Del

Destroying targets was exhilarating. This creature knew so many attacks, it was gloriously destructive. Psychic, night shade, confuse ray, shadow ball, thunderpunch, hyper beam! The sudden burst of energy before an attack flies off to the target down range, hitting and exploding in a spray of beautiful fire is practically orgasmic. I must admit, the practice was arousing me slightly.

"Sir," I turned to find one of my old advisers, bodyguards, and trusted friends. There are very few of those. "Now that you're back, we need to catch you up on all that you've missed." Grinning, I walked to the big charizard half-breed, clasping his forearm in a sign of friendship.

"You big, scaly bastard. Where you been, Zenga?" Zenga shrugged.

"Here and there, but mostly here, cleaning up after you died." He sounded almost angry, like his mind was stuck on something and he didn't like it.

"And what became of my son? Where is Leo?" Zenga growled and turned away. So, he was angry at Leo. "Well? What of Leo?" Zenga continued his growling, not even turning to me for several minutes. When he finally spoke, his voice was strained with concealed rage.

"He escaped, destroyed the lab, freed several experiments, and killed you. Now he's out there somewhere, evading our attempts at recapture with little effort. He somehow even turned one of our agents against us. She's with him now, traitor bitch." The snarl never left his face, actually getting stronger as he continued.I smiled through it all, rather impressed with how my creation was growing.

"Very good, Leo," I said under my breath, "Now, Zenga, what was it you came for?" Zenga straightened slightly, looking more official.

"Sir, in your absence, Silph has continued all projects, and in addition we have made leaps and bounds in the production of several new... items." He gave a small smirk at the end. I laughed at his tone, knowing full well he wasn't as uptight as he was making himself seem.

"Well let's get on with it, I don't have all day."

Zenga led me through an endless number of halls, ignoring everyone he passed, shouldering them aside like the nothings they were. We soon arrived at a door leading to a room I remember well. The Genetic Engineering Lab, Leo's birthplace.

I was assaulted by a bright, blue light as the doors slid open. My eyes adjusted quickly and I recognized the glow of the production fluid used to hold the creations. Cables and wires snaked across the tiled floor, randomly finding homes in the large machinery. In the center of the large room was a large glass column, filled with the liquid that was the source of the unearthly light. Suspended in the center of the tube was a humanoid shape, curled into the fetal position. I noted the large ears and tail floating free from the body.

"Species?" I quietly demanded. Zenga pressed a few keys on a large computer and began to read off the screen.

"Persian. Female, estimated to be around twenty-three years of age. She's being given Protein, Carbos, and several other vitamins to make her more sexually appealing. I would assume She's being grown as an assassin." He snorted, "Or a sex slave to be sold to the highest bidding rich pervert. Anything else, sir?" Zenga said, looking up from the monitor to stare at me. Ignoring him, I paced around the container, examining the creature being grown. She was indeed attractive, very well rounded. I marveled at the construction, impressed that she was so perfect.

"How is she without defects?" I asked Zenga quickly. He walked to my side and nodded, also staring into the tank holding the persian.

"When Leo destroyed part of the lab, he took hundreds of experiments with it, and hundreds more in test tubes. The few experiments that survived, as you know, defective in some way. Over sized body parts, smaller brains, missing limbs altogether, it was horrible. Leo was the first successful experiment, and we all know why that is." He looked at me, and I simply nodded to recognize him. "With less growing containers and more rooms, we spread them out, one container to a room, rather than the cluster you had originally designed. With the same number of computers and nutrients working on a single subject, they grew incredibly well. We haven't had a single failure since." He finished, sighing after his lengthy speech. I looked over the persian again, then walked past her tank to the door beyond.

It opened to show me a similar scene to the one at my back. The only difference was the pokemon floating in the tank, in this case a large nidoking half-breed. This one looked nearly complete, having grown to its full size. The muscle under its thick armor plates flexed, causing a ripple in the liquid the creature floated in. I turned back to Zenga, satisfied.

"What about the breeding program? How are we with natural half-breeds?" As I said this Zenga grinned. To most it would have been frightening, but to me it was encouraging. Zenga rarely got excited; when he did, it was big.

"Follow me, sir." He led me down another maze of hallways. Following him, I realized I had forgotten how to traverse our massive complex without getting lost. I wouldn't be able to leave without assistance, but that's what Zenga's for, isn't it?

At the end of our journey we found a pair of large double doors. Zenga paused before opening them.

"Sir, don't be shocked by what you see. We've grown quite a bit while you were away." I nodded and he pushed open the doors.

When I walked in, I was surprised at first, but shock gave way to giddy excitement. Extended in front of me was another hallway, but it just seemed to keep going, no end in sight. The walls were made of large sheets of glass. As I walked down the hall, I peered into the rooms they showed, and I couldn't help but laugh at what I saw.

In every room, hundreds of pokemon were being raped. It was glorious. They were all female, being continuously raped by human males of our I watched, the workers would occasionally switch with someone else, once they had finished with their current victim. Occasionally, I saw a scientist walk into a room with a group of guards. The scientist would point at a pokemon and she would be dragged away, saved from her torment. Each one of the glass-cased rooms held a different species, perhaps a hundred or so of the type. Every pokemon you could imagine, even some you would think were impossible. In several of the rooms there was an isolated section, walled off from the rest of the compound. Its walls, unfortunately, weren't glass and I couldn't see what was inside. Once I saw a man leaving one of these rooms holding a large studio camera. It sparked my curiosity, but other emotions took hold first. I couldn't contain the hysteric giggling that the sight invoked in me. It was just so wonderful!

"What are the separate rooms for?" I asked when curiosity finally took hold. Zenga smirked, looking very self-satisfied.

"That was my own idea," He said confidently, "They're studios. We film some of our more willing pokemon and sell the videos. We've made millions." Hysteric giggling seized me again, but I was soon distracted by another scientist carrying away a pokemon, dragging her from her human partner, who looked rather sad to see her go, until he found another ass to pound, that is.

"Where do the scientists take the pokemon?" I asked Zenga between laughs. He gave me a look, but said nothing about my condition.

"They take the ones that have become pregnant and hold them until their children are born, then they're brought back here." I nearly collapsed in mirth at just how perfect that sounded.

"To be completely honest, I never expected this. I expected pokemon breeding, and adding of the human genes, but this is far better. Humans can get pokemon pregnant?" Zenga merely nodded. "This is just delicious. I mean, I know you're natural, but I thought it was a fluke, an accident, an aligning of the stars, if you will. This is far better.

"What about human females mating with male pokemon?" I asked, overcome with how excited I had become. Zenga thought for a moment, then sighed and told me what he knew.

"We tried several times, but the children always came out human, and they took too long to incubate. Those children work for us now. They're a bit stronger than average, but other than that they're normal humans. There was one though..." I looked at him, interested when he suddenly trailed off, failing to reveal what I would have undoubtedly found very interesting.

"Yes?"

"We have one, but he's more human, and like Leo, feels he's being mistreated and has attempted escape." He began walking at a fast clip. When I stepped to follow him, my foot failed to contact the floor, yet I trailed behind him nonetheless. Looking down, I found myself floating several inches off the ground, hovering after the charizard. I barked a laugh, I had been excited enough to float. Zenga gave me a look but kept walking.

"He was an accident, actually," He said, "A female professor had entered a steelix's area to administer a defensive boosting agent. The steelix was held down, but they're powerful beasts. It broke free and attacked the scientist. But, instead of tearing her to shreds..." He trailed off, his eyes glazing over with memory.

"It raped her!" I laughed, genuinely finding the whole situation hilarious. Zenga shuddered and said nothing else. We walked to the end of the immensely long hallway and made a right, passing by yet more glass rooms. At each new species my grin grew, growing beyond wide, characteristic of my currently gengar heritage. Once we passed the rape rooms Zenga turned left, walking down another hallway lined with windows looking down into concrete rooms set below the floor we stood on. I stared through each expectantly, hoping to see more of the carnage I loved so much. I was disappointed, but satisfied in a completely different way.

"These are the prisoner's cells," Zenga informed me as we walked past the white concrete rooms, splashed red with the blood of unfortunates, unfortunate that they did something to cross us. "We keep the worst here, or some that just need to have some answers pried from them." He didn't look into the rooms as I did, walking past in cold indifference. I tried to mimic him, but I was constantly dragged back to peering into the glass like a child in front of a candy story.

Zenga led me to the end of the hall of cells, stopping in front of the next to last one on our right. This time I was disappointed. The room was completely empty, save for a single creature. He wasn't being tortured, he wasn't dead, he was just... there. Watching the glass like it was a television. He was massive, towering at least twelve feet high, as big around as a tree. I immediately liked him, however, only for his anatomy. From the waist down was his biggest attribute.

A long, hard looking... tail! A steelix tail, from what I could tell. It was coiled underneath him like a spring, giving him a throne to watch the window from. His stomach was human, but his skin looked to have a metallic sheen to it. His chest was covered in a mass of steel shaped like plate body, extending out at least a foot. It extended up his shoulders, covering his neck and lower jaw. A spike extended the back of his neck, possibly from the steel on his chest, and jutted out through a long, silver braid of hair. His eyes were a silvery gray, penetrating and powerful. I felt as if he was watching me. Maybe he was. His arms and face had the same metallic skin as his stomach. He was beautiful to me.

"You said he's natural born, Zenga, what is his name?" I looked at the big lizard. Without taking his eyes off the hybrid, Zenga spoke.

"Tanic Hargin, son of Professor Hargin." I nodded. I had known Hargin while I was still alive, but I don't remember her having a child.

"When did this happen, Zenga? Hargin wasn't even pregnant when I died. How did Tanic get so big in that time?" I asked. It just didn't make sense. Zenga sighed and looked away.

"You know Professor Marge Hargin. We are looking at her brother." I gasped. That would mean that Tanic had been kept secret from the company for years.

"How is that possible?" I turned to face Zenga fully, but he angled away from me.

"Tanic was born forty years ago. The late Anna Hargin gave birth to Tanic in secret, before we even started researching half-breeds and morphs. Being a well known scientist, she had many friends. When her son was born half-onix, he was big. He was three feet long and weighed nearly fifty pounds. She immediately saw that if she let the company know he existed, he would be taken from her. Maternal instinct must've kicked in and she did what she had to do. She heavily bribed the leader of our First Call guard, she asked him to take the small child and train him. He accepted and he put Tanic through the basic training for other guard pokemon."

"When Tanic evolved, accidentally exposed to a metallic element, the guard began elemental training him to be defensive power-house. He can take any special attack and not feel a thing, even water, fire, and dragon barely hurt him." Zenga looked down on Tanic almost proudly, but I ignored it.

"If his mother did this under the rug, how do you know?" He turned to me with a sadistic grin.

"When I discovered Tanic, I tortured the details out of her. Her cell's behind you." He gestured with his head across the hall. When I turned to look, I had to laugh yet again.

The walls were completely painted red, not a single patch of white remained. Here and there, streaks in the paint lead to bits of flesh and organs were they had trailed down the walls and had come to rest on the floor. A single cleaning man was fighting a losing battle against the red tide. Next to his cleaning cart I saw a pile of vomit, making me laugh harder.

"Who knew you could paint a room like that with one human?" Zenga surprised me when he suddenly spoke next to me. I laughed at his statement and shook my head.

"I've never known you to be so crazy, Zenga. Where the Hell did this come from?" He shot me a glare, but quickly cooled it.

"You know how I have an anger problem," He said quietly, and I nodded, "She spitted on my new boots." I laughed harder yet, unable to believe the reason. It was true, Zenga was easily angered, but this was ridiculous. "When I slapped her, she spit up blood, it landed on my shoes too. Then I kicked her in the stomach. She puked on the shoes, and that was it. I snapped." I could no longer restrain myself, not that I was before, but I collapsed on the floor in gut tearing laughter. I truly couldn't understand why I was laughing so much, but it was pretty funny. His shoes?

"Sir, when you're done, we'll get back to why we came?" I forced myself to breath, clasping down on the laughter, but as I stood, I couldn't hold back an occasional giggle. I walked back to Tanic's window and looked down again.

"Hehe, is that why he glares at you like that?" Zenga merely nodded. As I watched Tanic, the steel half-breed didn't budge."Why is he escaping, or trying, at least?"

"He didn't really try until I discovered him. But it really got bad when I killed his mom," Zenga took a deep breath, "I went into his cell to try and shake him up a bit, but the moment I said his mother was dead, he went berserk, attacking everything in sight. He would have escaped then were it not for our precautions."

"What 'precautions?'" I asked. Zenga pointed at the floor of Tanic's cell.

"Notice how he hasn't moved? There is an electromagnet in the floor. He can't get up from that sitting position." I doubled over laughing again. "Are you alright, Del? You've been doing that a lot." Zenga asked, almost sounding concerned. I just kept laughing. I raised my head when I was recovered enough to speak.

"The things we have here are just so wonderful." I looked down into the cell. I was immediately locked with those silver-gray eyes. After a few minutes I had a thought. "I want to talk to him." Zenga nodded, as if he had been expecting it. He pressed a button to the side of the window and a section of wall repressed and slid to the side, revealing a staircase down into the cell.

Not wasting any time, I ran down the stairs and opened the door to the cell. Ignoring Tanic at first, I faced the window and waved at Zenga, giving him a thumbs up. I turned to the metal monster, who was staring at me. I walked over and jumped up onto one of his coils, getting myself comfortable in my 'seat.'

"Is this a joke?" When Tanic spoke I nearly jumped off him and right out the door. His voice wasn't intimidating, not even deep, but it was so immensely loud, especially in the small concrete room. It sounded like he was speaking through a megaphone. "What is this? You're sending in a delusional half-breed to keep me company? Well, if this is your idea of a joke..." He raised a hand at me. I saw the energy building in his palm, but I ignored it. When the flash cannon fired, I casually raised a palm and stopped it with psychic. I condensed the energy into a tight ball, and with a flick of my wrist, hurled it at Tanic. He didn't even flinch as he was struck full in the face.

"Tanic, Tanic, Tanic," I said scathingly, "You don't even know who I am. Zenga, release the magnet." Both Tanic and Zenga were shocked, but Zenga did as he was told, and Tanic just stared at me.

"Fine, who are you?" He asked with his exceedingly loud voice. I grinned.

"Oh, you should know," When the magnet released he charged at me. I stopped him with psychic and threw him aside. He wasn't hurt, but he was angry.

"You little asshole, you think you can hurt me?" A hyper beam charged at his mouth. He let it loose quickly. I didn't even move, allowing the normal-type attack to pass harmlessly through my ghost body. I grinned wider.

"You really don't know who I am? I'm offended." Tanic tried to circle around me, but he couldn't move very far in the limited space. I saw a dragon pulse charging in his left hand, and a dark pulse in the other.

"I don't care who you are!" He yelled, hurting my ears horribly. He released his pulse attack, a clear wave of purple and black surged toward me. Calmly, I charged my fists with electricity. Punching out, I met the attack head on. A large explosion arose from the meeting of power. Smoke filled the cell, obscuring everyone's view. I heard Tanic sliding around, his tail chinking with every twist of its links.

"Would it help if I told you my name?" I called into the smoke. My response was his tail flying out of the smoke at me. "Gotcha." I caught the tail, allowing it to push me back. I stopped against the wall, but held a firm grip. I walked my way up the massive tail. I reached just where it hooked up to meet his body, but because of the smoke I couldn't see him, and he couldn't see me, and due to the crystalline skin on his tail, he probably couldn't feel me.

With a roar, I lifted the massive body, throwing it right back down. The concussive slam cleared the smoke in a ring. Tanic was on his back and winded. I calmly walked up to his head and stared down at him.

"I'm Del, and I'm your master." His eyes widened for a moment before I entered his mind, digging through his thoughts and memories to find what I wanted. I quickly erased his mother, as well as most of his childhood, despite his screams of protest. In their place I emphasized his years of training in service to my cause. I implanted myself, adding a heavy amount of loyalty to my image. I wanted Tanic to see me as a god, as his god. When I was finished, I stared down into the angry eyes of Tanic. "Tanic, are you all right?"

"I'm pissed off," He bellowed, "But I can't remember what I was pissed at! It has something to do with you, and him!" He pointed at Zenga. I looked up and gave Zenga another thumbs up.

"That's cause we ate your pudding, sorry." Tanic looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was. "Listen, I was actually here to promote you." His eyes lit up in sudden joy.

"Anything, Master Del, it would be an honor." His tone became respectful, and I had to grin yet again.

"How would you like to be a member of my personal guard?" His eyes lit up again, but were immediately clouded in confusion.

"Then, why am I on the ground, in a holding cell... that's destroyed?" He asked looking around. I looked around too and sighed.

"I must have hit you on the head pretty hard there, sorry." I said, giving him an apologetic pat, "I was testing you, and I didn't want to destroy the training grounds. The good news is you passed." He wore a grin under the metal mask that extended up from his chest.

"When do I start?" I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Right now, let's go."

Leo

Terra's description of solid city wasn't quite accurate. She said it was built around an iron works. The truth is, it was the iron works.

The town gradually descended, homes being built on the shelves formed during strip mining. Ramps and treadmills weaved their way up from the mines, emptying their loads of iron in smiths near the top. From there, the smiths had treadmills emptying larger loads of iron bars into trucks. Despite its gruff, dirty appearance, the whole assembly was well thought out and even had an artistic feel to it. Metal staircases descended the shelves, allowing easy access into the heart of the city. From our vantage point, at the top of the first step, we could see the town square, which even from this distance looked huge. At each corner of the metal square that formed the area, I could see stairs descending into what I assumed were the mines. In the very center was a massive rectangular building, corners brushing those staircases. On top of the roof was the gym symbol, formed of polished iron, of course.

As we made our way into the city, rooting out the pokemon center, we passed plenty of people, all dirty from the nature of their city, but none ever looked us in the eyes. I saw small children stare at me from the corner of my eye, but they cast a glance elsewhere when I turned to them.

Halfway down, our progress was halted by a group of heavy set miners, their profession showing in their build and cleanliness. One, shorter than the rest, but definitely stronger, stepped forward. The top of his miner's helmet barely reached my chin, but he poked an accusing finger in my chest.

"What do the likes of you want here?" His voice grated, like he had to cough badly but refused to do so. Taking the lead, Terra stepped forward, pushing the stout man's finger aside and standing in front of me protectively.

"I'm here for a gym battle with Waseem. If you would be so kind, get out of my way." She roughly pushed the man, who I now realized wasn't so short but was a step below us. Because of Terra's height advantage, the man was sent sprawling into his friends. By time he recovered, he was steaming, almost literally.

"Why you bitch, no one messes with us miners!" He took a step and launched himself at Terra. His hand was curled into a meaty fist. Now, anyone who knows me even remotely well would know I wasn't going to let this happen. I lifted Terra, pulling her out of harms way and passing her back to XiD, where she would be safe. Miner boy quickly adjusted, satisfied punching me in the jaw rather than Terra. I didn't want a fight, especially not on such uneven ground where he would have the advantage. In compromise I shoved his fist away, throwing the big man off-balance, and grabbed him by the throat. By now a rather large crowd had begun to form. This man had made me angry, and as I stared back into the curious eyes a plan began to form, one that would successfully humiliate him and make me feel a hell of a lot better.

"Ladies, and gentlemen," I bowed to the crowd, still holding the miner by the throat, and forcing him to bow as well. "Today, I will be teaching a classic, movie style choke hold. Now, this isn't a particularly easy choke, though it's common. You have to maintain a steady grip while constantly applying pressure to the wind pipe. With someone as big as I am fighting, a good grip isn't easy. There are several different techniques to make this choke work the most effectively. I'll explain two." The crowd began to clap, as if they believed this was a street performance of some kind.

"The first, and most famous, is to lift the target, allowing their own weight to strangle them." I lifted the man a foot off the ground, letting the crowd hear his strangled words before setting him back on his feet and letting him catch his breath. "This generally requires lots of strength. While it's true I'm ridiculously strong, I seriously doubt I could hold a possible four hundred pound man at arms length by one hand, at least not for as long as I wanted." Some people laughed, others clapped some more. I had to grin at the strangely positive reaction I was getting.

"The second is far more practical. Use a wall." I spun my victim on his toes, pressing my target's back against a nearby building. Several people clapped again. "Simply push the back of your strangling victim against a wall, or any surface really, and lean on them, allowing your weight to do the job. You see this a lot in movies, mostly because most people aren't able to do the far more impressive lift. There are major disadvantages to this though, like how exposed you are from behind if your target has friends, like mine does." Several people oohed and ahhed, looking genuinely interested.

"The difference for me though, is that I have friends of my own." When I looked over my shoulder I saw Raina holding back the brute's friends with threats of fire. The crowd erupted into small cheers, excited by the display of power. I turned back when the guy started clawing at my hand. I relaxed my grip enough for the whelp to breath, I wanted him to hear what I was about to say.

"Listen to me, bitch," I whispered, watching surprise light in his eyes, "Now, first I want you to apologize, look at the pretty lady over there and apologize for attacking her." At first he was locked up tight, but a little pressure and a slam against the wall really turns the key.

"I... I'm sorry, miss," He glanced at me and I nodded to continue, "I'm sorry I tried to attack you, it was wrong of me and it'll never happen again." I nodded my approval.

"Now, I want you to promise me you'll never hurt another girl again. You'll be courteous and polite, or I'll find, and I'll make you repeat this promise in your blood."The man nodded and I slammed his head again, "Say it." I hissed, savoring the terror in the man's eyes.

"I-I will nev-never hurt a-another girl again, I promise." I smiled, bright and happy to show I was satisfied. I released his throat, letting him take several stuttering gasps. I turned to his friends, replacing my mask of anger.

"You'll all keep that promise, or else. I won't tell what else, because I believe that would be too much of a comfort. I want the suspense to eat at you, like maggots in a rotting corpse. Maybe in your rotting corpse. Now, if you'll excuse us..." I turned and bowed to the crowd. "Thank you for watching my little demonstration, please have a great day!" As they left in small groups I walked straight at the group of heavy miners, watching them scatter like rattata.

When our whole group was back together, no one was smiling, even Monique had a look like he had been disturbed by horrible sights. It was disturbing me slightly. Terra looked back at the miners. The one I had talked to was crouched on the ground, holding his knees to his chest, with his friends gathered around.

"Just like them," Terra said slowly, "We're scared, Leo. You have random fits of rage that don't suit you. It's startling." I simply stared, looking around the group for conformation. Some nodded, some just looked away.

"Random fits? He tried to attack you, how is that random?" I asked, surprised at this sudden turn.

"And what about the man in Sapling? You cut his damned balls off!" Raina accused.

"He deserved it, we both know that." I growled. Monique looked excited.

"You cut someone's balls off? Do tell." He held up his clipboard, ready to take notes. I snarled and shoved it back in his face. I turned on my heel and started down the stairs.

"Fuck this, I'll meet you at the gym in a few hours. I need to blow off steam." I didn't look back, just kept walking. I didn't want them to follow me, so I ran up the side of one of the buildings, disappearing over its edge and running across the roofs until I was comfortable with the distance I had covered. I first noticed I was much closer to the square, and the streets were busy with people entering shops and just going places. Before dropping to the street below I decided to change. I made myself different than usual, not wanting to be recognized, trying to resemble a random miner of the city. When I entered the crowd, I was swept away by the flowing river of bodies. Rather than fight it, I let the surge carry me through the streets, passing me by the major portions of the city.

As I followed the school like a magikarp, I realized what I truly wanted. I was actually surprised I hadn't thought of it earlier, but it would have made some of these encounters a lot easier. Swimming through the river, I eventually found safety in a side alley, leading into darkness. Perfect.

I followed the maze, briefly reminded of my chase after Raina. I knew what I was searching for, but I didn't know exactly where to look. I could probably find out from one of the many shops I had passed, but that was no fun. Where was the danger? No, I needed a nice, shady bar full of drunken idiots picking a fight.

I never knew that I was gonna get my wish mere minutes after I had the thought. I came to an intersection of alleys forming a T. At the top was a door with a faded sign, and at the bottom was the busy street. A single man broke from the surge of people and calmly walked his way down the alley towards the door. I calmly stopped before he past me.

"Excuse me, what is this place?" I asked politely. He made a strange grunting noise and spit in the dirt at my feet.

"It's a bar. Sinner's Lair, that's what most folks call it." He shuffled past me, opening the door and allowing warm, welcoming light to spill into the dark alley. Following the light, came the loud voices of happy drinkers, laughing, cheering, and some even arguing. Exactly what I was looking for. Without further contemplation, I entered the light's comforting embrace.

It was what I had expected. One long bar lined with bar stools covered one wall of the large room. The rest of the space was occupied by a haphazard arrangement of tables and chairs. None of the tables matched, as if the owner said "screw it" and just brought in whatever he could find. It was entirely possible. I wove my way through the patrons, trying my best not to attract attention as I made my way to the bar. Sitting on one of the hard stools, I gestured for the bartender, a surprisingly young and beautiful girl, maybe eighteen. She gestured, signifying she would be with me soon and I settled in to wait, deciding what my poison would be.

I've never been a drinker, but I'm no stranger to alcohol either. On many missions I had partaken in my share of gin, rum, whiskey, and many other exotic types of liquor. But today I would keep it simple. The confident girl finally made her way to me, serving orders as she went.

"What can I get fer' ya today, sir?" Her warm smile, brought out my own.

"Straight Jack Daniels, nothing in it." She nodded and bustled off to get my drink, while somehow pouring for every other thirsty hand reaching for their order. It took her a minute, but she soon found her way back to me, having slowed the tide of drinkers momentarily.

"Here ya are, can I getcha anythin' else?" I couldn't resist returning her smile and nodding. I quickly downed my drink and set in on the table.

"This has been bothering me since I walked in," I said casually, "How is it you can be so confident, so safe in a room full of drunk and drinking men? You must have problems at some point." She gave me a more secretive smile, accompanied by a sly wink.

"Only once, and the fellas learned better after that." She lifted her apron to show me a small pistol, stuck under the waistband of her skirt. I smiled, as this was what I wanted to find, though I did expect a male bartender, not this sweet little girl. I leaned on the bar, giving her a charming smile.

"Where could I get one of those fancy things anyway? I'm sure you'll understand, I just need a little protection, y'know?" She flashed a knowing smile, saying she did. Pulling a piece of paper from beneath the counter, she slapped it on the surface.

"Got a pen?" Smiling, I quickly procreated one in my pocket and gave it to her. She scribbled something down and turned it around for me to see. "Go to this address and ask the shop clerk for the special. If she gives you any trouble, tell her Sandy sent'ya, OK?" I nodded and got up to leave but paused.

"How much do I owe you for the drink?" I asked her with a small smirk, prepared to create the exact change. She gave me another wink.

"It's on the house, Sugar. On one condition." I leaned in, showing her I was interested. "You come back and see me sometime, it ain't often I find a man I don't have to pretend to like." I gave her a cheeky grin and nodded.

"Promise." With that I left, out the door and back on to the busy street. I didn't know the addresses in this city, but I'm pretty sure someone did.

With a little luck, and a lot of questions, I managed to find the small, dilapidated shop. The rotting sign that hung over the street read 'Mickey's Antiquities.' Catchy. I walked into the dim shop, a bell ringing as the door opened and closed. Cabinets dominated the small space, towering from floor to ceiling, filled with everything between pottery and stuffed animals. Behind the tiny counter at the back was a door with peeling paint.

As I stared at it, a small, happy old woman walked out, getting behind the counter and preparing for business. She gave me a shy smile, but otherwise left me to my own thoughts. I paced around the shop a bit, marveling at the strange artifacts. Soon enough, I found myself in front of the counter, examining a shelf of yet more objects hanging above the old woman's head. I swept my gaze across the shelf, trailing it down another cabinet, and finally bringing it to rest on the small shopkeeper. She smiled again.

"I assume your Mickey?" Her head bobbed happily, "Well a friend sent me here. I'm looking for the special." Her eyes met mine, holding them for a second, judging me I suppose. She sighed and nodded again.

"Well, follow me." Her voice was quiet and raspy with age, yet somehow happy. I followed her back through the paint-peeled door and into a storage room in the back. It was larger than the actual shop, but had even less space due to a large number of wooden crates. "What kind of 'special' are you looking for, honey?" I thought about it for a moment.

"A pair of small, manageable pistols, but high grade. I also want a holster for them, preferably shoulder." She bobbed her head again and waddled her way to one of the crates near the front. Gently lifting the cover she placed it aside and gestured for me to take a look.

"I got holsters for all of them." I gasped as I laid eyes on the armory the woman had in the single crate. There must have been over forty different pistols, all of which had a matching pair. "What do you fancy? Revolvers? Semi-auto? Machine? Glocks, maybe?" I scanned each pair, looking for the one that jumped out at me.

Picking guns is an art form in and of itself. You want something comfortable for you, appealing, maybe stylish; and at the same time powerful, efficient, and deadly. You can feel when a gun is calling out to you, you just know it's the right one. Of course I could have just created the perfect weapon for me, but there's a certain thrill in finding the one for you, buying it with your money, and savoring the whole experience.

None of the guns in the crate were speaking to me. They all just seemed wrong somehow. I found out what it was when I asked the woman if she had more.

"Nah, that's all Silph sent me in the last month." That was it, Silph. I guess I could just sense their taint. My eyes began to wander, skimming over the rest of the crates, my disappointment growing with each passing second. I was about to ask Mickey if she knew of any other vendors when I saw them, mounted above the door frame, where I would have almost missed them.

"What are those?" I walked under the plaque that held the beautiful weapons to get a better look at them. They were big, for pistols at least. They appeared to be five hundred caliber Smith and Wesson Magnums, but modified to be even better. Now if you don't know what a five hundred Smith and Wesson Magnum is, look it up, and then build off what I'm about to tell you.

The first I thing I noticed was the cylinder, what held the bullets, was extended to revolve up and around the base of the barrel, setting the sights within that circle. I estimated it could hold fifteen rounds, in each gun, rather than the standard five. Next thing I noticed was the barrel itself. It was blood red, clashing with the chrome cylinder, yet matching the jet black grip. The sights were dazzling gold, reflecting light almost distractingly. It's gaudy, yeah, but I like gaudy.

As my eyes wandered they fell upon a gold plate near the bottom of the plaque. I could see engraving in it, but the way the light reflected off the polished metal made it difficult to read.

"Log Dognip... Luge Digger... Lucky Nigger? I give up, what's this say?" I asked Mickey, pointing at the gold plate.

"Lhug Dagnir, it means Dragon's Bane. Those were my husbands, forged from the metals of these very mines," Mickey said walking up beside me, "He used those when he used to own the mines. He used'm to keep the workers in line. Also, back then it wasn't nearly as safe as it is now. This city actually got attacked frequently before it became a sprawling trade metropolis. My husband was the peace keeper. Those guns haven't been fired since he died twenty-two years ago. I don't think I could bear to part with them." I sighed, understanding the gun's connection with the woman, but they were calling to me.

"Is there any way you might reconsider?" I asked, never removing my eyes from the gorgeous weapons. She gave me a smile, a deceptive, planning smile.

"Prove you can use them, and you can have them. Those guns are insanely powerful, not just anybody can use them effectively." She laughed a little, "If you can hit that target on the back wall, I'll give you the gear and guns for free." I looked back, not seeing the target she spoke of at first. When I saw it I nearly shouted. The target was tiny, not much bigger than a quarter. At thirty feet, the length of the room, I might as well have been trying to shoot flies. But I really wanted those guns. I nodded to Mickey, telling her I would do it. She gestured for me to take one of the guns down, as she couldn't reach them herself. I reached for the one on the left, and when I held it in my hand I could feel something pressing into my palm. I looked and found letters written in raised silver. I asked Mickey what it said when I gave her it she loaded a single bullet. "Says Gadan, means Life. You've got one chance, sonny. If you don't hit it, you'll never touch these guns again." I nodded.

Magnum in hand, I walked to a small line on the floor, marking where I was to shoot from. Before I even aimed, I held up the gun, feeling the weight and balance of the barrel against the stock. It was perfect. The sights were straight, they would lead a bullet where I pointed. The hammer pulled back smoothly, locking with a satisfying click. I raised the gun slowly, steadily aligning the sights on the tiny point. Not wanting to fail such an important task, I tapped into my psychic abilities. I saw the world from two perspectives, from my eyes, and from what my mind told me would happen. When I focused, I found I could see exactly where the bullet would go if I pulled the trigger at that moment. I steadied myself and set everything straight. I saw the bullet hitting the point and a deep calm resonated through me. I took a deep breath, slowly exhaling and pulled the trigger.

The gun nearly exploded. The force of the shot shook me, but I held my ground. The sudden, intense muzzle flare left spots in my vision. Slowly, I straightened from my partial slouch. I walked down range, pulling the target from the wall. When I returned, I looked through the hole, dead center in its surface.

"I get the guns then?" I asked Mickey. She was silent for a moment, and then she doubled over in a wheezing laugh.

"Boy," she gasped, "I would have given you the guns if you'da missed." I gave her a look, asking if that whole test was just a joke. She only laughed harder. "You're the first person I've ever seen stay standing after firing that weapon. Take both of um, the holster, the gloves, and even a bunch of ammo if you'd like." I laughed with her. I didn't realize these guns were that powerful, but I was happy they were mine.

Mickey went into a side room and retrieved the rest of the gear and several boxes of ammo. When I pulled the other gun down from its place I found more raised silver. Before I could ask, Mickey told me what it meant.

"That one says Gurth and it means Death." I looked down and nodded. Life andDeath, with these weapons I was in complete control of that boundary.

When I tried to holster the weapons in there places, I quickly discovered size was an issue. Because of the massive chamber, and the plain size of the damn things, they stuck out through my jacket by several inches. Mickey laughed as I tried to hide them.

"Here, let me help you." She pulled one of the guns out of its holster. Pulling the release pin she flicked the gun to the left. With a metallic snap, the chamber straightened into a long, straight clip. She slid the clip out and showed me the two pieces. "Now you can carry them easier, and don't worry about having to put them in, the holsters are designed to make it easy. I examined the holster, trying to see what she meant.

The gun's holster was deep, obviously, but it was also made of thick leather, at least an inch thick, and cut into the holster was a slot that looked like it would hold the clip snugly. I put them in their respective places, and was happy to see that they didn't show nearly as much.

"Now, draw 'em." Mickey instructed me. I did as she told and was nearly dying with excitement when the clips loaded themselves. "As you draw, a magnet in the gun pulls the clip into its place, and the momentum of your draw swings it into it's circle formation." I nodded, understanding the physics.

"But, wouldn't the magnet effect firing?" I asked, to which Mickey shook her head.

"Not these magnets. They were designed by my husband, they're called half-magnets. Most magnets have a North and South pole, right?" I nodded, "These have only one pole, so they only attract metal from one direction." I sighed and clapped Mickey on the shoulder gently.

"That's genius, your husband was a brilliant man."

Well armed, the guns in their shoulder holsters concealed under my jacket, I left the shop, content. I adjusted the gloves Mickey gave me. I noticed I had a large, purple and green bruise forming in the palm of my hand. She said it was from the kick of the gun, and the gloves, which were apparently made with steel fibers, would prevent that. Happy, I made my way back to the Sinner's Lair, intending to keep my promise and thank Sandy for her help.

When I opened the door, I was greeted by a flying chair. Classic sign of a bar fight. I let the chair fly past and entered the brawl. Mayhem was everywhere, and not a single person wasn't involved, save Sandy, who was crouched safely behind the bar. Unable to resist knocking a few heads, I grabbed one man wielding a pool stick as he tried to chase another man with a beer mug. With the flick of my wrist, I sent him face first onto a table, knocking him out cold. I grabbed a bottle off of a table and smashed it over another mans head, walking past his crumpling form, headed for the bar.

Several unconscious drunks and a heap load of property damage later, I was behind the bar, crouched next to Sandy. She smiled at me, violent light dancing in her eyes.

"Hey, Sugar, I'm glad to see you again." I nodded. I peaked over the bar and ducked quick as a chair leg sailed over, crashing against the wall.

"What happened?" I asked Sandy, not daring to look again. She smirked and gave a shake of her head.

"A drunk idiot stumbled in here and started trouble. Most everybody left when furniture started to fly. You can't tell by lookin' at it, but there are only about fifteen dumbasses up there." I smiled and counted off the ones I took out on my way in.

"I knocked out six, so there are still nine more. I betcha a drink I can take them all out in thirty seconds." I said mischievously.

Sandy grinned, "You're on, and if I win, you show me the new hardware you got from Mickey." I nodded, sealing the deal. With a deep breath I jumped over the bar and into the fray.

Thirty seconds later I was sipping scotch with an incredulous bartender, passing the time with idle chatter. The bar was all but destroyed. Not a single table was intact, and every chair had been thrown at least once, if not more. The fighters were sprawled randomly about the room, left in uncomfortable, half-sitting positions, drool sliding from the corners of their sneering mouths. The bar was safe. A few bottles of liquor were broken, but beyond that it looked pretty much the same.

"I still can't believe you used that scrawny guy to beat the fat one. That must have been the funniest thing I've seen in a long time." Sandy chuckled. I joined, taking a small sip of the scotch.

"Well, I said I'd keep you company, and it's kinda hard to do that with fists flying around your head." We shared another laugh followed by a comfortable silence. I noticed Sandy staring at me, but I did my best to ignore it. Eventually, though, it got more than a little distracting. "What?" I asked simply, challenging her searching gaze.

"Nothin'," she sighed, "I was just figurin' that a handsome man like you must have a girl. Kinda disappoints me, I've been lonely for a long time." Her eyes were pleading, but I wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, I gotta a girl, best thing to ever happen to me. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for her." Sandy's expression dragged, sagging into a dismal depression. "Oh, come one Sandy. You're a smart, pretty, and resourceful girl. I wouldn't be surprised if a man came busting through that door to sweep you off your feet." She gave me a small smile to show her appreciation. I looked at the door, wondering how true my statement was. Sandy was, after all, everything I said and then some.

It was right as I turned back to my spirits that someone kicked the door open.

"Sandy? You OK in here? I heard there was a fight." A big man stepped in, except not just miner big, but really, really big. He had to turn sideways and duck to get through the door. He was a mass of muscle, towering above me. He was wearing a tight shirt, showing off a scary depth to his abs. His pecs were sticking out almost threateningly. I thought they might suddenly lurch out and grab me, dragging me into their firm hold. The thought made me shudder.

"I'm fine, Norton, this fine gentleman protected me and cleared the bar of troublemakers." Sandy gestured towards me, then to the rest of the room. Norton gazed around the room, nodding with approval before looking back at me. I stood up and offered my hand in greeting.

"Leo, and I'm guessing your Norton Rugby, the gym leader of this city." Norton let out a bark of laughter and nodded, shaking my hand vigorously. When he stopped, he turned away to inspect the rest of the damage. I pointed at him and made gestures to Sandy, signifying that he was her knight in shining armor, even if he was late. She just smiled and shook her head, explaining in gestures that he was just a friend. I did my best to give her an 'I don't believe you look.' Norton turned back to us then.

"You must be a pretty strong man, Leo. I bet you a thousand dollars you can't beat me in a fist fight." He looked very self-confident. Behind me, Sandy poked me in the back a few times to get my attention.

"That's why he's just a friend; he's too full of himself." She whispered. I nodded my agreement, but I still had some time to kill before I had to meet everyone else.

"Fine, I accept. Where we gonna do this?" He grinned and walked to the door. He paused, halfway out the door.

"My gym, I expect you can find it." I gave him a nod and he disappeared. I turned back to my scotch, finishing the last few drops before slamming the glass down with a satisfied sigh. Sandy was looking at me funny.

"What?" She just shook her head.

"Norton is strong, really strong. All that muscle isn't just for show. Even with how well you fight, I don't think you can beat him. I don't think you can even lose without breaking something." I just waved off her concern.

"When I beat him, I'll buy him a round with his money." I laughed as I walked out into the sunlight. The day was beginning to wind down. The main street wasn't nearly as crowded as the sun began to sink below the horizon. I easily made my way down to the square.

The building was far more massive up close. I couldn't imagine what the functionality of such a huge gym was. I wasn't surprised in the least to find my whole party in the lobby. They all immediately stared at me, and I expected them to say something, but then I remembered I was still disguised. I politely nodded to them as I walked past.

"Hey," I was frozen cold by Terra's sudden voice. Worried I had been found out, I turned around slowly. Terra didn't look angry, just frustrated. "Are you the guy Norton came running in here chatting about? The one he's gonna fight?" I nodded. "Well hurry up so I can have my gym battle." I politely nodded again, glad to still be able to fight Norton. When I walked in, Norton was standing in the center of a big, square sand pit, dressed in only a pair of shorts.

He laughed when I walked into the center.

"I thought you weren't going to show. You ready now, or do you want to warm up a bit." He was bouncing on his toes in anticipation. By the way he was standing, I could tell he had some experience fighting. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I'm ready now, bring it on." He laughed again and began to circle me, bouncing on his toes and keeping his arms up in guard. I didn't move, waiting for him to attack first so I could counter attack. It was probably the only way I could beat him without sustaining a serious injury.

When he bounced behind me, he attacked, jumping in and throwing a right jab. I crouched down, going under his punch, and kicked back, hitting him square in the stomach. He let out a little exhale, but was otherwise fine. He kept bouncing around, going counter clockwise around me. When he was to my right, he stepped in and swung a right hook. I ducked under and brought a savage uppercut to his jaw. His head got knocked back, but again he was otherwise unharmed.

This continued for several minutes, him circling and randomly attacking, me dodging and counter-attacking. The game grew old for me quickly, and when he next tried to punch me I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder. I held on and the second he touched ground I gave him a powerful shock, enough to paralyze him for a minute. As he lay on the ground, half-paralyzed lungs fighting for breath, he still managed to laugh.

"Sorry, Norton, I know you were expecting a little bit more, but you got trainers waiting out there." He wheezed something and raised an arm. I picked him up off the ground and stood him up. His breath came back to him in a whoosh, and he used it to start laughing again.

"Very good, Leo, You're one Hell of a fighter, I'll give you that. I'll go get your thousand dollars." He chuckled, turning away. I stopped him and shook my head.

"I don't need it, just give it to the trainer who comes in here next. Agreed?" Norton started laughing again and just nodded, slapping me on the back when I turned to leave.

Luckily for me, there was a hallway between the gym and the lobby, so I was able to use the space to change back into my normal form, with a new jacket to conceal my new hand cannons. Everyone gasped as I walked into the lobby. Maybe they were expecting someone else, maybe they just thought I'd come in through the front door, whatever the case, they were surprised.

"Leo?" Terra exclaimed, "How long were you in there?" I just smiled.

"Awhile, you guys are late, and you missed the fight of the century between Norton and this other guy named Leo!" I tried to sound genuinely excited, but they all looked more than a little suspicious. "Well, are we gonna go win this badge, or not?" I turned and walked back into the gym, followed closely by Terra and the rest.

Terra

I knew Leo was up to something. He had an over-confident look about him. Though I have to admit, he definitely looks more like his old-self.

The gym was large, but that was kind of obvious by the size of the building it was in. Norton was on the opposite side of a large sand pit that was the battlefield. The man was humongous, to say the least. A mountain of muscle.

"Are you the challenger?" I stepped forward and raised my hand.

"I am, my name's Terra and I challenge you to a gym battle." Norton laughed, loud and hard.

"Well then, let's begin. Three on three, no items, and the challenger may substitute pokemon, agreed?" I nodded, "Then you choose first." I nodded again and thought about what he had. Steel-types.

"Ember!" I called, "You're up!" She danced onto the field, looking pretty happy. Norton laughed and threw a pokeball in the air.

"I choose you, Matrix!" A magnemite appeared in a flash, releasing its strange, metallic call. I wasted no time.

"Ember, quick attack around it, and shoot ember!" I followed a similar strategy to when I fought that slowpoke a while back, but I had the type advantage this time. Ember dashed away, leaving a small trail of dust in her wake. As she got close, she began shooting the small flares at Matrix.

"Matrix, thundershock!" Norton shouted. The magnemite shot out streams of electricity in a perfect sphere, successfully stopping most of the ember attack from reaching, but enough embers reached to still do it was hit, Matrix lost it's aura of thunder and became vulnerable.

"Now, focus punch Ember." Leo gave me a look.

"When did Ember learn focus punch?" He asked as Ember began charging the powerful attack. I smirked.

"Today, after you ran off." Ember dashed forward, launching her body at didn't have a chance once Ember was airborne. She hit full on, knocking him to the ground. "Now, don't let it get up, ember!" Ember complied, covering Matrix in an inferno. Then we got a little surprise.

"Matrix, flash cannon!" From within Ember's bonfire, an intense light grew. Before Ember could react, she was hit with a powerful beam of light from the fire's center. Ember was hit hard, but still able to fight. Matrix, on the other hand, had fired the attack too late to save itself. Norton laughed again and returned Matrix to his pokeball. "Very good, Miss Terra. Go, Brenda!" He threw another pokeball high in the air. When it burst, the light formed into a small shieldon.

"You know," I told Norton, "For a big man, you sure got a lot of small pokemon." He just laughed his big, boisterous laugh, and I gotta admit, it was kind of contagious. Stifling my giggles I called out to Ember. "Run straight at it using ember!" Ember dashed forward, charging the shield pokemon. The embers fired directly in its face did next to nothing.

"Brenda, iron head." When Ember got close Brenda's head began to glow.

"No, Ember jump, but keep firing ember!" She barely made it, jumping just as Brenda began charging, allowing her to flip over and shoot embers at Brenda's exposed back.

"Brenda, flash cannon!" Oh no, Ember couldn't dodge like that again.

"Ember, just keep it up!" And she did, firing her attack into the approaching beam of light. When I could see again, Ember was out cold. I quickly ran out to the field and scooped her up in my arms. From what I could see, she was just knocked out. "Good job, Ember. Alright, go, Bell!" I called, tossing Bell's pokeball onto the field. She burst out ringing, happy to see some action.

"Bell, take down over it, then circle around." Bell did exactly as I imagined, shooting past Brenda quickly. Then she turned faster than Brenda could, and hit her square in the back. "Good job, Bell, keep it up!" Brenda would occasionally shoot out flash cannons, or use headbutt, but she wasn't able to keep up with Bell's speed, and soon she was out cold, following Norton's first pokemon.

"Well, this just worked out perfectly." He tossed another ball onto the field after returning Brenda to hers. "Come on, Serenity!" The ball released the pokemon in a flash of light, revealing another beldum wearing a strange necklace. I didn't like this, when two beldum got in contact, they evolved. I didn't want Bell to evolve, at least not yet.

"Bell, return!" I called holding up the pokeball, but before the beam could reclaim Bell Norton interrupted me.

"What are you doing? This is setting up to be an epic fight!" I just glared at him.

"I don't want Bell to evolve, and our beldum will do just that the moment they make contact." Norton merely shook his head.

"See that necklace Serenity has? It's called an Everstone, it stops pokemon from evolving. I work in the iron mine where there are lots of steel-types, including other beldum. I take precautions; neither of our pokemon will evolve accidentally. Happy?" I nodded, admitting I was.

"Fine, let's do this. Bell, take down!" She charged in, hitting Serenity head on.

"Serenity, flash cannon!" God damn his flash cannons!

"Bell, dodge, then hit Serenity from above." Bell took off, flying straight up. Serenity tried to follow, continuing to attack with flash cannon, but Bell was fast. Seconds after the light faded, Bell dropped, using gravity to her advantage as she drilled Serenity into the sand. But Serenity recovered and took off using take down, getting out from under Bell. "Follow her, hit her when you can!" They played cat and mouse for a long time, Bell getting clean hits occasionally, but for the most part it was becoming a stalemate fast. Then we got our break.

"Serenity, turn and flash cannon." Serenity turned and began charging.

"Bell, take down straight through it, and spin, gathering the attacks energy around yourself." It was a long shot, but what other choice did I really have? I just had to sit and hope. The brilliant beam fired. I saw Bell go in spinning, then I was blinded by the light. It cleared soon enough for me to see Bell drilling Serenity into the ground, her body surrounded in a vortex of brilliant energy. Serenity was out.

Norton began laughing as he returned Serenity. "Very good, that was an impressive use of my own attack against me. Here, you've earned the Dense Badge, this TM containing flash cannon, and a thousand dollars!" Norton laughed as he walked across the field to me. Resting on his hand was the badge, shaped like an iron bar, a silver disk, and a big wad of cash.

"What?" I yelled, glad, but startled, "Why do I get a thousand dollars?" I heard Leo chuckle, but ignored it, I was too deafened by Norton's booming laugh.

"That guy I fought before you, Leo, that was his prize money and he said to give it to the next trainer who beats me." He laughed again, placing the reward in my hands and closing them around it.

"See," I heard Leo say, "I told you there was a guy named Leo here."

"Shut up, Leo, you're still in trouble." I growled as I walked out of the gym. To the next city!