FSE

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Chp 30: Reginald

"Wake up." Seth whispered as he poked a paw into Soul's side.

"Ughnn. What?!" She complained.

"It's time to go. We already said our goodbyes to Flurry and the girls are all still asleep. With a few new additions. But come on, I wanna be gone before they wake up."

Soul only groaned in response, but she did get to her feet.

Seth guided her back out to the main room, where Sky and Flurry were. "Alright, goodbye. We're leaving." Seth said, urging the girls to the exit.

"Come back anytime." Flurry said.

"Wait! Get your ass back here!" Flare barked, charging into the room.

"What about me?" Thunders followed behind her.

"Until you can get it up, we're not a couple." She told him.

Seth quickly ran out the door before anything else could happen. The moment he was clear of the cave, his body changed into a human. "Alright, let's move it!" He called to the girls behind him.

"I have never seen a male run from pussy like that." Soul said as she ducked into the open.

"Well, I know they won't take no for an answer, and I don't want to do it."

"I think that's called rape." Sky said.

"For some reason that doesn't sound like the right word." Seth muttered. He began to walk away from the hole in the mountain. "Straight north, to the lake, and then around the corner from there is Snowpoint." He pointed the way.

They were currently in a forested area, at the base of the mountain. It wasn't really a forest, but it had trees, unlike the nearly complete openness of the main path. The snow seemed light today, only about an inch deep. It was also fluffy, easily getting crushed under Seth's shoes.

They came out back on the main path, coming to a large snow covered plain. It was white everywhere, with peaks of green from the sparse trees and a couple buildings in the distance. Seth felt something wet hit his head. He looked up to find snow beginning to fall. And it was ramping up quickly.

Within minutes, the snowfall became a full-on blizzard. Seth had flipped the hood of his jacket up at the first sign of snow, but now it wasn't doing much to keep him warm. "Let's go! Run!" Seth yelled above the howling wind. Visibility was down to a few feet, nothing but white in front of his face.

"Wait!" Sky called out. Seth stopped, almost tripping. She ran up to his side and her gem glowed. A dome of psychic energy formed around them. It was only a foot above Seth's head, curving down to a circle about six feet across. It blocked out most of the wind and snow, but not the cold. It was just enough room for all three of them to stand in. Except Soul wasn't there.

"Soul!?" Seth called out. "Soul?! Where are you?!" She was gone without a trace.

"She'll be fine. We've gotta-" She flinched as something banged against the barrier. Seth looked up to see a chunk of ice rolling down the translucent purple dome. It was quickly followed by several more. The hail just stopped dead when it hit the barrier, ringing out a hollow thud, before rolling off to the ground. Sky stumbled for a moment before standing back up. She flinched every time the thuds happened.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be- ergh, fine."

"Here." Seth reached down and scooped her up, holding her across his arms. "You can shrink the dome down. Just focus on keeping it up and I'll get us there." He began to jog at a medium pace, fast enough to make progress, and slow enough not to jostle her around much. She kept flinching in his arms with every thud of hail, and after a short while she was beginning to pant from exertion. This made Seth bite his lip in concern.

Unbeknownst to either of them, a thin layer of hard aura began to form around the peak of the dome, reflecting Seth's desire to protect her. While it was similar in performance to her psychic dome, it was different in source. Her psychic powers were mental, and damage inflicted on the projection of her mind was reflected there. It was a mental pain, almost like a headache, and drained her stamina like any other pokemon attack. For Seth, aura was connected to his life energy. Damage inflicted onto it was more physical. Mostly it would drain his stamina, but intense damage to his aura would take the form of bruises or even cuts on his body. Aura was ultimately stronger than psychic, but more dangerous. Neither noticed the blue shield. Seth was busy running, and Sky had her eyes clinched tight to hold the barrier steady.

It took around ten minutes for them to finally reach the city. With the blizzard, it was hard to tell, but the bright red light of the pokemon center cutting through the snow helped a lot.

Seth ran through the automatic doors and stopped at a cushioned bench. "Ha... ha... ha..." He breathed hard for a moment, before setting Sky down. "Made it."

"Yeah, finally. What took you guys?" Soul asked as she came over.

"Good, you made it too." Seth said as he patted her head. Her fur was damp with melting snow.

"Here, have a towel." A voice said. Seth looked up to find a nurse holding one out to him. She turned and went back to the front desk, where there was another nurse. They looked almost identical. Around the rest of the lobby were only a few more trainers. "Oh, I'm worried about that poor bird outside." The nurse said.

"I know. But we can't do anything for it." The other responded.

Seth got up and went over. "Excuse me, can I get a room?"

"Sure." She said. "Storms blow in rather frequently, but don't last too long. It should be safe to go out in a few hours."

"Got it. Thanks." Seth said while she checked him in.

A short time later, and they were in their room. Soul wasn't acting cold at all, though she was upset about her messed up fur, laying on the bed while licking all the imperfections out of it. Sky was shivering however, as Seth helped her get under the covers to warm up. He was cold too, but not enough to violently shiver. "I'll be right back. I have an idea." He said, before rushing out of the room.

"So what took you guys?"

"We were trying not to freeze to death, miss thick fur."

"You two are just slow." Soul rubbed a paw along her side, and now satisfied with its smoothness, changed to straightening the other. "Did you see that pokemon on the roof?"

"On the roof? In this storm?"

"Yeah. I didn't get a good look, but there was someone up there, no doubt."

They sat in silence for a bit, only the roaring wind outside, before Seth returned. He was holding a tray of three cups. "Okay, I got some hot chocolate. It'll warm you right up." He came over, stuck a straw into one Styrofoam cup and held it out for Sky to take a sip of.

She took it in her small mouth, taking a little sip, before drinking a big gulp. "Mm, wow what is that? It's really good."

Soul's anthro hand reached over and snatched one of the drinks from the tray. "Let me try."

"It's-"

"Oh, that's good!" Soul blurted out. "It's like melted chocolate."

"It's moomoo milk and chocolate with some extra sugar. Served hot and perfect during the winter."

"Well, we're stuck here for a while." She found the remote and turned the TV on. Once she was satisfied with the channel, she changed back to her absol form to continue fixing her coat.

Nothing happened for a while, until eventually the storm calmed down.

"Alright." Seth said as he stood up. "Let's go rock that gym."

Soul turned off the TV. "Yeah!"

They all left the room and went out through the front door of the pokemon center. The snow had piled up, several large drifts against some buildings, but the walkways were already cleared off. There was a scraping noise further down the road. Looking that way revealed a hulking beast of a pokemon, a mamoswine, pushing a plow, easily moving the large amounts of snow.

"Oh hey..." Sky muttered as she walked out a bit and looked up. "I don't see any..." Her eyes went wide. "Is that...?"

The other two looked up curiously. At first, it just looked like a puff of snow sitting atop the sign for the pokemon center. But it had a blue appendage sticking out of it. Then Seth saw the eyes, circles of red looking down at him with a piercing glare. Seth recognized it as an altaria, a dragon and flying type. And currently, most of its body besides its raised head was covered in snow.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked.

"I am fine." It snapped at him. Its voice seemed male.

"Alright..." Seth muttered.

"Are you sure?" Sky asked.

"Do not worry about me my dear." He said. "I am waiting for my trainer to return."

"He left you outside in this storm?!"

"The cold is not a problem. He will come back."

"How... how long has he been gone?" Sky asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Two weeks."

"Oh, it's one of those loyal idiot situations." Soul said.

"You can't keep waiting for him!" Sky urgently explained. "You'll end up killing yourself!"

"If that is my fate, so be it." The dragon explained plainly.

"Seth! You have to do something!" Sky begged.

"I can try... Stay here." He said. He began to walk around the building, looking for a ladder. There should have been one... "Ah!" He said in success. It has a locked grate over the first few rungs, but if he was careful, he could make it up. He reached up, taking hold of the top and pulled himself up easily. A memory flashed through his mind of how hard pull ups had been in school, but it was fleeting at best. A short climb later and he made it onto the roof.

The snow up here was especially bad, almost halfway up Seth's legs. He was already starting to shiver, not used to such cold weather. He forced his way across the large roof, until he reached the front, where the Altaria was perched on the edge. "Okay, come on big guy. You can wait inside, and the nurses can give you a checkup."

The bird dragon angrily looked back at him. "I will not! My orders are to wait right here!" When Seth didn't stop approaching, it opened its mouth and fired a purple beam of energy. It missed, just barely, but still packed enough force to send Seth to the ground, along with a wave of snow.

"Okay..." Seth growled angrily, with chattering teeth. "Now it's personal." He got up and began to approach again.

"Get..." Altaria said as he panted loudly. "Back." He opened his maw again, but little more than a purple sputter came out.

Seth made it up to him and wrapped his arms around the dragon's fluffy wings. He tried to struggle, but couldn't manage to break Seth's grip. Seth lifted, surprised by the lightness of him. Altaria weren't particularly heavy, lighter than an espeon even, but he felt gaunt. Seth had to brush a lot of snow off his wings, and he had been sitting in the midst of a drift. Seth leaned over slightly to look over the edge. "Got him!" He called down. "Spot me a big drift."

"What?" Sky asked.

"A snow drift. I'm gonna jump off. I can't climb back down the ladder like this." He bit his lip nervously. Hopefully no one was watching this. Not only because he was doing something dumb, but because he was having back and forth conversations with pokemon. He watched the two girls below look around, before they called out from one side of the building. Once he started moving, Altaria started to put up a fight again. He even began to violently peck at Seth's back with his sharp beak. Seth winced, but kept moving. "Alright, hold on." Seth looked over the edge, before leaping off. The snow drift against the building had already been plowed, leaving it about six feet high of packed snow against the wall. Seth fell for what felt like an eternity, though it was only about a second. The pokemon center was only two stories tall. He exploded into the snow, sending cascades of it everywhere. Seth coughed and was breathing hard, but he was unharmed. "Fuck, that was scary."

"Well duh." Soul said.

Seth had to briefly let go of Altaria to stand up. The dragon tried to take flight, but he could barely move his wings. Then Seth grabbed hold again.

"Damn you human." He growled. Seth felt a couple pokes on his back, but they were weaker than before.

Seth got up, shivering violently, and circled the building back to the front entrance. "Can you take this guy in?" Seth asked the nurse as he came in.

"Is that- yes, of course. Chansey!" The nurse called. In an instant, a pink blob burst through the swinging doors that led back into the center, pushing a stretcher. Seth carefully set Altaria onto it and, just as fast, the chansey was off.

"Can I go back?" Seth asked.

"If you like."

Seth checked to make sure the girls were behind him, and went back into the pokemon center. This one was a good deal smaller than most, with only three patient rooms. Altaria had been taken into the first. The single Chansey worked fast. By the time Seth found his way in, she had already wheeling in a portable tub, filled it with warm water, and had Altaria soaking in it.

"Now you sit in there." She instructed.

The dragon growled, but didn't move.

"I can make sure he stays." Seth said.

"Thank you." The chansey said with a bow, likely not knowing that Seth could understand. "I'll be back soon."

"What's your name?" Sky asked.

He scowled at her before looking away. "Reginald."

"Soul, would you go watch for his trainer?"

"What am I supposed to look for?" She complained.

"Just do it." Seth told her.

"There, see? Everything's okay." Sky said gently.

"Your trainer... he's probably not coming back for you. If it has been two weeks-" Seth said.

"Do not dare speak ill of master!" The dragon shouted. He had a lot of energy for what Seth assumed was severe frostbite and malnutrition.

"Seriously. He probably abandoned you. Or he passed away. You can't kill yourself out in the cold." Seth tried to explain.

Reginald looked away in clear disdain. "Lies."

"Now-" A nurse said as she came in. "Oh my, sir, you're bleeding!"

"Huh?" Seth asked.

She came up and ushered him to sit down. "Take off your shirt."

Seth complied, removing his jacket and shirt. Once he got the shirt off, he noticed it had several holes teared in the back, soaked with blood.

"I assume you brought this altaria in from the roof. You can't just handle wild pokemon like that. You're lucky it didn't hurt you worse."

"He's not wild. His trainer abandoned him here two weeks ago." Seth grimaced as she put something on him that burned, before cleaning him up and bandaging him.

"He really did a number on you. It looked pretty bad." Sky said.

"Now," The nurse began to check on Reginald. He had frostbite, and he was severely dehydrated and starving. "Thank you so much for trying to help him." The nurse turned to Seth once all was done. "It's remarkable that he's lasted for so long. We knew he was up there, but we aren't allowed to take in wild pokemon. Do you know his trainers name? We can look him up in the system and get a better idea of what happened."

"Uhh..." Seth pretended to think.

Sky picked up the hint quickly. "What is his name?" She asked.

"Mercer." Reginald eventually said.

"His name was Mercer." Seth told her.

"That's all? I suppose we can try." She stood and left.

"The moment I am free, I will return to my post." Reginald said.

"You're a stubborn bird." Seth muttered.

"Well then we'll just keep you with us." Sky told him.

"I guess..."

"Out of the water~" Chansey sang as she came in.

+++

He was discharged from the center a few hours later. He was warmed up, his wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, and Seth was given pokemon grade painkillers to use.

"Are you going to adopt him?" One of the nurses asked.

"I wasn't planning on it. I'll just keep him out of your hair until he's healed. He's a bit... belligerent." Seth told her.

"We aren't equipped to handle violent patients, so I thank you."

"I could take him." Chansey said, flexing her stubby arms.

"Oh shush. You're the cuddliest puffball." The nurse patted her pokemon's head.

Seth began to reach out for Reginald, but he growled angrily.

"Please, just relax." Sky urged. "If your trainer does come, he'll ask the nurses where you are, and they'll point him our way."

This seemed to relax him, allowing Seth to pick him up. Seth carried him back to the rooms, and into theirs.

"Alright, I'm going to put a blanket over you to keep warm. Sky? Could you go get Soul?"

Sky nodded and left. Seth went further in and set Reginald on the bed.

"No. The desk." Reginald said.

Seth shrugged and moved him. He went into the closet and took out the spare blanket and draped it over the dragon's body, before wrapping it around the front. "Let me know if you get too hot. I'll fill up a bowl of special pokemon food for you, and some water. Eat a little, but not too much or you'll get sick."

"Hmph." Reginald scoffed. "The doctor explained that already."

"Whatever. Excuse me for trying to save your life. I'm sure your trainer will be happy you aren't dead if he comes back." Seth said angrily as his patience broke. He heard a scratching at the door and went over to let the girls back in.

"So, what's the plan?" Soul asked right away.

Seth made sure to close the door all the way first. "Well, no gym today. We can try for tomorrow."

"Ugh!" She groaned as she hopped onto the bed. "Hey Bird!"

"You may call me Reginald, madam." He said. "How can I help?"

"It's your fault we can't battle the gym today, so I want you to do something for me."

"Of course."

"Good. Tell me what a dragon dick looks like."

"WHAT!" Reginald squawked and flapped his wings in surprise.

"Or better yet, let me look for myself." Soul suggested.

"How rude!"

"Don't mind her." Sky said. "She's kind of a sexual deviant."

Seth got up and went over to Reginald. "Just stay still as much as you can. You don't want to tear open any wounds." Seth reached back and pulled the blanket back over his wings.

"Will you tell us your story?" Sky asked. "I promise to tell you ours."

"Very well. My Master caught me as a swablu, near the town of Solaceon. He trained me until I evolved. Our gym challenge was stopped by Candice, so he left to go train. He doesn't trust PCs, so he left me outside my ball at the center, as I would not be participating in the battle."

"I see... Well, I'm Sky, that's Soul, and this is our mate, Seth."

"Mate? With a human?"

"Not this shit again." Soul muttered.

Seth glowed as his body changed into a full lucario. "I'm a human pokemon hybrid."

"Intriguing..." Reginald chirped quietly.

+++

Everything was mostly normal the rest of the day. Another storm blew in for around an hour at some point. Soul and Seth mostly watched TV, Soul controlling the remote as usual, and Sky tried to make small chat with Reginald. He certainly seemed a lot more willing to talk with her than with Seth. As the night began to draw to an end, there was a knock on the door.

Seth went over and looked through the peephole. One of the nurses was standing there. "Yes?" He asked as he opened the door.

"Seth, correct? I have some bad news. The altaria's trainer, one Mercer Horms... He was found about a week ago in the forest. He passed away."

"Are... are you sure?" Seth asked.

"Yes. He was the only trainer to come through here in the time frame that had an altaria. When his body was found, all of his pokemon were released into the wild."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me." Seth sighed heavily as he closed the door. He turned and saw Reginald with his head hidden in his wings.

"I'm so sorry." Sky said. He didn't even twitch.

"Just give him time." Soul said.

+++

"Candice, the diamond dust girl. Ice type. Icicle badge." Seth read off the gym plaque. "If you two can't finish it, a certain lucario can."

"Is that a challenge?" Soul asked, adorning a cocky smile.

"Sure, why not." Seth shrugged. "I'll think of some treat if you do good."

"Oh!" A voice, female, said. Seth looked over to find a girl approaching with a mamoswine by her side. It seemed to be the same one as yesterday. "Were you looking for Candice? Well she just got back." She smiled warmly as she came closer and offered Seth a surprisingly firm handshake. She was wearing a turtle neck and thick pants, but what surprised Seth was how busty she was. DD maybe, even under the puffy shirt. He quickly diverted his gaze before he was caught staring.

"Yeah. Have time for a battle?" He asked.

"Yep. Although, how about a three on three? This big girl's all tuckered out."

"I'm fine to battle." The mamoswine said.

"Yeah, who's a good girl?" Candice took out a berry and feed it to her. "Alright, ready to go?"

Seth nodded and she stepped past him to show him inside. The inside of the gym was warmer than outside, but not by much. It felt just below freezing, but there was no wind to make it worse. They entered into a small lobby, with a desk and a small waiting area with a heater, before passing into the arena. The entire floor was made of ice.

"Oh, this'll be fun." Seth muttered. He stayed on his side of the field while Candice walked over to her side, right across the icy battlefield, with little effort.

"Go on and have a rest." She told her mamoswine. "You already worked hard today." She then turned her attention to Seth. "So, three on three?"

"Sounds good. Soul, you're up first."

"Go Weavile!" Candice called out as she tossed her first ball. The black furred female ran a claw along her red head feathers. Then she shot Soul a smirk. "Begin!"

Both Soul and Weavile charged at each other. They flew into a flurry of claws and horns, sparks of darkness flying out of the blurs as their night slashes clashed. Soul seemed to be handling the ice just fine. Seth noticed claw marks in the ice from her grip. Suddenly, an icicle formed in Weavile's paw, which she rapidly flung at Soul. It shattered in her face, giving Weavile the advantage long enough to land a slash. Soul went skidding back, pulling up on her claws to gain extra distance from the ice.

"You're fast." Soul complimented.

"So are you. But you can't beat me." Weavile said back.

"Maybe not like this." Soul glowed for a moment before the energy burst outwards, her body mega evolving. Soul raised her head and howled while her wings gave a quick flap. "Now try-" She vanished, before reappearing in midair. "This!" She swung both forepaws down as she plummeted toward Weavile, forming two massive night slashes. She unleashed them right onto Weavile, leaving a large X shaped trail of dark energy in the air.

She flinched at the blow, but quickly retaliated, punching Soul with a curled claw. There was a flash of orange fighting type energy around her fist as Soul was launched back. Soul flew back, before righting herself in midair and giving a flap of her furry wings to slow her landing. She opened her maw and a wave of fire blew out. Weavile responded with an ice beam. The attacks cancelled each other out.

"Heh. That's four." Soul smirked. Weavile's eyes widened in realization. "I only used two moves so far."

Weavile growled and charged forward. Just as she closed in and swung her claws, she only slashed the air. Soul leaped up, using her pseudo wings to gain height and land on the other side of the field. Weavile turned and formed a large icicle around one arm. She leaped forward, nearly flying through the air directly at Soul. She saw Soul smirk and knew she fell into a trap. She looked down just in time to see the ice crack just in front of Soul. She didn't have time to stop her momentum as she dove right into the path.

Just when she passed over it, stone spikes burst from the ground. She quickly swung her ice-covered arm at one rock, knocking the sharp tip off, before planting her other paw on the flattened tip and pushing herself up and out of the way. Before she could even plot her next move, a steel hard tail slapped into her back, knocking the wind out of her lungs, and sending her crashing down into the stone edge. The rocks then exploded, sending razor sharp shards flying. Soul landed on the other side, before looking back to admire her handiwork. Weavile was out cold after the rocks vanished.

Soul walked back over to Seth and off the field. "I'm taking a break." She huffed as her form reverted and she lied down on her side.

"Alright, Sky?" Seth said. Sky stepped forward, immediately almost slipping on the slick ice.

"Woah-hoah." Sky cried as her paws fought for purchase. She had claws, but they were much shorter and duller than Soul's. She eventually managed to stand up, using the rivets Soul had cut into the ice earlier to help.

"Time for the killer combo. Abomasnow!" She tossed her next ball, revealing the large tree looking pokemon. It roared as a large cloud of white began to build up in the air near the ceiling. "You know the plan!" Candice cheered.

Sky's gem glowed as blue encompassed her opponent. The psychic did not lift the heavy foe, but did damage through the massive pressure it created. Abomasnow roared and shook her arms, breaking free. She opened her mouth and fired an ice beam, not aiming for Sky at all. The beam swept across the floor, filling in most of the holes the previous battle had made. The cloud of ice above them had built up enough by then, causing shards of ice to come raining down in a barrage. They battered at Sky, but did little to the ice type. The storm ended just as quickly, as the cloud began to build up again. Occasionally, some snow or a chunk of ice or two would fall out of the cloud, but nothing as powerful as the downpour.

Sky glowed blue for a moment, before a small orb shot out of her body. It rapidly flew straight across the field, before exploding into a kaleidoscope of psychic energy. Abomasnow flinched back, but quickly recovered to move her arms forward. A wave of wind and snow blew off her body, picking up additional ice from the hailstorm above. The blizzard of cold crashed into Sky, obscuring her from sight. Once the storm cleared, leaving some snow lying on the ground, Sky was encased in a block of ice.

"Sky!" Seth called out.

"Now smash!" Candice cheered, jumping into the air. Abomasnow charged forward, raising an arm. A layer of green energy covered that arm as she slammed it down onto Sky's frozen form. The ice shattered and Sky took the hit head on as she was smashed into the ground.

Sky's eyes and gem started to glow brightly as she looked up. The snow around them shuddered and lifted into the air. Everything suddenly froze, before the air behind Abomasnow shattered like a pane of glass, before righting itself. Both the snow and the pokemon fell to the ground.

"That was it. I can't do anymore." Sky said. Candice recalled her pokemon and took out her next, and last ball. Seth held up a hand as he cautiously went out onto the ice. He managed to get Sky and carry her back, setting her beside Soul.

"Soul? You ready to go back in?"

"Nah." She said.

"Candice?" Seth called across the field. "I gotta use the bathroom. Be right back." Seth ran out of the room, and out of view of the cameras, before he checked to make sure he was alone. Once he was in the clear, he transformed into a lucario and went back in. He stepped back onto the field and raised a paw at Candice, miming the 'bring it on' gesture.

Candice smiled. "Alright then. Froslass, finish this up!"

"Shit." Seth thought. A ghost type. That destroyed his plan. He hardly had time to think of a new strategy.

"Hey big guy. Surrender for me and I'll give you a little treat~" Froslass winked at Seth, firing a large heart at him. Seth didn't have time to dodge, being caught off guard. It hit him, popping into a shower of smaller pink hearts. The hail rained down, but it didn't hurt that bad.

"Oh. Attract." Seth said, relaxing. Froslass floated over and raised an arm. She violently swung it across in a powerful slap, but Seth ducked under it. He swung his arm up, raking his metallic claws across her. At least he thought he made contact, but her body faded like a mirage and he only hit snow. As the snow fell to the ground, along with some more hail, he saw her floating backwards, still facing him. In her hands, she formed a shadow ball and fired it at him. He brought up his arms and started to form an aura shield, but the attack was too fast and he didn't have time to fully harden it. The ball exploded once it hit him.

He swung his arms outward to clear the smoke. The ice cloud above him began to unleash its contents. There was a move he thought could help, but he had never used it before. He stared right at her, studying her every move. When she moved her arms to form another shadow ball, Seth mimicked the action. The dots connected in his head and he rapidly threw out a shadow ball before her. She flinched in surprise, throwing her ball off target but before Seth's attack hit, she turned to snow again. Her shadow ball curved in midair and hit Seth from above. Seth grit his teeth angrily. She didn't hit that hard, but she was slippery. The hail that hit his head just made him more annoyed.

Then it hit him. A useless move that was perfect. He quickly ran a checklist of the moves he had already used. Metal claw and me first. That left him two more. He nodded to himself and began to focus on her. He would have, if he could- Seth yelped and dove forward. He managed to dodge some of the powerful slap, which threw him forward along the icy floor, but it still hurt. Getting back up, he kept his attention on the snickering ghost. He had to find her, discover her essence, something to attack. The hail barely broke his focus.

They just stared at each other for a while, both waiting for the other to make a move. Seth grimaced and decided to go for it. Either it would work or not. He wasn't paying attention to it, but the ice cloud above them had dissipated. As he ran, he charged aura around all four paws. His first swing was a downward slam with a clenched fist. She floated back and out of the way, making his fist smash and shatter the ice. He swung horizontally with his other fist, but didn't reach far enough. With one foot, he kicked off and swung the other through the air. This time he made contact, his foot paw hitting her side and the aura around it exploded. Seth came down, skidding forward on the ice and punching straight forward. The ice helped him move along with her attempt to escape, driving his fist right into her chest. There was barely an instant before his other fist hit.

He jumped up and swung his foot down as he landed, smashing it into Froslass's head. The blow knocked her down onto the ice. Seth stopped to see if she was out. When she didn't get back up, he relaxed. "Whew..." He sighed, before running off the field. He ducked through the door he went through previously, transformed to human, and then went back in. "I'm back. I sent lucario in and it would seem he did a good job."

"You're right he did. Your whole team did awesome!" Candice cheered. She recalled her pokemon as she walked over, and swapped the ball for a badge. "Here ya go. That was fun."

Seth happily took the badge. "Yeah, likewise. Girls? Can you walk?"

Soul rolled back onto her feet and stood up. Sky used a bit more effort, but managed.

Candice looked up to one of the cameras filming the arena. The red light that had previously been on it, probably indicating it was recording, had turned off. "You fought pretty hard too. You gonna make it back fine?"

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Seth asked, sounding a bit panicked.

"Relax, it's fine. I know all about what you are. Well, enough at least. Another trainer like you came through a long time ago. And even then, the gym battles aren't live, so I can edit you out or something."

"I... okay. Uh, thanks, I'd appreciate that."

"No prob." She smiled. "Now go get yourself some rest."

+++

"Reginald?" Seth asked as he came back into their room. "We're back."

"How did it go?" He asked.

"We won. So how are you feeling?"

"I have had time to think, and I think I know what I want." The altaria closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I would have gladly died alongside my master. But you saved me from death. Seth, I would like to call you master. May I join you in your adventures?"

"I'm not sure..." Seth bit his lip and looked away.

"You're supposed to be getting over your issues." Soul said. "I vote him in."

"And so do I." Sky said. "It's our fault that he has to live knowing his trainer died, so it's the least we can do for him."

"I didn't know this was a democracy."

"It's not like we, or you, are gonna fuck him." Soul said. "Though I still want to see a real dragon dick." Reginald squawked his disapproval.

"I know you still feel guilty for Eclipse and Eve." Sky said. "That will never happen again."

"Fine. He's in. I'm going to take a hot bath." He unslung his backpack and tossed it onto the bed, before going into the bathroom. He striped and turned the water on, waiting for the tub to fill.

A short while later, Sky opened the door and came in, nudging it shut behind her. "It's not your fault."

"It doesn't matter who's fault it is. They're dead. I don't want to ever have to deal with something like that again. If that means it's just us forever, so be it. The less people I care about, the less I have to worry about losing." The bath was full now, so he got in, sighing at the hot relaxation that flowed through his tired muscles. Sky quickly followed, curling up in his lap and resting her head on his chest.

"I know it hurts. It still hurts for me too, but you can't let the past destroy your life. Eve wouldn't want you to suffer like this. We've got a baby on the way, so-"

"I know..." He closed his eyes while idly rubbing her ears. "I know."

+++

"Just roll over." Soul urged. "That's all you have to do."

"No. I would never intrude upon my master's mate."

"It's not intruding. I just wanna see what your dick looks like. I mean, I've seen dragons online, but I wanna touch one for real."

"Foul temptress!" He flapped his wings. He was sitting on the desk, with Soul terrorizing him from below.

"Just let me do this one thing and I'll leave you alone."

"No!"

"I say no to your no! Let me touch your dick!"