FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The tension in the air was palpable as the recently freed pokemon settled down from his explosive introduction. The Quilava - still wary of the three figures staring at him - sat down on one of the crates and cowered. It looked like he was expecting to be hit or worse the way he was looking at Thomas especially. “Hey, hey, it's okay. We're not here to hurt you." Thomas tried to comfort the pokemon but he understood why it was hard to do so given the circumstances. Thomas looked to his companions and a semblance of an idea struck. “If you want to say anything to me, either of my friends here can translate for you."

The Quilava looked as though Thomas had just uttered something nonsensical. <Friends? You are a human's friends?> It inquired of Zana, who - ironically - seemed the least aggressive of the two options.

<Well, technically I'm his Mis->

<Zana!> Jeremy chided her, causing Thomas to crack a smile. <He's right though. We're not here to hurt you. And we are his friends.> Jeremy offered him one of his blue Coba berry treats, which the little beige and purple pokemon swallowed; instant regret quickly overcoming his features. <Heh, guess it's an acquired taste.>

<Sorry. Thank you…>

The Hakamo-o reached out with one hand, which the Quilava took hesitantly <Jeremy. And she is Zana and our trainer is->

<Trainer?!> The Quilava jumped back, a little panicked, a crest of flames growing from his neck.

“Hey, uh, it's okay. It's okay, just… uh…" Thomas looked around at the flammable material they were kneeling on and the increasing luminosity and temperature of the container. A container that - for the Quilava - was suddenly gone. All that remained was a grassy field, trees, and two other pokemon.

Thomas was about to say something but Zana held a hand up for him to stop. <Calm down, you're safe.> Zana said softly, easing the Quilava out of his agitated state.

<But- but the trainer. I don't want to->

<Easy.> Jeremy stepped in, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. <Nobody's gonna force you to do anything.> He motioned to a spot on the grass for the fire-type to sit, which he did after some hesitation. <Perhaps we should start with who we are.> Jeremy said calmly, indicating for Zana to sit as well. He guessed at where Thomas was and nodded; they had this under control for now. <So, as I said before, my name is Jeremy. I've been travelling across Vandimland with Zana and some other friends on a very important journey. There is a… 'special' pokemon that we've been asked to bring to somewhere safe.>

Zana leaned forward to continue Jeremy's story. <We were on a really big, pretty boat, but had to leave because people were chasing us. We managed to hide on another boat, and that's how we found you.> She gently extended her arm to pat him on the head, which he accepted, allowing his fiery crest to extinguish. Zana and Jeremy both sighed in relief.

<But… I thought I was… this isn't a ship.> The Quilava astutely observed. Zana and Jeremy both smiled, the latter shrugging before pointing to Zana.

<This is because of me. I wanted you to stop panicking for a moment so we could talk. Is that okay?> She tried asking as politely as possible, but it still came out slightly sarcastic. However the Quilava didn't seem to mind and just nodded his acceptance. <Can I bring our friend here?>

The small pokemon regained his fearful composure, but kept his flames at bay for the time being. <But… it's a trainer.>

<To us he's more a friend than a trainer.> Jeremy tried explaining, but the pokemon didn't look convinced.

<He cares for the pokemon he travels with more like a family than anything else.> Zana added.

The little pokemon gulped as he looked up at her. <O-okay. As long as he's your friend. You- you seem nice.>

Jeremy again tried to hold in a smirk, but Zana caught it, firing him a death stare in response before turning back to the Quilava with a smile. <I'm glad you think so. Our friend Thomas saved me from a cave>

<And saved me from a really nasty man.> Zana gave a raised eyebrow with a cheeky grin, to which Jeremy cleared his throat. <Twice...>

<I think you'll like him once you get to know him. He's one of the good ones.> “Thomas, sweetie." She said as the man shimmered into view. “Care to introduce yourself?"

Thomas remained sitting where he was, not wanting to spook the already nervous fireball waiting to happen. “Good morning." He said, waving politely. “I'm Thomas."

The Quilava looked from him to the other two. <What is he going to do with me?> The question caused both Jeremy and Zana to look at him at first with considerable confusion before a kind of horror overtook them. But Jeremy remained composed enough to translate for Thomas.

The man was equally confused and horrified at the question, not sure what could possibly have been drilled into that pokemon's head as to what was in store for it upon finding a 'Trainer'. “I, uh… wow. Sorry, I just…" Thomas tried collecting himself, he was not giving off the best of first impressions. “I mean, what do you think I'm going to do?"

The Quilava didn't freak out or become a trembling mass like Zana was expecting, instead he entered an almost trance-like state of calm as he recited something he'd obviously been forced to learn. <You belong to your trainer. You will do everything your trainer tells you. If you do not you will be replaced. If you are replaced you are re-taught. If you cannot be taught, you will be... fed to those that can.> Only after it's statement of those terrible rules did the Quilava curl up into a ball and begin rocking back and forth.

Shocking everyone, Zana quickly stepped over to the poor thing and picked him up in her arms. <No, no, no. Shush shush… It's okay. Thomas would never do those things. Never.> She looked to the man who was having the 'rules' repeated by Jeremy.

“Arceus no! Wha- I… Fuck. Who? I mean…" Thomas' rage was spiking rapidly at the notion that someone would torture a pokemon like this, let alone the possibility of a trainer somewhere that would actually follow up on those threats. It took one of Jeremy's claws on his shoulder for him to calm down enough to form a coherent sentence. “I- I would never, EVER do that to a pokemon. And you can be damn sure I'll flay any man that tried." Zana and Jeremy both turned slowly to glare at Thomas, but he was too far gone. Fists balled up with white knuckles he turned to where he knew the door was, but as he did so Zana cut the illusion, causing him to be silenced.

“-come with us if he can't fuckin' swim. You serious?" The astonished voice growled from outside.

“Yeah. Idiot said he'll be on the boat the whole time, so why should he need to know how to swim."

“So, anyone got bets on who'll throw 'im overboard?"

“Not exactly, but Frank's got a blind bet goin' for when it'll happen. I give it another day. Two tops."

“Heh, one less to split the takings."

“Two."

“What?" The voices dropped to a whisper.

“Erica. Capn' reckons she's a plant. Got me and George keepin' tabs on 'er. Keep catchin 'er peekin' in containers."

“Think she knows about the pokemon?" Thomas, Jeremy and Zana shared a look.

“Idiot, we all know about the pokemon. She was briefed with us." There was a dull thud of someone getting slapped upside the head. “Cap'n thinks she hid a transmitter or sumthin' in one ah these containers. She just can't remember which one."

“Well, shouldn't we check 'em then?" The inhabitants of container 4719 stifled a gasp as the sound of the door handle rotating freely creaked through the space. Jeremy's armour plates began to glow and Thomas readied a punch as the tension mounted.

“Nah, don't want ta tip 'er off." The handle was released. “'Sides, we got a few days before we get to Alola, plenty of time for spy huntin'."

“Heh. Wonder what the cap'n'll do?"

“Well last time she caught someone stowin' away she…" The voices faded out as the men no doubt rounded a corner. Thomas, Jeremy and Zana breathed a sigh of relief, the former two slouching against each other, just glad things didn't have to come to blows.

“Smugglers?" Thomas asked Jeremy, who nodded.

<They're a real big problem. With Alola right in the middle of the ocean, it's the perfect spot for smugglers to meet and get their… goods… across the world.> Thomas nodded, but Zana looked at the Hakamo-o with a suspicious eye. <So I've heard.> He added, attempting to cover up his knowledge of the situation.

“Well shit." Thomas sighed again, picking up the abandoned ration pack he'd acquired earlier and forgotten when the Quilava popped into existence. “Guess we need to add smugglers to our list of 'assholes to punch if given the chance'." He tore open the pack before realising their newest addition was staring at him. “Shit, sorry." He quickly rummaged through the bag for one of the treats Mac had chosen. There were considerably less flames on that packaging than Zana's, and it lacked the bold warnings about spiciness as well. He tore the end off and offered the little guy another treat.

<Thank you?> He responded, taking the treat cautiously and biting off a small piece. The Pomeg treats were nowhere near as spicy as the Spelon-flavoured one it had sampled earlier, and after a moment of caution where Zana was prepared to drop the Quilava if it repeated it's previous reaction, it began happily munching on the treat with no ill effects.

With the Quilava soon curled up in Zana's lap, the four of them happily munched away on their makeshift breakfast, Thomas pulling out one of the canteens from the bag to quench everyone's thirst afterwards. He'd have enough hydration thanks to the little gel-like sachets, but he had no idea how the pokemon would react to that stuff, so figured it best they take what little fresh water was left while it was still fresh.

The four of them sat in silence as they ate their respective breakfasts. Thomas had a lot to think about, and he assumed the others did too. But he was the trainer, he had to be the responsible one, and there were hundreds of presumably pokemon-filled apricorns in that container, possibly thousands. Which if the other containers were similarly filled… He knew he had to do his best to free all those pokemon, but there was no way to do so while they were at sea, surely. And it definitely couldn't be done in secret. He had no idea what pokemon were in what apricorn, and the prospect of accidentally summoning a wailord into their already cramped container was comical to say the least.

Thomas needed to make someone aware. Anyone. Or at least, anyone with authority. He checked his pokedex and saw it still had no wi-fi access, so either the ship was on it's own private network or didn't have one to begin with. He attempted to think logically about their options and came upon the notion that every ship had to have a communications setup. Be it in its own room, or just a station on the bridge, there had to be some way of talking to other ships or sending a broadcast out. They'd have to find it and use it, but how?

He'd be able to get around the ship easily enough with Zana's help, but would not want to be caught with Zye. So resigned himself to leaving Jeremy and the bag in the container along with Titan and Dusty; neither of whom were in a good place to battle at that moment, but with a potion or two the latter could be used to get away from the boat should the need arise.

Once at the radio he'd either need to disarm or disable the crew there to be able to use it, and even then he'd have to be quick about sending a message in case someone were to come by. Then it would just be a matter of getting back to the container unseen. But even if they managed to pull all that off without getting caught, there'd be no way of updating the Rangers with their location or getting any info back from them. And even if they did get through, it's entirely possible another ship would be monitoring the frequency and either warn the smugglers or worse.

But Thomas saw no other option. If they waited to reach Alola, they could be found out. All it would take is another outburst from the Quilava or Zana dropping her guard for just a second to cause an issue. He sighed, bringing the others up to speed. “So best way about it would be waiting for night fall, after the patrols have had their shift change. The ones off shift would be winding down and sleeping, and we hopefully won't have too many snooping around the decks at that hour."

<I-I don't want to get caught again. Not by them.> The Quilava gulped.

Jeremy stroked down his warm back. <You won't. I'll make sure of that.> He looked to Thomas <So you're taking everyone but Dusty, Titan, Myself and our new friend here?> The pokemon beamed up at Jeremy with big eyes, delighted to be called their friend.

“That's right. Zana will be the only one out - for now - and we'll hopefully be able to take care of anyone that can't be avoided between the two of us." Thomas picked up the camping shovel and gave it a few test swings. “Hopefully won't come to that, but can't say I won't enjoy it if it did."

“So all we need to do is wait… the entire day." Zana said sarcastically.

Thomas wanted to say something back in retort, but given the Quilava was not well versed on the relationship he had with the Zoroark, her response might make things uncomfortable. So he let it slide. He knew the fire-type wasn't the earliest evolution of that species, but it's almost child-like behaviour so far had the man concerned it might be too soon to talk about those subjects, especially given it's view of trainers abusing their pokemon. There was definitely going to need to be some trust gained before that part of his life was revealed. “So we just need to sit tight and-"

The door to the container opened wide, sunlight streaming in as a figure slipped inside. When the door closed behind them Thomas reached out to grab them by the scruff of the neck, slamming the person onto the crates with a splintering creak before slapping his free hand over their mouth. Jeremy leapt to action as well, leaping over the struggling humans to pull the door closed all the way, while the Quilava inadvertently helped light the scene with his panicked crest of flame.

The woman staring up at Thomas was in shock, locks of stray curly blonde hair springing down from a weathered brown baker boy's cap. She grabbed the wrist pinning her chest down with one hand, and the one covering her mouth with the other, trying to shout or scream as best she could. “Who-" Zana began, but Thomas was already in deduction mode.

“Erica, right?" The woman stopped squirming, looking at the man with the shocked expression of a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “I'm gonna take my hand off your mouth, okay, and we're gonna have a very quick little chat. Do you see her?" He pointed to Zana, and the woman looked over and back, nodding. “Right now she's got an illusion up, and nothing short of an explosion is gonna be heard by anyone outside, so there's no point in screaming. Let's be civil about this, okay?"

The woman nodded again and Thomas removed his hand. She stretched her jaw for a few seconds before looking around at the figures staring at her, and the currently blazing pokemon hiding in the corner. “H-Who are you and how did you know my name?"

“Thomas. And we heard some of the crew mention someone called Erica sneaking about, checking the containers." Thomas said plainly, choosing not to name his pokemon just yet. “My turn, why are you checking the containers?" He wanted to ask if she was a ranger, but he was doubtful she'd tell him if she was. He needed to see what sort of reason she would have for doing something so suspicious, and whether if felt more like an excuse.

She seemed hesitant to answer, until realising his pack stashed to one side and the clearly not smuggler-style metallic bracers he was sporting on each arm. “You're a stowaway, aren't you."

“My answer for yours. What are you looking for?" Thomas interrupted any further thought on the topic.

“That's my business." She said defensively, her hands grabbing Thomas' wrist again in the hope of budging it. But he remained firm.

“Well it's the captain's business too, apparently. And now that you've found us, it's my business as well. How long do you think it'll take the others to think something's up and check on you."

“The captain? Others?" She looked worried, far more so than before.

“Seems your actions haven't gone unnoticed. Captain thinks you're a plant. Maybe a ranger? Or from some other gang? They reckon you're looking for some sort of stash you've hidden away, but can't find. So what is it?"

“Why should I tell you?" She was trying to act tough, but the look she gave Thomas told him all he needed to know.

“Ah shit." He grumbled, letting her go. Zana and Jeremy looked shocked, the latter charging his scales to a dim orange heat as he prepared to take matters into his own hands. Thomas waved him down. “She's no ranger. Or gang member." He sighed. “What crate number?"

The way Erica reacted to her freedom was not what the pokemon were expecting, especially after Thomas' last words. She looked around at them and swallowed. “452098-B…"

“Could you check those boxes at the back?" Thomas asked Jeremy. “I'll start from the front. Zana, give our new friend a hug." She looked to Erica with a confused look on her face before Thomas pointed to the Quilava. “Calm him down before this whole container goes up in flames."

“Uh…" was all Erica could manage as Jeremy read off several numbers in Hakamo-o. Thomas did a quick count of the ones at the front and they met in the middle.

“Sorry." Thomas shrugged. “It's not in here." He took a deep breath and looked straight at Erica. “Not entirely enthralled with the notion of letting you go. But you're not one of them, are you." She shook her head. “In a bit deep?" She nodded. “You need help, you shout my name, okay. If I hear it, I'll try to help. But we're not exactly in the best position either. There's so much more we need to talk about, but you've been in here too long. They'll get suspicious."

Erica nodded, backing towards the door. Without saying a word she slipped out, closing the container door behind her, but leaving it unlatched. Thomas cupped his hands over his face, hoping he hadn't made a horrible decision.

“What, the fuck, was that?" Zanna said, trying not to sound too angry while in the Quilava's presence.

“An ally. Maybe. Or our doom. That's up to her." Thomas sighed. He looked to Jeremy, who seemed very concerned and nodded. “We just need to hope I'm right about her."

<What did you see that we didn't?> Jeremy asked bluntly.

“I've seen thugs; wannabe's and lifetime members alike. I've met my fair share of rangers too now - the good and the bad - and have known several cops and other folks who do their best to 'protect and serve'. But she…" He took a deep breath and exhaled “She's none of them. She's just someone desperate, someone out of options."

“Never trust a desperate person." Zana scowled, staring her trainer down.

“Normally I'd agree. But she's not desperate for survival, she's desperate because she's trying to find something. Some-ONE." a moment of realisation flooded over Zana's face. “Ten to one says these asshats stole her pokemon. She tracked down the crate number and is trying to get them back."

<So she's checking every container? Does she WANT to get caught?> Jeremy said, amazed at the stupidity of doing it in broad daylight.

“Again, desperate. I'm just worried that knowing the captain's got her eye on her, she'll stop looking and they'll know this was the last crate she checked." He gulped, shaking his head. “Dammit, we need to move." Thomas looked at the three pokemon, knowing it would be best for just Zana to be out. “Sorry guys, I need Zana's help and it's harder with more. Gonna have to put you away for now."

The Quilava looked sadly up at Zana as he disappeared in a flash of red. Jeremy bounced over to give Thomas a hug and kiss once the fire-type was gone. <Be careful.> He ordered before playfully nipping the man's nose. Thomas gave him one last little squeeze before unsummoning his love.

With a heavy sigh, he packed the bag back up and replaced the crate lid as best he could, gently hammering the nails in with the camping shovel. He didn't pack that away as it was essentially his only non-pokemon weapon at the time, and could be useful besides for jimmying locks and the like. They waited at the container's entrance for several minutes until they heard the patrol pass by and turn the corner before opening up. Thomas had the Duffel pack in one hand with a shovel in the other and Zana sitting on top of his shoulders as she concentrated hard. It wouldn't be easy to move around the ship, but he didn't want to leave anything in that container, just in case.

As they made their way slowly down one row, Zana whispered “Too many. Stay hidden." Thomas growled internally at that. This was going to be hard enough as it was, but staying hidden, in broad daylight, with a great big bag and a Zoroark riding piggyback… he might as well be wearing a big sign stating 'Stowaway Here' in bright neon letters.

They reached the end of a row, the containers stacked and tarped in such a way as to prevent easy access, though some of the coverings had clearly been shifted or untied at some point to allow access; which in Thomas' mind was no doubt Erica's doing. However, quickly moving along the side of the crew quarters structure Thomas noticed a poorly maintained - but still discernible - map of the ship next to one of the entrance hatches. He stopped quickly to see if there was a communications room and to his surprise, he found it labelled as being two floors up from where they were in a separate room next to the bridge.

“We're going in." Thomas warned Zana of the plan change as he gently opened the hatch. After a cautious glance to see if anyone was on the other side, Thomas quickly ducked through the low-clearance doorway and shut the hatch behind him. There was a very steep set of steps going up just to his left, so he placed the bag down and climbed just high enough to see into the next hallway. It was clear, but he could hear banter from beyond an open door nearby.

Wedging the shovel in between a set of straps, Thomas organised the pack enough to push it up before him without anything falling out or off it. It took a bit of effort to do so one handed with a minimal amount of noise but after a minute of muffled grunting, Thomas managed to get the bag up there. It was once he was at the top that the man realised he had to do the same again to get to the right floor. He sighed, shaking his head. It was a miracle they'd not been found out already, to keep going was madness.

The next floor was similarly occupied, except the banter was less entertaining and more serious. Comments meant in jest or observations on some sort of game were replaced with what Thomas determined to be ship positions and navigational courses to avoid them. He was certainly curious about some of the conversation, but Zana's gently tightening grip of her legs around his neck brought his mind back to the task at hand.

The closed Communications room had a small sign above it just beyond the open door to the bridge, so with a nod from the Zoroark illusionist, Thomas carefully made his way over, placing the bag on the floor as quietly as possible before retrieving the shovel. Thomas was able to peek in through a small - but very grimy - porthole shaped window to see a young man sat at the radio, seemingly bored out of his mind as he folded what appeared to be his thousandth paper Pidgey. “Can mute door, not draught." Zana warned Thomas as he placed his palm gently on the handle. He nodded, slowly wrapping his fingers around it before pulling down.

As soon as he heard the click Thomas opened the hatch inward, shovel held ready as he crept inside. He moved as fast as he felt he was able to in the circumstances, and as the man spun around in his chair to see who had snuck up on him, Thomas brought the foldable tool down square on his temple. He didn't even wait for the man to hit the floor before grabbing the bag from outside and pulling it in, closing the door behind him.

Flicking down the little window cover, Thomas bodily yanked the man out of the chair as Zana jumped down off his back. She ran to the door and placed her ear against it, giving him a thumbs up as he scoured the desk for anything useful. He was after a channel sheet that listed emergency radio stations or the like, but had to wade through layers of little multicoloured paper pokemon in the process. Eventually he found a communications booklet that appeared older than he was, and had a quick flip through the pages until he managed to find what he was looking for. He picked the semi-smashed headset off the unconscious man and slipped it on before dialing in the right frequency on the frankly ancient piece of technology before him.

He took a deep breath, double checking the frequency and triple checking the name of the vessel according to the plans on the wall. Then, with a calming exhale, he pressed the button on the microphone stand. “Mayday, this is Silent Wismur, this is Silent Wismur, this is Silent Wismur." He read the name three times like the little guide under the emergency station number directed him to. “The captain of Silent Wismur is smuggling pokemon, the crew are armed, I fear for my life. Repeat, the crew are armed and smuggling pokemon in Apricorns." He realised he didn't have a direct location, but remembered a couple of the coordinates the Captain had said to 'go between' “They were at the Great Reef Wall passage about twenty hours ago and in four hours will be between the following two coordinates: seven point five eight South, one seven three point two West and zero point three three North, one seven five point two one East. Repeat: seven point five eight South, one seven three point two West and zero point three three North, one seven five point two one East." Zana gave Thomas the 'wrap it up' signal. “Mine and several other lives are in danger. We require immediate assistance."

Thomas listened for several seconds, his hope dying with each tick of the ornate clock nailed to the wall. A near silent crackle was all he heard as he looked panicked to Zana. But she had her own panicked expression. She was no longer paying attention to him, but instead listening intently to the door. Thomas was about to ask her what was wrong when his ears exploded with sound. “Silent Wismur, Silent Wismur Silent Wismur, this is Ranger Patrol 499 Seadra Promise, R.P. 499 Seadra Promise, R.P. 499 Seadra Promise. Received Mayday. We are approximately one hundred miles to your south-south west. Remain on this channel if you can, otherwise find shelter immediately. We are on our way, Over."

Thomas had to contain the happy chair dancing he wanted to burst into, but quickly thumbed the mic control. “R.P. Seadra Promise, this is Tho- uh, Silent Whismur. Received. Cannot remain on channel, will be discovered shortly. Thank you, please hurry. Over." With that Thomas ripped off the headphones and made his way over to Zana. “What's going on?"

“They found Erica." Zana used her abilities to amplify the sound for Thomas.

“And you thought you could just take it back?" The angry voice of the captain demanded.

“You STOLE him!" Erica cried, her voice cracking under the stress.

The captain laughed. “So what, we stole from you so you were gonna steal from us? How stupid do you think I am?" The silence seemed overly diplomatic to Thomas, no doubt Erica was either biting her tongue or too full of rage to respond. “Throw her over."

“NO! NO! Please!"

“Why in the skies and seas should I spare your life?" The captain asked with a growl.

“S-Stowaways! I'll tell you where they are, you let me live."

“That little-" Zana was silenced by Thomas shushing her. “But she-" Thomas shushed her again and she complied, but with a very concerned look on his face.

“Stowaways. You think I'll fall for-"

“Theres a container just opposite an empty life ring holder. The door is unlocked, but closed. Please, don't kill me." She began sobbing. The Captain must have given a silent order to her men as several footsteps marched from the room and down the steps at the end of the hallway.

“If we find a stowaway, you spend the rest of the trip in the brig. If they have any valuable pokemon, we may even give you yours back as payment. But if we don't…"

Thomas readied his shovel and bag, summoning Jeremy into the room under cover of one of Erica's wails. He filled both pokemon in on the conversation with Ranger Patrol Seadra Promise and Zana got Jeremy up to speed on the state of Erica in the other room. Just as she finished she held a finger up for silence as she amplified the sound again.

“No sign of any stowaway, just this sock." Zana and Jeremy looked to Thomas with raised eyebrows. The man went bright red as he shrugged.

“A sock. You thought you could trick me with a sock."

“I-It's not my sock!" Erica pleaded again. “Please, please don't-"

“Overboard. Now." The Captain commanded. The sound of Erica being dragged thrashing from the room assaulted Thomas' conscience, but he closed his eyes and tried to think of anything else. There was more at stake than just some person trying to find their lost pokemon. She got herself into this mess, it wasn't his fault. He didn't have to-

“THOMAS! THOMAS HELP!"

“You can't be serious." Zana groaned, the woman who had ratted them out pleading for them to save her loud enough to echo down the halls without Zana's help. Thomas stood up, handing the pack to Jeremy as he swung the shovel several times as a test. “YOU can't be serious."

“She asked. I promised." Thomas pointed to Jeremy. “Get Zye safe. No matter what happens to me, you keep him safe." He then pointed to Zana. “And you keep him safe. And that is an order, Mistress. I love you." He said to both of them before swinging the door inward and dashing out.

Several steps down the hallway he shot past the bridge to the Captain's surprised “What?!" It was loud enough that the goon ahead of him had stopped to turn and see what his captain was on about. He barely had time to register the shovel before it caved his face in. Thomas continued his motion around the firmly grasped Erica to elbow the second thug in the jaw, sending him stumbling down the steep ladder to the floor below.

Erica stared in shock at the sudden intense display of violence, but was hurried along by the telltale click of a cocked gun echoing through the passageway. Thomas yanked her to the ground as a gunshot rang out, the metallic ricochet echoing through the space as he hurriedly threw Erica down the stairway. She landed stumbling in front of several men - who were just as shocked as she was - and could only manage an “Uh…" before Thomas came crashing down behind her. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or perhaps the other men were just not used to thinking on their feet. But Thomas was able to knock two of them to the ground with his shovel before the rest could react.

The smart one dove for cover through a nearby doorway, while the remaining two squared off against the swimwear-clad man brandishing a gardening implement. Thomas pulled a similar trick to the one he had with Bruno way back in the forest outside Milra; telegraphing his swing so wide that the man was able to catch the shovel handle easily, but with both man's hands holding the tool, Thomas let go and landed two quick jabs against the goon's jaw. He dropped the tool - which was caught by Thomas - and stumbled backwards, not entirely sure what had happened. The next guy seemed more clued in though, but as he sidestepped Thomas' feints he wasn't paying attention to Erica, who had snuck around behind him and delivered a solid punch to his lower back.

The man arched back, twisting around to face the new threat but entirely forgetting the original one. The crack of steel on skull signalled the end of that fight as Thomas grabbed Erica by the hand and pulled her towards the next set of stairs. Practically leaping down those, Thomas landed on the floor below with enough time to see the barrel of a gun peek through the hatchway leading outside. “Nope!" He growled, slamming the hatch and engaging the lock as a burst of gunfire rattled against it. “Down!"

The two made their way down four more flights of stairs before coming to a catwalk running the length of one side of the cargo bay. He looked to the bow and stern, trying to decide which way was best to go when several more gunshots made the decision for him. A pair of thugs had made their way onto the catwalk towards the front fo the ship, so Thomas grabbed Erica's hand again and dragged her around the stairway and into the rear cargo hold. The gunfire ceased for a time as the stairway was directly between the goons and the ship-bound fugitives. But as soon as they could shoot, Thomas had managed to fling Erica through a doorway into some sort of maintenance area.

A man working on some sort of pulley system looked up from his work with spanner in hand. Before Thomas could say anything, the oil-smudged engineer grabbed for a nearby revolver and fired. Fortunately the man was worse with guns than he was with personal hygene as the shot went wide, giving Thomas enough time to clock him with the business end of the shovel square on the nose. While the loud clang of steel-on-face echoed around the room, Erica retrieved the gun and Thomas barred the door. However with a glass window overlooking the cargo bay, he knew there was no way they could keep it secure.

It was Erica's turn to be observant as she spun Thomas around, pointing at a hatch on the floor marked 'Engine Room'. With little in the way of options left, Thomas flung the hatch open, quickly looked around inside for anyone else doing their job and with the coast clear, offered Erica a hand descending. He spied a toolbox on the floor of the maintenance area and grabbed it as several bullets shattered the glass nearby. Thomas flinched, but after the burst of gunfire subsided, he snatched the toolbox and leapt into the hatch. Before he could stand to close it, Erica had already done so, grabbing a large wrench from the box to wedge in the handle preventing it from opening.

Thomas grabbed a flashlight from the toolbox and had a quick look around, trying to see if there was any other entrance into their little hidey-hole. He sighed. “Got good news and bad news." Erica turned to look at him, an exhausted - but concerned - look on her face. “Good news is from the looks of things, that's the only way in."

“And the bad news?" Erica asked, looking around for some monster in the darkness.

“Bad news is, it's the only way out too." The two of them mulled that tidbit over as they stared at the hatch above. Someone began banging on it furiously, though whatever they were saying was too muffled by the many layers of insulation and steel to be heard clearly. Thomas pulled some tape from the toolbox and taped the wrench in place, just to make sure it didn't accidentally slip out.

“So what now?" Erica asked. As though by providence, a klaxon sounded in the chamber, followed by a series of whirs coming to a clunky end. Then light. Lots of light. The pair struggled past the electric glow to see it's source. It appeared to be some sort of massive water tank, housing living electricity. But as the glow died down they could see it for what it was. The tank itself was about two-stories tall, the topmost being on that deck while the rest disappeared into the darkness of pipes below. Inside the tank were a dozen Eelektross, and they had just finished fighting for some food that had been dropped into the tank by a mechanism above. That mechanism led to a hatch marked 'Food' in several languages.

“What in Arceus' name…" Thomas looked on in shock as the couple of Eelektross that managed to feed moved to one side of the tank, while the others moved opposite. He could tell which ones had managed to feed by the rigidity of their dorsal fin; the unfed ones being significantly more droopy.

“Never seen an Eelektross Drive before?" Erica sighed. “Not pretty. They fight over their food, which charges batteries. Batteries then run the engines. Smugglers use them because they're quiet, and as long as you can catch food for 'em, you got power."

“Every fucking day…" Thomas groaned before biting his lip, not wanting to finish the sentence aloud 'is more proof that Zye's right.' Thomas looked at the miserable pokemon, the hungry ones sulking to one side, while the fed ones looked equally ashamed as they stayed to the other side. Then an idea struck. Thomas looked around for some sort of control panel. Finding it he grinned. “Heh… mind if I do something stupid?"

“Actually-" Was all Erica could get out before Thomas threw an emergency override, dumping a vat of food into the tank in a single go. At first the Eelektross looked on in shock, several of them had seen Thomas make the motion and looked between him and the veritable banquet that had descended on him. But the calm - and darkness - only lasted a few seconds, as the Eelektross in the tank went into a feeding frenzy.

Several alarms could be heard over the sound of the water almost boiling from the mad thrashing and intense electric charge. The feast lasted barely a minute before the capacitors began to overload one by one; sharp, thudding explosions popping in sequence as the mechanism failed procedurally. Then, there was nothing but a gentle lapping of water against the side of the tank, and the retrograde humming of an engine powering down.

Thomas looked from the very happy Eelektross - that he could swear were waving at him from inside the tank - to a very angry Erica. She slapped him hard across the face. “You could have KILLED me!"

“Dammit!" Thomas recoiled, clutching his cheek. He stretched his jaw, trying to discern if anything was broken before responding. “I didn't, though. Fuck." He twisted his neck side to side, her strike having carried through enough to make those muscles sore. “Got a good arm, don't ya."

“Best junior league pitcher in the region." She threw a fake pitch at Thomas, startling him. “HA!" More banging from above signified their would-be captors had noticed Thomas' little act of sabotage. “You certainly know how to piss people off."

“Nah, they haven't even tried blasting the door yet." Several gunshots rang out before the sound of someone being crash tackled could be heard, followed by lots of shouting. “I stand corrected." Thomas leant against the wall and slid down it into a seated position, with Erica doing the same a few feet away.

“So…" Erica looked at the assortment of balls strapped to Thomas' thighs. “Carry all your friends on your hip?"

Thomas looked to his sides, then to Erica with a raised eyebrow. She had a look which seemed to indicate even she didn't know what she meant. “Some of them." He held up his two bracers, showing off the balls clamped within. “I just hope they're okay."

“Wait, they're not with you?" Thomas looked at her as though she were mad “You- you left them in the container? I, uh…" Erica looked worried.

Thomas sighed, shaking his head. “No. But I'm glad I didn't." He gave her a sideways glare. “Yes, I heard."

“Uh… heard what?" She tried to say nonchalantly. But Thomas was having none of it.

“The bit where you ratted us out." She gulped at that, having been found out. “Not that I could really blame you." She looked a little shocked at Thomas' admittance, turning to him for some kind of further explanation. Seeing her stare at him had the man huff as he continued. “It's not like we know each other. You wanted to save your pokemon, I can respect that. If you gotta throw some stranger under the bus to do so, I guess that's your prerogative."

Erica sat in silence as she realised he'd basically just said 'I'm sorry you threw me and my pokemon to the houndooms to save your own arse'. She tried to respond to that, but couldn't find the words. She needn't have worried too much though, as Thomas' attention was brought to a tapping on the walls of the glass tank.

Thomas groaned as he stood, walking over to the Eelektross to check up on them. He counted thirteen in all, each one a little taller than him as they kept themselves upright in the water. He placed his hand on the glass surface, and was met by one of them p[lacing their hand on the other side. Thomas just smiled and nodded, knowing he'd just done them a huge service. Whatever happened to him, he at least managed to feed these pokemon properly, they might even live long enough to be released once the rangers arrived. As for him and Erica, that was down to how well the wrench would hold.

Erica walked up behind Thomas, trying to build the nerve to apologise, but Thomas spoke before she had the chance. “Called the Rangers just before I caught up with you. They're a hundred miles off, which means if we're dead in the water, they'll probably be here - what… - mid afternoon? Sunset at the latest. Maybe." He sighed. “So we just need to sit tight and-" Sparks raining down on them from above interrupted Thomas' explanation. “Again?" He grumbled, as an intense flame began tearing through the steel plating above them.

“Again?"

“Nevermind. Look for somewhere to hide." Thomas pulled Erica away from the molten metal dripping down. “Quick!" The two scoured the small pipe-laden room as the smugglers made progress with their makeshift hatchway.

“There's no way out, you said there's-"

“I didn't say escape," Thomas reiterated “I said hide!" There were a lot of pipes and vents, and it might have been conceivable for Erica to crawl down along one of the tighter pathways to another part of the ship, but they were all way too small for Thomas' shoulders to fit. “Shitshitshitshit, shit!" expletives echoed around the room as fewer and fewer options remained. Erica had found a set of pipes she could squeeze into and around that to Thomas' mind should have been impossible. But all the better for her.

Several loud bangs of steel-on-steel rang out through the room, as someone battered the mostly-cut opening out of the way. Thomas looked up to see the barrel of a gun point through, and somehow managed to sidestep the burst of fire. Hiding behind another pipe he could hear a great deal of shouting followed by another gunshot, which neither entered the engine room nor ricocheted. There was silence for a moment before he could hear the captain “Anyone else want to be an idiot? No? Then someone finish this cut. NOW!"

Thomas was out of ideas. He could see Erica look at him with sorrowful eyes as she tucked herself behind a set of pipes, and the Eelektross staring at him through the glass of the tank. “The tank…" Thomas's eyes lit up as he searched frantically for an entrance to the tank. Spotting it along one side high enough to be above the level of the water inside, he quickly climbed up and opened it. He could see there was a minute amount of debris at the bottom of the massive glass enclosure - mostly sand and a couple rocks - but it could be enough to hide under if he tried. The only problem was the obvious one. Oxygen.

The Eelektross couldn't conceive the enormity of the man's plight, only that he seemed intent on joining them in the tank. “This is such a bad idea…" he muttered to the pokemon below. Most looked confused but one seemed to give him a curious 'Why?' look. He hoped that one could understand. “I need to hide." The look of confusion became one of playfulness as Thomas was yanked into the water. Being the one that fed them so bountifully, it made little gulping motions with it's large, sucker-like mouth to explain what it would be doing next. Thomas looked back to the glowing marks of the cutting tool on the roof and barely managed to close the tank's hatch before the metal slab clattered to the floor of the room. He was dragged down to the bottom while his saviour emitted a series of clicks and screeches to it's brethren, then as it reached the bottom of the tank it firmly affixed it's mouth over Thomas' and used it's hands to pile sand over his body.

It was a moment of hesitation before Thomas decided to see if the Eelektross understood he was an air-breather, and upon parting his lips he was relieved to find a water free - albeit fishy-tasting - space beyond. He felt a gentle pressure against his lungs and accepted the breath of mostly oxygenated air happily. With the pokemon and Thomas mouth-to-mouth, he couldn't see up to the engine room floor, but thanks to his implant he could still hear reasonably well. Footsteps and mumbling were soft and ever present until the captain spoke. “They're down here. Find them."

A gruff voice replied “Captain, there's nowhere to go here. They can't have come down-"

The sound of a slap echoed through the water as it bounced around the glass tank. “Just LOOK at the hatch, imbecile." Another slap. “They jammed a wrench in there from THIS side. They WERE here, SO FIND OUT WHERE THEY WENT!" Thomas heard the sound of a gun cocking “Unless you miss Howard's cooking bad enough you'd like to join him…" Footsteps heading away followed by the tearing of tape and rusty swinging of a hatch clued the man into the Captain's exit. He could barely hear the next command shouted from the maintenance room above “And someone fix Ryan's face. I need him on that engine, ay-sap."

There were sounds of metal being scraped, panels opened and equipment moved. The glass was tapped a few times and he heard the same gruff man state “Ah shit. Dead one floatin' at the bottom. Cap's not gonna be happy." Thomas gulped, the Eelektross currently giving him air was playing dead to hide his body. He'd read about Eelektross every now and again in the newspapers he'd use for bedding; usually in terms of them somehow ending up in some water system or another and destroying the local water-pokemon ecosystem. But he'd not realised exactly how big they could get. All in all - from tooth to fin - the ones in the tank seemed about the same size as himself, if not a little longer. The one currently helping him breathe was a good foot longer than those, and given it seemed to understand him was probably the only one who'd had any decent human contact. Maybe even the one the original ship's engineer had installed in the generator.

Another voice grumbled “Might as well put a new Tynamo in."

“Know how to do that?" The gruff voice sounded understandably exasperated.

“Sure, just gotta pull this lever…" Thomas heard a mechanism slide into place and click. Suddenly he could feel the water around him bristle with electricity and motion as several Tynamo swarmed the tank. “Uh-" The verbal thought was silenced by another slap.

“Dumbass! Too many and the capacitors overload. Get those back in the holding tank!"

“I-I ain't goin in there. Make Ryan do it."

“Ryan ain't in no shape to! Won't be for a while…"

“Nope! They look angry!" The Eelektross in the tank made angry clicks, probably annoyed they'd have to be sharing the same amount for food with yet more hungry mouths. They seemed oblivious to the intentions of their captors, but very unhappy with their actions. “You want them out, you do it!"

“Fuck." The gruff voice huffed. “Well we're not movin' till Ryan's back anyway, so just focus on looking for those stowaways for now. You get fishing rod duty later."

Thomas could see the Tynamo swimming around the bottom of the tank looking for cover from the annoyed Eelektross around them. It's then he noticed the shape of the rock structures at the bottom of the tank, they were full of holes, holes that the pokemon very quickly filled. But as the two thugs had alluded to, the tank was only made for a certain amount of the pokemon to be introduced at a time, and the rocks were soon filled with nervous Tynamo, leaving several swimming around desperate for cover.

The first one to find his boardshorts certainly gave the man a start. He tried remaining as still as possible, the men on the platform above weren't looking in the tank right then, but all it would take is a casual glance at the wrong time and he'd have trouble. Movement from one side at his level clued him in to Erica's new hiding spot. She'd managed to find a way down to the base of the tank, but was still mostly shielded by an array of pipes. Upon seeing another Tynamo slip into the man's pants, her eyes went wide and she was very clearly trying not to laugh.

The absurdity of it wasn't escaping Thomas' mind either, though having an Eelektross stuck to his lips did make any form of laughter difficult. When someone peered into the tank from above, he could feel the atmosphere in the tank change. The Tynamo flittedfurther under cover while the Eelektross turned to face the human observers with scornful gazes. There was also a subtle charge in the water - from the nervousness of some and anger of others - that began messing with his implant. He doubt he'd survive one of their feeding frenzies, and the way things were going if some of them got a little excited the hearing aid probably wouldn't last long either.

Unfortunately for Thomas, the gathering of Tynamo in his pants was causing a reaction. As his member slowly rose amongst the sand, the tynamo nearby became highly interested in it. His moan from one taking an experimental nibble caught the Eelektross at his lips attention. It glanced up to the tank's heights and checked for investigative humans before waving one of the other Eelektross over. Several arrived and Thomas was told via hand gestures and a huge forced intake of air that he was to stay there. It pulled back to allow another to take its place, giving a quick instruction of what was needed before making space.

A few seconds later a second Eelektross was stuck to Thomas' face, it's body floating into the same spot as his previous saviour. The 'alpha' of the group was slowly making its way down the man's body towards his pants, seemingly understanding the man's subtle moans and 'discomfort' once discovering the Tynamo hiding there. One dashed away from it's larger evolutionary form, while the other sought refuge somewhere else. And much to Thomas' chagrin, it succeeded. With a quick thrash of it's serpentine body, the finned pokemon buried it's head in Thomas' rear, the protective slime around it's form helping it to push inside the man's arse with little trouble.

Thomas gasped in shock, a silent scream as the sensation of having an eight-inch fish take refuge in his rectum was surprising to say the least. It forced itself as deep as possible, twisting and wriggling as Thomas did his best not writhe or buck. He moaned with each movement, and it wasn't long before the alpha Eelektross discovered his indecency throbbing proudly in the cool water. Still covered by his shorts, the pokemon had to pull them off him to see what lay beneath. Doing so caused a great deal of sand to billow up off his legs and into the water, exposing the lower half of his body to prying eyes.

The furious scooping of sand to recover him brought the attention of one of the thugs. “HA!" Thomas and the Eelektross froze at the noise. “Well, that explains it."

“What?" The first thug must have pointed to Thomas' now free-floating boardshorts in the tank. “Oh, heh. Guess we know why they overloaded the circuits. Must've had a feast on that idiot's bones."

“Heh. What a fuckin dumbass."

“Fuck this. Noone coulda gotten out, and there's nothin' left but that dude's shorts. They probably swallowed Erica whole." Thomas could see the woman sigh in relief behind a set of pipes. “I'll call it in. Get back to your station." the two pairs of footsteps tapped over to the exit hatch before climbing the ladder out. “Yeah, Cap? Mystery solved. Dumbass thought he could-" The hatch slammed shut mid sentence, giving Thomas a moment to calm down. But he didn't get much respite before the Eelektross got back to it's inspection of the man's rock-hard member.

It had seen reproductive organs before, so it knew what the fleshy rod was - or at least suspected as much - but usually the engorgement of such an organ was dependent on some sort of mating ritual or the like. Which was clearly not present. It was at that moment the Eelektross spied the human hiding behind pipes outside the tank. It regarded her with a curious stare, though she seemed far more interested in the man's rod than the curious pokemon.

The Eelektross returned it's attention to Thomas' member, prodding it with one hand while observing the throbbed reaction. A roiling in his belly reminded the pokemon of the Tynamo hiding inside, and despite the man's anatomy being very intriguing, it decided to leave it's investigation for later. The Tynamo could not stay where it was, and there was only one conceivable way to get it out.

Thomas moaned as the Eelektross spread his legs, revealing his naked rear to the world. His hole winked as the Tynamo within wriggled to find a more comfortable position. But that was only the start of Thomas' woes, as a second Tynamo - after being evicted from his pants and upon seeing the entrance pucker - dashed forward to take advantage of the new real estate, flitting around the pinned legs and into the pulsing hole. Another scream in shock and delight erupted from Thomas, except much more vocal than before. The Eelektross attached to his face quickly recoiled, almost drowning the man as the tank water quickly flowed into his mouth.

The Eelektross alpha was quick to recover, swishing over to quickly clear thomas' lungs of the surprising watery intake. It took a moment for him to get his breath back and return his breathing to normal, but by that time the Eelektross that had abandoned him had become curious about what had caused the scream. Looking down his body it could see his member standing proud and decided to perform it's own investigation.

Erica looked on in perverse horror. The man had just taken two Tynamo up his arse, and from the looks of things one Eelektross was pinning him down while the other seemed prepared to give him a blowjob. Though if that were the case, he seemed rather calm about it, with his protestations seemingly more focused on the pair of pokemon inhabiting his rear than being held down. The sight had her stunned, confused and strangely turned on. Hidden away from everyone but Thomas and the other pokemon, she dared to place a hand between her thighs and rub against the dampening fabric there.

The Eelektross inspecting Thomas' cock grew more bold, reaching out with one hand to grasp at the fleshy rod. Thomas groaned as it's odd grip played against his sensitive skin, the pokemon rubbing up and down his length and marvelling at the way it twitched. An odd wispy fluid began to emanate from it with each upwards stroke, making the water around it taste somewhat savoury. It was a new taste, but not an unwelcome one, and as the Eelektross brought it's mouth over Thomas' member to taste the fluid properly, Thomas released a lustful moan into the alpha Eelektross' mouth.

Two of the five beings occupying that portion of the tank had an understanding of what was going on, the larger Eelektross frankly amazed that the human was finding any of this stimulating, and knowing that it would need to step in and solve the issue of hidden Tynamo before the man could leave the tank. It noticed movement from outside the tank and spotted the other human doing something to herself.

Erica realised she was being watched and froze, slowly turning her gaze to the pokemon looking at her. She gulped, it's large eyes along with Thomas' staring at her as she played with herself. But given the man was in no position to judge, she just continued doing so, even turning to face them a little more directly to show how much she was getting off from the act. Thomas would have said something if he could, but he was silenced anyway by something else. A long prehensile tongue wrapped it's way around his member, the sucker at it's tip adhering to the base of his cock as the Eelektross at his crotch slid it's mouth around it.

Thomas's moan was deeper, the alpha sensing the wanton lust burning within the man as it waved for another Eelektross to come over and help. It gave Thomas the same big blast of air before disconnecting from their life-saving kiss. Another series of clicks and screeches - although much longer and involving more hand movements - and a third Eelektross had fastened itself to Thomas' mouth. He breathed out with a guttural groan, which was responded to in kind by the pokemon. It didn't know what Thomas was doing, though it assumed the strange noise was a sort of comfort-seeking purr or growl, and was attempting to make the human feel better by imitating it as best as possible.

The reaction to this pokemon's attempt at comfort was Thomas' libido increasing significantly. He'd never had a pokemon growl quite so loudly directly into his mouth. Even the Incineroars only really purred while they were fucking him, not kissing him. That coupled with the rhythmic sucking on his cock, he was enjoying himself immensely. He glanced over to see Erica enjoying herself as well, and smiled, knowing when they got out of this, she was going to have to explain herself; at least he was somewhat powerless to stop the Tynamo and his body's reaction to that.

The alpha moved down Thomas' body and under the curious one sucking the man off. It positioned itself between his legs once more and spread them to see Thomas' winking pucker. It probed the surrounding skin with it's suckered tongue, attempting to discern the best way to approach the situation of removing two feisty Tynamo from the human's hole.

Thomas moaned again, the sensation of the alpha prodding him with his tongue around his sensitive taint was almost too much. It was this moan that seemed to spark an idea in Thomas' breath-giving Eelektross, whose own tongue began to explore the human's mouth. At first the suckered tip - about the size of a spoon's useful part - pressed against his lips, tracing their shape in comparison to its own round rubbery ring interspersed with sharp teeth. The tongue ran along the man's teeth and gums, amused by the shape before pushing through the gap between. Thomas welcomed the pokemon's tongue with his own, licking and stroking the smooth appendage as it wriggled playfully in return.

Erica noticed the telltale signs of someone getting some tongue from the bulges in Thomas' cheeks His closed and happy eyes were indicative of him enjoying the experience, which only seemed to turn her on even more. The man was being kissed and given a blowjob by pokemon, and he seemed perfectly fine with it. More than fine, really. Though with how the larger Eelektross was staring at his hole, she assumed the situation would get far more intense for the man quite soon.

And she wasn't wrong. With Thomas preoccupied by two very explorative Eelektross, the alpha decided right then was the best time to remove the pesky Tynamo. As it placed it's sucker-like mouth firmly against his cheeks, Thomas felt the water sucked away before gasping at the introduction of a thin, probing tongue. It slathered his opening in a thick, numbing saliva, Then with a forceful push, it thrust it's tongue into Thomas' arse, the sucker getting purchase on the head of a surprised pokemon immediately.

This action of course elicited an appropriate reaction from the other pokemon. It had found a spot to hide, cohabitating with another of its kin being perfectly acceptable to the both of them. It saw no reason to leave, and as such put up a fight. Which meant Thomas suddenly had eight inches of desperate, slimy Tynamo attempting to wriggle free of a particularly strong suckered tongue, deep inside his arse. It was too much.

The Eelektross that had been clamped down over Thomas' cock was suddenly inundated with blast after blast of savoury-sweet human cum, gulping down the sticky treat eagerly. This of course got the attention of the other Eelektross in the tank, who quickly moved to swarm Thomas' crotch, pulling the other off to feed on whatever source of nutrients it had found. The desperate struggle from Thomas' jizz-dispensing staff resulted in several spurts of the pearly liquid billowing into the water, which were quickly hoovered up by the hungry pokemon. The electricity in the water was definitely noticeable, with Thomas' earpiece emitting a shrill squeal from the interference.

Thomas grunted as the orgasm - while enjoyable - was certainly not the full experience. Having his member released into the cooler water (when compared to the warmth of an Eelektross' mouth) along with the ear-splitting wail of the stressed electronics, Thomas had managed to have his climax postponed to a certain degree. It felt like somewhere deep down his body realised it was no longer surrounded by an appropriate environment, and shut the whole process down to save sperm and try again later. The 'later' came sooner than anticipated though, as a new warm mouth set itself up, this time the tongue inside wrapping around his shaft and squeezing in an attempt to milk the man of whatever tastiness was left.

Meanwhile the tongue in Thomas' mouth had finished exploring there and began to move further down his throat. A month ago Thomas would have been worried about his gag reflex, but no more. Whether it was something to do with Zye or just the sheer amount of oversized dongs he'd swallowed over the last few weeks, he couldn't be sure. But as the sucker-tipped tongue began exploring his airway, all he had to worry about was keeping his oxygen intake up. When the tongue pushed too far, Thomas' throat would contract, squeezing it and pushing the prehensile muscle back into his mouth so he could get a big breath in. The Eelektross realised this after the first couple of times, and after that would only explore for a short while before retracting to give the man some air.

The Alpha on the other hand was having a much harder time of it. The Tynamo it was trying to pull out of the man was proving rather reticent to leave willingly, and was making quite the show of it. The Alpha - having seen the miniature feeding frenzy moments earlier and was keeping tabs on the human's physical state - was concerned that another outburst like that could harm him. It'd have to get the Tynamo out as soon as possible and get the human out of the tank before anything else could happen. Gripping Thomas' thighs with it's large hands, the alpha proceeded to pull hard and finally extract the first of two pokemon.

Thomas moaned loudly at the sudden passing of eight inches of thick Tynamo from his rear. The Eelektross moaned back accordingly, which began a small feedback loop until the one suckling Thomas' cock bucked it's head against his crotch in an attempt to force out more cum. The act silenced Thomas as a mixture of pleasure and pain wracked his body from the battering. The alpha saw this and forcefully removed the impatient Eelektross. As another quickly descended to take it's place, it was stopped by the larger one who was trying to decide how to handle the situation. Which is when it noticed Erica again.

The woman had been furiously fingering herself as the pokemon fought over Thomas' milky cloud of cum, and edged close to her own climax as the alpha removed the Tynamo from Thomas' apparently spacious rear. But once more feeling eyes upon her she looked up to see the Eelektross alpha eyeing her. It seemed to be trying to get a decision on something from her, though she was in a bit of a lusty haze to understand immediately what. Blinking several times and looking at the situation, the pokemon seemed to be holding the others back from continuing to give Thomas a blowjob, though she was unsure why. Perhaps it was wanting her input as to which one should be next. She looked along the almost identical group before spotting a smaller one that had a slightly paler colouring. She'd recognised it as being one of the ones unable to feed earlier. She pointed at it as a gesture for it to be next to feed off Thomas' cum, hoping that would solve whatever the alpha's problem was.

The alpha had been hoping to get the other human's input in what to do next, even get her to help remove the man from their tank. But she seemed insistent that her friend remain there, having pointed at one of the other Eelektross for some reason. But that pokemon saw it as a command from one of their benefactors, and dove down onto Thomas' cock with hungry eyes. The previous Eelektross had been average sized for their kind, and this one was much smaller. That difference in size was significant to the man as before there was enough space for their lengthy prehensile tongue to wrap around his meat within their mouth. But this one was smaller, and as such, the same scale did not apply.

Thomas felt a wonderful, perfect suction descend on him as the pokemon drew his length into it's mouth. It felt perfect. Just the right depth, just the right warmth, just the right squeeze. And then it began sucking. Thomas bucked up into the tank as he felt his precum spurt into the wondrous void before him. The Eelektross hungrily sucked up every last drop and more, it's tongue pressing against and licking along his slit. Thomas could feel the climax he'd been denied building quickly.

The alpha considered the ramifications of Thomas once more firing his load into the tank of hungry pokemon, and returned to his arse to retrieve the second Tynamo as quickly as possible. It speared the man's ring with its tongue - causing another sensual yelp to echo inside the other Eelektross' mouth - and quickly found the other Tynamo. But the second one had seen what had happened to the first, and was doubly insistent on retaining ownership of its new hiding place. Thomas felt the intrusion in his arse grow thicker and thicker as the alpha's tongue wrapped it's way around the struggling pokemon like a serpent would it's lunch. The thickening obstruction wriggling and vibrating the entire time as the Tynamo refused to go willingly.

Thomas' bucking and writhing was also causing the pokemon at his crotch to shift and maneuvre to stay aligned with it's food source, having to push back against the man every once in a while to re-lodge the throbbing cock deep in it's throat. It looked to Erica who was lost in her own fantasy world as Thomas was being tongue fucked from two ends by Eelektross while face-fucking a third. When she realised the pokemon was looking at her, several things happened all at once.

The first was that the alpha had had enough of it's kin's stubbornness and elicited a small shock to stun the pokemon, resulting in a muted flash near the bottom of the tank. This caused Thomas to immediately arch his back in pleasure as he was instantly brought right to the edge of orgasm. Then as his muscles all relaxed at once, the alpha saw it's opportunity and wound it's captive out through Thomas like a corkscrew in one swift movement, flinging the smaller pokemon to the side afterwards.

That was too much for Thomas who's scream of pleasure was almost instantly silenced by a tongue thrusting down his throat, distending it's shape visibly to the woman looking on from outside the tank. Her eyes darted from the man's arse to his throat, she finally noticed the Eelektross staring at her, it's eyes lighting up as the creamy goodness it had been searching for finally flooded it's vacuum-like mouth.

Erica came and came hard. The way that pokemon was looking at her was too much for her to bear. It was feeding, and she'd given it permission to. She felt responsible for Thomas' climax, and that was a strange sense of power she'd never felt before. Not only that, the one currently dining on the man's jizz was looking at her as though she were some sort of divine being that had willed the food into it's mouth. Her fingers thrust deep and stroked against just the right spot while her thumb did the rest. One stifled scream later and Erica's body was limp and panting behind the array of pipes.

The alpha kept the other Eelektross back as the lucky one managed to have it's own private feast. When it was clear Thomas' supply of seed was exhausted, it gently directed the Eelektross to withdraw and gestured for everyone to return to their own part of the tank. The paler one slunk off a little ways, but it hung around nearby ready to help the alpha. It took a little more effort to get the oxygen-giving one off his mouth - or more specifically, out of his throat - but eventually Thomas was freed and after checking the room was empty of humans other than those currently recovering from intense orgasms, the alpha helped him to the waters surface.

Thomas took a big breath once there, the stale tank air much fresher than the fishy stuff he'd just been breathing. In comparison, Squishy seemed far more accommodating in that regard. “Oh fuck!" Thomas exclaimed breathlessly. “That was… fuck." He calmed his breathing before reaching out to give the Eelektross a big hug. “I- I… Hoo… Thank you." He panted, smiling. Spotting his shorts floating nearby, Thomas reached out and slipped them on, pulling them up a little higher than normal to prevent the smaller pokemon from getting any big ideas. “You… You really saved my arse there." He chuckled. “In more ways than one."

The Eelektross just looked at him a little confused, unsure how to take the man's comment. But after nodding, it guided him over to the hatch again, before realising the unfortunate dilemma he was in. There was no handle on this side of the hatch. Which meant Thomas had a limited supply of oxygen, though he did have an Erica on the other side. The Eelektross connected the dots after much arm waving and attempts at explanation from the man, before going down and tapping furiously on the tank near to where Erica had collapsed in a state of bliss.

She was eventually roused, pulled herself together and clambered back through the mishmash of machinery until she was at the tank entrance. Erica yanked the handle back and opened the tank up, reaching in to give Thomas a hand while several Eelektross helped give him a boost from below. Once out he collapsed on the metal grating, finally able to give his muscles some much needed rest.

“Don't go layin' down now. We gotta get outta here." Erica mused, prodding Thomas' shoulder with her boot. “They might not be lookin' fer us, but they will be back to fix the generators. Especially if they get wind of your friends comin'."

Thomas groaned, looking up to the carved-out hole in the ceiling above that had been covered by a crate or similar until it could be welded closed properly. “Ain't no rest for the wicked."

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