FSE

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“Damn, so glad it’s Friday...you got any plans for the weekend, Cam?”

“Oh, I think you already know, Jamaal. I plan to do the same thing I’m doing all the goddamn time until I get a steady job.” Cam pulled his head out of the refrigerator, a carton of milk in his hand. “Then maybe I’ll know why everyone appreciates Fridays like you do.”

“Hey, you should count yourself lucky, not everyone could get away with being out of work like you can.” Jamaal’s spoon clattered in his bowl as he leaned back in his chair. “Might go give Gallifrey some hard-core training at the gym, get him ready for the big one-on-one tourney next month. Weekends’re like the only time I can do something like that these days...man, if I could be a full-time trainer.”

“It’s so overrated it’s not even funny. Anyway, probably gonna see if I can take any freelance work. But I’ve got other things to think about today.”

“Oh, yeah, you’ve got that appointment with the doctor...man, I can’t believe she’s gonna go along with your crazy idea.”

“It’s for everyone’s good. It would be kind of a service, and it’s not like they have any other use for it. Speaking of which, I should probably get him up...don’t want to be late, and he’ll be at his prep for a while, like usual.”

Jamaal grinned at Cam widely. “Don’t act like you don’t like getting him up and prepared and all.”

“It’s a duty, not for fun,” Cam replied with faux indignation. They could banter all they want, but it wasn’t like they didn’t all know the truth. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

“Make sure he doesn’t bite down!”

“Fuck you, Jamaal.” But Cam was laughing as he said it.

A minute later, Cam ascended the stairs, heading to his bedroom. It wasn’t overly bright in there - the lights were off and the shades were drawn - but there was still a spot in the corner, a small box-like structure with very dark, thick curtains around the sides. Cam rapped on the top of the box. “Up and at ‘em, buddy.”

“Mmm...five more minutes.”

“How about no more minutes? Come on, we’ve got that appointment, and I know it takes you a while to get ready.”

“A’right, a’right, I’m coming…” There was a brief rustling, then the dark curtain was shifted away, revealing the contents of the secluded bed. Inside was a Treecko, but almost immediately it was clear something was off about him. For one thing, he was far paler than other Treecko, a very light green instead of the lush shade typical of the species. For another, his mouth bore, in addition to the usual short teeth, a pair of long, dangerous-looking fangs. “Why does everything have to be during the day?”

“Because that’s when normal people are up and about.”

“Screw normal people. You’d think they’d want me to turn into ash or something.”

“Some of them might if they knew you existed. Luckily you’ve got me around to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Thank goodness for that. Hey, ‘sit okay if I take a dose right now? Might be a good wake-up.”

Cam snickered. “I figured you’d ask. I’m all ready for ya, Vlad.” He dropped his shorts and exposed his hardening dick, lowering himself down to Vlad’s level. The Treecko hopped out of the bed and stepped towards Cam, opening his mouth as wide as he could as he started to envelop the head of Cam’s member. His tongue slurped over the tip, parting the foreskin as he tickled the sensitive flesh underneath.

Cam let out a quiet moan as he felt pleasure bolt through him with the deft touches. Vlad was good at this, he didn’t feel a hint of the sharp fangs on his dick, just the warm tongue and mouth wrapped around him and giving him a nice morning wake-up. It felt a bit weird to be so quiet during the act, but this wasn’t really about the sex - there was an ulterior purpose for it, one more practical in nature.

Still, that didn’t stop Cam from enjoying it. Vlad was plenty experienced by now, and he knew just how to push Cam’s buttons. His tongue rubbed around underneath the human’s foreskin, teasing him in his most sensitive areas while a paw rubbed his balls. He started sucking a bit harder now, trying to milk out Cam’s seed, give himself the kind of drink he was very much seeking for the day.

It didn’t take long for Cam to blow, it had been a few days and he was plenty pent up. He let out a grunt as his cock started shooting, pouring semen into the Treecko’s mouth. The lizard swallowed it up rapidly, not missing a drop as he drew it down into himself, letting it settle in his stomach. Early on he’d been rather averse to the taste, but he’d gotten used to it by now, not letting it slow him down as he tried to get as much as possible out of Cam.

Finally, the human’s orgasm tapered off, and Vlad sighed contentedly as he pulled away. “Phew...hope I didn’t catch you with the fangs or anything, Cam.”

“Oh, I think you’d probably notice if you did, Vlad. For one thing, I definitely wouldn’t have finished.”

“Hey, how do I know? Maybe you’re into that secretly.”

Cam laughed. “Oh, dear lord, that’s scary to even THINK about. You’re gonna shrivel erections if you talk about that in a group.”

“Heck, I’ll bet a lot of girls would pay me to get rid of creeps that way.”

“You know what, you might just be right. Anyway, get yourself ready, we don’t have that much time before we have to leave.”

Vlad nodded. “Yeah, I heard you. Don’t worry, I’ll be ready.”

---

There were definite reasons why Vlad didn’t like being out during the day. His body burned easily in the sun - not exactly turning to ash, but definitely painful and unpleasant. His eyes didn’t fare much better - he’d spent a few days blind because of bright sunlight. He was much better as a creature of the night, which was ironic given his basic plant-like nature...well, it wasn’t like there was much he could do about that.

But most anything he did involving the rest of the world happened during the day. That was how society functioned, and he couldn’t make it work on his own hours. So he had to adapt. The easy and quick part were the contacts - flat in the eye in seconds now that he was familiar with the process, they kept his eyes from going bad in the light. With them, he could see just fine - he didn’t need a lot of light for his vision.

Getting the rest of his body prepped was a bit more involved. A quirk of his physiology meant that his body was best prepared to withstand sunlight after absorbing another creature’s semen...he didn’t know how to explain it, but it was a convenient excuse for action in the best of times. Still, he was never sure how long that effect would last, so he always used his fallback, an intensely powerful sunblock lotion that he was currently slathering all over himself. The lotion was clear, a cosmetic effect more than anything; he wasn’t keen on having to explain why he was wearing some kind of powerful sunscreen. After all, he knew that someone like him might not exactly be well-received by the usual ignorant person. Being an anomaly wasn’t exactly a lot of fun.

He was almost done when he felt two large arms wrap around him from behind and lift him up. The hot breath on his ear told him who it was, though he didn’t really need more info. “Mmm, you smell good.”

“It’s the lotion.”

“That’s only part of it. That just makes your natural smell even better. If I didn’t know you needed to go out I’d lick it all off of you.”

“You’d better not, Rico, or I’m gonna be late.”

“Rr, yeah, I know, but that’s not gonna stop me from giving you my little bit of aid.” The red-orange snout poked itself into Vlad’s field of vision, and he brought a hand up to stroke it. Rico was Cam’s Charmeleon, apparently his first Pokémon, and a bit of an oddity himself compared to the rest of his species, though not in such an obvious way. Whereas most Charmeleons tended to be hot-tempered and snappy, Rico was a calm sort, smooth-tongued, friendly, and gentle. He had also quickly taken a very strong liking to Vlad - a liking that had turned into something more for the both of them.

He felt a hot pole pressing up against his back, a familiar slick mass that he’d gotten to know very well. Rico was definitely in the mood, and he could be very persuasive when he wanted to have a good time. Not that Vlad needed a lot of convincing, and even the short time frame he had wasn’t really dissuading him from letting the Charmeleon do as he wanted. “Ah...hard to say no to a sexy beast like you…” he breathed, lowering his free had to guide Rico towards his tailhole. “I don’t have long, so...just go hard and fast, don’t let up at all.”

“As you wish, hun.” With a lustful growl Rico forced his way in, that hot rod hilting in Vlad in one blow, eliciting a sharp moan from the Treecko. Not a displeased one, certainly - the Charmeleon could go all sorts of speeds and intensities, and Vlad knew how to get the most out of all of them. Hard and fast wasn’t an uncommon one, and for that Rico would do most of the work; he got to just enjoy the results.

Rico didn’t waste time, starting off pounding fast and hard, the heat radiating off of him, touching all those sensitive pleasure points inside Vlad. He was definitely big compared to the Treecko’s size, and the feeling of being filled so much with something so hot was amazing. He brought his hands up to Rico’s on the stool, allowing him to grip them tight as he pounded away, helping to brace Vlad for the onslaught.

Over and over again, the larger lizard’s hip’s met the smaller’s, fiery pre letting him slide through without resistance, their mutual moans getting louder and louder as they got closer to their peaks. Vlad was the first to get his release, the raging heat from Rico’s body and his dick overwhelming his sensitive body; he gasped out a moan as his body tightened up and he shot his fluids onto the tile. He could hear and feel Rico’s breath quickening as he slammed against him even harder, and it continued to spur on his pleasure, his orgasm unable to abate against the continued rampant heat stimulation.

And Rico didn’t let up; he knew full well the power he had over the Treecko’s pleasure here, and he wanted to give him all he was worth. He kept up his high-energy, high-intensity efforts for over another minute, never allowing Vlad’s body to relinquish that peak, reveling in the tightness and the shudders of pleasure from his partner. Finally, with a restrained cry, he let loose, boiling seed surging into Vlad, his toe claws scraping against the tile as his feet slid a bit from the force of his last entry. To Vlad, the heat released inside of him was like a sauna from the inside, warming him rapidly throughout his entire body, and his heat sensitivity ensuring he wasn’t released from his orgasm for another several seconds. Not that he minded in the slightest; he wouldn’t have cared if Rico had been able to keep him there for another hour, not as good as it felt. Though in this case it was probably better that he didn’t, since he had an appointment to get to.

---

The sun was shining bright, the birds were singing in the trees, it was a beautiful day that few could take issue with. Vlad rather wished he could enjoy it more, without the fear that he would burn to death in it. It was certainly a good thing he had the super-powerful sunblock and the added assistance from Cam and Rico’s fluids, otherwise he’d have to be stuck in his dark bed the whole day. And that was no fun; he liked to get out, stretch his legs, run around with everyone else.

As it was, he seemed to have boundless energy, bouncing around Cam as they walked to the city clinic. The trainer chuckled as he watched Vlad jump and dance around, covering a lot more ground while moving forward at the same rate. “You’re going to wear yourself out, you know.”

“Who cares? At least I’ll sleep well!”

“And you’re normally such a quiet and calm little guy. You sure you’re not about to burst into flames?”

“You’d better hope not, otherwise you’ll be stuck cleaning up the mess.”

Eventually, Vlad had to settle down, and as they got into the city he was more or less walking beside Cam, keeping pace as he caught his breath. Vlad wasn’t one for combat, so he wasn’t really in supreme physical shape, his strength and stamina were pretty limited. In a way, it fit his lifestyle of usually sticking inside out of the sunlight, but it did mean that even if he wanted to cut loose he usually couldn’t do so for very long.

“Do you think she’ll be okay with me?”

“I don’t see why not. She’s aware of your condition, and she didn’t turn us away. I mean, she asked a lot of questions, but...well, who wouldn’t?”

Vlad’s expression turned down a bit. “Am I gonna have to answer a lot more questions, then?”

“Maybe. We’ll see. Even if you do, you know, just say what you know. That’s all you can tell her, right?”

“Yeah…” Vlad fell a bit contemplative. It was always awkward talking about his condition...small wonder, it wasn’t like vampires were exactly common, especially vampire Pokémon. You had your blood-sucking Golbats and such, but that was different, you knew that was part of their normal Pokémon state and there wasn’t anything to come of it. But he was a Treecko, he wasn’t supposed to be like this...even he didn’t know what it was all about and how it would affect him and others, at least not fully.

The cityscape wasn’t helping his mindset, either. He loved the rural, out-of-the-way spot where Cam lived, big buildings and throngs of people made him anxious. All it would take was one person to freak out, and there would be trouble...another reason he’d had to settle down, the less attention drawn to himself, the better.

Eventually, they arrived at a rather classy clinic, different from a Pokémon Center in that it was for specialty treatments that weren’t part of the typical battle wear a Pokémon faced. This was for disease, disorder, and the like. Even so, they had an emergency department, but it was more like a human ER, since a lot of the conditions that brought Pokémon here couldn’t be fixed with a short stay in the rejuvenation machine.

Cam checked them in, then they sat and waited. The waiting room was sparsely populated, only a couple trainers and Pokémon in there, and they looked pretty healthy with the exception of one. Probably there to visit Pokémon who were currently being treated, Vlad guessed; he wasn’t exactly super worldly but he knew enough to be able to guess at things. He found himself sticking very close to Cam, almost clinging to him, not wanting people’s eyes to be drawn to him; perhaps he looked sickly given his color, but better they think that than look too closely and see the truth.

Eventually they were called back into an examination room, where their contact was waiting for them. Dr. Abrams was a shorter, prim woman, late thirties or early forties, though looking a bit young for her age. She seemed very proper, but still rather warm and welcoming, which was good news for Cam and Vlad - the easier she was, the less likely they’d run into any issues with her assessment of Vlad’s peculiarities.

They sat down in her office, each one of them working to dispel their nerves. The doctor spoke first. “So...this is definitely an unusual situation for us all, but if we can make it work, it’ll be for everyone’s benefit. I think the first think I’d like to do is get a bit of your story. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of something like this...a vampiric Treecko, I’d’ve thought someone was pulling a prank on me without the pictures and video.”

“I’m an odd sort, I know,” Vlad replied. “I don’t know that I’ll be able to give you much in the way of story, though. Quite honestly...I don’t know how I got this way. My memory’s pretty much a big blank until about the time I met Cam.”

“Oh, it is?” Dr. Abrams sounded a bit disappointed. “You don’t remember anything? Even snippets?”

“Nothing at all, pretty much. Every once in a while I’ll get a flash of something really brief, maybe like in a dream or something, but it’s never stuck with me. Absolutely nothing coherent until just a couple days before I ran into Cam...and even those memories are pretty scattered, like my head was all wild or something. I was basically running, I don’t know why...I don’t recall anyone chasing after me or anything, I just...felt a need to run.”

“I see...so you don’t know anything about how you got that way?”

Vlad shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I wish I did, maybe I could find out if someone knew more about me. Like, I don’t know if I’m undead or just a weird mutant or what.”

“Well, you seem like you’re more alive than dead to me. You’re not a ghost, and I’ve at least been able to check your pulse and it seems like there’s something there. So you wouldn’t be like the typical undead creature I would know of. But I don’t know anything about this myself... perhaps I can run some blood tests, see if anything unusual comes up.”

“I wouldn’t mind a few tests. I worry sometimes that I’m going to get sick or something and no one will know how to deal with it.”

“I worry about that myself,” Cam admitted as well. “I try to keep him healthy as best I can, but I don’t know if I’m potentially doing something wrong that I couldn’t figure out.”

Dr. Abrams nodded. “Understandable. I’m not really sure what we can tell you, since...well, we don’t have tests for vampires, obviously. All we could do is try to find peculiarities in your genes or your biology, though we can’t say for certain whether we’ll be able to interpret them clearly. So, I can’t make any promises, but if we can figure anything out we’ll certainly let you know.”

“Every little bit helps. We’re both kind of learning on the fly here so anything that gives us a bit more knowledge will be useful for us.”

“Perhaps you can tell me what you’ve discovered for yourself? It might serve as a starting point for understanding Vlad’s nature. Not to mention, well, I am a bit curious.” She looked down at the Treecko, eying his facial expression. “I’d like to know a little bit more about how you function, at least as much as you know. I suppose it makes sense to start with the most obvious thing...your fangs, you use them to draw in blood, right?”

Vlad hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Yeah...it has to be through them, too. I can’t just, like drink it like a glass of water or something. If it doesn’t go through my fangs, I don’t get anything out of it. I tried doing it once...the hunger didn’t relent.”

“You take blood in through your fangs...I suppose it’s not technically drinking. There must be something that processes it to give you your sustenance.”

“Couldn’t tell you, doc. I wish I knew, then maybe I wouldn’t have to drink blood.”

“You dislike it?”

“Well, it’s inconvenient. Especially since I don’t like to take it right from the source. And can’t in some cases.”

“Oh? Are there Pokémon you can’t drink blood from?”

“Straight from them, yeah. Steel and Rock Pokémon are too hard for me to bite. And Poison Pokémon...well, you can guess. Ghost Pokémon, obviously. And I can’t handle temperature extremes, either, so I can’t directly drink from Fire or Ice Pokémon. The only way I can drink blood from some of them is if they’re pre-extracted and brought to a moderate temperature.”

“Ah...I imagine that changes their complexion a bit.”

“Yeah. Ice Pokémon blood is kinda like melted ice cream, really thin. And chilled Fire Pokémon blood is like a thick shake. Different types definitely have their distinctive traits.” Vlad shifted a little bit, noticeably uncomfortable, not unnoticed by Dr. Abrams.

“Is there a problem?”

“N-no...sorry, it’s just...it just feels weird talking about stuff like that. I mean, it’s true, it just...”

“No I think I understand. I get rather icked out if I think too much about my food, too.”

“I just...don’t like that it relies on other Pokémon suffering for me. That’s always bothered me...like, how am I supposed to survive when I don’t want to hurt them? And the worst part is, if I try to starve myself so that I don’t have to, I end up going nuts and going after someone without being able to control myself.”

Dr. Abrams nodded again. “You’re a kinder creature than most would expect. Please don’t worry about how it sounds to me, I’m simply trying to get an understanding of what your body is like. But it does bring up the question, if you need blood to survive, how do you typically get it?”

“Some people...donate. Cam does sometimes, as does Jamaal...Rico, Gallifrey, and a few other friends who know about me. Most blood I can drink if it’s extracted from them...even Poison-type blood can be used if it’s treated beforehand. Although it still tastes terrible when I get it in my mouth. But...yeah, I don’t feel great about that either, but at least I know they’re doing it willingly and not being forced to.”

“I see...I suppose it’s not fully convenient for anyone. So now I understand why you contacted me…”

“Yeah. We wanted to see if we could take expired blood donations off your hands for feeding Vlad,” Cam explained. “I figured if we could get some of that, he’d need to use from-the-source donations less, and that would help him feel a bit better.”

“It’s an unusual request, but I checked with the people in charge of that in our building. The blood would just have been disposed of anyway, so they didn’t really mind if it was being used for another purpose. Although, I didn’t tell them exactly what it was for...I didn’t think they’d actually believe me anyway. My concern, of course, is storage...do you have a place to keep this?”

“I bought a freezer for storing samples that we took from one of our Pokémon. It’s only for that, not for anything else, so there’s no risk of contamination.”

“Indeed? Hm...you’re better prepared for this than I expected. Ah...well, I think we’ll be able to give you what you want. In the meantime...Vlad, are you okay with a few more questions?”

“Um...sure, okay,” Vlad replied hesitantly.

“If I ask anything too personal, you don’t have to answer...I’d just like as much information as possible so that I can put together some ideas for treatment if you get sick or injured. I’d also like to ask you about your existence as a Pokémon. For example, do you know any moves?”

“Um...only a couple, really weak ones...and no Grass-type moves.”

“Oh, I see. So you’re not a battler, then?”

Vlad shook his head emphatically. “I hate the idea of hurting someone else...that’s part of the reason I was starving when I first ran into Cam. I was so against the idea of taking blood from another living creature by force...I just couldn’t do it until I was too delirious from need to control myself.”

Dr. Abrams nodded. “I suppose it wouldn’t help much that opponents might not be comfortable battling you. People tend to fear what they don’t understand, and I’m afraid there is quite a lot we don’t understand about you.”

“Tell me about it. There’s too much I don’t even understand about myself. I hate having to learn things from scratch.”

“I’d feel the same way. It’s one thing to be learning something like math or art, but when it comes to your body and health, you really want to know as much as possible from the start. The more I know, the more I can help you, so perhaps you can explain a few of your discoveries?”

“Sure...well, I guess the thing that’s most curious is that blood isn’t the only thing that affects me.”

“Affects you? How so?”

“Well, other bodily fluids have effects on me.”

Dr. Abrams stopped writing briefly to look at Vlad. “Other body fluids? So...do you routinely take these as well?”

“Well, no, they’re not totally like blood...blood gives me sustenance, and I need it to survive period. The other things are just...they have other effects on my body. Like, um, saliva is kind of...er...well, one of those things that makes you horny.”

“An aphrodisiac?”

“Yeah, that’s it. I found that out with Rico. That’s also how I found out that j-er, semen helps protect me from sun damage. It’s not as painful and doesn’t hurt as much to be out in the sun after I get a dose or two. I still use the sunblock, though. I don’t know how long the effect really lasts.”

“Fascinating...I wonder why that is? Are there others?”

“Well...er, you’re gonna think this is weird, but...I tried urine out, because I wondered if it was gonna do something. It kind of...acted like an energy drink of some sort, I guess, got me feeling active and such...but I can’t stand the taste of it and it’s a bit tough to keep down. And then sweat...well, uh, this is kind of weird to say, but, it’s...kind of a drug. Like, one that makes you loopy, weird-headed, everything looks funny, you start making things up…”

“A hallucinogen?”

“Is that what that is?”

“I think that’s the one that makes sense,” Cam offered. “He gets kind of like some of my friends used to on shrooms. I mean, he tends to just be very still, so it doesn’t seem too dangerous, but he’s really out of it.”

“Huh.” Dr. Abrams continued making notes, but she seemed pretty lost herself. “It’s certainly interesting...I don’t know how much it’s going to get us to a diagnosis of any sort, though. Quite honestly, this is surely the most bizarre array of effects I’ve ever heard of in my life. It doesn’t even remotely resemble any medical condition I’ve heard of, and I don’t know that our tests are going to be able to suss out the underlying physiology. But it doesn’t exactly fit with classical vampirism, either...although you’ve got some aspects which fit with that, others aren’t anything like it. So it may be a bit crude to call you a vampire, you seem to be more than that.”

“Do you think there’s any way to get more information?” asked Cam.

“Well, we’ll do what we can, however much that is. I would say I can’t place a lot of hope on the scholarly sources. But perhaps we can look into historical records, see if there are any references to other vampire Pokémon in the past that can be validated in any way. Perhaps there we can find some leads. Other than that...I don’t really know, apart from just keeping Vlad alive and well-fed, and doing what simple tests we can to learn more about him.”

“I suppose that’s all we can hope for,” Vlad said. “At least there’s someone else out there who knows about me and isn’t freaking out. It’s nice to have another person to count on.”

“Oh, trust me, Vlad, I’m freaking out, but it’s a very different type of freak-out. Much less villagers with pitchforks and torches, much more Archimedes running naked through Alexandria.”

“...Huh?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Cam said. “Thanks, Dr. Abrams. Where can we pick up the blood?”

---

The walk home was slower than the walk there, on account of Cam pulling a moderately-sized cooler behind him. Packed inside were a few dozen packets of expired Pokémon blood, from a variety of species that Vlad could consume without any difficulty. The Treecko was immensely thankful for their procurement; for a good while at least, he wouldn’t have to take any samples from anyone, he could just go into their stash and use that to tide over his hunger.

For his part, Vlad left relatively unmolested. He’d had a blood sample drawn, but all the other samples collected from him were taken non-invasively - nothing from his organs or anything else that would have required needles or surgery. He was thankful for that because judging by some of the looks from the technicians collecting them, they seemed to want to go a lot deeper than they could. Fortunately, Dr. Abrams had made her requests extremely clear, and they knew better than to try to go beyond that. Now as they made their way along the wooded path back home, he walked silently beside Cam, feeling a bit fatigued from the day’s events; despite having been at rest, just being outside and active was tiring, especially in the hot sun.

“I hope there’s enough ice in the cooler to keep that stuff from going bad until we get home,” Cam muttered, almost more to himself than Vlad. “You think you’ll be okay if the blood gets warm for a bit?”

“I dunno. Not sure I want to find out, but it might happen sometime anyway.”

“Kinda hope not. I’d like to check on it, but I think that might make the problem worse if there is one. I guess we’ll just have to wait...you feeling all right?”

Vlad shrugged. “I’m fine. I guess I hoped that we’d learn a little bit more, but at least Dr. Abrams is trying to help. We’ll see if anything comes out of the tests…”

“Yeah, sorry that it wasn’t as fruitful. Least you got out on a nice day.”

“Always looking for the bright side, eh? I guess that’s true, though. That doesn’t happen very often...maybe I should try to be a little bolder, push the limits a bit more. That’s the only way I’ll find out what they are, right?”

“Well, maybe once we know a little more about your health and can make sure that you can be treated right. I mean, I think it’s a good idea, but we want to be sure we can undo any damage just in case.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But it’d be nice to be able to go out and do stuff with Rico more, and not have to worry about-”

“Hands up! Don’t move!” The shout from their right made Cam and Vlad both jump. Out from the bushes stepped a disheveled man with a long knife, a wild look in his eyes as he confronted the two of them. “Not a fucking move, I see you going for a Poké Ball or anything and you’re a dead man!”

“What the hell? Who are you?” Cam asked loudly.

“Like I’m gonna tell you! Now hand over your wallet and all your cash! And if you try to shortchange me you’re gonna get this suck between your ribs!”

“I don’t have any money! Just leave us alone!”

“Don’t like to me, kid! Like you wouldn’t be carrying around money as a trainer! Hand it over, or you’ll get cut!”

“Leave him alone!” Vlad cried out. He was exceedingly frightened, and it showed in his wavering voice. At this point he cared about nothing more than getting away...they weren’t too far from home, maybe they could make a dash for it. “Cam, forget the cooler, just run!”

Cam dropped the handle of the cooler and started scrambling away. Vlad tried to follow, but tripped and stumbled on the ground. Before he could rise back out, the mugger was on him a foot raised high over him and coming down fast. Vlad cried out as the boot slammed down onto his body, pain erupting everywhere. He got little reprieve before a second stomp followed, catching his head and banging it hard into the ground.

“Pathetic little lizard...worthless and worth nothing. If you were good for selling maybe I’d bother...eh, what’s one twerp’s life?” He raised his foot again to stomp on Vlad’s head.

“Don’t you dare!”

Suddenly a rock sailed in and cracked the mugger in the head. It was pure luck that Cam had nailed him, but all he cared was that he saved Vlad from more pain. The blow made the bandit stagger, stopping his attack on Vlad, but he rounded on Cam, a murderous fury in his eyes. “Little piece of shit, you just signed your death warrant!”

He ran at Cam, knife brandished, intent on stabbing Cam to death. Cam scrambled backwards, stumbling and almost falling, the distance between him and the would-be killer rapidly narrowing-

Then the assailant was frozen, stopped dead as a green glow surrounded him. Wisps of the green energy were being drawn towards Vlad, who was down on one knee, eyes shut tight, his mouth moving but Cam unable to hear anything. He looked extremely pained, almost in tears as the move worked its magic. At the other end, the attacker’s face was frozen in an expression of terror, eyes growing utterly blank, his body no longer jerking around and trying to break from the attack...as the glow faded, he simply fell limply to the ground, unmoving, appearing lifeless as a rag doll.

“V-vlad? Wh-what…”

“Cam...call an ambulance! He’s...he could die if he doesn’t get treated right away!” Vlad sounded a lot better than Cam thought he should have with the injuries he’d taken, but his mood was extremely unsteady, it looked as if he was about to have a breakdown at any moment. He wanted to ask, but the condition of the mugger was clearly critical, and in the next instant he was fumbling for his phone, trying to call for emergency services.

---

“Is he gonna be all right?”

The officer shrugged. “Can’t really say...never seen a guy look like that before and still have a pulse. But if he isn’t...well, I can’t say that we’ll be all that fussed over it. He’s been wanted for muggings and assaults all over this area, and even a couple attempted murders. We were worried we were going to have a body before we got him.”

Cam nodded, shivering a bit at the idea. That had almost been them. “I can’t believe we survived...I didn’t think we would. If that rock hadn’t hit…”

“You and your pal were fortunate. It’ll be best for you to get home. We’ll be in touch for more at some point. Thanks.”

The officer left to follow the ambulance, leaving the two of them to return to their walk, considerably more subdued. Vlad sat numbly on the cooler as Cam pulled it, starting off into space, not saying a word as Cam pulled him along. After several minutes of silence, Cam finally spoke. “Vlad...are you okay? Do you...do you need to head back to be examined?” It was a question he already knew the answer to; Vlad almost looked like he hadn’t been touched, but he needed to say something, because that was what was really bothering him.

“I don’t know...that look, he was...he was so still, so lifeless…”

“Vlad...I still don’t understand. What did you do?”

Vlad swallowed hard. “I...I drained him.”

This stopped him fully. Cam turned to look at Vlad, perplexed. “Drained him? You mean...wait, you mean like Mega Drain? You know how to do that?”

“I do...I know that, and others. Absorb. Mega Drain. Giga Drain. Energy Ball.”

This admission shocked Cam; he’d never heard this before, and he remembered what the Treecko had said mere hours earlier. “But...you told the doctor-”

“I know what I told the doctor. It was kind of a lie...but also not really. They’re not...really Grass-type moves anymore. They’re...different. Wrong.”

“Wrong? But...I don’t get that...but why didn’t you say-”

“I couldn’t. I...I don’t want to know these moves. They’re...they’re too dangerous. They aren’t right, they’re monstrous. I...before that, I only...ever used Absorb. Once. Before I found you.”

“What? You remember?”

“Only a little...I remember being attacked...it was a Rattata...I just...I did what felt natural, I used Absorb, and it...I felt this rush, the feeling of its life energy, drawing into me...and it just...died. Agonizingly...I can still see its eyes, looking at me, not understanding why it was happening, and then they just...got so white...it was so horrible…” Vlad suddenly flung himself into Cam, almost in tears. “I still have nightmares...that I can’t control it, that it feels too good and that I drain you and Rico, and everyone else, and...and…”

“Sssshhh, Vlad, it’s okay…” Cam lifted the Treecko into his arms and held him close to his body. “It’s fine...I trust you, and I know you won’t do any of that. You don’t have to be scared…”

“I can’t help it...it...the energy...it feels so good, it’s like, a rush like nothing else, but, it can’t ever happen unless someone gets hurt or dies...I don’t want to do that to anyone, not for anything, nothing is that good, but I...I’m so scared that I’m going to slip, and get...addicted or something, or…”

“You won’t, I know it. You’re...you don’t like it, and that’s because you’re a good person who cares about others. You don’t like fighting, you don’t even like biting anyone because you don’t want to hurt them, even though your life almost depends on it. I know you’ll never become the type of person to harm others like that...it’s just not you.”

“Y-you...you’re not scared?”

“You just saved my life with it...it’s a scary move, I won’t lie, but you only used it in defense. And the fact that you care about it makes it less scary...if you weren’t afraid, who knows how much you’d use it? So don’t worry, I won’t ever be scared of you...I trust you, I know you won’t hurt us.”

Vlad was a bit too shaky to respond verbally, but Cam could feel a slight nod in his head. He held the little lizard tight, stroking his had to try to comfort him. To think that he was capable of such things...well, he really was unusual, and it only made Cam want to know more about how he got that way. Maybe Vlad would truly be able to trust himself once he understood himself...

---

Nightfall was usually the time where Vlad felt more at ease, but the day’s events had left him feeling rather out of sorts. He’d been vowing up and down never to use his moves again, but it was the same thing he’d done last time, and it felt hollow...if he needed to protect Cam again, it was the only way he could. Would he sacrifice Cam just to avoid draining the life out of a creature? He couldn’t say that he would.

Cam had helped him organize his blood freezer, set up so that Vlad could access it without needing anyone’s help. The human had offered his comfort, but he didn’t harp on it, giving Vlad the space he needed to get his own thoughts in order. He was appreciative - Cam seemed to understand him better than most, he didn’t know if other trainers would do as good a job with that. Then again, he had to be understanding to help raise a vampire Treecko.

Eventually, Vlad decided to just go upstairs and go to bed. As he ascended the stairs, a paw landed on his shoulder; he looked back and saw Rico looking at him sullenly, with a clear hint of worry. He bowed his head. “Sorry, Rico...I don’t really feel very up to things tonight…”

“Shhh.” The Charmeleon took hold of him in a deep embrace, and Vlad suddenly felt very much like not fighting it at all. The strength and comfort of Rico’s arms was something he needed at the moment, and Rico knew it. He laid passively while he was carried upstairs, into the bedroom, and then into Rico’s bed.

“You don’t need to say or do anything,” Rico whispered as he laid down with Vlad in bed, curling himself around the Treecko gently. “Just rest...and know that you’re with me, and you’ll never have to worry about what I think. You know I love you, I don’t care what you can do or what you fear...I will always love you, and always trust you.”

Vlad didn’t say anything in response, but the words warmed his heart more than the heat of the Charmeleon warmed his body. He shifted into the Charmeleon, hands reaching around to hold his lover’s arms as for the first time in hours he felt his mind start to come to ease. All those people who mattered to him most trusted him...maybe he could trust himself, too.