Tomas was inside a tamer-designated room, but it wasn't a taming one, the room had two beds, a window, it was similar to the hospital side of the pokecenter but with fewer buttons and nobs on the wall next to the bed. Tomas was sitting, talking to Freya about something as he wrote down on a notebook, the succubus sat near the window and looking outside, to the street, lazing against the wall and looking positively bored.

The young man raised his gaze from the notebook, closing it up and leaving it on the small table. "Rick." He greeted you, the word drawing the attention of the succubus who stared daggers for only an instant before she hid behind a mask of neutrality.

"Hey, you doing ok?" You replied.

The still-shirtless teenager blinked a moment. "Never been better, why?"

"Could we talk in private?" You asked, making a motion to show your girls weren't out right now.

That caught him a little by surprise. "Oh, uh, sure." Tomas hesitated a second, glancing at the other two. "Mind stepping outside and wait for the others at the entrance?"

Rachel's mask of neutrality turned into one of forced smiles. "Yes, Master!" She hopped to her feet, approaching Tomas to give him a kiss and walk out, her movements oozed sex, and the way Tomas' face lit up with a wide smile told enough of the story of that part of the equation.

"Yes, Master." Freya spoke albeit a bit less enthusiastically, her movements gracefully slow as if trying to stall for some more time. She hesitated to kiss him and it turned into a hug he returned happily.

The door closed behind them, leaving you alone with the young man.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He said as he pocketed the notebook.

"You really need to get yourself a shirt." You tried to lighten the mood with a little chuckle.

That made him react, blush a little and dig into his backpack, pulling out one such item. "I had one, it's just that Rachel insisted I looked better without."

"A succubus, huh." You mentally tried to lay out a plan on how to word this out. "That's quite the catch." You approached amicably, patting Tomas' shoulder as you sat next to him. "I read the entry, that's one dangerous lady, she'll surely be of great use to the group."

"I know, right?" He was flustered and excited. "She got rid of those ferals in a flash, she's strong, and she..." A pause and a blush.

"Is sexy as hell." You finished for him as he stuttered. He could only nod. "I mean, she's a 'succubus', they aren't known to 'soul-sucking man-eating demons' through their ugliness, right?"

That made him squirm. "Though she's... sort of not mine? We made an agreement."

Rather than reply, you prompted him to continue with your silence.

"She told me she's looking to go to Kasul, but that she can't exactly go around without a tamer or she'd risk someone trying to catch her." He explained.

You carefully chew on that. "Did she tell you why she's going there?"

"Said she'd rather not talk about it if she could avoid it, so I didn't push." He sheepishly admitted.

"Hm..." You paused, scratching your head and making it clear this was not an idea you were too sure on. "If she's with you 'out of convenience', then what about all the 'Master' thing?"

"Not wanting to draw bad attention." A rather fast response. "Also said it'd boost my image since tamers who've dominated a succubus are seen as very capable."

"So she's smart, hot as hell, and strong." You listed off. "And she put down some ground rules that sound reasonable... to people like us." You said now more tentatively.

"Us?"

"We're outworlders." You stated. "I'd think it's pretty clear that what we consider normal and reasonable isn't what's usually thought of as normal and reasonable in this world. And vice-versa." Leaning your head a bit, you looked at him inquisitively. "I know that the world we came from that would've been perfectly reasonable, but... have you considered what they mean under this world's context?"

"What?" He asked a bit defensively now.

You made a show to grimace. "Tomas, you know how girls are treated here don't you? You can't be blind about it."

That knocked him into a frown before he nodded with a grim look in his eyes. "Yes, it... sucks."

"A lot." You agreed. "And it's so ingrained into the culture that the girls themselves acknowledge this." You continued. "That was what I meant earlier."

A sudden thoughtful look crossed Tomas' face. "What do you think it is?"

He bit, you nodded in acknowledgement to the question. "Honestly? I don't know. I've barely had much of a chance to talk with her, she may have just grown up in the woods or something. I'd like more people to think more freely like that if I had a say about it, actually." You shrugged, patting his shoulder. "I might as well warn that Diane told me Rachel got rid of her last tamer publicly and not that long ago."

"Oh, yeah, she told me about that and that there would likely be people who looked at her badly in town. Her previous tamer had been under the same agreement." He admitted.

You could only nod at his words, getting a clearer picture of how Rachel seemed to work. Though you couldn't be sure whether it was true or not nor could you prove it. "As long as you're careful, I'll trust you can handle her." You lied through your teeth, the reason you were here being exactly that you didn't trust he could handle her and wanting to find out how deeply the succubus was manipulating the young man.

Maybe that'd change after this conversation. Or maybe not. "Thanks." The young man said.

"Just keep in mind that we're a group." You said with a meaningful nod. "Since she's not going to stick around, there are things we can't trust her with."

"Wait, what?"

"We're outworlders, remember?" You press. "She must not find out about that."

Realization and a sheepish nod. "Right, you're right, yeah, sorry, I forgot about that."

Now you frowned. "You haven't..."

"No, no, absolutely, it's not something that's come up." Tomas shook his head quickly.

A sigh and an amicable smile. "That's good, just remember, we can't trust her to be part of our group, not completely. You said so yourself, right? A relationship of convenience."

"...right." He nodded.

You returned the gesture, feeling like this was as far as the conversation in what meant to Rachel. It was clear she posed a threat, but not a big one, for now. You'd only keep an eye on things and see how they developed over time. You really hoped the young man didn't end up completely wrapped around her finger.

Your thoughts were interrupted when you noted a troubled look on Tomas' face.

"Yes?"

"No, it's... just a silly question." He hesitated. "Back when Monica got hit by that pink dust... it was weird for you too, right?"

"I was kind of more concerned over not dying than anything else, and it seemed like it was a rather close call at that." You tried to joke before sensing that this was an important question to him. You remembered Diane's gossip, and sighed, shaking your head a little.

"Ah, yeah, I guess you're right." Tomas nodded sheepishly. "Kind of dumb to worry over the other part."

"Tomas, look, each person has their tastes." You sighed a little. "Mine does not include 'two guys one girl' on the list of options, 'two girls one guy' however..."

Now the young man blushed and coughed a little. "Yeah... that was..."

"Was?" You chuckled. "Ah, so Freya and Rachel..." A nod and a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Well, it's your fun to have. Just remember Freya's part of your harem, and she's not there with a contract with an expiration date."

That confused him a little. "What do you mean?"

"Just saying." You shrugged, quickly hiding the intent of your words. "Monica demanded a lot of attention after I got her back, and Diane felt neglected and told me as such. It's weird having to juggle attention to more than woman at a time. I'm fortunate Diane opted to be open about it."

That gave him pause for thought before he nodded. "It's weird, yeah."

You couldn't really expect much more out of him. An idea dinged in your head. "Well, anyways, I think I should go apologize to Rachel." Tomas could only look at you in startled confusion, you continued. "She came out being... defensive, and I took it the wrong way. I shouldn't have done that."

The young man glanced around for a moment before staring down at his notebook. "Then let's go outside? I don't exactly have a way to calling her over."

It wasn't lost on you that he wanted to be present. "Sure."

You lead the way, Tomas looking pensive as he followed close behind, quietly mulling over something.

Outside the pokecenter, the succubus was leaning against the outer wall, seeming mostly occupied watching the people walk past, her eyes cold and calculating. Freya was at the other side of the entrance, sitting on the floor and carefully polishing her bow with a dark brown cloth. The duo reacted to your appearance quickly.

"Master." The elf nodded respectfully.

You could see the cogs turning as Rachel glanced in your direction, her eyes landed on you for a fraction of a second, serious, before they drifted towards Tomas and her lips instantly spread in that plastic way that never reached her eyes. "Master!" Her tone was overly saccharine, she jumped to glomp the young man in a tight embrace, the actions having flowed so quickly and smoothly you would've never noticed a thing had you not been looking for it.

Tomas just looked at you, since it had been you who'd asked to talk to the infernal pokegirl.

The shared look was noticed, Rachel hesitated in her grip around the young man's shoulders.

Apparently, you wouldn't have much chance to try and make this private, which was probably for the best. You took a deep breath, you're an adult, you've had to do this hundreds of times. Might as well pull all the stops.

You look seriously at Rachel, who instantly tensed and looked back at you whilst Tomas managed to untangle himself from her grip, she seemed to realize something was off. You began to talk before she said anything. "Look, I just wanted to say sorry for how I treated you. I took you for a not very nice person and it was just me jumping to the wrong assumptions." You spoke firmly and keeping your tone neutral. "I'm thankful you joined Tomas' harem and that you're going to take good care of him." Stepping forwards, you offer a hand to shake. "So with the spirit of wanting to set things straight, I'd like to propose we start with a clean slate."

Rachel blinked. "What?" Her expression was completely dumbfounded, looking at you and your hand as if a bomb were about to pop out of it and blow up in her face.

"I said that I'm sorry for my earlier behaviour and wish to start with a clean slate." You reiterated, ignoring the slack-jawed look Freya was shooting your way.

"I meant why." Rachel switched to a frown. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I said why I'm apologizing." You spoke calmly. "I said what I'm sorry about and I am apologising for it." A pause before you let out a tiny grin. "This would be the part where you can decide whether you accept that apology or not."

Another long dubious look. "And what if I don't..."

You had a series of words that came to mind regarding what you could answer her, but instead, you just shrugged. "Then you don't and we get to find out what it's like to spend months travelling together with a bad relationship."

"Rachel, I think-." The young man began to speak a little nervously.

"Tomas." You cut him off, serious, your eyes met his firmly and he froze. "This is my apology to Rachel, and it's her decision." Your eyes turned back to her, watching her closely.

The succubus appeared to frown, clearly confused. "I'll take it." She'd grasped your hand firmly, her skin was incredibly soft, it sent tingles through your skin, a part of your brain had to put conscious effort in making sure your thoughts wouldn't stray. "I'll take your apology." Her voice softened, taking another long second before she let go, looking at you with some dubiousness. "Is that it?"

"That would be it, yes." You nodded curtly.

The pokegirl was glancing at you and then looked at her hand as if checking there was no trick or prank involved. "Ok." She declared, appearing to remember where she was and that there were people watching, she almost flinched as she turned back towards Tomas, the faux smile returning immediately after, her voice shifting to a little squeal ash she glomped him once more. "Your teacher is weird, Master." She cooed, nibbling at his ear and kissing his neck. "Are all your friends like that?"

The instantaneous switch towards bubbliness had everyone mute for a moment. "Uh... no, not really, only Rick's like that." Tomas muttered.

You just stood there trying to figure out what to do with your hands, that strange sensation you got whenever quite not sure what to do to continue the scene, watching the two talk with one another. Well, might as well re-take the lead and change the direction fo the conversation. "Oh, right. Monica evolved last night." You broke the silence. "Completely caught me by surprise."

"Wait, what? Monica!?" Tomas paled as he said this, the reaction was noticed by the others.

There was an odd calculating look from Rachel. "Isn't Monica the mean cat you'd talked about, Master?"

"Yeah..." He looked sheepish at the realization you were standing right there.

"Here, I'll bring her out." You said, pulling out Diane's pokeball and summoning her first before releasing Monica.

The nurse looked around, realized the look you shot at her, and she froze, thankfully aware she should not start anything.

Monica did not react like this, she instead looked around for a moment before finding you and pulling you into her arms. The height was perfect for your head to find itself pressed against her pillowy chest. "Rick." She spoke, giving a lick at your ear, but stopping as she noticed the others present. "Tomas."

"Monica?!" The young tamer gawked. "Just... How?" He looked at you for a moment and then back to the busty feline, Freya and Rachel were now looking at the cat far more closely.

"Uh..." You scratched your head, being allowed to turn around but the pressure Monica put on you from behind never quite going away.

Rachel appeared to realize something. "Master, perhaps you could scan her?" Her words startled the young man into action, he pulled the dex out and did so, pausing to look at the entry for a moment, his eyes widening. It was Rachel, however, that had a strange look in her eyes as she looked over her tamer's shoulder very attentively.

"I did not know you could evolve a girl with... that." His face went beet red.

"Rick." Monica wrapped her muscular arms around you and pulled you further against her very large chest, purring now.

"Good kitty." You chuckled, nudging her to let go.

"I'd like to fuck her, Master." Rachel spoke from where she was, holding Tomas from behind much like Monica was doing to you. Her eyes words might have been in reference to Monica and spoken to Tomas, but her eyes were locked onto yours firmly.

"What?" You said at the same time Tomas had.

"Sex battle. I want to sex-battle that kitty. You know, let us girls have some fun." The succubus' tail swished. "Pretty please?"

Tomas and you shared a doubtful look. You couldn't let this weird energy keep going. "I don't see why we can't do it later. But first, we should catch up with the others, do presentations and all that." You commented, trying to deflect this course of action the succubus was suggesting.

A part of you was curious what Rachel's intent was here, but also you'd be lying if you said you wanted to have a clearer picture as to what she was capable of doing. But more than anything, you wanted to ensure the group as a whole kept a smooth run, the succubus clearly looking like a wrench just waiting to happen.

The way she was looking at you seemed to warn you as much.

Hopefully, the talk with Tomas would help avoid that.

Freya had approached her tamer to talk about something, so you moved to give them some privacy, Monica had to let go of your head much to her chagrin, but your focus was on Diane. "Do not start anything." You warned her. "I am not tolerating quips right now."

She gulped and nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Good." You sighed. "Let's wait for the others."

 

---

 

Seated on Monica's lap and feeling very weird about it, the feline was hugging you contentedly as she rubbed her cheek against your head. You tried to remain just about as dignified as you could in such a situation while Diane sat next to you, idly grinning as you pretended not to notice and focusing on reading from the pokedex.

The twitch in Monica's body told you she'd sensed something, you raised your gaze and caught Tessa walking besides Mr Gabriel, the look the man had seeming a bit too hard and stony.

So it seemed he'd decided not to give her up. But had he talked with Howard? You couldn't tell, maybe not.

The old man glanced at Monica with a slightly confused frown. "Hello." He greeted formally before his eyes moved towards Tomas who was currently being cooed over by the succubus.

"Gab." Monica said with a nod.

"Monica?" He looked surprised.

"Gab." She leaned down as her eyes focused on Tessa who instantly moved behind Mr Gabriel. "Food?"

"Not food." You, Diane, and Mr Gabriel spoke at the same time in a rush.

Monica sighed in disappointment. "Not food."

"She does look delectable," Rachel spoke raunchily, cooing from Tomas' lap.

"She's the new girl." You commented to Mr Gabriel. "A succubus."

"I didn't need to be told that to know it." The man shook his head. "I just hope this won't come to bite us."

"I'll only bite if you ask nicely, sir."

Everyone ignored that comment.

Kat showed up not far after, though no pokegirls were with her, so it was likely they were in their pokeballs. The instant Tomas noticed her the tension rose, the young man tensed as Kat's eyes had moved from slightly surprised at Monica to then looking at Rachel and looking absolutely startled.

The succubus clearly picked up on what was going on like a hawk. She spoke up from Tomas' lap before anyone else could say anything. "Hello miss, I am Rachel, Master Tomas' pokegirl!" Her tone was cheery and her extended hand a perfect friendly imitation of the gesture you had in turn shown her, but her face was a porcelain mask of bubbly smiles that strayed eerie close to a smirk.

But the impeccably amicable words seemed to have come at exactly the wrong moment, Kat didn't take the hand, glowering. "I'm going to get Liz healed." She practically power-walked her way into the pokecenter.

"Diane, play nice." You pat the nurse's shoulder, killing the glare and it turning into a look of surprise before nodding, the cogs inside her head moving slowly.

"Yes Master." She said though seeming slightly confused as to why you'd give her such an order.

"I can play quite a lot, if you ask nicely." Rachel quipped, having overheard you, throwing a wink your way.

You ignored that. "I've got to ask the receptionist about Alice, apparently she left somewhen today." You shrugged your shoulders, finally having a good excuse to jump off of Monica's lap and motioning your two girls to follow as you went inside.

"Oh yeah, I hadn't seen her." Tomas nodded oblivious to what was going on, he looked flustered, judging by how the succubus' hips were grinding against him, you could guess why.

Heading inside, you waited until you were well away from the now-closed door before pulling Diane's attention. "I want to keep the friction between the members of the group to a minimum. That does not mean I think nicely of the succubus, it means I put getting along above my personal feelings on the matter."

Hesitation. "But... why?"

"Because if there's friction at the wrong time, we die." You said flatly. "Being nice now doesn't mean I can't choose to be an asshole later."

"Oh." She nodded at your words and you felt she totally missed the point. "I understand, Master."

You put a mental pin on this topic for later, turning to approach the reception desk and focusing on Kat. The young woman was fuming while watching the taming cycle machine with doubts.

"Try to see if you can find out something about Alice's whereabouts while I talk to Kat." You ordered Diane before fully turning to face Kat. "Got problems?" You asked.

"I caught one more boobisaur on my way back." She said, she was tense and you could guess it had less to do with her current dilemma. "I asked around and they kept saying that putting a feral through a level 3 helps a lot to get things started more smoothly. And fuck I don't want a face-full of dust or anything like that."

Monica, still behind you, wrapped her arms around your torso and once more pulled you between her breasts. "Kat." She called out the young woman, who merely glanced her way.

"Yeah, hello Monica." She replied looking back at the taming machine and biting her nail.

"Capturing ferals, is it hard?" You asked, trying to give her something to focus on.

"Not very, she wanted to fuck, I had Liz pin her down, fucked her, and she went into the ball at the first try." She replied, a little flustered. "Felt more like a transaction, wham, bam, fucked, move on, next." She tensed slightly but forced herself to calm down. "I've been told most aren't this simple."

You regarded the teenager for a very long and silent second. "I put Monica through a level four."

THAT caught her attention. "What? Wait, what?" She wasn't even asking, just... blinking dumbly at you in disbelief before looking at the line in question and then back at you.

"I put her through a level four." You reiterated. "It was horrible, she came out more robot than person, and I used the time to train her into not attacking people and knowing when she had to stop." Carefully, you reached up to touch Monica's shoulder, she purred. "I have absolutely no intentions of putting her through something like that without being absolutely sure she'll need it, but I also can't deny the results."

"Results?"

"She hasn't strayed off, she asks before acting. She's still Monica, but it's clear she's learnt to hold back."

"I, but..." Kat hesitated.

"Monica killed several people without really understanding it, and I need to prevent that from happening again." You comment calmly. "As much as I like Monica, I have a responsibility to ensure we don't all end up dead because she chose a bad time to go rape something she fancied."

"The... collar..." She stuttered.

Figured it'd been her idea, you shook your head. "Useless if it's a crisis. What am I going to do? Leave her paralyzed because she's ignoring me to tell stay near us and not run off to chase a harmless feral that happens to annoy her while a bigger threat approaches?"

"Riiiick." Monica tightened her hold around your chest, kissing your ear softly. "Monica good?"

"Yes, Monica." You said. "Could you stand there for a moment?" The feline grumbled, but acquiesced, letting go of you and stepping away, looking at you with a pout. "Good kitty."

At your words she brightened slightly, staying where she was a bit less dejectedly than a second ago.

"Rick, she..."

You frowned. "She is a pokegirl." You replied, turning to look at Kat. "She deserves every bit of respect and attention and affection any other person would, and I've little doubt she is also incredibly smart. But she is not a human, she's a pokegirl; assuming you have to treat them like humans will eventually get you killed."

"But they're like..."

"Diane can lift me up as if I'm just a heavy sack of potatoes. Yes, that Diane, that girl who looks like she can barely break chopsticks." You pointed at the nurse as she was chatting with the receptionist. "And Monica can separate my head from my shoulders before I could realize what she'd done." You then gestured at the feline. "If you're thinking they are humans, you're wrong."

"That doesn't mean you should treat them like... animals."

"And that collar you had Gabriel give me was to... emphasize her humanity?" You say, watching her flinch. "I'm not going to tell you how you should handle your girls, it's your choice. More importantly, we both know that this isn't really what's bothering you right now. Tell me what's going on between you and Tomas."

"What? No, nonono." She shook her head abruptly, panicked. "That is none of your business."

"If you have something you want to keep secret I'm all up for that, don't give me any details, I just want to know what was that stunt you pulled out there with him and the succubus."

"Oh, so she's a succubus... of course." She snorted, rolling her eyes before she looked at you more firmly. "Teach, look, he thought we were a thing, and we weren't, there was nothing there, zero, zilch, only some casual sex."

"Doesn't seem so to me." You replied honestly with a shrug.

"Well, it wasn't, I wanted some good cock and he gave it to me and he got mushy and thought we were a thing." Kat crossed her arms.

"And that's all there was?"

"Yes."

"I see." You go silent, glancing towards Monica for a second, counting the seconds in your head, waiting.

"It's just..."

Ah, there it was. "Yes?" You prompt.

"He judged me, ok? He... I told him something, something personal, and he... he said he felt disgusted."

"And what else did he say?"

"That he... hadn't thought of me being that way, that he wasn't sure... of us."

"I thought there was no 'us'." You pointed out, seeing her slumped shoulders.

That made her flinch again. "No, there wasn't, it's..."

"So let me get this straight." You don't let her form the words. "You told him, honestly, how you felt about something. And he replied honestly how he felt about that, and you're angry about how he is?"

"Yes!" As soon as she said that she flinched. "No... I don't know, ok?"

"That seems like a fair assessment."

"What?" She snapped, indignant.

"The 'I don't know'." You said. "Don't you think that you should've cleared that out with him?"

"Clear what out?"

"His feelings."

"What do you mean." It was more a confused phrase than an actual question.

"I mean that maybe there was more to it than just what he said." You shrugged. "Boys tend to have trouble sharing their feelings, and I bet Tomas isn't exactly used to opening up to people."

"You think I should forgive him?"

"Oh no, not at all, I just think you made a rushed decision." Your eyes turned towards the glass doors, and Tomas blushing up a storm as Rachel was clearly molesting him. "And Rachel isn't exactly the best influence on him."

Kat looked stunned, glancing at him and then at you. "What about her?" She seemed defensive of her tone, but clearly angry.

"Well, she's clearly a social predator, and Tomas is more of a shy mouse even though he looks like he could bench-press me." You pointed out. "Not to mention she's a pokegirl."

"Even if she were human I'd kick those oversized tits off had I a chance." Kat snorted.

"But she isn't." You shrugged a bit. "I suggest you read up on the breed, she's definitely strong and a powerful addition to the group, but they're not exactly the best sort of girl to have around when she's not put her in her place or while there's friction she can take advantage of."

Kat opened her mouth and snapped it shut, not saying anything, frowning.

You really hoped this little pep talk helped her get something more solid out of whatever it was she was going to have out of Tomas, that ought to ensure Rachel had less room to pull bullshit. It was as good as you could hope for without actually getting fully involved anyway.

"Just remember this world has had pokegirls around for hundreds of years, the suggestion to use taming cycles on ferals is for a reason." You stated, turning to your alpha. "Diane, you done?"

"Yes Master!" She called out, joining your side as you walked up to Monica.

"Good kitty." You congratulated the feline, kissing her, the girl returning the gesture eagerly, noting Kat deep in thought and leaving her to it as you focused on your nurse. "So what did you learn?"

"Miss Alice left with someone, a tamer." Diane said. "It was a blonde one, female and around her twenties."

"That's it?" You blinked.

"The tamer hadn't healed her girls so she didn't show up on the records, sorry Master." She apologized.

"Don't worry, you did well too." A kiss on her forehead was all she needed to un-gloom right away. You stepped back out, you raised your voice to address the others. "Well, it seems Alice left with someone, but no clue as to who only that they're a female blonde tamer."

"Hope we can find her at least, say goodbye." Tomas pointed out, managing to speak while blushing furiously. "And... now that I think of it, May just up and vanished didn't she?"

"Her contact information says..." You muttered as you checked the pokedex. "Last point of contact being New Bark and... three hours ago. Must mean she walked out of town not that long ago."

"Seems she took to being on her own like a fish to water." Mr Gabriel commented with amusement. "I wish her the best." His eyes looked at you. "So what now? We've gathered, and by the looks of it, we're low on funds. Got any ideas to share?"

"Between Monica, Freya, and Rachel, I figure we'll be able to catch a lot of ferals. Tessa could help in locating them too." You pointed out.

"But I don't want to hunt ferals~." Rachel pouted, snuggling against Tomas.

You ignored her. "There's also the issue about salvage, but I've got some ideas to potentially avoid that. We'll talk more about it in detail later." Your words instantly make Tomas and Mr Gabriel perk up.

"What did I miss?" Kat spoke as she stepped out of the pokecenter, her eyes had focused on Tomas first but switched towards you.

"We're going feral hunting it seems."

"Again?" She sighed, quickly distracted from whatever thoughts she'd been mulling over. "I just put Liz through a healing, next one's not going to be free."

"It's free if you can show you've caught at least two ferals since the last session." Diane pointed out.

"Where should we seek them, Master?" Freya asked, glancing at Tomas. "Near the city there won't be many ferals, certainly not rarer expensive ones. Should we seek out what areas may be well known amongst the locals?"

"Isn't there some sort of notice board for tamers?" You wondered.

"Check your dex, Master, while in the city you should have access to it." Diane pointed out, you did just that, following her instructions to finally reaching the official New Bark board.

"Let's see..." You flick through the catalogue of 'quests' as well as the information provided, mentally making a list of the options that looked most interesting before sharing them with the others.

-Buzzbreasts detected north of town. Hunt them down before they form a hive. 5,000 SLC per feral buzzbreast. 12,000 SLC if there's a queen and she's confirmed caught or killed.

-Pack of Dog-girls seen near south end of town 2 nights ago. 1,000 SLC per dog-girl.

-Two weeks ago, tamer was attacked by a feral Purrsian and killed in Road 28 (East of New Bark Town), one of his pokegirls was a witch and wasn't found with the body. It is likely she went feral by now. Police department offers 3,000 SLC for her capture or kill before she accidentally starts a fire.

-Dave (a farmer) has complained his crops have been (throughout the past week) being attacked by a pack of feral kitsunes. He offers 2,000 SLC per captured feral.

A thoughtful hum followed as you chewed through the options.

"The witch." Tomas said. "I think... we owe that much since..." His eyes flickered to Monica. "And I don't want to find out we die to a forest fire when we leave New Bark either."

"I don't like it..." Kat grimaced as she looked around.

"Me neither, I'd rather not enter a forest that might be lit on fire." Mr Gabriel said flatly. "This is not our responsibility to handle, Monica's action when she was feral are none of our business.."

"I agree with Mr Gabriel." You nodded. "Only Monica would be able to do something like drag someone away from danger fast enough, no forest fires."

The opinions clearly bother Tomas as he grimaced.

"She's the purrsian everyone in town has been talking about?" Rachel purred, smirking very broadly as she quite suddenly focused on you. There was a dangerous glint in those eyes that made your spine tingle a moment. "That... is interesting."

Diane tensed as she had been just about to say something but stopped herself. "I am sure it is." She finally proclaimed. "My Master tamed a feral purrsian on his own, and just last night gave her an orgasm evolution." Now she stood tall and proud, her arm latching on to yours.

Rachel didn't answer, her lips merely curled slightly further up.

You felt like it was meaningless to say anything, focusing on the quests and how none of the pokegirls had made any comments about them, clearly aware the situation was not one for them to add anything themselves. It felt like a cultural thing currently happening, you wanted to sigh and ask them directly what they thought might work best, but held back.

Maybe another time.

"What about the other ones?"

"Buzzbreasts sounds like something I wouldn't want to get close to. I don't like bugs." Kat declared.

"The one mentioning kitsunes reminds me of when I worked on a farm." Mr Gabriel commented thoughtfully. "Buncha animals knew how to avoid being caught. It'd probably become more frustration than anything else."

"So... the doggirls?" You offered. There were some shared nods, Tomas being the most begrudging of the lot. "Sounds like a nice simple low-effort first quest then."

The pokegirls appeared to react differently, most were looking from one tamer to the next, and then at you. Were they trying to determine the relative positions within the group? Rachel hadn't stopped smirking, and the only two pokegirls who appeared to be ignoring these shared looks had been Tessa and Monica.

"Master?" Freya drew Tomas' attention, even with Rachel currently one step away from starting to remove pieces of cloth from him. "I think we should prepare before heading out."

"What a cute little button, all worried for Master's safety." Rachel cooed at the elf, switching tracks instantly. "Don't you worry one bit, I will make extra sure Master will stay safe and sound no matter what, kay?"

"She does have a point though." Tomas had to pry himself a bit away from the woman's grasp, now turning his attention fully towards the elf. "What do you suggest?"

That caught both pokegirls slightly by surprise, Rachel looked the most thoughtful of this turn of events, but Rachel instantly puffed up with a tentative eagerness. "Well... what do we have?"

"I've got the list." Kat offered, now approaching the elf with her pokedex, you could feel like this was no spontaneous offer. "Let's review this for a sec."

Your eyes glanced at Rachel, the infernal pokegirl haughtily stepping away from the others and lounged against the bench, looking at the trio for a moment before quickly losing interest, her expression lost the perma-smile she'd had moments ago as she glanced around and then back at you. Her eyes lingered only a second, then she glanced away.

"Help them out if you've got any input to give." You told Diane.

"Yes Master." She replied, moving to approach Freya and Kat.

The trio was quick to come to conclusions.

"We could add things to the list, but these are the more important ones we can think of we ought to get." Kat finally revealed, showing what you had available that could be of use. "Think we ought to buy anything from the list before we go look for the farms?"

"Well... let's go get some supplies then." You muttered.

The shopping list was split up, and each group set out to find their own piece of it, having only enough to buy the items on their list and little else. Kat opted to go in Tomas' direction. You weren't too sure what her plans were, but God you hoped she had something good to bring out of them and maybe hash things out.

Half an hour later, everyone had gathered at the south of New Bark. "Quest has a set of coordinates." Tomas pointed out, they weren't too far from where you currently were, only a handful of hours worth of walking.

"Twigs and grass hurt my feet." Rachel pouted, hugging Tomas once more the moment the group was getting close to the town's edge, kissing his neck and ear. "Could you recall me, please Master? I would so love to get some time to rest in my pokeball."

"Sure." The young man replied simply, and she vanished into a beam of red light.

You leaned against Diane, lowering your voice as you noticed Freya scowling at what had just happened. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but..."

Diane paused for a moment, seeming to consider how to express her current distaste. "What is the most dangerous weapon Master would be able to carry to defend himself back where he lived had he the ability to prepare?"

That wasn't a hard question at all. "A gun."

She looked slightly surprised at that mention, but nodded. "I studied about those, a bit." She declared, then reached out to touch her hand, you saw a dim glow as sit spread up her arm, she was clearly putting effort into it. She then reached down, grabbing a sharp rock, and thrusting it along her skin.

It startled you, but the shock was double when you saw there wasn't a scratch.

"Though we are far tougher than humans on average, pokegirls can use their powers to reinforce their bodies to a degree, it makes it harder to be injured." She explained, then lowered her voice a little. "From a gun, I'd only get bruises out of the low calibre ones." She hissed. "A succubus is several times tougher."

"Right."

You felt like sighing. It seemed like this would be a hassle.

 

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PS: Added league map (Current Location: New Bark Town, bottom right corner)!