FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

In the Pokemon world, forgotten practices of the old days are left behind in favor of letting a trusted companion or a full team effort. Why learn how to sing when Primarina can wow crowd with their angelic voice? Why create cotton for pillows and clothes when Whimsicott joyfully dance around to let the material fall off of them? And why train your body to lift weights when you can grow up with a Timburr all the way to them becoming a Conkeldurr and lifting their objects to keep yourself in shape?

So many things have been left behind for conveniences that Pokemon bring to the table, but there are some folks that still try to partake in activities that the wonderful creatures can perform with ease.

An arrow whizzed into the air, barely hitting into the target’s outermost rim and causing someone to curse under their breath. A few steps towards the tree-rooted stand provided a visual of a young, barely pale-skinned man with a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back.

Adrian carefully yanked the arrow out of its place and checked for any damages to the body and tail. It was of his design and making another would be impossible thanks to his parents’ inability to accept him trying something new for once rather than sticking to fads. Not to mention costly, since sharp heads don’t come cheap from antique shop stands of ancient weapons. He loaded it up to the string and took some steps back before taking aim again. The wind was naught but a gentle breeze this time around, but it was his grip making things difficult.

The tension of whether or not he’d be caught out here trying to follow his dream of being a professional archer rather than a trainer ate him like acid, making his hands tremble and his choices to be second-guessed. It’s led to several target punctures that made sure he missed the bull’s eye he was supposed to hit.

He felt his mouth tremble, hearing his banshee of a mother already calling his name to make him come home in his head, and felt his arm get ready to loose the arrow when it was pulled back by a force. His stance was shifted around to be steady and the hand holding the bow was finally centered. At this, Adrian let out a sigh of relief, and the force allowed him to let go on his own before the arrow sailed towards the target and hit its mark.

Though he didn’t jump for joy to celebrate the small victory, he turned around to pet the ...air?

“Thanks buddy. I didn’t think you’d be around today.” The air he was petting suddenly began to distort, a presence taking up the space of which the anomaly began and now receiving the pets was a barn owl.

A Decidueye.

“Hoo.” was their lone reply before they leaned into the petting and felt to a bow. Adrian eventually stopped but he took the time to hug the spirit instead and felt relieved to receive the same gesture. The owl was his friend-his real friend-and never let him stay in this world feeling alone no matter what. No matter what time of day, the Decidueye was always around to keep Adrian’s head on his shoulders. It’s let to ...very passive thoughts that tend to snap back whenever they were close like this, but they didn’t get to enjoy it forever.

“ADRIAN! I KNOW YOU’RE OUT HERE AND I SWEAR IF I CATCH YOU PLAYING WITH THAT DANGEROUS TOY OF YOURS AGAIN, I’M SHIPPING YOU OFF TO TRAINER SCHOOL!” The shrill screeches of Adrian’s mother tore through the air like an Aeroblast from an untrained Smeargle, leaving Adrian to shed a tear that he quickly wiped away before he let go of the owl.

“Sorry buddy, I gotta go. Just hide these in your tree, I’ll be back for them when she’s not around.”

“Hoo.” Adrian made sure his long hair stayed over his eyes, for it was enough to make walking through Sandstorms and made his parent’s yelling feel less directed at him. He felt his quiver and bow get relinquished from his body, a lone wind drifting past him before he knew the owl was gone. Then, he acted as if he had been running from somewhere deeper into the forest where he was training and rolled through some shrubbery in the direction of his mother so it looked like he tripped onto his face.

It worked and soon he felt her standing in front of him.

“Adrian Calipeno ...I've told you dozens of times...not to be out here in the wild...without our guardian….” Her voice was strained, probably from her already using it to get his attention, but he knew she was really just holding back the true power of her debilitating anger.

“I’m sorry, Mom ...My brothers were teasing me too much and it just….”

“They don’t do anything to you, you just need thicker skin. Now come home, you were supposed to make dinner before I got back but you wanted to be out here chasing dangerous bugs all day!” She grabbed him by the ear and started yanking him towards home, the sensation of being watched making him sigh quietly while he was forced to go with his mother. He didn’t like any of this, and wished it never had to happen to him or anybody this unfortunate. But he could never escape without being a trainer from a place full of trainers, and his mother made sure that she voiced her extreme dislike to him trying to act like a trainer despite not being a trainer.

The moral is, Adrian likes Pokemon but he wouldn’t dream of battling any or catching them. He likes them being free to do their own thing.

Once he saw the backyard wasn’t empty of people, he kept his tongue back from saying anything as he listened to his siblings.

“Been out dumpster-diving for a Grimer to play with?”

“Trying to climb trees like a Treecko? Hah!”

“Why don’t you try putting Honey on your butt? I’m sure a Trubbish’ll bite if you don’t get caught by a Combee first!”

“Maybe you should start fighting real people instead of a tree, I’m pretty sure Trevenant don’t like weaklings bothering them in their sleep.”

Other taunts similar were uttered but then Adrian’s mom stopped before they got inside, which meant one more blow was about to be dealt.

“If I catch you playing outside again, boy, I’ll make sure nothing that’s dangerous out there will be able to match what I’ll do to you.” The lad’s father’s voice was final, but the severity of his threat was lessened by his siblings’ laughter and his aforementioned combover keeping him from seeing most of his sire.

“Yes, dad….”

“What did you say?”

“Yes ...Sir…”

“That’s what I thought…” His mom continued on before throwing him into the house through the glass doors and shutting them behind her, leaving Adrian alone with the pet Rockruff and their Purugly.

“You better not come out here until dinner is done! And if I see you leaving the house for anything, I’ll have Manuel bring you back himself!” Adrian just nodded and got into the kitchen, putting on an apron despite his dirty and scratched-up form, and got started on making dinner once he relieved his face of hair follicles. Despite having an able-bodied mother and father and other siblings who were only a year, two, three or less younger or older than him, Adrian had to do the cooking since he was the only one who took to other classes back when the family pushed for mandatory school. His brothers and sisters only went for any battle classes, while Adrian took everything else not related to fighting, and his parents made sure he paid for trying to break off from tradition by making him do everything. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the family pets, getting the mail, garbage, lawn maintenance, and even reshingling the house once upon a time before his inability to do that well led to him just being the house’s permanent chef.

If it weren’t for his ability to cook good food no matter his mood, his parents wouldn’t be so hard-pressed to treat him like he was a stranger.

Though then again, him not trying to be a trainer probably had him unofficially disowned. They don’t buy him anything, forcing him to work to get the supplies he needed and they don’t tell him when the family goes out on trips which has led to him waking up to an empty house before. Tomorrow, they were going on another-as his youngest brother Fabio flaunted at him before while he cleaned the toilets-and he wasn’t to come. And while that used to be a problem, him being able to escape this prison of a house was more than enough to not break down and do something drastic.

Dinner was supposed to be chili, cornbread and spicy Pokemon food for several under the family’s collective care. Adrian had to make each serving equally, just as equal in quality, and prepare his own plate before serving so he could eat elsewhere other than the table. He used to have a seat but then the family Glameow evolved and it was a hassle to just walk past her rather large frame when coming to the table or moving out to put the dishes in the water for Adrian to clean.

He was a sweaty mess by the time the food was nearly ready for serving, shirt pressing into his back and hair weighed down from the sweat dripping through each dirty blond strand. He made sure all fourteen regular bowls were set out on the table, silverware shiny enough to see one’s face clear as day, and had the bowls made for Pokemon specifically ready to have their food dished out sitting opposite of their trainers/owners. Adrian could hear his family quieting down outside, letting him know that he was gonna have an audience soon. But he was thankful to have both pots of chili to reach their fully cooked state, the cornbread to go with it finished baking from the looks of it through the glass and the personal brew for the Pokemon was frothing. With only three minutes left, he cut the ovens off and disrobed his apron before setting out the food.

Adrian had to be careful, because one spill meant time wasted cleaning it and more time for his family to come in and find something to pettily nitpick. And they always find something to talk about, even if he did everything right. The food was steaming hot, but he’s trained himself to be able to hold a heavy pot and pour its contents onto a bowl or plate without making a mess that he couldn’t help. The family Rockruff was usually the culprit behind his past spills, though Adrian had gave them their favorite toy to keep them distracted as a preemptive measure while he prepared dinner. Once he diced the corn bread into equal pieces, he carefully separated them so there wasn’t any bit uneven and ignored the loose crumbs while each saucer plate near the bowls of piping hot chili was occupied by a block of fluffy goodness. And with the family of humans served, he got to the Pokemon.

A bowl for Rocky, the pet Rockruff; a bowl for Delilah, the pet Purugly; a bowl for Shrimp, one of Adrian’s brothers’ recently caught Corphish; a bowl for Manuel, his mother’s Hawlucha; a bowl for Digit, Adrian’s older sister’s Lucario; and a bowl for Peter, Adrian’s dad’s Shiftry.

He piled everything high for Digit, since spicy food was his favorite and she always liked to lie that he doesn’t give her jackal enough food and thus get their parents on his case despite him telling them over and over that he did everything as asked.

And now that he was done, he grabbed his already served bowl of chili with cornbread and took off upstairs just as his family loudly made their way inside. He didn’t await their judgment on his efficiency, just listening to his mother trying to mull over how she could make things worse for his mood while he holed himself up in his room.

He doesn’t stay in the attic, that honor went to Manuel. He stayed at the end of the hall opposite of everyone else besides Digit and Peter on the opposite sides of his door, and he made sure that all seven locks were set in place before taking a seat at his desk right behind him. His room wasn’t as small as you think it’d be; compared to his siblings, who all shared a room so there was space to fit everyone, his room was the biggest. Which has led to them scornfully mocking him for having all this extra vacancy yet being all alone while they had somebody close by to be supportive.

Though he wasn’t alone.

“Hoo.” Adrian’s head shot towards his bed nearby, seeing the Decidueye from earlier staring forlornly towards him.

“I know, I shouldn’t keep letting them get to me. But it’s hard when all you have is a Pokemon you wish you could understand ...I don’t count the family pets ...my mother and father can’t make them hate me since I still feed them and take care of them.”

“Hoo.” The owl was standing next to him now, giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder before suddenly backing up to the wall where his door would swing if opened. The lad barely had time to reach over and flick them all unlocked before it swung open to let in his mother. She didn’t look happy-as per usual-but she wasn’t angry so it was better than nothing. For a minute, Adrian thought she had somehow heard his friend and wanted to see if he was trying to make a break for it through his barred window-despite it being locked and hindering a quick getaway-though she clarified why she was up here soon enough.

“I told you to lock this door when everyone is asleep, not beforehand. Do you like being untrustworthy to this family?”

Adrian sighed. He forgot about that rule, since she only brought it up everyday she yells at him before dinner and knows that he’d rather be alone than deal with bothersome siblings and their Pokemon. “No, mom.”

“Then fix your attitude before I fix it the hard-er way.” She slammed the door behind her, leaving Adrian’s friendly Pokemon to reappear in sight and return to his side.

They waited until she was all the way downstairs before speaking just to be safe. “Hoo.”

“I know. One of these days, she’s gonna break my door and never get it fixed...I just wanna be...loved, you know?”

“Hoo.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why you’re around.” Adrian gave the avian some more pets, before shamelessly letting his free hand rub around the Pokemon’s white belly feathers. Their down was as soft as clouds despite being a ghost of the wild, making no noise as they shifted around in his hand. They didn’t move to stop him, and soon he went from making them coo to stroking down their back.

Right onto their butt.

“Hoo.” Their tone had lowered, sounding even quieter than it did when they arrived, and their eyelids were low enough to look suggestive yet hesitant of the situation. Adrian took note of that and sighed.

“You’re right ...Maybe tomorrow.” Adrian stopped but they continued to hold the owl on their ass before pulling them onto his lap. They maintained eye contact, faces inches from each other, then the owl closed the distance and they kissed.

Adrian had a love for Pokemon that no one in his family shared, and that love has grown rather well with this simple, wild Decidueye that always came around in his times of need. And even during those times of need.

Mouth and beak stayed together for what felt like hours, no tongue needed to spread the passion they had for each other, until Adrian needed air and pulled back. The Decidueye kept the strand of saliva between them going even when it fell from Adrian’s lips, leaving their half-lidded gaze to look very heated before it finally dissipated from view.

As much as Adrian wanted to commit the final step for them to be an item, he just needed to get away from all of this. And the owl knew this, for they slid off his lap and took to his bed with that same face yet carrying an air of high hopes. They wanted to make the move but knew of the risks, and Adrian was all the more happy to find reason to cherish them for being so understanding.

Though like he said...maybe tomorrow...so he went back to his food before it got cold and distasteful.

---

As said, Adrian’s family went out on a trip the next day, leaving Adrian to an empty house with a hastily scribbled note from his mother on his bedroom door:

“No strangers, no wild Pokemon, no parties, no messes and no visits into the wild.”

Mom

The last bit was new, which made him look at his door in confusion until he saw his parents’ door creak open.

Manuel was standing there, arms crossed and eyes trained on the lad at the other end of the hall. So that’s it, they really didn’t want him to have fun while they were gone for a few days. Adrian just sighed and went back into his room, pretty sure that bird would keep him from doing so much as go into the kitchen without a beatdown as a means of “checking if he was trying to run” as his father describes. Right away, he was greeted to a feathered hug from behind and he felt a smile grow on his groggy face.

“Hoo.” They seemed rather happy today, face falling at the sight of Adrian’s but holding up well to allow them to show him something they hid in their down. Confused, the human waited for them to reveal it and what he saw made him nearly squeal in excitement.

It was a flyer for his favorite crime fighting duo Palio the Great and Padio the Siren; both of them taking to traveling the region in hopes of stopping a crime in progress or helping those in need, as seen on TV whenever Adrian snuck out of his room while his siblings watched their heroic deeds. While it was crazy to think that it’d happen in a world where a dog could breathe fire if they so pleased, there were still people around every corner who were more than likely out to abuse the bonds they had with Pokemon for their own gain. And Palio and Padio were not gonna let that happen. The flyer spoke of an autograph signing being held downtown at the public square area, though reading further led to him picking up word of a secret meeting that could allow a lucky somebody and their Pokemon to...join them…

Adrian looked at the owl standing before him, seeing that hopeful gaze in their eye and feeling anxiety settle in. “Oh no, buddy, I can’t. I told you, I don’t catch Pokemon.”

“Hoo.” They pointed to a section of the advertisement and Adrian squinted to see what they were nudging at. In fine print, it read:

LOOKING FOR ABLE-BODIED BOY/GIRL WHO’S LIGHT AS A FEATHER

The specifics of that rather hard-to-notice request made Adrian groan as he saw the Decidueye’s eyes light up. He knows why they’re looking at him; he has a knack for sneaking out late at night when everyone was asleep to hang out with the owl or just to sit on the roof to think without any of the family’s Pokemon bothering him or prowling around in the woods to drag him home and he’s yet to be caught. But he doesn’t know if he could do it for the sake of being on a crime fighting team.

Though he could see why they’d need one; Palio was built like a professional bodybuilder that worked purely on his upper body strength and his partner Pokemon was an Incineroar, while Padio was just about as thick as a twig yet his partner was a Primarina.

This also led to things being convenient for the two boys in the bedroom.

“Hoo?” That was about as close to a please as one would expect from a Decidueye and Adrian sighed again.

“Even if I had all the time in the world, how would we get out there? Manuel’s here to make sure I can’t leave no matter what happens. And he’s a terrible cook.”

“Hoo.” The owl took a bow and then slowly phased out of sight, leaving Adrian to wonder just what they were planning…

[[]]

Manuel paced outside the hallway of bedrooms, eyeing Adrian’s door like a Braviary. He knows his duty and he’ll make sure that boy never disobeys his superiors. His mother was clear, “If he tries to leave, break him if you have to.”, and the Hawlucha had a few ideas in mind on what would work to make sure the boy never disobeyed his mother….Never again, anywa-

“Being a pain to my lover again, are we?” The unknown voice made Manuel jump, holding back a squawk on instinct as he looked around for where it came from. He looked down the hallway, to the bedrooms next to him and the attic latch with a Decidueye’s head sticking out of i-

Wait-

“What’re you doing here, you feathered whore?” Manuel’s glare was back in business, but the owl was hardly fazed if their nonchalant phasing out of the ceiling and to the floor in front of the Hawlucha was any sign.

“I’m here to make sure you don’t get in the way of him leaving this place for good.”

“Hmph. What can you do, weakling? You’re built like the branches I can snap with my lone two fingers for a living hunting down that brat you claim to love-you can’t do a thing to me.”

The owl’s gaze narrowed down at the shorter bird in front of him. “I may not be built to be a muscle giant, but I know that you know that you can’t hurt me.”

Manuel snarled but held back from answering to confirm this. No, he really couldn’t attack the intruder if he wanted to. His trainer refused to teach him moves that would damage the house or her family, so he only had Drain Punch and Karate Chop in his arsenal.

“I can still learn how to hit you, you know? Unlike you, I have a trainer that treats me like a real fighter.”

“I don’t have time for this.” The Decidueye walked away from the confrontation, leaving the luchador to burn holes into their back as they sauntered to Adrian’s door to remove the block keeping it shut. The avian had heard it being set when his human mulled over the idea of being heroes for the region, so he had to come out and set him free sooner or la- “Unhand me, slave.”

“I’m no slave, but at least I’m not a slut.” Manuel had tailed him in silence, holding back the owl’s arm from removing the bar of wood keeping the door from moving in any direction.

“What’s it matter to you? Least getting laid is hardly an issue with me.”

“Being proud of being someone’s eager little hole is shameful. If I could, I’d kill you for being such a disappointment.”

“You wouldn’t be able to, genius. Still a Ghost type.”

“Whatever the case, leave. The boy stays here, no matter how many times his family treats him like the dirt he doesn’t deserve to walk on. He’d be fine and dandy if it weren’t for you.”

“Or what?”

Manuel’s gaze looked enough to be its own Intimidate at this point. “Or I’ll take him from you.”

The implications of that threat hit the owl in moments, and now it was his turn to glare. For that time, Manuel was staring with sadistic glee, knowing he had a means of getting under this whore’s feathers…

[[]]

“Say you’re sorry.”

“N-never!”

“Say you’re sorry.”

“F-fuck you…”

“Only Adrian gets to.”

The two birds were back in Adrian’s parents’ room, but instead of wrestling to see who’d get first crack at making the other one suffer, the owl simply cast a Spirit Shackle on Manuel and the rest is history; rapidly giving that luchador’s ass the business from behind while staring down at him like he was the most boring thing to ever grace his sight, the Decidueye kept on trying to make him break so that he didn’t have to cum. But the Hawlucha was stubborn and his hand was being forced into a position he’d only rarely take on a really good day.

“R-release me, you perverted spirit!”

“Then tell me you’re sorry for trying to hurt my human and I won’t make you take my seed.”

“Don’t do that e-either!”

“Wrong answer…~” That was fake glee, to really sell the whole “I’m a bird ghost” to Manuel while he was trapped taking a dick from behind. The spirit wasn’t even average-sized, he was digging deep enough into Manuel that one could see the tip poking out from his stomach.

“Pl-please...I cannot l-live with that shame...She will disown me...i-if she catches what you’ve done here…”

“That’s on her for listening to the news without knowing the whole story.” And thus, the owl’s hips sped up to a point where an orgasm was inevitable, the luchador’s screaming sounding like a hurt bird’s pained singing while he felt his ass steadily grow more and more sore inside and out. It only took a bit longer than planned, but soon the Decidueye was letting loose some cream into the trapped Hawlucha’s butt.

“Mmm...been saving that up for when I went into a bad Rut ...Guess I’ll have to save up again…”

“....p-please ...let me go…”

“You know what you have to say, genius. I’ll leave with my Adrian when you say it and maybe you can try going into hiding before your trainer gets back.” The owl was getting impatient, forcing his balls to keep shooting so the Hawlucha’s time was drained with every stream that filled his stomach.

“...i’m…”

“Hmmm?”

“...i’m s…..” They said it, but it was so quiet that the owl had to groan and slam into their ass to get them to stop playing games. “I’M SORRY!”

“There.” The ghost pulled out, leaving Manuel drooling cum on the floor like his ass was the cave hiding a waterfall in a forest. He was unable to try and run to clean it off, so he just stayed there in shame. Up until the ghastly chains holding him to the floor on his hands and knees dissolved into thin air. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lover to get out of here…”

“D-don't ...come back….” The owl scoffed at those words, slamming the boy’s parents’ door shut behind him while he went to go retrieve the human in the house.

[[]]

“I’m hurrying, buddy! I’m hurrying!” Adrian wasn’t sure why the owl had taken so long with whatever he was doing, but he had a feeling he was behind Manuel screeching like he saw a ghostly phenomenon going on in the house and had his suspicions confirmed when they opened his bedroom door with seed on their legs, though he didn’t get to wonder what exactly happened before he was being shoved around with an empty travel bag. The owl grabbed almost every manner of clothing and stuffed it inside, grabbing his notebook, toothbrush, throw blanket and even his scrapbook of memories until nothing could fit inside. Though frankly, with how little luggage he had to pack, it was a surprise the bag even got full.

Adrian was rushed out downstairs, catching a salty scent towards the kitchen and heard water running. Though the owl didn’t let him see what happened before they went out the side door through the hallway cutting the kitchen from the living room, allowing him to feel the refreshing air outside.

And then he was being shoved again by the owl towards the woods behind his house.

“Buddy!” This being dragged around thing was getting old, and it made him feel like a pouting child to just let it happen, so he had to put his foot down. “Listen...what...is going on? Why’re we going back to the woods?”

“Hoo.” The owl tried nudging his wing to get Adrian’s attention, but when they continued to stand there looking confused he held it open and made a drawing gesture with his inner bow.

“My bow?” The owl nodded, then procured the flyer for a recruit to join Palio and Padio’s team to point at it then back at Adrian, to which he shook his head.

“No no, no way. I’m not ready for that stuff, you’ve seen me. The second I think of my family, I lose my focus.”

The avian pouted and gestured to the bag, but Adrian sighed and hung his head low. Though this seemed to keep infuriating the bird until he took off into the woods and leaving Adrian awkwardly standing in his backyard. He didn’t know if he wanted to chance seeing Manuel and if he was gonna chase them, because the last time that bird came after him they looked ready to kill him rather than just punching him in the gut and leaving him with no fight left in his body.

Decidueye came back, holding Adrian’s quiver and bow in his talons before coming to a glide above his head so he could catch his stuff. Though he noticed something different about his weapon.

The bow looked like it had been upgraded with better wood, the string didn’t look ready to snap into two whenever he tried to draw it and his quiver….

It was filled with arrows….the arrows stolen from him when he was caught by Manuel the first time he wanted to test out archery.

“How…?” The owl just shook his head, keeping up his flight while slowly soaring towards the main road. Adrian had no choice but to follow after them, since he was pretty sure that he was going on his own trip.

---

Downtown was loaded with pedestrians even at night, people far and wide around the area exploring the events to transpire tonight. Everywhere Adrian looked he saw Palio or Padio memorabilia, foam fingers, posters, pick-it-signs with poorly designed visuals of either of them with their Pokemon and people dressed in homemade cosplays of the two heroes, and it made him feel bad that he was one of the few folks around who wasn’t clad in red or blue. But it felt good to be different.

Because no one here was gonna judge him. Ne-

“Adrian?” The shrill voice of his older sister Hana made Adrian freeze, feeling like someone just dumped ice down his shirt as he glanced behind him only to see her standing there with red on to signify her allegiance with Palio. He tried to walk away from her, but felt that go short as she grabbed him by the shoulder and walked around to his front. “It is you.”

“What’s it matter to you?” His sudden snap nearly fazed her, but he saw in her eyes that she wasn’t expecting him to raise his voice at her.

“Well well, someone’s grown a spine. Too bad I’m just one call from snapping it back to pieces.” She fished out her phone, unlocked it, brought it to her Contacts app and held a finger over the screen displaying their mother’s cell phone number with the call button beneath her digit. While this should have Adrian in a panic, he felt confident in his answer to that.

“Do it then. I’m not coming back to the house. Why bother, didn’t you want my room the most so you weren’t sharing with Yanay?” Their other sister, one year younger and only a hair color from being Hana’s exact twin, was quite dim when it came to personal space and how talkative one should be.

“That’s besides the point. Mom said you weren’t supposed to leave the house. How’d you even get out past Manuel?” Her sudden suspicion as to how he was here and not a ghost rose higher than her need to honor her mother’s rules in making sure none of her younger siblings ever caused trouble without her knowledge, only to be answered with a cold breeze that crept up her neck.

“Why don’t you guess? I’m gonna go see if I can’t find where the action is.” Hana merely sneered and held onto him tighter.

“You’re not leaving, unless it’s to go straight home with Mom and Dad ready to chew you up and spit you o-” Hana was about to make the call to make Adrian’s life a living hell for disobeying their demands, only to find her phone missing from her hand and in its place a chain link. “What the fu-”

She didn’t even get to fully curse before she was suddenly forced onto the ground on her knees, bashing her bones against the pavement and making her shout in pain that went ignored thanks to the hyperactive crowd around the two of them. Nobody even stopped to see if she was alright, letting Adrian sigh in relief as his friend dealt with Hana.

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me….” He left, feeling Hana try to grab him again but slipping by a margin before falling straight to the ground. He heard her calling for help and knew someone’d come rescue her, so his pace was quickened to put as much distance between her and him as possible. Though once he got tired of bumping into people trying their best to look like Palio, he slid into a cracked door and breathed out after not detecting the smell of urine and body odor.

Because instead, he smelled ash and kerosene.

He looked around, noticing that besides the night lights from outside, the room was completely dark and left the combined noxious odors to flood his nostrils and make him cough. Soon, the door shut from a breeze outside and he thought he’d be left to choke on the fumes around him.

Only for a light to get flicked on nearby.

Decidueye had come to the rescue, using his wings to flap around and dissipate as much as the smell as he would so Adrian could take in fresh air before he was left with the tainted oxygen. Once he had enough, the owl stopped and the lad looked with more attention with lights on. It looked like the backroom of a sound stage, with all the equipment present showing dials and knobs meant for functioning with the atmosphere for the main area of the event; the ash smell came from the burn marks on the walls around him, looking like a fire had been started to ruin everything present but was held back by a sudden change of plans and thus left to sit after the flames were put out; and the gasoline aroma must be what was on the floor.

Adrian saw a door leading further into the building and he nodded to Decidueye-who quickly vanished from view with a quick flourish of their wing like one would a cape-before he quietly crept into the hallway the door led to. He didn’t hear anyone nearby, so he simply walked around as normally as one of his stature could allow. This must be the amphitheater, since he was near some concessions yet there held no clerks to operate them. A fleeting thought to nab some popcorn was swiftly wiped from his mind as he heard a door slam shut ahead of him in an area around the corner and he ducked behind a garbage can as he heard footsteps approach.

“...ke sure those two stay outta our hair while we let the boss get to work, huh?”

“I got the perfect idea-let’s screw ‘em!”

*Slap*”C’mon now, can’t you stop thinking with your dick first before you try something like that? It’s really uncomfortable for me.”

“Nah, think about it. If all it takes to get their kinda powers is through fucking their Pokemon, then they must give it to others if they get fucked, right?”

“Huh...that’s some sound logic there, Jack.”

“See what happens when ya let me have a say, George?”

“Cram it, we got work to do.”

Adrian saw two men finally walk past the garbage can, seeing them stop by the empty concession stands and break the glass blocking their reach from the goods with strong punches to their surfaces. George must be the big and burly one because he didn’t look like the kinda guy that thought of sex as a plan, while Jack looked like Padio if they decided to be a criminal with dirty hair. Anyway, Adrian used the noise as a means of a getaway, but his foot squeaked on the smooth floor and they both turned. He felt like a Deerling in headlights, slowly turning around to look at them, but they were...looking over him?

“Th’ hell was that?” George gazed around, wiping his hand clear of glass shards while staring at everything but the obvious Adrian in the middle of the room.

“Maybe some idiot’s looking for the bathroom. That’s our cue to hurry up and get everyone in position. Boss’ waiting for us.” They abandoned their original plan of getting some snacks and ran off towards the door Adrian had come through, ignoring the young man in clear view of them heading in the direction they arrived in. He stayed crouched down, barely able to process how he made it through that without them seeing him. Then, Decidueye reappeared next to him and urged him to go forward.

“Oh right, sorry bud.” Confusion aside, he stayed low to the ground while he looked around for a place that those two goons had come from. The first few places went nowhere but straight ahead, but after he got past them he came across three doors; one led forward to what was possibly the rest of the amphitheater to his, one led to his left, which he took was an optional way of getting to the seats since he noticed the bathrooms nearby, and the last one led to what he originally thought was a storage closet until he heard a whimper inside. Decidueye materialized to stare at him in concern, making him nod towards his faithful owl and proceeding forth. He moved forward towards the knob and slowly twisted it, letting it loudly creak open before pushing it out of the way.

Inside was nothing but an overhead light, and under it bound to a chair with a gag in their mouth was Padio the Siren-Palio’s gracious partner and high-note singer alongside his Primarina. They didn’t look as gracious as they did from their TV appearances, for their clothes were torn to bits and there was something shiny on their faces that kept their eyes shut. As soon as he smelled salt, he knew what the liquid was and bit back a gag as he kept going. He noticed Padio look towards him, making eye contact for a brief moment before looking towards the doorway then back down. Not seeing Adrian either, huh?

This sudden phenomenon of being invisible ended the second Adrian stood up, however, and the surprise showed in the bound hero’s dirty face.

He panicked, speaking through his gag while backing away from Adrian, though Decidueye came back into view and held them still so they didn’t draw Jack and George back to the room while the armed lad went about getting their mouth free.

“Ugh...please don’t tell me you’re with those filthy freaks…” Padio’s voice sounded strained, like he had been put through the wringer with his voice and barely scraped by.

“No, I’m just ...Well, I was looking for you and Palio...you see...I’m a b-big...fan…” The singer’s gaze deflated Adrian’s bravado from having rescued them and it went back into the dark corner of his mind where it belonged as it remained there.

But soon, Padio eased up and he sighed. “Look kid, there’s enough times for autographs some other time but listen. Those goons weren’t the only baddies here to crash this thing. They got Palio holed up somewhere and I’m pretty sure he’s worse off than me. So let’s get to getting us both out of here and our Pokemon, then we’ll talk about signing stuff, okay?”

That voice, which has helped both him and Palio out of tight situations from whatever snippets Adrian got to see on TV before retreating to his room, rang like a bell in his mind as he stood there. It woke him up from his fanboy freeze and he nodded.

“You’re right, sorry. Lemme help you out.” Adrian worked on trying to untie the lanky superhero before him, but found the knot was so complex that he couldn’t make any kind of headway getting it loose. Though Decidueye remedied the issue with a quick slash from his wing as it glowed green. A clean cut that let those thick ropes fall to the floor and allow Padio to stretch his arms while he untied the rest of his body himself.

“Thanks, fellas...This is a guy, right?” Decidueye answered with a “Hoo” and a nod, so Padio sighed in relief. “Okay cool, I hate assuming genders. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth more than those two...Okay, here’s the plan.” Adrian snapped into gear, as the authority within Padio’s voice seem to drag his focus to the man and it seemed to thrum within Decidueye for his eyes were locked on the pretty guy sitting in front of them. “I don’t know how you pulled off that cloaking trick, but if you can figure it out use it to find Palio. Those two will come back to try and get some rounds off me but I’m gonna lock the door, so you need to find the big guy fast. They couldn’t break my resolve, but I get the feeling with how macho Palio is they’ll have more ways to try and make him crack our secret ...Got it?”

Adrian and Decidueye nodded and said yes in their own respective tongues, to which Padio massaged his wrists and stood up to get to the door.

“Good, now hurry up. If what they told me while they were busy...pumping me for info...was true, then everyone in the audience’s gonna be turned into mindless slaves for their boss to do with as they pleased.”

The lad nodded, feeling the intensity of the situation bring his heart to a constant drumming as he walked out of the closet with Decidueye in tow. He made to turn around and say a few words but Padio was already shutting the door behind them and barricading it. And right on cue…

“HEY, WHO GOES THERE!?” Jack’s voice made Adrian’s body shiver from the creeped-out feeling he got listening to it, but he slowly dissolved into his own panic. This area didn’t have anywhere to hide that wouldn’t be obvious.

Decidueye suddenly yanked him to the side, motioning his wing into a downward position that Adrian understandably didn’t understand right away. It wasn’t until the owl took advantage of his lost stupor to shove him back down to a crouch before flashing him a thumbs-up and disappearing from view did he see the two goons return and ...scratch their heads in confusion.

“What the hell...coulda swore I heard somebody over here…” Adrian slowly put two and two together and quietly gasped as he could-he was invisible to them! He didn’t know why, but it seemed being so low to the ground rendered him unable to be seen, and Padio’s words about his “cloaking” made sense. So not even the superhero saw him coming until he stood up…

Until he stood up…

Adrian slowly meandered his way to the door once he saw the two busy themselves with trying to open the door Padio was behind, trying to slip through as quickly as possible since it too creaked from being messed with though the noises were masked by the goons’ banging and yelling at the freed hero to open up or they’d use force. Now in the deeper sections of the amphitheater’s back area, Adrian could see how an evil plot would be obvious for someone who wasn’t aware up until now.

The center stage was to his left, and he could see branded equipment that didn’t match the logo of the downtown area-which was a palm tree under a full moon, to which the one present was an evil purple face with horns-hooked up to the backdrop screens that could be deployed by remote control; up ahead was another section of concessions but it looked like it had been the area of a scuffle for glass was broken, discarded food was everywhere and there was broken furniture just about where Adrian could see from where he was situated; and there was a door with no light illuminating its presence to his right that had a light appear through its cracks before being followed by a ...scream of pain from a deep voice.

“Palio!” Adrian rushed over to the door, seeing the lights flash again and hearing a loud buzzing follow so he used it as a means to open the door…

But it was locked.

“Hoo.” The lad jumped as he saw Decidueye appear, backing away as the owl went up to the doorknob and seemingly pawed at it until he saw the tip of one of their arrows slip into the keyhole and get twisted. The door clicked open and the light show within was more visible, so Adrian righted himself before he got caught and slowly made his way in while the owl closed the door behind them.

It looked like the inside of a power plant in one room, complete with a miniature pylon of conducting electricity being used to power ...Adrian held back as gasp as he saw that the pylon was connected to a machine that was ...pumping a dildo into Palio the Great’s ass. The proud hero of the dynamic duo was being forcibly thrust into by a mechanical arm and he was already worn out if the pump connected to his erection barely sucking up any semen showed anything. Adrian felt sick. It was wrong to ever make somebody feel pleasure, and seeing that toy drill through the poor guy without mercy made his own butt clench in sympathy as he stood at the landing of the metal stairs that led down to the floor where it transpired. He was horrified, and rooted to the spot, so it took Decidueye’s quiet hooting into his ear to make him snap out of it just in time to see someone headed for the stairs.

“Who’s there!?” A loud voice riddled with venom boomed through the room, making Adrian’s blood run cold as it was followed with: “If you’re not Jack or George, I’ll be sure to leave you in pieces no one can recognize!” Decidueye urged him to move and he scooted over to the side to see a gray-haired man in a lab coat come up to the long landing. Right away, Adrian’s eyes were up in shock. It was Doctor Salao, Palio and Padio’s sworn archenemy!

He was infamous for his hypnosis experiments on innocent people and breaking them into the kind of puppets that’d never be cured of their strings, and Palio and Padio swore to always stop him. But he always managed to have a puppet ready to break him out of prison whenever he was incarcerated so he never stayed out of the public eye nor concern for long. His bespectacled face was riddled with scars and it made him more menacing to Adrian to see him in person just inches from kicking him in the face. But Decidueye pulled on him from close by and he nodded to slowly move past the maniacal doctor and down the stairs to Palio.

Listening to the hero get raped was like listening to someone with long nails scratch a chalkboard-or for Adrian specifically, the sound of someone scratching their fork against a clean plate-so the lad was somewhat quick to see ways of rescuing him once they got down to the ground and away from the doctor who walked up to the door to make sure it was locked. They didn’t have enough time, but Decidueye could be felt heading to the other side of the room to look for things to unplug while Adrian crept up to the trapped Palio to see if he could free him.

Then luck came the two unlikely heroes’ way in the form of Jack and George banging on the door outside.

“Yo boss!”, Jack called from the other side, “someone broke the pretty boy loose and we can’t get to ‘im! We need more firepower!”

“I already told you idiots to use their Pokemon-they fell to my spell easily enough, you just have to avoid saying the code word while you’re using them for your own pleasure!”

“We tried! We don’t know any of their moves….” The gray-haired man groaned in exasperation before he went back to the door and pushed his way out.

“The nerve of you two….” His voice faded as the door shut, and soon Adrian reappeared in sight to see Palio stuck looking at a screen with headphones in his ears. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it was supposed to be used for learning about the secret of his powers, so Adrian flicked the screen away and yanked the headphones off. The man still stared blankly however, only rocking forward and back thanks to the machine still going behind him up until Decidueye found the cable connecting it to any power and thus turning it off. Adrian saw a button to release the man’s full body bonds and pressed it only to see them come loose and let Palio the Great slump to the floor in a heap.

He was indeed worse-looking that Padio did; he had been beaten, waterboarded since his face wasn’t smeared with you-know-what, had his clothes torn into so many pieces it was impossible to consider him decent thanks to his barely covered chest, legs and back, and left with a raw back door after Adrian checked on the damages left behind by the toy that Decidueye sliced in half with another Leaf Blade. After assessing everything, the lad went back to try and snap the man out of it and shook him a bit.

“Mr. Palio! Mr. Palio, we’re here to rescue you.” Adrian shouted at first, but realized that was probably a really bad idea considering he was supposed to be sneaking around, and a quick slap to the back of the head from the owl proved it was indeed a terrible idea before he righted himself. However, the older human didn’t even budge, seemingly unconscious from the ordeal he endured for god knows how long. The lad looked to his partner, who looked back at him once they noticed him staring. “What do we do?”

Decidueye made a thinking pose, staring between the machine Palio had been hooked up to and the door Doctor Salao left through before coming to an idea that made them chirp quietly. Adrian stared at them make some motions like a game of charades, starting with a quick measure of Palio’s head before making an outward gesture with their beak towards him.

“Uh…..” The owl’s face palm was almost loud enough to be heard by someone else, but then he decided to try and give it a different go. He motioned to Palio’s ear and decided to try something new-he groped himself. Adrian blushed immediately and backed away. “Don’t think this is the time to be fucking, buddy…”

Decidueye looked to Palio after, seeing no chance to the unmoving man and motioning to his ear again before moving to make more gestures to their crotch. Adrian shook his head. “No, I don’t wanna play with your dick.” Again, the owl looked to the older human before coming back before Adrian to make motions. Only then did it finally hit him.

“The code word!” Decidueye slapped him for yelling, but after he brought his head back the owl was nodding furiously. He made another groping gesture at Adrian, leading him to try guessing the word that could snap Palio out of his stupor. “Uh...Cock?” Nothing. “Balls?” Nothing. “Nuts?” Nothing. “Daddy?” Nothing, but Decidueye gave him a weird look. “Uh...Butt?”

At that once, Decidueye suddenly perked up, looked towards the door, and gestured Adrian to hurry up while he went to grab a nearby plank of driftwood to block the door. He knew they were coming back from the rushed pace of the owl and kept on firing words that left his face redder than the chili he made yesterday.

“Dick...no I used that….Cum….No...Seed….No….Sex….No...Fuc-Wait, I used that too….Ugh this is such a pain in the ass.”

The moment Adrian uttered ‘ass’, Palio suddenly shot up like he was in a nightmare and was allowed to wake up and making the lad shout in surprise.

“Hey, who’s in there!?” Doctor’s Salao’s voice sounded like liquid fire being thrown into Adrian’s throat as he heard the man try and open the door with Decidueye using his own body as a weight. Palio shook his head and sat up a bit seeing as he was still in pain.

“Oh my word...Feels like my faithful partner Blaze beat me to a pulp for hiding his favorite stash of catnip and screwed me in my sleep ...Hello, young man, where am I?” Palio’s voice felt like royal fanfare to Adrian, for it invigorated him to the prospect of being the hero for his heroes.

“Okay uh, Mr. Palio. I’m here to rescue you and Padio the Siren from your archenemy. He uh...kidnapped the both of you and tried to hypnotize you while he….” Adrian didn’t want to say, only pointing to the halved dildo on the floor and seeing the older man shudder looking at it. “Anyway, I’m gonna see if we can get you out of here.”

“I don’t think we’ll be getting anywhere quietly.”

“Why?”

Palio pointed towards the staircase, which made Adrian look back only to freeze as Doctor Salao was there seething down at him like he just stomped on their balls and tried to get away with it thrice. That face felt like he was being Scary Face’d by a Houndoom and it made him lock up in place, not even moving as the evil doctor stomped his way down to the floor with the downed Palio.

“I don’t know...how you got Padio free…..or Palio free ...without either me or my henchmen...noticing ...but your lucky streak is over, boy!” Doctor Salao yanked a PokeBall out of his coat and threw it to the ground, making it open up to reveal a Hypno. “Now then, let’s see if we can’t make you my next victim!”

This felt like one of the clippings of Palio and Padio in actions, a really bad recording showing the three of them about to engage in a Pokemon battle but Salao commanding his Hypno to use Hypnosis to put the duo in a trance only to…

“Use Hypnosis on that twerp!” The creepy hypnotist aimed their pendulum towards Adrian and fired colorful rays of energy towards him, his quick relapse to times of heroism getting him to hop out of the way and behind cover while staying crouched. Doctor Salao and his evil partner came around but Adrian felt a smirk of pride arise as the doctor looked around in confusion.

“Where’d that brat go!?” The old man kicked the machine that Adrian was situated next to, knocking it over and rendering it unusable and thus making the evil man snarl in more anger. All the while, the lad snuck back over to Palio and covered his mouth when he whispered into their ear:

“Hold still. My buddy’ll get you out of here. I’ll take care of Doctor Salao.” The older man nodded in understanding and laid back down to play possum since the doctor wasn’t even regarding the fact that he was free from their control, Adrian feeling that familiar chilling breeze rush past him before he saw Palio begin to “float” off the ground and slowly drift towards the door that had been left open by Salao. This left Adrian alone with Salao, who was practically foaming at the mouth until he suddenly had an idea the lad didn’t like one bit once he heard it.

“I know what’ll get him out! Hypno, use Psychic and look for the boy’s mind!” The big-nosed creature closed their eyes, body glowing a bright cyan as they slowly scanned the room. Adrian noticed them starting with the corner on his right so he went as far left as he could without scruffing his shoe against the stone floor before he found a good vantage point behind the tipped-over rape machine. He knew he’d need his bow to truly pull this off, so he hesitantly brought it out from its hold around his back and grabbed one of his old arrows.

The second he took aim from between the machine’s back legs, he paused. He heard his mom shrieking for him in his head and his grip began to slacken. He heard her calling him names, threatening to send him to rehabilitary school for juveniles, he heard her threaten his life with Manuel and scores of others, and worst of all he heard her saying he wasn’t her son. A tear fell from his eye as he froze, seeing the Hypno slowly bring their form to a full stop near where he hid. He just...couldn’t….

No ...he could. He wasn’t in the woods training his aim to be true with one arrow a week until his mother and/or father came hunting for them with or without their Pokemon in tow, he wasn’t out in the woods running from either of them as he attempted to try and get away from them and he wasn’t crying his eyes out as he dealt with the barrage of insults from his whole family. No...this was the real world, where there are worse dangers than an angry set of parents and their disciplinary Pokemon in tow.

The second the Hypno opened their eyes, they had their pendulum snapped out of their hands by an unseen arrow, making Salao confused as to why it was sticking in the wall. “Hypno, are you playing your tricks again? Did you find the boy first!?”

When they pointed to where they sensed him, he shot another that got them in their white mane and sent them into the wall hanging from the puncturing object inches from their neck. They moved to remove it, but he shot another for the other side and two more for their arms so they stayed put. This didn’t make Salao happy one bit-Hypno’s powers were channeled through their pendulum and they were deadweight without it-and he growled from where he could tell the arrows where whizzing at him.

“LISTEN HERE, YOU LITTLE TWERP! I’LL GIVE YOU ONE GOOD CHANCE TO SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE BEATDOWN I’M ABOUT TO GIVE YOU TO COME OUT AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN! I DON’T CARE IF YOU RESCUED THOSE PARADING PERVERTS, I’LL KILL YOU HERE AND NOW AND DEAL WITH THEM LATER ONCE MY PLAN COMMENCES!” Salao laughed in that crazed series that plagued Adrian’s dreams one night after listening to it from upstairs, digging into their coat for a remote that seemed to activate something that neither the lad nor Decidueye had tended to prior to them freeing Palio. “AND NOW, I’M GONNA HYPNOTIZE THE PEOPLE HERE AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STO-”

Salao’s yelling was cut short when Adrian not only stood up to break his invisibility from the stairs, but he had shot an arrow the second he was visible and left the doctor to go sailing into the wall near his Hypno. He moved to get himself free, but he found himself getting the full arsenal left in Adrian’s quiver as he was stuck in a comical position that belonged in ancient glyphs from ruin sightings.

“I’ll figure something out, for now ...Hang in there.” He felt a swelling of pride grow in him as he heard Doctor Salao snarl at him as he left the power room, hanging his now useless bow back on his body and making a dash for the center stage. He saw the generators for what he knew was displaying hypnotic screenings to the crowd outside, so he yanked on them as best he could. But, they wouldn’t budge and soon his confidence began to slip as his grip did and he shot back from the room once he realized he couldn’t do it. Just when he was about to defiantly try again, he felt a hand on his shoulder. One look to the arm…

And he saw the red, tattered remains of Palio’s superhero uniform hanging off the banged-up flesh.

“Allow me, my boy.” Palio walked past, thankfully wearing protection over his butt in the form of hastily sewn-on popcorn bags so Adrian didn’t have a visual on the damage, and watched as the man effortlessly ripped the Salao boxes away from the stage’s controls and left them to frizzle and go kaput. Adrian was helped up after they were all disposed of, feeling the raw power in Palio’s grip bringing him back up to that determined air he had when he stopped Salao.

“We did it!” The lad couldn’t help himself, even going as far as hugging the big guy, until he remembered that Palio the Great didn’t fly solo and he suddenly jumped back in a panic. “Wait, where’s Padio!? And your Pokemon!? And my bu-”

“Calm down, my boy. They’re alright. Why don’t you say hi to them?” Palio pointed behind the lad, bringing Adrian to see Padio being helped to walk by his Primarina and Blaze with Decidueye behind them all with his bow at the ready. Once the four saw Adrian and Palio, they all cheered in their respective tongues except Padio who groaned after letting out a “Hooray”.

“Buddy, you’re okay!” Adrian rushed out to greet his owl, snagging them into a hug that woulda been crushing if not for their lack of ability to feel pain from such a basic contact, and feeling those feathered arms wrap around him too. “We did it! We stopped a madman and his goons! You did stop them, right?”

Padio chipped in, who was led to lean into a nearby wall to recover while his Primarina sang towards him. “He did good ...After their boss told them how to use our Pokemon against me, he snuck up behind them and stuck them to the wall with his little arrows with chains on the tails ...they won’t be going anywhere for awhile…Then...before they”, Padio gestured to his Pokemon and then Palio’s, “ did me in for good, he screeched at them and they suddenly snapped out of whatever trance they were in…”

Adrian felt a blush return to his face as he rubbed the back of his head. “Who woulda thought that an evil doctor would make Ass a code word to break a hypnosis, huh?”

Both Palio and Padio looked ready to reprimand the lad for cursing, but after a minute of silence the two of them and their somewhat scratched-up Pokemon laughed up a storm that Adrian and Decidueye joined up in after a bit. Relieving the air of the tension seemed to allow it, and soon they were all laughing things off like Palio didn’t need medical attention for his insides nor Padio for any seminal traces.

Then Doctor Salao cut in with his loud voice.

“YOU’RE LAUGHING NOW, BUT YOU KNOW THE DRILL YOU BAND OF MERRY IDIOTS! I’LL GET OUT OF PRISON, I’LL COME UP WITH A NEW PLAN AND I’LL HIRE BETTER HENCHMEN!” This got Palio’s attention, who limped to the power room with his Incineroar and looked inside to see the doctor stuck on the wall with his Pokemon. He turned back to Adrian, who seemed wondrous as to why, before the older man put two and two together and laughed some more.

“Well my boy, you’ve impressed me with the craftsmanship! I always thought young folks would stick to play-PokeBalls and dioramas of battle stadiums!” Hearing Palio’s praise made Adrian blush, but Padio made it worse by patting him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you get used to having him toot your horn pretty hard.”

“I heard that Padio!” The burly of the two was suddenly steaming mad, reminding Adrian of that clip of them trying to defeat Salao but having a bitter argument about superheroes and when it’s appropriate to wear capes that led to the very man nearly going off his hinges to get at Padio before the singer snapped him out of it with an agreement before they teamed the old man.

“Oh calm down, you big oaf. We still have a show to put on, remember?” At this, that’s when the panic set in.

“M-my family! They’re out there probably under a trance-that’s what those weird box things were doing before you broke them!” Adrian gestured to the sparking generators of Hypnosis projectors in the next room. “We gotta snap them out of it!”

“Well, we have the code word to free ‘em thanks to you, kid.” Palio came back into the scene with Blaze at his side, who rumbled his agreement and crossed his arms. Padio’s Primarina shrugged and soon he too joined in on being sure. And with the floor on Adrian, he realized he and Decidueye were being expected to do something.

“Well yeah...I do ...but uh…”

“Well, my boy?”

“Uh…….”

[[]]

The crowd was out of it, standing still in a group like a murder of crows prepared to nip the carrion off an area of dead carcasses that had yet to stop breathing. No one was left untouched by Doctor Salao’s plan-people, Pokemon, and the people and Pokemon who peeked at the amphitheater from outside the area from where it was held were trapped a daze that no one could break them out of as they all gazed at the stage’s screens which originally held the hypnotic suggestions on-screen for them to be duped by.

All hope was lost…

Until Padio ran on stage with a working microphone and shouted:

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS-uh.” Right away, the whole area began to snap out of it, those who weren’t affected having to cover their ears from how loud the singer was from the speakers being used, and soon everyone was looking around in confusion before eyes locked onto the banged-up hero and cheers of both excitement and concern rose at his current state. “Thank you, thank you, I’m gonna get checked out soon so don’t worry your pretty faces over for long.”

“After all”, there was a familiar, heroic shout from above, the crowd barely seeing the unknown figure bound off the top of the stage before descending into a ball of flames that crashed onto the floor to reveal...Palio, “we still have a big announcement to make!”

The crowd was back in good spirits, and even higher ones once Padio’s Primarina came out in a beautiful display of water jets from an Aqua Jet that dispersed before anyone got wet while Palio’s Incineroar came out in a similar fashion as his trainer but bigger and hotter. Their famous poses went on for a bit before Padio straightened up and started speaking again.

“Right folks, now you may be wondering...folks...calm down ...Yes, thank you. You may be wondering why we’re all beaten up like this.” The singer had to get the crowd to chill out for a bit but the power of his voice had them listening attentively. “Well, it’s simple. Doctor Salao came for us while we were busy planning this event for you all.”

“And”, Palio joined in once he secured a microphone, “he got us good.”

“We thought it’d be the end of our dynamic duo.”

“Especially with his plan to turn you all into his hypnotized puppets with the very screens you see behind us, folks!”

“But we were saved in the nick of time…”

“By a very, courageous young lad! And here he is!”

Both Palio and Padio gestured to the portion of stage between them, nothing there for the crowd to process and thus leaving them confused. Then the two heroes winked to the stupefied gathering, and right on cue Adrian appeared seemingly from thin air between the super duo. He waved and sympathetic cheers rang from the crowd as he stood there embarrassed. But he was saved as Palio and Padio took to his shoulders respectively to explain.

“He saved me from a very dirty lifestyle that Salao’s goons were more than happy to dish out to this pretty face.” Padio brushed his palm over his face, letting the people see the pearly white goo still drying on him and getting some of the ladies to faint.

“He saved me from being Salao’s personal toy-that baddie nearly tore my butt in two!” Palio gingerly patted his bagged-up rear end, seething as the pain was still there but not as great as it was earlier.

“And most importantly…”, Padio came back in, “he helped save you all from being drones waiting to serve, because he cracked the code word that I set you all free with just before we began, right Palio?”

“That’s right, my faithful siren! Can we have a round of applause for Adrian here!?” Normally, there shouldn’t be so much as two hands coming together to clasp one’s leg in hopes it wouldn’t fall asleep for such a stranger with no visible qualities to seem redeeming, but Palio’s energy rubbed off on the crowd and with a slow start up the crowd kicked up into good cheers once again. The lad was red-faced, waving as much as he could without seeming too modest nor too egotistical.

But that high came crashing down when he heard:

“ADRIAN VERA CALIPENO!” The clapping stopped right away, some spotlights finding where that banshee of a voice had originated and letting the lad see the twisted visage of his angry mother joined by his family. “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP PLAYING THESE DANGEROUS GAMES!? AND NOW YOU’VE GONE TO CONVINCE SOME HONEST, HARD-WORKING MEN THAT YOU DID SOMETHING TO HELP THEM!? I’M GONNA COUNT TO THREE, AND WHEN I DO IF YOU’RE NOT OFF THAT STAGE AND IN THE FAMILY CAR, I’M GONNA KILL YOU MYSELF!”

Adrian was shaken. He was just reprimanded in front of god knows how many people and all of that courage from besting Salao, the bravery he felt when he rescued both Palio and Padio from being slaves to the doctor and the excitement of doing something risky that wasn’t simply a tough Pokemon battle drained out of him. He was rooted there, unable to move as he stared as his mom with that shocked face. He thought he was gonna cry….

“Uh, could someone please uh...remove all of those folks from the crowd? They’re interrupting something important.” Palio’s awkward tone got the security-who seemed rather lenient up until this point-on-duty and ushering Adrian’s mother and the rest of his family towards the exits. They were all yelling, mostly bits of how unfair it was for him to have some spotlight when he was a good-for-nothing man and the small tidbits of him being dead weight from his parents until they were inaudible.

Adrian hadn’t moved until he felt Padio’s Primarina tap him on the shoulder and hug him. Blaze joined in, and soon both of their trainers joined in on trying to bring the lad’s spirits back in order...and finally, he blinked.

“He lives, folks!” The crowd cheered again, bringing the color back to his face and air back to his lungs for he hadn’t breathed during the whole ordeal.

“Wh-what…? Where…?”

“We got rid of your naysayers”, Padio ruffled Adrian’s head, making him whine as it had something sticky in his hair now, “for they did not belong to your crowning achievement.”

“C-crowning?” This was where Palio jumped back in.

“Well, my boy? You’ve shown us that you have what it takes to stand up to injustice, stand up for those without a voice, and stand up for those who cannot defend themselves against the clutches of evil. I think I speak for the four of us when I say ...I'd be honored if you joined us and make us a crime fighting trio.”

The crowd fawned the scene with audible “Aww”’s, leaving Adrian to feel like his heart was gonna explode. And for a minute, he felt like it was with how hard it beat against his chest. But soon, he felt a familiar chill on the back of his neck and a hug embraced him before he ended up saying gibberish. Feeling himself calm, he nodded.

“Yes ...I'll join you.” The crowd voiced their approval of his decision very loudly, nearly making his eardrums bust until Padio’s Primarina covered his ears with a giggle. Once she let go, Padio knelt down to him again.

“Sorry, you’ll get used to being supported by more than just a handful of people soon ...Hey, where’s your friend? I hope he didn’t miss the big announcement!” The singer’s voice sounded as melodramatic as a bad actor trying not to show off their inexperience in an audition, but it still worked as the crowd looked around in confusion. Friend?

Then Adrian’s body suddenly had a bunch of feathers on it and collective gasps filled the amphitheater as Decidueye rematerialized on top of the boy much to their enjoyment.

[[]]

Adrian was ecstatic. Ecstatic and silent. He just saved his all-time favorite crime fighting superhero duo from certain doom, saved dozens of people from an evil supervillain’s plan to turn everyone into his slaves and just got asked to join the aforementioned duo’s superhero team to which he said yes. And after it all, his best buddy Decidueye was right there with him as always.

Palio’s Incineroar and Padio’s Primarina seemed to be in quite good spirits to see their missing final evolutionary stage starter within their ranks, for they were hugging, pawing and encouraging him to be a bit more vocal but meeting his shy chirps and quiet hoots. Adrian walked behind them, eyeing the scene with a chuckle here and there.

“You know, you almost had me fooled for a bit there, kid.” Padio suddenly stopped the trio of guys heading off from the amphitheater after having dismantled the area of the duo’s memorabilia and leaving it cleansed of evil activity.

“Huh? What do ya mean?” Adrian was confused. When did he try to trick Padio?

“You don’t remember? Back when you first rescued me. I thought you were some sort of solo vigilante with a high-tech cloaking device when you came up to free me, but when I saw your friend I knew exactly what I saw.”

“Oh? Does that mean we recruited another like us, my dear friend Padio?” Palio’s voice sounded hopeful, like someone waiting on good news to be confirmed to be good.

“Yep. The kid’s definitely an Awoken like us.” Adrian watched as Palio suddenly started hopping around like a mad man, his Incineroar sweat-dropping up ahead and getting the other two Pokemon to chuckle at the feline’s expense before turning to Padio.

“Awoken?” The singer knelt down to explain.

“Did you ever look at those times our acts were put on televisions and thought that those water shots I shot out of my hands or Palio’s fire that he seems to conjure from seemingly nowhere and went ‘Those were some well-done special effects’?” Now that it was asked, Adrian always wondered how phones no matter the camera quality always caught the highly definitive moments of Palio and Padio using their “superpowers” in a fight against Salao and he nodded his head. “Well, what if I told you that they weren’t special effects?”

Adrian was flabbergasted immediately, gazing at the singer like he just told him he had four feet and a third eye on his back. “They aren’t?”

“Nope. See?” Padio held out his palm to the lad, letting him see pure water form above his hand from out of nowhere before it formed a ball of rippling fluids. “Did it look like I put you behind a camera to edit that into something you’d see in movies?”

“...No. No it didn’t.”

“Well kid, that’s one of the many benefits of being Awoken. The stronger your bond with a Pokemon, the more “woke” you are to the true extents of what that bond offers. The only reason why you don’t see it in your average, everyday trainers…”

Palio ceased his jumping spree, landing right in front of Adrian and leaning down like a father greeting their little infant as they run around with their toys. “Because the two of us has engaged in the act that not only solidifies the bond but strengthens to a point where our bodies began to show signs of how deeply we cherish our partners.”

Adrian tried to wrap his head around it, eyeing the duo staring down at him and up ahead to their Pokemon, who had all stopped to see the commotion like a late audience yet to reveal themselves. “Uh...how?”

“By sex of course!” Padio sweat-dropped at Palio’s exclamation and suddenly sneered his way over to the big man.

“Way to make it seem casual, Palio. Don’t trivialize such a sacred act by making it sound like it’s an everyday thing!”

“But do we not do it everyday ourselves?”

“Yes, but don’t make it seem like a little deal to Adri-” The two of them managed to catch the lad gazing at them with a reddened face and a nose bleed, only for him to suddenly fall over with a goofy face.

He came back to a minute later but the big reveal was still on his head. “...So y-you two ...have…..s-s-s-ex ...with your Pokemon….”

“Yes, our crime fighting partners are our partners in bed as well, my boy.” Palio made sure Adrian was okay by rubbing his head as a father does for their son.

“And”, Padio made sure the ground was clean with a quick Water Pulse, “we grow closer and connect with each night we share our bodies and become one.”

“Of course, this also led to very notable effects of the bond we had.”

“Such as the powers I showed you earlier.”

“And the best part!” Palio suddenly stood up straight, suddenly letting himself get engulfed in a flurry of flames that had him brighter than the night lights of the abandoned park they were walking through. Adrian shielded his eyes and only uncovered them until he was tapped on the shoulders to be allowed to look. And what he saw had his jaw drop.

Palio was not only okay, but he had transformed from the big and burly human that dwarfed him and Padio in sheer size alone to an…

Incineroar!

The only discernible features between him and the faithful cat posing behind him was their eyes; the normal feline’s was the usual yellow with black slits, while Palio’s was white with blue slits.

“Whoa….” Adrian was amazed. To think that a bond between a trainer and a Pokemon could be forged so deep into their spirits that they start sharing their own visage….

“You only catch us like this when times are most dire, so I’m not surprised that you’re surprised, my boy.” In that same flurry of fire, Inciner-Palio was gone and he was human again as if he wasn’t just a big, hulking cat.

“Indeed, I believe only one lady caught us changing into Pokemon but we asked her not to give it to the TV station so Doctor Salao could have less and less evidence that our powers come from our Pokemon instead of radiation as it’s been rumored by folks.”

“But”, Palio came back over and held Adrian’s shoulder, “if tonight proved anything, it’s that Salao’s slowly catching on to our dynamic duo’s trick.”

“But”, Padio cut in before it seemed like Palio’s news seemed a bit too foreboding to just be a comment, “we have you now and together we’ll be able to make Salao’s plans more and more likely to fail.”

“Yes, you and your partner Decidueye...Where’d he go?” The duo looked around, only for Adrian to feel that chill and feel his arms become prisoner to his torso while he felt a force nuzzle his face. “Hmm, must have given us the slip. Ah, I’m sure he’s around. After all, he wouldn’t want to miss our hideout!”

Adrian had to fight with a lot of willpower not to let that slip out of mind as quickly as it got in, for Decidueye’s nuzzling was very comforting and left him feeling ready for bed at times. “Hideout?”

“Yessir, my boy! Why else do you think I had to put in a code for the gate back there?” Palio and Padio suddenly split away from each other, slamming their hands on the patterned rocks at their feet. Right away, two of them glowed red and blue, and soon the ground before them all split open into an obvious door revealing a staircase that swirled down deep if the darkness was any sign. “Come along now, my boy! We have to show you our base of operations sooner!”

The two barely clothed men ran down first, leaving Adrian to haul Decidueye with him as the former two’s Pokemon ran in before him and left the door to shut behind them all until Blaze’s belt was the only light source. Then Palio joined in with a handful of fire and led the way further. Adrian was sure he’d get dizzy by the time they got to what he presumed was the halfway point but he felt Decidueye soothe him with quiet head pats. Though eventually, they all came down to a landing that was on level ground and the lad felt like he just went on a merry-go-round at a fast speed with all the winding stairs.

“Come along, my boy. We have venturing to do still!” Palio ran forth with his energetic Incineroar, Padio let his graceful Primarina hold onto his slim body so he could carry her forth and Adrian merely panted from the effort to get to this point before continuing to carry Decidueye on his back. Lights flashed on as they ran, showing off enlarged newspaper clippings of the duo’s past deeds against Doctor Salao. They passed through a door of the rest of the corridor, showing crude but heartfelt gifts bestowed to Palio and Padio of them alongside their Pokemon in poses that looked hard to construct by hand. Finally, they got past the next door and they were all in some sort of secret base.

There were bridges that led to other parts, but the one they were walking up led to what Adrian assumed was a supercomputer with all of the strange keys and many screens it had, so the journey into the deep end ended right there as Palio and Padio suddenly stripped out of their shredded uniforms and walked onto two circular platforms nearby. Adrian yelped and hurried to cover his eyes.

“No need to be ashamed, my boy! Nudity is quite alright in the Hero Cave!”

“Besides, if you’re really gearing up to be Awoken like us, you’re gonna have to get used to being naked. I mean, how else are we gonna use the healing stations when we come back banged up from a fight?” Padio’s words made Adrian peek from between his fingers, watching the two of them get surrounded in light sensors that seemed to wash over the wounds, bruises and cuts that left them looking worse for wear. Almost instantly, they regained their perfect, unmarred faces after some more full-body scans before they stepped out. The lad simply kept his gaze up, but knowing they were bare made it hard to just look them in the eye without paying attention to every bit.

“Are those…?” They looked completely healed and refreshed, like Pokemon that come out of a Pokemon Center.

“They sure are, my boy! We were quite amazed to know that they worked on us, so we had to establish our own in our base!”

“It’s definitely better than coffee for a pick-me-up.” From there, they walked up to the computer in the middle of the base, pressing on one of the buttons and having two tubes drop down from above and dispense something into their hands. Judging from them both suddenly leaning in to put on shirts, it was casual clothes to wear and Adrian was relieved to see that they were no longer bare and exposed. And seeing them in normal gear let Adrian take notice to Palio’s rather pointy mustache reaching out from his face and Padio’s smooth and silk-like skin.

He may have been told it was okay, but he was still at the brink of being disciplined excessively about the likes of nudity.

“So kiddo, anything you wanna ask us while we’re still up?”

“I’m sure you have a lot of things to get off your chest before we really start being a crime fighting trio, my boy.”

They were back in front of Adrian, kneeling down with short smiles on their faces as they waited for him to speak. He was suddenly coming to dislike having the floor but Decidueye’s wings pinched his cheeks and it got his brain working. “Uh...Are you guys the...only Awoken?”

Padio answered. “No actually. We’ve fought others who were just like us that Salao mistook for stronger variants of the Pokemon they turned into. They were the result of people thinking that you get more power with the more sex you have.”

“The fools”, Palio chimed in, “believed that if they could be equal to their partners in strength rather than equals as a whole, then they’d be an unstoppable force.”

“But all they achieved was them turning into Pokemon and staying that way until they went mad. A true bond, which is what me, Palio and soon you will share, allows you to stay human while still having the benefits of being bonded to your Partner with some of their abilities, powers and habits.”

Adrian nodded his understanding to that, since it was simple enough to see that having too much sex for the sake of being stronger simply wasn’t going to cut it. It helped limit who truly loved their Pokemon and those who simply liked being powerful, but then he asked: “Wait, habits?”

“Yes, my boy.” Palio stood up, gesturing to his Incineroar who was busy playing with a ball of yarn. “My partner’s feline antics are bound to me as I am to him. I like catnip, hate water, and love to fit in small spaces like boxes.”

“The old ‘if I fits, I sits’ joke”, Padio clarified, “that frankly wore itself out when people who weren’t even cats tried to make it into their own thing.”

“The fools….” Adrian gulped at the deep tone the burly man used but kept on asking.

“What about you, Padio?”

The singer chuckled, bringing a hand to his chest like he were about to take a bow but remained on one knee. “Well, you’ve seen it in action. Being bonded to a Pokemon that sings means I’m gonna be singing. And sometimes I get a bit crazy as to how my hair looks.”

“Don’t forget the motherly instincts for baby Water types, Padio!”

“Yeah, that too.” Palio laughed while his long-time partner sweat-dropped and rubbed the back of his head. That must be one of his embarrassing habits if Adrian had to tell.

“What keeps you two as true Awoken then, if you say you have sex every night…?”

The two of them looked between each other and then their Pokemon-with their Pokemon looking over as if they heard the question as well-before looking back at Adrian to which Padio answered first. “If you truly love your Pokemon and don’t see them as just some plaything for your enjoyment, then it’s a lot easier to keep the intimacies in moderation so you don’t become a sex maniac.”

Adrian nodded to that. Even though he and Decidueye were a couple by the owl’s standards, they only got that frisky whenever they could. Which totaled to almost never thanks to his family. “I get that. It seems a lot more precious if it’s not all the time.”

“One round should be plenty. Let everything go in that one round, and you won’t even need any more to be satisfied as you satisfy yourself and your Partner. Though I’ll have to ask if he shows himself, we can’t feel like a trio if our Pokemon don’t look like a trio.” At this, a warm feeling washed over Adrian, feathers materializing into view with Decidueye’s head appearing on top of his.

“There’s the feathered hero! Why’re you shy?” The owl hooted in his single syllable, though the duo nodded in understanding which left Adrian confused.

“Can you understand him?” He was greeted with both men nodding.

“Oh yes, my boy. Just one of the many benefits to being with a Partner-understanding their language and being able to respond back in kind as opposed to assuming their emotions. It makes feeling connected, and as one, feel a lot more than just a one-sided relationship.”

Adrian looked up to Decidueye, who in turn looked down at him, before the owl pinched his cheeks again and he whined in response from the pain. The two men laughed at the playful gesture, their Pokemon stepping over and watching the two recruits like they were newborns roughhousing. They came to a stop after a bit and Padio popped a question. “So, kid. Where’s your Poke Ball for the big guy?”

At this, the lad froze and in turn the owl did too. They shared a fleeting glance before looking to the singer together. Eventually, Decidueye answered since Adrian didn’t and Padio stood up in surprise.

“You never caught him? And yet you two are aspiring to be an Awoken pair?” Palio’s face of shock left Adrian worried until they finally snapped out of it and chimed in.

“That’s beautiful! A bond so pure and needing no machines to bind you two together as a means of master and pet to be perfect! And you’ve already started to develop powers from your Partner!? I knew we had made the right choice in recruiting you, my boy! You’re going to make a wonderful team in the future!”

The burly man’s words felt heartwarming to Adrian, getting him to blush and rub his hand into his hair-which thankfully didn’t feel dirty anymore-while Palio continued to fawn over their relationship. “Th-thanks…”

“However”, Padio cut into the sweet moment, “it means that you will need to keep your Partner safe from capture. If anyone finds out he’s wild, they’re gonna do everything in their power to make him theirs instead of yours. And I don’t think there’s any fighting a full memory overwrite to make them follow orders from a trainer.”

Adrian gulped. He hadn’t thought about that. He looked to Decidueye, who had moved off his head and stood next to him. They had a strong bond, but could it beat the power of a PokeBall? The concern in Adrian’s eyes were recognized, for Decidueye let out a “Hoo” and beamed to him as a means to keep his chin up.

“He says he’ll never leave you no matter what.” Padio joined in on the moment, seeing as Palio and his Partner were busy chasing yarn. “And since you need someone to translate, I suggest using your first night to experiment on what gets the both of you ready for a moment of passion so you can make your bonds stronger.”

That was essentially a command to “fuck” and the two of them were blushing up a storm, Adrian coming to nod once Padio stood there waiting for an answer before taking the gesture and standing up straight.

“Right. I’m sure you have more things in mind, but for now we should head to bed. We have our rooms soundproofed so don’t worry about hearing anything you don’t wanna hear. Okay, kid?”

Adrian gulped again and nodded. “Okay…”

“Good, now let’s go. Gotta let you see where you’re staying while you’re with us.” Padio held his hand out to take, and once Decidueye situated themselves on Adrian again he took the offer and followed the singer with his mermaid while the other two followed after them in their own way. The bridge they walked on thankfully didn’t rock from the two “cats” contesting for yarn, so Adrian didn’t have to wonder what a fall felt like as they got across and walked through another set of automatic double doors.

This corridor was shorter than the one they took to get into the center of the Hero Cave, so Adrian was glad they didn’t have a far walk from the supercomputer-which he assumed was the base of operations-while inside the living quarters. He was introduced to the living room, which was your standard furniture-loaded chamber with a TV to watch; he was introduced to a dining room, which held a table for six despite there only being four of them as a team; and just before they reached the end, he saw the kitchen that looked fitted to belong in a manor with how pristine it looked in such a short space. Finally, Padio brought him in front of three doors; one colored red on the left, one colored blue on the right and one blank dead center. It didn’t take a genius to know which was Adrian’s.

“Your room has a bathroom, so no need to fight for showers in the morning. Unless Palio clogs his again.”

“That was ONE time and you know it!” There’s that comical rage that made Adrian snicker at the man’s short temper when it came to Padio and their bickering.

“Yeah yeah, now why don’t you two get settled? Once we cover the basics of what being a superhero like us is all about, we’ll let you decide on how to decorate your room and everything will feel like home.” Home…

That word thrummed a sad chord in Adrian’s mind and he looked down, finally shedding a tear as he remembered his family scorning him for trying to be a hero and saving them despite needing no order to do so. Palio took notice and came down to support.

“Listen, my boy. I know seeing them at their worst probably left quite a mark in your mind. I should know-my father always beat me for trying to be a dancer instead of a Pokemon trainer!” Palio laughed it off like he found child abuse beneath his concerns and Adrian stared at him until Padio joined in.

“My parents hated that I always snuck out of the house to practice my singing with the local Pokemon at the beach, instead of playing with my friends and learning how to be a Trainer.”

“Imagine their surprise when they see the ‘letdown’...”

“The ‘oddball out trying to be so different’...”

“And the one they try to love the least….”

“”Become a hero with their faithful Partners by their side.”” The simultaneous outburst struck a bell within Adrian and he gasped. They were right, he didn’t need to hold himself back. He had a new family now-one that was actually concerned over his well-being rather than just themselves and making him seem like a pest. The last mental image of his hateful parents and his jeering siblings faded with him wiping his tear away and stepped forward to speak.

“I’ll be a hero. Right with you guys. No holds barred.” The two men nodded and collectively gave his hair a ruffling he hoped would be occasional with how much it made his head rock back and forth. “Hey come on, it takes like an hour to make it look normal!”

“Oh, you’ll live. You and pretty boy here might be taking leaves from each other’s books soon, I’m sure.” Palio laughed to himself before he opened his way into the red-marked door with Blaze and disappeared into the room within as it shut.

“Don’t mind him. He always the “fun in the mud” kinda guy and doesn’t understand why I care about not looking like a slob. Good night, Adrian.” Padio left him off with a salute before slipping into his room with his Primarina and letting the door shut. This left Adrian in the hallway with Decidueye, who reappeared and hooted.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Adrian turned around and gestured towards the door, seeing as neither Palio nor Padio needed to press any buttons or get scanned to get into their rooms and found the gray door sliding up to allow him inside. He slowly crept in, as if expecting the two heroes to suddenly pop out from behind the corners of the darkness within, but once the door shut behind them the lights came in and all he saw was white.

And after blinking for a bit, everything continued to stay white.

White floor, white walls, white door in the far back, white bed with white headboard, white sheets and blankets, white dresser, white-rimmed mirror and a white spot in Adrian’s eyes before he cleared them up with a rub. Oh yeah, he was definitely gonna spruce things up to not be so blinding for himself. Decidueye slid off of his back, gliding over to the bed and situating themselves on it and leaving an air of exhaustion to wash over Adrian.

Tonight’s events had been held back from affecting his energy with every surprise that kept his brain on overdrive, but now that everything was to a calm like undisturbed lake water it all came at him like a sugar crash. He felt his bow and quiver slide off of his body before he even got started with undressing, getting down to just his boxers and socks until he crawled onto the inviting bed and just basked in the comfort it offered and bestowed accordingly.

“Hoo.” Decidueye shook him, trying to get him to flip around so that he wasn’t completely out of it, only for Adrian to groan into the pillow he was face-deep in and ignore the owl. But the avian wouldn’t have it and slowly phased out of sight.

Adrian shot up as he felt his boxers tear themselves to pieces, leaving him bottomless and exposed to the room’s crisp air and jolted into action one last time. “Buddy, wh-why’d you do that?”

“Hoo.” Decidueye came back out, taking to laying on top of Adrian until he was laying back down, letting their soft fingers entwine with the lad’s and letting him feel how much he was missing out from trying to sleep. It didn’t get obvious until those feathered cheeks found the young man’s flaccid cock that he remembered that he was supposed to be having sex before bed.

The realization hit and Adrian blushed for the umpteenth time tonight. He wasn’t sure if it was having the freedom to do it or being told to do it that made him sheepish, but he was not going in head-strong as he usually did whenever they had to rush ...Rushing...It hit him.

They don’t have to rush anymore.

Gone were those hot afternoons were Adrian was trapped in his room while his family had a party downstairs where Decidueye came to the rescue and offered him a good time for himself with that beak gracing his erection; gone were those nippy nights where they let inhibitions ride the wind while the lad humped into the owl with all he could before he was hunted; and gone were the days of Decidueye giving him a quick rub before he went to bed. They didn’t have the looming threat of Adrian’s family or their hateful partners on their shoulders anymore.

They were free.

And once Adrian stopped staring into space about it, Decidueye made the first move in pecking the young man’s lips. He caught onto the gesture and pecked the owl’s beak with his mouth. This got the bird to giggle in his tongue, until he came in hot for a kiss to stay and Adrian felt himself going slack from the contact. Their passion held no bars, their love needed no cages, and their affections needed no moderation, for they were able to embrace each other without the need to be quiet or be fast. Adrian’s eyes were shut as he let this all sink in deeper into his traumatized mind, feeling the pain and worry of being unable to keep their relationship fade away completely instead of locking up within the dark recesses of his brain, and letting him truly grasp the enjoyment of a kiss that which he was robbed of too many times to count.

Decidueye was right with him, wings going slack to allow the human to grip their hands and truly let him experience their love with no limitations. And the owl seemed very fond of the fact that he didn’t have to be subtle with what he wants, for his feathered rear end found Adrian’s crotch and slowly ground against its tender flesh. The lad moaned into their kiss, for it has been a while since he even thought of rubbing one out without the owl to accompany him or to assist in finishing him off, and within mere moments he was hard as a rock.

Adrian was almost modest about his erection to Decidueye, for he never gave it any heed unless it was a morning wood that made taking a piss nigh impossible, but even he couldn’t ignore those ten inches felt like they were at their peak of arousal without anything holding them back.

And with Decidueye’s inability to feel physical pain from an attack that isn’t from a spirit nor a malevolent being, the size never mattered for the owl, as he could take it no problem. Though, he didn’t rush to get it into his white butt, for he was busy making sure Adrian got to feel every inch of his eager body as opposed to simply letting him feel trapped within the confines of his warm ass before being worked to a quick yet unsatisfying load.

Adrian broke the kiss for air, feeling his saliva coat his lips as Decidueye tried to hold it in his beak again like yesterday-or the night before since there was no telling what time it was from underground-only for it to simply trail down the lad’s chest until finally coming to a stop at the cleft between his developing pecs. He didn’t work out a whole ton, but training himself to be ready to fight with his bow always led to him trying to be nimble and strong, so it was somewhere in between built and slim.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, the owl not needing to pant for air like humans did, and for a while their sights were nothing but the love and adoration they had for each other. And before they knew it, they were kissing again with more vigor. Neither of them could see it, but their tangled bodies were glowing a shade of everglade, and every moment they spent locked at the lips the glow began to get stronger. Soon Adrian felt himself rise from his “sleep is too good to pass up on” state to something akin to “I need to get this one thing done before I get to sleep” before he flipped the two of them over and hunched over Decidueye as they smooched. His cock was as hard as steel, feeling like it was gonna explode from its riled-up state yet Adrian ignored it. He just wanted to share this with Decidueye while they were still somewhat new to the idea of doing it somewhat often.

Let this be the first of many nights they mingle together.

“Hoo.” That hoot came out rather strangely, but the intent was still clear for Decidueye was gazing up at Adrian with a look of need and expectancy. He’s been waiting for this just as much as he was, but the human didn’t want to spoil it one bit.

“Lemme actually lube up first, buddy.” To their surprise, Adrian saying lube made a compartment from the nearby wall open up and dispense a bottle of what was labeled as lubricant. The two of them stared at it, wondering if the room was listening to their every word or if it was automated to respond to code words. Though now that he was equipped with proper measures to ensure a smooth penetration, he took the bottle and watched the slot it came out of close before he poured a generous amount into his hand to stroke onto his shaft. His cock was shining in the light above them, seeming almost like a beacon as he brought it to Decidueye’s rear end and pointed to his hole.

It was almost invisible from being hidden behind all of those feathers, but Adrian’s seen and played with the very cheeks he was aiming to slide past enough to memorize where exactly the owl kept his pucker.

“Hooooo….” That almost sounded someone getting prepared to take something of Adrian’s size with doubts being pushed back in favor of readiness, though the lad was too busy bracing himself to actually proceed slowly to notice Decidueye’s hoots were coming off as humorous attempts at speech rather than owl noises.

“Rnnngh!” The snug fit. It always got to him, and with no frequent sex between them it was always a damn near tight fit to get through. And that was just the beginning. The tip alone was bombarded with the fleshy welcome that got the lad raring to go once it all wrapped around his dick, and Adrian didn’t want to keep the owl waiting forever. So he pushed forth, a tad late since he still splurted a stream of warm precum into Decidueye’s pucker, but eventually he was getting the owl to squirm beneath him. There was no need to hold him down, but Adrian still felt it necessary to hold hands with his loving Partner while he continued to sink within his fleshy walls.

Within time, his hips came in contact with that soft butt and he exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Hooo-drian….” Taking a quick breather, there was no way Adrian missed that, perking his head up like the owl did whenever he heard someone coming.

“Did you...j-just say my name...buddy?” The owl looked up, for his head had been twisted to the side to let the pleasure rock his body, before nodding.

“Hoo-been saying it...the-hoo-time….” So it was true. A bond that went deeper than what the surface revealed ...Adrian was slowly being allowed to understand his Partner and it made his heart soar as he saw the realization dawn on Decidueye. “You can ...?”

“Yeah...I can hear you….”

“Hoo-nally….Now I can tell you to ...hoo me….”

“It’s not perfect b-but….” Adrian felt his face heat up again, but he didn’t let that distract him from pulling back and feeling those walls try to hug him to a halt. Though he was big enough to resist the resistance and lubed enough to slip past them anyway, and with a wet *slllllurp* he was only head-deep into Decidueye’s butt.

“Fuck….God, I-hoo-your dick….” The mix between English and normal hoots were making Adrian snicker, so the owl got curious enough to be wondrous about it. “What’s so...funny…?”

“I think I better give ya what you want, bud ...Don't think I can handle...listening to you talk and hoot at the same time…” The owl remained confused, but went ahead and held onto Adrian while the human went back to pushing through him. They both moaned again, for the penetration was still somewhat fresh for their nerves and left human and Pokemon nearly breathless until Adrian came to another step inside of that ass. He pulled back, going faster as to not waste anymore time yet not rush things as their usual entailed, and only got about half out before he was sliding back in. Before he knew it, that was how he got into thrusting for the deep end within his Partner and they both loved it.

Decidueye was panting, his hoots growing less and less frequent being replaced with quiet “fu-fucks…” or “mmmm, so d-deep...in me…”, and soon his legs found their way around Adrian’s waist to make sure he knew not to pull back any further than what he was doing. Not like the lad was going to disgrace this precious moment by ruining the mood with a tease, for he too was getting heated while he came to a soft *pap* from hitting balls deep into Decidueye.

This. This is what Adrian always wanted. What he always had wet dreams over that led to him trying his best to quietly wash his sheets off whenever he sleepily unloaded into them after finishing off in his subconscious, and what he truly desired whenever he and Decidueye were alone yet were on a time crunch. His cock throbbed with these emotions, pumping in occasional volleys of pre to keep lubing things up and leaving those feathered cheeks matted in both lubricant and pre-ejaculatory fluids.

Time held no meaning to them; they didn’t need to be speedy or as slow as a Magcargo, they didn’t need to see who would cum first from the actions going at at their hips, and they were far from being aroused to a boiling point from a Rut or just simply being pent up in Adrian’s case. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days, and it was nothing but them and the lad’s humping keeping them awake and vitalized.

Only when Decidueye clenched down on Adrian’s meat did he come back to earth and notice that things weren’t clean downstairs.

The owl was erect, standing at a humble eight and a half inches, and drooling precum into his belly feathers if the salty aroma emanating from the area was a sign. His hoots were gone now, complete words and sentences leaving his small beak as he squirmed underneath Adrian.

“Mmmnnnph….I n-need to cum….C’mon love ...faster….” The owl’s breathy encouragement sounded about as riled up as one could assume out of him, but since they got this far without even trying anything extra, Adrian decided to quit leaving his Partner waiting and honored his request with a quick slam against his butt. The chirp that left him was almost pained, but the avian’s desire was smack-dab on his expression so the human didn’t pause in his quickened stride. No stopping now, it meant something to the both of them to see each other caught in the beats of climax, and with nothing to stop them both themselves it was all on Adrian.

And for once, the pressure was exciting, not scary.

The lad was losing it, being allowed to faster meant he was easily pleasured by those walls that never seemed to stop hugging him. Precum came to an abrupt halt but that was only to let the real thing build up on those fuzzy loins of Adrian’s, though Decidueye was all for leaving his upper half doused in his own fluids. Smelling it was like smelling fresh grass, and it felt so much like home…

Home….In the Hero Cave.

Adrian went over the edge first, blowing what felt like a river stream inside of Decidueye’s ass and letting everything pool in the owl’s guts once he thrust in hard enough to ensure it went in deep. The final push shoved the bird off the edge, leaving Adrian’s cock to get smothered in spasmodic walls that didn’t want him to move a muscle while white cream splattered all over the Pokemon. It’d be stronger, but his earlier subjugation of Manuel left his pent-up chances right to zero after this. Even without the need for refractory.

The two lovebirds-pun intended-ended up finding each other’s mouths for another kiss, the invisible glow neither party seemed aware of dissipating over time as they used up their last breaths on their smooch. When Adrian stopped cumming, he felt like his cock was trapped in a mashed melon, cum coating the entirety of his twitching shaft and hearing the mess shift around whenever he dared move his hips a nudge. And finally, when Decidueye entered his afterglow the lad tried pulling back only to feel those bird legs latch on harder.

“Nope ...stay in ...You feel better this way…” Adrian smiled, finding himself laying into the pillow next to his Partner to continue catching his breath. The owl kept on hugging him, reaching down to grab the blankets to cover them up while they rested. And with enough time, the human had fallen asleep and the bird followed suit.

---

Adrian never thought he’d be waking up to a new sight, for his mind took everything that transpired last night to be a very drawn-out dream only for Decidueye to snap him out of his worry with a kiss from below. Even now, their mess was still somewhat moist and sticky between them, so Adrian went ahead and dragged himself out of bed towards the bathroom that he was told was there with Decidueye holding on tight.

The showers was the best bet, for the tub was meant for one person and Adrian was rather tall for it. Getting the water on was the challenge, for it required the human to squat down and feel the pain of sticky seed trying to peel off his skin like someone being waxed for tiny hairs. Though before his suffering could continue to make him prepare to scream, the temperatures were set right and he practically jumped into the stream of refreshing waters to get started on cleaning.

“Mmmm ...feels nice to get clean with you, Adrian.” Decidueye being able to talk was still gonna take getting used to over his lone hoots that carried so much ambiguity he could write a whole thousand-page novel off of it alone.

“Yeah...Been years since we’ve gotten this close...but it wasn’t for uh...sex.”

“I know. You were rolling around in dirt but managed to give your family the slip so you could stay out longer. I thought it was really brave of you t-” Decidueye got cut off by Adrian leaning up from the stream, pelting the owl’s face in water until he shoved himself up and glared at Adrian from beneath his soggy hood.

“Heheh….sorry…”

“You’re lucky I love you.” The owl seemed rather miffed, but once Adrian got the seed off from between them his belly rubs started getting the bird to laugh some.

“Glad to see you’re not mad.” Adrian’s hands drifted from there to Decidueye’s backside, where his feathers were matted in all sorts of gunk.

“I was never mad-just wasn’t ready for that. I can’t hate you, love.” The bird took a little too much pleasure in sticking his butt into the shower stream so Adrian could rinse him down efficiently, even going as far as wiggling it when all was done and no excess drooled out of his hole.

“Good. I can never hate you, buddy.” The owl smiled at that, but it slowly became a frown that Adrian came to notice once he dragged his hair off of his face. “Something wrong?”

“Well...I figured that ...since you can understand me now...You’d give me a better name than just...Buddy.” The Pokemon was correct, it would seem more appropriate to be on same-side first name bases now that they could actually listen to each other talk.

“Hmmm….” Adrian came to think about it, with enough time for the shower to automatically turn off and leave them standing inside wet and dripping water.

“Nothing basic please. I don’t like the kinda names that seem obvious. Like calling an Arcanine Fluffy or an Incineroar Blaze.”

“How about Strix?” The owl paused in his rant about not liking unoriginal names and just sat there in Adrian’s arms with his beak open. They let the name ring around in their head, feeling it thrum with acceptance up until he spoke it.

“Strix ...My god, Adrian. It’s perfect, I love it!” The soggy owl bear-hugged his lover, leaving Adrian to make sure neither of them fell or slipped while he walked out the shower only to get a blowdryer brigade to blow hot air on the two of them from above. When it was over, Adrian did his damnedest to bite back a snicker as the newly named Strix was left looking poofy. “One word. I will cut you.”

The human gulped down the laugh trying so hard to come out and he nodded in a panic. “Okay okay okay! Sheesh, not my fault you look so good like this.”

“If you think this is good, just wait until you start walking around with feathers.” That got Adrian thinking, and when Strix noticed the young man just standing there while he was heading for the door he paused too. “What’s up?”

“I just ...When we were at the amphitheater ...and I was invisible….”

“Yeah ...?”

“Do you think I’ll have more ways to do it in the future?” He had to ask, because while it was cool to be completely unnoticeable besides making noises the low stature was murder for his lungs and breathing was a pain.

“Uh ...Well, that depends on if they give you a silly suit like theirs.” As if the return of the knowledge that they were deep underground in a bathroom within the Hero Cave was still big news to them, the bathroom door opened and Padio’s Primarina was there.

“Hi boys!” Now that Adrian could understand Pokemon, her voice was still carrying the mystique undertone of someone who sang so much in her life that it was natural. “The gents are in the kitchen burning breakfast so I’m here to ask if you want me to get you anything else.”

Adrian felt this was another moment where he could be of better assistance besides being able to turn invisible and chipped in an offer. “Actually, I can probably make us all something.”

“You can?” Primarina was suddenly in Adrian’s face, eyes full of hope and concern. “Please tell me you’re not kidding.”

“No, I’m not kidding…” He didn’t get to finish, for she began to whoop around like a singer singing a pop song and getting through the second round of a chorus while hyping her audience of millions. “Uh ...so yeah, I can...cook.”

Primarina came to a stop once he spoke the sacred word that made her morning. “Good, c’mon! You gotta stop Palio before he tries making something else!”

Somehow, the image of the rambunctious and fiery burly man trying to cook a meal sent chills up Adrian’s spine and he rushed out of the bathroom. Strix manned his place on the lad’s back and they both followed after Primarina, who traveled in long bounds when she wasn’t using water. They left Adrian’s bedroom behind, coming across a smoking kitchen up ahead and ducking down from the fumes just in time to see a naked Palio trying to tame the fire in the pot he was swirling something in with a clothed Padio trying to stop him from doing anymore.

“I don’t know what went wrong! The recipe said ten minutes, leave on high!”

“High as in as high as a stove’s fire can get, not how high you can heat things up!”

The two of them were in a panic, fighting over who got to get rid of the fire with a fire extinguisher, while Blaze lounged near the door watching everything. Once he saw the trio come in, he waved at them.

“Heya, folks. Don’t mind them, they’re being as silly as a Wooper splashing around in mud puddles! Roar!” The feline’s voice was definitely a marker that he and Palio were inseparable, especially with him vocalizing the last syllable of his species’ name sake instead of just making the sound. Adrian shook himself out of his thoughts and stood up straight, much to the surprise of the soot-covered men at the stove.

“Don’t worry fellas, I got this.” He made a show of cracking his knuckles, and the duo shared a look before darting off to the sides of the kitchen and leaving the extinguisher to fall to the floor. Before they could grab it to fight over again, Adrian squatted down and gave it a quick brandish before getting rid of the flaming pot’s embers. Once the smoke alarm was cut short by Strix’ Leaf Blade, Adrian disposed of the ruined meal and quickly scoured the kitchen for ingredients.

Right away, he came across packaged Emboar bacon, Mandibuzz eggs and fresh juice in the fridge, while the freezer bolstered a wide variety of frozen goods that looked more for a lunch or dinner time period. He saw sausage in the pile and grabbed it, nearly having to break his back from how hard he had to pull. Once he found a skillet and a pan to cook the sausage and eggs, he set the bacon to a baking temperature and let it warm up while he looked around for any pepper and salt. But he only came across the latter so he shrugged and let it sit while he waited.

Along the way, he noticed that-besides Strix-everyone was watching with rapt attention like he was the host of a live action cooking show and he felt his self-confidence ebb away like the wafting smoke being cleared up by ventilation. Though it seemed that their newfound connection stemmed to emotions, for Strix was quick to pinch him and whisper in his ear.

“Too late to clam up now. You’re already cooking naked in front of them, might as well go all the way.” True. Adrian peeked down and saw his flaccid shaft drooping down his leg to be bare and breathing. Thankfully, he had Decidueye covering up his flank so he didn’t have to worry about his butt being exposed. For now.

When the food came to a test of patience rather than needing stirring or flipping, Adrian peered into the smelly pot and coughed the second he whiffed the charred something. “What...was this supposed to be?”

“I was trying to make grits with cheese and hot sauce, but the instructions weren’t very clear, my boy.” Palio chuckled, feeling silly for allowing breakfast to be ruined yet again.

“I’m sure they told you clear as day to add your own fire to make everything burn.” Padio was busy pampering his face, since he bothered to clear it up as opposed to the soot-covered man next to him, though his sarcastic words got that short temper raging again.

“If you’d just help me out, then maybe I’d be less destructive in the kitchen!”

“Roar! Easy, easy, guys!” Blaze was quick to get between them, feeling like he was getting petrified by their stares like he were looking at a Serperior in the eyes. “Let’s not snap at each other’s necks, it’s not even noon!”

“I don’t think it matters what time it is for them.” Primarina’s face looked grim with the sweatdrop treading down her temple, and after some thought, Blaze joined her in assuming the same.

Adrian made his own cut in after noticing what kind of pot Palio used. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone try to make grits in a chili pot.”

“”””CHILI!?”””” As if waiting on a cue, the four of them jumped up and looked expectantly at Adrian and Strix, who backed away from the shock of nearly being pounced upon.

“...uh, yeah. This is a chili pot…”

“And here I am burning such a delicate instrument with my inexperience! May Arceus have mercy on me for trying to ruin the chances of such a divine dish!” Palio began to sob, Blaze joining in to a point where they were hugging it out yet still letting out waterworks. Adrian and Strix felt a sweat-drop bead down to their chins until Padio decided to explain.

“Sorry about that. It’s just, chili is like...our thing.”

“It’s the best food in the world! Who needs pizza or sandwiches or burgers when you can dive into a vat of chili and never feel like you need anything else to eat ever again?” Primarina’s dramatization felt like an advertisement for a chili-eating contest and Adrian snickered a little from her pose. But she noticed. “Don’t laugh! Chili is our everything!”

“It brings fire into my soul!” Palio was trying to cover his eyes but the tears were still spraying out like twin waterfalls.

“It breathes fire into my heart! Roar!” And there goes his Incineroar crying into Palio’s chest. All of this for some chili ...Adrian could feel Strix trying to bite back his own laughter and felt it was his turn to get some payback with a pinch on his wing.

“Ow! Hey, don’t be petty!”

“You know why I did it.” The owl pouted, so Adrian used the opportunity to gather their attention. “Guys, guys! How about when today’s done, I can make us chili?”

“”””YOU CAN MAKE CHILI TOO!??!”””” They were back on him, staring like mad men staring at freedom like it were a hot girl-or guy since Adrian wasn’t sure which way Palio swung since his Partner was a guy-and it left Adrian feeling tiny like a Rattata.

“Yeah ...I made chili the other night even.”

“SPLENDID NEWS! We must have your chili!” Palio’s joyous shout was followed by the timer Adrian set for breakfast going off, the sausage and eggs sizzling up a storm until he came over and slid them onto a saucer for them to cool down. Then he knelt down to grab the bacon and felt a rush of heat wash over his naked form and it left his cock to tingle in a mix of pain and comfort.

“Heat bad. Close it, close it.” Strix was quick to voice his displeasure of the oven, so Adrian came up and shut it from spreading its warmth.

“Sorry Strix.” At this, Padio realized something and chimed in.

“Oh, you two had fun bonding last night? I can assume it went well, since you’re already talking to each other and you gave your Partner a name.” At this, Palio perked up and his grin was almost wide enough to reach his ears.

“You’re right, Padio! That name fits so well for the sneaky owl!

Their Pokemon were the least bit pleased.

“No fair! How come the bird gets a cool name like that!? Roar, I want a cool name! Blaze is so cheesy!”

“Palindia feels all lame compared to Strix….” The owl in question just held his hands up and tried to get them to calm down.

“Easy folks, easy. Don’t forget, Adrian gave me the name.” The lad felt his heart plummet to his foot as he felt their eyes bear down on him like he was prey and they were predators.

I’m so gonna get you for this… He could feel the suppressed snickering from the Decidueye tickling his back and decided to keep his back turned while the other Alola starters beared down on either side of him like prison guards waiting on him to make a mistake. While he made them all plates-since Blaze and Palindia were capable of holding things with their hands-he suddenly perked up and brought their trainers to him ear-first in a huddle in the corner. Soon, Palio and Padio perked up and their Pokemon’s glares eased up before they were beckoned towards.

“For now on, Blaze my boy, you will be known as Cabiano!” Palio waited for a reaction, only to get bear-hugged by his feline who fell into a joyous babble of words Adrian couldn’t make out despite being able to understand him.

“And you, my dear Palindia, shall now be named Saphryon.” Padio bowed to his faithful siren, feeling her slowly coil around him like a Seviper planning to inject venom into his very being, only for her to hug him tight from behind.

The two men enjoyed the embraces of their Pokemon, just in time for Adrian to ring a bell-that he noticed on top of the fridge-and get the four of them to stare at him again.

“Hungry?” He gestured to the readied plates behind him, to which six steaming saucers became two as they devoured their food in a flurry of chews, bites, chomps and messy faces that relished every bit of the carefully-made breakfast. By the time Adrian took a bite, they were all done and rubbing their bellies, much to his chagrin.

“Most delicious, my boy! You’re just full of surprises!”

“I’ll say, this stuff feels like heaven if it were food instead of a place!”

“Roar! I could go for thirds of that!”

“Definitely a meal I can’t wait for tomorrow...You are gonna make breakfast tomorrow right?” At this, the four of them were on their knees in front of Adrian, not even paying his nudity any heed while they held their hands up at him as if praying.

“”””PLEASE MAKE BREAKFAST!””””

The way they all acted so funny made Adrian smile at them rather than the frown they were probably expecting. It was like watching his little brothers and sisters beg him to sneak them some treats. You know, before they started being resentful to his existence. But he didn’t let those bad times make this potential good time.

“I’ll do it on one condition...” They all nodded furiously, the newly named Cabiano looking like he got whiplash from how much of a blur his head went.

“Yeah, yeah!?” Saphryon seemed to be the one who cared about food the most out of the four of them. It seemed.

“I need a superhero name, since you guys have one.” Confusion washed over them like water in a shower, Adrian already turning back so he could eat his breakfast. He scarfed down the bacon before it got too cold, so afterwards he dove into his sausages. Links, instead of the patties he thought he grabbed, but he didn’t pay it much mind since they slid in effortlessly down his throat after being chewed up. As soon as he was about to start on the eggs, he felt Palio’s meaty hand on his shoulder.

“Papio the Swift. You take down foes with a smooth precision and make sure it’s done. You come when everything seems dire and slip into the enemy’s backline to throw away their chances of certain victory. You bring about the stealth that no man can ever dream to share! You are Papio, my boy!”

“...” Palio must have a way with words, for Adrian had been seconds from rejecting that up until the older man clarified with his rather exaggerated telling of what he was capable of. But the more he thought about it, the more it was true. Archery takes an aim that has to be steady and true to land one’s mark, Adrian’s newfound ability to turn invisible to the naked eye allows him to confuse enemies and leave them off their guard, and the fact that he can turn invisible felt like such a unique trait in a superhero that he was glad that Strix would be his partner for every moment. “...That definitely rolls of the tongue.”

“Excellent, my boy! Let’s go get dressed so we can show you how to deco-” Palio was cut short when a blaring alarm started ringing above them and out in the corridor from the red lights flashing on and off. Adrian nearly dropped his fork on the floor but caught it just in time to see the duo storm out of the room for the cave center. No time to ask why it was going off, huh? Okay, guess he’ll cl-

“You coming, kid!?” Padio ran back for him, nudging a thumb towards where they had all run off only for the others to come peeking in the doorway. Strix was quick to bring Adrian to focus, since it looked like he was about to think about it.

“Y-yeah, yeah! I’m coming!” He rushed for the doorway, bare feet smacking onto the floor and reminding him that he and Palio were about as naked as one could assume when asked about their morning. But, the burly fellow had been right. It did feel rather comfy being exposed within the cave. Their journey brought them to the supercomputer, where Padio pressed a few keys on the keyboard and three tubes dropped down over him, Palio and Adrian-much to his panic. He worried for Strix only to see the owl on the other side of the glass. The singer was stripped naked, leaving Adrian to get a flash of them being naked before suddenly he got clothes shoved onto his body. The tights on his legs were about as snug as a drum ready to be pounded; his shirt made his slim build more obvious to the naked eye and his mask seemed to fit like a glove before he felt that there was a hood behind it. Once he was fitted with gloves and shoes, the tube left him and he was left in a daze until the freshly dressed Padio explained.

“I came down to set everything up while you were snoozing. Had the big guy did it, you’d probably be a mess of green.” Speaking of that, Adrian looked down and saw that he was indeed clad in all green, except for his white gloves. It made him feel on-tune with the situation on hand, which Palio seemed to be observing from his rapid clicking in front of the monitor.

“It’s the Snatcher! He’s taking hostages in south side, by the warehouses!” The screen showed a Dusknoir but instead of your typical showcasing of one, this one had a cane looking to have skulls engraved into its body with a fedora on their head. His eye was a menacing red as opposed to the normal one, making Adrian feel the intimidation despite it just being a picture display.

“Oh dear...He looks tough.” At this, Palio came into view and brought Adrian back to earth.

“He may be tough, but he’s only as strong as we make him! Stay courageous, his power is increased with fear and with a bunch of innocent people in his clutches he’ll be a formidable foe!

“Okay.” The lad gulped down, trying his best to alleviate the pressure of being stared down by pixels until he imagined the hat and cane as a birthday cap and a candy cane. It was an old school method for stage fright that he learned as a kid-though meddled a bit since he wasn’t sure he could handle thinking of what the Snatcher looked exposed since he was a naked Pokemon.

“Good! I see your buddy Strix was already on the case!” Palio pointed behind Adrian, getting him to turn back and see the owl armed with the young man’s bow and quiver. He was just about to point out that he used all of his ammunition stopping Doctor Salao and his Hypno last night, but then he saw that his quiver was loaded to the brim with arrows. He stared at his heavy pack, going from Strix to Palio and Padio behind him before the singer explained.

“I might have had your friend bring them all to me this morning while I was designing your suit so I could give them an upgrade. Guess you can call me the brains behind a lot of things that happen here.” Adrian turned back to Strix, who only winked and ushered him to put his stuff on. Not wasting another moment of just ogling, he put his quiver and bow on, noting that the latter didn’t feel like it was digging into his skin, and felt a wave of excitement crash down on him.

He was ready for his first day of being a superhero.

“All set?” Palio was in view once more, Cabiano over his shoulder with Padio and Saphryon on his right. Strix got on his back, carefully so he didn’t disturb his newly equipped gear, and looked down on him. Adrian felt like his life was gonna change for the better at this moment.

“Yes. I am ready.”

[[Epilogue]]

Manuel the Hawlucha was out in the woodlands, looking for whatever he could scrounge for food while keeping his head hung low in shame. It’s been hours since he left the Calipeno home, leaving only a poorly written note and a shattered Poke Ball behind for his trainer to find while he journeyed to find his purpose.

His task had been to keep Adrian from leaving the house and not only did he fail, he failed tremendously. The one intruder he was supposed to keep a special eye out for-that damn Decidueye-got the drop on him and ripped his dignity out of the poor luchador and left him lost. His ass still held slight twinges of pain from the damage, but the deed was more impactful than the loss of his cherry. Now, he needed a true calling. One that didn’t let him fall back to that home where he’d meet his scorned ex-trainer Mar-

“Lost, little guy?” An Aggron suddenly stomped into view, having been hiding behind a rock that was ahead of Manuel.

“Leave me be.” Manuel adjusted his travel stick, making sure the bag wasn’t getting loose from his trek, only to find that the Aggron wasn’t moving out of the way.

“C’mon, little birdie. I just wanna make sure you pay the toll for being around here in my territory. Just one round.” Manuel saw the rhino grow erect and he unfortunately felt it grow long enough to brush over his crown feathers. “If you do good, no one’ll even kno-”

The Aggron was left a twitching heap in a bush as Manuel Drain Punch’d him in the gut hard enough to suck every ounce of energy from his being, the avian having more than enough drive to proceed onward to burn it all off. Though his sudden act of self-defense didn’t go unnoticed, as two shrouded figures watched everything from a high branch that Manuel already walked past.

“Little guy sure hits hard, boss.”

“Yes, he does ...Let us follow, he might come as a use to us...After all, we lost the owl but this one ...might be a better replacement….”

---

Hello, hello. I intended to have this be short, a fraction to how it ended up as it is now, but as I continued to write out each scene more and more motivation and drive to add more flavor fueled me to push deeper.

This was going to be the simple telling of a tragic young man who loved his Decidueye so much he ran away with him to his death until they were forever lovers in the afterlife as they walked the earth as Decidueye.

The second I got to work on building his family, I changed the whole thing into what you see today: the budding story of a young lad with a knack for archery who lets his Decidueye lover convince him to try and impress his favorite crime fighting duo, only to not only save them from their arch nemesis but also joins their ranks to help them fight crime as Papio the Swift.

Apologies for the sullying of Spanish culture within this story. I go off memory rather than butchering translations and the results show in some names.