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Aura of the Storm - Chapter 17: Charm-Caster

"Uughh.. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.." Auron muttered as he came staggering out of the Den. After the long day dealing with Ember's emotional outburst, as well as Abigail and Zane's 'gift' to him in the form of the flirtatious Talani Furfrou, the Nomcario somberly resolved to having a few hefty drinks at the Den's Bar. Talani, on the other paw, was contently humming as she trodded alongside the jackal, snickering softly and giving him a light nuzzle, much as the Lucario didn't want it.

"Aww cheer up, blueberry, it's not all bad, is it? I mean yeesh, you have what, a team of all guys? Seems like I'll be a pretty neat fit, huh? Ooh speaking of which, where IS that lovely group of yours? I'm anxious to strut my stuff and show them what I'm about.~" No one could fault the large poodle for her enthusiasm.. Except for the jackal who had been charmed into being her plaything and snack only yesterday.. Talani following the aura-wielder off in the direction of the Clearspring Market.

"Hrrgh.. I swear the next time I see Zane I'm going to frag him right in the junk.." the jackal grumbled, sauntering towards the inn. "As for the rest of my team, mind you that you're going to be the bottom of the totem pole, Rookie." Auron's tone was firmer on that last word, establishing he was not about to have any games going on in the Furfrou's time being in their ranks.

"Oh I'm sorry, did ya want me to call you 'boss' or 'sir' in that case? Necause I'd much rather call you 'blue-boy'.~" the poodle's snickers were like a crowd of laughter to Auron's sensitive ears, eliciting a short huff from the jackal.

"Let's just get one thing straight, you." he stopped, turning to face the larger canine. "The only reason I'm even permitting you on my team is so you don't go flapping your gums about 'that', alright? I expect complete cooperation and some modicum of respect. And another thing? No flirting with the other residents and asking if you can eat 'em."

Talani's bouncy expression turned to a frown. "Why not? I've never had trouble with it before, come on, why must you be such a spoilsport?" Glancing around the night-dwellers she couldn't help wagging her tail. "This town's really cute though, I gotta admit."

"For one? Vore and predations aren't exactly the most common thing in public. That's what the Den is for. And for second? I don't want to have to end up apologizing to everyone you eat after they revive just because you couldn't keep your gut settled your first days in this place. Not to mention having to reimburse them for any used Reviver Seeds. In short? You cause scenes, and I'M gonna be held responsible, seeing as I'm your new leader." the cario concluded, huffing again.

Tal blinked for a few moments, tilting her head as she took that in, before seeming to grasp the gist of it. "Ohhh so I should reserve my 'buffet-sampling' for the Den then? Is that it? Well that's no problem, so long as I get at least one filling meal each day.~" she murred, leaning and nuzzling Auron again. "Frouhhh, now shall we move on? Surely your team's waiting, right?"

Sighing and rolling his eyes, the Nomcario scritched Talani's neck fluff before advancing to the inn. "Yeah.. Yeah.. Come on then, you big lug.. Gonna have to order a bigger room.. Or at least another bed, maybe.."

* * *

"I'm telling you man, Ember needs to get herself situated, that was terrifying what happened today." Miles quipped, sat back on his bed, arms folded as the late hours settled in, the Floatzel and Keon having just returned from dropping Ember off at Shadow's. "I didn't think that kind of malice was even possible from that limey fuzzball!"

"Neither did I, but what's done is done." the Grovyle nodded. "All we can really do is pray to the legends that Ember resolves this, otherwise it's just going to keep being an issue day in and day out." he sighed, stretching back, glancing to the door. "...My question right now is where the heck is Auron at? Last I saw he was heading for the Den.."

The door came rustling open, and right on cue, the Nomcario sauntered in.. But what the two on their beds weren't expecting was the large, fluffy Furfrou waddling in with him. "Sorry I'm a bit late, guys. But I got a little..." Auron gestured, regarding the big canine. "...Held up."

"Oh don't be such a downer, blueberry.~" Talani giggled, looking at Miles, then Keon. "Mmmh, a big hunk of a Floatzel and a slender, cute Grovyle. Heh, gotta hand it to Zane, he was pretty spot-on about you two. Oh but where are my manners!" she chuckled, bowing her head. "Talani's the name, flirting and eating are my game." she smiled, shuffling in further. "I'm looking forward to working with you both.~"

Miles blinked, as did Keon, both turning to each other, then glancing at Auron, their heads tilted in confusion, speaking in unison. "Working with us both? What's she mean by that?"

Auron sighed deeply. "It's... A long story how this came to pass but.." he gestured once more to the Furfrou. "Gentlemen? Meet our newest 'recruit'.. And I use that term loosely." he huffed, giving his companions a 'don't even ask' stare, shutting them up before they could pose a question. "I met our prospective newbie out in Mistwalker Valley yesterday. Oh and.. You might wanna make soom room, I asked the innkeepers to bring up an extra bed, since she'll be bunking with us."

"Wait, wait, hold up a sec. You're saying this is the interesting encounter you had going through that dungeon with Zane? This dame??" Miles couldn't believe it, glancing to Keon, snickering slightly. "Ohh man, boss I knew you were a bit stressed but I didn't think you needed a companion that badly!"

Just as Auron growled, readying to smack the Floatzel a good one, Talani stepped up, chuckling. "Comedian huh? Zane was right about you, heheh. But y'know what's funnier? Your paunch~" winking, the Furfrou employed her charm on Miles, who blinked, falling under its effects, shaking his head.

"H-hunh..? Oh! You ah.. You really like how it looks on me?" the otter softly blushed, patting his lightly jiggly gut. "I do my best to keep it well-fed y'know..~" the water type purred softly, leaving Keon confused as Talani snickered, pressing a paw at Miles' gut, feeling its softness.

"Mmmh, this belly tells me you're a pretty big eater. Well that's good, we'll get along juuust fine, otter-boy. Frouhh~" leaning in, the poodle gave a slurp to the mustelid's cheek, eliciting a soft eep and deeper blush from him. "Ahh that fresh seafood taste, reminds me of my first live prey, a rather cute little Buizel in fact!" at that Miles blinked a few times, slowly shaking the daze off.

"Wha..? A Buizel was your first prey? O-oh, well.. That's a bit awkward, eheh." sheepishly smiling, Miles rubbed the back of his head, seeing Talani shuffle back, before she turned her glance to the wood gecko.

"And what about you, cutie? From what your fox friend's mentioned, you're more of the brainy type of this group. Ohh I don't believe I got your names proper either, how silly." from her snickering, it was easy to tell the Furfrou was having quite a bit of fun with this.

"Ah.. Well my stupefied companion there is Miles, and I'm Keon. And to answer your question; yes, I am sort of the brains. Though Auron's the overall tactician and strategist for the team. I merely provide insight when it's needed. I've been called the team's 'Logical Thinker' quite a few times." the Grovyle nodded. "Judging by how you swooned the Floatzel there, I take it you have Charm in your moveset?"

"Ooh, smart and polite! But yes, Charm is something I picked up a short time after my first predatory experience here in Sinnoh. I didn't always live in this region though, only for about the last nine years or so." she nodded, ears perking as an innkeeper came knocking on the door.

"Extra bed service!" Came the call from the entering inn-workers, a pair of Makuhita, shuffling a rather large bedframe in. "Sorry about the wait, had to find just the right size for your quadrupedal pal there." the first of the two noted, the second moving inwards, shuffling the arrangements around. "Don't worry, these rooms were made for this sort of thing, it's no big deal."

Thumping down the fourth bed, it sure seemed to be as comfortable-looking as the rest. Miles' bed was only somewhat smaller than this new one. Once the arrangements were in place, the working pair bowed, the second one speaking. "Not often the 'Queen Size' needs to be pulled out from storage, let alone three. Been getting quite a few big guests this past week, first that Silvally and big Skuntank, now you. Hah, well enjoy!"

Their task done, the pair shuffled out, closing the door. "Oh how lovely!" Talani murred, settling onto the new bed, sighing. "Ahh.. Now this is nice. I can't remember the last time I had a proper bed to sleep in since my days being human-owned. Course those are long behind me, hff..~" sprawling out onto her side, the Furfrou seemed quite pleased, showing off her paunchy features to the other room inhabitants.

"Right.. Now that you're getting settled in." Auron huffed, plonking down on his bed, sitting back, all eyes now on the much more relaxed quadruped. "I suppose it's only fair if we swap stories, before hearing yours, hmm?"

"Ohh please, by all means, I'd love to hear about each of you and your upbringings, hmmh..~" Talani murred deeper, stretching, loosening up lavishly, sighing out. "I'm all ears, boys. Why don't I start by hearing yours, blue-boy? I'm sure you've quite quite a few tales behind that muscle and more." she softly smirked, leaving Auron the roll his eyes.. It was gonna be a long night, for sure.

"Well to start things off..." he began in earnest, spinning his tale once more...

* * *

"...And that's how I've come to be on this team with Miles and the boss." Keon stated. The trio having spent the last hour unwinding their histories on Talani, who'd groomed herself to look more relaxed, proppering herself with forepaws crossed, listening intently. "To be honest, I wouldn't choose any other rescue team, or group of companions to hang around with, nor would I trade them for anything in the world." the gecko finished.

"Hoo.. You guys have some pretty wild stories about you. Heh, 'specially you Miles, you naughty little otter." Talani smirked, getting a huff and blush from the Floatzel again. "Mmh, as for me? Life growing up was more than a bit roughshod.. You ever been to Kalos?"

"Not directly, but we do know a Skuntank who was born and raised in the wilds over there." Miles nodded. "Big, lengthy lug too, and I don't mean his 'regions' I mean body length." he specified. "Though his travel companion's just a biiit taller than him. But go on?"

"Ahh. I was born into a litter of pups in a human family home, I lived in Coumarine City for the first fifteen years of my life. I was different from my siblings. 'The runt of the litter' my mother was shamed to say. I lacked any sort of French accent, if you couldn't tell that already, as well as growing to be bigger than my brothers and sisters." she chuckled. "I also ate quite a bit more, and it got to the point the family couldn't really support feeding me."

Arching and stretching her jaws in a yawn, Talani continued. "Ouaf.. They also wanted time and time again to give me one of those hideous trims. If you're not familiar with Furfrous in general, our kind are known to be subjected to specific trims in Lumiose City. Owner preference and what not. Ugh, I found each of them repulsive, to be quite honest with you.."

"Yeesh.. This is why I'm glad I was raised in the wild." Miles shook his head, huffing. "Humans, especially females, are always so damn insistent on the quote-unquote 'best appearances possible' in terms of grooming their Pokemon. Personally I find it sickening, blech.. If someone tried to groom or trim my fur, aside from that wonderful fellow who works at the Spa.. They'll quickly find themselves treading otter slimes." he snorted, patting his gut.

"Hah. I bet they would." Tal smirked, relaxing more. "Mmmh.. At any rate, with how 'stubborn' I was, as they put it, they decided to entrust me to a Breeder. An Arceus-damned BREEDER! Now I don't know about any of you, but I was not about to be turned into a pup factory. I'd heard horror stories of some shady breeders, and that was not about to happen. So after I broke free from my leash and collar, I made to flee to the wilds. That didn't last too long though." the Furfrou snorted, growling softly. "Some humans caught me as I was bolting out of Courmarine's southern gate. 'Pet Control' as it were. They dragged me back and asked that so-called family what they wanted done with me. They decided to alienate me, told them to 'do what you wish' with me. And so they decided to ship me off in a crate off here to Sinnoh!"

That got a series of flinches from the group, Keon shaking his head. "That's just distasteful.." he agreed. "Humans can be so cruel and self-centering, but when it comes to caring for others.. Mmph, I don't have any words for it."

"Tell me about it. I was out on the open sea for a month, with just enough food to keep me healthy. I was a big growing girl! What did they think was going to happen!" Talani barked out, ruffling her fur in a huff. "After they dropped me off, I started to explore the wonderful wilds of this gorgeous region. Much cleaner than Kalos is in my personal opinion. Spent three years, still growing, needing more food.. Then I wandered along the sandy shores east of Pastoria City."

Miles blinked at that. "I used to live in Pastoria myself, at the Great Marsh!" he exclaimed. "I never did get to venture out eastward though, folks said it was too dangerous because of all the humans and trainers going about." he shook his head. "I take it that's the day you.."

Talani nodded. "Mmhmm, that Buizel was among a group of other Buis, and they were not happy to have an 'outsider' in their territory. They demanded I leave, I simply told them it was an open beach. Then to illustrate their point, they hosed down my fur! With icy-cold Water Guns no less!" she whined, shaking a bit from that memory. "Now.. Living with that human family DID have one perk to it; That being my knowing Facade and Wild Charge, as blueberry there can attest to."

Auron nodded, sighing out. "Sadly I can, and she hits quite hard. She also has Cotton Guard in her set for extra defense." he noted. "Wound up making my shoulder sore with Extreme Speed when I smacked into her." he flinched, rubbing the right shoulder, still feeling a faint tingle, shaking a bit as well. "Oof.. Shouldn't have guzzled that third drink.." he murmured.

"You gonna be alright, Nomcario?" Miles noted, seeing his leader's expression turn slightly discomforted, getting a paw waved at him.

"Yeah.. Thank Arceus for Aura potency.. It's the only thing keeping back the hazing sensation right now.. It'll pass come morning. Head's probably gonna be hurting a bit though.. Oh well, them's the breaks."

"At any rate, if I might continue.." Talani began again. "I charged headlong through all of them, there was at least five, I smacked them up good with Wild Charge, sent them faceplanting into the sand. Lotta recoil too, but dammit, I was not letting them make a fool out of me! Four of them dove back into the waters, but the fifth tripped and fell into the sand again. That's when my poor belly gave an outcrying groan.."

At the next part, the trio was silent, listening to the canine. "Looking at the Buizel, a thought crossed my mind. So I acted on it, pinned him under one of my paws, took a sniff.. And then a lick." she murred warmly, remembering. "Tasted as salty as the ocean breeze, but also had that seafood flavor. He put up quite a fuss as I scarfed and wolfed him down. But Arceus did it feel good.~"

"I ah.. I see.." Miles nervously smiled, shivering, imagining for a moment, before shaking his head. "Oof, best not to think too hard on that.. So what happened afterward?"

"Ahh, after that, I discovered my predatory side of course~" Tala chuckled, smirking again. "After that I decided to expand my menu by sampling the 'local cuisine' of the wilds. starting with Bidoofs.. Shinxes.. Starlys.. A couple years after that I one time fed on a pair of Bibarel. Ouaf, they sagged and filled my stomach so good!~" she was starting to salivate from all the memories. "Ahh.. Then after my 24th birthday, nine years after I arrived in the region, I stumbled and found myself in Mistwalker Valley."

"Wait, that's why you were in there? You fell in and never got out?" Keon blinked, tilting his head. "That's.. Rather interesting, I won't deny." the gecko folded his arms. "Most first-timers in a dungeon would be terrified. You weren't?"

"Oh heavens, no, it was actually exciting!" Talani barked happily. "I'll admit, when I saw the more aggressive wild Pokemon inside, I was a little flustered, but before that point I'd added Charm to my arsenal. A bit of feminine wiles can calm even the most hardened wild.~" she chuckled, winking to Auron, the jackal only huffing at that. "Mmhmhm, but anyways, I decided to make the place my home for the time, venturing deeper. I loved the lush greenery, and the misty rains felt very nice on my fur, kept me feeling fresh.~"

"Some time after that, I saw my first rescue team passing through, and after getting an explanation, well.." she grinned at all three of them. "That's what kickstarted my new 'diet' so to speak of reviver seed-holding rescue mons.~" she murred loudly.

"Uhh.. Huh.." Keon slowly nodded. "Well that explains the extra info about you on that job Auron went solo on yesterday.." he concluded, leaning back. "Still, you didn't get chastised about your eating habits?"

"Nah, not really. They were content to let me keep feeding, so long as I kept asking if they had Revivers if they were on rescue teams. Which naturally, I did.~ Even blueberry there when he came rolling through, hehe." she licked her lips at Auron, causing the jackal to faintly blush. "You loved it, don't even lie.~"

"Hrff.. I'd appreciate if you would conclude how you got here.." the jackal muttered softly, gripping the sides of his bed a bit firmly.

"Ahh, alright just for you, juicy." she winked, arching her back once more. "Mmmf.. The day after, your Zoroark acquaintance Zane came in as well as a Liepard.. Abigail I think her name was? Either way, she confided in me that li'l Auron here enjoyed himself and missed me soooo.." she perked with a broader smile. "She brought me back to Clearspring and voila! Here I am.~"

A few long moments passed as the group considered her story, Auron already having said his thoughts about it. Finally Miles spoke up. "Well you're certainly welcome among this group, that's quite a history you've got. And always nice to see ladies with a big appetite, keh." the Floatzel smirked softly. "Bet you could scarf Keon down without even trying."

"Miles, of all the times to joke.." the gecko sighed. "Nevertheless.. I'll trust Auron at his word for his reasons about allowing you on our team, though now that you're here, you're now officially the newest addition to Team Aura Storm. Finally, I can go without being called 'newbie'.." he sighed.

"Regardless, the points I made to you earlier still stand, Talani. I expect you to follow those guidelines to the letter, and don't stray from them even slightly. Is that understood? Make whatever jokes you want, I'm not having my team's reputation be tarnished because of your flirtatious behavior." he huffed, slumping and laying back. "And at that.. I need some rest.. Get some sleep, you've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Hah." Miles snickered, patting the Furfrou's back. "Don't mind the grump. He's just mad that he had to let a fine lady figure join this sausage fest. I don't care either way, but I'm with him, it's lights-out time." yawning wide, the Floatzel fwumped back, sighing and settling. "So damn comfortable.."

"Unlike my teammates, I'd like to officially welcome you into our roster, Talani." Keon bowed slightly, kicking his legs up and over. "I suggest you take the boss's advice and get some proper rest. He's not kidding when he says 'long day'. Trust me, I had that distinct pleasure myself.."

Seeing the boys nod off around her, Talani huffed, murring as she sprawled, shuffled, and curled up. "Mmh these beds are comfy..~ This team's going to be much more flamboyant with me around, Frouhhh..~" a soft smirk on her muzzle, the poodle's eyes drifted closed, settling into calmly quiet snorings. Tomorrow would bring about a new day.. And with it, her first challenge.