Siren

Salandit-POV:

Land ahoy! Yes! Finally! I have seen enough salt for a lifetime!

An island! It's covered in a lush green thicket, surrounded by a beautiful, pearly-white beach!

It's on our way north. We can finally get a much-needed distraction! Wuhoo!

At this point, I would take anything over this endless plane of salt!

A deserted island, where we can cuddle up and take our minds off the monotony? Or perhaps a dangerous island full of pokemon to fight? Or maybe a secret boss fight? Anything is better than days of nothing but salt!

Lopunny walks ahead and takes the first step on top of the shore.

Snap

... Everyone stops at the sound. It sounded like a snapping bone or a dry branch.

Never mind. It was just a seashell on the ground.

The island is otherwise silent. No animals reacted to her sound.

She presses on, her face heating up in shame over being startled by a simple seashell.

From the top of Swole's head, I try to get a better overview. Behind us is nothing but endless white salt. To the left and right, all the way to the horizon is even more salt.

The teeny tiny island with some healthy-looking green plants on top is the only exception.

I would call this sus.

But no matter how sus it is, I haven't seen a plant in days, and I can't believe I'm thinking this... But I missed seeing one.

Ouch!

Never mind.

As master pressed through a couple of them, a vine slapped me in my face. Rude little beasts. Invasive too. They grow wherever light manages to shine.

Another vine heads my way, but it misses when I crawl into master's backpack.

I wonder if grass pokemon can talk to plants. I'd like to tell them a couple of stern words someday.

"Sniff, sniff." I smell food.

Lopunny smells it too. "Look! It's a whole steak sampling selection!"

Huh?

I poke my head back out, dodge another plant and look over Swole's shoulder.

A lavishly filled table stands in the center of a small clearing, with all sorts of meats, eggs, fruits, and what looks like the girliest cake I have ever seen. Four layers tall, covered in pink frosting, sprinkles and little hearts on top of whipped cream clouds. Yuck. Looks too sweet.

"Mega stones..." Master points out a shelve stocked to the brim with shiny rocks, pebbles and marbles. "And a Dusk Stone! Zoey still needs one for Misdreavus' evolution."

It's a purple crystal with a black center. It looks almost as if it attracts all nearby light, but at the same time, it also looks as if it shines and sparkles from the inside.

There is a well for water, a throne with a trophy on a pillar in front of it, and the last item is an enormous king-sized bed. Befitting for our trainer and us. It's already covered in romantic candles and rose petals too! Perfect!

Too perfect.

"Masster?" I raise my voice and he wrestles his stare away from the trophy to look at me. "This is pretty sussspicious, in my opinion."

"Hmh. It's like all of our desires, randomly placed out in the open. This is a trap."

Almost none of these items fit together either. The shelve is the same type I saw in the pokemart. And none of the furniture matches in style.

The food is even more conspicuous. It's freshly prepared and has a mouth-watering smell.

And the bed: Perfect to have s--

Wait a minute. "Whosse desire iss the romantic bed?"

That skank of a rabbit wished for it, I bet. Always a step ahead of me.

"I thought that was yours, to be honest." Master shrugs.

"The fruitss and eggs are mine." I point the delectable things out. They seem to be made for me. I feel my acid glands preparing my mouth already for a scrumptious meal. "Lopunny?"

"Nope. As much as I would like to use it, I think the steaks are for me. Riolu?"

"Close. But it's not pink enough... Why are you looking at me like that, Salandit?"

She likes the cake. She's such a hatchling sometimes. Ahhh. Right. Because she is. I keep forgetting.

"Never mind. If it's none of uss, then it musst be master whose ssecret desire is to have hot. Ssteamy. Sss--. Ouch!"

"Nope." He poked my snoot! "The rocks are for me. And the champion's trophy. If I squint, I can make out my name on it from here. Maybe the trapper is just messing with us. Either way, we have a dilemma at our hands."

He's right. A terrible dilemma: Are we fast enough to steal all that stuff before the trap springs on us, or not?

"We're running out of water in one to two days. Assuming this island is in the middle of the salt desert, that means we might dehydrate before we get out of it."

Oh. That worse than I thought.

"We have no choice. We need to get water from the well. Let's ignore the rest and focus on it."

Aw man. But the tasty food!

"Get ready. Expect that we get attacked."

I shake off the pleasant aromas and I choose to get ready with my ever-trusty Will-O-Wisp.

"Get ready to use Toxic instead."

Hm.

"Stop pouting. Do it."

I switch to Toxic for no good reason at all. It's still one of my weakest moves.

Carefully, Swole, our mount, steps past the luxury articles and approaches the ancient-looking well: A simple, deep hole in the ground with a bucket attached to a rope.

It sticks out like a sore thumb. It's the only thing that doesn't look pristine and proper.

Swole takes hold of the end of the rope and tosses the bucket down. After a while, a soft splash can be heard and he pulls it up again.

Nothing attacks us.

After another while, he hoists the bucket all the way up again and uses his trusty Devon Corp water filter ™ to remove any bacteria, dirt or whatever else could be down there.

"Behind us!" All of a sudden, Riolu's voice pierces the silence.

---

As fast as I can, I turn my head to look over my shoulder. There is nothing there.

Did Riolu get it wrong?

"Ara, Ara. What do we have here?" A female voice comes from our left!

She is invisible!

"A little band of thieves trying to steal from me? My, oh my. We can't have that, can we?"

A psychic pokemon? Or ghost?

"Show yourself!" The fur at Riolu's back of her neck stands up straight.

Psychic would be terrible

Now, the voice comes from our right. "Keep your lousy guard dog on a leash. And give it a muzzle while you're at it. The way it bares her fangs lets me smell that putrid odor of her mouth."

No matter what type she is, she oozes confidence, and she sounds powerful enough to back it up. We're in big trouble.

"I- I don't smell! ... Right, Daddy?"

She's such a hatchling.

"You're are perfectly groomed. I make sure of it." Swole responds without letting his guard down. "She just wants to get under your skin."

Wait, he understood what she said. She's not talking with a normal voice.

In that case, she's most likely psychic.

"Don't you think you should show yourself?" Swole has trouble finding the pokemon. His eyes point at the completely wrong position. "If you want to discuss this supposed theft politely, then we should do it face to face, I believe."

Good idea. Use her logic against her!

I would try to support his persuasion, but I can't open my mouth or else I'd threaten to reveal my next move.

"Why would I need to reveal myself?" Her voice comes from a new location. "You're already perfectly capable of looking me straight in the eyes somehow. Curious."

Aura.

Urgh. I'm as dumb as Lopunny sometimes.

I trace the trajectory of master's eyes and adjust my aim accordingly. She had projected her voice the whole time.

"Tsk. Alright. Seems like it doesn't matter much." A shimmer appears in the air for a moment before a tall figure steps out of it as if emerging from another dimension.

"Hatterene."

Her size is quite impressive. Both vertically, as well as her cup size.

She's as tall as Lopunny and wears long blue hair that cascades down her body while hugging it tightly. It fades into pink before turning white, past her hourglass thighs.

Her hair-like clothing doesn't hide a lot. Her massive boobs are huge and awe-inspiring.

A wide-brimmed witch's hat covers most of her head. On top of that grows a long tentacle with a three-fingered hand at the tip.

"Ara, Ara. I can see where your eyes are wandering, human. That's quite rude for criminal water thieves to do, don't you think? Whatever shall I do with a rude bunch like you?"

"We could--"

"Shush. I already know what we will do." She moves her tentacle to support her breasts. "I will ask you three riddles. And if you can solve all of them, I will let you go."

My eyes travel to the table filled with fruits and eggs. We should haggle for more than just being allowed to walk away.

"Deal." Master doesn't want to risk it. "I'd say I'm fairly competent at riddles. Shoot."

"Let's start with the first riddle..."

A finger from her tentacle hand taps against her lips as she takes a long break...

"Hmmm..."

Is she making them up on the spot!?

"What is my favorite food?"

She totally made it up on the spot! What kind of riddle is that even?! It's not a riddle at all!

Her tentacle arm stretches to the table, grabs a strawberry and pops it in her mouth. "Delicious."

I wanted that strawberry...

"Do you mind if I check my pokedex?"

"Pokedex? What is that?"

"A sort of encyclopedia. It contains knowledge over all pokemon."

"All, but not of me, I bet. I'm special, after all. Go ahead, try it."

She's not special. She is just a simple Hatterene.

Master pulls out his device before flipping the camera to her. The machine talks with a synthetic voice.

"Hatterene, the silent pokemon, also known as the forest witch. Hatterene knocks out those that intrude in its home forest by blasting them with a beam, then slashing with claws enhanced by psychic power. Beware of forests that show no signs of living creatures within. You may have wandered into Hatterene's territory."

She leans forward as if trying to see more of the pokedex.

"That thing... It knows about me?"

"Of course. It knows about every pokemon, but even without it, I knew most of it from memory. Your species is rather popular, especially in Galar."

"Popular?" A dangerous glint appears in her eyes. "For eating?"

"Haha, no. For battling. Fighting together with their trainers."

"... Preposterous. I gave you enough time. What is the answer to my riddle."

"Beware of forests that show no signs of living creatures within: My answer is meat."

A mocking grin spreads on her face. I prepare for battle. Swole was wrong. It must have been strawberries.

"Correct." Huh!? "I love the taste of flesh. Specifically, human flesh. It's so chewy and the way they scream is just a delight to my ears. Oh, I love it so much!"

Her tentacle roams up and down her body, brushing along her waist and thighs, cupping her breasts before she sticks one of the claws at the end of her tentacle into her dripping wet mouth.

Strings of saliva connect her rather sharp- and spiky-looking teeth. Her pure black eyes gently close in bliss as she imagines the taste on her tongue.

"Their bones are so brittle, their meat is so moist and coppery. I love the fat ones the most." One of her eyes peeks open once more. "Tragedy. You don't look very fat at all."

Master gulps. He had stepped back a little during her speech, and Lopunny took up the space between them.

"Next question! What starts its journey as a truth but ends as a lie?" She takes a seat on the throne and folds her legs on top of each other. Her hair hides everything from view like a very long dress would. "Take your time."

"A story!" Riolu replies excitedly. "It has a kernel of truth, but is made up."

Lopunny nods along.

Both of them are as dumb as they come. Good thing they have me. "Gosssip. The truth becomes distorted to inflict more emotional damage."

Hatterene rolls her eyes; her black orbs with white slit irises. "I'm waiting for the human to respond. I don't care about the opinions of pathetic pets."

I want to beat her up. I will use-- Damn it! I lost concentration! Now I need to recharge Toxic again!

Swole begins to mumble. "Some stories are entirely made up or entirely truthful. And gossip could start from a lie... I think it's a broken promise."

"Is that your final answer?" She leans back while inspecting the trophy by moving it around with her tentacle arm, poking, prodding and scratching the metal with her claws.

She doesn't look like she is very interested in his answer.

"Yes. Specifically a broken promise. It must start as a truth, but by breaking it, it becomes a lie."

She looks him in the eyes, making him step back further and giving me a chill. "Do you know a lot about broken promises, human?" She puts the trophy back on its pedestal before leaning forward to put her full attention on us. And to show off her large assets, I think.

"Nnno." He shakes his head and I feel the jittery motion behind his unsure answer. "No." He repeats with more certainty.

"I try my best to keep my promises... But sometimes, I promise things I can't keep." He has a faraway look on his face as he says this. "Not every promise can be kept, but sometimes, I must still give them."

"Like what?"

"Promising safety."

"..."

... I get it. Palkia and Dialga could have killed us at any moment. There are things we are powerless to prevent or even predict.

But he still kept us safe to the best of his abilities. The way he rescued Lopunny from the avalanche, and his quick thinking to save me from drowning are just the most recent examples.

Whenever he's doing his best, he's doing an amazing job.

And that's why I must keep him safe in return. It's why I will be ready to hit the nastiest Toxic ever the moment he tells me to unleash it.

"Final question." She gets up from her throne. "When I offered you to leave if you get my three riddles right: Did I lie?"

That bitch! She lied, didn't she?!

Be ready to use Toxic I hear his voice in my head and calm down again.

He needs us to provide him with safety.

"There is just one good answer: You told us the truth."

Right. Because if she told the truth, it's all three answers correct, and we can leave.

If she lied, then the third response never mattered in the first place.

She steps closer.

"For what it's worth..." Her head hangs low and her voice sounds out with a deep sadness laced into every word. "I think you are one of the good ones."

Toxic! Now!

"I lied."

---

"Lopunny, Fake Out! Riolu, standby!"

A bright yellow light forms at the tip of her tentacle. She remains unfazed by our counterattack.

I spit out Toxic, catching her off guard. The blob sails across the clearing and strikes her torso.

Lopunny stumbles. "Master! It failed!"

"Fake Out failed?!" His voice sharpens. "Try Quick Attack and dodge! Riolu, use Protect!"

I hold back my Will-O-Wisp, waiting for his signal, ready to release it when he needs it.

Lopunny stumbles again but turns it into a dodge-roll.

Hatterene unleashes a massive beam of red-hot plasma.

Hyper Beam barely misses Lopunny and slams into Riolu's shield, holding for nearly three seconds. I can feel the heat searing my scales.

The attack lets up and Riolu's Protect pops like a bubble. The shield was completely spent, and her next Protect will take much longer than usual to recharge.

"It's Psychic Terrain!" Master shouts out. "It blocks all priority moves like Fake Out and Quick Attack! Salandit, Will-O-Wisp! Riolu, Ice Beam! Lopunny, use Fling!"

I let the attack escape from my mouth and watch the projectiles float across the battlefield.

Even though she just used Hyper Beam, Hatterene is already ready to counter me.

A sudden jet of steam discharges from under her hat, blowing itself up like a smoke screen and snuffing out Will-O-Wisp as it expands and fills the clearing.

"That's Misty Terrain." The moment the orbs touched the mist, I lost control of them and they dispersed into hot air. "It blocks status effects from being applied."

Did that cancel Toxic too?! That's terrible!

Her move left her off-guard. Riolu's Ice Beam and a random bone encased in dark energy hit their targets, ripping a chunk of damage out of Hatterene.

As Misty Terrain billows and grows, it becomes thicker too, blocking direct line of sight as our vision is reduced to just a few meters.

I try to replace my failed move with Ember as fast as I can - the failure makes it difficult, but I power through.

"Salandit, use Ember!" I knew he would say that. I can blast the whole area in front of us. "Lopunny--"

A claw, powered up with psychic energy sneaked its way through the mist and sliced Lopunny across the face.

Critical hit.

"Lopunny! Get closer to us! Riolu, track Hatterene!"

I can see her feelers extend on the other side of his shoulder. I see her arm extending and pointing to the opposite side of the clearing.

The shadow still standing in the mist is an illusion! When did she make it?!

I turn my head in the right direction and send a thick stream of embers flying in her general direction. Each projectile rips a tiny hole into her cover. Piece by piece I reveal her once more.

"Lopunny! That's not me! She tricked you! Attack him! She disguised herself as me!"

WHAT?!

Lopunny looks at us, her lips raised in a snarl, teeth bared to rip and tear.

Master has his mouth open in disbelief. "She copied my voice!"

Lopunny growls. Her pupils dilate and become pinpricks before her gaze shifts away, back to Hatterene. "I will put you in a world of pain for that!"

"No! I swear! It's me! She's using illusions to trick you!"

"I know my master's voice perfectly! You won't get me with your cheap imitation!"

"That's right! Show her, Lopunny, use Quick Attack!"

What?! But that will fail!

No wait! His mouth didn't move! It was her again!

"Understood, master." Lopunny replies and begins to run to Hatterene. Her arms glow with white color. That's not Quick Attack.

"I got it!" Riolu hops off his shoulder and runs after Lopunny. Long, metallic claws grow out of her paws. Metal Claw.

Stay ready. I hear his voice in my head and finally understand. He's using aura to give out orders now.

Hatterene tries to float away, but my Ember burned such a large hole into her steam cover, that she can't escape again. Lopunny's punch aims straight for her jaw.

Critical hit.

Master quickly walks backwards.

No new order.

Then I see it. Hatterene's claw drips a viscous black liquid.

Lopunny runs in front of Riolu and uses Protect.

Suddenly, Hatterene spins around in a circle, slamming her clawed tentacle into Lopunny's shield. Her appendage slaps over and over into the shield. As soon as she stops, Riolu runs out of cover to strike her with Metal Claw.

But Hatterene is too fast. She blasts the clearing with a blast of darkness. A dark purple, shadowy sphere rapidly grows with her at its center.

She chained Brutal Swing perfectly into Dark Pulse! The precision, skill and speed! Incredible!

Protect

Ah! Right! It's coming straight for us!

As the sphere washes over my shield, my vision fails. No light can pierce the attack. All I see is the little spot of safety that Protect lights up. Its thin, shimmering shell is all that stands in the way of certain doom for Swole.

The moment it fades, the clearing is gone. Instead of grass, luxury and trees, all that's left is a scene of death and decay.

Everything has been replaced by vast piles of bones.

The very ground - the entire island - is just a massive heap of old brittle bones!

They crunch and break like dry twigs as Swole stumbles back in shock.

The throne was real. However, instead of gold and silk, it was made from bone and sinew. Another piece of furniture stands in front of it. The pedestal is made from three thick femur bones, holding up a single human skull.

The entire island is just the pokemon and humans she killed over what must have been hundreds of years!

Fake Out! Now!

The order comes so suddenly! What about Psychic Terrain?

It's not until I realize his conviction through our bond that I follow through with the order.

He is convinced it will work somehow, so I trust him as I jump from his shoulder to rush headfirst into danger.

The world around me slows down, colors shift towards the red spectrum.

Fake Out is successful.

I run across the pile of bones to my target, using all four of my legs for improved stability. I carefully place each of them to avoid slipping on the uneven surface.

My tremendous speed during Fake Out allows me to be careful.

The world slowly zooms past me.

I even have enough time to think of the next move.

Chaining into Scratch seems to be optimal.

Maybe I should bite her too-- Oh. Almost slipped there. Stupid bone.

Where was I? Right, biting. That seems to be a good choice, even though I don't know Bite.

Is it Poison Fang? ... Yes, I can feel it! It's Poison Fang!

Awesome!

I smack into Hatterene and the world speeds up to a normal pace so quickly, that I almost get whiplash from it.

Hatterene stumbles just a little after she tried and failed to use another move.

Scratch finds its way across her massive boobs-- Wait, what?!

It's just hair and air! She's fake! She's stuffing!

The move parted her clothes and revealed a much smaller body hidden underneath!

But now that I see it, Poison Fang strikes true, and I hold on to her torso while the move delivers its poison.

Riolu slams her Steel Claw near my head, and then Lopunny pummels Hatterene's face with a flurry of strikes.

Enough!

Master's voice rings out in my head. I feel motion.

Hatterene gently falls to the ground like a feather. She stopped moving.

Her hair took a stranglehold of my body, but after some struggle, I managed to climb out of her clothing and back into the open to view the results of our teamwork.

Hatterene is KO.

Lopunny and Riolu high-five each other as master slumps to the ground in exhaustion.

---

"Wohoo!" Master shouts. His excitement is still evident even almost an hour after the fight. "I can't believe the Dusk Stone wasn't an illusion after all! Zoey will be so happy!"

We haven't bothered to keep quiet the past few days, I just hope that habit doesn't continue once we get out of the salt desert.

"Masster?" Something has been burning on my mind ever since we left Hatterene's island behind.

"Yes?"

"Why did we let her live? She tried to kill and eat uss. Instead, you left her food and a potion. Why iss that?"

I knocked the cheer right out of him. He stays silent for a while. Now I feel sad too.

"Lopunny, do you still remember Stantler in the Bewilder Forest?"

Stantler? Bewilder Forest? I don't feel bad anymore. I hate it when someone answers a question with another question.

Lopunny thinks for a moment before nodding. I could almost hear the gears grinding in her mind. It must have been an event long before he caught me.

"Do you think Stantler, and possibly her family that she was going to feed, survived?"

She shrugs.

"Me neither. And I don't like that. I know, back then, I didn't care if she survived or not since she attacked us. But it's not like she truly had a choice. Ash could have been the meal that made the difference for her offspring, you know?"

Lopunny shakes her head and I follow suit. I have no idea what he is talking about.

"Good grief. It's difficult to explain, but when I saw Hatterene lying on the ground, KO, emaciated, just wrinkly skin and bones, I remembered how she talked with us like a human would. We aren't so different, pokemon and human, and I know if I fell on hard times I would want a helping hand, even if I made a mistake before."

I think I get what is going on.

She might not be his pokemon, but he builds new bonds easily.

I think humans call it empathy. "Why didn't you jusst capture her?"

He waves his hand as if he could dismiss my brilliant suggestion easily. "Too strong and too unpredictable. Trust is paramount, but she is a liar. Besides, I can tell that she already had a trainer."

"Really?"

Narrator-POV:

Indeed.

Aeons ago, when the salt flats were still on the surface of the planet when the Celestica people roamed what would one day become Sinnoh, and even before AZ changed the world by firing the ultimate weapon not just once, but twice:

Such a long time ago, Hatterene was just a tiny little Hattrem. She travelled together with a human she met. The two helped each other escape certain death, becoming inseparable ever since.

"Master, can't we ask them for water?" She asked as their nomadic tribe crossed the salt flats to find greener pastures on the other side.

The sun beat down on them, and her trainer was only given enough supplies for a single person. The rest of the tribe wouldn't let them come any closer.

Back then, things were not the same. Pokemon were feared monsters, rightfully so. But every once in a while, a human and a pokemon would find each other.

It did not help with the distrust of others. He became a pariah to the rest of his tribe, and they would look down on him in disgust.

When he asked for more water, they threw stones before sending him back.

"I could attack them and take the water from them." She suggested after she unknowingly received his last sip of water.

But he refused. He did not want them to be right about her: About the monster he brought into their ranks.

In the end, his tribe was nowhere to be seen. The heat had a stranglehold on him, his body slowed down.

And so, about a day's travel before reaching the end of the salt flats, her master passed out and died shortly after.

Night fell and Hattrem used his cooling corpse for warmth. The sun rose and its rays grew stronger.

Hattrem ate her master's body and drank his blood to survive. It was what he would have wanted too.

Around a year later, she evolved, feeding herself with the occasional animal and pokemon that stumble so far out into the salt flats.

Another couple of years later, she met the tribe again.

They couldn't believe their eyes. A forest? In the middle of the salt flats?

She tricked them inside her illusions and slaughtered everyone except one. A woman managed to escape to tell the tale:

Beware of forests that show no signs of living creatures within. You may have wandered into Hatterene's territory.

Her actions that day have borne fruit in the shape of a single Dusk Stone. The dark crystal is the coalescence of dark thoughts, memories and pain.

Another few decades or perhaps even centuries later, something took the sky away.

Stuck underground, in the middle of nowhere, she waited for new prey to come around. And every once in a while, some would.

She excavated her own well, built her own furniture, lived the sedentary life she would have wished for her master.

And now, she cries silent tears.

She ate the food that was left for her. Her body was healed using a potion after reading a piece of paper with creative, painted instructions.

She didn't think humans like that would still exist.

"Maybe..." She wipes away her tears. "Maybe I should move on and find greener pastures. What do you think, master?"

But the skull in front of her cannot reply.

"Really? You think I should look for that Galar region? Do you want to come with me?"

She stares expectantly at the empty eye sockets.

"You want to stay... I get it... You like this place. I made it pretty just for you, after all... But I hate it here."

She gets up from her throne and nods as if hearing something.

"My final order, I understand... Goodbye, master."

She teleports away.

---

Salandit POV:

"Why do we need an alarm to go to bed now?" I ask as Swole pushes the button to blow up the air mattress. We can't use the tent because it confines us too much and blocks our vision. A predator could sneak up too easily.

"What do you mean, why? It's always dark down here."

"Huh. Weird. Didn't notice."

Everything looks like it always does.

"Night-vision... So jealous."

Heh. It certainly has its perks. But his flashlight could blind me easily. And there are certain things I wish I wouldn't see.

Like how Lopunny presses herself against him.

Sigh. I still haven't evolved. Even though I have been fighting so much recently... Is something wrong with me? Maybe I should eat more. Mom always ate a lot. I should do that too.

But once I evolve, I can finally compete with her again! That dastardly bunny! Muscles-for-brains has him wrapped around her fingers.

"For my second wish," Lopunny begins to talk once he finishes preparing our camp for the night. "I wish for you to give me a proper massage! The type that Salandit got!"

Damn. In just a few weeks I lost all the progress over her. There is no way he will say no.

"G-good grief, are you sure you don't want steak instead?"

Lopunny growls. "No. I'm not letting you scam me again." - "I didn't scam--" - "Shush. I'm going to exploit those wishes to their full extent! Now get to it!"

She's so horny, it makes her angry. Hangry. I believe I have read that word online-- Wait, I can't read. Weird.

"Gooood grief." He pulls out Lopunny's grooming supplies. "Alright. You win."

I see his bulge growing... Why does he pretend he isn't horny too?

Sigh. I wish I could intervene, but Lopunny would beat me up.

Swole-POV:

Arceus, she picked a bad time for this. Dawn, Zoey, Lopunny and Salandit have been teasing me for weeks.

I almost want to do this.

A shudder runs across my back.

Lopunny lies down on her stomach, displaying her butt and thighs in the process. Her bunny tail wags invitingly and her long ears frame her body while giving access to everything.

~"What are you waiting for?"

If I keep her waiting any longer, I risk making her flip out like that one time.

So I squirt out some massage lotion across her back and put even more in my hands. It's cool and slippery.

"I bet you wished it was something warm and slippery on your back instead, huh?" I can't stop myself from teasing her.

However, it falls on unappreciative ears until Salandit whispers an explanation to her, at which point her legs tense up and her ears twitch.

I start the massage with her legs. Her thighs are seemingly the largest pair of muscles on her body, but her anatomy isn't that much different from a human's. Her gluteus maximus is still her largest muscle.

I feel her fur under my hands as I rub across the outside of her left thigh first. It feels like touching solid steel wrapped in a thin layer of fat, skin and fur.

She moans as soon as I make contact. Anticipation is probably pleasing her more than my hands are at this point.

~"Higher." She demands when I swap to the inside of her legs.

Initially, her inner thigh is softer, but as I press deeper, I feel the individual muscles on her leg. They stretch taut beneath her skin.

She worked so much in the past few days. Her muscles need a break.

~"Higher!" She complains a little louder.

I go lower instead and take care of her calves. First comes the work for her physical benefit, and then comes the... fun. The fun for her, not for me.

Her ears try to slap me while I'm well out of range.

When I move even lower, I come to a halt. Her feet are not human. If she were a human, she would always be standing on the tips of her feet. Her soles are covered in paw pads.

~"Don't you dare stop!"

I wanted to get the anatomy book for reference...

Without a reference, I have no choice but to explore.

My hands wander over what would be the heel of her foot. It's bony and I can feel some sinew below her skin, like the Achilles' heel, except it continues further down the length of her foot.

I trace the sinew with my fingers until I reach the large central paw pad. Lopunny makes a sound once I touch it.

"Did that hurt?"

~"No. Keep going."

"Are you acting tough? I want this to be pleasant for you."

~"... I like it when you touch me there."

I rub her paw. The spaces between her toes, the fur between her paw pads, and the leathery, cracked pads themselves.

The massage oil should help with the damage that the salt has caused. "I wish you told me about your pains earlier. Your toes need thorough treatment to get them back to normal."

I doubt she can hear me.

~"Hnnng, that feels sooo good."

Her moaning increases, but it sounds a little less sexual than before. She probably just needed a massage for her weary feet. She and I are the only ones who need to walk, after all.

I repeat the process with her other foot before I move on to her upper body.

And I don't hold back either. I straddle her from behind and practically sit on her thighs.

~"Is your throne to your liking, master?"

... I can't answer that.

Instead, I lean forward a little, readjusting when I notice my junk touching her butt, and then I give her shoulders and neck a good rub.

Her shoulders feel tense and stretched from fighting. I fix a couple of knots within her muscles by applying more pressure on them.

Then I massage her arms, her back, her sides and finally, her a--

No, wait. I shouldn't move on to her ass just yet. I should delay her erogenous zones for last.

Instead, I grab her left ear and feel it twitch immediately. Like a lightning bolt running through her body, a shudder forms at the spot that I touched and travels all the way down to her feet.

She lies on her stomach but covers her face with her hands anyway.

From the top of her ear, I gently run my hands down, kneading, pushing and massaging the weird appendage.

It almost feels like a fur-covered, thick tongue. It might even be exactly that: A long, flexible muscle, hidden by fur and fluff.

But seeing her squirm underneath me, does give me a rather brilliant idea that I bet she will appreciate.

I lean further down. Pressing myself against her butt until I feel her tail wagging excitedly against my stomach. And then I bite her ear.

She shudders and squeals.

It was a little harsher than I intended.

Now, I can finally dig my hands into her a--

~"She finished already." Salandit distracted me.

"... What?"

~"She wished to get the ssame treatment I did. And she finished already. Her wish iss over. I bet she wanted to trick you by stifling her moans in the end, but she can't trick me. Hiss hiss hiss."

Has she already had an orgasm? Just from a massage? ... Am I too good at this?

... After taking one last look at her butt, I stand up. A deal is a deal.

I'm missing out. She's still breathing heavily, and I never even got to touch her chest...

~"Nooo! Huff, huff. You lizardly bitch! Pant. I'll get you for that!"

She's knackered. Lies flat on her stomach. A few more insults and she will fall asleep.

I look down at myself. Good grief. What am I going to do now? Do I have to tough it out again?

"Good grief--... No. Fuck it. Sigh." I needed a proper sigh for that. I can't go masturbating now. There is nowhere to hide. "Scoot over, Lopunny."

She hogs the entire mattress, only giving me the scraps to sleep on. Once I lie down, she changes position and puts herself on top of me. Her arm rests on my chest, her body lies on my arm, and her head presses into the crook of my neck... Not even Dawn is so clingy when we sleep.

I push the both of us closer to the middle of the mattress so we won't fall off at night. "Goodnight."

I close my eyes.

I don't reopen them when I feel Lopunny shift her body to rub her head into my neck, or when Salandit and Riolu lie down on my other side, or when Lopunny lovingly kisses my lips.

Lopunny finally yawns. ~"Goodnight, master."

~"Sssleep tight." My pants are indeed tight, Salandit.

~"G-d nite." Riolu sounds especially exhausted from today.

"Can you do the first guard duty, Salandit? I don't think the others are in great condition right now."

She grumbles something barely audible, but aura allows me to understand it anyway. ~"But then I can't dig through your backpack."

That makes me open my eyes to look at her in confusion. "I don't care if you use my backpack. You can use it anytime."

~"It doesn't work when someone lookss."

"Huh? Yes, it does. Anyway, I won't look. In fact, I will close my eyes and try to sleep right now. I'm beat."

~"Good night, masster. You're the besst." She whispers the last part, but I still hear it.

"Thanks."

Then she whispers even quieter. ~"I love you."

"I love you too."

I half-expect Lopunny and Riolu to rush to tell me they love me too, but they have already fallen asleep.

"You're all the greatest pokemon a man could ever hope for."