FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

::Insert theme song here::

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"Absol, Double Team," I shouted to Katherine as the battle was started. Letting out an open-mouthed growl, Kat's snow-white form shifted and displaced, causing her to look as though she were in two places at once.

Alexander smiled, the sun glinting off of his menacing glare through the round glasses he wore. "A neat trick, Mr. Stone. Alakazam, use Calm Mind!"

My rage was slowly building as the Alakazam closed his eyes, deep in concentration. I barked my next order to Katherine: "Absol, Razor Wind!"

The air was filled with the sound of Kat's siren. A second later, a heavy gust blew stray orange strands of my hair across my eyes, the wind causing the grass to lean with it's force, as if it were bowing to Katherine's awesome power. The flowing scarf around her neck seemed to dance with it's new partner, a faint red ripple running across it and confirming my previous beliefs of it's true ability.

Even Alex seemed a bit put off at first, but with a practiced arrogance he regained his composure. "Alakazam, Miracle Eye!"

I cocked an eyebrow as a shining dome revealed itself on the psychic Pokemon's forehead, slowly opening to reveal a shimmering eye-shaped symbol. While his eyes were still closed, the glowing glyph seemed to fixate itself on Kat's position.

I had never heard of that attack before. I looked to May to see if she was going to call an illegal move, but she simply frowned and stayed silent.

Damn, a legal move I don't know. I should have payed more attention in class, I suppose.

Returning my focus to the match, I noticed Katherine's siren being slowly joined by the sound of the wind's fierce howl. Debris had begun to kick upwards around the absol's form, swirling in a vortex of slicing fury.

The attack was ready.

"Absol, unleash Razor Wind!"

Her siren turning into a roar, Katherine sent the vortex flying towards our opponents. As it traveled, blades of grass were torn from their roots and shredded into mulch. The wind was howling like a ravenous wolf as it converged on the Alakazam.

"Psybeam!"

Just before the slicing winds reached their destination, a prismatic ray broke from the flying debris. The winds scattered, sending dangerous invisible blades scattering to the trees behind Alex, deep gashes being whipped into the trunks as it sped through the woods. The beam collided directly with Katherine's forehead and sent her reeling backwards, tumbling to rest just near the edge of the understood arena boundaries.

"Damn! That hurt," Katherine shouted, completely disregarding her vow of silence. That wasn't what concerned me, though. A psychic attack should have just glided off of Kat. The alakazam even hit her through the Double Team.

I scowled, which seemed to amuse the psychic. "What's wrong," asked the jerk, "Have you been so sheltered that your mind isn't open to new attacks? You should get out more."

"Katherine, can you still fight," I asked. She had taken a major hit just now, so I was concerned for her safety. The absol simply shook the pain out of her head and grinned, "It'll take more than that, Master. You know me."

I smiled, gripping the bill of my cap and nodding. "Alright then, let's teach him a thing about determination." I turned back to face Alex, who didn't waste any time pressing his attack.

"Alakazam, another Psybeam! Pulverize them!"

Complying, the psychic-type formed another prismatic beam from it's extended hand. Just before it fired, I noticed a faint red shimmer dance across the spoon. That Pokemon must have an artifact as well!

"Intercept that beam with a Shadow Ball," I ordered Katherine. She hopped to her feat and created a formless, black blob. The amorphous shadow twisted into the shape of an orb before she fired it like a cannonball towards the oncoming attack. The orb collided with the beam and, despite the power of the alakazam's attack, absorbed it.

The ghost-type attack sucked in the psychic-type attack like a black hole absorbs light. When the beam was completely absorbed, the ball exploded, sending strands of prismatic light and inky black shadows across the field.

Using this obstruction to my advantage, I quickly ordered another attack: "It's our turn to press the attack, Absol. Advance with Shadow Balls, as fast as you can make them!"

After a short battle howl, Katherine dove into the fray, leaping and firing three smaller orbs towards her enemy. As the attacks assailed the Alakazam, it's trainer quickly reacted. "Reflect up!"

The psychic-type raised a small Reflect barrier, but it didn't have time to form completely as the first orb collided with it, shattering the invisible barrier with the audible chime of glass breaking. This caused the Pokemon to twist with the impact, the second orb hitting it's exposed shoulder with a hiss. Reeling backwards, the third impacted the Alakazam's chest with a loud bang, leaving a black mark as it pushed the psychic type backwards with it's force.

"Absol, use Slash," I shouted. I was going to finish this battle while I was still on the offensive.

Coming down from her Shadow Ball barrage, Katherine's claws on her right paw shone with a white aura, the scarf reacting again with it's telltale red ripple. She landed, and charged straight for the Alakazam, Hell-bent on delivering a finishing blow.

Finally showing signs of frustration, Alexander blurted out his next command frantically. "Psychic, now!"

Katherine's swiped hard, aiming for the black mark on the wound she created earlier. Then, she froze, her claws inches away from the sweet spot she yearned for. Struggling against the attack, Kat tried pushing forward, only to be thrown back as the Alakazam flung her with it's attack.

Landing back on my side of the court, she rose to her feet, panting from the strain and pain from her last attack. She let out a growl and spat into the grass at her feet, dismayed.

Alex laughed. "It would appear your Pokemon is on it's last legs. Mine, however, still has plenty of fight left in him. Alakazam, Recover!"

A golden ripple spread over the Pokemon's body as it renewed itself, the black mark on it's chest quickly fading to nothing more than a dark bruise. He couldn't recover completely, but he's definitely in better shape than Katherine is in.

I had exhausted all four of my attacks... Introducing a new one now would violate the rules...

What the hell was I going to do?

"Do you accept defeat yet, Mr. Stone," Asked Alex as he crossed his arms in front of the jacket he wore. Katherine back padded closer to me, awaiting my next command. I had none.

But I don't surrender.

"Absol, build another Razor Wind!"

Mustering her strength, Kat released another siren-like howl, the wind beginning the pick up once more. Alex seemed unimpressed, taking his time to calmly address his Pokemon.

"They don't know when to quit, do they Foo? Create the strongest Psybeam you can and we'll finish them off."

Nodding, the Alakazam brought his two spoons to cross in front of his face. The artifact spoon rippled with red energy as a colorful orb began forming before the Pokemon.

My eyes widened at the pending attack. Katherine would be gravely injured if that thing connected! I have to stop the-

No.

I don't surrender. Especially not after all Kat's been through in this battle alone.

I need to pull a winning strategy out of my ass. Soon.

The wind was reaching it's howling point as the charging process neared it's completion, but the Alakazam's psybeam was as big as my head. It would tear through my attack like before!

Unless-

"Alakazam, unleash Psybeam!"

In a flash, the orb burst open and a torrent of what had to be the most deadly rainbow I had ever seen came forth. I hope this works...

"Absol, Shadow Ball!"

With a surprised glance, Katherine quickly formed a black blob in front of her face. She was able to fire the attack just before the beam reached her, a massive explosion wracking the air around my side of the arena. Prismatic energy combined with black streaks swirled with the winds.

It had worked!

The Razor Wind had absorbed the remnants of the collision between the Shadow Ball and the Psybeam. What remained was a colorful, almost blinding tornado with black stripes running along it's shape. The wind's howl was replaced with a hum as it's power echoed through the area, grass burning away as it approached the deadly funnel.

Alex recoiled in surprise. "What is that!? What the Hell is that!?"

I grinned, shouting over the roar emitting from the cyclone.

"This is our power!"

With that, Katherine released the attack, the colorful tornado twisting and speeding towards the Alakazam like a javelin thrown from a giant.

"Alakazam, Reflect, full power!"

Surrounding himself in a transparent barrier, the psychic-type was thrown upwards as the cyclone engulfed it. Alakazam's Reflect protected it from the slicing winds and the Shadow Ball's influence, but it's own psychic energy was passing through, meeting against it's body with a dull buzzing sound.

"Slash, go!"

Katherine leaped high into the air with her powerful legs, approaching the cyclone without fear, but with a furious determination. Her ebony claws began to glow white as she approached the top of the tornado. She brought the slash down on the towering powerhouse attack, her scarf rippling with a furious red color as it trailed behind her.

Katherine cut through the vortex, shattered Alakazam's weakened Reflect, and split the whole thing down the middle. A furious light show spread outwards from ground zero, blinding everyone with brilliant colors mixed with a layer of darkness.

As the show ended, so did the battle. Alakazam had fallen, Katherine's exhausted form standing in front of her opponent as her right paw let out trails of smoke, the fur around her wrists burnt from the attack.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, save for Katherine's panting, May's voice broke the calm. "Alakazam is unable to battle. Therefore, the victory goes to Zack!"

Laughing, I shot my fist into the air in a fit of uncontrolled joy. Alex recalled his Alakazam as the people who had stopped to watched clapped and cheered for the show.

Beneath the cheering, Katherine pointed at her human opponent. "Haha! I...smoked....your.....Assss~"

Her berating trailed off as her fatigue caught up with her, causing her to collapse on the battlefield. Alex cocked his head at the curious sight, but as I approached his attention returned to me.

"I must say I am... Surprised at your abilities, Mr. Sto-"

I cut him off. "That's not my name, you know."

"...Very well, Zachary Stone."

I shook my head and laughed, placing a hand on my former opponent's shoulder. "Didn't you hear the judge? My name is Zack. Remember that."

Giving his shoulder a light pat (And watching his frail psychic body wince from it), I returned to my Absol. "I'm gonna put you in the ball," I said, reaching for the black-and-white ball that the absol despised being contained within.

I heard her murmur in her apparent slumber. "Mm...don't wanna...ball..." She whined like a child who didn't want to go to school.

I laughed and reached into my backpack, withdrawing a potion and spraying her right paw and forehead with a healing mist. The burn marks cooled and any damage seemed to slowly begin to fade as May approached me and Alex, our trainer cards in her outstretched hands.

"Here you go, you two. Your ranking points have been altered. Zack, you've gone up a rank! Now you're twelfth in all of Hoenn!"

I smiled and placed the card back in my wallet. Looking down at Katherine, I replied, "No, we're twelfth, May. Me and my Pokemon climb the ranks together. They are the ones doing the fighting, after all."

May smiled and nodded as I bent down and hefted my pooped companion. I heard the absol groan and say what sounded like "Five more minutes," as I picked her up, cradling her like the big baby she had become. As I lifted her, I felt a burning sensation in my right arm.

*Damn cramps,* I thought to myself.

With a surprising switch in character, Alexander King smiled, then laughed. "I think I misjudged you, Zack. I'll be sure not to make the same mistake again should we meet in the Master tournament."

"Same here, Alex," I responded as he turned and walked back towards Slateport to get his alakazam healed. This is how battles go. Once both trainers and their Pokemon bear their all on the floor of the arena, their true nature is easy to see. Enemies become rivals, sometimes even allies and friends. Battles don't usually take long, but when you get into one as intense as the one me and Alex just shared, time is never a factor.

Only the battle exists.

Looking at the carnage, I saw wind-shaved trees and burnt grass. Looking down at the little devil in my arms that had done it all, I realized just how powerful we were. Then Kat let out a loud snore as a bit of drool escaped from her open mouth, causing me and May to laugh a little.

I didn't feel like having another battle so soon after this one, so I decided to escape into the woods before the rank-seekers try to take me down a peg.

I began walking into the woods. The trees were thick with the smell of pine as sap oozed from the freshly open wounds that had took the Razor Wind attack in the Alakazam's stead. The foliage further inward was better off, so I continued inward through the brush. Shortly into the woods, I thought about the attack that Alex had used that allowed him to hurt Katherine. I needed to know more about it.

"May, what does Miracle Eye do?"

"Huh," replied the professor's daughter, confused at the sudden line of questioning. Come on, she should be used to my way of thinking by now.

"Oh! The attack that Alakazam performed. Yeah, it's a newly discovered ability that was only recently accepted into the legal move list. It allows the Pokemon who uses it to target an opponent's psychic energy. All Pokemon have this, so even dark Pokemon can be hit once you get beyond their natural resistance to psychic attacks."

She sighed, "It also allows the user to see through illusions, making the Double Team you used earlier ineffective."

I frowned. That was an exceptionally powerful play he used there. I'm glad that my attack worked the way I wanted it to, or it would have been me carrying Katherine back for a revival instead of finding a comfortable place to rest.

As if reading my thoughts, May chimed, "Speaking of attacks, that combination you and Kat did back there was amazing! Anyone who was watching that match now knows that Zack Stone means business."

That perked me up from my grim thoughts. "Yeah, I admit it was impressive. I am thankful she was able to pull it off, too. If Kat was any later firing off that Shadow Ball, the beam would have either blasted her into next week or hit the ball right in front of her face, causing an explosion that would send all of that energy and wind in my direction."

May's eyes widened at this. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about that...

"Ah well, the important thing is that we're alri-"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

Ah, dammit.

"How could you put both you and your Pokemon in so much danger!? You could have been killed if that thing hit you directly! At least five trainers and twelve Pokemon a YEAR die from battle-related injuries! You should be more carefu-"

There was a dull thump as my absol extended it's ghostly white arm and bashed May in the nose with it.

The nag machine fell on her butt, clutching her nose as the force of her impact flew pine straw debris into the air. "OW! Kat! Dat hurt! I think my node is bleeding."

Looking down into my arms, I saw Kat's sleepy, yet angry gaze glaring at the girl on the ground before her, grumbling. "How many trainers die from Pokemon related nosebleeds?"

I returned Kat's icy stare in May's stead, causing her to look up at me with half-apologetic eyes as she offered her excuse. "What? I was trying to sleep. She's loud."

I set the assaulter down to tend to the assaulted. Katherine lazily watched as I took my first-aid kit out of my bag. Removing the pen light, I gently tilted May's head back to take a look up one of her nostrils. Referring to the little manual the kit comes with, I took two small cotton balls and twisted them, presenting them to her.

"Nothing is broken, but you should put these up your nose to keep the blood from coming out so fast."

I heard Katherine snicker as May complied, plugging the bloody nostrils with the cotton ball.

"Howz dat?"

Katherine nearly fell backwards laughing, her absol cry mixing with her manic giggling. May puffed her cheeks, obviously not amused.

Holding back a snicker myself, I leaned backwards on my arms and said "You're fine, just don't sneeze while you're looking at me, okay?"

I winced. That damn cramp was driving me crazy! I sat up, bringing my other arm around to massage it. That only made it hurt worse!

A masseuse, I am not.

"What's wrong, Zack?" Asked the nasally impeded May, trying her best not to sound like a kid with a stopped up nose.

"Nothing, I just have a cramp in my arm," I showed her the spot on my left arm, forgiving her for her linguistic issues.

May crept closer, scooting slowly on her knees as Katherine followed suit.

"Could you remove your hand?"

I complied, taking my right hand off of my arm and closing my eyes.

*Maybe I'm about to get a massage~*

I wasn't about to get a massage. Just another bout of yelling.

"ZACK! Dis is nodda cramp! You're hurt!"

I was too surprised to laugh. More so because Katherine was equally stunned. I tentatively opened my eyes and looked at my right hand.

I saw it covered in blood.

My blood.

Without skipping a beat, I looked at my left arm.

...

Do you know why doctors tell children not to look when they receive a shot or why parents tell their kids close their nose before taking bad-tasting medicine?

It's because the other five senses rely tend on each other, helping them to perceive the world around them by working together. What you smell wafts through your nose and into your mouth, causing you to taste certain things.

And sight REALLY gives touch a hand.

"HOLY SHIT," I exclaimed, seeing, and now feeling, a deep, dark red gash stripe across the upper arm of my jacket.

I took off my green coat and dropped it to the ground, seeing that the blood drained inside of the coat instead of outside. This made the wound harder to see, and explains why I wasn't alerted to my apparent predicament earlier.

It was a lot of blood.

"How did dis happen? How did you not feel dis earlier?" She said, seeing a small river of blood running from the wound and down my arm. Katherine was still frozen, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

Without giving me a chance to answer the questions she put to me, she scrambled for the first-aid kit. "We have to clean the cut before we can bandage it."

Nodding, I knelt to stand up and join her, but a strong furry arm held me back. A moment later, a warm, wet sensation ran up my arm, slowly leading to the gash.

Katherine was licking the cut.

I winced when the tip of her pink tongue contacted the open cut, but she continued. She gently encircled the wound first, running her tongue across the excess blood, before swallowing and proceeding directly to the source. It was sore, but it felt wonderful. Much better than an alcohol pad.

May came back with the required medical supplies and seemed surprised at the situation. "Get back, Kat. I have to sterilize the wound."

Katherine surprised us both with a growl, her bloody mouth and teeth making it much more intimidating. The absol bowed her head solemnly, saying "I know I did this, so I'll take care of it. You can stay back."

I frowned. My absol was probably right. When the final attack was formed, the explosion was enormous. She was safe within the eye of her own storm, but I must have been cut in the process. I didn't notice it until now because my mind had been completely focused on the battle.

May's shoulders dropped as Kat began to run her tongue across my wound, which had started to bleed a little more after her initial cleaning. It hurt, but at the same time felt soothing, like a mother kissing her child's knee after he falls off of the swings.

Before I could think about my childhood, May began to speak again, slowly so she didn't sound so stupid. "Zack, we need to cover the wound to keep it from bleeding. It's not a bad cut, but it could be dangerous if it isn't stopped."

May held up some bandages, and I sighed. I knew she was right, but I also knew Kat wouldn't let her anywhere near me right now. I extended my good arm. "Let me have those, I'll put them on myself when Kat is finished.

Nodding, May gave me the bandages and stepped back. "I'm... going to go look for some water. You need to keep yourself hydrated," she said, her head hanging a little low. "I'll be right back."

With that, she walked off. I wanted to tell her not to go, but it was probably for the best. She knew that we had both food and water with us in our backpacks in case of emergencies, so she must have her own reasons for running off.

Katherine's tongue lashings continued, removing the blood and blanketing my wound with a thin coating of her own saliva, which cooled as the odd gust of wind rustled through the wood. With one final, long lick, she traced the entire cut with her tongue. Gently lifting her face away from my arm, she gave me room to start applying the bandage. I sighed at the look on her face: It was one of quiet anger and despair, like she hated herself. As I began dressing the wound, I figured it was her turn to be comforted.

"Kat, this isn't your fault."

She huffed out a short laugh. "Yeah, it was someone else's Razor Wind attack that cut you."

"That's not what I meant," I replied, the thickness of the bandages slowly building as I wrapped one over the other. "I ordered the attack, and you did exactly what I said."

"But I could have had more control! If the funnel was smaller, I could have-"

"It wouldn't have held up against the explosion," I explained, interrupting her. "If it was too tight, the psybeam would have shattered the whole thing and we'd both be in serious trouble. What you did was the best thing you could have done in that situation."

However, I was asking myself if it was the best thing I could have done. The best trainers have a mental teaching tool called "Battles Remorse," where you think you could have done something different. Usually it's after you've lost, but sometimes, like now, you wonder if you could have saved a lot of trouble by doing things differently.

The sigh of a half-convinced absol broke my train of thought. "I'm also sorry for the way I... snapped earlier. I wasn't really trying to sleep, it's just that it sounded like May was talking down to you for doing what you needed to. Like that squishy excuse for a human could do better..."

I turned to her, mentally wincing as she was looking down and away. My bandage held up alright, so I put the roll down and approached her. As I saw a small tear forming in the corner of her eye, I thought back to when we met as enemies. She had striven to do this sort of damage to me then, and now she was on the verge of crying over an accident.

Acting on my impulse, I raised my right arm to her chin, brought her black face to mine, and kissed her. My absol's lips were soft, like a human mouth. Her breath wasn't pleasant and tasted of my own blood, but I was far from caring, managing to creep my tongue between her teeth. Her surprise was obvious, her crimson eyes going wide before slowly drifting to a sleepy glint as she returned the kiss. I withdrew, a bit her saliva hanging off my lip while she simply looked at me.

I smiled and broke the small silence. "I command you not to apologize to me anymore. After all, you didn't almost break MY nose."

Wiping her eyes on the back of her paw, she smiled back at me. "Very well, master."

"Good, now go find May and apologize to her. That's an order."

"Yes, sir!"

With that, she bounded off, renewed with energy despite the battle that had happened merely moments before and the trauma she put herself through. I didn't think Kat could get that emotional. It surprised me, but it was a pleasant surprise. She's more human than I had thought.

Sighing with a smile, I looked back at my bandaged cut, inches away from the red sleeve of my red t-shirt.

It might leave a scar...

Cool.

I got up to follow Katherine, if nothing else to make sure she doesn't finish the job with May's nose, but I nearly fell backwards in a fit of dizziness. Leaning against the tree with my good arm, I took a glance at my jacket on the ground, reminding me of how much blood I had actually lost.

Walking carefully to my own backpack, I reached in and pulled out a bottle of water. Screwing off the top and taking a sip,

Sitting down against a closer tree, I released Kiki from her cute, pink premier ball. The ball wasn't my idea, I got her as a gift.

Appearing in a flash, the kitten Pokemon let out a triumphant "Nyah" of freedom.

"Kiki, I'm gonna take a nap. Use Heal Bell and keep an eye out for me, okay?"

The skitty gave me a meow, saluting with it's tail. A soft chime filled the air as the yellow tips of her puffball tail began resonating a soothing melody. Heal Bell, unlike the soothe bells that Fara sometimes wore, seemed to enter the body and relax it, releasing stress on the muscles, speeding recovery, help the bodies deal with toxins, it was perfect for what I needed right now.

Situating my gear and May's within arm's reach, I opened my pokenav and selected "Team Status." Tiny images of my six Pokemon filled the screen, two of them (Kiki and Katherine) reading [Open]. I selected Katherine's picture, and then hit the [Location] button. A moment of searching later, the GPS locked on her pokeball's unique capture signature, the faint aura put on captured Pokemon to prevent them from being stolen or identified as someone else's. It showed me that Katherine was only about a block away. She had stopped, so she must have found May.

The Heal Bell's melody, which had begun to sound like a lullaby, started to take effect on me as I felt a warmth build up inside my heart, clinging to my veins. Making sure the pokenav was charging in the patch of sunlight creeping through the trees, I drank the rest of my water in two vicious gulps, allowing myself to rest against the tree.

*They'll wake me up when they get back,* I thought. *Then we can keep moving towards Mauville.*

Yawning, I placed my right hand behind my head and laid against the tree.

Time for a nap...

...!!

GAH!!

My near slumber was dashed to pieces by another bout of incessant beeping from my pokenav. I'm beginning to hate that thing so much!

Squinting, I took a look at the screen. My eyes shot open when I saw the message.

It read [WARNING!!! Vitals Drop in Pokemon *Absol: Katherine*]

What followed was emergency instructions for freaked out trainers, but I was already gathering my gear. I didn't know what was happening, but I did know that whatever it was just made a horrible mistake.

"Cancel the Heal Bell," I ordered Kiki, the skitty cocking it's head at me as she ceased her pleasant chime. I put on my pack and hefted my jacket in my right hand, the pokenav in my left showing the map screen to lead me towards the point of distress.

As I prepared to leave, I couldn't help but think that this wasn't an ordinary emergency. I could feel like she was under attack by something.

I don't know how I knew, or what she was being attacked by, but I did know one thing.

Something just made their last mistake.

"Let's go, Kiki. I'm going to need your help with this one."

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Ooh, a bit of action, a bit of comedy, a bit of romance, and a bit of suspense!

All in a week's work, in my book.

I can't decide whether or not to make the next chapter a SUPER LONG ONE and include the sex that I had promised before, or to split it up and have on sex scene in one and have the other in the next.

What do you think? I've already got the next one planned, so I could definitely do it in a week. If you feel like a long chapter filled with sexy nougat would be a proper compensation for the recent lack of sex then let me know.

I'm all ears.

Thank you for playing,

Matt, the Z-Byte