Author's Note: This series is perhaps going to by my most chaotic. I'm going to take a new character introduced in each chapter and run with them for a while, then once I'm satisfied, I'm going to branch off and start the next chapter with a character previously introduced (usually human, but I can't say for sure). These character's lives intersect, but are also fundamentally different. Since similar situations will pop up (as the characters all live within the same vicinity of each other), repeat dialogue will be unavoidable, but I'll try to keep any scene repeats to a minimum. Just know that unlike many of my other pet series chapters, chronology is very important to remember. My apologies. Since these are brief glimpses into each 'side' character's life, there will be moments that are not fully explained, sometimes being fleshed out in another chapter, sometimes not (if I can't get to it, I can't get to it). Some scenes will repeat, but with new insights. There MAY be a more encompassing plot when I come around to it, but it will likely be later on (probably Chapter 8 or so). Apologies to anyone named Nanao, Iwamoto, Akashi, Jennifer or Darrell. This is not intended as commentary towards you. ----------------------------------------------------------- BlowMetropolis Suburban Tales 03 - Cerl ----------------------------------------------------------- Cerl Vice was still sore from the night before. It's often said that keeping a regular sleep pattern helped people recover better, but Cerl didn't have that luxury. Unlike most of her classmates, she had to be more than just a high school girl. She also had to be Visceral, the underground fighting league warrior, choke-slamming her way to riches. Fame came along for the ride, but like an obnoxious not-a-friend tagalong who joined in on a cross-league cruise, it was very unwanted. Cerl had secrets and notoriety would only bring them into the limelight. Most of the reasons for her secrets lay in the fact that part of them had to do with unsavory people who did unsavory things. Cerl and those people had a very strict understanding of where the line was and what would happen to the cash cow named 'Visceral' if said boundary was crossed. Her parents probably would have wept for their daughter, but Cerl couldn't bother herself over metaphysical speculations. She had to get ready for school. Her body was so familiar with her usual morning habits that she soon found herself finishing her breakfast before she really noticed. She glanced at the calendar and confirmed that she was going to be taking the test at the pokecenter on the correct day. With her job, having someone who could cook and take care of her house while she was away was becoming a necessity. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep track of everything the household needed. She grabbed her bookbag and was on her way to school. School itself was boring. There was a buzz as Akira Wiel had another shouting match with the two slimiest teachers of the school, Mr. Akita Iwamoto and Mr. Genma Akashi or "Mister A Kidder and Mister Kiss Ass". Mister Iwamoto had gotten his nickname by the fact that every time a student openly accused him of altering a score, if the principal was around, he would start repeating, "Oh, what a kidder". Mr. Akashi got his name because he kissed Mr. Iwamoto's ass on just about everything. The truly twisted thought floating around school was that Mr. Akashi never got his jutting buck teeth fixed because they were for Mr. Iwamoto's pleasure. Most other students could be discredited because their academic scores were flimsy and they had enough problems on record to be weak when it came to the value of their word, but Akira Wiel was a smart enough kid, but he was one of the few kids who had a solid enough standing to pick verbal fights with the sleazy duo and hold his own. Cerl had picked up on what Akira was doing when he kept badgering the teachers. Most people wouldn't be able to notice it, but he kept flicking on a tape recorder whenever he talked to either of the teachers, so every word was being recorded. Once he had enough examples of their sleazier nature, he could take them in front of the school board and get them removed and banned from similar jobs. It was while she was enjoying her lunch on the roof that her cell phone began to vibrate. With a heavy sigh, Cerl pulled out the device and flicked it on, "What time?" The woman on the other end replied, "Excuse me? Is this-" Cerl groaned inwardly. She HATED the new receptionists. "Look, next time read the notes around the desk. No name, no age, no location, no addresses, nothing that can be traced goes on this call. What time is written on the sheet?" Cerl demanded. "Eight PM." the woman answered, sounding flustered. "Good, now what is the first letter under species?" Cerl coaxed. "It's a P." the woman responded a but more sure of what she was saying. "How many digits is under pay?" Cerl inquired. "Eight." the woman supplied. "Is the first number of the pay a five or higher?" Cerl asked. "It's a seven." the woman said. "Good. That's all I need." Cerl told the woman before disconnecting. Cerl growled as she tossed the rest of her sandwich in the trash. She couldn't eat after dealing with those airheaded receptionists. Each time she'd managed to break one in to the proper procedure, they seemed to disappear and a new one took her place. She had to wonder how fucked up the organization was if they couldn't keep a position like a receptionist filled competently. Cerl paused as she started to exit the roof, glancing to the water tower with no small amount of suspicion. However, she soon decided nothing significant had been said, and thus, it wasn't worth her time. Who cared what some weakling thought? "Hey, Cerl, there you are..." came the voice of one Koyomi Grey, a brown-haired girl with brown eyes and glasses. She was fairly stacked and was in the top ten for the largest set of breasts in the school. "What is it?" Cerl inquired. "Apparently, there's someone named Jennifer Pine looking for you at the office." Koyomi answered. Koyomi caught an miniscule twitch in Cerl's left eye. Cerl continued down the stairs to go to class, "That's nice." Koyomi glanced back up the stairs, "Ichijo? What are you doing up there?" Cerl didn't visibly react to the comment, and simply continued down the stairs, though she logged the name of the peeper, just in case she needed to deal with the eavesdropper at later date. Class was interupted by a messenger from the office, repeating what Koyomi had told her, but Cerl replied that Jennifer could wait until after school. After school, Cerl snuck out the back and took the roundabout route to get home. She did NOT want to talk to Jennifer Pine, or "Pineifer" as Cerl called her. Unfortunately, "Pineifer" was waiting in front of Cerl's house with a locksmith. She was easy to identify, with her poorly dyed long blonde hair still showing the original black tips. She had brown eyes and was almost painfully thin, though that was by choice. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! I was trying to reach you because my key broke and I can't get in." Jennifer said with a weak smile to hide the fact that she was mentally cursing her luck that Cerl had shown up early enough to thwart her getting into the house. "I see. Well, it's a good thing I'm here to make sure you don't get in." Cerl said, rudely shoving aside Jennifer and the locksmith who'd been hired to open the door, "By the way, Mister Locksmith, I'd put her on your blackball list. She's not to be within sixty feet of this house." Cerl pulled out her key, inserted it, and turned it. With practiced ease, she slid inside the house before Jennifer or the locksmith could react and slammed the door, then locked it before Jennifer could turn the handle. Cerl sighed as Jennifer started rattling the doorknob and pounding on the door, making angry demands for Cerl to open the door. "Pay your bill and I might consider talking to you again." Cerl replied through the door. She knew if she opened the door with the chain on, Jen would stick her foot in the doorway and whine and whimper until Cerl got tired of it and either called the cops or caved in. The locksmith got smart, knowing becoming involved in a domestic dispute was NOT company policy and headed to contact the police. Jen tried to badger him into opening the door anyway, but he was already on the phone with the police. Cerl sighed. She hated the police because most wanted her to let her aunt inside the house to talk. She knew her aunt far better than them, and she'd be casing the house, stealing any stray cash or valuables. Hopefully this time would be the LAST time she had to deal with her aunt. In the meantime, Cerl put her bookbag away and awaited the sound of the approaching cop cars. They wouldn't be coming in with sirens blaring, since it was just a 'domestic dispute', but Cerl was used to the sound of their approaching vehicles. The detective who arrived was a brown-haired man named Togusa, who was shortly backed up by two OfficerJennies. Cerl exited the house, but just like how she had entered a few minutes ago, she'd had the door locked and closed before Jen could try and bumrush her way inside. "What seems to be the problem?" Togusa inquired, gazing between the two women. Jen spoke up first, pointing an accusatory finger at Cerl, "She's locked me out of my own house! Throw her in the loony bin!" "It's not _her_ house. It belonged to my parents, who paid off the mortgage on it, and their will left it to me. I purchased or inherited everything in the house." Cerl responded evenly. Togusa looked like he was getting a headache. No doubt it was his first time trying to resolve a domestic dispute and he'd probably been 'volunteered' for the duty (i.e. suddenly, everyone else was 'hours' away or too 'busy' to respond). "Look, it's not hard. Call headquarters and have them reference the property owned by Cerl Vice. Once they confirm I own the house, you can remove my crazy aunt, who is a kleptomaniac and a compulsive liar." Cerl explained. "I AM NOT!" Jen protested. "If you're not a kleptomaniac, then explain why the last time I let you inside the house, mother's jewelry wound up in a pawn shop on Cheetit Street. And if you're not a compulsive liar, then you wouldn't come begging for money, promising that it'll be the last time and that you'll repay me the next time you visit." Cerl said acidly. "This will be much easier to sort out down at the precinct, so would you mind coming with me?" Togusa inquired. "WHAT?!" Jen screech, followed by Cerl answering, "Fine by me, so long as she doesn't get access to the house." Cerl walk over to the squad car and slid into the passenger seat before Togusa could say otherwise. Jen fumed and cussed, but eventually relented, following Togusa and getting into the back of the squad car. Cerl had to resist the temptation to say, "Wow, Jen, the backseat of squad car must feel like home." She had to bite her tongue lightly to stop herself from saying an alternative line, "Gee, Jen, the backseat of a car must seem like home. But it must seem different since you have your clothes on and you're sober this time." The police station was a real treat, especially since Jen was openly nervous about everyone inside, no doubt fearing that she may have been placed on some sort of watch list or mistaken as a possible accomplice to a criminal she'd had a fling with to get money. As Cerl predicted, the police quickly found out about certain facts, such as Cerl's ownership of the house in question, which meant that she could indeed force her aunt off the property. Cerl was allowed to leave as Togusa began to discuss the people Jen had been associating with. Cerl had created her stage name by making a play on her own name. It might not have been a bright idea, but few people who knew her real name would connect it to Visceral, since it wasn't a word anagram, though it was a phonetic anagram. Cerl was thankful for the fact that her mother used to be a professional makeup artist or half of the tricks Cerl did to make Visceral so different wouldn't have worked very well. Her mother even taught other makeup artists, so Cerl had a 'How-To' guide to make the process so much easier. The outfit Visceral wore had evolved. It was originally just a simple black full bodysuit with some padding around the breasts, but as her normal bust had grown to a decent size, Cerl had swapped to an audacious outfit. It was a red and black skin-tight, open-chested, shoulderless unitard, with fingerless shoulder gloves, and black knee-high laced boots (still modified to make her taller). It just screamed bad girl, which was something the audience loved. The black was the predominant color in the outfit, with red making a heart-like pattern over her breasts down to about just below her covered navel, with black hearts over each nipple. Her groin and the insides of her thighs were also covered in red, but a black heart down there would make it all the more kinky. Red hearts have been dyed into the gloves in a chain-like pattern, while the boots each had a single red heart on the area over the toes. The part of the outfit was a black head mask which made Visceral's long red hair stick out of the sides as twin ponytails and covered her eyes like a cloth domino mask. Some stray indigo hairs in front refused to hide and stuck out like thin claws, ready to attack anyone who tried to touch the mask. Visceral stood 6'3", thanks to a special set of inserts in her boots that didn't take much time to get used to, while Cerl herself was only 6'1" and never wore boots. Cerl had long blonde hair that was straight, but untied; which separated her further Visceral's wig, which had longer red hair that was tied into twin ponytails. Visceral's skin was a few shades darker than Cerl's, thanks to a easy-to-apply cream that faded after four hours; and her voice was slightly deeper and more sultry thanks to a thin collar that modulated her voice. It was dyed black and had a red metal heart in front. About the only things that linked Cerl and Visceral were her blue eyes and her C-cup bust size. Visceral arrived at the pick up point and noticed another person in the vehicle. She had to close her eyes as she sat down, so she didn't scream at her aunt Jen, demanding to know why she was there. Oddly, Jen seemed like a completely different person. She bowed slightly to Visceral and shyly inquired, "Um, hi! I'm Jennifer Pine, what's your name?" "Visceral." "I guess you've been doing this for a while, huh? This is going to be my first time... I'm really nervous..." Jen commented nervously tapping her knees. Visceral fought to keep a sadistic grin off her face. Jen might be able to pick up on similiar cues, "Most of the veterans have their own outfits. Almost none come in street clothes. If you want to be able to walk home with some dignity, I'd recommend that you ask for a bodysuit." Jen blinked in surprise, then smile, "Thank you... I wish I was even half as prepared for this as you are." Visceral nodded calmly, but inside she was freaking at how nice her aunt was to everyone else. "So, why are you doing this?" Jen inquired, before noticing Visceral's glare, "Well I guess it is pretty personal. I've got a niece that I've been meaning to pay back... she's bailed me out of a lot of things, but... I guess she closed herself off when I started borrowing money and never paying her back." Jen let out a deep sigh, "Why is it that hindsight is so much easier than insight? There were hundreds of times I could have paid my niece back, but I was so damn selfish... I was even going to swipe my sister's costume and makeup making kits from her house without her knowledge, but I kept saying to myself that I was just borrowing it, so it wasn't wrong. I guess I shouldn't have been that shocked that she's pissed with me." "It seems that even regular payments, even if it isn't the full amount, would give her the impression that you are willing to change." Visceral commented. Jen looked stunned for a few seconds, then smiled again. Visceral idly wondered how much more smiling she was going to be doing, given what happened to most rookies in the underground leagues. In a strange way, Visceral felt sorry for Jen, knowing full well what she was likely getting into, but not sorry enough to try and stop it. Jen needed a hard lesson in the kind of life Visceral had been living for the last two years. The stadium was surprisingly large for those new to the underground fighting league. Unlike some of the lesser underground leagues, this one was, to Visceral's knowledge, one of the few allowed by the league, even unofficially, because it brought in the shady sorts that the League liked to nail. It was an understood agreement between the law enforcement and the underground league 'managers' that if one could not hide their connections, they did not deserve to have said connections. It was almost like a source of fun for the two organizations, akin to the old Pre-Sukebe game of "Duck, Duck, Goose". Jen had followed Visceral's advice and requested a bodysuit, which turned out to be a pink one. Visceral knew Jen would be happy she had worn it instead of her normal clothes. Visceral herself couldn't remember how many versions of her original bodysuit she went through until she finally managed to keep it in one piece. It was one of the reasons why she'd made multiple copies of her current one. Even if it got completely destroyed, she had something ready for the next match, but she also didn't have to abandon an entire outfit because of a tear. Jen would be learning lessons like that on her own. But Visceral slowly realized she didn't know much about her aunt. She'd burnt that bridge long ago and stopped caring, but if Jen was serious about turning herself around, then Visceral wanted to know more before her aunt strolled back into her life. "Say, have you ever been in a fight before?" Visceral inquired. Jen shook her head with embarrassment. "Ever had to fight off an overly affectionate admirer?" Visceral queried. Jen shook her head again. [Oh boy, I better check the schedule.] Visceral thought to herself. While Jen changed, Visceral found out the night's lineup. While newbies usually had trouble figuring out how to get that sort of information, Visceral was no newbie. She had the lineup in her hands within a minute. She herself was fighting a Samurai named Ran. Her aunt was battling a new Buttitsfree named Ino. Both were owned by the same tamer, a female tamer who went by the name 'Kamichu'. Visceral remembered the girl as a mousey little girl with brown hair and big brown eyes, but she was beginning to show signs of growing, indicating she'd either lied about her age like Visceral had or possibly that she was developing late. Considering that Kamichu blushed a lot and was perhaps the shyest of the tamers in the entire fighting circuit, it was likely the foremost. Kamichu had another pokegirl, an Amazonlee named Miyao, but Visceral had never fought her. Miyao was scheduled to fight some other newcomer, a Godiva named 'Millia'. Visceral mentally wished Miyao the best. Beating Millia was no easy task. Visceral herself failed three times and the consequences, while VERY pleasant, were always embarrassing and hard to get used to. Thankfully, beating Millia had proven to be an excellent preparation for fighting Vena, the first Killer Queen that Visceral had battled in the circuit. Visceral idly wondered what sort of techniques Ino would use, since poison and psychic techniques were not allowed in the circuit. Certain ice techniques were also disallowed, but at least ice techniques WERE allowed. "Well, the good news is that you're fighting a new pokegirl who can't use a majority of her species' standard techniques. That at least gives you a chance at victory, but keep in mind the chance of failure still exists." Visceral told Jen. "Ah...failure?" Jen inquired nervously. Visceral looked her aunt in the eye, "Failure means one of three things here. If you're lucky, you get pinned, you go home with your dignity and some cash in your pocket. If you're less lucky, you go home with a larger amount of cash in your pocket." the look in Jen's eyes indicated that she'd realized why Visceral hadn't mentioned dignity in the second option, "And if you're unlucky, you get the nasty ones who like making others feel pain. But this one comes from a kind tamer, so the first two possibilities are far more likely." Someone knocked on the locker room door and called in, "We're ready for the amateur matches." Jen looked at Visceral with an unspoken question. Visceral nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Jen's silent inquiry as to whether or not 'amateur' applied to her. Jen sighed, stood up and headed out the door. She paused, "Thanks for all of your help tonight." "Rookies need all the help they can get. I just told you the easy parts. You'll have to learn the rest on your own." Visceral answered. Jen smiled, "Still, thanks." Her aunt stepped out the door and Visceral realized she'd been far nicer to her aunt in the last hour than she'd ever been to Jen in the last eight years. [And if anyone told me that I'd be nice to her today, I likely would have laughed my ass off.] Visceral thought to herself. She exited the locker room and headed to the tamers/fighter's view box. Some tamers and fighters got off on the sight of others getting their asses handed to them, some got off on the sexual molestation, while others like Visceral just came to see how fights turned out. Ran, Miyao and Kamichu were sitting at the far side of the box. Visceral sat down near them, knowing the trio well enough to know they didn't hold grudges before or after matches. In their circuit, it was stupid to keep the aggression anywhere but the ring itself. Visceral sat down and glanced over at Kamichu and company. Kamichu was only four and a half feet tall and wore an informal blue kimono. Ran stood almost six feet tall, steel grey eyes with long raven black hair tied into a long ponytail, and wore a white gi and a black hakama, her usual clothes. Miyao had short brown hair, warm brown eyes like Kamichu, and wore a pink cheongsam with a short skirt. Around the ring, waiting for her match, was the last member of their group, Ino, a red-haired, red-eyed Buttitsfree. She wore a slightly oversized yellow gi that was modified to accomodate her wings. She was thin and pale, but her large wings were green, black and blue. It was an odd collection of colors, but Ino made it look okay. Visceral wasn't sure why it looked okay, but it did. "Do you know that woman fighting Ino?" Miyao asked. "Yep. She's twenty-eight years old and never been in a fight. I don't know much about Ino, but I figure she'd probably going to win." Visceral commented. Visceral thought about it and headed to place a bet. No manager or fighter could bet on matches where they were intimately involved with a participant, but Visceral was hardly intimate with her aunt. The bet was small for Visceral, a measly five hundred thousand credits, and the payoff wasn't good given that it WAS an amateur match, but she'd already told the bookie to gift it to Jen if the twenty-eight year old lost the match. [More like ONCE she's lost.] Visceral thought. Gifts were a good way for a fighter to burn off a debt quickly. Gifts were closer to a tip than a bet. A gift could be retracted before the fight ended, but once the match was over, any gifts that were given could not be retracted. Most of the rich liked to gift to fighters who did well, or ones who'd allowed them to earn a good amount of money, but also to those who were good 'victims'. Visceral sat down and watched the fight between an green-haired Ingenue and a twenty-something guy. It was rare for a guy to be allowed in the ring with a pokegirl, since the guy could force himself on said pokegirl if he won, but the Ingenue's tamer must have been confident of their Ingenue's victory. The guy was expecting an easy fight and probably an easier lay, but the Ingenue proved him wrong by giving him a one-two punch combo that had him reeling before an uppercut sent him to the mat, clutching his stomach. The Ingenue was apparently quite disappointed in her opponent and wanted to drag the match out by grabbing his legs under her shoulders and putting him a reverse leg lock. The guy howled in pain. After a lengthy count to ten, the Ingenue was declared the victor. "Too bad we didn't get to see what she's capable of. She might be a good opponent to challenge Ino." Visceral noted. A few more matches passed before Ino versus Jen, including a brown-haired Bimbo versus a ClowMystic, a Chichi versus a Doe, and a Fairycute versus a dark-haired human woman; the lattermost ending with an upset victory when the human woman managed to catch the Fairycute when she'd shrunk to do her 'living dildo' technique, and licked the small Fairycute to orgasm. The fight between Ino and Jen started with the older woman trying to do a jumpkick, but Ino leapt out of the way, and sprayed webbing from her fingers onto Jen's right foot, which stuck fast to the ground as she landed. With a descending hip drop, Ino sent Jen to the mat in daze. A few more strategic string shots and the older woman was firmly stuck to the ground with her legs spread. "I'm going to get a drink." Visceral said as she stood up and headed out. She'd figured her aunt was going to be molested, but she didn't want to watch. A few minutes later, Visceral found her aunt sitting in the locker room, already changed back into her street clothes. She had a solid blush on her face. "A bit different than what you expected?" Visceral inquired. Jen nodded. "Well, you won a fair amount, didn't you?" Visceral asked. Jen nodded again. Visceral got the impression that her aunt wanted to be alone, so she turned and exited. If Jen hadn't liked the experience, she would have to find some other way to pay off her debts or find some way to rationalize her discomfort away with her need for money. The amateur matches were short but plentiful, the intermediate were a bit longer and usually fairly interesting, but the expert matches were a sight for sore eyes. Some of the viewers wouldn't gift anything until they'd seen the expert matches because they tended to be so impressive. Visceral had to admit that they were certainly in for a treat. The first Expert match was a Chickpotle, a dark-type, versus a Sapphron, a ground-type. The two had no elemental advantage over each other, and were both evolutions of the Chichi, but they'd developed an animosity that had started prior to evolution. As such, the battle was wild and fierce. The Sapphron used Sonic Wave and Rock Cube to try and corner her opponent, but the Chickpotle used Ashen Wings and had apparently picked up Artemis' Bow from a Shy Princess, to which the Sapphron would dodge, block with Rock Cube or try and counter with ShockSpike. The Chickpotle would always managed to be just out of it's effective range before it could affect her. The fight was so long that the first few Rock Cubes made started vanishing. In the end, it wound up being declared a Double K.O. as a ShockSpike managed to hit the Chickpotle just as an arrow fired from the Chickpotle's Artemis Bow knocked the Sapphron out. In case of a tie, while money would be refunded to the people betting on the pokegirls, the prize money for winning and losing would be combined and split, making their tamers happy, even if the pokegirls themselves weren't. The Rock Cubes were removed before Ran and Visceral stepped into the ring. Fighting a Samurai like Ran was tricky business and Visceral knew it. It was only because Ran would use Phantom Blade on her weapons that Visceral wasn't entirely freaking out. Ran had a tendency to win rather fast, her longest battle being three minutes. Her shortest was five seconds. Ran had a large number of wins, very few losses, and no ties. Visceral on the other hands, hand a fair number of losses to go with her decent number of wins, but she'd also tied several times. Visceral forced all of that aside as the bell rang and leapt high even before Ran was within range and had her instincts rewarded with the sight of a blade twice as long as normal passing through she had been standing scant seconds before. Visceral landed and danced away as Ran unleashed a super-fast Slasher technique. For three full circuits around the ring, Ran chased Visceral with her phantom blade slashing cutting air, but nothing else. Finally, Visceral spun and launched herself at Ran. The phantom weapon passed through Visceral's body six times, but Visceral answered with a powerful punch that sent Ran hurdling backwards. Visceral focused her energy to her legs and caught Ran before the Samurai could hit the mat. A devastating pile driver later, Ran was laying on the mat, struggling to stay awake as Visceral weakly forced her body upright, the exhuastion caused by her moves combined with the damage of Ran's techniques was making it hard to move, but her desire to win was allowing her to push forward. Ran was almost to her weapon when Visceral slammed a foot into her back, "Sorry, nothing personal. But I've got an image to maintain." Ran found herself naked and intertwined in the ring's ropes before she could even think of resisting. The Erotic Kiss Visceral gave her sent a powerful tingle through her body, causing her nipples to harden almost instantly. Ran blushed as Visceral tugged the Samurai's head into her bosom. Ran had a hard time believing Visceral wasn't a pokegirl, given that she was able to use so many similar techniques, but her train of thought was derailed as Visceral's long tongue washed over her slit. [Kamichu will forgive me if it's with her...] Ran told herself as she felt her resistance melting under Visceral's skillful tongue. As the Samurai began shuddering and squirming as Visceral's long tongue began to enter her, and explored her depths. Ran struggled to keep her cries down to mere moans of pleasure, but as Visceral's tongue touched a particular spot, she cried out in pleasure and fainted. Visceral licked her lips and untied the Samurai, letting her body fall onto her shoulder. She scooped up Ran's clothes and sword, then exited the ring in triumph. Cerl was bored all throughout the computerized test. Akira Wiel was finished first, followed shortly by Cerl. Once the scores were tabulated, Cerl found she'd scored after Wiel and tied with Chris Fellows. Since there were thirty people taking the test, Cerl, Chris, Akira and one other guy, who'd ranked third and looked to be in his early twenties, got a claim ticket along with their new pokedexes, filled with their registration information and licenses. The guy took off, but Cerl, Chris and Akira decided to at least check out the pokecenter for interesting pokegirls. A strange dark-haired man, Shigeru Sohma, who had been a stand-in receptionist that had greeted them, turned out to be their guide. He wore a blue kimono and had a paper fan that he would hide his face behind while giggling at various jokes, but Cerl didn't find him very funny most of the time. "So, what kind of girls are you three looking for, hmm? Fierce? Loyal?" Shigeru inquired before leaning towards them in a confidential manner and speaking in a low tone, "Good in bed?" "I'm just looking for a girl I can get along with." Chris spoke up, unabashed at his reasons. "I just need someone to take care of my place." Cerl said, following Chris' example. "I'd like a little of all three, but I'll take loyalty over the rest." Akira commented. "Very well, I can show you around." Shigeru declared as he nodded emphatically, before gesturing them to follow him. The main meeting room was a bit like a kindengarten class room crossed with a library. There were recliners and beds for lounging, but there were also wooden toys, crayons and coloring books. Two of the walls furthest from the crayos and child-like accessories had shelves stocked with books of various genres. Nineteen or so pokegirls were lounging in the room, four of which were drawing with the myriad of crayons and humming tunelessly. Five more were napping in the recliners or on special floor mats. Five more were reading, and the last four were playing some strange game with playing cards. The only thing they all had in common was a bland grey bodysuit. "For easy-going, we have Freya," Shigeru said, motioning to a white-haired mouse girl who was sleeping on a mat. Her long white hair reached her mid-back, "she's a Titmouse, and though you can't tell much from her sleeping, she's really easy to get along with. Unfortunately, she enjoys being outdoors a lot, and she tends to get sleepy if she's inside, hence why she's asleep." Shigeru motioned to a very human-looking brunette with a ponytail who was reading a book, "Next, we have Penny. She's a Damsel, but she's fairly good at keeping a house clean. She has a love for reading, so if you get a few books a week, she'll be easy to get along with." "We have Mimika-" Shigeru began, starting to point at a blonde girl with white bunny ears who was drawing a picture, but at the sound of her name, she leapt up enthusiastically, causing her large breasts to jiggle, and waved at them, "HI!" "Oh yeah, he was probably day-dreaming all night." Chris commented. "I-er-Shut uuuup!" Akira mock-whined, an equally fake glare levelled at Chris. "As I was saying, Mimika is a Beach Bunny..." Shigeru tried to continue, but Mimika interupted, "Just after I finished threshold, I found a Water Stone. Let me tell you, it was pretty difficult getting used to these boobs." "I'll bet..." Akira commented, his face turning a solid red at the sight of Mimika hefting her ample assets. "WE NO SEPARATE!" came the angry declaration of a raven-haired girl with a bust equal to Mimika's, but her black fur cat ears and tail indicated she was a feline pokegirl. Her hair was cut roughly chin-level. Her golden eyes indicated, along with her words, that she was quite possessive of Mimika, and flatout refused any sort of compromise. Mimika's cheerful demeanor calmed as she stroked the raven-haired girl's hair, illiciting a purr from the girl, as she looked at Akira, "Koshka doesn't like the idea of us being separated." "Okay, I suppose I can compromise if you two don't want to separate." Akira noted. "Even though it means you'll have to pay more?" Mimika asked. Akira gave her an honest smile, "I just want you two to be happy. If both of you are cool with being with a guy like me, I've got no problem paying for the other." Mimika leaned close to Akira, "Just so you know, she's not all that into guys." Akira paused, before answering, "I won't force anything on either of you." Once Mimika and Koshka were both agreed, Akira turned to Chris, "See you later." As Akira, Mimika and Koshka exited, Cerl and Chris turned back to Shigeru to finish the tour. "Well, let's see... Miku?" Shigeru inquired, catching the attention of a blue-eyed girl with dark brown-hair who was reading a book, "I'm afraid since you came in yesterday, I haven't had the chance to look over your file, so I can't remember if you have any household skills." Miku smiled, "I know how to dust, vacuum, and cook a bit. I can do anything from a cookbook fairly well..." Miku blushed a bit, "I'm actually a Acrobabe, but I haven't really tried any of my abilities..." "How do you feel about kids?" Chris spoke up. "I love kids. I've always wanted some daughters of my own when I grew up... I guess as a pokegirl, I'm technically a grown up, but hopefull you know what I mean..." Miku rambled. Chris stroked his chin thoughtfully, gazing at Miku. Cerl knew that look. Chris wanted to know more about Freya before passing her over, but was also intrigued by Miku. As Chris sat down across from Miku, Shigeru and Cerl continued on. They passed three more pokegirls, Shigeru giving them a brief introduction, but they didn't catch Cerl's eye. It wasn't until they'd meet a blonde woman with large breasts that Cerl paid full attention to Shigeru's introduction, "This is Mei, a Milk Maid. She's fairly good at cooking and cleaning, but she's also developed a new technique recently." "Really? What is it?" Cerl inquired. Shigeru would have warned her, but it was evident he preferred humor. Mei tugged her bodysuit down, exposing her breasts. Before Cerl could react, the Milk Maid had pulled her into a Puff Puff technique. There was only one difference. The technique didn't normally involve milk squirting down the target's back. Cerl seized Mei's hand and started dragging her outside, Mei giggling and apologizing for the milk. Cerl was going to take Mei if only to keep her from repeating the story of what she'd done to anyone else. "Something up?" Chris asked, curious as to the joke. "Sorry, it's one of those 'you had to be there' moments." she heard Shigeru apologized. Cerl blushed. Mei had been a rash decision. She couldn't help the fact that she had a breast fetish. After all, it'd been one of the key factors in her decision to become a lesbian. That and she liked how girls tasted. "Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeeee?" Mei begged. Probably the only thing that truly nagged at Cerl was the fact that Mei wanted a playmate, and admittedly, Cerl knew that it would be easier for the Milk Maid to get along with a Milktit, but getting one was a bit tricky. She could pay for one outright, but that was expensive, even for her. "Listen, if you keep taking such good care of the house, I'll... I'll find a way to finance it." Cerl responded as she finished the decent meal Mei had managed with Cerl's lackluster grocery supply. It was largely because of her normal eating habits that she'd wanted a housekeeper. If it wasn't take-out, she was having some sort of sandwich with a fairly bland vegetable. Cerl had always been suspicious of her more gradoise attempts at cooking, as they tended to look horrible, but taste great. Plus, with her job, it was difficult to keep enough energy to even dust monthly. The domesticate pokegirl smiled, pressing Cerl's face into her cleavage. Cerl sighed with content as she enjoyed the sensations. ----------------------------------------------------------- Relevant Pokedex Cerl Vice - Tamer, Level 1 Mei - Milk Maid /T Level 5 Kamichu - Tamer, Level 21 Ran - Samurai /D Level 27 Miyao - Amazonlee /D Level 16 Ino - Buttitsfree /D Level 7 ----------------------------------------------------------- A-kun