"Goodbye civilization. Hello, random valley."

Rather than the tired sigh he wanted to give, Ben merely tugged on his backpack strap, adjusting its girth before starting the cautious climb down. The reasonably dense forest, besides being off the beaten path, had a steepness to it around the edges that children with sleds would have killed for... if not for the aforementioned trees. And shrubbery. He had to pick his footing carefully, lest the wrong step send him skidding on his ass and likely into one of the many thorn bushes he'd passed. He used several of the sturdier trees lining the hill as leverage, employing controlled falls to make his way down.

The only reason he was so far out this way to begin with had to do with two things: his inability to turn down a challenge and his poor luck with winning them. Granted, for every Lunatone in life there was a Solrock, and even Ben had his bright spots with this cursed job. For starters, he was better off than most, having been given a map to go along with the conditions to his loss. Next, he at least was doing something that at least interested rather than humiliated him.

Hell, if he was lucky, he might even get some fame out of it.

Of the 16 field researchers at Prism Research and Development, only two had been available when the assignment came in, him and PJ. PJ hadn't been enthused with the idea of traveling into the woods, preferring most of her research to be done with Pokémon in or near the city and their evolving lifestyles. Ben, while he didn't mind a trek in the woods from time to time, hadn't wanted to go so deep as this new project would entail. Hence...

The Bet.

He blew a gust of air threw his nose in the form of a suppressed laugh, pushing away from the tree he'd been braced against as he allowed gravity to pull him down to the next one. PJ knew as well as anyone that he couldn't resist her offer, especially not when the winner would also be rewarded with a free "cover day" from the other. Cover days were rare, tricky beasts, like rabid little Pikachu that no one could catch. They required planning, teamwork, and a trust that your "partner" wasn't going to back out last second. It had happen to Ben far too many times to trust any of the others to cover his shift for him, but he knew PJ to be as good as her word, so he'd accepted on the condition he'd choose the contest.

... PJ was surprisingly more vicious at chair jousting than he'd assumed.

He gave a little toss of his head, more amused than anything. The loss wasn't a big one, unlike some of the others he'd dealt with over the years. It presented a great opportunity, a chance to get his name out there for some of the more exotic trips, like the Orange Islands or Nettle Bay. If he was able to make a truly unique discovery about the wild Grovyle in the South, he stood a really good chance at a promotion, even!

Not to mention, this trip also put some distance between him and a certain... someone.

His foot caught against a root, making him look up, feeling like a flea along the back of a shiny Mankey. From his earlier vantage point, he'd spotted what looked to be a clearing amidst the trees, the one bald patch amongst the green strands. It was almost on the hillside, close enough to the mountains that he should be able to find a source of fresh water. There were more than enough branches and fallen logs from what he'd seen along the way to make a lean-to once he got there. Berries grew in abundance along the way, ones so fresh they'd fallen to the ground and started rotting to make room for new ones. All he had to do was find the bare patch and get started.

Had he looked to his left, just then, and not amongst the canopy, he might have noticed a quick flash. More concerned with thoughts of making camp before dark, he never noticed as he kept moving downward, deeper into the territory of the curious eyes that watched him.

=*=*=

It took him a day and a half to develop a sense of paranoia, a new personal record.

While traveling through remote areas like this, one's life prior became a memory so hazy it may have well been linked to the era of Kabutops and Omastar. Sense of time was shot, first of all. Rough guesses could be made by the positioning of the sun, but without the steady rushrushrush! you didn't check it very often. He could already tell his ears were playing with him too, when he mistook the leaves scratching along the ground to be someone walking and the trickle of water for being a car in the distance. His eyes had become traitorous since last night. Their favorite game, for the moment, was trying to make him turn by showing him something so ridiculous outside the corner of his eye that he couldn't help but looking. Like now, as his head swiveled. He could have sworn that the bright red leaves of that tree there had been... no. She was in the city, thank God.

He'd undergone this sort of thing before. It was an odd sort of ritual, a process that had to occur before his body could gradually acclimate to its new surroundings. Going back to the city was worse, because everything was like five hundred Rhyhorn let lose at the same time in a battle arena, all yelling and using Earthquake at the same time. The noise the first day would make his head swim and the vibrations from the very people around him compared to the stillness of the forest was always an eye opener.

And yet...

Something didn't fit quite right.

He might have brushed off the feeling, as he often did, but a recent sound that led to him discovering his pack had been tampered with eased his mind greatly. While someone might be out there, his paranoia actually settled, an easy smile on his face as he looked around, wondering what it might be. He was too far away for it to be any human... maybe a Pokémon? Nothing had been missing from his bag, the items had only been spread along the ground, lined up as if whatever had gotten in his bag had been looking them over, seeking to learn something about him from what he'd packed.

"Are you there?" he called out, projecting his voice but keeping it friendly and soft. "I'm not here to hurt you..."

Any other time, he might have felt silly for calling out. He had the suspicion, however, that whatever had taken an interest in him had enough sense to know of trainers. It wasn't wild enough to fear him or it wouldn't have entered the camp in broad daylight while he was near. It was wise enough to check for anything of danger to it, or so he felt when he noticed none of his food had been taken. He could be wrong, of course, but...

What was that?

He slowly angled his head towards the left, lifting it and watching along the trees. He'd been certain he'd seen movement there, something that hadn't belonged. Squinting, crossing his eyes like he was looking at one of those stereogram 3D image puzzles he'd been obsessed with as a child, amidst the shades of green he was able to distinguish a form. While he couldn't distinguish the gender or age from this distance, the outline was unmistakable.

Grovyle? Check.

Ben made the mistake of reaching for his camera before his brain had a chance to scream, "NO!" Halfway there his hand stopped and he looked back up, not surprised but still disappointed to see the forest-dwelling predator was gone. There was no way of catching it on film now: a Grovyle in the trees was almost unmatched in speed and agility.

Despite the setback, he got the feeling this wouldn't be the last time seeing his new "friend," especially when it seemed to show as much interest in him as he had in it. Perhaps there was even a way he could expedite their next meeting...

=*=*=

So far, things were going better than Ben had hoped.

For starters? She hadn't decided to attack him yet.

The sleek emerald body of hers had watched him for the better part of an hour, gradually moving closer from branch to branch with a relaxed swing that belayed the sharp gleam in her amber eyes. They moved in ways her body was not, rapidly jumping from one spot to the next, alighting on a single blade of grass or wet pebble, before moving back to him and the fruit that he held in his hands. It was a good sized melon, one he'd brought with him and doubted was native to her forest home. That and the fact that he'd sat still on the ground, a position less intimidating to her, seemed to have coaxed her enough to come closer...

Though he had no illusions of what would happen if he moved.

Still, he was pleased. With the level of curiosity she'd shown, he'd had no doubt she would come back. Years of experience had made him certain he'd be waiting at least the day, if not several hours, and he'd made himself comfortable with a tree behind his back to wait her out. Her interest seemed to run deeper than he'd given her credit for, as already she made the final leap to the ground. Her arms raised defensively, the leaves along her wrists stiffened like blades as she watched him, waiting.

When he didn't move other than to breathe and to hum a lax melody, she shifted her stance, leaning indecisively to one side, as if thinking to herself that she'd gotten close enough and fleeing would be the wisest course of action. When her eyes fell back on the melon in his hands, he watched as her jaw clenched, her body again moving, this time in a bold step forward. Lowering her head and neck, her lip curled in a silent warning as her leaves rattled along her arms like the steel feathers of a Skarmory. The long head leaf gave an angry cut through the air, her foot gradually sliding one more step forward.

When he made no sign of stirring, she gave a quick lunge, her body a streak of green light. He wasn't able to register her movement till she stopped right in front of him, her body seeming to materialize out of nowhere as she grabbed the melon from him in both hands and leapt backwards, landing a good ten feet out of his reach in a low crouch.

She opened her mouth, her lips curling back to reveal her many sharp, glittering teeth as a warning hiss came from her, the leaves on her arms still for the moment. Turning her head, she kept him within her line of sight before putting her muzzle close to the fruit, drawing in several deep breaths. Turning it in her hands, weighing it, she pulled her head away. Ben was certain by the grim set of her features that she was going to drop it and dart away, but a curt nod a moment later dispelled those thoughts.

With a quick toss, she had the fruit in the air. As his eyes moved to follow it, he watched as she leaped with it, the blades on her arms flashing as it sliced through the melon, splitting it evenly in half. She landed before the fruit did and caught both pieces deftly in her claws, pausing only to look over both halves then back at him.

That was the only warning he got as she lobbed one half in his direction.

He banged his head on the back of the trunk as he made the foolish attempt to catch it. Her quick and quiet snorts of air through her nose were easy to interpret as laughter, even though he was able to successfully catch the fruit.

"Thanks," he mumbled, feeling foolish, like a child who'd been called to tell the class the rest of the answer and had been caught unaware. Taking a bite, he noticed she watched him first, only taking her own nibble after he'd had his. "Bet you haven't seen too many of my kind around, huh?"

She pulled at the fruit with her teeth, some of it smacking against her nose as she looked up at him, turning back to her meal. She took several savage bites out of the helpless melon, as though she'd given a long chase to hunt the thing and wanted to be sure it wouldn't escape.

Well, this certainly beat eight hours of covert observation!

"My name's Ben. Well, Bentley," he corrected, taking another bite of the sweet fruit. "But nobody calls me that. Doesn't roll off the tongue well." He watched as she used her claws to scrap at the insides of the melon, having apparently found this worked better than burying her maw into it. "I don't suppose you have a name?"

She looked up, her eyes blinking slowly before her head bent back down, more focused now on the food than him.

"You know, another man might take offense," he teased. It wasn't surprising that she would lack the understanding of human tongue that Pokémon closer to civilization picked up on (see PJ for theories in that department), but she certainly seemed to respond to his voice. Or did she understand him?

"How about Saida?"

She continued to scrape at the insides of the rind, gobbling up the fruit, but the way her leaf was tilted on her head and how she had herself angled made him think she was listening to him.

"There's a name that rolls off the tongue. So, Saida..." he gave a pause here, seeing if she'd respond. When she didn't, he continued on. "What interesting, never-heard-of by humans fact can you tell me about your society?"

When only the sound of chewing answered him, he just gave a soft laugh.

"I guess it can't be that easy, huh? Ah well." He lifted his still mostly solid melon half in a mock salute. "To science and the fools that follow it."

Not even a minute later, she dropped the now-empty rind and turned. Ben watched, almost dropping the bit of melon in his mouth as she literally ran up the side of the tree, grabbed a branch, and swung some twenty feet up into the air to vanish with a rustle of leaves. It was an amazing feat of agility, one that left an ache in his gut like a punch. Such raw power that she could call upon at any given moment... it left him feeling like a wind had blown through his body and followed her, leaving him an empty, useless husk.

Just like the rind she'd left behind.

=*=*=

The next several days were dull compared to the meal he'd shared with his host. The first day or two had him expecting her to return and, when she didn't show, he realized he'd better set off to do what he'd come here for in the first place.

Today's project was setting up several cameras for observation. Typically, his boss would frown on such a method, and Ben had to agree. Normally, one had to be really skilled at selecting locations for the cameras to go. Even then, it was all about luck. Stationary cameras couldn't be adjusted once they were set, unlike a camera in one's hands. A Pokémon might be right outside the camera's range and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it... not mention the HOURS of editing that would need to be done to remove the many segments of "junk feed" that the motion sensors might pick up, like wild Pokémon NOT related to the Grovyle, or even a whisper of a breeze and passing leaf. However, he couldn't risk Saida or any of her companions fleeing every time he reached for his camera, so he opted for this method.

Normally, these cameras were set at targets such as water and food sources. Dens, if one was lucky. However, Ben's celebrities lived in trees and that's where the cameras would have to go too. He'd already marked several in his mind as being potential candidates, mainly due to their girth and the leaves that would be able to make a natural camouflage.

As Saida hadn't appeared, though he had a cold tickle along his neck that made him feel as if those golden eyes were touching him from time to time, he began to consider making the climb. After all, if she hadn't taken offense to him already being in her territory, what harm would there be in exploring the remainder of it? Her continued absence gave him the boldness to risk it.

While he lacked Saida's grace and ease when it came to climbing trees, he still had a certain amount of stubbornness that lent him enough strength to make the journey with the camera equipment on his back. He was on his fifth tree now, this one overseeing the camp, and had just worked on fixing it into place when Saida decided to make herself known.

"Jeezus!" he swore, almost dropping the camera as Saida suddenly blurred into view, the mix of her vibrant green and that of the leaves around her forcing him to close his eyes, rub them, then open them again, his poor orbs fighting to distinguish her from the foliage. His sudden flail had apparently startled her, a rolling growl coming from the back of her throat as one side of her mouth curled open.

"Easy, sweetie." Ben held his hands within view, the Grovyle's head turning sharply to look at the small black camera in his hand. He forced his body to appear relaxed, keeping his eyes off to the side while still keeping her in view, giving her no direct sign of a challenge. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, you scared me first." He heard the growl deepen but there was no rattling sound of her leaves yet which he took to be a good sign. "It's alright, okay? Just a misunderstanding, Saida."

The roughness along the corners of her growl lifted, making it sound less livid and more like an inquiry. He heard her claws scrap along the bark of the branch and hastily gave a look, keeping his eyes down at her legs and not at her face as he watched her approach. He felt her warm breath running along his hands, checking them, before she eased back, apparently satisfied as her rumble slowly died down into silence.

Which was great, because he really didn't want to see the kind of damage she could do to him up here if she was really, REALLY pissed.

"I'm not here to fight," he continued, keeping his words low but firm. "Just taking a look around." He moved his gaze up, following the red along her belly. "I can leave."

There was a series of pops, strung along delicately and close together like a row of pearls. Her mouth opened so that the sound was too distorted to call a growl, more like the slow creaks of an ancient drawbridge being lowered, starting high then dipping into what appeared to be a negative tone.

A little surprised, he was even more taken off guard when she moved closer to him, lowering her upper body so that her claws could also grip the branch she walked on. Stretching her head outward, she made several little up thrusts with her head before stopping, her golden eyes watching him pointedly. A hunch popped up in the back of his head and he lifted one of his hands up again, watching her watch him. Reaching forward, he stopped midway, caution screaming in the back of his head about lost fingers should he misinterpret her when the Grovyle pushed her head forward, closing the gap.

Her snout touched his palm first, a hint of roughness to it like a birch tree before she pushed against his hand, sliding the side of her face along it. There, her skin grew softer and warmer, like the petals of a cactus flower. He had no doubt that while it felt soft, it was tougher than his, having developed a need for survival that his own kind didn't have.

When she turned her head to look up at him, her mouth opening and giving those popping sounds again, this time her lower jaw moving up and down in a way that made them sound scolding, he gave a smile, obliging her with more pets. He tried to keep a piece of himself apart from the experience, wanting to be able to look back at this later and describe it from a rational stance, but it was hard to do when his fingers soaked up the texture of her toned form, savoring it like a delicate plum.

She moved closer, bumping her head against his shoulder as his palm moved to touch her side, pausing there to feel her chest expand, the pulse of her heart steady. When he started stroking along her flanks in small, rhythmic circles, the sound she made resembled the dull rumble of a warm, summer storm approaching from a distance. She was definitely becoming acclimated to his presence and, for a moment, he wondered if the exposure to him would taint any observations of her natural processes.

The doubt lingered a moment but didn't have enough time to take root and grow. If anything, she seemed to be tolerant of his intrusions, even accepting. This would be a rare chance to see how the otherwise territorial Pokémon interacted, excluding his own existence in her home. Her daily activities hadn't been focused on or around him, so far as he'd seen, so really the research he required should prove valid, even more enriched, perhaps, had they not reached this odd sort of understanding.

"So..." The leaf on her head swayed to the side, suggesting she was listening to his voice. "I have some Orans I found the other day." She nudged his shoulder again, giving a deep snort of air that made him realized he'd stopped petting her. With a small laugh, he moved his fingers along her skin, watching her sway her twin leaf tails with obvious contentment. "We could share them... if you want?"

Despite the language barrier, from the way she tilted her head and let her glittering eyes gaze into his, he got the distinct impression that she somehow understood him.

=*=*=

The next hour had the two eating Oran berries. Hers lay on the ground, already divested of any succulence which had once been inside the rinds. Unlike before, however, she didn't depart once her share was done. She remained at his feet, lazing on the ground, listening in rapt attention to his voice, though he still doubted she had the full understanding of his words.

"And, of course," he went on, waving his hand with the Oran in it. "I took the bet like an idiot. I thought I had a solid pick. She always rolled her eyes when we invited her to a match!" Taking a bite, he gave a toss of his head before continuing. "I have no idea where she picked up those kinds of moves." He gave a pause. "Maybe she cheated? Can you cheat at chair jousting?"

Saida's head turned to the side, the leaf on her head bobbing a bit as he set the remains of the melon on the ground. Glancing from the empty shell to him, she lifted the right side of her lips, curling them. The soft series of pops she made had a "Well, go on," twist to it. With a smile, he took the other half of his dinner and dug his teeth into it, thinking of what to tell his new friend.

"The bet before this one, that was a mess..." He drew in a breath, letting it settle in his lungs a good while before releasing it. "I don't suppose you have a boyfriend, eh, Saida?" When the expression on her face didn't change, he went on. "It's part of the reason I'm out here."

He lifted his head back, some of the memories so fresh they might have happened today and some of them, which happened at the same time, like an old parchment, brown and curling, cracked and distorted. What memories did he have with them truly happy? Were they the ones he couldn't remember? Were they worth the effort?

"Never let anyone talk you into a bet after you've had a few, Saida," he said finally, not finishing the rest of his meal. The flavor had long gone from sweet to bitter in his mouth, as if it had turned rotten the moment he'd bitten it. "And never take a bet having to do with someone of the opposite gender. It's no good." He shook his head, a quick jerk that made his right temple hurt. "No good at all."

Saida gave an array of little whistles and clicks, as if adding something of her own life to the conversation. From the way she moved her claws, weaved her head, and allowed her leaves to flutter, it was a very interesting story. So, while he couldn't fully understand it, he could appreciate watching her move and speak, giving an appropriate nod or hum when she glanced his way, expecting some sort of response.

When her gestures slowed and her tone softened, gradually dwindling to silence, her eyes almost sparkled as she made a sign to him, a swift circle of her claws, to get him to go on. Amused, and a little confused, he decided to oblige her.

"I'm not sure what it was... I mean, yeah, it started as a bet... but things were good for a while in the beginning." He smiled to himself, remembering those parts well enough. Strangled cries, the scent of sweat, the tangled sheets... though her face and body was dark and smudged, never clear enough to recall. Which was fine, really. Why would he want to remember something that wasn't going to happen again? "Then it got to be that she couldn't decide between bitchy and needy, that she'd want me to stay then want me gone... Fuck... she must have been bipolar or something."

He kicked at the empty rind on the ground, some of it smooshing into the dirt.

"Now she's wanting to make things 'work again.'" He lowered his head, running his hands through his hair and stopping to yank it then relax his grip before hissing, "And she was the one to leave in the first place!"

At the sound of a rustle, his eyes moved up, watching as the Grovyle stood, shaking herself off once before giving a run and a leap, vanishing into the underbrush with little more than a whisper.

"Guess I bored her," he muttered, moving to rub his temples and getting ready to stand when a soft sound to his left made him turn.

Saida had returned with two smaller, dark purple fruits within her claws that Ben didn't recognize. She tossed him one, the baseball-sized fruit similar to a water balloon, rubbery and heavy. Turning it over in his hands, he glanced at her, watching as she sank her teeth into it, juice dribbling down her chin as dark and freely as blood.

Apparently, she'd wanted dessert.

With a smile, he gave a nod of thanks to her, taking a small bite. His teeth pierced the skin so easily it might not have existed, the juice all but erupting from the berry. He could feel it running down the sides and along his fingers, but it tasted so sweet and tangy that he couldn't seem to care. The groan that came was yanked from the left of his belly, causing his groin to tighten from the unbelievable sensation of flavor.

"That's good," he finally got out, grabbing another two or three bites.

Saida gave what could have doubled as a trumpet's blast, though it was broken up into smaller bursts, her body shaking with her apparent laughter as she took another bite from her own treat. The laughter gradually turned into a rich moan, her tongue flicking vainly to catch the stray droplets that fell from the corners of her mouth. Ben watched her, her tongue doing almost as much damage as it streaked the juices more than cleaned them.

"Here," he moved closer, reaching slowly when he saw her eyes narrowing. "You missed a spot." Licking his thumb, he easily stroked her skin, smearing the juices away. "You know, you're pretty lucky, you don't have to deal with all the overcomplicated stuff that we do. Life's pretty straightforward out here."

He moved his thumb into his mouth without thinking, sucking the juices off before taking another bite of the berry. He gave a short grunt when he realized the berry had splattered his chin, pulling it away to rub it off when his hand was knocked aside. Jerking back, he couldn't escape as a clawed hand gripped his shoulder, holding him still.

Before he could react (Should he shout? Stay still?), her tongue reached out, giving a quick swipe along his throat. His head lifted, shocked, but her administration persisted, going along his pulse line and past his chin, stopping with a final lick that almost grazed his lips.

When she stepped back, her leaves giving a light rustle, he wasn't sure how to respond.

"I... uh, guess that's one way to do it," he got out, watching as she gave a whip of her tails and made a leap for the trees.

=*=*=

For the next three days, he didn't see any sign of Saida.

That might not have been so troubling, if he could have still felt the way her eyes followed him tinkering with the cameras or doing documentation on the laptop. The charged sense of being examined, being watched, hadn't occurred for at least two of the days, and the subtle blur of her body moving amongst the trees had been noticeably absent too.

Had something happened to her?

"It's possible," he said to himself, not liking the idea but having to be honest. If she came across another Grovyle female who was trying to expand her territory then Saida could have been chased away or potentially killed.

Rubbing his jaw, trying to forcefully wipe the frown off his face, Ben's brow drew together when he realized he'd developed more than a five o'clock shadow the last few days. With a grunt, he lifted his arm, realizing he felt more sticky than normal and couldn't recall when he'd last showered. Sometime before getting here, that much he knew.

"Pond or river should be good enough," he grumbled, moving to his bag to dig out a bar of soap. The waxy bar was easy to find mixed among his clothing, but his razor seemed to have been swallowed up by the bag. Disgruntled but not wanting to waste more time, he left it there, taking the soap and some clean clothing instead.

He savored the walk as he tried locating a source of water big enough to cleanse himself in. The sunlight poured like rain through small gaps amongst the leaves, flickering in and out as the wind moved, the small twigs under his feet crackling as he moved. He could have been quieter, had been trained to be, but a part of him hoped Saida was near enough to hear him and come.

Starting at the spring he'd been getting his water from the last few days, Ben made the decision to head down the mountain, hoping it would flow into a pond. The water was icy at the source and he thought that the further away he got from it, the warmer it might be. Along the route, several other small springs spilled their life forth, the crystal veins pulsing and twisting, merging into a larger one as he continued down. The water had gone from a small trickle to a larger rush of water, gradually building as he followed it till poured into a river. Clear, he could see the bottom enough to distinguish it wasn't dangerously deep, and the way it was moving indicated it wasn't going fast enough to be deadly.

Touching a hand to the water, he gave a quick shake, finding it to be almost as chilly as it was at the source. Still, if he hurried enough, he could get cleaned and get out.

Shucking his clothes at the bank, he couldn't help but grimace as he ran in, unable to prevent himself from shouting as the water not only tried to work on numbing his legs, but splashed along his sides. Diving in, he couldn't only remained submerged for a moment before having to surface. Fingers clenched so hard the soap bent rather than slipped from his grasp, he worked on washing as fast as he could.

"Shit," he swore, his body shaking as he started working on lathering his chest. "Shit."

Abandoning the idea of washing his hair, he settled for another dip, rinsing the suds off before heading back to the shore. Water streaming down his eyes, he shook his head, feeling the droplets scatter before he wiped his face, blinking, trying to see. It was at that time he realized that, besides his razor, he'd left something else important behind.

His towel.

"Well, damn it." Torn between anger and exasperation, he actually ended up laughing. "It's not like anyone's going to see me," he reasoned, moving to gather both his clean and dirty clothes. "I'll just dry off along the way."

He had almost gotten to his clothing when he felt his ankle catch on something. He swayed unsteadily before gravity got its claws into him, yanking him down. He was able to keep from landing on his face at the expense of his back, taking several shallow breaths to recover before he felt like he could move.

What the hell had he tripped on?

Lifting his head and looking down, he found the better question to be: why was there grass wrapped around his ankle?

Lifting his upper body up, he pushed back, trying to pull his ankle free, only to find he couldn't move it... or the other one. A quick glance showed the green blades had interwoven and now had both his legs tethered to the ground. Feeling something along his wrists, he yanked too little too late, dark green shoots twining around them, keeping them still as they wrapped along his upper arms, tugging him back to the ground. Thrashing from right to left, left to right, he felt no give from the grass, his back now solidly against the ground. Twisting his head, he tried to find the source or cause of the attack, certain he hadn't done anything to provoke it, when he heard a little stream of familiar pops.

"Saida?" He leaned his head back, so very glad to see her familiar form kneeling about ten feet away, her palm on the ground next to a folded leaf. "Oh, thank God... you've got to get me out of this!" No sooner did he speak when he realized just how good her timing was in finding him.

Too good.

Mouth becoming dryer than a Camerupt's hoof, he watched as she clucked her tongue lightly, talking to herself as she moved closer, examining the grass that held him and touching it with a claw. He didn't try struggling at this point, more concerned with her claws so close to him and his inability to do much more than piss her off. What was holding him anyway? Vine Whip? No... a Grovyle couldn't learn that move even through a Technical Machine. Grass Knot, maybe?

His thought process was interrupted as the tip of her claw strayed from the bindings and moved along his upper arm to his shoulder, along his collarbone and down his chest. Her eyes were fixated on him, so dark a gold they were almost bronze. He watched her nostrils flare, still more worried about that claw of hers that was trailing from his chest down his belly, stopping to examine his bellybutton.

"What are you--?"

His words were cut off as she glanced up, her lips curling back as she gave a hiss of displeasure, the leaves on her arms giving a soft rattle. The moment he was quiet, she gave a firm nod, the rattling ceasing as she hopped out of sight. He panicked, in that instance, thinking she was going to leave him there for whatever Pokémon to find - or for no one to find till his workplace got worried. When she did come back, he felt a mixture of relief and cold dread pooling inside his belly.

Saida seemed to have no concerns, more interested in the leaf she's brought with her and had now placed by his side. From it, she drew forth a small berry, grasped carefully between her claws. They were orange and unknown to him, but they looked similar to the berries she'd brought the other night, other than the size and color.

When she squeezed the berry, the juice dripped onto his belly, feeling surprisingly warm. Several more were dispersed of this way, the juice pooling into his bellybutton, making him wiggle till she glanced at him with clear warning in her eyes. Apparently satisfied with the juice puddle she'd left on him, her claws dipped into the liquid, tracing colored trails along his body. The tingle could have been from the juice or her talons, alternating patterns of swirls and lines moving from along his chest towards his stomach and hips, her roaming digits stopping just short of his briefs.

Before he could think to say anything, her claws had easily sliced through the hindering fabric.

Nudging it aside, she ignored his quiet gasp, spreading those patterns now along his inner thighs, just short of touching something very important to him. Her claw pulled away and she looked thoughtful, then made a series of happy pops and mingled chirps before using her claw to draw a very simple spiral on her own belly. It started wide then twirled around and around till she had no more room to circle less it run into itself before it dove down, stopping at her...

He almost swore when he realized what was going on.

"It's not what you-!"

Her twin-leaf tails lashed, smacking the ground so hard a branch cracked under the force as she leaned her head down, a series of hisses coming from her lips as her mouth curled back again. He didn't get the full meaning behind it other than "shut up!" and "if I have to tell you one more time!" followed with something about pain.

It was enough to silence his voice, but not his thoughts.

When he'd come into her territory and offered her food, it must have been some part of what she thought to be a courting ritual. Her meeting with him, sharing meals with him, bringing him food... and now this!

His thoughts became stifled as warm, wet tongue traced over the juice trail along his collar. A pleased rumble came from her throat as Saida moved her tongue along the odd design she'd marked him with. A part of him was honest enough to admit the contact, and her attention, was more than flattering... but the rest of him wanted to be free. This wasn't something he should be enjoying! Not when there had been a misunderstanding and-

She pivoted her body suddenly, straddling him without letting their bodies touch. Her belly hovered right above his head as she craned her neck to keep along the trail she'd made, small little nips of her fangs reminding him just how easily she could hurt him. Her licking stopped as she gave him a pointed glance, an upside-down one that would have been more funny had he not been bound, and a sharp hiss-kah sound came from her, a command he got the gist of as she went back to licking him.

Rather than arguing, certain it'd be easier at this point to get it over with, he lifted his head up to drag his tongue along her smooth hide.

The flavor of the orange berry was tangier than the one she'd brought last time, a little bit of a sting to it. A crisp, autumn scent mingled with the berry's, one he imagined to be hers but could have been the leaves or grass around him.

His tongue followed the spiral within his reach, trying to keep her pacified enough she wasn't thinking of using those teeth or claws in ways that might cause him pain. She was making it difficult to focus on getting this over with when she mimed the same strokes he made, licking as hard or as light as he did. Trying to clear his head, pushing the sensation of those feelings as far to the back of his mind as he could, he suddenly realized he had something much worse to focus on now.

He'd reached the end of the trail.

A wave of apprehension curled along his stomach like an Ekans in knots, unwilling to look at what lay ahead but filled with a dread curiosity that forced him to look. There, a slightly puffy slit stood about three inches above him.

Surely Saida didn't expect him to...

Her hips dropped a bit, nearly bumping her underbelly against his nose as she made it very clear what she wanted him to do. The feeling in his stomach doubled, making it clench painfully, almost like his traitorous cock that was desperate for what was coming next. Her coaxing buzz from the leaves on her arms and the way she watched him, wiggling her hips, didn't help. Drawing a breath, the berries so sweet he almost coughed, he extended his tongue once more.

Her buzz almost doubled in speed at the contact, Ben's own hips thrusting as he felt her tongue right down there at the exact same moment. Trying not to think too much on what he was doing or who it was with, he let his tongue trace along her slit once again. Getting the feeling she'd become impatient if he stopped, he continued licking, her own tongue doing the same.

Her sex was now quite visible, the hide surrounding her engorged slit a deeper red than the rest of her belly. An odd but pleasing scent started to fill the air, coupling with a similar tasting flavor as his tongue moved to dip deeper. Unlike that fucked-up bitch he'd been with before, he found he didn't mind Saida's taste, if anything, she was sweet rather than bitter... though it might have been just a leftover residue from the berries' juice.

As he continued to dance his tongue along her slit, he found it harder to ignore the way her back arched and her body tensed, the soft little gasps she gave while her own tongue ran along the sides of his cock. Hoping an increased pace would get this severe brand of awkwardness over with, he slid his tongue into her and found himself moaning as she wrapped her tongue around his cock. If he teased her gently, so she teased him. If he thrust into her hard, so her grip with her tongue would tighten. She continued to match every motion of his tongue with hers, the wet and bumpy texture of it rubbing and warping over him, causing him to... Wait... What!?

There was no way! No way was he going to cum like this, with a Pokémon! Her tongue felt nice, sure, but that was no excuse!

Trying to pull away again, he found he still had no means of escape. Worse yet, even as he tried to mentally escape, his body kept coaxing him for more, begging for it.

Only one way to end it... he thought to himself, feeling like he was making a deal with the devil.

Plunging his tongue in, he lapped up her juices and dug his tongue in farther, thrusting it as quickly as he could. Saida gave a creaking moan, her teeth chattering , preventing her from sucking on his cock as her hips pressed closer to him, urging him on. She bucked into him, making him think she'd forgotten about him as her own need took over... thinking if he could just get her to cum it'd be over...

But that wouldn't be the case.

Before he could work on getting his tongue deeper, she had pulled away, her body turning to face him as she rose. He watched as she breathed, panting like she'd been running, her skin glowing in a way he'd never noticed with another woman. He could feel his cock pulsing at the sight, admittedly liking the way she moved, the grace she held that no one else could boast to. He tried to close his eyes, to block the vision of her, but even in his mind he could see her.

If anything, she was even more beautiful.

Opening his eyes half way, he saw her watching him. Torn between revulsion and lust, his painfully hard erection wasn't eased any as she lowered her form over his, his cock slapping against her belly in its eagerness to be within her.

"S...Saida."

The Grovyle placed her claws on his chest, bending her neck down so she could lick his throat, her teeth carefully tugging at the skin there before sliding herself against him. The feel of her heat, so hot and wet, pressing against his cock and inviting it in, wore away his inhibitions. Her continued nips along her neck made him push upward, eagerly seizing her lips with his when they came within reach. Despite a fading part of his mind still clamoring in the background, he continued to pursue the kiss, his lips parting to allow her access when her tongue touched them.

"Please," he managed to gasp before her lips covered his again. "Saida... please."

She gave a playful tug at his lips before her body pushed further back, bringing the tip of his cock in contact with her nethers. The Grovyle held there for a moment, a smug look on her face as he bucked against her without success, waiting for him to give up and almost sob with frustration before she pushed herself on him.

At the feel of her slick walls enveloping him, Ben didn't even remember having a conscious thought after that.

Her claws curled against his chest, pricking in a way that only encouraged his eager thrusts into her. She was so tight around him that he took a kind of perverse pleasure in knowing that, even if she was in charge like this, NONE of her kind could fill her the way he was right now.

While she was on top, he was the one fucking her for everything he was worth. Even restrained, his hips still found enough leverage to buck off the ground, a grin spreading as he listened to her pleased squeals. Each thrust sent a wave of heat through his groin, her smaller body gripping him tight in every way imaginable. Her powerful thighs squeezed him, those well-toned leaping muscles now serving a very different function, a more pleasing function. She was panting, her eyes rolled to look skyward yet seeing nothing, as focused on being fucked as he was on fucking her. So entranced was she, he felt the restraints giving way, her connection to the grass slipping away.

Now... now he could escape.

...but he didn't.

His hands moved to grip her hips, bouncing with her as he adjusted his legs, letting him sink deeper into her. He whispered to her, encouraged her for more, and almost came as she complied. Her leaves shook and trembled, swaying with their movements, the claws on her feet leaving marks in the ground as she pushed harder down. Her muscles clenched around him, as if she was preparing to leap, a building pressure in his loins signaling the approaching finale of their joining. Saida pressed herself further down, his sack smacking against her ass as she seemed frantic to get him completely inside her. He felt his fingers dig into her hips, holding her steady as he gasped, spilling his seed inside her as she gave her own cry. Her muscles flexed greedily around him, pulling it all in, draining him completely as the Grovyle all but collapsed against his chest, cooing pleasantly but with a hint of exhaustion around the sound.

Ben was sure there were spots in the sky, bright reds and greens flashing amongst the leaves as she nudged her snout to bury her face against his armpit. While she gave another pleased groan, he felt his hand moving to stroke her back, her skin tensing before growing lax at the petting.

Would he come to regret this contentment come the morrow?

He decided to not think of it at the moment, wanting to enjoy it before any possible doubts settled in. After all, his impromptu lover didn't seem to have any concerns...

Maybe this once, it really could be that easy.

=*=*=

Ben had nearly finished packing his things, all that was left was breaking down the lean-to and gathering up the cameras. However, every time he went to do either, he felt himself stopping, tangled in a woven mess of thoughts he'd been trying to avoid.

She had all but attacked him. He might have started the "ritual," by entering her territory and offering her a gift (whether the fact it was food or anything else would have done it he remained unsure), he might have accepted her gift in turn... but that still didn't mean he'd given consent to be tied down like that. If she'd been human, the courts would have only one ruling to issue.

... But she wasn't.

Hard to believe, he was having trouble finding resentment towards her either. While it had been forced at first, he'd come to enjoy it. Whether it was merely because he'd had no choice and his body had just responded or because he'd actually liked it he was still undecided on. Saida seemed to have sensed something about his mood because since yesterday, he hadn't seen her again. He was glad, in many aspects, because it allowed him to think without recalling the mingled flavor of her sweet juices and the berry or the way she'd felt so tight around his cock... but he also felt the strange longing to seek her out.

Was it because he wanted to continue the courtship with her?

There were many myths in place, legends, of an older, simpler time. How the joining of a human and Pokémon was a thing to be celebrated, not scorned. That it was the final step in completing the bond they shared, regarded as a deeper connection then even marriage, if the scripts were accurate. Now... now it was a thing of disgust and condemnation. Daughters were disowned, sons disgraced... There were even laws against it in many of the regions, one's he'd used to agree on.

Now, the most he could muster was indifference.

Glancing down at the laptop, the screen still stared at him blankly while the cursor blinked expectantly. Clearly, he knew what wasn't going into his report... but he needed something to show for his time away from the lab. He'd already had the journal pages completed from his day to day observation, but the summary for the project's preface remained. Finally, he just let his fingers start moving, hoping to get something useful out of it.

// Female Grovyle, already established as the ones to hold territory, are contacted by prospective males. It is unknown at this time what the female bases her criteria on for accepting a male; whether it's the gift he brings, the way he looks, or his abilities. For whatever reason, once the female has accepted him as a potential mate, she starts a courtship by returning gifts and small gestures of affection. Social contact varies but follows specific patterns, such as proximity and vocalization. More research needed on rituals and courtship in general, proposing extension of current field agent to continue documentation.

The last part had flowed out before he could register what he was typing. Now, having a chance to read it over, his fingers slid over the keys to rest on the "delete" key. Why would he want to keep himself in this situation? Now would be the ideal time to depart, leaving this place before Saida might come back.

His fingers spread and ran across the keys, as if a spiritual force might answer him, guiding his hand to make the right choice.

A sound came from along the treetops then. He turned his head to listen, the sound so close to that of an ocarina he once heard that he would have sworn it to be the instrument if not for the soft buzz that accented the notes.

And they were notes.

The first one started high, played softly before it dipped and rose in volume. That one note died, another taking its place which was lower in pitch and longer in length, dropping off to give a different note its place. The melody started a little patchy but as it repeated, the player grew more comfortable and the gaps filled in, the soft whistles drifting amongst the trees as he suddenly realized the tune.

It was the melody he'd first hummed to Saida.

Glancing along the branches, squinting, looking for where she might be playing, he hit a key on his laptop and closed the lid. Setting it down, he smiled to himself and moved toward the sound. He didn't have long to wait, a soft swish and a rustle announcing that she was coming to see him.

=*=*=

Half a world away, PJ smacked on her gum, blowing it into a large bubble as the Pidgey in the right corner of her computer screen gave a cheep; the animation flapping its wings and opening its beak to let her know she had mail. Popping her bubble, she pressed it against the front of her teeth and sucked inward, making a backwards bubble to crack, chewing it over as she glanced at the name and subject.

Double-clicking with her mouse, she tilted her head, her black pigtails with red highlights swaying as she swiveled from side to side in her chair. Giving a slanted shrug, she pushed off the desk and let her office chair roll her to the shared computer, punching in and clearing Ben's schedule for the next two months before coasting back and typing her response to his report, muttering to herself.

"You wanna spend more time in the wilderness, fine by me... but don't think you're getting out of covering my day off, Bentley, or my sword will do more than just bruise your ass this time."

============

And there you have it. Hope you enjoyed, let us know how we did!