Relax
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Kanto North
Chapter 7: Relax
***
Theodore the nidoran, Alexei and Slate the sandshrew were standing before Head Justice Thaddeus in one of the many large and empty training rooms of the academy. It was hardly a day since he and Alexei arrived, being introduced to their third team member, the lowborn Slate along with their instructor Rhombus. And now they were taken aside to speak with his father: the Head Justice himself-- how exciting!
As the scarred nidoking paced a little bit closer, Theo picked up on his back quills flicking up. "Good day, cadets," said Thaddeus, swishing his tail back and forth across the concrete floor. "Theodore, Alexei," he snapped out motioning with a claw for them to step forward.
"Yes, Head Justice?" they spoke in unison, leaving the slightly older Slate a few steps back.
"You two have undergone the enlightened evolution a couple years sooner than I expected," he admitted in a clam tone of voice as his spines bristled. "I pray your tutelage under Executive Edward has prepared you for this."
"Head Justice, Cadet Alexei and I's mentor feels we are ready to begin," he said enthusiastically.
Thaddeus nodded a little bit. "I would not hold it against if the both of you decided to return to train under him for a bit longer." His eyes narrowed slightly, focusing right on the nidoran's "I warn you-- school or not, treat this as the Team proper: I will not shield you from anything that *will* happen on these grounds or off."
"I am ready," said the nidoran.
"I am ready, too," said the absol.
Thaddeus took a few paces back at that response, lashing his tail hard a couple of times. "Fine." The three recruits felt the concrete below their paws soften, then become grainy, looking down for a moment to find a large radius around the nidoking turned into gray sand. "Then let me introduce you properly to Mt. Silver Academy. Because your team's instructor will start you in Intensive Combat Training-- better called Training From Hell, it is fitting that your first assignment is for any one of you to hit me once." He spread his arms out, "If you can manage that, you'll do well."
Theo blinked a couple of times at that, but was not able to give it any more thought as the nidoking whipped his tail about again and kicked up the prepared sandstorm attack. Immediately, he felt the fine particles scrape against his eyes, shutting them tight as he took a few difficult paces forward in the strong gusts. He made the mistake of taking a breath after a few seconds, the nidoran hacking violently as he felt the sand scrape the inside of his muzzle a bit, worrying that some entered his lungs.
As he lurched to a stop in the storm, he felt a large paw clap him on the back of the head, sending the nidoran to the floor. Hugging the ground for a few seconds, the nidoran felt the sand suddenly clear right before he tried to get up. As the gray dust began to slowly settle back to the ground, the nidoran put a paw over the top of his eyes and cautiously opened them to spot Alexei behind a somewhat surprised looking Thaddeus. Theo could spot one shallow scratch across Thaddeus' right shoulder plate.
"I'll be...well done," he complimented the absol before nodding to Slate, who the nidoran could see was just a foot or so to the nidoking's side, "You almost got me as well, but the sand means nothing to you." He then turned his head to Theo, "As for you--"
The nidoking was woken up at that point by someone knocking on his cell door. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw that it was his sister, accompanied by Alexei and some ampharos. "Hello," he said, licking over the top of his somewhat parched mouth as he eyed up the unknown electric type.
"Wanted to have a chat with you," said the nidoqueen.
Theo nodded a little bit as he sat up again. Giving a yawn, he stretched out his tail by swishing it across the cold floor . "Sure, its not like I'm going anywhere for awhile. Though," he licked his tongue inside his mouth again, "If you could get Abigail," he motioned a paw to the zangoose, "and I some water to drink, I would be happier to."
Fractal nodded his head at this. "Just a moment, I'll go tell some guards to get you your meals." With that, the ampharos took off down the right passageway.
Flattening her eyelids a little bit, Sophia looked her brother right in his eyes. "Tell me," she said flatly to him, "What were you thinking-- trying to fight against Edward and Cassie?"
He gave a shrug, then a hiss before letting a paw clasp his chest. "They were attempting to intimidate me as an officer of the Inquisitorial Branch," he answered her in a matching tone, "So I was obligated to fight them. Do you have any idea why he would pull such an action?"
She shook her head, "You were not obligated." The nidoqueen let her eyes drift to the waking Abby. "And I'm guessing you're someone he's picked up as a...an assistant, is that right?"
"Yeah," the zangoose answered dismissively after giving a yawn. Rubbing over one of her broken claws with the other paw for a moment, she looked up to Sophia. "I forgot to thank you for fixing up my claws earlier-- was a little bit out of it. Upset, you know?"
Sophia raised a paw at that. "Its my job. Just try not to give me anymore work. I have enough to do as is." She swished her tail a bit before continuing, "So...I wanted to see how the two of you were doing. Neither of you seem too bent out of shape about what happened." Her eyes then moved to Alexei, "Is there anything you'd like to say?"
The absol was starting hesitantly upward most of the time, passing a couple of cautious glances to the wounded nidoking. As he heard Sophia call him out, he turned his head to her, then to her brother. "Oh, right. Uh..." he scratched at the back of his head, "Hello, Theo."
"Hello, Alexei," Theodore replied back, flicking one of his ears. Tilting his head a bit while motioning with a paw to the absol's face. "What happened to your head? Got in a serious fight or something?"
At this, Alexei patted the paw around a bit more until is rubbed against the flat of what was left of his head scythe. "What? You remember how that happened."
Theo shook his head and cocked an eye ridge, "Huh? No...I don't."
That's right, the nidoking really wouldn't remember how that happened. Best play it down for the moment in that case. "Yeah, it was a real bad fight," the absol easily lied with a shrug. He then attempted to shift the topic. "So...you-- uh..." he raised a claw, "don't sound really upset with me."
Theodore kicked back on his bench, leaning back against a wall as he rubbed over his sore and bandaged chest. "What ever gave you that idea, Alexei? You did the right thing reporting where Slate and I had fled to. They gave us a second chance," he smiled at the disaster pokemon, "and it looks like they've given you one as well."
"Hah..." the absol could see that Sophia was smiling at him. "That's...just great." He then gave a nod to the zangoose in the cell. "Sorry for not introducing myself. I am Lieutenant Agent Alexei."
Abby nodded back. "I'm Lieutenant Agent Abigail."
"Same rank," said the absol with a bit of interest, "Would you consider it poor form for me to ask what your duties are?"
She shrugged before lying back down again. "If it isn't obvious to you," she said in a patronizing tone, "I work for this guy right here." She motioned with a bandaged paw to Theo. "That's why I'm in this cage with him."
"That's nice," the absol said, smiling at the sharpness of her voice, "But you didn't answer my question."
The zangoose looked to Theo for a second and the nidoking shook his head. "True," she responded while facing Alexei again, "But I'm not allowed to say what I'm here for."
Sophia spoke up again while looking to her brother. "And you are not going to tell us why you're here, either."
"That's right," said the nidoking, coughing a little bit. "That's for the leaders to be concerned about."
The nidoqueen sighed at that answer. "I knew you were going to say that."
He smiled a bit as he saw the ampharos return with a tray in each paw, followed by a wartorle guard who began to unlock the door. "Thank you," said the nidoking to Fractal as the ampharos stepped in and handed him his tray and Abby hers in the same motion. Looking down, the nido found a plate with a slab of synthesized protein meat stuff and some poorly defined green mass of vegetables next to it with a glass of water.
"First class prisoner meals, those," said Fractal with a little chuckle as he stepped out from the cell, the wartortle closing the door behind him. "If you think that's bad, imagine what you'd get if you were not guests of honor." Turning around, he gave a nod of his head to Theo, "Name's Fractal."
The thin nidoking flicked an ear. "Nice to meet you....and I'm well aware," he said, still smiling, "thanks again. But...unless anyone has anything else to say, I'd like to just eat and go back to bed," he looked down to his bandaged chest, "This won't go away very fast unless I can get a few good days of rest."
"Shall we leave you in that case?" Sophia asked.
"Yes," Theo answered her plainly.
***
Over in Edward's office at this time, the alakazam was getting ready to depart. Dressed up in his own silver-trimmed officer's jacket, he adjusted his deep red tie for a few moments before buttoning the coat up. After this, Edward sat down at his desk chair for a moment, expecting a knock at his door within a few minutes.
And it arrived. "Come in," he said briefly, watching as Datan opened the door.
"Hey," the duck responded with a wave, cigarette in bill as he stepped in. "How long do you think this meeting will take-- as babysitting this place will be a hassle once we let the judge and his friend out of the holding area."
Edward nodded a little bit. "It will probably be a rough week or so-- but I trust that you'll keep the place together. But that's not why I called you here, though." The alakazam motioned for the duck to seat himself, Datan opting to instead lean back against the door.
"What then?" asked Datan after taking a long drag on his smoke, resting it between two feathered fingers and carelessly tapping ash onto the office floor.
The Exectutive threaded his fingers. "You're going too far in some respects, Agent Datan. I received word from one of our night patrols that your subordinate, Agent Alexei, was found unconscious and it was obvious he was sexually assaulted by someone. When I wanted to retrieve the recordings for last night, they were reported to have been deleted."
The farfetch'd gave a shrug at the accusation. "You're the one who's telling me to keep pressure on the guy until he breaks. Between Agent Fractal and I, I think we're going to start making some real headway on him soon."
"You won't in public," said Edward, his voice picking up a hard tone, "I don't care how you work over your subordinate in private, but public displays like that jeopardize this division. I've told you before that I do not want to see or hear about what you do with him; I receive enough complaints from Doctor Grayquill as is."
"Understood," answered Datan, "I'll be more subtle from now on."
Edward tilted his head down a bit, "But make no mistake, I appreciate your efforts in helping Alexei on the path to discovering his true heritage-- it's regretful he can only find it through suffering. But formalities and my own sensibilities dictate that you should not help him in public."
"I understand, Executive," the duck repeated.
"Good," Edward nodded as he stood up and stepped out from his desk, "I'm going to submit a massive budget extension proposal while I'm at the summit. With the recent events in Sinnoh, I'm sure it will go through and we'll be able to staff this place properly. More importantly, it will give us more money to throw at our actual mission here."
"Isn't our guest an obstacle to that?" asked Datan while blowing out a line of smoke, "I mean...I spent the better part of a year trying to figure out that 'promise' he is keeping. We used physical coercion...we even used psychics; your daughter even tried her hand at it and failed. Would have kept it up if the bastard's," he looked knowingly at Edward while saying that, "mother hadn't ordered his release."
Edward shook his head, "Don't worry about that-- he is actually a very important part in my goal..." he paused his words for a second, "if my interpretations of the myths of the Regional Lords are correct."
"Still want to keep him away from what we've excavated of the temple though?"
"For the time being, the harsh order placed for that is a perfectly reasonable precaution," answered the alakazam. "Now, I need to go get my suitcases from my room and catch my ride to the Indigo Council Hall. Excuse me." He motioned for the farfetch'd to step aside, Datan complying and then following the alakazam out of his office and into the hallway.
"After you get back, I think I'll take my vacation time for this year," announced Datan as he snuffed out his cigarette between two claw tips.
Edward nodded before he turned down an adjacent passage and broke off from the duck. "I wouldn't have any objection to that." He then turned down another hall and left the sight of the farfetch'd.
***
Sophia returned to her quarters to find Cassie still seated at the couch, several finished books stacked on the cushion to her side. Closing the door behind her, the nidoqueen padded over and set herself next to the studying kadabra. "Cassie, could you please take a break for tonight?" asked the nido as she slowly slid an arm over the psychic's shoulder, pressing close.
"For you..." she felt the nido's state of mind, "I could." She set the small cloth bookmark closed the tome, sliding onto the table. She then flicked off her reading lenses, folding them up and placed them atop the book. Leaning in, the kadabra allowed a small smirk to cross her muzzle. "I can feel your tension," the warming Cassie said, "I'm so sorry that I am contributing to it."
"It's okay...you have a job to do," whispered the nido, playfully bumping her muzzle against the kadabra's. "It's the nature of the team to try to divide the best of friends. As for me, it's just so painful to watch everyone I care about get pushed around by the powers that be."
"But that's also the team," said the psychic pokemorph while she let a paw slide across to pat the side of the nidoqueen's muzzle.
The female nido gave a nod at that. "Yes-- we all have our jobs. It's just that some people here got really bad ones," she looked into Cassie's eyes after saying that.
"Enough...you're the one who needs to be taking it easier," replied the kadabra, her eyes taking a soft blue glow while her paw slided up to run around the edge of one of the somewhat larger poke's ears. "You're the best one in this place," she said as she watched the nidoqueen give a shudder, feeling a pair of invisible paws trace slowly down her back.
The nidoqueen smiled, lidding her eyes slightly while feeling the psychic paws begin to slide up her again, then around. "You never get tired of such tricks, do you?" Feeling one start to unfasten her belt loop, Sophia pressed the psychic up a bit closer. "Trying to avoid a real talk."
"I can feel that you enjoy it," whispered the kadabra, watching the nido go a bit red around the ears before before she slid up to sit in her lap. "Just relax," her eyes picked up a brighter glow as she said that.
Sophia felt a faint buzzing at the back of her mind, then a sense of calmness rushed through her body. Giving a content sigh as her ears folded down halfway, the nidoqueen tilted her head while bringing her muzzle close to Cassie's, feeling the invisible paws slide up to grope at her chest, the cloth of her shirt folding down as the psychic pokemon groped her. "How did I ever get with you?"
The kadabra let her real paws rest on Sophia's shoulders, pressing the tip of her muzzle to the poison type's. "I've always admired you-- it was only natural this would happen once I saw you again."
"You've always felt this way?" asked the nido, letting her thick tail wrap around Cassie's, giving a couple of light squeezes. "I was figuring it was a recent development in the few months you've been h--" her words were interrupted by a light chirr as one of the psychic's small claws traced the edge of an ear, the nido's eyelids drooping a little bit. "you've been here."
Cassie smirked broader as her other hand slid up to rest on the nidoqueen's cheek. "No...you're the second reason why I chose to be here instead of elsewhere, Sophia."
"The first?" asked the nidoqueen.
"Obligation to my kin," answered Cassie, her psychic paws giving a couple of careful kneads until she could feel her friend's nipples begin to poke out from her softly scaled hide, accompanied by a low purring from the back of Sophia's throat. "But that does not matter right now," she gave a squeeze to the nidoqueen's entwined tail, "You give and give so much Sophia. Let me return the favor."
The nidoqueen took a deep breath, returning Cassie's smirk as her ears folded down further. Staring into the psychic's eyes, she could see their glow intensify. With it, she felt more and more inclined to agree with the kadabra. "All right," she said with a little nod.
Such fun, and so effective. Cassie slid her muzzle onto one of the larger female's shoulders, feeling the plate below the thin cloth of her shirt. "So, would you care to see some more creative uses I've found for my powers?"
"Sure," Sophia whispered back to her friend.
Cassie closed her eyes, paws sliding down to wrap around the nido's midsection as she did so. Focusing intently, her tail squeezed down harder on Sophia's. The nidoqueen could feel a much louder buzz inside of her head, the room in her eyes starting to blur and shift before fading entirely. And with that, the pair vanished, their clothing piling where they were a second earlier.
Next thing she new, the nido was sitting against the back of her large bed. Blinking in confusion a couple of times, the nidoqueen found herself staring Cassie's glowing eyes as the kadabra climbed up over her, straddling the larger pokemon with paws against the headboard. With that final look, all the stress of the day left her, the nidoqueen as she fell under Cassie's power, only visibly evidenced by a sight dulling of the normally bright green eyes.
Licking over the edge of one of the nido's folded ears, Cassie earned a soft sigh from her friend, flitting around the edges a bit more before tracing her tongue down the side of the of Sophia's neck. "Wonderful," commented the kadabra, nosing her muzzle tip over one of the nidoqueen's erect nipples, "Got your barriers down quickly this time."
"Of course, Cassie dear," commented the nidoqueen in a hypnotically clear tone before her eyes squeezed shut, toe claws curling as she felt the psychics narrow tongue circle and lap around her breast, one paw cupping it while the kadabra's other slid down between the larger female's legs to lightly circle around the edges of her queenhood. Letting two of the curious digits spread the pinkish red folds of the nidoqueen.
At this, the kadabra tensed up for a moment as she felt the sensations the nido was experiencing, causing her tongue to slip for a second before regaining her composure. Her lightly glowing eyes lidded as her tongue wrapped around again and she began to suckle lightly at Sophia. The nidoqueen was not just taking this lying back, her thick tail started to slide up the inside of one of the psychic's legs before making a line for Cassie's own nether regions, lightly rubbing over her. Sophia's eyes cracked open and she gave the other female a grin.
The kadrabra gave out a cry at this, eyes opening up as the nido's breast slipped from her mouth again, looking up to spot Sophia's smile. She immediately dulled what she felt from the nidoqueen as the tail continued to tease at her, tip of it glinting softly in the light of a corner lamp. "Enh..." she began to slide a pair of fingers into the nido's opening, wiggling them as she did, causing the pair of them to both shudder for a couple of moments. "Almost overloaded me there," said the psychic with a wink before returning to the nido's breast, nibbling very gently at it before suckling again.
Taking a few breaths, the nido's grin was replaced with a slightly open muzzle, a few heavy breaths escaping her as Cassie pumped her fingers in her friend a couple of times, hissing at the feeling herself, combined with the groping of Sophia's tail at her own sensitive region. As the kadabra let her muzzle start to draw down, she felt the nido's paw rise up to gently stroke at the back of her head, making sure to rub over her pointed ears as Cassie's tongue trailed down Sophia's somewhat plump belly. Soon lying between the legs of the large nido fem, Cassie could smell her friend's arousal while drawing her slick paw back.
Licking it clean, she then brought it forward to again part the nido's glistening lips while drawing her muzzle close, tongue darting out to flick lightly at the exposed flesh. The taste and strong female scent caused the psychic tense up again when combined with the bond she had created with the nido, feeling a slightly lower level of what her friend was feeling.
Noting this, the nido began to press her tailtip into Cassie after a few light pants, causing the kadabra to immediately cut the synchronization, though she made sure to keep the reins on the nido's mind. Looking up to Sophia, she drew her tongue back for a moment. "I'll ask again. Are you trying to make...enh..." she felt the first segment of the tail slide in, pumping a few times, "Me pass out from over stimulation, dearie?" She was above taking full control of her friend, but an empathetic bond with stimulation to oneself could be hazardous.
Sophia gave a playful shrug as one paw continued to circle around one Cassie's ears. "Hoped to please you," she responded in that same dreamlike voice.
"Well don't," said the kadabra with a small smile, drawing her sickened muzzle away for a second, "You know I get mine from pleasing others and you've given so much today as is."
"Yes, Cassie," the nido answered while slowly drawing her tail out with a soft squelching noise.
The psychic's eyes glinted blue for a moment as she restored the empathetic bond. Returning to her ministrations, the kadabra pressed her muzzle tip tight to the nido's warm folds, letting her tongue slowly wiggle its way into her, darting in and out, flicking and teasing the nido the best she could. Hearing the results, she continued the assault, starting to feel herself approach the edge from the bond.
Sophia began to press her legs up against Cassie's side, the psychic picking up the pace of her work, tongue probing deep into the nidoqueen before she felt a couple of clenches on her tongue. At this the kadabra gave a somewhat loud gasp in unison with the nidoqueen, her slightly worked sex dribbling a bit of glistening female juices onto the nidoqueen's tail and sheets while her muzzle was rewarded with a somewhat sweet and quite juicy taste of her friend. Pulling her soaked muzzle back to take a recovery breath, going a little weak in her elbows, the kadabra dived in again to take a few more tastes.
Huffing a bit, the nidoqueen rubbed over Cassie's head, the psychic in question pulling back again to look up at here. "Mmmh..." the kadabra licked over her muzzle, "We're not done."
***
Back in the holding area, Theodore and Abigail were lying back on their benches, the pair of them halfway asleep by the time the nidoking could hear another pair of footsteps coming down the hallway. Swiveling his ears toward the direction of the sound, he did not bother to sit up as the farfetch'd from earlier, with agent Fractal following at his side, stopped in front of his cell door.
"Hello, Inquisitor Theodore," said the farfetch'd cheerily after taking a drag off a cigarette, "I'd like to introduce myself. I am Agent Datan and I will be acting as the leader of this division for a couple of weeks, as Executive Edward was just called away to meet with the Security Council."
The wounded nido gave a few blinks, looking over to Abby. A duck-- was this the one she gave the papers to? Looking back to Datan, he found the farfetch'd to feel a little bit familiar, the scent of tobacco around him in conjunction making his stomach flutter slightly for some reason. "Well..." he spoke up, not bothering to sit, "Pleased to meet you, Agent Datan. Wish the circumstances were a bit better as I am going to have to report the fact my assistant," he nodded to the zangoose, "and I were assaulted as a greeting."
The farfetch'd shook his head, cigarette in bill creating a haze of wavy smoke as he did, "You won't be doing that, friend."
"I'm no friend of yours," responded the nido calmly, "After I recover, I demand that you release me to perform my duties."
He shook his head again. "We'll release you on our terms-- you will be doing what we tell you to do."
The duck was feeling more familiar by the moment. "Figures," he said with a sigh, "Send fake reports, make everything appear fine?"
"You guessed it. You are a prisoner here, and your highborn status is all that is preventing us from just executing you," explained Datan while tilting his head a bit, "The reason for this is because of the recent political upset in Sinnoh. We don't need the Galactics catching this side of Kanto weakened by internal strife within the Team."
Theo gave a nod at that. "Though I'm still confused as to why you felt that provoking me into attacking you makes things better."
"Leaves you weak. Plus...you did it to yourself in your bullheadedness," explained Datan, eyes drifting to Abigail. "In turn, you did it to your friend here as well." She glared at him after he said this, the nido taking hint of the hostility, curious of the source of it.
Theo raised a single claw after hearing that. "Reasonable...I'm sure it helps your motivations. May I ask you a personal question?"
"You may not," answered the farfetch'd simply after exhaling lines of smoke from his nostrils. "I was just dropping by to introduce myself," he motioned a feathery paw to Fractal, "Have you met our new guests yet?"
"I have," answered the ampharos.
"I see," Datan said, turning his head back to Theodore. "You'll heal up good and quick, then we'll let you have a bit of freedom in the base. We made arrangements for an office and one of the better living quarters for you, Inquisitor Theodore." He looked to the frazzled zangoose, "As for you...we were not officially anticipating anyone else, so it is the bunks or crashing in his place for you."
"Thanks," said the nidoking.
"Only small token of kindness, I know," Datan said while tapping some ash onto the floor. "You'll be under the watch of Agent Cassandra and the rest of her team. If you start to cause trouble, they'll put the both you back down here as quick as they did earlier. Understand?"
Theo nodded slowly and the farfetch'd gave a wave of a paw. "Glad to see you're not too upset," said Datan as he began to turn. "But I really need to get back to my regular duties...goodbye." Turning on a heel, the duck and his electric type cohort made their way from the holding area.
Kanto North
Chapter 7: Relax
***
Theodore the nidoran, Alexei and Slate the sandshrew were standing before Head Justice Thaddeus in one of the many large and empty training rooms of the academy. It was hardly a day since he and Alexei arrived, being introduced to their third team member, the lowborn Slate along with their instructor Rhombus. And now they were taken aside to speak with his father: the Head Justice himself-- how exciting!
As the scarred nidoking paced a little bit closer, Theo picked up on his back quills flicking up. "Good day, cadets," said Thaddeus, swishing his tail back and forth across the concrete floor. "Theodore, Alexei," he snapped out motioning with a claw for them to step forward.
"Yes, Head Justice?" they spoke in unison, leaving the slightly older Slate a few steps back.
"You two have undergone the enlightened evolution a couple years sooner than I expected," he admitted in a clam tone of voice as his spines bristled. "I pray your tutelage under Executive Edward has prepared you for this."
"Head Justice, Cadet Alexei and I's mentor feels we are ready to begin," he said enthusiastically.
Thaddeus nodded a little bit. "I would not hold it against if the both of you decided to return to train under him for a bit longer." His eyes narrowed slightly, focusing right on the nidoran's "I warn you-- school or not, treat this as the Team proper: I will not shield you from anything that *will* happen on these grounds or off."
"I am ready," said the nidoran.
"I am ready, too," said the absol.
Thaddeus took a few paces back at that response, lashing his tail hard a couple of times. "Fine." The three recruits felt the concrete below their paws soften, then become grainy, looking down for a moment to find a large radius around the nidoking turned into gray sand. "Then let me introduce you properly to Mt. Silver Academy. Because your team's instructor will start you in Intensive Combat Training-- better called Training From Hell, it is fitting that your first assignment is for any one of you to hit me once." He spread his arms out, "If you can manage that, you'll do well."
Theo blinked a couple of times at that, but was not able to give it any more thought as the nidoking whipped his tail about again and kicked up the prepared sandstorm attack. Immediately, he felt the fine particles scrape against his eyes, shutting them tight as he took a few difficult paces forward in the strong gusts. He made the mistake of taking a breath after a few seconds, the nidoran hacking violently as he felt the sand scrape the inside of his muzzle a bit, worrying that some entered his lungs.
As he lurched to a stop in the storm, he felt a large paw clap him on the back of the head, sending the nidoran to the floor. Hugging the ground for a few seconds, the nidoran felt the sand suddenly clear right before he tried to get up. As the gray dust began to slowly settle back to the ground, the nidoran put a paw over the top of his eyes and cautiously opened them to spot Alexei behind a somewhat surprised looking Thaddeus. Theo could spot one shallow scratch across Thaddeus' right shoulder plate.
"I'll be...well done," he complimented the absol before nodding to Slate, who the nidoran could see was just a foot or so to the nidoking's side, "You almost got me as well, but the sand means nothing to you." He then turned his head to Theo, "As for you--"
The nidoking was woken up at that point by someone knocking on his cell door. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw that it was his sister, accompanied by Alexei and some ampharos. "Hello," he said, licking over the top of his somewhat parched mouth as he eyed up the unknown electric type.
"Wanted to have a chat with you," said the nidoqueen.
Theo nodded a little bit as he sat up again. Giving a yawn, he stretched out his tail by swishing it across the cold floor . "Sure, its not like I'm going anywhere for awhile. Though," he licked his tongue inside his mouth again, "If you could get Abigail," he motioned a paw to the zangoose, "and I some water to drink, I would be happier to."
Fractal nodded his head at this. "Just a moment, I'll go tell some guards to get you your meals." With that, the ampharos took off down the right passageway.
Flattening her eyelids a little bit, Sophia looked her brother right in his eyes. "Tell me," she said flatly to him, "What were you thinking-- trying to fight against Edward and Cassie?"
He gave a shrug, then a hiss before letting a paw clasp his chest. "They were attempting to intimidate me as an officer of the Inquisitorial Branch," he answered her in a matching tone, "So I was obligated to fight them. Do you have any idea why he would pull such an action?"
She shook her head, "You were not obligated." The nidoqueen let her eyes drift to the waking Abby. "And I'm guessing you're someone he's picked up as a...an assistant, is that right?"
"Yeah," the zangoose answered dismissively after giving a yawn. Rubbing over one of her broken claws with the other paw for a moment, she looked up to Sophia. "I forgot to thank you for fixing up my claws earlier-- was a little bit out of it. Upset, you know?"
Sophia raised a paw at that. "Its my job. Just try not to give me anymore work. I have enough to do as is." She swished her tail a bit before continuing, "So...I wanted to see how the two of you were doing. Neither of you seem too bent out of shape about what happened." Her eyes then moved to Alexei, "Is there anything you'd like to say?"
The absol was starting hesitantly upward most of the time, passing a couple of cautious glances to the wounded nidoking. As he heard Sophia call him out, he turned his head to her, then to her brother. "Oh, right. Uh..." he scratched at the back of his head, "Hello, Theo."
"Hello, Alexei," Theodore replied back, flicking one of his ears. Tilting his head a bit while motioning with a paw to the absol's face. "What happened to your head? Got in a serious fight or something?"
At this, Alexei patted the paw around a bit more until is rubbed against the flat of what was left of his head scythe. "What? You remember how that happened."
Theo shook his head and cocked an eye ridge, "Huh? No...I don't."
That's right, the nidoking really wouldn't remember how that happened. Best play it down for the moment in that case. "Yeah, it was a real bad fight," the absol easily lied with a shrug. He then attempted to shift the topic. "So...you-- uh..." he raised a claw, "don't sound really upset with me."
Theodore kicked back on his bench, leaning back against a wall as he rubbed over his sore and bandaged chest. "What ever gave you that idea, Alexei? You did the right thing reporting where Slate and I had fled to. They gave us a second chance," he smiled at the disaster pokemon, "and it looks like they've given you one as well."
"Hah..." the absol could see that Sophia was smiling at him. "That's...just great." He then gave a nod to the zangoose in the cell. "Sorry for not introducing myself. I am Lieutenant Agent Alexei."
Abby nodded back. "I'm Lieutenant Agent Abigail."
"Same rank," said the absol with a bit of interest, "Would you consider it poor form for me to ask what your duties are?"
She shrugged before lying back down again. "If it isn't obvious to you," she said in a patronizing tone, "I work for this guy right here." She motioned with a bandaged paw to Theo. "That's why I'm in this cage with him."
"That's nice," the absol said, smiling at the sharpness of her voice, "But you didn't answer my question."
The zangoose looked to Theo for a second and the nidoking shook his head. "True," she responded while facing Alexei again, "But I'm not allowed to say what I'm here for."
Sophia spoke up again while looking to her brother. "And you are not going to tell us why you're here, either."
"That's right," said the nidoking, coughing a little bit. "That's for the leaders to be concerned about."
The nidoqueen sighed at that answer. "I knew you were going to say that."
He smiled a bit as he saw the ampharos return with a tray in each paw, followed by a wartorle guard who began to unlock the door. "Thank you," said the nidoking to Fractal as the ampharos stepped in and handed him his tray and Abby hers in the same motion. Looking down, the nido found a plate with a slab of synthesized protein meat stuff and some poorly defined green mass of vegetables next to it with a glass of water.
"First class prisoner meals, those," said Fractal with a little chuckle as he stepped out from the cell, the wartortle closing the door behind him. "If you think that's bad, imagine what you'd get if you were not guests of honor." Turning around, he gave a nod of his head to Theo, "Name's Fractal."
The thin nidoking flicked an ear. "Nice to meet you....and I'm well aware," he said, still smiling, "thanks again. But...unless anyone has anything else to say, I'd like to just eat and go back to bed," he looked down to his bandaged chest, "This won't go away very fast unless I can get a few good days of rest."
"Shall we leave you in that case?" Sophia asked.
"Yes," Theo answered her plainly.
***
Over in Edward's office at this time, the alakazam was getting ready to depart. Dressed up in his own silver-trimmed officer's jacket, he adjusted his deep red tie for a few moments before buttoning the coat up. After this, Edward sat down at his desk chair for a moment, expecting a knock at his door within a few minutes.
And it arrived. "Come in," he said briefly, watching as Datan opened the door.
"Hey," the duck responded with a wave, cigarette in bill as he stepped in. "How long do you think this meeting will take-- as babysitting this place will be a hassle once we let the judge and his friend out of the holding area."
Edward nodded a little bit. "It will probably be a rough week or so-- but I trust that you'll keep the place together. But that's not why I called you here, though." The alakazam motioned for the duck to seat himself, Datan opting to instead lean back against the door.
"What then?" asked Datan after taking a long drag on his smoke, resting it between two feathered fingers and carelessly tapping ash onto the office floor.
The Exectutive threaded his fingers. "You're going too far in some respects, Agent Datan. I received word from one of our night patrols that your subordinate, Agent Alexei, was found unconscious and it was obvious he was sexually assaulted by someone. When I wanted to retrieve the recordings for last night, they were reported to have been deleted."
The farfetch'd gave a shrug at the accusation. "You're the one who's telling me to keep pressure on the guy until he breaks. Between Agent Fractal and I, I think we're going to start making some real headway on him soon."
"You won't in public," said Edward, his voice picking up a hard tone, "I don't care how you work over your subordinate in private, but public displays like that jeopardize this division. I've told you before that I do not want to see or hear about what you do with him; I receive enough complaints from Doctor Grayquill as is."
"Understood," answered Datan, "I'll be more subtle from now on."
Edward tilted his head down a bit, "But make no mistake, I appreciate your efforts in helping Alexei on the path to discovering his true heritage-- it's regretful he can only find it through suffering. But formalities and my own sensibilities dictate that you should not help him in public."
"I understand, Executive," the duck repeated.
"Good," Edward nodded as he stood up and stepped out from his desk, "I'm going to submit a massive budget extension proposal while I'm at the summit. With the recent events in Sinnoh, I'm sure it will go through and we'll be able to staff this place properly. More importantly, it will give us more money to throw at our actual mission here."
"Isn't our guest an obstacle to that?" asked Datan while blowing out a line of smoke, "I mean...I spent the better part of a year trying to figure out that 'promise' he is keeping. We used physical coercion...we even used psychics; your daughter even tried her hand at it and failed. Would have kept it up if the bastard's," he looked knowingly at Edward while saying that, "mother hadn't ordered his release."
Edward shook his head, "Don't worry about that-- he is actually a very important part in my goal..." he paused his words for a second, "if my interpretations of the myths of the Regional Lords are correct."
"Still want to keep him away from what we've excavated of the temple though?"
"For the time being, the harsh order placed for that is a perfectly reasonable precaution," answered the alakazam. "Now, I need to go get my suitcases from my room and catch my ride to the Indigo Council Hall. Excuse me." He motioned for the farfetch'd to step aside, Datan complying and then following the alakazam out of his office and into the hallway.
"After you get back, I think I'll take my vacation time for this year," announced Datan as he snuffed out his cigarette between two claw tips.
Edward nodded before he turned down an adjacent passage and broke off from the duck. "I wouldn't have any objection to that." He then turned down another hall and left the sight of the farfetch'd.
***
Sophia returned to her quarters to find Cassie still seated at the couch, several finished books stacked on the cushion to her side. Closing the door behind her, the nidoqueen padded over and set herself next to the studying kadabra. "Cassie, could you please take a break for tonight?" asked the nido as she slowly slid an arm over the psychic's shoulder, pressing close.
"For you..." she felt the nido's state of mind, "I could." She set the small cloth bookmark closed the tome, sliding onto the table. She then flicked off her reading lenses, folding them up and placed them atop the book. Leaning in, the kadabra allowed a small smirk to cross her muzzle. "I can feel your tension," the warming Cassie said, "I'm so sorry that I am contributing to it."
"It's okay...you have a job to do," whispered the nido, playfully bumping her muzzle against the kadabra's. "It's the nature of the team to try to divide the best of friends. As for me, it's just so painful to watch everyone I care about get pushed around by the powers that be."
"But that's also the team," said the psychic pokemorph while she let a paw slide across to pat the side of the nidoqueen's muzzle.
The female nido gave a nod at that. "Yes-- we all have our jobs. It's just that some people here got really bad ones," she looked into Cassie's eyes after saying that.
"Enough...you're the one who needs to be taking it easier," replied the kadabra, her eyes taking a soft blue glow while her paw slided up to run around the edge of one of the somewhat larger poke's ears. "You're the best one in this place," she said as she watched the nidoqueen give a shudder, feeling a pair of invisible paws trace slowly down her back.
The nidoqueen smiled, lidding her eyes slightly while feeling the psychic paws begin to slide up her again, then around. "You never get tired of such tricks, do you?" Feeling one start to unfasten her belt loop, Sophia pressed the psychic up a bit closer. "Trying to avoid a real talk."
"I can feel that you enjoy it," whispered the kadabra, watching the nido go a bit red around the ears before before she slid up to sit in her lap. "Just relax," her eyes picked up a brighter glow as she said that.
Sophia felt a faint buzzing at the back of her mind, then a sense of calmness rushed through her body. Giving a content sigh as her ears folded down halfway, the nidoqueen tilted her head while bringing her muzzle close to Cassie's, feeling the invisible paws slide up to grope at her chest, the cloth of her shirt folding down as the psychic pokemon groped her. "How did I ever get with you?"
The kadabra let her real paws rest on Sophia's shoulders, pressing the tip of her muzzle to the poison type's. "I've always admired you-- it was only natural this would happen once I saw you again."
"You've always felt this way?" asked the nido, letting her thick tail wrap around Cassie's, giving a couple of light squeezes. "I was figuring it was a recent development in the few months you've been h--" her words were interrupted by a light chirr as one of the psychic's small claws traced the edge of an ear, the nido's eyelids drooping a little bit. "you've been here."
Cassie smirked broader as her other hand slid up to rest on the nidoqueen's cheek. "No...you're the second reason why I chose to be here instead of elsewhere, Sophia."
"The first?" asked the nidoqueen.
"Obligation to my kin," answered Cassie, her psychic paws giving a couple of careful kneads until she could feel her friend's nipples begin to poke out from her softly scaled hide, accompanied by a low purring from the back of Sophia's throat. "But that does not matter right now," she gave a squeeze to the nidoqueen's entwined tail, "You give and give so much Sophia. Let me return the favor."
The nidoqueen took a deep breath, returning Cassie's smirk as her ears folded down further. Staring into the psychic's eyes, she could see their glow intensify. With it, she felt more and more inclined to agree with the kadabra. "All right," she said with a little nod.
Such fun, and so effective. Cassie slid her muzzle onto one of the larger female's shoulders, feeling the plate below the thin cloth of her shirt. "So, would you care to see some more creative uses I've found for my powers?"
"Sure," Sophia whispered back to her friend.
Cassie closed her eyes, paws sliding down to wrap around the nido's midsection as she did so. Focusing intently, her tail squeezed down harder on Sophia's. The nidoqueen could feel a much louder buzz inside of her head, the room in her eyes starting to blur and shift before fading entirely. And with that, the pair vanished, their clothing piling where they were a second earlier.
Next thing she new, the nido was sitting against the back of her large bed. Blinking in confusion a couple of times, the nidoqueen found herself staring Cassie's glowing eyes as the kadabra climbed up over her, straddling the larger pokemon with paws against the headboard. With that final look, all the stress of the day left her, the nidoqueen as she fell under Cassie's power, only visibly evidenced by a sight dulling of the normally bright green eyes.
Licking over the edge of one of the nido's folded ears, Cassie earned a soft sigh from her friend, flitting around the edges a bit more before tracing her tongue down the side of the of Sophia's neck. "Wonderful," commented the kadabra, nosing her muzzle tip over one of the nidoqueen's erect nipples, "Got your barriers down quickly this time."
"Of course, Cassie dear," commented the nidoqueen in a hypnotically clear tone before her eyes squeezed shut, toe claws curling as she felt the psychics narrow tongue circle and lap around her breast, one paw cupping it while the kadabra's other slid down between the larger female's legs to lightly circle around the edges of her queenhood. Letting two of the curious digits spread the pinkish red folds of the nidoqueen.
At this, the kadabra tensed up for a moment as she felt the sensations the nido was experiencing, causing her tongue to slip for a second before regaining her composure. Her lightly glowing eyes lidded as her tongue wrapped around again and she began to suckle lightly at Sophia. The nidoqueen was not just taking this lying back, her thick tail started to slide up the inside of one of the psychic's legs before making a line for Cassie's own nether regions, lightly rubbing over her. Sophia's eyes cracked open and she gave the other female a grin.
The kadrabra gave out a cry at this, eyes opening up as the nido's breast slipped from her mouth again, looking up to spot Sophia's smile. She immediately dulled what she felt from the nidoqueen as the tail continued to tease at her, tip of it glinting softly in the light of a corner lamp. "Enh..." she began to slide a pair of fingers into the nido's opening, wiggling them as she did, causing the pair of them to both shudder for a couple of moments. "Almost overloaded me there," said the psychic with a wink before returning to the nido's breast, nibbling very gently at it before suckling again.
Taking a few breaths, the nido's grin was replaced with a slightly open muzzle, a few heavy breaths escaping her as Cassie pumped her fingers in her friend a couple of times, hissing at the feeling herself, combined with the groping of Sophia's tail at her own sensitive region. As the kadabra let her muzzle start to draw down, she felt the nido's paw rise up to gently stroke at the back of her head, making sure to rub over her pointed ears as Cassie's tongue trailed down Sophia's somewhat plump belly. Soon lying between the legs of the large nido fem, Cassie could smell her friend's arousal while drawing her slick paw back.
Licking it clean, she then brought it forward to again part the nido's glistening lips while drawing her muzzle close, tongue darting out to flick lightly at the exposed flesh. The taste and strong female scent caused the psychic tense up again when combined with the bond she had created with the nido, feeling a slightly lower level of what her friend was feeling.
Noting this, the nido began to press her tailtip into Cassie after a few light pants, causing the kadabra to immediately cut the synchronization, though she made sure to keep the reins on the nido's mind. Looking up to Sophia, she drew her tongue back for a moment. "I'll ask again. Are you trying to make...enh..." she felt the first segment of the tail slide in, pumping a few times, "Me pass out from over stimulation, dearie?" She was above taking full control of her friend, but an empathetic bond with stimulation to oneself could be hazardous.
Sophia gave a playful shrug as one paw continued to circle around one Cassie's ears. "Hoped to please you," she responded in that same dreamlike voice.
"Well don't," said the kadabra with a small smile, drawing her sickened muzzle away for a second, "You know I get mine from pleasing others and you've given so much today as is."
"Yes, Cassie," the nido answered while slowly drawing her tail out with a soft squelching noise.
The psychic's eyes glinted blue for a moment as she restored the empathetic bond. Returning to her ministrations, the kadabra pressed her muzzle tip tight to the nido's warm folds, letting her tongue slowly wiggle its way into her, darting in and out, flicking and teasing the nido the best she could. Hearing the results, she continued the assault, starting to feel herself approach the edge from the bond.
Sophia began to press her legs up against Cassie's side, the psychic picking up the pace of her work, tongue probing deep into the nidoqueen before she felt a couple of clenches on her tongue. At this the kadabra gave a somewhat loud gasp in unison with the nidoqueen, her slightly worked sex dribbling a bit of glistening female juices onto the nidoqueen's tail and sheets while her muzzle was rewarded with a somewhat sweet and quite juicy taste of her friend. Pulling her soaked muzzle back to take a recovery breath, going a little weak in her elbows, the kadabra dived in again to take a few more tastes.
Huffing a bit, the nidoqueen rubbed over Cassie's head, the psychic in question pulling back again to look up at here. "Mmmh..." the kadabra licked over her muzzle, "We're not done."
***
Back in the holding area, Theodore and Abigail were lying back on their benches, the pair of them halfway asleep by the time the nidoking could hear another pair of footsteps coming down the hallway. Swiveling his ears toward the direction of the sound, he did not bother to sit up as the farfetch'd from earlier, with agent Fractal following at his side, stopped in front of his cell door.
"Hello, Inquisitor Theodore," said the farfetch'd cheerily after taking a drag off a cigarette, "I'd like to introduce myself. I am Agent Datan and I will be acting as the leader of this division for a couple of weeks, as Executive Edward was just called away to meet with the Security Council."
The wounded nido gave a few blinks, looking over to Abby. A duck-- was this the one she gave the papers to? Looking back to Datan, he found the farfetch'd to feel a little bit familiar, the scent of tobacco around him in conjunction making his stomach flutter slightly for some reason. "Well..." he spoke up, not bothering to sit, "Pleased to meet you, Agent Datan. Wish the circumstances were a bit better as I am going to have to report the fact my assistant," he nodded to the zangoose, "and I were assaulted as a greeting."
The farfetch'd shook his head, cigarette in bill creating a haze of wavy smoke as he did, "You won't be doing that, friend."
"I'm no friend of yours," responded the nido calmly, "After I recover, I demand that you release me to perform my duties."
He shook his head again. "We'll release you on our terms-- you will be doing what we tell you to do."
The duck was feeling more familiar by the moment. "Figures," he said with a sigh, "Send fake reports, make everything appear fine?"
"You guessed it. You are a prisoner here, and your highborn status is all that is preventing us from just executing you," explained Datan while tilting his head a bit, "The reason for this is because of the recent political upset in Sinnoh. We don't need the Galactics catching this side of Kanto weakened by internal strife within the Team."
Theo gave a nod at that. "Though I'm still confused as to why you felt that provoking me into attacking you makes things better."
"Leaves you weak. Plus...you did it to yourself in your bullheadedness," explained Datan, eyes drifting to Abigail. "In turn, you did it to your friend here as well." She glared at him after he said this, the nido taking hint of the hostility, curious of the source of it.
Theo raised a single claw after hearing that. "Reasonable...I'm sure it helps your motivations. May I ask you a personal question?"
"You may not," answered the farfetch'd simply after exhaling lines of smoke from his nostrils. "I was just dropping by to introduce myself," he motioned a feathery paw to Fractal, "Have you met our new guests yet?"
"I have," answered the ampharos.
"I see," Datan said, turning his head back to Theodore. "You'll heal up good and quick, then we'll let you have a bit of freedom in the base. We made arrangements for an office and one of the better living quarters for you, Inquisitor Theodore." He looked to the frazzled zangoose, "As for you...we were not officially anticipating anyone else, so it is the bunks or crashing in his place for you."
"Thanks," said the nidoking.
"Only small token of kindness, I know," Datan said while tapping some ash onto the floor. "You'll be under the watch of Agent Cassandra and the rest of her team. If you start to cause trouble, they'll put the both you back down here as quick as they did earlier. Understand?"
Theo nodded slowly and the farfetch'd gave a wave of a paw. "Glad to see you're not too upset," said Datan as he began to turn. "But I really need to get back to my regular duties...goodbye." Turning on a heel, the duck and his electric type cohort made their way from the holding area.