FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: Yes! Another chapter posted! Longest chapter yet at just under 5100 words!

Note: Italics indicates thought.

Legal Jargon: I do not, in any way shape or form, own Pokemon. All publicly recognizable characters and locations belong to Game Freak and Nintendo and whoever else. All original characters and the original plot are mine however.

***

Mathias Shaw awoke to two red circles surrounded by blue and black markings with white walls behind them. Nothing was in focus for longer than a second. First the circles would be almost identifiable, only for them to fade out and blur while the blue and black tried to take precedence.

"Relax" came the deep voice from the last time he was awake. "Nurse Joy said that if your eyes are having trouble focusing to hold them open for thirty seconds and then close them for thirty seconds. If you still can't see afterwards, I'll go get her."

Oh wait, I probably still have IVs, Mathias reminded himself as he nearly raised a hand to temple. Once he had his impulses under control, he did as he was instructed. Upon opening his eyes again he noticed two things. One, the walls were white and completely bare, not even pictures of plants were put up. Two, sitting at the foot of his bed was a thing. What kind of thing, he wasn't sure. It was obviously a Pokémon, but other than that Mathias knew nothing about it.

It had red eyes, apparently those were the circles from earlier. Its head was canine in shape with long ears. It had a black mask-like stripe going from one side of its head to the other. The "mask" was intersected in the middle by an additional stripe ranging from the tip of its snout-like nose up to the forehead and beyond. There were four strange black appendages on the back of its head. The remainder of its head was covered in blue fur which flowed down its neck but stopped at the chest. Its torso was covered in a yellow-ish, maybe cream colored fur. It had a rather sharp looking spike situated dead center of its chest. It had two short, black "sleeves" of fur at the shoulders out of which two blue arms sprang.

Though he couldn't see the rest of the creature at the moment, Mathias would eventually learn that the creature's forepaws were black and had one spike on the back of each. That it had a "belt" of black fur right before the fur of its torso gave way to the large puffy blue "shorts" at its waist. That its legs were covered in black fur and that it stood on paws and not feet. That it had a long, slender blue tail with a nearly ninety degree turn at the end of it. Lastly, that each of the creature's paws, fore and otherwise, had three digits.

The whatever-it-was merely sat there through his examination with a coy smile on its face. When Mathias leaned back and blinked a couple times it spoke again.

"Like what you see?" it asked as it leaned back and struck what could only have been a provocative pose. Mathias' eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, he was so surprised by the Pokémon's actions. The creature only giggled and leaned in closer, a smirk now gracing its features and a gleam in its eye.

"Wh-what are you?" Mathias stammered in response.

The Pokémon frowned, dropped its voice into a near growl, the playful glint in its eyes hardened immediately and it said menacingly, "Well that's not a very nice thing to say. You're lucky that Arcanine did such a number on you or I'd break one of your arms for that comment. Just because most of my kind are male does not mean it is impossible to find a female."

Mathias blanched, gulped and barely managed to stutter out "Th-th-that's n-n-not what I m-meant. I, uh, I meant what kind of P-Pokémon are you?"

She blinked quickly a few times, her entire demeanor softening instantly and said "Oh." Before glancing down at her body. "Isn't it obvious?"

"If it was obvious I wouldn't be asking."

"Good point. I'm a Lucario, the fluffiest Fighting type Pokémon there is."

Mathias frowned at this and murmured "Wait, you aren't a Psychic type? How are you using telepathy then? At first I wasn't sure if you were, but your mouth isn't moving."

The Lucario cocked her head to the side and asked "You've never heard of the Aura Pokémon before? Where have you been living? Under a rock?"

The human sighed and prepared to explain himself only to be interrupted by "Well, we Lucarios can manipulate our Aura. Aura is, hmmm how do I explain this...ummm...Ok, Aura is this life energy. Thing. Alright fine, you caught me. I have no idea what it is, but it is found in all living things. I can channel my own Aura into attacks as well as use it to allow me to see without using my eyes. On top of that I can reach out with my Aura and use it to communicate with your Aura. So long as I keep up the connection, I will understand your responses even if you spoke a language I don't. The brain translates the Aura connection into something it understands, making it seem like telepathy. Unless you can use your own Aura though, the connection doesn't allow for you to use "telepathy" you have to talk. Talking, for whatever reason, causes reactions in your Aura that lets me understand your words, though not necessarily the meaning behind them. Does that answer your question, Mathias?"

Mathias groaned and said "I guess, though I don't really understand all this Aura stuff. Any idea how much longer I'm going to be stuck here? I kinda want to get on with my journey."

Lucario grinned and said "I never asked Nurse Joy how long I'd be able to keep you to myself, I'm sure you can ask her when she comes in to check on you later. You're lucky though, that scamp of a Leafeon left you for dead. If I hadn't stepped in and saved the day you'd be a carcass right now. I think it's only fair you take me on your journey with you as thanks. I never earned a gym badge before."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised Aela left me. She made it painfully obvious she wanted nothing to do with trainers. Wait, those fire-dog-things, why didn't they finish the job and let you save me?"

The Lucario laughed and said "Those "fire-dog-things" are called Arcanine and they have a personal vendetta against trainers and a code for whenever they encounter one. They-"

"Why?" inquired Mathias. "I mean, from what I've been told trainers aren't exactly the best of people towards Pokémon, but what happened to make these two Arcanine chase down trainers they've never met before?"

Lucario sighed and looked at the floor "It really isn't my story to tell, but you deserve an explanation. Sit back and listen."

It all started years ago. Thirty or so by now I think. The two of them are twins, they shared the same egg.

Yes, Pokémon hatch from eggs. Yes, all Pokémon. Seriously, where _have_you been your whole life?

Anyways, these two hatched from the same egg. The only reason that matters is because that's why they aren't making any pups of their own to take over the forest completely.

Their trainer, like all of them except for you, didn't care about his Pokémon. In fact, he had his veteran Pokémon "toughen up" the new recruits by basically abusing them. He wanted the two of them to become elite jerkwads like the rest of his team. He never managed to break them though.

After a few years of abuse under this guy, the two Growlithes, think "baby Arcanine" and you're close, found their way out. They were prone to wandering off on their own, so one day they waited until the rest of the team was "training," they were really only beating on each other, not really any sort of actual training. Anyways, one day, the two Growlithes ran away during "training" time, knowing full well their trainer wouldn't come after them until "training" was done for the day. He never could have expected what would happen when he found them.

The twins had found a pair of firestones and had used them to evolve from Growlithe into Arcanine. They waited for their trainer to show himself before ambushing him. He died by burning alive, much like you would have. They used their newfound power to reduce his body to ashes.

Once that was done, they released their "comrades" one by one. They told each of the other Pokémon what they had done and that they were free to go. All but one flew at them in a rage. From what they understood, the other Pokémon enjoyed the sense of power and prestige associated with being on the team of an elite trainer.

They killed each and every one of their former team mates that attacked them. The only one who was glad to be free was a Blastoise, giant blue turtle with guns on his back, and he left them to go find his own way in the world.

That day, they decided that they would take Petalburg Woods as their home and protect any and all Pokémon inside its borders. At first, that simply meant defeating any trainer who attempted to catch a wild Pokémon in there, but after a couple years, their "operation" grew in scope.

Now, they hunt down and kill any trainer who dares set foot inside their territory. They show no remorse and no mercy. The only mercy they are willing to grant is a swift death. Whenever they kill a trainer, they free any Pokémon the trainer may have had on its person. Those who are too young or otherwise unable to fend for themselves will be taken in by the pair and taught how to survive in the wild.

Their code states that they are not to prolong anyone's death or to cause needless pain and suffering. If any Pokémon react the way their comrades did, they will meet with the same fate as their trainer. If a human who possesses no Pokémon makes his way through the forest, he or she will not be harmed. Lastly, if any trainer shows that it cares about its Pokémon, they will let him or her live. Until you came along, that last bit was only ever talked about.

So there you have it, you sacrificed yourself for your Pokémon, who didn't really need it by the way she would have survived that flamethrower, and by doing so bought your own life back.

Hmm, guess I should tell you why I know all this, I am going to be journeying with you after all, and partners should be open with each other.

It was four years ago when it happened. I was a Riolu at the time and my trainer decided to just blow off the rumors about some super powerful Pokémon guarding the forest and enter it anyways. He met the same terrible fate as so many others before him, but unlike you, he deserved it.

The man was a rapist, he would use his Pokémon to keep his victims from running or calling out for help. He would then use his Hypno, his psychic Pokémon, to erase the victim's memories of the event, effectively making him uncatchable. He would even rape his own Pokémon. There were three of us that he used and three that he used to use the three of us.

Besides his Hypno, I don't remember who the other "users" were. The used included myself, a Combusken, and a Cubone. If our "trainer" couldn't find some human woman by bed time, he would use one of us. And it was never as simple as "bend over for me." No, the bastard had a domination kink that required him to rape. Every time he would use on of us, he would still have Hypno or someone else hold us down so he could use us.

When the Arcanine twins killed him, they released the six of us all at once. When Combusken, Cubone and I hid behind the two of them from our "team mates" they knew something was up. It didn't take long for Hypno to spill the beans. He thought that because they had an extra fighter they would win. He was sorely mistaken. The three of them simply could not keep up with the Arcanines' speed.

By this time, the twins had a network of Pokémon set up to help newcomers adjust to life in the wild and rarely took anyone in themselves. After hearing what happened to us though, they took us in and treated us like their own daughters. Combusken and Cubone eventually evolved into Blaziken and Marrowak and left the forest to find their own lives. I, even though by this point I had evolved as well, decided to stay in the forest with my saviors.

I'm not quite as fast as the twins, but I'm still faster than most Pokémon. As such I can keep up whenever they go on a hunt, so I tag along to watch. When I saw Aela get up and just leave you behind, and more importantly that the twins were going to honor their code and let you live, I simply couldn't let you sit there and die, so I had a nearby Zigzagoon release me from the ball I used to capture myself for you. Once he did, I picked you up and carried you here to the Pokémon Center for treatment.

I honestly thought you were going to die anyways, that was probably the strongest flamethrower you can find anywhere in Hoenn and you took it full force. By the time I had picked you up, your eyes had turned into hot jelly. Any other human would have died from that. Come to think of it, any other human wouldn't have been able to keep up with a Leafeon sprinting for its life. What are you?

The Lucario fixed Mathias with a pointed stare that contained purely curiosity as she finished her tale. The human in question sighed and said "Guess it's only fair to tell you about myself since you just told me your life story. You didn't even bother to hide the painful parts. First though, you seem to know my name but I don't know yours. Tell me your name and how you know mine and I will tell you all there is to tell about me."

"My name? Umm. I don't have a name besides "Lucario." No one ever gave me one. Most Pokémon do have a name they use only with other Pokémon, but I don't. Never met my mother so no one gave me one. I guess you can call me...uh...hmm. Bane, call me Bane. And don't you DARE say it's a male name. If you do I won't care that you haven't recovered yet, I'll still break your leg."

"As for how I know your name, that's easy. Your backpack is fireproof, so I just dug around in it until I found your Pokedex. Yours is a newer and fancier model than the one my last trainer had so it took some work, but I finally got it to show me your name. You are Mathias Shaw of Dewford. Now, tell me about yourself."

I knew my bag was better than that cheap one Joy tried to give me. Mathias said to himself with a smile on his face. "Alright," He said with a tone of finality in his voice, "Here's my life story." And with that he proceeded to tell Bane everything that had happened to him that he could remember.

When he finished his tale, silence reigned for several minutes. Just when the silence seemed like it would stretch on forever, there was a light knock at the door and Nurse Joy let herself in. Her hair was out of place and her cap was slightly skewed. She had bags under her eyes but carried herself as if nothing was wrong.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she began. "Just came in to check your progress. Sorry I couldn't come in earlier, I've been swamped since yesterday evening. At least a dozen trainers challenged the gym since then and I haven't gotten any sleep."

With that she began to peer at the machines surrounding Mathias' bed and make notes on her clipboard. "Uh, Nurse, how long am I going to be here for?" queried Mathias with his eyes scrunched tight as if he was bracing himself.

"Well, if you were a normal human several months. If you were the average adult Pokémon, about a week and a half. As it is, your auto-recovery rate is far higher than any human's on record, but significantly lower than that of an adult Pokémon. Somehow, your body is healing itself at roughly the same rate as a young adolescent Pokémon. At about the rate of the Pokémon equivalent of a thirteen or fourteen year old. You've only been here a week yet you are almost ready to have the bandages removed. I'd say you have another week and a half of being stuck here."

Bane was rapidly glancing between Joy and Mathias with her mouth agape. Mathias, however, kept his eyes shut, groaned and said "Great, just great. One more mystery surrounding me. I just hope this Professor Oak guy doesn't try and keep me to experiment on or anything." He then sighed, opened his eyes and quietly said "Thanks Joy."

Joy, who was on her way out, turned, smiled and said "You're welcome. My sister in Dewford told me everything she knew about you. She really loves a good mystery and she strong armed me into helping you however I can AND into keeping her updated. So if you need anything, just ask. I'll make sure it comes out of her pay, somehow."

Without waiting for a reply, Joy spun on her heel and marched out of the room, presumably to check on another patient. Bane was still staring at Mathias with her mouth open. Once again, the silence seemed ready to stretch into infinity only to be broken by an extremely loud and annoying alarm like sound coming from one corner of the room.

Mathias winced but otherwise didn't react. Bane however, pinned her ears back, shoved her paws into her ears and hissed "What the hell _is_that?!?"

Mathias had to keep himself from chuckling when he replied "No idea, but you're the one who can walk, go shut it off."

Bane shot him a scathing glare before tracking the offending noise to its source. "I've got it," She said holding up Mathias' Pokedex, "But I don't know how to turn it off."

"Try opening it and pressing buttons"

For several minutes the indignant Lucario fiddled with the offending device, managing to make the noise louder before finally turning it off. "OK," she sighed. "Now that that's over with, let's see what all this was about."

Her eyes quickly scanned the screen before she let out a single bark of a laugh and said "Serves her right. Little scamp ran off, what did she expect? Here, look," she said with glee and a sparkle in her eye as she shoved the Pokedex in Mathias' face. "Your Leafeon ran into trouble. This machine doesn't tell me what she ran into, but she's in some serious shit right now. If she doesn't get medical help, she's dead. Well, most likely anyways."

Mathias laid with his eyes closed for nearly a minute before responding with a forcefulness that had heretofore been lacking in his voice, "Bane, you obviously aren't going to like this, but I want you to go and rescue Aela. From what I understand, she is legally under my care and I will not let her die without doing something to try and save her. However, you are still the only one who can use their legs out of the two of us, so I need you to go out and save her. You don't have to put yourself in any unnecessary danger for her sake, but do try and bring her back safely. Her ball should be in my bag."

"Really? You want me to go and save her after what she did to you? Are you serious?!?" Her eyes glowed blue for a moment before she softly said "You are serious...Fine, I don't think this is a good idea, but fine, I'll go save the little tramp. Don't blame me if she's dead when I get there though." And without another word, she removed the two Pokéballs that were in use out of Mathias' bag, opened the window, and leaped out.

***

I feel cold. My paws are cold as ice.. Why did those Ninjask have to attack first and explain later? How could I possibly know that tree was their territory and that I shouldn't touch it? Don't they know Leafeon aren't from around these parts? Couldn't they have just descended in a swarm and scared me off? Damn, I didn't want to see that Mathias guy again but I'll probably see him in the afterlife. Wait, what's that noise? It sounds like running. Heh, some other idiot's getting chased by some angry Pokémon. At least I wasn't the only one toni...

_ _

Bane found Aela lying at the base of a tree not too far north of Rustboro. Apparently the Leafeon didn't want to travel too far, either that or she just wanted to stay in the woods. As Bane approached her prone form, Aela gave one last shuddering sigh and dropped her head to the ground, defeated and unconscious, possibly dead.

Damn it, I thought she was dead. Nooo, she just HAD to still have a pulse. Now I have to take her to the hospital. Bane grumbled to herself as she fumbled with the Pokéballs. Trying one and when it bounced off and did nothing, trying the other. On the second try, Aela was engulfed in a blaze of red light and absorbed into the Pokéball.

Bane sighed once more before picking up the balls off the floor and turning around to head back. What's that say about me though? A human, a human TRAINER no less, is more worried about a Pokémon than I am.

_ _

She stopped running and shook her head. No, it doesn't say anything about me. Nothing bad anyways. She would have killed him just as much as if she burned him herself, it's not a good idea to keep her around. It just shows something about him. He values life. I think anyways. We'll have to see when we get back

_ _

Shaking her head again, the Lucario bolted off into the darkness.

***

Only a few minutes after Bane had left Nurse Joy reentered the room and said "Here's your dinner. Your stomach should be able to handle food, you just weren't awake to eat it until now. Normally I'd help you eat, but I'm still swamped. You'll have to get your Lucario to help you. Bye." With that, she left just as quickly as she came.

Sighing Mathias said to himself Hope she gets back soon. Though I doubt she's going to like what I have planned for Aela."

_ _

Resigning himself to wait, Mathias took a nap and let his food get cold.

Mathias awoke to a large weight depressing the left side of his bed. Blinking groggily he could just make out Bane's features. "So how did-" Matias started but was interrupted by a huge yawn. "How did it go? Is she alive?"

Bane snorted and vehemently said "Barely. Bitch is lucky you told me to actually try, I sprinted over there. Nurse Joy is treating her now. She-" the Lucario stopped and sniffed excitedly at the air.

"Is that mashed potatoes? I love that stuff! Haven't had it in ages, obviously, but I remember stealing it from my old trainer's plastic boxes when he was asleep." She turned and gave Mathias her best puppy dog eyes. "Can I have some? Pleeeeeaaaase?"

Mathias looked her in the eye for a few seconds before dissolving into nearly uncontrollable laughter. It was several minutes before he was able to form a semi-coherent sentence and say "S-sure! Ha ha! Oooh! That was funny." Taking a deep breath, he continued "Joy says she's too busy to help me eat so you gotta do it. If all it costs me is some cold mashed potatoes I'm alright with that."

Bane's hurt/angry face brightened up instantly at the prospect of getting mashed potatoes. "Feed you? I can do that, though...I can't use your little metal things. I don't have anything to hold them properly with. Using those would be messier than feeding you out of my paw. You don't mind if I just use my paw, do you?"

Mathias's body shook with repressed laughter and he merely shook his head to indicate he didn't mind. For the next thirty minutes, Bane did her best to get the food, cold mashed potatoes, cold boneless chicken and a cold dinner roll, into her trainer's mouth and not on his face or his chest.

By the end of it all, Bane was the one laughing at Mathias' expense, "Ha-ha-how did you get potatoes on your forehead?" she asked as she wiped off the offending vegetable and licked it off her paw.

Mathias grunted and murmured "You know, I don't even know how that happened, though I'm sure it was your fault. It's not like I'm doing anything myself."

The Lucario gave a firm "Oh, hush." accompanied by a stern wag of her paw, which resulted in another splotch of mashed potatoes finding its way onto the poor human's forehead. Their eyes met for a moment before Bane broke down into another fit of giggles while Mathias snarled at her and said "Oh, that's how."

After dinner, Bane yawned and asked, "Can I sleep with you?"

Mathias nearly choked on thin air. Bane just rolled her eyes and explained "The floor is cold, the chair is NOT comfortable, but the bed is nice. Can we share the bed? I'd like to have a good night's sleep for once since I rescued you.

Taking his spluttering as an affirmative answer, the Lucario gently pushed her trainer to one side, slid underneath the blankets and promptly fell asleep.

***

Mathias was still recovering when Aela was given a clean bill of health. Nurse Joy allowed him to wander around as far as the outskirts of town, but no further than that. She had a Chansey with a mean backhand keeping watch on him. The first day he was allowed out, he went to the forest and pulled out Aela's Pokéball.

"Bane," he whispered. "I know you aren't going to like this, but please don't interrupt. This is between me and Aela."

With that he released Aela from her ball. This time, she materialized with her back to him. When he said her name, her fur visibly bristled, but she didn't bother turning around or speaking.

"Look," Mathias said with a tone of seriousness in his voice. "I know you don't want a trainer. I know you don't trust humans. I know you don't want to have to say that you owe me your life, but I couldn't let you die. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, right? Well, following that same logic, if I was a Pokémon and didn't want a trainer but had one, I would want my trainer to release me."

At this, Aela turned to look at him with a disbelieving glint in her eye and a scowl on her face. He thinks he's going to trick me into staying with him because he's such a good person or something. Dumbass. I'll take the out even though I preferred running away. Gave me immunity to other trainers. This is the next best thing though.

_ _

"Aela, if you want, I will release you back into the wild. All you have to do is ask."

"Of course I want to be free," Aela growled. "What makes you think I want to stay with your sorry ass? Ooh you can take a flamethrower, big fucking whoop. Press the button and give me my freedom back."

Mathias smiled at her, fiddled with his Pokedex for a couple seconds, and then pressed the return button on her Pokéball. Instead of the usual red light that would emit from it, a blue beam of light shot out and enveloped Aela. After roughly fifteen seconds of the light show, the Pokedex spoke in a robotic voice and verified that "Pokémon number 001, Leafeon, has been successfully released. For the next twenty four hours, Pokémon number 001 will be immune to the catching effects of Pokéballs, giving it time to find a new home and get situated. Farewell Pokémon number 001."

"That's that. Farewell Aela." Mathias said as he strode back towards the Pokémon Center.

"Hmph," snorted the Leafeon. "Good riddance. If I never see you again it will be too soon." With that, she turned on her heel, as much as she could, stuck her nose in the air and walked off into the forest.

Bane, however, was not content to let things end like that. "You had me save her life just so you could go and RELEASE her?!?! You had better explain yourself Mathias, before I put you back in the hospital."

Mathias sighed and said "It's as I told her, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. I had you save her because it was the right thing to do. I released her because it was the right thing to do. Sure it would have been easier to just let her die, but would that have been right? No."

"How did this world make a human like you? You are simply way too good to have been born here." Bane sighed

"Something tells me I'm not from around here. I'm probably from some small community hidden away from the rest of the world that still gives Pokémon respect...I wish that was true but it's probably something a little more involved. Alakazam said my memories were stolen. Maybe some deity stole my memories so I can start a revolution to get Pokémon the respect they deserve?"

A bark of laughter was the only response he was given.

***

If you guys can come up with any tags I missed, please add them. Do be aware though that a few tags were left out on purpose. Lucario for instance, was left out on purpose. Please do not add the Lucario tag