PokeGirls: Lucid Method

Gin

Gin opened his eyes and sat up, almost instantly awake. He didn't use an alarm clock, aside from his own internal one. Even so, he never overslept, he always woke up about the same time. In this case, just after dawn, when it still wasn't quite fully illuminated outside yet. T-elos was already awake as well, although that didn't surprise him. She didn't need to sleep all that much, even less that what he did. It didn't seem to be insomnia, just a Pokegirl species that didn't need very much sleep. The Titmouse, on the other hand, was still asleep. He debated waking it up, but decided against it. Instead, he just sent it back into it's PokeBall. Now that he'd Tamed her, he'd have to train her, turn her potential into ability.

He and T-elos ate a quick breakfast and then prepared to set out. This early in the morning, they wouldn't be interrupted by wild Pokegirls too often, making their chances of reaching town by the end of the day somewhat likely. Their supplies were running slightly low, and now that there was a third mouth to feed, they'd need to stock up anyways. So a quick stopover in Viridick, then they could focus on some heavy training. He'd find out just what sort of potential the Titmouse possessed.

It was a perfect morning, it didn't look like there was even a chance of rain breaking out. That didn't mean it couldn't happen, of course. Just that it wasn't all that likely to. The two set out, not bothering with conversation, instead enjoying the peace and quiet that came with such early morning activities. By the time the sun had fully shown itself, they had made good progress, covering quite a few miles. They had seen several Feral Pokegirls, but none of them had been foolhardy enough to challenge them. Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps it was just the little common sense remaining to their Taming-deprived minds, not to mess with a Steel type Pokegirl like T-elos.

But by the time noon had come and gone, some of the more desperate Pokegirls had made their presence known, and quite aggressively. Gin didn't waste time with most of them, aside from a cursory scan with his PokeDex. None of them had any worthwhile stats or abilities, so he let T-elos take care of them, wasting as little time as possible. Most of them were felled within moments, but several were smart enough to run when faced with such opposition.

After the most recent attacker had been taken care of, they took a moment to determine their position, see just how far away they were from the city. T-elos had downloaded quite a few maps of the area before they had started their journey, but they weren't precisely sure of their current position. T-elos calculated their area as near as she was able to determine, but there was a margin of error roughly equivalent to five miles. According to her calculations, that meant they had anywhere from three to fifteen miles to go before reaching the edge of the forest. The city was right at the edge of the forest, so it still seemed likely they'd reach it before dark.

They increased their pace, moving at a brisk pace through the somewhat dense forest. There was likely a path nearby in any direction, but it'd take time they didn't want to bother with, so they'd stick with their direct method. There was the added risk of more Feral Pokegirl encounters, but they didn't let that stop them, any that tried to hinder them was quickly forced to reconsider. With such motivation, they soon saw the forest grow more sparse, until finally it gave way and they reached it's edge. They came to a stop, and spent a moment looking across the scenery that was Viridick City.

Viridick was a bad town. Home to some of the most hardcore and conservative people in the land, ones who opposed anything that gave Pokegirls any more rights than was strictly necessary. Many of them mistreated Pokegirls as a matter of course, and the Gym even displayed the Pokegirls who'd lost, transformed into stuffed works of questionable taste. A distasteful town, they wouldn't be spending much time here. Just enough to buy supplies, and move on. It'd probably be a good idea to recall T-elos into her PokeBall, but Gin didn't. If anyone tried to object too forcefully, he'd make them see the error of their ways. He hoped it didn't come down to that, though. It was never a good idea to make enemies if it wasn't necessary.

Gin told T-elos to stay on guard, and she nodded quickly. She never actually let her guard down that he'd ever seen, but that didn't change the fact that forewarned was forearmed. They moved forward into town, and Gin used his PokeDex to scan a map of Viridick and get directions to the closest supply store. Once he had the directions, they headed straight there, ignoring the foul looks the citizens were casting their way. As long as the citizens didn't cause any trouble, they could glare all they wanted.

Of course, as they'd expected, the shopkeeper was rather reluctant to let them purchase anything, but, like all shopkeepers, money won out in the end. They were predictably overcharged, but Gin didn't make a scene, considering the extra charge was more to prevent any trouble rather than paying extra for the actual products. He put all the supplies in his bag, and left the shop. There was nothing else they needed to do within the city, so they immediately set out to leave, head north and see if they could find a better city to spend some time. For the moment, though, all they were focused on was leaving the city.

They left none too soon, Gin had the distinct feeling that if they'd tried to stay the night they would have befallen an 'accident'. Sleeping outside was a much better alternative. They kept moving until the sun started to go down, having managed to move far enough away from Viridick that it wasn't even visible any longer. Almost unnoticed, Gin relaxed somewhat, not as on edge now that they were in the relative safety of the wilderness. Rather ironic, that here, in the midst of Feral Pokegirls that wouldn't hesitate to attack, rape or eat anyone who crossed their path, that here of all places he felt safe. They pressed on a little further, just long enough to find a spot to settle down for the night. They were actually moving along the side of a road, and rest spots were frequent. It didn't take all that long to find a spot to settle down, and their tent was up shortly after.

Some of the supplies Gin had purchased had been real foodstuffs, not just the same rations he usually ate. They were certainly edible, and they'd keep you fed, but fresh food was much better, it possessed a wider range of vitamins and minerals. As well, it tasted a lot better. Gin set up the small portable stove, and had T-elos go get some water. They had their own, but it was a good idea to make their water supply last as long as they could. T-elos came back with a pair of buckets, full of fresh cool water. Soon, there was a pot of water boiling, and Gin set about preparing their meal. He released the Titmouse as well, so it'd have time to look around a little before it was time to eat.

Now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn't given the Titmouse a name. If he was going to be keeping her, even just long enough to train, he'd need to give her a name. But what would be a good one? While he tended to their meal, he thought about it, trying to find a good name. Several potential names were tossed out, he took naming his Pokegirls seriously. Admittedly, he hadn't actually named a Pokegirl before, T-elos had already had a name when they had first met up. And this was only his second Pokegirl, he hadn't found one worth keeping before now.

He looked at the Titmouse, busy moving around the edge of their camp, sniffing the air and just generally being skittish yet curious, the name hit him. He knew what he'd name her. He called her closer, and scratched behind her ear. He told her her name, and she seemed to like it. Or perhaps that was just the natural inclination a Pokegirl had for her Tamer. Either way, her name was now Shana. She snuggled against him, and he rubbed her back with his free hand while stirring their meal. It was pretty much ready, so he filled three plates and passed them around. Just simple fare, herb-boiled potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and greens, with a couple hard rolls.

The three of them ate, Shana didn't seem to have a problem with the meal this time. After a time, when she was halfway through her meal, she paused, setting her spoon down and looking at Gin for a long moment. She seemed to make a decision, and squeaked to get his attention.

"Shana wanted to thank Master for taking and Taming Shana."

Gin quirked his head, and then nodded. That must have been her first Taming the night before, it seemed Taming Shock had set in. It'd probably wear off soon enough, then perhaps she'd be able to refer to herself with pronouns. It wasn't a big problem, it usually went away on it's own. And it wouldn't cause any undue difficulty in their training, so he didn't pay it any mind. Instead, he just smiled and patted her head.

"It was my pleasure. But now that you're part of my Harem, I'll tell you now. I'm going to train you, train you hard. It won't be easy, but all I ask is that you do your best. You have great potential, I'm going to find out just how great."
"Yes, Master. Shana will do Shana's best!"

With that being said, she returned to her meal, digging in energetically, to show she'd do her best later as well. Gin nodded, she had a good attitude, he'd be able to train her well. They all finished eating, and Gin started cleaning up their dishes. Shana wanted to help, and he didn't stop her. They both went to the river and began washing their dishes, making a small depression in the sand near the water's edge, so they wouldn't pollute the waters any more than they had to. While Gin was scrubbing the dishes, he'd hand them to Shana to dry, and, aside from a few clumsy drops, they were done quickly. Luckily the dishes were all metal, so dropping wasn't a problem. Even so, Shana apologized over and over, vowing to do better next time.

They headed back to camp, finding T-elos standing guard waiting for Gin's return. Once they were back, she moved from her position where she'd been, facing the direction they'd gone off in. By now it was already dark out, so Gin said it was time for bed. The three of them went into the tent, and Shana wasted no time in curling up in a furry ball. Gin had been planning on calling her back into her PokeBall, but shrugged, He'd let her sleep outside tonight, but after training began tomorrow, he'd have to be more strict.

Slipping out of his clothes, he crawled into his sleeping bag, and watched T-elos withdraw her armor and lay down as well. He leaned his head back, and closed his eyes, preparing to go to sleep. It didn't take long, he fell asleep almost right away, as punctual at going to sleep as he was at waking up. The next village was still some time away, but first things first, he'd be busy training Shana for a few days, enough to try to find out just what this potential of hers was.