"Greg?" His mum asked softly, standing hesitantly at the door, watching him pack, his ninetails standing besides him and watching curiously as he folded clothes and placed them in a bag.

"Yes?" He asked without turning around, focussing on packing. Bugsy was sitting down in the kitchen, idly rolling his loaned pokeball back and forth across the wooden table, staring at it without really seeing it.

"Are you leaving again?" She asked bluntly, despite the fact that it quite obvious that he was.

Greg sighed heavily, put the last of the folded clothes in the bag and closed it with finality, turning around and sitting down on the bed, patting the blankets besides him, motioning for Cindyr to hop up as well.

"Yes." He said, after a few moments of stroking Cindyr's luxuriously soft fur.

He knew what was coming. She would try to convince him to stay. It had been horrible on the day he had left. His mother hadn't wanted him to leave at all. She had wanted him to stay home and become a woodcutter like his father. But he had fought her down, telling her that it was his life and that he was going to do with it what he wanted, not what she wanted.

"Your ninetails..." She started, startling Greg, who was sure that she would have taken the opportunity to try and make him stay. "It was howling yesterday...why was that?" She asked.

Greg picked up one of her long tails, flipping it over so that a certain randomly chosen spot was exposed.

"She had a thistle in her tails. We were in the garden yesterday and she must have brushed up against the bush in the corner. It was completely tangled in her tails, and getting it out required pulling out a lot of her fur." He explained, and then motioned his mother closer, showing her Cindyr's tail and saying, "See?"

"Oh I see." She said, although she really didn't. "Was this before or after she pinned you, kissed you, and dragged you upstairs?" She asked evenly, staring at him speculatively.

Greg didn't reply. He just stared at his knee, as if something intensely interesting was perched there, as his hand continued to stroke slowly across Cindyr's tails.

"I take it that there wasn't any thistle? And the howling I, and the rest of the town, heard? It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You once told me that it was your life to control...I'm just trying to stop you from making a big mistake." She said, and then left without waiting for a response.

Greg just sat there for a long time, unconsciously stroking Cindyr while he mulled over what she had said. Was he making a mistake? Could he ever be truly happy with a pokemon? Could she ever be truly happy with him?

* * *

The three of them set out the next morning, after a breakfast when no one talked, a cold, icy silence hanging over the kitchen table.

Cindyr ate her fill of some specialised pokemon food Greg had purchased from the pokecentre when he went to get back the Dratini he had caught. Nurse joy had told him that he should leave her in the pokecentre for a few days, but if he wished, he could take her with him, but only if he left her in the pokeball.

They set out east, hading past the boring entrance to the slowpoke well, and travelling further along, heading for the foreboding entrance to dark cave.

Greg stepped through without hesitation, Cindyr walking besides him, Bugsy a few steps behind, still staring at the pokeball he had been leant.

Greg wondered where Hitan could have gotten to. The townsfolk hadn't seen him, and there weren't all that many places that he could have disappeared to. The townsfolk used nearly all of the tunnels when they had left the well. Old Kurt, who knew the well like the back of his hands, had even explored the area afterwards and found no trace of Hitan or the other trainer. They had both disappeared without a trace.

The interior of dark cave was, as the name suggested, dark. No light permeated very far into the depths of the mountain, and those without a pokemon capable of creating light had no chance at all of finding the exit, or, once they got far enough in, even finding the way out.

Cindyr kept the way lit by illuminating her tails. She used a little trick Greg had never seen before, rubbing her tails together and using some of her pokemon magic to make static electricity build up, the fur of her tails standing on end as electricity arced from strand to strand, lighting up the surrounding area with ghostly blue light.

The cave, although deep, dangerous, and downright creepy, was surprising populated. There were people all over the place. Whether it was just a young trainer seeking their first battle, or the ever ready thrill seeker searching for his next adrenaline fix.

The three ignored the majority of the people, exchanging polite hellos with those who they deemed to be people worthy of respect.

The paths were long and winding, tunnels branching into more tunnels, they in turn leading to giant underground rooms rife with stalagmites and stalactites [for those of you furs who don't know the difference, a stalagmite is a downwards hanging spike, while a stalactite is an upwards pointing one...or vice versa. I forget which one is which but oh well...] dripping with water, pooling on the uneven rock floor, creating puddles, some shallow, while other were of indeterminable depth.

"Greg...what's wrong?" Cindyr asked suddenly, catching him off guard, jolting him out of his intensely thoughtful reverie.

"Nothing." He replied, a little too quickly.

"Don't say nothing. I know that there's something you're not telling me. I can feel it." She said, stopping suddenly and turning towards him. Greg, who had been walking behind her at the time, came very close to tripping over here, but managed to catch himself in time.

Bugsy came up and stood near them.

"Bugsy...can you leave us alone for a few minutes please?" Cindyr asked politely.

Bugsy shrugged and drew a torch from his pack, lighting it with a match and walking ahead. It was obvious that he was no stranger to travel.

"You're instincts aren't that good Cindyr." Greg said. "There's nothing wrong."

"I didn't say that I felt it in my mind. I can feel it in my heart. Don't tell me you haven't felt the bond between us forming. I can feel your emotions as if they were my own." She stated, staring at him. The electricity in her tails lessened a bit, whether by accident or on purpose, it had the effect of deepening the shadows, making Greg's face completely unreadable

Greg knew she was telling the truth. He had been feeling emotions that weren't his for the past few hours.

He looked up at her, inspecting her form as he considered his response. Cindyr waited patiently, her tails spread out in a fanlike shape behind her. The ends of her fur glowed an electric blue, like a neon sign, a beacon in the darkness.

It was several minuted before Greg found the words he was looking for. "How could you ever be happy for me?" he asked.

It was strange. It had taken him minutes to find the right words, when usually it would only take him seconds. And the words themselves were simple, but the meaning behind them was all the more forceful because of it.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously, as if it were a trick question.

"Exactly that." He replied, his face a mask, no emotion colouring his words at all. "How could you ever be truly happy with a human?" He asked.

"But I am happy..." She replied, obviously confused.

"You're happy now...but what about later? After we've exhausted sex. That's the only thing we share. Sex. What happens when we get old? What then? No sex then. No children. I can't give you children, and having another's child inside you would tear me up. What then? How could you be happy with an old man? An old human?" He asked.

"Who told you these things!?" She asked sharply, as if scolding him.

"Does it even matter? How could I ever make you happy!?" He asked, something close to desperation in his voice.

Cindyr opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

"I can't make you happy. Not truly happy. No pokemon could ever be happy with a human. I can't give you children. The only thing I can give you is sex! That's all! And when I get old, not even that! You'll hate me. Once the sex is gone...I won't have a reason to be around you. You won't have any need of me." He burst out, flinging himself onto the ground in an expression of the lost feeling filling him up, a single tear trailing down a cheek to glisten in the sparkling rays of weak electrical light emanating from the ninetails tails.

"No need of you?" She asked in a voice of calm reason. "I will always have need of you." She stated, but Greg was pretty much beyond hearing her. She walked over to him, hugging him as best as her canine body would allow.


"You'll have no need for me. You wont look at me the same way. I'll just be a hindrance...an old man who has no use. And that'll hurt." He said, staring at her. "I don't want to be hurt..." He said, hugging her fiercely, completely uncertain as to what he wanted to do. He felt lost. As lost a three-log raft in the middle of the storm tossed ocean. He wanted to keep her close, to hold her. But at the same time the voice of reason within him told him to push her away, to avoid the pain that would inevitable be caused to both of them should they continue with the relationship. He grappled with these thoughts, each one just as strong as the other, unable to determine which was the best course of action.

"I won't hurt you...I promise..." She said, resting her furred chin on his shoulder, trying to comfort the human while her own doubts circled themselves through her head.

Could she be truly happy with a human? Was their relationship only based on the sexual desires that they acted upon? And never having pups? That was a thought that tore her up inside. Could she sacrifice her future children for a love that she wasn't sure even existed?

* * *

Greg awoke feeling sore and cramped. He had crawled up into a little niche in one of the rock walls, using Cindyr's tails to hoist her up with him so that they could keep each other warm. Bugsy had stayed on the ground, on a little rise, just out of reach of the puddles of water, staying awake long into the night, rolling the pokeball back and forth across the rock floor, staring at it intently even though it was impossible for him to see it in the pitch black cave.

Greg himself had stayed awake for the longest time, staring through the darkness at Cindyr with a sad look on his face. He couldn't keep her. Not if he wanted to have a proper relationship. Over time, she would come to see him as nothing more than a hindrance. And after a long enough time, she wouldn't even see him at all. He would just be background noise to her. Of no more import than a mouse under one of her paws.

He fell asleep after a nearly an hour of sad reflection, and the moment his eyes closed, Cindyr's opened. She stared at him, her lupine eyes glowing in the pitch-black cave, sparkling with tears as she realised that she could never have a true relationship with the human. Not a real one anyway. Sure, they could satisfy each other's lustful compulsions, but love? She could never have his children. And the thought of not bearing the young of her chosen love tore her up inside, as if she had swallowed a Sandslash and it was clawing at her insides trying to get out.

She closed her eyes, a tear slipping through her cheek fur as she realised that their relationship was doomed the moment it was started.

* * *

Greg awoke first, sighing sadly as he felt Cindyr's wonderfully soft fur all over his body.

He pushed her away gently, groping around in the complete darkness, dropping down off the snug ledge onto the ground, falling into a puddle, yelping at the unexpected feeling of shockingly cold water splashing across his ankles, slipping and falling flat on his ass, making him give another yelp of surprise.

Cindyr awoke from the yelps, yawning widely and stretching contentedly, the second yelp waking her fully, making her freeze mid-stretch and the sad look to come back into her eyes as her memories returned.

She rubbed her tails together, creating the soft electrical glow again and then leaping lightly onto the ground, a small wave of water surging across the floor and splashing lightly onto the island, waking Bugsy.

Bugsy didn't say anything; he just got up, pulled out the pokeball, and began rolling it between his hands again.

The three set out without another word. Bugsy became acutely aware of the deafening silence, both human and pokemon walking stiffly the ease that they had shown together only the day before, the seemingly non-verbal communication that was so strong between them so short a time before, was gone. Evaporated. As if it had never been.

Cindyr shuffled her paws miserably with every step; her head hung low, her tails lifted to provide enough light.

She turned her head towards him, opening her muzzle to speak, but...

RRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

All three of them jumped as an absolutely massive roar filled the air, reverberating through the tunnel, making the rocks resting on the floor vibrate slightly.

Mingled with the roar was a scream. A feminine scream.

Greg immediately leapt into action, starting to sprint up the tunnel, but slipping and falling on the slippery stones, dropping to his knee painfully.

Cindyr wasn't all that far behind him, and skidded to a halt besides him, raising a paw, intending to rest it on his shoulder reassuringly, but catching herself, a sad look passing over her features as she let him raise to his feet by himself, following close behind him as he continued towards where the scream had come from, Greg now limping from his rather sore knee, but still making good pace.

Bugsy just kept walking calmly, as if nothing was happening, tossing the ball and catching it, lighting a torch idly while Cindyr and Greg drew further ahead, the ninetails no longer providing adequate illumination.

Greg skidded to a halt in a spectacular spray of water, Cindyr stoping besides him, kicking up her own spray.

In front of them lay a rather large underground lake, fed by several waterways spilling from the surrounding rocks. On the other side of the underground lake, under a high ledge upon which rested a shadowy figure, was a Lapras.

It was facing mostly away from him, biting at a fleeing human figure that was screaming loudly and trying vainly to escape.

The Lapras darted forwards, lunging for the human female who was trying valiantly to climb the rock wall she faced, the big pokemons jaws closing on her backpack.

The Lapras shook its head savagely, lifting the helpless woman clean off her feet and tearing the straps of the backpack off her shoulders, which in turn sent her slamming against the wall with a bone-shattering impact.

She seemed to hover for a few moments, frozen in midair, before she started to slide sideways, completely unconscious, tumbling down the sharp rock walls, her clothes being torn off and her body being severely scratched.

She hit the rocks near the waters edge and lay against them, unmoving.

Only a few seconds had passed since Greg and Cindyr had entered the cavern.

Greg immediately leapt into the water, throwing caution to the winds. Cindyr was more reserved in her approach, taking the longer, but safer route around the lake along a narrow walkway that hugged the rock wall.

Greg powered through the water, unsure as to what he was going to do when he actually reached the Lapras, but he wasn't thinking that far ahead. He was acting on the instinct to help out someone he saw that was in trouble.

The Lapras wheeled about in the water, giving the advancing human a patronising look, it's eyes flashing silver as a whirlpool started to form under him.

Greg realised the danger that he was in, and stopped struggling for a second, letting the rapidly forming whirlpool carry him along, before he suddenly struck out hard again, using the momentum from the swirling whirlpool to get him out of it's deadly grip.

He knew he had to get out of the water, and soon. It wouldn't be long before the Lapras decided to do something a bit more destructive to him, or come after him physically.

Cindyr was racing along the wide walkway, which arced outwards from the lake, making a long circular path that took her further away from the fighting pair with every step. She was contemplating zapping the water with an electrical attack, but Greg was still in the water.

She used a little of her pokemon magic, aiming for a stalagmite and using extremespeed on it, selecting another target and using the move again, making her blur slightly as she flitted across the distance at impossible speed.

The falling mineral spikes had another effect.

As they fell into the water, they created massive ripples. The Lapras, who sensed its prey through minute ripples and vibrations in the water by use of fine hairs on its sides, was completely confused by the cacophony of echoes it was picking up. It tried to use its sonar, letting out a long, piecing note of pure sound that reverberated around the cavern, which jolted the female into the first stages of consciousness. The ripples and splashed made by the falling spikes were causing too much interference, and the Lapras lost its bearings completely.

The female groaned softly, opening her eyes to see the Lapras leering over her, its jaws opened wide, teeth glittering in the light coming from a source that none of them had yet noticed.

She screamed. Loud. A shape erupted from the water, launching itself from the lake with a surge of liquid, wrapping its arms around the pokemons neck and holding on grimly.

Greg reached into his pocket, drawing a small steak knife and shimmying up the large blue neck, heading for the creatures eyes. There was no conscious thought. He was reacting on pure instinct now.

Cindyr was almost to the struggling pair as the Lapras twisted its head, nipping at him in an attempt to dislodge him or wrap its jaws around him and tear him loose.

Greg held on with a single hand, sliding under the pokemons neck as it snapped at him, its jaws closing on the air with a meaty crunch. He continued the movement, using his hand as a pivot point to swing right back around as it lunged again, missing him by mere inches.

He moved up higher, leaping off its neck completely and stabbing as hard as he could with the knife.

The Lapras threw back its head, roaring with pain as the knife embedded to the hilt just under its eye.

Greg was thrown clear, landing in a clumsy, painful heap next to the female. He reached over for a second to make sure that she was alive, which she was very obviously, due to the fact that she was staring at the seconds-old fight with scared eyes.

Greg then leapt back towards the Lapras, trying to cause more damage and hopefully make it back off a little. The way it was thrashing, it could hit either of them at any time.

It flailed a flipper at exactly the right time, slamming it into his chest.

He was lifted clean off his feet and hurled against the wall, his backpack, which he hadn't had time to strap off, was ripped open, the contents spilling across the rocks, a few bottles smashing while other rolled down and dropped into the water, bobbing gently in the current created by the thrashing Lapras.

His pokeballs spilled forth from the torn backpack rolling into the water, bobbing in the water next to the bottles.

The Lapras stared at rounded on him, staring daggers at him, blood spilling down from its wounded face as it lunged at him.

Greg raised his arms feebly, still completely off balance from the brutal hit that had put him where he was.

Cindyr gave a sound of mixed pure fear/horror as the Lapras's jaws started to close on Greg's unresisting body.

The Lapras bit down hard with a triumphant roar, which quickly trailed off as it disappeared in a flash of red light.

A single pokeball rolled down the rocks into the water, the button on its side glowing red as it floated on the lake, rocking slightly as the pokemon inside tried to escape.

The ball stopped rocking and the button went back to white as the pokemon gave in to the pokeball.

The Lapras had crushed the ball against the rock as it had lunged, and then the pokemon had accidentally pressed too hard, and captured itself.

Greg lost consciousness then, but before he did, he lifted his hand to the back of his head and held it in front of his face, seeing that it was covered in blood, and that was when his eyes had closed of their own volition.

* * *

He awoke in the pokemon centre that rested near the north entrance of dark cave. He stared at the ceiling, wondering why one side of his body was warm while the other wasn't.

Cindyr moved then, shifting slightly, her tails stroking across his abdomen as she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing softly. She licked his cheek without opening her eyes, "Please wake up soon." She murmured, resting her head on his neck to go back to sleep.

"I am awake..." He croaked in a voice that wasn't his own.

Her head jerked up immediately and she started to eagerly lick his face. He groaned quietly and tried to move away form her licks, but failed miserably and consigned himself to her licks with a sigh that tried to sound miserable, but came out with more than a little contentment.

Cindyr made a little sound of happiness and nuzzled him before curling up on his lap and just staring at him.

He lowered a hand to her neck and started to stroke her amazingly soft fur lightly. He wanted to push her away and pull her closer at the same time, conflicting emotions playing havoc with his mind.

He settled for pulling her up to his face and kissing her softly, pulling her tight against him.

She deepened the kiss considerably, pressing her furred body against his as her tails twined around his legs, her tongue slipping out to wrap around his as she murred into the kiss.

They both came up for air, and Greg stared into her eyes, a peculiar ache starting deep in his stomach, he wanted to do something to her...but he didn't know what. Something like kissing...sex...but something more.

"Let's go for a walk." He said decisively, standing up.

Cindyr looked up at him and whined, "but I had something else in mind..." She complained.

"We're going for a walk." He said firmly, his steps sure even though he was only recently injured.

* * *

They went out the back of the pokecentre, heading into the thick forest there. Greg found a tree that was nestled close to a steam and sat down with back against it.

He stared at Cindyr, who sat on her haunches a few metres away.

"What are we going to do?" he asked seriously.

"About what?" She asked, pretending not to know what he is talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about..." He said crossly.

She stepped closer to him, nuzzling his cheek softly. "I don't want to think about the future...I just want to enjoy the here and now..." She murmured, pressing her muzzle against his lips in a sultry kiss.

He murmured his assent and lifted his hands to her neck, stroking it gently, wanting to forget his troubles...at least for a while, kissing her hotly in return, his hands slipping lower on her wonderfully soft fur.

She lifted her paws, resting them lightly on his shoulders and then pressing him further against the tree, kissing him a little more eagerly, her breath becoming hotter and hotter, mingling with his won as she started to almost pant, her body heat increasing along with her growing need.

He sighed happily and rubbed at the base of her back lightly, running his hand up and down her back slowly, kissing her lustfully.

Her tails came forwards, gently rubbing at his legs and crotch, arousing him as her tongue meshed with his own.

Cindyr raked her claws across his chest slowly, telling him without words that he should take his clothes off or she would take them off for him.

He quickly took his shirt off, breaking the kiss only as long as he needed before pressing his lips against her muzzle once more.

She growled lightly and pulled him sideways, the bark scraping across his bare back as she pinned him, yanking down his pants eagerly, exposing his growing erection. She growled a little louder, locking her muzzle against his lips again as she straddled him., slowly lowering herself down onto him, his cock pulsing along her belly delightfully, making her smile into the kiss.

She started to rock slowly back and forth, the soft fur of her underbelly massaging the upper portion of his erection as she smiled happily and rubbed against him a little harder, growling lustfully.

Greg gasped and ran a hand down her back, right down to the base of her tails and then down further, slipping between her legs, under her tail.

She arched against him, moaning loudly as her juices starting to spill from between her rapidly moistening, reddening lips as his fingers traced them teasingly.

He smiled, and kissed her deeper, his fingers rubbing her soft lips firmly, arousing her further.

She growled at him, her eyes blazing with hunger as she arched her back, siding her belly along his, her lips catching his cock and lifting it, moving it into perfect position as she pressed backwards eagerly, thrusting him member firmly within her heated depths.

She arched further and moaned loudly, growling lightly, thrusting back against him, already starting to move rapidly as their pleasure grew.

She buried her muzzle in his neck, arching upwards and howling lightly as her insides tightened delightfully around him, making him groan and press his belly firmly against hers, wrapping his arms around her back as he started to thrust up into her needily.

She howled again, her pitch rising along with her need as the human worked her depths with precision, his member sliding smoothly within her, bringing her pleasure as her lips suckled at the long, slippery cock.

She howled once more, a long unbroken note pure pleasure as her insides tightened around him for the final time, making him cry out and clutch her tightly against him, his hot seed spilling deep within her, jetting thickly into her depths, making her wrap her tails around him, the nine long fluffy appendages tightening convulsively around him with every spurt of his thick, creamy cum within her throbbing, pulsing depths.

She arched one last time, murring happily at the warm feeling of his cum deep inside her, before her legs gave way, the vixen falling on top of the human, panting heavily and almost smothering him with impossibly luxurious fur.

Greg kissed her neck lovingly, holding her close to his chest as she licked his neck in return, her tails slowing sliding back and forth across his legs.

Was it wort it? Giving up his future for a few blissful moments like this? Or would he be better with someone more like him...someone human?

Cindyr seemed to read his thoughts, and licked his neck reassuringly, murmuring a promise to him, "I'll never leave you..."