“Lady Venus.” That’s what they used to call her. Lady. Queen. Mistress of the secretive warren that stretched under the whole of the Orre region—the Under. A neon-lit town that served as a monument to crime and the nexus of Cipher’s power.

Her mouth tightened. Now look at her. Cipher had fallen, shadow pokemon were being purified en masse, and she herself had been caught and captured, thrown into a jail cell like any other common criminal. What a fall from grace. Lady Venus, yesterday’s empress of crime, to plain old regular Venus—today’s morose, forgotten dreg, rotting in a cell on the far ends of the region.

Venus expected to live out the rest of her (quite considerable) sentence with the same level of anger and little to no changes in her status, but one day, about a year or two into her jailtime, everything changed.

“You’ve got a visitor.” The guard was a brusque, squat woman with mahogany hair kept pulled behind her head who would take no guff. “Come on.”

Venus rose, confused. Who on earth would be wanting to visit her? Still, she kept her bearing proud. Though she was no longer dressed in jeweled gowns and other finery, she wouldn’t let an orange jumpsuit impede her dignity, and her red-brown hair was exquisite, no matter her station in life.

The guard led her down one path, and then another, into a large conference room sometimes used by the warden. Ushering Venus inside, the guard locked the door behind her.

Venus almost wished she hadn’t. She found herself desperately afraid of the creature staring her down.

It was Suicune.

The legendary pokemon of Johto, sovereign of the north wind—Cipher had captured it, corrupted it, and assigned it to Venus herself, partly as a status symbol and partly as a powerful battler.

For her, everything had started going downhill the moment that reprobate from Team Snagem had taken her pokemon from her.

So was this it? Was she to be killed by the pokemon she’d used? It seemed ruthless, even for her adversaries—but perhaps not an impossibility. She steeled herself, but even then, she wasn’t prepared for what came next.

‘Lady’ Venus. It’s been far too long.

She sagged sidewise. “You—you can talk?!” she sputtered.

Indeed. Suicune’s ‘voice’ was not auditory; instead, they spoke direct to her mind, as some Psychic-types were known to do. Their voice had a curious quality—melodic and songful, proud and yet not haughty. There was a curiously androgynous tone to it; it shifted like water rushing through a river. The legendary took a step towards her. Not that you ever would have cared to know, corrupting me into a feral beast and keeping me like a glorified pet to serve as your attack dog.

They pawed closer, and she took a step back, swallowing. “What—what do you want?” she asked, finding her voice. “Vengeance?”

Hardly. Suicune’s voice was laced with contempt. What little do you know of my species, Venus?

Species? There were more than one Suicune? The thought boggled the mind!

Reading her amazement, the creature sighed. I see. Well, we are a rare breed, and unlike most other pokemon. Our agelessness and lack of numbers makes breeding difficult… we must coordinate our efforts to plan things just right. Sadly, during the most recent session in which I would help my kind repopulate, I was… indisposed. The glare that they leveled at Venus was like iron, and she gulped. We are so few that even a single missed opportunity can negatively impact the future of our species.[/u]

They began pacing around the edge of the conference room. [i]But thankfully, there is a remedy. In other times that were hard for our species, humans have stepped in to help. Your bodies are fruitful and capable of commingling with ours. Our forms and sexes are amorphous… in past ages I have both borne offspring and planted them in others. But humans lack such flexibility.

Venus’s mouth felt dry. “So—so that’s it then!” she said, her voice shrill. “It’s vengeance after all! I kept you as a shadow pokemon, and so you—you’re going to make me—”

Their head whipped to her, their gaze furious. How dare you. Me, force anything on you? I am not like you, Venus. This is an offer, nothing more. If you say no, then I will leave it at that and try to find another human to assist. And if I fail…

Suicune’s voice grew bitter. Then my species’ numbers decline even more.

Venus comported herself, forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths. “What exactly are you offering.”

You will allow me to breed with you. You will nurture and carry my offspring in your womb, and when you birth a healthy Suicune pup, then I will take it far away and you will never be bothered with either of us again. As payment, should you do this, your sentence will be halved.

Venus almost fainted. Halved? Halved?!?! That was… it was madness! Suddenly, she had an option open for her—no longer was it inevitable that she spend her whole life behind bars. She had a way out!

And all she had to do was let this creature, her own former pet, fuck her. No, not just that. Impregnate her. And carry it to term.

Clenching and unclenching her hands, she pondered. “Why choose me first?” she asked. “Wouldn’t you want to keep me put away as long as possible?”

You and your organization thrived by perpetuating the suffering of pokemon. Perhaps, if you carry and nurture a pokemon child within you, you will learn to value them more. Suicune sat on their belly, crossing their paws in front of them. Well?

Well? Well what? Yes, she had to endure less than an hour of degradation in lying with that thing, followed by perhaps a year’s discomfort carrying the offspring—but the ensuing promise was the attainment of several dozen more years of freedom?

Venus was proud, but pride could only get you so far.

“I’ll do it,” she said.