Chapter 2
6 hours after the destruction of Maple Pass
It's said that everything looks better after a good nights sleep. The same could not be said for catching a few fitful hours of slumber and filling the rest with lukewarm coffee, but the occupants of the Feannis town police station made due. Dareny drank the last of said coffee with a slight grimace, blearily looking out the window at the bright daylight outside. She was attempting to relax for the first time in hours as the young man was examined by a precinct Psych Councillor in one of the rooms behind her. Her musing was interrupted by the blissful smell of fresh coffee that accompanied the pokegirl that entered the waiting room from the hall. Standing just shy of five foot three she carried her distinctive pink hair in the 'classic' Nursejoy style, long braided loops behind her head with large bangs in front. This along with her standard pink and white uniform, as well as her ever present cheerful smile, showed her to be a veritable icon of her breed.
“Well, iconic if you didn't know about her exotic taste in underwear.” Dareny thought as she accepted the cup with a smile “Silk and lace, never cotton.”
“So, he's still talking with our resident psychiatrist?” Claire said as she joined the OfficerJenny at the window.
“Yeah, after letting him get some sleep they sequestered him in there. The interview's been going over an hour now, just got here myself after finishing my report...” Dareny trailed off as the door to back room opened and a slim golden skinned pokegirl emerged. Slightly taller than Claire, but much slighter in the bust, her equally golden shoulder length hair was swept back allowing the signature antenna of her breed to be unencumbered. She blinked owlishly at them for a moment before gesturing for them to take a seat on some nearby couches, stifling a yawn as she did so.
“Let me” -yawn- “guess, you want to know his condition? Not that I need to be psychic to figure those looks of yours out. You do realize that I'm not usually suppose to talk about my patients to non-family members right?” at their nods, the Abra continued “Suppose I should say something though, you're probably the only ones really looking out for him at this point.”
“So what's wrong with him?” Dareny asked “Did my...”
“I doubt your keeping him at the firing line made any appreciable difference to his condition in the grand scheme of things. The injury was less serious than it looked, a fact I'm sure Claire would back me up on. No, if anything this problem is more mental than anything else. Although I imagine a blow to the head didn't help matters.” at the looks of confusion the other pokegirls gave her she continued “I believe he may be suffering from a form of dissociative identity disorder. Essentially when” -yawn- “confronted with the destruction of everything he'd ever known he, in a manner of speaking, built himself a new mental reality where such a loss did not exist. The new personality seems to be focused on that replica pre-Sukebe military gear, obviously the attempt to make a 'strong' personality in order to cope, the old personality seems to have fallen asleep or possibly put itself in a coma. The problem seems even more difficult than the surface would indicate however.”
“How do you mean?” Claire said tentatively, her smile replaced with a look of concern.
“Because,” the Abra continued, rubbing sleep out of her eyes “he got some details wrong. When questioning Philip about his past I noticed it didn't match with historical reality. By 2000 AD the war should have been going on for about eight years, at least four since the human armies started converting pokegirls to use against Sukebe. Philip didn't know who Sukebe was, or for that matter what a pokegirl is.” at the looks of shocked confusion she continued “The new personality seems to have made it's 'better' world by eliminating the beings it saw as responsible for it's creation. As a result we have a man that is even worse equipped to survive in today's world than someone from that era would actually be. The ferals would eat him alive.” she concluded sadly.
“There's got be something we can do,” Dareny stated “maybe you can...”
“Already tried I'm afraid. With his permission I entered his mind and attempted to contact the original personality. It was like trying to swim upstream in a river of tar.”
“He was resisting you?” Claire said with a raised eyebrow.
“Not actively. His mind simply didn't seem to be very conductive to an active psychic presence, particularly after I managed to barely make it as far back to where he hit his head. The mental landscape got far too garbled and chaotic to continue past that point. Might be a blood gift, or he might just be one of those rare humans that are naturally resistant to psychic ability.” she gave a tired shrug “It happens. Sukebe had to get it from somewhere after all.”
“What's going to happen to him now?” Dareny said in subdued tone of voice.
“Not sure. He has no insurance, or for that matter not much of an official identity beyond being a former resident of Maple Pass. Unless you know how to get a hold of a much more powerful psychic type than me on short notice, as the problem is only going to get harder to fix psychically the longer it goes on, then we're just going to have to hope he snaps out of it on his own. Could be tomorrow, he could never fully recover and 'Philip' will effectively become the only personality. I'm afraid there's just no way to tell.” she said, covering another yawn. “I don't even know where he can stay after we release him from custody. I doubt he has any surviving relatives left.”
“Oh! He can stay at the Center!” Claire said with a bright smile, raising a her pointer finger for emphasis. At Dareny's incredulous look she continued “We could always use an extra pair of hands there, besides we can teach him what he needs to know at the same time.”
“How would he pay for his room? What about food?” Dareny asked.
“He'll do odd jobs for us in exchange for room and board. Besides, he's getting a share of the bounty for stopping the Zombabe plague so he won't be completely broke.”
“I suppose...”
“Actually,” the Abra said thoughtfully “that might actually be therapeutic. Being around and relearning about pokegirls might jog his memory, and at the very least it would leave him better prepared. He should pick it back up relatively quickly though, he didn't freak out seeing me so his subconscious at least remembers something. Ultimately it's his decision, but I'll recommend it to him.” she finished, to Dareny's nod and Clair’s smile. The three continued to sit in companionable silence for a few minutes until...
“You two don't actually remember my name do you.” the Abra said, lowering her head with a sad sigh while the other two pokegirls shared a guilty look.
*SCENE BREAK*
6 hours after the destruction of Maple Pass, +/- a few minutes...
Despite some sleep, Philips' day seemed to have decided not to improve. After being brought to the medical tent and seeing an attractive pink haired nurse, he'd been driven to the police station by a woman who was apparently part dog. After that bit of surreality seeing yet another blue haired clone at the station seemed almost normal. He'd been given a room to sleep in and did with the hope that when he woke up it would be somewhere else, no such luck. Once awake he'd been brought to a side room in which he was interviewed by the local shrink, one with yellow skin and antenna as well as psychic powers. Finding that last bit out had been exceedingly weird, even for the day he was having, he also found out that he did not like the feeling of someone else crawling around behind his eyeballs. Fortunately by this point his brain had mostly gone numb and no longer seemed to be reacting to shock. Once the woman had her answers she'd left him alone as he contemplated his situation.
“I've gone completely insane.” Philip concluded to himself. “It's the only answer that makes sense, or maybe it's a coma... Wonder what that says about my subconscious?” thinking back on the shrinks brief explanation of what a pokegirl was.
“Well this isn't helping me in the here and now. The question is, what do I do?” remembering a story his sergeant had once told him about getting stuck in foreign potentially hostile territory and the advice he'd given at the end of it.
“Don't make waves until you know the score. Just do and react the same as the other young men in your age group are so you don't stand out, keep your ears open so you can figure things out...” he remembered “... and for God's sake try to avoid answering any questions!”
“Shit. Well too late for that.”
“If you do end up having to play twenty questions, try to keep your answers minimal. Try to lead the other guy into giving you the answers instead. Most of the time if given partial information someone will fit it to their own frame of reference, if that happens just go with it. Odds are it'll probably be better than anything you could come up with on your own. Won't help you with professional interrogators, but you might be able to squeeze by civilians.”
“Just go with their explanation, huh” Philip thought as the golden skinned woman reentered the room. “As good advice as any I suppose.”
*SCENE BREAK*
4 days after
Philip sighed as he finished giving the pokecenter entry way a quick pass with the mop. He looked out the glass doors as a heavy rain pelted the ground, falling from a grey overcast sky. He sighed again as he turned to bring the mop back to the supply closet, wondering how he'd managed to become a glorified janitor and handyman.
“Seriously, if I was going to have a fantasy I'd like it to be a little more interesting than this.” the centre was typical of one of its size, at least that he'd been told. A small lounge with the counter for serving patrons, a few rooms in the back where the equipment was kept and at least one of the staff slept, stairs that lead upstairs to several guest rooms. Philip frowned at that thought, he was glad he didn't have to clean those, especially after he'd had a brief explanation of what Taming was.
“Glad I made that deal with the usual cleaning lady.” he thought of the agreement he'd made to take care of the rest of the building if she handled those rooms. The woman had been happy to as it allowed her to finish faster and go home to her children. Philip was just glad he didn't have to clean up after other peoples sexual exploits. As for the staff only Claire, the Nursejoy he reminded himself thinking of her pink hair, actually slept on site. The cleaning lady and the night shift worker, an Ingenue and a Goth respectively, had homes in town with their husbands.
“Masters,” he corrected himself mentally “have to play by the rules after all. No matter how strange they may be. Sentient biological constructs that have owners and can blow shit up, as well as looking like beautiful woman. Can't forget that part.” he smirked to himself as he replaced the mop with a step ladder. He placed it in the lounge and climbed up in order to reach a darkened light fixture. Just as he began unscrewing the burned out light bulb, Claire exited the back rooms humming cheerfully. Seeing him she gave a bright smile and called out.
“Good morning Philip! How are feeling today?”
“Same as ever Miss C.” Philip replied, pronouncing it as the single word Missy. For a brief second the Nursejoy's smile looked a tad strained before she sighed and said
“Memory still gone huh? That's a shame... look I know my asking you everyday annoys you so how about a deal?” Philip grunted as he finished changing the light bulb to show that he was listening. “I'll stop bothering you about your memory, if you stop calling me Missy... and never call me that again. Deal?”
“Agreed, Claire.” He gave her a slight smile and inclined his head toward her before picking up the ladder to carry it back to its proper place.
“So other than that which we shall not discuss, how are things going? Settling in alright?”
“I guess,” Philip sighed, leaning on the counter across from her “everything just seems a little weird.” 'Some of which is due to the fact that you never stop smiling.' Philip added in the privacy of his own head.
“Upset your life goals huh.”
“That makes the assumption that I had goals to begin with.” he said with a wry smile “Honestly I was just coasting along. Even joining the reserves was more of a going with the flow kind of thing. Just started and didn't bother to stop. At least I knew where everything was, always figured I would get around to it but it always kept getting put off...”
“...and suddenly you ran out of time.” Claire finished. “Isn't that always the way? Well you're still young, no time like the present right? Seventeen's a bit of a late start but...” her voice slowed to a stop as she saw Philip staring at her with an amused smile “What?”
“Little bit later than that.”
“Nineteen? Twenty? Twenty-two?!” Her voice became increasingly incredulous as Philip kept motioning for her to go higher.
“Twenty-seven. Eight this fall.” for the first time since he'd met her Claire stopped smiling. She simply stood and stared, her eyes wide with shock. “Not surprised you got it wrong though, most people do. I actually only look my age when I grow out my beard. Actually that's one definite thing I like more about this place.” he continued, stroking his hairless chin for a moment “We didn't have any non-toxic creams that could eliminate facial hair for a week with a single application. It's so convenient I don't even care what it's made of.” he was interrupted by a dazed voice
“You're older than I am?!”
“Try to move past that...”
*SCENE BREAK*
2 weeks after
A bright panorama of stars shone brightly in the moonless sky. With no moon or clouds to obscure them and only a little light pollution from the town of Feannis, the night vista was one of beauty. The young woman returning home beneath said sky found herself rather unable to appreciate it, due to a rather poor evening out. Claire had been well dressed for the evening, a soft blue v-necked sweater with a knee length skirt of a similar colour. Her soft curled pink hair let down from it's usual style to sway along her back as she walked and framing a face lightly touched with makeup. Being a civil service pokegirl owned by the government had many advantages, such as being only peripherally beholden to anyone. The downside being the lack of regular sex, hence her appearance for the evening. Having a bit of pride wouldn't let her sleep with just any tamer wandering through town, well pride and the fact that most became insufferable after successfully banging a Nursejoy, so she kept a respectable list of men in the area that she could see for a little relief. She made sure to cycle through it regularly so that any chance of bonding was minimized. Unfortunately her paramour for the evening, a local plumber with not much upstairs but abs to die for, had to cancel at the last minute. Being too late to contact any of the others and finding no decent prospects in the local bar had left her feeling distinctly unsatisfied, in more ways than one.
“I suppose I could always beg a pity fuck from Ailene,” she thought to herself, considering the Centre’s Goth night shift worker “I know she'd be willing, but there's just no substitute for a hard hot...” she lost her train of thought as she drew alongside the Pokecenter's back door and heard music drifting down from above. Not that music in the Center at night was strange, it was however both very different from the style Ailene liked and regardless she shouldn't be able to hear music from the lobby.
“It has to be coming from the rear balcony, can't be a guest then they don't have access to it.” Claire thought as she tilted her head, listening and trying to concentrate on the words “Sounds almost cheerful, not something Ailene would listen to.” shaking her head, she opened the door and went to the stairs. Reaching the top of the stairs, she opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. The small rectangular platform at the rear of the building was a simple area of bare concrete with a railing around the sides. A pair of deck chairs were set up to look out to the stars. Philip lounged in one of the chairs, hands folded behind his head as he listened to an old mp3 player that lay on the ground next to him by an open beer bottle. The music had changed to something more uplifting and Philip sighed as he glanced at the door.
“Good evening. You're looking nice, special occasion?” he asked as he noticed her.
“Just a night out.” she replied, moving to sit on the other chair. “Drinking alone?” she said while playfully picking up his beer, noticing as she did so that it was still nearly full.
“Just thought I'd try my hand at getting drunk, but it's not really working out. Honestly, alcohol makes me gag. I can't manage to choke down enough of it to get properly hammered.”
“Oh really?” she said, amused. She began to drink his beer as she continued “What's so bad that its driven you to, try, drinking yourself silly?”
“I'm beginning to suspect that this may be reality.”
“Did you have a reason to think it wasn't?” she said.
“I tripped in the woods and hit my head. When I came to there were zombies, animal-people, and apparently three centuries of missing time. Unless I pulled a Rip Van Winkle and took a sharp right turn in regards to reality, if given that information what conclusion would you have?”
“Probably that I was dreaming.” Claire admitted after a moment of thought.
“Exactly. I've been waiting to see if I was going to wake up, but that doesn't seem to be happening. So I've had to conclude that one of three possibilities are most likely true.” he said, bringing up a hand to check off the possibilities. Tapping his finger he said “The first possibility is that I'm dead, and this is some kind of afterlife.” At her look he continued “Yeah I know, not a big possibility. The second is that I'm in a coma. If that's true then forcing the issue might wake me up.”
“But if you're wrong...”
“It could get me killed.” Philip nodded grimly “Believe me I've considered that. I'm not eager to find out if I'm wrong the hard way, suffice it to say it has certainly felt real so far. The third is that I've gone insane. Either I'm in a rubber room drooling on myself, or its like you think and I've fudged my past. All in all this makes me dead, comatose, or just plain crazy. Unless you can think of another reason that tripping in the woods sent me to the Twilight Zone?”
“I'm afraid not.” she said sadly, finishing off the beer she held.
“Regardless, unless something changes I'm going to need to get used to everything I knew being gone. Practically overnight at that.”
“Well, look on the bright side. You still have your health.” he snorted at that.
“Lot of good that does me if I don't know what to do with myself. I just don't know anymore...” he said, frowning up at the sky. Claire was at a loss. She'd had some training on counselling patients and their families on the subject, but how do you comfort someone who's literally lost everything? She gained a speculative look in her eye as she stared at him.
'A distraction could help, at the very least it would help him relax. It'll help me too as an added bonus.' she thought, her decision made she abruptly stood up. Philip was pulled from his angst by the sudden movement, the music featuring a guitar riff about metal skies as he gave her a questioning look. Without a word she marched to him, sat in his lap, and kissed him, hard. She grabbed the back of his head to keep him from jerking away as she pushed her tongue into his startled mouth. She did not stop until they were both short of breath, his mouth thoroughly ravished. As they separated he gasped for breath, desperately bringing air into his lungs as if after a deep dive.
“What... the... Hell?” he sputtered between breaths, caught somewhere between surprise and embarrassment. She smiled from where she sat, still in his lap and said
“What do you mean? You need to relax, I want to have company tonight. It's rather simple really.” Her tone indicating that this should have been obvious. “You're a man, I'm a woman. I'm sure you've had some experience on how this works.” Philips' face flushed as he worked his mouth for a few seconds with nothing emerging. Finally he managed to say
“Two.”
“See? After two girlfriends...”
“Not two girlfriends. Two times, one night stands. I always thought I'd have more time to look...” he admitted with some embarrassment, and perhaps a little shame. Claire blinked, then smiled. She stood up and pulled him to his feet as well.
“Don't worry. I'll teach you everything you need to know.” she said kindly as she gently pulled him inside. With no one to hear it, the music continued playing into the night.
*SCENE BREAK*
2 weeks after, + several hours
Claire sighed with the great contentment that belonged only to those who managed to scratch a particularly bothersome itch. She was laying in her bed, her nude body still flushed with the pleasurable exertions partaken earlier. Philip lay on top of her, his head cradled face down in her modest cleavage with her hands gently running through his hair. She had realized that some of the moisture on her chest, beneath his head that had come to lay there after their coupling, was not sweat. That they might be tears she would never tell a living soul. She was content with this, his emotional catharsis much overdue. His breathing had been even for the last hour and she wondered if he'd drifted off to sleep. Her assumption was discarded when he spoke, his voice quiet and muffled by her warm skin.
“How was I?” he asked, his voice tinged with a little uncertainty.
“Clumsy, but enthusiastic. You picked up on things quickly too, so no complaints here.” Philip chuckled a bit at that, she then continued “Feel better?”
“Yes actually, I know what I want to do.”
“Really.”
“Travel.” he said firmly. “I never really went far from home before, and I always kinda regretted that. Doesn't need to be anywhere specific, just around.”
“Travelling with no specific destination in mind, I'd suggest being a tamer.”
“You mean like those guys who pass by here sometimes?”
“Pretty much. The infrastructure to support them is already there, and its a necessary, respected job. Besides, if you're worried about the danger then travelling in general is just as dangerous anyway.”
“I suppose...”
“Don't worry, I'll handle the details to get you started.”
“Alright, I guess. May as well.”
*SCENE BREAK*
4 weeks after
Philip desperately dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding the blast of flame that passed where he had been standing a moment ago. He kept moving to avoid the follow up attacks, running out of breath as the near misses singed his skin and hair.
“Time! Time!” he called urgently. The Charamanda paused, her newest fire ball still in her hand, and turned to regard Claire who was leaning against the thick training room wall.
“What's wrong Philip?” Claire said. Gasping at the pause, Philip replied
“What's the point of this again?!”
“Conditioning.” At his glare she elaborated. “Basically due to your, situation, you lack any reaction to a strange pokegirl popping in front of you. Why if a naked feral were to jump out of the bushes you'd be more likely to stare at her boobs than do something sensible like dive for cover. So we're trying to squeeze a lifetimes worth of survival instincts into a relatively short time frame.”
“But why fire?!”
“It's easy to use, you're familiar with how painful burns are, and at low temperatures it won't do anything to you that I can't fix.” she gestured to the fire type “Carry on.”
“Shit...!” Philip tried a few more frantic dodges until a leg cramp caused him to trip. The fire type summed it up over his scream by saying
“Oops.”
*SCENE BREAK*
1 month after
“... and that is what ferality is. Any questions?” Claire smiled brightly at her only student as he slowly raised his hand. “Yes Philip?”
“Are you sure this isn't a dream?”
“For the last time, yes I'm sure. That's the third time you've asked that since the lecture started.”
“It's just that what you're saying is that these beautiful women are powerful bio-weapons.”
“Yes.”
“That require sex, with a human, regularly or they go insane.”
“Yes.”
“Also sex seems to be in some way addictive to them, so in the end they become willing sex slaves.”
“Well I wouldn't quite put it that way...”
“How does one solve an argument? Sex. How does one increase obedience? More sex, or threaten them with taking it away. Is it any wonder that this all seems like a hormone driven male fantasy?” There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence until Claire said
“Well, as a guy why are you complaining?”
“Not a complaint per say, just odd is all. When in Rome and all that, so I'll play by the local rules. Just thought it needed to be said is all.”
“I suppose this is a bad time to introduce the next subject; care and taming techniques for exotic pokegirls?” Philip gave her a level stare.
“Are you sure I'm not dreaming?!”
*SCENE BREAK*
3 months after
The town of Feannis being little more than a pit stop for tamers exploring the north eastern part of Capital, had an understandably low population. A couple hundred people, a few farms outlining it so that it was mostly self sufficient. Said farms had long, hard packed dirt roads alongside them with the occasional copse of trees between farms. In dry weather it made a good jogging track. To the early rising pokegirls taking care of the farms, the sight of the Nursejoy Claire at her morning jog was nothing new. The sight of the human male trying to keep up to her pace was, it was also amusing. Philip finally collapsed by the side of the road, gasping for breath. Claire watched with a smile as he calmed himself enough to speak.
“God I hate exercise! Why do I have to do this again?”
“Because being a tamer tends to be very physical, one way or another.” she replied, still smiling brightly.
“Aren't there potions or something for that? I know you mentioned something about it during the last lecture...” Claire gave a sigh, and spoke in a tired voice, as if she had said such things far too often in the past.
“Rejuvenation, strength, and other such potions are medications. Not crutches to be relied on or risk addiction to, and certainly not an excuse to let your base abilities decay. Besides, most such things only enhance whatever is already present, giving someone with a higher base a greater effect, or raise them to a preset level, in which case may lead to the user being in trouble when those resources are not available if he's become too reliant on them.” Philip considered that for a moment, sitting up as he thought.
“Actually, that was something I was wondering about. With all the magic performance enhancers lying around, why the hell has no one ever tried juicing up to fight pokegirls on equal terms?”
“Who says some haven't?” she countered. “It is however not a popular or recommended tactic and I'll tell you why. These are, as I said, medications. They can and do conflict with each other when mixed, leading to both potential long and short term side effects. Add to that any given type of substance will have diminishing returns when taken repeatedly in a short time frame makes doing so impractical. Them being magic adds another wrinkle to the mess, as magic being more an art form is not known for its adherence to the scientific method. Side effects vary wildly and are not even consistent within the same individual. A man might drink down twenty different potions and have no ill effects at all, then spontaneously turn into a rabbit the next time they down the vary same combination. Thus it is strongly recommended to limit variables as much as possible and remember that these items are merely aids, not end all problem solvers. That said,” she concluded with a sigh, her speech having been delivered with the uniform tone of a technical manual. “over the counter stuff is generally no more dangerous than aspirin, when taken in moderation and as directed.”
“Side effects huh?”
“I've been around, seen things. While rare the magic equivalent of anaphylactic shock is not pretty. Despite what mages and magic types would have people believe, spells don't fix everything.”
“Thus this return to basic training.” Philip concluded with a groan. “Doesn't change the fact that I hate exercise.” he said bitterly.
“Well,” Claire said, her voice taking a coy tone “I suppose I cold offer a, reward, for your efforts...” She drew his attention as she arched her back, her breasts sharply defined in the brief spandex jogging clothes. “A great reward. Of course, you'd need to catch me first!” she exclaimed with a wink, and took off at a run. Philip charged after her, his exhaustion forgotten. She even let him catch her... eventually.
*SCENE BREAK*
4 months after
Once more Claire the cheerful Nursejoy was inside the cheerful Nursejoy was inside the Pokecenter's classroom, attempting to educate her only student. This day's lesson complete, she gave him the chance to voice a question.
“I've been looking it up since we touched on the subject a couple of days ago, but no matter how I try magic just doesn't make sense.” he said.
“Of course not, if it did it would be science.” At his annoyed look, she elaborated “Magic is, as far as I can tell, fundamentally inconsistent. Even among groups that learn it together, while they may end up having a similar style, will actually develop slight differences in their methodology. Now keep in mind that this is mostly my opinion, but it seems to be true for my own experiences as well as the few healing spells I can cast. Magic is an art, what this means is that no two people look at it quite the same way. Science is more of a math equation. Such as five plus six gives you eleven. Adding these two numbers will never give you a different result, free of other variables it remains constant. If a group of artists get together and paint the same thing, say a bowl of fruit, then no two paintings are going to be exactly the same. Each will have a different angle, slightly different colour scheme, brush strokes and so forth. They're all painting the same thing, so the result is still a bowl of fruit, but how they get there changes a lot. Even more so if you've got guys from entirely different schools together, you might get an abstract piece next to one depicting realism. To go back to the math example this would be like adding one to one in order to get eleven. In written form sticking a number one next to another number one changes it to eleven, in math it would make no sense at all but magic makes it work. You could also think of it as a sort of self hypnosis, the words of a spell are only useful to the caster who has convinced themselves they mean something. When all they really do is connect the idea of the desired effect in the wizards mind to his magic. Of course the greater the change or effect the wizard desires, the more power the spell will cost. You see this difference between casters having different words for spells that do the same thing. No matter what words are used, a healing spell is still a healing spell. You can also see this in even off the shelf enhancements. Different companies, heck different brewers in the same company even, have wildly different ingredients and methods. This leads to a large difference in flavors, colours, and so forth. However no matter the brand, all potions of the same type have more or less the same effect. I know that this also doesn't make sense, but sometimes you just have to accept that 'It's magic!' really is the best explanation.”
“My head hurts.” Philip said after contemplating her, rather lengthy, explanation.
“Don't worry that happens to all of us. Just don't think about it too hard.”
*SCENE BREAK*
5 months after
Ailene sighed as she noted that her shift would end soon with a glance at the clock. Not that she needed to check as the swiftly rising sun shining through the windows was just as good an indicator that her shift was nearing its end. Although she was becoming slightly concerned as Claire should have already been in back getting ready and was instead nowhere to be found. The Goth knew that she had left jogging as normal that morning, but the phone at the front desk interrupted her internal debate as to whether or not she should be seriously concerned about the absence yet.
“Feannis Pokecenter.”
“... Ailene?...” said the voice on the other end of the line. It sounded so weak and out of breath that the Goth hadn't recognized it for a second.
“Claire?” she responded, more a question for conformation than a statement.
“... Yes.” the voice gasped out.
“You're nearly late for your shift. Are you alright?”
“Yes! Yes, I just...” The woman on the other end of the line let out a sound that seemed like a whimper “... I just ne... need a little more time.” Ailene frowned in confusion.
“Just what is going on with her?” she thought to herself “It doesn't sound like she's out of breath from running too much. With all the gasping, whimpers, and heavy breathing... Ah, I see. No wonder she doesn't want to interrupt halfway.”
“Alright,” the Goth said out loud. “I'll cover for you. Just don't take too long.” The line was cut without another word spoken. With a sigh of her own, Ailene placed the phone back on its cradle.
“First thing in the morning huh? I keep forgetting that girl is kinkier than she looks. Well, if I'm going to stay up I'll need some coffee.” with that thought she placed a sign on the front desk that denoted her return in five minutes. After a moment of thought she replaced the sign with another declaring a fifteen minute break.
“Now that I think about it, we received a few new taming aids that need a test run. After listening to that call I could use a quickie.”
*SCENE BREAK*
5 months and a few seconds after
The cellular phone slid from Claire's suddenly limp fingers as another orgasm ripped through her body. Philip lay on his back beneath her thrusting up with his hips as she sat astride him, looking towards his feet in the reverse cowgirl position. Philip smiled an uncharacteristic smirk as she gasped for breath, her spandex top stretched tightly across her breasts with her nipples making obvious points in the fabric. Her shorts were discarded to the side along with Philips' own clothes. Philip took advantage of the momentary pause to say
“Cumming on the phone while talking to you're friend. Aren't you a dirty girl.”
“But, but you told me to...?!” her plaintive cry was cut off as Philip moved his hips, sending another wave of pleasure through her already over sensitized body. Although not nearly as intense as the one a moment ago, it was still more than enough to force her to clench her teeth and wait for it to pass.
“All I told you to do was call to tell them you'd be late,” Philip continued as he listened to her delightful gasps, a deliciously sinful sound he would never tire of. “I didn't tell you to cum. You did that on your own.”
“I couldn't... you were...” she tried to counter, only to have him grasp her waist and slowly grind her against the hard pole of flesh that was still within her. Once again her attempt at speech descended into incoherent moans and whimpers.
“The fact is, I know why you came. It's rather simple. You're a slut. A whore who loves nothing more than to get fucked. Who lives for nothing else than to feel her womb filled with hot cum.” Philip emphasized his every sentence by grinding her against himself, over and over. Forcing more whimpers from her flushed body. “I know this because you've gotten wetter since I started talking to you like this. You're pussy grips my cock like it doesn't want to let go. You enjoy every single thing I do to you. So tell me little slut, what do you want me to do to you?”
“I... I want...” Claire began hesitatingly, delicious feelings of both shame and pleasure mixing within her. It had taken her weeks of coaching for him to play a dominant sadist with her, but the results were surprisingly impressive. Fun too given that she liked it rough, not that an occasional gentle taming was a bad thing. Philip sighed dramatically at her hesitation.
“So inarticulate. Fine how about this instead.” he said as he began sitting up, carefully keeping her in his lap and running his hands over her heated body. Claire gave another helpless moan at the feeling of his cock shifting and being removed from her. “I'll ask you some questions, all you need to do is answer yes or no. Do you like having your skin stroked and massaged?” Philip continued, emphasizing his words by running his hands along her sides.
“Yes...”
“Do you like having your breasts touched and squeezed?” he said as he reached around her body to do just as he'd described.
“Yes.” Claire whimpered as he pinched her nipples lightly at her reply.
“Do you like getting fucked and having your womb filled with warm cum?” he said, sliding a hand down her body to fondle her wet pussy. She shivered as he slipped his fingers inside her, his thumb lightly brushing her clit.
“Yes.”
“Do you like hearing this kind of dirty talk, being teased and tormented?” he whispered, gently and intimately into her ear.
“Yes...!” she said in a low, drawn out moan.
“My, what a dirty girl. It seems as though you like anything I do to you. Well then, why don't you tell me what you want.” Claire froze as he withdrew his hands. No longer touching her, he continued with a hint of mockery in his tone “After all, if you don't say it I won't know.”
“... Please...” she whispered, her eyes downcast.
“What was that? I couldn't hear you.”
“Please... stick it in...” Claire stated, a little louder than before. Her face flushing with embarrassment.
“Well that won't do. You'll have to say it in a sexier way than that.”
“Please! Stick your dick in my pussy!” Claire cried out desperately “Please, please, fuck me! I want... I need you!” She lay her upper body on the ground, her knees planted firmly in the soil and holding her butt in the air. She reached back with a hand and fondled her own soaking cunt to emphasize her pleas, arching her back slightly as she presented herself to him.
“Well said. I guess that means that you're definitely a whore.”
“Yes!” she gasped as his dick plunged deeply into her pussy. Whether her agreement was to his words or to his actions were impossible to say.
“Since your with me, that makes you my whore.”
“Yes!”
“My personal fuck toy.”
“Yes!” he spoke each of his statements with an intense thrust, drawing one emphatic agreement after another from her.
“That no other man is allowed to touch.”
“Yes!”
“My slave.”
“Yes!!! Please master, fuck your slave. Please!”
“As you wish!” Philip grabbed Claire's hips for leverage. Using it to increase the power and speed of the fucking he was giving the pokegirl beneath him. Claire was no longer able to speak in words, the exquisite feeling of having her cunt pounded from behind had reduced her to uttering only animalistic squeals and moans. Philip smiled, both from the pleasure he was feeling and the pleasure he was seeing her feel. There was nothing quite like seeing a beautiful woman beg for his touch to make a man feel like he was on top of the world.
Nothing good could last forever and Philip felt his balls tighten as his limit approached. This caused him to slightly alter the pace of his movement. Instead of a constant rhythm, he gripped her hips and gave a single sharp thrust. He then paused to grind her body against himself, seeking to bury his dick as deeply within her as possible. After a few seconds he pulled back and rapidly forward again to repeat his previous motion.
Claire felt as if she were on fire, a pleasurable flame that spread from her abdomen to the rest of her body in increasing intensity. Most of Claire's mind was occupied with simply revelling in the sheer physical sensation, a small part was continuing to attempt rational thought. Scattered and confused, the broken irrational thoughts managed to none the less scrape together a coherent stream of consciousness. She loved what she was, and while technically being property was a bit of a downer the perks made up for it. She doubted human women ever felt nearly this good, she certainly hadn't from the experiments she'd done before her threshold. Such thoughts would probably horrify the Parity nuts, but she was quite happy. Pleasure was her god and sex her favourite method of worship. Then the passionate flames finally swept over them and burned her last thoughts away.
Philip froze as he came. The feeling of his hot seed filling her womb caused Claire to freeze as well. The pair of them holding still like statues mid-coitus, their muscles locked with pleasure. Claire gave a last tired moan as her arms finally gave away and she collapsed face down in the grass. Philip was not in much better shape as he slumped onto her back. Claire's eyes were glazed and she muttered a few unintelligible words as Philip kissed her cheek from where he lay. Philip sighed as he got up and the girl on the cold ground now bereft of her living blanket, shivered.
“Well that was intense. I honestly never knew I had a sadistic streak, wonder if I should be worried about that?” he paused, looking down at the semi-conscious pokegirl while raising an eyebrow. “Although I might have over done it a tad.” Doing his best to arrange her clothes decently, he carefully levered her onto his back to carry her to the Center. She gave a sigh as she settled into the piggy-back ride.
“Joy...” she whispered softly to herself and then drifted into sleep.
“Yeah, I enjoyed myself too.” he quietly said back and started walking home.
*SCENE BREAK*
7 months after
Claire gave Dareny a hug as she entered the OfficerJenny's office, who then returned the gesture and indicated a place for her to sit. After shutting the door Dareny sat at her small desk across from Claire.
Dareny sighed as she watched Claire settle into the seat across from her, smoothing down the skirt of her classic pink and white nurse uniform. He liked to think sometimes that, being a pokegirl and all, having her own office was a mark of importance. That she was valued and needed. She knew that it had more to do with having a larger building than average, few human police stationed there, and being owned by the station itself rather than an individual officer.
“How have you been?” Claire said, studying the police pokegirl across from her and noting the bags under her eyes “I've hardly seen you the last few months, and you look too stressed to be healthy.”
“The price of not being 'attached' to a human partner.” she replied with a shrug “I end up with the extra work the others don't have time for, or just don't want to do. A bunch of our officers got pulled south near the border with Indigo to help deal with some Team Rocket thing. I swear, the zombabe attack caused less paper work than this.” Dareny said with a note of disgust in her voice, glaring at the papers piled haphazardly on the side of her desk.
“Indigo? That's pretty far away. Why aren't they pulling help from somewhere closer? Also, what's Team Rocket doing that's special enough to merit the extra attention?”
“The local precincts over there noticed a steady increase of Team activity cumming over the border during the last few years, probably expanding their operation. Anyway, there was a spike in activity and the Chief pulled some political strings to get in on it. He thinks it'll finally help him get promoted.” she finished with a derisive snort.
“I take it you don't share his enthusiasm.”
“Not really, no. Now enough about my boring problems, how about you. Not the usual Center stuff, more about that guy who lost his memory. Phil or something right?”
“Philip and he's fine. He's been re-learning things really quickly, well he did once I gave him the proper motivation.”
“Motivation, hmm? Dare I ask?” Dareny said, slight amusement colouring her voice.
“Yes, it's difficult because he might be a little too easygoing. He tends to take the path of least resistance,” the OfficerJenny blinked in surprise at Claire as she kept going “he wouldn't even exercise regularly if I didn't keep him on track! On the other hand he doesn't really argue with me about the schedule so I suppose it evens out.”
“Schedule?” Dareny said slowly, trying to figure out what was off about the conversation “Why give him an exercise schedule at all?”
“Well he'd mentioned how he wanted to travel so I suggested he be a tamer, and offered to help him get ready. Not that there was too much to do, he was really only lacking in general knowledge for obvious reasons. Physically he's in excellent shape, relatively speaking, though he needs to keep up regular exercise better. Minor scarring in several places, he actually had an untreated minor hairline fracture in his left arm. Missed it in my initial examination because it was a couple of years old. Found out about it when I noticed he avoided lifting things with that arm, nothing I couldn't handle though. He was quite happy I could fix it for him.”
“I see...” Dareny said. There was something both odd and familiar about the other pokegirls behaviour, but what that was continued to elude her until she caught sight of a flash of metal at the Nursejoy's throat. Her thoughts froze as she focused on her neck, the flash had been off of a fine metallic chain that had caught on her uniforms neck line. “Is that a collar?!” she gasped in astonishment.
Claire's hands rushed to stuff the errant chain back into hiding beneath her clothes, but at the OfficerJenny's sharp look she knew it was pointless. Almost guiltily she pulled it out to reveal a decorated Celtic cross on the end of a silvery chain.
“He... he gave it to me as a gift. Said it made me look pretty.” Claire said hesitatingly. It sounded like an excuse, even to herself.
“Which, given his amnesia, he couldn't have known is a big deal. I bet you didn't let him know about the significance of a collar to a pokegirl either?” Claire blushed and looked away while Dareny sighed. “I should have noticed the signs, we used to be in the same harem after all. Distraction to other things but him, obsessing about his medical minutiae, and now accepting a collar. You, are, bonded.” Dareny finished with an air of finality.
“I'm not...”
“When was the last time you tamed with a guy other than him? Don't bother to answer, I can see it by the look on your face. I bet you've even restarted that bondage thing of yours with him. You're a league girl Claire, this could get you both in trouble!”
“It's not as bad as all that Dareny.” Claire said in a soothing tone. “Philip put me in charge of his preparations so I arranged for him to buy me from the league while I was securing him a good starter. My cousin Samantha was looking for a place of her own anyway, she'll come and replace me when I leave.”
“He can afford to buy a girl outright?”
“He still has some of his share of the Zombabe bounty. Besides, an over the hill uncommon type like me isn't that expensive.” Dareny snorted at hearing that.
“What starter did you get him anyway?”
“The police station in Samson has two Guntits working in maintenance. They've decided one was surplus to requirements and are getting rid of the older one. Considering what was going to happen to her, getting her for the starter program instead wasn't that difficult.”
“Older? She's a pokewoman?”
“Yes she is. Philip doesn't care much about age, and a daily return to the pokeball will prevent any chance of a surprise pregnancy. Besides, an older girl will have more experience and thus a better chance at keeping us alive out there. I looked at her record and I'm not worried.”
“You seem to have things in hand then. I'll miss you.” she said, still staring at the cross hanging between the Nursejoy's breasts.
“I'll keep in contact. Want to touch it?” Claire said teasingly, lifting her necklace slightly.
“Don't be silly.” Dareny replied, picking up some papers and shuffling them. Claire looked at her for a moment, then said
“You need a break. Doctors orders. Lockup, you're coming with me.” she declared imperiously. Dareny briefly considered resisting, but knew there wasn't much point when Claire used that tone of voice. As she locked her office she idly remarked
“So, where are we going anyway?”
“Back to the Center actually.” Claire said cheerfully “I'm giving Philip another lesson tonight and with a live subject I won't have to try talking through the gag.”
*SCENE BREAK*
8 months after
Elizabeth sat idly at a table in the employee break room of the Feannis town Pokecenter. Not that the room saw much traffic given that the Center only really had a permanent staff of three. To a casual observer she looked relaxed, her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle, her hands behind her head as she leaned her chair back slightly. Her real state of mind could be seen, however, in the way she glanced constantly at the door. That was understandable though, given that she was meeting her new tamer today. It had come as a bit of a surprise to her. After she had finished training her younger replacement she had expected to be put out to pasture, not that there was much to look forward to in a pokegirls retirement, even in Capital. Instead of a future involving pointless busywork, long periods in storage, and depression she was being called into the field. In a travelling tamer's harem no less. She subtly checked herself over again, it never hurt to make a good impression after all. Her dark brown hair was cut short but long enough in front to frame her face, swept to the right so the bangs just barely started to cover her right eye and shorter toward the back. She wore a blue short sleeved vest worn tightly over her breasts and a dark, practical pair of pants over her athletic legs. Hiking boots, fingerless gloves, and a dark blue Noir league baret completed her outfit. Her lack of makeup and ornamentation finished the stark, businesslike impression. The pair of guns she carried at her hip and thigh marked her as dangerous. She'd debated bringing them or not, but he should know she was a Guntit and she felt naked without a firearm of some kind.
Her dark eyes focused on the young looking man in loose casual clothing that had just entered the room. He gave her a smile and extended his hand.
“Philip.” he stated. The Guntit blinked at the extended hand for a moment, then dropped her chair back onto all four legs as she leaned forward to clasp it.
“Elizabeth.” she cautiously replied, her voice having a slight husky rasp to it. He gave her hand a firm shake and sat across from her as his face settled into a bland neutral expression.
“Now, before we begin do you have any questions you feel the need to ask?”
“Well, yes... sir?” she hesitated a moment at what to call him. Technically he didn't own her yet, and most humans when first meeting a pokegirl they were going to be putting in their harem didn't conduct some kind of job interview.
“Sir is fine, or Philip, that works too. Whatever you're comfortable with.”
“Yes sir. I was just wondering why we're doing, this.” she said, waving her hand to the room around her. At his raised eyebrow, Elizabeth elaborated with “I mean, why hold an interview at all, sir?”
“Several reasons. As I understand it, until we get more help you'll be the one primarily responsible for keeping the rest of us alive. I should at least check if you're up to the task or if we need to train more before setting out. Survival is not the kind of thing you want to learn 'on the job', or by trial and error.” he paused and looked at her until she nodded in understanding, then continued. “Also, call me old fashioned but I'd like to at least try meeting a girl before jumping into bed with her. Especially if I'm going to associate with her over the long term, when I have the opportunity to do so at any rate. It helps keep personality conflicts to a minimum.” Elizabeth refrained from commenting that he could just level five any girl who's personality he didn't like, she supposed with her he didn't want to erase her skills and experience.
“With that said,” Philip stated while removing a square of paper from his pocket, unfolding it and smoothing it out on the table. Glancing at it Elizabeth saw her picture in the corner and concluded it was her current profile. “we should begin. Says here that you worked for the police, correct?”
“Yes sir. I handled weapon maintenance for a small precinct down south.”
“Any experience travelling cross country?”
“No sir, but I have taken the police survival courses and the town I used to be in wasn't much bigger than here. It was wooded too so I know how to deal with ferals.”
“Hmm, reason for leaving?”
“Because the starter system assigned me to you.”
“Aside from that.”
“Because I was surplus to requirements and was being retired.” she said, not liking where the questions were going.
“Retired?” Philip looked at her physical description on the sheet before exclaiming “thirty-two?!”
“Yes sir. Is this going to be a problem?” she said with a carefully neutral expression. She wondered if depression would be in her future after all.
“Huh? No, not at all. Just wondering why you were retiring so early.”
“... sir, I'm a pokewoman.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
“We had a second Guntit there, she was a pokegirl.”
“Yes, if she wasn't human I imagine she would be.”
“... never mind sir.” Elizabeth said as she wondered if he was making fun of her somehow.
“Well, their loss is my gain then. I see you're already armed.”
“Yes sir. My main and backup guns.” she said as she placed two large revolvers on the table. “The backup is a six shot .44, my main one is a five shot .500.”
“Alright I know what .44 are, but how big is a .500?” the Guntit deftly opened the revolver and pulled a bullet out to show him. She even took one out of the other for him to compare. “This is a handgun bullet?!” he said incredulously.
“After five hits from those, whatever you're shooting at is dead or immune to bullets. Either way, no need to reload.”
“I try to be of the opinion that if the fight lasts long enough to need you to reload, you're doing something wrong.” he said staring at the 5 cm round, putting it a good 'head' taller than the smaller 4 cm .44. He sighed before handing both back and carrying on. “So why revolvers instead of an automatic?”
“The usual for the most part: easier to clean, more reliable, higher calibres and such. Mostly though I started liking them after I saw this other Guntit pull some fantastic trick shots with one when I was younger. Pity I don't have the bust to copy her fancy reload technique.”
“I'm sorry, but what would her bust have to do with reloading?”
“Well you see when she needed more ammunition she bounced her breasts which caused the bullets she kept there to fly into the air. I mean my breasts are nothing to be ashamed of, but hers were huge. Anyway she then caught them in her open revolver, while they were still in the air without using her hands. She was pretty fast too.”
“Somewhere there's a physics professor weeping.” Philip said while rubbing his forehead “I just know it. Well, be that as it may I'd prefer you to have an option with a better range. I'll give you my C7 rifle and take your .44 as my emergency weapon, keep your 'Hand Cannon' for close up work.”
“C7?” Elizabeth frowned slightly “Isn't that the M16 that was modified for the Canadian Army, pre-revenge war?”
“Yeah, 30 standard 5.56 NATO rounds, scope, and so forth. I'll give you my tactical vest too to carry surplus ammunition.”
“Decent effective range, should be fine.”
“Good, a pleasure to be working with you Elizabeth.”
“Yes sir.” she said, with a slight smile.
*SCENE BREAK*
9 Months After
Philip sighed as he rested his hands on his knees. He was currently seated in the Pokecenter lobby with a few young men from the town and the surrounding farmsteads, extremely young men to his eyes. They had been gathered for the test that would begin shortly, though a most were only there for the business version to use pokegirls on their farms like their parents or a simple pet license. Only one other person was there for the full, and more difficult, tamer test. Philip breathed in slowly to try and settle his stomach, he honestly had never handled standardized tests well. No matter how much he'd prepared for them ahead of time. He glanced at the front desk where he saw Claire shuffling the application forms for the days tests. Glancing around the room she caught his eye, gave him a smile and a wink. She mouthed the words 'good luck' before standing up and clearing her throat loudly to address the room at large.
“Your attention please. Testing will begin shortly. Please file into your assigned rooms in an orderly fashion, your official test monitors are already in place and as of the moment you begin you have the amount of time displayed at the front of your room to complete your chosen test. Good luck to you all.”
Philip took a deep breath and stood up. Time to get this story started.