FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The next day brought more challenges as we woke up early to cover the last few miles to town. Along the way we came to a large pond at the edge of the forest. As we stopped for a break some of the wild pokemon living there caught my attention. Before she evolved Luca was starting to show a talent for special attacks. She hadn't been able to fully perform any yet but she could form a small whitish blue ball of energy if she focused hard enough. We hadn't tried to repeat her efforts since she evolved and a quick pokedex search told me some of the pokemon around could perform attacks Luca's dad had used against me and Lady. So when a ghastly spooked Luca as a joke I took the chance to have her challenge it as a bit of revenge and practice.

Luca knew what she was doing in battle now so for the most part I stayed quiet unless she needed some encouragement or direction. She had managed to regain full control of her new body quite quickly and was now matching the ghost move for move, despite it's phasing in and out of sight. It was almost as if she could sense it some how while it was invisible... Still, it was a blessing when the ghastly used the move Dark Pulse against her. I caught the ghost building energy and quickly shouted for Luca to watch it closely.

Startled by my outburst Luca blinked before my suggestion registered and she turned back to the Ghastly with a soft yip and nod. Her gaze focused on the building swirls of purple and black just as the ghost finished and released a wave of hazy energy. Luca blocked it with little trouble and I quickly asked her to try copying it. Her eyes looked a little distant as she nodded and looked back at the ghastly. Her thoughts raced in the heat of battle but with an exhale she made a motion with her paws that had become quite familiar to her. Her paws waved one over another as she stood up straight from her rooted stance. Between the black furred appendages a ball of energy quickly swirled to life. A black sparking center surrounded by chaotic black and purple swirls hovered weightlessly between her paws. She'd created her own variation of the normal dark pulse attack!

Luca opened her eyes as she felt she was holding something and started to quake softly in excitement and anticipation. I could tell she was proud of herself for managing the attack but didn't quite know what to do now... "Throw it!" I yelled franticly, hoping it wouldn't blow up in her face if she waited too long. Luca yelped softly at my yell, though probably because she too realized she was still holding a volatile ball of energy. When she looked for the ghastly though, it was gone, moving about for another attack. Her eyes darted left and right as the ball began to buzz loudly. In the nick of time her expression turned to one of realization and she spun on her toes, bringing the ball around in one palm and thrusting it right into the reforming face of the ghastly!

A dull boom and an explosion of black smoke rushed outward from the attack, enveloping both the ghastly and Luca. I found my hands clenched tightly as I watched and waited, hoping Luca was ok... When the smoke dissipated though she was laying on the ground, propped up on her elbows with a stunned expression. The ghastly lay on the ground a few yards away with its tongue lolling out of its mouth, unconscious.

"Great job Luca!" I cheered as I ran to her to make sure she was ok, though I knew full well she was fine. My words snapped her out of her stupor though and she smiled, her tail thumping the ground softly as she scrambled to get up.

"I did it Feli!" She barked happily and met me in a hug. I chuckled and pet between her long ears.

"You sure did. Think you can do it again?" I answered kindly, which got her to release me and smile as she nodded. She took another step back and turned to face the lake before she repeated her motion, once more summoning a foot wide ball of dark energy. With newfound ease and grace she took a step and fired the ball out at the water. It hit the surface and exploded in a dazzling pink, purple and black rainbow of glittering droplets. "That's my girl." I said proudly and roughly rubbed between her ears, getting her usual giggling growl response.

However... our little experiment inadvertently led us into Luca's next attack lesson. Her dark pulse had angered a seaking who was innocently feeding at the surface. It didn't appreciate being blasted around and angrily shot an aurora beam at Luca while she was distracted with me.

"Luca!? Are you alright?!" I blurted after she yelped, being blasted from in front of me. She groaned and shook her head but stood up to look around for what hit her. She spotted an incoming water gun attack just as Lady reached up to grab my waistline in her muzzle. The fox yanked me back and out of the torrent's path while Luca quickly guarded against the attack. Of course I indignantly fell to my rump as I was tugged off balance, but I gave Lady a pet and thanked her for the save as I got up. I saw the proud smirk she wore at the praise but I couldn't return her tease at the moment.

As I brought my attention back to Luca I found her dodging attack after attack as she advanced to the water's edge. She let loose a dark pulse here and there but the fish was too hard to find in the water and expertly dove out of their path as they hit the water. My Lucario was getting frustrated as she failed to hit her mark and continued to get soaked by water guns, then have her fur frozen stiff by aurora beams. The attacks weren't phasing her physically but mentally she was unraveling.

"Luca! Try aura sphere!" I encouraged, remembering the different energy she had summoned as a riolu. "Just like you tried last week." I advised. A brief nod to me told me I'd calmed her down and she back flipped to land on a rock. Once more she exhaled in concentration as she waved her paws over one another. A haze started to form but an aurora beam was streaking towards her! "Look out!" I yelled urgently, but she was in complete control of the situation. Gracefully, she crouched and spun on one paw, swinging her other leg out for balance before coming back to stand as the beam dissipated. I stared awestruck at the move, feeling my heart still racing.

As she stood again a ball of energy flashed to life between her paws. A dazzling blue orb with a white lightning core buzzed in front of her and she smiled gleefully for a moment at her triumph. My advice wasn't needed as she held the ball in front of her and scanned the water. A ripple in the pond bore the very tip of the seaking's horn and she fired a split second later. The ball was half way to its target before the fish saw it coming. It ducked back beneath the waves but it was too late. The ball delved in immediately after and exploded, landing a solid hit against Luca's opponent.

Thinking she'd won Luca started running towards me happily. I was still marveling at her prowess when I realized the fish hadn't surfaced... "I did it Feli! I did...?" She barked happily at first, but she seemed to pick up on my hesitance as well as the seaking's presence. Her run slowed and she turned to see it leap from the water, glowing a deep blue. She looked on in shock as the fish reached the peak of its jump and impacted the water, sending several concentric rings out in all directions!

The movement caught my eye and I tried to warn Luca, turn, and duck all at the same time. None of these things did anyone any good... Luca stared as the waves traversed onto land without pause. Lady casually stepped between me and the waves and spread her tails, summoning a brilliant green protect shield around the two of us. It took me too long to realize that I hadn't gotten wet, and when I stood Lady yelped and rushed behind me to hide... The next instant I was wholly and thoroughly drenched by a second water pulse attack, while my ninetales managed to get only a light shower.

"Gee... Thanks super fox..." I grumbled as I looked back at my embarrassedly grinning companion. Her second attempt to use protect had failed miserably so she decided to let me take the attack instead of her... After a brief moment though her ears twitched and she straightened with a turn of her head. Following her gaze I saw Luca had shifted stances since I'd ducked. She held her paw out in front of her and seemed shocked and confused as she stood there frozen. "Luca! Are you alright? What happened?" I gasped as I quickly ran over to her, worriedly looking her over as she snapped from her stupor. She was sopping wet and her fur clung to her slender, tone body but she didn't seem to be hurt at all.

"I just... copied it." She said softly as she looked at me and blinked before putting her paws to her muzzle and giggling. "S-sorry...!" She managed to snicker, trying not to offend me but unable to control herself. My hair was a mess and my clothes still dripped as I realized what happened.

I couldn't even bring myself to fake being upset as I smiled at her with a soft embarrassed blush at her snickers. "You used water pulse to counter? Can you do it again?" I asked eagerly. Her giggles calmed and her tail wagged happily at my apparent pride in her accomplishment. She nodded excitedly and took a step back before quickly waving her paws. The motion seemed as natural as walking to her now and in an instant she held a rippling ball of blue energy reminiscent of waves on water. Her breath quickened in excitement as she managed to repeat her accomplishment for me to see and she looked up at me with her sparkling eyes.

"That's my girl." I said cheerfully and gave her a smile as I pet her between the ears. She giggled softly, loving the affection and the smile I gave her.

"Step back." She cautioned as she moved back herself, readying to get rid of the water pulse attack. I did as she said and gave her some space, watching as she looked to the sky and with a smooth motion and flick of the wrist sent the ball barreling skyward. The next moment it was gone before a soft blue flash went off in the clear sky. A moment later a light pleasant shower cascaded around the area, wetting leaves fur and skin alike with a cooling mist.

"That was great!" I praised, ecstatic that she had a new set of attacks just in time for the tournament. Luca giggled and ran to me when I spoke. She wrapped me in a tight embrace, her tail waging a mile a minute behind her. I blushed as my rather mature pup pressed her chest against mine... I was still sopping wet but now that her body had grown, her fur had more to hide. Something it tended to fail at when she was wet... Thankfully I was able to hide my embarrassment and any further glimpses of her feminine curves by putting my arms around her to return the hug, though I could still feel her frm, modest breasts against my belly.

I softly stroked her wet fur for a moment before giving her a soft kiss on the tip of her ear, making it twitch and getting her to release me. "Ready to get going?" I asked cheerfully, still blushing softly. Luca nodded happily and the three of us turned to leave... Though when we joined an already dry Lady, Luca and I exchanged glances and smirked.

"~We love you Lady!~" The two of us said in unison as we ambushed her from both sides! The fox yelped as she found herself tackled between her two drenched teammates and growled as she squirmed franticly in a fruitless attempt to escape. Luca and I both laughed hysterically as we hugged her, making sure we got her wet before letting go and running off towards town. It didn't take either of us long to dry with the angry ninetales bent on revenge firing warning flame throwers as we ran...

I was the one to tire first as we reached the outskirts of town. Not wanting anyone to believe her a wild pokemon she had stopped attacking Luca and I when we saw buildings but she growled and curled her tails around me as I slowed to a walk. She never liked anyone getting the best of her. I chuckled through my gasps for breath and pet her kindly. "Ok, you win, I'm sorry." I teased with an apology, giving a hollow promise that I'd never do something like that again.

She gave me a knowing glare before she strode gracefully away, giving Luca the same look. The Lucario giggled, knowing she was safe because she'd outrun me. "Well. Are you two ready for this?" I asked as we continued towards the pokemon center for a quick check up. I got a bark from Lady and a happy nod from Luca that boosted my own confidence. Over the short year that I had Luca she had been in a lot of battles, mostly with similarly skilled opponents though there were some good challenges she'd managed to beat. From what I had seen in our practice battles yesterday and today I knew she would be just fine in the tournament. Still... I hoped when or if we did lose she wouldn't take it as hard as she usually did. She wasn't a sore loser, in fact it was quite the opposite. For some reason she always got really upset with herself thinking she'd let me down. She was still cute when she was upset but it hurt to see her sad and it often took me half a day to convince her that it wasn't important if we won.

As we walked I was soon nudged from my distant thoughts by Luca taking my arm in her paws. I blinked curiously and looked over at her as she murred and hugged me tight. I couldn't help but blush once more at the affection but I smiled sweetly and held a paw in my hand. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of her tail wagging and I knew I'd made her happy. The two of us were pulled from our own moment by a soft curious "Nine?" to my left. "Oh don't start. You do the same thing sometimes." I retorted, getting a giggle from my affectionate Lucario as Lady rolled her eyes.

I ignored some of the curious looks we got as we continued to the pokemon center with Luca happily staying close to me. I wasn't sure what had gotten into her but I liked the harmless affections my girls gave me and I wasn't going to complain. We made our stop at the pokemon center where nurse joy gave the girls a quick out of ball recharge while I registered a room for us. With both of them feeling nice and refreshed we made our to the arena to check in for the tournament.

The circular coliseum loomed over us as we approached. A slightly painful squeeze to my hand reminded me Luca was beside me, though she was holding my hand quite tightly. It seemed she was more than a little tense about her first formal pokemon battle. Lady had done things like this with me before and wasn't the least bit apprehensive. Still I understood why Luca would be nervous. This would be the first time in a mid level multipokemon fight, and in front of a huge crowd no less. She usually loved the cheers from the spectators that gathered around to see a cute little Riolu beat a rock behemoth, but they were still relatively small groups.

"You'll do fine." I offered, inadvertently startling the Lucario. Lost in her thoughts she jumped slightly and yelped, forgetting she was with us. She looked up at me with a scared questioning look and her ears back. "It's just another battle, don't worry about it ok?" I continued, getting her to smile softly as her ears raised a little, but she was still uneasy.

Lady observed our exchange and noticed Luca's remaining worries as well. Without loosing a step she switched to Luca's right side and said something to her. I listened but Luca didn't reply, so I couldn't even guess what my fox had said. After that Luca's attitude changed entirely. She smiled and nodded as her ears perked once again. I wish I knew how, but whatever she said seemed to give Luca a strong focus.

The crowd was roaring as we entered the main field for the opening ceremonies and match ups. The field was groomed nicely for the start of the matches but it wouldn't stay that way for long. Still it was a ceremony so all the trainers took a place in lines on the field. The gym leader for the city was to be the host and he stood on a platform under the large display. Luca and Lady elected to sit on either side of me after standing for several minutes waiting for things to start. When they finally did there was a rather nice spirit of competition hanging in the arena. Luckily for Luca we were in the first match. So the eager Lucario didn't have to wait long to work off some energy.

After clearing the field and getting a five minute break my girls and I were headed back down the entrance tunnel. The cheers of the crowd were almost deafening as we emerged to the announcement of our names. Even the girls had a fanfare announcement since I kept them out with me all the time. I looked over at Luca to see how she was taking it, and wasn't a bit surprised to see her tail wagging as she grinned and looked around at her admirers, obviously enjoying the attention. As we came to the actual battle field I stopped on my place and the girls continued out to stop about midway in their half of the field. Luca began looking around the arena taking in the whole experience. Lady on the other hand sat down and focused on the other entrance.

I knew what my ninetales was doing. She always got like this before the battle started. She had a very analytical mind, and despite me being the trainer she was quite capable of formulating her own plans. She was teaching Luca to do this as well and though she was still awestruck by the enormity of the arena her attention snapped to our opponent as he was announced and entered. I got a good look at the guy despite the distance of the field and realized we had fought him the day before in one of Luca's practice matches. His smirk showed he had no doubt thought about a rematch and probably had different pokemon on him this time.

My opponent sent out his choices as he stopped in the trainers box. I should have seen It coming after Luca trounced him with her newfound strength the day before but there was little I could do. I was always at a bit of a disadvantage since I only had two pokemon, and seeing as how I hated to confine them I never put them in their balls. So everyone knew how to beat me. His choices turned out to be a Blaziken and a Camerupt. Both had a type advantage to Luca but only Camerupt had an advantage over Lady. Lady looked to Luca and got her attention. My Lucario nodded and looked to me with a smile and gave me a wink. We all knew she had a great advantage with her brand new water pulse attack.

With all four pokemon out the judge made his way to the sidelines and asked each of us in turn if we were ready. With both the trainers answering a yes he began the match with the wave of a flag!

With the sound of the buzzer the Blaziken rushed toward Luca. Luca wasn't fazed in the least though and lowered slowly into her typical fighting stance. I watched my girls carefully as Lady rose to her feet and started to stalk away from Luca, keeping her eyes trained on the camerupt. "Bullet punch Luca!" I yelled as the Blaziken let fly with his attack. In the blink of an eye Luca took a step forward and thrust her shining paw up into her opponent's stomach. The fire chicken's eyes bugged for a moment as the flare at his wrist extinguished. Luca quickly withdrew her paw as fast as she'd delivered her attack and leapt back, once more falling into a defensive stance as she watched the Blaziken wobble on his feet and clutch his stomach. With just a few breaths though he growled at Luca and took up a stance of his own, the two starting to circle each other.

Meanwhile Lady and Camerupt were having a staring contest. Camerupt was probably waiting for Lady to make her move as she casually padded around to her right; little did he know that she already had. Her stare could mean any number of attacks; most likely confuse ray or leer, but she could also be trying to predict her opponents move. She could get under any pokemon's skin if she locked eyes with them for long enough. Our opponent hadn't noticed my ninetales' focus and in a rush to end the fight ordered his Camerupt to use earthquake!

The whole stadium watched to see what would happen with the attack but we weren't about to let it happen. "Quick attack! Luca! Jump and water pulse!" I barked to my girls, barely getting a syllable out before the ninetales was amidst a blur of white. As the camel pokemon reared back to deliver its attack Lady barreled right into its belly, knocking it backwards with a loud groan and a thud.

Having just recovered from Luca's hit the Blaziken leapt into the air, leaving Luca to fend for herself against the earthquake attack that never came. Her eyes remained trained on the fighting bird though and she too reacted in a flash to my command. Her legs bent just slightly before she rocketed toward the airborne Blaziken waving her paws as she flew. The Blaziken was stunned at the sudden offensive outburst, and it was too late for the trainer to react. A look of shock and fear flashed on the chicken's face as the pulse flashed to life just as my lucario thrust her paws into his belly once more. The force of the attack sent the blaziken tumbling backwards to land on the ground with a thump amidst a light rain of water. Luca expertly back flipped in the air with the return force of her pulse and landed nearer to me, though she stumbled a little as she landed. I couldn't help but smile softly for an instant seeing her tail dart around to keep her balanced. She'd forgotten once more she was taller now.

With Blaziken still reeling and having trouble getting up I turned my attention to Lady once again. The ninetales yelped as the camel kicked at her, connecting with her shoulder but only managing to keep her at bay. "Flamethrower!" I shouted for her, to which she obliged. In a flash she leapt, and roared out a massive gout of flame, bathing the camel in an inferno. The other trainer laughed but even a fire type couldn't escape Lady's attacks unharmed. Lady used her attack much the way Luca had. Like a rocket kicking on its after burners she flew backwards from the point blank hit, back flipping and fanning her tails to land elegantly on all fours. The crowd loved it and roared their approval of her beautiful battling.

With Luca only a few feet away and our opponents reeling and struggling to regain their feet quickly I whispered a plan to my Lucario. Her ear swiveled towards me as her eyes never left the blaziken, but a nod at the end told me she understood and a second later she darted over to join up with Lady at center field. I could see Luca's lips moving but knew even my opponents pokemon were too far away to overhear. I simply stood back and watched as our trap was set and sprung flawlessly...

My opponent grinned once more when he saw Luca join Lady on the field. He quickly yelled for his Camerupt to use earthquake again, then yelled for Blaziken to jump and use blaze kick. The two did as they were told, with Blaziken leaping off of Camerupt's back as it reared up and slammed its legs on the ground. The tremors ribbed through the field towards my girls but neither seemed to care. Lady gave a small smirk as she placed her front paws deliberately and barked.

A green shield flashed into existence as the ninetales barked, encompassing both her and Luca.

The shockwaves from the earthquake parted around the teal green shield without so much as shaking the girls off balance. Luca took her cue and with a few waves of her paws readied a pulse in each. Of course I knew what they were but their color was distorted from the shield, making it tough for my opponent to judge. Blaziken's resolve never faltered though as he streaked from the air, his foot ablaze. He knew a protect would most likely fail against a second attack.

Immediately after the last tremor passed Lady dropped the shield and leapt to the side. In perfect sync a water pulse flew inches to the side of the leaping ninetales, headed straight for the fire camel. Still focusing on Lady the Camerupt barely noticed the rippling ball of energy until it blasted the creature with a quadruply effective torrent. He staggered backwards with the hit before falling over, unconscious.

With one down it was time for Luca to wrap up the battle. Barely a split second after launching the first pulse Luca leapt backwards into the air just in time to avoid the incoming Blaziken. He hit the ground and threw up a rather impressive cloud of dust, shrouding the remaining three pokemon in the haze. The last thing I saw was Luca arching to spin in mid air as she brought her second pulse around to fire where she and Lady had been standing. Those seconds seemed to last hours as the stadium went dead silent in anticipation. When the second water pulse hit, a shockwave of water emanated from the dust, scattering and settling it in another few seconds. Amidst the dust Blaziken was propelled from his feet, landing and skidding to a halt near his teammate. Weakly the bird tried to prop himself up but with a final sigh he passed out and fell back to the ground.

The Judge waited for a moment before he waved his flag, declaring us the victors. The match was over, and the crowd went berserk. The roar when we'd entered was nothing like the praise they gave for a spectacular battle.

With the battle over Luca visibly relaxed and looked around. Her tail wagged softly as she smiled and waved at some of her fans. It wasn't until Lady brushed the Lucario with a tail that she remembered me and quickly ran to give me a hug. Seeing her coming I managed to brace myself and catch her without falling over but I couldn't help blushing a bit at the gesture. She had always done this as a Riolu but again her new form made it feel different. Still I couldn't deny her for a job well done and I pet her softly as I returned her hug for a moment. When she released me I gave our opponent a thank you wave before my girls and I turned to exit the arena and head for the pokemon center.

With the number of preliminary battles in the tournament the next round wouldn't be until tomorrow. So we spent the rest of the day taking it easy and saving our energy for our next bout. However, Luca insisted on practicing her new pulse attacks so we made a trip to the park as well.

She seemed to know what she wanted to do so until she needed some advice I sat on a bench to watch. As she gracefully and quickly summoned her various balls of energy I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I kept trying to figure out why Luca seemed so different. Sure she'd evolved and she looked more mature now but... there was something else, maybe she'd even started to change while she was a Riolu and I hadn't noticed. In the end I figured she must simply be growing up faster than I liked, but she never failed to remind me she was still the same sweet little girl I'd come to know and love.

As night began to take over the three of us returned to the center. Luca had caught me daydreaming a couple times as she practiced and since I had been thinking of her I had to fight a soft blush in my cheeks when she asked why I was staring. "Just watching!" Was all I could reply, and each time she gave me a soft shy smile as she went back to work.

Finally I decided to call it a night and went up to stop a panting Luca from continuing. "Come on. Lets get some rest." I said as I laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright." She replied simply and fell into step with Lady and I. Along the way I once again praised her effort and progress, getting her to smile proudly as she walked a little closer.

It wasn't long before we reached the center and headed for the shower for a quick rinse. Lady was the easy one, with a detachable shower head I just rinsed off all her fur and tails to get the dust out and she dried herself. Luca however... I realized I hadn't bathed with since she evolved.

My Lucario came in when Lady appeared in the room, but a quick look at the tub and we both realized our normal bath routine would be quite awkward with her new size. Let alone as I looked her over and tried to think of a solution I remembered seeing her sopping wet earlier that morning... She was more feminine now and though she was a pokemon and I'd raised her from a pup, I found myself unable to shake an attraction to her...

"U-Umm... Did you? Want to shower alone?" I stuttered softly and she looked down. She saw I was blushing and assumed she should be embarrassed as well. She looked back at me with a bit of a pout and her ears back as she shook her head no, which only made my blush deepen. "Ok." I answered and started the water to let it warm. When it had I held Luca's paw and let her in first. I still wore my trunks out of habit now so thankfully Luca wasn't getting a lesson in human anatomy just yet... but I had to focus on not looking down her form as we both stood in the cascade.

"I-I don't know how to wash my new body yet..." She admitted shyly, hoping I'd still help her.

"It's ok." I answered simply and gave her a soft smile as I rubbed between her flattened ears. I took the shower head once again and started to go over her from head to toe. However, I handed the head to her so she could do her front... "It's just like before, but you're taller now." I said kindly, trying to sound calm and confident for her. She nodded softly and turned around to face me.

"Will that thingy reach my back still?" She asked, referring to the sponge on a stick I'd gotten for her to lather her fur when she wished to bathe alone.

"Of course. You have longer arms now. You can reach the same as before." I said with a smile, keeping my eyes on hers.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, sensing my unease, and noticing my rather focused gaze.

"L-Luca umm... I think I need to talk to you about boys and girls..." I stammered shyly before turning to shut off the water and open the curtain. She looked confused but I could see the blush under her cheek fur. She knew what I was talking about...

"Lady told me some already..." She admitted, hoping to maybe spare my obvious nervousness about the topic. It worked a little bit... but the fox wasn't exactly discrete and I wound up more worried about what my little girl had been told.

"Ok... so you know the differences then. But Luca you... You're umm..." I replied as I held out a towel for her. She took it and started to dry off like she had many times before but she remained focused on me, listening intently. "You're... more grown up now and... you know how I always let you wash between your legs?" I tried to continue, managing to blurt out something to get me started. She nodded and looked down, holding her paws in front of her femininity as she started to piece together why I was being shy. I couldn't quite tell but I almost thought I saw a smile of appreciation flash on her muzzle as she looked back to me.

It was a little harder now to ignore her body since she was bigger. "That's your special place and... now you have another..." I continued, getting a quizzical look in return. "These..." I tried to indicate, cupping invisible breasts on me and admittedly looking rather silly.

Luca blinked and looked down at the mounds on her chest. She hadn't seemed to realize they were there or that they were important until now, but since I seemed so bothered by them she was suddenly embarrassed by them. She brought her paws up to try and cover them, not sure what else to do, but this left her lower parts exposed. In an effort to help I took the towel she'd forgotten about and wrapped it around her like a tube. She looked up at me thankfully but was still full of questions.

"This is... only when I'm wet still right...? You don't mind when I'm dry?" She asked with a bit more confidence, getting me to blush crimson. I had my own views on pokemon and humans and yes... I'd gotten intimately close with Lady over the years but... Luca was almost human, and I realized right then that was the reason this was so difficult. I'd never been very good with human women. It didn't matter so much before because Luca was almost like a puppy in a way, but now... my insecurities were being revealed to my dear Luca.

"I-I don't mind at all sweetie... I-I mean! Y-yes... It's just. It's your body." I stammered, realizing quickly what I'd said as my blush endured. Despite my reaction she smiled and relaxed a little.

She made sure her private areas were dry before she ambushed me with a quick hug. I was still a bit flustered from our talk but I could never push her away. No matter how embarrassed I was. With a giggle she hurried out into the room to jump on the bed with Lady.

Despite our talk Luca still snuggled up close to me as we got ready for bed. I actually wouldn't have had it any other way but the thoughts from before still lingered in my head. It made sense now... Since she'd evolved I was actually physically attracted to her! The last thing I wanted though was to ruin our relationship... I loved her dearly and I wanted to see her happy. I'd never forgive myself if I took advantage of her trust and niavity. Still... with her cuddled close to me I hoped nothing would ever change between us. She was my sweat little girl, even if she did have the body of a grown lady Lucario...

When I woke up the next morning I found the girls already getting ready for the day. Luca was stretching while Lady sniffed around in my bag, apperantly looking for a snack. I hurried to get dressed and gather my things so we could grab a bite to eat in the lobby before heading to the arena. This time we were third in the line up so we waited and watched our potential opponants pokemon. Luca seemed the most intent once again as she focused on each of the battlers, trying to figure out what she could do to help me win.

Our battle wasn't nearly as interesting as the day before. My opponent had a Mightyena and a Magneton, which gave us a massive type advantage. Lady had fire over steel and Luca had fighting over both of them so we easily won. The girls did still manage to give the audience a good show and they went wild when Luca and Lady won the match. Luca even got the chance to show off her aura sphere attack as well, something she'd been wanting to do since she started trying to use her aura.

As was the case yesterday there were still too many matches left for the next round to finish in the same day. With the rest of the day off once again we spent our time much the same as the day before. Though Luca was much more confident in her pulses now and only practiced for an hour rather than 4. When it got to be dusk we decided to end our day on the town and made our way back to the pokemon center after grabbing some dinner. It was still too early to go to bed so I figured I'd treat the girls to a nice bath and massage.

Lady loved my occasional massages, though I think she was happier about having silky fur from the brushing that went with it. Once again though I had to fight my embarrassment with Luca... Despite the night before she asked if I would help get her back. I couldn't say no, so after dawning my trunks I helped her out. Thankfully she tried to be a little more discrete. I got the feeling from her behaviour she had managed to decode what I was trying to convey the night before. She was her own person and her body was her own. Although she did insist she return the favor by helping me wash as well... She never mentioned my trunks though as she helped me get my back and giggled as she played with the shampoo in my long hair. It was something she'd never gotten to do before since she had never been able to reach. It still amazed me how adorably inoccent and cute she was, even as a Lucario.

With our bathes out of the way I turned on the TV for a bit of distraction as I continued to pamper my girls. Luca helped me with Lady by admiringly brushing each of her nine tails. Lady was in heaven as I gently and slowly worked my way across her body, worming my fingers through her fur to press and rub at the tense muscles underneath. As I worked Luca watched the fox make a complete fool of herself. She murred and groaned as she stiffened and relaxed, rolling over to let me get her belly and letting her leg kick in reflex.

Luca giggled, rarely getting the chance to see her adoptive mother so lucid. As I rubbed Lady's hind legs all the way to her hip though I failed to notice Luca watching to see if I was as embarrassed about females as I apparently was with her. There was a tinge of sad jealousy in the air as my fingers and gaze brushed past the fox's private place and never once showed the aversion I had with Luca the day before. Never the less I was oblivious to my Lucario's private observation as I finished, leaving Lady panting happily and already nearly asleep on the bed.

"Your turn Luca!" I said with a cheerful smile as I dug my hands playfully into her sides. Lost in her thoughts I'd caught her off gaurd and she yelped loudly as she squirmed to escape the tickling touch.

I was surprised when she looked back at me with a soft growl and a deep blush in her cheeks. I had to wonder just what she'd been thinking of... "Do it again and I'll get you back..." She answered with a soft smile, her tail wagging gently as she returned more to her normal self.

"Oh alright... Come here." I replied with a kind smile and shifted so she could sit in front of me.

Her body was new to me so I went slow and started on her neck. Having grown used to my hands being able to wrap almost all the way around her torso as a pup, she was surprised at how much better it felt to actually have my finger tips massage her muscles. She was quite tense when I started but she melted like butter as I moved to rub her neck.

"Nnnn... That feels so good Feli..." She moaned as I firmely worked the muscles in her neck, working out any knots I could find. I simply smiled as I continued, loving the way her eyes had shut and her ears laid back.

There wasn't much I could do to her head that wouldn't hurt but soft strokes across the fur got me to her rigid ears where I could rub harder. Once more she murred as she sighed in bliss, trying to fight the urge to twitch her ears against my hands. With her ears done I reached for a very soft brush to groom her head ornaments. I'd found out soon after she'd been given to me that these were very sensitive parts of her body as a riolu, and later I read they had been found to be a sensory organ linked to her species abilities. Ever since then I'd treated them like they were glass.

However I couldn't help blushing a bit hearing Luca gasp as I brushed the tear drop organs. When touched lightly it seemed to feel amazing for her, and she always loved the quick groomings I gave her. She wiggled a little on the bed as I continued, paying attention to each of the four and being sure to brush them thoroughly. She was panting by the time I finished and set the brush aside, giving them each one last run over with my hand before continuing. Luca tensed with each stroke and shivered softly. She was very protective of her teardrops, and once even beat up a machop for tugging one... but she'd told me before she loved having me groom them and after I'd learned they were tender she never once protested to me touching them.

"Th-thank you..." She whimpered softly and shyly as she looked over her shoulder at me. My thumbs were rubbing across her spine as I gave her a loving smile.

"It's not over yet." I said innocently, oblivious to just how much more she enjoyed the grooming of her teardrops now that she was a Lucario. I saw the blush in her cheeks as she faced forward again and murred with my continued massage. I had to wonder what I'd done to embarrass her so much but I shrugged it from my mind and slowly worked my way down her back.

With her being larger now, I could feel just how much tension she held in her muscles. It took me quite a while to get her shoulder blades and lower back to relax before I went to work down her arms. She was in excellent physical condition and I could feel her toned muscles beneath her furred skin. She let her arms go limp and though her breaths were still a bit heavy she watched as I took her paw in my hands. Once more her ears went back as I rubbed her pads, getting in between each and exploring my way around her metal wrist spike.

When I'd finished with one arm I started on the other with her paw, offering my hand for her to give it to me. She smiled as she gave it to me, though she flexed the one I'd finished to enjoy the feeling of the newly relaxed muscles.

Moving on she murred as I finished with her left shoulder and ran my hands down to her lower back. "Lay down for me ok?" I asked, finding it a bit awkward to continue while sitting behind her. She nodded softly and shifted to give me my request, laying front down on the bed.

As I watched I smiled as I enjoyed the beauty of her pose. Not wanting to pause for too long I leaned over and started to rub down her back once more. My fingers traced half circles near her sides and I felt her stiffen as I approached those ticklish areas again. I could see she was trying not to protest so I slowed a bit and lightened my strokes, letting her relax more.

Soon enough I came to her rump, and though it wasn't one of those places I'd told her to respect I still avoided those blue furred cheeks. Instead I favored her tail, an appendage that... especially with a ninetales as my first pokemon, I absolutely loved. I slid my hand around the base and as if on cue she giggled and starte to wag it back and forth. I chuckled in return as I took her brush again and started combing through her fur. The crook on the end of her tail was particularly fun to play with. It straightened as I ran my hand down it, so it wasn't like the bones had broken or bent, it simply seemed to be the natural way a Lucario's tail hung. I couldn't stop myself from laughing as I continued to run over it, getting Luca to arch and look back.

"What's so funny...?" She whined, looking at me curiously as I played with her tail.

"Oh nothing... Spoink!" I teased, pulling her tail straight and letting it spring back as I exclaimed spoink.

"Now I see why you're not allowed to play with Lady's tails anymore..." She growled playfully, though she had an embarrassed tinge to her cheeks. I laughed because in a way she was right, though I knew I still had to continue...

I tried to seem like nothing was wrong as I let her tail twitch free of my grasp. When she was a Riolu I had been able to do her leg massages quickly and with the excuse to myself that my hands were so big by comparison I was bound to get close to something private... Now though, my anxiety seemed apperant as I started to rub her legs closer to her knee than her hip. She never looked back at me though and her tail continued to sway gently with the pleasant rubs down her legs.

"Could you roll over?" I asked softly. Luca's ear twitched as she opened her eyes and smiled, happy to oblige. We shifted on the bed once more so she was sitting up at the head of the bed and I was at her feet. "Feel like a queen yet?" I teased with a smirk, earning a giggle in response.

"Be quiet and continue to rub my feet good sir!" She mocked with a deliberately exaggerated regal, commanding tone.

"Yes my liege!" I answered humbly and set about diligently massaging each pad as she laughed then gritted her teeth, trying not to kick as I wormed a finger between those pads, tickling her a little. I did the same with the other foot as well before looking up at her with a smile and letting her go. When it was over she stretched as far as she could before crawling on the bed to me and hugging me tight.

"That felt wonderful." She murred as her tail wagged happily when I returned her embrace. I just smiled and rubbed her back softly for a moment before she let me go. As we'd grown accustomed we snuggled down in the bed where Lady was already asleep. Luca wasn't done thanking me though and as she hugged my arm to her she leaned up and gave me an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Before I could reqact she snuggled against my shoulder with her ears back, acting like she was already asleep though by the strength of her grip I could tell she wasn't. I blushed softly at the gesture but couldn't be outdone... I leaned over gently and gave her a kiss on the forehead in return. A soft smile curled across her lips as she cuddled me a little tighter.

"Goodnight sweetie." I whispered in her ear and saw the covers bump as her tail wagged once. It wasn't much longer before we were both happily asleep.

The next day the three of us woke together, got ready and headed out of the pokemon center toward the park next to the arena. As we walked I couldn't help but notice how happy Lady and Luca both looked. They were confident and smiling as we strolled the streets. I knew today would be a tough day though. We were down to the last three rounds of the tournament and if we won our first match we would be in the semifinals later in the afternoon. The finals were scheduled for tomorrow, but with how the girls were looking I had no doubts that they were ready to give it their all. It wasn't long before we reached the park and our normal warm up. After that I sat back and watched as the girls had some fun sparing on their own.

Lady was still stronger than Luca, and yes she had a type advantage, but Luca wasn't too far behind. As the time for our match grew closer I had the girls practice their hardest attacks. For Lady it was her new attack heat wave, and for Luca it was her aura sphere. Lady managed to fire her attack perfectly the first try, and once she knew she could do it she continued to put more and more power behind the attack. Luca also managed to fire a perfect aura sphere right off the bat, but trying to power up and control the sphere was proving to be a challenge. Her second try buzzed and exploded in mid air after she'd tried to arc it into a target disk. She looked disappointed and a little frustrated until Lady once again stepped in to help. Luca looked to me and nodded she was ready so I tossed another disk. The Lucario seemed much more at ease as she patiently summoned another buzzing and crackling ball of energy. I figured Lady had simply told her she was trying too hard.

When Luca's eyes flashed open they locked on the disk. With a graceful spin and a rather impressive growl Luca hurled the ball with perfect form. The sphere flew through the air for a moment before it darted off towards its target at an increased speed and angle. It hit the disk but didn't stop there... The disk was simply vaporized as the ball continued to hurtle back towards the ground.

"Flamethrower!" I yelled for Lady and a split second later a jet of flame struck the ball, exploding it harmlessly about 50 feet in the air. Stunned I looked back to Luca who had her paws over her mouth. I knew that look and expected what came next...

"Oops..." She meeped before snickering softly. She was so proud of the attack she couldn't find it in herself to be upset.

"What am I going to do with you...?" I said mockingly with a sigh and a shrug, making her laugh again. "I guess it's my fault. No more cheap targets." I said with a smile as she grinned back, wagging her tail. With that I was satisfied they had their attacks down pat so we made our way to the arena.

Along the way I was running over our strategy in my head. I had heard rumors of my opponent circulating and none of it was good. All of them were either about how ruthless or strong he was. I was a little worried at first but with what Luca and Lady had just shown me I couldn't help but have confidence.

Since we'd done this a few times lately Luca had grown accustomed to the roar of the crowd as we entered, but that didn't stop her from enjoying it any less. She walked proudly with Lady to places as our opponent appeared at the other side. He was a short guy with spiky hair and a blue jacket, the bottom of which was decorated with lightning bolts. As he sent out an Empoleon and a Rotom his wardrobe suddenly made sense.

"This isn't going to be easy..." I muttered to myself as I tried to think of a plan. Luca defiantly had the type advantage with her pulse attacks, but that ghost wasn't going to be an easy target.

All ghost pokemon had the ability to fade from sight; it wasn't because of their speed it was just because they were all immaterial. It made them a formidable opponent and unless you could find a way to detect them while they were invisible you wouldn't have an easy time defeating them. Fortunately the pokemon had to rematerialize to attack, no one knew exactly why, although some scientists had theories, but something always made them visible again. I'd noticed in her battle with the ghastly earlier this week that Luca seemed to be able to feel out her opponents, but she wasn't skilled enough yet to use that ability in a fast paced battle.

The judge asked each of us if we were ready and with that once again began the match. Luca and Lady took off using quick attack to close the gap between our opponents, just as we had planned. It was a complete 180 from our previous strategy, which I hoped would confuse our opponent. I usually wasn't the one to rush in head long but this time it worked to our advantage. He immediately had his ghost disappear and start moving while his Empoleon turned to face Luca. I thought the ghost would be trying to get close to Lady so I told her to jump and fire a flamethrower at Empoleon. She obliged but the immense bird simply sidestepped the blast as if it were nothing, though despite his calm demeanor it was a very close call.

The Rotom reappeared in the center of the field and I saw a grin come across his trainers face. Right away I knew this was bad... I had left Lady wide open! He gave his command and the ghost fired a thunderbolt attack at Lady. Like I said, this was bad, she wasn't grounded and that meant she would get hit full force. She howled in pain as she took the attack and landed unsteadily, her muscles still twitching softly against her control as she stood there. In the nick of time she managed a quick leap, narrowly avoiding an incoming thunder attack from the ghost.

Meanwhile Luca had the Empoleon locked in paw to fin combat. Empoleon easily deflected her sharp jabs and punches with his huge shield like arms and probably thought Luca was week because of it, but Luca's strength wasn't physical... and it was our turn to do some damage.

"Now!" I yelled to Luca and she stopped her jab inches away from the Empoleon's shield. The penguin pokemon was so used to the block and parry routine that he barely noticed the missing hit. His shield moved out of the way as he prepared to block another punch, but instead Luca had an aura sphere trained on his chest. Shock flashed in his face as she fired the sphere, sending the massive bird sliding backwards and very nearly knocking him off his feet. Luca smiled proudly as she gave a calming sigh. Her muscles relaxed for a split second before her eyes flashed to the side. With a swift and graceful back flip she avoided a second thunder attack from the rotom fighting Lady.

Lady soon joined Luca at center field with another leap to distance herself from Rotom. I knew Lady had taken quite a hit but not near as bad as what Luca just did to that Empoleon. Probably the only reason he was still standing was because of his resilient steel type even thought that's what got him in such a mess in the first place.

With the break in the action Rotom took the chance to disappear again while his teammate regained composure. It wasn't long though before he reappeared high above the field to launch a thunder bolt attack at the girls. Still side by side they simultaneously jumped backwards, making their way closer to me. I knew they needed some help so I took the chance to offer some strategy.

"Good job with detect." I said first to Luca, getting a sway of her tail before she refocused on watching the ghost. "Right. Let's take out Empoleon first. Then we can wait on the ghost. You're doing fine, we got this." I encouraged, though I was a bit worried. This guy was going for blood with those thunder attacks... "Let's go! Quick attack!" I barked, sending them off as a lightning bolt crashed into the ground just a foot in front of me where the girls had been standing.

The Empoleon across the field still seemed a bit dazed by the aura sphere. It seemed a bit strange he hadn't launched an attack and was still reeling from Luca's hit, but I forced it from my mind. My girls needed me watching out for them.

As the girls closed in on the large penguin his attitude finally changed. With a roar he planted his feet and swung up his arms for his first attack. The claws on both of his massive arms began to glow as he charged a metal claw. Neither Lady or Luca faltered though as they rushed him, noting which arm was coming at whom. Lady easily counted his hit with a brilliant flash and swing of her tails. A sharp metallic ping rang out across the stadium as metal claw hit iron tail, causing some spectators to cover their ears.

Luca on the other hand, expertly ducked the claws and with a growl, shoved another aura sphere into the bird's chest from below. It was a solid hit but the odd angle kicked up a cloud of dust around the battlers. I knew that Empoleon was tough but there was no doubt in my mind Luca had taken him out with that hit. I had to watch for the ghost lest the girls get ambushed as the dust cleared. My efforts were all for naught though. It was an agonizing ten seconds of searching before a crackling dark pulse flew from the dust cloud, followed by a heat wave attack that managed to fizzle away some of the obscuring haze.

Luca knew perfectly well which attacks would be more effective on a ghost, but unless she could hit it they did little good. Even before the dust had completely burned away, Luca and Lady jumped back to about mid field on our side. I yelled for Luca to charge a dark pulse and an aura sphere. She obliged and flicked her wrists quickly, charging the respective attacks. She and Lady were rigid and still except for their swiveling ears, watching their surroundings intently for any sign of the ghost. With just a little bit of the dust still hanging in the air I noticed a static spark.

"There!" I yelled, quickly followed by Luca's reaction. "Heat wave!" I instructed Lady as my Lucario fired the aura sphere followed by the dark pulse. My ninetales obliged, growling as she flared her tails and sent a blistering wave of heat in that direction. As I suspected the aura sphere went straight through the ghost pokemon, but it did its job. The ghost had to rematerialize from the "harmless" strike and the dark pulse exploded in its face as it did. Lady's attack was next to hit, but when the distortion from the heat faded I couldn't believe my eyes...

The Empoleon was still up! It rose to its feet behind the ghost just quick enough to use protect after the dark pulse hit. Lady's attack hadn't hit either one! The bird immediately let down the shield as soon as the danger had passed and shot a brutal Hydro Cannon directly at Lady. Stunned as well Lady was frozen as she stared at the immense jet of water heading straight for her. Being a fire type the attack would defiantly do some damage, but Empoleon had put way to much power behind it... I yelled for Luca, but she was already moving. Though she was steps away each seemed like a mile as she moved to intercept the attack. With her arms crossed in front of her face she braced herself as the torrent hit her full on.

As the figure in front of her registered my fox snapped from her daze. "Lady get out of there!" I yelled as I realized the ghost had reappeared high above Luca... I knew this was bad. Luca was sopping wet as she was stuck fending off the hydro cannon and the ghost was charging an electric attack! I saw Luca's ear twitch towards me as Lady reluctantly left Luca's side. Somehow I could tell Luca felt a little betrayed at my command to Lady. She knew the ghost was up there as well but... there was nothing me or my fox could do to protect her.

"Luca! Endure!" I yelled quickly, hoping she would forgive me for what was coming.

The Lucario's ears perked at her name and I knew she heard me but even as the water jet weakened a bolt of lightning was halfway to her. The next instant a deafening crack rang out in the stadium as the attack hit, enveloping Luca in a blinding light.

It was agonizing not knowing what happened. If she had managed to pull it off we were ok, but if not she was in real trouble... Lady was horrified as well but as I yelled with a rather harsh tone for her to use fire blast she once more focused on Empoleon.

A vicious snarl crossed her lips as smoke and flames poured from between her teeth. In a flash she unleashed a massive gout of flame at the penguin. The Empoleon tried to use protect but seeing the feral ferocity of the fox unnerved the pokemon and it failed. Green sparks were all that flashed and a split second later he was enveloped in a blistering X of flame. The ground around and between him and Lady had been fused into a glittering glass, a testament to my panting fox's anger as the bird finally keeled over, unconscious and badly burned.

With Empoleon taken care of I turned back to see if Luca was alright. It had only been a few seconds since the flash but to my surprise... there was nothing where she had been standing. She was gone! I looked around the field frantically before a black explosion of energy overhead brought me to look up. There, about 70 feet in the air was Luca! She had leapt to try and catch the ghost with a dark pulse, and though it had frantically dissipated and escaped her vantage gave me an idea.

"Luca! Hit the arena with an aura sphere!" I yelled. Her gaze flashed to me and with a quick nod she charged the bright blue ball. Astounded Luca was still moving Lady barely managed to scramble closer to me as the Lucario threw her signature attack straight down with a mid air flip.

With Lady mere feet from me the bomb exploded as it hit the ground, shrouding the entire field in a cloud of dust. I couldn't see much but a dark figure landed about 20 feet away from Lady and I and fell to its hands and knees. "Behind you! Lady, Pin point your heat wave!" I ordered frantically, seeing a spark as the ghost started to reform in the dust like before. I was too slow... Luca froze as I yelled, knowing she couldn't react in time as the fur on her back prickled with a building electricity.

It felt like someone had stabbed my heart as I helplessly watched the scene unfold. Lady had reacted as fast as she could but Luca's scream pierced the air as the point blank thunder attack coursed through her. With its focus though, the ghost sealed its fate. Its power expended it tried to fade back into shadow but wailed in pain as the air around it boiled. A part of me was actually disappointed it fainted so soon after getting hit... but that hardly registered as I stared at my crumpled Lucario on the ground.

I wanted so badly to run out and make sure she was alright, but I couldn't. If I set foot on that field for anything other than self defense we'd be disqualified and all her effort would be for nothing. The dust cleared in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours...

Finally, the judge the Rotom was unconscious and Lady was still standing. He waved his flag and I was running before the buzzer even sounded. Lady wasn't far behind but I actually beat her there. Our little Luca was still breathing, but was badly hurt. I quickly scooped her in my arms and hurried out of the arena towards the pokemon center. Despite our victory and the intense battle, no one cheered. There was an eerie silence as my opponent and I cleared the field. I heard him curse at his pokemon as he withdrew them and my stomach turned... People like that made me sick, no regard for their pokemon what so ever. I didn't spare a second thought for him though as I carried Luca to the center as fast as I could.

Thankfully, as we exited the arena Luca managed to weakly open her eyes and look up at me. She seemed surprised to be in my arms and meekly asked if we had won. I smiled as best I could, but couldn't hold back the tears in my eyes. Even after taking a hit like that all she wanted to do was make me happy...

"We did, now shh... You'll be ok." I answered gently and cradled her close, earning a light smile before she passed out again and resting her head against my chest.

We entered the center where I quickly laid Luca down on a stretcher for Nurse Joy. I knew Lady needed some attention as well so she followed Joy into the back. I knew the girls would be ok but all I could do was in the hall waiting for what seemed like and eon. Sure there were magazines around but... my mind was preoccupied. All I could think about was if I should be putting the ones I cared about through competitions like this. Battling nice people in a friendly competition was alright but the more I participated in them with my girls the more I thought these competitions were too... competitive. Lady had always convinced me she wanted to battle, that it was something that came naturally for her and she would miss if she couldn't. But now that I had Luca to worry about, I couldn't help but feel I was wrong to be doing this. If that ghost had really wanted to... it could have killed her. I quite simply didn't know what I'd do if I ever lost either of my girls in a battle...

Eventually my daze was snapped when Nurse Joy came out with a smile, saying that both of them would be fine and ready to go this evening after some rest. With that she led me into the room to be with my girls. Lady was conscious and as always, happy to see me. She and Luca looked a lot better, I had to admit Nurse Joy did good work. All signs of the battle were erased from them except for one thing, Luca's paws were bandaged around her wrist spikes.

"What's wrong with her paws?" I asked Joy softly.

"She had some burns around the metal. They'll take another treatment later to fully heal but she'll be fine." Joy answered and indicated a seat between the beds for me. I took the offer and thanked her for all her help. Joy nodded and left us alone as I started to pet Lady where she lay.

About an hour later Lady gave a soft whine as she shifted her gaze from Luca to me. I knew she was worried but all I could say was that she was ok as I kept stroking the fox's ears and mane. She seemed to take solice in my words but exhaled deeply as she continued to watch our Lucario sleep.

Four hours later, Luca finally started to stir. She blinked her eyes against the bright lights of the ER and slowly tried to sit up to look around. Afraid to leave, I had dozed off with my head resting on her arm. Feeling the pressure Luca looked over to find lady and I asleep. She wondered if something was wrong and gently moved her other paw to wake me. She stopped though when she saw the bandages. It was about then that Lady woke and raised her head. Seeing Luca awake she wasted little time leaping to the other bed and giving Luca's face a liberal tongue bath...

When the bed jerked I bolted upright, pulled violently from my rest by the girls. got Luca laughing as she tried to ward off the sudden attack.

Seeing Luca laugh allowed me to relax a bit, if she was laughing she wasn't seriously hurt. I got up, and sat next to her on the bed with a bit of a sad expression. Lady stopped playing and Luca folded her arms in her lap before asking me what was wrong. I was on the verge of tears when I finally managed to say, "I'm sorry..." She continued to look at me and innocently asked, "For what?" All I could do was stare at her with a blank expression, how could she not know "what". I managed to say, "For putting you in that position! For getting you seriously hurt! What else!" as I looked back down at the floor. She finally realized how hard I was taking this and put her paw on my back. I still couldn't bring myself to face her after what I had just put her through. She began rubbing my back a little and said "It's alright I know you'd never purposely do that. Plus its just part of the battle sometimes we have to take hits right?" She was right in that aspect, but I had always managed to avoid those positions in the past, why couldn't I now.

Luca continued to console me and before long I was feeling a little better. Lady decided to try and lighten the mood and covertly reached a tail around to tickle me. She knew me way to well and found the one spot that when touched I couldn't help but laugh. I managed to stifle the laugh but it wasn't enough and she knew she had me. I still felt bad about what had happened to Luca but there was no use fighting it now. Luca was about to join in on making me laugh when I lunged to try and pin both of them before they got the upper hand. This was pretty pointless as Luca was much stronger than me and managed to easily escape and Lady had nine appendages that I couldn't possibly hope to contain. A split second after I had tried to pin them they had me on my back and pinned on the bed with menacing looks on their faces. I managed to say "Ok...Ok I know when I'm beat!" and they released me (they just wanted to make sure I knew who was really in charge). I wiped my eyes and gave both my girls a hug, whispering in their ears that I was glad they were ok.

We then walked out of the emergency room together. Nurse Joy was glad to see that everyone was alright, including me, and wished us luck in our match as we exited the center, and headed for the arena. After the last match I wasn't sure what to expect. I had been so worried about Luca that I had forgotten to see who had even won the second match. Luckily we were able to win the match without the hardship of last time. Luca and Lady had taken some hits but not near enough to even faze them. I was very relieved that this hadn't turned out as bad as that damned electric ghost. After we had been declared the winners and the first team to enter the finals we made our way back to the pokemon center. I got the girls healed up again then we headed for our room.

When I closed the door I turned around and raised my hands. I looked at the girls and said "Well we did it we're in the finals!" This got a smile from Luca who was tiredly lying on the bed and a happy yip from Lady who was sitting on the ground beside the foot of the bed. I knew we were all beat from the rough day so I gave the girls a nice hot bath and another massage. I took it easy with the massages since I knew the girls were most likely sore from the battles. With all of this done we settled down for the night. Luca and Lady both snuggled in close to me to make sure I knew that they didn't blame me for anything that had happened. We quickly fell asleep, with me being the last. As I faded off I thought again of how lucky I was to have them both.

The next day we slept in till about 1:00 pm. We were all pretty wired for this last match, we were only one battle away from wining this thing. There was one problem though. We would be facing a fighting type and a dragon, which meant we would be at a pretty severe disadvantage. The final round began at 6:00 pm so we had plenty of time to practice and prepare. Luca and Lady didn't know who our opponents were, nor did they know we were at a disadvantage, but by about 3:00 both of them had picked up that I was worried about something. Luca was the one to ask me if the finals were bothering me, but I knew that Lady was sharing the same concern. I sat down on a nearby park bench, while the two of them stood in front of me awaiting an explanation. I started out by telling them who our opponents were. A Hariyama (fighting type) and a Dragonite (a dragon/flying), when they heard this they understood why I was worried. We had no type advantage in this fight, and no attacks that would be super effective.

Well that wasn't exactly true. Luca would be learning dragon pulse in a few levels, but I wasn't going to push her into learning it so quickly, nor could I. It always took some practice to learn a new attack and this would be no exception. So in light of this fact I wasn't going to mention it to her, because if I did she would most likely blame herself if we lost.

They now knew why I was a bit down, but it didn't faze them at all, and they were soon back to their normal prebattle selves. I only wished I could be that carefree, all I could think of was me ending up repeating my mistakes and getting one of them hurt again. I tried to shake those thoughts off and promised myself not to let that happen again, not to either of them, ever again...

As the battle drew closer I helped the girls warm up in what little ways I could. They were looking great, and this helped raise my spirits. Before I knew it we were back in the entrance tunnel heading towards our final battle. We took our places, as did our opponents.

The judge waved his flags to start the fight and... no one moved. I spared a look over to Dragonite. He was sizing up Luca no doubt trying to determine if she knew the one attack that could take him out easily. Satisfied that she did not know dragon pulse the dragon turned and nodded to his trainer. Luca and Lady were both on edge and could sense that things were ready to kick off. Not long after, our two opponents took off. Hariyama ran full speed at Luca and Dragonite began flying above the field. Lady kept an eye on the flying pokemon, but knew to help Luca out first. On my command she fired a flamethrower right in front of Luca to form a barrier between her and the closing Hariyama. Hariyama stopped to avoid the sudden outburst. Luca had taken her cue and charged a strong water pulse, and as soon as Hariyama stopped on the other side of the flames she fired the pulse through Lady's attack. Hariyama was surprised by the flames but reacted quick enough to block Luca's pulse with his enormous hand. After Hariyama blocked Luca's attack Lady quickly stopped her attack and dodged a dragon rage attack from Dragonite. Luca had managed to put some space between her and her opponent and Lady used quick attack right after her dodge to get back to back with Luca.

They were close to center field and right between their opponents... just as we had planned... The four pokemon were staring each other down, it was a perfect stand off. Luca flicked her wrists and charged a dark pulse and a water pulse, one in each paw, while still in a fighting stance facing Hariyama. Lady began charging a fire blast in her clenched jaw, and a small trail of smoke began to rise from between two of her exposed teeth. The girls quietly counted down together ... 3...2...1...GO!

Hariyama started a quick attack to try and close the gap between him and his opponents before they could attack, while Dragonite began a steep dive to close his gap. Luca and Lady spun in place keeping their backs together. In a fraction of a second they had reached 180 degrees rotation and fired their first attacks. Luca fired her dark pulse at the Dragonite then put her paw on Lady's back after Lady had fired a huge Fire Blast at Hariyama. The two continued their spin and reached their original positions to fire a second attack. Luca let the water pulse fly towards Hariyama, as Lady fired a heat wave attack at Dragonite.

Hariyama raised his guard for the fire blast attack that was careening toward him. His hands took the brunt of the attack but it did still hurt him. He unwittingly lowered his guard and got blasted off his feat by Luca's water pulse. Dragonite barrel rolled in mid air to avoid Luca's dark pulse and tried to change direction to avoid Lady's heat wave, but the heat wave managed to clip his wing. With his teammate down the dragon had to attack alone. He fired a powerful dragon breath at my girls, but Lady knew what to do and I didn't have to say a word. I watched as the girls were engulfed in bright blue green flames. Hariyama scrambled back to his feet while Dragonite landed and wondered if he had succeeded with his attack. As the flames began to die down Lady let down her shield. She had used protect in plenty of time to shield both her and Luca from Dragonite's attack.

As I watched I couldn't help but think that this was one of the best scenes I had ever seen. Lady was standing tall staring her dragon opponent down out of the corners of her eyes and Luca was standing in much the same way with her arms at her sides and the same look as Lady focused on Hariyama. Lady's tails were writhing in mid air, all of this coupled with the beautiful blue green flames made me wish I had a camera at that instant.

The girls knew that it was time to take the fight to our opponents, and get them on the defensive for a change. The flames died down enough for the girls to get through unharmed and they took off toward their respective targets. Dragonite began hovering again as Lady raced toward him. Little did any of us know that this match was about to get very serious for Luca.

She raced toward Hariyama charging a palette punch on her way. Just before she got within striking distance Hariyama's trainer yelled for him to use Knock off. At first I wondered why he would use that attack, but then I remembered... The belt I had given Luca for her birthday! Luca almost never took it off, so I had forgotten that it actually came off. Just as Luca let her attack go Hariyama ducked the attack and thrust his huge hand out at Luca's waist. The impact knocked her back a fair distance and onto her back, but as she had flown back Hariyama had wrapped his hand around her belt and pulled it off of her. Luca rolled with her momentum stopping upright and prepared for a second attack, but when she looked up at her opponent she saw Hariyama taunting her with her now missing belt. Her eyes got wide and her attention unconsciously went to her waist, trying to convince herself that this wasn't happening. She realized it was her belt and all I could do was watch as her heart sank. I saw a single tear fall from Luca's eye just before she looked up at her opponent. Hariyama locked eyes with her and suddenly froze. I managed to catch the look on her face and it even scared me. I had never seen this from Luca before. Her eyes were cold, and filled with rage. She stood up straight and remained there for a moment just glaring at Hariyama. The fat pokemon knew he was in for it now, and was no doubt regretting taunting her. Luca was standing in a completely open stance, no apparent guard in any direction just staring coldly at Hariyama, then... she vanished!!! And I mean completely dematerialized! Needless to say I was utterly confused and surprised, and so was every other participant in this battle, crowd and Lady included.

Hariyama's eyes got wide and he began to look around, wondering where she would attack him from. The crowd had fallen completely silent, Lady and Dragonite had dropped their guards to watch this spectacle, everyone wondered what had just happened and what was coming next. Hariyama froze in fear as he realized there was a blue aura emanating from behind him. Luca had reappeared behind the fat pokemon and was now holding an aura sphere half his size inches away from his back. She fired the enormous pulse which hit him and exploded, sending the fat pokemon flying nearly 30 yards before landing and skidding another ten foot before he came to rest unconscious in the dirt. Hariyama had dropped Luca's belt before she hit him but she was to mad to notice at that moment. She lowered her attacking arm just after she fired the pulse and turned her head to stare at Dragonite in the same way she had at Hariyama. Luca continued her glare and neatly flicked her wrists charging two pulses, but something was off they weren't the same color as her normal aura spheres they had a greenish tint to them.

The dragon had just watched his teammate get demolished and was not about to "let" that happen to him. He flew up higher to give Luca a harder time attacking him and fired a dragon rage toward her. She turned to face the attack, and stared it down. Just millimeters before the attack was going to hit her she vanished again, without even blinking. Dragonite began looking around trying to find her before she found him. It was far to late for that though and a green pulse hit the dragon square between the wings on his back knocking him off balance and into a second pulse that was coming almost simultaneously from in front of him. The shots both hit the dragon within a half a second of each other! The dragon was still flapping his wings and flying when the little bit of smoke cleared, but he was out of breath and barely staying airborne, and dropping in altitude slightly with every flap of his wings. He was still trying to find Luca and was completely ignoring Lady.

Lady was absolutely dumbfounded and wasn't entirely aware of what was going on, but I had managed to figure it out. Luca had gone up in level, just from watching her precious belt get stolen, and she was using two brand new attacks. Another second after the two pulses hit the dragon Luca appeared below him. The crowd was speechless but they knew what was coming, and so did Lady and I. Luca quickly charged a third green pulse, spun once, then threw the pulse straight up at the dragon. Dragonite realized there was a green glow beneath him and looked down just in time to get blasted in the jaw by the pulse. This was the last hit, dragonite's head was thrown back and he flipped in mid air before falling the remaining 20 feet to the ground, landing on his back unconscious. Satisfied Luca casually but firmly walked over to where her precious belt was lying in the dirt. She picked it up and brushed it off, before tying it tightly around her waist again. She looked over at the stupefied judge who suddenly snapped out of it and raised his flag to declare us the winner. "The victory goes to Luca, Lady, and their trainer Felix!" The crowd was silent at first, but then went absolutely wild. Lady and I couldn't believe what had just happened. My opponent had withdrawn Hariyama after he had been sent flying and tried to help Dragonite but there was nothing he could do. He withdrew Dragonite after a tense pause when Luca watched him drop. Luckily the dragon had landed on his back, and not his head.

When I snapped out of my stupor I ran out onto the field and hugged Luca who had gone back to making sure her belt was on tight. She was genuinely surprised to suddenly see me. While I embraced her I was yelling "You did it! We won the tournament!" She had calmed down a little bit since the end of the match, but I knew that she was still a bit hurt (emotionally). I released her but kept my hands on her shoulders and asked her quietly if she was alright. She was still somewhat surprised to see me but she managed a smile. I knew that meant she was ok for now so I grabbed her paw and raised it high for the crowd. Lady had made her way over to us. She understood why I went over to Luca first, and didn't mind at all. She was happily coalescing her tails behind her to show off for the crowd. The judge came out to us with three metals. He placed one around each of the girl's necks before placing the last around mine. Luca was now calmed down enough to enjoy the crowd's applause. She took it all in, then looked down at the medal around her neck. The crowds praise began to die down and we made our way to the exit.

By my choice we left by my opponent's tunnel. We managed to catch up with him just after he exited the facility. I ran up close to him and said "Hey are you ok?" He turned and gave me a look of surprise that asked "Why do you care?" Seeing that he was a bit confused I asked him how his pokemon were. He then understood why I had found him after the match. He replied "Ya, they'll be fine." Then turned to leave, but I caught his arm, I still wanted to explain. Meanwhile Luca was being shy and trying not to be noticed behind me. I had removed our medals and placed them in my pack. No need to rub salt in his wound. He turned back and looked at me in a way that said he would fight if he had to, but I released him when I had his attention. "Hey I wanted to apologize for what happened." I said and tried to explain. I turned halfway around forcing Luca to stop hiding. She bowed her head and apologized as well. I had to translate which probably just confirmed his thoughts about us being crazy, but he replied "It's ok, I know Hariyama pushes things to far. He always does and it gets him into trouble a lot. Anyway I better get going; maybe I'll see you again some time." "I hope so. See ya later!" I said as we both turned toward our destinations saying goodbye with a wave.

The girls and I proudly walked back to our room at the pokemon center. I could see that Luca was thinking about what she had done, even though she was trying not to show it. Lady and Luca could also see that the same thing was bothering me a little bit, but I didn't want to say anything until we were alone.

When we finally were alone in our room Luca locked me in a tight embrace and began sobbing managing broken "I'm sorry..."'s through her tears. I rubbed her back to calm her down, and kept telling her "It's ok, don't worry." After a while she calmed down enough to realize I wasn't mad. She was still sniffling when she tried to explain what had happened to her. "Just seeing that... fat lummox holding my belt... much less taunting me with it...just got me so angry... I just lost it!" she explained. I understood completely how she must have felt, and the more I thought about it the more I was impressed that she had the self control to not seriously hurt her opponents. If she really had been completely blind with rage Hariyama wouldn't have survived that blast.

She released her embrace on me, and we sat down on the bed together. I still had my left arm around her and was rubbing her shoulder to continue calming her as she rested her head on my shoulder. Lady had come to sit in front of us, wanting Luca to know she was there as well.

Lady was a bit uneasy in the back of her head though. She knew that with what Luca had done today she could beat Lady in an even fight. Lady however knew that Luca's new speed ability did have its limits. Luca would only be able to use the attack about 5 times in a match before she was completely exhausted. Luca didn't know this yet but that would come later when she started practicing again. For now though I just wanted her to know that everything was alright, no one had gotten... seriously... hurt, and no one blamed her for what happened. I knew that Luca and Lady must be tired from the match today, so once Luca was calmed down we got ready for bed. Just like last night Luca snuggled in close to me. Lady had taken her usual spot at the foot of the bed with her tails randomly spread over the bed. Before Luca fell asleep I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Just to let her know everything would be fine. She didn't open her eyes but I saw a tear role down her cheek as she smiled, and snuggled in closer before saying "I love you..." and falling asleep before I could answer back. Lady and I were soon to follow, exhausted from the day.