CHP 8

	Seth, Hannah and their pokemon arrived at an area just outside of town that had been cleared of foliage for trainers to use. Currently it was completely abandoned. The group found an area with a couple of benches and the trainers sat down while the pokemon sat in the grass in front of it. "So how should we do this?" Hannah questioned.

	"Well, like I said I'm not really an expert..." Seth said.

	"A battle always helps!" Soul shouted out.

	"That might work." Seth muttered, looking at her.

	"Wait, can you understand pokemon!?" 

	"No!" Seth spurted out. 

	"Well, Soul said something and then you seemed like you were responding..."

	"Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. A battle usually helps with bonding." 

	"Oh, ok then. Come on Amp, let's do this."

	"Finally she wants me to do something I'm good at." Amp said offhandedly. 

	"Who wants to fight him then?" Seth asked the girls.

	"I've got a bone to pick with him." Soul said, hopping to her feet. 

	Hannah and Amp took their places across from Seth and Soul. Before the fight, Seth had to ask Hannah something. "Is he your first pokemon?"

	"Kinda. He is my first pokemon that's mine. My parents let me take some with me when I left our ranch, but after I caught him, I sent them back. I assume you ask because of my battle experience. I've been in a fight or two." She said, fumbling around with a pouch on the side of her waist. She opened it and pulled out a badge case, showing the two badges in her possession. 

	"Good, I don't need to hold back." Seth said with a chuckle. "By the way, I battle in a unique way. I don't give orders to my pokemon."

	"That's... odd. Let's do this!" She roared, surprising everyone with the sudden burst of energy. Amp picked up on this and fired off a large wave of electricity at Soul. She leaped up and over it, forming a psycho cut and sending it at the luxray. Before he could dodge, Hannah issued an order. "Dodge it! Then retaliate with thunder fang!" 

	Amp was about to move, but then he stopped, bracing himself. The attack hit home, the purple blade of energy cutting into the lion. He rushed forward and ran at Soul. She was not ready, expecting him to come from a different angle, and he latched onto her with his teeth, his jaw sparking as he pumped jolts into the absol. Soul used slash to knock off the luxray, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Amp! We are a team now. You have to work with me!" The luxray grimaced as Hannah said this. "Use thunder wave, slow her down." The luxray got up, his fur bristling with energy. Soul kept her distance, watching him carefully. Seth noticed something odd about the absol. Her tail and all four of her paws were beginning to glow with a dark light. 

	Suddenly Amp rushed forward, attempting to hit Soul with a bolt of stunning electricity. The absol gracefully dodged between them, narrowly avoiding each one. Her fur had fluffed up again and flowed majestically with her movements. Amp closed in and was about to use another thunder fang, his jaw already sparking. Soul leaped into the air, her horn also glowing now. Both Amp and Seth realized what she was doing at that moment, but it was too late to avoid. 

	Soul unleashed three night slash attacks simultaneously, from her horn and two front paws. The attacks hit hard, knocking the luxray straight into the ground. But she wasn't done yet. She unleashed the two she had charged on her back legs, before spinning around and slamming her tail, and her final night slash, directly onto the fallen pokemon. "Amp!" Hannah cried out, running to her thoroughly beaten partner. 

	Soul turned from the scene, walking back towards Seth, puffing out her mane proudly, a strut in her step. "That was for Sky." 

	"Damn, Soul. That was..."

	"Awesome." She finished for him.

	Hannah was tending to her fainted pokemon, administering a revive and revitalizing him with a potion. Soul had mercifully not really hurt him, though she almost wanted to. His current imprisonment seemed a better punishment than death. 

	Having a moment with Hannah distracted, Seth knelt down next to Soul and whispered in her ear, "How did you learn to do that?" 

	"Impressed? Well a girl has to keep some things secret~" She said with a giggle. 

	Hannah succeeded in resuscitating the downed luxray, helping him stand. "You okay big guy?" She said concernedly. The luxray gave her a look. It looked almost like surprise. He looked over to Soul, glaring at her before turning back to Hannah. She yelped in surprise as the large lion cuddled into her. "There you go..." She said soothingly, stroking his mane. 

	"No one has ever done anything like that for me... It's always been about breeding but you... you helped me." Amp said, his deep, rough, voice cracking. Seth sat down, wrapping an arm around Soul while watching this unfold. Soul, who was breathing quite heavily, leaned over, relaxing into his grasp. They all sat like this for quite a while, Hannah stroking her pokemon and Amp trying to hold back tears. The day was rapidly growing to a close, the sun sinking fast. 

	"Hmph." Soul huffed quietly.

	"Hopefully he will act like a decent person now." Seth said to her. 

	"Scum will always be scum. Except for..." Her voice trailed off. "Either way, what he tried is unforgivable." She finished, flicking her head dismissively. 

	"Yes, I won't ever forget it. But still, he could try to redeem himself.

	"Whatever. Can I go back in my ball? I'm tired."

	"Alright." Seth said in a melancholy tone. He went over to his pack, returning Soul to her ball, before he went over to Sky, sitting down next to her. "How are you holding up?" He said, rubbing her ears.

	"I don't know. I feel happy for them but..."

	"Yeah, I feel about the same."

	"I need some time to think. Could I go back too?" Seth took out her ball, returning her and leaving him alone with the pair still in the field. He got up and walked over to them. He stood there for a bit before putting a hand on Hannah's shoulder. "You two okay?" 

	She looked up to him, her eyes a little wet. "Yes, thank you so much. Without your help..." 

	"You would have bonded eventually. I just helped speed it up." Seth said, trying to sound modest. 

	"I don't want to force someone to like me. If I didn't bond with him soon, I would have probably released him."

	"Well, it's getting dark, we should go back." They both rose. Hannah reached for Amp's ball, but decided against it. He smiled at this, trotting behind the two trainers. 

	They all arrived at their rooms. "Thanks again. Have a good night." Hannah said as she pulled out her keys.

	"You too." Replied Seth, opening his door, stepping inside, and shutting it behind him. He briefly considered letting out the girls but they had seemed pretty upset. He took out his toiletries and got ready for bed. He stopped to look the mirror and think. *We did a good thing. But then why do I feel so... conflicted? Hannah is a nice girl so she deserves a good pokemon but why did it have to be Amp.* His thoughts began to wander to himself and to his training. *I wonder...* He looked at himself in the mirror one last time, locking eyes with himself, before closing them. He pictured himself as an anthro lucario, slowly looking over his own body in a mirror. 

	He jolted out of his mind as a few knocks rang out from his door. It scared the shit out of him, as he was deep in thought. He coughed a bit, choking on his own spit, when suddenly his body began to change, fur sprouting and all his usual changes. "The fuck!" He shouted out loud. He heard more knocks. His changes were already finished and he turned to face the door, weighing his options. A hand went to his throat, feeling that the collar was still there. He started to the door when he heard a voice come through it. "Seth, it's Hannah, could I please talk to you?" Seth continued to the door and opened it. 

	Hannah's smile vanished for a split second when she saw the lucario open the door. It was immediately back as she began to talk. "Oh hello there. Is your master here?" Seth shook his head, trying to get her to leave for now. "Uh, can I come in?" She pushed her way past Seth before he could say no. She walked right through the room and sat down on the bed. Seth sighed quietly, shut the door and followed her. She started looking around the room before her eyes rested on the large pokemon. "Wow, you look even bigger up close." She stood up and stood next to him. "You're as tall as me!" She took out her pokedex and scanned him. It took a moment then it beeped loudly, the sound of an error. 

	*Oh shit* Seth thought, careful not to say anything. 

	"Huh, that's weird." She said, trying again with similar results. She reached over and started to touch and take a closer look. Seth retreated, his back hitting the wall. Hannah closed in. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want a closer look." She continued, lifting one of the lucario's arms. Her gaze continued down until she reached his paw... or what should have been his paw. "Why do you have five fingers? Lucarios are only supposed to have three... Where did Seth find you?" She thought aloud. "You certainly are something." She said, finishing her inspection and sitting back down on the bed. "Mind if I confide in you? I know you can't talk back but sometimes just talking things out can make all the difference." Seth sat down next to her.

	"Alright, I don't really know where to start. I just got my first pokemon and we are really close now, thanks to your trainer. When we got back to our room... Well I grew up on a farm so I've seen plenty of pokemon and have never paid it any mind but Amp rolled onto his side and I saw his... and I liked what I saw..." She said, her voice barely above a whisper now, her face as red as could be. She cleared her throat and continued. "I wasn't sure if what I was thinking was okay, so I had to get away. This was the first place I could think of to come." 

	She sat silent for a bit before letting out a loud sigh. "I'm decided. Pokemon are as smart as humans, if not more. There is nothing wrong with loving them. I already care deeply for Amp, I can feel that he needs me. And love can manifest in many ways." She stopped for a moment. "Including sex." She squeaked out. 

	Seth lost it. "You are not wrong but Amp is not who you think he is." 

	Hannah recoiled back, falling off the side of the bed. "Who- what- did you just..."

	"Yes. But listen, Amp tried to rape Sky. That's why Soul fought so hard. He seems to really care for you but I can't forget what he did."

	"I knew that he wasn't the best pokemon in the world but... wow. Still, he seems to be sorry for what he's done. I can feel it."

	"There is nothing wrong with falling in love with a pokemon. I love both Soul and Sky. But you are such a nice person. I don't want someone like Amp to abuse you."

	"He won't. I'm a lot tougher than I seem."

	"If you're sure."

	"I am. Now how can you talk?" When he looked away and remained quiet, she climbed back onto the bed and grabbed hold of his arm. "Talk!" Her grip became tighter. She could not put out enough force to hurt the steel type but he could feel her squeezing as hard as she could.

	"Alright... It's me, Seth." He was about to look back at her when he felt a jolt run through his body. It wasn't the jolt of transformation, but of something else. He looked down to the source to find Hannah's hand around his sheath. 

	"That's perfect then. I can properly pay you for your help. And I can try sex with a pokemon. Your part of the deal is that you explain this when we finish." She said with another squeeze. Seth's tip began to emerge from the stimulation, but he still wasn't convinced. 

	"We just met. Stop it." He said, trying to pry her hand off of his junk. She relented, allowing her hand to be removed, but she did take an eyeful of his red tip. He saw this and covered himself with both hands. "Hannah, I'm serious. Don't throw away something special like a first time."

	"It's not my first time," She said, scooting closer, her skin almost touching his fur. "And you said it's not your first time earlier." 

	"That's not what I mean!" He said while moving away from her. "At least get to know me before you try to fuck me!" 

	"Oh so you are willing~" She said sultrily.

	"Not what I meant!" He spilled out, holding his hands back up defensively. His shaft was now revealed but she did not start gazing at it. "Listen. Like I said, you're nice and I can tell you care for your pokemon. But rushing into things normally ends badly." 

	She sighed loudly and looked away. "You're... right. I'm sorry. The last boyfriend I had just left after we had sex a few times and ever since I've been trying to find someone new to care about."

	Seth put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. At least you didn't make a permanent mistake." 

	She stood up and went the the door. "I'd love to meet you again. See you in the morning." She got to the door and was about to open it. "You know..." She turned back. "I'm still curious about you."

	"What do you mean?" 

	"This," She said, coming back and picking up one of his aura sensors and stroking it. 

	"Oh. Well, my parents were a pokemon and a human, so that makes me a hybrid. I can evolve like a pokemon. Though I still don't know everything about it."

	"That's amazing. Can you become other pokemon or just a lucario?" Her hand moved up to his furry ears.

	"Any, I think. I gain the ability by kissing the species. Currently I've become an absol and a lucario. And then I can either become an actual pokemon or a hybrid, like I am now."

	"So if you were to kiss Amp..."

	"No." He quickly told her.

	She chuckled at his response. "I'm only kidding." She let go of his ear. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning." She walked away and opened the door. Just before she closed it, his sensitive ears heard her say "I think I love you."

	His sleep that night was troubled at best. Burdened by thoughts and without anyone to hold, he spent most of time tossing and turning.