The well was dark, as you'd expect. No light permeated the depths, and the torch that Cindyr had lit only cast a small sphere of light that failed to give any real guidance. If it wasn't for the ninetails excellent sense of direction Greg was sure that they would all have gotten lost long ago. He found himself thanking whatever gods it was that had gifted him with such a delightful partner, as it had to be divine intervention that had brought him to the radiant ninetails.

Cindyr tensed up, her tails likewise tensing, a fan of quivering white.

Greg moved forwards slowly, extinguishing the torch, plunging them all back into darkness.

He moved towards Cindyr, his hand out and reaching. He knelt down slightly, his hand coming into contact with a part of the ninetails body, but he was unsure which part.

He moved his hand upwards, and suddenly felt his finger brush across her lips, making her shiver slightly and give the tiniest whimper. He flinched with chagrin and moved his hand forwards along her back, resting it between her shoulder blades and leaning down so that his head was bare inches from hers.

"Now is not the time for that sort of thing." Cindyr whispered to him, giggling quietly as she felt, rather than saw, him blush.

"What do you see?" He asked in a breathy whisper.

"I don't *see* anything, but I hear something large ahead." She said playfully, licking his cheek, making him yelp with surprise, trying to stifle the sound but failing miserably.

Something in the cave shifted, making all of them jump. They heard water splash as something dragged itself along.

"We're not alone..." Greg whispered.

"You think!" Cindyr replied sarcastically, not even troubling to keep her voice down.

The ninetails leaned back, opening her mouth and spewing a ball of flame towards the roof of the cave, which exploded brilliantly in mid-air, lighting the area and revealing their new adversary.

Long, blue coils undulated through the water like a leviathan from the depths, twisting and turning like a giant snake as the head of the creature came closer, eyes staring at them maliciously.

It was a Dratini.

They weren't big, nor were they particularly dangerous, but their powers over the elements were strong, and in a cave filled with water, against a fire-type pokemon, the results of their wrath could be fatal.

"Hitan...we'll need Scyther." Greg said, and then ordered Cindyr to charge as he saw a pokeball sail past him, Hitan's Scyther erupting from it.

"Scyther...swords dance!" Hitan called.

"They'll need our help!" Greg called to Hitan as he picked up a rock.

"Take this!" Hitan called back as he tossed him the sword from off his back, and then drew a small knife.

Greg picked up the sword after it had clattered to the ground, holding it awkwardly.

Hitan leapt right towards the Dratini, close on the heels of his scyther.

The Dratini swept out its tail, collecting the Scyther across the midsection, lifting it and slamming it into a wall of the cave. It slid down the rock lifelessly, until it hit the ground, twitched feebly as its wings jerked ineffectually.

"Cindyr! Stay back!" Greg roared as the Dratini swept its tail again.

Cindyr didn't need to be told twice, leaping backwards with a quick, jerking movement, as if she had been struck across the nose with a rod.

The tail whipped past her muzzle, its velocity causing a sharp whistling and a slight zephyr to rustle Cindyr's fur.

Greg leapt into the fray, the sword held high, coming in from the right as Hitan came from the left, Cindyr, being the best equipped to deal with a frontal attack, struck from the front with an iron claw attack.

Hitan swept his knife in from the right, backhanded, giving it a small cut across its soft but tough skin.

Cindyr swept her claws across its face, marking it from the right eyebrow right down to its nose, the wound scything perfectly across its eye, not actually hitting the soft flesh, but giving the impression that it had.

Greg, unused to swordplay, gave it a clumsy but heavy blow, the sheer size of the blade causing damage far above what the knife could.

But he didn't know where to strike, so he just gave the Dratini flesh wounds while Hitan's knife gave it small, but much more injurious blows.

The Dratini gave a haunting cry of pain and anger, sweeping its tail in a long, smooth arc, the tip missing Hitan, who used his quick reflexes to duck it, swept past Cindyr, who leapt over it, but caught Greg right around the ankles, flooring him.

His head hit the ground. Hard. He immediately rolled to his feet, swaying slightly as his head swan with pain, but he leapt backwards clumsily, stumbling heavily as he tried to see through the haze of pain, unable to see the next attack but sure it would be coming soon.

"Close your eyes! Cindyr! Flash!" He called out.

Cindyr close her eyes, and then her body seemed to pulse, radiance spilling from every last strand of her luxurious fur, blinding the occupants of the cave.

Cindyr, Greg, and Hitan had closed their eyes, and so had no problems about blindness, but the Dratini had taken no such precautions, and stared around sightlessly, its long tail thrashing in anger as its head turned wildly, searching for the intruders.

"Cindyr! Fan blade of iron tails!" Greg called out.

Cindyr leapt at the Dratini, her tails wrapping around her fourth tail, flattening against it and hardening like during her iron tail attacks. But this time, they didn't join together; rather, they solidified by themselves, becoming sharp lengths of steel-like material.

As she sailed through the air, she turned, coiling her tails and then releasing them all at once, hitting the Dratini 8 times, 16, 24, 32 times! Covering it in cuts and abrasions.

The blue serpent fell to the ground, writhing with unbearable pain.

Greg stepped forwards, still off balance from the severe hit. He stopped over near the thrashing pokemon, kneeling down and speaking to it soothingly.

It stopped thrashing for a second and stared at him with gleaming red eyes.

Greg flinched as the Dratini attacked, whipping its long tail right at his head.

He felt a long, fluffy tail grab one of his pokeballs, flicking it expertly, the small ball hitting the whishing tail with accuracy. The Dratini disappeared in a flash of blue.

The ball rolled and shook for a few seconds, before the red hue it had taken faded like the time with the charizard.

"Why'd you do that?" Greg asked, highly affronted, as he turned and regarded Cindyr with a raised eyebrow, her tail returning to its right and proper place.

"The Dratini was mortally wounded. It will die without receiving treatment. By containing it within a ball, you can keep it alive long enough to give it the treatment it needs." Cindyr replied, winking at him in a knowledgeable, playful way.

Greg sighed and motioned for Cindyr to take the lead again as Hitan took his sword back, withdrew his Scyther, and the ninetails re-lit the torch held by her trainer with a small gout of flame.

"Just how many more rare pokemon will there be before we get to the end of this place?" Greg asked himself out loud.

"I think we're getting close. I can hear a lot of noise ahead" Cindyr proclaimed suddenly, her body stiffening as if she were a wound spring. She strode forwards slowly, careful of where to place her paws, her fur glittering with pinpricks of light cast by the torch Greg carried

She poked her head around the corner and then withdrew it quickly.

Greg gave a little start as he felt a strong surge of anger rush through him, completely unconnected with anything that was happening to him.

"He's here!" She hissed.

"Who's here?" Greg asked, as the anger continued to burn in his stomach.

"The blastoise owner!" She hissed angrily, her tails twisting like angry serpents behind her.

Greg felt another surge of anger...this one was definitely his own, as he felt the sudden urge to do something completely reckless, like running around the corner and just attacking. But that wouldn't do. He needed to plan the attack carefully. That blastoise was one powerful adversary.

He made his way carefully over to Cindyr, peering around the corner to see the whole population of Azalea town huddled in the cave, dirty and woebegone. He could see a nurse joy, an officer jenny, Bugsy, his mother, the trainers from the gym, the old man who ran the local pokemart. Everyone.

He withdrew his head quickly.

"Where's that trainer?" He asked in a low whisper.

"He was just there." Cindyr replied anxiously, peeking around the corned again. Greg moved forwards and peered with her, both of them searching.

Cindyr stiffening under him was the first indication of something wrong.

They both turned around slowly; giving no indication of surprise as they found themselves staring at a blastoise from bare inches away. It was leaning in close, its head almost touching them, the cannons on its back pointing straight at them.

They both dodged at the same time, Cindyr going left, while Greg took an insane gamble and feinted to the left, but then leapt up onto the Blastoise's back, sliding across it and then slipping off the end, landing on his feet and rolling to avoid any attacks the massive pokemon might deliver.

The cannons sprayed forth water with amazing power, almost shattering the rock behind the pair as they dodged the deadly blasts by mere inches.

Greg turned around and leapt backwards again as the Blastoise started to turn, but it was going for Cindyr and ignored him.

Greg felt a pulse of raw anger as the pokemon went for his partner.

He swept his foot out, catching a rock, lifting it to head height before he caught it, leaping towards the blastoise with deadly intent.

Greg stepped up on its back, leaping as high as he could while using the pokemons shell as footholds, bringing the rock down on its head as hard as he could.

The rock might as well have been a pebble.

The blastoise turned again as Greg landed on his feet, leaping away from the pokemon to dodge the massive swipe it unleashed in his direction.

Cindyr came in from the side then, attacking like a wild animal, no clear attack set in her mind, just latching on with her powerful jaws and tearing as viciously as she could manage.

Her jaws closed on its neck. Her mouth wasn't big enough to encompass the entire breadth of it, but it was enough for her to cause serious damage.

She shook her head violently, tearing away huge chunks of flesh with a sickening ripping sound.

The blastoise gave a low roar of pain and anger, reaching up with its huge paws and grabbing the offending ninetails, tearing her off and hurling her against the wall with a bone shattering impact.

Cindyr gave a horrific yelp of pain and thudded off the wall, landing on her side with a piteous whimper, and then laid still.

"Cindyr!" Greg yelled, a fiery anger more powerful than anything he had ever known erupting within him. He gave a yell of absolute fury, leaping back up onto the pokemons shell, launching off it and plunging his hand right into the wound on the pokemons neck, searching quickly for his target.

His hand was in the pokemons neck up to his wrist when he found what he was searching for, a pulsing string of heat, which he wrapped his fingers around and yanked.

The blood vein burst, spilling blood everywhere. Greg gasped with sheer disgust as blood sprayed across his body, making him slip off the dying blastoise and flat onto his rear.

Cindyr was likewise covered, her white fur becoming a horrid pink with blood. Her long tails dipped into a pool of blood that started spreading as soon as the blastoise hit the ground.

Greg threw himself onto the ground besides her, wrapping his arms around her neck and pulling her warm body towards him, his hands searching frantically for a pulse on the vixen's neck.

He pulled her tighter against him as he felt a pulse strong against his hand. She was only knocked out.

He cradled her head gently with his hands and stroked her head gently, uncaring of the puddle of blood he was sitting in. "Wake up...please...Cindyr...wake up" He begged in a whisper, pulling her close again and rocking her gently back and forth.

Her eyelids fluttered and her tails twitched against his leg weakly as she opened her muzzle ever so slightly, moaning softly with pain.

Greg gave a sigh of happiness and lifted her head, tilting it so that he could stare into her slowly opening eyes.

He kissed her fervently, and then whispered in a voice that was much too weak to be his, "I thought I'd lost you."

She whimpered quietly and moved closer, nuzzling him entreatingly, but her voice when she answered was still the same one she always had, "You couldn't be so lucky as to get rid of me that easy." Her eyes sparkled with the same mischievous glint as always, and he hugged her tightly.

"Look at us...we're covered in blood." He commented as she stood up unsteadily, shaking her head as if to dispel water after a swim.

"Well...you'll just have to give me another of those baths..." She suggested slyly, leaning forwards and planting a fiery kiss on his lips just to confirm to him that she was completely okay.

He made a sound of happiness and lifted a hand to her muzzle, stroking it gently as he kissed her, but then he broke the kiss.

"They're probably wondering what happened by now" Greg commented, jerking his head towards where the whole township was sitting, just out of sight.

Her paws grabbed him forcefully around his neck, pulling him against her muzzle again. "They can wait." She growled into the kiss, pressing her tongue a little deeper.

They held the kiss for nearly a full minute, before Greg reluctantly broke the kiss again.

"I'll give you more tonight. And a proper grooming." Greg promised, standing up and making his way to the bend in the cave again. He was almost to the exit when he remembered something strange.

Hitan.

He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The township was overjoyed to see him. As soon as the blastoise had fallen, the kid trainer had disappeared, heading into the labyrinthine network of tunnels in the wells.

Hitan had disappeared; the only trace that was found was a single pokeball, the one that held his injured Scyther.

The township had practically hoisted Greg onto their shoulders, and carried him back to Azalea, while Cindyr trailed along forlornly behind them. Greg had tried t get back to he, but the people wouldn't let him, whether or not it was intentional, they created a wall of bodies that forced him ever onwards, away from his ninetails.

They took him to his home, treating him like a hero, whereupon everybody except his mother and a few others left ands headed to their respective places.

Greg immediately went outside and searched anxiously for Cindyr. She was sitting in the garden, her tails twitching, her face an impassive mask as she stared at him speculatively.

He hung his head in shame, saying quietly, "I'm sorry...I didn't want that...it was you who should have been called a hero..."

She stepped closer to him, her eyes still scrutinizing his face until she reached him. She reared up on her hind legs, placing her paws on his chest and then knocking him to the ground roughly, but making sure not to hurt him.

She straddled him, her tails twitching tensely with some unidentifiable emotion. She placed her front paws on his arms, her back ones on his thighs, holding him firmly in place as she leaned down, putting her muzzle right next to his ear so that she could hiss lightly, "I don't care about that...you can be a hero if you want, but only on one condition..." She said, and then leaned down closer, oblivious to the people who were still hanging around, oblivious to his mother who could see, and kissed him passionately. "I don't care...as long as you come back to me at night when you're finished being a hero." She hissed lightly.

"I can agree with that." Greg stated, and would have hugged her had he not been held down. "We should go get another bath. You're filthy." He commented, and it was true. They were both covered in blood and filth, Cindyr's fur was matted with all manner of unknown materials, and Greg's clothes were hanging in tatters.

"That would be acceptable." She stated, getting off him, letting him stand up, and then eagerly dragging him into the house, pretty much man-handling him up the stairs, thrusting him into the bathroom and tearing the rags that were his clothes off, and waiting only as long as it took to fill the big bath partway with hot water before grabbing him and tumbling them both in, sending water everywhere.

Greg gasped as the hot water engulfed his body, the vixen holding him down for a few seconds as she vigorously rubbed her paws over his body, clumsily cleaning up some of the muck that covered him, before letting him up for air.

He growled at her playfully and pounced on her, pinning her on her back in the water, her tails swishing back and forth, completely covering the bottom of the bathtub.

He reached up and grabbed the soap, lathering his hands with it. Cindyr grabbed his tongue with her mouth, kissing him eagerly, her paws stroking his sides teasingly as he started to rub her down.

He fluffed her fur to a point when it was impossible to get it any cleaner, because the water was so dirty that it couldn't clean any more.

He pressed the kiss a little deeper as he reached around her back to pull the plug, the water slowly draining as she pulled him closer, kissing him with fiery passion, murring quietly with happiness as his weight rested on her chest.

He waited until the water had drained, not breaking the kiss once, and then turned the hot water tap on fully, lifting her tails out of the way of the spray as the tub started to fill, the room steaming.

Cindyr gave an 'ahhh' of pleasure and contention as the hot, clean water caressed her fur gently, softly wiping away the blood and grime.

The water got to the perfect height, covering Cindyr right up to her neck, and all of Greg, so he turned the tap off, kissing her as his hands started to stroke her body, her tails swirling in the water, creating a small current which swirled around them.

Greg rubbed her down softly, giving her lingering little caresses, her fur cleaning up slowly, but in a very gratifying way. He was glad that his effort was doing something.

As she was being rubbed, she began to pant softly, pressing her body against his, the area between her back legs becoming noticeably hot.

"No, no love. Wait until you're clean." Greg whispered in her ear, his hands stroking her belly, one of them tracing down to clean her tails.

She whimpered like a pup denied her milk, making Greg smile. "But I want it now!" She said in a soft, petulant growl.

"But anticipation makes it so much more better when you do eventually get what you want..." Greg replied, whispering in her ear quietly.

She growled and pulled him closer, likewise whispering, but her whisper was a malevolent growl, "But anticipation makes me very needy. And when I'm needy, I get rough." She stated, her paws, which were around his neck, tensed a little, her claws sliding out to prick his neck ever-so-slightly as she pressed her muzzle to his mouth again, slipping her tongue out to play with his as she started to rub her heated entrance against his cock in a very amorous way, exciting him instantly.

She growled happily as she felt his length harden and press against her soft lips gently, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, her own body responding with intense heat and a moistening of her entrance that went unnoticed in the water.

Greg gave an inaudible moan as Cindyr pressed her hips up against him, his entire length being slowly encompassed by fiery heat as he slipped within her pulsing opening.

The vixen moaned loudly, arching her back, pressing her furred body sensually against his as she felt her molten depths start to convulse around his throbbing length, massaging it with rippling muscular contractions.

Greg kissed her deeper, trying to muffle her moans, which had turned to a deep breathless panting, as he started to move within her, their exhalations mingling every time he hilted himself within her.

Cindyr writhed under him, arching her back and growling into is mouth, her tails coming up and stroking slowly along his back, tensing up and jerking slightly as the human hit a sensitive spot within her, forcing him to muffle her howl with a deep kiss.

She tensed up, her opening closing around his length, rippling powerfully around the throbbing erection deep inside her, another howl spilling from her muzzle locked against his as she pressed her body hard against his, her belly tensing up along with her tails as her juices spilled around his thrusting length, hotter than the water by a good amount, making him give an unrestrained moan of ecstasy and thrust into her a little harder.

She panted heavily, rocking against him as she threw her head back, losing a howl before he could do anything to stop her, bucking against him, forcing him as deep inside her as possible, the water from the tub spilling and splashing all over the place as Greg buried his face in her soft neck fur, his head going underwater as he gave a howl of his own, his thick cum spilling within his vixen like the water spilling from the tub, jet after jet of it spurting within her, flooding her womb and filling her completely, forcing her to cum once more, howling loudly and thrashing, her tails writhing like serpents as she drew him close, kissing him with fiery need as her orgasmed expelled itself, leaving her exhausted but completely contented.

She kissed his neck lightly as her lips massaged his member weakly, coaxing a few final spurts of his creamy seed from him. He returned by running his hands slowly across her body, sighing contentedly and locking his muzzle with hers once more, exchanging breaths with her as they both rested in the warm afterglow.

Greg gave a tired sigh of happiness and relaxed a little, his weight coming down on Cindyr, who writhed under him a little, moving his still throbbing cock into a better position within her, so that the gently pulsing head was resting against her most sensitive spot, lulling her with soft pleasure.

Greg reached around the vixens back, pulling the plug once again, draining the water.

He made to get up, but Cindyr stopped him, dragging him closer and locking her muzzle against his lips again, before creaking the kiss and whispering, "We aren't done yet, you still have a lot of kissing to give me."

Greg acquiesces willingly, kissing her deeply, breaking the kiss for a second so that he could move his head a little closer and whisper, "There's something I have to tell you...I should have told it to you earlier, but I was too scared..."

"Spit it out." Cindyr ordered, staring at him speculatively, wondering just what sort of secret could he have?

He leaned right in close, so that his mouth was basically touching her ear, before hissing, "I love you Cindyr..."

Cindyr looked up at him with bright eyes, a blush colouring her cheek-fur pink. She leaned up and kissed him, a kiss filled with desperate passion, she opened her muzzle a little, not troubling to break the kiss before saying breathlessly, "I love you too..."

* * *

After spending several hours lazing in the water, stopping only to drain the lukewarm water and replace it with hot water, they both got out and headed for Greg's room, where Cindyr proceeded to thoroughly wet his bed by lying on it and draping her tails all over it while the human set to grooming the vixen with a will, combing her luxurious fur and then using a soft towel to fluff her fur.

When he was finished Cindyr curled upon his bed for a nap, resembling nothing more than a ball of fluff with legs and nine tails. Greg observed this site with a contented smile, reaching down to rub at her neck lightly and give her a kiss before he headed off for the pokecentre, where his newly acquired Dratini, Charizard, and Hitan's Scyther were being treated from the battles they had endured.

Nurse joy gave him his pokemon back, and forced him to take the Scyther, telling him in no uncertain terms that he had to take it, because she was not allowed to keep pokemon in the pokecentre unless they were undergoing treatment or being stored by the trainer who commanded them. She said all this in a very forceful tone, but still maintained her cheery exterior, seeing him off with a smile, a wave, a curtsey, and an 'I hope to see you again!'

Greg headed for the Gym, wanting to speak to Bugsy and find out exactly why he hadn't protected the township from the rogue trainer.

Bugsy was sitting under the single large tree that stood in the centre of the gym, tossing a black object from hand to hand in a thoroughly miserable way.

Greg made his way over to him, stopping before the green-haired kid and placing his hands on his hips, opening his mouth to speak, but Bugsy spoke first.

"I know what you're going to say...you're going to ask why I didn't protect the town aren't you?" He said, his head hung, his features obscured.

"Well...yes...why didn't you?" Greg asked, unperturbed.

Bugsy didn't reply, he jut kept tossing the black ball from hand to hand, and then threw it to Greg.

The ball bounced of his chest, and then he caught it before it hit the ground, noticing that it was a black pokeball.

"He killed my scyther..." Bugsy said in a dead voice.

Greg immediately softened, feeling like a complete fool. "I'm sorry...I didn't know..." He said, trying in some small way to apologise.

"Don't be sorry. It was my fault for going at his Charizard with a bug pokemon." He replied bitterly.

Greg drew a pokeball, and pointed it a few metres away, opening it and loosing his Charizard.

"Is this the same one?" He asked thoughtfully.

Bugsy twisted and stared up at it, his eyes blazing with anger and sadness. "That's it all right...look at it's knee...the scar there...that was my Scyther's fury cutter...how'd you get it?" He asked with blazing anger.

"It was wild...the trainer didn't own it." Greg replied, stymied as to what was going on.

"He commanded it, and it did as commanded." Bugsy said.

"How could he command a wild pokemon and be obeyed...?" Greg asked, thinking out loud.

The charizard, who had been standing off to the side watching the conversation with a cocked head, leaned down close to Bugsy, nuzzling him reassuringly and rumbling in an apologetic way.

The look Bugsy gave it could have curdled milk.

Greg quickly withdrew the Charizard, fearful that Bugsy would do something stupid like attacking the big dragon, which would only put himself in harms way.

Bugsy stared up at him, a cold look in his eyes. "You are travelling around on the elite four challenge?" He asked with cold fury.

"Yes..." Greg replied, although he hadn't really decided what he wanted to do with his life yet.

"I'm coming with you." Bugsy said with an angry finality. "You'll meet that trainer...of that I am sure, and when you do...I will kill him with my bare hands." He said in a cold voice that was completely at odds with his young age and innocent appearance. Greg felt that he wasn't playing around, and from the looks of it, he would pass through heaven and hell to get at the trainer who had killed his pokemon, and he would follow him to do it, whether Greg objected or not.

"Okay." Greg replied with a sigh, "You can come with me. But you'll need a new pokemon. We get into some pretty intense battles. Choose a ball." He pointed to his belt where the three balls were sitting.

Bugsy got up and drew a ball without even looking, just taking one, uncaring. He snapped open the ball.

"Scytheeeer!" Came the cry as Hitan's Scyther appeared.

Greg only stared. "Perhaps its for the best. You can use that pokemon until Hitan returns or you catch another. It's not mine." Greg warned, and then walked out of the gym, Bugsy following listlessly.

Greg looked down the road as he headed for home, to collect Cindyr, looking through the building, through the mountains, and onto Rock pass, a deep, dark cavern that he would have to pass trough to get to the other side of the mountain range. And then, beyond that, his next badge.