DASH-X Part 1: Complete Season
Authored by Kyllistin
Pokemon and relevant characters copyright Nintendo
Robot Unicorn character inspired by adultswim.com's Robot Unicorn Attack online game.
Toshi rode hard into town, thighs tight around the rapidash below him. The greenery along the side of the road was a blur and the flames that leapt from his mounts mane and tail stood out behind them. Locals returning to the city from their tasks and chores saw naught but a flash and a blazing red glow as they passed. The sun was dipping its toes into the ocean far to the West, and soon night would breathe its cool sigh over the town and its peoples.
Green gave way to the stone and steel earth tones of the town, broken by utility blues and glimpses of pedestrians in brightly colored clothes. The muffled thumps of hooves on the soft roads outside shifted to the sharp distracting clopping as they beat time and distance below the galloping stride of the pokemon. Startled citizens jerked aside as the pair raced down the main roads, hopping benches and cars alike as the team raced to their destination.
Finally their destination was in sight, the domed top of the city hall building broke the repetition of the square cornered buildings and made it distinctive from them. The gray furred wolf hopped down from his mounts back and they ascended the steps together. They walked into the entrance hallway, a trainer and his 'dash. The determined look on his face didn't react as people stopped and stared at the duo entering the chambers that led to the mayors office.
"I'm Toshi from Pallet town, we have come at the request of the mayor of Fuchsia city."
"Oh, please come in! Make yourself comfortable and I will inform the mayor." The receptionist stood and bowed curtly to the young wolf. She looked him over briefly while he pulled off his hat and goggles, dropping his backpack and rummaging into it. He looked like a very typical trainer, somewhere in his early twenties and wizened beyond the years of a typical youth. Full of dreams and ambitions, so potent and tangible you could almost feel it radiating off of him like confidence. The rapidash that entered with him took on a molten quality, its body bending and sliding like it had suddenly turned to half-molten wax. He retained all his features, however its body shrank on itself and righted until it stood on two legs and its forehooves became hands. He was also completely naked and swinging free in the reception area of city hall.
The equine blinked a few times as though he were waking up from a nap and then smiled roguishly at the blushing secretary. The stallion was looked about to speak when the jumpsuit Toshi threw slapped his bare chest.
"No time for love , my friend." He chided, watching his pokemon slide his legs into the suit while giving those hips and his runners rear a fanciful little jiggling as he slid the garment up over his body. Sun was always a bit of a flirt and a showoff, having pretty much lost any sense of modesty when it came to changing form in public. He gave the ogling receptionist a sly wink as he worked his hips and pulled the zipper up so it wouldn't catch on anything sensitive. She cleared her throat and buzzed the mayor while whilst fanning herself to give herself something to do, pretending not to stare.
The heavy oak doors opened and the two travelers stepped through. Toshis first impression was that he had just stepped into a television stage. The carpet was far too rich and clean, the decorations were numerous and entirely too wholesome to be thought of as realistic. The back of the room was spacious and he could easily imagine lights and cameras pointing directly at the mayors desk while he sat on its edge delivering some heartfelt speech to his voters. However the mayor did not have his public face on. He sat behind the polished oak desk, fingers interlaced before his chin, resting on his elbows.
The pair sat down at a motion from the mayors hand.
"Thank you both for coming. I'm sorry to have to greet you informally like this, but if it is heard about that we met face to face, the entire operation will be ruined." Toshi and Sun said nothing, listening stoically as he explained.
"For some time now our city has had a problem. Organized crime is a byproduct of any civilization, and unfortunately fate would have it that Fuchsia City must suffer from such things. Our special forces have an operative deep in the cover of our local syndicate, and his cover is about to be blown if we don't act fast. That is what I need you two for. Understand that this will be more than an assignment or favor for a single person or even a group of officials. The city itself needs you to rid itself of this corruptive force."
"I understand." Toshi replied simply, meeting the mayors gaze with his own puppyish brown eyes. His gaze was clear and confident, eager even, for the chance for himself and for Sun to prove their worth in this dangerous situation.
"Good. I'm relieved to know that we can count on you." The mayor sighed and relaxed visibly, the knotted web of his fingers loosening slightly. "Our agent is working under the code-name Thistle. He is a trainer like yourself, whose battling partner is a golduck. A water type, in opposite to your own. You will be taking his place in the syndicate after revealing him for the fraud that he is, and defeating him in battle."
Sun leaned forward, the red and yellow flames of his mane fluttering but leaving no burns or singes in the room as is the nature of the equine fire-types.
"So let me get this clear. You want us to save your deep-cover agent by blowing his diguise and then beating him up?"
The mayor pulled a file from between his elbows where they rest on the table and slid it to Toshi. The wolf opened up and saw the dossier on the person they were supposed to save. He looked older than Toshi, an otter with a rugged demeanor and bristly chin. Toshi thought he looked like a cad from the wrong side of the docks all right, perfect for infiltration for a group like this.
"I'm afraid that's exactly the case." Replied the mayor, although he was looking at Toshi and not at Sun. "If we remove Thistle ourselves we can ensure a safe extraction, but he must appear to the syndicate as though he has been permanently removed from the picture. Plus if a fire-type defeats a water-type it will be the perfect shoe in for you two to take his place. It's a gamble, but there is no other way to save our man."
"Please brief us on the details, mister mayor."
------------------------The next day.-----------------------
Toshi took a harder fall than intended as he rolled out the Fire Gym feet-over-tail. The sunlight blinded him for a moment and he rolled to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Sun's pokeball clattered down behind him, rolling to a stop nearby.
"I told you before we don't take scum in our gym!" the master was shouting. Passerbys stopped and stared at the scene, and Toshi could feel the eyes from all around landing on him while he grit his teeth, spat, and sat up. "Looks like the soil is rotten in Pallet town if all they can raise are criminals! Don't ever let me catch you near this gym again!" he screamed, and shut the huge doors with a solid echoing BOOM. Toshi was left staring at the image of the fire badge that made the centerpiece of the doors.
He stood up and made a splendidly rude gesture at the gym, growling through the aches and pains. "YOU CAN TAKE YOUR ROTTEN BADGE AND GO STUFF IT UP YER MOMS ASS!!" he bellowed back in reply, turned his had forward and marched off in a huff. Ignoring the gasps of the crowd and scooping Sun's ball up off the ground. The wolf punched a mailbox in frustration as he stalked off down the main roads. Hoping that the performance was a good enough one, and grinned through his throbbing of his bruised knuckles as he slid into the back alleys towards the docks, features shadowed by his ball cap.
He and Sun spent the rest of the day laying low in an empty warehouse. They gave the news time to spread around, as gossip always does, and spent most of the day discussing old battles, telling jokes, farting, and just generally wasting time as men do. Toshi was listening to Sun give a rather graphic account of how he had vacationed for a weekend as an adolescent ponyta with a pair of promiscuous charmanders who had taken a liking to him.
"They were brother and sister but it's hard to tell one from the other when they're bent over a haybale. Not like it matters, right?" He winked, nudging Toshi knowingly. The wolf grinned at his friend, wondering to himself if Sun didn't just make up these stories about his more amorous adventures. "Then the sis asked me if Id go feral on her and well... the rest is kinda blurry." Toshi chuckled some but his own experience was somewhat lacking in that department. He enjoyed seeing his friend happy, and it took his mind off what they had to do, and the perils involved ahead. Sun was one of the rare pokemon whose genetic history involved just the right combination of recessive DNA passed from ditto ancestors to grant him the ability to shift back and forth between an anthro and feral forms. In the latter he was far more powerful however his mental capacity was reduced exponentially. That's where having a trainer came in. Toshi, as his owner, was able to instruct and strategize through the battle much in the same way normal trainers do for the usual type pokemon. He felt a sudden urge to hug Sun, to hold him tight and take him out of this dangerous place. Every trainer has pokemon who come and go through their life, but Sun was different. He was more than just a pet or a steed or a battler, he was a friend. It was a very dangerous place for a trainer to put their heart, but the wolf had little choice in the matter. Toshi opened his mouth to speak when the alarm on his phone started to chime.
"Looks like we'll have to hear about that happy ending later. It's showtime, buddy." He took out the special gear the mayor had provided one last time. It felt alien in his hands, and had the potential to make things a very bad day for everyone. Sun didn't bother to hide his discomfort at the prospect of his trainer carrying a loaded gun to the match.
"You sure you're up for this? I know it's staged and everything, but damn Tosh..."
"Not for you to worry about, my friend. Just do your thing and be awesome as always. You think you're up for that?"
"Right on, let's get into character."
Continued!!
DASH-X
Part 1-2
Authored by Kyllistin
Pokemon and relevant characters copyright Nintendo
Robot Unicorn character inspired by adultswim.com's Robot Unicorn Attack online game.
The Scour was a fairly reputable hangout for being located in a dump town. The ramshackle brothels and bars were patrolled by a fanfare of the deviant, the criminal, and the downright insane. It was part of Battlertown, an area for pokemon and fighters of all kinds to spend their off-time while the trainers went about their own business. The Scour itself was a moving entity of a saloon, and its location would relocate periodically. But for now it had enjoyed a few weeks of quiet, enough quiet for business to be done without interruption. However tonight that was all going to change. Sun and Toshi walked in brazenly, looking about and assessing the rooms occupants before finding a place near the bar. Sun stepped over the feet of a sleeping snorlax who may have been inebriated, high, or just happened to be laying here when the building moved in around him. The place was doing well, although the poles were unencumbered by naked dancers and the house lights were on, there was a general relaxed feeling to the place. Toshi pulled his cap off, revealing the bushel of unkempt hair and his studded pierced ears. For the second time that day he could feel the eyes staring at him, and he started to doubt the plan under the pressure.
"I'm looking for Thistle." He said to the barkeep, a fairly dumpy looking individual. "We got a message from Drowzee Nostrils." Toshi kept his gaze even but felt his voice lacked anything resembling the toughness he was trying to portray, and Sun kept ogling the prettier patrons of the bar, meeting their looks with winks and that roguish grin of his. 'Some character change.' He thought to himself as he stared back at the barman's deadpan look.
"I don't know nothing about nobody." He grunted in a pretty typical fashion. "Now order up kid, I haven't got all night." Before the wolf had a chance to respond, he placed a glass of cold milk in front of Toshi with a cockeyed grin and went back to wiping down the dirty glasses with an even dirtier looking rag.
"Nice place." Sun remarked, and picked up the glass of milk for himself shamelessly. Toshi saw the napkin stuck to the bottom and pulled it from the base. Hastily scrawled in pen on the napkin was the message. "TURN AROUND"
Toshi looked back and saw a booth with a few figures inside it. First he picked out Thistle from his picture, and nodded Sun on their direction. 'Dammit, if he has friends with him from the syndicate...' But he had no time to wait and no option to back down, they were in it now and had to go forward.
Seems they could not have been too loyal to each other, or knew something was coming already. Shady figures shuffled out of the booth as the two approached, only half-glancing at Toshi and Sun with looks reminiscent of guilty children. They were a mix of trainers and battlers from the look of them, traveling in pairs. Thistle sat and finished his drink quietly, his golduck looking up at the newcomers appraisingly.
"I heard you were getting out today." He said without even looking up.
"Yeah, got to know Nostrils pretty well before I got out too. He wanted me to give you something, something for a ratatta-hearted two faced bastard for putting him away." Toshi kept his voice low, but not low enough that the others could not overhear. Curiosity was making them brave, and other heads were starting to turn too.
"You know, when you talk like that.. my golduck here thinks you're mad at him. And that makes my golduck pretty darn upset when you do. Why don't you be a good little kid now and apologize. See... I don't like it when my battlers feelings get hurt." The blue battler growled, narrowing his eyes at Sun. Sun merely looked away with a disdainful expression. He noticed the attention that was growing up around them, and caught the gaze of an unusual dragonish creature smoking a long Asian style-pipe. Did she wink one of her violet eyes at him, or did he imagine it?
"Can the outlaw routine, tough guy!" Toshi wanted to appear mad now, but it was anxiety that fueled his excitement. What if the crowd just grabbed him? What if they just tortured the truth out of all four of them? "Outside! Right now! I'm tired of you stinking cops smelling up the place and I'm here to pay you back for putting my pal away."
Thistle stood up quickly, so fast Toshi flinched and stepped backwards. He was a lot taller than his photo made him look, and glared down at him through narrowed eyes. His scruffy countenance and long coat made him even more intimidating. The crowd was already murmuring amid themselves over the accusations Toshi made. He swallowed and made his move.
"Outside then."
Street lights shone down in cold cones of white light as the two faced off one another. The stare down had begun, both battlers and trainers locked eyes on their opponents. Toshi could feel more than see the crowd watching from windows and alleys. Thinking that if he were witnessing this fight, only an idiot would challenge a golduck with a fire-type pokemon like Sun. Both trainers held their balls out, facing the backs of their battlers. Then, as one, they slid the balls back onto their belts. This was no mere fight to see who had the most prowess or skill, the gesture was universal and they both stared at each other grimfaced. No quarter was to be given or expected after this gesture, this match was now a fight to the bitter end.
Sun dashed in quick to close the distance between them. His most powerful attacks were fairly useless against this opponent, so he had to focus on using his speed and regular brute strength. The 'duck was ready for him and brought his hands together straight in front of him. Concentric rings of water shot from his hands in a Water Pulse and flew towards the oncoming fire stallion. Sun leapt high into the air using the speed he had gained to perform a Quick Attack, avoiding the initial blast of water while landing a fist square in his opponents beaked nose. Golducks head snapped to the side and he staggered backwards but managed to turn part of the initial attack back onto Sun.
The water sizzled into steam as it contacted his fiery mane and tail, its concussive force knocking the breath from him and sending him back a pace as well. Toshi snapped his attention from the battle to Thistle, who gave him a crooked grin. Was he playing his role as a criminal now? What if he had sunk too deep? Either way, it clearly was not going to be a 'gimmie' match, even if it was fixed.
Sun blinked to clear the buzzing in his mind that the last attack had left. The rapidash's vision cleared just in time to see the 'ducks incoming Tail Swipe as it struck him across the face. The golduck spun in place like an ice skater and came in again for a second swipe, using his opponents weakened state to further push his defenses down. Sun took the second hit on the arm this time, blocking most of its effective power. Looping his wrist around the appendage and gritting his teeth, he kicked his opponent between the shoulder blades with a great Stomp of his hoof. The golduck squawked and flinched, so Sun kicked him a second time, and a third. The 'duck dropped to the ground, avoiding the third kick and rolling aside.
Sun lost his grip on the tail and jerked backwards as a Water Gun fired up between them. Just as eager for a quick ending to the fight, he brought his hoof up to Stomp down again and finish the pesky golduck off. This time the 'duck was too fast for him, grabbing his ankle and wrenching it sideways. Sun went down with a cry, collapsing in the street from the golducks Disable maneuver. Instinctively he blew hot Embers of flame at his enemy, who had already hopped back and covered himself with a protective Water Sport and laughed a grating, quackish laugh.
"Poor pony broke his leg! Put him down, and then his trainer. After all, it's the only merciful thing to do." Thistle mocked, laughing derisively with his battler. Toshi was done playing around, tired of waiting for a sign he started to doubt was even coming. The wolf growled, stomping the pavement in a wider stance he swung his arm and directed his will towards the battle.
"Sun, use TAKE DOWN!!" The rapidash proved the quality of his name, for twisted leg or no he was up against the golduck and pushing him back at full speed, bellowing at the top of his lungs. The 'duck only had a split second to look behind him to see where they were headed. He cried out in fear, scrabbling to break the stallions grip on him, but his fingers were like curled iron and there was no getting loose. The two crashed through a large showroom window sporting various recreational undergarments and toppled into the building beyond. Scantily clad mannequins fell about the sidewalk while the impact sent shards of broken glass everywhere. They glittered in the cold lamplight and cascaded in all directions away from the breaking point where the duck went through first. The trainers pounded ground to follow them into the building but by the time they got in, the battlers had already taken the fight upstairs. From all the glass and cuts, it was easy to follow the blood.
"Hey!" Toshi gasped, as they scrambled and pushed to follow their pokemon. The span ahead of the crowd giving them time to exchange a few hurried words in private. "Who's side are you on here, anyway?"
"Don't know what you're talking about, kid." The larger man growled and pushed Toshi back. "Don't think this is all my fault, I'm doing my job just fine and we don't need the likes of you!" On the word 'you' he threw a vicious right that caught the wolf full on the nose. Toshi staggered but Thistle was already gone up the stairs. He wiped his face and saw he was bleeding, but he didn't have time for it and gave chase, taking the stairs two steps at a time.
Toshi caught them up on the roof, panting and wiping the blood from his nose as it ran freely down his chin. The rapidash and the golduck were three paces from each other, panting hard and staring each other down. Their bodies both cut from the glass window but it was apparent that the blue water-type had taken the worst of that. The golduck charged in and bared his claws. Sun bowed his head and drove in as well. All strategy was gone, and all trickery was forgotten. They were just two battlers now, trading blow for blow as Fury Attacks met Fury Swipes. It had become more than just an act, and more than just a battle, it had become a personal bout between rivals.
Thistle stood behind his pokemon, nothing behind him but the empty space off the roof and the featureless brick of the next building. He made a slashing motion with his right hand, calling for his battler to put an end to the fight.
Toshi's heart skipped a beat, there it was! Without hesitating he pulled the .45 from inside his jacket and took aim at the other trainer.
"By the way, here's your message!"
Three shots split the night and everyone froze. There were shouts from below and Toshi could already hear the footsteps of former onlookers beating pavement to get away from this scene.
Thistle grasped his chest, at the three new holes that had appeared there. Falling to his knees, his mouth moved but no words came forth. The golduck made an anguished cry and turned his back on Sun, dashing to his masters aid. Pulling the otters arm over his shoulder, the wounded pokemon simply turned and leapt off the edge of the building with his trainer in tow.
Toshi chased them to edge of the building and peered down just in time to see the pair vaulting out of a garbage dumpster and hoof it to the far end of the alley where officers in plainclothes were waiting in an ugly brown sedan. Quickly he racked the fourth blank from the chamber, turning the .45 back into a far deadlier weapon than it was, and reengaged the saftey.
"Looks like our guy has a flare for the dramatic." Coughed Sun, limping up alongside Toshi and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You did good." The wolf relaxed, the night was getting colder but Suns touch always filled him with a soothing warmth. It was not often that a trainer got praise from his battler, but tonight the wolf had learned for a moment what it was like to be part of Sun's world. The incorrigible rapidash wasn't the kind to let such moments linger too long however. "Think any of those dancers have made it to The Scour yet?"
The wolf laughed but he was shaking, putting the .45 away and looking about before helping his friend back downstairs. Now was not the time to start thinking about what might have happened, that had to be later. Even up on the roof he felt exposed, felt those eyes watching. The sooner they got out of there the better, but experience told him that there were more important things at hand.
"First things first buddy. Lets get you patched up." Toshi dropped his pack and took care of Sun as best he could. The rapidash stripped out of his shirt and pants for the exam. His cuts were cleaned and dressed, his ankle checked, wrapped, braced. Then he had something from the 'potions and lotions' box, as Sun called it, for the aches and pains. His own nose wasn't broken but ached and made his whole head throb. Toshi swabbed his own nose and face clean as well.
"I'd tell you to stay off that hoof a while, but I know I'm just wasting my breath. So go easy on it, ok?"
Sun gave him a smile and ruffled the wolves hair, sighing and laying back on the roof while his leg was being tended to. From here he could see the stars winking at them from so very far away. The steam his breath made on the night air as the temperature started to drop, and the smells of the city they were in. Everything his senses could pick up felt charged and super defined. The joy and appreciation for life that a person can only feel just after facing their own death. This is what gave being a battler meaning for him, and so many like him.
"No promises babe." He chuckled, there was still so much more of the night ahead of him. And it was wonderful.
Continued....
DASH-X
Part 1-3
Authored by Kyllistin
Pokemon and relevant characters copyright Nintendo
Robot Unicorn character inspired by adultswim.com's Robot Unicorn Attack online game.
Back in The Scour, Toshi sat by himself in a booth. The atmosphere had changed from a smokey drinking establishment to a rather boisterous nightclub as the throngs of anthro battlers who came in for their free-time. Toshi looked up to the stage above the dance floor. Sun was cutting a rather comical figure in the flashing lights amid the loud music and grinding dancers. Still bandaged and battered, he was up and dancing the moment they got back as he saw the poles were occupied. Now shirtless, the equine gyrated and flailed with the plusle and minun boys who were up there working those poles with real talent. Sun seemed to be beating them both out in tips, but the two electric type just grinned and teased, their lithe athletic bodies working the shining poles while their tight Speedos bulged. Now and then they would touch each other, allowing sparks to fly from fingertip to fingertip. A loud electric pop echoed across the room when they bent and ground their rumps against each others with their tails high. Raising the bar and giving their competition a run for his money with the kind of practiced grace seen among serious dancers.
A waitress brought Toshi a drink but this time it wasn't milk. He looked up at her, slightly puzzled. She just smiled disarmingly and pointed back towards the bar. The wolf peered over and saw a well built anthro ivysaur nod in his direction. Toshi lifted the glass and nodded back, sipping the liquid. It burned his throat and made him want to cough, but he fought it back. The 'saur came over with his own drink. He was wearing cargo pants and a loose tank top under a sports jacket that had an allowance in the back for his types distinctive build. He plopped down a laden envelope on the table and had a seat across from the trainer.
"The names Clone. Parties I represent feel we owe you a little something for rooting out that snitch, Thistle. You have done us a great service, and we would like to offer you some work if you're looking for it."
Toshi picked up the envelope and thumbed through the piles of cash within. There were denominations of money he had only heard about, and his heart hammered.
"Hard to get by without work. What are you guys offering?"
"We need a replacement for that golduck and his trainer. Do you have any water-type pokemon?" The ivysaur reclined in the booth, putting a leg up over his knee and regarded Toshi with the coolness of a business man back in the office. The wolf could not fathom from his demeanor if he was a trainer or a battler.
"I'm afraid not. But I know where to get one."
"Go on." Clone said cooly, setting his drink down and looking at Toshi from over his fingertips.
"Earlier today I went by the gym. Now it's a fire gym, but many of the trainers there keep water-type pokemon as well. Seems they like to train their battlers under adverse conditions against their natural type, training them under disadvantages to make them stronger against those kinds of opponents."
"An unorthodox approach, but most everyone in Fuchsia City interested in local pokemon knows that already. Are you saying you can get one of theirs?"
"What if I am?"
"Then my reply would be 'Welcome aboard.'" Clone extended a hand and Toshi took it, closing the deal, joining his very first criminal syndicate. Clone sat back, laughing and ordering them up a second round. As their hands parted, Toshi noticed that Clone had slipped something into his palm. He looked at it below the table, a large gold coin with an etching that resembled a chess piece on it. The waitress returned with more drinks, she was an attractive looking cat with slim features and a short skirt, and stayed at the table and entertained them with flirt and flattery until she was barked at by the barman to get back to work.
"Oh, one more thing." Clone said, his voice dropping to a severe tone. Toshi felt the 'saurs vine whips tapping his side below the ribs and sliding across his waistband like a long serpent. "I need to take that piece. Policy of our little organization. None of us carry. No exceptions. We work together in all things, and we look out for one another. Having that around can only lead to trouble. I'm sure you understand." It was a statement, not a question. Clones voice made it clear that there was no room for debate on the subject either. Soon the vines found what they were looking for, and gently wrapped their tendrils around the metal.
Toshi did not move, nor did he protest. This was a test, Clone was provoking him, removing his defenses to see how he would react. The test was checking both his temper and loyalty. The wolf kept still, the gun he owned just over a day removed from his waist and vanished into the ivysaurs jacket. He looked back to the stage but Sun was back on the floor now, sandwiched between a bouncy flaaffy and a bunny-eared wigglytuff. Both of them were pink and curvy females, acting just as shameless in their dancing as the stallion, and he was taking every advantage of it. He slid his hands over their backs and around their waists. Ogling the way they bounced voluptuously in their skimpy evening outfits and making them giggle with whatever he was whispering in their ears. Toshi was sure that he would probably not hear from his partner until the next day, and when he did, Sun would have some new stories to tell.
"Let's go tonight." He said, feeling a curious rushing sensation in his chest, and a sudden need to do something reckless. Maybe it was the drink lighting a fire in him, or maybe he knew that waiting another whole day to pass so he could perform more criminal acts would drive him mad. Clone raised an eyebrow ponderously at him.
"Business before pleasure AND a good fighting spirit? I like that. Yes, there's a bright future for you in this organization. If you aren't afraid of getting your hands dirty, that is."
"How many more people do I need to shoot to prove that?"
"Point taken." Chuckled the ivysaur. "But first, we need to get you set up with a place to stay and introduce you around. Can't have our own people whacking each other by accident can we?" Together they exited the club.
Sun wasn't long in inviting the two girls to find someplace more quiet and giving the two dancers a chance to earn their losses back. The five of them left The Scour, the girls tipsy and laughing and the boys exchanging knowing looks. The girls were roommates and their place was within walking distance.
Sun found himself alone with the ewe, both the electric boys having hauled off a giggly pink bunny'mon off to her room for some serious double-teaming. Not quite what Sun had been aiming for, but who was he to let that get in the way of an evening with a lusciously curvy flaaffy?
They were along for mere moments when they started kissing. His fingers brushed through her wooly collar and it made his fingers tingle with energy. She was charged and he was running hot, the energy meeting on their lips as he kissed her harder and more passionately. Her skin was smooth and almost rubbery, insulated against the static that coursed through her woolen fluff. He grasped her hips and she gyrated against him much like she had when they were dancing.
"Oh you're my kind of girl." He purred, licking along her ear and nibbling around the edges. She responded by grabbing his ass through the leather pants he wore and walking him back to her bedroom. Her thighs were thick and her hips pleasantly wide too. Sun slid his hands up under her shirt from behind and lifted it off her body to feel her naked chest press to his own.
It was dark but for the ambient red-orange glow from the rapidash's mane and tail. Shadows flickered from her vanity and dresser, and played brilliant patterns on the wall as the light shone through colored glass bottles and little decorations. Holding and loving on her was like laying with a beautiful pink doll, her long rubbery tail waving back and forth with its solid sphere on the end. Her skin squeaked under his fingers when he clutched at her thick hide, it was a sound that gave him a thrilled kind of shudder throughout his body.
There was voltage in her kisses as they collapsed on the bed covered in smooth satin. Sun smiled as he got rid of his pants and tossed them aside. Lacing his fingers with hers, he pushed his mouth between the sumptuous breasts and started there. She moaned and stroked her thighs against his, gently caressing his package with the smooth hide of her right thigh. His mouth pecked and lipped along her mounds to the rubbery dark nipples where he dined on them for many long moments, responding to her motions by grinding his heavy horsehood wantonly against her inner thighs.
She squirmed her fingers free and pulled the tips across his shoulders, curling her soft yielding limbs around the harder toned body of the runner. Panting softly she whispered to him, of savoring and sharing. Only too happy to oblige a lady Sun sat back on his legs, and removed the final vestiges that kept him from seeing her virtue in its full bloom. He scooped her into his arms inverted, pulling those knees behind his neck and feeling the lovely heat of her nethers so close to his face. He kissed her petals as she busied her own moaning lips over the pink tip of his stallionhood. They kissed and teased, licking and entrancing each other with their gifts. Her hands braced on his thighs, needing to lift herself further as he grew more and more enflamed with passion. His broad horsey tongue licked and dove into her soft juicy folds, squirming within her as the walls flexed and kissed at his mouth with their own desires. The honey flowed and it was the best kind of medicine for Sun there was.
The fight took its toll on him though, and soon he had to retire him an his partner to a side-by-side position on her bed. Nursing each others cares away and building wave upon wave of blissful oral attentions to a hot plateau of ecstasy. They were still panting from the first peak of their loving when Sun turned and slid into her, curling an arm under her soft thigh and claiming her in a spooning position. She looked back at him with her dark eyes and he smiled graciously into them. Kissing, sharing breath and flavors as he slid further and further into that delightfully snug passage.
Soon he was plowing and scrubbing the insides of the flaaffys hot sex with his own naked member. His hips bucking in their steady practiced rhythm while she continued to meltdown and eagerly meet his thrusts. She was a sweet and eager lover and he longed to call her name but couldn't remember it from her friends. The rapidash stallion just kept cooing 'Cottonball' into her ear affectionately. Her peaks of pleasure accompanied by hot jolts of uncontrolled voltage through his body. The zaps traveled down the root of his member and exploded in his prostate forcing a hot dollop of his cream into her. It made his heart race and his hips buck faster, jerking his whole body in a voltage-spurned quake. The effect was wonderful, coaxing more such orgasmic moments between them. For his own senses it was like having a miniature climax and then a swift reset back to start so that he could take her longer and longer, each time with greater gusto until finally he filled her. The thick member driving like a hot piston into her sweet depths and delivering such vast amounts of sticky seed that it was impossible for her loaded channel to contain it all. She rubbed the excess onto the soft lips of her sex and nipples, moaning softly and breathing hard.
They fell from their climaxes into a shared embrace, breathless and kissing over and over again until sleep overtook them. Every few hours one would drift back to aroused wakefulness and entice the other with slow deliberate teasing so that when they gained coherence they were more than ready for another roll in the hay.
Sun awoke once again as they were joined by the dancers, the plusle and minun who had come for some revenge on the stallion for their lost tips. Athletic and flexible, they proved very adept as working as a team and pinned Sun down, taking turns at having their way with him and exacting their pound of flesh. First they both sat atop him, one on his chest making Sun rim him good and deeply while they both stroked their cocks against his to get him fully aroused. They brought him to the edge of climax then let go, listening to him fuss and snort while his member throbbed needingly against his abs. They did this a second time, because nothing can give a good pawjob better than another male. Cottonball was making out with her roommate until the long-eared wigglytuff bent down between the flaaffys legs to sample the many deposits the stallion had left there.
Before long the twins rolled him over, Sun kept his tail high and his lips tight, never really sure which of them was doing what to him as they alternately rutted him one after the other. He went down on them both afterwards, as well. Listening to the groaning and panting, feeling their balls slapping against his nuts and his lips, and the blissful reaming of his backside while they used him good and rough. He took his punishment as they spanked his creamy colored rear and shot hot loads of cum into his face. Then they had him a second time together, both of their members working his tailhole in unison until they found their satisfaction.
The girls both went to work cleaning his face with their tongues. The wigglytuff was not about to go without her turn riding the pony and she mounted up, riding his lap vigorously and appeasing the achingly hard stallioncock that the lapine-like twins neglected to finish. Slimmer than her roommate and a real screamer, she arched and howled with delight as the long pink shaft filled her and the midring popped back and forth through her decidedly wet pussy, the combined juices there making a mess of his lap. The dancers spent the time cooling down and tantalizing the half-conscious flaaffy with their fingers and tongues, making her squirm and squeal while they toyed and played with all the erogenous zones they could reach. Sun soon had the wigglytuff by the hips and was slamming into her with a will. Hammering his flare against her inner gateway and fingering her anus, already slick and lubed with minun seed. Together they rode the pleasures higher and higher until at last Sun delivered a proper stallions-worth of cream into her ready and eager little body. Her tunnel convulsed and she wailed a great lamentation of carnal bliss, anointing the stallion with her own juices in return. At last everyone collapsed amid each other and slept, sated and exhausted. A mass of arms, legs, and bodies tangled and heaped onto a single bed that bent under the combined weight of the sweaty, drained combatants.
Clone and Toshi took the back way to Fuchsia Cities fire gym. The young wolf took a boost from his associate and hauled himself up through a half-open window. Clone followed, using his vine whips as like grapples and climbed up as well. They were in one of the private chambers used by the resident trainers. She was asleep as the two crept across her room, each footstep cautiously leaned upon for fear of creaking floorboards. Toshi checked the hallway before motioning for Clone to follow him. One floor down and around to the East wing of the building, that's where the hazard training room was. The wolf swallowed hard, every corner he could picture guards or innocents who may accidentally come across the two invaders. He loathed to think of what Clone would do if they were discovered, but he kept going. There was no turning back now.
The door to the hazard room was locked, bolted from the inside. The ivusaurs vine whips came in handy a second time that night, as he slid a long green tendril under the crack in the door and eventually managed to prod around until he found the bolt, flicking it aside. It put Toshis nerves on edge as the hinges creaked, the noise seemed far louder than it was in the stillness of the hallway, making his heart pound. He let out a long breath as quietly as he could, realizing he had been unconsciously holding it for quite a while. The pair stole into the room and located a simple set of shelves where the pokeballs of the gyms water-types rested on little tripods, each of them containing a sleeping pokemon.
"What are we looking for in particular?" Toshi hissed in a low whisper.
"It needs to be fairly smart, have hands, and be able to survive underwater for extended periods of time."
"Should we hand out applications while we're at it?" the wolf asked, getting a little frustrated at the complexity of the matter.
"Don't get cute. Look, each has a plaque below the ball listing its type."
Toshis heart lurched in his chest, the plaques were draped across the front of the tripod by small brass chains. They also had a small picture of the pokemons trainer. He felt a deep sinking feeling in his stomach as he picked up a pokeball, his attention drawn to it by the photo of the doberman girl whose room they had entered. Her name was Dani.
"Here. A totodile, will that be good enough?"
"He'll be sufficient, not much to choose from it seems."
"Lets get out of here." Toshi said, unable to shake this feeling of wretchedness that crept on him. Even though this, too, was staged he could not help but slip into the perception that he was one of the things he hated and feared most in the world, a pokemon thief. Taking a pokemon from a trainer by force was like ripping out a piece of their heart. Once this was all over, he vowed to make it up to this trainer somehow.
The way back was faster, although they had to duck into a storage closet to avoid the watchman patrolling the corridors. It was tight and nearly airless in there, the two of them pressed tightly together past Toshis comfort level. He found his own breathing obnoxiously loud as they waited for the slow footsteps to fade in the distance. Only after they heard the soft thumping of his boots in the stairwell did they continue their escape.
Silently the pair stalked back to the canines room. She had shifted to her other side, facing into her room instead of towards the wall but she was still sleeping soundly. At the window, Toshi went first, using the vines to rappel down. Swinging his legs out into the emptiness of space he looked past the ivysaur and his heart froze. The trainer had been feigning sleep but now had opened her eyes, those eyes were filled with silent fury.
Toshi slipped through the window, Dani's gaze having burned him to the core. He shuddered against the night as Clone hopped down beside him, popped him on the shoulder, and the two thieves stole out into the night.
Continued...
DASH-X
Part 1-4
Authored by Kyllistin
Pokemon and relevant characters copyright Nintendo
Robot Unicorn character inspired by adultswim.com's Robot Unicorn Attack online game.
On the morning after, Sun woke up alone. A letter had been left by his head, sealed and perfumed with a pair of lipstick kisses on it. His clothing had been folded at the edge of the bed with his cell on top of it. It blinked and chirruped every few minutes with a voicemail notice, and it's constant need for attention had been what woke him up. The rapidash groaned, aching all over from the night before and rubbed the two leaden balls in his head that he used to call eyes. Grabbing the phone, Sun punched up his mailbox and saw he had two messages from Toshi.
'Hey buddy, remember me? We got an apartment now, it's not four star or anything. I'll txt you the turn-by-turn.'
The apartment turned out to be a hotel with a decent weekly rate. Clone had set up the reservation and got them a VIP discount after a brief talk with the proprietor. The walk across town had the aching equine ready for a bath, a meal, and maybe another snooze, so he barely nodded at the receptionist who gave him his room key.
Toshi was waiting on him, spending his time talking to the new acquisition. The little fanged reptile sat on the edge of the bed, arms folded and looking quite cross.
"My replacement?" Sun joked as he came in the room, rubbing his eyes again and tossing his possessions on the bed.
"I dunno, a few more crazy nights and it may be time to retire you to stud." Grinned Toshi, standing up from his crouch. The totodile just growled at him. "Don't mind our guest, he seems all bark and no bite. Can't blame him though, I'd be mad as hell too." He tried to give the totodile a reassuring pet, but he got his hand snapped at.
"Too soon I guess. He on board with us? We're still the good guys, right?" Sun stripped out of his clothes, tossing them on the bed carelessly along with his phone and the envelope, still sealed.
"Yeah." Toshi said, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt. "They need water pokemon to assist with some kind of deep-sea salvage operation they are doing. Due to the nature of the artifacts they retrieve it's been officially banned by the government but this group has some kind of purpose for them. Though I don't know any more than that, our contact, Clone, is a pretty guarded guy."
"Sounds perfectly charming. Heh, still pretty good the way you shot up our ol' buddy Thistle. Looked convincing to me." Sun glanced over and noticed the totodile had turned bright red in the face, gawking at the naked form of the rapidash on the bed next to him. He grinned roguishly and winked at him, but that was all he had the strength for right now. "Well, maybe he will see we aren't all bad. In fact... we can be quite friendly at times." He cooed seductively.
Toshi grinned, "If not you could always give it up and go be an actor."
Sun frowned and sat up, "Don't get us wrong, that was a genuine fight. As battlers there's just one thing we do, and that's fight. We don't pull punches and we don't pretend. No ulterior motives, no screwing around. You people can have us fight for any reason you like, and call it anything you want. But to us it's something a lot deeper than a performance or a simple matter of pride. There's a purity to it that we all observe when putting our lives on the line. Now if you boys will excuse me."
Sun rolled off the bed and groaned as he forced his legs to carry him off to the bathroom. Toshi kept hearing his partners words in his mind, playing and replaying them over and over. 'you' and 'us' echoed in his thoughts back and forth like a tennis match. Was it an accepted form of discrimination in the world? This class split between trainers and battlers... Was it too vast a gulf for their friendship to bridge, even after all they had been through?
Nobody noticed as the totodile stole to the bathroom door and stood there, gazing through the cracked door. He could see Suns body as he sponged himself off from head to toe. Watching him stretch his arms out, dab at his bruises and cuts, scrub all the more intimate portions of his body and squeeze the hot water from the sponge to let it roll down his back over his chiseled muscles and the curve of his rump.
The toto swallowed hard, feeling the heat run up his face again. A paw slid down over his potbelly, lower and lower until it found his member poking out his ventral slit. He glanced back to Toshi, who was staring off into space and then back at Sun. The flames of his mane and tail making droplets of water hiss angrily and dissolve into steam if they wandered too close. He was working his shaft hard now, pumping it and making little grunts as his fist jacked back and forth on that spire.
Gulping hard he looked at Toshi again, the wolf still oblivious to what was going on and lost in thought. Then he let his gaze wander back to the handsome and hung rapidash only to see the stallion smiling at him and opening the door further. Sun put a finger to his lips and winked. The totodile dashed in and the door closed behind him.
The wolf was snapped from his distraction by his own phone. Checking the display he saw that his new boss was calling him. The wolf flipped up the cover and held it to his ear.
"You sleep well?"
"Like a babyfur. What's the word?"
"Good ones for you two. Seems the boss wants to meet you already. Between taking care of those loose ends last night and putting us back on schedule I think you impressed him. I'll come pick you up in about six hours. Be sure Sun has rested up and is ready to go."
The other end disconnected with a bleep and Toshi put the phone back down. He looked over at the totodile expecting to see him at the edge of the bed, but he was nowhere around. The bathroom door opened and the two pokemon strode out, the little water croc looking much more content at his situation. He hopped up onto one of the twin beds with Sun and curled up with him, the pair were asleep in moments.
Clone had driven them from the hotel to the docks himself, and his car was taken care of by a handyman who was waiting for them. Toshi and Sun found themselves staring at a very expensive luxury yacht, on which the boss and one other were standing.
"That's the boss, call him King. The other is our uh... scientific advisor. Shi goes by Mister K"
"Like the cereal or the guy with all the gold chains and mohawk?" asked Sun.
"Don't ask." Was all Clone said on the matter, scowling visibly.
His name was King, and he was a massive anthro nidoking in a tailored suit and a murkrow perched on his shoulder. He was broad and stocky, looking as solid as a rock and well rounded from excess and expensive living. Standing next to him in a long split dress and a Chinese blouse that accentuated hir chest was the hybrid from the club the night before. Though this morning hir hair was tied up in a haphazard modern style instead of the long white mane shi had been sporting previously. Shi had the basic features of a horse with a lot of dragonish influences. Incessantly smoking from that long pipe whose end exuded bluish sweet-smelling smoke.
They boarded the ship and the ivysaur bowed to the pair, he held out his right hand, palm up and displayed the coin with the mark of the king on it. Toshi noticed the gesture was very stiff, and realized that Clone was a very proud and self-reliant person. Subservience did not come naturally to him, so whatever reasons he had for being involved in this syndicate was clearly quite strong.
"This is Toshi and Sun, the ones I told you about." The pair bowed their heads following Clones example, having no idea what to say or how to act.
King gave a great belly laugh and clapped them both heartily on the shoulder.
"Welcome aboard my boys! Yes, yes. Welcome indeed." A dangerous glint flashed in his eye, and Toshi instantly felt there was something unstable about this ones temperament. His pulse quickened and the fur on the back of his neck stood on end, his instincts shouting warnings. Although he was smiling, this man was dangerous. "Clone here tells me a lot about you two. Brand new eh, fresh blood and spirited. Good!" He motioned up to the command deck for the captain to shove off. The crew scrambled to unmoor the ship and pull away from the dock.
Mister K was quite distracted by Sun, looking him over quite a few times. It was like shi took him into hir violet eyes and devoured him one detail at a time.
"Glad you could make it. Today you two are going to help me test out a little toy I made."
"Test how?" Toshi asked, he already hated the idea. A heavy clopping sound came as his answer. From around the far side of the yacht strode a unicorn. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his lifetime. Shining metal made its entire body, glossy black and reflecting the sunlight off its back. Eyes shone in a bright blue, though they dulled in comparison to the great network of fibrous lines that created its mane and tail. They glowed and gave off scintillating rainbow colors with laser-like intensity.
Mister K laughed and clapped hir hands together, beaming with a highly bemused look. "We are going to have a race! Your Sun against my own robot unicorn. This is a performance test, and who better to race against than one of the fastest land pokemon around?"
King nodded, "We will sail out to the Midsea Plateaus, and there on a great series of cliffs that rise from the water we will have our little competition." Toshi swallowed hard, this wasn't a request.
"Yes, King." He said simply, not sure how he should handle himself around the crime boss. Figuring that obedience would be best, as it worked for Clone.
"Good." He replied, looking down appraisingly at his new subordinate. The murkrow on his shoulder cawed out thrice and beat its wings. King tossed it a morsel of treat to silence him and stroked a thick finger down its feathery breast.
Drinks were brought up from below decks and during the journey King made no pretenses about giving his scientific advisor a leer or a grin or a swat on the ass from time to time. Shi took it all in stride, usually responding with a teasing flirty line that lacked any real promise. Sun soon shifted to his feral state and took a few laps around the deck to warm up. Hopping over surprised crewmen, he cantered and leapt about. Stretching out his limbs and loosening up his muscles for the run ahead. His aches and pains forgotten for the moment, there was work to do. A different kind of battle but a battle none the less. And against an opponent who was as familiar as his reflection but so very alien at the same time.
Sun trotted closer to the robot, extending his muzzle out and greeting the other horse. The robot responded in kind, though its touch was cold and stiff. It was crafted with so many loving details, so sun circled around him and poked his nose around here and there. The joints were all revealing a sort of flexible rubberish material beneath the metal plating. It also had several crystal and somewhat organic smelling parts as well. It carried the scent of deep oceans, and ancient places mixed with oil and metal.
The robot remained almost motionless during the remainder of the trip, and its commands were given by Mister K through a small electronic device. When shi spoke to it, her voice was a hissed whisper and the words sounded odd. There was something unnatural to the syllables and the structure of the sentences. It almost hurt to listen to it, so Sun didn't try.
The two equines and the ivysaur departed the boat alone, taking a dingy to a long twisting pathway that served to lead them to the top of the plateau. Once there, the racers took up their spots while the others watched from the deck of the yacht with binoculars. It was time to begin.
Clone closed his eyes and focused all the strength and energy within him. The pinkish bulb on his back began to glow with an ultraviolet light, intense as the fernlike leaves began to wave back and forth. The robot and the rapidash both pawed the ground in anticipation. Clone stood between them both as the rocky roadway stretched ahead like a long slim bridge surrounded by crashing waves. He went to all fours and the solar beam fired straight into the air like a beacon from a toppled lighthouse, searing the air with the intense energy. Both equines took off like a shot, the dark mechanical figure and the creamy furred pokemon with the flaming mane and tail.
Toshi watched from the boat, standing there with King and Mister K feeling like he was the one who was being tested, not his companion or the robot the strange eccentric scientist had created.
What's the real reason behind all this he wondered to himself, watching the energy beam split the air and the two forms burst into action. From this point they could see the whole track, and watch them race along the odd formation of cliffs and arching stone buttresses that made up this unusual track. He could see the fire from Sun's hooves blazing as he tore into an early lead. The wolf smiled to himself, some robot.
"Initial results are within a 12% range of our predicted output." The scientists assistant reported. He was running the monitoring station while Mister K focused on the race, arms tucked below the ample swell of hir chest and the long slim pipe with its disk-shaped bowl at the end emitting wisps of blue sweet-smelling smoke. Hir tail flicked across the deck with its uneven forked ends tapping the ground. Toshi stared at hir while the hybrids dark-ringed eyes were focuses on hir creation. Just what was this creature, a mutation from the odd artifacts brought from the deeps? He tried not to think of it, thoughts going back to Sun and the dangerous race he was in. With all the attention on the runners, nobody saw the shadowy figure climbing the rocks from the water, slinking into the shadows cast by the ancient monolithic pillars as it slid into a narrow cropping of rock to watch... and wait.
The pair banked around a sharp curve, the force of their hooves sending showers of small pebbles into the water hundreds of feet below. The track ended abruptly, its stone pathway simply ending in dead air with a five-yard gap where it picked back up again. Toshi held his breath as Sun leapt without hesitation, clearing the jump with effortless grace. The robot was hot on his heels, pounding away with its metal hooves and the star shaped crystals sending pulses of scintillating colors through its network of wires, servos, and actuators. Toshi fingered Suns pokeball, they were simply too far out for him to save his friend should something go wrong. The more this went on, the less and less he liked it. The mayor was going to owe him big time for this job.
Mister K hissed out a white stream of smoke from hir nostrils and looked back with a perturbed sideways glare at hir boss. "You had better not damage him on his first day out, so many of those parts are irreplaceable no matter how many banks you might rob."
The bulky anthro pokemon chuckled and shook with mirth, "If your obscenely expensive little toy can't handle this, then no amount of money will make it worth my while to continue this project. Toshi watched on, listening and trying not to hear too much for both his own sake and his rapidash. "Soon we will see how well they fare with a little distraction." The nidokings heavy hand landed on Toshis shoulder, the sudden motion making the murkrow caw and flap its wings. "We got some boys out there y'see, and they have been told to make this game a little more interesting."
The two completed the first lap without any kind of incident, rounding the bend while a wailmer surfaced and blew a great spout of water. Droplets flew in all directions, glistening in motes of sunlight. The shadowy robots stride never faltered, its mane and tail shimmering with colors from the synthetic strands that reminded Toshi of fiber optic cable. Was it copying Suns movements somehow? Whenever the two would be running side by side, the wolf could swear that their strides were identical.
"What's the purpose of that robot, I mean... you have a whole network of trainers and battlers, with all kinds of battlers both regular and anthro pokemon so what he for? Are you going to mass produce and sell them?"
Mister K shook hir head and laughed, turning to Toshi and looking at him like one looks at a child who just said something amusingly innocent. "Oh no my dear, there are far too many unique traits to produce any more but one. It's like having a child, he is truly irreplaceable." The boss grunted but didn't reply, Toshi noticed he seemed to do that whenever the oddball scientist said something he didn't like very much.
"Keep your eyes on the track, here they come." King pointed to what looked like a hazy wisp of dark clouds moving towards the runners. Toshi raised his binoculars and focused in on them, it was a swarm of insect pokemon, probably yanma. The reddish dragonflies descended on the runners and Toshi had to resist the urge to shout out commands to Sun as he galloped full tilt along the narrow rocky causeway. His instincts proved sharp however, and he leapt straight into them. Ducking his head the fires on his body burst into a brilliant plume, engulfing his entire body as he spun and somersaulted in a fire wheel. This warded off the dive bombing bug types, many had their wings melted and dove crazily down into the water to crash and become wailmer food. The robot evaded a few of them, but those that connected with their attacks found that their efforts did little to stop the dark armored machine. It pounded through them as they broke off in all directions.
"Not bad." The boss had to admit, pinching some feed from a little bag and feeding his pet 'krow. Then he turned to Mister K's assistant and huffed, "Detonate the charges."
"The what?!" Toshi exclaimed and jerked his head back towards the track. Explosions rocked the fragile stone track and the great pillars that held up portions of it began to crumble and fall out from under the hooves of the racers. The two equines bounded from rock to rock, Sun putting on a sudden burst of speed with his agility and the robot seemed to match him step for step. They leapt and bounded, weaving in and out of each others paths. A blazing fiery trail of the pokemons mane and tail dancing and criss-crossing with the rainbow trail left by his robotic counterparts. The effect was dazzling to behold, both of the racers leaping from stone to stone and gaining altitude back to the safety of the solid portion of the track.
Mister K broke into a peal of laughter, drawing on hir pipe again and clapping hir hands in praise of the twos aerobatic performances. "I knew it, a sympathetic resonance!" Shi giggled and turned to hir boss. "See I told you collecting samples of his DNA would do all the hard work for us. The bio-symbiotic nature of the energy in those crystals has made a bond not only with the implanted genetic codes and the AI of his core, but it's such a perfect match that it could in many ways be considered that studly pokemons twin brother!"
"Suns... brother?" Toshi blinked, knowing he was well out of the loop from whatever these two were planning despite having been infiltrated and brought to the upper ranks of the syndicate so early. "Samples... what did you do to him last night?" he demanded, cover may be one thing but Sun was his rapidash and his friend, his pokemon, and his partner, and he was going to be damned if any of these twisted people did anything to hurt him.
The scientist gave him that look again, and it was starting to get on his nerves. "I didn't do anything to that boy ...mores the pity. But he left quite a few samples for me to collect from my associates after all the shenanigans he got into last night. You see that robot needed a gene template for the artifacts to activate and the brain to synch up properly. So I-
"That's enough." King said in a dangerously flat voice. "Such things are not our young friend to worry about. Your little toy has passed the tests today, once they finish this lap lets pick them up so you can do your studies." He waved to the captain of the ship through the glass at their backs, who radioed Clone. "Besides if your so eager to use that mouth of yours I can think of something better it could go back to doing."
It was the final stretch, and Sun wanted a win. In his feral form his thoughts were muddled and hazy, with instincts screaming in his mind from moment to moment. But this was a race, and if there's one thing any rapidash loved it was to run and to race anything fast. He exalted in the final push, pouring on the speed even though his limbs ached from the sharp turns, narrow path and little surprises. But now it was the last bit, the time to really pour it on. So caught up in the moment he didn't notice the golduck he should have recognized emerge from the shadows of the rock. The gem in his forehead pulsed a bright icy blue and a beam shot right into Suns path. The rock beneath his hooves was instantly coated in a thick layer of ice that caused him to skid and lose his footing. With a wild cry he went over the edge of the cliff and plummeted towards the water below. Sun shifted back to his anthro form instantly, but a jagged outcropping of stone clipped the side of his head and pain exploded in a multitude of bright spots before his eyes.
"SUN!!" Toshi cried, and pulled his friends ball from his belt. They were still out of range and the fall would break every bone in the rapidash's body if he hit the water at that speed. The wolf began to run across the deck as hard as he could, his heart pounding faster than his footpaws on the wood. He knew he was too far away, every bit of knowledge as a trainer told him it was futile and hopeless but he ran on. He ran for his friend, he ran because he had to do something. He ran because had to save his friend.
Toshi leapt off the deck of the boat into midair, his arm already pulled back as time seemed to slow down. His arm whipped around and released the red and white ball into the air, the snap of his arm sending a jolt of pain through his shoulder as he let the ball go. It spun out into empty space, Toshi behind it legs pumping at empty air and his eyes locked on the falling form of his best friend. He saw the half-lidded eyes of Suns semiconscious body as it turned in the air and he knew that the ball was going to fall short of its target. He looked in those eyes, met their gaze and saw only tenderness, his heart breaking even as his own leap lost its momentum and he began to drop towards the sea.
Then the heavens erupted with a brilliant blinding light.
The wolf only saw a flash of brilliant rainbow-colors before he hit the water. His clothes turned lead weights as they took on water, forcing him to fight his way back to the surface.
Up amid the rocks and the wind, Sun opened his eyes and looked upwards. There he met the gaze of a robot unicorn, now in a bipedal shape like himself. It's eyes were blue and unblinking, the rainbow lights coursing in multicolored waves across its mane. One hand was grasping bare stone, its fingers punched into it to make a handhold. Braced with its metal hooves on the wall, its other arm was holding Sun by the wrist as he dangled above the rocks and waves.
The boat was maneuvering in to assist in the rescue the two racers. Crewman dispersed tentacruel and lapras to recover Toshi, chasing in the wake of the yacht. As they brought him up over the railing, the young wolf saw everyone in action. King was still on a radio, orchestrating his agents to have the remaining bug pokemon and any flying types to conduct a recovery operation for the two unicorns suspended up on the rocks. He saw Mister K chewing the end of hir pipe perturbed, studying the examination monitors before rounding on hir assistant.
"Be sure you save all that data. I want to know the exact cause of this deviant action!" shi rounded and gave Toshi a toxic smile. "Welcome aboard, looks like you missed your chance to die today too. Your partner is going to be fine, thanks to the robot."
"Then I have you to thank for that, Mister K. Sun means the world to me, without him I just couldn't-"
"Save it." The draconic hybrid said curtly and turned back to the monitors, eyes narrowed. "I never sent the command to the unit to save Sun or to shift forms. It acted totally of its own free will."
"So what's wrong with that?" asked Toshi, feeling suddenly defensive.
Shi stood there a moment, listening to the sound of the wind across the ocean and the lapping of waves on the sides of the boat.
"It doesn't HAVE free will."
END of Part 1