FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's note

Let me preface this by saying that this will not be a quick paw off story series. There probably won't even be any Yiff for at least four or five chapters. Also, due to the fact that I know real life is going to intrude from time to time, I don't know how often I will be able to write. To combat this, I will do my best to stay at least a chapter or two ahead and post on a regular schedule. I value your input! Please comment and feel free to point out any mistakes or anything you just didn't like. If you have an idea you'd like to see me implement, feel free to make the suggestion and I will see about working it in. But please don't pester me if I don't use your idea. It's not a slight, it's because I either didn't feel it would fit or just couldn't make it work on my part. Cameos may be a possibility later on in the story, but again, if I say no, there is a reason for it. It isn't because I'm being a prick or something like that. Onward to the legal BS! I don't own Pokemon or any subsequent trademarks or characters. They are copyright of Nintendo, Creatures, Japan and whoever the heck else owns them. All other characters, including Shawn, are mine though. So no touchy without the asky!

Addendum: The first couple chapters start pretty slow, but if you like the concept, please stick with it. It gets better!

Dimensional Balance

A Trainer's Tale

Chapter 1

Shawn sighed, running a hand through his short, dark brown hair as he walked down the hallway of the Dimensional Balance Watch headquarters. 'A little messy, but it'll have to do,' he thought. 'Damn, this better be good this time. I swear, if chief hauled me out of bed at 5 a.m. for another bull crap mission that anyone else could handle...' His internal mutterings subsided as he reached his destination, putting his thumb on the scanner and pulling open the sturdy oak door as the lock clicked open. The middle aged man standing at the edge of the room in front of a cabinet looked up from a file folder as Shawn entered.

"Matthews! Took you long enough to get here."

"Good morning to you too chief. You're in a fine humour."

"What do you expect?" the older man growled, seating himself behind the desk. "The council dithers for weeks on what to do about this, and then they decide it needs to be taken care of yesterday. They don't even have the decency to wait until it's a civilized hour here."

"So I take it I'm correct in assuming that this is a mission?" Shawn asked.

"Yes, and you'll be thrilled to hear that it's at least an A priority, possibly higher."

"Finally! I know that it's good that things have been quiet lately, but we all know it just means something big must be in the works."

The chief leaned back in his chair. "And there's not just a little selfish motivation in wanting things to pick up again?"

Shawn smirked, "Maybe a little..."

The chief let a small grin creep onto his face. "It's okay, I was young once too you know. I know what it's like to be bored and restless."

Shawn feigned shock. "Young? You? When did this happen?"

"Watch your mouth kid, I'm still your superior," the chief replied, only mock seriously.

"Aye Aye Capn!" Shawn said, snapping a salute. "So what is this mission?"

"Right," said the chief, getting down to business once more. "The high wizard council has been debating for the last couple of weeks upon what to do about a particular dimension. This dimension has been stable for some time, but recently has shown a lot of flux. They decided to send in a scouting mission from DBW, and it seems that there is something very big going down. Fortunately, due to the nature of this particular dimension, we have a bit of advance knowledge as to exactly what that is. The scout was able to find out just how far along things are. Tell me, are you familiar with pokémon?"

Shawn was a bit surprised at this. Being an avid gamer in the bits of spare time he had, he had of course played pokémon before, but to hear that that was the dimension he was going too... "Yes, I am," he replied.

"Good, that saves me some explanation then."

"What about wizard presence there? Or known dark and light avatars?" Shawn asked.

"Although humans exist in this dimension, there are no wizards there, at least that we know of. The battle between light and dark forces is somewhat similar to how it is here. Subtle. There are known avatars of both, but don't expect any direct assistance. They take the form of reclusive 'Legendary' pokémon. To our knowledge, the dark powers there aren't taking a direct hand in the current crisis either, although that may change, as they are certainly the source. Unfortunately, due to the flux, we are going to have to put an extreme cap on your power level. The scout barely made it back here, and he had less than half of your maximum."

"Ouch," said Shawn. "But I'll be able to use my elementals at least?"

"All indications are positive, which is part of why you were chosen for this in the first place. But of course there is no way to tell for sure. I have prepared a video dossier detailing your objectives and other important information."

The chief reached below his desk and pulled out a large camping backpack.

"Here are your mission supplies. We don't know if you'll be able to use dead space pockets or not, so we don't want to rely on that."

"If I can't use dead space, I can't report back then"

The chief nodded gravely. "Yes, we are hoping that won't be the case, but it is highly likely, due to the flux and the power restrictions. You will be effectively on your own."

Shawn nodded. "Not like that's anything new. What is the mission duration?"

"Indefinite. Even if you manage to resolve this current situation quickly, the council wants someone posted there to keep an eye on it. You've been given a portal auger, but it's only a half. It will ping if we open up this side to bring you in. You have up to one hour to make any preparations you need to."

Shawn thought for a minute. He didn't have any surviving family, and his work kept him from having any close friends who were non-wizards. Probably another part of the reason he had been picked for this. A long hiatus in a world that intrigued him was not a deterrent. "No, I think I'm good."

"Excellent, here put this on." The chief handed him a rubber bracelet.

Shawn slipped it on, putting a hand against the chief's desk as he felt his power reserves decline sharply. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it was an extreme cap!"

"I'm sorry, but that is the only way we can be sure you will get through safely. That will keep your power capped until you are through the gate, and then you can take it off and the cap will stay in place," said the chief. "If you are ready, let's go to the portal room."

Shawn nodded and stood up, grabbing the backpack and following the chief out of the room.

Shawn looked around curiously as he followed the chief through the door to the portal room. 'No techs? That's strange. There's always at least one person on duty here,' he thought.

"Chief, just how high is the security clearance on this anyways?"

The chief turned around. "S level. The only tech we had on site with that clearance is working on something for the council and is out of contact. I'm going to be operating the gate."

Shawn nodded, knowing the chief had several years tech experience under his belt. The chief stepped up to the operations terminal, pressing his thumb on the reader and typing in a security code. The screen flashed to life, and a low thrumming started coming from the three gates. As if a jet engine were spinning up, but off at the very edge of your hearing.

"I need you to operate the safety switcher," the chief said. "Since the flux is so high, we're going to need all three gates."

Shawn nodded and took his place at the control module on the opposite side of the gate platform.

"Starting ignition sequence, open switches one through twelve."

Shawn complied, manipulating the board in front of him.

The left gate flickered to life, beams of amber light criss-crossing through the centre, forming what appeared to be a solid pane of light.

"Gate two, open switches twenty-four through thirty-six."

Shawn repeated the process with the second and third gates. All three had the windows of light in the centre now.

"Starting merge, open switches thirteen, thirty-seven and sixty-one."

An odd bulge formed in the centre of all three gates at once, slowly stretching out, like a mummy reaching from its tomb, towards the centre of the platform. As they met, the thrumming noise increased in pitch, as if the jet were now taxiing down the runway.

"On my cue, open all closed switches up to forty-eight...five...four...three...two...one...NOW!"

Shawn threw the indicated switches, causing the amalgamating beams of light to bloom into an oval, supported on three sides by the beams from the gates. The middle of the oval crackled with energy, dark lightning seeming to run through it.

"Fusion successful, the portal is open!" said the chief. "Hurry! We can't keep it open long!"

Shawn grabbed his bag and hustled to the front of the platform.

"Good luck!" called the chief from the control board.

Shawn turned and waved to his chief as he stepped up to the edge of the open portal. Then, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest like a skydiver, he fell backwards into nothingness.

---

Phsew! So, there's chapter one. These first two chapters are going to be primarily character and worldbuilding, as due to the nature of this story, I need to do a lot of info dumping. Please comment!

Music for this chapter: [http://www.partyrockpeople.com/view.aspx?id=25984](%5C)