"Hey Tao! You're up next!" Cindy called, her curly blonde hair bounced as she turned with a prominent 'hmph' before going back behind the curtain that was the doorway to the dressing room. Tao hmphed back, fixing the laces of her 5'' high heels that trailed up her legs up to her knees. She wore a frilly black top that was a very thin fabric and barely covered her D-cup breasts and a very lacy black thong.

The thing about Tao, was that she was a wolf otherkin. Her body was completely covered with solid green and blue fur, A muzzle for a mouth along with the wolf ears and fluffy tail. The whole front of her body looked as if it was dipped in blue, along with her muzzle. Her hair was fixed in loose curls that were also green, but tips were dipped in blue.

"I'm coming!" She called back, standing easily on the heels as she checked herself in the floor-length mirror by the doorway before walking through.

Backstage looked pretty busy with many humans and scantily dressed women walking about, some carrying props and other items along with them. Every night was the same, the other women trying to compete against each other to prove who would earn the most money in a single night. It was pretty sad actually, but Tao didn't take part in these competitions, thinking she had more to worry about than what the other girls think about her.

"Tao! Get your ass up here! You're up next after Anna!" Cindy, the floor director, called once again, her voice laced deep with annoyance as she peeked behind the large curtain that took up one whole side of the floor. Tao growled lowly as she walked up to the floor director, her boss, as she looked down at herself to make sure nothing was out of place. Two other girls came up behind her, both human and clad with similar clothing, standing at the ready.

The she-wolf's ears were already aching with the loud sound of music blaring and hollers coming from the other side of the large curtain as the crowd were being entertained. After about a minute, the music faded away and there were loud cheers for about another minute, then a couple of girls walked through the curtain with smug grins, their bras, underwear, and boots or heels stuffed with cash.

Tao ignored them, looking straight ahead as she concentrated on her breathing, waiting as an over-enthusiastic guy spoke over the intercom, then started the music. Tao immediately walked forward, throwing the curtain aside in a swift motion as she walked with a pep in her step on the stage, the lights on her as she began her show.

---

Walking home alone was a usual routine for her. Even though the guy bouncers at the Cat Scratch Club made sure she was okay to walk home by herself, she really was. She liked to prove to others that she could take care of herself instead of being put down by the human girls that worked with her as a pathetic she-wolf that always needs a guy taking care of her, which would be in her nature. Most of the humans didn't know what the were talking about for one, and she was too proud to let them talk about her like that. So she was proving them wrong.

The Club was in a pretty run-down neighborhood, of usual thieves and a few gangs. She didn't like the idea of working so close to a place like this, but she had to. No other job wouldn't really accept her, so she tried to work the way she can.

Her old boyfriend, Kane, never knew about the job. She gave him the idea she was working in some high-class office. Never told him where it would be, just in case he would decide to visit her or something like that.

Now that her and Kane weren't together anymore, due to him taking in another girl and taking care of her, she kept her job up, as it kept her busy and took her mind off of him. It was hard to let him go for her, but she knew things weren't gonna be the same once she saw the light in his eyes as he looked at the silver fox he took in.

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head to rid of those thoughts running through her mind. All she had now was work, and her prized neon green and blue mustang that took her years to save up for and even longer to get the custom paint job.

She continued walking towards the direction where her small apartment was located, only a few dim-lit lamp poles to guide her way. It was also a full moon, making the darker alleyways and sidewalks glow with its light. Even with the dim lighting, everything was still dark to her. Her enhanced vision was slowly deteriorating, form the many years of having her eyes glued on any video game screen since she was five years old. She had glasses, but they made her look stupid, she thought, so she never or rarely wore them.

Her ears perked up at a sound behind her, pulling her to a stop to turn around at the noise. She saw nothing there at first, her ears swiveling around to make sure before she turned back to continue walking. There it was again, and she turned in a swift motion, seeing something dart down a nearby alley. She let out a soft growl, getting irritated before turning back and walking at a brisk pace.

As she passed up an alley, she yelped loudly when someone grabbed her, pulling her into the darkness. The air stunk of old, rotten garbage and so did the person or whoever that was holding her. She growled fiercely and reared back her leg to land a back kick right into the guy's crotch, forcing the guy to let go of her. "You bitch!" She heard a deep growl from the guy. She quickly turned , seeing a grey wolf shrouded by a black hoodie, bent over holding onto his damaged goods before he shook it off and lunged at her.

At that moment, she raised her arm with a tightly clenched fist to rear back, but was shocked to see the guy to suddenly stop only feet in front of her, and fell down as if he had just hit a wall. "What the-" the wolf muttered, getting up to lunge at her once more before being stopped again by the invisible force.

Tao watched, a bit confused until she felt someone put a light hand on her raised arm, nearly causing her to jump when she turned her head to look at who was behind her. It was another guy, but she knew instantly he wasn't with the guy trying to break into the invisible wall. He stood tall, at least half a foot above her with long dark black and red hair framing his face and yellow-red eyes. Glancing at his light black and blue fur and his large ears, she realized he was a Luxray, one of the different types of Pokemon she knew of. He slowly lowered her arm, staring at the guy that was still trying to get through to them.

The Luxray walked closer to the mugger. "I suggest you drop that pistol, turn around, and walk away." He spoke, his voice serious and had a hint of protectiveness that made Tao shiver. She frowned up at the mysterious guy, and glanced back at the other guy still trying to break the force field, wondering how the Luxray knew this guy had a pistol on him when she couldn't see one.

The mugger growled loudly, finally stopping his attack on the shield around them and said, "fuck you." The Luxray hung his head, letting out a soft sigh at the guy's words. "Fine."

Tao watched in shock as the mugger rose up into the air, seeing that there wasn't anything around him that could cause something like this. She watched as pistol rose out of the waistline of his pants. And as it flew into a nearby dumpster that had somehow opened itself, the mugger flew over a nearby wall, out of sight.

Tao's mouth hung open in shock, trying to make sense of how something like this could happen without any physical force doing it. Then she remembered, Pokemon had special abilities that they could use. She turned to see the Luxray smirking proudly, maybe expecting her to cry in his arms thanking him left and right for saving her. She did the opposite.

There was a loud 'pop', almost like a gunshot, but what she did was slap the Luxray right across his smug face. His head whipped to the side, quickly turning back towards her, jaw slack and mouth wide open in shock, to notice she was glaring at him with her ferocious red eyes.

"What did you do that for?" He stuttered in surprise, completely not expecting her to slap him for rescuing her. She let out a feral growl, her eyes nearly glowing in anger.

"I didn't need you to save me! I was taking care of it all on my own, so I don't need a big ass hot shot Pokemon to come and rescue me with his special powers from a single guy that I can handle!" She yelled in his face, her paws clenching into fists at her side as she resisted to give him another hit to his shocked face.

The Luxray held his hands up in surrender, secretly hoping she doesn't hit him again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry or anything. It just looked like you needed help and when I saw he had a gun hiding, I couldn't help it." He explained in a nervous rush, giving her a sheepish smile.

She let out another growl, softer this time, and sighed heavily, letting her anger go. "Thank you for helping me. Now, I need to get home before more of those weirdos decide to come out." She spoke, walking past him to exit the alley and walk back onto the street. She heard footsteps following right behind her, knowing already it was him.

"Wait, wait. Before you object, I would like to at least walk you safely home after what just happened." He spoke from behind her, gently taking her arm to pull her to a stop. She almost slapped him again just for touching her, but she could tell the guy was sincere when he spoke, and refrained from the idea of hitting him. Instead, she sighed once more and just nodded.

"Fine." She agreed and pulled her arm out of his grip, continuing on her way. "Hopefully you're not one of those stalkers a who preys on innocent girls in their own homes." She muttered under her breath, barely a whisper, but she stiffened when she heard his chuckle from behind her.

"I promise I'm not a stalker or a killer." He answered, his voice filled with amusement, but kept quiet once he saw her glance at him with a sideward glare. He still kept the smile on his face as he walked only a few feet behind her.

Tao glanced back at him once more, finally noticing his phisique, with was tall and lean, where he wore a simple black muscle shirt with a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, leaving his feet paws bare. He had snake bite piercings on his lips, which made him seem more of the punk type. And her, she simply wore a grey tank top with a pair of navy blue yoga pants, comfort clothes she liked to call them, and wore them after a day at work to make her feel less exposed to the world.

She turned back when he noticed her checking him out, and just smiled at that. He followed her for another few minutes until they reached a old, worn down brick building, looking like it's about to collapse anytime now. He frowned at this, but followed her up to the third floor of the building, where she stopped at her weathered door and turned towards him.

"Thank you for walking me home, and I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can take care of myself for now. I promise." She told him, who looked at her with a slight frown. They stood there, unmoving for a minute or two before he took her paw in his, bringing it up to his lips before kissing the back of it gently. He then smiled at her, causing heat to rise to her cheeks before he placed a card in her paw and let go.

"Let me know if you need anything then." He gave her a grin, before turning and walking back towards the stairs. She glanced down at the card, seeing as it was a business card for a band it seemed, with a few numbers on the back of it. She looked back up and stared at his back before she realized something. "Wait! I never got your name!" She called, and he turned to glance at her with the same grin.

"It's Cenn. Cenn Blackbolt. I'll see you around, Tao." He answered her, turning back and descending down the stairs and out of sight. She was left there, stunned, because she never told him her name.