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  "description": "[s]THIS ONE IS REALLY HUGE AND HAS A LOT OF FORMATTING I REALLY DONT WANT SCREWED UP. SO THATS WHY ITS LEFT IN JUST DOC FORMAT[/s]\nFixed it :3\n\nThanks everyone!\n\nEmil is a quiet man with a well kept secret; he has little to look forward to but even less to complain about as he works his life away and puts up with his obnoxious wealthy neighbor.\n\nThat is until a once-in-a-lifetime sequence of events threatens to upend everything he has, should he go for the catch. \n\n---\n\nI'll shout again from the rooftops, I love reader engagement. Discussing my world-building is my sick guilty pleasure, so if you wanna comment with questions, I'll probably answer them as long as it doesn't spoil something I'm actively writing.\n\n \n\nMy chapters come to you with thanks for my guildmates for their editing and feedback! Please please please, if you haven't checked out their work, I encourage you to do so.\n\nhttps://archiveofourown.org/users/Well_Pondered/pseuds/Well_Pondered\n\nhttps://archiveofourown.org/users/powerofmettatonneo/pseuds/powerofmettatonneo\n\nhttps://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalFluffAddict/pseuds/PokemonFluffAddict\n\nhttps://archiveofourown.org/users/Seffii/pseuds/Seffii\n\nPlease check out their works, show them the appreciation they deserve.\n\nCHEERS!",
  "description_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'><span class='strikethrough'>THIS ONE IS REALLY HUGE AND HAS A LOT OF FORMATTING I REALLY DONT WANT SCREWED UP. SO THATS WHY ITS LEFT IN JUST DOC FORMAT</span><br />Fixed it :3<br /><br />Thanks everyone!<br /><br />Emil is a quiet man with a well kept secret; he has little to look forward to but even less to complain about as he works his life away and puts up with his obnoxious wealthy neighbor.<br /><br />That is until a once-in-a-lifetime sequence of events threatens to upend everything he has, should he go for the catch. <br /><br />---<br /><br />I&#039;ll shout again from the rooftops, I love reader engagement. Discussing my world-building is my sick guilty pleasure, so if you wanna comment with questions, I&#039;ll probably answer them as long as it doesn&#039;t spoil something I&#039;m actively writing.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br /><br />My chapters come to you with thanks for my guildmates for their editing and feedback! Please please please, if you haven&#039;t checked out their work, I encourage you to do so.<br /><br /><a href=\"https://archiveofourown.org/users/Well_Pondered/pseuds/Well_Pondered\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://archiveofourown.org/users/Well_Pondered/pseuds/...</a><br /><br /><a href=\"https://archiveofourown.org/users/powerofmettatonneo/pseuds/powerofmettatonneo\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://archiveofourown.org/users/powerofmettatonneo/ps...</a><br /><br /><a href=\"https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalFluffAddict/pseuds/PokemonFluffAddict\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalFluffAddict/ps...</a><br /><br /><a href=\"https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seffii/pseuds/Seffii\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seffii/pseuds/Seffii</a><br /><br />Please check out their works, show them the appreciation they deserve.<br /><br />CHEERS!</span>",
  "writing": "[center]Forbidden Waters – 20[/center]\n\n[B][I]The scene faded from an inky well of pitch darkness and glowing Jellicents to a beach at dusk looking out onto an endless expanse of turbulent waters and magenta skies. A man, wearing a skin-tight black rubber suit, slowly emerged from the broiling soup of warm watercolor waves and waddled out of the water, taking on a silly clumsy gait with his massive rubber diving fins still on his feet. He kicked the fins off, ran onto the sand, and plopped himself onto a beached driftwood log just in front of the camera’s view, gazing out into the horizon. He looked like the happiest man in the entire world, enjoying the thing he loved more than anything else every moment of every day. It looked a bit as if tears were falling from his pale blue eyes, hidden amongst the glistening drops of water falling from his soaked mop of platinum blonde hair.[/I][/B]\n“[B][I]Ouf! Quel soulagement… So here we find ourselves again, at the end of a long, amazing day of adventures in the deep. As the sun sets on us today, spare a thought for the amazing, colorful, and downright strange Pokemon deep beneath the waves and wakes, where the morning dawn never breaks. [/I][/B]\n“[B][I]Even they, so alien and often frightening to behold, deserve our respect and love. All of them, and all of you. Thank you, my beloved friends, for taking the time to show us love too.”\nOff in the distance, the shadowy silhouette of a Gyarados burst from an explosive geyser out in the water and spiraled off into a stack of lilac clouds. [/I][/B]\n“[B][I]I hope you once again will be free to come and see the deep blue sea with Sidney and me.”[/I][/B]\n\nEmil caught himself silently mouthing the last few words of his speech, sent screaming back for a brief moment, to the dirty, busted up wooden floor of his birth home in Paldea. Watching the exact same video in the living room on a fuzzy cathode-ray tube television. IIlluminated only by the light of the screen. He remembered how mesmerized he was by the mysteries glimpsed on that wavy screen, his muddy, denim-covered legs crossed on the floor after a long day of school and an even longer afternoon fixing tractors in the fields with Papá. Those short few hours in the night spent eating a steaming heap of Mama’s beef paella from his worn out Pika Libre bowl, marveling, wondering, excited for what could be. It sat in a tender place that hurt to touch but somehow brought a smile to his face.\nPOP!\nValorie stood beside him with the deflated remains of a bright pink bubble smacked across her mouth, soaking up Emil’s frustrated stares with cool indifference. She rolled her eyes as the last-minute end-of-the-day patrons of the aquarium shuffled their way through a maze of overpriced plush pokemon, trademark bearing apparel, cheap plastic toys, and the rarely purchased autobiography ‘Sea to Sea with Mr. G.’ \nShe glanced up at the flat screen television hanging from the ceiling as it started yet another episode of, ‘Swimming with Sydney.’ One out of six-hundred-fifty-two in a remastered digital collection set to shuffle for all eternity. \nThen Val glanced out the glass wall towards the grasses, trees, and bushes in the front courtyard, locked onto a bit of fiery fluff poking out from around a shrubbery, and let herself finally relax as she realized the idiot she was [U]actually[/U] responsible for was right where she’d left him.\nShe tried to lighten up, noticed a cute, amber eyed baby strapped into a stroller carrying a stuffed Froakie, and chose to wave at them with a pained, awkward smile. The baby looked away crying and her mother bolted for the checkout, ogling the weird survivalist nutjob with a profoundly uncomfortable stare.\nVal scoffed over her shoulder and wandered in wild circles. “Ugh, c’mon Old Man, closing time was twenty minutes ago!” she shouted down the Aquarium halls, roped off for closing time.\nOne of the Aquarium employees smiled towards her and bowed a little in respect. Must have been from Kanto or Johto, Val thought. “Many apologies, ma’am. It’s taking a little longer than usual for our usual guests to find their way to the exits. Your after hours excursion will begin shortly, and we’ll be open a little longer to make up for the lost time.”\nVal nodded. “Aight, thanks. Sorry ‘bout that, Miss. Got a long night ahead’a me.”\nEmil finally pushed past his nervousness to make some awkward conversation. “So…Gyarados. He must be a massive fan of Mr. G, huh?”\nVal’s head bobbed left and right. “Something like that.”\n“I grew up watching these, hehe. Had a big impact on me growing up.”\nVal grunted. “Ditto.”\nEmil looked at her in surprise as Vaporeon purred and adjusted his hair. “Yeah?”\nShe nodded and gestured at the show playing on the big screens. “Howd’ya think I learned ‘ta speak ‘mon, jack?”\nEmil gazed at her, realizing that this backwater, wild animal of a human had left him stumped and helpless yet again. “Huh?”\nShe chuckled. “Mr. G constantly spoke with the ‘mon in their natural tongue in the show, it just happened at random and nobody thought to check since it was so rare back then. Guess they figured he was just making random mating noises to get their attention for the cameras. I wasn’t the only one either, it happened all over the place and people finally caught on that kids were talking with their pets.”\n\n[B][I]They both watched the display where the bright eyed young man on screen rode a motorboat, vocalizing emphatically at a lone Finizen far off some uncolonized coastline. “{Hey again, beautiful! Would you do me a favor and pose for the camera today? I got you the good stuff!}”[/I][/B]\n\nEmil smiled, clapping his hand on his head, aggravating Vaporeon who’d just got his hair perfect. “Holy crap, I had no idea. Hahahaha That’s pretty cool!”\nShe glowered, watching for Emil’s expression. “{Wait for it...}”\n\n[B][I]The Finizen did as he asked and he hand fed her while, stroking her smooth, wild, pockmarked flesh. He spoke in a lovely kalosian accent with his gaze fixed to Finizen’s eyes, giving his usual amazing, eloquently executed factoids to the camera. Then he kissed her on the forehead and she slipped back into the water, looking at him with a friendly curiosity. Just before the scene changed, Emil heard the man say, “{I'd like to have another private dance with you, if you’re up to it, gorgeous.}”[/I][/B]\n\nEmil stood straight on to the television, paralyzed with red cheeks from shock. “Oh my [U]Gods[/U], on global public television?!”\nShe nodded, chuckling, and thumbed her nose. “Oh yeah, hehehe. They still train Pokeglots in the military using those vids. They pulled the old ones from TV, of course, can’t get 'em anywhere else but here and the Dexnet. It’s sort of an informal graduation ceremony, learning about that big, open secret. It was indirect ‘nuf, so nobody charged him with nuth’n, but all the ‘glots know what's what.”\nShe nodded with pride. “So… Nice job, ya passed the test. My work is done, keep it up or I’ll kick your ass next time I see ya.”\nVaporeon nibbled at his ear. “{I want you to talk to me like that, Emmi.}”\nEmil ran his fingers around her neck, below the dewlap, and she shivered at his touch. “La vida estaría vacía te fueras, {I’ll dance with you forever, my jewel.}”\nVaporeon gushed, pressing both paws into her pecha pink cheeks, and then weakly bapped Emils head in a fluster. “{Thank you so much! Sorry I tried to kill you,}” she chirped at Val.\nValorie chuckled and waved it off. “{What’s a little death threat between friends, eh?}”\nThe young staff member ran up to them, bowing again. “Thanks for your patience, honored guests. Doors are locked and I’m on my way out. The entire complex is yours to explore. None of the trainer shows are running, of course, but I assure you this is the absolute best way to experience the exhibits. There will be someone here if you need anything at all. They said they’d be around the Predator Tanks.”\n“Merci,” Val replied.\nEmil fidgetted, stroking Vaporeon’s tail out of comfort as they walked into a dark hallway leading towards the exhibit ring. “So, I guess it's just us now, huh?”\nValorie didn’t look back at him, continuing to walk at a brisk pace. “Mmhmm.”\n“So, um… You haven’t told me about your partner. I suppose you have one, I can tell.” \n“Didn’t need to be a genius to figure that out, chief.”\nHe chuckled nervously. “So you brought them with you, then? I thought you said you lived out near the coast.”\nThat got her attention. “Why you ask’n?”\nHe blushed. “I, uh… I can, well… It’s obvious…”\nHer head tilted as she put one fist into her hip. “La zut! I thought I scrubbed myself real good this mornin’. You got the nose, alright. Yer the real deal. Not that I had a doubt.” \nThey stopped as they left the antechamber, out into a huge room with a massive glass wall that looked out into an entrancing, lovingly nurtured coral reef. A vibrant, healthy ecology bustled just beyond the two-foot thick reinforced-tempered-glass walls, and Vaporeon especially was left wide eyed at its majesty. She leapt down from his shoulders and slowly approached\nVaporeon planted her butt down there, transfixed, following aquatic ‘mon of all shapes, sizes, and regions with predatory excitement. “We need to see the sea, Emmi.”\n“So, does he live here, or?” Emil prodded again.\nShe grunted. “He’s an idiot!”\nEm lurched back at the unexpected abruptness. “Not what I was asking, but ok…”\nShe shook her head and continued. “I made it [U]real[/U] clear I didn’t want him following me this time. Never took him to the capital or anywhere else with walls for that matter cuz he’s too wild. Can’t act like a pet, eats like a starving Swalot, won’t keep his paws off me for one distorted second. Damn miracle he didn’t end up caught or shot.”\nEm nodded. “Maybe we can work on that and get him under control.”\nShe spat on the floor. “Fuck that; don’t want my Fenny any other way!”\n“Where’s he at?” Em asked, rolling a coin between his fingers in lieu of Vaporeon’s soothing touch.\nShe sighed. “Right now? Outside. Gyarados said he’d nab ‘em and bring ‘em in.”\nEmil brightened up at that. “Oh, I’ll get to meet him? That’s great!”\nShe nodded. “Yeah, I hope he feels that way about you.”\nEmil moved on to a topic that he’d been meaning to ask for a long time. “So, um. What’s it like?”\n“What’s what like?”\n“Living with Pokemon. You didn’t say it outright, but I kinda put it together when you mentioned, ‘Chief Pangoro,’ the other day.”\nShe shrugged. “Rough. Tribes don’t suffer no layabouts, gotta pull yer weight like hatched and not born. Each day is another tooth and claw fight fer territory, resources, huntin’ grounds, willin’ females, not gettin’ eaten yourself. Gets ya hurt a lot, and the only meds yer prolly gonna get is a mouthful o’ bugwort n’a slap on the ass.”\nEmil was transfixed, now realizing where all the callouses and scars had come from. “I guess your past means you have to live out there?”\nShe laughed. “Oh, nah. Dun get me wrong at all, Kricketot. If I got down on my hands’n knees and licked enough assholes clean my family’d take me back, but I’d rather die curled up with mange in the rain than that. Nah, If I didn’t have’ta bring in the good meds, the good tools, stuff that makes me a real asset to the tribe, I’d book it back home on all fours and you’d never see my happy ass again. Just wanted to lay it on ya real straight in case you got it in yer head ya might wanna try it.”\nEm laughed at himself as much as the joke. “Pretty sure I’d have to be in some real serious trouble before I’d consider that, I need my Dexnet. I’d like to visit someday, though. You think they’d let me?”\nShe chewed on that for a moment. “Maybe. Bring something useful we need as a gift and that’d take the edge off, for sure.” She gave him a wicked smile, “hope ya like snugglin’, cuz yer sleep’n in the big nest, Emmi boy. Don’t think now’s a good time, though, pretty sure Chiefs' in no mood for takin’ risks right now.” \nEmil raised a brow. “Isn’t this a bit of risk, though? You being here at all?”\nValorie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it is. Normally ain’t too bad, my regular clients have me doin’ stuff a lot closer to coast where the silk-sheets stop care’n what the poors are up to. But stuffs goin’ down and I needed real good money this time.” She gestured for them to move on and she whistled to Vaporeon. “‘C’mon, Queenie! …Anyway, the Cap’n gave me a real hard deal to chew on. Prolly all I woulda said was ello an g’bye the whole trip if I didn’t end up with some well-off purebred humpin’ my leg,” she said, glaring at Emil.\nVaporeon pranced with her head held high, glancing up at her King, face full of pride.\nEmil scratched at his head nervously as they passed one of the petting exhibits where a pack of Starmie and Shelder followed them with anxious gazes. Must have been worried that the long day of manhandling wasn’t actually over yet, Emil supposed. He waved at them as they passed and their cheery disposition returned, continuing their frollicking around and sharing… sausage biscuit rolls and bon-bons left out on a platter. [I]They’re feeding ‘mon in the aquarium good here, damn.[/I] Emil thought to himself.\n“Yeah, I’m sorry about Rich. Honest to Arceus he’s not like this all the time. Hot, famous, wealthy chicks crawl all over him back home and he acts like they don’t exist.”\nShe scoffed. “Lil’ boys’ drownin in more prim and proper pussy than he can possibly pound n’all he wants is some nasty, scarred up, backwoods [U]bitch[/U]?”\nEm jumped back a little and Vaporeon smacked him on the ass with her tail for his cowardice. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I just-”\n“Tch. I do! The fuck is his problem, Emil? I smell like used feet, eat like a Primape, and I got the complexion of a northfront trencher; I’m cuddly as a sack ‘o used needles and he just keeps coming back fer more!”\nEmil shook his head. “First off, you’re not unattractive at all. Smelly and unflattering? Yeah, but you live with ‘mon. I just think he’s attracted to the honesty is all, he doesn’t get much of that.”\nShe growled. “Well, I’m [U]honestly[/U] gonna leave one of these bargain bin boots up his ass if he comes at me tonight hold’n some expensive do-nothing in a pretty box.”\n[I]At least Richard dodged that bullet. [/I]“Look, I’m not normally all that nosey, but I am his friend. What’re you going to do to him?”\nShe stopped in the darkened corridors of the bioluminescent plant life biospheres and glared back at him with dry, akimbo eyes. Then, after she realized Emil wasn’t going to ask anything else, she watched a baby Jellicent float through a forest of vibrant seaweed with a pleasant smile. “If he’s smart, I shouldn’t need to do noth’n.”\nEmil felt a pit forming in his stomach. “And if he’s Richard?”\nShe frowned and turned down the halls leading to the Aquadome with slowly swaying hips. “We’ll bring’m back in one piece.”\nThe paths toward the dome were long cylindrical halls covered in sciencey factoid plaques. Most of them Emil knew, others he didn’t but could’ve lived his whole life having not learned them and died all the same. Like the fact Finizen farted all the gas from their bodies and their organs collapsed when they decided to hunt in the lightless depths. Or that the Kalosian Fish Corps definitely had the annual Basculin outbreaks under control and that they totally supplied sixty percent of the region’s fish exports. Or that Dondozo beached themselves to eat coolers of beer in such numbers that alcoholic beverages were banned on Paldea's northeastern shorelines.\nActually, that last one explained a few things… like why Abuelo never made their trip to Casseroya every summer.\nThey reached the end and Emil had to cover his eyes as the dim, afternoon light from outside struck his dark-adjusted eyes. They stepped out into a massive, submerged dome at the center of the world’s largest indoor aquatic ecosystem, a snowglobe in reverse. Schools of Pokemon from all around the Earth surrounded them; from the warm hydrodynamic paradise of Alola to the icy Sinnoan straights. No matter the direction you looked, it made you feel like a tiny polyp clinging to a crowded coral cliff.\nThe three of them were caught in the shadow of a colossal Mantine looming overhead as Val slid her butt down a long metal handrail and then she leaned forward into the white, vinyl-painted steel railing.\nEmil carefully stepped down a metal flight of steps onto a wide ring of catwalks that ran the entire diameter of the sphere, encircling an impressive living exhibition that signs posted all around said were the ‘Ametama Gardens.’\nIt was a giant, mirror bottomed pool filled with pure, crystal clean water that cradled a labyrinth of tall, polished metal spires. Pocked with overgrown perforations, teeming with sweet smelling flora, bridged with bushy braids of Cheri Berry vines, the hydroponic spires sustained the schools of Surskit skipping down below. Darting to and fro, their little waves danced across the maze, overlapping in dazzling luminescent displays. \nVal glanced back at Emil and Vaporeon. “So what’s yer plan?”\nVaporeon bounded to the edge of the railing, peering down at the Surskit with intense scrutiny, and Emil tilted his head. “I dunno. I kinda have everything I could want right now. I guess I’ll get a bigger house someday, maybe. Starting to get a little cramped now that–”\n“If you get caught, Wynautt!” she barked as her head spun on her shoulders.\nEmil stood, quietly, Mareepishly, staring at the shimmering pools through the steel grating beneath his feet as Vaporeon hung playfully from the edge of the platform, little arms swaying as she waited for her Emmi to finish his parlance with Val. “I… Well, I guess I’m not sure.”\nVal sighed and shook her head. She tossed down the few stray crumbs left of a fruity brioche she’d been saving in her pocket, one of many delectable all-you-can-eats she’d systematically swiped from the breakfast buffets for her trip back home. A few skittering baby-blue yellowtops swarmed the snacks as she carefully thought about her words before finally choosing to speak. “Do you even know what’ll happen to ya?”\nEmil nodded with a straight face, resolute but anxious. “Best case? Court mandated rehab, forced to inhabit a metropolitan ‘mon-desert of some sort, constant surveillance by some neurotic volunteer force of moralistic busy-bodies. Worse case?” He winced, looking away, hissing through his teeth as if something stewing inside had finally boiled over and started burning on the stovetop. “Prolonged incarceration. Capital assets seized and settled. Euthenasia…” a few stale tears finally oozed their way across a tired pair of eyes that hadn’t cried in years and he choked a little. “Vaporeon, she’d…”\nVal’s brow furrowed as her gaze burned a hole into his forehead, staring at him in confusion. “That’s a lot o’ fancy words. Y’know I can’t understand yer wise ass mouth, right?”\nEmil’s face stopped moving, then he chuckled as he watched the frown on her face curl up into a shallow grin. “I’d be a Rockruff on a chain, or a broken Mankey in a box.”\nShe looked out into the ripples and vines, shaking her head. “But those ain’t yer only options, are they?”\nEmil sighed, looking out into the blue abyss, nervously clutching his own shoulder. “No, I suppose they aren’t.”\nVal nodded sharply, then started walking around the catwalks to the opposite end of the dome. “If someone wants me dead for havin’ a good time, they can die wait’n… or die try’n.”\nVaporeon gently snuck up and startled Emil as she curled herself around his shoulders. She grabbed his chin, turned his head towards her, and then gazed into his soul with those glorious, greedy, gentle eyes. He wasn’t sure how long they stood there, or what he saw there in that amethyst sea, but he was sure he could hear her plain as day.\n“I promise.” \nThe two of them nuzzled, sensually stroking cheeks, each overwhelming the others with their sweet, familiar scents. Finally, Emil pecked Vaporeon on the cheek and decided to start following in Valorie’s footsteps.\nVal’s ear twitched, her head jerked to the right, and her nostrils flared gently as she stared out into the water with wide, watchful eyes. “Ah, ‘bout time. C’mon, Kricketot.”\nEmil shook his head a little, unsure what it was he’d just witnessed, but even less sure how he’d ask about it without looking like a fool.\nHer pace had started to take a brisk jog, and then a full on sprint. Val lumbered about when she was bored and safe, but it was clear he hadn’t seen anything of her yet. She moved with a tailwind hugging her back and clouds kissing her feet.\nVaporeon leapt off his shoulders, chasing after her, squeaking back at Emil for him to follow, but both of them left him in the dust. “{Show me how fast you can run now!}”\nEmil started, sticking to the proper form Rich had taught him to maintain a brisk sweat, but quickly he felt a stitch form in his side. Fire erupted in his lungs and he quickly stopped after the ladies vanished around a curve in the halls. \nVal’s voice echoed down the tunnel. “{C’mon, Bushbaby! Didn’t you listen to Dickhead this morning?}”\nEmil stared down the hallway, slowly trying to recall the last twelve hours in painful detail.\nAs if she was right there with him, she roared, “{quit thinkin and get runnin!}”\nAs if Rich was there threatening to smack him on the ass if he didn’t hustle, he bolted forward. Emil hated exercise, aching repetition bored him to tears, and he finished the loathsome chore as soon as he was allowed. This time, just like all the others, his body hurt like it always had. He panted and gritted his teeth, pounding the rough padding between the soles of his feet and the cement floor.\nWhat had she meant? Richard? Richard didn’t know anything, short of League regulations and battle strategy. Was it the sleeper? What, was there some poetic sage-like wisdom within his best friend’s skull he’d never managed to unlock? Everstones? Energy? What’s a bushbaby? \n“[I]STOP! THINKING! AND! [U]RUN![/U][/I]”\nSomething about her voice rippled down the hall, burrowed through his ear canals, and rammed its way through his steely analytical bubble. Her shouting scoured his senses clean, supplanting complex thought with a frothing white noise.\nIt hurt, that was all he felt. He wanted to stop, he’d make it if they waited up. No, Vaporeon wouldn’t like that at all, would she? Nobody was there to see his pathetic, awkward sprinting, he supposed. He decided to give it his all, at least this once. Yeah, Val’d probably make fun of him, but she was gonna do that anyway. Gah, there was that wall. Pain. Swallow it, dammit. Keep going. Pap. Pap. Pap. Piff. Ankles crying out, sides starting to twist into uncomfortable knots. C’mon, ngraaah! Pap. Pap. Piff. Piff. Piff.\nHe sprinted at maximum speed and with maximum effort and his eyes closed shut, hard. He winced, trying with every fiber of his being to ignore the pain in his side, the hot coals in his lower back, his lungs struggling to supply the frantic beating of his heart. He had somehow beaten the wall, smashed through it, and some new barrier was erected before him. This one intimidated him with sinister sensations that made his knees quiver and smothered him in a deep, uncanny anxiety. It was like looking down into a pit so dark that the bottom may as well have not existed at all.\nFor whatever reason, instead of sliding to a halt at the edge… he just leapt in, headfirst, and closed his mind’s eyes.\nEmil was so busy fighting himself that he almost missed his own running on the tips of his toes. With long, bounding, painless strides, his ponytail whipped as a standard in the wind.\nHe smiled like a surprised child at what was happening. It was exhilarating! There was something in him soothing his muscles, limbering up his joints, forcing his lungs to take in far more air than he was used to. It was nothing like Val, who was one step short of flying, but it was a far cry from anything he’d expected of himself.\nIn his excitement, however, he’d overlooked the broad, muscular arm stretched across the archway to the exhibits on the other side of the facility. Val clotheslined Emil as he left the tunnel with a sound whack, and Vaporeon zipped beneath him to catch his shoulders with her back on his descent. Val cackled like a madwoman and his mate giggled a little at the prank before she smooched his cheek.\nGasping to fill his chest after having the wind knocked from him, he stood with a stunned gaze. “Haaah… Wha… What was that?”\nVal stared at him, stoic as a steel edge. “Trainers ain’t the only ones with their bodies changing, Jack.”\nVaporeon looked up at Val with a look of surprised excitement.\n“You mean I can do that all the time?” Emil asked, rubbing his chest.\nVal chucked and shook her head. “Nah, it's kinda like a battery. And yer battery is itty bitty. Prolly blew yer whole load on just that.” Emil looked a little discouraged, but Valorie socked him in the shoulder, about three times as hard as Rich, and continued speaking as he hunched in pain and covered his arm. “It’ll grow. Don’t see you lovebirds cuttin’ the cord anytime soon. I can’t be there all the time to shut yer noggin off for ya, so you’ll end up dripping with energy by the time you figure it out. Be good for ya. Oh, and get in better shape! It’s easier with a fit bod.”\nVaporeon hopped back up on his shoulders. That electric curiosity hadn’t left her face, and the whole situation left her tapping her paw on her chin, contemplating many fishy things.\nThere wasn’t much to say after that. Emil was still buzzing with excitement at what he’d just learned and done, Vaporeon was busy upstairs too, and Val didn’t much feel like yapping by default. They passed by an exhibit of ice and water types in a freezing cold chamber they had to enter and exit through sealed doors, before entering a dark chamber that sorta terrified Emil. Neither of them had lights to navigate, and the pitch blackness smelled like dusty earth, damp walls, subterranean water flows, and mycological must. He followed Valorie’s scent and prayed that the horrifying grunting, croaking, squealing noises and glowing red eyes couldn’t actually come anywhere near him.\nHuh, he hadn’t really taken the time to appreciate her odor. She scrubbed down when she was around folks, probably because she knew her pay would get cut if people complained. There was some hot, musky, male scent on top he had to move past, but…\nHe interrupted his thoughts and wondered how in the world he was able to distinguish the two, or how he knew earlier that she was braised in the burning smell of male satisfaction.\n…she smelled like flowers, some kind of nondescript thing Vaporeon liked; oh, lavender, right, and charcoal, like a campfire. There was something spicy there too, like a mouthful of wine. He liked the smell, but it didn’t ignite a fire in his gut like Vaporeon’s natural musk did.\nThe Aquarium was huge, absolutely gargantuan by the standards of any scientific venture or museum he had seen. He knew good ol’ Mr. G told his audience that he pumped every Pokedollar he made back into his work. Em supposed now that after a few decades it paid serious dividends.\nEmil looked down into the floor of the central tank as they came to the big walls on the opposite end of the complex and realized that there were crevices he hadn’t seen before. Ones that opened up deep down into the tank floor. He also came to the realization that the facility was a giant ring encircling one single massive tank, sectioned off with similarly thick panes of glass or acrylic slabs. The insane logistics behind it all boggled Emil’s mind, and he wanted so badly to talk shop with someone behind it all.\nThe Predator Tank was sparser than he had expected. In fact, he was pretty sure the water was murkier than all the others too, smudged with large, menacing shadows of whatever hungry carnivorous mon laid in wait. He put his palm on the glass and peered into the tank like he was driving with his high beams on in a blizzard, when a flash of silver thumped against the glass between his eyes.\nEmil squealed in terrified panic. A Barraskewda as big as he was flipped around, shot him a hollow stare, and then zipped back into the murk.\nVal buckled over laughing and wiped tears from her eyes, gasping for air.\nThen, Emil noticed the shadowy silhouette of a human kicking around in the tank. They had a tool of some kind, poking downwards. Then the shadow seemed to turn around, tilt its head, and waved at them. Emil waved back, but hadn’t considered the serious implications until he saw a colossal, slithering shadow of something moving in tight waves right towards them.\n“Oh my Gods! Look out!” Emil cried out, pounding on the glass as Vaporeon squeaked a similar sentiment.\nIn a single morbid moment the serpentine specter rushed them with overwhelming speed, slithered back into the haze, and then the person was gone.\n“Aaaah! I think I’m gonna be sick! We need to tell someone!” Emil felt the muscles in his neck twisting like mooring ropes.\nValorie rolled her eyes. “Loves a fukn’ spectacle, don’t he? C’mon, time to meet the Old Man,” she said as she started climbing a ladder up the wall towards a hatch in the ceiling.\nEmil felt like he’d just had a bucket of icewater dashed across his face. Didn’t she just see the same thing he had? He followed her in the hope that everything would be alright, not unlike a naive child grabbing their parent’s arm witnessing someone getting sawed in half on stage during a magic show.\nThe ladders climbing to the top led to a long gridded network of catwalks that ran the entirety of the complex, and it was then that Emil’s mental model of the place’s size was shattered yet again. The place practically had its own horizon. How long had he walked? He checked the watch he kept in his pocket and he realized the time had melted away.\n\nValorie waltzed up to the precipice of the predators’ depths and hung over the edge. “Still a drama Swanna, I see! Yer scarin’ the hatchlings out here!”\nEmil backed away as a massive shadow grew darker and darker and the surface of the water started to bubble and bulge, then his teeth clenched as an explosive gout of mist showered him in salty brine. He wiped water away from his glasses, whipped his arms around to ease the soaking of his sleeves, and gasped for air as he finally breathed something other than seawater. \nVaporeon didn’t flinch or even close her eyes, clapping with a thoroughly delighted cheer. \nValorie growled, wringing out her long, fiery braid. “Fuck you, François! Hanna worked hard on that!”\nBefore him, like a tower of ivory and turquoise slabs, was a colossal Gyarados peering down at them, floating in the air by some barely understandable magic as if it weighed nothing at all. They snaked around in a wide circle, came face to face with the two of them with a careful stop, and then Gyarados opened their massive jaws.\nStanding on the monster’s bottom lip was an elderly man. Venerable as he was, he was the model of health and vitality. He wore nothing but a sleek diving suit, no rebreather, no tank, not even goggles over his eyes. He wasn’t muscular, so to say, but his body was something Emil was sure women swooned over. Something about his anatomy felt wrong somehow, disturbed Emil a little, and he couldn’t quite place what was so unsettling.\nThe man swayed around, hanging forward from one of the creature’s fangs with childish animation. His skin, though thinning a bit with age, was still tight against his flesh and practically unblemished, shiny smooth even in a way that reminded him of Vaporeon after she’d spent a long day training in the pool. His once platinum blonde hair had simply evolved into a shimmering, silky drape of white. Those eyes, like icy jewels, were bright and soothing as they ever were in his most vivid memories. Perhaps even more so, considering he didn’t have the benefit of post processing movie magic.\n“Oh my! Ha! Mr. Gyarados!” Emil gasped, starstruck. He wasn’t sure he could put up with his adrenaline glands being abused like they were. He covered his mouth and timidly inched towards the man, a skittish child approaching some bright, raging bonfire. “Y- You didn’t tell me he was actually [U]the[/U] Mr. Gyarados, Val!”\nShe groaned. “Y’know, for someone so bright, yer a fuckn’ idiot, Emil!”\nVaporeon smacked Emilio on the back of the head with her tail.\n“Merci, Sydney, mon amour.” Mr. G patted her on the lip, gave her a loving peck on the tooth, and then hopped down to the platform with a heavy metallic clang. “Valorie, mon meilleur ami. Vous êtes toujours aussi dur et féroce!”\nShe scoffed and shook her head, arms folded. “Casses couilles, François.”\nHe placed his hand to his heart, feigning absolute dismay. “Aie! Mon âme!”\nShe smirked and tapped him on the chest with her fist. {Just a soft one, this time.}”\nHe risked his life and leaned forward, smooching her on both cheeks. “{I am truly glad to see the forests have yet to claim you.}”\nValorie pushed his face away with what looked like a blush. Maybe. “{You’re one to talk; surprised the sea hasn’t swallowed your stupid-ass up.}\nHe flashed his trademark mischievous, energizing smile. “{When Kyogre finally takes me, I will sink that day with a smile.}” He turned to Emilio with a calm, welcoming gaze. “{And this must be our esteemed} Stone Mason.” He gasped and chuckled, shaking his head. “My apologies, it would do us well to speak in a tongue all can understand. Bonsoir, my young friend, welcome to my home.”\nEmil took an uncomfortably long time to respond, transmission gears slipping in his mind. “B-Bonjour. It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Gyarados, sir.”\nHe laughed, wagged a bashful palm, and shook his head again. “Please, Mason, my name is François, and I do hope that one day you shall grace me with yours.”\n“It’s Emilio,” Val blurted with complete indifference. Then she folded her arms, slouching against the steel railing. Her ears twitched again, she whipped around, and then shot a paralyzing glare downward. “{Don’t even try, assberry. I will end you!}”\nBarraskewda, unphased, burbled some incomprehensible monspeech. Then the unblinking, bubbly terror slowly sunk into the murky deep.\nShe nodded with stern approval, then turned back to François. “An’ believe it or not, Hatchling here’s already got his lips.”\nMr. G gasped. “Ouaou! In so short a time?”\nShe nodded with pride, pointing a thumb at her smug face. “Even less than ya think. Yer’s truly started give’n lessons just last week. Didn’t even need the tapes.”\nOne of Emil’s childhood heroes laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “I had no idea, Valorie! You should be teaching all the younglings instead of me. What a gifted teacher, Emilio.”\nShe chuckled. “Nah brother, gifted student. I'm a dull, impatient cuss. Nerd soaked it up like he knew it all along.”\nHe looked upon the young man he’d only just met in person, nodded his approval, and then wrapped Emil up in a tight Beartic hug. “Incroyable, Emilio!” \nHe released Emil, who was scared stiff by the sudden, strange texture of the man’s skin against his cheek, and bowed low. “{But how could I forget to greet such an exquisite beauty?}” He reached his palm out towards Vaporeon, averting his gaze, eyes locked to the grating at his feet.\nVaporeon instantly recognized the gesture from all the foreign soap-operas she binged on Emmi’s laptop in her off time. She let him wrap her paw in his fingers and looked away, only barely glancing back. “{A pleasure,} François.”\nHe brought her paw to his lips, kissed it gently, then quickly separated out of respect for her partner. “{The pleasure is truly mine. May I ask your name, my young queen.}”\nShe raised her paw and blew him a kiss. “Vaporeon!”\nHis eyes opened, he paused for a moment, and put his hands to his hips. “Hehe. {A traditionalist, I see.}”\nEmil flushed some and looked away. “{Is that bad?}”\n“Hahaha! {Not in the slightest. I did not have man-name for} Sydney {until my producers said it was good for ratings, then it just ended up staying with us.}”\n“Mmmhmm,” Sydney rumbled as she floated around the catwalks in an oriental circle.\nVal nodded. “{Yeah, my boy’s name stuck before I learned to get by without.}”\nEmil’s head tilted. “{So, wait, how do you know who is who?}”\nVal’s eyebrow raised. “{Whadd’ya mean?}”\nEmil struggled with her informal ‘monspeech, but made it through. “{If I yell out ‘Vaporeon,’ how does someone know which one I want?}”\n“{Ah, right. Well: scent, body language, eye movement, direction of motion, just read’n the room,}” Val counted off on her fingers.\nIn traditional Mr. Gyarados fashion he waved his hand with a little flourish. “{Do not forget} Kin-Prosody.”\n“{Get outta here with that fancy word, It’s called a true-name,}” Valorie said.\nFrançois shook his head. “{You haven’t told him? It is the most fundamental and important part of a Pokemon’s} onomastic profile.”\nVal bobbed her head left and right, conceding, then raised another brow while pointing to Emil. “{Not for him it isn’t.}”\nEmil began feeling small, confused at the technical terminology playing with the wet-concrete of his new language settling upstairs. “{Sorry. What is} Kin-Prosody, {exactly?}”\nMr. Gyarados smiled and raised a single index finger towards the ceiling. “{I will explain this in common tongue, since ‘monspeech is still new to you.} Kin-Prosody is the intricate differences in tone, pitch, timbre, loudness, and length of individual elements in a Pokemon’s kin-name that make up their true-name. There are many other differences, such as exact hertz frequency, or even amount of air breathed out between syllables, but humans usually cannot distinguish these elements.”\nEmil slumped his shoulders, suddenly feeling very, very Mmareepish. “{You mean she actually has a name and I have not been using it?}”\nThe teacher walked closer to the student, his face softening with understanding. “{Indeed you have, but it is understandable; Pokemon raised in captivity often do not realize it themselves.} He gestured to Vaporeon. “{My dear, what are you?}”\nShe perked up and raised her paw. “Vaporeon!” she said, simple and straightforward as could be.\nHe waved a hand to get Emil’s attention, then brought his mouth up to Emil’s ear to whisper, “{now listen very carefully.}”\nWith the exact same motion as before, François gestured to Vaporeon. “{My dear, [U]who[/U] are you? What is your name?}”\nShe opened her mouth to talk, hesitated for a brief moment, head fins flitting around, then she brightened up and said, “Va[I]y[/I]poreon[I]uh[/I]!”\nEmil almost didn’t catch it, and his anthropocentric mind struggled like someone missing their glasses would on a spot-the-differences puzzle. But he did hear something, and tried his best to mimic her. “Va[I]i[/I]poreon[I]eh[/I]?”\nShe nuzzled his cheek. “{Close.}”\nFrançois nodded, deciding it was time to move on. “{You will get it in time. True-names and scent are the instinctual signatures of Pokemon social structure, humans struggle with them.}”\nVal leaned her head forward, raising both brows. “{See why she calls you} ‘Emmi,’ {now?}”\nVaporeon rubbed her chin, deeply processing as if she’d just been told something she should have already known, and then smiled as she realized it.\nEmil nodded, soaking it all up in a bit of a daze. “{She is giving me a true-name, like how people give Pokemon… what did you call it, a ‘man-name?}’”\n“{In her mind, since kin-names are ingrained at birth, you are an} ‘Emilio,’ {and she naturally wants to distinguish you from any other} Emilios {she may come across. You don’t do it yourself, so she did it for you.}”\nShe purred. “{Oh, so} Sweetie {and} Honey {are my man-names!}”\nEmil blushed and kissed her on the cheek. [I]Not intentionally, but there’s no turning back now,[/I] he thought. [I]Roll with it.[/I]\n“{Speaking of} ‘Honeys,’ {where's mine, Old Man?}” Val asked and sniffed the air. “{He’s around for sure.}”\n“{Ah, yes. Come, come, let us get to a more comfortable place. Well, more comfortable for you two. This is practically my bedroom.} Haha.” François beckoned them towards a hatch leading down to the ground floor. “Sydney, {my love. I shall return to you soon.}”\nShe rumbled, swirled around in the air, and then dove down into the tank, kicking up a mighty torrent.\nAt the bottom of the ladder, Emil stopped him as they were making their way through a door into an employee only area. “Mr… Um, François, sir. I’m sorry to ask and I really hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but don’t you think you’re being really reckless?” he said in commontongue since he struggled to find the words in ‘mon.\nFrançois looked back for a moment as he punched the code to another magnetically locked security door. “I am intimate only in private, or around others of my own kind. The same as you.” He smirked a little, shimmering eyes glancing backward. “In fact, I’ve heard you’ve been reckless yourself lately, Mr. Car-in-the-Park.”\nEmil whispered his gratitude to Valorie as she held the door open for him, then fidgeted with his hands as he tried to make it as nice as he could. “Don’t you think your username online is kinda dangerous? I mean, it leaves little to the imagination.”\nOne final solid steel security door was shoved open and they were painted with the colors of dusk. “Did you suspect it was me in the first place? I find that hiding in the open is often the best disguise.”\nValorie chuckled as Emil mumbled something to himself and stopped talking. \nThe pearly haired man stood straight before them, still in his diving suit, out in a concrete lot riveted with a network of warehouse structures stretching out before them as far as the eye could see. “Besides, I’ve already paid the price for the life I’ve led…”\nEmilio got a good look at his body and finally spotted what it was that bothered him. It wasn’t the unnatural feeling of his flesh, the metallic shimmering of his eyes, nor the fact that he wasn’t exactly sure how the man managed to stay underwater so long without scuba gear. Emil’s gaze made it down to the man’s hips, to the space between his legs, and realized that it was completely flat. No bulge where one should have been.\nFrançois’ homely demeanor stiffened up a bit, a dourness sneaking through where joviality once stood. “{Justice here in Kalos does not work the same as it does back in Hoenn,} Emilio. {Especially when noble reputation is at stake.}” He wasn’t sure, but Emil thought he saw a wetness starting to well up in his eyes. “{I am intimately acquainted with how careful our kind must be.}”\nThe only colors left in Emil’s face were painted on by the peachy twilit sky.\nThe Old Man snapped back into his playful demeanor and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Olly olly Uxie free!”\n“Aaaugh, Fuck!” From out of nowhere, an orange blur knocked Valorie a few feet to the left, sending her tumbling across the pavement.\nFenny had his arms and legs wrapped around Val, nuzzling her chest, totally consumed with happiness like an addict with a fresh supply of their poison of choice. “Furrrah,” he trilled. “{I missed you so much.}”\n“{Gods, I was only gone for an hour, pipsqueak!}” Valorie barked. Despite her protests, she kissed him between the ears and hugged his head firmly against her chest.\nBoth Emil and François laughed at the scene, and then Emil stopped laughing as Fenny’s golden eyes locked onto him. The wild mon scurried right up to his ankles, smelling his shoes, traced his nose up the pant legs, ending around his waist, then recoiled with his hackles raised.\nHe growled, low and malign, “{Is this the} Reeechard?” with fangs bared, claws protracted, and licks of flame dancing around his fluff.\nVaporeon glowered down at him from Emilio’s shoulder with an hollow, icy stare, “{Don’t you dare.}”\nFenny’s volcanic fury was quenched the instant he felt the immensity of her energies, crushed flat with her presence alone. He shrunk in her gaze, and his ears folded back in terror.\nValorie pulled him up by his scruff with a frustrated growl. “{No, this is an,}” [U]Emilio[/U], “{and [U]he[/U] is a [U]good boy[/U]. This is his [U]mate[/U], Vaporeon,}” she said, pronouncing Vaporeon’s true-name with perfect precision, “{and [U]she[/U] can snuff you out with a sneeze, so be [U]nice[/U].}”\nFenny’s ears flagged up as he listened to Valorie, looking up not with frustration, or embarrassment, but with complete obedience. “{That’s not too hard to say. Not like,} Rheechard.” He said Richard’s name with a rumbling of irritation. However, any sign of hostility towards Emilio had left him entirely and he smiled, tail wagging as he popped his staff down against the ground with pride. “{Hi there, I’m Delphox. My mate calls me,} Fenny. {And you can too, if you want.}”\nVaporeon’s shoulders relaxed and she smiled cooly at him. “{Hello,} Fenny,” she said in a low, sultry tone.\nFenny shivered. “Aaah… {Your voice is so nice!}”\nShe wagged her paw and shook her head, giggling.\nEmilio raised his palm and looked up at Val. “{Can I touch him? I’ve never seen a Delphox in person before.}”\nShe shrugged. “{Ask him. He’s not my pet, dude.}”\nFenny chuckled and nodded. “{Yeah, you can touch me. I like my ears rubbed,}” he started pressing his head against Emil’s hand, threading fiery gouts of fluff through his fingers, “{just like that.}”\nWhile Emil was busy fiddling with Fenny’s fluff, François walked up to Valorie and placed his hand on her shoulder. “{How have you been feeling?}” he asked in hushed tones.\nVal looked away and brushed a strand of hair or two out of her eyes. “{Alright, I guess. Heart’s still beating. Not struggling for food or anything.}”\nHe shook his head. “{No, my dearest friend. You know what I am talking about.}”\nShe sighed and shook her head. “{Pangoro won’t touch me anymore. I’m sure he knows what he saw, got a clue at the very least, he’s smarter than he looks. Says he’s getting too old to be filling holes for fun. He’s lying, of course, bless him.}”\nFrançois held both her arms looking into her eyes. “{But you are healthy, no complications?}”\nVal’s normal steadiness washed away from her face for a moment. “{Nah, I feel ok. Just a bloody mess one day out in the drops, after that my cycle went back to normal.}” She huffed and her lips tightened into a sad grimace. “{Just stings, is all. I told him it's rare, beyond rare, isn’t even supposed to happen. He hasn’t said anything to anymon else, but I catch him smelling me once and a while for signs of it weeks after the Lucario males come home and need some relief.}\nThe Old Man wrapped his arms around her, lovingly, like a grandfather might. “{Have you told your mate?}”\nShe rolled her shoulders and rubbed a calloused wrist against her nose. “{No. Please don’t, it’d break his heart.}”\n“Frrrrrr,” Fenny purred as he reached for Emilio’s palm, holding it delicately in his claws. “Ennnilio, {is a good human, nice human, good mate too I bet.}” He licked Emil’s palm and sniffed his wrist. He coughed a little but continued. “{That’s that fake human musk isn’t it? My mate brought that home once. Hurts my nose. Ooooh, there it is. You smell like caves, like roots and reeds and… the ocean? Nooo, that's her. Hehe, you must like each other a lot.}”\nVaporeon smooshed her face against Emi’s cheek, choking him in a tight neck-hug. “Mmmm, {Yes.}”\nEmil, looked left, then right, and awkwardly leaned forward. He brought his face close to Fenny’s fur, wanting to catch a whiff of Val’s partner. The mon didn’t protest, even pressed against him to show he approved. He breathed in and his nostrils were completely blasted, burned through with a musk of Lavender and Charcoal again. [I]Ooh, that’s who I was smelling earlier,[/I] he thought. But that wasn’t the end of it, not even remotely. Images of damp bark, smoldering maple coals in a dying campfire, and drying bundles of wildflowers hanging in the summer flashed across his mind's eye before he ran headfirst into some indescribable medley of odors that permeated the undertones.\n[I]What was that?[/I]\nFenny noticed him hanging there, lightly sniffing again and again, brow furrowing as he mumbled to himself. He pulled himself away from Emil and whispered into his ear, “{That’s family.}” Then he noticed Valorie was returning to him and he scurried to her side, searching her pockets with his nose.\nEmil looked up as François wandered towards him again. “When you said ‘our kind,’ what exactly did you mean?”\n“Well, Pokephiles, of course,” François said without batting an eyelash.\nEmilio straightened himself up, starting to feel a little worn out from a full day of carrying Vaporeon on his shoulders. “I thought we didn’t like that term.”\n“That’s just what we say to prospects while we’re feeln’ em out,” Valorie said, grunting in frustration as Fenny furretted a plastic wrapped, jelly filled turnover from one of her pouches.\n“Prospects?” he asked in return.\nFrançois breathed in, ready to lecture again. “Not everyone that wants to, or even most that have copulated with Pokemon are true Pokephiles. The term was coined in the early days of medicine, when they found a few of us and studied us like lab rattata. Only later did the term get adopted as a moralistic slur. Our bodies are extremely sensitive to the natural energies radiated by Pokemon, so much so that strange things start to happen to our bodies and minds. In addition, without exception, Pokephiles are sexually attracted to Pokemon, and no peer reviewed attempts by man to change this have resulted in success. There are other things, such as the telltale sense of smell,” he paused, touching his nose, “but that’s the overview. We are extremely rare and the condition is not genetic, as far as the little research done on the subject has concluded, anyway.”\nEmil stood, transfixed, with a still longing look on his face.\n“But that does not get to the core of the matter, does it? C'est ma faute. I will level with you; it is my mission, now that my life is in its setting sun, to find others like me. To help them get to where they are safe from harm. Normally we thoroughly vet candidates, meet them in person where they live, to explain what is likely to happen to them should they decide to pursue their natural urges. That way they can choose for themselves whether to accept the risks.”\nMr. G smirked. “Though, I will admit, I am a bit biased in the matter. No lovers should ever be separated from each other, no matter how different, and nobody should be pressed into servitude. I am, of course, a little disappointed to see that Pokeball on your belt, Emilio. Normally I require those who accept my help to relinquish their capture devices, but all the others I’m sure would be willing to bend the rules for you, given your exceptional circumstances, so I would be as well.”\nEmil’s eyes slowly sank to the ground, then they snapped back up to François. “Wait, so… Boltund wasn’t…”\nMr. Gyarados shook his head. “Our efforts in Hoenn were getting upended for a while. We knew that a Diglett had wormed its way into our community, we just didn’t know who, and so we were working on eliminating our suspects. I will admit, I had hoped it was you; just one of many new, faceless, throwaway names created to sweep people under the rug. The truth was a much harder pill to swallow.” His cheek tightened into a lopsided scowl.\nValorie spat and stamped the wet spot down with her boot like a discarded cigarette.\nEmil nodded. “So, the guy finding your prospects was the one getting everybody caught.”\nFrançois stared out into the field of warehouse buildings, white hair swaying as his head bobbed in disgust. “We helped get him away from his abusive family. We guided him, helped to get him through college, loved him like family. I brought him here, to my home, and gave him the gift I am about to offer you. Even after all that, he betrayed our trust.”\nVal managed to tear a chunk of turnover away for herself as Fenny growled in protest. “Ingrate. Lucky he didn’t drop dixies on the rest of us.”\nHer Old Man rumbled in his throat, suddenly beginning to sound hoarse and parched. “I do not think he would ever do that, there would have been much more damage if he had. He disappeared for a while, probably him getting caught, and then made a deal with the police; chose to sacrifice the new people instead of the old guard so he could feel better about the whole thing. Honestly, Valorie, you were right. I should have listened to you and I am sorry.”\nVal nodded sternly. “It’s aight; learned. Maybe this here Blipbug can help now. Can’t say any of the other ‘philes are as good with computer-boxes as he is.”\nVaporeon nodded. “{You bet he will! Right,} Emmi?”\nHis mind felt like half-kneaded dough, stringy and solid but full of holes. “{Are you sure? We only just met them in person.}”\nHe yipped as his lover bit his ear. “{They showed us their bellies, brought you to their den, and they’re about to give us a gift. No Emmi of mine would be so ungrateful. We’re better than that!}”\nHe nodded, and kissed her cheek. “{Right. Ok,} Honey.”\nFrançois couldn’t help but burst into a fit of dry throated laughter. “{Too adorable. It always warms my heart to see such a strong foundation to a young nest. May your roost be always warm and full.}” It was not difficult to tell that the once rich color of his flesh was starting to go pallid. \nEmil’s head suddenly shook, perhaps in some desperate attempt to wake up from whatever enigmatic fever dream he was having. “Thank you, sir. That means a lot hearing it from you. Hey, um… sorry, but are you ok?”\nFrançois took Emil by the shoulder and started walking them down the concrete grid of buildings, coughing a little. “I will be fine. I just need to stay hydrated a bit more than everyone else. I will return to the tanks soon and be right as rain.”\nThe Old Man turned his head to Valorie and said, “I’m going to give him the offer. Sydney and I would love to have you here tonight after so long, but I understand you have other engagements this evening?”\nVal groaned. “Unfortunately. Ciao, Père.” Then she nodded at Emil and flashed him a peace sign. “C’ya, Hatchling.”\nAs she started marching, Fenny tugged on Valorie’s fatigues, bringing her head down to his muzzle. He whispered something to her and she listened carefully, nodding as she scratched a flake of biscuit off her cheek. She shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets as she continued to make her exit. “{Sure, why not? But just remember, you’re all mine until the moon comes up black, pretty boy.}”\nFenny’s paws balled up into excited little fists with a dopey smile on his face. “Brrrrrah! {Yay! I’ll catch up in a bit, my lovely, lovely mate.}” Then he hunched down and broke into a sprint on all fours, intercepting Emil and Vaporeon.\nVaporeon looked down at him with a curious expression, head tilted, paws kneading her Emmi’s muscles to relax a few knots of tension. “{Oh. We forgot to say goodbye! How rude of us! It was wonderful meeting you,} Fenny.”\nEmil nodded, and rubbed Fenny between the ears the way he enjoyed. “{Yeah, I hope we see you again.}”\nFenny nodded, nuzzled Emil’s palm, then looked up at Vaporeon with wide, enthusiastic eyes. “{Miss Vaporeon, you’re so very pretty, it really is unbelievable. Looking at you is like gazing up on a clear, full moon night.}”\nVaporeon wagged her paw at him and looked away, blushing furiously, but not away enough that she couldn’t glance back with a cool smile of her own. “{Oh my,} Prrrrrrr, {that’s so flattering, Delphox, Thank you.}” She giggled, barely containing herself as she brushed one of her head fins back. “{I was thinking you’re not so bad looking yourself, handsome.}”\nEmil noticed a strange tension tying knots in his belly as the two ‘mon chittered away.\nFenny’s tail wagged and he inched closer, bowing a little, head tilted in a cute display. “{I was wondering…}”\nVaporeon grinned as she waited for what this charming little Delphox had to say with her chin resting on her paws, tail slowly floating back and forth across Emil’s chest. “{Yes?}”\n“{I…}” he cleared his throat, then found his courage as he put his paws together. “{I was wondering, someday, not right now, but later…would you like to mate with me?}”\nEmil’s eyes shot open and his jaw dropped.\nFrançois’ brow raised. “Quoi?” he uttered under his breath\nHer tail started wagging a little faster as she covered her mouth with her paws, stuck giggling in a fit of red-faced bashfulness. She covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling and all the protrusions attached to her head folded back like an umbrella closing. “{Goodness…}”\nEmil glared at the Pokemon standing before him, doing his level best to hold back his shock and anger. The gall this little shit had, walking up to someone while their mate is standing here and-\n“{Why, yes, I think I would,} Fenny.” Vaporeon cooed, stood up, stretched her back, and then hopped down from Emil’s shoulders.\nEmil’s eyes shot open and his jaw dropped again.\nFenny yipped as Vaporeon slowly, powerfully, sensually, rubbed herself against him. Emil exhaled like he’d been punched in the stomach when he suddenly noticed he could smell her mating pheromones in full force, freshly secreted, smearing Fenny with lusty affection. She started from her nose, then her neck, the shoulders, her whole flank, her hips, the entire length of her tail, and her fins. She was practically coiled around him by the time she stood on her haunches, slithered up his body, wrapped her paws around the plush fur of his shoulders, and brought her mouth up to breathe hot, steaming words into his ears. “{When Emmi’s given me a clutch or two, I’d be delighted to,}” she said, running one of her claws down his shoulders and across his chest.\nFenny shuddered, struggling just to maintain his heavy, labored breathing, suddenly finding himself utterly unable to say or do a single gods damned thing.\n“Whaaa!” Emil blurted, unable to keep his horror inside any longer. He’d seen her flirt with Jimmy before, but she told him that she did that to keep peoples’ eyes away from the truth. He believed her too. She wasn’t playing this time, he knew it, and that thought ignited a fiery anger that boiled his blood.\nVaporeon smiled playfully. She knew this tasty specimen courting her was, in every conceivable way, totally helpless in her clutches. She had countless others compliment her looks, that just proved there was nothing new under the sun, but his words had sounded so genuine and flattering she couldn’t help but be enticed. Countless others still had openly professed their desire to breed with her, something she was beginning to grow quite tired of, but it was fun to tease them when they did and leave them stranded in a sea of sexual stasis. But Fenny was shy, timid, gentle, and yet somehow he had mustered the courage to ask her for sex so boldly, so straightforwardly, so right there in front of her mate. And, well, he [U]was[/U] attractive. [I]goodness just look at those eyes[/I], she thought. [I]Alright little ‘mon, let’s dance.[/I]\nShe pressed her belly against him, wiggled her butt, and brushed her canines against the flesh of his neck. “{You wanna see this tummy fat with your eggs, don’t you?}”\nHe huffed, already choked with intense allure, swallowing mouthfuls of her presence in labored gulps and panting as though he’d ran for miles without stopping. “{Y-yeah…}”\nShe nodded sharply with a calm smile, slipped away from Fenny’s body, and then smacked him on the ass with her tail. “{Then you’ll just have to wait your turn, cutie.}”\nFenny fainted and collapsed to the ground.\n“V-Vaporeon! D-D-Distortion damn!” Emil was weak at the knees. She’d promised to cheat on him, just like that, without a single gram of hesitation or shame.\nFrançois buckled over laughing and wiped tears from his eyes, gasping for air.\nEmil jerked toward the Old Man. “What could possibly be so funny about this?!”\n“That you thought this entire time that Pokemon were monogamous is what,” François said, dealing with a few rogue stomach aching laughs, like when you almost lost your hiccups.\nVaporeon secreted more fresh Pheromone, leapt up onto his shoulders, and smooched his cheek. The intoxicating smell was comforting, but he was still angry, hurt, the white hot anger inside him now just felt like a brick of ice in his belly. \n“What’s wrong, Emmi?” she asked. She could feel when her mate was feeling bad and all her alarms were ringing off.\nHe looked away from her. “{I thought I was your one and only.}”\nShe tilted her head, totally perplexed. “{Why would I do that? There are other magnificent males out there too, and I want them all in my nest!}”\nMr. Gyarados, feeling another lesson coming on, placed a gentle hand on Emil’s shoulder, taking the opportunity to pet Vaporeon’s tail and got smacked on the palm for it. “{My dear, you might not have caught on, but humans have made a habit of taking one mate only.}”\nShe pulled her head back in shock. She had no idea. No humans she knew acted like that. Richard had brought home two mates in the last couple months alone, she never did see the humans in the lab do anything sexy at all, Emmi had one mate before he met her, Jun didn’t have a mate because she couldn’t groom herself, the poor thing, and everyone had sex with everyone else in those soaps she watched on Emmi’s computer. “{No way!}” she barked.\n“{Yes way.} Ahem, anyway, Emilio, this is something you absolutely need to accept. I’m actually extremely grateful to Fenny here for bringing this to light, since it's one of the major pain points of being a Pokephile with a mate.”\nFenny shook his muzzle, scraped himself up off the concrete, and waved goodbye. Vaporeon blew a kiss at him and he nearly fell over again, covering his face. Then he scurried off at full tilt to find Val.\n“{You’re still my} Emmi. {My one and only} Emmi, {I will always love you as much as I do now, probably even more!}” she said, gently squeezing his neck with her tail. “{But why wouldn’t I mate with such a wonderful male? Especially one that’s a friend. He can’t be in my nest, unfortunately, but it's quite nice of} Val {to share.}”\nFrançois continued. “{Indeed it is.} See, a Pokemon ‘Nest’ isn’t just a couple that makes eggs together, people think that because the media anthropomorphizes them, it's easier for kids and squeamish adults to understand.”\n“No, you see a nest is better described as a collection of actively or inactively breeding Pokemon and their offspring. Starting off it is a couple, obviously, but after a while members of the nest start to collect other ‘mon they are comfortable breeding with. Then they have children. Those children take on mates and they have children. Then the children of two siblings of the original breeding couple mate and have children. Then one of the youngest hatchlings manages to impress a first generation child and [U]they[/U] have children. Maybe some of the members leave to start their own nests, or join others, but most will stay. Pokemon families inevitably reach this critical mass, where the concept of generations becomes totally useless, and all you’re left with is a single, interbreeding community, a ‘Nest.’”\nEmil recoiled a bit as he considered just a few of the many infinite incestuous degeneracies this made possible.\nThe old man waved his hand, “It’s true, and it doesn’t matter to ‘mon at all. Inbreeding is one of the glues holding their social structures together. This constant reproductive eb and blow is actually a key element in ensuring the group maintains healthy genetic diversity. Forcing Pokemon to avoid mating with their children and grandchildren is completely unnatural, and some more recent research suggests it is harmful to their wellbeing.”\nHe turned to Vaporeon and smiled. “{You have barely founded a nest and you’re already itching to start a tribe? You are an exceptional matriarch in the making, Vaporeon, but do slow down a bit; love is not a race, it is a marathon.}”\n“{Then how come you keep freaking out when I get near any other females?}” Emil yowled with confused indignance.\nVaporeon scowled, and started whapping him playfully on the skull with her tail in time with her words. “{Because [U]you[/U] haven’t given [U]me[/U] any [U]babies[/U] yet!}” She turned to François, pointing to Emil. “Gyarados Man, how long until he changes enough to give me babies!” she asked in frustrated, shaky common tongue.\nFrançois sighed, and Emil could see in the old man’s face that something about the question bothered him a little. “Never, my dear. I am sorry, but it will never happen. If you were in a different egg group there is a miniscu…” He stopped himself from talking, shook his head, and cleared his throat. “I won’t go into it, it is a lot of incredibly boring biochemistry and statistics.”\nEmil brightened up at that. “I like lots of incredibly boring things, sir.”\nFrançois chuckled, and then coughed. “Well, I don’t think we should go into it right now. We are running out of time. Long story short, it is impossible. {I’m sorry, Vaporeon, but his seed will never bear fruit in your soil.}”\nShe wilted at that, but, in her typical defiant fashion, she clenched her paws and smacked them together with a look of determination. [I]My Emmi is the smartest creature I know, not including father,[/I] she thought, [I]he can find a way.[/I] “{I don’t care what the weird fish man says, you will give me eggs,} Emmi.”\nEmil appreciated the usual flow of overwhelming affection, and her irrational faith in his powers of fertility, but he was still wrestling with the very visceral and real sensation of jealousy deep in his guts. On the other hand, though, knowing it was part of Vaporeon’s psyche was helpful in easing his frustration. She didn’t do that because she didn’t love him or that she wanted to hurt him or didn’t care about him, at least that’s what she and François were saying. She was doing it because deep within her there were powerful instincts compelling her to seek out healthy, good, compatible members to bring into the nest. Could he deal with that? Seriously, [U]could[/U] he? \nFenny was the first, but he certainly wouldn’t be the last ‘mon that managed to impress her. Wait, she said she wanted babies. Perhaps Fenny could give her what she wanted. They wouldn’t be [U]his[/U] babies but that was never a possibility anyway. Could he trust that some other ‘mon would respect him and his home if he couldn’t have children with his mate? His home was the nest, as far as he was aware, and he’d worked very hard to make it a happy, comfortable place to live! Could he stand to witness his mate, loudly… enthusiastically… fucking some other male while he did literally anything else nearby? Could he raise that male’s kids as his own?\nVaporeon woke him from his ruminations with a nibble of the ear. “{I can see it bothers you. I’m sorry, I had no idea, but I know we’ll make it work out.}”\nEmil nodded, stroking her along her favorite spot just behind the fins. “{Let’s say everyone needs to agree before we add people to our nest, ok?}”\nShe thought, tilted her head left, then right, and then she nuzzled Emil with a smile. “{Ok!}”\nFrançois raised his chin, bottom lip pursed. “That is a big concession for a strong willed matriarch like her to give. You are a lucky man, Emilio. No doubt about it, you two will be together until the bitter end,” he said, walking them both over to one of the thousands of concrete buildings dotting the landscape. He coughed loudly, dry in the throat, and shook his head. “Alright, here we are.”\n“Where is ‘here?’” Emil asked, not with any sort of derision, but genuine curiosity.\n“Riiiight….here. You see, there is something I always eventually offer to people I help, at least once. I believe it is incredibly important, and not all of the Pokephiles in our community get the opportunity very often. My apologies for the rambling, I am just incredibly anxious to show you this,” François said, reaching for a sturdy steel handlebar on a massive security door with the number 312 spray painted on with a stencil.\n“{What is ‘this’?}” Vaporeon asked.\nFrançois smacked his head. “Again, I’ve moved past you. Ok. Remember when you two made love in the car out in the park? I bet that was fantastic, wasn’t it?”\nEmil wanted to curl up into a tiny, mortified singularity and disappear from reality.\nVaporeon raised her paw, happily stroking Emil’s Ponytail. “{It was the [U]best[/U]!}”\n“Yes. Well, tell me, little lady. How would you like it if you could make love with your Emmi wherever you damn well pleased, whenever you damn well pleased, as many times as you damn well pleased?”\nShe didn’t say a thing, but the intense hunger in her eyes spoke volumes.\nThe Old Man nodded. “As I suspected. Hehehe. Emilio, if you accept this offer, you are agreeing to accept our assistance. You will be joining a global community of people just like yourself who look after each other like family, and we would expect you to look after us too.”\nHe pushed against the lacquered metal surface as hard as he could and the platesteel hatch slowly opened with a hiss. Hot, fragrant, humid air spilled out and crashed into them, sending Emil’s mind buzzing with a bomb of new odors while François ushered them inside.\nIt was like François had teleported them to some distant, exotic, untouched corner of the world. Behind him was the door, built into a muddy cliff face in a way that meshed with the landscape when closed. The doorway let in a light that pierced the alien place with a warm ray of Kalosian sunlight.\nIt was a lush tropical rainforest. Completely different flora sprouted up from soft, ruddy soil. Thick trunked trees with tough fronds provided shade from the massive UV heat light built onto a rail system in the barely visible ceiling up above. There was an omnipresent, misty haze hanging in the air, conjuring wisps of fog that phased in and out of existence. Most impressively, however, there was a large, rushing creek that started up some hill he couldn’t see the end of, fell over a cliff, creating a scenic waterfall that filled a cluster of deep pools connected into one massive, crystal clear cenote. He peered across the jungle, trying to get a closer look, but even the shallow glimpse he managed to steal hinted at the massive system of branching limestone caverns flooded with water so clear it made float-glass cry.\nThe scope of the environment was absolutely incredible, unbelievable, unsettlingly so…\nVaporeon’s mouth was agape, her eyes were wide as headlights, her nose was knocked senseless with new sensations, and she almost didn’t notice herself slowly kneading at the earth with excitement. She looked up at her mate with head fins flapping uncontrollably, clutching at his pant leg with a shaky paw. “Emmi, {this place is… It’s incredible… It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, but why does it feel so familiar?}” she chittered, unaware her fast, imprecise speech was confusing to her mate.\nFrançois stood with his arms behind his back, letting the two of them take it all in. “That is a common feeling, my dear. You were raised and evolved in captivity. In the wild, Eevee naturally evolve into Vapreon in environments exactly like this. You have never seen this place, but your body and mind have yearned to return here all the same. Of the hundreds of breeding habitats we operate, I selected this because I thought it would be to your liking, {Vaporeon.}”\nShe spun around, mouth still hanging open. “{I love it, everything about it.}”\nEmil stroked the waxy frond of a huge, bulbous plant. “Breeding habitats?”\nHe nodded. “Yes. There are costs to running the most expansive aquatic research center on the planet, Emil. Among the many ways the facility pays for its existence, we book these chambers out as luxury breeding chambers to Pokemon ‘owners’ who can afford the price tag.” He said the word ‘owners’ with unconcealed revulsion. “We also lease them out to Pokemon researchers trying to study newly discovered species. We have gone to the greatest of lengths to ensure they are as close to replicating their target ecosystem as modern science allows.” \n“And, of course, cameras are installed only by formal request,” he added.\nEmil gawked. He was amazed by the feats of engineering in the main building, but the requirements to maintain the standards François touted for these chambers were so patently absurd that if it were anyone else making those claims he would have called the whole thing bulbashit. The only unnatural things he could spot were the supports holding up the ceiling, and in all directions there was jungle, or rocks, or water, or all of the above in limitless combination. The lengths they had to have gone to make this place a reality truly boggled his mind.\n“And this is where you will be staying tonight, if you wish.”\nVaporeon gasped at the news and leapt in front of François. “{Yes, we’re staying! Thank you, thank you, thank you!}” she cried out, clawing up chunks of moist, dark soil.\nVaporeon threaded around Emil’s legs in wild figure-eights. She smelled tangy, smoky, always smelled this way when she got excited. This was the most excited he’d ever seen his mate, no prior event could even come close. “What?”\nFrançois smiled, casually creeping towards the door. “Emilio, every day of your short time together has been dedicated to teaching Vaporeon how best to be Human. She has done well, better than most in fact… but it is time, I think, that you spent a little while in her shoes. Because those changes, the ones happening to your body day by day without you noticing, I want you to know where that road ends. You have a choice now, but one day you will find that you cannot walk the other way.”\nEmil knelt down, massaging his Lover’s cheeks, and looked out into the wilds. “Yeah…Ok.” Emil didn’t have any intelligent words left in his arsenal. He was still waiting for this incredibly vivid dream to finally end so he could recant bits of it to Vaporeon and Richard over hashbrowns and brew. “Right.” \nThe three of them stood silently there for a few minutes with the sound of rustling leaves and crashing water in their ears. Eventually François interpreted Emilio’s listless response as enthusiastic consent, quietly slipped through the exit, gripped at the handlebar, and started pulling the hatch shut. “Bonne nuit, à demain.”\nEmil jumped and spun around when he heard a soft thump behind him. He looked back at the part of the cliff where the door once had been and all he could find was a seamless wall of moist stone covered in thick matts of moss and long strands of multicolor lichen. The thought suddenly seared across his mind that this was not the end to a long esoteric dream, but just the start of some horrible, twisted nightmare!\n“Hey!” Emil shouted. He dashed up to the rocks where he remembered the door was and beat his fists against them like a caged creature, pulling up chunks of foliage with his heavy steps. “HEY WAIT!”\nNothing came but the weak sound of flesh on unyielding stone.\nThere was a sharp, energetic crackle, a sound he thought he’d heard once or twice before but wasn’t quite able to remember where. Suddenly the ceiling disappeared, replaced by a gorgeous turquoise sky glowing with an amber sun floating on streaks of orange and red on the horizon. “François! Come back!” he screamed.\nHis spine shivered as he realized his voice didn’t echo like it should have, but was instead swallowed up by the vast, hungry jungle surrounding him. Then, also as if a switch had suddenly been flipped, the jungles belched out a droning chorus of chittering, squawking, squeaking, squealing, and the roars of wild predators in the distance. His eyes pried open with terror.\n“Emmi.”\nHe stopped his panicked shouting, still panting, and looked down at his mate, perched on her haunches atop a plush carpet of tropical grass.\nShe stood, pawed up to him gently, and gazed into his eyes with softness and care. “{It’s ok, my love.}” She wrapped her front legs around his knee and nuzzled him. “{This is a good thing, trust me.}”\nHe forced himself to breathe slowly, in and out in measured time. “Yeah… ok. {I trust you,} Honey.”\nShe smiled again and tugged on his clothes, pointing out into the vast expanse. “{He’ll be back tomorrow morning, I bet. This is so amazing, let’s make the most of it, ok?}”\nEmil started trodding forward, his dress shoes now thoroughly covered in a layer of earthy muck. “{Ok, let’s go,}” he said, checking his pocket for his multitool, flicking a lighter to ensure it still had fuel, and opening his dexnav to pull up jungle survival techniques. He smacked the device in frustration as it came up with an error he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen. No signal.\n“Mm mm. {No, leave those here,}” she ordered, pointing to a spot beside the cliffs.\nEmil immediately started calculating the words in her language to protest her command, but the look in her face wasn’t hostile or malicious, it was desperate, hopeful, begging. It was as if she really wanted to show him something, take him somewhere, but anxious he might accidentally ruin it for himself.\n“{Ok, I understand.}”\nHe set his tools down in a little hole in the rocks as she examined the rest of her man’s situation. She observed the decimation of his shoes, the filthy hem of his pants, speckles of grime that had licked along his suave black shirt. The fins on her head flicked up and down as she suddenly realized she finally understood the assignment. \nNo, that would not do.\nAs he came back down the shallow decline, she snapped her paw. “Mm mm. {Take it off.}”\nEmil watched her pointing to his shirt. Well, obviously that made sense, his shirt and pants were some of the nicest things he owned. He nodded compliantly and slipped them off, folding them into a neat bundle before placing them in the hole.\nHe walked back to her and she shook her head once more. “Mm mm. {No, lover.}”\nHe sighed. Yeah, the shoes were pretty pricey too, and she spent a whole day picking them out for him. He slipped them off, peeled his socks off and stuffed them inside, and then placed them in the hole. He waddled back over to her, tender feet tickled by the unfamiliar life between his toes, hunched awkwardly in his eevee print boxers and white tank top.\nShe gave him a shy, playful little smile, blushing as she pointed her claw at his chest and waist. “{All of it. Everything.}”\nHe practically clutched a string of pearls dangling over his heart. “Wha, you don’t- {I mean, I need those,} Honey! {I’m not made to be outside like that!}”\nHer brow furrowed and she gestured to everything around them. “{What, you think you’re going to get cold or something?}”\nHe wanted to argue, so badly. He wanted to turn back, put all his clothes on, grab his multitool, and show her how important all that stuff really was. But, then it struck him… what the point of all this was, and he started sliding his boxers down his legs like the good boy Valorie said he was.\nHis cheeks flushed a vicious shade of red as she made that wicked smirk she always did when ordering him to strip down. This time she was especially nefarious. Vaproen giggled as he stretched his arms to remove his top, exposing his smooth, sienna flesh and then unveiled his flaccid dick nestled cutely amid the wild nest of black hairs around his groin.\nShe remarked on how strange this all was; before she met Emmi, she had no interest at all in Humans that way, in fact the thought of having sex with one was a little bit repulsive if you’d asked her in the labs. But over that past year and a half her affection for this one human male had grown so strong that when she looked upon his bare anatomy she was enamored. Not by his form, but by the fact that it was [U]his[/U] form. It was his earthy smelling flesh, his tender nipples that she’d scratch and bite to make him squirm, his lips that she so loved to nibble and suck on as he serenaded her sex with his hands, his lopsided dick that wasn't really all that great to look at but felt [U]amazing[/U] when he thrust it deep inside her. She wasn’t attracted to humankind at all, not like that weirdo Sylveon they’d made friends with, but she was attracted to [U]him[/U], and that was all the sense it needed it to make to her.\nEmil stuffed the hole full with his earthly possessions, topped by his designer glasses.\nWith one last nervous backward glance, he crept over to her like a tower Haunter, and couldn’t help but scrunch his shoulders in shame as he left the safety of the shadows to simmer in the evening sunlight.\nVaporeon hopped up on her haunches and rubbed her cheek against the inside of Emilio’s thigh. “{There's my handsome mate. Let us survey this domain, my love. It is ours now.}” She declared as she walked over to a picturesque limestone outcropping and raised her leg.\nShe painted its surface in a fiery gout of nose searing pheromones that screamed, ‘This is mine. Beware, all who enter this place.’\nEmil looked away politely as she did her business, but then glanced down as he heard the thump of her tail against the ground.\nShe stood there, impatiently tapping her paw as she gestured to the rock.\nHe made his mark, leaving an underwhelming scent that said, ‘I don’t know where I am or what I’m doing.’\nPleased with herself, she pranced down the hill towards the stream. \nVaporeon led him deep into those unspoilt wilds, and as he struggled with the difficult terrain or jerked back every time a branch snapped across his bare flesh he marveled at the fact that what appeared to be some unmarred frontier was actually a totally artificial façade. They walked, stumbled, slid, trundled, and traipsed for over ten minutes before something dawned on him. It struck him even harder as looked down a steep hill at an endless expanse of jungle with wide, snaking rivers. All of it obscured by a layer of clouds that kissed the canopies below.\n“Distortion, this place is way bigger than it should be. What’s going on?” Emil asked as he nursed a bloody scratch on his arm.\nVaporeon’s tail whapped the ground. “Ahem.”\nHe jumped and scratched his head. “{Ha, sorry, my love. Old habits.}” He stretched a little as he tried to forget the humiliation of trailblazing around in his birthday suit, then something deep inside his soul reminded him that he’d been forgetting something very important. \nVaporeon looked up at him with a slight tilt as he snuck up and loomed over her. “Vrrrra?” she purred.\nHe sat down in the grass between some ancient trees, wincing at a thorny weed sticking him in the ass, and gently stroked her face, her sides, her tail, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. It was wet, slow, gentle as a feather brushing fresh silk sheets. As their lips parted, he stared into her eyes, ensnaring himself. He unapologetically placed his heart, soul, and body completely at her mercy.\n“{I love you, Vaporeon.}” He tried his hardest to remember the intonation and timbre of her true name, and tried even harder to command his clumsy human lips to speak it the way she deserved.\n[I]That was worse than last time, [/I]Vaporeon thought. Then she put that invasive thought out of its misery and raised her head to kiss him back.\nBut she stopped herself, shook her head, and peered up at him with an ineffable, predatory stare. She walked up Emmi’s torso, pushing against his chest with her paws until he laid atop an oblong cradle in the buttress roots of a massive kapok tree. She traced wild shapes on his skin with her claw as her tail coiled tight around his thigh, her sniffing nose climbing from his tummy, to his chest, to his chin.\nShe licked the sensitive, vulnerable spots of his neck as she nailed herself to his body, claws bared in full drawing tiny red beads in long, coarse stripes down the skin of his back, shoulders, and sides. Silently he began to panic under the full weight of her subjugation and his body started shaking… shuddering… submitting to whatever petty, demented, atavistic desire she might demand.\nVaporeon carefully snatched a mouthful of skin with her maw, near that tender place where she felt the steady drum of Emil’s carotid artery beating against her tongue. Then she bit him. She bit him hard, clenched her jaw until his tissues burst like ripe fruit, refused to let go even as he gasped and arched his back in shock, bucking against her restraint in a futile attempt to pry her from his chest.\nShe moaned in bliss as her senses were overwhelmed by the hot, savory sweetness of her first mate’s blood painting her tongue, warming her throat with a steady stream of that which gave him life. This came with it a powerful scent flooding her nostrils, one that transported her to some deep subterranean cavern, pitch with an absolute blackness speckled with cool colored lanterns of crystalline clusters and bioluminescent mosses growing along the floor of an underground stream. That stream quietly flowed between deep cracks in the bedrock, down to some dark, unfathomable depth. Mild, medicinal smelling roots, like gnarled, knobby old beggars hands, reaching down from above; they threatened to snatch and swallow her up into the damp, autumn soil of some long forgotten old growth forest.\nShe had no idea how long the two of them stayed like that, with her sucking on his neck, calmly laying upon his chest after he’d stopped fighting to get free, his arms curled around her as she licked his wound long after the bleeding had stopped. \nEventually she awakened from the euphoria, chained him up with her gaze and smiled, knowing for sure that Emmi got the message. Loud and clear.\nVaporeon looked up at the sky. She could see that the sun had started sinking further down into the horizon. “{We need food and shelter, let’s go.}” She squeaked, hopped off him, and started running back towards the water flow they’d seen when they first arrived. She didn’t stop to look back, bolting through the underbrush at a speed he knew couldn’t keep pace with.\n…or could he?\nHe just needed to stop thinking. He found this more difficult than it sounded, each time he tried to bolt out into the forest some impractical, analytical process would flash to the fore and he would lose focus. However, tiredness does things to the mind, and Emil was exhausted from everything he’d experienced that day. Eventually he managed to push his worthless civilized thoughts down into his chest and concern himself only with hopping over fallen trees, dodging branches, and scaling thick walls of bocage. The thorns from the plants he stumbled on stopped hurting as much, the sting of each errant switch against his naked body disappeared, and pretty soon he found himself at the top of the waterfall that fed into those gorgeous pools.\nIf he was honest with himself, he wasn’t any faster than normal, but the jungle nipping at his skin had stopped hurting, so he counted his blessings.\n“{Over here!}” Vaporeon chirped in a shrill, projectable whistle. She looked back at him with her front legs leaning on the base of a tall, fruiting berry tree with bright blue bulbs hanging from precarious little stems between thick tufts of emerald leaves. \n“{Oran Berries!}” Emil caught himself breathlessly exclaiming out of pure excitement. He wondered where that came from. Of course they were Oran berries, it was obvious, she could see that as well as he could. \nVaporeon didn’t admonish him at all, instead she rubbed up against him as he approached and purred with delight. “{Isn’t it wonderful. Let’s get some, I’m starving, my love!}” She leapt onto a rocky spike overlooking the pools, balancing as she peered below. “{You get the food, I’ll look for shelter.}”\nShe leapt, plummeting down with one great, death defying dive and shattered the glassy surface of a still watered pool down below.\nEmil made his way to the bottom of the tree and looked up. The lowest branches that might support his weight were about twenty feet higher than he could reach. He thought maybe he could get some sticks together, tie a rope to them, and use them to lash the berries free. He’d need a cord of some kind. He looked around and noticed that there was ivy all over, but settled on a thick, ubiquitous species of vine that draped down the rocks and trees. That would take time, and none of the sticks here seemed to be in any long straight lines. Could he get one long enough?\nIt was after he’d wasted a few minutes drawing schematics in his head that he realized his stupidity. Vaporeon was going to be back soon, she was fast and strong and likely was close to finding a place where they could lay down for the night. Emil knew he wasn’t exactly the mightiest thing she could have taken as a mate, compared to any Pokemon at least, but he wasn’t about to come up empty handed. \nHe took the vines he’d dragged up for his lash and instead tied them to a rock. He threw the rock over the lowest branches and then grabbed the other end of his cord as the rock returned from whence it came. He twisted it around into a simple braid, put his feet against the tree, and started pulling himself up in the air, walking sideways up the trunk. There was no way he would have been able to do anything like that before, even if it was less difficult than straight up climbing or pulling himself up with his upper body strength alone.\nBefore he knew it, he was crawling up into the branches, worming his way towards the outer layer where the fruits drooped like fat holiday ornaments. He happily plucked an armful, whistling like his father would at work.\nHe almost missed it, but deep in the canopy Emil spotted a different sort of berry. He almost didn’t believe his lying eyes, but sure enough there was a barely ripe Salac berry sneaking around behind a bushy cluster of leaves deep in the canopy.\nHe knew that berry trees were actually all the same species, even the ones growing in the wateriest depths or the snowiest heights. He knew all of that in school from a very young age, but he also knew that other types of berries growing from a tree was a rare treat. Myths of old said that Ogerpon, the Prankster of Paldea, sometimes snuck into the clouds to steal a bit of Arceus's light. So they wouldn’t get caught as Arceus galloped across the sky, the trickster would hide their spoils in the trees that then would sprout with rare, exotic fruits. The older girls back in Cortondo would say in hushed tones that such fruits blessed mothers with many children and helped the barren bear healthy babies once again; Arceus’ gift to them for finding his light and taking it where it was needed most, it was said.\nHe held the precious thing under his arm, against his breast where it wouldn’t ever slip. Even though the sharp green spines dug into his flesh he wanted to make sure his mate would get this extraordinary find. He didn’t usually believe in the superstitious nonsense that old folks spat through the rotten holes in their smiling teeth, but it was his mate’s favorite fruit and it definitely couldn’t hurt! The thought of it filled him with giddy excitement, and he pumped his fist in celebration of their good fortune. Maybe Arceus’ light would prove his childhood icon wrong and he’d be able to rub it in the Old Man’s face.\n[I]What is with me today?[/I] he thought as he laughed and laughed, head shaking with a silly grin tying his cheeks together. [I]I’m acting like a child, sheesh.[/I]\nThen he suddenly recognized the precarious situation he’d put himself in. He couldn’t drop the berries to the ground, they’d just splat like paintballs at that height and not be good for eating at all. He couldn’t climb down like he had before, one arm was taken up. He looked out and saw Vaporeon in the distance reemerging from the caverns beneath the pools, shaking the water from her body, then he watched her start to round a winding hillside as she sprinted back in a hasty return.\n[I]Wait a minute,[/I] he thought, [I]how in the world am I able to see that without my glasses on?[/I]\n“Shit, um…” He looked down, shrugged, and wrapped the vine around his arm to let himself slide down using the friction of the vines against his skin to slow his descent to something survivable.\nThe vines came apart at the top where they wrapped around the branch with a loud snap and he went into an unsupported freefall. Emil prepared himself to beg Vaporeon’s forgiveness for needing to be rescued the next morning with a broken leg, but he was caught by surprise again. His landing was painful, yes, the muscles, ligaments, and bones in his legs and the entire length of his spine from his tailbone to the base of his skull roared in fury as he landed on his feet, collapsed onto his ass, and sent berries rolling all over the grass.\nOnly slightly dirty, his bounty was still perfectly edible, so he bunched them together and sat down to recover. “{Success!}” he cried out, throwing his arms up with hands balled up into tight fists. The Salac berry plopped to the ground and he scrambled to hide it for later.\nEmil groaned, looking out into the distance from the direction he knew Vaporeon would arrive from. Now he could see only blurry smudges in the way that was expected of his defective coreanas. [I]Looks like my battery’s run out,[/I] he thought, content with knowing that Val was wrong and also very grateful he still had something left in the tank. Whatever that ‘something’ happened to be.\nOne of those smudges, a rapid blue blur, started to come into focus and finally he could see Vaporeon approaching from a nearby hill. He whistled to her, smiling like an idiot, and held his arms open. [I]How did you learn to do that, Emil? You couldn’t whistle like that if you tried to.[/I] \n“{You’re back!}” [I]Yes, Emil, she can see that too.[/I] He instantly thought after the fact, wanting to smack his wrist and stiffen his face to maintain his composure again.\nShe leapt at full speed and smashed into his chest like a meteor making reentry, knocking him over as she kissed his cheeks. She leapt away from him and inspected the neat little pile of Oran Berries, stacked in a geometric pyramid. “{Oh, that’s so many! My goodness!}”\nEmil frowned as he glanced back at the tree he’d just risked his life climbing. “{Did I take too many?}”\nShe shook her head. In fact, her entire body rocked left and right with how emphatically she expressed herself. “{No! The eggs inside me will need lots of nourishment if they are to hatch smart and strong like you and me. Yes, this is perfect. You did good!}”\nHe didn’t know how to express what he wanted to say. If he told her outright, would the magic work? He didn’t think so. “{I found something special too, my love!}” he said, bringing the singular Salac berry out from behind a nearby log. He rolled it towards her, didn’t put it on a wooden platter or cook it or cut it up, and he admonished himself for the mistake but smiled and smooched her on the forehead regardless.\nHis face brightened as her eyes glistened like jewels in the synthetic sunlight and her little mouth opened with explosive celebration. “{I haven’t had one in sooo long… Where did you find this?!}” she rumbled, greedily rolling the thing towards herself as she squinted at her mate, peering into his eyes for any hint of deceit. Had he brought this in there and managed to hide it? He was totally naked but she knew Emmi was a crafty boi, he could have done it somehow.\nUnable to muster intricate thoughts, hindered by his limited ‘mon vocabulary, he pointed up to the tree. “{It was just up there, hidden real good too,}” he said, legs splayed out butterfree style.\nShe closed her eyes and her mouth curled into an emphatic smile. “{You are the best!}”\nVaporeon’s toothy maw opened wide and she threw her head down with claws bared, rooting herself to the earth as she devastated the gift her mate had set before her. She sunk her teeth into the fruit’s tough, chartreuse flesh, and tore away a gushing green chunk. Between those monstrous mouthfuls she plucked the inedible spines off with her teeth and spat them aside. Her gorgeous face was smeared with pulverized plant matter and painted in unattractive streaks of puree. She was acting completely unlike the refined lady he knew she preferred to be seen as in polite company, and in a way he was delighted that she was so comfortable.\nAt the end of the sordid affair she slurped up one last jagged strip of Salac like the scraps of some thoroughly ravaged carrion and swallowed it whole, choking her sweet treat down as if she was given mere moments to eat her fill before the delicacy vanished into thin air.\nHe followed the bulge in her throat as it traveled down her neck and then smooched her filth covered face as she snuggled up into his lap. He still wasn’t totally sold on the whole nudity thing, but the feeling of her warm, bare flesh against his nethers was a pleasant balm, for sure.\nEmil leaned forward, somehow insecure about whether she was satisfied with his offering. “{Was it good?}” he asked, unaware that he was rubbing his knuckles together so hard he might have started a bushfire. [I]Damn, my hips and knees hurt something fierce,[/I] he thought.\n[I]Of course it was good, it’s her favorite treat and she’s devouring it like she was starving for months! Stop being a dolt![/I] He scolded himself deep within the cathedral of his mind, like some distant malodorous tutor flagellating his brain with a sharp leather loupe at the end of some freshly carved switch after hours of boring lectures on sacrifice and patience.\nShe saw the strange grumpiness that flashed across his face whenever he spoke and tilted her head in thought. Whatever screw had come loose in his head was jingling around and bothering him. Instead of working it out right then she decided he needed a distraction. She wiggled her rear in his lap, stood up, and then her whole body smeared his chest in a fresh coat of musky mating scent.\n“{Salac is good fruit, the best, in fact…}” The rest of their dinner layed nearby in a neat little pyramid, ready to nourish them until the next day’s morning. She plucked one of the berries from the top of the stack by the stem, letting it hang from her lips with fluttering eyes, then she tossed it behind her and kicked it towards him.\n\nShe winked as it rolled to a stop by his knee. “{...but it’s so much better that it came from you.}”\n[I]There we go[/I], she cooed in her head as she watched Emil’s eyes glisten with happy tears, [I]none of that dumb human shit here.[/I]\nShe bit into the Oran Berries like before, though perhaps with a little less abandon, and savored the next few moments of them just mindlessly feeding, huddled around a pile of nature’s bounty. They ate with their paws, maws, and claws, spat aside seeds without the need for a bin, and caught each other in those tiny unflattering gastronomic moments with chuckles of love. The Earth had become the singular platter from which they shared everything in the world, and their portions were plenty.\nEmil stopped eating for a moment when he felt full, but she prodded him on, telling him that there was nowhere to store them and so they would need to carry the precious food in their bellies. [I]Are all human tummies so tiny?[/I] she thought as she realized she’d consumed three quarters of the stack without struggle and her Emmi ate like he was trying to fit ten pounds of sand in an eight pound bag.\nSeeing the last one being carefully peeled by her mate, who for some reason liked eating the skin on its own, she let that wicked little smile return to her face. Vaporeon got back up and gave a big stretch with her tail curled up over her head. She sighed with feigned boredom as she arched her back, flashed her sex at him, and instinctually wept microscopic beads of sweet smelling musk that whispered silent salacious words in the air. She purred and pawed at the peatmoss matt beneath her, looking back towards her mate.\nEveryone said that berries were bland if their flavors weren’t processed into concentrated oils or syrups. Though they were technically edible, raw, uncooked ‘Pokemon Berry’ fruits were widely considered something you fed to your pet, not your people. Emil, however, had always found that Pokemon berries were great. In fact, he thought that normal fruit was too sweet for his liking. His mother didn’t protest, of course, it was a lot easier paying for bushels of cheap berries than a basket of much pricier groceries. Maybe that was another symptom of the condition they shared. He made a mental note to ask the Old Man after he punched him in the shoulder for trapping them in there.\nVaporeon grumbled, drooping her brow, then she smiled again and moaned just loud enough for him to be able to hear. She rolled onto her back, curled her tail to the side, and began grooming herself. She wiped filth from her face and licked it away from her paws, she cleaned her arms, her chest, her tummy, then she slowed her pace as she traced her entire seeping, swollen slit in one long, moistened stroke. She lifted her hindleg in the air, bathing it with her tongue, and quickly glanced back to see Emil’s reaction.\nWhat other signs were there? Was it his rural background? The Old Man said the condition wasn’t genetic, so did that mean something could make you into one? That didn’t make any sense, though; the world would have been chock full of real Pokephiles if it was as common as a broken bone. The three of them had wildly different upbringings with varying levels of wealth, and varied levels of interaction with Pokemon. Was it caused by some injury to their brains? No, it affected the whole body, if it was just in his mind he wouldn’t have that weird reserve of energy he was still coming to grips with. Maybe exposure to something energy related, mass trauma from a Pokemon move or an industrial accident? Was it the berries? Did he eat too many as a kid?\nEmilio was brought back to reality by the loud, wet, flap of a freshly scooped ball of mud slapping across the side of his head. As he fished chunks of gunk from his ear, he spotted Vaporeon there, panting on her back, pussy dripping, legs twitching with anticipation, and a muddy paw pressed against her lips with wide, innocent eyes. She raised her chin, flashing a haughty, expectant smile, and leisurely beckoned him forth, luring him closer with a single sharp claw.\nHe didn’t notice but, instead of getting up to walk or scooting over on his butt, he approached her on all fours, hips split in a flexible show of quadrupedal motion, floating on the balls of his feet and his fingertips to behold the brilliant blue body of his mate; a body so incredibly perfect that it managed to defy subjective and objective measure.\n“{Fuck me.}” She commanded while she lounged in his silky black shadow.\nHe couldn’t explain why or how he was surprised by those words, but he was, and the sound set his skin ablaze. He suddenly ached to hear her intimate cries. The ones that bounced around the walls of their nest and shook his head, folding his mind into obedient little origami Eevees. He knew he was hopelessly addicted and didn’t care that he’d sold his soul to the dealer. His body craved her sex, demanding that he press her quivering, resplendent flesh against his own until she lay dashed across the ground like a spilled goblet of cream.\nHe pressed his lips against her neck and hungrily kissed as he wrapped his arms around her back, plucking her up from the ground. “{Show me the den, lover.}”\nShe giggled, reached around his neck, and ran her digits through his hair. “{Right here.}” Then she caught the band that bound his long, luxurious mane and snapped it free with a flick of her claws, spilling wild espresso locks around her shoulders. “{Right now.}”\nHe chuckled weakly, scanning the area for onlookers out of habit. “{What if someone catches us li–}” and he shuddered as Vaporeon clutched his sides with her hind claws and stroked his dick with the base of her tail, licking his neck where she’d marked him for the second time.\n“{Let them watch,}” she said and her mouth locked onto his with a sharp, savory kiss, flicking her tongue against his, nipping his lower lip as their mouths parted. “{Fuck me. Now.}”\nHer beckoning called his hands to her waist and she nibbled his nips. Then she playfully, oh-so lightly, dragged her claws down the skin of his chest as he slid her down his body. \nShe gasped as he jammed himself in and she felt the head of his penis crash against her ovum. Her eyes snapped shut, and her hind paws splayed out atop shuddering thighs, despite her volitions. No matter how well she steeled her mind, she couldn’t fight it. Oh, how much she wanted to keep her wide open eyes locked onto him as he dove into her, to watch the way his face twisted up in that exact moment their bodies locked together…\n….but she’d never tell him that, oh no no no… Vaporeon worked so very hard getting her Emmi there, to where he knew all the motions and techniques that pleased her best. She had forged her man into a master fornicator, shown him the secret sexual codes, and all of her favorite combinations started with a swift, strong, unexpected penetration that took him straight up to the babyworks. She’d endowed him with the sole authority to dominate her and continue living, whenever he pleased. Though she wished he exercised that authority more often, she simply couldn’t complain about the results.\n[I]I’ll see that face one day[/I], she thought. [I]In the meantime, practice makes perfect.[/I]\nShe sighed, shuddering as her body was thrown against the soft earth again and again, pressed into a mossy mattress with a minty scent spread with feathery jungle ferns. \n[I]Oh my, Emmi is hungry today.[/I]\nThey had made love early that morning before breakfast, so he surely hadn’t been pent up. Quite the contrary, he’d desperately asked for respite. Not directly, but she understood what his subtle, nonassertive phrases meant. So the fact he was giving her the business with such voracity, well, she didn’t quite expect it. He did sometimes get like that after a long day in front of big crowds of people, board meetings with potential sponsors, and early in the morning when his mind hadn’t fully taken hold of his incredibly horny body.\nVaporeon smiled, licking his chest, and let the shaking pleasure roll freely through her. She knew the ride would be over sooner than she wanted, but looked forward to the warm sensation of fullness Emmi would leave her with in the end.\nEmil dug his nails, ones he’d let grow out a bit for this exact purpose, into her chest as he pushed her deep into the cushion of plants and litterfall. She exhaled in surprise as she felt his dick slide out of her and he pinned her to the ground with the full weight of his body, bringing his lips to her neck. Then he snapped a fold of lapis suede up in his teeth.\nHe clamped down on her neck with every ounce of bite-force his weak little jaw could possibly muster, possibly more, muscles shaking from the strain. No, definitely more. Her eyes opened in surprise and her mouth gawked as she felt pain, very real pain of her skin rending in his jaws. \nShe gasped and squeaked in surprise, barely stopping herself from gashing his skin open with her claws which had extended in the service of protecting her from sudden, sharp discomfort. Instead, she slowly pushed them into his skin, breaking the surface of his tender flesh, and turned her head with her chin in the air. She sighed a long, satisfied song with a fool's face, relishing the feeling; finally she was able to experience that first, very intimate moment for real.\nHer blood burst into his mouth with a pressure he didn’t expect. Her heart beat so much faster than his and with so much force it felt like her pulse was punching him in the teeth. It tasted spicy, astringent, like a mouthful of bone-dry Cabernet Kalot. Her blood assaulted his senses as it went down his throat kicking and screaming, finally falling defeated in his core. \nThen it smacked him behind the head like a sap.\nHis vision blurred as his sense of smell overpowered all the others: his skin numbed, taste was all but obliterated, her muffled squeals of delight echoing from the far end of a long, dark tunnel. Her cries faded into the sky and he felt a gentle, misty breeze on his face as he sat at the edge of a seaside cliff, legs dangling above an endless queue of turquoise waves crashing against the earthen ramparts below. Behind him, the flowering tops of wild watercolor flowers clattered against each other in the bolstering wind. He pitched his head up to the sky as a thunderous peal pounded his chest, and closed his eyes, awaiting cleansing sheets of warm, oceanic rain.\nHer voice returned as a heavy staccato of raindrops pushed up puffs of powdery sand, flooding his ears as the ground beneath him softened with the sweetened smells of the sea.\nWhen his consciousness snapped back into place, he found himself unconsciously ravaging his mate with a manic energy he’d never seen from himself. A thin, vermillion trickle crawled across her skin from the mark on her neck, dripping down into the mosses they had dislodged and shoved aside in their struggle for sexual dominance. She tried to pry herself free, surely as part of some enthusiastic game since there was no possible way he could have held her there against her will, as he thrust into her so hard they dragged themselves along the loose detritus.\nHe could feel the depth of her claws, far beyond the skin, nearly down to the muscle. His arms and body were smeared with his own blood, but he simply couldn’t care anymore. It felt like nothing he could possibly have imagined, even the humming high of an orgasm couldn’t quite describe the sensation in full. There was no expectant need for decency, no looming weight of degenerate shame, no minding some needy neurotic schedule, no paralyzing fear that this would be the time someone spotted them in their sexual sacrament.\nThe only thought left in his tired mind was that he had a strong, healthy female stuck in his grasp; she had an empty belly, and he was going to fill her with his seed before some other male got the chance. \nVaporeon growled, snarled, snapped, and hissed with bestial rage as their nethers smacked together with sloppy, shameless slaps. Her tail struck at his legs, curled around and pulled at his limbs, whapped against his sides and his skull. Her eyes darted around as she thrashed, seemingly devoid of conscious thought.\nShe tried to close her hips and slipped from his grasp, managing to buck at his stomach and kiss his tummy with three long, shallow stripes before she scurried out from under him.\nEmil gritted his teeth as he hauled her back by the tail, ripping up long strips of moss as she dragged her claws across the ground, hissing in defiance. He rolled her over, threw his shoulder down into her abdomen, narrowly dodged a flurry of razor tipped talons while he slid up her body again and then wedged his hips back into place. Her pussy was gaping, wet, swirling with precum mixed in the fluids dripping from her cunt, and so it welcomed his return even as she fought him like he meant to dispassionately consume her for sustenance.\nShe gasped as his manhood invaded her body again, punching her deep inside her favorite spot. Gripped by a wave of ecstasy that wrung her guts like a wet towel, she forced out a loud, excited cry from deep within her that carried far into the jungle. It was the cry her kind was notorious for, the one recorded for the global ‘Dex, and until then he had never heard it escape her throat. She layed on the devastated ground, panting with a lazy, empty headed grin on her face.\nHer entire body went lax, but not limp, and she spread her legs with a needy, submissive whine. “{Take me.}”\nHe wasted no time in claiming what was rightfully his, and Vaporeon put up no resistance as he sat on his own shins, propped her up on his hips, and proceeded to have his way with her.\nHer head hung back, practically drooling as her head bobbed up and down in his vision. “{Please. Nnngg, please!}” she begged as placed her front paws delicately against his breast to keep herself steady on his shaft.\nHe loved the feeling of her legs dangling over his thighs, trembling to life with each of the innumerable orgasms wracking her body. “{Please, what?}” he asked, like a jailor considering some petty request from inside a cell.\nConstantly interrupted by quake after quake in her stomach vibrated all throughout the rest of her body, it was difficult for her to find coherent speech. Somehow, in the silence between two of her tantric tempests, she managed to gasp out, “{Make me a mother.}”\nTime lost its meaning as he slid her up and down his length, hands gripping her waist like an obedient toy. She whimpered and begged for more, breathing in time with the steady rhythm of his cock inside her, and let him throw her around like clay on a wheel. Nothing mattered to her then but the smell of their mixing musks, his excited breath on her face, their basal grunts of satisfaction, and the feel of him throbbing harder and harder against her inner walls.\nEmil pulled her face close to his and kissed the mark on her neck, wracking her with wild spasms. Vaporeon bit her lip as she came again, snatch tightening around him in a vice-like grip that spilled warm love down his crotch.\nHe hadn’t realized how close he was, and his whole body shook as her last orgasm brought him to peak. He instinctually popped back onto his knees and shoved himself up into her as deep as he could. The only thing any functional part of his brain wanted was to cum inside the incredibly fuckable thing bouncing on his lap, to fill her egg sac with everything he had.\nHis mate, having been thoroughly fucked into compliance, whined as a rush of hot seed filled her insides. She licked at his chest, pushed down onto him, pleading his manhood for any spare spurt of seed he could spare.\nShe rested her cheek on his chest, purring with satisfaction. “{Thank you…}”\nEmil leaned back on his shins, huffing in and out with huge gusts of air, and stroked Vaporeon along her entire body as she decadently rumbled in his arms.\nVaporeon had no idea what happened. One moment she was in complete control of her faculties, the next she had transformed into a feral beast tumbling around with some unexpected suitor come to fight for dominance over her reproductive organs. She could have torn him limb from limb with little effort, but the rush as she fought against his advances, the way she made him work for his satisfaction, it ignited her erotic instincts so much that she couldn’t help but keep on with their fun little game. \nShe had no idea how long the whole thing had lasted, but she was sure it was a far cry from the half-hour or more she had grown accustomed to. She couldn’t believe herself. Ugh! She’d literally rolled around in the mud out in the woods and made love for an audience of Arceus and anyone else around. It was a frantic, filthy, bestial, odorous fuck, and under no circumstances would she have asked for such a thing days before. \nThe freedom of it, the way she looked all around and simply couldn’t care whose eyes witnessed their furious rutting; gods that was what she needed more than anything else. She could see now; that stupid human game of hiding babymaking from each other had been a lead weight holding them back from experiencing indescribable bliss. Unbelievable!\nIf she had any regrets, though, she looked around at her precious Emmi's body and felt terrible for how much punishment he’d endured for her pleasure. Perhaps those changes happening to his body would make the little pokes and scratches a non issue. She sure hoped so, because now that she’d gotten a taste of what could be, if she had any choice at all, she wouldn’t want him to take her any other way.\nIt was the best sex she’d ever had, left the previous record holder sulking in the dust, and she needed [U]more[/U].\nThe blue skinned beauty bapped at Emilio’s chin, guided his lips to hers, and she kissed him in that way she knew he loved. She rubbed her nose against his and said, “{Let’s get cleaned up and have some fun in the den.}”\nEmil blinked a few times with an empty, confused expression. Then he leered at her, serious as a heart attack, and clenched her ass with both hands. “{Who told you we were done?}”\n“{I’m just getting started.}”\n\n\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/\n\nEarly the next morning, still dripping with water from the predator tanks as the sky glowed a dark blue in anticipation of the rising sun, François Gallar casually walked down the E-Chamber lot to warehouse 312. He turned a key into a lock, walked around to one side of the building, and pulled a massive switch on the steel casing labeled ‘Trick Room Generator’ to the OFF position, then he grabbed onto the steel handle and pushed.\nThere the two of them were, perched atop a scenic outcropping, watching the glorious sunrise fade away into the cold, unfeeling machinery of a warehouse ceiling. Emilio watched intently as the vast expanse of the Jungle shrunk around him, like a marshmallow in a vacuum tube. The glade they’d made love on? It could fit in his hand now. The tree he’d nearly snapped his femur climbing to fetch fruit from? A tiny bonsai on a miniature cliffside. The raging waters and glorious aquatic caverns they’d curled up to sleep in, kept warm with each others’ love? It may as well have been one of those eternally discounted fountains they sold in the back of Narcissus. “Incredible,” he whispered to nobody in particular.\nVaporeon was curled up in his lap, her muscles here loose and relaxed, and her tail swayed like she had not a care in the world. There was a little bruise on her neck, a petite keepsake to mark the occasion. The look on her face as she smiled up at Emil, even though he wasn’t looking back at her, melted his hopeless, romantic heart. \nEmil, though dressed in the clothes he’d left him in, had grown a thin mustache and the stubble of a goatee. His wild hair was oily and unbrushed, draping down both his shoulders. The tan of his skin had noticeably deepened, had tiny scrapes and bruises all over, and he licked at a split in his lip. His neck bore that ubiquitous, unmistakable ring of scabs that would surely have left an incriminating scar if he didn’t help the boy treat it properly.\nFrançois rubbed an old spot on his own neck, where the barely perceptible shadow of two inch-wide scars still remained, and he couldn’t help but chuckle aloud. They both looked back at François in surprise, and then he beckoned for them to leave the chamber. “It is a good thing ascots are fashionable these days.”\nWhen they yet again stood before one another, Emil glared François straight in the eyes. Vaporeon leapt onto her lover’s shoulders, feeling a little strange being there when she hadn’t done it at all inside the chamber.\nFrançois grinned like a jester with his arms behind him. “I trust your stay was enjoyable?”\n“What day is it?” Emil demanded.\nFrançois looked at his watch. “Thursday?” he said, and then hunched forward in pain after Emilio, as promised, socked the fucker in the shoulder as hard as he could.\n“{You didn’t tell me it dilated time too, jackass!}” Emil groused before finally letting the old guy receive his well deserved warm, friendly, grateful smile. “{I sat by the door every morning for four days thinking everyone left us behind.}”\nFrançois cackled. “Oh, come now, it was only five days. You had ample food, clean water, adequate shelter… and plenty of entertainment,” he said, eyebrows bobbing. “Do not worry, I will not bill you for the power use, especially for the tempus transformer; that would give you a hemorrhage for sure.”\nVaporeon shot him with a sly grin, then nailed his face with a tiny Water Gun. “{Thanks! You’re alright, Old Man!}”\n“Aaaaah, just what I needed, thank you, Votre Majesté,” he replied, bowing low to the young queen.\nEmil shrugged and relented. “{Seriously, though… It was really nice, one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen,} vvee… vrrr… Vranoooahs.”\nThe Old Man chuckled again. “Your monspeech has improved by leaps and bounds, Emilio! As you can see, though, too much time speaking that way exclusively leaves you a little… how do you say… hampered? Do not speak in ‘mon for a while, you will need your voice for the days to come. I’ve got some old reserved seats at the crown, I look forward to watching your matches, as much as I hate the sport with every fiber of my being.”\n“Eeeyeah,” Emil choked up, suddenly feeling, and looking, incredibly emotional at the same time he was wondering how he’d lost control of his mouth-parts so quickly. “Aaiii ave rrrots of q, q… Vestions.” \nVaporeon giggled uncontrollably at her man’s bizarre misfortune.\nMr. G nodded, both hands poised on his hips. “In time, I will teach you everything I know, even the incredibly boring stuff,” he replied with a playful wink. “It has been a while since I have met such a promising student, after all.”\nThen, without warning, the Old Man leapt forward with arms wide open. Emilio, who normally didn’t like physical contact by default, caught him and they hugged for a full minute. Tears welled up in both mens’ eyes, and then Emilio started sobbing uncontrollably. Vaporeon wrapped her tail around François and Emilio’s necks, all joined together in friendship.\n“Vaynk yooo,” Emilio slurred, wiping his eyes dry with his sleeve.\nFrançois didn’t bother clearing the glistening moisture from his eyes and grabbed hold of Emil’s shoulders, grinning with unbridled pride. “Welcome to the family, Emilio.”\n\n\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/\n\n“Long night, Mama,” her private driver mused as he snorted a white powder, eyes bloody red with exhaustion. He rubbed at a patch of skull blessed with early male-pattern baldness, somehow still managing to sport a jovial grin. “Used to take’n jobs from ya solo these days. Thought ye left the gumshoe shit to the gutterhogs ages ago.”\nLady Iris Margot had ditched her extravagant attire, shed her skin of luxury cosmetics, and locked her priceless jewelry away. She adjusted her brown beret and smiled back at her old colleague with wild-eyed enthusiasm. Crossing her denim wrapped legs she sipped patiently at a rich, brain shattering Ristretto from a paper cup. “Oh, Jean-Henri, come now. You know better than I that, occasionally, you simply must set foot in the trenches…” She sipped from her cup. “...and hollow out a few gourds to remind everyone why you’re the bitch at the top.”\n“Shit, posh life ain't dulled yer edge at all.” Jean-Henri pursed his lips. “Well, my honor workin’ with yas again, Mama, whatever poor fucker’s blood it is yer smell’n in the water, I’m happy fer the scraps.”\nHer plump, effeminate lips curled into a hungry smile.\nHer compatriot pointed. “That yer guy?”\nShe peered through a pair of military binoculars, and spotted François leaving the front doors of the facility. “Oh, no no no. That’s just François. Old friend of the family. Off limits.”\nJean-Henri’s face screwed up quizzically. “Ooh, ‘ees that sea critter guy on the tele, right. Ey, howzit be that everybodys’ a ‘friend ‘o duh’ family with ya these days?”\n“Lots of time, lots of money, lots of forms and favors…” She slipped a chocolate covered raisin into her mouth, savoring the delectable treat. Her figure demanded she stay far away from them, but she felt this was a special occasion. \n“Ye, but, like, why bother? Most folks ain’t worth a cube’a salt ta ladies o’ yer stand’n.”\n“Each new friend of mine is one less enemy I gotta bury, old boy,” she replied, popping another delightful confectionery in her mouth.\nThey both watched the doors with intense focus as the Old Man greeted the early morning staff with his utterly infectious enthusiasm. But then Jean-Henri spotted someone stealthily slipping out a steel security door a few blocks down.\n“Woah, hey hey! Ya said he’s a pally right?” Then he saw Vaporeon waltz out behind him and drape herself around her shoulders. “Oh, yeah, das him fer sure.” He looked at his dexnav. “Less fuzz on da face than the pic, but that him aight.”\nMargot knuckle bumped her friend without taking her eyes off Emil. She flicked a switch on the side of her binoculars and the thing whined as its capacitors woke from years of slumber. In the visor, she read the counter at the top. Sixteen high definition panels of film. More than enough for one little stakeout. She would need to restock her supply if she was going to stretch her legs out like that more often.\nShe snapped one pic, two pics, three pics, four… then just before she depressed the button for panel five she gasped at what she witnessed.\nSNAP\nThat guy just kissed a Pokemon! In broad fucking daylight! More specifically, Emilio Estrella Malison, manager of Team Stone’s rocket through the ranks of the Pokemon Battle League, had gently brushed his fingers against Vaporeon’s cheek, locked lips with her, and then vanished around a corner. Not on the cheek or the forehead, on the [B][U]mouth![/U][/B] Richard Stone’s Vaporeon and his Manager were… \nShe wound the film back in her visor, keeping it safe from the light but still able to inspect the evidence she collected. Margot stared dumbfounded into the visor at what she’d managed to capture.\nIt happened in less than a second, if she wasn’t looking directly at them, scanning for anything suspicious with her unmatched paranoia, there was no way she would have spotted it or paid attention to the event at all. Well, her friend in the car would have, but he was a mutant with an eidetic memory and 20/10 vision… \n[I]Real unfortunate Jean-Henri’s parents couldn’t buy him a proper education. Perhaps I should rectify that injustice.[/I] She thought, but then locked herself back into focus.\n…but her finger stroked the shutter right when it mattered. There they were, on Mk3 HD Grafai-Eye Film. Both their eyes were closed in amorous embrace, lips pressed together, his hand on her cheek and her paw stroking his chin. Her tail, normally draped around his back, nearly got in the way of her shot as she flicked it around, and it was then she realized the cheeky little ‘mon was probably doing it on purpose! The light was perfect, resolution to die for, not the slightest hint of motion blur marring the shot. \n“Whoah, Icy!” he exclaimed, blurting her old handle out. “You see dat?!”\nShe smirked, and slipped her Binocular Camera into its protective case. That canvas satchel now contained something a thousand times more valuable than it ever was on its own. Then again, the thing had paid for itself a million times over the years, making the thing all the more precious indeed. \n“Why yes, Shutter, I most certainly did.” She layed in the back seat, finally allowing herself to catch a wink of sleep. “And depending on how my cards play out… everyone else might have too.”\n\n",
  "writing_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'><div class='align_center'>Forbidden Waters &ndash; 20</div><br /><br /><strong><em>The scene faded from an inky well of pitch darkness and glowing Jellicents to a beach at dusk looking out onto an endless expanse of turbulent waters and magenta skies. A man, wearing a skin-tight black rubber suit, slowly emerged from the broiling soup of warm watercolor waves and waddled out of the water, taking on a silly clumsy gait with his massive rubber diving fins still on his feet. He kicked the fins off, ran onto the sand, and plopped himself onto a beached driftwood log just in front of the camera&rsquo;s view, gazing out into the horizon. He looked like the happiest man in the entire world, enjoying the thing he loved more than anything else every moment of every day. It looked a bit as if tears were falling from his pale blue eyes, hidden amongst the glistening drops of water falling from his soaked mop of platinum blonde hair.</em></strong><br />&ldquo;<strong><em>Ouf! Quel soulagement&hellip; So here we find ourselves again, at the end of a long, amazing day of adventures in the deep. As the sun sets on us today, spare a thought for the amazing, colorful, and downright strange Pokemon deep beneath the waves and wakes, where the morning dawn never breaks.&nbsp;</em></strong><br />&ldquo;<strong><em>Even they, so alien and often frightening to behold, deserve our respect and love. All of them, and all of you. Thank you, my beloved friends, for taking the time to show us love too.&rdquo;<br />Off in the distance, the shadowy silhouette of a Gyarados burst from an explosive geyser out in the water and spiraled off into a stack of lilac clouds.&nbsp;</em></strong><br />&ldquo;<strong><em>I hope you once again will be free to come and see the deep blue sea with Sidney and me.&rdquo;</em></strong><br /><br />Emil caught himself silently mouthing the last few words of his speech, sent screaming back for a brief moment, to the dirty, busted up wooden floor of his birth home in Paldea. Watching the exact same video in the living room on a fuzzy cathode-ray tube television. IIlluminated only by the light of the screen. He remembered how mesmerized he was by the mysteries glimpsed on that wavy screen, his muddy, denim-covered legs crossed on the floor after a long day of school and an even longer afternoon fixing tractors in the fields with Pap&aacute;. Those short few hours in the night spent eating a steaming heap of Mama&rsquo;s beef paella from his worn out Pika Libre bowl, marveling, wondering, excited for what could be. It sat in a tender place that hurt to touch but somehow brought a smile to his face.<br />POP!<br />Valorie stood beside him with the deflated remains of a bright pink bubble smacked across her mouth, soaking up Emil&rsquo;s frustrated stares with cool indifference. She rolled her eyes as the last-minute end-of-the-day patrons of the aquarium shuffled their way through a maze of overpriced plush pokemon, trademark bearing apparel, cheap plastic toys, and the rarely purchased autobiography &lsquo;Sea to Sea with Mr. G.&rsquo;&nbsp;<br />She glanced up at the flat screen television hanging from the ceiling as it started yet another episode of, &lsquo;Swimming with Sydney.&rsquo; One out of six-hundred-fifty-two in a remastered digital collection set to shuffle for all eternity.&nbsp;<br />Then Val glanced out the glass wall towards the grasses, trees, and bushes in the front courtyard, locked onto a bit of fiery fluff poking out from around a shrubbery, and let herself finally relax as she realized the idiot she was <span class='underline'>actually</span> responsible for was right where she&rsquo;d left him.<br />She tried to lighten up, noticed a cute, amber eyed baby strapped into a stroller carrying a stuffed Froakie, and chose to wave at them with a pained, awkward smile. The baby looked away crying and her mother bolted for the checkout, ogling the weird survivalist nutjob with a profoundly uncomfortable stare.<br />Val scoffed over her shoulder and wandered in wild circles. &ldquo;Ugh, c&rsquo;mon Old Man, closing time was twenty minutes ago!&rdquo; she shouted down the Aquarium halls, roped off for closing time.<br />One of the Aquarium employees smiled towards her and bowed a little in respect. Must have been from Kanto or Johto, Val thought. &ldquo;Many apologies, ma&rsquo;am. It&rsquo;s taking a little longer than usual for our usual guests to find their way to the exits. Your after hours excursion will begin shortly, and we&rsquo;ll be open a little longer to make up for the lost time.&rdquo;<br />Val nodded. &ldquo;Aight, thanks. Sorry &lsquo;bout that, Miss. Got a long night ahead&rsquo;a me.&rdquo;<br />Emil finally pushed past his nervousness to make some awkward conversation. &ldquo;So&hellip;Gyarados. He must be a massive fan of Mr. G, huh?&rdquo;<br />Val&rsquo;s head bobbed left and right. &ldquo;Something like that.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;I grew up watching these, hehe. Had a big impact on me growing up.&rdquo;<br />Val grunted. &ldquo;Ditto.&rdquo;<br />Emil looked at her in surprise as Vaporeon purred and adjusted his hair. &ldquo;Yeah?&rdquo;<br />She nodded and gestured at the show playing on the big screens. &ldquo;Howd&rsquo;ya think I learned &lsquo;ta speak &lsquo;mon, jack?&rdquo;<br />Emil gazed at her, realizing that this backwater, wild animal of a human had left him stumped and helpless yet again. &ldquo;Huh?&rdquo;<br />She chuckled. &ldquo;Mr. G constantly spoke with the &lsquo;mon in their natural tongue in the show, it just happened at random and nobody thought to check since it was so rare back then. Guess they figured he was just making random mating noises to get their attention for the cameras. I wasn&rsquo;t the only one either, it happened all over the place and people finally caught on that kids were talking with their pets.&rdquo;<br /><br /><strong><em>They both watched the display where the bright eyed young man on screen rode a motorboat, vocalizing emphatically at a lone Finizen far off some uncolonized coastline. &ldquo;{Hey again, beautiful! Would you do me a favor and pose for the camera today? I got you the good stuff!}&rdquo;</em></strong><br /><br />Emil smiled, clapping his hand on his head, aggravating Vaporeon who&rsquo;d just got his hair perfect. &ldquo;Holy crap, I had no idea. Hahahaha That&rsquo;s pretty cool!&rdquo;<br />She glowered, watching for Emil&rsquo;s expression. &ldquo;{Wait for it...}&rdquo;<br /><br /><strong><em>The Finizen did as he asked and he hand fed her while, stroking her smooth, wild, pockmarked flesh. He spoke in a lovely kalosian accent with his gaze fixed to Finizen&rsquo;s eyes, giving his usual amazing, eloquently executed factoids to the camera. Then he kissed her on the forehead and she slipped back into the water, looking at him with a friendly curiosity. Just before the scene changed, Emil heard the man say, &ldquo;{I&#039;d like to have another private dance with you, if you&rsquo;re up to it, gorgeous.}&rdquo;</em></strong><br /><br />Emil stood straight on to the television, paralyzed with red cheeks from shock. &ldquo;Oh my <span class='underline'>Gods</span>, on global public television?!&rdquo;<br />She nodded, chuckling, and thumbed her nose. &ldquo;Oh yeah, hehehe. They still train Pokeglots in the military using those vids. They pulled the old ones from TV, of course, can&rsquo;t get &#039;em anywhere else but here and the Dexnet. It&rsquo;s sort of an informal graduation ceremony, learning about that big, open secret. It was indirect &lsquo;nuf, so nobody charged him with nuth&rsquo;n, but all the &lsquo;glots know what&#039;s what.&rdquo;<br />She nodded with pride. &ldquo;So&hellip; Nice job, ya passed the test. My work is done, keep it up or I&rsquo;ll kick your ass next time I see ya.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon nibbled at his ear. &ldquo;{I want you to talk to me like that, Emmi.}&rdquo;<br />Emil ran his fingers around her neck, below the dewlap, and she shivered at his touch. &ldquo;La vida estar&iacute;a vac&iacute;a te fueras, {I&rsquo;ll dance with you forever, my jewel.}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon gushed, pressing both paws into her pecha pink cheeks, and then weakly bapped Emils head in a fluster. &ldquo;{Thank you so much! Sorry I tried to kill you,}&rdquo; she chirped at Val.<br />Valorie chuckled and waved it off. &ldquo;{What&rsquo;s a little death threat between friends, eh?}&rdquo;<br />The young staff member ran up to them, bowing again. &ldquo;Thanks for your patience, honored guests. Doors are locked and I&rsquo;m on my way out. The entire complex is yours to explore. None of the trainer shows are running, of course, but I assure you this is the absolute best way to experience the exhibits. There will be someone here if you need anything at all. They said they&rsquo;d be around the Predator Tanks.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Merci,&rdquo; Val replied.<br />Emil fidgetted, stroking Vaporeon&rsquo;s tail out of comfort as they walked into a dark hallway leading towards the exhibit ring. &ldquo;So, I guess it&#039;s just us now, huh?&rdquo;<br />Valorie didn&rsquo;t look back at him, continuing to walk at a brisk pace. &ldquo;Mmhmm.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;So, um&hellip; You haven&rsquo;t told me about your partner. I suppose you have one, I can tell.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t need to be a genius to figure that out, chief.&rdquo;<br />He chuckled nervously. &ldquo;So you brought them with you, then? I thought you said you lived out near the coast.&rdquo;<br />That got her attention. &ldquo;Why you ask&rsquo;n?&rdquo;<br />He blushed. &ldquo;I, uh&hellip; I can, well&hellip; It&rsquo;s obvious&hellip;&rdquo;<br />Her head tilted as she put one fist into her hip. &ldquo;La zut! I thought I scrubbed myself real good this mornin&rsquo;. You got the nose, alright. Yer the real deal. Not that I had a doubt.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />They stopped as they left the antechamber, out into a huge room with a massive glass wall that looked out into an entrancing, lovingly nurtured coral reef. A vibrant, healthy ecology bustled just beyond the two-foot thick reinforced-tempered-glass walls, and Vaporeon especially was left wide eyed at its majesty. She leapt down from his shoulders and slowly approached<br />Vaporeon planted her butt down there, transfixed, following aquatic &lsquo;mon of all shapes, sizes, and regions with predatory excitement. &ldquo;We need to see the sea, Emmi.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;So, does he live here, or?&rdquo; Emil prodded again.<br />She grunted. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an idiot!&rdquo;<br />Em lurched back at the unexpected abruptness. &ldquo;Not what I was asking, but ok&hellip;&rdquo;<br />She shook her head and continued. &ldquo;I made it <span class='underline'>real</span> clear I didn&rsquo;t want him following me this time. Never took him to the capital or anywhere else with walls for that matter cuz he&rsquo;s too wild. Can&rsquo;t act like a pet, eats like a starving Swalot, won&rsquo;t keep his paws off me for one distorted second. Damn miracle he didn&rsquo;t end up caught or shot.&rdquo;<br />Em nodded. &ldquo;Maybe we can work on that and get him under control.&rdquo;<br />She spat on the floor. &ldquo;Fuck that; don&rsquo;t want my Fenny any other way!&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s he at?&rdquo; Em asked, rolling a coin between his fingers in lieu of Vaporeon&rsquo;s soothing touch.<br />She sighed. &ldquo;Right now? Outside. Gyarados said he&rsquo;d nab &lsquo;em and bring &lsquo;em in.&rdquo;<br />Emil brightened up at that. &ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ll get to meet him? That&rsquo;s great!&rdquo;<br />She nodded. &ldquo;Yeah, I hope he feels that way about you.&rdquo;<br />Emil moved on to a topic that he&rsquo;d been meaning to ask for a long time. &ldquo;So, um. What&rsquo;s it like?&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;What&rsquo;s what like?&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Living with Pokemon. You didn&rsquo;t say it outright, but I kinda put it together when you mentioned, &lsquo;Chief Pangoro,&rsquo; the other day.&rdquo;<br />She shrugged. &ldquo;Rough. Tribes don&rsquo;t suffer no layabouts, gotta pull yer weight like hatched and not born. Each day is another tooth and claw fight fer territory, resources, huntin&rsquo; grounds, willin&rsquo; females, not gettin&rsquo; eaten yourself. Gets ya hurt a lot, and the only meds yer prolly gonna get is a mouthful o&rsquo; bugwort n&rsquo;a slap on the ass.&rdquo;<br />Emil was transfixed, now realizing where all the callouses and scars had come from. &ldquo;I guess your past means you have to live out there?&rdquo;<br />She laughed. &ldquo;Oh, nah. Dun get me wrong at all, Kricketot. If I got down on my hands&rsquo;n knees and licked enough assholes clean my family&rsquo;d take me back, but I&rsquo;d rather die curled up with mange in the rain than that. Nah, If I didn&rsquo;t have&rsquo;ta bring in the good meds, the good tools, stuff that makes me a real asset to the tribe, I&rsquo;d book it back home on all fours and you&rsquo;d never see my happy ass again. Just wanted to lay it on ya real straight in case you got it in yer head ya might wanna try it.&rdquo;<br />Em laughed at himself as much as the joke. &ldquo;Pretty sure I&rsquo;d have to be in some real serious trouble before I&rsquo;d consider that, I need my Dexnet. I&rsquo;d like to visit someday, though. You think they&rsquo;d let me?&rdquo;<br />She chewed on that for a moment. &ldquo;Maybe. Bring something useful we need as a gift and that&rsquo;d take the edge off, for sure.&rdquo; She gave him a wicked smile, &ldquo;hope ya like snugglin&rsquo;, cuz yer sleep&rsquo;n in the big nest, Emmi boy. Don&rsquo;t think now&rsquo;s a good time, though, pretty sure Chiefs&#039; in no mood for takin&rsquo; risks right now.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />Emil raised a brow. &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t this a bit of risk, though? You being here at all?&rdquo;<br />Valorie rolled her eyes. &ldquo;Yeah, it is. Normally ain&rsquo;t too bad, my regular clients have me doin&rsquo; stuff a lot closer to coast where the silk-sheets stop care&rsquo;n what the poors are up to. But stuffs goin&rsquo; down and I needed real good money this time.&rdquo; She gestured for them to move on and she whistled to Vaporeon. &ldquo;&lsquo;C&rsquo;mon, Queenie! &hellip;Anyway, the Cap&rsquo;n gave me a real hard deal to chew on. Prolly all I woulda said was ello an g&rsquo;bye the whole trip if I didn&rsquo;t end up with some well-off purebred humpin&rsquo; my leg,&rdquo; she said, glaring at Emil.<br />Vaporeon pranced with her head held high, glancing up at her King, face full of pride.<br />Emil scratched at his head nervously as they passed one of the petting exhibits where a pack of Starmie and Shelder followed them with anxious gazes. Must have been worried that the long day of manhandling wasn&rsquo;t actually over yet, Emil supposed. He waved at them as they passed and their cheery disposition returned, continuing their frollicking around and sharing&hellip; sausage biscuit rolls and bon-bons left out on a platter. <em>They&rsquo;re feeding &lsquo;mon in the aquarium good here, damn.</em> Emil thought to himself.<br />&ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m sorry about Rich. Honest to Arceus he&rsquo;s not like this all the time. Hot, famous, wealthy chicks crawl all over him back home and he acts like they don&rsquo;t exist.&rdquo;<br />She scoffed. &ldquo;Lil&rsquo; boys&rsquo; drownin in more prim and proper pussy than he can possibly pound n&rsquo;all he wants is some nasty, scarred up, backwoods <span class='underline'>bitch</span>?&rdquo;<br />Em jumped back a little and Vaporeon smacked him on the ass with her tail for his cowardice. &ldquo;Oh, I didn&rsquo;t mean it like that. I just-&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Tch. I do! The fuck is his problem, Emil? I smell like used feet, eat like a Primape, and I got the complexion of a northfront trencher; I&rsquo;m cuddly as a sack &lsquo;o used needles and he just keeps coming back fer more!&rdquo;<br />Emil shook his head. &ldquo;First off, you&rsquo;re not unattractive at all. Smelly and unflattering? Yeah, but you live with &lsquo;mon. I just think he&rsquo;s attracted to the honesty is all, he doesn&rsquo;t get much of that.&rdquo;<br />She growled. &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m <span class='underline'>honestly</span> gonna leave one of these bargain bin boots up his ass if he comes at me tonight hold&rsquo;n some expensive do-nothing in a pretty box.&rdquo;<br /><em>At least Richard dodged that bullet. </em>&ldquo;Look, I&rsquo;m not normally all that nosey, but I am his friend. What&rsquo;re you going to do to him?&rdquo;<br />She stopped in the darkened corridors of the bioluminescent plant life biospheres and glared back at him with dry, akimbo eyes. Then, after she realized Emil wasn&rsquo;t going to ask anything else, she watched a baby Jellicent float through a forest of vibrant seaweed with a pleasant smile. &ldquo;If he&rsquo;s smart, I shouldn&rsquo;t need to do noth&rsquo;n.&rdquo;<br />Emil felt a pit forming in his stomach. &ldquo;And if he&rsquo;s Richard?&rdquo;<br />She frowned and turned down the halls leading to the Aquadome with slowly swaying hips. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll bring&rsquo;m back in one piece.&rdquo;<br />The paths toward the dome were long cylindrical halls covered in sciencey factoid plaques. Most of them Emil knew, others he didn&rsquo;t but could&rsquo;ve lived his whole life having not learned them and died all the same. Like the fact Finizen farted all the gas from their bodies and their organs collapsed when they decided to hunt in the lightless depths. Or that the Kalosian Fish Corps definitely had the annual Basculin outbreaks under control and that they totally supplied sixty percent of the region&rsquo;s fish exports. Or that Dondozo beached themselves to eat coolers of beer in such numbers that alcoholic beverages were banned on Paldea&#039;s northeastern shorelines.<br />Actually, that last one explained a few things&hellip; like why Abuelo never made their trip to Casseroya every summer.<br />They reached the end and Emil had to cover his eyes as the dim, afternoon light from outside struck his dark-adjusted eyes. They stepped out into a massive, submerged dome at the center of the world&rsquo;s largest indoor aquatic ecosystem, a snowglobe in reverse. Schools of Pokemon from all around the Earth surrounded them; from the warm hydrodynamic paradise of Alola to the icy Sinnoan straights. No matter the direction you looked, it made you feel like a tiny polyp clinging to a crowded coral cliff.<br />The three of them were caught in the shadow of a colossal Mantine looming overhead as Val slid her butt down a long metal handrail and then she leaned forward into the white, vinyl-painted steel railing.<br />Emil carefully stepped down a metal flight of steps onto a wide ring of catwalks that ran the entire diameter of the sphere, encircling an impressive living exhibition that signs posted all around said were the &lsquo;Ametama Gardens.&rsquo;<br />It was a giant, mirror bottomed pool filled with pure, crystal clean water that cradled a labyrinth of tall, polished metal spires. Pocked with overgrown perforations, teeming with sweet smelling flora, bridged with bushy braids of Cheri Berry vines, the hydroponic spires sustained the schools of Surskit skipping down below. Darting to and fro, their little waves danced across the maze, overlapping in dazzling luminescent displays.&nbsp;<br />Val glanced back at Emil and Vaporeon. &ldquo;So what&rsquo;s yer plan?&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon bounded to the edge of the railing, peering down at the Surskit with intense scrutiny, and Emil tilted his head. &ldquo;I dunno. I kinda have everything I could want right now. I guess I&rsquo;ll get a bigger house someday, maybe. Starting to get a little cramped now that&ndash;&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;If you get caught, Wynautt!&rdquo; she barked as her head spun on her shoulders.<br />Emil stood, quietly, Mareepishly, staring at the shimmering pools through the steel grating beneath his feet as Vaporeon hung playfully from the edge of the platform, little arms swaying as she waited for her Emmi to finish his parlance with Val. &ldquo;I&hellip; Well, I guess I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;<br />Val sighed and shook her head. She tossed down the few stray crumbs left of a fruity brioche she&rsquo;d been saving in her pocket, one of many delectable all-you-can-eats she&rsquo;d systematically swiped from the breakfast buffets for her trip back home. A few skittering baby-blue yellowtops swarmed the snacks as she carefully thought about her words before finally choosing to speak. &ldquo;Do you even know what&rsquo;ll happen to ya?&rdquo;<br />Emil nodded with a straight face, resolute but anxious. &ldquo;Best case? Court mandated rehab, forced to inhabit a metropolitan &lsquo;mon-desert of some sort, constant surveillance by some neurotic volunteer force of moralistic busy-bodies. Worse case?&rdquo; He winced, looking away, hissing through his teeth as if something stewing inside had finally boiled over and started burning on the stovetop. &ldquo;Prolonged incarceration. Capital assets seized and settled. Euthenasia&hellip;&rdquo; a few stale tears finally oozed their way across a tired pair of eyes that hadn&rsquo;t cried in years and he choked a little. &ldquo;Vaporeon, she&rsquo;d&hellip;&rdquo;<br />Val&rsquo;s brow furrowed as her gaze burned a hole into his forehead, staring at him in confusion. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a lot o&rsquo; fancy words. Y&rsquo;know I can&rsquo;t understand yer wise ass mouth, right?&rdquo;<br />Emil&rsquo;s face stopped moving, then he chuckled as he watched the frown on her face curl up into a shallow grin. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be a Rockruff on a chain, or a broken Mankey in a box.&rdquo;<br />She looked out into the ripples and vines, shaking her head. &ldquo;But those ain&rsquo;t yer only options, are they?&rdquo;<br />Emil sighed, looking out into the blue abyss, nervously clutching his own shoulder. &ldquo;No, I suppose they aren&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<br />Val nodded sharply, then started walking around the catwalks to the opposite end of the dome. &ldquo;If someone wants me dead for havin&rsquo; a good time, they can die wait&rsquo;n&hellip; or die try&rsquo;n.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon gently snuck up and startled Emil as she curled herself around his shoulders. She grabbed his chin, turned his head towards her, and then gazed into his soul with those glorious, greedy, gentle eyes. He wasn&rsquo;t sure how long they stood there, or what he saw there in that amethyst sea, but he was sure he could hear her plain as day.<br />&ldquo;I promise.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />The two of them nuzzled, sensually stroking cheeks, each overwhelming the others with their sweet, familiar scents. Finally, Emil pecked Vaporeon on the cheek and decided to start following in Valorie&rsquo;s footsteps.<br />Val&rsquo;s ear twitched, her head jerked to the right, and her nostrils flared gently as she stared out into the water with wide, watchful eyes. &ldquo;Ah, &lsquo;bout time. C&rsquo;mon, Kricketot.&rdquo;<br />Emil shook his head a little, unsure what it was he&rsquo;d just witnessed, but even less sure how he&rsquo;d ask about it without looking like a fool.<br />Her pace had started to take a brisk jog, and then a full on sprint. Val lumbered about when she was bored and safe, but it was clear he hadn&rsquo;t seen anything of her yet. She moved with a tailwind hugging her back and clouds kissing her feet.<br />Vaporeon leapt off his shoulders, chasing after her, squeaking back at Emil for him to follow, but both of them left him in the dust. &ldquo;{Show me how fast you can run now!}&rdquo;<br />Emil started, sticking to the proper form Rich had taught him to maintain a brisk sweat, but quickly he felt a stitch form in his side. Fire erupted in his lungs and he quickly stopped after the ladies vanished around a curve in the halls.&nbsp;<br />Val&rsquo;s voice echoed down the tunnel. &ldquo;{C&rsquo;mon, Bushbaby! Didn&rsquo;t you listen to Dickhead this morning?}&rdquo;<br />Emil stared down the hallway, slowly trying to recall the last twelve hours in painful detail.<br />As if she was right there with him, she roared, &ldquo;{quit thinkin and get runnin!}&rdquo;<br />As if Rich was there threatening to smack him on the ass if he didn&rsquo;t hustle, he bolted forward. Emil hated exercise, aching repetition bored him to tears, and he finished the loathsome chore as soon as he was allowed. This time, just like all the others, his body hurt like it always had. He panted and gritted his teeth, pounding the rough padding between the soles of his feet and the cement floor.<br />What had she meant? Richard? Richard didn&rsquo;t know anything, short of League regulations and battle strategy. Was it the sleeper? What, was there some poetic sage-like wisdom within his best friend&rsquo;s skull he&rsquo;d never managed to unlock? Everstones? Energy? What&rsquo;s a bushbaby?&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;<em>STOP! THINKING! AND! <span class='underline'>RUN!</span></em>&rdquo;<br />Something about her voice rippled down the hall, burrowed through his ear canals, and rammed its way through his steely analytical bubble. Her shouting scoured his senses clean, supplanting complex thought with a frothing white noise.<br />It hurt, that was all he felt. He wanted to stop, he&rsquo;d make it if they waited up. No, Vaporeon wouldn&rsquo;t like that at all, would she? Nobody was there to see his pathetic, awkward sprinting, he supposed. He decided to give it his all, at least this once. Yeah, Val&rsquo;d probably make fun of him, but she was gonna do that anyway. Gah, there was that wall. Pain. Swallow it, dammit. Keep going. Pap. Pap. Pap. Piff. Ankles crying out, sides starting to twist into uncomfortable knots. C&rsquo;mon, ngraaah! Pap. Pap. Piff. Piff. Piff.<br />He sprinted at maximum speed and with maximum effort and his eyes closed shut, hard. He winced, trying with every fiber of his being to ignore the pain in his side, the hot coals in his lower back, his lungs struggling to supply the frantic beating of his heart. He had somehow beaten the wall, smashed through it, and some new barrier was erected before him. This one intimidated him with sinister sensations that made his knees quiver and smothered him in a deep, uncanny anxiety. It was like looking down into a pit so dark that the bottom may as well have not existed at all.<br />For whatever reason, instead of sliding to a halt at the edge&hellip; he just leapt in, headfirst, and closed his mind&rsquo;s eyes.<br />Emil was so busy fighting himself that he almost missed his own running on the tips of his toes. With long, bounding, painless strides, his ponytail whipped as a standard in the wind.<br />He smiled like a surprised child at what was happening. It was exhilarating! There was something in him soothing his muscles, limbering up his joints, forcing his lungs to take in far more air than he was used to. It was nothing like Val, who was one step short of flying, but it was a far cry from anything he&rsquo;d expected of himself.<br />In his excitement, however, he&rsquo;d overlooked the broad, muscular arm stretched across the archway to the exhibits on the other side of the facility. Val clotheslined Emil as he left the tunnel with a sound whack, and Vaporeon zipped beneath him to catch his shoulders with her back on his descent. Val cackled like a madwoman and his mate giggled a little at the prank before she smooched his cheek.<br />Gasping to fill his chest after having the wind knocked from him, he stood with a stunned gaze. &ldquo;Haaah&hellip; Wha&hellip; What was that?&rdquo;<br />Val stared at him, stoic as a steel edge. &ldquo;Trainers ain&rsquo;t the only ones with their bodies changing, Jack.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon looked up at Val with a look of surprised excitement.<br />&ldquo;You mean I can do that all the time?&rdquo; Emil asked, rubbing his chest.<br />Val chucked and shook her head. &ldquo;Nah, it&#039;s kinda like a battery. And yer battery is itty bitty. Prolly blew yer whole load on just that.&rdquo; Emil looked a little discouraged, but Valorie socked him in the shoulder, about three times as hard as Rich, and continued speaking as he hunched in pain and covered his arm. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll grow. Don&rsquo;t see you lovebirds cuttin&rsquo; the cord anytime soon. I can&rsquo;t be there all the time to shut yer noggin off for ya, so you&rsquo;ll end up dripping with energy by the time you figure it out. Be good for ya. Oh, and get in better shape! It&rsquo;s easier with a fit bod.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon hopped back up on his shoulders. That electric curiosity hadn&rsquo;t left her face, and the whole situation left her tapping her paw on her chin, contemplating many fishy things.<br />There wasn&rsquo;t much to say after that. Emil was still buzzing with excitement at what he&rsquo;d just learned and done, Vaporeon was busy upstairs too, and Val didn&rsquo;t much feel like yapping by default. They passed by an exhibit of ice and water types in a freezing cold chamber they had to enter and exit through sealed doors, before entering a dark chamber that sorta terrified Emil. Neither of them had lights to navigate, and the pitch blackness smelled like dusty earth, damp walls, subterranean water flows, and mycological must. He followed Valorie&rsquo;s scent and prayed that the horrifying grunting, croaking, squealing noises and glowing red eyes couldn&rsquo;t actually come anywhere near him.<br />Huh, he hadn&rsquo;t really taken the time to appreciate her odor. She scrubbed down when she was around folks, probably because she knew her pay would get cut if people complained. There was some hot, musky, male scent on top he had to move past, but&hellip;<br />He interrupted his thoughts and wondered how in the world he was able to distinguish the two, or how he knew earlier that she was braised in the burning smell of male satisfaction.<br />&hellip;she smelled like flowers, some kind of nondescript thing Vaporeon liked; oh, lavender, right, and charcoal, like a campfire. There was something spicy there too, like a mouthful of wine. He liked the smell, but it didn&rsquo;t ignite a fire in his gut like Vaporeon&rsquo;s natural musk did.<br />The Aquarium was huge, absolutely gargantuan by the standards of any scientific venture or museum he had seen. He knew good ol&rsquo; Mr. G told his audience that he pumped every Pokedollar he made back into his work. Em supposed now that after a few decades it paid serious dividends.<br />Emil looked down into the floor of the central tank as they came to the big walls on the opposite end of the complex and realized that there were crevices he hadn&rsquo;t seen before. Ones that opened up deep down into the tank floor. He also came to the realization that the facility was a giant ring encircling one single massive tank, sectioned off with similarly thick panes of glass or acrylic slabs. The insane logistics behind it all boggled Emil&rsquo;s mind, and he wanted so badly to talk shop with someone behind it all.<br />The Predator Tank was sparser than he had expected. In fact, he was pretty sure the water was murkier than all the others too, smudged with large, menacing shadows of whatever hungry carnivorous mon laid in wait. He put his palm on the glass and peered into the tank like he was driving with his high beams on in a blizzard, when a flash of silver thumped against the glass between his eyes.<br />Emil squealed in terrified panic. A Barraskewda as big as he was flipped around, shot him a hollow stare, and then zipped back into the murk.<br />Val buckled over laughing and wiped tears from her eyes, gasping for air.<br />Then, Emil noticed the shadowy silhouette of a human kicking around in the tank. They had a tool of some kind, poking downwards. Then the shadow seemed to turn around, tilt its head, and waved at them. Emil waved back, but hadn&rsquo;t considered the serious implications until he saw a colossal, slithering shadow of something moving in tight waves right towards them.<br />&ldquo;Oh my Gods! Look out!&rdquo; Emil cried out, pounding on the glass as Vaporeon squeaked a similar sentiment.<br />In a single morbid moment the serpentine specter rushed them with overwhelming speed, slithered back into the haze, and then the person was gone.<br />&ldquo;Aaaah! I think I&rsquo;m gonna be sick! We need to tell someone!&rdquo; Emil felt the muscles in his neck twisting like mooring ropes.<br />Valorie rolled her eyes. &ldquo;Loves a fukn&rsquo; spectacle, don&rsquo;t he? C&rsquo;mon, time to meet the Old Man,&rdquo; she said as she started climbing a ladder up the wall towards a hatch in the ceiling.<br />Emil felt like he&rsquo;d just had a bucket of icewater dashed across his face. Didn&rsquo;t she just see the same thing he had? He followed her in the hope that everything would be alright, not unlike a naive child grabbing their parent&rsquo;s arm witnessing someone getting sawed in half on stage during a magic show.<br />The ladders climbing to the top led to a long gridded network of catwalks that ran the entirety of the complex, and it was then that Emil&rsquo;s mental model of the place&rsquo;s size was shattered yet again. The place practically had its own horizon. How long had he walked? He checked the watch he kept in his pocket and he realized the time had melted away.<br /><br />Valorie waltzed up to the precipice of the predators&rsquo; depths and hung over the edge. &ldquo;Still a drama Swanna, I see! Yer scarin&rsquo; the hatchlings out here!&rdquo;<br />Emil backed away as a massive shadow grew darker and darker and the surface of the water started to bubble and bulge, then his teeth clenched as an explosive gout of mist showered him in salty brine. He wiped water away from his glasses, whipped his arms around to ease the soaking of his sleeves, and gasped for air as he finally breathed something other than seawater.&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon didn&rsquo;t flinch or even close her eyes, clapping with a thoroughly delighted cheer.&nbsp;<br />Valorie growled, wringing out her long, fiery braid. &ldquo;Fuck you, Fran&ccedil;ois! Hanna worked hard on that!&rdquo;<br />Before him, like a tower of ivory and turquoise slabs, was a colossal Gyarados peering down at them, floating in the air by some barely understandable magic as if it weighed nothing at all. They snaked around in a wide circle, came face to face with the two of them with a careful stop, and then Gyarados opened their massive jaws.<br />Standing on the monster&rsquo;s bottom lip was an elderly man. Venerable as he was, he was the model of health and vitality. He wore nothing but a sleek diving suit, no rebreather, no tank, not even goggles over his eyes. He wasn&rsquo;t muscular, so to say, but his body was something Emil was sure women swooned over. Something about his anatomy felt wrong somehow, disturbed Emil a little, and he couldn&rsquo;t quite place what was so unsettling.<br />The man swayed around, hanging forward from one of the creature&rsquo;s fangs with childish animation. His skin, though thinning a bit with age, was still tight against his flesh and practically unblemished, shiny smooth even in a way that reminded him of Vaporeon after she&rsquo;d spent a long day training in the pool. His once platinum blonde hair had simply evolved into a shimmering, silky drape of white. Those eyes, like icy jewels, were bright and soothing as they ever were in his most vivid memories. Perhaps even more so, considering he didn&rsquo;t have the benefit of post processing movie magic.<br />&ldquo;Oh my! Ha! Mr. Gyarados!&rdquo; Emil gasped, starstruck. He wasn&rsquo;t sure he could put up with his adrenaline glands being abused like they were. He covered his mouth and timidly inched towards the man, a skittish child approaching some bright, raging bonfire. &ldquo;Y- You didn&rsquo;t tell me he was actually <span class='underline'>the</span> Mr. Gyarados, Val!&rdquo;<br />She groaned. &ldquo;Y&rsquo;know, for someone so bright, yer a fuckn&rsquo; idiot, Emil!&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon smacked Emilio on the back of the head with her tail.<br />&ldquo;Merci, Sydney, mon amour.&rdquo; Mr. G patted her on the lip, gave her a loving peck on the tooth, and then hopped down to the platform with a heavy metallic clang. &ldquo;Valorie, mon meilleur ami. Vous &ecirc;tes toujours aussi dur et f&eacute;roce!&rdquo;<br />She scoffed and shook her head, arms folded. &ldquo;Casses couilles, Fran&ccedil;ois.&rdquo;<br />He placed his hand to his heart, feigning absolute dismay. &ldquo;Aie! Mon &acirc;me!&rdquo;<br />She smirked and tapped him on the chest with her fist. {Just a soft one, this time.}&rdquo;<br />He risked his life and leaned forward, smooching her on both cheeks. &ldquo;{I am truly glad to see the forests have yet to claim you.}&rdquo;<br />Valorie pushed his face away with what looked like a blush. Maybe. &ldquo;{You&rsquo;re one to talk; surprised the sea hasn&rsquo;t swallowed your stupid-ass up.}<br />He flashed his trademark mischievous, energizing smile. &ldquo;{When Kyogre finally takes me, I will sink that day with a smile.}&rdquo; He turned to Emilio with a calm, welcoming gaze. &ldquo;{And this must be our esteemed} Stone Mason.&rdquo; He gasped and chuckled, shaking his head. &ldquo;My apologies, it would do us well to speak in a tongue all can understand. Bonsoir, my young friend, welcome to my home.&rdquo;<br />Emil took an uncomfortably long time to respond, transmission gears slipping in his mind. &ldquo;B-Bonjour. It&rsquo;s an honor to meet you, Mr. Gyarados, sir.&rdquo;<br />He laughed, wagged a bashful palm, and shook his head again. &ldquo;Please, Mason, my name is Fran&ccedil;ois, and I do hope that one day you shall grace me with yours.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Emilio,&rdquo; Val blurted with complete indifference. Then she folded her arms, slouching against the steel railing. Her ears twitched again, she whipped around, and then shot a paralyzing glare downward. &ldquo;{Don&rsquo;t even try, assberry. I will end you!}&rdquo;<br />Barraskewda, unphased, burbled some incomprehensible monspeech. Then the unblinking, bubbly terror slowly sunk into the murky deep.<br />She nodded with stern approval, then turned back to Fran&ccedil;ois. &ldquo;An&rsquo; believe it or not, Hatchling here&rsquo;s already got his lips.&rdquo;<br />Mr. G gasped. &ldquo;Ouaou! In so short a time?&rdquo;<br />She nodded with pride, pointing a thumb at her smug face. &ldquo;Even less than ya think. Yer&rsquo;s truly started give&rsquo;n lessons just last week. Didn&rsquo;t even need the tapes.&rdquo;<br />One of Emil&rsquo;s childhood heroes laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. &ldquo;I had no idea, Valorie! You should be teaching all the younglings instead of me. What a gifted teacher, Emilio.&rdquo;<br />She chuckled. &ldquo;Nah brother, gifted student. I&#039;m a dull, impatient cuss. Nerd soaked it up like he knew it all along.&rdquo;<br />He looked upon the young man he&rsquo;d only just met in person, nodded his approval, and then wrapped Emil up in a tight Beartic hug. &ldquo;Incroyable, Emilio!&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />He released Emil, who was scared stiff by the sudden, strange texture of the man&rsquo;s skin against his cheek, and bowed low. &ldquo;{But how could I forget to greet such an exquisite beauty?}&rdquo; He reached his palm out towards Vaporeon, averting his gaze, eyes locked to the grating at his feet.<br />Vaporeon instantly recognized the gesture from all the foreign soap-operas she binged on Emmi&rsquo;s laptop in her off time. She let him wrap her paw in his fingers and looked away, only barely glancing back. &ldquo;{A pleasure,} Fran&ccedil;ois.&rdquo;<br />He brought her paw to his lips, kissed it gently, then quickly separated out of respect for her partner. &ldquo;{The pleasure is truly mine. May I ask your name, my young queen.}&rdquo;<br />She raised her paw and blew him a kiss. &ldquo;Vaporeon!&rdquo;<br />His eyes opened, he paused for a moment, and put his hands to his hips. &ldquo;Hehe. {A traditionalist, I see.}&rdquo;<br />Emil flushed some and looked away. &ldquo;{Is that bad?}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Hahaha! {Not in the slightest. I did not have man-name for} Sydney {until my producers said it was good for ratings, then it just ended up staying with us.}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Mmmhmm,&rdquo; Sydney rumbled as she floated around the catwalks in an oriental circle.<br />Val nodded. &ldquo;{Yeah, my boy&rsquo;s name stuck before I learned to get by without.}&rdquo;<br />Emil&rsquo;s head tilted. &ldquo;{So, wait, how do you know who is who?}&rdquo;<br />Val&rsquo;s eyebrow raised. &ldquo;{Whadd&rsquo;ya mean?}&rdquo;<br />Emil struggled with her informal &lsquo;monspeech, but made it through. &ldquo;{If I yell out &lsquo;Vaporeon,&rsquo; how does someone know which one I want?}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{Ah, right. Well: scent, body language, eye movement, direction of motion, just read&rsquo;n the room,}&rdquo; Val counted off on her fingers.<br />In traditional Mr. Gyarados fashion he waved his hand with a little flourish. &ldquo;{Do not forget} Kin-Prosody.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{Get outta here with that fancy word, It&rsquo;s called a true-name,}&rdquo; Valorie said.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois shook his head. &ldquo;{You haven&rsquo;t told him? It is the most fundamental and important part of a Pokemon&rsquo;s} onomastic profile.&rdquo;<br />Val bobbed her head left and right, conceding, then raised another brow while pointing to Emil. &ldquo;{Not for him it isn&rsquo;t.}&rdquo;<br />Emil began feeling small, confused at the technical terminology playing with the wet-concrete of his new language settling upstairs. &ldquo;{Sorry. What is} Kin-Prosody, {exactly?}&rdquo;<br />Mr. Gyarados smiled and raised a single index finger towards the ceiling. &ldquo;{I will explain this in common tongue, since &lsquo;monspeech is still new to you.} Kin-Prosody is the intricate differences in tone, pitch, timbre, loudness, and length of individual elements in a Pokemon&rsquo;s kin-name that make up their true-name. There are many other differences, such as exact hertz frequency, or even amount of air breathed out between syllables, but humans usually cannot distinguish these elements.&rdquo;<br />Emil slumped his shoulders, suddenly feeling very, very Mmareepish. &ldquo;{You mean she actually has a name and I have not been using it?}&rdquo;<br />The teacher walked closer to the student, his face softening with understanding. &ldquo;{Indeed you have, but it is understandable; Pokemon raised in captivity often do not realize it themselves.} He gestured to Vaporeon. &ldquo;{My dear, what are you?}&rdquo;<br />She perked up and raised her paw. &ldquo;Vaporeon!&rdquo; she said, simple and straightforward as could be.<br />He waved a hand to get Emil&rsquo;s attention, then brought his mouth up to Emil&rsquo;s ear to whisper, &ldquo;{now listen very carefully.}&rdquo;<br />With the exact same motion as before, Fran&ccedil;ois gestured to Vaporeon. &ldquo;{My dear, <span class='underline'>who</span> are you? What is your name?}&rdquo;<br />She opened her mouth to talk, hesitated for a brief moment, head fins flitting around, then she brightened up and said, &ldquo;Va<em>y</em>poreon<em>uh</em>!&rdquo;<br />Emil almost didn&rsquo;t catch it, and his anthropocentric mind struggled like someone missing their glasses would on a spot-the-differences puzzle. But he did hear something, and tried his best to mimic her. &ldquo;Va<em>i</em>poreon<em>eh</em>?&rdquo;<br />She nuzzled his cheek. &ldquo;{Close.}&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois nodded, deciding it was time to move on. &ldquo;{You will get it in time. True-names and scent are the instinctual signatures of Pokemon social structure, humans struggle with them.}&rdquo;<br />Val leaned her head forward, raising both brows. &ldquo;{See why she calls you} &lsquo;Emmi,&rsquo; {now?}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon rubbed her chin, deeply processing as if she&rsquo;d just been told something she should have already known, and then smiled as she realized it.<br />Emil nodded, soaking it all up in a bit of a daze. &ldquo;{She is giving me a true-name, like how people give Pokemon&hellip; what did you call it, a &lsquo;man-name?}&rsquo;&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{In her mind, since kin-names are ingrained at birth, you are an} &lsquo;Emilio,&rsquo; {and she naturally wants to distinguish you from any other} Emilios {she may come across. You don&rsquo;t do it yourself, so she did it for you.}&rdquo;<br />She purred. &ldquo;{Oh, so} Sweetie {and} Honey {are my man-names!}&rdquo;<br />Emil blushed and kissed her on the cheek. <em>Not intentionally, but there&rsquo;s no turning back now,</em> he thought. <em>Roll with it.</em><br />&ldquo;{Speaking of} &lsquo;Honeys,&rsquo; {where&#039;s mine, Old Man?}&rdquo; Val asked and sniffed the air. &ldquo;{He&rsquo;s around for sure.}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{Ah, yes. Come, come, let us get to a more comfortable place. Well, more comfortable for you two. This is practically my bedroom.} Haha.&rdquo; Fran&ccedil;ois beckoned them towards a hatch leading down to the ground floor. &ldquo;Sydney, {my love. I shall return to you soon.}&rdquo;<br />She rumbled, swirled around in the air, and then dove down into the tank, kicking up a mighty torrent.<br />At the bottom of the ladder, Emil stopped him as they were making their way through a door into an employee only area. &ldquo;Mr&hellip; Um, Fran&ccedil;ois, sir. I&rsquo;m sorry to ask and I really hope you don&rsquo;t take this the wrong way, but don&rsquo;t you think you&rsquo;re being really reckless?&rdquo; he said in commontongue since he struggled to find the words in &lsquo;mon.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois looked back for a moment as he punched the code to another magnetically locked security door. &ldquo;I am intimate only in private, or around others of my own kind. The same as you.&rdquo; He smirked a little, shimmering eyes glancing backward. &ldquo;In fact, I&rsquo;ve heard you&rsquo;ve been reckless yourself lately, Mr. Car-in-the-Park.&rdquo;<br />Emil whispered his gratitude to Valorie as she held the door open for him, then fidgeted with his hands as he tried to make it as nice as he could. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think your username online is kinda dangerous? I mean, it leaves little to the imagination.&rdquo;<br />One final solid steel security door was shoved open and they were painted with the colors of dusk. &ldquo;Did you suspect it was me in the first place? I find that hiding in the open is often the best disguise.&rdquo;<br />Valorie chuckled as Emil mumbled something to himself and stopped talking.&nbsp;<br />The pearly haired man stood straight before them, still in his diving suit, out in a concrete lot riveted with a network of warehouse structures stretching out before them as far as the eye could see. &ldquo;Besides, I&rsquo;ve already paid the price for the life I&rsquo;ve led&hellip;&rdquo;<br />Emilio got a good look at his body and finally spotted what it was that bothered him. It wasn&rsquo;t the unnatural feeling of his flesh, the metallic shimmering of his eyes, nor the fact that he wasn&rsquo;t exactly sure how the man managed to stay underwater so long without scuba gear. Emil&rsquo;s gaze made it down to the man&rsquo;s hips, to the space between his legs, and realized that it was completely flat. No bulge where one should have been.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois&rsquo; homely demeanor stiffened up a bit, a dourness sneaking through where joviality once stood. &ldquo;{Justice here in Kalos does not work the same as it does back in Hoenn,} Emilio. {Especially when noble reputation is at stake.}&rdquo; He wasn&rsquo;t sure, but Emil thought he saw a wetness starting to well up in his eyes. &ldquo;{I am intimately acquainted with how careful our kind must be.}&rdquo;<br />The only colors left in Emil&rsquo;s face were painted on by the peachy twilit sky.<br />The Old Man snapped back into his playful demeanor and cupped his hands around his mouth. &ldquo;Olly olly Uxie free!&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Aaaugh, Fuck!&rdquo; From out of nowhere, an orange blur knocked Valorie a few feet to the left, sending her tumbling across the pavement.<br />Fenny had his arms and legs wrapped around Val, nuzzling her chest, totally consumed with happiness like an addict with a fresh supply of their poison of choice. &ldquo;Furrrah,&rdquo; he trilled. &ldquo;{I missed you so much.}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{Gods, I was only gone for an hour, pipsqueak!}&rdquo; Valorie barked. Despite her protests, she kissed him between the ears and hugged his head firmly against her chest.<br />Both Emil and Fran&ccedil;ois laughed at the scene, and then Emil stopped laughing as Fenny&rsquo;s golden eyes locked onto him. The wild mon scurried right up to his ankles, smelling his shoes, traced his nose up the pant legs, ending around his waist, then recoiled with his hackles raised.<br />He growled, low and malign, &ldquo;{Is this the} Reeechard?&rdquo; with fangs bared, claws protracted, and licks of flame dancing around his fluff.<br />Vaporeon glowered down at him from Emilio&rsquo;s shoulder with an hollow, icy stare, &ldquo;{Don&rsquo;t you dare.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny&rsquo;s volcanic fury was quenched the instant he felt the immensity of her energies, crushed flat with her presence alone. He shrunk in her gaze, and his ears folded back in terror.<br />Valorie pulled him up by his scruff with a frustrated growl. &ldquo;{No, this is an,}&rdquo; <span class='underline'>Emilio</span>, &ldquo;{and <span class='underline'>he</span> is a <span class='underline'>good boy</span>. This is his <span class='underline'>mate</span>, Vaporeon,}&rdquo; she said, pronouncing Vaporeon&rsquo;s true-name with perfect precision, &ldquo;{and <span class='underline'>she</span> can snuff you out with a sneeze, so be <span class='underline'>nice</span>.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny&rsquo;s ears flagged up as he listened to Valorie, looking up not with frustration, or embarrassment, but with complete obedience. &ldquo;{That&rsquo;s not too hard to say. Not like,} Rheechard.&rdquo; He said Richard&rsquo;s name with a rumbling of irritation. However, any sign of hostility towards Emilio had left him entirely and he smiled, tail wagging as he popped his staff down against the ground with pride. &ldquo;{Hi there, I&rsquo;m Delphox. My mate calls me,} Fenny. {And you can too, if you want.}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon&rsquo;s shoulders relaxed and she smiled cooly at him. &ldquo;{Hello,} Fenny,&rdquo; she said in a low, sultry tone.<br />Fenny shivered. &ldquo;Aaah&hellip; {Your voice is so nice!}&rdquo;<br />She wagged her paw and shook her head, giggling.<br />Emilio raised his palm and looked up at Val. &ldquo;{Can I touch him? I&rsquo;ve never seen a Delphox in person before.}&rdquo;<br />She shrugged. &ldquo;{Ask him. He&rsquo;s not my pet, dude.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny chuckled and nodded. &ldquo;{Yeah, you can touch me. I like my ears rubbed,}&rdquo; he started pressing his head against Emil&rsquo;s hand, threading fiery gouts of fluff through his fingers, &ldquo;{just like that.}&rdquo;<br />While Emil was busy fiddling with Fenny&rsquo;s fluff, Fran&ccedil;ois walked up to Valorie and placed his hand on her shoulder. &ldquo;{How have you been feeling?}&rdquo; he asked in hushed tones.<br />Val looked away and brushed a strand of hair or two out of her eyes. &ldquo;{Alright, I guess. Heart&rsquo;s still beating. Not struggling for food or anything.}&rdquo;<br />He shook his head. &ldquo;{No, my dearest friend. You know what I am talking about.}&rdquo;<br />She sighed and shook her head. &ldquo;{Pangoro won&rsquo;t touch me anymore. I&rsquo;m sure he knows what he saw, got a clue at the very least, he&rsquo;s smarter than he looks. Says he&rsquo;s getting too old to be filling holes for fun. He&rsquo;s lying, of course, bless him.}&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois held both her arms looking into her eyes. &ldquo;{But you are healthy, no complications?}&rdquo;<br />Val&rsquo;s normal steadiness washed away from her face for a moment. &ldquo;{Nah, I feel ok. Just a bloody mess one day out in the drops, after that my cycle went back to normal.}&rdquo; She huffed and her lips tightened into a sad grimace. &ldquo;{Just stings, is all. I told him it&#039;s rare, beyond rare, isn&rsquo;t even supposed to happen. He hasn&rsquo;t said anything to anymon else, but I catch him smelling me once and a while for signs of it weeks after the Lucario males come home and need some relief.}<br />The Old Man wrapped his arms around her, lovingly, like a grandfather might. &ldquo;{Have you told your mate?}&rdquo;<br />She rolled her shoulders and rubbed a calloused wrist against her nose. &ldquo;{No. Please don&rsquo;t, it&rsquo;d break his heart.}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Frrrrrr,&rdquo; Fenny purred as he reached for Emilio&rsquo;s palm, holding it delicately in his claws. &ldquo;Ennnilio, {is a good human, nice human, good mate too I bet.}&rdquo; He licked Emil&rsquo;s palm and sniffed his wrist. He coughed a little but continued. &ldquo;{That&rsquo;s that fake human musk isn&rsquo;t it? My mate brought that home once. Hurts my nose. Ooooh, there it is. You smell like caves, like roots and reeds and&hellip; the ocean? Nooo, that&#039;s her. Hehe, you must like each other a lot.}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon smooshed her face against Emi&rsquo;s cheek, choking him in a tight neck-hug. &ldquo;Mmmm, {Yes.}&rdquo;<br />Emil, looked left, then right, and awkwardly leaned forward. He brought his face close to Fenny&rsquo;s fur, wanting to catch a whiff of Val&rsquo;s partner. The mon didn&rsquo;t protest, even pressed against him to show he approved. He breathed in and his nostrils were completely blasted, burned through with a musk of Lavender and Charcoal again. <em>Ooh, that&rsquo;s who I was smelling earlier,</em> he thought. But that wasn&rsquo;t the end of it, not even remotely. Images of damp bark, smoldering maple coals in a dying campfire, and drying bundles of wildflowers hanging in the summer flashed across his mind&#039;s eye before he ran headfirst into some indescribable medley of odors that permeated the undertones.<br /><em>What was that?</em><br />Fenny noticed him hanging there, lightly sniffing again and again, brow furrowing as he mumbled to himself. He pulled himself away from Emil and whispered into his ear, &ldquo;{That&rsquo;s family.}&rdquo; Then he noticed Valorie was returning to him and he scurried to her side, searching her pockets with his nose.<br />Emil looked up as Fran&ccedil;ois wandered towards him again. &ldquo;When you said &lsquo;our kind,&rsquo; what exactly did you mean?&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Well, Pokephiles, of course,&rdquo; Fran&ccedil;ois said without batting an eyelash.<br />Emilio straightened himself up, starting to feel a little worn out from a full day of carrying Vaporeon on his shoulders. &ldquo;I thought we didn&rsquo;t like that term.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just what we say to prospects while we&rsquo;re feeln&rsquo; em out,&rdquo; Valorie said, grunting in frustration as Fenny furretted a plastic wrapped, jelly filled turnover from one of her pouches.<br />&ldquo;Prospects?&rdquo; he asked in return.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois breathed in, ready to lecture again. &ldquo;Not everyone that wants to, or even most that have copulated with Pokemon are true Pokephiles. The term was coined in the early days of medicine, when they found a few of us and studied us like lab rattata. Only later did the term get adopted as a moralistic slur. Our bodies are extremely sensitive to the natural energies radiated by Pokemon, so much so that strange things start to happen to our bodies and minds. In addition, without exception, Pokephiles are sexually attracted to Pokemon, and no peer reviewed attempts by man to change this have resulted in success. There are other things, such as the telltale sense of smell,&rdquo; he paused, touching his nose, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s the overview. We are extremely rare and the condition is not genetic, as far as the little research done on the subject has concluded, anyway.&rdquo;<br />Emil stood, transfixed, with a still longing look on his face.<br />&ldquo;But that does not get to the core of the matter, does it? C&#039;est ma faute. I will level with you; it is my mission, now that my life is in its setting sun, to find others like me. To help them get to where they are safe from harm. Normally we thoroughly vet candidates, meet them in person where they live, to explain what is likely to happen to them should they decide to pursue their natural urges. That way they can choose for themselves whether to accept the risks.&rdquo;<br />Mr. G smirked. &ldquo;Though, I will admit, I am a bit biased in the matter. No lovers should ever be separated from each other, no matter how different, and nobody should be pressed into servitude. I am, of course, a little disappointed to see that Pokeball on your belt, Emilio. Normally I require those who accept my help to relinquish their capture devices, but all the others I&rsquo;m sure would be willing to bend the rules for you, given your exceptional circumstances, so I would be as well.&rdquo;<br />Emil&rsquo;s eyes slowly sank to the ground, then they snapped back up to Fran&ccedil;ois. &ldquo;Wait, so&hellip; Boltund wasn&rsquo;t&hellip;&rdquo;<br />Mr. Gyarados shook his head. &ldquo;Our efforts in Hoenn were getting upended for a while. We knew that a Diglett had wormed its way into our community, we just didn&rsquo;t know who, and so we were working on eliminating our suspects. I will admit, I had hoped it was you; just one of many new, faceless, throwaway names created to sweep people under the rug. The truth was a much harder pill to swallow.&rdquo; His cheek tightened into a lopsided scowl.<br />Valorie spat and stamped the wet spot down with her boot like a discarded cigarette.<br />Emil nodded. &ldquo;So, the guy finding your prospects was the one getting everybody caught.&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois stared out into the field of warehouse buildings, white hair swaying as his head bobbed in disgust. &ldquo;We helped get him away from his abusive family. We guided him, helped to get him through college, loved him like family. I brought him here, to my home, and gave him the gift I am about to offer you. Even after all that, he betrayed our trust.&rdquo;<br />Val managed to tear a chunk of turnover away for herself as Fenny growled in protest. &ldquo;Ingrate. Lucky he didn&rsquo;t drop dixies on the rest of us.&rdquo;<br />Her Old Man rumbled in his throat, suddenly beginning to sound hoarse and parched. &ldquo;I do not think he would ever do that, there would have been much more damage if he had. He disappeared for a while, probably him getting caught, and then made a deal with the police; chose to sacrifice the new people instead of the old guard so he could feel better about the whole thing. Honestly, Valorie, you were right. I should have listened to you and I am sorry.&rdquo;<br />Val nodded sternly. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s aight; learned. Maybe this here Blipbug can help now. Can&rsquo;t say any of the other &lsquo;philes are as good with computer-boxes as he is.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon nodded. &ldquo;{You bet he will! Right,} Emmi?&rdquo;<br />His mind felt like half-kneaded dough, stringy and solid but full of holes. &ldquo;{Are you sure? We only just met them in person.}&rdquo;<br />He yipped as his lover bit his ear. &ldquo;{They showed us their bellies, brought you to their den, and they&rsquo;re about to give us a gift. No Emmi of mine would be so ungrateful. We&rsquo;re better than that!}&rdquo;<br />He nodded, and kissed her cheek. &ldquo;{Right. Ok,} Honey.&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois couldn&rsquo;t help but burst into a fit of dry throated laughter. &ldquo;{Too adorable. It always warms my heart to see such a strong foundation to a young nest. May your roost be always warm and full.}&rdquo; It was not difficult to tell that the once rich color of his flesh was starting to go pallid.&nbsp;<br />Emil&rsquo;s head suddenly shook, perhaps in some desperate attempt to wake up from whatever enigmatic fever dream he was having. &ldquo;Thank you, sir. That means a lot hearing it from you. Hey, um&hellip; sorry, but are you ok?&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois took Emil by the shoulder and started walking them down the concrete grid of buildings, coughing a little. &ldquo;I will be fine. I just need to stay hydrated a bit more than everyone else. I will return to the tanks soon and be right as rain.&rdquo;<br />The Old Man turned his head to Valorie and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to give him the offer. Sydney and I would love to have you here tonight after so long, but I understand you have other engagements this evening?&rdquo;<br />Val groaned. &ldquo;Unfortunately. Ciao, P&egrave;re.&rdquo; Then she nodded at Emil and flashed him a peace sign. &ldquo;C&rsquo;ya, Hatchling.&rdquo;<br />As she started marching, Fenny tugged on Valorie&rsquo;s fatigues, bringing her head down to his muzzle. He whispered something to her and she listened carefully, nodding as she scratched a flake of biscuit off her cheek. She shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets as she continued to make her exit. &ldquo;{Sure, why not? But just remember, you&rsquo;re all mine until the moon comes up black, pretty boy.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny&rsquo;s paws balled up into excited little fists with a dopey smile on his face. &ldquo;Brrrrrah! {Yay! I&rsquo;ll catch up in a bit, my lovely, lovely mate.}&rdquo; Then he hunched down and broke into a sprint on all fours, intercepting Emil and Vaporeon.<br />Vaporeon looked down at him with a curious expression, head tilted, paws kneading her Emmi&rsquo;s muscles to relax a few knots of tension. &ldquo;{Oh. We forgot to say goodbye! How rude of us! It was wonderful meeting you,} Fenny.&rdquo;<br />Emil nodded, and rubbed Fenny between the ears the way he enjoyed. &ldquo;{Yeah, I hope we see you again.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny nodded, nuzzled Emil&rsquo;s palm, then looked up at Vaporeon with wide, enthusiastic eyes. &ldquo;{Miss Vaporeon, you&rsquo;re so very pretty, it really is unbelievable. Looking at you is like gazing up on a clear, full moon night.}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon wagged her paw at him and looked away, blushing furiously, but not away enough that she couldn&rsquo;t glance back with a cool smile of her own. &ldquo;{Oh my,} Prrrrrrr, {that&rsquo;s so flattering, Delphox, Thank you.}&rdquo; She giggled, barely containing herself as she brushed one of her head fins back. &ldquo;{I was thinking you&rsquo;re not so bad looking yourself, handsome.}&rdquo;<br />Emil noticed a strange tension tying knots in his belly as the two &lsquo;mon chittered away.<br />Fenny&rsquo;s tail wagged and he inched closer, bowing a little, head tilted in a cute display. &ldquo;{I was wondering&hellip;}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon grinned as she waited for what this charming little Delphox had to say with her chin resting on her paws, tail slowly floating back and forth across Emil&rsquo;s chest. &ldquo;{Yes?}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{I&hellip;}&rdquo; he cleared his throat, then found his courage as he put his paws together. &ldquo;{I was wondering, someday, not right now, but later&hellip;would you like to mate with me?}&rdquo;<br />Emil&rsquo;s eyes shot open and his jaw dropped.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois&rsquo; brow raised. &ldquo;Quoi?&rdquo; he uttered under his breath<br />Her tail started wagging a little faster as she covered her mouth with her paws, stuck giggling in a fit of red-faced bashfulness. She covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling and all the protrusions attached to her head folded back like an umbrella closing. &ldquo;{Goodness&hellip;}&rdquo;<br />Emil glared at the Pokemon standing before him, doing his level best to hold back his shock and anger. The gall this little shit had, walking up to someone while their mate is standing here and-<br />&ldquo;{Why, yes, I think I would,} Fenny.&rdquo; Vaporeon cooed, stood up, stretched her back, and then hopped down from Emil&rsquo;s shoulders.<br />Emil&rsquo;s eyes shot open and his jaw dropped again.<br />Fenny yipped as Vaporeon slowly, powerfully, sensually, rubbed herself against him. Emil exhaled like he&rsquo;d been punched in the stomach when he suddenly noticed he could smell her mating pheromones in full force, freshly secreted, smearing Fenny with lusty affection. She started from her nose, then her neck, the shoulders, her whole flank, her hips, the entire length of her tail, and her fins. She was practically coiled around him by the time she stood on her haunches, slithered up his body, wrapped her paws around the plush fur of his shoulders, and brought her mouth up to breathe hot, steaming words into his ears. &ldquo;{When Emmi&rsquo;s given me a clutch or two, I&rsquo;d be delighted to,}&rdquo; she said, running one of her claws down his shoulders and across his chest.<br />Fenny shuddered, struggling just to maintain his heavy, labored breathing, suddenly finding himself utterly unable to say or do a single gods damned thing.<br />&ldquo;Whaaa!&rdquo; Emil blurted, unable to keep his horror inside any longer. He&rsquo;d seen her flirt with Jimmy before, but she told him that she did that to keep peoples&rsquo; eyes away from the truth. He believed her too. She wasn&rsquo;t playing this time, he knew it, and that thought ignited a fiery anger that boiled his blood.<br />Vaporeon smiled playfully. She knew this tasty specimen courting her was, in every conceivable way, totally helpless in her clutches. She had countless others compliment her looks, that just proved there was nothing new under the sun, but his words had sounded so genuine and flattering she couldn&rsquo;t help but be enticed. Countless others still had openly professed their desire to breed with her, something she was beginning to grow quite tired of, but it was fun to tease them when they did and leave them stranded in a sea of sexual stasis. But Fenny was shy, timid, gentle, and yet somehow he had mustered the courage to ask her for sex so boldly, so straightforwardly, so right there in front of her mate. And, well, he <span class='underline'>was</span> attractive. <em>goodness just look at those eyes</em>, she thought. <em>Alright little &lsquo;mon, let&rsquo;s dance.</em><br />She pressed her belly against him, wiggled her butt, and brushed her canines against the flesh of his neck. &ldquo;{You wanna see this tummy fat with your eggs, don&rsquo;t you?}&rdquo;<br />He huffed, already choked with intense allure, swallowing mouthfuls of her presence in labored gulps and panting as though he&rsquo;d ran for miles without stopping. &ldquo;{Y-yeah&hellip;}&rdquo;<br />She nodded sharply with a calm smile, slipped away from Fenny&rsquo;s body, and then smacked him on the ass with her tail. &ldquo;{Then you&rsquo;ll just have to wait your turn, cutie.}&rdquo;<br />Fenny fainted and collapsed to the ground.<br />&ldquo;V-Vaporeon! D-D-Distortion damn!&rdquo; Emil was weak at the knees. She&rsquo;d promised to cheat on him, just like that, without a single gram of hesitation or shame.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois buckled over laughing and wiped tears from his eyes, gasping for air.<br />Emil jerked toward the Old Man. &ldquo;What could possibly be so funny about this?!&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;That you thought this entire time that Pokemon were monogamous is what,&rdquo; Fran&ccedil;ois said, dealing with a few rogue stomach aching laughs, like when you almost lost your hiccups.<br />Vaporeon secreted more fresh Pheromone, leapt up onto his shoulders, and smooched his cheek. The intoxicating smell was comforting, but he was still angry, hurt, the white hot anger inside him now just felt like a brick of ice in his belly.&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong, Emmi?&rdquo; she asked. She could feel when her mate was feeling bad and all her alarms were ringing off.<br />He looked away from her. &ldquo;{I thought I was your one and only.}&rdquo;<br />She tilted her head, totally perplexed. &ldquo;{Why would I do that? There are other magnificent males out there too, and I want them all in my nest!}&rdquo;<br />Mr. Gyarados, feeling another lesson coming on, placed a gentle hand on Emil&rsquo;s shoulder, taking the opportunity to pet Vaporeon&rsquo;s tail and got smacked on the palm for it. &ldquo;{My dear, you might not have caught on, but humans have made a habit of taking one mate only.}&rdquo;<br />She pulled her head back in shock. She had no idea. No humans she knew acted like that. Richard had brought home two mates in the last couple months alone, she never did see the humans in the lab do anything sexy at all, Emmi had one mate before he met her, Jun didn&rsquo;t have a mate because she couldn&rsquo;t groom herself, the poor thing, and everyone had sex with everyone else in those soaps she watched on Emmi&rsquo;s computer. &ldquo;{No way!}&rdquo; she barked.<br />&ldquo;{Yes way.} Ahem, anyway, Emilio, this is something you absolutely need to accept. I&rsquo;m actually extremely grateful to Fenny here for bringing this to light, since it&#039;s one of the major pain points of being a Pokephile with a mate.&rdquo;<br />Fenny shook his muzzle, scraped himself up off the concrete, and waved goodbye. Vaporeon blew a kiss at him and he nearly fell over again, covering his face. Then he scurried off at full tilt to find Val.<br />&ldquo;{You&rsquo;re still my} Emmi. {My one and only} Emmi, {I will always love you as much as I do now, probably even more!}&rdquo; she said, gently squeezing his neck with her tail. &ldquo;{But why wouldn&rsquo;t I mate with such a wonderful male? Especially one that&rsquo;s a friend. He can&rsquo;t be in my nest, unfortunately, but it&#039;s quite nice of} Val {to share.}&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois continued. &ldquo;{Indeed it is.} See, a Pokemon &lsquo;Nest&rsquo; isn&rsquo;t just a couple that makes eggs together, people think that because the media anthropomorphizes them, it&#039;s easier for kids and squeamish adults to understand.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;No, you see a nest is better described as a collection of actively or inactively breeding Pokemon and their offspring. Starting off it is a couple, obviously, but after a while members of the nest start to collect other &lsquo;mon they are comfortable breeding with. Then they have children. Those children take on mates and they have children. Then the children of two siblings of the original breeding couple mate and have children. Then one of the youngest hatchlings manages to impress a first generation child and <span class='underline'>they</span> have children. Maybe some of the members leave to start their own nests, or join others, but most will stay. Pokemon families inevitably reach this critical mass, where the concept of generations becomes totally useless, and all you&rsquo;re left with is a single, interbreeding community, a &lsquo;Nest.&rsquo;&rdquo;<br />Emil recoiled a bit as he considered just a few of the many infinite incestuous degeneracies this made possible.<br />The old man waved his hand, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s true, and it doesn&rsquo;t matter to &lsquo;mon at all. Inbreeding is one of the glues holding their social structures together. This constant reproductive eb and blow is actually a key element in ensuring the group maintains healthy genetic diversity. Forcing Pokemon to avoid mating with their children and grandchildren is completely unnatural, and some more recent research suggests it is harmful to their wellbeing.&rdquo;<br />He turned to Vaporeon and smiled. &ldquo;{You have barely founded a nest and you&rsquo;re already itching to start a tribe? You are an exceptional matriarch in the making, Vaporeon, but do slow down a bit; love is not a race, it is a marathon.}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{Then how come you keep freaking out when I get near any other females?}&rdquo; Emil yowled with confused indignance.<br />Vaporeon scowled, and started whapping him playfully on the skull with her tail in time with her words. &ldquo;{Because <span class='underline'>you</span> haven&rsquo;t given <span class='underline'>me</span> any <span class='underline'>babies</span> yet!}&rdquo; She turned to Fran&ccedil;ois, pointing to Emil. &ldquo;Gyarados Man, how long until he changes enough to give me babies!&rdquo; she asked in frustrated, shaky common tongue.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois sighed, and Emil could see in the old man&rsquo;s face that something about the question bothered him a little. &ldquo;Never, my dear. I am sorry, but it will never happen. If you were in a different egg group there is a miniscu&hellip;&rdquo; He stopped himself from talking, shook his head, and cleared his throat. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t go into it, it is a lot of incredibly boring biochemistry and statistics.&rdquo;<br />Emil brightened up at that. &ldquo;I like lots of incredibly boring things, sir.&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois chuckled, and then coughed. &ldquo;Well, I don&rsquo;t think we should go into it right now. We are running out of time. Long story short, it is impossible. {I&rsquo;m sorry, Vaporeon, but his seed will never bear fruit in your soil.}&rdquo;<br />She wilted at that, but, in her typical defiant fashion, she clenched her paws and smacked them together with a look of determination. <em>My Emmi is the smartest creature I know, not including father,</em> she thought, <em>he can find a way.</em> &ldquo;{I don&rsquo;t care what the weird fish man says, you will give me eggs,} Emmi.&rdquo;<br />Emil appreciated the usual flow of overwhelming affection, and her irrational faith in his powers of fertility, but he was still wrestling with the very visceral and real sensation of jealousy deep in his guts. On the other hand, though, knowing it was part of Vaporeon&rsquo;s psyche was helpful in easing his frustration. She didn&rsquo;t do that because she didn&rsquo;t love him or that she wanted to hurt him or didn&rsquo;t care about him, at least that&rsquo;s what she and Fran&ccedil;ois were saying. She was doing it because deep within her there were powerful instincts compelling her to seek out healthy, good, compatible members to bring into the nest. Could he deal with that? Seriously, <span class='underline'>could</span> he?&nbsp;<br />Fenny was the first, but he certainly wouldn&rsquo;t be the last &lsquo;mon that managed to impress her. Wait, she said she wanted babies. Perhaps Fenny could give her what she wanted. They wouldn&rsquo;t be <span class='underline'>his</span> babies but that was never a possibility anyway. Could he trust that some other &lsquo;mon would respect him and his home if he couldn&rsquo;t have children with his mate? His home was the nest, as far as he was aware, and he&rsquo;d worked very hard to make it a happy, comfortable place to live! Could he stand to witness his mate, loudly&hellip; enthusiastically&hellip; fucking some other male while he did literally anything else nearby? Could he raise that male&rsquo;s kids as his own?<br />Vaporeon woke him from his ruminations with a nibble of the ear. &ldquo;{I can see it bothers you. I&rsquo;m sorry, I had no idea, but I know we&rsquo;ll make it work out.}&rdquo;<br />Emil nodded, stroking her along her favorite spot just behind the fins. &ldquo;{Let&rsquo;s say everyone needs to agree before we add people to our nest, ok?}&rdquo;<br />She thought, tilted her head left, then right, and then she nuzzled Emil with a smile. &ldquo;{Ok!}&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois raised his chin, bottom lip pursed. &ldquo;That is a big concession for a strong willed matriarch like her to give. You are a lucky man, Emilio. No doubt about it, you two will be together until the bitter end,&rdquo; he said, walking them both over to one of the thousands of concrete buildings dotting the landscape. He coughed loudly, dry in the throat, and shook his head. &ldquo;Alright, here we are.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Where is &lsquo;here?&rsquo;&rdquo; Emil asked, not with any sort of derision, but genuine curiosity.<br />&ldquo;Riiiight&hellip;.here. You see, there is something I always eventually offer to people I help, at least once. I believe it is incredibly important, and not all of the Pokephiles in our community get the opportunity very often. My apologies for the rambling, I am just incredibly anxious to show you this,&rdquo; Fran&ccedil;ois said, reaching for a sturdy steel handlebar on a massive security door with the number 312 spray painted on with a stencil.<br />&ldquo;{What is &lsquo;this&rsquo;?}&rdquo; Vaporeon asked.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois smacked his head. &ldquo;Again, I&rsquo;ve moved past you. Ok. Remember when you two made love in the car out in the park? I bet that was fantastic, wasn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;<br />Emil wanted to curl up into a tiny, mortified singularity and disappear from reality.<br />Vaporeon raised her paw, happily stroking Emil&rsquo;s Ponytail. &ldquo;{It was the <span class='underline'>best</span>!}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Yes. Well, tell me, little lady. How would you like it if you could make love with your Emmi wherever you damn well pleased, whenever you damn well pleased, as many times as you damn well pleased?&rdquo;<br />She didn&rsquo;t say a thing, but the intense hunger in her eyes spoke volumes.<br />The Old Man nodded. &ldquo;As I suspected. Hehehe. Emilio, if you accept this offer, you are agreeing to accept our assistance. You will be joining a global community of people just like yourself who look after each other like family, and we would expect you to look after us too.&rdquo;<br />He pushed against the lacquered metal surface as hard as he could and the platesteel hatch slowly opened with a hiss. Hot, fragrant, humid air spilled out and crashed into them, sending Emil&rsquo;s mind buzzing with a bomb of new odors while Fran&ccedil;ois ushered them inside.<br />It was like Fran&ccedil;ois had teleported them to some distant, exotic, untouched corner of the world. Behind him was the door, built into a muddy cliff face in a way that meshed with the landscape when closed. The doorway let in a light that pierced the alien place with a warm ray of Kalosian sunlight.<br />It was a lush tropical rainforest. Completely different flora sprouted up from soft, ruddy soil. Thick trunked trees with tough fronds provided shade from the massive UV heat light built onto a rail system in the barely visible ceiling up above. There was an omnipresent, misty haze hanging in the air, conjuring wisps of fog that phased in and out of existence. Most impressively, however, there was a large, rushing creek that started up some hill he couldn&rsquo;t see the end of, fell over a cliff, creating a scenic waterfall that filled a cluster of deep pools connected into one massive, crystal clear cenote. He peered across the jungle, trying to get a closer look, but even the shallow glimpse he managed to steal hinted at the massive system of branching limestone caverns flooded with water so clear it made float-glass cry.<br />The scope of the environment was absolutely incredible, unbelievable, unsettlingly so&hellip;<br />Vaporeon&rsquo;s mouth was agape, her eyes were wide as headlights, her nose was knocked senseless with new sensations, and she almost didn&rsquo;t notice herself slowly kneading at the earth with excitement. She looked up at her mate with head fins flapping uncontrollably, clutching at his pant leg with a shaky paw. &ldquo;Emmi, {this place is&hellip; It&rsquo;s incredible&hellip; It&rsquo;s like nothing I&rsquo;ve ever seen, but why does it feel so familiar?}&rdquo; she chittered, unaware her fast, imprecise speech was confusing to her mate.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois stood with his arms behind his back, letting the two of them take it all in. &ldquo;That is a common feeling, my dear. You were raised and evolved in captivity. In the wild, Eevee naturally evolve into Vapreon in environments exactly like this. You have never seen this place, but your body and mind have yearned to return here all the same. Of the hundreds of breeding habitats we operate, I selected this because I thought it would be to your liking, {Vaporeon.}&rdquo;<br />She spun around, mouth still hanging open. &ldquo;{I love it, everything about it.}&rdquo;<br />Emil stroked the waxy frond of a huge, bulbous plant. &ldquo;Breeding habitats?&rdquo;<br />He nodded. &ldquo;Yes. There are costs to running the most expansive aquatic research center on the planet, Emil. Among the many ways the facility pays for its existence, we book these chambers out as luxury breeding chambers to Pokemon &lsquo;owners&rsquo; who can afford the price tag.&rdquo; He said the word &lsquo;owners&rsquo; with unconcealed revulsion. &ldquo;We also lease them out to Pokemon researchers trying to study newly discovered species. We have gone to the greatest of lengths to ensure they are as close to replicating their target ecosystem as modern science allows.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;And, of course, cameras are installed only by formal request,&rdquo; he added.<br />Emil gawked. He was amazed by the feats of engineering in the main building, but the requirements to maintain the standards Fran&ccedil;ois touted for these chambers were so patently absurd that if it were anyone else making those claims he would have called the whole thing bulbashit. The only unnatural things he could spot were the supports holding up the ceiling, and in all directions there was jungle, or rocks, or water, or all of the above in limitless combination. The lengths they had to have gone to make this place a reality truly boggled his mind.<br />&ldquo;And this is where you will be staying tonight, if you wish.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon gasped at the news and leapt in front of Fran&ccedil;ois. &ldquo;{Yes, we&rsquo;re staying! Thank you, thank you, thank you!}&rdquo; she cried out, clawing up chunks of moist, dark soil.<br />Vaporeon threaded around Emil&rsquo;s legs in wild figure-eights. She smelled tangy, smoky, always smelled this way when she got excited. This was the most excited he&rsquo;d ever seen his mate, no prior event could even come close. &ldquo;What?&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois smiled, casually creeping towards the door. &ldquo;Emilio, every day of your short time together has been dedicated to teaching Vaporeon how best to be Human. She has done well, better than most in fact&hellip; but it is time, I think, that you spent a little while in her shoes. Because those changes, the ones happening to your body day by day without you noticing, I want you to know where that road ends. You have a choice now, but one day you will find that you cannot walk the other way.&rdquo;<br />Emil knelt down, massaging his Lover&rsquo;s cheeks, and looked out into the wilds. &ldquo;Yeah&hellip;Ok.&rdquo; Emil didn&rsquo;t have any intelligent words left in his arsenal. He was still waiting for this incredibly vivid dream to finally end so he could recant bits of it to Vaporeon and Richard over hashbrowns and brew. &ldquo;Right.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />The three of them stood silently there for a few minutes with the sound of rustling leaves and crashing water in their ears. Eventually Fran&ccedil;ois interpreted Emilio&rsquo;s listless response as enthusiastic consent, quietly slipped through the exit, gripped at the handlebar, and started pulling the hatch shut. &ldquo;Bonne nuit, &agrave; demain.&rdquo;<br />Emil jumped and spun around when he heard a soft thump behind him. He looked back at the part of the cliff where the door once had been and all he could find was a seamless wall of moist stone covered in thick matts of moss and long strands of multicolor lichen. The thought suddenly seared across his mind that this was not the end to a long esoteric dream, but just the start of some horrible, twisted nightmare!<br />&ldquo;Hey!&rdquo; Emil shouted. He dashed up to the rocks where he remembered the door was and beat his fists against them like a caged creature, pulling up chunks of foliage with his heavy steps. &ldquo;HEY WAIT!&rdquo;<br />Nothing came but the weak sound of flesh on unyielding stone.<br />There was a sharp, energetic crackle, a sound he thought he&rsquo;d heard once or twice before but wasn&rsquo;t quite able to remember where. Suddenly the ceiling disappeared, replaced by a gorgeous turquoise sky glowing with an amber sun floating on streaks of orange and red on the horizon. &ldquo;Fran&ccedil;ois! Come back!&rdquo; he screamed.<br />His spine shivered as he realized his voice didn&rsquo;t echo like it should have, but was instead swallowed up by the vast, hungry jungle surrounding him. Then, also as if a switch had suddenly been flipped, the jungles belched out a droning chorus of chittering, squawking, squeaking, squealing, and the roars of wild predators in the distance. His eyes pried open with terror.<br />&ldquo;Emmi.&rdquo;<br />He stopped his panicked shouting, still panting, and looked down at his mate, perched on her haunches atop a plush carpet of tropical grass.<br />She stood, pawed up to him gently, and gazed into his eyes with softness and care. &ldquo;{It&rsquo;s ok, my love.}&rdquo; She wrapped her front legs around his knee and nuzzled him. &ldquo;{This is a good thing, trust me.}&rdquo;<br />He forced himself to breathe slowly, in and out in measured time. &ldquo;Yeah&hellip; ok. {I trust you,} Honey.&rdquo;<br />She smiled again and tugged on his clothes, pointing out into the vast expanse. &ldquo;{He&rsquo;ll be back tomorrow morning, I bet. This is so amazing, let&rsquo;s make the most of it, ok?}&rdquo;<br />Emil started trodding forward, his dress shoes now thoroughly covered in a layer of earthy muck. &ldquo;{Ok, let&rsquo;s go,}&rdquo; he said, checking his pocket for his multitool, flicking a lighter to ensure it still had fuel, and opening his dexnav to pull up jungle survival techniques. He smacked the device in frustration as it came up with an error he wasn&rsquo;t sure he&rsquo;d ever seen. No signal.<br />&ldquo;Mm mm. {No, leave those here,}&rdquo; she ordered, pointing to a spot beside the cliffs.<br />Emil immediately started calculating the words in her language to protest her command, but the look in her face wasn&rsquo;t hostile or malicious, it was desperate, hopeful, begging. It was as if she really wanted to show him something, take him somewhere, but anxious he might accidentally ruin it for himself.<br />&ldquo;{Ok, I understand.}&rdquo;<br />He set his tools down in a little hole in the rocks as she examined the rest of her man&rsquo;s situation. She observed the decimation of his shoes, the filthy hem of his pants, speckles of grime that had licked along his suave black shirt. The fins on her head flicked up and down as she suddenly realized she finally understood the assignment.&nbsp;<br />No, that would not do.<br />As he came back down the shallow decline, she snapped her paw. &ldquo;Mm mm. {Take it off.}&rdquo;<br />Emil watched her pointing to his shirt. Well, obviously that made sense, his shirt and pants were some of the nicest things he owned. He nodded compliantly and slipped them off, folding them into a neat bundle before placing them in the hole.<br />He walked back to her and she shook her head once more. &ldquo;Mm mm. {No, lover.}&rdquo;<br />He sighed. Yeah, the shoes were pretty pricey too, and she spent a whole day picking them out for him. He slipped them off, peeled his socks off and stuffed them inside, and then placed them in the hole. He waddled back over to her, tender feet tickled by the unfamiliar life between his toes, hunched awkwardly in his eevee print boxers and white tank top.<br />She gave him a shy, playful little smile, blushing as she pointed her claw at his chest and waist. &ldquo;{All of it. Everything.}&rdquo;<br />He practically clutched a string of pearls dangling over his heart. &ldquo;Wha, you don&rsquo;t- {I mean, I need those,} Honey! {I&rsquo;m not made to be outside like that!}&rdquo;<br />Her brow furrowed and she gestured to everything around them. &ldquo;{What, you think you&rsquo;re going to get cold or something?}&rdquo;<br />He wanted to argue, so badly. He wanted to turn back, put all his clothes on, grab his multitool, and show her how important all that stuff really was. But, then it struck him&hellip; what the point of all this was, and he started sliding his boxers down his legs like the good boy Valorie said he was.<br />His cheeks flushed a vicious shade of red as she made that wicked smirk she always did when ordering him to strip down. This time she was especially nefarious. Vaproen giggled as he stretched his arms to remove his top, exposing his smooth, sienna flesh and then unveiled his flaccid dick nestled cutely amid the wild nest of black hairs around his groin.<br />She remarked on how strange this all was; before she met Emmi, she had no interest at all in Humans that way, in fact the thought of having sex with one was a little bit repulsive if you&rsquo;d asked her in the labs. But over that past year and a half her affection for this one human male had grown so strong that when she looked upon his bare anatomy she was enamored. Not by his form, but by the fact that it was <span class='underline'>his</span> form. It was his earthy smelling flesh, his tender nipples that she&rsquo;d scratch and bite to make him squirm, his lips that she so loved to nibble and suck on as he serenaded her sex with his hands, his lopsided dick that wasn&#039;t really all that great to look at but felt <span class='underline'>amazing</span> when he thrust it deep inside her. She wasn&rsquo;t attracted to humankind at all, not like that weirdo Sylveon they&rsquo;d made friends with, but she was attracted to <span class='underline'>him</span>, and that was all the sense it needed it to make to her.<br />Emil stuffed the hole full with his earthly possessions, topped by his designer glasses.<br />With one last nervous backward glance, he crept over to her like a tower Haunter, and couldn&rsquo;t help but scrunch his shoulders in shame as he left the safety of the shadows to simmer in the evening sunlight.<br />Vaporeon hopped up on her haunches and rubbed her cheek against the inside of Emilio&rsquo;s thigh. &ldquo;{There&#039;s my handsome mate. Let us survey this domain, my love. It is ours now.}&rdquo; She declared as she walked over to a picturesque limestone outcropping and raised her leg.<br />She painted its surface in a fiery gout of nose searing pheromones that screamed, &lsquo;This is mine. Beware, all who enter this place.&rsquo;<br />Emil looked away politely as she did her business, but then glanced down as he heard the thump of her tail against the ground.<br />She stood there, impatiently tapping her paw as she gestured to the rock.<br />He made his mark, leaving an underwhelming scent that said, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know where I am or what I&rsquo;m doing.&rsquo;<br />Pleased with herself, she pranced down the hill towards the stream.&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon led him deep into those unspoilt wilds, and as he struggled with the difficult terrain or jerked back every time a branch snapped across his bare flesh he marveled at the fact that what appeared to be some unmarred frontier was actually a totally artificial fa&ccedil;ade. They walked, stumbled, slid, trundled, and traipsed for over ten minutes before something dawned on him. It struck him even harder as looked down a steep hill at an endless expanse of jungle with wide, snaking rivers. All of it obscured by a layer of clouds that kissed the canopies below.<br />&ldquo;Distortion, this place is way bigger than it should be. What&rsquo;s going on?&rdquo; Emil asked as he nursed a bloody scratch on his arm.<br />Vaporeon&rsquo;s tail whapped the ground. &ldquo;Ahem.&rdquo;<br />He jumped and scratched his head. &ldquo;{Ha, sorry, my love. Old habits.}&rdquo; He stretched a little as he tried to forget the humiliation of trailblazing around in his birthday suit, then something deep inside his soul reminded him that he&rsquo;d been forgetting something very important.&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon looked up at him with a slight tilt as he snuck up and loomed over her. &ldquo;Vrrrra?&rdquo; she purred.<br />He sat down in the grass between some ancient trees, wincing at a thorny weed sticking him in the ass, and gently stroked her face, her sides, her tail, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. It was wet, slow, gentle as a feather brushing fresh silk sheets. As their lips parted, he stared into her eyes, ensnaring himself. He unapologetically placed his heart, soul, and body completely at her mercy.<br />&ldquo;{I love you, Vaporeon.}&rdquo; He tried his hardest to remember the intonation and timbre of her true name, and tried even harder to command his clumsy human lips to speak it the way she deserved.<br /><em>That was worse than last time, </em>Vaporeon thought. Then she put that invasive thought out of its misery and raised her head to kiss him back.<br />But she stopped herself, shook her head, and peered up at him with an ineffable, predatory stare. She walked up Emmi&rsquo;s torso, pushing against his chest with her paws until he laid atop an oblong cradle in the buttress roots of a massive kapok tree. She traced wild shapes on his skin with her claw as her tail coiled tight around his thigh, her sniffing nose climbing from his tummy, to his chest, to his chin.<br />She licked the sensitive, vulnerable spots of his neck as she nailed herself to his body, claws bared in full drawing tiny red beads in long, coarse stripes down the skin of his back, shoulders, and sides. Silently he began to panic under the full weight of her subjugation and his body started shaking&hellip; shuddering&hellip; submitting to whatever petty, demented, atavistic desire she might demand.<br />Vaporeon carefully snatched a mouthful of skin with her maw, near that tender place where she felt the steady drum of Emil&rsquo;s carotid artery beating against her tongue. Then she bit him. She bit him hard, clenched her jaw until his tissues burst like ripe fruit, refused to let go even as he gasped and arched his back in shock, bucking against her restraint in a futile attempt to pry her from his chest.<br />She moaned in bliss as her senses were overwhelmed by the hot, savory sweetness of her first mate&rsquo;s blood painting her tongue, warming her throat with a steady stream of that which gave him life. This came with it a powerful scent flooding her nostrils, one that transported her to some deep subterranean cavern, pitch with an absolute blackness speckled with cool colored lanterns of crystalline clusters and bioluminescent mosses growing along the floor of an underground stream. That stream quietly flowed between deep cracks in the bedrock, down to some dark, unfathomable depth. Mild, medicinal smelling roots, like gnarled, knobby old beggars hands, reaching down from above; they threatened to snatch and swallow her up into the damp, autumn soil of some long forgotten old growth forest.<br />She had no idea how long the two of them stayed like that, with her sucking on his neck, calmly laying upon his chest after he&rsquo;d stopped fighting to get free, his arms curled around her as she licked his wound long after the bleeding had stopped.&nbsp;<br />Eventually she awakened from the euphoria, chained him up with her gaze and smiled, knowing for sure that Emmi got the message. Loud and clear.<br />Vaporeon looked up at the sky. She could see that the sun had started sinking further down into the horizon. &ldquo;{We need food and shelter, let&rsquo;s go.}&rdquo; She squeaked, hopped off him, and started running back towards the water flow they&rsquo;d seen when they first arrived. She didn&rsquo;t stop to look back, bolting through the underbrush at a speed he knew couldn&rsquo;t keep pace with.<br />&hellip;or could he?<br />He just needed to stop thinking. He found this more difficult than it sounded, each time he tried to bolt out into the forest some impractical, analytical process would flash to the fore and he would lose focus. However, tiredness does things to the mind, and Emil was exhausted from everything he&rsquo;d experienced that day. Eventually he managed to push his worthless civilized thoughts down into his chest and concern himself only with hopping over fallen trees, dodging branches, and scaling thick walls of bocage. The thorns from the plants he stumbled on stopped hurting as much, the sting of each errant switch against his naked body disappeared, and pretty soon he found himself at the top of the waterfall that fed into those gorgeous pools.<br />If he was honest with himself, he wasn&rsquo;t any faster than normal, but the jungle nipping at his skin had stopped hurting, so he counted his blessings.<br />&ldquo;{Over here!}&rdquo; Vaporeon chirped in a shrill, projectable whistle. She looked back at him with her front legs leaning on the base of a tall, fruiting berry tree with bright blue bulbs hanging from precarious little stems between thick tufts of emerald leaves.&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;{Oran Berries!}&rdquo; Emil caught himself breathlessly exclaiming out of pure excitement. He wondered where that came from. Of course they were Oran berries, it was obvious, she could see that as well as he could.&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon didn&rsquo;t admonish him at all, instead she rubbed up against him as he approached and purred with delight. &ldquo;{Isn&rsquo;t it wonderful. Let&rsquo;s get some, I&rsquo;m starving, my love!}&rdquo; She leapt onto a rocky spike overlooking the pools, balancing as she peered below. &ldquo;{You get the food, I&rsquo;ll look for shelter.}&rdquo;<br />She leapt, plummeting down with one great, death defying dive and shattered the glassy surface of a still watered pool down below.<br />Emil made his way to the bottom of the tree and looked up. The lowest branches that might support his weight were about twenty feet higher than he could reach. He thought maybe he could get some sticks together, tie a rope to them, and use them to lash the berries free. He&rsquo;d need a cord of some kind. He looked around and noticed that there was ivy all over, but settled on a thick, ubiquitous species of vine that draped down the rocks and trees. That would take time, and none of the sticks here seemed to be in any long straight lines. Could he get one long enough?<br />It was after he&rsquo;d wasted a few minutes drawing schematics in his head that he realized his stupidity. Vaporeon was going to be back soon, she was fast and strong and likely was close to finding a place where they could lay down for the night. Emil knew he wasn&rsquo;t exactly the mightiest thing she could have taken as a mate, compared to any Pokemon at least, but he wasn&rsquo;t about to come up empty handed.&nbsp;<br />He took the vines he&rsquo;d dragged up for his lash and instead tied them to a rock. He threw the rock over the lowest branches and then grabbed the other end of his cord as the rock returned from whence it came. He twisted it around into a simple braid, put his feet against the tree, and started pulling himself up in the air, walking sideways up the trunk. There was no way he would have been able to do anything like that before, even if it was less difficult than straight up climbing or pulling himself up with his upper body strength alone.<br />Before he knew it, he was crawling up into the branches, worming his way towards the outer layer where the fruits drooped like fat holiday ornaments. He happily plucked an armful, whistling like his father would at work.<br />He almost missed it, but deep in the canopy Emil spotted a different sort of berry. He almost didn&rsquo;t believe his lying eyes, but sure enough there was a barely ripe Salac berry sneaking around behind a bushy cluster of leaves deep in the canopy.<br />He knew that berry trees were actually all the same species, even the ones growing in the wateriest depths or the snowiest heights. He knew all of that in school from a very young age, but he also knew that other types of berries growing from a tree was a rare treat. Myths of old said that Ogerpon, the Prankster of Paldea, sometimes snuck into the clouds to steal a bit of Arceus&#039;s light. So they wouldn&rsquo;t get caught as Arceus galloped across the sky, the trickster would hide their spoils in the trees that then would sprout with rare, exotic fruits. The older girls back in Cortondo would say in hushed tones that such fruits blessed mothers with many children and helped the barren bear healthy babies once again; Arceus&rsquo; gift to them for finding his light and taking it where it was needed most, it was said.<br />He held the precious thing under his arm, against his breast where it wouldn&rsquo;t ever slip. Even though the sharp green spines dug into his flesh he wanted to make sure his mate would get this extraordinary find. He didn&rsquo;t usually believe in the superstitious nonsense that old folks spat through the rotten holes in their smiling teeth, but it was his mate&rsquo;s favorite fruit and it definitely couldn&rsquo;t hurt! The thought of it filled him with giddy excitement, and he pumped his fist in celebration of their good fortune. Maybe Arceus&rsquo; light would prove his childhood icon wrong and he&rsquo;d be able to rub it in the Old Man&rsquo;s face.<br /><em>What is with me today?</em> he thought as he laughed and laughed, head shaking with a silly grin tying his cheeks together. <em>I&rsquo;m acting like a child, sheesh.</em><br />Then he suddenly recognized the precarious situation he&rsquo;d put himself in. He couldn&rsquo;t drop the berries to the ground, they&rsquo;d just splat like paintballs at that height and not be good for eating at all. He couldn&rsquo;t climb down like he had before, one arm was taken up. He looked out and saw Vaporeon in the distance reemerging from the caverns beneath the pools, shaking the water from her body, then he watched her start to round a winding hillside as she sprinted back in a hasty return.<br /><em>Wait a minute,</em> he thought, <em>how in the world am I able to see that without my glasses on?</em><br />&ldquo;Shit, um&hellip;&rdquo; He looked down, shrugged, and wrapped the vine around his arm to let himself slide down using the friction of the vines against his skin to slow his descent to something survivable.<br />The vines came apart at the top where they wrapped around the branch with a loud snap and he went into an unsupported freefall. Emil prepared himself to beg Vaporeon&rsquo;s forgiveness for needing to be rescued the next morning with a broken leg, but he was caught by surprise again. His landing was painful, yes, the muscles, ligaments, and bones in his legs and the entire length of his spine from his tailbone to the base of his skull roared in fury as he landed on his feet, collapsed onto his ass, and sent berries rolling all over the grass.<br />Only slightly dirty, his bounty was still perfectly edible, so he bunched them together and sat down to recover. &ldquo;{Success!}&rdquo; he cried out, throwing his arms up with hands balled up into tight fists. The Salac berry plopped to the ground and he scrambled to hide it for later.<br />Emil groaned, looking out into the distance from the direction he knew Vaporeon would arrive from. Now he could see only blurry smudges in the way that was expected of his defective coreanas. <em>Looks like my battery&rsquo;s run out,</em> he thought, content with knowing that Val was wrong and also very grateful he still had something left in the tank. Whatever that &lsquo;something&rsquo; happened to be.<br />One of those smudges, a rapid blue blur, started to come into focus and finally he could see Vaporeon approaching from a nearby hill. He whistled to her, smiling like an idiot, and held his arms open. <em>How did you learn to do that, Emil? You couldn&rsquo;t whistle like that if you tried to.</em>&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;{You&rsquo;re back!}&rdquo; <em>Yes, Emil, she can see that too.</em> He instantly thought after the fact, wanting to smack his wrist and stiffen his face to maintain his composure again.<br />She leapt at full speed and smashed into his chest like a meteor making reentry, knocking him over as she kissed his cheeks. She leapt away from him and inspected the neat little pile of Oran Berries, stacked in a geometric pyramid. &ldquo;{Oh, that&rsquo;s so many! My goodness!}&rdquo;<br />Emil frowned as he glanced back at the tree he&rsquo;d just risked his life climbing. &ldquo;{Did I take too many?}&rdquo;<br />She shook her head. In fact, her entire body rocked left and right with how emphatically she expressed herself. &ldquo;{No! The eggs inside me will need lots of nourishment if they are to hatch smart and strong like you and me. Yes, this is perfect. You did good!}&rdquo;<br />He didn&rsquo;t know how to express what he wanted to say. If he told her outright, would the magic work? He didn&rsquo;t think so. &ldquo;{I found something special too, my love!}&rdquo; he said, bringing the singular Salac berry out from behind a nearby log. He rolled it towards her, didn&rsquo;t put it on a wooden platter or cook it or cut it up, and he admonished himself for the mistake but smiled and smooched her on the forehead regardless.<br />His face brightened as her eyes glistened like jewels in the synthetic sunlight and her little mouth opened with explosive celebration. &ldquo;{I haven&rsquo;t had one in sooo long&hellip; Where did you find this?!}&rdquo; she rumbled, greedily rolling the thing towards herself as she squinted at her mate, peering into his eyes for any hint of deceit. Had he brought this in there and managed to hide it? He was totally naked but she knew Emmi was a crafty boi, he could have done it somehow.<br />Unable to muster intricate thoughts, hindered by his limited &lsquo;mon vocabulary, he pointed up to the tree. &ldquo;{It was just up there, hidden real good too,}&rdquo; he said, legs splayed out butterfree style.<br />She closed her eyes and her mouth curled into an emphatic smile. &ldquo;{You are the best!}&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon&rsquo;s toothy maw opened wide and she threw her head down with claws bared, rooting herself to the earth as she devastated the gift her mate had set before her. She sunk her teeth into the fruit&rsquo;s tough, chartreuse flesh, and tore away a gushing green chunk. Between those monstrous mouthfuls she plucked the inedible spines off with her teeth and spat them aside. Her gorgeous face was smeared with pulverized plant matter and painted in unattractive streaks of puree. She was acting completely unlike the refined lady he knew she preferred to be seen as in polite company, and in a way he was delighted that she was so comfortable.<br />At the end of the sordid affair she slurped up one last jagged strip of Salac like the scraps of some thoroughly ravaged carrion and swallowed it whole, choking her sweet treat down as if she was given mere moments to eat her fill before the delicacy vanished into thin air.<br />He followed the bulge in her throat as it traveled down her neck and then smooched her filth covered face as she snuggled up into his lap. He still wasn&rsquo;t totally sold on the whole nudity thing, but the feeling of her warm, bare flesh against his nethers was a pleasant balm, for sure.<br />Emil leaned forward, somehow insecure about whether she was satisfied with his offering. &ldquo;{Was it good?}&rdquo; he asked, unaware that he was rubbing his knuckles together so hard he might have started a bushfire. <em>Damn, my hips and knees hurt something fierce,</em> he thought.<br /><em>Of course it was good, it&rsquo;s her favorite treat and she&rsquo;s devouring it like she was starving for months! Stop being a dolt!</em> He scolded himself deep within the cathedral of his mind, like some distant malodorous tutor flagellating his brain with a sharp leather loupe at the end of some freshly carved switch after hours of boring lectures on sacrifice and patience.<br />She saw the strange grumpiness that flashed across his face whenever he spoke and tilted her head in thought. Whatever screw had come loose in his head was jingling around and bothering him. Instead of working it out right then she decided he needed a distraction. She wiggled her rear in his lap, stood up, and then her whole body smeared his chest in a fresh coat of musky mating scent.<br />&ldquo;{Salac is good fruit, the best, in fact&hellip;}&rdquo; The rest of their dinner layed nearby in a neat little pyramid, ready to nourish them until the next day&rsquo;s morning. She plucked one of the berries from the top of the stack by the stem, letting it hang from her lips with fluttering eyes, then she tossed it behind her and kicked it towards him.<br /><br />She winked as it rolled to a stop by his knee. &ldquo;{...but it&rsquo;s so much better that it came from you.}&rdquo;<br /><em>There we go</em>, she cooed in her head as she watched Emil&rsquo;s eyes glisten with happy tears, <em>none of that dumb human shit here.</em><br />She bit into the Oran Berries like before, though perhaps with a little less abandon, and savored the next few moments of them just mindlessly feeding, huddled around a pile of nature&rsquo;s bounty. They ate with their paws, maws, and claws, spat aside seeds without the need for a bin, and caught each other in those tiny unflattering gastronomic moments with chuckles of love. The Earth had become the singular platter from which they shared everything in the world, and their portions were plenty.<br />Emil stopped eating for a moment when he felt full, but she prodded him on, telling him that there was nowhere to store them and so they would need to carry the precious food in their bellies. <em>Are all human tummies so tiny?</em> she thought as she realized she&rsquo;d consumed three quarters of the stack without struggle and her Emmi ate like he was trying to fit ten pounds of sand in an eight pound bag.<br />Seeing the last one being carefully peeled by her mate, who for some reason liked eating the skin on its own, she let that wicked little smile return to her face. Vaporeon got back up and gave a big stretch with her tail curled up over her head. She sighed with feigned boredom as she arched her back, flashed her sex at him, and instinctually wept microscopic beads of sweet smelling musk that whispered silent salacious words in the air. She purred and pawed at the peatmoss matt beneath her, looking back towards her mate.<br />Everyone said that berries were bland if their flavors weren&rsquo;t processed into concentrated oils or syrups. Though they were technically edible, raw, uncooked &lsquo;Pokemon Berry&rsquo; fruits were widely considered something you fed to your pet, not your people. Emil, however, had always found that Pokemon berries were great. In fact, he thought that normal fruit was too sweet for his liking. His mother didn&rsquo;t protest, of course, it was a lot easier paying for bushels of cheap berries than a basket of much pricier groceries. Maybe that was another symptom of the condition they shared. He made a mental note to ask the Old Man after he punched him in the shoulder for trapping them in there.<br />Vaporeon grumbled, drooping her brow, then she smiled again and moaned just loud enough for him to be able to hear. She rolled onto her back, curled her tail to the side, and began grooming herself. She wiped filth from her face and licked it away from her paws, she cleaned her arms, her chest, her tummy, then she slowed her pace as she traced her entire seeping, swollen slit in one long, moistened stroke. She lifted her hindleg in the air, bathing it with her tongue, and quickly glanced back to see Emil&rsquo;s reaction.<br />What other signs were there? Was it his rural background? The Old Man said the condition wasn&rsquo;t genetic, so did that mean something could make you into one? That didn&rsquo;t make any sense, though; the world would have been chock full of real Pokephiles if it was as common as a broken bone. The three of them had wildly different upbringings with varying levels of wealth, and varied levels of interaction with Pokemon. Was it caused by some injury to their brains? No, it affected the whole body, if it was just in his mind he wouldn&rsquo;t have that weird reserve of energy he was still coming to grips with. Maybe exposure to something energy related, mass trauma from a Pokemon move or an industrial accident? Was it the berries? Did he eat too many as a kid?<br />Emilio was brought back to reality by the loud, wet, flap of a freshly scooped ball of mud slapping across the side of his head. As he fished chunks of gunk from his ear, he spotted Vaporeon there, panting on her back, pussy dripping, legs twitching with anticipation, and a muddy paw pressed against her lips with wide, innocent eyes. She raised her chin, flashing a haughty, expectant smile, and leisurely beckoned him forth, luring him closer with a single sharp claw.<br />He didn&rsquo;t notice but, instead of getting up to walk or scooting over on his butt, he approached her on all fours, hips split in a flexible show of quadrupedal motion, floating on the balls of his feet and his fingertips to behold the brilliant blue body of his mate; a body so incredibly perfect that it managed to defy subjective and objective measure.<br />&ldquo;{Fuck me.}&rdquo; She commanded while she lounged in his silky black shadow.<br />He couldn&rsquo;t explain why or how he was surprised by those words, but he was, and the sound set his skin ablaze. He suddenly ached to hear her intimate cries. The ones that bounced around the walls of their nest and shook his head, folding his mind into obedient little origami Eevees. He knew he was hopelessly addicted and didn&rsquo;t care that he&rsquo;d sold his soul to the dealer. His body craved her sex, demanding that he press her quivering, resplendent flesh against his own until she lay dashed across the ground like a spilled goblet of cream.<br />He pressed his lips against her neck and hungrily kissed as he wrapped his arms around her back, plucking her up from the ground. &ldquo;{Show me the den, lover.}&rdquo;<br />She giggled, reached around his neck, and ran her digits through his hair. &ldquo;{Right here.}&rdquo; Then she caught the band that bound his long, luxurious mane and snapped it free with a flick of her claws, spilling wild espresso locks around her shoulders. &ldquo;{Right now.}&rdquo;<br />He chuckled weakly, scanning the area for onlookers out of habit. &ldquo;{What if someone catches us li&ndash;}&rdquo; and he shuddered as Vaporeon clutched his sides with her hind claws and stroked his dick with the base of her tail, licking his neck where she&rsquo;d marked him for the second time.<br />&ldquo;{Let them watch,}&rdquo; she said and her mouth locked onto his with a sharp, savory kiss, flicking her tongue against his, nipping his lower lip as their mouths parted. &ldquo;{Fuck me. Now.}&rdquo;<br />Her beckoning called his hands to her waist and she nibbled his nips. Then she playfully, oh-so lightly, dragged her claws down the skin of his chest as he slid her down his body.&nbsp;<br />She gasped as he jammed himself in and she felt the head of his penis crash against her ovum. Her eyes snapped shut, and her hind paws splayed out atop shuddering thighs, despite her volitions. No matter how well she steeled her mind, she couldn&rsquo;t fight it. Oh, how much she wanted to keep her wide open eyes locked onto him as he dove into her, to watch the way his face twisted up in that exact moment their bodies locked together&hellip;<br />&hellip;.but she&rsquo;d never tell him that, oh no no no&hellip; Vaporeon worked so very hard getting her Emmi there, to where he knew all the motions and techniques that pleased her best. She had forged her man into a master fornicator, shown him the secret sexual codes, and all of her favorite combinations started with a swift, strong, unexpected penetration that took him straight up to the babyworks. She&rsquo;d endowed him with the sole authority to dominate her and continue living, whenever he pleased. Though she wished he exercised that authority more often, she simply couldn&rsquo;t complain about the results.<br /><em>I&rsquo;ll see that face one day</em>, she thought. <em>In the meantime, practice makes perfect.</em><br />She sighed, shuddering as her body was thrown against the soft earth again and again, pressed into a mossy mattress with a minty scent spread with feathery jungle ferns.&nbsp;<br /><em>Oh my, Emmi is hungry today.</em><br />They had made love early that morning before breakfast, so he surely hadn&rsquo;t been pent up. Quite the contrary, he&rsquo;d desperately asked for respite. Not directly, but she understood what his subtle, nonassertive phrases meant. So the fact he was giving her the business with such voracity, well, she didn&rsquo;t quite expect it. He did sometimes get like that after a long day in front of big crowds of people, board meetings with potential sponsors, and early in the morning when his mind hadn&rsquo;t fully taken hold of his incredibly horny body.<br />Vaporeon smiled, licking his chest, and let the shaking pleasure roll freely through her. She knew the ride would be over sooner than she wanted, but looked forward to the warm sensation of fullness Emmi would leave her with in the end.<br />Emil dug his nails, ones he&rsquo;d let grow out a bit for this exact purpose, into her chest as he pushed her deep into the cushion of plants and litterfall. She exhaled in surprise as she felt his dick slide out of her and he pinned her to the ground with the full weight of his body, bringing his lips to her neck. Then he snapped a fold of lapis suede up in his teeth.<br />He clamped down on her neck with every ounce of bite-force his weak little jaw could possibly muster, possibly more, muscles shaking from the strain. No, definitely more. Her eyes opened in surprise and her mouth gawked as she felt pain, very real pain of her skin rending in his jaws.&nbsp;<br />She gasped and squeaked in surprise, barely stopping herself from gashing his skin open with her claws which had extended in the service of protecting her from sudden, sharp discomfort. Instead, she slowly pushed them into his skin, breaking the surface of his tender flesh, and turned her head with her chin in the air. She sighed a long, satisfied song with a fool&#039;s face, relishing the feeling; finally she was able to experience that first, very intimate moment for real.<br />Her blood burst into his mouth with a pressure he didn&rsquo;t expect. Her heart beat so much faster than his and with so much force it felt like her pulse was punching him in the teeth. It tasted spicy, astringent, like a mouthful of bone-dry Cabernet Kalot. Her blood assaulted his senses as it went down his throat kicking and screaming, finally falling defeated in his core.&nbsp;<br />Then it smacked him behind the head like a sap.<br />His vision blurred as his sense of smell overpowered all the others: his skin numbed, taste was all but obliterated, her muffled squeals of delight echoing from the far end of a long, dark tunnel. Her cries faded into the sky and he felt a gentle, misty breeze on his face as he sat at the edge of a seaside cliff, legs dangling above an endless queue of turquoise waves crashing against the earthen ramparts below. Behind him, the flowering tops of wild watercolor flowers clattered against each other in the bolstering wind. He pitched his head up to the sky as a thunderous peal pounded his chest, and closed his eyes, awaiting cleansing sheets of warm, oceanic rain.<br />Her voice returned as a heavy staccato of raindrops pushed up puffs of powdery sand, flooding his ears as the ground beneath him softened with the sweetened smells of the sea.<br />When his consciousness snapped back into place, he found himself unconsciously ravaging his mate with a manic energy he&rsquo;d never seen from himself. A thin, vermillion trickle crawled across her skin from the mark on her neck, dripping down into the mosses they had dislodged and shoved aside in their struggle for sexual dominance. She tried to pry herself free, surely as part of some enthusiastic game since there was no possible way he could have held her there against her will, as he thrust into her so hard they dragged themselves along the loose detritus.<br />He could feel the depth of her claws, far beyond the skin, nearly down to the muscle. His arms and body were smeared with his own blood, but he simply couldn&rsquo;t care anymore. It felt like nothing he could possibly have imagined, even the humming high of an orgasm couldn&rsquo;t quite describe the sensation in full. There was no expectant need for decency, no looming weight of degenerate shame, no minding some needy neurotic schedule, no paralyzing fear that this would be the time someone spotted them in their sexual sacrament.<br />The only thought left in his tired mind was that he had a strong, healthy female stuck in his grasp; she had an empty belly, and he was going to fill her with his seed before some other male got the chance.&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon growled, snarled, snapped, and hissed with bestial rage as their nethers smacked together with sloppy, shameless slaps. Her tail struck at his legs, curled around and pulled at his limbs, whapped against his sides and his skull. Her eyes darted around as she thrashed, seemingly devoid of conscious thought.<br />She tried to close her hips and slipped from his grasp, managing to buck at his stomach and kiss his tummy with three long, shallow stripes before she scurried out from under him.<br />Emil gritted his teeth as he hauled her back by the tail, ripping up long strips of moss as she dragged her claws across the ground, hissing in defiance. He rolled her over, threw his shoulder down into her abdomen, narrowly dodged a flurry of razor tipped talons while he slid up her body again and then wedged his hips back into place. Her pussy was gaping, wet, swirling with precum mixed in the fluids dripping from her cunt, and so it welcomed his return even as she fought him like he meant to dispassionately consume her for sustenance.<br />She gasped as his manhood invaded her body again, punching her deep inside her favorite spot. Gripped by a wave of ecstasy that wrung her guts like a wet towel, she forced out a loud, excited cry from deep within her that carried far into the jungle. It was the cry her kind was notorious for, the one recorded for the global &lsquo;Dex, and until then he had never heard it escape her throat. She layed on the devastated ground, panting with a lazy, empty headed grin on her face.<br />Her entire body went lax, but not limp, and she spread her legs with a needy, submissive whine. &ldquo;{Take me.}&rdquo;<br />He wasted no time in claiming what was rightfully his, and Vaporeon put up no resistance as he sat on his own shins, propped her up on his hips, and proceeded to have his way with her.<br />Her head hung back, practically drooling as her head bobbed up and down in his vision. &ldquo;{Please. Nnngg, please!}&rdquo; she begged as placed her front paws delicately against his breast to keep herself steady on his shaft.<br />He loved the feeling of her legs dangling over his thighs, trembling to life with each of the innumerable orgasms wracking her body. &ldquo;{Please, what?}&rdquo; he asked, like a jailor considering some petty request from inside a cell.<br />Constantly interrupted by quake after quake in her stomach vibrated all throughout the rest of her body, it was difficult for her to find coherent speech. Somehow, in the silence between two of her tantric tempests, she managed to gasp out, &ldquo;{Make me a mother.}&rdquo;<br />Time lost its meaning as he slid her up and down his length, hands gripping her waist like an obedient toy. She whimpered and begged for more, breathing in time with the steady rhythm of his cock inside her, and let him throw her around like clay on a wheel. Nothing mattered to her then but the smell of their mixing musks, his excited breath on her face, their basal grunts of satisfaction, and the feel of him throbbing harder and harder against her inner walls.<br />Emil pulled her face close to his and kissed the mark on her neck, wracking her with wild spasms. Vaporeon bit her lip as she came again, snatch tightening around him in a vice-like grip that spilled warm love down his crotch.<br />He hadn&rsquo;t realized how close he was, and his whole body shook as her last orgasm brought him to peak. He instinctually popped back onto his knees and shoved himself up into her as deep as he could. The only thing any functional part of his brain wanted was to cum inside the incredibly fuckable thing bouncing on his lap, to fill her egg sac with everything he had.<br />His mate, having been thoroughly fucked into compliance, whined as a rush of hot seed filled her insides. She licked at his chest, pushed down onto him, pleading his manhood for any spare spurt of seed he could spare.<br />She rested her cheek on his chest, purring with satisfaction. &ldquo;{Thank you&hellip;}&rdquo;<br />Emil leaned back on his shins, huffing in and out with huge gusts of air, and stroked Vaporeon along her entire body as she decadently rumbled in his arms.<br />Vaporeon had no idea what happened. One moment she was in complete control of her faculties, the next she had transformed into a feral beast tumbling around with some unexpected suitor come to fight for dominance over her reproductive organs. She could have torn him limb from limb with little effort, but the rush as she fought against his advances, the way she made him work for his satisfaction, it ignited her erotic instincts so much that she couldn&rsquo;t help but keep on with their fun little game.&nbsp;<br />She had no idea how long the whole thing had lasted, but she was sure it was a far cry from the half-hour or more she had grown accustomed to. She couldn&rsquo;t believe herself. Ugh! She&rsquo;d literally rolled around in the mud out in the woods and made love for an audience of Arceus and anyone else around. It was a frantic, filthy, bestial, odorous fuck, and under no circumstances would she have asked for such a thing days before.&nbsp;<br />The freedom of it, the way she looked all around and simply couldn&rsquo;t care whose eyes witnessed their furious rutting; gods that was what she needed more than anything else. She could see now; that stupid human game of hiding babymaking from each other had been a lead weight holding them back from experiencing indescribable bliss. Unbelievable!<br />If she had any regrets, though, she looked around at her precious Emmi&#039;s body and felt terrible for how much punishment he&rsquo;d endured for her pleasure. Perhaps those changes happening to his body would make the little pokes and scratches a non issue. She sure hoped so, because now that she&rsquo;d gotten a taste of what could be, if she had any choice at all, she wouldn&rsquo;t want him to take her any other way.<br />It was the best sex she&rsquo;d ever had, left the previous record holder sulking in the dust, and she needed <span class='underline'>more</span>.<br />The blue skinned beauty bapped at Emilio&rsquo;s chin, guided his lips to hers, and she kissed him in that way she knew he loved. She rubbed her nose against his and said, &ldquo;{Let&rsquo;s get cleaned up and have some fun in the den.}&rdquo;<br />Emil blinked a few times with an empty, confused expression. Then he leered at her, serious as a heart attack, and clenched her ass with both hands. &ldquo;{Who told you we were done?}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;{I&rsquo;m just getting started.}&rdquo;<br /><br />\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/<br /><br />Early the next morning, still dripping with water from the predator tanks as the sky glowed a dark blue in anticipation of the rising sun, Fran&ccedil;ois Gallar casually walked down the E-Chamber lot to warehouse 312. He turned a key into a lock, walked around to one side of the building, and pulled a massive switch on the steel casing labeled &lsquo;Trick Room Generator&rsquo; to the OFF position, then he grabbed onto the steel handle and pushed.<br />There the two of them were, perched atop a scenic outcropping, watching the glorious sunrise fade away into the cold, unfeeling machinery of a warehouse ceiling. Emilio watched intently as the vast expanse of the Jungle shrunk around him, like a marshmallow in a vacuum tube. The glade they&rsquo;d made love on? It could fit in his hand now. The tree he&rsquo;d nearly snapped his femur climbing to fetch fruit from? A tiny bonsai on a miniature cliffside. The raging waters and glorious aquatic caverns they&rsquo;d curled up to sleep in, kept warm with each others&rsquo; love? It may as well have been one of those eternally discounted fountains they sold in the back of Narcissus. &ldquo;Incredible,&rdquo; he whispered to nobody in particular.<br />Vaporeon was curled up in his lap, her muscles here loose and relaxed, and her tail swayed like she had not a care in the world. There was a little bruise on her neck, a petite keepsake to mark the occasion. The look on her face as she smiled up at Emil, even though he wasn&rsquo;t looking back at her, melted his hopeless, romantic heart.&nbsp;<br />Emil, though dressed in the clothes he&rsquo;d left him in, had grown a thin mustache and the stubble of a goatee. His wild hair was oily and unbrushed, draping down both his shoulders. The tan of his skin had noticeably deepened, had tiny scrapes and bruises all over, and he licked at a split in his lip. His neck bore that ubiquitous, unmistakable ring of scabs that would surely have left an incriminating scar if he didn&rsquo;t help the boy treat it properly.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois rubbed an old spot on his own neck, where the barely perceptible shadow of two inch-wide scars still remained, and he couldn&rsquo;t help but chuckle aloud. They both looked back at Fran&ccedil;ois in surprise, and then he beckoned for them to leave the chamber. &ldquo;It is a good thing ascots are fashionable these days.&rdquo;<br />When they yet again stood before one another, Emil glared Fran&ccedil;ois straight in the eyes. Vaporeon leapt onto her lover&rsquo;s shoulders, feeling a little strange being there when she hadn&rsquo;t done it at all inside the chamber.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois grinned like a jester with his arms behind him. &ldquo;I trust your stay was enjoyable?&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;What day is it?&rdquo; Emil demanded.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois looked at his watch. &ldquo;Thursday?&rdquo; he said, and then hunched forward in pain after Emilio, as promised, socked the fucker in the shoulder as hard as he could.<br />&ldquo;{You didn&rsquo;t tell me it dilated time too, jackass!}&rdquo; Emil groused before finally letting the old guy receive his well deserved warm, friendly, grateful smile. &ldquo;{I sat by the door every morning for four days thinking everyone left us behind.}&rdquo;<br />Fran&ccedil;ois cackled. &ldquo;Oh, come now, it was only five days. You had ample food, clean water, adequate shelter&hellip; and plenty of entertainment,&rdquo; he said, eyebrows bobbing. &ldquo;Do not worry, I will not bill you for the power use, especially for the tempus transformer; that would give you a hemorrhage for sure.&rdquo;<br />Vaporeon shot him with a sly grin, then nailed his face with a tiny Water Gun. &ldquo;{Thanks! You&rsquo;re alright, Old Man!}&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Aaaaah, just what I needed, thank you, Votre Majest&eacute;,&rdquo; he replied, bowing low to the young queen.<br />Emil shrugged and relented. &ldquo;{Seriously, though&hellip; It was really nice, one of the craziest things I&rsquo;ve ever seen,} vvee&hellip; vrrr&hellip; Vranoooahs.&rdquo;<br />The Old Man chuckled again. &ldquo;Your monspeech has improved by leaps and bounds, Emilio! As you can see, though, too much time speaking that way exclusively leaves you a little&hellip; how do you say&hellip; hampered? Do not speak in &lsquo;mon for a while, you will need your voice for the days to come. I&rsquo;ve got some old reserved seats at the crown, I look forward to watching your matches, as much as I hate the sport with every fiber of my being.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Eeeyeah,&rdquo; Emil choked up, suddenly feeling, and looking, incredibly emotional at the same time he was wondering how he&rsquo;d lost control of his mouth-parts so quickly. &ldquo;Aaiii ave rrrots of q, q&hellip; Vestions.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />Vaporeon giggled uncontrollably at her man&rsquo;s bizarre misfortune.<br />Mr. G nodded, both hands poised on his hips. &ldquo;In time, I will teach you everything I know, even the incredibly boring stuff,&rdquo; he replied with a playful wink. &ldquo;It has been a while since I have met such a promising student, after all.&rdquo;<br />Then, without warning, the Old Man leapt forward with arms wide open. Emilio, who normally didn&rsquo;t like physical contact by default, caught him and they hugged for a full minute. Tears welled up in both mens&rsquo; eyes, and then Emilio started sobbing uncontrollably. Vaporeon wrapped her tail around Fran&ccedil;ois and Emilio&rsquo;s necks, all joined together in friendship.<br />&ldquo;Vaynk yooo,&rdquo; Emilio slurred, wiping his eyes dry with his sleeve.<br />Fran&ccedil;ois didn&rsquo;t bother clearing the glistening moisture from his eyes and grabbed hold of Emil&rsquo;s shoulders, grinning with unbridled pride. &ldquo;Welcome to the family, Emilio.&rdquo;<br /><br />\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/<br /><br />&ldquo;Long night, Mama,&rdquo; her private driver mused as he snorted a white powder, eyes bloody red with exhaustion. He rubbed at a patch of skull blessed with early male-pattern baldness, somehow still managing to sport a jovial grin. &ldquo;Used to take&rsquo;n jobs from ya solo these days. Thought ye left the gumshoe shit to the gutterhogs ages ago.&rdquo;<br />Lady Iris Margot had ditched her extravagant attire, shed her skin of luxury cosmetics, and locked her priceless jewelry away. She adjusted her brown beret and smiled back at her old colleague with wild-eyed enthusiasm. Crossing her denim wrapped legs she sipped patiently at a rich, brain shattering Ristretto from a paper cup. &ldquo;Oh, Jean-Henri, come now. You know better than I that, occasionally, you simply must set foot in the trenches&hellip;&rdquo; She sipped from her cup. &ldquo;...and hollow out a few gourds to remind everyone why you&rsquo;re the bitch at the top.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Shit, posh life ain&#039;t dulled yer edge at all.&rdquo; Jean-Henri pursed his lips. &ldquo;Well, my honor workin&rsquo; with yas again, Mama, whatever poor fucker&rsquo;s blood it is yer smell&rsquo;n in the water, I&rsquo;m happy fer the scraps.&rdquo;<br />Her plump, effeminate lips curled into a hungry smile.<br />Her compatriot pointed. &ldquo;That yer guy?&rdquo;<br />She peered through a pair of military binoculars, and spotted Fran&ccedil;ois leaving the front doors of the facility. &ldquo;Oh, no no no. That&rsquo;s just Fran&ccedil;ois. Old friend of the family. Off limits.&rdquo;<br />Jean-Henri&rsquo;s face screwed up quizzically. &ldquo;Ooh, &lsquo;ees that sea critter guy on the tele, right. Ey, howzit be that everybodys&rsquo; a &lsquo;friend &lsquo;o duh&rsquo; family with ya these days?&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Lots of time, lots of money, lots of forms and favors&hellip;&rdquo; She slipped a chocolate covered raisin into her mouth, savoring the delectable treat. Her figure demanded she stay far away from them, but she felt this was a special occasion.&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Ye, but, like, why bother? Most folks ain&rsquo;t worth a cube&rsquo;a salt ta ladies o&rsquo; yer stand&rsquo;n.&rdquo;<br />&ldquo;Each new friend of mine is one less enemy I gotta bury, old boy,&rdquo; she replied, popping another delightful confectionery in her mouth.<br />They both watched the doors with intense focus as the Old Man greeted the early morning staff with his utterly infectious enthusiasm. But then Jean-Henri spotted someone stealthily slipping out a steel security door a few blocks down.<br />&ldquo;Woah, hey hey! Ya said he&rsquo;s a pally right?&rdquo; Then he saw Vaporeon waltz out behind him and drape herself around her shoulders. &ldquo;Oh, yeah, das him fer sure.&rdquo; He looked at his dexnav. &ldquo;Less fuzz on da face than the pic, but that him aight.&rdquo;<br />Margot knuckle bumped her friend without taking her eyes off Emil. She flicked a switch on the side of her binoculars and the thing whined as its capacitors woke from years of slumber. In the visor, she read the counter at the top. Sixteen high definition panels of film. More than enough for one little stakeout. She would need to restock her supply if she was going to stretch her legs out like that more often.<br />She snapped one pic, two pics, three pics, four&hellip; then just before she depressed the button for panel five she gasped at what she witnessed.<br />SNAP<br />That guy just kissed a Pokemon! In broad fucking daylight! More specifically, Emilio Estrella Malison, manager of Team Stone&rsquo;s rocket through the ranks of the Pokemon Battle League, had gently brushed his fingers against Vaporeon&rsquo;s cheek, locked lips with her, and then vanished around a corner. Not on the cheek or the forehead, on the <strong><span class='underline'>mouth!</span></strong> Richard Stone&rsquo;s Vaporeon and his Manager were&hellip;&nbsp;<br />She wound the film back in her visor, keeping it safe from the light but still able to inspect the evidence she collected. Margot stared dumbfounded into the visor at what she&rsquo;d managed to capture.<br />It happened in less than a second, if she wasn&rsquo;t looking directly at them, scanning for anything suspicious with her unmatched paranoia, there was no way she would have spotted it or paid attention to the event at all. Well, her friend in the car would have, but he was a mutant with an eidetic memory and 20/10 vision&hellip;&nbsp;<br /><em>Real unfortunate Jean-Henri&rsquo;s parents couldn&rsquo;t buy him a proper education. Perhaps I should rectify that injustice.</em> She thought, but then locked herself back into focus.<br />&hellip;but her finger stroked the shutter right when it mattered. There they were, on Mk3 HD Grafai-Eye Film. Both their eyes were closed in amorous embrace, lips pressed together, his hand on her cheek and her paw stroking his chin. Her tail, normally draped around his back, nearly got in the way of her shot as she flicked it around, and it was then she realized the cheeky little &lsquo;mon was probably doing it on purpose! The light was perfect, resolution to die for, not the slightest hint of motion blur marring the shot.&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Whoah, Icy!&rdquo; he exclaimed, blurting her old handle out. &ldquo;You see dat?!&rdquo;<br />She smirked, and slipped her Binocular Camera into its protective case. That canvas satchel now contained something a thousand times more valuable than it ever was on its own. Then again, the thing had paid for itself a million times over the years, making the thing all the more precious indeed.&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Why yes, Shutter, I most certainly did.&rdquo; She layed in the back seat, finally allowing herself to catch a wink of sleep. &ldquo;And depending on how my cards play out&hellip; everyone else might have too.&rdquo;<br /><br /></span>",
  "pools_count": 1,
  "title": "Forbidden Waters - 20",
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