You shielded your eyes from the sunlight that blazed its way down around you. Trying to look further away proved an effort in wishing you had sunglasses. The day was right, and the road slow under the crunch of your shoes. It was a steady grind against the twitch in your legs, a forceful slowness to each step that proved a soft screeching on nerves.

The lack of wind made the heat beat down upon your shoulders and head.

The group moved as slowly as Mr Gabriel did. Not that many seemed to care. Kat for her part spoke to Marta, the new Milktits, with wide grins and broad gestures. The pokegirl nodded with a slight irregularity, her eyes shifting away from the young woman from time to time as her tail hung limply from her hips.

Every now and then, either of them would look your way.

You'd said nothing- not that you could at your distance without raising your voice. You hung back from them. Alone.

Diane, Monica, Kiara, and Raven, all of them were balled up. Your hand reminded you they were just a twitch of your wrist away from being turned from formless red energy into solid flesh and blood. But you liked pretending that you were truly, fully, alone. Briefly, in a flight of fancy, you thought of that fateful trip that had gone so so wrong.

How many times have you taken it? Your thoughts drifted towards walks in large groups, the chatter of rowdy half-bored students and the parents that were all too eager to share their opinions about whatever news had last hit the stream. There was some humour to the memory of wishing to be on your own or at home...

Looking back, you realized how little you'd pay attention to your surroundings, how little you cared who was in front of you, how leisurely you'd practically bump into people. Not letting yourself be lost in thought, your eyes strayed towards the grassy fields that stretched near the road.

There was a blur of movement there. The pokegirl you'd spotted yesterday with Tomas was galloping across the field. Metamorphic, it seemed, much like the Arachnae. But where one would've been a spider, this pokegirl had been equine. A centaur in every sense of the word.

Tomas' hair whipped behind his head. A manic grin was plastered on his lips as the blur of brown and black darted off at maximum speed, only to turn back and return once practically out of sight past a hill or slope. The young man's laughter could be heard from time to time, and the woman he rode looked nothing less than ecstatic. 

Forcing yourself to look the other way, you tried to ignore the weights that hung from behind your eyes. An old friend of yours, of late nights poring over exams and homework to get everything done before the deadline. You'd just need to push yourself to keep the frayed edges of your focus from unravelling before you went to sleep.

Your focus landed on the mouse that walked next to Mr Gabriel. She was as close to a mousy human as you could've expected the pokegirl to be. She was a waif of a woman, barely tall enough for her large round ears to reach the older man's shoulders, her figure thin and her posture ever nervous. Tessa clung to the taller man's sleeve, her eyes roaming in every direction in short bursts of quick confirmation, and her tail whipped with every swing of her head. With a twitch of her ears, her gaze would turn left, then right. Sometimes the reaction would go through her whole body, nearly jumping as a sound would make her switch sides, placing the older male between herself and the source.

And yet, with just one touch of the man's hand upon her head, the pokegirl's jumpiness would stop. Instantly she'd lean into him, closing her eyes, her tail going limp and her breathing slowing in turn.

And yet, despite every appearance saying otherwise, you knew. She could break every bone on Gabriel's body if she so wished. The Titmouse was a pokegirl easily scared, and yet, desperate ferals would quite often gang up on unsuspecting prey and devour them alive. The thought coursed through your mind like a bad joke trying to force itself into an unwelcome event.

Tessa was a pokegirl. Just as dangerous as every other pokegirl.

Your mind turned towards your own pokegirls as it had every other hour. Diane, Monica, Kiara, Raven.

What did it mean to control them?

Your fingers thumbed the smooth cool surface of the spherical devices latched onto the belt you wore loosely around your hip. Maybe you were looking at the problem the wrong way?

Your attention shifted away from Tessa and back onto Kat. She scratched the back of her head and chatted away, appearing to be awkwardly trying to explain something. The sound brought back a memory.

Your awkward first lesson, a substitute trying to reign in a rowdy class. How long ago had that been? You've had thousands of classes ever since, and the patterns became clearer with each one. The rowdy students stayed in the back, the attentive ones in the front, and everyone else in the middle. Interruptions, conversation, sometimes the odd paper ball bouncing off of the blackboard. How had you learned to make sure your students didn't interrupt? Didn't step out of line?

How did you avoid violence from emerging? Could the students in your classroom kill you? If they wanted? It was an intrusive question, and the first reaction had been to roll your eyes at the inwards consideration. Of course, they could have, they outnumbered you forty to one. Not that it had ever been a consideration before.

You blinked.

Fingers rubbed a little more strongly against the front-most Pokeball; there was a scratch on the edge where both halves met. This was Diane's. Your eyelids were heavy- a deep breath, focus shifting back to Mr Gabriel and Katherine before you stopped your steps entirely. Eyes closed, ignoring the heat all around you, you felt the soft cool breeze nudge you slightly forward.

With a click of the button, the device squeezed and twitched. And with a burst of red light, the nurse materialized right next to you.

As she had every previous instance, the first thing she did upon becoming physical was to look around quickly and carefully, hands on her hips very close and ready to dive into her pockets, her legs slightly bent and ready to pounce. It was only when she looked your way that she relaxed.

There was a little grimace, face turning downwards, her shoulders slumped. "Master," she muttered quickly.

"Follow me," you declared, returning some inertia to your body and moving again, keeping your distance from the others even as you spotted several looks shot your way.

Diane kept quiet, her head remained slightly downcast. The shadow of the sun hung against her expression, her eyes pointed at the ground only slightly ahead of her but flickering in your direction from time to time. Her hands clenched the edges of her pants with a white-knuckled grip, and there was a slight pause of hesitation behind every step.

Sucking in some air, you stifled a yawn. "Gabriel got his first medal."

Your words might as well have had physical force. Diane tripped a little, her eyes moving towards the diminutive Tessa, and then at you.

"He just pointed out he'll die before he can get an actual harem... at least that's what he said."

"I... I see..."

Hearing the crunch of steps, you looked over your shoulder. Diane's violet's eyes met yours and immediately you both looked the other way. The nurse looked downwards, and you turned towards the fields. The sigh escaped her, barely audible. In your mind, the question burned brighter than it had before.

How could you tell if you were in control of the situation? Your thoughts turned to Kiara, at how she pushed Tomas and Freya away from one another ever so slightly.

A frown came to your face. "I'm... really angry at you." The words were soft, your brows knitted slightly. "And scared."

Diane recoiled away from you, eyes wide. "Master, I-"

"I'm not sure you properly understand where I'm coming from, maybe you do, but this whole thing we have is..." A deep breath. "When Kiara threatened me, I knew where she was coming from. I knew exactly what to expect. If Monica or Raven threatened me, I would also know where things would be coming from. But not you."

Glancing at the nurse, you paid close attention to how she looked into your eyes and quickly averted them downwards, how her shoulders tensed and her steps shortened, how she clutched her hands against her body.

"The threat you pose to me is... different." You glanced away. "I could wake up one morning having been lobotomized by my own modified brain chemistry. I could develop some sort of cancer that slowly eats me from the inside because some gland or whatever got amped a smidge too high or too low." Nose wrinkling for a moment, you kept your hands in your pockets. "It could be entirely accidental too. If Monica loses her focus I'll get a broken arm, a snapped pelvis, maybe I end up paralyzed because my spine got snapped like a twig. But you? You have an accident and I could not find out about it until I'm convulsing and frothing from the mouth two months down the road."

"Master, I never thought-" She burst out, looking at you with wide eyes, leaning as she clutched her hands against her chest. And yet, the words stopped with a gesture of your hand.

"Breathe." Your word was a singular command that made her tense, you nodded. "And try it again, slowly."

With a twitch of her head passing as a nod mirroring your own, she stopped her steps only long enough for her to let out a very slow sigh. Immediately after she quickened her pace as she returned to your side, her lips pursed and her brows furrowed. "Master," she spoke with a firmness that immediately faltered. "I'm sorry. I thought you... didn't know better."

Her words caused you to arch an eyebrow.

"Tamers don't... know, medicine," Diane continued, fidgeting with her fingers. "So when they're told about the prospects, many become too... eager." Her mouth twisted in a grimace. "I have seen Rapha owners having forced their pokegirls to push their bodies over the limits of what's healthy."

A pause. "You thought that, if I knew you could do that, I'd ask for more changes."

"Some people think that flesh crafting could help them become immortal," she whispered under her voice, face paling slightly. "And would not take no for an answer."

"And does it?"

Diane shook her head strongly, pink hair whipping around in a whirl of little silky smooth strands. "Flesh crafting can help with some of the issues brought about from age, if you know enough, it can slow a few down, but even under ideal conditions... it would maybe add a decade. If the pokegirl is knowledgeable and skilled enough, she might even properly allow the body to remain functional for longer even if it'll mean the inevitable collapse happens more quickly."

Eyes closing, you turned away. "So when you told me it was a slip of the tongue, huh."

Her steps came to a halt, her face lowered as her eyes looked up at you in hesitation.

"I'm not going to add punishment, Diane," you muttered with a slight yawn, your left hand reached down and held onto her pokeball and making sure it remained out of her sight. "I am, however, going to ask you to alter my pinky finger."

"...Master?"

Stretching your hand towards her, you looked into her eyes. "Sensitivity, I'd like you to amplify my pinky's finger sensitivity as high as you can bring it."  Your words caused her to frown further. You frowned back. "I wasn't asking, Diane. And I left pretty clear how you ought to react to an order."

With a slight skip to her step and a gasp, she nodded, grabbing your hand for a moment. "Master, there's... several ways I could do this. Do you mean merely pressure sensitivity? Temperature?"

"Pressure," you said. "And only as far as you can undo it."

This time the nod came a little easier to her.

As you walked, you made sure to pour every ounce of attention to the warm glowing sensations within your hand. It would be a while before it would be time for the group to rest.

Kiara came out of her pokeball yawning, barely taking a moment to glance over her shoulder before focusing on you like a hawk.  "What happened to your finger?"

Of course she'd seen how you held the pinky finger out so as to avoid it touching anything. The skin was also noticeably redder and it felt no different than if you'd had a localized sunburn except less painful and more 'tingly'.

"None of your concern." You replied, sitting down. "I want you to take a trip above, check the perimeter."

The infernal pokegirl narrowed her eyes at you, to which you returned the look with every ounce of impassive boredom you could muster within you. Several seconds passed before she scoffed, looking away, batting her wings and taking to the sky. 

You could tell the others had spotted her, but you didn't turn to look their way, instead, you focused back on Diane. "Where were we?"

"I'm not sure?" She replied.

"Ah, no, it's just my own head." You pulled your backpack closer to you, using your unchanged hand to rummage through it. Eventually, you found what you were looking for and pulled out the first-aid box Diane had brought from her apartment. "You had some tools of your own, right?"

"Yes?" She nodded, pulling out of her left pocket a bundle of cloth. "What would you need them for?"

"Do you have a scalpel?"

A shake of her head. "I don't need one, at least not for light things, I can use my fleshcrafting to cause the cells to break apart from one another in a straight line. It's neater and easier to heal... unless you meant for fighting? For that, I have a pocket-knife."

"Pocket knife?" You asked.

The nurse dug into her right pocket, pulling out a foldable knife. Your eyes widened as she unfolded the piece, it had a blade at least twelve centimetres long. With a twitch of her hand she folded it back and returned it to her pocket, the gesture smooth and seamless. You didn't even remember having seen the knife before.

"You... have had that around?"

"Yes, Master, it was a gift from Doctor Hale on my second naming day," Diane nodded enthusiastically. "Would you need to use it?"

Quickly you shook your head. "No, no, it's the 'cutting skin' part I was interested in." You tucked the little datum of the explanation she'd provided away. "I'd like you to make a cut on my palm."

Diane frowned at you, her hands tucking the little bundle back into her pocket.

"Just a little cut, and heal it."

"...why?"

"I told you to," you answered, unamused. "And that's going to have to be reason enough for now. Especially considering it's not something that's putting me at any actual risk."

Her lips thinned, a nod left her. "I hope you're not thinking of making it a habit to ask to be cut up, Master."

"I don't plan to." With your words, your right hand extended towards her once more. "All yours. And do make sure the healing is slow please."

"I don't think you should cause yourself pain like this, Master." Her eyes flickered at your eyes before focusing on your hand. "We also don't have anything to disinfect the surface."

"If it gets infected I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."

Her lips thinned further, jaw tightening and clenching, and her gaze lowered to focus on your extended palm. She held onto it with her left, and as she did, she brought down her extended right index. She didn't touch your palm, but you felt a spreading warmth that was followed by a stinging sensation. Slowly she moved the finger only three centimetres before pulling back.

Raising your gaze to the place she'd touched, there was barely anything seeming wrong. Yet as soon as you clenched your fist a little, a droplet of blood appeared. The sensation was slightly similar to getting pinched by a needle. "Huh," you muttered, opening your palm again. "Ok, heal it slowly."

Diane's eyes narrowed at you before she looked downwards, her finger returning to your hand.

The sensation was that of warmth but... "Ok, cut me again."

"Master, you said you didn't plan to make this a habit."

"It won't be."

A deeper scowl, she repeated the actions, and you paid closer attention. "Now I'd like you to reduce my finger's sensitivity."

With a startled shake of her head and a look of disbelief, she took a moment to comply, moving to grasp your finger and allowing the glow to spread from the area she caressed.

"It's different," you muttered after a moment.

"Master?"

"Fleshcrafting and healing," you said. "Isn't it?"

"Yes?" She frowned, confused. "Fleshcrafting is a command for a change in behaviour of a living being's tissue. Healing is the application of elemental energy to speed up the existing healing process."

"Try explaining that in 'science'," you chuckled.

"Fleshcrafting alters the composition and structure of the cells. Healing makes them go faster," Diane pouted ever so slightly. "Fleshcrafting is complex because it needs an understanding of the desired alteration. Healing is complex because it requires to also create certain substances such as hormones, and then remove the byproducts."

A little nod- that was interesting, and you'd make a mental note about it. "And the sensation is different," you said.

Diane's eyes widened. "Did you... order for this for that reason?"

"I told you I don't trust you anymore, Diane." Your words came in a low voice, and the pokegirl flinched. "If I can't trust, I might as well understand. And now I know that when you're trying to change me, the sensation is different than if you were trying to heal me."

The nurse nodded her head, letting it droop, looking down at your hand as she applied her fingers upon your pinky. Eyes closing, she bent forward slightly, lowering her head further, until her forehead pressed against your palm. Slowly, she sighed, moving her head so her cheek would rub against your hand. Eyes closed, she breathed deeply.

There was a slight clench to her fingers before she opened those deep pools of violet. Quietly, she looked up at you. Your pulse hastened as she spoke.

"If you don't trust me, Master, if you think I lie, then you could put me through a level four-cycle." There was a little shudder in her voice as she spoke. "I would prefer that to... this."

"This?"

"You were so warm." A slight whisper. "Now you're... cold."

Absently you nodded. "That was my mistake, Diane." You didn't pull your hand from her touch, your thumb stroked her cheek. "We both didn't know better, so live and learn. At least you have a chance to earn things back."

"Earn what things?" An amused chuckle followed the words.

Your head whipped upwards, seeing the Succubus as she floated a good three meters above you. Her eyes had a smile hidden within their glimmering pools of gold as she floated downwards. Her foot gingerly touched the ground with barely a sound, her whole body seeming to lose the weightless quality it had held a moment prior.

"Perimeter is clear of ferals, Rick, only some tamers fucking their pokegirls." Her finger pointed to the side. "Over there... and over there... and over there..." Clockwise, she pointed towards the woods. "Oh, and little horsey wants to fuck wonder boy over there." She then pointed at Tomas as he sat at the opposite edge of the clearing, though it seemed she'd not been loud enough for him to hear. "Would that be all?"

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you motioned her to sit. "I did have a question for both of you."

"I'm all hornies, Rick, ah, I mean all ears." Kiara's lips parted into a smirk and a chuckle.

"It's precisely about your dietary needs," you replied evenly. "I know Diane's an hour away before she needs a meal, and that if I pull Monica out she'll want food within half an hour tops. But I'm not quite sure on how 'food' works with you."

"Oh." The question had her tap her chin, and then she shrugged. "I eat more when someone feels powerful strong things towards me, and is nearby. The stronger and closer, the better. Orgasms are best, not really anything that can compare in intensity."

"So if I fucked Diane you could eat that?"

"As a snack, sure." A leisure shrug of her shoulders. "But it wouldn't really be aimed at 'me'. Her focus would be on you, and yours on her."

"Diane?"

The nurse's glare receded as she nodded. "Succubi need taming at least once a day, but to remain healthy they would need at least two."

"More if I go around spending all that energy."

"Meaning that if I keep you balled most of the day, you could go on with just one taming." Your comment earned narrowed eyes, and you shook your head. "It's just a mental note." The eyes did not change any as you turned your focus to Diane. "I wanted to bring up how both of you will be helping with the Monica situation."

Kiara frowned, Diane did so as well.

"I don't like my girls not being able to read," you continued. "So both of you are going to help fix that."

"How do you know I can read?" Kiara blinked.

"Wild guess, glad I was right." A little chuckle left you at her scowl. "Anyway, I got my hands on some paper and pens to help with that."

"Master?" Diane's eyes flickered towards Kiara and then at you.

"Kiara gets food out of sex. Monica likes sex as a reward. Using it as an incentive would help cover for both needs at once," you replied. "Diane sets out the reward schemes, and that pushes all parties involved to put effort. Because that means more rewards and 'snacks' for either of them."

The infernal's eyes narrowed, remaining quiet before leaning back. "This is the first time I'm put to use as a teaching aid for something that isn't sex." A smouldering grin spread across her lips. "But I wouldn't consider fucking the cat as a reward, more like part of the job."

"Sure." Your words caused Diane to do a double-take. You only arched a brow at the nurse. "Her demanding better rewards means you'd get ones too. It would only be fair." And that caused the Succubus to growl. "So, anyway, rewards, teaching reading and writing would be an ongoing project, so I guess we could make it based on milestones."

"Milestones?"

"Every time Monica reaches a certain comprehension level objective, I give a proportional reward to her and her teachers," you explained with a shrug of your shoulders, feeling as the muscles soothed and unknotted slightly. Habit, familiarity, this was closer to what you knew. "And if I think either of you put more effort than the other, then I add a bonus to the one who did the most." That ought to keep them focused on trying to one-up one another. Your gaze turned to your belt- you sighed for a moment and brought out Monica's pokeball, handing it over to Diane. "Questions?"

With a furrow of her brow, your alpha looked at Kiara and then back at you. "Could the rewards include special requests?"

"I don't see why not, we'd have to talk them over first though."

A nod of determination followed. "I'll start right away."

"And me?" Kiara arched an eyebrow as she leaned towards Diane for a second. "Think you can handle the cat on your own?"

"Yes." Plain, simple, direct. Her stare was aimed at the Succubus, intense in the glare. "Feel free to rest or watch."

The infernal pokegirl returned the look with a smooth one of her own, eyes half-lidded, lips thin, her jaw set. "I will... help." Her voice was slow, each word measured out, as her eyes flickered at the pokeball Diane held before turning towards you.

No words were spoken, and yet there was something in that look that made the hairs in the back of your neck stand on end.

"I'll leave you to it, then." You dusted yourself off, standing up and grasping the last pokeball before taking a handful of steps away from the two while they glared at one another.

With a flick of your wrist, you released Raven from the pokeball.

The spider popped into reality with all her eyes open, a slight quick twitch of her head left, then right, her hands moving from her flanks to her front. She proceeded to close all but the two main eyes, focusing on you while she lowered her shoulders and bowed. "Master," she greeted with slowness to her gestures.

"Stick around for a bit, I'm going to talk about clothes and you're probably going to be of help." A little nod from her was all you got, which left you wanting to sigh as you turned towards your third objective. Your feet felt like they were filled with a little bit of lead with each step.

Your steps took you towards Tomas.

The approach didn't go unnoticed. Kat had been talking with the Milktits and gone quiet, Mr. Gabriel had raised his eyes from whatever he'd been reading, and finally, and Freya's focus shifted from the forest directly towards you. The intensity of her gaze made the young man glance up from his conversation with the horse pokegirl, directly at you.

The slight smile died an early death, turning into a scowl.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Why are you here, Rick?" Tomas spoke as he crossed his arms.

To the point, then. "This is Raven." You gestured at the Arachnae standing slightly to your side. "She knows how to weave, and her silk is really good. I was thinking that she and Freya could work together to make clothes for the group."

"You came for Freya." There was a growl to his voice that tried to hide the casualness he tried to use.

You ignored the sarcasm weaved into his words. "If you think it's a bad idea, I'll just ask Raven to do things on her own," you pointed out.

That made Tomas' eyes narrow further. "So you think a couple of shirts are going to solve things?"

"I'm not here to make amends, Tomas, I'm here to propose something that I think will benefit the group as a whole." You placed your hands on your hips, cocking your head slightly to the side.

A moment passed as Tomas' eyes took a blank look at them, mouth parting slightly just as it was quickly closed, lips thinning. With a frown, he slowly stood up. "Do you even care about what you did?"

The question took you slightly by surprise, though you held from groaning. "Tomas, if you want to talk about it I will, but are you sure you'd rather do that here, in front of everyone?" You gestured at the others nearby, and more than one quickly looked the other way.

"No, let's do that, here, you didn't care back then. Why should you now?"

"And what do you want, Tomas?"

"An apology, for one."

"Sure." You breathed in and let it out. "I'm sorry I didn't approach the situation with more tact, I hadn't quite fully grasped the situation as I should have." A pause, closing your eyes brought slight relief to the weight that hung behind them. The urge to rub them was held back in favour of letting a second pass. "I won't make the same mistake again, we're both adults, it was unreasonable of me to consider you couldn't understand what was happening."

"That I couldn't..." Tomas' mouth hung open. "Rick, you stole Rachel. Wait." With a clenching jaw and a furrowed brow, he glared at you. "You're not even sorry about that, are you?"

"No." The word was succinct. "Kiara was a free element in the group that was causing discord, over-draining you, putting your health at risk, and extending her actions to affect my girls and placing them at risk as well. You did not have control over her. I stepped in."

"It's Rachel." Tomas' voice shook. "Her name is Rachel."

"Was Rachel. She freely accepted the conditions of the challenge and lost," you stated with a gesture of your head towards the Succubus in question.

"And what? What now? She's your slave?"

"Right now she's under orders to help teach Monica English." Your shrug was a casual one. "I've rescinded most of her rights and freedoms, and I mostly intend to keep her in that position until she's earned her way up."

Tomas lunged, hands extended towards your shirt. The image of a crushed can crossed your mind.

Your right hand shot to the side, blocking Raven from taking a step forward. You were fairly sure there was a flash of red, but it was something the young man had not reacted to. Tomas' eyes met squarely with your own. Mere centimetres away, he held you by the neck of your shirt, his grip nearly driving you onto your tiptoes. "She's not a slave," the young man growled in a low voice, teeth grinding slowly.

Diane lifting you by your arms.

"She is now," you replied through narrowed eyes. "They all are," you added, leaning your head slightly to ease the pressure of the grip. "And pretending they're not is exactly what made you vulnerable to the threat Kiara poses."

"She's a person!" He gripped tighter, shaking you.

Kiara's glowing hand an inch away from your chest.

"Yes," you replied.

"Then what? Do you think it's right to enslave them?" Tomas's eyes were becoming wild as he leaned closer.

Raven's finger caressing your neck and drawing blood.

"I don't care whether it's right or not." The answer came out of your lips more easily than you thought it would've. "I do, however, think that you don't really understand what you're doing."

"And how do you figure that?"

The question lanced into your chest, deep heat and tightness coiling into your heart. The first image that came into your mind was of the young man riding on the centaur, taking to the wind, a wide smile plastered on his face as he laughed. Compared to that, Tomas right now looked as if ready to punch your lights out, face reddened and scrounged up, showing his teeth. He had some height on you, he was certainly better built and stronger and yet…

Monica, letting out a blood-curdling roar.

Your heartbeat was slow, steady.

Unflinching, you turned your head to look at the outstretched arm you'd held in place to block Raven's path. Tomas followed your gaze.

The Arachnae was looking at Tomas, unwavering, a faint lingering respectful smile on her lips, one that did not reach her eyes. "I believe this is yours, sir," she spoke with a slight bow of her head, reaching out and offering a pokeball. There was a small thread of silk hanging from the device as it passed onto the young man's hands.

Confused, he looked at the pokeball and then at his belt. There was a missing slot. Wide eyes followed, letting go of your shirt and stepping back. With the click of the release mechanism, Freya materialized into the world. The instant the elf had appeared she confirmed where Tomas was and lunged to stand next to him, her back pressing against his chest as she nocked an arrow, wild eyes focusing on Raven as her arm tensed, ready to draw.

The Arachnae did not move, not even looking at the elf and instead focused on Tomas. "Step back," you ordered. She complied without hesitation, bowing and taking a single step back, placing herself slightly behind and to your right.

With your eyes on Freya, you waited for the elf to relax her grip at least a bit before you turned towards the young man. "I think, Tomas." You dusted your shirt off, adjusting it slightly as you sighed. "That we can postpone the clothes talk for later."

Tomas had not even turned to look at you, his hand on the pokeball and his focus on the Arachnae.

You turned to leave, steadying your breath as you felt your heart shoot into a wild beat. You glanced at your other three pokegirls, and each of them sat and glanced back in turn. The looks did not shy from meeting your eyes. Monica sat tall, firm, smiling, a short nod at your return. Diane frowned, lips pursed as her attention flickered at Raven next to you. Kiara, for her part, was looking straight at you, a wide alluring smirk, eyes shining as she leaned slightly back as if to tempt you to look over her body.

The focus was shifted towards the Arachnae. "Thanks for the help."

"It is my duty to protect my Master." Her words were cold and distant.

"Would you have... hurt him?"

Raven shook her head, almost imperceptibly. "No, Master, there would've been no need for that."

Inwardly, you sighed in relief.

Dex Entry of the day: Thundrix -- Original Art

ravnicrasol

Link for Chapters 37-38-39 for Patrons.

PS: I'll likely start up a new "story" that's exclusively just pokedex entries, but I want to think things through first and check on several things before I do that since it'd involve adding things to my plate I might not have the time to deal with. We'll see.