The plan formed easily enough.

You had 30 thousand SLC, you needed 50 thousand. As far as you knew, there were several other members in your group who had been given 30 thousand credits who were unlikely to need it to purchase a starter pokegirl. This meant that, as a group, the purchasing power would be high enough to allow you to spend 50 thousand and get a nurse.

A nurse being a great resource to ensure everyone was kept healthy and whose healing powers could prove invaluable to saving lives.

Now all you had to do was to convince these people of the idea.

While you realised there was a certain ruthlessness to your logic, you also knew that working as a team and moving together would be the safest option. Not to mention, having a healer as well as pooled funds was incredibly useful, even more so when certain items could be shared around rather than needing to be bought multiple times.

And as the one with the strongest girl in the group, owning that nurse wouldn't be much of a stretch.

If you did this, you would be able to "buy her back fully" in due time.

So you started moving, looking for the others and convincing them to gather and meet up at a nearby small restaurant: a pizza-place, casual, comfortable, that had fewer pokegirls when you'd scouted it (probably due to the time). You'd also known that Alice and Kat might be against the idea, so it came as a convenient surprise that May volunteered to help. Completely out of your radar, the silent girl had begun showing signs of getting better. At least she wasn't acting catatonic anymore.

You suspected there was more at play behind that little smile she brought out when you'd asked for her help, but you weren't going to pry if she wasn't going to share. Still, there was a heavy glare from Alice when the group had finally begun to gather. She apparently hadn't been expecting you. To say nothing of the slightly uncomfortable look from Kat. Mr Gabriel was just calmly leaning back against his chair, Tomas was glancing at the menu.

Both of them seemed to be waiting for you to be the one to start the conversation as they'd figured out why May had pulled them here on their lonesome.

First things first, calm things down, work through yesterday's mess. "Last night I... lost my temper." You spoke calmly. "I could've said things differently. I'm sorry about that."

"Yes, you could have." Alice snapped, before huffing and shaking her head, not finding much else to support herself on. "But I guess the same could be said about me." A heartbeat of hesitation. "I'm sorry too."

There's a bit of relief that drains away from the air as she says this, and everyone starts by handing over their coupons to the waitress as they begin to consider their meals from the menu. You glance at Kat who's quietly watching.

Well, might as well break the ice. "I'm officially a tamer." You declared. "I'll be getting Monica tomorrow after some business with the police." And just like that the tension came back, not that you let it bother you. "What about you guys?"

You focus the question while facing Tomas and Mr Gabriel.

"Breeder, I'll be applying for the ranch in Ebony Town, it seems they always have an open spot or three over there." Mr Gabriel was the first to speak up. "They aren't exactly nearby though, could get there cutting through the wilderness but fuck that. Nice gentle road. Safe." You checked the dex map and felt like there was some irony in Ebony's location, it was likely the one you'd have ended up at had the group heading south had any good luck left.

Taking the long route through the roads meant you would need to make a couple of stops along the way, and a considerable detour.

That was fine for you, safer, more time, it should make it easier for everyone.

"I'm officially a tamer, though I've yet to get a starter." Tomas spoke sullenly, you noted he was on the opposite side of the table from Kat and very clearly avoiding eye contact with her. "Not sure where I'll go, I'll keep looking into... you know..."

His words appeared to prompt Kat to speak-up. "I heard about this Championship and I think I'll try my hand in it." She had such conviction it was almost a growl. "No going back for me." And then you understood Tomas' mood as she shot a laser-focused look his way.

You could guess they had a fall-out over this.

"Watcher." May said, ignoring the drama. "Need helpers first."

And that was all that came out of her. All eyes drifted towards Alice. The woman hesitated. "I... I'm not sure, I'll probably apply for a teacher position, maybe, I don't know." She shook her head before looking sullen and dejected, it seemed she still had some chewing to do over what you'd told her yesterday.

Clearly, she wanted to avoid getting near the tamer business.

You paused, maybe a good time to bring something else up, keep the ball rolling. "I talked with Doctor Hale about how dangerous it could be to be an outlander." You started the conversation topic. "Basically? She said that there are people out there with very deep pockets that would be willing to strap us to tables and bleed us for the rest of our lives merely because we have no pokegirls in our family tree."

"Jesus, that's fucked." The abrupt dark theme hit hard and got the strongest reaction out of Tomas.

"Yes, I don't think we should trust anyone with the tidbit of where we come from." You continued. "And look, as much as I know none of you is very comfortable around Monica, as far as I can tell, she's still our best option out there in the wilds."

"For now." Kat stated flatly, crossing her arms. "We'll each get our own girls, and I doubt Monica is much of a team player. Liz very much doesn't like her."

"Liz? The Lizard girl?"

"Yeah." She nodded emphatically. "She stuck to me after the interrogation, poor thing was pale like a ghost."

Ah, you saw the chance. "Then you already have a starter don't you?"

"I guess." Kat hesitated. "Still got paid to get one though."

Good.

"What about the other one, the... Mynx was it?" You inquired.

"Apparently she had a family she wanted to return to, if they pay for her the money would go to Alice." Kat stated, receiving a not-too-happy look from your fellow teacher. This felt like quite the tone shift for her since last night, had your words back then caused this? You weren't sure if that was good or not. Maybe both?

You paused a moment. "If we travel as a group, we should pool our funds, it could make it easier to get everyone handled while we seek to increase the bank."

"I'm not going." Alice stated flatly without a moment's hesitation.

That made the others pause. "I'll go... on my own." May added quietly, much to everyone's shock.

But the other three remained silent, Kat was considering it seriously, and Tomas was just looking at Kat nervously.

Mr Gabriel broke the silence, nodding at you. "I'm in." He said. "Not going to lie, I don't want more girls than Tessa, doubt my heart would survive. Group is safer."

That seemed to make the decision for Kat. "Then I'll join too."

"And me." Tomas blurts out instantly after, before nervously scratching the back of his head. "At least until we split."

You nod, that was a combined pot of 120K credits, minus whatever might be necessary gear and supplies. It should have more than enough, still, you turn to May. "Are you sure you'd rather leave alone?"

"Yes." She didn't explain further.

"Why?" Tomas asked.

May just shrugged. "I'm safe."

Looks were shared, but you noticed someone was looking directly at you. "So this is why you gathered us didn't you?" Alice sighed, seeming resigned.

"Seems like a pretty decent idea to me." Mr Gabriel spoke. "I'd die out there even with Tessa by my side, this seems the most reasonable approach." His eyes turned towards you. "But just so you know, we will be heading straight towards Ebony, I'm not up for adventuring around the place."

Reasonable. "Will you be alright by yourself May? I'll admit I'm still worried about you." You focus on the younger girl.

She gives a bit of a nod. "Found someone."

Again the desire to push for more information surges, but you're certain she won't share more than absolutely necessary. "Are they strong?" You asked.

"She is." Another nod.

A pokegirl? Curious. Either way, it seemed you couldn't push things further in this. "Ok, I won't ask any more if you don't feel comfortable sharing."

May nodded a third time and returned towards her meal.

You turned towards Mr Gabriel. "I agree that your destination ought to be the first one, we'll keep it to the roads, at least that's my vote."

"Good." He glanced at Kat for a long moment. "Are you sure you want to stay?"

"Last night, teach, with what you said, it... got me thinking." The girl faltered before speaking up. "I'm bisexual." The words felt important even if... well. "Though I know all of you knew already, I think."

"Not much of a surprise sweetie." Mr Gabriel spoke softly.

That emboldened her. "I never felt like I could say that openly back... back then, back in that other place. Not without being a freak or needing to stick myself to a rainbow flag or some shit because if I didn't I'd be shunned or thought of as some sort of tease who really is just into guys." She inhaled deeply and let it out. "Here? Here what I've got and who I am is flat out normal, desired even. No shunning, no commentary, no nothing. I can be myself and not have to worry that some idiot is going to take it the wrong way or some bitch will opt to scream bible verses in my face because of who I happen to like."

Alice and you flinch, both of you remembering that particular incident a couple of months ago back... in your old world.

Kat nodded, self-reassuring. "So yeah, fuck that place. I'm staying here dangers and everything."

"That’s... nice." You say, feeling like you don't really have much else to say about the subject. Kat certainly seems to think that's enough of an answer and nods. "So, back to the matter at hand, considering we're going to move together, we might as well start coordinating how we'll spend the funds."

Tomas perked up at that.

He brought out paper and a pen.

You shouldn't have been surprised.

It felt like it was going to be a long conversation.

There were several long hours of talk, food, and drink. Alice and May had left by now, saying their goodbyes after the ninth round of who would want how many pokeballs were; only May having given her contact information since Alice had none.

Tomas had been quite enthused to talk about basically everything he'd learnt from the K-Mart about what could and couldn't be bought in this dingy little town. And all the while, you'd been making sure to discreetly keep the budget with a comfortable margin to the 50K you had intended to use, letting the others talk and point out the things they needed or wanted while you bided your time. 

Tomas had pointed out he needed 20 to 30K for his own starter, and to wait for the transfer from another town for it to get to New Bark... but that he hadn't made any choices yet.

After several hours of checking and rechecking it all, you dropped the bomb. "The pokecenter is offering one of their healers for 50K." Everyone went quiet, looking at each other. "It would totally suck if someone broke a leg in the wilderness or got gutted, and we didn't have a way to handle it." You added, reminding them of the state Tessa was in.

"I'm all up for it." Mr Gabriel commented, not pausing to consider. "Who'll own her tho?"

Suddenly you saw Tomas straightening up at the sound of the question, a hint of eagerness in his eyes at the prospect of a nurse. You almost felt bad for him. Almost. "The nurse in question is called Dia, and it's someone we've been... uh... taming." You admitted openly, trying to keep a slightly awkward tone.

"Nice!" Kat declared, offering a fist to bump, which due to the laws of the universe you had to reciprocate even if begrudgingly.

Tomas flinched.

"Who wants to bet this whole meal and gather-up was just so you could take her with you?" Mr Gabriel hit the nail in the head and you flinched. "Well, whatever, she'll do us good anyways. Don't want to end up dying to an infection in the middle of nowhere."

Everyone turned to Tomas, the only one left that could dissent.

He huffed and just crossed his arms. "You owe us, since you'll be keeping her."

"Seems fair to me." You replied. "I'll pay twenty from my-."

"Ah-ah-ah." Mr Gabriel's eyes sharpened abruptly. "Are you saying that the shared funds each of us came into with 30 thousand you entered with just 10?" The look on his face had a serious frown to it.

"Ah." You paused, nodding at yourself. "So, in the end, I'd be owing 50 thousand."

"That would then be paid equally among all of us. Meaning you'd really owe 37,5 thousand because one fourth would just go back to you." Tomas did the math impressively quickly. There was also a slight vindication in that gaze.

"We won't charge interests, we're nice that way." Kat cheerily grinned.

You nod at each of them in turn. "Thank you for accepting my selfish request."

"You're just a good salesman." Mr Gabriel replied.

"Now let's talk ferals and future earnings." Tomas was on what you could only feel was a roll. Was this revenge for stealing away his dream of hot nurse sex? You could only guess.

"I don't think we should consider all we earn to be put into the pot because otherwise, a teacher here would be indebted to us for the remainder of this little league of travellers." Kat snickered.

"I agree, since we'd certainly end up in situations where we will have to purchase things for ourselves rather than the group like small luxuries." Tomas nodded. "Now what percentage would be fair?"

"Why split it?" Your question left everyone blinking. You push the explanation. "We just put everything into the pool and also draw from it. Pokegirls bought would only be an addition to the team as a whole even if she'll only be bonded to one of us, and as for luxuries? Just set aside a part of the pool for each." You explain. "And we adjust how much of that 'luxury' chunk is based on the needs of the group. We have nothing to worry for and have everything covered? Then we set a third of the pool for personal items. We're in deep shit? Then nothing of the pool goes for luxury."

"And in one fell swoop, you'd get rid of your debt." Mr Gabriel now laughed openly. "Fine, it seems fair, I'm in."

Kat just shrugged.

Tomas glowered for a second and sighed. "Fine." Then he paused for a moment, clearly seeming to be running some numbers in his head before he spoke back up. "There's a pokegirl I want as a starter, the elf breed." Tomas pulls out his pokedex and showed you the entry.

A quick glance through, excellent archers, longevity, ability to grow and control plants, and some incredible evolutions. It seemed like a very solid idea.

The young man hesitated. "Thing is, she's uncommon, so the ranch at Ebony would normally sell them at 50 thousand." His eyes moved to you but past towards the others.

Ah, your nurse proposition had nudged him in this direction hadn't it.

"And we can't pay 50 thousand." Mr Gabriel nodded.

"But we can pay 30 thousand." Tomas replied. "Which is the price they'd sell a feral that's barely been awakened from feral state and gone through the basics."

Everyone paused, reading the entry. "...says here feral elves are basically in a comma." You pointed out.

"Yeah..." Tomas grimaced. Looking at the young man talking about 'buying' a pokegirl in such a way, you're reminded he didn't seem to be in Alice's camp of thought too strongly.

Or perhaps it was something else that was letting him so easily consider the purchase of what would amount to a slave by the mere fact that he was just looking at numbers and text rather than the reality of the situation? Something to consider, you guessed.

"It'd tighten our budget though." Tomas added, apparently he was the only one with some deeper understanding of the agreed-upon budget, frankly you were thankful that he'd been the one taking notes and not you.

"How tight?"

"If we don't hunt enough ferals we'd probably end up better off scavenging food rather than buying it." He replied. Everyone flinched a bit at that, remembering surviving on berries and not very happy about that.

"I think it would be worth it." You nodded, pushing in favour, you didn't want Tomas completely against you, better give him some points after he didn't stop the nurse proposition. "An elf seems very useful in the wilderness, heck, I'm sure that with scavenging alone she'd make up the price difference right away."

Tomas looks proud of himself as well as somewhat relieved, nodding. "I'll send them an email." He paused as he was about to stand up. "Uh... we're going to need to distribute the money."

"What do you mean?" Kat asked.

"Pokedexes don't allow for 'one shared account', they hold the money individually." He said.

"Oh, right." Everyone nodded.

"I'll buy the equipment with Kat." Mr Gabriel spoke with a tone that allowed for no negotiations, it appeared he had something he wanted to talk about with his granddaughter.

"That leaves 30K for me and 50K for Rick." Tomas pointed out.

"We'll be flat broke for a while." You muttered and everyone sighed in dejected agreement.

"Still, that covers everything." Mr Gabriel declared as he finished up the last bite of his meal. "Unless I missed something?"

"We should spend as much as we can in town, at least until they start charging us for our stay." You said. "Get used to how things operate, maybe research about hunting ferals."

A round of nods. "I'll be getting Monica sometime tomorrow morning. What about you?" You asked.

"With luck, I should have an answer in a couple of hours, and the transaction made by tonight." Tomas stated. "The service says it'll have any purchased pokegirl here within hours tops, so I'm guessing league pokegirl purchase has some form of priority mail."

"We should meet after lunch tomorrow, then." Mr Gabriel spoke.

"Let's exchange contact information just to be on the safe side." You say, to make sure everyone would be able to contact the other.

"Shame these things don't have a call function."

"Apparently they don't have much in the ways of signal emission." Tomas pointed out. "Because there are a lot of ferals that are attracted to radio waves and the like, so they'd definitely want to keep such functions deactivated in the pokedexes."

You frown at that. "Wait, how does long-distance communication work, then?"

The young man shook his head. "As far as I know it's likely with cables buried underground, but the alternative is that each city has a small comms tower somewhere and they developed something to make them more sensitive and to filter out the noise." He scratched his chin, seeming thoughtful. "Either that or the pokedexes work via signal bursts at set times of the day so they're not constantly emitting, but they could still passively receive."

You didn't want to think much of it since that aspect of the sciences had never quite been your strength. "Well, so long as it works." You stand up from the table. "Gentlemen, tomorrow after lunch then, in front of the pokecenter."

"We'll be there." Mr Gabriel nodded, as did the other two. He paused for a second as he looked at you.

Kat caught the gaze. "You’re about to go tell the hot nurse, aren't you?" She smirked.

"We shall see what happens." You replied.

She chuckled.

So after this very productive conversation and negotiation, you left the restaurant and considered your options.

Right now it was still several hours away from the agreed-upon date with Dia, but... hm... you DID have 50K in your account and an agreement with the doctor. But then again, maybe you'd want to do something else to spend the time...? No.

Time to buy Dia, no second doubts about that.

So you went straight towards the pokecenter, feeling slightly giddy even though deep down you knew you shouldn't really feel this way about literally buying someone as if they were property. But you were 100% sure she'd love it when you revealed the surprise, and that alone was enough to heighten your mood by several notches.

Inside you went, and begin walking the corridors in search of the good Doctor after having asked at the reception desk. And you find her, talking to Dia about something on her paper, the both of them looking very serious as medical jargon was being exchanged, very few words ring a bell, but you knew technical speak when you heard it.

"Sir!" Dia spotted you before you could even think of hiding, waving at you happily. Doctor Hale besides her gives you an odd look but said nothing as you sheepishly approached, your cover now blown.

"One sec, Dia." You said, glancing at Doctor Hale. "Mind if we speak in private? I think I found what you were asking for."

Doctor Hale's eyes widen like plates for only a split second before she hides it behind a face of impassive indifference that could only have been managed through years of practice. "I see."

Dia glanced at the both of you curiously.

"Just some medical samples." The Doctor answered, shooting you a look.

"Yes, could we iron out the details in your, ah, office?" You agree.

"Of course." She nodded, then turned towards Dia, handing her the papers. "Please see to it that this is done by today."

"Yes ma'am." She nodded sternly, turning to beam at you. "I can't wait for tonight's date, sir."

"Me neither." You reply with a chuckle, leaning to kiss her. She blushed, hesitated, and ran off. Your gaze then turned as the Doctor took the lead down the corridors and out of the nurse's sights.

You don't make it into any office of any sort before Doctor Hale practically shoved you against a wall. "Talk, less than a day ago you were twenty thousand credits short, no starting tamer makes that kind of money without doing something they'll eventually regret."

"We pooled our funds together." You explained. "I'm an outlander, and I'm sure you're aware others came in with me. We talked things out and decided that having a healer that could help us all in our travels would be a better idea than having no healer."

She eyed you dubiously. "And ownership of Dia would go to...?"

This time it's you who pushed back, stepping towards her. "Me, exclusively and in every sense of the word." It takes you a second to realize you actually felt slightly insulted at her insinuation.

Another moment of hesitation.

But your concern of having potentially aggravated her was for nought, apparently, she found your response appropriate. "Very well, I honestly didn't expect you'd pull off something like this and..." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "I think I'll have my girls print out some posters to promote new tamers to move in groups rather than alone, maybe that way I'll have fewer idiots to patch up or bury."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really." She replied.

"No, I mean..." You hesitated. "This has not been done before? Why wasn't 'move as a group' something to be promoted?"

"Because of salvage probably." She replied. "Tamers couldn't really trust their 'buds' wouldn't challenge them most of the time." A pause, a derisive snort. "Also because teenagers that feel cocksure and want to fuck their pokegirls in private... philosophy for another time, I'll just look for some way to try and promote it again. Anyway..."

She extended her hand towards you, expecting something, but you only blinked as you looked at it.

"Your dex." She stated.

Oh. You give it over, unlocking it for her, and she grabs something that looks like a sturdier version of the pokedex from her pocket. Typing something into her dex she then touches it up against yours. There's a beep.

"Confirm the purchase."

Bringing up your dex you see Dia's information sheet, her breed was a Rapha, and it showed she had four years worth of medical experience in a pokecenter. Purchase price of 50K SLC.

You hit agree.

Your dex beeps and Dia appears under your "harem" tab, you change her status to non-combatant that very instant.

The doctor noticed and nodded at that.

"Come with me." Doctor Hale stated, and this time guided you to what was undoubtedly an office, albeit one that looked very run down, barely used at all. "This is Dia's pokeball." She showed you a normal looking ball with Dia's name and a number put on it. "This ball is not permitted for tamers, I suggest you smash it and then catch her with one of your own. Thing is, if you smash this ball now she'd scan as 'open season' until caught on another Pokeball."

"Open season?"

"That any tamer can ball her up. He'd get into trouble, but you could very well end up with a day or two with her in that person's harem for him to do anything he wants until she's finally handed over." Hale spoke drily.

"That's..."

"Hate it, but that's how things work here." She spoke firmly. "Don't forget, pokegirls are objects here."

"I'll... I'll keep that in mind." You nodded.

"Good." She said as you pocketed the red and white sphere. "And with that one great nurse will hit the road..." Doctor Hale sighed and then shot you a weary look. "Make sure to come here with her tomorrow, I have some words for her."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good." She declared. "Now shoo, I'll probably find something that needs to get done soon."

"Thank you." You nod at her as she returns the gesture and you leave.

Your steps take you to your room, and there's just something about it that feels different than the last time you'd been in it.

You felt like things weren't so out of hand or out of control for once. Or that you were now truly feeling as if this new life you were taking wasn't just bleak death and being cornered. It left you wanting to do anything BUT stay here cooped up and counting the minutes for the date with Dia.

You pondered, there was nothing immediately necessary, so that left with things you could do either out of curiosity or something new.

As far as you could think, there had got to be a library in here somewhere, right? You start walking around, leaving the pokecenter, but asking over at the reception desk. The black-haired pokegirl made a vague indication and added a vague direction, you couldn't quite trust it, but still. You stepped outside and started walking.

And walking.

And walking. And dammit, where the fuck was this place? Had the girl at the receptionist desk misled you intentionally?

You eventually relent and ask someone for help.

They point you to a single lone house barely a block away, it had only one floor, and nothing else to it except a signpost that read "Library" next to the door. Was this the best that could be aspired for a town this small? Or was it that it was just this bad in the pokegirl world? You hoped it was only due to the town being too small for anything larger to be there.

You entered.

"Aaaahhhh~!" A cry drew your attention, and you sharply turned to see someone as she stood near the left corner.

"Oh yes, tame that bitch ha-ahEEK!" The young woman noticed your presence and her hand abruptly pulled out of from inside her underwear. Her breasts, however, remained plainly in sight.

You took the opportunity to look around, there was barely maybe a hundred or two books? Only half of the house was dedicated to books, the other half was behind a wall and a door with a sign of "authorized personnel only".

This looked like a place that had been built out of a hobby more than anything else. There was also a computer near the corner, but it looked odd, the screen was completely flat and there was no keyboard, only a mouse. A modified television perhaps?

"Hello, sir." The girl bowed her head, blushing up a storm.

"Is this the library? New Bark's library?"

"The one and only, sir." She nodded meekly.

"I'm looking for books that could help a new tamer; stuff about hunting and taming and general advice?" You ask politely.

"Uh... is it for your son perhaps?" She inquired. "Usually the Tamer's guide for dummies works best."

"...anything more advanced?" You wondered.

"Maybe? There are not many books on that." She gestured at the leftmost shelf. "You should be able to find something there."

"Thank you, miss." With a sigh, you head over to the wall and begin looking around for something useful.

Listlessly, your mind begins to look through the feeble wall of what you now realize are mostly sex novels under the guise of "romance" and "training for tamers". And as you do you can hear the clerk in her chair going back to what she was doing earlier but trying very hard to remain discreet and unnoticed.

Which failed completely.

It seemed what you were looking for would not be found amongst the papers on the wall. Looking about, you then glanced at the terminal and went to look at what it held. The screen came to life when you moved the mouse, and right away you had to blink, the interface was... it looked very sleek.

Moving about, you notice the menus and begin to click about.

You were very quickly surprised.

It seemed to hold in its memory-banks copies of the entirety of what, to you, looked like the internet. You clicked about, blog posts, forums, government pages... everything had a "Last updated" detail next to it, copies? Did people download a whole copy of the internet every so often? Maybe it was only for certain pages and websites.

Still, it was A LOT of websites that had been stored up on the computer.

There was also a timer "Time for next update" on the upper right corner. Currently, that was eight hours away.

You began to look a little more earnestly.

Your exploration took some hours, but eventually, your clicking about led you to a forum dedicated to feline pokegirls, one of many. Because of course there would be one, it was the internet, and it seemed some constants were present in all worlds.

There was one particular topic that specifically asked about the "rowdier" feline pokegirls and how to handle them. You had a bit of trouble deciphering the lingo and memes (what few there were, and they sucked), but eventually, you managed to get some tangible information that was of use for you.

It seemed that feline pokegirls of the higher calibre had this bad habit of keeping 'taming' and 'obedience' as very separate things. You could tie them up and dominate them and do everything and they could beg and love every second. And as soon as they were outside the bedroom, they'd just do their thing and completely ignore their masters.

You mildly remembered Kat had said about as much earlier today.

This 'issue' was doubly so with feral-borns since they tended to have trouble understanding the desire or nature of the order in the first place. The page went into detail that though there were several approaches in varying degrees of... brutality, the one that most had agreed on was to put their girl through a level 3 or 4 (depending on how strong their wills were), and while their minds weren't quite all there when popped back out, they had them obey non-sexual orders and then reward them through sexual means.

And that would help them learn and adjust by the time the weird state of mind left.

The page then continued on talking about the "animal feral state", and the memes were coming back and forth all over the place. You had to sigh inwardly as you leaned back on the chair, trying to think about this whole affair, about Monica... you had long passed the point of decision, you were going to take that interrogation tomorrow so you could get her back.

But what then?

As much as you knew the website was a forum and not some fountain of undeniable truth, you knew Monica was a risk. Irene's words had struck a chord, you could very well die if you entered a situation where Monica opted to take the lead in one direction and you aimed things another.

That... was something you'd have to address right away, even if not right now.

Sighing, you checked the clock, still an hour to go before the date, maybe you could do a bit more quick research... or maybe not. You figure that it's just better to head back now, take a good long shower, try to prepare as best you could given the feeble circumstances and limited (nill) funds.

Also the total lack of change of clothes.

Geesh.

You grimaced and went back to the pokecenter.

By the time you had finished, and ten minutes earlier than the agreed-upon time, there was a knock at the door.

You opened.

She looked like she'd tried to wrestle a typhoon and lost. "Sir, I am sorry for the delay, but please wait for me at the entrance. I will be as quick as I can." She proclaimed, emphatically trying to stress that she very-much expected to be slightly late.

"Don't worry." You said. "I can wait."

A nod and she rushed off.

Chuckling a little, you remembered a time when you'd been young, juggling several jobs and a love-life. You could guess more than once you'd looked exactly as desperate as Dia had seemed just seconds ago. You took the chance to try and look more presentable, even if you couldn't pick a different set of clothes.

At the entrance, you waited for maybe half an hour. That was when you noticed Dia stepping out of the sliding doors.

"Hello, sir." She declared, smiling albeit slightly nervously, blushing marginally as she tried to adjust her hair. "I am sorry for making you wait."

"Nonsense." You wave her worries away, making sure to nod in approval. "You look spectacular, the wait was worth it. Even if I'm... a bit not up to the task in clothing choices."

"Th-thank you, sir." She blushed. "I'd been saving it for a special occasion." She looked at you, reaching out and touching your shirt with a hand, appreciative. "If sir had anything fancier, I might have been too smitten to be able to speak."

You almost stumble at her clear use of flattery, a little nervousness wormed down your back as you looked at her. Was this normal here? "Thanks, how about we walk?" As you say this, you try not to push her little comment away and enjoy it as you toss and turn it inside your head for a moment longer.

"I like this." Dia whispered, wrapping her arms around your chest as you began heading down the road, seeming to just swell with pride whenever someone looked her way.

"I do too." You leaned to kiss on the crown of her head.

And inwardly, you began to wonder how you were going to tell her the good news.

Feeling her squeezing you in a hug as she walked, you decided you'd make sure it would be when it could get the biggest smile out of her.

 

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