FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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There was renewed energy throughout the household. With news of Chris' recovery, everyone seemed to have a new attitude about them. Angela was no longer sitting in her bed all day. She gained the energy to almost get back into her everyday routine. Marcus could finally enjoy his beer and Tora started eating again, more than usual. A few days of starving yourself can give you an appetite. After a few days of personal recovery, they visited Chris in the hospital. Unfortunately, Chris hadn't woken up yet, but they were just glad that he was alive. They continued to visit him every day in hopes that he would wake up. Tora was even visiting him at night without Marcus or Angela. At first the doctors were against it and called Marcus to pick her up, but they eventually decided to let her do what she wanted since she wasn't getting in the way of anything. She'd stayed up watching him sleep peacefully for a couple hours each night for before heading back home.

One night however, was a special night she'll never forget. She took the usual route home like always, which went through a few alleyways, in front of a couple of stores, and a shortcut through the park. She made it out of the alleyways and all she needs to do is go through the park and she'll be home. The park was pretty standard. There was a set of swings, a couple see-saws, a slide, lots of sandboxes, a set of monkey bars, and a jungle gym. Running through the park was a path that led to the suburban part of town where home was. The path was surrounded by trees and bushes on the left and right of it, making it perfect for someone to get the jump on somebody. Marcus and Angela told Chris and Tora to not to go down the path and just go the long way around many times for that reason, but they did it anyway seeing as nothing has ever happened like that in town before.

As she walked through the park, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Every few seconds she would look behind her to see if anyone was there. She was starting to think she was just being paranoid and it was all in her head. She heard a twig snap and turned in the direction of the noise. Nothing came out. She started walking again and a few seconds later, heard another snap. "Is someone there?" she asked in a general area in the darkness. No one answered. "Okay, get a grip Tora." she told herself. "You're just hearing things cuz Chris isn't around to keep you company. I need to be brave. I can do this." Another twig snapped and it made her jump. "Look, whoever you are, just come out and face me already! I'm getting really sick of this!" she shouted at a bush, sparks of electricity emanating from her cheeks.

"Wait! Stop! Don't hurt me!" a voice cried out. Crawling out of the underbrush came a caterpie. When she saw the green caterpillar, she relaxed her body and let out sigh. The little green caterpillar was shaking out of fear in front of the electric mouse.

"I'm sorry. This is the first I've come through here alone and I guess I'm a little jumpy." Tora said. The caterpie stopped its shaking and let out a sigh of its own.

"Oh...well, that's okay. I'm a little scared traveling by myself too. I thought you were gonna eat me or something." the caterpie said with relief. Tora giggled at its remark.

"Luckily for you, I don't eat bugs. I don't think I could handle something wiggling in my tummy." The caterpie laughed this time.

"I don't think I would taste very good anyway... Whoa..." The caterpie stared in awe at what was behind Tora. Tora looked behind her to see what the little bug was looking at and saw nothing.

"What are you looking at?" she asked confused at what was so impressive.

"There! On your left!" it shouted. She glanced to her left and saw nothing. "Behind you!" She quickly turned around and saw nothing again.

"What are you talking about? There's nothi-"

"It's right above you!" Tora looked up and saw nothing again. Tora was starting to get annoyed with the young bug. Sure she accidentally scared the poor creature, but playing little tricks on her was getting old. She brought her head back down at was met with a pair of large blue eyes and pink fur.

"Whaa!" she yelled in surprise as she fell back on her rump. There, floating a foot off the ground, was a mew.

The pink cat-like pokemon laughed at the fallen electric mouse. Tora and the caterpie stared in awe. Out of all the pokemon in the world, they came across a mew. The mew danced around them as if studying them. "Wanna play with me?" he asked Tora. Judging from its voice, she assumed it was male. It took a moment for Tora to answer.

"Um... well, actually I have to get home now. My family is waiting for me." The mew flew in front of the caterpie.

"Do you wanna play with me?" The mew didn't get an answer however. The caterpie fell over on its side, passed out on the ground. Apparently, he was so shocked the mew was talking to him, that he fainted. The mew looked over to Tora, who looked worried for the little bug. "Don't worry, he's fine. He just got a little excited is all." He flew over to Tora and circled around her. "You sure you don't wanna play with me? It'll just be for a little bit." Tora thought it over in her head.

"Well, it is getting dark and I'm sure they'll start to worry about me if I'm late for dinner. Then again, it's not everyday you get a chance to play with a mew." She giggled in her head. "Okay, I'll play with you, but we can't play for too long."

"Okay, I know just where to go. This place a little too dark for my taste. My name's Aaron by the way."

"I'm Tora." With a small pop and flash of light, Aaron teleported both of them someplace else.

They arrived in a land that was foreign to Tora. The sun was still up and they were in the middle of a forest. There were a couple of pokemon that passed by she didn't know. Aaron flew in front of her. "Come on. It's just over here." He flew ahead of Tora, leaving her to follow. They traveled for a few minutes and arrived at a very large tree. Tora was amazed at just the size of the tree. It was easily more than six times the tallest trees in Viridian Forest and more than four times as wide as the house she called home. It had several entrances at different points of the tree.

"Wow, It's huge!"

"Yeah, I guess it is compared to the houses humans live in. This is my personal tree house." Aaron laughed. "Let's play hide and seek. I'll let you hide first since you're a guest." Tora felt a little special being called a guest.

"Okay, how long do I have to hide?" she asked.

Mmm... I'll give you two minutes. I know it seems a little long, but I'm sure you know why. This place is huge!" he finished as he threw his tiny arms in the air. Tora nodded and sprinted inside to find a hiding place. Aaron started counting as soon as she was out of sight. "Hehehe, she's kinda cute. 1...2...3..."

"This place is bigger than it looks from the outside." Tora said to herself as she ran down the many hallways. She came across a couple platforms that surrounds you in a bubble and takes you up or down the levels of the tree. It surprised her at first, but she quickly enjoyed the ride. She knew she ran out of time by the time she found a hiding place in a garden of sorts. It had many different kinds of berries. Bulk, pecha, figy, and many others. There was a large hole in the ceiling that allowed light to come through. Since the room was in the middle of a tree, a series of mirrors leading outside reflected the light so it reached the room. As for water resources, there was a hollow tube running up and down the rows of berry trees with tiny holes in it so water would leak through. Tora was tempted to eat some, but thought it was rude to take someone else's food. She climbed a tree and situated herself on a branch.

She wasn't sure how long it's been, but it was a while before she hid herself. "I wonder where he is." she thought to herself. "For a psychic pokemon, he's sure taking his time to find me."

"I heard that." a voice said in her head. Tora was so freaked out at the familiar second voice in her head that she fell off the branch and landed on her belly. When she looked up, she saw Aaron floating in front of her laughing.

"Jeez, what took you so long? I thought you'd find me a long time ago." she said as she got up.

"Well I guess it's sort of my fault. I should have set up a barrier so that you wouldn't have gotten so far. I didn't want to cheat and read your mind to find out where you were, but it was taking too long to find you." he replied. "It's no fun if you never find who you're looking for."

"Yeah, I guess. So what now?" Aaron thought about what to do next.

"Well, since it took so long for me to find you, I guess I'll have to take you home. I'm sure your humans are starting to worry about you by now."

Oh snap! I forgot all about that! Can you take me straight to my home?" Tora exclaimed."

"Sure."

A small pop later, they appeared in front of the Welby House. Tora ran to and window and peeked inside the house. Marcus was watching something on the television with Angela. They didn't look too worried at the fact that Tora hadn't come home yet. She let out a sigh and turned to Aaron. "I think I'm safe. Thank you. I had a nice time playing with you." Aaron smiled and flew closer to her.

The pleasure's mine. Maybe we can play together again sometime."

I'd like that. Well, good night and thanks again." Tora went to the front door and opened it.

Good night. I hope your friend Chris feels better." Aaron said. Before she could turn around and ask how he knew about Chris, the pink cat pokemon disappeared. Tora stood in the doorway with a perplexed look on her face.

"Wierd." Tora thought to herself.

"I heard that." Aaron said telepathically in her her head. Tora freaked out and closed the door fast and hard, alerting Marcus and Angela to her arrival. Marcus was the first to arrive.

"Oh, it's only you Tora. Jeez, you scared me half to death the way you slammed the door." he said.

Who's the at the door?" Angela asked from the couch in the next room.

It's okay dear. It was just Tora coming in." Marcus replied. "You sure came home late. We were gonna call the hospital to see if you were still there." Tora gave him an apologetic look. "Come on, you must be hungry. We still have some leftover berries from dinner you can eat." At the mention of food, Tora quickly followed Marcus into the kitchen. "Hmm, that's strange. I don't remember having any of these for dinner." Marcus said with a confused look. Curiously, Tora jumped onto the table where the bowl of berries were usually held. She saw the bowl and was surprised at what was in it. There was at least one of every berry she had ever known sitting in the bowl. "Angie, do you know how all these berries got in here?" Marcus asked. Angela walked into the kitchen a couple moments later and examined the bowl.

"No. We didn't have any of these earlier." she said. While they were trying to figure out where they came from, Tora already knew. She picked up a pecca berry and happily munched on it. Marcus and Angela watched her eating it and figured "as long as it doesn't kill anybody, we won't ask any questions." They returned back to their movie, leaving Tora by herself to munch. After she finished snacking, she felt sleepy from the days activities. She headed upstairs to her and Chris' room and slipped between the sheets to let sleep take her mind off to dreamland.

*****8*****

Tora awoke the next morning with a big yawn. The smell of freshly cooked bacon filled her nosed, making all the drowsiness she would usually feel when waking up, disappear. She jumped off the bed and dashed downstairs to get some delicious meat in her. She got to the kitchen and saw Angela cooking on the stove, while Marcus was making waffles with the waffle maker. "Oh, good morning Tora. Breakfast will be ready in a little bit. Why don't you go wash up? It'll be ready by the time you get back." Angela said with a loving smile. Tora nodded and went upstairs for a quick wash.

She turned the water on and waited for it to fill up a bit before she got in the tub. A couple minutes rolled by and she hopped in the tub of warm water. She soaked for a little bit before grabbing the bottle of shampoo, which smelled like berries, squeezing the contents in her little paws, and lather it up in her fur. About halfway through the wash, Tora was wishing she had someone to wash her back. Seemingly out of nowhere, she felt a cloth rub her back soothingly. "Aaaahh... That feels good. A little higher." Tora said in a near trance-like state. She then realized something. She was the only one who was supposed to be in the bathroom right now. She turned around and freaked out when she saw the all-to-familiar blue eyes of a certain pokemon.

"Hiya." Aaron said in a casual tone.

What are you doing here?!" Tora shouted.

"Washing your back." he replied as if nothing was wrong.

"You can't just pop in when someone is bathing and wash their back whenever you want to! At least give me a warning first." she said trying to calm herself down.

Sorry about that. I'll let you know next time." Tora looked at him in disbelief.

Next time, he says. Guess that's as good a warning as anything." she thought to herself, or so she thought. She saw that Aaron was trying to contain his laughter and took it as a sign that he just read her mind again. She was going to say something, but Aaron cut her off.

"Okay, I'll stop reading your mind." Tora wanted to be annoyed with him, but couldn't bring herself to feel that way because he looked really cute with those big blue eyes. She let out a sigh.

"So, what are you doing here? Couldn't be just to wash my back." she said as she began scrubbing herself again. Aaron flew behind her and continued her back again.

"I just wanted to stop by and say good morning before I left."

"You're leaving? Where are you going?"

I'm going to visit my cousins in the Sinnoh region. They're psychics like me and lots of fun when they're not sleeping." Tora felt a little sad that her new friend was leaving so soon.

"How long are you gonna be gone?" Aaron thought about an answer for a moment.

"Mmm, about three days. I haven't seen them in over two years, so I want to catch up on what they've been doing, other than sleeping."

"Are you coming back once you're done visiting them?"

"Maybe. I really want to go to the tropics and see if there are some new berries I can grow. Then to the Johto region to visit a friend. After that, I-" he stopped short when he felt a depressing feeling from Tora. "You know what, I can do all that later. I'll probably be too tired to much of anything after I visit my cousins, so I think I'll just come back here for a bit before heading back out again."

Tora felt a little better that he was coming back soon, but she knew he probably read her mind and changed his plans to make her feel better, which to her, was a sweet thing to do. She turned around and gave Aaron a warm, soapy hug. "You don't have to change your plans because of me. I'll be fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" Aaron asked as she broke the embrace. "I can do all that stuff anyt-"

"No. I want you to go have fun. When you come back, you can tell me everything that you did. Don't leave out any details." she said with a warm smile. Aaron felt a little guilty for leaving her so suddenly, but if she was willing to lie in front of a psychic pokemon, she must really not want to be a bother to anyone because of her situation.

"Okay. When I get back, I'll tell you everything I did." he said with a slight grin.

"Good. Um, will you help me... rinse off?"

"Yeah, sure." Aaron used his psychic powers to lift a large ball of water out of the tub and dump it all on Tora. The drenched mouse pokemon wanted to tackle the pink psychic cat for that, but again, his cuteness was too much to stay mad at.

"If you're done making fun of me, do you have time to help me brush my fur before you go?" she asked in a amused, yet slightly irritated tone. Aaron laughed out a "Yeah". Tora pulled the drain plug and climbed out the bathtub. While she was doing that, Aaron accidentally caught a glimpse of her wet nether regions and blushed hard. Tora shook the excess water off and climbed on the sink. "Here you go." she said tossing a brush over to the pink cat, who caught it with much less effort you'd think a short-armed pokemon would need. "You can brush my back and head while I get everywhere else." Aaron flew behind her and started brushing her back.

The grooming took less time than the blue-eyed cat thought. He thought that since Tora was a female, she'd take more time to make herself look pretty, but she takes just as long as he does. Despite the short amount of time, he couldn't help but wonder how she could look as cute as she does with so little effort. During their grooming session, Tora would let out little purrs and smile really big when Aaron would brush over the sensitive spots on her back. He'd laugh at her every time he hit a spot and she'd get a little defensive, but she would laugh too.

He had just finished her tail when Angela called from downstairs. "Tora! Breakfast is ready!"

"Alright, breakfast!" Tora shouted excitedly. "You wanna come down and eat with us?" Aaron looked away disappointingly.

Sorry, I can't. I've had some really bad experiences dealing with humans."

"You don't have to worry about that. They're really nice people. Come on." Tora grabbed his paw and jumped off the sink. She was almost at the door when Aaron yanked his paw away, which made her look at him confusingly.

"Sorry Tora. I just can't do it."

"But... They're really nice. I promise they won-"

"I said no!" Aaron shouted angrily, causing Tora to flinch away. They continued to stare at each other for what seemed like forever.

"Did you hear me Tora? Breakfast is ready!" Angela called. They broke their stare for a moment when they heard Angela, but slowly reconnected their eyes again. Tora slowly approached the floating pink cat. She reached out and took his paw in hers.

"Please... You're the first friend I've made since Chris was sent to the hospital. I want them to see what a nice friend I have. Please... For me?" Aaron's anger quickly faded when he looked at her pleading face with those pretty brown eyes. If she didn't look so cute to him, he would've said no in a heartbeat, but there was something about her that made his mind all foggy. Like he could forget all his troubles and know that she could make everything all better. He felt his heart skip a beat and jump on his throat when he tried to find the right words to say to her.

"Why is it getting so hard to talk to her?" he asked himself. Apparently, he took too long to answer her question and she pulled him into a hug.

"Just this one time. I won't ask you to do anything else for me." she whispered. Aaron swallowed hard.

"Okay. I'll stay for breakfast... But then I gotta go." he said in a hurry.

"Okay, deal." Tora ended the hug and pulled the pink cat out of the bathroom and down the stairs. She stopped just as she got to the doorway leading to the kitchen. "Wait here for a sec." she whispered.

Aaron stayed put and out of sight while she went in. He was starting to get really nervous at this point. His paws were getting sweaty, his long tail was twitching, and he had a very strong urge to make a good first impression on them. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself. "I'm considered a legendary pokemon around the world, and here I am getting nervous over meeting someone else's parents. They should be the ones getting nervous, not me. How is it that in less than 24 hours after meeting this cute little raichu, I turned from being calm, cute, and collected, to a nervous wreck?" He pondered on this while he waited for Tora to return.

"What took you? It's not like you to take so long with a bath." Marcus said while chewing on a strip of bacon.

"Maybe she met a nice male pokemon yesterday and she's trying to impress him." Angela joked. Tora let out a nervous chuckle, while Aaron nearly choked.

"Well now that you're here, we can really start eating." Marcus said as he was filling his plate with his share of food.

"Wait, I have something to tell you." Tora said waving her short arms to get their attention.

What's the matter Tora? You got something to show us?" Angela asked. Tora nodded and turned around to get Aaron.

"Alright, let's go." tora whispered as she grabbed Aaron's little paw. Aaron immediately felt his heart beat faster when she touched him. He still didn't understand why that was happening to him. "Mom. Dad. This is Aaron." Tora said as she pulled the pink psychic cat into view.

Marcus and Angela's reactions were not beyond the norm. Angela dropped the plate she was holding on the floor, and Marcus was choking on the eggs he was chewing. Angela rushed over to help him as soon as she heard him trying to cough up the food. While all this was going on, Tora couldn't help but grin at their behavior. Aaron was feeling a little embarrassed at the trouble he was causing. After their initial shock died down, and Marcus recovered from choking, everyone sat at the table in silence. Aaron was getting nervous again from the tension in the air.

"So... Tora. How in the world did you find a mew?" Marcus asked in disbelief. Before she could say anything, Aaron spoke up.

"She didn't find me. I saw her walking on a trail while I was looking for someone to play with. So I took her to where I live so we can play. That's why she was late coming home last night sir."

"Well if that's true, as long as she comes home safely, we don't mind if she stays out a little late. She's a big girl now." Marcus said as he scratched her head.

"Is it okay if he eats breakfast with us?" Tora asked.

"Of course it's okay dear." Angela replied. "You... can talk?!" She turned to Marcus, who had the same surprised look on his face. Tora was confused as to what was going on.

"Sorry everyone." Aaron spoke up. "I opened up a mental link your minds so that you could understand her." he explained.

"A... mental link?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. It usually takes a long time for a human to understand what a pokemon is saying, but a skilled psychic pokemon can break the language barrier between them so that they can understand each other as plain as day." He waited for that bit of information to sink in.

"So... can we communicate with other pokemon now?" Angela asked.

"That would require a lot of my energy to do and I have someplace I want to go later, so I'll need it to travel."

"Oh? Where are you going?"

"I'm visiting family in the Sinnoh Region for a few days and then I'll be going to the tropics."

"Sounds nice. Well, don't let us keep you waiting any longer. Help yourself to anything."

They all enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Despite his previous encounters with humans, Aaron found himself enjoying the company of Tora's "parents". They were just as nice as she told him. He felt that he never would've known just how nice human adults could be... when they weren't trying to catch him. Marcus and Angela still couldn't believe they were sharing a meal with a legendary pokemon. After breakfast was over, Aaron offered to help with the dishes, but Angela refused his assistance saying "Guests in this house are forbidden to do chores."

With nothing else to do, Tora showed him to the front door. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." Aaron said with a smile.

"For now." Tora said with an equally big smile. "Remember, You gotta come back and tell me everything you did."

"Hehe, yeah I'll remember. I don't usually say this but... If you ever need anything, just call out to me."

"Anything? I feel kinda special." She said with a little laugh.

"You could say that." Aaron quickly leaned in and kissed Tora's cheek. Tora was completely surprised by the sudden kiss. She felt her face get suddenly hot. "See you later." Aaron said with a wink.

"I... uh... l-later..." She stammered as she started fidgeting with her tail. With a quick flash of light and pop, Aaron teleported himself out of the house. Tora was staring at the spot where Aaron just was for a moment in disbelief as to what just happened.

"Aww, looks like someone has a boyfriend." Angela teased.

"Our little Tora is growing up so fast." Marcus added. Tora quickly turned to Angela and Marcus, who was standing at the entryway to the kitchen making kissing faces. It was obvious they had seen what transpired between her and Aaron. Her face turned a deep red in embarrassment.

"I-it's not like that! W-we're just friends!" Tora shouted defensively.

"Wish I had friends like that." Marcus joked.

"You have one right next you." Angela said.

"That's right. My BEST friend in the whole world." Marcus and Angela was jokingly being lovey-dovey to tease her. Tora had no idea her face could feel as hot as it did without having a fever.

"Mom! Dad! We're just friends!" She ran upstairs straight to her and Chris' room and buried her face in a pillow as if she could escape from the world. Marcus and Angela were downstairs laughing at her behavior.

"She's just like a teenager." Angela commented.

"Just think, we'll get two teenagers by next year. And to think you only had to get pregnant once." Marcus joked. Angela laughed at his little joke.

"Speaking of teenagers, Why don't we visit Chris tomorrow? I'm pretty sure Tora would be to embarrassed to do it tonight anyway."

"Sounds like a good idea." They went back in the kitchen to clean up after breakfast.

Meanwhile, Aaron was just outside the front door with beet-red face of his own. "What the heck did I just do?! I didn't mean to do that!" he screamed at himself mentally. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I control my primal urges around her? I've never had this problem around other pokemon. Not even around a lopunny! Unless... Aarrgh, I need a second opinion." Aaron teleported himself to the Sinnoh region.

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