~"Such a pleasant change of pace, isn't it?"
I hum, gently rubbing Lopunny's thighs but immediately regretting it. Her fur is soaked with sweat, like a wet carpet. Her drenched arms sling around my neck, her hands caress my chest, and her toned stomach and marshmallowy breasts press against my back as I carry her down the lightly trodden road leading from the gym to one of a few parks in Veilstone City.
Her scent impregnates the air; with every breath I breathe, aromas of caramel and hazelnut stream through my nostrils to flood my lungs - and a scent of something else. Something indescribable. It's the kind of smell that makes me want to bury my face in the fluff of her chest and suffocate myself in her...
Maybe I should stop thinking about it.
"How are you holding up, Lucario?"
~"My legs hurt. My arms hurt. My back hurts. My everything hurts." Very poetic.
I would carry her too, but just Lopunny is pretty much my limit after doing a few sets of weighted squads myself. "You can rest inside your pokeball, if you want."
~"I'd rather walk. As lovely as the inside of the pokeball is, I prefer having some fresh air, some sunshine, and some good company right now." She leans her head against my shoulder as we cross from the pavement onto the green grass of the park.
Some nearby pokemon feel the same way: Pidgey. They enjoy fresh air and sunshine as they pick away at crumbs near a park bench with an old man telling them stories. He barely looks up as we pass by, and the Pidgey continue their feast unbothered. The old man just nods before tossing more feed out for his friends.
Carefully, so that Lopunny doesn't slip from my back, I give him a short wave. Lucario spots my motion and briefly shifts her attention before settling her head back down on my shoulder.
It's quite tranquil. Nice. The park is well kept...
Actually, everything is too perfect. The grass is uniformly cut, the bushes have flawlessly spherical shapes, and not a single branch is out of place in the hedges.
Overall: terrible. What good is a piece of nature in the city when all the nature has been beaten into submission?
The air doesn't even smell like it should. There's not enough flowers or decay around for it... But Lopunny's heavy scent and Lucario's undertones of blueberry mask anything else I could be smelling - so, maybe my nose just isn't sensitive enough?
Salazzle, who happens to be the only one without sore muscles, sticks out her tongue. Then she darts ahead on the path, scurrying with her body close to the gravel, stops to look around, and smells the air again with her tongue. By the time we reach her, she rushes off again.
Overall, very strange behavior. She changed a lot since her evolution. "Everything alright, Salazzle?"
She stops on the spot in the middle of her running and uses her long neck to stare back at me. ~"Yess. Jusst making ssure nobody will bother uss when we battle."
Ahhh fuck. I forgot about that. "Ssssure. You girls can battle, but only after you get your training done for today, Salazzle."
~"What?! But then I'll be exhaussted!"
~"So what?!" Lopunny complains over my shoulder. ~"I already am!"
~"You're jusst ssimulating so masster would carry you!"
~"I'm not!"
~"You are!"
They repeat that for a while. In the meantime, I find a decent spot. A hedge blocks sight to the main road on the other side, and a few bushes prevent people from watching us as they walk along the park paths.
The grass here is just as neat as everywhere else. Not even a smidgen of moss or any wild plant growing among the blades. Orderly. Devoid of nature. I find my own distaste of the sight strange.
I shouldn't be feeling such strong emotions at something so simple. So what if there's not a single flower out of place? By all intents, it looks good... It should look good.
~"I'm not!"
~"You are!"
They're still going at it, just like me and Lucas used to.
~"I'm not!"
"Girls. Stop it."
~"But she sstole my ssssspot!"
I roll my eyes. "She didn't steal anything. Right, Lopunny? You're just exhausted from the training and couldn't walk on your own."
~"Riiight." ... Slow agreement. I don't even need Aura to tell she's lying.
I roll my eyes again. "Well, since you're not exhausted, you can train some more. Sit-ups and push-ups until I say stop."
~"Can't I stay a little longer?" She whispers into my ear before giving it a gentle bite. ~"It's really nice here."
"No. We can cuddle later. Salazzle, you know the drill. Practice for Flamethrower and Sludge Bomb. Lucario, how are you doing?"
~"I feel very exhausted. But I can keep going!" At least one of my pokemon is always honest.
"Then you can meditate. And let's improve Aura Sphere some more. It's our strongest attack."
~"Will do!"
Next up, I unclip Swadloon's pokeball and toss it low. She appears in front of me, and the ball bounces back into my hand through some kind of mystery mechanism.
Swadloon looks around as much as she can - her eyes turning in her chitinous sockets, and the mossy appendage growing from her back works to turn her on the spot until she faces me.
Her eyes light up in joy - then widen in fear. Moments later, Salazzle snatches her up, cradles Swadloon to her chest, and wraps her up within her tail. She hisses something about her egg, and I can only hope she means the type that is her offspring and not her food in that deranged mind of hers.
On the topic of food, I'm preparing another protein shake with Moomoo Milk for Lopunny and Lucario. I still have loads of money to burn through from capturing Diglett, so I don't care about the unreasonably high costs of the milk.
... Not... one... bit.
It's a luxury product, so it must be priced high...
A single family in Sinnoh provides 95% of all Moomoo Milk in the region, so it can only be expensive...
Anyway, with Swadloon handled and the protein shakes made, all that's left is... "Banette?" Is to convince her to finally join our training. "Are you there?" She hasn't replied in a while. The last time she showed herself was when she knocked me out with Hypnosis. "Are you feeling guilty? You're not in any trouble, I swear."
Nothing.
I'm not seeing a suspicious shadow anywhere nearby either. Our bond isn't strong enough for me to tell her direction, and Aura doesn't work on ghosts when they're within their shadows either.
"If you're just hiding, please tell me."
She must've moved on.
... Wrong choice of words; she must've given up on me. She's somewhere out there, doing what I should be doing and searching for Mary instead of being a selfish jerk.
Maybe she'll return... Hopefully. I'll keep her pokeball nice and safe for her either way.
Click - It snaps into its slot on my belt, looping around skintight gym shorts... Ridiculous. But the girls all like it.
With another click, Lopunny's premier ball comes free. The effects of today's training won't be noticeable on her scan until her muscles recover, so I don't bother recalling her before scanning the ball.
Lopunny - Eterna City => Veilstone City
Health Points: 101 => 115
Attack: 198 => 252
Defense: 91 => 105
Special Attack: 29 => 30
Special Defense: 145 => 169
Speed: 149 => 180
Moves: Splash, Pound, After You, Defense Curl, Baby-Doll Eyes, Sweet Kiss, Quick Attack, Flail, Double Kick, Jump Kick, High Jump Kick, Double Hit, Draining Kiss, Fling, Fake Out, Protect, Charm, Dizzy Punch, Payback, Endure, Rain Dance, Sunny Day
I can't contain the smile forming on my lips. It doesn't matter how often I see it; her stats are just amazing. Her attack value is easily high enough to train anything we need, and her speed is so high, she might already be at the level needed to participate in the league championship.
Although... that's just comparing her to the average competitor's team members - and only those who provided their team's data to researchers.
Cynthia and the other top trainers must be far stronger. So we'll have to be much, MUCH stronger! "Hey, Lopunny? Come and get yourself some more protein. You're going to need all the power you can get. And eat another Oran Berry."
She does, limping along on battered limbs, reaching for the offered food and drinks, and gulping both down with a face of pure bliss. When she turns away to return to her workout, I grab her wrist.
It's wet.
Her voice sounds curious and confused as I pull her closer. ~"What else?"
"I just wanted to give you a little bonus reward. You really gave it your best today, and I'm a hundred percent sure we're going to see improvements tomorrow."
~"A bonus reward? Steak?"
"Come closer."
~"Ahh, I get it. It's a secret re-- wah?"
Her voice breaks off as I catch her in a kiss. Her fuzzy lips part with her words, and her eyes widen in surprise as I bite down gently on her captured lower lip.
But I let go as fast as it started. "There you go. And try to stay motivated. Once you really can't move anymore, I'll have another surprise for you."
~"Hehe, another like this? I'll do my best!"
She literally hops back to her training where she drops to the grass to do sit-ups. Her ears flop back and forth with every rep.
The grass rustles beside me. I turn to look and find Salazzle's sharp eyes glaring at me while saliva drips from the little snaggle-tooth-like part of her jaw. ~"Where'sss my reward?" She hisses.
"Hmmmm..."
Her eyes sharpen further.
"Have you done anything today that would get you a bonus reward?"
~"Of coursse I have!"
"Like what?" Her mouth drops open while she searches for anything. "Please. I'm waiting. I want to have hot, sloppy, steamy lizard kisses. But they are only for diligent little lizards."
Her eyes snap open - as far as her biology allows. ~"I-- uhhh... I did... uhhh..."
"Youuu..."
~"Iii..."
"You helped take care of Swadloon?"
~"The egg..." She looks behind herself and raises her tail with Swadloon. A few lines of charred chitin are singed into her surface, as if Salazzle practiced Fire Lash while still holding her. ~"Right! Swadloon! Yesss. I did that. Reward?"
"Alright. You've earned yourself a reward. But don't stick your tongue all the way into my th--" All of a sudden, a long, wriggling tongue sticks all the way into my throat. She used Fake Out to cross the distance in an instant.
The next moment, I'm coughing it up, and she slaps herself in the eye with it. ~"Thanksss, masssster! Come on, egg, let'ss go back to training!"
~"Heeeeelp!"
I tune out her voice. It'll be good for Swadloon's defensive stats.
"Don't knock Swadloon out, Salazzle!"
~"Who?!" She's too busy practicing Fire Lash.
"And thanks for agreeing to postpone your and Lopunny's fight!"
~"Yesss, yess--... Hold on. What?"
Hehe. Too easy.
---
Salandit - Eterna City => Veilstone City
Health Points: 42 => 83
Attack: 68 => 94
Defense: 42 => 57
Special Attack: 150 => 252
Special Defense: 47 => 57
Speed: 156 => 252
Moves: Fake Out, Scratch, Sand Attack, Smog, Ember, Mud-Slap, Will-O-Wisp, Poison Gas, Sweet Scent, Protect, Toxic, Poison Fang, Venoshock, Fire Lash
Her progress is still great - just not as pronounced as Lopunny's.
I blame myself.
The only way to really motivate her is by offering up my body as payment, but I'm too much of a pussy to do that. I need to change. For her sake. Or else she's just going to fall behind and get seriously hurt by Lopunny.
And for my sake too. I want Salazzle to become as strong as she can: this desire is worth more than my aversion to... playful contact.
Speaking of playful contact - I don't know why Salazzle has adopted Swadloon as her egg, but it has calmed down her desires a bit.
It's only reasonable to assume she'll revert to her most raunchy state as soon as Swadloon evolves. I'll need to prepare myself for that.
I take another look over her stat sheet; her speed continues to outpace her other stats.
This is great if we can rely on Toxic and Will-O-Wisp, but that strategy won't work forever. Someday, someone will outplay us, and then we'll need to rely on her attacks.
Her special attack is far from weak, but I want to focus on it a bit more. She'll pair up with Lucario for training.
Next up, Lucario. Her pretty-pink pokeball with a lovely little heart on top clicks free from my belt.
Holding the front button against the scanner of the pokedex, it gathers a fresh snapshot of her stats.
Riolu - Eterna City => Veilstone City
Health Points: 48 => 67
Attack: 21 => 59
Defense: 48 => 69
Special Attack: 150 => 252
Special Defense: 49 => 71
Speed: 63 => 91
Moves: Counter, Vacuum Wave, Metal Claw, Feint, Detect, Aura Sphere, Rock Throw, Ice Beam, Confusion, Protect, Screech, Quick Guard, Work Up, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Ancient Power, Bone Rush, Psychic
Impressive. Far beyond reasonable for any pokemon at the tender age of just a few months. Comparing it with the old recordings from my notebook, the growth rate hasn't even plateaued yet.
Her strongest moves should be Aura Sphere, followed by Psychic and Ice Beam. She has enough physical options to use them if we're under pressure, but her physical attack stat almost makes it a moot point. The same goes for her defensive stats; if she could have withstood Glaceon's Giga Impact, Lucario would've won the Icicle Badge with Counter.
Hmmm... Yes. Training her body more like we did today will be the most effective way forward, no matter how little or much of a 'warrior's spirit' she has.
As for her moves, she doesn't have a good steel-type attack. That's not good. It's a waste of her new secondary type. Luckily, I have a TM to fix that.
My reward for beating the first gym on this year's elevated difficulty - Flash Cannon! The first time I tried it on her, she was still a Riolu and couldn't learn it. But now...
"Lucario! Get over here; I have a surprise for you!"
She opens a single eye to glance at me in suspicion.
"It's nothing bad, obviously."
Lucario shrugs, abandons her meditation, and approaches. She startles when I suddenly recall her into her pokeball. The ball rattles in my hand. "Haha, calm down. Here, you're learning a new move."
The TM is somewhere hidden deep inside my backpack. I reach down, grabbing for something-- It's the sack of old bottles... I'll never get rid of those, apparently.
I reach inside again, this time feeling the smooth surface of a disk. Pulling it out, the stamped label reads Flash Cannon.
It slides into the pokeball and starts humming as the disk spins and the ball heats up. After a few dozen seconds, it's ejected again like a CD from a disk reader.
I release Lucario, and she stumbles as soon as her feet hit the ground, grabbing at her head while slowly coming back to her senses. She stares at her fingers, "Lu...", and mutters before a sparkling light glimmers to life between her palms.
She startles, pushing her hands away, and stares at me with wide eyes when a thin laser flashes across the park, disappearing within the bushes and singeing their leaves.
~"I learned Flash Cannon!"
"Haha, you did. Good job." However, it is still pretty weak. "For now, you can go back to meditating."
~"Will do!" Lucario salutes, gives me a brief but painful hug - her metal spike digs into my chest - and she returns to the shaded spot underneath a perfectly trimmed tree for her training.
We'll train Flash Cannon next, and I'll skim through Candice's book for any tips on improving upon Ice Beam. Who knows, perhaps Lucario will become the first of her kind to learn Blizzard?
Bzzzt bzzzt
Huh?
Oh. It was my phone. I should put it back into do-not-disturb. Can't afford distractions. Barry wrote he's going to arrive in Veilstone City next week.
Before putting it back into my bag, the wallpaper stands out. A smile flits across my face every time I see it - Buneary and I, so carefree, so innocent.
Where was I?
Right. Lucario's training. For the foreseeable future, she'll practice and improve upon Flash Cannon.
With Barry and Ash still a week away from Veilstone City, that means we can train for at least a week before we host our very own tournament!
The gym battle on Monday is going to be negligible in comparison. We'll just take a break on Sunday, and then sweep the arena with whatever they send against us. Lucario's Psychic will carry hard against the fighting-type gym.
What else is there to do? ... I've already sent Akari a text earlier today that we've arrived in Veilstone City; I should still give her a call tonight when she's done with her work.
Lopunny is still working on her push-ups.
Salazzle is still working on Fire Lash-- "Hey! Salazzle! Get over here!"
She stops in the middle of her practice. ~"Yesss?" She hisses, approaching me.
I dig out a potion from my bag and heal up Swadloon.
~"Heeeelp meeee!" She squeaks as the miracle liquid gets her back into top shape.
I pat her head... her whole body, and give her some berries too. "Good work, you two - keep it up. And a Leppa Berry for you, Salazzle."
~"Two?" She asks before getting distracted by the berry and returning to her training. ~"Thankss!"
Swadloon is training her defensive stats.
Lucario is cultivating her spirit chakra-- I mean, meditating. She can do that for a little while longer until Lopunny is done.
Banette is still missing... Nothing I can do about it right now. I'll look for her tomorrow morning. Maybe we can combine that with some pre-workout jogging?
Dawn and Zoey are doing girl stuff with Ursula. Or maybe they're training? Anyway, Dawn offered to bring dinner, so I sent her my geolocation on the phone. She'll be around whenever she's ready.
What else? Surely there are some more responsibilities I have to take care of?
We've already restocked. We've gotten a hotel room.
Mars? She can undoubtedly handle herself for a few days. Mom? I should call her in the evening too. Gotta write those things down before I forget them. Dad? Nah.
Barry, Brock, and Ash are on the way. Dawn handles the tournament management. I'm registered for a regular gym battle. If Ursula needs me as a partner in a contest, she can find me.
... Am I done? ... No, I'm not. Those are just the things I must take care of immediately.
I need to find a few good restaurants in the city to treat Akari when she arrives - I write that down.
I'll need to spend some quality time with Dawn and Zoey just strolling through the city and going sightseeing. I can do that between training sessions and look for the restaurant at the same time.
Mars will be happy if I give her a surprise visit. She also wants me to look up some more wrestling moves on my own.
I'll need to buy a mega keystone. Without it, the mega stone I ordered in Eterna City will be useless. There must be a jeweler somewhere who can take care of it.
I should read Candice's book thoroughly. It's undoubtedly a treasure trove of information. And the book on Ancient Sinnoh History too - it has too much to do with Aura to ignore, and I have to investigate Aura! I can write a book about Aura and collect money from Professor Rowan - and then use that money to invest in our training!
We need to train so much more if we want to beat Cynthia this year! We need at least one more team member, and I have to convince Banette to fight with us!
Isn't there a meteorite field at the edge of the city?! Supposedly they glow in the dark, and it's a perfect spot for a date!!
The pokemon center might have a decent quest available by now!
I could try gambling for money in the casino next to the pokemon gym!
Arceus, damn it! Why is there so much to do?!
~"Master? You're feeling stressed."
"Sorry, Lucario." She has one eye open, glancing at me. "I'll try not to disrupt your meditations again... Actually, let's get the next thing done right now."
Maybe the infinite list of things I need to do can be conquered if I just stop whining about it?
"Until next week, we're going to practice Flash Cannon."
---
"Instruct everyone on their tasks for the next week. Check."
I ended up writing a checklist for everything, labeling it by how important it is and by how fast I can finish it.
"Next up, special training for Lopunny."
Her ears perk up, and she stops in the middle of her squat. Her shaky knees stay bent and spread apart as she stares at me. Her skin-tight gym clothes are completely drenched, hugging her form tightly and revealing every single detail of her... you know what.
"Lopunny, you should really get out of those clothes. If anyone saw you, they'd call Officer Jenny on us for public indecency."
She winks while lifting up her shirt, tantalizingly slow with her motions as the fabric reveals... wet, fuzzy, chaotic fur. Pokemon look way lewder with clothes on than without.
She hooks her thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and pulls those down as well. Again, there's only fur hidden behind it. It's insane how much lewdness she loses by undressing. Completely naked pokemon just aren't sexual.
Her legs tremble as she keeps up the pose, fighting with the fabric to pull it over her knees and biting on her tongue to help herself concentrate. Her struggles look more like those of a toddler rather than a seductive dance... I guess it makes sense. Lopunny doesn't have any practice with clothes; it's only natural that she doesn't know how to remove them in a sexy way.
Finally, the POQEMON-branded shorts lie at her ankles. She glances up, still chewing her tongue, before sending me a wink and a smile. ~"I'm ready, master."
She slowly spreads her knees wide open, her arms braced on her thighs. ~"I'm ready for the bonus reward: our special training."
"You're ready for it? I really hoped you were not. That's specifically why I had you working out the whole day."
~"... What?"
"What, what?"
~"I thought the reward was making eggs."
"Obviously, we can't do that. You do realize that we're in public, right?" She still has her jittery, quaking, and trembling legs spread wide open. Her fur hides her poke-bits, but it's still a far too obvious pose. "Now please, for the love of Arceus, don't make poses like that while anyone could see it."
Where did she even learn to be seductive like that? ... Salazzle. Of course.
~"We're not making eggs?"
"No."
Hearing the word fall like a hammer from the sky, her form collapses. She falls on her bunny butt, rolls further onto her back, and spreads out her arms and legs in a Staryu shape.
"Instead, we're going to brawl again."
She lifts just her head, peering past her nose at me.
"Today, you're finally going to master Play Rough."
~"I am? How?"
"By playing rough."
~"... I don't get it."
"We're going to wrestle. You're going to try and use Play Rough by channeling your fairy-type energy. And then we'll repeat that until you master the move."
~"That makes sense."
"Now, get ready to battle me."
Her arms twitch as if trying to push against the ground. Her legs tremble as if trying to stand up. ~"... I can't."
"Perfect."
~"Huh?" She looks past her nose again as I approach. ~"Hey, hey! We can't fight like this! I'll lose!"
"I know."
Her mouth gapes open. ~"You've planned this!?"
"You only got it now? By depleting your body of physical strength, it forces you to rely on type energy to win while we're playing rough. The perfect setup for training the move." I think so, at least.
Ever since she evolved, this idea had been tickling at the back of my mind. Finally, it's time to try it out.
"Swole uses Elbow Drop." I comment before tapping my elbow like they do on TV.
~"Nooo! I can't defend myself! Ahhhh--" I drop to the grass with my elbow aiming for her chest. ~"... It didn't hurt?"
"Of course not. Wrestling is play-pretend. I pulled up my elbow while striking you so it wouldn't impact very hard. Castelia City Crab!"
I start by flipping Lopunny onto her stomach.
~"Hey!" She spits out some grass.
Then, I grab her ankles, pulling each up and under my armpits to hold them in place while snaking my hands past her knees and gripping her thighs.
She stutters. ~"H-hey!"
Where did I learn this specific variation of the classical wrestling move? Mars.
Finally, I lean back, pulling her legs along until I sit upon her shoulder blades.
~"H-hgn!" She... moans?
"Fight back, Lopunny!"
~"I'm trying!"
"Use your fairy-type energy. You won't escape by struggling."
~"Damn it!" She simply struggles some more.
"Next up: a Body Slam!"
~"Body Slam? You've learned a new move?"
Body Slam - the pokemon move - is an attack in which the user drops their body onto the target.
But humans slam their opponents' bodies into the ground. "Body." I release the embarrassing hold on her, lift her up so that one shoulder faces the ground, and - "Slam." and slam her down in a way where her body rolls with the impact.
~"Ahhhh! It hurts!"
What?
~"I didn't know humans could use Seismic Toss! It hurts! Ahhh!"
Oh no! "Oh sweet Mew! I'm so sorry, Lopunny! I didn't mean to!"
Seismic Toss - an over-the-shoulder throw where the pokemon's move scales in power with the opponent's strength, ignoring all defenses.
"I didn't know I could use that move! Please forgive me!" I even did it while she was in a weakened state! I'm a monster!
~"Kidding."
"... What?"
~"I was joking. That something-Crab hurt more than your Body Slam. Are you weak?"
"... I'll show you weak." I flip her onto her stomach again. Her bunny tail rapidly wags back and forth as I lift up her hips.
With one arm wrapped around her stomach, I keep her steady while lifting her up. With the other arm, I grab her leg and pull it closer. I switch arms, steadying her by pinning her leg to her chest and her torso to my body while grabbing the other leg and repeating the process.
Finally--
~"You know, I could break free at any moment." Lopunny demonstrates by wiggling around and almost slipping free despite her weakened state.
It does seem like a rather theatrical wrestling move. Lifting someone up like that is tedious, and there's no way anyone can set this up in a real fight.
But the hold itself should be rock solid. I hook my arms around both of her knee pits before reaching up and around her neck and interlocking my fingers.
"Yeah? You still think you could escape?"
She wiggles again like a reverse backpack before purring. ~"You make it sound like I'd want to escape, master.-- Hgnnn!" She moans when I bite her ear. ~"Not so rough, master!-- Oh?"
She wiggles her bushy bunny tail, brushing over a certain hardening organ.
~"Master... in public? Really?"
"I can't help it. Stop letting Salazzle teach you seduction and concentrate on Play Rough instead."
From behind my back, I can sense the vague sensations of a sneaky little lizard trying to whisper Lopunny her lines.
~"You can play rough with me any day, master."
They've learned my very own whisper technique and turned it against me.
"Lopunny, don't listen to her. Salazzle knows we won't do this again if you don't show any progress with Play Rough. She's just pretending to help you in order for you to mess it up."
~"What?!"
"Either way, Salazzle should know her ploy won't work." Feeling the mood of a wrestling show, I can't help but speak up louder. "For I am as steadfast as my member! I will not be seduced! You will learn Play Rough!"
Finally, she wiggles again, but my grip is rock solid - just like my member.
~"I'm stuck."
"Then escape."
~"I can't! I'm stuck!"
"Use Play Rough, stupid!"
~"I don't know how!"
"Concentrate on your fairy-type energy, and try to wiggle free!"
~"It's not working! It wants to use Charm!"
"It wants to use it? It's your power, isn't it? Just focus on attacking with it!"
~"It doesn't work like that! It-- Hold on... Did you mean I should focus on Draining Kiss?"
She tries kissing me but can't. Her body is stuck facing away from me, and no matter how she wiggles, she can't turn her head enough to reach my face or even my arms.
~"It's not working either!"
"Keep trying with Draining Kiss."
She keeps wiggling, over and over pressing against my arms, swaying back and forth.
Feeling my balance falter, I decide to drop backwards, rolling over my ass to cushion the fall. "Oof!" The added weight on top of me still slams into my chest, driving the air from my lungs.
My fingers slipped. Immediately, she gains control, pressing her legs apart and pressing her neck against mine to block my hands from rejoining.
I surrender her neck and secure the grip on her legs instead, wrapping my arms around her and grabbing my forearms to keep her legs pinned against her torso.
With a new target in her view, she gives up kissing my face and concentrates her efforts on my arms instead. She reaches, pursing her lips and desperately struggling to kiss my arms, but she accidentally opens up her neck again for a new grab.
Grrr- "Looo!" She screams like a wild animal when my fingers lock together behind her neck again. She shakes and sways as hard as she can... until...
Her body begins to softly glow in pale pink light.
Then, everything happens too fast to react. Hot pain tears through my wrists, my shoulders, my stomach and chest, and finally my fingers as she rips them apart, tearing herself free from my hold and smacking her head into my nose and chin. Blood streams down the back of my nose and into my throat.
I cough. Blood splatters up into the air, bathing us in crimson rain.
Instantly, Lopunny stops thrashing, my arms drooping to the ground. She jumps off me and gasps, capturing Lucario's attention.
~"Daddy!" She shouts, rushing to me and skidding across the grass before cradling my face. ~"Oh no!"
Blood drips down my skin - I try to wipe it away only to flinch in pain when failing to move my arms.
"Shit." I cough again as more blood finds its way into my airways. I look left and right, finding it. "Bag."
~"Bag?" Lucario asks, still brushing her paws along my cheeks.
Lopunny joins her, falling to her knees and fussing over my arms while Salazzle skitters across the grass with my backpack in her claws.
"Potion."
~"On it!" She fumbles with the latch before simply slicing through the strap with a claw. Luckily, she knows my bag better than me and finds my old cargo pants with the emergency potion inside.
She handles it... and fumbles. Her claws aren't suitable for the job.
I cough one more time before groaning and rolling to my side so the blood flows out the front of my nose.
Lucario's blue paws take the potion, holding it right up to my face. As fast as I can, I close my eyes before she presses the button.
"Ahhhhrgh!"
I can't keep my voice contained as the stinging liquid fixes my possibly broken nose and stitches up the torn skin.
Biting through the pain, I pull my hand up to my face, hoping to Arceus it's not too late - or better yet, hoping it's not even broken in the first place.
While shielding my face, the potion keeps doing its job, fixing the ligaments in my knuckles and soothing my aching wrists. It still stings like hell.
My nose is fine. Pushing a breath out my nostrils blasts the rest of the rapidly clotting blood out. Through gritted teeth, I hiss out. "Tear up my shirt and do my right shoulder next."
Lopunny and Lucario listen, and by the time my brand-new sports shirt falls to the ground and the potion runs empty, the pain eases.
Free to move my arm without hellish pain again, I reach into the medicine compartment of my backpack and get the next potion.
My fingers jitter when I'm pressing the button to apply the stinging miracle liquid to my other arm, chest, and stomach.
Lucario reaches for my hand, wrapping it within her paws. ~"Master, let me." She gently pries the bottle from me before treating the rest of the visible injuries. After pointing out the less visible parts, she treats those as well, and the second potion runs empty.
Finally, I flip to my back and stare at the sky.
Blue. With the sun past its zenith. Two Pidgey look at us from the branches of a nearby tree. A slight look of terror is visible in their expressive eyes.
Lopunny is panicking. Her voice is incoherent as she repeats her name over and over again like any pokemon.
"Well done, Lopunny."
"Lo-- Lo? Lopunny?! Lopunny!"
"Calm down first. I can't understand you like that." I look her over.
She's bloody. My blood is all over her face in tiny red droplets that seep into her sweat-soaked fur.
She takes a few deep breaths before trying again. ~"What do you mean, well done?! I--" -- "Lopunny!"
She cuts off at the end. Heh. It's been quite a while since we've been so out of sync. But from the context... "No, you didn't almost kill me. I was just in a little bit of pain. And now I just need a Sitrus Berry, and I'll be alright again."
~"Here." Salazzle already has it ready.
"Thanks." I bite down. Yuck. A smorgasbord of flavor. It's too bitter, too sweet, too spicy, and too sour. Honestly, a terrible sensation. But necessary. Everything the topical potion failed to restore, the berry will handle.
"There. I'm perfectly fine now. Just don't press on the bruises."
Lopunny, Salazzle, Lucario, and even Swadloon, using String Shot to move, then decide to ignore my plea. They press on my bruises as they all hug and cuddle me as if I just barely escaped death.
"I love you all too."