The fairgrounds outside of Allat seemed almost like a maze, with the tents, stands, and event platforms forming the walls and the few thousand humans and pokegirls the rats running around all trying to get to their own slice of cheese. Hana and Hanako had found something they were enjoying. A Buzz-keeper, maybe in his late thirties, had a stand set up, offering samples of the different varieties of honey, produced both by pokegirls and the original insects they were based on. He was running the stand with the help of his Buzz-queen, a couple Buzzbreasts, and one Killerbreast that stood watch over the crates of merchandise.
The Buzz-keeper was watching Hana and Hanako trying the sample of honey Vince had gotten for them. “You know, if you're willing to part with her, I'd give you a good price for the Flowergirl. They're pretty good for hive morale, at least from what I've read.”
Vince watched Hana offer the small jar to her daughter, who stuck her hand in up her tiny wrist, then desperately tried to lick it all off before it could run down her forearm and drip onto the ground. “Would you take the 'kit too?” Hana looked up to pay attention to the conversation, but Hanako was busy cleaning off her honey-coated hand.
The Buzz-keeper scratched his head. “Well... don't really got anyone to watch over a 'kit. And I really don't want to do it myself... You think about just dropping her off at a ranch?”
Vince had to shake his head at his own ridiculous behavior. He wanted a combat harem, one that he could use to win badges and tournaments. And yet he was taking up a slot in his harem with a pokegirl that would never learn a single offensive move no matter what he tried to teach her. “Sorry then. I don't know why, just I don't want to see them split up.”
The Buzz-keeper nodded at the comment. “Nothing wrong with having a little bit of a heart, kid.” The tradesman reached under the counter and pulled out small case. “Here, since you're keeping her, you should teach her Honey as a treat. This T2 will start her off with the basic level of the skill, but if she practices at it, she'll be able to make all three levels of Honey.”
Vince looked over to Hana again, who smiled at him, dipped her index and middle finger into the honey jar while running the other fingers around the rim, then slowly drew them to her lips and suggestively sucked the honey off. The gesture was enough to make the two Buzz-breasts helping with the stand blush. Vince pulled out his pokedex and brought up his account info. “How much?”
After making the purchase, the Buzz-keeper started going on about the proper ways to utilize the technique. Vince didn't pay attention to the specifics of what the tradesman was saying. He amused himself for a while by scheming up what he could do with two 'girls that knew the technique, then headed off to wind his way through the other stands.
-
Vince didn't play any games at first, instead he opted to let Hana and Hanako play them. As it turned out, the games were free for Pokegirls, but humans had to buy tickets to gamble with, and they earned more tickets if they won. Most of the were like a ball toss or similar, and all the attendants let Hanako stand closer to the targets than the starting line.
He finally broke down and bought himself some tickets when he found a fighting challenge. You had to be human to enter, and it the goal was to force your opponent out of the ring or knock him out. Vince won a string of matches easy enough, but soon no one was issuing a challenge, and Vince started hearing half whispered comments that included the word 'pokefreak'. Finally, the woman in charge of running the event approached Vince and requested he step down. A short and sweet, “Fuck you, bitch” was the answer she got.
“But sir,” the way 'sir' came out made it clear she wasn't too pleased with the way he answered, “you're driving away others who would like to participate.”
“Sucks to be them. I'm not leaving until somebody beats me. I don't care who they are.”
“Even if they're a pokegirl?” came up from down on the ground.
“Sure, why not?” Vince replied without thinking. After all, what kind of pokegirl would risk hurting a human in such a silly game?
His jaw dropped when the speaker cleared all of the other spectators with a leap and landed in the ring. She looked just like Pritha, only with the clock turned back thirty some years. Vince started to visibly panic. “What the hell are you doing here!?” It didn't make any sense, she belonged to a ranch, and was still a year or so too young to have a tamer anyway.
“If you're good you get to go out on holidays. They're usually pretty boring, but any day I get a chance to fight with Uncle Vince is a good day.” The pokegirl challenging Vince was the daughter of Pritha's daughter, who had been born through Parthenogenesis way back before Pritha had been purchased by her tamer. When Vince's blood traits started manifesting, Pritha got permission from Vince's adopted parents to take him to the ranch for a couple weeks to train. The intent was to simply have Vince train along with the Tyamazon 'kits in strength control, but he made the mistake of beating his 'niece' in a sparring match. The loss to a human was used by all the other ranch girls to humiliate the former Tyamazon. Even though she had been going easy on him, and Vince admitted it was a lucky hit time and time again, the former Tyamazon trained obsessively, pushing herself to evolve to an Amazon-Lee even before first puberty set in and then cornered Vince into a rematch whenever she could. Vince hated to admit it, but he was a little terrified of his niece.
“...Yeah, I'm sure it is,” Vince added 'for you' under his breath, “but I've got a lot of tickets now. I think I'm going to go see what I can get for them.” Vince started making his way to the edge of the platform when the woman attending the event signaled for the fight to start. Vince had just enough time to stare at her in disbelief to catch her clearly mouth out, 'Fuck you, bitch.'
Vince ducked under a flurry of sweeping kicks, was almost sent sprawling off balance by the one he blocked, and then sent sailing through the air by the follow up. He landed well over three meters from the platform, and no less than four medical pokegirls, along with Hana, ran over to make sure he was okay. The pink haired Amazon-lee hopped down from the platform and skipped her way to where Vince was on the ground. “He's fine. Don't worry about him, he's not even bruised. After all, Uncle Vince has got toughness.” The various Nurse Joys and Ingenue gave him some space after they confirmed that he was uninjured, and the 'Lee hauled him to his feet. Vince's flowergirl was glaring at the young fighting type like she was considering an attempt at returning the favor. Probably the only thing stopping Hana was the fact that she didn't know any attacks to start with.
Vince dusted himself off and then put a hand on the plant type's shoulder. “It's ok Hana, we were just uh...”
“Playing a game. It's lots of fun and we play it every time we can.” The Amazon-lee's smile was innocence masking maliciousness. She started bouncing on her heels while pointing with one hand to a large sign looming overtop the other booths and stands littered about. “That's where the prize wheel is over there. I'm going to go see if there's anyone here that can teach me any cool moves. See ya' later Uncle Vince.”
-
Vince made his way through the crowds with Hana and Hanako following behind. Finally they got to the large central booth with the prize wheel, only to find an out-of-order sign and two very confused looking men staring at a wheel spinning at a blurred speed showing no signs of slowing down. “Hey, this where I turn in my tickets?” Neither of the two answered immediately, so Vince tried again with more volume and less manners.
One of the two pushed back his hair with a sigh, then turned to address the umpteenth tamer who came to ask about the prizes. “Yes, this is where you can exchange your tickets for prizes. Unfortunately, we're having technical difficulties, so you'll have to come back later.”
“Well, what the hell happened?”
“Some FarFuck'd happened, that's what. Some wiseass tamer kept arguing with her about a pokedex scan, so she spouted off something I think I read in some school book and then cranked the wheel. It hasn't stopped spinning yet. Even threw off a snorlass when she tried to grab hold of it. Now we're waiting to see if there's a mage or magic type pokegirl that can stop this. At least we're hoping she did it with magic...”
Vince didn't think the two men trying to break the perpetual motion of the prize wheel would appreciate learning that he was probably the one who released the pokegirl who caused the whole thing, so after watching a few more revolutions he just went on his way without a word.
They played a few more games, with Vince taking advantage of his blood traits to gain a good deal more tickets, before they came to an area that seemed set up for crafts. Wood and stone sculptures, paintings and drawings, music recordings, and countless other products all made by pokegirls were being sold from rows of tables set up. Vince was staring at a collection of incredibly detailed tiny stone bugs being sold by a snake type when three sets of arms grabbed him in a hug from behind.
He turned around to see the perpetrator of the glomp, to see Reshmi standing with one pair or hands hidden behind her back, grinning proudly to herself. “Hey Reshmi, you having fun?”
The spinnertit nodded, and was about to say something when another pokegirl grabbed whatever she had behind her back and popped it into her mouth. All Vince made out was a short length of white cord. Reshmi whirled around, tears starting to run down her face, though her expression was one of fury and not sadness. She still held a small length of the cord in one hand, curled tight into a fist which she smashed into the Tarantella's face. “You whore! I made that for him!” Vince was taken aback at how fierce the spinnertit had become, definitely more than he had thought she was capable of. He got over the shock though when he saw her brandish her stingers at the other spider girl, and caught her about the waist before she could lunge to try for a sting.
“Hey, hey, hey! Reshmi, calm down!” The spinnertit stopped instantly, and the Tarantella sulked off after glaring for a moment. Vince wiped a tear off Reshmi's cheek while asking, “What got into you? What was that she ate?”
“Just some silk, I... I wanted it to be a surprise and she ruined it.”
“You can make more silk, right? I still have no idea what it is too, so it's still a surprise. You didn't need to attack her.”
Reshmi nodded, then beamed at him. “I'm sorry Vince. You're right. I...” A touch of red spread across her cheeks as she looked down at her chest. “I'm going to go somewhere a little more private and make some more silk.”
Vince thought to himself as he made his way to a large tent set up to serve food. Well, that's at least two 'girls I can count on coming back. Hana still doesn't even seem to realize she could leave, and it'd be odd for Reshmi to be making a gift for me if she were taking off with some other tamer. Tuuli seemed like she'd be back too. Ava said she'd be looking for someone else, but I bet she was just teasing. Vince got into the line formed to be served lunch, Hana and Hanako still quietly following behind him, though Hanako a couple times tried to break out of line and cut to where the food was. Now if only I'd run into some possible new 'girls, it'd be a really good day.
-
Vince spent a few hours after lunch wandering through the rest of the fairgrounds. There wasn't much of interest, most of the games were back the way he'd came from. A lot of his time was wasted by various salesmen and women representing different companies and ranches. After he got through all of that, there wasn't much left that he hadn't seen. He started to make his way back to the prize wheel to see if it had been fixed When he was stopped by a pokegirl who asked, “Excuse me sir, would you like to have your fortune read?”
Vince wasn't sure how he knew this woman was a pokegirl, it must have been the eyes. They were a calm golden color. Her head was shaved bald, which seemed really odd, but her eyebrows still revealed that her hair color was blue. She was dressed fairly plain, simple bluejeans and a lightweight top. Yet she just gave off a vibe that to him didn't feel normal. “Um, what breed are you?”
The pokegirl gave him a soft smile, but her reply didn't answer his question. “You're a tamer, aren't you? Why don't you scan me?”
Vince took a step back when the page on Megami-Sama came up, though her smile only brightened. “Relax, I'm just here to have fun, like the other tamers and pokegirls. You've been through enough people trying to use you for the benefit of their business today.” Vince had to agree with that. Fuckin' pushy salesmen.
“I just like to tell silly fortunes to people, for a small donation to charity.” The celestial held up a jar a quarter full of SLC coins and paper notes.
“Well, I guess if it's for charity, and just for fun...” Vince fished a couple of coins out of his pockets and dropped them in the jar. The 'Sama nodded, then gazed directly into Vince's eyes. To him it was unsettling, something seemed to stir behind her eyes, like ripples spreading across a pool. He wound up breaking away from the stare for a split second, and when he looked back the intensity was gone, and the Megami-Sama was back to showing her soft smile.
“Teehee. You're a momma's boy. That's so cute. But over all, you have a lot of good qualities about you that, if you ask me, make up for your flaws.”
Vince wasn't sure how to react, though he was a little ticked at being called a 'momma's boy' so plainly. “Ok, that's not really a fortune though.”
The celestial was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled quietly to herself. “Oh, no it's not. Silly me. I got so caught up in seeing what kind of person you were I completely forgot.” She crossed one arm under her breasts, propping up the elbow of her other arms and tapping at her chin. “Let me see...” Suddenly an electronic melody chirped out from somewhere hidden from view. The Megami-Sama reached into her back pocket and pulled out something that looked like a pager. After pressing a button and reading the display of the devise, she looked exasperated. “...Mel-a-niieee... Why can't she do anything right on her own?” She shook her head and replaced the devise back in her pocket. “I'm sorry, I have to go. I didn't even get to meet up with Hailey and Taylor either...” She then placed the change jar in her pocket, something that should have been impossible but was accomplished without even producing a bulge. “Oh! I still haven't given you your fortune, and you've already made a donation... Here.” Her eyes flashed with a bright light as she extended her hand so she was almost touching Vince's forehead. “You'll want to be sure to stop by the prize wheel now. They've got it fixed.” She winked at him and then vanished as another flash escaped her one open eye.
-
“Congratulations! You've won one of our top prizes! One pokepack with berry pouch addon!” The attendant of the wheel announced. Vince took the offered prize, amazed at the luck of only his second spin. He had been stunned for a few seconds after the Megami-Sama had vanished, but then followed her advise and hit up the prize wheel. And spin after spin, it proved to be better and better advise.
“Congratulations! You've also won a free uncommon evolution stone!”
“...uh, congratulations. You win a deluxe PPHU with extended battery life and a solar charger.”
“...Aren't you out of tickets yet, kid?” Was all he got the forth time he won, again taking one of the larger prizes, a very generous gift certificate for a tamer and harem outfitters staffed by a Seamstress.
“Yeah... I guess that's it.” That 'Sama must have done something... Vince opened his pokedex to see what he could do with an uncommon evolution stone. After glancing over the entries for his current harem, he picked out a violet colored stone that the attendant wrapped in paper before handling. He looked at the time displayed on his 'dex. It was almost time for the signal to sound to catch any still roaming pokegirls.
The fairgrounds had cleared out considerably, and more people and pokegirls seemed to be drifting away back to Allat. Vince pulled Hana's pokeball off his belt, but waited to recall her. “Ok Hana, I've got to put you and Hanako back in your balls, otherwise someone'll probably try to steal you.” Hana nodded, a slight look of worry on her face at the thought of being taken from her master. Vince sighed as the capture beam enveloped her, part of him had been hoping he would have found someone to look after her and Hanako. He replaced the now occupied ball on his belt and reached for Hanako's, only to find all the other holsters empty. Hanako looked at him with a puzzled expression as he started to dig through his pockets. “Shit. Must have forgot it back at the pokecenter.” Vince reached out a hand to walk the pokekit home, but as he did the signal to end the day's celebration and start the free-for-all capture period sounded. The blaring noise hadn't even stopped before a pokeball came flying through the air and pegged Hanako right in the forehead.
Hanako was knocked off her feat by the impact, landing in a sitting position as she squeeled in alarm. “What the heck? Stupid ball must have been a dud.” Another tamer a ways off readied another ball to throw, but Vince stepped in the way.
“What the fuck do you think you're doing!?” Vince shouted at the tamer as he caught the second thrown ball.
“Catching that pokegirl dude...” He sounded confused that anyone would have any objections to what he was doing. “The signal sounded, she's fair game.”
Hanako had gotten back to her feet and scrambled to right behind Vince, clinging onto his leg. She wasn't crying out loud, though Vince could hear a few quiet, distressed whimpers. “She's a pokekit, asshat. You can't catch her.”
The other tamer shrugged his shoulders. “Dude, I thought she was a chibi or something. Pull the freakin' stick out.”
“Chibi's look around twelve. How old does she look?”
“She could be twelve...” Vince just glared at the other tamer. “Ok, so maybe like eight or something... Six?”
“Not even six, if you ask me.” The voice was female and assertive. Both tamers turned to see two newcomers, Vince having to pivot around due to the pokekit latched to his leg. Both were female, and appeared to be the same age. One was a redhead with green eyes, wearing a black set of robes hiding some kind of armor you could barely catch a glimpse of as she moved. The other was blonde with violet eyes, and she wore white robes with highly polished pieces of armor sitting over top of them. A pokeball was sent flying through the air by the toss-happy tamer, though it was just caught by blonde.
“Sorry, but as volunteer staff for the celebration today, we're not available for capture and have been provided with collars to protect us from any attempts.” She spoke with a very soft voice, meaning the first speaker must have been her companion.
“Damnit. Not having any luck today.” The tamer picked up the first pokeball that had hit Hanako and headed off.
Vince looked at the pokeball still in his hand, then whipped it at the back of the retreating tamer's head. “You forgot something, shithead!” He called out the warning too late on purpose, and put enough behind the throw to knock his target face first into the dirt.
“I think he's bleeding!” The blonde rushed past Vince with a look of concern on her face, passing the pokeball she had caught to the redhead. Vince got out his pokedex to scan these two new 'girls. The blonde, who was now kneeling next to the tamer as he pushed himself off the ground, was a Seraph.
“Here's the other ball if you want another shot.” The redhead handed the pokeball to him as the pokedex brought up the page on the Warrior Nun breed. What the hell is with the celestials today? The Seraph cast some kind of healing spell on the other tamer before he ran off, most likely to try to find another pokegirl out of a ball. The Warrior Nun introduced herself and the Seraph. “I'm Hailey, and the Seraph's Taylor.”
Vince was taken aback by the boldness of a pokegirl introducing herself without prompting, but then he never was one to enforce proper etiquette. “I'm Vince, and the kit...” Hanako still hadn't let go of his leg. Vince bent down to try to pry the 'kit off, only to have her wrap her arms around his neck once his leg was liberated. Both pokegirls were laughing at the spectacle as Hanako held on hard enough to be raised off the ground as Vince stood upright. “...the kit is Hanako...” Vince finished with a sigh of defeat, putting one arm under Hanako to hold her up.
Both celestials were smiling at him, and the Warrior Nun stepped forward to talk sweetly to Hanako. “Hello Ha-na-ko. My name is Hailey. Did your master protect you from the mean tamer that threw a ball at you?”
Hailey continued to fuss over a confused, but now calm, Hanako while Taylor continued the converstaion. “Do you know how old she is?” Vince shook his head. “Well, there's a researcher's assistant in town, doing a study on pokekit development. He may be able to tell you, and I'm sure he'd love a chance to examine her. He hasn't had much to study outside of ranches.”
“Huh. I might do that.” Hanako was now giggling as Hailey continued talking and playing games with her. “I uh... I have to ask. Is there any reason you two are here?”
Taylor nodded. “Yes, there is. We volunteer every year, and a friend of ours comes to visit. She had to leave early today, but it's one of the few chances we get to spend time together, outside of business anyway.”
Vince felt a little bit of relief wash over him. So they're not here for me. “Any chance your friend's a Megami-Sama? I ran into one earlier and then she suddenly took off. Gold eyes and bald.”
“Yeah, that was Phoebe. Silly that she's still shaving her head after all this time... Anyway, we should be going. Come on Hailey.”
Hailey finally took her attention away from the 'kit Vince was holding. “Goodbye Hanako. Be good for your master.”
The pair of celestials bowed to Vince, and then started to head off. Vince turned from them and continued on his way back to the pokecenter. Hanako still wasn't letting him put her down, so he carried the flowergirl 'kit the whole way. By the time he'd made it back into the 'center, she had fallen asleep in his arms. The attendant looked up as he walking in, and was about to say something before she saw the sleeping 'kit and smiled at him. She whispered just loud enough for the sound to carry to him, “Sir, I have your harem here when you're ready.”
Vince set Hanako on the bed and then released Hana. “Hey, I didn't have Hanako's ball with me, help me find it. If you get it, just recall her.” Vince dug around in his backpack and around the camping equipment. It was Hana that found the ball though. She made her way to the side of the bed, and stroked the 'kit's hair.
“Master... I had... more. Like Hanako. I had more Hanakos, but I lost them. Others took them, or they would be weak and not wake up...” The flowergirl paused for a moment, just staring at her daughter. “She is all I have left.” Finally, Hana recalled Hanako into the 'kit ball and offered it to Vince. “She is safe in there. Safe with you, master. Thank you.”
Vince took the pokeball and placed it on his belt, the whole thing being an automatic process with no thought. His mind was too occupied, staring at his flowergirl who was staring at him, like she was about to drop to her knees and start worshiping him. For what? Being her tamer? He'd been tricked into doing that. Was it for keeping Hanako? And what did she mean by safe with him. A pokekit could be safe with a lot of humans... Then her meaning behind losing her 'others' sunk in.
She had had more daughters, but they died somehow, while she was still feral. He'd never thought about what it'd be like for pokekits out in the wild. Ferals weren't really human, it was like KATTLE dying out in the wild. But Hana had looked so depressed when she had told him about the other 'kits. Did KATTLE get that sad when one of their numbers died?
He had to get that kind of stuff out of his head, so he started thinking of anything else he could do. “Hey Hana, let's go get your harem sisters. I got some stuff I want to show them.” Hana nodded, still gazing at him with near reverence in her eyes, but now Vince had an excuse to look away. Why was she looking at him like that, thanking him? He wouldn't have even taken her if he'd known he'd be getting a pokekit as a part of the deal. But it didn't feel like a mistake.
Hana walked just a little ways behind him, just like she had during the entire day. Vince was compelled to stop before reaching the lobby, and he turned to face his Flowergirl. “Hey Hana. I'm... glad I wound up with you and Hanako. You're both good girls.” Hana was starting to look at him like she had been again, and it was still weirding him out. “Anyway, harem. I'm sure they don't like the idea of you getting this much time with me by yourself.”