Chp 5: Roark

	"Wake up." 

	Seth's eyes fluttered open. He felt Soul standing on top of him, and his eyes confirmed that. "What?"

	"It's time to go." She said.

	"What time is it?"

	"A little after noon." 

	He started to sit up, and she moved to allow him to.  "Okay, just let me brush my teeth and get cleaned up real quick."

	"Before that, have anything for a headache?"

	"Yeah." He opened his backpack and took out his toiletries bag. Inside it were also some pills, namely painkillers. He took out the bottle and turned it over to check the dosage for pokemon. He gave a pill to Soul. "Sky?" He looked over to find her at the foot of the bed. "You okay?"

	"I feel fine. I didn't drink near as much as you two." 

	"Kay. And drink water." Seth told Soul. She groaned. "It'll make you feel better." He took his bag and went into the bathroom. He emerged a short time later. "Alright. Ready?" 

	"I was born ready." Soul said. Sky didn't look near as confident, but neither did she seem afraid. 

	Seth picked up his backpack, making sure that he had everything, and strapped it on. He reached up and ran a hand through his freshly combed and trimmed hair. "Here we go."

+++

	They soon arrived at the Oreburgh gym. "Leader: Roark, Type: Rock" 

	"Rock type... We should be fine. No type advantage on either side." Seth said as they stepped through the automatic doors. They found themselves in a small entry room. To either side were doors for spectators. To the left were restrooms, and to the right were two other rooms. In the center of the room was a desk, with an attendant behind it. 

	"Hello, how can I help you?" She asked. 

	"I'm here to battle." Seth said. 

	"May I see your trainer card?" Seth approached and placed it on the desk. "Everything is in order... You're in line. You may wait in that room over there. Refreshments may be purchased in that room." She pointed out both the rooms on the right wall. 

	"Thanks. Any word on the time?" He asked.

	"Maybe an hour, maybe ten minutes. It depends on the other challengers." 

	Seth nodded and went into the waiting room. There were cushioned benches lining the walls, and a small area with fake grass for pokemon. Several flat screen TVs hung on the walls. The only one with volume was a feed of inside the gym. In Sinnoh, there were ten TV channels dedicated to the pokemon league. Eight of them were live broadcasts of the eight gyms, one for the league, and one for other pokemon battle media. Soul immediately broke off and went over to the play area, and hopped into the sandbox alongside a bidoof. Seth sat down on one of the benches, with Sky by his side. "I'm getting antsy." He said.

	Ten minutes passed, as trainers came and left. Soon, Seth was sure he was next in line. He had been watching the TV in the meantime. Roark did use rock pokemon, the most common being geodude and a cranidos. The opponents were all weak though, lots of kids with rattata and bidoof. Soon his name was called over the intercom. He took a deep breath, waving Soul over. "Here we go." 

	He left the room and entered the arena. It was a large rectangular room, decorated with rocks and lit with hanging strings of mining lights. The ground was rocky, except for the stands and ring. The stands were on all sides, and had a scattering of people in them. It was the middle of a working day, so not too many people were present. In the center of the room was an arena, split into two sides. 

	On the far side was a man, presumably Roark. He was wearing a gray outfit with gold light reflectors, and a red hard hat atop his head. He was holding a folder in his hand and had a rolling cart filled with pokeballs beside him. He looked up as Seth approached. "Let's see... Seth, with two pokemon. You're here to show me your potential. But with such rare pokemon with you, it surprises me you don't have a single badge yet. Anyways, let's get started. How strong are you?" 

	"Uh... I-I don't really know?" Seth said, forcing himself to speak dispite how nervous he was. He had to lest his voice be drowned out by the crowd. There were tons of people watching him right now...

	Roark smiled. "Don't worry. This isn't life or death. If you lose, you can always come back. In which case, I'll take a guess on your strength, based on your trainer history." He reached over and took three balls off the cart. Someone came over and wheeled it away. "Whenever you're ready." 

	Seth nodded.

	"Go, Cradily!" Roark yelled, tossing out a ball. A green plant like pokemon appeared, with pink appendages around its neck. 

	"Sky, you're up first." Seth said. Sky walked forward, looking even more nervous than Seth felt. "Just ignore the crowd." He told her. 

	"Easier said than done." Soul said beside him.

	The cradily moved forward a bit, and then the judge called the match. Sky's blue eyes and gem glowed briefly. 

	"Cradily, Swords Dance!" Cradily rose up on its hind legs, and waved its forelegs aggressively. 

	"Psychic!" Seth called. Sky glowed again, this time the glow covering Cradily. It lifted him up, spun him around, and slammed his head into the ground. He squirmed back up. 

	"Ingrain, then swords dance again!" Roark ordered. Cradily followed it, spearing its tendrils into the ground for nutrients. 

	Sky used psychic again, only battering Cradily, as he was rooted to the ground. After another swords dance and psychic, a blast of energy burst out from Cradily, the result of Sky's opening future sight. Cradily survived it, using swords dance once more. 

	"Stone Edge!" Roark said, pointing at Sky. 

	"Sky, jump now!" Seth yelled, seeing the danger. Sky did so, just in time, as a flower of rocky spikes bloomed out from under her. She didn't jump that high, but it was high enough to avoid the powerful move. She landed on the tip of one of the spikes, her small paws allowing her to stand gracefully on it. "Now-"

	"Let me." She said. He stopped and allowed her to. Her eyes glowed once more, as two small orbs formed in front of her and Cradily. They swapped places, and with them, their powers. Cradily used giga drain, a wave of energy coming out of Sky and into him. 

	Sky raised her head and let out the cry of her species, before dashing forward, a yellow light covering her body. She hit Cradily head on, the energy bursting out in a flashy, sparkly explosion. When the air cleared, Cradily was on its side, with Sky standing triumphantly. 

	"Last resort, powered up by Cradily's sword dances... not effective but still powerful." Seth thought aloud. "Smart."

	"Cradily has fainted!" The judge called. 

	"I knew I picked right." Roark said. "Tyrunt!" He tossed his next ball, releasing a small brown pokemon. The fossil pokemon chomped its powerful jaws a few times. 

	"Sky?" She nodded back at Seth. "Alright. You're in charge." He looked down at Soul to check on her. "Too bad she used all four moves already. She could have used dazzling gleam."

	"What are you, some kind of expert?" Soul teased.

	"I see you are especially skilled with pokemon. Few trainers can fight without words." Roark said from across the way.

	"Begin!" The judge called. 

	Sky opened with the same, a future sight attack. Tyrunt charged forward, snapping his jaws, before leaping into the air. He soared toward Sky, and bit down with his powerful jaws. The dark type move crunched into Sky, hitting her hard. And Tyrunt stayed there, jaws clamped on Sky. She wrapped him up in a psychic attack, lifting him away and slamming him into the ground. 

	Tyrunt hopped right back up, and charged Sky again. "She's on her last legs, finish it!" Roark said. Sky tried to move, to avoid the jaws, but the little dragon was too fast, and he clamped down on her again. This time she cried out as her legs failed her and buckled. 

	"Sky, that's enough!" Seth called. 

	"Sky forfeits." The judge said. 

	Once Tyrunt let her go, Sky came back over to Seth. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

	He kneeled down to pet her. "You did great." Back on the field, Tyrunt was suddenly knocked over as her future sight took effect. "Soul, you're up." 

	Soul grinned maliciously. "Finally." She said, strutting onto the battlefield. The moment the judge signaled to begin, she was on the move. She charged forward, meeting Tyrunt's own, and opened her maw wide. A beam of white ice shot out, fully enclosing Tyrunt's face. When the beam faded, the upper half of him was frozen. Tyrunt fell to the side. After a few moments, the judge called Soul the victor. 

	"Alright. You've made it this far." Roark said. "Go Rampardos! Let's see if you can win!" 

	"Soul, you-" Seth started.

	"Begin!" The judge interrupted. 

	Soul was off in a blur, delivering an uppercut night slash, up Rampardos' body. The dark slash carved up his belly, but he hardly flinched. Instead he reared back and slammed his head down into Soul, smacking her away. 

	She hit the ground and rolled a couple times, before coming to a step and shakily standing. She stood her ground. 

	"Soul, use double team!" Seth ordered. She remained still. 

	"Another Rock Head." Roark said. Rampardos roared, aiming his skull at Soul as he began to charge. 

	"Soul!" Seth called. She remained still. Just before Rampardos could slam into her, she leapt back, as Rampardos smashed his head into the ground where she was, splintering the ground. He reared up again, ready for another, but he was stopped by what he saw. Soul had spun around, putting her rear in the air. Her tail was firmly planted between her legs. For a split second, it raised, giving a glimpse of blue skin, as hearts burst from her body. Rampardos' tongue fell out of his gaping maw, as he was dumbstruck. Seth blinked a few times, as he felt his pants tent a little.  	

	 "Rampardos! Fight it! C'mon we're so close!" Roark called, trying to get through to his pokemon. 

	Soul grinned again. She fired an ice beam along Rampardos' feet, and swung her horn in a wide swipe across his chest. He just stood there in a daze and took it. The force of the slash was strong enough to break the ice covering his feet and knock him onto his back. He was still a lusty daze. Soul climbed onto his chest, and swiped her claws over his throat. Were this in the wild, that would have been a fatal blow. In the restrained fights here, it was still a finisher. The blows damage on their stamina was related to the location. Rampardos went limp under her. 

	The judge counted off. "One... Two... Three... Rampardos has fainted. Trainer Seth is the winner!" He held up a flag in Seth's direction. 

	Roark recalled his pokemon, and walked forward, clapping slowly. "It's not very often that I get beat. Maybe one out of one hundred trainers." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. He held it up, allowing it to glimmer in the light, before offering it to Seth. 

	"Wait, so I won?" Seth said, sounding a bit groggy. "She used attract. I thought that move was banned." 

	"Not here in Sinnoh. Move rulings vary from league to league. Most pokemon and trainers here are expected to be able to keep their pokemon from going wild."

	Seth reached out and took the badge. "Thanks. That was fun."

	"Likewise. Next up is the Eterna gym. I might just tune in to see how you do. You've got some real potential." Roark said with a nod, before turning to walk away. He stopped and turned back. "And keep your eyes on that one." He pointed to Soul. "She's a bit rowdy." 

	"A bit?" Seth said with a chuckle. He offered his hand, which Roark shook. He and the girls left back to the waiting room. On the way out, the attendant stopped him. 

	"Sir!" She called. "I saw your win. The prize money has been transferred to your account." 

	"Thanks." He said. Back outside, he kneeled down to confer with the girls. "How you feeling?" 

	"I feel great." Soul said. 

	"Exhausted." Sky said at the same time. 

	"Alright, let's go back the pokemon center. We've got plenty of time to get to the next city, which is... straight north."

	After a quick healing stop, they left to the north, just like yesterday. The cliff only had one way up, a muddy slope. "Hmm..." Seth pondered. 

	Soul walked past him and began to scale the nearly 75 degree cliff. She easily climbed up it. 

	"What are you doing?" Seth asked.

	"Climbing." She said plainly. 

	"I mean how and why?"

	"Well, absol are a mountainous species, so I guess it's in my blood. And we need to go this way so..." She turned back to look down at them after reaching the top.

	"Alright then, we'll do this the hard way." Seth reached into his backpack and took out a pair of sturdy gloves. He slipped them on and looked to Sky. "You want the ball or my back?"

	"I'd rather ride." She said.

	He knelt down and offered his back. She climbed on, wrapped her paws around him, and clung tight. "Alright, here we go." He approached the cliff and began to try to climb.

	"Look for handholds, test them before you put all your weight on it." Soul instructed from above. 

	"Are you okay?" Sky asked from behind him as he climbed. They were about half way up, and making slow progress. "You keep shivering." 

	"Yeah. I think it's just nerves. We did just appear on live TV and win." He said. 

	"You're right..." She mumbled, sounding a bit awestruck.

	"So everybody in Sinnoh saw your mate's naughty bits? If I were you I'd be pretty upset." Soul said from above. "Think about it. My cute little ass plastered all over the internet." She snickered. 

	"Sounds to me like you'd like that." He shot back. He was only a few feet below the top. A couple more reaches and his gloved hands grasped the rough edge. A couple more foot holds and he was all the way up. He kneeled down for a second and allowed Sky to climb off of his back. "North." He said again. "That way." He pointed to a building in the distance. 

	They walked that way, not spotting any other trainers on the way, until they reached said building. As they stepped into the gatehouse, a guard stopped them.

	"Hold it!" He yelled. "You can't go this way without a bike!" 

	"Really? Why not?" Seth asked.

	The guard tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help cracking a smirk. "Hah, I'm just kidding. This is a highspeed bike path, so stay on the sidewalk." He explained. "Eterna city is on the other side." The guard looked back down to his newspaper.  

	Seth and the girls passed on, emerging onto a large concrete structure. In the middle was a road configuration, with painted lines, and along the sides were the aforementioned sidewalks. The road was too thin for cars however, so it was only for bikes. As they began walking, someone came roaring past, followed by a group of three who seemed to be racing. 

	"This place is weird." Seth said when no one was around. "Most places have space for pokemon battles, but this place has none. Unless they block the sidewalk or stand in the road." 

	"You ever think that maybe life doesn't revolve around pokemon battles?" Soul asked.

	"Well, you would think. I've never seen anything that says otherwise. Battles are a fact of life. There's probably been battles since... well forever. And the landscape just kinda built up around that." 

	"History is stupid." Soul commented. 

	Soon, they arrived at the Eterna city gate. As they entered, they went right past the gym. Soul watched it go as they did. 

	"What's the deal?" She asked. But there were too many people around for him to respond. Soon it was apparent, as the red roofed pokemon center grew closer and closer. 

	He led the way inside, to the front desk. "I'd like a room." He said, producing his card. After getting checked in, he went up to his room. "I don't think we should do more than one gym a day. And it's getting late." Seth explained once they were inside. "So I think we'll call it a day." He set his pack at the foot of the bed and began to undress. Once he was in his underwear, he laid down, resting his head on the pillows. "Whew..." He sighed. "Why do I feel so tired? I didn't do anything." 

	Soul hopped onto the end of the bed. "Remote please." She said, patting the blanket. He grabbed it off the nightstand and tossed it to her, it landing just next to her. She flipped it over and carefully used her claws to press the buttons. The TV came on, and changed to the pokemon training channel, where it was showing highlights of the day. Across the bottom was a ribbon displaying the names and teams of victories at every gym.

	"Do you know the odds of us showing up on there?" Seth asked. "It's not likely."

	"Oh yeah? What does that say?" She asked sarcastically.

	Across the bottom of the screen ran, "Seth - Soul the Absol and Sky the Espeon - Won vs Roark of Oreburgh." 

	"I meant the replays." He said. 

	Sky was sitting on the floor, her head just visible to Seth. Soul was lying just to the right of her, and he was to the right of that. As he watched the TV, his gaze occasionally went down as Soul's leathery blade tail waved slowly back and forth. Her limbs were neatly tucked under her as she laid on the bed. Nothing much to watch... until she stretched out. Her rear legs went back, lying sideways on the bed, in a position that would have hurt his hips. This put her cute blue paw pads on display. He wanted to reach out and touch them, as she was a bit ticklish around her paws, but he held back. Going up, he gazed along her white fur, seeing the small spike that was there... he would have normally looked back at the TV and left it at that, but he kept looking. Further up, her legs merged into her hips, and her position left what liad between them in plain view. 

	When aroused, her lips would be a blue teardrop, but currently they were hidden mostly by her fur, with only a small peek of blue visible. He found himself staring for longer than he usually would have. While he did love her, and was attracted to her sexual bits, sex was easy to come by, as she was seemingly always willing, but that had been the last thing on his mind for a while now. Now it was the only thing on his mind. His briefs began to tent as lustful thoughts pervaded his head. 

	A whistle broke the spell, causing him to look up at the source. Sky had likely sensed his arousal and had turned to investigate. "Are you okay?"

	"No... I just kinda zoned out... almost like... an attract..." He said, out of breath for some reason. Both he and Sky looked at Soul. 

	"What?" She asked. "That was an hour ago. And it doesn't work on humans, so there." 

	"Well I'm only half human, so maybe it does work while I'm normal."

	"Either way," She turned around, closing the distance. "You need that taken care of." She placed the palm of her paw over the bulge in his underwear. "Why do you even bother with these things? We both know what you look like without clothes." 

	"I dunno, why do you not shave your fur?" 

	"Never!" She hissed. "Now hold still." She turned perpendicular to him and brought her other paw into the mix. Dragging one claw up and the other down, she split his briefs down the middle. The strength of his boner did the rest of the work, casting the remnants aside to stand proud. "Now roll over here so Sky can join in." 

	"I can't really roll." He said, scooting over instead. "Sky, you don't have to if you don't want to. I already know how she feels." He said, motioning his head toward Soul. 

	"You're always telling me what I don't have to do." The espeon said. She went around the bed, on the right, and hopped up. Now Seth was in the middle. "I miss being intimate. As long as you're okay." 

	"I am. Just do whatever you want." He leaned back. "Any form requests?" 

	"Actually," Soul said. "As much as I would love your sexy absol form, how about you try to stay human? It could be a training exercise like you're so fond of." 

	"Alright. But we're only doing this to alleviate the attract right?" Seth asked. "Cause this thing kinda hurts, but otherwise I'm not in the mood." 

	"If that's what you wanna tell yourself." Soul said. She ground her paw against his now exposed head, before dragging the back of her paw down the length. Seth jolted at the feeling of her silky fur rubbing over his most sensitive flesh. "C'mon Sky, our master is suffering~" Soul purred. 

	Sky gave her an unconvinced look, before kneeling down. She began to lightly lick Seth with her tongue. It was large, broad and flat, somehow fitting in her mouth. Soul joined in herself. Her tongue was rougher, owing to her feline parts, but not enough to hurt. Seth groaned as he got into it, reached a paw down to rub both of the girls heads. Wait... paw? He looked down to see that he had indeed gained paws. Looking further down, the changes had started in three other areas: both his feet and his dick. His feet had grown fur, but didn't change much in shape, meaning that he was turning anthro. His tip had grown pointy, losing the ridge around it, while turning red in color. And that was slowly creeping down. The changes were occurring much slower than usual. 

	He swallowed heavily, focusing his efforts less on enjoying it, and more on halting the change. While it did work, it didn't stop it. The fur growth only slowed down. His member had already fully changed to a canine one. The fur around his crotch and limbs was light purple, almost lavender. "What are you becoming?" He heard Sky ask. He was too torn between the thoughts in his own head. 

	When his fur had grown around halfway up his arms and legs, he had to bit his lip lest the changes overwhelm him. This slowed it down more. Until Soul clenched a paw around her half of his knot, the tips of her claws barely touching him. He gave a very feminine sounding yelp and lost it, the changes instantly leaping up the rest of his body. Sky stopped her licking, and looked up. 

	"An..." Was all she managed to get out. 

	Soul took advantage of the opening to take his member into her maw. The hot and wet sucking threw Seth over the edge, his back arching as his canine penis began to spurt hot cum into her mouth. She tried to hold it all in, but she couldn't swallow fast enough, and ended up having to pull off or choke. She went for the former, which left his throbbing cock to shoot into the air. A spurt hit Sky right in the cheek, causing her to recoil in shock after the suddenness of his new transformation. She almost tumbled off the bed, but remained right on the edge. Still he keep pumping out cum, his body releasing all its pent up need. By the time he finished, there was a large puddle between his legs, and plenty in his fur. 

	"What did I-" He said, stopping in surprise as his voice had risen in pitch. It almost sounded like a girl, but it was a little too deep for that. He looked down at his body, seeing pinkish purple fur, somehow familiar. He felt something hard on his forehead, almost like his spikes in lucario form, and there was a long tail under him. 

	Sky was looking at him, with a genuine lust, something that was very rare for her. 

	"Sky?" 

	"An espeon." She finally said. She closed in and leapt onto his chest, snuggling into it. He reached down and grasped her writhing form. 

	"Alright, alright, we can cuddle later. I need a shower." He gently moved her off, having to use a lot more strength than usual. His muscles seemed to have weakened. 

	"I'll join you." She said. They both knew better than to ask Soul, who had already started licking herself clean. 

	In the bathroom, he turned on the water and got in, holding the curtain for Sky. He began to scrub the drying cum from himself, his short fur making it much easier. 

	"So what caused this one?" Sky asked.

	"Want it to happen more?" He asked, perking an eyebrow. 

	"Well, yes. I think pokemon are wired to be more attracted to their own species." 

	"So, whenever I transform, into an eevee, I end up as an umbreon. I was trying to hold it back this time, so... Maybe it was you. Though that doesn't explain why I didn't change into an absol."

	"Maybe it was because of the daytime? Espeon evolve from happiness during the day..." 

	"Well I turned into an umbreon yesterday, during the day." 

	"Your body is confusing." She said. 

	"I'll say. I wonder if I could turn into other eevee forms." He rubbed a paw at one of the tufts of fur hanging from his cheeks. 

	"Seth... can we talk, just the two of us?" 

	"Well sure. Go ahead." 

	"First, I want you to feel me." She said. 

	He reached out and touched her head. "Okay..." 

	"Not like that. Open your mind, reach out and touch me." 

	He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling her presence right in front of him. "I think I got it." 

	"No... Just focus on this." She said. 

	He felt a tingling in his head, as she made a connection. Suddenly it all became much clearer. He felt her, really felt her. All her emotions and feelings were as clear as day, as if he was experiencing them himself. Not to say that they were simple, but they were relatable. He was able to focus in on that feeling, almost like with his aura. 

	"Alright." She said. Her feelings took a sharp decline, as sadness and worry filled her being. "Do you remember that day?" She felt him fill with sadness and regret. "I thought so. I never told you what all happened. Nothing could have changed it. I was in the kitchen when they broke in, and Laura was outside. She was the one who broke in the door. It was like she had no idea what she was about to do. She didn't care for us. Not once. I think she only stayed around for sex. She charged and kicked me through the glass door, and into the yard. I think that was what saved me. Then they went upstairs..." She hesitated. She was panicking at the memories. "I felt it. The fight upstairs. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move. Eclipse and Eve, they tried." She looked up, tears forming before being washed away. "They really tried to save the kids... but they weren't strong enough. And I couldn't do anything!" She cried, her voice sounding like he had never heard her sound. "You saved my life and I couldn't do anything for you!" 

	Seth was awestruck. His sadness was nothing compared to hers. He felt all of her pent up grieving coming out, and it was hitting him hard. He was crying too, unable to stop sniffling. He dropped to his knees and wrapped a hand around her, pulling her into his chest. She lost it, bawling loudly and shuddering in his grasp. "No wonder you've been quiet." He said slowly. "I failed you girls too. Only one week... that's all we had to live together after we bought that house."

	"Don't put this all on yourself. You couldn't have known." 

	"And neither could you. Fuck..." He lowered his head, putting it between her ears and crying to match her. 

	After a good crying session, they both recovered. "I'm sorry I had to make you do that." She said, to which he made a confused noise. "A psychic connection like we just made amplifies emotions. I think it got to both of us." 

	"A good cry never hurt anybody." He kissed her on the gem. "We're still here, and we have to keep on living, for their sake. It would have made Eve cry to see us like this."

	"I miss them." Sky said, leaning up and licking his gem.

	"I do too."