Chapter 032
Seeing Wanko enter his room in her usual t-shirt and dark blue buruma combo, caked in sweat, Leon remarked, "I appreciate you coming quickly, but you didn't have to rush over in your training outfit. I just wanted your advice and to potentially request a favor."
"Should I...come back later...?" asked Wanko, breathing a little heavily as she had sprinted over to the manor at top speed.
"No, but once you're done here, you're free to use the bath downstairs," said Leon. "For now, come over and take a look at this creature here. It's called a Vaporeon, one of the Pokemon from the Second Floor."
Stepping away from the doorway and approaching Leon's bed, Wanko's eyes glistened with curiosity until she got a good look at the Vaporeon, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she scratched her cheek and remarked, "It, uh...has some surprisingly human features..."
"Are you familiar with animals?" asked Leon. "Wil suggested I defer to you since you were aiming to become a Nutritionist in your previous life. I had a dog when I was a kid, but that's pretty far removed from a creature with fish and cat features that can expel water like a fire hose..."
"Can I touch it...?" asked Wanko.
"Go for it," replied Leon, feeling a little awkward as he appended, "Just be gentle."
Seemingly oblivious to Leon's unintentional innuendo, Wanko returned an affirming nod before tentatively touching the Vaporeon, running her right hand and palm along its side.
"Oh? I expected it to feel a little slimy, but it's cool and smooth..." noted Wanko, eventually transitioning from the Vaporeon's side to the muscles of her leg, or, more accurately, her butt.
"..."
As it was pretty normal to follow the contours of a cat's or dog's body when petting them, it wasn't until she felt the familiar sensation against her hand that Wanko realized she might have allowed her hand to wander a little too far. Fortunately, while he noticed her blunder, Leon didn't point it out, standing cross-armed and silent for several seconds before stating, "From what Wil and I could gather, her body appears to have slipped into a form of stasis as it redirects nourishment to the egg forming inside her."
Hearing Leon mention the word egg, Wanko instinctively looked toward the large brown-and-beige one next to the Vaporeon. The realization that such a large egg came out of such a diminutive creature caused her blush to deepen, but there was also a glimmer of fascination in her hazel brown eyes as she muttered, "That explains why her hips are so wide..."
"One of the reasons I called you over was to ask if you were willing to look after the Vaporeon and its children for me," explained Leon. "I know it's a tough ask, but since I spend so much time in the Tower, I can't give them the attention they'll likely need."
"I'll do it...!" exclaimed Wanko, striking a guts pose with literal illusory flames emanating from her eyes. Like most girls, she adored cute things, and while certain features of the Vaporeon made her feel strangely self-conscious, she found it to be one of the most adorable animals she had ever seen.
"I greatly appreciate it," said Leon. "And in exchange, I'll provide all the funds and resources you need and a habitat or enclosure for them to live in. Vaporeons and their pre-evolved form, Eevee, are actually some of the rarest Pokemon you can encounter in the wild, so I'll be depending on you to make sure they're happy and healthy."
Realizing what Leon was implying, even though he didn't directly say it, Wanko's blush returned with a vengeance as she tentatively asked, "You plan to breed them...?"
"Yes, but not like ordinary dogs or cats," replied Leon. "Pokemon aren't too far from humans in terms of intelligence, so I plan to implement laws ensuring only certain, qualified individuals are permitted to breed them. I won't permit the use of force or selective breeding..."
Patting her chest and breathing a sigh of relief, Wanko regained her usual smile and declared, "Then just leave it to me, Leo—I mean, Lord Leon! I'll give it my all to set an example for all future Breeders to follow...!"
"Speaking of which...here, take this," said Leon, pulling out a palm-sized red crystal, causing Wanko's eyes to widen.
"I'm not asking you to perform a summoning," clarified Leon. "The Library here is supposed to contain knowledge from each of our worlds as well as information on the Tower. Ask Beatrice for a beginner's guide on breeding Pokemon or making Pokefood. That crystal should be enough to cover the cost, but if it's not, let me know."
"U-Understood...!" replied Wanko, turning and racing out of the room even though it was proper etiquette to ask to be dismissed. Fortunately for her, Leon didn't really care about things like decorum, so he just smiled before making his way over to the door, closing it behind her. Then, though it felt a little 'sus,' he returned to the bed, sat down, and gently caressed the unconscious Vaporeon in an effort to alleviate some of the discomfort it was exhibiting, its body twitching and shaking as the ovum inside it, now the size of a golf ball, continued to develop at an alarming rate...
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"What the hell?" asked Mordred, grinning but with a look of disbelief on her face as she saw the Vaporeon in Leon's room, compelling her to ask, "Did some humanoid cat fuck a fish? Even a sheep's lady bits aren't this similar to a human's. I wonder what the inside feels like...?"
Seemingly unable to restrain her almost feline curiosity, Mordred reached for the Vaporeon but promptly retracted her hand when Leon smacked it, saying, "Don't..." in a firm tone.
Raising her right brow, Mordred asked, "Why are you being weird about it? It's just an animal. Inspecting the mouth, ears, genitals, rectum, and feces is essential to ensuring the health of horses, cattle, and other livestock."
"But that's not what you were doing..." droned Leon, his nonexistent facial muscles morphing into a deadpan.
"Yeah, and...?" asked Mordred. "Are you seriously going to judge me for wanting to take a look? I don't believe you're not at least a little curious to check it for yourself."
"I'm also curious about the taste of lava, but you won't see me shoveling it into my mouth," countered Leon.
Throwing up her hands, clearly annoyed, Mordred offered an exasperated "Fine, whatever!" before shaking her head, crossing her arms, and asking, "So, is this what you're going to be focused on the next couple of days...?"
"I asked Wanko, and she's agreed to take care of them," answered Leon. "I'll probably spend tomorrow preparing a habitat and enclosure for them, but it shouldn't take more than a few hours."
"Any particular reason you're so fixated on this fish and its hatchlings?" asked Mordred, adopting one of her characteristically cheeky smiles as she accused, "It's because its bottom half looks like a woman's, isn't it? Come on, tell me the truth."
Rolling his nonexistent eyes, Leon explained, "It's because the Pokemon that will hatch from that egg is one of the most versatile. I mentioned it to you before, right? About how most Pokemon only have 2-3 stages, if any at all? Well, this Vaporeon's offspring can evolve into eight distinct forms, each capable of utilizing a different elemental attribute. That includes Ice, Fire, Electric, Water, Grass, Psychic, Dark, and Fairy."
Blinking in surprise, Mordred asked, "So this thing's brats will be able to breathe fire or freeze things...?"
"For the elemental varieties, we would need to find the corresponding elemental stone first," explained Leon. "As for the Psychic, Dark, and Fairy types, they require a strong bond with their trainer and for their evolution to occur at a specific time. The Psychic type, Espeon, evolves during the day, while the Dark type, Umbreon, evolves at night. I don't remember the specific conditions to acquire a Sylveon, but I know it involves friendship."
"It honestly sounds like a pain in the ass, but if you say they're useful, I'll believe you," said Mordred, directing her gaze to the Vaporeon. "But if the females are like this, I'm curious to see what the males are like. Have you seen one...?"
"..."
Though he was tempted to point out how degenerate Mordred was behaving, Leon suppressed the urge and responded, "Not yet, but I've seen a few several others. In fact, most of the Pokemon we'll encounter on the Second Floor are male. Other than this Vaporeon, I saw maybe six or seven female Pokemon, but I honestly stopped paying attention after a while..."
"Hmmm..."
Seeing Mordred fall into an uncharacteristic state of deep contemplation, Leon started to get a bad feeling. Fortunately, his fears appeared to be misplaced, at least this time, as Mordred eventually nodded and said, "If the females are as rare as you say, we should prohibit killing and prioritize capturing them. With our presently limited numbers, Pokemon could prove useful as support or scout units, so we should do as you suggested earlier today and focus on domesticating the more useful ones."
"But for those that are more docile, like this Vaporeon and Shino's Pidgey, we should avoid capturing them using Pokeballs," stated Leon. "I learned today that Pokeballs are effectively regarded as shackles or slave collars by Pokemon, so we should only use them after defeating and persuading one of the more powerful ones. Speaking of which..."
Pulling out the Pokeball containing the Electabuzz, Leon explained, "A fairly powerful Electric-type Pokemon known as an Electabuzz is inside here. Can I entrust it to you?"
"I don't like the idea of using someone else's strength, but I'm curious to see what it's capable of," replied Mordred, accepting the Pokeball before asking, "How do I bring it out? By pressing this button...?"
"That would probably work, but the way Trainers did it in both the games and television series was by throwing the ball and calling the Pokemon's name," explained Leon. "As for what moves it knows, I witnessed it using Thunderbolt and Thunder Punch, but you're welcome to try and teach it how to fight and use actual battle tactics. Just don't be too harsh with it, and be sure to feed it regularly."
Wasting no time, Mordred pointed the Pokeball away from her and said, "Come out, Electabuzz," in a level tone. The Electabuzz appeared as it was told, but as time didn't pass in Leon's Storage, it was still exhausted from its encounter with Leon.
Raising her right brow, Mordred asked, "Is it sick? Or is it still recovering after you defeated it...?"
"Yeah..." replied Leon, quickly explaining the issue involving his Storage. Mordred was a little disappointed to learn she wouldn't be able to test the Electabuzz's capabilities right there and then, but its exhausted state was actually a boon as it took little effort to convince the cat-like creature she was its new Master. Leon could have done without her commenting on its penis and assuring him she wouldn't play with it behind his back, but that was just how Mordred was...wild, temperamental, and inhumanly honest...
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Though Wanko suffered a bit of mental scarring when she witnessed the Vaporeon laying its egg, she seemed to enjoy looking after the fishy feline quite a bit. She ended up swapping out her buruma for a Japanese-style school swimsuit, worn under her gym shirt so she wouldn't have to worry about getting wet, but, visually, it wasn't notably different from her typical training attire.
Fortunately for everyone involved, the Vaporeon finally understood what Leon meant by humanity and people when she saw Wanko and those who came around her habitat to meet, greet, and give her food. There was an incident where Wanko thrashed Gakuto for getting a little too enthusiastic with his rubbing the Vaporeon's belly, but that was par for the course. The Vaporeon got a little sad when she learned Gakuto wasn't allowed to visit her anymore, but when her first egg hatched after six days, culminating in the birth of an agonizingly adorable and thankfully male Eevee, she forgot he even existed...
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