FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Welcome to Chapter 2 of the Escort files! Once again, I would like to thank Xianyu for some beta reading and editing help. Many thanks also to Shakal Draconis and Em for their input on this story as well. Finally, thanks to my friends on BlueSky, who are always happy to suggest a random pokémon when I need one.

Story Keywords:Pokémon Trainer, Pokephilia, Fellatio, Anal, Quilava, Story Heavy

---

It was still dark in Tommy's hotel room when his phone went off. The insistent ringing quickly burrowed into his mind, through the soft comforting fog of sleep. He jolted awake, turning to the nightstand and reaching around the vaporeon pressed to his front. Grabbing the phone, he pulled it to his face and looked at it blearily.

Late morning had already arrived, the room only dark due to the heavy hotel curtains. The icon on his phone showed a dark skinned man he didn't recognize, but the text read “Alex Vorinski, Violet Enterprises." Upon realizing it was from the company, he fumbled to answer it and pulled the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Tommy here."

“G'day Tommy, this is Alex, from Violet Enterprises." There was a pleasant lilt to the man's voice, an accent Tommy didn't quite recognize.

“So I got the job then?"

“Yeah, but that's not why I am calling, mate." The other man sighed. “There's been a bit of a situation. Are you near Slateport still?"

At the mention of a “situation", Tommy carefully sat up, and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand. “Sort of. I'm at Mauville, Slateport is just down the hill, I can be there very quickly. What's happened?"

There was a pause before the other man spoke."Well, to be honest mate, I can't get into all of it right now. The gist of it is that we have a contract which needs to be taken care of, a quilava who is on the way to headquarters.

So, I want you to handle this for me. You're near the pickup, you did good with Wilbur, and you're coming here anyway."

Tommy extricated himself from the bed linens, rubbing his eyes. “Right, right, but I do need a bit more information. A situation, you said. Is this quilava in danger somehow?"

“He's a runaway, fled his old trainer and ended up at one of our shelters. That's all I am at liberty to say right now, mate."

This caused Tommy to shoot awake, sitting completely upright. Both Glory and Nia made noises of disapproval, having been shaken from their sleep. “I see," he replied, pausing only a moment before continuing, “Okay, I'll take care of it. Send me any description or picture of the previous trainer you can, so I can be on the lookout."

“I'll see what I can manage, mate. You can handle this?"

“A pokémon running away isn't unknown," Tommy said with an edge to his voice, using his free hand to reassure Glory and Nia after their rude awakening, “But it's so uncommon that this guy must have been a real monster. I'll get the quilava to the Orange Islands safely. And if the old trainer interferes, Arceus better have mercy on them because I sure as hell won't."

There was a pregnant pause before Alex's voice came back. “I appreciate the passion, mate, but if at all possible, please avoid confrontation."

“I understand, Alex. I won't go looking for trouble. And I'll do whatever I can to help this poor quilava out. They know someone is coming to get them?"

“Yes. His name is Oliver, and he knows the plan: that you'll come get him and take him right to our building in the islands. He's likely to be a little skittish though, so have patience mate."

“I got through dealing with Wilbur, believe me, patience I can do. Especially for a cause like this."

“That's good to hear. Head for the Slateport pokécenter, tell one of the nurses there you're there to pick up Oliver. They'll probably spend some time making sure it's you. Safe trip, mate. I hope this turns out to be nothing more than a pleasure cruise for you."

“Thanks, but I am more concerned about making sure it's an easy time for Oliver. Call you when I have him. Bye."

“Good luck. See you when you get to the Islands."

---

The trip down the cycling path was break-neck fast, with Tommy rarely touching the brakes during the trip. Other than nearly hitting a low flying swellow, it was uneventful. Once again, his pokémon decided to stay in their balls for the trip, for which he was grateful. Tommy doubted they would have been able to keep pace with his hard descent down the cycling road.

When he arrived at Slateport and was putting the bike back, an out of breath man in a Rydel Cycling uniform ran up to him. The guy was raving something about “love of cycling" and how it shook him to his soul, but Tommy barely listened, only offering simple responses at the appropriate times while he racked the bike. When the man said something about getting a picture, Tommy quickly slipped away while he was off looking for a camera.

Hustling over to the pokécenter, he checked behind himself to make sure the man from the cycling rentals hadn't followed him. A crazed cycling fan was not a complication he wanted to deal with today. Seeing that they had not followed, he straightened his clothing and headed through the doors and directly to the main counter.

“Excuse me," he said, sliding his trainer card to the nurse, “I'm here to pick up a quilava named Oliver. Here is my trainer identification."

She looked up at him, then at the ID. She stared intently at it for a moment and then back to him before putting the card down and typing some keys on her computer. After a moment she gestured to a small scanner on the counter.

“Would you mind confirming your identity for me, please?"

Tommy nodded and moved over, setting his right hand down on the scanner in the outline on it. The scanner lit up for a moment and then there was a soft chime from the nurse's computer. At that she smiled.

“Ah, thank you Mr. Scott. I apologize for the trouble."

Pulling his hand back, Tommy quickly shook his head. “No, no, I'd much rather you be cautious. Thank you for thinking of security."

The nurse nodded and gestured to a waiting area nearby. “One of our nurses will be with you shortly. Please wait over there."

Tommy inclined his head politely. “Of course." He moved over and sat down on an old but comfortable couch. A few other people sat in chairs or stood around, waiting for their own business to be concluded. Sighing, he felt a keen loneliness from the ride, and so he plucked Nia's ball from his belt, and released her onto the couch, next to him.

She looked around for a moment before letting out a curious “Chu?". Rather than answering, he just smiled and gently pulled her into his lap. He started petting her, stroking her head and rubbing her ears, before moving on, sliding his hands lower and massaging her cheeks. There was a slight static tingle that flowed through his fingers, especially while massaging her cheeks, but he was long used to it by now.

With a happy sigh, Nia relaxed into the pampering treatment. It always made him happy to watch her melt under his touch like that. Her whole body seemed to just relax and go limp as he massaged her, with even her tail just limply lying on the couch. Tommy was fairly certain if he kept it up, she'd be entirely asleep before long.

Before that could happen though, his name was called and he looked up. Near the counter was a nurse standing with a small quilava. He was just a bit taller than Nia, but looked lighter. The nurse called Tommy's name again, holding a pokéball in one hand, and a small package in his other.

Setting Nia on the ground, Tommy stood and walked over to him, which made the quilava flinch slightly and back up to hide behind the nurse's legs, peering out at Tommy warily. Nia gave a curious “Rai?" and leaned out, trying to get a better look at Oliver.

With an apologetic smile, the nurse held out a pokéball for Tommy. “Sorry," he said, “Oliver is a bit shy. I hope you can both get along well on the trip to the Orange Islands."

Tommy blinked in surprise, reevaluating the nurse. “You already know where we're heading?"

“I wouldn't turn Oliver over to you if I didn't. I was briefed on the situation, and the company trusts you to get Oliver out of Hoenn, which is exactly why I do as well. They've helped us with a lot of abused or runaway pokémon before." The nurse spoke all this quietly, as though preferring not to be overheard.

Taking the ball, Tommy looked it over for a bit. While the bottom half was white like most balls, the top was gold on the lower two thirds and black on the upper third. A red V symbol lined up with the center button, on the border of the two top colors. It was a type of ball he recognized, used generally for catching weaker pokémon. It was clean and nice enough, though to his trainer's eye, it could use a little maintenance.

Nia had moved around even more and was gazing at Oliver, gesturing and spouting a non-stop stream of pokéspeak. Oliver for his part mostly just nodded or offered a very soft “Qui." at various points. Smiling, Tommy indicated Nia to the nurse. “Hopefully, Nia can help as translator, and put any concerns Oliver has to rest."

He let his gaze move to the large padded envelope in the man's other hand. “What's with the package there?"

“Something from the company, I was told," the nurse said, holding it out for Tommy. “They said I should give it to you when you arrive to pick up Oliver." Instead of opening it directly, Tommy slid it into his bag for now.

Then he knelt down, setting his bag on the floor and held out a hand towards the quilava, palm up. “Hello Oliver. I'm Tommy. Or Tom if you prefer. I'm going to be your friend for a couple days, and we'll take you somewhere safe and comfortable. Is that alright?"

Peeking around the nurse's leg, Oliver watched him fearfully, and the sight of such naked fear sent a dagger of ice through Tommy's heart. “Qui? Lava?" Oliver looked back and forth from Tom to Nia, still remaining carefully behind the nurse's legs.

“If she hasn't done the service of introducing herself, this is Nia, one of my pokémon. She'll also be here to be your friend and help out on the trip. She might talk a lot, but she's very nice."

Nia nodded along with the introduction, looking very pleased with herself. At least until he got to the part about her talking a lot. When that came up, she stamped her paw and gave an aggravated “Cha!" while giving Tommy a dirty look. Though she turned back to Oliver with a friendly expression right afterward.

After a few more moments, Oliver seemed to gather his courage and took a few steps out from behind the nurse, carefully putting a paw into Tommy's hand.

“Qui…quilava…"

Instantly Tommy was struck by how warm Oliver's paw was. He'd never been up close to a fire type himself, and was slightly shocked at how soft and warm Oliver was. It reminded him of his old childhood, cuddling plushies on winter days.

“Want to walk with us, Oliver? I could carry you if you wanted," he queried, smiling brightly at his new charge.

Oliver seemed unsure, and took his paw back slowly. “Qui, qui." Then he moved over to stand near Tommy, glancing around cautiously. Tommy noted that Oliver didn't stand quite as close to himself as he had the nurse, as if Oliver was still unconvinced of his sincerity. Since it seemed like Oliver was walking, Tommy turned his attention back to the nurse, who produced some forms for him to sign.

And then, a few minutes later, Oliver and Tommy walked along the sidewalk towards the docks, Nia taking her normal position on Tommy's shoulder, spending the trip people-watching. Tommy felt on edge though and kept a sharp eye out around himself, always making sure to be aware of where Oliver was. Trouble on the trip was unlikely, but in his experience it was always when you stopped watching for trouble that it usually found you.

So he kept his careful vigil until they got to the boardwalk. Once there, he spied a free bench. “Hey, Oliver," he said, trying his best to seem friendly and relaxed, “Mind if we take a break over there real quick? I'd like to see what's in the package the company gave me."

Oliver nodded and jogged over to the bench, climbing up and sitting down. With a smile, Tommy moved over and sat beside him, starting to open the padded envelope he had been sent. As he did so, Oliver almost imperceptibly scooted a bit away from him. Nia climbed down from his shoulder and plopped on the bench, leaning against his other side.

Inside the envelope he found a rather large Deynatech tablet, a charging cable for it, and a simple note. Everything he needed was on the tablet, according to the note. It had introductory programs, questionnaires about himself, a satellite connection, everything he could possibly need. Silhouette and Violet Enterprises did everything they could paperless, so just about everything would be through the tablet.

Humming to himself, Tommy pulled out his phone as he let the tablet boot up. Once it was ready, he unlocked his phone. “Turing, buddy," he called to the phone, “Hope you're not super comfy, because I have a new home for you."

Oliver peered over curiously, watching as the porygon's head popped up out of the screen as if by magic. A moment later, the rest of Turing's body followed, and then it grew to its normal size as he floated around the group, scanning the tablet in Tommy's hand with a critical eye.

“Pory? Porygon?"

“Our new company tablet, courtesy of Violet Enterprises," the trainer explained, “We're gonna be moving as much as we can to the company platform, but I will keep the phone for emergencies."

“Pory gon."

“I appreciate it, buddy. If you could, route anything that can go to the tablet there and move our files over. And then, if you wouldn't mind, start inspecting the security to make sure it's tight as a drum."

“Ry!"

With that final affirmation, Tommy - and Oliver - watched as Turning shrank down and flew into the screen of the tablet. Immediately it glitched, showing an error box, but then snapped back to normal, showing a progress bar of files and settings being transferred. There was also a note from Turing instructing Tommy to take the SIM card from his phone and install it into the tablet.

Smiling, Tommy held the tablet out for Oliver to see better. “Turing isn't the most chatty, but he's been a reliable friend since I got him. His specialties are technology and battling, so, mostly he just helps keep me on schedule. Haven't done much battling in a while."

“Qui…"

Tommy set the tablet down and pulled out his phone, turning it off before removing it from its protective case. Once he managed that, he realized he'd need something to pop the SIM card out, and went digging in his bag, eventually managing to turn up a paperclip. Given how it was bent, he guessed it had been in his bag since the last time he'd needed to open something like this.

It took only a few moments for Tommy to pop out the SIM card, and move it to the appropriate slot in the tablet. Afterwards, he set the tablet back in his bag, content to let Turing do his work. Then his attention fell to the little quilava, who was just staring off across the docks. Deciding against just taking the chance, he called out softly to the pokémon. “Oliver, is it okay if I pet you?"

The question seemed to shock Oliver back to reality and he seemed at a bit of a loss before finally giving a very small nod. With permission now given, Tommy reached out a hand and gently stroked over Oliver's head. His fur was soft and fine, and the warmth radiating from him seemed almost intoxicating. Despite that, Tommy focused his brain on more concrete issues.

Once Oliver seemed to relax a bit, Tommy let his hand wander more, rubbing the quilava's ears, under his chin, along his jaw, over his cheeks and the back of his head. While doing so, he made sure Oliver was enjoying the attention, but also was carefully checking for anything wrong he might feel on the little pokémon; cuts, bumps, painful spots.

Relieved that he wasn't finding any, Tommy eventually lapsed into just random petting. Checking out the entirety of the quilava would be good, but given the skittish nature of the poor thing, Tommy didn't want to spook him by pulling Oliver into his lap. Or push his luck asking for more just now. He seemed healthy and in no apparent pain, so it could wait for the pokémon to warm up to him a bit.

He pulled the tablet back out, to check on Turing's progress. The migration had already finished, and once more Tommy was amazed at how fast Turning could work. He unlocked the tablet and moved over to the contacts section, seeing that Turing had also added the man who had called him this morning.

Tommy doubled tapped the icon for Alex Vorinski, and waited for connection. It rang once before Alex's face appeared on the tablet. “Tommy? Everything all right?"

Tommy nodded, “Yeah, no trouble. Just wanted to check in. Got Oliver with me, and we'll be aboard as soon as the ship makes port."

“Glad to hear it, mate. Enjoy the ship amenities, they're perks of the job. I'll meet you when you get to Mandarin."

“Mandarin? The ship says it's headed for Ascorbia."

“Most traffic flows through there, there's a welcome center and parcel distribution center on the island. But it's one of the smaller ones. Grabbing a ferry to Mandarin won't be hard."

“Right," Tommy said. Inwardly, he reminded himself to get a map and maybe some other information sources about the Orange Islands so he wasn't completely lost when he arrived.

“Anyway, I'll see you when you get here, mate. Talk to you then."

“Right. Bye Alex." He ended the call and stowed the tablet back in his bag.

Having completed the call, Tommy turned his attention back out across the water. In the distance, a large white cruise ship was silently approaching the docks. It amazed Tommy, how quiet and subtle modern technology had gotten. He remembered learning in school how disruptive shipping had once been for water pokémon, but now even a massive ship like that traveled near silently, leaving only the smallest of wakes.

Gesturing with his free arm, Tommy pointed the ship out to Nia and Oliver. “That might be our ship coming into port," he said softly, still watching the silent behemoth. “According to our schedule, Violet Enterprises is sending us out on a cruise liner called the S.S. Siren's Call. That ship is probably it. Looks big enough anyway."

Oliver stirred only slightly to look at the ship, but Nia climbed all the way into his lap, looking out at it in wonder. It had to be at least four times the size of the Coral Guardian.

“Chuuuuu," Nia murmured dreamily.

With a smile, Tommy used his free hand to stroke over her head. “Maybe we're in the honeymoon phase of a new job, but it honestly seems like the company is going to be taking good care of us. I'm a little shocked, actually."

Nia just continued to stare at the ship with shining eyes, but Oliver looked up at Tommy for a moment, before returning his gaze back out to sea. Whatever went through his mind, though, the little fire type kept it to himself.

---

A few hours later, late in the afternoon, Tommy and company were aboard the Siren's Call. The ship's sheer size was stunning to behold: eighteen decks, and a length of three hundred eighty meters. It had an entire mall in it, several pools and spas, restaurants, and all manner of amenities anyone could think of. Truly, it was a mobile floating city.

Their cabin was several down from the main deck, and Tommy had a sinking feeling that perhaps the honeymoon period was over. It took him no time to unlock the door to his cabin, prepared for the worst.

Only to find that the worst wasn't bad at all. It was true, the room was a fair bit smaller than the ones he had been in recently, seeming like the size of a small hotel room. Despite that, it looked luxurious and comfortable. The bed's plush softness was obvious and inviting, even from a distance. A cursory look around found him a bathroom with a small shower, large flat screen television, and a small microwave and mini fridge.

What was missing however, was the secondary bed usually in most hotel rooms. Without that, the only place for any pokémon to sleep would be in the bed with him, or in the single chair in the corner of the room. This would not be an issue with Nia and Glory, but Tommy suddenly wondered what Oliver would think of the situation. While he wasn't hiding from Tommy, neither did the quilava seem very warm to him, and he was not going to force the issue.

In moments Nia was already climbing up into the bed and rolling around joyfully over the soft covers. Oliver meanwhile stayed at Tommy's side, without bothering to explore the room. Noting his passiveness, Tommy headed to the bed, setting his bag down on the chair.

On the table by the bed, he noticed a slot for his tablet, but didn't bother with it just yet. Instead, he saw Oliver staring up at the bed, and knelt down.

“Oliver, is it alright if I pick you up? It would be easier than climbing up the side," offered Tommy.

After Oliver gave him a nod, he gently picked the small pokémon up and set him on the bed as well. Tommy felt like he had better broach the topic of sleeping arrangements.

Clearing his throat, the trainer gestured around the room. “It would seem, Oliver, that there is not a secondary pokémon bed," he explained, “Leaving us with the question of sleeping arrangements. You could, if you want, sleep in the bed with me. There ought to be room for all of us, though Nia or Glory could take one for the team and sleep in a ball for the trip. That's also your second option. I wasn't given any specific guidance on keeping you out of your ball, but I prefer to. I think you could use some joy in life."

The quilava looked down shyly, making only a soft noise. Following his gaze, Tommy could see Oliver looking at his ball on his belt, and he felt his heart drop a bit. Before much else could happen though, Nia moved up behind the little fire type and patted him on the back. What followed after was a long conversation in pokéspeak between them.

Smiling at Nia's attempt to help place the quilava at ease, Tommy dug in his bag for the company tablet. Translating what Nia was saying to him was one thing, but trying to follow a rapid fire conversation like that was beyond his, and really, any trainer's capability. So instead, he plugged the tablet into the slot on the table, and watched as it synced with the ship's systems, displaying things like the menu for room service, maps of the ship's facilities, request and comment forms, and of course, advertisements.

It only took a split second before the display glitched and froze though, before reforming into a smaller and less cluttered display. Turing floated by in the background of the display, with everything condensed now. Menu items Tommy wouldn't order were hidden, spots on the ship map highlighted relevant to his interests, and the advertisements stripped down to only the most relevant or entertaining.

With a smile, Tommy thanked Turing before turning back to check on Nia and Oliver as the conversation died down. “So, what's the decision then?"

Oliver just kinda looked up shyly and gave a small “Qui…". Unsure of the meaning, Tommy raised an eyebrow at Nia, who simply gave a thumbs up.

“Gonna be sleeping with us then, huh Oliver?"

“Rai rai!" Another thumbs up from the chubby raichu.

With a smile, Tommy reached out and fuzzled the quilava's head. “So does that mean I have permission to hug and cuddle you as well?" Tommy asked teasingly. He was pleased to see Oliver blush just a touch, before the small fire pokémon nodded.

---

The next day after breakfast, Tommy ended up pacing back and forth in his room, hand on his chin. He didn't have the faintest idea what he wanted to do with the day.

No. That was wrong, he did know what wanted to do most.

The problem was it was also something he was scared to do. Something that brought up old memories and hurts. Yet, at the same time, it was one of things that brought him the most joy ever in his life, and letting that slip away seemed so wrong.

Oliver, Nia and Glory were perched on the bed, watching the trainer pace and mentally fight himself. While Nia and Glory had sympathetic, knowing looks, Oliver seemed utterly baffled by Tommy's behavior.

“Qui, quilava?" he queried shyly, looking to the raichu and vaporeon.

“Eon…vaporeon vapor," was Glory's matter of fact response, which made the fire type blink, and turn slightly red. Though he resumed his previous posture, Oliver now stared at the floor.

Tommy continued to pace, getting more and more agitated, upset with himself, his fear and his indecision. Finally, Glory had enough.

She jumped from the bed, and bounded over to his bag, pulling it open and starting to dig through it. When Glory found what she was looking for, she grabbed at it and tugged as hard as she could, slowly pulling a high collared green coat from his pack.

She pulled it free, and then moved over, sitting down with it right in Tommy's path, forcing him to stop and look at her. With a muffled “eon", she lifted her head and the coat to him. He stared, mind whirling with emotions, and his stomach doing backflips.

With slightly shaky hands, Tommy took the coat from her, holding it up. It seemed just as striking as the day he received it; his old “Coach Trainer" jacket. Tommy forced himself to try and breathe deeply and slowly, a flood of emotions coming back to him. Pride, accomplishment, ambition, all warred in him.

But then came the others. Despair, fear… humiliation.

He put it down on the bed, staring at it like it was the last thing he would ever see, fixated and hypnotized by a mere piece of cloth. The spell was only broken when Nia leapt over onto the coat, looking up at him sternly.

“Rai, raichu!" Get a hold of yourself.

Glory hopped up onto the bed as well, and tapped a paw at the shoulder of the jacket. “Vap eon eon." Are you going to let other people define you?

Tommy stared at it, the past crushing him. The report, the inquiry, his dismissal and barring from the Kanto league. All the fear, all the humiliation bubbled up in him like it had just happened. Like it was still happening.

“I…I know," he stuttered, “I wa…I want to. But what if someone there knows? Recognizes me? I miss it. Battling…teaching…" Tommy's legs seemed to give way, and he knelt heavily at the side of bed, looking at the coat.

Padding over softly, Glory put her paws around his neck, and leaned in, nuzzling against his cheek. “Vaporeon…eon…" He knew what she meant, even without knowing the exact words. This wasn't Kanto, it wasn't back then, now he was someplace new, with people who appreciate him. Even with all his quirks.

Finally, he pulled his hands up and embraced Glory back, hugging her. “Okay," he croaked, eyes full of tears that refused to come, “Okay. I'll do it. Just…just give me a minute to iron it out. If we're going up there to be who we were, then we are going to do it right."

They slowly let each other go, and Tommy stood up and headed for the closet to get the iron and ironing board.

Meanwhile, Oliver just watched all this happen, concerned and confused.

---

It took Tommy an hour to iron the coat to perfection. Or so he told himself. Most of the time was spent trying to psych himself up, to make sure he wouldn't break when he went up to battle. As a Coach Trainer, he needed to project a certain aura of competence and calm.

When he was ready, he donned the coat and headed for the nearest battle area of the ship, which was a small outdoor space near the pool on the rear deck. Automatically, Tommy started taking in details. It was a small arena, with not a lot of room to maneuver. There were minimal safety features on the open deck, so attacks would need to be precise, no going all out. The weather was particularly sunny today, with hard rays beating down on the ship and no cloud cover.

More than a few folks stared as Tommy marched in, Nia on his shoulder, and Oliver and Glory at his side. By now though, Tommy was in his element, and paid them no mind. Nia will be limited by the small size of the arena, and Glory won't be at her best under this intense sun, he thought, forming his strategies, Better to use them a bit anyway. I'm seeing mostly casual people, not professional trainers. Turing would be probably excessive.

There was no match currently going on, so he stepped up to the starting mark on one side of the arena. “I'm Tommy, a former coach trainer," he announced in a clear voice, "I'd be happy to accept all challengers. I am also happy to offer advice and after battle critique."

The response was, as he expected, rather mixed: some seemed curious, some amused, but most were simply confused by someone just striding up and offering such a blanket challenge. Scanning the crowd to see if there were any takers, Tommy spotted one right away, just the sort of person to set expectations among everyone else.

She was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, with a few Hoenn gym badges on her denim vest. Beside her was a primarina, lounging and occasionally blowing bubbles for the group gathered around her; likely other trainers listening to her stories. Stories that Tommy had interrupted by centering the attention on himself.

She stood up, looking annoyed that anyone was trying to steal her thunder. Gesturing to her promarina, she moved over to the other side of the battle area. Tommy noted the Primarina used a spout of water to wet his path, before sliding down it. There was an ease to the way he moved, which Tommy recognized as being characteristic of a polished fighter.

“Okay, I'll bite," she said with a caustic smile, “I'm Kaitlyn and I'll take you on, “coach"."

Pushing his glasses up, he considered her. Kaitlyn was obviously skilled, but cocky. Primarina was not native to Hoenn, so either her family was well off, or she had moved there. She was going to have studied, and clearly knew the basics well, judging by her gym badges. She also obviously took this seriously, and might be considering becoming a league trainer. The quiet confidence of her primarina spoke volumes about her training ability.

Tommy nodded, beckoning the uninvolved to back away from the edges of the arena, just in case. “Very well, Kaitlyn, I am happy to accept your challenge. We shall use one pokémon each."

Wordlessly, she gestured for the primarina to move forward to the starting location. “I'll be using my primarina, Caesar," she said boredly, lips curled into a smirk, “And I am assuming you will use that raichu and teach me all about type matchups, right, coach?"

“No," Tommy said, shaking his head. “I can see your badges, and the confident way that Caesar moves. You clearly know what you're doing, so I am not going to hold back." Pulling out his tablet, he extended his arm, holding it screen up, parallel to the ground.

“I will be using a porygon. Turing, if you would honor us with your presence…" Almost instantly the virtual pokémon burst forth from the screen, flying into the air and resuming his normal size. When Turing looked around and saw the battle area, he trilled a happy tune, before flying down to his own assigned starting point.

Tommy moved the tablet to the crook of his arm, setting it to pokédex mode to record the battle. Then he looked over at Kaitlyn seriously. “We are ready to begin when you are."

Kaitlyn shrugged, pointed forward. “Caesar, obscure the arena."

Sliding forward the primarina looked at Turing with a cocky smirk, before spinning in a circle, breathing out a heavy pink fog which lingered over the battlefield. It would be nearly impossible to see the soloist pokémon through mist now.

A sound strategy, Tommy thought, I was right about her having some skill. She's probably hoping to launch hidden attacks from the fog, and just overpower me with her larger pokémon.

“Turing, ignore the fog and lock on to your foe."

The moment he spoke, Turing zipped into the sky above the fog, his eyes starting to glow. His head jerked this way and that, unerringly following the primarina through the mist below.

“Caesar! Whirlpool!"

Reacting to his trainer's command, a solid stream of water erupted from the primarina, coiling around Turing in a spiral, sucking him back down into the fog. There was a heavy thunk of the porygon smacking into the deck.

Tommy knew enough to know such a hit was far from enough to take Turing down, so he simply moved ahead with his strategy. “Turing, anchor shot." Let's get that primarina locked down and under control, he thought. Dictate the flow of battle.

From the fog blasted a simple pixelated anchor, hooked to an equally pixelated chain. It might have been comical, had it not had such obvious mass behind it. Squeaking in panic, the primarina dodged out of its immediate path. Unfortunately, the anchor swerved in the air, wrapping around the pokémon, and cinched down, locking into the chain to hold it, bound on the ground.

Kaitlyn growled in annoyance. “You think that will stop us? Caesar! Time to play rough…grab that chain and whip that porygon into the deck."

Tommy's eyes widened in surprise as the pained Caesar held firm on the deck, reaching out with his flippers and taking the chain. With a grunt, he hefted it high, and then swung down, sending a wave back along the pixelated restraint. There was the resounding thunk of Turing being whipped up, and smashed into the deck repeatedly, before the chain shattered, the pixels fading into nothingness.

Unexpected, very creative… The momentum here is swinging away from me, I need a decisive end. Let's use the weather to our advantage. “Turing, above the fog, fire a solar beam."

Once more Turing blasted out of the fog and into the sky above. There, he started to change shape: his feet moved up flush with the top of his back, then both took on the reflective rectangular pattern of a solar array. Meanwhile, his head shifted down, and elongated into a dangerous looking blaster muzzle.

“Caesar back into the fog," his trainer yelled, obviously seeing the danger. Despite being battered, he obeyed, sliding into the pink fog of the arena and vanishing from sight.

It did little good however, as Turning swung around to follow his movement, glowing brighter and brighter as he took into the sun's harsh rays. Turing's head flitted back and forth, up and down for a moment, before there was a thunderous crack of superheated air.

From Turing fell a brilliant yellow beam, nearly as wide as himself. It stabbed down into the fog with a fury, cutting into the mist. The results were seen a moment later as the mist dissipated. On his back, breathing hard, was Caesar the primarina. Smashed by the solar beam, he barely had the strength to move, much less keep the misty terrain up.

For a few moments, all was silent around the battle area, until the calm was broken by the sound of one person starting to clap.

High above, Turing slid back to his normal shape, trilling in victory. He swooped back down, circling his master, who was clapping calmly for Kaitlyn's performance.

“Well done," he called, “Well done indeed Kaitlyn! Using misty terrain as a defensive screen is a solid strategy. Unfortunately, you can't always count on it. Pokémon with particularly keen eyesight or smell will be able to overcome it. There's also a variety of moves which can do so as well, like Turing's ability to lock on."

Kaitlyn ran up to Caesar to check on him, and Tommy walked forward as well, pulling a potion out of his coat and offering it to her. While she applied it to the dazed water pokémon, he continued his thoughts.

“I have never in my life seen someone turn an attack around like you did with that anchor shot. That was amazing, just absolutely stunningly creative." Pausing in his praise, he looked at some of the replay on his tablet. “I will have to learn from that, truly. If you continue to use that ability to think on your feet and find creative solutions, you can go very far."

Turing moved down, looking at Caesar who was finally sitting up. Kaitlyn continued to spray potion here and there on his bruises and scrapes. “Unfortunately, you lost track of the battle, the moves that had come before. When I called for a solar beam, you ordered Caesar back into the fog. You forgot about Turing having locked on, didn't you?"

With a sigh, Kaitlyn stood stroking her primarina:s long hair. “Yeah, I," she paused, swallowing a lump in her throat, “I had never encountered that before. Or a porygon really."

Tommy nodded, shifting his arms behind his back. “It's important to know yourself and your abilities, but just as important to know as much about your foes as you can. You won't be able to remember every detail of every pokémon, so the best thing to do is just pay close attention in battle. Don't just focus on your own pokémon or strategy.

It's important to watch your opponent and adapt. You did that very well with your counter attack. You just need to work on being able to remember and juggle all the variables in battle now. It takes practice, but I am sure you can do it. You are an exceptional trainer, Kaitlyn, and it was my pleasure to battle you and Caesar."

Turing and Tommy both bowed slightly to the younger trainer, and that seemed to finally break the tension. She smiled, continuing to stroke Caesar's hair, as various people from the crowd ran up to speak with her, or with Tommy.

It wasn't hard for Tommy to find willing partners to battle the rest of the day. None were quite up to Kaitlyn's power level, but more than a few proved to be creative in their approach to beating him and his team. He watched, listened, and above all tried to learn from every encounter. Then, true to his former profession, he did his best to pass on not only what he had learned before, but what he had learned today to those who wanted to listen.

There was no shortage of eager pupils.

---

The next few days after that were a riot of novelty for Tommy. Everywhere on the ship, there was always something going on, from crafting classes to pokémon battles to gaming tournaments. At first, Tommy decided to do some pokémon battling, to let his team get a little exercise, and to shake off his own rustiness. He'd been doing odd jobs for several years now, and having an opportunity to get back to battling made him feel good. Still, it was important to take advantage of the various things the cruise offered, while he had a chance.

Today Tommy found himself wandering through the ship's mall with Glory, Nia, and Oliver trailing behind him. The shopping center was a beautiful bustle of activity and had stores selling almost anything imaginable. A convenience store, selling all manner of things, from candy to forgotten or misplaced traveling items. A clothing store spanning two levels and selling all manner of trendy clothing, along with copious Siren's Call souvenirs. And, of course, a pokémon merchandise and trainer store.

Nia and Glory darted into that last store almost as soon as it was spotted, causing Tommy to sigh in resignation. He gently picked up Oliver and then took off after them. While they were well behaved, he was well aware some folks weren't overly fond of pokémon, and doubly so for those wandering around without a trainer. Dealing with some poképhobic jerk wasn't how he wanted to spend the day, and would hardly be something to help keep Oliver relaxed.

He found Glory first, down one of the first isles, looking up at a shelf full of collars and charms. These charms in particular were said to increase the effectiveness of a pokémon in battle. While Tommy had his reservations about that actually being true, he conceded that pokémon were often incredibly mysterious, and that you could never discount the power of a good placebo.

He moved down the aisle carefully, avoiding people and even a few other pokémon before he reached her. She was sitting down, out of the way of some other browsing customers, and looking up at a display full of silk collars. After a moment, Glory's fins perked and she noticed her master.

“Eonnnn!" she called cheerfully, pointing with a paw to something on the shelf. The place she pointed was a peg with many blue silk collars, just a shade or two darker than Glory's skin, each with a small gold clasp. Seeing the price they were listed at made Tommy wince, but he did have a new job that paid well. He could afford it, it had been a long time since he could afford to treat his pokémon.

So, he gently set Oliver down, and sorted through the collars to find one that was Glory's size. In the short time it took to do that, Glory rummaged around in a bin closer to pokémon level. Once he found a good collar with a satin shine, he looked down to her and she pulled her head from the charm bin, holding something triumphantly in her mouth.

Kneeling down, Tommy held out his hand and Glory laid the charm she had chosen onto it. Inspecting it in the light, it seemed like a sort of glass gem, teardrop shaped. But he realized quickly it was full of water that moved and flowed as the charm was handled. He carefully removed the tag from both charm and collar, and then spent a moment carefully cinching it around Glory's neck. She sat proudly the whole time, looking about the happiest he had seen her in a while. While he relished giving his pokémon gifts, he'd not had the money to do so for quite some time.

When done, the thick ribbon of the collar went smoothly around her neck, just above her neck fin. And the little charm dangled merrily in front, swaying whenever she moved. Glory had been adorable all ready, but the collar did lend her a certain classy air.

“There you go, Glory," he said, giving her a little kiss on the head before standing up, “Accessorized like the pokémon princess I know you to be. As for helping in battle, we'll see. After the performance we gave everyone yesterday though, we'll probably need to be on land first to find a willing opponent. By the end of it, people were far more interested in advice than battle."

It took a few more minutes for the three of them to find Nia. She was in the movies and book section looking up and down the shelves, occasionally climbing up and down them as well. She did seem to have avoided the ire of people by being the only one in the aisle though, and she had a small stack of video discs beside her. With a sigh, Tommy walked over and counted.

“Okay, seven is enough, Nia," he remarked sternly, “If you want any others, you'll have to put one of these back."

While looking through the various cases, he noticed one from the adult section had made it in: “Experiments in Ecstasy" was the title, and the case showed an embarrassed looking male flareon, along with a woman in an old timey howie style lab coat.

Since there wasn't anyone else around, he pulled that one out and held it up facing Nia with a questioning eyebrow raise. She let out a small giggle, scratching the back of her head.

“Chaaaa~"

Tommy couldn't help but chuckle. He restacked the cases and picked them up, patting his chubby raichu on the head.

“Alright, alright," he acquiesced. “We can start researching our employer. Maybe when we arrive at HQ, I should ask if there's such a thing as an employee discount. I suspect this will not be the last of these you want, you adorable little perv."

Looking back down the aisle, Tommy spotted Oliver staring up at a display he had wandered over to. It was for Pokémon Planet, narrated by Sean Teesborough. Tommy recognized the name; he was an extremely well respected biologist and presenter. In addition, the display had absolutely beautiful photography. Advertising stated that the series had been filmed with the newest high definition cameras and best audio technology available.

Lost in his own world, Oliver did not hear Tommy approach. “Hey, Oli…" was all he managed to get out.

“QUILAVA!" the startled pokémon shrieked, flames bursting from its back as an instinctive defense system. With reflexes honed by years of training pokémon, Tommy leapt back, but still felt some of his hair get singed.

“Whoa, whoa!" he cried quickly, “Oliver, it's okay, it's just me! Tommy!"

With a panicked look the quilava turned around, and then looked up and down the aisle. “Qui…?" After a moment, the smoldering flames still coming from Oliver went out, and the fire pokémon fell to his rump on the floor, starting to cry.

Moving over quickly, Tommy knelt down and picked up Oliver, hugging him to his chest. “Shh, it's okay, buddy, it's okay," he reassured, holding the still too warm volcano pokémon. “It's alright. I'm okay, nothing's on fire or burnt, and you're fine. Just take some deep breaths, okay?"

A few people peeked down the aisle, Tommy noticed one was a trainer with a cacturne, who gave him a sympathetic simper. Other than her, however, the rest of the people were clearly not pokémon trainers, and were giving his group a variety of looks filled with everything from fear to disdain. It started him back to worrying.

Feeling his own anxiety now rising, Tommy cradled the crying Oliver, and grabbed one of the Pokémon Planet discs, adding it to Nia's pile and taking the whole thing with him up to the register. Silently, Nia and Glory strode beside him, making sure he had space to move through the crowd. Once at the register, he laid out the discs and the tags for Glory's collar and charm. Quickly ringing them up, the clerk seemed more amused at the sudden excitement than anything else. Likely a very boring job most of the time, Tommy figured. One less person being judgmental was fine by him.

Once everything was paid for, he grabbed the bag in his free hand. “Come on girls, let's get back to our cabin." And away from the store full of staring people, he thought.

It was a roundabout walk back to the cabin, Tommy specifically choosing a route he figured fewer people would be on. Instead of the lights and bustle of the main deck areas, they mostly passed through nearly silent corridors, flanked by cabins. Once they arrived back at their own cabin, he stepped in quickly, feeling a bit of a weight lift off him. Less likely for anyone to accost them now, and make Oliver feel worse. Also less likely to add to his own discomfort and anxiety.

He set the bag of discs down on the night stand and then slowly sat down on the bed, gently stroking Oliver from his head, down his back, all the way to his rump. Speaking quietly, the trainer just kept repeating that everything was okay, nothing bad was going to happen to him.

Finally Oliver calmed down, pulling back from Tommy's chest, leaving wet tear stains on the fabric. He sniffled once, then looked down at the floor. “Quiii…" It was a noise of incredible dejection and the poor thing just seemed utterly deflated.

“Don't worry about it Oliver," Tommy said quickly, giving the quilava a small kiss on the forehead. “We all get spooked sometimes, and I have been told often that I am too damn quiet." He gave a quick sweep of the room with his eyes to find Nia and Glory.

They had taken the initiative to drag out his coat from his pack, and a couple towels from the bathroom. They now laid, curled up on a makeshift bed on the floor, yielding to him the larger bed for himself and Oliver for now. Tommy gave them a thankful nod for their thoughtfulness.

“How about we take it easy for the rest of the day? I can put on Pokémon Planet and we can just lay here and relax, okay?"

After a moment, the quilava lifted his head, gazing at Tommy with teary red eyes and gave a quiet nod. Smiling, Tommy sat the fire pokémon on the bed, and rummaged in the bag for the documentary. After finding it, he grabbed the first disc of the series, and popped it into the player on the room's television.

Moving back around, Tommy kicked off his shoes and socks. “Uh, you don't mind if I get more comfortable, Oliver?" He asked the question while taking off his pants, which made Oliver look over and blush very slightly. Oliver shook his head, and then turned his attention back to the remote, fiddling with it to start the program.

Tommy stripped down to shirt and undies and slipped under the covers, before carefully tugging Oliver down under the covers as well, until only his head was out, staring at the screen. With a sigh of contentment, Tommy cuddled up to the warm pokémon, and started to lose himself to the quiet narration and beautiful camera work. He'd always been a fan of educational and nature programming, ever since primary school.

“A hundred years ago there were one and a half billion people on our world. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet…"

It was easy, over the next few hours, to fall into a relaxed, dozy state. The sun set quietly, bathing the room in shadow, save for the light from the television. Tommy spaced out under the influence of the program and the soft warmth of Oliver pulled against his chest and stomach.

Oliver seemed lost in the program as well, eyes to the screen, breaths slow and steady. His soft furry body exuded a near sinful warmth that Tommy just wanted to melt into. Oliver's body, from the top of his head to his tail, ran along Tommy from just under his chin to just where his thighs started. The quilava was like the largest, softest, most perfect pillow imaginable.

Time seemed to skip a few times when Tommy thought he blinked, but clearly had nodded off. After a bit, he shifted a little, and in an effort to remain awake, let a hand explore the little weasel pokémon he was snuggling with. Almost entirely fireproof, the quilava's fur was thick and soft. Even if Oliver hadn't been a fire type, it would be unlikely he would ever be truly cold.

Rubbing over Oliver's head, he found the small triangular ears there equally soft. The small fire type let out a relaxed sigh as Tommy stroked him. Interestingly, the flame spots on his head seemed nothing more than soft skin as well, if unusually porous to the touch.

Sliding his hand down, he stroked over Oliver's cheek and under his chin. In response, Oliver made several little happy “qui"s and tilted his head up slightly to let Tommy reach his neck and chin easier. Exploring further, Tommy ran a hand down one of Oliver's forelegs, finding it rather more muscular than he expected. At the end, the paw had several soft red pads, as well as blunt claws. Tommy figured the claws were probably only blunt because Oliver preferred to keep them that way. The quilava obviously had the body plan of a predator in all other respects.

Tommy's hand wandered, and so did his mind. It was one thing to know that pokémon could be incredibly dangerous, capable of amazing feats of destruction when provoked. But it was difficult to reconcile that truth with the soft, furry creature he was cuddling so lovingly. Pokémon could be powerful and dangerous, but that didn't mean they weren't also entitled to people's protection and affection. So much of history already had been full of conflict because humans either didn't understand or care about pokémon needs and desires, or worse, bent then towards their own goals.

While having that thought, Tommy's hand wandered down idly through Oliver's fur, ending up passing down the volcano pokémon's soft tummy, and down between his legs. Idly, he stroked over the small furry sack there, subconsciously noting that it was held tight to Oliver's body, while still lost in his philosophizing. His hand slid up, feeling the soft skin of the fire type's cock as it started to poke out of his sheath.

Without much conscious thought, he absentmindedly ran a finger tip along the warm, pulsating flesh there, coaxing it out and to full mast. It wasn't too large, probably slightly small by human standards, but it shared Oliver's incredible warmth, and he could feel the quilava's rapid heartbeat through it.

About this time Tommy suddenly crashed back to reality with a start, when he noticed Oliver was holding his breath. And had been for a while now. Instantly, Tommy realized he was idly fondling Oliver's cock, and various thoughts clamored for priority in his mind. Oliver wasn't a porn star, he was a normal pokémon. Further, he was not Tommy's pokémon. And further still, Tommy had previously been informed that Oliver had fled his last master because he'd been abused.

Color and heat crept up along Tommy's face, and he gingerly released Oliver's cock. “Sorry," he said with deep sincerity, “I was mentally checked out. I shouldn't have done that, it was thoughtless of me. And I appreciate you not setting me on fire for the transgression." He gently unwound himself from the fire type, feeling deeply cold now in many ways without the warm presence pressed against him.

But as he did so, Oliver turned to face him, looking up at him. The little pokémon had tears in the corners of his eyes, and Tommy felt a searing stab of guilt through his heart.

“Qui… La…va…"

Slowly Oliver reached out and took Tommy's hand, tugging it towards himself. Another searing blast of color crept up Tommy's face as he considered the implications of Oliver doing that.

“You…don't take offense?"

“Lava," came the response, as Oliver shook his head.

Tommy swallowed hard, moving his hand at Oliver's direction and finding it back at the pokémon's cock.

“And…you would like me to continue?"

“Qui," was the response, Oliver giving a single emphatic nod, his teary gaze locked onto Tommy's eyes. In that moment, Tommy would have given anything to know what was going through Oliver's mind. But for now, he knew enough to recognize active consent when it was given.

So Tommy resumed his careful exploration of the quilava's body, stroking down the length of the tumescent pokémon cock his hand had been guided to. Then he gently swept his fingers down and over Oliver's furry orbs, making the quilava shiver, and seeming to raise the heat flowing off the pokémon even more.

Moving his hand up, the human teased at the shaft with his fingertips, sliding them up along the firm flesh there, before running a fingertip around the tapered end of it. Oliver panted and shuddered again with a small cry, starting to leak pre from his tip. It welled out slowly, drooling down his length.

Brushing a hand down, Tommy found the pre hot, nearly burning. He gasped, but kept his hand where it was, starting to smear the fluid around Oliver's twitching shaft. It took Tommy only a few moments to acclimate himself to the heat, which he found quite pleasurable once he was used to it. As the trainer stroked and teased the pokémon, Oliver's hips would jerk occasionally, thrusting himself up into Tommy's grip.

Feeling uncomfortable constriction down below, Tommy threw back the covers and took a moment to pull off his underwear, allowing his own erect cock release into the evening air. Sighing with relief, a few drops of pre ran down his own throbbing shaft, before becoming a clear, salty stream from his tip.

The pokémon before him was so beautiful; blushing, panting, thrusting into his hand, looking at him so affectionately… He had to have more, to feel more, to see more, to taste him. Gently, he rolled Oliver onto his back, causing the weasel to squeak in surprise.

Sliding down the bed slightly, Tommy oriented himself so that he could move his head down to Oliver's twitching, drooling cock. He leaned down and in, taking Oliver's small cock into his mouth. With a loud “Va!" of surprise, the volcano pokémon arched his back, a spurt of hot pre erupting from him.

Running his tongue over and around the hot, slick cock, Tommy tried to figure what he might describe the taste as. It was definitely hot, like a fresh steaming meal, and the taste was not the salty tang he expected, but something altogether different. Oliver's pre had a deep umami taste, backed with a little saltiness, and just the smallest bit of bitterness. Between the taste and heat, he couldn't help but be reminded of hot soup on a cold fall day.

Gasping for breath, Oliver tensed, letting out another flood of savory pre."Q-quuiiii…" he whimpered, bringing his forepaws down on the back of Tommy's head. It was less of an aggressive motion than just the desperation of the pokémon to find something to cling to, and ground himself in reality despite the rising pleasure of his loins.

Meanwhile, Tommy lost himself in enjoying the pokémon before him. Moving one arm up, he gently caressed and stroked the taut furry sack beneath Oliver's cock. With his other arm, he moved his hand up to stroke over the pokémon's tummy, feeling the building tautness of his muscles. Realizing how close Oliver was getting, Tommy relished the opportunity he had been given, nursing softly at Oliver's hard shaft, swallowing down savory pre, and using his tongue to gather more.

Whimpering and gasping, Oliver bucked up into the trainer's mouth until Tommy pushed his little hips down, holding him steady. Squirming and panting, Oliver's soft moaning “qui"s punctuated the quiet night. Tensing up, Oliver finally hit the limit of what he could take.

As Tommy happily nursed at Oliver's cock, he felt the soft furry body of his paramour tensing up. After a moment, Oliver arched his back and started to cry out to the heavens, as thicker, creamier pokémon spunk spurted into Tommy's mouth. It was even hotter than before, yet it tasted savory and sublime, not like something he ever would have expected from a fire type, or any pokémon really.

“Quiiilaaavaaaa!!" came the cry from his small lover, as he came into Tommy's waiting mouth. Surprisingly, Oliver managed to keep the passionate cry fairly quiet as he finally gave in. A flash of light in the room belied to Tommy the pokémon's loss of control though. Oliver had accidentally breathed out a small tongue of flame during his orgasm. The hand down at the pokémon's soft furry balls could feel them tense and release with every spurt of fresh seed.

It took nearly a minute for Oliver to slowly come down and finish his orgasm. Tommy was careful to watch for signs of overstimulation, and pulled back once Oliver's squirming intensified. As he did so, he kept his lips tight to the quilava's cock, cleaning it with his tongue as he pulled off.

Shifting up a bit, the man leaned on his arm, his free hand still gently caressing Oliver's taut furry sack. As Oliver seemed to become sensate again, Tommy smiled at him. “Feel better? You seemed a bit pent up," he began, though whatever else he might have considered saying was cut off when Oliver quickly sat up and pressed his muzzle to his lover's mouth, holding the human's cheeks with his forepaws.

Oliver's attempt at kissing was inexpert and clumsy, but very passionate. Taking a moment to regain control, and hoping to teach Oliver better ways to kiss, Tommy slowed down the quilava's flailing tongue with his own. He gave Oliver's tongue a suckle before extending his own tongue into Oliver's volcanic muzzle to tease the roof of his mouth. Eventually, the quilava pulled back, a string of saliva connecting them briefly before breaking.

Moving a hand up, Tommy rubbed at Oliver's cheek softly with a thumb. “Feel better now?" he asked, “You seemed like you needed that." Inwardly, he felt it was probably Oliver's very first time with anyone, let alone a human, but he didn't voice that thought.

Oliver nodded, closing his eyes and nuzzling into Tommy's hand affectionately. A quick look outside showed night had fallen, so Tommy used his free hand to grab the remote and turn the TV off. “Seems like it's fairly late," he said softly, “Are you ready for bed?"

Slowly Oliver's red eyes opened and blinked at him, before looking down the bed, where Tommy's own cock still stood ragingly stiff, drooling a clear river of pre onto the sheets. After following his gaze, Tommy blushed and shook his head. “Oh, don't worry about me, Oliver," he reassured, “I was just happy to h-woah!"

Interrupting the trainer, Oliver reached out with both paws, pushing Tommy onto his back with surprising strength. When he made to protest, the quilava reached out and put a warm paw to Tommy's mouth to shush his protestations. Instead, the fire type laid over his stomach, blocking Tommy from getting up, and stared, nearly trance-like, at the trainer's throbbing shaft.

After a moment, the quilava reached down with a paw, and started to smear Tommy's pre over his head and shaft, slickening his entire member. With a warm, soft paw at one of his most sensitive places, he couldn't help but let out a low moan of pleasure. Losing all resistance, he relaxed back into the bed, content to let Oliver do as he wished.

Taking his time as well, Oliver explored Tommy's body now, wrapping a paw not quite entirely around the human's shaft, and then scooching down a bit more, running his other paw over the trainer's balls gently. Leaning in, Oliver opened his mouth, letting his small pink tongue dart out to lap at the tip of Tommy's cock.

Unfortunately, Oliver's tongue felt like being lashed with fire to the oversensitive flesh there, making Tommy yelp and buck. Oliver stopped instantly, with a murmured “Vava…" of apology. He went back to stroking Tommy while breathing quickly through his mouth. After a few moments, he was ready to try again.

This time, the quilava had managed to lower his temperature, but the tongue lapping at Tommy was still achingly warm, wonderful in a way he couldn't express. Not that his body didn't try, by letting out a long moan of pleasure along with a fresh jet of pre. Oliver was not content to restrain himself to just licking however, and after a moment leaned down, sliding the slick head of the human's cock into his muzzle.

His inexperience was obvious to Tommy. Oliver had to squirm to get a better angle, and he felt sharp teeth scrape him at certain points, though nothing hard enough to cause real pain. That warmth, however, that blanketing, sinful, addictive warmth, surrounded him like a sauna. Oliver used his tongue and a little suction, teasing at Tommy's cock, and was instantly rewarded with another few spurts of pre.

Watching Oliver sweetly and innocently suck him off sent shivers through Tommy. The truth was, he had been ragingly turned on already, and this unbelievably cute attention was bringing him close to climax at a rapid pace. 'H-hey, Oliver…" he whimpered, “G-gonna cum i-if you d~don't stop…"

Finally, Oliver pulled back, releasing Tommy from his muzzle. The little pokémon was panting quickly, steam starting to drift from his open mouth. With a bit of difficulty, he calmed and cooled himself while squirming to shift positions. He ended up straddling Tommy's thighs, pressing his smaller balls against Tommy's orbs while laying his own cock against Tommy's shaft. For a moment, he just stayed like that, and Tommy enjoyed the sensations of Oliver's fur and flesh against his own skin, a shared moment of intimacy with a wondrous lover.

Oliver went back to stroking Tommy's member, making sure it was unerringly slick with pre. Once finished, Oliver moved again, climbing up Tommy's body on all fours, face pressed to Tommy's chin and neck, giving soft licks and nibbles. That wasn't all Tommy felt though, as soft downy fur slid along his shaft, until his tip connected to something more bare and more warm.

“W-wait Oli, are y-younnnnnggghhhh." His reply trailed off into a moan as Oliver pushed himself back and speared his body on Tommy's slick flesh. The little quilava's tail hole gave way to human cock, but not without some resistance. Tommy's arms flew up and around Oliver as the quilava resolutely pushed back, forcing himself to down Tommy's cock all the way to the hilt.

Oliver shuddered and squeaked with pleasure as he slid down his lover's cock, and at the same time Tommy was swallowed by a wonderfully tight, warm tunnel, pressing in against every millimeter of him, all radiating that luxurious warmth that just made him want to melt. Everything about it made Tommy's mind scream at him to rut the little weasel mercilessly.

Fortunately, he had enough self control to let the inexperienced pokémon proceed at his own pace. That, and Oliver did have him relatively well pinned at this point.

Panting hotly against his neck, Oliver stayed still for the time being, getting used to the length and girth now inside himself. Despite that, Tommy could feel occasional contractions and relaxations of the quilava's muscles, as well as the occasional shiver. After a bit though, Oliver pushed himself off Tommy's chest, righting himself into a sitting position, straddling Tommy's loins.

The pokémon took several shuddering breaths, running a paw down his slender body, and then seeming to trace over where he could feel Tommy inside himself. With a content sigh, Oliver closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again and locking his gaze on Tommy. And then he smiled.

With no more warning than that, Oliver pushed off the bed with his legs, rising up a few inches, before slapping back down. Throwing his head back, he started bouncing up and down on the slick cock impaling him, moaning out his pleasure to anyone within listening distance.

“Qui…quilavvvvaaaaa."

For his part, Tommy was no less vocal, nor any more articulate, panting and moaning right along with his smaller paramour. The wondrous silken pressure bobbing on his cock did not quite manage to completely extinguish his consciousness though, and he shifted one hand up to Oliver's back to steady him, using his other hand to take one to Oliver's paws and hold it. This continued for a time, Oliver using his own remaining foreleg to also help steady himself as he bounced away on Tommy's cock.

Comforting, blanketing heat, pressure, slick friction, and carnal pleasures drove him swiftly to the edge. Tommy panted as he watched Oliver riding him, the sight driving intensifying his pleasure as much as the sensations in his loins. He could feel this moment burning into his memory. A sleek pokémon, riding his cock on a cruise ship, illuminated by moonlight. Not something to ever be forgotten.

Suddenly, Oliver seemed to lock up, all his muscles tensing at once. The paw holding himself steady quivered weakly, and the one Tommy was holding grasped him back tightly. He leaned back and opened his mouth as if to scream; but all that came out was a moan of pure ecstasy followed by trails of burning sparks, casting wild starlight around the room.

Oliver moaned even louder as the sparks trailed off, his little cock jumping and twitching as it sprayed Oliver's second orgasm down Tommy's front and over his shirt in long white streaks. While Oliver was the first to cum, Tommy was not far behind, the sight and sensations flinging him over the precipice into his own orgasm.

The erotic sight of the quivering quilava, combined with Oliver's shuddering and hard, spasmodic grips around Tommy's cock were more than he could take. Tommy's panting turned into a feral growl of need, and he bucked up into Oliver's rump, his own cock blasting out nova hot spurts of human seed into the pokémon.

When Tommy started to cum, Oliver's eyes went wide and he gasped out more sparks, illuminating the room as his own orgasm intensified briefly, his twitching member blasting a particularly thick stream of cum across Tommy's shirt as his balls twitched and tightened.

Their orgasms seemed to go on endlessly, driving each other to higher and higher states of bliss. But nothing lasts forever, and eventually Oliver slackened and went limp over Tommy, forcing the human to quickly steady him before he fell forward onto Tommy's chest and into the puddle of his own jizz covering Tommy's shirt.

It took Oliver a while to come back around, eyelids fluttering as he struggled to regain control of lust addled nerves. Eventually, he was able to regain control, taking in a long breath before looking down at Tommy. And behind his fur began to burn the brightest crimson blush Tommy had ever seen on anyone, human or otherwise.

Oliver started to pull his paws up to cover his face, but stopped when Tommy cupped his cheek. “I enjoyed that very much Oliver," he said softly, “And I hope you did as well. Did you?"

Still burning with embarrassment, Oliver nodded meekly. With the quilava able to steady himself now, Tommy was able to use both arms to take off his cummy shirt and toss it aside. Then he gently pulled Oliver down against his chest again, and kissed him, lovingly, taking the time to make sure that Oliver knew how much he had enjoyed their tryst.

He could feel his still stiff cock shift and rub inside Oliver's body, and enjoyed the way it made the volcano pokémon shiver and twitch. Rolling over, he snuggled close to Oliver, feeling that familiar and wonderful heat from him, pulling him into a relaxed, soporific state.

Tommy pulled the covers up, cuddling even more into Oliver. “Let's just… stay like this for a while, okay?" Though he only closed his eyes to blink, sleep took him instantly.

---

“Shoe size? Why do they need to know my shoe size?"

Grumbling with annoyance, Tommy continued to work his way down the questionnaire on his tablet. Violet Enterprises seemed keen on gathering as much information about new employees as it could. Which Tommy found strange, given how much Jerome had already seemed to know about him.

Finally he reached the end of the last of the paperwork for new hires. While he realized he probably should have done that much sooner, the truth was that on the Siren, there had always been something fun to do. With so much fun to be had, procrastination won the day. But now that he was on a ferry from Ascorbia island to Mandarin island, there was much less to do. Excepting things he was supposed to have already done.

Tommy stretched back, trying to get as comfortable as he could on the wooden bench. Designed for short trips - and only carrying pokémon and people - most of the ferries had little in the way of creature comforts. Unfortunately, this particular trip was also one of the longer ones across the archipelago. Oliver snuggled against his side, dozing, as Nia and Glory played a game nearby.

It did seem he had timed his completion well, because shortly after he placed the tablet back on his bag, there was a commotion as most of the folks on the ship rushed to the port side, crowding the railing. Nia disappeared into the crowd near instantly, and Tommy quickly found Oliver and Glory both tugging on his clothes to get him to go look.

“Okay, okay," he said with mirth, “I'm going." He stood up, lifting Oliver in his arms, before doing his best to follow Glory into the crowd of people.

Once he made it over and found a spot where he could see off the side of the ferry, he understood what all the excitement was about. Only a few meters away from the ship, he could see the large shape of a wailord surfacing, followed by others of its pod. Tommy could also see a few wailmer as well. Quite a large pod, all told.

Entranced, he watched as the ocean pokémon surfaced to take deep breaths before diving back down briefly. After a bit, one wailord pushed off from the water in a giant leap. Seeming to defy physics, it floated peacefully in the air, before gently landing back on the ocean. Several other wailord did likewise, forming a sort of floating honor guard for the ferry briefly.

Unfortunately for those closest to the railing, several wailmer attempted to replicate the feat; despite being much more dense than their evolved brethren. The leaping wailmer crashed back into the water with massive splashes, causing the crowd of gawkers to shriek and giggle as many of them were drenched.

Deciding just to enjoy the peaceful moment, Tommy watched as the wailord leapt, graceful as a butterfree. He also watched as the wailmer leapt, graceful as a drunk rhyhorn. It was due to that latter display that he remained a ways back from the actual railing. Glory pushed herself up against it though, seeming to cheer on her fellow water pokémon. Or perhaps merely enjoying the ocean water splashing on her.

Eventually, the ferry began to turn towards its destination, slowly widening the distance between itself and the wailord pod. Turning almost onto its side, one wailord waved its fins in farewell, before diving back beneath the choppy water.

Turning, Tommy walked back to the bench and sat down. In the distance, he could see Mandarin island now, and the skyline of the city climbing high above it. Nia climbed up next to him, and Oliver did similarly, lying across his lap. He spent a moment idly petting Oliver, while watching Glory continue to observe the waves, her tail flicking. She probably wanted a good swim, and it was something he reminded himself to let her do before they had to leave the archipelago.

But first, something else was weighing on his mind.

“Hey, Oliver," he began tentatively, “So, uh, once we get to Violet Enterprises HQ, you'll have to leave and go your own way for a bit…"

Oliver squirmed, turning over to look up at him sadly. “Qui…"

Clearing his throat, Tommy continued. “I don't know what's in store for you, or how long it might take, but if it's alright, maybe I could try and visit you from time to time?"

“Qui…? Qui!"

Hopping up, Oliver practically threw himself into Tommy's arms, hugging him tightly. Tommy stroked the back of Oliver's head. “I guess that's a yes then. I'll visit, and keep an eye on how your situation turns out. But don't worry, you'll be safe. I promise that personally."

---

Once the ferry hand docked, Tommy only made it a few steps off the gangplank before suddenly a lucario appeared right before him. Staggering to a stop, Tommy blinked at the lucario.

“Uh," uttered the baffled trainer, “Do I know you?"

“Car," was the response, as the lucario shook his head. “Luc!" he said proudly, placing a paw on his chest. Then the fight dog leaned in, carefully looking over Tommy's face, and sniffing at him. Just as suddenly, he backed off, turning away from Tommy and jumping while waving his arms.

“Lucar! Lucario!"

Through the crowd, Tommy spotted a dark skinned man with a long dark ponytail jogging towards them. It took Tommy a moment, but he finally recognized the man as the same one from his phone calls, Alex Vorinski. He slowed up to a stop, giving the lucario a stern look through his sunglasses. “Luke, I thought I said don't run off ahead?"

Giving a rather bored shrug was the pokémon's only response, before both turned to Tommy. Alex was tall, and well built, with hard abs showing through the open tropical shirt he wore. Along with his shorts and sandals, he gave off the impression of someone who had lived in the tropics for most of his life, and greatly enjoyed it.

With a pearly grin, he stuck out his hand towards Tommy. “Heya, Tommy. Welcome to the company! I'm Alex Vorinski. I'm in charge of transportation and escorts. I'll be your new boss, mate."

Tommy took Alex's hand and shook it “Nice to meet you in person. Had no trouble with Oliver. He's right here by the way." Gesturing, Tommy indicated the quilava at his side with his free hand.

“Too right! Glad to see all is well, hope you enjoyed the cruise," Alex announced cheerfully. He knelt down and gave Oliver a few pats on the head, seeming to say a few things to the pokémon as well. But it was quiet enough that Tommy just couldn't quite make it out. Just as quickly, he stood back up regarding Tommy.

“Thought I'd give you a personal welcome, help you find our building! Big city like this can be daunting to some folks."

Tommy looked out to the bustling boardwalk, and the beach, then back towards the city, a jungle of gleaming steel, glass and concrete. Taxis and buses rolled by on quiet electric engines, crowds of people came and went about their business, with the odd tourist here or there standing around just taking it all in. The familiar sights, scents and sounds of a metropolis.

“Actually," Tommy said, feeling at ease, “I think I feel more at home here than I did in Hoenn."

Alex seemed surprised for a moment before grinning in realization. “Oh, right, you're originally from Unova. Virbank City, right?"

“Yeah. Home sweet home. Or close to it anyway."

Alex moved up and swung an arm over Tommy's shoulder, starting to lead him along the sidewalk, deeper into the city. “Well, welcome to the Big Orange, mate. Our main headquarters is only a few blocks away. Let's get stepping because you have a meeting to get to."

Tommy blinked, allowing himself to be led by Alex as their pokémon trailed behind them. “A meeting," he questioned, “What kind of meeting? I wasn't given any time to prepare." He could feel a cold rush of anxiety as they passed through a crosswalk, and had to work hard to keep his breathing steady.

Playfully, Alex punched his shoulder with his free hand. “Peace mate, relax. It's just a new hire thing, it's quick and it won't be difficult. We just gotta have you meet Cassandra, that's all!"

“Cassandra? Who's Cassandra?"

“She's just our security screener, don't stress about it. She meets everyone who is hired." Suddenly, Alex stopped dead in the middle of the block, announcing “And here we are!"

Blinking, Tommy looked around, but had no idea what Alex meant. The entire area was just skyscrapers as far as he could see. Even the smallest had to have been fifteen stories tall. He squinted, trying to figure out where the office park that Alex was talking about was. “Uh, where?" he asked, wondering if he was being pranked as the new guy.

Alex laughed, a hearty belly laugh, and slapped his thigh in mirth. “Oh wow, you really don't understand what you have gotten into, do you, mate?" He moved over and gently grabbed Tommy's chin, turning his head to face the building they were standing directly in front of.

It was a massive, shining building, barely different from the dozens he'd seen in the city. It was at least forty stories tall, and the only thing that really stood out to him was the fact that the glass was more opaque and mirrored than the buildings around it, reflecting only the city and not allowing anyone to see inside. On either side of the door were large stone guard statues, raikou on the left, and entei on the right. Silent guardians of marble, looking towards the sea. It seemed, at best, improbable to Tommy that Violet Enterprises owned this whole building.

Tommy's jaw dropped. “You've gotta be joking?" He blinked. “Oh, I get it. We're on one of the floors in this building, right?"

“Nah, mate, that whole building is Violet Enterprises property. We own the land, and everything from the boiler room to the aerial up top."

Tommy chewed his cheek, thinking. It seemed suddenly there was more to V.E., and to the shadowy Silhouette behind them than he had figured. “How? I mean, affording this would be a miracle enough, but why the heck would VE need all this space?" Once more he was reminded of his suspicion when he got the job. How was this all on the level?

“Lots of reasons, really," Alex said, while gently pushing Tommy towards the door. “Let's see, the lower floors have a kitchen and a pokémon rescue, along with our lovely foyer, of course." While talking, Alex kept them moving into the building, and through the lobby. If he noticed Tommy's ill ease, he ignored it.

True to his word, the lobby was beautiful and immaculate. A middle aged woman with a headset sat behind a large welcome desk, reading a book. Behind her was a large directory which gave rather vague descriptions of floor purposes. The woman put down her book as soon as they entered, smiling at Alex. “Welcome back, Mr. Alex, you're clear to go through."

Stopping his explanation and walk only briefly, Alex turned to the woman, “Oh, come on, Carol, we've had this conversation before haven't we? Can't you just call me Alex?"

With the smile of a long suffering mother, Carol just replied, “It's protocol, sir. I have my instructions, and I am afraid I won't be bending the rules."

“Even for you," she added affectionately.

Alex gave an exaggerated eye roll, now continuing to lead Tommy past the waiting area and to the elevators. He stopped short though, when another man stepped out of the elevators and noticed them. The man was plainly dressed, and he cleared his voice, looking at the group. “Tom Scott? Oliver?"

Dryness took Tommy's throat and his stomach fell, but he'd known this was coming. “Yeah, I'm Tommy. And this is Oliver." He gestured to the quilava, who seemed no more excited to leave than Tommy was to see him go.

The man moved to the group, and knelt down near Oliver. “Hey, Oliver. Don't worry, you'll be safe here. And we'll make sure you have a better place to live, so don't worry, okay?" Oliver nodded to the man, but Tommy could see the tears welling up in the corners of the quilava's eyes.

Turning his attention to the trainers, the man stood and held out his hand. “I'm extremely grateful for your efforts, Mr. Scott. We'll take good care of Oliver. First and foremost, he'll get a complete physical." He cleared his throat. “If I, uh, may have Oliver's pokéball please?"

“Oh, right, right…" Tommy fumbled at his belt for the ball, then passed it over to the man.

The man bowed his head slightly. “Thank you very much, Mr. Scott. Oliver, are you hungry?"

He has started to lead the quilava back into the building when Tommy remembered something.

“Wait! There's one more thing!"

Stopping, the man turned back, giving Tommy a puzzled look at the trainer dug through his bag. Tommy pulled out the Planet Pokémon case, checking to make sure all the discs were there. Quickly, he moved over and knelt down near Oliver.

“Here, Oliver. These are yours. Maybe you can put them on if you get bored." He placed the case in the pokémon's grasp, and was then surprised when Oliver quickly moved forward, hugging him fiercely, a hug which Tommy returned with equal passion.

Once they separated, the man turned and started to lead Oliver away, asking quiet questions to the fire type. Turning his head, Oliver stared back at Tommy until they both went around a corner.

Once they were out of sight, Tommy let out a large sigh, feeling deflated. Glory nuzzled his leg comfortingly, and Nia patted his shin as well with an apologetic “raichu". Surprisingly, Tommy also felt Alex and Luke's hands on his shoulders.

“Hey, don't worry. You'll see him again. But we do have to keep him safe and under wraps while some legal challenges are made." Alex looked off in the direction Oliver had been taken, while hitting the call button for the elevator. “And after you meet the screener and get the green light, I can tell you more about his situation if you want."

As they waited for the car to arrive, Alex went back to his explanation of the building, “So, back to what I was saying. We've got places for pokémon who are staying here to relax and enjoy themselves, dens and what not. 'Course, can't forget that people have needs too, so there's multiple floors of apartments. Nothing grandiose, but good enough for local staff and any of our actors and agents who pass through! I live in one myself. A touch small, but great view…and you really can't beat the rent!"

Alex's lucario held the door for everyone once the elevator arrived, and as Tommy got in he noticed that on either side of the main door of the lobby's entrance stood a machamp, carefully watching the room. Alex followed his gaze, “Just noticing them? Building security, in case of trouble makers. It doesn't happen often, but better safe than sorry."

The lucario hit a button for a higher floor, allowing his master to continue his description of the building. “Beyond places to stay, we got tons of infrastructure, mate! Sound stages for shooting, editing booths for cutting material, Arceus, we got five whole floors of server farms! Ever wonder where all that porn on the internet comes from?

And then of course, there's boring stuff like conference rooms and offices. And I am probably leaving a bunch of stuff out, if I am honest. If you're really curious, just try exploring the building in your off time. Just, y'know, don't interrupt any filming or break down any security doors."

With a ding, the elevator reached their floor, which seemed to be one of the ones mostly covered in offices. At least, Tommy assumed they were, the doors were all closed, and the rooms were numbered. Only a few had nameplates or other signs on them. Not missing a beat, Alex quickly guided him out of the elevator and towards a large corner office, where the door sat open.

The inside of the office was mostly sparse, though an alakazam sat on a comfy looking bean bag chair, observing a wall of monitors. To Tommy, it looked like a security set up, except that while some of the screens showed camera feeds, others showed scrolling documents or file system information. The alakazam seemed to be able to watch and control all of them at once. While a single keyboard sat in her lap, a small army of mice surrounded by a blue glow moved around on mouse mats on the floor near her.

As if the spectacle of this wasn't enough, the corner office's windows had a spectacular view. One side looked down on the sunny beach and ocean, with waves crashing onto the sand and rocks. The other side looked out and down onto the city below, allowing an amazing view of the first few blocks around the building. Idly, Tommy realized they must be very high up, one of the top floors, if not the top floor itself.

As they entered the room, the alakazam looked over at Tommy, and beckoned him forward with a hand holding a silver spoon.

“Don't keep her waiting, mate," Alex commanded, giving him a shove into the room. “Cassandra is both very important and very busy, so we do not keep her waiting."

With a quick nod to Alex, Tommy nodded and walked forward wondering how this meeting was going to work. While he was sure Cassandra would obviously have the skill and intelligence to run a corporation's security division, he knew that verbal skills were never a pokémon's strong point.

His question was partially answered when he stepped forward, as Cassandra extended a hand and the spoon she had been holding in it surrounded itself in a blue glow, hovering at the halfway point between herself and Tommy. A similar blue glow, though weaker, seemed to emanate from her eyes.

From behind, Tommy heard Alex instructing him. “It's dead simple, mate. Just look into her eyes, and answer my question… why are you here?"

Feeling more than a little silly, and rather confused, he locked eyes with Cassandra. “I'm here because I work here?" he said, unsure what answer they were looking for, or what the right response was. But as soon as he answered, his vision blurred, and dizziness overtook him. Blackness closed in from the sides of his vision like a rushing storm, and the last thing he felt as he began to fall was a dull pain in his head.

---

White. Bright white. Light seemingly coming from nowhere in particular. And a pulsating pressure and pain moving from one side of his head to the other. All the while, a wild feeling of motion, like he was being whipped around by the feet.

Is this what death is like? Tommy thought. No, nobody ever said death would come with dizziness and a splitting headache. He blinked, and the white was gone for a moment.

Before he could contemplate his corporeal existence any further, Alex's head entered his view from the side. This time, he wasn't wearing sunglasses, and Tommy noted he had bright blue eyes, very vibrant. Probably would make sense for a guy this handsome to work in porn at least.

“Whoa, whoa.." mumbled Alex, “Just stay still mate! That… that wasn't supposed to happen."

“Kazam?!"

Alex's head disappeared, to be replaced by Glory and Nia's heads, looking down with concern at their master.

“No, he seems alright, he's awake now."

“Al zam?"

“I don't think so. But, let's give him a minute before we move him." After that statement, Alex's head joined the two pokémon in Tommy's view, and belatedly, he realized he must be looking up at the ceiling in Cassandra's office.

“How are you feeling? Dizzy?"

“Yeah," moaned Tommy, “Real dizzy. And I have a splitting headache. Feels like my brain was liquefied, and now it's sloshing around in my skull. What happened?"

Alex sighed deeply, and looked down at him. Cassandra's head also appeared at the side now, looking down at him. Dimly aware, he realized must be on his back, on the floor. Did he fall? Everything felt so confused right now.

“So," Alex said, running a hand through his hair, “That was our fault. See, for our screening process, Cassandra uses her psychic power to look around inside your head, while you're answering my question. It's very effective, we've caught a number of plants, competitors, journalists, police undercover operatives…"

He trailed off and then moved a hand into view, holding up his hand in a way that Tommy recognized from Galar. It was the same way a certain champion would salute before and after a match, a sort of charizard pose.

“How many fingers am I holding up?"

“Two," mumbled Tommy, focusing on Alex's hand to try and slow the spinning sensation. “Three if you count the thumb. Isn't that Leon's pose? You've been to the Galar region?"

“Once or twice. Room still spinning badly?"

“Yeah, trying to focus my eyes on stuff to counteract it." Tommy knew enough about dizziness that the worst possible thing he could do right now was keep his eyes closed. At least when they were open his brain had something it could point to as proof he wasn't actually moving. “How did I end up on the floor?"

“Dropped like a sack of berries when Cassandra scanned you."

There was an apologetic look from the alakazam. “Zam alaka," she murmured. She inclined her head to him politely and then backed out of view, probably to go back to work.

“But why?"

“That, I don't know, mate," sighed Alex, “See, looking inside people's heads isn't easy, and no pokémon, even the best psychic types, are very skilled with it. So, Cassandra kinda… forced her way into your head.

Usually, there's some side effects: dizziness, fatigue, the occasional headache. But I have never, ever seen anyone pass out before, mate. I barely caught you before you hit the ground. In the future maybe we should get people to sit down first."

“Alakazam."

“Yeah, I'll get a chair in here. Not like you're hurting for space anyway."

Nia reached out with a paw, gently touching Tommy's temple. There was a soft tingling from her latent electric current and he moaned softly. “Ugh, that actually helps, Nia. Maybe turn it up just a bit?"

“Raichu." After she spoke, the tingle got stronger, and while Tommy didn't understand why, the room's spinning got slower and slower, until eventually, he felt safe sitting up. When he did, the room started to spin again, but not badly enough for him to lose his lunch.

Glory kneaded at his thigh with her forepaws, looking worried, and Tommy felt Alex's hand on his shoulder again. “You coming around? Think you can stand, mate? I can get you somewhere more comfortable than the floor of Cassandra's office if so…which uh, reminds me, Cass was…?"

“Zam," came the somewhat dismissive reply from the psychic type.

“Yeah, I figured he was clean, but no reason not to be sure." An arm slid under his, and Alex helped him to his feet, Tommy leaning heavily on the taller man.

“I really can't apologize enough for that," Alex stated as they carefully made their way into the hall and back towards the elevator. “I didn't want to mention exactly what would happen in case that influenced things somehow. But, I also had no idea that anyone would react that badly to it. No one ever has before. You doin' alright there, mate?"

Tommy mumbled something to the affirmative, as he felt Alex's lucario move to his other side and help steady him. Alex punched the call button for the elevator.

“Gonna take you down to an apartment we set aside for you. I want you to lay down and take it easy for the rest of the day." He paused, while they waited for the elevator to arrive. “You ever had this sort of problem with a psychic type before?"

“No," said Tommy, forcing some strength into his legs by sheer will. He was still being steadied, but at least he was standing on his own. “To be honest, that was the closest I've been to a psychic type. Usually, just notice them in passing. Last ones I even remember seeing before this was more than a week ago. Some indeedee on the transport ship that Wilbur and I took to Hoenn."

The elevator dinged, and the group guided Tommy into it, letting him lean against the back wall. Both Nia and Glory kept glancing up nervously to him, so Tommy did his best to smile at them. “I'm fine, girls, really."

Unfortunately, that was the moment the elevator started to descend, and it did so much too quickly for Tommy's taste. He groaned as the spinning came back.

“Vap eon…" Glory moved, sitting beside him, looking up in concern. She wrapped her tail around the front of his legs to reassure and steady him. Or possibly just to reassure herself.

Alex was silent and pensive during the short elevator ride. Looking at it from his point of view, Tommy could get why. Everyone had to be screened, and up until now, nothing odd had ever happened. Tommy was the new outlier for how bad things could be. But what if he was still not as bad as it might be for other people? Yet still, Alex said the process had been very accurate for them so far, so the company might be between a rock and a hard place: neither giving up the screening nor just continuing business as usual would be appealing.

Finally the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Tommy waved off any help, working on staying on his own two feet, following Alex down the hallway. After a bit, his handler stopped and dropped a card key into a slot on one of the doors. There was the heavy click of it unlocking, and Alex then pushed the door open while handing the card to Tommy.

Tommy took it and slid it down into his pocket, before turning and heading into the apartment. The place seemed like a cross between a studio apartment, an office, and a hotel room. On his left as he entered was a small kitchen, complete with a full sized fridge, stove, oven, sink, everything he would need to cook his own meals. On his right was a closet and the entrance to a bathroom with a shower and tub.

And ahead, the room was divided into two, one side had what appeared to be a very professional small office space. A desk dominated that area, with a powerful looking computer on it. A pair of chairs sat facing the front of the desk, and a comfortable looking office chair sat behind it.

On the other side of the room was a luxurious looking bed, with thick black duvet that looked so inviting that Tommy's feet started taking him in that direction unthinkingly. A television and climate control unit sat on the interior wall, while the outward wall was almost entirely glass, showing a view of the bustling city below. A thick set of curtains ensured the sun could be blocked, should one wish extra darkness to sleep in. The entire area was decorated in whites, greys and blacks, with tasteful art on the walls.

As Tommy sat down on the bed, his hand bumped something on the nightstand. Curious, he picked it up and looked at it.

“A bottle of lube?" he mumbled questioningly.

Chuckling, Alex nodded. “Of course, mate, we are a porn company. There's a bunch of fun toys in the drawer too." He stepped over and leaned against the wall. “But look, things have started off on the wrong foot. So, for the rest of today and tonight, just rest. Maybe get some room service when you're hungry. In the morning - after you've definitely slept yourself out," he added sternly, “Give me a call. I can explain more of what's needed to get you hitting the ground running."

Alex stopped, considering. “Actually," he continued, “I'll send Luke by around noon if I haven't heard from you. Just to check. And if anything goes wrong, I'm sure Glory or Nia can grab someone and get help." He rubbed his head. “But let's not focus on that, I'm sure everything is fine, mate. Just a bit of a bad run today. I'm sure it'll be forgotten in a day or two."

Sitting and listening, Tommy just nodded at the appropriate points, neither willing nor able to argue any of that. His brain still felt like slush, and coherent thinking came in fits and starts.

Pushing off the wall, Alex made for the door. “Anyway, enough babbling from me, get some rest mate. There's a doctor in the building if things somehow get worse; you can find the number in your tablet. I'll be back tomorrow to talk more business. You lot just relax for now, you've had a hard day." With that, he gave a final wave before heading out the door, Luke following behind him closely. The lucario turned and gave a friendly wave and smile before heading out the door, shutting it behind himself.

With a groan, Tommy fell back against the soft bed, for the second time today staring up at a ceiling. After a moment, he frowned, and forced himself back to a sitting position. “Might be I do need rest, but I am not gonna just pass out like this." Getting up, he moved to the kitchen.

After searching for a bit, he was able to find a glass. Quickly, he filled it with ice and water, and trudged back over to the bed, setting it down. He set his tablet out to charge within easy reach, and noticed two remotes in the top drawer of this nightstand: one for the television and one for the climate control. Impressed, he set them aside, keeping them in easy reach.

He kicked off his shoes and socks, before standing up and stripping down to shirt and undies. Before getting into bed however, he knelt down and dug around in his bag, pulling out Nia's collection of discs from the Siren. “Feel free to put whatever you like on, Nia," he stated, flipping back the covers and slipping into bed. “Even the porn. I doubt anyone will judge us for it here. But I'll probably be asleep for at least an hour or two."

He grabbed a quick drink from his glass, and turned the lights out. Tommy flopped over on his side and snuggled into the soft sleeping space. He started to drop into sleep quickly, but was dimly aware of warm shapes climbing onto the bed, and making themselves comfortable around him. Then, he was out, left to his dreams.