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"Striker would probably be humored by watching. You are fast Serena, I have witnessed this." He did not mention anything at all about the Scyther he encountered besides Striker.

She grinned at the compliment. "Yes...perhaps he would...so that it's fair I wont be using any skills against you...no Dragon rush or anything...you should be able to keep up with me that way." Her muscles coiled, she was, at least, going to wait for him to draw his swords before she attacked him.

Kyn spent no time drawing his swords out. This time they did make a Shing! and then he then switched to a different stance for combat, one he was pretty sure she hadn't seen before. In this particular stance one of his swords was held downward instead of point upwards, and the other blade was held upwards across his chest. He then lowered his posture by several inches and slightly parted his legs.

Her eyes narrowed at the pose, it was decent for defense, which meant he was expecting her to go first--She wouldn't disappoint him.

"If it's touched, it's broken on your end, that way I don't ACTUALLY break anything on your half." She figured that he could live with that, and didn't wait for a response, letting the coils in her muscles spring her into a sprint towards him, darting towards his left leg, being wary of the sword. She hadn't put any restraints on HIM, only herself, so she doubted that he would be kind enough not to leave gashes in her hide. She expected the logical maneuver would be to swing the sword down at her, and had her head tilted so that if he did, he would collide with her headplates...and of course, that would resound in a rough vibration up into his hand.

Kyn hmmed to himself quietly, and then watched her move towards him. Once he saw where she was headed, he shifted himself into a pose that stretched his right leg back into and almost kneeling position, while shifting his left leg into an extended pose, then moving the left blade from the angle it previously was, to a horizontal one, and keeping the one in his right hand in practically the same position, albeit a little lower.

She couldn't stop, exactly, but she did, with the next step, launch herself into the air to avoid the outstretched blade, balling herself so that she wouldn't touch his head, of course, if he wasn't moving already her right claws would catch his right shoulder with a deliberate tap.

"That was my objective Serena." Kyn stood up to his full height again, and turned his body and his swords, but not exactly knowing where she was going to land precisely, only held his left sword in the normal fashion. His right sword was held slightly to the right of his face.

" 'ch." she didn't wait as soon as she landed, her toes had barely had the time to catch her weight as he turned to face her, and took the opportunity to strike at his leading knee and ankle with her own left foot. Abiding by her rules, that would, or at least SHOULD keep him down, not really giving him time to even get into his position fully. That wasn't saying that she herself wasn't thrown off balance, but with her tail, she should have been able to bound just out of reach of the blades. "I think we're done here."

"We are unless you'd like to consider the possibility... that I'd still want to fight. I'll have to adjust my strategy some more when fighting you. I'm not an expert of course, and still have some more things to learn. Though as far as I'm concerned, I now have a few ideas as to what I could have done in that situation. Using a sword as a crutch is something that is not unfamiliar to me. Why didn't you go for both?"

"By my own rules, you would have had to have fallen on me, and had it been a real battle situation you would have crossed the swords to take me down with you, instinct told me to strike and get away." She answered, gripping one clawed limb at the other. "DID you still want to continue, unable to put any weight on one leg, and unable to support yourself with the same arm since your shoulder was 'broken' on the way down, I mean, really?" She tilted her head at him.

"Considering what Striker put me through... I probably would. Perhaps it is time for me to start being more aggressive towards you when I fight and not pussyfooting around by mostly defending."

"You behave like prey you're treated like prey." She confirmed, looking at her claws. "I am not Striker." was the next statement, and it came with a growl. "No more than that was a Scyther's plan of defense...AND keep in mind, that was without any of my moves, just tact against tact."

"You most certainly are not. Perhaps I'll stop dual wielding for a while and practice utilizing singular forms. Next time Serena. Just, next time. Anyway, I believe that I have some Tauros to butcher, as well as a few others." He refocused the conversation on to why he was even there.

To that, she pointed off in the direction of the river that they had crossed the last time they visited. "Not near my cave, if you don't mind. There's a river, you remember it, right? With a decent clearing around it now. Don't trust your memory on how to get there, a lot of the trees that were found to be dead were removed and had new ones planted in their place." She dropped to all fours, and went to retrieve her scarf. "And since I'm sure you don't want me tempted to eat it, I'll stay here."

"...That reminds me. Since we AREN'T in Tao anymore, it is more kosher for me to be able to do this here, or would it be just as negative as if I was doing it near Tao?"

"I kill things in the woods all the time." She wrapped her scarf back around her neck. "They can't hear everything from all the way out here, so go for it." She walked over to Heji and gave him a quirky smile. " 'sides, I'm sure I can find /SOMETHING/ to do."

"Oh... and uh... there's one other thing I forgot to mention. Miru is here." Kyn said, trying to get her attention again.

"I gathered that when you said time and space, you should have seen and heard that click earlier. I never said you couldn't bring Him with you, only the White one."

"I figure, perhaps, if not Reshiram, then why not bring the location to me instead of going to it. That... saves time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll return in maybe a quarter of day or so. I've got a lot of work to do." Kyn then headed for the river. He spent most of the day skinning, cleaning and cutting Tauros. The other cuts that he didn't know about he'd go ask a butcher back home to assist him with. Other than that he'd had more than enough that time to not need to butcher ALL his Tauros. He then packaged the meat up in various boxes, put those boxes in a larger container, and then put that container inside a Poké Ball, labeling it with a marker. He then brought went back to Serena with the sets of Tauros hide.

Serena laid down beside Heji with a slight sigh, laying her head on her claws. "If I hadn't given him the ball of energy I could be a Shelgon right now." She said idly, her green eyes partially closed as a reflex. "Not that I'm complaining, the whole thing with the forest 'caused my headplates to go back to being grey."

"Serena, there's three Tauros pelts here. Do I personally deliver these? How does this thing bloody work?" Kyn asked trying to figure out the process.

"I barely recognized you until I noticed your scent of course." Heji responded.

She opened her eyes with a soft sigh, looking over at him. " The pelts you will sell to Anana in a separate package to your meat, because they weren't asked for it's not part of the deal. She'll take care of things from there. It's not difficult...Unfortunately since this is NOT Gambitville we're dealing in, the bones are worth next to nothing, and even those in Gambitville wont take the bones without the pelts." She laid her head back down on her claws. "And no, you don't have to hand deliver them if you don't want to, but you said you were going to the bay to begin with."

"Yes. Fine, then. I'll just... create more pelts and bring the bones too. I'd rather not make two trips... another few hours Serena..." Kyn said giving Serena a huge sigh.

Serena tapped her claws for a bit, and then curled up against Heji for a slight nap, she had long since gone back to being nocturnal, and being up in the sun was cutting into her sleep cycle. She trusted that they would wake her up when it was time for her to come back around into the realm of the living, and she DID feel bad about sleeping when she could be spending time with Heji, but combining feeling safe with being tired, and you get a konked out Serena.

He'd added more to his workload, but still he'd gain more Poké this away. It was boring doing the same thing so many times, so he had fun by being silly with skin folds, and other things, while he was working. After the hours were up, Kyn went back Serena to see if she was awake or not.

True to her hunter nature, footsteps woke her up. One green eye stared up at him. "Well, now you -smell- good, not sure that's what you were going for." she said groggily. "If I didn't know that you were a human, I would say that you would be hunt worthy...which means, you're going to attract Predators."

"I have a remedy to that. Just call it artificial scent. I probably spent too much time around the meat then." Kyn said, sighing and laying down on the ground about ten feet from Serena.

"Mmmmph..." She forced herself up into a sitting position, stretching her claws out in front of her. "You're tired. Why not go lie down out of the sun?"

"Well. Most humans work for eight hours or more, not simply doing things like this. Those that do do this most of the time are used to doing it for longer periods than what I've done." Kyn took out his spray bottle and covered himself from head to toe in the stuff. He had the decency to move away from Serena first, and he figured that he wouldn't need to put as much on has he normally would, but he'd ask Serena about that too.

Serena watched, well, it was hard not to watch, the way he went about it, she didn't understand, she sent him near a river, you were supposed to clean up after yourself, and clean yourself up when you were done. He'd done neither of those things, and now she was having to ignore her stomach, which was telling her that he was a tasty Tauros and easy to take down too. She did eventually duck her head against Heji to assist in ignoring her stomach, even as Kyn doused himself with the strange...scented water.

"Inferno cooked the blood that came from the initial spot, so now there's that but... I'm the one that got the major dousings of scent. So... uh, how's this?" Kyn asked, moving back towards Serena.

"How many of your friends did you bring with you this time?" She made marks in the sand as she counted. "Heji, Inferno, Miru, Lacu, Tensa..." She inhaled, and almost buried her nose back into Heji's side. "Well...you don't smell like food anymore." She coughed, choosing to breathe through her mouth rather than her nose.

"Hmm... how many did I bring....? Fifteen of them. Except Reshiram. I also brought the picture, of which I'll show you the large version."

"Fi-fifteen?!" She recoiled, backing away from him, her eyes wide. It was clear that she STILL didn't like big groups of Pokémon. To her credit, she didn't run away entirely, and stopped about just caddy corner to Heji's haunch.

"I was planning on maybe bringing a bit more, but then I remembered, not all of them have accessories." Kyn said. Then he noticed that Serena had moved quite a distance from him, and migrated towards Heji. "Uh... Serena... ?"

"I don't like crowds...remember?" The mention of more had her almost in a ball, not the fetal position, but it definitely one that protected the weak points of her body.

"Well they're not all here right now. Nor will they ever be out all at once unless I'm like, in a position to where death could claim me. Now, do you know if Palette is currently in her studio?" Kyn asked, taking note of the way Serena had currently repositioned herself.

"Likely, she's a bit of an....introvert, understandable really, most of the town still blame her for something or other, they seem to be trying to put it in the past." Her positioning relaxed a little, not much, to know she was being WATCHED by all of them didn't help matters too much.

"Then, I'll be headed there soon. Would you uh... assist me Serena? I'm in essence borrowing the 'mon's familiarity with you again. Also, you wouldn't mind if I left my pelts here for now would you?"

"No, I don't mind, on either account..." She stood up, all the way up onto her hind legs. Well, she had nothing to be ashamed of, even if aside from her scarf she was just in her scales. "Soon as in Now or soon as in Later?"

"Soon as in now. Also, how long do I have before this uh... thing expires? It's been twenty days, but, when did you receive the letter order?" Kyn moved the pelts inside the cave, near the straw bed, making sure that they weren't too close to the fire.

"I told you, it arrived two days ago." While Kyn was in the cave, she took the opportunity to lick behind Heji's ear, and then behaved as if nothing happened as he returned. "So you've got time to relax."

"I don't really have much to relax about. Now, take a look at the large version of our photo." Kyn pulled out a folder, that contained within it a folder, which then had the eleven by eight inch print-out on cardstock. He then handed that copy to Serena.

"I suppose that I should have used the words 'have fun' rather than 'relax.'" She snorted, and took the photo in one clawed limb, almost afraid she'd break it. Still, her eyes picked up the smaller details that human eyes would have missed. When she was finished looking at it, she handed it back, being mindful of her claws.

"Right well, I might as well keep this out, since it's what I'll be giving to Palette. As for having fun... What would you recommend doing for fun then...? I've got some rather human ideas but, I'd like to maybe try out some of the local things here." Kyn checked his watch to see what time it was. "Also, since Miru's on this side... I don't technically have to worry about time yet."

"You're asking a minimalist what she does for fun, when her day is composed of mostly hunting, sleeping, tending the berry garden and jumping off of high places." She paused. "Well, hm, I suppose we could probably find -something- for you to do. You asked about the creation myths here...there's an religious thing in the town now, you could probably get information on things there...and you probably noticed that almost golden roll of parchment in there too. Care to take a guess?" True to her nature, as she spoke, she turned around and started walking back towards the village.

"Are you literally asking me to guess or being figurative? If it isn't figurative... then I have no basis to form a guess with." He just continued walking instead of stopping do to his 'thinking pose'.

"Yes you do." She said, "it's a Scroll, of Parchment, it practically GLOWS with energy, and you can't guess what it is?" She was soon, of course, standing on the same embankment that they had slid down twenty days before.

"No, not really. Perhaps I am overlooking something that I would not normally have, because I am being single-minded right now. If not now, it will probably come to me later." Kyn said, continuing to look for what would be the studio. When he was last in Tao Village, he didn't really have much time to look around, and well now that he knew that Palette was a Zoroark, he figured he'd either be looking for a Zoroark shaped building, or whatever Pal was. "Serena... if Palette is a Zoroark, then what is Pal...? I forgot to ask a loooong time ago."

"Smeargle. They make an...ah...interesting couple, I suppose you might say, since she's almost double his size." the smile didn't fade from her lips as she spoke, and she led him, at least, through the town to the Smergle shaped building on the south west side of town next to the Diglet hut.

"You'd know about that, wouldn't you Serena?" Kyn quickly said, making an obvious reference, before being quiet again to look out for the Smeargle shaped building

"I would." She confirmed with a slight chuckle and a blush. "Although, it's opposite of my situation, I suppose though, it's not what you've got, it's how you use it." He had, of course, thrown her head further into the gutter than it already had been, but to her credit she managed to maintain a professional composure as she opened the door with the 'open' sign hanging on it; and walked inside, not at all surprised at seeing Pal working on painting a Starly in what it clearly thought was a fearsome pose. Of course he wasn't using his brush tail to paint, but he did turn away to look at them. "Ah, Serena, I'd know those plates anywhere, Palette's waiting for you and your...friend in the other room." He pointed with his paw.

"W-waiting for...? You make it sound as though I've got an appointment... but I'm not really complaining." Kyn said, and then he continued trailing behind Serena.

"You do, actually." Serena confirmed with that same smile, stepping into the darkened room that obviously didn't get as much use as the other. There were quite a few paintings--they didn't have the same style as what Pal used, obviously, but that was soon fixed, even as the door clicked closed behind them.

"Welcome." The voice was sweet, and rather, of course, shy as it came from the almost smooth haired Zoroark "I'm Palette, you must be Kynexn."

"Well, most of the time that's what I'm called, yes." Kyn said. He gave his usual bow, and waited for a response, not necessarily knowing how she would respond.

"Humans ARE strange." She mused, "I understand that you have something for me to make into a painting?" She motioned to the canvases that were around the room. "Conversion is relatively easy with -my- paint, but sometimes it does what it wants. Hm."

"I have it here with me." He turned the picture around, so that she could see, and held in front of him. "Having this is one thing but... something that is crafted and individual is much better."

The Zoroark took the print, and looked it over. "Huh, colored ink, who woulda thought...You look happy here Serena, happier than I've seen you in a long time. How's Marlow?" She turned, taking her hair into her hand and starting to work with her special paint. Serena had found herself leaned up against the wall.

"He's out...experimenting...so I don't know exactly how he is. I mean, I can feel that he's okay, and in an emergency I could probably find him...but he asked me not to look for him if he didn't come back for a couple days, so I'm trying to let him be..."

"Oh dammit! I forgot to talk to the others about Ghosts. I'll have to put it in one of my devices to remind me. What with all this running around I'll be doing I'll probably forget again." Kyn said, face-palming himself.

<Honestly he's been trying to stay away until he's sure that I've used the evolution scroll. I'm starting to think he's as selfless as one of the rescuers.> She snorted at Kyn's admission, it was about ten minutes later that Palette moved away from the one canvas to let him see an almost exact copy of the picture, on the wet canvas. "There~ It'll need some time to dry, Probably be ready by tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Ah... yes, that's the type end result I was looking for!" Kyn exclaimed happily. He then chuckled at Serena's 'accusal' of Marlow.

"Serena mentioned something about several copies?" The Zoroark wiped her face, smearing the paint across her cheek. "At least, I think she did, there was this Celebi with her that kept interrupting her." Serena grumbled something about Jasmine following her everywhere, then snorted again.

"Yes... I was hoping to be able to give one to my mother, and.... the other to Serena herself." Kyn avoided making eye contact with Serena as he said that last line and instead focused on the painting.

"What, you're going to try to make me adorn my cave now? No one would ever be able to see it you know, not unless we get a version with you as a Sceptile. Doesn't make sense to have something that no one would ever see." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Would be better If I just kept the photograph version." Palette let them talk, trying to think. "Well huh...so that makes two copies? Or are you just giving this one to your Dame?"

"Still three... Serena, by for you, I literally mean FOR you. There will come a time.... when I have to leave here for very long periods of time. I still have pictures of me from when I first started my adventure." Kyn looked at Serena, then to Palette, then back to Serena again.

"You're...Impossible." She snorted the word, still, she didn't argue anymore, and Palette got to work on a second one, and then a third a bit later. Serena didn't have the right words, grateful, yet annoyed that she would have to carve out another room to hide things in away from everyone, that she would have to secure the thought so deep in her brain that it wouldn't be found by ANYONE...it would be impossible to get to when she was fully evolved, she realized, well, impossible to fit anything but her head through, she supposed.

"Actually, while I'm here, yeah I kinda am." Kyn grinned, knowing that that that was not what Serena meant.

She stuck out her tongue at him and put her claws over her headplates. Of course, her stomach, which was still complaining that it hadn't gotten to eat the Tauros, chose the moment to speak up. "Heh, should have eaten you when I had the chance."

"So um... Palette... just out of curiosity, do you have a favorite type of berry... or maybe a specific flavor preference?" Kyn asked. Serena, who was probably VERY familiar with this process by now, would more than likely recognize exactly what he was doing. He also planned to give Anana her special treat later that day if he could find her.

Serena was indeed becoming HIGHLY familiar with this process. <If you're going to ask everyone why not just make a candy shop and get us all addicted that way.> She was looking at him now.

"Oh, Serena and I have always liked similar berries, though she prefers things a bit too spicy for my taste buds."

<Would be less suspicious than asking everyone what they like, you could just give out samples to find what they like best.>

"There, there's the last one done. With the guild rate that's 150 poke each, so 450 total. You can pay now, or tomorrow when you pick them up." Palette handed the photo back to Kyn.

"I think I'll pay for them right now." <I don't literally ask everyone, Serena. In fact, that's what I do back home to find out Trainer's Pokémon's flavor preferences. It's the same thing that I did with you, with those five. Though you do know me well enough to know that back home I WILL be making a business out of it due to the inability of most humans to make good PokéBlock. PLUS I have the advantage of actually be able to ask the Pokémon personally.> In some ways he regretted the fact that they were solid gold, due to the fact that in some cases that would make them weight more, which would make his backpack weight more. He took out the necessary amount and asked Serena for some assistance, not afraid to admit it in front of Palette. <Oh and thanks for reminding me to make you some Poffins too.>

<GAH. Stoppit, seriously. Stop giving me things, it's annoying. Really, really annoying.> She had formed her mental avatar just for that point, and to poke him. She did help him with the money, without really having to be asked. She clicked her tongue as she pushed away from the wall. <It's like you're trying to reward me for being your friend, to bribe me to continue to do so, and it's really getting on my nerves. I'm not a human Kyn, I don't need things to make me happy, you want to give me things? Your presence is enough.>

<I don't give you things in an attempt to make you happy. In fact, the fact you mentioned the whole 'reward' for being my friend thing, makes it even worse when you consider that that is exactly what some humans do to their pets. I would not want you to EVER think that I would treat you like that. Then if this is case, then perhaps the Poffins will be last.... > "I do enjoy visiting Tao Village. It is interesting, and I feel less far away from home here."

"Goodbye Palette, see you tomorrow." She opened and slipped out into the main lobby, then out into the open before she answered Kyn. "I...couldn't be anymore opposite. There's too many rules in town. Don't climb this, don't stare at that, oh, don't you even THINK of touching that, you'll break it." She snorted, then sighed, <My point is, Kyn, that if I want something from you, you'll either hear it from my mouth, or notice it in my body language.>

"Sounds like things that uh... are applied to children. Are all of you non-evolved 'mon still considered children until you evolve or something? If so then that'd be annoying." Kyn then thought about what happened at the Casino with the Machoke.

"Yes and No, to those who CAN evolve, a lot of the time, yes...but the Machoke was guessing that because I was a dragon, I would still be considered a child to my own kin. There are cases of Pichu who simply do not wish to grow up, and they are not always considered children, since even though they maintain their form, they continue to grow to their full evolutionary height." She looked back at him. "The same way a hatchling starts out where it will actually fit in the egg, it grows quickly within a couple of weeks to within a month to the size that is within the range where it would properly be considered part of it's species. Perhaps I'll show you later, I still need to hunt, and I know there's a den of Electrike that have just hatched a few days ago near by. Should be an easy meal." She kept her voice down so that only those within her immediate vicinity could hear her, still she got some odd looks.

"Serena.... about how much would it cost to maintain a building in Tao....? I do remember that you said that that initial amount was a lot more than I thought it would be but uh, that was just the cost of the equivalent of BUYING one right, and not maintaining it. I mean... I like I said earlier, I might not even really need a house so..."

"...You're going to have to be specific here Kyn. Define 'maintaining'. Things like cleaning? So long as the windows and door are closed you wont have much more than a layer of dust...If you're thinking about upkeep of the exterior...Nothing. Generally the houses take care of themselves. If you develop a leak then it'll have to be repaired, but those are few and far between. You'd only have to worry about...storms...."

"Ugh. Of course. Well that's good. So if I did purchase a building.... it'd just be a dusting every now and then. Hm, well. I suppose I'd have a Sceptile shaped house then?" Kyn thought about what it would be like to actually STAY in a semi-permanent place of residence. There were barely any times where he utilized human technology much, other than for cooking. For anything that required electricity, he could just borrow Heji. But he still didn't have that much anyway.

"Or you could have one like the rentals." She pointed at the Tenements. "For fuck's sake Kyn, if you WANT a bloody house, get a bloody house." She turned around to face him. "It would get all of the love letters I keep getting from Anana, out of my hair." She snorted. "Figuratively speaking, I mean, and yes, those are in the cave too, they have their own little hole in front of the fireplace just WAITING to be tossed in."

"I'm debating dammit! I need some time to think. Oh, Serena, don't burn those yet. I want to read some of them and see. I didn't expect those already. So, does that meant that BOTH of us are getting them or just me?"

"I'm out of contract, anything I do for her is freelance now. Yes, these past 20 days she's sent me two, trying to get me to come visit her. Note the double meaning there...and just flip a Poké, really, I mean it's not like you don't have several to be able to do it with." She lead him back through the forest to the cave, then dropped to all fours again and wandered in the direction to the den where the hatchlings were, and spirited one of the pup's from the nest before the mother even knew that it was missing, holding it in her jaws as she came back. This trip only took a couple minutes.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your meal. So. Would you like to come with us to Gambitville and the Bay or will you be staying here?" He didn't want to speculate, so he figured he'd ask.

Serena had held the pup up for his inspection, a proper showing of it's size, then dropped it into her maw and swallowed. Hatchlings; it was hard to believe that she had once been that small. "That depends, I suppose you'll be leaving after your paintings are received tomorrow morning? If so...no, probably not, Syrup will demand that I have a drink with her, or ask why I haven't used the scroll yet...likely both. The former wouldn't be too bad I guess...the second would backlash to both YOU, and to my headplates." she answered, walking inside; leading him to the pile of letters, and of course, grabbing a rock and chewing on them. "The bay...well, if a small town like Tao puts me on edge, what do you think the BAY will do?"

"I'll be going today, and coming back for the paintings tomorrow. You'll probably be even more reluctant to go to my world after I make a comparison that some of our cities are outright ten, to sometimes even a hundred times larger than Tao AND the Bay combined. But, that's not the main point. So... let me see some of those letters then eh?"

Serena looked at him skeptically. "Kyn...You DO remember how long our trip took LAST time, right? Six hours on foot to the bay, and another twelve from the bay to the Oasis, and THREE from the Oasis to the town of Gambitville. Even if you did ask Miru to jump the space, having him do so to a place where he's never been isn't the smartest thing in the world." She motioned to the cushion by the table and gave one word. "Sit." She dropped the half eaten rock onto the table and collected the letters in her arms, dropping them onto the table beside the letter that was the order. She then picked up her rock again, and finished it off. "Yeah no...I'll probably be staying on Heji's back all that time in YOUR towns."

"Technically Serena, there is a way to make it so that Miru HAS been there. Besides, we did some experimenting back home. Took about a week. We don't exactly have the ability to experiment much here. So then..." Kyn look at where he thought the letters would be. "The letters?"

She nodded at the letters on the table as she walked away. "Yeah, have fun with those Romeo. If you need me I'll be...well. Somewhere in the forest...you'll have that decision by around Midnight, if I'm coming with you or not." Of course, predictably she took a leap out at Heji when she was close enough, making good on her promise to pounce him when he came back, and bit at his ear with a playful growl.

"Well, I thank you for your assistance in all of this Serena." He then turned his head, only to hear what he knew to be the sound of Bagon connecting with Luxray. He then collect his pelts to deliver. After gathering the pelts he then he called out Miru to assist him in making the trip to Gambitville shorter.

"Ah, well you definitely pack a punch Serena. I take it this is your specific version of a welcome back for me?" He said with a toothy grin.

"Well, the others wont be getting it, that's for sure." She licked where her teeth had just been, choosing not to talk around it for the sake of his ear, and being understood. Half clinging to his mane. "Of course, I wouldn't think you would want -just- a pounce to show you how happy I am that you're back, hmmm?"

"Well it's up to you for now. We literally have the entire day now to be together unless you have something else to do." Heji clarified. He figured where she was going but tried to sort of if he could, gently nudge her away from that subject. Maybe even saving some <i>other</i> things for later as a special activity.

Serena chuckled in his ear. "I've little to do other than enjoy my time with you...You're not going with Kyn later on?" She scratched under his chin, well, if he was up to just relaxing, she could deal and enjoy his scent. It didn't mean that she would stop toying with him entirely, of course...but she would at least cut back.

"You mean you didn't notice that he's already gone that far? Serena, he left me here with you. Then next time you see him, it'll be for him to tell you that he's staying somewhere for the night so he can pick the paintings." Heji rolled over onto his back, and if Serena didn't follow he would encourage her to lay on him.

"I kinda...left him in the cave and came to tackle you, no I didn't notice, but that might have had something to do with the soft black mane in my face and an ear in my mouth." She did rather catch on, meshing her blue scales with his blue and black fur. "Not that I'm complaining about either of those things. Or the fact that you're here with me."

"I could do with a belly massage, if you're up to it. You're the closest one so..." Heji left the rest for her to fill in.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes at him, licking at his chin once then turning on him so that he would be essentially looking up her tail at her as her claws worked over his stomach. There really wasn't another option, she wasn't going to get off of him after just getting on. " You're sure you want to trust me near your belly, knowing where my head is?" She licked at his belly with the tip of her tongue.

"I'm fairly certain you'll do pretty well. You CAN focus after all." Heji did take notice of the fact that she had turned in an interesting position that, if she were in her Salamence stage, he could try out that position that Kyn told him about where both partners pleasure each other at the same time. He'd ask Serena if she knew about it later.

She took her time, kneading through the muscles of his stomach and being mindful of her claws, when she did nick him it was in the form of a scratch, and not hard enough to draw blood. Still her tail flicked just a bit, reflexively adjusting her balance--the very thing that had saved her in the spar with Kyn earlier that day. When his belly was relaxed, she rubbed it with the pads of her forelimbs.

"Ah... yes... I don't often get this feeling.... as you know, the alpha reflex in me doesn't allow it most of the time."

"I know the feeling, yes...." She nuzzled against his right hind leg, and gave a lick at the joint. Both the neck and the belly, both very...vulnerable places to leave exposed to one another. Of course, she was VAUGELY sure that he could still lick her if he curled himself, it would probably be uncomfortable to stay that way for long.

Heji then remember how there was a certain spot that once rubbed, caused some particular canid Pokémon and sometimes non-canid Pokémon to move their legs uncontrollably. He silently wondered if Luxray had that spot as well.

Time of course passed as the activities grew more and more heavy, by the end of the night she had ended up on her back beneath the big lion; off and on snoozing, at least, until the sound of footsteps shook her from it. Well, it wasn't exactly a provocative pose to be caught in, she just had a lion resting on her was all. "Mmmph." Stretching was out of the question, of course, but still she tried to look at the source as a hunter's instinct.

Kyn came back with several sacks worth of Poké, that he wished he was able to use a wheelbarrow for. Tensa helped him carry one, and Inferno helped him carry the other. He headed towards the inner depths of Serena's cave, wondering what exactly became of his leaving Heji and Serena alone together, and if part of what he expected would have been fulfilled. He would of course later find a way to store the Poké via Poké Ball storage, but he also wanted specific help counting them again, if Serena was willing. He knew about how much each was worth now, after this second bout, but counting them would be able to allow him to get a general feel of about how much was in specific amounts via weight, and appearance.

Serena wiggled her left arm free, and scratched Heji under the chin as a way to wake him up as well, at least to get him to shift his weight as her body reminded her of her surroundings. Straw bedding, the pillow that had once been behind her head somewhere around the room; and since they'd been the only ones there at the time--she hadn't bothered closing the drape. Ah well.

"Oh Serena...? If you're currently available, I'd like your assistance with something over here. If not, I'll just wait till tomorrow and I'll have one less to help..." Kyn gently called out. He didn't want to mentally speak at this time due to figuring that it would be politer to greet her that way since he didn't exactly know how to 'whisper' that way yet.

Heji did manage to wake, and thankfully he didn't roll over onto Serena. There wasn't a risk of crushing her due to his weight, but the normal risks of having a twice your height lion on top of you would still have applied.

She grumbled under her breath at the question, rolling in place to look up at Kyn, Her tail taking the place of her claws in scratching under Heji's chin. "I'm...not getting up. If you want my help, you'll bring things to me." Admittedly, she stifled a yawn. Yes, her sleeping schedule was skewed, she normally would have been up and about by now and working on her usual routine.

"I have no problem bringing the things to you. That was not the issue." The group made their way towards Serena, and the coins moving around inside the sacks could be distinctly heard.

Serena licked her lips, tasting Heji on them, waiting for the rest of the sacks, and looking them over with a polite interest. Of course with the lingering scents on the cloth, it was plain to anyone exactly what had occurred. She crossed her claws under her chest, propping herself up, and even Kyn might notice that more of the golden color had returned to her plates since he'd left. "Heh, if you say so."

"Serena, abouts when do you think I'll be forced to tell Anana what I am? Also, just as I thought she er.... loved the PokéBlock." Kyn set the final sack down on the ground near the table, and then undid the ties around the other three.

She wrinkled her nose. "It would probably be better to do it before you were 'forced' into a situation where she tries to grab you...or before you try to...well, dick her; to be blunt." Serena pulled a large pile over to her and started counting in her head, looking up at Kyn as she continued. "If you're still going on with that, anyway."

"Well Serena, I'm probably not going to be going that route, actually. Regarding my particular organ being used for that purpose. I do still find her attractive though. I guess I could just send her a letter. Surprisingly... she hasn't tried wrapping her tail around 'mine' yet. So... Serena, abouts how much do I have here and such? Probably the next thing on my to do list is to learn your currency."

Serena flicked a coin at him. "Don't know yet...you've got four bags here, and you're not even putting them in stacks of 10 coins, by SIZE if you don't mind, that will affect the amount." She pointed at Tensa and Inferno as she said it. "Many hands make light work...and I officially need to stay out of Kyn's mind, even subconsciously." She put her claws to her plates for a moment, then went back to organizing it. "I think I can do that...maybe...if you have examples of your own currency on hand, we can get a comparison."

"I'm not sure you were in my mind Serena. Anyway, we have paper currency as well as... coinage. Though I can give the rates for coinage to paper currency too." Kyn took out a one Pokéyen coin, five, ten fifty, 100, 500 yen coin, and then a 1000 PokéDollar note. "The standard rate of gold per ounce is about 6 of the 1000 notes. That's the start of what I'm going by I think. I can go down the line from there."

She twitched her nose. "The last bit there doesn't help considering the fact that our currency IS all gold, and we don't weigh things out...So...the biggest coins account for 100 poke each, you can remember this because it's twice the size of the next size down, which is 50 poke coin. The next size below that is a 20, and the smallest is a 10. So the biggest one would be the equivalent of your 1000 note, the one below it the 500, and the 10 the 100. It's not...foul play to combine them up to the bigger ones either, so long as they're the proper size, and you can duplicate the markings on them." She set the coins back down. "Most of your bag was made up of the 10's an 20's. Now, think you're ready for conversions from one of our coins into another?"

"This isn't as confusing as I thought it would be. I think I'm beginning to be able to be ready, yes. Slap 'em on me Serena. Uh... figuratively." Kyn said, remembering to clarify due to the nature of that idiom.

"Alright...it takes a stack of 10 10's to equal ONE of the 20 coins." As she spoke she pressed a stack of ten down so that the edges started to meld together, and controlled her flame to melt it all together rather quickly, her claws reshaping the new coin.

"It takes 5 of the 20 coins to equal a 50." She split the stack and melted those five into a new coin as well, then did it again for the other half.

"But it only takes 2 50's to make a 100 coin." The last time she made another coin, reshaped it, and held that up. "Sometimes I think they just said 'Melt these together and make a new coin'."

"Ugh. Serena, honestly. For those that cannot do simple mathematics this would be difficult. It isn't as linear as our system but, still. Thank you very much Serena, this will prove very useful in future interactions with your species. Sooo with that in mind... in these four bags we've got X stacks of 10, and X stacks of 20.. if I'm thinking properly that'd be about... oh let's say... 34,000 or so Poké, would that be about right?"

"It LOOKS to be about right...maybe closer to 45,000? Wont know for sure until it's all converted and counted up proper."

"Well, as we've already established, we have eight hands here. Let's do it this way, which is the way I usually do things. This will take a bit longer, but I mean it would be best to be precise, and the labor is cut in fourths. Once we get a stack of 10 10's we put a 20 next to THAT stack. Going that same route, we take five 20's and put one 50 by THAT stack. Follow? Would you be willing to do that?"

Serena nodded her approval of the system, then they continued to work until they had a proper number for what he had earned, by the time it was over, she felt like she was surrounded by coins...and well, with her limited range of movement (Mostly because she didn't WANT Heji to move to let her move about) that was exactly the truth. She had barricaded herself into her bedroom. Once more, not that she minded. She tilted her head up to give Heji a lick across the nose before she spoke. "Well, I was a bit over, and you a bit under Kyn, 40,000? in total, not a bad haul at all."

"After I come back Serena, I believe Royce and I will be having another meeting. Uh... Serena... why is it that the Poké I make from the Bay and Gambitville... seem to be so much? I'm just not understanding... is it the meat, bones, and pelts?"

Serena rather grinned at him, a toothy grin that told just how much she acted on her carnivore nature. "I told you Kyn. Tauros, Bouffalant and Miltank are the most highly sought after catches because they're the HARDEST to take down." She laid her head back down. "You happen to be in the presence of Pokémon that can do it, but most of them? They'd get killed even TRYING to approach one. I can do it because this is my LIFE, I do this to survive...had I grown up safe and sound in Tao? I wouldn't be half the hunter I am now." She realized she was getting off track. "Tauros is the most commonly sought after, and it's always in high demand in good quality."

"Oh... I see... that's very unfortunate for me then... though I guess I'm lucky that all of you can take one down. I did manage to get one extra Tauros that wasn't blind this time, so that was a plus. I'm just a little surprised is all... I suppose being a human has taken away my wonder of what being able to hunt a Tauros is like." Kyn's tone shifted to a rather melancholy state, and his expression drooped as well.

Serena picked up a coin and flicked it at Kyn again with enough force to leave a bruise THROUGH the cloth he was wearing. "Stop that. You're not allowed to suffer through the memories of Anana in silence and then get all droopy when I talk about hunting top end prey. You have access to my memories the way I have access to your phrases Kyn, you can EASILY ask for my first time going up against a Tauros."

"I guess you're right... I guess it's like... as ridiculous as this sounds, the opposite of jealousy. I keep telling you I'm not a decent hunter, yet here you keep giving me all this bloody evidence to the contrary! It's not kosher, dammit!"

"You want me to knock you down a peg? Fine. You can't beat me in an honor bound sparring match, you could be considered at the skill level that I was at when I was first learning my abilities and how to control them. The fact that I DIDN'T have to rescue you from the Tauros the last trip, surprised me GREATLY. You NEED your Pokémon around you, to protect you, not only from yourself but from those around you. Does THAT make you feel better?" She snorted. "Still, for someone who has not made their life on surviving this way, for someone who was thrown into it....you are beyond your years."

"It makes me feel a bit better yes, though whole sparring match thing... it's going to change quickly if I do perhaps stay here for more than a total of a month or more. I probably won't be able to do it much longer. For I know you could be on your way to evolving next month. Or even sooner. When that is the case, unless I just plain stab you in the face, I doubt anything of significance will happen. So, it was interesting while it lasted Serena but, I'm not the type of person to wrestle with Dragons like Drayden is. I mean literally in this case. Dear lord that guy is pretty amazing."

"I have Nine days." She did look over at the mantle, where the scroll sat. "To get my color back completely, and to have enough energy, without the assistance of the scroll, to evolve." she licked her claws. "Nine days before I submit myself to a shell almost entirely."

"Very well. Then the next time I visit you, you will be a Shelgon. I'm gonna miss being able to pick you up Serena. Of course, unless I train to be able to bench press three hundred pounds. That'd also help with taking down Tauros too. Being able to do stuff with bare hands would be a bit of a confidence booster as well. But that's besides the point. I'll be bringing back about 20,000 Poké. The rest I'll be converting back into my own currency. 20,000 Poké can help me a bit here can't it?"

She looked offended, if only a bit. "Two hundred and fifty pounds tops..." Serena looked down at her claws. "Depends on what you mean by 'help' you here..." still she was a little downcast, she wasn't even heavy for her height!

"I was referring to the ability to COMFORTABLY pick you up. The most you'd probably ever weight would be 270, if only if you decided to gorge yourself, which I know you won't. It's not exactly standard procedure for a human to run around screaming, 'HEY EVERYONE, I can bench press a Shelgon!'. Now, what I mean by help is... me being able to afford things like losing at the casino. Either that or winning at the casino, which if I'm correct, I might do a bit later. I was thinking maybe... just for the hell of it, going to a high stakes poker table. 200 Poké ante."

She unwillingly shifted out from beneath Heji, onto all fours, of course now that she was away from his fur--without the danger of getting any stuck, the guard scales closed smoothly without so much as a click. "This is the next trip you're talking about?" She tilted her head curiously. She was doing the math...if he'd gotten everything done in one day here, then he would be gone again, THEY would be gone again...and soon.

"Well, partially. I... honestly have no idea what to do with what you've told me is a relatively large amount of currency in Tao. For me.... since you've essentially set me straight on a matter of money that is... I could probably just save it. Talking half of what I earn here and bringing it back. If that will be an average haul... since I DID go overboard in Gambitville, I think I'll have to wait a bit before selling there again."

Serena snorted, she was sure that she was quite...messy. She ignored it, for now at least. "Didn't you have a REASON for doing this, on the other side?" She tested. "Accomplish that goal, leave yourself 5,000? to play with on this side to build it back up." She licked down her side with her lizard like tongue, down to the joint of her right hind limb. "You'll be leaving tomorrow I suppose."

"Only 5000? Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter though. Anyway, I'll probably take one extra scan of the slot machine, and then maybe poof back."

"That's more than most people walk in there with." She took to licking up the mess that had been left to set on her hide, and looked up at Kyn again. "In other words, tomorrow or the next day, knowing how you get when you're bit by that money bug of yours." She licked her lips in a way that would have made most males blush before she turned back over onto her belly, and retracted her tongue.

"Serena, I think I get it now. Even if I were to walk in there with just 500 Poké, I'd be red-flagged for money confiscation or something probably. Alrighty."

Serena chuckled at him. "'nother rule for you Kyn. Never show your full hand. Take the money, always leave half in your room. Divide that half you still have with you into 1/4ths and keep them in separate pockets. Take my scarf for example...it's not high up off the ground, but it would keep people from not wanting to pick me, they'd have to get REALLY close to be able to grab from me, and even then, they'd have to grab around my neck. Not many would want to do that. If you keep most of your money in a pouch around your neck--Don't worry it wont get THAT heavy--then they can't choose you to be pick-pocketed, and you'll be able to get out of there with all of what you won...If you do happen to get in on Royce's bad side however...play his game."

"You mean that bloody roulette wheel? Doesn't he have more than just that wheel? I fucking hate that thing! Roulette is the most annoying game I've ever played. I don't EVER want to play it again, but now you're saying that if I don't bad stuff might happen ugh. Dammit, I hate the fact that in essence I'd be getting punished for winning!" Kyn began rambling after the first few sentences were over, and speaking his thoughts out loud incredibly fast.

After he began spouting off his thoughts in the matter she finally spoke up over him. "...Would someone kiss him and shut him up for a bit?" Of course, the request was at Tensa, but really, she was getting used to expecting the unexpected with this group. "You're missing the point. He can only take what you take down there with you, which if you keep doing as I've said and keep MOST of your winnings upstairs, the loss wont be as crushing as it could be...and it's annoying because it's a fair game, you just choose red, or black, and whichever it turns up on is the winner...I will tell you this though, there's one more red section than there is black. Refuse entirely like you did last time and you'll be punished, lose...and well, if you're as silver tongued as I know you are, you can get out of there without owing him any...favors. Win and you double your money, I don't really see the problem with ANY of that myself." she thought for a moment. "and when you tire of your deal with Anana, I know a way that can end it within a night."

"I'll say it once and I'll say it again Serena, I hate! more than anything, double or nothing. The fact that most of it would still be there doesn't matter. It means I have to work twice as hard, doing four times the work. I'm addicted to gambling here. It's far easier to win, but the risk of winning is far greater." Kyn said, resuming normal speed.

"Well, there's only the risk so long as you don't use Anana's name in conversation with Royce, I suppose that you could walk out of there having not done anything so long as you use Anana's name, but it wouldn't be a punishment if you liked the situation, now would it?" She scratched up under her scarf with her claws, leaning against Heji's side. He'd probably have dozed off again by now. "On a completely different topic...you do still owe me a fireworks show."

"Yeah. You'd have to come to my world for that. I'm not sure that bringing fireworks here is a good idea." Kyn said.

"Well as I've said, we DO have fireworks here, but I've already agreed to try to get used to the way your world...feels...though it would probably be better to do so while I can still effectively bury myself in Heji's mane..." After a shiver and a pause she snorted out the word 'cities' as if that would clarify things. One look at her mind could tell anyone that she was both excited and apprehensive about evolving.

"Hm, I wonder what your fireworks here are like. I don't suppose... that you would have seen any, would you?" Kyn laid down on his back and looked up at the ceiling, waiting for her answer.

"If I have I either paid them little mind, or was too young to see them." she admitted, and followed his gaze, then clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth once. "Curiosity...that's one thing we have in common, Kyn."

"So uh, then I have some more questions for you. Since they DO have them here... do you know the variety of things that fireworks can do?"

Serena eventually did get up, stepping carefully over the piles of coins to where Kyn was laying. "The only place they have ever been set off from is Tao. I can't say that I've ever had too much of an interest in learning about them, however I have been told in passing about some of they can do. Unfortunately I can't relay them to you since they weren't logged as important information." She waved almost dismissively. "I'm going to go get cleaned up in the river, try not to disappear without telling me this time, hm? Actually, you might as well come with me, you smell like Anana."

"...Serena, that doesn't really help me much. Do I smell like HER specifically, as in her personal scent, or other aspects of her?" Kyn of course didn't really notice much himself, as for him to successfully be able to detect Anana's scent, he would literally have to breath deeply, and that would probably send the wrong message.

She understood the moment he asked, as to how limited his sense of smell was. "You're very lucky to have as limited of a range as you do, in this regard...but I can just as easily...HELP you again." The way she said 'help' relayed it back to when she had given him a better idea of what Anana smelled and tasted like. Of course in this case he'd be getting his own scent, and the scents around the room as she perceived them...including the mixture of the scent from herself and Heji's. "...If you wish." she added after a moment.

"....Serena, let me put this another way. I am most of the time glad that I do not have a heightened sense of sme---- oh my goodness. Serena! The olfactory sense... I think I understand now why humans do so many different things to their food. Those without super sensitive taste that is. I'm going off topic of course, and the answer is yes, but the main thing is... Nothing, and I repeat Nothing, is worse than the back alleys of Saffron City. Whatever you do, do NOT look in my head for those memories."

Serena did inhale deeply, then transferred the current memory flood into his mind, the comforting smell of Heji and her own scent, the cat more akin to nutmeg to her nose, where as she herself smelled like pine, Inferno was more of a Vanilla, and Tensa spearmint to her nose. Then there was Kyn, who's base scent (Which was overpowered by whatever he'd put on earlier) mixed with what made her cough prior to, and above that the smell of Lilies and garbage covering where the lizard had touched.

"Rather unflattering, isn't it? Tensa's scent on you heightens your own natural scent and mixes well...though personally it's not to my tastes." During the exchange she had leaned against the wall a little ways away from them.

Kyn sighed. "And to think, I didn't even to put on as much I normally would have, and it didn't even take as much. Though I'm not sure if it's the same for all of the Pokémon here. But, anyway, I suppose I will. I'll have to wash my clothing too then. At least... it's not on my skin."

"The way you say it, you make it sound as if you hate baths." She pushed away from the wall. "And no, it's not the same for all of us...insects for example have no nose...Marlow can't smell anything either...most reptiles can't even smell anything through their nostrils, they only breathe through them, instead having to use their tongue's to smell...like Tensa, I believe. Canines have a more sensitive nose than I do..."

"No no Serena! I don't hate them at all. Ack, no, brain, stop going that way." Kyn said, once Serena shifted to mention Tensa. "It's probably a good thing then that I use scented soaps.... like the ones I found at the Casino...."

Serena chuckled to herself at his reaction to his own mind's image. "Kyn...You essentially just smelled what MOST of us do, minus the pheromones--which are running through your brain anyway, I think you're allowed to have your head in the gutter...I don't think that any of us would blame you for that." She waited for them to get up, since she would lead them to the river for their baths.

"I normally ignore them anyway. So far Tensa is the only one that has managed to have anything remotely similar to the effects of pheromones on me. I'm saying... that I don't think it would affect me. Even if I could smell in the way that you all do." Kyn crossed his arms.

"Well..." She started, then stopped. "Apparently I'm not as immune to them as you are." she was being vague again, but clearly she was remembering the incident at the hotel the last time something like that had happened. She led them to the river, only adding quietly to Kyn via his mind. <I could probably send the effects straight through, if I really wanted to see you in such a state, be glad -I'm- not like Royce and Anana; since while they might just to see you squirm, I never will.>

<Why don't you try. Give Tensa and I a bit of a surprise. Oh, of course, that is if you don't particularly mind me tackling him to the ground and... doing things.> "From what I've observed... for some reason, females appear to be more susceptible to it then males. Either that or the males are just better at hiding it than the females. This is in regards to humanity. Not sure about some Pokémon though."

"It's...possible." She would call his bluff, could quite easily, and he had given her permission, so while she hung up her scarf she smiled to herself. <Would kind of have to anyway, considering that his scent has been either overpowered or off of you for a while.> She moved away from his thought system and down to the emotion core, and essentially hay-wired it to the point where any and all emotion would re-route to lust, and just to test it out to make sure she had done it right, she fed him a loop of happiness and watched it turn. Essentially...he'd get to feel what it was like to be in heat for a couple hours.

<Just for the record...because you probably wont be able to think straight for a bit. You asked for it.> She realized she would have to turn a bit more than a deaf ear to them, but with a little training, she could probably easily teach Lacu as well.

Of course, Tensa was indeed a bit surprised by Kyn's apparent change in behavior. Considering that he hadn't really seen Kyn in this state since a long time ago. "Well... this is rather interesting..." Tensa commented.

"I'll say... I haven't felt this way in years..." Kyn said. Moving closer to Tensa. He was going to remove his clothes anyway to wash them so it didn't really matter that he was taking them off now. He moved closer to Tensa and gave him a long embrace. |So... I'm assuming that this is how you felt that caused you to want to be inside me so desperately.|

|Yes... you could... say it was something similar.|

Serena, quite aware of what was going to happen, backed out of Kyn's head quite quickly and essentially slammed the door on the link, she'd have to go back in eventually and reverse the change, she couldn't...well, she COULD essentially leave him until they wore one another out, but she doubted that that would be the best solution. She didn't stay around the same area of the river, of course, rather moving upstream, up away from the two lovers to wash properly--the last thing she needed was to be thrown back into that heated state after just finishing a session with Heji a little while ago, and while curious, she wasn't perverse enough to want to watch.

"Hmmm, seems Serena has quite left us. Perhaps she figures that it would be best to avoid becoming in the same state she left you. That does make me wonder..." Tensa said, before lying down on the ground. He figured that since last time he was the one who was currently caught in a similar state, Kyn would want to be the one to get off.

"Oh how much I wish we were back at home right now. There are so many more things I would do to you, and have you do to me."