FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2: My strange damsel in distress.

I looked with bewilderment at the timetable.

A mix of dissapointment and anger was steadily welling up inside of me.

"Of course did i miss the last bloody bus!"

I groaned..

After few swearing words and some heavy kicks agianst the bus stop sign, I had calmed down. Violence alone isnt going to help me to solve my transportation problem. Within my whole3 years her at art school, ive never missed the last bus. The quastion that arises now, is how i am going to cover the way from this measily middle-of-nowhere Bus Stop, located in south west of Goldenroad, to my apartment, located in south east district of Goldenroad. And that in the middle of the night. Getting a hold of my old Pokenav and giving its backside some soft blows with my left palm, the display finally stuttered to life, displaying me the map data i would need to set my course.

I could wander back to central Goldenroad... take a one way bus that is running in the right direction.... But that would take me at least... two hours??!

Or, I could just make a shortcut trough the closed down commercial district in south Goldenroad, by walking as fast as i can i could make it in... let's see... a little less than an hour! Perfect!

I checked my backpack. Opening the front pocket and browsing trough its contents.

"Where have I..."

My hand came in contact with a soft packaging.

"Ah! The bag of dried, sweet pecha berries that I bought for Min..suppose I can give her those tomorrow...or the day after that. Now, where is that bloody bottle of Pokemon repellent?"

Thinking aloud unwittingly is a bad habit of mine. I just do it. Whenever I am alone or not. I believe it is the easiest way to quickly filter out the useful thoughts from the useless ones. Finally finding the small, bottle of Pokemon Repel I was searching for, I was on my way to the closed down commercial district of old Goldenroad City.

As I approached the run down alleys and busted shops of the once great Goldenroad Shopping district, the smell of mold and rust instantly hit my nose, making me cough in suprise. Goldenroad City has always been a fast evolving city. But that also came with the fact, that the city's central location was constantly changing. With the development of new technologies, which in turn, was a new needing new and advanced infrastructure, city planers did simply stop in developing older parts of the city, letting them rot and decay while simply expanding Goldenroad City in the northern direction.

The city of Goldenroad had wandered north. All while shedding of his old and abandoned districts, like a serpent would do with his old skin. Only to let his remains rot into decay.

Only a handful of citizens remained in the southern districts. Some of them being too resilient as to let their beloved homes, filled with memories,rot into nothingness. Others, like me, where forced to stay. Simply because they could not afford the expensive, metropolitan lifestyle in the Central and northern areas of Goldenroad city.

The old commercial district was even uglier than the south eastern and south westernoutskirts, where I used to live and work. Most of the street lamps where busted. And those who weren't completely broke, couldn't do much more than to flicker a few times with the last strength the light bulb inside the lamp had remaining, just to shut down afterwards. The street was empty, devoid of cars, trash or anything that would imply that someone wasliving here. Lush patches of grass started to spread out from the cracks of the old pavement. The concrete walls bore many traces scratches, claw-marks and even some scorched areas.To say it looked like the scene of a horror movie would be a compliment to the whole district. It looked more like the apocalypse had already happened here, years ago. And nature had finally begun to take back his domain.

I started to believe that maybe, just maybe choosing this kind of shortcut was a bad idea. But on the other hand, what choice did I have? I was already tired, cold and wanted to home in the fastest way possible. It was just a short walk tough the old commercial district, I would be on civilized ground on no more than twenty minutes.

Still, there is no telling what will happen to me in those measly short twenty minutes...

No time for regrets. I checked my palm sized Repel bottle i had put in the right pocket of my jacket and took my first steepsinto the unknown, dark abyss that used to be Goldenroad city's commercial district silently hoping that my short hike trough this rotting place would prove as eventless as one of Professor Smith`s lectures.

Right after leaving the comfort zone of a lit street, I witnessed a bunch of small street Pokemon. they were chasing behind some large figure, thriving it into the corner of a back alley, just mere meters in front of my eyes!

Maybe... I should turn back. Staying with a couple of less-than-okay smelling pokemon in a drafty Academy building doesn't sound to bad anymore, does it?

I was starting to get nervous. I am absolutely not a fan of surprises. Every unforeseen event bears the risk of loosing control over the situation. Moreover, those Pokemon could prove to be a real danger. Because street Pokemon only attack out of desperation.

The possibility of hurting themselves in a hunt is the part of the risk every predator has to take. Therefore, the vast majority of City Pokemon have chosen a scavenging lifestyle. Thus, making them a lot tamer. In a City packed full of human waste, scavenging and bribing humans for food is the easiest way for a Pokemon to come by in the city.

Crouching as low as I could while giving my abused back another strain, I took a peak into the pitch-dark back alley, where the wild pack had cornered their prey. The old buildings around the alley swallowed what little light remained in the district. Making it impossible for me to see what was going on in there. I could hear some rustling noises, as well as a steady sobbing. There is no way that the hunted figure could be a Pokemon. His size alone would intimidate most of the smaller street Pokemon and making them the prey. Not the other way around.

Then it hit me. If they weren't chasing a Pokemon,

They there chasing a human!

This was bad. The hulking figure in the back alley could be an elderly person. Most of the resilient people that lived in the southern districts of Goldenrod where retired people after all.

I... i have to help! My inner mind screemed at me.

Are you insane? Do you want to get hurt? Or worse? My rational consciousness argued back.

Maybe he will give us reward! Something shiny, or maybe some coin! The opportunist in me implied.

Growing tired of all the thoughts bombing at my head at the same time, I did something utterly stupid.

I made some noise.

"Shut the fuck up! All of you!" I half screamed at myself.

Realizing my mistake, i quickly putt a hand on my mouth. But it was already to late. The damage was done and the quarrel in the back alley fell silent.

My habit is killing me sooner than I think it would.

Panicked, I hastily looked around for any leverage I could climb on to. Smaller city pokemon are usually not very good at conquering high obstacles. But the only leverage near me was a busted street lamp. And in with my sore back, I wouldn't be able climb it, let alone get a hold of it. As the small pack started to emerge from the back alley, I could make out four individual shapes. One was two legged, the other three four legged. None of them was very large. But it would be foolish to evalute my opponents in size alone. Even with the small repel I had, I could not possible fend of all four of them, at least not without getting into a fight.

Maybe I could bribe them. But with what?...

As fast as I could, I tore my backpack down from my back. Earning a series of growls for the hasty movements I had made. They were closing in, and I could finally recognize Pokemon I had to face all by myself.

The three quadruped pokemon turned out to be Poochyena.

Maybe can get this over unharmed...

And the two legged one turned out to be a Snivy.

Either that, or I`ll get my only jacket torn apart by a single leaf tornado. It just hat to be a damn snivy.

Searching the front pocket of my backpack, I quickly found what I was searching for. Ripping open the package of the dried Pecha berries I started waving the small bag, spreading the smell of Pokemon food around me.The four pokemon began sniffing the air, while my own stomach decided to come to life with a small gurgling sound.

This is not the right time to be hungry.

I waved the bag some more. The Pokemon looked like they got ready to pounce me any second. No mater their own consequences, they were desperate for food.

I can use that that to my advantage!

I started to shout in their direction: "Here, you want some nice, tasty food? Go fetch!" I threw the bag as hard as I could. It still just landed on the opposing sidewalk, spilling his contents along the street.

Now I can only hope and pray.

The Band of Pokemon swept after bag like an invisible storm. At first they were eating the contents scattered on the street, followed by a small battle for who will get the remaining dried berrys.

The Snivy seemed to hold the advantage against two of the poochyena. The third one however, managed to snag away the bag containing the rest of the berrys, while his pack members where locked in battle. Realizing their loss, they stopped their quarrel and began chasing after the poochyena.

In a battle between equally strong enemies, the true victory is always given those who act innocent and opportune.

I had to laugh.

Soon after the event that nearly gave me a heart attack, all thanks to that bloody bad habit of mine, the streets of the Goldenroad Commercial District got calm again, as if nothing had happened. Every hint of the chase and the battle for food were shrouded in by the unforgiving darkness of the night.

Then I remembered. The Chase!

I looked around into the back alley. It was way too dark to make out any details. All I could see was a large, shadowy figure that was laying on the back alleys concrete floor, whimpering and sniffing occasionally.

Slowly I approached the back of the alley.

"Hey, are you okay?" I finally asked.

The whimpering grew louder. But despite that, I could hear a strained voice trying to reply between all the sobbing.

"Please, I am sorry for... for whatever I did! Please... please just leave me alone."

The voice sounded masculine although it sounded weird with all that sobbing coming from him. There was no hint of any accent either. Maybe he was some elderly obese men that was lost?

"It is all right, Mister. I scared all the street pokemon away. You can come out now! I promise it is save." I said, trying to sound as friendly aspossible.

the sobbing grew quiet. And could make out some movement from the back ally. A sound of clothing grinding lightly over the concrete floor could be heard, as he scooted closer into the light, making a slow pace. Maybe he used his clothing to shield himself from the Pokemon attack, tearing it apart in the process. I would have done the same, if the jacket I am currently wearing wouldn`t be the only one in my posession. Winter is coming, after all. I was standing right under one of the few functional street lamps, waiting for him to come forth from the alley in his own pace. As he neared the light source, he still crawled low on the concrete floor. Maybe he was injured? The whole situation grew more confused by the second. My instincts were screaming at me.

Run. Just run!

I doubted them. I never doubted my instincts before. What was happening right now? My inner monologue began to distract me, while the person continued to tardily crawl towards me and the flickering street light.

I pulled myself together. There is no time to doubt myself now. The person in front of me was in need of help. My help!

Getting closer to the light, I could see that he was dragging some of his cloths around his midsection with him. It now almost looked like he was... wearing a... was he really wearing a

... a skirt?

My tensed up emotions were quickly replaced with a feeling of complete confusion.

There is a huge person.

A huge, obese looking person.

A huge obese looking person, that is wearing a female outfit crawling slowly in my direction.

I have been in some weird situations, but...but this is ridiculous!

The person in front of me was approaching the edge of the street lamp`s light cone. He was still in a crouched position, and made no visible effort to stand up. I was getting more nervous again. Something just wasn't right.

Is this some kind of joke? I thought.

He slowly paced in the light cone. By the time I saw the first facial features emerging from the shadows, I had to look twice. My brain just froze and my heart nearly stopped.

Then, instinct took over, ceasing all rational thoughts.

My body reacted on his own. It took a large leap backwards at the other edge of the street lamps light cone, covering a distance that would even make athletes look in awe. My little bottle of Pokemon Repel was quicker in my hand than I had recognized grabbing after it. Not that it would do me any good against the monster that stood before me.

"St... Stop... No... no...further!"i stammered.

Threads are rarely useful when stammered in syllables. I raised the Repel bottle in the direction of my soon to be attacker. Not that it could have helped me in any way. But it was all the hope I could cling onto.

Now completely emerged from the darkness of the night, was the biggest and most intimidating Typhlosion I've ever laid my eyes on.It really was wearing a worn down dress, adored with a white skirt, which was looking far more like a female staff uniform, than actual clothing.

My brain was reaching his breaking point. The whole surreality of the situation was crashing down on me.

There, right in front of me, stood a more than two meter long Typhlosion, wearing a female staff dress, ready to tear me apart.

Limp by limp.

And by the looks of it, the Typhlosion would look fabulous by doing so....

My worn out body and my stressed mind decided to fail me both at the same time.

I slumped down.

And passed out.