Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ Poke Walk ❯ Shifting Alliances ( Chapter 6 )

Poke Walk: Chapter 6 - Shifting Alliances

Disclaimer:

Pokemon is a copyright of Nintendo. The characters of "Magical Twilight" are the property of Pink Pineapple {Japan} and SoftCel Pictures {USA} from the ideas of Akane Shinshakan and Kinya Watanabe. The characters of Tenchi Muyo are the property of AIC, Hiroki Hayashi, and Yousuke Kuroda. The characters of Urusei Yatsura are the property of Kitty Films - Fuji TV, AnimEigo, and Rumiko Takahashi. The characters of Bubblegum Crisis are the property of Studio AIC (Anime International Company), JVC and AnimEigo.

Some other characters and situations used with permission.

Special Disclaimer:

Pokègirls and Pokèwomen come from the Pokewomon Forum at http://disc.server.com/Indices/169881.html.

"Wild Horses and Pokègirls" is the creation of Metroanime.

C&C, MSTs are welcome E-mail: <kelvins.choice@att.net>

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

IF- by Rudyard Kipling

If You Can Trust Yourself When All Men Doubt You But Make Allowance For Their Doubting Too

     They watched the boat arrive. Jeff heard Sylve gasp as Sylvia, Nene, and Lina climbed out of the boat. Priss was flying high cover. Jeff waited until the Tamer, a young man still much older than he was, landed on dry land.

     "Comedy or Tragedy," Jeff commented on the thoroughly seasick Pokègirls.

     Sylve broke cover, rushing forward and calling to her friends, "Sylvia! Lina! Nene!"

     Jeff glanced at his other girls and walked out, signaling them forward as he stepped into the clear. The Tamer was staring at the newcomer hugging and being hugged by his Harem, while this stranger walked out into the open. Extra points for you, lad, Jeff thought as the man looked up to where Priss the Skarmory was obviously longing to be part of the reunion, But you trained her to do her job, and she cares enough to do it.

     "I think we need to talk," Jeff said, stopping some 5 meters away from the other Tamer.

     "I guess," the Tamer said with a smirk, "Mackie Stingray." He offered his hand, Jeff advanced and took it.

     "Jeffrey Davis," Jeff replied.

     "Kiyone! How'd ya manage ta get here ahead of us?" Priss asked as she landed.

     "You wouldn't believe it if I told you," Kiyone said.

     "They . . . seem quite happy," Mackie told them.

     "Sylve!" Priss tackled the ShieldMaiden.

     "I've . . . never . . . this is strange," Mackie commented, looking at the girls.

     "I think they were a group of five, not four as I was told," Jeff commented, "I'd hate to break up the set."

     "I hear that," Mackie said, "But I don't have any money, or any other Pokègirls to trade. I don't think I'd want them to fight."

     "Agreed. I was going to suggest we fight."

     "You're kidding!" Mackie said, then chuckled eagerly, "Most humans don't study martial arts, I have." Then he looked closely at Jeff. "Jeff Davis, of the big gun fame? How would that work, when you won I have to take her. I don't think that's a good idea."

     The two Tamers stood out of the way of 'old home week' among the Pokègirls from the Masaki Ranch. Jeff noted that Ritsuko had sent Misato and Mara aloft to get the air cover Priss's landing had ended.

     "They seem so happy, I wish I could pay you with all that dark gold."

     " 'Dark gold'?" Jeff asked.

     "Yes, the pectorals from the Spinnenangsts, but anyone who handled them died in a few days after handling them."

     "I think a sidetrip to wherever they are buried will handle payment very nicely."

     "But they're cursed!" Mackie protested.

     "Curses and their removal are my specialty. I actually controlled a Jusenkyo curse."

     Mackie just stared.

     "I am a master mage," Jeff told him, "How did you lose your harem?"

     "I got jumped by Team Chrysanimumum . . . um. Lost all my girls and my Pokèballs. I was hoping to get together a rescue team, but someone took them out. I don't know where my girls are now."

     "If you have anything of theirs, I can do something about that."

     "A bearing and range?" Mackie asked, "Not very useful. They also killed my Alpha, I can't imagine anybody who could return her to me."

     "Not in the way you mean. But I think it's time to show my girls something," Jeff said.

     We've got everything, including two slightly incomplete swords. I've had to work with less, Jeff thought.

     "I don't see what this is about," Sylve said, practically sitting in Priss's lap. The others giggled about the pair's closeness. Mara noted that Mackie seemed to be watching the pair hungrily, but her Master seemed in a different world entirely. And little Liv isn't taking this as trivially as she normally takes things, Mara thought.

     "What this is about is to track down some thieves, and to complete the enchantment of those two swords," her Master told Sylve, "Mara's and Misato's. All any of you have to have to do is relax. The wards will prevent anyone or anything from breaching the defenses without alerting us, and believe me, a shaman in the spirit world is vastly more dangerous then when he's out and walking around, or she," he added for Liv, who was now looking rather green.

     Mara smirked, You should be used to this, you did it before, Mara considered the Witch's discomfort, You were expecting BunnyGirls or at most a Boobcat in your nets, instead you find a Grizzlar who wants answers.

     Jeff struck the short length of pipe with the handle of the screwdriver. The ringing seemed - off- somehow. "We begin at the beginning, when the world was without form, a void."

     Liv tossed the first bundle of plants in.

     Jeff struck the pipe again, producing the odd ring. "As still across the void, things walked, and fluttered, and flew."

     I thought the next part was 'Let there be Light', or the Big Bang, or something, Mara thought, hypnotized by Jeff's monotone and the aromatic smoke that seemed to defy the winds and curl around all around the circle, Pokègirl and human. Mara kept nodding, her mind making connections she had never considered before. She still heard the story, and her Master's admonishments to relax. Relax, relax, Mara said to herself, lacking anything else to do.

     She woke suddenly, but the people, the fire, even the sky were all different. Her Master was a series of lightning bolts, some would arc over towards her.

     It isn't lightning, she realized as she looked at herself. Bolts of lightning and bolts of darkness coursed through her, were her. When the arc from her Master touched her, for an instant, all the dark bolts changed. Not the blue-white of the lightning, but a myriad of colors. The darkness would return, but for a brief instant, she was not what she had been.

     "You're looking well," Arnie said, the apparition looked nothing like Arnie.

     But I recognize him no matter about that, she thought, then added, "But you're dead. I couldn't save you."

     "I was foolish, I . . . " Arnie told her and extended his hand backward, another figure appeared and took the waiting hand. "My wife."

     "Alice, yes I remember," Mara said sourly. And with shame, she reminded herself.

     "Oh pish tosh. You were jealous, imagine a beautiful young thing like you jealous of a wrinkled, old bat like me. It was more embarrassing than anything. But as I understand it now, you've got a man of your own."

     Mara found herself blushing.

     "Be careful of that one," Alice warned, "There's a darkness in him, there's tales that float about."

     "He wouldn't hurt me," Mara came to her Master's defense.

     "Not you, but himself. The stories are that he died, really died. He won't hurt you, but he might let himself get hurt and not care. That's what you'd have to watch for."

     "I shall," she said.

     "It this the sword?" Arnie asked as he held the block of metal.

     "Uh, yes," Mara said, she glanced around, "It's not really finished, and I'm not very good." The trio were alone, they hadn't been a few moments earlier.

     "That's the blade." Arnie returned to Alice's side, the pair stared wistfully at the blade, then at Mara. "You know we had no children?" Arnie asked, Mara nodded, "Funny, it was the first thing I ever said to you that seemed to register."

     "I'd finally realized you just wanted to have a person . . . to talk to someone," Mara told Arnie. The pair of spirits looked at each other, silently communing and reaching a decision.

     "Let's go see your Master," Alice took Mara's hand, "You see, I was never able to have children, so Arnie looked after Pokèkits for the military and a few troublesome Pokègirls."

     "I . . . I'm sorry about what I said to you."

     "You never mind. I was flattered, like I said. Who do you think baked those jalapeño muffins?" Alice asked.

     Mara stared at her in amazement. Those were the one bright thing in my life . . . for so long, she couldn't bring herself to speak.

     "That's right. I know as much about Pokègirls, especially demon-types, I had a harem in my younger days. I learned the lash wasn't always the best way to deal with demon-types," the small woman told Mara.

     "You had demon-types!?" Mara choked.

     "A Daimon, a Succubus, and a Demoness, among others. I used to be quite the character . . . " she seemed to deflate, "Until we ran into a couple of Mantises. They cut through my entire harem. I was rescued by a Military group tracking them. That ended my career, and my involvement with Pokègirls."

     "What she's trying to say is that we'd be delighted to look after you, even if it is from inside a sword," Arnie told her.

     "And I've got a few ideas about what a `proper` demon's sword should do, especially with a good Master to look after and a Seraph in the Harem," Alice told her, then gave an evil chuckle that had Mara smiling.

     "Margaret," Mara said, remembering one snippet of Arnie's talk, "If that's okay, my first kit, Margaret?" she asked, remembering bits Arnie and Alice each had had a little sister who died in infancy named Margaret.

     "That would be fine dear," Alice told her, patting her hand.

If You Can Dream--and Not Make Dreams Your Master,

     Mara blinked, the people were normal again, but the light was different. She looked at the Seraph's blade, she wasn't sure if the Seraph's eyes or her sword were shining more brightly. Her own sword was glowing a dull red, which vanished, then reappeared.

     Stealth, she thought, Yes, you do know what a demon's sword should do. Mara held the blade over her head, and it blazed. The ruddy light washed over everyone and everything, making them look bathed in phosphorescent blood.

     "A demon's sword," she said, "They said my needs, not necessarily what I want." She felt like hugging, or singing to the blade as Misato was doing. But that one holds her lover, not her `parents, Mara thought.

     "That's . . . impressive," Mackie said, "There are stories in the Crimson League, about swords like these."

     "These," Jeff said as he held up his staff, a piece of jet-black so dark it would be clearly in the depths of a Dark Stone mine at midnight, then there was the silver filigree, like spider webs laid across it. Mara could swear they moved as if alive.

     "These are far different. A person touches others, those connections hold bits of them to the Waking World. Find those bits, channel them and their power is immense, but only in the direction that they thought of you. If you were a masterswordsman, build them in a sword. If they believed in your magical powers, a staff. And since magic is merely forcing the universe to give you what you demand, a second will backing you up, strengthens your powers tremendously."

     Mara understood, at least part of it. She glanced around, found Liv curled up in Kiyone's lap. The Wolf Spider stroked the young Witch's hair as she wept. Poor kid, too much too soon, Mara thought.

     "So, Seraph. Wanna fight?" Mara asked.

     "I think you weren't listening," Jeff said, tossing a fist-sized rock at each of them.

     Mara cut hers cleanly in two, as did Misato.

     "Now hold your palms out, and scratch the other's with your sword," their Master commanded.

     They did. Or rather, we tried, Mara thought.

     "We never put an edge on those blades," Jeff said, "To your allies, they are just blunt steel. They can still hurt, but they won't cut," Jeff told them, "As I said, there is a certain caprice in making such an item. They will also try to guide you, as those who are within them tried in life."

     "The challenge still stands," Mara said, "It's been too long since I had a sword."

     "I'll beatcha," Misato boasted as she smiled.

     "Then I'll just talk dirty to you. You didn't used to be so shy and prudish. You used to Tame anything - "

     "Enough!" Jeff thundered, as he stood it seemed he reached the clouds and the stars themselves. Then he was normal, and speaking reasonably, "Please go a ways from the camp, I intend to get some Taming done, and since you'll both be occupied, it's time I dealt the fact that some of you have been too patient with me by half. I intend to reward that and I hope reduce the need for such tolerance in the future."

     Jeff took Oyuki's hand and led her to his tent.

     "Does he always talk like that?" Mackie asked from behind a makeshift log fortification.

     "Usually," Mara admitted.

     "Master, can we stay up and watch?" Nene asked excitedly.

     "Yeah I guess. I need some sleep if we're going to sail tomorrow," Mackie said.

     Oyuki sat in the tent with her Tamer, her heart pounding. Megami weren't supposed to go Feral, but the need remained, and she'd felt it. Felt it all the more after speaking with her long-dead mother, who was, if anything, more of an Ice Maiden than Oyuki ever had been. Even with her beloved Tamer Katsuhiro. The normal passions of a Megami she directed into getting the ranch established, fiances, construction. All the elements of building then running it. She had died in birthing a younger sister for Oyuki, both mother and child. Oyuki hadn't mourned, she'd never known a `mother`, merely the woman who ran things. It had been the other Megami who'd raised and loved her.

     Now I know different, she thought as she slipped out of her kimono, a bit at a time, smiling at her Tamer and his rapt attention. She felt that her icy impassivity and reserve dropping away as well. She - mother - was always with me in spirit, Oyuki thought, But she also saw the darkness coming, the end of this world. It consumed and terrified her. I had thought this boy was the darkness. Now I know he is the one who might, among others, tip the balance. Mother told me.

     Her kimono was off, revealing the red `swimsuit` underneath. Blood-red one-piece with an aperture down the front from her neck past her cleavage down to below her navel. An arrow, if some Tamer gets lost, she thought buoyantly. She'd also `dissolved` the `ice` that held her hair as one piece, letting it flow free. She leaned close and brushed her long hair against his skin, letting him feel how soft and silky it was. She would slowly seduce him, she - would get swept up in his arms as he swung her through the air. She almost expected to be thrown onto the sleeping bags, but loaded softly instead. He licked at the naked skin south of her navel, and slowly moving up. He bit gently at the flesh around her navel, while his hands massaged her breasts. She'd always been embarrassed about them. While pert, she wasn't as busty as many of the others. She felt his powerful hands kneading breasts, occasionally pinching and rubbing her nipples while he kissed, licked and nibbled her way towards them.

     She ran her fingers through his hair, uncertain what else to do as she moaned her pleasure at his seemingly rough yet gentle treatment, his progress passed her breasts which his hands kept servicing. He lavished kisses, licks on her nipples on her neck, sending her squirming with delight. She squealed with delight as he hand slipped between her legs and rubbed her panties against her lips. The smooth, taut cloth rubbed against her skin. He bit the shoulder straps of her suit, pulling them off her shoulders while her hands fumbled with the buckle of his belt. She felt the dampness between her legs growing.

     "Please hurry," she pleaded, only barely not calling him 'Master' which he despised.

     "No patience, eh?" he asked, helping her slip out of the suit before he slipped a finger into her. She gasped as his finger slid in and out while his other fingers slid across her labia. He placed his head between her legs, adding his tongue to the effort to coax her clitoris out. She squealed in surprise as he took it between his lips and squeezed it, then he began sucking as if it were a nipple. She panted as she tried to do anything for her Master, but she couldn't reach him. The she gasped as his free hand circled her anus. She could imagine what would happen next. She tweaked and pinched her own nipples mercilessly as her Master drove her insane with pleasure.

     "AH!" she shouted as tiny jolts of electricity coursed from his finger to her anus, his tongue teasing her clitoris became like an ice cube while the fingers playing in and out of her warmed to match her own heat.

     She thought of her Master, and that she was doing nothing for him in return. She could barely move her legs and it was getting too hard to think as the tiny spasms of pleasure battered at her control.

     "Please M - ister!" Almost said Master. "Please , be inside me, possess your Pokègirl!" That's awful, she thought, I said like a beggar, not a seductress. "Come inside your Pokègirl, possess me," she plead.

     "Is anything wrong," he asked seriously.

     "No, please take your Pokègirl." Let me reciprocate, came to mind, but the thought dissolved as he pulled his fingers out of her body to remove his belt and lower his trousers. "Please, quickly." She felt the buoyant feeling of pleasure dissipate, she wanted to hold onto it forever, but her body ached for something she couldn't put into words. To be owned, possessed was part of it, but it didn't include the feeling of completeness and infinite security that went with it. "Please , please. Ah yes, M - Mister Davis!" she cried as he entered her. She wrapped her legs around his, with her arms pulled his face to hers. She lapped eagerly at her own essence which wetted his lips and chin. While he drove into her. She gave up trying to analyze and plan, her body and instincts knew better than she what she was to do.

     Jeff was a little disturbed by Oyuki's 'your Pokègirl' comments. Great, you've got a beautiful girl begging you to screw her, he chided himself, And you're worried about the sociological implications of what she shouts in a moment of passion. No wonder you were so popular back home. The steady rhythm seemed to be keeping Oyuki gasping, she shifted her hips to get greater effect, but otherwise she lay there playing with her breasts, an utterly vacant expression on her face.

     I figured she'd be sensitive to the elements, so I used three at once. I think I overdid it, he admitted, She scans as positive.

     "Ma - M - Megami!" she shouted as her back arched and her entire body glowed slightly, but it wasn't as bright as what Kiyone had done, just a soft glow. As the glow faded Oyuki extended a hand, "Megami?" she plead. He nodded and kept going.

     He was concerned at her collapse after making her request. If she'd considered a better way to make my list, he thought worriedly, I keep worrying if I hurt her. He relished tightness, but for all the reaction he was getting, he might have had a fur-lined knothole while looking at naked pictures in National Geographic. He finished, receiving an inarticulate grunt from Oyuki. He pulled out, checked she was still breathing.

     "Megami, Megami, Megami," she chanted, barely audible unless you put your ears to her mouth, and a vacant stare. He started to pull on his pants and was nearly run over by Priss and Sylve. The two girls immediately grabbed his shoulders and hands. Pris began licking his face, while Sylve began licking his penis.

     "Oh for crying out load!" he complained.

     "Yummy," Sylve explained as she finished and joined a laughing Priss licking his face clean.

     " 'Yummy isn't an explanation!" Jeff told them, adding as much sarcasm as possible.

     "Megami essence," Sylve said between licks, "It tastes . . . wonderful."

     "Great, I go from necrophile to popsicle," Jeff grumbled.

     "What's he so serious about?" Priss matched or exceeded his bad mood, then softened as Sylve took her shoulder.

     "He - takes - everything - seriously," Sylve told her between licks, "He's - also - not - from - here."

     "Like that Ranma over . . . whichever League," Priss asked peevishly.

     "You - stop - I - take - your - share," Sylve warned.

     Priss returned to her lapping, glaring at Sylve and Jeff.

     "Ahhhh!" Sylve proclaimed as she leaned back, "She's probably lying there saying 'Megami' a lot."

     "Yes," he commented as Priss lingered on his chin, trying to tickle him. "Try the ear, he told her. I suspect the show is more for Sylve's benefit, he thought. "I thought Feral Shock only happens the first time."

     "It does," Sylve said, stared at him, "It was all fingers and tongue the previous time, right?"

     "She asked - " He fell silent as several pieces of the puzzle clicked together. "So she never . . . "

     "Very rarely, even with the other girls. Supposedly Megami can't go Feral, but Oyuki seemed eager to test that assertion."

     "Oh joy. I think you missed some. Ow! She bites, you know that?" he asked Sylve.

     "That's why I learned Nipple Cripple, she needed to learn not to draw blood."

     Priss glowered at both of them.

     "So she . . . almost never."

     "Counting all the girls, you're her sixth," Sylve explained.

     "What she's trying to dance around," Priss said disgustedly, "Is they stuck you with every screw-up and weirdo out of the Ranch." Her arms crossed, displaying her displeasure at the world to the world.

     "You were in the line-up too, dear," Sylve reminded her cheerfully. Making Priss's efforts to remain angry, especially not smiling, extremely difficult. The Skarmory's twitching lip at the edge of her scowl was comical to watch.

     "Don't think I don't know it," she grumped, turning away before they saw her smirk.

     "Since my - friend - here oversimplified everything. They did give you all the - troublesome - Pokègirls. I - frankly - don't like men very much. Kiyone, she - she's been trying to escape Mihoshi for years, because she scared off all the Tamers, while she chased after Tenchi."

     "So all the misfits in one package. So since you've been patient with my insanity. I should be tolerant of yours."

     "Got it in one," Priss commented over her shoulder.

     "Considering we're going to ask a favor, you could at least act polite," Sylve chastened her, and Priss actually managed to look contrite.

     "As you can guess, a Megami's . . . essences is quite a treat, so we'd like to go in and . . . clean her up," Sylve said, smiling hopefully.

     "Be very gentle with her," he told them sternly, less comfortable with the situation with each passing second, "As you said, she's not herself and she is in Feral shock."

     "We will, you have my word," Sylve said solemnly, "Besides, I don't want you turning me into a rock."

     "Gentle," Priss murmured, "He's obsessed with that."

     "Considering he can kill a Widow with one finger, he should be. Unless you like the idea of somebody scraping you off the walls," Sylve replied with a smile, "He's also got real good hearing. Oh, ex-Master, Liv is in a real mood. She can't figure out if she should be depressed by your little show, or furious you showed her up." Sylve hadn't raised her voice, Priss was shocked when Jeff nodded.

     Witches are ticklish, Jeff remembered from reading the Pokèdex, he smiled, Liv has been very good lately. Now I am going to be very bad. I doubt she'll mind. He slipped out of the tent, leaving Priss and Sylve with Oyuki.

     Mara and Misato were still dueling. Mara looked exhausted, Misato looked better, but not much. Neither seemed ready to call the match off. Mackie and Sylvia watched with interest.

     Considering where their hands are, Jeff noted, I think they're having a little contest of their own.

     Liv was off a short distance, staring at the dark woods, muttering, arguing with herself. He could hear the words, but couldn't decipher any meaning as he crept up on her silently.

     I could be driving a tank and she wouldn't notice, he thought as he cast a spell that created an aura of cold around his hands.

     Liv squealed at the frosty contact, and more as she tried and failed to roll away. Jeff tickled her behind her knees, on her flanks, continually switching targets as she tried to counter.

     "Say 'Uncle'," he said sweetly to the squealing, thrashing Witch.

     "UNCLE!" Liv shouted as the attack continued.

     "Say 'Aunt," Jeff suggested, his icy fingers touching here, there, too fast for Liv to counter or predict.

     "A - A- AUNT!"

     "That's 'ant', aunt, there's a 'u' in there."

     "AH - NT!" Liv screamed, while steadily losing her composure.

     "Say 'Antidisestablishmentarianism'."

     At that, Jeff thought, She realizes nothing she says will save her. Liv tried to hit back. But she lost the chance to retaliate meaningfully while she could still breathe, instead of gasping between squeals.

     Liv gave up on that attempt quickly enough. Giving just enough resistance to show she was still in the game. Jeff continued until he thought she couldn't take any more, he canceled the cold spell and scooped her up in his arms, then headed for one of the tents, Oyuki's and Misato's.

     They aren't using it, he thought. He laid her down on the sleeping bags, giving her a respite from the tickling and getting her breath back while he removed their clothes. Her chest heaved as she drew in huge lungfuls of air. It's about time I took my responsibilities seriously, he thought, I just wish it didn't seem so much like a dominance game or slavery. 'Perform or become a beast'. He shivered slightly.

     "You're awful!" she accused.

     "Oh, I thought you'd like a Taming. I've leave - " He started to turn.

     He never got any further as Liv grabbed his arm and swung him down to the ground beside her. She straddled his waist and began clamped her legs around his. "Taming, I'll give you a Taming!" she said savagely as she slid down until she could grab his manhood in both hands and stuffed it her mouth.

     He saw the dangerous gleam in her eyes as she drew her head back. He felt her teeth dragging against his manhood.

     "So I need - " she gasped as he pushed her over on her back, swung around and began plunging his tongue within her. She tried to scramble back, only to have him encircle her legs with his arms and pull her back with his reach. Then he rolled her over so he was pinning her down with his head between her legs, his tongue still playing inside her. She tried to roll back, but his weight and leverage gave him too much of an advantage.

     "So it's a fight?!" she shouted as she twisted this way and that, then caught her target with her mouth and considered her teeth.

     She gasped as she felt his teeth clamp onto her clitoris.

     "We aren't going to hurt each other, are we?" her asked around her clitoris.

     She squirmed as the vibrations tickled her. She removed her mouth and kissed the very tip, inducing him to release her. She engulfed him in her mouth, while his tongue flickered in and around her. She took the challenge to heart and did her best to `defeat` her Master, as if he were a Pokèsex opponent.

     I'm `losing`, I can already feel it. I want to scream and just give up, she thought as he slipped one of his arms loose and had a hand working with his lips and tongue to drive her to the edge, Master is a fast learner. She gasped ad arched her back as she climaxed.

     She rolled him off her and swung back, straddling him with her hips, her back to him. She impaled herself on him and stuck her tongue out at him over her shoulder as she rode up and down, pinching and rolling her nipples. He's still hard as a rock, she thought, If I can get him off before I come . . .

     "You said that outloud," he told her, messing up her rhythm, "I thought we were friends."

     It was as if he'd set a thunderstorm loose in her womb. Icy winds and lightning, not enough to hurt, but terribly exciting. She realized it was a distraction, and tried to glide up and down faster, but she couldn't.

     He took advantage of her distraction to sit up where he could get his hands in her crotch, massaging her labia, one hand wonderfully warm, the other like ice sliding over her lips.

     Counterspell, she thought desperately, Can't concentrate, sitting wrong to fend off. She shouted, "Not fair!" as she climaxed again, and only her Master's hands, one hot, the other cold, kept her from falling over. She grimaced at him as she lolled in his arms. That's two, an I haven't managed to get you off yet, she thought, You're still hard, and still inside me. She searched desperately for a plan, anything to turn the tide. Anything to wipe that grin off you face, Master! she thought angrily, but said, "I won't quit and I won't lose!"

     "Just a matter of practice and experience," he told her off-handedly as if he didn't have a Pokègirl bouncing up and down on his pole.

     "Which two weeks ago you had neither!" she shot back bitterly. "You're a rotten Tamer!" she accused, "Bite it off and shove it down your throat!"

     "Unless you've grown teeth down there, I doubt it. I didn't find'em, and I looked real close, even felt around a bit."

     She grumbled but said nothing as she slowed her rhythm. I'm going to peak too soon, she thought, I'm beating myself instead of beating him. Ha! Ha! Funny.

     She slowed herself down after realizing she was unconsciously speeding up again, tried to tighten her muscles around his cock. Anything, she asked herself as she looked over her shoulder at his placid expression. She felt like she was being twisted in half and tied in knots by her need for release and victory. Please! Please come, I can't stand this! she silently screamed, There's too much! It isn't fair! You're a guy! You should come at the drop of a hat! And you should drop it yourself! She chewed her lip, her breasts were on fire, demanding attention. "I won't! I won't! I won't!"

     "Won't what?" he asked as he shifted to increase the friction between them.

     Rubbing hard felt wonderful! No, I can't! she thought, desperately holding her control and her sanity.

     Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I'm - I'm -" The spurt of his seed into her sent her over the edge so powerfully, she felt as if she'd been struck by a thunderbolt. She was only vaguely aware of falling sideways while her Master relaxed within her. She heard Sylve and Priss arrive to 'clean her off'. Oh no, I'll die! she thought sarcastically, remembering the `tongue-lashing` those two loved to give other Pokègirls who had just had sex, I swear they're both Catgirls, whatever their breed. She managed to crawl around and lick her Master clean, before the pair got that particular treat. She then settled into his arms as the pair got to work. She let herself not think, not feel anything except the reverberations of her release.

If You Can Think--and Not Make Thoughts Your Aim

     "Well."

     Jeff woke instantly, recognizing he was in the Spirit realms. Two of the figures stood near him.

     "You are a . . . strange subject," One, the one with the sparks, said.

     "One of you for each Pokègirl element?" he asked.

     "No, Sukebe's elements did not cover all the possibilities inherent in us. He . . . lacked imagination. He had . . . help. Help that he should have refused," the other one, with the mist flowing off her, told him, "Imagine being forced to serve someone, who had taken service with such a master as Sukebe's advisor."

     "I think I can guess. Is that why Atmuff went mad?"

     "Would you have stood aside while your purpose was so perverted?" the `Electric` Atmuff asked.

     "No, but I would have destroyed Sukebe, his advisor, and prevented his virus from spreading. There is such a thing as a willingness to sacrifice self for a greater cause," he told them, "I know . . . I was from a time when war and killing were recent memories. Not a distant thing that occurred only in books, but there are some things that should be fought against."

     "Can you not understand that we were afraid," they told him in chorus.

     "Yes. But that's no excuse," he replied, "It's always the people of moralistic and squeamish nature who leave the dirty jobs to others, then they shake their fingers at how 'awful' such people are. I saw enough of that before the war. 'It's only Poland.' If I'd been older, I would have broken their fingers and told them 'it's only a little pain.'"

     "Not the most civilized reaction," the one covered in sparks said.

     "Civilized too often means a disconnect between consequences and actions," he countered, "And that's the worst thing you can do."

     "We wish to warn you, to warn you in a way and a place others do not know. Powerful forces are already aligning against you. You represent a force of chaos that they cannot control and their calculations cannot encompass."

     "Thank you for the warning. I do have some spies of my own."

     The pair looked around, facing dozens, if not hundreds of figures. Some were obviously warriors, others were not, but by sheer numbers, and greater experience with the Spirit Realm, they would bring down even this pair.

     "They, and those like them are friends," Jeff told the assembly.

     " 'Or ya tellin' us, or them, Guvnor?"

     "Both," Jeff told them, "I need to know what's on that island Mister Stingray supplied the location of."

     "You just want to look omniscient to your Harem. The boy's finally getting some!" someone in the back shouted, to the general amusement of the others.

     "They are not the most . . . respectful entourage," the mist-covered Atmuff told him.

     "If I want worshipers, I'll buy a cocker spaniel. I prize loyalty, cunning and intelligence," then he raised his voice, "So for most of you, two out of three can't be bad." Eliciting a series of cat-calls. "It's all about trade-offs," Jeff told the pair.

     Ritsuko had both coffee and tea going. I love this time, just before dawn. She glanced at the `fallen` bodies of Mara and Misato. Of course, watching them wake up after my `rearranging` them will be most interesting. Her Master walked out of the tent with his bath kit, looking unusually chipper. "Coffee or tea?"

     "Strong?" he asked.

     "The coffee will float a Ponytaur's shoe, the tea will dissolve it."

     "Tea."

     She poured, then added a considerable amount of sugar. Jeff drank it down. "Uugh. I've been poisoned."

     "So how are you still standing?"

     "A cup full of this would animate a corpse for a century," he replied, he glanced at Mara and Misato. "They didn't . . . really end up like that? Did they?"

     "I'd rather not say."

     Jeff nodded and walked to stand over the pair. "Hey you two. Get a room."

     They watched the Seraph and Storm Demon, completely naked and intricately and intimately entwined, awaken.

     Worth all the effort, Ritsuko thought.

     "Shh!" Jeff admonished, "You'll wake the others."

     Ritsuko wasn't sure which of the pair was more embarrassed. "Look, don't worry, she's very attractive, after the fight, the blood is pumping the hormones are going. It's just arousal, but it can easily be mistaken - "

     "It's not like that!" Misato insisted quietly.

     "Misato's panties are on backwards," Jeff commented as the pair hastily dressed.

     "I'm not wearing panties," Misato replied looking around for the garments. Mara hastily removed them and handed them over. Misato stared at the - her - panties with disgust.

     "Ritsuko and I will keep quiet about this," Jeff assured them, then glanced at Ritsuko.

     She nodded, adding, "As long as they keep quiet about it. Especially quieter than they were last night."

     The two mortified Pokègirls stared at each other, pausing in redressing themselves. They looked sheepishly at Ritsuko who stared sternly at them. The pair simply retreated to their tents.

     "Well, I'm going to wash up," Jeff said, retreiving his bath kit.

     "You need someone to wash you back?" Ritsuko offered easily.

     "What is with you and bathing?" he asked in a confused tone, "Are you sure you aren't part Boobkini, or Watergirl?"

     Ritsuko shook her head, but enjoyed the compliment about her figure.

     "As cold as that water is, that's all you'll manage to do," he replied.

     That's good enough for me, she thought as she followed him into the icy water, she held onto an involuntary yelp. "How can you stand it?"

     "I don't have to worry about some things," he said, "Besides, at the ranch in Wyoming, how warm do you think the water was, first thing in the morning?" He dunked himself completely under the water, then surfaced and began lathering up. The scars on his chest, arms and legs still disordered her world. She wanted to reach out and touch them, they didn't act like normal skin, pulling at his body as he moved. I've seen humans with those kinds of injuries, she thought, Pokègirls typically don't have them. She knew what disturbed her and the others about them, That someone hurt my Master that way . . . they're dead and gone, but . . . I'm still angry about it. She enclosed him in a hug , both as a affirmation that his Pokègirl would never do such a thing and to block her sight of it.

     "That's not exactly soaping my back," he teased her. She could hear and feel the undercurrent of nervousness in him.

     "I just want to hold you," she soothed. She felt him shift in his discomfort. You don't understand why we feel the way we do, do you? she silently asked her Tamer, Why can't you just understand, o just accept it? Why are you so much more comfortable when we fight you?

     He relaxed a little, let her just hold him. He still expects not just resistance, but an attack, from me, from anyone, she thought morosely as she released him, And now you will smile as if you enjoyed it, yet the whole time you were expecting me, or someone to attack you, or hurt you.

     "You okay?" he asked.

     She wanted to hold him or weep. Sensing my distress, she thought. "I . . . I just wish I knew how to convince you this is safe."

     "It isn't safety, it's loneliness. I keep telling myself it doesn't matter, and it usually doesn't. But there's always one or two who can get through my defenses and my indifference . . . and they're always the ones I lose. The others, I could careless, they are always there, but the ones that matter . . . they either abandon me, betray me, or die." He turned to face her. "Which are you going to do? How about Misato? Her counterpart is why I have that scar from shoulder to opposite hip. What about Mara, how about Liv? Witches are supposed to be vengeful. Maybe none of you will betray me, maybe you'll just die. So far, I haven't exactly been safe to be around."

     "Aren't you being a little paranoid?"

     "What happens to people who are involved in Threshold and Anti-Feral research? They often disappear or have mysterious bad things happen to them. That implies directed action by someone, something or several. Do you understand what it would be like to get caught between several of those somethings for either preventing their work, or simply exposing their true agenda. Pokègirls and their associated bioengineering didn't just materialize."

     "You think your being lonely is part of a grand conspiracy?" she teased.

     "No," he told her, "My point was that if I rock the boat too much, upset the status quo of powerful forces, they will come down on me and everyone around me with both feet. Now I am notoriously hard to crush, can you and the others say the same?"

     Ritsuko knew she couldn't, Matrons are tough, but we aren't invulnerable. I also know more about shadowy forces than I let on. The Elemental Demons, of which Mara may be the last one, were part of an attempt to create a Neo-Legendary to deal with Brusellia, who also might have been a failed attempt at a Neo-Legendary. "Okay, maybe you worry too much, but I still think you're exaggerating."

     "We shall see," he told her as he walked out of the cold water and toweled off.

     You are overreacting, she thought, Who'd be interested in you? You've only been here, what, a couple of weeks?

     The Megami shivered as the huge insectoid leg caresses her face.

     "You have done well," the odd, buzzing voice told her.

     "I have done what you commanded," the Megami said, near tears at what she had done.

     "You will receive your reward soon," the odd, buzzing voice continued, "And a certain pest will be dealt with soon, very soon."

     "Yes, Mistress," the Megami said as she tried to hide her revulsion and disgust, both at herself and her `Mistress`.

     "So we missed a free show," Liv complained.

     "You were pretty out of it," Jeff commented, "Now, concentrate." He held up his new staff in front of her. "Don't cast a spell, just concentrate and let your mind go."

     "How am I supposed to concentrate and let my mind go?"

     "By concentrating on breathing, like I told you."

     "I'm goin' to concentrate on not bein' seasick," Oyuki said, a rather fetching shade of green, leaned over the transom and returned her breakfast of fish to the sea from which they came.

     "So how does a Tamer afford a boat like this?" Kiyone asked Mackie, as she walked, avoiding several other seasick Pokègirls.

     "My family owns a lingerie company - "

     "You're that Stingray!" Kiyone gasped, "You only use Tarantella silk in your lines!"

     Jeff smirked at the normally calm and rational Wolf Spider talked about silk and it's uses with another hapless victim.

     "But your girls all wear normal clothes, like us," Kiyone said as she wound down. Why's he got that funny expression on his face? she wondered. "Why not use them as . . . well, billboards."

     "Because the stuff we sell isn't all that good for outdoors. We don't compete with Dragon Slave, except as a side-line, our custom work."

     Kiyone nodded. I never heard of a non-military boat with radar, or any of the other instruments that Mackie used, as the boat sailed from the island we found him on.

     "Does your Tamer . . . always do that?" Mackie asked nervously,"With the spirits, I mean."

     "First time I even saw it, was last night," Kiyone admitted, "If you don't mind my asking, who did you see?"

     "My dad," Mackie sighed, "He was doing more advanced research on Blood Gifts and even biotechnology. I was too young to understand. Someone attacked his lab, whole place burned down. None of the researchers or Pokègirls got out. Weird that, A-bras, Alaka-Whams, and Supe-Bra Geniuses can all teleport, yet they all died. That's more than mysterious. So I stayed away from science, concentrated on Taming, got a license at 16, bought my first, an Amachop, caught the rest of my team, then lost them to Team Chrysanthemum."

     "Well, we - "

     "Prepare for Trouble! We're in the air so make it double," the people in the mum painted balloon announced.

     "Cover your ears!" Jeff shouted as he swung 'the Gun' into position, and fired, as Misato, Mara and Priss attacked from above.

     The basket dropped into the sea while Mara snagged the balloon envelope and began reeling it up in the air with herself as the spindle.

     "I thought she needed her wings to fly," Ritsuko commented on the colorful ball in the sky.

     "Evidently not," Jeff replied, replacing the Gun in its carrying case.

     "So are these going to be the stupid ones you ran into," Mackie asked as Priss and Misato dragged the basket and its contents toward the boat. "Or the smart ones?"

     "How dare you treat Fearsome members of Team Chrysanthemumememum, er, emum that way!"

     "Stupid," all the occupants of the boat agreed.

     "Now, we - "

     "IT'S SILK!" Kiyone squeaked delightedly about a sample of the balloon's envelope and the wrapped Storm Demon's cocoon, doing a happy dance at the prospect of `remanufacturing` so much.

     "Kiyone, take Mara forward and unwrap her, get her head clear first and get her and yourself some earplugs." Kiyone nodded drunkenly and carried the ball to the bow of the boat.

     "We are the Ferocious - " the man in the 'R' emblazoned shirt.

     "And Lovely - !" the similarly garbed woman with a face like a three days of bad weather continued.

     "Team Chrysan -!" the man said.

     "Enough!" Mackie shouted, advancing with every sign of impending mayhem, "Where are my girls!"

     "We stole them fair and square!" the trio announced.

     "These are the thieves?" Jeff asked incredulously.

     "No," Mackie replied defensively, "But they must know where their base is!"

     "We'll never tell!" the pink Team `Mum Pokègirl member announced.

     Liv watched, she thought the Pokègirl was the one in charge. I don't want to think about that, she considered as she looked over the edge of the boat. "Hey, it that a Sharp Tits?" she asked, pointing out to sea.

     "Liv, Liv, that's not how you torture prisoners," Jeff told her, "Everyone cover your eyes, except you three."

     Misato dashed towards the bow, as soon as she'd checked the strength of the bonds that she and Priss had tied on the trio. "I'll check on Priss, Kiyone, and Mara."

     Jeff took a deep breath as Ritsuko led Mackie and the others away at her best speed. Liv stuck her fingers in her ears and started humming as loud as she could.

     The two human Team `Mum members were squirming on the deck, beating their heads against anything available and screaming as loud as they could. The pink Pokègirl was merely staring at Jeff with an expression of abject horror, her skin rippling as if it were a sheet in a high wind.

     Jeff's mouth quit moving, Liv took her fingers out of her ears. Mackie headed for the stern, shaking his head.

     "Now, I can sing a medley of country-western," he told the horrified trio. The two humans merely shook their heads, the pink Pokègirl threw herself at Jeff's feet. "I also know quite a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan." He smiled malevolently and leaned close to the pink Pokègirl. "I also know Wagner's entire Ring saga, that goes on for hours." He paused and lifted the sobbing Pokègirl from his shoes. "Now, do you feel like filling the silence, or should I?"

     "Please!" the pink Pokègirl begged piteously, "We don't know anything!"

     "Check their Pokèballs," Jeff ordered.

     As the balls were checked, the results made Mackie frown and glower. Then he released the Amachoke.

     "Master?!" the huge Pokègirl rushed forward and carefully embraced her former and returned Master.

     "You didn't know anything?" Jeff asked the two human Team 'Mum members. Both smiled nervously, sweating profusely. He smiled at them. "Take the rest of their gear, leave them a couple of life preservers."

     "No!" the male Team `Mum, "The other ones really are mine."

     Ritsuko returned to the stern, signaling for Liv to release the other Pokègirls. The rest of the two crews stood ready.

     Another Wigglymuff, Liv thought of the first girl released and who was looking around nervously.

     "Is he who you want to stay with, or do you want to come with us?" Ritsuko asked.

     Motherly type, Liv thought, The velvet glove, they can see the steel fist.

     The next was a girl with a stringed instrument on her back. She had a tortured look on her face. "Bardess," she said in terrified tones, staring at Jeff as if he'd tear her apart, or worse from her viewpoint, sing. She literally crawled to Kiyone, wrapping herself around the Wolf Spider's legs "Mercy from the cruelty," she trilled in a lovely voice.

     "We have ear plugs," Kiyone said.

     "And a state-of-the-art stereo, with head phones," the Amachoke volunteered, still holding Mackie off the ground.

     "Which one is in greater rapture," the Dragon Queen Sylvia commented, "Is debatable."

     "You lost the spot as Alpha," the Ladyba teased, then received a stare from the Dragon Queen.

     "You are going to tell us what we want to hear," Jeff said malevolently at the Team `Mum members, then smiled, "Does anyone know 'It's a Small World'?"

     "You fiend!" everyone shouted at him.

If You Can Meet With Triumph And Disaster And Treat Those Two Impostors Just The Same

     "Is there a bloody corpse 'Patton Sergeiy'?" Mackie asked as his Amachoke, Perry, took the helm.

     "Not that I heard of," Ritsuko admitted, "Although I thought I heard some awful things in my life, nothing compares to that."

     "That was needlessly cruel," Misato said, resting after scouting the island they were headed to, "Making us listen, I mean."

     Ritsuko chuckled.

     "If you don't mind my asking, why are there seven of you?" Mackie asked.

     "He's a Field Researcher, he's studying how a Seraph, a Storm Demon, a Megami, and a Witch interact over the long run," Ritsuko said.

     "I've never heard of a Field Researcher," Mackie said.

     "It's obsolete, but it still exists, he's limited to eight maximum, he can't claim salvage rights, basically it predates the Leagues. It just was never removed from the books," Ritsuko told him.

     "But he cares enough to collar you," the Amachoke commented, "Why not just become a Tamer?"

     "It's . . . complicated," Ritsuko explained, "He's not from around here, the customs are . . . different. I think you'd better consider how Sylvia and Perry are going to interact, Sylvia wants to be Alpha and Perry was your . . . Beta."

     "Yeah, I think I'll let them work it out, what I'm more worried about is if I get all my girls back, at least five will have to go into storage."

     "We did volunteer to help you hit their base," Ritsuko said, "Let's wait until we get there."

     "I don't know why he's intent on going to that island," Mackie suggested, "The reward for breaking up a Team Rocket, or other base, has got to be more than the gold."

     "I don't know," Misato stretched her wings, "I'd like to work on the assault plan for the base." Misato stood and headed below to find Priss and Sylvia.

     Oyuki ran past, but got her head over the transom before the violent dry heaves started and continued for several minutes.

     Mackie looked with nausea of his own at the pathetic figure. "Why doesn't he just put her in her Pokèball?"

     "Do you know what happens when you put a seasick Pokègirl in a Pokèball?" Ritsuko asked.

     "No." Mackie gulped.

     "Ick," Ritsuko explained, "And I told him not to. It's better for both her and the rest of us if she goes through this. Next time we'll put her in her `ball before we set sail."

     "What was Kiyone's reaction to the balloon being silk all about?" Mackie asked, "And her fascination with our products. I've heard about Wolf Spiders, we have Tarantellas working for us, but I've never met one so . . . intense about it." He shrugged.

     "Kiyone's never been good enough to do what she really wanted," Ritsuko explained, "She couldn't be a cop, she was saddled with another girl who scared off any interested Tamer. Suddenly, she's with people who appreciate her skills and abilities. She's got a Master who relies on her advice and wisdom. She's . . . overcompensating a bit. All the ropes, tents, clothes, bandages, backpacks, are all made of silk, her silk. You might want to ask her for some clothes for your Harem, she won't take it as an imposition, she'll take it as a compliment."

     "That's good to know," Mackie said, "So they're down there . . . Taming?"

     "Yep," Ritsuko said.

     Mackie nodded. "That's . . . interesting to hear," Mackie told her, shook his head, then smiled, "No offense, but you are a scary bunch. You all get so . . . intense about things."

     "We are a much more hair-triggered bunch than your Harem. A lot of automatic tensions that your Harem doesn't have, plus, we're still working out the dynamics," Ritsuko told him, "Some of the questions about who we are and who is in charge of what, haven't been answered. It makes us all a little more high strung, we'll all settle down."

     "No offense, but with your Tamer, I doubt it. He seems at one moment the calmest, then the craziest," Mackie said, "I've never seen anyone take such - novel - solutions to problems. They work and the ideas are sound, but most people just don't think that way."

     "He's unique that way. I met him when we were facing Brusellia and 30 Spinnenangsts. He took out a number of them with that cannon of his, then he marched in and started treating the wounded, while there were Spinnenangsts still out on the field. Any of them got too close, he killed them. Now the Widowslayer is supposed to kill them hand-to-hand, and until I met him, I always thought no gun could do more than piss a Widow off. Now I know differently, although I'm guessing he's got some heavy-duty spells on both weapons. He also doesn't seem to be afraid of anything trying to kill him." While he's completely terrified of anyone trying to be nice to him, she thought sadly.

     "I wonder if he'd be willing to make another," Perry said, "If a teeny thing like you can fire it, I should have no problem.

     "I suspect he might be willing to try," Ritsuko said.

     "Land Ho!" Perry shouted, "It's shoaling up some, but I think the sonar can find a passage to get in close."

     The group headed into the hills, following their Tamers, leaving Perry behind to mind the boat. The crypts of Brusellia's Spinnenangsts have been shunned, Jeff thought as they crept forward, The curse has driven everyone away from here. Even the lure of gold isn't enough.

     He remembered Ritsuko's recitation, 'The pectorals were buried by a badly wounded Pokègirl who lost her Delta-bonded Tamer.'

     'So she was happy to die,' Mackie had added, 'I don't have to tell you I'm not comfortable about this.'

     I'm not comfortable about this either, he thought, It's too easy, too pat.

     "The curse you described falls on the person who touches them. So I'll hold the gold," he told the girls and Mackie, "So when I get them, clear the way."

     "Boss, Master" Mara swept in and told them, "There's more up there that Misato spotted, two Widows. They're fighting each other."

     "Stay here," Jeff told the others and he climbed to the top of the ridge and looked down on the sight through the rifle's telescopic sight. Priss crawled up next to him, to stare at the scene.

     "Let them kill each other," Priss said.

     "You can fly across a field covered in Widow guts," Jeff replied, "The rest of us have to walk. Ritsuko, and Liv, follow me. The rest of you hold position, be quiet, enjoy the show."

     Jeff moved to a small hill, crawling up the last few feet to avoid being silhouetted against the sky. "Okay, as soon as I fire, pull the breech block and replace it, then?"

     "Tap your leg," Ritsuko said.

     "And reload the other one," Liv added.

     "Very good."

     He sighted in, the Widows were circling each other slowly. I could try to shoot both at once, but that's taking chances . . . ah heck, he thought, Shoot one in the back of the head, if it kills the other, all well and good, but the second won't see where the bullet came from. He prepared, and fired.

     "Son of a - " Liv began.

     Both with one shot, he thought as both Widows fell. "Luck and good planning, let's just wait a while to make sure they're really dead, and not just playing Possum."

     "Why not just put a round into them?" Liv asked, "Just to be safe."

     "Better idea, Liv get up here," Jeff told her as he stepped away from the rifle, and guided Liv to lie down beside it and get it tight in her shoulder.

     "Now, take a deep breath, let out part of it, then squeeze the trigger.

     Liv nodded, fired . . . missed.

     "No problem, it's quite a long distance, and the sight it set for me. Now, did you see where the bullet hit?"

     "Yes. Low and left."

     "Move your aim point that distance to the right from center, and that amount higher than the center line."

     "Okay." Her second shot actually hit the Widow.

     "Good," Jeff said. It'll be a lot cheaper to train you on a .22 or whatever passes for that, but not bad for her first attempt. Let's go see this cursed gold, he thought.

     The bullet hit one Widow in the back of the head, Jeff thought as they approached, Exited out the forehead and hit the other between the eyes. It had been half an inch going in, the diameter of a fist exiting and it hadn't exited the second. He and the others had circumnavigated the two corpses, taking photographs and video of the fast-dissolving cadavers.

     "That's just spooky," Sylvia told them, "These things are invincible."

     "All it takes is the right weapon, and lots of practice," Jeff replied. And a huge amount of luck, he didn't add out-loud.

     "You missed with your shot, even though they weren't moving," Mara teased Liv.

     "That's because the sight was set for him, not me," Liv told her, "Once he corrected my aim, I hit them."

     "Which one were you aiming at?" Mara asked innocently, "And which one did you hit?"

     Liv growled as Jeff stepped between them. "Knock it off," he told the pair, then turned to Mackie, "Are Priss and Misato sure there's nothing else around?"

     Mackie nodded. "They'll tell us if anything shows up."

     "What do you think they were fighting about?" Ritsuko asked.

     "Do Widows care about gold?" Kiyone asked, the Wolf Spider looked ready to march over and shower corpses with blows, or failing that, stones.

     Mara laughed, but took Kiyone's hand. "Unless they can kill it, eat it or fuck it, Widows don't care about anything," Mara told her. She hugged Kiyone, then lifted her off her feet and carried her away from temptation, "And frankly, I've seen enough about Widows to last my lifetime."

     "Put me down!" Kiyone protested, struggling in the Storm Demon's grip.

     "Let's see if we can find any webs," Mara cooed to Kiyone. The transformation was comical.

     "You think we might find a Widow's web?!" Kiyone said breathlessly, the images of destroying Widow eggs, and `reprocessing` Widow silk clearly dancing in her head.

     "Mackie, take whoever you need and hunt those things down. Kiyone, you're going to come with me."

     "But - but - " Kiyone stammered and pointed vaguely at the woods.

     "They were after something in that cave," Jeff pointed out, "I intend to take it away from them. Would you like to help?"

     Kiyone's eagerness was rekindled. "If we see any eggs?"

     "We torch the place," Jeff assured her.

     "I'll go with," Oyuki said as she fell in with the pair.

     "I'm ready," Kiyone said, all business again. She entered the lava tube with Jeff. Proceeding deep into the island.

     The trio were fished out of the water. The Team Rocket pirate ship had been sent by to investigate the loss of a balloon in their area, they'd found the crew. The two human members of Team Rocket were roped to the Wigglymuff, who was softly whimpering. The ship's Captain turned to his Alaka-Wham. "I don't think we'll get anything out of them by questioning."

     The Alaka-Wham nodded, raised her spoons and concentrated.

     The ear-splitting, anguished shriek drew the attention of the entire ship's company. The Captain knelt next to his fallen Pokègirl as she lay in a fetal position, trembling and tears flowing down her cheeks. He held her close but could get no reaction from her. He spotted that her lips were moving slightly, as if trying to repeat or explain the trauma that had been inflicted on her, trying desperately to give a clue that had rendered their comrades comatose. He leaned close and listened.

     The Captain abruptly stood up, his face white as a sheet. He paced the deck, terror warring with fury on his face. The crew got out of his way as he muttered.

     "XO!" he commanded, "I want to know if Team Hard Rocket, or Trauma Team is operating in our area."

     The effect on the crew was electric, as humans and Pokègirls speculated endlessly on the possibility of one of those psychotic groups operating in their area.

     The XO, a Buttaneer, approached the Captain. "No reports of either group, Team Hyper Rocket was broken on St. Helen's Isle."

     The Captain nodded. "We have a new player, a hideous one," the Captain confided in the XO, "Go listen."

     The XO bent down and listened to the shivering Alaka-Wham's whimpers. The XO's blood ran cold and she shot a horrified expression to her Captain. She shuddered at the shivering Alaka-Wham's horribly off-key cries of 'It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all'.

     "Does a split-open one count?" Oyuki asked, a light from her illuminating the burst and brittle egg-case.

     "Just one, I thought Widows laid dozens of eggs," Oyuki said, "I don't see any others." She played her light over the tunnel.

     "Kiyone, do you wish to eat this one?" Oyuki asked.

     "Oh . . . bite me!" Kiyone replied nervously looking at the walls of the lava tube.

     "Easy you two," Jeff said, "Oyuki, enough, we all know how Kiyone feels about Widows and silk. We also all know how you feel about being called an Ice Maiden, yet no one has. I suggest you remember that."

     "Yes, ma- yes, sir," Oyuki said demurely.

     "Besides, I hear something, and you two have to be quiet."

     "What?" Oyuki whispered in fright, shivering at the thought of encountering something really dangerous.

     "I don't know," Jeff replied, "Quiet." He listened intently, then began advancing slowly. The pair followed, their soft footsteps making echoes that hinted at things ahead and things behind.

     Then they came to a side tunnel. "Oyuki you hold position here. I don't want to have something come up behind us. And if you see something, tell us as loud as you can, then come in and get us, or head back down the tunnel and get the others." He took Kiyone with him down the side tunnel.

     "I should point out how unhappy I am at being in a closed space where monster spiders can jump out at us," Kiyone said as they walked along, "I'm not exactly dancing with joy about this, and you know how Wolf Spiders love to dance."

     "Now you understand how I usually feel when any of you get close," Jeff said, looking around the fault in the rock, "I keep expecting a knife in the dark." He signaled her to stop. Spotted something up ahead, a presence, he thought, Furtive, but watching.

     "Okay, ahead slow and easy," he told Kiyone as he walked ahead, shutting out the sounds from Kiyone and the more distant Oyuki, listening to what wasn't there, and what was.

     "Something?" Kiyone whispered.

     "Something small, holding position some distance away from us. Closer now as we approach, but still holding its distance," he replied. Okay, far enough, he thought, unslinging his pack and sitting down.

     Kiyone looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

     "If you can't hunt, you play bait," he said as he got out the camp stove and several different types of the Pokèchow and seasonings he'd gotten at the Masaki ranch.

     "Making soup?" Kiyone asked as she sat across the camp stove.

     He put several different types of chow in a pot of water on the stove. "Like I said, bait." He added several of the more aromatic herbs. "Curiosity, loneliness, hunger, some combination."

     "That smells great!" Kiyone said happily.

     "It's meant to."

     Off in the tunnel, there was a rumble, that had nothing to do with seismic activity.

Or Being Hated, Don't Give Way to Hating

     "I think I know which part is the one that is going to attract our mystery guest," her Master said.

     "You aren't afraid?" Kiyone asked.

     "No, whatever it is, it's small or it wouldn't be able to conceal itself in these tunnels. Small, frightened and hungry we can deal with."

     "Unless it's a giant worm and we're inside of it," Kiyone countered, glancing around.

     "There's a cure for being inside giant worms," Jeff replied.

     They waited in the flickering light of the camp stove.

     "I know how uneasy you are," her Master told her quietly, "I just am not the least bit worried. What we'll have to be worried about will come later." Which didn't help her attitude any.

     They heard a movement behind him. Don't move, and don't look, she thought as he stared at her, she concentrated on the soup pot, I can hear that our mystery guest has come out of the shadows. Now you get to do what you're good at.

     "What does she look like?" he asked, as he carefully stirred the soup, "Human, Pokègirl, type?"

     "Don't know. Young, at the stage where they're mostly arms and legs," Kiyone said quietly, seeming not to care and to stare at the pot, "Not much clothing. Rags if that."

     "Closing in or holding station?" he asked, sipping the soup with a slight slurp, then smacking his lips.

     "Step by step, inch by inch," Kiyone said, "That soup of yours would make me crawl out of a hole to get some."

     "Perhaps I should serve." he carefully ladled out three bowls, Kiyone got the first and showed every sign of enjoying it. He put the second in front of him. He set the first a short distance away.

     "This is good. Normally, I hate Pokèchow." The girl stepped into the twilight and shadows thrown by the stove's flame.

     "All a case of mixing and seasoning," Jeff replied, depending on Kiyone to track their visitor.

     "I don't think the food is all that's attracting her," Kiyone said between bites, reading the girl's concentration.

     "Well, then I have a theory to test." He'd drawn his knife and cut his palm before he turned around, facing the girl. He didn't look directly at her. His knife remained behind him.

     She wanted to shout, but merely stared a hole in the back of his head and not at the girl. Why do you keep doing such things, she thought desperately, I know, just concentrate on my meal, don't look directly at the girl. Be ready.

     Kiyone watched as the girl's nostrils flared at the scent of the blood. The young girl approached as if hypnotized, while retaining a certain amount of wariness. Kiyone watched in amazement as the four-legged, four-armed girl walked towards Jeff's outstretched hand, sniffing and glancing around carefully as she approached. The girl stared worriedly at Kiyone. It was all the Wolf Spider could do to remain seated. She's so frightened, Kiyone thought, heartsick that she couldn't do anything, Please, I won't hurt you. How can you just sit there calmly, Master? Don't you think she deserves a hug?

     Her Master hadn't moved a muscle, holding his hand still.

     Kiyone felt the spider portions of her physiology being drawn to the smell of blood. My Master's blood, she thought, restraining herself, Clever, so she's a spider-type too, and if this blood scent is getting to me, a Domestic, it has to be irresistible to a Feral. Kiyone watched as the girl took her Master's hand and lapped carefully at the blood welling from the wound. He might as well be carved of stone, Kiyone thought.

     The girl continued to clean the wound. The girl missed Jeff's incredibly slow-motion reaching to get the bowl of soup, and bringing it back near the girl as she finished.

     The girl raised her head and nearly scrambled away from the soup.

     "It's all right, you can take it," he said as he put the bowl in her four hands. The girl immediately scrambled out of reach, but not out of sight.

     Kiyone kept from looking directly at her as she silently slurped down the soup, and Jeff prepared another batch.

     "Nice trick," she said in a quiet conversational tone, "Although the others are bound to get nervous."

     "No, Oyuki will keep them back, and Mara will know the situation is under control," he replied.

     So you are Delta-bonded with her, Kiyone thought.

     "She can feel what I feel," Jeff said, equally nonchalantly, "The other way is problematic."

     "The DNA trick is interesting," Kiyone said, risking a glance at the girl who was licking the bowl clean, "How did you know?"

     "That she was a spider-type? The egg case, your reaction, a mix of help and dread. After that, it was just a series of extrapolations. I know that's how the bonding occurs. Physical contact and DNA transfer. She's too young for the standard method . . . so." He shrugged.

     And you're too shy even if she was `legal`, Kiyone thought, but said, "Or she's a Chibi - a young looking one."

     Jeff carefully ladled his bowl full, and set it off to one side. There was an eight-limbed pounce, and a four-legged retreat, leaving the original empty bowl behind. Kiyone caught herself smiling at the girl's antics and skittishness, then shook her head. I should be more worried than this, she thought, But I just keep thinking she's endearing. Somehow, my Master is either immune or is able to seem immune. He can't be that cold-hearted.

     Jeff refilled the abandoned bowl, and set it aside, but slightly closer, and waited. "Other than being Feral-born and some malnutrition, I'd say she was fine."

     "She's got clothes," Kiyone countered politely and quietly as the girl closed in carefully. She looks so sad and lost, Kiyone thought, Wait, I'm affected, he's not. It could be a psychic or chemical attack! Okay, how is it he's immune? The girl took the full soup bowl and left the empty, which Jeff refilled and left a little closer to them than where she'd left it.

     "The clothes are probably a remnant from a Domesticated mother or a lab," her Master said, "What I'd like to know is what the pair of rumba partners have to do with her, is she food or a kit. Or worse, was one of them a guard and the other a robber?"

     "W - the rumba partners - aren't known for being doting parents. I don't think they live long enough to look after their young." The soup bowl was taken, and the empty left behind. When Jeff refilled it, he set it alongside him.

     "Okay, so what do we do?" Kiyone asked.

     "With Sylve's transfer, I've got two empty slots, we take her with us. I've gone over the Pokèdex, and I can't remember anything that even remotely resembles her. Not a near human with doubled limbs. A good subject for a Field Researcher, discovering a whole new breed?"

     This time, the girl came in slowly, yawning. This let Kiyone see her teeth. Fangs, so she is a poison user, she thought, But small, discreet. How much of a threat? The girl approached far more cautiously, weaving slightly. She's not sure how close she can get, Kiyone thought, He could just grab her, she looks about ready to fall over. But I don't want him to do that . . . it's the most efficient way. Why can't I bring myself to think about hurting her? Maybe because she hasn't even tried to hurt us, but there's something else.

     "The other obvious question is, what are we going to do with the base?" her Master posed the question, "I assume that you know the police on St. Helen's, what about on the mainland?"

     "There's a major Navy base in Redwood, a couple of old destroyers. But without hard evidence, they won't sortie."

     The girl reached for the bowl, Jeff picked it up and handed it to her. She took it and scrambled away.

     "I know how much you hate the idea," her Master began, "But Tenchi and company have some heavy hitters. Ryoko, Ayeka and Sasami?"

     Kiyone hung her head, feeling terribly miserable. I don't want to get stuck with . . . her . . . again, Kiyone thought wretchedly as her tears fell, She destroyed every chance to get a Tamer I ever had. I know she'll do all she can to 'get me back where I belong.' She'll whine and cry and . . . She looked up, and the strange girl was staring at her, practically nose to nose, her face an expression of intense curiosity.

     "I have an idea about how to deal with Mihoshi," her Master said, as the little girl stepped between Kiyone's legs and enfolded her in a hug. Kiyone rested her chin on the frail girl's shoulder and hugged her back.

     Suddenly the world doesn't seem so bleak, Kiyone thought, Maybe my Master's plan will work. They have so far.

     "Don't worry, I've got it all planned out," her Master assured her, smiling that they had also brought their target out of the shadows and quite literally into their laps.

     The girl released her, taking some of Kiyone's long hair and rubbing it against her cheek, purring as she did.

     "I think you've got a fan," Jeff told her, "And a commission." The girl released Kiyone's hair and took a wobbling step towards Jeff, then another, the empty bowl held out in front of her. Jeff steadied it with one hand as he refilled it, then didn't release it, but helped the girl raise it to drink from.

     "The soup?" Kiyone asked, realizing he'd drugged the girl.

     "The blood," Jeff explained as the girl tilted suddenly, Jeff caught her. She sat down, practically falling into Jeff's lap. He held the bowl where she could drink from it. The girl peered owlishly at Jeff. She hissed drunkenly, and rolled out of his lap. She hissed again as she crouched between the Jeff and Kiyone, despite having eight-limbs supporting her, she still wove drunkenly.

     But her heart's not in it, Kiyone realized, as the girl scrambled until she was nose to nose with Jeff. Don't show any signs, Kiyone told her self as she poised to spring to her Master's defense, String shot line is all ready, and I'm ready however she moves.

     The girl tried to move closer as Jeff leaned away, suddenly she overbalanced and fell on him. Only Jeff's warning glance kept Kiyone from leaping. The girl seemed equally frightened. Jeff brushed the hair out of her face as he lay down on the cave floor, the girl laying on his chest. The girl's right hands came up suddenly, holding Jeff's hand against her cheek. She wobbled again. Jeff held her against him as he sat up, she tensed for a moment, then nuzzled his neck as she tried to get her arms and legs to give him the same kind of hug she'd given Kiyone, but they weren't cooperating. She settled dreamily into Jeff's embrace.

     "Blessed Widow," the girl sighed.

     Kiyone felt dipped in liquid nitrogen.

     "Now how I'm I going to get you down from there?" Jeff asked as he stared up at the Wolf Spider clinging to the cave ceiling.

      Jeff's Harem
Oyuki - Megami
Kiyone - Wolf Spider
Sylve - ShieldMaiden
Misato - Seraph
Ritsuko - Matron
Mara - Storm Demon
Liv - Witch

      Mackie's Harem
Perry - Amachoke
Priss - Skarmory
Nene - Ladyba
Linna - Shadowcat
Sylvia - Dragonqueen

BLESSED WIDOW, the Holy What was that?! Pokègirl
Type: Not Very Near Human
Element: Bug/Poison/Ghost (Celestial)
Frequency: Extremely Rare (probably Unique)
Diet: true Omnivore, favors human style foods, occasionally requires blood and rocks
Role: luck bringer, celestially chosen boogeyman and ultimate cute terror
Libido: Low (High with Tamers who can control them)
Strong Vs: any except Dragon
Weak Vs: Dragon, dominating Pokègirls
Attacks: Heavenly Fire, Lightning, Hyperbeam, Poison Sting, Paralyze Sting, Poison Bite, Web, Phase, Invis, Acid Spray, Slice, Armor Punch
Enhancements: Lucky, Healthy, Pristine Innocence, armored skin, enhanced strength (x25), enhanced speed (x4), web spinners, poison sacs, hypnotic attack, ability to bite off and digest almost anything, extra limbs. Evolves: unknown
Evolves From: none

Recommendation if you see one: If she's friendly: Go get a hug you'll always treasure, the memory will warm your heart even in the darkest times; If she's unfriendly: Run the fuck away, dumbass!

     Behold a nightmare made cherubic flesh.

     Blessed Widows are the most darling, deadly Pokègirls alive. They embody adorable destruction. No one who has encountered one has anything bad to say about them. (Mainly because anyone who thought ill of them were torn to shreds.) Combining physical characteristics of a Bug-type, with Poison attacks, with Ghost talents and the special attacks of a Blessed Pokègirls, the Blessed Widow would make a formidable fighter even without some of her other abilities.

     The only known Blessed Widow was found in caves in the Cascade Islands of the Sunshine League. While it is commonly believed that this is not a Widow with the Blessed advantage, but rather a g-spliced or Cocooner-made Pokègirls who closely simulates a Widow's powers in a cute, 8-limbed girl. The problem is, no one really knows WHY she appeared. Her Tamer's theory is that she was an experiment by a deranged Megami and Cocooner. While this seems to explain HOW, he refuses to speculate on WHY.

     The Blessed Widow is truly odd to behold. She has a pair of arms growing from each shoulder, and a pair of legs from each hip. The second limb is outboard of the `normal` one. Her expression is waif-like with soulful eyes practically designed to melt even the hardest hearts. Her skin is reinforced to ignore immense damage from nearly every type of attack.

     Her fangs are small, almost invisible unless you are actively looking. She has four arms and four legs, all ending in normal, five-fingered hands or five-toed feet. On her back is a prominent red hourglass, standing out clearly against the white skin of the Blessed Widow. Her legs are long and strong, and she can stand on two, three or four.

     Widows are horrible monsters of the worst sort, Blessed Widow is a perfectly innocent, though extremely powerful breed of Pokègirls. While possessing a Widow's formidable arsenal of attacks, lacking only the lethal HyperVenom, they add the Heavenly Fire and Lightning typical of the Blessed types. They also possess a Hyperbeam for a long-range punch. Blessed Widow are fierce, deadly fighters, however they consider violence a necessary evil, at best. They are more willing to fight to defend others, especially their Harem-sisters and Tamer. They will avoid harming innocents, but attacker will be dealt with swiftly. Most attacks simply bounce off of their bodies, the only ones capable of affecting them are the dragon-element attacks, which are the only things which can hurt them, and domination attacks, although if the Blessed Widow is made too pitiful, the dominating Pokègirl may suffer attacks from observers. Combat against a Blessed Widow is to be avoided at all costs, negotiation is preferred.

     Her Feral state is unknown at this time, although is expected to be very mild, similar to a Ingenue's.

     Seriously, either get your hug or run away. No matter how tough you are, how vicious and hard-boiled your girls are, a Blessed Widow is just too loveable or too lethal.

AMACHOKE (aka WRESTLER), the Muscle-Bound Pokegirl

Type: Humanoid
Element: Fighting
Frequency: Uncommon
Diet: human style with mineral supplements
Role: physical Labor, particularly in construction
Libido: Low
Strong Vs: Bug, Dark, Ice, Rock, Normal, Steel
Weak Vs: Flying, Psychic
Special Weaknesses: Can't swim, prone to narcissistic behavior
Attacks: Body Slam, Toss, Crushing Punch, Takedown, Tackle, Pose, Headbutt, Focus
Enhancements: High density (x2), armored skin, Enhanced Strength (x16)
Disadvantages: Low speed
Evolves: Amachamp(normal)
Evolves From: Amachop (normal)

     When the Amachop evolves into an Amachoke, she gains roughly three to four feet in height, more muscle mass and has an increase of one to two breast sizes. Their increased muscle mass keeps them from being able to swim, meaning they should avoid deep water at all costs. Because of her massive increase in height and muscle, she is actually slower as an Amachoke than when she was an Amachop, though overtime, as she adjusts to the massive difference in height, she will slowly regain some of her speed, but she will remain slower because of her new size.

     An Amachoke is often very arrogant. Most feel that her great strength and hard body make her superior to all other pokegirls. Some may even feel that those weaker than themselves are unworthy of taming them. Because of this incredible arrogance, it's during this evolution that many tamers will abandon or try to trade away the Amachoke. Others will push their Amachokes along in an attempt to get her to evolve into her final form. Some tamers have tried to bring the Amachoke's arrogance down by denying them the ability to work out, but this is a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY BAD IDEA, and is likely one of the major reasons why those tamers wind up in intensive care.

     In fact, some researchers have postulated that the reason an Amachoke requires so little taming is because working out may be a form of masturbation for them. Of course, a tamer who knows massage techniques and has strong enough fingers may find their Amachokes more willing than others.

     Amachokes are less dangerous than most other feral pokegirls, as they have a very mild feral state, which only lowers their intelligence a bit. Otherwise, their personality is almost completely unaffected.

     Of course, there is a loophole to this arrogance: if her tamer gained her trust when she was an Amachop, an Amachoke is far more likely to respect them and allow them to continue taming her. And if the tamer was training alongside her, she's also going to be jusr as loyal as she was before.

     Amachokes have big appetites. Not as monstrous as a Snorlass, but large nonetheless. This is because an Amachoke's body burns through calories at an accerlated rate. In fact, it's quite possible that an Amachoke cannot actually become fat, regardless of how little she trains, even though she loves training so much that such an occurance is an impossibility.

     Unless a tamer knows that they have a comparable strength, restraints are a MUST when taming an Amachoke.

DRAGONQUEEN, the Disciplined Training Pokegirl
Type: Near Human
Element: Dragon/Dark
Frequency: Extremely Rare
Diet: meat
Role: this pokegirl makes a good Alpha as she knows how to bring out the best in others with training
Libido: Average
Strong Vs: Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fire, Ghost, Plant, Psychic, Water
Weak Vs: Bug, Fighting, Ice
Attacks: Tail Whip, Rage, Dragon Rage, Harden, Blur, Shadow Shot, Wingover, Gust
Enhancements: Enhanced Strength (x9), Enhanced Speed (x9), Prehensile Tail, Enhanced Sense of Hearing (x15), Armored Form
Evolves: None
Evolves From: Domina (Dragon E-Medal)

     The DragonQueen is one of the newly discovered E-medal evolutions. She has pure black skin with long flowing hair that comes in reds, greens, blues and pinks. Their lower arms and legs are covered in hard scale like armor that matches their hair. Their tails tend to be about 5ft long and they stand at 6ft tall. Their breasts tend to be between large B cups to a small D cup. They have more of the armor like scales along their spines and coming around to cup their breasts. Large wings are on their backs, allowing them to fly. Their fingers end in powerful claws they can use for slashing damage. They also have the power to armor up, making their scales cover their bodies like a suit of armor leaving only their eyes to be seen.

     DragonQueens tend to be less into S&M then they were as Dominas but they understand using both pleasure and pain in training pokegirls for combat. They tend to be able to figure out the limits of any pokegirl and help them reach those limits then move beyond them. They are loyal to their Tamer and always obey him or her in battle.

     They like to use their Dragon Rage attack to weaken enemies and then move in and use Tail Whip on them.

     They enjoy spending time with their Tamer and when they feel in need of a Taming then tend not to care where they are or who might be watching.