Chapter 13 - Trapping the Hunter
"I really don't see why you bother to keep those useless ropes around. All they do is take up space, you say it all the time. Just sell them and be done with it."
"That's the problem, Lucky. If I sell them, I'll suddenly need them for some reason, and I won't have them. I know it's taking up the room in my bag, but I just can't get rid of them."
It was a discussion that Wolf and Lucky had had before, almost on a monthly basis ever since they left for Kanto almost three years ago. The journey through Hoenn had seen Wolf pick up a great deal of lost rope in caves and near rivers, and the pair had never really been able to agree on just how necessary it was for him to keep them around. The latest debate had sprung up when they had returned to Hearthome city, en route to Pastoria city and the Great Marsh. Wolf had woken up to a rather excited call from the gym leader Crasher Wake, who had told him to get there as soon as possible. He had been insistent, and Wolf had agreed so that Wake would hang up and let him get back to sleep.
Seated at their usual table in Hearthome's pokemon centre, Wolf couldn't help but smile when he saw Nurse Joy lead out three excited new trainers, each holding a pokemon. He remembered exactly how thrilled he had been when Lucky had offered to travel with him, and he wished the young trainers luck in their own journeys. Joy watched them walk out the front doors with a smile, before returning to the front desk. She didn't have to wait long, as a tall man in an expensive looking suit swaggered in flanked by two no-nonsense bodyguards.
"Good morning, my dear." He purred, with all the finesse of a person who expected to get everything he wanted with no question. "Rumour has it that Wolf O'kai is here somewhere. I wonder if you could tell me where?" Joy frowned slightly. Something about this man rubbed her the wrong way.
"May I ask what business you have with him?" she asked, trying to sound official. His smile broadened.
"I want to make him an offer." He replied, deliberately telling her nothing of great importance. She wasn't too sure of sending him over, but after a few seconds she thought Wolf would be able to handle himself. The man followed her gaze as she looked over, and without another word he strode over. Wolf was too preoccupied with the debate about rope to notice until they were only a few metres away from the table, only looking up when their shadows were cast across his breakfast. He tilted his head slightly, and Lucky's paw brushed his leg under the table. She had a bad feeling about these men, much like Joy.
"Ah, I finally get to meet the famous Wolf O'kai." He said, extending a hand towards the trainer. Wolf took it after a couple of seconds, reservation in his eyes. Everything about this man oozed confidence, from his slicked back blonde hair down to his expensive shoes and various other ostentatious accessories. The bodyguards both kept their eyes scanning the room, hidden behind slightly less expensive black glasses than their employer. Clearly they were meant to make their presence felt without overshadowing their arrogant charge.
"Allow me to introduce myself." He offered, not allowing Wolf to speak. "I am Chardon Lance, CEO and founder of Lance Indutsries." Wolf's expression remained carefully neutral, wondering whether or not he was supposed to know what Lance Industries was. Lance then turned to Lucky.
"Lucky, I believe needs no introduction." He purred, reaching out to take her paw. She didn't offer it, instead sliding closer to Wolf. Her red eyes never left him for a second, unwilling to let him touch her. He looked a little puzzled, but regained his composure in a heartbeat.
"I must admit, I'm a great fan of you and your pokemon." He began, giving Wolf a smile that would have made a crocodile jealous. Wolf frowned, keeping indifferent.
"You're not here to flatter me." He said. The smile widened.
"Perceptive. I am here however, to make you an offer." Wolf's expression hardened, giving the impression that under his normally cheerful exterior was a mask of ice. "I am a very wealthy man, and I want to give you one hundred million dollars in return for Lucky." Lucky's jaw dropped, and she turned to Wolf with a horrified stare. They had been through so much together, even becoming a couple. Surely he wouldn't sell her to this man?
Wolf's face hadn't changed. For several seconds silence hung in the air, until Wolf made a show of shaking his head from side to side as if clearing it.
"Could you repeat that?" he asked, mock confusion settling on his face. "Your lips were moving and something crazy was coming out, but I couldn't tell what it was." Lance balked at this, his cheque book already out. Was Wolf being serious?
"I want to buy Lucky from you, for one hundred million dollars." He repeated, already filling out the amount and payee sections. Finished, he pulled the cheque out and presented it to Wolf. He took it, scanning the paper and realising that Lance was indeed serious.
"Ninetales," he said sharply. The pokemon lifted her head up and watched as Wolf artfully threw the cheque in such a way that it drifted away from the table. "Will-O-Wisp." She loosed the purple fireball, and it danced in the air with the cheque for a second before engulfing it. The insulting offer fell to the ground and burned to nothing but ashes. Wolf met Lance's scowl with his own.
"Lucky might be worth a hundred million to you," he began, raising his voice enough so that others in the centre heard. "But to me she's priceless." Lance simply spun on his heel and stalked out, shadowed by his bodyguards. Lucky smiled, sliding her arms around him in a warm hug.
"Do you really mean that, Wolf?" she asked. He returned the hug, kissing the top of her head.
"Of course, Lucky." He murmured into her head. "There's nothing in creation worth more to me than you."
***
Lance was fuming as the limousine took him back to his global headquarters. What nerve! he thought angrily. I made him a very generous offer, and he practically spat in my face! Reasoning that he would not be denied what he saw as his, he picked up the in car phone and dialled the person he knew could help him with this little problem.
***
It was midday, and although the sun was high in the sky it seemed that little heat was reaching the ground as Wolf and Lucky started moving again. Route 212 had been fairly pleasant to begin with, but now they had reached the swampy section and had to tread carefully in order to avoid the myriad of muddy sinkholes. As such, Wolf expected to reach Pastoria around half past seven that night.
"Finally, a clear patch of ground." Wolf muttered as he first helped Lucky off his shoulders and put her back down onto the ground, hauling himself out of the bog once he was sure she was on solid ground. She gave him a weary smile, happy that he thought enough of her to carry her over the mud.
"I don't mind if you let me walk." She offered while he kicked a large, wet sod off his sneaker. It was the least of his problems at that point, as up to just over his knees was caked in mud and his socks were all wet and squishy. She winked suggestively at him. "You could always give me a bath when we get there." He smiled at the thought, and moved to give her a loving hug.
The moment was interrupted unceremoniously, and the lovers were thrown aside when a hyper beam detonated nearby. Coughing, Wolf looked up when the dust cleared to see a woman standing on a Salamence hovering over them, even as the mud thrown up by the blast fell back down. She had short grey hair, while a visor of some sort hid her eyes. She was swathed in a black coat, and a strange device adorned her left wrist. His head snapped back down as the sound of engines heralded the arrival of two armoured transports behind them, and three men piled out of each. Wolf reacted purely out of instinct, holding Lucky out of sight of the woman while calling out his other pokemon. Ivysaur and Serenity appeared under Salamence's forbidding gaze, while Princess, Jazz and Ninetales squared off against a newly called out row of six Crobat. Wolf glared up at the woman.
"Hey!" he yelled up at her, trying to figure out what prompts such an attack. "What was that for?!" She smirked down at him.
"I've been commissioned to retrieve your Lucario." She drawled, lazily bringing up her left hand to point down at Lucky. "Why don't you make things easy for yourself and hand it over quietly?"
"Here's a novel idea." Wolf snarled back, almost appearing to act like his namesake. "Go find your own!" She rolled her eyes behind the visor.
"Suit yourself." She muttered. "Salamence, flamethrower!"
"Serenity, block the attacks!" Wolf called, and the Gardevoir reacted almost instantaneously by diverting the flames into the mud with psychic. "You three, bring those Crobat down!" The girls put the command into action, launching attacks at the swooping bat pokemon. "Ivysaur, get ready." He knew what Wolf meant, and began to absorb the suns rays. It might have been cool, but the sun was still in full view and at its highest point and that would be more than enough.
The hunter smiled. All this resistance was for nought, because none of the pokemon would be able to in less than a minute. They should all fetch a high price, she thought to herself as she levelled her aim at Lucky.
"Ivysaur, now! Solarbeam!"
She barely had time to react when the beam of concentrated solar energy hit Salamence full on, causing the dragon a great deal of damage and pitching her from its back. She fell, managing to turn in the air so that she landed feet first in the mud. She landed in a sinkhole, splashing mud everywhere and sinking to just below her chest. Salamence landed a short distance away, knocked out by Ivysaur's attack. As she watched, her men were forced to retreat under a heavy storm of flamethrower, ice fang and thunderbolt attacks, boarding the armoured carriers and driving off.
"Damn them all!" she snarled, making a note to have them all punished severely. For the moment, she needed to figure out how to get out of this. She didn't have to wait long, when a pair of arms hauled her out of the mud and threw her roughly onto the dry ground. Before she could react though, a vine snaked its way around her, holding her immobile. Wolf grabbed the enlarged poke ball off her waist and held it out, returning Salamence.
"So, I'm gonna guess you're here for that Lance bastard." Wolf questioned her, relieving the woman of her visor and her capture device, dropping them to the ground and crushing them underfoot. She said nothing, turning away from him and keeping a scowl on her face. Undisturbed, Wolf turned to Lucky.
"I think I just found a use for all those ropes, Lucky."
***
An hour later, Wolf had hunter J tied up securely and was dragging her with the last piece of rope in his collection along the ground. He had bound every part of her he could, tying lengths around her shins, thighs, ankles, arms, arms and torso, and finally shoulders and upper chest. The last length was around her torso, with the end held firmly in Wolf's hand. He wasn't taking any chances on her finding a way to escape and had even placed her poke balls in his bag, the space where the ropes were making a perfect place for them. She had initially struggled against the bonds, but stopped when Wolf had told her that his dad, a fighting pokemon expert, had taught him how to tie the knots she was bound with. A few more questions had given Wolf a name to call her, but little else.
"We both know who sent you, so why not make it formal?" he asked, not even bothering to try and be manipulative. She was probably better than him at it anyway. "You might as well, Jelly."
"Jelly?" she asked, confused and annoyed in equal measure. He looked over his shoulder, a bored expression on his face.
"Isn't that what the J stands for?"
"You're insane."
"I caught you. Sure you wanna discredit my intelligence, Jelly?"
"My name is not Jelly!"
"It is now."
"Oh, and you're so high and mighty?!" she yelled. "If you had any sort of intelligence, you would have killed me while I was trapped. That's just like a weakling, and your pokemon are probably just as bad as you. Weak, cowardly, stupid!"
As she continued insulting him and his pokemon, Wolf quietly handed the rope to Lucky. Stooping, he picked up a stick and examined it. It was almost an inch in diameter, and roughly two and a half feet long. Satisfied, he walked around to squat just in front of her.
"Look, I don't really care if you insult me." He began, his face unreadable. "But if you insult my pokemon again, I will shove this stick up your ass." She smiled evilly at him.
"You don't have the guts." She responded. "I don't know what he wanted that filthy whore of a pokemon for anyway." Lucky gasped, insulted to the core. Wolf stared at her for a few more seconds, then shrugged.
"I warned you." He said simply. Reaching down, he unbuckled her belt and unzipped the front of her pants. Placing the stick on the ground, he flipped her so that her face was on the ground and her backside was sticking up in the air. He pulled her pants and her underwear down, exposing her ass.
"Wolf, don't do this!" Lucky whimpered, not wanting him to do what he promised.
"Suggestion noted." He replied, motioning that she should turn around. Wanting to stop him, but not wanting to disobey him, she turned around and covered her ears with her paws, eyes closed tightly. J hadn't lost her smirk, even as Wolf picked up the stick in one hand and spread her ass with the other, confident that he would chicken out at the last moment. However, she was wrong. Wolf pressed the tip into her entrance, before putting force into the motion and getting a full foot of the stick into her.
"Ahhhhh!" she cried out as the rough stick scraped against her insides, the various extra bumps only making it worse. Her eyes were wide and her normal composed look was shattered with pain. "That hurt, you bastard!" Wolf took the rope from Lucky again, planning to drag her a good long way on her face with her new tail in the air.
"You should've thought about that before you tried to steal Lucky." He said. "I'm normally a gentleman, but you haven't shown me any reason to treat you like a lady." With that they set off towards Pastoria again, Wolf altering his course towards a mud hole.
***
With the addition of their unwilling companion, travel had been slowed enough that the group had been forced to camp out on route 212 instead of enjoying a tasty dinner at the Pastoria pokemon centre. Wolf had ordered a steak sandwich for lunch there one day, and Nurse Joy had shown that she was also a terrific cook as well as a talented nurse. The pokemon were also missing out, since she had a selection of gourmet pokemon food for sale there. As it stood, they were stuck out with the regular food Wolf carried with them and he had to suffice with his own mediocre cooking skills.
Once the pokemon had received their food, Wolf took the spare bowl and partly filled it with some of the berry soup he had managed to make, squeezing in some cheri berries to give it a spicy flavour. He placed the bowl in front of J, who looked a little worse for wear. Dried mud was on her face, and all manner of debris was lodged in her now messy hair. Her clothes were similarly filthy, although Wolf had removed the stick an hour prior. As a result, she was lying on her side to try and minimise the pain. She glared up at him as he placed the bowl in front of her.
"You really should eat that." He stated. "There isn't anything else I have to eat, unless you want pokemon food." She stared at the bowl before looking up at him.
"How am I supposed to eat with my hands tied?" she asked him scornfully. Wolf glanced over to where Ivysaur had his face buried in the bowl.
"He's not having any problems, Jelly." He replied, standing and going back to his own dinner. The pokemon had unanimously decided to keep her off to one side for dinner, close enough that she wouldn't freeze but still apart from the group. Glaring after him, she nonetheless dragged herself up far enough that she could lap the soup up with her tongue. It wasn't the high class meals she was used to, but it could still be kept down with a minimum of fuss.
I have to get away from this lunatic, she thought to herself. All she could do was watch as the group talked, almost like a family rather than a trainer and pokemon. Wolf was sitting with one arm around Lucky, and J rolled her eyes at the display of sentimentality. Finally, Wolf stood up.
"Well it's nine-thirty, and I want you guys to get as much rest as possible." He began. "But there is one more thing. We're going to have to pull sentry duty tonight." The assembled pokemon looked at each other, understanding that as long as the hunter was their captive they needed to be vigilant. She watched as Wolf organised the shifts, leaving two to a group but keeping himself as a lone sentry. As the pokemon got comfortable, he walked over to J again.
"I'm sure you know it doesn't pay to take chances." He said, grabbing her collar and dragging her closer to the fire. They sat in silence, neither really wanting to talk to the other. She had expected to be asked about why she was a hunter and what motivated her, but was surprised to find that Wolf really didn't care. With a lack of topic, she gave in to the fatigue of the day and fell asleep.
***
"Wake up Jelly!"
J opened her eyes to discover that it was morning. The sun was still behind the trees from where they were, but it looked like they were all packed up and ready to finish their trip. She looked up at him irritably.
"My name's not Jelly." She grumbled, although he just waved a hand dismissively at her statement. He was calling the pokemon back into their poke balls, obviously counting on making it to Pastoria in time to have breakfast there. Once he had checked to see if her pain had subsided, he picked up the end of the rope and they resumed their trek through the swamp.
"You seem happier than yesterday." She remarked. Wolf rolled his eyes.
"Well duh." He answered, trying to not be more insulting than necessary. "It's a new day, and I figure we won't be attacked out of nowhere by bad people or offered money for friends by worse ones." J listened, stunned.
"You're saying that someone offering money for your pokemon is worse than stealing it outright?" she asked. It made no sense to her.
"Sure." He replied. He seemed to be trying to word the reason properly. "Here's how it works. If someone tries to steal Lucky, it means that the person wants Lucky. If they try to buy her, she isn't worth as much because she's reduced to the status of an object. It makes sense to me, anyway."
J kept silent for the remainder of the trek, not even making a fuss when Wolf handed her over to Officer Jenny. Much as she hated to admit it, he had a point.
"That's the problem, Lucky. If I sell them, I'll suddenly need them for some reason, and I won't have them. I know it's taking up the room in my bag, but I just can't get rid of them."
It was a discussion that Wolf and Lucky had had before, almost on a monthly basis ever since they left for Kanto almost three years ago. The journey through Hoenn had seen Wolf pick up a great deal of lost rope in caves and near rivers, and the pair had never really been able to agree on just how necessary it was for him to keep them around. The latest debate had sprung up when they had returned to Hearthome city, en route to Pastoria city and the Great Marsh. Wolf had woken up to a rather excited call from the gym leader Crasher Wake, who had told him to get there as soon as possible. He had been insistent, and Wolf had agreed so that Wake would hang up and let him get back to sleep.
Seated at their usual table in Hearthome's pokemon centre, Wolf couldn't help but smile when he saw Nurse Joy lead out three excited new trainers, each holding a pokemon. He remembered exactly how thrilled he had been when Lucky had offered to travel with him, and he wished the young trainers luck in their own journeys. Joy watched them walk out the front doors with a smile, before returning to the front desk. She didn't have to wait long, as a tall man in an expensive looking suit swaggered in flanked by two no-nonsense bodyguards.
"Good morning, my dear." He purred, with all the finesse of a person who expected to get everything he wanted with no question. "Rumour has it that Wolf O'kai is here somewhere. I wonder if you could tell me where?" Joy frowned slightly. Something about this man rubbed her the wrong way.
"May I ask what business you have with him?" she asked, trying to sound official. His smile broadened.
"I want to make him an offer." He replied, deliberately telling her nothing of great importance. She wasn't too sure of sending him over, but after a few seconds she thought Wolf would be able to handle himself. The man followed her gaze as she looked over, and without another word he strode over. Wolf was too preoccupied with the debate about rope to notice until they were only a few metres away from the table, only looking up when their shadows were cast across his breakfast. He tilted his head slightly, and Lucky's paw brushed his leg under the table. She had a bad feeling about these men, much like Joy.
"Ah, I finally get to meet the famous Wolf O'kai." He said, extending a hand towards the trainer. Wolf took it after a couple of seconds, reservation in his eyes. Everything about this man oozed confidence, from his slicked back blonde hair down to his expensive shoes and various other ostentatious accessories. The bodyguards both kept their eyes scanning the room, hidden behind slightly less expensive black glasses than their employer. Clearly they were meant to make their presence felt without overshadowing their arrogant charge.
"Allow me to introduce myself." He offered, not allowing Wolf to speak. "I am Chardon Lance, CEO and founder of Lance Indutsries." Wolf's expression remained carefully neutral, wondering whether or not he was supposed to know what Lance Industries was. Lance then turned to Lucky.
"Lucky, I believe needs no introduction." He purred, reaching out to take her paw. She didn't offer it, instead sliding closer to Wolf. Her red eyes never left him for a second, unwilling to let him touch her. He looked a little puzzled, but regained his composure in a heartbeat.
"I must admit, I'm a great fan of you and your pokemon." He began, giving Wolf a smile that would have made a crocodile jealous. Wolf frowned, keeping indifferent.
"You're not here to flatter me." He said. The smile widened.
"Perceptive. I am here however, to make you an offer." Wolf's expression hardened, giving the impression that under his normally cheerful exterior was a mask of ice. "I am a very wealthy man, and I want to give you one hundred million dollars in return for Lucky." Lucky's jaw dropped, and she turned to Wolf with a horrified stare. They had been through so much together, even becoming a couple. Surely he wouldn't sell her to this man?
Wolf's face hadn't changed. For several seconds silence hung in the air, until Wolf made a show of shaking his head from side to side as if clearing it.
"Could you repeat that?" he asked, mock confusion settling on his face. "Your lips were moving and something crazy was coming out, but I couldn't tell what it was." Lance balked at this, his cheque book already out. Was Wolf being serious?
"I want to buy Lucky from you, for one hundred million dollars." He repeated, already filling out the amount and payee sections. Finished, he pulled the cheque out and presented it to Wolf. He took it, scanning the paper and realising that Lance was indeed serious.
"Ninetales," he said sharply. The pokemon lifted her head up and watched as Wolf artfully threw the cheque in such a way that it drifted away from the table. "Will-O-Wisp." She loosed the purple fireball, and it danced in the air with the cheque for a second before engulfing it. The insulting offer fell to the ground and burned to nothing but ashes. Wolf met Lance's scowl with his own.
"Lucky might be worth a hundred million to you," he began, raising his voice enough so that others in the centre heard. "But to me she's priceless." Lance simply spun on his heel and stalked out, shadowed by his bodyguards. Lucky smiled, sliding her arms around him in a warm hug.
"Do you really mean that, Wolf?" she asked. He returned the hug, kissing the top of her head.
"Of course, Lucky." He murmured into her head. "There's nothing in creation worth more to me than you."
***
Lance was fuming as the limousine took him back to his global headquarters. What nerve! he thought angrily. I made him a very generous offer, and he practically spat in my face! Reasoning that he would not be denied what he saw as his, he picked up the in car phone and dialled the person he knew could help him with this little problem.
***
It was midday, and although the sun was high in the sky it seemed that little heat was reaching the ground as Wolf and Lucky started moving again. Route 212 had been fairly pleasant to begin with, but now they had reached the swampy section and had to tread carefully in order to avoid the myriad of muddy sinkholes. As such, Wolf expected to reach Pastoria around half past seven that night.
"Finally, a clear patch of ground." Wolf muttered as he first helped Lucky off his shoulders and put her back down onto the ground, hauling himself out of the bog once he was sure she was on solid ground. She gave him a weary smile, happy that he thought enough of her to carry her over the mud.
"I don't mind if you let me walk." She offered while he kicked a large, wet sod off his sneaker. It was the least of his problems at that point, as up to just over his knees was caked in mud and his socks were all wet and squishy. She winked suggestively at him. "You could always give me a bath when we get there." He smiled at the thought, and moved to give her a loving hug.
The moment was interrupted unceremoniously, and the lovers were thrown aside when a hyper beam detonated nearby. Coughing, Wolf looked up when the dust cleared to see a woman standing on a Salamence hovering over them, even as the mud thrown up by the blast fell back down. She had short grey hair, while a visor of some sort hid her eyes. She was swathed in a black coat, and a strange device adorned her left wrist. His head snapped back down as the sound of engines heralded the arrival of two armoured transports behind them, and three men piled out of each. Wolf reacted purely out of instinct, holding Lucky out of sight of the woman while calling out his other pokemon. Ivysaur and Serenity appeared under Salamence's forbidding gaze, while Princess, Jazz and Ninetales squared off against a newly called out row of six Crobat. Wolf glared up at the woman.
"Hey!" he yelled up at her, trying to figure out what prompts such an attack. "What was that for?!" She smirked down at him.
"I've been commissioned to retrieve your Lucario." She drawled, lazily bringing up her left hand to point down at Lucky. "Why don't you make things easy for yourself and hand it over quietly?"
"Here's a novel idea." Wolf snarled back, almost appearing to act like his namesake. "Go find your own!" She rolled her eyes behind the visor.
"Suit yourself." She muttered. "Salamence, flamethrower!"
"Serenity, block the attacks!" Wolf called, and the Gardevoir reacted almost instantaneously by diverting the flames into the mud with psychic. "You three, bring those Crobat down!" The girls put the command into action, launching attacks at the swooping bat pokemon. "Ivysaur, get ready." He knew what Wolf meant, and began to absorb the suns rays. It might have been cool, but the sun was still in full view and at its highest point and that would be more than enough.
The hunter smiled. All this resistance was for nought, because none of the pokemon would be able to in less than a minute. They should all fetch a high price, she thought to herself as she levelled her aim at Lucky.
"Ivysaur, now! Solarbeam!"
She barely had time to react when the beam of concentrated solar energy hit Salamence full on, causing the dragon a great deal of damage and pitching her from its back. She fell, managing to turn in the air so that she landed feet first in the mud. She landed in a sinkhole, splashing mud everywhere and sinking to just below her chest. Salamence landed a short distance away, knocked out by Ivysaur's attack. As she watched, her men were forced to retreat under a heavy storm of flamethrower, ice fang and thunderbolt attacks, boarding the armoured carriers and driving off.
"Damn them all!" she snarled, making a note to have them all punished severely. For the moment, she needed to figure out how to get out of this. She didn't have to wait long, when a pair of arms hauled her out of the mud and threw her roughly onto the dry ground. Before she could react though, a vine snaked its way around her, holding her immobile. Wolf grabbed the enlarged poke ball off her waist and held it out, returning Salamence.
"So, I'm gonna guess you're here for that Lance bastard." Wolf questioned her, relieving the woman of her visor and her capture device, dropping them to the ground and crushing them underfoot. She said nothing, turning away from him and keeping a scowl on her face. Undisturbed, Wolf turned to Lucky.
"I think I just found a use for all those ropes, Lucky."
***
An hour later, Wolf had hunter J tied up securely and was dragging her with the last piece of rope in his collection along the ground. He had bound every part of her he could, tying lengths around her shins, thighs, ankles, arms, arms and torso, and finally shoulders and upper chest. The last length was around her torso, with the end held firmly in Wolf's hand. He wasn't taking any chances on her finding a way to escape and had even placed her poke balls in his bag, the space where the ropes were making a perfect place for them. She had initially struggled against the bonds, but stopped when Wolf had told her that his dad, a fighting pokemon expert, had taught him how to tie the knots she was bound with. A few more questions had given Wolf a name to call her, but little else.
"We both know who sent you, so why not make it formal?" he asked, not even bothering to try and be manipulative. She was probably better than him at it anyway. "You might as well, Jelly."
"Jelly?" she asked, confused and annoyed in equal measure. He looked over his shoulder, a bored expression on his face.
"Isn't that what the J stands for?"
"You're insane."
"I caught you. Sure you wanna discredit my intelligence, Jelly?"
"My name is not Jelly!"
"It is now."
"Oh, and you're so high and mighty?!" she yelled. "If you had any sort of intelligence, you would have killed me while I was trapped. That's just like a weakling, and your pokemon are probably just as bad as you. Weak, cowardly, stupid!"
As she continued insulting him and his pokemon, Wolf quietly handed the rope to Lucky. Stooping, he picked up a stick and examined it. It was almost an inch in diameter, and roughly two and a half feet long. Satisfied, he walked around to squat just in front of her.
"Look, I don't really care if you insult me." He began, his face unreadable. "But if you insult my pokemon again, I will shove this stick up your ass." She smiled evilly at him.
"You don't have the guts." She responded. "I don't know what he wanted that filthy whore of a pokemon for anyway." Lucky gasped, insulted to the core. Wolf stared at her for a few more seconds, then shrugged.
"I warned you." He said simply. Reaching down, he unbuckled her belt and unzipped the front of her pants. Placing the stick on the ground, he flipped her so that her face was on the ground and her backside was sticking up in the air. He pulled her pants and her underwear down, exposing her ass.
"Wolf, don't do this!" Lucky whimpered, not wanting him to do what he promised.
"Suggestion noted." He replied, motioning that she should turn around. Wanting to stop him, but not wanting to disobey him, she turned around and covered her ears with her paws, eyes closed tightly. J hadn't lost her smirk, even as Wolf picked up the stick in one hand and spread her ass with the other, confident that he would chicken out at the last moment. However, she was wrong. Wolf pressed the tip into her entrance, before putting force into the motion and getting a full foot of the stick into her.
"Ahhhhh!" she cried out as the rough stick scraped against her insides, the various extra bumps only making it worse. Her eyes were wide and her normal composed look was shattered with pain. "That hurt, you bastard!" Wolf took the rope from Lucky again, planning to drag her a good long way on her face with her new tail in the air.
"You should've thought about that before you tried to steal Lucky." He said. "I'm normally a gentleman, but you haven't shown me any reason to treat you like a lady." With that they set off towards Pastoria again, Wolf altering his course towards a mud hole.
***
With the addition of their unwilling companion, travel had been slowed enough that the group had been forced to camp out on route 212 instead of enjoying a tasty dinner at the Pastoria pokemon centre. Wolf had ordered a steak sandwich for lunch there one day, and Nurse Joy had shown that she was also a terrific cook as well as a talented nurse. The pokemon were also missing out, since she had a selection of gourmet pokemon food for sale there. As it stood, they were stuck out with the regular food Wolf carried with them and he had to suffice with his own mediocre cooking skills.
Once the pokemon had received their food, Wolf took the spare bowl and partly filled it with some of the berry soup he had managed to make, squeezing in some cheri berries to give it a spicy flavour. He placed the bowl in front of J, who looked a little worse for wear. Dried mud was on her face, and all manner of debris was lodged in her now messy hair. Her clothes were similarly filthy, although Wolf had removed the stick an hour prior. As a result, she was lying on her side to try and minimise the pain. She glared up at him as he placed the bowl in front of her.
"You really should eat that." He stated. "There isn't anything else I have to eat, unless you want pokemon food." She stared at the bowl before looking up at him.
"How am I supposed to eat with my hands tied?" she asked him scornfully. Wolf glanced over to where Ivysaur had his face buried in the bowl.
"He's not having any problems, Jelly." He replied, standing and going back to his own dinner. The pokemon had unanimously decided to keep her off to one side for dinner, close enough that she wouldn't freeze but still apart from the group. Glaring after him, she nonetheless dragged herself up far enough that she could lap the soup up with her tongue. It wasn't the high class meals she was used to, but it could still be kept down with a minimum of fuss.
I have to get away from this lunatic, she thought to herself. All she could do was watch as the group talked, almost like a family rather than a trainer and pokemon. Wolf was sitting with one arm around Lucky, and J rolled her eyes at the display of sentimentality. Finally, Wolf stood up.
"Well it's nine-thirty, and I want you guys to get as much rest as possible." He began. "But there is one more thing. We're going to have to pull sentry duty tonight." The assembled pokemon looked at each other, understanding that as long as the hunter was their captive they needed to be vigilant. She watched as Wolf organised the shifts, leaving two to a group but keeping himself as a lone sentry. As the pokemon got comfortable, he walked over to J again.
"I'm sure you know it doesn't pay to take chances." He said, grabbing her collar and dragging her closer to the fire. They sat in silence, neither really wanting to talk to the other. She had expected to be asked about why she was a hunter and what motivated her, but was surprised to find that Wolf really didn't care. With a lack of topic, she gave in to the fatigue of the day and fell asleep.
***
"Wake up Jelly!"
J opened her eyes to discover that it was morning. The sun was still behind the trees from where they were, but it looked like they were all packed up and ready to finish their trip. She looked up at him irritably.
"My name's not Jelly." She grumbled, although he just waved a hand dismissively at her statement. He was calling the pokemon back into their poke balls, obviously counting on making it to Pastoria in time to have breakfast there. Once he had checked to see if her pain had subsided, he picked up the end of the rope and they resumed their trek through the swamp.
"You seem happier than yesterday." She remarked. Wolf rolled his eyes.
"Well duh." He answered, trying to not be more insulting than necessary. "It's a new day, and I figure we won't be attacked out of nowhere by bad people or offered money for friends by worse ones." J listened, stunned.
"You're saying that someone offering money for your pokemon is worse than stealing it outright?" she asked. It made no sense to her.
"Sure." He replied. He seemed to be trying to word the reason properly. "Here's how it works. If someone tries to steal Lucky, it means that the person wants Lucky. If they try to buy her, she isn't worth as much because she's reduced to the status of an object. It makes sense to me, anyway."
J kept silent for the remainder of the trek, not even making a fuss when Wolf handed her over to Officer Jenny. Much as she hated to admit it, he had a point.