15 Miss Hoenn

A/N: The next part of the Underground Path Saga~

-x-X-x-

She'd noticed the Rocket Grunt the first time he came through, most recognizable by that defining trait of his, that magenta hair color. She'd heard that one of the other girls… Julien's previous favorite, if the gossip was to be believed, had been responsible for… for taking care of him. But that also, the Rocket Grunt hadn't paid, and Julien was furious.

Admittedly, she hadn't been in the right frame of mind at the time to… be of service to the Rocket Grunt. Julien had still been helping her f-figure out what she wanted out of her new life in the Kanto Region.

They called her Miss Hoenn. Well, they called her a lot of things, to be fair. Honey and sweetie when they were being nice. Darling and doll face when they weren't trying too hard one way or another. Other… things when they were in the heat of the moment.

She had a name, of course. She wasn't just 'Miss Hoenn' or anything like that. All of her existence, all of her value, all of her worth… boiled down to a single character trait… where she was from. It was enough to make the brunette feel sick to her stomach. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it, really. Not after leaving the Hoenn Region behind to try and get a fresh start out here in Kanto.

It had started with her original pen pal. He was… he was the man in charge of the other Underground Path, the less popular one. That one, which ran from Celadon City to Lavender Town, did not get nearly as much foot traffic as this one did. As such, it had taken her quite a while to figure out his intentions for her.

Originally, they'd exchanged letters. He'd been so nice… so kind and considerate. He'd understood, or at least seemed like he'd understood, how adrift she felt in her life in Hoenn. She wasn't bad off or anything, but it felt like she was just a cog in someone else's machine. She'd wanted more out of life, and he'd offered to fund her journey to Kanto so she could find what she was searching for.

When she'd arrived, it had all seemed so nice at first. Sure, he wasn't at all like she thought he would be. Twice her age and balding, he had been… well, a bit of a splash of cold water to the face. Still, she'd resolved not to judge a book by its cover. After all, she had his letters, didn't she? Those were his true character… weren't they?

But then more and more of that man's friends had started coming along. He'd taken her to the Underground Path more and more. And she'd… well, she'd only wanted to repay him for everything he'd done for her, really. As Miss Hoenn, she could do that. By leveraging the life and the Region she'd left behind, the brunette could make something new for herself, right?

It wasn't until she'd met Julien in what she thought was a chance encounter at the time that she'd realized the true nature of things. She'd traded one life being a cog in someone's machine back in Hoenn, for being a cog in someone else's machine in Kanto. She had become a very important cog in that man's machine, but all the same, she was still a cog.

Julien had, outwardly, been everything that her original 'friend' was not. Suave and debonair, Julien was as handsome as handsome could be. Younger too, not as young as her, but closer in age than her 'friend'. And he… he'd seemed so outraged with how the other man was exploiting her. So upset, on her behalf.

When he'd convinced her to run away with him, she'd jumped at the chance. It was an opportunity to reinvent herself yet again, she'd initially believed. But then… then he'd brought her to HIS Underground Path, and she'd quickly realized that all of the girls under his care… he wasn't exactly helping them. Not as much as they… were helping him.

Julien had told her she needed to figure out what she wanted out of life. And then he'd told her exactly what that was. Money. She wanted money, because without money, she couldn't be anything but a cog, forever. But WITH money… well, she could be whoever the fuck she wanted.

The brunette could admit that that appealed to her greatly. And so… she would be Miss Hoenn. That was what she'd resolved to do. She would be Miss Hoenn, and she… she would make money. Eventually, she would have enough Pokedollars to leave this life behind. Julien assured her of that. It wasn't like with the other man, who'd dressed it all up in terms like friendship and favors and repayment.

Julien… she'd thought she loved him and he loved her at first, but she knew better now. What they had between them… it was all a transaction. And what was important was that she continued to make money as Miss Hoenn. That she continued to build her nest egg until she could finally leave this whole situation behind.

But of course, that all brought them to the present day, and the present situation. As the Rocket Grunt approaches her and Julien, she tenses up, while Julien turns and narrows his eyes.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming back here after bumming a free hump from one of my girls, Rocket."

Oddly enough, the Grunt doesn't spare Julien a single glance. He only… he only has eyes for her. Blinking owlishly, Miss Hoenn tenses up, feeling a little… vulnerable, even with her Pimp by her side.

"Oi, I'm talking to you. You want some of her, then you go through me first. Or wait… I know what this is about."

As the Rocket's gaze finally sweeps off of her and onto Julien, she lets out a little shiver. Julien knew what this was all about? Good! Because she definitely didn't!

"Did that old man put you up to this? Bet he asked you to get his precious 'Miss Hoenn' here back, didn't he? I'm guessing he didn't bother telling you that she's HAPPIER here, with me. Didn't bother telling you that it was her own decision. She's making moves, Rocket. From one man to another, are you really going to tell her what she can do with her body? Huh?"

For a moment, she feels bolstered by Julien's words. Her heart rises in her chest, and she squares her shoulders, the beginnings of a smile appearing on her face. Then…

"I'll tell you what. Here's what we're going to do. I'll give you five thousand Pokedollars to ignore that fat old bastard. And I'll even throw in Miss Hoenn here to sweeten the deal. She'll take you over behind the stairs and show you a good time, on the house. I know you like that kind of thing, Rocket. You like my girls, don't you? Well she's the best of them. So let's make a deal."

For… for free? Her mouth opens and closes wordlessly for a moment, as the Rocket just stands there silently, seeming to consider them both. Unable to contain herself, she steps forward, grabbing hold of Julien's hands.

"J-Julien? For… for free? What about… what about making money?"

Turning to her, Julien gives her a look like she's stupid. He never actually calls her stupid. Never calls her an idiot. He just looks at her like this, and sometimes says something like 'I thought you'd be smarter than that, darling'. Not this time though. This time, he's pretty damn blunt.

"This is a criminal, sweetheart. A thug. He's not interested in paying for what he can just fucking take, do you understand? So if you don't want him to slit my throat and have his way with you anyways, then you'll be a good little whore and take him back behind the stairs. Go on. Good girl."

Tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, Miss Hoenn finds herself stomping over to the Rocket Grunt, grabbing him by the hand, and dragging him back behind the stairs, where she, as Julien's biggest earner, has her own little set-up. It's not a full-blown room mind you, but it's the closest thing to privacy that the Underground Path has. It even has a clean mattress

Despite Julien's cautionary words regarding her newest… 'client', the brunette isn't actually all that afraid of the Rocket Grunt. She's much too busy being angry about Julien just passing her around for free, just like her old 'friend' had done. This wasn't the deal, d-damn it. This wasn't… they were supposed to be partners. She was supposed to be making MONEY.

Instead, she's leading this Rocket over to the mattress, and laying back as she pulls him down with her. His cock comes out of his pants easily enough, and she hikes up her dress and pulls aside her panties. Blushing at the way he stares at her, Miss Hoenn trembles for a moment… before finally sliding him up into her, gasping as his member fills her pussy.

Once he's actually inside of her, he begins thrusting and she begins moaning. It's not as faked as she thought it would have to be, to tell the truth. His cock is sizable enough, and he moves at a modulated pace. She's not as wet as she would want to be though, and to her surprise, he slows down after a moment and takes his time, which in turn gets her more and more aroused.

… What does it say about the state of her life that this Rocket Grunt is the most considerate lover she's had since she left home? A sob escapes the brunette's lips, and something breaks inside of her in that moment. She finds herself clinging to the Rocket, holding him tightly as he thrusts in and out of her. She's wet for him now… but she's not happy. Not about any of it. She hasn't been happy for a long time.

"P-Please… please, Arceus, h-help me…"

The plea is heaven-sent, to be clear. She's not expecting the Rocket to hear her, let alone interact with her. Which is why it's quite shocking when he pulls back just enough to look her in the eyes… and responds.

"Okay."

For a long moment, she just stares up at him wordlessly. Was he… was he fucking with her? Obviously, he was fucking her, but was he also fucking WITH her?! Was he that kind of man?! But no… no, somehow she didn't get that impression. For all that he seemed expressionless, he also seemed oddly sincere.

In that moment, 'Miss Hoenn' feels hope again. And rather than smother it as she has quite a few times since arriving in Kanto, she decides to nurture it. She decides to try. Maybe it's all a trick. Maybe it won't work… but fuck it, she has nothing left to lose, right?

Pulling him back down, hugging him tightly and moaning wantonly and loudly to make it clear that they're 'enjoying themselves', the brunette whispers in the Rocket's ear.

"I… I know where Julien keeps his money. His REAL money. Kick his ass and make sure he never comes back to this line of business and I'll show you where it is. We can split it and g-go our separate ways. Okay?"

"Okay."

She can scarcely believe her ears. But she'll go with it. It's her only shot. Moaning some more, though not nearly having to fake it as much now, Miss Hoenn wraps her legs around the Rocket's waist. Best to sell it… really sell it. And so she eggs him on, encouraging him to fuck her even harder so that Julien is lulled into a false sense of security. She bucks her hips, cries out, and even experiences one very real orgasm upon the Rocket's cock before he cums deep inside of her.

Eyes fluttering, Miss Hoenn shudders for a moment on the mattress, gasping for breath as she slowly recovers. The Rocket, in the meantime, pulls out of her. As soon as she recovers, she's going to tell him the plan. Julien is a Pokemon Trainer, and no pushover at that. If they want to beat him, they'll have to-

"Heh, did you enjoy the affections of Miss Hoenn then, my Rocket friend? I bet she- whoa, what the hell are you doing?! IS THAT A MOTHERFUCKING DRAGONAIR?!"

Coming back to herself VERY quickly, the brunette sits up straight, eyes wide as she quickly fixes up her clothes and gets off the mattress, hurrying out from behind the stairs. She's just in time to watch Julien and his Pokemon get their asses handed to them by a thirteen-foot long Dragon Pokemon. Never in a million years did she think that the Rocket Grunt was packing that sort of heat. And more than that, he had FIVE more Pokeballs on his belt.

As Julien drops to his knees in despair, having been thoroughly thrashed in the Pokemon Battle, the Rocket Grunt looks down at him pitilessly.

"Leave. Don't come back."

"You-!"

"Dragonair, Slam."

Miss Hoenn flinches at the crunch, as Julien is slammed into the floor by the massive Pokemon. She'd never… never seen a trainer use his Pokemon on another trainer before. She'd thought it was illegal. But then… he was a member of Team Rocket.

"W-Wait, p-please…"

"You will leave, and never return."

"I-I'll go! I swear, I'll go!"

"Good. Dragonair, Slam."

Miss Hoenn's eyes widen and she takes an abortive step forward, anticipating that she's about to witness a murder and making a pointless attempt at stopping it. But there's a difference in the Rocket's tone this time around, and the Dragonair seems to understand that. THIS Slam is a lot less violent then the first… for all that it still results in the Dragonair's tail whipping into Julien's forehead with lightning speed, and completely knocking the Pimp the fuck out.

She watches as the Dragonair lifts Julien's unconscious form off the ground with its tail and carries him up the stairs to deposit him out of the Underground Path. Then, she stiffens as the Rocket's eyes fall upon her.

"R-Right! The money!"

With Julien out of the way, retrieving his hidden stash is easy. He should never have shown it to her, but he'd used it as a prop when convincing her that all she wanted out of life was to be rich and wealthy so no one could ever tell her what to do, ever again. He'd probably never thought she would have it in her to be a thief.

Well, joke was on him. Miss Hoenn had hidden depths she'd discovered about herself in the last little while.

"H-Here. Half for you… and half for me."

She's half-expecting the Rocket to demand all of it. She doesn't know what she'll do if he does. Break down and cry, probably? But he doesn't. He just nods, takes his cut, and leaves it at that. However…

"And what about us, huh? What are we supposed to do now that you just beat up our Pimp, sent him packing, and are taking all of the money?"

Whipping around, Miss Hoenn bites her lower lip as she sees the other whores under Julien's 'protection' gathering closer. They all look wary of the Rocket Grunt, but emboldened by the temporary absence of the Dragonair. Among them is the blonde who Miss Hoenn knew to be Julien's previous favorite… the same woman who had fucked this Grunt for free, back when he'd first come through this way.

Making eye contact with the blonde whore, Miss Hoenn hesitates for only a moment… before splitting her half of the large bounty into two more parts and holding out one of the stacks of Pokedollars to the assembled whores.

"You… keep doing what you're doing, if you want to. Or you take a cut and make a fresh start elsewhere. But… you could just stay here. Be your own bosses. Don't let a man tell you what to do with your body unless he's paying you directly. Julien… Julien was a middle-man, and not even a necessary one. If you band together, you can keep anyone like him from ever exploiting you again… while continuing to wrap the lonely men of this Region around your little pinkie fingers."

There's a moment of silence and some shuffling as women look around at each other, gauging one another's reactions to her suggestion. Then, the blonde steps forward and takes what Miss Hoenn is offering from her outstretched hand. She doesn't say anything… she just gives the brunette a single nod… and that's that.

Not wanting to overstay her welcome, Miss Hoenn follows the Rocket Grunt up the stairs and out of the Underground Path. Sure, she had to give up half of her cut… but the half that remains is still more than enough to last her months if she budgets it right. Months she can use traveling Kanto Region and seeing the beauty of this nation for what it really is, rather than being stuck in the tunnels running under it and seeing it only for its dark, seedy underbelly.

"T-Thank you. Um… what… what's your name?"

Looking back at her, the pink-haired Rocket pauses for a moment before answering.

"… Cam."

Nodding, she smiles and then wipes a tear from her eye. But it's a happy tear, and her smile only grows as she clutches her new fortune to her chest.

"T-Thank you, Cam. I'm Bethany. I… just, thank you."

She leaves it at that, and that's where they part ways. But deep down inside… she hopes to see him again, some day.

-x-X-x-

A/N: This is in fact a side quest in game where you can side with the old man or Julien, the new guy on the block. But in this case, Miss Hoenn decided to stand up for herself and Cam got to have his cake and eat it too. This isn't the last we'll see of Bethany, which is why I gave her an actual name despite her not having one aside from Miss Hoenn in the game xD

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Comments and Likes sustain me!

Also, the story is still TEN chapters ahead on my P atreon for early access!