass producibility and cost, not portability, are the limits.”
“W-Well, um, this is the artifact,” Cynthia stammered. The hologram was slowly rotating to display a sheet of stone. “Testing identified it as some kind of quartz, but its composition was… wrong. Even diamond tools were unable to scratch it, we had to go with lasers and even THEN we barely vaporized enough to get a reading. Additionally, you can… um, see…” Cynthia pursed her lips. “That image was in black and white.”
Nicholas gazed at the drab green stone. “Greyscaling is a gradient. It’s child’s play for Kalmiya to apply the correct coloration to images, though," he gave his pokedex a sidelong glance, "I'm unsure how she knew this was green."
"The picture is named “Artifact_Plate_Text_Olive,” Kalmiya replied drily.
“Ah.” Cynthia cleared her throat. “Well, yes, as you can see it is a… subdued green coloration. A uniformly green coloration with absolutely no impurities. That is not found naturally in quartz, or any naturally occurring mineral, for that matter. Inscribed into the surface – and again, we could not even scratch this thing – are lines of text in an ancient language. One that some believe was the first language spoken on the planet.”
Nicholas nodded. “And it says?”
“That is unfortunately up to interpretation. As I said, it is believed to be the first language, and finding people who can speak that language is understandably quite difficult.” Cynthia shrugged. “However, through extensive work, we got a translation that made some sense. ‘Where all began, she did too.’.” Cynthia rolled her eyes. “And thus we require interpretation. With how ancient this artifact is, I would not be surprised if it was engraved when this world was young. Perhaps very young. Perhaps soon after creation began. If that is the case, the ‘all’ it refers to would be all creation, and the ‘she’,” Cynthia paused. “Well. It could mean any number of beings. But the word is definitely in a gendered form, not a neutral one, and other pieces of the language we have discovered led us to believe that it is a feminine one. ‘Where all began, she did too.’. Who is she? It is used as if the reader would know who ‘she’ is with no name. I believe this inscription is describing creation, and is revealing a secret of it. That the being who created our reality did so with her own birthplace as the origin point.”
Nicholas rubbed his face. “You’re just describing the big bang.”
Cynthia snorted. “That’s an anthropocentric theory. I believe in a pagidocentric one.”
Nicholas lowered his hands. “You know, so do I. So this is incredibly interesting, but why is it important to us now?”
“Days after the translation was finalized, Galactic struck.”
“I’m sorry but pagido and anthro-what?”
Nicholas glanced at Miru. “It’s what human scientists use to refer to pokegirls and humans respectively. Human words.”
Miru managed not to look lost. “Okay. So a few days after this… message… was decoded, Galactic began to move. That’s what you wanted to tell us?”
“Galactic has existed in Sinnoh for generations, sometimes fading, never going away,” Cynthia explained. “They’ve often looted my dig sites and robbed museums for whatever interests them, but they’ve never coordinated a full assault. Days after this tablet was decoded the entire region was ransacked. Every single artifact that might relate to creation mythology was stolen. No, they did not ‘begin’ to move. They moved. They moved and they succeeded, too. I don’t know how long they had been waiting but in a matter of days they had taken possession of an uncountable number of artifacts.” Cynthia stared at the rotating hologram with a sad look on her face. “All we have left are pictures and notes.”
“They decided this message was important.”
“The message, yes, but the artifact itself I believe was their target,” Cynthia replied. “The message was just a trigger. They know where this engraving is referring to.”
Nicholas leaned back. “Okay. What else did they take that might be important? What could they be planning?”
“And now we have successfully exited the background information.” Cynthia steepled her fingers together. “If you ask me that question outside of this room I will have no clue. I will be lost, confused, and angry. I will be helpless. Not unlike what you become, Miru.” Miru inclined her head slightly as Cynthia continued. “That is my greatest fear now. That I will give something more away. However, within this room, I have an answer.” Cynthia pulled up another file on her pokedex and the hologram changed. “This isn’t an image, but…” Cynthia trailed off when the hologram shifted into a long chain of beads. “Okay. Is she for hire?”
Nicholas chuckled softly. “No. Next question.”
“Well… these research notes detail a crystallization of eternity. A ‘seam’ in our reality which, if opened, will lead into the realm of the creator. This seam, obviously, is not simple to find or create, but through bits and pieces of ancient texts we learned that while these seams apparently were rare, they were a known event when creation was still new. They only ever appeared near one place, the origin point, but when they did creation warped around them. Different realities bled through these seams, creating areas that did not make sense within our reality, and those who entered and returned sometimes were unrecognizable, twisted into new forms. Still human, and still believing themselves to be the person that left, but no longer the same. Pokegirls that emerged from these seams were unlike anything known to exist. Eventually these seams stopped appearing and legends hold that is because the creator assigned guardians to the origin point, beings whose sole purpose was to gather the crystallizing eternity before it could come together and split it apart, hold it, guard it, and essentially keep creation clean of impurities.”
“This being a representation of this crystallized chain of eternity,” Nicholas summarized.
Cynthia nodded. “Correct. With this… we’ll call it a chain, with this chain you could split reality and cause the warping rift to appear. If you used enough power to activate this chain, well, maybe the rift would swallow the whole world.”
“If you could control it.”
“Galactic doesn’t care,” Cynthia replied. “They want to remake reality. They don’t care if they control the end result.”
Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t believe that for a second. There’s someone in charge over there and there is NO WAY that they want chaos. They want power, and being the king of a new reality would be all the power you could ever dream of.”
Cynthia frowned. “Maybe that strange material, that stone plate is some kind of key. Maybe they think they can control the rift with it.”
“Or maybe they believe they can control the creator.”
The room fell silent at Nicholas’ quiet statement. After a minute Miru shook herself. “I want everything you have left, Champion. You might not be able to communicate freely but I can. I know those I can trust implicitly and we will figure out what Galactic is planning.”
“Sure. Just like you said, right Nicholas?” Cynthia asked. “Just say the word and everything I have is yours. Say it.”
Nicholas cleared his throat. “Go ahead and download the entire pokedex, Kalmiya. I trust you to scrub all of Cynthia’s personal data before handing the files over to Miru.”
“Yes, Master. Miss Champion, I swear to treat your trust with the utmost respect.” The hologram snapped off as Kalmiya set to work.
Cynthia was gazing at the air the hologram had been in. “There’s so much I want to know. So much that I’m now trapped and unable to learn. Why do these kinds of people have to exist? Why can’t we be free to grow and evolve as a species in peace?”
Nicholas gave her a dejected smile. “Because we’re human.”
“I am. Are you?” Cynthia responded. “On and on you talk, Nicholas, about your blood, your heritage. I can see it clearly in you. René sees it clearly. I have some of my own, but… I’m unsure how to describe it. It is more… integrated, I suppose, into my humanity. I am a draconic human, whereas you are a dragon who looks human.”
Nicholas grunted. “I’m still human.”
“For now. But what human has eyes like those?” Cynthia asked. “What human uses those eyes to match a pokegirl’s? When René chose me, she chose me. I took my pilgrimage to the breeding grounds and yes, a few of the Gible there took interest, but I did not choose any of them. They chose me. If you were to visit that place I would not be surprised if you could convince one of the matriarchs to leave it with you.”
Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t do that. I don’t force any pokegirl to do anything for me.”
“Maybe that’s what’s so different between us,” Cynthia murmured. Miru stood and walked away with Nicholas’ pokedex when Kalmiya called her name. “I think like a human. Humans control their pokegirls. It is the natural order. But you, you don’t think that way. You think as a pokegirl does, forming tight alliances and mutual trust. If it had been you, not me, who had been approached on that day, would you have been allowed to choose? Would you have had a say among the ones who chose you?”
Nicholas glanced at the silent Garchomp. Her eyes flicked to his, just for a moment, before he looked away again. “I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about, Cynthia. As you said, René chose you. If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that dragons do not tolerate a master – or mistress – who they do not see as worthy. René sees you as being worthy of being her Mistress. Take pride in that.”
Cynthia exhaled. “Thank you.”
“I might have to visit this place one day.”
Cynthia eyed him. “I never said where it was.”
Nicholas smiled back. “No. But I’m sure I would find it all the same.”
“Hm.” Cynthia kept her eye on him for a bit longer before looking away again. “Maybe you would. It’s not for me to stop you; I’m just an archaeologist. The dead and buried are my domain, and I can’t even explore their secrets anymore.”
“Maybe I can help some with that,” Nicholas said. “You’re worried that Galactic is monitoring you. Right?”
Cynthia nodded. “Of course they are.”
“What if they had two powerful tamers to worry about?”
Cynthia looked back. “What?”
“I’ve been staying out of the public eye so far in Sinnoh. What if I split their attention? Continued, at least publicly, making these sweeping, aggressive statements and challenges. Draw media attention. Draw THEIR attention.” Nicholas spread his arms. “I go one way, you go another. They will have no choice but to pull some of the surveillance from you onto me. It will give you room to breathe.”
Cynthia looked thoughtful. “That… might just work. Are you okay with that? Becoming a celebrity, I mean. The paparazzi are relentless.”
Nicholas chuckled. “I already deal with them back in Kanto and I’ve seen more and more interest as time goes on. I’ll be fine.” He looked over. “Miru! Got a moment?”
The Buneary looked up. “What?”
“Need to discuss something with you.”
Miru grumbled but returned to the couch. “What.”
“I’m thinking of drawing media attention to myself and distancing myself from Cynthia,” Nicholas explained. “It would force Galactic to lower surveillance on her and start it on me, giving Cynthia room to operate.”
Miru frowned. “Sure, but it would bring their eyes onto us, which is precisely what we are trying to avoid. Wouldn’t that make our mission impossible?”
“Honestly? After Looker’s team struck that powerplant and factory I don’t think Galactic is looking at me in the first place,” Nicholas replied. “They know the International Police are here now. Or, failing that, they know some entity that isn’t the Sinnoh government,” Nicholas gestured to Cynthia, “is attacking them. I think it’s smart to force them in as many different directions as possible.”
Miru bit her lip. “It’s a good idea. Even if they do put comprehensive surveillance on you that just means there’s less watching for Looker or the Champion here. Whoever they’re not watching will move behind their backs.”
Nicholas nodded. “I think we should do it. If necessary you can always split from me and work in complete secrecy while I become the loudest, most obnoxious attention grabber they’ll be forced to watch.”
Miru almost smiled when she replied. “As if you aren’t already.”
Nicholas laughed and slapped her shoulder. “A joke! I knew you were warming up to me.”
Cynthia shook her head with a bemused smile. “It’s decided, then. Thank you, Nicholas. I won’t forget this.”
“Nah. You will.” Nicholas grinned. “When I walk into your arena you’ll forget everything nice about me.”
Cynthia’s lips twitched into a smile. “I suppose I will. We should leave; this meeting has gone on for far too long already. Though I wish it could have lasted forever. I’ve enjoyed speaking with you, Nicholas. We should do this again, once we no longer have business to talk about.”
Nicholas shook her hand, each taking a firm grip. “Likewise.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POKEDEX UPDATED
Tamer:Nicholas Topolski
Badges:
Mine Badge
Harem:
Sohn, Monferno – Level 18
Miru, Buneary – Level 17
Sammy, Rotom – Level 15
Non-Com Harem:
Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 6