The trip back to the hospital was a short one, it was actually closer to the station than you'd expected, it seemed that you had done a very long round-trip while looking about and trying to familiarize yourself with the place. Stepping inside, you hoped to find the others, and probably Dia, scratch that, Dia had been a delight, you definitely were looking forward to meeting her again, but you probably ought to focus on the others. You'd yet to see them and they definitely needed an update on things.

That plan was short-circuited when you nearly stumbled onto the pink-haired nurse.

"Mas- I mean, sir!" Dia's voice rang out in surprise, waving at you. "What are you doing outside of your room? You should rest." She declared with more concern than firmness to her words. She tried and failed to contain a million-watt smile from blossoming from her lips as you approached.

"Hi." You greet back.

"Are you feeling ill anywhere?" She asked, reaching out and stopping as she just about almost touched your hand. She hesitated for a heartbeat before she did.

You saw her focusing. "I'm fine." You commented offhandedly.

Still, it took her a moment to confirm, her grip on your hand quite firm even her skin was soft and warm. Her eyes remained closed and you could almost feel a tingle run through you before she eventually opened her eyes to look at you and nodded. "Yes, it seems you're recovering well." She hadn't let go of your hand and was instead grasping it as she talked, looking into your eyes with a wide happy smile.

"By the by, did you just try to call me Master?" As you ask this, your fingers brush her hair behind her ear, you hear the receptionist let out a choked laugh.

Dia blushed up a storm at that. "No, it was nothing."

You notice the receptionist snickers louder still, you're suspecting she can hear you from way over there but say nothing of it. "Could you take me to the others I came in with?" You speak softly, noting how she leaned into your touch, your mind tries to focus on your companions. "I'm worried about them, and I would greatly appreciate it."

"I don't know..." She fidgeted a little.

A little twinge of daring lanced through you. "I might be appreciative enough to take you on a date tomorrow?" As soon as you said this you frowned, no, that didn't sound right. "Scratch that, I think I'd want to take you out anyway, I'd just really like to get to talk with my friends, it's somewhat-."

"No, no, I-." She nodded, though you heard her bumbling some words quickly, pausing, flustered. "No, I'd... just one minute!"

Before you could say anything else, she ran off.

Now the receptionist was giving you a scowl. You awkwardly scratch the back of your head. Maybe that last part was a bit... you could only feel a little twinge of guilt.

It didn't take even a full thirty seconds for Dia to come back, you saw her dead sprint only to the corridor, and then slow down, trying to look a little less rushed as she fixed her skirt, stepped forward, and approached you again. "Currently only miss May, her guardian miss Alice, and miss Katherine are here, they're in patient rooms 03 and 05."

The scowl from the receptionist became sterner now.

You blink as you realized exactly what your words had done to the poor girl. You had, basically, dangled your attention as bait on a hook to get her to do "a favour" for you, and seeing how she appeared to be crushing on you quite hard... The guilt escalated a tad, you promised to be more careful with your words next time around.

"Thank you so much, Dia." You decide to keep to your word rather than play her. "At what time would you get out tomorrow?"

The smile she gives you is positively dazzling. "I get off- I mean! I get out at nine!" She declared loudly, her hands grasp yours as she's smiling from ear to ear. "Is there anything else I could do to help?"

"No Dia, you're a lifesaver as is, and I think you have work to do and... well, I have to talk to my friends."

"Thank you, sir!" She proclaimed before rushing off.

The receptionist clearly wasn't happy, the scowl still there as you moved past, the best you could do was apologetically smile and awkwardly shrug as you continued your way inside, heading towards the rooms Dia had pointed out. It appeared they'd been told to expect you, because all three were within the same room. The little girl was in the bed reading a book of some sort, while the other two were seated at a small couch near the window.

"Hey." You greeted them, and their greeting, in turn, was a slight shrug.

"Feeling better?" Alice asked politely, she looked tired and distraught.

"For having been out like a light for a full day, can't say I'm feeling bad right now." Came your reply. "Did Major Huge...?"

"Talk with us? No, only her girls did. Asked us some questions and told us we'd go through orientation tomorrow." Katherine replied, there was certainly a bitter edge in her words. "They took Liz and the kitty one, said something about interrogation."

"They've got Monica too." You pointed out with a scowl. "Claimed I didn't have a license to own her."

"It's sickening." Alice's glare turned outwards, to look at the street and the people walking by. "According to the law of this place, pokegirls are objects, not people. Property."

There wasn't really much you could say about that except feel yourself angry at that, even if somewhat confused. "Any word about the others?"

"No, they said they were looking for them." Katherine shook her head, looking gloomier than ever.

"Major Huge mentioned they'd found some people, but that news was being slow." You muttered.

"Figures." Kat grumbled. "Doesn't seem like they have much of a phone network out here."

An extended silence stretched out as it seemed they weren't volunteering to continue the conversation, you could sense the sulleness two of the three were currently feeling. "I found some information about what jobs one could take." You commented, trying to share with them what you'd learned from Bea.

Alice gave a weak nod. "Yes, those are the ones if you want to go around fucking pokegirls." The tone was bitter. "And if you don't want to use your human-sex-card and aim for something like... accountant, or just teacher, then no one's going to be interested because pokegirls will do it better and for only some sex and somewhere to spend the night."

Definitely bitter, and angry.

"You're also forced to enslave them." Kat muttered darkly. "Feral girls you catch and either train or sell, and there's this sickening sport of two tamers having their girls fight and whoever wins can take one of the other's girls for them to fuck into submission or sell."

Hugging her knees, the girl had a long look in her eyes that appeared haunted. "And the cycles..."

"Cycles?" You have to blink.

"Brainwashing." Alice was pale as she talked, appearing as withdrawn as Kat was. "They have these machines that brainwash pokegirls, put them in some 'proper mood for learning', they even set levels to it, and level five will... erase them."

A sense of dread crept through you. "Wait, when you mean 'erase'..."

"No memories, no personality, nothing, just push a button and you're left with a body that'll obey the orders given to it, amnesia on a button." You realized Kat's eyes were reddened. "But don't worry, they will develop a new personality after a while." Her tone seemed to be mocking someone.

"Jesus." You cover your mouth. "And all of this...?"

"Is normal." Alice replied. "It's absolutely normal, it's been around for centuries, it's how they grab the ferals who don't know how to behave and force them to behave, it's sick, especially because it's used on the non-ferals too, and..." She turned to look outside.

And you felt a twinge of... not something quite like anger, but a realisation. The bond... and now the cycles, the reason humans were the ones calling the shots. You felt yourself fall and sit on the bed, looking out the window and thinking. Humans... what other way would there be for humans to be the ones calling the shots when they were only one in every five people in the streets? And when the other four could do things like spit fire or outrun a car?

A grim thought.

Had there been rebellion before? What would that mean to... you? To those like you? And yet you think about Monica, and Dia, you think about just pushing a button and leaving them entirely without a memory in their minds and it made your stomach twist into a tight knot, it was chilling.

"Gabriel and Tomas said they were going to try and see if they could find any information about a way back."

"Back?"

"Back to our world." Alice nodded.

You take a moment to think about it. "I'm not sure leaving is going to be easy." You muttered, scratching the back of your head. "There was this boy that mentioned this might be like pokemon, and frankly at the time I disregarded it, but right now this seems all too similar in a freakish kind of way."

"Never heard about world-hopping in pokemon." Kat muttered.

"Neither did I." You nod.

"Then what's the alternative here, Rick?" Alice glared at you. "Starve to death because we didn't want to participate in enslavement, or participate in it and ruin God only knows how many lives?"

"No, Alice, no, I never said that." You breathed deeply. "Look, there must be something that can be done in the meantime. I mean, even if there IS some sort of world-hopping machine, I doubt we'd be allowed to use it just like that."

Alice gave you a withering glare and you raise your hands in a sign of appeasement while thinking things through. "They did insist I give samples whenever I got to a new pokecenter, so maybe that's a bargaining chip we could use."

Carefully you take a minute to consider why the League would be interested in those 'samples', frankly speaking, it didn't seem to make much sense. There was the thought they'd use it for breeding, but there didn't seem to be much of a reason to... or was there? You weren't sure.

Maybe the League wanted the samples to keep an eye on you? Major Huge had commented that practically anything could be an outlander, so perhaps it was just protocol to ensure you didn't abruptly react to something and slowly start turning into some Cthulu monster or something. That said, it would also serve as a perfect way to keep tabs on your location since they'd always know when and where the last sample was given.

And considering how easily they'd mentioned capital punishment, you had to think that, maybe, this place wasn't governed by very nice people.

You shook your head, either way, it didn't seem like fighting over the whole sample thing would do you any good. Major Huge had said even he wasn't sure why the League was insisting on this, only that it came from higher up. This meant that you couldn't really use it to convince the Major into anything since he had to follow on that command.

A heavy sigh followed you shook your head, this was getting a bit big for you, you felt. "What are your plans? What will you do while looking for an answer?"

"Tamer." Kat muttered. "I'll team up with Tomas, we'll save up as we go and see if we can find something. We'd call everyone if we discovered a way back." A heavy sigh. "And Mr Gabriel said he'd apply for breeder if there are no alternatives."

You glanced at Alice, and rather than answer she just looked out the window with a sour look on her face.

"Watcher." May muttered, much to your surprise, then glanced back down to her book.

"And you?" Kat's eyes focused on you at the same time Alice's had, both of them seeming to pay close attention.

You sigh in turn. "I honestly don't know. Right now I just want Monica back, and the best way for that seems to be to become a Hunter." A groan followed. "It's either that or being a Tamer I guess..."

"You shouldn't try to get Monica back." Alice spoke up, her eyes suddenly looking both panicked and determined.

"Where does this come from?" You couldn't avoid wondering out loud.

"Rick, she's dangerous and nearly killed us twice while you were 'handling' her." She spoke sternly. "She literally ate some of our students. She ate Gloria like she was a snack."

You gulp but scowl right after. "It was an emergency..."

"She had a 'pet' girl she'd crippled just so she could fuck her when she felt like it. She almost gored the lizard girl in front of us without a second thought because she felt hungry." Alice didn't relent. "Rick, Monica is a sadist murderer that just happened to like the way you dicked her. You may be safe but no one else would be." She crossed her arms. "She's better off with someone who would actually know how to handle something like her and is better prepared to teach her to be civilized."

"You mean the slavery you're against."

Alice now growled. "Need I remind you exactly how 'in control' you were when she took a whiff of that pink cloud?" The memory was blurred, but still felt intense, of your body hurting all over, and how close she had been from unintentionally killing you.

Your mind turned back towards the 'meals' she'd had, and how you didn't remember seeing any recognizable faces. Was it accidental? Intentional? Some subconscious self-defence? You weren't sure, but it made your stomach feel revolted all over. You practically bit your tongue to keep yourself quiet, knowing full well that her words were true. But honestly? You were as fed up of this situation as much as she was.

This world wasn't one you could agree with, it fucking treated people like objects for crying out loud and had people-eating sex-beasts. How could you agree to it?

Didn't make it any less the world you were currently in though.

A pause followed this thought, you closed your eyes.

When in Rome...

"You know what? You're right." You growled. "Had I had a fucking clue what was going on and what Monica was, and had I been better equipped, then all the fucking mess would've been far less messy." Your voice sounded louder, it made the others flinch. "But you know what? It wasn't, and I wasn't. I did what I could to survive, and Monica helped. Without her, we would ALL be dead right now."

Alice flinched.

You didn't relent, it was like a slow explosion going through you and out. "We were fucking stranded and at the whims of a feral who didn't kill us because I was a fun fuck to have." You said dryly. "But you didn't mind that, did you? Because it wasn't you who was fucking her. Let me guess, you also told yourself that it was perfectly acceptable that I was the one doing the fucking because I was a guy?"

A second flinch, bigger this time.

"Yeah." You sneered. "Just because murder came in a nice package doesn't mean I was any less aware I was fucking a killing machine. That first time? It was hell, I can still fucking smell the blood and shit, I can still feel my hands shaking thinking that the woman presenting herself for a fuck will rip my arms off if she felt like I wasn't amusing enough." You continued in a deep growl, the memory was blurry now, but you ignore that; you step towards Alice. "Without me, ALL of us would likely be dead too, and you'd have nothing to worry about regarding slavery and abuse because you'd be some other feral's meal."

Alice is rendered mute now, you can't stop, you feel your voice raising further.

"You know what? I agree I'm totally unprepared to handle Monica, and I also agree that slavery fucking sucks." A dark look crossed your face. "But I also agree that if you don't adapt you will either die or worse, end up dragging someone else with you." Crossing your arms, you take a moment to control your breath, realising you were almost out of breath. You take a second, stabilising yourself, lowering your voice to a growl. "So I'm going to adapt and I'm going to learn what it means to have a pokegirl, I'm going to keep Monica, and I'm going to learn how to continue not dying as best I fucking can. And if it means I have to use my body as a tool to do it then so be it!"

Turning around, you leave the room, feeling too hot-headed to properly say or do anything else. Your mind was fuming and you were definitely not up to make any more rational decisions until you calmed down. A sob was heard behind you as you closed the door, a pang of regret making it through the frustration but not managing to stick.

What did was the one who stood in your way to your room. "Sir." Dia was right there, looking at you with shocked eyes.

You hesitated. "How much... how much did you hear?"

Silently, she stepped forward, dropping the clipboard, wrapping her arms around your neck and kissing you, her lips were soft and tender. "I'm going to make it all better." She whispered, letting go only long enough to take your hand and guide you towards the nearest empty room.

You stumble, realising where you were and thinking about what was about to happen, a part of you reacts, wanting to reach out and open the nurse's shirt, but she forced you to sit. Forced you. She was stronger than you, there was no doubt about it now, she made you sit, and her body moved to straddle your hips. Again, you reached out to grab at her, but the nurse instead hugged you, laying her head against your shoulder.

In the stillness, you felt hesitation, a heartbeat, then two, your arms wrapped around her hips, your head leaned against her shoulder.

"I'll make it all better, sir, just close your eyes." She whispered, and you did.

Her body... pulsed, warmth washed through you.

Like a soft summer breeze, your body began to relax. "What is..."

"Shhhh." She whispered, her body pulsing once more, the tightness in your chest began to loosen up, your breathing slowing down.

Bit by bit, she pulsed, and each pulse made the frustration and anguish vanish a little bit.

"I'm not the best at this." Dia spoke. "But I know I can help you, sir."

"Why... are you doing this?" You can't help but ask.

"I'm a nurse." She giggled, pulsing a little brighter.

You closed your eyes. "What is this?"

"Aura of calm." She spoke. "Raphas can use it, though it's not my speciality." She explained softly, her fingers caressing your hair, her lips kissing your neck.

You relaxed further, sighing, letting yourself stay there, embracing her.

"You're really something, huh."

She didn't respond, but her lips kissed your neck a little more.

By the time you'd recovered the entirety of your senses, you could only sigh.

"That was... not my best moment." You confessed, feeling like her touch on your head was magic, easing away everything that was wrong with the world.

"You've been through a lot." She replied without missing a beat. "It's nothing to feel ashamed of."

"I just..."

"Shhhh..." She soothed you gently, kissing the crown of your head. "Nothing to be ashamed of." She repeated.

"I don't feel you should be like this with me." You muttered under her breath. "You're special."

"No I'm not, sir." She replied. "I'm just one little flower in a field."

"I mean it." You reply, a bit more firmly.

"I'm just one in millions." She replied. "Every pokegirl out there would risk life and limb just to draw the attention of a good male, even if it meant sharing him with a dozen others. And you, sir, are a very good male."

You had to ponder on that, was this how beautiful women felt like? This... odd awareness that the world at large thirsted for them? That you could get sex just by giving a couple of flirtatious comments here and there? It wasn't a comfortable feeling now that you thought about it. Your eyes glanced at the clock on the wall, it read 20:26. The memory of the note the waitress left you rang a dim bell, the time it said was less than half an hour away. But... Did you really want to go?

"You know, I know you still have work to do." Your words caused her to sheepishly smile. "I'm sure I could find a way to get you to not leave the room though."

The smile became slightly eager, mixing with a blush.

"But I won't." You said, kissing her softly, she returned it eagerly. "I'd rather neither of us got in trouble with your bosses, you should hop to it and we'll meet once you're done."

She blinked at that, dismayed and then excited over the idea. "Yes sir!" She made a mocking salute before helping you up. As Dia moved to pass you your pants, something fell off and she notices it. It's the note. The pink-haired nurse curiously picked it up and looked at it. "This is?" She asked.

The first thought was to shy away, but you paused. "Apparently I caught the eye of one of the waitresses at the restaurant."

Dia just blinked and noded as you said this. "And does sir intend to fuck her?"

Your mind goes back to the words you'd spoken to Alice, and then to those Dia had mentioned. Slowly, you wrap her around your arms into a hug, one she drops everything to return. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested in fucking her." You declared honestly while in front of the beautiful young woman you'd fucked that morning. The feeling was... strange. "I'd be lying if I didn't say that it wasn't until right now that I'd considered I could do so with you again."

Dia's expression turned from confusion to a blush and was followed by a slow bashful nod. "So this is what I want you to do." You continued, grasping her ass with a bit of force and watching her squirm and giggle. "After you finish work, maybe I could bring her?"

Dia blinks for a second, then gulps and nods with a very large blush. "Sir, you could..." A momentary pause followed with her cheeks turning beet red. "You could use my place."

"Your place?"

"Ah... it's just a small flat I'm renting." She replied.

"You... wait, renting?" You frowned. "I was told pokegirls are property."

"We are." She nodded. "I am owned by the pokecenter, paid though, enough for me to not need to live in the pokecenter itself."

"That... seems complicated." You nodded. "But more importantly, I don't know where you live."

"I could... come with you to the date instead?" She quickly shook her head. "Sorry, dumb me, sir wants to surprise that waitress." Her hands grasped your neck and she leans up, asking for a kiss that you give her; the girl melts into your arms. "I just want sir to tell me what to do..."

It was like a spark, you remembered what Bea had told you about the bond, and how its manifestation could generally be with a desire to follow the one they were bonded to. But here you were guessing that in Dia's case it was showing in a slightly more pronounced fashion... either that or she had these sorts of tastes before.

You suddenly felt the need to ask. "Were you always this... submissive?" You wondered, caressing her neck and watching her sigh under your touch.

"Never like this." She mewled softly. "It's so... warm."

This emboldened you further. "And what about threesomes? Did you ever consider having one before?"

"I've..." A deep sigh follows. "I've had many already, sir."

Well, you couldn't say you were surprised by the admission, but it still made you feel like grinning. "And would you like it more if it were an order than a request?" You wondered.

Dia shuddered, closing her mouth slightly and looking at you with the first signs of worry since entering the room. "I have it that bad, don't I?" She muttered in a whispered voice. "I-I thought I'd always enjoy being bonded, but never..."

"...never this much?" You ventured, caressing her neck again and watching her practically melt, feeling bolder. "I want you to be hot and ready for when I show up." You said with a dominant turn to your words. "I'm going to come into my room here and I want you ready for me."

Swallowing hard, she bit her lower lip and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Now go, hurry." You say. "Do your job and don't get into trouble."

"Yes, sir!" She spoke more playfully once she'd managed to escape your grasp. You opt to go to your room and clean up.

Cleaned up, feeling like your head was clearer and calm, you headed out in search of the restaurant, and find it soon enough, with the lights out and no signs of movement. Seeing very few people moving about, you wonder where the girl was, but see no signs of her. You check the time and confirm you'd gotten here just about at the right hour.

Maybe she was running late.

You opt to wait a while longer, with no luck.

Then a tad more.

Maybe she duped you? It felt... possible, you figured, checking the time again, Dia wouldn't take too much to finish, maybe you could time your return and just enjoy the night alone with her. It certainly felt like it would be the more fun option since the alternative didn't quite seem like it would get anywhere.

Sighing, you're just about to head back when you feel someone touch your shoulder. You turn around and find... not the waitress.

"You look lonely, wanna fuck?" She asked crassly, slurring the words a bit and grinning the moment she saw you unable to avoid looking at her exposed body. The stench of alcohol lingered heavily around her like a fog.

"Sorry, no." You reply, moving a step or two away from her.

She doesn't seem dissuaded, stepping closer. "C'mon, I can smell it on ya, you want this, right?" Taking a swing at her glass, she emptied it right away.

"Not interested." You say once more, firmly this time.

"Bah, liar, you're all the same. What you really want is to be smothered in these, right?" She gropes her large breasts freely, squeezing them and bunching them up together. "Just round of fun and I'm sure you'll forget whats-her-face that you were waiting for."

Talking doesn't seem like it's going to work, so you opt to just turn around and start walking away. But she reached out before you can take more than a step. "Don't ignore me." She hissed, grasping your wrist. The hold is weak enough you slip your hand from between her fingers with just a twist, and then start walking faster.

A growl, the glass in her hand snaps between her fingers. You note she didn't have so much of a scratch as the shattered pieces fell. "Hey!" She shouted loudly, starting to move towards you with intent.

Your brain kicked in, alarms blared. You took a moment to consider what could be the best way to handle this. "Feral help!" You screamed and instantly bolt, unwilling to find out how dangerous this drunk girl could be once turned completely forceful.

"Feral? What? You crazy?" She shouted as she began to chase you.

She didn't make it ten steps before something rammed against her, knocking her on her ass. Instantly afterwards there's the sound of something pressurized being sprayed, three others falling upon the downed pokegirl. And then everything became calm even though you were not going to stay put and wait. It wouldn't be until a good dozen meters before you glanced over your shoulder at the drunk woman, seeing how she was now laying on the ground with her eyes wide and looking completely catatonic while several other pokegirls were keeping her restrained.

The one who'd knocked her down stood up, her right hand had been holding some can of some sort but she put it in her pocket before you could see what it was clearly. "Are you ok, mister?"

As she asks this you notice that there are pokeballs on her belt.

"Thanks, got completely blindsided by her and I didn't like my odds." You spoke calmly, glancing at the downed drunk. "She going to be alright?"

"Her? Oh, I guess she won't be." The woman replied, unclipping one of the pokeballs and tossing it at the drunk. She vanished into a stream of red light as the ball began to wobble. "I'll be taking her to the police station, whoever's responsible for her is going to be in some deep shit for letting her go feral."

You felt a pang of guilt at that. "And if she has an owner?"

"Then he or she will get a hefty fine since she apparently had no ball linked to her." The girl shrugged. "So you're ok old man? Would you like me to help you to the pokecenter so they give you a check-up?"

"I'm fine. Thanks though. Name is Rick, what's yours?" You laugh slightly at the idea of being called old, and frankly, a part of you understood a bit where she was coming from, most people here seemed to be in their late teens.

"Giselle." She replied with a nod. "Well, if that's all, I'll be going on my way then."

"Thanks again." You said, watching her leave and wondering if there might have been anything interesting in the encounter... definitely nothing at all.

Briefly, you wondered if all tamers were this competent and then put the thought away. Oh well, whatever this chance meeting may have brought, you were sure it was less important than Dia waiting for you at the hospital. So you headed back to your room to be the bearer of bad news.

Opening the door, the sight before you made you forget what had just happened.

"I'm sorry sir." She spoke from the bed, the smell of sex heavy in the air. "I just couldn't wait any longer..."

You locked the door behind you, she smiled.

 

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