The second chapter of this requested story. As I said before, there is no introduction, because it was originally meant to be a single chapter, but in the end it was so long that I had to split it up into two parts. Please read the first chapter first or else you won't know what's going on. Enjoy ^^.



PLEASE NOTE: I do not own Pokémon, and I have to say that I'm kind of proud of it, because the idea of capturing animal-like creatures to make them fight each other is pretty sick, actually. Whatever, each species of Pokémon referred to in the following text is the property of their rightful owner, however, the actual story belongs to me. 

WARNING: This chapter contains sexual intercourse between a male human who is not eighteen years old yet, and a female quadruped Pokémon. (I won't specify this so as not to spoil the ending ^^). If this offends you for some reason, then please stop reading now. I am not willing to take responsibility for any kind of damage that you might experience from reading this story, since I'm not forcing you to read it, after all.


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Loving the 'Eons



Chapter two: How to fix a ruined Friendship




It went on like this. The next day, Victor noticed just how extremely tired both his Pokémon looked, so he returned them both to their Pokéballs and continued his journey. They were both too weary to complain about it, so it all went down without a problem. He was a bit worried about wild Pokémon, though; he had to be very careful not to attract their attention, since Flava probably wouldn't be able to defend him.

He tried his best not to think about Flava's and Joltea's strange behaviour. In the evening, he let them out of their balls again; they just stared at each other and neither of them said a word. But whenever Victor just looked at one of them for a time long enough, the other one would always call out his name and make him direct his attention to her, talking about something unsubstantial, that didn't seem to be of any importance. All the time, he wondered if he should say something, but he just couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make matters even worse. It was painfully obvious now that the Flareon's and the Jolteon's friendship had ceased to exist, and, just as he had feared, he seemed to be the reason. Things would become just as complicated now as he had never wanted them to be. His mind was racing, but he couldn't find any solution that would really work out. The truth was just that he didn't prefer either one of them over the other one; he respected, even loved the Flareon for her spontaneous behaviour, for her strength and for her self-confidence. On the other side, he loved the Jolteon just for the opposite reasons, for her thoughtfulness and her ability to almost lose herself in made-up stories. It was as if the two Pokémon were actually two halves of one personality, the one he was in love with. And regardless of which one he chose, he would always miss the other one, because it would just feel incomplete.

The tension between his Pokémon was almost unbearable for him. It was strange to see how such a deep friendship could have turned into mistrust and anger within a matter of mere moments, and it made him feel even worse that he had caused all this. Maybe, if he had told them how he really felt right in the beginning... But it was too late for that now. Their friendship had already been ruined, and neither of them would back down or accept any kind of compromise in the question of who would become Victor's mate. The trainer sighed deeply, retreating into his tent. This time, though, he told Joltea and Flava not to stay up, but to go to sleep as well. Both of them agreed, but shot each other hateful glances as they entered the tent behind their trainer.










„What's up, Victor?", asked Flava, surprised that her trainer had just sat down, leaning against a tree. „Why are we stopping?"

„Maybe he's tired of you constantly nagging him to find a Pokémon for you to fight against", suggested Joltea in a whisper, so that Victor couldn't hear her. Flava growled lowly, but didn't say anything in return.

It was the afternoon of the next day, and after having witnessed that the relationship between his Pokémon hadn't gotten any better at all, Victor had just decided to stay at this place until some kind of progress would have been made. All day long, Flava and Joltea had tried to gain his attention somehow; the Flareon, of course, by presenting on nearby trees how well she knew her attacks, and the Jolteon by trying to talk with him about the meaning of true love in life. It wasn't like he wouldn't enjoy watching Flava or talking with Joltea, but the constant competing of his Pokémon had exhausted him somewhat. After thinking about the whole thing for a day, he had come to the conclusion that this ruined friendship was mainly a problem between Flava and Joltea, and it could only be solved by them and by them alone.

„You two go off into the woods now", he said, pointing in a random direction, „out of my sight, so that you can talk in private. And when you return, I expect you to have made at least some kind of progress with this problem." Flava tilted her head to the side.

„What kind of problem are you talking about?" Victor rolled his eyes.

„You know the answer to this question very well", he replied, making a gesture with his hand, signalising them to follow his order. „Now go. And please behave civilized." The Flareon turned to Joltea with an expression of disgust. She shook her head.

„I don't think there's anything I have to talk about with her." Joltea didn't say anything at all. She just looked at Victor silently. The trainer sighed.

„Don't make me angry, Flava", he said. „I do not want you two to be enemies, and the only way for you to realize how ridiculous all this is is talking to each other. I told you to go two times already. You know that Pokémon have to obey those they accepted as their trainer." The Flareon looked to the ground. She now wished she would have listened to him sooner; the last thing she wanted was to dissatisfy him.

„Yes, Master", she mumbled, and then turned around, marching off into the woods, closely followed by Joltea who still hadn't said a word.

The Jolteon stared at her former friend's backside, wondering when Flava would stop and decide it was time to talk with her. For now, she just kept on walking; either she wanted to really make this a private conversation, or she wanted to delay it as much as possible. Joltea was kind of grateful for that, actually. The later she'd have to talk with the Flareon, the better.

After a while, Flava came to a halt. Joltea was instantly reminded of the scene of three days ago, when they had found out about each other's love for their trainer. It had been the day their friendship had ended; thinking back, the Jolteon decided that she shouldn't be too sad about it. If it hadn't happened that day, it would have happened another day. They were just too different to be friends, that was what Joltea had now learned.

„I'm not doing this because I care about you", the Flareon reminded her while turning around to face Joltea. „I'm only doing this because Victor told me to, and I won't be disobedient." Joltea nodded.

„I see", she said. It was the same with her. She didn't want to have a talk with the Flareon. Too much had been said already, and she wasn't even interested in trying to form that lost friendship anew.

„He said he wanted us to make progress with the problem", Flava went on. „So, here's my suggestion: You just leave right now, and never bother Victor and me again. I'll tell him we decided this would be the best possible solution, and everybody will be happy."

„Except for me, right?", added Joltea. She glared at the Flareon. „Why don't you leave instead? Victor would go crazy if he had to put up with only you all the time, never being able to have a conversation with someone intelligent."

„I won't leave", replied Flava in a menacingly calm tone. „Remember that I'm stronger than you. I know how to fight. You don't."

„So, it would actually be more rational if you left", Joltea tried to argue. „You know how to defend yourself. I need Victor much more than you do."

„This is not about needing protection." Flava still didn't raise her voice, but the expression in her eyes was angry enough, anyway. „Maybe I do not need to be with Victor to stay alive. But I want to be with him. And if you stand between me and what I desire the most, then you'll be regarded as nothing but an obstacle."

The two females stared at each other, both of them having taken on a stance that signaled they were ready for an eventual battle. Never before had the tension between them been at such a high level.

„I might not know anything about battle", agreed the Jolteon, „but I don't care about that. If I have to, I will fight for the only one I love, even though I clearly know that I don't stand a chance against you." She smirked. „The only satisfaction I have is that, even if you killed me, Victor would never become your mate, not in a million years." Flava stayed calm and Joltea noticed that this was because the Flareon was used to the tense feeling before a battle. And for some reason, even though the Jolteon knew that there was no chance she could win, she felt herself calm down as well. Maybe this was the end. Maybe Flava would kill her. She didn't care.

„Just so that there won't be any unanswered questions", said the Flareon, „tell me why you think he wouldn't become my mate." Joltea kept her smirk.

„It's easy", she answered. „You might still be a virgin, but that's just because you never met a male. If Victor had any male Pokémon, you'd have mated with all of them by now." Her slightly sadistic grin grew larger. „You're a slut, Flava, and Victor knows that. He knows he can't trust you, and that's why he won't ever be your mate." Joltea hadn't thought this would be even possible, but the expression in Flava's eyes grew even more hateful.

„How sad that your last words were spoken by jealousy", she stated, and then charged forward, swiping with her front paw at the area where Joltea had stood just a second ago. But the Jolteon had quickly jumped to the side, and now bolted towards the Flareon in an attempt to bite her. Flava stepped out of the way with a swift move, and while Joltea's brain still had to understand that her target had just vanished, the Jolteon felt a wave of flaming heat rush right past her left side. Flava had used some kind of fire attack, but had obviously missed; still, Joltea felt that some of her yellow fur was burnt. She quickly turned around again, facing the Flareon once more. Within less than a second, pure electricity built up in her, and she launched a Thundershock attack at Flava. The sizzling ball of lightning tore through the air, but as it reached the place where the Flareon had stood, its target was a few meters away already. Flava laughed.

„You're even more pathetic than I though!" Once more, she charged at the Jolteon with amazing speed, but this time she managed to predict in which direction her enemy would try to dodge. Just a second before she would run into Joltea, she jumped to the left; had her target remained standing, she would have missed. But in an attempt to move out of her way, the Jolteon had just jumped right into more trouble.

Flava knocked her over. The Flareon had more speed, more strength and more experience, so she knew how to run into her opponent without hurting herself. For a moment, all Joltea could see was black. She felt a dull pain coming from her left side, and found herself lying on the ground. When she could see again, she recognized her former friend standing over her, staring right in her eyes.

„You have one last chance", said Flava in a low, menacing tone. „Leave now, and never return. Otherwise, I'll have to kill you in order to prevent you from stealing my mate." Joltea stared back at the Flareon, managing not to turn to the side. She had expected the short battle to end this way, and she knew her decision.

„I'm not leaving", she replied, trying not to let her voice sound too shaky because of the pain she was feeling. „I'll never leave Victor."

Now, suddenly, the Flareon's deadly calm seemed to change within less than a second to an even more deadly rage. Joltea could feel the immense heat radiating from Flava's body, and she was surprised it didn't burn her fur. The Flareon's black eyes went wide, and there was an insanely aggressive expression in them.

„You stupid bitch!", she screamed, shaking with anger. Joltea tried to struggle against her, but Flava had pinned her down and held her to the ground. The Flareon was out of control. „You can never have him! He's mine! MINE!" Suddenly, the Jolteon felt a sharp pain surge through her body, as Flava began to frantically scratch and bite at her sides, her chest and her back. Joltea screamed as she felt the Flareon's sharp teeth and claws tear through her flesh, ripping out her fur, leaving bloody marks all over her body. Tears started to flow from the Jolteon's eyes, as she stopped struggling, accepting her fate. Flava was so enraged that she didn't even seem to remember her fire attacks; she'd just bite and tear at Joltea until she would die.

Flava didn't know what exactly it was that controlled her body at the moment, but she knew she liked it. She just wanted the Jolteon to die, so much did she hate her. She wanted to make her feel pain, to completely rip her apart. What was that ugly yellow thing thinking, anyway? That she could just come and try to get between Flava and her mate? Not only had she insulted Flava, but had insulted Victor as well, by claiming he would be unfaithful towards the Flareon and love her instead. She had gone way too far, and now she had to deal with the consequences. Even though she couldn't think straight anymore, Flava had to smile inwardly at the irony. The Jolteon had always been the one talking about being responsible and never doing anything without first off evaluating all possible consequences. It felt good to tear through her flesh, to feel her blood on her paws and to taste it on her tongue. This was what Joltea really deserved.

As the Jolteon lost more and more blood, her mind slowly started to become increasingly dark and unclear. She didn't know if Flava had tore through her neck or not, and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to die. She closed her eyes. Suddenly, she didn't feel angry at the Flareon anymore. She realized how childish her own behaviour had been, and that maybe everything could have been solved if they had just talked... That, maybe, their friendship hadn't really had to be ruined, that it just unfortunately happened this way. She regretted her actions. As a true friend, she should have let Flava become Victor's mate, without trying to interfere. Joltea hated herself for being so selfish. But it was too late for that know. She heard the Flareon continuously biting and scratching her, but she didn't feel pain anymore. Her mind concentrated on a pleasant memory of former times; a picture of Flava and her, how they had just evolved, completely happy about being together and being wih Victor, promising each other...

...to always be there for one another, no matter what would happen, promising to always stay friends, for all eternity and beyond. Flava blinked. Why had she suddenly thought of that memory? But she couldn't dwell on this question any longer, for more and more images were flooding her mind now, all of them depicting Joltea and her, being together, laughing together... That one time, when Flava had saved her friend from an enraged Venusaur, and one time at night, when she had been lying next to Joltea, listening to her endlessly talk about the stars, and how much of a perfect image of eternity they were... Like their eternal friendship that they had promised each other. Suddenly, all of the Flareon's movements stopped, and she realized in horror the mess of torn flesh, ripped-out fur and blood that she had turned her only friend into. For the one most horrible moment in her life, she feared she might have killed her. But as she noticed Joltea taking heavy breaths, she knew at least the Jolteon was still alive. Her blood was being continuously pumped out of her open wounds, though, and it was clear that it would all be over in a matter of minutes. Frozen with the impression of the horrific scene, Flava just stood there at first. Then suddenly, she screamed.

„JOLTEA!!" The Jolteon didn't respond. Panicking, the Flareon didn't know what to do. „No! No, this can't be!" There was nothing she could do! She didn't have any chance to stop the blood from flowing, and Joltea only had a few minutes left! Then, a sudden realization hit her. Victor still had those extremely expensive potions, that he kept for only the worst cases. If anything could save Joltea, then it would be those potions.

„Stay here!", she shouted, not sure if the Jolteon could hear her; it didn't matter anyway, since Joltea definitely wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon. „I'll get help! You're going to be alright!" Flava turned around and dashed off, forcing her paws to move her body as fast as somehow possible. She felt her face starting to get wet with tears, which mixed with Joltea's spilled blood. Having the taste of the Jolteon's blood in her mouth she felt like she was going to throw up, but she didn't have time for that now! Though she didn't even need one minute to find her way back to Victor, it seemed like an eternity to her. If Joltea would survive or not was a matter of seconds now.

„Victor!", she shouted the moment he saw him. He turned to look at her, running towards him from between the trees, covered with blood, tears and dirt. It didn't even take him one second to stand up.

„What happened?", he asked, equally confused and frightened. He quickly took a look around. „Where's Joltea? Is she alright? Did anybody attack you?" Flava shook her head.

„There's no time for questions!", she interrupted. „Quick, grab your backpack with the potions and follow me!" Victor didn't hesitate a moment. He did what the Flareon had told him to do and then ran after her, leaving the tent, that he usually carried around in a second, larger backpack, behind. Flava ran so fast that he almost lost her in the woods, but she didn't even seem to think of slowing down.

„Will you hurry now?", he heard her shout hysterically. „Joltea's going to die!" Victor had already feared exactly this, since the Jolteon had been nowhere to be seen when Flava had appeared in front of him, covered in blood. The confirmation of this horrifying thought just made him speed up, though, and just a short moment later, he stopped as Joltea's body lay in front of him. He had tried to mentally prepare himself for this, but it was still quite a shock. The scratches, the bite marks, the missing fur and the puddle of blood; but it was obvious that the Jolteon was still breathing. Flava sat next to her friend, looking up at Victor with a pleading expression.

He didn't waste any time. Immediately, he kneeled down, taking the backpack off his back, setting it down next to him. He opened it and looked inside; all he saw at first were the weaker potions, but those wouldn't be any good right now. Victor rummaged through the contents of the backpack and managed to find what he was looking for. His expression lit up a little as he pulled out a small plastic bottle, filled with a liquid of a dark blue color. This was one of the most expensive potions they sold, and that was why he had only been able to afford three of them. This was the first time he ever needed such a strong medicine for his Pokémon. Since the only reason they made these potions was to cure battle wounds, he had confidence in its ability to help Joltea.

He wasn't sure if the Jolteon was conscious or not, so he quickly removed the lid from the bottle and lifted Joltea's head with his hand. Then, the trainer carefully opened his Pokémon's muzzle and poured in the liquid, rubbing her neck in order to provoke a swallowing reflex. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw the Jolteon swallowing it all. He was sure she would survive now; as far as he knew, the potions did not only work fabulously against wounds, but also helped restore blood cells, thus preventing Pokémon to die from blood loss.

It was almost a miracle. Less than a minute later, just about all of Joltea's wounds had just disappeared, as if they had never been there. Her fur hadn't grown back, but at least she wasn't losing any more blood now. Victor looked at the empty bottle in his hand. It had been the right decision to expect the worst, back when he had bought this.

„She... She's going to be alright now... isn't she?" Flava's words were interrupted by occasional sobs, and Victor turned around. He had never seen the Flareon cry before. Crying just wasn't something that a Pokémon that found it so important to be strong would do. The trainer took another look at the Jolteon. Though her wounds had been closed, there was still blood just about everywhere. Especially noticable were the blood stains on the white part of her fur, where it wasn't ripped out. Victor knew that Joltea was saved, but it was still hard to look at this mess.

„She'll live", he replied. Then, as he turned to Flava again, he remembered something. His expression grew more concerned. „What about you?", he asked. „Are you injured as well? There's blood all over your fur!" The Flareon looked to the side.

„I'm fine", she mumbled. This was not entirely true. Sure, she was fine in the physical sense, and that was what Victor had wanted to know; but mentally, she felt worse than she had ever felt before. How had she been able to lose control like this? True, Joltea and her had really grown apart over the last days, but they had shared a deep friendship for more than three years before that. Flava just couldn't understand how she had been capable of doing something like this. From now on, the Flareon vowed, she would never be so egoistic again, for her crazy desire to have Victor completely for herself had been what had led to her attacking her best friend in the first place. As soon as Joltea woke up, she would do her best to make this up to her, though she knew that what she had done was basically unforgivable. Joltea would become Victor's mate, and Flava wouldn't object. And if the Jolteon maybe wanted her to leave, then she would do so, without thinking twice about it.

Victor could tell that Flava was deep in thought, and so he decided not to bother her, even though he really wanted to know what had happened here. He slowly rose to his feet and swung the backpack over his back. „I won't put her inside her Pokéball until she has woken up", he stated and then bent over to pick up the Jolteon from the ground. His clothes would probably get stained by Joltea's blood, but he really didn't care about that right now. Holding the Jolteon to his chest, he noticed that she was lighter than he had expected.

„Let's go back and set up the tent", he suggested, already moving towards where Flava and he had come from. „I'm certainly not in the mood for more traveling." The Flareon just nodded and followed him at a slow pace, her head hanging low. Her tears had stopped flowing, but it would not be for long, as she suspected. She had reached a state of self-loathing that probably wouldn't allow her to feel anything besides sorrow for at least a few days.










Joltea felt like she was floating in a dark ocean. She couldn't see anything, she couldn't hear anything, she couldn't smell anything... There was nothing but a comforting darkness. No ground beneath her paws and no sky, but who needed things like that, anyway? All she felt was the silky touch of her black surroundings, gently brushing across her flesh, making all the pain she had felt just moments ago disappear. She smiled. Though she couldn't even see herself, she was still able to tell that she smiled. The comforting touch of the darkness reminded her of water, but this water would never drown her. Joltea's mind could only work at a very slow pace. Was she dead? She kept asking herself this question, but how should she know the answer? All she knew was, that if this was really what death was like, she couldn't think of any reason why everyone was clinging to life so much. It felt so good to just let herself go, without worrying about tomorrow, without anyone telling her what to do and how to do it, to feel so wonderfully sleepy and to be care-free... Yes, sleepy, but she knew that she wouldn't go to sleep. And now she understood; she was still alive, probably unconscious or something like that. But she wasn't dead. If she fell asleep, however, she would die.

Her first instinct was to fight against the sleep, but she quickly realized that this wasn't necessary. It was as if someone else would do the fighting for her, someone who was much stronger. Maybe it was Flava? She was the strongest Pokémon Joltea had ever known, and... But this was ridiculous, as the sleep wasn't a regular enemy, but something less substantial instead. And Joltea knew, as her mind slowly began to function a little better again, that the Flareon could only fight against real opponents and not against symbolic beasts that Joltea's subconscious had made up. No, this was a different kind of battle, and it was nothing less than a battle for her very life, but there was nothing the Jolteon had to do. It all went down almost without her noticing; she felt less and less exhausted, and finally began to struggle against the silky darkness, as it became possible for her to think straight again. And then, she opened her eyes.

At first, it didn't make any difference. There was still darkness everywhere, the Jolteon couldn't see a thing. But she now felt that she was lying on a lightly cold ground that had an artificial feeling to it... She was in the tent, said her mind. For a moment, she just lay there, blinking over and over again, as very slowly she started to see a shape in the darkness. But before she could further investigate it, her ears twitched as she heard a light sniffing sound. Joltea tried to move her head in the direction where the sound had come from, but it seemed to her like the greatest chore in the world to just turn her neck a little, so she didn't move, after all. Her mind seemed to be working as well as always again, though. Joltea figured that, since she was in the tent, Victor must have found her, and he had to have done that pretty quickly, for otherwise she would have been dead by now. But she knew he hadn't followed them, so the only way this could have happened was that Flava had run back in order to get him. Joltea honestly didn't know why the Flareon hadn't killed her. She felt like she would have deserved it, for being probably the worst friend in the world; for having acted like that, and for having said such insulting things as well.

Her eyes seemed to grow used to the darkness, as she was now able to indentify the large shade in front of her as Victor. He was obviously asleep, even though he wasn't in his sleeping back, but instead just lay on the floor in a somewhat strange position. Joltea figured that he had wanted to wait for her awakening, trying not to fall asleep himself. She smiled at that thought, and was a little annoyed that even this minor movement took her more effort than it usually did. Yes, this was exactly what Victor would do, deprive himself from sleep in order to make sure his Pokémon would be alright. It was no surprise he hadn't been able to keep himself awake for too long, though, as traveling sure had to take a lot out of him. Having recognized Victor, the only possible person who could have made that sound was Flava. And as Joltea listened closely, she heard it again; a soft sniff, almost inaudible, and the Flareon's breathing that was a little deeper than usual. The Jolteon wanted to turn her head again, but then decided it would be better to gain Flava's attention a different way. Her muzzle opened and she mouthed the Flareon's name, but no sound escaped her throat. She noticed how dry her mouth was. Joltea focused on gathering some saliva, and then tried it again.

"Flava..." It was just a whisper, and it was even lower than Joltea had intended it to be. She heard another sniff.

„Jol... Joltea?" Flava's voice sounded shaky and unsure, so very different from her usual tone. Since Joltea still hadn't turned her head, she couldn't see the Flareon. But she still noticed her stepping closer as the sound of her breathing grew louder. The Jolteon then felt the familiar sensation of Flava's nose lightly touching her neck and it sent a shiver down her spine as it reminded her of the deep friendship they had always shared.

„Joltea...", whispered the Flareon softly. „Please tell me that it wasn't just my imagination... Please tell me that you really are awake..."

„I'm awake", replied Joltea, her voice still as low as before. She could almost feel the Flareon stop moving. Then, after a moment, Flava walked around the Jolteon so she could look at her. It was still hard to make out anything in the heavy darkness, but as the Flareon brought her face closer to Joltea's, she could see everything she needed to see. Flava's eyes had the greatest expression of worry in them that the Jolteon had ever seen, and the fur beneath the black pools was matted with tears. For a moment, Joltea almost couldn't believe it. Never before had she seen the strong Flareon cry.

„You're awake", repeated Flava with a shivering voice, in which surprise, relieve, guilt and worry seemed to mix. Very slowly, she lowered her head a little more and gave Joltea a long, affectionate lick across the length of her muzzle. „You're awake."

For a moment, the Jolteon just looked at her friend. She was so glad she hadn't died; she'd have missed seeing Flava's face forever. And Victor... But Victor was asleep right now, and this was the perfect opportunity to recreate her friendship with the Flareon, so that was what she would be focusing on right now.

„Flava...", she began, but the Flareon interrupted her:

„Oh Joltea, I'm so sorry!" More tears were flowing from her eyes now. She was still whispering, taking care not to wake up Victor. „I... What I did was so horrible, and... And I won't ask you to forgive me, because I know that such a thing can never be forgiven!" She took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself down, but it didn't work. Flava sobbed. „I'm sorry for ruining our friendship, I'm sorry for trying to take Victor from you, I'm sorry for lying about having mated with him and I'm sorry for... For..." Flava just couldn't say it. She tried to get these words out of her throat, but they just seemed to turn into more tears. She closed her eyes as she lay down besides Joltea, crying and sobbing, covering her eyes with her front paws like a little child.

Joltea just couldn't watch her friend like this. She managed to gather some strength and lift up her head. Then, she licked the Flareon across her cheek. Flava turned to her and opened her eyes again. She didn't stop crying.

„It was all my fault", whispered Joltea. „Don't blame yourself for what has happened. I just kept making you mad, there was no way you wouldn't try to do anything about it..." Flava shook her head.

„Joltea, I tried to kill you!" Her own words scared her for a second, but she tried not to pay them too much attention. „Do you not realize what that means?" Oddly enough, Joltea smiled.

„It's alright", she assured the Flareon. „I'm still alive. And you'd never have done it if I hadn't been so insulting and egoistic, so I'm the one to blame here, really..." Flava just shook her head.

„What are you talking about, Joltea?", she whispered. „You weren't the one starting this fight..." She sighed softly. „Look... You were right, from the beginning on. You were even right with saying Victor could never love me... It's true, I'm insensitive and cold-hearted, and that I almost killed you proved just once more that I don't care about anyone but myself..."

„Have you already told Victor about what happened?", Joltea interrupted suddenly. It took the Flareon some time to answer.

„Yes...", she said reluctantly. „But... his reaction was... kind of strange..." The Jolteon smiled to herself. She was pretty sure of how Victor had reacted.

„What did he do?", she whispered. Flava turned her head to look at her trainer's sleeping form.

„Nothing...", she replied slowly. „You know, I thought he'd punish me in some way, or make me leave... But instead, he just sighed and told me that this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been such a fool..." She looked at Joltea again and saw her smile. „You know what that was supposed to mean", she suspected. If the Jolteon had had the strength, she would have nodded.

„It's not that hard to figure out", she claimed. Flava perked up her ears. „We both told him about our feelings, and he probably didn't want to choose, in order to not make either one of us unhappy... So he wanted us to clear this up among ourselves. And now, that you..." Joltea stopped for a second as she didn't want her next words to sound too accusing, „...that I got hurt, he blames himself for it... Because he thinks that, if he had made the decision instead, this battle would never have happened." The Flareon nodded. What Joltea had said made sense, definitely.

„So...", she began, „if that's the case, why hasn't he made his decision yet? He could have just told me to leave, and the problem would be solved now..."

„He doesn't want you to leave", replied Joltea. She closed her eyes. „Look, Flava... He loves you. He couldn't make you leave. But maybe he'll send me away... When you two become mates, then I'll just be in the way, and I can't even fight, so I'm practically useless. He'll want to wait until I'm fully recovered, though..."

„But that's stupid!", interrupted Flava. „Why should he ever make you leave? There would be no point in that, you're just the one he needs as a mate..." She shook her head. „Look, Joltea, I haven't told you about this before, but I asked Victor to mate with me two times already... And he refused. Do you think he'd have done that, if he didn't care about you?" For a moment, the Jolteon didn't reply. She just looked past Flava at her trainer.

„It must be so hard for him to make such a decision", she mumbled. Her gaze went back to the Flareon. „Flava... What if... What if he really chose me? How would that make you feel?" Flava took a deep breath.

„In all honesty", she spoke slowly, „I'd be disappointed, of course I would... But I would understand and respect his decision." A soft smile formed on her face. „And I'd be happy for you, Joltea. I know that having a mate like Victor had always been one of your greatest dreams, and... and I guess that's why I wouldn't be too desperate." She brought her face a little closer to the Jolteon's. „We're friends, after all", she added in a whisper. The Jolteon's eyes closed once more and she returned the smile.

„We're friends", she agreed. After a moment, she went on: „You know, now that we've come to this point I find our assumption that one of us had to leave to be pretty short-sighted... I mean... Let's just say you and Victor become mates and you're happy with each other, then why should I have anything against it? Victor is the one I love and you're my best friend... I only want what's best for him and for you, and as long as everyone's happy..." Joltea sighed softly. „Of course, I'd always be reminded that he doesn't love me the way I love him, but... he'd be happy... as well as you, Flava..." Her smile grew a little more stable. „I guess that would make me happy as well." The Flareon turned to look at her sleeping trainer.

„I guess we should talk about this with him in the morning", she replied lowly. „He has to make a decision in the end, anyway."

„You're right", agreed Joltea, and yawned. „I'm still very exhausted, anyway... And there's no point in keeping us awake with a question that we will never find an answer to by ourselves." Flava nodded and walked around the Jolteon again. She lay down next to her, so that her side came in touch with Joltea's back. The Flareon lifted her head and carefully placed it on her friend's neck; it wasn't as soft as it had used to be, since about half of Joltea's fur was missing. Flava sighed.

„Joltea?", she whispered, not sure if her friend had fallen asleep already.

„Yeah?"

„I don't know what had gotten into me back then", Flava mumbled, „but I promise I'll never let anything like this happen again." She closed her eyes, but even now she could tell that Joltea smiled.

„I know", came the answer.

„Yes", agreed the Flareon. „You know."











Victor awoke with a feeling of anxiety, knowing that he had just had a nightmare, but having already forgotten what it had been about. The next thing he felt was a slight pain in his right arm and he opened his eyes, noticing that he must had fallen asleep while waiting for Joltea to awake from her unconsciousness. He was in a rather uncomfortable position and his right arm had to carry most of his weight. Victor groaned softly as he sat up; not only did his arm hurt, but he was suffering from a severe headache as well. Moving his hand up to his forehead, he noticed that his hair was a mess. He assumed that his bad condition was a direct result of his worrying about the Jolteon, which he now noticed right in front of him, lying on her side. Flava was resting next to her, with her head placed on the Jolteon's neck. Victor took in the scene for a moment. He was grateful to have cleaned both of his Pokémon from the blood they had been covered in last night; there were still a few lightly red stains on Joltea's fur and Flava's white hair, though, which he hadn't been able to get rid of with only a rag and some water. When they finally reached the city he was heading for, he'd have to make sure to give both of them a good bath, regardless of how much Flava would protest, being a fire Pokémon and all.

Victor moved to the entrance of the tent and left it, taking in a deep breath of the morning air. It was definitely refreshing, but not as cold as it normally was, since he still wore the same clothes he had worn the day before, instead of his pyjamas. He stood up and stretched, trying to prevent his limbs from getting cramped, which just seemed to intensify the pain in his right arm a little. Victor sighed and looked at his watch. It wasn't even 7:00 yet. He still felt incredibly tired and neither his legs nor his arms really seemed like they wanted to move. But he didn't want to go back to sleep, for he knew that this time, his worries would probably prevent him from doing so.

„What am I supposed to do?", he mumbled. Naturally, nobody answered his question. It almost appeared as if the world was trying to mock him for a second. Everything seemed to be so peaceful and quiet, and yet he had a difficult situation on his hands that could easily turn into a complete disaster. Still, he now knew that the only way out of it would be to face his problems. He had tried to flee from his responsibility by letting Flava and Joltea try to solve the problem themselves, and the only result had been that his Jolteon nearly died. At least Flava regretted what she had done; so much, in fact, that she had tried to convince Victor a few times that it would be better for everyone if he made her leave, to which the trainer hadn't agreed, of course. Maybe, there was still a chance of the two Pokémon becoming friends once more... Maybe, this whole situation could still be solved without anyone feeling rejected... Yeah, and maybe Victor would suddenly realize how to grow wings and fly off to the moon, to start a new life up there. The truth was, that a complicated problem required a complicated solution, and that he had no idea of how he should manage to come up with anything that wasn't entirely unfair. Besides that, he just didn't want to choose; not only for the sake of his Pokémon, but for his sake as well, because he knew that being mates with one of them could never be completely satisfying, as he loved them both.

„Victor?", came a low voice from behind, and the young trainer turned around. In the entrance of the tent there stood Flava, looking up at him with an expression that was somewhat hard to figure out.

„What is it?", he wanted to know, raising his hand again to try and straighten his messy hair. The Flareon didn't seem to notice the exhausted undertone in his voice.

„Could you come inside?", she asked, taking a quick look over her shoulder. „There's something we need to talk about with you."

„We?", repeated Victor as he stepped closer to the tent again. „Do you mean Joltea's awake?" Flava nodded in response.

„She woke up for the first time last night, about one hour after you had fallen asleep", she explained. „We've been talking about... well..." She looked to the side. „I'm pretty sure you can guess what we've been talking about", she said finally. „Now, we want to put an end to all this uncertainty once and for all." Having said these words, the Flareon turned around and disappeared inside the tent. Victor quickly followed her, the first thing he noticed being Joltea who was sitting next to Flava. The trainer sighed in relief, as his Pokémon appeared to have recovered quite well from her injuries, but his expression remained concerned.

„How are you feeling?", he asked the Jolteon, placing his hand on her side, gently rubbing her a little. Joltea smiled at him.

„I'm fine", she replied. „Don't worry." Victor frowned.

„Are you sure about that?", he went on. „Does any part of your body still hurt, is there still a wound that hasn't healed?" The Jolteon shook her head.

„My body is fine", she said in a more convincing tone. Victor stopped stroking her side as he noticed her emphasize on the word „body".

„But something else isn't", he suspected. Joltea looked to the side.

„Well...", she began, but then didn't go on. Instead, Flava spoke:

„That's exactly the reason why we have to talk." She waited until Victor had sat down in front of the two females. He knew it was obvious that he knew what this was about, and yet still he asked:

„What do we have to talk about?" The Flareon looked at Joltea, and the yellow-furred female sighed.

„Look, Victor", she began reluctantly, „we understand that you didn't want to make any kind of decision, and we really appreciate that, because it shows just how much you care about both of us... But it can't go on like this, you see, Flava and I are both unsure about this and... Well, I guess the only way this problem can be solved would be if you made some kind of decision... Whatever this might mean for the three of us." The trainer didn't say anything, though he knew that his Pokémon expected some kind of answer from him. After a while, Flava sighed.

„We know you thought about this a lot", she stated. „You'd never do anything without having thought about it beforehand, and since both Joltea and I told you about our feelings for you, we know that you must have had some thoughts about this subject."

„We understand that such a decision must be very hard", added Joltea quickly, „but we just have to ask this from you, you see... Otherwise, everything will just remain as it is now..." Slowly, Victor shook his head. His mind was so hard at work that his headache just intensified more and more. He closed his eyes, softly massaging his forehead with his fingers.

„You two are friends again, right?", he suspected. It hadn't taken him long to notice that his Pokémon behaved differently than they had behaved when they had obviously rivaled for his attention. Though he had his eyes closed, Flava and Joltea both nodded.

„We apologized to each other", said the Flareon, and the Jolteon added: „True friendship survives any kind of crisis." This didn't make it easier for Victor. Sure, he was relieved that his Pokémon weren't enemies anymore, but this meant that, in case he chose one of them, there was a high chance he'd ruin their friendship once more. For some reason, this situation just continued to grow worse; he simply didn't want to lose either one of them, or become mates with one if it meant to reject the other one. After a moment, he opened his eyes again.

„Look", he said, after having taken a deep breath. Both Flava's and Joltea's ears perked up. The Pokémon were eager to listen to their trainer's words. „You can't expect me to just agree to become mates with one of you and then completely ignore the feelings of the other one. If I did that, then the whole situation would get even worse..."

„It would be alright with me if you chose Joltea", said Flava quickly. „I would understand that. I promise I won't stand in true love's way."

„Neither would I object if you chose Flava", added Joltea. A pleading expression flooded her black eyes. „Please, Victor, there's nothing to be afraid of, Flava and I won't fight anymore. We just want you to be happy, we want you to become mates with the one you truly love, regardless of who that would be."

„But I love both of you!" Victor's hand ran through his hair in a nervous gesture. „Neither am I able to, nor do I want to choose between you! It wouldn't make anyone happy, there'd just be a lot of tension between the three of us!" He shook his head. Both the Flareon and the Jolteon appeared to be very surprised by his answer.

„You love... both of us?", repeated Flava in an unbelieving tone. Victor sighed.

„I wouldn't want to lose any of you two", he replied. Then, he held out his hands, offering the right one to Joltea and the left one to Flava. After a short moment, both Pokémon placed one of their front paws in his hands. Victor started to gently caress their paws while looking at his Pokémon, taking care not to pay either one of them more attention than the other one. „I will not choose", Victor repeated. „I couldn't live with such a decision." For a while, there was silence. An unspoken question hung in the air, and Flava, as well as Joltea and Victor felt uncertain. That was, until the Flareon finally asked:

„So... What will happen now?" Victor lowered his gaze.

„That depends", he replied in a lower tone. „Since I love both of you, and you love me as well... There would be a solution that would put nobody at a disadvantage. But there'd be a lot of trust required, between you two as well as between you and me." Joltea swallowed and then took a deep breath.

„We could... We could both become your mates", she spoke. Slowly, she retreated her paw. Flava did the same, as the Jolteon looked at her. „He's right", Joltea continued. „That really does require a lot of trust." The Flareon shrugged.

„If there is anyone in the world I know I can trust, then it's you two", she stated. Then, she looked to the side. „And... And if you can also trust me again, Joltea, even after what I did, then... Then this could really work." Flava bit her lip. „But, you know... I'd understand it if you said you couldn't trust me... In fact, I shouldn't ask you to do this, it's kind of..."

„Have you forgotten about our talk last night?", interrupted Joltea. She stepped closer to her friend and gently nudges Flava's cheek with her nose. „We're friends", she whispered. „Friends will always trust each other." A smile formed on the Flareon's face.

„You're right", she agreed in a low tone and then turned to face Victor. „Victor...", she began, but stopped as her trainer made a gesture with his hand that signaled her not to say anything. He then motioned his Pokémon to come closer to him, and they both agreed. Almost perfectly sychronised, they rose up on their hind legs and leaned against him; Flava placed her front paws on Victor's left shoulder, while Joltea held herself to his right side. They gave him a lick across both his cheeks at once, as he embraced them with his arms, holding them close.

„I love you both equally", he said, „and this will never change, I promise."










Just a short while later, all three of them were marching through the woods again, Victor leading the way. The two females followed at a certain distance, because they had to discuss something in private, as they had told him before. The trainer was relieved that everything had worked out so well in the end, especially as he would never have dared to believe before that an actual solution could ever be found. Joltea and Flava were best friends again, he was now officially mates with both of them, the weather was nice and they would reach the city in the early evening; there was absolutely nothing that could lower his spirits at the moment. Every single problem was taken care of, and he didn't have to worry about anything anymore.

Joltea and Flava felt just about the same, except for one thing that still needed to be taken care of. For that reason, they had decided to walk a few meters behind Victor. They didn't want him to overhear their conversation.

„Tonight we'll be in a hotel room", said Flava in a low tone. „Now, the only question is, which one of us will sleep in a Pokéball and which one will enjoy the night with our lovely mate?" Joltea looked at Victor for a moment, before turning to Flava.

„I know you've been wanting to mate with him for quite some time", she replied in an equally low tone. „So, I really don't want to keep you from..." The Flareon shook her head.

„Joltea", she argued, „this is not only about mating, but also..." She decided to start over as she feared she wouldn't get her point across this way. „You're the more romantic one of us, more idealistic, more... emotional. You see, whichever one of us mates with him tonight will be his first; I know that you apply a certain meaning to this." She could tell that her friend blushed under her fur as the Jolteon quickly looked away. Flava took a deep breath. „I want you to be the one he loses his virginity to", she went on. „I know that'd make you very happy..."

„Don't tell me it wouldn't make you happy to mate with him", Joltea interrupted. The Flareon chuckled lowly.

„I don't care so much about if he's still a virgin or not", she replied. „But I know you do." The Jolteon nodded slowly, her blush still hadn't disappeared.

„That's true...", she agreed in a whisper. She faced Flava again. „Are you really absolutely sure about this, Flava? I don't want you to be put at any kind of disadvantage..." The Flareon shook her head and smiled.

„Don't worry so much for once. You know I wouldn't lie to you about something as important as this." For a moment, Joltea almost seemed to be convinced, but then something else came to her mind.

„And... You're not just doing this because of... what happened?" Flava knew that the Jolteon was talking about how she had attacked her, and shook her head.

„Look, Joltea", she said in a serious tone to signalise she would not let this argument proceed any further, „I'm doing this because I'm your friend, and because I know that this means a lot more to you than it does to me. Sometimes you just have to accept it when somebody wants to do you a favor, and not ponder about it until..." The Flareon stopped, as she realized just how many times Joltea and her had had a conversation like this during the past three years. The memory made her smile. It was good to know that their friendship still was the same it had always been. The Jolteon nodded.

„Alright", she finally agreed. „Thank you, Flava."










Just as Victor had predicted, they reached the outskirts of the city at about 6:30 PM. Joltea knew that it was too late to go fighting for money now, since the public battle arenas all over the country closed at 5:00 PM. But before Victor would check into a hotel, he would sign up at the arena for the next day.

Joltea had never liked the city. It was noisy, crowded and the air was way too polluted; her sensitive nose found the odor to be very repulsive. For some reason, Flava had quite opposite thoughts about this topic. She found it all to be very exciting and usually became even more energetic when she could be at such a loud, confusing place. Since Victor knew this, he kneeled down next to Joltea before they had reached the center of the city and asked her:

„Would you like me to return you to your Pokéball? I know you don't like big cities that much..." The Jolteon smiled softly. Now that Flava and she were friends again, there was no reason why she should refuse.

„That'd be great, thank you", she replied. Victor gave her right ear a gentle rub and then took out her Pokéball. Just a moment later, she found herself surrounded by silent darkness. Not one sound from outside could penetrate the Pokéball's walls, and so she let out a happy sigh and relaxed, thinking about what would happen later this night.










It wasn't too much later that she was released again, or at least that was how it appeared to her. In fact, it was already 9:48 PM, as she could see on the alarm clock, that was placed on the generic table next to the generic bed in a generic room of a generic hotel. This was one of the reasons Joltea normally preferred not to be in the city. Outside, everything was unique, the countryside, the forest... Hotel rooms always had the same white walls, the same brown carpet, the same cupboard and the same TV. Only the scenery that could be seen through the windows was the one thing that was at least a little different between each of these rooms. From what the Jolteon could tell, this hotel had to be in some sort of skyscraper or at least a very high building. Since she sat on the floor and wasn't tall enough to look out of the window at such an angle so she would be able to see the ground beneath, all she was able to make out were other skyscrapers and some sort of thin, large needle, that most probably was a radio station of some kind. In fact, she wasn't even able to recognize this; all she could see were the lights in the windows of the skyscrapers and on top of the needle-like building. It was too dark already to take notice of anything else outside, and even though there was not a single cloud obscuring the sky, it proved to be quite an effort to make out even a single star, since the light from the city was so strong that it just swallowed every kind of natural sparkle. Not even the moon was visible; the window faced in the wrong direction.

All this took her just a moment to take in, and about a second later, she felt Victor give her a pat on the head. She looked up at her trainer and smiled.

„I'm going to have a shower", he said, returning the Jolteon's smile. „It's been days." He headed for the door that led to the bathroom, but stopped for a second as Flava, who sat on the ground next to Joltea, said jokingly:

„Don't be too long. We'll miss you." Victor turned around once more, grinning.

„You can join me if you want, you know?" The Flareon shivered at the mere thought of water.

„No, thanks." Then suddenly, an idea came to her. „How about you just take Joltea?" The Jolteon gasped and turned to her friend with an expression that combined surprise and concern.

„What's that supposed to mean?", she asked in a whisper. The Flareon shrugged.

„Isn't this what you wanted?", she whispered back.

„You've got to get a good wash, anyway", Victor added, pointing at Joltea. „You know, you've still got some blood stains on your fur..." The Jolteon blushed heavily.

„Yes, well, I... I can wash that off some other time." Victor's expression changed to something between a frown and a concerned look. He moved back over to the Jolteon and kneeled down next to her. The trainer raised his hand and placed it on the back of Joltea's neck, starting to gently rub her.

„What's wrong, love?", he asked in a very caring tone. Flava decided to keep quiet. This was something between Victor and Joltea, and she wouldn't get between them. After all, she had agreed that this would be the Jolteon's night. Joltea looked to the side and took a deep breath.

„It's... It's just..." She shook her head and then tried again: „It's just that, if we took this shower together, I know what would happen, and I... I don't want it to be like this... Not the first time..." She looked at Victor again, who didn't seem to fully understand her. She blushed even more, so much in fact that she was certain he'd notice it, especially with parts of her fur missing. „I... I'd rather..." She motioned over to the bed by moving her head. Victor nodded and smiled softly, as he understood what she meant.

„Alright, then", he said, giving Joltea a kiss on her cheek. „Nobody's going to force you to do anything." He stood up again and then headed for the bathroom once more. As he closed the door, he gave the Jolteon another reassuring smile and she calmed down a little. There came a low chuckle from Flava.

„You know, it's weird how much thought you're putting into this", she stated. She stood up and went over to where Victor had placed her and Joltea's Pokéballs on the ground. „Really, Joltea, you need to learn how to be at least a little more spontaneous, not everything can be planned out entirely..." She shook her head as she moved closer to her Pokéball. „Whatever, I'll let you have your privacy now, so..."

„Wait!", interrupted Joltea and Flava looked up. The Jolteon's face showed a pleading expression. „Just... Just stay with me until he returns, please..." The Flareon blinked in a confused manner, as she turned and walked back over to her friend. It was obvious to her that Joltea was very nervous for some reason.

„Since when do you fear being alone?", Flava asked in a halfway serious tone. The Jolteon shook her head.

„That's not it", she replied. „It's just... I... I need to talk with you..." Now, the Flareon sat down in front of Joltea. Her tone of voice became a little more serious.

„What do you need to talk about?" For a short while, the Jolteon didn't give her an answer. From the bathroom, there came the sound of running water. Victor had turned on the shower.

„I...", Joltea said finally, „I... Suddenly, I'm feeling very... unsure about this..." Flava tilted her head to the side.

„Unsure?", she repeated. „Why should you feel unsure?" The Jolteon blushed.

„It'll be my first time, after all...", she mumbled. „I don't even really know how to... I mean... What if I do something wrong?" A soft smile formed on the Flareon's face.

„Just let Victor take care of everything", she proposed. „You know humans and their schools, they get taught about almost everything there... I'm sure he knows at least enough about this to make you feel better than you ever did before..." This sentence seemed to calm the Jolteon down a little, but there still appeared to be something on her mind.

„Still...", she said, „what if he doesn't... What if I can't satisfy him for some reason? What if..." Flava shook her head and further approached her friend. She nudged Joltea's cheek with her nose in a soothing manner.

„You're thinking way too much", she whispered. „Thoughts can be a burden sometimes... You should just enjoy your first time mating with your love and not think too much about why you enjoy it, or what could happen..." She gave Joltea a soft lick across her cheek. „It'll all go well", she concluded in a reassuring tone. The Jolteon nodded slowly. Her gaze was locked on the bathroom door.

„It'll hurt, won't it?" She didn't raise her voice enough at the end for this sentence to be a real question. Flava looked at the door as well.

„A little, I guess, in the beginning... But that's not what you should focus on." She turned back to her friend. „Look, Joltea, you know that Victor would never hurt you intentionally or do anything with which you wouldn't feel comfortable. And even if anything went wrong, which won't happen, by the way, he'd never be angry at you or anything like that. I'm telling you this one last time, Joltea: There is nothing you have to be worried about." The understanding, yet convinced tone of Flava's voice combined with the Flareon's soft smile were enough to make Joltea realize the truth of her words. Slowly, there began to form a smile on her face as well.

„Thank you so much, Flava", she spoke in a low tone and gave her friend a lick across her cheek. „You're the greatest friend in the world." Now it was the Flareon who blushed.

„That's not true", she replied, thinking back at how she had attacked the Jolteon. But then, she smiled again. „But I'm trying my best." Feeling her work was done, Flava turned around and moved over to her Pokéball again. She looked up once more and wished her friend a good night, which Joltea returned. She then nudged her Pokéball with her nose, until she felt the red and white object starting to shiver and got sucked into the ball just a moment later.

Joltea watched as her friend suddenly disappeared. Now, there was nothing left exept for herself and the dampened sound of the running shower in the bathroom. She looked at the bed next to her, almost getting embarassed by her own thoughts. Flava was right, she shouldn't worry so much. With a swift move she jumped up, landing on the comfortably soft bedsheets. She smiled to herself. It would definitely feel better here than it would have felt on the hard floor in the shower. Since she was now higher up, it was easier for her to look out of the window. There came a glowy light from the bottom of the city, which was likely to be created by the street lamps, that were still obscured from Joltea's view. Looking at the sky, she was able to recognize one or two stars with some effort, and she smiled to herself.

„Thank you", she whispered, and then lay down on her side, her gaze locked on the bathroom door.

After a while, the sound of running water stopped, and Joltea pictured in her mind how Victor would now step out of the shower and reach for a towel to dry himself... Hopefully, he wouldn't take too long. During the past three years, she had been able to catch a glimpse of his naked body every now and then, but this had always been by accident. She quickly thought about what was going to happen now. What should she say when her trainer would leave the bathroom? She'd have to watch her words, in order to... But then she remembered what Flava had told her just moments ago, and the Jolteon took a deep breath. It was true. There were things that couldn't be planned out in advance.

Then, suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened. Joltea raised her head and held her breath. Victor was wearing a white towel around his waist; moving her gaze a little higher, the Jolteon saw that his long hair was loose, and still seemed to be kind of wet. Obviously, he hadn't wanted to take his time drying it properly. Joltea smiled inwardly as she interpreted this as a signal that he wanted to be with her as soon as possible.

Victor moved over to the bed and slowly sat down beside her, all the while keeping his eyes locked with hers. Joltea approached him. For some reason, she was feeling completely calm now; her former worries had just vanished away. She didn't ponder about what would be the best thing to say anymore, as she simply felt that not a single word was needed at the moment. She looked at him with a slightly expectant expression. After a short moment, Victor turned around and placed his legs on the bed as well, so that he was now completely facing the Jolteon. He raised his hand and slowly directed it to Joltea's cheek, which he then started to gently rub in an affectionate manner. The Jolteon closed her eyes halfway and let out a soft purring sound of enjoyment.

„Come a little closer...", whispered Victor, and Joltea took a step towards him. He kept his hand on her cheek, carefully holding her head in place, as he brought his lips closer to hers. For just a split second, the Jolteon's worries returned again; she wasn't sure how exactly her muzzle could match up with the human's lips, and the fact that this would be her first kiss ever didn't make her feel more certain about it, either. But as her mouth came in touch with Victor's, she didn't waste a single thought to worrying anymore. Instead, she closed her eyes and tilted her head a little to the side, making it easier to meet in a kiss with her trainer. Not only did this work a lot better than she had expected, but it also almost made her go into some kind of trance, as she was overwhelmed with this completely new sensation. Instinctively, she pushed her head forwards a little, making the kiss deeper. It wasn't much later that she felt Victor's tongue gently brush over hers, and without even knowing what she did she had already wrapped her own slick organ around it, massaging it in order to make her trainer enjoy the kiss just as much as she was enjoying it.

Her body seemed to move by itself, as the small part of her mind that was completely confused at how she managed to do this without having any kind of former experience on the subject was absolutely ignored. This was definitely not a time to think. There were other things she was focusing on right now, like that incredibly warm feeling coming from deep within her, for example, that, as she assumed, was the flame of love burning inside her body. The wonderful feeling remained, even as Victor slowly broke the kiss. He still had his hand on her cheek, though, and she smiled at his soft touch. Her eyes opened.

„Tell me what to do." Joltea felt like she had to whisper, as any louder way of speaking would be inappropriate for such an intimate situation. Her trainer returned her soft smile.

„Just lie down on your back", he replied in the same low tone. The Jolteon nodded, took a few steps back and then lay down, turning over onto her back with her head resting on the soft pillow that lay on the bed. It was definitely a comfortable position to be in, and her smile only broadened as she spread her hind legs a little. She wasn't sure exactly what Victor would do next; of course she had a basic idea of mating, but she also knew that there were many kinds of different variations of it. She'd just have to let him surprise her.

She saw him slowly raising his hand. Slowly, not reluctantly; all his motions told her that he wanted this just as much as she did, but also that he had no intention of rushing anything. Victor placed her hand on the white fur around her neck. Even though some of it had been ripped out, there was still enough for his hand to disappear in, as he started to gently rub the skin underneath. Joltea arched her head back a little and sighed happily. She felt the remaining last bit of tension leave her body, as her trainer's hand traveled down towards her chest. Soon, his fingers lightly brushed across her nipples, which sent a shiver of pleasure through her body. There were eight of them, not completely obscured by the yellow fur that covered her breasts. For now they were still supple and not too big, though they still grew recognizably smaller in the direction of her waist. Her largest set of breasts, however, almost looked like that of a human female, if it hadn't been for the fur covering it, which wasn't as dense as the fur on the rest of her body. Still, they were small enough to not be seen when she stood up, but she knew that, if she became pregnant some day, her breasts would grow larger as they would start to fill up with milk for her children. For a short moment, she almost lost herself in that fantasy again; how wonderful it would be to bear and raise Victor's children... But her thought got interrupted as she heard him speak:

„I never really told you just how beautiful you are, have I?" Joltea's gaze focused on Victor again. She thought back. It was true, he had never explicitely said anything like that. Joltea blushed.

„I'm not beautiful", she mumbled in an embarassed tone. It came to her mind just how messy she had to be looking, with almost half of her fur being gone and the blood stains... But her trainer just smiled and shook his head.

„I guess modesty is a virtue, so that's alright", he said. His right hand had come to a halt on Joltea's belly. Now, he moved his left one up to one of her large ears and gave it a gentle rub. Victor bent over to bring his head closer to hers and whispered in that same ear: „It's true, nonetheless. You are beautiful, whether you accept it or not." Joltea wasn't quite sure how to react to this. Did he expect her to deny it once more? But maybe she would seem too... Mentally, she scolded herself. She was thinking too much about all this again! Those were just details anyway, and though they were far from being unimportant, the Jolteon still knew she shouldn't worry too much about it. This thought got confirmed as she felt Victor's right hand move again; it slowly wandered from her belly across her waist, and between her hind legs. Joltea let out a soft gasp, though her trainer hadn't even touched her most sensitive place yet. She looked up at him and saw that there was a certain hint of concern in his expression.

„If you want me to stop at some point, then just say so", he told her. „I won't do anything with which you don't feel completely comfortable." Joltea smiled softly. It was so sweet of him to say that...

„Please go on", she whispered in a slightly urging tone. „I... I'm certain I will enjoy this..." She knew that, between her legs, there had grown a very small wet spot. The thought of what Victor was about to do to her had made her pretty excited. Her trainer smiled lovingly.

„I promise I'll do my best." Just a second later, she felt him rub across her entrance with a single finger. Joltea took a deep breath. Even this slight touch had been enough to remind her that this would be like nothing she had ever felt before. It was something new, something exciting and something... pleasant. Not only pleasant, but... enjoyable? No, those words couldn't do it justice by far. But Joltea just couldn't think about this any further, as Victor's fingers rubbed up and down across her vaginal lips. The Jolteon had closed her eyes and her mouth was standing agape. Without even noticing it, she gave soft yips of pleasure. Her trainer's fingers were soft and warm, and it felt wonderful how he slowly, very slowly increased the pressure on her sex, which was now getting wetter by the second. Joltea pushed her head back into the pillow. Just a moment later, she wasn't able to focus on anything anymore, and her thoughts had just completely disappeared. She only knew that Victor was doing something to her, that it was the greatest thing she had ever felt, and that she wished it would go on forever. Her mind did not contain any other information than these three points, for her body was completely occupied with the overwhelming feeling of pleasure coming from the lower part of her body.

Even though Victor had never done this before, he still had an at least basic understanding of how to pleasure a female. And, judging by Joltea's behaviour, he wasn't doing a bad job at all; the Jolteon had started panting now, her eyes were closed and whenever he rubbed across her entrance, it would elict a soft moan from her. He was glad that he could make his mate feel this good, but he also knew that Joltea wanted more, even though she hadn't said anything. Slowly, he pulled his hand away from her lap, listening as her breathing got a little steadier again. His fingers were covered in the juices she had leaked, and he raised his hand to the mouth. As he licked his hand clean, he found the taste to be quite enjoyable; in fact, it made him want more. From the corner of his eyes he noticed that Joltea had opened her eyes about halfway. She was probably wondering why he had stopped; well, he wouldn't let her wait. He repositioned himself on the bed so that he was now lying on his belly in front of the Jolteon, and then lowered his head between her hind legs.

Joltea's mind had just started to work well enough again so she had been able to ask herself why Victor had suddenly stopped rubbing her and why he was now changing his position. The Jolteon herself didn't move, though. Her trainer would tell her if he wanted her to move, and until then she would stay just like she was. And suddenly, she felt an odd feeling coming from her crotch, which quickly turned into an even greater pleasure than she had felt before. Just as her mind drifted into its strangely blissfully ignorant state again, she was able to realize that Victor was now licking her, his wet tongue sending her into a world of pure happiness.

Victor asked himself if Joltea had actually noticed just how loud she was moaning right now. If she went on like this, she had not such a bad chance to wake up the entire hotel - not that Victor cared about that right now. He was occupied with giving the Jolteon long, sensual licks across her vaginal lips, while holding back her fur with his fingers. Every lick he took got him another taste of Joltea's fluids, of which he just wanted more the more he received. He thought about it; either he could go on like this for another while, or he could intensify the experience for the Jolteon once more. He noticed that, on both sides of his head, her hind legs were twitching occasionally. Every now and then, a shiver went through her body. It was obvious to him that Joltea wouldn't need much more stimulation to reach her climax, and so he decided to finish this. Moving one of his fingers he was holding her fur apart with, he searched for her clitoris and finally found it. He gave it a few firm rubs with his finger, while pressing his tongue against the Jolteon's vagina with increased force, until he heard Joltea cry out in pure bliss.

Joltea felt like she was going to fall unconscious. Her whole body seemed to be on fire, especially the place between her legs. The pleasure she was feeling and which had greatly increased over time, had now reached its definite peak. The Jolteon still hadn't control over her body, though, and so she just noticed herself tremble. She was also pretty sure that she screamed out in bliss, although she couldn't be certain, since her hearing sense had been shut down in order to let her focus completely on what Victor did. It was an undescribable feeling, one that was completely foreign to her, yet she knew it was the greatest she had ever felt. But it lastet only short, way too short; then, Joltea's mind seemed to snap back into reality. Suddenly, she heard herself panting and moaning softly, as Victor still proceeded to give her light licks. She opened her eyes and saw that her front paws were shivering.

„What... What happened...?", she asked with a hoarse voice. Then, she coughed. Victor raised his head. There were traces of her juices on his face, but he rubbed them off with his hand and then licked his finger clean.

„Did you like it?", he asked with a warm smile. Joltea managed to smile as well, though she was feeling pretty tired. She wasn't exactly sure why her body had reacted in such a strange way, but it suddenly seemed unimportant to her, since she recalled exactly how very much she enjoyed it. Something that felt so good couldn't be anything worth worrying about.

„I loved it..." She still felt a little confused, but it didn't really matter to her. All she was able to think about was how incredibly great the actual act of mating had to feel when Victor could already invoke such an enormous amount of pleasure just by licking her. But for now, he had just gone back to gently ruffle through her fur with his hand, probably because he could figure that she was feeling a bit tired at the moment. But Joltea knew this wouldn't last for long, and that her strength would return to her in a few minutes.

Her breathing slowly became more regular. Joltea's eyes had been locked with Victor's, but now she lowered her gaze, letting it wander over his chest where a few slight traces of hair were visible, and finally stopped as she reached the part of his body that was obscured by the towel. The Jolteon swallowed. Why hadn't he taken it off yet? Maybe he just didn't want to appear too demanding... Yes, he probably wanted to wait and see if Joltea would be completely comfortable with it.

„Victor?", she asked in a low tone. His hand, that had been gently massaging her neck, stopped moving.

„Yes?" It was obvious that he tried to sound as neutral as possible, but Joltea still noticed how much he hoped that she would ask him to mate with her now. She smiled softly, but also blushed at the same time.

„Could you... Could you take off that towel?" Her trainer nodded. She felt his hand retreat from her neck as he slowly brought it to the white cloth. Then, he loosened the towel and revealed his lower area to Joltea.

Her first instinctive reflex was to look away, but she could keep herself from doing so as she remembered that she was his mate, and therefore allowed... no, even supposed to see him naked. She took in what she saw with mixed feelings; she had never seen an erection before, so she didn't know if Victor's was large or small compared to those of other humans, but it was definitely big enough for her to worry about if this was going to be painful, after all. Sure, it all had been nice in theory, but... having something stiff and hard pushed into her vagina? Somehow, she found it hard to believe that anything like this should actually feel good.

Victor blushed as the Jolteon stared intensely at his genitals. He hoped she wasn't finding it to be too small; a stereotypical male's worry, sure, and even more ridiculous considering Joltea was a virgin, but this was still something he was concerned about. He cleared his throat.

„So, umm... Joltea..." He didn't even know what he wanted to say, but this seemed to be enough to get the Jolteon's attention to his face again. As he looked at her black eyes, his expression grew concerned. For some reason, she seemed to be uncomfortable. „Are you alright?", he asked quickly. The Jolteon blushed and looked to the side.

„I... I'm not sure", she answered honestly. Then, she took a deep breath and looked at her trainer's erection again. „What if... What if it doesn't fit?" Victor blinked. He was surprised at this question; so she was actually concerned about him being too big? Sure, she was smaller than him, but from what he could tell there wouldn't be any problem; not that he knew too much about this subject, of course. But still, he understood why she was worried. She was a virgin, after all, so this was as new to her as it was to him. He decided that, if he wanted to be of any help, he should do his best to calm her down and make her feel more secure about it. Once again, he raised his hand and moved it to her cheek, caressing her in a caring manner.

„Don't worry", he replied in a soft tone. „It'll be alright. You know I wouldn't do anything that could hurt you, right?" Joltea nodded slightly, but didn't give an answer. „We don't have to do this if you're not sure", added Victor. „I'll understand if you don't feel ready yet, we..."

„I am ready", interrupted the Jolteon quickly. This was definitely true. She had fantasized about being Victor's mate for about a year now, so this was as ready as she would ever be. „It's just that...", she went on, but then found it impossible to finish the sentence. The truth was just that she didn't know why she was so reluctant. She tried to focus on the soothing feeling of Victor's hand on her cheek. „I'm sorry", she mumbled, „I guess I'm acting pretty silly..." Her trainer shook his head.

„You just need to learn not to worry so much", he stated. A soft smile formed on his face. „It's easier than you think. Just take a deep breath and close your eyes. I'll take care of the rest." This had sounded a lot more confident than Victor was feeling at the moment. He couldn't exactly guarantee that the Jolteon would enjoy it, after all, but he knew he'd try his best. And Joltea seemed to take his advice as she exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She spread her legs a bit wider than before.

„I'm all yours...", she whispered. Victor swallowed. Just looking at her lying there like that already made his erection throb with want. He didn't intend to lose any more time and got up on his hands and knees, carefully positioning himself over his mate. Joltea didn't move. He lowered his head and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

„I promise you'll like this", he whispered in her ear. The Jolteon smiled and kept her eyes closed. Victor moved forward very carefully, lowering his waist, until the tip of his penis finally came in touch with Joltea's entrance. The yellow-furred female gasped at the mere touch. Victor knew she was about to tense up, so he whispered: „Relax." Once again, Joltea did as she had been told, took another deep breath and got rid of any tension that had built up in her body until that moment. Victor gave her an affectionate lick across her long ear, which made her giggle slightly.

"You'll be gentle with me, won't you?", This wasn't really a question. Joltea knew that Victor would watch out not to be rough; after all, he had just reassured her once more that he would never hurt her. But it still made her feel even better when he replied:

"Of course I will." And with that, he pushed forwards again, very slowly. For a moment, the Jolteon feared she might tense up again, as she felt her vaginal lips being spread apart by Victor's intruding erection, but instead, a soft wave of pleasure went through her body, which made her relax even more. A satisfied groan from her trainer signaled her that he was enjoying this as well. As he went a little further inside, the feeling became more intense; Joltea closed her eyes and smiled broadly, raising her forelegs to gently paw at Victor's chest. She heard him give a slight chuckle.

Then, suddenly, she felt that her trainer had reached a certain point inside of her, that didn't allow him to go any further. Joltea knew what this meant and she opened her eyes. Victor looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Joltea...", he spoke, but she shook her head to show him that there would be no discussion about this.

"Please go on...", she whispered, mentally bracing herself for the pain that she knew would follow. For a moment, her trainer didn't move; then, he lowered her head and let his lips come in touch with hers, starting a soft kiss. As before, Joltea responded by turning her head a little and kissing back deeply. Her eyes closed again as she felt his gentle, warm tongue invade her mouth. Her mind slowly started to fade into that well-known ocean of love again... when suddenly, she felt a great pain coming from her lower body. She gave a muffled yelp, but instantly understood what had happened; Victor had set up this kiss as a distraction for her, so she would not have to focus completely on the pain that came with him taking her virginity. She gladly accepted this by intensifying the kiss, her tongue thrashing around, rubbing against Victor's warm, slick organ that had invaded her muzzle. Still, she felt her trainer pushing his erection further into her, which made the pain just harder to ignore. The Jolteon clenched her eyes shut, shedding two or three tears. Joltea could feel Victor kissing her with all his passion, trying to take her mind off of that stinging feeling as much as possible. And then she felt that he stopped pushing, and his lips slowly parted from hers. He had brought his entire penis into her. The Jolteon was panting, she blinked another tear away. The pain had subsided a little now.

"I'm sorry...", started Victor, but Joltea just shook her head again.

"Don't be." She smiled softly. "It's better now." Her trainer kept his head close to hers and gave her an affectionate lick across her cheek. It was a soothing feeling, and it seemed to make everything that was bad and unwanted disappear. The pain had changed from an agonizing experience to light displeasure and was now about to disappear completely. She gave a relieved sigh. "I love you, Victor", she whispered. "Please... Let's enjoy our first time..." Her trainer smiled lovingly in response and nodded.

"I love you, too." He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and then moved his lower body backwards very slowly. For a moment, Joltea felt incredibly empty; her body yearned for Victor to push his erection back into her, but this feeling only lasted a second, of course. Quickly, it was replaced with an intense sensation of completion, as if her trainer's penis was the single part that Joltea's body had always been missing to experience true bliss. It was so perfect, she almost couldn't believe it was truly happening; Victor's hips pressing against hers, pushing her body into the soft folds of the bed. Her front paws remained on her trainer's chest; she felt she needed to get a hold from somewhere. And like this, it continued. The feeling of emptyness again, the enormous anticipation of the next moment, and then Victor's erection filling her, making her experience pleasures she had never before thought even existed. And it all went down at a slow, sensual pace, so that Joltea could enjoy every single moment of it.

She felt Victor's tongue running across her cheek again and it made her gasp. Now that her whole body had become more sensitive due to the mating, it gave her an even stronger feeling than before. She figured that this was the perfect symbol of love, and it became even more intense when her trainer started to sensually rub her chest with his hand again. His fingers sensually caressed each of her eight nipples, one by one, also rubbing the corresponding breasts a little. The Jolteon felt her body get warmer and warmer as her mind started to drown in pleasure. Just as before, she found herself unable to think; this time, however, the feeling was even more intense, and the flame of passion engulfed not only her lower regions, but every other area of her body as well. She moaned as she pressed her head into the pillow, still exposing her cheek to her trainer, so he could go on with his affectionate licking.

It was like nothing Victor had ever felt before. He couldn't decide what was best about this whole situation; seeing that he was able to pleasure his female so much, or the sexual bliss he received from her warm, tight folds. The trainer had no problem with pulling out and thrusting inside again, since Joltea's vagina was wet enough to provide more than enough lubrication. It was incredible how her sex welcomed his hard erection. Either the Jolteon consciously controlled it, or it had a mind of its own; either way, every time he pulled about half of his penis out, it seemed to pull it back inside again, so that he didn't even have to focus on that. Instead, he concentrated on pleasuring the yellow-furred female as much as possible by licking and kissing her cheek, and by massaging her chest and belly. His hand found each one of her breasts, even those at the lower part of her body, which were very small and not as clearly shaped as the others, and he made sure to give each of them enough attention. The effect on Joltea wasn't hard to see. Each and every time his fingers came in touch with one of her nipples, she groaned in approval, in addition to her constant moaning that he was causing with his gentle thrusting. He got the idea of intensifying it a little more and took one of her nipples between two of his fingers, softly rubbing it while paying attention not to apply too much pressure, also massaging the supple breast with his other fingers. Victor felt Joltea's front paws press against his chest some more, as she spread her legs even wider and gave a soft cry of bliss.

Joltea threw her head from one side to the other. The feeling of Victor's fingers playing with her nipple was just too much to remain still. His erection was still going in and out of her at a steady pace; she wished he would push into her a little harder, she wanted to feel him deeper inside. Also she hoped that he was enjoying this as much as her... Maybe she should try to do something to increase his pleasure? But just as she tried to focus her thoughts on that matter, Victor suddenly locked lips with her again. This kiss was a lot more passionate than those before, maybe even a little wild and uncoordinated, at least from the Jolteon's side. Her tongue moved at a hasty pace, as she tried to make it as good for her trainer as possible. Then, as he just pushed his erection into her again, she was able to recall what she had just been thinking about; Joltea tried to concentrate as much as possible and managed to contract her vaginal muscles a little more. Victor gave a muffled groan of pleasure, and she quickly broke the kiss.

"Please...", she panted, "don't... don't pull it out that far... Go deeper..." If her hind legs hadn't already been spread as widely as possible, she would have spread them wider. Her trainer just gave a nod of confirmation and repositioned himself a little, so that his hips were now constantly in touch with the Jolteon's. His erection was buried deep inside of her, and it would stay this way. As he did his best to push even deeper into her, Joltea just laid back her head and howled in pleasure, feeling him stimulate places that had never been touched by anything before. His pace got quicker since now he didn't need so much time anymore for pulling out; he just pressed his hips against hers again and again, going a little harder each time. Over her own moans of bliss, she could hear him groan as well and as she paid as much attention as her mind numbed by sexual pleasure could, she noticed that his erection was throbbing and twitching inside of her. Through all the wetness of her own sex, she now felt a different kind of liquid enter her; Victor's preseed. To know that her mate enjoyed it as well made the whole experience even better. It all started to overwhelm her now. Her trainer's quick, deep thrusting and his hand caressing her lightly furred breasts again; as he lowered his head once more to lick across her cheek right up to the tip of her ear, she knew it would be too much for her soon. She would either pass out or hit her climax; Joltea neither knew, nor did she care. All she knew for a fact right now was that she was lying on her back, mating with her love, screaming in pleasure.

Joltea called out his name now, and it just urged Victor on even more. He moaned into her ear as he licked it, greatly enjoying her tight vagina gripping his erection. Soon, the beautiful female tensed up and arched her body, howling louder than before. Her vagina grew even warmer and wetter, and its contractions made it tighter as well. Victor sped up his pace, grunting as he felt himself shooting precum with every single thrust. And then, he reached his climax as well, raising his torso and giving a howl himself, that wasn't even too different from the one Joltea had made.

The Jolteon's climax had been prolonged by her trainer's constant thrusting, and now that his erection jerked inside her, flooding her vagina with his semen, it only reached another peak. Joltea felt like she was on fire, and that Victor's seed were a stream of lava. The pleasure was so immense that it brought tears to her eyes, the feeling of having her loved one climax inside of her was so fulfilling that Joltea believed that nothing, absolutely nothing would ever be able to make her unhappy again. Victor had just made her whole, completing the sense of her existence. As her howl slowly died down and finally changed into an exhausted panting, the Jolteon felt more satisfied than ever before in her life. She opened her eyes which she had clenched shut at some point and looked, after finding her focus, up at Victor. His hair was even messier than before and he was panting at least as much as Joltea. He kept her hips pressed tightly against hers, as his penis stopped twitching and started to become smaller very slowly. He looked back at her and their gazes met. Then he bent down again and brought his lips to hers, starting their fourth kiss of this night.










Later, Joltea woke up. It was still night, so she didn't know the reason for her awakening. The soft light of the city shining into the room was enough to allow her to recognize shapes; but she didn't really have to see anything, since she knew that she was lying on Victor's chest, with her head resting right beneath his. His arms were holding her embraced, and she listened to the soothing sound of his regular breathing. The blanket covered them both; Joltea wasn't sure if they really needed it, since the glow of love was enough to keep them warm, but now she found it was adding to the comfortable sensation of being close to her love.
She turned her head to the window and smiled. Now she knew why she had woken up. It was later than before, and therefore the moon had wandered; far enough even to be seen very clearly from their room. A round disk with a glow of silver surrounding it. Before her mating with Victor she would have thought of this as the most beautiful thing in the world; now she knew that there were things even better than this.

"Thank you for your guidance", she whispered and for a second it almost seemed as if the moon was smiling at her. But it was probably just her imagination. She still found the moon to be beautiful and enticing, but she knew that Victor would now take its place. From now on, he was the one she enjoyed being with the most, he was the glowy light in her life and the anchorpoint that would absolutely always be there for her so that she would never feel lonely. With a happy sigh, she placed her cheek on his chest again and closed her eyes, entering a realm of only the most pleasant of dreams.




(16835 words)


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This ends the second chapter. In case you were wondering what I've been working on since the last chapter of the mansion, this should have satisfied your curiosity. But as I already said, this request isn't over yet. There's still a lot of things I will have to include. Judging by experience, I will probably get the third chapter out around October 20-25; I want to finish the next chapter of the mansion first. Speaking of which, have you noticed that there's a crossover chapter at exclamation man's story "The Valley"? If you haven't, you should definitely read it; not only will it otherwise be hard to understand the next chapter of the mansion, but it is also a great story that you really shouldn't miss. Alright, enough with the shameless advertising; if you have a suggestion, opinion, story request or any kind of critique, then please leave a review or send an email to [email protected]. Everyone appreciates feedback, right? (ON A SIDENOTE, so as not to be responsible for people doing stupid things: Beating your friends within an inch of their lives MAY NOT ALWAYS be the best way to fix a ruined friendship. I'm just saying, is all...)