FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Lucario... Don't..." Zerobi moaned weakly before suddenly raising her voice and pushing him away, "... D-Don't stop me! I have to die!" "... You saved me once..." Lucario said quietly, the damage in his throat creating a disgusting sound behind every word, "... This makes us even..." "Oh, for crying out..." Zerobi groaned at the cliché, "I tried to kill you. Don't you despise me?" "... I'm the one who..." Lucario wheezed before interrupting himself with a cough, "... I'm the one who egged you on... Even after you told me about the blood thing... If I hadn't been so weak, you wouldn't even have had to..." "You have a funny way of seeing things... " Zerobi sighed while purposely pushing away any feelings of joy creeping up on her, "So... That's it? Lucario, I'm a monster!" "... Monsters don't cry..." Lucario said confidently, "... You shouldn't kill yourself... That'd be bad..."

The two of them looked at each other for a while, not sure of what to say. Lucario noticed that while Zerobi remained mostly the same, there were a few subtle differences to her appearance. The collection of pink feather-like hair on her head seemed more vibrant than earlier. Her skin was also in a different hue, but whether it had turned darker or more red he could not tell. Not only that, but the most important detail was nowhere to be found.

"... Blood's gone..." Lucario said after a while before looking down at the slightly shorter Pokémon. "... Yeah, it's been absorbed into my skin..." Zerobi replied, wishing she could look away but somehow being trapped within his eyes, "To be honest, I'm still a bit loopy from it..." "... You OK...?" Lucario asked slowly and wondering if he should still be worried about her attacking him again. He was able to forgive her once, but he knew that if she tried it again that would be the end of it. "Better than you, I'm sure" Zerobi replied, feeling like snickering but not being able to even smile. Again they stood in silence, simply looking at one another. Zerobi saw that Lucario was missing a lot of fur on his body from the barrage of fire-based attacks he had taken from the Garchomp, making his scars more visible than before. The new scar gracing his throat did not escape her, the damaged tissue's brownish color making it seem a lot worse than the others.

"... Can we really do this?" Zerobi asked with a discouraged tone in her voice while staring at his wound, "No... No, it's too late. Even if you're fine with it, everyone else..." "... I'll think of something..." Lucario said while scratching the new uncomfortable skin around his throat, "... Although, an apology would be nice..." "Uh..." Zerobi mumbled slowly, not knowing what to do, "... I'm sorry for cutting your throat?" She blinked once in surprise as Lucario simply smiled in response.

"Um... About that thing I said..." she suddenly said, finally being able to look down as she tried to hide a blush appearing on her face, "A-About saving you..." "... Don't worry about it..." Lucario replied confidently with a wave of his hand, "... You saved me. Why...? Doesn't matter." "W-Well..." Zerobi stammered, feeling somewhat relived but still not getting the answer she was looking for, "It kind of does..." "... Nah, doesn't bother me at all..." Lucario replied, completely oblivious to what she was hinting at. "No, what I mean is..." Zerobi said with a slow tempo before borrowing some of her earlier determination to say what was on her mind, "... I-If you'd allow it, could... Could we be together?" "... Actually... I think we need some time apart..." Lucario responded bluntly, "... At least until my throat heals... Battling wits like this... Is unfair..." "... Heh" Zerobi finally gave off a short snicker while exhaling a sigh of disappointment, "Well, I don't think I can beat that one." "... Let's go..." Lucario said while putting his right arm around her back, "... I think your sister's waiting..."

The two of them left the scene and began walking back to where the major conflict had taken place. Zerobi moved reluctantly at first, but felt reassured with Lucario next to her. Being able to sense the joyful aura of Celebi not far away in front of them, it truly felt like they were leaving despair behind them and moving on to better times.

---

"Sir! Sir! We are finished, sir!"

"Ahh... I wish you'd stop calling me that. Actually, could you stop starting your updates with 'we are finished'? It sets a bad mood."

"M-My apologies, sir! But see, we have fina-"

"No. This stops here. Believe it or not, calling me 'sir' puts me in an undesirable position. Show me respect by specifically NOT calling me 'sir'."

"As you wish, s..."

"..."

"... Suddenly, our report is composed and complete!"

"Nice recovery."

"T-Thank you, sir!"

"I'm being sarcastic... Ugh, never mind, just tell me what you've found."

"Yes, sir! Latest developments show us that neither Raikou nor Suicune are willing to join our cause!"

"... Damn. Truly the lapdogs of mankind. Not completely unexpected, of course..."

"No signs of improvement from Entei, either!"

"That one was completely expected. Move on."

"Uh, yes! A Lucario posing as the Lonesome Wanderer Lucario managed to avoid captivity in Snowpoint and rout-"

"Wait wait wait... Posing as?"

"Yes! In co ordinance to the Lonesome Wanderer Lucario, he has no spikes on neither hands nor chest!"

"... That's not exactly 'posing', is it? Might just as well be a coincidence."

"The media seems to think otherwise, sir!"

"The media is nothing but garbage when it comes to Pokemon! You should know this! Why do you not know this!? Argh, why did I even recruit you in the first place...!?"

"I... I don't know what to say, s-"

"Just... Just tell me what he did, already."

"... Ah, yes! He routed the entire police force of Snowpoint singlehandedly, even with a wounded shoulder!"

"Snowpoint? Never heard of anyone strong stationed over there. Who did he beat?"

"Our research shows that they each had a high mid-ranking power level!"

"... They?"

"Yes, sir! The Fearsome Four Kojofu, local heroes and proud fighters of crime and injust-"

"Wait... Let me get this straight... Against a type disadvantage, he defeated four police officers at once?"

"Decimated them! All while mocking them and looking dashing!"

"Heh... Sounds like a good addition. Currently...?"

"He fled from Snowpoint, and he has yet to appear once more. The police is heavy on his trail."

"Perfect. Put him up on the... Wait, why was he being chased by the police in the first place?"

"We have no idea, sir. Must be something extremely minor, the eyewitnesses we've interviewed tell us nothing but how incredibly cool he looked."

"... At any rate, add him to the list of 'possible candidates', and reach out a hand when you find him."

"Yes, s... S-Sir!"

"... Next."

"The fearsome Zerobi has reemerged, actually in cohorts with the previously mentioned Lucario!"

"You should've told me that first. Who's this Zerobi?"

"Seven years ago, she murdered 47 Pokemon and fought the police in Cerulean City!"

"... Yikes! Sounds like a complete psychopath!"

"She was believed to have perished at the scene, but has proven herself to be a truly capable fi-"

"I don't care. I'm not running a mental hospital or slaughterhouse here. List as 'potentially dangerous' and try to pry her away from the Lucario if you can."

"Yes, s..."

"..."

"..."

"... Hah! That's the spirit!"

"Thank you, s... S... Señor!"

"Not acceptable, I'm afraid. Move on."

"Yes! Um... Potential candidate 'Grow'... 'Growgalore'..."

"... Grougaloragran?"

"Yes! The scouts claim that she has not fought in years, and has completely lost her flare!"

"Huh. Can it be reignited?"

"... Her reckless past indicates a slight possibility!"

"Just say 'yes' or 'no'... Eh, never mind, book me in a meeting with her, and find out which form she is the most comfortable talking with."

"Y... Yes, sir! From the top of my head, I can recommend against using that of a Pikachu!"

"Pikachu, eh? Finally, we get to that. Go on, tell me what I want to hear."

"... Um... Not 'sir'?"

"No, you dumb... I'm talking about the Legendary Trio, of course!"

"I apologize! We have been unable to locate their current whereabouts!"

"Did you try 'at home'?"

"Kabutops' wife Astrid told us that they were out on a mission, and then banned us from entering their premises! Permanently!"

"... I don't even want to know... Focus your efforts on finding them, I'd really hate for the humans to get them first."

"I shall, my liege!"

"Grah! FINE! Stick with 'sir' until you can make rid of it completely! If anyone asks, I'll tell them you've got tourette's syndrome or something!"

"I-I will, s... Sir... It's... It's just that I respect you far too much to call you anything else!"

"You've got to stop it! The road to power is a slippery slope... An upwards slope. No wait, that doesn't make any sense..."

"Sir?"

"... The point is, I can't let it get to me. Gotta stay cool. Accessible. A true equal to the Pokémon surrounding me."

"Speaking of which... Your wives were right outside when I arrived. Apparently, they have been requesting your presence for quite some time now."

"... Ah, superb! Well then, let's continue this report at a later time!"

"Sir!"

---

Milestone #1 - Complete! All participating readers have leveled up by (1)! Your perseverance has increased by (4)! You lost (59) gold! Hmm, did I notify you about that one too l(8)?

Anyway, haven't gotten any reviews lately, so I'm just going to assume that everyone's too busy writing their own stories to bother with that. I know that feel... Ing.

While I've got the rest of the story planned out, I kind of need some feedback to adjust the atmosphere accordingly. I mean, I have no idea if the darker and more action-drama oriented style I went for these past three (much too long) chapters worked out or not!

Other than that, not much to say. I hope you're enjoying this story, because it's still far from over! Here, have some Zerobi artwork that didn't make the cut:

Unedited original. Why the hell would anyone write "Ha ha ha" on a mural, anyway!? I think those things on the side are from Elec Man's stage in Mega Man, by the way.

I like this one, but it's kind of hard to tell what the heck's going on.

You DEFINITIVELY can't tell what the heck's going on in this one, but at least the blood's censored a là Kill Bill. I guess that if we bled gray, it'd always be fine.