FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After fighting Alexander and his Alakazam, I was more than ready to head out before the spectators got it in their heads that THEY should try and battle, wanting to take my team down a peg on the ranking list so they could climb over us.

Scooping up the slumbering hurricane of fur and fangs, I adjusted Kat so her head rested on my shoulder and I could better support her weight. She grumbled once as I moved her, mumbling something along the lines of "Five more minutes," before groaning softly and snoring heavily.

"Come on, May," I said, sending a cautious glance out amongst the crowd. "I want to get Kat to a place where she can lay down."

She started to pull away, but a group of young girls caught her, several questions about how to become a judge, how long she'd been one, and how many battles she'd refereed having to be answered before she could pull away. I frowned, starting without her, my weaker arm already protesting about Kat's weight. As much as I loved the hard muscle that hid behind her soft fur, she was starting to hopelessly squirm for comfort, making it very awkward for me to keep up.

I narrowly escaped from the crowd and into a clearing of wind-torn trees and burnt grass. I looked down at the mass of fur and drool in my arms and felt a giddy smile pulling at the corners of my lips. This... this was a testament to how powerful we'd become. The difference in strength we both showed between now and when I'd first found Katherine was staggering...

It made me wonder what other plateaus we'd yet to reach.

"You couldn't wait?" I heard May puffing her way towards us, her nerdy little body jogging to catch up to us. Ah, now I'm doing it too. Be nice, Zack.

Staring at our surroundings, I noticed that several trees along the edge of the wood had met the unfortunate Razor Wind attack meant for the Alakazam and were weeping so much sap that several Caterpie had come out to lick at it. The smell was like a car dealer desperately throwing hundreds of little air fresheners into a lemon so they could try and pass it off as a brand new ride. Luckily, the nearly sickening smell soon gave away to a much calmer, romantic floral scent as we walked by the damaged trees. The path we were taking was well worn, shoes and bikes leaving dirt in place of grass while the bird Pokemon trilled and chirped above us, probably arguing against the merits of bugging us.

Adjusting Kat's weight once more, my left arm still aching, I suddenly thought of the attack Alex had used that caused his Alakazam's Psychic attack to hurt my Dark type.

"Hey, May."

She looked at me, frowning, apparently still sullen I'd started walking without her. "Yeah?"

"What does Miracle Eye do?"

"Miracle Eye?" she repeated, confused for a moment before giving a sudden, "Oh! Right, what Altair used." She gave a small cough before going into what I liked to refer to as "lecture mode."

"Miracle Eye is a newly discovered ability that was only recently accepted into the legal move list. It allows the Pokemon who cast it to target an opponent's energy, regardless of that type of energy, so even Dark Pokemon can be hit since it effectively goes beyond their natural resistance to Psychic attacks." She gave a sigh and shook her head. "It also allows the user to see through illusions, making the Double Team you used earlier ineffective." A deep frown formed on her face, causing a crease along her forehead. "You really should study up on this stuff yourself, you know."

"That's why I've got you though, May," I said, grinning at her as her frown only seemed to increase.

"Jackass," she muttered, turning her head to look away from me.

When she did, I allowed my own frown to show. She was right. If my attack hadn't worked the way I'd wanted it to, I would be carrying Katherine back for a revival instead of finding a comfortable place to rest. I couldn't help but think: if a powerful move like that existed and I didn't know about it, there were probably others.

When she turned back, I let my frown slip back to a small smile, masking those grimmer thoughts as she spoke.

"That combination you and Kat did back there was amazing, though, I'll give you that." She shook her head. "I don't think I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself."

"Yeah," I smiled in earnest. "I'm thankful Kat was able to pull it off too. If she was any later in firing off her Shadow Ball, the beam would have probably have knocked her into next week or made the ball explode in front of her face. All of that power would have probably shot right back at me-"

I broke off abruptly, having noticed too late the sudden red flush building up along May's face.

I shouldn't have told her about that.

"But the important thing is we're all alright!" I started walking a little faster, holding Katherine tighter, marking it as a bad sign when May's speed also increased. "I mean, that really is the most impo-"

"What were you THINKING?!"

Fuuuck, here we go.

I tried a brisk walk but May kept up to that too, somehow managing to yell and still keep pace.

"How could you put both yourself and Kat in so much danger, Zack?! What if that thing had hit you? It would have killed you!" Her voice was picking up in pitch even as my stride was increasing in walking. "At least five trainers and twelve Pokemon a YEAR die from battle-related injuries!"

I was practically running and somehow she was STILL keeping up and shouting at the same time. For someone who got winded on a short jog, this was as impressive as it was freaky.

"You need to be more careful for you and your Pokemon's sake-"

I felt Katherine suddenly shift in my arms and heard a smack followed by a thud. Stumbling, having to adjust my balance from her unexpected motion, I turned in time to see May fall down, clutching her nose and wailing.

"Dom it, Khat! Dat urt! I dink my nodes is bleedin!"

"So?" Kat muttered against my shoulder, yawning as she stretched out the paw she'd used to effectively slap May. "How many trainers die from Pokemon related nosebleeds?"

Returning Kat's icy stare back at her, my Absol finally melted enough to give a half-apologetic excuse. "I was trying to sleep... and she's LOUD."

"Kat... PETP would skin my ass if I did that to you every time you woke me up."

"PETP?" she asked, confused.

A strong sense of self preservation made me decide against explaining People for the Ethical Treatment of Pokemon to Kat. I figured it would go one of two ways, either she'd hold them over my head every time I made her do something she didn't want to (like bathing, waking up when she didn't want, or eating the healthy Pokechow) and call them for real the moment I didn't give in to her whims or she'd go into a frothing rage when she heard that they also fought against Pokemon battles and THEN I'd have to deal with her assaulting PETP members with something far more terrible than red paint.

...I didn't know which would be worse and I didn't want to find out.

Instead, I opted to set down the fuzzy little assaulter to tend to the assaulted. Thankfully, Kat's little stunt did have the intended benefit of making May shut up. Still, I did feel bad for her. May's eyes were watering and she was trying to cover her nose, sniffling then coughing as she tried to keep the blood from streaming freely down her face.

"Lifted your head back, May," I instructed, setting my pack down to grab the first aid kit.

Katherine rested her head on her paws, watching vacantly, some place between here and dreamland, as I opened up the kit to grab the pen light and some cotton balls. Lightly cupping May's chin with my free hand, I tilted her head up a little more and used the light to glance at them.

"Well... nothing's broken." I sighed in relief, using my knowledge of field first-aid to make sure we wouldn't have to make a trip to a hospital. Clicking the pen light off and tossing it back into the kit, I used one of the balls to dab along the underside of her nose, careful not to actually touch where Kat smacked her. "I'll give you some cotton to put up there... that and keeping your head elevated should slow it down pretty fast."

Having cleaned a good portion of the splatter, I handed her two clean cotton balls. She complied rather quietly, plugging her nostrils as I'd instructed.

"Howz dat?"

Kat suddenly started laughing.

"She sounds like..." Katherine was laughing so hard she couldn't finish her sentence because she couldn't breathe. "She sounds like a kazoo!"

It really wasn't funny... what had happened... but Katherine was right. She did sound like a plastic kazoo. I pinched my lips together, trying very hard not to laugh or smile since I knew May was watching me. What sort of monster was Kat turning me into? I went to put the first aid kit back in my bag when my left arm twinged again.

Frowning, I reached to rub it only to swear as pain dug in like a Krabby's claw.

"What'dis wrong, Zack?" asked May, sounding like a little kid with a stopped up nose despite her best efforts.

"Nothing," I muttered, not wanting to bother her what with Kat using her nose like a snooze button. "Just a cramp in my arm. No big deal."

May scooted forward, tilting her head further up and to the side to try and look at my arm while keeping her head elevated like I'd told her. Again, I had to keep from laughing.

"Cud jew remove your hand?"

"It's really not-"

"We aldredy got dah first aid kit out. Migh das well use it," she insisted.

Deciding I really shouldn't give her a hard time after what Kat had put her through, I relented and lifted my right hand. If I was lucky, maybe May was better at massages than I was.

Hell, there were worse things than getting a massage from a chick, after all.

"ZACK!"

I flinched at the tone of that voice, reminded all too easily of Sensei. The amount of concern and anger in May's voice was similar to the time I'd pissed Sensei off by jumping out of the third floor window to escape her. Remembering the sword lesson I'd had with her oak bokken, after the fact she'd discovered I wasn't as hurt as I'd let on, my spine stiffened.

The bruises were gone, but I could still feel her disappointment so many years after the fact.

"Dat's nodda clamp!" May's voice was sharp with concern. "You're hurt!"

"What?" I laughed a little and shook my head. "Nah, it's just sore, May." I lifted my arm up, hoping to show her she was mistaken. "See?"

I smiled to myself, already expecting her apology when I happened to catch sight of my right hand.

It was red.

Turning it over, I felt detached for a brief moment, not recognizing what my eyes were telling me. Lifting my hand closer to my face, the red color didn't go away or somehow change. A metallic taste filled my mouth, though I knew none of the liquid had gotten on my lips.

Blood.

My blood.

Without thinking, I turned to actually look at my left arm.

...you know how doctors tell children to look away, when they get a shot or have stitches done? There's a reason. It's because the five senses tend to rely on each other, helping us to perceive the world around us. Like now, how the scent of my blood was lighting on my tongue, even though I hadn't actually tasted the blood.

And how LOOKING at the wound was suddenly making my sensory nerves pick up on just how much it hurt.

"...Huh," I whispered under my breath, trying to keep from swearing loud enough to wake the dead.

The gash ran along my upper arm, long but not as deep as it could have been. The only reason I guess no one noticed it is that my shirt had been blowing around in the wind, the wound must have happened at a point my skin was exposed then after the battle it just got covered up again when the wind died down.

Being a red shirt, no one would have noticed the blood soaking into it.

"How'd dis happen?!" May was already digging inside the first aid kit, pulling out various smaller packs of bandages and discarding them while looking for something large enough to stop the bleeding. "How'd jew not feel dis earlier?!"

"I don't know!" I tried to keep from snapping at her, but the sudden awareness of just how much this hurt was making me tense. Was Kat going to jump at me next?

Suddenly alert, I realized Kat hadn't been talking for a while, a bad sign.

Glancing towards my Absol as May continued her search, I found Kat upright, half poised to walk toward me but frozen in place. Her ruby eyes were fixed on my arm and her mouth was parted slightly, as if she had started to ask something and stopped herself.

"It's not that bad, Kat," I assured her, working on ignoring the screaming voice inside my head (which was saying something along the lines of "The FUCK?! Are you CRAZY?! Did you not SEE the gaping tear in your ARM?!")."I'll be fine."

Rolling my sleeve all the way back, waiting for May to pull something useful out of the first aid kit, I was about to get up and help her when a strong, furry arm pressed down on my shoulder, preventing me from standing. Turning to scold Kat, not sure why she'd stopped me, I suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation pressing gently against my arm, trailing along the wound.

Katherine was licking the cut.

I winced, trying to keep still as the tip of her dark tongue contacted the edges of the open cut, but didn't stop her. Gently moving along the gash, she trailed her tongue along my skin, one long lick that lead to several little ones as she lapped up the blood trickling down my arm. Other than a faint sting when she touched the open areas, the obnoxious scream of pain along my nerves was slowly dying down to a muffled buzz. I felt my body unwinding, the tenseness that had stiffened my frame only noticeable to me now that I was relaxing.

This was much better than an alcohol pad.

"Found it!" May exclaimed, pulling out a roll of gauze in one hand and disinfectant in the other. Turning around, her eyes narrowed and her forehead wrinkled as she saw Kat. "You really shouldn't do that, Katherine." Moving to take my Absol's place, May was making to lightly push her aside. "Come on, let me sterilize the wound."

The sudden flash of bloody teeth and the savage growl that accompanied them made May stop in her tracks, the color running from her face like a frightened Sandshrew and even made my heart jump at the terrifying sight. May wasn't happy.

"KAT!"

I held up my good hand to stop May from the tirade she was about to start. I could see the way Katherine's body was now hunched over, her white fur bristling like when I'd first seen her, scared and angry.

"It's okay, Katherine." I said, keeping my voice low and calm. "May's just trying to help."

Her growl elevated, her crimson eyes so much darker than the blood she was cleaning that I felt a moment of concern. Had she somehow reverted to a more savage state of mind? It wasn't unheard of... in dire straits, some Pokemon, especially those caught as adults in the wild, revert back to that feral mindset. The overprotectiveness, increased likelihood of attacking anyone who wasn't their trainer, and even paranoia over another injury being sustained have been observed. But there was something else in my Absol's eyes. Behind that wrathful, protective barrier, I saw a glimmer of grief.

I couldn't call myself a good trainer if I didn't know why.

"It's not your fault, Kat." I said softly, trying to get the message to May with my eyes alone that her moving away would be a good idea for all of us right now. Thankfully, she either got it or seemed to recognize Kat wasn't herself at the moment. As she did, Kat's body coiled further, as if intending to spring at her. Thankfully, my words seemed to distract her.

"Don't bullshit me..." she finally growled in response, her voice thick and guttural, as though she'd all but forgotten how to speak. "She can stay the hell back." Her voice vibrated even deeper. "I let this happen... I did this... so I'll take care of it."

"Okay, Kat," I said, more to soothe her than actually agreeing. Certainly, it was possible that when the last attack formed I'd been injured but, well, considering what could have happened to Katherine, this was nothing. "May will stay back."

Her growl lifted a notch, as if questioning the sincerity of my words but another darting glance towards May and a quick calculation of the distance between us had her giving a huff of air, her snarls slowly subsiding to a dull, muted vibration as she kept one paw on my leg and continued to lick along my arm.

My wound had started bleeding again after Kat's initial cleaning but thankfully it wasn't as bad as before. Quick flicks took care of the drops themselves before following the river trails back to their source. Again, the touch of her tongue against the open wound stung but there was a subtle soothing sensation there as well, like a mother kissing her child's knee after a scrape from falling off the playground swings.

Before my mind could drift to hazy memories of my childhood, May began to speak again, keeping her voice hushed and slow.

"Zack... we need to cover the wound to keep it from bleeding. "

I sighed, watching Kat's head twitch at May's voice, her growl spiking again. There was no way she was going to let May near me... but she was right, the wound DID need to get bandaged. I'm going to guess that Katherine's spit acted like an antiseptic, but it wouldn't keep it from bleeding.

"Kat..." I glanced up towards May before looking back at my Absol, making sure her attention was on me. "May is going to toss the bandages to me... she is not going to come closer but I need them for when you're done."

Her tail gave a quick lash through the air, clearly displeased by this.

"It'll be fine if I take care of it," she rumbled, frowning at me, as if she felt I was lying to her.

"Kat... humans don't heal as quickly as Pokemon do... and none of the Potions that work on you will work on me." I held her gaze, still keeping my voice steady and low. "I know you're helping me, and it does feel a lot better... but I need those bandages."

Hearing that, some of her agitation dissipated like a puddle on hot pavement.

"Okay," she finally consented, her voice sounding a little less rough around the edges. "But she stays away."

There was a slight snarl on her last word and I nodded, to her as much as I did May, raising my good hand so I could catch the bandages when May threw them. A gentle lob later and the soft cloth was in hand, May backing away.

"I'm... going to go look for some water." There was tightness in her voice. "You have to keep yourself hydrated," she said, a light laugh in her voice that sounded more bitter than mirthful. "I'll be back."

As she turned to leave, I almost rose to try and stop her, even with Kat's paw on my leg... but it was for the best I didn't. If I made to do so, any progress I'd made with Kat would be lost. Maybe calling myself a good trainer at this point wasn't the best timing.

Katherine watched her leave, waiting till May was all but out of sight before bending her head down to continue her administrations. Tenderly, she removed the blood with her tongue, blanketing my wound with a thin coating of her saliva. The liquid turned cool against my skin as a gust rustled through the woods, the pain all but gone.

With a sigh, she finally lifted her face away from my arm, removing her paw from my leg.

Taking that as a sign she was done, I tried to catch her gaze but she turned her head to look away.

"Kat... this isn't your fault."

She huffed out a short bark that sounded close to a sour laugh. "Yeah... cuz it was someone else's Razor Wind that cut you."

Unwinding a string of the bandage, clumsily trying to wrap my arm, I shook my head.

"You don't know for sure, Kat... and even if it was, I ordered the attack." I finally got a successful loop and tried for a second, attempting to keep it tight and failing. "You did exactly what I said."

She shook her head violently, her horn glistening as she swung it. "I should have had more control!" she barked, suddenly pacing to the right then turning sharply and taking a swipe at the ground, sending helpless clumps of grass and dirt in the air. Turning, she met my gaze this time, her eyes narrowed with anger at herself and despair. "If the funnel was smaller, I could have-"

"It wouldn't have held up against the explosion," I answered patiently, the thickness of the bandages slowly building as I gained experience at one handed wrapping. "If it was too tight the Psybeam would have shattered the whole thing and we'd both be in serious trouble." Pausing in my wrapping to gaze at her, I made sure she was looking directly at me before continuing. "What you did was the best you could have done in that situation, Kat." Firmer, I added, "I know you didn't intend for this to happen. It was an accident." I gave her a small smile, hoping to cheer her up. "A badge of honor, even, for taking that Psychic bastard down a peg."

Even while telling her these words, I was asking myself if it was the best I could have done. The best trainers have a mental teaching tool called "Replay Remorse," where you think about what you could have done differently in a battle. Usually, it's after you've lost, when you're trying to come to terms with what happened and what could have been done otherwise.

But... sometimes, like now, you wonder if you could have saved a lot of trouble by doing things differently.

The soft sigh of my half-convinced Absol made me bury those thoughts to the deepest pit of my mind, a mental tombstone marking them for a time when I could think on them myself, without Kat near to feel guilty over something she couldn't have helped.

"I'm... also sorry for the way I snapped earlier," she admitted, her head hanging, swaying from side to side with a gentle motion. "I wasn't really trying to sleep," she continued, "it's just that... it sounded like May was talking down to you for doing what you needed to do." Her voice was picking up in a growl again. "Like that squishy excuse for a human could do better-"

The look on my face silenced her, her head jerking before lowering even further.

"Kat... I can appreciate you wanting to defend me, I really can." Finishing the bandaging, looping the loose end into the wrap for now till I could get a safety pin, I turned my complete attention to my remorseful devil. "But, as you've noticed, we're not as strong as you. We can get hurt a lot easier." At her soft whine of distress, I decided to make this quick before she suffered any further. "You need to remember that May is not, in fact, a punching bag."

"...She's too squishy to be a good one anyway..."

Sighing, I made an obvious move towards her, careful not to startle her. I was again reminded of back to when we met as enemies. She'd strived to do this sort of damage to me then... and now she was on the verge of crying over an accident.

Impulse took over. The moment I was close enough, I raised my right hand to her chin, letting my fingers graze along the short, black fur that coated her skin. Bringing her face up, I leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were soft, parting in surprise to allow me to slip my tongue between her teeth. Her breath wasn't pleasant, tasting of copper and metal, but I was far from caring.

Her crimson eyes went wide before she leaned in closer, her eyes drifting to a sleepy glint as her tongue moved to dance around mine. The long kiss was broken into several smaller, softer kisses, before I withdrew, a bit of her saliva hanging off my lip as she gazed hazily up at me.

"No more apologies... at least not to me." I gave a slight frown, only because I was trying not to smile at the memory of May landing on her ass. "After all, you didn't almost break MY nose."

Kat gave a soft laugh anyway, making a rushed swipe at her eyes with her paw and giving one long sniff. "Very well, Master."

"Good..." Stifling a yawn, the release of tension seemed to have left me lax and drowse. "Now, go find May and apologize to her." Smiling, watching her tail giving a half wag, I made a waving motion with my right hand. "That's an order, go on."

"Yes, sir!" she grinned, giving a mock salute before racing off, somehow renewed despite the battle that had happened merely a short time ago and the trauma she had put herself through.

Shaking my head, I smiled to myself, wishing I could feel as energized. Right now, however, I was more interested in a nap. Blood loss, emotional wipeout... whichever it was, it was starting to tug hard on my eyelids, whispering how wonderful lying down on the grass in a patch of warm sun would be.

"No." I clapped my hands, swearing a little as the skin pulled on my wounded arm, having already forgotten about it since Kat's treatment. Trying to remind myself not to jostle or move my left arm too much, I started to stand, speaking to myself as though words would become actions. "I need to follow Kat... knowing her, she might apologize then try to finish the job on May's nose..."

A wave of dizziness ran along the back of my head, pushing me forward so that I almost fell face first in the dirt. Thankfully, a nearby trunk was enough that I could catch myself and slide slowly back to the ground.

"Shit... Lost more blood than I thought, I guess..."

Interpretation between my eyes and brain was as sluggish as a Slowpoke, taking me a good three minutes to actually see my backpack and link the thought of reaching in and grabbing some water. Unscrewing the cap, my hand fighting to break the plastic seal, when it came off with a "crick," I eagerly lifted the mouth to my lips and drank like I was part Camerupt.

All that remained was a swig when I was sated.

Sleeping was becoming increasingly difficult to talk myself out of. My head was barely able to keep upright, wanting to fall so my chin rested on my chest. My body felt heavy and the weather was warm, a sweet and mild temperature that coaxed ever so softly towards the idea of a cat nap.

Speaking of cats...

Leaving the bottle with the little water remaining at my side, I reached at my belt, pulling off the pinkest of pink premier balls. The color wasn't my preference but she'd been so fascinated that it was the same color as her fur I'd relented and got it for her. The jokes about carrying a pink pokeball quickly fall silent once you've knocked around the biggest repeat offenders.

Using only three of my fingers to give it a weak lob, the ball hit the ground and popped open, my little Skitty giving a triumphant "Nyah!" of freedom as though somehow she had orchestrated the whole thing.

"Kiki." Her answering "Nyah" rose at the end in a question. "I'm gonna nap. Use Heal Bell and keep an eye out for me, okay?"

The affirmative meow was accompanied by a solider like stance that made me smile. Leaning back, allowing myself to finally give in to the lure of the lush, emerald grass beneath me, I closed my eyes, already envisioning what Kiki was doing as a soft chime filled the air. The yellow tips of her puffball tail would be glowing faintly by now, resounding with 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 the body's recovery, and helping it to better handle toxins, even for humans.

In other words, it was exactly what I needed right now.

Reluctantly opening my eyes, I pulled my Pokenav out and selected "Team Status" from the options. Tiny images of my six Pokemon filled the screen, two of them (Kiki and Katherine) reading [Open]. Selecting Kat's picture and hitting [Locate], a Pikachu appeared on the screen, pushing a pokeball while the information loaded. I have to remind myself these were made mostly for the younger generation.

A few moments later, the GPS locked on her pokeball's unique capture signature, the faint aura that remains on captured Pokemon to help identify them and to prevent them from being stolen (at least with pokeballs, anyway), and the device pinged. Now bringing up a map, it showed me that Katherine was only a good five minute walk away, apparently stopped.

She must have found May.

The worry that would normally accompany that thought didn't get a chance to grow, the Heal Bell's melody weeding out the little seeds before they could sprout. Chiming softly, it had begun to sound like a lullaby, the different notes building up inside my heart, spreading warmth along my veins. Drinking the remainder of the water, I closed my eyes, ready to give in.

They'll wake me when they get back, I thought, already thinking of Mauville, the images distorted in a dream-like fashion though I wasn't yet asleep.

It was time for a nap...

...!!

GAH!

My near slumber was shattered like a Butterfree's old cocoon, a bout of incessant beeping from my Pokenav making me slap at the thing in an attempt to shut it up.

Trying not to think how similar my reaction was compared to Kat's earlier one, I tried to make sense out of what I was seeing on the screen.

[WARNING!!!! Vitals drop in Pokemon: *Absol: Katherine*]

The message continued to scroll along the top of the screen while emergency instructions for freaked out trainers appeared along the remainder. The heavy feeling of sleep was forcibly yanked out of the driver's seat and bashed into unconsciousness by adrenaline before concern and anger fought over the wheel. Shoving what I could see back into the first aid kit and grabbing for my bag, I motioned to Kiki.

"Cancel Heal Bell, we gotta go!"

My little cotton candy fluff of a kitten cocked her head and her song dwindled down slowly, as if she couldn't abide by cutting it off into silence. Slinging my bag over my good arm, I glanced at the nav, the map on the screen now indicating a large exclamation point as it highlighted Katherine's location.

From the squeeze against my heart, I knew this wasn't an ordinary emergency. Something was very wrong for Katherine not to be able to handle herself. I couldn't even think of what it could be...

But I DID know that whatever it was had better not have a face.