Harry Potter and the Tamer's Challenge: Chapter One

By Big D

Disclaimer: Not Mine. No Profit. No Shit.

(Post OotP, Pre-HBP)

The room felt wrong.

I noticed it as soon as I woke up, or maybe it was what woke me up. It felt like someone was in the room with me, watching me sleep. Long experience and far too many attempted murders had taught me not to ignore my instincts, so I kept my breathing deep and even and took a firm grip on my wand, which I had taken to keeping under my pillow for just such an occasion. I listened, but couldn't hear anything. No sound of movement or breathing, even Hedwig was silent, which was a bad sign. She would normally make some kind of noise to warn me, even if it was someone she knew.

I heaved myself to the side and rolled, hoping to use the other side of the bed for cover. Halfway through the roll, my body froze from the neck down. It wasn't like a Body Bind, where I could still control my limbs, but was cocooned within a strong magical field, it was more like every muscle in my body had turned into solid stone in a split second. Whatever it was, it was awesomely powerful magic, which could only mean one thing.

“Voldemort!” I spat, twisting my head so I could see him and furiously trying to figure out how he had gotten past the wards. A soft chuckle sounded behind me.

“I am afraid not, Mister Potter,” came an slightly amused, unfamiliar voice.

I felt myself rise up off the bed and my body shifted in midair into a sitting position. I tried to fight it, but there was nothing to fight. I had no control whatsoever. I felt like one of those cheap children's toys that would bend into whatever position the child wanted and stay that way. The unseen force holding me flipped me around and sat me down lightly on the edge of my bed. The room was still dark, pale moonlight from the single window the only illumination. I squinted, trying to make out who was there, but all I could see were shadows, and blurry ones at that. One of the shadows moved slightly, and I was just able to make out the silhouette of a man sitting in my desk chair.

“Who are you?” I demanded. “What do you want?” My wand was still in my right hand, although pointed firmly away from the stranger in front of me. If I could keep his attention on me, he might not notice it. And if I could get out of whatever spell this was, I damn sure planned to use it.

The stranger didn't respond right away, but I could almost feel the smile on his face, like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and was entertained by the idea. “My name is irrelevant, and you would not recognize it in any case,” he said after a moment. His voice was dry and crisp, making me think of a librarian or a teacher, someone with a great deal of knowledge. But no librarian had ever had that edge of madness and danger in his words. “As for what I want... would you believe me if I told you that the greatest minds in the world had spent centuries attempting to answer that seemingly innocent question?” I had no response for that, and he didn't wait for one. “No, of course you wouldn't. Having never heard of me, how could you?” He shifted, leaning back in the chair. “What I want is something I have neither the time or inclination to explain to you, nor would you understand it if I were to try, so let us move along to what I need. Quite simply put, Mister Potter, I require the services of a hero. And of all the myriad choices in the multiverse, I feel that you are the one most qualified to accomplish the task I have in mind.”

“Sorry.” I told him, “I'm flattered, I really am, but I already have a destiny. Maybe you should ask Dudley, he's just in the next room, and I'm sure he'd love to go on your dangerous mission for you.”

The man chuckled. “No doubt.” he said in that dry voice. “I'm well aware that this world has a prior claim on your services, but as there is no one here at the moment to contest that claim, I think we will proceed.” He stood and picked up my glasses from the bedside table, then tucked them into the collar of my shirt. “You will need these.” he said, then tapped my wand with one finger. “And this. Be sure to keep them both close to you at all times.”

“Wait, I don't understand. What's this all about?” I asked.

“Just do what comes naturally, Mister Potter.” he said, pointing some sort of device at me. “That is the best advice I can give you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mea...”

A blinding white light filled my vision and my flesh suddenly felt like it was being sliced into a billion pieces and scattered to the four winds. It was the most excruciating thing I'd ever experienced, worse even than when Voldemort had possessed me during the attack on the Ministry. The instant stretched on for an infinity, and every once in a while, a fleeting image passed by my eyes. In one, a short man dressed in blue was playing a harmonica while he rode a unicorn through a pristine forest. In another, a young, red haired man with only one hand walked arm and arm with a pretty girl wearing old fashioned men's clothing, cut snug to her body. A third showed a tall, skinny man in a long leather coat talking to a human skull with glowing orange eyes, and a fourth was of a man in a purple shirt and leather pants, who carried a long wooden staff and some kind of odd guitar strapped to his back. At his side was a massive otter who walked on two legs and came up to the man's shoulder. There were more visions, hundreds, maybe thousands, too many to take in. And through it all was the relentless, searing pain.

Then, in an instant, it was gone. I fell into darkness, not caring what was there, so long as it got me away from the light. My mind gave out from sheer exhaustion and I lost consciousness.

When I finally woke up, I was laying on my back with the sun shining down on my face. I fumbled with my glasses and slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, trying to get my bearings. It wasn't hard.

Half a mile away, the majestic form of Hogwarts Castle rose into the sky, all soaring towers, stone arches, and mostly happy memories. A wave of relief swept through me. Whatever the stranger had intended to do had obviously backfired, or maybe the blood wards had finally kicked in and moved me to safety. Either way, I figured that I should go and tell the Headmaster about what had happened.

I got up and tried to convince my legs that they really could get me all the way to the castle. They wobbled and tried to give out on me, but we compromised on a respectable stagger that would have me there some time around Christmas.

My first clue that not all was right with the world came as I passed a small monument on the grounds dedicated to all the students who had passed through the school. I'd seen it a million times over the last five years and hardly glanced at it anymore, but this time something caught my eye.

The statue that I remembered was of a teenaged witch and wizard, standing proudly side by side, as if looking off into the future. What I saw now was very different. The boy and girl were still there, but now they were both nude, and appeared to be having rather enthusiastic sex. The girl was bent slightly at the waist while the boy took her from behind, snaking a hand around her waist to fondle her clit. She had a look of unbelievable pleasure on her face and was pinching her nipples as she came. If that wasn't strange enough, the girl herself didn't look quite human. Her face was the same as I remembered, but she had a pair of cat-like ears poking up through her hair, and I could see sharp pointed teeth inside her open mouth, as well as a long tail that stretched off her well-rounded backside to wrap around the boy's waist, holding him to her.

“What in the bloody hell is going on here?” I asked no one in particular. I looked down at the inscription on the plaque. It read: “IN HONOR OF ALL THE TAMERS WHO HAVE PASSED THROUGH THESE HALLOWED HALLS AND THE POKEGIRLS WHO SERVE THEM.” Underneath was a notation: “Dedicated by Hogtits School of Taming and Breeding in the year 200 AS.”

“Hog... tits?” I said in disbelief. Suddenly, something in the back of my mind clicked. What was it the stranger had said? Something about a multiverse, and how “my” world had prior claim on my services? Could it be that he had actually sent me to another dimension, another version of Earth? According to everything I knew about magic, that was supposed to be impossible, at least physically. In theory, it could be done in the ethereal, but everyone who had tried that had failed miserably. Magical experiments into trans-dimensional travel had been banned after one attempt had gone horribly wrong and caused the creation of the first Dementors.

Then again, the statue could just be a prank. A talented seventh year student would have the necessary skills to transfigure stone like this, and it was conceivable that no one had noticed it before now. Unlikely, but conceivable. And given the choice between unlikely and impossible, unlikely seemed the best fit.

There was only one way to know for sure, so I squared my shoulders and continued on towards the castle. My legs had regained some of their strength so the going was a little easier. As I approached the main gate everything seemed normal enough, but all that changed as soon as I let myself in.

The entrance hall had been transformed into some kind of reception area, with empty benches along either wall and a desk at the far end. The stone walls still held a large assortment of tapestries and paintings, but none of them were moving, and each one displayed some kind of graphic sex scene involving young men paired with... well monsters wasn't the right word, they were too attractive for that, but it was the only thing that came to mind. Halfway down, in a place of honor, was a huge painting that stretched almost from floor to ceiling and depicted a writhing mass of oddly-shaped female bodies engaged in every sexual act imaginable, and several that seemed beyond comprehension. In the center was a single human male with slightly greying hair and a body that looked like he shot up with steroids at every meal, who appeared to be directing the action. The caption at the bottom read: “The Stamford Taming Orgy”.

So much for the statue outside being a prank. “Oh, Toto... where are you when I really need you?” I muttered to myself. I thought about leaving, as obviously this wasn't the Hogwarts I knew, but where would I go? I knew nothing about this world or its dangers, and even less about why I had been sent here. It couldn't have been an accident, me landing this close to an alternate Hogwarts. And what was it that the stranger had said? “Just do what comes naturally.” Well, nothing was more natural for me than to seek answers and comfort at Hogwarts. After all, how much different could this place really be from the home I knew?

One look at the receptionist sitting behind the desk at the end of the hall was enough to tell me just how different. First off, she was completely nude, with bright red hair, dotted with black spots. And those were the most normal things about her. Her face was dead black, with white markings and multifaceted eyes that appeared fully capable of seeing in full one hundred and eighty degree vision. Her skin was a pale, but attractive shade of yellow, with the exception of black stripes on the insides of her forearms. And speaking of forearms, she actually had “four” arms, the second, smaller pair set just under her ribs, as well as what looked suspiciously like insectile wings on her back. Her nipples were also black, and topped a pair of very large but amazingly firm breasts that bobbed slightly with every movement she made or breath she took.

In short, she looked like nothing so much as a mix of Jessica Rabbit and a ladybug.

I had thought that five years of training as a wizard would allow me to adapt to any situation this world could throw at me. After all, I had faced down some of the most dangerous wizards and vicious magical creatures to ever walk the Earth, and had come out on top more often than not, so why wouldn't I be able to handle this? But nothing... NOTHING, in all of my experience could have prepared me for what happened when I laid eyes on that receptionist.

I popped the single largest boner of my entire life.

What made it worse was the fact that I was still wearing the tee shirt and boxers that I had gone to sleep in, so my erection had the perfect excuse to take a field trip out the opening of my fly. I might have been somewhat covered if I was still wearing Dudley's castoffs, but no, Tonks just HAD to take me shopping after the end of the school year, and she just HAD to insist on tee shirts that fit like a second skin and were barely long enough to tuck in. At the time she had said something about flaunting it if you had it, and I had only agreed in order to get it over with, but right now I wanted nothing more than to have one of my old shirts back, one of the ones that could've doubled as a bedspread. My own fault, really. If I hadn't been so disoriented and confused outside, I might have realized that entering the school dressed in nothing but my bedclothes was a bad idea, and transfigured the boxers into something more appropriate.

I tried pulling my shirt down to cover the seven inches of happily throbbing cock meat that was poking out of my underwear and pointing directly at the face of this strange female, but it was having none of that. I finally had to settle for pushing it up towards my belly and tucking it under the waistband of my boxers, then covering the head with my shirt. All of the blood that hadn't rushed en masse to my prick flooded into my face, and I tried to stutter out an apology, but couldn't think of anything to say that was appropriate to the situation.

For her part, the ladybug girl didn't seem to be bothered at all. In fact, she seemed slightly amused by the fact that I was trying to hide it, and just a tad disappointed when I succeeded. When I finally had myself arranged, she smiled at me and spoke in a voice that could have melted a snowman and left his puddle with a smile on its face. “Welcome to Hogtits School of Taming and Breeding, sir. By your lack of clothing and pokeballs, can I assume that you have been the victim of theft? If so, then you're welcome to visit our in-house pokecenter in order to file a report.”

I tried to ignore the ever-so-pleasant shiver that traveled down my spine as she spoke and focus in on what she was saying. There were a whole bunch of things in those three sentences that I didn't understand in the slightest, so I seized on the one part that seemed familiar.

“Theft?” I asked.

“Oh, yes.” she said in a serious, but still sensual tone. “Theft of pokegirls has increased dramatically over the last few months throughout the entire Blue League, but it's still fairly rare in the area around the school. Professor Fondlemore sends out patrols to watch the roads and to prevent poaching in the Forbidden Forest. In fact, I'm rather surprised that you made it this far without encountering one of them.”

Boy, this wasn't getting any easier. All of that stuff was English, I knew it was, but not one word of it made any sense. Especially...

“Did you say Professor... Fondlemore?” I asked, valiantly holding back a snicker.

“Certainly. Professor Albus Fondlemore is the Headmaster of Hogtits, and the preeminent authority on rare pokegirl types, as well as being one of the most successful Breeders in the entire world.” she said, her nose crinkled slightly in confusion. “But I thought everyone knew that.”

I needed to start asking more general questions. Asking about specific things was only making me more confused and her more suspicious. “What exactly goes on here?” I asked, waiving vaguely at the walls.

She fell into what was obviously a rehearsed speech. “Hogtits School serves three main functions. One, to provide world class training to beginning Tamers, including all manner of Taming techniques, as well as real world experience in identifying and capturing wild pokegirls. Two, as a state of the art facility for legal cutting edge pokegirl research. And three, as the foremost Breeding Ranch for the Blue League, providing only the smartest, strongest, and sexiest pokegirls for use in both personal and professional endeavors,” she finished with a note of pride that did all kinds of wicked things to my still-rebellious penis.

“I see.” I said, not really seeing much at all, but starting to pick up a few clues. The pieces hadn't totally fallen into place yet, but the puzzle itself was becoming slightly more clear. Unless I was reading the situation completely wrong, then the girl from the statue, as well as the girls from the paintings and the one I was talking to right now, were all pokegirls. Which made the young men Tamers, whatever that meant. As for the Blue League, pokeballs, and all the other stuff she kept talking about like everyone should already know what it was, I still had no clue. And the only thing I had to go on was the stranger's advice to do what came naturally.

Well, I was at Hogwarts... er, Hogtits, so the most natural thing would be...

“How exactly would I go about becoming a student here? Is there some kind of entry fee, or test I have to take?” If that was the case then I was in trouble, as the only thing I had of any value was my wand, and I didn't need the stranger's warning to know that I shouldn't give that up for anything. As for a test, the less I thought about that, the better.

“Enrollment is free of charge and open to anyone, contingent on their agreement to serve as an active Tamer for a period of no less than one full year, as well as the availability of a beginning pokegirl. This agreement is legally binding and fully enforceable by the World League Council.” she told me.

Bloody hell, her voice was sexy even when she was speaking legalese! There should be some sort of law against that. “Okay... so are there any beginning pokegirls available?” I asked, but she was already typing into some kind of computer set into the desk. Oddly, the presence of a sophisticated piece of electronics at Hogwarts was more jarring to me than almost anything else that had happened so far. It just seemed... wrong, in a way that a sexy, naked ladybug receptionist didn't. I mean, when you traveled to a parallel dimension you kinda expected to see weird things like that, but seeing something so mundane taken radically out of context really drove home the idea that I was alone in a world that was completely foreign to me.

“It appears that we do have one beginning pokegirl left, but unfortunately she's an A-Bra.” the receptionist said somewhat apologetically, breaking me out of my self-pitying musings.

I wanted to ask her what in Merlin's name an A-Bra was, but I had a feeling that that was another one of those things I was already supposed to know. So I tried asking in a roundabout way. “Why is that unfortunate? Is there something wrong with her?” I asked.

“Well, not really,” she replied, “It's just that not many beginning Tamers want an A-Bra as their first pokegirl.”

“Why not?” I asked, fearing the worst. The fear was even greater due to the fact that I wasn't likely to understand why it was bad.

She looked at me and frowned. “Mainly because they have to sleep almost eighteen hours a day. A-Bra's also tend to be rather frail, compared with many other pokegirls, with little offensive capability and a somewhat low libido. Their evolved forms can be very powerful, though.” she told me. “That's why most Tamers who want an A-Bra tend to wait until they already have a few girls before buying or trading for one. In fact, according to the notes, the only reason that she's still available is because two other young men who came to the school for training had already turned her down.”

Little offensive capability? Evolved forms? What the hell did that mean? And what did her libido have to do with anything? “I'll take her.” I said, not really sure what I was getting into, but trying to go with the flow until I could figure it out. From what she was saying, it almost seemed like these pokegirls were slaves, or maybe even weapons of some sort.

She smiled at me again. “Excellent.” She pressed a few more buttons on her computer, and a small slip of paper slid out of the desk. “Just give this to the Joy on duty in the pokecenter, and she'll get you all set up.” she said, handing it to me.

“Thank you.” I told her, “You have no idea how helpful you've been.”

“I wouldn't mind helping you out a little more.” she said. If I thought her voice had been erotic before, I must have been hallucinating, because now she sounded like pure, liquid sex. “But I'm supposed to stay at the desk for a few more hours.” A slow smile slid across her ebony lips. “Although... I've heard that some humans don't mind getting caught in public. I'm game if you are.”

I blinked and swallowed, not really believing what my ears were telling me. My cock gave a twinge from its elastic prison, letting me know that its vote was an enthusiastic yes, but my logical brain somehow managed to batter through the fog of hormones and confusion to overrule it. I thanked her again and hurried away.

From behind me I heard her call, “If you change your mind, just ask for Ladylove.”

As soon as I was out of sight of her I ducked into a cubbyhole and leaned my head against the cool stone wall, trying to get myself back under control. Could she really have wanted me to bend her over the desk, right there where anyone could see, and...

No, no, no, a part of me said. You're wrong. What she probably wanted was to lay on her back so we could look at each other while...

STOP!!!

I recited Quidditch plays in my head, tried thinking about Griselda Marchbanks in a bikini, and gave my face a few quick slaps to clear my mind. When I thought I had myself under control, I checked to make sure that no one was looking and transfigured my boxers into a proper pair of denims. Loose one's, better to hide in. After all, there was no sense in tempting fate again.

The Pokecenter turned out to be located in what I knew as the Hospital Wing. Walking through the halls of Hogtits, I felt like I was in some kind of oddly familiar (and overly sexual) dream, where everything was the same, but altered. I passed a number of people, both normal human males and somewhat abnormal pokegirls, several of whom I recognized. Amos Diggory wandered by, dressed in a white lab coat, muttering to himself about something called an E-Medal. Ernie Macmillan was there, pontificating to a small group of slightly younger boys, and just over his shoulder hovered a small, impossibly adorable, pixie-like pokegirl with gossamer wings that I realized with a start was actually Hannah Abbott.

There seemed to be no limit to the variety of different sizes, shapes, and colors that the various pokegirls displayed. And they displayed much more than just some inhuman features, which quickly caused my troublesome erection to return. Only about a quarter of them were actually naked, but even the ones who did wear clothing seemed to do so more for decoration than protection or modesty. I couldn't be totally sure that they were all actually pokegirls, as some of them didn't look all that different from normal humans, aside from an odd hair or eye color, but for many of them there was no doubt.

One girl was entirely green. Green skin, green eyes, green hair, with a large, perfectly round hump in the center of her back, almost like a plant bulb. She wore a diaphanous silk robe, which even if it had been closed in the front, would not have hidden away any of her overly generous assets, and was wandering the halls with a slightly calculating look on her face, like she was planning some kind of prank, and was just deciding who was going to be the butt of her joke.

I didn't recognize the plant-girl, but when I rounded the next corner I saw someone that I did know... sort of. I had never had much occasion to speak with Su Li in my own world, but I knew her by sight. It was a little difficult to look past the reddish fur, bushy tail, and pointed ears that came off the top of her head to see the slender, oriental Ravenclaw that I knew, but once I did, her identity was obvious. Like most of the pokegirls who wore clothing, hers was somewhat provocative. Just a tiny black bikini top that seemed to consist of little more than a few pieces of thread, and an impossibly scant pair of cut-off denim shorts. The fox pokegirl smiled at me as we passed each other, showing off a pair of sharp-looking and very functional canines. After she went by, I couldn't resist turning around to try and see how her tail was threaded through a small hole cut in the rear of her bottoms. (At least, that's what I told myself I was looking at.) As I did, she turned as well and caught me looking. My face flamed up again, but she just laughed and twitched her tail at me playfully before continuing on.

After that, I tried my best to keep from staring as I moved through the halls, but it was almost impossible. Everywhere I looked was another beautiful semi-clad (or unclad) female, many of whom displayed physical charms that a room full of veela would have had trouble competing with. I also noticed another odd thing. Every time I made it a point to keep my eyes fixed firmly to the front, “something” would happen that would draw my attention back to one of the girls. Nothing overt, really. Just a cough nearby, or a movement out of the corner of my eye that would cause me to reflexively look over. I began to realize that the girls were doing it on purpose, trying to get me to look at them, but I couldn't understand why.

Then I noticed the other males. Almost all of them would at least glance at the pokegirls as they passed by, and when they did, the girl would often preen for them, if only for a moment. Maybe it was just a smile, or a slight flip of the hair, or a, uh... “very” deep breath, but it was always something. I began to realize that the pokegirls wanted to be looked at, to be admired. It actually made a strange kind of sense. After all, why would they walk about naked, or very near so, if they didn't want to be noticed? It also occurred to me that not looking might be considered rude, or at the very least atypical.

Not wanting to show bad manners, I did the polite thing and let my eyes drift. In fact, I was so polite that I managed to miss several turns and had to backtrack to find the Hospital Wing/Pokecenter.

When I finally got there, it was somewhat of a shock. I figured that it would be different than I remembered, but it was almost unrecognizable. The large main room was the same, but instead of a long row of recovery beds on either side, the space was filled to the brim with futuristic-looking machines whose purposes I couldn't even begin to imagine.

A tall, teenaged boy that I didn't recognize came in behind me and walked over to one of the machines. He reached into a pouch at his waist and produced a metallic ball, about the size of a small orange, half of it colored red, the other half white, with what looked like a large button on one side. He then inserted it into an opening on the front of the machine and consulted a video display. I had no idea what he was looking at, but whatever it was seemed to please him. He nodded to himself, removed the ball and walked out, humming a little tune and looking like he had something very fun planned for the near future.

Ladylove had said something about a girl named Joy being on-duty, but I didn't see anyone who looked like they actually worked here. Several more young men, Tamers, I suppose, came in to use the various contraptions. All of them carried at least one of those little red-and-white balls, and after a couple of minutes it occurred to me that these must the “pokeballs” that Ladylove had mentioned when I'd first walked in. Knowing what they looked like, however, put me no closer to knowing what their function was.

“Excuse me,” I said to one of the Tamers who had finished his business and was preparing to leave. “I'm supposed to talk to a girl named Joy, do you know if she works here?”

The boy looked at me like I had just asked him if water was wet. “The Joy's station is in the back, right next to the healing machines,” he said, jerking a thumb behind him. He glanced up and down at me again, like he still wasn't sure if I had really asked him what I had, then shook his head in dismissal and continued out of the room.

Apparently, I had discovered something else that everyone was already supposed to know. I felt myself get a little hot under the collar, more from embarrassment than anger, although there was a little of that too. After all, how was I supposed to know for sure that Joy really worked here? Asking only seemed reasonable.

I walked towards the back of the room, looking for anything that might be described as a “healing machine”. I saw several gizmos that looked like misshapen iceboxes, a few dishwashers that had way too many lights and weird controls attached to them, and at least one giant hoover with several large hoses that was pumping like a bellows, but no healing machines.

I did find a work area, though. A U-shaped desk that was built into the floor, with a computer in the middle, and every conceivable open space littered with loose papers and tall stacks of folders. It was deep in a corner, surrounded by a group of what looked like chrome-covered central heating and air units, again with entirely too many doodads and flashing lights. I wasn't sure how those were supposed to heal anybody, but I did notice that they all had holes on top that one of those pokeballs would fit into perfectly.

I did a double take when I first saw the girl who sitting behind the desk, then did a triple take when I got a better look at her. She had short, bubblegum-pink hair, which immediately made me think of Tonks, but when I saw her face I realized that she was a dead ringer for Madam Pomfrey, albeit about fifty years ago.

She may have looked like Poppy Pomfrey, but the Hogwarts nurse that I knew had never worn a tiny white uniform that left her arms bare and exposed enough deep cleavage to give the entire Board of Governors massive heart attacks. She looked up as I approached and smiled politely, something else that Madam Pomfrey had never done in my presence. She was much more likely to greet me with a glare and a, “Whatever have you done to yourself this time, Mister Potter?!”

This Pomfrey took a more diplomatic approach. I wondered how long it would last. “Good morning. Can I help you?” she said.

Now that I was finally here, I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. I had never really figured out what a “beginning” pokegirl was supposed to be, or what I was supposed to do once I received one. “Um... the girl at the front desk said for me to give you this,” I said rather lamely, handing her the slip of paper that Ladylove had given me. It was only after she took it from me that I realized that I had carried it all this way, and never once looked at it to see what it said. Stupid, stupid mistake. I chalked it up to all the bouncing breasts in the halls.

Joy/Pomfrey looked up at me with a pleased smile. “Oh, so you've decided to take a chance on our little A-Bra, have you? That's wonderful. It's nice to see a new Tamer who doesn't mind a challenge.” She began typing into her computer. “I swear, so many of these boys come in here expecting us to hand them a Griffon, or a Demon-Goddess, or something equally silly, as if they would really be prepared to control a powerful and dangerous pokegirl without first learning how to handle something smaller and gentler.”

I did the only thing that seemed reasonable and kept my mouth shut, nodding like I actually understood what the hell she was talking about. I felt my shoulders tense up and acid start to build in my stomach. I had bluffed my way this far, but I really had no idea what was about to happen, or exactly what kind of “challenge” I had set myself up for. I didn't want a challenge, I wanted something simple. Or at least a few answers. It didn't look like I would get either. Story of my life, really.

“There we go,” Joy said, “I've sent a message to her room, so she should be on her way. In the meantime, lets get you started.”

Getting me started apparently involved a health check, which Joy did by waving some thingamabob that looked like a remote control on steroids at me. She “hummed” in that annoying way that all medical professionals had, no matter the universe, then declared me more or less fit, aside from my eyes, and what she described as a “general weakness” that she attributed to lack of sleep, and that I attributed to being dropkicked into another dimension by a crazy bastard who I was already planning to try out some new curses on, if I ever found him again.

She told me to wait, then went off into another room. She was only gone for a couple of minutes, but when she returned, she was carrying a pouch just like the ones I had seen other Tamers wearing.

“Here you go,” she said, handing it to me. There was a large pocket in the middle, with something that felt like a book inside, as well as six smaller pockets, set in a semi-circle, two of which were bulging. It looked like it could be slung over the shoulder, or adjusted to be worn at the belt. “Your pokedex, and two pokeballs. You'll have to register your 'dex before you can use it, but that only takes a few seconds. The second pokeball is for emergencies, just in case you're sent on patrol by the Professor and need it, and for later, when you decide to take your final test.”

I was going to regret asking this, but it had to be done. Besides, she probably already thought I was an idiot, so what was the harm in confirming it? “What's the first pokeball for?” I asked. Sure enough, she looked at me like I'd told her that I wanted to snog Voldemort.

“For her,” she said, pointing at someone behind me.

I turned around and spotted another pokegirl standing not twelve feet away. The first thing I noticed was her skin, which was a golden yellow, the color of sunflowers. She was short, maybe a hair under five feet tall, and was wearing what, at first glance, appeared to be a standard Hogwarts uniform: black shoes, knee-high socks, pleated gray skirt, and a white blouse, but without the heavy black robe or house tie. It was anything but standard, though. The socks and shoes were just as I remembered, but the skirt could have been better described as a belt. It rode high on her hips, leaving her legs all but bare and exposing acres and acres of smooth, slender thighs. The blouse was pretty normal, but was tied into a knot just above her navel, showing off a trim, slightly-toned waist and a flat stomach. The top buttons of the blouse had been left undone, but to be honest she had very little to show off up top. A stray thought floated through my mind, saying that the A-Bra was well-named, though I doubted that she'd ever actually needed a bra.

It was the hair that really caught my attention, though. Dark brown hair that fell down past her shoulders in waves that should have been unruly, but looked almost artistically done. It caught my attention because I knew it so well. A pair of short antennae, the same color as her skin, that curled slowly from side to side, just above her eyebrows, were definitely new. But the eyes, warm brown eyes, that looked over me with an intense curiosity, and just a hint of wariness, were as familiar to me as my own. I'd seen them a million times, looking at me from across the Gryffindor table at breakfast, chiding me for letting Ron get me into trouble again, welling up with tears when she saw me in pain, and filling with laughter when I made a fool of myself. I didn't even realize that I had spoken until after I had already said her name.

“Hermione.”

(End of Chapter One)

POKEDEX ENTRIES

Courtesy of A-Kun's “Pokegirl World Project”

www.angelfire.com/mn3/pokegirls/main.html

LADYIEN the Ladylike Ladybug Pokegirl

Type: Animorph

Element: Bug/Flying

Frequency: Uncommon

Diet: fruits and nuts, has an unusual fondness for raspberries.

Role: Secretarial work, scouts, negotiators, lovers

Libido: Average

Strong Vs: Bug, Dark, Fighting, Ground, Plant, Psychic

Weak Vs: Electric, Fire, Flying, Ice, Rock

Attacks: Sex attacks, Lust Dust, Bloom, Buttsprout, Gust, Squall, Tempest, Vortex, Super Cyclone, Speed Storm

Enhancements: four arms, natural armor, wings for flight, emotional control, Speed x3

Evolves: None

Evolves From: Ladyba (normal)

When a Ladyba evolves into a Ladyien, they make a transition from 'cute' into unbelievably sexy. Their figures improve greatly, gaining curvy hips, wider bottoms, and larger breasts, up to DD Cup. They gain long, silky hair that is a bright red color with light black spots here and there. Also, Feralborns lose the shell on their heads they had as Ladybas. Their antennae lengthen, becoming more sensitive, as their faces become more slender, more aquiline in appearance.

Ladyiens gain a lot of confidence. Their libidos balance out, and they lose the inferiority complex they had in their previous forms. They become very capable lovers, gaining upon their evolution a knowledge of almost every sex attack.

They retain their photographic memories and intellgence, and are still very good scouts and secretaries. However, they also are very calm, even-tempered Pokegirls. They always act in a polite, ladylike manner, never raising their voice unless they are being pleasured very well during a Taming. It takes a great deal to make a Ladyien angry, which makes them excellent in negotiations. They are capable of ignoring most insults and analyzing details, coming up with points that both can agree on. Several Ladyiens work in offices of various Leagues, some even being employed by higher-up officials due to their usefulness.

Thresholding into Ladyien directly is rarer than thresholding into Ladyba, but not unheard of. Because of the general attractiveness and usefulness of Ladyiens, they are among the more accepted forms to threshold into.

NURSEJOY, the Nursing Pokegirl

Type: Very Near Human

Element: Normal

Frequency: Uncommon, usually found at hospitals and pokegirl healing centers, has never been found in the wild

Diet: any human style diet, with the preference of vegetables

Role: nursing

Libido: Average

Strong Vs: Ghost

Weak Vs: Fighting

Attacks: Healing, Dodge, Tackle

Enhancements: has an innate ability to heal injuries

Evolves: None

Evolves From: None

NurseJoys, or Joys as they are usually called, are nursing pokegirls; they can do all healing techniques and will help someone in need by nature. Unfortunately, they don't make good fighters.

Tamers know that is very handy to have a NurseJoy in their pack, since they can heal the other pokegirls when they get hurt. NurseJoys don't make good Alphas, since they don't feel comfortable with the role of group leader.

For some unknown reason, all NurseJoys have pink hair. But they do use different haircuts and hairstyles.

A-BRA, the Psychic Snoozer Pokegirl

Type: Near Human

Element: Psychic

Frequency: Rare

Diet: human style food

Role: A-bra are often found working in security or with administrators or researchers. Not very popular due to their down time.

Libido: Low

Strong Vs: Fighting, Poison, Psychic

Weak Vs: Bug, Dark, Ghost

Attacks: Teleport, Foresight, Confusion

Enhancements: Telepathy

Evolves: Ka-D-Bra (normal), Alaka-Wham (evolved Ka-D-Bra; normal)

Evolves From: Nymph (Psi Crystal)

The A-Bra is a small pokegirl, rarely exceeding 5'4 in height. Their skin is a goldenrod yellow, though their hair can be any color. Bust size, as their name suggests, is a mere A-cup. Their other defining feature is a pair of "antennae", similar in structure to catfish whiskers, positioned just above their eyebrows. Research strongly suggests that these structures, rarely more than a few inches long, act like conductors for psychic signals, and are used mainly to pick up brain waves, at least in the lower evolutions. Though they are known to sleep upwards of 18 hours a day, the A-Bra remains fairly useful. They have the ability to read minds, teleport, and have a danger sense. They are also quite intelligent, often having just the answer her trainer needs in any predicament, provided he can rouse her to consciousness long enough to give her thoughts. However, A-Bras are physically frail, and lack the powerful Psychic attacks of their more evolved forms, making them a poor choice in a fight. Feral versions are very rare. It is far more common to find them at a breeding center, such as the famed Tendo Ranch.

A-Bras, while not common by any means, are one of the more likely outcomes of Threshold for a girl with strong Psychic ancestry.