Pokegirl Adventure 8: Jiggle Jungle

 Hey! I actually got another voted item on this month! I’ve been on kind of a mild rollercoaster recently. Not anything that bad, but busy. If it wasn’t clear, I made this out to be the game’s Safari Zone. I always liked the idea of a trainer who instead of getting a starter pokemon is given a few hundred bucks and let loose in the Safari Zone to do as they will. Not like you usually need pokemon in there anyway. I had considered making this have all three parts, with Marshall, Ann and Fran, but I think that would have gotten a little out of control... 

You could tell you were at Olive Garden way before you saw the welcome signs. The grass grew higher, the trees were taller, and there was a sweet smell to the air like flowers and fruit. “What’s that supposed to be?” Annie asked, brushing her hair from her scarred face.

“That’s lureberry bushes,” Marshall explained as she slid down a hill towards the barely-visible barriers around town. “It’s the stuff they make bait out of for pokegirl gathering.”

“Well why bother? A lovely maiden with a vulnerable mind is all I need to lure out my favorites,” Frannie cooed proudly. Marshall shook his head at the hypno-fetishist as he hopped over a few puddles.

“Because that’s what they use in the Jiggle Jungle,” he went on.

“You mentioned that. What exactly is it?”

“Well, the short version is it’s a chance to catch lots of pokegirls for a few pokedollars instead of searching around the world. It’s a preserve for some pokegirls that they say can only be founds within its borders.”

“That’s amazing!” Annie chimed in. “With a place like that, we could steal all the pokegirls we could ever…” Marshall frowned at her over his shoulder. “Right. Sorry. Force of habit.”

They walked through the gates, the town of Olive Garden pretty small all things considered. Most of the space was highly fenced off on its own side of town. The girls were easy to register for their license, and Marshall threw together something about lending them the pokeballs before they were on file. They were in and out in a half hour, pokepads and all. They swapped info and they were off to the jungle itself. The girls even offered to pay for his pass. He could have afforded it after all the battles he’d been through, but they seemed genuinely ready to redeem themselves and the money was probably questionably obtained to begin with.

Marshall went into the building that served as the entryway, halting in his tracks as he sight a mature woman being held up in the air. She wore nothing but a lab coat as a gray, musclebound pokegirl held her with one set of arms, fingering her with an identical set. 

"Yes! YES! Machamp, go!" The woman herself was in good shape for her age, slim and fit apart from the thick thighs and hips that Machamp was tending to. She had dark blue hair both on top of her head and between her legs, and dark skin from head to toe. Her eyes were rolled back as she moaned and encouraged her pokegirl.

"I knew it wasn't just us," Frannie muttered to Annie.

"Uh... excuse me?" Marshall started. "We're here for... uh..."

"Just a second!" the woman blurted. "Finish it, Machamp! Use Double Team!"

"Brace yourself," Machamp grunted in a low voice before she stuffed her hard, small fists into the blue-haired woman's ass and pussy. They went inside with surprising ease and she let out a piercing scream of delight. The woman humped a few more times before she shuddered and squirted all over Machamp's hand.

"Ohhhh that's the stuff. Good girl, Machamp!" the woman purred. She clung to her buff pokegirl before taking out her pokeball. She called Machamp back into it and landed gracefully on her feet, as if she was used to that exact position. "So! Welcome to The Jiggle Jungle!" she said cheerily as if nothing had just happened.

"Yea... we'd like passes for three?" Marshall asked uneasily. Sure he did the same with his girls (Primeape was particularly aggressive and interested since she evolved), but they at least went off to find somewhere private when they did. Not in the middle of an office to a tourist attraction.

"Of course! Of course!" The woman grabbed a pair of panties off the to of a shelf (from where they'd clearly been thrown off in a hurry) and slipped them on before going to a nearby desk and computer. She must have sensed him staring because she raised her eyebrows while she typed. "Something the matter, sir?"

"I mean... not really, I guess. I just hope we didn't interrupt."

"Oh not at all! I always film it for my research website anyway, so it's not like we're new to being watched."

Marshall got his first good look at her before he smiled. "Wait, you're actually Professor Clarissa Banzai? You founded the jungle?"

The woman grinned back. "Founded on the notion of human and pokegirls coexisting in love," she confirmed. "Whatever form that may take. Pokegirl trainers, farmers, researchers..."

"Fuckers," Annie added. Banzai just nodded.

“Alright, if I can just have your pokepads we can get you started. The rules are simple. We give you an hour in there for 300 pokedollars. You can bring one pokegirl and a complimentary bag of pokegirl bait with you, but no Fire types or Dragon types are allowed. Just to preserve the grounds.”

"Oh..." Annie mused, looking at her pair of pokeballs. Her fire specialty meant that was out the window. Marshall took one of the hyper balls off his belt and passed it to her.

"Here. You can take Wartortle. She's not your style but she's my most experienced fighter, so she'll know what to do."

"Wow! Thanks, sensei!" Ann said as she graciously accepted it.

"So what about me?" Frannie asked, looking at her own pair of pokeballs. "Drowzee or Espeon? I can really only take one?"

"Definitely go with Drowzee," Marshall advised as he passed off his pokepad and the rest of his balls. "You don't want to get into a slugfest out there. You're going to want to strategize and weaken them without having to fight that much. A pokegirl that specializes in sleep moves will be perfect for that."

Frannie shrugged and passed her stuff off for the professor to lock in. "So what are you going to use?"

"Well she's kind of a longshot, but I think I got the right girl for the job." He took off one of his pokeballs and let out his Zubat. She was an easy catch along his travels and he didn't have a lot of reason to use her yet. The short and scrawny girl had blue skin, a pair of two foot long wings sticking out of her back. She wore a blue sweater and some old jeans, with purple hair hanging over her eyes. She was curled up in a ball and snoring softly, which got a giggle from Marshall's apprentices.

"Geez, like Snorlax wasn't enough... I'm going to go down in history as the sleepy pokegirl master. Hey!" Marshall put his hand on her hair, ruffling it until she snapped awake. Two large pointed ears popped up from her hair and she looked up at him, her ruffled hair briefly showing that she actually had no eyes to speak of beneath it. She smiled wearily, flashing a pair of vampire-like fangs.

"Ping ping!" Zubat chirped playfully, stumbling up to her feet before she fluttered her bat wings. She floated off the floor smiling contently.

"I know you're nocturnal," Marshall said with a smirk. "But I need you for a run." He took back his pokepad from the professor and aimed its camera at her.

"Zubat. The batgirl pokegirl. A pokegirl commonly found in dark caves and tunnels. They're easily disturbed and woken by passing trainers because of their sensitive ears that allow them to track prey with echolocation."

Zubat's eyeless face stared at the device blankly. "You can do that, right?"

"Ping ping! Goooo!" she said cheerily. She was still pretty low leveled so she wasn't the most communicative.

"I guess I'll need to spend more time with you. But that's not so bad." Marshall ruffled her hair again, something that made her giggle and squirm in midair. The professor smiled fondly and hit a final keystroke.

"Alright! If you three are ready, head to the gates and I'll start the clock.”

The trio decided to split up shortly after they reached the jungle itself. There was a hiking trail but Marshall imagined that the pokegirls wouldn't likely be on the main roads and they would catch the most if they split up rather than keep deciding who got the next one. Ann went off towards the west, her pokepad open and scanning for wildlife. Wartortle had been filled in and was walking patiently beside her. "What are you looking for?" the pokegirl asked.

"Oh. I dunno," the scarred ex-mobster shrugged. "Some more fire ones would be nice, but whatever I can find. Sensei said I should try to-"

"Watch out," Wartortle mentioned casually.

"No, he wanted me to diversify so-" Ann squeaked in surprise. Her focus on her pad left her totally blind to her surroundings, tripping the few inches into the shallow mud hole ahead of her. "Oh... like that," she groaned. She wiped some mud from her clothes and hair as she sat up, feeling a small wave of heat brush over her. She sighed contently as it stirred up the fire-fetishist's burn scars, but her smile faded when she looked up. A burly pokegirl stood there clad in what looked like apocalyptic armor made of car tires strapped to her body. A broad and thick nose flared as she sneered at the instruding trainer.

"Donphan. The tire armor pokegirl," her pokepad droned. "It grinds-"

"Yea! Yea! Okay!" Ann blurted as she hurried out of the mud. "Wartortle! Do the thing! Do the thing!" she babbled as she ran from the wild pokegirl. Donphan dove after her, curling her body in such a way that the armored tire parts matched into a single wheel and sent her whirling after her.

"Okay, new girl," Wartortle sighed, drawing her water pistols and moving to intercede.

"Stupid thing," Frannie growled, smacking her pokepad. "You said it was right here!" She walked another circle with it its compass moving with each step. "Is your GPS broken or something!? I've been standing here for two whole minutes! Don't you know I'm on a time limit!?" She growled and sat down on the stump she'd been circling the entire time. She flicked at a few settings, trying to get the scanner to work. "This is so... what do you even have me looking for anyway?"

"Phantump!"

"Well why didn't you say so? Now where is it?"

"Phantump!"

"That's not an answer! Give me some actual information! This is why I hate computers! I can barely check my email on-!"

"Booooooty."

"...what, wait?" Frannie tensed as she felt a pair of hands grab her by the butt, groping her cheeks through her clothes. She went pale and looked beneath her, seeing that she had been sitting on a pokegirl. The dark-skinned creature smiled at her eerily from beneath a broad hat shaped like a tree stump, dressed in a loose robe of leaves and ferns.

"Ooga booga!" Phantump said with a crooked smile, smacking Frannie on the butt.

"Wwwwwwhat the shit!? Drowzee!! Get the fuck out here now!!"

"Ping ping!" Zubat chirped as she fluttered around in the air. Her ears kept twitching and turning until she pointed off one direction and lead the way.

"Thanks. Just remember, stay up high when we find someone. If I give you the signal, just hit em with a Screech attack."

"I hear ya," she chimed back.

"Right on. ...you can SEE when I give the signal, right?"

Zubat pursed her lips thoughtfully, nibbling one with her fang. "I hear ya!"

"Okay... cool." He followed Zubat's lead until he heard some rustling in the bushes ahead. Marshall gestured for her to quiet down and dug out some of the bait, tossing it out into the clearing nearby. The bushes rustled as it cautiously came closer and Marshall kept his ball at the ready. What burst out was an orange-skinned pokegirl with a red mohawk. She wore a tiny tube top and wore khaki pants so baggy that he could see every part of her thong. She occasionally pulled them up higher but they always dropped back down around her thighs. Numerous piercings filled her ears and a stud in her nose and chin. She glared bitterly at Marshall as she broke into a sneer. "The fuck you doin'!?" she snapped with a thick New York accent.

"Oh shit! Forget the bait!" Marshall called, turning and running from the Scrafty on the spot. That just riled up the street punk pokegirl as she went charging after him.

"Don'tchu run from me! The fuck  you doin'!?" she ranted as she tried to pursue him and pull up her pants. "Where you goin' stud!?"

"Ping?!" Zubat called, flying after them.

"I'll get you when I'm done, mother fucker!" Scrafty shouted up at her.

"Not yet!" Marshall called back to Zubat. "I got this." He ducked between some trees as the clumsier Scrafty gave chase. He finally bumped into a thick enough tree that he spun around, the punky pokegirl still rushing at full speed.

"The fuck you doin'!?" she cried again, gripping her pants with both hands as she broke into an all out charge. She wouldn't need them, since Scrafty had one trademark move that they adored to establish dominance. She lunged for a headbutt, but Marshall rolled aside and let her head hit the tree. Even as big and dense as the trunk was, a few wide cracks appeared in the surface.

"Th-the fuck you doin'?!" Scrafty staggered dizzily for a moment when Marshall's pokeball bounced off her back. There was the usual flash and some struggling before it clicked shut and the notice pinged on his pokepad.

"Yes! One down!" Marshall bragged. "Nice find, Zubat! Can you get us another one?"

"I hear ya!" Zubat let out a few more little "Ping!" chants as she fluttered in place, finally pointing off in another direction.

"Sweet! What have you got?" Marshall pressed.

"Gettin' noisy!"

"Ok... thanks." Marshall went off, sliding down the hill that Zubat pointed out. He started to head into some tall grass where various patches of flowers waved in the breeze. Zubat pointed ahead again, but Marshall knew better than to head into these blind shrubs. The dangers of tall grass was one of the first things they hammered into you during your pokegirl tutorial guides and the initiation lessons. That was how you ended up getting pounced, or worse, impaled on a horn. "Hey, Zubat? How about a little noise over here?

"Gettin' noisy! Ping!" A shrill keening started coming out of Zubat's gaping mouth, reminding Marshall of a dog whistle. A patch of the flowers started to rustle around and moved towards him as Marshall readied his ball. Just before it could burst out, he threw the ball to intercept it. It smacked into the pokegirl before she could breach the grass, the ball rolling out and blinking as it struggled.

"Come on, come on..." Marshall chanted quietly,  but the ball flashed and popped back open. In a flash, there was a dark green-skinned woman. She had thick hair of a similar color, yellow flowers seeming to grow out of the hair itself rather than being stuck in there. She had a slightly chubby build, making her look more voluptuous and mature/milfy than some of his early catches. She had a leaf green dress, but most notably of all, her arms and breasts were lined with short, thin spines. Cacnea turned her dark eyes with sharp yellow pupils towards him, smiling with her needly teeth like a lusty, curvy goblin.

"Huuuugs!" she chimed, throwing out her arms. Her breasts bounced, which also made her sharp spikes wobble around with them. Marshall's eyes went wide as she ran towards him with her arms outstretched.

"Oh crap! Oh crap crap crap! Zubat! Big help!" Marshall took off sprinting and made a jump for it. Cacnea's arms swung where he just was, her needles neatly piercing through a solid stone like it was a piece of cheese (or Swiss cheese now). It certainly didn't convince Marshall to slow down as he went off running.

"Hugs hugs hugs~! Gimme a prick!" the cactus pokemon chimed happily as she went chasing after him. Zubat flew overhead and sucked in a deep breath before letting out another shriek, making the spikey pokegirl stumble in her pursuits. "Ooooh... so thirsty," she moaned, holding her head with a barbed hand.

"Now I gotcha!" Marshall whirled around and chucked a ball in between her eyes. Cacnea looked briefly stunned before she vanished in a flash, the ball wobbling a few times before it sealed shut. "Phew! I'd wish they were all this easy, if that didn't mean putting my ass on the line." He looked up at Zubat as she fluttered down, the lightweight pokegirl resting on his back and hugging him around the neck. He smiled and ruffled her bangs. "I think I get what they wanted when they made this place. I'm starting to see what you girls go through."

"Noisy," Zubat seemed to agree.

"It sure can be. Come on. Still on the clock." Zubat wrapped her wings around Marshall's shoulders, hanging onto him and his backpack as she pinged out a few more. Marshall managed to sneak up on a dozing, brown-skinned girl with hooved feet, dirty overalls and some shaggy hair, easily catching his first Mudbray. They circled back into the trees where he spotted a tongue shoot out from some bushes and snatch some nuts from a branch.

"I recognize that tongue!"

"Ping?"

"Long story. Let's say Pokeporn is a surprisingly good source for research." Marshall inched a little closer before he unbuttoned his pants, pulling out his dick and stroking himself until he was hard. When Zubat chirped again, he gestured her to keep quiet. "Likitung's what they call 'the blowjob pokemon.' She won't be ablllllllle ahhh there it goes!" The tongue shot back out and wrapped around his cock, easily six feet long judging by how it stretched out of the bushes. It was dripping wet and slathered over his cock and balls, strong while softly smearing over his manhood. Marshall held onto a tree, leaning at first but then catching his arm on a branch to keep from being pulled off his feet. The pokegirl finally stepped out, a pair of cutely beady little eyes studying him. She had bright pink skin in almost the same color as her slobbery tongue, some thick lips pursed around it. She had a pudgy build, though looking shorter and younger than Cacnea did. She wore an apron and nothing else, a tail poking out the back to draw attention to her round and plump booty.

She tugged her head to try and reel Marshall in, but he held onto the branch more tightly. He pushed at the long appendage but her grip on his cock was too tight. His shaft was pulsing against her squeezing tongue, well aware that he'd lose his grip if he blew his load. Zubat finally swooped in, tackling Likitung's face and squeezing her wings around her to mash her little tits in her face. Likitung yelped something, her words slurred by her busy lips and tongue as it suddenly reeled back in. She curled her tongue around Zubat and slapped her into the ground, Zubat fluttering back away from her. She wasn't flying very quickly now that she was coated with spit, but it was all Marshall needed. He quickly pulled up his pants and chucked his ball into Likitung's chest. There was a flash as she yelped out "Ah lick THIS!" before vanishing into the orb. Zubat flapped over clumsily before she slumped against Marshall's arm, spitting out some of the extra slime from Likitung's infamous tongue.

"Yea, she's a little bit of a mess," Marshall admitted. "But a pretty good tanky type. You okay?"

"Squeaky clean," Zubat groaned, shaking out her wet bangs.

"Hey! Something new out of you!" Marshall praised, wiping what he could off of her face. "Maybe you should take it easy then. This is why I didn't want the girls getting into a lot of fights... not a lot of you pokegirls are built for marathon fights like this." He popped out a piece of bait and passed it off to her, letting Zubat munch on that happily.

Once she was finished, he recalled her into his ball. He could bring her back out for now, but some rest would probably be the best thing for her right now. Marshall walked on while flicking bits of bait out in hopes of luring somebody out. He checked his pokepad and saw he had a little over 5 minutes left in Jiggle Jungle. It wasn't a bad haul, but they did say there were some species her that you found nowhere else on the planet...

Like the next one. He froze as he heard some bushes rustling nearby. They shifted again and he flicked another piece of bait in their direction. A zigzagging yellow tail poked out of the bushes like a little cartoon lightning bolt. Marshall held his breath as he smiled. So it was a Pikachu! They weren't exclusive, but Pikachus were pretty uncommon and popular. He readied his pokeball when she poked her head out, surprised to see a rather bright orange color. They were supposed to be yellow, even the rarest of them not in that shade. The yellow around her eyes beneath the orange made his jaw drop.

"No way..." he rambled, breaking into a gawking grin. "It can't be..." The Pikachu finally hopped out, the short and curvy pokegirl stooping down and snatching up the food. She had some long ears and a medium build with some wide, round breasts. She had a bottom-heavy butt, but it was wrapped in black spandex. It formed a bodysuit that ran up just above her nipples, and she wore a mask from her hair to her button nose and rosy cheeks. More lightning bolts made patterns on her mask while a blonde ponytail stuck out of her lucha mask. "Is that seriously a Pikachu Libre?! In the wild!?"

"Pika?" Pikachu hopped in surprise as he yelped, squatting down low and entering a grappling stance. "El rudo!"

"Oh man, I'm just gonna assume that means what I think it means! Pokeball go!" Marshall chucked a piece of bait in one hand and a pokeball in the other. The lucha Pikachu scanned both with a flick of her eyes before the 4-foot tall wrestler leapt at the food, dodging the ball while snatching it in her mouth. She gulped it down in one bite and fired up some sparks in her tail. Marshall reached for his other pokeball but knew that even at her best, his low level Zubat would have a hard time dealing with anything Electric. Being soaked in spit wouldn't help her any either. He just chuckled another ball, but the Pikachu ducked under that one as well. She Her cheeks puffed up in a pouty expression before they crackled with electricity, signalling Marshall to book it behind a tree. A burst of lightning streaked across the ground where he had been standing, peeking out from behind the tree once it passed. Pikachu Libre was nowhere in sight until she shouted from somewhere overhead.

"Off the top rope!" she squeaked out. Marshall looked up just in time to see her plump booty flying down, her spandex-clad camel toe mashing into his face. Marshall grunted and went down beneath the surprisingly heavy pokegirl who clamped her thighs around his face. Marshall was left flat on his back as her head scissors squeezed around his face, pushing his nose into her warm and sweaty-smelling pussy. "Tap out!" Pikachu declared, and he could hear some more crackling from her cheeks. He pulled at her spandex bottoms but when he couldn't make her budge, he just pulled them down and pushed his face directly into her snatch. The spandex had been plenty tight, trapping all of her sexy scent inside her clothes.

"Aiiii!" the Pikachu yelped in a thick Spanish accent, clenching her legs tighter. It just pushed Marshall in deeper, licking away at her budding little clit. Pikachu tried to roll and twist to limit his reach but he doggedly stuck to her wet and tight snatch. "Ahhh tap out!" Pikachu finally whined, releasing his head as she tried to scurry off. Marshall was at least bright enough not to grab her by her shocking tail, but he caught her by the hips instead. He pulled her fat booty back as he whipped out his shaft, pushing it into Pikachu from behind. She let out a high-pitched squeal as he fit himself in between her ass cheeks. "Ahhh sumision!" she wailed in what he once again translated himself. He hotdogged the snatched Pikachu a little, teasing her ass until he slid it into her actual asshole, getting a relieved but passionate grunt from the teased pokegirl. Her little legs kicked around wildly, but more trying to vent her excitement than to escape.

"You're just asking for it throwing that big butt of yours around," Marshall panted, wiping some dirt and leaves from his hair as he went on fucking her bouncy booty. The spandex was pulled around her legs to prevent her escape, leaving her panting and squirming as her held her close against her. The soft and fleshy slapping noises of him plowing her ass matched her breathless cries of passion, her eyes rolling back in her head and her tongue hung out beneath her mask. Her cheeks started to spark and Marshall felt a vibration against his cock that finally had him cumming, spurting inside her and trickling down Pikachu's chubby thighs. With one last cry as he rubbed his cum into her, Pikachu released a pent up burst of cum over his shaft, simultaneously shooting lightning out of her cheeks ahead of her. She fell to the ground, eyes rolling and tapping the ground to mark her surrender.

"Sumision!!" she repeated desperately.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Marshall answered breathlessly, taking out his pokeball and tapping it on her ass. There was another flash before she vanished inside, barely putting up a fight at all once she was inside. He laughed and slumped against a tree, making sure his catch went through as he rested. It took up the last minutes of his timer, hearing the buzzer sound over some hidden speaker overhead.

"Your pokeballs are now inactive. Please return to the entrance by following the maps on your pokepads." Marshall took an extra minute to check his course and catch his breath before he got back up to trudge back into town. He was dirty, tired, and freshly out of cum, but he was loaded with new pokegirls.

"So that's Scrafty, Cacnea, Mudbray, Likitung, and Pikalibre," Marshall reported as he showed his pokepad to the professor and his friends/students. "How did you guys make out?"

"Well I caught this little weirdo." Frannie pointed over her shoulder, where Phantump was still snuggling its face into her butt. "And I got a Staryu and a Venomoth."

"Not bad. That should add some variety and cover a few weaknesses of yours. What about you, Ann?"

Ann had been quiet and wide-eyed since she returned. "So, uh... Donphan and Kangaskhan..." She held out her pokepad with their images, the tire-clad warrior and a tall milf with an apron and a large belly displayed no her browser. There was also about twenty more tabs open. "And... and I got this one!" She tossed out her pokeball and a short pokegirl with red hair and a pair of long animal ears appeared. She wore a short skirt and a blouse of orange and red, small-chested and with long dainty legs. She looke around a bit puzzled, a large and fluffy red tail swishing behind her. "I got a Fennekin! I got another fire type! It just walked right up to me like it knew I wanted it to burn me!"

Marshall chuckled at her gushing excitement. He looked to Wartortle who rolled her eyes. "Easy stuff," Wartortle dismissed.

"Well it's your usual type, but they do evolve into a cross-type with Psychic, so that's an improvement," Marshall explained.

"I can't wait to use her!" Ann squealed, jumping up and down. Fennekin looked a bit puzzled before jumping up and down too, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Burn them all!" Fennekin chimed merrily. Marshall raised an eyebrow, but Ann squealed louder.

"It's so perfect! Thank you, Marshall-sensei!"

"It was pretty fun," Fran admitted with a smirk. "I forgot what legitimately catching a pokegirl could be like."

"It's pretty rewarding, huh? I really want to break in the new ones once they're healed up, so maybe we can do some spar matches. Oh... but that reminds me." Marshall paused and picked up his pokepad, thumbing through a few entries until he found what he was looking for. He gave it a quick read and tossed out his pokeball. "Go, Cacnea."

"Huuuugs~!" the green pokegirl cooed, posing with her needly arms squeezing around her barbed breasts. Ann and Fran cringed at the offer of the spikey hug, but Marshall checked his pad one more time and stepped in. He held out his arms in a careful position as the Cacnea gasped and threw open her arms.

"Yes. Hugs," he confirmed. He hugged her delicately, arms carefully going in the locations the pokepad entry showed for "how to hug your Cacnea without dying" that showed the precise position you could use to hold her and avoid getting stuck. The busty cactus milf breathed the deepest sigh of relief that he'd ever heard, and it felt like one of the best reminders for why he became a trainer in the first place.