Chapter 23

Chip

It was a quiet early morning in the Waterscape. Cold dew covered the ground, making anyone that moved around this early shiver. A fine mist has settled over the forest floor making it hard to see in the distance. Chip and his friends welcomed the challenge. Their vision might be hindered but so would anyone else who might be in the area. Chip remembered Meadow telling him that she had planned to walk upriver until she reached the falls. Meadow had mentioned it while they rested. She didn't talk about it for too long, the shaymin had been more worried about them running into trouble than getting lost.

'Meadow' Chip thought as he walked beside Hathor and Kyuubi, the pair of foxes were on either side of him as if protecting him from the unknown. Chip was thankful for their help he couldn't ask for better friends. No one forced them to come out of here. They were following him out of the friendship and love they shared for one another. There was no room for fear within him, he had to be strong for their sake. With a silent gulp Chip swallows his fears and pushes forward for their sake, for Meadow's sake.

~ Don't worry I'm sure she's fine. ~ Inari says as she moves beside him in their Soulscape. Chip felt like he was between the two realms, part of his mind and soul in each.

'How can you be so sure?' Chip asked.

~ Sometimes you must have a little faith. Learn to just push forward believing that everything is going to work itself out in the end. We just need to be there ready to act when the time is right. ~

'Wow that's um...that's pretty deep.'

~ I'm more than just a good fuck, I have a brain too. ~ Inari giggles.

'You were doing so well...' Chip's mind returns to reality as Kyuubi stops the Zorua, a paw raised to halt their progress. Chip and the others stop near a river that flowed through the middle of the forest. This must have been the river that Meadow had spoken of, the one that would guide them where they needed to go. Chip wondered if Meadow was following this river right now. He hoped that she was safe.

"We've been walking for at least an hour; we should stop here for now and rest." Kyuubi says.

"But it's still so early." Alister says, the Minccino seemed ready to keep moving, his paws were twitching as if he needed to use the bathroom.

"Maybe but we're already nearing a key point in the forest, this forest is large but when you break it down you can cross it in maybe a few hours. From what I'm seeing we are maybe about a quarter of the way into it already. If we follow this river, we'll reach the falls within maybe the next half hour which means we'll be nearing the center of the forest. This is a good spot to stop and set up a temp camp."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Cassius says as he crosses the group by and lays near the water. He dips a flipper into it and then rubs the water over his face. "Refreshing."

"Oh brother." Chip smiles. He was thankful that Cassius had joined their group, he was a good talker, charming and he knew his way around. Honestly, he was an invaluable partner. As Chip thinks about his friends, he is met by Hathor, the Fennekin was holding a few berries.

"We didn't eat a truly healthy breakfast, just having meat is not a healthy meal. We need berries and vegetables too you know."

"Where did you get those from?"

"I always keep a stash on me." Hathor sets the berries down and then presses her nose against his. Chip took in the foxes' scent, she smelled sweet with a little...tang to it. Like peaches and oranges.

"I think we're making good progress." Kyuubi says as he meets Chip and Hathor, the larger fox sits down, picks up a berry and starts eating. The sound of the flowing water helped to calm Chip's nerves.

"We sure this is a safe spot to camp?" Chip asked.

"NO." Kyuubi responds. "To be honest I don't think its overly safe here, but we'll make do."

"That's reassuring." Chip sighs.

"You'll be alright." Hathor kisses Chip. "You've got us and if we fight together, we'll be alright."

"Hey, you guys over here." Chip hears Cassius call from the water, the Brionne had decided to take a short dive under and had crossed over to the other side. When the group walked over to the water, they saw that Cassius was inspecting some paw prints there were in the mud. Chip couldn't get a good look at them since he was on the other side. Looking around he noticed several stones in the water.

"You guys coming over or not?" Cassius asked. Chip nods and began crossing over the water, he carefully tries to cross though as he got further and further out the rocks became more slippery. As he nears the middle of the river the Zorua finds himself becoming afraid to keep going and stopping.

'Oh mon... this is not good...the rocks there too slippery, if they get any wetter I might slip.' Chip sighs.

"You need me to come gets you?" Cassius calls from the other shore.

"Maybe..." Chip gulps. He tries to take a step and feels his paw slip from under him. The Zorua feels himself fall forward and before he knew it falls into the water.

SPLASH

The water was cold and dark. Chip was swept away by the currents. He swims to the top of the water poking his nose and then heads out, though already he had been pushed a little down river. In the distance he thought he heard his name being called though it was hard to tell as the sound of the crashing waves drowned everything else out. Chip tries to let out a cry but is met with water being pushed into the mouth and before he knew it the fox was pushed back under the water.

Opening his eyes all he found was darkness, pure darkness. Was this it, was this how it all ends? A part of him wanted to cry out and swim to the surface. But another part...another part wanted to just stay under here forever...

~ GET THOSE THOUGHTS OUT OF YOUR HEAD! ~ Inari's voice screams though the darkness. Opening his eyes, Chip saw into the water; he saw a few small fights were swimming around him. The fox tries to keep his eyes open though it was hard to do so with the water pushing into them. His chest began to feel hot, the need to breathe...

To live.

He had to escape, he had to get some air, he needed to do something. Growling the Zorua pushes his way upwards, his paws fought against the water to help him escape. There was little light at first but soon he began seeing it, light, a way out, a way to live.

~ Come on you can do it! ~

'Ya...I can...do it!'

Chip soon feels his head break through the darkness of the water to reach the surface. The fox lets out a large gasp as he sucked in all the fresh air he could muster. That first breath of life-giving air felt like the greatest breath he had ever taken in his short life. Looking around he noticed that he was near the shoreline and Chip was swimming for it. As he neared the shore the Zorua was pushed back by what felt like something spraying him with a water gun. Chip is pushed back under the surface and it's there he noticed was quickly swimming towards him like a bat out of hell.

'What is that?'

He swims back to the surface and it's there something came out of the water to greet him. It was a long snake-like creature, it was blue and had a gem on its neck.

"Huh what are you?" Chip asked as he treaded water, his paws had become so tired after all of the swimming he had already done.

"I'm a Dragonair and this is my river fox. Leave it now or else."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Chip asked. "If you get out of my way I'll leave."

"You speak with such disrespect, why do you disrespect Dragonair?" The Pokémon asked. Chip saw the dragon Pokémon swing its long tail at him to grab him, but he swims under the water just dodging it. Chip wasn't safe as the moment he returns to the surface he is yanked back under by the Dragonair. Chip tried to break free of the Pokémon, but it was too strong. Before he knew it the Zorua was yanked down into the depths of the river.

'It's pulling me towards the bottom!'

Chip opens his eyes enough to see the dragon but try as he couldn't reach it, there was no way to stop it. He might be out of luck.

'No one is coming to save me; I'm going to drown to death, and no one is going to know about it.' Chip felt dread come over him. The further he went down, the more bubbles he saw...the more dread seemed to come over him. Maybe there was no way out of this. He was going to drown thanks to some miss misunderstanding by a stupid Dragonair. A stupid Dragonair that believes he is trying to fuck with its territory. Maybe this was some odd way of the Pokémon Universe punishing him for...being a good Pokémon? For being a herm? For being someone who loved to take and give dick by his closest companions and friends? Maybe for being a shadow Pokémon? Whatever it was...maybe he deserved it...

Maybe he wasn't meant to someday become the harem king and create a big family that might stand the test of time.

'Maybe this is the end...' Chip thinks as he watched the light seemly fade away, darkness was coming to claim him once and for all. His chest like it was on constant fire, the last of the bubbles left his mouth, quickly floating to the surface. This was the end...

~ CHIP, don't you give up! I'm here for you buddy!! ~

'That voice...?'

Chip feels something blow past him striking Dragonair who was forced to let go of him. Chip felt himself seemly float for a moment before he felt something grab a hold of him. The new Pokémon pressed its mouth against his...kissing him? Not in a million years would Chip have seen himself making out with another Pokémon near the bottom of a river. He felt warm air being pushed into his lungs. It was odd but he wasn't complaining as he feels his lungs being filled with "fresh" air. Zorua seem felt like he wanted to spit but his savior was holding onto long enough to help him up to the surface.

~ Don't give up hun, you're not meant to die here. Not on my watch. ~

'I know that voice? Cassius?'

Before long Chip is taken back to the surface of the water. This time he was being held up by the strong flippers of none other than Cassius. Chip fought to keep his mind in check, but he drifted off. The stress of nearly dying more than once was enough to drain anyone. The pair stare into the other's eyes.

"Don't worry as cute as you are I'm not here to breed with you...yet." Cassius "jokes."

"What...took you so long?" Chip shakes his head as he tries to keep himself awake. Cassius helps Chip onto his back before swimming towards the shore. Luckily, they reached it without too much trouble. When Chip got there, he ended up finally throwing up, the fox spit up as much water as he could. After emptying his stomach, he falls onto the sand nearly passing out.

"What-what happened?"

Cassius puts a flipper onto Chip's cheek, moving his head to be level with his.

"You fell into the water, and I had to come save you. You went down the river so fast that I had to fight to keep up with you. I wish I could have been a bit faster, at least I could have saved you the trouble of dealing with that dragon. But such as it be sometimes." Cassius says.

"Hopefully that is the last time we see that dragon."

"Ya..." Chip's head hits sand, his body was too tired for him to stay up much longer.

Chip awoke a short time later in a much familiar field...

"So tired..." Shaking his head the fox slowly rises. Looking up he noticed that the sky's rainbow-like colors were more toned. The golden fields were more vibrating than last time while a cold wind blew through the valley around him. He was back in his soul scape.

"Welcome back." It was Inari, the Zorua was sitting on top of a large stump. She looked down at him from above, her fur was just like his, she was nearly a mirror image of him, minus her golden earrings. She smiles as she looks him over.

"How did you like your near-death experience?"

"Shaken...though I'll try to not be too stirred up." Chip smiles.

"Good because we need to talk."

"Don't we always?"

"Yes, though this talk is more about what we're going to do in our upcoming battles. Even now I can sense that we're heading towards trouble. The road ahead will not be an easy one and if we're not prepared, we won't be able to sustain ourselves. We need to be at least mentally ready for what is to come our way."

"What do you mean?"

"As your omen it's my job to protect you. Protecting you means protecting myself since I can't exist without you. It's my job to make sure that you are ready for what is to always come. It's my duty to test you to see how truly ready you are."

"I want to spar with you Chip, Chip vs Inari. Domination battle." Inari smiles.

Chip shrugs at the proposal, what was she talking about, a domination battle? Why? What would having a domination battle prove other than the one wants to fuck the other? NO, this was stupid.

"No thanks."

"What are you afraid of?" Inari asked, the Zorua drops from her perch and walks around Chip inspecting him from head to tail and back again. Chip didn't see the point of this, there was nothing to learn or gain from well...fucking his other half. Besides he was sure he would best her anyway.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"You and me both know you're full of shit their sweetie." Inari says as she brushes her tail against Chip's face, feeling him up. She seemed to enjoy toying with him, testing his mentality.

"Everyone is afraid of something, you're no different."

"What do you have to gain by making this a domination battle? I'll fight you but only if its normal."

"Your no fun, we're going to Venice the city of Love. Domination battles are their prime form of combat up there and we should prepare ourselves for it. Besides...I'm feeling a little frisky. Not going to lie, I kind of would love to fuck that tight ass of yours."

"It's your ass too." Chip says as he pushes the fox's tail away from him. He wasn't sure how much of this he should take to heart. Inari was always full of surprises; she was always feeling "frisky" and wanted to get laid. Chip shivered at the thought that this was his inner half, a lustful, needy fox that craved dick and wanted to eat pussy. Was she the reason that he cared so much about having this harem, that he enjoyed the company of Kyuubi and Hathor?

Not to mention his growing attention for other members of their growing group. Meadow wasn't the only Pokémon he was seemly growing feeling for.

"Fine I'll fight you in a normal battle though one of these days we've got to have a real domination battle. Maybe I'll be able to teach you a thing or two about how to make love.

"Tell you what, when we're done with this journey and we're in Venice...we'll have that domination battle." Chip says. Inari eagerly lets out a cry and to his surprise kisses his cheek.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun, I can't wait for that fight!"

"You really want to fuck-- "

"Damn straight! I want to cum, I want to suck dick while getting pounded from behind by a thick cock with a knot on it. I want to get shot all over my face, warm jizz running down my cheeks while someone slaps my ass and jerks me off. I want to be a Zorua sandwich."

"No way that's what I feel deep down..." Chip blushes, he couldn't believe what he was hearing though...it didn't seem all that odd either. He didn't shy away from such thoughts, didn't welcome them but...it didn't seem all that bad either.

"Don't worry Chip, I accept us for what we are, a cute fox that can turn on their need to breed." Inari winks at Chip while blowing him a kiss. "It's ok to be a slut sometimes."

"I'm not a slut Inari, I'm a sophisticated Zorua who can control his needs."

Inari smirks as she slides her paws forward, the fem was getting in a battle position. Her butt was raised in the air while she placed a paw in front of her while bending the other leg back.

"Well then...show me how "sophisticated" you are then. Don't disappoint me."

Chip mirrors her movement. He placed the opposite paw forward while mirroring everything else. The pair looked like twins. A cool wind blew against the pair and before long rain began falling.

"Huh rain?"

"The soulscape can transform itself to suit our needs. What better way to celebrate our match than for there to be a rain. We're like two warriors fighting in an open field, snow or rain falling between them. Pretty cool right?"

"Now that you mention it..." Chip didn't wait to finish his response as he shifts his paws and leaps forward at Inari who slightly moves out of the way. She counters by tripping Chip, forcing him onto the ground with a swift movement of her paws. Chip hits the ground letting out a small cry but is quick to recover.

"Careful..."

"Ya whatever." Chip swipes at Inari knocking her slightly off balance and follows up by pouncing on her. Inari gracefully shifts herself enough to throw Chip off her. The female Zorua quickly recovers while Chip is on his back staring up at her.

"What the heck?"

"My, my, my and here you thought you was simply going to get one over on old Inari?"

"You're the same age as me." Chip rolls back onto his paws.

Inari shakes her head. "That is not entirely true but...that is for another story." She then shifts her paws, they become ignited with dark flames.

"I'm curious Chip, have you been practicing your battle arts? If not, then I'll give you a lesson on how to use these beautiful illusion powers that we have. The first lesson is that we can create illusions of anything we truly want. There are limited to this ability but if done correctly you will rarely meet those limitations."

"I thought we were fighting?"

"Oh, please I could easily mount you right now if I wanted to. Which I would do but we agreed that will be for another time." Inari blows on her paw; the flame went out for a moment before returning. Chip gets onto his paws and stares at the fem, she was so powerful. Was this kind of power really sleeping inside of him?

"Let's continue sparing and I'll show you how to apply this power."

"This is so odd..." Chip says as he looks at his own paws. "If I have that kind of power, why can't I-- "

"You'll learn more with your trap closed." Inari swings at Chip slapping him with his maw. He felt the heat from her attack, the male Zorua falls backwards as he was in more shock than anything else. Did she just slap him?'

"Your defense needs work." Inari swings at him again, though this time Chip blocks her attack with his own paw. Though he is left with the feeling of being burned as the male grabs hold of his paw, it was slightly burned.

"Is this really an illusion?" Chip asked as he blew on his paw for relief. Inari rolls her eyes.

"We have the power to make our illusions real, or at least real enough that if someone believes them to be real, then they are." Inari says as she ignites her hind paws, dark flames burned on them as well.

"This is the ability we learned when we fought Hathor and Bellona. They know Flame Charge and with the right application we can not only mimic their attack but make it our own. With that kind of power, we can learn any move possible within reason. That reason is that if our body is physically and mentally able to do it, we can attempt it. Illusion only works as much as our magic, minds and abilities can handle. Something like Flame Charge is within our abilities both magically and physically. Though should we try something like...Hyper Beam, we would not be able to perform it since it's well beyond our current capabilities to do. We could create the illusion, but it will remain just that an illusion."

"Alright..." Chip stares at Inari's paws for a little bit. He pictured that warmth of Hathor, well not her warmth...that was saved for when he was in her. No, her fiery passion, that drive that she had, that he loved her for. He pictured his own paws being like her's...covered in the flames that will burn a path to the future.

"Chip!!"

Chip awoke from his daydream to his paws being covered in orange and red flames...

"Whoa!" Chip's fur had transformed, he looked just like Hathor. His tan fur had turned dirty pink, the purple was a different shade of pink. He had become Hathor.

"What happened?"

"Your bond with Hathor produced this." Inari smiles. "Your illusion powers are different than mine...well that's not entirely true. We use our powers differently. Your power comes from your friends and because of that you transform into a version of them. Looking cool Chip."

"This is crazy..." Chip says as he looks himself over, his fur was kind of nice. Inari returns to her battle pose. With a nod Chip does the same.

"Now time for the real lesson to begin, come at me with everything you've got." Inari doesn't wait for Chip to respond, instead she pounces at him. The pair trade blows as Chip responds in kind with a swipe at her, the fem takes the attack. She lands and swipes at him again this time with more speed than before. Chip was barely able to stop the attack before swiping back at her. Fur flies as he connects against her face knocking the fem back a little bit.

"Not bad." Inari slashes at Chip who is not able to dodge, he takes the hit and if knocked onto his stomach.

"Fight harder!"

"I'm doing the best I can." Chip grumbles as he is let up.

"If this is your best then I worry about us." Inari swipes again.

"Your right!" Chip's paws and eyes glow and he quickly meets her attack with a blow that knocks the pair back. Rocks and grass are thrown everywhere as the foxes meet with equal attacks. Inari lets out a giggle.

"That's what I'm talking about, I was getting bored just stupidly throwing attacks around. I want to see what you're really made of."

"You want a fight...then let's fight." Chip's paws become ablaze, and he dashes at Inari, his mouth glows as he charged an energy attack. He fires it when he is close, so close that Inari had little time to react to it. Like before she gracefully dodges it and returns his in-kind attack as she hits him with her own dark energy ball. The male is flung back, hitting the earth, and is thrown into a pile of tall grass.

"Ouch..." Chip rolls out of the grass; smoke rose from his fur. "What...the hell was that?"

"I know a few clever attacks, a Zorua should always have some trump card in her back pocket...or really tail." Inari bows. "I like that last attack of yours. Maybe if you tried to not just blindly throw it out but instead find a proper opening, you might make good use of it. That attack you used was a very, and I do mean very mild version of Night Daze. Granted you somehow used it more like an Energy Ball. Hmm I wonder...where did you learn Energy Ball?"

" Your attack is powerful, but such attacks take a little time to charge. As such it could give someone a chance to counterattack. I suggest learning to use your illusions to give yourself an opening."

The rain slowly comes to a stop.

"Enough lessons for now, I think you're ready to go back out there."

"Huh but I was actually having fun." Chip says as he gets onto his paws. His fur returns to normal and the fire on his paws goes away.

"One lesson at a time my cute half, one lesson at a time."

"I'm not cute!" Chip grumbles. "I'm badass."

"Nah your just adorable." Inari giggles, she gives him a wink.

Chip wanted to protest but he couldn't stay mad, it was kind of fun to be called cute...

Though don't go telling anyone that.

"Don't worry I won't go tell anyone our little secret, that we like to be called cute and love being face sat on." Inari sticks her tongue out.

"That's not true."

"Sure..."

The pair noticed the world was starting to change, all around them the grass turned to water. Chip's chest began to hurt as if something was putting pressure on it. He looks at Inari who looked overly concerned as if something was happening.

"You need to wake up Chip..."

"What do you mean..." Chip's breath...it felt like he was struggling to breath. What was going on?

"Chip wake up!"

"I am...awake..."

Chip puts a paw on his chest, the water rose all around him, soon it covered his chest and head. Inari fades away though not without telling him one last time...

"Wake up Chip..."

Before Chip could think of anything else the world soon became black...

Chip awoke to find himself lying on a beach, he was back by the river. He was cold and wet; a puddle of water was sitting next to him. He tried to shake his head to clear his mind, he felt like he hadn't been able to breathe for a while. The last thing he remembered...

He had been carried to the bottom of the river by a Dragonair and was saved by Cassius. Wait where was Cassius?

Slowly getting up the Zorua looks around. He didn't see the seal at first but soon he noticed something lying next to him, it was blue and a little thick. Upon closer inspection he noticed it was Cassius, the Brionne's eyes were closed.

"CASSIUS!"

"Huh?" The Brionne quickly pokes his head up. The seal was fine, in fact he was rubbing his eyes as if he had been asleep.

"What happened, where am I?"

"Well, you had fallen in the river, then you were dragged down, and I came and saved you. I brought you back to life by breathing into you and well...brought you on shore where you passed out from exhaustion. You were kind of in and out and I told you wake up out of fear that I might lose you. Well, that was until I heard you muttering in your sleep, so I decided to rest my eyes for a moment since that was kind of exhausting not going to lie."

"I'm sorry...?"

"Sorry? For what?" Cassius asked.

"For causing you so much trouble."

"What that? OH, please it was fun to go in there and save you, plus I got to teach that dragon to not mess with others like that. Your fine sweetie." Cassius grins. "Take all the time you need to rest up, the others will be here sooner or later. I sent them a message after I was sure you were ok."

"Thanks." Chip does lay his head down; he was worn out and needed some more rest.

Just as the pair were catching their breath once again, they heard something approaching. At first Chip was sure that it was their friends coming to find them but as the sound got closer and he raised his head he noticed that it wasn't their friends at all. No something far from it.

"Well now what do we have here?" The grunt of a large Pokémon sounds from the woods and soon the pair saw that they were being confronted by a Nidoking.

Cassius quickly gets up and gets in front of Chip.

"We don't mean you any trouble-- "

"Well, that sucks since I'm looking for a bit of trouble. Got reports that there were some trespassers in this forest who gave the boys back in camp some issues. Guess they meant you two." The Nidoking shows Chip and Cassius the Templar of Light emblem. Chip couldn't help but gulp as they were in trouble...

Big trouble.