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--Disclaimer: Pokémon and the world in which this story takes place is the property of Gamefreak, Nintendo, and their creators, not me. The original characters and plot belong to me. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.--

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Wil, accompanied by his ninetales Sophia, was walking through town, wondering what to do next. As they walked, he spared a glance at Sophia. Noticing his gaze, she looked back to him and gave him a gentle smile. He returned her smile, happy to be with her. After returning his attention to where he was going, he reached into his pocket and felt around for something. As he brought out his hand and opened it, Sophia took notice and let out a small chuckle.

'You just can't stop looking at that thing can you?' she said, smiling at him.

"I just can't wait to add it to the others that you've earned." He answered while using his sleeve to polish the already-shiny mineral badge. "You did a great job, as always! I knew you would do great!" He added as he pocketed the badge and smiled back at Sophia once more.

'Oh come now, it's not like that one was hard to earn or anything...' she responded while looking away, blushing at his compliments.

As she faced away, he knelt down to her and wrapped her in a warm embrace. He knew that she fights hard both for him and for herself. She loves the thrill of battling, and loves making him proud of her in the process. He too enjoys battling, and was happy that it made Sophia happy as well.

"I love you Sophia." He said as he held her close, enjoying the feel of her fur.

'I love you too, Wil.' She replied while nuzzling his face to return her affection.

After a moment, he released her, realizing that they were still in public. "So, ahem, what do you feel like doing for the rest of the day?" He said as he looked to the sky. It was nearing sunset, the sun casting a yellow-orange hue across the sky.

'Hmm, not much more for us to do today. Wanna just head back to the center and get another room for the night?' she said, looking to the sky as well.

"Sure, sounds good. We can figure out what to do tomorrow morning." He agreed, then started walking back to the town's pokemon center. However, before they got far, their stomachs let out a long groooowwll in unison. They both looked at each other for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Heh, I guess we could go for a bite to eat before we turn in for the night." He said while patting his stomach in an effort to silence it.

'Yeah, the last time we ate was this morning before we went to the park, and...' she stopped as she mentally relived the memory of what happened earlier today. First, she was saddened, remembering what those awful mightyena tried to do to her. Then, a smile slowly made its way onto her face, as the image of what finally brought her and her master together played in her mind.

Wil looked down at her, seeing her staring blankly ahead and smiling, obviously thinking about something. Before he could question it, she continued.

'...and you saved me from those horrible mightyena.' she finished, gazing into Wil's eyes lovingly.

"Heh, yeah, we haven't eaten since then..." he replied, blushing at the memory of what they did afterward.

After a moment of looking into each others' eyes, their stomachs let out yet another groooowl, snapping them out of their reverie. "Heh, guess we should get a bite to eat, eh?" he said after they shared a small laugh. And with that, they continued their walk, searching for a place to eat.

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After an uneventful meal at the same restaurant as before, they walked out the door, and Sophia looked up to Wil as he groaned in discomfort.

"Uuuughhh...I think I ate too much..." Wil said as he rested his hand on his gut. Sophia let out a small laugh, and an evil grin played across her face. As Wil continued moaning, she began tickling his side with one of her tails.

"HAHA, he- hey! Stop that! Heh, you want me to, to throw up or what?" he said between laughs, and started to run away from his attacker. She chased after him, continuing her tickling assault. As they ran down the sidewalk, a few people took notice of the scene and laughed with confused looks. Apparently, not many people get to see a ninetales chasing its master across town, all while tickling him with its tails.

After a few minutes, Wil slowed down, and just sat on the ground, reserved to his tickling fate. Sophia stared down at him, smiling at seeing him writhing beneath her in laughter. She finally decided that he had had enough, and brought her tails away from him so he could catch his breath. She leaned down to him and gave him a loving lick on his cheek, then proceeded to nuzzle his face.

"Heh, don't think I'll forgive you that easily girl." He said while petting her sides. She brought her face in front of his, and gave him to saddest puppy dog face she could. 'I...I'm sorry...please forgive me...?' she said in a pleading tone. Wil took one look at her, and upon hearing that he burst out laughing.

"HAH, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were pretty convincing!" he said through his laughter. At that, she broke the act and laughed with him, satisfied that she got to tease him.

After they eventually calmed down from the scene, they got back to their feet, once again realizing that they were in public.

"Phew, I needed that." He said, smiling down at her. "I think it's about time we got back to the center." He added after looking to the sky again, seeing that it was already pretty dark out.

'Okay, I think I've had enough fun teasin ya.' She answered with a small chuckle.

Thankfully they were already close to the center, since she happened to chase him off in the right direction. The rest of their walk was done mostly in silence. A few times Sophia used one of her tails to poke his shoulder on the side away from her, causing him to look behind him, expecting there to be someone there. He eventually caught on and poked her back every time she did it.

Finally, they walked through the automatic doors of the pokemon center. As they made their way in, Nurse Joy turned to face them from behind the counter. "Welcome back, how did things go?" she asked with a smile, noticing that Sophia appeared to be unharmed. Wil reached into his pocket and brought out the shiny badge, smiling as he showed it to her.

"Congratulations to the both of you, I knew you could do it!" she said as she reached down to pet Sophia's head. She murred and rubbed back against her hand, enjoying the attention.

"Yeah, she made short work of that gym. I'm so proud of her." Wil said as he knelt down and scratched her behind her ears, which he knew was her favorite place.

"It's good to see that she's in the care of such a loving young man." She said as she smiled at the scene. "So, what can I do for you? Does she need healing?" Wil got up and turned back to her as she asked him.

"Nah, thanks though. We just need another room to stay one more night before we head out." He answered.

"Oh ok, let me get you a key." She said as she turned to get one off of a shelf behind her. Sophia sighed with relief as she noticed that the room number on the tag of the key she brought was different than the one they stayed in last night. She didn't need him discovering her little mess on the bed!

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Wil said as he took the key, and made his way up the stairs to his new room, with Sophia in tow.

After a small search through the hallways, they arrived at the door to their room, and unlocked it. Once they were in, Wil closed the door behind them, not bothering to lock it. As he turned back to the room, he saw that Sophia was already lying on the bed, relaxing after her long day. He quickly removed his shirt to get more comfortable and plopped down onto the bed, relishing in the comfort that it provided. It was a long day for them both, and the bed seemed like a small piece of heaven.

After a few moments of relaxation, Wil heard a shuffling noise, and turned his head to see Sophia making her way to him. She laid down next to him, coiling around him with her tails. It was a cute scene, seeing her settle in so close to him, nuzzling against him and covering him with her tails. He enjoyed the feel of her fluffy appendages, and slowly turned to face her so he could give her a gentle hug. She nuzzled his cheek, and gave his ear a lick.

They stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying each others company. After he released her, he looked at her, admiring her ruby red eyes. "You're really beautiful, you know that...?" he said with a smile, still staring at her. She looked away with a small blush, before turning back to him and pressing her muzzle to his mouth, giving him a loving kiss. After a moment, she broke it and looked back at him.

'I love you Wil...I love you so much...' she said in a caring tone, her tails moving all around him in a massaging motion.

"I love you too Sophia..." he said, smiling at her. He brought his hand to hold her cheek and guided her muzzle back to his lips. She closed her eyes and moved into the kiss, loving the fact that she could do this with her master now. He brought his other hand to the back of her head as he felt her tongue slowly making its way out of her mouth. He hastily allowed it into his own, and meshed his tongue with hers, loving the way her tongue felt on his.

They slowly moved closer to each other, still swirling their tongues together. She ended up on top of him, with her tails all splayed out behind her. He rubbed her sides as she continued wrapping her long canine tongue around his, them both getting very much aroused by their antics.

She slowly broke the kiss, leaving them both gasping for air. Upon feeling something poking her at her belly, she looked down to see the tent in Wil's pants. She looked back up to him with a very seductive look, which, along with rubbing the tent with a few of her tails, signaled to him what she had in mind.

"Is your heat acting up again?" he asked in a caring tone, concerned about how she was feeling.

She smiled at how he worried over her like that. 'Naaaah, its been gone ever since we mated in the forest... I just wanna have a little fun with my new love...' she said with a loving voice as she licked his chin. Relieved that she wasn't in any pain, he sat up to wrap her in another warm embrace, which she quickly returned as best she could.

"Before we get too into it, lemme lock the door so nothing can interrupt us." He said as he slowly, but reluctantly, got up from under her and made his way to the door. After a satisfying click, he turned to face her. As she saw him turn to her, she got a slight blush and turned away, giggling. Confused, he looked down at his pants to see that they were wet, especially around his crotch. He laughed a bit as well, and continued his way back to the bed.

"Looks like someone is ready to go!" he said, giving a small laugh as he sat down. She turned back to him, slowly maneuvering herself over him again, pushing him down with her front paws, all while holding her gaze on his.

"Wooaah there, I think I'll take my pants off myself this time." He said to her, giving her a wink. She laughed at this, remembering how she mutilated his other pair of pants last time. He reached below her and slowly undid the button and zipper, and slid his pants off and kicked them aside. As soon as he moved his boxers to his knees, she backed down and gave his semi erect member a long lick, starting at the base and coiling her tongue at the tip. A few more licks had it standing tall and proud, ready to go. She slowly made her way up onto him, staring into his eyes, smiling. He leaned forward and gave a quick kiss to her nose.

"Ready?" he asked, just to be courteous. She nodded, and he maneuvered his hand down to guide himself into her dripping slit. She closed her eyes as she felt his tip prod her lips, and finally make its way into her. He gasped at the heat that overwhelmed his cock. It wasn't hot enough to burn, but it was definitely hot enough to make him feel it.

He brought his hands to her hips, and slowly eased his manhood in to the hilt, taking it slow and getting used to the temperature change. 'Mmmm....please keep going...' she moaned out as he rested within her for a small moment. Upon hearing her plea, he slowly lifted her up, until just his tip remained inside of her, only to drop her back down.

After a few more painfully slow thrusts, they both decided that it was time to speed things up. As he began to pound into her at a faster rate, she started giving counter thrusts of her own, adding to their pleasure. Sophia began to whine, and he felt her lips begin to quiver around his member, indicating that she was close. He decided to change things a bit before she reached her climax.

He reached up to her ribs, still plowing into her, and hefted her to the side, so that they were both lying on their sides, still facing each other. She opened her eyes and gave him a confused look. 'What are you...gasp' she began to question, but was cut off as he continued to pump his length into her depths. She started to let out another whine as her lips once again began to quiver around him. With a few more forceful thrusts, she threw her head back and screamed out in pleasure, as a wave of fluid gushed out from their union, leaving a small puddle between them.

After a few moments of basking in her after-glow, she felt Wil starting to slowly rock in and out of her once more. Before he could speed things up again, she put a paw on his chest. 'Hold on a sec...' she said as he stopped and looked at her questioningly. He was hoping she didn't want to stop without him getting his own release, but he wanted to know what she had to say. She slowly eased herself off of him, and stood on the bed, turning her head back to look at him.

'I was wondering if...um...can you please...do me in the tailhole...?' She asked with a blush rapidly forming on her face.

"Huh...?" was all he could say in response.

'Well, I've always wanted to know how it feels...we don't have to if you don't wanna...' she quickly threw out, in case he didn't like the idea. He slowly sat up, thinking about her offer.

"Well, I don't see why not." he said smiling at her, finding it cute how she was getting embarrassed.

'Really!? I was thinking that you might find the idea disgusting...' she said, letting out a giggle. With that, she lowered her front down to rest on the bed, keeping her rear end up, and gave Wil another seductive stare. Wil slowly crawled over to her, find her expression very arousing, and kneeled behind her, sort of hugging her from behind.

"I want you to tell me if it hurts, or if you wanna stop, okay? he said with a concerned look. Hurting her was the last thing he would ever want to happen. She nodded, and reached her head back to give his face a lick. She loved the fact that he was always looking out for her safety. After smiling back at her for her lick, he grasped his still hard member and positioned it at her tailhole.

She stared straight ahead in a combination of excitement and worry as she felt the head of his cock slowly push through her pucker. Wow, it sure is tight... Wil thought as he slowly continued to push his way into her. Sophia winced as he finally hilted her, which brought a small amount of pain and discomfort. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't really pleasurable either. "Well...?" he said, since he couldn't use her facial expression to see what she felt.

'It...feels weird...not painful, but not really good either...it's...hard to describe.' She said, turning her head so he could see her face.

"Hm, wanna keep going...? He said back to her. He really wanted some kind of release at this point, but wouldn't get it at her expense.

'We can try it a little, but I don't know.' She answered, slowly shifting her weight from each of her kind legs, not used to the feeling of anything being inside of there. Wil shrugged, and slowly pulled back. Sophia felt a strange sensation as he pulled out of her. Actually, it felt pretty good!

'Mmmmm...that actually feels pretty nice...' she said as she leaned back, enjoying the sensation as he exited her.

"Really? Wow, let's keep going then!" he said, relieved that she was enjoying it. He was actually enjoying it too; it was much tighter than her pussy. Once he was almost completely out of her, he pushed back in, a little bit faster than the first time. She stretched her hind legs, and let out another groan. He took that as a positive response, and pulled out at an equally fast pace.

'Yesss, keep going...it feels kinda strange...but I like it...!' she said between thrusts, and he finally decided that it was safe to pick up the pace. He grabbed her hips, and began to speed up a bit, now feeling his own long-awaited orgasm fast approaching. Eager to reach it, he relentlessly slammed into her, loving how tight her tailhole was.

He kept going faster and faster, until he was going at a steady pace, which Sophia seemed to be pleased with. The feeling of his cock entering and leaving her ass was giving her a strange but very pleasurable sensation, and she felt another climax building within her. She began to whine again as she panted for air, her tongue sticking out to the side, gasping slightly every time he hilted her.

It wasn't long before he felt that familiar tightening feeling in his loins, and he knew his orgasm was about to hit. "Soph...phia....I'm gon...gonna.." he said as he continued thrusting into her.

'Me t...too...' she replied, feeling her own orgasm about to take hold of her. With one more thrust, he hilted her and screamed out, "Sophiiaaaaa!!!" keeping his member lodged deep in her ass as wave after wave of his seed was shot into her, coating her innards completely, unable to escape through the tight, sealed entrance.

Just as he screamed her name, she could feel him cumming within her, which set off her own orgasm. 'Wiiiillll!!!!' she howled out, as her climax hit her. Her cunt clamped onto nothing, with waves of her own fluids gushing out onto the bed and all over Wil's legs. She continued to hold her head up, howling, her pleasure refusing to subside. The tightening of her depths also forced her asshole to clench, adding to Wil's pleasure.

After what seemed to be minutes, they finally came down together, all the while Wil hugging her from behind. He slowly pulled his now limp cock out of her, and collapsed face first to her side. Once free of his grasp, Sophia also laid down, turning her head to face him. He brought his head up to meet her gaze and they both just smiled at each other, overjoyed that they were able to give that kind of pleasure to one another.

'Thank you so much Wil...I love you...' she said, never breaking eye contact.

"It was no problem...I love you too Sophia." He replied, giving an even bigger smile than before.

They both used the energy they had left to maneuver closer to hold each other, and cuddle together with a tender kiss. Then, they quickly fell asleep, still holding each other in a loving embrace.

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The next morning, Wil woke up covered in sweat. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing Sophia's sleeping form cuddled into him. "Wow...she sure is hot..." he whispered to himself as he wiped the sweat from his face.

'Mmmm...thank you...' she said as she shifted a little, keeping her eyes closed.

"Heh, I meant literally...not that you aren't the other hot either, but...ugh never mind." He said, giving up on his explanation. "Well, I'm gonna take a shower before we head out for the day." He said as he slowly maneuvered away from Sophia and off of the bed.

'Hmm, five more minutes...' she mentally mumbled out while slightly curling into a ball. Wil looked at her, taking in how cute she looked like that, before he eventually walked into the bathroom nearby to take his shower.

Sophia stayed asleep throughout his shower, being in much the same position once he walked out of the steamy room. I must have taken quite a bit outa her, along with the rough day she had. He thought as he began getting dressed, slipping on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, along with a half buttoned over-shirt and his usual jacket.

After that he walked over to his pack, making a check on his supplies to make sure he was good to go should he decide to leave the city today. The first thing he saw was his badge case. Oh yeah! I completely forgot to put the mineral badge in here. He thought, as he pulled it out. He reached into the pocket of the jeans he wore yesterday, pulling out the shiny little badge. He clicked open the case, and pinned it inside, right next to his Storm badge. Two more to go... he thought as he closed the case and but it back. He continued to make his supply check. Five full restores, three full heals, some food ingredients (he was quite the cook), a few bottles of water, and a single empty pokeball. He pulled out the ball and looked at it. Just in case, never know when it could come in handy. He thought. He never really cared to catch more pokemon, he figured that Sophia was all he needed, and he had been right so far. With that, he put it back into his pack, and slipped it over a shoulder.

Lastly, he walked over to the counter where he ended up setting Sophia's pokeball. He picked it up, admiring its design. It had a shiny, deep ruby red top, matching her eyes. The bottom was a bright yellow-orange, the same color as her brilliant coat. The center button was painted over with a mixture of reds and oranges, mimicking a fireball. He pocketed it, and began thinking of where he should go from here.

'So, whatcha got planned for today?' he heard from behind him. He turned to see Sophia stretching her back.

"Not sure yet. I was thinking that we could head towards Mahogany for our seventh badge. Should be yet another easy victory for ya." He said, giving her a smile and a thumbs-up.

'Sounds good to me!' she said as she dropped off of the bed, trotting to his side. Once there, she began to nuzzle his leg, which he responded to by reaching down to rub along her cheek. He knelt down to give her a warm hug, followed by a kiss to her forehead. She giggled, licked his cheek, and walked toward the door.

'C'mon, I'm hungry!' she said playfully, and then dexterously unlocked the door with one of her tails, opening it with another. He grinned at her, and then followed her out the door.

After a quick breakfast at the center, Wil waved goodbye to Nurse Joy, and went on his way, Sophia at his side. Once outside, they began walking toward the edge of town to be on their way. After a few minutes, they happened to pass by the park from yesterday. They both looked to each other, then away as a mixture of good and bad memories coursed through their minds.

Suddenly, Wil stopped, an extremely thoughtful look on his face. Sophia looked back to him, and saw his blank, thinking expression staring at the ground.

Hmmmm...I suddenly feel like I've been forgetting about something...I can't quite put my finger on it though...Guess it wasn't very important if I can't rememb-"WIIILLL!!!" came a voice from behind, interrupting his thoughts. The voice was familiar, and it suddenly made him realize what he was forgetting about.

Both he and Sophia turned to see Marilyn running behind them in an effort to catch up. Marilyn! They both thought in unison. They looked at each other once more, before looking back to Marilyn, waiting for her to reach them.

As she finally reached them, she leaned forward, putting her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. "Wha...what happened yesterday? You kinda...left in a hurry. I thought that maybe something...happened." She said between heaving breaths, still exhausted from her run. Sophia looked at her, then let out a snicker.

'Hard to imagine she used to travel with us.' she said, since only Wil could hear her mind's voice. He gave her a smile, then turned back to Marilyn.

"Well, after I found Sophia in the forest, she was in such a hurry to go fight in her gym battle, and I just couldn't tell her no..." he explained, smiling as he reached into his pack and brought out his badge case to show her his newest addition. "Sorry about ditching you, guess we just got caught up in the moment." he finished, looking down at his ninetales.

Sophia let out a small laugh at how he worded his story. We sure did get caught up in the moment didn't we? She thought as she smiled back up at him.

"Oh I see... Still, congratulations to the both of you for winning a new badge! What do you plan on doing now...?" she replied, staring back at him.

"Well...uh...I guess were gonna head to Mahogany for our next badge. We don't really have much else to do." He answered. She took a step closer to him, staring into his eyes.

"Um...I was wondering if...uh...if I could go with you...? It can be just like old times! We can make new memories together too!" she blurted out, getting excited at her own thoughts. Wil took a step back, caught off guard by her question. She continued, "I already took care of the business I was sent here to do, and mailed the medicine. I got the OK to have some time off, and I was hoping I could spend it with you..."

"Well...uh...this is certainly unexpected..." he said, taking a few more steps back while holding her gaze. Sophia just sat there, intent to watch how this played out. So far, it just seemed that an old friend wanted to accompany them. However, Marilyn had other thoughts.

"But sure." He continued. "You can tag along if ya like!"

Her face instantly lit up as she tackled him in a big hug. "Thank you! It's gonna be fun!" she said as she held onto him, overjoyed that she would be traveling with him again. Wil stood there, slightly returning her hug. He glanced down at Sophia, and saw that she was laughing at how helpless he looked. "Okay then. We were just heading out. Are you ready to head out of town right now?" Wil asked as he wormed his way out of her grasp.

"OH! I forgot, I need to gather my things and get some supplies. Um...how about I meet you right outside of town once I finish? I'm sure you could find someone to battle or something to pass the time." She said, still smiling widely at him.

"Okay, we will be just outside the gates waiting for ya!" He replied, returning her smile. Despite the fact that he wasn't seeking a romantic relationship with her anymore, he still considered her a friend and was looking forward to catching up with her.

"Okay! I'll be right there!" she yelled as she took off back where she came from.

"Hurry up or we might leave you behiiiind!" Wil yelled playfully as she ran off. Before she turned a corner he saw her turn around and stick her tongue out at him, before turning back and continuing on her way.

'Aw, looks like you get to spend more time with your old crush, eh?' Sophia said in a teasing tone, once Marilyn was out of sight. Wil looked back at her, smiling.

"Hey, I have no need for crushes now, right?" he said as he walked to her, placing his hand on her head.

She gave him a playful look. 'You better not...unless you like being burnt to a crisp...' she said, giving him a death glare. He smiled down at her, knowing she was just kidding.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said as he knelt down to wrap her in a warm embrace. She nuzzled back against him, knowing that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

"So, how about we get going? We can relax once we get to the city gates. If I know Marilyn, she will take her sweet time getting every single thing she wants to bring along with her." He said, letting out a small chuckle. Sophia laughed with him, remembering how Marilyn used to make them wait for her every time they were about to leave a city.

They both turned back to where they were headed before their little interruption, and continued on their way. It didn't take long to reach the city gates, so they figured they had plenty of time to just relax while waiting for Marilyn. Wil spotted a single tree in the vast field just outside of town, and decided that they could rest there. He sat against the tree, letting his head fall back onto the rough bark. Sophia slowly walked onto his lap and laid down, half of her body on the ground, half resting on him. He absent-mindedly scratched behind her ear while he focused on his thoughts.

Hmmm...looks like Sophia and I won't be alone for the rest of our journey. I'm glad that I'll get to travel with Marilyn again, but now all I want is a friendship with her. Oh, what am I worried about... last time we traveled together she never responded to my advances, so at least this time she won't have to deal with me in that respect. I'll just enjoy the company and catch up with her. My heart still belongs to Sophia. As he finished his thoughts, he looked down at his ninetales, who seemed to have fallen asleep on him during his scratching. He smiled at how peaceful and cute she looked. Well, no point in disturbing her. He thought as he stoked her beautiful, soft fur. He rested his head back against the tree again, staring up at the sky, thinking about how lucky he was to have such a grate pokemon, friend, and lover.

"Hey you!" came a deep, throaty voice. Wil slowly turned his head to the side to see who was speaking. A man wearing boots, jeans, and a trench coat, all black, stood not three yards away from him, a dark hat angled down casting a shadow over his face.

"What's up...?" Wil asked as he kept his gaze firm, but didn't get up and disturb his ninetales.

"Let's have a battle..." he said, still unmoving. Sophia's ear twitched at the word 'battle,' and she slowly opened her eyes to inspect the shady character before her. Wil looked down to her to see if she was up to a battle or not.

'Why not, nothing else to do while we wait.' She said as she got off of his lap, knowing that only Wil would hear her. He got to his feet as well and looked back to the shadowy figure before him. "Sure, why not. Sophia is my only pokemon," he said with a nod towards her. "...so how does a one on one match sound?" he continued. Without a word, the strange man tossed a pokeball out. In a flash of light, the pokeball opened, revealing a black pokemon with yellow rings on its body, an umbreon. Upon seeing an adversary, it immediately got into a fighting stance.

"Go..."

With that, the umbreon used a Quick Attack, dashing at Sophia with incredible speed.

"Sophia, dodge and use Flamethrower!" Right before the umbreons attack connected, she leapt up and over him. However, before she could even touch the ground, a dark pulse slammed into her chest. Wincing, she got up, seeing the umbreon high in the air above her. Damn he's fast... she thought as she returned to her fighting stance, waiting for another command.

"Sophia, be careful he's fast!" Wil shouted, also amazed at how fast the little umbreon was. "Use Fire Blast on it while it's in the air and cant dodge!" he commanded, knowing that speed meant nothing in midair. Sophia unleashed a massive Fire Blast toward the umbreon, who didn't even flinch at the sight of the flames hurling right at him. There was an explosion as the blast hit its mark, creating a cloud of smoke where the umbreon was. Wil and Sophia strained to see through the smoke.

"No way..." they both said in unison as they saw the umbreon fall through the cloud and land on the ground unscathed, surrounded by a bright green protective shield. "It used Protect that quickly...? I didn't even see him put the shield up!" Wil said, surprised that it could react so quickly. He looked to the shady trainer, who was still standing with his arms crossed, slightly smiling, content with being only a spectator throughout the battle.

Sophia was getting pissed, and wanted to finish the match, but she didn't know how. With reflexes like that, the umbreon could avoid anything she tries. Before she could think of a strategy, the umbreon bolted towards her once again.

"Sophia, Iron Tail!" she heard him, and as her opponent approached, three of her nine tails faintly glowed, before gaining the sheen of metal. The umbreon either didn't see them, or didn't care, and continued its attack. At the last second, Sophia threw herself to the side in an effort to evade her adversary. However, as she slid to the side, she felt a sharp pain on her back. She turned her head and saw that the umbreon turned with her, as if he knew she would try to dodge, and used Bite, latching onto her back with its sharp teeth.

Sophia yelped out in pain, feeling the power behind the umbreons attack. She maintained focus, and whipped around one of her iron tails to whack him off of her. Just as the tail arced towards it, the umbreon jumped up to avoid the metal appendage. Sophia wasn't going to let him get away. She leapt up with him and flipped, swinging her second tail at him. She felt it impact something and heard a crash, seeing green shards of energy flying everywhere. The umbreon put up another Protect just as the tail hit! Before it had time to gather up energy for another, Sophia flipped once more, slamming her third tail onto its head, causing the umbreon to fly down to the ground. She didn't feel like taking any chances, so she inhaled a large breathe of air, and spat out another Fire Blast, aiming at the crater in the ground where her opponent landed.

The umbreon slowly got up to its feet, wincing at the pain. It looked up to see the massive Fire Blast falling down upon him, and tried in vain to put up a Protect. A weak green shield formed around him, but was smashed by the power of the fire, allowing the flames to completely envelope him.

Sophia landed a few yards away panting from her exhausting battle, hoping that her last attack had finished the umbreon. Through the cloud of smoke, she saw a figure lying on the ground. It twitched a few times, but then slowly got onto its feet, limping out of the smoke toward her.

Sophia looked back to Wil, wondering what she should do. He could only shrug, not wanting to further harm the pokemon. She looked back to the umbreon, who continued to limp at her. Once he was right in front of her, he smiled. Then, he collapsed, knocked out from his injuries.

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Marilyn was running as fast as she could to the town border, multiple bags bouncing all around her.

Guess I could have packed a little less... she thought, getting annoyed at the bags dancing around her body, making it difficult to run at a steady pace. Oh well...I guess being prepared for anything is worth it.

She quickly turned a corner, not wanting to keep Wil waiting much longer. However, she made the mistake of looking down at one of her bags while trying to keep it under control during her turn, and ended up tripping on a small dip in the sidewalk. As she fell to the ground, her bags all flung off of her, before she landed with a big "Umph..."

She slowly rose to her feet, staring at the mess she made. Two of her bags stayed closed and were nearby. One of them however was open, all of its contents spilled across the sidewalk a few feet away. She cursed her luck and proceeded to clean up her little mess. Once she was all back in order, she took off once again, though at a slower and more careful pace, and hoped that Wil had more patience than she had luck.

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The man withdrew his umbreon without a word, giving Wil an unsettling stare. Sophia walked over to Wil's side and turned to look back at the man, wondering what he was going to do. They just stared at each other, until the man slowly began smiling, and broke the silence.

"Your ninetales is very powerful. What do you say to one more battle...I'd like to test my newest pokemon." the man asked, still smiling. Wil looked down at Sophia, wondering if she was up to another battle.

"You wanna do one more?" he asked her. She thought about it for a moment, but before she could answer, the man threw out another pokeball. In a flash of light, another pokemon emerged before them. It was yet another dark pokemon, a mightyena, and it appeared to be a bit surprised.

"So...it appears we meet again..." the mightyena said, growling softly as it eyed Sophia, then Wil, remembering clearly what he had done. Sophia's eyes went wide as she realized who it was, but Wil, who couldn't understand pokemon, was clueless as to what was going on.

"You..." Sophia said in her native tongue, feeling both hatred and sadness enter her mind.

"I'm so flattered that you remember me..." Fang replied, smiling at her as he took a step toward her.

"Get the hell away from me!" she snarled, flames emanating from her bared teeth.

"Someone has a bit of a temper problem...Are you so testy because your heat is still bothering you...?" he said, hoping to further anger her.

'Wil, it's the mightyena from the park!' Sophia yelled out mentally. Hearing that, Wil tensed, feeling anger rising within him. He looked at Fang, then at the dark trainer. "Hold on, lemme heal Sophia." He said, not wanting her to face Fang with her injuries. The man gave no response, keeping his face hidden in shadow.

"Well it's not my fault, I triiieed to help but nooo-" Fang continued, taking another step closer.

"SHUT UP!" he was cut off by Sophia's shout. "I didn't need your 'help', nor would I ever WANT it!" she continued, letting her frustration out.

"Oh so you didn't need me eh? Well then how did...-" he stopped mid-sentence and smelled the air, catching a strange scent. Upon taking it in, his eyes lit up, suddenly realizing what she meant as he smelt Wil's scent all over her, taking the place of her heats scent.

"AAAaahh, so the human fucked ya huh? You actually had to resort to using your master for relief?" Fang burst out with laughter. "Tell me, did you do it while he was asleep? Or did you hold him down and force him?" he continued, laughing between breathes.

"Shut the hell up...he's my mate, and a much better one than you could have ever made!" Sophia shouted, not wanting to hear him talk about her and Wil that way.

"What!?" he blurted out, eyes going wide. "You mean he actually agreed to mate with you...?" Fang looked at Wil, who was rummaging through his pack for a full restore to use on Sophia. "So I wasn't good enough to mate with, but HE was?" he said, now getting a bit angry at the fact that the human got what he wasn't allowed to have.

"Yes, and he's the reason that I didn't allow my heat to control me. I wanted to mate out of love, and he's the only one that I feel that way toward." Sophia proudly stated, smiling at his anger.

Fang just stared at her in disbelief, not wanting to believe that a female rejected him for a human.

"What's the hold up." The man said to Fang in a low voice, getting impatient. "Attack." he commanded, lifting his hand and pointing at Sophia.

"Are you okay to fight him...?" Wil asked as he knelt down to her and started spraying her with the medicine.

'Yeah, I can beat him...don't worr-' she replied, but was cut off as Fang slammed into her with a Quick Attack!

"Hey, what gives?!" Wil shouted at the trainer, who appeared to be ignoring him. "HEY!" he yelled, still not receiving an answer. "Are you okay Sophia?" he asked, giving up on communicating with the silent trainer.

Sophia slowly got to her feet, still feeling tired since the medicine had no time to take effect. "Watch out!" she heard Wil yell, but before the words registered in her mind, a dark pulse smashed into her side, sending her skidding across the ground.

"Sophia!" Wil yelled as he ran to her; however, Sophia got to her feet, smiling in spite of the cheap shots she just took.

'Don't worry Wil, let me handle this...' she said to him in a soft voice. He wasn't sure if he should let her fight him or not, but he knew deep down that she could win. He gave her a firm nod, and back-stepped a few feet to watch the fight. She looked at Fang, who was smiling back at her, apparently pleased with himself that he managed to attack her while she was off guard twice. She wasn't going to let it happen again...

Without a word, she sped toward him with a Quick Attack. Fang let out a small chuckle, using a Quick Attack of his own to avoid her. She quickly turned to face him, then leapt into the air above him, charging an Iron Tail. Fang spat out a dark pulse at her, which she countered with a flamethrower. Fang growled in frustration and jumped up to join her in the air, one of his claws glowing a shadowy black. As he clawed at her with his Night Slash, she flipped downward, bringing her Iron Tail down on his claw. There was a loud "CLANG" as the two attacks met, and they both fell back to the ground. However, Sophia wrapped a few of her tails around him, effectively constricting him. She smiled as he struggled to escape her grasp.

"How does it feel to be so helpless? To not have the power to move or defend yourself?" she asked in a cold voice, which Fang replied to with a loud growl. With that, she charged a powerful flame in her throat and tossed him high above her. Fang writhed in the air, unable to control his midair movements.

Sophia reared back, took in a deep breath, and unleashed a massive Heatwave straight up, covering the entire space above her with flames. Fang had just enough time to see the flames coming as he fell back down toward them, before they overwhelmed him, causing him to howl with pain.

Wil was staring in awe, mouth agape at the great firestorm above him, which covered the sky and cast a red tint across the entire field. The other trainer was still unmoving, as if he saw such a spectacle every day. Wil was beginning to become very unsettled at his opponents demeanor, and silently hoped that the battle was over.

Sophia looked up, watching a dark figure fall through the cloud of fire above. She was struggling to catch her breath, having used a large amount of her energy on that attack. Fang landed in a heap a few yards in front of her. She smiled, seeing Fangs motionless body ahead as the remnants of her attack faded, the sky returning to normal.

"Ha...haha..." Sophia laughed, both out of relief and satisfaction. She turned around to see Wil smiling back at her; however, before she could take even one step, she heard laughing from behind her...

She looked back, and saw Fang slowly rising to his feet! She quickly turned to face him, getting into an exhausted looking stance.

"It's gonna take a little more than that to beat me..." he said, letting out a chuckle.

"How...did you get so strong?" she asked, amazed that he was still walking after her last attack.

However, instead of answering her, he started walking toward her, his front paws glowing white as he prepared to maul her with Metal Claw.

She backed up, using Iron Tail on three of her tails. Before long, he leapt at her, bringing a claw down hard. She brought a tail forward just in time to block the attack, sparks emanating from the clash. Fang turned and brought his other claw from the side, but this was also blocked by one of her tails, yet another loud "CLANG" echoing from their collision. Sophia decided that she needed to get on the offensive, bringing her third tail above her to slam it onto Fangs head, hoping to knock him out. Fang saw this coming, however, and leaned forward, bringing his back legs up into the air to meet the attack, each glowing with a Metal Claw!

Bringing his rear half back down after blocking the tail, he lashed out with a Slash, which connected right on her chest, sending her flying back, a small amount of blood gushing from her open wound.

'Sophia! NO!" Wil shouted as he watched her fly back toward him. "Hey you! Call off your pokemon! The fights over, I lose!" he yelled to the shadowy man, who showed no signs of taking any action.

Letting out a frustrated grunt, he looked back to Fang, who was slowly walked to where Sophia laid, unmoving. I have to do something! That psycho won't return his damn pokemon!

Wil ran to where his pack was, hoping to get out another full restore to use on Sophia. Just as he reached down, a dark pulse slammed into the pack, sending shreds of it and everything that it held out in a dark explosion. He quickly turned and ran toward Sophia, reaching for her pokeball. He brought it out and aimed it at her in an effort to return her, but just as he pushed the button, it was knocked from his grasp, landing a few feet away.

Before he could react, a sharp pain rose from his back to his right shoulder. As he fell to one knee, he reached a hand to grab at it as a reflex to the unbearable pain. His hand slipped off, covered in blood. He looked up to see the trainer and Fang staring back at him, both smiling widely. Before he could say anything, his vision began to blur.

I'm sorry...Sophia... he thought as he stared down at her motionless body, unable to stand up or speak.

"Hurry up and finish them." He heard the dark trainer say, and looked up to see Fang charging a huge dark pulse. Wil clenched his teeth in pain as he moved to lie on top of Sophia. Maybe I can at least protect her from the blast...he thought as he covered her as best he could.

Everything seemed to slow down as he looked up once more and saw Fang rearing back, preparing to shoot off his devastating attack.

Fang threw his head forward, letting the Dark Pulse fly. Wil closed his eyes, reserved to his fate.

"WIIILLL!" he heard from somewhere nearby. It sounded like Marilyn's voice, but he lacked the strength to turn and see. Then, he heard a loud explosion. Realizing that he wasn't hit, he opened his eyes. He immediately wished he hadn't though, seeing Marilyn falling to the ground just in front of him, her eyes looking back into his. She slowly reached down to her belt, and pulled up a pokeball. She tossed it to the side, seeing only a flash of light appear from it.

"Please...help.......us..." she said, before collapsing. Wil strained to see what she let out, but his vision was overcome with darkness, as he too succumbed to his wounds...

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Jax, Marilyn's rhydon, looked around in confusion. All he saw was a creepy looking human and a mightyena.

"Please...help.......us..."

Upon hearing his trainer's voice, he turned around. His eyes went wide at what he saw. There, lying on the ground in front of him, was his trainer, another human, and a ninetales, all wounded and motionless. Master? What happened here!?! He thought as he knelt down next to her. She was still breathing, which was good.

He turned to the strange pair, who were the only ones around who could have done this. The man stood their staring at him, as if deciding what he should do. The mightyena looked back and forth between the man and Jax, wondering what he should do. Fang decided to try and hit him with a dark pulse, and shot it out toward him. Jax didn't even move as it impacted his chest, not even leaving a mark. Fang dashed toward it, charging a metal claw. However, as soon as he lept to swipe at him, Jax grabbed him in midair around his chest. In one smooth motion, he slammed him onto the ground, then threw him back to his trainer.

The man just looked down at his unconscious pokemon, still showing no emotion of any kind. "Hmmm...I think it's time to leave..." the man said, pulling out his pokeball and returning Fang. Without another word, he turned and started to walk away, as if Jax wasn't standing right in front of him.

Before Jax could take a step toward him, the man spoke again as he walked away. "You may want to get your friends some help, or they may bleed out soon." Upon hearing that, Jax turned to look at the mess beneath him. He's right. I don't know what happened, but they are all in bad shape and need medical attention. He turned to look one last time at the strange man, who was already quite a ways away, before he bent down to pick up Marilyn, putting her over his shoulder.

He didn't recognize Wil until he picked him up and saw his face. Last time I saw this guy I was a rhyhorn... he used to travel with Marilyn if I remember correctly...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. The only thing he should be thinking about right now is getting them all to the pokemon center. He put Wil on his other shoulder and scooped up the ninetales into his arms. He walked back into town, and headed straight to the center. He knew his way around this town, since he and Marilyn had been staying here recently.

He was getting many strange looks from people on his way, but he didn't blame them. It's not a common thing to see a pokemon walking around town with three badly injured bodies draped over him. One man even stopped to ask what had happened, but Jax ignored him. He didn't mean to be rude, but he just didn't have the time to acknowledge him.

Upon arriving at the center, Nurse Joy immediately ran over with a worried look on her face.

"What happened?" she asked, but then realized that the pokemon couldn't really answer her. "Chansey, help rhydon get those three to the back!" she said, calling over her shoulder.

The chansey came running from behind the counter, and lead them all to the back. Nurse Joy followed shortly, and began to check each one individually. First, she check out Marilyn. She had dark-looking burns on her midsection, along with some open wounds in the surrounding area. After stitching up the one serious cut, she cleaned the other injuries and wrapped them up.

Next was Wil. The only injury he had was a long gash across his back, up to his shoulder, but he must have lost a large amount of blood. It wasn't very deep, just long, so it didn't require stitches. She cleaned him up and bandaged the cut, then moved on to Sophia.

She was pretty concerned for the poor ninetales. She had a gash across her chest, along with a few broken ribs. She sprayed a full restore over her, and hooked her up to a machine that would slowly drip more for her ribs. Once she finished, she hooked them all up to heart monitors, and turned to face the very worried looking rhydon.

"Don't worry. It appears that you got here just in time. They should all be able to make a full recovery. You are free to wait in here if you wish, or I could put you back in your pokeball if you point it out." Jax sat on the floor next to Marilyn, and looked back to Nurse Joy; his way of telling her that he would wait there.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few hours to check on them." She said as she turned to leave the room. Jax looked back at Marilyn, still worried about her. He slowly made his way to the wall near her bed and leaned against it, falling asleep shortly after...

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Nurse Joy was busy attending to all the other injured pokemon getting sent it for the next few hours. When she finally got a break, she decided she should check on the group that the rhydon brought in.

She walked into the room, and stopped by each of their beds to examine their vitals and to make sure that their bandages were still wrapped and such. She almost didn't see the rhydon in the dark room, asleep on the wall near Marilyn, having to step over his legs to reach her.

Once she finished, everything looked good, and she started to walk back to the front of the center. However, as soon as she walked out of them room, she heard a BEEEEEEEEEP coming from behind her! "Oh no...one of the heart monitors is flat lining!" she yelled as she dashed back into the room, scanning around to see who it was...