Pokemon - Solo's Strange Journey

Narrator-POV:

Thus ends the odyssey of Swole Solo.

He escaped the beautiful, but deadly, siren's clutches. He avoided the dastardly whirlpools of the menacing sea monster. He tricked the wicked hydra with his cunning plan, and finally, he escaped the temple of the gods where his obedient companion betrayed him.

But he managed to put it all behind him. Now, Odysseus can return home to his wife--

Sorry. Wrong script.

Now Swole can return to his many girlfriends.

Except, he is not quite free yet. The tunnel he climbed out of put him into the deepest depths of the Eterna Forest. An ancient and treacherous woodland that pokemon of all calibers call their home:

From a little, defenseless Sewaddle, to the common predator of the sky, Starly. From the weakest Magikarp to the toughest Torterra. Every kind of pokemon has found its place in this enormous ecosystem.

Even a little Joltik has found a spot to call home. The tiny, electric spider rests in his web inside the hole of a tree trunk when his many eyes catch sight of a group of travelers approaching his territory.

"Thank you, for hunting down that Starly for me." He hears the cutest voice of the most adorable Sewaddle he has ever seen. She talks to her human mount as she rides his shoulder.

Further in the back of the group are three intimidating figures. All of them are tough, rough, and ugly in his eyes.

"I think I messed up." The tallest of them says.

"Oh? You think?" The shortest one, who is still a whole lot taller than him, lets out a dangerous-looking plume of flames from her nostrils. "What gave that away? That we all have to walk? Or that he keeps looking at us every time he petss Ssewaddle?"

What a strange way to talk, thinks the spider.

"I can't believe I'm jealous of a Sewaddle! I really need to evolve soon!" The blue one lets the world hear her frustration with an unflattering, animalistic growl. "I told you, Salandit, we should have intervened! We were supposed to guard him after all!"

The tall one flinches, even though the short one was addressed.

"Well, I thought he wanted it to happen. I mean, he sstarted the whole thing, even though the rabbit was too dumb to get it."

"I wasn't too dumb..." She does look fairly dumb according to Joltik. "Besides, why did you help me? You do realize you are beneath me now, right? Or are you truly delusional enough to further challenge me?"

"No." The pokemon with the dangerous fire sighs. "I owed you one. And I honestly thought I was doing masster a favor... Now I owe him two."

"Idiot lizard" - "Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?" - "You. You don't owe us anything. We're a team."

Yuck. What a bunch of females. Joltik has heard enough of them.

He'd rather watch Sewaddle some more.

The way she shakes her leafy hood in anticipation. Her glistening pair of teeth as they bite into a strip of bacon. Her whole body wiggles in joy at the treat. "Thanks, Swole." Her angelic voice.

"No problem." ... Urgh. But it is the unsightly monkey who gets to rub his disgusting finger all over her beautiful chin.

A travesty that needs to be fixed, is what goes on inside Joltik's mind.

But to fix it, he would need to leave his territory behind. Strangers would steal his tree trunk immediately, he is sure of it.

He looks through a hole in the canopy and lets out a deep sigh. As deep as a ten-centimeter small creature can manage, at least.

A thunderstorm is gathering. It's the perfect time for him to hunt. But... perhaps he might follow this group of strangers instead?

Surely, he can survive a few more days on simple bugs, rather than a proper meal.

Lighting briefly flashes across the evening sky. Thunder rolls over the forest. Usually, those are the ringing dinner bells, but Joltik ignores them.

All four of his eyes are fixated on the love of his life.

"Oh! Looks like we'll have a storm tonight. I saw a building earlier through the canopy. Let's hurry up a bit. Maybe we can get under some solid shelter before the storm hits us."

Joltik thinks hard one last time. Should he stay? Or should he follow his heart?

He knows where they are heading. The old chateau of Eterna Forest. A place that wild pokemon avoid, because they fear the ghosts that live inside.

In the end, he decides to follow after the group of strangers. His heart yearns for love-- His stomach growls. He will also go on a hunt during the storm.

He just hopes he won't miss their departure.

---

Swole-POV:

Is that an abandoned, old chateau in the middle of Eterna Forest? Why would someone build it in the middle of nowhere?

The building is surrounded by an overgrown hedge. The front gate is wide open.

We definitely shouldn't go inside. There is no way there isn't yet another adventure in front of us. I can smell it.

Boom

I can also smell the ozone in the atmosphere. From the looks of it, it might be the storm of the century that is heading straight for us.

Thick clouds as black as the abyss have crested the horizon. Lightning bounces throughout the storm cell.

I don't want to sleep through that in a simple tent! It will blow us away!

"Alright. Good grief. Adventure ahoy, here we come. But I'd better not get raped or graped on this one." Lopunny has the decency to mumble out an apology.

~"What about groped?" Salandit said what? ~"Ssorry. It was jusst a joke, I swear. Please don't glare. I didn't plan on groping you... While you are awake."

She got quieter and quieter the longer she talked. She was so timid in the end, I couldn't even hear the last part.

We step up to the gate where I notice a lack of doorbells before heading closer.

As we move through the front yard, I notice the utter state of disrepair that the garden is in. It's a wonder the path leading up to the mansion isn't covered in weeds yet.

The mansion itself is a grand building. Two floors, a left, and a right wing, as well as a central part. All are covered in Gothic decor.

However, not a single light shines from the windows. And a cautionary check with aura reveals nothing inside either.

Definitely abandoned.

"Sewaddle." Sewaddle says.

"What?"

~"Sh-she said it's the haunted house of the Eterna Forest." Lopunny translates. ~"D-do ghosts exist, master?"

"Huh? Of course, ghost pokemon exist."

~"But what about ghosts?!"

"Are-... are you afraid of ghosts, Lopunny?" That's cute.

~"N-no! Not if they don't exist."

"Well, they might be real. There are a couple of very reliable ghost sightings. The most famous one involves a product of Silph Co."

Her ears twitch nervously as dark clouds blot out the sun.

"They designed a device that was supposed to give normal type pokemon the ability to hit ghost pokemon..."

A massive bolt of lightning hits the ground somewhere in the distance and its deafening thunder rolls over us.

"When the legendary trainer Red used it in a cemetery, he found the restless spirit of a Marowak, searching for her long-dead child Cubone."

Lopunny jumps in fright as another lightning strikes much closer this time.

"Anyway, those are all just stories." A raindrop hits my nose. "Let's go inside before the rain drenches us."

The hinges squeak as I push the double doors open. They wail like tortured animals and resist my entry at every inch of motion.

It's dark and dusky inside. The remaining light from the entrance allows me to see an old-fashioned foyer, decorated with a faded carpet - the intricate designs tell me it used to be a majestic piece - and a huge golden chandelier hangs from the ceiling, attached to a chain so the candles can be replaced.

Two flights of stairs at both sides of the foyer lead to the second floor.

Family portraits line the walls and a weird statue holds us in its gaze--

Suddenly the doors slammed closed. Not a moment later the constant splashing of swelled-up raindrops, the rustling of branches and leaves under heavy wind assault my ears.

Nature tries to force its way inside as darkness kills my senses.

Not a single ray of light pierces through the pitch-black windows, which rattle as rain strikes against them.

~"M-master? I-I think that was the ghost."

Nah. It must have been the wind. "Y-you are right." Heh. "The ghost is out to get us."

~"Nooo!" I felt her step closer but I moved a bit away on instinct. She whimpers because of it.

"Look, I'm going to turn the flashlight on. I bet the ghost is going to stand right behind us."

~"Don't turn it on!" She screeches before letting out a menacing growl-- ~"That wasn't me."

... What? I quickly check with aura but can only feel us.

Oh. I get it. Salandit or Riolu are messing with her.

~"It came from the top of the stairs." Lopunny whimpers.

The growl becomes louder, more pronounced. I hear where it comes from too. "Salandit? Are you messing with us?"

~"N-no." Even she sounds afraid. She is still where I last saw her.

I feel Sewaddle on my arm and Riolu has grabbed my other hand to hold on to.

"That's you on my hand, Riolu, right?"

No response.

"R-Riolu?"

~"There is nothing up there."

"What?"

~"I'm using aura. I can hear where the sounds should be coming from, but nothing is there."

This is becoming too creepy. I fumble my backpack and it drops to the floor. It rustles as I search for the flashlight.

My heart begins to race when I can't find it. But then my finger brushes against the hard plastic and I flick it up as fast as I can.

Click

Light reveals what was hidden before.

... Nothing.

The top of the stairs is empty. I point it left and right: There is nothing on the second floor, as far as I can see.

Lighting strikes nearby. Its flash illuminated the entire room briefly, even the spots my flashlight couldn't reach. There was something. I swear I saw a person from the corners of my eyes: She looked like a headless woman stalking us in the darkness.

I point the flashlight where I last saw her: Nothing again.

~"D-did you see that too?" My heart drops to my stomach. Lopunny saw it too, it wasn't just my imagination. ~"The headless woman... Master, did you see her too?"

"Y-yes, Lopunny."

We should leave. But the wind presses against the front doors so hard that they bulge inward. We can't go out there.

While contemplating, another noise joined nature's rhapsody of rain, thunder, and wind: Footsteps.

They echo in the hall, their source, impossible to discern. Until, a warm, orange light appears at the end of the second floor's hallway.

A woman's gait. It's the recognizable sound of high heels on wood flooring.

A small shadow creeps ahead of the light. Its source rounds the corner first. A fat, humongous cat. Grey and white fur, purple tips on her ears, and eyes that reflect in the dark.

Purugly.

She lets out a menacing growl.

The footsteps stop and are replaced by a woman's monotonous voice. "Have you found new guests, Purugly?" She sounds almost like a robot.

Purugly takes insult in what was said and hisses a loud insult directed towards the light.

"My deepest apologies, Princess. I will not forget my manners again." Her voice is so even, so subservient. So creepy.

She resumes walking and finally comes into view.

The light stems from a large candle that she holds in both of her hands. She wears a long, black, ruffled skirt with a white, ruffled apron over it. Her feet are covered in black shoes with heels that make a loud noise with every step she takes.

Once again, she stops walking before talking to us from the top of the stairs. "Good evening, sir. Did Lord or Lady Evershade invite you today?"

She is very pretty. With platinum blonde hair, almost silver. Her eyes are a deep red, and she has porcelain white skin. She almost looks like... a vampire.

But her face is the kind I could watch for hours and not get bored.

"Uhhhh..." She asked me something! Ah! She asked me about an Evershade family. Never heard of them.

Still, I can't appear as a ruffian in front of another influential family, especially when I'm already begging them for shelter.

I need to watch my manners, and I need to act properly in front of their maid!

I'm still uhhh-ing like a dunce!

"Ahem. Thank you, and a good evening to you as well, Miss. I presume they are Lord and Lady of this house?"

"Indeed, sir."

"My name is Swole Solo. As for an invitation, I did not receive one. I am a traveling pokemon trainer, and I do not believe my equipment could survive the weather outside. As such, I am begging to stay the night."

She looks at the bulging front doors and the dark windows where water streams down in a constant flow. She doesn't blink, not even when another lightning flashes.

She would be very cute if she wasn't so creepy.

"Indeed. The weather is quite bad tonight. Princess," Only her head turns to address the fat Purugly. "Would you please notify Lady Evershade that a new guest has arrived?" Purugly lumbers away.

Her head turns back to me before she steps down the stairs. Every step is measured, and even. I could time a watch after the regularity of her footsteps.

The whole time, she continues to carry the candle in both of her hands.

Riolu shakes like a leaf. Lopunny doesn't dare to step between her and me either.

"If you would follow me, sir," Her ruby-red eyes, like pits of lava, peer deeply into mine. "I will lead you to your guest room."

Her beauty stunned me for a moment. She looks like perfection manifest. Only the tiny voice in the back of my head, reminding me that I already have Dawn, Zoey, and Akari, keeps me from drooling on the spot.

"Y-yes. Please lead the way."

She nods, turns around, and walks up the stairs once more. Her uniform, even though it reveals nothing of her skin, accentuates her figure nicely. "Are you following, sir?"

I hurry slightly to catch up.

"Sir?" She asks after turning the corner at the end of the stairs, down a hallway. My pokemon keep a healthy distance from her while I try to avoid getting distracted by her assets again.

"Yes, Miss?"

"Have you seen my pokeball?"

"Your pokeball?" A singular pokeball. I assume she's not talking about her boobs. "No, but perhaps you and I could look for it in my room."

Oh no! Somebody needs to contain my rizz! I already have three girlfriends!

A small smile appears on her face. The first facial expression she has shown if I recall correctly. "You are funny, sir." But she still says it with the dry tone of a machine.

Suddenly, as we walk down the hallway of the second floor, she turns 90 degrees, opens a door, and enters the room she revealed.

"This will be your bedroom for the duration of your stay. Please make yourself comfortable while I prepare your bath. And please avoid staining the furniture in the meantime." I'm still covered in dirt.

Her face distorts into a smirk. It looks like it takes effort for her to smile. "Unless it was your plan to stain the bedsheets with me all night long, sir. Ha. Ha. Ha."

"Perhaps it was, but my fiance would be disappointed if I did." I joke back, hopefully avoiding a blush to show itself.

"Ha. Ha. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be. At least this means the sheets will remain clean." She walks back through the door we entered through. "I will come fetch you soon."

The door shuts behind her and her even footsteps slowly fade, leaving nothing but their echoes behind.

---

She definitely flirted with me. I'm sure of it.

"What did you think of her?" My pokemon shuffle around on the spot, none wanting to speak up until Lopunny makes the first rather rude remark.

~"She was creepy!"

"Nah. She's just quirky. And cute."

~"I couldn't feel her with aura at all." Riolu mentions. ~"Something strange is going on."

~"She didn't have a ssmell either! She's a ghost!"

"You girls are being paranoid."

"Sewaddle?"

"See? Sewaddle agrees with me. She's definitely very cute."

~"Actually, she asked if he's always like that." Lopunny shakes her head, and her ears flop with the motion. ~"Usually, he is the paranoid one."

~"But a pair of breasst is all it takes to stop him from thinking." Salandit looks down at her non-existent chest. ~"I need to evolve..."

~"Are you saying I should have gotten rid of the schoolgirl outfit, and he wouldn't have complained as much?"

I ignore my pokemon and throw my backpack on the bed. Their discussion keeps devolving deeper and deeper into depravity while I look at the room some more.

Luxurious. The bed is large and has curtains for privacy. Two doors, the other one is for the bathroom, I assume. No light fixtures and no inlets. The Evershades have their own live-in maid.

They must be a very traditional family.

Good grief, it's going to be a stuffy and uptight stay, like the dinners we had with the other families in Twinleaf Town. Our parents are all usually very friendly-- I mean, relaxed individuals, but for some reason, they always insist we show our best behavior for dinners.

The girls sat down in a circle on the ground. I'm glad to see they include Sewaddle already.

~"Next time, we will just try coercion, alright?"

Let's not listen to their conversation again. Doing that was a mistake.

I poke my nose into the bedside table, only to find a couple of candles and a large, weird pot. It stinks a little, and oh my Arceus, it's a chamber pot. Gross.

The window shows the backyard. Flashes of light constantly illuminate an orchard outside. A figure appears to be still working outside despite the terrible rain.

After watching him for a few moments, it became clear what he is doing, even though I could only see him when the storm spit out another lightning: He is helping the pokemon outside move into a little hut.

They don't seem to be his. Just the wild pokemon who entered the garden and decided to stay.

I open the second door and see an adjacent bathroom. A wooden tub is half filled with water, and a rack hangs from the wall which holds a couple of towels.

Another door, leading to the hallway, just opened and the maid stepped in. Her mind has the bathtub as her singular focus. "Excuse me, Miss?"

"Oh. You startled me." She doesn't look very startled at all. "Yes, sir?" She carries a large bucket filled with water. Her body must be quite muscular underneath the frilly dress. "I am almost done drawing the water for your bath."

"Thank you for doing this for me. I believe I never got your name?"

"Oh. Silly me, my name is--" She chooses that moment to empty the bucket.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I'm--" Boom!

Thunder blasts my ears. "Ha. Ha. It appears Almighty Sinnoh doesn't want me to reveal my name tonight."

That first one was her fault though. Still, I play along. "It appears so. Miss Maid, then."

"Ha. Ha. That is a pretty name. I like it." She walks up to me.

"Would you hold still, Sir?"

"Uhm, sure."

Her arms reach out to me.

Suddenly, my pokemon's warnings echo in my head. No smell, no aura. A ghost. I grab her wrist.

She feels solid.

"Sir?"

She seems so innocent. Weird, but innocent. And pretty. Did their paranoia catch up to me? Or rather, did it go full circle, since they have that from me?

"Sir? I just wanted to remove your garments. I assumed that was obvious."

She's looking into my eyes like a Deerling into headlights. A blush creeps up her face the longer I hold her gaze.

Argh. Stop it, Swole! I'm not developing a crush on a random maid when I have three girls waiting for me, and a championship I need to win.

"I don't want to reflect poorly on Lord and Lady Evershade by making a guest do all the work."

Her eyes move at an even pace across my body. They only ever linger on my wide frame and my lips.

"Of course." I let go of her wrist and after a while, she resumed moving.

Her hands seek out the hem of my shirt. Her eyes keep looking straight at me as she slowly pulls it up and over my head.

Her blush grows more when she inspects my body. I have become slim and full of muscles: Abs, a defined chest, and thick arms.

I can see the desire in her eyes, but she keeps it in check. She reaches down and unbuckles my pants in a single, precise motion.

She lowers my pants and underwear, letting me step out of them. She tries to look as professional as she can, but I caught her eyes linger for longer than necessary.

~"Ssso jealous!" Salandit sneaked into the room and a quick check with aura confirmed the other perverts were just around the corner.

"No need to be jealous, I am merely doing my job."

~"Let me do your job!" Lopunny rounds the corner and reveals herself.

"I need to deny your request. I can see your fur is stained. Please wait your turn, and I will clean you up as well."

She- "You can understand them?" I ask as she leads me into the ice-cold bathtub.

I wait so Salandit heats it up.

"Of course I can. I can talk to every pokemon."

"That is quite a rare ability. I can only talk to my own. And only those who have been in the team for a while. Sewaddle still just says her own name from my perspective."

"Sewaddle!"

"Ha. Ha."

"What did she say?"

"I won't tell." Instead of telling, she pulls a soap bar from a nearby cabinet.

"Hold on. We have our own. Lopunny, can you bring me my backpack?"

~"No."

No? "No?"

~"Yes."

"... Why?"

~"Someone has to make sure you won't let your soul get sucked out by a ghost."

I blush when I think about how that would work.

"Miss Maid isn't a ghost."

~"Miss... Maid." Riolu deadpans. ~"Are you sure she isn't a ghost?"

"Riolu, can you bring me my backpack?"

She does.

~"Please don't let her suck out your soul, dad-- Swole."

"She's not a ghost. Tell them, Miss Maid."

"Tell them what?"

"... That you aren't a ghost."

"I'm not a ghost." - "See!" - "Wink."

She literally said wink.

"Ha. Ha. If I were a ghost, how could I do my job then? Now please, step into the bathtub, sir."

I do as told and she begins to wash my body with a sponge. First my front, then my head and back. While she takes care of me, I take care of Sewaddle, who enjoys the extra attention greatly.

She even undoes a couple of strings and climbs out of her clothes too. Her completely yellow body looks kinda gross, but I won't tell her that. Instead, I continue to give her caterpillar-like body the luxury treatment.

When Lopunny mentions how jealous she is of a worm of all things, Sewaddle pokes a teeny tiny tongue out of her mouth.

The entire time, I feel a little tense. Like, I want to talk with Miss Maid about something, but I can't find another conversation. It's torture! I just hope I won't make the mistake of talking about politics again.

All too soon, my bath was over and after insisting to help; Lopunny, Riolu, Miss Maid and I refilled the bathtub with clean water from a well outside.

Lopunny and Riolu both wouldn't let Miss Maid touch them, so I ended up washing Lopunny while she washed Riolu, who sat on her lap.

While washing Lopunny, I finally found another topic to talk about. "So, Miss Maid, let's talk about politics-- I meant to say, you can talk with pokemon: Do you have any yourself?"

"I wish I did." She slowly shakes her head while standing otherwise motionless in the corner of the room, watching me take care of my pokemon. "No. Buneary was my favorite pokemon when I was still a child. I remember my father made me a Buneary doll. But I could never afford one. Neither did I have the bravery to find one."

Such is the fate of many people: A lack of money, and a lack of bravery to make up for it.

"I can hardly believe you have four of them. You must be a very powerful person, Sir."

"I'm a pretty good trainer." I nod as my ego grows. "But there are trainers out there with far more pokemon than me. My recent opponent had a total of at least 16."

"Wow. That is a lot. Was he a tough opponent? Did you win?"

"Hmhm. Easily. You see, there is a difference between quantity and quality. And-"

And thus begins the truthful and accurate retelling of my battle against Roark. No detail was left out, and everything I said was what had really happened.

---

Narrator-POV:

Almost nothing of his version of events was truthful. It could barely be called an embellishment, some would even describe it as an outright fabrication.

And for every little change of the truth, Lopunny was there to make it worse.

"That Onix was enormous, at least as big as this mansion!" - ~"Twice as big, actually."

On some occasions the storm raging outside made it impossible to hear what they said, so they embellished even more on the second attempt.

Only Salandit was willing to kill their thunder and keep them grounded in reality. ~"Around eight meterss."

Still, the maid without name hung on his lips for every lie he spun.

"And you managed to win?!" She slipped. She almost let out a resemblance of a human emotion on accident. "Ahem. I meant to say, it is quite difficult to imagine anyone accomplishing such a feat. Congratulations, sir."

Swole caught her mistake of course. "You can stay a little more cordial if you want to. I won't tell Lord and Lady Evershade when you do."

Miss Maid simply shakes her head. "It is my duty and honor to serve, and to remain exemplary."

The conversation continues to flow not quite as freely. Swole attempts to loosen up her tongue, while she continues to act like a machine.

~"Master?" Eventually, Lopunny has had enough. Swole rubbed soap into her fur for over half an hour now, trying to delay the end of the bath and the unavoidable departure of Miss Maid.

"Yes, Lopunny?"

~"Why are you trying so hard to get into the ghost's panties, but not mine?"

"Wha- I- Do- Gh-" He points madly around himself before switching to a whisper. "Don't say that!" He hisses. "She can understand you."

He did not know what was worse. That she called Miss Maid a ghost, which was very rude, that she openly said that he was attempting to court Miss Maid, or that she implied that he should be courting Lopunny instead?

~"But she is a ghost." Lopunny insists.

"No, she isn't. I felt her arm earlier."

~"You don't know what the ghost rules are."

"And you do?"

~"Well, no. But I can tell she is one."

~"There iss barely anything she knows." Salandit's comment makes Lopunny shoot her a glare before splashing some water at her. ~"Hissss! I wanted to say, that you were right this time, but you attacked me! Sstupid bunny!"

She blows out a plume of fire that Lopunny dodges by going underwater.

"Girls, stop it. And she's not a ghost. Stop saying that. It's rude. Besides, ghosts can't lie. Miss Maid, are you a ghost?"

He misremembered the myths. It is Officer Jennys who cannot lie.

"I'm not a ghost." - "I told you!" - "Wink." - "Please stop saying wink." - "Yes."

~"Aha! She said 'yes', to the ghost question."

"No! She agreed to stop saying wink!"

Miss Maid continues to stand in the corner of the room. Her hand covers the bright smile on her mouth as she watches the human and his pokemon bicker back and forth.

...

"No, she's not summoning more ghosts under her breath. She is obviously laughing."

~"She's messing with us! That's what ghosts do!"

That is what demons do.

...

~"Swole?"

"Yes, Riolu?"

~"The water is getting cold."

"Salandit, can you heat it up again, we're not done here yet."

~"Urgh. She'ss a ghosst though!"

"Heat it up, or you're joining them in the water."

~"Alright, alright! No need to threaten me with murder!"

"Good grief."

"Hahaha-- Ahem. Apologies."

Swole basks in his feelings of success as he listens to her beautiful laughter echoing through the bathroom and his memories alike.

He considers the bath to be complete; his charm and charisma broke through the fake front Miss Maid had put up and reached the soul hidden behind her shell.

While a part of him worries about Zoey, Dawn, and Akari, the forefront of his mind dismisses these concerns; what he does is nothing more than harmless flirting practice for later.

With his mind no longer preoccupied with wooing the pretty maid, Swole finally makes some progress washing his pokemon. He quickly dries off Lopunny and Riolu before washing Salandit with a wet rag.

He claims the rag was drenched in acid and Salandit accepted the illusion to avoid being thrown into the bathtub.

And then, bath time was over.

Miss Maid offered the guests of the house some food after noticing that they missed dinner. He declined, and they both said their good night wishes before going their separate ways:

Swole throws himself on the bed, while the maid stalks off with mechanical steps to do her job somewhere else.

---

Lopunny-POV:

"Master?"

He turns over so his face is free. "Yes, Lopunny?" He looks up from the bed, at the ceiling.

"... Are you making me jealous on purpose?" The others said yes earlier, but I want to hear it from him.

"A bit? The maid is just cute though. I can't help it." He doesn't see me roll my eyes.

"Sewaddle too?" He literally carried her to bed.

"Oh. Yes. Definitely on purpose."

Salandit moves out of my hurt range before telling me she told me so.

"Why?"

He shifts his head, looking straight at me. "What do you mean, why? As punishment."

What for though? I didn't do anything wrong. I protected him almost ever since we met, except against that Bibarel. And I failed against Quilava. And I keep passing out after fights. Not even my evolution fixed that.

"Is the punishment because of our fight against Bibarel?"

"No. It's because you raped me."

I still don't get it. No matter how many times he says that: I don't understand what was so bad about it.

"Why is that bad?"

"Because I'm too young, it's taboo, we shouldn't have done it, and I didn't allow it."

He's not too young. If we keep it a secret, it won't matter that it's taboo. And he was too weak to enforce it. "Why shouldn't we have mated?"

"Weren't you listening just now?"

"Those are all stupid reasons."

"You're stupid."

"... I know."

He sits up. His legs dangle over the ledge of the bed and he pats the mattress beside him. "Come here."

I move across the bedroom. Riolu and Salandit are both pretending to have something better to do. Sewaddle looks uncomfortable as she slowly climbs down from Swole's arm and to the other edge of the bed.

The bed feels nice.

Life was easier when I could just hit him and communicate that way.

Bot now he is as tall as I am when we sit down. And I don't want to hurt him. And my weakest hits aren't painful to him anymore either. I don't know how hard I would need to hit him.

"Why did you decide to... do that stuff."

"Which stuff? Mate with you?"

He cringes. "Yes."

"I dunno. I just felt like it, and you didn't seem against it."

"What?" He begins to mumble to himself. "Not against it? What the hell? I told her to stop, right? And I tried pushing her off..."

"You are usually stronger than that."

"Lopunny, I pushed with all my might--"

"No, you didn't."

"I--... I think I did. Anyway, I still told you to stop! Ordered it even."

He did... "And I ignored it. Is that why I'm being punished? But that was what my third wish was for!"

"No-- Wait, what? Your third wish was to forgive you... for disobedience? Not because of the whole thing?"

"Of course. Most of it felt great! I just didn't want you to be mad at me for not listening."

He facepalms so hard, he knocks himself over and his back hits the mattress. "Good grief! This is hopeless! Pokemon are so weird!"

"Humans are weird."

"Ha! Hahaha!" Uh oh. He's going crazy. "Haaah. Ha. Alright. You are forgiven. For real, this time."

I shouldn't say this. "Just like that?"

"Yep. Just like that. It doesn't make sense to punish you for doing what is in your nature to do. It's like being mad at someone for breathing." He takes a deep breath. "It clearly doesn't teach you not to do it again either. You can't even understand that it's something you're not supposed to be doing."

"Mating feels good, produces offspring, and establishes hierarchy. It's something I'm supposed to be doing."

"See? You don't get it-- Say that last part again?"

"It's something I'm supposed to be doing?"

"No, the one before that."

"I don't remember."

"Good grief! You said it establishes hierarchy. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's so that everyone in our team knows I'm at the top. Lurantis told me about it."

It made sense when she said it. I thought that was obvious.

"I'm at the top."

I shake my head. "I am."

"I'm the trainer. You're the pokemon."

I nod my head. "I will listen to your decisions, but I'm clearly stronger than you are."

Maybe I should show him his place again? The last time was fun.

... It sounds like a good idea.

"You're still calling me master, so clearly, I'm on top of the hierarchy."

I pounce on him. The mattress shakes as I straddle him once more. His body stiffens, and his breath catches in his throat. Fear.

I smirk. Clearly, I am on top now.

Suddenly, a red light flashes and I'm sucked into the pokeball. The room is replaced with white marble walls, ground, and ceiling. The bed is red and has rose petals strewn all over it.

The door is wide open. I can just leave.

Once I do, I appear right where I was, on top of him. He pretends to push me off. His hand tries to sneak past me to grab the pokeball again, but I simply pin his arms in place as well.

"I give up."

Oh?

"You're on top."

"I clearly am." It feels great to gloat my victory. I need to stay awake after my battle next time, so I can do it more often.

"Will you let me go?"

"Hmm..."

"Please?"

"Nope." Instead, with a single heave, I throw him to the center of the mattress, where his head hits the pillow. "It's bedtime anyway. Good night."

He makes for a nice pillow.

Riolu uses Confusion to close the blinds. That way, the lightning won't keep us up all night.

"... Good grief."