FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I woke up to a sudden impact, and as I looked around I discovered I had fallen off the bed. There was a knocking sound on the door, and Sara had pulled the covers off the bed trying to get up to answer it. I growled and shook my head, finally managing to crawl out from beneath the blanket, while Sara opened the door. Her father was standing in the hallway, pulling on a coat. "Sara, get ready; you need to head to the gym. Perry should meet you there- school's cancelled; your mom's already on the way to the PokeCenter, but I need to go to the police station. Perry called from the gym for you personally; they want all the trainers to check in there right away."

Sara started grabbing things from around her room, stuffing it into a backpack. "Why? What's going on, did something happen?"

Sara's father froze with his arm halfway through his coat sleeve. "Something is attacking the city. It hit the gym first, and at least three other people have been attacked so far, each of them trainers, all left unconscious. The police are trying to find whatever did this, but the gym thinks it's a Pokemon doing this; they want all the trainers somewhere together and working on this, and that includes you."

Sara's father finished pulling his coat on. "Whatever's doing this has to be stopped, but you need to be careful. We're pretty sure this is a Pokemon- the gym warned everybody, after all, so they probably know more than anybody- but that doesn't mean you and Opal should try and stop it yourself. If you do find it, let the other trainers know and let them handle it." Sara's father looked at me. "I'm trusting you to take care of Sara, Opal; don't disappoint me."

"I need to go, I'm running late already. Stay safe." Sara's father left, and I heard him running down the stairs. "And lock up behind you!" After he yelled that I heard the door open and shut, and he was gone.

Sara and I looked at each other. She looked pale and scared so I bumped her leg. "Don't worry, Sara; I won't let anything happen to you. We need to get ready and go; it sounds like they really need us?"

Sara nodded and gave me a pat on the head. "You're right.... I just need to grab a few more things; meet me downstairs?"

I nodded and headed into the hallway and down the stairs, remarking that Sara had seemed to understand me. There was some food waiting in the kitchen so I started eating instead of just waiting at the door. After a few minutes Sara came into the kitchen and grabbed an energy bar from one of the cabinets. She coughed, but then ate the bar in a few quick bites. "Come on Opal, let's go."

We left the house- Sara made sure to lock up behind her- and started walking to the gym. The city seemed eerily quiet and empty, without anybody else walking by or any cars in the street. The only noise was the sound of the soothe bell ringing on my collar, and it calmed me a lot in the otherwise tense environment. Sara seemed to enjoy the sound too; she kept looking down at me randomly and smiling. I stayed alert for anything else, but the few noises I heard turned out to be false alarms. Eventually we turned the last corner and saw the square where the gym used to be.

What was left of the gym couldn't be described as a gym anymore, and we both froze at the sight of it. The left side of it had collapsed into a pile of rubble, and the right side of it looked like it was just waiting for an excuse to collapse. There were scorch marks randomly visible throughout the wreckage, and I saw Shells spraying water onto parts of the rubble that were still smoking. Perry and two other trainers were standing near the entrance, but the doors were lying shattered on the ground, and shards of glass covered the entire area- I didn't relish the thought of walking through that, but Perry saw us and waved. I started to carefully pick my way through the scattered glass, but Sara just ran to the group, her shoes protecting her feet from the sharp edges.

"What happened here? Is everybody okay?"

Perry shook his head. "We're not entirely sure what happened; we just arrived about half an hour ago, and most of what we have are just guesses. Most of the damage seems to have been caused by Tammy's Clamperl- they stayed here overnight, and called us for help about four hours ago. The call was garbled, but we thought they were being attacked; Flen stayed behind to take care of Absol- it's still too hurt to move- but the rest of us came back here. By the time we got here the gym was... well, like this, and Tammy and Clamperl were unconscious. Tammy's at the hospital now, and the doctors are taking care of her, but there's no way of knowing what happened until she wakes up, and her Clamperl is in even worse shape at the PokeCenter. Shells has been putting out the fires, and Alleen's Spinarak is searching in case something was trapped underneath the rubble, but... we think whatever they were trying to fight off got away."

I stopped walking at that and looked up at Perry mid-stride. The Clamperl had taken down the whole gym? It seemed like the water Pokemon would have trouble even moving around the gym, much less destroying it.

Sara seemed as skeptical as I was. "The Clamperl did this? There's no way; he's barely even the size of Opal!"

Perry grinned, a surprising expression in the middle of all the destruction. "Yeah, that little guy packs a serious punch. Don't judge Pokemon just by their size; the small ones can be just as strong as the giants, in their own way." Perry walked closer to the rubble, pointing at parts of it. "None of the other attacks in the city have had the doors blown off like that. Whatever we're dealing with doesn't need an opening to get in- its like walls don't even exist to it. The rubble all spreads outwards from the gym; not into it, like you would see if something was trying to break in. The fighting didn't start until whatever it was got inside. We know from the fires and scorch marks that we're dealing with some sort of fire Pokemon, but there weren't any fires or scorch marks where the gym collapsed inwards- our best guess is that during the fight, one of Clamperl's attacks damaged the walls too badly, and it collapsed. After that it must've just gone downhill from there- some of those shards are ice, not glass; Tammy taught Clamperl how to start a hailstorm, if it gets really desperate."

Sara gulped at the description of the Clamperl's abilities, and I knew what she was thinking. If a fire Pokemon took Tammy down, with such a strong Pokemon, how could we hope to do anything to it?

Some of the rubble shifted, and the Spinarak- I remembered from somewhere that its name was Taran- popped out, shaking loose dirt off as it did. "There's nothing else down there but more rubble- it looks like it was just Tammy; there's nobody else trapped underneath."

The other lady- Perry had said her name was Alleen- sighed, and turned to face us. "Well, it was worth a shot; we're still right were we started, with no idea what we're dealing with."

"We at least know it's a fire Pokemon! Well, one of them is anyways; Flen said there were at least two of them."

Alleen glared at Perry. "Will you stop enjoying this so much? This is serious; people are getting hurt, maybe even dying."

Perry sobered, his grin vanishing. "You're right. Sara, we've got the other trainers searching the town, but they haven't found anything yet. We want you to stay here with us and help clean up the glass- the town is too dangerous right now to send you into- but... we wanted to ask you to have Opal take a message to Flen."

Sara looked from Perry to me, then back to Perry. "What do you mean, take Flen a message? Can't you just call him?"

Alleen shook her head. "We can't get through- Clara put up a barrier of some kind just in case something came back for Absol, since he's still too hurt to move. As soon as the sun came up, whatever Clara was doing got a lot stronger, and we can't even complete a call to him, much less actually tell him anything."

Perry nodded. "Clara should recognize Opal, though, and let him through her barrier. Whatever's out there is still in here, attacking people in Jyrrian City, so there's not really any need to protect the cave, and we need Flen here, if we're going to have a chance at stopping whatever's doing this."

"But... it's too dangerous; that thing could attack him!"

"We wouldn't ask if we thought that could happen. There's a path from the gym to the cave, so he won't have to go through the city, and we know the creature's still here- there's a new attack every half hour, like clockwork. The woods are the safest place for anybody right now- if we didn't need them here, and I thought they could make the run, I would send Shells myself, but it's too far for Shells to run, and we need him here in case there are any more fires."

I shot Shells a glance at that comment. "What? As much as you run around the gym, you can't run up to a cave?"

Shells stamped on a piece of wood that was still glowing red. "Hey, there's a reason I do it for exercise, and why I stop when I do. These legs are made for swimming, not running, and this shell is heavier than it looks. Taran has eight legs, sure, but they're all intended for climbing, not running; she would have to spend half the day resting before she made it to the cave. If Feren was here we'd send him, but with just the three of us... well, Eevees are built for running; you're the best choice to send a message."

I snorted, but decided to keep that in mind, in case I ever had to fight Shells or some other Wartortle one day. "If I go, you both have to keep Sara safe, alright?"

Shells and Taran both nodded. "We won't let anything happen to her, don't worry."

I looked up at Sara and Perry, and wagged my tail. "I'll go- what do we need to tell Flen?"

Sara looked down at me for a moment, and I could tell she was worried about me, but after a moment she coughed, then looked back up at Perry and repeated my question. She seemed to understand me more and more with each passing day... but I was starting to worry about the coughing.

Perry reached into his backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper, which he rolled up and handed to Sara. "We've already written a note for him which will bring him up to speed; Opal just needs to get it there." Perry pointed behind the gym, to where two trees poked over what was left of the roof. "The path starts between those two trees; if he follows it, he should get to Flen in about two hours."

Sara knelt down and tucked the note into my collar, so that it rested securely alongside my neck. "You be careful, okay? Get Flen, and then come right back; I don't want to worry about you."

I nodded, and gave her a lick on the nose. "I'll be fine, and back before you know it! Bye everybody!" With that I started hopping back through the glass shards, and broke into a run when I reached clear ground. I found the path between the two trees with no trouble, and was soon deep in the forest.

I tried not to think- I knew if I did, I would start to worry about whatever was out there going back to the gym, and attacking Sara. Instead, I just focused on the run, enjoying it while I could. After the scared quiet of the city, the random sounds of the forest were a welcome change. Branches snapping, birds chirping, wind rustling through the trees... it was almost as calming as the bell jingling on my collar.

So it came as a complete shock when I heard the crashing noise, and a tree fell in front of me.

"Opal, get down, NOW." Clara's 'voice' sounded different- the melodious quality I enjoyed about it was gone, instead replaced by a harsh sense of anger. Her voice scared me, and I dropped to the ground without even thinking about it, tripping a little from trying to stop so suddenly. The trip probably saved my life- and definitely saved the note I was carrying- as a stream of flame poured through the path right in front of me. If I hadn't fallen, it would have hit me full on in my side- and the heat from being so near the stream made me more than glad I hadn't been hit.

Clara just appeared at my side suddenly, and the world around me gained a purple tint. "Don't move, you're safe right now. What are you even doing out here; Flen sent everybody back to the city!"

I started to answer, when another bout of flame shot out from the forest. I flinched, starting to jump out of the way, but Clara was faster and knocked me back down to the ground. The flames stopped just a few inches away from me, star-bursting outwards as if it had hit an invisible wall. The flames vanished, and something growled from beyond the tree line. I turned to Clara, and talked fast. "Perry said Flen needs to come back to the city; something attacked the gym and it's been attacking other people. Probably whatever's attacking us now!"

Clara shook her head. "Flen's not with me, but he's already on his way back to town; Absol just got stable enough that Nurse Joy said we could move him, but they're split up about five minutes behind me. I've been trying to keep this thing distracted so they could get Absol through!"

As Clara finished talking, a creature stepped out from the tree line and into view. The forest seemed to get darker and I flinched at the sight. The creature facing us looked like something straight out of a nightmare- its fur was jet black with an orange underbelly, and an arrowhead tail slashed through the air behind it. Its back and ankles seemed covered by stark white bones, and a pair of equally white horns jutted from its head, curving up and over its neck. Steam seemed to rise from every part of its body, and it glared at us with red-orange eyes.

Clara hissed and whipped her tail through the air behind us. "This could get ugly."

I gulped, remembering the gym. "It attacked Tammy; the Clamperl tried fending it off but they lost. The fight destroyed the gym; Perry and Alleen are with Sara, picking through the rubble."

Clara blinked and looked at me. "You mean... it beat Tammy?"

Clara suddenly seemed scared- Clamperl must have been really strong. "Yeah. It must have been a big fight; there isn't much left of the gym."

Clara looked back at the Houndoom, and I could tell she was trying to think fast. "Can you run? There's a clearing about a five minute run through the woods ahead of us; I can try and hold it off there until Flen catches up."

I nodded. "Got it."

"Okay... go!" Clara and I both turned and ran at the same time, and the purple tint vanished, but the Houndoom wasted no time chasing after us. The next few minutes were some of the scariest of my life- the Houndoom sounded like it was right behind me, and I was scared I would trip over or flinch at every branch or bush along the way. Clara was right beside me, hopping over or ducking over whatever was in the way to keep pace besides me. After a minute or two I realized I was enjoying running next to her, despite the Houndoom being behind me. I looked to her to grin... and that was when I realized that Clara wasn't holding back to stay next to and protect me- she was really running as fast as she can, but that something was wrong with her. Every now and then she would half limp on a step, and in her expression I saw a grimace of pain. I gulped and focused on running, realizing again how serious the situation was.

The clearing came upon us suddenly, the trees giving way to open air. Clara skidded to a stop and turned back the way we came, the world taking on the purple tint again. I slowed to a stop, just as the Houndoom broke through the trees and leaped over me.

The Houndoom landed on its feet and turned with a snarl, then leapt at me, flames licking the air around his mouth. I ducked, sure things were about to hurt badly, but just before the Houndoom landed a tree flew past me and hit him, sending him flying. Without rising I turned my head behind me to look- then tilted my head farther up to look- and what I saw scared me almost as much as the Houndoom.

Clara was perched on a large rock near another edge of the clearing, in a posture that just shouted anger and raw power. Her whiskers were twitching in a surprisingly menacing fashion, and her ears were flattened against her skull. Her normally pristine fur was rippling, rising and falling in waves along her body. Her forked tail whipped through the air, as if she expected the Houndoom to come flying at her and she could simply whack it away with her tail. The rock she was on was glowing purple, and I could feel her anger pulsing outwards from where I lay on the ground.

Oh- and the rock was glowing purple as it floated at about twice Clara's height off the ground.

The Houndoom recovered quickly- while I was staring at Clara, the flying tree had rammed into another tree and crashed to the forest floor, squishing the Houndoom between them. It didn't seem to bother the creature much- both trees began smoking before bursting into flames, incinerated into piles of ash in only a matter of seconds. When the smoke cloud cleared the Houndoom was standing amidst the ashes, malice clearly visible in its eyes. It snarled and paced in a circle around the clearing, focused on Clara. Clara responded with her own growl- a physical sound, a high pitched "Esss" that made my fur stand on end. I got to my feet and shook off, glancing back and forth between Clara and the Houndoom. I knew the Houndoom was about to attack Clara, so I glared at the Houndoom and set myself back in an attack posture, letting out my own growl. The Houndoom stopped and looked back at me, as if he'd forgotten I was still there, and let out a short bark of a laugh.

Clara's voice resounded in my head, a bit of the melody back in the 'sound'. "Opal, get out of here; you can't help here. Head east to find Flen, and bring him back here- and hurry! I'm going to need his help here."

I nodded and told her yes, a quick "Vee!", then ran past her as fast as I could. The last thing I saw before I left the clearing was Clara jumping off the rock, and the rock flying towards the Houndoom. There was a crash and a howl, and then I was gone- running back through the forest, away from the town and towards Clara's trainer.

As I ran, thoughts raced through me. Clara's appearance had scared me- I had always seen her as friendly and happy, fun. I realized that she was still being protective, and that her anger had come from seeing me being attacked, from knowing others were being attacked, but it was still a sobering realization. Flen was a gym leader, one of the best trainers in the world, and his Pokemon had been trained and prepared not just to fight, but to win. I hadn't realized before just what that meant, but now it seemed like an obvious fact I should have known the minute I met Clara. She had ripped that tree out of the ground and thrown it at the Houndoom without any sign of fatigue or stress. The Clamperl's strength didn't seem at all surprising, now that I had seen a part of what Clara could do.

A "bang" noise filled the air behind me, and I ground to a halt, looking behind me. A huge wave of heat blossomed into the air from where I knew Clara and the Houndoom were fighting, reaching me even this far away from the fight. I knew it was one of the Houndoom's attacks- the thing seemed to love using its fiery abilities and Clara had none that I knew of. I thought again about going back and trying to help somehow, but Clara's last words echoed in my head. I realized that she wasn't just angry, but also scared- she wasn't just sending me out of the way, she really needed Flen's help with the Houndoom. That scared me even more. After Clara's displays of power, if she was scared....

I started running back towards the cave, even faster this time, a new fear pushing me onward. Time seemed to stretch- what had taken maybe five minutes before seemed to be taking hours now, and with every breath I imagined something bad happening to Clara. Finally I jumped over a low bush, and landed back on the dirt path connecting the gym and the cave. I stopped for a moment, panting, slightly exhausted from the run, and then called for Flen, a shouted "Eve!" into the forest. A moment passed while I worried, and then Flen appeared running towards me from around a curve in the path. He was alone- the nurse must have taken Absol a different way.

"Opal! What are you doing out here, you should be back in town! This is no place for you!" Flen kept running and actually grabbed me, picking me up without slowing. It was then that he noticed the note on my collar, and he slowed down to read over it. "It destroyed the gym? Oh, that does it... there's no time to take you back; Clara said she found a Houndoom, but then she just stopped talking completely. If she's having to concentrate that hard then she's going to need some help real soon." Flen had me in one arm and was still running- but I realized he was going the wrong way. Every step was taking him back towards Jyrrian City, and a little farther away from Clara.. I tried to tell him to turn around, that he needed to go through the woods, but he didn't even seem to realize I was even talking.

Well, at least until I bit him.

He dropped me to the ground and stopped, looking more startled than anything, staring down at me. The fall to the ground had been short, and I had landed perfectly on my feet, so I looked up at him and started talking again. "Clara's fighting the Houndoom; she sent me to get you, but you're going the wrong way!"

"She's fighting alone? I told her to run it around in circles, not stand and fight! Hurry, show me the way!"

I started running towards the clearing, and it was a couple of steps before I realized Flen had understood me. None of the humans understood me besides Sara, and she still had trouble. How had Flen known what I meant? I looked back, seeing Flen just a few steps behind me, and asked him. "You understand me?"

Flen laughed as we ran. "I understand enough. Clara used to be an Eevee, and you remind me enough of her for me to understand you. But come on, lead me to her!"

We finally got back to the clearing- or what was left of it. Fires smoldered, and most of the grass had been burnt away. Pebbles seemed to cover the ground, and there were massive holes where trees used to be. I had missed Clara's fight, apparently, but there was every indication it was a big one. We had arrived just in time from the look of things- the Houndoom was biting down on one of Clara's legs, a horrible crunch that hurt me just by seeing it, and I could feel pain roiling off of Clara. Flen seemed to feel it too- as we stepped into the clearing he flinched, pausing in his motion.

Clara's anger had surprised me- it was something I could feel, something that had pulsed through me like a wave of heat, something uncontrollable and violent. Flen's anger was different. Emotion drained from him and he stared at the Houndoom, cold and calculating. The Houndoom looked up, and hope surged through me- there was a flicker of fear in the Houndoom's eyes, and I knew the beast was about to pay for what he had done to Clara.

The Houndoom let go of the Espeon and stepped away from her, crouching low and focusing on Flen. Clara tried to get back to her feet, and for a moment it looked like she was still in the fight... but then she wobbled and fell back to the ground. I cried out, and started to her, but Flen spoke calmly. "No." The word stopped me before I really even knew what I was doing, and I looked up at him in confusion. "Stay back." He stood there, confidence and anger filling the gym leader's expression. I looked back at the Houndoom, wanting to do something to help Clara, but then took a deep breath and sat down, tail wrapping around my feet. I wasn't sure what Flen was planning but... when he spoke, it was hard not to listen. Here, now, it was easy to see why he was a gym leader. I had no idea what he was thinking or how he would do it- but I knew he was going to win.

The Houndoom looked at me and gave another bark, recognizing me. "Ah, dessert came back. Nice; I was worried I'd have to chase you down. Did you bring a friend with you?" The Houndoom's words didn't faze me this time and I just stared back at him in silence. In a single motion, Flen pulled a Pokeball off his belt and pointed it towards Clara. At first I thought he was calling her back into her Pokeball, but the pink beam that shot out of the ball instead formed into a giant snake, coiled around Clara's body. And by giant, I mean giant- taller than even the trees that had surrounded the clearing. The Pokemon that materialized out of the pink haze could only be described as wall- light gleamed off the metallic skin of the creature, and it seemed to have been almost sculpted into its serpentine shape. I couldn't imagine anything getting around such a creature that it didn't allow to.

"Hello, Houndoom- meet my Steelix," Flen said from beside me. "Obsidian... flatten it."

The Steelix growled, and the ground underneath me shook. The Steelix just fell- it didn't try to aim, it didn't try to move away from the center of the clearing- but then, it didn't need to. The creature was simply so massive that it could hit the Houndoom wherever it was in the clearing, and that's exactly what it did. The dirt and rocks that had been stirred up by the earlier fighting came up in a cloud as the Steelix hit the ground- and the Houndoom. The Houndoom roared in pain, and I felt sorry for it, thinking of how much the Steelix had to weigh- but then I remembered the sight of Clara earlier and pushed those thoughts away.

Even as I thought that a beam of sunlight lit up the clearing, and a hissing noise reached my ears. The light seemed aimed at the center of the Steelix's curl, as if it was focused where Clara lay. It only lasted for a few seconds- if I blinked I would have missed it- before the clearing faded back to the normal early morning lighting. As the last of the light dimmed Clara jumped to the top of the Steelix's coils and looked towards Flen. She was literally sparkling. Her fur shone with a purplish glow and bright spots flickered through the air around her. The marks of her earlier fight were completely gone, and her tail whipped back and forth through the air energetically. The glow faded and Clara suddenly went stiff for an instant, before jumping away from her perch on the Steelix. A pulse of fire radiated out from beneath the Steelix and I flinched, ducking closer to the ground. When I opened my eyes the Houndoom was scrambling out from beneath the Steelix's body as the massive Pokemon flinched its head away from the fiery attack.

Clara was back in the fight now- just as the Houndoom got back to its feet, a shower of rocks flew at the Houndoom, each moving too fast to be more than a blur of white light to my eyes. They impacted with a series of sharp thwacks, and I grinned- the Houndoom stumbled back looking very hurt.

The Houndoom lay on the ground glowering at Clara before grinning... and then the clearing went dark. I blinked at the sudden blindness and steadied myself, feeling a little dizzy. I heard Clara scream- an actual sound, not her voice in my head- and the darkness vanished. The Houndoom was back on his feet and Obsidian had reared back to its full height, but Clara was lying on the ground, a patch of burning darkness seeming to cling to her fur.

"Heh, heh... I wasn't expecting a chance to use that so soon, but I'm glad to see it was worth fighting the Clamperl for. I was surprised how many interesting moves you had, just laying around in that gym- it's always nice to learn new tricks."

"Dark Pulse... great, he must have gotten that from the gym." Flen looked down at me, and I realized he hadn't understood the Houndoom. "Opal, help Clara." I nodded and concentrated, the Helping Hand move leaving me feeling weaker. Clara rose to her feet, and the darkness around her flickered before finally clearing. "Obsidian, Screech!"

The noise that filled the air was indescribable- it was like nothing I had heard before, and I cringed, shaking, as my ears felt like something scraped inside of them. The Houndoom seemed to hate it just as much- it shook, one of its legs faltering underneath it. For a second it looked like he was about to recover and get back up... but then a large rock slammed into him, hurtled by Clara, the attack augmented by my own power... and the fiery creature fell to the ground.

I thought it was over at that- the Houndoom was down and looked so badly hurt that I couldn't imagine he could still move. But the Houndoom thought otherwise, and it lifted its head to glare at me. The clearing went dark again in the start of the Houndoom's Dark Pulse... but this time instead of just feeling dizzy, pain exploded in my head, and I felt a burning sensation cover me. Then everything hurt. My fur felt like it was on fire and my body felt crushed by a heavy weight, and I fell writhing to the ground, overwhelmed by the pain. After a few seconds the darkness lifted a little, but I could still barely see anything; only making vague shapes and shadows. My head was stabbed with inconceivable pain, a terrible pounding I couldn't stand, and I was sure my left foreleg was still on fire.

I felt that way for what seemed an eternity. I remember hearing various thuds and shouts, another terrible screech, and then a pair of clicks and whooshes along with a lifting sensation... and then only the sound of the wind. My whole body hurt- a terrible pain that just wouldn't stop- but after what seemed forever, I finally heard Sara's voice. My heart lept at the sound- I was too confused to understand what she said, but just hearing her made me feel better. My trainer was here; she would take of me, things were going to be alright, I was safe again... I heard another click and a whoosh... then, finally, the pain stopped.

Everything stopped.

The next thing I was aware of was a beep. There was a pause of silence, then another beep, followed by more silence. This continued, and gradually I grew more and more aware. My ears hurt- a dull throbbing ache- then my head, and the pain continued to grow until I could feel everything again. More time passed until I realized I could move again. I opened my eyes... or I tried to, rather. They felt like they were open, but I still couldn't see anything- just more blackness. I tried to call for Sara, but all that came out was a soft "Veeee".

Clara's voice was the next thing I heard. "Shhh, shhh... Don't try to move; you're safe now. You're in a Pokemon center- you've been badly hurt, and you need to rest."

I tried not to move but it was hard not to. The sporadic beep would urge me to swivel my ears to hear it better, and the pain in my head demanded I try and stop it somehow. But each movement hurt more than staying still, so I tried my best not to move. "What happened? Is everybody okay?" My voice sounded quiet even to me, and I wasn't sure at first that Clara had heard me. I started to try again, but this time my mouth wouldn't open at all.

"Opal, stop it. You need to stay still, or you'll hurt yourself worse. Just think about what you want to ask, and I'll hear you. We're all okay now- Obsidian was able to seriously hurt the Houndoom. It got away, but just barely. I don't think it'll ever come back here after the beating it's been through. You and I were hurt pretty badly in the fighting; we're both at the PokeCenter. Absol and Tammy's Clamperl are here, too. We've been here a while- but there haven't been anymore attacks in the town. We chased them away."

I tried to speak, but my mouth still wouldn't move, so I just pretended like I was talking instead. "Is Sara mad at me? I told her I'd come right back, and not get hurt..."

"Nobody's mad at you, Opal; Sara couldn't be prouder. She was worried, yes, but you were crucial in helping protect the town- if you hadn't come looking for us, the Houndoom probably would still be out there, waiting to attack again. And if you hadn't brought Flen back when you did... it wouldn't have been pretty."

I cringed at that thought, and the movement sent more pain through me. I gasped... and then the pain vanished. I sat there in surprise at the sudden complete absence of pain, unsure what had happened.

"No more of that for you, Opal. Don't move- you are still badly hurt, so it isn't safe to move about... but you're in a Pokemon Center now, and you're going to get better. There's no sense in you feeling all that pain for no reason. You did a good job today, and your trainer is really happy with you. Don't worry anymore... just get some rest."

I tried to answer back, but it was just too hard to think. My last thought was that Clara must have done something to take away the pain... but even forming that thought was draining, and after that I drifted off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep...

---

Tule sat on the windowsill, looking down at the clean floor. Opal was really hurt and everybody at the gym was upset- even having only known him for a few days, his well being had become quite the concern for the Pokemon, when they learned he was hurt. From time to time Clara would come by- she was better, having fully recovered after about an hour in the sunlight- but she had to leave before long, being needed to help rebuild the gym. Everybody was trying hard to help fix the gym, but it was going to take a lot of work before it would be safe again. Tule had spent the entire day trying to help, but there was little she could do, and it had just gotten embarrassing after a while. She had broken up some of the rubble to help clear it, but even that had taken a lot of effort and quickly tired her. She had kept trying to be useful, but it was clear to everybody that she was only getting in the way. Finally Perry had drawn her aside and asked her to go keep an eye on Opal, and she had been there ever since- the nurse had let her in and she had taken up the spot on the windowsill to watch him.

It was mostly just boring - the machines beeped rhythmically, but other than that there was nothing to hear. Moonlight filtered in through the window, but inside the only thing to look at was... Opal.

He wasn't a pretty sight, and looking at him made Tule glad the Eevee was unconscious. He had a good coat of fur, but bruises could still be seen wherever his fur was parted. His left leg was in a cast, held immobile, and the area around his right eye had turned purple. The nurses had put a needle in his right leg, and a tube was pumping some kind of fluid into him. His tail hung limp, and he lay on his left side, his breathing shallow.

It wasn't a happy sight. It depressed Tule, and she wished more than anything that he was better, that she didn't have to look up and see him lying like that... so instead, she looked down at the floor, just hoping he would wake up and wishing he would be better.

Dawn broke, sunlight slowly streaming into the room from the window behind her, and Tule had an irrational hope that maybe that would be enough, and that when the rays reached Opal he would wake up... but as the warm sunlight crept passed him, nothing changed. The beeping, his breathing, everything was the same, and it was getting to be too much for her. She was about to hop down from the windowsill, to do... something else, anything else- but before she could, the door opened and Clara walked in, her split tail waving behind her.

The Espeon hopped up into a chair, curling up so she could look at the monitors. For a moment Tule thought she had gone unnoticed, and she thought about sneaking away... but then Clara's 'voice' reached her. "He didn't move at all, did he?"

Tule was surprised for a moment, but then she recovered, hopping down to the floor. "Not once... he just lay there all night."

"It'll be a while still, I think. He was hurt bad out there."

Tule stared up at the Espeon, wondering. "Why did he do it?"

Clara looked at the Oddish, her expression curious. "Hrm? Do what?"

"Go out there like that? Even though he knew he could be hurt?"

Clara sat up and looked back towards the sleeping Eevee. "Well... he thought he would be fine, actually. But... even if he had known, I think he'd still have done what he did."

"Why?" Tule looked towards the table, only seeing the wires leading up to it.

"Because one of us might have been hurt if he didn't. He knew Shells would have tried to go instead, and would have had trouble trying to run that far, and might not have gotten there in time to help Flen... and he knew that until Flen made it back, Sara and the rest of the city would be in danger... and then when he bumped into me he knew I was out there with the same thing that was hurting people and that had helped destroy the gym. He knew all that on some level when he left, even if he didn't realize his reasons right away. He's like that deep down- he wants everybody to be safe. Even when he fights, he doesn't want to hurt anybody, not really. He actually felt bad for the Houndoom a little, when we were fighting it, despite knowing all the pain it had caused."

Tule was quiet, thinking, before finally asking. "Is that why you fight? To keep Flen safe?"

Clara shook her head. "No... no, that's not why Espeons fight, not really. I want to make Flen happy, and proud of me, and of himself; I worry that he's happy more than I worry about him being safe. I mean, I do want him to be safe, but... it always makes him a little happier when we win a fight, and I like seeing that in him more than anything. Protecting others... just being happy knowing that your friends are safe because of you... that's a different type of Eevee altogether. In that sense we're as different as night and day." Clara finished softly and was silent for a moment, and Tule felt too nervous to ask what Clara meant. "I think you should head back to Perry, Tule. He'll start to get worried if you're gone too much longer. I'll keep an eye on Opal for now, until Sara can be here."

Tule nodded and turned to leave, not wanting to argue with the intimidating Espeon, even if she seemed a little less scary at the moment. "Okay."

Before Tule got to the door Clara spoke up again. "Tule?"

The Oddish stopped and half turned to look behind her. "Yes?"

"Thank you for staying with him. Will you stay here again tonight, please? I think... he'd like having somebody here with him at night."

Tule smiled and nodded. She turned to leave, each leaf standing high above her.

Finally alone with the friend who had been so badly hurt while trying to help her, the Espeon lay down her head to cry.