The pokecenter had an odd quietness at this time of day. The previous times you'd entered there'd been at least one or two people in the lobby mulling about, but right now it was empty save the bored-looking receptionist. The likely-a-pokegirl gave you a look as you greeted her in turn with a nod.

Your steps led to the room you'd rented; Diane was close behind, quiet, silently following along. You wished you could read her thoughts, as the nurse looked entirely driven towards the thought of what was to come and not the things that had been said. You guessed that was the right way to think about things right now- Kiara was going to be what she was going to focus on after all.

Kiara was released into the room, and the infernal looked around before she turned towards you, her heart-shaped face sporting a coy grin. "Time for a snack?"

"No," you replied flatly, gesturing at Diane to enter the room. You gave the nurse the infernal's pokeball. "Patch up her tail, recall her, get some rest. Food if you need it too, the backpack's at the side of the bed."

"Yes, Master." Diane was looking at Kiara as if she was just about ready to tear out the infernal's throat.

"Are you going to leave us all alone with nothing to do?" The infernal did a pretend pout at you, batting her eyelashes.

Time alone, right, nothing to do, lots of time for the mind to wander around. Prisons were a punishment because they forced you into a state of isolation. "Might as well use the time to rest. The alternative is having Diane find out how sensitive she can make your tail."

That sobered up the infernal fast, her tail decidedly twitching away from the nurse.

"For you, Diane, just rest, last night you lost a lot of sleep," you declared. "We'll talk about potential things to do later."

The door closed with a hiss, and your mind mulled.

Books, words, English, teaching Monica should definitely be an activity and... You shook your head. Silence, blessed silence. You moved towards the cafeteria, water, food, something to chew on and a moment to relax. You pulled out the dex and had been just about ready to write down some notes when you remembered the gym assistant’s words. He'd checked your profile, he'd seen everything you'd done since you became a tamer.

Right, this piece of tech was yet another thing you couldn't trust.

Much to your shock, said device dinged right as you'd been glaring, as if sensing your displeasure and wanting to distract you. It was a message from Kat. She was asking to meet up as soon as you could at... an address you didn't know where it was. You gave a short confirmation and paused as you glanced at Felix's previous email. Carefully, you read it over again. 

Succubi tend to see things in terms of power, and people who're kind do not mesh very well with that.

Power.

You scratched your chin, the succubus respected "power"... You had to laugh a little at the word. What did that even mean? She could kill you with barely a consideration, what did "having power" mean in this context? Every day it was becoming more apparent words didn't mean the same things as they used to. The context has changed, humanity has changed. Everything's changed.

Your head throbbed slightly, but you ignored it in favour of continuing through your thoughts.

The whole thing felt like it was just the tip of the iceberg. Pokegirls were sapient, yet it was clear instincts were stronger in some shape or form. Biological essentialism... boy was that a term that came with its own flood of headaches. At what point did sapience end and instincts begin? How predictable was a tamed pokegirls' behaviour based purely on their breed? How much was actually just some social role being pushed onto them? The fact each of the pokegirls had a feral state that appeared far more deterministic made it all the more complicated.

A part of you wondered if you'd be any less confused if you'd decanted yourself into psychology rather than chemistry. The teacher inside of you wanted to laugh and weep at the same time.

What came out instead was a deep sigh. You had troubles, you were an adult, what did adults do when they had problems? You were fairly sure that, had you asked this to Alice, the response might have involved "drinking" somewhere as a joke. Opting to steer clear of that option, you aimed for the next best thing. You prepared a mail explaining the... update to the Kiara situation to Felix.

And sent.

A long sip of water, you glared at the dex. You'd want to get yourself some pencils and paper when you'd get the chance. For now, the note-taking function would do even if you couldn't trust the little piece of technology to not tattle.

Anyway... what to do... what to do... How did you handle four relationships at the same time? Your thoughts once more bounced towards a classroom. What would you do were they, say, students? "Well, I wouldn't fuck them, that's for one," you snorted loudly, feeling an edge of grim humour in your own words.

Placing the dex away, you opted to chew on the situation in the back of your head for the time being. As much as you'd love to just spend the day not having to worry about things, you hadn't gotten a good enough grasp on Raven to really have a clear picture about where she was coming from.

Might as well talk to her on the way to wherever Kat was.

You checked the map the dex displayed. It didn't tell you the fastest route, but did point out the location of the address the young woman had handed over. That would have to do.

Outside, the high noon sun had passed not that long ago; the number of people mulling about had shrunk, probably lunch hours. You released Monica, watching the feline look around for a long handful of seconds before focusing back on you. "Rick," she declared with that little big smile that said more than any word could.

She hugged you, to which your scoff was an empty complaint. "Could you protect me? I'm going to bring Raven out."

"Raven safe," she spoke with no doubt or hesitation.

"Well, wish I could trust her that quickly," you replied, prying yourself away from her hug before releasing the Arachnae.

She appeared kneeling, looked around for a moment, and stood demurely, dusting her legs. "Thank you for the healing, Master. I regret not having been able to properly handle the Succubus. What should my punishment be?"

"No punishment, we all underestimated her." You shook your head- it seemed Raven came from a rather strict culture. "Honestly, I suspect the only real way to tire Kiara out would involve a second bigger Kiara, and I'd rather not find out what that might cause to the world as a whole."

"Having two Succubi within the same harem does tend to create a great deal of friction, or so I have heard," she nodded.

So much for the attempt at a joke. "Let's walk. I'd want to know more about you, Raven, since you're joining the team and all that."

Another short nod. "There is little worth mentioning, Master, I was put through a level 5 eight years ago due to a crime I'd committed. The Mistress had taken me in due to my silk, and taught me to weave."

Those words sounded awfully similar to Diane's own retelling of her life. "Why did you stop using the words like 'sama'?"

"Would Master like me to? I'd heard from Kiara that they were not used in this land," she explained softly.

"Erm, whichever you're most comfortable with," you replied.

Another nod. "Very well, Master," she proclaimed.

The Arachnae continued her walk next to you, quietly gazing at the people milling about, her hands demurely placed in front of her. Her short silver hair moved with the breeze, and she kept most of her eyes save two closed as she moved. It almost looked like she was trying to appear as if a doll or at least as inoffensive as possible. You had a very hard time trying to read that, her focus remained purely ahead, her steps closely measured.

How should you crack through this? "Do you have any hobbies?" You threw the question into the air.

"I find weaving to be most enjoyable, Master." And as soon as she said this she became quiet again.

"Do you... design clothes?"

"Oh, no, that would be above my station, Master, the Mistress would always design clothes for me to weave." The answer was controlled, her smile practised, the slight bow of her head a reinforcement of that demure appearance. And yet, you noticed a heartbeat of hesitation. "Would... Master wish me to weave clothes?"

"I'm certainly in a shortage of good clothes, and your silk is quite soft," you replied, trying to lean into that topic. "What would you need to be able to weave something?"

"It would mostly depend on the desired quality, unfortunately without a loom I do not believe I'd be able to do anything too complex or durable," she said, another instant of hesitation as her eyes looked at you- there was a short moment of panic. She rushed to speak again. "Which is not to say I need a loom, Master, I am perfectly able to weave with only my hands and legs in my other form."

Huh? "No need to worry, I'm not exactly in a stable condition right now," you tried to be reassuring, wondering where that had come from. "I'd understand if you'd be more comfortable with someone that had the resources to help you bring out your... potential..." You blinked for a moment, scratching your chin.

"Rick?" Monica spoke up as she bumped slightly into you, leaning down to look at you.

You shook your head. "No, it's nothing. Just a thought." You pulled out the dex for a moment, opening the note taker and writing down a quick 'Teaching books? Needles? Thread? Chalk?' and carrying on, turning back to Raven. "Anyway, if you think you can help with your weaving, I'm very interested in the idea. I've got no clue how any of that works, so learning about it seems fascinating."

That cracked the mask a little, ever so slightly a smile reached her lips, she bowed her head in a slight nod. "I would be happy to show you, Master."

"And what about you?" You asked before the silence returned. "Do you have anything you'd be interested in learning? I do happen to be a teacher."

"A... teacher?"

"Chemistry, for the most part," you replied, then shrugged a little. "Though now that I say it out loud it's probably not something that would seem interesting."

Raven looked at you for a moment before turning towards the front, only keeping you in the corner of her eye. "And is it customary for... teachers... to share their knowledge with their pokegirls?"

"I'm not exactly a stickler to customs," you avoided the question, mostly because you weren't too sure about the answer yourself. You probably didn't want to know either way.

You'd expected a response, a follow-up perhaps, but none was made, as the arachnid nodded again and continued walking quietly down the road. It made you want to sigh, but you held back in case that might give her the wrong impression. Your eyes turned to Monica, who beamed at you with a wide smile as soon as she'd noticed. A gesture you returned before considering what to do.

Not finding anything specific that wouldn't feel forced or might be taken the wrong way, you opted to remain quiet, hoping that maybe Raven would feel the urge to start some conversation herself.

"Hey Rick, who's the new girl? Spider chick?" The moment Kat had spoken, you'd sensed something was off. She was fidgeting as she sat on the bench, carefully looking at you and squirming slightly. The bigger sign was that she was trying to hide it.

You glanced back at the Arachnae that had not spoken a word in the past two hours. By now you figured she just had to enjoy the silence, or didn't like being in public. Either way, she didn't talk. At all. It felt awkward. "Hey, this is Raven, turns out she was domestic rather than feral. Raven? This is Katherine, one of my former students and one of my current travel companion."

"Eh, hiya, welcome to the team," Kat replied with a slightly forced grin, turning to you. The young woman made an expression before she reached into her pocket, quickly tossing something your way.

Before you could react, you saw the item snatched midair as Raven had stepped forward between you and Kat. The arachnid pokegirl's movement had been fast enough you'd felt the breeze next to you. From her outstretched chitin-covered hand you saw a dribble of fluid. "Raven?"

The pokegirl looked at the fluid, leaning down and smelling it. It was only then that her shoulders relaxed. "I'm so terribly sorry, Master." She turned towards you. "It was a flask with some juice. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary."

"...I don't think any is needed," you muttered, glancing at the worried-looking Kat. "Anyway... sorry about that."

"I don't mind it," Kat shook her head. "Should've given the heads up. Anyway... think we could, you know, talk in private for a while?"

"Sure." Your hand had been moving towards your hip but you stopped yourself. "Raven, Monica, would you like to be recalled?"

"I would not mind, Master," Raven said.

"No ball," Monica pouted as she shook her head enthusiastically.

You glanced at Kat; the young woman sighed. "I guess I don't mind Monica, she's too adorable." She waited until Raven had vanished before relaxing a little, gesturing at you to sit. "Tomas' gone silent."

Well, points where they were due, she knew how to open with a punch. "You're going to need to add more details to that statement."

"After the whole... thing, with, you know," she grimaced, making a face and sighing. "He looked seriously hurt. He just didn't come back to the centre when we got back. He dropped a message about 'going out' and hasn't shown up yet."

"Wait," you frowned. "How did you know he didn't return to the centre?"

"We, erm." A heartbeat of hesitation.

"I don't want to know," you shook your head, already guessing something had gone down between the two, again. A dull ache was building in the front of your head. "Did he say anything about... where he might be going to? Or what he might be doing?"

"No, not really, only 'Going out'," she nervously fidgeted. "I've been trying to contact him, but he hasn't even read my messages."

"Wait, it has a-" You stopped yourself, rubbing the bridge of your nose. "Ok, let's take a breath here, he's Tomas, he's not exactly the most illogical one in the group. I think this is seriously not something to worry over."

Kat snorted and crossed her arms. Her gaze turned sideways. "I'm nervous. What if he-"

"Do you want to hear my personal views, or do you want to hear me reassure you?" You interrupted in a snap.

Kat recoiled slightly, her auburn hair following the motion a second later, frowning. "Wow, Rick, you're being blunt today. What got up your keister?"

"Look, let's talk Tomas," you grumbled, closing your eyes and trying to ignore the throb inside your head. "Tell me what happened."

"I mean... We walked together, he spent the whole time brooding and reading his dex, we agreed to meet up and then he didn't show up," she said, hugging herself and shrugging her shoulders slightly. "The fact that he hasn't answered anything at all..."

"...could mean he's just trying to spend some time on his own," you mumbled.

"Think he might have taken a mission? I hope not," she muttered. "He only has Freya now, he'd been considering taking a new girl but that bitch..."

"Kept him drained, tired, and unable to consider it." You wanted to groan, another issue, another problem for you to fix.

"Please tell me you've shoved something spiky up her-"

"I think this has nothing to do with the current subject," you spoke rather tersely. "Suffice to say I don't plan to approach this like it's some sort of romantic relationship. I can't have that."

"Your nurse clearly didn't think that." At Kat's words you flinched, which caused the young woman to frown. "Troubles in paradise?"

"Let's keep this conversation about Tomas. Ok?" You said, glancing at the side. "If you're this worried about it, I'll ask Monica to see if she catches any scents, if not that then check the notice boards to see if there's some mission or request someone with an elf might be able to do, and if not that, then maybe he's just ignoring everyone."

"And worst comes to worst?"

"Then we don't have much choice but to move on," you almost barked, a bite in your words that made you instantly regret it. It made the young woman flinch and lower her gaze, and you couldn't help but feel that had been a step too far. For fucks sake. You had to remind yourself, she was in this too, she... You deflated. You were supposed to be in control here. "Sorry. Look, we'll find him."

She nodded, sullenly. "Thanks, Rick," she muttered, hands clenching one another. "I just... didn't know who else to turn to."

A throb between your eyebrows- you sighed deeply. Ignore it, push it away, you looked at her, this was part of being an adult, too. "I'm sure you're just worried, Tomas has a good head on his shoulders. He'll show up." A slight nod she reciprocated. "Send me a message if you got something and I'll do the same."

Another nod.

"Well, I'll put our expert tracker to the case." You glanced at Monica, the feline woman had been looking up into the sky.

You realized there were several things flying way up above, drawing lazy circles in the sky. More pokegirls? Actual birds? You couldn't tell. 

"Monica?" The feline's attention turned down towards you with a twitch of her ear. "Let's go."

You gave the young woman a slight nod, moving to consider how you should approach this. It felt like it was little more than concern, and... a dreadfully large part of you did not want to meet Tomas. You didn't want to do it, you didn't want to be the one to go around looking for the young man and find out all of this was an overblown moment of worry. The last thing you needed was to get yourself face to face with him when he was still sore and hurting.

Maybe... should you just pretend to look? Take a few spins, tell Kat nothing's come up, and then just go lay down to get a rest out of this growing headache? A shake of your head the moment afterwards. No sense in not trying, Tomas was a part of the group and you'd already agreed to do it. 

"Monica, track Tomas," you told the feline.

"Tomas?" Monica looked confused. "Tomas no food. Track Tomas?"

"No food, just track," you said.

"Just? New Word?"

"Later." You held back from glowering in frustration. "Track," you repeated. "No food."

A nod as she sniffed at the air. "No Tomas here."

Well, she wasn't a bloodhound, you gestured for her to follow as you headed towards the pokecenter you'd been staying at.

The throbbing was getting annoying; you pressed your fingers against your temples as you tried to organize things inside your head. The group would get back on the road whenever it was ready, probably tomorrow. You knew Mr. Gabriel had nothing that'd hold anyone back, so the only two variables were the younger tamers.

Your feet carried you on automatic, and you pulled out the Pokedex to check the notice boards, maybe there was something among the requests, but... No dice, none of them were things you'd consider easy or safe if you had only Freya in your team. The fact that Cherry Grove had some upped security seemed to suggest that the requests weren't as low a threat.

It only reinforced that the young man had opted to just cut communications.

Was it a permanent cut? Had he opted to just go on his own? You were pretty sure that would make for a mess; Kat looked half desperate to chase him down out of sheer concern. There might 'not be anything between them', as Kat had said only a week ago, but it was clear she cared about the young man in some way. Tomas leaving could leave her in a tough spot between going with him and staying with her grandfather.

Monica stopped her steps and turned her head. "Yes Tomas."

The words snapped you, and you turned towards Monica as she kept sniffing the air down to the right. There was a soft breeze blowing from there. She moved in the direction of the scent and you followed. This place wasn't too far from the southern pokecentre, though the streets were certainly unfamiliar.

The part of town appeared to be leading slightly northwards, towards... the hive? You couldn't be bothered to remember the exact layout right now, but the streets were narrower and what little volume of movement was going about was reduced. It felt like you were entering a quieter part of this small town. Maybe you'd do well to remember for when you'd wanted to have some time for yourself.

Now there was something to snort loudly at.

Time for yourself.

Monica's meandering steps and frequent pauses to sniff took you further and further towards the edge of town, until the buildings were slowly dispersing and turning into fields. You stopped the instant you'd taken a look further out and towards the fields. You'd spotted Tomas.

The young man stood with two girls: one was Freya, but the other you'd not met before.

You glanced at the new pokegirl as she and Tomas talked; your eyes caught the slight shared smiles, the clearly flirtatious touch as she reached out and caressed his arm. The young man was smiling more than you'd seen him since reaching this world, relaxed, laughing as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

The sight made you feel irked for some reason, the pressure behind your eyes got worse. At least that was one less thing to worry over. "Let's go."

"Tomas track," Monica pointed at the young tamer as he'd been chatting up a storm. "Monica good?"

"Monica good, let's go. Follow." You pressured a little, motioning to turn to leave, only pausing when you noticed Freya shifting her gaze in your direction just as you'd been turning around.

You didn't look over your shoulder, you really hoped she didn't say anything.

With a tightened jaw and a worsening headache, you sent Kat a quick message saying Tomas was OK, she asked for details, you just told her where you'd found him and dropped it. If she wanted to meet him face to face that'd have to be her own drama, you couldn't bring yourself to put any more thought into this. 

You tracked your way back to the pokecenter, legs practically rushing as you moved. Your vision felt as it throbbed, was this a migraine? It was getting hard to think. The room opened with a hiss, everything felt irritating. Inside you noticed Diane had been sitting with some kind of contemplative look.

She squeaked a little a moment after, hopping off of the bed and rushing to stand. "I did what you asked, Master."

"Awesome. Great," you muttered, moving to the bed and just laying face down against the pillow. It was like getting a spike slowly thrust between your eyebrows and you needed to get it to leave.

"Master?" The nurse's voice rang, now worried.

"I'm going to sleep," you spoke into the pillow.

"Is everything ok Master?"

"No, it's not," you sighed, closing your eyes, kicking out your shoes and just trying to relax. "I just need to lay my head down for a while."

"Does it hurt anywhere?" A hand touched your arm, and you had to put an effort not to instantly pull away. A pause. "I can heal that, Master, it's just a mild headache."

And could this headache have come about from your body getting fucked with? The question lingered inside your head for long enough you'd almost spoke it. "I can handle it," you said instead. "Just need some rest."

You needed to clear your thoughts- things were out of balance, and the sensation of a goal felt like it was slipping through your fingers. What were you supposed to do? Why did everyone turn to you for answers? Just what was the right answer? It was like being back in the wilds, except worse; now you knew how dangerous things actually were.

How dangerous they could get if you took the wrong step.

With a growl, you'd been about to try and adjust yourself when something heavy and large flopped itself down on you, pinning you face down into the bed. "Rick," Monica's voice proclaimed, her arms wrapped around you tightly, making you grunt.

Despite yourself, you felt how warm she was. "I'm going to suffocate, Monica, please get off." You weren't even sure which of those words she understood.

Something must have registered, perhaps the tone. Still, the feline didn't let the hug go, and instead, she rolled to the side so you'd be on your side as well. Her arms still kept you snugly held against her. The position forced you to meet Diane's worried expression as she sat at the edge of the bed, her eyes looked almost pained as she hesitated.

"Please let me heal you, Master," she whispered.

What sense was there to hold out? A sigh of defeat, you closed your eyes. "Only healing."

Her fingers brushed against your temples, and the pain vanished faster than you could register her soothing touch.

This time you sighed more deeply- just like that, the discomfort was gone. So simple and easy, just have her... The fleeting thought made your brows knit slightly.  "Diane," you muttered with a slight groan. "I need to know something."

"Anything, Master."

Opening your eyes you looked at her, there were new questions bouncing inside your head. What if she had made the change in such a way she'd need to heal you constantly? What if, without the healing, the headache would only get worse? You remembered that first morning at her apartment, her words regarding cutting someone's spine to ensure compliance. Could you really tell the difference between being healed and having your body... changed? What if while you slept she...?

You closed your eyes, sighing, the stress was getting to you. You couldn't bring yourself to speak them out. "No, just wanted to know if you think the headache might be another symptom of cutting things short." It was the closest you could dare yourself to push. What if it was? What if just suspecting it brought her to take drastic measures?

"I don't think so, Master," she spoke, shaking her head, looking concerned.

But could you trust those words? That look? That expression? How could you handle having a pokegirl you didn't trust that could absolutely ruin you?

"I'll go sleep now." You closed your eyes. "I'll recall you all tonight, I think I need to clear my head."

The look on her face showed a flash of pain; she nodded. "Of course, Master."

In the back of your head, the image of Tomas and that new pokegirl bubbled to the surface.

The headache felt like it was about to come back.

 

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Dex Entry of the day: Elementalist -- Original Art

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