Saturday, October 8th 302AS
12:35
Mamlambo, Jade Islands League
After receiving a tip from one of the League's tamers...
That'd have been Vince. Apparently a 'tip' was delivering a handful of smugglers to the League's doorstep. At least he got a lot of bounty points to split with Aiden for it.
...the Jade Islands Land Forces, in cooperation with the Royal Guard stationed in Isis, launched a daring raid against a local human trafficking ring. Both branches were eager to bring the criminals in, concluding a long investigation. The victims of the criminal ring, all young women with a high risk of threshold, are...
Constance's finger tapped the close button on the article Vince had been reading over for the umpteenth time on his pokedex. Ever since it'd been published a couple days ago he'd been getting himself worked up over it. To the point that he couldn't focus on accomplishing any training. He'd been so sure that this would have lead to Vsevolod being captured, that it was connected to the maniac. But after the raid was done and all the scum bags locked up, Vsevolod's wanted poster still remained up on the wall and no one was able to tell him anything more about it. A turbulent storm of aggression seemed to be stirring inside of him because of it, pushed by an underlying current of fear that just pissed the Rebel cursed tamer off more.
“We're supposed to be getting your mind off of that,” his alpha chided him. Vince grumbled inaudibly and clipped the device back onto his belt. They made it to Mamlambo so soon thanks to Aiden offering them transport via Shannon's teleport spell. When Vince had opened the article they were only a few blocks from the home Vince grew up in. Now it turned out they were all standing on the sidewalk outside the front door.
“Oh, we're here.” Vince approached the door, hand going for the knob before he stopped to think. He'd been gone for a long time. Should he just walk in or knock? As he stood staring at the door hoping it'd provide an answer, it opened on its own.
“Boyazon!” If it'd been a pokegirl attack Vince would be dead and his harem helpless to do anything to prevent it. Instead it was a hug from his mother that left him squeezed uncomfortably with his feet lifted off the ground. “Mistress Azar said you'd be home today!”
“Hi... Mom.” After Vince had his feet back on the ground, it was time to introduce his harem. Pritha already knew Ava and Reshmi, and was surprised to see Constance. The introduction for Verse and Ione was casual enough, but the pokewoman nearly lost control of herself when Vince brought out Hanako. He was starting to think that it was a universal law that pokewomen went crazy in the presence of a pokekit. Hanako wound up being lead off to the kitchen to be spoiled by her 'grandma,' a title Vince was pretty sure he didn't approve of.
Vince was all ready to give his harem a tour of the house after dropping off his things in his room when he met an unexpected occupant. His room had been redecorated, nearly violated, to a manner that better suited the tastes of a typical female teenager. Laying in the middle of his bed (with horrifying new bedding) was the teenage female in question. She was in shorts and a tee-shirt, with one leg crossed over the knee of the other. Vince couldn't see her face, only a pair of headphones over her ears and the brightest pink hair he had ever seen styled short and spiky. Whatever she was listening to was loud enough so that Vince could clearly hear the melody from where he stood in the doorway, which was across the entire room.
“No fucking way...” Vince said to himself as the pokegirl on the bed finally turned her head and noticed him. Her eyes were yellow. One specific possibility for her breed popped into his head, but why the hell would Azar have gotten one? She peeled off the headphones. For the split second before she hit the stop button on her rather outdated looking music player the song was loud enough that it might as well have been played through normal speakers; instead of ones meant to be in contact with one's ears.
“Who the fuck are you and why are you in my room?” Both pink haired individuals asked the question at the exact same time. “Oh, I don't think so.” The pokegirl continued. “You moved out to become a tamer and Azar gave me this room. It's mine, you can't take it back.”
Vince just turned away from her and headed back into the kitchen. “Mom.” Pritha looked up from where she was joyfully giving Hanako sweets, who was just as enthusiastically eating them. The pokekit did have the decency to offer him a chewed off half though. “Why is there a Hyperdoll in my room?”
Pritha unconsciously brought her hands together and cracked her knuckles. “Oh, her. Mistress Azar brought her home a couple months after you left on your journey. I think she, Ashtad, and Shahrivar were missing having you around. But Miss Azar didn't want to ask you to come visit so eventually she got Mackenzie. I think taking her in was also a favor to one of her bosses. Kenzie's fifteen and even if she was a year older there isn't going to be a tamer that wants her.”
“Ah.” Vince ignored the growing question of 'What the fuck?' “Did Azar say anything about where I'd be sleeping?”
“Downstairs in the training room, I think.”
“That works.”
Vince headed downstairs to the no longer familiar training room; even that had managed to change on him. He tossed his pokepack into a corner, all of his pokegirls following suit with their normal bags, and then plopped down so he was sitting cross legged on the padded floor. “This is fucked up.”
His harem settled down on the floor around him on his queue. “We could kick her out of your room if you wanted, she can't be that strong if she's fifteen.”
“No, not that. Well, part of that but I don't think there'd be a room left for me to reclaim. Unless... No, forget it. I mean, it's just weird being here. It still feels like home, but at the same time it doesn't.” Vince became thoughtful for a moment. “She really got a Hyperdoll to replace me? I- what- left a Hyperdoll shaped hole when I moved out? Am I like a Hyperdoll?”
All of his pokegirls present assured him he wasn't, with Verse helpfully pointing out that, “Hyperdolls don't have a dick.” Vince tried to glare but wound up laughing the more he thought about it. So what if it wasn't exactly like how he had left it? It still felt good to be home. Now there was just the question of how things would go when Azar got home.
-
Azar steepled her fingers under her chin as she sat alone with Vince at the cleared off dinner table. All of the pokegirls and 'women had been dismissed so the two of them could talk. Although Vince wasn't sure what to anticipate, it turned out that Azar just wanted to know about what had happened to Vince involving Vsevolod. It turned out that all of the Jade Islands' military, police, and the Royal Guard facilities were at least keeping an eye out for him.
“I see,” Vince had just finished retelling the story of how he and Aiden had brought in the smugglers in Isis. “I think you should just go back to focusing on gyms for now, Vince. At least until he's been brought in. It won't be too long, we're really anxious to catch him.”
“Why?”
Vince didn't specify, so Azar answered both possible questions. “Besides the fact that he's a dangerous man to leave running about, he has done extensive research on humans transforming into pokegirls. Before and after he left the Sapphire League. If we could capture his notes or turn one of the pokegirls he uses as an assistant, that could be a lot of knowledge gained about thresholding that may be of use. But he is a dangerous man, Vince. And I'm not sure if you start trying to find him, or get in his way, if he won't decide to kill you. We already almost lost you once.”
“Hmph.” Vince's eyes traced the woodgrain of the table for a moment as he looked away from the concern in his foster mother's eyes. “So what's the story with the Hyperdoll? Mackenzie.”
Azar waited for a moment, not happy with Vince dodging the subject. “She belonged to the family of someone I work with. They were going to sell her to a ranch as soon as she was old enough to be away from her dam, but I guess someone got attached to her. The husband's father treated her just like she was a grand daughter. So they kept her around for him. Then he died a few months back and she was going to be old enough to need tamed soon. They approached me asking if I could convince you to take her. I went to see if there was a chance of that happening and somehow that day I wound up taking her home.”
“And gave her my room. She seemed pretty hostile when I wanted it back.”
“I'm not surprised. She tried fighting off Shahri when we found out she snuck out with her music player. I think she's trying to hold onto everything she can, both from her life there and her new one here. She went from being a member of the family to getting dropped into the arms of a stranger right as the closest person to her in the world passed away. It's like she went through threshold but without even really changing herself.”
“She tried to fight with Shahri?! She doesn't do that a lot, does she?”
Azar smirked. “She only tried it with Shahri once. Pritha a couple times and Ash a few more, but she's learned she can't throw around her increased strength and get what she wants around here. Now we're trying to teach her how to really fight and some discipline so when she needs a tamer, whoever it is will actually want her.”
“You're not going to keep her?”
Azar shook her head. “She already seems too much like my kid for me to bring myself to tame her. Probably because she reminds me so much of you... So what did you think of meeting Aiden? I always wondered if I shouldn't have tried introducing you two earlier, but never could decide one way or the other.”
Vince considered his words for a while. “I don't think I would have understood why if I had met him earlier. Why he gave away mom and me.”
“So you do understand why? That's good...” Suddenly Azar was the one diverting her gaze. “It took me longer than you. If he hadn't come to me about Pritha and you, I don't think I ever would have.” At Vince's questioning look, she forced a half smile. “It's a long story. One I think I'll save as bait so you come visit again. Now, I've got to take care of Ash tonight, then be in to work early tomorrow, so goodnight, Vince.”
“Night,” Vince replied.
-
Wednesday, October 12th 302AS
10:23
Mamlambo, Jade Islands League
Vince jumped as his pokedex started blaring out the chime to tell him he had an incoming call. “Tradesman David Araingee.” He looked from the display, to Reshmi, and then to Constance. His alpha nodded and herded everyone besides Vince and his Arachnae upstairs out of the training room. “This is Vince,” he declared after pressing the accept button.
“Vince. It's been so long I had to ask my Ladyien who you were before returning your call. It's good to finally hear from you, how is your tamer's journey going?”
Vince tried his best to keep his face neutral. “I'm coming out of a pretty rough patch from a while back.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. So how are you doing? You moved out of that apartment at least, since I had to go to the landlord to figure out how to get ahold of you.”
“I'm doing well. Working for the league scouting out possible new development locations. A lot of time out in the middle of nowhere but my 'girls are keeping me in one piece, even if one's a pokewoman. I don't think I could pull it off if you hadn't given me that voucher for... the Spinnertit. She working out for you?” There was clear worry in the way he asked the question, anxiety wondering about Reshmi, or was she still Diane to him?
Vince felt a knot in his stomach, and looking over at Reshmi he guess it must have actually been a feeling coming from her. “She's a great 'girl. Evolved her to an Arachnae a while ago and I can't imagine being without her. I think she'd like to talk you if you don't mind.”
“No, not at all. Put her on.” The second it took Vince to pass over the pokedex must have been an eternity to Dave if the eagerness in his voice was any indication.
After saying hello, Reshmi was met with a long, awkward silence. The angle he was looking at the screen distorted the colors and made it impossible to read David Araingee's face clearly. Finally from the other end of the conversation Dave's voice came through. “You look just like your grandmother...”
Reshmi blinked back a tear and choked on a sob as a smile invaded her face. “Dad...”
-
Vince hooked an arm around Constance's waist as she walked by him, hips swaying in a clear attempt to draw his attention. Vince had found that so long as he gave his alpha a little extra attention after spending time with Reshmi, the Tick Tock's jealousy over the delta bond stayed in check. And she figured out he knew that quickly, so she tended to play things up to her advantage whenever he employed the tactic. “So...” Vince started.
“So?” Constance looked up at him. A shift or twist of her weight and both of them fell a little ways so that Vince was pressed right up against her with her pressed against the wall. “This kind of so?”
Vince chuckled. “Not quite. We may be taking a trip to Allat sometime soon. Reshmi's dad is living with his girlfriend there when he's not out scouting, and she watches the boy and 'kits when he is. I was wondering if you wanted a chance to visit with your folks too. You miss them?”
Constance sighed and leaned her head against his chest. “Despite things, yeah.”
“Then I'll give them a call and see if we can set something up.” Constance's head jerked up.
“Wait! Vince, never mind. I think I'd rather not go see them.” Constance was suddenly nervous, which was a rarity for Vince's alpha.
“That's a fast change of mind. What's up?”
“Nothing, it's just, you know how my mom was... and dad... they didn't like you, I don't think they will now either...” Her voice was trailing off to a murmur as she spoke.
“I can put up with that for one visit. So do you want to see them or not?”
Constance sighed. “Vince... when I found you on Sadie Poken's day... I ran away from home.”
“What?”
“Mom was in the process of setting me up with someone's son, not a Regina but like the Mayor or something, before I started going through threshold. I was going to be married before I was seventeen. The only thing that changed when I became a Tick Tock was that I was just going to be a gift to the same boring guy ten years older than me. I didn't want that, so one day after all the grooming and training I ran.”
“Oh. I guess that might be rough to explain. But what's the worst that could happen?”
“My parents might accuse you of stealing me...”
For a second Vince thought that was crazy, but then he decided that was entirely possible for them to try to get him arrested for being with their daughter again. So he decided to consult his best option regarding legal questions. It didn't take too long to find Verse admiring the small collection plaques and certificates rewarded to Azar for her service in the Royal Guard. “Hey Verse.”
The Officer Jenny turned from the awards on the wall to her tamer. “Hmm?”
“If a pokegirl runs away from her owners and then joins the harem of a tamer on Sadie Poken's day, could the tamer get in trouble for stealing her?”
Verse blinked at the question for a moment. “That's a very specific question and has me a little worried, but...” She toyed with the cuffs on her wrist as she thought. “Allowing a pokegirl to run away is often seen as the same offense as releasing her into the wild to go feral. It removes her from a controlled environment and makes her a risk for tamers and other traveling humans. So long as you registered the 'girl once she joined your harem, I would think who ever she ran from would be the ones in trouble. I'm not the best at interpreting laws though, sorry.”
“Shit, what the hell do you do to register a pokegirl?” Vince looked at Verse, who was staring at him slack-jawed, before Constance spoke up.
“I already am registered to you. Technically you caught me three days after Sadie Poken's day, while you were taming Ava and Tuuli...” Eyes cast downward. “Sorry. I didn't mean to bring her up.”
Vince leaned against the wall. “It's not your fault.” The tamer and his two pokegirls stood silently while Vince thought. “I should call your parents, just to let them know.”
Constance nodded with uncertainty. “I guess.”
Vince had to search for the com number for a while, and then the other line was left ringing for so long that he nearly hung up before someone answered. It wasn't Constance's mother or father, Vince guessed one of their pokegirls. “Hi, my name is Vincent Flare. Could I speak to Mrs or Mr Kader? I'm a tamer and I'm calling about their daughter, Constance.” Vince was left on hold for quite a while before someone picked up again. This time he recognized the woman instantly. Heck, he recognized the scowl.
“Our daughter, Constance, went through threshold over a year ago. So that can't be your business in calling.”
“I'm aware of that, ma'am,” Vince gritted his teeth at the difficulty in sounding polite, “then I suppose I'm calling about the pokegirl that she became.”
“What of it?” Constance had been missing for over half a year and upon hearing news of her, her mother was as cold as ice.
The case of his pokedex groaned in its suffering as he squeezed some of his anger into it. He was done with his attempt at being polite. He wasn't going to keep this up with Constance standing right next to him. “Just that I thought I should inform you that I've managed to clean up your mistake when you let her run away, though I can't blaim her at all. She's in my possession now, and in good health, if you even happen to care.” The screen went blank as Vince hung up. His temper was still boiling when he noticed the state Constance was in.
So he let go of his anger and pulled the Tick Tock down to sit in his lap, wrapping his arms and knees around her as she cried herself out. It took a while before either of them noticed the pokedex angrily chiming that Vince had a new message and a missed call. Vince brought up the e-mail that had been left and read through it once silently, then again out loud for Constance to hear.
“Tamer Vincent Flare,
I wanted to apologize on behalf of my wife for how the conversation went earlier this afternoon. Constance's threshold was hard for the both of us, and so are any reminders of it even now. We are relieved to know that the pokegirl that our daughter became is being cared for. Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Please be well, and take care of your harem.”
He put the pokedex back down on the floor. “It's from your dad. I guess that was kind of cool of him.”
“Yeah...” Constance replied quietly as she blinked out the last of the tears.
-
Friday, October 14th 302AS
14:05
Mamlambo, Jade Islands League
“Your Combusticunt's insane.” Mackenzie stated as she flopped down to take up three quarters of the couch Vince was sitting on. “Anyone who asks Ashtad to train her has got to be.”
“Wait, she's training with Ash too?”
“Tch, yah. For just as long as she trains with you. What's her deal? She have a death wish?”
Vince glared at the young Hyperdoll, who was stretching out even more so her feet were up in his lap. She just wiggled her toes. “I doubt it's that. Why do you care, anyway?”
“I don't, except that if she does train herself to death there'll be an opening in your harem.” Now she was running one foot down, and if he hadn't blocked it with his hand up, his thigh. “What?”
“You're underage.”
“Not if we were in the Blue League.”
“The hell does that have to do with anything?”
“Argh, can't you just stare at my tits or something and stop thinking?”
“My harem has better.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you too.”
“So you will tame me, awesome.” A hand grabbed the neck of Mackenzie's shirt and yanked her off the couch by it.
Pritha lifted the Hyperdoll up so they were face to face. “You'll wait till you're sixteen to approach my Boyazon for a taming or I'll break you in a way so you can't get tamed by anybody. And stop sneaking to the top of the stairs when he's taming his harem at night.”
“What?!”
Pritha didn't respond to Vince's outburst. “Now come on, I'm taking Vince's 'girls grocery shopping so they can learn to make his favorites and you're going to carry the bags.” The Hyperdoll was dragged out the door behind the Herochan, and Constance, Reshmi, Verse, Ione, and Hanako all filed out after that. With Azar and her two pokewomen at work the house suddenly became very quiet, except for the sounds of chains rattling and pads being struck from down in the basement training room.
Vince quietly padded downstairs to find Ava mercilessly beating on the training equipment. Sweat ran down her body and her chest was heaving as she panted each breath. Still she kept hammering away with kicks and punches. Vince watched her from the foot of the stairs for a few more minutes, then made his way back upstairs to fetch a towel, glass, and pitcher of water.
“Master-” The fire type huffed out between short gasping breaths when he offered her the towel.
“I thought you've been training pretty hard down here for a while. Take a break.”
“Mm.” She grunted as she wiped down her face.
Vince watched as Ava greedily drank the water he brought, a good portion of it never reaching her mouth and running down her neck and the front of her chest. Once the glass was empty she went back to gulping air instead of liquid. “You're really wearing yourself out, aren't you? Why are you training so hard. You don't need to punish yourself on top of things.”
The entry said that a Combusticunt's eyes were somewhat disturbing to look at since they lacked any distinction between the pupil and iris, the two looking like a solid red circle. Vince must have just grown used to it because as Ava stared into his eyes it didn't get to him at all. “I'm sick of being like this. I can be better, I should be stronger. I'm not going to stop until I evolve so I know I'm still your best fighter, and stop making problems for you.”
“You're still upset about what happened in Wadjet... aren't you?”
“Aren't you?!”
“Yeah, but... Ava, it wasn't your fault, stop beating yourself up over it. You can't force yourself to evolve.”
“But I-” Ava bit back a tear. “I was the first one to be taken down. If I had done better, maybe... maybe Tuuli...” She looked at him with pain filled eyes. “She was my best friend. I failed her. And you. I'm supposed to be your strongest.”
Vince reached up to cup his hands around both cheeks and gently pulled Ava's face to his. Heat radiated off of her body from the workout. “You don't need to be my strongest, Ava. Reshmi has the bond, and Constance is my alpha. I know you think that means they're more special to me but you are my first pokegirl. Nothing can change that and I'm not going to let you go any easier than I will either of them.” Ava was tense for a moment and then relaxed, leaning into him and pressing her face against his shoulder.
“Vince... I've missed you so much...”
“Me too. It won't be much longer, Ava. And you know what? Everyone else is gone today. We could go snuggle up on the couch and Constance would never know.”
His Combusticunt grinned at him and then the two of them dashed up the stairs.
-
Cuddling against Ava's warm body had a similar effect to a warm, sunny afternoon. It lulled Vince unsuspectingly into a drowsy state and eventually he succumbed to taking a nap with his fire type. The two were awoken by Constance shouting. “Vince! Ava!”
“Wah?!” Both jumped to their feet, Vince starting to explain it was his idea so that his alpha wouldn't unjustly punish Ava when she cut him off.
“Vince, look at her.” So he did. Ava had changed. Her forearms had a full coat of brilliant orange feathers, some long enough close to the elbow that they even fanned out a little like wings. Her hands seemed to be covered in very fine black scales, and her claws were now full length talons. The same kind of changes happened to her feet. Her eyes were now a solid red, her eyebrows were just a little thicker and more vivid looking. The rest of her face was still human looking and her hair had gained a lot of volume and swept back and up while feathering out. “She's taller than you.”
“What? No way, I've been taller than Ava for months now.” Vince stood close to the now Blazicunt to be sure. Unfortunately for him, he was eye-level with the middle of her nose. He straightened up his stance to gain just a little bit of height only for Ava to do the same, completely negating anything he gained. “Damnit...” Ava slouched back down, causing Vince to chuckle. “I'm not serious, Ava. This is great.” He pulled his first pokegirl into a hug which she eagerly returned, reminding them all that she now had even more enhanced strength.
-
Saturday, October 15th 302AS
12:21
Mamlambo, Jade Islands League
Constance toweled off her hands as the toilet finished refilling with water. She opened the bathroom door into the hallway and was about to flick off the lights when she saw Vince standing on the other side of it. “What are you doing up?”
Her master grinned at her, just the simple expression making her tingle with joy. “My bed partner woke me up sneaking off in the middle of the night. Then I realized I needed to piss only to find she beat me to the bathroom.” Constance's reply was to stick out her tongue.
“Since we're both up anyway, how about we do something?” The arch of her eyebrows suggested a little more specifically what something entailed.
“Then everyone would be up. Get back to bed.” Constance chose to disobey, waiting out in the hall for Vince to finish up so they could head down together. Even though they were in the middle of the city in his foster mother's home, she still felt the need to stand watch at night like they were out camping. She was trying to determine if a shadow she saw at the end of the hallway was a trick of her eyes or something more real when Vince came out of the bathroom and drew away her attention. With a playful whisper he started to ask, “Why are you still up here?” He was cut off though when the indistinguishable shadow blurred forward.
“Vince! Look out!” Constance cast a spell to slow time to a halt around them, freezing what she now realized was some unknown pokegirl invading the home. She turned to grab her master and run to the rest of the harem, only to freeze and stifle a gasp with her hand. Vince was frozen in time as well, a look of shock covered his face as a small dark hole was opened up in his forehead and a large red splatter was about to coat the walls behind him.