FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Considering getting Jeremy back out to keep him company after leaving the police station, Thomas spotted a busy cafe and decided instead to just have lunch by himself. He acquired an egg salad sandwich and some Cheriberry soda before making his way to a small park by the water. Back in Milra the local cafe would sometimes have sandwiches left over at the end of the day, and depending who was on shift they'd hand him one or two instead of throwing them out. His favourite was always the egg salad ones; There was something about how the chef used ground Tamato in the mix, or maybe it was the grated cheese baked into the bread. But it seemed fitting for a final meal in his home region.

Across the bay he could see the S.S. Dianne in dock, the occasional coachload of tourists returning from the last day or two of inland sightseeing no doubt. It was hard to make out the individual people at that distance, but the logos on the delivery trucks were easy to spot, and as Thomas finished off his lunch he subconsciously made note of all the different types of food and supplies being brought onboard. There were your standard regional grocery chain store trucks, and while some were unfamiliar to him as brands, they were obvious as to their contents: one seemed to be from the local fish market given the assorted water types cartoonily depicted on the side, the one with a Miltank winking must have been dairy related, and so on.

Finishing off the last of the soda, Thomas heaved the duffle onto his back and made way for the tram station. The ride to the dock where the S.S. Dianne was moored would take some time as the bridge across the bay lacked tram tracks, so He'd have to go the circumference. Though with a couple hours left before it was recommended he board, Thomas had plenty of time. It actually turned out to be quite the peaceful ride, the city streets giving way to the large warehouses and factories of the industrial area before being reduced to the suburban string of buildings on the outskirts. As the tram came back around towards the city once more, the cruise ship slowly began to emerge from above the trees.

It truly was a marvel of engineering, the world's largest catamaran, large enough that part of one side had been designed around a pokemon battle arena, while the other had a fully functioning water park. According to the information he'd found online it also had a ballroom, a theatre, two cinemas, three restaurants and so much more. He'd have to send Twine a thank you when they got to Unova, though no amount of thanks could truly express the man's gratitude for the ticket he held.

As the tram neared its destination, Thomas chose to get off a stop earlier. He'd felt the familiar mental static of Zye at the edge of his perception for just a moment, and wanted to check in with the legendary pokemon. Stepping off the transport, he made his way to the waterfront, where he found Zye calmly paddling along. They were as close to the side of the dock as they could muster with Titan riding on their back. “How's it going down there?"

Zye looked up to Thomas, a content grin across their face. 'We are well. Though unsure as to how events will unfold.'

“Quill." Titan took a deep breath nervously and nodded.

“Well, option A seems to be I take Titan - master ball and all - with me onto the ship, and you see about getting on the hull. Come nightfall I'll get Griff to fly you up." Thomas had thought about it, and that was the best plan he could come up with.

'You do not think it wise for me to simply walk on board with you?'

Thomas sighed. “Spoke to Dr Colman earlier. He's… concerned." Thomas sat down at the edge of the dock, happy to get the weight of his bag off his shoulders. “You popping up in Wooloobell raised a lot of eyebrows. I think he listed about half-dozen groups actively searching for you, not including Rocket. I don't know how much I can trust anyone on that ship. The tourists who got on before Sidna are probably fine, but staff transfers, new passengers, anyone could be a spy for one of those gangs."

Zye thought for a moment as Titan looked between the two nervously. 'Your solution seems the best possibility then.' They paddled over to a rusted set of ladder rungs bolted to a pylon and allowed Titan to dismount. They then tucked their head inside their chest - hexagonal cells parting to reveal a maelstrom of other cells whirling around inside their body - retrieving the Quilladin's master ball, tossing it up to Thomas with a flick. 'I shall follow. Please continue.'

Thomas looked down to Titan. “Okay dude, sorry to do this, but if anyone sees those bolts and thinks I'm mistreating you, it's gonna make everything so much more complicated. Gonna have to put you away for now. Titan nodded in understanding before flashing into a crimson light and disappearing inside the masterball. Thomas slipped it inside his bag next to Zana's, took a deep breath and began walking.

It only took another fifteen minutes or so before he reached the S.S. Dianne's dock, a cluster of guards waiting by the gate waving in the last few delivery trucks, while a small building next to a parking lot seemed to be where the passengers were meant to enter. He was about to head into the building when a subtle wave of panic crept over him. 'We have a problem.'

Being a fair distance from the water - having walked up to the small building - Thomas had to think his response to Zye. 'Oh shit, oh Arceus, oh what- What's wrong?' He tried to focus his mind a little more, to stop the little thoughts from clouding the bigger ones. Zye's response wasn't words so much as a hazy vision. Several Staryu could be seen orbiting the boat beneath the surface, their cold gems peering out into the murky darkness of the docks, looking for anything out of the ordinary. 'Shit. shitshitshitshitshitshi-'

'Calm yourself Thomas.' Zye attempted to soothe the man. 'Panic is not conducive to productive thought. Sit and think.' Thomas did as he was asked and took a seat on the bench outside the building, looking suitably exhausted from lugging his bag around. 'Now, what other options are feasible?'

Thomas looked to the ship and the star-shaped figures whirring through the water. He leant over to look at the boarding ramp beyond the fence at the side of the building. Passengers were boarding one at a time, most on their own though some had a pokemon or two in tow. He looked closer at the staff checking tickets and spotted a Kadabra in uniform silently glaring at everyone passing through. “I dunno…" He muttered somewhat exasperated. Concentrating he tried to talk with his mind. 'They have a psychic type there, probably checking to see if anything odd's going on. Which there is. We are odd. It'll see us.'

'Calm.' Zye again ordered. 'These ones in the water, they are… strange. I do not understand them. But the one you speak of, I believe I understand it. However, it is the humans I am worried about.'

Thomas blinked several times, the thought in his head so obvious he had to stop himself from facepalming. He reached into the duffel bag and pulled Zana's pokeball out, pressing the button to summon her. She stretched, looking around to discover she was not - in fact - in the luxurious first class cabin like she'd been promised. She turned with a menacing glare to Thomas. “Explain yourself."

“Heh, so, uh, we've run into a bit of a snag." Thomas explained as quietly as he could without arousing suspicion. She raised an eyebrow. “Look, you know I wouldn't have broken my promise if I didn't have a good reason. We need your… talents." She tilted her head forward, the glare increasing in intensity.

'Thomas is correct.' Zye's voice was a little more muffled, which Thomas had come to recognise as a by-product of speaking to more than one mind. Zana took a deep breath and nodded, the legendary pokemon demanding enough of her respect to play along. 'I require anonymity until reaching the assigned living quarters.'

“And you are… where exactly?" She mused, looking around. Thomas nodded his head towards the edge of the dock. “I see." She walked over, beckoning Thomas to follow. She looked out over the murky water, glancing down to see the green and black canid clinging to one of the pylons. “Well," she muttered under her breath “Get up here then." Zye scrambled up the side of the dock, landing beside Thomas with a thud. As Zana turned around to face the two, she noticed the Kadabra at the top of the ramp a hundred or so feet away.

Thomas traced her gaze and cut the question off before she could ask it. “Apparently Zye's got a plan."

Zana looked from the legendary to her pet trainer and back. “Of course he does." She straightened up, snapped her fingers and commanded the man to follow. Thomas rolled his eyes but did as he was asked. She waited at the doorway of the building for him to open it, and once inside her demeanour combined with the royal-looking Tiara she was sporting caused what little crowd was there to part for her. Ignoring the rest in line she walked right up to the counter and cleared her throat.

Not wanting to cause a scene, the clerk gulped “Ah, Yes Ma'am? Checking in?"

Zana turned slightly to Thomas, Zye hanging very close by but otherwise completely unnoticed by anyone else; their stunned gazes fixed on the talking Zoroark. “Sorry, sorry…" Thomas placed the bag down and brought up the relevant ticket information on his bracer-mounted pokedex. He held out his arm for the clerk to scan the code and a happy chirp was relayed from the machine.

“Ah, Oh? First Class?" Several other Clerks quickly kicked into high gear, heaving the bag up between two of them before gently lowering it to a luggage trolley. “Please, just follow the staff to the boarding ramp and we'll have you ready to sail the seas in no time at all." The Clerk waved Zana towards the boat-side exit with a bow. Thomas followed close behind, with Zye practically on his heels.

Zana strode with the gait of someone who knew their importance, and Thomas had to walk a little faster to keep up. “Don't dawdle, Boy." She said, the hint of a smile cracking through her demeanour.

Thomas too had to keep himself from chuckling. “Yes Mistress." He knew there'd be few times he could call her that in public and not cause heads to turn, but as heads were already turned, why not. Her reaction was a minor falter in her step, but a much greater exaggeration in the sway of her hips. 'What monster have I unleashed?'

'What indeed…' Zye whispered into his mind.

As they approached the ramp, the dock clerks wheeling their luggage handed it over to the cruiseliner staff, who also struggled with swapping the bag over to their own, more ship-capable trolley. A Mustachioed man dressed like an officer in white greeted Zana at the bottom of the ramp, reacting to a subtle hand gesture given by one of the clerks. “First Mate Abraham Richard Mayflower at your service. It is a pleasure to have you on board."

“Madame Zana." She held her hand out for the First Mate to take, which he did, giving her a light kiss on the finger for show. “You have a truly remarkable ship, sir."

“I am most humbled, Madam." Mayflower beamed. “She is a fine ship, I do hope you enjoy your stay." He turned to greet Thomas, then squinted a little. He leaned over to one of the other officers and traded several whispers. Upon receiving whatever confirmation he was after - along with a finger jabbed at the passenger manifest - he smiled a knowing smile. “And Mister Drake, It too is a pleasure to have you travel with us."

Thomas looked a little surprised, before realising the tickets had been booked under his name after all. Though he wasn't expecting to be recognised on sight. “Uh, thank you. Sir. Happy to uh, to be on board." His cheeks flushed red at the embarrassment of being caught out.

“You'll find many folks on board may recognise you, lad. Your face has been plastered across the news for a few days now. The 'God's Ally'. I believe." Thomas' eyes went wide at that, as did Zana's, but she kept her cool and the illusion remained. “I don't suppose your legendary friend will be joining us?" He looked around, past the trainer and into the crowd behind.

Thomas' heart skipped a beat when the First Mate stared straight at Zye, but began beating again as soon as he looked away, not lingering enough to indicate he'd seen the pokemon. He sighed, clear for now “Unfortunately he had business to attend to here, and was unable to come with us."

“Indeed." He nodded, though still eyed Thomas with a slight air of suspicion. “Well, please enjoy your stay. Once underway I shall endeavour to organise a dinner with the Captain, and I would be honoured if yourself and Madame Zana would attend. Perhaps tomorrow evening?"

“The honour would be all ours, Sir." Zana responded, waving for Thomas to follow. “Come, I wish to be reclining by the pool with a drink in hand before we so much as pull away from the dock." The First Mate raised an eyebrow, trying not to smirk as he looked to Thomas for the man's response.

“Yes Mistress." He sighed, giving the captain his best 'I know, right?' look before disappearing up the ramp, allowing Zye just enough time to quickly step in front of him. He passed by the Kadabra, who looked him up and down before nodding, then nodding to the 'empty' pocket of air in front of the Trainer. They were led through the port side of the ship by the crew hauling the duffel bag on the trolley. Fortunately for them, Thomas' room was on this side of the ship, but unfortunately it was on one of the top decks.

Reaching the First Class area by elevator, the crew pointed out this floor had four separate rooms, each one facing outwards from the rest of the ship, with the first class lounge facing the other hull. A couple of kids from a family on one of the lower decks on the other side spotted Thomas and Zana and waved, the pokemon waiting until the staff were occupied before waving back. Thomas smiled, gave a quick little wave as well and once the door was clear of staff, waited for Zye to walk in before himself.

“Please call the staff if you have any requests or questions regarding your voyage." One of them said, gesturing to a vid screen on the inside of the doorway.

Before Thomas could thank them Zana piped up from the sliding door to the deck “I'll have a Kasib Delight, easy on the Micle." Thomas rolled his eyes and pressed two coins in the staff members hands, mouthing 'sorry' as he shrugged. The staff member just winked and gave him a thumbs up. The door closed and Zana collapsed on the bed.

Thomas looked around the room. Spacious hardly began to describe it. There was a massive bed against one wall about the size of two King mattresses joined together. Opposite that was a television wider than Thomas was tall taking up the majority of the wall. Between the bed and TV was a semicircle of couches with enough space for a half dozen humans to sit comfortably, while closer to the balcony was a large dining table and associated chairs. The balcony itself had several lounge chairs on it and a retractable awning to deal with the sun. The bathroom was off to one side, claimed for now by Zye. Thomas looked back to the bed and walked over to Zana. “Thank you."

She rubbed her temples. “You owe me one." The rubbing stopped. “Actually, I'm pretty sure you owe me a lot by now."

'Today's debt is mine, Zana.' Zye said from the safety of the bathroom.

“Is it now?" She responded with a smirk. “And how do you expect to pay?"

'Oh for the love of-" Thomas groaned “They'll be here with your drink any second now, just keep that in mind. I'm off to have a look around." Zana laughed at Thomas' outburst. He nabbed one of the keycards off the table and made for the door. “And please close the curtains, Mistress." He said that last word a little more sarcastically than he'd intended, and upon closing the door realised he'd probably pay for that later. But in the meantime, it was Zye who was paying, so that would at least temper her a little. He hoped.

Intrigued by the Battle Arena, and with a couple hours before the ship was set to disembark, Thomas made his way over to the Starboard hull. Dozens of passengers passed him in the halls, some searching for their rooms, others just looking for something to do. It didn't take long before he found a set of doors that opened into a large arena. It was at least twice the size of the Owlra and Sidna gyms, and contained several islands amidst a kind of ocean pool. Each island was around twenty feet wide and contained a different environment. Clockwise from where Thomas stood, there was a plain looking sand bar, a thickly forested one, a rocky one with a small pool of lava at it's center, one that looked more like an oil rig than an island and lastly an iceberg. Thomas was taken aback with the sheer scale of it, so much so he hadn't noticed someone come up behind him. “Magnificent, isn't it?"

Thomas turned to see a man in his early twenties, short blonde hair, sunglasses and a beige cardigan draped over his purple polo shirt. “That it is." He held out a hand for the man to shake. “Thomas."

The man just looked at him, a raised eyebrow barely visible above the sunglasses. “Yeah…" The man avoided the social invitation and walked over to the sign-up sheet. “First up. Perfect." It seemed despite the few dozen people taking in the sights, this person was the first to put their name down. Thomas was hoping to have a more amicable match-up for his first battle, but this guy would have to do. Taking a deep breath to steel his spirit, Thomas walked up to the sheet and wrote his name in the second space. The man - His name apparently Abercrombie - looked him up and down then smirked. “Really?"

“Got a problem?" Thomas snarked, a little annoyed at this man's sense of entitlement.

Abercrombie chuckled derisively. “I doubt you'd be worth my time, but fine. If you want to embarrass yourself." He pointed to a platform up the other end of the arena while he climbed the ladder of the closest one. Thomas grumbled as he walked around to the other side and made his way up. “I'm waiting!" The arse shouted from his stand. As he reached the top, Thomas felt more like he was on a diving board than a viewing stand given the water below. “Standard Three Pokemon duel to knockout. Blue throws first. Think you can manage that?" He shouted with a sneer.

“We're gonna destroy you…" Thomas grumbled giving an insincere smile and a thumbs up. A multicoloured light flashed beneath him until it stopped on the colour blue. He sighed, needing to decide which pokemon to bring out. He wanted to give the man a false sense of security, and hopefully throw him off balance a bit. He smiled, if throwing a curveball was the order of the day, he could think of no better pokemon to do so. In a bright flash a massive blue serpentine shape splashed down into the water.

“THOMAAAAAAS!" Every head in the arena turned to look at Squishy.

“A Broken Gyarados in a stupid scarf? That's the best you can do?" Thomas was glad Carmen wasn't out, he didn't want their journey to be marred by a homicide. Abercrombie flung his own ball out into the arena, summoning forth a bright green pokemon. It looked familiar but he couldn't quite place the pointy dog-like pokemon. Thomas was about to point his pokedex at it when the man shouted “Jolteon, finish it quick with Thunder." The green pokemon dashed across the Sand bar and disappeared into the forest.

“Squishy, Uh…" It was then Thomas realised he had no idea what the pokemon was capable of. “Uh…" He could see flashes of energy crackling in the forest island. “Bubble beam?" Squishy looked at him with a blank expression. “Uh, Whirlpool?" That got a response, with the Gyarados dashing to one side just as a bolt of lightning speared through the trees at him. The quick movement was not for the purpose of dodging though, but to whip his body in such a way as to form a funnel of water, which he sent smashing into the forest.

A squeal of shock followed by a green blur flung from between the trees into the water gave Thomas a slight grin. “Thunder! Again!" The man's angered tones cut across the water The Jolteon leapt from the water back onto dry land, this time the rocky island. An arc of electricity cracked down against the water's surface, barely missing Squishy the first time, but a second bolt split the air a moment later, striking the pokemon in it's midsection.

“It's too fast!" Thomas shouted, less as a direction for Squishy to follow, but more a warning. However the Gyarados took the comment as a suggestion and stared daggers at the electric type. Their gazes met as a cloudy darkness seemed to swirl around Squishy's features. The Jolteon readied another attack but this time it's target was faster, albeit barely. Squishy landed another whirlpool on it just before being struck by Thunder one last time. The arena briefly glowed red as Squishy returned to his ball, but Thomas was fast out with his next pokemon.

As soon as Dusty's hooves hit the stone island floor, he knew he was not in some luxurious first class cabin. A quick look around gave him all the information he needed, and the wide-eyed green pokemon at his feet had barely enough time to gulp before a bone-crushing kick hurtled it out of the play area. “Hey, I was gonna give it a potion!" The man shouted angrily.

“And where does it say in the rules I have to wait for you to do that?" Thomas shouted back, giving Dusty a thumbs up. A bright flash coming from the damp forest area signified the latest pokemon to join the fray. Dusty readied himself to charge when a glittering gust blew from between the trees, wafting with speed over to the rocky outcrop the Surfsdale was posed on. “Dusty, get out of there!" Thomas realised all too late as one inhale of those particles left the pokemon blinking. The large pokemon stumbled, barely keeping upright as a torrent of black and purple petals swirled out of the miniature forest.

The Roserade was familiar to Thomas, being popular in gardens across Vandimland; though it was rare to see a purple and black one. It seemed to keep itself aloft with the whirlwind of petals rushing around it's body, a whirlwind that quickly fanned out to slice away at Dusty's now slumped-over form. Unwilling to let his friend be punished in that way, he recalled the beast, replacing him with his own excitable whirlwind. Thomas felt it would be far more juicy to take the man on with pokemon he caught himself, instead of relying on Jeremy for the clutch. Not that the arsehole would know what steamrolled him, but it would matter to Thomas.

Mac quickly realised the state of play and immediately launched itself at the grass type. However, once again Thomas realises he's not taken into account his pokemon's moves. This time, he knew the wheel of spikes had learned Bug Bite back on Route 13, but he'd forgotten in his current state, the pokemon lacked any outward-facing mouth with which to actually perform the attack. From what he was able to tell looking closely in his room, the outer shell had hardened into a single piece, while his soft belly was curled up inside along with his legs and - unfortunately in this case - mouth.

But Mac did not care one bit. As the petals plinked harmlessly off his carapace he slammed into the Grass-type, attempting to spear it with one of it's unpierced spikes. Thomas sighed, realising he was trying to use Poison Tail; which given the pokemon was a wheel, raised as many questions as him knowing - or rather attempting to use - Bug Bite.. “It's a poison type, try something else."

“Stun Spore!" The Roserade looked up a little confused to it's trainer and shook it's head, the petals still spinning around it's body.

Thomas grinned, he actually knew what this meant. “It's stuck in Petal Dance! Defense Curl!" Mac obeyed instantly, his chitinous shell gleaming as he focused on making the slightly flexible joints more rigid.

The man at the other end attempted to summon the Roserade back to it's ball, but being mid attack seemed to confuse the targeting mechanism and it remained on the field. He was beginning to panic, much to the amusement of the growing number of onlookers. “Uh, uh, uh…" He tried to think. “Sludge Bomb!"

But it was too late. Mac knew his next move without being told. He bounced up over the whirling cone of petals and bore straight down on the Roserade's head with a Defence Curl powered Rollout. It mainly annoyed the grass type on the first hit, the damage negligible. But as the pokemon's Petal Dance came to an end and the confusion from all that spinning set in, each successive hit only gained in power. After Mac's third successful strike the Roserade managed a brief moment of clarity where it attempted to smack the Whirlipede with a Sludge Bomb. The gunk hit, and hurt the bug, but being poison type himself Mac just shook off any ill effects and landed another hit.

Realising his Roserade was not coming back from the repeated assault, the man summoned his next pokemon. If it had been a league match Thomas would have cried foul as for a brief moment there were three pokemon in the arena, which meant his whirlipede was at a significant disadvantage. But he didn't have time to consider the implications of his opponents hastiness as the crack of the bug's carapace striking stone echoed through the arena followed by a deafening roar. Thomas pointed his pokedex as the hulking form that had been summoned onto the field, the roserade finally disappearing in a flash of red.

'Tyranitar, the Armour Pokemon. Rock and Dark type. It wanders through the mountains seeking opponents to fight. If it finds an opponent that's not worthy, Tyranitar ignores it and wanders on. This appears to be a shiny variant.' Thomas stared at the hulking beast, it's beige skin and purple belly emulated in it's trainer's clothes. He looked to the pile of rubble where his Whirlipede impacted and was floored when a scarlet mass of armour plates pulled itself from the crumbled stone. 'Scolipede, the Megapede pokemon. Bug and Poison type. With quick movements, it chases down its foes, attacking relentlessly with its horns until it prevails.'

Thomas was dumbfounded, but as the Tyranitar turned to face the recently evolved pokemon, it's fist became wreathed in fire. Mac was still a little too confused as to why he was significantly taller than he was before to notice the punch until it connected with his gut. Sent sprawling across the rock and into the water, Mac spluttered and splashed. Thomas had to think quick. “Rollout, buddy! You can spin on water!" Several times before Mac had managed to stay above the water with pure speed and surface tension alone. But now being so much bigger and heavier, he couldn't quite get enough of a spin going to stay above water.

“Rock Blast!" The other man shouted, his Tyranitar hefting large chunks of stone out of the ground and hurling them with force at Mac. The first one missed, but the second hit true. Mac struggled further under the water, unable to keep his bulky mass afloat. The Tyranitar wound up for one last pitch and Thomas decided to take Mac out of the fight. “I win! Suck it!"

“Screw you!" Thomas summoned the sleeping Dusty back onto the rocky isle.

“You can't do that!"

“Like you said," Thomas grinned mischievously, “it's to the Knockout. And he…" Thomas pointed to Dusty “well, he's just sleeping."

“Tyranitar!" The man screeched, voice cracking out of sheer anger. “Mega Kick!" The Tyranitar looked from the sleeping Surfsdale and back to its trainer with a shrug. “I DON'T CARE! KICK IT! PUNCH IT! RIP IT'S FUCKING HEAD OFF!" The Tyranitar crossed it's arms, shaking it's head. “YOU FUCKING WHAT?!" The large reptilian pokemon rolled it's eyes, turning around as it's trainer shouted yet more abuse at it, before nudging Dusty with a clawed foot. Dusty huffed, sending puffs of dust roiling up from the ground in little grey eddies. Ignoring the shouted commands from it's trainer, the Tyranitar helped his opponent to his feet, ensuring he was in a proper condition to fight.

Thomas stared in disbelief. Blissey and Dr Hazel had both talked about their hierarchy, with pokemon putting other pokemon above their trainers. And he thought he knew what the limits to that would be. But seeing the amazing display of sportsmanship from a pokemon led by such a horrible trainer was a sight to behold. It was close to a minute of ensuring Dusty was okay to continue before the two of them squared off properly. The arena became silent as both pokemon stretched, popped joints back into place and prepared themselves.

Dusty looked up to Thomas, who just smiled and gave a thumbs up. This was now the Surfsdale's fight, not his. The man on the other side was busy shouting incoherently into a mobile phone when the two pokemon finally charged each other. Dusty seemed to give his opponent a free hit, possibly as a courtesy for allowing him a moment to recover from the Roserade's Sleep Powder. The Mega kick that struck the Surfsdale's flank was powerful, and it did knock him off course, sending the pokemon trotting out onto the water instead of around the edge of the island.

His ace-in-the-hole was revealed as Dusty broke into a gallop across the waves, the Tyranitar looking on in astonishment. It had never seen the Mudsdale's Vandimland variant, and seeing the pokemon trot around on the waters surface drastically changed the tone of the fight. More so than it could have imagined, as Dusty doubled back on his wake before rounding the forest island and making a bee-line for the occupied rocky space. A bulge of water rose up behind him, cresting at its peak in flickers of white foam. The Tyranitar smiled as it hunkered down, bracing against the powerful Surf.

As Dusty broke shore, the wave crashed down on the two of them. The Tyranitar was hit hard, but he managed an electrified Thunder Punch into Dusty's chest as a way to try breaking through the force of the water. Dusty was winded, and stopped in his tracks, but nowhere near as disoriented as the drenched rock type. He wound up for another punch, but Dusty simply turned about, planting both hooves squarely on the purple diamond of armor plating, sending the Tyranitar careening off the edge of the rock pool and into the water. Dusty was quick to dash across the island and drag his opponent back onto land before it could drown.

Thomas grinned at his pokemon's show of character. The other man just looked on in confusion and disgust. Thomas wondered if he'd ever lost a battle, or ever had his pokemon directly disobey him before. He chuckled at the notion that him, Dusty, Mac and Squishy would be the first in that regard. A homeless beggar and his three pokemon - all of whom had only evolved in the last few days - able to take down his little team of shiny pokemon with barely a month of training.

The Tyranitar wheezed, lungs still full of water as he gave the signal that he was bowing out. Dusty sat next to him and presumably chatted as the other Trainer angrily left his platform, furiously marching toward Thomas. “You cheated!" he cried.

“Not before you." Thomas shouted down from his vantage point. “You can't summon a replacement pokemon into the arena until the one it's replacing has left. It's one of the first rules you-"

“Bullshit!" He began hauling himself up the ladder towards Thomas as several onlookers made their way over. Several bursts of light signified the summoning of pokemon, some observing, some ready to intervene if it got ugly. “Roserade… was… knocked… out." He pulled himself up the last rung only to come face to face with Jeremy. He almost fell over backwards in shock, but the Hakamo-o managed to grab his shirt in time.

Thomas stepped over, giving Jeremy the signal to keep the man hanging on by his toes; heels over the edge of the platform. Abercrombie had grabbed the pokemon's armour plates to steady himself, but it was still well within the realm of possibility that if Jeremy were to let go, he'd have nothing but shiny, slippery and very sharp armour plates to try and grab ahold of. “My Whirlipede delivered the final blow to your Roserade after your Tyranitar had begun it's first attack. Under normal circumstances that would constitute an immediate disqualification and suspension of your trainer's license pending a review. Unless the rules have changed recently, which I'm pretty sure I'd know if they had." Thomas was thinking hard back to all those entrance exams for becoming a trainer, and what he could remember from back at school well over a decade prior.

“You can't summon a KO'd pokemon back into a battle." He growled, staring daggers at both Jeremy and his trainer.

“But there's no rules against returning an injured pokemon." The man spluttered and muttered incomprehensibly at Thomas' logic. “However, there are plenty of rules against threatening to kill a pokemon, or giving a pokemon orders to do so."

“I didn't-"

“Rip. It's. Fucking. Head. Off." Thomas spat back at the man. “The next time you threaten my pokemon like that, I won't have Carmen catch you." There was a brief glimpse of utter confusion wash over the man's face before Jeremy grinned widely and let go. A second later he had splattered against a gooey purple bulk, who held him tight before setting him on the ground, his cardigan absolutely drenched in slime. He turned around to see the big grinning face of a Goodra staring down at him. He stumbled away, slapping the Tyranitar's ball on his waist, summoning the pokemon back before leaving in a huff. “This ain't over!" He shouted up at Thomas.

“Hey Carmen," Thomas called back down. “He called Squishy's scarf stupid." Abercrombie stopped in his tracks, turning his head slowly to meet the Goodra's gaze. Her eyes glowed with white hot rage, the area around her seeming slightly darker for it. As one eye twitched Abercrombie broke into a sprint, Carmen tearing through the crowd and gaining on him rapidly. Just as he disappeared through the arena doors, Thomas summoned his angry friend back to her ball and climbed down from the platform, followed by Jeremy. When he got to the bottom he summoned Mac forth; the bug having been waterlogged, but not knocked out. It took a moment for him to get steady on dry land again, not helped by Thomas giving him a huge hug.

Despite being about eye height with the magenta bug, Thomas was still dwarfed by the sheer bulk of him, not to mention the extra couple feet of antennae sticking out above his head. Thomas grinned as the piercing seemed to have remained in place just fine through his evolution. “Mac, buddy! I'm so proud of you!" He hugged the Scolipede again, this time Mac having enough wits about him to hug back with his stubby little arms. After a few seconds though, Thomas felt a light tapping on his shoulder. Which grew into a rather heavy tapping. Before he could see who was trying to get his attention, one of Mac's antennae smacked his shoulder, spinning the trainer around.

When Thomas got his bearings he noticed in front of him was a blonde woman, dressed impeccably in a magenta and teal power suit over a black blouse. Standing next to her was another Scolipede, it's similarly magenta and teal patterned chitin polished to a high sheen. “I see you managed to send my brother running with his tail between his legs." She looked Thomas up and down with a curious gaze while her Scolipede gave Mac a sultry look.

“That was your brother?" Thomas coughed, hoping the man's defeat and minor shaming wouldn't prove to be a social hindrance.

She nodded. “Abe's never been a good loser. Or good winner for that matter." She held her hand out to Thomas in the same way Zana had done to the first mate earlier. “Abigail."

“Thomas." He kept his opinion about her seeming as entitled as her brother to himself, taking her hand and giving the ridiculously large ring on it a kiss.

“Ah, so it is you." She grinned predatorially. “You've been all over the news Mister Drake." Several others in the crowd began murmuring at the name drop, mostly to the quieter ones who seemed to have no idea what was going on. The female scolipede seemed to perk up at the name as well, eyeing off Mac with even more intent. “There are some calling you a hero."

“I wouldn't say that." He said blushing.

And in words that cut Thomas deeper than he thought his ego could be cut, she said “No, Neither would I." It took a moment for the words to sink in for Jeremy, the Hakamo-o barely holding back his anger at Thomas being insulted so brazenly.

“Wow." Thomas was fortunate to have enough years as a busker behind him that he could pass insults off as nothing, even if they wounded him. “Bit harsh, don't you think?"

“Not really." She shrugged, knowing he was hiding his pain gave her a slight smirk. “After seeing you battle, I'm assuming you got this far on luck alone."

If Abigail was going to pull the entitled card, then Thomas would play the underdog. “Hard to rely on anything but luck when all you've got is the pack on your back and friends by your side."

“Yeah, friends. Sure." Thomas looked a little worried, glancing around at the others who'd gathered to watch Abigail tear him down. “Your Gyarados; Squishy, was it? What moves does it know again?" Thomas went a little red at that, an oversight on his behalf. “And what self respecting trainer - let alone 'friend' - would send a sleeping pokemon into battle without waking it first?"

Thomas didn't have an answer for that. But he had a few unrelated comebacks of his own. “Probably the same sort of person that let a very powerful and experienced companion go because he didn't want to keep them from their true love. The same person who not only forgave an enemy, but turned them into a friend as well." He took a step closer to the woman “Or maybe a person who risked his own life time and time again to save the lives of others just because it was the right thing to do."

“By trying to drown the man you stole from and drag his name through the mud?" Thomas and Jeremy glared at Abigail, both about ready to get violent at that insinuation.

“Bruno Drekavak is a thug, a thief, a murderer and the most despicable man I have ever met." Thomas spat.

“LIAR!" She cried. Mac had been oblivious to everything up until that point, having spent the time their trainers were conversing sidling up to the other scolipede and flirting his sizable antennae off. But with Abigail's outburst, her scolipede was quick to pay attention again and stepped in beside her trainer protectively as Jeremy took a step up too; Mac being stranded in the middle. “He's a good man, and you're nothing but a lying little thief!"

“A good man? GOOD MA-..." Thomas tapped away at his pokedex, bringing the image of the tortured Quilladin, bloodied and bruised with bolts driven into his shell up on its display. He held it out to show her. “That good man? The good man who TORTURES pokemon for fun?" He turned around to leave, but almost immediately spun back, voice growling with rage “He held a sword to my partner's throat and threatened to behead him if I didn't hand the Zygarde over. Sounds like a real great man."

She countered his step with one of her own. “My uncle is a great man. Greater than you'll ever be."

“And more cowardly than I could have ever imagined." The knuckles in Abigail's balled fists cracked. “Oh, I've met the man four times now. Three of those he ran away, tail between his legs." Realising things were very much about to take a turn for the worse, Thomas took a deep breath and turned to leave. “I suggest you do the same."

Thomas took several steps towards the doors he came in when Abigail shouted after him “Or what?"

Thomas stopped, and without turning or raising his voice he simply said “Or you find out how he got that scar." He waved for his pokemon to come with, Jeremy and Dusty doing so without question, but Mac seemed torn. He looked to the flustered Scolipede by Abigail's side with sadness before chasing after his trainer.

Thomas stewed all the way back to his room, his three companions barely able to keep up with his furious pace. Incoherent mumblings and angry glances were all they could get from him until he stormed into the first class cabin. “Where the FUCK does she get off?!" A panicked Zye bolted out of the bathroom, observing Thomas' energy roiling with deep, dark reds and purples.

Zana looked over from her spot on the couch by the window with a contemptuous glare. “I was napping." But seeing the pure rage in her trainers eyes raised some concern. “Someone finally smart enough to refuse your advances?" she offered, hoping her humour would calm him a little.

Thomas stared right at Zana as he spoke, each word brimming with urgency and purpose. “Bruno Drekavak's Niece and Nephew are on this ship." The Zoroak's eyes went wide as she scrambled to sit upright on the couch. Even Zye seemed rattled by the knowledge.

'How do you know this?' Zye asked as Thomas slammed Squishy's ball into the healing station.

“I just kicked Abercrombie's arse." he grumbled, summoning Carmen and Griff into the room. “And told his sister Abigail in no uncertain terms that I would smash her fucking face in if she wasn't careful." Carmen and Griff looked incredibly confused at the drastic shift in Thomas' behaviour. Jeremy quickly explained who the man Carmen caught was and she strode over to Thomas, spinning him round to face her before slapping him.

Thomas stood in stunned silence at Carmen's outburst.

Carmen stood in stunned silence at Thomas' stunned silence.

Then realising her trainer probably didn't know he was Bruno's nephew when he got her to catch him, she quickly wrapped him up in a gooey hug. Thomas had no clue what was going on, but the slap and hug helped snap him out of the rage-state he had been in. He sighed, embracing his purple friend in return as the rest of the group looked amongst each other for some idea of how to approach this. 'Is it still safe for us to be here?'

Zye's question echoed through everyone's mind, no-one quite sure of the answer. But Thomas took a deep breath and extracted himself from Carmen. “Assuming they're here on behalf of their uncle, I don't think they'd dare try something in a place so public." He hoped beyond hope he wouldn't regret those words. “For now, I'll keep clear of those two, and maybe give the ship security a call to give them a heads up regarding… what just happened." He rubbed his temples, sighing heavily before making his way to the bathroom and locking the door. Everyone else - including Zye - waited silently outside for Thomas to return.

It didn't take long for him to get a hold of one of the security officers considering he was calling from a first class room. It did take a bit of time however to explain the happenings at the arena. To his surprise neither of Bruno's relatives had called in yet, so Thomas - for the time being - was given the benefit of the doubt. He recounted the battle and how Abercrombie had cheated then claimed Thomas had cheated. He made sure the officer took down the direct quote demanding his Tyranitar kill the Surfsdale, even going so far as to request they pull up the security footage.

Thomas then brought up his interaction with Abigail, going so far as to admit what he'd said at the end may have been excessive, but he pled that she was becoming very hostile towards him, her brother tried to assault him and kill his pokemon, and he just wanted to leave. He agreed he would not seek out either of the two and would attempt to stay far from them on the journey, requesting he be allowed to stay on board. The officer said he'd have to bring it up with the captain immediately to give a proper ruling, and said he'd call back as soon as possible.

After a good ten minutes and with the ship almost ready to set off, Thomas received a call from the officer stating the terms he'd given were accepted by the captain, and as an added precaution a member of security would be posted outside each of their rooms for everyone's safety. He told Thomas where his pokemon could and couldn't go on the ship, and ended by quickly saying how he understood what Thomas had done to Bruno, and that he's from Sidna himself. His family had had to deal with the tyranny of Rocket Rising for years, so now that the organisation was disbanded, he wanted to thank Thomas on behalf of his family and friends; off the record of course.

When concerns regarding the safety of his pokemon were raised, the officer informed him of a new system the ship was using. Apparently it was experimental and very hush-hush; the officer only telling Thomas given the unfortunate circumstances. The healing station in each room was connected to a shipwide network. Once scanned, a pokemon's biometric data would be stored in the ships systems, and could be used in conjunction with sensors across the ship to locate them. It could even locate them within a pokeball, assuming the pokeball was in range of one of the sensors. This meant that each pokemon could be given a pass and explore the ship to their own likings. The pass system had been made common knowledge, but not the biometric readings being so thoroughly linked to the ships systems.

He was transferred six passes, allowing most of the pokemon under his care that privilege. But then the thought of Zye being sensed popped up. After a bit of a roundabout session of questioning, Thomas was able to find out that the system only recognises pokemon caught in an official pokeball, and even then, only if they were scanned by the healing station or summoned in range of one of the sensors. Thomas let out a sigh of relief, which he then covered up by explaining how that would prevent someone - like, say the niece and nephew of a crime boss - from sneaking on untraceable pokemon. The officer corrected him by saying it would only hinder them, but agreed that it would make it significantly more difficult.

With nothing else to ask or inform the officer about, Thomas said his thanks and hung up. He emerged from the bathroom and informed everyone of the current state of things. They would still have access to all the parts of the ship they would have had normally, with the exception of the first class area on the other side of the ship; which is thankfully where the siblings were staying. It would have been considerably more difficult were they on his deck. He then went to the printer under the vid screen at the front door and showed them what he was told about the 'Pokemon Paradise Pass'.

They'd have to all be put through the healing station first, but after that, by pressing their pokeball against the vid screen they would activate a small printer. He grabbed Squishy's ball for an example and pressed it to the screen. The sticker dispensed looked like life-preserver-ring-themed pokeball about the size of a pokecoin. He showed how the backing could peel off and stated that the glue was industrial strength, so where it was stuck it was stuck for good, but both the glue and sticker were made from material that was not compatible with the pokemon storage system. So when they were balled again, it would just fall to the ground inactive. They were one use only so another trainer couldn't just collect a bunch of stickers and bring an army of pokemon out.

Which seemed to be of some relief to the rest of them, Thomas not pointing out that there were only six of them - eight if Zye and Titan were included - while the two Drekavak siblings probably had at least twelve between them. Zana raised the issue of having to carry their balls everywhere. To which Thomas proclaimed that the sensor system could extend the un-summoning effect of a pokeball shipwide. So if a pokemon was rendered unconscious or badly injured it would travel back through the system to its ball, and if the ball was placed on the healing station before they left the room, they would go straight into that process. He did say they could be summoned back by pressing the pokeball button as well, so not to misbehave. Which given Zana's raised eyebrow she seemed to take as a challenge.

Realising all but Zye might want to explore the ship, he gave everyone a hug - more to calm himself down than to comfort them - and balled them all up. The sixth spot in the machine - given he'd taken Squishy's ball out - was taken up by Titan; Zye thought it might be good for the pokemon to relax with friends after his ordeal. Once everyone was logged into the ships systems, they were brought out into the living room again just as the boat began to pull away from the dock. With a little shudder through the floor and a blaring horn, the crew were drawn to the balcony to watch the crowd of Sidna-siders wave them off.

This was it. Free of Rocket. Sailing to Unova.

Thomas felt a wave of relief wash over him. Once away from the dock, the crew all decided they wanted to go visit various parts of the ship. Squishy, Carmen and Dusty wanted to check out the water park, while Zana was keen to be pampered for a while at the spa. Titan was nervous about the whole ordeal but Jeremy promised to take care of things, until he realised that all six passes were used up. Mac looked utterly devastated, and while Jeremy tried to comfort him and say he could use the sixth pass instead, Mac refused. There was something else that bothered him. With Thomas' blessing - and assurance he'd see what was up with Mac - Jeremy hefted Titan onto his back for a piggy-back ride.

Before Carmen left, Thomas made her take one of the pills that would thin her slime down to almost water proportions, as well as one that would reduce the amount in general. The last thing he'd want is a million-dollar cleaning bill forwarded to either the Rangers or the Institute. She took them with a bit of a grumble, but after giving her a kiss Carmen forgave him.

As the last of his crew wandered out the door, Thomas turned his attention to the two pokemon left. 'I believe he is disappointed with-'

'Stop.' Thomas interrupted as loudly as his mind could manage. 'Please. I appreciate you helping with these things, but I need to start doing this on my own if I'm to become a decent trainer.'

'I apologise.' Zye said, more curious than hurt. He was certainly interested to see how a human who doesn't even understand his pokemon properly, could hope to help it in its current state. Especially given the issues raised. Wishing to stay out of it, and preferring to keep away from the window as best as possible, Zye moved back to the bathroom.

When Thomas placed a hand on Mac's shoulder he snapped out of whatever daze he was in and walked over to his ball, attempting to headbutt the button, but Thomas snatched it away. Mac looked frustrated, but mostly depressed. Noticing the couch had been built with a large padded section for bigger pokemon, Thomas led his unconventional 'starter' over to it. Mac chirped deeply, unhappy with the situation but not fighting Thomas over it.

“Hey dude, when was the last time we just sat and chilled for a bit?" He sat down next to the larger section and patted it. “C'mon, lets see what's on." Mac relented, climbing up onto the couch, stomping circles like a tired Growlithe before collapsing on it, his sizeable head resting on one of the man's knees. Thomas pat his friend between the antennae, which managed to elicit a soft buzz from the pokemon.

He flicked the TV on and after wading through the 'Welcome to the S.S. Dianne' and 'Things to do while on the ship' channels, he eventually made it to some of the usual television channels. Landing on the PHOX channel, they were greeted by the intro music to 'Johto's Wildest Police Videos'. Mac's antennae shot straight up at the sight of a Bulbasaur powder lab being busted in by a collection of police and their pokemon companions. Several Cacturne running the operation fighting back reasonably well before an armored up Heracross burst in to lay some smackdown. The heroic bug-type kept Mac's attention, though his tails twitching with amusement seemed the only evidence of his approval.

The next bit involved an undercover Beedrill involved in a sting operation, getting info on the ringleaders of a drug ring producing CBHE; an hallucinogenic compound derived from Combee honey. The clip didn't show the actual act of the 'hive' being raided, but there was undercover footage from a tiny camera hidden on the Beedrill mixed with narration and distant shots from observation drones. The last clip before it went to break showed several Machamp in tank tops being dragged out in cuffs along with the Beedrill, who it was explained was taken away in a different car to be debriefed.

As the channel's decibels shot up a few for an ad promoting the latest gaming console, Thomas turned to Mac and gave him a scratch between the Antennae. The bug sighed, looking up at his trainer. “What's wrong dude?" Mac looked down to the floor and huffed. “You're not disappointed in the fight are you?" Mac gave him an odd look. “That little shit cheated, you were caught off-guard by an illegal move. How were you supposed to-" Mac chirped in disagreement, though Thomas took it less as the 'No, I am to blame' and more 'No, that's not the problem'. Mac stalled, not wanting to answer until the show came back on.

Thomas realised he'd have to work on Mac slowly, give him time to be confident enough to let his trainer know what was wrong, though it hurt Thomas a little that his own pokemon - his starting pokemon technically - didn't trust him enough to confide in him. But he let the Scolipede have his moment to grump in relative silence, as the two enjoyed the rest of 'Johto's Wildest Police Videos'.

It turns out the episode had been bug themed, and moreso there was a sort of 'Bug Night' thing going on between the channels. So they had no shortage of bug-related programming. After watching a Scyther going on a rampage - of which Thomas was glad Jeremy was out of the room for - and a swarm of Joltik sapping a power station to such a degree it caused a mass power outage in Goldenrod, Mac seemed to have cheered up a little bit. After the credits rolled, Thomas tried asking again what was wrong. “Look, Mac..." He pat the pokemon's head hard enough to make him know his trainer sought his attention. Big orange eyes looked up at the man forlornly. “You know you can tell me anything. We're not just friends, we're partners. I'm here for you, no matter what, okay?"

Mac nodded, and looked like he was about to chirp something, but the TV managed to catch his attention again; much to Thomas' chagrin. It was a documentary entitled 'The Anorith Island Enigma'. Leaving his continuing questions for the break, Thomas leaned back on the sofa and ran his fingers up and down the Scolipede's shiny carapace. They sat in silence for some time, taking in the beautiful cinematography and expertly delivered narration by Sir David Hammerlocke.

The documentary spoke of the reintroduction of the Anorith pokemon into the world, thanks to advances in gene-recovery technology over the last few decades. How the pokemon were brought back from extinction and reintroduced to the environment. But their destructive tendencies - especially regarding their evolution: Armaldo - tended to result in their capture by trainers or removed as a pest. Eventually the Galarian government got involved, and after a little development of one of their unpopulated western islands, a sanctuary of sorts was set up. The island was surrounded on three sides by a massive trench, while the fourth was thick with seaweed. However the island itself seemed to be a perfect place for those pokemon to breed.

But they weren't. The two sat through another commercial break in silence, listening to how a new brand of poketreat would also keep teeth and mandibles shiny and clean, and an ad for a new sporty dirigible, perfect for traversing the mountainous areas of Unova to the barren plains of Vandimland. Eventually the show started up again and this time, David was talking from a beach surrounded by an assortment of the two pokemon he was talking about. He made sure to point out the rare red-shelled variant wandering across the pebbly beach, using words like 'Astounding' and 'Phenomenal' every other sentence.

The Enigma as it turns out was the issue with them having a massive gender imbalance. With only about 10% of the population born female, this had left a considerable portion of the male population sexually frustrated. Thomas took a glance at Mac, who at that terminology had given a knowing growl of agreement. David went on to explain that the frustration had escalated into territorial war and even killings. Scientists observed from afar, but when the killings took on an almost ritualistic level, someone had to step in. Images depicting Armaldo painting themselves in their fallen foes blood popped up on screen with the eviscerated pokemon blurred out for decency's sake, though a small annotation at the bottom of the screen advertised the uncensored version of the documentary later that night.

Mac and Thomas both gulped, the documentary having taken a much darker path than they thought it would. But David continued, waving his arms around while informing the viewer that things obviously changed for the better. When the scientists decided they needed to step in, a psychologist by the name of Dr. Tarragon made a particularly outlandish suggestion. Given they were showing very human-like territorial traits, perhaps a more human approach was in order. He was summarily ignored and the scientists instead implemented plan after failed plan to stop the killings.

From shock collars - which were quickly removed with the Armaldo's powerful pincers - to capturing all the females and setting up a sort of roster system. Many scientists died that night as did several of the females in the rescue attempt perpetrated by several groups of Armaldo that had put their differences aside to band together, splitting the females evenly amongst them upon returning to their territories.

Tarragon raised his objections over and over, which all fell on deaf ears. So, taking matters into his own hands he travelled to the island with a Kabutops interpreter and met with several representatives from the newly formed 'tribes', convincing them that killing other males wouldn't increase the birth rate. Once he managed to get the promise of a truce - for the time being - he then went on to talk about solving the problem through his interpreter. If the issue was just down to sexual gratification, there were other ways. There was apparently some agreement with that fact and so Dr Tarragon started going over some things that could help.

The documentary left out many of the actual recorded teachings the doctor had given the Armaldo - though once again, the channel advertised the uncensored version later that night - but David summed it up by saying the psychologist had gotten some of the males open to the idea to try having sex with each other. Procreation is one thing, but as long as both parties are satisfied, why not let anyone enjoy it. Some 'nature documentary' style footage followed of Armaldo-on-Armaldo couplings showing both the males mounting males and also mounting females to illustrate the difference in genders and location of appropriate holes.

Oddly enough, due to their anatomy, the Armaldo Anus was better suited to the quick gratification of 'Simulated Reproduction' for both parties. In their second attempt at genetically splicing the Armaldo pokemon to make them more fertile, scientists had altered the size of the prostate gland to aid in the reproductive process. The tightness of the male Armaldo's anus for the 'top' mixed with the enhanced sensitivity for the 'bottom' led to some rather intense trials within the various pokemon communities.

The tribes initially took to the notion with hesitance - despite the praises of those who participated - as they were still skeptical given he was a human; the last batch being responsible for the deaths of several females, in their minds. But after the Kabutops won a contest against a tribe champion and mated with one of the females to produce a female Anorith at staggering odds, the interpreter - and his human trainer - were considered good-luck charms of a sort, leading to the widespread adoption of Dr Tarragon's teachings across the island. The description of the act being translated through the Kabutops even led to the creation of a slang term within the community, roughly translated as 'Simming'.

Sir David Hammerlocke finished the documentary by saying that the Armaldo population have mostly mended relationships between the tribes, and with both the Doctor and Kabutops being allowed to remain on the island for several years afterwards to study them, the Anorith Island Enigma had been solved. As it went to credits, Thomas looked back over to Mac who was just staring at the screen open-mouthed. “You alright there buddy?" Thomas asked, rubbing the Scolipede between his antennae.

Mac looked very lost in thought, as though he had just been given an hour-long lecture and told its respective exam was in five minutes. But eventually he let loose a series of chirps, whistles and clicks along with a newly discovered sound akin to a drumroll that could go as deep as a bass drum and high pitched as a snare. “That's a new one." Thomas chuckled as Mac came to grips with the new sound.

But a few seconds later Mac was back into his explanation. “Woah, woah, slow down okay. I'm still learning Veni-Whirli-... Bug speak." Thomas couldn't pick up on the words at all. With Jeremy he had intonation to work with, but here, it was much more difficult. He tried the 'yes/no' game in response. “I take it through your excited chirping that documentary opened your eyes a bit?" Mac chirped in the affirmative. “Okay, so…" Thomas thought back to the days events and almost slapped himself for being so stupid. “The female Scolipede?"

Thomas could tell from the look in Mac's eye's he'd hit upon the problem. “Sorry mate, I know you want to have some fun. Maybe you two'll bump into each other without Abigail around?" Mac humphed again, looking just as deflated as before prompting Thomas to change tack. He'd been wondering for a while when it would be best to tell the Scolipede about the things he'd been getting up to. Before evolving into a Whirlipede, Thomas had considered the pokemon 'too young', and since then… things had been a bit too hectic to really go into it. But with Mac in the state he was in, it was time.

“Look, Mac." Thomas took a deep breath, rubbing his companion between the antennae for good measure. “I've been meaning to talk to you about something for a while. But I was waiting for… the right time." Mac lifted his head to look at Thomas properly, which only made the man feel more guilty for not telling him sooner. He cleared his throat and continued. “I… I have no idea how to put this. Uh," Mac was beginning to look a little concerned. “Oh, oh! No, look it's nothing serious - I mean, it's a little serious - but it's nothing bad. Well, not for me. Or anyone else involved, I…"

<Breathe.> Mac warbled, his vocal tone backed up by the new growl-like drumming.

Thomas took a moment to take a deep breath and try again. “That Doctor in the documentary? Well, they're not wrong." He released the breath slowly “Y'see, all of us sometimes seek someone to spend a special moment with. And over the last month, I've, well…" He cleared his throat, wondering when Mac would clue in “Well It started with Jeremy, and then Carmen." Mac was still looking at him with a blank glaze of confusion. “Then there was a Lopunny and a Machamp…" Mac raised an eyebrow, wondering when Thomas would get to the point. “Ugh, why is this still so difficult?" Thomas sighed, rubbing his temples in thought.

<Breathe.> Mac repeated.

Thomas smiled, took a moment to gather himself and just admitted it outright. “Mac, Jeremy and I have been… 'mating' for several weeks." Mac's eyes went wide, the top half of his body sitting bolt upright, towering over his trainer. He pointed to Thomas with all the nubby little claws down one side of his body “Me, yes." Then Mac pointed to the collection of pokeballs in the healing station. “Jeremy, yes. Well," Thomas shrugged, blushing a little. “Carmen, Dusty, Zana and Griff too."

Mac's beak-like mouth hung agog in shock, his eyes dashed from the pokeballs to Thomas and back. The trainer let his Scolipede take that information in, waiting to see what his reaction would be. And as he feared, Mac looked over to him, looking hurt. He sighed “You're wondering why I did anything with the others and not you?" Mac looked a little confused, as though unsure how to say what he wanted to. “Look, whether that's the case or not, I just want you to know it was because I was very concerned with, well… your age. Well, not age, I know it's different for pokemon…"

Mac was taken aback, recoiling a little as he stared his trainer down. Another flurry of chirps, whistles and clicks burst out of the pokemon. “Woah, woah. Sorry, slow down!" The harshness in Thomas' command stopped Mac short. He stared at his trainer like a freshly scolded puppy. “Look. Mac…" Thomas took a deep breath. “The thing with Jeremy was a surprise to both of us. We had no idea what we were feeling, and kinda just let things happen." He thought better of bringing Zye into it for more reasons than just because he could feel the faint presence of the Zygarde in his head. “Same with Carmen. From then, it was such a weird rush of horny pokemon, I just kinda accepted it as the norm. But with you… I didn't want to - I dunno - 'betray' you like that?"

Mac's hurt expression turned to confusion with a hint of concern. <Betray?> He clicked, not entirely sure what his trainer meant.

Thomas sighed at the questioning noise, leaning forward to stare at his feet. “When I got you from the lab back in Milra, I promised the Professor I'd look after you. But I promised myself I wouldn't let anyone abuse you like those little unevolved shits." He turned to look at Mac “Of which, as soon as we get back to Vandimland, we're going by that lab so you can have a word with them." He figured chances are by the time they made it back the next batch of trainers would've made off with those bullies. But even so, it would certainly give some perspective to the other pokemon in that lab; that maybe the strength of the pokemon isn't measured in size alone.

<Stop deflecting.> Regardless of his desire to get Thomas back on track, Mac was quite fond of the idea. And although still showing his concern to what Thomas was getting sidetracked from, he nodded in agreement to the suggestion. <I know you care…> He chirped, trying to urge the man to continue on his original train of thought. <But why not me?>

“I'm still trying to understand the way 'age of consent' works with pokemon. For us humans…" he tried to think of an appropriate analogue “Uhh… ah. Remember the trainers back on Route 13?" Mac nodded, thinking hard “Not much younger than that and they would be considered 'too young to mate', for a human. Understand?" Mac nodded a little more unsure, but seemed to Thomas to get it. “Most trainers when they start out are 'too young', but most of those ones on route 13 had been training for a few years. Well, its a bit the same with pokemon. Some are considered 'too young' in their lower evolutions. So it was my understanding that as a Venipede, you'd be too young for me to… do anything with." Mac seemed more sure of himself nodding that time. “And as a Whirlipede… well…"

The look on Thomas' face while trying to describe the impossibility of copulating with a spiked tyre using his hands was quite amusing to the Scolipede, whose warbled laughter echoed through the room. Thomas laughed with him at the absurdity until the moment came to its natural end. “But you're definitely 'evolved' enough now, Mac" He sighed. “I'd have told you sooner, but I didn't want you to feel left out just because you weren't the right… shape. And now that you are, I…" Thomas took a breath and held it, placing his hand on Mac's side “I want you to know, you don't have to feel alone like that. If you want to chase that Scolipede, I won't stop you. But from now on, if you ever want to just - y'know - 'release', then just say."

Mac took a deep breath of his own, looking Thomas up and down. He nodded his head in thought before looking Thomas straight in the eyes. <Really?> Thomas got off the couch and stood in front of his pokemon, placing a hand on each cheek to bring Mac's face level with his before kissing him atop his beak. The deep drumming in Mac's throat began again, the thrum of it slowly rising as the man's lips kept in contact.

After a moment he cleared his throat, trying to sound a little more serious. “The only rule is nothing lewd in public, or in front of other people unless I say. Okay?" Mac nodded, face still in Thomas' hands. “Now, it's close to six, which means the rest of the crew will start coming back soon. So-" His sentence was cut short by an enthusiastic Mac biting the sleeve of Thomas' shirt in an attempt to yank it off. “Okay, okay!" Thomas laughed, quickly stripping before the pokemon. “Okay. There we go, Mister hasty!"

Mac licked the side of Thomas' face with a long, thin tongue before using his many little nubby arms to drag Thomas onto the sofa. A yelp from the man was quickly replaced with a gasp as Mac's tongue glid along the highly reactive rod of skin between his trainer's legs. Images of the documentary flitted through the scolipede's head and he put two and two together. The Armaldo had their genitalia in a similar place - despite having two cocks instead of Thomas' one - and those reacted significantly to physical stimuli. He rolled onto his side and pushed Thomas further down his body to roughly where he felt his anus would be.

“Mac. Mac, buddy." Thomas tried to get his partner's attention. “As honoured as I am for you to let me go first, I gotta insist." He rubbed down along the pokemon's belly, and quickly became confused as the rubbery belly entirely lacked any sort of sheath or slit he expected for a male pokemon to have. “Uh…" He gulped, the possibility that he'd gotten his first official pokemon's gender wrong for a whole month dawned on him. “Uuuuhhhh…" His eyes slowly came to face Mac's. “Huh… Are you…" A dampness against one leg quieted Thomas as he looked down to see the cause. “Is that?" He mumbled, eyes wide.

Mac's body as a scolipede consisted of tough armour plates along his back, and a smooth - but firm - rubbery underside that ran from beak to butt, with two 'tail-like' appendages full of poisonous fluids jutting out from the last major set of plates on his hips. But between them was one final triangular plate beneath which was the nub of his proper tail. And pushing out of a hole just under the end of that black nub was a rather inhuman piece of anatomy. Coloured the same purple as the markings down each armour plate was a slowly growing shaft, capped by what could only be described as a purple Grubbin with blunt magenta mandibles and headplate.

More than any other pokemon penis Thomas had come to see over the last month, Mac's took the cake for the strangest. The look of curiosity and horror on the man's face brought a questioning tone from Mac. <What is it? What's wrong?>

The trainer could tell Mac was worried about something, which is when he realised he was staring. “Sorry, sorry it's just...Wow!" Thomas gently stroked the head of the insectoid member, the whole thing covered in a strange slick but sticky substance. “You have the most amazing cock I've ever seen." Mac inhaled sharply as Thomas' fingers found a very sensitive spot between the mandible-like protrusions where there was a puckered hole emitting a strange fluid. “Sorry, sorry." Thomas apologised, thinking he'd hurt his friend, but Mac responded by rolling onto his back so the man could have better access to it.

Thomas gently began exploring this strange new member, at first just getting a feel for it's dimensions; the head at its thickest was probably close to that of his wrist, while the shaft was oddly segmented in rings about as long as they were thick, slightly expanding the further down the shaft they went. And they went on for a while. As Mac's body pushed more of the sticky member out, it began to curl over back toward the pokemons belly like an upside-down Skorupi tail. Thomas gulped, ready to experiment with something that a month ago would have been well and truly out of his comfort zone.

He gently guided the arcing cock towards his mouth, whereupon he tentatively licked along it's underside, his tongue glancing against the puckered hole between the faux mandibles. The sticky goop had the texture of sweetened condensed milk, but with a much more earthy flavour. Mac's body reacted by curling up a little, his arms digging into Thomas' sides as he held the man close. Thomas - spurred on by Mac's sensual contortion - continued to play with that opening with his tongue, the mandibles opening wider to allow him better access, but occasionally clamping down gently on his cheeks. They seemed to lack the powerful musculature associated with the mouth version of that biology, but with Thomas pulling away to inspect them closer he could tell they could go from a 180 degree split to fully closed like a claw. He was stunned.

Mac was stunned too. The sensations Thomas was inflicting on him were beyond anything he'd ever experienced before. The only thing that came close was his first bite of the heavenly food for which he was named. With his trainer now inspecting his member instead of playing with it, the sensations had died down, and he desperately wanted more. Mac undulated his hips, prompting Thomas to stop observing and start playing again. <Touch it, please.> He begged in a series of thrumming chirps.

Thomas shivered. “Oh shit Mac…" His breathing became more ragged, the drum-like trill from Mac's last vocalisations saturated his body in intense vibrations thanks to him laying down on the resonant black skin. “I don't know if you can tell, but when you make that noise…" He shivered again as Mac made the noise. “Ah fuck…" Thomas' body was washed in that reverberation again, the man reorganising himself to lie face down on Mac's belly. He grabbed the somewhat prehensile cock with both hands and pulled it to his face. Pressing his lips against the tight pucker, he began passionately kissing it while gently stroking up and down the segmented shaft.

Mac's thrumming practically roared from his chest as his trainer went to town on the purple and magenta member. His eyes rolled back and tongue lolled out as wave after wave of euphoria washed over him with each thrash of Thomas' tongue inside his most sensitive organ. When he managed to gather himself together enough to look at Thomas, all he could see were two human feet, toes curling along with the rhythm of his thrumming growls. With Thomas licking and kissing him, he thought of doing the same, extending a long tongue to lick up against his feet. Thomas all but screamed his moan into the member clasping at his cheeks, which only drove Mac to lick him again and again.

Thomas was in heaven. It was like a dubstep track was playing only on a bass speaker placed directly underneath a particularly well reinforced waterbed that he happened to by laying upon while his feet were being given a tongue bath of epic proportions. He thrust his tongue into the cock with renewed vigour, wondering if he'd be able to take the thing orally. But as the mandible-like protrusions spread out wider than the span of his own hand with fingers fully outstretched, he quickly decided against it. Having that open up in his bowels would be one thing. In his throat… that was something else. But he had little time to consider it as Mac altered his approach.

Having slathered Thomas' feet with his tongue - and somewhat enjoying the salty taste of his trainer - Mac tried to think how he could do something similar to what Thomas was doing, but to Thomas. Unable to spot a hole near the man's feet, and his groin just a little too far away even for his long tongue to be of much use, scolipede decided perhaps Thomas might enjoy something different. He opened his large beak-like mouth, wrapped his tongue around the man's ankles and sucked his feet inside up to the shin.

Thomas moaned loudly into Mac's cock, the intense sensation of the rubbery beak clamping down firmly - but not too tight - around his shins while the long, thin tongue lashed at the soles of his feet with the same intensity as his much shorter human tongue was playing with the inside of the pokemons shaft was sensual beyond measure. His hands squeezed the segmented shaft's base tightly before stroking up towards Thomas' mouth. The only way for the man not to lose his mind over the sensations coming from his feet and groin - the thrumming continuing almost nonstop throughout all this - was hyper focusing on getting his pokemon companion off.

And as Mac began winding his tongue around Thomas' toes, that's what happened. He felt a strange sensation building within, tightening his grip on the man's feet and halting his tongue. Thomas could feel the change and went for broke, his hands like pistons up and down the slick member as he tried to coax out the pokemon's seed. But his lack of experience with bug types showed through as the pucker that had been tight around his tongue loosened - and the shaft pulsed with need - depositing not a spray of pearlescent cum like Thomas had assumed, but several small gel-like balls which rolled onto his tongue. Out of shock, the hand at the base of Mac's cock gripped tight, preventing further expulsion while Thomas pulled back. Before he could spit the strange contents out, they burst, filling his mouth with savoury pokemon cum.

While Thomas could remember a decent amount from school - and from all the trainers exams he'd taken - Bug-type reproduction was not amongst the information he'd researched. Most pokemon have a reproductive system whereupon the male ejaculates free-swimming sperm into the female, which then fertilizes the egg. And while some bug-types utilise this process effectively, others have developed a slightly different way. The more arachnid-like pokemon such as Araquanid and Galvantula and some of the multi-segmented bug types like Centiskorch and Scolipede tend to utilise something called Spermatophores; which are bundles of sperm rolled up in a globule either laid like an egg for a female to fertilise at her own leisure, or deposited straight into the female's egg tract for 100% sperm transfer. Mac seemed to be the latter.

Thomas gulped down the burst capsules and their contents, the familiar savoury taste of jizz sliding down his tongue along with them. Once his mouth was empty he took a deep breath. “Well, that was unexpect- Gah!" Mac bit a little harder on Thomas' ankles in frustration at having his first orgasm cut so short by the man constricting the base of his cock so tightly. However after realising what he'd done he quickly tried to recover by going double time on Thomas' feet with his tongue. “Fuck, Mac…" Thomas gasped, releasing the pokemons cock to allow another orb to pop free of the strange passage. He fumbled with it, but eventually caught the little globule. “Wild…"

Mac slipped Thomas' feet from his mouth to look at what the man was holding. It was nothing like what the cartoony diagrams on the documentary looked like. Thomas held it up for Mac to see, twisting his torso round to look at the pokemon. Then with a mischievous grin, he spread his cheeks with one hand and pushed the globule against his rear with the other. It burst about halfway inside, splattering his hole and inner thighs with Scolipede cum. Thomas waggled his eyebrows at Mac before spinning his body around to face his companion. “Didn't think I was gonna leave a job half done did ya?" He teased, kissing Mac on the tip of his beak before sliding down along the bugs belly.

It took a moment - with Thomas finally able to appreciate exactly how massive his partner pokemon was - but eventually he felt the grabby little mandibles against one of his cheeks. He chuckled. “Let's see if that cock of yours is as dextrous as I hope it is." He moaned, placing a hand on each cheek, spreading his rear invitingly.

Mac wasn't sure entirely what to do. He knew what he wanted to do, but wasn't sure if what his trainer was asking was even possible. He concentrated, and managed to figure out the cluster of muscles he needed to tense and relax to make the little grabby bits open and close. After that it was a minute or so of clenching and releasing a whole mess of muscles that he'd only been aware of for a couple of hours at most. But Thomas didn't push him and didn't grow impatient. In fact, every twitch of movement and chirp of success brought about a series of compliments from the man along with several kisses on the pokemon's rubbery chest. Eventually the Scolipede figured out the basic movements of his prehensile cock and with a bit of maneuvring managed to get it to press against the man's jizz-lubed hole.

“Mac, before you continue," Thomas said, giving the pokemon a brief moment of panic before he ran the man's tone back through his head and realised he wasnt in trouble “I want- need you to know a couple things." He released his cheeks to trace fingers along the sensitive join of armour plate and skin down Mac's sides “First; Jeremy, Zana and I have an understanding." Mac nodded hesitantly. “Zana is my mistress, and Jeremy is my master. But he's also more than that, he and I…" Thomas didn't feel 'boyfriend' was appropriate - and 'partner' could mean just about anything in this society - but there was little else that was close that he could use to encompass his feelings. “We're close. Very close. But our relationship is open."

Mac chirped and whistled at the statement, though Thomas had no idea what the warbling meant. “He can sleep with whomever he wants, and I can do the same is all I'm trying to say. But I have allowed him to have the final say. And Zana as well, because… it's a long story." Mac raised an eyebrow. “All it means for you is sometime soon have a chat to those two so they know we're having fun. I doubt they'd stop you. They'd probably want to watch." He chuckled, slipping a finger down between two armour plates to play with the thinner, more flexible skin there. Mac responded with several gasping-like clicks and a low rumble which caused Thomas to shiver with lust.

“And second…" He wondered whether he should be saying this to a pokemon significantly larger than him, but given Mac was so protective of Thomas to begin with, the trainer thought it more necessary as general information than anything else “I…" The word in his head was blaring like an alarm “I am a… pokeslut." Mac's eyes went wide; the term was new, but the meaning behind it was concrete. “Zana was the first to call me out on it, but it's true. I am a pokeslut." He used his grip on the armour plates to slide his body down a little and press against the closed mandibles at his rectum. “So fuck me any which way you want and I will LOVE it." His rumbling moan with the word 'love' gave Mac shivers, the pokemon understanding quickly why Thomas was so addicted to the bug's own rumbling noise.

It didn't take any further encouragement for Mac to continue, his nubbly arms curling inward to hold Thomas still while his cock pushed hard against the man's winking ring. It slid inside with little force, the sticky slime it had been secreting helping to lube the man up even more than the ball of spunk. But unlike the precum from other species, or Carmen's naturally slimy lubricant, this one was more sticky than it was slippery. So every thrust and withdrawal was emphasized all the more as it pushed and pulled at the man's insides. “Fuck! Mac! That feels… Fuck!" Being forcefully held in place while Mac rammed his insectoid cock into him over and over was a new and already highly addictive experience.

Thomas' cock was rock hard and pressed tightly against the pokemon's lower thorax, the intensity of Mac's fucking distending his belly with each stroke, pushing him all the harder agaisnt his pokemon companion. But after several repositions for Mac to get the perfect angle, Thomas found the tip of his member brushing against a dimple of sorts. One particularly strong push from Mac later and he felt the dimple spread. Mac froze. Which caused Thomas to freeze. “A- are you okay, buddy?" He looked up, inches from Mac's shocked gaze.

<I think that's…> He uttered in a series of quiet chirps. Mac gulped, the sensations running through his body ultimately confusing as the intense pleasure in his cock and the confusing mix of pleasure and pain from his arse butted heads. But drunk on this novel sense of experimentation and it being his first time, he had to know what it would feel like. His grabbers undulated against Thomas, pushing his body harder against the Scolipede, and a little further up his body until with a final push the man's cock slid into his tight arse.

“Mac!" Thomas gasped, his heart beating rapidly as his cock was swallowed by the virginal hole. The pokemon froze again, unsure if he'd hurt his trainer given the yelp of surprise. But Thomas' satisfied moans calmed any worry of that as the man began panting heavily on Mac's chest. “Oh fuck me Mac, fuck me please…" The Scolipede obliged, withdrawing his cock almost entirely before thrusting back inside. “Fuck! Yes!" Thomas cried, his arms pinned to his side as his starting pokemon, his venipede all grown up mercilessly used his body for his own pleasure.

<Pokeslut…> Mac warbled, his trilled drums reverberating all the heavier into Thomas given how tightly to the pokemons chest he was being held. <Good pokeslut.>

It was too much for Thomas. “Mac, Mac, I'm-" But he was cut off by Mac attempting to kiss him. The problem with this was Mac didn't really understand the concept of kissing. He'd seen it here and there on the television when they stayed at motels and hotels, but given the size of his head compared to Thomas', the biology of it eluded him. So he simply engulfed the man's head within his mouth, and rammed his long tongue down Thomas' throat. Had this been Thomas a week prior, he'd probably have instantly panicked and tried to push the Scolipede off; as unsuccessful as that may have been. But after the incident with Squishy, Thomas half moaned, half screamed in pleasure as his cock exploded as deep in Mac's arse as his position would allow.

The strange sensation of Thomas firing burst after burst of human seed into his tight hole caused Mac's muscles to instinctively clench, not only making the passage tighter, but rippling inwards caused those contractions to milk the man with each squeeze. Thomas sucked on the pokemon's tongue hard, essentially fellating the muscle as his body was reduced to a quivering pile of orgasmic nerves, his arse almost pulled inside out with each withdrawal of Mac's cock.

Mac on the other hand doubled his efforts, thrusting his tool inside Thomas over and over again. He paused - after ramming his cock as deep as possible, wriggling it even deeper until the massive member was hilted fully inside the man - only to open his mouth and allow his trainer a few gasps of fresh air. Once Thomas's breathing had returned almost to normal he looked up at his big scolipede proudly. “You keep doing that till you fill me with those cum eggs, you got me?" Mac blinked once, twice, then dove back down on Thomas, his jaw agape.

This time he leant over further, able to swallow Thomas in as far as his upper arms, Mac's tongue at first trying to backtrack down his throat to Thomas' mouth before giving up to instead wrap around the man's neck. Thomas bucked into Mac's arse as he fired an unexpected shot of jizz deep into the pokemon, hinting to Mac that his tongue position was spot on. Tightening it ever so slightly - the man unable to breathe in the pokemon's throat as it was - he did his drumming growl again. Thomas's muffled moan was barely audible outside the pokemon's throat, but it was certainly felt by Mac as his pistoning cock built up a greater pace.

It wasn't long before Thomas could feel the thrusts become staggered, the telltale sign of an inexperienced cock reaching it's first major orgasm. The drumming rumble grew almost deafening in Mac's throat as the pokemon made one last thrust deep inside Thomas' arse. Then it began.

The two mandible-like protrusions had remained closed the entire time, but now that Mac was climaxing, they opened, spreading Thomas' bowels wide to receive the Scolipede's gift. Glob after bulbous glob poured into Thomas, the little cum-filled orbs slowly filling his belly as Mac's cock pulsed them forth. What neither of them realised was that an adult male scolipede could generate hundreds, if not thousands of these marble-sized spermatophores while sexually active. Though fortunately for Thomas, by that time Mac had only had a few hours to build up his supply. Even so, it was still more than enough to overwhelm the man, as space quickly ran out, the pressure pushing Mac's cock out of his body with each rush of egg-like parcels of pokemon jizz.

Thomas had been pushed to the edge again by Mac's climax, the sensation of all those little globs pushing against each other in the tight space of his colon causing every little movement to rearrange the entire cluster. It was incredibly unique, and far more intense than he could have ever dreamed him and Mac's first time would be. He managed another gasping breath as Mac inhaled fresh air around his body, though it wasn't much given the restriction of the pokemon's tongue around his throat. The thought of how depraved he'd become flashed in his mind before being pushed out by the next intense sensation.

The first globule popped. The force of it popped the ones beside it, which then popped more, causing a chain reaction of popping spermatophores through his blob-flooded body. Each little pop sending a pang of pleasurable pain up the man's spine until the last few caused the pressure differential to change, the fluid rather than solid state of matter beyond Mac's barely present cock causing it to thrust deep into Thomas one last time as a flood of cum spurted out around it onto the man's thighs. A second wave of orgasmic electricity flowed through Thomas, bouncing off every nerve before being drawn to his aching member. He came again, and came hard. His still stiff cock pumped another blast of seed into Mac's hole as he bucked and moaned and climaxed into his pokemon companion a second time.

As the seconds passed, their heartbeats calmed and Mac gave Thomas a little more space in his maw, allowing all but the man's head out, as he seemed comfortable resting on the base of the pokemon's tongue, gently sucking on it's tip playfully. Then Mac's heart stopped, his - up until then - gentle caressing of Thomas' body with his nubby little arms freezing in place. Thomas stopped suckling Mac's tongue and motioned for his head to be released. Allowing the man his freedom, Thomas looked up to his companion to see what was wrong, but Mac was just staring past him. Thomas managed to push himself out of Mac's grip to crane his neck towards the door.

Jeremy, Zana, Dusty, Griff, Carmen and a very shocked looking Squishy - which is difficult given how shocked Gyarados always seem to look - were all staring at the pair in their compromising position on the couch. Zye was even sitting in the open bathroom doorway looking at the two. As Carmen pushed Squishy's jaw back up out of politeness, Thomas cleared his throat, blushing deeply. “What?"

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[Submissions for Pokemon are now done! Time to vote on Thomas' next team member. Now I wanted to do this all within SoFurry without having to rely on outside polling sites or twitter polls or the like. Unfortunately while I could swear I've seen in-Yii-Framework checkbox polls on other peoples posts, I can't for the life of me figure out how to. Been through all the formatting stuff and so on to no avail.]

[So, down below in the comment section is the list of pokemon and all that jazz. Please, if you like this series or are simply curious to see how I'd approach having one of those pokemon in the story, place your vote! Vote for multiple pokemon if you'd like, that's fine though I'd ask if you are gonna vote for more than one, don't vote for all of them. I'm kinda dreading a dead heat.]